Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 6, x791.
"I can't believe that woman did this to you, Lady Yoruichi!" Sui-Feng shouted in outrage after seeing Yoruichi wrapped up in bandages. "Just give the order, and I'll go make sure she ends up in the same state as you."
'Well, at least something came of that re-education period.' Yoruichi thought to herself while smiling wryly at Sui-Feng. 'I mean, before that, she would have stormed off on her own and tried to kill Cana for beating me up this bad. Then again, she wouldn't have even been able to touch me back then. So, things have changed on this side, too.'
"That won't be necessary, Bumble Bee." Yoruichi replied. "She beat me fair and square."
"Is sneak attacking you considered fair?" Sui-Feng asked angrily. "If she had fought you up front from the start, I'm sure there's no way you would have lost."
"Uh… You should probably get a replay of the fight, Bumble Bee." Yoruichi replied as her wry smile widened. "After that first hit, she did fight me up front. Even though it hurt, that punch was just to get me away from you so she could fight me one-on-one. Plus, a sneak attack in a battle royale is part of the rules, too."
Despite Yoruichi's explanation, Sui-Feng seemed to be hearing none of it. So, she continued to try her best to convince Yoruichi to give her permission to seek revenge. The only saving grace was the fact that Cana had not shown up for any reason. Otherwise, she knew that in her current state, she would not be able to hold Sui-Feng back from doing something stupid.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
The knocking on the door caused Sui-Feng to fall silent while staring at the door with so much hostility that any normal person, or wizards under A-Rank, on the other side might just turn around and leave.
'Please don't let it be Cana. Please don't let it be Cana. Please don't let it be Cana.' Yoruichi repeated to herself mentally as she opened her mouth to respond to the knocking.
"Come in." Yoruichi said calmly despite her chaotic thoughts.
With Yoruichi's permission, the door was opened. And the person that opened it stepped inside with narrowed eyes that were focused on Sui-Feng, who was drenched in cold sweat by now.
"It seems you need more training." Retsu, the person who just stepped into the room, said coldly after Sui-Feng frantically retracted her hostility. "And since the Shihouin were unable to do a proper job of re-educating you, I'll take it upon myself to finish the job properly."
"No, Captain Unohana, I'm sorry." Sui-Feng said in a nervous tone. "I only wanted to protect---"
Before Sui-Feng could finish with her excuse, Retsu appeared behind her with the [Flash Step]. Then, she [Flash Stepped] back to the open door with Sui-Feng held up by the scruff of her neck. After that, she grabbed the doorknob and looked back at Yoruichi.
"Take your time to recover." Retsu said, her gentle tone returning while she smiled at Yoruichi with a knowing smile. "We'll be back at our hotel once you feel better."
Though she found Retsu's smile a bit strange, Yoruichi nodded her head in response.
"I will." Yoruichi said with a smile of her own. "Thank you, Master Retsu."
With that, Retsu closed the door. Then, for the next few seconds, the only thing Yoruichi could hear was the sound of Sui-Feng struggling, and failing, to free herself from Retsu's grasp.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
However, not even two seconds after she could no longer hear Sui-Feng's futile struggle, the sound of the door being knocked on again broke the silence.
"Come in." Yoruichi said for the second time in less than a minute.
"Oh, I definitely wasn't expecting you to be alone."
Hearing that voice, Yoruichi, who had been staring up at the ceiling after Retsu left with Sui-Feng, snapped her head in its direction. When she did, she saw Cana, much more covered up than usual, stepping through the door.
"Yeah, well, I never thought I'd ever see you with that much of your skin covered." Yoruichi shot back playfully. "But shit happens, right?"
"True." Cana replied nonchalantly. She then pulled up a chair and sat down next to Yoruichi's bedside as she continued. "Honestly, if Ur hadn't shown up after I kicked your ass, I wouldn't be like this. But even after I got thawed out, I'm still freezing."
"So, the Ice Witch got you, huh?" Yoruichi asked rhetorically. "That sounds rough. I would have loved to fight her, though."
"Even after seeing what she did to an entire street of Hargeon?" Cana asked, looking at Yoruichi strangely as she did so. "Have you been spending time with that weird blonde knight, or something?"
"Hey! I'm no masochist." Yoruichi shouted. "If anything, I'm a sadist."
Yoruichi then shuddered violently after remembering all the interactions she'd had with Darkness over the years. Then, she winced painfully as the shuddering agitated her injuries.
And that led to Cana laughing uproariously at Yoruichi. But only a moment later, Yoruichi laughed just as loudly.
Not long later, both women's laughter died down, leaving an awkward silence between them.
"So, um… Does this mean we're… Uh… cool now?" Yoruichi asked, not sure how to word her question.
"Oh, definitely not." Cana replied in a serious toen. "*Sigh* But It's about time I got over myself."
Yoruichi could only look at Cana quizzically after hearing that as she waited for an explanation.
"*Sigh* Though I'm not proud of it, I almost did something that would have hurt Fonzie, and all the others, much more than what you did back in the day." Cana said quietly while thinking back to when she wanted to leave the guild if she failed the S-Class Promotion Exam for a fifth time in arow. "Luckily, I had someone who cared about us much more than I seemed to back at that time."
As she said that, Cana could not help subconsciously rubbing her butt because of phantom pain.
"Damn, Lucy… I still can't believe you snitched on me back then." Cana muttered quietly enough that Yoruichi could not hear her. She then shook her head and returned to speaking at a normal volume. "Anyway, Although I can't say that I'll ever come to like you, I'm done throwing a tantrum. So, if you can get Fonzie and the other girls to accept you, then I won't get in the way anymore."
Almost unable to believe what she just heard, Yoruichi's eyes shot open wide.
"Are you serious?" Yoruichi asked, quickly sitting up and ignoring the pain that such a violent movement brought with it. "That's really hard to believe. You almost did something that would have hurt Alfonzo and the others? Just what did you do?"
In response, Cana rubbed her butt subconsciously once again while looking away.
"And why do you keep rubbing your butt like that?" Yoruichi asked while pointing at Cana's hand.
Pausing her movements while her eyes opened wide in panic and embarrassment, Cana slowly moved her hand away from her butt a moment later.
"*Cough* Anyway…" Cana said, trying to move on.
"Oh no, you don't." Yoruichi said energetically, sensing a good story behind Cana's words. "Come on, spill the beans. This will be good for reference so that I don't mess up again in the future."
By now, Cana's face had reddened, looking as though she had been drinking for the last few hours. And the sparkle in Yoruichi's eyes was not helping. In fact, she even wanted to just run away. And that thought was starting to solidify, knowing that Yoruichi would not be able to chase her down in her current condition.
'Wait, am I actually thinking about running away?' Cana asked herself as she started to stand up. 'No! That's unacceptable. That's how I almost caused that mess seven years ago. Besides, Fairy Tail wizards don't run away in the face of difficulty.'
As she had that thought, Cana glanced at Yoruichi again, and the desire to run flared up even further. But she did not run. Instead, she pressed that feeling down and gritted her teeth.
"Do you know who Fonzie's first girlfriend was?" Cana asked, basically squeezing the words out as she began her story.
"I'm pretty sure it was Lici." Yoruichi replied, the light in her eyes brightening as Cana relaxed into her seat again.
"That's right." Cana replied. "And I was his second. Then, Sun and Erza joined after that."
Instead of responding verbally, Yoruichi nodded in understanding while simultaneously gesturing for Cana to continue.
"*Sigh* But the order wasn't really all that important to me." Cana continued, resigned to tell the story. "What really bothered me was our statuses. You see, Fonzie passed the S-Class Exam in x779. When he did, he became Fiore's youngest ever S-Class wizard."
Once again, Yoruichi nodded. So, Cana continued.
"In all honesty, I didn't expect to pass the next year, which was the first year I was eligible to take it." Cana said while shaking her head. "You see, Lici took it with him in x779. And I knew she would be the front runner in x780."
"That makes sense." Yoruichi replied. "I mean, they're both really strong."
"Yeah, and by that point… Actually, even now, I've never been able to beat Lici in a fight." Cana continued. "Hell, the only person in our generation who had ever defeated Lici was Alfonzo. Back then, Laxus could have probably beaten her, too. But he was too fixated on Alfonzo to bother with her."
"You think he could still beat her?' Yoruichi asked curiously. "Laxus, I mean."
"Probably not." Cana replied after a moment of thought. "Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Like I said, I expected to fail when it came time for nominations. But something strange happened, Lici wasn't a nominee in x780."
"Really?" Yoruichi asked, surprised to hear that.
"Yeah, because of some shady things that her store's competitors did, Gramps made an exception for her and promoted her without a test that year. And everyone, other than Laxus, thought she deserved it. But more importantly than that, that meant she wouldn't be competition. So, my hopes of passing were rekindled."
Nodding in understanding, Yoruichi was surprised when she saw Cana hang her head. But she did not interrupt.
"But I didn't pass." Cana said in a disappointed tone. I didn't pass the next year, either. Or the two years after that. Instead, the new S-Classes for those years were Erza, Mira, Mystogan, and Tear, in that order."
"Sounds like you ran into a streak of bad luck." Yoruichi said sympathetically. "I've seen all of them fight before. Well, other than Mystogan. And I've even fought Erza once in the past. So, I know they're all really strong, too."
"Yeah…" Cana replied with a nod of her own. "And I knew they all deserved to get their S-Class designations. But that didn't stop me from feeling like I was… Unworthy… Of being with Fonzie after four straight failures."
Yoruichi had no idea how she was supposed to react to that reveal. But since she knew the story was not yet over, she just stayed silent and let Cana go on.
Eventually, x784 rolled around. And although that year was particularly eventful… What with a new member joining, the war with Phantom Lord, the first Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament, the Oración Seis Extermination Quest, the Mad Scientist Retrieval Quest…"
"Oh, I was there for that one." Yoruichi chirped happily.
"… and the Magnolia Disappearance Incident," Cana continued while completely ignoring Yoruichi's interruption, "I had put so much pressure on myself that when that year's Promotion Exam came around, I had convinced myself that if I couldn't pass, I didn't deserve to be with Fonzie."
Dumbfounded by what she just heard, Yoruichi could only stare at Cana wither eyes and mouth wide open.
"So, I got really desperate." Cana continued, completely undeterred. "And during my desperation, I teamed up with Lucy for the exam. I even told her everything that was on my heart at that time."
Cana then gritted her teeth in frustration. However, Yoruichi could see a flicker of fondness in her eyes.
"And can you believe it, that girl actually snitched on me!" Cana roared in fond exasperation. She managed to calm down a moment later and continued the story. "Luckily, I managed to pass the exam that year, though. So, all my worries came to nothing."
"Yeah, now I understand what you meant when you said you almost hurt everyone even more than I did." Yoruichi replied in an understanding tone. A moment later, however, she smiled playfully. "But that doesn't explain why you were rubbing your butt like that."
"Ugh~~~!" Cana groaned, her cheeks taking on a hint of red once again. "I was hoping you'd forget about that part after hearing the story."
"Not a chance." Yoruichi sing-songed.
"*Sigh* Fine~." Cana muttered in annoyance. "After the exam was over, Fonzie decided I needed to be punished for thinking something stupid. So, he stripped me completely naked and spanked me… And not in the fun way… In front of the rest of the girls."
Hearing that, Yoruichi's eyes widened to a comical degree while her mouth flapped open and closed like a fish out of water as she processed what she just heard. A few moments later, she burst into uproarious laughter.
"*sigh* Yeah… Yeah… Laugh it up…" Cana said while shaking her head. "I'd probably laugh at that story, too, if I wasn't the butt of the joke that time."
As she finished speaking, Cana narrowed her eye's and flared her magic power to the limit that could fit in the room. This display of power caused Yoruichi to stop laughing immediately and tense up as she looked into Cana's eyes.
"More importantly, I've decided to take a step back and let the past stay in the past." Cana said, her tone sharp enough to cut through iron. She then continued with an impossible to miss warning in her tone. "But please don't' take this next part as a threat. No, You should know that it's a promise. If you ever try something like last time, I won't stop at just kicking your ass."
"I understand." Yoruichi replied, an equally serious edge to her toen. "I've grown up a lot since then, too. I know that I can't just have my way because I'm the princess of a prestigious clan. Plus, the last thing I ever want to do again is hurt Alfonzo."
Reaching that point, Yoruichi shuddered in terror.
"And something tells me that if I ever hurt him like that again, Lici would be far more terrifying to deal with." Yoruichi said, the fear in her tone impossible to miss.
In response, Cana could not help but shudder in fear, as well.
"*Cough* Good. I'm glad you understand." Cana replied after coughing to cover up her fear before she stood up. "Well then, I've said all that I wanted to. So, I'm going back to the hotel."
Then, without another word, Cana turned around and made her way to the door before leaving swiftly.
Meanwhile, Yoruichi only watched Cana leave. Then, when she closed the door behind her, Yoruichi flopped back down into her bed and raised an arm to cover her eyes with her forearm.
"*Sniff* Finally…" Yoruichi said while trying to suppress tears. "I can finally try to move forward. These last six years have been torture. *Sigh* Now, I just need to find a chance to talk to the others. And hopefully, everything will work out.
With that, Yoruichi continued to lay in bed while crying silent, happy tears until she felt good enough to return to the hotel Mermaid Heel had booked for the Grand Magic Games.
Meanwhile, Cana, as soon as she left the Domus Flau, sped through the streets of Crocus to get back to the Sixth Sense Hotel as fast as she could. Finally putting down her grudge, forgiving Yoruichi, and giving her blessing to pursue Alfonzo was much more stressful than she thought it would be. And right now, she needed to do something to relieve some stress.
'I need a drink and some dick.' Cana said to herself as she walked. 'Fonzie, you better not be working too hard. No, even if you are, you're gonna help with stress relief when I get back. You can get back to work after that.'