Adversary
9 Years Ago
"Guys! Look at what I found under my pillow this morning!"
The blonde brown-eyed 7 year-old girl ran across the Fairy Tail Elementary School playground to meet with her friends who were sitting by the swing set. She plopped down on the grass, too excited to worry about getting her bright yellow dress dirty. In her hands was a small bronze coin with the number "100" on it. She held her hand out for her three friends to see. The scarlet-haired girl sitting to the left of her looked at it and grinned when she realized what it was.
"That's 100 jewel, Lucy! You could buy something nice with that at the store," she said to the blonde girl, pointing to the coin.
The raven-haired little boy sitting across from her got on his hands and knees and leaned over to get a closer look. "Wow, you can buy an ice cream with that!"
The pink-haired boy to her right, however, just sat there and stared at the coin with his arms crossed, unimpressed. "Big deal. 100 jewel isn't even a lot. You can't even buy a bottle of hot sauce with that. And how did it even get under your pillow anyway?"
The blonde frowned, but then returned to her original state of excitement as she remembered her new treasure. "The Tooth Fairy put it there! My tooth fell out yesterday, so I put it under my pillow when I went to sleep, and when I woke up to check on it, I found this!" She held up the coin to his face, giving him a closer view. He only scoffed. Her grin dropped and she returned her hand to her lap.
"Whatever. That's nothing to be excited about. You're so weird, Lucy. I'm gonna go play with Max now." He then got up and left the 3 of them on the grass, then proceeded to run over to the sandbox where his brunette friend was.
The blonde-haired girl yelled after him in anger. "Yeah, well you're weirder!" She ran off in a huff in the opposite direction to meet with her blue haired friend who was reading a picture book on the swings. The remaining two friends stayed on the grass, bewildered.
"Why do they always have to fight all the time?" The raven-haired boy sighed in annoyance. The red-haired girl looked up in thought, trying to remember something. Her mother had talked about this before. She straightened suddenly as if a light bulb went off in her head.
"Oh yeah! Mother always told me that when a boy was mean to you, it meant he actually liked you, in that way," She stated with a slight blush. The raven-haired boy grimaced.
"You think Natsu likes Lucy in that way?! That's so gross, Erza!"
"Well that's what Mother said! Do you have a problem?" She glared at him intimidatingly, and he instantly cowered and shut his mouth. "I think Natsu and Lucy might like each other in that way because Mother is never wrong. And it's not gross!"
The boy thought about her words for a few seconds, then his eyes got wider as if he came to a realization. "Oh, okay! So you and Jellal fight because you like each other?"
The girl's eyes widened considerably as her face turned crimson.
"No!"
That day, the young blonde girl and pink-haired boy had made no progress in actually becoming friends, and the raven-haired boy went home with a bruised rib and a new fear of a certain scarlet-haired 8 year-old.
9 Years Later
7:30 A.M
RING
RING
RING
RING
The sound of my phone's default alarm went off, waking me up with its obnoxious sound. Leaning over to disable the alarm, I did so and then lightly tossed the phone on the desk at the foot of my bed, not even bothering to look at the time. I really shouldn't have waited until 3 a.m. last night to try to catch some sleep. I had been too excited, but now I was just exhausted. I flopped back down on the soft pillow as soon as the phone hit the table.
"Sigh... I was having such a great dream, too," I muttered to nobody in particular.
Once I finally found the strength to rise, I looked around the large room. It's always looked like this, luxurious and fancy yet still utterly boring and dull. It hadn't changed much since I was a child, so every piece of furniture was either a shade of pink or white. Two narrow sliding glass doors that touched the ceiling and led to a small balcony resided on the right side of my unnecessarily large bed, covered by droopy pink sheer curtains. Between the two doors was a white wardrobe that was full of fancy clothes I was forced to wear on a regular basis. Across from my bed was a long mirror, where I was looking straight at myself from. A desk sat in the far corner, where I would express my every thought on paper. To the left was the stupidly large door that led to the absurdly large hallway.
I can't wait to leave this place.
I could only squint at the rising sun through the glass door for a few seconds before the sunlight started to irritate and blind me. I guess it was the universe telling me I ought to hurry up and start getting ready.
After a few moments of thinking about destroying my phone with a giant hammer for interrupting my beautiful dream that I had already half forgotten about, I stopped letting out my frustration at inanimate objects and willed myself out of bed, slowly walking into my bathroom through the other stupidly large large door by my bed. The wide mirror above the bathroom counter top clearly reflected my terrible appearance: blonde hair standing in all directions, bags under my hooded and groggy eyes, lips dry, and the white tank top I had slept in was wrinkled and in disarray on my body. I looked as bad as I felt. Waking up early was one of the most dreaded things in my existence, but I had to today... Because it was Move-In Day.
...
... It was Move-In Day!
My mood changed almost instantly.
Today, I would be moving back to the dorms of Fairy Academy for my third year. At the thought, a grin replaced my frown, all my previous annoyance and frustration at the morning gone. I'd be getting out of this huge lonely house, returning to my very own dorm in Fairy Hills, all my friends would only be a short walk away, I had no annoying servants or demanding fathers to tell me what to do, I'd be away from this boring house...
"Ahh I can't wait!"
I spent about ten minutes trying to make my face look at least halfway decent in the bathroom, then rushed back into my room and swung open the doors of my large wardrobe to get my outfit for today. Amongst the fancy dresses, I found the little pile of casual clothing I had set aside for this day and immediately pulled it all out. The outfit wasn't anything particularly dressy; Move-In Day wasn't exactly a formal occasion. Ten more minutes or so later I was in a pair of denim shorts along with my navy pullover sweatshirt that had "Fairy Academy" in bold white lettering and the school insignia on the front of it. I was in the middle of happily slipping on one of my white sneakers before my phone started to ring and vibrate wildly on the desk at the far end of my room, making a ruckus and effectively ruining the mood. I ungracefully hopped over on my right foot, still trying to put on my left shoe, and snatched the phone from the desk, answering the call without even bothering to check who it was. I seriously doubted someone other than a close friend was trying to talk to me at this time.
Sitting on the chair at the desk, I asked the generic "Hello?" at whoever was on the other line, tilting my head to place the phone between my shoulder and my ear.
"You're late, Lucy! Get your ass over here already!" Cana's voice boomed in my ear.
"Is she not taking the train?" I faintly heard Levy in the background.
"Huh?" Late? Not possible, I was sure I set my alarm to wake me up early enough. I looked over at the digital clock on the desk, ready to prove them both wrong, but when I saw the time, my jaw dropped to the floor. They were right. I was late. How long had my alarm been ringing? It was 7:55 and train left at 8. Crap. It took me at least 10 minutes to walk to the train station. I'd have to run, fast, or I'd miss it. The next train won't be here until next week, but by then it would be too late. I said a hurried goodbye and threw my phone in my pocket, picking up my large duffel bag by the desk and throwing the strap over my shoulder. I didn't have to bring anything more than that, since I left all my other things back in my dorm at the end of last semester. You keep the same dorm through all years of attendance, and the cleaners keep it nice and safe, so why not? Quickly checking the mirror to make sure my blonde hair was properly in my trademark style, a half up side ponytail tied with a navy and white ribbon, I bolted toward the door at record speed.
I had five minutes to get to the station. Damn it. I had no other quicker way to get there, because it's not like Father would go out of his way to help me. He loathed the fact that I go to Fairy Academy. He preferred me at home, training to take over the family business. Then in a few years I would be picking a rich snobby suitor to marry. I hurriedly rushed out of the room, running across the hallway (and getting looks from the housekeepers), quickly passing by my dad's office. The doors were open, which was a rare occurrence. I stopped in the doorway to say a quick goodbye to my dad, who was clad in a beige suit, sitting alone at the long table reading a newspaper with a cup of coffee. I said a quick farewell (but of course, he didn't even spare me a glance) and ran back out to the front door, down the stone stairs leading outside, out of the large front yard and eventually onto the main road without slowing down once, my hair and bag flopping around wildly the whole time. If I ran the whole way, I would probably make it, barely. So that was what I was gonna do.
The weather was good, at least. The rising sun was now completely visible in the horizon, making it nice and bright outside and filling the sky with beautiful shades of blue, and it was perfectly windy… or maybe I only felt wind because I currently dashing at the speed of light on the walkway.
In the midst of my frantic running like it was the damn Olympics, I pulled out my phone to check the time. 7:57. Three minutes left until the train left. Not too bad, the station wasn't that far anyway. Actually, I could faintly see it from where I was. I shoved the phone back in my bag and moved my attention back to the road.
I guess I was too focused on the station, and running too fast to notice someone stepping out of their house and walking onto the main road until it was too late. All I saw was a mass of pink before I barreled into the lucky guy that unknowingly just walked straight into my path, the impact making us both fall over and land on the hard concrete. It seemed he had noticed me before I had noticed him, because I felt a pair of hands stop me from landing straight onto the hard floor. A large bag, that I'm guessing belonged the person, flew up and landed in a heap somewhere else on the road, and mine fell on the space beside us.
Anticipating the pain of landing on the hard concrete, my eyes squeezed shut, but the pang never came.
It took me a couple seconds to get out of my shocked daze and realize what just happened. I had run into someone, and was now awkwardly lying right on top of them. Oh. So that's why it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. The dude broke my fall. Well, judging by the hard, flat chest I face-planted on, I assumed it was a dude. His hands had fell on my waist to support me, and I couldn't help but think this position looked slightly suggestive, and was glad the streets were currently empty. The unpleasant stares from passersby would've definitely not helped my current mood.
"You alright?" I heard a voice below me, followed by a laugh. He sounded unfazed, which surprised me. And he was asking me if I was alright? I wasn't the one who was currently sandwiched between a person and the hard ground, he was. So if anything, I should be the one asking that question. I did appreciate his kindness, though. And why did his voice sound so familiar? Did I know this person? Eh, I decided I was probably just a little messed up in the head at the moment because of what just happened.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn-" I began to say as I regained my senses and lifted my head from his chest. But when I saw who this guy was, my whole body froze, despite his unusually high body heat.
Amused onyx eyes looked into my stupefied brown ones. The same onyx eyes I used to glare at years ago.
"You gonna finish your sentence, Luce?" He asked with a smug smirk.
"Natsu?"
It was him. He was back.
After disappearing for two years, Natsu Dragneel was back.
Well, shit.