Chapter 1 New guild Member

"Another day a new adventure!" Natsu exclaimed grinning.

"Oh, come on Natsu! We've just finished a request yesterday and now you wanna do another one?" asked Lucy weakly.

"I have to agree with Lucy. All of us are pretty tired, so I think we need a day off," added Erza.

"Please Erza I'm begging you!" said Natsu as he kneeled in front of Erza and put his hands together.

"I said we need a day off! That's pretty easy for other people to understand but for an idiot like you, it's impossible," said Erza while sipping some of her coffee.

"How about a battle instead?" challenged Natsu all fired up. As a reply, Erza punched Natsu in the stomach.

"What was that for?" asked Natsu while clutching his stomach in pain.

"You said you wanted a battle but you can't even answer back," pointed out Erza. Natsu's fist was about to hit Erza's face when Erza shot Natsu an 'I don't want you messing around' kind of look. When Natsu caught sight of that look, he quickly stopped his fist. He stood still and then saluted Erza. He slowly walked away from her quietly and approached the table were Lucy and the others were sitting.

'That was so dumb of you Natsu!" Gray said laughing.

"What'd you just call me, ice brain?" asked Natsu in a loud voice.

"What'd you just call me, dumbo?" answered back Gray. But before Natsu could reply to Gray's insult, Erza both punched them on the faces which sended them both flying to different corners of the room.

"I'm expecting better behaviour from the both of you next time . . . if there will be next time for the both of you," said Erza in a really scary voice. With that, Gray and Natsu didn't move an inch and didn't say a single word. They both kept seated as long as Erza's eyes were still glued to them. Then Natsu thought of a clever idea, well, not really. He stealthily took one of the job requests from the request board and then ran for his life. Happy followed Natsu shortly.

"Aren't you gonna stop them, Erza?" asked Lucy who has been watching the whole scene.

"We have our own business and they have theirs. Let's not bug them with theirs. After all, they go at their own risk," replied Erza.

Shortly after Natsu left, a girl with long, dark-red hair entered the guild, carrying a big bag, wearing a purple tank top, super glam shades and a sunhat that covered most of her face. She quietly made her way to the guild master's office. Sooner or later, she came out then Mirajane made a little announcement.

"Fellow guild members, prepare to meet a new guild member! Her name is Akane Furiyama. She's from one of the nearby towns. Please allow her to introduce herself personally and please be friendly and nice to her," said Mirajane in an angelic voice. At first, Akane kept quiet. Then she took off her sunhat. She spotted a nail sticking out of the wall then quickly tossed her hat over to the nail. Her hat swivelled gracefully and dangled on the nail. She put her shades on her head and smiled.

"Hello! My name is Akane Furiyama. Aged 16. I really wanna be in this guild so I hope you guys like me here!" she said beaming.

"Well, she's a cute one," said Gray. Juvia heard Gray say that so she was really jealous. She was about to release a huge wave of water but forced herself to stop because wanted to have a good first impression from 'the newbie'. Then a whole lot of people started to introduce themselves and ask her some questions.

"Welcome to the guild!" said Cana.

"Hope you like it here!" said Juvia.

"Your hair looks really cool!"

"Thanks a lot guys!" said Akane.

"Hi. I'm Erza Scarlet. Nice to meet you," said Erza.

"Nice to meet you too," replied Akane.

"May I ask you a question?" asked Erza.

"Of course," answered Akane.

"What're your magical powers?"

"My magical powers? Well . . . actually I'm a sensory wizard. I can sense living creatures around me without looking. I can predict your every move and when and where you're gonna hit me. I can also suck up people's powers and use them as my own," explained Akane. Erza nodded.

"Based on what I heard, you're pretty tough. Who knows? We might be able to have a battle in the near future," said Erza.

"I'll be looking forward to that," said Akane and grinned. Then a blonde girl approached her and then offered her hand.

"Hello. I'm Lucy Heartphilia," said Lucy. Then Akane shook her hand.

"I just wanna ask if you have a place to stay for the night," added Lucy.

"Well, actually . . . no. I'm just gonna find a place that I can rent for the night," replied Akane.

"I happen to have my own place . . . soooo do you wanna stay there?" Lucy offered.

"I thought you don't like it when someone's intruding your house," a voice said coming from behind. Lucy turned her head and realized that the voice came from Gray. Lucy quickly shot him a look.

"Trying to be cool to the newbie here," Lucy whispered and then turned her head back to Akane.

"So, what do you say?" asked Lucy.

"I really appreciate your kind offer but I don't want to be a burden to you," said Akane.

"Oh no, your not," Lucy said quickly.

"It's okay, Lucy. Thanks for the kind offer and . . . nice meeting you," said Akane. Lucy smiled a big warm smile at her and Akane smiled back.

Akane noticed it was getting late. She decided to head out. She bade everybody a farewell and then started the search for a place she can rent for the night. She searched everywhere and but all the rooms were full. After hours of more searching, her hard work finally bore fruit. A man offered her a room in his apartment. Apparently, the room that he offered to Akane was simply too small and it wasn't really decent because all of the better ones were already rented by other people but she kindly accepted the offer. She settled in that night and found it quite comfortable.

The Next Day . . .

"Morning guys!" shouted Akane.

"Morning!" everybody greeted back. Akane made her way to the table where Erza, Lucy, Gray, Cana and the others were sitting. Minutes after she entered the guild, Akane saw a flying blue cat dragging a pink-haired boy that looked really familiar to her.

"Natsu, would you please stand up?" asked the flying blue cat. Akane was so surprised at what she just heard.

"Whoa! That cat can talk?" Akane asked. Everyone nodded at her.

"Just drag me to the place where Erza and the others are," said the pink-haired boy. The blue cat was panting all the way to the table they were all sitting on.

"So, how did your mission go?" asked Erza.

"Like you even care," said Natsu.

"I just wanna find out why you look so beat," said Erza.

"One word: BAD," said Natsu. Then Gray laughed. Natsu was about to punch him in the face when he saw a new face in the guild. He stopped himself and decided to introduce himself.

"Hi-ya! My name's Natsu Dragneel! What's yours?" asked Natsu wearing a big smile. At first, Akane thought that she didn't know him but right at the moment where she was about to introduce herself, she remembered who that pink-haired boy is. Instead of introducing herself, she punched Natsu in the face. Everbody was very shocked at her actions. Her punch was so strong that it made Natsu fall flat on his face. Natsu quickly stood up and faced her with a mad look on his face.

"What was that for? I'm sick and tired of everybody punching me all the time!" shouted Natsu angrily.

"You don't remember me, do you?" asked Akane in an eerie voice.

"No, I don't! I don't even know you!" Natsu retorted. Akane was mad so she mouthed her name: Akane Furiyama. Natsu followed it with his own mouth.

"Akane Furiyama!" exclaimed Natsu. Natsu thought for a really long time then remembered something.

"Hey you're my childhood friend!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Who I left alone in the woods . . . . ," said Natsu. His voice turned low and sad.

"You know each other?" asked Wacaba.

"You're childhood friends?" asked Elfman.

"Yes and yes," Akane said then turned to Natsu.

"I'm glad you still remember me," Akane said and went back to talking with Gray and the others. Natsu sat beside Akane but she ignored him.

"Can we talk?" asked Natsu.

"Not if you can't catch me first!" Akane exclaimed and ran outside of the guild. She hasn't changed a bit, Natsu thought then started running after Akane. They chased each other all over town but Akane reached a dead end so Natsu caught her.

"Gotcha'!" Natsu said and wrapped his arms around Akane.

"Okay, you caught me," she said.

"You know what . . . I really missed you," Natsu said.

"Me too," said Akane. Then, Natsu took Akane's hand and dragged her along.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see"

Natsu dragged her all the way to a tall rooftop. And right at the picture-perfect moment, the sun set. The sky was filled with bursts of orange, yellow and red. Akane's eyes were sparkling in amazement. Natsu looked at her intently and smiled. They enjoyed the whole view that afternoon. When it was nightfall, the atmosphere was getting really cold.

"Natsu, it's really cold," Akane said shivering.

"Don't worry," Natsu whispered and wrapped his arms around Akane to keep her warm.

"Thanks, Natsu," Akane whispered back. Akane enjoyed Natsu's warmth. Tomorrow's a new beginning for me . . . . , Akane thought.