"Would you care to explain why…" A member of the Magic Council yelled at Makarov as they threw the newspaper plus a few copies of Sorcerer's Weekly on the table for everyone to see. "We are now constantly seeing and hearing about that vile criminal you monitor from our guard force and our neighbouring territories?!"
Makarov had been called to update the Council regarding Takeda's progress and his behaviour since it had now been roughly 4 months since the man was released from prison and placed into his watch…And roughly 2 since the magazines started publishing him as Fairy Tail's Hellhound. "Fairy Tail is a popular Guild, what can I say?" He remarked as he leafed through the pages of the most recent magazine; The pinups of Cana for a perfuming ad, Levy putting up book reviews alongside Laki and even including a footnote from Mirajane. "Besides, I've been watching him so far and compared to most of the brats in my brigade: He's been well behaved and professional so I can't really call it bad…Maybe withdrawn from everyone but give it time."
"Well behaved?!" One of the elders snapped as he got to his feet, his face was the epitome of frustration and exasperated annoyance. "I've got a report saying that he and one of your's not only manhandled a mayoral candidate but he also trashed up an entire campaign."
Ultear then flipped a sheet of paper onto the following mugshots regarding Arnaud, the imposter who stole the identity of said mayoral candidate. "If I recall; Yoshida managed to uncover the kidnapping of the man that this particular criminal was trying to defraud, Elfman helped with diffusing the attempted attack on them both…" She explained as she then slid the paper into the middle of the table. "I'm fairly certain that if neither of them got involved, it would've spiralled into something worse."
"How could an evil minded miscreant like that uncover something like that." Klaus blustered as he made himself known at the council meeting. "The Royal Guard in that region had been investigating suspicions surrounding it but we never actually got to the questioning stage of Arkveld."
"Then it sounds like either my Mages are smarter than your's or you just take far longer to do your job properly." Makarov shrugged as he stuck up for both Elfman and Takeda. "Besides with what I heard from Mirajane, Takeda is fitting in and working with the guild marvellously and keeping himself clean."
"For now…" Klaus muttered begrudgingly as he sat back down; He was still feeling insulted that the council had taken the side of Makarov over him, something that a "True and loyal servant" would find disheartening but for him? This made him feel something that he would call unbecoming.
"That…That still doesn't change the fact that he is still complicit in using his "Magic" blatantly to cause inconceivable property damage across numerous sites of importance!" Another more annoyed councillor pointed out as he held up a newspaper with the collapsed rubble of the Freesian Cathedral after what had happened with Takeda and Natsu.
Makarov disguised his shocked cough by clearing his throat once he saw the article and decided to play it safe. "Well, I've heard that those two managed to uncover not just the cult in question…But also managed to reveal a Guild scam before it became too big of a problem." He elaborated as he could feel his blood pressure rising from not just the inevitable costs of these recent events but also the fact that Takeda had fit in a little too well.
"Luckily for your Guild, Mr. Yoshida managed to square off the debt and the repairs." Siegrain pointed out as he showed a letter to the council from the head priest and then placed it down for everyone to say. "You can complain all day long about Mr. Yoshida's past, you do have to admit that he has a knack for handling people."
"That's…That's good." Makarov said with a nervous chuckle, feeling more at ease now that he had one less property damage racket. "Finally…A powerful Mage who won't break my wallet." He thought to himself as he felt the potential heart attack fade away.
"All in all, looks like we have the good and the bad." Ultear said as she picked up a copy of the magazine with a smirk. "Though this certainly shows the in between...And his good side~" She thought as she saw Takeda's irritated face on the latest column near the back, it had been a picture of him as a host with Loke that simply read: "Hellhound or Lapdog? Story of Fairy Tail's newest bad boy."
Ever since they had been ambushed by Sorcerer Weekly at the Guild, Takeda had been keeping his distance from groups since the photographer Jason had been doing what he had unintentionally been doing with Natsu: Annoy him with stories of his past in Hellhound Claw, generally following him around and essentially being a nuisance.
As a result, Jason managed to get a column that basically kept questioning Takeda about everything from who he thought was the hottest, how he felt about everyone disliking him and how it felt to go from "Conniving Criminal Underling to charity case for COOL! COOL! SUPER COOL Fairy Tail!"
Which then led to Natsu punching the guy in the face; Partially for giving a bad rap about him and for the guild by extension, along with inadvertently defending Takeda. "STOP TELLING PEOPLE THAT I'M DESTRUCTIVE, YOU JERK!"
Takeda breathed a sigh of relief, he knew that being in a Guild like Fairy Tail had it's benefits but there was always a caveat when it came to dealing with high profile work. "At the very least I can have a drink in peace." He thought to himself as he ordered at the bar, thankful that Mirajane was at least sympathetic enough to keep a seat open for him.
"Not a fan of journalists?" Mirajane asked as she passed Takeda a drink, her smile being sympathetic since she knew that while a lot of Mages at Fairy were happy with the publicity, some practically lived for it but there were a good number that just wanted to keep under the radar.
"I don't mind 'em…But being sought after in the papers for reasons other than being involved in crimes is probably gonna be something to get used to." Takeda admitted as he decided to be honest. "Not to mention the fact that I'm still trying to shake off the old me from Hellhound Claw."
Mirajane nodded as she watched Natsu start to get in yet another fight with Gray who had ended up missing his shirt and his boots in the ensuing brawl. "That's Fairy Tail for you…We may fight and we may be rough and troublesome with things…But we can certainly be there for each other whenever we need it." She said and offered a sincere smile but then winced when she saw a bottle hitting the back of Takeda's head, sending him crashing to the floor…She had seen her fair share of scraps but she had yet to see what their newest "member" get pulled into one of their Guild's bar fights.
Would he throw his fire around? Would he simply sit quietly?
Much to the surprise of the ones that saw; Takeda got to his feet with a small amount of blood trickling down the back of his neck. "Alright, you want me joining in more?! Then be careful what you wish for!" He yelled as he jumped into the fray with a look of anger as he started to throw down.
Natsu grinned wildly as he saw Takeda jumping into their brawl and decided to make things more hectic. "ALRIGHT, BAR FIGHT!" He bellowed with the glee of a thousand mice with a wheel of cheese, returning to his boxing contest with Gray .
Takeda had been currently holding Max in a Boston Crab grapple while Wakaba used his Smoke Magic to make arms try to pull Takeda off in a headlock.
"Say you're sorry!" Takeda snapped through choked breath as he gripped tightly to get Max to apologise for tagging him with the bottle while he himself was getting choked out to let go.
"Well…At the very least, he's fitting in where it counts."
The loudness wouldn't have lasted long as the doors swung open and the person standing in the doorway was none other than one of Fairy Tail's top Mages and the youngest Wizard to ever become an S-Ranked…Erza Scarlet.
I can't go five days on a mission without you lot starting trouble!" Erza barked with an unspoken authority that made nearly every Mage in the room stand to attention and any bravado went out the window along with any semblance of fight.
Natsu and Gray both threw their arms around each other's shoulder out of pavlovian reflex like they were bestest buds, it was no secret that the two were like cats and dogs with each other but when one of the strongest Mages in the Guild tells you to get along…You listen or you get hit until you do.
Erza listed off every Mage's problems and their bad habits with such a rapidfire pace that it was enough to make people's heads spin…At least until she noticed the new face in the crowd: Takeda. "So you're the new Mage that joined our Guild…Yoshida, was it?"
It was a well known fact that when it came to spats between Hellhound Claw and Fairy Tail, there were people to avoid targeting or actively cause problems toward: Makarov because antagonising a Wizard Saint and a Mage with Giant Magic explains itself, Laxus because you can't exactly apologise when you're a spark emitting stain on the floor, Gildarts was considered a dangerous threat to even be in the same vicinity on neutral terms…And Erza was as dangerous as the armour and weapons that she pulled from thin air.
"Yeah…That's me…" Takeda said as he took on a surprisingly awkward tone as the shorter redhead approached him.
"I've heard a lot about you and what the Master has planned regarding you joining us." Erza carried on, her hard tone making sure that he understood what she was talking about. "Can I trust that you'll play nice?"
"And risk going back to deal with the Council? I'm fine where I am." Takeda said back to her with what sounded like a genuine tone, though the fact that he couldn't meet her gaze balanced that out back to looking insolent again.
Erza narrowed her eyes like she was scanning him for a lie but deciding to back off. "Very well…But a word of advice, look at people when they are talking if you intend to get along with people here." She said before going over to Mirajane and started to talk with her.
After the tense situation settled now that the prospect of Erza and Takeda fighting had passed, the clamour of people returned and things calmed down.
Levy walked over after everything to go check up on Takeda since besides being more empathetic towards him as a newish member, she also knew that Erza was a lot to take in the first time. "Man…She really knows how to command a room, you okay?"
Takeda however was silent to her joke as he had gone pale in the face and was unconsciously clenching his hands into fists rhythmically before turning around to head for one of the bathrooms. "Yeah…"
"Hey, are you okay? You look like you're gonna-"
"I said I'm fine." Takeda snipped with a rather abrupt tone as he shuffled away, making it clear that he wasn't going to talk about it as he quickened his pace to the bathroom, unaware of Levy's concern mixed with faint hurt at being shut down like that.
When the door to the men's bathroom slammed shut, Takeda began to run hot water as he could feel something bubbling inside of him; His breathing became sharper and quicker with each new inhale, his ears rang with recollections of the past and his vision slowly became hazier as he gripped onto the sink to steady himself.
"Protect them, Yoshida!"
"Your friends are dead."
"Look out for each other…"
"Your teachers are gone."
"They're alive!"
"And anyone who you've cared about has been snuffed out…"
"BURN IT! BURN IT ALL DOWN!"
"…And so will you."
The voices cascaded and echoed in his head louder and louder until they reverberated in his skull with the force of an explosion, a sudden pain in his stomach forced all of the strength from Takeda's legs and he staggered to one of the cubicles, the accumulated overload to his system forced him to thow his guts up into the toilet bowl.
The voices slowly dimmed down from the screaming bloody murder into harsh whispering as he sat there...Contemplating, the weakness in his body forcing him to confront one undeniable truth in the matter that was now stuck in his face: "You will never escape the past..."
Takeda's rather brusque dismissal hadn't gone unnoticed as Erza could see the worry on Mirajane's face along with the faint hint of hurt on Levy's. "Is he that awkward with other people?"
Mirajane had to admit that this was a first for him but this seemed to extend beyond just anxiety. "He's not exactly…social but I don't think I've seen him react like this before."
"And you're sure that he's okay as part of this "work release" in the Guild?" Erza asked as she looked to Mirajane with her usual seriousness though the white haired woman could easily see the concern leak past that beautiful face of her's.
"I promise you, Erza…He's perfectly fine and as far as I can see, he's not that much different to Gray or Natsu…" Mirajane said before gently resting one of her hands on Erza's cheek, chuckling a little when she saw the armoured woman blush and lean into her touch. "Just give him time, he'll be more at ease around you and the others before you know it."
It had been no secret in the Fairy Tail Guild that everyone was close but no one was as close as Erza and Mirajane; It had always been on sight with them when they were younger as Erza was dealing with a more brash and confrontational Mira, though that changed when her little sister died and Mirajane stepped back from fighting altogether despite being another of the strongest…And it was after the bridge was mended that Erza became friends with her and quickly turned into something special when the two realised their own feelings.
"I suppose I can give him more of a chance…But that eye contact habit needs to change if I am to go on missions with him." Erza said with a resigned sigh and grabbed a contract to enlist. "Make sure you keep your eye on him, I've heard a lot about what mages like that can get like…And I've heard a lot more about him as a former Vice-Guildmaster."
"Oh Erza, you almost sound like he could make you jealous." Mirajane teased her girlfriend playfully and then snuck in a kiss on her cheek, causing Erza to go a bright pink at both the insinuation and at the sudden affection.
"I-I'm not jealous…But I will be keeping an eye on him regardless to make sure he doesn't plan anything to get us in trouble." Erza grumbled as her seriousness gave way to a small smile and headed out of the door before Natsu could challenge her to a fight.
When Takeda came out of the restrooms, he noticed that Erza was gone and Mirajane seemed a lot more happier than she was before…Though that wasn't registered for long before Natsu grabbed the other Fire Mage and dragged him out for another contract of their's.
It took the whole journey, some arguing about why he was dragged out with Natsu again and the explanation from Happy to take Takeda's mind off of what happened with Erza. "So you're telling me that a Dragon Slayer…Someone who's task it is to slay something very big, very dangerous and very fast…Gets motion sick?"
"Aye! They have heightened senses and something about that makes Natsu really sick when he rides stuff." Happy explained as he flapped alongside the more lethargic Natsu while he was shrugging off the ordeal on their way to the Nazuna Ravine.
This however made Takeda confused as he recalled something during one of the Pest Control missions that they did. "But I've seen you riding Happy, how do you not get motion sick from that?"
"Because Happy's not a vehicle." Natsu pointed out like Takeda had just made a statement that was utterly stupid. "He's my friend so I don't get motion sick if he helps me out."
"I-Okay, you know what? I'm not going to question it." Takeda sighed in resignation as they navigated the stone steps that looked like they were sculpted into the mountains.
Happy then flapped beside Takeda like he was about to pull a fish from somewhere. "So we're here to protect the Observation place for a star show tonight?"
"Uh huh…" Natsu mumbled groggily as he swayed back and forth on the steps, only keeping steady because Takeda was holding a grip on his shirt…He already fell down the stairs on the lower area twice.
"It's the Stellar Star Shower viewing for tomorrow…They're charging the big money to see it up here." Takeda remarked as he held up the poster for their quest. "You would know if you paid attention."
"Hey, don't blame me because I got priorities." Natsu retorted as he snapped back partway up the stairs.
"Priori-YOU chose this request, Natsu! Don't go giving me crap about priorities when you can't remember what you signed up for." Takeda growled as they reached the top; Seeing the observatory in the distance at the edge of the ravine, the giant telescope poised towards the sky and under it's construction.
"There it is, our next big payday…And with the festival down in Hargeon, we might get a boost in tips." Natsu said with a grin as he elbowed Takeda in the side.
"You never cared much for money on the stuff you drag me on." Takeda mentioned as he crossed his arms. "Why are you really excited about this?"
"I heard that someone named Salamander is showing up in the town at this festival." Natsu explained as he didn't feel much of a need to hide it. "I figured that once this mission is done, I can go looking for him."
"Salamander?" Takeda asked curiously, this was a lot more than Natsu usually talked with him…though he also spent more time being motion sick for the ride over so he figured this was catching up.
"Aye, it's Natsu's dad!" Happy said with a cheerful tone as he flapped up to sit on Natsu's shoulder. "He's the one who taught him Magic and everything he knows."
"Uh huh…Wait, if he's Natsu's dad…Then how come he never stops by the Guild, I don't think I've ever seen someone who even resembles Natsu." Takeda asked, more confused than anything at the concept of someone being a father to an excitable, fire breathing Mage like Natsu.
"That's because a Dragon can't fit in the Guild building…Plus he's missing so Natsu's trying to go look for him." Happy pointed out.
"Oh, okay." Takeda said as he headed for the observatory, though it only took three steps for the penny to drop as he turned around with the most shocked expression on his face. "I beg your finest fucking pardon?!"
"Yeah, we've been looking for him for years now ever since he disappeared." Natsu elaborated as he walked past Takeda towards the observatory.
"No! Nonono, do not skip past that last part! Natsu's dad is a Dragon?!" Takeda stopped them both as this was big for him, Wizards with guns was one thing that he could at least rationalise considering where he came from but dragons were something else.