“Pfft—Yeah right.” Kenzo scoffed audibly as he ignored the remaining 2 pages of the ridiculous challenge hanging by the guildhall’s main door. The warrior had officially been a Blue Pegasus member for around 6 or 7 years, but considering he’d spent the last 5 completely frozen as a stone statue, he still felt himself to be a relatively new member. As he dismissed the serious sounding letter with a waving hand, Kenzo made his way to the inside of the guild. A light chuckle couldn’t be held from his lips at how trivial the whole thing seemed.

The blue-haired man knew the reputation Blue Pegasus held as a guild full of beautiful people, but there was nothing in particular about his time there that had struck him like this was something too important for Alisa and the rest. To the best of his knowledge, his guild master strived for perfection in all areas, hoping all of its members did the same. While this certainly might have included physical perfection, Kenzo never quite understood the particular reputation the guild had for having well-dressed, flashy fashionistas.

However, things might have changed during all these years. After all, it had been a very long time since the warrior had set foot in Hargeon, much less the guild. Kenzo and Rania had just arrived to Fiore from their unintended hiatus just a week ago, having sent a letter to Alisa in advance. For some reason or another, they hadn’t been able to meet with their guild master yet, but Kenzo was too impatient to not take a look around the guild. Truth be told, he wanted to know if his things were still at his room. Damn, he was curious to know if he even still had a room to begin with.

Making his way to the reception, Kenzo’s ears perked up as he heard a voice giving a passionate speech at a table at the center of the large hall. It appeared to be a fellow guild member, though not one he recognized. From the looks of it, they were recruiting volunteers to answer the challenge. Amused by the situation, Kenzo made his way towards the crowd, tilting his head with curiosity as he planned to simply go unnoticed. He definitely had no plans to join the whole runway matter as a representative after all. He doubted any of the new guild members even recognized him either way.

As he arrived at the crowd, the warrior crossed his arms before taking a look at the figure speaking while standing on top of the table, figuring he could spare to kill a couple of minutes at least.

”What’s this all about?” he muttered to himself.

Almost in unison, the crowd that had formed around at the center of the guild hall turned their heads towards what could only be described as the entrance of a force of nature. Kenzo followed suit as well, huffing with amusement as he noticed a fellow guild member’s question had been cut off with no remorse. He didn’t know the girl that now gathered the entire place’s attention, but she sure as hell knew how to take the spotlight.

The mercenary had never met someone quite like her. Or at the very least, not from up close. One quick glance was enough for him to understand that she was extraordinary in more ways than one, the kind of person that gave off the feeling of being some sort of star. Kenzo figured she was also part of the guild, given how familiar she seemed with the rest of the people in the crowd; and going by looks alone, he could understand for a second the Blue Pegasus reputation they were being challenged for. She had long silken hair, seamlessly transitioning from blonde to a light pink. Her baby blue eyes were striking, as was her general physique, which seemingly fit perfectly with her sultry and flirty personality. As far as the warrior was concerned though, she was attractive. Very.

Caught of guard by her compliment, Kenzo turned his head quickly as if looking to see if she was directing it to someone behind him. The man’s plan of exploring the guild inconspicuously had now been thrown off the board as the attractive girl directed the room’s entire attention towards him. Finding no one behind him, the male widened his eyes in slight surprise as an amused grin formed on his lips. He had been completely cornered, but he was never one to back off from a duel.

“Hah. I’m afraid the best I could manage would be second place, unfortunately.” His teasing remark was delivered back with a confident smirk as he slightly twisted his head to the side and towards the blond girl, directing the crowd’s attention to her.

“You look just like the person miss flustered here is looking for.” Kenzo added as he pointed his left arm towards the woman still standing on top of the table. ”Isn’t that right?” He added, now completely addressing the woman standing on the table directly. Though she had now been relegated to being a background character, the girl was the guild member that had been passionately preaching about the need to defend Blue Pegasus’s honor before the blond woman arrived, asking for volunteers that would raise for the challenge posted by these so-called Platinum Stardust newcomers.

”H-he’s right! Miss Benini! You must be one of our guild’s representatives! You have to….please.” The girl stumbled with her own words as she awkwardly bowed towards the woman resting against the wall. Kenzo chuckled at the turn of events, practically tasting the desperation in the girl’s voice as she begged for her participation. ”Miss Benini, huh? Kenzo noted for himself, curiously waiting for what her reaction would be.

Kenzo chuckled at the girl’s daring advances, amused at how straightforward she was with her flirting and how seemingly unbothered she felt by the crowd hearing each and every word they exchanged. The Bellan man was not one to care too much about what others thought of him, but it seemed like he lacked the mastery that the girl displayed. At least in this regard, Kenzo found himself outmatched. Still, it was her bold words and the inviting sight of the biting of her lower lips that emboldened him to try and match her energy. He’d come to kill some time at the guild, and it was proving to be more interesting than he’d ever anticipated.

Moving swiftly through the crowd, the man closed the distance between them before slamming his left arm against the wall hard enough to make it shudder, trapping Bella in between. Leaning closer, Kenzo didn’t break eye contact as he took a small lacrima tag with his contact information and presented it to the girl with his free hand. His smirk was sharp and cocky, blue hair falling into his eyes as he leaned in. ”My friends call me Kenzo… but you can call me whenever you’d like.” His words came out with a playful defiance, carrying a teasing smirk that hovered just on the edge of smugness. After delivering the tag to her, the man moved a couple of steps back before leaning against the wall by her side.

Feeling the wave of eyes sharply turn towards him as Bella expressed her condition for her participation, Kenzo was caught unwittingly under the spotlight for the second time today. He couldn’t help but break into a short chuckle, the mere thought of taking part in such silly activity was enough to sound like a bad joke in his mind. However, it appeared that the expectant eyes that looked at him full of intensity begged to differ.

They couldn’t be serious… Wasn’t this supposed to be a Blue Pegasus affair? Kenzo doubted even a single one of them recognized him as part of the guild, given how long and far away he’d been. As far as he was concerned, none of them should have known he was a member to begin with, so the idea of them now looking at this random stranger with eyes full of hope rubbed him the wrong way. Taking a deep sigh with a shrug of his shoulders, the man waved his hand in front of him in a dismissive manner.

”No way I’m joining such a stupid thing. Aren’t you Blue Pegasi supposed to fight your own battles? I’ve got more important things to do.” His tone was laced with a lazy defiance, like someone swatting away an annoying fly.

Finally remembering why he’d come to the guild in the first place, he decided this to be the perfect moment to escape his conundrum. After all, the girl that caught his eye now had his contact information, he was sure there wouldn’t be anything left that interested him here.

Opening his way through the crowd, Kenzo ignored the pleas of his guildmates. While he felt a pang of regret at seeing them so discouraged, it was not like Kenzo to just hand out free help. He might have become part of a mage guild, but he was still a mercenary at heart.

As he made his way away from the crew, the man took one last glance back as he searched for Bella’s eyes, flashing a cheeky wink, he walked towards the stairs leading to his room. Satisfied at how cool he must’ve looked, he prepared to leave this silly showdown business behind.

Little did he know, but Stardust Platinum had bet an immense number of jewels on the line, promising to give them to the winning participants. If only he’d heard this vital piece of information, there was no way he would give up such an opportunity… but alas.