Making Plans

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Karakura.

November, x784.

"I wonder if Marin got what she wanted?" Mirajane asked herself as she walked down the hallway of the hotel's fourth floor.

Just as she told Marin, Mirajane had been exploring the town of Karakura for the whole day. She even found some local products that she could take back to Magnolia for Elfman and Lisanna, while getting some shopping for herself done on top of that. Still, now that she was back at the hotel, she could not help but worry about Marin's progress with Alfonzo.

"Well, I guess I'll find out in a minute." Mirajane murmured to herself as she shifted all her shopping bags into her left hand.

With that done, Mirajane reached into her cleavage with her free hand, pulling out the key to the hotel room just as she arrived in front of the door. Then, without hesitation, she pushed it into the doorknob and opened the door in one motion.

"Hey~! I'm back!" Mirajane said cheerfully as she walked through the door.

"Shh~~~!" Marin replied while raising a finger to her lips.

"Huh?" Mirajane exclaimed in surprise. Though, she did keep her voice down as indicated by Marin.

Just as she expected, Alfonzo and Marin were in bed together. However, they were not doing what she expected them to be doing. Instead of going at it like rabbits in mating season, Alfonzo appeared to be asleep, still wearing his combat attire. Meanwhile, Marin was seated against the headboard of Alfonzo's bed while supporting Alfonzo's head with her thighs.

"Well, I gotta admit… This isn't what I was expecting to see when I got back." Mirajane said with a smile after quickly recollecting herself from the initial shock.

"And what exactly were you expecting to see?" Marin asked, her face flushing as she had a pretty good idea of the answer to her question.

In fact, Marin was still wearing her lingerie, specially bought for this occasion, under Alfonzo's shirt.

"Oh, you know." Mirajane replied as she put her bags down by her luggage. Then, she turned back to Marin with a smile as she continued. "You know exactly what I was expecting to see."

As she spoke, Mirajane curled the thumb and index finger of her left hand into a ring while leaving the other fingers extended. Then, she balled the fingers of her right hand while extending only the index finger. After that, she repeatedly thrust her right index finger in and out of the ring she made with her left hand.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Marin said, her face flushing a little more. "So, you can stop now."

Giggling in response, Mirajane made her way over to Alfonzo's bed. Then, she climbed up and took a seat next to Marin.

"So, how did everything go?" Mirajane asked as she started running her fingers through Alfonzo's hair.

"Things definitely didn't go the way I thought they would." Marin replied with a smile. "But they went, like, totes better than I imagined."

With that, Marin explained the whole chain of events from the moment she left. How she pulled out her "victory underwear," how she rifled through Alfonzo's luggage to find something she could wear to make seducing him easier. How she decided that she would tell him how she felt before they got right to business. How Alfonzo came back into the room clearly horny. And how they ended up confessing to each other and just spending the rest of the time talking.

"If all you did was talk, why is Alfonzo sleeping so soundly?" Mirajane asked curiously. "I mean, he hasn't even twitched since I started playing with his hair."

"From what he told me, he had to use up a lot more magic power than he expected to map out those scientists' hideout." Marin replied. "All Yoruichi's teasing probably didn't help either."

"Hmph!" Mirajane snorted in response. "She really is just a cat in heat."

"Hey, I resent that statement." Yoruichi's voice sounded out from the other side of the door. "I just like teasing him, that's all. Anyway, I think it's about time for dinner. On top of that, Alfonzo can tell everyone what he found with his search."

"Alright, we'll be there in a minute." Alfonzo said, his eyes opening slowly.

"Good, we'll be in the same private room." Yoruichi replied before she turned around and left.

"Her stealth is insane." Marin said with wide open eyes. "I didn't hear her footsteps before she got to the door or after she left. In fact, if it wasn't for [Magic Power Detection], I would have never even known that she left."

"Yeah." Alfonzo said, sitting up from Marin's lap and stretching his back. "She's pretty fucking good at what she does."

Mirajane and Marin could only nod in response.

"Anyway, let me get changed into something more casual." Alfonzo said as he climbed out of bed. "Then, we can head down to the dining room for the quest meeting."

"Okay~." Marin replied cheerfully.

"Of course." Mirajane said in a pleasant tone. "Would you like me to help you get changed?"

"Although that sounds nice." Alfonzo replied with a wry smile. "But if you did, I doubt we'd make it to dinner."

"*Sigh* If you say so." Mirajane replied, feigning disappointment.

"Maybe we should…" Marin muttered to herself after hearing that brief conversation.

"We already talked about this, Marin." Alfonzo said. "Not before the operation."

"*Sigh* I know." Marin said, her tone of disappointment genuine.

With that out of the way, Alfonzo got cleaned up and dressed for dinner quickly. Then, a few minutes later, Alfonzo, Mirajane, and Marin, along with the rest of the allied forces, were seated in the same private room from earlier in the day.

"So, what did you two find?" Bacchus asked before gulping from his wine gourd.

"Well, I only went to show Alfonzo the way." Yoruichi replied with a shrug. "Other than that, I didn't do anything."

With that, all the eyes in the room turned to Alfonzo.

"Things were more or less what I expected to see." Alfonzo replied, not missing a beat. "They carved a maze into one side of the ravine. And there were hundreds of magic power signatures not belonging to wizards in there, too."

"So, they've been kidnapping civilians, too?" Marin asked, a frown making its way onto her face.

"Of course they have." Bacchus replied. "Where else do you think they'd get their test subjects from? It's not like they can put out an ad for them in the paper."

"I know that." Marin replied with an eye roll. "But they haven't been rogue for too long, right? How did they have the time to kidnap that many people?"

"Actually, I doubt they've been kidnapping people." Yoruichi replied.

This time all the eyes shifted towards Yoruichi. Before she could answer all the unasked questions, however, Alfonzo beat her to the punch.

"You think they bought them from human traffickers, don't you?" Alfonzo asked.

"That's right." Yoruichi replied with a nod. "I mean, that's the only way, right? They've only been on the run for about two weeks."

"How they got their hands on those people isn't important." Kagura said with her usual stoic expression on her face. "What about their combat potential? Were there any changes?"

"Unfortunately, there were." Alfonzo replied in a solemn tone. "On top of the six powerful signatures I was expecting to find, two of which were at S-Class while the other four were at A-Class, there were two more at S-Class and one more at A-Class."

"Damn, doesn't that mean we're out numbered?" Bacchus asked, putting his wine gourd on the table.

"Don't worry, Bacchus." Guy said with a winning smile. "As long as our youth burns bright enough, there is nothing we can't' overcome."

"Knock it off with that youth bullshit!" Bacchus roared in response.

"I don't actually think it's all that big of a deal." Alfonzo said, smiling wryly at the Quatro Cerberus wizards' back and forth. "Honestly, I should be able to take on at least two of the S-Classes by myself. And of the A-Classes, one of them is at the bottom of the Class in terms of magic power reserves, so I'm sure that one of ours should be able to take them on while fighting another one with no issue."

"That's rather optimistic." Kagura replied bluntly. "The A-Class aside, why do you think you could take on two S-Classes at the same time."

"It's understandable that you don't believe in Alfonzo." Mirajane said with a smile. "But he's probably one of the strongest wizards under the Ten Wizard Saints on the continent. Even Ur from our guild said that she wouldn't have an easy time beating him if they both went all out."

"By Ur, you're referring to Ur Milkovich, the Ice Witch, right?" Yoruichi asked with a measure of interest in her tone. "I heard that she was on par with the former sixth rank of the Wizard Saints, Jose Porla before he passed away in prison. Is that true?"

"It's actually an underestimation." Alfonzo replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was on par with Gramps, actually."

Hearing that Ur may be on par with the fifth ranked member of the Wizard Saints, Makarov Dreyar, and that she would struggle to defeat Alfonzo made everyone look at Alfonzo in amazement. Meanwhile, Mirajane and Marin, Alfonzo's girlfriends, wore smug expressions as if they were the ones everyone was thinking about.

"Anyway, if possible, we should try and split up the enemies." Alfonzo said, breaking the stunned silence in the room. "I'll try and take on Kurotsuchi and Orochimaru. Yoruichi, Mira, and Bacchus, you three should take on the other S-Classes. One of you should even consider taking out some of the A-Classes to reduce the pressure on our side, as well."

"Well, considering the fact that I'm not really built for fighting up front, I'll play the support roll." Yoruichi said with a shrug.

While everyone nodded in response to Yoruichi's suggestion, Alfonzo thought differently.

'Yeah right.' Alfonzo said to himself while giving Yoruichi a skeptical glance. "If she used [Shunko], I doubt she would have an issue with any of the S-class combatants on the other side. The problem is, she's just a lazy cat.'

Noticing Alfonzo's glance, Yoruichi smiled before blowing him a kiss in return. Rolling his eyes, Alfonzo decided to get back on topic.

"Anyway, according to the reports, of the original six, only Kurotsuchi and Orochimaru should have S-Class strength." Alfonzo said. So, the other four should be what we were expecting. Unfortunately, since we never got the chance to see them, I can't match them to the magic power signatures I felt in the hideout."

"Then what good is this part of the report?" Bacchus asked in an antagonistic tone.

"If you don't have anything useful to add to the conversation, Bacchus, then keep your mouth shut." Yoruichi said in a bland tone. "The fact that we know there are two extra S-Classes and another A-Class is more information than we would have had if Alfonzo didn't go to check. So be grateful and shut the hell up."

Seeing Bacchus expression contort into one filled with rage in real-time. Everyone could see a fight breaking out if nothing was done about it.

"Anyway," Alfonzo said, cutting in on the volatile atmosphere, "we're moving at dawn. Although the quest says nothing about the captives in the hideout, They should be our first priority."

"And what are we supposed to do with them?" Kagura asked.

"Actually, since Yoruichi won't be fighting one of the S-Classes, I think she can take care of that." Alfonzo replied.

"So, you want me to move them to a safe place while all the fighting is going on, right?" Yoruichi asked while leaning lazily against her chair's backrest.

"That's right." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Before we hit the hideout, I'll create a shelter for them in the Valley of the End."

Hearing Alfonzo mention the Valley of the End, Guy could not help but flinch. That area was not too far away from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, after all.

Meanwhile, having seen Guy's flinch, Alfonzo did everything he could to prevent himself from rolling his eyes.

'Come on, dude.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'Could you make it any clearer where people would have to look to find your village? Speaking of that village, I wonder if the other shinobi from Naruto are in this world, too?'

"Unfortunately, the amount of magic power I'll have to put out while creating something big enough to hold a few hundred people will definitely alert them to our presence." Alfonzo continued. "So, we should be ready for battle as soon as we step into the cave."

"Does that mean you and Guy won't be going in to disable the traps first?" Marin asked curiously.

"We'll definitely be at the front of the group to disable as many traps as we can." Alfonzo replied.

 "Indeed." Guy added, raising his thumb in Marin's direction. "I will use all my youth to disable as many traps as I can for my comrades."

"Even though he's so weird." Mirajane said. "It's kind of hard to not like him at least a little bit."

"Yeah, he's much better than the drunkard he came with." Yoruichi added.

"Fuck both you bimbos." Bacchus shot back sharply.

At that moment, the conversation came to a halt while three killing intents locked onto to Bacchus.

"Care to repeat that?" Yoruichi said, appearing behind Bacchus with a wakizashi pressed on his throat.

Meanwhile, the Yoruichi who was leaning lazily against the back of her chair slowly faded from view.

"Holy Crap… She's fast." Marin muttered after seeing Yoruichi's display of speed.

"Yes, Bacchus, could you repeat that?" Mirajane asked in a pleasant tone while smiling brightly. "I don't think I heard you correctly."

Although Mirajane's tone and smile sounded and looked quite pleasant, no one would make the mistake of thinking that she was happy after being called a bimbo. In fact, the killing intent rolling off of her was making all the A-Class wizards in the room shiver involuntarily.

Then, there was Alfonzo, who was, to put it lightly, quite unhappy that his girlfriend had been called a bimbo. Although it would have angered him before he finally let go of his reluctance towards the harem life, now that he had decided to embrace it fully, his protectiveness had spiked along with his feelings.

Instead of saying anything, however, Alfonzo only leveled an intimidating glare at Bacchus.

"Fine, I know I went too far this time." Bacchus said, raising his hands disarmingly. "So, would you put that thing away?"

"Now that he mentions it, where did that short sword even come from?" Marin asked. "I know she wasn't holding it before she moved. And I never saw the light of [Requip Magic]."

"Oh, she definitely used [Requip]." Alfonzo replied, having retracted his killing intent after Bacchus admitted he was wrong. "But it looks like she tweaked the spell a bit so that it doesn't cause a bright flash like Erza's."

"You got it right on the nose." Yoruichi said, reappearing in Alfonzo's lap after putting away her sword. "How about a reward?"

"*Sigh* Don't you ever get bored with this?" Alfonzo asked in an exasperated tone.

"Nope." Yoruichi replied with a happy smile on her face. "There's something about the thrill of the chase."

Before Alfonzo could reply, Yoruichi vanished from atop his lap as the door to the private room was knocked on. As it turned out, the food they ordered had arrived. So, the group, having discussed most of the plans for tomorrow's raid, decided that they would focus on eating.

Then, after the meal, everyone went back to their rooms, this time, they all decided to rest, since the next day would start well before the break of dawn.