The setup for this drabble is that one scene during the Fantasia Parade where a whole bunch of former enemies came to watch. Lyon's group, some people from Phantom Lord, Kageyama, Bora, and Karacka were all there. So there is a head nod or two to Minor Villains Support Group in here.
I am still extremely torn over what should be the ship name for this pairing. Mickage? Mickeyama? Both have such great appeal.
It had been a cathartic experience, watching Fairy Tail put on a parade. For Kageyama, it was odd indeed to see people he'd once virulently despised have fun and... enjoy seeing them while they were at it. A disconnect, of sorts, between the him of a few months ago versus who he was now. Barely any time had passed, and yet Kageyama felt like a completely different person. As if when he collapsed to the ground, sobbing for being unable to fulfill his duty to the guild he loved, he emptied himself of his hatred and bitterness along with the saltwater. Leaving behind a hollowness slowly starting to fill up with a sort of calmness that came from being around people that cared - Karacka, Master Bob, and everyone at Blue Pegasus. He could even handle the suits, now.
He was glad he came to the Fantasia Parade. It had been beautiful.
Though he had to wonder at all of the injuries everyone been sporting.
Then again, this was Fairy Tail, he mused. Crowd dispersing, he began to wander along the venues. His intent was to seek out Master Makarov, along with Erza and Lucy, and thank them for their kindness and the good words put in at the Council on his behalf. Kageyama owed his early release to them, after all. It would be the height of crassness to not at least acknowledge the debt (or so Ichiya would claim, were he present). More than that though, he was - to his surprise - genuinely curious about how they were doing.
But that could probably wait for later, he decided. After all, there was still the festival to enjoy! It had been... a long time since he'd attended one. Since before Eisenwald became a dark guild, he realized with a start.
Strings of lights hung all over the buildings, across streets and stalls. Aromas of a hundred different food vendors wafted through the corridors of bustling people. Children crying out in delight, or in despair at a lost treat blended with the laughter of young and old couples enjoying themselves.
It was all terribly suffocating and yet so... compelling.
Mostly, Kageyama just wandered. He had some pocket change for the train ride back to Blue Pegasus, with a little spare for dinner, but that comprised the majority of his funds. Nevertheless, he still found himself amongst the massive money-suck that was the festival game booths. Anti-magic sigils gleamed, innocuously posing as a part of the decorative lights and frilly favors.
Sigils that pulsed, and then faded as Kageyama strode by, whistling a merry tune he'd picked up from somewhere. A shadow crept along a shooting gallery shelf, discretely knocking down a stuffed bear to the delighted squeal of a little girl and the despairing of the vendor as he handed the prize over.
Being a dispel and shadow mage had its advantages. And well... he wasn't exactly above sowing a little mischief and mayhem. He was out of prison, sure, but not quite that reformed.
When he came upon the more physical games, his feet stilled of their own accord.
Into his line of vision strode a brunette woman in garb distinctly out of place in a festival - bold tiger stripes, with pawlike footwear. And horns. There were definitely horns on her head. Were those real, or...? Given his prior encounter with an actual demon (and it was a flute, at that), he wasn't going to dismiss them as fake offhand.
It took him a few moments to realize that her arm was in a sling, and a bandage on her cheek, he was so distracted by the horns.
Despite the injury, she walked with purpose, and a determined gleam in her eyes - heading straight for one vendor in particular. A vendor that paled the instant he caught sight of the woman in return. He then turned to the machine beside him, flipping open a hidden panel and frantically twisting various dials.
The entire affair seemed to bode well in terms of entertainment value, so Kageyama found himself drifting towards them to observe.
"Yo, shopkeep!" the woman greeted, throwing up her good arm as she approached. "I hope you still have tons of good prizes left!"
The man stiffened, and closed the panel with a sigh. "Welcome back, Mickey. Here to clean me out again this year?"
Laughing, Mickey shook her head. "Actually, I only have time for a couple of games this year. And besides..." She lifted her bound and bandaged arm, and gave it a small wave, not quite concealing a grimace of pain as she did so. "I might have had a little too much fun today as it is."
Relief washed across the man's face, and Kageyama felt a twinge of sympathy. "I noticed that. A lot of you Fairy Tail folk are sporting a few more injuries than normal this year."
...More than normal? Meaning some injuries were to be expected?
Though to be honest, it only confirmed Kageyama's overall impression of the guild (made even worse by Master Bob's storytelling of his own time in Fairy Tail). That it was full of a bunch of fight-crazy people and weirdos. Kageyama wondered which category the brunette fell into. He was leaning towards weirdo.
"Oh, we had a..." She hesitated.
That pause. Kageyama had a feeling that there was a great deal said in that silence, than in her words.
"...A fighting festival kind of thing!" Mickey continued, with a nervous laugh.
His suspicions were confirmed.
Both. She was both categories. She was fight-crazy, and a weirdo.
But he was coming to discover that the best kind of people were.
"So that was what the commotion was all about?" The vendor rolled his eyes. "You guys wrecked a bunch of streets and shops, you know. Your Guild Master had better be planning on doing something about that."
Magnolia was a weird town as well, Kageyama concluded.
Mickey let out another trembling laugh, sweat running down the back of her neck. "I'll... I'll let him know. He's in the hospital, though."
Kageyama nearly choked in shock. There was something that could bring down the tiny old man that hadn't even batted an eye at a demon spawning right before him?
Spluttering, the vendor was nearly as surprised. "Makarov's in the hospital?! But he was just at the parade!"
"He had a heart attack earlier today, so it's mostly just precautionary," Mickey informed him cheerfully.
'...And he still participated in the parade?!'
Fairy Tail's members would always stand somewhere beyond Kageyama's ability to understand.
With a shake of his head the vendor let out a sigh. "Don't scare me like that, Mickey!"
She smiled. "Sorry, sorry!"
'You two aren't concerned at all, are you.'
"Well, first one's on me!" the vendor conceded. "I've really cranked up the difficulty this year though."
'Lies,' Kageyama thought. 'You did it as soon as you spotted her. Specifically for her.'
Mickey gave a good wind up with her uninjured limb. "Awesome! Gotta make it count, then!"
Belatedly, Kageyama wondered what kind of game it was. He hadn't really been paying attention to the machine before, but now he directed his focus on it. There was a glove, and a meter behind it in a steel booth. A punching game?
Squaring herself up at the booth, she drew back her arm, and then let out a battle cry as she punched the glove for all that she was worth.
Kageyama stared in mild horror as the meter reading spiked all the way to the top, making an unholy grinding noise as the arrow tried to go beyond the limit.
"...Did I forget to mention that I took out three people with one punch in the fighting festival?" Mickey remarked.
"...Onihime..." the vendor muttered darkly under his breath.
Mickey held out her hand for her prize - quite possibly the largest stuffed tiger Kageyama had ever seen.
"Now for the hammer!" she declared, carting off her prize somewhat awkwardly with one arm. "See you later!"
Kageyama had to wonder how she was seeing where she was going with all that fluff in the way.
She wasn't, it turned out, as she rammed into a lampost.
...Maybe he should introduce himself.
She was going to need help carrying her prizes, after all.