Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
December 20, x790.
"Alfonzo, Another fish!" Natsu shouted from in front of the bar in the Fairy Tail guild hall.
"Coming right up!" Alfonzo shouted back from the guild hall's kitchen.
More than four months have passed since the issue with the Akatsuki concluded. In that time, it was business as usual for the Fairy Tail guild. The wizards took and completed many quests of all difficulties. And to everyone's surprise, Ur, after having all her points taken away and even incurring a deficit, managed to get her point total back into the positive range. Even so, she was unable to get enough to trade for a meal.
As for Alfonzo cooking today, it was because he was finally finished with all the work Ur dumped on him before she stepped down as guild master.
From the moment Ur stepped down, Alfonzo had been working on the equipment orders for the Final Fantasy guild. And during that time, the women living in his house became more and more irritable after not being able to have Alfonzo's cooking, despite the fact that he was living in the house.
Though, if anyone went on a quest with him, which he took every few weeks, they were able to get his cooking while they were out.
Digressing, Alfonzo managed to finish the orders for Final Fantasy about a week before the Harvest Festival. So, he was free to compete in the battle of Fairy Tail Tournament with his team
As for the fifth member of the team, since Brandish no longer wanted to participate in the Grand Magic Games, they replaced her with Ur, to everyone's surprise.
The most effected by that decision was Gildarts, who glared at Alfonzo with all his might after Ur told him about the arrangement.
"You already took my little girl, Kid." Gildarts said the day after he found out about the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament arragements from Ur. "Now you're trying to take my woman? Alfonzo, I challenge you to a dual!"
Although Gildarts and Alfonzo fought in the Battle of Fairy Tail tournament after Gildarts' challenge, the all-out dual that he wanted never happened. Because as soon as the words left his mouth, Ur struck him in the back of the head with a super dense [Ice Fist] that knocked him out cold.
Also, like every other year Team Steel Threads participated in the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament, they won. So, they would be taking part in the Grand magic Games once again to defend their title as Fiore's strongest.
After that, Alfonzo left Magnolia for almost two months to install the training chambers in the Sabertooth guild hall. And Irene accompanied him. Since she was training Minerva, Sabertooth's acting guild master, her inclusion made perfect sense.
The six weeks spent at Sabertooth's guild hall was rather uneventful, however, during that time, the two Dragon Slayers challenged Alfonzo to fight almost daily. But with the excuse of having work to do, he avoided all their challenges until the day he left.
After that, Alfonzo returned to Magnolia to relax for a little while. But he was back to work soon enough, as the S-Class Promotion Exam was upon the guild again. Unfortunately, Mavis, who was much stricter than Ur, did not deem any of the eight participants ready for S-Class once the exam was over.
And for the last four days, after coming back from Tenrou Island, Alfonzo has been spending most of his time in the guild hall's kitchen, as every member of the guild was spending their points to get a taste of his coking after having to abstain for so long.
"I knew they would all have a lot of points built up after these five months." Alfonzo muttered to himself as he dredged a fish fillet through the breading he prepared. "But seriously, how in the hell do they have this many? I mean, there's no way they did this many missions without fucking some shit up, right?"
Despite his complaints, Alfonzo worked with precision, evenly coating the piece of fish. Then, he repeated the process with another piece before putting them both in the pan of hot oil.
Before long, two golden brown fish fillets were pulled out of the oil and put on a plate along with a side of fries.
"Order up!" Alfonzo shouted as he placed Natsu's order on the order window before it was picked up by one of the guild's hired waitresses. "Who's next?"
'Damn, I'm getting tired of this.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he wiped some sweat with a towel. 'I like cooking but seriously. I've been cooking during the breakfast rush, the lunch rush after training, and the dinner rush for four days.'
["What did you expect?"] Bedlam asked in an amused tone. ["Your food is pretty much crack to these people."]
'I know…' Alfonzo replied internally. 'I'm just glad that no one was knocking on my door trying to suck my dick for food.'
["You wouldn't have minded if it was one of your girls, though."] Bedlam said with a sneer.
'No comment.' Alfonzo answered quickly. 'Anyway, I think it's about time I made my suggestion to Master Mavis.'
["I was wondering when you were gonna say that."] Bedlam said with a grin. ["Don't want the GMG getting too easy, do we?"]
'Exactly.' Alfonzo replied with a grin of his own.
["It's not like it's gonna make a difference."] Riot said disdainfully. ["As long as you have Lici, no one will be able to stand in your way."]
["*Sigh* As much as I hate to admit it, he's right, you know?"] Bedlam said while shaking his head. ["Still doesn't change the fact that he's a simp, though."]
["Fuck you!"] Riot roared.
Like that, Alfonz's [Armament Spirits] started one of their usual fights. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, after not getting a response to his question, finally took the opportunity to relax. Then, he started cleaning up the guild hall's kitchen. Once he was done, he took off his apron and stepped out of the kitchen, making his way towards the elevator.
'It's never dull here.' Alfonzo muttered to himself while walking through the guild hall, dodging the occasional flying glass or slapping away a guild mate who lost track of their surroundings during a fight. 'But I love it.'
When his thoughts reached that point, Alfonzo had to slap away another guild mate. However, he noticed that this one was a bit… a lot rounder than the others he slapped away.
'Hmm? Was that Reedus?' Alfonzo asked himself. 'No, Gramps hasn't cast his [Giant Magic] on him in a long time. So, he's reverted back to his normal size. But since I made those expanding canvases for him, he doesn't mind that anymore. Anyway, if it wasn't Reedus, who the hell was it, then?'
Glancing in the direction he slapped away the last guild mate, Alfonzo had to do a double take when he saw who it was.
'Holy fucking shit!' Alfonzo exclaimed internally. 'Is that Droy? How the fuck did he get so fat so fast?'
Instead of the lean young man he was used to seeing, Droy had put on quite a bit of weight, his sharp facial features becoming much less refined while he now had a double chin and a bigger nose. On top of that, his arms and legs look much shorter. Though, that was only an optical illusion caused by everything about him getting wider.
["God damn! Depression hit that guy like a fucking truck!"] Riot shouted after Alfonzo's exclamation made him and Bedlam stop fighting to see what he was looking at.
["Well, the love of his life did choose another man in a public place."] Bedlam said with a shrug. ["So, he couldn't lie to himself anymore after that."]
And just as Bedlam said, after Levy accepted Gajeel's proposal at the Celebration Banquet after the Grand Magic Games, Droy started stress eating to deal with the depression. Unfortunately, that resulted in him putting on quite the large amount of weight in the last five months.
'Well, you can't help but feel bad for the guy.' Alfonzo thought while shaking his head. 'But he needs to get over it. Ther's no point in getting diabetes and high blood pressure just because you got rejected.'
["You should just drag his fat ass to train with you every day."] Riot said dismissively. ["With the way you train, there's no way he'll keep all that fat for long."]
["Besides, if he gets jacked enough, someone might start trying to get at him, too."] Bedlam added.
'I'll think about it.' Alfonzo replied noncommittally. 'I'm not sure I'd be able to deal with all his whining if I did, though.'
["True."] Riot and Bedlam replied in unison.
By now, Alfonzo had reached the elevator and pressed the call button. But before he could step inside, he felt an impact on his back before a pair of arms and legs wrapped around his torso and waist, respectively.
"Hi, Fonzie." Elicia, who was now clinging to Alfonzo's back, said happily as she rubbed her cheek on Alfonzo's. "You look a little tired."
"Hell yeah, I am." Alfonzo replied while nuzzling his cheek back against Elicia's. "I mean, I've basically been cooking for twelve to fifteen hours a fucking day for the last four days."
"True that." Elicia replied with a nod. "Well, it should probably be over soon. So, hang in there."
"I will." Alfonzo said as the elevator opened. "Well, I'm gonna go talk to Master mavis. I got an idea for the next Grand Magic Games."
"Ooh! It's that time, isn't it?" Elicia asked excitedly as she hopped off Alfonzo's back and stood next to him in the elevator. "I'm coming, too."
Shrugging his shoulders, Alfonzo reached out to press the button for the top floor. Then, the doors closed, shutting out the noise from the rest of the guild.
About an hour later, the elevator doors on the first floor opened once again. When it did, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Mavis stepped out. And to no one's surprise, there was a brawl happening.
"I guess they're still charged up from getting to eat your cooking again, huh?" Mavis said with a smile.
"Well, they need to chill out with that shit." Alfonzo muttered. "I'm too tired to have to deal with this."
"Aww, come on, Fonzie." Elicia said with a grin as she poked Alfonzo on the cheek. "What would Fairy Tail be if it wasn't rowdy?"
"A nice place to relax." Alfonzo shot back. "Anyway, I need to talk to Mira. I wonder if she's still here."
Saying that, Alfonzo sent out a quick pulse of [Magic Power Detection]. And sure enough, he was able to find Mirajane sitting with a few other girls. So, he quickly made his way over to her, with Elicia following closely. Meanwhile, Mavis went to join Ur and Gildarts who were drinking at the bar.
"Hey, Mira." Alfonzo said as he picked up Mirajane from where she was sitting with Shizuka and Rika. He then continued while taking her seat and sitting her down on his lap. "I need a favor."
"I'm not ready for another child yet, Alfonzo." Mirajane said playfully as she turned back and smiled at Alfonzo. She then planted a quick peck on his cheek as she continued. "But anything else, I'm probably willing to agree to."
"You make it sound like Fonzie was the one who asked you for a child, Mira." Elicia said as she sat down next to Alfonzo and Mirajane. She then started poking Mirajane in the side as she continued. "But from what I remember, you were the driving force behind Bianca's conception."
"Small details." Mirajane shot back with a grin. "It takes two hands to clap, after all."
"I want another baby." Shizuka said quietly.
Immediately, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Mirajane all snapped their heads in Shizuka's direction in surprise. Meanwhile, Rika started laughing hardily.
"We can talk about that later." Alfonzo said, not denying Shizuka's desire. "But for now, I need you to tell me how many points everyone has left, Mira. These guys are insane. They've had me cook so much over the last few days."
"Well, can you blame them?" Rika asked after her laughter died down. "I mean, your cooking is amazing. It's better than sex."
After saying that, Rika was surprised when Elicia, Mirajane, and Shizuka all looked at her strangely. Alfonzo, on the other hand, only shook his head while smiling wryly.
"Well then, since you like Fonzie's cooking better than sex, I'll take your turn." Elicia said with a wide smile. "I'm sure Fonzie wouldn't mind cooking another time for you to replace it, right?"
"Wait now, hold on a minute." Rika said while raising her hands. "You know that's not what I meant. It was just a figure of speech. A turn of phrase."
"How do you turn a phrase?" Shizuka asked while tilting her head cutely.
Rika only shot a tired glance at Shizuk while continuing to explain that she was not serious about that. Meanwhile, Mirajane reached into her cleavage and pulled out a small notebook.
"That still amazes me every time I see it." Alfonzo muttered.
Mirajane only smiled lightly in response while reading through the notebook.
"It looks like the only ones with points left are Naruto, Sasuke, and Jiraiya." Mirajane said after double-checking the figures on the page. "Then again, they've been out on an S-Class quest for the last week. So, they'll probably bombard you with requests when they get back."
"*Sigh* I guess I should get a bunch of ramen broth ready for when they get back." Alfonzo muttered. "Naruto's gonna go crazy over it."
"Yeah." Mirajane replied as she put the notebook away. "By the way, we saw you and Lici go up to talk to Master Mavis. What's that about?"
"Oh, just a little surprise." Alfonzo replied. "You won't find out until next year, though."
As he spoke, Alfonzo poked Mirajane on the tip of her nose. Meanwhile, Mirajane pouted after Alfonzo did not tell her the details. But since she knew that getting information out of Alfonzo when he was determined to keep a secret, she did not ask any further.
And just like that, the rest of the night passed as peacefully as any night at the Fairy Tail guild hall could. Everyone eventually passed out on the floor and tables or went home not much later. And days would remain peaceful until the calendar closed on the year, x790.