Chapter One

'I don't know what I'm doing here.'

I look up and stare at the angel-like wings above the entrance. This is definitely the right place, but it's been three months. I'm not sure if he'll remember me at all and frankly I'm not interested in joining his guild. If that's what he actually wants. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure what he wants. Then again, I'm not sure that I want to know. He seemed kind enough back then… but everyone can lie. It's better if I just leave now before he knows I was here.

I turn around and bump into a person. We both fall backwards and I rub my head. That hurt more than it should have. The person I walked in to gets up and stares at me. She places her hands on her hips and quirks an eyebrow. What's with her attitude? It's not like I did it on purpose! Hmm… maybe I'll have to stick around now.

"You should really watch where you're going."

"I apologize. It was an accident."

"Whatever. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I…"

"Mei. I'm sure that hostility is unwarranted."

His voice sends shivers down my spine. The other mage, Mei apparently, rolls her eyes and walks in to the guild. I can feel his body heat which lets me know that he's right behind me. He places a hand on my shoulder and gently turns me around. For some reason, I don't stop him. I'm not really capable of moving at the moment. He takes my hand and kisses my fingers, just like he did in the bar.

"It's nice to see you again."

I nod, that's about all I can manage right now. He smiles and leads me into the guild. At first glance it looks like I've walked in to a palace rather than a guild. The walls are a brilliant white marble and the floor is steel gray granite. My mouth falls open as I look around and read the signs leading to various places: Girl's Dorms, Boy's Dorms, Pool, Bar, Restaurant, Request Room, Arcade, and Other. The "Other" part confuses me for a moment, but I forget about it as he leads me down the hallway towards the restaurant.

"Pardon my manners. I've just realized that I haven't told you my name. I'm Kaito Adachi and I'm the master of this guild."

"Erza. Erza Scarlet."

"It's nice to meet you, Erza."

Kaito leads me in to the restaurant and we sit down at a table. He pulls my chair out for me and the act confuses me. It's not something that I'm use to and it's… nice. I pick up my menu and start to look through it. There are several delicious sounding things here and it's hard to pick just one thing. I'm briefly reminded of the fact that I'm having dinner with someone that I don't know, in a guild that I'm unfamiliar with. That being the case, why do I feel so safe here?

"Feel free to have whatever you like. It's all on the house."

Kaito smiles and sets down his menu. I'm about to protest (he really is being too kind), when a young girl comes running up to him. She jumps into his lap and hides her face in his shoulder. He wraps his arms around her and glares in the direction that she came from. I look over and see that he's glaring at another man. The other man is rolling on the floor laughing.

"Izumi, stay here."

Kaito sets the girl down and walks towards the other man. I can't hear their conversation from here, but I can tell that Kaito isn't happy. His fists are clenched and his words seem forced. The other man doesn't seem to care. He just laughs and waves Kaito off before walking out of the room. Izumi stares down at the table and twiddles her thumb. She doesn't look at me and barely notices when Kaito walks back over and picks her up. He gestures for another woman to come over. She takes Izumi and walks away, talking about getting ice cream for the young girl.

"Is everything alright?"

"Just a simple problem. Nothing I'm not used to already. Daichi… well, he can be a handful sometimes and he doesn't like to listen so we sometimes butt heads. It's alright though. Izumi is safe and that's all that matters."

Kaito smiles, but I can tell that he's still frustrated. Yet another mage appears and takes our orders before running back to the kitchens. I observe the restaurant and I'm surprised that more people aren't here. Fairy Tail was always full of people and while there seem to be a few mages here, there aren't nearly as many as Fairy Tail. I'm about to bring up the lack of people to Kaito when a giant, metallic warrior thing burst through the entrance.

Kaito jumps up and starts shouting orders. The warrior disappears and two guild members come walking in to the restaurant. One of them is the trouble maker from earlier. I think Daichi is his name. The other mage I haven't seen yet, but his adamantine armor is intriguing. I wonder where he got it. I've never seen anything like it, but it's a bit intimidating. All I can see of his features are his penetrating orange eyes. It might be the face mask of his helm, but it seems like he's constantly glaring.

"Daichi I swear if you start one more fight today I'm going to kick your ass!"

"I'd love to see that, Master."

"Don't push me, Daichi."

"Whatever."

Daichi walks through the hole that was created by the warrior. I see Kaito tense and it's a miracle that he doesn't go after Daichi. I wonder why that is. He seems more than capable, but he decides to slowly walk back to the table. The other mage follows him obediently and I'm starting to realize that only some of Kaito's members actually respect him. That's a shame. He seems like such a nice guy when he isn't angry.

"I'm not upset with you, Samuel. Daichi was being an asshole."

"I'm sorry for destroying the restaurant, Master Adachi."

I recognize Samuel's accent. It's been a while but I'd have to say that he's from the village of Pyrrhus in the north. His Nordic accent gives him away. I've only been there once, but it seemed like a nice village while I was there. How did a mage from all the way up there end up here? Hmm… maybe I'll have to ask Kaito more about Samuel. He seems interesting, but his general size, armor, and the large sword at his back make him an intimidating man and probably an even more intimidating enemy. Kaito sits down and Samuel bows his head before walking out of the small restaurant.

"What the heck happened out here?" Our waitress asks as she brings out our food.

"Daichi scared Samuel again."

"Won't he ever just leave him alone? One of these days those two are going to kill each other."

"There are some days when I think that wouldn't be such a bad thing."

"Only if Samuel wins though. If he lost we'd be stuck with Daichi forever."

"We're stuck with Daichi now, as is. But you're right; I'd want Samuel to win."

"Are you sure he'd be able too?"

"I'm not sure, no. He has more heart than Daichi does though and that could play a huge part."

"Why don't you just give Daichi a piece of your mind for once?"

"It's a long story."

"I have plenty of time!"

"Not right now, Iris."

"Aww. You're such a kill joy sometimes, Master."

"Hmm. I've been told that before."

Iris shakes her head and walks away. Kaito sighs and he suddenly looks a lot older than he actually is. Running a guild must be pretty hard for such a young man. I'm not even sure how old he is actually. I haven't asked and he hasn't said anything, but if I had to guess I'd say that he's no older than twenty-five. He closes his eyes and leans back against his chair for a moment. His body relaxes and I find myself wanting to rub those kinks out of his neck. Wait. What the hell am I thinking? Dammit. I need to pull myself together.

"How many people are in your guild?"

"Seventeen, including myself."

"Why did you invite me here?"

Kaito opens his eyes and sits up. He steeples his fingers under his chin and smiles at me. I have to force myself to look at him. His look is so inviting, but now isn't the time to lose myself to his charm. I'm not sure if he even realizes the effect he has on me (and probably most women for that matter). If he does, he doesn't show it. He slowly blinks his eyes before sitting back in his chair and grabbing his fork so that he can start eating. At first I don't think he's going to answer my question, but then he glances up at me.

"Because I'd like you to consider joining this guild, Erza. We could use a mage like you."

I stare at him as he starts eating. Somehow I knew that was what this was about. He looks at me as I stand up and walk out of the guild. If that's all he wants, then I'm not interested. It's too hard to join a new guild. I'll have to do it eventually because I'm running low on funds, but that isn't for a while. Dammit. Why did I let myself get so caught up in him? Why was it so hard to walk away? If I never see Kaito Adachi, it will be too soon.