Let's Go on a Date

Amid the train's "whooo~~" whistle, they returned to Magnolia and went back to the guild to report on the mission.

"Hmm... Bloodhand Samir. I heard an S-Class mage from another guild fell to him a few years ago. The fact that you all came back safely is better than anything." Makarov was somewhat gratified after hearing their report, silently calculating, Fairy Tail's new generation is growing vigorously. Mira, Erza, Laxus, and Mystogan are already S-Class. Natsu, Gray, Cana, and the others are starting to become capable of standing on their own.

Oh, right, and Ed. It feels like he could almost take the S-Class exam already, but he still seems to have completed too few missions. I should have him pick up the pace later.

"All right, you just got back, and it sounds like the battle was quite tough. Go get some rest." Makarov waved his hand, signaling that they could leave.

Ed and the others left the guild. "Are you going straight home to rest? Want to take a walk around first?" Ed pressed his advantage and invited Mira out.

"Right now?" Mira hesitated. Seeing that, Lisanna immediately grabbed Elfman and hurried away, shouting, "It's fine, Elfman and I will go home and tidy up first. Mira, you can buy the ingredients for dinner~ Oh, and Ed, do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Can I?!" Ed's eyes immediately lit up.

"Can what?! Don't push your luck!" Mira was still a little shy. She turned and headed toward the shops, while Ed waved to Lisanna and quickly followed Mira.

"At your house, does Lisanna cook, or do you?" Ed asked curiously. "We take turns. Is there a problem with that?" Mira rolled her eyes at him.

"Then I want to visit when it's your turn to cook!" Ed eagerly proposed.

"What are you trying to do?" Mira asked suspiciously.

"What else could it be? Of course I want to know more about you, like your cooking skills. Oh, you probably change into casual clothes at home too, right? I really want to see..." As Ed spoke, a strange smile appeared on his face.

"Go die, pervert!" Flushed with embarrassment and anger, Mira stepped on Ed's toes and ground down hard twice. "Hmph!"

Mira marched ahead in a huff, while Ed limped after her with a pained grimace.

They soon arrived at the store, and Mira began picking out ingredients for dinner. "This broccoli looks good... Hmm, a few potatoes... Eggs, eggs... This fish looks good too..."

Watching Mira choose ingredients, Ed spoke in a pitiful voice. "If possible... I'd like some beef..."

"Who cares what you want to eat?! And if you want something, buy it and cook it yourself!" Mira looked at him with disdain, but she still picked out a piece of beef and put it in the basket.

"Thank you so much, Mira!" Ed launched a sparkling-eyes attack. Mira's face reddened again. "D-Don't look at me like that! I didn't buy it for you. I just suddenly felt like buying some!"

"Oh my, little Mira is buying ingredients with her boyfriend? You two look so close~" A middle-aged woman suddenly appeared beside them and spoke to Mira.

"W-What boyfriend?! He isn't one yet!" Mira turned red like a boiling kettle, practically steaming.

"Oh! Not yet~" The woman wore an expression that said she had seen through everything, then turned to Ed. "Young man, you need to work harder~"

"Right! Got it!" Ed snapped to attention as he replied.

"What exactly were you agreeing to?!" After the woman's seemingly concerned but actually gossip-filled chatter, Mira looked resentfully at the culprit.

"Ahaha~ Don't sweat the small stuff~" Ed said breezily.

"This concerns one of the biggest events of my life, you know?! Forget it, let's just pay and go home." Mira was exhausted.

"Oh, then I'll walk you home." Ed naturally took on the role of her knight in shining armor.

"Ugh... Fine, fine, let's go..." Mira, feeling like Zero, helplessly led Ed toward her home, and they soon arrived at her front door.

"This is my house. So? Are you still going to keep following me?" Mira eyed a certain someone who had absolutely no self-awareness.

"Look, Mira, isn't there an old saying..." Ed said coyly.

"I'm listening." Mira looked like she was waiting to see what nonsense he would come up with.

"As the saying goes, since we're already here, right?" Ed tried to persuade Mira. "I've come all this way. Can you really bear to make me turn around and go back?"

"I really do want to send you straight back, but fine, come in. You did contribute quite a bit to the mission, so I'll treat you just this once." Mira sighed, opened the door, and led Ed inside.

"I'm home," Mira called into the house.

"Welcome back." "Welcome home, Mira." Those were the replies from her two family members.

Then Lisanna spotted Ed following Mira through the door. "Oh! Ed, Mira actually brought you home already? Have things progressed that quickly between you two?"

Mira walked expressionlessly up to Lisanna and gave her a chop on the head. "I don't remember teaching you to tease your own sister for no reason."

"Ugh..." Lisanna clutched her head with teary eyes and looked at Mira pitifully.

Mira was still utterly helpless against her little sister. "All right, all right, come help in the kitchen. Ed, just sit wherever for a while." Mira dragged Lisanna into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Need any help? Not to brag, but I'm pretty good at cooking~" Ed tried to follow, but Mira immediately drove him back. "A guest should act like a guest. Sit still. I'll call you when dinner's ready."

Ed could only sit obediently in the living room and make small talk with Elfman. "Come to think of it, Elfman, the three of you joined Fairy Tail when you were very young, right?"

"Yes. When we were little, Mira, through Zero's inadvertence, awakened Take Over Magic while driving away a demon causing trouble at a church. She took over that demon's soul, but the local residents instead saw her as a symbol of demons. So she was forced to leave the town with Lisanna and me. We traveled through many places until we came to Fairy Tail, where Guild Master Makarov told us that Mira had awakened magic."

As Elfman spoke, he gradually became emotional. "My sister originally hated that power, because it was the reason we were driven out of town. At first, she planned to entrust Lisanna and me to Fairy Tail, then leave the guild by herself."

"That does sound like Mira. Taking every problem onto herself," Ed said after thinking about it.

"So, to encourage her, Lisanna and I both learned Take Over Magic. After all, a family should use the same kind of magic!" Elfman suddenly seemed to remember something. "So, Ed, if you really plan to be with my sister, make sure you never elope for any reason!"

"Yeah! Yeah?... Huh?" Ed looked completely bewildered.