Erza sat astride Ankh, laughing wildly with an arrogant demeanor.
Ankh looked speechlessly at the swordswoman.
'What brand of booze did you drink that gave you so much courage?'
The other boys weren't faring much better on the other side of the room.
Carla rode on Happy's back, scolding him between drunken hiccups, "Fly faster! You are a donkey!"
"Aye~ But I'm actually a cat..." Happy tearfully rebutted.
Levy chased after Jet and Droy like a rabid dog, punching and kicking. The weakest duo was being beaten by inexplicable wild fists.
Juvia clung desperately to Gray, tears flowing freely as she sobbed, "Gray-sama didn't pay attention to my winning swimsuit during the day, and now he won't drink with Juvia at night..."
"Maybe you should just drink Juvia instead!"
Juvia transformed into flowing water, tightly enveloping Gray, who could only scream frantically for help.
"This isn't right! Someone save me!!"
Natsu watched his companions' instant defeat in complete disarray, then turned speechlessly to face Lucy who had sidled up right next to him.
To be fair, Lucy's face had become even more rosy and charming after drinking, naturally radiating a charm that even thick-skulled Natsu could perceive.
Lucy held a rolled omelet with chopsticks, grinning as she leaned close to him, opening her mouth to hum.
"Ah—"
"Ah... what, are you going to feed me?" Natsu looked at the food extended to his mouth, his left eyelid twitching as he stared at Lucy, perplexed.
"Besides, this doesn't seem like something Lucy would normally do..."
The scene suddenly shifted to Lucy, dejectedly facing the corner.
Her aura was gloomy as she muttered quietly to herself, "I got scolded..."
"Huh? No... I, um..." Natsu quickly said, "Was I scolding you?"
Lucy turned her head and pointed at her fair chin, saying, "Then... help me purr purr..."
"What?"
"Purr purr."
Somehow, Natsu understood exactly what Lucy wanted, and then, as if possessed, he reached out and began scratching under her chin.
"Meow~"
The scene looked exactly like a master petting a cat, with Lucy seemingly transformed into a drunken cat girl, happily squinting her eyes and swaying her head.
And then... Natsu broke down too.
Watching all the boys succumb to the drunken madness, Ankh silently sighed and slowly extended his sinful little hand...
Smack!
A particularly loud slap echoed, and Erza immediately felt a strange, tingling pain spread from below her tailbone.
Subsequently, the arrogant expression on Erza's face, as if she owned the world, vanished, and her eyes cleared up considerably.
"Are you awake now?"
"I'm awake," Erza replied dizzily, reflexively trying her best to respond.
"Get up."
"Okay."
Erza obediently knelt to the side, allowing Ankh to finally stand up.
However, it wasn't long before Erza sneakily crawled back over, clinging to him and frolicking in her stupor.
So Ankh successfully employed his "butt persuasion" technique once more.
Erza let go again.
This three-step cycle hilariously repeated until Ankh simply couldn't physically bear to strike anymore...
The others were equally exasperated by these drunkards.
Just moments ago, Natsu had been carrying Lucy, who was desperate to pee but refused to let go, as he dashed frantically to the women's restroom.
Let's hope Natsu's back is okay...
...
The chaos continued late into the night, dragging on for what felt like ages.
Ur, who had arrived early, felt like her entire body was about to soften from soaking too long before the girls finally made it to the hot spring.
Wendy sat at the edge of the hot spring, her face flushed red as she smiled and said.
"I finally feel a bit more awake now."
Levy, submerged in the hot spring with only her head above water, remarked puzzledly.
"I don't remember much... Why were all the boys so scared earlier?"
"It hurts so much..."
Erza, wrapped in a damp towel and leaning against the edge of the hot spring, dared not sit down.
With a pained expression, she said, "And why does my butt hurt so much...?"
Levy's expression turned subtle as she whispered, "Not sure. Probably Ankh hit you. But... it's kind of sexy even though it's swollen a bit..."
Erza: (????ω????)
Carla, completely detached, simply shrugged and said, "It is truly a mystery."
The carefree Lucy paid no mind to this and happily called out to the shy Juvia, who hadn't entered the water yet.
Stretching her arms, she let out a comfortable sigh:
"This feels so good!"
"By the way, Lucy-chan."
Levy, seeking revenge for Lucy teasing her and Gajeel earlier during the day, leaned in with a mischievous grin and said.
"It must've felt pretty good being carried by Natsu to the restroom just now, right?"
"Me? Natsu?"
Lucy froze, then her brain, numbed by the hot spring, kicked into overdrive and regained a sliver of rationality.
A feeling... embarrassing memories suddenly resurfaced.
Watching Lucy's face suddenly turn bright red, Ur, sitting comfortably by the hot spring pool, chuckled and said, "Only now you remember to be shy? Maybe in the restroom, he even helped you..."
"Eek!!"
A familiar, sharp Lucy-style shriek erupted from the hot spring.
Teased by the experienced Ur, Lucy instantly felt her brain shutting down again.
"Lucy and Natsu... like each other, right?" Juvia chimed in at that moment, joining the conversation.
Erza shifted her posture and suddenly remarked, "No wonder! Whenever we need to find Natsu, going to Lucy's place is always the quickest!"
Wendy giggled and said, "Those two are practically inseparable..."
"No! That's simply not true!"
Lucy instinctively retorted stubbornly, chattering on, "I hate it when Natsu comes to my house too! To get back at him, I even went and stalked him once, planning to get revenge!"
Levy's eyes immediately lit up, eagerly egging her on, "I want to hear this story!"
...
Meanwhile, in the men's bath, separated by a thick wooden wall, Natsu scratched his head in confusion as he faintly overheard the conversation from the women's side, muttering to himself.
"When did Lucy ever stalk me?"
Ankh perked up his ears, listening with great interest as Lucy recounted the entire story of their love-hate relationship.
The gist of the story was that Lucy, through stalking him, finally discovered exactly where Natsu and Happy lived.
Then one day, a scheming Lucy stealthily sneaked into Natsu's house with a mischievous grin, fully intending to give him a very good scare.
(Yes, Lucy's 'revenge' for Natsu constantly breaking into her home was merely to plan a simple prank to startle him. She's really something, I'm genuinely moved to tears.)
However, the moment Lucy stepped inside, she was stunned by the pigsty-like condition of Natsu's home.
Then, she noticed all sorts of random items lovingly piled up around his house, such as:
The original request form from her very first mission with Natsu, the fake "Salamander" autograph she got when they first met because of the impostor Bora, the rubble from when they messed up a theater performance, the maid outfit Lucy wore during her first official mission at Duke Everlue's mansion, and so on...
Looking at these seemingly useless yet strangely nostalgic items, the easily swayed Lucy suddenly... couldn't bring herself to stay angry.
Instead, she cheerfully cleaned their entire house spotless.
After that... Lucy waited at Natsu's place until sunset.
Growing both anxious and lonely, she eventually gave up on her prank plan and sadly returned home.
Finally, exactly as expected, Lucy found Natsu and Happy fast asleep right by her bedside at her own home.
After finishing her story, Lucy sighed deeply and said, "So... I feel like, simply going along with his chaotic pace, I somehow always end up feeling at ease, and in the end, I just forgive him."
Levy said enviously, "What a wonderful love story..."
"It isn't..."
Over there, the girls' bickering started right back up again, while Ankh smacked his lips and thought to himself.
'This kind of bizarre story that's romantic yet not exactly quite romantic is so typical of those two...'
'Though ordinary people shouldn't try to imitate this stalking behavior. This story doesn't come off as creepy simply because these two already had terrifyingly high mutual affection to begin with, plus Natsu and Lucy are both a bit... thick-headed.'
'Just try having Jet or Droy stalk Levy like that—I guarantee if they pulled this stunt on day one, Shadow Gear would disband on the spot by day two...'
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