Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.

July 6, x789.

"You really think he's here?" Rangiku asked as she walked along the hallway leading to Alfonzo's room with Yoruichi and Sui-Feng for the second time in as many days. "I mean, he could be out visiting Fairy Tail's team to see how they were holding up after the last event."

"No, I think he should be here." Yoruichi said as she stopped in front of the door to Alfonzo's suite. "It's not like the others got all that hurt during the event. They were just unlucky."

"I guess you're right." Rangiku replied with a nod. "Still, I didn't know that Laxus guy was so strong. We fought him four on one and we still almost lost."

"Well, they've been training with those gravity chambers longer than everyone else." Yoruichi said with a shrug. "So, it kinda makes sense."

"I guess…" Rangiku replied with a shrug of her own.

At that point, the trio did not notice the sound of the elevator doors sliding open, as they were too engrossed in their conversation, though Sui-Feng was not participating, so, they were caught off guard when they heard a male voice speak.

"Well, I guess I can't avoid this forever." Alfonzo said while shaking his head, his voice drawing the attention of the three women standing outside of the door to his suite.

Turning their heads in the direction of the voice, Yoruichi, Sui-Feng, and Rangiku saw Alfonzo and Elicia approaching from the elevator. And despite having been relaxing rather leisurely all day, Alfonzo looked tired.

"Hey, Alfonzo, Lici." Yoruichi said with a smile. Though, it was obvious to anyone who knew her that it was a bit forced and she was nervous, which was a rather rare sight for her.

"Hey, Yoruichi." Elicia, who was usually quite cheerful was wearing a forced smile, as well, while stealing glances at Alfonzo from the corner of her eye.

Seeing the two women's nerves, Alfonzo could only smile awkwardly. And to calm his first wife down, he started combing his fingers through her hair.

Meanwhile, Sui-Feng and Rangiku were both staring at Alfonzo. Though, their stares held completely different emotions.

While Sui-Feng levelled a glare filled with, though not hatred, a similar negative emotion… Dislike, maybe? Rangiku looked at him with intrigue.

"Hmm… Well, he's more handsome than he is in his pictures.' Rangiku thought to herself while examining Alfonzo. 'And considering the fact that he has a harem with from what I could tell, little in the way of jealousy or infighting, his personality shouldn't be all that bad either. Still, I'm dying to know, just what happened between them for Yoruichi to be punished so severely by her clan.

"Yoruichi, it's a pleasure." Alfonzo said, though it was clear that he was only being cordial. "I would say the same for you, Sui-Feng, but that glare your shooting at me makes it hard to say that."

While Sui-Feng's glare grew in intensity, Alfonzo turned his gaze to Rangiku and gave her a friendly smile

"And you're Rangiku Matsumoto." Alfonzo said as he extended his right hand for a handshake. "I saw your Zanpakuto's Shikai, and it looks a lot like a spell one of my wives uses. She even somehow used to use the same spell name as your release command."

"Really?" Rangiku asked in a surprised tone while accepting Alfonzo's handshake. "What a coincidence."

"I know, right?" Alfonzo said while nodding his head in an exaggerated manner.

Meanwhile, Elicia could only roll her eyes at her husband's shamelessness.

'A coincidence, yeah right.' Elicia thought to herself. 'You were the one that gave her the idea that that spell. You helped her pick the name, too. And the only reason she changed it is because you realized that there were a whole lot more Bleach Characters in this world than you originally thought. So, you told her that "Growl" really didn't sound cute enough for her.'

"Anyway, if you have a minute, can we talk?" Yoruichi asked, sounding a bit uneasy.

"*Sigh* Sure." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "But I'm sure the other girls won't be happy to see you."

"Yeah… I already know that." Yoruichi replied while rubbing the back of her neck. "But I just have to tell you something. After that, I'll leave right away if you want me to."

'If I want her to…' Alfonzo repeated Yoruichi's words to himself. 'Well, that kinda makes it sound like she hasn't gotten over me.'

["But can you blame her?"] Bedlam cut in. ["I mean, look at who's soul I was created from."]

Hearing that, Alfonzo had to stop himself from laughing. At the same time, Bedlam's words managed to loosen the tension he was feeling after seeing Yoruichi for the first time in a little over four years.

"Well, let's head inside." Alfonzo said after shaking his head.

With that, Alfonzo, holding Elicia's hand, walked past Yoruichi, Sui-Feng, and Rangiku before opening the door and leading the four women into the room.

As soon as they stepped into the room, a gaze filled with anger locked onto Yoruichi. Naturally, that gaze belonged to Cana, who was standing in front of a table and holding a bottle of vodka in one hand and a cup in the other. There was also a bottle of cranberry juice on the table in front of her, as well.

"Why is she here?" Cana asked in an angry tone as her glare at Yoruichi intensified with every word.

"She says she needs to talk to me about something." Alfonzo replied casually as he let go of Elicia's hand and made his way over to Cana.

Then, when he arrived next to her, Alfonzo took the glass and the bottle of vodka out of Cana's hands and mixed a vodka cranberry for her before handing the glass back to her.

"And I have no issue listening to what she has to say." Alfonzo said, wrapping an arm around Cana as he did so. "But I knew having her around makes you uneasy. So, why don't you come and listen to her with me?"

Hearing that, not only Cana, but the others who were present when the incident between Alfonzo, Elicia, and Yoruichi looked at Alfonzo to see if he was serious. And when they saw that he had no intention of joking about this, they all nodded their heads.

"Fine." Cana said before taking a sip of the drink Alfonzo just mixed for her. She then turned her glare back to Yoruichi and continued. "But if you try anything funny, don't expect to leave this room with all your limbs."

In response, Yoruichi simply nodded her head.

'Though, I could probably leave any time I wanted.' Yoruichi thought to herself. 'But I understand where she's coming from.'

Sui-Feng, on the other hand, shifted the glare shew as shooting at Marin to Cana after hearing her threat. And thanks to her anger, her magic power started to leak. Despite that, everyone only spared her a glance before turning their attention back to Alfonzo. Although they all would admit that Sui-Feng had grown stronger in the last four years, she was still the fourth weakest wizard in the room at the moment. If you don't count Shizuka, who was not a fighter, that is.

A moment later, leading Cana by the hand, Alfonzo sat on the couch in the suite's living room, pulling Cana onto her lap. Then, he gestured for Yoruichi to sit on the couch opposite him.

And Yoruichi did so with Rangiku taking the seat next to her with a curious expression on her face while Sui-Feng stood behind her.

Meanwhile, all of Alfonzo's wives and girlfriends took seats on the couch next to him or stood around the couch, most of them curious to hear what Yoruichi had to say.

"So, what do you have to say?" Alfonzo asked in a calm tone.

"*Sigh* Although I've done this before, the first thing I want to say is that I'm sorry.' Yoruichi said while bowing her head. "I won't make any excuses for my actions. But I do understand how wrong they were and how badly they hurt you and your family."

By now, Grayfia had led the maids to leave the room, as their employers' private matters were not for them to hear. On their way out, they had also taken Amar'e and Bianca with them. Then, when they were all in the next room, Grayfia set up a sound proof barrier to make sure they did not overhear anything they were not supposed to.

Sending an appreciative nod in the direction of the room where the maids were, Alfonzo quickly turned his attention back to Yoruichi before gesturing for her to continue.

"Next, I wanted to say that, if it's what you want, I won't contact you ever again." Yoruichi continued at Alfonzo's prompt.

"Good." Cana said with a snort.

*Smack!*

In response to Cana's interruption, Alfonzo lightly slapped her on the butt, which gained a glare from her. But when she saw he was not taking sides, rather he just wanted to hear all of what Yoruichi had to say, she calmed down and took another sip of her drink.

"Sorry about that." Alfonzo said. "go on."

"I was punished severely by my clan after I returned to the Soul Continent and confessed what I did." Yoruichi said. "And although I won't go into the details… Let's just say… The last few years have been some of the hardest of my life. But that wasn't even the worst of it."

Hearing that, everyone, even Cana looked at Yoruichi with curiosity in their gazes.

"*Sigh* I was basically exiled from my home." Yoruichi continued. "And I feel even worse, because two of my friends from childhood were exiled along with me for standing up to the powers that be on the Soul Continent after they accepted my clan's judgement."

While Saeko, Shizuka, Rika, and Irene wore expressions that said they thought that was a little much. Those who knew what Yoruichi did, namely, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, Sun, and Lucy, wore expressions that said that it was too much. Because that meant that Yoruichi would continue to live on Ishgar. Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Elicia wore contemplative expressions while thinking nearly the same thing.

'Are those two childhood friends Keisuke Uahara and Tessai Tsukabishi?' Alfonzo and Elicia thought simultaneously while exchanging glances.

"And the only way I would be permitted to return is if I could convince you to forgive me and take me as your wife." Yoruichi continued with a self-deprecating smile on her face. "But we all know that's not gonna happen. So, I've resigned myself to spending the rest of my life on Ishgar. Not that I actually wanted to go back. I never wanted to be the next head of my clan, anyway."

Yoruichi then hung her head and rested her face in her hands.

"But not wanting to go back and not being allowed to are totally different concepts." Yoruichi whispered into her hands.

With that, the room fell silent, with no one knowing what to say. However, there were a few people burning with curiosity. And one of them could not hold their curiosity back any longer.

"Seriously, what the hell happened between you all?" Rangiku asked explosively after the tension in the room rose to a certain point. "Yoruichi has been mopey for years and finding out why has been killing me!"

Rangiku's shout snapped the tension in the room immediately, causing everyone to look at her incredulously. Even Yoruichi, who was about to fall into the pits of depression, looked up and stared at her with a strange expression on her face.

"What? Why are you all looking at me like that?" Rangiku asked defensively. "You can't tell me I'm not the only one that doesn't know the whole story, right? I mean, look at them. They're just as curious as I am."

While speaking her last sentence, Rangiku pointed at the trio from Takanosu as well as Irene, causing the four to exchange glances in silence.

"Well, if you wanna know, I don't' mind telling everyone." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "I mean, but stopping Irene from killing Yoruichi might be kinda hard. Because not even I'm strong enough to stop her if she goes all out."

"Is it that bad?" Irene asked.

"That's a matter of perspective." Alfonzo replied.

"*Sigh* Then it's probably better I don't' know." Irene said after thinking for a few minutes. "I've left that life behind. And I really rather not find myself going back with out a life or death struggle."

"Fair enough." Alfonzo replied. "But when you think you're in control enough to not do anything you'd regret, just ask."

After receiving a nod from Irene, Alfonzo turned to Saeko, Shizuka, and Rika, who all shook their heads, as they did not want to do anything they might regret, either. Then, he turned his attention back to the couch where Yoruichi and Rangiku sat with Sui-Feng standing behind them.

"Well, if you want to know, you'll have to get Yoruichi to tell you, Rangiku." Alfonzo said. He then turned his attention back to Yoruichi. "As for forgiving you, I think I told you I've done that a long time ago. It was a mistake. And no one was seriously hurt. So, I let it go. But marrying you is something that will probably never happen in this lifetime. And I only say probably because… Well, you know… the old saying never say never, and all that shit."

"*Sigh* I understand." Yoruichi replied with a heavy sigh. Then, she stood up and bowed to everyone present. "Well then, thank you for listening to me."

After that, she turned around and started making her way towards the suite's door with Sui-Feng following behind her and Rangiku, frustrated that she still did not get to hear what the issue was, hurrying to follow her a few seconds later.

"Anyway, I'm really tired all the sudden." Alfonzo said as she stood up with Cana in his arms. "I'm gonna go lay down. And you get to be my body pillow, Cana."

In response, Cana only nodded her head before chugging down the rest of her drink. She then hugged Alfonzo around the neck and let him carry her away, leaving everyone else to exchange glances before a few of the girls followed Alfonzo into the bedroom to comfort him.