Here's chapter 7! For some reason, I randomly thought of the time when I went to a hibachi restaurant a few months ago. Then, this came out. Enjoy!
Chapter 7: Table for Whom?
The following day, the team dubbed Fairy Tail's strongest team (possibly also the strangest team) completed a mission and—shockingly—didn't demolish the town the job was in. So, Erza decided, "Tonight, we celebrate!"
"I don't feel like I burned enough stuff," Natsu claimed, unused to the lack of destruction.
"Finally, a mission where you all didn't destroy anything," Lucy sighed in relief. She was getting tired of having to pay for damages out of her reward. "So, how are we going to celebrate?"
"Snow cones," Gray suggested.
"Barbeque!" Natsu shouted out.
Left and right, members of the team were shouting out suggestions. All except for Carla and Happy. Happy was about to shout out 'fish', but then noticed how quiet Carla was. He asked, "What do you want to do, Carla?"
The team fell silent, waiting for Carla to answer. The white cat shrugged and suggested, "Does hibachi sound acceptable for you all?"
"Aye!" Happy seemed overjoyed by the suggestion. He only hoped that a hibachi restaurant had fish. The others murmured in agreement.
Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail, Makarov was sitting on the railing of the second floor, waiting for Mirajane to come up and give him a stack of written demands from the Magic Council. The dunderheads. Makarov bounced his knee for entertainment. He kept his thoughts to himself. This is unusually long. Have they run into trouble? No, that couldn't be it. Regardless of whether they ran into trouble or not, I still would have received the paperwork. They came back to me and confirmed completion of the job. This stress isn't good for me.
"Master Makarov, they did it!" Mirajane ran over to him, cheerful as ever.
"What did those dunderheads break this time?" Makarov sighed and asked.
"Nothing!" Mirajane practically squealed with excitement. Makarov looked at her. No paperwork. Had Natsu's team truly kept themselves from destroying public property?
"It's a miracle!" Makarov jumped for joy. He stood up so fast that he became dizzy, but he felt it was worth it.
"And the Magic Council did respond to you," Mirajane informed him. "Master Jose practically vanished after he was stripped of his status as a Wizard Saint."
"Hmm…" Makarov grunted, thinking deeply. "How are you today, Mira?"
"Um, just fine, sir," Mirajane nodded, finding the question to be a bit spontaneous.
"That's nice. Wonderful weather we're having," Makarov noticed.
"I suppose it is. The sky has been pretty blue after that rainy day was had," Mirajane nodded in agreement.
"Yes. Yes, it has," Makarov nodded. "How is your boyfriend doing? Have the two of you gotten engaged?"
"I'm not sure who you're referring to, Master Makarov," Mirajane said slowly, caught in the awkwardness of the questions. "I'm not really seeing anyone right now."
"How is this possible?!" Makarov shouted.
"Master, your blood pressure!" Mirajane panicked.
"A regular bikini model like you?! Single?! Unfathomable!" Makarov ranted before passing out.
"Master!" Mirajane exclaimed, expressing concern.
"Remember, Mira, he's a tough old coot," Wakaba reminded her.
"Alcohol is his rival," Cana reminded Mirajane. "That was quite a day…"
"I guess you're right," Mirajane nodded.
Meanwhile, at a hibachi restaurant, the team selected a table to sit at. Lucy took a small ball of gauze out of her purse and gave it to Gray. The ice wizard asked, "What is this for?"
"Anytime you feel the need to take off your clothes, just bite it," Lucy instructed. She did not want to be kicked out of a restaurant due to Gray's habitual tendencies.
"Uh…okay," Gray nodded.
"What were you thinking of getting, Carla?" Happy asked curiously. He noticed that she had Mini Happy with her. "You brought along Mini Happy?"
"Mm-hmm," Carla gave a small, embarrassed nod.
"Aww!" Lucy cooed, finding the fact that Carla brought Mini Happy with her to be adorable.
"She brings it everywhere," Wendy informed the others, having only good intentions.
"Wendy!" Carla snapped out of embarrassment.
"No one is judging you, Carla. I think it's actually kind of cute that you bring him to all of the places you go," Happy told her reassuringly. He smiled at her. She looked into his kind, dark eyes and smiled back.
"Thank you, Happy," Carla thanked him softly.
"I hear that they make your dinner right in front of you at these places," Lucy whispered to Erza. "And they turn it into a performance."
"Dinner and show in one? I think I like the sound of that," Erza smiled.
Their hibachi chef came around. Natsu stood up and shouted, "What the heck are you doing here?!" Their chef was Totomaru, one of the old Element Four members from the currently dissolved Phantom Lord guild.
"Ever since Phantom was disbanded, I've been working here," Totomaru informed Natsu calmly. "Is that a problem?"
"Heck, yeah! I'm not letting you poison my pals!" Natsu yelled at him.
"Would you cool it?" Lucy pulled him back down into his chair. She whispered, "He'll be making the food right in front of us. If anything's off, we'll know."
"Oh! Okay," Natsu nodded and smiled at Totomaru, as if nothing happened.
"You really are an idiot," Gray muttered.
"What was that?!" Natsu got in his face and demanded.
"No fighting at the dinner table!" Lucy broke them up.
"Yes, ma'am," both Natsu and Gray backed off.
"Lucy, you're becoming more like me every day," Erza smiled in admiration.
"Um…thanks?" Lucy thanked her, assuming it was a compliment.
"Now, if there are to be no more distractions," Totomaru cleared his throat, "prepare to be amazed!" He started off by prepping the grill. He took their orders and made each and every order right in front of them. He even used his fire magic to cook some of the food, which seemed virtually pointless because it was all done on a grill anyway. Nonetheless, he truly did dazzle the customers from Fairy Tail.
"Wow!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Amazing!" Lucy added.
"Such skill," Erza admired.
"That's pretty cool," Gray gave his opinion.
"That food looks good!" Natsu drooled flames. Erza shut his mouth.
"The fish smells amazing!" Happy exclaimed as his order was put on his plate.
"It looks appetizing, too," Carla added as her own fish order was placed onto her plate. She tried hard to remain stately and keep from drooling, but the fish looked so delicious that it made her mouth water. She then realized that she was having fun. It kind of relieved her to be having fun. She had been so scared and skittish lately, worried that some foul marauder would come into her bedroom in the middle of the night and stab her to death.
"Enjoy!" Totomaru told them.
"Thanks! It looks awesome!" Lucy thanked him.
"I hope there aren't any hard feelings after the conflict between our guilds," Erza said to Totomaru.
"None at all. Honestly, I really like working here. I guess I should be thanking you. It was because of your guild that I've found this great opportunity," Totomaru smiled. "I'll be back with the bill. If you want any dessert, I'll treat." He walked away.
"That's so nice of him!" Wendy exclaimed happily. She was amazed that such a seemingly nice guy could have been a part of Phantom Lord. Then again, she did know Juvia and Gajeel. They were nice. Mostly. Give or take their own sets of personal issues. She shrugged, thinking that everyone had their own issues.
"It wouldn't be right if he paid for dessert! We must pay!" Erza exclaimed in a stately manner. Lucy silently hoped that Erza would ask someone to strike her.
"Normally, I eat fish raw, but this tastes amazing!" Happy exclaimed as he ate. Carla nodded in agreement. Something about Happy's boundless positive energy attracted her to him. She blushed and smiled.
"Oh, yeah! Good food!" Natsu said, gobbling a steak.
"Dude…" Gray watched Natsu devour the steak. "The way you're eating that…it's inhuman."
"It's just so good!" Natsu exclaimed.
Not much later, Totomaru came back and took dessert orders. He left briefly and came back again with the requested desserts. Erza tried to argue, saying that they would pay for the dessert and wanted him to receive a full paycheck, but surprisingly, she backed down from the argument. Totomaru said, "Well, think of it as my way of saying thanks. And my way of saying I'm sorry for messing with your guild."
"Apology accepted!" Happy exclaimed cheerily as he and Carla shared an order of mochi ice cream.