After his first job for the Bathhouse, Aniz and Eru his companion was surprised to find another one up so soon—and this one much more dire than the first. A peeping tom was seriously bad for business, after all, if your patrons didn’t feel safe they would stop coming. Never mind the moral ramification of such a thing. Aniz knew he could be a flirt, but he’d never peek in on women bathing unless it was hinted that such a thing was welcome, of course! And so he exited the guild hall in the early morning hours as he had before, folding the job request into his vest as he did so. The cool winter air brought a chill that nipped at his nose and cheeks, causing the tanned surfaces to redden slightly. This cold weather didn’t cause the smile to fade from his face though, instead he took in a deep gulp of the fresh air. Fairy Tail guild hall was warm, sure, but it was also kind of stuffy. If anything, he knew they could stand to air the place out instead of smelling like the night after a big party every day—even though every night there was a party of some sort, for some reason. Maybe one day he’d hold one for himself, but he needed to do something noteworthy first and he doubted handing out fliers and dealing with a peeping tom qualified as such.

He navigated through the streets of Magnolia, waving to the few faces he recognized from passing out fliers. Most of these were women, of course, and true to their former personalities most rolled their eyes though some blushed and cast looks to their friends. He wasn’t trying to get any specific reaction, or maybe he was, it was simply in his nature. Perhaps if he made enough passes one woman would decide to take him up on the offer, sort of casting multiple lines when fishing. It could only increases his chances, really, unless he sucked at fishing.

Reaching the bathhouse, the Fairy Tail Guild member stopped as his blue-green eyes fell upon the white and red notice posted on the doors. ‘Female Bath closed until further notice’. He frowned at this, so it had already gotten to that point, eh? Well, he supposed it was double important he deal with this guy now. He didn’t want to see Ms. Bella’s business suffer because of a creep, she was a sweet woman after all. Entering between the double doors the Satan’s power user greeted the male attendant with a two fingered wave.

“Oh, hello sir. The male baths are still open if you’d like..?” came the young man’s voice and Aniz shook his head.

“Nah, I’m here for the job posting.” Aniz produced the notice from his vest, handing it to the man. He smiled brightly and nodded quickly before standing and motioned for Aniz to follow. The two travelled the corridors that Aniz had just travelled a few days prior, arriving at the door to Bella’s suite and office.

“The Owner is inside, please proceed when requested.” The attendant bowed and handed Aniz back the piece of paper, causing the Dark magic user to rub his neck slightly at the politeness. He watched the man leave before he knocked once, twice, thrice. The same muffled voice from only a few days prior called to him and the Guild Wizard opened the door once told to do so. Entering, he flashed the woman his biggest smile.

“I remembered to wear my good pants today!” A reference to their conversation last time, and the woman gave a light laugh, catching the inside joke.

“How lucky we are” she said before offering the wizard a place to sit. Aniz followed her hand with his eyes and then nodded, sitting in the arm chair that resided before her desk. “It’s rather odd that you would take another job posting here. Most wizards want to have a bit of variety.”

“Well, ya know what they say, I’m only one call away. Besides, helping the same client helps me build a rapport. In turn, when something needs done I’ll be the first wizard to come to mind—and maybe you’ll reference the guild to someone else.” Aniz explained this with a casual shrug before that boyish grin crept back up. "Besides, I can never say no to a pretty lady.”

“Quite the head you have on your shoulders if that’s your train of thought” the owner admitted, though a glint of mirth reached her eyes at his follow up comment. “Ah, and quite the charmer too, I see. Well, as the job said we have a bit of a...peeping problem.” She said the last two words with an amount of venom that Aniz didn’t think the woman could produce. This caused the Dark magic user to nod, allowing the weight of the situation to settle in the room.

“Any idea who it could be?” An earnest question, and the owner shook her head, causing her blonde locks to cascade over her shoulders.

“If I did, I simply would have went to the authorities.”

“I’d prefer a bounty at the guild,” Aniz said flatly and the woman stifled a giggle.

“Not a fan of peeping?” The coyness in her voice cause Aniz to shift slightly.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, but only when it’s encouraged by the second party. Otherwise, it’s just creepy.” Aniz admitted this with a laugh and the woman returned it with a small one of her own.

“This is sort of a bounty, isn’t it? So, wish granted. They say he only shows up at night, under the cover of darkness. We’re not sure where he watches from, but we gather it’s from outside the baths.”

Aniz nodded at her explanation, frowning slightly. He was kind of early for the job then, but in retrospect he supposed he should be approaching this from a peepers standpoint and not a Guild Wizard’s. Much like hunting back home, one had to think like the animal they were tracking and there was no getting around it: this guy was as close to an animal as humans could get. Fair enough.

“‘Fraid I swung by kinda early then,” the Dark magic user admitted and Bella gave a small smile and nodded before replying.

“I figured whomever took the job, would. You Wizards are an early rising bunch. How about I make some tea and we can spend the day chatting?”

Aniz nodded in reply and leaned back in the chair. Sometimes, the jobs weren’t so bad!


Night had finally begun to creep through the streets of Magnolia as the sun dipped behind the tops of the buildings. Aniz moved outside the bath, towards the wooded area that surrounded the springs. Moving to the trees, he silently crept along them as he did when he was a boy. If there was anything good about being raised in a small village, far flung from any type of civilization, it was that tree climbing was a favorite past time. Often times his sister would dare him to climb to branches that were less than safe, so falling wasn’t exactly a fear for the young man. He had done it enough to know the fall wasn’t the part that hurt...it was the sudden stop.

Moving along from tree to tree, Aniz eventually caught the sensed of someone in the area, which was odd because he was the only person back here. Not odd, he’d admit, considering he was looking for someone. He couldn’t pinpoint them, so instead he merely crept around until the sun had already sunk below the horizon well before he found the man thanks to his mutterings. Finally he found the man, hunched behind some bamboo that separated the baths with some type of viewing object pressed to his eyes. Aniz looked to him, then to the bath, then back down at the peeper.

“Odd...there’s nobody here yet...”

Even the guys voice just pissed him off. Aniz squatted on the branch, resting his forearms on his knees as he spoke. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

This caused the peeping tom to scramble just as Aniz descended, barely missing the man’s temple with a kick. He could have just talked the guy down, but honestly, the Dark magic user was of the mind that lessons like these needed….reinforcement.

The peeping tom made it to his feet, his looking glass having been dropped where he had been. He looked to them, and Aniz followed his eyes, a smirk reaching his lips before he raised a leathered boot and brought it down with enough force to crush the, what Aniz didn’t know, binoculars. “Shit, sorry, were those yours?” Aniz mocked the man, goading him into what was surely about to be a fight.

“Who are you?” The man’s voice was soft, almost a whisper, but Aniz had no trouble picking it up as a cool breeze blew through the wooded area.

“Doesn’t matter. Your peeping days are over, pal. We can do this the easy way or--” Aniz was cut off as the peeping tom launched himself at Aniz, planting a fist squarely on Aniz’s cheek. The Dark magic user’s head turned with the blow still planted firmly before he began to turn his head back to look at the man, his temper flaring. “Good. The hard way.”

Aniz’s counter attack, a swift kick, was avoided as the man leaped back, though Aniz was already after him, snapping a piece of bamboo as he did so. As soon as the peepers feet touched the ground, they were hoisted as the bamboo stick Aniz had grabbed plowed it’s way squarely into his stomach. This caused the item to snap, but Aniz wouldn’t be denied the satisfaction. Grabbing the man by the hair he moved forward to plant the peeper squarely on his back. This brought a grin to Aniz’s face, though it was short lived as the peeper brought his feet around, tripping Aniz. As the Dark magic user fell, the peeper continued the motion and flipped to his feet.

The peeping tom was on him quicker than Aniz would have liked—he was fast!--and began kicking at Aniz. The Satan’s power user brought his hands to his chest, absorbing the kicks as best he could before he turned his head to the man and puffed his cheeks. From between the user’s lips a single dart of earth was darkness, and the peeper stumbled back as it struck him squarely in the shoulder. This bought Aniz the time he needed.

“A Wizard?!” The peeper said this incredulously, and it was Aniz’s turn to flip to his feet—albeit in a less than flashy manner than had been previously done by said peeper. Once there, Aniz let out a shout with balled fists that made the earth beneath his feet quake ever so slightly, but certainly not enough for the tom to feel. With newfound strength flowing through him, the power of the very Great Mother herself, Aniz moved towards the man.

The tom proved faster, though, ripping the dart from his shoulder and leaping at the Dark mage. This wasn’t his first fight, the small town boy having gotten into many scrapes as he grew up—and many of those with boys nearly twice his age. His left hand shot out, grabbing the man’s wrist as he bent it back. He made sure that he held his hand up so that the Fairy Tail symbol could be seen by the tom. The darkness power dropped from his hand and the tom jumped, attempting to kick Aniz in his temple. At such a disadvantage, having his wrist bent, the tom couldn’t get the leverage needed and merely succeeded in getting his ankle caught in Aniz’s other arm. It was at this point the Slayer decided to end the fight.

A quick kick was sent to the tom’s spread groin, enough force to life the man off his feet. Using this momentum Aniz whirled and secured the ankle in both hands before he turned and tossed the man over the bamboo, and directly into the empty woman’s bath he desired to see so much. Landing on the stone surrounding the water with a heavy ‘thwack’ the tom merely groaned and curled up as Aniz hoisted himself over. Well, that was that.

With everything said and done, Bella offered him another special bath—the very same that had left him invigorated as time. He accepted the offer, allowing her employee to take the tom to the authorities.


2104/2000

500/550: