Chapter 2

Later that week, two girls were sitting at a bar. Yukino and Kagura sighed as they waited for their other friends to show up. "I bet you anything, Sylvia and Minerva will be the last ones to show up," Kagura said as Levy Kai and Lisanna Chiba slipped into their seats. "Oh, come on, they're not that late." Lisanna said, "Hey," Levy greeted the two, and "Finally," Kagura said, the annoyance clear in her tone, "Hey, how's it going with Kieth and Ichiro?" Yukino asked, deciding that instead of just sitting in silence, they might as well catch up with the only two in their group of friends who were married; all of them were still in their work attire.

"Ezra! Juvia!" Lisanna waved at the two, who were looking around the crowded bar for their friends. "Sorry, we're late," Juvia apologized.

The two looked slightly worn out and dishevelled as if they were in a fight. "Let me guess the case," Levy guessed as the two women let out a huff. "Why are we so far today, ladies?" Akira and Minerva joined their group of friends. "Well, it seems like Sylvia's the last person," Kagura said. "Don't be so hard on her," Minerva said.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Kagura said to the girl, who rolled her eyes like the rest were still in her work attire "Finally decided to bless us with your presence, Your Highness?".

"Oh, look, who came fashionably early?" Sylvia slipped in beside Minerva. "Finally decided to stop roaming around like a ghost from the Sengoku era?" The others burst out laughing while Akira shook her head. "You two are worse than cats and dogs." Akira Haruno pinched the bridge of her nose. "Rough day?" Erza asked, "Yeah, I had to work with Hoshino." She put in her order, "Unexpected case." She took in both the redhead and bluenette's appearance. "Yeah, I'm just glad it was an easy arrest," Juvia said. "At least we were able to defuse the situation without too much damage," Ezra added.

On the other side, a group of men sat down in a booth, each with a drink in hand. "Remind me again why we're at a crowded bar." Rogue asked, "Would you much rather spend your Friday night cooped up in your apartment?" Sting asked, sipping on his glass of beer, "Yes, I would love that since I was doing something very important." Rogue Kagero replied to his idiot of a best friend, "Relax and enjoy yourself, Rogue." Natsu slung an arm around the ravenette, who grumbled, "If that's coming out of your mouth, salamander, now I'm questioning my safety." Ichiro Kai said, "Hey! What's supposed to mean?" Natsu scowled at the officer and said, "Exactly what it sounds like, you idiot." Ichiro said, "Please do not start an argument." Rin from sipping his cocktail; he didn't want to get drunk tonight since, with Nash, Natsu, Keith, and Sting here, they'd most likely get drunk, and Yuri would probably be pissed at him for leaving him to deal with the four.

Jellal Haru released a sigh, sitting himself down in between Ichiro and Natsu before they started a fight and got them kicked out. "Don't start you two; we've finally gotten together as a group after so many years." Jellal didn't want to spend the rest of the night finding a place where they could hang out when he could be enjoying himself with his group of friends. "Well, if Jellal's onboard, let the party begin." Nash threw his hands in the air. "Well, with these three idiots planning it, I'm dreading my night ahead." Reiki said, "Shut up; the party's already begun." Yuri slapped the blonde upside the head. "Oh, loosen up, boss," Keith said. Lisanna had gone out for a night with the girls, so he jumped at the opportunity to spend time with the boys.

"I don't know how you two do it," Akira said. "If I had to deal with a psycho like that, I'd be running for the hills." Lisanna said, "Kieth is giving you a hard time too." Evergreen, who had joined the group a few minutes ago, asked, knowing the nature of her best friend, "You'd think that he'd stop being such a tease after being married for a year." Lisanna gulped down her glass of cocktail. "That aside, Sylvia, I heard that your new article on the famous detective sold out." Evergreen Kaoru looked at the girl. "Sold out? Geez, I didn't know that article would be such a popular one," she said, "so how'd you do it?" Levy asked, wanting the juicy details, and all of them were curious. "I just snapped a few shots of the guy when he dealt with a case and had a microphone planted in his office, so I was always one step ahead of this guy and will continue to be," bluenette explained to her group of friends.