Twin Tails

Natsu and Gray had just finished their brutal, hand-to-hand combat when they crashed onto the guild's wooden floor with a loud "thud." Both of them were covered in dust and lay stiffly side by side like two dead fish.

Riyao's eyes instantly lit up as if they were sparkling, and he rubbed his hands together, his fingertips scattering tiny fragments of emerald green magical light—his mischievous excitement was impossible to hide.

He kicked aside the empty wine can at his feet and crouched down next to Natsu.

"Hey! You blond bastard! What do you want?" Natsu was still panting when he suddenly felt something was wrong above his head. He looked up sharply and glared at him, his voice still heavy with panting.

Riyao didn't reply, but simply reached out and placed his hand on Natsu's frizzy pink hair, and a bright green magic circle appeared in his palm with a "whoosh".

Her short, stick-up hair suddenly grew half a foot longer, with the ends curling into a playful arc.

"I think you'll look great with this new hairstyle."

As he spoke, Riyao pulled a rubber band from his pocket, his fingers swiftly threading through Natsu's hair, dividing the frizzy pink hair into two tufts, and with a flick of his wrist, he tied them into two pigtails that stick up in the sky.

The ends of her hair were deliberately pulled up so they looked like two bristling rabbit ears.

Gray, who was lying on the ground rubbing his chest bruises, caught a glimpse of this scene and instantly burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face. He then rolled around on the floor, clutching his stomach.

"Haha, pink twin-tailed coal hair! Are you going to a tea party?!"

You blond bastard!

Natsu, startled by the explosion, scrambled forward, but the impact had left his legs weak, and he fell back to the floor.

Riyao licked his lips, chuckled mischievously, and rubbed his hands together in front of him, making a "rustling" sound, like a weasel stealing chickens, before crouching down next to Gray's head.

"Hey, hey Riyao! Don't come any closer! I'm warning you! What the hell!"

Gray quickly covered his head with his arm, his voice trembling slightly.

Riyao blinked, slowly uttered a single word, "Good boy," and then pulled a rubber band from another pocket.

Those two rubber bands were given to Cana by Cana.

The emerald green magic circle reappeared in his palm, and this time he pressed it directly onto Gray's head, applying slight pressure with his fingertips.

Gray's originally neat short hair suddenly grew longer and curled slightly, turning into shoulder-length hair.

Riyao's fingers flew through Gray's hair, quickly tying his black-gray gradient hair into two pigtails that hung down his shoulders.

She even deliberately fluffed up the ends of her hair, making them look like two soft little bear ears.

Ta-da! A regular magic camera!

Riyao frantically pressed the shutter button on the two twin tails on the ground, the flash making Natsu and Gray squint.

"I'm going to beat you to a pulp, you blond bastard!!" Natsu instantly jumped up, his fist wreathed in flames as he slammed into Riyao.

"Damn you, Riyao! Die!!" Gray's face turned red with rage, and an ice blade instantly formed at his fingertips as he pounced on the attack.

As Riyao hid, he muttered something slyly.

"Hehe, I'll definitely make a fortune selling Gray's twin tails to Juvia later, Natsu's to Lucy... oh no, Lucy's going to be broke anyway, so I'll just give them to her!"

Just then, with a loud "bang," the guild door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

As a result, the door at number 245, which had only been replaced three days prior, snapped with a "crack" and crashed to the ground with a "bang," raising a cloud of dust.

Erza had just pushed open the door, had her hand still hanging in mid-air, and her expression instantly froze, looking like a child caught stealing cookies.

There's no time to grieve for Gate 245, next up is Gate 246!

Erza coughed twice, trying to maintain her usual serious demeanor, but the tips of her ears still turned red. Pretending not to see the broken door on the ground, she slowly walked over, only to be stunned the moment she looked down.

She was already a bit ditzy, and having just messed up the front door, she hadn't quite processed what had happened. Staring at the two pigtails on the ground for a long time, she tilted her head and asked in confusion.

"Huh? Is Gray a girl? And is that pink-haired girl next to him a new girl in the guild?"

"I'm not a girl!!" Natsu and Gray shouted almost simultaneously, their voices shaking the guild chandelier.

Riyao, who was dodging Natsu's Flame Punch, quickly stopped upon seeing this and pulled out a light gold rubber band from his pocket.

Using the same hair clippings from Cana, she tied her hair into the same double ponytails, shook her head, and moved closer to Erza.

"Old Erza, Old Erza, why don't you get pigtails too? They look amazing!"

Before Erza could react, Riyao rushed over and swiftly ran his fingers through Erza's red hair, quickly tying it into two neat pigtails. He even tugged at the ends to make them stick up.

"Mmm, look how beautiful it is." Riyao pointed at the large mirror next to the bar and shook his head.

Erza walked to the mirror, shook her head, and looked at her twin tails, actually giving a serious assessment. "Hmm, objectively speaking, it really does look good."

"Ah!"

A scream suddenly rang out. Natsu had crawled over at some point and bit down on Riyao's calf, his teeth almost scraping the skin off.

Riyao jumped up in pain, kicked Natsu away, and cursed, "Damn it! Natsu, you idiot! Don't you know I just stepped in dog poop?!"

Natsu was kicked and rolled a long way away. He quickly let go, lay on the ground, and spat for a long time, looking disgusted. "You blond bastard! Ugh! You stepped in dog poop!"

Gray, who was lying on the ground and had been touching his twin tails, spoke up quietly upon seeing this, his tone tinged with schadenfreude.

"He can step in his own dog poop, it doesn't matter if you bite his leg."

Natsu suddenly realized what was going on, got up, dusted himself off, and reached out to Riyao.

"Hey, Riyao! Right? Stretch your leg over here, let's go back to that position."

Riyao rolled his eyes, then stretched out his leg and rubbed it against Gray, looking completely unconcerned.

"Okay, okay, now my calves have dog poop on them too."

Natsu stared at Riyao's calves, then at the dirt stains on Gray's hair, looking completely bewildered.

"Hey? Didn't you rub your leg against Gray? Where did this dog poop come from?!"

Gray, who had been holding back a laugh, suddenly turned pale and glared at Riyao with a snarl.

"You bastard! You think I'm dog shit?!"

Erza pursed her lips, suppressing a laugh, and tried to put on a serious expression.

But the shrugging of his shoulders clearly indicated he was trying to suppress a laugh. He quickly walked to the bar and pretended to wipe the glasses, but his shoulders shook even more violently.

"Damn you, Riyao! Heal us! Then fight us one-on-one!" Natsu and Gray, clutching their chests and panting, roared at Riyao.

Riyao pursed his lips, slowly squatted down, and placed his hands on the two of them. The emerald green Healing Magic circle reappeared in his palms.

A green light suddenly enveloped Natsu and Gray. The two, who were just sighing comfortably, were tickled by the warmth of the Healing Magic and couldn't help but let out a long, strange cry.

"Ah↘↗"

Riyao, quick as a flash, pulled out his camera and snapped another picture, capturing the two men's flushed faces and red necks.

"You bastard, you did this on purpose, didn't you?!" Gray instantly bristled, his face turning bright red.

"Damn it! I almost peed myself!!" Natsu yelled back.