Ember of the Starry Sky

Two days had passed since The Incident also known as her absolute failure to invite Mirajane out like a normal person. And in those two days, she had done nothing but agonize over how to fix it.

Her pride refused to let her go back to Mirajane with a half-baked, stuttering attempt. No, she needed a plan a perfect plan.

Which was why she had locked herself in her house, pacing back and forth like a lunatic while Hinote watched from the table, lazily sipping tea.

"You're making me dizzy," Hinote drawled, propping her chin on one hand.

Yukari scowled but didn't stop pacing. "I'm thinking."

"You've been thinking for two days."

"This requires strategy."

"This requires you to just ask her out like a normal person."

Yukari ignored that. She wasn't avoiding the situation. She was strategizing.

She stopped pacing long enough to grab a piece of paper and scribble something down.

PLAN A: Walk up to Mirajane and invite her out.

PROBLEM: Immediate death from embarrassment.

She scribbled it out.

PLAN B: Write a note. Leave it somewhere discreet.

PROBLEM: What if someone else found it? What if Mirajane laughed? What if it got lost? What if Natsu ate it by accident?!

More scribbling.

PLAN C: Get Cana to casually bring it up in conversation.

PROBLEM: Cana is a menace.

Yukari groaned and buried her face in her hands. This was impossible.

"Yukari," Hinote said, her voice heavy with amusement. "You burned an entire magical sky just a few days ago, and yet here you are, scared of asking one woman out."

Yukari's hands clenched into fists. "It's different!"

Hinote raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Because—because it just is!" Yukari huffed, slumping onto a chair. "This isn't like a fight. I can't just punch the problem away."

"Well, you could," Hinote mused. "But I don't think Mirajane would appreciate being punched into a date."

Yukari groaned again and let her head fall onto the table. "I hate this."

Hinote just chuckled.

Despite spending all night drafting and destroying plans, Yukari still had no solid idea by the time she reached the guild the next morning.

As soon as she stepped through the doors, her eyes immediately landed on Mirajane behind the bar, effortlessly charming customers with that warm smile of hers.

Yukari felt her stomach flip.

Okay. No panicking.

Just… walk over. Say something. Anything.

She took a step forward and then Erza materialized out of nowhere and slammed down a stack of requests on the counter.

"I require assistance with these missions," Erza announced. "Yukari, you're coming with me."

Damn it.

Yukari barely had time to protest before Erza was already dragging her toward a mission board.

************

Mirajane wasn't sure what was going on with Yukari.

For two days now, the girl had been acting… strange.

Normally, Yukari would storm into the guild with the confidence of someone who had never once doubted herself in her life. She'd fight, eat, make sarcastic comments, and occasionally set things on fire. But lately?

Lately, Yukari had been hesitating.

She kept approaching the bar like she wanted to say something only to immediately back away. Mirajane had caught her staring a few times, only for Yukari to quickly look away as if she'd been caught committing a crime.

It was adorable , and mildly infuriating.

Because what was she trying to say?!

Right now, Yukari was standing next to Erza, looking at the S-Class request board on the second floor. She wasn't even paying attention to the mission posters. Erza was talking, probably explaining some high-level job, but Yukari's eyes kept glancing toward the bar toward her.

Mirajane felt a warm flutter in her chest , and that was when Lucy appeared.

"Ohhh, staring at Yukari again?" Lucy teased, sidling up next to her.

Mirajane immediately snapped out of her thoughts. "I wasn't staring."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because you kind of look like you have stars in your eyes."

Mirajane stiffened. "I do not."

"You do." Lucy grinned. "What's got you all dreamy-eyed, huh?" She followed Mirajane's gaze. "Ooh, Erza and Yukari. They do make a good-looking couple."

Mirajane's smile froze Lucy, blissfully unaware of the damage she had just done, kept going.

"They're both strong, serious, and kind of scary sometimes. I mean, imagine them as a couple! They'd be unstoppable."

Mirajane's grip on the glass she was polishing tightened.

"Oh, and Yukari respects Erza a lot, right?" Lucy continued, now fully committed to this cursed train of thought. "I bet she admires her strength! And Erza did drag her upstairs pretty forcefully just now. Maybe Yukari likes that kind of thing?"

The glass cracked in Mirajane's hand.

Lucy paused.

"…Mirajane?"

Mirajane took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a brief moment, and then smiled. "Lucy."

Lucy gulped. "Uh… yes?"

"Would you like to help me clean the kitchen?"

Lucy immediately paled. "Wait, no! Not the kitchen! Anything but that!"

But it was too late. Mirajane was already grabbing Lucy by the wrist, dragging her toward the guild's dreaded back room.

"B-But—! I didn't mean anything by it!" Lucy wailed. "I was just joking! Come on, you know they're not—!"

The kitchen door slammed shut behind them.

Outside, Yukari and Erza finally looked away from the mission board.

"…Did Lucy just scream?" Yukari asked, blinking.

Erza shrugged. "Probably. She does that a lot."

Yukari thought about asking what happened.

Then she thought about not getting involved in whatever disaster had just unfolded.

She chose the latter.