As time went on, the park got more and more crowded, with pretty much all the guild members showing up. The once-empty lawn turned lively and bustling.
Lucy was munching on the other foods in front of her—everything except the cookies was absolutely delicious, making her rave about each bite.
A blue figure sauntered over slowly, and Lucy immediately stopped mid-chew. Her eyes darted around, a smile spreading across her face as she grabbed the basket with its special pattern and called out, "Happy, want some cookies?"
Happy trotted over with a few quick steps, tilting his head. "Lucy made cookies herself?"
"Nah, these are Mira's," Lucy said with a laugh, waving her hand. "Mine aren't bad, but they're nowhere near as good as hers."
"Mira… made them?" Happy's tail, which had been swishing lazily behind him, froze stiff. After a few seconds, he forced a smile and stepped forward.
"S-Sure! Mira's cooking is the best!"
He approached, sniffing subtly a few times, his eyes scanning the basket with the special pattern.
He expertly avoided a few "suspicious" ones, grabbing several "safe" cookies and stuffing them into his mouth, mumbling praise through the crumbs: "Yum! Just like Mira's cookies!"
(=_=) ???
Three giant question marks popped up over Lucy's head as she watched Happy chow down one after another without a single "surprise." She was deeply suspicious.
How did this guy dodge every tricky one?!
Happy swallowed his mouthful, casually picking up another cookie from the basket and holding it out to Lucy with enthusiasm. "Don't you wanna try this one? It looks super tasty!"
"No way, no way!" Lucy shook her head like a rattle.
"I've had enough! Really!"
"Alright then~" Happy didn't push it, just kept enjoying his cookies leisurely, commenting, "Mmm! There are so many layers of flavor in these. A little spicy, but it blends perfectly with the sweetness. So weirdly good!"
"Huh?" Hearing that piqued Lucy's curiosity again.
Come to think of it—I don't think I've ever gotten a normal-tasting cookie from Mira's basket.
All the other food was great, so maybe… there really are some good ones mixed in?
She hesitated for a moment but couldn't resist her curiosity. Carefully, she picked what looked like a harmless little cookie from the basket and popped it in her mouth. "Pfft! It's… it's so sweet!! Way too sweet!!"
The familiar overload hit her again, like she was drowning in sugar. She scrambled frantically for some water.
Watching her flail, Happy finally lost it. He dropped his cookie, clutched his belly, and rolled around on the mat, bursting into laughter.
"Pfft-hahaha! Lucy tried to trick me with weird-tasting cookies again!"
"I'm a cat! My sense of smell is way better than yours! You're such a dummy, Lucy!"
"Darn it!!" Lucy chugged a big gulp of water, pointing at Happy furiously. "You knew from the start, didn't you?!"
"Of course!" Happy said smugly. "At big gatherings like this, Mira almost always slips in these 'surprise cookies.' I've got experience—I've fallen for it before!"
He patted Lucy's shoulder like an old sage. "By next year's cherry blossom viewing, you can use this trick on the newbies!"
"←_← You're such a—"
Out on the open grass, Makarov hauled over a red raffle box and stood on a small wooden crate, shouting to the noisy crowd below: "Alright, now it's time for the raffle at this year's cherry blossom festival!"
"This year's prizes include the usual guild rewards, plus some rare ones sponsored by three members!!"
"They are—Roger!"
The crowd erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers.
"Daphne!"
More applause, mixed with curious gasps about what the "mad scientist" might contribute.
"And—Kana!!"
The clapping stopped dead, and the atmosphere turned awkward.
Veins popped on Kana's forehead as she shot up from her mat, whirling around to glare at the quick-to-flip crowd. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?! Why'd the applause die when it got to me?!"
Macao shrugged, his face screaming "not our fault," and explained helplessly, "Because whatever you donate is probably some weird gadget you won or magic sealed in cards."
"And knowing the master, he probably rigged it with you already. It won't be anywhere near as practical or valuable as Roger's stuff, and there's an 80% chance it's a prank item—"
Kana opened her mouth but couldn't argue—she'd mostly prepared stuff like that. In the end, she just huffed angrily, plopped back down, grabbed her nearby booze barrel, and took a big swig to drown her sorrows.
"Ahem!" Makarov coughed awkwardly, pulling attention back to the raffle box. "Anyway, let's start the first draw!"
He channeled magic into the box, which spun wildly before spitting out a number.
"Number 3!"
"It's me! It's me!!" Lucy jumped up excitedly, waving her ticket. "I won on the first try!! Lucky!"
She skipped over to Makarov, beaming with anticipation. "Master, Master! What's my prize?"
Makarov handed her a card from beside him. The moment Lucy saw it, a bad feeling crept up.
She took it, read the design and text, and her voice cracked: "S-Slime Summon Card?!"
"It summons five slimes of different elements to use as… food!!? You can eat these things?!"
She whipped around to Kana in disbelief.
"Uh—well, in theory, yeah," Kana said guiltily, hugging her little white pet that was chowing down on meat nearby. "It loves them. Crunchy texture, pretty good actually—"
"(QAQ) So it's dog food?!" Lucy froze, devastated, clutching the card as she trudged back to her spot, totally deflated.
Happy sidled up with a smirk, poking her with his paw. "Lucy, want Lord Happy to kindly tell you how to cook slime for maximum yum?"
"N-No thanks!" Lucy's mouth twitched as she turned away huffily. "Hmph, at least I won something, unlike a certain cat who got zilch!"
"Number 25!" Makarov's voice rang out again.
Happy glanced at his ticket, eyes lighting up, his mouth curling into a grin.
He smugly waved the ticket in Lucy's face, tail held high. "Ya~y! Looks like Lady Luck favors me after all! I won too! And my prize is definitely better than someone's slime!!"
He strutted forward like he owned the place to claim his reward.
He took the card, read it, and thrust it up excitedly, reading aloud on purpose for Lucy to hear: "It's an Illusion Magic Card!! Infuse it with magic, and it creates a super realistic illusion!!"
He glanced at Lucy smugly. "Aw, guess it's not as good as certain people's prizes~ But hey, slime's edible, at least it fills you up, right?"
Lucy's jaw dropped, staring at Happy's card in shock, screaming inside: Why?! How does this dumb cat have such good luck?!
Numbers kept getting called, with cheers of joy or groans of disappointment rippling through the crowd.
Amid the laughter, playing around, and tasty food smells, sunset crept in before anyone noticed.
As the last golden rays vanished over the horizon, the cherry trees in the park lit up from the bottom branches, spreading upward like a ignited rainbow in vibrant colors!
Pink, blue, purple, green, gold—layering in a dreamy spectacle.
"So… beautiful!!" Lucy stared up, her eyes filled with the dazzling lights, completely mesmerized, standing frozen and forgetting to breathe.
A gentle evening breeze stirred, swirling countless colorful petals into a rainbow rain.
The faintly scented petals landed lightly on shoulders, palms, even playfully edging foods and cups.
Everyone kept drinking, playing games like rock-paper-scissors, sharing goodies, and chatting with guild mates in a warm, lively vibe.
As night deepened and stars filled the sky, the annual cherry blossom festival slowly wrapped up, leaving everyone satisfied yet reluctant to say goodbye.
Half a month later, Happy had just bought some fish and was flying back to the guild leisurely with his bag when he heard an angry "Meow!" and a man's low growl from a nearby alley.
Curious, he flew over for a peek and saw Gajeel standing there looking roughed up, fresh red scratches on his face.
One guy, one cat—eyes locked.
Next second, Happy pointed at Gajeel's face, clutched his belly, and burst into merciless laughter: "Pfft-hahaha! Gajeel! This is the third time I've caught you getting scratched by a cat!"
"Hilarious! You're an iron dragon slayer! How do you keep getting mauled by cats? You're such a klutz! Haha!"
Three big "#" marks popped on Gajeel's forehead as he roared in embarrassed fury: "None of your business if cats scratch me! And why do I always run into you, you dumb cat?! You stalking me or what?!"
"Aye~" Happy shrugged innocently, his tone super annoying. "I've got better things to do than stalk you. It's just that every time you mess with cats, you make such a racket—I can't ignore it even if I try~"
"You little—!" Gajeel grit his teeth, but something clicked. He swallowed his anger, coughed awkwardly, lowered his voice, and asked stiffly: "Hey—uh, cat, how'd you first meet that fire dragon? And the white cat with the little girl, too—"
"Us?" Happy scratched his cheek with a paw. "We were still in eggs when Natsu and Wendy found us."
"Eggs?!!" Gajeel's eyes bulged like bells. "Cats hatch from eggs?! You pulling my leg?!"
"So dramatic," Happy said sagely, waving a paw. "We're not ordinary cats. According to Lisa, we're called 'Exceed,' and in another world, they're known as 'angels' or something. Sounds pretty awesome."
"Another world? Exceed? Angels?" Gajeel was totally confused, his brain spinning. "Lisa—that's Raj's sister, right? How does she know about other worlds?"
Happy opened his mouth to explain, but seeing Gajeel's puzzled yet curious look, plus remembering his weird cat-approaching antics, his eyes narrowed into slits with a mischievous grin: "Oh! I get it now!"
"So, Gajeel, you saw Natsu and Wendy with cats, and you're the only dragon slayer without one, so you're jealous? Envious? Trying to find your own buddy?"
"O-Of course not! Who'd be jealous of those two?!"
Gajeel's cheeks flushed faintly as his voice shot up in denial. He crossed his arms, trying to play it cool, and turned to stomp off.
"Hmph! I've got stuff to do. Later!"
Watching Gajeel practically flee, Happy rubbed his chin with a paw, smirking triumphantly: "Ya~y! My charm's unbeatable! Natsu should feel honored he picked me up~"
Humming a off-key tune, he floated out of the alley in a great mood, fish bag in tow.
But as he turned the corner, he "thud" smacked face-first into a solid chest.
"Ow! That hurt!" Happy rubbed his sore nose, tears welling up, and looked up to complain. "Roger! You're way too hard!"
"Oh my~" Mira teased with a smile from the side. "Happy, you can't just say that~"
Happy: "=_= That's not what I meant, Mira!"
Erza, on the other side, got a question mark over her head and asked seriously: "Why can't Happy say it? Isn't he just complaining that Roger's muscles are too hard and it hurt when he bumped into him?"
"Mmm~" Mira nodded lightly, smiling meaningfully. "Sure, let's go with that, Erza~"
"Anyway," Roger said with a laugh, ruffling Happy's head to change the subject as Erza looked ready to probe more. "What were you giggling about over there? So zoned out you didn't even see me."
"Hehe!" Happy perked up, forgetting the bump. "I just ran into Gajeel! That guy's totally jealous of Natsu having a cute, smart, super handsome cat like me, so he's out looking for one."
"But he keeps picking fights with strays that don't like him, and ends up with a scratched face!"
He leaned in conspiratorially (though everyone could hear): "Get this—I've caught him at it not once, but three times! Three whole times!!"
Happy smugly smoothed his sleek fur, tossing his head with a "lonely at the top" sigh: "Ah, being this popular is such sweet trouble~"
"Mmm," Mira nodded, teasing: "That sounds a lot like something Lucy would say."
"You've been hanging with her so long, you're picking up her habits."
"Huh?!" Happy froze like he'd been struck by lightning. Thinking back—yeah, it kinda was!
He clutched his cat face in horror with both paws, his blue fur puffing out as he wailed: "Nooo! Am I really turning as dumb as Lucy?! I don't wanna!!!"
"You—called—who—dumb—?!"
A voice full of murderous intent hissed in Happy's ear, squeezed through gritted teeth.
Thunk!
With a crisp smack, a huge lump swelled on Happy's head visibly.
"Ow!!" Happy yelped, tears streaming as he clutched his head and zipped away, staring back in shock.
At Lucy, who'd somehow appeared behind him, fist clenched and smoke practically coming from her forehead.
"L-Lucy?! How'd you get behind me?!" Happy pointed a trembling paw like he'd uncovered a huge secret.
"You—you've been stalking me?!"
He glanced sideways, muttering in what he thought was a whisper (but everyone heard): "Didn't expect this—Lucy's evolved from 'thief' to 'creepy stalker'!"
"Scary."
"I—HEARD—THAT!" Lucy ground her teeth, veins pulsing on her forehead, fists cracking.
"Who'd stalk a loudmouth dumb cat like you!!"
She took a deep breath to calm down. "I was just heading to the guild after shopping this way! Your voices carried right to me!"
"Sigh~" Happy shook his head like he understood it all, shrugging sagely. "Eavesdropping on conversations? Bad habit, Lucy~ Guys hate that. Better quit while you're ahead."
Lucy's mouth twitched violently, her sanity fraying, "#" marks on her fists.
"Your voice was too loud!!" she roared, word by word.
"And! I've got tons of admirers! They'd line up around Magnolia! Don't—worry—about—me!!"
"Lucy? Tons of admirers?" Happy eyed her up and down, then snorted skeptically through his nose: "Pfft—yeah right."
"You jerk, what's that supposed to mean?!!!" Lucy snapped completely, golden light bursting around her!
The glow faded, and she was in her Aquarius star dress, water swirling around her.
"Take this!" She swung her arm, hurling countless water balls like cannon fire at Happy!
Happy dodged left and right with his small, agile body, evading effortlessly while yelling: "Whoa! Hit a sore spot about your lack of charm!"
"Lucy's raging to silence me!! Help! Creepy stalker's gone berserk!!"
Passersby shot amused, curious looks, whispering and pointing.
Lucy's face turned beet red—half anger, half embarrassment.
"Stand still if you dare! I'll catch you and toss you in the river for fish food!"
"You lying jerk cat!!!" She stomped her foot, forgetting all decorum, and chased after Happy's fleeing direction.
All that echoed down the street was Happy's annoying cackle and Lucy's furious roars.
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