"Alright—no problem!"
The blonde girl checked herself in the mirror from left to right.
Her collar was neat and smooth. Her signature side ponytail was tied cute and perky. Even the angle of the bow at the end of her hair was flawless.
"Time to go to the guild!"
Full of energy, she clenched her fist—then just as she was about to rush out the door, she halted, as if she'd remembered something critically important, and hurried back to the table.
"Almost forgot—my lucky charm!"
She grabbed a silver key on the desk—plain to the point of being unimpressive.
She closed her hand around it, feeling the metal's cool touch, then carefully hung it around her neck and tucked it close to her chest.
Only after doing that did she happily push the door open again.
Outside, the sky was a bright, crystal blue. The air smelled sweet and fresh. An orange vendor by the road called out with extra enthusiasm.
Everything looked perfect.
"Great! This morning is a full score—one hundred points!"
She took a deep breath, her heart filled with a vague premonition.
"Something good is definitely going to happen today!"
However…
That good mood lasted only until the moment right before she stepped through the guild's doors.
"What?! Shane's gone out again?!"
In the guild hall, her voice jumped an entire octave, and her high spirits visibly deflated.
Maybe her disappointment was too obvious.
A pink-haired boy who was wolfing down breakfast leaned over.
He'd lost some of his childishness and grown taller and sturdier, but his eyes were still filled with that clean, innocent stupidity.
"Why are you freaking out so much?"
"Don't worry about that idiot who's always running around!"
At that moment, a tall red-haired girl with a full, toned figure walked over.
She wore a simple dress, arms crossed, gaze sharp and commanding.
"Today our job is to tidy the guild library."
"Ehh—? Why?!"
Nearby, a spiky-haired boy with his upper body bare scratched at his ear in annoyance.
"Why do I have to do this kind of work?"
"Isn't it obvious?!"
The red-haired girl shot him a glare and said righteously:
"You idiots went on a job a few days ago and wrecked the town so badly it was painful to look at!"
"The master didn't hang you at the door for public humiliation out of sheer mercy! If all you have to do is organize books to be forgiven, you should be grateful!"
"No—wait!"
The blonde girl finally snapped back to herself. Twirling the key hanging at her neck, she shouted in protest:
"You're the ones who caused the damage! What does that have to do with me?! Why am I getting punished too?!"
But even as she complained at top speed, her body was very honest.
A moment later, she resigned herself and followed this group of troublemakers into the dust-choked library.
"Seriously… why do I have to do this too…"
She climbed up a tall wooden ladder and begrudgingly accepted a thick stack of magic books passed up from below, sorting them into their proper sections.
"Wiggling around on a ladder is dangerous, you know."
A blue cat with wings hovered in the air and kindly reminded her.
"Like that'll ever happen!"
She proudly lifted her chin and showed off the plain silver key on her necklace.
"With this lucky charm, nothing bad is going to happen to me!"
"Hm…"
Below, the red-haired girl wiping down a bookshelf with a cloth tilted her head, staring at the key thoughtfully.
"Actually, I've always been a little curious."
"That's just a Canis Minor key, right? You can buy one anywhere for twenty thousand J. Why do you treasure it so much?"
"Yeah, why?"
The pink-haired boy and the half-naked pervert also leaned in, staring hard at the plain key.
"Heh-heh…"
Getting asked exactly what she wanted, the blonde girl lifted her chin even higher. As if to prove how effective her charm was, she even bounced on the ladder.
"This is something Shane—"
But—
Before she could finish, she fell victim to her own excitement.
The ladder made a strained creeeak and suddenly tipped sideways.
"Ah—!"
With a short scream, the girl fell—along with the unsorted magic books in her arms.
"!!!"
Everyone instinctively reached out to catch her.
But at the instant she was about to hit the ground, one thick magic book that had fallen with her—its cover painted with strange runes—flipped open.
"Woooong—"
A blinding purple light erupted.
Before anyone's hands could touch her, the entire group was swallowed by the glare.
…
"What… just happened?"
After a nauseating spin, they ended up sprawled across a stone-paved road.
"Oww, ow, ow…"
The pink-haired boy sat up first, rubbing his head as he complained:
"Happy literally told you to be careful. Lucy, you're so reckless."
"Of all people, I don't want to hear that from you, Natsu!"
Lucy rubbed her sore butt and glared back.
"Wait…"
The shirtless pervert's expression changed. He pointed around.
"This is the main street? How did we get outside?"
"Put some clothes on first, Gray!"
Lucy looked at the spiky-haired boy wearing only boxers and nearly collapsed.
"And it's not just that—look."
The red-haired girl was the first to stay calm.
She stood, brushed the dust off her skirt, and pointed forward with a grave look.
The three kids and one cat followed her gaze—and froze solid.
Ahead stood a two-story building, a bit old but warmly familiar.
The sign still read FAIRY TAIL, but the size and look were completely different from the grand guild hall they remembered.
"The guild… why does it look like it did before Shane wrecked it?!"
Staring at the familiar, nostalgic old entrance, their jaws hung open.
"Hey, Erza—what's going on?!"
Natsu blurted in a panic, practically steaming out of his nostrils.
Erza looked down at the magic book at her feet. It had closed and stopped glowing. She bent to pick it up.
"It's probably this book."
She frowned.
"Everyone stay calm. We don't know what's going to happen next."
"Wait! Someone's coming!"
Happy shouted from above.
"Looks like they're heading for the guild!"
"Hide!"
Lucy reacted instantly. Without caring about anything else, she shoved Natsu and Gray—who was still going, "Why?"—and forced them into the shadow behind a pile of cargo crates by the road.
Footsteps drew closer.
Several pairs of eyes peeked through the cracks, watching carefully.
But—
The moment they saw who it was, everyone went still.
"Shane…?"
"No… that's—mini Shane?!"
They almost cried out, and their eyes immediately snapped to Erza, the one who knew Shane best.
In the sunlight, a black-haired, black-eyed boy strolled along lazily.
Simple shirt, one hand in his pocket.
Those signature dead-fish eyes drooped halfway, his whole face screaming What a pain and I want to go home and sleep.
He looked much younger, but that exhausted vibe was unmistakable.
"That's Shane?" Gray murmured, disbelief all over his face.
Erza had seen those eyes up close more times than she could count—she was about to nod—
when Lucy spoke beside her in an unusually confident tone:
"That's Shane! It's definitely him!"
"Huh? How do you know?"
Happy turned, cat eyes wide.
"Lucy, you've only been in the guild a year. How do you know what kid Shane looked like so well?"
"Uh…"
Lucy froze.
She instinctively tightened her grip on the silver key around her neck, her eyes darting as she stammered.
"Th-that's… intuition! A girl's intuition!"
Thankfully, Erza covered for her and didn't press.
"That is Shane, yes—but…"
Erza blinked, confused, her gaze shifting to the boy's other hand.
The young Shane was holding the hand of a girl who looked eleven or twelve.
She had smooth, brilliant blonde hair and wore a delicate little dress.
With both hands, she clung tightly to Shane's fingers, hopping around him like a cheerful bird.
"I don't remember her at all…"
Erza frowned, searching her memory.
"Was there someone like that with Shane back then? And that blonde hair… it feels weirdly familiar."
"Who's the blonde kid with Shane?"
Natsu noticed too, scratching his head.
"I don't remember seeing her when I was little either."
"…"
Lucy quietly turned her head away and gave the air a couple of guilty little laughs.
"H-ha… who could that be?"
"Stop making noise."
Erza suddenly warned, face serious.
"Shane's senses have always been sharp. Even as a kid, we can't be careless. He'll notice us."
"So what if he notices?"
Single-celled Natsu started to stand up, ready to call out.
"If it's Shane, then we should go say hi—"
The next second, instead of an answer, he got a clean chokehold.
Click.
Erza's arm tightened, and Natsu's eyes rolled back. Instant physical mute.
Gray swallowed hard and clamped a hand over his mouth, not daring to breathe loudly.
Lucy and Happy, watching, also covered their eyes on reflex, unable to bear the brutality.
Only when the two figures—one big, one small—had completely entered the guild did Erza finally release Natsu, who'd nearly passed out.
"Phew…"
Erza tidied her slightly messy bangs, expression heavy.
"If this isn't some kind of illusion… then we've gone back to the past."
At that, bookworm Lucy snapped to attention, pointing as she blurted out:
"Wait—Erza, the reason you stopped Natsu… you're worried about a time paradox, aren't you?!"
"Time paradox?"
Happy tilted his head.
"What's that? Is it tasty?"
"I read about it in a book!"
Lucy explained anxiously.
"If you interfere with the past—even in a tiny way—it could cause massive changes in the future!"
"Hm?"
Erza looked at Lucy with a face that plainly said, And?
She clenched her fist, a fire of something called obsession burning in her eyes.
"Since we're back in the past, there's something I have to do no matter what. That's why Shane can't find us yet."
"…"
It was over.
This woman had been completely corrupted by Shane.
That way of thinking… was so forceful and self-centered it was ridiculous.
Watching Erza, utterly unchallengeable, already starting to form a "battle plan," Lucy covered her face in despair.
~~~
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