Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master

"Don't joke like that," Lucy said, feeling a chill run down her spine.

"I'm not joking," Mira replied with a smile. "I really think Gray treats you a little differently."

"Wh-what's different about it?"

"Let's see... like how he always walks around naked in front of you, or how he casually breaks into your house."

"Gray walks around naked in front of everyone! That's just a weird habit, not something special! And him breaking into my house is just... just part of the problem!"

Suddenly, Juvia floated behind Lucy like a ghost. Half her face was covered in shadow as she whispered in a chilling voice, "Love rival."

"Ahhh!" Lucy jumped in fear and spun around. "I told you, it's not like that!"

Juvia stared at her for a moment longer, then drifted away like mist.

"So... it's Natsu, right?" Mira continued, clearly enjoying the conversation. "Think about it. Natsu treats you differently too. Ever since you joined the guild, he's always looked out for you."

"Didn't Mr. Rhodes say it's a guild tradition for senior members to help newcomers?"

Mira nodded. "Yes, I was in charge of looking after Rhodes when he first joined. When Juvia joined, Gray looked after her. So as for you..."

She conveniently ignored the cases of Tono and Gajeel.

Lucy started to buy into it. She thought back on everything that had happened since she joined the guild, and all the times Natsu had accidentally or not, gotten a little too close.

Her face turned redder with each memory. "No way. Me and Natsu?"

The imaginative girl in her conjured up a mental image. Natsu was suddenly drawn in a shoujo manga style, standing in front of a background of peach-colored flowers, reaching out to her with a charming smile.

"No, no, no... impossible!" Lucy shook her head furiously to clear the vision.

"People who go on missions together all the time often develop feelings," Mira added, leaning in with a grin. "Look at Jet and Droy with Levy, Alzack and Bisca, and Rhodes and me. And you know how those turned out."

Except for Jet and Droy, who were a bit of a mess, Lucy knew the rest were couples. She covered her head, flustered. "If it goes on like this..."

"Lucy?" Natsu appeared right on cue. He suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "I've got something to talk to you about."

"Nope! Nope! Nope!" Lucy yelped like she'd touched a live wire. She bolted out of the guild, screaming as she ran.

Natsu blinked. "What's with her?"

Mira giggled quietly. "She might be mad. Why don't you catch up and check?"

Natsu took off after her, and Happy flapped along behind him.

Just then, Rhodes returned after placing their order and handed the receipt to Mira. "What's going on? I saw Natsu running toward Lucy's house. I think she was chasing him."

Mira looked puzzled. "Wasn't it the other way around? I thought Lucy was running away."

Rhodes thought for a second, then nodded. "No, Natsu definitely ran first."

"How strange," Mira muttered. "Anyway, let's not worry about that. What do you think I should do to win the competition tomorrow?"

"It might be tough," Rhodes said, settling beside her and resting his cheek on one hand. The more he looked at her, the more dazzling she seemed. Unfortunately...

"It's a pity I'm going to lower your popularity," Rhodes said with a playful blink. "If I had waited a few more days to propose, the situation might've looked better."

Mira chuckled. "Hehe, if something like that makes me lose, then it's not a loss at all."

Popularity wasn't something she cared about. She had already decided to enjoy herself tomorrow.

Rhodes grinned and leaned closer. "You're so good at saying the right things. I'll give you a reward."

Mira pushed his face away. "Don't start."

...

The next day, October 7th- was the day of the Harvest Festival.

Rhodes spent the morning directing a few guild members in setting up the venue, while Mira led the waitresses in cleaning and hanging festive decorations.

Master Makarov wandered through the guild with his hands behind his back, quickly realizing he had absolutely nothing to do. With the Council disbanded, there were no more self-criticisms to write, and guild affairs were running smoothly.

His free time had only grown lately. Most of his current efforts went into collecting intel on the Council's remnants, Dark Guild activity, movements on the Western Continent, and his troublesome son. But nothing urgent stood out today.

So instead, he focused on the event that truly mattered right now: the Miss Fairy Tail contest.

The guild was quickly transformed into a festival space. Colorful decorations adorned the walls, and a small stage stood in the center, ready for the contestants to show off their charm.

"Laki's not participating again this year?" Rhodes asked as he adjusted some signs. "With your new short haircut and the glasses vibe, you'd probably be a hit."

Laki smirked. "Sister Mira is standing right here, you know. You sure you want to say that?"

She was clearly hoping to witness some Mira-style retaliation.

Rhodes shrugged. "Why not? Just testing the threat level of her rivals."

"Hah, no need for that. I'm not signing up. And just so you know, Sally and Izzy aren't either," Laki added, crossing her arms. "Mickey's skipping it too. She's campaigning for a bare-handed combat tournament instead."

"That sounds exactly like her," Rhodes said with a laugh. "If she can't knock down buildings anymore, she'll find a way to punch things for prize money."

As they talked, the final preparations in the guild wrapped up.

Rhodes checked the time, clapped, and called out, "Alright, the contest starts in an hour. If you've got nothing left to prep, go enjoy the festival!"

A cheer erupted, and the crowd poured out of the guild, leaving behind the seven contestants, the host Max, and a few friends and family members.

The participants lined up to draw their lots and receive number tags. Once they had their numbers, they were free to relax until the show began.

Cana stood nearby with a bottle in hand, looking conflicted. Last year, she had gotten drunk before her turn and passed out on stage. She'd wanted the 500,000-jewel prize for booze money, but ended up embarrassing herself.

This year, she still wanted that prize, but she also wanted to perform properly. She eyed the bottle but held off.

"Since I'm the first to go, I'll just tough it out for a bit," she muttered, turning and heading outside for a walk.

Erza thought about walking around with her best friend Bisca, but Alzack had already taken her hand and led her out, face completely red.

It was one of those awkward situations, when your best friend had a boyfriend and you didn't.

Meanwhile, Juvia had already darted off with one goal in mind: find Gray.

She'd recently heard a rumor that couples who went shopping together during the Harvest Festival would eventually end up together.

This rumor had quietly spread throughout the guild, and many suspected Mira was behind it.

What Rhodes didn't know was that he had unintentionally played a part in starting the whole thing.

He was chatting with Mira. "What number did you draw?"

"Number 3." Mira showed the round number plate in her hand.

"That's a strong position. Important spot in the lineup. It suits you perfectly."

"You really know how to talk." Mira grinned and slapped the number plate onto Rhodes's chest.

The plate was actually a minor magic item. No matter where it was placed, it would stick securely on its own. The hold wasn't strong though, so it could be peeled off easily.

Rhodes didn't bother removing it right away. Instead, he threw one hand in the air, struck a dramatic pose, and said in an exaggerated voice like Max, "Now entering the stage, contestant number three in the Miss Fairy Tail contest… Rhodes!"

Mira clapped along and teased, "Go, Miss Rhodes!"

Rhodes blew her a kiss. "Thank you, Mister Mira! Don't forget to vote for me. Love you!"

Mira's small fist thumped his chest in reply, making him cough.

Elsewhere, Jet and Droy were still arguing about who should invite Levy out to walk around the festival.

Levy blinked and said, "Why not all three of us go together, like always?"

"Not today!" Jet and Troy replied in perfect unison.

Their argument escalated from words to headbutts, then to full-on wrestling. No one bothered stopping them.

Levy gave a helpless sigh, then turned to Lucy. "Lu, want to go out together?"

"Sure!" Lucy smiled, happy for the distraction. She'd thought Levy would already be with her usual team and had been wondering whether to catch up with Erza.

At that moment, Mira and Rhodes finished joking around and walked toward the guild doors, hand in hand.

Mira looked over and asked, "Wait, isn't Lucy with Natsu today?"

Lucy groaned. "Please don't bring him up."

"Huh? Didn't he come to you again yesterday? Did you two fight?"

"It's worse than a fight," Lucy sighed.

Mira tilted her head. "Worse how?"

Lucy looked embarrassed. "You teased me so much yesterday I actually started wondering if Natsu liked me. I got so nervous, I kept thinking about it whenever I saw him."

"And then?" Mira leaned in, clearly enjoying the story.

"And then," Lucy said, voice dropping, "Natsu showed up at my door before I even got back, just waiting for me. I panicked and kicked him out without asking anything."

Mira gasped. "You didn't even let him talk?"

"No! And then he shouted as he left, 'I'll wait for you in the park! There's something important I need to tell you! You better come!'"

Mira's eyes sparkled. "So what did you do?"

"What do you think I did?" Lucy said, flustered. "I took a long bath, picked out clothes, asked Cancer to fix my hair… I even rehearsed how to reject him gently!"

She looked completely defeated.

"But when I got there, full of nerves… Natsu was digging a hole under a tree."

"Digging?" Levy echoed.

"Digging. He swore there was buried treasure under the roots and asked me to call Virgo to help excavate."

Lucy slumped. "I've never been so embarrassed in my life."

Levy patted her back. 

Rhodes tried hard not to laugh and gently patted Mira on the back. She was clearly the mastermind behind Lucy's embarrassment.

Mira, for her part, was barely holding back her own laughter.

She had joked about "Does someone like you?" plenty of times before, and had heard it from others just as often. But no one had ever reacted quite like Lucy, and the timing of everything made the whole situation even funnier.

Lucy sighed again. "I feel like such a fool."

Mira nodded with exaggerated seriousness. "Exactly. Before running off, you should've at least asked what treasure was buried in the park."

Lucy looked helpless. "That's not the point!"

Mira's priorities were clearly skewed. Even Rhodes joined in. "So what kind of treasure was it?"

Lucy groaned. "You too, Mr. Rhodes?"

Levy gave Lucy a sympathetic pat on the back. "You're just unlucky to be surrounded by these two."

But Lucy thought about it for a second and said, "I think I heard Natsu mention something about an album that the Master hid there a long time ago. It's supposed to have embarrassing pictures of a lot of guild members."

Rhodes perked up. "I definitely have to go dig that up."

"Don't you dare!" Levy suddenly panicked. "That thing's real? You absolutely cannot dig it up!"

She had grown up in the guild, so if that album really existed, she was probably in it.

Mira shrugged. "We should go take a look sometime, right?"

She didn't mind at all. Rhodes had already shown her a bunch of embarrassing photos from her own childhood. At this point, she was just curious what his baby pictures looked like—but unfortunately, she'd never had the chance to see any.

Before they knew it, the conversation had shifted from Lucy's mishap to a discussion about old photos and forgotten albums.

As the group left the guild together, Lucy quickly became distracted by the bustling festival scene and forgot all about her embarrassment.

The streets were packed with cheerful voices and the calls of vendors. If you weren't careful, it was easy to get separated in the crowd.

Rhodes instinctively held Mira close as they walked through the busy streets. Somewhere along the way, they lost sight of Lucy and Levy.

They stopped to enjoy street performances and try their hand at small festival games. Before long, the rich aromas of festival food filled the air.

Rhodes, keeping his promise, summoned Warm.

Back when Warm had helped with chores, Rhodes had promised to take him out for a feast during the Harvest Festival.

Warm happily sniffed the air, as excited as a 200-kilogram child let loose in a candy store.

Mira sighed. "If we let Warm eat as much as he wants, our monthly budget is going to explode."

She had often fed him without a second thought, but now that she was being more careful with money, she realized just how much it could add up.

Rhodes shrugged. "If we stick to the basics, he doesn't need that much. It's only when you spoil him that he becomes a bottomless pit."

He added, "Usually we just let him hang out at the guild. Everyone feeds him bits and pieces. Though, he never comes in the summer—hates the heat."

Warm disliked hot weather so much, he lost his appetite. That's how Mira knew he could actually manage on less if needed.

Right now though, Warm was energetic and focused. He pointed with one paw toward a nearby stall.

Rhodes paid for two ice creams, one for Warm, and one for Mira.

Mira accepted hers with a smile, took a bite, and continued walking at a leisurely pace.

Just then, Rhodes noticed a familiar flash of green hair from the corner of his eye, near the entrance of a narrow alley.

"That was Freed, wasn't it?"

Mira looked around but didn't spot him. "Could be. I haven't seen the Thunder God Tribe for months."

It wasn't strange to run into them now. After all, it was the Harvest Festival. Everyone was bound to show up eventually.

...

Bonus