Story 1

Title: I Wouldn't Mind

Summary: AU. "With her by my side, I wouldn't mind it . . . at all." School-fic. (Natsu~Lucy)

Writer's Note: Hi guys! This fic is inspired by the song "I Wouldn't Mind" by He is We, and by my friends. XD Truth be told, I do not own anything, except for the writing (I guess) for some of the scenes (by the word "some", it means almost all) actually had happened (in a little, teeny tiny part of the planet). The characters may resemble people (my friends/coursemates). I really much owe them.

Enjoy! XD

By the way, this is Natsu's POV.

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It all started when she told everyone inside the classroom that she loves me.

She loves me?!

Wait, how did it all happen?

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We were waiting in the hallway for our professor to arrive. It was morning, and a few students walked past us as they each went to their next class. The classroom was locked and my classmates and I stood at the side, occasionally talking about random things, when I heard someone call my name.

"Natsu!"

I looked around and spotted her, eyes shining a little too evilly, as she approached me with a mischievous smile on her face.

I silently grunted but I maintained my smile.

"Lucy..."

"Guess what I have heard?" she asked, prompting me to say anything, but I just remained silent and returned her gaze.

She sighed in defeat.

Rolling her eyes, she then said, "Lisanna likes you!"

"Okay," I said, a neutral expression on my face.

She looked disbelievingly at me. But then, she ignored it and said, "Do you remember what happened last Saturday when we were having our lecture at the court? I was depending on your back for support when she called me and pulled me away from you. She didn't want to see us together. Hihi ~"

"Okay."

That was the only reply I had in my mind.

Whenever someone teased me about her, I would just agree to avoid the issue. Anyway, it would pass once they didn't get whatever expected reaction they would like me to have. And if I would deny it, they would not believe me and would continue to tease me until they get tired.

If they get tired at all.

"What?! All that you're saying is 'Okay'?!"

I laughed at her expression.

With all the evidence she had - which is, only one - it is really sufficient to conclude that that was true.

She was about to give up and leave me when she noticed Lisanna walking toward our general direction.

No, toward us.

"Lisanna! You have a crush on Natsu, right?" she shouted.

And that was really awkward.

Especially in front of me.

I glanced at Lisanna whose face had turned a deep shade of red. She tearlessly cried at Lucy and gently flailing her arms toward her, she defended herself while nearly shouting.

"Oh, no! I didn't have a crush on him! No, no, no! How many times I have told you that I don't like him!"

Both Lisanna and I were in the same shoes. Except, she tried really hard to tell everyone that she has no feelings for me and as a result, our classmates constantly teased her about it.

Lucy laughed with amusement. "Your face, Lisanna! It all betrayed you!"

"No, I didn't like him, Lucy! It is not true!"

It was naturally weird to witness this event.

Then, Lucy stopped, as if she had thought of something. She faced me.

Her chocolate brown eyes stared unto mine.

What was she thinking?

Then, her next few words made my heart literally skip a beat.

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"Natsu, I really like you."

Her tone was serious. She didn't break her gaze as if her life depended on them. It was as if whoever would first break our eye contact in our staring contest would lose.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Lisanna with her mouth gaped open.

Okay, it was getting a little bit more uncomfortable so I lost our "staring" contest.

But I remembered that I should respond to her. So I laughed.

"You're crazy."

"No, I really like you. Even if Lisanna denied all of her feelings for you, I am at least straight forward to tell you. I really like you, Natsu." She smiled at me.

Her expression was so genuine that for a moment, I had mistakenly believed that it was true.

But the slight, sudden flicker of her eyes towards Lisanna gave it away.

I returned her smile.

"Good act, Lucy. Now, stop it."

She was surprised.

"But I really like you, Natsu!"

By then, our professor arrived and one by one, my classmates all went inside the room. They had no idea what had just happened.

Except us three.

I shook my head no, then left them.

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"Natsu! I like, like, like you!"

Her cheerful greeting made my day a little worse than yesterday.

It actually gave me a headache.

We were sitting at a nearby shed outside the building. With their tiny round yellow leaves falling on us, the trees surrounding the five of us also gave shade from the sun. We were discussing a particular topic for the report tomorrow.

Mira laughed. "Lucy, I am very proud that you really declared your undying love on Natsu! Go, Lucy!"

Gray nudged me. "Idiot, now reply to her before she does something even crazier!"

So, I replied. "Okay. I get it, Lucy. So stop it."

She sweetly smiled at me.

Lisanna was laughing as she said, "How cute!"

Then, Lucy looked at the last commentor.

"Lis, even if he loves you, I would always love him! I can wait for him, even forever! My love for him was surely greater than all the stars combined, and also greater than yours!"

They all laughed. Well, except her and me.

"Guys, it's all true!" she desperately told us.

Now that I knew that she had always faked this "undying love" for me from the start, I easily noticed that she put effort in saying these things.

"Lucy, stop that. Let's work on our report," I gently told her.

"Okay. But Natsu, I like you."

Here she goes again. With her serious face and all.

Sighing, I replied.

"Okay."

With a blink of an eye, her mood suddenly shifted.

"Okay guys, this is now serious. The rhetorical patterns for paragraphs include..." she rattled on.

What she had said earlier wasn't true, of course.

Because she is Lucy.

And she can never like me.

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That afternoon, as I walked along the hallway for our math class, her voice echoed along with our classmates' just before I entered the room.

"And I met crush number 12 in the ride earlier! We were sitting next to each other!" She blushed and giggled as her friends joined her.

"And then, yesterday, I met crush number 83 in the basketball court! As usual, he made a three-point shoot!"

Pretending not to hear any of them, I walked leisurely towards my seat, which was a bit far from hers. I took a notebook and opened it, while I toyed a pen in my right hand.

"But Lu-chan, haven't you said that you already like Natsu?" Levy worriedly asked her as she pointed at me. I showed no interest by pretending to study but I sneakily eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Oh, Natsu is here?"

She then spotted me and waved her hands hello. "Natsu!"

Walking towards me, she continued, "Even if I have one hundred crushes, my first and only love was you. It is only you."

"Okay, whatever."

"Oh...you're jealous?!" she laughed aloud.

"Of course, not." I rolled my eyes. "What I am trying to say is, you don't really have to tell everyone that you like me. So stop pretending, Lucy. Whatever plan you had won't work on me."

She stared at me, her eyes huge.

Okay, I had hit the nail.

I won.

But the next thing I knew, she ruffled my hair.

"Don't worry, Natsu. I will always love you, even if you keep pushing me away. Even if I would have to catch the stars above or go to the moon, I would do anything for you."

"Don't be too cheesy here, Luce."

"Oh, am I? So blame it on yourself, Natsu. You have just made me fall for you." She winked.

Only then I noticed that all the noise earlier had escaped, and we were the only two having our conversation. I looked around and saw all of them staring incredulously at both of us.

Well, only Levy, Mira, Gray and Lisanna knew that Lucy had been "confessing" to me.

"Oh...Natsu and Lucy? I thought it was Natsu and Lisanna!" was the shout over there, and "Natsu has two lovers?!" was on the other. There were teasing and giggles around me and various shouts saying, "Go, Lucy!" and "But Lisanna..."

The whole room was in a commotion.

"Guys!" Lucy shouted. "Be quiet!"

Oh, I failed to mention that she was also our batch representative, by the way.

She heaved a sigh. "I love Natsu, okay? So, Lis..." she turned her head to the said person, " we're gonna battle for his heart. Whoever is more deserving for his love, will be with him."

Lis' jaw dropped. Again.

Everyone cheered for the two.

Meanwhile, I sighed in defeat.

This is getting...a little tiring.

Being her center of attention and all.

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Days passed by, and whenever she got a chance to tell me that she loves me, I always pretended that it never bothered me.

At all.

She always did it that I have been looking forward to let her words enter my first ear and go out from the other.

Our classmates just laughed at her childish antics.

Whenever Lis was near, she would say to me, "Natsu, even if you love Lis, I will forever love you. My heart was stabbed a million times everytime you gaze at her. But, even if I am always hurt by your rejection, I'll wait for you." She dramatically put her hand above her heart as if to emphasize her point while Lis would just say softly, "We do not love each other," and ignored her.

It went on for a few weeks.

But soon the exam week was approaching, and we turned our attention to a long list of projects, term papers, important requirements, and of course, final exams.

Whenever we passed by each other, I would always find myself preparing for whatever "confession" she would tell me, but (luckily) she would just tell about the things she needed to do.

After all, she was a busy person.

And from time to time, she slowly forgot the bet she made.

Wasn't it good?

Yes, it is good.

After all, she could get a little annoying whenever she "confessed" to me.

But...

I kind of... missed it.

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We returned after a one and a half months of winter/semestral break for our second semester.

Every time I looked at her...

Wait, why did I look at her every time?

Anyway, she was still jolly. She was still lively.

Whenever we got a chance to be together, even if we were just walking towards our next class, she would chat with me.

I laughed every time she said something funny.

She laughed every time I told her a witty joke.

She treated me just like a best friend would do.

After all, we had gotten close ever since that incident.

But...

little by little, I see her with a new light.

Every time she turned her back to me as she entered the room, her blonde hair was beautifully cascading down, like waterfalls, as it reflected the light.

Every time she looked at me with her chocolate eyes, I found sincerity and kindness in them.

Every time she smiled at me, it was filled with pure happiness that it glowed around her.

Every time she was lonely, she just cheered herself up. She was always optimistic.

Wait, why am I describing her so...poetically?! I even used "pure happiness" and "beautifully cascading"?!

Let me take a break.

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One time when I stayed late in school for a certain project, my groupmates and I, after working for several hours to construct a miniature Great Pyramid, were already finished. We walked together from the building to the bus stop, where they had gone ahead when a bus took them to their destination. Sadly, my bus had not arrived yet.

It was past eight p.m., the night was dark and there was a little light from a lamppost a few meters from me.

Then, I saw a figure of a girl walking towards me from the sidewalk.

I couldn't see her clearly, because her head was down and her hair was falling across her face.

Never in my life have I imagined myself encountering a ghost.

I was stonified in my place.

No, no, no!

'I am brave,' I told myself. Gaining courage, I immediately hid under the bush behind me.

The ghost didn't seem to notice me.

I sighed in relief. But I was still scared.

She stopped at the place where I had been, her back facing me.

What if she turns around and scare me with her ugly face? I tried not to shiver at that thought.

Then, I heard her crying softly.

Oh no, I have not only just seen a ghost, but a weeping one, too?

Does this did not get any scarier?

"Natsu..."

I was shocked.

It really gets scarier!

How did she knew my name?!

"I...miss you, idiot," she laughed weakly.

Wait, her voice...

Don't tell me...

Despite my shaking earlier, I stood up and tried to see her with the little light from the post.

When another bus drove by and shined on her face, I saw her.

She was her.

She was here.

My fright earlier was now gone, but it was replaced with another.

Why was she crying?

She wiped her face with a handkerchief and laughed. "You're hopeless, Lucy. All this time, you constantly watched him from afar. He is near, but far." She sighed.

Had she been talking to herself this whole time?!

I thought she was talking to me!?

"I always wished that I saw you as just a friend, the first time we meet each other's eyes. If that had happened, I would never be hurt now. We would just be friends, forever. Then I'd fall in love with someone else that would also like me. We would just be happy."

She looked up at the night sky with millions of stars twinkling above her.

Or us.

And that made her smile.

"But, at least, I got to experience what it felt like. Thank you."

Oh no, who is this person she was talking about?!

"With that, I will try to move on."

She smiled, her brown eyes reflecting the sadness she felt.

How could she change my description of her?

At first, I would describe her as annoying, sly, mischievous, dramatic, and annoying.

But, knowing her, she was pretty sweet (the way she said those things earlier about a certain someone), nice, and rare, although a little bit weird (when she and her "love" towards me).

I was staring at her for quite some time that I had not noticed that a bus stopped in front of her and she stepped in.

As the bus drove down the road, my trance broke off.

She was nowhere.

Wait...

Why does everyone leave me behind?!

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When we were preparing for our exhibit, my friends and I invented our generation's - I mean, our batch's - future couples.

"Oh, it is very nice to hear... Levy McGarden-Redfox," Gray said, eyeing Levy and Gajeel.

Gajeel remarked, "No, this is nicer: Juvia Lockser-Fullbuster."

Juvia's face turned very red while Gray just appeared emotionless.

I said, "Another one: Erza Scarlet- Fernandez."

We all cheered.

Well, except one.

I spotted her, giving all of her attention to why she was doing: cutting pieces of papers into intricate designs.

I remembered what happened the other night when she was crying.

Just who is this guy that made her cry? I would knock some sense into him. That idiot!

Aside from me in the past, I have never heard about other guys whom she was teased with by her friends these days. Well, except her crushes.

But...there were millions of them! Just who is the only one that prevails?

An idea strucked me. Maybe, I could gather some information from my classmates.

Clearing my throat, I said aloud, " Um...what about Lucy?"

She didn't hear me.

Oh no, my classmates just stared at me.

Plan A Failed.

Time for Plan B. Purpose: to divert attention from my embarrassed face to her.

I appeared to be thinking for a moment and then, I continued, "Lucy...Heartfilia. Yes, Lucy Heartfilia."

We all chuckled.

At last, when she noticed us laughing, she asked.

"What about my name? Why are you all laughing?" She looked at us innocently.

We just shrugged our shoulders.

Truly, she never knew.

But I kind of wish she did, to defend herself and for me to know who is this "him" she was referring to the other night.

And to convince myself that I couldn't be that "him".

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One time, when we were having our two-day activity in a faraway town, our classmates and I separated into groups and looked for nearby boarding houses to spend for the night.

Fortunately for us, we had one.

But one group doesn't have any place to stay. All of the boarding houses around them were fully-booked.

The night was getting darker, the people walking at the downtown becoming lesser with each passing second, but one person with a brave heart walked along one of the empty roads to help that group.

It was only by tomorrow that I knew of it.

Anyway, she helped them look for a place to stay and they were very lucky to have found one.

They were very grateful to her.

"She had been our hope that night," as Wendy would say. She nearly cried when she saw her approaching towards them.

But, I didn't know any of that before I replied to her, "I hadn't found one" when she asked everyone if they had already found a place to stay.

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The next morning, as I entered the room with a smile on my face, I approached my classmates.

"Hi guys!" I grinned.

They only looked at me and shook their heads.

Huh?

Then, they pointed at something behind me.

I looked at the back, and I noticed her angry expression.

She charged towards me.

"Natsu!"

Oh crap!

I hurriedly ran for my life.

My friends were all laughing at us.

Great.

"How could you! I woke up when I heard my phone ringing. When I read your text, I immediately got up from the bed! And then, it was all a joke?! You nearly made me have a heart attack!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, Luce! Please, I'm sorry!" I begged.

She then tickled me angrily (but gently) until I nearly died of laughter.

What a way of tormenting me.

"Urgghh! I hate you, Natsu!" she teasingly said.

Then, we laughed.

"You have made me worried, idiot!" she told me. "But, I am glad it was all a joke. But I'm still angry at you!"

I ruffled her hair. "Thank you, Lucy."

She glared at me.

I grinned.

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Together with our classmates, we were riding on a jeepney on our way home. For a moment, I debated on where to seat. Ah, probably beside Romeo.

She was also there, beside me.

So, basically: Romeo, I, then her.

She wore her earphones and closed her eyes.

Why do I felt so secure when I'm beside her?

I shrugged away my thoughts.

Then she slowly fell asleep, her head gently leaning on my shoulder. I tensed a little. It was the first time we were this close.

I smell a faint lavender on her hair and I heard her faint breathing. I felt my heart beat faster, even if all I really wanted was to make it stop.

Why do I feel so happy?

Why do I feel like... I can do anything I have ever dreamed?

Why do I feel...home?

Across from us, I saw Wendy's faint, playful smile as she looked at Lucy and me. When she noticed that I was staring at her, she shifted her gaze down the road.

I shook my head.

With her by my side, I wouldn't mind it...

At all.

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~End~