Chapter Fifteen: Do You Truly Wish to Leave Fairy Tail?
By the time Kira and Brandon went back to meet up with the others, Lucy was in the middle, crying her eyes out.
"Oh," Kira sighed. "I guess we missed the motivational speech."
"Kira!" Erza ran up to her, smacking her arm with a lot of force. "Cana told me what you did! I didn't know you were that strong."
"First of all, ow," Kira said, rubbing her new bruise. "And second, I didn't know I could do it. It just happened. And let me guess; you're the one who beat the last member of Element 4?"
Erza grinned. "Just barely," she admitted. "But -- Master!" Erza cut herself off and quickly ran to console Master, who also suddenly began to cry.
"I wonder what he's thinking about," Kira mused aloud.
"He's probably just thinking about what the Council will do to him," a cheerful voice said from behind her.
"Mirajane!" Kira turned around quickly to see the white-haired mage run over to her.
"Thank you for stopping the light from destroying our guild," Mirajane said. "I saw what happened. You're a very powerful wizard. Fairy Tail is lucky to have you on its side."
"Thanks, but I couldn't stop it in time." Kira absentmindedly glanced back at the half-destroyed guild.
"Oh, it's alright," Mirajane said, waving her hand as if Kira were being silly. "We were thinking of renovating the guild anyways, but never actually got around to it. Now we have no reason to not do so." She then looked behind Kira. "Oh, and thank you too, Brandon," she added. "Your help is very appreciated. It's a shame you were dragged into this mess on your first week."
"Um, actually, I was talking about this with Kira." When Kira turned around, she saw Brandon smile at them. "I realized that this isn't the place for me."
"WHAT?"
Erza finally stepped away from Master, marching up to Brandon. "Listen up here, you!" she roared, jabbing a finger into his chest. "I know what your relationship with Kira was, alright? And even after knowing that, I think you're being a dumbass for trying to leave this guild. Do you not understand why we just went through this battle? It was to show Phantom that --"
"Erza," Kira interrupted, causing Erza to surprisingly back away from him.
The angry mage stepped away from Brandon, her anger now directed towards someone else. "And as for you, Kira," she began. "I get what he is to you, but I don't think --"
"Was," Kira corrected, smiling. "What he was to me. And Brandon and I have talked about this already. The both of us think it's best if he goes back to Jiara."
For a while, Erza just gaped at her, stunned, along with everyone else. It seemed as if none of them had noticed anyone go against Erza before. Finally, Erza spoke again.
"I suppose . . . if you two think it's best. . . ."
The entire crowd went into pandemonium as Erza succumbed to what her opponent wished.
"Erza . . . stepped down!"
"She admits defeat!"
"What is this?"
"SHUT UP!"
With two words and three blows, everyone quieted down, those closest to Erza slightly stepping away from her. Erza glared at everyone with menacing eyes until she finally came back to meet Brandon's eyes.
"Well, then I suppose we'll have to do the official farewell," she told him cheerfully. "Please step forward."
Brandon meekly stepped forward as everyone tried their best to not comment on Erza's sudden mood change.
"Master, would you care to do the honors?" Erza said, stepping away as Master stepped forward.
"Do you truly wish to leave Fairy Tail?" he said gruffly. "You have been here for around a week, have you not? Are you sure of your decision?"
Brandon flushed at the way Master worded his questions. "Um, it's not that I was planning to stay here temporarily," he said quickly before frowning. "Actually, uh, to be honest, I don't think I planned to stay here for more than a month. . . ." He quickly stopped talking when he realized Master was still staring at him. "The point is," Brandon tried again, standing straighter, "I don't deserve to be in Fairy Tail, and I don't think anyone or anything can change my mind."
Master stared at him in silence for a while, before finally clearing his throat.
"A wizard may choose to leave Fairy Tail whenever he or she wishes, on three conditions," Master said. "First, you must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail for others for as long as you live. Second, you must never use former contacts met through your being in the guild for personal gain. And third, though our paths may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all your might; you must never consider your own life to be something insignificant, and you must never forget about your friends for as long as you live. Do you understand?"
Brandon nodded. "Yes, Master. I mean, um, yes sir. I'll live with those words, especially the last one." He gave a small smile to Kira as he fumbled over his words. Kira also returned the smile to him. It was possible that the two of them might not meet again, but at least they would be ending on good terms this time.
"Then step forward so I may remove your guild mark."
Everyone watched as Brandon stepped forward, lifting his arm as he did so. Master raised his hand over the blue mark on Brandon's bicep, until nothing but skin could be seen.
Brandon stepped back and Master lowered his head. Brandon hadn't been here for long, but it was clear Master never enjoyed erasing the guild's mark off of anyone.
"I've only been here for eight days, but I learned a lot from that short period of time," Brandon said. He addressed the entire guild, but his eyes were focused only on Kira. "And I just want to apologize and say sorry for any pain or suffering I might have caused you."
Kira bit her lip, the edges of her lips curled upwards. She shifted her balance onto her left foot as she watched Brandon turn around. She stood still, watching Brandon's back get smaller and smaller until he was completely gone from her sight.
"It's strange," Macao said as a silence ensued. "I barely knew that guy, but it's kind of odd, watching him leave."
"Isn't it?" Wakaba agreed. "I think I might have greeted him once at the most, yet I feel weird."
"Okay, this is getting too emotional," Kira interrupted, stepping in. Brandon was gone, but although they didn't end on bad terms, she was able to overcome this fact easily. "Brandon wouldn't want you all to feel awkward."
"Speaking of, are you ever going to tell us how you two knew each other?" Gray suddenly said. "I've asked him, but he told me to ask you."
Kira wondered if she should tell them. She looked to Erza for guidance, who only shrugged in response. How helpful she was.
"Come on, haven't you figured out you're one of us, now?" Cana said, walking over to sling an arm around her. "You can drop the act. We know how much you care about us."
"Um . . ." Kira paused. Should she tell them? She took one more glance at the direction Brandon had disappeared in. Well, they were both cool now, right? And it wasn't like the guild wanted details.
"He, um, used to be my boyfriend for two years," Kira finally said, deciding to just leave it at that.
"He used to be your WHAT?"
Kira was stunned at everyone's reactions. Cana broke away from her, eyebrows raised in interest. Mirajane also looked slightly surprised, although she quickly tried to hide it. Everyone else besides Erza had their mouths open and eyes wide.
"Why is everyone so freaked out?" Kira mumbled. "Does it sound that unbelievable?"
"I mean, you just don't look like a person capable of being close to, let alone loving, someone enough to be in a relation-- augh!" Natsu cut himself off as he fell to the ground after Gray punched his temple.
"What the hell was that for, Ice Breath?" he yelled, getting up to face the Ice Wizard.
"It's because you're too dense to realize anything, Flame Head," Gray yelled back, headbutting him.
Pretty soon, the two of them were rolling on the ground, wrestling with each other. Erza went over to stop them, almost slipping on Gray's shirt along the way. By the time Erza was able to calm Natsu and Gray down, all the other members of the guild quickly interacted with each other, leaving Kira alone. Even Cana had left to go check on Team Shadow Gear, who had seemingly arrived at some point.
I should probably go see if they're alright, too, Kira thought. They had probably suffered the most out of all of them, except maybe Lucy. Kira was making her way over to the four, who were standing next to each other, when Mirajane stepped right in front of her.
"So, Brandon is your ex?"
Kira sighed. She had thought everyone would let that go. "Um, yeah," she told her.
Mirajane nodded, then smiled. "Since you helped us, does this mean you'll start opening up to the rest of the guild?"
Kira frowned. "I . . . never really thought about what would happen after this," she admitted.
However, this didn't discourage Mirajane. "Well, then are you going to join a team?" she asked. "You can start there, if you wish."
"A team?" Kira repeated. She glanced around at everyone. "I don't know," she said after a while. "There's no team that sticks out to me particularly."
"What about my team?" Erza asked, suddenly popping up next to Kira. "I'm sure the others won't mind. Right, you guys?" she yelled at Gray, Natsu, Happy and Lucy.
"A-aye!" the guys and Happy answered quickly, while Lucy just smiled and waved before turning back to talk to Levy.
"Thanks, Erza. And no offense, but I don't think I really want to," Kira said.
Erza's expression turned into one of shock, as did Natsu's, Gray's and Happy's.
"Um, may I ask why not?" Mirajane said for the surprised group.
Kira sighed, looking down. "Well, first of all, I don't want to be the oldest." She looked back up, grinning playfully at Erza.
"D-did Kira just make a joke?" Natsu whispered loudly to Gray and Happy.
"IT WASN'T A JOKE!"
"S-sorry Er-- I mean, Kira!" Natsu quickly threw his body down in front of Kira's Erza-like expression.
"Anyways," Kira continued pleasantly, turning back to Mirajane and Erza, "my second reason is because --"
"That's what I look like?" Erza muttered to Mirajane.
"Yep," Mirajane nodded. "I don't know if I should be amazed or terrified at how accurate she got it."
"MY SECOND REASON IS," Kira said loudly to regain Erza's and Mirajane's attention, "it was nice to work with allies for once," Kira said in her normal tone, "but I'm more used to working alone. As I was fighting, I had to hold back sometimes to make sure I didn't hurt anybody from our side."
"Well, I can tell you, you didn't succeed at that," Kira heard Gray mutter from behind her. She debated turning around, but decided to leave him alone for now.
And, Kira thought silently on a more serious note, splitting the reward between five people is too little. As much as she hated to admit it, she still didn't have a proper home, and she also had her mother's hospital bills to think of. While they were talking, Brandon had offered to lend Kira some money, but she had declined. She was already indebted to him, even if he said he wouldn't accept any money from her; she didn't want to be dependent off of others for issues like these.
"Kira?"
Kira snapped back to reality as Mirajane waved her hand in front of Kira.
"Yeah, Mirajane, what's up?"
Mirajane smiled. "Um, so are you going to start opening up more to the guild?" she asked.
Kira paused for a moment before nodding. "I suppose." From what she saw so far, Fairy Tail wouldn't leave their members behind. Perhaps she was wrong in believing that it was unhealthy to be close to those around you.
"Great!" Mirajane said cheerfully. "Then maybe you could start with me."
"What do you mean, Mirajane?" Kira frowned. She had thought Mirajane to be her third friend, the first two being Erza and Cana. Would she have to do something extra to be close to her?
"That," Mirajane said, nodding at Kira. "Call me Mira. Isn't it tiring to say Mirajane all the time? Mira is so much shorter and simpler."
Kira smiled. Oh. Was that all? "Well, then does this mean we can be friends now, Mira?" It was her first time trying that name out, but she felt comfortable saying it.
Mira widened her eyes. "I thought we were already friends," she said.
Kira laughed. It felt good to have something happy to laugh about in so long. In fact, she couldn't remember laughing with joy during the years she was in Fairy Tail. As Erza and Mira -- her friends -- also laughed along, Kira looked around.
Looking at everyone from Fairy Tail, you could barely tell that they had all been in a tight battle until recently. The only telling signs were the injuries various people showed, but that was it. Everybody was smiling and laughing with each other, despite what had just happened. Even Master looked pleased --
"NOO!' Master suddenly sank to his knees, crying again.
"I wonder if he's thinking about what the Council will do to him, again," Kira thought aloud.
"Well, it's too late for that," Mira said cheerfully, pointing at a distance. "They're already here! Master will just have to pray for the best."
Kira watched as Erza went to Master again, and Natsu and Happy tried to escape. Unsuccessfully.
Things would now be slightly different in Fairy Tail, although Kira didn't think anyone would mind. After all, this was Fairy Tail she was talking about it. And Fairy Tail would be able to get through anything, as long as they had each other.
A/N:
Next chapter is epilogue.
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