A Personal Request

The four pinned beneath Eleven gradually quieted down when they saw how happily he was laughing.

Perhaps caught up in his laughter, Cana snorted and burst out laughing too.

Erza lay on her back with a look of satisfaction, savoring the happiness.

Laxus had quieted down too and was no longer angry, but he still looked disgusted as he tried to push Eleven off him.

As for Gray... he had tried to bite someone just now, so Laxus still had a hand clamped over his mouth, hiding his expression.

Grinning, Eleven let the four of them go. He had found his answer, and he was in a wonderful mood.

Laxus had no desire to hang around these inexplicable people any longer. With a cold snort, he turned and left.

Erza helped Cana gather the cards scattered across the floor.

Gray had lost interest in continuing the challenge, but he still made a fierce declaration to Eleven. "Eleven, I'll beat you one day, sooner or later! I'm definitely going to give you a beating!"

Eleven smiled at Gray without saying a word. Instead, he raised a finger and pointed at the sky.

Gray looked where Eleven was pointing and saw nothing.

"Telekinetic Hammer!" Still smiling, Eleven swept his finger downward.

Boom!!!!

The little Fairy Tail guild building seemed to tremble~

Although they had agreed to meet in the evening, Eleven went to the spot they had arranged the day before as soon as he finished lunch.

He had made up his mind: he would stay in Magnolia, stay in Fairy Tail. Though he regretted that he could not live with his mom and dad, he would not change his mind. It was a decision he had made from the bottom of his heart.

But Eleven waited through the blazing sun and watched it set, and still no one came.

Even when it was completely dark, Eleven did not leave. Instead, he kept pacing back and forth so that people could notice him in the dark.

The night passed without incident, and dawn quietly arrived.

Eleven sat huddled in a corner, his arms around his knees, his clothes soaked with dew.

It was the first time Eleven had noticed that the world at dawn was painted in a faint shade of blue. As the sun slowly rose, its light would gradually dye the world gold.

He slowly stood up and stretched, his bones cracking all over.

Eleven had not seen his parents. They had not come to meet him as promised. Though he worried that they might have encountered some danger and felt a little disappointed, he also felt a sense of relief.

He was actually a little glad that he did not have to face his parents again.

Eleven patted his cheeks and pulled himself together, then headed back with a light step. All he wanted now was a hot bath.

For the next week, Eleven took no jobs. Every day, he returned to that corner and waited until dark.

He also asked around about his parents, but no one had any noteworthy leads. In the end, Eleven had no choice but to give up. He buried the matter in his heart and stopped thinking about it.

One day, Makarov held up a request form and read it with uncharacteristic seriousness.

"Who's the client? Are they reliable?" Makarov looked up at the staff member beside him who was in charge of organizing jobs.

"They're a longtime client of ours. Fairly reliable."

"Hmm, thank you for your hard work!" Having gotten the answer he wanted, Makarov breathed a slight sigh of relief and resumed his carefree manner.

He took a sip from his glass, then waved the request form in the air and called out, "Hey, Eleven! There's a personal request for you!"

"A personal request? For me?"

Eleven looked utterly astonished. Personal requests were usually reserved for well-known mages. He had never expected his turn to come.

Eleven scurried over to Makarov and took the form. Sure enough, his name was written on it.

"Ah~ so I'm a well-known mage too now! Should I practice my signature?"

Eleven was in a daze. Happiness had come so suddenly that it had knocked him silly before he was ready.

"Ahem~" Makarov coughed lightly twice, interrupting Eleven's fantasies. "This is your first personal request. Don't mess it up. Team up with someone before you go."

"Oh... oh, sure." Eleven was a beat slow to respond; he was still basking in self-satisfaction.

Following the old man's instructions, Eleven began looking for teammates. Hehehe, this was his personal request! He could finally be the team leader when teaming up with others!

Speaking of teaming up, Eleven had actually had someone in mind for a week now, someone he wanted to tea... team up with.

"Erza, are you free? Team up with me for a job!" Eleven found Erza polishing her greatsword and got straight to the point.

"Team up with me? Can I?" Erza was surprised that Eleven had asked her to team up—or rather, pleasantly surprised that anyone had asked her.

"Yeah! As a rookie mage, you still have a lot of shortcomings when it comes to doing jobs. Let me, your senior, teach you properly!" Eleven made no attempt to hide his desire to instruct someone. With that smug look on his face, he showed no social skills whatsoever.

Fortunately, the person he had run into was the equally scatterbrained Erza. As soon as she heard that he was going to teach her how mages did jobs, she immediately put on a serious expression and solemnly declared that she would study hard!

Eleven watched Erza run off to pack her things at once, very pleased with her response. Her compliance greatly satisfied his vanity as a senior.

Before he knew it, Eleven had clasped his hands behind his back and begun strutting around the guild, looking thoroughly punchable.

As he wandered around, Eleven thought of Laxus. This was his personal request—how could he pass up the chance to show off to Laxus?

"Laxus! Want to come do a job with me? It's a personal request, you know. My personal request!" Looking utterly punchable, Eleven sauntered over to Laxus, tilted his head, and looked at him with the hint of a smile.

Eleven never spared any effort when it came to making Laxus furious.

Laxus was indeed about to explode. This guy had even said "personal request" twice. Just how badly did he want to show off?

Though he was terribly envious and resentful that Eleven had received a personal request first, he had to keep a calm face. He absolutely could not let the brat see through him!

"Huh? Why would I go on a job with you? I'm busy." Laxus glanced at Eleven with feigned composure and answered indifferently.

Who would have thought Eleven would laugh and pat him on the shoulder? "All right, all right, I'll bring you along on my job too. Don't be sad! Hahaha!"

Laxus: (▼皿▼メ;)

But just as Laxus was about to lose it, Makarov's voice stopped him. "Laxus, team up with Eleven and go with him."

"Huh? Why should I go on this guy's personal request?"

Laxus was deeply dissatisfied with what Makarov had said! Couldn't he see how smug this guy was? If Laxus gave him what he wanted, wouldn't his nose reach the sky? Just seeing him like that annoyed Laxus, let alone doing a job with him.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Laxus!" Makarov said in his usual carefree manner, as though he had not heard Laxus's complaint.

But Laxus could see a hint of seriousness in his grandfather's eyes. There seemed to be a reason he needed to go along, so he snorted and stopped refusing.