Kenzo was up for a wild ride today. A couple of nights ago he had lost a bet with Batra, the owner of the infamous bar and inn of Crocus. Playing a round of darts, the drunken male was no match for Batra and his all mighty skill of taking advantage of drunken patrons. Admitting defeat, Kenzo looked at the man intrigued as he asked what he wanted in exchange. The bald owner tried to hold back his laughter as he spoke. ”There’s a rather….unique request that I’ve been asked to publish.” Batra smirked as he helped the blue haired man back on his feet, sitting him down in a chair. ”I’m pretty sure you might be the perfect candidate to take it.”

Kenzo grumbled as he walked through the streets of Fiore’s capital. ”Damn baldie. I’ll get back at him one of these days.” The man was dressed in an attire rather different to what he was used to. According to Batra’s details, a special date in Fiore was taking place that day. Kenzo had never heard of Valentines before. Neither Bellum nor Joya celebrated the holiday. Apparently, it was a day when young and old decided to manifest their love and affection to others. Going to dates, confessing, the usual dilly-daily cheesy details that lovebirds enjoyed. For Kenzo, it was more of a hassle than anything. And yet, here he was. Dressed in clothes he’d just bought at one of the trendiest stores of the city, now on his way to meet his Valentines date.

According to Batra, there was a request to play escort to a young lady. She was attending an important social gathering and had no couple to attend the event with. Being held in Valentines Day meant that it would be a disgrace for a girl to attend alone. Or at least that was the normal social judgement in those kinds of circles. For that reason, Kenzo has to act like her boyfriend throughout the day and make sure the rest of the girls were jealous of her.

With these thoughts in his mind, he finally arrived to the place where he would meet with the client. He quickly recognized her from the back by the description he had been given. She held a pink umbrella over her head to cover from the sun. Rolling his eyes, Kenzo quickly changed his demeanor as he flashed a charming smile. ”Good day young lady. I’ll be taking care of you for the day. Shall we go to the event?” Kenzo extended his arm for her to grab it. He was getting handsomely rewarded to make her experience an unforgettable day. How that would go, was something that only the day would tell…

Natsuki sat in the park on a bench, holding a pink umbrella as it was too sunny for her and it was the only umbrella/ parasol she could acquire. holding her hand out and writing on her palm with her finger the kanji for human, then pretending to eat it. A sort of coping device she was taught to rid her of her social anxiety, eating the kanji for human to get calm ones nerves. Having posted a request for herself for once, not usually normal for her but she wished to understand the concept of a date, never having any interest in guys or girls herself.

She gulped as she looked around and thought
"I wanted an mercenary or a mage cause they would be able to relate to me atleast, but maybe I am gonna regret this, who is to say the male would be nice, I mean I know I specified it to be men only, but I should have considered personality as well, it is crucial not to have conflicting personalities when it comes to dating, or that is what the book says.

She takes out a how to book about dating and what would be the social norm, the book being filled with notes as well as a flyer for a party at a cafe, several of her guildmates would be attending so she thought that would be a good place to experiment, in case things go awry, her guildmates could step in and help.

Once she turned around she saw the blue haired she had done that quest with once, letting out a sigh and hearing him act nice and all, she could help but burst into laughter.

"What is with that way of speech, why are you putting up a facade personality.

After abit, she calmed down after laughing at him
"I know what you are really like so please act as such.
she stands up as she looks up to his eyes with a soft smile trying to not to laugh.

Kenzo had spent the major part of the way wondering what type of person had posted the request. He had no idea the kind of woman that would be bold enough to post a tread asking for a partner. Still, he remembered clearly Batra’s words as he saw the pink umbrella from behind. ”This is a special request. You better make her feel like the most romantic date in the world. Almost like a princess. I’ll know if you try to sneak out of it shrugging it as just a get out. I won’t pay you otherwise.”

Making his mind, Kenzo was ready to become prince charming for the lady. However, as she turned around, his face was of instant shock. Standing before him was none other than the Fairy Tail girl he’d met just the other day. She was much younger than the male, but they had both taken part in a request as adventurers, nonetheless. As she recognized that her escort was to be him, she burst into laughter. Still offering his arm out, his face started reddening out of embarrassment and slight anger. As his eyebrow twitch in irritation, a single thought flashed through his mind before he could open his mouth back at Natsumi. “Almost like a princess…” Trying to swallow the strong surge of emotions that came over him, Kenzo recovered his cool as he grabbed Natsumi’s hand with an almost imperceptible fake smile.

”What could you possibly be talking about, baby?”” The mercenary’s tone was as sweet as he could manage to fake. However, to people that didn’t know him beforehand it was practically indistinguishable. As he quickly lead Natsumi by the hand to the meetup place, Kenzo whispered to her ear with his normal voice in a slightly desperate way. ”Please, help me out with this one… If I don’t convince the boss that we had a proper, romantic date, I’m done for…” Kenzo knew from their previous meetup that the girl was smart. He hoped she caught on the hint and decided to be merciful enough. ”The things I do for money…” he thought to himself.

She couldnt help bit laugh from time to time,blushing as they held hand, Looking up at Kenzo as she said "Relax, i read a date would to act like yourself, so that is what I want you to do, if you'd like I will go and tell him personally that you fulfilled the requirements for the request."

She reached up to pat him on the back as once they arrive at the establishment, she closes her umbrella and enters, holding it at her side. She walks forward, sitting down at a table on the far end of the cafe.
Sitting down all proper as she looks at his face, remember how he acted before as she laughed, trying to hold it in but failing hard. Soon after calming down again "Alright, then how does this usually go down.....I mean what would be the social norm, what is first. Would it be order food. get water and converse abit." She seems to be in deep thought, rambling on and on to the point of overthinking everything.

Soon as she kept thinking, talking about the social norm, mentioning multiple research point she has looked up, and mentioning the book she obtained. Soon after some other Fairy Tail guild members soon walk in, talking up and socializing. She looks over, staring at them as of studying them as her habit of overthinking everything she is involved with. A bad habit as it could get her in plenty of trouble as it has before. soon she thinks up something, opening her bag and pulling out a note book, flipping through it she soon blurts out.

Why dont we tell tales of our past, getting to know one another's past could help us get a better understanding of eachother's personality and overall person."

The man could notice the girl blush as they held hands. To Kenzo, it seemed a strange notion at first. But once he saw how the crowds in the streets looked at both and whispered between giggles and stares, he couldn’t help but also feel a little self-conscious.

”Just imagine she’s a little sister” The thought was repeated over and over in his head. Looking once more at her, he wondered why she hadn’t described an age range for the request. What if a 40-year-old was the one to show up instead of him? Or perhaps, was this part of Batra’s amusement? As he pondered over this thought, the mercenary was brought back to reality by the young girl’s words. They were peculiar to say the least. She told him to act like himself and even volunteered to go and talk to Batra. That lift a big weight off his chest, he wouldn’t have to keep acting up at least. For the moment, he might as well enjoy the time. Uplift by this feeling, Kenzo sat with her at the far end of the cafe. She entered the place first, and Kenzo pulled a chair for her to sit.

As they stared at each other, the young mage suddenly burst into laughter once again. She undoubtedly remembered the man’s words once again. Flustered, he opened his mouth to reply, but was cut short. Natsumi asked the male what went next. To be honest, he had no idea. As she went on and on, he could do nothing but chuckle. ”You really do like books, don’t you?” It was obvious she had made her research before coming. She even had a pad full of notes and markers. In that moment, some Fairy Tail members started to come in. Kenzo knew none of them, so he paid them no mind as they sat in different tables of the place. Taking a look at his watch, the mercenary noticed there was still 15 minutes left before the appointed time for the event. When Natsumi brought up the topic about sharing their pasts, he slightly froze as he smiled and placed one of his elbows on the table, resting his face on its palm. ”Sure. You first”

The man was not a person comfortable speaking about his past. He tried to shift the attention to her for the moment. In the meantime, he’d think of a way to avoid the topic when she was done.

Natsumi looked at him with a nervous smile as she begin to tell her tale.
"Well you see when I was growing up, my parents tried their best to care for me in their own silly way, they were both fire mages as well. Actually they were both close combat fire mages actually. My mom didnt know about kids at first, or me I confused her quite abit as my intellect grew fast. My dad on the other hand knew about nothing else but fighting. Once he told me and a random kid I tried to make friends with arguing, and he said to solve it with out fists with this stupid grin on his face. The kid ended up running away and he had to give an apology but it was quite funny at how stupid the both can be.
She looks down and soon at the window as she began to say more.

They are both gone now, I am all alone well that was before I met fairy tail, which was really fun and exciting but.....now I am considering leaving Fairy tail and focus on traveling and training. I wish to get stronger in a way my parents would be proud of, a style similar to theirs. I spend my whole life creating my own way but to think I want to fight their way, I guess I am still the kid of an married couple that solved things with their fists, and I mean that actually they would fight each time they argued, A way to decide who was right tho they seemed to have fun with it and considered it training since they couldnt train as much with me around
She smiles and kept on going on and on about how great her parent were, in both combat and stupidity.

The girl began telling Kenzo her tale. Normally, he wasn’t one to peek into other’s past. He had learned that the more you knew about someone, the harder it was to cut ties with them. Honestly, it was something obvious, but he couldn’t help but think about it every time he met someone new. That was just the way he was, maybe under other circumstances it’d be different.

Losing himself in his train of thought for a moment, he once again began paying attention to the girl. Still with his face resting on his palm, Kenzo heard Natsumi talk about her parents. From what he got; they were both fire mages. Airheaded ones at that. In contrast, Natsumi seemed the intellectual type. The kind of person that had grown surrounded by books and learned everything from them. The girl told the man that she wanted to change her fighting style to be similar to her parents’. It seemed weird for the male. Copying someone else’s fighting style was a sure way to hit a limit in their development in the future. But to each, their own, I guess. As she told him a story about how they solved their problems through their fists and that her parents usually fought a lot, she began digressing mindlessly for a whole lot more. Maybe her parent’s absentmindedness had brushed on her in other ways.

After what seemed to be the better of 20 minutes, a loud microphone’s echo was heard through the cafe. Kenzo had not noticed, but the place had filled almost to the brim by now. Every table was taken with couples from Fairy Tail. Apparently, the guild was in Crocus for a ball that had been celebrated previously. As he peeked his face to look around, he instantly saw a familiar face. A young man in his early twenties with light brown hair looked directly at Kenzo. When their eyes met, the Fairy Tail male grinned devilishly. Kenzo went stiff. He was part of the group that was present when he had lost the bet with Batra. Specifically, this guy was the one in charge of making sure he kept his end of the quest. Namely, be Natsumi’s boyfriend for the day. Sure, the girl herself said she’d speak with Batra so he could get his money, but the sly owner would surely be unsatisfied by that. Before Kenzo could avert his gaze and pretend he didn’t notice him, the guy signaled the mercenary with his middle and index fingers. His message was clear. ”I’m watching you.”

In a bit of a hurry, Kenzo looked back at Natsumi and took her hands with a smile. Before he could open his mouth, the lights of the cafe went out before the voice of a man filled the hall through a lacrima enhanced microphone. ”HEEEEELLO EVERYONE!!!! WELCOME TO FAIRY TAIL’S VALENTINE MEETUP. This year we’ve prepared a ton of activities for all of you lovey-dovey couples.” A spotlight illuminated a stage at the front of the place. The crowd instantly burst into cheers and applause. ”What the?”

”To begin with! We’ll have a karaoke couple contest!! Please do your best effort to transmit the love you share with the rest of us through a romantic performance~ The best couple will receive a reward that they’ll never forget.” A woman with an obnoxiously corny tone took the stage now. Hearing the announcements, Kenzo started to get nervous. ”This is just too much…To hell with the money” Sure, the man was a mercenary through and through. Money was his moral compass. But some lines were better not crossed. Leading Natsumi by the hand, the male silently stood up from the table making a beeline to the door.

Not a second had passed after his escape plan was in motion before Kenzo was blessed by lady bad luck once again. A bright sudden flash blinded the man. A spotlight was lit from the ceiling and now shone a line at Kenzo and Natsumi. ”Here are our first participants!~ Please come to the front. They will be our first couple of the night! Let’s welcome them with a big round of applause everyone~”

The crowd burst into cheers and applause. Several of the people near Kenzo’s table had stood up and now guided the pair up the stage. However, the mercenary was now disconnected, he had completely passed to autonomous mode. For a split second, his mind was transported to the night he met the mysterious woman by the name of Nuala. Her words before departing echoed time and time again inside him. “You should hurry about finding a cure. You reek of bad luck and it seems you’ve been attracting plenty of it.” Truer words had never been spoken.

Kenzo now stood in the stage with Natsumi. He didn’t even notice when he was handled the microphone in his hand. The spectating crowd was now silencing in preparation for their performance. Giving their backs to the crowd, the hosts explained Kenzo and Natsumi how they had to follow the lyrics projected by the vision lacrima. When they finished, the mercenary was completely defeated. Strength had left his body as well as his will to struggle. The song’s track was about to begin. There was no turning back. Shrugging off everything from his mind, Kenzo slapped both his cheeks to compose himself again. “Fuck this, let’s do i-“ The words were directed at Natsumi. Turning his head to face her, the mercenary’s sentence was cut short by the sight before him. Running through the door, microphone still in hand, a frail body crossed the street at full speed and far away from the cafe.

The song began sounding in the background…

As she kept on talking about her life thus far, and how she has dealt with things thus far, Even about how great her parents were, She soon heard the microphone, seeing a member of fairy tail up, anouncing some sort of Karaoke contest, going silent herself she then proceeded to panic as he talked.

She was freaking out mentally
"Please dont come over her, dont pick us,Please dont come over her, dont pick us,Please dont come over her, dont pick us,Please dont come over her, dont pick us,Please dont come over her, dont pick us,Please dont come over her, dont pick us,Please dont come over her, dont pick us,Please dont come over her, dont pick us,Please dont come over her, dont pick us,Please dont come over her, dont pick us

She began repeating the words over and over in her head as soon a spot light was on them, with that she quickly got up and ran out of the cafe. Panicked as she couldnt stop her fight or flight response. Once far enough away she hurried to batra, informed him how it went which he was a good test subject and she left.

[Exit]

The lyrics of one of Fiore’s trendiest idol group started in the background. The song filled every corner of the cafe with its cheerful notes. A story about a lovers’ quarrel accompanied the music through its verses. Instead of the cheers and uplift energy one would expect to fill the place, the mood of the cafe was more akin to that of a ghost town. A lone figure, frozen in the stage with a mic on his hand, stood motionless with a blank expression. Staring in disbelief at the still swinging wooden exit door, the man started to sweat cold. Suddenly, a pair of cannons exploded at the sides of the stage. Confetti filled the air as the song’s chorus started in sync. However, not a single person in the cafe was able to move a muscle. Everyone held their breaths as if it was a matter of life or death.

After what seemed an eternity, the music suddenly stopped with a screech. At the far end of the cafe, directly opposite of the stage, the Fairy Tail male host was frantically pulling cables and pressing buttons to try to stop the music. His success managed to wake the blue haired mercenary from his trance. His face started turning red from a mixture of embarrassment and irritation. The fairy tail mage that was at Batra’s bar when he lost the bet was trying to hold back his laughter. Not knowing what to do, Kenzo looked around, looking for a place to hide for a sec. Noticing the awkward scene, the girl that had chosen Kenzo and Natsumi sprung into action.

”Huum.. Uh. Hm. L-let’s please give up a round of applause for our first couple.” The corny woman helped Kenzo down the stage, patting his back as she looked at him with eyes full of pitty. In fact, the whole cafe’s applause was filled a sentiment of pitty. Taking a look around, a couple of people even gave him sad smiles as they motioned their fists at him. He could clearly hear their voices saying in unison: ”Hang in there! Don’t give up”

To everyone present, it was clear that he had just been completely rejected. They all empathized with the lone male. After all, it was Valentines Day. Even if that was not really what happened and the whole situation had been completely misunderstood, Kenzo had no will to defend himself. He felt that anything he said from that point would look like a desperate attempt to make up justifications. As he slowly and silently walked to the exit of the place, the owner stopped the mercenary with a short pat at his shoulder. With a warm smile, he handed Kenzo a pink cocktail. ”You’ll find the right girl for you someday, son…”

Definitely, this would be a date to remember…

-EXIT-