Authors note: This was supposed to be a oneshot but I think I'll aim for 3 chapters. This was a request from Laxus player months and months ago, sorry it took me so long to publish something, I've just been putting it off saying 'I'll finnish then publish' but it has just gotten too big for a oneshot now *sigh*. Anyways, read review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own fairy tail
Laxus ruffled the hair of his two younger sisters, the blue haired girl beaming up at him through her now messy fringe whereas the other pouted, attempting to avoid his rummaging hands in vain.
"Cheer up Charle, you look like I just killed your rabbit." He said, before realising the law in his phrasing as her eyes widened in rage.
"No, this is how I looked when you killed my rabbit, Laxus!" she snapped, crossing her arms across her chest. Laxus sighed, looking to Wendy or help but she merely giggled, wrapping her thin arms around her brothers waist.
"Anyway," he said, trying to move on from the subject as gracefully as possible. "you can't call me Laxus at school, now I'm Mr Dreyar." He said with a grin, resisting the urge to tussle her hair once more.
"As you've said non-stop for the last week- I can't believe I actually forgot. Maybe it was the stress brought on by remembering such a traumatic event." She snapped, closing the car door with a painful bang.
"Well good luck big- Mr Dreyar!" Wendy beamed, correcting herself mid-sentence to Laxus' pleasure. Laxus grinned, clutching his tablet under his arm.
"Thanks bub, it's too bad they wouldn't let me in your class." He said, pressing the small black button on his worn key, the car locked automatically, lights flashing and then finally silence. He turned towards the school, his twin sisters in toe.
"If we have to call you Mr Dreyar then don't you have to call us by our first names?" Charle asked, as always eager to get rid of his patronising nicknames. Laxus paused, mockingly placing a finger to his lips.
"Never!" he exclaimed, throwing himself into a hug, crushing the small girl to his chest. Charle squeaked, trying desperately to push him away. Laxus dropped her, chuckling as she adjusted her uniform, chin up, and trying her utmost to ignore him. But before Laxus could torment his sisters again a young boy seemed to appear out of thin air, his black hair wild and his large brown eyes beaming.
"Hey guys," he said, giving the two girls a wave. Wendy beamed back at the youth, waving in kind.
"Hey Romeo," she replied, however Charle seemed set on just getting within the school gates and as far away from Laxus as possible before he could have another fit of 'affection'. Laxus realised he'd met this kid before, he was the one male part of their quartet, the one that never seemed to be around at the same time he was. Laxus tried to mute his grin before starting the interrogation however Charle had unfortunately decided to intervene.
"This is our big brother Laxus, he's going to be the HSIE staff's new student teacher." Charle said sweetly, turning to give Laxus a smug grin. That was the problem with having little sisters- they always seemed to know what you were up to and the exact way in which to thwart it.
"Hey," Laxus said stiffly, not exactly sure what to say in this particular situation. Romeo grinned but before he could speak a slender hand fell on his shoulder, bangles jingling noisily.
"Romeo Conbolt, you are so dead." Declared a senior student with long thick brunette hair, her large brown eyes narrowed on Wendy's unfortunate friend. Romeo's eyes widened in what was obviously fear, frozen for a moment he considered his options.
"Shit," he said under his breath before making a run for it, the brunette not far behind him. Within seconds the trees near the entrance had obscured the pair and Laxus was left wondering what on earth that was. But Wendy and Charle were saved by the bell, which rung loud and clear across campus followed by hundreds of kids scrambling to classes. Charle headed straight towards the attendance office, pushing between the other students clutching Wendy's hand as she turned to give Laxus one last wave. Laxus grinned to himself, taking in the moment before he realised he would be late if he didn't get going. He glanced at his watch nervously, jogging to the staff common room where the principal was supposed to be greeting him and the one other student teacher and assign them each teachers.
He glanced at his watch once more and he burst into the room, three shocked faces glancing up at him. True to form the first thing he noticed was the beautiful white haired woman, giggling quietly as he ran a nervous hand through his hair.
"Sorry I'm late," he said, regretfully turning his gaze away from the woman to his grandfather, as always his expression was unimpressed. "the girls were running a little late." He lied smoothly, joining the group. Makarov dismissed his with a wave of his hand, though Laxus didn't notice, he was still cataloguing the girl standing next to him, although he had a feeling that he knew her at one point- he definitely recognised those legs.
"Your supervisor hasn't arrived yet, he should be here soon." He said, obviously irritated by the other man's tardiness. "Anyway, Miss Straus, I trust your comfortable with your assignment?" he asked sweetly, totally disregarding Laxus. The woman smiled, nodding enthusiastically, clutching her notepad in determination. Laxus had to admire her guts, he wasn't that confident- it was one thing to know all the content but communicating all that to a class full of kids is totally different. As the pair of women headed to the door, Makarov glanced at the clock on the wall.
"Knowing him he's probably forgotten all about it. You might as well make yourself at home until he gets here." Makarov said, slipping into a worn out recliner. This was the first time Laxus' eyes were freed from Miss Straus' arse long enough to take in the room. However it was rather unimpressive; a thread bare carpet shielded the scratched wooden floor boards, which wasn't made any better by the assortment of recliners and lounge chairs, each with holes in the upholstery or makeshift patches, stylishly crafted by Laxus was guessing the textiles department.
"So who is my mystery mentor?" Laxus asked, trying to ignore the irritating spring digging into his back. Makarov smirked, which in Laxus' experience was never a good thing.
"I'll leave that a surprise for later." Makarov said, his smirk widening. Laxus frowned, flicking through the possible teachers he knew of that fit the bill. He knew a lot of the history faculty had one way or another opted out of teaching here, and Gramps had to get in a whole bunch of new teachers. So there was only two teachers with the seniority needed to mentor a student teacher.
"Please tell me it's not him," Laxus said, leaning forward to grasp the recliner harshly. It was then that Laxus' worst nightmare came to light in the form of laughter- Giladrts Clive's laughter.
"Old man I thought you were joking! Little Sparky really wants to become a teacher?" Gildarts said, chuckling as he sipped from his flask, the crumbling rock engraving taking Laxus back to his childhood.
"Please Gramps, what about Bob? Isn't he still working here?" Laxus asked frantically, considering begging- even that perverted old creep was better than Gildarts. Gildarts paused, glaring at Laxus as he playfully hit him over the back of the head- a sentiment Laxus did not appreciate.
"You hate me that much? I'm offended." Gildarts declared, pouting childishly. Makarov could hide his smirk as he watched their bickering unfold. Laxus needed realistic experience as to what it's like in front of a cohort who really don't care, and how you can turn that around into enthusiasm, and there is no one better at it than Gildarts Clive.
"I don't give a shit if you're offended you old bastard," Laxus snapped, fists balled as he stood, toe to toe with Gildarts, challenging him as he usually did. Gildarts sighed, his patronising disappointment, grating on Laxus even more.
"Laxus, whether you like it or not Gildarts is your mentor, and that's how it's going to stay." Makarov snapped, disappointed at how Laxus had taken the news, this will be one hell of a learning curve. "Make the most of it, or I'll be forced to issue a complaint to the university." Makarov said sternly, glaring at both men. But before Laxus could utter a retort the bell rang, signing Laxus' sentence to time behind the bars of professionalism.
Laxus sighed, glaring between Gildarts and the old man, admitting defeat as he fell in behind Gildarts. Students grinned up at the older man as he made his way through the corridors, their eyes lingering over the deflated Laxus in curiosity. Before Laxus could register enough to develop his inner monologue of complaints he was standing before a class.
"Hey guys, this is my new apprentice- Mr Sparky!"
OOO
Laxus sat in his car, head resting against the soft leather covered steering wheel, eyes closed. Wendy hesitantly knocked on the window, worried about her older brother; she hadn't seen him in such a state since he got kicked out of home a couple years ago. His fingers clutched the wheel dangerously tight, and his jaw was clenched, shoulders tense. Wendy nocked again with no response, so Charle decided it was about time Laxus stopped sulking because he had a bad day- his constant lecturing while sometimes comforting was generally irritating.
"Laxus, can you let us in?" Charle called, banging on the window loudly. This time Laxus did react, slowly rising his hand indicating for them to wait a moment. He then turned to the stereo, changing the volume dangerously high before beginning to yell. The music blanked out the majority of it but Charle was able to make out most of it.
"What the fuck is wrong with these people?! Gildarts can go fucking die for fucks sake! Oh my god! What the fuck?! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" he screamed, shaking the steering wheel to the point where the car shook along with it, the vibrations terrifying to onlookers. Both girls eyes were wide with shock, Wendy seemed frozen so despite her usual cool demeanour Charle reached out, grasping her younger sister's hand. Just when Charle was beginning to get seriously worried for both her siblings sake Laxus stopped screaming obscenities, took a deep breath and turned off the radio. He took a moment before turning to look at his sisters who in the brief few seconds had almost completely recovered their wits- almost. Laxus sighed, unlocking the doors at which the twins slowly clamoured in.
"Sorry, I ah just needed to blow off some steam." Laxus assured them, giving Wendy a nervous smile.
"Rough day?" Wendy asked, offering a nervous smile of her own. Laxus chuckled, turning the key, the car roaring to life with the comfortingly familiar mechanical spluttering.
"I guess you could say that, bub."
OOO
"Hey sparky," Gildarts called over his shoulder, "I'm heading out for a smoke, I'll be back for our next class." His words seemed normal, especially for this bunch of social rejects but something sounded off.
"Since when do you smoke old man?" Laxus asked, raising an eyebrow while avoiding perverted Bob's wandering hands. Gildarts shrugged, heading out the door, jacket flung lazily over his shoulder. Laxus sighed, which Bob took as a sensual invitation to begin probing. "Oi, keep your hands to yourself you dirty old man." Laxus snapped, abandoning his spot on the couch. Bob gave a innocent gasp, folding his way too active hands in his lap.
"Oh how I love youngins like you, all muscles and angles- your talents are wasted in a place like this my boy." Bob said, pouting ever so suggestively. Laxus ground his teeth, glancing around to see if his grandfather was in the room before letting the cannon lose.
"One, I'm not your boy. Secondly, my talents are put to plenty of uses right here and thirdly everyone here knows just how much you like 'youngins', hell I'm surprised you haven't been reported for sexual harassment yet you dirty old man." Laxus snapped, feeling instantly better as Bob seemed disillusioned with the idea of making Laxus his new toy boy. But unfortunately Makarov had been waiting for exactly this situation to occur and was set on reprimanding his firey grandson.
"Laxus, it's your second day and you've already gotten into a serious altercation with a co-worker," he said, glaring at Laxus who only just realized the severity of his words. Years of fending of Bob's advances had left him used to chastising the old pervert. "can't you be a little more professional?" Makarov asked rhetorically, turning his back on Laxus, glaring at Bob as he exited the common room.
"Tut tut tut Laxy," Bob said, but refrained from further comment as Laxus glare settled on him. But fortunately for both men the bell rang once again, signifying the end of lunch and the start of the next class, which from memory Laxus knew was a double period with a year twelve class. Glancing around Gildarts was nowhere to be found. Laxus reasoned that the older man must have gone straight to the class instead of meeting back at this dingy room. Bob walked pasting, slapping Laxus' arse as he went, but fortunately for Bob Laxus was in too much of a hurry to beat Gildarts to his introduction, there would be at least one class which didn't refer to him as Mr Sparky.
Laxus pushed past students, the hallway a little confining compared to his large form. The door was in sight when a pink haired senior boy stood in front of him, a sandwich hanging from his mouth. He waved enthusiastically and said something unintelligible past the sandwich.
"Come on Natsu." A blonde girl called, pulling the youth along until he tripped over his own feet, falling flat on his back.
"Moron." A raven haired youth sighed as he too entered the classroom, followed by the brunette Laxus saw chasing after Romeo yesterday. The bruised teen explained after class yesterday that he'd stolen his sister's booze to create a bonfire over the weekend, which sure did explain a lot of things, like how that same day as he walked down the corridor he noticed Romeo standing outside of a lab in a chair by himself. When Laxus approached him he explained how he had to sit outside every time his class used the Bunsen burners because bad things tended to happen when he was left in the room.
Shaking of the bizarre nature of the students he'd met so far he stepped past the boy and made it into the class, and to his relief Gildarts wasn't inside. But on the other hand a class full of rowdy teenagers looked him over, all but a few of which were grinning in a rather unsettling. To add to the knot building in his stomach a class role was found on the desk with a sticky note attached.
Sparky, can you start off the lesson, something important came up. I'll be there as soon as I can. Remember what I told you this morning and you'll be fine!
Gildarts 3
Laxus eye's widened in shock as he realised that Gildarts had planned this entire thing, the cigarettes a mere ruse to make Laxus get some teaching experience. Laxus looked from the role back up at the class, then back at the role again.
"Are you Mr Sparky?" the boy Laxus assumed to be Natsu asked before chuckling to himself.
"Sit down idiot!" the raven haired boy from before called out. Natsu's head snapped around to face his classmate.
"You wanna start something Gray?!" Natsu snapped, walking down the isle towards Gray. Gray got to his feet and started making his way across to meet his challenger.
"Oh, you know it Dragneel!" Grey snapped but thankfully he was stopped by a hand on his arm. He glanced down to see Romeo's sister glaring at him.
"For heavens sake Gray, can't you just get through a single class without starting a fight with Einstein over there?!" she snapped, rolling her eyes as she let go of his arm. Gray paused, glancing back at his seat then at Natsu who was also being chastised into submission by a blonde girl with a uniform a little too tight.
"Whatever." He grunted under his breath, taking his seat between the brunette and a boy with a jacket about three sizes too big for him.
"You gonna call the role Teach, or do we 'ave to sit in this zoo doin' nothin'?" called a boy from the back, his face pierced with more metal than Laxus thought practical. Laxus was too spaced out from the diffusion of the brawl about to break out to even consider teaching the class.
"I.. ah.. shouldn't we wait for Mr Clive to arrive?" he asked, trying to buy some time until that old bastard would come and teach this mob of lunatics like he had every other class. All of the kids seemed unimpressed with that answer, considering whether or not to start chatting among themselves.
"Dads not commin'," the brunette called, smirking as the colour drained from Laxus face. There were two things wrong with that statement, one since when did Gildarts have a daughter, and two Gildarts was definitely coming, he had to right?
"Of course-" Laxus began before he was rudely cut off.
"He said he was goin' to buy smokes right? That's his code for 'I'm pissing off'." She said with a chuckle, reaching down to pull her book from her bag, the contents close to spilling onto the floor. Laxus took in the rest of the students, the abnormally large class looking up at him with expectation.
"Fine, I guess we'd better get started." Laxus said reluctantly, picking up the tattered piece of paper. Laxus quickly realised why it was in such bad condition though the scorch marks in one of the corners was concerning. "Cana Alberona?" he called and the snarky brunette got to her feet, and gave a little bow, much to the amusement of her peers.
"At your service, Teach." She proclaimed with a smirk before returning to her seat as Laxus gave her a nod, he had a feeling that over the next few months he'd come to know that name very well- unfortunately.
"Next up is.. Jet Bolt?" Laxus called, unsure whether the name was a joke. But when the boy with the ridiculous hat stuck up his hand he forced himself to tick him off without comment. "How about.. Natsu Dragneel?" Laxus asked but as soon as the name let his mouth he knew the answer. But of course the pink haired boy began waving his hand frantically, with an enthusiastic grin.
"That's me!" he announced, and was promptly shushed by the blonde at his left.
"Jellal Fernandez ?" he boy with his fingers intertwined with the busty red haired girl nodded, leaning over to whisper something in her ear which made her lips curl into a smile."Gray Fullbuster?" Laxus called, to receive a lazy wave from the raven haired trouble maker. "Droy Green?" he asked to get an even more lazy nod from the boy with the most ridiculous looking haircut he'd ever seen. He looked away to try to stop the laughter from escaping his lips. "Lucy Heartfelia?" he asked and this time was pleased to get a sweet smile from the pretty blonde. "Loke Leon?" he asked, slightly glad to finally know the name of the boy with the ridiculous jacket, who lazily raised his arm, his glasses sliding down his nose. "Juvia Lockser?" he asked, scanning the room to locate the girl which appeared startlingly at his side.
"Actually it should say Juvia Fullbuster." She said sweetly, pointing to her name.
"Like hell it should!" Grey called desperately, clutching his desk.
"Did I miss the wedding? Why didn't you invite me?" Cana asked, mock hurt radiating from her expression.
"Shut up Cana!" Grey snapped as Cana chuckled at his distress. Laxus foresaw another brawl starting up and quickly decided on a way to defuse the situation.
"Well if that's the case then I better inform Mr Dreyar, the principal, and work out a way to fix it as quickly as possible, so could you please get back to your seat?" Laxus asked sweetly, watching as she nodded and quickly retook her seat directly behind Gray. Laxus frowned, concerned for the boy safety, he'd seen that kind of obsession in a girls eyes before and it never ended well. "Levy McGarden?" was answered to by an extremely petit girl with blue hair, flowing out in all directions, not unlike Wendy's.
"Gajeel Redfox?" he called, the guy at the back corner with the thick black hair grunted, turning his attention back to his book. "Erza Scarlet?" he called, the red head snuggled next to Jellal raised her hand though she wasn't paying much attention to anything other than the blue haired youth. Laxus forced himself to not roll his eyes, the strain causing his eyebrows to knit together. Finally, the last name on the list came into view, thank god Laxus thought to himself. "Lisanna Strauss?" he called, to get a cheery smile, her short white hair cling to the side of her face as she tilted her head to the side.
"Here sir!" she said sweetly, flicking her pen between her fingers. Laxus paused, something immensely familiar about the girl. Taking another look at her name on the role he realised the connection.
"Are you by any chance Mira's sister?" he asked, setting the role down.
"Yep, everyone always says we look alike." She said, smiling, her fidgeting pausing for a moment before restarting,
"Nah, I think the smile's the give-away." He said, giving her a comforting smile which she returned with a grin.
"So Teach, what are we doin' today?" Cana asked impatiently, tapping her pen on the desk in an irritating fashion.
"Well what did Mr Clive say when he enlightened you all of his absence today?" he asked, trying to remember what Gildarts had told him earlier which would somehow help him. What was he saying? Laxus thought back to first period where Gildarts was dictating the ideal class schedule.
"Listen Sparky, the kid's need to feel like the work isn't really work. They need to want to do it otherwise it won't stick and you'll never get anywhere." He said in hushed tones as the entire class was occupied by the typical group work teachers forced on younger students.
"But there's only so far you can get with having fun, Gildarts. I mean really, who thinks essay practice is fun when they could be out there with friends or as Romeo told me yesterday 'make one bitch mother of a bon fire'?" he asked sarcastically, but it was only half intended. No matter how irritating Gildarts was, no one could deny he was good at his job. He'd had years of his grandfather telling him how Gildarts took kids who were going to drop out of school and put them at the top five percent of the state within a year.
Gildarts rolled his eyes, patting Laxus on the back again, and as always just a little too hard for comfort. "Listen kid, you can either do two things; make the kids want to please you to the point where they achieve better to make you think higher of them. Now there are few teachers who can actually pull that off, but it's not effective at keepin' 'em interested once they change classes. So the second option; makin' them excited about their own learnin' is the better choice, though it's a lot harder." He said, walking across the room to look over kids shoulders as their butchers paper was slowly filled up. Once he'd made full circle he offered his final words of wisdom. "If you can make kids truly excited about learning something new, whether it's Egyptian mummies or Greek architecture, that's how you know you're a good teacher."
"The G-man said we were doin' somethin' fun" Natsu called out, though his comment did little to help Laxus.
"He always says we're doing something fun, idiot." Gray snapped, rolling his eyes as he started drawing on the cover of his book. Laxus scanned his mind for something fun on their topic; Pompeii and Herculaneum was a wide topic though the thing that was the most fun, well in Laxus' opinion at least was the eruption itself.
"Ok, if we're doing something fun then I guess we're learning about the eruption today!" Laxus announced, hoping to gain back the attention of his class. Unfortunately that did little to raise their enthusiasm so he decided this was a time for desperate measures. "Ok, everyone push the desks to the sides and stack the chairs- we're going to have a bit of a practical lesson today." He said, running a hand through his hair. "Hey Natsu, can you do me a favour?" he asked, and Natsu darted to the front of the classroom with surprising speed.
"Yes Mr S?" he asked, and Laxus decided to let the mistake drop.
"Do the PE staff still have those foam balls about the size of a handball?" he asked, hoping his hunch was right otherwise his little escapade was doomed from the start.
"Yeah, do you want me to get 'em?" he asked, looking over his shoulder for a partner in crime.
"Yeah, can you bring as many as you can, as quick as possible back here?" he asked, not sure whether asking this particular student was the best idea but it couldn't hurt.
"Hey Lucy, wanna come get some balls with me?" he asked, hand on the door nob. Lucy nodded, grinning she ran after him as he took off down the hall. Laxus was slightly confused that no one seemed to comment on his poor choice of words- back when he was in school everyone would be laughing by now.
"Don't think badly of Natsu," Levy said quietly, Laxus hadn't noticed her despite being right beside him. "he doesn't get stuff like that." She explained, hands flying about as she spoke.
"Ah, what do you mean, exactly?" Laxus asked, not sure whether the question would lead to an inappropriate answer.
"The only thing he understood from sex ed. was that it was similar to wrestling, enough said." The serious Gajeel answered, easily picking up a stack of six chairs to push it further back.
"Oh," Laxus said lamely, not sure how exactly to reply to something like that. At Natsu's age he'd already slept with any girl who was willing, and back then there seemed to be an awful lot of willing girls.
"So Teach, what are we doin'?" Cana asked impatiently, standing shoulder to shoulder with her two mates.
"We're going to find out the basic timeline of the last two days of Pompeii and Herculaneum." He said, thankful that Natsu burst through the door with two large sacks, one over each shoulder with Lucy close behind him, clutching one smaller sack. "Great guys, can you put those in the centre please?"
OOO
Gildarts was slightly worried that perhaps Laxus would snap under the pressure, but this experience was intended to be a learning curve. Gildarts shook his head, clearing his negative premonitions- Laxus would be fine. After all Cana was there…. Gildarts sped up his pace, regretting his decision as he heard a rather loud racket coming from his room, one much louder than usual.
"So now we're exiting the Plinnian phase and entering the- Natsu put Gray down!" Laxus called as Gildarts flung the door open to find Laxus throwing a foam ball hitting Natsu directly in the face, but the ball did little damage unlike the torrent of balls hitting Gajeel who was frantically swatting them away. Gildarts froze, trying to grasp a logical explanation for why his students were having an allout brawl with foam balls.
"What the bloody hell is this?" Gildarts snapped, his eyes automatically searching for Cana in the mess of school kids. Laxus' head turned towards Gildarts, his glare in stark contradiction of his smirk.
"We're learning about the eruption G-man." He replied smugly, tossing a ball straight at Gildarts chest which he caught, understanding relaxing his features.
"So this is what you thought of when I said fun, huh?" he asked, closing the door behind him before any of the faculty could see the chaos before him. Laxus grinned, looking back at the class who barely registered Gildarts arrival.
"Well, it worked didn't it." He said, scooping a few balls up off the ground to pass one to Gildarts, their shoulders brushing in the exchange. Gildarts sat next to Laxus on the edge of the desk, usually Laxus would have complained about his proximity but he was too distracted by the throng. Gildarts grinned as Cana grinned at him from across the classroom, quickly making her way towards her father.
"How was your smoko?" she asked jokingly, lightly slapping his shoulder in an affectionate way. Laxus glanced at her, slightly unsettled by the revelation that Gildarts had a child, let alone a girl, which he would have to teach. Gildarts chuckled, shrugging as he turned his body to face her.
"How's class? Learn anything good from Sparky?" he asked jokingly, aiming a smirk Laxus' way, partly for the name and partly in jest at his yet unproven teaching abilities. But to his surprise Cana glared back at him, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Yeah, that he didn't know you have a kid." She said, eyebrow raised. Laxus was slightly confused, he'd never expressed his confusion but perhaps she'd read his expression too well, something she had in common with Gildarts. Gildarts however to his amusement spluttered and looked particularly abashed.
"I'm sure I mentioned you to him! I mean…" he said, looking to Laxus for back up which Laxus was delighted to refuse. "I talk about you all the time!" he insisted, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, to all the wrong people!" she said disdainfully, flicking her hair dramatically. To Laxus it seemed painfully fake, he could even see the amused glint in her eye but Gildarts lapped it up, his distress growing visibly.
"I'm sorry Cana, my sweet! I'll tell him all about you, if you want!" he insisted, dashing to his feet, arms outstretched to welcome her in for a hug which she refused with a flick of her head.
"It's fine Dad," she huffed, a smirk breaking through her scowl. "I mean it's not like it matters that everyone knows you're my Dad or anything." She said, waltzing back towards Gray who was aiming five balls at a time at Loke who desperately tried to fend them off.
"Isn't my daughter amazing?" Gildarts said, a wide goofy grin on his face as he turned back to Laxus. Laxus faught to contain his laughter at the bizzare exchange and Gildarts comical expression.
"She's certainly something." He replied, something roughly translating to 'a piece of work'. Gildarts glared at the blonde, not appreciating his remark.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped, similarly to Cana's earlier performance. Laxus pursed his lips to abate his grin which threatened to spread across his face.
"How come you never mentioned her to me anyway?" he asked, a change of subject the best cure for this situation. Gildarts looked puzzled, scratching the back of his head.
"What are you talking about? You've met her plenty of times." He replied, shaking his head in mock disappointment.
"Ah, no I haven't." Laxus insisted, he'd remember meeting a girl like that, especially if it was Gildarts kid. Gildarts shook his head at him, crossing his arms across barrel chest.
"When she was a kid she live with Macao," he said, his expression hard, one he'd only seen when his wife Cornelia was brought up. He nodded, giving Gildarts the courtesy of not asking why but flicked through his memories, still unable to locate the brunette. That was until he remembered meeting a girl of about 11 downing a bottle of vodka even he couldn't finish. "There we go!" Gildarts announced when Laxus' eyes searched her face, the recognition clear on his face. Suddenly her face popped up in memory after memory, usually with a bottle of something in her hand.
"Yeah, yeah.." he said, concern creasing his brow. He'd always been curious about the little girl who could out drink most adults any day of the week, with her troubled big brown eyes, though now he'd found his answer- he'd probably drink that much if he was Gildarts kid too, especially if her mother was Cornelia.
"She looks just like Connie, right?" he asked, surprising Laxus with his causal mentioning of his dead wife, a name he usually guarded with all viciousness. Laxus smiled the best he could, taking her in one last time over the immense commotion.
"She does, but she looks a little like you too." He said, her brown eyes eerily familiar to Gildarts wide orbs. The bell rang, loud and clear and within second all the balls were dropped and there was a mad rush to the door. Gildarts shook his head in pity as the students filed out in a chaotic mess leaving only the teacher, assistant teacher and Cana Alberona.
"Daaaaaaaaaad," she began to whine, but Gildarts stopped her with a bone crushing hug, grinning like an idiot. "fine, I'll text Romeo." She grumbled into his perfectly pressed white dress shirt. Gildarts chuckled, giving her one last squeeze before releasing her, grabbing the netted bag on the floor. As Cana fiddled with her phone Laxus realised the reason for her complaining, they had to clean up the room themselves. Laxus glared at Gildarts as he picked up the other netted bag.
"Why didn't you say anything?" he snapped, sure the old man knew what exactly was about to happen. Gildarts merely grinned back up at him.
"Learning curve." He replied, knowing how it would grate on the young man's already bad mood. Within a few moments and half a bag's fill later a timid Romeo appeared at the door. He looked from the floor to Cana back to the floor.
"Liar!" he accused, but let the comment drop, gathering balls up into his arms and waddling over to where Gildarts had the bag open ready. Cana aimed a glare at her younger brother, grasping an arms full of balls herself and depositing them into Laxus' bag, not even meeting his eye.
"Shut up you! All you need to be thinking about is how you're going to be replacing my booze!" she snapped, making Romeo take a wary step away from her despite being half way across the room.
"Cana-" Gildarts began but was cut off by her glare and turned back to scooping the balls back into the bag. Cana's shoulders slumped, a guilty expression on her face as she sighed, grabbing the last ball and popping it into Gildarts bag, offering him an apologetic smile which he returned.
"Pass." She ordered, taking the bag from Gildarts to walk out with it slung over her shoulder, hips swaying from side to side in a strange rhythm. Laxus paused for a moment before following her, a little dazed because of a reason he couldn't quite put his finger on. With a few quick steps he caught up to her, her hips still swaying, shoulders rolling as if she was dancing to a song only she could hear. "Just fair warning," Cana giving him a sideways look, "there's a reason you didn't know about me till now." She said, her voice more hushed. Laxus was a little sceptical but knowing Gildarts and his Grandfather, together, anything was possible.
"Oh, and why's that Miss Alberona?" he asked, cursing himself for how flirtatious he sounded, his words ringing in his own ears, an unpleasant feeling constricting his chest as she smirked.
"You might want to ask Gramps about 'secret plan arranged marriage' sometime in the near future." She said, giving him a secretive wink. "But you didn't hear that from me." She said, her chest brushing up against his in the small sports equipment closet, the dim lighting giving the moment an atmosphere he wasn't particularly enjoying.
"Cana?" Gildarts voice called from up the hall, causing her to pull away leaving Laxus standing alone in the small room.
"Coming Dad, did you get my stuff?" she called, smirk planted firmly on her lips.
"Yeah, we did." Romeo replied, falling into step beside his sister. "What're you grinnin' about?" he asked, slightly worried by her smug look.
"Nothing, I just told Mr Sparky a funny joke." She said cryptically, brushing off his concern as they slid into Gildarts car.
OOO
"Are you staying for dinner Laxus?" Wendy asked brightly, hugging her folder to her chest with Charle standing beside her, a hopeful yet guarded expression on her face.
"Actually I just need to ask Gramps something." He said, walking up the paved drive, slightly nervous about the conversation he was about to initiate- at the very least he would find out who exactly Cana was, Wendy and Charle's accounts were hardly helpful. But her words in the closet, the way she brushed against him was strange to say the least. These thoughts continued to swirl around in his mind until finally he was sitting across from his grandfather, the familiar book shelved walls of his study encompassing them.
"So, I guess this is about Cana Alberona?" his grandfather asked solemnly, placing his hands in his lap, the seriousness in his gaze made Laxus' mind leap to her words in the closet. Laxus nodded, tense arms grasping the lounge chair's sides.
"Who exactly is she?" he asked, the frequentness of her face in his memories, constantly in the background was unnerving.
"She's Gildarts and Cornelia's daughter." He replied, dodging the question as long as possible. Laxus shook his head slowly, it didn't make sense.
"If Gildarts had a daughter I'd remember her," he insisted, "I was always with him as a kid." He concluded, not willing to bring up the reason, mainly his father's constant incarceration. But Gramps returned the gesture, shaking his head at the statement.
"By that time Cornelia had already passed, Cana was only four." Gramps corrected, his hands tightening their grip. Laxus paused, remembering Gildarts mentioning that she spent time with Macao when she was younger.
"What happened to her?" he asked, though he had a pretty good idea of the answer. He remembered Gildarts reaction to Cornelia's death, he was hardly even Gildarts anymore. All he did was drink, and wallow but that's why Laxus guessed he'd been assigned to the red haired man. His childhood was filled with trips away with Gildarts, constant visits to café's, Gildarts taking him to his football matches, if anything Gildarts was like the Dad he never had, but only barely. As he got Laxus he started to realise the memories he clung to with Gildarts were nothing but a drunk with nothing better to do than baby sit a kid. That was until he got his job back when Laxus started High School, the more stable Gildarts was still a bitter disappointment when disillusionment struck him. Laxus was snapped from his train of thought when Makarov sighed, as if he was expelling the winds of time, the weight of the world on his senile shoulders.
"Gildarts couldn't look after her and Macao's wife was nearly about to give birth so it seemed best for everyone that she spend some time with them until Gildarts got back on his feet." He said, the retelling of this part of their past obviously painful for the old man. "But then Gloria died and Macao was left with Romeo and Cana by himself, but he refused to turn either of them away. For a few months Ul moved in and the two of them looked after the children plus Ul's three children, one of which you've met today as well, until Macao was back on his feet." Makarov continued, but something seemed off in his story. If Gildarts knew Macao's wife had passed on as well, why didn't he come back for his daughter? Surely he cared for her, that much is painfully clear from his experience today.
"Why didn't-" he began to ask but was cut off by Gramps before he could finish his question.
"Gildarts couldn't take care of Cana in the state he was in and he knew it, so he thought it was best for her to stay away from him, something I'm sure he regrets deeply." He answered, looking away from Laxus, obviously uncomfortable. "I'm sure you've pieced together enough to remember Cana's drinking problem?" he asked, earning a brief nod in reply. "I'm sure it stems from Gildarts own drinking but that girl has an amazing tolerance to alcohol." He said, awe slightly filling his voice. "She could drink bottle after bottle of spirits at the age of eleven and still talk to you as if she was sober, which made it even harder to detect I suppose." He said, wringing his hands as he turned his gaze to his lap.
"When did she move back in with Gildarts?" he asked, shocked that someone so close to him was hidden so well behind a wall of others. He felt guilt swell within him at the thought of his memories with Gildarts ones stolen from her, the broken little girl.
"He started getting back in contact with her when she was thirteen, visits, emails, that sort of thing. When she was fifteen Gildarts bought the house next to Macao and she agreed to move in with him as long as her and Romeo stayed together and a few other things, but that was the basic agreement." He said, a tone of finality in his voice as if the narrative had ended. Laxus' mind was blown by the story, at first unbelieving, but the more he thought about it, it was the only explanation that made sense.
"Why didn't I know about this?" he asked, that something of this severity had been kept from him felt unnatural. Makarov sighed, but Laxus couldn't stop the accusations flying in his mind.
"By the time you left for your gap year Gildarts was only just starting to consider trying to find Cana, and when you got back you hardly spoke to him. Plus the truth isn't something either Gildarts or Cana wants others to know; especially Cana, and Gildarts would do anything for that girl." Makarov said with concern. "That's why it was best you found out from them, but Gildarts didn't want to betray her trust by revealing too much." Makarov said, frustrated at the man's ploy to make him explain everything he couldn't bear to admit. Laxus began to ponder that perhaps Cana had told him to seek out Gramps in order to hear this story. It wasn't too farfetched seeing as both of them were willing to conceal a secret like that in plain sight.
"Cana sure is a strange one." Laxus offered, watching as Makarov's lips gave an amused twitch.
"That she is," he said vaguely, hoping Laxus would elaborate but he seemed stubborn to wait for Gramps' reaction. "did she say something to you? God knows the things I've heard come out of her mouth when she's out of booze." He asked, chuckling at the memory. Laxus raised an eyebrow in question, unsure as to whether a high school principle should be so accepting of underage drinking. But when Makarov merely waited for a response, Laxus felt obliged to answer him.
"She told me that the reason I didn't know about her was because of 'secret plan arranged marriage'" he said, regretting admitting their conversation as Makarov broke into an amused grin. "and I should ask you about it sooner rather than later." He finished, looking away from the old man, cheeks reddening as Gramps' chuckles turned into laughter.
"She sure got you, my boy!" he said before his chuckling resumed. "Now that unpleasantness is over, are you staying for dinner?"
OOO
Of course, first period had to be with the particular year 11 class he wished to avoid, and of course Cana had to be present, full of booze and Gildarts nowhere to be found. The only way Laxus noticed about her now alcohol ridden consciousness was by the reek of spirits emanating from her body directly, her trusty water bottle in her hand, bag in the other. All of the students filed in, glancing around he noticed no one missing from yesterday's mob and turned to the desk, hoping Gildarts had left him a lesson plan or something to at least give him some idea of what he was supposed to be doing.
"Dad said he's just running a few minutes late, he forgot some paper back at home, so don't panic!" Cana said, her high spirits and positive attitude a little unnerving compared to yesterday's cynical death glare machine. She pumped her fist into the air and whooped, setting a wave of whooping and other colourful gestures to spread throughout the class.
"You sure he's not participating in 'secret plan ditch work'?" he asked, staring her straight in the eyes to make his point clear- her joke was not appreciated. But Cana didn't seem to care much for his stern expression and began to laugh hysterically, stumbling her way back to her seat to whisper loudly into Gray's ear who immediately grinned in response. Laxus sighed, clutching the bridge of his nose in frustration, that was one thing he didn't need spreading around. Staring out across the room he considered calling order and attempting to start the class but he was saved by Gildarts stumbling through the door, a big stack of papers and folders filling his arms.
"Sorry guys!" Gildarts announced, dumping his stuff on the desk, the class quieting down to a low murmur by the time he faced them. "I have an announcement to make!" Gildarts yelled, the low murmur fading into pure silence. "As of next lesson, Mr Sparky will be teaching this class with my supervision." Gildarts said, ignoring Laxus' shocked expression.
"Can I have a word with you outside for a moment?" Laxus asked quickly, his eyes never leaving Gildarts grinning face.
"No," he answered abruptly, leaving no room for argument before turning back to his class. "As you know, Mr Sparky is only new to teaching so I expect you to give him a genuine experience that he can take with him throughout the rest of his life." Gildarts said, speaking as if he was trying to inspire a bunch of farmers into joining the war effort. Like a nightmare, the class gave an assenting nod, sealing his miserable fate. Gildarts grinned at Laxus, sliding his massive pile of papers towards him across the desk. "These are the resources you have to construct your lessons. Write a mock up for me before each lesson." He said, before giving him a dismissive look, turning back to the class.
"Now today we're going to be looking at the written evidence for Pompeii and Herculaneum. Everyone get your stuff ready, we'll start with some brainstorming on the board. Jellal, could you use your hands for something a little more useful and be the scribe up the front?" he asked, his grin widening as the class chuckled at his joke, Erza's cheeks growing red, enough to rival her scarlet hair.
Laxus could barely hear Gildarts comment as he began frantically sifting through the piles of archaeological reports, text book copies, fact sheets, pictures and a jumble of this that and the other. He sighed; it was going to be a long few months.
OOO
"I can't believe you're doing this to me!" he snapped at Gildarts, the staff common room the safest place to confront his mentor.
"This is a mentor program Sparky, and this is how I mentor." Gildarts said, smirking as he sipped his coffee.
"No, Mira is getting mentored." He said, remembering their conversation at lunch yesterday. "She hasn't been left to teach a class with no instructions, let alone a year 11 class where every kid seems to be waiting for a chance to bloody blow something up!" he snapped, grip tightening on his cup. Laxus wanted to look around the school a little to see how it had changed since his time there, check out the sports department's top teams, maybe get a chance to have a little face to face time with the beautiful Mira and work out his own style of teaching but he never got the chance because he was too occupied with stopping Gildarts smoko's, coffee runs that just kept running, or bathroom breaks that suggested dysentery. But Gildarts didn't particularly care, chuckling as he took another sip, probably planning his next escape to the 'bathroom'.
"You learn best by getting thrown in the deep end." He replied, referencing an incident that he always seemed to remember differently from everyone else involved.
"No, I don't!" he snapped angrily, "Remember that time you literally through me into the deep end and the life guard had to rescue me from drowning?" he asked sarcastically. Gildarts merely rolled his eyes, taking another sip.
"You were better for it!" he said dismissively, turning to make another cup of coffee.
"No, no I wasn't!" he snapped, reaching over to snatch his mug from his grasp. "And you've had enough bloody coffee or you'll have to go to the bathroom during class again, and there's no way in hell I buy the whole 'I fell asleep on the toilet' crap." He accused, tossing the mug into the sink.
"Hey, be careful with that! Cana got it for me for father's day!" he chastised, hugging the damp mug to his chest. Laxus glared at the red haired man, his eyes thin slits.
"Since we're on the subject of Cana, how the hell did you manage to get her allowed into your class?" he asked suspiciously. Anyone who met Gildarts, now at least, would see the pure admiration he holds for his daughter, but he manages to put it aside while teaching. Teacher Gildarts is almost like a completely different persona, able to put all personal qualms aside but perhaps that was something that came with time. Laxus was in no way saying being with Gildarts wasn't useful, the opposite, Gildarts was perhaps one of the best teachers he had ever met yet he just couldn't keep up with him which just made him even more frustrated. He couldn't hold the attention of the class as well, or communicate ideas even though in his mind it was rock solid.
"We have different sir names and technically she still lives at Macao's house so no ones the wiser." He said with a grin, carefully placing his beloved mug on the rack, Laxus' lack of questions assuring him that Gramps had already explained the bulk of it.
"Isn't that a bit of a risk?" Laxus asked, eyebrow cocked, Gildarts risking his beloved daughters HSC seemed a little out of character. Gildarts shrugged, fingering the mug lightly.
"There's no one else to teach the class Sparky." He explained, "That's all there is to it." His tone packed with the finality he was so good at. Gildarts gave a longing look to the door but before he could make a break for it Laxus' hand was on his shoulder, his face a mask of pure unadulterated frustration.
"You're not getting away this time old man."