The guild hall of Fairy Tail was as loud and chaotic as ever.
Lucy Heartfilia stood near the request board, clutching a glass of juice in both hands as she watched a blur of bodies, magic, and questionable choices explode across the floor. It had been about a week since Natsu had dragged her—literally—into Fairy Tail, and even now, her eyes couldn't keep up.
A chair flew overhead.
A fireball followed.
Then Gray retaliated with an ice hammer that shattered into glittery shards.
Just another Thursday morning.
Lucy let out a helpless laugh. "I still can't believe I joined Fairy Tail…"
From behind the bar, Mira looked up from polishing a mug, her ever-gentle smile glowing like sunlight. "Oh? Already feeling sentimental, Lucy?"
Lucy turned to her, cheeks pink. "Well—it's just… everyone here is so lively. And kind. And… unpredictable."
Mira giggled. "That's Fairy Tail for you. I'm glad you're coming along well."
Lucy nodded enthusiastically. "I've met almost everyone by now! Natsu's… Natsu. Gray is nice even though he keeps forgetting clothes, Happy is adorable, and everyone else has been so welcoming!"
"Oh?" Mira leaned on the bar, her blue eyes playful. "Almost everyone?"
Lucy blinked. "There's more?"
Mira ticked names off her fingers. "Erza, Laxus, the thunder god tribe,Mystogan, Gildarts,Kai."
Lucy froze. "Wait so many? I've never even heard their names!"
"That's normal," Mira chirped.
"That's… normal?"
"Mhm. Some people rarely stay in the guild for long—like Gildarts. Others avoid attention—like Mystogan. Laxus only comes to take missions " Her voice softened. "And then there's Kai, who has presence problems."
"Presence problems?" Lucy echoed.
"Presence problems." Mira nodded solemnly. "People forget he exists even when he's standing right next to them. He moves quietly, avoids confrontation, and somehow slips past everyone without meaning to."
Lucy's brows knitted. "So… he's shy?"
Mira laughed. "Oh no. Not even close. You'll see."
Before Lucy could ask more, a sudden—
THUD
—shook the guild hall.
The sound was heavy enough to silence Natsu mid-tackle, make Gray freeze halfway through stripping, and force Cana to lower her barrel of alcohol with genuine confusion.
Everyone turned.
A table near the center of the guild had collapsed into splinters. Dust puffed into the air. A pair of long legs stuck out from the wreckage.
Then a groan.
"...nnnh… what time is it…?"
Lucy gasped. "Is someone hurt?!"
But the guild reacted with the total absence of panic reserved for people who were used to unbelievable nonsense.
Half the room laughed.
The other half looked relieved.
"Ah! Kai's back!"
"That explains the noise!"
"Did he fall off the roof again?"
Lucy blinked rapidly. Roof…? Again?
A figure slowly emerged from the smashed table like an exhausted sloth rising from hibernation. He pushed the debris aside with one hand and sat up, golden eyes half-lidded and unfocused as if he were still dreaming.
Lucy took him in:
Tall—easily over six feet.
Broad-shouldered, lean, clearly strong.
Brown hair slicked back except for a few rebellious bangs golden eyes overall attractive.
Dark wrappings around his forearms and calves.
Beads coiled around his right arm.
A small tinkering pouch hooked at his hip.
Behind him, the morning light through the windows cast his shadow long and strange.
He blinked again, rubbing one eye.
"What… time is it?" he repeated, voice low and lazy.
Natsu burst into laughter. "HAH! Kai! You fell again!"
Gray snorted. "He sleeps like a dead bat. Who even naps on a roof?"
"Someone with no self-preservation instincts," Levy muttered, pushing up her glasses.
Lucy whispered to Mira, "That's him…?"
Mira nodded fondly. "Mhm. That's Kai."
Kai finally noticed the circle of guild members staring down at him. He looked unimpressed by their concern—or lack thereof.
"Oh. Morning." He stretched with a yawn that cracked his joints. "Didn't mean to drop in. Roof was comfy."
"You dropped in on a table " Cana said, already grabbing bottles to begin betting. "It died a hero also it's already afternoon dumbass can't even see the time now can you."
Kai made a noncommittal hum to cana" Sure fatass if I was as unemployed as you i would surely be looking at clock every time.
Natsu leaned forward eagerly. "When'd you get here? I didn't even smell you!"
"I walked in with Mira this morning," Kai replied, pointing at her with a lazy two-finger salute. "Was sleepy. Didn't have time to greet you."
Mira blinked. "You walked in with me?"
"Yup."
"But—I didn't see you at all."
Kai shrugged. "Tell me something i don't know."
Mira opened her mouth to question it when Kai casually added:
"And no, I didn't see you sneak into the second-floor bathroom to change."
Mira went pale. "I—YOU—How—?!"
Kai waved a hand dismissively. "Relax. I wasn't looking. Just passed by."
"I didn't even sense you!" Mira said, sweating. "How do you always sneak around like this?"
Lucy leaned close. "Is he… a ghost?"
"No," Mira whispered, "just Ghost like."
Kai's "presence problem" was infamous. People walked into him, talked around him, forgot he existed—and he wasn't even trying. He simply moved so lightly that most forgot he was there until he spoke.
Gray crossed his arms, scowling. "Creepy as hell, man. Who sleeps on rooftops like that and even falls down you really are like a dead bat?"
Kai slowly turned to him with the deadest, driest look Lucy had ever seen.
Gray, who at that very moment was wearing nothing but his underwear, blinked back.
Kai drawled, "I don't want to hear the word creepy from a man who can't stay clothed for longer than ten minutes."
The guild roared with laughter.
Natsu laughed loudest " hey the ice stripper is right you are very frea—until Kai vanished.
Not "ran."
Not "moved fast."
Vanished.
Like a shadow flickering out of existence.
Lucy's jaw dropped. "W-what—?!"
Half a second later, Kai reappeared near the mission board, holding—
"A-AHHHH!"
—the lone pair of underwear Gray was currently missing.
Lucy shrieked, Mira shrieked, Levy shrieked—half the girls pointed in horror as Gray suddenly realized he was standing there with nothing on.
"MY UNDERWEAR!!"
He cupped both hands over himself and screamed.
Natsu howled. "Gahahaha!! Gray! You're totally naked!!"
Then his laugh abruptly cut.
Kai looked at natsu calmly." Were you going to say something to me natsu".
Natsu covers his mouth and pants shaking his head.
Gray, still holding a table as a makeshift cover, roared, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU SHADOW FREAK!!"
Kai stuck his tongue out. "Come and try, Ice Princess."
The fight was on.
Gray charged, barefoot and furious. Cana cheered and immediately started taking bets, her barrel clutched like a child hugging a plush toy.
"100 Jewels on Gray!"
"500 on Kai!"
"10,000 on Gray losing horribly!"
"500 on gray winning."
Meanwhile as this was happening gray holding a table was running after kai who was skipping around, footsteps light and playful almost out of reach. He almost danced, weaving through chairs and people with casual grace.
Lucy stared in disbelief. "How does someone that big move like that?!"
Levy whispered, "Shadow Monk. Don't fight him hand-to-hand unless you want to donate your pride to the floor."
Gray, excitable and humiliated, threw down a freezing spell.
"Ice-Make: Floor!!"
The planks iced over instantly, gleaming dangerously. Kai's next step slid out from under him.
"Aha! GOT YOU!" Gray lunged.
For one split second, Kai tilted backward, balance gone.
Then he smirked flipped—smooth, effortless, one-handed—straight into a handstand and pushed himself off the floor and right above gray.
Gray, already mid-jump, had no time to react. Kai's feet landed squarely on his shoulders.
Gray's eyes widened as his balance broke.
"Oh no."
He slid.
Straight forward.
Face first.
"GAH—!!"
His body skidded across the ice, plowing a long path that glittered like a freshly carved skating rink.
Kai rode atop his back like a lazy surfer, one hand idly holding Gray's hair to keep the poor man's face from scraping the entire way.
Levy dropped her book laughing. Cana nearly fell off her chair. Natsu, laughing on the floor, pointed weakly tears in eyes .
"K-Kai… gray y-you're both such loser… pfft—!"
His laugh was cut short as kai flicked his hand holding the underwear and suddenly natsu felt something go into his mouth before the realisation kicked in as his enchanced dragon Slayer senses kicked in his face turning green as he fell down gagging whole others stared in horror and pity.
Kai hopped off just before Gray hit the wall.
Gray lay there twitching.
The guild applauded laughing.
Kai gave a theatrical bow.
Lucy whispered, "Is this normal…?" looking at the gagging natsu who lay unconscious.
Mira sighed. "I'm afraid so."
Gray staggered back to his feet, weaponizing shame into fury. "You little—!!"
He lunged at kai again with a left hook.
Kai didn't even blink.
SLAP
His right hand flicked out, redirecting the punch with casual precision.
Gray roared, going for the right hook—faster this time.
SLAP
Kai redirected that too, but instead of letting Gray reset, he seized Gray's wrist with his left hand, pulled him in, and—
CRACK
A backhand struck Gray's cheek. The impact twisted his head sideways.
Before Gray's body could even process pain, Kai shifted, stepping forward with perfect footwork.
His heel came up.
Gray's eyes widened.
"Oh shi—"
WHAM
Kai's front kick hit his solar plexus dead-on.
Gray flew backward like a ragdoll.
Over one table.
Through a second.
Then a third.
He landed in a heap, groaning.
The entire exchange had taken… two seconds.
Silence fell.
Someone whispered, "...yeah, he should've used magic."
Another muttered, "Even Laxus doesn't fight Kai barehanded."
Lucy was speechless. "He's… terrifying."
Mira pinched the bridge of her nose, surveying the carnage—shattered tables, cracked floors, scorch marks from Natsu's laughter-flame accident, and one unconscious Gray.
She exhaled.
"Kai," she said sweetly.
Kai looked over, unbothered. "Hmm?"
"You know you're going to have to pay for all of this, right?"
Kai blinked slowly.
Then he shrugged.
"I'll do it eventually."
Mira's eye twitched. Lucy had no idea why that specific phrasing made half the guild groan.
Mira sighed. "Kai… your 'eventually' magic is going to haunt me."
He gave her a lazy smile. "It already does."
Everyone laughed. Even Lucy couldn't help it.
Mira shook her head fondly. "Lucy?"
Lucy jumped. "Y-yes?!"
"Welcome officially," Mira said, gesturing at the disaster with open arms. "To Fairy Tail."
Lucy looked over the chaos—Gray unconscious, Natsu retching, Kai stretching like he hadn't just assaulted half the guild, Cana collecting money, and the rest cheering.
She smiled.
"Yeah," she whispered. "This… feels like home."