{THIRD PERSON POV}
"How many times have I told you, don't summon me from weird places, hah?" Aquarius scolded.

"But I haven't seen you in forever!" Lucy reasoned, holding up the fishbowl defensively.

"It's been five minutes! And that's your time, not mine." Aquarius tsked. "No matter how much you grow, you're still a brat on the inside."

Such conversations were becoming the norm in the Dragneel household. Luka sighed. It was Sylvia's pet betta fish's water.

Sylvia came up to him in the guild this morning with the request for pet-sitting. Apparently she was going to be busy the next few days.

The fish, Fleet Admiral Finley Ray Bluebubbles—Luka called him Finny—was Sylvia's prize possession. She doted on him almost as much as Luka.

Finny was a beautiful royal blue betta fish, and he had an inflated royal attitude to match. Sylvia loved on Finny so intensely that the fish hated anyone who wasn't her. Luka especially.

Finny's life was in danger, seeing as his bowl was about to be shattered by the tsundere spirit. Not wanting Sylvia to cry, Luka carefully extricated it from his mother's grasp.

He set the bowl on the table and tried to feed Finny. The betta fish head-butted him angrily. Luka stared out the window, sighing. Then he blinked.

Luka couldn't believe his eyes. Sylvia was outside his house. With another boy?!

She was pointing up at the house and talking animatedly. The mystery boy nodded, fixated on Sylvia's every word.

What was she saying? Luka wished he had his dad's hearing. They were too far away! He pictured what she was saying in his head:

"This is Luka-sama's house, but you don't need to worry about him. He's just Syl's fish-sitter. Let's go out and have some fun!"

The two of them laughed together. Luka felt a jealous pang. Sylvia always laughed like that with him. The two began walking away.

Did she seriously dump Finny the fish on Luka so she could go out with another boy?!

The thought made Luka's blood boil.

He decided to flip the switch and pull a Sylvia. Luka stalked them. He silently vowed that he would only burn this side fling if Sylvia also referred to them with an honorific like -sama.

Of all the places they could go, they went to Luka's favorite restaurant for their da—whatever this was. The boy even ordered Luka's favorite spicy chicken tenders! The nerve!

"What else would Austin-san like to know?" Sylvia asked happily. She swung her feet back and forth under the table the way she only did when talking to or about what she liked.

Luka gritted his teeth. Getting to know each other, were they? He noted the honorific.

Austin ate almost as sloppily as Luka. After Sylvia spoke, he looked up excitedly. "I want to know everything! Hobbies! Interests! Likes and dislikes!"

Austin went to wipe his mouth with a napkin, but Sylvia leaned over the table and slapped his hand down. "You shouldn't do that, Austin-san!"

Luka looked away quickly. Sylvia was getting too close! Wasn't she embarrassed? He imagined how their conversation went after that:

"You shouldn't do that, Austin-san! Let Syl wipe your mouth for you instead!"

"Thank you, Sylvia-pyon. Forget that idiot Luka and fall in love with me."

"Kya! Luka is nothing compared to Austin-san! Syl will call you Austin-sama now! And in the future, Syl will be your wife instead!"

Luka shook his head to clear it. Sylvia wouldn't say that! But she was willing to elope with Luka before... he spun wildly back to the pair.

They were gone! Luka spent too much time in dreamland like his Aunt Juvia, meanwhile Sylvia and Austin left the restaurant.

Luka ran outside and looked around, but he couldn't spot them anywhere.

"Excuse me?" He approached a little old lady. "Have you seen a girl around my age? She has curly dark blue hair and big dark blue eyes. There was a boy with her, but I don't care about him."

"My my, how blunt children always are." The grandmotherly woman chuckled. "They went towards Freesia Park, young man."

"Thanks, ma'am!" Luka bowed gratefully.

The lady smiled. "They were very cute together, like two peas in a pod. Ah, I remember my first crush at that age. I had two boys, actually."

Luka angrily set her handbag on fire and took off.

"You little twerp!" She yelled in the background, dropping the perfume-laden blaze.

First his favorite restaurant and now the park with his favorite playground? Austin was clearly trying to weasel his way into Sylvia's heart by acting just like Luka! What hurt the most was that it worked.

I guess I'm not so special to Sylvia after all, Luka thought glumly.

In a flat out run, he caught up to the pair quickly, and hid behind the tire swing as Sylvia and Austin approached the group of kids already here.

"Hey Sylvia, have you come to play?" One of the girls asked. Sylvia shook her head.

She gestured to Austin. "Everybody, this is Austin-san. He really likes—"

"What'cha up to, Luka?" Ian asked behind him, and Luka jumped so high he almost reached orbit.

"Gaaah!" Luka screamed, leaping from his not-so-hiding spot. Sylvia's eyes immediately flew to him.

Her wide eyes brightened. "Luka-sama!"

Austin spun to face him, thunder-struck. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water.

Sylvia tried to hug Luka, but he dodged. She tried again, and he dodged again. Sylvia pouted, puffing out her cheeks.

"Luka-sama is being mean."

Luka put his hands on his hips. "I'm mad at you! What type of future wife dumps Finny—"

"His name is Fleet Admiral Finley Ray Bluebubbles." Sylvia admonished. "What happened to him?"

Luka thought about his mom and Aquarius. "He's in good hands. That's not the point! You dump him on me and go on a date with another boy!"

Sylvia stopped short. "Date? No no, Austin-san's family moved to Magnolia a few weeks ago. Mama and Papa took a job to help them build their new house. Syl said she would show Austin-san around for a few days until he knows the way."

"Oh yeah, then what about in the restaurant? He was asking about your hobbies, interests, likes, and dislikes. Sounds very personal for just showing someone around."

"You're acting a bit too possessive. Tone it down." Ian whispered in Luka's ear.

Sylvia was about to cry. "Syl belongs to Luka-sama! Syl will never cheat! That was—that was—"

"It's okay." Austin finally found his voice. "You don't need to protect me."

Luka turned on Austin, his expression black. Curls of angry fire rose off his skin. He was pissed, snarling, "And why would Sylvia protect you?"

Austin fidgeted nervously from foot to foot. He squeezed his eyes shut. "The truth is, I only asked Sylvia-senpai those things because... I was too nervous to ask Luka-sama in person!"

Luka's flames died in surprise. "Me?"

"I'm the newest member of the Luka Dragneel Fan Club! Sylvia-senpai offered to show me all your favorite spots. I aspire to be just like you! Eating sloppily is still a bit hard, but Sylvia-senpai has agreed to watch over me diligently!" He bowed.

"That's really creepy. I don't want a clone. And wait, senpai?" Luka rotated to Sylvia in horror.

She puffed out her chest proudly. "Syl will take credit! She's the founder and president of the Luka Dragneel Fan Club!"

With a sinking feeling in his gut, Luka looked around at the rest of the kids. "Who else?"

Most of them raised their hands.

"Sylvia-senpai is incredibly insistent." Ian fails to hold back his laughter.

"So you see, there's no need to feel threatened by me, Luka-sama." Austin appeased. "I already know you're a Syl-con. I wouldn't dream of aiming for her."

"Syl-con?" Luka raised his eyebrows. He turned to Ian for help. "What's that?"

Ian cleared his throat. "Pretty sure it's like a sis-con or bro-con. A complex means having feelings of strong attachment or obsession."

Luka turned slowly back to Austin. "You think I have a complex for Sylvia?"

"I'm certain of it, what with the things Sylvia-senpai says about you."

Luka looked over at Sylvia. She was trying to sneak away inconspicuously.

Austin proceeded to launch into a spiel listing exactly what Sylvia had said. Luka's face gradually became redder and redder, until he snapped.

That day, Freesia Park exploded in a ball of fire.