[====]-[===]-[====]
"Eh? What do you mean you're no longer on Earth?" Gildarts asked with some confusion, his face scrunching up. "We're in Earth Land right now."
Yoichi sighed, pushing through the fog currently blanketing his mind, to think. 'Its a different world, so it's only correct to assume that some things, like the word Earth, for example, might mean the same thing, but have a different context attached to it.'
He peered at the man sitting casually across from him. The idea of him being an assassin didn't seem nearly as likely anymore, but, just to be safe...
"You're not an assassin sent to kill me, are you?"
Yoichi's words were as blunt as they could possibly be. Whilst he would have preferred to needle Gildarts for information in a far more subtle manner. Sometimes, in a extreme case such as this, being blunt was typically the best way to go about things. It was truly astounding, how so many hired guns in the past, had so readily admitted to being one of Tomura's loyal hounds.
It was a point of pride for many of them, to directly serve under the Emperor, after all.
"An assassin? Ha! What kind of question is that? Kid, do I look like some ninja to you?" Gildarts laughed, taking a small, greedy, sip of his beer. "No, I'm a Fairy Tail mage, the literal furthest thing from an assassin you could get."
"I see..." With a subtle wince, Yoichi placed himself in a more comfortable sitting position, and increased the strength of the pain-nullifying Quirk he currently had active. "Then, you should know, that calling yourself a 'Fairy Tail mage' means nothing to me." He paused for a moment, pondering his next words, then, with a small sigh, he said; "It means nothing to me, because I am from an entirely different world."
Whilst remaining quite about his unique situation was undoubtedly the safer option. His need for information was dire, and showing some honestly, often times went a long way. That, and he had also glimpsed at Gildarts characters through enough Quirks, to already know that this man, was surprisingly a good person.
It was a rare thing to come across someone with such little negativity attached to their body.
"I come from a place known simply as Earth, and where I come from, we don't use terms like 'Mage', 'Guild', or 'Ace' to describe super powered individuals. We have heroes, vigilantes, and villains. With each of us wielding a biological phenomenon known as a Quirk, or a Meta-Ability." He went to further explain. "Have you heard of anything similar in the past?"
From all that he had learnt so far, Yoichi already understood that being labelled as the Ace of a Guild meant that someone was considered equivalent to being the top Hero of an Agency. Which meant they possessed not only fame and power, but also information.
"Sorry kid, but no, I haven't," Gildarts denied with a shake of his head. "But...you're not the first mage I know whose come from a different world. There's a guy in my Guild who goes by the name of Mystogan. From what I remember the Master telling me, he comes from a place known as Edolas, a world that is like a mirror copy of ours, but with practically no magic."
'I haven't heard of Edolas either,' Yoichi thought, tapping his thumb against his chin. 'So, this Earth Land...does it act as some sort of medium area for alternate realities to converge into? He looked over at Gildarts with a thoughtful frown. 'I don't know nearly as much as I would have liked, but, at the very least, Gildarts seems to have some understanding of inter-dimensional travel. It makes this whole situation much less of a hassle to explain.'
"I see...so, you actually use magic?"
Gildarts smirked at him, then, with an almost casual touch, he tapped the log he was sat on. Within an instant, it broke into a thousand different pieces, shattering almost like glass would. It would have been an amazing display, if not in the next second, Gildarts almost comically went tumbling down to join the rubble of his creation.
Yoichi felt a bead of sweat develop on his temple at the sight. 'He's an idiot.'
"You're an idiot, aren't you?"
"Oi! I just saved your life, show some respect you disrespectful brat!" Gildarts exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at him. Yoichi felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment, realising that he had, unintentionally, spoken his thoughts aloud. He opened his mouth to offer an apology, only to stop, as the man across from him suddenly burst out into laughter.
"Ha! You should come with me and join Fairy Tail! With your bluntness, you'd fit right in."
"We're strangers, why would I follow you to some random place I've never even heard of?" Yoichi asked, his opinion of the man slowly dropping lower.
"Oh, come on, live a little! We're not even strangers anymore, we know each others names and all, we're practically friends now!"
"Really? Then, what's my name?" He asked, raising a challenging brow.
Gildarts smiled at him, and opened his mouth, a single breath passed between them, only for spluttering air to come out, as Gildarts finally realised, that Yoichi had never told him his name.
"Well?" Yoichi asked, admittedly feeling some amusement at the mans expense.
"Ah...I have no idea..." He hung his head so low, that Yoichi could almost see the depression radiating from him.
Deciding to spare the man some dignity, he introduced himself for the first time in this new world.
"My name is Shigaraki Yoichi. It's a...pleasure to meet you."
"Shigaraki Yoichi..." Gildarts almost seemed to test how the name sounded on his tongue, before brightly nodding. "...A catchy name, you'll be a real lady killer with something like that."
"What?!" He shouted, feeling genuinely baffled by the response. "Who thinks like that?! Your a damn pervert, aren't you?!"
"Ah, so you're one of those type of guys." Gildarts mused with what could only be a smug grin pulling on his lips.
"One of those guys?! You bastard, I should kick your ass!" He exclaimed, glaring daggers at the prideful man.
Gildarts only let out a boisterous laugh, not at all feeling threatened by him. "Come on! Join Fairy Tail, you'd fit right in with that type of attitude."
"No! I don't even know you! What kind of sales pitch even is that?" Yoichi asked incredulously.
"Well, do you have anywhere else to go?" Gildarts asked, with that same, self-satisfied smirk on his face.
That brought Yoichi pause. Because whether he liked it or not, Gildarts was right. He had no where else to go.
'Damn it, better the devil you know, than the one you don't.' He thought with a grimace.
"Fine," He said through gritted teeth. Gildarts looked happy at his acceptance, but he wasn't finished. "But only if I'll be provided with a shower and somewhere to rest."
Whilst it was rude to make such demands, it was clear that his new companion was set on bringing him along to Fairy Tail. So, the least he could do was try to leverage some basic essentials out of this endeavour.
"Easy enough, you'll get both." Gildarts agreed with no hesitation. Pushing himself up to stand, he dropped the now empty beer bottle into a small black bag, and took off the cloak he was wearing to reveal a simple navy t-shit beneath. "Here, to hide the arm, and to keep away the cold. It can be a bit chilly at this time of year."
Yoichi looked at the cloak as if it had personally offended him. Sighing to himself, he followed Gildarts example, and pushed himself up to stand. His legs shook from exhaustion, but he didn't dare show the effort it took just to stand, making sure to keep his face as impassive as possible.
"Thanks," He said, swiping the cloak out of the mans outstretched arm. With only one arm, it would have been difficult to put the cloak on, but, with a few telekinetic Quirks, it was barely a hassle. Yoichi felt lucky, that he still had his trousers, torn and destroyed as they were. If Gildarts had found him completely naked, the man wouldn't have lived to see nightfall.
As the bearer of both One For All and All For One, he had an image to uphold, after all.
Gildarts, oblivious to his thoughts, only watched him with a curious expression, before offering him a pleased smile once he finished.
"Alright kid, lets go, we're not too far from Magnolia anyways."
"Fine, lead the way, I have questions I want to ask."
"Tch, you're so demanding," Gildarts grumbled under his breath. "You and Mira will get along like a house on fire."
"Who?"
"A devil child, I tell you..."
[-][===][-]
"This place is beautiful," Yoichi commented aloud, looking at the town that Gildarts had brought him to. It felt refreshing to see a place of human occupation that hadn't been wrecked by war. From where he stood, it almost looked peaceful, a stark contrast to his own world.
As it turned out, Gildarts hadn't been wrong with his estimation of their journey time. Within only thirty minutes, they had already reached the outskirts of Magnolia Town, the literal home of Fairy Tail, as he had come to learn.
"It is quite a sight." Gildarts agreed from beside him with a smile.
The sound of a bell being rung reached their ears as they began to approach closer. Yoichi didn't hide his surprise, as ever so quickly, the town began to literal shift before them, moving around as if they were on rail tracks, and creating a singular, contained line towards the brightly coloured building which sat far in the distance.
"Uh, what the hell...?" Whilst Gildarts had warned him of the shift, it was still an astonishing thing to see happen in real time. Turning to the man, he couldn't help but ask, "How terrible must your control over magic be, to cause this?"
"Too blunt," Gildarts muttered petulantly. "Its not my control that's the issue. I just happen to be rather...oblivious, at time."
"At times?" Yoichi couldn't help but raise a brow at the weak response. "I think you mean all the time. To make a port town literally shift to accommodate you, I..." He sighed, falling into step beside the gloomy man as they began to walk. "...Your a lost cause."
"A lost cause?! You're one heartless kid!" Gildarts complained, crossing his arms with a huff.
"Lets add man child to that list too." Yoichi couldn't help but comment.
"Ruthless. Absolutely, ruthless." Gildarts cried. "And here I was thinking of buying you something nice to eat when we reached the Guild."
"On second thought, your quite the nice, and upstanding gentleman." Yoichi shamelessly corrected himself.
"Ha! You brat, I'm not that easy to swindle!" Gildarts exclaimed with another boisterous laugh.
"Are you sure?" Yoichi raised a brow, waving a stack of jewels in his hand. "Though, I guess, its not really swindling, as it is stealing."
"What?! When did you do that?!" He exclaimed, quickly going through his pockets. "Gimme that!"
Yoichi only smirked as the jewels were snatched out of his hand. "You really are quite oblivious. I wasn't even trying to hide what I was doing."
"Your a devil," Gildarts grumbled. "I should get the Master some booze as an apology for bringing you along."
"Your one mean guy, bullying a cripple like this. I should have you reported." Yoichi could only smirk as the man beside him continued to grumble under his breath. With his enhanced hearing, he could hear everything that Gildarts was saying. It worked in lessening the guilt he might feel later on, when he took his jewels to order some food for himself.
It took them only a few minutes more before they reached the entrance of the Guild.
Yoichi gave it a cursory look, noting its bright colours, and somewhat modest design, of having only three floors.
Gildarts turned to look at him with a grin, his earlier moody expression, now gone and replaced, by a bright and excited one. "You ready?"
"Not really. Actually, I have a sudden bad feeling about all of this."
"Eh, you'll be fine." Gildarts waved him off, already positioning himself at the front of the Guild's doors and pulling his leg back.
'He's going to destroy the damn thing, isn't he?' Yoichi could only watch with a detached sort of acceptance, as in the next second, the double doors of the Fairy Tail Guild were not only kicked open, but also entirely crushed, and destroyed, under the magic of Gildarts.
Startled screams echoed from within the Guild, as various cubes made up of wood were sent flying in.
Yoichi could only sigh, wondering what exactly he had gotten himself into, as Gildarts boisterously laughed, and announced his return.