A/N: Hey guys, this is my first story. I hope you like it.
Natsus POV
Natsu actually listens when people talk to him. And people talk to him a lot. They think he isn't listening to them, so they tell him the most outrageous things. They tell him their darkest secrets, their worst fears, their greatest hopes. All because he looks oblivious. All because he is really good at keeping his expression neutral. He doesn't say anything. He wouldn't dare. That would be the worst breach of trust he could think of. Nope. He just sits there with a blank expression while listening to them talk.
Even Gray tells him stuff. Long before they could even acknowledge each other as friends. He had told him about Ur, his village being destroyed, and his parents dying. All while they were on a mission and they had to tolerate each others presents. He had been staring off into space, when, all of the sudden, Gray started to talk. Natsu almost jumped out of his skin when he did. But years of experience in listening had saved him. He was shocked to say the least. Gray, of all people, was telling him his past. He never spoke about it with anyone. Even Happy doesn't know that he listens.
Apparently, someone in the guild had told everyone that Natsu was a good person to talk to (not with) about something that was bothering you.
Whenever something's bothering someone, they will wait until he is "not paying attention" and tell him what is going on.
He honestly didn't know how to feel about this. I mean, they would tell him stuff, but they weren't actually telling him. Some of the stuff they said made him sad that they didn't trust him enough to tell him to his face. Some of it made him angry that something like that could happen to his family. He wanted to do something about it, but he couldn't. Because he wasn't supposed to know. It is hard not to slip up, to accidentally hint that he is listening.
So, here he is, in the guild and being oblivious, as always. Not. No one says anything directly to him in the guild. It's always outside of the guild. But he has dragon slayer hearing. And a lot is said, between Mira playing matchmaker, Lucy and Levy gossiping, and Macao and Wakaba being perverted old men, there was a lot to here. The only good thing? He can actually talk about what he hears most of the time. It's not actually a secret. Not confidential. Geeze, now he sounds like and official counselor.
Lucy is talking to Levy about a new book, Mira is talking with Cana about who is cute with who, and Macao and Wakaba are talking about a pretty girl they saw earlier that is well over 20 years younger than them. Nothing new there. He is not actually looking for secrets to hear. He just loves listening to his family enjoy themselves. After the seven years on Tenrou Island, they all deserved to have a little happiness.
After the Grand Magic Games, everyone started to talk to him again. After all that time, they had a lot to get off their chests. Some of the things he heard almost made him cry. He was starting to get overwhelmed. All of this stuff was getting to him. He wanted to make it better. He wanted to tell them that they were back. He wasn't staring off into space as much. He couldn't deal with all of the stuff he was hearing. He needed some time alone.
He wanted to go on a mission, but all of the missions that were up didn't suit his magic or would take more than just him. He was going to ask his team but Lucy and Erza were having a girls get together. They couldn't go. He was getting desperate, everyone was telling him things that were too much to handle. He was ready to scream.
Then he decided. To hell with it, I'll take a hard mission by myself. It would give him a good opportunity to get his anger out. He chose a mission that wanted him to take out a huge monster that was terrorizing a village. He took the mission to Mira to approve.
"Are you sure you want to take this one by yourself? It is going to be dangerous." Mira told him with a concerned look on her face. " Why don't you take someone with you?"
That thought had him wanting to run out the door right then. It wasn't that he didn't want to work with anyone, he just knew that if someone tagged along, they would tell him more stuff that he couldn't handle.
"Nope, I'll be fin Mira. I've handled worse. It'll be nothing." It was true. I was sure I could handle this on my own. And I have handled worse. It will probably give me a run for my jewels but I could take it down.
"If you're sure. Just be careful." She responded hesitantly. "Don't do anything stupid."
"Me? Do something stupid? Would I do something like that?" He said, trying to cheer her up.
"Oh, shut up." She said with her pretty smile on her face.
He grinned back at her. He was happy to see her smile.
With the mission in hand, he left the guild to pack. As he was packing, he debated whether he should go back to the guild and say he was heading out. Just as he decided not to, he heard a knock at his door. Not many people know where he lives so he was too curious to be suspicious. If there was one person he was not expecting to show up at his door, it was Gray. He looked a little irritated, which was kind of normal for him.
"Gray?" he said, more than a little shocked. "What are you doing here?"
"Mira sent me." He responded.
"Is everyone okay? Did something happen?" Natsu said, a little worried.
"Yeah, everyone's fine. Nothing happened. Mira got an update on that mission you took. Turns out there are two monsters that are attacking the village." He told him. "She wants me to come along."
Natsus first thought when Gray had said two monsters was Sweet, more fun. Now? Not so much. He had to do a quest with the stripper. They didn't even get along very well. Sure, they were better than in the past, but still. They still always got into arguments. And there was the other, more pressing issue, of the secrets he was having trouble with. What if Gray told him more stuff that he couldn't handle? What if Natsu had a mental breakdown in the middle of the mission? He was thinking that it was a serious possibility at the moment. He wouldn't get to let off steam if the exhibitionist. He would be trapped.
That's what he felt, he realized. Trapped. Caught in all of the secrets that people were telling him.
"Whatever. Are you packed?" Natsu said, with a frown. He couldn't say no to Gray coming along. It would make Mira worry and Erza would be ticked.
Gray looked a little surprised that he had agreed so quickly. "No, just give me fifteen minutes to go get my stuff." He said quickly.