Several days had passed since Natsu started incubating the egg. Without him, the guild was suddenly much quieter.
On this day, Macao and Wakaba were drinking and chatting in the guild.
"I heard Natsu and Lisanna are hatching a dragon egg."
"A dragon egg? No way sothing like that exists."
"But, Natsu did say he was raised by a dragon."
"How is that even possible?"
"Still, it's pretty incredible, isn't it? The two of them even built a secret base and are playing an incubation ga with the egg."
"It's good to be a kid."
"He's a passionate one, that's for sure."
The two of them were smiling as they talked, their words full of a happy atmosphere. However, the person standing behind them was not at all happy to hear this. She was grinding her teeth, and a vein was popping on her forehead.
With a dark expression, she slamd her fist down on the table in front of them, splitting it in two. The mugs and food on the table went flying. Macao, Wakaba, and everyone else around them were startled.
"Grr!"
"What are you doing, Mirajane?!"
"Sa as always. She's a nace."
Mirajane clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and lowered her head, her whole body trembling. "I was wondering why Lisanna hasn't been coming ho recently. So she's been with Natsu?"
She suddenly lifted her head and shouted, "Getting so friendly with soone from Erza's faction! Is she even my sister anymore?! Huh?!"
The people around her just looked on helplessly as she ranted.
"What are you talking about? What's this got to do with ?"
"What's this 'Erza's faction' nonsense?"
anwhile, on a grassy patch by a mountain, stood a small hut made of hay. This was the secret base Natsu and Lisanna had built. The two of them were watching the device in the center of the hut, and the egg floating in the nutrient solution inside it.
Grumble—
"Natsu, was that a sound just now?" Lisanna pressed her ear against the surface of the device, listening intently, and asked.
"S-sorry."
Grumble—
Only then did Lisanna realize the sound was coming from Natsu's stomach. She was speechless.
"By the way, Natsu, do you live by yourself?"
"Mhm."
"Then how do you eat?"
"I eat at the guild."
"Do you have to pay?"
"That's why I have to work."
"That sounds so pitiful—"
"Does it?"
"I'll cook for you next ti, okay? I'll make sothing delicious."
"You can cook?!" Natsu exclaid, surprised.
"Though I'm not as good as Mira-nee," Lisanna said to him excitedly.
"Wait!! Mira can cook!! I can't even imagine it!!" Natsu thought of Mirajane's usual punk-rock image. He tried to picture her holding a kitchen knife, but all he could imagine was her wanting to chop soone up. He couldn't picture her cooking at all.
"Elf-niichan can too."
"That—I can imagine!!" Natsu recalled Elfman's usually calm and gentle deanor and imagined him in a chef's uniform. It seed to fit perfectly.
Suddenly, Natsu seed to realize sothing. He frantically grabbed the incubator, turned, and shielded it with his body. "I'm not giving you this egg, you know! It's going to hatch a baby dragon!! It might even be Igneel's baby!"
"Do you think I want to cook the egg?" Lisanna asked, exasperated. "I'm looking forward to it hatching too!! That's why I'm here helping you."
Natsu hugged the incubator with a blissful expression, rubbing his cheek against it. "I hope it hatches soon."
Lisanna smiled as she watched him. Suddenly, she saw the indicator light on the device turn from green to orange. She quickly pointed at it and shouted, "Natsu, look! The light changed! Doesn't this an we have to go find Noah?"
Natsu looked and saw that the indicator was indeed orange. He quickly picked up the incubator and ran out. Lisanna hurried after him. "Wait for !"
The two of them arrived at Noah's front door. Natsu pushed it open while shouting, "Noah! The light turned orange!"
"I hear you."
Noah, who was in his lab, saw Natsu co in. He put down his experint, and after confirming there were no issues, he walked out and saw Natsu anxiously pacing in the living room. The mont he saw Noah, Natsu rushed up to him with the incubator. "This light turned orange! Is there a problem?"
Noah took the device, checked it, and then replied, "Of course there's a problem."
Natsu's face went pale with shock.
Noah continued, "The problem is that the light changing color ans the egg is about to hatch."
Natsu froze, as if he hadn't heard clearly. "It's about to hatch?"
"Of course. I specifically set up this light to let you know when it's about to hatch. Otherwise, if it hatched inside the device and you couldn't open it, that would be the end of it, wouldn't it?"
Natsu didn't hear any of Noah's other explanations. All he heard was that the egg was about to hatch. He was so happy he started jumping around the living room, shouting, "It's gonna hatch! It's gonna hatch!"
Lisanna, also looking very happy, said from the side, "Congratulations, Natsu!"
Just then, a sound ca from the egg in Noah's hands. The three of them all looked at it.
"It made a sound!" Natsu said excitedly.
"Mhm." Noah nodded. "It'll probably hatch in about a day."
"I'm going to stay by its side all night," Natsu said with a determined look.
"The egg has absorbed enough nutrients. Now we just have to wait for it to hatch naturally." Noah handed the egg to him.
Natsu took it very carefully. "Then I'll be going back now."
"Mhm. Be careful."
"Mhm, I know."
"Bye, Noah!"
"Mhm, goodbye."
Noah watched the two of them leave, checked the ti, and then teleported to Roubaul's place. When he arrived, he saw Wendy sitting in a chair, quietly watching the incubator on the table. Seeing Noah, she quickly stood up and ran over.
"Big Brother Noah, when will the egg hatch?"
Noah walked to the table, with Wendy following at his heels. He picked up the incubator, checked the egg inside, and then said to her, "It'll probably be another two or three days. Not that soon."
"So it'll be born in two or three days!" Wendy said, looking at the egg inside the device with an expectant expression.
~~~
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