CHAPTER ONE

Her walk to Fairy Tail High that day was one of interesting circumstances, as Lucy Heartfilia had (quite legitimately) blindly stepped onto a crosswalk with headphones blasting loud music into her ears and her eyes shut tight against the sting of a fall breeze. She was completely unaware of the danger that threatened to render her lifeless, buzzing around the street corner and coming straight at her, until it was too late— or so she thought. It was a brief reopening of her eyes and a glance to the side that left her motionless, with a silent scream playing on her lips, and then the force was on her in an instant, knocking her out of the path of the oncoming car with such speed and ferocity that she felt as if she truly had managed to get hit. Her right shoulder slammed against the concrete of the other side of the crosswalk, but her head had been saved from the same fate by a hand resting below it. Her vision was bleary as she felt the familiar prick of tears welling up in her bright green orbs, but she held back a startled cry and instead attempted to refocus her sight, and shot a gaze upward.

The first thing that became clear was a mass of pink... hair? It was bobbing on top of a masculine - looking face, but her vision was still too blurred to make out the details of said face. She noticed, after a few seconds of staring, that the face's lips—or bright red lines—were moving. Whoever this person was, whoever had saved her, was talking to her, and it was a rushed sort of talking that made her feel more on edge than she'd ever felt before.

"Hey, hey! Are you alright? Hey!" A frantic voice reached her ears, and strong arms helped her to sit up. Lucy shakily held a hand to her forehead, while the other swatted at the stranger, as if to wave away his words. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she groaned in response, but her behavior betrayed her statement when she winced from the ache in her shoulder. 'I'm late...'

Looking around, Lucy noticed her phone was thrown a short distance from her, and she reached out to get it, but something held her back.

"Whoa, not so fast! You fell pretty hard," came the voice again, and Lucy turned in annoyance to face the person who had saved her and hurt her at the same time. "Yes, and who's fault is that?" She exclaimed annoyedly, glaring at the stranger. He recoiled at her harsh tone, but pressed further and continued to restrain her. "Let me help you up. I'm sorry for winding you, but I think it's much better to get knocked to the ground by a person rather than by a car." He gently reached under her armpit, careful of her injured shoulder, and hoisted Lucy to her feet.

Biting her lower lip as the pain of moving her right arm laced across her chest and spread throughout her body, she shrugged away from the boy's grip and walked toward her phone, slowly picking it up.

The blonde dusted herself off as best as she could manage, ignoring the ache in her shoulder, and turned back to face her savior. "Sorry." She apologized flatly, her nerves starting to settle and her composure returning. "I didn't mean to shout at you. I'm grateful for your help, honestly- I was just scared. I hope you can forgive my lashing out." Her head dipped in the form of a bow, and she remained that way for a short while, waiting for a response.

The pink haired stranger shrugged and rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly, caught off guard by the girl's rather sudden change of attitude.

"Just don't go walking around with your headphones in and your eyes closed. That was pretty stupid." He said nonchalantly.

Indignant remarks flooded Lucy's mind, but she held her tongue and instead rose to face the stranger again. "I will keep that in mind. May I have the pleasure of knowing the name of my heroin?" Smiling somewhat sheepishly, Lucy heaved her backpack onto her useable shoulder and stuffed her phone inside.

The pink haired boy nodded, though his demeanor appeared solemn. "I'm Natsu. Uh, are you sure you're okay? You almost got hit by a car a second ago, and you're acting a bit odd for someone who's just endured a near - death experience." Quirking a brow, Natsu stepped forward and tentatively reached out to steady Lucy, as she had started to lurch forward with the weight of her bag dragging her down. "Yeah, I swear I'm fine- it's just this bag. It's really heavy, and since I can't really use my other shoulder..."

Embarrassed, Lucy once again avoided the stable grasp of Natsu and insisted on moving herself. "I'll be okay. I'm on my way to school—in fact, I'm late to school—so I'll just get my shoulder checked in the nurses office. It won't be long now, I'm almost there."

The boy held up a hand and smiled, taking Lucy's backpack from her left shoulder and hoisting it onto his back. "I'll carry it for you." He insisted, despite the blonde's protests. "I'm on my way to school too, and judging by our matching uniforms, we attend the same high school. It's no trouble at all."

Lucy finally, fully, took in the boy's appearance since meeting him. He was handsome in a roguish sense, with bright pink hair and a nice smile. He was a bit taller than her, with a textured scarf wrapped around his neck. He wore the school uniform shirt, completed with jeans and a pair of sneakers, and beneath his clothes she could distinguish the muscular build of his body.

"Alright, but you must get straight to class as soon as we arrive. I can take care of myself." Lucy retorted, sounding prideful and defeated simultaneously.

Snorting softly, Natsu nodded, hiding a cheeky smile. "So, what's your name?" He asked as the two started down the sidewalk. He was focused on her every move, taking extra precaution to make sure she was as okay as she said she was. "Lucy Heartfilia." He'd barely bothered to register that she'd answered, but he heard her response nonetheless.

"Well, Lucy, I'm pretty sure your shoulder is dislocated."

"What?!"