"Have those girls even gone on a date before?" Natsu asked no one in general as he walked through the streets of Magnolia, which had gotten even busier when he first walked through early in the morning. Natsu made sure to leave the moment Wendy and Lucy gushed over the importance of dating Happy and was thankful that they didn't realize he left just so that he wouldn't be trapped for the rest of the day, agonizingly going over everything Happy liked or disliked when he noticed a certain gunslinger and his little daughter in front of a vendor and decided to walk up to them.
"Daddy, look at how big these carrots are!" Asuka exclaimed, her voice filled with delight as she pointed at the oversized vegetables, each one averaging over a foot in length. The family's food supplies were running low, prompting Alzack to take Asuka grocery shopping. Meanwhile, Bisca had headed to the armory to prepare their weapons for an upcoming mission.
"I see, Asuka. Maybe you can ask your mom to buy some for you." Alzack suggested, and Asuka, her face contorted in a comical expression of distaste, stuck her tongue out at the thought of eating any vegetable, "No way! Vegetables are super nasty!"
Alzack chuckled as he looked up from his daughter and saw Natsu walking up to him, "Yo! What's up, Natsu!"
"Nothing much just wanted to go out and get some fresh air." Natsu said, a mischievous glint in his eye, as Asuka ran up to him and jumped into his arms for a hug before asking him to throw her high up in the air, to which he obliged, "You sure have gotten taller, Asuka. Remember to drink lots of milk and sleep when it's your bedtime so you can get as big and strong as Erza, or Mira, or Lucy, basically any girl in the guild." Natsu's voice was filled with affection as he spoke to the little girl.
"And remember to eat as many vegetables as possible!" Alzack jokes and Asuka looks at her father in disgust as she stops Natsu from tossing her in the air. She gets on his shoulders, her hands firmly grasping his salmon hair. She acted like some kind of mad scientist, and Natsu was her newest creation.
"Uncle Natsu, use your magic and burn the vegetables!" Asuka cutely commanded as she pointed at the carrots, making Alzack sweatdrop at his daughter's command, and Natsu laughed before she grabbed her and placed her back on the floor.
"No can do, Asuka. I might burn down the entire store if I do that." Natsu said as Asuka pouted before an idea popped through her mind that would make Natsu want to destroy the stand.
"When did you get so bored, Uncle Natsu? If I had asked Uncle Gray, he would have done it, and then he would have been my favorite!" Asuka whined as she looked up to see Natsu's fist clenched and a spark of fire engulfing his hand.
"W-wait, she's just joking around, Natsu! Isn't that right, Princess?" Alzack worryingly said as he got in between Natsu and the stand. He looked down to see Asuka, who was whistling to herself and looking away from her father.
"Move over, Alzack. I'm going to show Asuka why I'm the cooler uncle by destroying that dumb stand!" Natsu shouted as the fire only got larger, and he pushed him to the side to get closer to the stand. But, before Natsu could go through with his plans, he felt a menacing aura right behind him and gulped as he slowly turned and saw Erza staring at him, her arms crossed and with a very serious demeanor, "O-oh, h-hey Erza… what are you doing here…"
"I was heading towards the guild when I overheard a certain someone shouting about how they would destroy a stand because they wanted to be Asuka's cooler uncle. Care to explain, Natsu?" Erza asked as a menacing aura just oozed off her body, making Natsu and Alzack quiver in fear while Asuka walked up to Erza like it was nothing and hugged her.
"W-wait, Asuka told me to do it! Isn't that right, Asuka?!" Natsu asked as Asuka turned back and looked at him with a confused expression that seemed convincing enough for Erza to believe that Natsu was lying, "Um… Alzack, defend me, man!"
"I-I'm sorry, Natsu. But I don't have the willpower to tell Erza off." Alzack nervously chuckled as he backed away from the confrontation between Natsu and Erza, who had Asuka in her arms.
"I would punish you, but because Asuka is here, I want to send a good example of what a mage should aspire to be, so go to man and apologize for your actions." Erza commanded as she pointed toward the vendor, and Asuka giggled as Natsu tried to defend himself.
"BUT I DIDN'T DO ANYTHI-!" Natsu shouted before his defense was quickly shot down when he felt the full wrath of Erza's signature glare and sighed in defeat as he slowly trudged his way toward the vendor.
"And what might you want today?" The old vendor asked as Natsu looked back and saw Asuka still laughing and thought of an idea to pay her back.
"Yeah, I would like twelve carrots, please." Natsu said as he rummaged through his clothes and grabbed more than enough jewels to pay for all twelve carrots.
"Pleasure doing business with you, young man." The vendor bowed as he packed the carrots and handed them off to Natsu.
"Did you apologize to the vendor?" Erza asked, noticing Natsu's mischievous grin as he held a bag full of carrots.
"Yeah, I even went out of my way to buy some carrots for Asuka as a way to apologize for trying to destroy the stall." Natsu answered as he gave the carrots to Asuka, who wanted to throw them in the ground in disgust, but with everyone there, she just had to play along for the time being.
"How thoughtful of you, Natsu. What do we say when others give us gifts, Asuka?" Erza asked as Alzack smirked slightly from Natsu's victory over Asuka.
"Th-thank you so much, U-uncle Natsu…" Asuka said with the most forced smile she could ever muster as she grabbed the carrots out of Natsu's hand and held them as far away from her as possible.
"Say, Alzack…" Erza said as she turned to face the gunslinger, who instantly stiffened up in fear that she caught him smirking, "Y-yeah Erza…"
"Where's Bisca? I would have thought she would have been by your side as you shopped for groceries." Erza asked, and Alzack sighed in relief before answering, "She's at the armory polishing up our weapons. We're running a bit low on cash and wanted to take on a couple of missions."
"So, who are you going to leave Asuka with?" Natsu chimed in as he noticed Asuka quietly throwing out the carrots to the floor one by one before she caught Natsu staring at her and silently begged him not to reveal what she was doing.
"We were planning on letting her decide." Alzack answered, and Natsu nodded as he looked at Asuka, signaling that he wasn't going to tell anyone. She smiled as she jumped out of Erza's arms and hugged Natsu's legs.
"I'm going to stay with Uncle Natsu!" Asuka cheerfully announced, catching everyone by surprise at Alzack's sudden declaration.
"Are you sure about that, Asuka? The last time I visited Natsu's house, it was an utter mess. Also, where were the carrots Natsu bought?" Erza asked as she noticed the empty bag in Asuka's hand.
"U-um… I ate them all when you were speaking to Papa…" Asuka lied as she prayed that Erza didn't turn around and see the pile of throwaway carrots.
"Actually, I cleaned my house a couple of weeks ago with Happy," Natsu said as Erza gave him a doubtful look. She'd known Natsu for a long time now, and not once had she considered Natsu clean.
"I'll be the judge of that. Later tonight, I will go to your house and decide whether or not Asuka will sleep there. Do you understand?" Erza told Natsu, who nodded in response and watched as Erza left for the guild.
"Are you fine with Asuka staying at my house?" Natsu asked Alzack.
"I trust Erza enough to give a thorough analysis of your house. Now, let's go find Bisca," Alzack said. Asuka cheered and grabbed Natsu and Alzack's hand, and they went to look for her mother.
Inside the guild was a warzone, even without Natsu. The massive guild brawl began when Macao challenged Wakaba to a drinking match, with the winner being able to do whatever they wanted to the other. Macao ended up as the winner but was completely hammered that he somehow confused the buxom mage, Cana, for Wakaba and grabbed her massive chest, causing her to erupt in anger and kick him to Elfman, who was hanging out with Evergreen, making the pair mad and accused Juvia and Gray of doing this and charged at them, slowly dragging every member aside from Lucy, Wendy, Carla, Gajeel and Levy as they hid in the library to protect the baby inside Levy's belly.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Erza shouted as everyone stopped fighting and looked at the front of the guild and saw Erza standing there with a menacing scowl.
"It was Macao's fault!" Everyone pointed at the former leader of Fairy Tail as Erza's attention was solely focused on him, his soul slowly escaping his body as she approached him with a punishment in mind but was stopped by Mirajane, who held a plate of freshly baked strawberry cheesecake right in front of her face.
"Here's your cheesecake, Erza!" Mirajane said with a kind smile as she saw Erza's face do a complete 180. She greedily snatched the plate off Mira's hand, went to the bar counter, and sat down to enjoy her cheesecake. Letting everyone else sigh in relief and look at Mirajane like a Goddess. At the same time, Wakaba and Romeo carried Macao to the infirmary so that he could recover from his near-death experience.
"You usually don't come this late, Erza. Were you busy talking to your favorite blueberry outlaw again?" Mirajane gossiped as Erza almost choked on her cheesecake, and a furious blush covered her face before she composed herself. She glared at her former rival, who was giggling at her expression.
"I haven't, nor had a reason to speak with Jellal for the past month or so. I crossed paths with Natsu in the market as he was about to destroy a stall." Erza answered.
"Why was he about to destroy a stall? Was it because it wasn't selling any meat?" Mirajane jokes, making Erza let out a small chuckle as she passes her now-empty plate to Mira.
"Something even more ridiculous, he wanted to make Asuka see him as her favorite uncle by destroying her favorite vegetable, the carrot." Erza answered as Mirajane sweatdropped. Erza was probably the only one in the entire guild who didn't realize how much Asuka loathed carrots. She would know, after all, that she tried to give Asuka a soup that had some carrots. When Asuka found out, she refused to eat a single thing Mirajane made for an entire week until Mirajane apologized for making Asuka eat anything that had a carrot.
"Yeah… Asuka really loves her carrots…" Mirajane sighed as she looked underneath the counter and realized that she wanted to talk with Erza about the latest edition of Sorcerer Weekly, "Hey Erza, look what I got my hands on!"
"Oh, is there anything about the guild that I should be aware of?" Erza asked as Mirajane flipped through the pages until she found the specific page that caught her eye.
"Not the guild, but a certain member~" Mira sang as she finally found the page and showed Erza the page titled "What Wizard Would You Like To Be Your Boyfriend?"
"Why are you showing me this page, Mira? Are you trying to tell me to go and find a boyfriend?" Erza asked as a couple of the girls approached the pair, curious as to what they were talking about.
"Hey Erza, what are you and Mira reading?" Lucy asked as she and Wendy helped Levy sit on a bar stool.
"I wanted to show Erza the yearly list of the most eligible bachelors in Fiora. Specifically, I wanted to show her who came in first." Mirajane answered as she grabbed the article and showed the girls, who all were shocked, to say the least, that Natsu somehow finished above Hibiki, who's been the number one for the past eight years.
"I mean, Natsu does have an amazing body, so I can see why he was nominated, but for first place, I think that's a bit too much." Cana mumbled, causing a couple of the girls to blush at her comment.
"I-is there a description that tells us how he got first place?" Wendy asked, her face still red as Lisanna grabbed the paper out of Mira's hand and read quietly enough so that only the girls could hear.
"And for our number one in Fiore's Most Eligible Bachelor, let me introduce you to the one and only Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail! After everything he accomplished this past year, how could he not be number one? He's the absolute coolest! First off, Natsu was a hero in the war against the Alvarez Empire and helped Fairy Tail clinch their second trophy in the Grand Magic Games. He was on fire during the games, delivering jaw-dropping eliminations, celebrating like a maniac, and totally owning his opponents—all with that irresistible grin of his. I've only interviewed Natsu a couple of times, but let me tell you, his stories are the stuff of legends! He might come across as a hothead, but I've heard he can be incredibly comforting when someone's in need. Plus, he's super loyal, charismatic, and just a blast to be around if the rumors are to be believed. That's why Natsu Dragneel is, without a doubt, the top choice for this prestigious list. He's simply unbeatable, and any girl who has the chance to date him should consider themselves lucky!" Lisanna said as the girls took a good minute to take in what was written about their friend.
"As much as I don't want to admit this about that brute, they are correct with how they portrayed Natsu." Carla was the first one to speak her mind, as no one could disagree with her statement.
"Our Natsu, first place in such a list. I'm sorry, Lisanna, but I think I might ask Natsu to go out on a couple of dates with me." Mirajane teased as Lisanna, Lucy, and Wendy were the ones to react the most to Mira's comment.
"AND WHY SHOULD HE DATE YOU!" Lisanna and Lucy shouted, and Wendy nodded to their statement. The three girls all stared at Mirajane, who had a smug grin on her face.
"Why? Simple, I can offer him the most compared to you two. Whenever he's hungry, I can feed him. If he's causing too much of a mess, I can tame him. And, whenever he's feeling very troubled, I'll be there to relieve him of his stress~" Mirajane answered, the last part sultrily causing them all to blush at how forward Mirajane was being, "So, what do you two have over me?"
"W-well, I was his very first friend and girlfriend, even if he didn't understand what that meant at the time. Also, we raised Happy together, so if he ever wanted to have a child, I would be the most suitable to take care of it." Lisanna blushed, realizing what she had said but not wanting to back down, especially since Mirajane and Lucy also seemed interested in the Dragon Slayer.
"Oh please, unlike you two, Natsu and I are teammates, and he always breaks into my house just so that he can sleep in my bed! Has he ever broken into your house and slept in the same bed as you? I don't think so!" Lucy said, ignoring all the times she was angry at Natsu for constantly breaking into her house for this one moment.
"I've never seen all three of them like that," Wendy said with a blush to the other girls. Part of her wanted to join in and tell them why she deserved to be with the person she saw as a big brother.
"They're acting like that ruffian would even reciprocate their feelings. I'm certain that he doesn't know how babies are made." Carla retorted as she watched Lisanna, Lucy, and Mirajane keep on making points as to why they would be perfect for Natsu.
"What about you, Erza? You must have something for our resident pink-haired Dragon Slayer." Cana asked as Wendy turned her head to Erza, impatiently waiting for her answer in case she had another rival for Natsu's heart.
"For a time, I did. When Natsu rescued me from the Tower of Heaven, I thought of us in a relationship, but that phase ended, and now I see him as my younger brother." Erza answered, and Wendy silently sighed in relief as that was a potential rival who crossed out her imaginary list but was quickly alerted of Cana when Erza asked her the same question.
"If we were going based on looks, then I would have forced him to marry me. But he can be a bit too childish for me to handle. I'm looking for someone mature like I am." Cana answered as she decided to show her maturity by breaking open a barrel of alcohol and drinking it until the barrel was empty.
(A couple of hours later)
"Thank you so much for taking care of Asuka, Natsu." Bisca said as she and Alzack kissed the top of Asuka's head before she went to Natsu's side. They were currently at the train station, waiting for the train to approach and take them to the village where their mission was located.
"Yeah, we don't know how to repay you for this." Alzack answered with a grin as he grabbed his and Bisca's bags and slung them over his shoulder.
"I know how. Come back safe so that Asuka doesn't feel sad about you being hurt." Natsu quipped back, causing the two to chuckle at Natsu. Asuka decided to chime in, "Yeah, if you guys get hurt, I'm going to cry a lot!"
"Don't worry, sweetie. We'll make sure to return with not even a scratch," Bisca said as the train finally arrived and they entered. This made Asuka a little sad, but Natsu knew how to cheer her up. He placed the little girl on his shoulders and walked towards the guild.
"I'm back!" Natsu shouted as he kicked the door to the guild down.
"Welcome back, Natsu. You didn't say hi to me earlier in the morning. That really hurts my heart, you know that, but I know of a way that you can make it up to me~" Mirajane purred as she sauntered up to Natsu, wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing her bountiful breasts against his chest, and stared up at him with her deep blue eyes.
"She's actually trying to seduce him? I thought she was teasing Lucy and Lisanna." Cana said as she looked to her side to see Lucy and Lisanna. She only saw their outlines as they walked up to Natsu to separate Mirajane from him.
"It's good to see you back, Natsu. I know you're enjoying Mira-nee's hug right now, but she has a very important job of taking care of the bar right now, and you wouldn't want to stop her from doing that she loves oh so very much." Lisanna said as she and Lucy started to pry Mira's hands off Natsu and drag her back to the counter.
"That was weird… anyway, Erza! Asuka had already packed up her stuff. We'll be waiting for you outside!" Natsu shouted at Erza as the rest of the girls stared at Erza, who felt uncomfortable at this turn of events.
"Erza… what are you planning on doing with Natsu today?" Lucy asked her teammate with a blank stare on her face as Erza could feel them slowly approach her.
"You told me earlier that you were late because of Natsu. Care to tell us why he's asking you to follow him and Asuka?" Mirajane asked as she placed a hand on Erza's shoulder and gripped it hard enough that the armor was beginning to crack.
"I'm pretty sure Erza has a reason why Natsu called her over." Levy nervously chuckled as she gently grabbed Lucy's wrist so that she wouldn't do anything dumb.
"I do. I was planning to go over to Natsu's house, so tha-!" Erza said before Wendy grabbed onto her shoulders and violently jerked her around.
"WHO SAID YOU COULD VISIT NATSU'S HOUSE?!" Wendy shouted in Erza's face before realizing what she was doing and quickly left and began begging for forgiveness.
"I-it's okay, Wendy, that was just a simple misunderstanding." Erza said as she felt her brain rattle inside her head for a couple of seconds, "Anyways, I was planning on giving Natsu's house a visit to see if it was a suitable place for Asuka to live in while Asuka and Bisca are away."
"I guess we all overreacted a bit, didn't we." Lucy chuckled, and Wendy, Mira, and Lisanna agreed with the blonde.
"What do you mean, all? It was only you…" Cana pointed out before instantly being met with four glares that promised if she continued talking, something bad would happen to her. "Nevermind…"
"Now, if you excuse me, I have a house to inspect." Erza said as she stood up from her seat and went outside the guild to travel alongside Natsu and Asuka back to Natsu's house.