When Haru went to Magnolia’s Rune Knight headquarters the previous afternoon to drop off the peeping Tom he and Akira had apprehended, he was stopped by a Captain Devon on his way out. “Good job Apprentice! I could use your capable hands tomorrow. Meet me at the South Gate Park at six in the morning. Bring your patrol partner and don’t be late,” the masked Captain commanded, before leaving without another word. The sudden appearance of and a direct request from a Captain got Haru very excited. “Yes sir!” he said sternly as the officer walked away.

On his way out, he informed Akira of their mysterious assignment the next morning and hyped her up by assuming it was going to be a high-profile crime-fighting mission. The poor soul had no clue what the Captain had in mind for the two.

Therefore, the next day morning, Haru woke up promptly before sunrise, got ready and knocked on Akira’s door. He hoped she was ready to leave, because otherwise, they were definitely going to be late. When his partner too was ready to go, the two would rush to the south gate park to meet the Captain.

Among the many Rune Knights, it was not difficult to spot the one they were looking for. After all, he was the only one who never removed his mask. “Akimoto and Shimada! Reporting, sir,” Haru said very formally, standing in attention in front of the Captain. “At ease, soldiers. We have an important mission today,” the Captain said, increasing the duo’s excitement further.

259/2000

It didn't take a genius to figure out what Tsuru was up to, the evening they dropped that peeping Tom off to the authorities. The moment he paused to speak to a fellow Rune Knight officer, it was safe to assume he was going to return to some job for them to do, at least this seemed more official and in direct line of duty as a Rune Knight than their usual odd jobs, especially the kind that revolved around filling in for others.

Akira did not reflect the wide grin plastered on her partner's face as he returned to her and explained what was required. He made it sound grand like they were going to be saving the world or something. Akira was skeptical, she looked over her partner's shoulder at the man he'd spoken to and his little platoon, they didn't look like they were up to something too tremendous, she narrowed her eyes and shrugged, hoping against hope that the delivery of an actual culprit may have earned them some real work...

On their way back, she'd been quiet, pensive mostly, upon reaching, Akira stumbled into bed, exhausted and she slipped into slumber surprisingly quickly that night, using so much magic in just a day had drained her energy, perhaps that was a good way to cure her insomnia. An incessant knocking woke her up and caused a headache to bloom behind her forehead. 'Yeah yeah... I'll be there.' she said, tempted to pull a pillow over her head and keep sleeping. But Tsuru had made promises and he'd probably not go away if she didn't show up.

A quick shower later, she donned on her clothes and joined Tsuru, letting the older guy guide her back to the park... and even introduce their arrival to that captain as she yawned, sleepy and bored already, she tried to straighten up as the captain approached them, pessimistically eying him as he was about to introduce the mission, but sowing a small seed of hope that it'd be something real

'Your job today is to find more eager mages like yourself, to help fortify the number of the Rune Knights. There are rumors that certain dark entities, with intentions that are not noble, are going to wage a war on the innocent... We are going to need all the help we can get.' he warned, Akira winced a little at the word dark and then shrugged. 'Right! Best of luck you two, return to me by nightfall, I hope you'll have a nice long list to present to me!' he exclaimed before tipping his cap and marching on.

Akira sighed and glared at Tsuru. 'So much for a real job.' she muttered, complaining about their task, almost out of habit. 'Anyways, patrolling the city is what I'd have done even without this stupid request anyways... What do you think about these rumors?' the girl asked as she stretched her limbs, they were still stiff from the small encounter yesterday. Before he could answer, she realized that it wasn't likely for anyone, especially in this town, to be listening to her if she tried to get them to join Rune Knights. This was Fairytail's zone, the girl had a bit of a bad reputation here and beyond all that she just wasn't too charming or social, to begin with. 'And by the way, I guess you can go around and selling the idea of joining the Rune Knights, I'll just spot the worthy candidates.' she finished, planning out the mission for the duo, she didn't think he'd have any problem with that, he was sharp enough to understand why too. As they began their hunt, she awaited his answer to her question.

622/2000

Frankly, even Haru was disappointed this time around; but he didn’t show it. And he sure didn’t show his usual hyper excitement towards a given mission. It’s not that he didn’t want to help the Captain with recruitment. The disappointment was simply because his expectations were drastically different from what he was offered. Nevertheless, it wasn’t like the two could deny a request from a higher official. So, Haru nodded, trying hard to keep the smile on his face until the Captain was out of the vicinity. Once he was gone, Haru’s shoulders slumped and he sighed heavily. To make things worse, Akira made her usual complaint. He looked up at her with his puppy-dog eyes, almost moist, like he was about to cry. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know it would be like this,” he said.

Haru expected Akira to complain a lot more, and was very surprised when she didn’t. Instead, she seemed more interested in the rumours the Captain talked about, which even Haru didn’t think about. “Hmm… If the headquarters have received intel, then it must be true. But I wouldn’t be surprised if this Captain is just a little paranoid,” he said, still disappointed and maybe a little salty that he didn’t get a good mission.

His partner laid out the plan for the day. He did not like it much, but he did not have an alternative either. The boy knew if he let his partner do the talking, there won’t be a single recruit by the end of the day. He may not like the mission, but he sure did not want to fail it miserably. “Alright,” he said with a heavy sigh as the duo began their patrol. At least, he didn’t have to stare at every person walking around the street; that was Akira’s job. He simply had to find a way to converse with the ‘chosen’ individual and then somehow sneak the ‘come join RK’ topic in and then somehow stop them from dismissing him and then somehow convince them to join. A very easy task.

605/2000

She waved away his apology, he dragged them into a lot of boring jobs, but she knew that wasn't his intent if this was one of those rare occasions he felt like crap about it, Akira wasn't mean enough to make it worse reasonlessly. She wasn't kind enough to try to alleviate his suffering either, if he wallowed in it, maybe he'd learn to discern between quests a little better. Her mind was still wound around the rumors, her partner didn't think they needed to worry themselves about it, but Aki had a nasty feeling welling up inside her, she didn't share it just yet though, in fear of being branded as someone paranoid too. It probably was etched into her expression though, the gentle crease between her eyebrows, deepened and stayed there.

'Hmm.' she responded, to him thoughtfully as she rolled her shoulders to attempt getting rid of this gnawing feeling, and failed. The girl decided to do her job instead, hoping it'd serve as a distraction. She scanned the park around them, it was a pretty good place to start. The air was cooler and fresher than in the town, plus, apart from relaxing a lot of people exercised here.

A disciplined jogger could make a good candidate, Rune Knight jobs, even the mundane kind required stamina. So she kept her eyes peeled for one and noticed a girl with a high pony, huffing her way along the perimeter. 'Think you could rope her in?' Aki asked, jerking her chin towards the runner because pointing would garner too much attention. 'I'll wait here... On this park bench, let me know how it goes.' she said, serenely and then shoved her hands into her pocket, and perched herself on the edge of the bench, her legs shaking in anticipation, overall there was something quite jittery about her.

930/1000

Haru dragged on with no real purpose until Akira spotted a potential candidate, which she did much faster than he anticipated. The scarlet-haired Rune Knight looked up to see the girl Akira was referring to. He agreed on her assessment; the girl seemed to be young and in good shape. He wondered if she had any magic in her, but that was not an essential criteria. “Alright then! Let me try my luck,” he said, and walked up to the jogging beauty. The young girl stopped and smiled at him as he approached her. “Hello! Can I talk to you for a minute?” Haru asked, bowing slightly. The boy didn’t know what crime he had done, but the girl blushed heavily and nodded very awkwardly. “Er…” he started, wondering how to get to the topic. “I already have a boyfriend. I’m so sorry,” the girl blurted out. Haru’s expression changed from confused to shocked, and he put both his hands forward and shook them violently along with his head. “No! It’s not what you think. I wasn’t here to ask- I mean, you are a beautiful girl. But, I was just going to ask if you will be willing to join the Rune Knights,” he spoke so fast, the girl couldn’t understand half of it. But at least, she realized he wasn’t trying to ask her on a date. “Oh! Umm… Sorry,” she said, scratching her head. She then relaxed and registered the original reason why Haru was there. “Er… I would love to. But I don’t know if I’ll be of any use. You know? As a girl… I feel like I’ll be the lose link,” she said, her insecurities very obvious in her tone.

Haru smiled and turned towards Akira. He beckoned her to where they were and then spoke to the girl while pointing at his partner. “See that girl there? She is my patrol partner. One of the best fighters I have seen so far. And did you know our mentor is a powerful mage and a lady? Gender has nothing to do with what you can or cannot do. If you put your mind to it, you CAN do it,” Haru said, putting a big emphasis on the ‘can’. The girl looked at Akira and then at Haru with wide eyes. “Come to the camp. See how many women we have and what they can do, and then you decide,” he said, giving her the sign-up form. “All you have to do is give yourself a chance.” The girl nodded and wrote her name down on the list. “I’ll definitely be there. Thank you!” she said, bowing deeply to the duo. “Looking forward to seeing you there,” Haru said, and watched as the girl jogged on. “I’m actually glad we had to do this,” he said, keeping his eyes on the receding figure.

1083/1000

She narrowed her eyes, to help her focus on the duo in the distance. Akira watched the encounter casually, she couldn't hear anything but tried to decipher the conversation by their actions and a botched up attempt at lip reading, for fun she tried putting her own words into the picture, it created some hilarious conversations, she laughed inwardly. When the Akimoto violently denied something, almost his whole body shaking, she was curious to find out what happened but too lazy to approach them, maybe she'd ask him when he returned.

The conversation between the two went on, and momentarily she tore her eyes away to scan for other potential candidates, she heard the soft music behind her, it begged for her attention. Turning, she found an odd sight of a man in tight clothes, stretching and then... starting a dance routine? He was lean, sinewy muscles and everything, flexible too... she sized him up, didn't seem to have the fighter instinct, but among Tsuru and her neither of them did either and here they were in Rune Knights. His flexibility and fitness could be used in battle if trained appropriately, there was no harm trying, they just had to get names, after all. She put him on his watch-list and turned towards her partner again wondering if he'd had any luck.

She caught Tsuru's eye just in time for him beckoning her. That was not part of the plan, nonetheless, it would throw shade on their work if she didn't at least pretend to oblige, so she got up and slowly started sauntering towards them, hoping the conversation wouldn't last till she got to them. Lucky for her it didn't, she continued walking towards the healer meeting him halfway. 'Success?' she asked before cocking her head towards the dancing man... 'Got another one you could try.' she said with a playful half-smirk, it didn't last very long as the eerie feeling of doom clawed at her again. Maybe she'd have to talk about it after all... But not just yet.

1271/2000

Once the jogging girl was out of the vicinity, Haru turned towards Akira and walked up to her. When she asked if it was a success, he gave his signature toothy-grin and the thumbs-up in response. “Of course! And you had a lot more part to play in that than you realized,” he said, remembering how the girl looked at Akira and then found the courage to sign up.

Their next target was a… dancer? No matter! Haru wasn’t one to judge with appearances alone. He nodded to Akira and approached the dancing man. “Nice moves there, my friend,” he said, smiling at the man practicing his art so early in the morning. “Thank you! I’m glad you think so. I have an important audition today and I’m desperate to get this one,” he said, continuing with his practice. “Oh! That’s good to hear,” Haru said. He wondered how he was going to ask a man so involved in his passion to give it up and come join the ranks. But, he had to try anyway. “Listen… Have you ever thought about joining the Rune Knights? Helping the commoners,” he asked. The dancing man stopped abruptly and started laughing, holding his stomach. Haru couldn’t understand what was so funny. Before he could ask, he got the answer. “Rune Knights? That bunch of pathetic losers are useless around here. Do you know where you are? You are in Magnolia. Fairy Tail is the place to be. If at all I don’t make it in theatre, I would aim to join that guild, but never that silly wannabe police organization,” he said, sitting on the ground and continuing his laughter.

Even the patient Haru was a little annoyed with this response. Here he was, trying his best every day to protect the people and half the population was the mocking the organization he was in. He didn’t need the people to worship the Rune Knights, but a little respect was definitely due. “Do you really think those guys at the guild will lift a finger if you got robbed right now? All they do is for money. You don’t pay them money, they won’t do anything for you. But, we Rune Knights, risk our lives every day without expecting much in return. We patrol the streets day and night to keep your sorry asses safe and this is how you treat us?” Haru bellowed. He knew this was a lost case. There was no way this man would join the Rune Knights. In fact, he did not want this man to join the Rune Knights. Haru returned to Akira and shook his head. “That guy thinks we are a bunch of losers. No point talking to him,” he said, walking past her.

1543/2000

This time Akira decided to stay within earshot. If Tsuru was being honest and she truly did have a part to play in recruiting the first, it wouldn't hurt to know how exactly he was using her, maybe it'd give her ego a boost, maybe she'd find another reason to get mad at Tsuru... She wondered what he could possibly have said, did he use her as a threat, did he lie and paint her magic to be something he wasn't, she shrugged and waited for Tsuru to strike a conversation with the dancer, it'd also aid her in learning more about him, about the way he interacted, was she hoping to learn a thing or two?

The conversation started with a compliment, that was pretty typical of Tsuru, he seemed good at buttering people up, he could have meant it too, the dancer wasn't half bad. It already irked her that the unwary citizens were busy worrying about auditions and such when she could sense danger looming. She bit her lip and attempted to curb her growing annoyance for the moment. The healer struck the conversation about Rune Knights rather abruptly, and the target's demeanor changed entirely. Akira watched his respect wither as he regarded her partner with the usual mocking stare and went on to berate the Rune Knights. Akira couldn't have cared less, except this guy had no chance with FairyTail anyways... Tsuru's idealistic response was on point though, it had more passion than usual, his feelings had torn through his usual polite manners today, maybe that's what stirred Akira to act, or that Magnolia was really getting on her nerves.

As Tsuru walked back to her defeated, she placed a hand on his shoulder. 'Hang on.' she said, before stomping to the dancer. The girl didn't want to use her magic, the darkness would be too much for the crowd to handle. She dashed towards him, relinquishing her dagger from its spot in the process and sliced at his neck, pulling back enough to leave a white line of a harmless scratch, she then held the point to his neck. 'See any Farty Tail members around?' she said, narrowing her eyes, and hissing at him. 'I don't... Now, what if I'd got you, who'd have gone for that precious audition?' Her tone was calm, she wasn't a killer, to anyone smart enough it was apparent, that she wouldn't do any harm.

The dancer, of course, was probably shitting his pants so he decided it was a good idea to attempt punching her, which she dodged with ease. 'I'm a Rune Knight by the way, which is why I could easily dodge your pathetic punch and you could do jack squat, we're trained and you are not, now I could leave the Knights, kill you and probably join the Farty Tails, I doubt they'd even care that I took your pathetic life...' she said softly into his ear, as though genuinely contemplating, these words were only for him, not for the people around, his eyes widened though and she decided to put him out of his misery.

'But, I can't, because that guy you just berated is a Rune Knight too, my partner at that and he wouldn't let me, so lucky you huh?' she said backing away in fear that his squirming would get him injured by her knife and she'd have to take the blame, which would be a rather long drag. 'So think about this carefully... You want to put that body to use and at least learn to defend yourself if nothing else? Apologize to Tsuru and sign up with him.' she said turning and walking away like nothing had happened. The crowd that had gathered, stared her down. 'That goes for all of you watching too, had you been trained, you could have saved a life today...' she finished, eyeing Tsuru to gauge his reaction.

1924/2000

Haru wasn’t sure what Akira was thinking when she stopped him and walked towards the dancer. From what he knew of her, that look on her face didn’t mean anything good. He turned around to see what she was about to do, but before he could speak up, the girl was already at the dancer’s throat. Haru’s eyes widened. A million thoughts went through his head. But the first thing that he could think of was how much Akira had changed. He remembered how she felt about the Rune Knights when they met their mentor for orientation. She thought the organization was full of crap too. But looking at her now defending them, Haru couldn’t control his happiness. Nevertheless, at the same time, she was attacking a citizen to prove that point, which was definitely not going to sit well with the bystanders.

He wanted to scream at his partner for doing something so rash. What if she accidentally slit his throat?! His brain yelled, the words ringing within him. But thankfully, no such thing happened. The dancer fell to the ground, his eyes wide and body paralyzed in shock. The crowd around them started murmuring, and Haru was worried if they had given them a reason to not trust the Rune Knights. He wanted to apologize for her actions, but he felt that would be a betrayal not only to his partner, but also to his ideals. While her method might be harsh and ruthless, the points she made were all correct and something Haru stood by. So, he decided to keep shut.

Haru was touched when she said he would protect the dancer. He didn’t think she took his protective instincts seriously, consider how she mocked him for it all the time. But he now knows she values that quality of him, which was a great thing to know. He watched as she let go of the dancer and then address the crowd around them. And once she was done, he took a deep breath and added further to her comments. “My partner may seem a little harsh to you. But you all should know that is the truth. There are always evil forces, trying to create chaos. And you all should not be dependent on others to defend you and your family. Irrespective of whether you join the Rune Knights or not, I believe each and every one of you should learn self-defence. Not to harm, but to defend. And if you find yourself eager to protect more than just yourself, then all you have to do is put your name in this list and show up this evening at the Rune Knight barracks,” Haru said, speaking to the crowd and holding the sign-up form high above his head.

To Haru’s surprise, the first one to walk up to him was the dancer. “I’m so sorry,” he said, bowing deeply to Haru before taking the form from him and signing it. Haru smiled at the man and patted him in the back. The tension among the crowd diffused quickly and dozens of people started approaching the scarlet-haired Rune Knight, declaring their wish to sign up too. Haru was overwhelmed at the response and looked at Akira with a satisfied smile. This one was much different from his usual cheerful grin. He knew that smile would convey his gratitude and appreciation better than any amount of words.

The older Rune Knight then turned his attention towards the crowd, asked them to form a queue and let them sign up one by one, thanking each individual for their courage. Once done, he would walk up to Akira, cheerfully showing the list. “Look, we got more than a dozen people in. Even if half the people show up, it’s a success,” he said, back with his toothy-grin.

The duo would continue recruiting, with more conventional means after that. And when the sun was about to set, they would then go back to the main office and hand over the list to the Captain.

2216/2000
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