Thinking about food made his stomach start growling loudly, and he could almost smell the aroma drifting out of the guild hall already.
'Hold it together, just a little more. No way I am collapsing right before the finish line.'
Gritting his teeth, Kabe forced his body, pushed to its limit by hunger and exhaustion, to keep going. Bit by bit, he "walked" toward the Fairy Tail guild.
After a few more handstand steps, he suddenly felt himself bump into something.
He strained to lift his head. With his blood having flowed upside down for so long, and sweat running into his eyes, his vision was blurry. All he could make out was the hem of a black robe hanging down over a small body, and a pair of dainty black leather boots.
"S-sorry, I was not watching where I was going."
The owner of the little boots, a white haired girl in a black robe with two floppy ear like decorations hanging from the hood, was clearly seeing this kind of weirdo for the first time.
"N-no, it is fine. Go on."
She stepped to the side to let him pass, then watched this strange person laboriously "walk" on his hands, one step at a time, all the way through the doors of Fairy Tail.
'Eh, that weirdo is a guild member too?'
The thought had barely formed when the girl's gaze dimmed. Her slender left hand crept up to cover her right arm.
'Heh. A demon like me actually calling someone else a freak.'
She gave herself a bitter little joke in her heart, silently apologized to that guy, then stepped through the doors of Fairy Tail as well.
...
Inside, Kabe forced himself across the threshold of the guild. The moment he passed the doorway, he could not hold on any longer. His body crashed heavily onto the floor.
"Water, food, anything is fine, just bring me something, please!"
After a heartbeat of silence, the guild exploded into noise again.
"Ah, Kabe is back. Hang in there, you can have my fried rice first."
"Oi, oi, oi, what did you pull this time, you crazy brat? Why do you always look like you are on death's door whenever you come back?"
"It has been two years and you still have not changed. Keep this up and we will all die of fright from you before we die of old age."
They complained, but their hands were honest. A few people quickly lifted Kabe and hauled him over to a table, seating him down. Others plunked their plates in front of him one after another.
The barmaid Evie could only smile helplessly and turn back toward the kitchen to have more food prepared.
Seeing all that familiar food laid out after so long, Kabe completely lost control. He grabbed a spoon and shoveled food into his mouth in huge mouthfuls.
Even as he ate, he did not forget to thank the comrades who had helped him.
"Mmff... mmm... thanks... mmph..."
Everyone stared at him in speechless silence. Macao simply smacked him on the back and said,
"Yeah, yeah, just eat. What a troublesome kid."
With that, he waved everyone away.
The slap made Kabe choke. He gulped down two big glasses of water before the food finally went down, then immediately went back to his one man war against the mountain of dishes in front of him.
The white haired girl who had come in after him walked through the door just in time to see that same weirdo sprawled over the table, devouring food.
In the blink of an eye, more than half of an entire table's worth of dishes had vanished into his stomach.
"Wh-what is with this guy? How long has he been starving to eat like that?"
"Mira!"
Her arrival was quickly noticed by a boy and a girl about her age. They abandoned whoever they had been with and ran up to her, calling her name.
"Elfman, Lisanna."
Mirajane pulled her gaze away from Kabe and forced a smile for her younger brother and sister, reaching out to ruffle their hair.
Lisanna clung to her sister's arm, staring at Kabe with wide eyes as he inhaled his food, and squeaked,
"Big Sis, look at that big brother, he is amazing. He is eating so much all at once."
"Y-yeah, really amazing," Mirajane answered stiffly.
In her head, though, she was thinking, 'If he eats that much, is he not going to explode?'
Elfman, who was technically a boy but timid by nature, seemed completely intimidated by Kabe's wild eating style and instinctively hid behind his sister.
Seeing how interested the three siblings were, Cana, who had grown a fair bit taller over the past two years, walked over with a grin to introduce him.
"That idiot is Kabe. Even in our guild, he is a very special kind of weirdo. But all that is just what people outside who do not know him call prejudice."
She giggled.
"In reality, he is super hardworking, easy to talk to, and has a really goofy personality."
She had barely finished when a shout came from outside the guild.
"Kabe, I heard you are back. Fight me. This time I am not going to lose!"
A heartbeat later, the three siblings watched as the boy named Natsu, whom they had met over the last few days, came barreling in with his fists clenched, charging straight at Kabe.
"But you three have to be careful. What Kabe hates most is someone disturbing him while he is eating. Whoever does that... ends up like Natsu."
As Cana spoke, she slid neatly to the side.
The next second, Natsu, who had just reached Kabe's side, was sent flying back the way he had come even faster than he had arrived.
He shot out of the guild like a cannonball and vanished somewhere outside.
The siblings' eyes went round with shock. What stunned them even more was that Kabe had not moved his hands at all when he launched Natsu.
It was the furry, flexible tail behind him that had done the striking.
"Ehh, h-his tail!" all three of them cried at once.
...
"Hic."
"Ahh, I am alive again. I really thought I was going to die this time."
Full and content, Kabe bit down on a toothpick and pulled out the request slip signed off by the client. He walked over to the bar.
"The old man is out again, huh. Evie, can I trouble you to pass this on to him?"
Evie nodded and carefully accepted the slip, then smiled and explained,
"The Master was called out early this morning by the regional guild alliance for a meeting. If you had come back a little earlier, you might have caught him."
"Tch, why would I want to see that old fossil."
After throwing a jab at Makarov, Kabe turned and scanned the guild.
Cana just happened to be walking over then, bringing Mirajane and her siblings along. She called out familiarly,
"Kabe, you idiot, how did you come back this time? Why do you have to make such a big scene every time you return?"
"Oh, Cana. And... some new faces?"
He glanced over the four of them and immediately recognized the cloaked girl as the one he had run into at the guild doors earlier.