Disclaimer: I own neither Darker than black nor Fairy Tail.

This is my first fanfiction, and since I am no fast writer and have little time, it might take ages to publish another chapter. I appreciate constructive criticism, regarding language or story. And since I am no expert on the subject Fairy Tail, feel free to correct any mistakes made by me.

It had gotten dark outside. Only one man was still sitting at the bar, talking quietly to the one standing next to him, and thus disturbing the heavy silence in the guild hall. Their appereance was as different as it could be. One of them was tall and muscular. His brown hair was slicked back, and reached to the beginning of a long, black cloak. The other one, a man whose hair slowly turned gray, had the sillouette of a tiny old man. One of them had been drinking since sunset, and the other one, who arrived just an hour ago had decided that he was expected to join him. Their conversation had started with a cheerfull greeting and a few friendly words to each other, but turned slowly into a quiet, serious conversation.

"It has gotten worse in Alakitasia", the tall man mumbled. "Some kind of powerfull mage with the bility to grant non-magicuser magic powers has made his move. So far, the only ones targeted by him where children. We don't know his whereabouts, but the different factions are trying to gather as many children as possible. They fight their stupid war on the back of little kids."

The old man made a sad, angry looking face.
"War never changes. The highest sacrifices are always made by the innocent."

"But so far noone seems to be interested in Fiore. The continent is currently in the state of a civil war, so they pose no threat to us. Which means that there is no reason for us to care, let alone intervening." the tall man concluded with a bitter face.

"Gildarts," the old man started "I know it sounds hard, but we cannot help everyone in this world. If there was a way, trust me I wouldn't hesitate a moment. Even if it feels wrong, we have to focus our attention on those next to us instead on those far away."

"I know, god dammit I know you're right, but that doesn't make it less hard to ignore the wrongdoing of these people." The man called Gildarts sighted. "Anyway, I'll be around for a couple of days, before my new quest starts. Master, I heard it before, we have newcomers again?"

The small man had a sad smile on his face full of wrinkles. "Yeah, we have gotten quite a few little ones since your last visit. It would be nice if you could entertain them for a while, making them forget the lives they have come from. Some of them had a really rough past."

Gildarts was about to answer him, when they were suddendly disturbed by a quiet knock at the guild door.

"Who would pay us a visit at this hour?" the tall man grumbled, walking to the entrance.

"It might be one of the kids. Some of them can't sleep at night, and the guildhall is one of the few places where they feel safe. No wonder, after all they've been through." his master answered him.

When Gildarts opened the door, he caught sight of a boy around the age of 12, carrying a girl about two years younger than him in his arms. The first thing Gildarts noticed was blood. Blood all over the girls stomach and the boys chest. Blood coming out of her mouth, blood on his hands, and blood dripping down on the stony way they were standing on. While processing his surprisse, Gildarts noticed that the boy was wearing a body armor over his dark blue shirt. He also had two knifes attached to his bodyarmor, one at each side. His black hair was a bit of an untamed mess, and he was looking at Gildarts with dark blue eyes, darker than he had ever seen before.

"My sister is wounded", the boy said. "I was told this is a place where I could get help."

It took Gildarts another second to realize what was off about this boy. But when he saw it it hit him like a punch in his face. The boy showed no signs of emotions, despite the fact that he carried his near-to-death sister.
His eyes were looking like the ones of a dead man.

Shaking his head in order to regain a clear mind, Gildarts took the girl into his arms and carried her to the next table. The guild master was already on his way to the infirmary, looking for the next first-aid kit.

"Fuck" Gildarts cursed, as he cut the girls bodysuit open.

As soon as he saw the hole in the girls stomach, he knew that it was already too late. Not even an expert in healing magic would have been able to heal her. Given the fact that the girl was already unconcious from the loss of blood, he expected her only to have a few minutes left.
He turned around to the guildmaster, who was carrying an arm full of bandages, and shook is head with a sad expression. The masters face slowly turned to stone.

"She won't make it", Gildarts said with a soft, sad voice, looking at the boy. "All what is left for you to do is to hold her hand in her last moments."

He put his hand on the boys shoulder, and pushed him gently to the table on which his sister laid, waiting for him to react in some way.
The boy slowly took one hand of the girl into his.
As their hands touched, the girl opened her eyes for the last time, whispering words into her brothers ear. Gildarts only understood the words "...last gift... thank you for..."
Within her last breath, her and the boys body begann glowing blue, causing Gildarts and his master to take a step back.

After a few seconds, the glowing deceased. The boy turned around, and looked at the two grown-ups with his blank, emotionless face. A single tear begann sliding down his face.

He tried to open his mouth, but suddendly, the world around him became blurry, and his field of view turned black.

Gildarts bend down and catched the boy with one arm. He looked at the master with a questioning look. "Bring him into the infirmary" the older man said. "He definitely needs some rest. Tomorrow we will find out wether he fainted because of exaustion or the blue light."

The young boy woke up with a silent scream, sweat dropping down on his whole body. The first thing he noticed was the fact, that, for the first time in his life, he was laying in a soft bed. The room around him was unfamiliar, with mutliple beds being next to the one he had woken up in. That was when he noticed a second fact.
"Oh no, not again" he mumbled, looking down on himself, and realized that he had once again wet himself. Pai never wet herself, and he still was a bit ashamed of himself when this happened from time to time. But Pai also never had nightmares. Being her older brother, he couldnt allow anyone to find out about this. He was the one to protect her, not the other way around. And thus nobody was allowed to find out about his weak moments. Be cold. Show no emossion. Show no weakness. He repeated these words in his mind like a mantra, clearing his mind from the unnecessary feelings and continued analyzing the situation around him. In his mind, he repeated the past weeks with the events that had happened. He remembered their escape from their country, and the men which chased them. The girl, his only friend next to Pai who had died in order for them to escape. How they had been chased all over different countries by the men who wanted Pais power, and how they had finally ended up in a country named Fiore. He remebered the fight with his pursuers, how they realized that they wouldn't get his sister alive, and how they had wounded her. Their deaths. His search for help. The beggar-kid who told him to go to the biggest building in the city, the guild Fairy Tail. And... the last moments of his sister.

His eyes widened as he remebered her last words "This is my last gift for you. Thank you for always protecting me, onii-chan".

Pai was gone.

The only reason left for his existence killed of by the men who where now laying dead on the rooftops of this city.

In his short lifetime, the boy had grown quite resistance to shocks.
But this one was bigger than anything he ever experienced. The one person he had devoted his life to, his reason to endure every day of suffering was gone.

His mind went black again.

After starring at the wall for a few minutes, he heard someone slowly opening the door, followed by a few whispers and some giggles.

"I wonder if he has woken up already?" a high pitched female voice said.
"Maybe he has seen a dragon" another voice said
"I have to ask him. Maybe I can fight him after that. Gildarts said that he looked strong."
"Baka" a third voice said. "All you ever think about are dragons and fights. Do you have any brain in your head left?"
"Take that back, you striper-pervert" the second voice shouted angrily.
"Guys please be quiet, grandpa told us to not go in here." the first voice whispered, but the other two were already busy shoving each other.
As the boy turned finally his head in the direction of the door, he heard two hard knocks, followed by two cries of pain.
"You idiots, follow the masters orders for once." a fourth, female voice sounded. "Do not disturb our guest, and leave him alone as long as he stays in this room!"
"Hai, Erza-sama" the two male voices sounded in unisono.
After the door closed, the boys mind drifted back into its absend state. But before he sank into the deep hole of sadness and regret, he decided that he had to act. The boy got up and left the bed. While looking around, he discovered two things. First, his combat clothes and weapons where gone. Instead of these he wore a long, white infirmary shirt, which covered his body down to his knees.
The second thing he discovered was even more problematic than his missing weapons. The only entrance was the door the voices had been coming from, leaving him no choice but to walk right into his potential enemies.

Any other person wouldn't think of the people who had saved him as enemies, but years of war and betrayal caused the boy to learn an important lesson. Never trust other people, especially grown-ups. Thus the first thing he did was starting to search for potential weapons. Luckily for him, the master of Fairy Tail had forgotten to lock away the tools for medical treatment, resulting in the discovery of a dangerously sharp scalpel. With the help of bandages he managed to bind it onto the inner side of his upper leg. Deciding that wasting more time would be a disadvantage, the boy slowly moved into the direction of the door.
He opened it a little bit, enabeling him to look through the small gap between door frame and leaf. A huge hall came into his field of view. The hall was full of banks and tables, with many people sitting and children running around, laughing and talking. The boys eyes widened. He had never seen this many peacefull people in one place. Clearly it had to be a huge festival going on. Deciding to use the commotion for his advantage, the boy slipped through the door. Sneaking near the wall, he quickly crossed the distance between him and the door. He was only a few steps away from the saving exit, when a voice behind him sounded. It caused his body to get ready to run, making him look like a wild animal, deciding wether to run or attack. "Where do you think you are going boy?" a girl, maybe 3 or 4 years older than him with red hair said. This caused everyone in the room to turn silent and look at the exit. They discovered the boy near it in frozen position.

"You should not move around in your condition" the girl said. "Don't worry, while some of us may look like it, nobody's gonna harm you" she said with a light smile while walking towards him.

The boy slowly reached for his scalpel, while looking at the girl walking towards him. Sudendly he noticed someone behind him.

"How about you..." Gildarts startet, while trying to lay his hand on the boys shoulder, only to pull it right back with a curse. Quicker than he could react, the boy had pulled his weapon and stabbed it into Gildarts hand. While jumping away from him, the boy was already being targeted by multiple types of magic. After he dogded two magic circles beneath and one next to him, he was bonded by magical chains which appeared out of nothing, restraining him and pulling him one meter up in the air. Slowly the guildmaster approached him.

"If we wanted to harm you, we would have done it already. And we could do it now again. But we still mean no harm to you. Do you understand me?" he asked the boy, who looked at him with a blank expression.
"You have two choices," he continued.
"You can leave whenever you want. Nobody is forcing you to stay here. These chains are merelly for our safety" he said with a smirk.
"But we are also offering you to stay here and join our guild. No one can harm you here, and we would teach you to use your magic. This is a place where people experience friendship. We help each other and those in need. This is the number one guild in Fiore, Fairy Tail."

The master gave a sign to a guildmember, and the chains dissapeared. The boy fell down on the floor, and looked around him. Everybody looked at him. The girl with the red hair reached out her hand towards him.

His usual, blank expression slowly faded, turning into a face full of dread and despair, as he looked at all these friendly and happy faces.
"I cannot join." he said and turned his back to the guildhall. "I can not even use magic"
With these words he ran away, dissapearing into the night.

"Don't do it, Erza" the old man said to the red haired girl, who made an attempt to follow the boy. "He didn't leave because he couldn't use magic. You cannot save everyone in this world." He stepped next to Gildarts, who had covered his hand in bandages in order to stop the bleeding. "And sometimes we can't even save these right in front of us. Some people are meant to live alone and broken in this twisted world."

...

It had gotten cold. Usually the winter in Magnolia was moderate, but this year was different. The snow level went up to the height of a grown mans knee, and a cold, harsh wind blew through the town. The streets were empty, only those who had to left their houses. In the midst of everything, a small ship landed at the harbor. It transported booze, weapons and other goods the guards shouldn't know about. The captain, a man in his late thirties, with a thick black beard, rushed his men. "Hurry you fools. We only have little time, all the goods have to be gone from our ship until midnight. You" he told a member of his crew, "tell our guest that we have reached his destination"

"There is no need for that", a voice behind him said. An unshaved man appeared behind the captain. He was wearing a black coat, a grey scarf and a black cap covering his ears. Black whisps of hair peered from it. His eyes were dark, blue and empty. "Here" he said, "this is the rest of the money we agreed on, plus some extra for the alcohol i took in addition." The captain took the money, and looked after the man who walked off the ship.
"So he didn't just look like a drunk, he really is one" he mumbled to himself.

"Should we get him back and try to get more out of him?" his crew member asked.
He turned around. "Nah, leave him alone. Got a bad feeling about that idea. " Once the captain turned around again, the passanger was already gone.

Romeo was running late. He had told his father that he'd arrive at 10 pm, and now it was already 11, and he still had to run through half of the town. Still, they needed all the money they could get, and thus he would even take low-paying B-ranked quests. As Romeo came near the new guild-house, he noticed a grumbling coming from a dark alley next to him. He stopped, and slowly turned left. Romeo knew that at this time, the odds of some something good waiting in this alley for him were pretty low, but being fearless as he was, he steped into it. The first thing the boy saw was a bin. Then, right next to it he noticed a man lying in the snow with his eyes closed.

"Oy" he shouted, ""you can't sleep out here". He ran next to him, kneeing down on the mans level. Romeo tried to breath only through his mouth. The man in the snow smelled like he hadn't washed himself in a week. Romeo noticed a second smell, alcohol. The man was probably really drunk, numbing his sense of temperature and fell asleep in this alley. The grumbling, which had lured him into the alley was coming from the mans stomach.
The boy sweatdroped. "Drunk, cold, tired and hungry?" he said. "Come on, let's get away from here." With some effort, he managed to get the drunk up, and supported him by grabbing his hip and laying his arm around his shoulders. Being closer to the drunk than before, Romeo noticed that the smell of the man got even worse.
"Let's go, we'll find a nice and warm place for you."

The odd pair went slowly down the road. After going around a corner, Romeo spotted two people a few metres in front of them, walking into their direction. One of them had poofy dark hair, the other was wearing a cloak covering his face. With a bowed head, they passed each other. When they were past each other, Romeo heard one of them say: "Hey, aren't you the kid from Fairy Tail?"
He didn't turn around and kept his head low, but the man continued speaking. "Yeah, now i recognize you, you little piece of shit. Trying to recruit hobos for your guild aren't you?"
They both laughed.
"Hey, catch this" the guy with the poofy hair said.

Romeo turned around and saw a stone flying towards him. He moved his head to the left. The stone missed him, hitting the drunk instead of the boy, and causing him a bleeding wound at his head. The men walked away laughing, while Romeo kept stumbling curses and apologies. The drunk waved them off with a shaking of his head.

"Don't worry kid, I habe been through worse, just get me away from here."

Romeo nodded, and kept moving towards the guild, a small run-down tavern.
When he opened the door, he was greeted by a loud "ROMEO" from his father, the 4th guildmaster of Fairy Tail.
"Hi dad," he answered, "sorry but the job took more time than expected. And on the way back i found this guy laying in an alley. I wanted to helo him, but now he is even more hurt because I made a stupid mistake." Macao saw the look on his sons face, and decided that a moral sermon could wait until the next day. He helped his son with the drunk, while breathing through his mouse with a slight look of distgust. "First we need to get a bandage for his head. Then, we're gonna do something about this smell."

After half an hour of hard work, they had managed to bandage the wound, had gotten rid of the old clothes the man had been wearing and had managed to clean his whole body from dirt and smell.

Right now, they were sitting in front of a small stove, and Romeo had fallen asleep on his farhers shoulder. Macao turned his face ro the stranger, who was covered in a blanket and was starring into the fire.

"I think it is about time you give me your name", he demanded. I am sorry if I appear to be rude, but we're currently facing a hard time, and aren't in a position to spread welfare. Plus, I saw the scars on your bodyl" he continued, "I need to know who I am dealing with.
The man looked at Macao, nodded and turned his head back to the fire.
"My name is Li Shengshun, but Li will be enough for now" he said with a grim look.
"Regarding these scars, don't worry too much about it. They aren't your concern, and I promise that I am no threat to you and your guild."
Looking satisfied, Macao reached his hand out to Li.
"I suposse that is enough" he said, "so let's start from the very beginning. My name is Macao, and I am the fourth guildmaster of Fairy Tail. Welcome in our modest guild-house, Li-san"
Li took his hand. "I am grateful for your help, especially to your son. Please tell him that after he wakes up" he said while standing up.
"I have another suggestion," Macao said, "Why don't you tell him yourself? Sleep tonight in this house, and we'll discuss everything else tomorrow. Don't worry", he laughed after looking at Li's face, "we may be poor, but nobody can say that Fairy Tail doesn't look after his guests"

"I am gratefull for your offering" the young man said.
"Don't think about it" Macao waved him off, and layed Romeo over his shoulder. "Follow me, I'll guide you to your place to sleep"
He lead him into a small chamber next to the entrance hall. Li took a quick look around. The room was filled with a small bed, a chair and a cupboard. These pieces of furniture were enough to fill the whole room.
It was definitely small, but he had sleeped in worse locations.
"I know that it is nothing special, but I thought you'd prefer it over sleeping outside."
Li waved him off. "I'll say it again, I am trully gratefull. This is better than what I had imagined" he said with an implied smile.
After that the guildmaster wished him a good night and left the room.
The man in the room put his head at the door, listening to the movements of the master. He heard him walking away, opening another door and closing it behind him. Li remained another 5 minutes at the door, before he turned around and got undressed. He laid the blanket on the bed as a pillow, and put the chair to the door, preventing it from being opened from outside.

...

Li woke up with a scream. Looking around him with a shivering body, he noticed three things: First, the nightmare was over, second, his head hurt, and third, that he craved for alcohol. Li got up and put the blanket around his waist. He removed the chair from the door and opened it. A pair of clothes was laying in front of his feet.
2 minutes later he stepped out of his room again, only this time wearing a blue shirt and brown pants. He went to the entrance room, and saw Macao preparing a meal.
"Oh Li-san, you're already awake."
The mentioned nodded quietly.
"How is your head," the master asked.
"It got a bit better"
"You're not much of a talker, are you hehe?" he laughed.
"Well, I figured we needed something to eat, so I went ahead and started. Could you do me a favor and continue preparing the food? I need to see after Romeo, so I'll be back in a bit" Li nodded.
"Oh, and by the way, you can have some of this" he said and pointed on a bottle at the bar. "Someone like you probably needs it. Even though I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't drink like yesterday", he said with a wink.
He walked out of the tavern, leaving a silent Li behind.
After Macao had left, he went straight to the bottle and looked at it. He decided that his body could wait for the alcohol, and turned instead to the ingredients, and continued the work of Macao.
After about half an hour, the tavern door opened and a young pair with a child came in. The woman had green hair and wore a revealing ecowboy outfit. The man on the other hand had black hair and wore native like clothes. The child, clearly a mix of both parents, had dark green hair and wore a cowboy hat and a more child suited cowboy outfit.
"We are back", they greeted unisono. After a quick look around, they noticed that Li was the only one being in the tavern.
"And who are you?" the man asked with a friendly voice.
"My name is Li Shengshun," he anwered politely. "The guild-master offered me to stay a night here"
"Darling, where are our manners", the woman said, "this is my husband, Alzack Connell, our dear daughter Asuka and my name is Bisca. It's a pleasure to meet you, Li-san. A friend of Macao is our friend aswell."
Li nodded, and continued to prepare the meal.
It had been ages since the last time he had made a big meal, but he was confident enough that he would still be able to pull it of.
Alzack observed the cooks face while he was mixing the dough. Li's eyes slowly turned darker, and he looked at his hands with a slight trace of disgust.
After another couple of minutes, another pair entered the guild. This time, both were male, one tall with a fat belly and black hair, the other one thin with orange hair.
They introduced themselves as Jet and Roy.
When Macao finally returned with Romeo, they found the guildhall filled with the other members, who where drinking and eating.
"I don't know where you found that cook" Droy told him with a full mouth, "but he cooks definitely better food than we ever had before."
Macao grinned, and continued his way to Li, who was still standing in the small kitchen.
"Jo Li-san" he greeted him. "I see that you cab handle yourself well in the kitchen."
"Can we talk for a minute?" he asked him.
Li nodded. Macao palced his hand on Li's shoulder and lead him outaide. The sun was shining, but the snow still went up to their knees.
"Li-san, are you able to use magic?"
"Why do you want to know?" he asked distrustfull.
"As you know, Fairy Tail is a magic guild. I don't see a reason to hide the fact that we are currently one of the weakest among the guilds. But disregarding this fact, I'd like to offer you a place in your guild."
Li's face turned blank.
"I can use a little bit of magic," he said. "I am able to create some sparks. But thats about it"
"That would already be enough" Macao said enthusiastic. "As a member of this guild you would be able to earn money by taking quests, or you could work as our personal cook. Of course we would pay you as well as the circumstances enable us" he said with a smirk.
"Give me a few minutes" Li said, "I'll think about it"
"Ok, if you have made your decision you'll find me indoors. And don't worry" Macao added, "even if you decline we won't throw you out immediatly".
With these words he went back inside the tavern, closing the door behind him.
'Fairy Tail', Li thought. 'It has been a long time.' Old memories of an almost forgotten night came back up.
Even though he never felt the feeling of guilt or regret, he somehow felt the need to repay the guild members, for their help to a total stranger.
These may only be the sucessor of his helpers, but he would do it anyway. Truth to be told, he also had selfish reasons.
Li had no money left, and the way it sounded this was the perfect place to go into hiding and earn some money.
He went back into the building, and found the guildmaster at the bar.
"Have you decided yet?" Macao asked.
Li nodded. "Yes, I have decided to join this guild. I'll also do some quests, but I'd prefer to work in the kitchen"
"That is absolutly no problem," Macao said with a big smile one his face, and took Li's hand. "Welcome to Fairy Tail. Everyone" he shouted, we have a new member. Please welcome Li-san"
The whole room started cheering.
If someone would have watched Li carefully, he might have noticed that his facial expression went from normal to huffish, but this moment lasted only half a second.
He would have prefered no attention at all. After all, there were still people searching for him, and he didn't want the guild members to make such a fuss about him.

An hour full of handshakes, eating and smalltalk (mostly onesided, since he stayed quiet most of the time) later, and with the Fairy Tail guild sign on his shoulder, Li went into the town, looking for clothes and some other things he needed. He still had some money left, so he started his "shopping trip" at the barber in order to change his appereance.
Li left the barber with much shorter hair and without his untended beard. After that, he went to the next cloth shop and bought a few white shirts and blue pants. In addition to these, he got a new green jacket and a black coat aswell as a warm cap for the remaining wintertime. After that Li payed a visit to a blacksmith's store. The blacksmith, a master at his job had never seen the pair of special knifes Li asked him to make, and he promised he would do his best to produce them.
The blacksmith told hin to come visit him again the following week.
He returned to the guildhouse in the evening. Only Macao, Romeo, Bisca, Alzack and a girl with pink hair named Laki Olietta.
They looked at him surprised.
"Wow Li-san," Romeo started, "you look much younger now.
"H-How old are you, Li-san?" Laki asked with a high pitched voice.
"You sure look like 20 now" Bisca suggested.
"I should be around 21 years old by now" Li answered with a smile, while scratching the back of his head.
"You should be?" Romeo asked disbelieving. "How come you don't know your own age?"
Li, cursing himself for his poor choice of words, kept the smile on his face.
"I am pretty sure about it, but sadly I do not know the exact date."
"Well, how about you try your first job, now that you are an official member of our guild?" Macao proposed, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah, great idea" Romeo agreed excited. "You can join Biscsa, Alzack and me. We planned to go on an easy B-job tomorrow."
"I don't know..." Li started with an uneasy smile, but Bisca waved him off.
"Don't worry, it might be your first time, but we have fullfilled many jobs already. This one's gonna be no problem.
Li looked at Alzack, searching for help.
He gave him a look with the expression: My wife made a decission, so there's no point in arguing with her.
Li let out a sigh.
"That counts as an agreement" Romeo laughed, and made his way to the door. "We'll meet up tomorrow at 10 at the trainstation"
"Hey" Li said with a desperate face, "I didn't agree on anything". But Romeo was already too far away to hear him, and the rest of the members just sat on the chairs and laughed.
"Forget it, once that boy has made up his mind about something, he won't back down. Just like his father when he was younger"
Alzack laughed, stood up and put his arm around Li's shoulder.

"I guess we'll see each other tomorrow"
The pair left aswell, leaving Macao, Laki and Li behind.
Li went to the kitchen in order to start preparing supper. Macao followed him.
"So, you changed your appeareance aswell as your personality?" he asked curious.
"I figured that that eould make things easier for both of us" Li replied, which was only partly true.
He couldn't tell him that he changed everytime he got in contact with others, each time people wanted him to open up to them. This was easier, it allowed his real self to keep a distance to others.
"Can't really argue about that" Macao said with an uneasy smile on his face. "But remember, as long as you are a member of Fairy Tail, we'll accept you for who you are, and there is no need to pretend being someone else."
"I will keep that in mind"
"The same goes for other things aswell," he continued "first the guild is like a family, the jobs are less important than the members themselves."
Li's face went dark for a splitsecond. He remembered the little family he had had and their bloody fate.
Macao noticed the change of his facial expression, and decided that it was still too early to talk about it.
Li continued the cooking with a neutral expression.

It had gotten late, and Li almost finished washing the dishes.
Macao stood next to him.
"I wish you good luck with your mission tomorrow. I doubt that you will run in any kind of trouble. He turned around, and made his way to the door.
"And one last thing. I normaly take it for granted, but just in case: We do not kill on our jobs. Fairy Tail is a legal guild, which means that we use other ways than lethal force. I highly doubt that you will run into a situation with this rate of danger soon, but mark my words. Take care of yourself."
Li nodded, and Macao, with a sign of relief on his face, left the guild.
With nothing left to do for the day, Li decided to go to bed early. In a small room, even smaller than his chamber, he washed himself. As Li looked up into the tiny mirror, he took a closer look to his face. Deciding that they had been around his face long enough, he removed the bandages covering his sleeve. The wound had healed fast, just like they always did. He went into his little room and put his clothes on the chair.
An hour later, he was still laying wide awake on his bed, waiting for the nightmares to beginn.

...

One week later.
"Oh man, I am beat" Alzack yawned while stretching. "Honey, we are finally back"
Bisca copied his procedure, and gave Romeo a soft push.
"You seem somehow unaffected by the lack of sleep, Li-san"
The young man smiled nervously.
"I guess I am used to it"
Their conversation was interrupted by the train signal, which proclaimed that they had reached Magnolia.
"Well" said Bisca, "we will drop Romeo of at Macao's place and go straight home after that. I'm sure Azuka wants to see us as soon as possible. What are your plans, Li-san?"
"I still have some buisness left in town, and I'll probably start looking for a cheap apartment" he answered.
Alzack nodded. "The reward was quite high, I guess that's a really good idea. See you tomorrow then"
Li nodded, and a dead-tired Romeo waved as a goodbye.

He took the shortest route to the blacksmith.
"Ah, it is you", the blacksmith grinned.
"Guess what, I finished it even earlier than agreed. Here you go," he said, and put two large knifes on the table. "It was a huge piece of work, but I took it as a worthy challenge for a blacksmithmaster."
Li took one of them in his hand, weighed it and nodded. The knifes blade was split into two equally long parts. The gap in between them ended in a ring, which was attached to the grip. It was heavy, but the weight felt familiar.
"They come with a sheath each. You can attach them to any kind of belt. And be carefull with them. They are sharp as hell, but the steel is reinforced by magic. With enough force, they will probably be able to pierce stone, and won't loose their sharpness."
"This is even better than what I had imagined." Li answered pleased. "Take this, you earned it"
Gold and goods changed their owners, and Li left the store.
The knifes had costed him nearly his whole reward money. It was an unpleasant, but necessary expense. With little left, he went into the next tavern, which looked too rundown for normal citizens to use. His last coins changed their owner, and Li finally got to know where he had to go.

The woman he encountered had black hair and a pair of green eyes. She had fine facial forms, and he saw a few freckles around her nose. Even Li, who normally did not care about appeareances or looks could tell that she was quite a beauty. Her body was slim, and she wore a tight jeans and a brown top. Her outfit led to the conclusion that she was immune to the cold, which caused other people to stay inside and even forced Li to wear a warm jacket, something he normally never did.
"And who might you be, handsome?" she asked in an amused voice.
Li ignored her question and reached his fist out. He opened it, and a small black bag appeared.
"No name, no smalltalk? Well, fine by me, it's not like I would have told you mine anyway." she continued.
The woman opened the bag, and pulled a small but expensive looking necklace out of it.
He had stolen it from their client, after he had invited them to his house out of gratitude.
Li usually did not steal, but his lack of money forced him to more desperate measures.
He had made sure that nobody noticed him, and the former owner of the necklace would probably blame some maid.
The woman named a price, not compareable with a normal store, but in exchange for security and anononymity a reasonable amount of money.
Li nodded, and left the alley even more pleased.
He needed enough money in advance for an appartement, and he h;ad no idea how he would be paid for his services in the kitchen.
Relieved that he would not have to spend another night at the tavern, or even outside, Li made his way to another person the innkeeper had told him about.
This one was an elderly woman, who let an apartement.
Li approached her with a shy smile, and after a short interview they came to an agreement.
He now had a small two-room flat with an extra bathroom.

"So? How was he?" the guildleader asked his fellow members.
"I don't think you have a reason to worry about Li-san. He did a good job, even though he appeared to be pretty nervous around us." Bisca answered.
"How did he act regarding dangerous situations?" Macao continued.
Alzack made a thoughtful face. "I guess you could say that he prefers to avoid violence. He acted very deescalating, and stayed very defensive during our only fight."
Macao's face turned into a mask of relieve.
"C'mon, did you really think that he would be a dangerous person?" Biscas husband laughed. He looks like a shy kid, there is no way he would be that kind of a man."
Macao smiled. " I guess you are right, I appear to be overcarefully these days. Thanks for taking care of Romeo."
"Don't worry about it. See you tomorrow." Bisca hugged him, and Alzack shook his hand.
The guildmaster waved, and looked after them as they left his house.

...

Two months later.
Li's daily routine was simple. He started the day with his morning exercise, followed by experimenting with his magic ability, something he should have started earlier. Li knew that he was able to create an electric impulse, and he had never been interested in it before. Li could easily kill people with it. That had always been enough, but after a discussion with Macao about the basics of magic, and hours of reading in a bookstore nearby, he started to train his abilities.
Two hours before noon he usually arrived in the tavern. Li had stated that he would rather work as Fairy Tail's cook than going on jobs, which caused a little bit of disappointment. He worked the rest of the day in the kitchen and at the bar, preparing food and drinks, cleaning dishes, and, after his first month, even took care of refreshing the stocks of the guild.
But after two months of routine, Bisca finally managed to convince Li to take a job.
"You are too young and too handsome to settle down in this kitchen.
Don't you want to meet a fine girl? Well you won't find her in here.
Don't you feel any urge for an adventure?

After days of arguements, Li finally agreed on a job. The greenhaired woman send him of with a victorious grine on her face and the words, that they would manage a week without his meals and drinks.

Li took his first look at the job Bisca had given to him. Apparently he had to deliver a package to a certain adress, where a woman would accept it.
It would take approximately a week to get the package, deliver it and return to Fairy Tail.

Li arrived at the station of Fiore with a tired facial expression. The job had been exhausting, due to the lack of events. He had been traveling a full week, with no diversion possible. Since the package had been huge, he had not been able to move freely around. Li decided to sleep in his flat before returning to the guild. On his way trough the town he noticed that spring had finally defeated the snow, and the streets were filled with people. Two particular young men managed to get his attention and the of many other pedestrians. One of them had pink hair and was wearing a white scarf, while the other one had black hair and wore absolutly nothing exept for his pants. Their loud arguement caused many heads to turntheir way. From what Li understood it were mostly insults and mutual blaming.
He sighed, turned left and entered a small alley leading to his apartement. Lost in thougts, he went past a bookstore, and was suddendly punched in the gut by a filthy looking guy with a long brown beard and a scar across his left eye. Li saw the punch coming, but decided to take it in order to give his opponent the feeling of the advantage. "Your money or your life, the robber demanded with a raspy voice.
Li caught a glance over the man's shoulder, and decided to continue his little act. His face turned scared, and he started to splutter: "I- I am sorry, but I have little to nothing left for myself. B-b-but you can have it, if you please don't kill me."
The man started to look even grumpier, and turned around when a hand tapped on his shoulder. "WHAT" he screamed, only to look up into the face of a demon with white hair, a pair of horns and
A sinister aura. He shied back, stuttering and shaking his head. "I promise, I won't do it again" With these words, he ran past Li, who was still looking confused at the demonic woman in front of him. The mentioned grinned, and slowly turned back human. She was a slim, young woman, with snowwhite hair, which went down until her hips. A strange looking ponytail was placed in the middle of her forehead. The woman had big blue eyes and wore a long, red dress. He noticed all these things in mere parts of a second.
"I hope I didn't scare you," she said with a smile. "But this seemed to solve this matter peacefully"
"Thank you so much" Li answered, "Y-you saved me. I am deeply indebted to you."

Mirajane couldn't help but smile at this young man, who looked like a grateful puppy at her. She couldn't help it but feel the urge to protect him. But while he met her requirements to be called handsome, she felt that there was something off about him.
He dissrupted her thoughts. "I live here, so if you'd like you could come up for some tea. I'd really like to repay you, but what I said earlier was actually true." he said with a smile while scratching the back of his head. "I am really broke"
Mira could keep herself from laughing.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't want to get payed for something like this. As for your offer for tea, I am afraid I have to decline for today, given I am running late. But how about tomorrow? Since I know where you live, it won't be hard to find you." she answered with a sheepish smile. With these words she hurried past him.
Li sighed. The old lady from the bookstore grinned at him. "Don't worry, after all she agreed on meeting you again, and how it looks she is interested in you aswell."
Li nodded, and opened the door leading to his staircase. After he closed the door behind him, he took another deep sigh. The old woman was dead wrong. He had invited the girl only to appear polite. He hadn't expected her to agree on his offer for tea. To make things even worse, she even knew where he lived, and appeared willing to use this information for her gain. Li opened the door to his apartment. He should have just knocked the robber out. In the end, he had gained more attention, instead of avoiding it. He undressed, and went into his tiny bathroom. Li looked at himself in the tiny mirror, and started washing himself. He looked at the emotionless copy of himself in the small, rectangle glass. If it had been bigger, Li would have been able to spectate his body, wiry and muscular. But starting from his neck, a series of scars and old wounds went down to his legs. Paying no attention to his looks, he went back into the other room and picked up his jacket. He laid down onto a tatami, and used his jacket as a blanket. A few seconds later, he drifted into a fretful sleep.

"So what is this about a new member, Macao?" Makarov asked him.
"Well, he joined recently, just a few months before your return. His name is Li Shengshun, and he worked most of the time as our cook. An excellent one, by the way."
"Any signs of something unusual about him? I don't want to be suspicious, but what reason did he have to join Fairy Tail? Any other guild would have been more attractive."
"You don't have to remind me about that." Macao started sobbing.
"Haha, don't worry about it, you did your best" Makarov laughed, and continued emptying his beer."
"Well, to come back to the subject, Romeo found Li-san somewhere in the gutter, deaddrunk and almost frozen to death. We nursed him back to health, and one thing lead to another."
"Ah, I see" Makarov sweatdropped. So basicly their newest member was an alcoholic hobbo. But, he reminded himself that people could change, and almost everyone in Fairy Tail had some kind of history.
"So, where is our newcomer?"
"Well shit" Macao facepalmed himself. "I totally forgot him during your return. He is currently on a mission, but should return anyday. The problem is that he only knows our tavern, and not the old guildhouse. I'll send Romeo to leave a message at the tavern."
Romeo was not excited to fulfill his drunk fathers request, especially because Natsu had promised to train with him in the evening. But Romeo realized, that he was the only one who would do it, so he left the guild with a pen, a paper and a deep sigh.