Hello again peoples!
I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters other than my OC Kiri.
Enjoy~
Lucy sat beside the newest addition the Fairy Tail, Kiri. She had come at the request of the guild master to help with a job that none of the other members of the guild could handle. The shadow mage had agreed, then after the job was finished was asked if she would want to join them.
Mira smiled from behind the counter as she gave the girls their drinks. Kiri wore her usual silver and black corset tank top with a pair of cargo pants with matching colours, a katana resting gently strapped to her side. The oddest thing about her was that she always preferred to go barefoot everywhere. Her long black hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with only her bangs to frame her soft face and strange eyes. Many people thought she wore contacts but ignored the looks she would get with one being a bright crystalline violet and the other a catlike topaz. She was quiet most of the time and took things seriously but once she felt comfortable around someone, she let them see how she really was.
"So how have your days been?" Mira asked as she leant across the counter to the two girls.
They gave eachother a look then Lucy hung her head while Kiri sighed and thumbed behind her, "Those two started fighting before we even got there and the town's mayor refused our help wanting a 'More professional guild to assist them'," she used air quotes then hissed as something hit her in the back of the head.
The members that were there when the group came back knew that her, Lucy, and Erza were not happy and now everyone held their breath as Kiri placed her hands on the counter, slowly standing up then turned around to face the culprits who looked ready to run.
Even though she was around the same age as Natsu and the rest of their group, even the oldest in the guild knew that Kiri's temper was on par with Erza's and should be avoided at all costs.
Natsu's eyes grew big while Gray seemed to pale more as she narrowed her eyes at them about to take a step forward when Mira and Lucy each grabbed an arm and pulled the angry girl back into her seat quickly. "Calm down Kiri-chan. I'm sure they didn't mean to hit you," Lucy smiled weakly as Mira nodded with a happy smile.
Kiri noticed the look Makarov sent her and took a long deep breath, counting to ten before relaxing in their grips and turned back to her unfinished drink with a sigh. The rest of the guild seemed to relax as the crisis was adverted.
Mira patted the girl on the arm then noticed something and left her hand there. Kiri and Lucy looked at her confused as Mira looked worried, "Are you cold Kiri?" They took notice of the almost purple colour at the base of her fingernails where there should have been a healthy pink colour.
Said girl blinked then felt her own arm then shrugged, "I've always been on the cold side. I hate being cold but I grew to ignore it even though I would prefer to be out in the sun where it's warmer."
"You grew to ignore it?" Lucy asked confused.
Kiri nodded, "Yeah, before when I was little and it use to bother me I could be found wearing thick pants, several pairs of socks, a couple of shirts with a jacket over it during the summer." The other two blinked as the one talking shrugged, "But I trained myself to ignore the cold and now it doesn't bother me."
Mira gave her a look that both Kiri and Lucy knew meant nothing good could come from it. "Hmm," she looked around the room then grinned brightly.
"I have a bad feeling," Kiri mumbled to Lucy who nodded.
The bartender came out from behind the counter and pulled Kiri towards the table where Erza, Gray, Natsu, Wendy, Happy, and Charles were sitting. Kiri latched onto Lucy's arm, deciding if she was going to die the blonde was coming with her.
The table looked up to the three and greeted them happily while Kiri was trying to get her arm free. "Natsu," Mira smiled while the panicking girl tried to fight harder but couldn't get her arm free no matter what.
"What's up?" the fire mage grinned as he noticed the other two.
Mira sent a look to Kiri that made both her and Lucy pray, "Natsu, are you hot?"
That got several snickers and people falling out of their seats with laughter while Gray grinned, "Him?" then he started chuckling while Natsu tried to beat him up again, "If you think he's hot, then I'm a god."
Lucy leant closer to Kiri's ear and muttered so Natsu couldn't hear, "Don't panic. I don't think Mira knows about that."
Though that did little to calm the panicking girl's nerves any as Erza sighed and smacked Gray, "I think she meant if his body temperature is hotter than normal, right?"
Mira nodded with a wide smile then looked to Gray, "Are your hands warm or cold?"
He looked confused and tried to figure out when both Mira and Erza grabbed a hand and said at the same time, "Cold." Mira looked curious, "Touch Kiri's arm." He gave her an 'are you serious' look but she just kept smiling and put his hand on Kiri's arm.
Everyone watched amused when he jerked his arm away like he had been burnt, "You're freezing!"
"Can you not handle a little cold?" Natsu snickered.
But Gray shook his head and looked back at Kiri, "How can you be colder than me and not shivering?"
She shrugged as Mira kept a tight hold on to her as she tried to get away, "I've always had a low body temp. Mira let go! You've made your point, I'm cold, can I just go back to my seat and be left alone?"
Kiri struggled more as Erza stood up and walked in front of the fidgeting girl with narrowed eyes. She stopped struggling and glared down Erza as she managed to jerk her arm free. No one said a word as the two glared at eachother, equaling eachother's hard gaze. Mutters could be heard from around the room.
"Ne, Erza reminds me of a knight."
"Eh, really? I always thought Kiri looked like a samurai."
Erza crossed her arms while Kiri's hand twitched closer to her blade that waited for her to command. Gray and Natsu looked at Mira and Lucy, the ice mage asking everyone's silent question, "What was the point of this Mira?"
Said woman looked away from the two glaring girls and sighed, "Kiri told us that she's had to get use to the cold even though you can see the longing in her eyes to finally be warm for once." They blinked as she continued, "That and it looked like she wasn't getting enough heat to her hands."
They blinked again then turned back to the two girls in time to see Happy fly up and plop down on top of Kiri's head, "Ne, Kiri, let's go get some fish!"
She looked up at the cat that was hanging upside down from her head and sighed, slowly relaxing her tensing muscles and gently picked the cat up from her head and walked over to Natsu as she muttered, "Maybe next time Happy." Kiri glanced at the fire mage and held out her hands for him to take the blue exceed, "I believe your cat wants fish."
He blinked then grinned as he reached to take his friend back when their hands brushed eachother. Kiri jerked her hands back quickly with a silent hiss as Natsu stared with Happy plopped in his lap, "You are cold Kiri."
She sucked in her breath in a quiet hiss as she sent Makarov one final glance then looked to Lucy who nodded, "I'll talk to you later." Mira and Erza went to grab her, knowing that if she could get to any shadow she'd be gone, but she lithely dodged their hands and was quickly swallowed up by the shadows that had been forming at their feet, leaving everyone staring where she had once been.
The guild master sighed, "I know you mean well Mira, but Kiri has not had contact with people for most of her life. This is why I wanted her to join Fairy Tail. She's trained herself since she was seven and been on her own for just as long. I tried to help her but she always refused. The only time I've seen her is when I've needed her help with some things but then she always disappears."
Mira pouted while the others looked down. Natsu looked confused, "But why did she run away from just that touch?"
"Actually, I don't know," Makarov seemed to be in thought.
Erza glanced at Lucy who seemed to be twitching under her gaze, "What do you know Lucy?"
They all looked at her as she twitched more, "I promised Kiri I wouldn't tell. And I'm not," she crossed her arms and nodded.
Mira and Erza took a step closer to the blonde that seemed to crumble some of her resolve, "I don't want to lose her trust you guys. If you want to know, ask her next time."
They sighed but nodded, making Lucy let out a sigh of relief until Happy snickered, "She liiiiiiikesss someone," he trilled unnecessarily.
Lucy gapped as Natsu looked at his friend sitting on the table, "How do you know this Happy?"
The blue cat grumbled and crossed his little arms, "I'm not that blind. Besides," he continued, "She told me because she trusts me." He flew up to the stellar mage and whispered something softly in her ear making her nod in response as he smiled and nodded back. "I'm with Lucy, if you want to know. You guys need to ask her," he huffed then plopped back down on the table to finish eating.
Mira grinned with a gleam in her eyes, "So she likes someone. I wonder who?"
The rest of the guild began to mentally picturing Kiri with all the different male mages from the guild but kept shuddering and shaking the thoughts away until someone spoke up, "She's always with you guys."
Lucy quickly decided to make her retreat, "Well, I'm heading out."
"Where are you going?" Mira asked suspiciously.
The blonde held her hands up and backed away slowly, "I'm going to cheek on Kiri then head home." With that she quickly ran out the door before they could question her further, everyone turned to the blue cat for details only to find him fast asleep while hugging a fish and drooling slightly.
Mira sighed, "I guess we'll have to wait for tomorrow," gaining the rest to nod and sigh.
Kiri sat curled up on her couch with the heat up as high as it would go and wrapped up in a few blankets when there was a knock at the door. She pouted but grinned when she heard Lucy and called out, "It's open."
Said girl walked in and shut the door, only to turn around and laugh at the large bundle on the couch that was Kiri with only her head popped out of the top. The blonde sat in an armchair and sighed, "They began to question why you left. Happy accidentally told them you liked someone but said the same thing I did, to ask you about it. Then I ran as soon as Mira and Erza ganged up on me."
Kiri sighed and looked down with a slight blush, "I didn't mean to react like that. It's just that he was so warm it scared me and my first instinct was to run."
Lucy nodded, "Don't worry about it right now. Do you need me to turn the heat up some more?" Kiri nodded with a pout as her friend came back from her task and sat down, "But they'll probably ask you a lot of questions tomorrow. When they were trying to figure out who you liked, someone yelled out that you're always with our group."
Kiri closed her mismatched eyes and sighed, "So they've pretty much narrowed it down to Gray and Natsu huh?" Lucy nodded as her friend opened her eyes and looked at the blonde worriedly, "I just don't know how he'll react if he finds out."
Lucy patted her head and looked confused, "I don't know either. But I'll be there for you okay? Besides," this got Kiri to look up, "since you made friends with Aquarius, I'm sure she'd be happy to help knock some sense into him."
The black haired girl smiled sadly and shook her head, "No Lucy. If he doesn't like me then that's no reason to punish him."
"I'm gonna head home now," Lucy smiled and walked towards the door.
Kiri looked panicked, "Just don't leave my side tomorrow Lucy, please?"
The blonde looked back and grinned, "I promise," then locked the door on her way out as Kiri fell over in a heap of covers nervous about the following day.
It didn't take long after Kiri and Lucy made it into the guild before their guild mates bombarded the shadow mage with questions. She did well for the first hour but as it drug on, some people could see a twitch forming in one of her eyebrows. The blonde held her hand reassuringly until the twitching girl snapped and yelled, "Leave me alone already! It's none of your business!" A few more people decided to push their luck and kept asking questions along the lines of 'So do you like Gray?' or 'Is it Natsu?' She looked at their guild master and leveled him with a piercing glare, "If they don't drop this, I'm quitting and next time," her eyes narrowed, "Not even you will be able to find me."
Lucy held her hand tightly in fear of losing her best friend as everyone else looked on stunned at her declaration but the cold look in her eyes told them she was deadly serious.
Natsu came up with Happy flying beside him with down looks, "Don't quit the guild. We're all family, we can't let anyone go."
He looked at her with a grin in place only for it to drop as she shook her head at him and muttered, "Even family will leave you behind."
The pink haired mage noticed the sad look on Lucy's face as she watched Kiri knowingly then did the only thing he could think of to make Kiri smile. She gasped as she was grabbed and pulled into a strong hug, "We won't leave you behind Kiri." A sudden wave of heat overwhelmed her along with his touch, she had to stop from doing hurting him to escape. Everyone noticed Kiri's face growing redder and redder until she squeaked and tried to get away.
He looked confused as she fought to get free until he seen how red she was and pushed his forehead against hers and muttered, "You don't have a fever."
Happy and Lucy mumbled, "Baka," under their breath as Natsu kept trying to figure out why the usually pale Kiri was now bright red and struggling more to be let free from his touch.
Kiri sent her friend a pleading look until the fire mage was pulled away from the embarrassed shadow mage. She looked at Lucy and Happy and whispered, "Tell him," then quickly disappeared into the shadows to the safety of her house.
The blonde mage sighed as Natsu looked confused, "What did I do wrong?"
"Oh Natsu," Happy shook his head as the two pulled him off to a corner and whispered softly.
His head shot up with a surprised look, "Seriously?!" They nodded as he got a determined look, "Where?" Lucy muttered something to him and before anyone could blink, he was already running out the doors of the guild leaving everyone to watch.
Kiri curled up into a tight ball under several blankets with her head shoved into a soft pillow as she tried to calm herself down. That had to have been the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her that she could remember.
There was a sudden knocking at her door. "Kiri? It's me, let me in."
Never mind, this was worse.
Her head shot out from under the blankets and shivered as she called out, "It's open Natsu."
She hid her face back in the pillow as she heard the door open then close and a set of footsteps walking closer to where she sat on the couch. After a few minutes of silence, she felt brave enough to peek up only to see him kneeling in front of her in the floor. She jumped back as her face turned bright red then hid her face again.
Natsu grinned and reached forwards to take the pillow away, completely comfortable in the eighty-plus temperature in the house, "Why didn't you say anything?"
Her eyes stayed closed as she took a deep breath, "Fear."
"Fear?" he tilted his head, "Fear of what?"
She opened her eyes and gave him a deadpanned look, "You're really asking me that?" He shrugged as she pouted then narrowed her eyes at the wall, "You were never suppose to find out." Then she started cursing Mira for her curiosity.
The pink haired mage grinned, "So you're always cold like before?" He noticed the several blankets she was buried under along with how hot it was in her house. Kiri nodded then reached out from under the cover and placed her still freezing hand on his arm. He jumped and they watched as goosebumps started forming from where her hand was and spreading outwards.
He watched her pull her hand back into the cocoon of blankets when an idea hit him and stood up with a large grin that had her blinking confused, "This might help." And before she could stop him or do anything, he had pulled the blankets away from her, sat down beside her, pulling her into his lap, then covered them both back up with his arms around her stomach.
She sat perfectly still as she was enveloped in a body numbing heat. Natsu snickered when she went limp in his arms with a slightly dazed grin on her face but stiffened up when he hugged her tighter to him, biting back a laugh when her cheeks lit up, "I like you too Kiri." Her mind raced as he nuzzled her cold shoulder, then really did start laughing when she looked like she was about to pass out.
She quickly turned her head and leant up just enough to give him a small kiss on the lips, grinning when his face finally turned red from embarrassment and began to stutter until she turned and snuggled into his chest with her eyes closed and a smile gracing her lips.
He got her attention, making her look up and gasp as he attached his lips to hers. She pulled away after a minute and sputtered, "B-B-Baka!" Natsu laughed and hugged her again to keep her from escaping.
Lucy and Happy watched from the window outside as Kiri tried to get free but Natsu wasn't letting her get far before he would pull her back to him, then the process would start all over again until he kissed her to keep her still.
"I'm glad everything worked out," Lucy sighed happily as they turned to leave.
Happy nodded with a bright smile, "Me too. Ne Lucy?"
The blonde mage looked up at him with her hands behind her back as they continued on, "Hmm?"
"Let's go get some fish!" he grinned.
She hung her head then smiled, "Sure. C'mon."
"Natsu let go!" Kiri groaned as the fire mage shook his head.
"I don't wanna. You're just going to run away again and I can't find you if you make it to the shadows," he pouted.
She blinked at him, "Natsu, you do realize that there are shadows in the blankets we're in right?" His grip tightened around her as she shook her head, "I haven't disappeared yet, have I?"
"No, but you might," he whined.
Kiri hung her head, "Come on Natsu, I'm not going anywhere other than the kitchen to start cooking dinner." That had his head shooting up as he looked at her pleadingly making her laugh until she had tears in her eyes then finally got free of the blankets, only to shiver as the cooler air hit her body.
Natsu noticed and quickly followed her to the kitchen, pulling her into a hug. She practically melted as his body heat seemed to envelope her and the shivering stopped. She grinned, "Wanna help me cook?" He matched her grin with a toothy one of his own and nodded.
*grins*
Let me know what you guys think, please no flames.
And let me know if you might want another one.