Natsu and Gray had just finished their brutal, blow-for-blow brawl. With a "boom," they slammed onto the guild's wooden floor. Both of their chests were covered in dust, and they lay stiffly side-by-side like two dead fish.
Riyao's eyes lit up instantly, as if sparked by fire. He rubbed his hands together like a fly, and tiny glimmers of emerald-green magic light flickered at his fingertips—the unmistakable excitement of a prankster. He kicked away an empty beer can near his feet and shuffled over to crouch beside Natsu.
"Hey! You blond bastard! What are you planning?" Natsu, who had still been panting heavily, suddenly felt something wrong on top of his head. He jerked his head up to glare at him, his voice still ragged with unresolved breathlessness.
Riyao didn't answer. He simply reached out and pressed his hand onto Natsu's spiky pink hair. An emerald-green magic circle "whooshed" into existence on his palm. Natsu's spiky short hair suddenly "whooshed" and lengthened by half a foot, the tips curling into a playful arc.
"I'm giving you a new hairstyle. I think it'll suit you well." As Riyao spoke, he fished some rubber bands out of his pocket. His fingers flew through Natsu's hair, dividing the spiky pink mess into two sections. With a flick of his wrists, he tied them into two pigtails that stuck straight up in the air. He deliberately tugged the ends to make them flare out, looking just like two agitated rabbit ears.
Gray, who had been lying on the floor rubbing the bruise on his chest, caught sight of this and immediately started convulsing with laughter. Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes as he clutched his stomach and rolled on the floor. "Hahahaha, a pink-pigtailed charcoal head! Are you planning to attend a tea party?!"
"You blond bastard!" Natsu exploded, scrambling to pounce on him, but his legs were weak from the earlier collision, and he fell back onto the floor.
Riyao licked his lips and let out a wicked chuckle. He rubbed his hands together with a "swish-swish" sound, looking just like a weasel stealing a chicken, and shimmied over to crouch beside Gray's head.
"Hey, hey Riyao! Don't come over here! I'm warning you! Stop it!" Gray hurriedly used his arm to shield his head, his voice trembling slightly.
Riyao blinked, slowly uttering a single word: "Behave." As he spoke, he fished more rubber bands out of another pocket.
The first two rubber bands had come from Cana, and these two were also from Cana.
The emerald-green magic circle appeared on his palm once more. This time, he pressed it directly onto Gray's head. With a slight flick of his fingertips, Gray's normally neat short hair "whooshed" and lengthened, curling slightly into shoulder-length hair.
Riyao's fingers danced through Gray's hair. In no time at all, he had tied his black-to-Gray gradient hair into two pigtails that hung in front of his shoulders. He deliberately fluffed up the ends, making them look like two soft little bear ears.
Ta-da! A regular camera!
Riyao snapped photos of the two pigtails on the ground like a madman, the flash making Natsu and Gray squint.
"I'm going to blast you away, you blond bastard!!" Natsu instantly scrambled up, his fist engulfed in flames, and swung at Riyao.
"Damn you, Riyao! Go to hell!!" Gray was also fuming, his face bright red. Ice blades instantly formed at his fingertips as he lunged after him.
Riyao dodged, mumbling sneakily to himself: "Heh heh, I could definitely make a killing selling Gray's pigtails to Juvia later. And Natsu's... I'll sell them to Lucy. Oh wait, Lucy's going to be broke later. Never mind, I'll just give them to her for free!"
Just then, with a thunderous "bang," the guild door was shoved open violently from the outside. As a result, the 245th door, which had only been replaced three days ago, snapped its hinges with a "crack" and crashed onto the floor with a "clatter," kicking up a cloud of dust.
Erza, who had just pushed the door open, still had her hand suspended in mid-air. The expression on her face froze instantly, looking just like a child caught stealing cookies.
There was no time to mourn door number 245; next up was door number 246!
Erza coughed twice, trying to put on her usual serious expression, but the tips of her ears turned red. Pretending not to see the shattered door on the floor, she walked over slowly, but when she looked down, she froze instantly.
She was naturally a bit airheaded to begin with, and with the door incident just now, her brain hadn't caught up yet. She stared at the two pigtails on the ground for a long time, then tilted her head and asked in confusion: "Eh? Is Gray a girl? And what about the pink-haired one next to him—is that a new girl in the guild?"
"I'm not a girl!!" Natsu and Gray roared almost simultaneously, their voices in unison shaking the guild's chandelier.
Riyao, who had been dodging Natsu's flaming fists, stopped immediately upon seeing this. He fished another light-gold rubber band—still from Cana's stash—out of his pocket and tied his own hair into matching pigtails. He shook his head and leaned in toward Erza: "Erza, Erza, do you want pigtails too? They look super good!"
Before Erza could react, Riyao leaned in, his fingers quickly weaving through her red hair. In a few swift motions, he had tied them into two neat pigtails, deliberately tugging the ends to make them flare out.
"Mm-hmm, look how good it looks." Riyao pointed at the large mirror by the bar and shook his head.
Erza walked to the mirror and shook her head. Looking at her own pigtails, she actually gave an earnest evaluation: "Hmm, objectively speaking, it does look quite good."
"Ah!" A scream suddenly rang out. Natsu had crawled over at some point and bit down on Riyao's calf, his teeth nearly breaking the skin. Riyao jumped up in pain and kicked Natsu away, cursing: "Damn it! Natsu, you idiot! Don't you know I just stepped in dog poop?!"
Natsu was kicked rolling quite a distance away. He hurriedly let go, sprawled on the floor, and spat repeatedly for a long time, looking disgusted: "You blond bastard! Ptui ptui ptui! You actually stepped in dog poop!"
Gray, who had been lying on the floor touching his pigtails, spoke up gloomily, his tone filled with schadenfreude: "He stepped in his dog poop, but you biting his calf doesn't change anything."
Natsu suddenly realized something. He scrambled up, brushed the dust off his body, and reached out toward Riyao: "Hey, Riyao! Right! Give me your calf, let's resume that position from just now."
Riyao rolled his eyes and simply extended his calf, rubbing it against Gray's body, looking indifferent: "Alright, alright, now my calf has dog poop on it too."
Natsu stared at Riyao's calf, then looked at the stain rubbed onto Gray's hair, looking completely bewildered: "Eh? Didn't you just rub your leg on Gray? Where did the dog poop come from?!" Gray, who had been holding back laughter, turned dark instantly. He bared his teeth and glared at Riyao: "You bastard! You treated me like dog poop!"
Erza pursed her lips to hold back her laughter, trying to maintain a serious expression, but her shoulders were shaking, clearly struggling to contain it. She walked quickly to the bar and pretended to wipe a glass, but her shoulders shook even more violently.
"Damn you, Riyao! Heal us! Then fight us one-on-one!" Natsu and Gray clutched their chests, panting heavily, and roared at Riyao.
Riyao pursed his lips and crouched down slowly. He aimed his hands at the two of them, and an emerald-green Healing Magic circle appeared on his palms once again. A green light "whooshed" over Natsu and Gray. The two had initially been sighing in comfort, but the warmth of the Healing Magic made them feel ticklish, and they couldn't help but let out a long, strange cry: "Ah ♦ ♦"
Riyao was quick-handed; he pulled out his camera and snapped another picture, capturing the two of them with their faces red and necks thick.
"You bastard, you did that on purpose!!" Gray instantly exploded, his face turning bright red.
"Damn it! I almost peed myself!!" Natsu also roared.