Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

December 20, x789.

Eventually, all those who went upstairs to watch the spar between Erza and Chojuro returned to the main hall of the Fairy Tail guild hall. When they did, Alfonzo immediately broke off from the rest and made his way into the kitchen to start working on the welcome feast for their visitors from the Mist. And although it would have not been a big deal, he was glad that Grayfia had not returned home yet, as he had an assistant in the kitchen.

However, since he had an idea of what he wanted to serve for dinner, Alfonzo also contacted the mansion to call for a few extra pairs of hands.

"Everyone in the hall looks so excited." Chojuro said after coming out of the elevator.

"They do." Mei replied. "It looks like we're in for a treat tonight."

"That, or something horrible." Ao added. "But… I suppose we'll find out soon."

"That we will." Mei said as she led her two subordinates towards the table where Laxus, Marin, and Shizuka, after finishing the last of her work, sat.

And like that, the entire hall waited with excitement. It had not been that long since the last time Alfonzo stepped into the guild's kitchen. Yet, they were going to get to eat his cooking again after such a short period of time. On top of that, this time there would be no need to spend their points.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Elicia, who did not follow the group up to see the spar, asked. "You look even grumpier than usual."

"I'm not grumpy." Sasuke said without looking in Elicia's direction. "But I wanted to watch that spar. I wanna try my sword against that guy, too."

"Are you mad that Fonzie stopped you from watching?" Elicia asked curiously.

"*Sigh* No. No, I'm not." Sasuke replied. "Disappointed? Yes. Angry? NO. I understand exactly why he did it. But still…"

"Aww, is little Sasuke pouting?" a new voice asked while approaching the table, the amusement in his voice audible to anyone who could hear it.

"Shut up, Loser!" Sasuke bit back without even looking in the voice's direction.

"Oh, you wanna find out who the real loser is, Sasuke?" Naruto, the owner of the previous voice, asked in an irritated tone.

"Any time." Sasuke replied as he stood up from his seat. "If it weren't for Elicia saving you last time, you'd be unconscious in the infirmary right now."

"I think you got the two of us mixed up, Sasuke." Naruto said as he formed a [Rasengan] in his right hand.

"Why don't we test that." Sasuke replied, a [Chidori] forming in his left hand.

"*Sigh* You two are almost as bad as Natsu and Gray." Elicia said as she threw her hands up in exasperation.

A moment later, Naruto and Sasuke charged at each other, ready to start their second fight of the day.

At the same time, Elicia ejected a number of nearly invisible threads from her fingertips before flicking her fingers to manipulate the threads...

"Ahh!" Naruto yelped in surprise, his [Rasengan] dissipating with his surprise.

"Damn it!" Sasuke exclaimed, his [Chidori], like Naruto's [Rasengan], dissipating before he could put it to use.

Then, faster than either Naruto or Sasuke could react, they found themselves hanging upside down from the ceiling of the guild hall by one foot each.

"Now, you two take some time to think about what you did wrong." Elicia said with a smile while looking up at the two Leaf Chunin. "And I'll give you a hint, Fonzie is in the kitchen."

Hearing that, both Naruto and Sasuke wore looks of shock. Then, Naruto turned towards the kitchen while still hanging upside down and shouted.

"Hey, Big Bro Alfonzo, can you make some ramen for me?" Naruto asked with both excitement and anticipation in his tone.

"Not today." Alfonzo replied. "Today is a welcome feast for our friends from the Hidden Mist Village. Just save up points like everyone else and wait until the next time I'm taking requests."

In response, Naruto crossed his arms and pouted without even trying to cut himself down. Meanwhile, Sasuke was trying his best to do just that. However, Elicia's threads were no ordinary threads, as Sasuke, despite flowing [Lightning Magic] into his sword was unable to cut himself free.

Elicia, on the other hand, skipped towards the kitchen door with a smile on her face.

"Fonzie, what are you making for dinner tonight?" Elicia asked in a cheerful tone.

"It will be something like Fogo de Chão." Alfonzo replied. "I'll even be laying out a salad bar."

"But that means you won't be able to eat with the rest of us, right?" Elicia asked.

"More or less." Alfonzo replied. "But I'll be helping serve the first round. I'm not gonna miss our guests reactions, after all."

Hearing that, Elicia could only shake her head with a smile on her face. Then, she glanced at Mei with pity. For some reason, she felt as though Mei would embarrass herself more than any other woman who had eaten Alfonzo's cooking for the first time.

With Naruto and Sasuke hanging above the rest of the guildhall, time passed relatively peacefully… Rather, there were no more fights that started. However, the bickering between guild members such as Natsu and Gray, Natsu and Gajeel, Natsu and Laxus… Pretty much anyone who Natsu wanted to defeat, minus Alfonzo, could be heard from everywhere in the guild hall.

Until Alfonzo exited the guild's kitchen, that is.

Along with Alfonzo, Grayfia, Ikaruga, Maria, Ai, and Miyuki also exited the kitchen, the other four maids having come over to help with the night's preparations. On top of that, they were all carrying platters filled with different cuts of different kinds of meat. 

"Okay, listen up everyone!" Alfonzo shouted, his voice carrying over the din in the guild hall. "I'm only going to explain this once, so pay attention!"

Alfonzo then went on to explain how things worked in a Brazilian Steak House. He also manifested a large number of round metallic plates, each with a red and a green side, that he distributed to all the diners. After that, he created a long table along the wall that hid the stage. Then, a number of guild staff came out and set up a salad bar and placed plates on the tables.

"Alright, everyone go and get a plate." Alfonzo said once the guild staff was finished. "Oh, and don't forget to flip your circles to green."

With that, Alfonzo, Grayfia, Ikaruga, Maria, Ai, and Miyuki split up to serve different parts of the guild hall, with Alfonzo moving towards the table where Mei, Ao, and Chojuro sat.

"I have Seering Bull Prime Rib." Alfonzo said when he arrived at the table. "Can I interest any of you in this cut?"

"Hell yeah." Laxus cheered. "That's the good stuff."

"I think I'll have some of that, as well." Mei added, much more politely than Laxus, though.

"I'll pass." Ao said. "I'm in the mood for pork rather than beef."

"I see." Alfonzo said with a nod. "Well, someone will be around with pork shortly."

In response, Ao nodded in understanding. Meanwhile, Alfonzo turned his gaze to Chojuro, Marin, and Shizuka.

"Ah… Um… I'll… Have some, too." Chojuro said shyly.

"Me, too." Marin said with her hand raised.

"Did you make any chicken, Fonzie?" Shizuka asked while tilting her head.

"Yeah, Ai has the chicken." Alfonzo replied. "But I'll be making more when I get back into the kitchen. I'm only here to serve you all your first cut."

"I see." Shizuka said with a smile. "Then, I'll wait for the chicken."

"Got it." Alfonzo replied with a nod.

Alfonzo then turned back to those who wanted a cut of prime rib.

"So, how would you like it cooked?" Alfonzo asked.

"Medium, please." Mei was the first to answer.

"Well done." Laxus said shortly afterwards.

"Medium Well." Marin added.

"Um… I'll have mine… medium-rare." Chojuro said, ending the requests.

Having received everyone's order, Alfonzo conjured a knife with his [Metal Magic], he then cut pieces of meat according to everyone's orders. The knife then morphed into a spatula before serving everyone. After that, he gestured for everyone to dig in.

Despite being invited to eat, Laxus and Marin waited for Mei and Chojuro to eat first. They and Shizuka were looking forward to the expressions the Mist shinobi would make.

Meanwhile, Ao, who was seeing everyone's reactions, was somewhat concerned.

'Is the food poisoned?' Ao asked himself as the [Sealing Tag] earrings he wore lit up. 'Is this all just a trap? But everyone else is eating happily. Am I overthinking everything? Or is it just the food on Alfonzo's platter that is poisonous?'

Despite his suspicions and the fact that he activated his hidden Byakugan on reflex, Ao could not see anything wrong. So, instead of speaking up and possibly ruining the fresh alliance, he watched for any funny business. However, he was not expecting what he ended up seeing.

"Mmm~~~~~~~~~!" Mei moaned loudly after taking her first bite of the steak.

Not only did she moan loudly, but her body stiffened after shuddering violently. On top of that, her eyes lost focus, as well. The quivering of her breasts, the hardened nipples that poked through the fabric of her dress, the rubbing of her thighs, and the beads of sweat that formed on her neck and dripped down into her cleavage made it quite clear what kind of experience she was having.

When the wizards of Fairy Tail saw such a reaction, after having gotten used to reactions much like Mei's, they only smiled mischievously. Ao and Chojuro were a different story, however. Between the two of them, there were three, visible, wide-open eyes and two agape mouths. Never had either of them seen Mei in a position like that, and they had no idea how they should react.

Mei, on the other hand, after coming down from her food induced orgasm, flushed to the tips of her ears while lowering her head to hide her embarrassment. Even so, she did not stop moving her fork and knife to continue eating the delectable food sitting on the plate in front of her.

"Well, I do believe I should get back to the kitchen." Alfonzo said in a self-satisfied tone. "The food isn't going to cook itself, after all."

With that, Alfonzo tossed the platter he was carrying into the air and turned around. Then, just as the platter fell to his shoulder-level, he started walking while controlling the platter to float along behind him.

"Damn show off." Laxus grumbled while cutting his own piece of steak. He then turned his attention to Chojuro with a hint of amusement in his tone. "Hey, Kid, aren't you going to eat?"

Hearing Laxus' question, Chojuro jolted out of his surprise, turning his attention away from Mei, who was still as red as a perfectly ripe tomato. He then looked down at the cut of meat on his plate.

*Gulp* I-I-I'm not sure if I'm hungry anymore." Chojuro replied, his own cheeks reddening at the thought of reacting like Mei had.

"Do you intend to waste our host's good intentions, Chojuro?" Mei asked without looking up from her plate. "If so, then I will be quite disappointed in your lack of manners."

In response, not only Chojuro, but Ao also froze. Then, they slowly turned to look at Mei, who had still not raised her head since her embarrassing display. Even so, they both felt like they could hear her inner voice at that moment.

'Hmph! If you think you can get out of embarrassing yourselves after seeing me like that, you two have another thing coming.' Mei thought to herself while continuing to eat, every bite making her feel warmth in her lower abdomen.

"Besides, it would truly be a waste to not try such food." Mei continued with no remorse. "It will quite possibly be the best thing you've ever eaten. Trust me on that."

Neither Ao nor Chojuro doubted that last sentence. However, neither man wanted to be embarrassed in such a way. And if the onlookers were being honest, they would be fine if Ao did not eat. No one wanted to see a middle-aged man moaning in delight, for any reason.

Though, there were several female members of the guild that were looking forward to the face that the young looking Chojuro would show them when he was writhing in ecstasy due to a food-gasm.

Then, there were two people who had no way to enjoy the current situation, as they were still hanging from the ceiling.

"Hey, Sasuke, do you think Big Sis Lici forgot about us?" Naruto asked while staring at all the food.

"I doubt it." Sasuke replied, having given up on trying to cut himself free. "She said she wanted us to think about what we did wrong, after all."

"I hope you're right." Naruto said in an uncertain tone.

And Naruto's fears would turn out to be correct. As Elicia was not even the one to let the two shinobi down from the ceiling. Rather, it was Alfonzo who felt bad for them after seeing them hanging upside down for so long.