Chapter 5 Rivalries Born

Magnolia, Fairy Tail Guildhall.

It was a strangely quiet day around the guild hall. Well rather it would seem that way. The truth was that things were only quiet due to the fact that the S class trials had taken place the previous weekend and many of the guild either decided to rest at home, or were hiding their disappointment at not making the cut.

As predicted by many, Laxus had been the victor of the trials, and had been promptly promoted to S-class. This made him the second S class wizard after Gildarts, and this fact had obviously gone to his head. He had hardly been promoted for a full ten minutes before he charged off on his first S class job. Not that anyone in particular was missing his notoriously poor attitude.

To Ichigo, the silence was a pleasant change. He had had much on his mind ever since he and Erza's return about two weeks ago. To say that the two weeks had been stressful would have been an understatement, but only because Ichigo couldn't seem to answer any of the questions he was having. In his eyes there were too many things that were just off. The master seemed to constantly be in deep thought, but was hiding it behind his usual overly cheerful behavior.

Gray and Natsu seemed to have taken a rather negative interest in each other. Every few days, the two of them would wind up getting into some kind of 'disagreement' as they would call it. These disagreements usually ended with them rolling around on the floor in a wrestling match until Ichigo would break them up.

Speaking of making bad first impressions, one of the new Straus sibling trio, Mirajane, had decided that she needed to be the one to 'dethrone Erza as top female wizard of Fairy Tail'. This didn't make sense to Ichigo considering it had been Cana, not Erza or Mira, who had been the only female in the recent S class trials. Regardless of what he thought though, the two girls refused to get along, sometimes even lowering themselves to Gray and Natsu's level and brawling in the middle of the hall. Or at least they had been until his biggest source of confusion had occurred.

Just a couple days after they had returned, Erza had expressed that she needed time alone and would not give an explanation as to why. She had hardly been seen in the past weeks and he was beginning to get worried about her.

So he supposed saying that he had a lot to think about on these quiet days was a bit of an understatement. He leaned back in his chair as he reflected on the events that had occurred when he and Erza had returned to the guild.

Guildhall, 15 days prior

Erza and Ichigo walked slowly towards the guild in silence. They had stashed the cart by the training field and left most of the money at Ichigo's house to divide up later. They both had agreed that they didn't need to mention that part when they explained what had happened to Master Makarov.

As they finally reached the doors, Ichigo made to speak. "I can talk to the master if you don't want to."

Erza just shook her head. "No, it was our job, we should both help explain it. Besides you were unconscious for a good deal of the events."

Ichigo just shrugged and dawned his usual scowl and pushed through the big doors. Instantly they were hit with a myriad of greetings. Gray was the first as he was already on his way out the door.

"Hey you two glad to see you made it back. Sorry I can't stop to hear the story. I gotta be in clover by tomorrow." With that the Ice make wizard didn't even break his stride as he continued out the door. Their next greeting came from Mira unfortunately for Erza.

"So the walking tin-can is finally back." The white haired girl sneered from across the hall. "Thought you were supposed to be back two days ago. What happened did your training bra rust up on you?"

Ichigo missed the potential powder keg as Erza started to reply to her tormentor. "I am in no mood for your stupidity today Mira!" Erza stated a bit louder than she would have liked. Right away all attention was focused on the pair.

'Ah crap. I was hoping we could do this without drawing a lot of attention.' Ichigo thought to himself.

Mira was quick with her come back. "My stupidity? At least I complete my missions on time!" The smirk on her face only growing as Erza showed signs the she was getting close to losing her temper.

Thankfully the two girls weren't given time to further the fight, as the master shouted from upon the bar. "That's enough!" all eyes turned to the master, as it wasn't often that he would break up such small squabbles. "Erza Ichigo, I'd like to speak with the two of you in my office."

At the masters order Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief. 'At least I won't already have to break up another catfight.'

As he and Erza proceeded to fallow Master Makarov, most of the guild returned to its usual state and Mira made certain to stick her tongue out at Erza as they passed. Once the doors were closed behind them the master sat on the edge of his desk and silently observed the pair. While Ichigo was glad to have gotten away from the ears of the rest of the guild, the way that the master was looking at them made him feel uncomfortable. To his right Erza wasn't fairing any better. She had already been stressed before Mirajane had started harassing her. Now she felt like she was going to explode.

When the master finally spoke his voice was full of concern and worry. "What happened to you two out there?"

They were a bit thrown off by the question. Each of them had practiced how they would bring up what had happened, but neither expected that Makarov would ask them.

Not waiting long for an answer, the master continued on. "Don't give me those looks. I've haven't seen the two of you look so lifeless since the days you when you first arrived. Now, what happened to have traumatized you so much my children?"

Erza was the first to respond. "The job request was a trap to attract a couple of mages."

The Master's head fell slightly "I see. I think that you should start from the beginning and tell me what exactly occurred during your trip."

Ichigo and Erza shared a brief look between themselves, and started taking turns explaining every detail of their journey. From the ambush on the road, to the old abandoned fort they were kept at, to what the man known as Hawthorne had intended for each of them. By the time they explained their escape, the master's expression was deeply darkened. A lone tear sliding down the side of his face.

"Truly I have failed as a master if I was unable to protect my children from the intentions of such horrible people." His fist were clenched until his knuckles popped.

Ichigo stepped forward to speak. "Master it isn't your fault. You couldn't have known." He tried to comfort the man but to no avail.

"Nonsense! It is my duty to protect all of my children." Makarov looked back up to the two. "The two of you are some of the most promising young mages our guild has. Those men didn't deserve the mercy you showed them. I will not allow their actions to escape justice. You do not need to worry, I will take care of everything from here. I want the two of you to rest and recover."

Erza spoke up "Thank you master. If you need any assistance in bringing the criminals in, Ichigo and I…."

"Would be happy to help. Yes yes I know. But that will not be necessary Erza. Let us old people take care of things from here."

Ichigo had to fight hard not to chuckle. The master truly did behave as if all of the members of the guild were his children. The fact that he had been able to finish Erza's sentence could attest that he was as much of a father as many of them had had.

As the two teens walked back out into the open hall, many of the other members had almost entirely forgotten about what had transpired just a few moments before. Ichigo let his mood lighten and glanced over at Erza beside him.

"Well now that's done, what do you say to going and getting you those cakes?"

Erza didn't respond. She remained quiet as she took a few steps in front of Ichigo. She had come to her conclusion. She knew what she had to do, but the hard part would be breaking it to Ichigo. Sure they didn't do everything together and there would be times when they didn't see each other for a day or two, but given their recent ordeal Erza knew that her choice would only worry him.

"Ichigo I…" she started, her voice catching in her throat a bit. "I need to be alone for a while."

Ichigo frowned a bit. "what do you mean?"

Erza didn't bother explaining and continued with her practiced speech. It was the only way she'd be able to get this out. "Im not sure for how long, but I need you and all the others to leave me alone. Please don't come looking for me."

"What are you talking about? Why do you need to leave? Where are you going?" Ichigo reached forward to put a hand on her shoulder but Erza pulled away.

"Please Ichigo this isn't easy for me either, but I need to do this." Erza stood her ground and tried to give Ichigo a look to show how serious she was about this.

Ichigo seemed to at least understand that this was not something he was going to get her to back down from. "Can you at least tell me why you need to leave?"

Erza turned her back away from him. 'I knew he wasn't going to take this easily but does he have to make it so hard on me?' She looked back over her shoulder to look Ichigo in his amber eyes. "Ichigo can you please just… just let me do this. I… I'll tell you why once I return."

Ichigo kept his gaze hard for as long as he could before relenting and letting out a sigh "You're always so stubborn."

Erza had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. "That's the pot calling the kettle black."

"Oh shut up! It takes one to know one!" Ichigo took a breath and met Erza's gaze. "Okay you win, just…be careful. Okay?"

In her head, Erza knew that she couldn't be careful and succeed in getting stronger like she wanted. 'Well, what Ichigo doesn't know probably won't hurt him. Right?'

"Okay I'll be careful."

As she turned to walk towards the door she could feel him watching her leave. When Erza reached the large wooden doors she turned and smiled back "Try not to let Natsu and Gray tear the place down."

Ichigo smirk and nodded "Don't worry, I'll make sure the place is still standing when you come back."

And with that Erza turned and walked out of the guildhall. The last Ichigo saw of her was the length of scarlet hair flowing in the wind before the doors were closed.

9 days prior

It had been nearly a week since Ichigo and Erza's return and the latter's subsequent disappearance. Ichigo had tried initially to look for her, but Erza must have learned to turn invisible because there was no trace of her. Others in the guild swore that she came in to the guild occasionally to eat, but Ichigo was never able to catch her.

He had spent most of his time keeping his promise to not let Gray and Natsu destroy the guild. This task had become increasingly difficult given that Elfman, one of the Strauss siblings, and the other male members had taken the time to decide that joining in on Natsu and Gray's fights was an ample source of entertainment. After the third brawl, Ichigo had decided that trying to stop it was like trying to stop gravity. This realization came with a partner. If he couldn't prevent the fight, then he would join in and beat down as many as he could so the fight would end as soon as possible.

That particular morning he had just finished knocking out about a third of the guild when Cana decided he needed some fresh air.

"Come on strawberry you need to stop skulking around, I don't know if Gray's brain cells can handle you knocking him out again."

Ichigo, being dragged out into the town by a surprisingly strong girl, had to admit that Gray and Natsu were dumb enough without him giving them concussions every day. "Okay fine, but where are you dragging me?!"

Cana only responds with a sharp kick in the shins.

"Ow! Damnit Cana that hurt!" Ichigo began hopping on one foot rubbing his sore leg.

"Oh shut up. I just want some help carrying groceries, and since you knocked out my normal helper, you're gonna take Gray's place." Cana taunted back

Ichigo let out his best groan of complaint. He hated shopping, especially with girls. 'Well not Erza, but she's weird.'

The two friends continued on through the crowded streets toward the market districts. For a while they both seemed content with the comfortable silence until Cana decided to speak up.

"So how've you been getting along the past week?" It was a simple enough question but it brought a slight confusion for Ichigo.

"Well I've been at the guild the whole time so you should know, I mean hell I spend most of my time with you or trying to stop those brawling idiots."

Cana let out a frustrated sigh. "That's not what I meant Ichigo. How have you been since Erza left?"

The orange haired teen visibly tensed at the mention of his partner who was currently MIA. He had thought that he had been hiding his stress from everyone pretty well. Maybe Cana had just seen something in her cards.

"To be honest I'm not sure what you mean. Why would I feel any different if she decided to get some time alone for a while?"

"Because she's your best friend. Come on Ichigo I know you too well, you've been almost as grumpy and agitated as Laxus ever since she left."

Yet again Ichigo found himself groaning. He hadn't wanted to deal with anything Erza related but Cana had seen right through his bluff. He looked over and noticed that she was waiting patiently for him to answer.

In his typical fashion, Ichigo scratched the back of his head nervously "Listen I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it alright."

For the second time that day, Ichigo felt a sharp kick to the shin.

"Ah! Fuck stop doing that!" Ichigo shouted as he hopped around clutching his injured leg.

"Well I wouldn't have to if you'd stop avoiding the questions! Give me a straight answer."

"God alright alright." Ichigo took a moment to gather his thoughts. "It's like, I'm angry at her, but im also worried about her at the same time."

Cana's glare softened up a bit. "That's gonna require some explanation."

"Well…. I'm angry that she just up and left. She wouldn't tell me where she'd be or what she would be doing. Hell she didn't even trust me enough to tell me why she was leaving." Ichigo took a calming breath to calm himself back down. "But on the other hand I'm worried about her. Whatever this is, it's serious enough to her that she felt that she had to go through it alone. What if she's in danger? If she had let me go with her I could help her."

Cana looked ahead of them as they approached the first store. After a short period of silence she smiled slightly. "Well I'm sure Erza would smile if she heard how much you care. You're thinking about this like a boy and what makes since to you, but you seem to have forgotten that Erza is a girl and thinks like one."

Ichigo was struck dumb for a moment. "Uh what do you mean?"

Cana giggled a bit before turning to the boy. "Well first let's talk about you thinking she didn't trust you enough to tell you where she was or to let you help her. Have you ever thought that maybe this is her showing you that she trusts you to have faith in her and to do as she asks?"

Ichigo found that her answer hadn't really helped his confusion.

"And you saying that you are worried for her safety. How many times have you put her safety ahead of your own? How many times have you gotten hurt because of her?"

Ichigo snapped out of his confusion and furrowed his brow. "It's not her fault when I get hurt. She knows I would never blame her.."

"Well maybe you don't, but how do you think it makes her feel when, in her eyes, you get hurt because of her?" Cana interrupted quickly.

Ichigo's argument was caught in his throat. Why would that matter? They were partners. Erza had saved him just as much as he had for her. Hadn't she? But as Ichigo thought he started to realize that he couldn't really think of many times that she had been the one to pull him out of the fire.

Cana took his silence as realization. "See. It's likely that Erza feels tired of being the one on the team who has to be saved. She doesn't exactly look like the type to play damsel in distress. She probably feels like she is dragging you down, holding you back."

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ichigo looked over at Cana as she started to fill her basket with various fruits. "But… If that's true, why would she leave?"

Cana just smirks as she turns around to face him "Well I think I'll let you figure that out on your own. Just stop worrying so much. Erza will come back and explain the whole thing to you I'm sure. Now come on, I've got plenty more stops to make today."

As Ichigo followed her to the next store he felt a small bit of relief. Not because he was being drug around shopping! In fact he was warming up to do his best complaining about it, but what Cana had explained had put him at ease, if only slightly. Now if only she didn't intend to bury him under shopping bags.

4 days prior

Too slow.

Not fast enough.

Too weak.

Not strong enough.

'I must get Stronger!'

The forest was calm. The animals were silent as they went about their daily routines. A slight breeze was rustling the trees. The never ending babble of a small stream. Everything was exactly as it should be in such a tranquil environment. The only things standing out were the numerous deeply carved gashes in the bark around the base of the trees. The grass had been stomped into the dirt by the repeated steps of boots. The sounds of metal striking wood accompanied by the strained grunts and heavy breathing of one Erza Scarlet.

She had been at it for almost two weeks and still it was not enough. She had been driving herself to the very edge of what her body could take and she had only made what seemed to be marginal gains. At this rate she could be out here for months and still never catch up to Ichigo. 'But after what Natsu told me about Ichigo looking upset ever since I left, I don't know how much longer I can keep him in the dark.'

Erza started her run again, slashing at the bases of the trees, toppling her training dummies, and finally spinning her weight and bringing a powerful strike down on a log in an attempt to cut through it. Just like every other run, her sword made a deep gash, but never went all the way through.

"Grrrrr AAAAAAAHHHH!" Erza screamed in frustration. " Why cant I get better?!"

"Maybe it's because of all your fat crammed into that rusty training bra you call armor." A snide voice called from the tree line.

'Oh no. Not her. Anyone but her.' Erza thought to herself as she slowly turned to see a girl her age with stark white hair "Mira."

The eldest of the Strauss siblings laughed at Erza's obvious displeasure in seeing her "So this is where you have been hiding. Training so that you don't drag Ichigo down anymore?"

"Shut your mouth!" Erza growled.

But Mira only continued to antagonize her. "You know if you are having so much trouble out here, maybe Ichigo should just find a new teammate. I'm sure he'd choose me. After all, since you left he's been very angry, and only a real woman like me can help him." Mirajane shot Erza her best "In your face" grin. She knew full well that the orange haired boy was one of Erza's buttons.

Erza was beyond angry before and Mirajane's presence was just the spark to light the fuse. Without thinking Erza rushed at the white haired mage. Mira only just managed to get out of the way before Erza's blade cut into the ground where she had been standing.

"Oh what no witty retort? You're just as pig headed as always." Mira gloated for a moment at how easily she had provoked Erza before the aforementioned mage's sword flashed bright and was replaced with one much larger, nearly the size of Ichigo's.

"RRRAAAAAHHH!" Erza charged again. Mira had to back off again as the large blade came swishing just short of her head, her smirk at her earlier taunts quickly replaced by a deep scowl. "Satan Soul" A bright light covered her body as she began transform into her demon form. Wings and a long tail grew from her back and her arms became covered in scales and her hands donned clawed gauntlets. Her long white hair, which had previously been in a ponytail, was now straight up in the air.

"You're in trouble now." Before Erza could bring up her defenses, Mira's fist came crashing into her face and sent her recoiling back. Just as she got back on her balance, another strike came across her back courtesy of Mirajane's tail.

Erza caught herself before hitting the ground and quickly rolled to the side and back to her feet across from Mira 'Damn. With the boost her satan soul gives her she's too powerful. I've got to think of something! I am not going to let her beat me like this.'

Erza readied herself as Mira came at her again, this time catching her strike on the flat of her blade. The two girls remained dead locked for a brief moment "Whats wrong Rusty? Were you not ready to start?" Mira's smug grin had returned in earnest and Erza knew she was too worn down to hold her off for long.

In a few short moment the girls exchanged a flurry of strikes, neither willing to give an inch. However, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Erza was at a disadvantage now that Mira had transformed.

"Face it you're too weak haha." As she laughed, Mira hooked her tail around Erza's wrist and threw the sword mage across the clearing. As she slowly got back to her feet, Erza saw that mira was charging a ball of magic energy in her hand

'Darkness magic! Dammit I don't have the strength left to get away from that. If she had shown up before I wore myself out with training…. I have to bring out as much power as I can. I hope that the weapons I have left are strong enough.'

With one last push of will power, Erza called on what remained of her magic in an attempt to at least mitigate the damage Mira's attack would do. A bright light began to emit from her body and she could feel the power there. It almost made her feel stronger again, like her body was lighter.

Suddenly Mira dropped her hand and her spell dissipated. Her face turned light red and it looked as if she were trying not to laugh.

'Is she laughing at me?!' Erza thought feeling her anger rise up again. But before she could continue to wonder Mira burst out laughing and clutched at her stomach. "What is so funny?"

Mira looked back up with watery eyes and tried to regain her composure. Upon looking at Erza again, she found that she couldn't stop laughing.

"I demand to know what you are laughing about!" Erza shouted through gritted teeth.

"HAHA did you finally decide to ditch that rusty armor? Or are you trying to come on to me? Hahaha." Mira doubled over again in laughter.

Erza felt her anger being replaced by utter confusion. 'ditch my armor? Coming on to her?! What would make her….'

Erza's thoughts stopped dead when she felt something brush against her bare leg where her boot should have been. In fact she could feel the dirt under her feet. Slowly The scarlet wizard looked down to see just what was her white haired rival found to be so funny.

"… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHHHHHHHHH!" Erza let out a high pitched scream at the realization that her armor, along with most of her clothing, had completely disappeared.

Seeing her distress, Mira turned back to her regular body and fell to her knees laughing hysterically. Erza's face quickly became the same color as her hair and she quickly ran to the nearest bush and hid herself from view "Get out of here! Go away!"

Erza remained hidden as she heard Mira continue to laugh but eventually the sound of her voice faded further away and eventually vanished. She was alone, half naked, and incredibly confused. What the hell had just happened to her? Where had her armor gone?

'It must have been that bright light. I was only trying to bring out stronger weapons, how did I make my armor vanish?' She sat quietly in her hiding place thinking about what transpired right when she felt herself get lighter. 'That light…. It was just like the light from when I requip new swords. Is that what happened? Did I requip my armor off?' Erza continued to look at the ground. She had heard that nobody had ever had the ability to use requip magic on armor. Weapons was common but armor was unheard of. "hmm. That would explain why I didn't have clothes on afterward, since I don't have any other armor to replace it with. Okay. Let's test this idea."

Erza let her magic energy flow back into her the way she had before. At first nothing happened but then there was a bright light and she felt the familiar weight of her armor on her. As she opened her eyes, it was as if she had never lost her armor in the first place.

"I can requeip armor. Amazing. With this I can have all kinds of armors with different powers for any situation. Maybe the training really is paying off." As she got up and exited the foliage Erza felt an old confidence that she had forgotten. With this new ability she could truly stand as Ichigo's equal, and not just his tag along.

The scarlet haired girl took a look at herself and grimaced at the sorry state of her clothes. "First things first though. I need to clean up and do some shopping." And with that she began to walk back into town thinking of a particular set of armor and weapon she had seen at the magic shop

Present day

Ichigo suddenly felt himself falling back in his chairs. In a moment of panic he threw his arms out wildly before feeling his back hit the floor. Still in alert mode he quickly jumped to his feet ready to strike at the opponent he assumed was attacking him only to see that everyone was just staring at him like he was a moron.

Looking down at the toppled chair, He sighed to himself. "Must've dosed off for a while."

Looking around he was only able to see a few people still sitting around at the tables. Macao and the master were still sitting at the bar discussing something that was likely of some perverse nature. Reedus was doing his usual painting thing. And in what comically looked like a dust ball with arms and legs poking out, Natsu and Gray were at it again.

Ichigo let out a slow groan and pinched his brow. They were really getting to be a headache around the guild "Hey, will you two knock it off already?"

"No way! I'm taken this ice head down." Natsu shouted as he planted a fist in Gray's gut.

Ever quick to respond, Gray returned fire with a punch across Natsu's jaw. "Whatever flame brain! I'm the one who's gonna kick your ass!"

As the two continued to rumble, Ichigo just groaned and turned away, trying to ignore them. That is until one of Natsu's sandals came flying at him and smacked loudly against the side of Ichigo's face.

Ichigo just stared at the discarded shoe lying on the ground next to him. His scowl only darkened as his rage began to boil up. If either of the rumbling boys had been paying attention, they would have noticed the ticking time bomb of pain that they had ignited. Unfortunately neither of them noticed until the explosion hit.

"ggrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Ichigo bellowed from where he had been sitting. "That's it I'm sick of you two!" With that the orange haired youth leapt toward the now stunned Gray and Natsu.

Seeing their impending deaths coming the two boys ironically clung to each other and cried out in fear of what the older boy had planned for them.

However, just as Ichigo landed in front of the cowering teens, the doors to the guild burst open loudly. For a moment all of the guilds attention was broken as everyone present turned to see who had arrived.

To Ichigo, it seemed as if he had forgotten what he was about to do as he saw the long scarlet hair of the one person he'd been wanting to see all week.

Erza strode into the guild with a look of shear confidence. As she scanned the room she could see that everyone was looking at her with various expressions. Some happy, others surprised. But out of all of the faces, the look of utter shock on Ichigo's face was the one that brought a small smirk to her face as she strode into the hall.

Ichigo watched as the girl who had essentially been avoiding him for near two weeks began walking right up to him looking… well looking great.

'I figured she was angry at me and would be looking upset or something.' He thought in disbelief. 'She looks better than she has in a long time.'

He was quickly broken from his thoughts as Erza came to a stop just a few feet away from him. She had a look in her eyes of fierce determination. Before he could even open his mouth to greet her she beat him to it.

"Ichigo. Before you ask anything I need to say something." She stated calmly.

The young man in question stood up and gave Erza his full attention. He had a strange feeling but he couldn't exactly place what it was.

'She's looking hot as hell right now. Hey king you should see if she wants to go have some fun' Shiro stated from Ichigo's mindscape

'Would you shut up ya pervert!'

Ichigo and Shiro didn't have time to keep bickering as Erza continued her speech

"I challenge you to a duel!" She stated to the shock of everyone in the guild.

No one was more shocked than the target of her challenge. Ichigo was dumbstruck and couldn't even form a sentence. "uhhh wha…."

Erza's smirk grew slightly. "You heard me. I challenge you to a duel, and I expect you to give it everything you've got and not hold back!"

Ichigo shook his head clearing away his confusion. "Wait, Erza where have you been?"

Erza huffed. She knew he'd want an explanation, but she needed to do this before she lost her confidence. "I'll tell you after the fight, BUT only if you fight me with everything. If I even think that you're holding back on me, I will never forgive you."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock. What had been going on between the two friends to prompt this? Whispers of disbelief began to spread.

Ichigo just stared into Erza's eyes, seeing unbreakable determination, but there was something else there.

'Ichigo. Give her what she requests.'

'What? Why? I want to know if our friendship is okay. I don't think fighting would..'

'Trust me Ichigo. By the end of the fight, your friendship will be stronger than ever.'

Ichigo smiled a bit and looked back at the still silently waiting girl. With a small nod he said "Alright Erza. Let's do this."

Erza, hearing his acceptance, smiled and turned to walk into the street outside the hall with Ichigo following close behind.

From somewhere in the guild they heard Natsu yell "Team SunSet is gonna fight!" And soon all those present had made their way out into the street to witness a fight between the popular young team. Quickly the street filled with spectators from the surrounding area.

In the center of the circle, Ichigo and Erza stood facing each other. Neither moved. The crowd cheered excitedly and the sounds of people placing bets could be heard over the roar. As the master made his way to the front of the crowd between the two combatants the cheers died down to allow him to speak.

"Erza Scarlet, you have challenged Ichigo Kurosaki to a duel. Ichigo, do you accept this challenge?" Makarov calmly spoke looking between the two.

Ichigo took on a smirk to match Erza's "Well duh. You think I walked out here just to stand in the street?"

The master smiled and backed up a bit "Then let's get this show on the road! Combatants ready!" at this both Ichigo and Erza dew their respective swords. "Fight!"

Without even a moment of pause both teens lunged at each other and the loud ring of swords clashing echoed through the street as the powerful strikes collided.

Ichigo used his advantage in size to try and push Erza down and off balance. As the pressure on her sword arm increased, Erza quickly shifted allowing Ichigo's large Blade to slide off of her own and strike the street next to her. Trying to press her advantage she brought her sword back intending to strike across Ichigo's exposed right side.

Ichigo saw the attack coming and with fast reflexes crossed his sword and brought it up between himself and the oncoming attack, effectively blocking it.

The crowd watched the incredible display awestruck. "wow they're really taking this seriously huh?" Cana mumbled slightly worried

"You heard Erza. She wanted his best!" Gray answered.

Natsu jumped in "And Ichigo's so strong Erza's gonna really have to push herself to beat him!" he began to bounce on his toes, clearly excited by the spectacle.

At this Mirajane chimed in "Psh there's no way that tin can could keep up with a man like Ichigo."

Lissana, the youngest of the Strauss siblings, came to stand beside Natsu "I don't know Mira, It looks like she's really pressing him hard."

Suddenly everyone's attention was brought back to the center of the ring as Erza out maneuvered an attack from Ichigo and countered with a fierce kick to the side of his head sending him skidding back several feet.

'Damn she's stronger than I remember her being.'

'HAHA She's making you look like an idiot hahaha.'

'OH Shut up!'

Ichigo looked back to see Erza glaring at him. 'She looks mad…'

"I told you to give me everything you've got!" She shouted before rushing in and locking blades with Ichigo in a surprisingly powerful strike. "Stop taking it easy on me!"

With this Ichigo looked in her eyes and was surprised to see…hurt? 'She's upset? But I don't want to hurt her..'

'She isn't worried about getting hurt you dipshit! She wants to see if She's as strong as you are!' shiro practically screamed in his head.

'He is right Ichigo. She is hurt because she needs to know that she is your equal.'

Ichigo thought on their words as he held off Erza's weight on his blade. Is that what she was feeling? And then it hit him 'That's what she's been doing! She's been training to be as strong as me! But I never thought of her as dragging me down or anything. She's my partner.'

'So show her Ichigo.'

As the old man's words faded Ichigo felt power flowing into him. With a newfound resolve he pushed off and broke the deadlock with Erza and she was forced to jump back a few feet.

Erza looked on as she felt Ichigo's power growing. 'This feels just like it did when he rescued me.' She thought to herself. Before everyone's eyes the air around Ichigo began to pick up and swirl about. His form started to emit a faint blue glow. 'So this is where the real fight starts.' Erza tightened her grip and braced for what was to come.

Suddenly the air burst away and was still again. But there was only a moment of calm before Ichigo came at her almost faster than she could perceive. She only just was able to get her sword up in time before his strike landed.

Even though she had managed to block Ichigo's blade, the force behind the attack threw Erza back several yards. After regaining her balance she tried to go on the offensive by rushing Ichigo. It was pointless however, as Ichigo almost effortlessly dodged or blocked all of her attacks.

In a final attempt to land a hit, Erza stepped back before delivering a thrust directed at his chest. But Ichigo was faster. In a move that was alarmingly familiar to Erza, Ichigo lifted his sword straight in the air and brought it down lighting fast on her own sword and across the chest of her armor. The force of the attack not only once again cut right through her own sword, but it sent her rocketing back to skid on the ground.

Erza tried to shake off the pain and got up to one knee. The crowd around them was stunned to see her still standing after such an attack and many were surprised that Ichigo had done something so powerful so easily

'Ugh damn he even cut my armor this time.' Erza thought as she looked to see the white fabric of the blouse she wore under her armor showing through the new large hole across the breastplate of her armor, and the perfect cut on her now snubbed blade.

Ichigo on the other hand was worried that he had gone overboard until he saw Erza shrug off the hit. 'Well she really must have gotten a lot stronger, but I should probably end this before she gets hurt for real.'

Ichigo was interrupted from his thoughts as Erza spoke up.

"Heh. Should have known I'd be no match for you with my current abilities." She said with a smile

Ichigo was about to ask if that meant she was done before she continued. "Guess I'll show you the real results of all the training I've been doing." And as her words died down her body was suddenly enveloped in bright light.

Ichigo lost sight of her body momentarily until he heard her shout "Requip!" He looked back to the source of the sound as the light died down to reveal Erza's new form

Erza had donned a new armor from her previous one. Her arms were wrapped in lighter chain armor than her previous one. Over her left shoulder sat a large round metal plate. Her torso was covered by two metal bands that came over each shoulder, crossing over her breast, and wrapping around her waist. On her legs she wore thigh high black leather boots and dark leggings. But the most notable change, was her sword.

Instead of the blade that had been broken, Erza now wielded a sword that looked incredibly similar to Ichigo's. The blade was narrower and not quite as long. And the color of the tassel was a deep purple instead of light blue. But that was where the differences ended. Erza even wore a sheath across her back just like Ichigos.

Seeing the obvious similarities, Ichigo couldn't help but smile. Seeing this Erza felt herself smiling

"So you learned requip magic?" Ichigo asked as he brought his sword up in front of himself.

Erza mimed his movements "Yes. This armor improves my speed and power greatly. And the sword is of the finest quality. You won't be cutting through it any time soon." She taunted smiling.

The two simply looked at each other before shouting and diving back into the fight with renewed vigor. Neither was giving an inch and the flurry of blows they exchanged were almost a blur to most of the on lookers. The power that came from their attacks was simply astounding

"Hmm." The master was deep in thought. 'I see that they have recovered well from their ordeal. They are both going to be incredibly powerful someday…'

As the fighters began to show signs of tiring they broke away from each other panting heavily. They both had plenty of fresh cuts and bruises, but despite their injuries they both had the brightest smiles on their faces.

"I have to admit… even with all my training…. You're still far more powerful than I had expected." Erza huffed out between breaths.

Ichigo smiled back at her. "I can't believe how much stronger you've gotten in just a couple weeks."

"Well despite that, I think I only have enough left in me for one last attack."Erza stated as she cocked her sword back to her side "what do you say we wrap this up Strawberry?"

"You asked for it!" Ichigo growled out with a grin as he held his sword out behind himself and both began to pour energy into their blades for the final clash.

Sensing the power that the two intended to unleash, the master ordered everyone to take several steps back.

Just as the crowd had moved, the teens jumped and brought their energized blades together in a large explosion of power. Huge amounts of wind kicked up enough dust to hide their forms from view for several moments.

Everything was quiet for a few seconds as the dust slowly settled to reveal the two ginger haired warriors.

Their blades were locked together but it was clear that there was no strength being put into either of them. Both Erza and Ichigo were leaning against their grips exhaustedly. Erza was the first to move although "move" is a bit subjective.

"Thanks… Ichigo." She whispered as she slumped forward onto the orange haired youth. Ichigo subconsciously dropped his own sword and caught the tired girl before he also gave into exhaustion and fell to his knees with her in his lap.

No one moved for some time until the master spoke up. "I declare this duel to be a draw. Now, let's get these two inside and patched up." He instructed and several members took the teens inside and went about healing their minor injuries.

When all was said and done Ichigo and Erza sat next to each other in one of the booths. There was a brief silence before Erza made to speak

"Ichigo…" but she was interrupted.

"Don't worry. I think I understand why you needed to do that, and I'm glad you were able to get stronger from it." Ichigo stated as he turned to her smiling.

Erza could only smile back. 'He really is the best friend I could ask for.' She thought as she laid her head on his shoulder and let sleep take her.

Ichigo let his head rest on top of hers and quickly followed her to dreamland. The master looked over to the duo and could only smile. "Maybe I should have put one of them in this year's trial. Oh well, There's always next year…."

Authors note.

Okay so this is the first story since the accident. I hope that it lives up to what Bruised Knuckles was capable of. I'll try to have another one up relatively soon. Okay so… Explanations

Erza's armor: Okay so I think this is an interesting way to explain how Erza learned that she could requip both weapons and armor. As far as the armor she wore in her fight against Ichigo, all I can say is that it will play an important part in the chapters to come.

The Master's epic foreshadowing: well actually yeah, this is just some foreshadowing for what is next for our duo.

Ages: Ichigo is 14, Erza and Mirajane are 13, Gray and Cana are 12, Natsu is ?, Lissana is 11, and Master Makarov is old.

Lastly I would just like to say thank you to all of you who have already given me your support. It means so much to see that even just a few hours after posting the announcement that many of you had support to give. I will do my absolute best to do his memory justice. Thank you so much.

This is Bruised Memory, thank you all.