Happy Fourth of Jellal, to those who celebrate it! Here's an extra special longer chapter. With... are those... FEELS? IN MY COMEDY?! It's more likely than you think.

Although the worst case scenario had been avoided (for the moment, anyway), it occurred to Mystogan that he was going to have to find a more permanent solution to the residence issue. Especially if he was really going to make a serious go at being Fairy Tail's guild master. Which he hadn't fully 100% committed to just yet, mind. But now… well it wasn't… completely out of the question. If nothing else, Mirajane's kindness and thoughtfulness deserved to be reciprocated. He could stick around long enough to get things running more smoothly. It was the least he could do to thank Mirajane and repay the guild for all it had done for him growing up.

A few days of effort. He could survive that.

However, residency was still something he should look into. Even if this… arrangement was temporary. It didn't have to be anything too concrete - just better than his current affair with the office couch. It was probably older than he was and after only a single night of sleeping on it, it had already acquired a distinctly Mystogan-shaped indentation. But it wasn't like he had many other real options outside of it right now, either. Generally, Mystogan just lived out of a sleeping bag and a makeshift tent while traveling; sometimes not even the tent if the weather was warm enough. Mystogan didn't have much by way of possessions. Or money for that matter. Money was more of a burden while traveling than a help, and the number of jewels a job paid out honestly wasn't the primary objective behind the ones he chose to take. So long as a job covered the cost of his supplies to get to his desired locations, that was all Mystogan honestly needed. Extra funds went towards upgrading his magical staffs or purchasing new ones. Otherwise he was functionally broke.

This was how he preferred it. There was no telling if he would someday have to return to Edolas; having fewer possessions would make such a transition much easier. And putting down roots would only make it harder to bid Earthland and Fairy Tail goodbye. He also hated the thought of leaving a mess behind for his guildmates to clean up when he ultimately left them - he suspected that mindset came from having to come to this world to clean up King Faust's mistakes in the first place.

But it also meant that he didn't have a place of his own to retreat to right now. Not that he'd ever really had one in the first place even when he was younger. When he had first settled at Fairy Tail, he'd lived with Porlyusica instead of in the makeshift basement dormitory, or the gender separated dorms that cropped up a few years later. Porlyusica's home had been far away from the rest of the younger guild members, so there was less chance that Erza could be hurt by his face, and he couldn't be confused for anyone else out in the middle of woods when there was no one to see him. As a result… there wasn't anyone he was close to, growing up, and no one he could ask to spare a room. There was absolutely no way his prior accommodations with Porlyusica would work again, though. Even if he wanted to, there was no possible world in which he would move back in with the grouchy Edolas-native. She wouldn't tolerate it, and there wasn't room for a second adult in her hut besides.

Also, there hadn't been any point maintaining a separate residence within Magnolia once he'd gotten old enough to leave - after all, he was never around long enough to make use of a permanent home or pay for the upkeep on a dorm room. It just never made any sense for him to set anything like that up. Mystogan only had the guild, and this office. So camping out on the couch was his only course of action for the foreseeable future. It wasn't the worst option. Even if it did leave his neck a bit stiff. Yeah, it was fine – at least until he saved enough money to rent an apartment. A dorm was out of the question. Or he could camp out in the back of the guild… maybe. If Natsu could build himself a cabin out in the woods, he could too. Probably. How hard could it be? He'd leave that as a last resort, though.

Which led him to wonder if guild masters earned a stipend or had an allowance or something. Surely they had to get paid somehow for the work. It was still a job after all, right?

…He now realized that he probably should have inquired about getting paid for all of this a whole lot sooner.

Also, this whole speculation was somewhat moot. He wasn't staying any longer than a day or two anyway. Maybe a week. It would sort itself out and once he found a replacement, he would be back on the road and his more familiar way of life. That was what was best. For everyone.

A knock sounded on the door. "Guild Master?" Mirajane's soft voice called from the other side. "Are you awake? I would like to speak to you for a minute."

Perfect timing. "One moment!" he replied, pulling his bandana over his hair and tucking in a few stray strands. As he pulled up the bottom half of his mask over his mouth, he called out a slightly muffled, "Come in!"

The door swung open, revealing Mirajane with the now familiar sight of yet more paperwork delivered from the council. "Good morning!" she greeted him as she handed the stack to him. "I hope you had a good rest."

Mystogan eyed the reports now in his possession with distaste. "If only it was longer." Mirajane's answering giggle made him flush. He hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Luckily for you, I believe most of these are notices on policy changes, conference schedules, and the like. Although at least one of them is a complaint about Gray."

If there was one thing Mystogan was starting to suspect, it was that complaints about Gray and his lack of clothes were going to be a daily occurrence. Not being at the guild often, Mystogan hadn't realized just how bad the problem had become.

"Oh," Mirajane tacked on as an afterthought, "speaking of Gray, I believe he's sitting in a jail cell, so you may want to handle that first."

The new guild master's shoulders slumped. "...How concerned should I be…?"

She gave him a smile, but it looked a bit more… tired… than usual.

"That bad?"

Mirajane's eyes did not meet Mystogan's. "Unfortunately, there was a children's party in a park…"

Ah. Enough said.

Mystogan held up a hand to stop her from continuing. "I'll tackle that one first, I promise."

"Wonderful. By the way, the stamp…"

"I have yet to find it," Mystogan choked out. He'd turned the office inside out in his filing shuffle, and still had yet to find the stupid thing. "Have you considered asking Mast…" He cleared his throat. "...Makarov directly?"

Aaaand the wan smile was back. "I'm afraid that he doesn't recall where he left it."

Although Mirajane would be unable to see it, Mystogan hoped that she could tell all the same that their expressions were now a matched set. "...I see. I'll keep searching."

"Thank you."

That blasted stamp! Where in Earthland was it?! Edolas?! At this point, Mystogan wouldn't have been surprised if it had somehow managed to wind up on the moon.

Mirajane paused in thought for a moment. "By the way, Guild Master, there are a few things I'd like to go over with you when you have the spare time? I believe that there may have been some duties that Master Makarov may have…" She trailed off, visibly searching for the right words.

"...Forgot to tell me about?" Mystogan finished for her, relieved that he wouldn't have to bring the topic up himself. That would have been a very awkward topic for him to broach directly. After all, it wasn't her job to train him. It should have been Makarov's, but the old man seemed distinctly disinclined to do so. At her confirmation, he nodded. "I would really appreciate that," Mystogan told her. "Are you free right now?"

Raising a hand to her face, she tapped the side of her jaw in thought. "Can you give me an hour? I need to finish setting up the bar and kitchen for the day."

"That works. Thank you again for all your help, Mirajane." He meant it. She'd already gone above and beyond for him, in this strange situation in which they found themselves. "I don't know how I can ever repay you for everything."

Her smile this time was much softer. "We're family, Mystogan. If the circumstances were reversed, I'm sure you'd do the same for me."

Pain gripped his chest as he watched her leave the office.

Mirajane was wrong about him. Mystogan wasn't as good of a person as she seemed to believe he was, and he knew it. He was clueless when it came to interacting with his guildmates, clueless when it came to leadership, and especially clueless about the closeness that Mirajane seemed to feel for the others in the guild. That was something that he lacked. He cared for his guildmates - really, he did. But that bond just wasn't the same as what Mirajane seemed to feel.

But then, family was a loaded word for him, after all.

Shaking himself, Mystogan sat down at the desk. The least he could do to repay her was to handle the latest Gray-debacle by the time she returned upstairs.

…Mirajane deserved a raise. A major one.

Mystogan had suspected for a while now that Mirajane was the glue holding Fairy Tail together by its seams, and unfortunately he'd been proven much more correct than he had ever believed possible over the course of his conversation with her.

The way Mirajane had explained it to him, there were several main duties that the guild master was expected to perform as there was a lack of dedicated, paid personnel in the guild. In fact, aside from the guild master position, the only other paid position in the guild was Mirajane's own. As such, as Makarov had gotten older and after she stopped taking job requests of her own, she'd taken over more and more of his duties. She was essentially running the guild by herself.

"Are you sure you don't want the guild master position?" Mystogan asked her. "You're not only running the bar, you're keeping the ledger, approving and recording dispatches, doing the supply runs and managing inventory, acting as archivist…" Mystogan hadn't even known there was an archive in the building. That would have been nice to know earlier. "…cleaning, communicating with clients, replacing damaged property, making bank deposits, and coordinating guild events with the city. How are you handling all of that by yourself?!"

She gave him a slight shrug. "Some days the bar isn't very busy, and I like to keep occupied."

What about the days the bar was busy?! Mystogan severely doubted that the highly capable woman before him would ever allow even a single one of the balls she was juggling to drop, even if the guild were actively burning down around her.

"You're basically already doing the full job, why not accept the title as well?" Admittedly, that would resolve all of Mystogan's own immediate problems. And rather neatly, too.

Waving a hand in dismissal, she shot him down. "I don't want the title or the other responsibilities that comes with it. There were still plenty of other duties that Master Makarov handled himself." Mirajane began to count them off on her fingers. "He handled all of the assessment work on the new requests that came in and ranked them appropriately, most importantly. He also dealt with anything Magic Council related… which as I'm sure you've guessed by now takes up a lot of time."

She was not wrong.

"He also attended all of the guild conferences, and despite my handling of the correspondence for events, Master Makarov still designed and planned the majority of those himself. He also handled the main budget allocation for the year as well as handling big client meetings. Master Makarov also regularly reviewed the ledgers as he liked to keep apprised of what was going on in the guild."

Great. Just what Mystogan needed. It looked as if the job of Guild Master required a lot more socializing and… math… than Mystogan believed he was even capable of. Now that he thought about it, whenever he happened to stop by the guild to pick up a new job, Makarov had always been downstairs in the thick of the guild, surrounded by other people. He had also always been available whenever Mystogan needed anything growing up. Mystogan doubted that care had been solely reserved for him, and that Makarov had treated each and every single one of his precious guild children like they were his one and only concern in the entire world. Suffocating when he was young, yes, but…

Mystogan wondered if that was what having a good parent felt like.

His earlier doubts began to surface, and he wondered how he could ever rise to that level with the guild members himself if he couldn't even show them his face.

Honestly, the guild deserved to have someone like Mirajane at the helm. Someone who loved the others like Makarov loved them. Not Mystogan, who didn't even know them, and whom they also could never really know.

Mirajane seemed to sense something was wrong with the new guild master, and she laid a gentle hand on Mystogan's arm. The touch snapped him back into the present conversation. "The other reason I don't want to be Guild Master is because I enjoy my current role," she told him softly. "There's a lot of politics involved with the position, and I don't even have strong magic to back me up anymore." Sorrow swam behind her eyes. "At its heart, the Guild Master is someone who protects the guild. That's… not something I can do, anymore. I couldn't even protect Lisanna when it mattered the most, nor Elfman, nor myself. And that was at the height of my strength. Now…" She shook her head, withdrawing her hand from Mystogan's arm. Her hand clenched as she drew it to her chest, the limb trembling as she fought to keep her emotions under control.

Mirajane was not the same person she had been, Mystogan suddenly realized. He'd known, of course, of Lisanna's death and her loss of magic. Her attire and attitude change was something even he had been aware of. But for the first time, Mystogan felt like he was seeing Mirajane. Her entire world had collapsed, two years ago. Much like when Mystogan had abandoned his home world, the world now in front of Mirajane and her path ahead were unknown, and terrifying for her. It was little wonder that she would choose the much safer option of becoming the guild's barmaid, and a model for Sorcerer Weekly. An ordinary life was what awaited Mirajane now. No more adventures.

He wasn't sure what it was that prompted him, but Mystogan shook his head at her. "Mirajane," he began, then stopped. Words had never been his strong suit. He wasn't an eloquent man by any means. But he felt as if he needed to convey this feeling inside of him, no matter what. If he didn't, he would regret it for the rest of his life. "Mirajane," he started again. "I don't… I'm not suited to this job." When it looked like Mirajane might argue, he shook his head at her. "It's the truth. I'm not… social. I don't know the other guild members. They don't know me. I possess none of the qualifications necessary to lead. And I can barely read, if I'm being honest. But…" He let out a calming breath through his nose. "But even I can tell that you're much more of a protector than I am." Mystogan tapped his chest with a gloved finger. "Here. Where it matters the most."

She'd proven that to him beyond a doubt, in the short time he'd been Guild Master. Mirajane had been beyond kind to him, valuing him and his feelings. It mattered, everything she did. It mattered.

Bright tears shone in her blue eyes. A warbling giggle arose from deep in her throat as she wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "Are you the same type as me?" she questioned, a smile breaking out on her face.

Same… type…?

Mystogan's confusion must have been clear, as Mirajane let out another giggle. "By which I mean an S. Don't deny it, I saw how you dealt with Erza and now here you are making me cry."

What the hell was an 'S'? S-Class? That was a given? Why was she bringing that up? What did that have to do with it? Other than Erza, Mirajane, and himself all having the same rank, he didn't see what else it could mean, but it didn't quite make sense in this context?

"I… guess…?" he responded, still bewildered and unable to guess what she was getting at.

This time it wasn't a giggle his words elicited, but an outright laugh.

Yeah there was definitely some subtext here he wasn't getting.

But at least she seemed happy.

How strange, Mirajane thought to herself as she left the Guild Master's office. To think that there would be someone with whom she felt that comfortable speaking to about the things she normally kept firmly pushed below the surface. Perhaps because Mystogan had spent so little time with them before, it was almost as if she had vented to a stranger about all of the hardships she'd endured.

And vent she had admittedly done. There had been no real reason to unleash all of that on Mystogan like she had. Both the personal and the work baggage. But it had been so easy. He was a good listener, and despite what seemed to be a case of low self-worth, he extended the care he didn't give himself to others instead.

Yes… they were very much alike, she suspected.

And she wasn't the only one being affected by his presence, if she were any judge. Cana had been behaving much differently lately as well - she'd only consumed two barrels of alcohol the previous night, instead of her customary four. The card mage had seemingly appointed herself as Mystogan's guardian as well, intercepting anyone that tried to barge in on him. She had failed with Erza, but that wasn't a great surprise.

Erza, too, was uncharacteristically quiet. She hadn't once scolded the other guild members over all the trouble they'd gotten into recently - instead, she was pouring over the paperwork Mystogan had given her, consumed by self-reflection.

It was subtle, this change coming over Fairy Tail and its members. There was a fresh breeze blowing through the guild.

Mirajane looked forward to seeing what sort of future it would carry them all into.

Meanwhile, at Era - home of the Magic Council…

In a meeting room a magic circle pulsed with cyan light, filled with the spectors of the council members and their magical projections. "Hah!" one of the men scoffed to the others present, stroking his grayed beard. "Did you all see that Fairy Tail had a regime change?"

"I never thought Makarov would ever retire," another man, with orange furred cat ears and tail remarked. "I always thought he would die at his post."

A chuckle arose from a dark haired woman, the light of the magic circle catching and scattering upon the strands of her hair despite her lack of physical presence. "Org, Michelo… aren't you being harsh? I would have thought you'd be celebrating this instead."

Michelo, his tail swishing, made a derisive noise in the back of his throat. "They're all the same destructive morons they were before. There's just a different destructive moron in charge now."

"One with more energy than Makarov," lamented a dark haired man in dark shades. "I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a rise in incidents involving Fairy Tail going forward."

"Does anyone know who they've appointed in his stead?" a blonde woman wearing purple inquired.

"I believe, Belno, that it was a man named… Mystogan," another council member, clad all in white, informed her. The scarlet tattoo under his eye gleamed harshly in the magic circle's light. "Although I've heard the name a few times, I'm afraid I'm having trouble putting a face to it."

"Mystogan is a very private lad," a hunched old man interjected. "From what I've heard, he doesn't like to cause trouble, nor stand out."

Belno nodded. "Ah, then perhaps we can expect the guild to fall more in line."

Laughter broke the temporary lull in conversation, the tattooed man bent in half with the force of it.

Org's irritation shone clearly on his face. "Care to share what you find so funny about that, Siegrain?"

A grin spread across Siegrain's face, cold and cruel as he straightened himself up. "I just find the idea of Fairy Tail behaving to be hilarious. I doubt things will change much, no matter the temperament of whoever is in charge." He shrugged exaggeratedly and shook his head for melodramatic effect. "And honestly, I rather hope they don't change. I can always count on those buffoons at Fairy Tail to be entertaining, if nothing else. What do you think, Ultear?"

The dark haired woman from before let out a light laugh of her own. "I must agree. Although… with such an unknown at the helm, we would be wise to keep a closer eye on the Fairy Tail guild going forward."

As murmurs of assent arose around the magic circle, Ultear shared a meaningful look with Siegrain - one that did not go entirely unnoticed by the hunched old man.

Yes… they would pay very special attention to Fairy Tail, indeed.

Their future plans depended on them, after all.