The boy's startled shout and the old man's furious roar rang out one after the other.
Looking at the short old man whose chest was heaving with rage, the boy rubbed his chin in annoyance and muttered,
"Well, yeah, now that I think about it, the Third Hokage only had a high hairline. He wasn't actually bald yet."
"Who are you calling bald! My hair is still very thick, my hairline has just gone a bit higher, that's all!"
The old man jumped up and down as he yelled, but from where the boy stood, his head was already a sunken basin, with only two sad little strips of hair on the sides stubbornly holding the line.
The boy's lips twitched downward. He struggled hard to suppress the urge to laugh, then lowered his voice and offered an apology.
"Sorry, I mistook you for someone else, Grandpa Ultra-High Hairline."
'Damn brat, really asking for a beating.'
Inwardly, Makarov, who was in truth the Third Guild Master of Fairy Tail, cursed with a trembling fist.
"Enough, you little punk. I am Makarov. If you still want to get out of here, then follow me."
With that, Makarov huffed childishly, turned around and strode off.
What he did not see was the way the boy's expression went blank the moment he heard that name, and how his body slowly started to tremble.
'M... Makarov? Isn't that a character from Fairy Tail? So I didn't transmigrate into Dragon Ball, I actually came to the world of Fairy Tail!'
Staring at the old man's back, the boy began to inspect him carefully.
Unlike the clown-like outfit he wore the first time he appeared in the anime, this Makarov wore a white coat trimmed all over with white fur. On his shoulders rested golden epaulettes with yellow tassels. Underneath was an inner layer lined with purple, and below he wore deep blue pants tucked into dark brown high boots.
'No doubt about it, this is Makarov from Fairy Tail. And judging from his clothes, he's probably just on his way back from some meeting outside! This is great. It's not Dragon Ball, it's Fairy Tail. From today on, I am invincible!'
In an instant, the dark clouds that had been hanging over the boy's head dispersed. A ray of light called hope broke through the overcast sky and poured over him.
...
"What on earth are you doing, brat?"
Makarov, who was walking ahead to lead the way, had gone a few steps when he realized there were no footsteps behind him. He turned around in confusion.
What he saw was that infuriating little brat standing there with his eyes closed, face lifted to the heavens, arms spread wide as though he had just been saved by a divine revelation. His whole expression screamed bliss.
As if to echo his good mood, even the tail he had previously wrapped around his waist had loosened and was now freely swaying behind him in delight.
"Eh? A t-tail... a tail!!!"
The old man was so shocked that even his snot slipped out without him noticing. He hurriedly rubbed his eyes, then focused again to make sure that the thing wagging left and right was indeed growing out of the boy's lower back. Only then did he fall deep into thought.
'According to legend, fairies take the form of children and move about in forests. Could I have run into a real fairy?'
"No, no, no, that's impossible."
He shook his head sharply and fixed his gaze once more on that tail.
'No matter how you look at it, that's a monkey tail. It has nothing to do with fairies at all. So this must be some special race? Yes, that has to be it.'
Having made up his own explanation, Makarov wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief.
"So that's it. Not a fairy. Gave this old man a scare."
Whether he was a fairy or not, the boy's rudeness only made Makarov more interested in this little brat.
At that moment, the boy had finally finished silently giving thanks to whatever god of transmigration had sent him to this world, and to that glorious semi-truck. He lowered his head again.
In that instant, their gazes met. Realizing they were both looking at each other, the two of them, after an initial beat of awkwardness, instantly showed their brightest smiles.
"Um..." *2
They spoke at the same time. Following the fine tradition of respecting one's elders, the boy gestured for Makarov to go first.
Clearing his throat, Makarov clasped his hands behind his back and walked up to the boy, smiling as he asked,
"Young man, I forgot to ask. What is your name?"
"My name, huh?"
The boy had already decided to abandon his old name the moment he realized he had transmigrated, and give himself a new one to mark the beginning of his new life.
"Kabe. Just call me Kabe."
It was a name he had chosen to fit his new Saiyan identity, taken from the English word "cabbage."
Makarov obviously did not catch that little detail. He focused on something else entirely.
'Kabe? Only a given name, no family name? Is he like those kids in the guild with no parents?'
He knew that asking might touch on memories the boy would rather not revisit, but Makarov still voiced the question.
"And your family? How did you end up in this forest?"
To the first question, Kabe only shook his head and said nothing.
To the second, he casually made something up.
"I was hungry and came into the forest to hunt some prey. Then I got lost."
As he spoke, Kabe's stomach let out a perfectly timed, thunderous growl.
Makarov sighed inwardly, heart aching a little.
'Another poor child... Still, this might be for the best. Kids without parents are much easier to lure into the guild.'
With that thought, Makarov took the initiative to extend his hand and invite him.
"Since you have nowhere to go, how about coming to my guild, Fairy Tail? It isn't particularly luxurious or refined, but there are lots of kids your age there. You can make friends, and you can treat everyone in the guild as your family."
Facing the outstretched hand of the short old man who was still shorter than he was, Kabe's expression softened. His right hand curled into a fist for a moment, then he slowly stretched it out.
Seeing this, a smile had just begun to rise at the corner of Makarov's lips when Kabe stuck out his pinky and casually dug at his nose.
"Mm... sounds pretty nice, I guess. But joining a guild is kind of boring. To be honest, I'm super strong. In the future, I'm planning to found my own guild and even snag a spot among the Ten Wizard Saints while I'm at it. I've even decided on the guild's name. It'll be called Saiyan Tail. How about it, sounds cool, right?"
Makarov: #
Makarov could not hold it in anymore. He prided himself on having seen every kind of difficult brat there was, especially since his own guild was full of them. But such an infuriating kid, one who made him actually want to start swinging, this Kabe was definitely the first.