Chapter 238

Fairy Woman's Debut!

NO POV

The next day, Macao was wandering by himself in the streets of Magnolia, feeling miserable.

The reason was that the other day, he was having drinks with Wakaba when they both happened to overhear Lucy asking Mira to help teach her transformation magic. Naturally, the two were interested in learning as well, but mainly because they felt overshadowed by the popular members of the guild and for their own personal reasons.

In Macao's case, he wanted to learn Transformation to win back the heart of his ex-wife and former Fairy Tail member, a young woman named Enno.

So, he and Wakaba followed Mira's group to Sola Tree Park and secretly watched the lesson from behind some bushes. However, as they attempted to transform, they were unable to do it, similar to Lucy, while Natsu, Happy, and Willy used it successfully. Naturally, the two couldn't help but take it hard and went home to mope in their own misery.

Macao sighed as he stopped for a brief moment in his walk and gazed towards the sky, still thinking about his inability to transform while thinking about Enno.

"Damn it," he lamented to himself. "If only I was able to use Transformation Magic."

He kept thinking about what he was doing wrong or how he could go about doing it, remembering what Mira said. Then, after thinking about it for a few seconds, he decided to try again, not wanting to give up.

"Screw it. One more go," he told himself. "I'll do it for Enno!"

He focused his magic power while picturing what he wanted to become more than anything, which was his young and spry self, until he finally threw out his arms and shouted.

"TRANSFORMATION!"

There was a long pause as his voice echoed throughout the street. But as he expected, much to his disappointment, nothing happened, which made him feel all the more depressed.

"Nope. Nothing. I guess it's useless…"

Then, suddenly, a strange heat began to grow inside his body while a dull, aching pain filled his head. The sudden feeling caused him to collapse as he held his head in agony.

"W-Wait! What's going on?! My body's burning up! My head is pounding!"

Then, his body began to radiate in purple flames, which was a representation of his magic. The fire grew and intensified around him until Macao's body suddenly exploded in an inferno, letting out a scream of pain and agony as he was swallowed by them.

Outside of Magnolia, Wakaba was sitting on a cliff smoking a cigar while broodingly staring at the city below. Like Macao, he wanted to learn Transformation magic to regain what he lost, his glory, but most significantly, his hair.

"Man, this sucks," Wakaba huffed. "I was hoping to learn Transformation so that my wife would see me in a new light. Heck, maybe even wear my hair in a pompadour for the first time in years, but I guess life doesn't work like that."

He sucked on his cigar and then released a puff of smoke, feeling hopeless. But then, he remembered how he was in his prime, which filled him with a glimmer of hope and made him want to try one more time.

"Well, it's worth a shot," decided Wakaba. "Might as well try one more time."

He stood up and started picturing his younger self, pompadour and all, focusing on the magic power throughout his body, just as Mira instructed. Then, he threw out his arms while shouting at the top of his lungs.

"TRANSFORMATION!"

But even though he did everything correctly, and after waiting a bit, no change occurred.

"Yeah, I guess I knew nothing would happen," Wakaba sighed. "Guess you can't win back what you already lost."

But then, a powerful headache suddenly wracked his mind as he held it in agony. As he did, his body began to billow in smoke.

"W-What's happening to me?!" Wakaba cried out in pain. "It feels like my head's about to bust open!"

Before long, his body exploded in a giant cloud of smoke that whipped and whirled around, engulfing his body as he yelled out in anguish.

WILLY'S POV

I was back at Sola Tree Park with Mira and the others, ready and eager for another lesson in Transformation Magic. But as we were practicing, the piercing cry of a woman screaming in terror was heard, followed by a loud explosion that came not too far away and the noisy commotion of people panicking.

"Wh-What the heck was that?!" I exclaimed.

"I don't know, but let's go check it out," said Mira. "There could be trouble."

Our group then headed toward the explosion's location, and it wasn't long before we saw the culprit.

It was a strange humanoid male who stood several feet tall and was incredibly muscular, with bulging biceps laced with rippling veins, and only wore a pair of brown tattered shorts. His skin was a shade of dark purple, with magenta markings on his wrists, shoulders, and center of his chest. His eyes seemed to be missing, with only magenta-colored lines showing, and while also sporting a mustache, his mouth was filled to the brim with razor-sharp white teeth.

"So this is what all the commotion was about," Lucy spoke grimly.

"What in the world is that thing?!" I couldn't help but gasp. "Aside from being a monster!"

Natsu then sniffed the air, appearing to be smelling the monster's scent. "I don't know, but that monster smells familiar!" he confirmed.

"Wait a second!" cried Happy. "That's Macao! I know that mustache anywhere!"

I then held up a hand and briefly used my Aqua Sense, and sure enough, Happy was right. In my head, I could see his magic power, which was bright blue, swirling around in a circle with some dark purple colors mixed into it.

"It is Macao!" I cried. "I recognize his magic power, but it's all distorted for some reason!"

The behemoth looked down at us and snarled in a demonic voice. "You're wrong! The Macao you once knew is gone! That man let his wife run away from him while he became a loser! My name is Mr. Purple!"

"Well, that's a real original name," snarked Lucy.

"Macao, what happened to you?!" called Mira. "How did you get like this?!"

"You think he ate something weird?" wondered Natsu.

"If that's the case, then that's one heck of a food allergy!" quipped Happy. "Either that or he's been overeating from stress."

"Not everything has to be caused by food, you guys!" I snapped.

Macao, or rather, Mr. Purple, flexed his muscles as his body began to radiate with his magic.

"I feel so much power and youth coursing through my veins!" he roared. "But I'm also filled with so much rage that I'm about to blow!"

Reacting immediately, I clapped my hands and threw them apart, casting my Tortoise Shell Ball, shielding us with a dome of water, just in time for Mr. Purple's body to explode with purple and magenta flames. It did its job protecting us, but the force caused smoke to billow everywhere while destroying the surrounding area.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Lucy barked crossly.

"Yeah! Watch it, pal!" Natsu yelled crossly. "You could've hurt somebody, you know!"

But there was more to come. As I dispersed the barrier, another explosion came from behind us, and a giant pillar of smoke erupted from the ground. The smoke split into several streams swirling around before they began to gather and collect into a center point and make a sphere.

"Now, what's going on?!" lamented Lucy.

Then, the sphere of smoke changed shape, taking the form of another male. In addition to having a muscular body made of smoke, he wore a red tailcoat, leaving it open, black leather boots, gloves, trunks, and even black-shaded sunglasses. His hair, however, was styled in a familiar pompadour that was double its size.

"Hold on a minute… That smoke! That hair!" gasped Mira upon recognizing him. "Wakaba, is that you?!"

The man made of smoke smugly huffed as he puffed his pipe. "Sorry, sweet-cheeks, but you're wrong," he sneered. "That wrinkled old has-been you once turned down for a date no longer exists! He got tossed out like a yesterday-old stogie and has been reborn as a hunky punk! You can call me The Smoker!"

"Yet again… pretty uninspired," Lucy commented flatly.

"But that pompadour is crazy huge!" observed Happy. "You could poke an eye out with that thing!"

"Never mind that! Wakaba asked you out on a date?!" I then asked Mira. "When did this happen?! Isn't he supposed to be married?!"

"That was a while back before you returned to the guild," Mira said wryly. "Back then, Wakaba was pretty drunk, so he wasn't really thinking straight."

"This was the me that I was always meant to be!" The Smoker continued. "Young and filled to the brim with power!"

"Yeah! You're looking at the studliest villains in all of Fiore!" Mr. Purple rumbled. "But now I hear a voice inside of me telling me to destroy everything in my path and take my revenge!"

"Yeah, me too!" agreed The Smoker. "I'm not the kind to just ignore my instincts, especially when getting some payback for all the chumps who made fun of us!"

And so, the two began wreaking havoc, using their magic to blast and destroy the buildings around the area, causing more people to panic as they ran away in fear.

"Hey! Knock it off, you two!" Lucy shouted. "You're going to destroy the city!"

"This isn't good!" Mira spoke worriedly. "They've gone completely mental, and I think I know why! This has to be because they were trying to use Transformation Magic!"

I then suddenly remembered the other day when Mira and I saw Macao and Wakaba back at Sola Tree Park.

"You think they might have been watching while you were teaching us?" I asked.

"It's the only explanation," said Mira. "This is what happens when you're not careful when using Transformation Magic. If you do so while under accumulated stress, then it'll take physical form, and you'll end up with forms like those two."

Happy then gasped. "Now that you mention it, Macao and Wakaba have been upset about being overshadowed by the other members of the guild," he realized. "Not to mention that they've been insecure about losing their hair and wanting to be more popular and attractive."

"Geez. Talk about being on the wrong end of a midlife crisis," Lucy quipped. "But whatever the case, we have to stop them before they end up reducing Magnolia to rubble."

"Well, at the very least, our guild's rep will end up in the crapper," sighed Happy.

"I don't suppose you have any idea on how to undo their transformations, do you, Mira?" I asked her.

"Luckily, there's only one way to do it," said Mira. "If you knock out the user who's currently transformed, they should go back to normal."

"So, in other words, we have to beat the snot out of them?" I confirmed flatly. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Natsu stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and wearing an eager grin. "Works out for me," he said. "I've always been up for a good brawl. Plus, it'll be a good opportunity to use Transformation Magic ourselves."

"Great idea!" concurred Happy.

I couldn't help but gawk at the male. "Um, something's telling me that's a terrible idea," I warned.

"Yeah, Natsu. This isn't the time to be fooling around," said Lucy.

"Natsu, you and Happy have only managed to transform once, and it was only at the basic level," said Mira. "I'm not sure if that's the best idea."

But Natsu and Happy weren't listening.

"Oh, come on! Since Macao and Wakaba got like this through Transformation, we'll beat them the same way!" said Natsu. "You ready, Happy?"

"Ready when you are," Happy said eagerly.

The two stood side by side, and each let out a shout as they pumped their fists in the air.

"TRANSFORM!"

In a burst of pink smoke, they pulled off another successful transformation, but what they turned into made me almost fall over in surprise. Natsu became a piece of pink paper with his face plastered on it, and Happy turned into a giant bamboo shoot.

"Hey! What the heck happened?!" exclaimed Natsu as he looked at himself.

"I think we goofed up," Happy lamented.

"Obviously!" Lucy snapped at the two indignantly. "Just what the heck did you picture that turned you into a piece of construction paper and a bamboo shoot?!"

"How should we know?!" Natsu snapped back at her.

I then sighed. "Well, this chapter wouldn't be much of a filler if there wasn't some form of comedy involved. Well then, I guess I better take a crack at these guys."

I then broke into a sprint and jumped into the air towards Mr. Purple, clenching and bringing back my fist.

"Sorry about this, Macao! This is going to hurt, but I promise I'll make this quick! WATER DRAGON: FLOWING FIST!"

But as I swung, firing a powerful stream of water, Mr. Purple immediately looked in my direction and fired a powerful blast of flames to counter. The collision of our attacks resulted in another powerful explosion, the shockwave sending me back, forcing me to spread my wings and get airborne. Just as I did, The Smoker swooped in and shot out multiple tendrils of smoke from his arms at me while I dipped, weaved, and deflected them while managing to stay airborne.

"All right, you punk! It's time we take you down a peg!" Mr. Purple snarled. "You've had this coming to you for a while!"

"Yeah! You may think you're hot stuff, but now that we've transformed, even we can kick your ass!" said The Smoker. "It's time for some good old-fashioned payback!"

"I don't have the slightest idea what you guys are talking about," I said. "And for that matter, I haven't done anything to you two."

"Don't play dumb! You know exactly what you did!" The Smoker snapped accusingly. "You started dating Mirajane!"

I blinked in confusion. "Uh… What?"

"That's right! Ever since you confessed to her, you've been living it up, dating the hottest girl in Fairy Tail!" Mr. Purple ranted. "And if that wasn't enough, you keep rubbing it in our faces with your public displays of affection!"

I became all the more baffled as I went red. "W-Wait a second! I've been doing no such thing! I would never do something like that, so I don't even know where you got that impression!"

"Says you!" scowled Mr. Purple. "You swank around all high and mighty just because you got a girlfriend pretending you're as good as us! Well, we're going to wipe that smug look off your face, and we'll see what your pretty little girlfriend will think of you when you're black and blue!"

The two then lunged for me while I shot up in the air to avoid them.

"Well, this ended up getting complicated," I complained. "And, for that matter, a bit personal."

The Smoker then released another array of smoke tendrils in my direction, forcing me to fly around and avoid them again. As I did, I heard a cry of fright come from behind me. I glanced back, only to see a father and his kid staring up at me, looking frightened. Just as I did, I heard Mr. Purple.

"You're wide open!"

At his shout, I turned just in time to see the giant of a male fire, another blast of purple flames. I would have shot up to avoid it, but I knew that it would strike the father and his kid if I did. Thinking quickly, I took a deep breath.

"WATER DRAGON ROAR!"

I countered with a breath attack, forcing our two attacks to collide in the middle. I struggled a bit as I tried pushing back to protect the two, but the two of us appeared to be dead even. Mira and Lucy then rushed over and led the two to safety.

"Good going, girls!"

But as I was about to refocus my attention on the fight, I was suddenly struck by a fist made of smoke, followed by many others. The assault caused me to stop my breath attack and the stream of fire to blast me. After that, I began to fall to the ground, but after righting myself by flipping, I landed on the ground in a crouch.

Mira and the others then rushed to my side.

"Willy! You OK?" asked Lucy.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied while wiping my cheek. "I'll say this much, those two know how to work together while playing dirty. It's going to be a bit annoying to deal with them."

"Don't worry. We'll back you up," said Mira. "All of the people in this area have gotten to safety, so we're free to cut loose here."

Mr. Purple laughed smugly. "You think the three of you can take us on?" he sneered. "Go ahead and try. We ain't afraid of you!"

"Yeah! If you wanna tussle with us, dollface, we'll be happy to show you a good time!" concurred Mr. Smoker. "But don't think we'll go easy on you!"

But just at that moment, the sound of a woman's hearty laughter came from above, followed by a voice.

"Not so fast, you villains! If you intend to cause harm to my city, you'll have to deal with me!"

Everyone looked up, and we saw quite an unexpected sight.

Standing on top of a building was a woman wearing a purple long-sleeved leotard with black thigh-high boots. She also had white gloves on her hands, a pair of cat ears and a tail, and a thin purple mask that outlined her eyes. At first, I didn't know who she was until I saw her crimson hair styled in a ponytail, which, when I did, I couldn't help but gawk in surprise.

"Hold on a minute! Is that who I think it is?"

"It's Erza!" exclaimed Lucy.

"I do not know who this Erza is, but you're clearly mistaken!" Erza spoke heroically. "I am the defender of those who cry for justice and enemy to all that is evil! I am Fairy Woman!"

I couldn't help but blink at this response. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, great. Even Erza's gone cuckoo today," said Lucy.

"It looks as if things have taken a turn for the weirder," said Mira. "But I suppose we should have seen this one coming."

Erza then leaped off the building, performed some flips while curling into a ball, and dove straight toward Mr. Purple with a raised leg.

"FAIRY KICK!"

With a strong kick, she nailed Mr. Purple right on the chest, causing the titan to stumble as he recoiled from the impact until he fell flat on his bum with an earth-shaking thud.

Erza then turned her attention to The Smoker and gunned for him next.

"FAIRY PUNCH!"

She then slugged him with an incredible punch smack in his jaw, sending him flying.

But even with her powerful attacks, both Mr. Purple and The Smoker weren't out of the fight yet.

"You got to be kidding!" Mr. Purple scowled. "A straightforward hero like you is old-fashioned!"

"Don't you know it's the era of dark and serious supervillains?" said The Smoker. "Get with the times already!"

"You know, I've seen a lot of dark and serious stuff," I said. "But I don't think those two are anything like those words."

"Preaching to the choir on that one," said Lucy.

Then, Mr. Smoke transformed into a formless cloud of smoke, and before Erza could react, he wrapped himself around her, binding her tightly. Erza struggled, trying to break herself free, but for some reason, she couldn't.

"What's the matter, Fairy Woman? Can't move, can you?" The Smoke mocked. "Sorry to break it to you, sweetie, but this is our turf!"

"And you're not welcome here!" Mr. Purple grinned as he raised a fist. "So you can go ahead and die!"

"You despicable villains!" Erza spoke crossly.

"Well, what did you expect? We're bad guys!" The Smoker cackled. "Of course, we're going to play dirty!"

"Erza!" Lucy cried worriedly.

"Hang on! We'll give you a hand!" Natsu shouted as he fluttered bravely in the air while Happy hovered next to him.

"You two can't give much of anything looking like that!" I cried at the two indignantly.

"Everyone, stay out of this!" Erza ordered bravely. "I'm about to teach these miscreants a lesson with my fairy fists of justice!"

"Yeah, Yeah. Keep talking tough," Mr. Purple scoffed.

"Once we're done with you, superheroes will be nothing more but a distant memory," agreed The Smoker as he tightened his grip. "So get ready to be put six feet under!"

Mr. Purple brought back his giant fist and got ready to punch, intending to finish off Erza, when two more familiar voices, both male, barked out from above.

"Hold it right there!"

"No one cares about superheroes anymore! It's all about the dark heroes!"

Mr. Purple, The Smoker, and the rest of us looked up once more and saw two figures standing on top of the roof of another building.

One was Gajeel, who was clad in a suit made of dark green and black armor with a forest-green Fairy Tail symbol on the right pec. He also wore a cowl with two points that exposed his eyes and his eyes.

The other was Pantherlily in his Battle Mode, also wearing a superhero outfit. His was similar to Gajeels', but the color scheme was aqua-blue and gray. He had a yellow crescent moon on his right pec, and he also had a long red scarf wrapped around his neck.

"I am the iron flower that blooms in Magnolia, that has no weaknesses except for trains!" Gajeeel proclaimed. "I am the dark hero of black steel, Fairy Man!"

"And I am his trusted sidekick!" chimed in Pantherlily. "The ultimate warrior and seeker of justice, whose enemies will crumble to my strength! I am Fairy Boy!"

"Who the heck are these chumps?!" Natsu exclaimed indignantly in amazement.

"Are they allies, or are they enemies?!" Happy also demanded. "A mysterious duo, indeed!"

"Um, they do know it's Gajeel and Lily, right?" Lucy whispered to me and Mira.

"Now, Now, let's not spoil it for them," said Mira. "Besides, it's more fun to let them find out on their own. I'm starting to get interested in this turn of events myself."

All I could do was stare blankly. "Honestly, I don't even know what the heck is going on anymore."

Gajeel and Pantherlily then leaped from their perch as they gunned for Mr. Purple and The Smoker.

"Don't worry, Fairy Woman! You can leave these guys to us!" said Gajeel.

"Prepare yourselves, you scoundrels!" said Pantherlily.

But as they tried joining in the fray, Erza promptly broke free from The Smoker's grasp and, with a powerful punch, sent the two of them flying sky-high into the wild blue yonder. As everyone stared at the woman with fright and utter confusion about what she just did, Erza scowled crossly.

"Those fools! I won't let anyone steal my thunder!" Erza seethed. "Don't they have any honor?!"

"Oh, come on! You're one to talk!" I snapped crossly. "What kind of hero takes a cheap shot like that while refusing help?!"

Erza then returned her attention to her enemies while brandishing a familiar-looking whip.

"Hey! Isn't that…!"

While cracking it, the whip extended and was cloaked with a strange blue matter as Erza went on the attack once more.

"Now, FAIRY WHIP!"

While swinging the whip rapidly and elegantly, Erza struck Mr. Purple and The Smoker multiple times as they yelped and cried out in agony.

Lucy then objected, noticing that the whip she was using was her Fleur d'étoiles, much to her disdain. "Hey! Erza! That's mine!" she objected. "And for that matter, when did you take it from me?!"

"Oh, great. Erza's gone from a superhero to an anti-hero," I quipped. "Somehow, I don't think stealing's very heroic."

"It looks like she's completely immersed in her role," said Mira. "She's not even fighting using her Requips."

"But she stole her role!" Happy complained. "That makes her nothing but a copycat!"

"It's not copying in the slightest!" Erza called back, having heard him. "It's paying homage! A show of respect! And speaking of which… it's time for me to put an end to this!" She pointed at The Smoker. "And I'll start with you, Old Smokey!"

"It's The Smoker!" he barked crossly.

Erza then twirled the Fleur d'étoiles at an incredible speed, creating a powerful gust of wind.

"FAIRY WIND!"

The Smoker struggled as he tried to resist, but the wind proved too strong. His smoke, along with his body, was blown away and snuffed out like a candle. Just as he was, Wabaka came falling to the ground in front of us, having returned to normal.

"Wakaba!" cried Mira and Lucy.

"She was able to return him to normal!" I gasped.

Mr. Purple glared angrily. "Curse you!" he roared. "You'll pay for this, Fairy Woman!"

"The only one who's going to pay will be you, Mystery Pool!" countered Erza. "So try to embrace your fate with dignity!"

"It's Mr. Purple!" the purple monster snapped angrily. "If you're going to address me, get it right!"

He then swung with a giant fist, but while avoiding it, Erza countered with a devastating and powerful kick right to the cheek. The blow was strong enough to make Mr. Purple explode into a maelstrom of flames as he fell to the ground while reverting back to Macao.

"All right! It looks like she did it!" said Mira.

"Way to go!" I cheered. "That was actually pretty awesome!"

"I never doubted her for a second!" said Lucy. "That's our Erza!"

Then, a puff of pink smoke caught my attention, and when I looked, I noticed that both Natsu and Happy had also returned to normal.

"All right! Looks like our transformations wore off!" Happy spoke, thankfully. "Thank goodness!"

But Natsu was disappointed. "Aw, man! I didn't get to do anything! Talk about lame."

"Guess Transformation Magic's more difficult than you thought, huh?" Lucy chuckled.

"I'm just glad that everyone's back to normal," I said as I checked Macao and Wakaba over. "Although, these guys are going to wake up with one doozy of a headache after all that Erza did, though."

Erza then approached us. "Is everyone all right?" she asked. "No one is injured?"

"We're good thanks to you, Erz-." Lucy began to speak before her words died in her throat as her face turned into an uneasy grimace.

Wondering what she was looking at, I looked in her direction, and what I saw made me cringe.

Erza's face suddenly underwent a strange transformation. It had become sterner, more chiseled, and more serious. Her lips were also thicker, and she mysteriously gained red lipstick. It was almost as if she had gotten the Ichiya treatment, someone taking his face and modeling it to her likeness.

"Wh-What the hell?!" I couldn't help but exclaim.

Erza was puzzled. "What seems to be the matter?" she asked. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Are you kidding?! We're the ones that should be asking you that!" Natsu squawked.

"She's turned realistic!" Happy shrieked with fright.

Erza became all the more confused.

"Um, Mira? This wouldn't happen to be another form of Transformation gone wrong, would it?" I asked uneasily.

"I'm pretty sure it isn't," said Mira. "But it's pretty safe to say that Erza might have unlocked a new version of it, and she didn't even need to use magic. It's a pretty impressive feat, don't you think?"

"Somehow… I don't think it's something to be praised for," I said wryly.

A few days later…

It was late at night, and I was heading home after a hard day of work. I was looking forward to getting a good night's sleep.

"Man, what a day!" I groaned as I stretched my limbs. "First thing I'm going to do when I get home is take a good bath and get a good night's sleep."

But as I walked past an alleyway, I heard a voice call out.

"You there. The handsome guy. You look a bit lonely. Mind if I keep you company?"

I stopped and looked around, expecting that voice to be talking to someone else, but I didn't see anyone.

"Hello?" I called out. "Is someone there?"

Then, I looked towards the alley just in time for someone to rush into it, disappearing into the darkness. I couldn't help but impulsively rush into it, wondering who the stranger was. But as I did while looking in all directions, there wasn't anyone around.

At that moment, I sensed someone behind me, and as I whipped around, I found myself staring at a pair of brilliant blue eyes belonging to a woman hidden behind a thin red mask that outlined her eyes. She had her silver hair styled in a ponytail tied by a black ribbon, wore a black sleeveless top and skirt with red trims, and wore long high boots.

"M-Mira!" I stammered upon recognizing her.

"Hey, Willy," Mira said while smiling. "Did I surprise you?"

"Y-Yes! You did," I responded with a laugh. "What are you wearing?"

"Well, ever since that day when Erza was dressing up as Fairy Woman, I wanted to try being a superheroine, too," said Mira while winking. "I even came up with a name for myself based on your alter ego. Just call me The Black Swan."

"The Black Swan?" I repeated. "Well… I do like the name, but you're not going to turn hyper-realistic on me, are you?"

"Don't worry. Erza only got like that because the outfit she wore was a weapon made by a sketchy shopkeeper," said Mira. "So I can assure you, I'll stay the same."

"Well, that's a relief," I said. "But… why are you dressed like that, to begin with?"

Mira then looked around before reaching out for my cheeks. Then, she pulled me close to her and placed her lips on mine. At first, I felt my heart leap at the surprise kiss but returned it in earnest, gently pressing my lips against hers as I closed my eyes. After a few seconds, I pulled back, and as we stared at each other, Mira let out a bewitching giggle as her eyes twinkled.

"Just wanted to do a little something to make my boyfriend happy," she confirmed. "Plus, I saw this in a movie once and wanted to try it for myself."

I felt my cheeks redden as I stared. "W-Well, it's certainly made a good impression on me," I stammered.

"I'm glad," smiled Mira. "Let's just keep this a little secret between us, OK? And if you want me to wear this again, I'll wear it as much as you want."

Mira then shot up the alley and disappeared into the rooftops, leaving me staring upward as she went while I smiled from cheek to cheek.

"Good grief, she got me again," I sighed while chuckling. "She can't keep getting away with this."