*A/N- Sorry for the long wait again, I know I'm trash.

X x

"So you mentioned your school the other day," Mavis started, not looking up from her work, but watching his reaction carefully out of the corner of her eye. "Where did you go?"

"Abarless High," he said offhandedly, looking through her homework assignment. "It's the next district over from yours, I think." Yes, he isn't suspicious, she thought triumphantly.

"As long as you're not from Pegasus High, I think I'd have to disown you." Zeref chuckled.

"They're your rival school, aren't they?"

"They think they're so cool!" Mavis burst out angrily, momentarily distracted. "A few Pegasus boys used to harass me and Zera on the bus for months before we put them in their place!" Zeref put down her assignment to raise his eyebrows at her.

"I have to hear that story."

"Alright so one day they were talking loudly about us, as usual, some of them were being vulgar. One said that all girls from my school were dumb sluts, and Zera was about to fly off the handle. I turned around and made eye contact with the one who said it, and he took a half step back, Zera said I looked so scary, and I just started crying."

"You...cried?" Zeref asked, confused. Mavis nodded proudly.

"Like open mouth, head tilted back, ugly sobbing. Zera caught on to what I was doing and she started crying too."

"Why though? And you can cry on command?"

"Well, you might have noticed, I look a good deal younger than I actually am."

"It hadn't passed me by."

"And what would you do if you saw a group of boys making two sweet little girls cry?" Understanding dawned on Zeref's face as Mavis's eyes gleamed.

"You made the crowd intervene for you, that's-that's…"

"Brilliant? I know. Just like that the same people that were content to ignore them constantly harrassing us were suddenly all on their feet, mobbing these boys, telling them off and threatening to teach them some manners while Zera and I stood back and watched. I made eye contact with one of the boys to make sure they knew exactly what we had done. From the look on his face he got the message."

"That's insane."

"And the best part is the driver kicked them off the bus and told them a couple of no-good bullies weren't welcome on it again." Mavis grinned evilly.

"Incredible. I can't believe you got someone thrown off a bus line. That's amazing." Good acting and strategy like that would make her an asset to your operation, he thought instinctively. Shut up, he told himself. Mavis smiled in a self-satisfied way.

"Well, you work with what you've got."

"You've got a lot to work with," he said, impulsively. His face flamed and Mavis giggled, smiling.

X x

"He didn't even flinch when I asked about his high school, Abarless by the way."

"Any other useful information?" Zera asked, making note of his high school.

"Well I mean he was pretty much in awe of us getting those boys kicked off the bus."

"It was pretty cool."

"Other than that there wasn't really any useful information."

"Okay so let's think about Abarless High, and how we can get in to check his records."

"Their uniforms really don't look anything like ours so we'd have to steal one or break in," Mavis said, "but I don't know about getting my own personal criminal record to match the one we think Zeref might have."

"You might have a point," Zera agreed, "so we'd either need a foolproof plan or a way to ease around the rules."

"Well lets think about this critically, school records are confidential, probably locked up in the headmaster's office. We wouldn't be allowed access to them. Who is allowed that sort of thing?"

"Parents, the person themself, maybe future employers?"

"I'm Zeref's employer," Mavis said, grinning evilly.

X x x

"Hi yeah, I run a small tutoring business, we've been looking to expand recently and I got an application for a lad who claims to have graduated early from this high school. Now I'm not asking you to disclose any confidential information, but can you confirm for me this boy went to your school, and maybe tell me a little bit of what he was like. We don't want to give some psycho access to children, now do we?" Mavis was using her best professional grown woman voice, and it seemed to be working.

"Right of course not, what's the student's name?"

"Zeref Dragneel." Mavis glanced at Zera, who had her pen out and at the ready. They had taken a bus several neighborhoods away to use a phone booth outside of their usual haunts. It was a good thing they were both so small so they could fit into the booth together.

"Oh, Zeref!" The headmaster said brightly. Mavis and Zera exchanged a glance and Zera began scribbling furiously. "So he's trying to get a tutoring job? Good for him, brightest boy I ever met, if not a little introverted."

"So you're confirming that he attended your school?"

"Yeah, and he graduated early too, real genius. He didn't talk much, but he seemed like a sweet kid, a gentle soul. He didn't have many friends, really kept to himself, but all the teachers loved him."

"Is that so?" Mavis asked.

"Oh yeah, they all say the same thing. 'He's so smart, and participates in class, but I've never known him to strike up a conversation.'"

"So he avoided people?"

"I don't know I'd put it that way, he would never ignore anyone who tried to talk to him, but he never tried to initiate interaction, as far as I know. Practically lived in the library, must have read every book in the place."

"And he never had any disciplinary problems?"

"No, never! He was a model student!"

"So, would you reccomend him for a tutoring job?"

"Absolutely, and good for him, I hope you give him the job, he'd be a real asset to your growing business!"

"Alright, thank you so much for your help!"

"No problem."

Mavis hung up, and gave Zera a meaningful look. She glanced down at Zera's journal to see that she had transcribed the entire conversation.

"I thought it would be good to have it recorded, so we wouldn't forget anything," Zera said.

"Good thinking," Mavis replied.

Mavis and Zera found a nearby diner and ate, deciding since they'd gone out of their way they should take advantage and go to a restaurant they normally wouldn't consider. They found a small diner and took a corner booth away from the rest of the patrons so they could have some privacy.

Zera flipped open her journal, adding information to the front page, a profile of Zeref. There was a creepshot of Zeref that Mavis had taken while he wasn't looking paper clipped to the top and a handwriting sample stapled to the bottom. Zera filled in the information about his education and added a few notes at the bottom about how much the headmaster had recommended him.

"You know if he is innocent then I'm going to feel really weird about having made this notebook," Zera said, looking at his profile page. It looked like something that you might see on a wanted poster, it was very thorough.

"Agreed," Mavis said, "but even after that glowing recommendation from the Headmaster I'm still suspicious, it's just a feeling."

"Well, that's good enough for me, I've never known your 'feelings' to be wrong. If this guy still gives you the creeps, we should keep looking."

"But that's just it!" Mavis said, flipping the journal shut as the waitress came to take their orders. She continued speaking in an undertone once she'd left again. "He doesn't give me the creeps, he's exactly what the headmaster said he would be. He's sweet and shy and honestly seems like a good kid."

"I got the same vibe from him, but no one ever said criminals couldn't have a soft side."

"That's true. I just wish we knew more about him."

"So invite him over some more," Zera said. "Start hanging out."

"I'll think about asking him to hang out."

Zeref sat in the shade of a tree, staring up at the sky. He was so bored. Turns out he didn't actually have a life outside of his Black Market, and now tutoring Mavis. There was nothing to do. He hadn't even bothered to buy one of those phones that can download the games that Serena was so obsessed with, so he was left to sit under a tree in the park and think. About what though? Mavis? My gang? Quantum theory?

Up until now if he'd been bored he'd simply go back to work and find something to do. That felt somehow wrong, like he shouldn't be tutoring Mavis and running a black market at the same time. He still didn't know why he was so concerned, but he was. He didn't want to go back to work just yet, so here he sat, under a tree, bored.

What did I used to do before I was in charge of the nation's leading blackmarket? He suddenly remembered long afternoons spent reading in the high school library to avoid speaking to anyone. Public libraries were still a thing right? He could just go in one and sit down and start reading, then he would be less bored.

He got to his feet, resolved to find the nearest library and get lost in a book. He was actually looking forward to it, it had been a while since he'd been able to read for pleasure. No to mention the public library was bound to have a wider selection to choose from, he'd nearly wrung the high school one dry. It didn't take long, he'd stopped a random person on the street and asked for directions. He'd never done that before. I'm trying all sorts of new things recently.

X x x

He walked straight into the YA section, deciding pleasure reading would come first. Maybe he would do some informational reading later. Maybe he'd read about police procedure, to see if anything had changed since the last time he'd looked. When he eventually went back to work he'd need to be able to keep ahead of the police. Zeref scanned through the YA book titles and landed on one called "The Demon King" by Cinda Williams Chima, it sounded interesting. The book totally drew him in, he was halfway done with it before he lifted his head again, and he only did because he felt someone standing over him.

"I haven't seen you before, do you have a library card?"

"Um, no," he said, shrinking away from the woman slightly. "Sorry."

"Its no problem, they're free, we can get you one right now."

"Really?"

"Yeah, would you like to check out that book?"

"Yes please," he nodded. He followed the woman to the desk and gave her the information she asked for. He hesitated a little bit when she asked for an address, so they could mail him his hard copy when it was ready. He didn't have an address, so he gave her Invel's. He wouldn't mind anyway. When it came in the mail Invel would be a little confused, but probably would just hold onto it for him until Zeref showed up.

Zeref went back to his little reading nook and sat down, determined to finish this book before the library closed. He checked the hours on the door and saw there was still a good bit of time left. He had nearly finished the book when he heard a very familiar giggle float through the shelves. It snapped him out of his reading stupor and brought him back to reality. Mavis? He got to his feet and walked in the direction he heard them to find Mavis and Zera pouring over very large stacks of books and a journal that Zera was taking notes in.

"Mavis?" Zeref said. Both girls jumped violently, startling Zeref. He hadn't meant to scare them. When Mavis's eyes snapped onto him they quickly scanned his body, almost like Mavis was doing a threat assessment. Her eyes landed on the book in his hand and she grinned.

"I love that book!" She cried. "Zera look, he's reading The Demon King! And look where his finger is marking the page! He's almost done!"

"I love that book!" Zera replied. "You're in for quite the ride buddy," she said. Both girls smiled easily at him like they were old friends. Zeref looked amusedly at Mavis and Zera's large stack of books.

"Oh, Zera and I are collaborating on a crime novel," she said, waving her hand dismissively at their mountain of reading material.

"Really?" He asked, walking forward. Zera closed the journal and nodded. She gestured to the seat across from them and he sat. "Is that the story?"

"Nope," Mavis said brightly, "it's just the notes for it, but it's top secret, you're not allowed to read it."

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't finished," Zera said. "Duh."

"Right, sorry," He surrendered.

"So who's your favorite character of the book so far?" Mavis burst out, like she couldn't contain herself anymore.

"I really, really like Raisa," Zeref replied.

"Same!" Mavis cried.

x

*A/N- Okay so the book they're talking about is my favorite one of all time I love it so much this is the second fanfiction I've written it into and it won't be the last. Other than that I'm sorry for the long wait!