Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Mermaid Heel Headquarters.
May, x785.
"Ladies, may I have your attention?" Tsunade asked loudly as she stepped through the doors of the Mermaid Heel guild hall. "Allow me to introduce you to our guests for the next month, Alfonzo Marcus, Wendy Marvell, and Marin Kitagawa of Fairy Tail."
Once Tsunade and the others entered the guild hall, all the wizards of Mermaid Heel turned their attention to the group of new arrivals. But when she started speaking of the guests, all eyes fell on Alfonzo, Marin, and Wendy. And most of those gazes were filled with curiosity. Especially since Mermaid Heel rarely had visitors, let alone male ones.
"So, that's the guy you were talking about, huh?" Anko said before licking her lips. "Not bad. Not bad at all."
"You'd better give up, Anko." Yoruichi said while shaking her head. "He's not like other guys. He's got a harem full of girls just as beautiful, if not more beautiful than you or me."
"That just means it will be a challenge." Anko replied while watching Alfonzo with a predatory gaze. "I wonder how long it will take to have him wrapped around my little finger."
"You'd better be careful." Yoruichi said. "Originally, all I wanted was to have a night of fun with him and his fiancée. Yet, I somehow ended up falling for him. Then, in my desperation, I did something stupid and messed up any chance I had with him."
Hearing that, Anko turned her gaze away from Alfonzo and snapped her head in Yoruichi's direction.
"So, that's why you've been down for the last few months." Anko asked, her tone filled with interest. "But seriously, what kind of stupid shit could you have done to mess everything up? I mean, you're so hot."
"*Sigh* I'll tell you about it later." Yoruichi replied while staring at Alfonzo with a guilty expression on her face.
Despite most of Yoruichi's attention being on Alfonzo, Yoruichi had a bad feeling about the stare Marin was sending her way.
"Huh?" Alfie? What are you doing here, meow?" A female voice asked from among the gathered Mermaid Heel wizards.
Hearing that familiar voice, verbal tick, and irritating nickname, Alfonzo's eyebrow twitched as he turned his head towards its source. And when he did, he saw a familiar young woman with cat-like features.
'So, Millianna's already joined Mermaid Heel, huh?' Alfonzo mused. 'It never says when she joined in the canon, but I wasn't expecting to see her here already. But since Erza didn't seem to know she joined Mermaid Heel either, I'm guessing she joined recently. Like, after the Tenrou Island Incident.'
"Alfie?" Marin asked while trying to stifle her laughter. "Oh, the girls are gonna get a kick out of this."
"Most of them already know about it." Alfonzo said flatly. Then, he raised his right hand and waved at Millianna. "Hey, Millianna, long time no see."
"Wow, you really are here." Millianna ran forward excitedly. "Too bad you didn't bring Erzie-Werzie with you, meow. I would have loved to see her again."
Hearing that the newest member of Mermaid Heel already knew one of the guests, the other wizards in the guild were surprised. However, not many of them knew about Millianna's past. If they had, they might not find it so surprising.
"I see." Tsunade said while rubbing her chin. "Since you and some of your girlfriends were the ones who dealt with that incident, I guess it makes sense you two know each other."
"I guess." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "Though, the one she's really familiar with is Erza. They grew up in the same circumstances, after all. Though, Erza was able to make it out a few years earlier."
"I see." Tsunade replied. Then, she turned her attention to Millianna. "You can have your reunion later, Millianna. For now, let me finish introducing our guests to the guild."
"Okay~~~, meow!" Millianna replied energetically.
"Like I was saying, Alfonzo is here to upgrade our training facilities." Tsunade continued. "I'm sure I've mentioned that before."
In response, the ladies nodded their heads.
"And for the duration of the renovations, Wendy will be here to learn the art of healing from me."
Hearing that, many of the ladies in the guild hall could not help but gasp in surprise. A lot of them had tried learning healing from Tsunade. However, none of them were willing to stick with it. While most of them were disqualified thanks to the harsh magic power control requirements, the rest dropped out thanks to Tsunade's way of making sure the healer doesn't go down before those she's trying to heal in battle. And because of that, they could not help but look at Wendy with pitiful gazes.
"Um... why are they all looking at me like that?" Wendy asked in a whisper.
"I don't know." Carla replied with her eyes narrowed. "But I have a bad feeling."
'I guess a lot of them have tried to become Tsunade's disciples, huh?' Alfonzo thought to himself as he scanned the gazes Wendy was receiving. Well, being forced to dodge attacks from a combatant as skilled as Tsunade during training would deter quite a few people.'
As Alfonzo thought, like in her original work, Tsunade still believed that the first thing any capable battlefield healer should know how to do is avoid taking damage. And the way she does that is by forcing her students to dodge attacks from her capable of shattering the ground.
"And lastly, Marin Kitagawa is here to help take care of Alfonzo and Wendy's needs." Tsunade continued. "Though, there's a good chance she won't be here for the entire month. Most likely being replaced by another member of Fairy Tail in a few days to a week."
"Hi, everybody!" Marin said happily while waving at the ladies of Mermaid heel. "It's nice to meet all of you and I hope we can get along while I'm here!"
"She's still as outgoing as ever, I see." kagura, sitting among a group of young woman said.
"Kagura, you know that girl?" A pale-skinned, beautiful young woman with pale green hair styled into thick dreadlocks at the back of her head, green eyes, and long eyelashes asked curiously.
"That's right, Araña." Kagura replied with a nod. "I met her when Yoruichi and I took that joint quest with Fairy Tail and Quatro Cerberus."
"I see." Araña replied with a nod while looking at the guests with curiosity.
Though Araña is actually two years younger than members like Kagura and Millianna, she's actually been an official member since she was twelve. In other words, she's been taking on quests as a wizard for almost three full years.
"Anyway." Tsunade said, her voice cutting through all the chatter in the guild hall. "I know you're curious about the new faces---"
"How rude." Carla said, interrupting Tsunade's speech. "It would seem only humans deserve introductions in this guild."
Hearing that, the entire guild hall fell silent while staring at Carla in surprise.
"That cat, did it just speak?" Anko asked in wonder.
Not only Anko, but many of the ladies present asked the same question. Meanwhile, Ritsu could only shake her head at her successor's blunder. Tsunade on the other hand, was blushing in shame for forgetting about Carla, who she had met and even spoken with during her trip to Magnolia two months ago.
"Sorry, Carla." Tsunade said while smiling sheepishly. "I wasn't trying to be rude, but I didn't know your exact purpose for being here, so I didn't remember to introduce you."
"Hmph!" Carla snorted while looking away from Tsunade. A moment later, she turned back while pointing at her. "My role is the most important of all four of us. I've been sent here to make sure that Wendy doesn't pick up any of your bad habits!"
"Carla~." Wendy said, feeling embarrassed that Carla actually said that out loud.
Meanwhile, Tsunade froze up completely after hearing Carla's words. At the same time, Ritsu raised her right arm, covering her smile with the sleeve of her kimono.
After a moment, the Mermaid Heel guild hall burst into loud, raucous laughter.
"She got you there, Lady Tsunade!" Anko shouted while laughing hardily and slapping her hand on the top of the bar.
Like that, the entirety of Mermaid Heel laughed at their guild master. Even Ritsu, who was the calmest of all the ladies present, had to eventually turn her back on Tsunade, as she was afraid that she would end up laughing out loud if she continued to look at her dumbfounded expression.
"That's enough!" Tsunade shouted as she glared at the members of her guild. "Alfonzo will start working on the training rooms tomorrow morning. So, you all can take all the time you want to ask him and the others as many questions as you have tonight."
Immediately after finishing what she had to say, with her cheeks slightly red, Tsunade started walking towards the staircase on the opposite side of the guild hall. And without another word, the whole guild watched her leave, staying silent until the sound of her office door slamming shut echoed through the building.
"I like that little cat." Anko said with a grin. "I doubt anyone from the Hidden Leaf Village has ever seen Tsunade left so utterly flabbergasted before."
"Yeah, I noticed she had quite the sharp tongue during our visit to Magnolia." Yoruichi said, allowing a small smile to creep onto her face, as well. "But that was pretty savage."
"Anyway, I think I'm gonna go say hi to our guests." Anko said as she stood from her seat next to Yoruichi. "I wanna see what you like so much about this guy."
"*Sigh* Whatever." Yoruichi said while shaking her head. "It's not like I can stop you once you've set your mind to something, anyway."
"Exactly." Anko said with a smile before walking away.
"Lady Yoruichi, are you okay?" Sui-Feng asked in a concerned tone.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Yoruichi replied. "I just hope I get to talk to him before his time here ends."
Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Marin, Wendy, and Carla made their way to the nearest empty table. All the while, the curious gazes from the ladies of Mermaid Heel followed their movements.
"If they wanna ask us questions, they should just come over and ask." Marin said as she took a seat.
"Not everyone is as outgoing as you are, Marin." Alfonzo said with a smile as he sat down as well.
"Yeah, but just staring at us won't answer any of their questions, though." Marin replied.
"You're right about that." Anko, who had approached after the group sat down said, inserting herself into the conversation as she sat down in an open seat.
Hearing the unfamiliar voice, Alfonzo, Marin, Wendy, and Carla looked in its direction. While Wendy seemed a bit flustered by the extra person at the table, Carla looked at Anko wearily. Meanwhile, Marin looked at her with interest. She was the first person to come to talk to them, after all.
Then, there was Alfonzo, who, although he didn't show it, was somewhat surprised to see Anko. Especially with the abundant interest in her eyes while she looked at him.
'Since I've already met Guy, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, seeing Anko here doesn't surprise me all that much.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he examined the woman sitting across from him. 'But I wonder if the relationships between the characters are the same as they were in the canon. Was she one of the pedo-snake's old students? Actually, I think I already have an answer to that question. That magic power signature on her neck feels disgusting.'
"Who are you?" Carla asked, bringing Alfonzo out of his contemplations.
"Oh, I'm Anko Mitarashi." Anko said with a smile. "I'm one of Mermaid Heel's A-Class wizards."
"Nice to meet you, Anko!" Marin replied happily. "You don't mind if I call you that, right?"
"Nope." Anko replied. "And I'll call you Marin."
"Great!" Marin exclaimed. "So, what kind of magic do you use? I use [Transformation Magic]."
"I use the same kind of magic as everyone in my village." Anko replied. "But it's not like the conventional magic most wizards use. It's called [Ninjutsu]."
"Ooh! What's so different about it and regular magic?" Marin asked curiously.
Like that, the conversation between Marin and Anko continued. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Wendy, and Carla could only marvel at the social butterfly that was Marin.