Escort Service Job (Ikuto-san and Rei)

When he saw the job posted on the board back at the guild Rei knew that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park and he would need someone who had reasonable to fair people skills to help him with the job itself, luckily for him that someone started to walk past him. So he mustered the courage and walked up to Ikuto flyer in hand. "Oh hello Ikuto I was wondering that is if you wouldn't mind...going on a job with me?" And he inwardly reprimanded himself for sounding nervous in front of one of his guild mates, but there were some things that just had to be dealt with gradually. A few other guild members passed them on their way to some unknown locale and waved at the two of them Rei simply smiled at them trying his best not to seem to eager to see them leave. He could only deal with so many people at a time and this was rather important, since it was his first job and he needed to prove not only to his guild mates but to himself that he belonged in Fairy Tail. He turned back to Ikuto and offered a warm smile which hid his anxiety very well.

"Oh hello Ikuto I was wondering that is if you wouldn't mind...going on a job with me?"

Turning around, Ikuto saw that the new member, Rei Hoshiyomi requested him with a job. Having not been on a job quite frequently as usually, Ikuto retorted, in a quite childish yet mature manner.

"Why not, Rei? I seem to have nothing better to do at the guild anyways." gesturing his arm around, showing Rei what other guild members were doing. Some were sitting at the bar, while others were at their own personal spots, within the guild hall. Ikuto, got tired of all the noise level of the guild from time to time, but today, the guild seemed to be quiet, very unlike Fairy Tail. Ikuto knew of the title that Fairy Tail held, 'The Loudest Guild in Fiore'. The guild was not living up to its name and Ikuto decided that he needed to keep the name alive.

Looking back at Rei, Ikuto questioned him "Shall we get started?"

Rei looked to him and smiled broadly. ” Absolutely ! We’ll go over the details of the job on the way over to Rose Garden, I can tell you that the young lady in question is the daughter of a well to do land owner and he wants us to well as he put it “Handle her”. So, it must be something serious otherwise the poor guy wouldn’t have asked for the assistance.” Rei was walking and talking trying to think of anything that might be of some help, but until he knew the type of person he was dealing with he really was running blind. Tactics were always his strong point if you thought just a few steps ahead of the opposition, then you would be fine, but as he held the door open for Ikuto he couldn’t but feel a little uneasy he wouldn’t say what was on his mind, but the gears were definitely turning in his head.

As Ikuto walked through the door that Rei opened for him, he gave the kid a thank you. Ikuto tried to categorize while processing the information that Rei had given him. So far, Ikuto simply knew that a noble was simply wanted a few mages to 'handle his daughter.' What does that mean? Was she a demon of some sort, or a monster similar to that? Maybe she was a normal human, with the possibility with her being in a mental state? Although, all these thoughts bounced around inside Ikuto's head, he threw them aside, as he did not want to jump to conclusions.

Continuing onto their journey to the Rose Garden, Ikuto spotted a few free food giveaways while he was walking along with Rei. Staring off into the delicacies, Ikuto's mouth widened, mesmerized by the amazing platters of food. Since he didn't want to simply leave Rei along, for Rei had just joined the guild and ditching the boy would leave a bad reputation on Ikuto's name, he asked Rei, trying to maintain a starved manly look.

"Mind if I go grab some bites? Go on without me okay, Rei? I'll catch up in no time!" and with that he ran off ahead.

He stood there for a while watching him leave his face was unreadable then he sighed and followed him at a good pace until he reached him placing a hand on his shoulder. “You know if you were hungry you should have said something I can cook after all, but I suppose if food is placed in front of a starving man especially if it’s free food. Well I suppose there is no use waiting just remember to bring something for the trip. I’ll be waiting for you at the town entrance whenever you’re ready.” and with that he walked off taking the scenic route through town it was something he found out about from a few of the other guild members and he had used it a few times to get to the town entrance. The moment he found himself at the end of the line he just stood there waiting patiently for his guild mate.

Finishing what he did, Ikuto noticed that he took longer than he had expected, probably making Rei stand for a half hour straight. Very little did Ikuto ever use his magical abilities to do any kind of transportation, yet he felt a bit guilty for forcing Rei to do such harsh matters, just because he couldn't simply starve. Ikuto moved a bit faster and faster, gradually increasing his speed, until he reached light speeds. Rushing at the speed of light, Ikuto reached Rei in no time flat. "Hey Rei! Hope I didn't make you wait that long." with a slight quiver in his voice.

Simply apologizing wasn't enough for Ikuto. He wanted to do something that would actually repay Rei for the wait, so he came up of a splendid idea. Why walk the whole way, when he could just.....teleport in some kind of fashion. "Rei-sama. Sorry about that, had you waiting nearly thirty-five minutes or so huh? Well, I never got to know this, but where was our destination?"

He quirked a brow at him and gave him a lopsided smile. “Rose Garden, our client lives in Rose Garden. One of the largest estates there I do believe though come to think of it I think it’s only the third largest. I know a bit about the upper class so if you want to know something just ask and I will to the best of my abilities try to answer. Now how do you want to proceed the long way or an alternate means of transportation?” He really didn’t know what his traveling companion was capable of and he was rather curious as to how he would respond. It was never enough just talking to a person to get to know them sometimes it was all about actions or reactions one would take when one was posed with a question like this, oftentimes he would have to change tact but this time it was warranted.

“Rose Garden, our client lives in Rose Garden. One of the largest estates there I do believe though come to think of it I think it’s only the third largest. I know a bit about the upper class so if you want to know something just ask and I will to the best of my abilities try to answer. Now how do you want to proceed the long way or an alternate means of transportation?”

Rei had clearly caught onto Ikuto's motives. Rose Garden, a wondrous estate with astounding beauty and life everywhere. Named the Rose Garden for it had roses everywhere and it seemed to be not only a garden of flowers, but a garden of magical life. Balloons, parties, flowers, sparks, magic, everything you could think of, was here. Knowing that much, Ikuto wanted to head over straight away, with no hesitation. Following up on Rei's question, Ikuto answered that "Transportation? I apparently do!" and Ikuto squatted, gesturing Rei to get on, a piggyback ride.

He mentally face palmed because of the sheer ridiculousness of it, but he took a breath stealing himself for what he was about to do and jumped on his back, wrapping his arms firmly but not tightly because he really didn’t want to strangle his ride over. “Ha-ha it’s just as Lenora used to say to me “Never conform to the norm, it really brings more color into your life if you live for the moment.” Sorry was just reminiscing a bit, so we ready to hit the wide open country side?” He wasn’t overly excited about the whole piggy back business, but if got them both there then it was worth a try and besides it would make for a good story though he would probably leave this part out. He did still have his pride after all though he really didn’t have much of it left.

Just as his nicknames state, the Angelic Flash was up and about. Clearly seeing the displeasure on Rei's face as he was on Ikuto, acting like a little boy, Ikuto tried not to laugh, but gave off the slightest smile. After Rei got on, the action started! Using his magical abilities of light, Ikuto traveled at light speeds and within a nanosecond, the scenery of the Rose Garden came into view. It was marvelous and sadly, Ikuto had described it slightly off. Rerunning over what he previously thought, he noticed this garden was at least twice the size of Magnolia Town, if not, thrice.

Another millisecond passed, while Ikuto approached with Rei on his back. Ikuto squatted down again, this time, gesturing for the guy to get off. Little did he want to admit, this boy was simply heavier than him. Getting back up, Ikuto asked a question he apparently asked before. "Shall we?"

When he got off he knelt down his hands on his knees and closed his eyes for the briefest of moment trying to regain his equilibrium when the ground stopped moving under his feet he straightened up and returned the smile. “Yes, lets we don’t have much further now actually it’s right around here somewhere…” this always happened to him in the past he would forget where the client lived have to backtrack to jog his memory, then ask for directions. He didn’t want to do that this time around so he wrote down the directions before he left. “Ahh that’s right the rendezvous is the largest pavilion in the garden, he must have realized that we would be early otherwise he wouldn’t have thought two steps ahead. I like this client already!.” he pointed off past the freshly trimmed rose hedges and started walking in that direction.

Ikuto, clearly had no idea what Rei-sama was talking about. Rei seemed to know what he was doing though, and that alone was good enough for Ikuto. Following Rei, Ikuto suddenly had a huge urge to eat and fart, for whatever reasons Ikuto did not know of himself. But he held the fart in and contained his hunger. Soon after, they arrived at the freshly trimmed rose hedges. Ikuto and Rei, waited and waited, not sure who or where the client was. Suddenly, an old man, around the age of 50 or so appeared. Ikuto asked the question he would ask during any job. "Are you the client, sir?"

The man was a tall one, taller than Ikuto. Ikuto stared into the eyes of the client, trying to figure out what the problem one. He seemed to have everything he ever wanted, yet at the same time, Ikuto felt that the man was a bit uneasy, about something quite small, though someone was making a big deal out of it. Repeating his first question, Ikuto added on another thing. "Are you the client sir? What seems to trouble you on this fine day?"

Rei also took in the full measure of the man standing before him, he was definitely of the same caliber of his father as far as social standing and fine breeding were concerned, but there was a sadness a sort of weight that seemed to make up this mans entire being. “Mr. Westfield? We have come in regards to the job you posted. Would you care to go over the particulars?” The social elite had their code and standards that they had to adhere to and Rei was just getting them on the right track, rather than standing upon ceremony. The man looked slightly flustered but when Rei said this he looked somewhat relieved that he didn’t have to go into pleasantries.

“Quite I would have preferred that we adjourn to the manor, but the sooner this whole business is sorted the happier I’ll be. he paused taking out a handkerchief from his breast pocket stifling a short cough returning it to his pocket he sniffed indignantly and continued. “My daughter is out of control, you see she was very close to my wife when she passed I had tried to fill the void. However much to my utter shame I tried to buy her love and in the interim neglected to see just how it would effect her in her later years, but I was also grieving and for awhile the ply of affection was overrun by shopping excursions. I just want my daughter back, the way she was before all of this. So I ask.. No, beg of you both for your assistance .”

“My daughter is out of control, you see she was very close to my wife when she passed I had tried to fill the void. However much to my utter shame I tried to buy her love and in the interim neglected to see just how it would effect her in her later years, but I was also grieving and for awhile the ply of affection was overrun by shopping excursions. I just want my daughter back, the way she was before all of this. So I ask.. No, beg of you both for your assistance .”

Ikuto felt bad and sad. This man, a noble, yet he didn't have all that he wanted. Ikuto wanted to assist really bad, but had no idea what the man, Mr. Westfield, wanted. So he simply asked, "Mr. Westfield, I understand that point you're trying to make sir, but could you explain the situation? I'm not sure I understand what you seem to be grieving over, sir." This tone of voice within Ikuto was unlike anything before.

Rei on the other hand understood what he was hinting at, when he was a boy he had to escort gils his own age mostly to social gathering such as dinner parties or for a simple outing. As his father would often explain at length it was all part of the noble life to act as if you were genuinely interested in what you were doing. “Mr.Westfield your daughter is in good hands we will to the best of our abilities do what we can to help both of you come to terms with all that has kept you apart for so long.” Rei said with a short bow then straightened up and looked to Ikuto with a sheepish smile. “By “Handle” he meant spend time with her and during that time we are to help her see the error of her ways and if we are successful then she will hopefully have a brand new outlook and perhaps more respect for her father. So what do you think are you up to the challenge, Ikuto?”

“By “Handle” he meant spend time with her and during that time we are to help her see the error of her ways and if we are successful then she will hopefully have a brand new outlook and perhaps more respect for her father. So what do you think are you up to the challenge, Ikuto?”

Ikuto looked at Rei with a slight grin. He replied a short, simple reply, giving Rei all the information he needed. "Sure, I'm ready." Yet on the inside, Ikuto thought "HELL YEAH I'M READY! DO YOU REALIZE WHO I AM? YOU'RE TALKING TO IKUTO MATSUNA HERE!" Ikuto was a total hothead, and took the question Rei-sama asked, as a challenge. "First off, we gotta find the girl. I'll go on first Rei, good luck to you." In a flash, he was gone.

Rei stood there in shock in the wake of Ikutos exit just marveling at it all. ”…Oh dear he actually thinks it’s a contest. It seems that he has a head start best hop to it then the old fashioned way.” he sighed and looked to Mr.Westfield who was still standing there. “Sir allow me to escort you back to the manor and perhaps there you can fill me in the particulars as far as where your daughter likes to go on these shopping sprees?” He offered his arm to the older gentleman who took it and Rei helped him walk down the freshly graveled path to his manor. He even opened the door for him and helped him cross the threshold. After they were settled and tea was served the man looked at Rei and smiled. “Thank you young man now to business you wanted to know about my daughter?”

“Well sir if you don’t mind” Rei was anxious to help this girl and he was starting to wonder if this was wayy out of their league. “I can do a little better than that young man I can tell you where she’ll be right now. Let’s see around this time she is taking tea at the end of the hedge maze, if you hurry you might just catch her in time.” Rei was astounded that the old man had caught on that fast but he got to his feet and bowed before straightening up and walking at a fast pace out the door and it was back to searching by foot once again. He walked down the path for a bit looking around for this maze and sure enough he spotted it in the distance. “You may have a head start, but I have the location.’’ he smiled grimly as he started his somewhat long trek past hedges and freshly planted flower gardens.

Dashing off at literally light speeds, Ikuto made not-so-surprising progress, in terms of his speed. "Dammit, this is almost too easy." Ikuto stated loudly. He was stuck in his thoughts of how he was going to win the supposedly 'challenge'. This continued on and on for a few more minutes, until he saw a mass appearance of the ladies. Ikuto, himself, was a bit of the lover side of a man's personality, always wanting to flirt. "With the pace I'm making, a short break wouldn't make a difference, would it?" he quietly asked himself. But clearly it did. Staring at the girls, he realized something, as many functions started whirring within his brain. "Girls...girl...job......Mr. Westfield...Now who did he say his daughter was and where was she again?" He finalized everything and concluded something that pissed him off. "I FORGOT TO ASK MR. WESTFIELD!" and with that, Ikuto dashed in the opposite direction, searching for his client.

Just as Rei was making his way to his destination, Mr.Westfield was taking tea on the terrace which overlooked the path that led to his house. Anyone who was looking in that direction could see it since it was an open air terrace complete with treacle table and chairs and  it was on the lowest floor so anyone could just jump onto the terrace itself well those with enough stamina at least. He poured himself a nice blend of Earl grey with a hint of blueberry the fragrance he found most relaxing, especially on a day like today.  Of course there was another reason why he was taking tea in such an open area, it was due to the fact that the other young man had simply ran off before he could tell him where his daughters location.

Meanwhile, Rei was waiting patiently around a group of young ladies who seemed rather interested in him, but he simply smiled at them. There was only room for one woman in his heart and he really wasn’t the type to flirt.

Even with his light speed magic, it took Ikuto five minutes or so to locate Mr. Westfield around the Rose Garden. He spotted his client at a tea shop, sitting at a table, drinking tea. The man had a distraught look on his face, seeing as his problem was both internal and external. Ikuto did wonder what was wrong. Walking over to the man, Ikuto had to put on a smile, one that showed that he was sorry for leaving without saying 'bye', along with asking for the information. Ikuto tapped the client on the shoulder, resulting in Mr. Westfield to turn around, a bit astounded.

"Sir Westfield? Mind I ask you a bit of information, regarding your daughter?"

Mr. Westfield turned around, with a slight look of annoyance in his face, as he clearly went over this conversation, no doubt.

"Damn that Rei...He DID get a head start!" Ikuto whispered quite softly.

The client, Mr. Westfield, told Ikuto everything.

“I can do a little better than that young man I can tell you where she’ll be right now. Let’s see around this time she is taking tea at the end of the hedge maze, if you hurry you might just catch her in time."

With that Ikuto took off, but right as he turned around, he spotted many stunning ladies. He made his way over, only to see them staring at a young man, Rei-sama.

"Hey Rei. Guess we're stuck together again, huh?"

Rei looked at him and smiled kindly “Seems that way and look our long and arduous search is over I believe one of these young ladies is our clients daughter, so Ikuto care to take a chance at finding her in this throng since this does seem to be your forte?” This was why he had chosen Ikuto it wasn’t random he knew that the other man knew his way around the ladies, a strength that would prove invaluable especially in this instance.

There were six girls in this group all it would take would be a bit of persuading and smooth talking to find the girl they were searching for then it was left to them to talk to her and if possible reason with the young lady. He had complete faith in Ikutos abilities however and that sort of faith was something that was scarcely in short supply. Rei noticed that one of the girls was looking at her friends as if they were now the enemy and Rei simply looked in her direction and took note of her demeanor, he motioned to Ikuto and pointed her out. She was fair skinned and very pretty with short black hair that framed her face and she was wearing a light blue dress with flowers looped in the bodice.

“Seems that way and look our long and arduous search is over I believe one of these young ladies is our clients daughter, so Ikuto care to take a chance at finding her in this throng since this does seem to be your forte?”

Ikuto smiled, as he quietly thanked Rei for the opportunity. Walking over to the ladies, Ikuto put his arm around one of their waists, a simple maneuver that any man should know. But all she did was look at him, signaling several signs of disgust, and then walk away.

"Dammit. Smooth move, genius. Could you be any more oblivious?" he thought to himself.

He tried again and again. Each time with a different procedure. The second girl just gave him a slight smile, leaving him to go interrogate the rest. The third simply said hi, again following the second lady. Ikuto gave up after that, heading back over to Rei. Although, he hated to admit it, Ikuto told him.

"Rei...you can do this!" Ikuto said, pushing in forward.

Rei sighed and then walked over to the lady he had tried indicating to Ikuto, of course he was preoccupied with what Rei had instructed him to do so the fault lied with him so too did this next bit of business. He asked the two remaining ladies if they could have a moment or two alone with the young lady they were crowed around, they both looked rather uneasy and looked to the third girl who shooed them away with a wave of her hand. Rei bowed to her and took her hand in his leading her over to Ikuto. “Ikuto it is my esteemed honor to present Ms.Westfield. Ms.Westfield my collegue, now that we have gotten past those pesky introductions lets get down to business. Would you like to do the honors Ikuto or shall I?” he smiled broadly at Ikuto whilst the lady just blushed and turned up her nose at him.

"Would you like to do the honors Ikuto or shall I?”

Again the weight of messing up was in Ikuto's hand. He backed down from one offer once, he will not do it again. Ikuto nodded his head in Rei's direction, indicating that he would do the honors himself this time. Ikuto walked up, a bit closer than before, to Ms. Westfield. Now before he did anything else, Ikuto did a quick analyzation of her. She was a stunning beauty, any eyes from men would try to meet her gaze. Thinking back at how Rei did not show emotions what-so-ever, Ikuto wondered how he was able to not fall under this beauty's stare. In his best and upmost formal voice Ikuto could render, he started.

"Hello Ms. Westfield. I'm sure you've met Rei-sama already. I am Ikuto, Duelist and Angelic Flash of FairyTail. Our...situation for seeing you is quite...umm...-coughs coughs cough-...in need of your participation ma'am."

He stuttered a few times in between words, but as Ikuto saw it, he did a pretty good job so far. He gained a bit more confidence in himself, continuing his next line.

"We've received several reports from your father ma'am. He best suggests...no...requires that you come home right away ma'am. Would you please give us your full cooperation?"

And Ms. Westfield spouted on word that killed Ikuto's confidence.

"No!"

Rei folded his arms over his chest looking at the pair of them, analyzing the situation in his own way and thinking it best to lend some word of encouragement to Ikuto.  However he couldn’t help but notice that her response was far too quick, obviously there was something amiss. So he changed tact and focused on the current situation. “It’s difficult trying to find a common ground or a commonality with someone who has never been in this situation, loss is the worst part of life especially if you were close to that someone. We have all been down that road: Lost loves, Good friends, even relatives who were so dear to our hearts. But you want to know a secret?” he walked over to her and took both of her hands in his with a warm almost brotherly smile on his face. “They are always there the ones we love never really leave us, and when you are ever sad or alone you can always think back on the times that were most precious to you, because in the end they live within you, your heart will always be their home. Your father knows this better than most, but he’s been alone wouldn’t you want to talk to him even if it’s something small the small things can open the door to memory. With memory comes the hope of a happier tomorrow.”

He let go of her right hand just to reach for Ikuto and he pulled him into the fold for someone who was pacifist and small of build Rei really was quite strong, Rei put Ms.Westfields free hand in Ikutos and took the liberty of holding the other one that way they formed a sort of circle. [color=teal]“See Ms.Westfield? You are not alone.” [/color=teal] he smiled from Ikuto to Ms.Westfield who blushed fiercely but didn’t try to pull away in fact she started to tear up. “…I just miss her so much but my father always acted so cold even after her funeral and that was why…” tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. “Your father put up a brave front for you because he wanted to look strong in front of you I’m more than sure that if you had spoken to him right then he would have lost his will to keep composed and wept, he was being strong for you, my lady.”