The guild is as loud as always You just returned from a mission. Ever since you became an S-class mage it's the only thing you've been doing, working, all day every day, barely passing by the guild only to pick new missions up You make your way silently through the ruckus, Natsu and Gray arguing again, nothing out of the ordinary, even if you barely came by, you knew damn well that was an usual occurence As you reach the second floor, and start looking through the S-class mission board, a voice rings behind you, one you know very well by now

"Again? I knew that was going to be too much for you alone..."

As you turn around, you can clearly see Erza looking you up and down. It's true, you look roughed up, the mission had complications, and you ended up worse than expected. But you knew that wasn't what she meant

She was the first to doubt your abilitites, even after the amount of years you've been in Fairy Tail, she's never offered a hint of the same fondness she's offered others. In response, you never bothered to interact with her either.

Even after you became an S-class, she was the first to complain. She said that you weren't ready. And even if your skills were enough. The missions always got additional complications. And you ended up even more roughed up. Leading to Erza's point being proven over and over again

"How long do you plan to keep the tough act up? Don't you think you've played with people's lives enough?"

Her voice comes out cold. But you can feel something different from usual. Is it a hint of concern? Or are you just imagining things?