"Well this is just rich," Sting said, lowering himself into a fighting stance. "Both of you came running in here?"
"And Kai is more than likely still suffering wounds from Bacchus," Rogue said, not even bothering with changing his stance.
"I'm doing a lot better now, trust me," Kai said. "You guys are going to be in for a world of hurt for what you just tried to pull on Happy."
"After we were brutally invaded like that?" the woman in blue asked. "Honestly, we were just defending ourselves."
"That's enough, Minerva." The big man in the bag with his arm in a sleeve still glowered down at them. "Fairy Tail, if it is a fight you want I won't deny it to you. In our time at the games nobody has quite had the gall to challenge us like this. But you are beyond the borders of the Games' protection. If you die, that is nobody's fault but your own."
"Was that a threat?" Kai asked.
"It was the truth."
Natsu gestured at him. "That's their guild master."
"Doesn't seem so tough."
The Guild Master spat to the side. "Insolence. You're so far beneath me."
"I'm not beneath anybody."
"Prove it. Sting, Rogue, destroy them!"
Sting sneered and stepped forward. "With pleasure."
A blinding white aura burst from Sting and he sprinted at Natsu and Kai. Kai slid forward, dodging Sting's punch while Natsu slugged him. Kai burst forward around Rogue and landed a hard kick in the Guild Master's side.
"Master Jiemma!"
The woman in the blue appeared behind Kai, but with a flick of his wrist had her hands frozen together and he kicked her away. Kai landed, but not before black lightning arced by him. He easily dodged and Sting went flying across the room.
Natsu roared, blasting several other guild members away. Rogue spun toward Kai, brandishing a sword of his own. Kai summoned his sword from the sheath and easily deflected two of Rogue's blows before parrying another and knocking Rogue back.
Orga, the big tough lightning guy, sprinted at Kai, who nimbly dodged each of his attacks. He moved about as fast as Bacchus and with a ton more ferocity, but left himself wide open. Kai socked him straight in the gut and blasted him back.
Sting came at Kai from behind and smashed through where Kai had been, after Kai cast Ice-Make: Copy on himself.
"Maker magic?" Rufus asked, still hanging back.
Natsu leapt into the air, firing spouting from his hands, and he slammed onto the ground, shooting Orga and Rufus away. Kai sensed a daunting power behind him and created a shield to block Jiemma's fist.
The shield shattered. Kai spun around, summoning more power to deflect Jiemma's fist.
The woman in blue leapt in front of Kai, holding two ethereal orbs in front of her. Kai had hardly any time to react.
She kicked him away, using the sheer power of her magic to do so. Kai flipped end-over-end until he managed to catch himself and slide back. Both Sting and Rogue leapt at him, bearing down hard at him. Kai dodged one of Sting's blows but Rogue vanished in shadow and kicked Kai in the side.
"White Dragon Roar!"
The attack came more as a laser that speared Kai in the side and sent him twirling. Sting howled a laugh.
"Ice Dragon Blade!"
Kai sliced with his sword, breaking down a pillar to get room between he and the two other Dragon Slayers while Natsu dealt with Orga. They bumped into one another and then nimbly switched opponents, Kai tanking Orga's attack easily with a shield while Natsu summoned a wall of fire to ward off Sting and Rogue.
Ice and fire collided to create a great cloud of steam around them.
"Minerva, now!"
Kai tensed, anticipating an attack, but instead, a dark ethereal bubble formed around he and Natsu and they vanished before plummeting down into a fountain in the middle of Crocus.
"What!" Natsu exclaimed.
Kai groaned. "She must have some sort of Spacial magic and kicked us out! Damn it! We had them!"
"You had nothing."
The deep voice of the Sabertooth Guild Master snarled at the two of them and he emerged from another portal.
"Want some more?"
"No."
Kai nodded. Probably for the best. There were others around—officials from the games and normal people that could get hurt in the crossfire. Kai was out of the games, but if Natsu was seen fighting—
"And as much as I want to have you both expelled, your strength and tenacity may actually prove a challenge to my guild. It would be a waste to have that ousted for petty reasons."
"Well thanks for covering for us, then," Natsu said.
"It comes at a price. You've left marks and scars upon my guild's building. I would do the same for you."
"You're not attacking our home."
"Then the next best thing: give me one good strike at you."
Kai and Natsu exchanged glances. Kai rested a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "It should be me. You can't risk getting hurt in the Games."
"You sure?"
"I can take it."
"No defenses."
Kai nodded, then brandished his sword. "We have a doctor who can heal any wound. Do your worst with this."
Kai tossed him the blade and Jiemma caught it. The sword was positively tiny in his hands. The massive man almost cracked a smile, too, how touching. Kai rolled back his shoulders and removed his shirt. Natsu stood off to the side.
Jiemma's hand glowed a powerful purple and he swung down.
Kai woke later in the infirmary with Porlyusica at his side still tending to his wound. Erza sat at the foot of the bed with a piece of strawberry cake in her hand while Lucy rested her head on the sheets and Iggy was at the foot of the bed playing a card game with Happy.
"What time is it?" Kai asked.
Erza glanced over. "Time for you to stop being such a fool."
Kai rolled his eyes. "I wanted to protect Natsu."
"I can't blame you for that," Erza said, sighing. "Natsu gave us his reasoning, flawed though it was. And while I'm hard-pressed to entirely accept what happened, this is the reality of our situation. Everything else between our guild and Sabertooth must be settled within the limits of the games."
"Right." Kai nodded. Slight movements still hurt his chest. A long white bandage wrapped around his torso. Thankfully, Jiemma hadn't been cruel enough to take Kai's sword—it rested behind Erza. Kai turned to Porlyusica. "Am I bedridden?"
"Now that you've been patched up, no," Porlyusica said. "But I do want to ensure I get daily checkups from you, and I want you to at least stay until the morning. I know you runts—you'd just go running off to watch the Games anyway, I can't stop you."
Kai grinned. "Thanks, Ms. Porlyusica."
"Don't mention it. Get some rest. It's way too early for any of you to be awake."
Erza and Lucy both stood while Iggy just smiled and waved at them. Erza came and kissed Kai on the forehead while Lucy waited for her in the doorway. Porlyusica split, too, leaving just Kai and Iggy.
"You get Happy home safe?"
"You have any plans of fighting Sabertooth again?"
Kai sighed. "No, unfortunately. I have to leave the rest to Natsu and the others. But now that I've seen what they can do I know one thing for sure: they won't be the ones winning the Games."
"Oh?"
"Our toughest challenge moving forward is without a doubt Lamia Scale. Between Lyon, Jura, and my dad? Erza and the others have their work cut out for them. I mean, even Jellal evened out with Jura. I guess we may luck out with Laxus fighting Jura but who on our team could stand up to my dad?"
"Erza."
Kai nodded. She had her Empress Armors that basically leveled the playing field against any elemental. And she was without a doubt the strongest on their team.
"There's always hope."
Kai laughed. "No, he's off the team."
"And he's got a nice scar."
"Shame I can't use it to show off to Erza. It's not the most…honorable scar in the world."
"I disagree. You took your punishment like a man, straight on and without fear."
"But with my own sword?"
Iggy purred and nestled into the sheets. "Nobody said honor is perfect."
Kai, with Iggy sitting atop his shoulder, followed the corridors of the arena toward the Fairy Tail balcony, where he already heard the raucous cheers and choruses coming from their guild, mostly led by the three Exceeds. Kai emerged and Millianna was the first to greet him.
"Good to see you," Millianna said.
Everyone else took notice of him and quickly came to congratulate him for his victory, a massive boost for them in terms of points as well as morale. Lucy's fight with Flare was a good boost of morale, but Raven Tail's antics dampened the overall mood. Not to mention that Bacchus was one of the high-profile wizards in the entire Grand Magic Games.
Kai nestled in near the front, carefully not to lean too much on the balcony or else his wounds would start to hurt.
First Master Mavis appeared next to him as Millianna settled in next to him and the contestants took their places. Makarov climbed atop the balcony to stand with the Exceeds while Romeo was just behind them.
"You did excellent yesterday, Kai," Mavis said, a wide smile on her girlish face. "You performed just as I anticipated."
Kai blushed. He had no idea that he was part of Mavis's plans, and he was honored to just get to talk to her in the first place. Mavis Vermillion was famous throughout all of Fiore, the Master Strategist.
"Thank you," he said.
The pumpkin-head man, Mato, stepped out into the arena as well. Mavis refocused her attention.
"Let's see what our girls have in store for us today," she muttered.
Cana stood near Erza. Also down there were Jura and Orga. Even that woman, Kagura, who easily defeated Yukino of Sabertooth, stood down there.
"Stiff competition," Kai muttered.
Matt caught everyone's attention and quickly got to explaining the rules as a massive building appeared in the center of the arena before them.
Today's main even game was called Pandemonium, which was also the name of the structure. Within waited one hundred monsters of varying strength, from D-Rank to S-Rank, some of the most fearsome foes in Fiore.
The rules were a little complicated: each wizard would draw straws to see who would enter the place first. They then declared how many monsters they wished to fight: if they said ten, they would fight ten monsters of random rank.
"Meaning someone may get unlucky and fight ten A-rank monsters," Makarov said. Mavis remained calm and focused.
If the wizard were to fall in battle or just give up, they would retain all of the points they scored but would be out of the match. The game ends when either all one hundred monsters are defeated or all the wizards run out of magic power.
"I doubt that'll happen here," Millianna said. "Knowing whose down there, I can totally see some not even getting a chance to fight."
The wizards drew straws, and lo and behold, Erza drew the straw that had her going first. She stood firm, glowered Mato in the eye and said,
"I wish to challenge all one hundred."
A gasp ran through the crowd, even some of the Fairy Tail wizards. But Kai, Iggy, and Millianna couldn't help grinning.
"Anything less and I may have been disappointed, honestly," Iggy said.
"It'll be a tall order," Mavis said. "Those S-Class monsters have powers that may rival a Wizard Saint."
Kai glanced across the way to his father, who remained calm and collected as he watched Jura and the others take a step back. Lacrima screens floated into place as Erza entered the palace.
The monsters were upon her immediately, but they were of no concern as Erza easily shredded through them, wracking up points as she briskly moved through the entire palace, tearing through D-Class and C-Class monsters like she cut through her favorite cake.
In that moment, despair completely left the hearts of all wizards in the Fairy Tail guild as Titania danced and weaved her symphony of destruction through the structure. The Queen of the Fairies shown brilliantly, harnessing the power of true love within her heart, and putting on full display what the Games had lacked for all these years.
Everyone in the Fairy Tail balcony cheered and screamed their hearts out for their leading lady, even Evergreen got in on it. Across the arena, Natsu, Gray, Wendy, and Lucy all cried out for her. Kai cheered perhaps the loudest of them all.
There, in the midst of monsters, in the heart of darkness, shown a woman whose heart burned like the sun. A woman who took his own heart and allowed his soul and spirit to soar among the heavens. How could he not smile as he watched her embody all that he wished to be, and all that she pushed him to become?
She gave him his last name, Hope, and when they would one day marry, he hoped she would retake that name. For she was as much a hope in this world as he.
At last, as the building came crashing down, Erza stood toe-to-toe with the great S-Class monsters, sending shivers throughout the crowd. But not from Fairy Tail, who shouted for her and threw their faith into her once more.
Erza, naturally, destroyed that final monster, landing amidst its ruin and the destruction of the palace, and raised her blade toward the heavens, the skies on conquerable by Fairy Tail, and the crowd leapt to their feet in shock and applause as Fairy Tail danced around in victory.
But not in surprise. For Erza could never let them down.
Naturally, the Game Masters had to quickly scramble for a solution, since Erza stole all possible points and completely dominated the game. They then rolled out what was called an MPF, a Magic Power Finder, which would just determine who came in second through eighth. They used the same order in which the straws were drawn.
"Oh, great, Cana has to follow up after Jura," Happy muttered.
Mavis giggled…knowingly.
"It is cool to see, though," Kai said as the contestants went along showing off their most powerful magic…and Cana continued to take swigs from her drink.
Kagura came as the first large surprise, pushing the MPF into the high thousands. When Orga followed, his score came quite close. Obra of Raven Tail only got a four, probably to hide his magic power.
Jura's attack, Kai though, would obliterate the entire machine, but thankfully he left something behind for Cana.
"Honestly I think the best we can hope for her is just a fifth place spot," Macao said. "After Kagura, Obra, and Jura, what can she do?"
Cana walked, with great confidence, toward the MPF, and quickly got to removing her sweater.
"The heck is she doing?" Lily asked before Cana raised her arm…her glowing red arm.
"Wait a minute!" Happy exclaimed.
"I recognize that mark!" Carla yelped.
"First Master?" Makarov asked.
Mavis giggled. "I lent her the use of one of my spells."
One of the three Fairy Spells? Kai couldn't believe it. He'd seen Fairy Law and Fairy Sphere, so this one had to be Fairy Glitter, the same spell that allowed Cana to become S-Class and "win" the trial.
"Now she's sure to win!"
"Let's go Cana!" Kai and Millianna exclaimed as she charged up the attack.
A shining golden light descended near Cana before she launched the attack that opened a massive crater within the arena and completely destroyed the MPF, leaving behind only a score of 9,999…the highest it could go.
"Incredible!" Chapati Lola exclaimed. "First Erza, now Cana! Is there no limit to what Fairy Tail can do!"
"That's right, there's no stopping us!" Cana exclaimed. "We're just getting the party started!"
Kai got lunch with the rest of the guild and they all returned in time for the fights to begin, with the first key one being that of Laxus and Alexei of Raven Tail.
They all watched on, confused, as Laxus proceeded to get a beatdown, but First Master Mavis never seemed all that worried about it, so Kai refrained from freaking out or saying anything.
To the surprise of basically everyone, though, a great mist washed over the field and revealed that Laxus stood alone among the rest of Raven Tail's highest profile wizards, having defeated all of them without receiving a single wound. Chief among them, Makarov pointed out, was Ivan, his son.
Raven Tail was swiftly disqualified for having multiple members be a part of the fight and Laxus received full points.
The next fight came quickly once Raven Tail was carted off: Wendy and Sherria Blendy of Lamia Scale.
"Our first encounter with them," Millianna muttered.
"Wendy'll be fine," Kai said.
Wendy marched out onto the field with confidence. Carla screamed for her, forcing Happy to do the same. Both girls smiled and bowed at one another.
"There's something peculiar about Sherria's magic," Mavis muttered.
Kai watched intently as the fight got underway, and it was quickly revealed what was so interesting about it: Sherria was a Sky God Slayer, and one that could heal her own wounds.
Wendy tried to put a swift beat down on Sherria, who was just about as relentless as Wendy was, both of them throwing their all into the spells.
The knowledge that Sherria could heal her wounds was discouraging. Kai bit the inside of his lip. Wendy pushed herself to new heights, breaking through her limits, even revealing a Dragon Slayer Secret Art of her own for the first time, but her magic was slowly waning.
She wouldn't be able to keep up the fighting much longer. Kai did his best not to get tense, fearful of his wound reopening or something, but couldn't help crossing his arms and squeezing his arm quite tightly from the nerves he felt.
Everyone else cheered her on, knowing that Wendy more than anybody else needed this right now.
Sherria then surprised them all with a massive attack that just missed Wendy, which Mavis attributed to Wendy boosting Sherria's strength so much that the attack completely missed Wendy, which also drained her strength and would prevent Sherria from healing herself, forcing the two into hand-to-hand combat.
It reduced the two to bits and eventually forced a draw, and at last allowed Kai a moment to breathe. They managed to hug and carry each other off the field, warming the crowd and earning both teams five points a piece.
"Seems like the competition is starting to distance themselves," Kai muttered to Mavis and Makarov.
"Luckily, our wizards can handle what's left of Lamia Scale," Mavis said. "And at this point, the strongest that Sabertooth have to put out in the field for the combat are Sting and Rogue."
"So what I'm hearing is we just need to keep this up," Kai said.
Mavis nodded. "Agreed, but we can't let our guard down. Now that Raven Tail has been disqualified, I'm sure there may be measures taken given that there is now one less guild to contend with. Since we're two guilds…"
"We'll just have to see," Makarov said. "We should go congratulate Wendy on a job well done for now and then get some rest."
Makarov and Kai walked together down to the infirmary—Kai only just remembering that he had to be there anyway for Porlyusica to check up on him. The rest of Team Fairy Tail A was down there. Kai gave Erza a massive hug for the job well done in the Pandemonium event.
He and Erza approached the bed. Carla was standing on the sheets next to Wendy.
"How you feeling?"
"I'm really tired," Wendy said. "But, despite all of this, I did have a lot of fun. It didn't seem like that much of a fight, it was more like a competition!"
"A sparring match," Gray said with a nod.
"Exactly! I'm looking forward to seeing her again, and maybe even fighting with her!"
"Wow, someone sounds quite a bit like Natsu," Lucy said, drawing a blush from Wendy.
"You'll be just fine, kiddo," Porlyusica said. "You're just a little fatigued, that's all. You've probably been through worse."
"I'll say," Carla grumbled.
Everyone let Wendy be for the time being, but Kai was forced to hang back so Porylusica could properly tend to his wound.
Apparently his body wasn't taking it that well—and in the adrenaline of the day he hadn't even noticed—and she ordered him some more bedrest…also, it was definitely punishment for how he skimped out on it the night before.
Erza arrived later and reminded them that they were all going to meet up at Bar Sun for a guild get-together before the big events of Day 4, the second-to-last day of the Games.
Wendy got admitted out, leaving Kai alone to do some meditation and try and focus on healing up a bit.
The meditation totally distracted him, though, and when he at last pushed himself out of it, the sun was already setting.
"Oh, damn it!"
He quickly put his shirt back on, snagged his sword off the ground, and rushed outside. His wound was just fine, he noticed.
Kai quickly made his way out of the Domus Flau area. Where the hell was Bar Sun? He managed to catch Erza's scent and followed it.
Crocus was fully alive that night, as it'd been the other times he'd been out. Nobody gave him strange looks, thanks to his hood being up to mask his identity, and everyone was in good spirits. He even spotted some members of Quatro Cerberus mingling with those of Lamia Scale at another bar.
Kai scooted around a corner and slowed down a bit, not wanting to look too suspicious by running around everywhere. He sighed and wondered how the investigation was going for Jellal. There hadn't been all that much for him to report on; he hadn't noticed any strange magic, just wizards using magic he was entirely unfamiliar with.
But nothing too malevolent. If Zeref was planning something, it was either well-hidden or so in their face it was right in front of them.
"Hey, Kai!"
Kai stopped.
His father stood right in front of him, and Kai had almost bumped into him.
"Oh, dad, what're you doing out here?"
They were out in an open part of town surrounded by food vendors and benches. Ichigo bit into a bit of food.
"Oh, dinner, yeah that makes sense," Kai muttered.
"What're you doing out so late on your own?" Ichigo asked with a full mouth. "Where're your friends?"
"Bar Sun, I was headed there now."
"Got some time to hang out with your old man?"
Kai's mouth hung low. He wanted to see Erza, whom he'd barely been with except at night when they were both absolutely drained, but….Kai barely knew his father. He'd only just started to recognize this face.
How many people had the opportunity to have a parent effectively come back from the dead and have such a desire to be an active role in their child's life? Kai grinned and nodded.
"Walk there with me," Kai said. "Come on."
"You hungry? My treat."
Kai's mouth watered. Free food? How could he say no?
His father bought him something from a vendor with a short line and the two embarked off through Crocus. The beautiful city sprung up around them.
"I was really impressed by how you handled Bacchus with a hand tied behind your back," Ichigo said.
Kai bit into his food. "Meaning?"
"Kai that wasn't nearly your full power. You were showing off, weren't you?"
Kai shrugged. "Wasn't showing off. I used his own skills and prowess against him."
"You're saving it for Sabertooth, aren't you? Or, you would be."
"Pretty obvious I'm not on the team anymore, right?"
"Why not?"
"Not my choice. I don't—" Kai considered his words carefully, then explained to his father the situation with the guild: how he'd been manipulated and turned toward the side of Master Hades for a time, how he'd traditionally struggled with his magic, and most important of all, "I loved helping the team, I really did, but the Games aren't necessarily my place right now. My place isn't to win the S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial. Maybe once we win the Games I'll get that atonement I'm looking for."
"It doesn't sound like it's atonement, it's approval. And you've more than earned it."
"I don't need anyone's approval. I know my worth, dad." Kai tossed his food in the garbage. "I've saved a kingdom like twice now."
"A kingdom?"
Kai blew Ichigo's mind telling him about Edolas, about how there was a whole other world out there that was tangentially connected to their own, and Kai's role in saving the Exceeds and defeating Reaper and Knightwalker alongside Erza. He also told him all about Nirvana, which his father seemed to somehow know about?
"Quite a few adventures," Ichigo said. "And yet you still think you need atonement? Kai, I doubt anyone even remembers any of that at this point. Maybe it's whispered here and there around the Magic Council, but, certainly nobody is going to think of you as some sort of terrorist at Clover Town."
"I do, though. I still did that. And I know that I'm better, much better. I've seen others get better too, in the seven years we vanished. So at this point it's a matter of patience and understanding. I'll be in the next S-Class trial in a few months, and I'll win that one. For sure."
"There's the winning attitude." Ichigo clapped Kai on the back. "None of that mopey stuff, hear me? You and I are strong, Kai. Much stronger than when we met on Tenrou and much stronger than I doubt anyone gave us credit to be. Just today you got to see what a God Slayer can do when they go all out."
"You're saying you didn't go all out against Raven Tail?"
"What'd be the point?" Ichigo asked. "That bunch was totally pathetic. They played tricks on your guild, Kai. I won't stand for that."
"Well thanks, dad, for sticking up for us."
"Anytime."
Kai smiled and stuffed his hands in his pocket, finally lowering his hood. His dad ruffled Kai's hair.
The two continued to chat all the way to Bar Sun—they talked about Kai's mother, his real mom, and the fond memories Ichigo had of her. He told Kai about his first steps, and about how Kai met Kairi, something even Kai barely remembered doing.
Ichigo talked about finding the God Slayer lacrimal and becoming, essentially, a Second Generation God Slayer, not a true one like Sherria or Orga. But he'd had years to hone that skill, to become one day strong enough to defeat his enemies. Kai didn't tell him about the mission against the magic similar to Zeref's, though.
He certainly knew quite a bit about magic. He detailed to Kai how he knew his opponent's skill and proficiencies before even throwing the first punch. He mentioned how he would've taken down basically every single wizard that either Lamia Scale or Fairy Tail encountered. He even made a bold enough statement to say he was the strongest God Slayer in the tournament, which Kai was hard pressed to argue against. Orga was strong, but he and Natsu handled him easily.
They at last arrived at Bar Sun, but, Erza's scent had just fled there toward Ryuzetsu Land, the domed water park nearby.
"Wanna come?" Kai asked.
"And party with a bunch of beautiful wizards?" Ichigo asked.
"Ew, dad, seriously?" Kai asked.
"What? There's more than just Fairy Tail there."
"Yeah but you're my dad…it's weird."
Ichigo shrugged and Kai led him toward Ryuzetsu land. The attendants recognized them as Games participants and allowed both free admittance.
The entire place opened up and Ichigo couldn't help smiling at the place.
"Ah, feels good to be near a bunch of water," he said, taking in a big sigh.
"I could freeze all of it."
"Oh, you wouldn't dare!"
Both laughed at one another and headed further in. Fairy Tail had set up near the pool, with Natsu going up and down the slide constantly. Erza stood to the side chatting with Mirajane.
"Ah, that's right, your girlfriend," Ichigo said, and waved at Erza.
Kai couldn't help blushing. "Oh, great."
"This is the best way to meet her."
"How?"
"In a bikini."
Kai almost puked. Erza walked over to them, smiling at Ichigo.
"The famous father himself," Erza said. "It's an honor to finally meet you."
"And you," Ichigo said. "I can see why Kai is so in love." Kai almost punched the man before he said, "That Pandemonium challenge was something I'd never seen before and you handled it like a true S-Class wizard. If you all'd not vanished I wouldn't be surprised to call you a fellow Wizard Saint."
"Well thank you, I really appreciate that. But I couldn't let my guild down."
"You know, you only needed to defeat 51 of the monsters to secure first place."
Erza brushed her hair aside and smiled at Kai. "I also couldn't help myself."
Kai wrapped an arm around her and Ichigo let out a hearty laugh. Kai's cold heart almost melted. Erza was the love of his life, his father was hid blood family. And as the night progressed, Ichigo got to know more of his family: he got to meet Lucy, whom Kai regarded as a sister. He encountered Natsu, dousing him in water after Gray, whom Kai regarded as a brother, asked him to.
But perhaps most curious of all, he also ran into Master Mavis.
Kai and his father went over to get some refreshments when Mavis was walking away from them, having had what appeared to be a positive conversation with Cana.
"Oh," she said.
"What is it?" Kai asked, letting his father go on.
"You know Ichigo Nakamura?"
"Nakamura?"
Wait so…Kai had an actual last name.
"Yes, the famous water God-Slayer," Mavis said, gesturing for Kai's father. "Did you two meet because of the competition? I've always been so fascinated by his magic, it made me want to recruit a God Slayer but I…died…."
"How do you know him? That's my father."
Mavis pursed her lips. "I know him because he was a very famous wizard from my time, Kai."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "But Master Mavis…that was over a hundred years ago."