Kira Toth

Chapter Nine: When I Was Sixteen . . .

Amidst their staring showdown, Kira felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw that it was Erza.

"Hey," she said, smiling softly. "Can we talk for a while? In private?"

Kira frowned. What was Erza thinking? Kira turned back to where Brandon was, but he had already disappeared. Sighing, she turned back to Erza, nodding in agreement.

"Great!" Erza's smile widened slightly. "Let's go upstairs, where it's quieter."

As they headed upstairs, Kira overheard Laxus and Mirajane's conversation through the communication lacrima.

"The old man started this war," Laxus said. "Why should I be the one to bail him out?"

"They're targeting Lucy. One of us!" Mirajane replied forcefully.

Before Kira could hear Laxus' reply, Erza dragged Kira out of the room, much to her displeasure.

"Laxus, that bastard," Erza swore under her breath. "I bet he's not going to come help us, even though Phantom's specifically targeting one of us. He'll probably say to just hand Lucy over, or that he doesn't care what happens."

Kira didn't bother replying, as she thought the same thing as Laxus. However, she thought it would be best not to share this information with Erza; the guild couldn't afford for either of the wizards to get injured or waste their magical power.

"Anyways," Erza said, turning around to face Kira, "I'm not here to talk about that." She placed her hands on hips as she glared at Kira. "What's the history between you and Brandon?" 

Kira bit her lip, turning her head away. She knew Brandon had told the others how they knew each other, but she didn't want to end up saying something different. She was planning to keep her mouth shut until someone interrupted them, but Erza spoke again.

"I saw him slap you that day we saw you come out of the bathhouse."

What? Kira whipped her head around to face Erza, her eyes slightly open. She did? If she had seen that, she probably would've seen him try to burn her. . . . Kira groaned. If she heard their conversation, she was screwed. It didn't matter that Erza found out on her own; Brandon would find some way to make Kira guilty of it.

"I didn't hear your conversation, but you looked . . . different," Erza continued.

Kira visibly relaxed at that. If she didn't hear anything, Kira could just make something up. Unless she was lying . . .

"I also know it wasn't Gajeel who erased your guild mark."

Kira's mouth automatically went dry. Did she see it happen? Oh my god, how did she even figure out where she lived? 

"It was Brandon, wasn't it?"

Kira let out a small sigh of relief through her lips. She could say that Brandon had an identical twin brother, and that the Brandon who was part of Fairy Tail was the nicer one, whereas --

"And don't try to come up with a false story about Brandon having an identical twin brother, or anything. I did my research on him. I know Lucy's not the only rich kid in our guild."

Crap. Why was Erza so damn smart?

Erza crossed her arms. "Now it's your turn to talk. Tell me. And don't be afraid. No one except me can hear you from here. I told Mira not to let anyone up the stairs so they can't eavesdrop and it's impossible to hear anything from between these floors."

Kira glanced around the room nervously. She had never been this scared around Erza before. She was afraid Brandon had learned new magic and found some way to make himself look like Erza or find some way to sneak past Mirajane downstairs.