Waking up was always a difficult thing, a problem that most people had to face regularly. Some people were good at it, Kazumi was not. At least, she did not consider herself to be. She always had to struggle against her own body, locked in a game of will power between getting up and starting the day, or just ignoring her blaring alarms. The winner of that match was usually determined by how heavy Kazumi’s body felt in any given moment, and due to the wonderful bath she received last night at Bella’s place, she felt like she could stay in bed forever.

It wasn’t until Kira hopped onto the bed that Kazu truly awoke. The flame fueled fox climbed up onto The crystal mage’s back, spinning around a few times before laying herself down. This made things suddenly uncomfortable for a number of reasons. First of all, Kira was about 20 pounds of weight that decided to apply itself to Kazumi’s back without permission. Secondly, the Vulpix’s naturally hot body made things very warm very fast, and Kazumi was not up for dealing with that in this summer heat. After all, her fan was still broken and it would be a bit before she could get a replacement.

Slowly, Kazumi arched her back, signaling Kira to get the heck off without being too sudden or jarring. Thankfully, Kira got the message and left, jumping off of the bed. Kazu sighed. It was apparent now that she would no longer be able to enjoy blissful sleep for the day as Kira had already woken her up past the point of no return. Oh well, it had to be done eventually. Kazu sat up, yawning, and swung her legs over the bed, getting up and heading to the bathroom for a morning shower.

When she got out, Kira was sitting next to her food bowl with an expectant look in her eyes. Kazumi chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Okay, okay, give me a second to get dressed and I’ll fed you. The fox squealed happily and continued to wait as Kazumi threw on a random navy blue tank top and a random pair of jeans from her wardrobe. “Alright, breakfast time.” While a breakfast sandwich was heating up for herself, Kazumi found some pet food and poured some in her bowl. The two ate together like a family would, and Kazumi even struck a conversation. “Hey Kira, you want to go on another quest together?” Kazumi took Kira’s new happy swueel as a yes, as well as the fox’s nods. “Great! After breakfast we can head over to the Fairy Tail guild hall and find someone to help out. Sound good?” Kira nodded and went back to her food, now eating faster. Kazumi thought this was adorable and did the same. When the two were done, the crystal made crouched down in front of the fire fox, holding out her hand with her palm up. “Okay, ready to go?” Kira returned the low five with a happy face and the duo left the apartment complex to head to the guild hall.

Kazu and Kira strolled along the streets of Magnolia on their way to the FT guild building, just as Kazumi had promised. She was hoping that she would find an interesting mission to take together. Preferably, she would like something with action, so as to practice some combos with Kira, but anything was fine, really. At the very least, judging by her happy and bouncing steps, Kira seemed very happy just to be there, the novelty of being adopted not quite rubbing off yet.  If being together like this was enough for Kira, then that was also enough for Kazumi.

When the two walked through the large doorway, Kazumi was surprised to suddenly find out that she had gotten a message. Last time something like this happened, it was the owner of the drug store, Khalash, asking her to get a refund for a broken item he had bought. The time before that, it was still Khalash, and he wanted her to watch the store for him. She remembered that one being particularly intimidating. Due to past history, Kazumi had a hunch that this was probably Khalash again, which she did not really have a problem with. She just hopes his job would be more interesting this time. Of course, maybe this wasn’t even from him? There waS only one way to find out.

Kazumi opened the message and lo and behold, it was from Khalash after all! This time he was looking for someone to test out a rare weapon he had found. Now, this was more like it. Kazumi thought back to the last time she tested equipment out with him, a shield if she could recall correctly, and she remembered it being pretty fun. “Alright Kira, it looks like we are going to the Mag Magic shop.”

Kazumi headed out, knowing exactly where she was going. She had been to this place so many times, she didn’t have to consult her map at all anymore. She even knew shortcuts. Kira tagged along close behind, and the crystal maker decided to talk Kira through the route. She figured that if Kira also became familiar with the layout of Magnolia, it would be more difficult to lose each other. That was the last thing that Kazumi wanted. She needed a preventive measure for a scenario like that, so she figured that something like this would be a pretty good idea.

Soon enough They found themselves in front of the magic shop that Khalash owned. She had not been here since last week, but with her frequent visits, perhaps that was for the best. Still, since it had, in fact, been an exact week, Kazumi once again was summoned here on they day that the store was closed. She couldn’t help but be confused by that. She knocked on the door, looking for Khalash’s attention. “Hello? Khalash are you there? It’s Kazumi.” She called. Not too long after, the door opened and Khalah’s head poked through. “Ah, thanks for coming! Come in, come in.”

“Oh, I see you have a companion with you now.” This was the first thing Khalash commented on when Kazumi and Kira walked into the store. “Yeah, I do. This is Kira, my new Vulpix partner.” The old man walked up to the happy fox and scratched behind her ear a little bit. “How cute, I hope she serves you well.”
“Thanks.” Kazumi smiled at Kira before facing Khalash once more. “So what’s the mission today? Need me to look after the store today?” The man responded with a nod of his head, which almost surprised Kazu. For once she wasn’t required to sit at the register all day bored and alone. Not that she would be alone this time “No, not exactly. As my request stated, I need help testing out a rare sword I found.” Oh right, the letter. Kazumi had already forgotten. The old man continued. “I’d test it out myself, but i have matters here to attend to. Basically, I just want you to go out and find a sparring partner, and see if this product can last. I remember you wielding a sword, so i thought this would be a perfect task for you.” He handed her a sheathed sword, and she traded to him her pirate sword for the day, partially as collateral. “Alright leave it to me!” Kazumi Saluted as she made her way to the exit. “Come on Kira, let’s go.”

The clear solution here was to go to the Fairy Tail guild hall once more. With a guild filled with mages, surely there was someone there that would be down for a spar. She took all her shortcuts back, and upon reentering the building, she started asking around for a sparring buddy. Unfortunately, it seemed like it wasn’t meant to be, at least not today. Everyone she asked was either about to go on a mission, just came back from a mission or training, or they were taking the day off and wasn’t interested. Talk about bad timing. Kazumi would just have to ask outside the guild. However, this proved to be even more difficult. Most of the people who would be interested in a spar belong to Fairy Tail, and the people who weren't had actual, stable  jobs. It was starting to seem like it was impossible. Kazumi could feel her hope fade with every rejection she got from everyone she asked.

It was then that he appeared, a small boy who had to be in elementary school, sixth grade tops. “Hey lady, I heard you’re looking for someone to fight.” He brandished his own sword, a common one that could be found at any store, generally marketed toward beginners. Even so, Kazumi could not help but be surprised at such a young child wielding it, and judging by Kira’s cocked head, she was confused too. Ignoring the wide eyed looks of shock, the small boy continued with his confident declaration. “My name is Tyler and you can fight me.”

Kazumi had absolutely not been expecting something like this, but here this kid stood, wielding a sword and challenging her to a fight. “I don’t know, kid….” He pointed his sword at her. “It’s not Kid! It’s Tyler!” Kazumi shook her head. She didn’t want to spar with a child, what if he got injured? Kazumi was not willing to be responsible for that. “Look, Tyler. I don’t think this is a good idea. What if you got hurt?” Kazumi didn’t even have to finish her sentence before the boy let out a long groan. “Everyone always says that! I’m really strong, you know. I’ve been training!” His loud whines got him confused looks from passersby, but none of them were willing to do anything. “Besides, it’s not like you’re gonna find anyone else. I saw you looking. Everyone said no.” The crystal mage sighed. He was right, she was out of options now. “Fine, but i warned you if you get hurt.”
“I won’t, I won’t, pull out your sword!”

Kazumi led Tyler and Kira to the park where the spar would begin. Kira clearly wanted to join, but a two against one fight against a kid when Kazu only had to test out a sword was definitely considered overkill. She unsheathed this new sword for the first time, looking at it with awe. It was beautiful, almost luminescent. She supposed that this was what a rare sword was like. “Alright, let’s begin.” Kazumi started with a slice toward Tyler, and was amazed with the level of technique he used to block it. Kira sat at the sidelines, cheering with every matched blow. “Come on, lady! Stop holding back!” Shaking her head with a chuckle, she began to swing faster, but Tyler could hit every single strike with his own sword. This continued until he fell over, the impact of the swords colliding overpowering his own stamina. At first Kazumi was worried she had hurt him, but then he started laughing. “Ha ha, aw man! I lost! You’re too strong lady!” Kazu offered her hand, responding as she helped him up. “Me? I couldn’t get a single hit in! You’re pretty good! Sorry I doubted you.”
“Heh heh, I’m really strong, right?” Tyler mused about himself with a cocky rub of his nose. “Fight me again sometime! I’m gonna win next time fore sure!” And with that he ran off, a big, contagious smile on his face.

Kazumi looked down at the sword, noting that while there were a few scratches, it was nothing that couldn’t be polished. Kazu and Kira returned to the magic shop, letting themselves in despite the closed sign. “You guys are back! How’d it go?” Khalash asked. The crystal swordsman replied with her report, one that Khalash seemed to be content with. “Alright, that’s good. Wait here, i’ll go give you your reward.” He went to the back and came out with Kazumi’s original sword and a bag of jewels. “Thanks for all of your help.” Kazu accepted his jewels and gratitude and reequipped he pirate sword. “Okay Kira, Let’s go do something else.” Dinner seemed like a good idea.

-exit-