Sunlight filtered through the treetops, scattering dappled shadows across the forest—and landing squarely on a face whose features had fully matured into a vivid, dazzling beauty.
Gone was the raw, unpolished youth of her younger years. The Erza before him was the kind of beauty that hit like a punch.
She wore gleaming silver-white armor, and behind her, four enormous metallic wings spread wide.
A petal-shaped breastplate lifted and framed her proud fullness; her pale, tight abdomen was bare to the air, creating a stark visual contrast with the layered steel skirt armor hanging from her waist.
Majestic, but not seductive—she radiated the cold, upright presence of a valkyrie.
And yet…
This "knight," who looked every bit the confident older sister type, was frozen stiff like a little girl caught red-handed doing something bad.
"…" Erza's normally sharp black eyes were now darting around in helpless panic, overwhelmed by sheer embarrassment.
She'd been exposed.
Completely, utterly exposed!
She'd time-traveled back from the future, beaten up her younger self… and then gotten caught on the spot.
What kind of social-death scenario was this?!
"Ahem!" She tried to hold on to her dignity as the "adult version," shifting the smaller version of herself in her arms to look more composed.
But in her flustered state, her arms tightened without thinking.
"Mm…" Even in deep unconsciousness, the poor younger Erza instinctively furrowed her brow at the sudden pressure and let out a pained groan.
A dead second of silence.
"Ahem—cough cough!" Erza coughed twice and pretended nothing happened, loosening her hold.
Then, to cover the awkwardness, she willed it—
Her armor dissolved into points of light, replaced by a simple white blouse and a dark-blue skirt.
She crossed her arms, forced her face into a stern mask, and spoke in the tone of an elder lecturing a junior:
"Looks like… even at this age, your insight is sharp."
"Barely… not bad."
If you ignored how red her ears were—so red they looked ready to drip—she might've sounded convincing.
"…" Shane didn't bother responding to the stubborn act.
Hands in his pockets, he studied this "fully grown" Erza from head to toe.
His gaze slid from her long, straight legs upward—past her slim waist you could almost wrap a hand around, past the rounded curves—then flicked to the younger Erza in her arms.
"Unbelievable…" Shane clicked his tongue internally.
Sure, people grow up… but this was ridiculous.
Being stared at so openly by a younger Shane made Erza feel a strange, humiliating shame.
It was the same familiar face, but the intense time-dislocation made it both mortifying and—somehow—oddly thrilling.
"What kind of rude thoughts are you thinking?" She reflexively tugged at her skirt—then felt that hiding like that looked weak.
So instead she snapped and glared at him, her look both sweet and fierce at once.
What am I even embarrassed for?! It's Shane, that idiot! She cursed herself internally, frustrated.
Unlike her younger self's glare, this one carried no real killing intent. It was more like spring water—an irritated scolding laced with unmistakable allure.
Unfortunately, Shane was deep in a mental storm and didn't notice this rare, bashful side of her at all.
If Erza came from the future back to the past… Then that blonde girl on Central Avenue—who I mistook for Layla—was she grown-up Lucy?
Shane lifted a brow.
So that kid really does join Fairy Tail in the future.
And… what are the kids in this world eating? Why does everyone grow up this absurdly?
His thoughts kept branching:
And those two idiots at the riverbank fighting "themselves"… that's future Natsu and Gray, right?
And that blue cat I've never seen… probably a new companion who hasn't joined yet?
But… why did they come back to the past in the first place?
Something huge they have to change?
Doesn't look like it. They're all acting lazy—like they're on vacation.
Erza's the only one with a clear objective—she came straight for her past self and beat her up…
The deeper Shane thought, the tighter his brows knit.
"…" Watching Shane drift off as usual, completely ignoring her, even adult Erza felt drained.
And thinking that future Shane was still the same… made her even more annoyed.
"Haa…" Erza inhaled, no longer caring about the embarrassment.
She gently set the unconscious "herself" down on the grass, then strode up to Shane and reached out—
and shoved the spacing-out boy straight into her chest.
"I'm talking to you, aren't I, Shane?!"
"Huh?!" She was absurdly strong. With Shane no longer in spirit-form, he had zero ability to resist—his head was yanked forward instantly by an irresistible force.
At this point in time, Erza was about half a head taller than Shane.
In the next second—
from his throat downward, slightly above his heart—
his face was buried completely in softness.
"Mmmph—mmph—!!" Along with the dizzying warmth and a faint, pleasant fragrance came one more thing—
a brutal sense of suffocation.
I-I'm going to die! Shane flailed and slapped at Erza's thigh in surrender.
He'd only spaced out for a moment—he didn't expect her to react this hard!
"S-sorry… mmph… sorry! I was thinking! Let go!"
Thinking about how this idiot would keep spacing out for years, Erza had no intention of being gentle.
She held the back of his head down, deciding to teach him a lesson:
"Thinking? Thinking about what that's so important? Hm?"
"Mmph—s-sorry…"
Shane could hear her heartbeat speeding up—an irritated, unhappy thump.
Only when his struggling weakened—when he was genuinely about to drown in her—did she finally loosen her grip.
"Haa… ha…" Shane gulped in fresh air like a man reborn, his face bright red.
Facing the girl who'd regained her icy composure and seized control again, he didn't dare complain even once.
He really didn't want to experience that terrifying "suffocation punishment" again.
He rubbed his face hard and asked obediently, "Why did you all come to the past, anyway?"
"…" Shane's serious tone made Erza choke for a moment.
She couldn't exactly say, We were cleaning the library, got careless, knocked over a shelf, and accidentally time-traveled…
That was way too embarrassing!
But Shane misunderstood her silence. He nodded thoughtfully.
"Can't say?"
"Yeah, that makes sense. A method that crosses time has to have taboos or restrictions. Not being able to casually reveal the future is reasonable."
He thought of how Anna had been evasive too—maybe time travel always had rules like that.
"N-no…" Seeing Shane's expression grow darker—who knew what plot he was imagining—Erza hurriedly waved her hands.
"You're overthinking! It's actually like this…"
She explained the magic book, and how Lucy's fall triggered the time jump—everything from start to finish.
"…?" After hearing it, Shane stared in disbelief.
"That's it? There's a book that convenient?"
"And it has… no cost? No restrictions?"
His worldview took damage. Then what had Anna been hesitating for?
"How is that even reasonable?"
A thousand questions swelled in his stomach—but then he sharply caught a hole in Erza's story.
"Wait."
"If it was just an accident… then why did you specifically run here to pick a fight with your past self?"
He pointed at the unconscious younger Erza, his tone turning a bit dangerous—his protective instincts fully on display.
"Just so you know—even if you're the future you—if you don't have a reasonable reason for bullying her like this, I'm not letting it slide."
"…" Erza went silent again.
How was she supposed to explain?
Was she supposed to admit, to his face—
"I came back to slow down your relationship with Ultear, so I can hog more of your time, so I beat up my past self to remind her to 'discipline' you more"?
There was absolutely no way she could say that.
"Th-then you can punish me for her!" After struggling forever, Erza lifted her pale neck and blurted it out in self-destruction.
"Either way, you're bullying the same person."
Seeing her flushed face and evasive attitude, Shane figured he wasn't getting a real answer. She was probably stuck in some stubborn mental knot again.
So he temporarily dropped it and returned to what he cared about most:
"That magic book… where is it in the guild library?"
His eyes burned as he stared at her.
"What does it look like? Do you remember the exact shelf?"
Yes—he'd realized it.
If this book could let people time travel freely, then he and Ultear didn't need to go through the insane trouble of charging magic and trying to open the Eclipse Gate.
They could use this book to go back and see Ul… and maybe do far more than that.
"Going back to the past…" Just imagining it made Shane's blood surge, his eyes shining.
"You want to use it?" Relieved that Shane wasn't pressing her about the "beating someone" issue, Erza's breathing finally steadied.
"It's on the third level of the innermost shelf in the library. Gray cover. There's an old clock symbol on the front."
She told him everything she knew, then warned him seriously:
"But remember—once it's opened, the time travel magic activates immediately."
She knew Shane looked lazy, but he had a sense of proportion when it mattered—he wouldn't do something outrageous in the past.
Still, seeing how excited he looked, she couldn't help feeling curious and uneasy.
"You're going back to the past? What are you going to do?"
"Oh." Shane grinned, feeling like his plan had huge potential.
He rarely hid things from Erza, so he answered honestly:
"Maybe you forgot… but do you remember that period in 778 when Ultear suddenly disappeared, then suddenly came back?"
"Back then I made her a promise. I'd help her fulfill a wish—go back to the past, and see her mother, Ur."
He told her about his deal with Ultear, and the obsession she'd buried in her heart.
"It's for… Ultear?" The moment that name came up, the small happiness Erza had felt—because Shane cared so much about her "past self"—vanished like smoke.
So in the end… it's Ultear again.
And worse, it was a righteous reason—helping a friend resolve her heart-knot—so Erza couldn't even argue.
That only made her mood sink further, like she'd time-traveled all this way just to become their wingman and push them forward.
"I see… that really is great." Erza lowered her eyes. Her voice was flat, unreadable.
"Hm?" Normally, Shane might not notice subtle shifts.
But right now, her slightly puffed cheeks and clearly resentful gaze were so obvious anyone could see she was upset.
"…" Shane's heart skipped.
Crap. I forgot—her relationship with Ultear is always… complicated.
He'd thought "adult Erza" wouldn't care about this anymore. Turns out he'd been naïve.
Some things really are carved into bone.
Seeing her sulking, clearly waiting to be soothed, Shane hesitated—then lifted his hand.
Erza instinctively leaned back, as if she didn't want him to see her petty side.
But she stopped anyway, letting his warm palm rest gently against her cheek.
"So… future me was taken care of well by you, huh?"
Shane's voice softened. His thumb lightly rubbed her smooth skin.
"Sorry to trouble you, Erza."
"And… in the future—after that too—I'll be relying on you."
Then he leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers.
It was the gesture they knew best.
No extra words needed. Just touching like that, they could feel each other's warmth and heartbeat.
"Shane…" Feeling that heat at her forehead and cheek, Erza's heart stuttered.
This flutter, spanning across time itself, made her eyes sting and her nose go faintly sore.
That woman isn't like me. I'm the one who stayed with Shane the longest—the one who knows him best—the one he can't do without.
Erza clenched her fist slightly, confidence surging.
"You don't have to say it…" She muttered, her icy mask melting into a smile she couldn't hide.
Then she glanced at the unconscious "herself" on the grass, a flicker of envy in her eyes.
"You actually know how to comfort people now… Past me really had good luck."
"Hah…" Facing that faintly sarcastic line, Shane forced an awkward laugh, not sure what to say.
But then he suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right! That blonde—grown-up Lucy!"
"She's running all over the city looking for you guys! Like it's urgent!"
"Lucy?" Erza snapped out of her comfort, expression sharpening.
"I asked her to decode the magic book and find a way back…"
The two stared at each other.
Obviously, if she was searching that frantically, she'd found the solution—but there was probably a time limit. Otherwise she wouldn't be that desperate.
"Let's go!" Shane didn't waste words.
"Whoosh—" His dragon wings unfolded. His body rose into the air, hovering.
Then he opened his arms toward Erza, eyes bright—his meaning obvious.
Seeing the boy inviting her under the sunlight, light flashed through Erza's beautiful eyes.
She didn't hesitate at all—she stepped in and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Mm!"
~~~
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