A/N: I am not a writer, so this is my poor attempt at romance. Expect a lot of cliches because I don't know what I'm doing. Enjoy! UwU
The crowds roaring cheers of excitement and anger filled my ears so that it was all I could hear besides the blood pulsing through my veins. I kept thinking to myself how I let us lose like that. How I let Lector down, and how much of a disappointment I must be to Natsu-san. I would have never thought that he was this strong by his appearance, he looked much younger then I imagined him to. I had heard stories about his adventures and his habits of destroying everything he touches, but I had never seen a picture of him, only vague descriptions of his appearance.
I looked over at Rouge a few feet away from me and I could see he was thinking similar thoughts.
"The victor of the two versus two match between Sabertooth and Fairy Tail is," a brief pause from the announcer, "Fairy Tail!"
Once he said those words my defeat sunk in more than I expected it to. My thoughts went from Natsu-san to Jiemma, and what he would do to Rouge and I. He had given me one last chance after I forfeited the Chariot event and I had blown it.
I looked up expecting to see Natsu-san gone, but he was still down here amongst the rubble and debris. Why is he still down here with a bunch of losers like us? Shouldn't he be up with Titania and the ice boy? A sigh escaped my lips as I tried to sit up, but the bruising I had just received kept me from fully sitting up.
The crowds cheering had started to settle down and Natsu-san was still down here. Seriously, why is he down here? It's kinda pissing me off now, does he intend to rub it in our faces off camera so the crowd can't see our broken faces crumble even more with taunting words? Or maybe he'll finish us off for good, yeah, I would too if I was him. A bunch of screw-ups like us shouldn't even be alive after fighting someone like him. Disgusting. Barely a challenge for the other Dragon Slayer, Gajeel was even removed from the match so it wasn't like he had help!
He glanced over to us as the lacrima screens buzzed off. So this is it, huh? I don't want to die, I'm starting to panic, my breathings getting heavier and I can feel the sweat dripping off my chin. I still can't move, I can't even try to resist if he tries to make a move.
He started walking towards me now, my breathing is getting shallower and is coming out in uneven pants. I leaned up enough to get into a sitting position and my body heaved from the slight exertion. I closed my eyes tight in preparation for whatever was to come next.
"The hell is wrong with you? I'm not gonna hurt you or anything," he says as he crouches in front of me and Rouge. My eyes snapped open at this and I looked at him in a confused glance. Rouge is just as confused as me, obviously not showing it as much but I can tell he's freaking out on the inside.
A laugh, "What? Cat got your tongue or something?" the pink haired Dragon Slayer asks with a grin. The look on my face spoke more words then I could try to stutter out, "I said I wasn't gonna hurt you. So, are you guys alright at least?"
Still not able to for a coherent sentence I nodded dumbly at his question. Is he playing with us or his he really that dumb to ask an opponent if they're okay. If the latter is the case this guys a lot dumber than I thought he was.
The male sighs and closes his eyes, and when he opens them he plops down onto the ground directly in front of me. A bit of dust came up from his dramatic gesture and made me cough slightly. What the hell is this guy doing? I didn't realize I closed my eyes when I coughed until I opened them and looked up at him and saw the craziest looking grin I've seen. It almost made me freeze in place with how bright it was.
The grin is almost all teeth, his eyes are closed from the force of it. What is he smiling about? I just got my ass kicked and he's smiling about it, kind of a douchey move there if you ask me.
"What the hell is up with that dumb look on your face?" I mumble out and he stops smiling and I almost regretted saying that.
"Geez! I was trying to be nice," he hisses out at me, "You wouldn't know kindness if it bit you in the ass."
I let out a snarl at his last comment until the beginning really sunk in, "Wait a second, nice? Why are you trying to be nice to someone you're enemies with and just beat the crap out of?" I growl out much harsher then I meant to, and his face morphs into a surprised look.
"Why would you think that we're enemies?" he questions, looking genuinely confused.
This just makes me confused, "Why wouldn't we be enemies? Uh, Minerva hurt your friend Lucy right! I laughed the whole time she did it," I paused, "Does that not register in your head? I laughed for a damn reason," I then gave a small glare to him.
He looked taken aback by my outburst. Rouge doesn't seem to be making a move to say or do anything. It's probably a good idea too, I was fuming.
"Tch," Natsu-san turns his head and mumbles, "I was right about the whole kindness thing, geez," my eye twitches, "I figured you guys were a bit different than the others in your guild, and I thought that maybe we could be friends," he shrugs, "Guess I was wrong".
My angered expression turns into one of shock as I just stared at him. Friends? Natsu-san wants to be friends with us. This has to be a joke or something, there is no way that he's this dumb. Don't get me wrong being friends with my childhood idol is a dream of mine. I never, and won't tell anyone this, especially the pink haired male.
"You're," I chuckle, "You're joking right? You can't possibly be serious about this!" I throw my hands up and almost hit the other in my outburst.
"Well, I was being serious you prick!" the other spat out and crossed his arms over his unsalvageable jacket and childishly puffed out his cheeks.
I would have never thought he was this childish, maybe oblivious but never childish. It's kinda funny thinking I used to look up to a guy like this.
I stay quiet for a while more as I think back to Lector, and how I broke our promise. I've got to be the worst friend there is, and here Natsu-san is wanting to be mine! I don't think I could do that to someone like him, he has so much more than I do and I can't let him do that to himself. Get him into a mess he can't clean up.
"Y'know you can't beat yourself up like this," my eyes are wide as I look him in the eyes, "I may now know what you're going through but I could probably bet it was something about losing today".
He seemed so calm about this, and that just made my anger rise. Was he pitying me now? I never thought he would steep so low, "What do you know about my problems! Stay out of my business," I shout, even though he was right I couldn't let him know that.
"Hey, hey! Cool it! I'm just trying to say whatever I did, I'm sorry," the Fairy Tail mage said quietly, weighed down with guilt, "I don't like making people upset, it makes it less likely that I'll be friends with them and I feel like I need to be friends with you guys, I dunno why, you two are just different, so sorry again".
I was at a loss for words again, I don't know what to say to that, or where to begin. Should I accept his apology, which he really didn't need to do, or just ignore him like before? Keep being an asshole to him like before the games and keep the upper hand. That didn't sound quite right though.
Natsu-san started to stand up after me and Rouge had been so quiet, I look over at Rouge and he's staring down at the ground. I look back to the now standing Dragon Slayer and see an unreadable expression on his face. Did I... Hurt his feelings or something? Shit.
As I was ab0ut to try and stop him from leaving and try and say something to him to apologize I see a hand in front of my face. I blinked and looked up to see his dumb smile back on his face and offering to help me up. Even after my outburst he's still willing to help me, he must be more childish then I thought.
I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up and stumbled slightly when I regained my footing. I look slightly down to thank him only to still see his smile in place, and I unconsciously let out a small smile of my own. I didn't really notice how much shorter he was then me, weird.
"Oh, uhh, thanks for helping me up, I mean, ah," I stumbled over my words as I felt my face heat up in embarrassment. Am I sick or something, what the hells wrong with me, snap out of it dumbass.
"No problem," the grin on his face fell and a more serious look replaced it, "If anything happens at Sabertooth tonight, you, Rouge and your Exceeds can come to Fairy Tail, alright?"
My eyes widened for what seemed to be the twentieth time that day. Rouge and I at Fairy Tail of all places? That sounds like one of those jokes a drunk tells at the local pub. I quickly looked over to Rouge to see if he had heard the invitation, and his one visible eye and slightly agape mouth said that he had. Guess I wasn't hearing things then.
"A-Are you being serious right now? Would Fairy Tail even welcome people like us there if we showed up," Rouge finally spoke up.
"Eh? Oh, yeah of course they would! It might be a little awkward at first but I'm sure you'll be fine," a hand on his chin was the only sign of hesitation, "We've had worse people welcomed at Fairy Tail and they even ended up joining! You'll be fine".
I see his smile come back and I had to fight myself from smiling back at him. Alright, seriously what the hell is wrong with me, this is getting annoying. Wait he said worse people then us were welcomed at Fairy Tail.
"Who would be-" I was cut off by a roar through the stadium.
"Salamander!" the former lost Iron Dragon Slayer shouted. I guess I had forgotten about Gajeel-san.
"Speaking of worse people," the pink haired male mumbled out in a cocky tone.
So Gajeel-san was the worst person he was talking about? I guess I'll have to ask him about that later. Whoa, who said there was even going to be a later, geez I must be losing it. A sigh escaped my lips.
The long haired Dragon Slayer was starting to run towards Natsu-san, don't tell me they're gonna fight. I don't think this arena can handle much more destruction. I looked around me to see the collateral damage. Everything seemed to be crumbling around us. I looked back to where the fire mage previously was only to see him sending and receiving punches and kicks with Gajeel-san, "Are they crazy or something," I deadpanned.
As I watched the match between the two go on, they began using magic, and more and more of the stadium was collapsing. I started to get a little nervous at this. I wonder if someone will stop them, because there is no way in hell I'm going over there and getting in-between that. I've gotten enough punches to the face today, thanks.
"You childish boys!" A feminine voice shouts from the gaping hole in the stadium. Long red hair flowed from behind her as she jumped down into the large hole where we all resided. The two Dragon Slayers stood frozen in their tracks as they stared at her. She must hold a lot of authority in the guild, not that I blame her after the woman practically annihilated Pandemonium.
"How many times have I told you boys no fighting!" her voice echoed loudly through the stadium, "Especially you Natsu! I've told you over and over to cut it out and you have yet to listen to me".
So I guess them fighting it normal then...
Erza slowly made her way to separate them and said, "Gajeel, head up to the infirmary, Natsu," her voice trailed lowly, "Are you some sort of idiot! You could have gotten yourself killed by pulling a stunt like that! Your recklessness still amazes me".
Her body language led me to believe that she was going to hit him, but instead she quickly moved and hugged him tightly against her armor, "The guild wouldn't be the same without you pulling stunts like that though," she said quietly and I had to strain my ears to hear it.
Looking at the heartwarming scene made my chest tighten weirdly. I felt myself getting worked up, not sure why. It's almost like I'm jealous or something, it's not like I'm crushing on Natsu-san or something.
Oh, who am I fooling, I am.
Shit.