章 565: Mirajane's Brilliant Idea

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Hargeon.

December 16, x787.

After the S-Class wizards returned from their "discussion" about Alzack's S-Class qualifications, the entire group of Fairy Tail wizards discussed the tournament. Then, after talking for a while, they all decided to go to bed. The next morning, just after sunrise, the entire group woke up, had breakfast, broke down the camp, ring, and viewing stands, then boarded Sixth Sense and headed back to Hargeon.

A few hours later, the ship docked at Hargeon's port. Then, the Fairy Tail wizards all disembarked, gathering at the port's parking lot to get in their vehicles and head back to Magnolia.

"You know, I'm actually surprised about something that happened... Or rather, didn't happen on this trip to Tenrou Island." Alfonzo said after throwing a leg over his motorcycle.

"What do you mean?" Mirajane asked as she accepted the helmet Alfonzo handed her.

"Well… Not once did Natsu shout about wanting to fight anyone." Alfonzo replied. "I especially expected him to be all rowdy after Alzack's last two fights, you know?"

Hearing that, everyone, other than Gildarts and Ur, who had already driven away in Ur's Huracán, put on a surprised expressions before shifting their gazes to Natsu, who Wendy had just cast her [Troia] spell on.

"Now that you mention it, that's pretty suspicious for this pink-haired idiot." Gray said while looking at Natsu suspiciously.

"Who are you and where is the real Natsu?" Elfman asked while walking towards Natsu menacingly. "There's no way a battle junkie like him could keep himself from asking for a fight like a real man! If you don't tell me where the real Natsu is, I'll make you pay for this! I won't let you make Lisanna cry!"

With every step he took, Elfman's voice grew louder. On top of that, when he was about halfway to Natsu, his body was covered in the light of his [Take Over Magic]. And by the time he arrived in front of Natsu, ready to grab him by his collar, Elfman was in the form of his [Take Over: Beast Soul].

In response, Natsu only stood there, scratching the back of his head while looking away awkwardly. However, when he did not reply, Elfman grew even more irritated. Before he could actually grab Natsu, however, his arms were stopped by a countless number of threads.

"Calm down, Elfman." Elicia said as she restrained Elfman. "That is the real Natsu."

"How is that possible?" Everyone shouted in confusion, simultaneously.

"*Sigh* If you guys were using [Magic Power detection], you would have realized that already." Alfonzo said while shaking his head in disappointment.

"We are using [Magic Power Detection]!" Everyone shouted in unison again.

"It's just impossible to believe that this flame brain could keep control of himself like that for so long." Gray said, continuing in place of everyone else. "I mean, he didn't pick a fight even once over the entire trip."

*Smack!*

By that point, Natsu was gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. ON top of that, there were wisps of flames being created all around him from time to time. Then, just as he was about to retort to Gray calling him stupid for the second time, he slapped his hands over his mouth before turning around so that he wouldn't have to see Gray's extremely punchable face.

Seeing Natsu's reaction, almost everyone on the scene was even more confident that this Natsu was an imposter. But there were a few people who completely trusted their [Magic Power Detection].

"So, you wanna tell us what's going on, Natsu?" Erza asked as she placed one of her gauntleted hands on Natsu's shoulder.

"*Sigh* Fine…" Natsu said after taking a few deep breaths to calm down the urge to punch Gray. Then, he turned around and slowly made eye contact with everyone present. "It's like this…"

Reaching that point, Natsu once again scratched his head. However, no one spoke, waiting for him to continue on his own.

"Lisanna said she would give me a reward if I could keep from getting myself knocked out by charging at someone without giving them a chance to reply to my challenge, like I usually do when I fight Alfonzo and Laxus." Natsu said while smiling bashfully with a blush on his face. "And if I could keep from starting any fights altogether, she said she would make the reward even more special. So…"

With that, the area around where all the Fairy Tail wizards' vehicles were parked fell into pin drop silence. Elfman even reverted back to his base form because he was too shocked to concentrate on his magic, at all. Then, after a few seconds of silence, the sound of quiet sobbing could be heard.

Looking in the sobbing's direction, still with those shocked expressions on their faces, they saw Mirajane, who had climbed onto the backseat of Alfonzo's motorcycle, clinging to his back and crying into it. And Alfonzo, who was smiling wryly because he had an idea why Mirajane was crying.

"Mira, what's wrong?" Elfman asked, sprinting towards Mirajane with concern etched all over his face.

"So, I was wrong back then." Evergreen muttered with a grin as she watched Elfman panic. "He's not just a sis-con, he's a double sis-con.'

"Nothing's wrong, Elfman." Mirajane said as she straightened up and raised the visor on her helmet so she could wipe her eyes. "I'm just fine, really."

"Then, why are you crying?" Elfman asked, unable to see the bright smile Mirajane was wearing thanks to the helmet.

"Because I'm so *Sniff* proud of Lisanna." Mirajane replied. "My baby sister has grown up. *Sniff* Keeping her man in check with promises like that. *Sigh* They grow up so fast."

While Alfonzo, his girls, Laxus, Evergreen, Gray and Juvia grinned at Mirajane's words, the virgins in the group wore confused expressions, not exactly understanding Mirajane's insinuation. Meanwhile, Natsu's blush deepened, as he knew he had been found out, and Levy blushed just as fiercely as Natsu while stealing glances at Gajeel's confused face. Elfman, on the other hand, who was also not part of the group of virgins, turned around and glared at Natsu again.

"Come on, Elf, it's time to get back to Magnolia." Evergreen said, quickly walking over to Elfman's side before he could do something stupid because of his sister complex. Then, once she was close enough, she grabbed Elfman by the arm and dragged him towards Lucy's truck as she continued. "Do you really wanna make Ur mad if we're late. IF you do, she'll freeze you like a real man."

*Bang!*

As soon as her words fell, Evergreen, using the arm she was holding, flipped Elfman into the flat bed of Lucy's truck, causing it to shake violently. Then, she dusted her hands as if she had just done a good job while nodding to herself in satisfaction.

"Now, let's get moving before he snaps out of his stunned state." Evergreen said as she dashed towards her own Huracán.

Eventually, everyone loaded up into the vehicles before they all started driving back to Magnolia.

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Open Roads.

With Mirajane hugging his waist, Alfonzo was flying down the roads of Fiore with a considerable lead over the next vehicle carrying his guild mates. The whole time, he was laughing internally at what happened back at the port. And Mirajane, who could feel Alfonzo trembling from holding in his laughter, finally tried to speak up.

Unfortunately, because of the artificial engine sounds, the helmets, and the wind, Although Alfonzo could hear Mirajane speaking, he could not make out what she was saying. So, he opened up a [Telepathic Link] between the two of them.

{"What were you saying, Mira?"} Alfonzo asked.

{"I asked you why you've been laughing so much."} Mirajane replied.

{"Oh, it's because that situation back at the port was so funny."} Alfonzo said, his laughter still present in the [Telepathic Link]. {"On top of that, a lot of people gave away their sexual status after you said how proud of Lisanna you were."}

{"What do you mean?"} Mirajane asked in a curious tone.

Alfonzo then went on to tell Mirajane about everyone's reaction to her declaration of pride. And she, too, could not help but start laughing.

{"I guess that means Levy and Gajeel haven't reached that step yet, huh?"} Mirajane asked in a tone that sounded ready for gossip. Her tone changed a second later, however, as she continued. {"But it looks like Laxus got Lucky with Saya, though. Honestly, after realizing that, I kinda feel sorry for Chico. I mean, she's really liked Laxus a lot for a long time, you know."}

{"I really don't think you need to worry about her."} Alfonzo said. {"I mean I know I've been out of the guild a lot over the past two years, but any time I've been back, after Laxus started showing interest in Saya, I mean, I've never seen Chico looking at them with envy or anger. She even sits with them in the guild hall from time to time. So, I bet there's more going on with those three than we think.""

{"So, you think Laxus is going down the harem route like you did?"} Mirajane asked with a hint of mischief in her tone.

{"I think you mean like Lici did."} Alfonzo replied while smiling wryly. {"But there's a possibility. There's also the possibility that Laxus sat Chico down and talked it out with her."}

{"Yeah, I doubt that."} Mirajane said while shaking her head.

{"Actually, so do I."} Alfonzo replied. {"But there's always a possibility, right? We'll never know until we ask them."}

{"I guess you're right."} Mirajane replied. Then, after pausing for a moment or two, she changed the subject. {"Anyway, when are you going back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves?"}

{"On the twenty-third."} Alfonzo replied in a somewhat downcast tone. {"*Sigh* Although I've been coming back on the weekends, I really miss everyone. Especially Little Man. Being away from home so much really fucking sucks."}

{"Well, at least you'll get a week with everyone, right?"} Mirajane asked in a consoling tone, clearly trying to cheer up Alfonzo.

{"*Sigh* It won't even be a full week."} Alfonzo replied. {"I have to take Sixth Sense back to Akane Beach, remember. Then, I'll spend another day coming back to Magnolia. So, it will only be like five days."}

Hearing that, Mirajane fell silent in thought. Meanwhile, Alfonzo simply focused on the road while getting more depressed about not being able to stay with his family. A few moments later, Mirajane cheered happily.

{"I just had a great idea!"} Mirajane shouted over the [Telepathic Link]. {"We should all go with you to Akane Beach. Then, we can spend the week with you. After that, you can head back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves after dropping all of us off in Magnolia."}

IN response, Alfonzo's eyes lit up. And had he not been driving, he would have undoubtedly hugged and kissed Mirajane passionately. But since he was driving, he could only express his excitement over the [Telepathic Link].

{"That's a really fucking great idea!"} Alfonzo shouted over the [Telepathic Link]. {"Gimme a second, I'll add the others into the [Link] so we can talk about it."}

And Alfonzo immediately did just that. And it did not take long for Elicia, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Marin, Sun, and Lucy to agree with Mirajane's idea. They had no doubt that Shizuka would agree when they got back to Magnolia, as well. On top of that, they all thought bringing Amar'e out to play on the beach would make for a lot of cute memories. They even decided to bring all the maids with them, too.

So, while discussing the plans to go on a vacation with their entire family, the Fairy Tail wizards eventually reached Magnolia and headed to the guild hall for Ur's announcement of the S-Class Promotion Exam's results.

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

Around 3 p.m., Ur and all the guild's S-Class wizards were once again standing on the stage on the guild hall's first floor. And like last time, all the A-Class wizards and below were gathered in front of the stage, this time waiting to hear if there would be a new S-Class wizard in their guild.

"The moment you've all been waiting for is here." Ur said in a sonorous tone. "I will now be announcing the results of the x787 S-Class Promotion Exam."

Immediately, the guild hall was filled with the sound of uproarious cheering. However, with a wave of Ur's hand, the hall fell silent rather quickly.

"As I explained last week, this year's exam was a one-on-one single elimination tournament." Ur continued. "And the winner of the tournament would gain the opportunity to face one of the S-Class wizards in order to prove their qualifications to join their ranks."

With the guild hall in pin-drop silence, the A-Class and below wizards hung on Ur's every word. Though, there was one wizard among them, Gozaburo, who was abnormally happy.

As it turned out, as soon as Masa arrived at the guild hall, the first thing he did was let Gozaburo know that he lost in the tournament. And although this news completely flabbergasted Gozaburo, because he did not think there was anyone participating in the exam who could defeat Masa, his expression stretched into a happy smile in an instant.

Naturally, Gozaburo was ecstatic that one of his subordinates had not surpassed him in terms of his rank. Unfortunately for Gozaburo, Ren punched him in the side of his head with all her strength after he showed such an expression at Masa's failure. So, although he was smiling happily while Ur spoke, he was currently unconscious.

"In the end, after a series of hard-fought battles, Alzack Connell showed us all that he was the most qualified for the opportunity to rise through the ranks." Ur continued. "Then, after showing us everything he had in a battle with Alfonzo Marcus, the objectively second strongest member of the guild, though it pains me to admit that he's stronger than me, the S-Class wizards and I unanimously decided that he had shown us more than enough to be promoted. So, Alzack, allow me to be the first to---"

"Kya~~~~~~~~!" Bisca screamed excitedly, cutting off Ur's announcement. Then, she flung herself into Alzack's arms and rained kisses onto his face as she continued. "Al, you did it! Congratulations!"

"*Cough* … the second to congratulate you on becoming Fairy Tail's newest S-Class wizard." Ur continued after coughing awkwardly.

After that, the entire guild broke into uproarious cheering and congratulated Alzack on his promotion. Then, a party started, and Alfonzo naturally cooked for it. However, because his best friend, Alzack, was the star of the party, he did it for free, causing Ur to almost have a stroke.

In the end, the party ended after about three hours. And the reason was simple, in classic Fairy Tail fashion, the entire guild was embroiled in a brawl. Then, when nearly everyone was knocked out after the brawl, Alfonzo, his ladies, Laki, Alzack, Bisca, Wendy, Carla, Saeko, and Rika snuck away from the guild to pack bags for a weeklong stay at Alfonzo and Elicia's villa on Akane Beach. On top of that, Alfonzo, Laki, Wendy, Carla, and Saeko also packed enough for a trip to the Village Hidden in the Leaves after the weeklong vacation ended, as well. That way, the vacation could last an extra day. Since Alfonzo would not have to drop anyone off in Magnolia before heading back to the Hidden Leaf Village.