Yoruichi and Sui-Feng Arrive

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

May 8, x785.

After taking the time to get cleaned up and dressed, Elicia, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, Sun, and Lucy arrived in the dining room just in time to see Alfonzo putting down the last dish for breakfast on an already set table.

"Wow! Pancakes!" Elicia shouted happily.

"There are all kinds of fruit to top them with, too." Marin said energetically.

"Whipped cream, too." sun said happily.

"Perfect timing." Alfonzo said with a smile. Then, while taking off his apron, Alfonzo continued while moving behind Elicia's usual seat. "I just finished. "

A moment later, Alfonzo pulled out the chair and gestured for Elicia to take a seat. And she wasted no time doing so with a smile on her face. Shortly afterwards, the other girls took their seats as well. And when Alfonzo finally took his seat, they dug into the food like they had not eaten in days.

For the next few minutes, breakfast continued in a jovial atmosphere, until…

*Ding!* *Dong!*

"I guess someone is here to wish us a happy birthday." Alfonzo muttered with a mouthful of pancakes.

Then, Alfonzo spread his [Magic Power Detection] to see if he recognized the magic power signature at the mansion's gate. Which he did. However, the awkward expression that showed up on his face after he did drew all the girls attention.

"Alfonzo, is something wrong?" Erza asked on behalf of the rest of the girls.

"*Sigh* Yoruichi is here." Alfonzo said as he put his cutlery down before standing up from his seat. "And it looks like her little follower came, too."

Hearing that, the expressions of all the girls at the table changed. While Elicia lowered her head with a measure of guilt on her face, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, and Sun wore expressions ranging from uncomfortable to downright pissed off. Meanwhile, Lucy, who was unaware of what happened back in March looked at all of them with confusion.

A moment later, Alfonzo left the dining room.

*Bang!*

"Why is that bitch here?" Cana spat while slamming her fist on the table.

"Cana~~…" Marin hissed while gesturing at Elicia, whose head had lowered even further due to Cana's outburst.

"She's probably here to wish Alfonzo and Lici a happy birthday." Ultear said while calmly cutting her stack of pancakes.

"Yeah, that makes the most sense." Sun added with a nod.

"Either way, it's not up to us whether she can stay or not." Mirajane said.

"Indeed." Erza added. "Still, I'd like the chance to fight her. It would help immensely in getting to know her better."

In response, Ultear, Mirajane, Marin, and Sun looked at Cana with shocked expressions.

"I told you that's what she would say." Cana said while shaking her head. "Anyway, if Fonzie lets her in, I'll play nice. But I won't go out of my way to like her."

"That's fine." Ultear replied.

"Umm…." Lucy said, interrupting the ongoing conversation. "When you mentioned Yoruichi, did you mean the ace of Mermaid Heel? And if so, why does it seem as if none of you like her very much?"

"Oh, that's right, Lucy doesn't know." Mirajane replied with an expression that screamed "Oops!" "Well, she's the ace of Mermaid Heel, like you thought. And…"

From there, Mirajane explained what happened with Yoruichi when Mermaid Heel visited. And what they decided they would do about her.

"Seriously?" Lucy exclaimed in surprise. "Something like that really happened?"

"Yeah, but we can talk about that later." Sun said as she pulled Elicia into a hug. "Lici looks like she's gonna cry."

Finally noticing the expression on Elicia's face, the girls decided to drop the subject for the time being.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo had just reached the front door. And upon opening it, he could see Yoruichi standing at the gate nervously. Then, with a wry smile on his face, he pressed the button near the front door to open the gate, allowing Yoruichi to enter.

Seeing Alfonzo at the front door, Yoruichi could only smile wryly as she stepped past the gate. But when the gate did not close behind her immediately, Yoruichi's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Tell your little stalker to come in, too." Alfonzo said before Yoruichi could question him.

IN response, Yoruichi smiled wryly once again. Then, she turned back towards the gate. More specifically, towards a tree about two hundred feet away from the gate.

"You heard him, Bumble Bee." Yoruichi said. "Come inside with me."

A moment later, Sui-Feng poked her head out from behind the tree with a pout.

"I wasn't stalking Lady Yoruichi, I was protecting her." Sui-Feng grumbled as she took a step forward.

In the next instant, Sui-Feng appeared next to Yoruichi with the use of the [Flash Step]. A moment later, the gate closed behind the guests. And when it did, both Yoruichi and Sui-Feng felt the defensive barrier's activation, which caused Sui-Feng to shudder.

"I'll admit I wasn't expecting to see the two of you until I came to Mermaid Heel's guild hall, in a few days, to start the job." Alfonzo said with a welcoming smile. "Either way, come in. We were just having breakfast."

"Thanks for having us, even though we showed up unannounced." Yoruichi said. "And happy birthday."

"Thanks." Alfonzo said with a happy smile.

Meanwhile, Sui-Feng only scowled. So, since she was being so rude, Alfonzo ignored her. Still, he led the two guests to the dining room. And as soon as they entered, all eyes fell on them. Or rather, they fell on Yoruichi. All except for Elicia's, whose head was still lowered.

"Well, it looks like they don't like me very much." Yoruichi said with a wry smile. "Not that I can blame them."

"Anyway, you two can have a seat." Alfonzo said as he walked towards his own seat at the head of the table. "There're still plenty of pancakes and stuff left. You can help yourselves."

"Thanks." Yoruichi replied with a smile.

Then, while walking to an open seat, Yoruichi took the bag she was carrying off of her shoulder. However, when she did, she seemed to remember something.

"Oh, before that…" Yoruichi said as she started rifling through her bag. A moment later, she pulled two packages from inside. "Happy Birthday, Lici, Alfonzo. I have gifts for you."

Hearing that, the nine Fairy Tail wizards stopped eating and raised their heads. Then, they focused on the two packages in Yoruichi's hands.

While one was quite small, no bigger than a ring case, and wrapped in royal blue wrapping paper, the other was much larger by comparison. Wrapped in baby pink wrapping paper, it was a cylindrical shaped package.

By now, the levels of wariness and hostility on the girls' faces were replaced with curiosity. Well, for everyone other than Cana, who still looked at Yoruichi with quite some hostility, that is.

With the gifts in hand, Yoruichi altered her course to hand the gifts to Alfonzo and Elicia. Then, after accomplishing her task, she turned back and returned to the seat she was going to sit on. Meanwhile, while Yoruichi walked past all the girls to give the gifts, Sui-Feng watched them like a hawk, thinking to step in if they suddenly attacked.

"That girl is too uptight, right?" Lucy whispered to Marin.

"Yeah, I mean seriously." Marin replied. "Does she really think we'd start a fight with someone as strong as Yoruichi in our own home? That wouldn't do anything but damage the house and make Alfonzo mad at us."

With that, Lucy shuddered involuntarily. She had just imagined the damage the mansion would have taken if a fight started between them and Yoruichi inside the house. Then, she flushed a bit when she thought of Alfonzo's stern expression.

'What am I thinking?' Lucy muttered internally while shaking her head. 'I'm not a masochist. 'But when Alfonzo is being stern or working seriously, he's really hot. Maybe being punished might not… No, bad Lucy!'

Naturally, Lucy's odd behavior and rapidly changing facial expressions drew a lot of attention. But the Fairy Tail wizards decided to ignore her. Meanwhile, Yoruichi held back a giggle while Sui-Feng glared at Marin and Lucy with a twitching eyebrow, having overheard their conversation.

"Anyway, what is this?" Elicia, who's expression brightened a lot after receiving a gift, asked while looking at the cylindrical gift sitting next to her chair.

"If you open it, you'll know." Yoruichi replied, trying to sound mysterious.

Elicia pouted in response. However, her expression returned to a curious one only a moment later. Meanwhile, Alfonzo reached over and started combing his fingers through Elicia's hair with a smile on his face.

"Why don't we finish breakfast before we open them, Lici." Alfonzo said in a gentle tone. "It's not like their gonna grow legs and run away."

"'Kay~~~…" Elicia replied reluctantly as she struggled to turn her eyes away from the gift.

"She's like a little kid when she gets like this." Ultear said with a smile.

"Yeah, it's kinda cute." Sun added.

Hearing that, Elicia flushed slightly in embarrassment while her harem sisters laughed at her expense. Meanwhile, Yoruichi breathed a sigh of relief.

'Good, he's back to calling her Lici again.' Yoruichi said to herself internally.

With that, breakfast continued. Though, it was not quite as lively as before with Yoruichi and Sui-Feng's inclusion. Still, there were a few people who tried to engage her in conversation, to get to know her just like the girls had discussed.

Eventually, breakfast ended, and Alfonzo, Mirajane, and Sun took the dirty dishes to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Elicia led Lucy, Yoruichi, and Sui-Feng to the living room while the other girls dashed off to their own rooms.

"Tch!" Lucy clicked her tongue. "If I had moved in already, mine would be here, too."

Hearing that, all three girls knew exactly what Lucy was talking about. It was clear to anyone that the girls were returning to their bedrooms to get their own gifts for Alfonzo and Elicia after seeing Yoruichi hand them hers.

A few moments later, Elicia, Lucy, Yoruichi, and Sui-Feng reached the living room before taking seats on the couches. And since she knew that Alfonzo would definitely sit next to Elicia today, Lucy took a seat on the same couch as she did in order to cuddle with Alfonzo when he arrived.

Meanwhile, Yoruichi took a seat on the reclining chair and Sui-Feng stood behind her like a bodyguard.

"Seriously, Bumble Bee, they were right earlier." Yoruichi said in an exasperated tone. "No one's gonna start a fight here."

"Yoruichi Shihouin, I, Erza Scarlet, challenge you to a duel." Erza, the first of the girls to reach the living room, said as if to prove Yoruichi wrong while carrying a large package over her left shoulder and a second similarly sized package under her left arm.

Immediately, Sui-Feng looked at Yoruichi with an expression that shouted: "See, I told you so!" Meanwhile, Elicia and Lucy could only face palm. Yoruichi, on the other hand, looked at Erza with an expression that suggested she was expecting to receive a few more of these challenges before the day ended.

*Bang!*

Then, before Yoruichi could respond to her challenge, Erza put the large packages she was carrying on the floor next to one of the couches before taking a seat. However, the loud rumbling sound one of the packages made when it made contact with the floor caught everyone off guard.

"What the heck is that, Erza?" Lucy asked in a surprised tone.

"Be patient, Lucy." Erza replied calmly. "I shall explain when my gifts are opened."

And as the seconds passed, the rest of the girls arrived in the living room from upstairs. And like Erza, they were each carrying a pair of gift wrapped packages. Then, Alfonzo arrived in the living room, and took a seat between Elicia and Lucy, causing a few girls to click their tongues while glaring at Lucy enviously. After a few more minutes, Mirajane and Sun also arrived after running upstairs to get their own gifts for Alfonzo and Elicia.

"So many presents." Elicia said excitedly, basically bouncing in excitement. "Which one should I open first?"