A Strange Feeling Arose in His Heart

The aroma of charcoal grilling filled the streets of the small town at dusk. Natsu, Gray, and Riyao leaned against the wooden table at a skewer stall, munching on their skewers.

After all, the order didn't even specify a time limit, so Riyao didn't take the matter of getting there seriously at all.

The three hit it off on the train and jumped off at a stop along the way, just to find a decent late-night snack stall for a meal.

Riyao slammed his hand on the table, making a loud clanging sound as he slapped the copper coins in his pocket, and with a sweeping motion, he scanned the entire menu.

"Fifty skewers of each type, please! We can add more if needed!"

The owner and his assistant at the barbecue stall, who were leisurely flipping the skewers, exchanged a glance upon seeing this scene.

His previously listless eyes instantly lit up like burning coals, and that long-lost enthusiasm suddenly surged up.

The owner suddenly grabbed a handful of chicken wings coated in sauce and slammed them onto the grill, splattering oil high into the air, his voice booming.

Hey! Don't underestimate our town's barbecue stall!

The helper wasn't to be outdone; he grabbed a handful of glistening, oily kidneys and slammed them onto the grill, flicking the oil off his arms and yelling even louder than the boss.

"Let me show you the amazing combo skills of our 'Golden Barbecue Partners'!"

Natsu's eyes lit up, and he leaped onto the wooden table, clenching his fist and spitting out a large cluster of orange-red flames into the sky. His loud voice even made the chicken wings on the grill tremble.

"Wow! It's getting hot!"

Gray had just picked up a glass of cold drink and taken a sip when he almost spat it out. He quickly wiped his mouth with his sleeve, then held his forehead, looking utterly dejected.

"Hey! We just came here for a late-night snack! How did things get so heated?!"

Riyao, channeling his inner drama queen, stood with his hands on his hips, tiptoed, and with sparkling eyes, dramatically waved an imaginary baton.

"Wow! Could this be the legendary barbecue technique that can ignite the soul!?"

Gray suddenly turned his head to look at Riyao, forgetting to put the skewers in his hand into his mouth, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

"What the hell is this?! You have amazing skills at grilling? Is that even possible?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of townspeople swarmed around the barbecue stall.

There was a burly man clutching half a can of beer, a little girl with pigtails munching on half a skewer of candied hawthorn, and an old stall owner leaning against the wall with a cigarette in his mouth—all of them were captivated by the enthusiastic atmosphere of the barbecue stall earlier and couldn't tear themselves away.

"Don't give up, boss! Our town's barbecue skewers are the specialty!"

"Don't rest, helper! You can grill another hundred skewers without a problem!"

"You two are the pride of our town!! Keep it up!"

Shouts erupted everywhere, and some people even brought out small stools to use as makeshift audience seats, holding up the skewers they were holding high as cheering sticks, banging them loudly, so loudly that even the beer jugs on the corner of the table shook.

The boss and his helper had already finished grilling all the skewers piled up like a small mountain. Their arms were shaking like leaves. The boss's apron was splattered with oil and charred in one large area. The helper's skewer tongs fell to the ground with a "clatter".

Finally, the two of them collapsed back-to-back next to the grill, their faces as white as if they had just been pulled out of a haystack, and even their breath smelled of burnt oil.

Two light, white shadows floated out of their mouths, swayed like dying embers, and slowly drifted into the night sky.

Natsu, who was still munching on a skewer, suddenly had his eyes light up. He threw the half-eaten skewer on the table, jumped over to Gray's side, and patted his chest as he roared.

Hey! You ice cube idiot! Let's have a contest to see who can eat the most!

Gray, who was wiping the sauce from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, rolled his eyes dramatically when he heard this.

"Who wants to compare themselves to a glutton like you..."

The cold drink on the table spilled on his clothes. He was so angry that he yelled and ripped off his coat and shirt, leaving him only in a pair of black cloth underwear. He grabbed two skewers of grilled sausages and started slicing them off with both hands, the skewers practically spitting fire.

"Let's have a match! Haha~ Fire Dragon Idiot, it looks like I'm going to win!"

Natsu ignored his complaints, stuffing his cheeks bulging so much that his lips were stretched outwards by the meat skewers, and the skewers in his hand sparked as he rubbed them together, shouting indistinctly, "I didn't lose! @%#￥!"

Riyao pulled his camera out of his bag and started snapping photos non-stop, muttering to himself through the viewfinder, "Perfect!"

Gray's shirtless barbecue-eating embarrassing history adds another one!

Natsu's cheeks bursting out of their sockets - live footage + 1+1+1!

The commotion drew all the customers over.

"Go, you weirdo!"

"Hey, you're hot, kid!"

"You are the pride of our barbecue stand! Keep it up!"

A drunken middle-aged man accidentally knocked over a beer barrel on the corner of the table, spilling golden beer all over the floor, and no one bothered to clean it up.

Everyone crowded to the front, craning their necks to watch the game. Even the boss and his helper, who had been sprawled on the ground, were woken up and groggily shouted "Go! Go!" a couple of times.

The two white shadows floating in mid-air swayed slightly, as if they were joining in the commotion.

Gray and Natsu quickly devoured the mountain of skewers, and the two lay on the ground with bellies as big as if they were ten months pregnant.

White shadows also floated out of their mouths, and these two white shadows even greeted the white shadows of the boss and the helper.

Just as he managed to quell the commotion and shouting that was raging through the street, Riyao slammed his camera back into his bag.

He wiped the oil stains off his sleeves, stared at Natsu and Gray sprawled on the ground, and at the boss and his helper yawning halfway up in the air, and sighed helplessly.

Riyao crouched down and gently grabbed their ankles, intending to drag them to a hotel to stay in.

"A demon in my left hand, hey, a dragon in my right, ha..."

Just as they secured their ankles, Natsu kicked and struggled, a half-eaten skewer of grilled meat still dangling from his mouth, slurring, "Riyao... let me go... I can walk by myself..."

Gray was dragged forward half an inch, his back scraping against the rough cobblestones. He winced in pain and groaned weakly, "Ugh... It's so hard... Riyao, let me go~"

Riyao dragged the two to the side of the road, his voice gentle and smiling, "I'm a proper healing mage, how can I let you two walk on your own?"

Every time Riyao touches Natsu's body, a strange feeling rises in his heart.

Natsu's body composition is really complex.

Hey, right, why is there Natsu in Edolas? The Earth-land version of Natsu I have is from hundreds of years ago. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be Natsu in the current Edolas.

Well, there's also the Porlyusica, which wasn't explained in the anime.

I'm totally shipping them!

Riyao didn't react immediately upon hearing this, turning to Natsu and asking, "What kind of pairing are you shipping?"

Natsu rubbed the back of his head and said, "What the hell? I hit my head on a pebble."

After checking the two of them in, we had a nice night's sleep and continued our journey the next day.