Chapter 5: The Guild's Future

Sorry for any wait you may have had. I just finished proofreading this thing and uploaded it now. Anyway, I would like to thank you all for the support you have shown me so far and I hope to continue delivering the chapters you guys deserve.

Three chapters for this Arc. The most so far. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Bleach. Shame, it would be great if I did.

Protector Of The Fairies

The Guild's Future

Ichigo turned the next page of his book. Finally, some peace for him to study.

The guild had become more hectic than it was two years ago. Firstly, there had been that incident a year ago with Laxus's father. He remembered it clearly.

They had just come back from a job when Ivan had pulled them to the side. He said he wanted their help on a job.

If they had continued into the guild, they would have learned that Ivan had just been kicked out of the guild by The Master. It would have made things so much simpler that day.

But they hadn't. They had trusted Laxus's old man and followed him on his mission. They could believe what they saw.

Ivan waiting for them to fall asleep before he went on ahead to one of the towns far away and began to slaughter everyone there, demanding the secret to a Magic their town had hidden there. It was supposedly a Magic that could nullify other Magic and he wanted it for himself.

Ichigo and Laxus woke up the moment they heard the explosions nearby. They couldn't believe what they saw when they got there. The town was burning and Shikigami were running rampant everywhere, hundreds of them focused in blasts to cut down the residents.

That was the first time Ichigo had ever seen such anger on Laxus's face. Despite how his father may act sometimes, what he was doing now was hideous. And worst of all, he was meant to be a Fairy Tail Mage. This wasn't what a Fairy Tail Mage or any Legal Mage did. This was the work of a Dark Mage.

They were barely in time to save the last few people still alive. Ivan had been thorough in his search and appeared not long later with an old looking book in his hand.

When they had questioned him about what he had done, he just laughed in their faces and said he was doing what he needed to do to seek power. Weren't their goals the same as his?

The different was that they would never stoop to such a level. What Ivan did was wrong and could not be condoned.

Ivan had taken on a look of sorrow at that point and had walked towards them in shame… right until he tried to put a hand through Laxus's chest.

He demanded that Laxus's return the Lacrima he gave him when he was younger. He said that he only gave Laxus it when he was younger to harness its power, not to help his son, and it was within his right to reclaim his property.

That didn't go down well with either of them. He and Laxus had showed the man no mercy but in the end, despite that they had the upper hand, Ivan had managed to escape, switching himself with a Thought Projection at some point. It had been strong enough to have a physical body which had fooled them completely.

They had helped the people still alive to get somewhere safe before returning to the guild. It was on that journey back that Laxus admitted to having more than just Lightning Magic at his disposal. The Lacrima wasn't any ordinary one. It was a Dragon Lacrima which gave the user Dragon Slayer Magic. In this case, it had made Laxus into an Artificial Lightning Dragon Slayer.

They had fought a few times when Laxus used that power and it was much stronger than his normal Magic. He rarely used it though so it was more like a trump card for when things got tough.

Plus, it was very destructive. It made everything Laxus had done before pale in comparison.

They reported back what Ivan had done to the Master. He deserved to know. He was Ivan's father after all.

That was the angriest he had even seen the man. The Master was just about ready to march out after Ivan when the guild managed to calm him down. There was no point going after a man who no one knew where he was.

The following year had been a lot more… cheerful, if not as crazy. Three new members closer to their own age joined.

The first had been Gray. He was a younger kid, about eleven, with spiky black hair and the guild mark one the right hand side of his chest, just a bit below his collarbone. Around his neck was a pendent shaped like a sword, a stone in the centre of it.

What was strange about him though was his incessant need to strip. He didn't understand why the strange boy did it but it was annoying as hell. Gray didn't even realise he was doing it half the time. How someone could unconsciously removed their clothes without their own knowledge he would never know.

Mostly, the kid ended up walking around the guild in nothing but shorts. When he had first arrived, he had spoken with the Master in private about something. He had seemed upset when he eventually came out but still joined the guild anyway.

He had a very creative style of Magic. Ice Make Magic. He had even demonstrated it to a few people when they had asked by creating small constructs of Ice. Molding Magic was one of the more common types of Magic in the world but it was also one of the most versatile and unique ones. No Mage's creations were ever the same, even if they looked similar. If two created a shield each for instance, there were was a high chance that the shield's properties would be different. One may be able to take more hits and be large but the other could be denser allowing heavier attacks to connect with it.

It was the ultimate style for those who were creative enough. With it, you could make anything you wanted from your element.

After Gray joined, it wasn't that long till someone else did.

Erza Scarlet. That was her name if he remembered correctly. Just a year younger than himself the Master had said. Her long scarlet hair had been tied back into a plaited ponytail whilst the eye patch she originally had over her right eye had been removed.

Unlike Gray who seemed to wear little clothes, she was using them as to shield herself. Over the top of her normal outfit was the upper body pieces of an armour set, a sword at her side at all times.

He wasn't one to talk though. He kept his Zanpaktou with him and never let it out of his sight.

When he first saw her with the sword, he had thought she had been a Shinigami herself with how much she held the sword. It turned out though that she was just a Sword Mage, not a Shinigami Mage.

She was quite strict with many of the Mages in the guild, and was slowly making a name for herself amongst the guild. Even if she wasn't strong yet, she would get stronger, and then her threats for people to behave would be even more serious.

She hadn't shown any other Magic yet. She probably hadn't chosen one yet since basic Sword Magic alone wasn't powerful unless you combined it would something. An element perhaps to enhance the attacks of the sword.

The last was a pink haired boy who always had a scale patterned scarf around his neck. Natsu Dragneel.

He was Gray's age and the two were like fire and ice to one another, literally most of the time. Natsu was a user of Fire Magic but it went even deeper than that. Unlike Laxus, he was a true Dragon Slayer, taught by a Dragon itself. Igneel the boy had said he was called. Igneel, the Fire Dragon.

Being able to eat fire was both strange and cool, but most of the appeal was lost after watching Laxus do something similar a year back with lightning. The kid had one major fault though. He tried to fight everyone.

His normal opponent was Gray who happily accepted the challenge but most of the other older Mages refused until he was old enough. Cana wasn't comfortable fighting in the brawls that took place at the moment so it left him very few people to challenge.

Of course he had gone to try and fight Erza but she had managed to terrify him somehow. He must have lost badly as he rarely challenged her after that.

Laxus was of a similar nature. He would mostly ignore Natsu but the few times he had accepted, he had beaten him with one hit. He didn't even need to use his Magic to do so

He sometimes wondered if he should accept one of Natsu's challenges. Natsu had tried a lot to get him to fight but he always would dodge and never bother retaliating. Since he hadn't responded, he hoped Natsu would give up but he wouldn't. He had ended up resorting to Bakudou to restrain him.

Shibireyubi was one of his favourites to use but the boy unfortunately had a decent amount of Magical Power. That was that Spell's one weakness. Everyone had that spark of Magic inside them yet few could harness it. That spark was constantly moving through the body so what the Spell did was to stop that spark moving, freezing up the body.

It was another thing entirely to stop a stream of those sparks like Mages had. For Natsu, it could hold him still for about ten seconds and then it broke. Give the boy a bit more time and the Spell would be even less effective. The larger the source of Magic, the less Shibireyubi would last.

He would have to use a stronger Kidou soon enough. At least Natsu acknowledged that he wasn't allowed to try more than once. He respected some boundaries at least.

Like the other kids, Natsu had potential but right now, he was weak.

For now though, it was calm. Natsu had already tried to attack him today and now he and Gray had finished their own fight after Erza's interference. The guild was at that point where it was nice and quiet before the next brawl broke out, and he was taking this opportunity to read the book he had on him.

It had arrived not long after he had joined Fairy Tail, addressed to him from someone called Mr Hat and Clogs.

No one except him knew what that name meant. It was the nickname he once gave to Kisuke, used to make fun of his appearance. He got harsher training that day but it had been worth it.

The book was one he had seen Kisuke sometimes look over. A Kidou Spell Book.

It was helping a great deal. He didn't know where Kisuke found it but he wasn't complaining. Kisuke had a habit of finding obscure things anyway.

What was important about it was that now he could learn stronger Kidou. The ones he already knew were few and learning a new Spell without help was hard. Unlike most Magic Spells, a Kidou Spell had to be done exactly. You needed to know the exact way the Magic moved and the exact incantation if you needed one. They were Spells made for precise purposes which made them extremely tough to master.

Right now, he was attempting to understand how to use Oukasen. It was a Hadou spell that was close to Shakkahou and Soukatsui so he hoped it would be easier to master than some of the others. It wasn't.

He was almost done with the latest section of the page when he leaned to the left, a bottle flying past where he had been.

He scowled. "Who throw that?"

One of the guild members looked at him sheepishly. "Sorry Ichigo."

It was interesting to see how some of them tried to avoid getting into fights with him, though they didn't want him in the brawls anyway. He was like Erza in that regard. He would take things too far to make them stop. The different was that he was also a lot more powerful than Erza so it made things worse in a way.

Speaking of Erza, the girl was currently telling off some of the members about the damage they had caused recently on their jobs. The damage done by the guild had been increasing over the years and Natsu and Gray already seemed like they would take that one step further as they got older.

The Magic Council had to be getting restless and angry with them. The Master said not to worry but how could you not? The guild's future was at stake if they weren't careful. The Council could disband a guild as easily as they could create one.

"And you…"

Ichigo noticed Erza had stopped talking and it was only then he noticed that she was right in front of him. Had he caused too much damage on a job recently? He didn't think he had.

She pointed at him. "Why can't everyone be like Ichigo. You don't see him bring in any damage reports?"

That wasn't completely true, but most of the damage he did was directed away from buildings and such. It was the landscape that changed for him.

As Erza walked away, he could see she had her hand resting on the sword, holding it reassuringly, but also unsurely. He had wondered a few times what her past had been like but she never gave any clues to it when people had tried to ask.

The problem was that he could see she wasn't comfortable with that sword yet. It wasn't a part of her. Instead of it being her and her sword, it was her and a sword. She was treating the sword warily like she was afraid to use it.

He sighed. He couldn't leave it like this. If she kept this up, she would get nowhere and would be afraid to fight when she needs to most.

"Hey Erza."

Erza barely recognised what was happening before she felt herself being held by the back of her armour and carried outside.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, struggling to break free from his grip.

"Training. You're joining me."

Erza didn't try to break free much after that. Ichigo was the only other sword user in the guild so no one else could actually train her with the blade.

"Take me too."

Ichigo looked towards the Natsu at the kid's demand before dodging the flying body of that same kid. It seemed he was trying to attack him twice today.

"Maybe another time."

Ichigo quickly escaped outside before Natsu could get back up. He was sure that the kid would try watching or something but he didn't care too much. He had a swordswoman to train.

Instead of placing Erza on the training ground outside the guild, he chucked her straight across the field. The girl bounced along the ground a few times before coming to rest, fury crossing her face.

"That's good. You'll need to hate me if you want to fight me. Else you won't fight with everything you've got."

Erza snarled before drawing her sword, readying it in front of herself.

Ichigo examined her guard from a distance. There were too many holes in it and she didn't even have a solid grip on her sword. She held it too tightly like she was afraid to use it. She could get away with it against a weaker Mage but not against someone like him. Still, it was impressive she had something halfway decent when all she had done was improvise and guess.

"Aren't you going to draw your sword?"

Ichigo snapped his book shut before making it disappear, Erza trying to hide her surprise at the action. "Why should I? That's the question you give to an equal or one weaker than yourself. You aren't strong enough to make me use my sword yet."

The insult didn't sit well with Erza. She charged in like a berserker, swinging her sword at him.

It wasn't too hard to dodge her swings. She wasn't in sync with her own blade. It wasn't yet an extension of her. It was still nothing more than a tool, and she wouldn't be able to touch him with a tool.

Each miss got her madder. She really wanted to manage to land a blow on him it seemed. Was it just anger or did she really want him to acknowledge her and use his sword. Still, she was too far off that happening.

Erza didn't even have time to react. The moment her next swing hit thin air, Ichigo rammed his arm down on the blade's flat surface and forced her arms down. His fist connected with her chest after that and sent her tumbling back.

She rubbed her stomach as she stood up. The strike had obviously hurt more than she wanted to show. It was about right to give her a tip now.

"You're holding your sword too strongly."

Erza looked at him in confusion. "But I need to grip the sword strongly right?"

The sword. Not her sword. She probably didn't even realise the meaning behind what she said but she would in time.

"You don't want to grip the sword too much though. Are your hands uncomfortable? Are they sore?"

Erza nodded.

"You see. You need your grip to be more relaxed. Right now, if I had been attacking, you wouldn't have had a chance to counter. You'd be stuck defending till I slipped past."

Erza relaxed her grip but he could see she had relaxed it too much. Guess another demonstration was required.

He waited patiently for Erza to try and strike him again, dodging the swings once more and waiting.

The opportunity he was waiting for appeared much quicker than he expected. With a strong swipe, he hit the blade's flat surface and sent the blade flying from her hands.

"How…"

"I said relax your grip. You obeyed it too much and forgot you need to hold your sword. Try again and find the balance."

He allowed her to go and pick up her blade before watching her go through a few grips. She found it eventually. It would need some fine tuning but that was up to her on her own. He couldn't show her how to do everything. It was how Kisuke taught him.

She looked ready to continue so it was only fair that he should stay out a bit longer to help her. He kept up his dodging pattern for the next ten minutes, letting the girl tire herself out whilst she tried and got the feel for the new grip.

"Hey Ichigo."

Ichigo turned towards Laxus, ignoring Erza for a second. Erza however was already striking at this point. There was no time to warn Ichigo of her attack, and he wouldn't be able to dodge it easily without getting hurt this late.

What happened next was a complete surprise to Erza and the two kids hiding in the bushes watching the fight. As the blade was about to connect, Ichigo's hand shot out and grabbed the blade, halting it in its path without even sustaining a single cut.

"Hey Laxus. Need something?"

Ichigo released his grip on Erza's sword before walking over to his friend.

Laxus shook his head. "Not much. I need your help with something. Mind leaving the pipsqueaks?"

Something was wrong, Ichigo was sure of it. Laxus looked worried and it took a lot to get him worried.

"Sure. Give me a minute to finish up."

He walked back over to Erza who was still frozen in shock. It must have been shocking to see her sword get caught so easily by him.

"Erza." She snapped to attention as he spoke. "Have you given any thought to what Magic you are going to learn?"

Erza shuffled around nervously. "I… don't know."

"What do you like then?"

Erza had to think hard before answering. The one she gave was short and simple. "Weapons."

It made sense. She either enjoyed the feel of them or they helped her feel more secure. It was something physical and could provide a constant presence without using up any Magic.

There was someone like Erza in the guild that liked weapons. They had quite a few for different occasions due to an interesting type of Magic. What was it called? Oh yeah. That was it.

"Have you ever thought about learning Requip Magic?"

Erza stared back at him. "Requip?"

"Here," said Ichigo. "Let me show you."

He held out his hand and showed Erza as he brought forth the book he had before.

"How…"

"Requip Magic is a strange kind of Magic." Ichigo caused the book to disappear once more. "Think of it as a storage space. You can fit items in there and call upon them whenever you need them."

"Of course though, there are limits. I don't have a large area to store things in because I don't train with the Magic. I just don't use it much except for a small backpack for essentials I don't want lying around. You can store things dependent on how much Magical Power you have and how much mastery you have over Requip."

Erza nodded in understanding. "Can you teach me?"

"No." Erza looked upset at his answer. "Nothing personal but I'm not the best person to teach that kind of Magic. I know enough to hold a few things but nothing more about the Magic's mechanics. Try asking the Master or Bisca. One of those two can help you."

Ichigo began to leave with Laxus. He was almost back at the guild's back entrance when Erza called out to him.

"Is it possible to use Requip with armour too?"

"At the same time?"

Erza nodded.

"No idea. Never heard of it being done before. People say it's impossible."

"I see."

Ichigo smiled at the girl. "Why don't you prove them all wrong then? Show the world your determination."

Erza brightened up. "Thank you Ichigo."

Laxus and Ichigo headed into the guild before leaving through the front doors, Ichigo following Laxus blindly. It seemed what Laxus wanted to discuss was for private ears, else he could have spoken inside the guild or out in the training area.

They didn't head to Laxus's place, instead going to Ichigo. It was essentially their headquarters for Team Fairy.

The house Ichigo had gotten was fairly small and was on the outskirts of the city by the forest and by a cliff. It made him harder to find if he wanted to be alone and he could train outside without worrying about collateral damage. It had taken a lot of saving to get the place built and he had basically been living with Laxus for the first year at the guild until it was built.

Being this far out made it perfect for privacy about whatever Laxus had to say. And judging by the fact they didn't go to Laxus's home meant that he didn't want the Master to know about what he wanted to say.

They entered the house without a word and heading to the living area. The house didn't have much in it, mostly having spare rooms to either store stuff or to house guests if he had them. The rest of the space was for cooking and relaxing if there were guests there.

"When did you get a little apprentice?" Laxus asked as he made himself comfortable with a cushion on the floor.

"Don't," said Ichigo. "There is no way I'm taking an apprentice. For one, I'm thirteen. Second, she's a year younger than me. And Third, I'm not the kind of teacher your grandfather would approve of."

"So your methods would be a bit… unorthodox. So what?"

"I doubt the Master would appreciate me beating Erza up to an inch of her life and still demand that she gets back up in that state."

Laxus paused. "You'd really go that far?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes, you need to be beaten into the ground to be able to stand up stronger again."

"I see." Ichigo passed Laxus a drink. "So what were you doing then?"

"Ensuring she stays alive."

"That bad?"

Ichigo shook his head. "No, but it'll better if we get rid of those faults now before she grows accustom to them. She'll be stronger because of it in the long run."

"And giving her suggestions for Magic?"

"She's a Fairy Tail Mage who didn't know what she wanted to do with Magic." Ichigo let out a laugh. "I gave her a push to find the Magic she would suit, along with the motivation to surpass it. Just because no one ever managed to do what she wants to do, doesn't mean it isn't possible."

Laxus raised his glass to Ichigo's. "Here's to her succeeding then, and to a strong future Fairy Tail Mage."

The two drank their drinks in silence, Ichigo waiting for Laxus to get to the heart of the matter.

"So then. What's this all about?"

Laxus sighed. "That obvious?"

"I know you Laxus. Something's up, and you don't want the Master to know."

"Here." Laxus threw a bunch of papers onto the table in front of them.

Ichigo bend down and picked up one of the sheets of paper. "Let's have a look then."

It didn't seem that important. Each one was just the normal budgets of Fairy Tail.

"Did you steal this from the Master's office?"

"That's not important." So it was a yes then. "What matters is the information on it. Compare that sheet with this one."

Ichigo accepted the sheet Laxus was holding out to him and examined the two closely. There weren't many differences. Similar expenditure on alcohol, funds the guild got from missions that month, money used for helping out the younger members…

Wait. Near the bottom of the list. What was it? Something about damages? Ichigo scrunched his brow as he focused on the details. According to this, there had been a significant increase in the costs the guild had been spending on damages done during missions. The guild wasn't suffering financially it seemed as they were getting in more money from jobs but still, the damage they did was increasing.

He picked up another and another and another. They all showed the trend. Damage costs were increasing as time went by. It rang a bell with something he had heard. Something about someone saying Fairy Tail had been becoming more destructive lately. He had ignored it at the time as a mere rumour but looking at this, that person had been right.

"That's not the worst of it."

Ichigo looked up at Laxus who had picked up the last few bits of paper.

"Read these."

Ichigo complied, scanning through the papers. Unlike before, these ones were more formal. They were letters to the Master.

"Should we be reading these?"

"Probably not," Laxus admitted. "But we need to. Just read them."

The letters seemed to be normal. They weren't out of the ordinary from what he could see. They simply spoke to the Master about asking him to tone down on the destruction Fairy Tail was causing.

There were a few of these letters though, each about a different complaint Fairy Tail had because of what they had done. And there was something in them. An underlying tone. A warning.

"They're threatening to shut down Fairy Tail?"

Laxus nodded. "Yeah. Not just yet but the warning is there. We're causing too much damage. And as time goes by, the guild will become stronger. Erza, Natsu, Gray, they all have potential. When that potential is unleashed, they will be powerful. How much damage would someone like Natsu do compared to the Mages at the moment in the guild?"

Ichigo realised where Laxus was going with this. "Too much."

"Exactly. And do you want to know the worst thing? It's that Gramps won't even do anything about it."

"He won't…" Ichigo couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did the Master not understand what would happen? If they kept up this level of destruction, they weren't going to continue as a guild. The Council would shut them down to end the problem and the guild would be scattered and-

"Fairy Tail will be gone," finished Laxus. The blonde haired teen must have come to the same conclusion that he had just.

"Why? Why won't the Master act?"

"You know, I asked him that same question. You want to know what he said?"

Ichigo nodded.

"He basically told me that if we want to watch Magic grow, we can't keep one eye over our shoulder at the Council. If they force us to listen to their ways, Mages will never be able to realise their full potential or experience the bonds Magic creates between us all."

Ichigo felt himself shaking with anger. "Does that idiot not realise that there's no point to it if we don't get to stay in Fairy Tail?"

"I don't think the Master believes that will happen. He's way too optimistic."

"What are we going to do? You won't ever be the Guild Master if Fairy Tail ends now."

"I don't know Ichigo. I just don't know."

Ichigo jumped out of his seat. "There's got to be something we can do. Perhaps if we-"

He was cut off by the sound of knocking.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Laxus asked.

"No. Very few people even know I live out this far."

"I see." Laxus quickly shoved the papers away. They both knew that the Master was one of the few people who knew where Ichigo lived and it won't be good if he found them with these papers.

Ichigo slowly approached the door, gripping his sword ready in case of any sign of danger. He opened the door in one swift movement and came face to face with…

An amphibian?

The humanoid amphibian stared at him, not even twitching. Then, it slowly reached into a pocket from the outfit it was wearing and handed him a letter.

"Fiore has need of your services."

Ichigo stared at the amphibian blankly.

"The Council will wait one week for you answer. If you accept, they will meet with you personally in Era."

The amphibian tilted its hat at him before walking off into the forest, silence following in its wake.

Laxus looked at where the amphibian had disappeared to before looking towards the letter Ichigo was holding. "That was a messenger from the Magic Council."

"They employ frogs?"

"Strange isn't it."

"Yeah."

The letter in his hand was too shocking to comprehend. Why of all people was he getting a letter from the Council?

The Magic Council governed all of the Magical organisations in Fiore. They were the highest power, surpassing every guild organisation around. The guilds had to answer to them, and to get a summons by the Council was rare.

That was if you considered the summoning to be to do with a court case or for an investigation. The words the messenger had said implied that they were actually sending him a request for a mission.

Why him? There must have been stronger Mages available, and he wasn't always good at being subtle. Half the time, the guild seemed to know he was arriving at the guild before he even reached the door. Any stealth jobs would be completely out of the question and there were plenty of Mages who were more destructive than he was.

Laxus seemed to have been having similar thoughts. Unlike himself though, Laxus seemed to have come to a conclusion.

"Open the letter."

Ichigo needed no more prompting than that. A quick rip and the letter was open and the two Mages were reading the contents:

If you are reading this, then I assume you have decided to consider our offer. We here of the Magic Council have found ourselves in need of a unique individual to deal with a growing problem, and we have decided you have the requirements needed to fit the job.

So far, so good. Nothing to worry about in the start of the letter.

The Dark Guild, Poison Viper, has acquired an extremely dangerous and deadly tool. In case of interception of this letter, you must understand that we can't go into details of this item here. We cannot share details about the tool either unless you have accepted the job.

A dangerous tool? There was a lot of secrecy around it if they didn't want to mention even its name.

If left in the hands of Poison Viper, the consequences could be catastrophic. We require you to collect the tool from the Dark Guild and deliver it back to Era.

Back to Era? So it had been stolen. What kind of item could it have been if it had been stored in Era itself?

Of course, we understand that you may be busy with other tasks. We would reward you gladly, along with paying for all damages caused around the time of the incident.

Ichigo looked at Laxus. They both were thinking the same thing.

If you accept, please report to Era before the week is up. Time is not in our favour and we will need to find a replacement if you are unavailable.

The Magic Council.

"Is that saying what I thought it was saying?"

Laxus nodded. "The Magic Council aren't just Mages. They're politicians too. And politicians always choose their words carefully. Always."

"They're willing to ignore the damage Fairy Tail has done recently if I take this mission."

"There's more." Laxus pointed at the letter. "I thought so when they sent you it and I was right. They say 'Around the incident'. Not just before, but after too. It's a subtle way they've done of promising the same thing for future missions."

"This… This is great." Ichigo couldn't believe it. This was their solution. Their way to keep Fairy Tail safe from being shut down.

"Ichigo." Laxus brought the orange haired boy out of his happy thoughts. "It may not be that simple. This job… the Council sent it to you. Why? They choose now to send it. They choose you and you're only thirteen. Why?"

"I think they have been waiting for this for a while Ichigo. They knew where you lived and know you are a member of Fairy Tail. They knew exactly what to offer you to ensure your assistance. But with the Magic Council, not everything is as simple as it seems."

Laxus pointed down at the letter again. "Poison Viper isn't that strong of a guild individually. Yet here, they speak of them as a growing threat. I doubt it's their members so what is this tool they got? Why is it so dangerous?"

Ichigo shook his head at his older friend's worries. "Don't worry Laxus. I'll be fine. Besides, this is the chance the guild will need to continue."

Laxus sighed. "No stopping you is there?"

"None."

"I see." Laxus patted the younger kid on the shoulder. "Be careful then. No point trying to stop you so I may as well say this. Be careful Ichigo. I don't think it will be as easy as our usual missions."

"I'll be careful Laxus. Don't worry. I'm a Shinigami."

Laxus accepted his friend's words but he couldn't help but feel worried. They wanted Ichigo so he would have to go alone. But what worried him most was still why they wanted him specifically. And he feared what would they expect him to do.

Protector Of The Fairies

There you have Chapter 5. We have two more chapters in this Arc here before the next timeskip so enjoy it while it is here.

So we got to see how Ichigo interacts a bit with some of the other new members. Erza kind of sees him as a teacher in a way and respects his strength. And he has now given her the determination to take Requip further than anyone else.

Natsu meanwhile may be an idiot and he may challenge a lot of people but he still respects people's wishes to extents. He can't not challenge Ichigo but he limits himself as to not press his luck too much. I think myself that he just won't want another Erza on his case or doesn't want to be completely obliterated like when against Laxus.

More with the Council and this secret job next chapter. I hope you liked this one and you will see signs in this arc that may be important in the future. I will keep them a surprise for now for you lot though.

Don't forget to tell me what you think with a review on the way out. You guys have been great with reviews so far and it really wants me to keep up with this story. I have so many ideas ready and they should be good too.

Anyway, till the next time. I've been Takei. Thanks for reading.