The stall-selling contest at the Harvest Festival had ended, and Lucy, unsurprisingly, did not win any prize money.
Lucy dragged her exhausted body home, enjoyed a relaxing bath, and crawled into bed wrapped in her bathrobe.
She sank into the soft bed and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Goodnight~"
Just as she closed her eyes after speaking, her hand brushed against something slippery inside the covers. It felt like fabric, but not like her own bedsheets.
She frowned, pulled the object out to examine it, and a scarf with a scale pattern unfolded in the moonlight.
The more she looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.
Isn't this that scarf Natsu treasures like his own life?!
Lucy instantly sobered up, jumped out of bed, and threw back the covers. Sure enough, she saw Natsu curled up on the other side of the bed, sleeping like a log with drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.
Happy was sprawled on Natsu's belly, fast asleep as well.
Lucy grabbed Natsu's scarf and yanked him off the bed, causing Happy to roll onto the floor with a "rumble-rumble" sound.
Natsu stood up groggily, eyes still closed, and waved vaguely toward the wall, greeting her incoherently.
"Good morning, Lucy."
"I'm over here!"
Lucy shouted angrily from behind him, her voice loud enough to shake the entire building.
"And this is my bed! Why are you guys here?!"
Lucy grabbed Natsu's scarf and gave it a hard tug, spinning him around twice like a top.
"Thump."
He fell back onto Lucy's bed, buried his face in the pillow, and immediately started snoring again.
"Still so sleepy..."
A vein popped on Lucy's forehead, and she clenched her fists until they cracked.
"Hey! You didn't hear a word I said!"
Happy climbed up groggily, rubbing his eyes with his little paws.
"Um, give the scarf back to Natsu. It's what Igneel left for him, and he treasures it a lot."
Lucy looked at the scarf in her hand, sighed, and handed it to Happy.
Happy took the scarf, folded it skillfully, and placed it gently beside Natsu's pillow, careful not to crush it.
"Happy, why is Natsu so sleepy?"
Lucy sat on the edge of the bed and asked, looking at Natsu, who was sleeping like the dead, with some concern.
Happy tilted his head, thinking, and tapped his chin with his little paw.
"In the past, when Natsu ate Laxus's lightning, he was like this too—drowsy after eating. But logically speaking, the fire Riyao gave Natsu to eat... Natsu is a Fire Dragon Slayer, so there shouldn't be a problem."
"Then why is he still so sleepy?"
Happy shook his head, indicating he didn't know either.
Just then, a lazy voice drifted over from the direction of the window behind them.
"That's because my fire is mixed with dark-attribute magic."
The girl and the cat were so startled they hugged each other.
Riyao was lying on the windowsill with his chin resting on the frame, looking at them with a smile. The moonlight shone on him, making him look like a big cat that had snuck inside.
"During the battle at the Tower of Paradise, the flames I used to replenish Natsu were mixed with the dark magic from my Life Mimicry: Demon form. His body is still digesting and absorbing it, which is why he's drowsy. It's similar to how people want to sleep after eating too much."
He paused and added.
"But don't worry, once he digests it, it will actually be good for him. It's like a disguised way of increasing his resistance."
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest.
"Can you not just suddenly speak up? You scared the life out of me."
Riyao chuckled.
"Mira and I were taking a walk and saw that the lights were still on at Lucy's place, so we jumped up to take a look. And to see if there was any fun to be had."
"What fun..."
Happy's little bundle fell out during the earlier commotion, and its contents scattered across the floor. A flyer drifted down and landed on Lucy's face.
Lucy pulled the flyer off her face and, by the moonlight, her eyes widened instantly.
"Miss Fairy Tail Contest? 500,000 J prize money!"
Those big characters seemed to glow, shining directly into Lucy's heart.
500,000 J! That's enough for her to pay seven months of rent!
Happy slapped his head, and his little wings fluttered.
"Oh, right! I came to bring this to Lucy! I almost forgot!"
He fished another flyer out of the scattered bundle, handed it to Lucy, and then tilted his head, his tone filled with a bit of sympathy.
"Lucy can participate, but Mira, Erza, and Cana will all be participating too. It's going to be tough for you, Lucy~"
Lucy clenched her fists, cheered herself on, puffed out her chest, and looked confident.
"I'm younger! I have fresh charm! I can do it!"
Mirajane had appeared at some point, lying on the windowsill next to Riyao, resting her chin on her hands, and said with a smile.
"Seventeen-year-old Lucy You're only two years younger than me"
Lucy was startled again, nearly falling off the bed, and clutched her chest with one hand.
"Wow! Where did Mira pop out from?!"
Riyao looked at Lucy speechlessly and sighed.
"Didn't I say Mira and I were taking a walk? I told you not to forget the setup just to make a quip. Every time you encounter something surprising, you automatically ignore the foreshadowing."
Mirajane covered her mouth and smiled, and Riyao continued to deliver a verbal blow.
"And, three-years-younger-than-me Lucy~ Have you forgotten your zero success rate with honey traps? You've never succeeded with a honey trap, have you?"
Lucy's face instantly turned bright red, as if her weak spot had been poked, and she waved her clenched fists in the air.
"Th-that's because the opponents were abnormal! Who could have guessed those guys would be immune to honey traps!"
Riyao and Mirajane looked at each other and laughed at the same time.
Poor Natsu had been stepped on by Lucy during the commotion, and his soul had popped out of his mouth, floating in mid-air as a white, fuzzy blob.
Happy was frantically trying to stuff Natsu's soul back in, his little paws grabbing at it, but he couldn't catch it.
"Natsu! Wake up! Your soul is out!"
"Mmm... five minutes... five more minutes..."
Seeing there was no more fun to be had, Riyao and Mirajane jumped down and continued their walk.
The two walked hand-in-hand along the canal. The moonlight spilled onto the water, making it shimmer, and the streetlights along the bank cast warm yellow light, stretching their shadows long.
The autumn night breeze carried a hint of chill, but their joined hands were warm.
"Mira~"
Riyao suddenly spoke up, his tone carrying a bit of mischief.
"What do you think if I also participate in the Miss Fairy Tail Contest? Hehe..."
As he spoke, he thought of an interesting idea and laughed. That smile looked mischievous no matter how you looked at it.
Mirajane turned her head to look at him, revealing a sly smile. She tapped her chin with her index finger, as if she were seriously considering it.
"Then you'll have to change your look. I'm tired of seeing the blonde big sister look."
Riyao rubbed his chin and rolled his eyes.
"Change my look? What do you say if I turn into a female version of my Azure Dragon form?"
"Hehe, I think that could work."
The two looked at each other and smiled, conspiring on how to sneak into the contest. Their laughter echoed along the canal, startling a few night birds resting by the river.
Under the moonlight, their shadows overlapped as they slowly walked away.