章 243: Preliminary Investigation

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Karakura.

November, x784.

After discussing the plan for the raid on the mad scientists' hideout, everyone, excluding Bacchus, returned to their rooms. While some decided to spend the day relaxing before the mission started tomorrow morning, there were a few exceptions.

For one, there was Guy, who decided to train his body in the room by performing a number of push ups and sit ups. Mirajane also had no intension to just relax after they returned to their room, either.

While Alfonzo quickly changed into his battle attire and left the room after saying goodbye to the two ladies he was sharing the room with, Mirajane, although she did not change clothes, also decided to leave the room shortly afterward.

"You're going out, too, Mira?" Marin asked while sitting on her bed with a new novel she just bought.

"Yeah." Mirajane replied with a smile. "I've never been to this town before, so I wanted to explore a little bit. Also, I wanted to see if I could find any interesting souvenirs for Elfman and Lisanna."

"Aww… That's sweet." Marin replied with a smile. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, that's alright." Mirajane replied, maintaining her smile. "I'll probably be gone until around dinner time. And considering that we just had breakfast, that will be a while."

Then, Mirajane's smile changed slightly as she shot a knowing look at Marin.

"I'm sure Alfonzo will get back before I do." Mirajane continued as she turned towards the door. "This is your chance. Make the most of it."

With that, Mirajane walked to the door and opened it. Then, before she left, she turned back to Marin once more and winked. After that, she pulled the door shut and went on her way. Meanwhile, Marin, with a bright blush on her face, watched Mirajane leave with her mouth hanging open.

"O! M! G!" Marin exclaimed as she fell back onto the bed.

Then, with her hands covering her red cheeks, Marin started rolling back and forth on the bed as she squealed in embarrassment. After doing that for about a minute, Marin shot up to her feet. Then, she rushed over to her luggage.

A short while later, with her clothes strewn all over the hotel room floor, Marin stood in front of her empty suitcase with a set of see-through, lacy, pink lingerie in her hands.

"Am I really doing this?" Marin asked herself as she looked between the revealing pair of panties and bra she held in her hands. "I mean, I haven't even told him that I like him yet."

Standing there in uncertainty for a few more minutes, Marin eventually put on a resolute expression.

"I can just tell him when he gets back." Marin said to herself as she started walking towards the bathroom in the room. "After that, I'll show him how I feel, too."

Before she reached the bathroom door, Marin stopped in her tracks. Then, with her eyes shining after a sudden spark of inspiration, she turned her attention towards Alfonzo's luggage with a smile.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo, who had changed into his battle attire, a black and blue version of Goku's usual outfit from the Dragon Ball franchise, was waiting for Yoruichi, just outside the hotel's front door.

"Although I doubt we'll be heading too far inside, if at all, today…" Alfonzo muttered to himself while leaning against the wall next to the hotel's front door. "I get the feeling we're not gonna like anything we see inside that hideout."

Remembering all the inhumane experiments both Mayuri and Orochimaru were willing to do in their source materials made Alfonzo involuntarily frown.

"Yeah, according to the reports, those two are bat-shit insane." A deep male voice said from beside Alfonzo.

A moment later, Alfonzo felt a small weight settle on his left shoulder. Turning his head slightly, he saw a golden eyed black cat perching on his shoulder.

"Why the hell is your voice so masculine when you're in your cat form, Yoruichi?" Alfonzo asked with a wry smile on his face.

"Beats me." Yoruichi replied, comically shrugging her shoulders in her cat form. "It just kinda happens. Either way, I'm just glad I can talk in this form. It would be really awkward to try and pantomime what I'm trying to say otherwise."

"I know you're right." Alfonzo said, maintaining is wry smile. "Still, I'm not a fan of having a man talking into my ear like that."

With that last statement, a mischievous grin appeared on Yoruichi's cat face.

*Poof!*

"So, you'd rather have a beautiful woman like me whispering into your ear, then?" Yoruichi said seductively as she transformed back into her human form while draping herself, now wearing a tight, black, sleeveless, backless body suit with black arm sleeves that reached her wrists to her biceps, a yellow sash wrapped around her waist, and a white scarf wrapped around her neck, on Alfonzo's back. "You know, we could skip the investigation and have some fun… *Blow* If you want."

Feeling Yoruichi's warm breath on his ear, Alfonzo could not help but shiver. Other than that, however, he did not react much. Instead, he reached his left arm back and pulled Yoruichi in front of him.

Yoruichi, on the other hand, did not release her arms from around Alfonzo's neck. So, she ended up hugging him from the front with a smile.

"Does this mean you're taking me up on my offer?" Yoruichi asked playfully.

"You already know the answer to that question." Alfonzo said dryly.

Then, with one arm wrapped around Yoruichi's back and the other sweeping up her legs, Alfonzo carried the woman in his arms in a princess carry as he began levitating off the ground.

"If you decide to join my harem, we can talk aboout that later." Alfonzo said as he ascended above the hotel's roof. "But for now, we've got a job to do. Which way?"

"No fun at all." Yoruichi said with a pout while simultaneously making herself comfortable in Alfonzo's arms. Then, she pointed in a certain direction as she continued. "That way."

Following the direction of Yoruichi's pointing finger, Alfonzo began flying away from the town. At the same time, he used his [Electromagnetism Magic] to bend the visible light around himself and Yoruichi, rendering them invisible to anyone who might be looking up in the sky.

Flying at a moderate speed, it only took about fifteen minutes for Alfonzo and Yoruichi to arrive at their destination. Looking down from above, they could see deep ravine that opened up into a valley further down.

"Did you check out the valley down that way?" Alfonzo asked, gesturing towards the distance with his chin.

"I did." Yoruichi replied with a nod. "But I couldn't find anything connected to the hideout. I even asked some of the people in the town about it."

"Oh, and what did they have to say?" Alfonzo asked in curiosity.

"They said it was the sight of a huge battle between two wizards sometime in the past." Yoruichi replied. "But no one knew much about it. The only concrete information I heard was the name of the valley."

"Let me guess, it's probably something ostentatious like, the Valley of the End, right?" Alfonzo said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Yoruichi could only look on at Alfonzo blankly.

"What?" Alfonzo asked.

"You've already researched this area, haven't you?" Yoruichi asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Nope, not at all." Alfonzo replied while shaking his head.

"Then, how the hell do you know the name of the valley." Yoruichi asked.

"Just guessed." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "I'm pretty good when it comes to making wild guesses."

'Yeah right, after seeing Guy an getting him to admit that the Village Hidden in the Leaves is nearby, there's no way I couldn't' get that right." Alfonzo thought to himself. "Still, I pray to everything holy that Kaguya isn't trapped in the moon. I mean, seriously, I'm already probably gonna have to deal with a big, black, fuck off dragon in, like, a month. I'm really not feeling the thought of aliens, too.'

"Anyway." Yoruichi said as she rolled her eyes, clearly not believing Alfonzo's explanation. "How are we gonna do this?"

"Well, I don't plan on having us go in." Alfonzo said, his expression becoming solemn. "But, I'm gonna see what I can find while using my [EM Magic]. With X-Rays and radio waves, I should be able to get a general layout of the inside of the hideout."

Hearing that, Yoruichi nodded in understanding. She had already figured that this would be just a preliminary investigation. A moment later, however, her expression changed into something mischievous.

"does that mean that you only brought me here so that you could cop a feel while you did your work?" Yoruichi asked as she pulled herself closer to Alfonzo, pressing her rather impressive bosom against his chest in the process.

"Not really." Alfonzo replied with a grin. "But it's a nice added benefit."

In response, Yoruichi giggled softly. Then, she pushed herself away from Alfonzo.

*Poof!*

A moment later, Yoruichi was back in her cat form and resting on Alfonzo's right forearm. Then, she quickly scurried up his arm, to his shoulder, before hopping up and landing on top of his head.

"Well, I'll just wait right here." Yoruichi said, stretching in the typical fashion of a cat. "A nap sounds great, actually. Wake me up when you're done."

Shaking his head gently, as to not cause Yoruichi to have to dig her claws in, Alfonzo slowly lowered his altitude while maintaining his invisibility. And as he approached the ground, he used X-rays to look as far into the hideout as he could. Then once he was floating in front of the hideout's entrance, he emitted radio waves to scan as much of the tunnel system as he could.

A few hours later, Alfonzo, with Yoruichi in his arms and back in her human form, landed outside of the hotel's front entrance. Then, he dropped his invisibility, surprising a couple who was walking towards the hotel's front doors in the process. After that, he casually put Yoruichi down on the ground.

"Just like we thought." Alfonzo said while giving the couple behind him an apologetic nod. "Both Kurotsuchi and Orochimaru have a few minions along with a lot of normal people, probably test subjects, in there with them."

"Yeah, but you said there were three more people else with pretty high amounts of magic power in there." Yoruichi said as she watched the surprised couple hurry past them into the hotel. "Got an idea who that could be?"

'There are a lot of candidates in my mind.' Alfonzo thought to himself in response. 'But considering how mixed up this world is, I'm not really sure.'

"Not really." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "But it's better than going in completely blind to their presence, right?"

"I guess." Yoruichi replied nonchalantly.

"Anyway, we should get some rest." Alfonzo suggested. "We're gonna have a pretty long day tomorrow."

"Sure." Yoruichi said with another shrug. Then, with a seductive smile on her face, she nestled against Alfonzo's left side while wrapping her arms around his left arm as she continued. You're welcome to come and rest with me in my room, you know."

"Come on, Yoruichi." Alfonzo said with an exasperated sigh. "We've already talked about this. Besides, I thought you wanted to do this with Elicia, too. On top of all that, aren't you sharing a room with Kagura?"

Letting go of Alfonzo's arm with a giggle, Yoruichi took a few steps away. Then, she turned around with her hands grasped behind her back.

"Oh, I didn't forget about Elicia or Kagura." Yoruichi said with a smile. "But having a little fun, as in a few drinks, wouldn't hurt. OH well, your loss."

With that, Yoruichi winked at Alfonzo before she turned around and made her way into the hotel.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo could only shake his head.

"That girl is relentless." Alfonzo muttered with a wry smile on his face. "Anyway, I wonder if Mira is in the room. I need to get rid of this… excess energy."

As he spoke the last part, Alfonzo looked down, only to see a tent forming in his pants.