Strange Cats

"Big brother, what kind of egg is this?" Wendy sat on the sofa, stroking the egg in her arms. "Could it be a kitten or puppy?"

Feng Lan scratched his head. "Cats and dogs... aren't they viviparous?"

Wendy tilted her head and asked, "What does viviparous mean?"

Feng Lan thought about it. "Uh... animals that hatch from eggs, I guess."

Wendy looked at the egg in her hands. "Then what is this?"

Feng Lan pondered it. "Maybe a bird? A snake? If it's a snake egg..."

Wendy hid in Feng Lan's arms and said softly, "Big brother, Wendy is scared of snakes..."

Feng Lan patted Wendy's head and chuckled. "Don't worry, it won't be a snake... Otherwise, just how big would that snake have to be..."

Wendy grabbed Feng Lan's hand. "Big brother, that makes Wendy even more scared."

Feng Lan smiled awkwardly. "Hehe, it's fine. Isn't it fun precisely because we don't know what it is?"

Wendy rubbed her eyes. "Big brother, how do we hatch this egg? Do we just wait like this?"

Feng Lan fell silent for a moment. "Wendy, wait here. I'll go check the library..."

Wendy nodded. "Okay, good luck, big brother."

Magnolia Library

"Hehe, what a coincidence..." Feng Lan looked awkwardly at Laxus and Natsu.

Laxus scratched his head. "Yeah, quite a coincidence..."

Natsu clutched the last reference book in his hand. "Bro, Laxus, you two take your time chatting. I'll get going..."

Feng Lan grabbed Natsu. "Why are you running!? Let me see it!"

Laxus also grabbed the book in Natsu's hand. "I want to see it too!"

Feng Lan grabbed Laxus's hand. "Hey! I haven't looked at it yet!"

With Feng Lan's arm around his throat, Natsu said in agony, "Wait, let's read it together! Together!"

Feng Lan and Laxus looked at each other. "That could work."

With that, they all let go.

Natsu panted heavily. "Damn! I almost... I almost got strangled to death by you, bro."

Feng Lan patted Natsu on the head. "Quit talking nonsense. Hurry up and find a place to sit and read."

Laxus sighed. "A bunch of grown men studying how to hatch Pet Eggs here... This is so embarrassing..."

Feng Lan shrugged. "It's not that bad. After all, the shameless are invincible! Besides, what's wrong with grown men? Who doesn't have a girlish heart?"

Natsu quietly teased, "The shameless are invincible? I'd say bro is absolutely unmatched in the world..."

Feng Lan pressed down on Natsu's head. "Want me to make you immortal, huh?"

Natsu quickly shrank back. "No, no, no. It was just a joke, don't take it seriously."

Laxus looked at Feng Lan and Natsu with dark lines across his face. "Will you two cut it out already? You're annoying as hell..."

Feng Lan patted Natsu's head and said nothing more, focusing intently on the information.

When he returned home, Feng Lan found Wendy asleep with both eggs in her arms.

Feng Lan quietly walked over, moved the two eggs aside, and carried Wendy back to her bedroom.

Using the blankets and pillows from his own room, Feng Lan made a nest and carefully placed the two eggs inside.

Feng Lan looked at the two eggs and nodded in satisfaction. "Mm, not bad. Now I just need to keep the humidity up." With that, he used magic to increase the humidity around the eggs.

Early the next morning, Wendy kept shaking Feng Lan. "Big brother! Big brother! Wake up!"

Feng Lan abruptly opened his eyes, looking completely confused. "Mm... Huh!? Wendy? I fell asleep?"

Wendy nodded. "Yeah, it's already eight o'clock!"

Feng Lan turned to look at the clock. "Damn, how long did I sleep...? Hurry, let's go to the guild!"

With that, Feng Lan and Wendy each carried an egg and hurried toward the guild.

"We're here! How did everyone sleep last night?" Feng Lan pushed open the guild doors and shouted.

Laxus held his egg in both hands and smirked. "Heh, you're this late. I thought you accidentally broke your egg and were too scared to come."

Natsu, standing beside him with dark lines across his face, said, "Didn't you get here just five minutes ago too...?"

Laxus scratched his head awkwardly. "T-Too much talk! Didn't you arrive with me!?"

Lisanna ran over to Wendy. "Wendy, how's your egg doing?"

Wendy looked at the egg in her arms. "Um... I'm not sure~ Big brother basically took care of it for me last night."

Lisanna looked at Wendy's egg and asked, "Wendy, what kind of pet do you want?"

Wendy thought for a moment. "For me... as long as it's fluffy, I'll like it. But I also made a promise with big brother. No matter what hatches, Wendy will take good care of it!"

As she spoke, Wendy stroked the Pet Egg in her arms. "Ah!" The moment her hand touched it, a crack appeared in the shell.

Wendy looked like she was about to cry. "I... I only touched it lightly."

"Crack, crack!" Before Wendy could finish speaking, the shell in her arms began to break apart continuously.

"Crack!" With the final fracture, the entire egg shattered, replaced by a small white cat.

As Wendy's egg hatched, Natsu's, Laxus's, and Feng Lan's eggs hatched one after another as well.

Natsu's egg hatched into a blue kitten, Laxus's into a golden-yellow kitten, and Feng Lan's into a gray kitten.

The group stared at one another in confusion. "Cats... hatch from eggs?"

Of course, Wendy and the other children didn't care about that sort of thing. They happily bounced around.

Wendy shouted excitedly, "Wow! It's a kitten! Wendy has a kitten!"

Lisanna snatched the blue kitten from Natsu's arms and stroked it. "It's so cute! Then this kitten is Natsu's and my child!"

Natsu blushed. "Hey, that's really easy to misunderstand! What do you mean, your and my child?"

Laxus looked at the golden-yellow kitten in his hands. It occasionally twitched its ears, and he was instantly charmed. "So cute~"

Feng Lan stroked his gray kitten too, but in the next second, wings suddenly sprouted from the kitten's back and it flew up. "Damn! This cat can fly!"

Then, as if they had planned it together, the cats all spread their white wings and flew into the air.

Natsu shouted excitedly, "Flying cats! That's so cool!"

Lisanna rubbed the kitten's little belly and asked Natsu, "Natsu, have you decided what to name it?"

Natsu rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "As for its name... let's call it Happy!"

Lisanna nodded. "Happy... that's a nice name. Then the kitten will be called Happy from now on."

The kitten in Lisanna's arms slowly said, "Aye~ I'm Happy..."

Feng Lan and the others widened their eyes. "What the fuck... Not only can cats hatched from eggs fly, they can even speak human language!? What kind of species is this?"

Wendy looked at the white cat floating before her. "Then... can your name be Charuru?"

The white cat gave a slight nod.

Wendy happily hugged the white cat. "Yay! Charuru is my friend from now on! Yay!"

Laxus watched the yellow cat before it narrowed its eyes, flew onto his shoulder, and lay down there.

Freed asked curiously, "Laxus, have you decided on its name?"

Laxus hesitated. "Its name... Chino?"

The kitten on Laxus's shoulder said lazily, "I'm Chino~"

That soft, gentle voice drifted into Laxus's ears, melting him completely and making him reveal an adorably sweet expression unlike anything he had shown before.

Natsu patted Feng Lan and asked, "Bro, have you named your cat yet?"

Feng Lan considered it carefully for a while before slowly saying, "Its name will be... Dada Liya! How does that sound?"

The gray kitten happily bounced up and down. "Dada Liya... Dada Liya! I'm Dada Liya!"

Feng Lan stroked Dada Liya's head, completely charmed as well, and said softly, "Mm-hm~ You're Dada Liya~"