Dragon or Cat

A week after Qian Guang's bombing incident, everyone's afros had finally returned to normal. Qian Guang had spent the whole week holed up at Granny Porlyusica's place, claiming he was learning new things when he was really hiding from everyone's retaliation—especially that red-haired delinquent!

As the only one who had stayed normal, Mirajane had been especially happy, particularly whenever she saw her nemesis Erza's afro.

Even though everyone in the guild had returned to normal by now, Mirajane was still recklessly waving around the photos she had taken in front of Erza.

"Oh my, isn't this our beautiful Erza? Look at those black lips and that lovely afro. Such a shame I didn't catch you at your best." Mirajane wore a wicked grin as she pointed at Erza's non-mainstream photo.

Erza's composure shattered again. A sword instantly appeared in her hand. "I'll kill you!"

"Hah, who'd be afraid of you, you violent woman?" Mirajane did not back down either, directly transforming both hands into demonic claws.

The two began their seventh brawl of the week—truly averaging one a day. At first, Makarov had tried to stop them, but when he saw it was useless, he simply let the two brats fight. If they got hurt, he would toss them in front of Porlyusica's door for Qian Guang to practice on. As long as that little bastard did not come back too soon, everything was fine.

"Minna! Look what I found! A dragon egg!" Natsu walked into the guild carrying an enormous egg.

Everyone turned to look.

"Do you know what kind of egg that is? It can't possibly be a dragon egg, right?" Wakaba said to his best buddy Macao as he flicked away some ash.

"Hah? How could it be? I'd say it's the egg of some bird-like magical beast."

"Wow, Natsu! What a huge egg! Did you know I was coming back today and bring it to give me an extra dish?" Qian Guang's voice came from behind Natsu.

Qian Guang had figured that constantly avoiding everyone was not a solution, so he decided to return today and give everyone a surprise. After all, it had been a week. Their anger should have faded by now.

"No way! This is my egg. I'm definitely going to hatch a dragon!" Hearing someone wanted to eat his egg, Natsu did not even realize who it was and merely clutched it tightly.

But nobody was paying attention to the egg anymore.

"You bastard! You still dare come back!"

"Come here, little Qian Guang. Let Uncle give you some proper love!"

"Go to hell!!!"

Erza's fury lit the fuse, and everyone rushed toward Qian Guang.

Seeing everyone's enthusiasm, Qian Guang immediately wrapped himself in wind magic. "Sorry, minna! I just remembered Mirajane is waiting for me to go home for dinner. I'll be leaving first!" He bolted for the door.

"Get him!"

Naturally, nobody let him go. They all chased after him. Magnolia was bound to be very lively today.

Only a few brats were left in the guild in an instant.

"Natsu, can I take a look at your dragon egg?" Elfman shyly walked over to Natsu.

"No! I'm not giving it to any of you!" Perhaps Qian Guang's words had provoked him. Natsu now thought everyone wanted to steal his dragon egg.

Elfman looked disappointed.

Natsu ran out holding the dragon egg, and nobody knew where he went. But little Lisanna's eyes shifted, and she followed after him.

If Qian Guang had been there, he probably would have stopped them and earnestly lectured them that puppy love was unacceptable, and raising a life together during puppy love was even more unacceptable.

The next day

Qian Guang, his face covered in bandages, sat with Laxus and drank milk. Forget drinking alcohol—if they wanted to grow taller, they needed milk.

"I heard you caused trouble again while I was recovering from my injuries?"

"Hey, hey, what do you mean, again? We've only known each other for a short time."

"Oh, really? I thought you'd been causing trouble before that." Laxus waved his hand indifferently, then put on his headphones and ignored Qian Guang.

"You blond bastard, explain yourself. And does your headset even have music playing in it? Don't tell me you're just wearing it to look cool." Qian Guang calmly fired back.

"Looking for a fight, brat?"

"Who's afraid of you!"

The passionate sparks in their eyes ignited once more.

"Who stole my egg?!" Natsu and Lisanna ran in, shouting.

"Was it you, you black-haired bastard? Did you eat it?!" Natsu immediately rushed up to Qian Guang. After all, this was the guy who had said yesterday that he wanted to eat his dragon egg.

"How could that be? Looking at yellow right now kills my appetite." Qian Guang gave Laxus a glance as he brushed him off.

"Know when to stop, brat!"

"The egg is gone?" Gray asked.

"I didn't take it." Little Cana shook her head. "Gray, your clothes."

"When did that happen?!"

Lisanna ran over to her sister. "Sis Mira, have you seen the egg?"

"How would I know?"

Watching Natsu's anxious expression, Mirajane teasingly said, "Could it be that you ate it in your sleep?"

Natsu froze, his eyes instantly turning triangular. He rushed over and grabbed Mirajane's hair. "Bastard, what did you say?"

"You want to fight?! I won't go easy on you!"

"Hey, Natsu." Gray tried to break it up from the side, but he was ultimately dragged into it.

Nearby, the trio of Makarov, Wakaba, and Macao drank their little cups of liquor as they watched the brats.

"What a chaotic bunch of brats. I can hardly imagine what the guild will be like in a few years." Wakaba complained to the master.

Makarov took a sip of his drink and did not care. "The fact that they bounce off one another means they acknowledge each other. Can't you see it written all over their faces?"

After saying that, Makarov smiled at Laxus and Qian Guang, who were pulling at each other's faces nearby.

After the melee ended, Natsu looked like he was about to cry. "Where exactly is my dragon egg?"

The delinquent girl beside him hugged one arm and teased, "I can't take it anymore. Stop crying, Natsu. You're so cute."

"Who said I was crying?! T﹏T"

Erza comforted Natsu from nearby. "Mirajane, stop teasing him. Natsu, stop crying too."

"I said I'm not crying!"

"Hurry up and give Natsu his egg back!"

"I already said I didn't take it. I think you're the one who ate it."

Their little skit started up again. They really were a pair of rivals.

Little Cana suddenly punched her right palm. "I remember now. Elfman said he wanted a dragon egg."

Lisanna looked shocked and did not believe it.

Natsu's face immediately filled with anger. "So that guy ate it!"

Just then, Elfman walked over carrying the dragon egg. "Natsu, Lisanna, I'm sorry."

"So it really was you, Elfman!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was wrong, Elfman hurriedly explained, "That's not it, Natsu. Last night, I saw that the weather was cold and your sleeping posture was bad. You weren't taking care of the egg, so I took it back and used my body to keep it warm."

"It's fine now. Here, take it back."

Natsu felt a little embarrassed. "Sorry, Elfman. You're a real man!"

Just as the truth came out, Mirajane and Erza started fighting again nearby.

"You genuinely suspected me just now, didn't you?"

"Weren't you the same?"

Crack

Suddenly, cracks appeared on the egg, and something inside began to stir. Hearing the sound, everyone in the guild gathered around, including Mirajane, Erza, Laxus, and Qian Guang, who had been fighting.

"Uba!"

A blue cat with tiny wings was born!

"A cat?"

"But it has wings. Isn't it a bird?"

"I think it's a cat. A blue cat."

Everyone spoke over one another, guessing what species it was.

The little blue cat flew onto Natsu's head, folded its wings, and lay down there.

"Aye!"

"So cute!"

It instantly turned into a massive gathering of adoring weirdos.

Watching the people who had just been fighting now chatting and laughing together, Lisanna smiled and said to Natsu, "It's like a bluebird that can bring happiness."

"Happiness... Then let's name it Happy! Happy, the dragon's battle child!!!"

"Aye!"

Natsu happily bounced around while holding Happy.

Suddenly

A hand pressed down on Natsu's head, and Qian Guang's demonic whisper sounded beside his ear. "Now, Natsu, the egg matter is settled. How about we talk about why Lisanna didn't go home last night?"

"Aye?" Natsu's face filled with terror as he instantly learned to speak Happy's language.

"Ah! Nooo!"