I don't usually pick up hitchhikers. Is there any place in particular you want me to take you, sir?"
" Just keep traveling until you reach some place called Bellum. I promise you I will repay you for your kindness. Oh, and I hope you don't mind me carrying a cat along for the ride."
" Not at all. My mother always smelled like a wet cat. She had the temper of one too. Climb aboard."
XXX
Cooro along with Gia travelled on the back of a hay cart with a local farmer carrying them. The farmer was surprisingly fast and sturdy despite how pudgy he looked. Cooro however was too busy petting Gia's fur and reading a book at the same time too pay him any attention. With every page Cooro turned, he could hear the gentle, soothe sound of Gia purring.
" The pain of not knowing is excruciating too me, Gia," Cooro said as he closed his book. " I just don't understand how you were able to be clawed on me like a scratching post and I didn't even notice you. It could be because I was too worried about Canary, but I'm not entirely sure that's the case."
" Nya," Gia purred being scratched by Cooro on her head. While she was being scratched, Cooro was smiling.
" You know, you're very cute. Much cuter than all those bitches I met in my life; and I'm not talking just about the dogs. I don't know how you got on me, where you came from, or what your previous pet owners called you, but you're my Gi—"
" Hey, mister, wait!" April's voice was heard screaming behind the cart. Cooro looked up and saw April and Komatsu jogging towards their cart, and he frowned. " Hold up! I'm coming along with you!"
" What is she doing here?" Cooro thought while he was glaring at April. " And just when I was starting to enjoy myself."
Even though April looked frail, her arms and legs hardly having any bones, April and Komatsu both ran at a speed that far exceeded the cart. Cooro digressed having April following him; looked at the flyer he found on the board from Fairy Tail, and he read what was on it:
Please rescue my sweet wife
I live in Bellum. Me and my daughter lost my wife to a snobby rich girl. Because my family went bankrupt, we didn't have any money for ourselves, but this rich girl came to us and demanded my wife to work for her. I haven't heard from my wife for a whole week. I need someone to free her and bring her back to me, please.
Reward:
50000 J+Dinner
" This guy really misses his wife? I can't say that I can sympathize with him. But that doesn't matter to me so long as I get paid."
There were three things in a women Cooro didn't like—them being annoying, them being full of hormones, the way they'd boss him around—April had all of those execrate feats. April finally reached the back of the cart, climbed aboard and fist-bumped her dog Komatsu.
" We finally caught up, boy," April said to her dog Komatsu. " We made it onboard."
" If I had a knife on me, I'd carve you like a Christmas ham," Cooro retorted in a grouchy, sour tone. " Now why don't you just get off this cart and go wherever it is you run off too, April."
" No way," April retorted glaring at Cooro. " I have the right to be here as you do. Besides, we are a team."
" A team?"
" Of course. A team is—"
" I know what a team is, moron. I read everything about Fairy Tail before I came here. What, do you think I was incompetent or something? Everyone knows that people can be separate members of Fairy Tail, but there are some who join together to do quests together. Usually when they form this team, they'd give themselves a certain name. And no, I am not part of your team.
" Huh? But I brought you to Fairy Tail. We're supposed to be a team."
" I said I would become a member of Fairy Tail. I did not say I was going to be a member with you."
April pouted and crossed her arms. As she was pouting, puffing her cheeks, she looked Cooro in his eyes. " You're so mean. Well I'm making us a team whether you like it or not. And the name of our team is going to be Team April."
" No, it's not. You can follow me if you want, but that doesn't make us a team and don't expect me to share any of the jobs' rewards. I took this job, so I have the right too all its profits. Now why don't you leave me alone while I take a nice res—"
" Hey, can I see that?" April swiped Cooro's job request away from Cooro's arms. While holding the request, she tried reading what was on the text, but she read it upside down. "I uǝǝp soɯǝouǝ ʇo ɟɹǝǝ ɥǝɹ ɐup qɹıuƃ ɥǝɹ qɐɔʞ ʇo ɯǝ' dlǝɐsǝ. What kind of strange words is engraved in this job request?"
Cooro snatched the job request from April's hands, turned it upside down, and then he gave it back to her, said, " Words."
" Uh, words? Wow, you must be very smart to realize that, Cobo."
" My name is Cooro, you dumb bunny. And it's not because I'm smart; it's just that you're stupid. Even a child knows that."
" I'm a bunny?" In a flash, April changed her clothes and was now wearing a bunny outfit. April had great pride, vanity in her costumes; she raised her paws up like a bunny and tilted her head. " Don't I look adorable?"
" No."
" Aww, I like it when you try to act all macho. It's just so adorable. If only you could give me a smile."
" Sorry if I'm not just a little bit more apathetic, deary. Unlike some of us, I still have to stir my mind clear of people like you so I can concentrate on my school work."
" Huh? B-but I thought you weren't going to school no more, Cob—Cooro."
" I never said I was giving up school. I'll do this job today and every other day on the weekends, but the rest of the days I'll be at school back in Ruby Glass City. I found a magic shop that sells a magic item that grows me wings. And I expect you to understand what I'm going through."
" Oi! You are such a killjoy, Cooro. I'm starting to think you're not the partner I was looking for."
" You know what, I think that too. I'm very curious of knowing why you'd need a partner in the first place."
" Well, when I tried doing a job request and was against a powerful foe in the process, I lost against him and had to be saved by Erza. Ever since then, I've been looking for people who would help me with a rematch against that man."
" I think I can understand your trauma, April, but I really don't care. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just push you off right now?"
" Well…" April took out a magical item that looked like a clam and teased Cooro with it. " If you and me can finish this mission together, I'll give you whatever's in this clam. Aren't you even the slightest bit curious, Cooro?"
" Hmmmmmm. Okay, you got me. You can travel with me. But don't think I'll let you have any of the jobs reward."
" Hooray!"
XXX
A day passed in the Earth land. Cooro and April finally reached Bellum. April was refreshed from sleeping in a comfy bed last night and was antsy to move on, but Cooro had shadows around his eyes from not getting any sleep. Cooro couldn't sleep with April—they had to share a bed, she snored, she'd roll around and put her foot in his mouth, and drool.
After they found the home in Bellum where their contact was, Cooro gave the farmer a wad of Jewels. The farmer graciously accepted the bills of cash, then he took off away from Cooro and April.
" So how were you able to pay for our ride, Cooro?"
" I give him that clam you showed up yesterday. The shell itself is worth 100 000 jewels. But the only thing in it was a picture of you."
" Huh? How'd you get my clam?"
" I went through your things while you were snoring like a wielderbeest. Now hush up. I can see the house."
Indeed Cooro did see the house. The house looked like a red bungalow with a brick chimney and some lush vines decorative around the doors and walls. The roof was covered with yellow tiles. And near the house was a plaque with the names of residents, but Cooro and April didn't have time to read them.
Cooro walked up to the front door of the house and knocked three times on the door. After waiting a few seconds, a creaking sound was heard as the door moved slightly open. But all Cooro could see from the barely opened door was a pair of small, stringy eyes.
" Excuse me, are you the owner of this house?"
" I-I am," the man behind the door stuttered. " And w-who are you?"
"Greetings, sir. I'm a member of Fairy Tail. I came because I got your job request that you've lost your wife. I'm here to help you out."
" Where is your stamp?"
" What?"
" You are a member of Fairy Tail, aren't you? Well I used to be a member of Fairy Tail myself. And I happen to know that all members of Fairy Tail have to have a stamp of a bird somewhere on their bodies. So where's your stamp?"
" Er, right, my stamp." Cooro was dumbfounded and sweat dropped. Cooro had to make sure no words were babbled out and had to think instead. " Shit. I totally forgot about the stamp thing. Well maybe I would've remembered if I wasn't fighting for my life back there. How am I going to—"
" I have a stamp of Fairy Tail," April said as she sandwich hugged Cooro's left side to see the man's eyes. " Do you want to see my stamp?"
" Yes, please, show me your stamp."
" Okay." April grabbed her mesh shirt and she pulled it to the side. Cooro gawked seeing April exposing her mark of Fairy Tail. " Take a look at this—"
" Ahhhhhh!"
Blood squirted out from the mans' nose as he saw April's Fairy Tail stamp. He then fell back and collapsed on the floor. But as he fell down, he pushed the door to his house open. Cooro soon hit himself with face palmed slaps too his own head, grieved.
" I did not need to see that."
" See what?" April asked while blinking her eyes and still exposing her chest behind her mesh shirt.
" Never mind. Just help me carry this old man inside.
While the man was down, Cooro could see the rest of his body clearly. Blood dripped from his nose and his eyes were still open. The man had platinum blonde hair, bright orange eyes, and wears a lavender outfit. The man had a locket clipped hanging from his lavender outfit, two white bars etched on both sides, and an earring of an old man's face.
" He certainly follows the Fairy Tail catalogue for crazy looking. But if he's really a Fairy Tail member, then why would he need our help. I'm probably going to need some help. Listen, April, I think you and me should team up for just this request. Whether I like it or not, you might be an important part of this request."
" Does this mean I'm now going to get an equal share of the profits?"
" No."
XXX
Cooro was so embarrassed looking at April. April, who was dressed as a nurse and had a clipboard and stethoscope around her neck, she moved her stethoscope around the poor houses' owner's head. While she kept checking different spots with her stethoscope, she took her pen out and wrote on the clipboard.
" Shouldn't you be slowing down so you can actually check for a heartbeat?" Cooro said sardonically as he had a cup of tea in his lap, dropped sugar into the cup and stirred it, then he raised the cup to his mouth and drank the hot, sweet mixture of tea " Moron. Where did she even get that nurse uniform in the first place?"
Cooro was very angry with April—first she tagged with him to his very first job at the guild and now she was embarrassing him—the only reason Cooro didn't kick her out was he might have need of her assistance. After watching her work, she snapped her fingers.
" That's it! All I need is some anesthetic's!"
"anesthetic's. The man is unconscious. How can he possibly wake up from tha—"
April's dog Komatsu jumped into April's arms and transformed into a giant wooden mallet. As if she was playing golf, April pulled her giant mallet back and she then smacked it right into the man's head.
" Pffffffffft!" Cooro spat the tea in his mouth out and the tea splashed all over April's face. Cooro was surprised, he nearly had a heart attack looking at April, said in a raspy voice. " What (hoff) is the matter (hoff) with (hoff) you?"
" I thought smacking my mallet in his head would help him wake up," April smiled and raised her mallet up behind her back. " And I'm sure it would have worked too. But something went wrong."
" The entire thing was wrong, moron. Are you stupid or something? You can't just hit your mallet into other people's head—"
Cooro was interrupted by a loud groaning noise. Cooro looked down and saw the man of the house rubbing his head.
" THAT ACTUALLY WORKED?!"
The man noticed Cooro as he was walking away. The man stood up, touched Cooro's face, rubbed him on his furry lip, and then he pat Cooro on top of his head.
" I'm sorry I was so rude to you before," the man said apologetically while he rubbed the top of Cooro's head. "I just don't want anyone but Fairy Tail members to get involved in this mission. " The man simpered petting Cooro's head. " Fairy Tail is the best. I should know because I was once a member of them."
" C-can I see your mark?" Cooro asked. Cooro was shy being touched and stuttered when he speaked. " I-I want to see what a real Fairy Tail mark looks like up close."
" Of course." The man pulled away his lavender shirt and a lavender bird mark like the one Cooro saw in the Fairy Tail building was seen over his belly button. " To tell you the truth, I'm still a member of Fairy Tail. My name is Hyde. Hyde Triwind. I didn't have the courage to tell my friends I was leaving, so I took an S-Class mission and faked my death there."
" An S-Class Mission?!" April shouted. April changed her wardrobe again and was wearing a green sun-dress and had her long hair in pigtails using paperclips. " That's an advanced Fairy Tail request! You must be very strong!"
" Hehe, I guess I was," Hyde rubbed the back of his head when he talked. " But my magic must have languished since I had my daughter. Hehe."
" Yes, where is the little bundle of joy?" Cooro asked with a face that was cold, heartless. " I would love to just see her. It would help me clarify what kind of father you are."
April pushed on Cooro's shoulders as if telling him too " stop", leaned in close to him, said, " Cooro, I don't think we should—"
" No, it's quite alright. She's having a nap right now. Let me just get up so I can get her."
Hyde Triwind got up and walked away too the next room. He left Cooro and April alone. Little did he know how Cooro was feeling being around the hyperactive, imprudent member of Fairy Tail. He didn't know Cooro had a weapon concealed in his baggy pants, was pondering whether or not he would need to use it, but he didn't have to know because he returned shortly with a small sleeping girl in his arms.
The girl in April's eyes was cute. How her eyelids were bigger than hers, the way she had her brown hair in pigtails and the striped turquoise shirt was absolutely adorable. April just wanted to take the girl to her house. But Cooro was disgusted seeing the girl, and not just because he hated girls. She seemed like nothing but a rags' doll to him, he wanted to pull her by the pigtails to see if blood would rush to her head, and with each of the different stripes he narrowed it down to two analogies: death and plague.
" Isn't she just the cutest thing your eyes have ever seen?" Hyde asked in a squeakish voice that made him sound like a ten year old girl.
" She's ADORABLE!" April with a voice so flamboyant it would cause the ceiling too crash.
" That things suppose to be cute?" Cooro said in a voice so mean it would feel like fifty hornets were stinging their needles inside a person's head.
" Thanks," said Hyde to April; he didn't look at Cooro because he seemed too blunt. " Too me, she is the joy of my life. I love her so much." All the happiness in Hyde's voice became pensive while he rubbed his daughters' head. " But she needs a mother in her life. Do you know how hard it will be if she was too grow up without a mother by her side. That is why I need your help."
" Why do you need our help, old man?" Cooro asked in his snobbish voice.
" I need your help. See, my wife got a job as a maid for a rich little girl. Money has been a problem for us, I could barely hold a job because being in Fairy Tail I've developed a short fuse. It wouldn't even take the slightest action to make me go mad."
" Yeah, I can totally see that happening," Cooro thought staring at the Fairy Tail member holding his child while trying to reason with them. " I sure hope I don't grow up with a short fuse. That would look bad on my resume."
" My wife was always there for me. She'd always comfort me whenever I was feeling down. But we needed money to pay the mortgage on our house. That's when she found a flyer that said they were paying maids 10 000 Jewels a week and give them 100 000 Jewels just for getting the job. I-I really thought it was a joke, but then she came home with all that….I just…couldn't stop her from going. But after three weeks, she never comes home, she never writes, and I don't get to see her smiling face anymore. I-I just want to see her one more time."
Hyde was a heartsick man. Trying very hard not to cry on his daughter, he gave her too April. Hyde then put both his hands together and placed them over his eyes. He could feel his face becoming wet from his hands being soaked with his own tears.
Cooro couldn't stand it—him having to watch a grown man cry—for some reason it brought him unhappy memory's. Getting off the couch where he laid his rump on and sipped tea, he walked up to Hyde and slapped him on his right cheek.
" Man up! You're suppose to be a member of Fairy Tail, right? Than be a man and go after your wife like a real man should!"
" But I-I can't. I'm just so afraid."
" Hmph. And you call yourself a member of Fairy Tail? Well if you're too much of a chicken to do anything yourself, then I'll have to do this without your help!"
April gave the girl to Hyde, got up, shouting, " Hey, wait for me—"
" Gia, attack!"
" Meeowrrrrr!"
Like an underling following the orders of his master, Gia jumped out of Cooro's shirt and jumped on April's head. Gia scratched April, her claws were tearing through her skin, and April just tried to pull the small yet ferocious cat off her face. Komatsu the faithful and loyal dog who was April's companion just stood still and watched Komatsu scratch April's face.
"Rowf (what)?" Komatsu barked silently watching Gia scratch April's head.
" Hmph." Cooro rubbed his scarf while he moved towards the door. " Don't wait up." Gia stopped scratching April's face, but she left multiple scratches on her face, then she ran up to Cooro and jumped on his right shoulder. " I'm doing this case alone."
XXX
Finding the building where Hyde's wife was being held wasn't as hard as Cooro once thought. All he had to do was say the word "brat" and "rich" and everybody pointed him too her mansion—but it was more like a guild in Cooro's eyes. It was big and had a pyramid-shaped statue in the center of it.
Cooro couldn't say the landscape was as well thought out as the mansion. The outside was a total wasteland. Buzzards were picking the carcasses of what he believed was once cows, tumbleweeds were racing each other away from the mansion, and the sun's heat caused the soil to become sizzling hot–in other words it was a complete mess.
" How could anyone possibly live here?" Cooro thought out loud watching the buzzards fly away. " And how could the old mans' wife not think for a second that coming here was a bad idea?"
" Nya," Cooro's cat Gia said as if replying " I don't know either".
" Yeah, it's all very strange to me."
The strangeness didn't stop there. Ahead of Cooro were seven people who looked like maids and butlers. They were all standing close together, wearing their own kinds of clothes, and were staring at Cooro as if they were judging him. But what they really didn't know was Cooro was also judging them.
One was hearing an all-black outfit with horns sticking out a forehead protector. Written on that forehead protector was the symbol 鬼 ( which means demon). The second one was a hybrid of a rabbit and a bird. It had wings on its arms and rabbit whiskers. The third was a girl wearing two inflatable rings around her personage. The fourth, and the only normal looking one, was a piercingly handsome boy Cooro's age with jet-black hair and brown eyes. The fifth was a person he couldn't tell was a boy or a girl with lavender eyes and a cat tail. The sixth member was dark-skinned. He was a tall man with an afro hairstyle and wears tribal-like clothes. The clothes were made of animal pelts. And the last one was a girl with blue hair gathered by a circlet. And she had feathers in her clothes.
" These are really supposed to be people working at this mansion?"
" Hey, you there," said the member with the afro hair. " What are you doing here? No one but workers is allowed here." The man turned got up and walked up to Cooro. He tapped Cooro on his chest and hectored him. " Since you probably just walked here out of pure curiosity, I'll let you go with a warning."
Cooro didn't say a word. He just stood there and stared at the man in his eyes. The tension was getting too the afro haired man. His blood was boiling, his veins popped out and he growled through his teeth.
" I don't think he's leaving, Boba," the girl with inflatable balloons said.
" Grrrrrrrrr." The afro haired man Boba grabbed Cooro and lifted him off the ground. " I was trying to be nice to you before, but you tested my patience for too long!"
Boba punched Cooro in his face. Even though Cooro had a large red mark where he was punched, Cooro just stared at him the moment he was punched. Cooro spat blood from his mouth then looked Boba in his face.
" Is that really all you got?"
" Why you—"
" Boba, that's enough!"
Boba instantly calmed down and turned his head back to look at who was shouting. Much to his shock, horror it was the owner of the house and the person who hired him. The owner was a young girl. She looked like a doll. She was shown wearing sleeveless dress, bloomers, and skirt over it, and gloves. She has gray hair neatly tied up in a ponytail and her eyes were brown.
" That's the owner? Hyde was right; she really is a little girl. "