Mystogan glanced down at his charges. The brunette was gazing defiantly towards the town, his blue eyes most likely drawn to the imposing building that towered over all the other buildings in Magnolia. The black haired one however... his head was down and his thin shoulders shook as he cried in silence, one hand clutching the magician's cloak.
"The guild's located right beside the lake. You won't miss it if you take the main street," the magician said. The brunette glanced up at him before nodding his young head and walking towards the town gates. He had the other boy's hand in his, and was nearly dragged back when the black-haired boy stood still.
"Come on, we can't stay with him forever," the mature one murmured, his free hand reaching out to wipe the tears streaming down his friend's face.
"Izaya-kun... I'll be visiting you guys every once in a while..." Mystogan added gently. His kind words merely earned him a sharp look from the brunette.
"B-but..." Izaya mumbled. His grip on the brunette's hand tightened as he released Mystogan from his grip. Bright red eyes glanced up at him tearfully before the boy followed the brunette in resignation.
Mystogan merely watched as the two boys walked on, each one shouldering a light pack filled with the little clothes they had and a letter from Mystogan to Makarov.
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"Jii-chan! Let me go on an S-class mission!" a familiar voice rang out through the wide bar as a pink-haired guy faced down a tiny old man on the counter. The old man was chugging down a mug of beer, obviously not listening to anything Natsu said.
Shizuo nervously gripped the letter in his hand, it was already crumpled since he had been keeping a tight hold on it ever since he and Izaya saw the guild from the streets.
The smaller boy cowered behind him, as a topless black-haired guy smacked the pink one on the head. Chaos ensued as everyone seemed to jump into the action.
"Ara? And who might you two be?"
The brunette glanced up in surprise as a white-haired lady leaned down on them. His brows drew together in anxiety as he glanced back at the chaos once again. Suddenly, all eyes were on them.
"I need to see Ma-Master Makarov," he blurted out, a protective arm reaching out to draw Izaya closer to him. The letter he held shook within his grip, he realized that it was he who was shaking.
"What is it, Mirajane?" the old man called out from his seat on the bar. At his question, the pretty lady looked up.
"You have visitors, Master." she answered.
Several other people had also drawn closer to Shizou and Izaya, two of them were the pink-haired and the black-haired guys from earlier.
"This isn't a place for kids, you know," the pink one said. Shizuo knew that he didn't mean anything mean by it, but it was enough to start Izaya's tears once again.
"My-mystogan told us it was okay. He- he said we could st-stay here," Izaya hiccuped in between tears. Shizuo remained silent as he made his way through the crowd to the old man on the bar. He made sure that he had Izaya under his cape even as he walked, the other boy was shaking as he cried.
"Mystogan sent us." was all Shizuo said as he gave up the letter. Everyone was silent as Makarov unfolded the piece of paper and read. From the corner of his eye, Shizuo could see two more girls approaching them, one blonde, one with red-hair. He pulled Izaya closer to him, and arranged the cloak so that the other boy would be completely covered.
"Edolas... eh." was all Makarov said as the letter suddenly burst into flames. He turned a serious gaze upon Shizuo as he shooed the gathering crowd. Most of the people from Fairy Tail drifted away, muttering to each other about the mysterious letter and the appearance of the two kids. Several others stayed put though, the pink-haired one, the naked pervert, the blonde girl and the one in armor. The white-haired woman from before went back to polishing plates behind the counter.
"And what are your names?" Makarov asked again, his expression unreadable.
"I'm Shizuo and this one is Izaya," he answered, his calm voice belying his worry. Izaya's tears was soaking through the back of his shirt and the brunette gently wiped away the mess on his friend's face with his grubby cloak. A hand reached out with a clean handkerchief and Shizuo took it with a thankful glance.
"Mystogan... He told us to go he-," he added and was suddenly hoisted into the air. The brunette panicked and his hold on Izaya's hand was broken. A small squeak came out of his mouth when he realized that the rosette had him by the waist and was seating him on the bar besides the master.
"Up you go too." the raven said and easily deposited Izaya besides Shizuo. The smaller boy was quick to latch on the brunette as Shizuo glared at the two older teens. The rosette was grinning like an idiot while the raven merely scratched his cheek.
Well, at least the girls didn't touch Iza-
Shizuo spoke too soon, a high-pitched scream came out of the crimson-eyed boy as the white-haired nee-san from before touched his head. The brunette quickly jumped into action pulling the raven from the girl and they both leapt off the bar. Shizuo grabbed the nearest weapon, a wooden barrel, twice his size and filled to the brim with wine. The scene was a funny one, if not for the sheer absurdity of the thought that an 8-year-old can carry so much weight in one hand.
The girl looked surprised, her hand frozen in mid-action. The older boys looked shocked as well. But the Master merely nodded his head in understanding. He drained his mug and leapt down to Shizuo's level. The brunette regarded him with a wary stare while Izaya went back to crying behind Shizuo.
"Mirajane, get the first-aid kit." Makarov said gently. The nee-san left without a word though her parting glance was laced with confusion.
"Tch, that nearly busted my eardrums," Natsu complained.
"What was that for, anyway?" Gray asked as well.
"Don't tell me Mira actually hurt him, or something." Lucy asked in worry, her own hand reaching out to Izaya.
The raven boy shrank back in fear and Shizuo quickly rounded on her with anger, the barrel already at the ready. If it wasn't for the Master's quick intervention, Lucy would have found herself crushed by 600 lbs of alcohol.
"That's enough Shizuo-kun," Master said and removed the barrel from the boy's grasp. Lucy quickly scrambled away.
As soon as he was relieved of his weapon, Shizuo turned to Izaya and started combing through the smaller boy's hair, looking for the spot Mira had touched.
Speaking of the devil, same person came running with a first-aid kit in hand which she silently handed over to Makarov.
Shizuo wordlessly took the small vial of cream from the old man and started applying some of it to Izaya's head. The raven's crying turned to sobs and finally into silence though he still sniffled every now and then.
"Can someone explain to me what had just had happened?" Erza asked impatiently. She made no move to approach the two however, and Mira was also keeping her distance. Only the Master, Natsu and Grey were in touching distance from Shizuo and Izaya.
"There's nothing we can do then." Makarov answered without really addressing Erza's question. "Natsu, you take care of Shizuo-kun. Gray, you get Izaya-chan."
"EH!" both teens exclaimed. Countless snickers and laughter rang out from the rest of the guild who had been listening in.
"What do you mean, "take care" of him?"
"Oi, oi, I'm not a baby-sitter!"
"Surely, you're not thinking of letting two orphans to live on their own, are you?" Master asked levelly.
Shizuo had no idea what was happening but he could see from the two boy's expressions that they were not pleased with the current situation.
"Um, we can take care of ourselves," Shizuo piped up. Truth be told he didn't want to be separated from Izaya himself, and he most likely didn't need a baby-sitter.
"Tch, whatever." Gray finally conceeded. Makarov's steely stare was enough to unnerve him and he instead bent down and plucked Izaya clean off the floor. The two raven walked out of the guild; one pissed-off and the other... you'd think he was a water mage judging by the amount of tears currently streaming down his face.
Shizuo made to follow them but the steely hand on his collar stopped him mid-track.
"Dammit! Ok, fine! You're coming with me." Natsu grumbled, and dragged the fighting brunette after him.
"Master, are you sure this is fine?" Mira asked somewhat anxiously as she gazed at the door the four had walked out of.
"It's for the best."
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Shizuo was lost, he had no idea what had just happened back there. At first Izaya was stuck to him, then suddenly they were apart. He could see the two raven walking off in the distance and he strained to run after them.
Natsu had a different idea. He resolutely dragged Shizuo in the opposite direction, laboring at the sheer effort of pulling a kid. The brunette's physical power was no joke, and even Natsu was having trouble getting him to his house.
"Oi, don't worry about your friend. Gray's taking care of him," Natsu finally said huffing. The brunette was dead-set against the rosette's effort and the fire mage finally decided to try a different approach.
"I'm not worried about Izaya," Shizuo answered. "-it's your friend I'm worried about..." he added in a whisper.
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"You're actually silent, for once." Gray commented to his charge. The smaller raven kept in stride with him, his face dry of tears. Cold red orbs gazed up at the ice mage as the kid shrugged.
"No point in crying if Shizu-chan's not here." Izaya answered.
A chill ran up Gray's back as he froze in his tracks. He thought he got the lesser evil of the two boys, but it seems that there was more to this kid than he'd care to know.