Another day another dime. Criminal jobs had been easy for Akuma as of late. Ever since he joined the Phantom Lords Guild, he got used to doing dirty work.

At first, it wasn't easy for him. Stealing money, threatening families, killing people? Those were all things Akuma never imagined he would do when he was younger. However, now that he was older, he could perform criminal activities without a guilty conscience.

After receiving his money, Akuma was on his way out of Orchidia. He didn't mind staying in this forest covered town, but there were things about this place that really didn't sit right for him. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Akuma always had a harder guard on himself in Orchidia than he did when in Oak town.

Orchidia's streets were dangerous. Scums lurked in the shadows, waiting to attack their latest prey. Be it by stealing from an unsuspecting victim's purse or by tricking an idiotic victim into ruining their lives, Akuma had to be on guard for everything in Orchidia.

Well, it wasn't like Akuma didn't like those type of people. He was one of them after all. He wouldn't appreciate them if they tried to commit a crime against him, but he couldn't be angry at them for what they did.

Nevertheless, Akuma was nearly excited to be leaving this town. Thus, he walked the streets one last time before he was going to leave it.

Save money, or spend it on something to eat. Save money, or spend it on something to eat. Sure, her stomach was growling audibly, and she was having a hard time focusing, but, she needed to save as much money as possible, to balance against the month's interest on her debt. If, if only if, if only she had some sort of a source of income. Or a place she could stay free of charge. But, here in Orchidia, everything costed something. So, she had to keep on hand what little jewels she had left, and budget until she could get herself someplace safe.

Of course, that meant deciding what days she could eat, and what days she couldn't.  Fibi was trying to think, how many days had it been since she ate last? Two? Maybe? Either way, she went to bed to the sound of her growling stomach nightly as of late, even when she ate, she still had some sort of a hunger in her stomach.

It's just how life was to some people. Some people got to live a life of luxury by making an honest living, some got to go day by day making ends meet, some made a life for themselves through exploiting others. And, then there was Fibi's case, those who were kicked down at every chance life threw at them, by things out of their control, that sent them down to the point of breaking. She fled from her own country, and was trying to hide out for as long as possible while getting herself by day by day.

But, she had forgotten the last time she had eaten because she was so hungry, that her body wanted to just shut down and nap, Eat off of itself a little more, just a little bit. Yeah, a short nap sounded good. She didn't really have the energy to do much at the moment anyways in this shaded part of the town.  So, she found a nice opening in one of the spaces between buildings to crouch down and sit in, while clutching on to her money holder as tight as possible while she put her forehead on her knees.

It wouldn't be long, she was confident something good would come her way, someday, hopefully. The more she thought about it, the deeper she sank down in to the thought that nothing would come for her. Well, something came for her, someone that just walked by, and easily grabbed her jewel wallet, while she tried to fight back against the person who would so brazenly rob from someone that could barely sprint at the moment, let alone get in to a struggle.

As they snatched it from her hands and started to run off with their two friends, Fibi got up and started to shamble after them. She couldn't even run at full speed, nah, she was too hungry to put effort in to expending calories she didn't have, so, her hand reached up, watching as the last of her money was slipping away, and she would finally be at the dreaded ZERO JEWELS, with no means of paying off any bit of her debt at the end of her month or otherwise.

While Akuma was making his way to the gate of Orchidia, he decided that he would take a slight detour. He was getting hungry. Before he would leave this forested town, he would fill his stomach and savour his energy. He had a long road ahead of him, after all.

He circled around a corner and readied to head down an alleyway when he felt the faint force of something, or someone, hitting straight into him.

Akuma looked down to see who it was that ran at him. That was when he noticed a young male, not even in his 20's yet. The guy was scrawny and had two buck teeth protruding from his mouth. His smell reeked of poverty, and he was clutching onto a bag like it was his life.

Akuma looked down at the bag, and the man became very defensive, like a cat defending a dead mouse it was going to eat. Since Akuma had no want to even deal with the tiny speck of a man, he did nothing to stop him.

The man nervously looked behind him, then ran off down the street.

Akuma watched him go and gave a sigh. "There are even street rats in this city, huh?" he said to himself.

Akuma turned to enter the alleyway but stopped once more when he saw a girl standing there.

"Girl," he called out to her. "Are you alright?"

There it went, the last of her money, Fibi felt her heart sink as the person that acted like a road block for the trio didn't even bat an eye at them, while Fibi would just stumble forward, dropping to her knees in the process while her hands fell to the ground next to her. She wanted to cry, she wanted to sob and cry so much right now. But, in the back of her mind, she told herself 'you can cry, but it is just going to be wasted energy you need to stay awake, you gotta be strong'. Of course, that was easier said than done.

The person that didn't even help her now called out to her if she was alright. She looked up at him with her deep viridian colored eyes, with all the water welling up in them, they looked like they were enriched and glowing, of course, that was just a trick of the light. She was shaking, the shakes you get from a lack of hunger for a prolonged period. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but, she just slumped forward, and grunted angrily.

She couldn't even bother moving her jaw. She had to budget everything now. The merchant on the lamb had to think of every little action she did as make or break. She had no income, she had no money, she had no shelter, she had no food, she had a bar code printed on the back of her neck that may very well be a tracker that will activate whenever she defaults on her debt. She hated this, she hated this so much.

She hated that she couldn't do anything but just, you know, close her eyes, and take a short rest. Yeah, a nap sounded nice right about now. She was too hungry to notice that she was in dire straits of going in to a forever nap if she didn't get some nutrients by the end of today.

Akuma didn't know what to think of this girl. She shivered seemingly uncontrollably, her eyes glittered from the build-up of her tears, and she could barely even speak. Was she a mute? She looked like a street rat, just like that guy from before.

Akuma recognized something about her. Maybe it was her appearance? She looked the same way he did when he was younger, starving and close to the brink of death. At that time he had lost his parents, and he had nowhere to call home. It was only with his wrath that he was able to survive. When Akuma looked into this girl's eyes, though, he didn't see wrath. He saw a little girl close to dying and filled with frustration.

Maybe he should leave her here? She was a street rat after all. Even if he helped her, she would die later if she didn't know how to survive on her own.

Though... If he left her here alone, would that sit right on what little conscience he had?

Akuma saw the girl closing her eyes and readying to faint. Before she could hit the ground, though, he rushed over and caught her with one of his arms.

"Oi," he spoke to her. Though, he was sure that his voice didn't reach her. She looked too starved to even think straight. "I know you're hungry. Can you hold out a little bit longer? I'm going to take you to get something to eat."

Falling forward, and in tot he arms of a would be half assed savior, Fibi couldn't be a chooser, she was more of a beggar now that he let her money slip away, all of the money she had left in the world. All of the money she could use to feed herself, but, instead, she was now without a home, without a job, without a family, without any money, and only the promise of a meal. A meal? A meal! Her eyes lit up a little as she looked up at him. No, more like, she looked up at the clouds, imagining a feast.

She just smiled while the tears started to roll down the sides of her face, her voice shaky, as if she was about to start balling her eyes out, "Food. Please." She whined out while her eyes closed. She held out, she would hold on, but, she needed to conserve her strength a little more.

Where would he take her? Carried in his arms like a fainted princess? How would it look to others? How would the girl react if she were awake? SHe was normally skittish and cautious, to be picked up by a stranger that could very well just throw her back over to the Bosco mafia and end her story here? Nothing mattered, the only thing that mattered was a deep desire for something to eat, it didn't matter what, just no onions.

Akuma released another sigh from his lips as he saw the girl begin to cry at his words. Were those tears of joy or tears of sorrow? He honestly couldn't tell.

He wanted to know if she could move on her own, but it seemed like she couldn't even stand without Akuma's aid. It was a bit troublesome to have to carry her, but...

"Hold on tight, Ojou-san." Akuma bent down with his one arm that he used to hold her up and hoisted the girl over his shoulder.

Akuma was a brutish man, standing 6 feet and 7 inches tall. If she thought that a behemoth of a guy like him was going to carry her daintily like a princess, she'd better stop thinking it. Akuma never treated anything daintily. He would always be a brute until the day he died.

"Well, I don't know a place that's good to eat at, so I'll take you to a bar for now. Until then, don't die in my arms, you here? Or I'm throwing you into a river."

With all that said, Akuma began walking while carrying the girl.

Carried off like a sack of potatoes, Fibi dangled over the man's shoulder, carried off to some random bar. It wasn't a five star restaurant, but, anything was good for Fibi. It was a nice two story establishment, nice enough that people were well dressed, but, seedy enough that no one really batted an eyelash when someone carrying someone else over their shoulder came in to the room.  Fibi would eventually stir awake to the smell of food, her stomach grumbling and growling as she sensed the imminent sustenance.

When she looked over, she saw the man that had spoken to her, and, brought her here? She blinked for a moment, before jumping backwards with renewed energy, "Gah!" She blurted out while jumping backwards in her seat, only to jostle and nearly tumble out of it before she caught herself.  Her face bright red to contrast her green hair and eyes, the girl poked her index fingers together.

"Thank you for bringing me here, but, I couldn't possibly pay for anything." She said, not knowing he would pay for her, however, when she found out that he would be paying for her, Fibi would be ordering the cheese plate, two different burgers, an order of truffle fries, and loads of sparkling water.

Most would look at the small girl and think, where did she put it away? Well, through the power of damn near starvation and anime, anything is possible for a hungry appetite!

She had water while waiting for her food, plenty of it. She drank water like a plant! Well, if she only knew about her lineage. Anyways, the sparkling water was brought to the table, and she sipped on the bubbly drink, she swung her legs to and fro from the high top chair that was designed for people intended to sit and stay awhile. She always liked tables and chairs like these. She seemed, oddly invigorated just with the water and promise of food alone.

When she was asked about her parents and what was going on with her, Fibi looked around to see if anyone was listening, and then pulled the straw from her mouth, taking the time to dry it with a napkin. "My parents are dead." She said with a plain tone, giving the man a dead pan look, as if to size him up and see if he had any reaction that could say he had something to do with it.

Her family, her whole family lineage as far as she knew, was either sold off in to slavery, forcibly married off, sent off to work as gladiators in another country, or killed. "They're buried in Bosco." She said with a melancholic voice, stirring her straw around in her glass of sparkling water. Her viridian eyes just staring at the bubbles in her drink.

"I'm on the run from something bad, and I don't want it to find me." She huffed while slumping down in her seat, pressing her chin and mouth in to her folded up arms, while staring a thousand yards off through her drinking glass.

"It's Fibi by the way. Fibi Hoenheim. Thank you for the food again."

"I-I'm an adult!" She blurted out to him when he suggested some sort of an orphanage. She wasn't a child, she may have looked young, but, Fibi was a full grown adult. Excuse her for not having blimp sized assets like some girls around Fiore. Fibi just pouted, puffing her cheeks out while she huffed, looking away from the man.

His words had a small point to them, but, she had a stronger counter point. It was visible too. When she turned to look away from him, he might have noticed the bar code printed on her neck. If he asked about it, she would reveal information, mostly due to the lack of food she had had as of late.

"It wouldn't matter, they can find me no matter where I go. It's either I pay off that stupid debt, or I get sold off to whoever owns the rights to it at the moment." SHe would sigh out in response to him asking, if he did.

When the food came to the table, she cheered right up, and started to dig in before Akuma could even tell her to eat up. Grabbing a burger and chomping right in to it while her cheeks went red with joy and she had a look of sheer bliss on her face, real food, for the first time in a long time!

Yes, she really needed money, badly, to the point that she was willing to go out on the street and beg for it. SHe didn't want to do such a thing. But, as she ate the food, Akuma was generous enough to give her something, some of his money, and, she didn't have to ask for it! SHe looked at him with bright glimmering eyes, eager and happy. Pure unfiltered joy splayed on her face.

SHe knew it wouldn't last, that much was certain, she WOULD have had more, but, if it weren't for this man right here, she would have been wary of everyone, and going at her money very slowly, starving herself. Now, here he was, urging her to find some sort of work with a magic guild, and make the money he had given her last.

There wasn't much question there, but, Fibi continued to eat, her brow furrowed as she went in to deep contemplative thought during the whole time.

"Yes, I can craft anything in my power out of wood. I'm a wood make mage. It's like, a magic where you can create whatever your element is. And, the items tend to reflect the person themselves."

A villain with a heart of gold, hard to find out there. Akuma was caring enough to consider her personal well being despite her ability to produce a material that anyone can build with, at the snap of a finger. Something that could make her the great framework for building a guild up, or patching it up. She wasn't aware of what he was thinking, she was busy sipping on more of her fizzy water. Evidenced by her bringing a hand up to cover her mouth, while her whole body flinched and her cheeks filled up with air. She slowly blew the air out, and returned to eating her foot while she listened to Akuma.

One burger down, and a bucket of fries to go, Fibi turned to look at him while she had her mouth open, a fry in between her fingers as her eyebrows went up with what he was saying. "You know a place? Really? I can be of help?" She asked happily, before returning to her meal, eagerly snacking on it while wanting to see this place that Akuma wanted to show her.

As she finished, and took the money he had given her, she hugged the giant man, hopping off the ground to swing around on him before she scooted along the floor and pointed toward the door, "Onward to the guild!"

"After you settle up your bill first." Said the waitress, wanting to make sure so much food ordered didn't run out the door, Fibi may have been a little too excited.