Rendezvous With Salamander...

Chapter 7 - Rendezvous With Salamander...

"Are you sure, because I…" Ichigo began.

"No, really, I'm fine! Now go and find Natsu, I'm sure he is waiting." Mira reassured.

Without another word, Ichigo just nodded his head and ran down the hall, stopping for only a second to wave goodbye to the white-haired barmaid who returned the gesture in kind.

Mirajane released a disappointed sigh when she knew that the substitute was out of range, mainly due to the fact that she had really wanted to ask him about himself on the train ride back to Magnolia. At the same time, however, she now knew something she hadn't before, something specifically about Ichigo and his personality.

'When he said what he did before joining the guild, I could tell he wasn't lying. Now I know for a fact that he has the actions to back up his words. You really do belong at Fairy Tail, Ichigo…' Mira thought, looking off down the hallway the substitute had recently exited through.

"Still… I did want the company on my way back…" Mira lightly pouted.

{Forests Outside Magnolia: Entrance, Some Time Later…}

The young Substitute Soul Reaper who currently found himself a ways away from home, putting it mildly, stood in place leaned against a tree as he had been for nearly an hour.

If he had a watch on his person he'd have checked it just about ten times by now. Natsu was the one who told him where to go, and given that the dragon slayer should, in theory, be closer to the designated meeting place it was very odd that Ichigo had been waiting so long.

'Well, I guess it isn't that big of a deal… maybe he got caught up on his job.' Ichigo thought.

Natsu's mission very easily could have been more time consuming and it wasn't exactly implausible for this to be the case. Actually, Ichigo's job was very simple and really the only remotely difficult about it was dealing with forty or so bandits.

'Scratch that, dealing with those models was harder.' Ichigo thought, chuckling to himself given that he found such things to hold true.

In all honesty the orange-haired teen didn't really mind the quiet time he had received this past hour or so as it allowed him to reflect on the day's events. Everything that happened was just so weird, and the more he thought on it the weirder it got.

Some of the things he had considered were more pleasant than others, such as the implications of taking down the thugs who came after the girls at the photo-shoot. Putting them away likely saved a lot of lives that could and likely would have been put in danger had they been allowed to roam freely.

Moreover, he supposed it was actually a good release of stress to beat them down. Sure there was a moral aspect, but given the circumstances surrounding his presence in this world and the situation his actions were not only warranted but called for.

'I did warn them at the start… not my fault if they didn't choose to listen.' Ichigo thought.

After a little over a year without his Soul Reaper powers, though, it felt absolutely amazing to protect people again. Granted the human traffickers weren't necessarily as dangerous or as difficult to deal with as hollows, but even so they still presented a threat to this world and the people in it.

He smiled, nostalgically, as he once again allowed himself to feel the joy of protecting something. That had actually been one of his main concerns, or rather a subset of one of his primary concerns.

Since arriving in the land he now knew to be Fiore he was worried mainly that he wouldn't be able to get back to his world on his own. That, for the most part, proved to be true. However that was only really an issue if he couldn't find a place to be useful, a place where he could protect people during his stay.

Being thrown into a different dimension, in a literal sense, wasn't really something that disturbed him a great deal. Technically speaking the Soul Society was a different world and he voluntarily went there a little over a year ago. He did it again a short time later when he charged into Hueco Mundo. In both instances he had the desire to protect something precious to him, and that was the sole reason he chose to fight no matter what during both of these excursions.

'You know, I should probably be a little bit concerned that this doesn't bother me that much…' Ichigo thought ironically.

The only different aspects about his current situation and his various trips to Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society, respectively, was the fact that when he traveled to those places for the first time he knew he was going because something was there that he wanted to protect. Now it was the reverse, he was here in Fiore and needed to find something to protect, but in doing so the situation became something he was ironically comfortable with.

'I think… I think that Fairy Tail is definitely the thing I was meant to find… or at the very least the people in it.' Ichigo thought.

He released a slight sigh, after which he became silent once again. Self-reflection was only bearable for a certain period of time, after a while it just got plain boring. Nevertheless he didn't really have the power to speed up time, and thus he decided to simply wait.

"See, I told you!" A cheerful sounding voice shouted in triumph, breaking Ichigo out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever ya stupid cat…" A feminine voice responded in a melancholy fashion.

Ichigo turned his head to see a group of three familiar individuals exiting a nearby bush, smiles on two of their faces and a neutral expression on the third.

"You're just bitter because he was right." Natsu said in a teasing manner.

"Luigi is just a bitter person." Happy stated matter-of-factly, eliciting a growl from the blonde-haired mage.

"For the last time it's Lucy!" She shouted angrily.

"Where the hell were you three?" Ichigo asked as the three made their way towards him.

"We got held up on our job. Sorry if we're a little late." Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

His latest roommate didn't know it yet, but he had spent a great deal of time on a job that turned out to be far from worth it in a monetary sense. Even so, not accepting the reward was something the dragon slayer would've done a hundred times over.

"It's not that big of a deal… to be honest I'm just glad you made it. I was starting to think you wouldn't get here." Ichigo replied.

"How long were you waiting here?" Lucy asked with a raised brow, sounding curious.

"…an hour… but that isn't the point." Ichigo said, waving it off as if it were nothing.

The blonde looked at him with a deadpanned expression, knowing full well that had it been her she would've found the nearest city and taken a train back by now. Say what you wanted, but this guy seemed to keep his promises.

"Anyway, I'm beat…" Natsu commented, suppressing a yawn as he spoke.

"Aye!" Happy stated in agreement.

"Then do you guys just want to set up camp here? After the day I've had, I'm kind of tired as well." Ichigo said.

"I could go for some rest right about now." Lucy replied, looking to her fellow teammates for a response.

By the time her head had shifted to the dragon slayer and his feline companion, the two were already sitting by a lite fire with fish cooking all around it. How this was possible, neither she nor Ichigo knew, but at this point they just didn't care enough to question it.

"That was fast…" Ichigo said amusedly as he took a seat by the fire.

"Aye! When it comes to fish and food, we never joke around." Happy stated.

"You got that right little buddy." Natsu exclaimed cheerfully.

A moment of silence kicked in as the group watched the fish cook, or in the general direction of the fire in Ichigo's case. He wasn't really all that hungry given that he had stopped to grab some food before he decided to head towards the forest's entrance. In hindsight that was a good decision given that the dragon slayer and the rest of his friends were a little more than fashionably late.

"So how did your job turn out?" Ichigo asked, breaking the silence.

"Well… that answer is a bit complicated." Lucy stated vaguely.

"Aye…" Happy trailed off.

"What the hell happened?" Ichigo asked with a raised brow.

"We got to the employer safe and sound and got all the information straight after we left and I gave you directions. We actually found out the reward had been raised to 2,000,000 Jewels." Natsu began.

"Whoa, that's a lot of money." Ichigo said, his eyes widening slightly at the sheer amount. Even by this worlds standards his words had to be correct.

"Yeah, Lucy over here nearly fainted." Natsu joked half-heartedly.

"I did not!" Lucy exclaimed in an embarrassed manner.

"Did too." Happy commented.

"So, anyway, what happened after that, did the job not go well?" Ichigo inquired.

"Yeah, it actually did. We ran into a mean lookin' celestial spirit and that Everlue guy was really, really annoying, but we pulled through and got the book." Natsu replied.

"But that's where everything kinda turned downhill…" Lucy commented.

"I don't follow… wait, Natsu blew up the guy's house, didn't he?" Ichigo stated, not entirely understanding what other explanations there could actually be.

"Everlue's house, yes, and I couldn't blow up the other guy's house cuz' he didn't own it to begin with." Natsu replied.

"So you did blow up the employer's house?" Ichigo asked, realizing the dragon slayer didn't say anything to the contrary.

"Of course not! How violent do you think I am anyway?" Natsu countered.

"You're insanely violent, and you also used me just because I had blonde hair!" Lucy exclaimed.

"He did what?" Ichigo uttered confusedly.

"It's not that big of a deal, all I did was have her dress up as a maid so we could try to get the book real quickly. It didn't work out though since Everlue didn't think she was cute enough." Natsu replied.

"Aye, and we were sure it would work." Happy said. The latest Fairy Tail wizard glared daggers at her two companions before shifting her vision back to Ichigo, wanting to pick up where they had left off in their explanation.

"To actually explain what happened, we found out the guy didn't actually own the house. He wasn't actually rich, and he didn't have the money to pay us. It turned out that he was just borrowing it from a friend so that he could look the part." Lucy began.

"He didn't smell like the house, that's how I knew. All he wanted was for the book to be brought back, but he had a good reason I guess." Natsu stated.

"Which was?" Ichigo questioned, wanting elaboration.

"His dad had been forced to right the book for Everlue, and he wanted to destroy it. When I looked at the book through a special type of reading glasses I figured out that his dad had written the book for him, specifically. Natsu figured out that the guy wasn't really rich, though…" Lucy explained.

"Yeah, and when he told us it was true he couldn't pay, we said it was fine and that we couldn't accept it even if he had the money since he wanted the book so badly. So long story short we really got nothin'." Natsu continued, rubbing the back of his head and chuckling at the irony of the situation.

"I see… well, I wouldn't have taken the money either. It really wouldn't have felt right to me." Ichigo stated, his words being in line with the thoughts of the others present.

"That's pretty much what we though to. Anyway, ya win some ya lose some, right? At least I got to get in a good fight, and even Lucy here kicked some serious butt." Natsu replied.

The blonde-haired mage blushed at this before waving the comment off in an attempt to illustrate a sense of humility. Even so, her ego was so easily satisfied it was truly quite shocking.

"Oh stop, it wasn't all that impressive…" Lucy stated.

"I was surprised." Natsu commented amusedly.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

"Gee, thanks for the believing in me guys." Lucy replied with a deadpanned expression.

The group then turned towards the orange-haired teen, not yet having heard how his mission went. When it became clear that he didn't know quite why they were staring at him, the celestial wizard decided to clarify.

"So how did your job go, Ichigo?" Lucy asked in a friendly manner.

Though her job hadn't ended quite how she had wanted, and even though Natsu had basically used her for her looks, she didn't view the day as a total loss. Also she was quite curious as to how the orange-haired teen's first job went, which with any luck went better than hers.

"Actually it went pretty well. However I did find out the hard way why the pay was so high. Apparently the director of the magazine had expected a gang to try and kidnap the models, so that's why he sent a request to Fairy Tail." Ichigo began.

"Wait, so he sent out that request knowing something would happen? Did he at least tell you, because I don't remember reading anything like that in the request?" Lucy asked, eliciting a shake of the head from the brown-eyed substitute.

"No, he didn't. It was pretty obvious when they made their entrance though, mainly because they blew a hole in the wall. They were in the same human trafficking thing as that Bora guy if what they said was anything to go by. At the very least they knew who he was." Ichigo replied.

"Bleh, that creep…" Lucy sneered, scowling at the memory.

"So how many of the thugs were there?" Happy inquired.

"I think thirty five in total. If you're asking about the models there were only four, one of which was Mira, actually." Ichigo answered.

"Wait, you ran into Mira?! That must've been amazing to see her at her modeling job!" Lucy squealed in a girlish manner. Very clearly she envisioned the life of a model as extremely glamorous, otherwise she would have paid more attention to what happened and specifically who it happened to.

"I think you're missing the point Lammy." Happy stated.

"It's Lucy!" She shouted.

"So those creeps tried to take Mira and the other girls away like Bora tried to do to Lucy?" Natsu asked, receiving a nod as confirmation.

"Tch, I hope you kicked their asses Fairy Tail style." Natsu said with a scowl, likely due to the fact that one of his close friends was involved. Other than Ichigo, that is.

"If by that you mean I beat the crap out of them then yes, I did." Ichigo replied with a smirk.

Natsu smirked in much the same way while Happy just continued to look content and blissful as he usually did. Lucy, on the other hand, looked at the substitute with wide eyes, the implication of his words not being lost to her.

"You took down all thirty-five of them?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I did. They were just lucky I didn't use my sword, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten off with just some bruises and a beating. Well, I guess the army took them to whatever jail is like here, but still that's a lot less of a punishment than I had in mind." Ichigo replied.

He scowled a second later at the memory of how cocky and disgusting the gang members had been. They really did belong in jail, and he was more than happy to put them there.

"There ya go! It woulda been a real shame if you let anything happen to Mira, otherwise a lot of the guild would be pissed off at you." Natsu stated matter-of-factly.

"Aye." Happy said in agreement.

"Since I guess that means you got paid, did you already buy some new clothes?" Lucy asked.

"No, why would you think that?" Ichigo questioned right back.

"It's just that you're wearing a new shirt so I could only assume." Lucy answered.

"Oh, well this is a new shirt, but the director of the magazine gave this to me as a thank you and a bit of compensation since I was stupid enough to let one of them rip into my shirt with a knife." Ichigo explained, though he ended on a bitter note. He had a reputation to uphold, after all, so he couldn't just let anyone tear his clothes up, much less some random thug.

"How much did you end up making?" Happy asked.

"Around 450,000 Jewel in total." Ichigo replied, causing a certain blonde's mouth to hang open out of shock.

"Not too shabby if I do say so myself." Natsu said with a wide smirk.

"Think of all the fish we could buy…" Happy thought aloud, actually drooling at the prospect.

"I'll be happy to buy you a fish, Happy, but I can't just go and spend all of it on something like that." Ichigo stated emotionlessly.

The blue-furred cat turned and looked at him with a stern glare, holding his paw up a moment later so as to illustrate he was about to lay out a condition.

"Two fish…" Happy said with conviction.

"Sure thing little buddy." Ichigo replied, chuckling slightly as his words seemed to instantly turn around the feline's mood.

"Yes!" Happy shouted, jumping into the air as if to proclaim his technical victory. He did, after all, just get two free fish.

"Wait a minute…" Lucy trailed off, sounding as if she was deep in thought.

She had, at first, been taken aback by the amount that Ichigo had earned, but upon breaking out of her stupor she realized something. The request hadn't actually been for that much money in the first place.

"…the job was only for 400,000 Jewel, so how did you get the extra 50,000?" Lucy questioned skeptically.

"Oh yeah! How did you do that Ichigo?" Natsu asked in a tone of childlike curiosity, almost as if he was hanging on to every word that was being said.

The orange-haired teen blushed slightly and averted his eyes, the reason for the extra money not being something he was all too proud of. In actuality the photo might not even be published, so he figured not telling them wouldn't immediately backfire.

"I'd rather not talk about it…" Ichigo replied vaguely.

"Okay… that's a bit weird, but still good job!" Lucy said, ending on a cheerful note.

"By the way, Natsu, how did you end up figuring out they weren't really the owners of the home you went to?" Ichigo asked, doing so out of curiosity.

"Oh, that was easy. The place didn't smell like it was theirs." Natsu replied.

"Is that a dragon slayer thing?" Ichigo inquired.

"I think it's just a crazy thing…" Lucy commented.

"Hey!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Well despite how he figured it out it turned out to be true. I wasn't really paying attention to who they were though. I was still lost in the clouds after reading that book." Lucy stated, smiling widely at the recollection of discovering the actual text of the literary work.

The blonde was immediately pulled out of the clouds, so to speak, upon noticing a somewhat sinister smile courtesy of the dragon slayer. He gave off the impression he knew something about her that she didn't want him to know.

"I think I've got you figured out… all those papers I found in your room earlier today…" Natsu began.

Ichigo raised a curious brow at the words of his pink-haired friend, but it was more because of what his words resulted in. Almost immediately Lucy began to panic, a blush creeping onto her cheeks and sweat lightly dripping from the sides of her face.

'Whatever he has to say can't be that embarrassing…' Ichigo thought. Perhaps after the day's events he really shouldn't be the one to sit in judgment over what was and was not embarrassing.

"You're writing a novel, aren't you?" Natsu mused.

His assumption was proven without the need for confirmation on the part of the blonde-haired celestial mage, whose face lite up a brilliant shade of red as a result.

"Oh, so that's why she's such a book worm." Happy reasoned.

"Wow, that's not something I expected." Ichigo commented idly.

"Promise you won't tell anyone about that, okay?" Lucy pleaded, her face still a bright crimson color.

"Why not?" Happy inquired.

"Because I'm a horrible writer, if anybody ever read my stuff I'd die of embarrassment!" Lucy exclaimed, fidgeting back and forth due to the self-proclaimed truth of her words.

"It can't be that bad…" Ichigo said in an attempt to console the clearly distraught mage. He incidentally did a much better job than the follow-up that came courtesy of his companion.

"Don't worry, nobody's ever gonna read it." Natsu said reassuringly, sweatdropping at the blonde's reaction.

"Yeah, that doesn't really make me feel any better…" Lucy replied with a deadpanned expression.

{The Next Morning…}

The group of freshly named friends continued to make their way back to Magnolia and back into the safe haven that was their guild. Each was currently trudging through the murky swamp, however that was perhaps a very loose interpretation of what was going on.

Natsu was the only one who was technically trudging through the bog while Happy rested on his shoulder and Lucy stood at his side from within Horologium the clock spirit. Ichigo was also making his way through the swamp, but it was only in spirit, literally. His spirit form was walking through the murky water while his human body was thrown over his back.

"I don't know about this, guys… are you sure we're going the right way, she asks." Horologium stated, obviously speaking for his time-slotted master.

"Happy says this is the way home, so this is the way we're going, I answer." Natsu sneered.

"Have some faith! I'm a cat and I have a great sense of smell. My nose will lead us home." Happy proclaimed proudly.

"Its dogs that have good noses… and what does smell have to do with direction, she asks quite haughtily." Horologium said.

"Lucy, just drop it. We'll find our way back… eventually." Ichigo stated in an attempt to pacify the blonde.

"That doesn't make me feel better, she sighs tiredly." Horologium replied.

The group soon exited the swamps, after which Ichigo entered his human body once more in order to walk properly on foot again, or at the very least do so without his own weight thrown over his shoulders. Lucy, however, didn't exit the clock spirit, who seemed to have a much greater time limit than the last time they had seen it. Perhaps the blonde reworked her contract after the incident with the Vulcan on Mount Hakobe.

'Still, she really could complain a bit less…' Ichigo thought. Natsu didn't really seem to care all that much, but even so it still appeared to annoy him a decent amount.

"What does your nose tell you now, cat, she asks scornfully." Horologium abruptly said as they continued to walk down a clear path through the forest.

"It says I'm going the right way!" Happy answered confidently.

"Why don't you do your own walkin' for a while?" Natsu questioned, not even bothering to look back at the girl who knew perfectly well he had been addressing her.

"Because I'm tired, she groans exhaustedly." Horologium replied.

Any would-be conversation resulting from the repeated complaints of the blonde about Happy's sense of direction was cut short immediately upon a nearby bush randomly shifting, which caused each of them to stop dead in their tracks in favor of glaring warily at the large plant. Very clearly it wasn't the wind that had shifted its leaves, and that meant only one thing.

"Whose there?!" Natsu exclaimed.

Fairy Tail's resident dragon slayer didn't even bother waiting for an answer despite the fact that he raised the question. In an instant he leaped into the bush, prompting Ichigo to look at the currently rustling foliage with a deadpanned expression.

"Do you always have to fight, she inquires worriedly?" Horologium stated, having caught the bags that Natsu tossed backwards in favor of jumping into the nearby bush.

"You can take him Natsu!" Happy cheered.

"Why are you encouraging him? Also, why the hell did you ask if someone was there before you just jumped in?!" Ichigo asked, not seeing the logic.

If he had at least kept quiet then he had a bit of an advantage, but asking the question and alerting whoever it was to his presence took away the purpose of giving the person a chance to come out as well as any advantage he gained form not saying anything in the first place. Natsu was already a good friend, plain and simple, but that didn't mean he didn't do stupid things.

His thoughts and mental gripes about the dragon slayer's logic were cut off upon seeing two individuals pop out of the foliage into the open area, where both could be seen.

Both Ichigo and Lucy immediately recognized the individual as someone that they had met beforehand at the guild, and even along the same theme he didn't really appear to be wearing any clothes outside of his boxers.

"It's Gray!" Happy exclaimed.

"Why the hell is he basically naked?!" Ichigo shouted in an annoyed tone.

"I was trying to find a bathroom." Gray stated, glaring at the dragon slayer as he spoke.

"Then why would you take your clothes off before you found one? Also who ever heard of a bathroom in the middle of a forest?" Natsu countered, glaring at the ice mage with equal intensity.

"I wanted some privacy! I didn't expect some idiot to barge in randomly." Gray countered, butting heads with the pink-haired teen.

"Who're you callin' and idiot?" Natsu growled out, starting off what had become known as a traditional encounter with the ice make user.

"Why are they so childish?" Lucy wondered aloud, having called back her clock spirit at some point after Gray was revealed.

"When did you come out of the clock…" Ichigo trailed off.

{Some Time Later…}

"I see… so you're just coming back from a job?" Lucy asked.

After Natsu and Gray had stopped their childish fight, courtesy of some motivation by a certain orange-haired teen, they had sat down by a hillside and opted to fish in the river that flowed at the bottom. Also, by some miracle, the ice mage had actually managed to find his clothing.

"Yeah, there's a shortcut through these woods that'll get you back to town in no time." Gray explained.

"See, I told ya so." Happy stated.

"Yeah well if your nose is so great then how come you didn't smell Gray, smart guy?" Lucy countered.

"There's some things you don't wanna smell." Happy replied.

"What'd you say?" Gray barked, a tick mark popping out of his forehead.

"I agree, so go on home and we'll smell ya later." Natsu said with a cocky smile.

"We might as well walk back with him. Gray is in the same guild, after all." Ichigo reasoned, though the dragon slayer just huffed at the notion.

"I agree." Lucy commented.

"Well then ya better get up and head back as soon as possible. Even if you don't follow me back you should do the same, unless you want trouble that is." Gray warned.

"Why would we have to get back as soon as possible?" Ichigo asked with a raised brow.

"Because Erza's due back any time now…" Gray answered in a solemn tone, his skin paling as he spoke.

"Whoa, no way…" Natsu trailed off, something akin to fear shining in his eyes.

'Wait, he's actually capable of fearing something…' Ichigo thought with wide eyes.

The reaction that the simple name elicited from the dragon slayer was rather extreme, especially if you considered who it was that it happened to. His skin paled, he started to sweat, and he his body even shook at random intervals of time.

"The Erza?" Lucy exclaimed with a somewhat fearful expression.

"She's the most powerful woman in all of Fairy Tail." Happy chirped with a fish in his mouth, likely fresh off the line he had been manning.

"Wait, who?" Ichigo asked confusedly.

His words drew a collective expression of disbelief from Natsu and Gray, while Happy didn't seem to do a thing. The blue-furred Exceed really seemed incapable of having any face other than a playful glare or a cheerful smile and general demeanor.

Needless to say, however, this person defiantly had a reputation. Lucy, on the other hand, looked rather cheerful or exited for some reason, though Ichigo couldn't for the life of him tell why this was the case.

"I can't wait to meet her." Lucy cooed.

That answered the unasked question in an instant. It likely had something to do with the fact that this girl, whoever she was, had the ability to instill fear into Natsu. If she could do that, then perhaps she was some kind of goddess on earth.

"Again, who is she?" Ichigo asked, turning to the blonde-haired celestial mage given that she seemed to be the only one capable of giving him a concrete answer.

"All I know is that she's the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail, though I don't know what she looks like. I haven't even ever seen her picture in Sorcerer's weekly or anything." Lucy replied.

"Speaking of which, what's she like?" Lucy inquired, looking towards her other comrades for an answer.

"Scary…" Gray, Natsu, and Happy answered collectively.

"Heheh…" Lucy nervously chuckled, not entirely sure what to make of their answer.

"Wild animal." Gray commented.

"A vile beast." Natsu added.

"More like a full-on monster!" Happy corrected.

The image of a colossal beast seemed to be portrayed by the duo, and that seemed to unnerve Lucy buy Ichigo just sighed. There was no possible way that this female wizard could possibly be that bad.

"She's not that big you guy's…" Happy commented.

"She's big enough to me." Natsu replied.

"If there's one thing we can all agree on, she's at least that scary… maybe even scarier." Gray said, sweating slightly at the mere thought of the Titania's power.

"Come on, she can't be that scary." Ichigo reasoned.

"No, she's much worse and also freakishly strong." Natsu replied, his skin still pale.

"Why do you think she's so…" Ichigo began, only to be cut off.

In an instant a large explosion sounded off. Ichigo had been the only one who had seen it coming, but even that was a split second before it occurred. As a result, he was off to the side, safe and sound, while the others were now covered in sand.

'What the hell was that?' Ichigo wondered, glaring at the surrounding area in order to see exactly what had happened.

"What now?!" Lucy griped.

"You guy's alright?" Ichigo asked, walking up to his guild mates as he sensed no immediate threat was nearby.

"I'm fine, but… Happy!" Natsu exclaimed, realizing that his feline companion wasn't currently among the group.

{Magnolia: Fairy Tail Guildhall}

"I'm back everyone!" Mirajane chirped as she gracefully entered the wooden building.

"Glad to see ya!" Several exclaimed.

The white-haired former mage then walked towards the bar, ready to resume her duties as soon as was possible. Her train ride had been delayed, which made it even more unfortunate given that a certain orange-haired otherworldly individual had denied her invitation. What's more, he clearly wasn't back yet, which did put a slight damper on her mood but she didn't allow it to bother her too much.

"Ah, Mira, how was the photo-shoot?" Makarov asked in a friendly manner.

"Well we had a slight problem when a group of bandits showed up, but luckily…" Mira began, only to be cut off.

"What?!" Many members of the guild shouted in unison.

It wasn't every day that you heard of a group of thugs ransacking the Sorcerer's Weekly studio, but at the same time it annoyed the barmaid a great deal that she had been interrupted. They didn't even pick up on the 'but luckily' which she had foolishly hoped would calm them down.

"Big sis, what happened?!" Elfman asked worriedly.

"Can I please finish?" Mira asked, her tone possessing a slight edge.

Almost instantly everyone in the guild went as quiet as a mouse. It was very rare that she requested something like this in that particular tone, or pseudo-tone since it didn't sound all too threatening. But even so when she asked in that manner the entire guild had the choice of listening or disobeying at their own peril.

The white-haired former demon of Fairy Tail smirked proudly given that it appeared she hadn't lost her touch, but upon opening her mouth so as to continue with her explanation, the only person in the entire guild, at the current moment, cut her off.

"So I assume Ichigo dealt with them, eh?" Makarov asked with a knowing grin.

"H-how did you know?!" Mirajane exclaimed in a surprised manner.

"I saw him take the job, and since your back here safe and sound I could only assume." Makarov explained, chuckling as he was met with the sight of the barmaid's adorable pout.

"Well do you also know how many showed up and how many he took down?" Mirajane asked, trying to sound somewhat superior given that the master very easily could have told a bland version of the story in her place.

She wasn't very petty in the least, but even so she wanted to at least be able to convey a decent story or two whenever one came around. After all, since a certain tragic event nearly three years ago her life hadn't been all that exciting.

"Hmmm… I dunno, maybe twenty?" Makarov guessed, sounding as if he thought his answer was correct, or at least close to the actual number.

"Try thirty-five… and he won with his bare hands." Mirajane stated with a small smirk.

"My, now that is impressive." Makarov replied with a grin. Very clearly his suspicions about the boy's ability to fight were correct.

"I don't believe it…" Cana scoffed, not seeing the teen as the type to be capable of such things.

"Not only is it true, he did it in only a few minutes as well. They were all arrested when the army showed up, and everything was fine after that!" Mira chirped.

"You're serious? I mean, maybe ten or twenty I could buy, but that many in that short a period of time?" Cana asked skeptically.

The brown-haired mage wasn't really a cynic by any measurable amount, but she did prefer to see things with her own eyes, especially if they involved things that were particularly hard to believe. When it came to Ichigo Kursoaki, many things had proven to be hard to believe.

"It's completely true. Why would I lie?" Mira countered.

"Damn… then I guess he can fight after all." Cana thought aloud, sounding a bit more surprised than she likely intended.

"Anyway, I'll have to congratulate the boy when he gets back. A job well done protecting Fairy Tail's treasure." Makarov stated proudly.

"So he isn't back yet?" Mira asked with a raised brow.

The elderly mage instantly picked up on a slight drop in the positive nature of the woman's tone. Well, that on top of the fact that she didn't smile brightly at the compliment he gave her. That usually never happened.

"N-no, he as well as Natsu and Lucy are still out on their jobs. Well, probably on their way back by now, but still…" Makarov replied.

"I see… well, if he gets back and I'm not here, say thanks again for me." Mira requested, her bright smile returning once more.

"Of course my dear." Makarov said, returning the gesture in kind.

{Forests Outside of Magnolia: Unknown Location…}

"We're finally going to eat some meat tonight…" An odd-looking shortly built creature with gray skin stated.

He and a group of wizards, all of which were human with the exception of a rather large chicken, currently stood by a tied up cat over what appeared to be the makings of a fire, save form the flames actually being present. Each was salivating, but the blue-furred cat himself was shaking nervously, obviously not enjoying the prospect of being eaten.

"No more berries for us today, time for some protein." One of the men said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Hey you jerks!" A voice called out from the nearby hillside.

Each member of the oddly sorted entourage of mages looked up to see a group of four teen's, three men and one woman, standing atop a low-leveled peak. None of them looked particularly happy, but that was to be expected given that each knew perfectly well the cat they were about to eat belonged to them.

"That's our friend over there and there's no way in hell we're gonna let you eat him." Natsu stated convincingly, cracking his knuckles as he spoke.

"Yeah, get ready for an ass kicking." Gray added.

"Buzz off ya brats! The cat's our food now." The short inhuman creature exclaimed.

"Are you guys all wizards, what guild are you from?" Natsu asked, glaring at the group of individuals he knew to be wizards.

"Heh, not tellin'." One of the men replied.

In a fit of rage Natsu almost charged down the hill directly into the pile of mages, but a hand forcefully being placed in front of his chest stopped him from doing so. He looked at Ichigo, who seemed to direct a simultaneous scowl and glare down at the group that took Happy.

"You mind letting me take this? These guys really piss me off…" Ichigo stated.

Natsu looked at him confusedly before said look of confusion was replaced by a knowing smirk. Without any further words, he nodded, effectively giving the substitute to do whatever he pleased.

In an instant Ichigo grabbed his combat pass, allowing his body to fall back freely into the hands of both Natsu and Lucy. Gray had wanted to make a move, but he didn't given that the one person he never expected to give up a fight allowed this to happen.

'Natsu must actually respect this guy… who knew he was capable of that?' Gray wondered. There were two other exceptions in the form of Erza and the master, but his listening to each of them possessed a slight bit more of a fearful undertone than a respectful one.

The substitute jumped down the ledge, his zanpakuto strapped to his back in white cloth as it usually was, and his posture suggesting he was about to come at the group of mages without any hesitation.

"I'll give you guys a warning. Give us back the cat and then maybe I'll go easy." Ichigo threatened.

Subsequently after these words left his mouth, one of the men made to laugh at the notion. However, before even a single section of laughter left his throat, Ichigo lunged forward and planted his fist firmly into the man's stomach.

His mouth shot wide open and a gasp escaped his lips, but immediately after this he went flying into a nearby hillside, cracking the stones with his body.

'What the hell?!' Many wondered, not having seen the teen move.

"Whoa…" Gray uttered, not even remotely expecting Ichigo to be that fast.

"Nice hit." Natsu said with a grin, his arms crossed and his eyes glued to the fight.

"It was this way when he fought Bora. I didn't really believe what I was seeing." Lucy said with a smile as she observed the battle.

The remainder of the wizards began to attack Ichigo in an attempt to take advantage of his lack of positioning, or at least that what they thought they were doing. Without even a moment's hesitation, the substitute dodged the fists before sending a kick directly at two of his attackers, hitting one who subsequently smashed into the other. It was made all the more ironic by the fact that they appeared to be twins.

Incidentally they soon shot directly into a collection of nearby trees, obviously no longer being able to fight properly, but he didn't stop there, in fact he was already prepared to make the next move.

As Ichigo had suspected, the large chicken-like creature attempted to punch him directly in his midsection so as to capitalize on his lack of ability to move after having just dispatched two more people. However, he effortlessly caught the beast's fist, after which he sent a punch straight at the center of its head, knocking it out in an instant.

With that done, Ichigo turned, still holding his scowl and glare, to face the remaining man, or creature by the looks of it. The only one remaining was the sole gray inhuman looking beast that he had sensed the moment before Happy was taken.

"Well… let's go help clean up." Natsu said with a small chuckle before he began to travel down the hillside.

"Alright, but don't go tellin' me what to do." Gray barked before following suit, the blonde-haired mage doing the same shortly thereafter.

"I'll bet you think that you've got me backed into a corner, don't you?" The creature reasoned, staring down at the black-clad teen across from him.

"Well you don't!" He exclaimed, calling forth a large amount of sand to the palm of his extended right hand.

It appeared as if he was going to blast the substitute with some kind of sand magic spell, but he didn't even get the chance as the instant he readied to fire his attack a punch sent him flying into the side of a very large tree. The creature then fell over, face first, with its eyes closed and its mouth only uttering quiet pained moans.

"Yeah, clearly I didn't." Ichigo scoffed.

{A Few Minutes Later…}

Ichigo had entered the sanctity of his own body once again while Natsu and gray had tied up the group of mages and Lucy had opted to free Happy, although begrudgingly.

"That was pretty impressive Ichigo. I didn't peg you as someone who was skilled at hand to hand combat." Gray complimented.

"Thanks, I guess, but I… where the hell are your clothes?!" Ichigo exclaimed. Those words were very familiar to him, but not in the context of talking to a man.

He was more used to speaking to a very, very seductive purple-haired woman who enjoyed teasing the hell out of him. Gray, however, didn't even seem to notice whenever his clothes would vanish.

"Crap!" Gray shouted.

"How can you lose your clothes so easily and not even know it?" Natsu scoffed.

"You wanna go flame brain?" Gray challenged.

He and the dragon slayer butted heads while in the background both Ichigo and Lucy began to examine the group of captured wizards. The inhuman-looking one had started to come to, as evident by the fact that he had started to mumble something incoherently.

"Lu…by…" The creature uttered.

"Wha?" Natsu wondered aloud.

"Lul… by…" It repeated.

"Is it saying Lullaby?" Gray asked.

"I think so…" Ichigo answered.

At complete random some kind of invisible force ran through the ground, so difficult to detect that not even Ichigo had sensed it coming. Every member of the group fell to eh ground a moment later, bearing witness as the tree that the wizards were tied to simply sink into the ground, taking the men with them.

"What was that?" Gray wondered aloud.

"You mean who was that." Natsu corrected, eyes wide.

Ichigo immediately got up and glared off into the distance, his senses catching something far off from their current location. Even if he had opted to use his combat pass and go after the presence with flash step, it was too elusive. One second it was there, and another it wasn't.

'Dammit!' Ichigo thought, not at all being prepared for what had occurred.

"Whoever it was they're fast, I can't even sense them anymore." Gray stated.

"Neither can I…" Ichigo commented, sounding clearly annoyed.

"What could this mean?" Natsu wondered aloud.

"Lullaby…" Lucy repeated, the very name striking her as if she knew it. At the same time she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Dammit, I was careless." Ichigo grumbled.

"It doesn't matter. Happy's safe and that's what counts, right little buddy?" Natsu asked, high-fiving the blue-haired feline.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

"Anyway, we should probably get moving now. If we hurry we can make it back to the guild before sundown." Gray stated.

"Right." They replied in unison.

{Magnolia: Fairy Tail Guildhall, Some Time Later…}

"We're back." Ichigo announced calmly as he and the others entered the infamous building.

"Hey guys!" Many said in a friendly manner, some holding their drinks up so as to say hello in their own right.

The guild looked back and gave cheerful expressions, appearing as if they would do so for any of their comrades that decided to enter no matter what the means.

"What kind of an entrance was that? Where's the spirit?" Natsu asked.

"Is there supposed to be spirit in kicking down the door?" Ichigo countered.

"Well… yeah." Natsu replied, though the orange-haired substitute just waved him off in favor of walking further into the guildhall.

Many people stared at the group as they walked towards the main bar, though for unknown reasons given that none of them had done anything of note lately. In fact none of them had been here for quite some time, nearly two days in total. For a second Ichigo just assumed that it had been Gray and he had lost his clothes again, but upon seeing that the ice mage had walked off he knew that couldn't be the case.

"Welcome back, you guys!" Mirajane chirped, greeting the trio and Happy with a warm smile.

"Yes, welcome back. How did your first missions go?" Makarov asked eagerly.

"Thank you master, but between the three of us only one of us got paid." Lucy said, rubbing the back of her head in a bashful manner.

"What did Natsu blow up this time?" Makarov asked through a sigh.

"Hey! I don't always blow stuff up!" Natsu shouted defensively.

"Well did you?" Makarov asked knowingly.

"Yeah, but words still hurt ya know!" Natsu replied.

"Still, he chose not to accept the reward because the family that offered to pay them didn't really have the money. The employer apparently faked their wealth just because they were so desperate. Natsu and Lucy got done their job just fine, and to be honest I'd have done the same thing if I were in there position." Ichigo stated, defending the pink-haired mage for what it was worth.

"Oh, I see… then I apologize, Natsu, that was a very mature decision you made. A job well done." Makarov said in a humble manner.

His words, however, were disproved a moment later when the dragon slayer continued his childish antics, or rather his response as the case currently was.

"You're damn right! What else would you expect?" Natsu cheered.

"I don't know, maybe your usual flame-brained brand of idiocy." Gray commented from a nearby table, successfully angering the dragon slayer.

"You wanna go stripper boy?" Natsu challenged, angering the ice mage just as much as the previous comment had angered him.

"Bring it ya moron!" Gray replied.

The two then launched at one another with their fists primed and not a care in the world. Ichigo released a sigh, but overall it had been the case that Natsu held back for the entirety of their trip back to the guildhall, so he guessed it was earned in a way.

'Wow, I know it's bad when I start to think like that…' Ichigo thought, mentally chuckling given that in any normal circumstance he would have asked or forced the dragon slayer to stop.

"There they go again…" Lucy sighed out.

"They usually do… anyway, can I get you anything, Lucy… Ichigo?" Mira offered from the opposite side of the main bar.

"No, but thanks. How was your train ride back, by the way?" Ichigo asked, recalling that the bubbly woman had suggested he accompany her.

"Well… my train was delayed by a good amount of time… which made me wish I had company." Mira replied, ending on a suggestive tone that prompted the substitute to release a nervous chuckle.

"Hehehe… sorry about that. Now I really do feel bad." Ichigo said bashfully.

"You saved her life, you shouldn't feel all too bad." Cana stated, coming over to the main bar with a smirk on her face.

"Thanks again for that, Ichigo." Mira stated, giving honest words of gratitude.

"Oh, by the way, I don't think we've officially met. Name's Cana Alberona. Friendly word of advice, don't challenge me to a drinking game unless you want to lose." The woman said.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, nice to meet you." Ichigo replied.

"So Mira told the guild that you took down over thirty thugs with your bare hands… is that true?" Cana asked with a raised brow, the same smirk still present on her lips.

The brown-haired booze enthusiast gave a sly glance to Mira, who was somewhat unnerved by it. Cana wasn't necessarily one to randomly walk up to a person she didn't know too well without reason, and the usual motive was simply to mess with them. The only question remained if she was here to mess with her, or with Ichigo.

"Yeah, I did. They deserved a lot worse though… damn perverted scumbags." Ichigo scoffed.

"Wow, now that really is impressive… but you have the thanks of the entire guild for saving our resident sweetheart." Cana said amusedly, prompting the barmaid to giggle since that very clearly was a reference to her.

"Oh stop, you're making me blush…" Mira replied, though the kindness in her voice was somewhat faked at the moment. It became perfectly clear that she was now being mocked by the busty brown-haired mage, and in all honestly she didn't care to make a habit of being mocked freely by people.

"But I nearly had a miniature stroke when I hear that…" Cana began overdramatically.

She, however, stopped upon seeing the white-haired barmaid write something down on a piece of paper before holding it up behind Ichigo's shoulder. As a result of this, the conversation came to a sudden pause, with Cana looking over the substitute's shoulder briefly in order to read the apparent message.

'Cana, don't forget who decides to give you drinks…' She read, after which she cleared her throat so as to push off her silence on something going down the wrong way.

"Sorry, I had something in my throat. Anyway, I may have been exaggerating a bit, but still you did a good job and I figured I may as well tell you that." Cana stated before walking off.

Messing with people was one thing, but losing her drinking privileges was something that just wasn't worth risking.

"That was weird…" Ichigo thought aloud.

"Not really." Mira commented, bringing the orange-haired teen's eyes towards her once again.

"Anyway, I think me and Natsu should head out. It was good seeing you Mira, and again sorry I didn't go back with you. Didn't really think the train would be delayed…" Ichigo said, honestly clear in his voice.

"It's okay." Mira reassured.

"Alright then… Natsu! We're leaving." Ichigo stated, turning to look at the dragon slayer.

"Awww, but I wanna fight Gray more!" Natsu lightly whined, though to speak he did, in fat, stop fighting the ice mage.

"You can fight him tomorrow, we should get going now." Ichigo stated.

The dragon slayer sighed out of annoyance before he exited the fight and headed for the exit alongside Ichigo, the blue-haired Exceed sitting happily on his shoulders.

"See you tomorrow guys!" Natsu said.

The guild waved a collective goodbye at the two teens as they left, a gesture that they returned in kind up until the point that the door closed behind them. However their exit did leave a small impression on those who remained.

"They seem a lot like brothers, don't you think?" Cana mused as she sat back down at the main bar.

"You mean if Natsu was the younger one that does stupid things and Ichigo is the older mature one, than yeah, they're brothers all right." Lucy stated, eliciting a giggle from the white-haired woman across from her.

At the same time, though, she knew Natsu had a big heart, in fact one that likely shined brighter than anyone she had ever met before.

"I think it's cute that they get along so well. Plus, Natsu seems happy." Mira commented.

{Magnolia: Natsu's Home, Some Time Later…}

The dragon slayer and his latest comrade and roommate entered the large wooden cottage-like building in silence. Not even Happy chose to say a word yet he kept the same usually goofy expression he always did.

"You've been glaring at me for the past ten minutes, any reason why?" Ichigo asked, looking at the pink-haired mage and taking note that he still hadn't let up.

"I just realized half-way back to the house that I won't be able to fight Gray tomorrow since Erza will probably be back." Natsu stated in a childish tone, eliciting a chuckle from the orange-haired substitute.

They then began to walk towards the dual hammocks, Happy flying up to his and the other two lounging in their own. It actually was quite peaceful until a certain fire magic user decided to continue on with his previous rant.

"Great, just great, now I have to act all 'buddy, buddy' with that stupid ass stripper. That's just fantastic." Natsu sneered, obviously sounding discontent.

"Why would you not be able to fight with him again?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow despite the fact that it serve no purpose other than to highlight his own personal curiosity.

"Because Erza doesn't like it when we fight and we have to listen to her because she's frickin' scary." Natsu replied, sounding a bit nervous.

"Well then we'll just have to get to the guild a bit early tomorrow." Ichigo said suggestively.

"Really?" Natsu asked in a hopeful tone.

"Sure, why not." Ichigo replied.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

The trio stayed in silence for the time being, each trying to fall asleep but nether really being able to despite the fact that that each was tired. Something was left unsaid, and no one would be able to sleep with peace of mind until it was addressed.

"Hey Ichigo…" Natsu called.

"Yeah, what is it?" Ichigo asked.

"Are you awake?" Natsu questioned, prompting the orange-haired teen to chuckle, though it was more to himself than at the dragon slayer.

"You've got a habit of asking that ridiculous question, but yeah, I am." Ichigo answered.

"It's just that… I can't shake this bad feeling I have, and it's been buggin' me since we had that run in with those wizards." Natsu stated.

"It could just be that you did something stupid and Erza will be upset with you over it." Happy commented.

"No, that's not it… I think… God, I hope not… I'm so screwed." Natsu whined as if it was a predetermined fate.

"You haven't done anything stupid that I know of, and to be honest I've had the same feeling since we got out of the forest." Ichigo replied, alleviating the dragon slayer of his fear in the process.

"Yeah, same with me. Why do you think that is?" Natsu asked, genuinely wanting to know what the substitute had to say.

"Well I think it's because those mages vanished just before they were about to say something. Moreover we know someone was behind it, and that someone doesn't want us to know what they were about to say." Ichigo mused.

"Aye, but they wanted to eat me so good riddance." Happy huffed, obviously still not entirely getting over the fact that he had nearly been consumed.

It wasn't entirely odd that the Exceed was distraught about that particular situation, but it still didn't address the problem. Someone that neither of them could sense got the drop on them and very blatantly prevented any information the group might have had from reaching their ears. If that didn't seem suspect than nothing in this universe could be subjected to scrutiny by sheer comparison.

"Does the word Lullaby mean anything to you?" Ichigo inquired, hoping that perhaps the dragon slayer would be able to shed some light.

"Hmm… I think it's one of those things you sing to a kid to get him to sleep, right?" Natsu replied.

From his hammock on the opposite side of the room Ichigo resisted the urge to slap the palm of his hand over his face. Perhaps he should have clarified, and that was his mistake, but even so it was still surprising that the pink-haired teen gave that particular answer.

"Besides the obvious answer…" Ichigo clarified.

"Anything that isn't obvious is not in Natsu's department." Happy commented, eliciting a chuckle from the substitute but clearly annoying his closest friend.

"Whose side are you on anyway?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Whoever gives me more fish, and since Ichigo owes me two, I'm on his side." Happy proclaimed.

That may have sounded rather greedy but the dragon slayer perfectly understood the desire to have food. In fact in some cases food took priority over everything else, and fish to happy was the same as meat to Natsu. So he supposed it was a fair response.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that… we can stop at the market or something tomorrow." Ichigo stated.

"Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish…" Happy chanted, causing the orange-haired teen to sweatdrop.

"Yeah… I'm gonna go to sleep now. Goodnight you two." Ichigo said.

"Night Ichigo." Natsu replied.

"Fish!" Happy exclaimed, causing both Ichigo and Natsu to chuckle.