Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Karakura.
November, x784.
While Roubaul was explaining the story of the Nirvits and Nirvana's origin to Ur's team, Alfonzo, Mirajane, and Marin finally entered the town of Karakura. And before long, Alfonzo parked the Escalade in the courtyard of the hotel that would serve as the team's meeting spot.
"This town feels weird." Marin commented from the Escalade's passenger seat. "It's almost like the ethernano in the air is more concentrated than anywhere else I've been."
"Yeah, I can feel it, too." Mirajane said, leaning forward between the two front seats. "Which makes it even weirder that there are no guilds in this town."
'In Bleach, Karakura Town was quite possibly the place with the highest concentration of spiritual energy in the human world.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'So, the fact that it is saturated with ethernano doesn't really surprise me.'
"Actually, I think I understand why that is." Alfonzo said, putting the Escalade in park. "With such a high concentration of ethernano, a lot of strong magical beasts are attracted to this town."
Hearing that, Mirajane nodded in understanding. Marin, on the other hand, was even more confused by the fact that there was no guild presence in the town.
"That would be even more reason to have a guild in the town, wouldn't it?" Marin asked curiously.
"In most cases, yes." Alfonzo replied as he opened the driver's side door. "But that would only be the case if there wasn't a strong guild near the town. Don't forget, Quatro Cerberus guild hall isn't too far away from here."
"Oh, that's right." Marin replied with a smile. "I actually forgot all about them."
"How could you forget about them?" Mirajane asked with a chuckle. "They're one of the guilds we're teaming up with on this quest."
Instead of responding, Marin only stuck out her tongue before she too opened her car door and hopped out of the Escalade. Shaking her head with a smile at Marin's antics, Mirajane also opened her car door and stepped out of the Escalade.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo had already opened the Escalade's trunk, pulled out his luggage, and slung his bag over his shoulder. Then, he pulled out both Mirajane and Marin's luggage, which consisted of a large rolling suit case and a smaller bag for each.
"We probably won't be here for more than two days." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "I'll never understand why you girls need so much luggage for such a short trip."
"Trust me, it's for your benefit, Alfonzo." Mirajane said, pressing up to Alfonzo as she spoke. Then, she gave him a quick kiss before continuing. "It takes a lot of time and effort to look this good."
After she spoke, Mirajane took a step back and made a little spin, allowing her dress to flare around her.
"Well, if that came completely natural, I'd be calling bullshit." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Being that hot without any effort would be unfair to the rest of the world."
Giggling in response, Mirajane stepped forward and planted another kiss on Alfonzo's lips. Then, she picked up her luggage with a smile on her face. Meanwhile, Marin was pouting as she watched Alfonzo and Mirajane with envy.
'Just wait, one day, I'll be the one flirting and making public displays of affection with him.' Marin thought to herself as the trio started walking towards the hotel's front entrance.
Before the group entered the hotel, however, they were approached by a black cat with golden eyes that rubbed its self on Alfonzo's leg while wrapping its tail around it as well.
"O. M. G!" Marin exclaimed, temporarily forgetting her plan to gain Alfonzo's affection. "That cat is, like, uber-cute."
"Yeah, it's fur is so glossy." Mirajane said, crouching down to pet the cat. "I wonder if it belongs to someone who lives around here? I mean, it's wearing a collar."
While Mirajane spoke, the cat quickly dodged away from her hand, causing her to pout slightly. However, it did not stop rubbing against Alfonzo's legs. However, when it dodged away, both Mirajane and Marin missed the glint of mischief that sparkled in its eyes.
Reaching down, Alfonzo managed to pet the cat without issue, causing Mirajane's pout to deepen while Marin giggled at her expense. Then, while scratching behind the cat's ears, eliciting a purr from it, Alfonzo gave his opinion on the cat.
"Even though I'm not really a fan of cats…" Alfonzo said, pulling his hand away from the cat as he spoke. "… I gotta admit, this really is a pretty pussy."
In response, Mirajane and Marin rolled their eyes at Alfonzo's choice of words. Nonetheless, they followed Alfonzo as he started walking towards the hotel's front entrance.
After stepping away from the cat, yet before he could take his second step, a cloud of smoke burst from behind Alfonzo. Then, where the cat once sat, a short, around 5'1" (approx.. 1.56 m) tall, slender, athletically built, yet well endowed, brown skinned woman with dark purple, waist-length hair pulled back in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing her beautiful face, and golden eyes leapt forward and clung to Alfonzo's back while wrapping her arms around his neck.
"*Sigh* You're no fun, Alfonzo." The brown skinned woman said with a pout as she rested her chin on Alfonzo's left shoulder. "Can't you, at least, pretend to not know it's me?"
Hearing the new voice, Mirajane and Marin both quickly looked back to see a brown skinned woman clinging onto Alfonzo while wearing a short orange dress, a black choker, black arm warmers around her forearms, thigh high black boots, and a white cape.
After seeing an unfamiliar woman where there should have only been a black cat, the two women raised their guard immediately.
"I told you this the last few times we ran into each other, Yoruichi." Alfonzo said with a wry smile. "If you wanna fool my senses, you'll have to be able to hide that stupid high amount of magic power of yours and find a way to change your magic power signature while in your cat form."
"And that's why I asked if you could pretend." The brown skinned woman, Yoruichi, said, continuing to pout in annoyance.
Meanwhile, after noticing that Alfonzo knew the woman hanging off his back, Mirajane and Marin slowly lowered their guards.
"So, I guess you know her then, Alfonzo? Mirajane asked as she casually wrapped her arms around Alfonzo's left arm. "Mind introducing us?"
"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a shrug while smiling at Mirajane's show of possessiveness. "This is the Flash Goddess, Yoruichi Shihouin, the ace of Mermaid Heel."
"Then, she was the cute cat?" Marin asked. A moment later, she wore an enlightened expression. "Is that why you complemented it the way you did?"
"Yeah." Alfonzo replied with a chuckle. "Last time I did it that way, she dropped her transformation in surprise."
"Well, excuse me." Yoruichi said, letting go of Alfonzo before darting in front of the trio. "I grew up in a guild full of girls. It's not like I was used to hearing men talk dirty like that."
"Yeah, but you bounced back quick enough." Alfonzo replied with a smile.
"Of course." Yoruichi said with a smug smile on her face as she puffed out her impressive chest. "Just who do you think I am?"
"Anyway, where is the other member of your guild?" Alfonzo asked curiously.
"Oh, you mean Kagura?" Yoruichi asked nonchalantly. "She's inside. Probably just getting out of the bath if I had to guess. But why don't you introduce the members of your team? Though, I'm pretty sure I know one of them already."
As she said that last part, Yoruichi glanced at Mirajane.
"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "This is Mirajane Strauss, also known as the She Devil, an S-Class wizard from my guild. And this is Marin Kitagawa, one of the best A-Class wizards in Fairy Tail. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she was an S-Class candidate this year."
"Oh, stop it, Alfonzo." Marin said, weakly swatting at Alfonzo's shoulder with a blush on her face. "We both know I'm not ready to be promoted, yet."
"Well, it's nice to meet both of you." Yoruichi said with a smile. Then, she took a step forward and pressed herself against Alfonzo's chest. "But I'm actually really surprised that you didn't bring Elicia with you."
"There's actually a pretty good reason for that." Alfonzo said with a wry smile. "And when Quatro Cerberus' team shows up, you'll probably understand why, right away."
"That's too bad." Yoruichi said in a seductive tone. "Even though I have no interest in joining your harem, I would have loved to have some fun with you and Elicia. The offer still stands, you know."
After that, Yoruichi winked at Alfonzo before she pulled away. Then, while swaying her hips seductively, she walked towards the hotel's front door.
"Come on, you guys should get checked in." Yoruichi said with a smile while looking back over her shoulder. "Then, we can get something to eat before the 'men' from Quatro Puppy show up."
With that, Alfonzo, Mirajane, and Marin followed Yoruichi into the hotel. Then, the trio from Fairy Tail took care of the check-in procedures. To Alfonzo's surprise during the check-in, however, Marin insisted in staying in the same room as himself and Mirajane. Even more surprisingly, Mirajane agreed without a fuss.
'Well, I guess it doesn't really matter.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'We probably won't be spending too much time in the room while on this quest, anyway.'
"Alright, since you have your room I'll head over to the dining room." Yoruichi said after the Fairy Tail wizards checked in. "After you put your stuff down, meet me there."
With that, Yoruichi turned around and made her way towards the dining room on the first floor. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Mirajane, and Marin made their way up to the fourth floor to put their luggage in their room.
"So, what did she mean by wanting to have fun with you and Elicia?" Mirajane asked, narrowing her eyes at Alfonzo after they entered their room.
"*Sigh* After a quest in Crocus, Lici and I were… unwinding… at a hotel before we came back home." Alfonzo said with a wry smile. "And at some point, a black cat started peeking through our window. Well, since we were done with our quest, neither one of us had our [Magic Power Detection] spread out. Plus, we were working off our excess energy at the time. So, neither of us noticed that abnormality."
"And that cat was Yoruichi, right?" Marin asked.
"That's right." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Then, while we were eating breakfast the next morning, Yoruichi showed up and told us that she happened to see how wild we were the night before and she asked if we would mind if she joined us for the next time, even though she was a virgin."
"Seriously?" Mirajane asked in a surprised tone. "She really told you that she had been peaking."
"Yeah, that chick has very little in the way of shame." Alfonzo replied. "Anyway, she told us that she was into both boys and girls, boys more than girls, and that she wanted to play with both of us for her first time."
"It sounds like you never did it, though." Marin said. "I'm actually pretty surprised to hear that. I mean, you know how Lici is."
"Lici was actually fine with it." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "But I'm not into having casual sex. I don't touch anyone if they aren't at least my girlfriend."
Hearing that, both Mirajane and Marin nodded their heads. That was something they liked about Alfonzo, after all.
"Anyway, let's get going." Alfonzo said. "We shouldn't leave them waiting for too long."
"Okay~." Mirajane and Marin replied simultaneously as they put their luggage on the beds in the room.
A few minutes later, Alfonzo, Mirajane, and Marin made their way down to the dining room on the first floor. After quickly scanning the room, however, they were unable to spot Yoruichi. So, Alfonzo spread his [Magic Power Detection] to locate her and her teammate from Mermaid Heel quickly.
"Oh, they got us a private room." Alfonzo said, not retracting his [Magic Power Detection]. "I guess that makes sense, we don't' need to have these serious conversations around normal civilians."
"Yeah, besides, we don't know if any of them are informants for our target." Marin said as she and Mirajane followed Alfonzo towards the private room.
Hearing Marin's statement, both Alfonzo and Mirajane nodded their heads. At the same time, Alfonzo quickly glanced towards a certain corner of the dining room. Though, neither Mirajane nor Marin seemed to notice.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
"Hey, Yoruichi, it's me." Alfonzo said as he knocked on the private room's door.
At the same time, in the corner of the dining hall where Alfonzo glanced moments ago, a small purple snake was coiled up under a side table with a decorative vase atop it. Then, just as Alfonzo knocked on the door, it turned around, preparing to leave. Before it could, however, a sharp metal spike appeared above its head. Then, with great force the spike shot downward, piercing all the way through the snakes head. A moment later, both the snake and the spike dissipated into motes of magic power.
"It took you long enough." Yoruichi said as she opened the door to the private room. Then, she continued while ushering the trio into the room. "Anyway, come in, let me introduce you to the most talented up-and-coming wizard in Mermaid Heel, Kagura Mikazuchi."