Akane sat on the large rock wall by the ocean. Her hair was down and blowing with the wind. She didn't care for anything else at the moment. She didn't go to the guild that day, in fact she didn't go for two days after she punched Alex, and this was the third in a row. Akane was never fond of attention, that's why she had considered dying her hair brown or at least a darker red. Anything that wasn't as vibrant as it's current color. As she sat there looking out to the ocean she heard someone behind her. "Hey, Akane. Don't even think about ignoring me this time or I'll just knock you off the wall."

Akane turned around to find Alex with a black left eye, flaming with anger. "What?" she asked. She wasn't annoyed, more like surprised that he would go out and find her and continue to be as cocky as he was the first time.

"You're not as great as you think you are so I want a rematch. You just caught me off-guard. That's why you were able to knock me off my feet," he said.

Akane stood up on the wall and looked at Alex. "Well then Alex, bring it on," she said looking down at him sending a chill down his spine. Then he jumped up and attempted a roundhouse kick but missed because Akane jumped off the wall over Alex. He turned around to face Akane and said, "If I win, you better never call me Alex again. It's Zander to you!"

Akane didn't care. "Fine," she said to humor him. Then he lunged at her to punch but she dodged it and got behind him. She whipped her arm around to hit his shoulder with her forearm but he blocked it. Thinking on her feet she grabbed his arm and spun him around and threw him down so his back was on the wall and his head was hanging off the side. She held his right arm with her left hand and her right arm was on his chest securing him down. "I think I win," she said coldly. Then she practically threw him on the ground and walked away with her hands in her pockets and said, "'Till next time, Zander."

Alex sat on the ground watching Akane as she walked away. She won and still called me Zander. Maybe she's not as bad as I thought she was, Alex thought. Then he snickered, I'll still beat her. There's no way a girl is better than me. Then he stood up and walked off in the opposite direction as Akane.

Akane closed and locked her front door and sat down on her bed. She took out the crystal that her mom gave her and placed it on the table. "Mom," she commanded the crystal.

Erza sat on the couch with Lilly looking at a picture of her and Akane when she was five. She had short hair back then and it was wavy and much duller than it was when she left. All of a sudden the crystal on the end table began to glow. Erza put her hand on it and then removed it to reveal Akane's face on the crystal. Erza smiled, "Akane, I didn't expect to hear from you this soon," then her face became worried, "is something wrong?"

"No mom, everything's fine," Akane smiled.

"So tell me about some new friends," Erza said trying to create a conversation.

"None. There is this one kid who wont leave me alone, I've actually already beat him up twice."

"Akane! You've been there four days and you've already beat up one kid twice?" Erza raised her voice at her daughter.

"Calm down! He was annoying me. I didn't hurt him badly. The first time was only one punch and the second he asked for it. Literally! Also I didn't hurt him. I could have but I didn't. Your welcome."

Erza smiled. She loves giving attitude to me and not getting punishment for it, she thought. "That better be true. If I hear it isn't, I'll bring your ass back here so quickly it'll make your head spin," Erza threatened. Akane just laughed. She believed her mom one hundred percent.

"So have you been to the guild today yet?" Erza asked.

"No." Akane said with no intention of going until she was asked that.

"How many jobs have you been on?"

"None."

"…"

"What?"

"You need to make money. You know that right?" Erza asked.

"Yeah, I know. I think I'm gonna go look for a job today or sometime this week or whatever," Akane answered.

"Okay, I'll leave you to it then. Bye sweetie."

"Bye mom."

Erza's picture disappeared from the crystal and Akane laid back down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, "I need to get a job."

Akane walked into the guild and saw Zander sitting at a table talking to some kids that were about his age. She decided to ignore them and walk past. She started walking and everything was fine. Okay, so just a little further and-

"Hey Akane! Come here!" Zander yelled from across the room.

Shit.