Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.
I do own the idea for the fic though.
Brotherhood.
(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)
(In alphabetic order, dedicated to haremkinglaw, Jageroux, Kokuja-Fafnir, Shedauwz, samreaper33 and Yoh Narukami.)
Magnolia Town…
21:24…
A pretty nice and uneventful evening in the always merry town of Magnolia, that's how the story starts, yes, with the normal setting we all know of and cannot miss with some other. Unless there is some other town called Magnolia in some other manga, but that is not of my concern. I mean, we are in the Fairy Tail archive after all, right?
Coughs. Anyway, as I was saying; we are in Magnolia, home of Fairy Tail, yet, we have a slight change to the usual setting. This is the future, in a time where technology and all of that is more or less like our own. Not that much of a change, since that doesn't affect the rest of the story –much- but it is necessary to point it out before moving on. There is no magic too, and the current status of the characters is that of students, both from college and high-school respectively.
And now, with that in the clear, we can actually start with the story.
The car pulled to a stop when it reached its destination, its rumbling lessening to a slight murmur of the engine in the middle of the night, the two people inside it breathed out the air in their lungs with small smiles gracing their faces. It was a nice evening, as stated before, and now it was brought to an end for these two.
"Dinner was nice… that restaurant was just as you said." The driver, a man of blue hair and brown eyes, murmured quietly, gazing at the radio and the station that was currently on.
"Yes, I heard of it from Lucy." The person seating next to him, a young woman of scarlet hair and brown eyes as well, responded softly, her eyes focused on the same thing as his. "She knows many other places we could visit…" She blushed lightly. "I-If you have the time and want to… t-that is."
"Sure, Erza, it'd be good." He blurted out after a few chuckles, noticing what he said and blushing as the girl did, his next words coming with a stutter. "I-I mean, I-I can make time… i-if you want me to."
"I-I'd love it, Jellal…" The girl replied quickly, blushing harder and taking hold of her things haphazardly before making a run for it towards the building in front of which the car was parked, surprising the blue-haired man, who could only stare blankly at the red-head. She stopped and turned around mid-way, waving a nervous hand in goodbye. "S-sorry! I have to study for school!"
"…u-uhm, sure, see you later, Erza." Jellal replied curtly, nodding to the girl while his body leaned to close the door that remained open. He made sure to see that the girl got inside the building before taking off towards another place, his mouth morphing into a happy smile when remembering the events of that night and how he'd love to repeat them in the future. Yet, the growing noises coming from the backseat made him roll his eyes in annoyance. He brought his hand to the back and tapped something over the seats, hearing more groans. "Coast's clear, Sting, you can get out."
"Phew, finally." A man of blond hair almost yelled when throwing aside the black blanket he used to hide during the date his friend was in. He was hanging up with him that afternoon when they found the scarlet-haired girl and since he understood his friend wanted to spend something with her, he got out of the way and hid inside the car, playing with his phone or listening to some music to pass the time. Now sitting straight in the middle of the backseat and leaning forward with a small smirk, his arms resting on the back of the front seats, he asked the mother of all questions. "So how did it go? You cradle robber, a twenty-six year old guy going out with an eighteen year old girl… rape alert!"
"She's legal according to the law, so there're no problems, do I need to remind you that?" The blue-haired replied with a dry smirk, taking a turn to the left in one street.
"She wasn't eighteen when you started to date her, remember~?" The other man brought a finger to poke the guy's cheek, further annoying him. "Can't believe you actually got a hot AND young girl to like you!" He chuckled in amusement and continued. "Damn, I wouldn't be surprised if she's already in love with you."
"Hahaha… see? I'm laughing because that's funny." Jellal answered sarcastically, stopping behind another car and waiting for the lights to turn green. He pointed to the free seat next to him without looking at his passenger. "C'mon, move forward."
"Nah, I'm good, thank you." Sting shrugged and leaned back, crossing his arms and looking around while the car was still; there were few people in the streets despite being late and a weekend. He gave a side-glance to the azure-haired man and remembered something. "You didn't answer me yet… was it good or not?"
"It was good, yeah, not different from other times." The lights went green and the car was back in motion, the driver just shrugging in answer but also sporting a small smile. "Though… I don't know… there's something about her…"
"Here we go…" The blond-haired whispered to himself in amusement, hearing the fully detailed night of his friend with his head just moving in nodding motions to show he was listening. It wasn't rare for his friend to go into details when he felt something strong for someone, so he let it slide and waited until he was over before speaking again. "Sounds like a good girl, good job."
"Yeah… let's hope for the best." Jellal nodded and made the car stop again, this time in front of a modest house that didn't look as fancy as the building in which his girlfriend lived. He checked the time and hummed in affirmation, turning his eyes to the front door and waiting for something. "He said for us to come here around this hour."
"Uh? Oh yeah…" Sting looked in the same direction and found the front door being opened suddenly with one blond man, like him but taller and cooler, coming from the inside with a girl of short white-hair pecking him on the cheek. He snorted at the picture. "Talking about cradle robbers…"
"Yeah… Laxus wins that by miles." The blue-haired chuckled and waited, seeing the couple discussing something in hushed voices before the girl went back inside and the blond man got to the car, his eyes scanning the inside and finally deciding to take the seat on the back for this time. Once inside, he greeted the others and lighted a cigar, opening the window to let the smoke ventilate. "Everything alright, Scar?"
"As good as it can be." Laxus answered, puffing out a small line of smoke straight through the opened window, his face showing a wondering frown. "She said some troubling things today."
"Let me guess… she wants to move in with you." Sting chanced jokingly, his amused expression turning to one of shock when the blond man choked with the smoke and coughed repeatedly to get it out of his system. "Shit… she actually brought that up?"
"I feel sorry for you." Jellal sent an apologetic glance through the rear mirror and shook his head, his hands spinning the wheel to the right, towards their next destination. "I hope Erza doesn't bring that up when she enters college."
"How much you wanna bet she will?" The blond man asked recovered, sending a serious look to the driver's back of the head. He got rid of the ash of his cigar and took another pull, the smoke coming out slowly this time. "These chicks are crazy, guys; they think dating a grown man is different from dating someone their age… hell, I bet they think we're looking for marriage or similar shit."
Stopping because of a red light, the blue-haired shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, there are some guys who think like that," he adjusted the seatbelt and changed the radio station; his eyes moving lazily back to the front of the car while he continued. "I'm one of them but I like to take things slow… too much trouble if you rush in these things."
"That's what I wanted to hear!" Laxus roared through clenched teeth, crossing his arms in annoyance when remembering the long talk he had with his girlfriend about the moving in thing, his eyes drifting to the shifting landscape pass the window. "Why's it so hard for women to get that? Bitches think we do it on purpose."
"Can't we change the subject?" Sting asked after remaining silent and listening to the other two talking, cleaning his ear and groaning out loud when he got tired of the argument. "What the hell with this? We get together and we keep on talking about them!"
"True, we're supposed to be doing something else," Jellal changed the radio station again and turned sharply to the right, getting narrowly inside an alley that barely had any illumination. He drove a bit further, almost to the middle of the square and stopped next to a grey building with white double doors. "Here's the place."
"He came back here?" Laxus asked and Sting nodded slowly, he blinked a couple of time before shaking his head in disappointment. "Seriously… he'll be broke by the end of the month if he continues to see her."
"Could be worse," Sting murmured, resting his elbow on the border of door's frame and the window with his hand under his chin, waiting patiently for their fourth guy. "He could be with her and Bacchus… that never ends well."
"Fuck love triangles, I hate'em." The blond man growled quietly, getting rid of his cigar and waiting like the others.
Not two minutes later, the fourth guy was seen making his way to the double doors from the inside, chatting with a girl of long brown hair and snickering to something she said before stepping outside towards the car. The girl waved to the guys inside the car and got back into the building with a sluggish walk.
"Sup, bitches?" The fourth guy greeted merrily, his dark red hair styled upwards brushing against the ceiling of the car while he got in. He looked around and saw the other three nodding to him in answer, letting him rest easy on the free front seat. "Missed me?"
"Heh, sure we did." Laxus answered back first, smirking at the light frown on the red-head's face. "We can't live without you, Erik."
"Good thing I asked, bitch, can't have you going all grumpy on me, now can I?" Erik, or Cobra, as he liked to be called, replied swiftly, his frown changing to the previous grin.
"God, they started the homo-talk…" Sting groaned in despair, tapping Jellal's shoulder for the car to start moving.
"Yeah, better if we don't pay too much attention." The blue-haired murmured and got the car moving again, exiting the alley and getting back on the streets. After a few blocks and laughs with the new passenger, he looked at the younger blond through the rear mirror, finding him with his eyes on a cellphone. "Got anything yet from him?"
"Uh, not sure… he says he's with Natsu…" The rest of the guys groaned at the setback while Sting continued to exchange messages with their fifth guy, a small droplet of sweat falling from his brow in anxiousness. "Natsu is cool and all but it's just us for tonight."
"I don't want him 'cause he'll start picking fights and I'll have to save his sorry ass." Laxus grumbled.
"Fucker crushed my eardrums the last time we got him in." Cobra flinched at the memory and covered his ears out of reflex.
"And he'll start bothering me about my date with Erza." And Jellal sighed tiredly at the whole business he got himself into; he was grateful to the pink-haired because he introduced him to Erza but the guy was annoyingly overprotective over the girl, so much so that the blue-hair's gratefulness grew thin in a matter of days. He shook his head and stopped the car, waiting close to the sidewalk for Sting to tell them about their last addition. "Try to get Natsu out… we're here to relax, not to get 'fired up' as he says."
"I swear that guy is missing a screw in his head." Cobra shook his head and looked around for something to do, his eyes going to the radio and his hands moving by instinct to change the station. He felt someone's eyes on him and he found Laxus and Jellal staring intently at him. He snickered again. "I found this really cool station back in the bar, thought you guys might wanna hear it too."
Jellal looked at Laxus; both waited a minute or two wondering something and then returned their gazes to the red-haired man, nodding for him to proceed. Cobra's grin widened at their decision, his eyes returning to the radio and starting the search for that one station he found earlier. He eventually found it and his partners gasped in surprise at the music they were hearing.
…
We're coming out swinging!
…
"Told ya you'd like it." He said through snickers, seeing the two guys bobbing their heads to the rhythm, the blue-haired man tapping the corners of the wheel while the blond stomped one foot against the floor. Sting tapped the corners of his phone and stopped. A grin formed on his face at reading the new message and he leaned forward to show the last reply to Jellal, who also grinned and got the car running again.
…
Started out in the spring of 2003.
Never went to school, nobody talked to me.
…
They went to get their fifth addition and drove off to the city, wanting to start with the fun already while talking about the recent developments of the week, which wasn't much considering that they saw each other almost every day, but it was still nice to pass the time on the way to their holy place.
…
Except to tell me all the things I couldn't do.
Don't want to hear about it.
…
1 hour later…
22:32…
"So here we are! We're right back at it again!" Now, they found themselves inside a bar, with Cobra and Rogue, or Ryos if you will, singing the song out loud in the middle of the place, despite the different song that was currently blasting through the speakers. "Just like we've always said!"
"They're full of energy, aren't they?" Jellal asked to his opponent, his eyes set on the white ball over the table and his target at the other side. He was focused on the game of pool but his ears could still hear what his friends were saying. "Good thing we still do this from time to time."
"What? Me beating you in your game?" Laxus asked jokingly, smirking and supporting himself on the cue he always picked whenever they went to that place. He saw the blue-haired shaking his head in slight amusement before taking the shoot and getting a striped ball in. He whistled. "Finally got one inside… that makes it six-one."
"Wasn't it six-three?" The guy asked a bit confused, pausing on the next sip he was about to take from his glass. He remembered nailing two other shots besides the last one, what happened to those?
"Who knows?" The blond answered lazily, shrugging while he smirked mentally. The other man was so busy looking around at times that it was easy to get the balls from inside the machine and back over the table, making it look like he didn't have a single shot in. He brought a beer to his mouth and downed its contents, serving a new glass and leaving on the table to go ahead with his own shoot. "Move aside, it's the winner's turn."
"Sure, whatever." Jellal answered in an equally lazy way, bringing the glass to his lips and drinking every single drop of beer in it. He was going to pass the next glass for later but at the sight of a buzzed Natsu and worried Sting heading in his direction, he had a change of mind and poured more in his glass. 'Here it comes…'
"Y-you…! J-Jellal!" Natsu started out shakily, trying to stand correctly on his own two feet but failing, like he was failing to point a finger at the blue-hair's face or keep his drink from spilling. He hiccuped a bit and adjusted his eyes, these ones narrowing and crossing slightly. "H-how did it –hic- go with Erza?"
"Natsu… calm down." Sting whispered to the pink-hair's ear, wishing to prevent a fight from starting. He stumbled upon the guy a few minutes earlier, talking with him a few words to try and make him go to another place but failing when he heard the pink-haired got there with his girlfriend. Now, Sting was doing his best to hide Jellal from him but it seemed like Natsu managed to notice him inside the place.
"It was okay, nothing worth mentioning." The blue-haired man, though, wasn't troubled in dealing with the overprotective guy. He understood his point of view and all, how he didn't trust him because of the age difference and some other things, but still… it was quite the pain to be dealing with this every single time.
…
Got with my guys packed into all our cars.
Hit all the nearest scenes and every local bar
Played a show a night till it'd make me sick
…
"You should've seen the look she gave me, man." Cobra spoke to the equally buzzed Rogue, both keeping their balance in the middle of the place with their arms across their shoulders, acting as pillars for each other. He looked at their glasses and found them to be empty, unfortunately, so he led them to the counter. "She was giving me that look, y'know? The 'I want you' look? It was…"
"Arousing…?" Rogue asked out of the blue, his question coming to mind not because he was paying attention to his friend, but because of the girls sitting at one side of the bar. He could recognize one from his school, but the other one… "Fuck… so hard…"
"Yeeeeaaah, that kind of look." The red-head answered through quiet snickers, asking for refills once they got to the counter and waiting patiently with his friend still looking in the girls' direction. He caught sight of the girls and grinned, nudging the black-hair's side to get his attention. "Oh-ho~! Someone's a playboy."
"W-what…? N-no… I don't think Yuki sees me that way…" The black-haired man answered a bit sobered up after the sudden pull from reality and his friend's grinning face. He shook his head vigorously and denied everything.
"Oh? Wait a sec there… Yuki?" Cobra chuckled and straightened up, shaking his friend a bit while ruffling his hair playfully. He stopped when their drinks were refilled and dragged the man towards the two girls, his actions unnerving the youngster. He could probably help his friend with that girl and keep the other one. "C'mon now, I'm in the middle of something now but I don't think Cana will mind a threesome."
"N-No! I-I'm good!" Rogue tried his hardest to stop the other man but it was for naught, the table was getting nearer by the second. "Wait what!? T-t-t-threesome!?"
…
So here I am
I'm right back at it again.
Just like I've always said,
"If you're too cool for school
I ain't here to make no friends"
…
"Sorry about that, man, had to switch it so we didn't get kicked out." Sting told the other blond man again, holding which was supposed to be Jellal's cue in his hands and watching how Laxus dealt another lightning fast shoot that almost shattered the borders of the table. He flinched and laughed nervously. 'That Natsu owes me big for this.' "You know how Natsu is… if Jellal hadn't gone with him, he would've started a fight."
"I know that dumbass and how stupid he gets when drinking." Laxus replied sourly, his hands holding the feeble wooden stick with all his strength. He went there because he needed to vent out on someone, and since Cobra was already busy with Rogue and some girls at the other side of the bar, and Jellal got dragged to argue something with Natsu, he was on his own with Sting. It wasn't that he didn't trust the younger blond but he was better talking to the other two. Same experiences and all made it easier for him to speak honestly with them. "I'd rather let Jellal talk to him and all of that, than start another fight with the dimwit."
'A-and why're you mad then…?' Sting thought a bit frightened when hearing a few cracks coming from the older man's hands. He decided it was better to ignore it and get on with his shoot to appease the guy before anything. He would've gone to help Rogue and get him out of his current predicament, but this change of plans made it worse for him. His friend would have to forgive him this one. 'Goddammit, this is not my day…'
…
And I'll say hey! (Hey)!
I'm right back at it again.
Just like I've always said,
"If you're too cool for school
I ain't here to make no friends"
…
"So my friend says you're into him." Cobra started out cockily, grinning happily to the girl sitting across from them and pointing a finger at the nervous Rogue, who shied away under the girls' bewildered stares. "And I'm here to help him say that he likes you, for reals, and that he wants to go out with you." He made kissing motions with his fingers to explain himself better, earning a groan from the black-haired guy. "You know? Kisses and hugs, and all of that mushy thing."
"W-what?" Yukino Aguria, who was a classmate of Rogue's in some subjects back in college, asked a bit flustered. She certainly found the guy handsome and would be willing to go out with him… that is, if the guy himself were to be the one asking her out and not his friend. Though, the scene before her was quite cute. 'C-could I say yes to this…?'
"Wait there, Yuki." Kagura Mikazuchi, who also was a classmate of the two, interjected firmly and stopped any word from escaping her friend's mouth, narrowing her eyes at the grinning red-head and doubting his words despite the crude truth of them. "Why are you asking her in his behalf?"
"Duh, can't you see it?" Cobra motioned to the nervous guy next to him and shrugged. "He's a mess of nerves, so I'm helping him out."
Kagura's stare intensified. "Is this related to that Bro code I heard of from Natsu?"
"…you what?" Rogue and Cobra asked aloud, their drunken minds sobering up in one second to stare at the brown-haired woman in disbelief.
She nodded with the same firmness of before. "I'm currently dating Natsu Dragneel over there," she pointed to the drunk pink-haired sharing a table with their other friend and shrugged. "He told me all about that Bro code because I demanded him to be honest with me."
…
We left home with no kinda back up plan
And everyone we knew that we couldn't stand.
Said if you can't make it here you won't make it there.
Don't want to hear about it.
…
"…are you serious?" Jellal asked to the pink-haired guy sitting with him, blinking a couple of times to get his mind out of the gutter. "Erza has a twin?"
"F-from a different dad, yeah…" Natsu blurted out with a crossed glare, his eyes going everywhere before focusing on the glass in his hand. He moved it around a bit and frowned. "Knightwalker or something… she's jealous of Erza because who knows what, so she thwarts her relationships when she knows of them…"
"I-I see…" The blue-haired nodded slowly, seriously surprised with this piece of information. He never heard of the young scarlet-haired girl having a twin or anything of the like. Though, he was suspicious of his source, and he was quick to ask. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Dunno…" The pink-haired shrugged and downed what remained of his beer, leaning back on his chair afterwards with his frown intact. "You look like a nice guy… and I care for Erza 'cause she's my friend… so I'm telling you because she likes you and I wanna see her happy…?"
'T-that's a bit of a childish reason…' Jellal thought, a small sweatdrop appearing at the back of his head when seeing the guy trying to refill their drinks. He pushed the hand aside and took care of that, so as to show his appreciation for the heads-up. "I gotta be watchful of her then, that is, if she does try to mess with Erza and I."
"Y-you can try, I guess…" Natsu shrugged again, something akin to a shiver running down his spine. "S-she's a handful… the craziest girl you'll ever see…"
…
Spent most of our time sleeping on hard wood floors.
People's living rooms in any open door
We played a show a night till it all made sense
…
"Really now?" Laxus asked after they were done with the game, retreating with the younger blond to a free spot by the counter and asking for more drinks. "When did you meet her?"
"Oh-ho~! Last week, she was strolling casually in front of Jellal's building so I stepped up and asked her out." Sting resumed with a merry grin, looking in his phone for a picture in special. "You won't believe it unless I show you so… here it is!"
The older blond leaned forward to look at the screen and his eyes widened; there it was, just as the guy said. "W-wow… Jellal will go nuts when he learns of this."
"Hahaha, no way, don't tell him." Sting faked a laughed and then turned serious, hiding the picture and keeping his eyes locked with those of the older blond, who was slightly taken aback by the request. "I wanna see his face when he sees her."
"Oh? And how'll you manage that?" Laxus asked a bit intrigued of the guy's plan. If there was something he knew well, it was that Sting usually had some hilarious plans in mind, more so than Natsu or Cobra at times.
The younger blond took a long gulp from his new beer and grinned mischievously. "Easy~! I'll just ask him to go with us on a double date."
…
So here I am
I'm right back at it again.
Just like I've always said,
"If you're too cool for school
I ain't here to make no friends"
…
"You magnificent bastard." Azuma, the owner of the bar in which the guys were, complained loudly as he eyed the paper in his hands, reading its contents over and over to be sure it was legitimate. "How did you manage this?"
"It was easy, honestly." Ultear answered lazily, shrugging and pointing to some of the guys around the bar. "Most of those people are here now, so it was just a matter of asking them if they were up to it."
"True, there are many guys from college lately." The brown-haired man leaned back on his leather chair and joined his fingers in front of him with his elbows on the armrests, thinking on how to make profit of this new development. "Having a band playing here would certainly give us an advantage over the competition."
"Especially if you want to go against Hades and his Grimoire Club." The dark-haired woman mentioned, turning around and sitting on the edge of the man's desk, thinking some plans of her own. "You have to talk to that guy of red hair over there and you'll be good to go."
Azuma felt his eyebrows rise in slight confusion. "The red-haired one? Didn't you tell me the blue-haired led the group?"
…
And I'll say hey! (Hey)!
I'm right back at it again.
Just like I've always said,
"If you're too cool for school
I ain't here to make no friends"
…
"He does that, yeah, but when I'm not around." Cobra whispered to his black-haired friend, both having their backs turned to the girls. "I mean, shit, have you ever seen Natsu being so whipped before?"
"N-no, I don't think so…" Rogue replied a bit troubled, not really remembering many times in which the pink-haired was a whipped boyfriend. His eyes shone when he remembered one time he actually saw that. "Wait, remember that Heartfilia girl?"
…
Don't wanna hear about it
Don't wanna hear about it yet
…
"Oh right… Luigi…" Natsu smiled sourly and shook his head, trying to erase the image of the blond girl from his mind. "Haven't seen her since she went abroad…"
"She sent Erza a message earlier, saying she was coming for Spring break." Jellal told the pink-haired carefully, having heard of his bad break up with Erza's best friend and wanting to prevent a burst of depression from the young guy. "She'll be staying for a couple of days before going to some other place and so."
"Why are you telling me this?" The pink-haired asked curiously, knowing there was a bit of bad blood between him and his table partner.
The blue-haired man smiled in amusement. "Dunno, probably because you look like a nice guy and I care for Kagura 'cause she is my friend's sister… and you know the rest."
"Hahahaha! I knew you were a nice guy!" Natsu laughed boisterously at the guy's answer, refilling their drinks, with a more steady hand this time, and toasting for what they were going to face in the following days.
…
So here I am
I'm right back at it again.
Just like I've always said,
"If you're too cool for school
I ain't here to make no friends"
…
"Anyway, anywho, anyhow… would you go out with my friend here?" Cobra asked the white-haired girl again, trying to leave the issue about Natsu selling them out to his girlfriend for later and concentrating on his nervous friend, who didn't want his help to begin with. "He's young, good looking, polite, smart and a virgin, your best choice in this hellhole."
"What the hell, man!?" Rogue yelled in embarrassment.
"U-uhm… I-I don't know…" Yukino answered nervously, not knowing how to respond with so many people looking intently at her and expecting her answer. She bit her lip and tried to think of a way to come out of this without making any problems for the black-haired guy but nothing appeared in her mind.
"Y-Yukino?" She raised her head when she heard Rogue calling for her, seeing the man standing up and pointing to the doors leading outside. "C-can we talk privately?"
The girl looked at him for a few seconds before nodding, quickly moving to follow the guy outside while Kagura smiled at the girl's resolve and Cobra smirked in amusement.
"Heheh~! Someone's getting laid tonight!" He said and the woman of brown-hair glared in his direction. He rolled his eyes at her sensitivity and shook his head to appease her. "I meant me, girl, don't get your panties in a twist."
"You're one disgusting man, that's all I'll say." Kagura stood up and marched to the table where her boyfriend was, her eyes softening a bit when hearing laughing cheerily at some joke or comment the blue-haired man shared with him. They both stopped and looked at her, waiting for whatever she wanted to say. "I'm going home, Natsu."
"Uh? Sure…" Natsu answered a bit confused, not understanding why she was letting him know of her departure. He felt a sharp pain in his shin and yelped, his eyes staring at the blue-haired man sitting across from him with a mix of confusion and anger. "H-hey!"
'Go with her, moron.' Jellal thought in hopes of sending his message to the other guy's mind, narrowing his eyes to let him know it was serious and motioning to the girl and front door to get his point across. It was the least he could do after the information he received from the guy. 'Don't let her go on her own.'
"Is everything alright?" The brown-haired girl asked curiously, not knowing why her boyfriend yelped or why Simon's friend was now glaring at him. She barely ever saw them speaking now that she thought about it.
"N-no, it's all good." The pink-haired blurted out at top speed, understanding the message and standing up to lead the girl to the exit with one hand snaking behind her around her waist. "Here, I'll walk you home."
"Heh, Dr. Heart strikes again." Laxus mocked lightly as he got near the table with Sting and Cobra on toe, all three taking seats and setting the new drinks on the table with Sting and Cobra serving them. "Finally got through that guy's thick skull?"
"Not quite, I just repaid a favor with a favor." Jellal took one of the glass left in front of him and sniffed the contents, his nose scrunching up at the strong smell of alcohol oozing out from inside. "Is this the house's special?"
"Yep, the feared Soma, you'll feel like a meteor just crashed on you." Cobra closed the bottles he used to create the mix and rubbed his hands together in anticipation, taking his own glass and raising up with the others mimicking his actions, sans the hand rubbing. "Arite! For us, for the bitches, and for this new year… that we hope it has less shit than the previous ones."
"Hell yeah!"
…
And I'll say hey!
I'm right back at it again.
Just like I've always said,
"If you're too cool for school
I ain't here to make no..."
(Brace for impact!)
…
2 hours later…
00:40…
"Hell… no… dammit…" Jellal groaned loudly and rested his head against the chair of his car, letting Laxus drive him back home since he was in no condition to do so. That Soma or Sema drink really tested his endurance tonight and it was giving him something akin to a hangover without waiting for him to sleep a bit first. "I'll not drink… for a month…"
"Yeah, good luck with that." Laxus muttered under his breath, which he kinda didn't want to know the smell of at the moment. He was lucky his heritage was of people with strong livers, he doubted he could be able to drive the entire group back to their homes otherwise. His eyes squinted; he pulled to a stop when he reached the address the blue-haired man gave him. "Here we are…"
"Thanks, Laxus… I owe you one." Jellal whispered weakly, opening the door slowly and trying to regain some semblance of normality before stepping out.
"You owe me a lot… but don't worry, man, anytime." The blond waited until his friend was out of the car before waving a hand in goodbye. "I'll try to keep your car in one piece 'till tomorrow."
"Ah, don't worry about it, I'll… work it out and… yeah…" Jellal shook his head and made to the building behind him, waving a lazy hand to the guy who took his car for safety reasons, and standing before a set of buttons next to the entrance. 'Alright… time to use my mind a bit… which was the number?'
"Jellal?" He turned around attentively when he heard his name being mentioned, his eyes landing on the form of a girl he saw a few hours ago but was now gazing worriedly at him. Erza leaned against the door she just opened and took a closer look of the guy, seeing his tired form and eyes gazing at her with a weak smile. "Are you alright? What happened?"
"Hey there, Erza." Jellal greeted as he made his way to the door, leaning against it while he tried to keep himself awake and talk to the girl. "I was taking a walk and thought… of… you know, dropping by to say good night."
"U-uh…?" Said girl took a nervous step back when noticing the smell of alcohol coming from the guy's mouth, but she still remained there to listen to the entire thing. She was interested in knowing what he would say under the influence of whatever he drank during the time they didn't see each other. "G-good night then…?"
"Heh, silly Erza… that's what I like about you." The blue-haired leaned his head against the door and closed his eyes, thinking on what else to say besides that but slowly getting sleepy in his comfortable position. Hey, he was drunk; of course he would find a metal door comfortable. "And… your hair…"
"I-I… t-thank you…?" Erza replied with more nervousness, not knowing how to answer the compliments said to her. Though, taking another look at the man before her, she noticed that there wasn't any need for her to do. She poked his cheek lightly and saw him frowning at the contact, mumbling something before resuming his peaceful expression. Her eyes widened. 'D-did he just fall asleep at my door?'
She looked around the front of the building and saw the streets empty, a car passing by every now and then but no sign of someone who could help her with the grown man at her doorstep. She bit her lip and blushed slightly, knowing fully well what she had to do in this situation.
"H-here," she moved to stand next to him and took hold of his arm, swinging it over her shoulder to carry the man inside. If there was no one who could take the man to his home, well, he was her boyfriend, right? He would just have to spend the night at her place this time. "Let's go in, I'll make you some tea to warm you up."
'So nice… good choice, Jellal, good choice indeed…' Jellal smiled in his sleep, his head jerking and moving to rest over the girl's head, further flustering her with all the close contact between them. "Hmmm… thank you… Erza."
"Y-you're welcome…"
…
Don't wanna hear about it
Don't wanna hear about it, bitch
…
In another place…
01:56…
~You got the motherfucking right to remain violent! Hollow points hiding in my-~
"Ugh… yeah? Who is it?" Cobra asked after getting up from the short nap he just had at the back of the car, sitting straight on the back seat with his eyes noticing that the car stopped just two blocks from his home and that Laxus was now taking a nap himself. His phone rang out of nowhere and since he wasn't in his comfortable bed with someone else to take the call for him, he had to wake up and answer it himself. "Hey… someone there? I swear if this is a prank I'll-!"
Someone talked on the other end and made him stop to listen, he nodded a couple of times and opened the door of the car, stepping out slowly and walking to the back of the vehicle with his eyes landing on the trunk. He ended the call and save his phone back in his pocket, reaching a hand to open the trunk and confirm what he just heard but stopping mid-way.
"…if it's true, I'll laugh it on his face for the rest of the year." He promised to himself before actually grabbing and lifting the metal lid of the trunk, his eyes widening and his mouth hanging at the sight presented to him. "O-oh my fucking God…"
Rogue tried his best to ignore the guy who just saved him and was now trying to stifle his laughter, using what little clothing he could find to cover the body of his new girlfriend. "Please, don't mention this to anyone."
"Fuck it… young, good looking, polite, smart and a virgin…" Cobra repeated what he told to Yukino, the girl now sleeping next to Rogue inside the trunk of the car, and did his best to contain his about to burst laughter. Damn, his sides were burning from so much restraint. "You literally screwed the virgin part and now you're another normal dude in this motherfucking town! Hahahahaha!
"…why…? You…?" Rogue tried to come up with something to say but noticed that he was at a loss for words… and clothes. He shook his head in the end and brought down the trunk's lid to silence the laugh of his friend, wanting to get some more privacy as well. The whole point of the call was to let someone know of their whereabouts. He didn't want to spend the rest of his days inside a trunk with a pretty girl and no food. 'I would seriously miss Frosch… and my popcorn… and that drink… how was it called? Punch, yes.'
Nodding to himself, he went back to sleep in his cramped up position and waited for the night to pass.
'Cobra will get us out by morning…'
In another place again…
8 hours later…
10:10…
"Jellal… wake up..."
"…wait a minute." The man groaned in his sleep, tightening his eyelids together to avoid the light of the day coming from the window of the room with a hand bringing a pillow to cover his face for extra precautions. "Close the curtains, please."
"No, sorry, you slept too much."
"…wait," he muttered, suddenly remembering he lived alone in his apartment. He got into thinking of what he did the night before and frowned. He was pretty sure he drank some tea and got to his bed in a matter of minutes, turning off all lights in the apartment and closing the curtains to avoid a migraine right from the start. All of this on his own, so, who was the person answering him? "Who are you?"
"W-what kind of question is that?" He moved the pillow from his face and opened his eyes to look inside his room, which he now realized that wasn't his, but of the scarlet-haired girl with whom he had been going out for the past months. She blinked at him, he blinked at her, both suddenly at a loss on what to say.
"Wow… I think I drank too much yesterday." Natsu groaned as he sipped his coffee, gingerly rubbing his throbbing forehead while Kagura read the newspaper next to him on the couch. He took another sip and sighed. "Remind me to stop drinking for the next weeks…"
"With pleasure." The brown-haired answered absentmindedly, wondering if her roommate got to wake up their other visitor successfully.
"HOW THE HELL DID I GET HERE!?"
"Oh, Jellal's here?" Natsu asked after hearing the loud yell coming from Erza's room, his head turning to see in that particular direction with not much care or thought.
"Seems like it, yes." Kagura flipped to the next page and nodded.
"You were drunk and sleeping at my doorstep." Erza explained shortly to the blue-haired man after the initial shock wore off, now sitting with him on the kitchen's table and giving the man some coffee to drink and recover. She blushed at noticing he had yet to put a shirt on to cover himself and looked to the side. "I-I couldn't leave you like that, so I brought you in… a-a-and you slept with me in my bed."
"I-I-I did what?" Jellal's eyes widened once again, not believing his drunken self to have been so bold. He flushed slightly and brought a hand to cover his eyes, ashamed of what he did. "W-we didn't do anything… M-rated… right?"
"U-uh!? U-uhm… n-no, we didn't." The scarlet-haired stuttered and blushed harder, but she still frowned at that detail.
"Is that disappointment in your voice, Erza?" Kagura asked from her place by the couch, earning a small chuckle from Natsu while the two people by the table got even more flustered.
"S-S-SHUT UP!"
Near the bar…
Same time…
~We're at the edge of the city… see the flames up in the sky... now the-~
"Hello there, this is Sting." Sting, if you didn't notice, answered hastily after hearing his phone going off, getting rid of the sleepiness of his voice in less than a second by heaving a long yawn and rubbing his eyes from any dust/dirt/anything that got there while he was sleeping. He could remember nothing from last night but he was sure he had a good time; he would otherwise remember it and be in his bed, which wasn't the case now. "Uh? Rogue? No, I don't know where he is…"
"Then get your ass here and help me look for him, dammit!" Laxus yelled from Jellal's car, ending the call and showing to be in the street close to where Sting was sleeping all along. He frowned at the mess of bottles around the younger blond and clicked his tongue. "What the hell are you doing here!? Did you sleep here or something?"
"What if I did?" The blond made his way to the car at a slow pace and got inside to the back seat, stretching in the process and choosing to continue his recovery over the leather seats of his friend's car. He laid on his back, closed the door and positioned his arms behind his head, paying no mind to the small pain in his head. "Anyway, you said Rogue's lost?"
"Pretty much, yeah, haven't seen him since he left with that Yukino girl last night and he wasn't in his apartment." He explained as he started the engine and drove the car down the street, looking everywhere for a young man with black hair and eating popcorn. He looked for his phone and tried by calling Natsu to check if he knew anything. "Hey, brat! Is Rogue with – what? Jellal's there? How…? – never mind, pass the phone to him, now!"
"Jellal… is in Natsu's house…?" Sting asked slowly, blinking a couple of times as he straightened up himself on the seat and paid closer attention to the conversation.
"Yeah, we don't know where he is – how should I know? I'm not his mom! – Haha, yeah, funny, no I don't have a vagina." The conversation seemed to be going nowhere, the passenger in the back seat could tell that much by what he heard so far. "Whatever! Listen! We need you to try and locate Cobra, he surely knows where Rogue is – yeah, same – aye, don't worry – sure, I'll keep you posted."
And he ended the call by throwing the phone to the passenger seat, his focus returning to the road ahead.
Back in the girls' apartment…
"Who was it?" Erza asked after the call finished, really curious about the person with whom her boyfriend talked just now. She never really imagined he could be throwing insults or dirty jokes like that, in her honest opinion. Now she had a different but still favorable light of him.
"Laxus, he wanted to know if Rogue was here with us." Jellal threw the phone towards Natsu by the couch and headed for the room, putting on his clothes and pulling out his own cellphone to check the state of things. He clicked his tongue when he noticed some missed calls. "Tch, Rogue tried to call me some hours ago."
"Huh… and Cobra sent me a message…" Natsu shared after his phone went off, clicking a few buttons and readying the message out loud to everyone. "Don't worry about Ryos, he's in good hands… literally – and then he put a laughing face."
"What's that supposed to – oh my, I forgot." Kagura looked for her own cellphone and returned with wide eyes, one hand curling into a fist and slightly frightening the guys. They knew it was never good to anger her… or Erza for that matter, but that was another story, Kagura could literally chop you into little pieces if she was mad whereas Erza would just beat the hell out of you. Oh, women. "Yukino left with Rogue yesterday… and she didn't return."
"…how did you forget that?" Her boyfriend asked out in curiosity, ignoring the shaking heads of both Erza and Jellal to keep his mouth shut. He continued, unfortunately. "She lives in the same fuckin' apartment, Kagura."
"Natsu~?" The woman started out sweetly, sending a shiver down the pink-hair's spine by turning her head slowly in his direction with a happy smile on her face. "What did we say about you speaking your mind?"
Natsu looked at the public in the room and saw them taking a step back. He sweatdropped and gulped down what saliva remained in his mouth, giving the answer he knew all too well. "T-that it's bad for my health?"
"Touche."
"W-wait… why are you taking that knife? - …!? W-wait, Kagura!"
Quatro Puppies Bar…
1 hour later…
"And then I opened the trunk and he was there with that girl." Cobra, after bailing out from Jellal's car and leaving to continue the party somewhere else, got back into the same place he was picked up the night before, now chatting with Cana and Bacchus about his most recent story. "You should've seen the look on his face when I mentioned he's not a –"
His little retelling of the story was cut short when the front was suddenly opened by a strong kick, all three occupants in the room turning around to see who came to crash their little party and finding no other than the rest of the gang standing there looking for the one person who knew where Rogue was.
"You." Laxus hissed dangerously, Sting, Kagura and Natsu standing to his left while Erza, Jellal and… another Erza? stood to his right. He gave a step forward and cracked his knuckles in preparation. "Where the hell is Rogue?"
"H-hey guys, sup?" Cobra greeted nervously, hopping off his stool and standing on his feet as a precaution. He never liked it when Laxus got mad at him for something; it was always troublesome and painful, extremely painful. "R-Rogue? I don't know where he-"
"We read your message, man, you can't fool us." Natsu cut in after hearing the guy trying to snake his way out of the trouble. He ignored the pointed looks sent to him and the several bandages around his body, wanting to forget about what happened an hour ago because he spoke his mind.
"Yeah, we know you know and don't want us to know because if we know you would not know something we don't know anymore." Sting explained… something… with a firm nod and crossed his arms in defiance.
"Tell me where Rogue and my friend is, Erik." Kagura pulled out a pair of knives, the same ones she used with Natsu earlier, and sharpened them in plain sight, further unnerving the spectators.
"Or you'll have to suffer the consequences." Both Erzas spoke at the same time, earning confused expressions from the three 'villains' aside some shocked expressions at seeing one holding a steel pipe and the other a really long iron pole.
"Wait… what is she doing here?" Cana asked the question everyone had, seeing the second scarlet-haired woman with the iron pole shrugging nonchalantly in answer.
"Sting called me and I was bored so I thought; sure, why not?" Erza, who was actually Knightwalker, informed as she spun her iron pole next to her with the same expertize of a trained lancer. She stopped and aimed it at Bacchus, her face morphing into a wild grin that was uncharacteristic of her twin.
"…and what is blue boy gonna do?" Bacchus directed his gaze to the last member of the team and saw the blue-haired man smiling sincerely at them, looking into his pockets for something and taking out five coins in each hand, holding them by pressing them between his fingers. The group blinked. "W-wait, are those coins? Seriously?"
"You guys never knew this but," he gave a step forward and swung his hand at Cobra, hitting the guy with one of the coins straight in the forehead at an amazing speed. He chuckled at the growling red-head and flipped the coins in his hands. "I was the best shooter in my previous school, aside having great speed."
"And I was the wrestling champion for the entire duration of my high school days." Laxus finished after each one of the guys got their time to talk and make a badass introduction, cracking his neck now and getting in position to lunge at the sound of his imaginary bell. He smirked at the scared forms of the three and snorted. "So, who wants to go down first?"
"Fuck, this will be awesome!" Natsu roared in anxiety, pulling out a pair of gloves from his pockets and putting them on. With a simple fist to fist contact, the gloves caught fire and burned brightly much to the whole crowd's shock. "I'm fired up!"
"Did anyone say fuck?"
"Uh?" Turning around at the weird question, the pink-haired barely dodged a fist to his face, catching a glimpse of the fist that almost got him and seeing it being a pair of gloves much like his but fingerless and with metal knuckles. He stepped back with the rest of the group doing the same and took a better look of the new arrival, his face contorting into one of anger. "Gajeel!?"
"Kehehehe~! The one and only, pinky boy." Gajeel Redfox, another of Cobra's acquaintances, cackled after getting the attention of the group, grinning in anticipation at all the good fighters assembled in his friend's bar. "Look at this, that little snake throws a party and he doesn't invite me? I'll remember this for my birthday."
"Oi oi, it wasn't on purpose, man!" Cobra yelled from the counter, frowning at the possibility of missing his pal's birthday for something that lame. "They came here and started to look for a fight because I'm not telling them where Rogue and his new girl are!"
"…wait, you know where that pansy Ryos is? Goddammit, I've looked all day for him! That moron Jose is throwing a fit because he didn't return yesterday." The black-haired man glared at the red-haired man and waited for his answer, getting a positive yet doubtful nod from Cobra. He clicked his tongue and stepped forward, pushing the pinkette and the rest of the group aside. "Bitch, you better tell me where that fucker is before I destroy this place."
Several minutes later…
"Thank God! Dammit! My back's hurting!" Rogue yelled and whined once he was out of the trunk of Jellal's car, holding onto Gajeel for he thought the man to be his savior, much to the black-hair's annoyance. What is more, the young man was currently wearing nothing but a random cloth to cover his nudity while the girls covered Yukino from the guys for her to change back into her clothes. "I was starting to think we'd die in there!"
"Jeez, leave me alone, dammit." Gajeel snapped harshly, knocking the guy out with a swift chop strike to the neck and taking him back to their boarding house, where their landlord Jose Porla was waiting restlessly for them to return. "Let's get back 'fore that weirdo calls the army and makes a huge deal out of it."
And the group remained behind with their eyes glued to the departing form of Gajeel carrying an almost completely naked Rogue through the streets of a Sunday afternoon, wondering if the black-haired noticed or not and if he was doing that out of punishment for the troubles he had to endure.
"This is not how I expected it to end, honestly." Sting commented idly, scratching the back of his head in wonder of how the day transpired.
"Yeah… it was… weird altogether." Laxus added his two cents and shrugged, seemingly forgetting all that happened. "Okay, I'm going to check on Lisanna," he looked at Sting at the scarlet-haired woman next to him and pointed to a certain street. "Wanna come? I'm sure she'll make us something to eat."
"Sure! I'm in!" The younger blond cheered excitedly, looking forward to a homemade meal.
"I'd like to know this Lisanna girl… and if she's a threat." Knightwalker whispered silently, holding onto Sting's arm in a possessive manner.
And another part of the group left.
"She wasn't much to worry about in the end." Jellal whispered to the pink-haired standing next to him, seeing the young man laughing nervously at his words. He might have been drunk at the time but he clearly remembered the guy telling him that Erza's twin was to be feared.
"W-well, I guess she's okay with Sting… who knows?" Natsu turned to the girls and saw that Yukino was now fully dressed and ready to leave. He grinned and nodded to the remaining people of the group. "Yush, everything's okay again!"
"Not thanks to you, but yes, the problem was solved." Kagura smirked at the pouting face of her boyfriend and turned to address her lost friend, a bit of worry in her eyes. "Are you sure you're okay, Yukino?"
"Y-yes, I'm okay, Rogue made it his main concern to keep me safe inside there." The girl replied shyly, looking at the four people around her before bowing in apology. "S-sorry for worrying you and sorry if I sound rude but I want to see that Rogue gets back home safely!"
"Uh? Why would you apologize for that?" Jellal asked a bit clueless of the girl's words.
"She's a bit shy to people, that's why." Erza explained to him with a small smile and pat to the girl's shoulders, later patting her back and pushing her forward. "Go, if you leave now, you might catch up to them in a block or two."
"T-thank you, Erza!"
And she also left…
Which now left a group of four to wonder what else to do, since Cobra was still inside the Quatro Puppies Bar with Cana and Bacchus, they were free to do whatever they pleased. Sans anything M-rated, that is.
"Okay, who wants to grab a bite?" Jellal asked as he made his way to the driver's seat, he got inside and checked his wallet while the others got comfortable. "It's my treat."
"You'll pay? Awesome!" Natsu beamed, pointing a finger to the road ahead in enthusiasm. "Let's go to 8-Island!"
"…you never get bored of that place, do you?" Kagura shook her head with a small smile, finding her boyfriend's attitude to be both annoying and endearing at the same time.
"Your call, Jellal." Erza, who was sitting on the passenger seat, looked at the blue-haired man and saw him staring ahead with a small smile turning into a wide grin. "Where do we go?"
"8-Island until we hear any other suggestions." He got the car running and took off down the road, a worried glance going to the fuel meter when he remembered Laxus used the vehicle in their search for Rogue that morning. "…but I think we'll have to go to the gas station first."
The other passengers groaned at the setback but did not voice any other complaints.
It was all over and everyone could relax for real this time.
What was the problem with standing a few minutes in a gas station before actually going to eat?
"The nearest gas station is at the other side of town…" Jellal shared with the rest of the group, his eyes meeting Natsu's through the rear mirror. "If we run out of gas, we'll have to push the car up a hill."
"…WHAT!?"
"Just kidding… it'll be downhill."
The End.
AN: *bows* To my bros.
Saludos.