Progress

Two days passed since Gerald joined Fairy Tail. He had gotten acquainted with a few of the other members of the Guild. He had a better relationship with the older members, compared to those that were... his own age, so to say.

Natsu asked him for a fight whenever he saw him. The pink-haired boy didn't seem to have any other words in his dictionary except for "Fight me!"

Natsu's partner, Happy, a blue-furred talking cat, was actually pretty fun. The feline was mostly found eating a fish, but he never missed a chance to gloat on other people's misfortune. He also had the knack of producing signs out of nothing.

Gray was laid back and more mature than Natsu. His Magic, Ice-Make, was also interesting with how adaptable it is. Too bad, he couldn't talk with the Ice mage for more than a few minutes before Natsu barged in and demanded a fight from one of them.

Cana had become a good friend in the past two days. The girl smiled brightly every time she saw him and loved playing card games with him. Gerald had a hard time saying no to her. Her big brown eyes reminded him of his sister, and when she gave him a puppy look, he couldn't refuse her. Still, he enjoyed spending time with her.

And speaking of his sister, one of the kids had a personality identical to her. Add in her big brown eyes, and he would've mistaken Levy for his sister if she didn't have blue hair. The girl was cheerful and upbeat with a very kind personality. She loved reading just as much as him, and the two had quickly become friends. Since she learned that he was spending most of his time in the Guild's archive, she had started keeping him company there while reading her books. That further reminded him of his sister since that's the way they used to spend their time together. Just sitting and reading their own books while snickering from time to time.

Levy had asked him what Magic he was learning, and when he had informed her that it's Archive and what it does, she had practically dragged him to the Guild's archive to show her where the book was placed. Since then, she had been trying to learn it together with him.

"This isn't as easy as you described it," Levy complained. She had been trying to make her memories into magical data since yesterday, and she had only converted about 7% of them. She even had somewhat of an affinity with Archive due to her natural Magic, Solid Script. A form of Letter Magic, allowing her to generate words in the air and make them solid. She can throw them at the enemies with different effects depending on the word she wrote.

"So, you are going to quit and give up on the possibility of having a perfect memory?" Gerald knew the only reason she was learning it was to have an eidetic memory, but he couldn't blame her. That was one of the main reasons he was learning it as well. Besides the fact that Fay had advised him to learn it, and he trusted her. She was a magician, after all.

Speaking of Fay, she had hit it off with Levy, and the two bonded over specific reading material. Why and how a young girl like her had gotten interested in that was beyond him. Either way, the two had become good friends.

Levy didn't respond to his question and rather to chose to focus on converting her memories. Gerald had his eyes closed and concentrated on the same. He had already converted roughly 35% of his memories to magical data. After he passed the 20% mark, his progress had slowed down even with Fay being summoned.

Gerald also wanted to increase his Magic Power and keep her summoned for longer periods of time, so he had asked Makarov on how to do that. He had an idea what the Master would tell him, but he still had to ask.

Makarov had explained that the container for Magic Power is like a muscle. The more he uses it, the larger and stronger it will become, but he also warned him about Magical Exhaustion. That was something that could cause him serious problems if he wasn't careful. His body would become weak and frail. He would also become vulnerable to a lot of diseases that his Magic Power was protecting him from. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about that since Fay warned him every time his Magic Power was getting low.

As if on cue, the blond said. "Master, your Magic Power is getting low." After a quick hug, Fay dematerialized into white participles.

Gerald stood up and asked Levy. "I'm feeling slightly hungry. Want to go grab something to eat?"

"I'm starting to run low on Jewels. I might have to go a mission soon," Levy said with a slight frown.

"No problem. The food is on me," Gerald told her with a cheeky grin.

"But, you don't have any Jewels."

"So?" He asked with a mischievous smile. "I'm just going to order two meals for myself and tell the bartender to put them on the Master's tab."

"What if he gets angry?"

"If he does, at best he would scold me. At worst, he would make me pay for the food when I start going on missions." Gerald shrugged his shoulders. "So, are you coming or not?"

"Well, I am feeling slightly peckish." Levy smiled back, and the two entered the Guild Hall.

Cana was sitting on a table by herself, and when she saw them, she waved at the two. Gerald didn't miss the stink eye that Jet and Droy were giving him once they entered. The two of them didn't seem happy that Levy was spending time with him.

"You hungry?" Gerald asked Cana, and the cheshire grin was the only answer he needed. She had been taking advantage of the Master's "generosity" as she called it, for the past two days.

Makarov was sitting on a table with Macaba and Wakao while silently observing Gerald, who was bringing a meal to Levy and Cana. Meals who were put on his tab, yet a kind smile formed on his face. He couldn't get mad at that. He was treating his Guild members kindly and making sure they got something to eat. How could he get mad that? Even though it was coming out of his pocket, he was happy with that development.

"He's a nice lad," Macaba said and took a sip from his drink. "A bit quiet, but a good listener. He's also far maturer than his age suggests."

"He has his reasons," Makarov said. He had checked out what has happened with Hyacinth and even went there to see the situation. The entire village was razed to the ground. The only thing left was rubble and the burned remains of the villagers. "He will open up in the future. I'm sure of it."

There were plenty of kids with tragic pasts in the Guild. Gray had his parents killed by a Demon, and later his teacher had to sacrifice herself to stop said Demon due to his actions.

Erza had a past that she had shared with Makarov, and he had trembled with anger when he heard it. The only reason he hadn't laid waste to the place she was a slave at was that she hadn't told him where it was and made him promise not to go there.

Mirajane and her younger siblings' parents had died when they were still kids. The oldest had later helped the townspeople of her village by defeating a Demon that had taken over the church. However, due to her natural Magic, Mira had ended up absorbing the Demon and taking some of its appearance. The townspeople scorned her, believing she is a monster, and the Strauss siblings were forced to leave their village.

All of them had opened up at least a little bit since they had joined Fairy Tail. Makarov was sure that Gerald would follow in their footsteps. It was just a matter of time.

The three kids were eating their lunch when Cana asked. "Um, Gerald? I was wondering if you would like to go on a job with me tomorrow?"

Gerald looked down at his clothes. He was still wearing his grey shirt and brown leather pants. Both of them were dirty, and he needed a replacement.

"Why not? I do need some Jewels for a pair of new clothes," He answered.

Cana nodded happily at him while she screamed inwardly. 'YES!' Past few days, Gerald had been spending more time with Levy than with her, so she was starting to worry that the bluenette would get another puppy following after her.

"It's a C-rank Job. A local armory had sent a caravan to deliver their goods when it was attacked by monsters who had stolen their inventory yesterday. We are going to have to talk to them tomorrow and get some more information from them. Then we are going to go beat up on some monsters together!" Cana cheered at the end and showed him the job. It was as she described it except she didn't mention there was a reward of 20, 000 Jewels and two of the items that are retrieved.

Gerald's heartbeat increased when he learned its a monster extermination job. Weirdly, he wasn't sure if it's due to fear or excitement. Either way, he didn't want to back out after he had already accepted. Especially not after he saw how happy Cana looked.

The three continued talking with each other until someone came behind Gerald. "Who's the new guy?"

He turned around to see a white-haired girl with blue eyes. The girl looked beautiful even though she was still growing up, but he couldn't stop himself from frowning. She was wearing a black tank top that looked more like a sports bra. Black shorts that were borderline underwear. Kneehigh black boots and to top it off, a choker of all things.

"The fuck are you frowning at?" The girl asked with anger.

"Mira..." Cana said before he could answer.

"No, no. Shut up, Cana. I want to hear. Why the fuck did you frown when you saw me!?" Mira was practically in his face and fuming with anger.

"Your clothes," Gerald answered.

"And what the fuck is wrong with my clothes?" Mira got even angrier from his response.

"Are you cosplaying a succubus?"

"The fuck are you talking about? I'm not cosplaying as anything! This is my style!" Mira declared.

"You look like a prostitute." The Guild Hall became so quiet one could hear a pin drop. No one had expected that.

Gerald had always been blunt and straightforward. That's what he remembered from his day on Earth. His friends and family had told him that, but it was part of him. It wasn't easy to change, and he tried. It was one of the reasons he wanted to become a lawyer. To get rid of his bluntness. He never succeeded, though.

The silence in the Guild lasted until a resounding crunch was heard when Mira had punched Gerald in the face. He fell on the ground, and she jumped on top of him, pinning him down.

"Those clothes make me look good! I dare you to call me that again!"

"They make you look like a prostitute." Mira was seeing red at that point and was about to punch his head off. "And you don't need them to look good."

Her punch stopped right in front of his face. "What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said. You don't need to wear those clothes to look good. Whatever you put on, you will still be beautiful. Put a dress on, and you would look just as good if not better. If you don't like dresses, go for a pair of jeans and a blouse or a tank top that's not actually a sports bra."

For a moment, Mira didn't know how to respond to that. She was forced to hide her ugly futures for quite the time. She was finally allowed to show off her body after she joined Fairy Tail and learned to control her Magic.

What she currently wore was her style, and she believed it made her look good. No one had said otherwise. Except for Erza, but she didn't count. Now, there's this new guy saying that whatever she wears, she will make it look good. It made her feel good, but she didn't know how to react to that, so she did the first thing that came to her mind. She headbutted him in the face before walking off. "Fuck you, you are dressed in rags." Mira didn't know why she said that at the end, but she did. It was too late to take it back.

Happy appeared at that moment with a sign saying. "K.O." Where that damn gloating feline got that sign, he didn't know.

Gerald wiped a bit of blood of his face, before touching his nose. 'It's not broken. Huh. Magic Power does make the body more durable. Good to know.' The only wound he had was a cut on his mouth.

"Gerald, are you okay?" Cana ran up to him.

"Peachy."

"You are bleeding!"

"It will heal. I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

Mira's siblings watched from the side and weren't sure what to do. On the one hand, they were sorry for what her sister had done. He had also called her out on her choice of clothes, which they hadn't liked, but were too afraid to tell her. On the other hand, Gerald had said that she looked like a prostitute. They didn't appreciate her sister being called that.

Makarov then walked up to him. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Gerald didn't need much help with that. With just a bit of water, he was able to remove the blood on his face.

"Why didn't you hit back?"

"She's a girl and a kid. Two things I can't bring myself to hit." His parents had taught him better than that. Both the ones from Earth and Earth Land.

The Master narrowed his eyes. That was an answer he had expected from Macao, Wakaba, or one of the older members. Not from a 14-year old boy.

"You are also a kid," Makarov commented to which Gerald just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Did you have to be so blunt about it? What if she ends up hating you?"

Gerald stayed quiet for a moment before answering. "I had a little sister." Makarov flinched at that. Noticing that it was in the past tense. "If I ever saw her like that, I would've gone crazy. If Mira ends up hating me but also ends up putting some actual clothes, I will call it a win in my book."

Yeah, Gerald was more mature than what his age suggested. He didn't need to worry about him harboring a grudge or something like that. Makarov left and went to have a talk with Mira.

He pulled the white-girl aside, and Mira was the first one to open her mouth. "Look, he deserved it. I'm not going to apologize to him.

"I wasn't going to ask you that. I wanted to see if you will harbor a grudge against him."

"Of course, I will!" Mira yelled. "He said I looked like a prostitute!"

"I don't look like a prostitute, right?"

The silence was everything she needed to know the answer.

"I've been wearing this for how many months now? Why hasn't anyone said a thing?"

Makarov would have pointed that Erza regularly did just that, but he knew better. Mentioning the redhead in front of Mira would never lead to anything good.

"Most of the older members taught it will be just a phase, but when you became too strong for them to handle you, they didn't dare tell you. You have quite the reputation, you know?"

Mira took a few deep breaths before saying. "I'm still not going to apologize to him."

"That's fine." Makarov waved his hand. "I don't think he even wants for you to apologize."

"What?!" Apparently, that wasn't the correct thing to say if he had to judge by her angered face.

"Uhhh. I talked with him earlier, and he said that even if you end up hating him, but change your wardrobe, that would be a win his book."

"He doesn't care if I hate him, but cares how I dress?"

"Yes." Makarov nodded.

"Why?" Mira couldn't understand that. What did it matter to him how she dressed.

"I can't tell you that. You would have to ask him yourself."

After cleaning himself, Gerald walked into the archive to continue his training. His encounter with Mira already forgotten. He had to focus on learning Archive and not thinking about the rebellious stage of a kid.

He found Levy already waiting for him in the archive, but Cana was also there with her.

"You won't mind if I stay with you, right?" Cana asked.

"Nope. We mostly train our Archive Magic, but you can pick up a Magic book to read."

"But, I already have my Card Magic."

"That doesn't stop you from learning other types of Magic. At the very least, you could study them so you can prepare for the future if you get in a fight with a Dark Mage." Cana nodded with understanding at that.

"Or if you like, you can check out some of the books Levy has been reading."

Cana looked towards the bluenette only to see her face was like a tomato.

Gerald sat on the couch and summoned Le Fay. "Reading time~" The blond twirled after appearing, and in a second, Fay was already sitting on his lap with a dozen books next to her.

"What are you doing?!" Cana asked with her shaking finger pointed at the blond.

"I'm reading?"

"Why are you sitting on his lap, though?"

"Because this is my spot," Fay answered as if that wasn't obvious.

Cana's face turned red, and she walked up to the bookshelves, to calm down and find a book to read.