As the door opened, Gajeel and I entered the guild, which had returned to its usual obnoxiously loud liveliness; walking through the guild, someone finally noticed us.
"Huh, where the hell have you two been? You guys pretty much vanished for a week." Elfman, drinking a cup of beer, raised his head, looking at us in slight surprise, causing Gajeel and I to smirk. "Heh, somewhere fun." "Damn fun." "Uh, okay." Elfman, not that interested, nodded and shifted his gaze away, prompting the two of us to enter the showers, as we were incredibly dirty.
"You know, I still wish it were an Island of Milfs." "You're still going on about that? Let it rest." "Tch, let a man dream." Chopping Gajeel's head, the two of us split to our own showers, cleaning our bodies, which were packed with grime, blood, dirt, and salt.
Unfortunately, the ship Gajeel and I had been on a week ago wasn't the ship of a man's dream sailing to the fabled island of Milfs; instead, it was a different country, Caelum. Lucky for us, we were specifically on a ship managed by a dark guild in that country; once finding out, we pretended to remain captives as they transferred us to their base, much to Gajeel's dismay, as he didn't have a fun time.
Once we arrived, happily to no longer be moving, Gajeel busted out of the carriage, only for us to realize we hadn't been brought just to a dark guild's base, but were in a dark mage city, basically enemy territory. Of course, for people like us, such an occurrence was the second greatest thing after an island of Milfs.
So, while in enemy territory with numerous dark guilds and thousands of dark mages, we went wild, causing absolute chaos, destruction, and death. The fun lasted for a full two days, though eventually, after a hard-fought battle that left us exhausted but thoroughly satisfied, we headed to a nearby city to finish things off at a brothel; afterwards, we swam across the ocean back to Fiore.
"Oi, Gajeel, let's get drunk again tonight." Washing my hair, I glanced at Gajeel, who was doing the same, and smirked. "Hmph, as if the same thing will happen again; we'll probably just wake up in a dark alley with a hangover." "Yeah, but it's worth a try." I flashed a feral smile while he rolled his eyes, ignoring me.
After some time, we eventually left, feeling refreshed and reinvigorated; separating, Gajeel went to do his own thing, while I sat down at the bar beside Cana. "Oi, Laki, a beer." Gesturing to Laki, who was manning the bar, I glanced at Cana.
"Heh, what, falling for me now?" Smirking, Cana confidently brushed aside her hair and fluttered her eyelashes at me. "Nah, just looking. I can't look at you?" Raising an eyebrow, I leaned in close, just inches from her as I stared intensely, causing her to chuckle as she pushed me away. "No need, I can tell what you're doing. I'd be lying if I said I was completely fine, but I'm much better than before; you don't need to worry about me. I may be your little sister, but I'm a big girl."
Looking down at her swirling cup, she finishes it before flashing me a charming smile, causing me snort, though I couldn't stop a smile from sneaking onto my face. "Oh, you're surely a big girl, alright, you display it every day." Smirking, I poke her breast, causing her face to twitch as she lightly slapped my hand away. "Hmph, pervert." "If the TV's on, people will watch." "What's a tv?" "Eh, just, nothing, it's nothing."
Dissmively waving my hand, I downed my cup and signaled Laki for a refill before scanning the guild. Natsu was arguing with Gray; Macao was teaching Romeo; Jet and Droy were wearing shirts that read 'I spy on women bathing,' probably something Levy made them do; Minerva and Wendy were talking and giggling in the back, and Lucy was chatting with Evergreen.
All in all, everything looked good, everyone was behaving like usual, nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that the guild was a tad bit more chaotic than usual, given the lack of an enforcer.
"Where's Erza? Actually, Mira's missing as well." I cast a curious glance at Cana, who wryly smiled. "Oh, so you noticed." "Have they not returned to the guild?" "Nope." I lowered my head and sighed, having a strong suspicion it was because of me. "You know, you were a bit much, big bro, when you let us down. I could see past it, as well..." Proudly smirking, Cana winked at me. "... I know you best."
"Was I?" "You want it honest." "Straight raw." "That innuendo was definitely on purpose… Anyways, you were an asshole, honestly." I winced slightly at Cana's response as she pointed at me before downing the refill Laki gave her.
"Tsk, I suppose I should apologize." Grumbling into the cup while taking a sip, annoyed with myself, Cana silently nodded. "Well, since you know me 'best', it's probably not needed, but I am sorry, Cana… I really want to keep things how they are; I don't want things to ever get awkward."
I could feel heat rise to my cheeks as I glanced at Cana from the corner of my eye, while she smirked before leaning into my arm, resting her head against my arm. "Heh, you didn't need to be an ass about it, though." "Tch, I wasn't making an excuse." "Ho, it sure sounded like it." I could feel a vein form on my forehead as I glared at Cana's teasing smirk, only to sigh as I calmed down.
Standing up, I placed a hand atop her head, ruffling her hair before leaving the guild.
Not knowing who to visit first, I tossed a coin in the air. 'Heads for Erza, and tails for Mira.' Watching the coin, it landed on the ground, bouncing a few times before showing heads. Nodding to myself, I headed to Erza's house, stopping by the bakery literally just a few houses down from her own house, and bought the largest strawberry cake for her.
Arriving at her house, I knocked a few times, but after receiving no response, I 'gently' let myself in. 'Welp, another thing to pay for.' Closing the door with the broken handle, I walked through her house, observing how things seemed mostly fine, save for the numerous cake-trays strewn about on the ground.
"Maybe I should leave this cake here." Setting the cake in the fridge, I followed the cake-trays, which led to Erza's room, prompting me to enter. Stepping inside, the first thing I saw was the vast number of cake trays on the ground; the next was how dirty and stinky this room was; and the third, and final thing, was Erza, who was wrapped in a blanket, lying on her bed, quietly eating strawberry cake.
"Yo, Erza." Grabbing her attention, she looked at me, froze, took a bite, rubbed her face, only for her eyes to widen. "B-B-BIG BRO!?" Shouting loudly, she practically leaped from the couch in shock, the half-eaten cake sticking to the ceiling while the blanket she was wrapped in flew onto the ground, revealing her undergarments, but she had none on.
"What? I can't be here?" Closing the distance, I glanced at her as she calmed down somewhat. "N-NO. I-I mean, y-yes! B-But it's dirty–" Seeing her scramble while avoiding my gaze, I interrupted by embracing her. "E-Eha, w-wait, don't I-I stink, I haven't showered in d-days!" "You put up with my stink, I can definitely do so with yours… I'm sorry about how I handled things."
As I brought up the topic from a week ago, her scrambling stopped, and she calmed down, falling silent. "I was told I'd been an ass, and, when I look back at it, I was. I was more worried about keeping our relationship as 'family' and pushed your guys' feelings aside… I'm sorry about that."
I tightened the hug, ensuring she understood my apology. "I-I don't say it often, but I-I love you guys. Y-You, Mira, Cana, Lucy, Levy, Natsu, Gray, Elfman, Warren, Man, etc, everybody… I'm sorry for how I behaved; that isn't how a proper big brother should be." Leaning back a little, I glanced down at Erza's teary-eyed expression, only for her to faintly smile.
"Your face is awfully red, big bro." "Erza." "Hahaha." I didn't need her reminding me; it was painfully obvious how much my face was burning right now. Seeing how she got a kick out of it, I just sighed. "Thanks, big bro." Suppressing her laughter, she wiped her tears while glancing up at me, only to kiss my cheek before reciprocating the hug.
After a few minutes, we separated, while I awkwardly tried to hide my flushed face, though to no avail. "J-Just come back to the guild, I-It needs you." "Hehe, okay. I will." "Also, put on clothes beforehand." Nodding, I gestured to her, causing her to glance down at herself, only for a deep blush to spread across her face as she used her limbs to try to hide her body. "B-BIG BRO!"