Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Balsam Village.
July 14, x790.
"So, this is the inn Lunar's family owns, huh?" Elicia said as she looked up at the building in front of her and the other four wizards of Fairy Tail. "It's quite luxurious."
As Elicia said, the building in front of her, Alfonzo, Marin, Sun, and Brandish was an elegant, Japanese-style building constructed with wood. There were two floors, a wooden veranda surrounding the first floor. IN the front of the building, the courtyard was furnished with several gazebos, a rock garden, and a bamboo forest in one corner, as well. There was also a tall wooden fence surrounding the entire property.
"Yup!" Sun said excitedly. "They have a lot of baths, too. And their all really nice, ya see?"
"If they weren't, I would be disappointed." Brandish said in her usual tone.
"Well, let's go check in." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Then, we can enjoy the hot springs."
"Yeah, besides, we still haven't gotten an answer to the most important question." Marin said with a grin. "Is there a mixed-bath, or not?"
While Elicia and Sun nodded their heads, curious to know the answer to Marin's question, Brandish rolled her eyes. Alfonzo, on the other hand, only shook his head before taking the first step towards the inn's front door.
With Alfonzo taking the lead, Elicia, Marin, Sun, and Brandish were quick to follow. Before long, they reached the entrance and stepped through the front doors.
"Welcome." A middle-aged woman wearing a kimono with her hair styled into a bun said, welcoming the guests. "How may I--- Oh! Miss Sun, what a pleasant surprise."
"Hi, Aunt Yumi." Sun said cheerfully. "Long time, no see."
"Indeed." The proprietress, Yumi, said with a smile. "I believe it has been ten years since I last saw you. According to Miss Lunar, you joined a guild since the last time you were here. And just the other day, I saw you were a member of the team that won the Grand Magic Games this year. So, I would assume you have been doing well since then."
"I have." Sun replied with a smile. "I got married since then, too."
Reaching that point, Sun grabbed Alfonzo's arm and pulled him towards Yumi.
"And this is my husband, Alfonzo Marcus." Sun said, introducing Alfonzo to her old acquaintance. She then turned back and gestured to Elicia and Marin. "And these are two of his other wives, Elicia and Marin."
With Sun's introduction, both Elicia and Marin stepped forward and greeted Yumi. Then, Sun turned to Brandish.
"And this is our friend and guild mate, Brandish." Sun said, introducing the last member of the group. "She's also the fifth member of our Grand Magic Games' team."
With Sun's introduction, Brandish only nodded her head. Yumi nodded in return. Then, she turned to Sun again.
"So, shall I book a room for you and your... family?" Yumi asked.
"Actually, we already have a reservation." Elicia said. "I booked it last week. "
"Hmm..." Yumi hummed as she looked away from the guests and down at her guest ledger. "What's the name on the reservation, Ma'am?"
"Elicia Marcus Taylor." Elicia said happily.
"Elicia Marcus... Taylor..." Yumi said while looking through the ledger. However, when she registered the name Elicia said, her eyes opened wide in shock. Then, her head snapped up to stare at Elicia. "You! You're the owner of the Taylor Shop, aren't you?"
"Yup! That's me." Elicia said happily.
An excited smile appeared on Yumi's face. Then, she came out from behind the counter and ran in front of Elicia and grabbed the magic Seamstress' hands.
"Please, I would like to put in an order for new uniforms for the staff of at inn." Yumi said while shaking Elicia's hands vigorously.
Elicia could only smile wryly while not knowing what to do.
Seeing this, Alfonzo tried his best not to laugh at Elicia. A moment later, he got his urges under control. Then, he stepped forward and spoke.
"I'm sure Lici would be willing to take your order later." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "But right now, we're kind of on vacation after the Grand Magic Games, you know? So, we'd like to check into our room."
Yumi froze in place after hearing Alfonzo. Then, she began to blush in embarrassment, realizing that she had lost herself in trying to fulfill the leader of the Edomae Group's, Lunar's father's, orders to get the inn's uniforms upgraded. Unfortunately, before today, she did not have time, as there were many people who were commuting from Balsam Village each day to watch the Grand Magic Games. Then, they decided to stay for a few more days to enjoy the hot springs while they were here. So, she simply did not have the time to place the order.
"Yes." Yumi said as she let go of Elicia's hands. She then took a step back and pretended to straighten out any wrinkles in her kimono. "Please excuse me. You're right. Allow me to lead you to your room."
Then, without giving anyone the chance to speak on what just happened, Yumi turned around and started walking towards the inn's interior, her pace making it easy for the five Fairy Tail wizards to catch up.
Despite the slow pace at which Yumi walked, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, Sun, and Brandish did not follow her immediately. Instead, they all exchanged glances. Then, while everyone chuckled and Brandish's lips twitched, they finally started following Yumi. And when they saw how red Yumi's ears were as they walked behind her, Alfonzo's, Elicia's, Marin's, and Sun's chuckling turned into full-blown laughter while Brandish's twitching lip turned into a smile.
Along the way, the group got their laughter under control and Yumi's embarrassment faded, though it was not gone completely, and the group eventually reached the room, after climbing the stairs to the second floor. When they did, Yumi slid open the shoji.
"This is your room." Yumi said, her professional smile finally making it back onto her face. "This is our inn's most luxurious room, as it has several separate sleeping areas, its own hot spring pool, sent through pipes from underground, as well as a balcony overlooking the courtyard."
Impressed by the description of the room, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, Sun, and Brandish stepped inside and looked around while Yumi bowed slightly at the room's entrance. After a quick look around the room, they all turned back to Yumi and nodded in approval.
"It's great." Elicia said happily.
"Uh huh!" Marin intoned with a smile on her face. "This week is gonna be so relaxing."
"I'm satisfied." Brandish said casually, her usual tone on full display.
"Now, let's go to the hot springs!" Sun said, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.
Seeing how excited the ladies were, Alfonzo could not help smiling. He then turned to look at Yumi once again and decided to ask the question that Marin and the other ladies had been concerned about.
"So, is there a mixed bath in this inn?" Alfonzo asked with a smile.
Hearing Alfonzo's question, Elicia, Marin, and Sun all had their eyes light up. Meanwhile, Brandish blushed minutely. Yumi, on the other hand, smiled, as she knew that three of the four women in the room were Alfonzo's wives. And from what she could tell, Brandish had an interest in Alfonzo, as well. Though, she was not sure if that interest was romantic due to Brandish's usual bored expression.
"We do." Yumi said, causing the girls' reactions to intensify. "But unlike the many other kinds hot spring baths, the mixed bath must be booked in advance."
Yumi then reached into the sleeve of her kimono and pulled out a small notebook before slipping it open.
"Would you like to book a time slot?" Yumi asked while looking down into the book.
"Yes, please!" Marin said happily.
"Hmm... Let's see." Yumi said while flipping pages until she reached the one for today's date. "We have openings from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. to closing, which is at 11 p.m. By the way, all the baths are closed from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. for cleaning. Though, you're free to use the bath in your room at any time. We'll clean it when we clean the rooms each day, though."
"Understood." Alfonzo replied with a nod. He then turned his attention to his wives, not sure if Brandish would be willing to take a bath with him, since they were not in any sort of romantic relationship. So, when do you wanna hit the bath?"
Elicia, Marin, and sun cheered in response, while Brandish simply nodded her head. Seeing that, Alfonzo Then, he turned to Yumi once again while pulling his lPhone out of his pocket to check the time.
"Our timing was good." Alfonzo muttered while looking down at the time. "Because we stopped at the restaurant, it's almost 2. So, can we book the mixed bath for an hour at 2?"
"Of course." Yumi said while pulling a pen out of her sleeve and jotting down the booking in her note book.
On a side note, the notebook in Yumi's hand was one of a set of magical items that were distributed to all those responsible for booking times for the mixed baths. That way, if a change was made to it, it would be transcribed into all the notebooks. As a result, there would be no double bookings.
In fact, the inn staff carried more than one of these notebooks, that way, room service orders, room reservations, and other services could be made known to all the staff responsible for such things.
"Then, if you would follow me." Yumi said after putting the notebook away. "I'll lead you to the baths."
With that, Yumi bowed and gestured out of the room. However, the five Fairy Tail wizards did not exit the room immediately. Instead, they put their luggage in the rooms they intended to stay in. Though, that was after taking their bags from Alfonzo, who was carrying all of them.
Once the bags were in place, the six made their way down to the inns first floor. Then, they walked through the corridors until they came across three large entrances with curtains hanging in front of them. Each of the curtains, from right to left, had the words male, mixed, and female embroidered on them.
"We have arrived." Yumi said. "As I mentioned, the mixed baths must be reserved. However, feel free to take a dip in the baths for each gender whenever you like during the operating hours. As for your clothing, you can put them in the baskets in the changing room. Our staff will come by at the end of your reservation and wash them for you. Then, they will be returned to your room once they are dry."
"Thanks, Aunt Yumi." Sun said cheerfully. Then, she grabbed Alfonzo's arm and started pulling him towards the mixed bath. "Now, let's get going. I wanna take a bath."
Smiling at his wife's antics, Alfonzo allowed himself to be dragged along, he and Sun the first to enter the changing room. Shortly afterwards, Elicia made her way into the changing room with a smile on her face, as well.
Marin was about to follow them. However, she noticed that Brandish was hesitating. So, once Yumi bowed and returned to her duties, she sidled up to her indecisive friend.
"It's okay if your uncomfortable with this, you know?" Marin said. "You don't have to force yourself to be like the rest of us. We're all his wives, after all. But that's not the same for you. You're a friend, a teammate, and a guild mate."
"I know that." Brandish replied in her usual tone. "I'm just not sure what I want."
Although Marin had teased Brandish about wanting to dominate Alfonzo when they were in Crocus, she knew that was just one of Brandish's kinks, stemming from liking to be in control of a situation. As for wanting to be with Alfonzo, Marin knew that Brandish was not sure about her feelings. Especially after reuniting with and clearing the misunderstanding about Lucy, Lucy's mother, Layla, her mother, Grammi, and herself. Brandish had been influenced by all of Lucy's stories about her time with Alfonzo ever since they met about three years ago.
Unfortunately, all those stories did was confuse Brandish's feelings. Though, it would be a lie to say that Brandish had not grown rather fond of Alfonzo because of them. But were those feelings romantic? She could not say.
"Well, if you want to join us, we won't decline." Marin said. "But don't do anything that would make yourself uncomfortable, okay?"
In response, Brandish nodded. Then, she watched as Marin entered the mixed bath to join Alfonzo, Elicia, and Sun, leaving her standing in the corridor with a contemplative expression on her face.