Chapter Text
“But I don’t want to,” Laxus groaned as he leaned against the desk.
“We have to rip the bandage off eventually, Laxus,” his grandfather said, giving him a stern look. “It’s been a week. You can’t hide this forever.”
He crossed his arms and stared down at his grandfather. “I don’t plan on hiding it forever. Just until they stop celebrating the games.” Laxus let out a sigh and closed his eyes. “I don’t really want to ruin their moods by telling them that I’m going to be their next guild master.”
The news had been a shock without a doubt. It’d been a week, and it still didn’t feel real. They both knew that all the celebration would cease once the news broke, so they stayed quiet for now.
Laxus still couldn’t wrap his head around why he had been chosen as his grandfather’s replacement. He was qualified for sure; the years of helping his grandfather with his duties leaned in his favor, but there were others who were just as qualified as him. They were more popular than him too. So why him?
“Oh stop that,” his grandfather snapped, walking across the room to grab a hold of his wrist. “A week of celebration is more than enough. They’ll be fine.” He gritted his teeth as he was dragged out of the office.
A part of him wished that he could just keep it a secret forever. His grandfather could pretend to be their master, while he ran things from behind the scenes. Nobody would know but them.
Except her.
He balled his fists tightly as he thought about it. Four days had passed since they last spoke. The words had spilled out of his mouth before he could think about if he should even be telling anybody. How she’d comforted him in that moment. And how he still hadn’t given her an answer.
His heart stopped momentarily as his grandfather slowed down, stopping just in front of the guild’s bar. He watched as Mirajane smiled and served her bartop, giving idle chatter to one of her usuals. Her eyes slowly made their way to him. Her smile shifted from one of those fake smiles she gave to customers to that real, genuine smile that made his heart falter.
“Mira, I hope you don’t mind, but I need to make a quick announcement,” his grandfather started, gesturing towards the bar top. She nodded, stepping out from behind the bar. Laxus dug his nails into the palm of his hand as he watched his grandfather climb onto the bar and clear his throat.
There was no escaping this now.
The entire guild went silent as all eyes turned to his grandfather, except for his. Across the room, he couldn’t take his eyes off Mirajane. She stared at him, a solemn expression on her face. She wasn’t happy with his grandfather stepping down, and he knew it.
“I have a rather sad announcement to make. It is with a heavy heart that I, Makarov Dreyar, am stepping down as your guild master.” his grandfather started. Gasps filled the room as the news broke. “I wanted to end my time as your master on a high note, and I can’t think of a better way than our team winning first in the games last week. It truly has been an honor to have been your master for all this time.”
Laxus closed his eyes and hung his head as he listened to his grandfather speak. He could hear people cry as they all stood and listened.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering who’s going to be replacing me. I am more than proud to announce your next guild master, Laxus.”
All eyes turned to him. It was as if the guild was frozen in that moment. Nobody dared to move, or say a single thing. He forced his eyes open to look up, knowing that nobody in that crowd was happy with the news.
But three cheers erupted from the back of the guild. Laxus’ attention snapped to the sound. In the far corner of the guild hall, he watched as Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen yelled his name. He let out a small laugh as he lowered his head, a smile growing on his face as he heard their applause filling the guild.
Slowly, the entire room filled with cheers as people swarmed him, all yelling their congratulations. The hall’s energy returned just as quickly as it had left. Opening his eyes, Laxus raised his head, his eyes scanning the crowd.
Across the sea of people, she stood staring at him, the same unreadable expression on her face.
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It was nice to be celebrated. His guild mates yelling his name, all of them coming to his side to congratulate him felt nice, but it got old. Fast.
With one more look back at the party that was the guild hall, Laxus shut the office door behind him with a sigh, thankful for the quiet. He opened his eyes, scanning over the office. As he approached the desk, he wondered when this would feel like his office. For the past forever, it had been his grandfather’s, and it felt almost… wrong to call it anything other than that. The memories of coloring on the floor while his grandfather worked or sleeping on the couch after long jobs had cemented this place as that.
He sat down in the desk chair and closed his eyes, tilting his head back towards the ceiling. In no world would this room be anything other than his grandfather’s office to him, and he was sure that everyone outside the door probably felt the same. Even with the cheers and applause they gave him, he knew that nobody was truly happy about the decision.
A soft knock came from the door. His eyes flew open as he stood up, the chair screeching against the floor. Slowly, the door opened, and Mirajane peeked her head in. With a relieved sigh, he sat back down in the chair. “Who were you so scared of coming in?” she asked with a slight smile as she closed the door behind her.
“Nobody,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Silence hung in the air between the two of them as they stood there. It’d been one week since they’d returned, and neither could bring themselves to talk about what had happened. The late nights together or the early mornings. The quiet walks together or the slow dance they shared. None of it.
But as Laxus stared at her, he knew it was coming.
“We–,”
“I know, Mirajane,” he said, lowering his head. “I know we need to talk about things.”
The past week had been nothing but a disaster to say the least. Paperwork, learning and training, meetings. Repeat. There had been no time for him to sit and try and sort out his feelings on anything. While he’d wake up to vague thoughts and memories of her, they were far from what he needed.
He heard her footsteps echo throughout the quiet room as she approached him. Opening his eyes, he looked up and saw her standing in front of him, leaning back against the desk. “If you had let me finish,” she stared, avoiding his gaze. She took in a deep breath before reaching down to take his hands in hers. “I was going to say that we should talk about things before you…”
She tightened her grip on his hands as she trailed off. “Before I officially take over,” he finished, his voice quiet. Mirajane gave a small nod before dropping his hands. There was a solemn look on her face as she stood there.
“Yeah. I know that you’re probably in a rough spot right now, and if you need more time to think about things, just tell me.” Her voice was quiet, soft. She brought her eyes to meet his. “I’m not going anywhere, so you can take as long as you need, but you can’t keep avoiding this.”
Laxus gave a small nod as he sat there. “I just need things to settle down.”
“That’s okay,” she said, turning her head to look at the clock that hung from the wall. She pushed off the desk and walked towards the door. “My break’s almost over.”
He watched as she reached for the door knob, a pit forming in his stomach. “Thanks, Mirajane,” he blurted out.
Mirajane stopped where she stood before turning her head back to him. “You can talk to me about things other than what’s going on too, you know that right? Whatever you decide, I want to be there for you.”
Laxus let out a small sigh as he lowered his head, giving her small nod. Once again, she turned the door knob and made her way out of the office.