Magnolia was certainly a lot bigger than Izuku had initially thought it would be. He had been expecting a small town, maybe a little something that was out of the way. Certainly not a bustling city with plenty of shops, booths, and people. If he was lucky, finding some work would be easier than he thought.

"This place is huge…" Izuku muttered. He looked up and down the streets, to see so many people walking in and out of stores, or just leisurely strolling.

"Well, this is a merchant city. A lot of people come here to set up shop or pass by to sell some wares. If you go out every other day you'll find some new booths in one of the main streets." Makarov looked at him before waving to someone greeting him.

"Does your guild help with the economy? I know you said you have jobs there, are they like jobs around the town or…"

"Oh no." Makarov chuckled and shook his head. "No, it's more like requests for help outside of the town, most job postings come from other places looking to have a problem resolved. Sometimes a request from within the town will come in, but it's not often. If anything Fairy Tail is more like a landmark, we are known as one of the most powerful guilds. That certainly helps draw people to the town."

Izuku continued to look around, looking up in awe as they passed a large cathedral. He spotted a couple of people going inside all dressed up, some of them looked rather frazzled. He was going to guess it was a wedding or something.

Makarov noticed him staring. "That would be Kardia Cathedral. It's beautiful, isn't it? Actually one of the bigger landmarks in the city. I'm sure you can guess why."

Izuku nodded. He couldn't deny that the building was gorgeous, with a huge gate and towers at all four corners.

"There are some other things of note, a couple of shops, a library, things you'll inevitably find when exploring Magnolia. As I've said there are plenty of job opportunities if you look."

"Right."

Izuku continued to look around the city, it was certainly different than what he was used to. Based on the building design he wanted to guess that Magnolia was most likely in a European country. The mere thought really made his head spin. It just begs the question of, how in god's name did he manage to get that far when he fell into the ocean?

Maybe the Nomu had some sort of warping Quirk that activated out of panic when we got struck by lightning? No that wouldn't make sense, warping Quirks are rare, and then if it was able to do that then why fly at all?

Izuku ran a hand through his hair and thought back to that night, as much as he hated it. Something had to have happened to get him this far away from his home. He remembered seeing something strange while he was falling, at least he thought he was falling. It looked like floating islands or something. It was amazing, if not a little terrifying.

Or maybe I was hallucinating out of sheer panic, that's also a viable option.

Either Izuku had stupid luck, or someone helped him out last minute from afar. Which of course begged the questions, how and why?

The more Izuku thought about it and tried to find some kind of reasonable solution the more confused and frustrated he found himself. It was a problem and he couldn't find the answer, that was the worst kind of thing to be stuck with!

"Ah, Izuku you may want-"

He didn't realize Makarov was trying to warn him until he slammed into something and stumbled back, holding his face.

Izuku hissed in pain and gingerly touched his face, he hadn't realized he was practically jogging into some doors. Izuku felt his eyes water from the pain but quickly blinked back the tears.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I think so."

"Everything alright? You were mumbling to yourself an awful lot there, then you suddenly took off. I'm an old man you know, it's not exactly easy to keep up."

"Ah, sorry. I was just…thinking?"

"Oh?"

"About stuff."

Makarov nodded before turning to the doors Izuku slammed his face into. "I see, very specific."

Izuku blushed and turned his gaze up to the building, it was pretty big with what looked like three floors. Each floor looked smaller than the last one, it reminded him of stacks of blocks. Though, what had really caught his eye were the banners flying at the top. A green one, followed by an orange one, then a blue banner. Each of them had some kind of symbol on them.

One of them caught his eye compared to the other ones, the one on the blue banner. There was something familiar about it, he had seen it before. Before he could ponder on the thought for very long Makarov coughed to get his attention.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, one of Fiore's finest guilds. One of the strongest wizarding guilds if I may add."

Izuku snapped out of his thoughts immediately when he heard the word 'wizard'. He gave Makarov an incredulous look as he opened the doors. There were a lot of concerns in that one sentence alone Izuku would have liked to address, that wasn't even going into 'Fiore' which is another place he never heard of before. If he was going to guess, that was the name of this country.

The mere thought of trying to figure out how he got there was making his head spin again, and a deep, unsettling feeling of something wrong started to set in.

Before Izuku could ask Makarov what he meant by 'wizard' he heard a loud shout and looked up to see a building full of people taking part in a fistfight. He didn't get to stare for too long before scrambling out of the way when a chair was thrown in his direction.

He peeked around the corner of the door and continued to stare in a mixture of horror and confusion. This was one of the finest guilds?

A lot of thoughts went through his head, some he was sure Kacchan would have been proud of with the things he wanted to say.

Izuku wasn't sure whether to feel alarmed or dumbfounded as Makarov merely sighed and shook his head.

"Fighting again."

"Again?!" Izuku nearly raised his voice.

Makarov only laughed. "They're a rambunctious bunch, but I promise they won't do anything. As long as they don't go using their magic or cause too much damage, they're more or less free to spar."

"Magic…?"

Izuku had no idea what he had gotten himself into, he wondered if it was too late to go back to living as a forest hobo. Maybe more permanently this time. He was patched up, he knew how to take care of himself more or less, it was possible…right?

"I…uh…"

Makarov sidestepped yet another chair getting thrown out the door and waved for Izuku to follow him. As if there wasn't a big fight going on with bodies, furniture, and food flying everywhere.

Izuku was pretty sure his brain was starting to short circuit or something, there was no way that he heard the old man say magic and wizards. Maybe he misheard him, totally possible.

Izuku hesitantly trailed after the old man, wondering if it was too late to turn around and make a break for the forest where he didn't have to deal with people. At this point dealing with Porlyusica seemed like a better deal than all these people.

He jumped back as some guy fell in front of him.

"That was a cheap shot and you know it, Gray!" He shouted as he sat up. "Get over here so I can kick your butt!"

Izuku froze as he recognized the guy, it was the one who used fire- from that night in the forest. When they chased him. He didn't know he was here, and if he was here that meant his friends were probably somewhere around here too.

Izuku stared at him for a moment before making an attempt to step around him and follow Makarov. That option went out the window when the pink-haired guy stopped shouting and looked up at him. Izuku stood there for a moment before turning away, silently hoping that he wouldn't be recognized.

"It's you!"

So much for that…

"You're that kid from the forest! Uh…Ibuzo or something like that?"

Izuku paused before glancing at the pink-haired guy, giving him a confused look.

"Yeah, that's your name right?" He hopped to his feet and approached Izuku. "Man you're looking a lot better than when we first met ya. That's-"

He was cut off when someone else came by and punched him and sent him staggering back a few steps.

"Hey, you stupid jerk! That's not far I wasn't paying attention!"

"That sounds like a personal problem flame brain." The newcomer grinned.

Izuku couldn't help the confusion crossing his features. He couldn't fathom why on earth this new person was in his boxers.

"I was talking to someone you pervy popsicle. Lay off!"

"And why- hold on, is that-"

"You two should be paying attention to the fight like real men!" A new person, towering over them all and shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Shut up Elfman!" The two sent away the man with a surprisingly well-synchronized attack.

These people are insane, these people are actually insane. I'm not going to last a day here.

Izuku silently shuffled away as the two began to argue again. He hurried over to where he last saw Makarov walking, and saw him sitting on a bar counter and chatting with some woman with white hair.

"Oh, there you are, for a moment I was afraid you were lost in the scuffle." Makarov smiled at him.

"Uh, no, I'm okay."

"Oh, who's this Master? A new member?" The woman glanced at him before looking at Makarov again.

"You could say that he hasn't quite decided whether he's going to join or not. But for the time being, he'll be staying with us."

"Oh, that's nice to hear. Sorry about the rough welcome, the fighting is a usual thing. Kind of makes things exciting doesn't it?"

Exciting?!

"Uh, sure, I guess." He shrugged.

She laughed for a moment before gasping. "Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Mirajane, and you are?" She held out a hand. She seemed nice, there was something warm about her presence that made Izuku slightly less nervous.

Izuku slowly reached out to take it. "I'm-

"Don't touch me!"

Izuku barely grazed her hand before violently pulling back and setting his hand at his side. He wasn't wearing his gloves, that was so stupid. He was so stupid. He almost forgot!

He wasn't supposed to touch anyone without his gloves.

He felt his face go red from embarrassment. He should know better by now! Izuku looked up and turned another shade of red. What he did was so rude, and now Mirajane and Makarov were giving him weird looks.

"S-Sorry…I'm Izuku Midoriya." He waved instead of shaking her hand.

"Oh, that's okay." Mirajane quickly brushed it off.

Before he could respond, he nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard something screaming loudly. He looked over his shoulder to see something blue rocketing towards him. He ducked quickly and heard whatever it was slam into the wall behind the counter.

Izuku slowly stood up straight and looked over the counter to see a blue cat laying on the ground.

A Quirked animal?

"Oh no, are you okay Happy?" Mirajane asked.

"Aye, sir…"

Makarov looked over and sighed. "I believe it's time to put an end to their roughhousing." He stood up and sighed.

Izuku watched him brush himself off before raising his hands, his eyes widened when he saw Makarov's hands grow larger and he clapped them together. The sound rang out loudly and put all the fighting to a halt.

"Alright, that is enough!" The master raised his voice. "Settle down all of you. You've had your fun and now it's time to stop before you tear up the place again."

"Aw come on Gramps, the fight was just getting good," the pink-haired guy from earlier whined.

"No, that's enough." Makarov shook his head. "Don't you have something better to do?"

He grumbled and rolled his eyes as he put down someone he had been holding by their collar.

"It's about time. I thought I was gonna have to step in." Someone muttered. Izuku looked across the bar to see a young woman leaning against the counter. He realized she was wearing some rather revealing clothing and quickly looked away. "Can't anyone relax for a day? It's hard to enjoy a drink when there's a bunch of fighting all over the place."

Mirajane only giggled and put a few mugs on a tray. "Let me know if you want another round."

"Will do." The woman waved her off as Mira went to deliver the drinks.

Izuku sighed as he sat down by Makarov. He really needed a plan to get himself going, before these people possibly killed him. If they were this rough with each other, Izuku couldn't imagine what they'd be like when they found out he was Quirkless.

"So, what do you think of the guild so far?" Makarov sipped a mug of his own.

"It's uh…interesting. Loud…kinda hectic."

"Hmph, I promise it's not always like this. Sometimes fights do break out. They never last too long, they will usually die out after a few minutes."

"Oh, is the fighting over?"

Izuku looked up at the new voice, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw someone appear from behind the bar. She had been hiding behind the counter.

"Yes, it's over," Makarov assured her.

"Thank goodness." She brushed herself off. "Looks like poor Happy got caught in the middle of it too."

"Aye…sir…"

She turned around to say something but froze when she spotted Izuku.

"Oh, it's you, the boy from the forest!"

Izuku quickly turned away. He sort of recognized her, he thought he saw her in the woods. Granted it was pretty dark even with that fire guy's flames lighting up some of the area. That was three people now, who had seen him in the woods and chased him down. He was certain there had been four though…

"I see you're on your feet again, it's good to see you're feeling better. When you collapsed you gave us a bit of a scare." She walked out from behind the counter.

"Uh, yeah."

"Izuku, this is Lucy, she's also fairly new to the guild." Makarov introduced her.

"Yeah, I'm still a rookie. Wait, are you going to be joining?"

"Oh uh…not really sure." Izuku shrugged.

"He's going to be staying here for the time being," Makarov explained, just as he did with Mirajane.

"Oh, that's pretty cool. I think you'll like it here, it can be pretty chaotic but everyone here is really nice."

"I'm sure Izuku could do with a tour of the guildhall. Be a dear and show him around, won't you? I'm sure Erza and the boys would like to meet him too."

Izuku shot Makarov a look, this old man was going to get him killed! Especially if another fight broke out for some reason.

"Oh, I guess I can do that. Come on, there's not too much to look at around here but it's good to know where stuff is."

Izuku stood there blankly for a second before he spotted Makarov shooing him away. He really needed to get out of here.

As the two walked away Mirajane approached the guild master.

"He's awfully shy. Are you sure just sending him to look around is a good idea?"

"He'll be fine, it's just the guildhall. I'm more so hoping he'll be willing to be more open around the others once he gets a good layout of the place. I think once he knows more about it he'll be a little more comfortable."

Mira hummed as she cleaned a glass. "Lucy told me about how they found him in the forest, poor thing. I can only imagine what happened to him. It couldn't have been good."

"I agree." Makarov nodded. "But hopefully he can put whatever has happened behind him now."

"Hopefully. I hope he joins the guild too."

"He may, but only time will tell. Oh, and one more thing Mira."

"Hm?"

"How would you like to have some help around the guildhall?"

-.-

"The guildhall is pretty big, but don't worry about getting lost since we're usually supposed to stay on the first floor." Lucy guided Izuku around. "You already saw the bar, if you ever need to find the Master, that's where he'll usually be."

She waited for some kind of verbal response, she looked over her shoulder to see him nodding. He didn't seem much like a talker, she sort of expected this. After all, she, Natsu, and the others probably scared the living daylights out of him.

She walked up to a wooden board covered in papers. "This right here is the job board, it's where we choose what jobs we take. And they have the reward on the flyer, so you never have to wonder about how much you should be getting paid. Actually, that reminds me, I need to go on a job soon."

Izuku stepped a bit closer to the board, wary of someone else there. He was standing in front of the board as well, looking over all the jobs like he couldn't decide which one to take and which one not to.

"Do you have to meet some kind of quota?" Izuku asked.

"Oh, for the guild? From what I know, not really. But I do need rent money. And the last job was a disaster because of all the property damage we caused." She pouted. "Anyway, there are more job requests on the second floor but we can't take those. I found that out after the stupid cat and the pyro stole one of the jobs from up there."

"They…stole a job?" Izuku raised an eyebrow.

"Those jobs are meant for S-Class wizards, and we're not S-Class." Lucy paused for a moment. "Oh, you know what S-Class is right? I don't mind explaining if-"

"I-I know what S-Class is." Izuku nodded. They used the same ranking for villains back home.

"Oh, okay. Well let's see, what else can I show you…oh maybe you should meet Natsu and the others. They'll be glad to see you too. I think you'd like Levy too!"

"I'm uh, okay. There's no need for that." Izuku waved his hands around.

Lucy stopped before sighing. "Oh, I think we can look at the Archives, they are a floor up though. I just helped Mira reorganize everything the other day."

"Hey Lucy, you picking out a job?" The conversation was interrupted by none other than the aforementioned pyro himself.

"No, not yet. I'm just showing…oh wait I never got your name." Lucy turned towards Izuku.

"Oh look, it's Ibuzo!" Natsu pointed at him. "Sorry I couldn't talk to ya more earlier since Gray decided to butt in, that jerk!"

"Ibuzo?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, that's his name! I'm pretty sure that's what it said in his notebook!"

Izuku sputtered for a moment, before instinctively reaching for his bag and looking through it. His notebook was indeed there, but he hadn't thought to check it for vandalism.

"Natsu, you can't just go looking through people's things!" Lucy scolded him.

"Why? You let me and Happy do it all the time!"

"No I don't, you just keep barging into my apartment!"

"Because we're teammates!"

"That's not an excuse!"

While they argued, Izuku thumbed through his notebook to see if anything had been ripped, torn, or written on. Or worse, burned. Thankfully, it looked unharmed. Which was a relief. Izuku flipped through a few more pages before stopping on one of the later pages. He couldn't help but pause. The page was full of old doodles and random scribbles, some of them by him, some of them done by someone else. Someone younger.

He frowned.

Before he had long to dwell on the regret, he felt someone looking over his shoulder.

"Oh, what's that?"

Izuku nearly shrieked as he jumped back and slammed the book shut. "N-Nothing! It's nothing!"

He held the notebook close to his chest and stepped away from the pink-haired guy. Natsu, he believed his name was.

"Oh, okay. Anyway, how are you doing Ibuzo? You liking the guild so far?"

"Natsu, I don't think that's his name."

"Huh? But that's what it said in the notebook. At least I think it did…I dunno it was kinda dark."

Lucy sighed and glanced at the boy. "Sorry about him, and that's probably not your name. Right?"

"N-No, it's Izuku." He mumbled.

"That's what the Master said. Well, it's nice to meet you. Sorry I didn't ask for your name earlier."

"Ah, that's what it was! I was close."

"No, no you weren't."

"Sure I was, I at least got the first letter right."

"Doesn't make it any closer." Lucy sighed.

Izuku looked between the two every time they spoke, it seemed the attention was off of him for now. Which was nice. He took a moment to glance at the board again, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of jobs this place got.

A few of them made him raise his eyebrows.

"Monster infestation? Lost glasses? Breaking the curse off a cane? Retrieve stolen communication lacrima? What's a lacrima supposed to be, and a curse? There's no…"

The terms 'magic' and 'wizards' turned over in his mind again. That had to be what they called Quirks here right? And 'wizards' are heroes? Different terminology? It had to be that.

Izuku frowned to himself, something itching at the back of his mind to tell him that he's not imagining it. He is actually reading and hearing all this. There's some part of himself telling him that this magic was real. Which didn't make much sense.

Then again…neither did getting struck by lightning and falling into the ocean, then ending up in a completely different country.

"I need to find a library or something." He muttered. What better place to start?

"Huh, what was that?" Natsu looked over his shoulder. He propped himself with a hand on his other shoulder. Izuku couldn't help but eye it warily.

"O-Oh! Nothing!" Izuku stepped away from him. "Just uh, looking at the board."

"Oh, you wanna go on a job?" He grinned.

"No, no thank you. Just uh, trying to see what kind of jobs there are. Maybe later."

I'm going to have to find a job really fast if I want to get anywhere. Maybe I can start on that tomorrow.

"Oh, alright." He shrugged. "Well if you wanna go on a job let us know. We can tag along if you'd like!"

"Right…yeah," Izuku muttered and looked away.

Natsu raised an eyebrow and watched him. He was pretty withdrawn, he still looked scared of them. Had they really scared him that bad back in the forest? Another concern was that he still smelled like blood. The sour stench of infection was gone, as well as the ash and grime, but he still had a strong, coppery scent around him.

Was that his magic or something? Using blood? Maybe that would explain the smell.

It made Natsu wrinkle his nose.

"Well, I'm gonna go find Happy. Let us know if you find a job, Lucy!"

"Yeah, I will." She watched him walk off before sighing.

Izuku stayed in front of the board for a bit before turning away. He had read over most of everything. Reading some of the flyers made him realize that he needed a map, once again circling to his issue of needing a library.

"So, that's all the notable things around the hall, if you like I can introduce you to some of my friends. I think they'd like to meet you." Lucy cut through his thoughts, and prompted him to look at all the other members.

Some of them were still helping clean up the mess, while others were sitting around and chatting with each other. He caught a few looking his way, and Izuku was quick to turn his head.

It was loud, really loud. Or at least much noisier than Izuku was used to. He had gotten used to the deafening silence, and any loud noise meant danger. Whether from a Nomu or someone else.

In the guildhall it was loud now that he actually paid attention to it. Full of chatter, laughter, drinks clinking together and shouts of joy and anger. It was so loud he felt like he could disappear into the noise itself, blend in and go unnoticed.

"Ku? Izuku?"

"Huh?" He looked up at Lucy.

"Are you okay? You were spacing out there for a bit." She looked concerned. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah…I-I'm fine." He shook it off. "Sorry, I uh, I'm good."

"You sure? You look a little pale."

"I'm okay." He nodded. "I'm just gonna go sit down…yup…" He stood there awkwardly before hurrying off. He went towards the bar, only to see all the seats had been taken up and Makarov was talking with some people.

So much for that.

Izuku looked around before settling down in a corner of the guild hall, where there weren't many people sitting. The few that were were engaged in quiet conversation. Something private, that was fine, Izuku had no intention of eavesdropping.

He sat down and looked through his backpack again, and pulled out his notebook and a pen. After scribbling on a random page to make sure it worked, he flipped to the next empty page and started to write things down. He found it much easier to plan things out once he wrote them down. To have something physical in front of him to base off of.

He had to find a library first, one with a map. From there he could learn about the cities and towns around the place. Maybe he could learn what country he's in too, that would be helpful.

Maybe look into magic and wizards and stuff?

Izuku paused, his pen hovered over the next line. Should he look into that, he heard the terms from Makarov. Not to mention that he had no idea what a lacrima was.

Magic isn't real, you were just hearing things.

He stared at the page for a little longer before adding on the new research topics and quietly berating himself for it.

Once he finished writing that down he moved onto the next issue. Finding a job.

It's a merchant town, like Makarov said, there are probably plenty of opportunities. I just have to look for them. Unfortunately, I can't do anything taxing, not yet…not to mention once they find out I'm Quirkless they're bound to reject me outright!

While he furiously scribbled down the issues with his plan he nearly tore the page he was writing on. He froze for a moment before looking over it to make sure it was still intact.

"And I need a new notebook too." He muttered. This one was old, he had it for a long time. There was no way it was going to last much longer, and he didn't want to lose this one. It was too precious.

He was a little more gentle with his writing, more focused on preventing any more damage. While he was busy with that, he was unaware of someone staring at him. While Izuku agonized over the seemingly impossible task of getting a job, he hadn't realized someone was approaching him.

"Hey."

Izuku instinctively slapped his hands over his notebook and looked up, paling when he saw someone from earlier. The guy who punched Natsu, the one in boxers.

He seemed a little put off by Izuku's reaction, but was quick to brush it off.

"U-Uh, is something…can…is everything okay?" Izuku asked as he scrambled to pack up his things. The sooner they were put away the less likely they'd be messed up.

"I had a question for you." The man raised an eyebrow. "I've been meaning to ask you since I first saw you. Is that my shirt?"

"H-Huh?"

"I thought I'd seen that shirt before. I lost it last week I think."

Izuku blankly stared at him for a minute and nodded. "T-The Master, Makarov, gave it to me. I uh, I didn't have a shirt and he let me borrow it. I-I can give it back!"

"Nah it's fine, just wanted to make sure. I think I've got a few clothes lying around here somewhere. I can get it back later."

"Are you sure? You're kinda…" Izuku gestured to all of him.

"Huh?"

"Your clothes Gray." Someone passing by said.

"Oh crap!" He began to look around for his clothes and sighed when someone held them up. It seemed like a common occurrence if this was everyone's reaction.

"Anyway, you're that kid from the forest right? Good to see you're in one piece, you were pretty messed up."

"Ah, y-yeah. I'm okay now."

The two were quiet, an awkward silence settled over the two.

"Hey, so I guess you're joining the guild?" He asked. "Well, just so you know, the name's Gray. If you need anything, go ahead and ask."

"Right, thanks." He nodded.

Gray paused for a moment, staring at him. "And what's your name?"

"Oh! Izuku Midoriya." He mumbled.

"Cool, welcome to the guild." He gave a thumbs-up, then went to go retrieve his clothes. Yelling in anger when he saw a certain blue cat starting to fly away with them.

He watched him walk away before leaning against the chair. That was three people now that he had seen from the forest. He wasn't sure he wanted to deal with the fourth. He didn't want to try his luck with how nice she would be. When he tried to recall her from the forest, he had found her intimidating. Granted he found them all intimidating.

Izuku watched them all from his corner and fiddled with the hem of the shirt. He looked at each person's face and what they were doing, trying to gauge their attitude. Whether or not they'd be friendly. He had a grace period, for now, nobody was asking whether or not he had a Quirk or what he could do.

Maybe he would be able to keep it under wraps, and no one would be the wiser. Then once he found a stable plan and got enough money, he would be able to leave. He could always try faking a Quirk too, then again last time he did that it didn't quite work out.

For now, I just have to blend in and not cause any trouble.

Izuku paused for a moment before groaning to himself. He needed to figure out expenses too!

Makarov watched the boy from afar as he pulled out his notebook again and began to write things down. He was skittish around everyone, but of course, he didn't expect that to change right away. He also seemed to prefer quieter areas.

He couldn't help but wonder whether that was a real preference, or something he just learned was safer. It didn't make him happy in any circumstance to know his children had gone through something arduous at some point in their lives. Invisible wounds that seeped into their everyday lives one way or another, sometimes worse than others.

For Izuku, those wounds were still fresh. Still gaping and bleeding and trying to heal.

"He's sitting alone," Mira muttered. "He's not one for people is he?"

"He's a little shy, but he'll come around. You weren't too keen on being around people either when you first came here." He reminded her.

"That's true." She hummed. It had taken a while for her to warm up to everyone, Elfman and Lissana were a big help in that regard. Granted she didn't always have the best attitude.

Makarov watched him a while longer before hopping off the bar counter and walking over to the teen. He was muttering to himself at a quick pace, it was hard to track what he was saying at times.

The old man stood at his side for a moment until he took the seat across from him. Izuku still hadn't noticed him, that was fine. He took a quick glance over what he was writing, he was sure he saw a list of items. Transportation, room, supplies, food. He was already coming up with a plan to get back on his feet. Not even out for a day and already getting to work.

He wondered if it even occurred to the boy to just sit back and rest for a bit. To let himself recover at least long enough for his injuries to fully heal.

"A train to the next station would be about 8,000 Jewel, give or take."

Izuku jumped when he realized Makarov was right in front of him, and quickly closed his notebook and shoved it into his bag. He had a guilty look on his face.

The old man only hummed and waited for the boy to stop flailing around before speaking again.

"So, how are you liking the guild so far?"

"It's nice? Lot of people…yeah." He shrugged.

"I suppose it is, but don't worry. I think you'll get along with them all. Though I wanted to talk to you about something else, seeing as you're already trying to come up with that plan of yours."

"Uh-huh?"

"Well, I'm sure you're aware that I am the Master of this guild. I keep things running, but I have some help from Mira. While she helps me with some paperwork, she is also in charge of a lot of other things. I was thinking perhaps you would be a fine candidate to help her out."

"Me?"

"Yes well, Mira mainly serves food and drinks when she's not helping me out, as well as keeping an eye on the place and making sure nothing goes wrong. One of the duties that's a little harder for her to get to will be passed to you."

"What exactly do you want me to do?" Izuku asked.

"As you know there are quite a few members, and Fairy Tail is a well-known guild. There are people who have business with us, and of course members that have business with others. Typically when it comes to official business guild members will drop off any necessary letters here, then we take them to the post office. And of course, the post has things for us. I'm sure you're seeing where I'm going with this."

"You want me to help deliver the mail?" He asked.

Makarov nodded. "It will require you to know the layout of the city, know the streets and some notable locations. But I think you'll do a fine job with that."

"I uh, don't really know too much about the city…" Izuku muttered.

"That's alright, you can take some time to explore, get to know the place. I don't expect you to know everything right off the bat."

Izuku looked towards the doors of the guild. "So, you want me to start tomorrow or…"

"Oh no, I don't expect you to start until you're healed. Certainly don't want you to reopen any of your injuries now do we?"

"No, I guess not." He mumbled.

"You can explore Magnolia for a day or two, get a good layout. Maybe one of the others can give you a tour." Makarov suggested.

"A-Ah, they don't have to! I think I'll be able to manage on my own." Izuku shook his head. "I don't think I can get that lost."

"Hmm, if you say so." Makarov shrugged. "But if you would like a guide don't hesitate to ask any of the others."

"Right…"

With that Makarov hopped off the chair and started to make his way over to the bar, until he stopped.

"Have you eaten today young man?"

"Uh, I'm not that hungry."

"That's not what I asked."

Izuku flinched under the response before slowly shaking his head. He heard Makarov sigh.

"I'll ask Mira to bring you something, and don't worry you don't have to pay upfront."

I would have to pay for it?!

"Oh, uh thank you."

"I'll put it on your tab."

"What?"

"Kidding, kidding." He waved off the alarmed teen before going back to the bar.

Izuku sighed and slumped in his chair for a moment, then mentally checked off one of his problems.

"Looks like I've got a job after all."

-.-

Izuku stared at his notebook blankly as he forced himself to stay awake. The day was nearing its end and he was starting to feel the exhaustion creeping in. Despite that he still remained away, he was sure he was asleep for a while before he woke up that morning.

There were still a few people left in the guild, staying for one last drink or finishing up a meal. It had become much quieter now, with fewer people hanging out. Even so, he could still feel someone watching him. He was sure it was Makarov, maybe Mira. The last time he looked over she was still there cleaning up the counter and tables.

It was only a matter of time until he started to drift off. The words and numbers on his notebook began to blur together in a mess of ink.

He hated feeling tired like this, but he was usually able to power through it. He had to, besides, there was nothing wrong with staying awake a little longer. Just until the guildhall was empty. Maybe then he could sleep. That is if Makarov even let him stay there for the night.

He could feel his mind starting to drift until a light tap on his shoulder startled him back into awareness.

He jumped to his feet and whirled around to face whoever touched him, he was surprised to see Mira with a surprised expression of her own.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." She smiled.

Izuku nodded and stared at her for a moment before packing everything up. He had done that quite a few times today,

"The Master asked me to show you where you'll be staying for the night while he finishes up some things."

"Oh…so he's letting me stay here?"

She nodded and motioned for him to follow her. He did so, averting his eyes from the few people that were left in the guild. They were getting ready to leave too. He glanced back at the board and saw that guy from earlier was still there.

"Go home Nab, you can pick out a job tomorrow!" Mira called out, earning a sigh from the man.

Once he started to walk away, Mira led Izuku to a side room near the stairs. She opened it to reveal a small room with a bed and a desk right next to it. There was a window across from the door, thankfully the curtain was already drawn.

"It's a little small, but whenever other guild master's or friends come over with no place to stay, the Master allows them to use this room. It's a little small though, sorry about that.

"N-No, it's okay." He waved off the apology. It was a good place to stay! Certainly a lot better than what he was thinking of.

"By the way, there are some showers over that way in case you want to wash up."

"Right, thanks."

He walked inside and placed his bag down near the bed. He didn't need that much space anyway, seeing as he was going to be working most of the time.

"Can you tell him I said thank you?" Izuku asked.

"Of course, be sure to get some rest, okay?"

He nodded as she shut the door. He strained his ears to listen as she walked away, and slowly the sounds from outside died down. When he was sure everyone was gone he let himself relax and walked over to the bed.

He sighed as he collapsed onto the bed. It was soft and cradled his tired body. He didn't even have the energy to crawl under the sheets, he was content to lay there and think for a while. His mind couldn't help itself from running miles a minute, refusing to let him sleep.

He sighed as he shifted onto his back.

"First day here, and I've got a job and a place to stay. Both given to me by Master Makarov…" He muttered. It wasn't a bad start, in fact, it was a really good one. Even so, he couldn't help but wonder how long it would last. Would it be taken away suddenly? Just ripped out from under him and he'd be left with nothing?

Amongst his paranoid thoughts, one bothered him the most.

Why?

Why was Makarov doing this for him? Did he just feel bad for him or did he genuinely want to help? He wasn't sure, it didn't make sense. You don't just pick up a random person, give them a place to stay and a job, that's nuts!

He didn't understand, why would someone do this for someone like him?

His thoughts continued to race for a while until he was finally able to drift off to sleep, uncertain about what tomorrow would bring.