Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima and My Hero Academia belongs to Kohei Horikoshi

Reminder: There will be spoilers for both Fairy Tail and My Hero Academia.

TRIGGER WARNING: This fanfiction contains violence, death, rape, sexual assault, and other material that may be sensitive to the reader.

This chapter contains death and violence

The Way of the Househusband and it's characters Tatsu, Masa, Miku, and Torajiro belongs to Kousuke Oono.

There is going to be a lot to in this chapter.

Chapter Word Count: 8500+

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

"C'mon Overhole! Fight me again!" Rappa doesn't know the full extent of what's going on with him and Lucy and he would like to help, but he doesn't know how. So, his solution is to fight Overhaul. The guy has been very irritable and tense and needs to let it all out.

Chisaki knows what Rappa is doing and secretly appreciates that his friend has been trying to help him. He will never say that the men he's been recruiting have slowly grown on him.

"Rappa! What have you been told about addressing Overhaul improperly?" Tengai scolds.

Rappa bows, "My apologies Overhaul."

Chisaki waves his apology away. "Let's do it. This is fight number four. Think you can beat me this time?"

"Won't know until I try."

Chisaki isn't going to end the fight quickly this time around. He needs to release a lot of his pent-up anger and Rappa is the only one with the balls to fight him.

Chisaki leads him to a false sense of security and then disassembles him. After he reassembles him, he states, "You're 0-4 now Rappa." Then asks, "When are you going to realize you can't beat me?"

"Never! I'll beat you one of these days."

"Seriously Rappa…" Tengai begins to scold Rappa again.

Chisaki ignores the men arguing as he heads up to shower and change out of his clothes.

Kai repairs her clothing as she starts a load of laundry. Once they're settled on the couch Kai asks, "What is it that you've been meaning to tell me?"

She turns to face him, but her eyes are on her hands which are fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. "I… I don't know where to start."

"The beginning is usually best." He states, watching her intently.

"Okay. Um, so the quirk user Remnaut…"

"Yeah, what about him?"

Taking a deep breath and exhaling she prepares herself "He may have brought me here from another world."

He looks at her as if she's grown a second head, "…What? I'm sorry, I think I misheard you."

"Remnaut, he brought me here from a place called Earthland."

"…So, you're telling me that you lied about being from a small town called Magnolia in America?"

"Kind of. I am from a small town called Magnolia but it's in the country of Fiore, on the continent of Ishgar on planet Earthland."

He narrows his eyes at her, "There is no planet called Earthland."

Lucy bites her bottom lip, "Not in this galaxy…"

"You said that you had gotten back from a job only to find your family gone."

"Umm… well, what really happened is that when I got back from my job, I went to the guildhall-"

"Guildhall?"

"Yeah, uh a place where mages gather to find work. So, uh, I went to the guildhall and found my family weren't themselves. They were put on a spell to turn against me-"

"Spell…"

"Yes, a spell. Anyone who entered the Fairy Tail guildhall would turn against the light of Fairy Tail, ermm me, and it would stay in effect until the caster deemed it time to erase them." When Kai doesn't say anything, she continues, "Everyone that was there yelled and screamed at me telling me I'm worthless and didn't belong there along with some other hurtful things. The people I went on a job with, and a few others arrived at the guild, and we were about to figure out what was going on when a man named Ivan and a man, whom I now know as Remnaut showed up. Right when we were all going to attack, I got sent here. That's when I got into a fight with those three men and Jiji found me."

Kai rests his elbows on his knees and covers his face with the palms of his hands. He ran through so many possibilities in his head, and this was definitely not one of them. He scrubs his hands down his face. What was it he said to Kurono? 'She has no reason to fear me. No matter what happens, I don't think I have it in me to hurt her. She has been non-judgmental and understanding and takes care of me when my issues act up.' But goddammit is he pissed.

"Tell me… did your mother really die from a sickness when you were ten? Did your dad die when you were seventeen? Did he really try to marry you off to an older man to further his business? Did he really die from a sickness?"

"Yes. That is all true."

"What kind of sickness did your parents die from?"

"Um, my dad died slowly from cancer. My mom died from magical depletion."

"Magical depletion."

"Yes, she used too much of her magic at once and depleted her containers."

"How exactly did you meet your adoptive grandfather and brother and everyone else? You said it was after you ran away."

"I was in Hargeon and…" Lucy tells him the story of her being under Bora's charm spell, meeting Natsu, almost being sold as a slave along with other women, Natsu saving them, her summoning Aquarius and demolishing part of the town. Natsu fighting Bora. "Then he dragged me off to Fairy Tail."

"…"

"Kai. Say something."

Kai slaps his knees, stands up, and gets ready to leave, "I got to go."

Lucy gets up from the couch, following behind him, "Wait Kai-"

Kai whirls around and yanks the necklace off of Lucy.

He hadn't meant to yank it off, he just meant to stop her from getting closer. The look on her face about tore him up and he wanted to comfort her, but he needed to get out of there to get his thoughts in order. He's thankful she didn't see what he accidentally did to it in his anger. He got it fixed and has been carrying it around in his pocket.

When he got back to the compound, he didn't want to see anyone, but Pops ordered him into his office. Lucy had called to give him the heads up.

Chisaki storms in Pops office. "You knew."

"Yes, I did."

"And you didn't tell me."

"No."

"Why?"

"It was Lucy's business to tell you."

"Why didn't she tell me from the start?"

"I ordered her as the boss of the Shie Hassaikai to not say anything."

"So, you're the only other person that knows?"

"…No. Ms. Yamamoto and Fukuzawa know as well."

"…"

"It's my understanding that you have purposely stopped her. If you hadn't, you'd have known about this sooner. I will admit, I was in the wrong for not pushing Lucy more to tell you the truth."

"I wish I would have known this sooner…"

"Tell me, if she told you the night you met, what would your reaction have been then?"

"…"

"How about after your date at the festival?"

"…"

"Does this change anything between you two?"

Chisaki wants to say, yes it does. He can't trust her to tell him everything. But that isn't true. She has told him about herself, she's just had to twist the truth. Like when she told him she and her friend Levy translated an ancient language off an artifact and if united with the others it would cause chaos in the world. She didn't skip a beat telling the story but when she got to the part something specific was needed for it to work, she hesitated. Why didn't he see it then?

Chisaki is broken out of his thoughts when he hears Pops say, "Catch." He's tossed a book at him. The cover says, 'The Adventures of Iris by Lucy Heartfilia'. He recalls a manuscript on Lucy's desk. 'The Adventures of Iris: A Journey to Another World'. He opens up the book, flips to the page with the information of the publisher and copyright date. His eyes go wide. "What the fuck? Published in x793!?"

"You can keep that." Modoshi doesn't tell him that Lucy's spirit apparently had extra copies and Lucy decided to give him one. "If you have any questions, you're going to have to ask Lucy." He's surprised when Chisaki walks away silently, book clenched in his hand at his side. If he didn't have his gloves on, then that book would be in shambles right about now. "One other thing, the man, Remnaut all we know is that he wears all black from head to toe and has black spiky hair." The response he gets is the door slamming.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would," Modoshi mutters.

Chisaki heads down to the kitchen to get something to eat. Walking by the common rooms he catches the seven bullets he's recruited sitting around and laughing with the newest recruit, Toya Setsuno. He found the guy hopelessly struggling. He planned on proposing to his blond-haired girlfriend and become a family because he loved her so much. That was until he caught her cheating on him. His world came crashing down. He was incurred with debt and hopelessly struggled through life. That is, until Overhaul saved him, offering Setsuno a chance to have worth.

Everyone wonders why he's gathering these men. Only two people truly know. Pops and Kurono. He got the idea for the 8 bullets from the meaning of Shie Hassaikai, The 8 precepts of death. The 8 bullets represent the corruption of the tenets of the real 8 precepts of Buddhism.

Rappa represents the corrupted version of the first tenet of the 8 precepts of Buddhism: Do not kill other living things. Setsuno represents the corrupted version of the second tenet: Do not steal. Katsukame represents the third: Abstain from sexual activity. Nemoto represents the fourth: Do not deceive others. Sakaki represents the fifth: Do not take intoxicants, save for medical purposes. Hojo represents the seventh: Forbids the wearing of jewelry and decorations such as crystals. And Tengai represents the eighth: It forbids taking shelter and resting under a luxurious canopy.

He needs to find the last corrupted version of the tenets. Number 6 of the precepts of Buddhism: Only eat at the proper time. This is after sunrise but before noon.

"Yo Overhaul! Come hang out with us!" Sakaki yells raising a bottle of liquor in the air.

He shakes his head and continues on his way.

Setsuno asks, "Is he always like that?"

"Not until recently. It has something to do with Lucy." Rappa states then asks, "Speaking of, where has Lucy been?"

"Who is Lucy?" Setsuno asks.

"Oh, his girlfriend. A blonde hot piece of ass." Sakaki says in a lecherous voice.

"Damn straight she is," Katsukame puts in.

"Blondie probably spread her legs for someone else." Setsuno growls.

"Listen, I know you're-" Chronostasis, which is what they know Kurono as, was ready to scold them and tell them they can't talk about Lucy that way because not only will Overhaul the man they're loyal to will get pissed but the big boss Modoshi will kick their asses to the curb. However, Rappa beats him to it.

"Shut the fuck up! Lucy wouldn't do that and you better stop talking about her that way!

Sakaki, who is generally energetic, can get angry easily. "Oh yeah? And what are you going to do? It's probably true any- mother fucker!"

Rappa still has his fist raised, ready to hit him again, "I'll beat the shit out of you."

Before it can escalate further, Chronostasis uses his quirk on Sakaki and Rappa.

Because of the man's quirk, Rappa bellows in slow motion, "Whaaaaaat theeeee heeeeell chrooooonoooooo?"

"Relax, I used the minute hand so as you know you'll only be slowed down for a minute. Rappa is right, stop talking about her that way. Yes, Overhaul is your boss and you're loyal to him. I get it, but if he or the big boss were to hear you, they'd be kicking your asses to the curb. She's like a daughter to the big boss. And Overhaul, she… just don't."

What none of them knew is that Chisaki stopped in his tracks when he heard Rappa bring Lucy up. He clutched the necklace in his pocket, getting angrier at every word spoken and as he was turning around to storm in there, Rappa punched the fucker. Once he knew Kurono had a handle on the situation he continued to his destination. Kurono is the only one who knows the truth.

"She's from another planet, in another galaxy…"

"Yup."

"Damn, knowing a man can jump between worlds and take other people with him without their consent is terrifying."

"That's what you find terrifying?"

"We both know the only time to be terrified of Lucy is if she's pissed."

"Hmmph."

"You do realize that this means technically she's quirkless."

He didn't even think of it that way.

"Also, Look at it from her point of view. You made your stance on quirks perfectly clear. She was probably scared to drop that bomb on you." Kurono lifts his hand to cut Chisaki off, "I know you said you would never hurt her but when you got back, after talking with the boss, you wanted to fight in the ring. Of course, Rappa was the only one actually to take you up on that. But that wasn't enough, after your fight with him you had Rappa pick out the best fighters to go against you. It was a bloodbath after you were done with them. You scared the shit out of everyone."

"I reassembled them…"

"Not the point. You can be a bit of a loose cannon, she's seen it and though you would never intentionally hurt her, she could still get caught in the crossfire if you're too consumed by your rage. And it's not like she didn't try to tell you."

"I know. Pops already made me aware of that."

"It's interesting she's from a world with magic. I take it she uses shadow magic there?"

"To be quite honest, I think there's more to it than that. Pops handed me a book she wrote. It seems as if it's based on her life there."

"She wrote a book?"

"Yeah, and the date it was published was 793, well x793." He sighs and pulls the necklace out. He stares at it, his thumb caressing the pendant.

"You took that back?"

"Technically no. I held my hand out to stop her from following me, grabbed the necklace and pulled it off of her by accident."

"Have you talked to her since then?" Kurono receives a "nope" in answer. "Listen, she knows the meaning behind that necklace and if she thinks you did that on purpose, she's likely assuming the worst right now."

Chisaki doesn't need to be told that.

It's been almost four weeks and Lucy hasn't heard from Kai since she called. She had given him a week like he did with her, and he told her to leave him alone. She doesn't blame him. That's a lot to take in. She has given him the respect he deserves and does as he asks.

It's been hard for her though. She reaches up to hold the pendant of her necklace only to be reminded he ripped it off of her. After he had done so, she broke a promise to herself and listened to his soul and damn was he angry.

In that time, she's tried to not let it affect her daily life. She still put on that smile for work and her friends, well except for Fukuzawa. She told her he would come around, but Lucy wasn't so sure about that.

Out of curiosity, Lucy tried changing into her spirits star dresses and surprisingly it worked, unlike when she first arrived. So, her spirits have been taking turns bestowing their star dresses on her so she can use them without their key, like Aquarius should something happen to her keys. So far, Leo, Virgo, Taurus, and Gemini have bestowed them upon her.

She hasn't even made it a block from her place when she runs into what feels like a wall. She stumbles back and someone grabs her arm catching her.

A deep authoritative voice booms out, "You might want to watch where you're going."

Lucy stares at the man and almost tears up. He sounds exactly like Laxus and is even built like him. Instead of blonde hair, it's crimson red. He has familiar turquoise eyes, and his beard and mustache appear to be made of fire. She's heard of this hero but has yet to see him.

She bows, "My apologies Endeavor."

"Just pay attention to your surroundings."

"Yes sir." Her curiosity of his familiar eyes gets the better of her and she listens in on his soul. He's on a mountain covered in blue flames and he's holding what looks to be a jawbone. Why does that scene seem so familiar? She stops listening to his soul because even though she's gotten better at filtering others out she can't concentrate at the moment. Instead, she settles on staring into his eyes racking her brain where she's seen them before.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Oh, um yes. I just have a lot on my mind. Bye now." Now she really has to leave. Laxus had become like a brother to her and dare she say more like a brother to her than Gray. Hearing the concern in Endeavor's voice is enough to make her cry.

When she gets to her destination, she runs into someone unexpectedly.

Chisaki checks the tracker app for the umpteenth time. He's been waiting for her to get home before he calls. He notices she's not too far away and wonders what could be going on. He rushes to the door because she wouldn't be headed this way if it wasn't an emergency.

"Chisaki, what's wrong?" Modoshi asks.

He doesn't stop in his rush to leave, "Somethings wrong. I think something happened to Lucy."

"I'll come with you."

He opens the door to leave and the person he's been worried about stumbles in.

"Don't you ever become a househusband." Is the last thing Lucy says before she passes out.

Chisaki catches her and picks her up. There's only one reason she would be talking about househusbands. Tatsu.

"Take her to the common room and lay her on the couch."

After Chisaki lies her down, he checks her over for injuries. She doesn't seem to be hurt. He's startled when she abruptly sits up.

"Please, no more." Lucy looks around and is taken aback to find herself at the yakuza compound. Her eyes land on Chisaki's and she scoots back. For a split second, he looked upset but now he has an unreadable expression on his face. Swinging her legs off the couch she says, "I'm sorry. I don't even know why I came here."

"Lucy, stay right there and tell us what happened. What did Tatsu do?"

Lucy looks up at Jiji and nods. She keeps her eyes on him, "Okay so I went into town because I need a new vacuum. I was in a hurry because I also wanted to do other shopping before going to Fukuzawa's.

"Crap, I got to hurry- Oof I'm so sorry." Lucy runs into a man with black, slicked-back hair, aviator glasses, and a scar going down the left side of his face, forehead to cheekbone over the eye. He's wearing a casual suit; the buttoned shirt is unbuttoned enough to expose his collarbone and part of his chest. He has on a cream-colored apron that has a dog on it and it says Shibainu.

A man with unkempt blonde hair, his button shirt is open, exposing a white shirt, baggy pants and a chain dangling from his neck yells at her, "Do you have any idea who you ran into? This is the Immortal Dragon-"

SMACK! "Masa don't be picking fights, especially with a lady."

Lucy looks at the two of them nervously, "I didn't mean to run into you, I'm in a rush to get a new vacuum."

The guy with dark hair lights up a cigarette, "Well, you're in luck. I can help you out."

Lucy looks at him warily, "You're going to help me find a new vacuum?"

"That's right."

"Not to sound rude, but what do you know about vacuums?"

He takes a puff of his cigarette and then blows the smoke out, "I'm a househusband, and being a househusband ain't some kind of joke. Me, I'm a pro. I can help you find the right kind of muscle that's perfect for the job." He puts out his cigarette, grabs her wrist, and drags her into the store where they ran into each other. He drags her to the floor machine aisle and picks up a Roomba. "This is one you don't want. They're a wuss, can't even handle attacking the corners where most of the riffraff hangs out. The cocky punk destroyed my turf."

"Oh… uh, Okay?" She listens as he goes over every different vacuum there is, and she settles on the one he says is the best.

"Here, Masa carry this."

"Right boss. Ow!" Masa holds his cheek.

"Masa, do you have another cavity? What have I told you? Brushing once a day is not enough to win the fight! You have to brush after every meal three times a day! Brush for a solid two minutes every time! Then finish off with floss! If the job is too hard," In his mind, he's picturing himself using an electric toothbrush, "use a power tool! Got to show your entire mouth who's boss!"

Lucy looks on shocked at his sudden outburst about proper oral hygiene.

"Sorry boss, it won't happen again."

"Damn straight it won't." He picks up Masa and carries him away.

Lucy has no choice but to follow since Masa has her vacuum in his hands. They lead her to the dentist's office. As they sit in the waiting room Lucy introduces herself, "By the way, my name is Lucy."

"Masa?" The dentist calls out. Masa gets up and follows him into the room with Lucy's vacuum still in his hands.

"The name is Tatsu. If you're interested, I got some goods for you to try."

Lucy is shocked to see him pull out little baggies with white stuff in it. "Is that…"

"Sodium percarbonate. It's a special blend I made myself. A little cocktail of sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide. In other words, oxygen bleach. This little concoction can wipe out blood, fingerprints, and trace evidence."

"Oh really?" Lucy looks at it curiously.

"Yup. Masa can vouch for it. It got mud, juice, ice cream, and curry udon stain out of his clothes." He then mutters, "Damn amateur almost started a damn turf war, trying to mix the colors with the whites."

Lucy takes it from him when he hands it over. "Okay… um, how long do you think they'll be in there?"

"Can't say. Depends on how bad the battle is."

Lucy tries to break the awkward silence by trying to make conversation, "So uh, did you know that pigs are really smart?"

"Pigs. Really?" In Tatsu's mind pigs equals cops. "Can't really say I've got a lot of good memories of pigs."

"Oh. I see. So, umm… do you like to sing?"

"Uh, bragging's not my style," In Tatsu's mind he's sitting at a police station being questioned, "but I ain't never sung once in my life."

"Uhhh… Really?" She's really curious as to what his soul sounds like. Before she can decide whether or not to listen Masa comes out.

They walk out of the building, Masa still carrying her vacuum when they hear someone yelling, "Tatsu."

Their heads swivel in the direction and Tatsu yells out, "Torajiro!"

"I want another duel!"

"Let's go then crepe slinger!"

"Bring it on househusband!"

Lucy asks Masa, "Who's Torajiro?"

"Oh, he's a former yakuza just like Tatsu. He let his fists do the talking, and was once considered the Immortal Dragon's only rival, The Steel-Fist Tiger!"

"Wait, they're not going to fight, are they?" Instead of answering, Masa commentates the two former yakuza slinging around ingredients for a dessert. Once done, they take pictures of their creations from all angles and post them on Instantgram.

Before she knows it, she's being dragged to the 100-yen store, then he takes her around getting a points card stamped so he can get a prize. She wasn't the only one, his wife Miku showed up and got the prize.

"It was a stuffed animal. And then there was a woman he stopped to talk to. Her name was Fukada? She's one of the 8 Dragons of the Women's Association. Apparently, to them, he's known as The Decorator. Then, oh my god," Shivers run through Lucy's body, "There was a rap battle. That's when I was finally able to get away." Lucy looks around, "Noo!" She buries her face in her hands, "I forgot to get my vacuum from Masa!"

"I need you guys to leave," Chisaki tells his men, "And do not repeat anything you heard, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone but Kurono and Pops leave. "You said you were curious about what his soul sounds like. What did you mean by that?"

Lucy peeks at him from between her fingers and notes the serious look. "Okay." She takes a deep breath and then lets it out. "I'm a celestial spirit mage." Lucy unhooks her keys and sorts through them. "I summon spirits with these keys." Lucy points out a specific one. "This one is Gemini, and they can copy other's magic that is equal or lesser to my power. Well, after a lot of training, I can utilize what is called a star dress. It grants me the ability to use other's magic. Well, back in Earthland I copied a lot of my friends' magic, but a lot of them I wasn't capable of using, but here no matter the difference in magic power I can use their magic here."

Chisaki narrows his eyes at her, "So, someone you know has magic that gives them the ability to hear souls, whatever that means, and you can use it?"

"Yes."

"Is the shadow magic yours?"

"No, that would be my friend Gajeel. He's an iron dragon slayer. He gained the ability from Rogue, who is a shadow dragon slayer."

"So, what can you do? What is your magic?"

"Summoning spirits."

"And, what they do all the fighting for you?"

Lucy stands to her feet, "No! We fight together!"

"What can you do without those keys?"

"I can use Aquarius's power."

"Is there anything you can do that doesn't depend on someone else?"

Lucy throws her hands up in defeat, "Sure, without my keys, I can't do anything magically. But that's why I put myself through vigorous training to be able to defend myself in the event my keys are taken away." She turns on her heel and stalks away. They went from her explaining how her magic works to him scrutinizing her.

"Lucy, Wait-"

"I promised Fukuzawa I would go over to her place with the girls and make a hot pot. I take promises very seriously. A Celestial Spirit Mage never breaks their promises, no matter how little." Lucy looks over her shoulder, "By the way, I happen to be very good using a whip."

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Kurono looks around the compound for Chisaki and finds him standing on the balcony, leaning over the railing and staring at his phone.

"Just call her."

"And say what?"

"That you're sorry for starters."

"What-" he's cut off by the ringing of his phone. Seeing it's only Hojo, he puts it on speakerphone. "Yeah?"

"Hey Overhaul. I just wanted to give you an update. There's no one following Lucy. She just made an interesting purchase though."

"What was that?"

"She bought a couple of bullets. She must be-"

"What in the hell would she need bullets for?"

"Uh, to take care of herself? Why else?"

"Why on earth would she do that?" Chisaki asks in a panic.

"Wait, Overhaul I think you got the wrong idea-"

Chisaki hangs up before Hojo can explain further. He dials Lucy's number and doesn't get an answer. "Fuck." He calls Sato to bring the car around out front. "C'mon Kurono let's go."

"I think it's best only you go." Kurono has to do his best to hold back a snicker.

"What?"

"Just hurry and go." Kurono can't hold his composure any longer when Chisaki is out of sight. Oh, how he wishes he could see the look on his friend's face when he learns of this little misunderstanding.

Freshly showered, Lucy walks out of her bathroom in only her underwear and Kai's shirt. "I can finally relax."

There's an urgent pounding on the door and Lucy runs to it, but she's too late. It's already opening.

"What the hell?" She screeches.

Kai storms in and slams the door, "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

Lucy gapes at him, "Why do you have a key to my home? Also, why are you here?"

"Answer my question first."

Lucy crosses her arms and glares at him, and he glares right back.

Kai growls, "Fine. Hojo told me you bought bullets, and I thought you were or already had killed yourself."

"What! Why would I do that?"

"Because of how things have been between us and-"

Lucy scoffs, "I may love you, but not enough to kill myself." She covers her mouth and looks at Kai wide-eyed who is looking at her the same way.

Kai snaps out of it, "What did you say?"

"I-I…"

He grabs her arm and pulls her to him, turning so he can push her up against the door. "What did you say?" When she tries to look away, he grabs her chin and turns her head to face him. "What. Did. You. Say?"

Tears well up in her eyes, "I love you."

He cups her face and wipes the oncoming tears with his thumbs, his face and tone soften, "Mi Tesoro."

When Kai starts to kiss her, she places her hands on his chest, "Wait, Kai. We need to talk about everything."

He buries his face in the crook of her neck and takes a whiff of her scent. "Later."

"No, Kai. Waiting until later is what got us in this mess."

Sighing he says, "Fine." He takes off his shoes and follows her into the living room. How is he just now noticing she's in nothing but his shirt? He hasn't given her one of his shirts… That's right! He did back in April when they met. The sight of her in only that is going to be distracting especially because she's right, they do need to talk. Where do they even begin? Once she's seated, he grabs the blanket that's on the couch and tosses it at her, "Cover up."

Blushing, Lucy says, "Right. Sorry, I wasn't expecting any company." Once she's in a comfortable position she begins, "First, I'd like to apologize for my behavior on Tuesday. It wasn't the first time someone scrutinized me because I have to depend on my spirits."

"I'd like to apologize for doing so. During one of the many conversations I had with Pops, he equated it to me gathering men to be members of the 8 bullets to have by my side to fight with and for me."

"Also, I would like to apologize for not forcing you to sit and listen to what I had to say instead of allowing you to distract me…"

Kai chuckles nervously, "Yeah, I was scared about what you were trying to tell me, and I wasn't quite expecting…"

"Me not being from Earth."

"Yeah… You're from Earthland?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever been sent to other worlds before?"

Chuckling Lucy says, "Yeah, the first time-"

"First time?"

"Yeah, hehe I along with other guild members got sent to a world called Edolas." Lucy tells Kai the story from start to finish.

He scrubs a hand down his face, "That's a lot to take in."

"Yeah, that's not even half of it."

"Pops gave me that book you wrote. I didn't read it though."

"No?"

"Nope. Just skimmed through it. I want to hear all of it from you. From the beginning to now."

"Okay, well I told you about when I met Natsu," Lucy tells him about when she first met the guild and how crazy it was, then when she, Natsu, and Happy rescued Macao. She stops her storytelling after she's told him about the Daybreak incident.

"He tricked you into dressing as a maid."

Lucy's face and neck flush, "That's what stuck out?"

"No, just still wrapping my head around the fact that there's a world with magic. Are you born with magic or do you have to learn it?"

"That's a loaded question. I'll try to keep this short. Mavis, our first Master-"

"First Master?"

"She along with her friends Yuri, Warrod, and Precht started the Fairy Tail guild. They didn't know magic at first. They had learned from a black wizard named Zeref."

"Learning from a black wizard doesn't sound like a good thing."

"Zeref wasn't exactly bad. He kind of went crazy from his curse of being unable to die."

"He couldn't die? Why? What was the curse? You're talking past tense though, so he had to have died. How? How long did he live?"

"Slow down. That's another story in and of itself. When I met him, he was over 400 years old."

"What the fuck? Over 400 years old! Fuck. I would go crazy too. So, he was a wizard?"

"Not before his curse, no. Now where was I? Oh right, they learned magic through extensive training, and from what I can gather they were able to pass on the ability to their children due to that. Now that I think about it Yuri was the only one to have any children, so I could be completely wrong about that... Anyway, I was born a celestial spirit mage. My family lineage dates back 400 years. However, my friend Natsu wasn't a wizard before he died."

"He died but is now alive. How?"

"It was over 400 years ago when his village was attacked by dragons. He, along with his parents died. It's my understanding his brother attended a magic academy after that where he researched the connections between life, death, and magic to revive Natsu. Anyway, long story short Zeref created Etherious in the hopes they would kill him, but instead turned to reviving his dead brother, having preserved his brother as an Etherious. After that, he became E.N.D. otherwise known as Etherious Natsu Dragneel." Lucy chuckles, "So much for keeping that short."

"Etherious... Wait, you said Zeref wanted to revive his brother, so Natsu is…"

"Zeref's brother… yeah…"

"But I thought Natsu was a fire dragon slayer?"

"Yeah, everything you want to know are long, complicated stories."

Kai rubs his temples, "You're telling me. I'm getting a headache trying to keep up."

Lucy looks at the time, "Holy cow, it's one in the morning!"

"Damn, I got here at around what, ten?"

"Something like that."

"I should get going." Kai stands up.

Lucy gets on her feet too and then shuffles from side to side, "Um, it's late. If you want, you can stay here?"

Kai looks her up and down, "If I do that, I won't be able to keep my hands to myself."

Lucy coughs, "R-right."

Chisaki tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, "Give me time for all of this to soak in. It's…"

Lucy lifts her hand to cup his face but drops it back to her side, "It's okay, I get it." She walks him to the door.

"I need to ask, you're not mad I've been having one of my men follow you around?"

Lucy shakes her head no, "Not at all. I know why you are and thank you. It's difficult to keep an ear out on the souls around me."

"Are you referring to the creepy soul-hearing thing?"

"Yeah."

Chisaki nods his head. Before he leaves, he asks, "What exactly are the bullets Hojo was talking about?"

Lucy clears her throat, "They're uh, vibrators."

Chisaki's voice cracks, "Vibrators? Why are they called bullets?"

"The ones I get look like bullets." Lucy blushes a deep shade of red, "Alright, you better go now. Bye!" She closes the door behind him. A shiver goes through her body when Chisaki says, "You better be thinking of me."

Lucy walks away from the door and says under her breath, "You're all I've been able to think about." She is slightly surprised. First, he shows up worried and furious. Then when she tells him her tale, he's a mix between curious and horrified. Then there's the look of lust in his eyes. She did her best to focus on telling him her story instead of saying fuck it and dragging him to her bedroom.

She goes to the bathroom to do her nightly routine before going to bed. When she enters her room, she sighs in resignation over not being able to relieve herself. She's too tired for that. As she pulls the covers back someone comes up from behind her and puts a cloth over her mouth. She fights back but something is injected into her neck.

The last thing she hears is, "That was supposed to be a last resort."

"I'm not taking any chances. Don't you remember what the boss said about her?"

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Chisaki is at Lucy's frantic. He tried calling her and no answer. The tracker app said she was at home so he figured he'd stop by instead. There was no answer when he knocked so he called again and the phone rang from the inside. He disassembled the door since it was quicker than digging in his pocket for the key.

Her phone wasn't the only thing left behind. Her wallet and keys were too, including the special ones. He snags them off her nightstand and puts them in his pocket.

He then gets his cell phone out to call Pops to tell him to get there ASAP and only him. He searches her place thoroughly looking to see if anything is out of place since he was there two nights ago.

His phone rings as Pops walks through the doorway. The caller ID shows it's the last person he wants to hear from. "What do you want Wakabayashi?"

"You know what I want."

"And what's that?"

"You and Kumagai to marry."

"How many times do I have to tell you no? She can go to hell. You too."

"Well, I suppose that's alright. I have the other thing I've been wanting. I can't believe you threw her away. She's been delightful."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, come on. You know exactly who I'm talking about. Remnaut has talked about growing bored and wanting to send her to a different world one with pirates and devil fruits. Did you know she's not from this world? I digress. I haven't had a chance to fuck her so she's not going anywhere yet. But I will soon enough and then Remnaut can do as he pleases."

"You fucking bastard."

"I got her right here, maybe I should fuck her now so you can listen to her scream."

"Don't you dare fucking touch her! You hear me you son of a bitch-"

Modoshi takes the phone, "I warned you." Looking at Chisaki he says, "I also told you I won't be responsible for what happens to you and I won't make him hold back."

"Oh come now Maki, you and I both know you won't attack right now in the daylight."

Modoshi's whole body vibrates in anger. That's true, it's better to make a move with the cover of darkness. "You better get ready then." He hangs up. He's taken aback when he sees Chisaki not only seething in anger but also crying.

Chisaki has his face covered with his hands to hide the tears. He can't recall the last time he cried in front of anyone. "We have to go over there right now."

"You know we can't do that Chisaki." Oh, how his heart breaks for him. He doesn't recall seeing this young man so distraught.

"Pops," Chisaki's voice breaks, "I…" He allows Pops to hug him.

"I know son. I know."

At the same time

He's just minding his own business, smoking a cigarette in an alley when he overhears two guys talking in low voices. Normally he would ignore them but a name he hasn't heard in a long time catches his attention.

"I can't believe that's Celeste. Much hotter than I thought she would be."

"Yeah, man what I wouldn't give to fuck her. I'm surprised the boss hasn't yet. He's had her for four days now."

He puts out his smoke, quietly steps out of the alley, and pulls up his hood before following two men in suits walking down the sidewalk, bags in their hands.

"Why don't you? I mean she's chained up and defenseless."

"Yeah, I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

"I can be your lookout and once you're done, I can have a turn. No one would know."

"That new dude Remnaut checks on her periodically and taunts her. It's always random too so we'll risk him catching us."

"And what can he do? There's two of us and one of him."

"Fuck that. I'm not chancing it."

"We could always gather a few other men, Remnaut wouldn't stand a chance against a bunch of us. We could gang-"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you." A gravelly voice says.

Both men turn around in surprise, "What the fuck? Who are you?"

The man had been following them to gather information but the direction the conversation went had him fuming. It was as they were heading down an alley that he made his move. Thank fucking god because he had enough of how they were talking about her. Instead of answering them, he beats the shit out of them, leaving one man conscious to answer questions and the other unconscious so he can take the man's clothes to make it easier for him to blend in.

"You're going to take me to your base." He tells the guy as he strips the other one down to change into the suit he's wearing.

"Why should I do that?"

The man activates his quirk, "Do you want to be worse off than your buddy here?"

The guy shakes his head no.

"Didn't think so." He takes one of the bags and empties the contents so he can place his clothing in there. He really loves his boots and the hoodie he had on. Once he's dressed, he catches his reflection in the broken mirror. 'Huh. Who'd thought I'd look good in a suit.' "Let's go."

Back at the compound

They're in the middle of making their plans to strike when Rappa yells, "Get in here! You got to see this."

Everyone crowds around as they listen to the news reporter talk about the building where the Steel Wolf Clan is located has been engulfed by blue flames. There is a good chance no one will survive and everyone who can help dowse the flames has been called in before the fire can spread further.

"That's not because of Lucy," Modoshi mutters.

Chisaki, having heard replies, "Of course not she can't wield fire…" He trails off at the look on Pops face. "Wait, she can?"

"Yes, but it's not blue."

"What do you mean she can wield fire?" Tengai asks.

With a little shake of his head, Modoshi replies, "That's not important right now."

Afraid to know the answer Rappa asks, "You don't think Lucy was in there, do you?"

"If she was, we won't ever know. With it being a yakuza, the heroes and police won't do much investigating. They'll chalk it up to retaliation from another yakuza," Modoshi says trying to keep his composure.

Chisaki isn't faring any better. He's gritting his teeth and his hands are clenched at his sides. No. They were going to go there tonight and get her back. They should have acted sooner and not waited. He had plans to talk with her more about her other life. Because who she was and where she's from doesn't matter. He wants to get to know more about her and her magic. He wants to open up and tell her more about himself. She's the first wonderful thing to enter his life and he never got a chance to tell her he loves her. Dammit! He fucking loves her and she… He kicks the nearest piece of furniture which so happens to be a chair. He doesn't give a shit that it hit Sakaki and it causes him to spill his sake all over the place.

The Steel Wolf Clan Base

Lucy has no idea how much time has gone by since she was kidnapped and chained up. Her dried-up tears have left a trail on her dirty face. This whole time Remnaut has been watching her, recording her life, and sending it to Fairy Tail. That means they saw everything, even her and Kai…

When she woke up, she tried using the star dresses she was capable of doing without her keys but the drugs that were in her system prevented her from doing so. Remnaut had warned them that it would be best to keep her drugged up. She's thankful the idiots didn't think to grab her keys.

She heard Wakabayashi on the phone. "…What I want."

Then she heard Chisaki's voice, "…She can go to hell..."

Was he talking about her? How long ago was that? She doesn't know. She heard something about them having to move out soon. Something about toying with the Shie Hassaikai and getting their asses out of there before the Shie Hassaikai arrives to save her.

Lucy all of a sudden begins to sweat bullets and has difficulty breathing. It's gotten really hot in the building. She then hears screaming and swearing. Cracking open her eyes she sees blue fire. Where has she seen blue fire before? Familiar turquoise eyes enter her line of vision.

"Hey there Dollface."

The nickname stirs back that long-ago memory. "D-Dabi?" That's why Endeavor's eyes looked so familiar. Is it possible that… She starts coughing. "What are you doing here?"

He curses at the smell of her prison and the state she's in. She's in a dirty, brown dress that stops mid-thigh. It just barely covers her tits. Her hair is disheveled and she's chained to a hook on the wall. She had been given enough leeway to make it to the bucket in the corner. "Thought I'd join the party. Even got dressed up for it." Dabi does his best to carefully melt the metal cuffs without burning her, but it's inevitable.

Lucy lets out a raspy chuckle, "You look good."

"After all this you're able to crack jokes."

"It's… not… a joke," Lucy says in between hoarse coughs before she passes out.

"Dammit." He lies her down on the grody floor and slips out of the coat. Very carefully he gets it on her. He lifts her bridal style and squats to pick up the bag with his belongings and sets it on her. "Hold onto this will ya. And don't drop it, it has my favorite hoodie in it." He mainly says it to himself but he's a little surprised when she answers.

"Mmmkay."

He makes his way through the building on the path he left to escape. Along the way, he burns anyone he comes across.

When Lucy wakes up, she is on a couch in an unknown dark run-down apartment. She hears the TV on and it's a news broadcast about the Steel Wolf Clan base going up in blue flames. It comes back to her, "Dabi." She croaks. She feels a dip on the couch.

"Hey there Dollface. Welcome to the world of the living." He holds out a glass of water, "Here drink this and try not to talk."

Lucy nods her head and takes a drink and wonders how late it is. From what she can tell looking out the window it's sometime after 8. How long ago did Dabi save her? Has it been hours? Days? Listening more intently to the news it's been hours since she was there. Did Dabi kill all of them?

Noticing the nervous look on her face and her gnawing the hell out of her nails he says, "Don't worry I got every last mother fucker."

Lucy chooses to believe him and relaxes on the couch. She notices he looks different than the last time she saw him. His hair is a little shaggier and he's filled out more. She's covered up with a blanket and can tell she has boxers on by the feeling of them alone. She also has on a hoodie that smells like cigarettes and a campfire. In a raspy voice, she asks, "Your favorite hoodie?"

"What did I say about talking? Get more rest."

Dabi continues to watch the news and smoke like a chimney while he waits for her to go back to sleep. Once he's sure she's fast asleep, he wraps her up tightly in the blanket and quietly carries her out into the night. He's sure that he looks suspicious as fuck, so he sticks to as many side streets as possible.

After they met, he kept an eye on her for a little bit, but he eventually lost track of her. Then he heard in the underworld of the hot blond Overhaul was dating. Curious, he did a little spying and yup, there she was by Overhaul's side wearing the necklace that symbolizes marriage in that specific yakuza organization.

He doesn't know why she isn't wearing it now. Someone had probably ripped it off of her. He also doesn't know if it's the right call or not taking her back to the Shie Hassaikai but he would much rather not have an angry yakuza after him. It's one thing, taking all of them by surprise, but if they get a chance to plan out an attack… yeah fuck that. He's not taking any chances.

Dabi finally makes his way to the yakuza compound. He didn't think he would make it. At this point, he has Lucy over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. The woman isn't heavy, it just got tiring carrying her a certain way for a long period.

There's no way in without getting noticed so he has no choice but to leave her on the sidewalk, outside the gate. He very carefully lies her down and then rings the bell. Then again. And then once more for good measure. He darts across the road and finds a good spot to hide to make sure nothing bad happens to her while he waits for someone to come outside.

Unfortunately, there is someone else who is watching as well. Someone who survived the fire and knows of another yakuza boss who is more patient than Wakabayashi. Yeah, he could send her to the world of pirates, but this is still interesting, even if her life isn't complete and utter hell.

A few men come running out in a hurry. "Check the perimeter and see if they're still hanging around."

And that is Dabi's cue to go. The other guy has no worries about being found.

It had taken a long time to get Chisaki under control. He left a trail of destruction in his fit of rage. Jiji somehow managed to talk him down, saying Lucy is a survivor, there's no way she died in that fire. Just give it a day or two for the heroes and the authorities to do their investigation before they start their own.

There's a constant ringing of the bell at the front gate.

They see on the camera someone all in black, their hood covering their head ringing the bell with a body lying on the ground next to them. Jiji knows that can't be Remnaut, not unless the guy tamed his hair down. No, that has to be the person responsible for the blue fire.

"What the hell? Who is that?" Chisaki asks out loud as he darts out the door.

"Someone open the gate!" Modoshi yells trying his best to keep up with Chisaki.

"Lucy?" Chisaki moves the hood from the person's head," Fuck, it's Lucy!" He shouts.

"Call Ms. Yamamoto and let her know we're picking her up," Modoshi instructs Kurono.

Chisaki gingerly picks up Lucy and whispers in her ear, "Don't worry Mi Tesoro. I got you."

Dammit, I had plans for the Steel Wolf Clan in the future and someone was supposed to be introduced in this chapter but noooo Dabi just had to swoop in and save the day. Not only that, but he also twisted my arm to post this sooner than planned. I planned to post it tomorrow on his birthday… I suppose I'll forgive him this one time. Happy Early Birthday Dabi!

I'm not sure if Kurono/Chronostasis's quirk would cause one to talk in slow motion