"Of course I learned it in school," Rhodes said matter-of-factly.
Mira blinked. "They teach that kind of thing in school?"
It sounded a bit sad, but it was true, Mira had never gone to school.
Not just her, many in the guild hadn't received any formal education. Most learned basic literacy from elders: some at home from their parents before tragedy struck, others in church, or later in life after joining Fairy Tail.
Natsu, oddly enough, probably had the strangest education. He said Igneel taught him how to read and write.
But when he got to Fairy Tail, he realized the human writing system was different. So Erza had pinned him down and personally "re-educated" him, with a fist when needed.
Rhodes suspected dragons had their own written language, but Natsu insisted it was just the script that was different, not the spoken words. Unfortunately, after seven years, he'd completely forgotten how to write in the dragon system.
Nowadays, Magnolia had both magic schools and ordinary classrooms, but most folks weren't interested. As long as you could read job postings and do simple math, that was enough. Some who were passionate about magic theory or research pursued it, but those types were rare.
Girls like Levy, who loved reading and had a deep reservoir of knowledge were outliers.
Mira had learned to read and write from her parents before they passed. Later, she taught Elfman and Lisanna on her own.
None of the Strauss siblings had attended a formal school, so Mira had no idea if what Rhodes mentioned was something actually taught in classrooms.
She had learned about basic physiology on her own, slowly and sometimes painfully. There were moments in her youth she truly thought she was going to die from things no one had explained.
Rhodes thought about that and felt a sudden pang of guilt, not just for Mira, but for so many of their guildmates who had grown up under similar hardship.
"In the school I went to, we learned stuff like that when we were around twelve or thirteen…"
At that age, Mira had already been out in the world, scraping together jobs just to feed herself and her younger siblings.
On impulse, Rhodes pulled her into a hug.
For someone like him, who had never gone hungry, who had never worried about survival, it was hard to truly imagine the weight Mira had carried for so long.
"Wh-What's this about all of a sudden?" Mira asked, confused.
Rhodes hesitated. The words 'I'll take care of you from now on' sat at the tip of his tongue, but in the end, he softened it. "I'll… tell you more about myself from now on."
Mira rested her hand on his shoulder. "I thought you didn't like talking about your past."
"I do now," he said quietly, ruffling her hair with a smile.
"Okay," she whispered, nodding.
That's how it starts, right? Falling for someone, wanting to know them better… and slowly, wanting them to know you just as deeply.
Maybe it wasn't the right order. Maybe it was.
Either way, it didn't seem to matter anymore.
What did matter was that Mira looked happier now. And that made Rhodes happy too.
…
They'd ridden ferries, carriages, crabs, and even a magic four-wheeler together, but strangely, this was their first time taking a train.
Train capacity in Fiore always seemed oddly generous. Even in the busiest hours, the cars were never full.
Rhodes had never seen a packed cabin before. Not once.
You'd think the railway company would cut a few carriages to save costs. How could they possibly turn a profit like this?
Were they not worried about going out of business?
Of course, the railway company's inefficiency wasn't something Rhodes particularly cared about.
Having an empty carriage all to themselves was actually perfect, it meant peace, quiet, and uninterrupted time with Mira as they traveled through the countryside.
When he got tired of looking out the window, he simply rested his head on Mira's lap, watching the scenery pass by from that very cozy angle.
And Mira? Mira was clearly in an excellent mood.
Before they left, she'd even changed into the very first outfit Rhodes had picked out from her closet, a white, off-the-shoulder T-shirt, knotted stylishly at the hem to reveal her waist, paired with short blue denim shorts and a loosely slung white belt that served more as a fashion accent than actual function.
From where Rhodes lay, her Fairy Tail mark was temptingly within reach.
He reached out to brush his fingers over it but got a light slap on the hand.
So, naturally, he redirected his attention to gently rubbing her stomach instead.
Mira didn't stop him. It was private, comfortable, and… admittedly relaxing. In return, she coiled her fingers in his hair and rhythmically ruffled it.
Rhodes suspected this wasn't a reward, but punishment cleverly disguised as affection.
Eventually, they swapped positions. Mira laid across his lap, and he entertained himself by fiddling with the little clip in her hair, occasionally removing her rubber band just to retie her ponytail and test his hair-styling skills.
She looked fine lying flat, but her side profile was a little… distractingly cute. So, to stop himself from getting too distracted, Rhodes pulled out the mission file to review.
He told himself it was about strengthening his focus, some kind of self-discipline test. Truthfully, Mira just made concentrating a bit of a challenge.
He had to stay sharp.
Last time, things had gone sideways even though it wasn't due to their negligence. This time, they couldn't afford any mistakes.
"Violet Town," Rhodes murmured, flipping through the mission notes. "They say the place is as lovely as its name... and the girls there are beautiful, ow! That wasn't me, that's what one of the older guys in the guild said!"
He rubbed the sore spot on his side where Mira had pinched him.
Still, his tone turned grim as he pointed to the core concern. "This might be exactly why that town was targeted. There are reports of criminal groups kidnapping underage girls, training them, then selling them across the sea."
Mira's smile vanished. She'd read the briefing earlier, but now she leaned in to look at the specific parts Rhodes had marked.
He pointed at a stretch on the simple map included with the request. "There's a road here that leads straight to the harbor. If they take it and ride hard, they can be on a ship in under two hours. If that happens, they're gone. We'll lose them."
Mira nodded, her expression hardening. "And a smuggling ship like that won't dock at an official port. They'll transfer at sea or wait off the coast. We can't just sit around and wait."
"The southern coastline is too long," Rhodes said with a sigh. "We can't monitor every inch of it. What are we going to do, scatter Voidmites across the entire shore and have them bite every ship that comes near?"
He leaned back against the seat, frustrated. "At best, we can head to Violet Town and wait for the traffickers to strike again. But that means letting them grab another child just to trace them, and I don't want to just stand there and watch that happen."
Mira didn't speak. Her expression darkened.
A pulse of magic flickered across her hand as it briefly transformed into her demon form, sharp-clawed, ominous, and just as quickly shifted back.
"I'll be honest," she said coldly. "If it means stopping people like that, I'm perfectly fine being a demon."
Rhodes frowned deeply. "I get it. But there's still a risk. If we move too early and catch the wrong guy, it might scare the others off. They'll tighten security, change routes, or just vanish."
They sat in silence for a few moments, both of them thinking.
Then Mira looked up with a glint in her eyes. "Well, there is another option."
Rhodes turned to her, curious. "Yeah?"
"We use bait."
He raised a brow. "You mean… fake a kidnapping?"
"Exactly. We send in someone who looks like the perfect target," she said, voice calm. "Then we let them take the bait and follow them back to the source."
A classic sting operation, but dangerous.
Rhodes immediately thought of Wendy. She was small and innocent-looking, but—
"No," he said aloud, rejecting the idea. "Wendy's off-limits. She said herself she's not good in combat. If anything happened to her, I'd feel guilty for life."
Mira waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, I wasn't talking about Wendy."
With a burst of white light, her body shimmered and shifted, growing smaller, younger. In moments, she had taken on the form of her younger self, complete with high ponytail, a giant ribbon in her hair, and wide, teary-looking eyes.
She clasped her hands together, tilted her head, and said in a trembling voice, "Mister… can you help me? I'm lost…"
Rhodes blinked, stunned. "Wait… isn't that what you actually looked like as a kid?"
Mira grinned and batted her lashes. "So? Think they'd want to kidnap me?"
"I want to kidnap you right now," Rhodes muttered under his breath.
Mira feigned a gasp, then gave him a pout. "So scary… Will big brother protect me?"
That only made it worse.
Now Rhodes really wanted to kidnap her.
He exhaled heavily. "If you keep playing like this, I'm going to be the one arrested the moment we step off this train."
...
Bonus @2000 $tonks
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