Chapter 4 – First Job

Magnolia, Summer time,

Year X792

Sting Eucliffe POV

I walked through the streets of Magnolia with an additional spring in my step. After posting my letter to Sabertooth the previous day, explaining the situation, and then meeting up with Natsu that evening, the pair of us had decided that we would go on the job together the following morning. This morning.

Looking to my watch as I approached the guild I couldn't help but smile. "I've got ten minutes before the time I agreed to meet Natsu" I said aloud to no one in particular. It was weird being alone, since usually I had either the grumpy Shadow Dragon Slayer, or my Exceed companion beside me, however with me being at Fairy Tail I was left completely to my own devices. With a bright smile, I entered the guild hall to a seen of slight apprehension, but otherwise normal activity. Mages shuffled around, either drinking, going out for, or coming back from jobs.

I eagerly walked up to the counter at the other end of the large building and took a seat. Mirajane Strauss came straight over to me. Since yesterday the Take-Over Mage had been a constant help, always checking up on me, making sure I wasn't lost, or just being generally pleasant. "Hi Mirajane" I greeted her kindly. The white-haired woman smiled back at me.

"Good morning Sting" she said back, "What can I do for you?"

I pouted. "Erm… I was wondering if I could get something to drink. I'm supposed to be meeting Natsu to go on our job but… I was a little early I guess" I stated. That was the truth, or at least most of it was. In reality I not only knew I was early, but had planned it so that I could get to the guild early and snoop around a bit. Although I had admired Natsu since my childhood, I found that I knew very little about him and I hoped to gather some intel before we set out so that I could talk more casually with him. Mirajane smiled at my little explanation.

"We have quite a number of drinks here" she explained, before taking out a book and flicking to a certain page, "Just pick out anything you'd like and I'll go get it for you" she stated, handing me the menu. I looked through its contents quickly; although there was indeed a number of different drinks to choose from, I decided to avoid a lot of them on the basis that drinking alcohol before noon would seem unsightly as a guild master. "Um… I think I'll just stick with coffee" I said politely, before handing Mirajane back the menu. She nodded.

"Okay, it'll be a couple of minutes" she replied, before rushing off to fulfil my order. I smiled and turned in my seat, my eyes scanning over the people in the guildhall. There's not many people here. I know that Makarov said that only a few people would be going on jobs to pay for the debt but… I think almost everyone is out working I analysed, before pouting slightly. Damn, that means there isn't very many people to ask about Natsu… I added after a moment.

As I sat waiting, a pair of other wizards came over to greet me from the shadows of one of the corridors. I scowled slightly at them as they approached. "Hello you two" I greeted in false-amicability.

The pair were the lackeys of the Zollzero family, and were quite a common sight, each popping their heads into conversations that any of the assigned debt-payers were having only to remind them of their role. One was an elderly man in his fifties, called Kenji, the other was his grandson, the much younger teenager, Haruki. I looked to each of them individually.

Kenji was a stoic faced man, with longer, grey-black hair that was tied into a pony tail. His slate coloured eyes were as hardened as his aged features, and gave him a permanent serious expression. Unlike the other goons who had shown up uninvited at the guild yesterday, Kenji wore a traditional-style black kimono with four symbols on its back, along with a sheath on either side of his waist in which were held two katana blades. He also held a further two katana in straps on his back to make a total of four weapons.

In sharp contrast to the elder man, Haruki was a permanently grinning teen of around fifteen years. He had his hair swept into a stylish appearance, and dyed to a blonder colouration, although there were still suggestions of dark-black at his roots. This meticulously kept appearance fitted perfectly with the expensive black, two-piece suit he wore, with a white shirt underneath. Although at an initial glance he appeared harmless, the slight L-shaped bulges around his chest suggested concealed guns, and to top it all off it was impossible to tell where he was looking because of the sunglasses that he constantly wore.

Overall the two were quite intimidating. "Good morning Master Eucliffe" Haruki greeted me, his tone pleasant, but with a note of superiority in it.

"Good morning" I reiterated quickly, "Do you have business with me?"

The fake-blond smiled and turned his head to his grandfather. "I don't know, do we have business with him pops?" he asked in a cocky tone. Kenji sighed and smacked his grandson on the shoulder.

"Yes, we do, so stop playing the fool, Haruki" he stated in a flat and unamused tone. Although I had only had a few protracted conversations with the pair, this was a very characteristic interaction, with Haruki acting cocky and Kenji smacking him silent. After reprimanding the child, the older male turned to me. "I would just like to ask exactly how much the job which you and Mister Dragneel are going on pays. I asked Miss Strauss earlier, however she was unable to answer as it appears that the flyer was taken by your partner" Kenji explained. I furrowed my brows in thought for a moment.

"Um… I think it's for about seventy thousand jewel, so… that's thirty-five thousand to both each of me and Natsu normally, however if you take your twenty percent first…" I paused to try to work out the number.

Haruki laughed. "It's fourteen thousand to us, and then twenty-eight-thousand to each of you two wizards" the teen interjected, his tone a mixture of amusement and condescension. I nodded, trying to ignore the boy's tone of voice.

"Yes, that's right" I stated, "However, since I only need two-thousand to pay for my accommodation, you can add the rest of my pay to your amount" I added with a smile. Kenji nodded in understanding.

"Very good, Master Eucliffe, we'll leave you in peace then. Thank you in advance for your donation" the older man stated, before grabbing his grandson. "Come along and leave the master in peace, Haruki… and take those glasses off indoors" he added, as he dragged the teen away by the collar of his shirt.

Haruki gave a pout of protest. "Hey, watch the suit!" he complained, "And I gotta keep these on to keep my cool image" he added. I smirked at the boy for a moment, before turning back to the counter. Stupid uppity kid…

After the two left, Mirajane appeared a few moments later. "Sorry for the wait" she apologised. I just smiled and shook my head at the waitress.

"It's fine, whilst you were gone I watched a clown show" I replied. Mirajane, knowing full well who I was referring too, chuckled, before moving off to another customer. When she left, I realised that I had forgotten something; Damn, I was so distracted by those two idiots that forgot to ask her anything about Natsu…

My slight curse seemed to go unnoticed by the waitress.

/

A short while later

After bumping into Natsu, who had overslept and was running ten minutes late, I decided to head out into the town whilst he got himself some breakfast. I had been fine with the lateness of the pinkette, as it gave me a little extra time to find out stuff about him, however now, as I stood waiting at the agreed meeting place whilst Natsu was late again, I couldn't help but feel a little slighted. Mostly because it feels like I'm being stood up for a date a little voice in my head said unwantedly.

I tried to strangle the thought, as I wanted to try to avoid any ideas like 'date' or 'romance' until from popping up until a more appropriate time. Or so you think the voice persisted. Shut up!

Natsu arrived after a few more minutes, smiling apologetically. "I… I'm sorry…" he puffed and panted; clearly he had run at full speed to get here. I shrugged.

"It's alright… it's not like I could leave without you" I smiled, trying once again to push down the unwanted thoughts that floated around my brain. "So, what kept you?" I asked, as Natsu and I began walking out of Magnolia. Most people would have used the trains, however as it was only Natsu and me going on this job, we could afford to walk, even if it took us a few extra hours. Hours that I get to spend with Natsu the voice whispered from its corner of my mind. Shut up, I'm not gonna be some creepy stalker thinking stuff like that I thought back to quell these ideas.

Natsu smiled brightly at me. "I figured it's been a while since I last saw you fight, and that yesterday was the first time I had even seen you fight since our battle with Tartaros so… well, I kinda stayed up training last night and didn't go to bed until later" Natsu explained. I nodded, a slight flicker of happiness passing over my face that Natsu was thinking about me, even if it was only as a fighter.

"I thought about training yesterday too, but after being beaten by that woman. And then having to go through all that stuff with Makarov later in the day… well… I sorta fell asleep before I could even do any training" I laughed, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment.

Natsu laughed too. "I saw you running around a lot, but I didn't understand what was going on. Being a Master seems like a lot of hard work" the pinkette chuckled.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm just glad that Rogue and Yukino help me out from time to time. Oh, and now that M'Lady is back she helps out a little too…" I said, "However if I had been by myself there woulda been no way we could've paid off our side of the debt" I stated, my voice full of honesty.

Natsu furrowed his brows. "Why?" he asked. Again, I shrugged.

"I hate to admit it, but I'm really bad with money. Like, seriously bad. Rogue always deals with our apartment's rent, and Yukino always helps with the guild's finances. When we got a pool, Rogue had to double check the costs of everything before I signed on 'em, just to make sure we weren't getting ripped off…" I trailed off as the number of examples of my inability flooded through my memory. Natsu saw my face and smirked, however he then pouted a little.

"So, you live with Rogue?" he questioned.

"Um… yeah…" I admitted. Is he jealous or something? No… it must just be my imagination…

"It sounds cool to live with another person like that… I mean I live with Happy, and sleep with him sometimes too… but I've never lived with other people, it's always just been me and Happy… oh, and Lucy too when we're at her apartment" Natsu explained. I smiled and nodded; Of course, that makes sense I thought.

"It's cool, sometimes… although Rogue is kind of annoying sometimes too" I stated a little embarrassedly, trying to move the conversation along. Something about what Natsu said bugged me. "So, you spend a lot of time around Lucy's place then?" I questioned the pinkette after a minute. Natsu nodded.

"Yeah, we have fun going over, me and Happy. Plus, Lucy's always fun to be around… even when she's screeching or bossy" he smiled cheerily. I frowned at him. Is he… are they a couple? I thought a little despondently, as Natsu's happy face made me reconsider my thoughts about the Mage. Natsu caught my expression and gave a confused look. "Is something wrong Sting?" he asked me, stopping in the middle of the path we were treading.

I shook my head. "No, it must be nice to spend time with your girlfriend like that" I stated with a false-smile.

Natsu's confused expression dropped instantly at my statement. "We're not a couple!" he barked. I was surprised by the suddenness of the other Dragon Slayer's reaction. "Why does everyone think that…" he trailed off seemingly genuinely confused by the statement. Is he serious? But he just… my mind froze for a moment, before I shook my head to dislodge my surprise. Natsu's not with Lucy, that still means I have a chance I thought to perk myself back up.

"Well… um… I'm sorry?" I said, trying to get the pink-haired Mage to cheer up a little.

Natsu stopped for a moment, before a great smiled broke out all over his cute, rounded face. "It's okay, I guess it's just something that everybody thinks" the pinkette chuckled. "I mean I like Lucy, but I couldn't think of her like that. She's my friend" he added with a smile.

I nodded in understanding. "It's alright, sometimes people say stuff like that about me and Rogue, although I always correct them. We're just friends too" I said with a sympathetic smile.

Natsu laughed. "So, it's not just me then" he beamed, before proceeding to continue down the path. We walked quietly for a few minutes, however Natsu, not being able to stand the silence, started chatting again. I smiled politely as he talked about a few of the exploits he had made in the more recent past, and I, in turn, answered a few of the questions he had about Sabertooth, or my role as Guildmaster.

Despite Natsu's statement that he didn't think of Lucy like that because of their friendship, a little niggling thought wormed its way into my mind, inhabiting the same corner as all the other unwanted thoughts I had right at that moment. It was from Natsu's declaration, or more accurately from the way he said it; Does he really not think of her romantically because they're friends, or because he really can't think of her like that?

/

After a couple of hours of walking, Natsu and I stopped for a while in a passing town. "How about eating there?" I said to Natsu, pointing to a little café in the town. Natsu smiled and shrugged.

"I don't really care, so long as they have food" he grinned. I sighed and made my way over to the outlined shop. Natsu followed behind, his stomach making even more gurgling noises than it had for the past half-hour as we desperately searched for somewhere to eat.

When we entered the café, Natsu and I sat down. A kind-faced waitress came over to give us menus, before scooting off to deal with another customer. Glancing over the top of the menu, I looked at Natsu. "Found anything you want?" I asked him. Since our walk had begun, Natsu had talked for a while, however after burning through every conversational topic he could think of, he eventually settled into a peaceful quiet, which gave me time to think things over. This thinking time, only some twenty minutes, since eventually Natsu's stomach began its noisy protest, allowed me come to a particular decision; I would ask Natsu out after one of our jobs. Perhaps not this one, or even maybe the next one, but once I felt that we had spent enough time together to be comfortable, then I would definitely ask.

"Everything here sounds tasty" the Fire Dragon Slayer commented with a bright smile, "Nice job finding this place, Sting" he added. I almost blushed at his praise.

"It's fine, so what do you want?" I reiterated my question. "Oh… and this might be a stupid question buuut…" I smiled sheepishly, "How much money do you have on you?" I asked. Natsu smirked at me.

"I have about a thousand jewel, what about you?" he replied in question.

I shrugged. "About eight hundred" I answered. Natsu nodded.

"Okay, so that's enough for… what?" he glanced down the list on the menu again. I looked too.

"Urm… about two meals and a drink each?" I estimated. Natsu nodded in agreement.

"So, if we have that… we'll have no money left until after the job" I stated, a slight grimace on my face. Despite my ineptitude with money, I still understood that it was bad to go around on jobs without any cash on you. Natsu just smiled brightly at me.

"It's fine, I go on jobs without money all the time" he chuckled, "So long as I eat I'm alright, and since we'll have finished the job by tomorrow, I think we should be okay" he added. I nodded in agreement; I couldn't feel uneasy when my idol/crush was so near to me and smiling that brightly.

"Alright, let's order then" I stated, before flagging down a waitress. As she took our orders and menus I looked to Natsu. The pinkette was busy looking out of the window of the quaint little café, a slightly far-away glimmer to his eyes. I couldn't help the cooing thoughts of cute from floating through my consciousness, however I did try to supress my urge to poke him just to see what he'd do.

Natsu seemed to notice my look, and rubbed the back of his apologetically. "Sorry" he said, "I guess I just drifted off for a minute there" he laughed. I smiled back at him.

"It's fine. I guess you're just worried about your guild, right?" I queried. Natsu shrugged.

"Nah, Fairy Tail will be fine. It's not like we haven't face huge problems before, although… I don't know, this is a new kinda problem" he stated. I nodded in understanding.

"Sabertooth's never had an issue like this either" I said sympathetically. Natsu nodded and looked solemn for a moment, before he began smiling again.

"There is one good thing that's come outta this, though" he stated, as our food was placed in front of us by some other waitresses.

I knitted my brows in confusion for a moment. "What good thing?" I asked the Fire Dragon Slayer, who grinned at me, whilst eyeing up his lunch.

"I got to hang out with you. I mean, we've worked together and fought together… and against each other… before, but now I'm actually getting to hang out with you normally… I can see how normal you actually are, not like the asshole you were at the Games a couple years ago" Natsu stated, whilst beginning to wolf down his meal. I smiled at the sentiment to his words, before I realised what he said.

"Hey!" I barked, with a mouthful of food only inches from my mouth, "I'm normal… I might've been an asshole, but I've always been normal" I added in a reasonable tone, earning a wicked smirk from the pinkette. Natsu then laughed before proceeding to consume the remainder of his food.

I finished my food too, and then once we each drank our drinks we paid and left for our job.

/

We arrived at the intended town a few hours later, meeting up with the client as soon as we could. Dusk-time orange light slowly overtook the sky as we wandered up to the specific house, it had taken longer than expected to reach this place. The client in question was an elderly gentleman and the town's elder. After explaining the exact specifics of our job, he pointed out where we needed to go, and with confident smiles on our faces, Natsu and I set out into the nearby forest.

The job itself was fairly straight-forward; Me and Natsu had to camp out in the forest and defeat some kind of wolf-like monster that had been terrorizing nearby crops and farm animals. Although I had been hoping that the job would at least involve a comfortable bed, there was something appealing to spending the night alone with Natsu under the stars, so long as the wolf-thing didn't interrupt us too much.

Once Natsu and I had found the clearing that the elder had spoken of, we set up camp, each of us rolling out our sleeping bags. Natsu offered to go and get some wood to light for a fire, whilst I kept watch. "I'm back" Natsu called to me as he emerged from the shadows of some trees. I smiled at him.

"Cool, you need any help?" I asked with a pleasant smile. The Fire Dragon Slayer shook his head, before quickly building up a stack of sticks, twigs and leaves.

"I'm fine" he said, "Now… watch this" he grinned, before making a flame dance in his palm. I watched the flickering crimson for a moment, before it fell gently out of Natsu's hand and onto the firewood, setting it alight instantly.

"That's pretty useful" I stated. Natsu shrugged.

"It's only a little bit of Fire Magic" he replied, "I bet yours is useful too" he added with a wink.

I smiled. "It's better at destroying stuff than doing anything helpful like that" I stated, waving my arm in a broad gesture to the fire Natsu had just made. "Although it can be useful when looking for things in dark places" I added with a slightly dismissive shrug.

Natsu grinned. "Guess we'll have no problem finding that monster then" he stated. I laughed.

"Yeah…" I agreed, before trailing the conversation off.

Natsu seemed to grow quiet too, as he began looking into the crimson flames his mind wandered off. I followed suit. Looking into the flames I felt a great sense of calm fall over my person, like I was looking into Natsu's soul. Is it just because this was started with his magic…? I thought for a moment. Thinking of the pinkette brought up all the unwanted thoughts I had managed to bury since the café, and I ended up staring at the Dragon Slayer beside me, rather than his flames. He's so cute when he's lost in thought like that… I smiled internally, or at least I hoped so.

"Hey Sting" Natsu whispered to me after about ten minutes. I jumped at the sudden sound. Did he notice?

"Umm… yeah?" I whispered back, silently hoping that he was only wanting to chat or something.

"Do you smell that? Or hear it?" Natsu whispered. The pinkette took his eyes of the flames at this point, his gaze being directed solely at me.

I frowned and gave a sniff at the air around me; there was plenty of scents around here, leaves, trees, flowers, and… the scent of dog? The wolf monster… I realised after a moment. Meeting Nastu's gaze with understanding eyes, I nodded to the pinkette. "Yeah… it's somewhere nearby" I whispered very quietly, my nose trying to focus on the odour of our target.

"I think it's over… there" Natsu stated, pointing towards a particular patch of jet-black shadow. I scented the air. Yeah, I think so too I thought. Nodding at Natsu again, we both tensed.

"I'll flush it out" I said to him. He nodded in understanding, before allowing me to proceed onwards into the darkness. Once I reached the point that I thought was approximately between Natsu and the wolf monster, I charged up my magic. "White Dragon's Claw" I commanded, white light engulfing each of my fists, lighting up the darkness. As the light grew in intensity, I looked around. Then I gulped.

"Oh… fuck!" I cursed, as I came eye-to-eye with a seven-foot-tall, dark-furred canine creature, with large, blade-like claws that glistened a pearly white in the light of my magic. The creature growled lowly, and arched its back; from the looks of its hind legs I could see it was about to leap. "No, you don't!" I said loudly, before sending my light-engulfed fists careening right into the wolf-like face. The creature let out a roar of anger as my attack landed, leaving a white stigma where the blow landed. "Got you!" I called out, before jumping back and putting some distance between myself and the creature.

"Alright Natsu, I hit it with my claw" I said, waving my other hand, which was still glowing, as a signal for the Fire Dragon Slayer to emerge from hiding and help me. After a moment, Natsu arrived with a happy smile on his face.

"Woah, that was quick" he commented, "I didn't even get to do anything".

I shrugged. "I didn't expect to come face-to-face with the thing the second I used my magic, but anyway… how do you wanna do this?" I asked. Natsu shrugged.

"Don't know, I've not had to move a monster before; normally I just beat 'em" he replied with a thoughtful pout.

I folded my arms, eyeing up the paralysed creature before us. "The old man said this was some form of rare, magically-enhanced wolf from the mountains, and we shouldn't kill it unless absolutely necessary…" I frowned, "I guess we should just keep it tied down and the move it out of the forest… if it's really from the mountains, then it probably got lost, or separated from its pack and they're looking for it" I added. Natsu looked to me and nodded in understanding.

"Alright" he said, before moving to the rear end of the creature, "You get one end, and I'll get the other, then we can make our way back to camp and sleep" he smiled. I nodded in understanding.

"Okay, just let me put a couple more stigma on it. If it really is magically enhanced, then it could wear off before we finish moving it… and that wouldn't end well" I stated, before engulfing my hand once more in white light. After touching a few more locations, each time leaving another restriction insignia on the wolf, I nodded to Natsu. "Alright, let's move it" I grinned.

/

"Whew… that thing was heavy" Natsu heaved, flumping down onto his sleeping bag, and looking up at me with a grin.

I nodded in agreement, moving to sit cross-legged on my own sleeping space near to the dwindling fire. "I've not had to move something like that before… but yeah, it was heavy" I agreed. Natsu smiled and looked to the barely smouldering pile of sticks and ash next to me.

"I guess… I'll go get more firewood. It's too late now to go back to the town now, and I'm tired" he stated, motioning to get up. I shook my head, and stood up, stretching.

"Let me get it, you had to carry the heavy end of that monster before, so I'm not as tired" I stated. Natsu shrugged and went back to lying down, this time on his back. With his gaze fixed upon the stars above, he smiled calmly.

I turned and wander into the forest, using a light on my hand to help guide my way. My enhanced Dragon Slayer eyes could easily pick out some dry sticks, and branches. Whilst I was collecting firewood, I allowed my mind to wander again. Natsu was so calm when that wolf showed up… if he hadn't been paying attention, I would've been too lost in thought to notice and then… well… maybe it could've attacked me I thought to myself with a little disdain. I've gotta get it together. I came to Fairy Tail to try to spend some time with Natsu, however that doesn't give me the right to be a drain on them. We didn't plan for this debt, however as it was partly my responsibility as Guild Master I should help to fix this… then maybe, no… not maybe. Then I will definitely tell Natsu how I feel. The jobs should come first I said internally.

With a definitive nod to myself I turned to return to camp. Despite my initial resolve, as soon as I found the pinkette, the fluttery feeling that I had been experience for the last few days returned. Natsu had fallen asleep in the short while I was gone, and seeing the happy smile on his face, I decided not to rouse him. "I'm not that cold" I reasoned, placing the firewood into a neat pile, before curling up into my own sleeping bag.

I soon fell asleep myself, watching the Fire Dragon Slayer murmur peacefully to himself as he dreamed about whatever he did. As my eyes began to feel heavy, the last dwindling thoughts in my mind were clear; I will tell Natsu when our job is done.

/

I awoke the next day to the sing-song of birds. Annoyingly it was early in the morning, however that didn't bother me as I turned to look at the still-sleeping Natsu. With a little bit of resolve I decided not to get lost in my own creepy thoughts, and instead set about tidying up the make-shift camp. After an hour or so, Natsu eventually dragged himself to consciousness, and once he had tidied up his own things, we returned to the village. The elder had requested a scrap of fur from the wolf creature in order to prove our claim that we had done the requested job, and once we handed that over we left the old man's house with our reward jewel to hand.

"This'll definitely help towards that debt" Natsu commented as we walked through town.

"Yeah" I agreed, "It'll be a good start" I added. Natsu chuckled.

"Don't be so down, if everyone does their bit we'll have it paid off in no time" he stated, patting me on the shoulder, "Now come on, let's get something to eat, I'm starving" he laughed.

I smiled at his upbeat laughter. "Okay, but then we gotta get going. It's a long way back to the guild, and we should probably get there earlier than we arrived here" I stated with a slightly stern tone. Natsu nodded.

"That's fine. When I get back I'm gonna order a large amount of food and eat until I'm stuffed" he said, his eyes glimmering at the prospect.

I shrugged. "Just make sure you give your ten percent to those two collectors first, they gave me a hard-enough time before we left" I stated. Natsu nodded, and with that we entered the nicest looking restaurant and order our own breakfasts.

/

We returned to Magnolia in a few hours. The walk back was pleasant, perhaps a little more so than the walk to the town. After my own resolution, the previous night, I felt a little more able to talk to Natsu without actively trying to pry or question like I had before. This meant we could joke about and laugh like I had always wanted to do with him since I was a kid.

Entering the guildhall, Natsu went off with his share of the reward money to pay for some late lunch, whilst I sought out the pair from the Zollzero Family's guild.

"Here's your money" I stated, as I approached the pair, who were seated in a pretty empty corner of the guild. Kenji and Haruki both eyed me, each with a different expression.

"Oh, so you have returned. That was fast" Haruki smirked, before pushing his sunglasses up his nose so they better covered his eyes.

Kenji held out his hand, and I placed the jewel into it, like a child being told to give his parent something. Man, this is demeaning I thought with slight annoyance. Kenji quickly glanced over the sum, counting it up. "That's the seven thousand from each of you two… and then another twenty-five thousand from you I presume?" the older man stated with a slight frown, his tone seeking confirmation. I nodded.

"Yes. I took two thousand from my reward so I can pay for my accommodation, and then another thousand for other expenses I may need to pay on my next job" I explained. Kenji nodded.

"This is a very generous donation, Master Eucliffe" he replied, before producing a wooden box from the folds of his robes. Opening it up I could immediately sense a magical presence. Kenji then placed the money inside and then closed the box again, before speaking aloud. "As you are the first to pay, as the others have not arrived back yet, the debt, from the Fairy Tail side, now stands at thirty-nine million, nine-hundred and sixty-one thousand jewel" he stated in a flat tone. I nodded in thanks for the summary before turning to go.

"That's fine. We've only just started after all" I stated, before smirking at the pair one last time. "And I'm more than motivated to get this over and done with" I added.

Haruki laughed openly. "Well I suppose you're optimistic I suppose" he stated, "Oh… and I gotta say I like the way you fight, even if you lost against Lady Medea" he added with a cocky tone. I stopped for a moment, before walking on, allowing the comment to slide.

"That's alright. Even if I didn't beat her then, I probably could now. Heck, I could event take you on, if that's what you wanted" I said in passing. This earned further laughter from the teen, however as I was soon out of earshot I ceased to care what reply he gave to that.

Re-joining Natsu, I ordered some food from Mirajane, and then sat about enjoying my new partners company for a while. We even discussed what type of job we could take next, although neither of us felt very much like going on another one today.

After a time, I left for my own place where I was staying, a local hotel near to the guild. There I decided to do some training, more to distract myself from any thoughts, than to actually work out, although either way this left me quickly showering and then dragging myself to my bed and falling into a peaceful slumber. I needed all the rest I could, especially since tomorrow was going to have to be another day for work.

And for paying off our debt.

End of Chapter 4

Chapter Hint; Pick Your Fights Carefully