326 Was It Really Just a Coincidence...?

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

March, x785.

After the duel between Elicia and Sui-Feng, Alfonzo, Elicia, Ur, Yoruichi, Kagura, Tsunade, Ritsu, and Sui-Feng made their way down to the first floor of the guild hall where they would spend the evening chatting and having a few drinks.

On top of that, Alfonzo and Tsunade would have their little gamble, as well.

"Hey, where are the girls?" Elicia asked after looking around the main hall after the group exited the elevator.

"Oh, Mira took Elfman and Lisanna out on a quest." Levy replied. "Lu went with the rest of Team Natsu on a quest, too."

"Yeah, and Cana went with Gildarts to buy some exclusive alcohol or something in Hargeon." Jet added.

"Ultear went somewhere with Meredy." Droy continued. "But I'm not really sure where they went, though."

"Meredy probably pestered Tear to take her to see that boy from the military." Ur said with a smile. "Oh, to be young again."

"What about Sun and Marin?" Alfonzo asked curiously.

"Uh… I think Sun left for Akane Beach with her family." Alzack replied with a contemplative expression on his face.

"That's right." Bisca added with a nod. "As for Marin, she got a letter from her father. Apparently, he hasn't been doing too well since the Heartfilia Kanzen went under."

Hearing that last part, Alfonzo and Elicia made eye contact briefly. Then, after a quick, silent conversation, they both nodded their heads before focusing on the moment again.

"Well, I guess it's just us tonight." Alfonzo said with a shrug.

"It feels like it's been forever since we stayed in that big house alone.

"Actually… Now that I think about it, I don't' think we've ever been in the house alone." Alfonzo muttered. "I mean, Cana spent the night the day we moved in. Then, she moved in the next day, right?"

"Now that you mention it…" Elicia muttered.

"What are you two talking about?" Yoruichi asked, poking her head out from between Alfonzo and Elicia. "You two won't be alone tonight, either. Since I'm gonna be spending the night at your place."

"But Lady Yoruichi…." Sui-Feng interjected. "We already booked rooms for the night at a nearby hotel."

"Well then, you can go and get a refund." Yoruichi said, casually waving off Sui-Feng's protests. "I've heard a lot about these two's house, and I really wanna see what it's like."

"I don't have a problem with that." Elicia said with a smile. "What about you, Fonzie?"

"I guess, I don't mind either." Alfonzo replied. "I mean, we do still have one room open on the second floor. But I don't know how much longer that will be the case… I really should think about renovating, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds really interesting, Kid." Tsunade said, interrupting the conversation. "But we can talk about that later. For now, let's get to our gamble."

Hearing that, Yoruichi, Kagura, Ritsu, and Sui-Feng could only sigh.

"Sure, but what are the stakes?" Alfonzo asked. "And what are we gonna play?"

"Let's keep it simple." Tsunade replied with a big smile on her face. "Let's play dice. We'll put three six sided dice in a bowl or cup, shake it up, and flip it onto a table. Then, we'll both pick a number between three and eighteen. Whoever guesses the closest to the number on the dice is the winner"

"Okay, sounds simple enough." Alfonzo replied with a nod.

"As for the bets… Hmm… How about we use alcohol." Tsunade said with a crafty glint in her eye. "I mean, money matters can spoil friendships, right?"

'So, that was her plan to get into my alcohol stash again, huh?" Alfonzo thought to himself with a smile.

"Okay, but how are we gonna do this exactly?" Alfonzo asked curiously.

"The loser has to pour a drink from their own stash for both players." Tsunade answered. "We'll keep going until one of us is too drunk to continue, or they run out of alcohol."

"Well, at least she won't put our guild into debt again if they bet like this." Yoruichi said while shaking her head.

"Yes, but when she sobers up, she will be quite upset that all her prized alcohol is gone." Ritsu replied.

In response, Yoruichi, Kagura, and Sui-Feng nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to everyone else, Yoruichi's eyes glinted, as she began planning for after the gamble was completed.

*Shudder!*

At the same time, Alfonzo shuddered involuntarily.

'It feels like someone's plotting against me.' Alfonzo thought as he looked around cautiously. 'But there shouldn't be anyone here that would want to hurt me. So, what's going on? Did the homunculi already find Hughes and figure out who it was that saved him?'

"Anyway, Kid, let's get started." Tsunade said while puffing out her massive chest with pride.

Three hours later, Tsunade and Alfonzo were sitting across from each other at a small table with bottles of alcohol on the floor next to their chairs. However, there was a glaring difference between the two.

While all the bottles next to Alfonzo were nearly full, with the exception of one that was emptied by half, All the bottles next to Tsunade were empty. The only exception being a bottle that probably only had enough to fill two more glasses.

"How is this *Hiccup* possible/" Tsunade asked with flushed cheeks while looking at the remaining alcohol on her side of the table in disbelief.

"Well, I've always been a pretty lucky guy." Alfonzo replied with an extremely jovial smile, devoid of any sarcasm or mockery. "Either way, would you like to stop now, or do you wanna keep going?"

*Bang!*

"Keep going! Of course, we'll keep going!" Tsunade shouted after slamming her palms on top of the table. "I still have a chance to turn things around, damn it!"

Meanwhile, the wizards of Mermaid Heel could only shake their heads at their guild master's display.

"But seriously, what is that table made of?" Sui-Feng asked after noticing that the table where Alfonzo and Tsunade were having their gamble was completely undamaged after Tsunade had repeatedly slapped it with her monstrous strength.

"Oh, it's not the table… Well, maybe it is." Elicia replied, earning a glare from Sui-Feng. Still, she continued as if she did not see it. "I mean, it's made out of black iron. But more important than the material are the sigils engraved on it. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't notice them. Especially because they are so tiny."

After Elicia's explanation, Yoruichi, Kagura, and Sui-Feng, who were seated at a table with Elicia and her friends from the guild, looked at the table carefully. Meanwhile, having overheard Elicia's explanation from a nearby table where she was drinking with Ur, Ritsu turned towards her.

"I guess that means this entire building is one giant magic item then, correct?" Ritsu asked in a gentle tone.

"That's right." Elicia replied with a nod while puffing her chest out in pride. "Fonzie worked really hard to make our guild hall a reality."

"That's an understatement." Ur added. "I remember at one point, the old man had to force him to take a break after he had been working nonstop to complete it for nearly a month straight."

"Damn… That boy is dedicated to his work, isn't he?" Yoruichi said in an impressed tone.

"Well, he would have to be to become the richest person on Ishgar. Ritsu added.

While most of those involved in the conversation nodded in agreement, Sui-Feng looked as if she had just heard something absurd.

"Wait, that man is the richest person on the continent?" Sui-Feng shouted as she stood up abruptly. "But how is this possible? He's only a little older than me. He's even a little younger than lady Yoruichi!"

"And that's why I told you that you shouldn't look down on him, Bumble Bee." Yoruichi said with a shrug. "You know all those magic items the guild has bought to make life easier? Well, he invented most of them."

*Bang!*

Before the conversation could continue any further, everyone's attention was drawn back to the table where the gamble was happening. And just as they expected, Tsunade had once again slammed her hands on the table after losing another round.

"Damn it!" Tsunade shouted once again. "How could I have possibly lost to a kid that's still wet behind the ears?"

"Well, it looks like I won." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Still, I had a lot of fun. We should hang out and play again some time."

Hearing that, Tsunade glared at Alfonzo. However, after seeing the genuine friendliness in his eyes, her hostility quickly disappeared as she let out a resigned sigh.

"Sure, why not." Tsunade said as she picked up the last bottle of alcohol on her side of the table that still had anything in it. Then, as she poured a drink for herself and Alfonzo, she continued. "Anyway, let's just drink the last of it."

Then, once the drinks were poured, Alfonzo and Tsunade clinked glasses before they both downed their contents in one go.

"Alfonzo really is different when he's drunk." Yoruichi said with a playful smile on her face.

"Yeah, he turns into quite the hugger when he's had a lot to drink." Levy said with an awkward smile on her face.

"What makes it even worse, is the fact that he's really hard to hate when he's like that." Jet grumbled.

"Yeah, but I still wanna punch him in the face every time he gives Levy a hug." Droy added.

"Oh yeah? And how does that usually turn out for you?" Yoruichi asked in a curious tone.

Instead of replying, Jet and Droy simply turned away and refused to answer.

"Hahaha… They both ended up getting thrown to the floor when they tried." Laki chimed in. "Apparently, Alfonzo's body goes on auto-pilot when he's had too much to drink. So, when someone attacks him, he acts in the best way to defend himself without even thinking about it."

"Yeah, I like to call it, 'Ultra Instinct'." Elicia added. "*Giggle* But after he defends himself, it's really cute to see how remorseful he gets."

The other Fairy Tail girls at the table could not help but giggle at the memory of Alfonzo's expression during those times, as well.

"Now I really wanna see it." Yoruichi muttered. Then, she glanced at Sui-Feng, thinking she was likely to attack Alfonzo if he were to hug her while intoxicated.

A moment later, she shook her head.

'There's no way the Fourth Master will let that happen.' Yoruichi thought to herself.

Before she could come up with a plan to trigger Alfonzo's "Ultra Instinct," as Elicia put it, she was pulled out of her thoughts by a conversation from the gambling table.

"Well, it was fun." Alfonzo said as he created a platter with his magic and started placing all his bottles of alcohol on it. "Let me just send this back to the house. Then, I'll come back to hang out with everyone."

"Wait!" Tsunade shouted as she stood up explosively.

A moment later, she closed the distance with Alfonzo and grabbed his right hand with both of hers.

"Why don't you just stay here? Then, we could have a few more drinks." Tsunade said while smiling seductively. "If you do, I'll make it worth your while. Although I can't give you my body…"

As she reached that point in her speech, Tsunade raised Alfonzo's hand and started moving it towards her left breast.

"I think copping a few feels would be okay, right?" Tsunade continued.

Although Tsunade was far from what anyone would consider promiscuous, she thought she would be able to take advantage of the intoxicated young man in front of her. And because she was also quite intoxicated, she did not see an issue with a little over the clothes touching.

*Bang!*

Unfortunately for Tsunade, there was someone who saw an issue with her plan. So, just before she could place Alfonzo's hand on her breast, she was hit in the head by a sheathed katana before falling unconscious.

"I think you've had enough, Tsuna." Ritsu said, catching Tsunade's unconscious body as she did so. Then, she shifted her attention to Alfonzo as she continued. "Please don't take what she just said to heart."

"Hahaha!" Alfonzo laughed uproariously. "Don't worry about it, Captain Unohana. I'm sure she was just joking around."

Hearing Alfonzo's term of address for her, Ritsu raised an eyebrow. However, she shook it off a moment later.

'He probably only said that because he's drunk.' Ritsu thought to herself. 'He shouldn't know anything about my status back home. It's definitely just a coincidence.'

"I'm glad you're so open-minded." Ritsu replied with a kind smile. "Now, if you would excuse me, I'll take Tsuna back to our hotel so she can get some rest."

With that, Ritsu hefted Tsunade over her shoulder. Then, she made her way towards the guild hall's entrance.

"Sure, see you later!" Alfonzo replied while waving energetically at Ritsu's retreating back.

Just as she left through the doors, Ritsu glanced at Alfonzo one more time before the doors slid closed.

Meanwhile, the drinking party continued in the guild hall. However, Elicia made a mental note to herself to not let Alfonzo get so drunk around people from other franchises after seeing the look Ritsu gave him before she left.