Hello, Natsu/Gray and Gray/Natsu fans out there! Thanks for reviewing and loving my previous Graysu fic. That was so generous of you people. So, yeah! This is another Graysu fic and I'm really happy that I, finally, got it uploaded. Dedicated to some really wonderful people that I've got acquainted with on FanFiction. I hope they like it and I hope you guys like it too. Have a read!
Author's Note: I don't own Fairy Tail and its characters.
Warning: Don't read if you don't like Yaoi pairings. That'd be really kind.
"Thanks, Gray-sama!" the blue-haired girl chirped around the raven-haired guy. "You're such a great help! Juvia is so lucky to be partnered with Gray-Sama in the arts class!" She kept talking on and on how they were going to build the most beautiful sculpture that would make every other students envy them.
But, the onyx eyes were staring sullenly at the blazing ball of flame in the bright cloudless noon sky. The sunlight peered through the glass window panes and fell over him, warming his pale his face up. The rays added a rich luster to his otherwise dull dark hair. The day was hot. The girl was still standing there, telling some of her nutty ideas about designing an ice sculpture symbolizing their love- oblivious of the fact that her words were going unheard. He was sitting there, but at that moment his mind was wandering off somewhere distant, lost in some thoughts. Every day, the Sun rose slowly and woke him up and every time he woke up in the morning, he'd pray, not to anyone in particular, that somehow he could get to see him…again. But, no one listened to him. Not even the person for whom he had been waiting, desperately. I hate this Sun! The brilliant red glow of the Sun reminded the raven haired boy of his radiant smile. Just when he was cursing the glowing ball of the fire, some grey clouds loomed in the sky. The sunbeam danced on his pale handsome face as they sailed over the sky, perpetually covering and exposing the glowing sphere and eventually subduing the heat in the atmosphere. It's going to rain! He averted his thoughts from his problems and picked up his bag to head for his next class.
"You're leaving so soon, Gray Sama." The girl said complainingly but he didn't respond. "G-Gray Sama!" She hesitated. He swiveled round and stood up, looking at her straight. Her voice died in her throat when his cold eyes met hers. She was moved out of his way as his bag brushed her aside. "Gray Sama!" her voice lowered to a whisper as she watched him stepping out of the classroom.
He walked up the stairs and passed through the corridors of the second floor. He opened the door of the lab. The fine streaks of the light penetrated through the large glass window panes of the laboratory, thereby lightning up the floor. He found his lab partner sitting on the stool, waiting for him. She smiled at him and waved her hands in the air telling him where she was sitting. He smiled back, not that he wanted to. He just couldn't let her, of all the people, know about his problems because then she'll turn the whole lab upside down, compelling him to tell her his problems and the worst case scenario, she would tell Erza, their close friend and also the school captain, known for her fiery temperament, leaving no other options than to tell her everything.
"Hey Gray!" shouted the blonde girl. He walked to her. "Thank god, you're here! I thought I'd have to do this gross experiment alone."
"But, someday. You've to do this." He said gently. "And it's not that difficult. You've to keep it in your mind that it's dead."
"That's not helping, Gray!"
"It won't rise from the dead and jump on your face." He took the dissecting scissors in his hand.
"That's even worse!" She put her hands over her mouth, trying hard not to vomit. He gave a soft chuckle. He began dissecting the frog that was kept on their table. She turned away and stuck the ear buds of her iPod in her ears.
~Flashback~
"Damn!" he mumbled. "That's ruthless! I mean why are we even doing this at first place? We're torturing the soul of this poor little thing." His nose wrinkled at the smell of the dead frog lying on their table. "Besides, it stinks." He pulled his scarf up, thus covering his sensitive nose.
"Stop whining, pinky!" Gray said to his lab partner. He made the small incision with a scalpel between the hind legs.
"Hey, don't call me that!" he retorted.
"You haven't even lifted your finger and someone has to do it. So, just let me concentrate!" he said. "Will you?" Natsu narrowed his eyes at him in frustration while Gray continued to cut up center of the frog's body with scissors carefully, being careful to cut through the skin only. Natsu turned around and balanced his weight against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, unwilling to watch his partner's work. He started feeling bored but then, something really evil cropped up in his mind. He looked at his busy partner and smirked.
"Natsu! Hand me that forceps over there." He said, without looking away. He waited. "What are you? Deaf? Be quick!" Natsu complied and gave him that. Gray snatched it from him angrily and began to cut over the mark but just then he realized it wasn't the forceps he was holding. Croak! A frog! "What the hell!" the frog jumped out of his grasp, making him jump back and fall on the floor.
"A frog! A live frog!" Everyone shouted and screamed as the frog jumped from one table to another. The teacher tried to control the students but it was impossible to handle them. "I said sit down, everyone!" the teacher's voice couldn't be heard amidst the whole commotion. "I said…" The frog jumped over his face making him fall on the floor. "Dismiss! Dismiss!"
Everyone screamed happily and rushed out of the lab. Gray looked over to find out the person who was responsible for the whole affair. Natsu! He saw the said boy sitting on the window, enjoying the whole drama.
"You!" Gray suddenly lunged at him with an intention to kill him.
"See you later!" Natsu winked and jumped out of the window. Stop! Gray stopped in surprise, shock reflected in his dark eyes, as he remembered that they were on the second floor. He ran to the window to check if the boy who jumped was lying on the ground, senseless. He couldn't see him.
"Over here!" Someone shouted. Gray looked in the direction of the voice; he saw the pink haired boy climbing down the tall tree whose branches had been travelling inside the lab through windows. He felt relieved on seeing him safe. Natsu jumped on the ground and ran off to the cafeteria. Gray looked at him until he was no longer visible. Idiot! He smiled.
"Gray!" the blonde shook the boy. "Gray!" the reality of the situation hit him. The class was over and there was no one in the lab other than them. He saw his friend who was looking at him worryingly. She touched his forehead. "Are you okay? You were spacing out."
"I'm fine!"He replied tentatively. "I just didn't get much sleep yester night."
"You should sleep more." She suggested. "Like me!" She picked up her bag. "Are you coming?"
"You go ahead." He said. "I'll join you later." She gave him a soft smile and went out of the class. Gray picked up his books and put them in his bag. He stood up to walk away but then his feet guided him back to the window. He looked at the tree standing outside upon which a certain pink haired boy had jumped over.
~Flasback-End~
Over here!
The raven haired boy could see him jumping down from the tree and running across the ground. He had turned back to see the dark haired boy who was standing near the window watching him and the smile that he wore on his face. The pink haired boy shot a warm smile back before running away.
Gray closed his eyes and felt the fuzzy warm feeling of the sun, whose light peeped through the clouds and fell gently on his face. He put out his cell phone and checked the message inbox. He flipped it open and his fingers tapped on the same keys they were used to, following the same old rhythm. No new messages. At least, he still had the old ones in the inbox.
Natsu: Hey, ice brain! We're going to a movie. Care to join us?
Gray: I'm in class if you didn't notice.
Natsu: Enjoying class?
Gray: Bye, flame head!
Natsu: What? Ending conversation so quick?
Gray: Guys don't talk on phone. Girls do.
Natsu: Sitting at the front seat?
Gray: Why do you ask?
Natsu: My heart cries for you.
Gray: Bye!
Natsu: You are jealous, basically.
Gray: Really. Why do you think so?
Natsu: You're missing me, right? Okay, I'm going. We'll be lucky if we get the front row seat. Bye, jerk!
Gray: Yeah! Bye!
Gray bit his lower lip unknowingly fighting back his emotions but his eyes reflected them very clearly-sadness. Putting the phone back in his pockets, he picked up his bag and walked out of the lab, slamming the door hard on his back.
"C'mon! C'mon!" The school captain shouted while clapping her hands. "Yes! Get to your positions! Everyone! C'mon!" the athletes gathered and stood at their respective positions on the track.
"Okay! Everyone! Get to your positions! " The red haired girl shouted. "On your marks!" Everyone crouched at their respective marks, left foot placed behind the line and the right foot placed behind the left- gentle breaths, face and neck muscles relaxed.
"Set!" they moved into an upright position, a position slightly higher than shoulders. Eyes were focused at the track. At the blow of the whistle, the athletes lifted their hands from the track and drove their bodies into running strides, swinging their arms vigorously, one forward and another backward. Everyone ran with their full might but it was impossible for them to overtake the dark haired boy who was running at a great distance before them. He had never been beaten by anyone in the race, ever.
~Flashback~
"You –you can't beat me!" he said while running on the track, nearly out of breath.
"Save your breath!" Gray replied, running on the lane next to his rival's. "And you can barely reach the finish line."
"Think again!" With a quick dash, Natsu passed the dark haired boy. Gray furrowed his brows. Natsu looked back to check on his competitor. "Think again!" Gray said, as he crossed the other boy and sped away. Natsu groaned and started running even faster than before, reaching close to the dark haired boy eventually. Now, both of them were running together. No one could tell who was leading- It was a close competition. The stadium grew silent as they raced together to reach the finish line before the other. Girls were biting their fingernails nervously, the boys forgot to blink while Erza was strangling her cap to death- everyone was waiting eagerly to see who would turn out to be the winner of this heated race- the tension was just too much. They were close. Both of them saw the finish line getting closer. Gray looked at Natsu who had been keeping up so close the whole time. Natsu looked at him and winked. WHAT? AGAIN? Gray felt as if his heart stopped beating for a moment. But, he was still running. However, his rival seemed to slow down a little. Before he could understand the meaning of his sudden strange behavior, he found himself crossing the finish line. Everyone began clapping and screaming for Gray. Meanwhile, Natsu crossed the line. "Looks like you win!" he grinned.
Gray was still at loss of words but then his expression grew stern. He walked to him and grabbed him by his vest. "Why did you do that? Why did you slow down? Are you mocking me?"
"I didn't do anything. Okay!" He said with an intense voice. Gray looked at him with disbelief. He freed himself from his hold and walked away. Gray wanted to pull him back and punch him hard on his face but his fangirls had already surrounded him.
"Gray-sama!" Juvia cooed. "You won again! Juvia knew it from the start that you will win this race and no one else." All other girls nodded in unison and screamed around him. But, he simply brushed them away.
"That was cool!" the boys patted his shoulders as he passed through them. A boy came running and handed him a towel. "I couldn't tell which one of you was going to win, even at the last few seconds." Gray ignored him and walked away.
~Flashback-End~
"Would you, please, participate in our event, Sir? The entry fee is very less." a junior kept bugging the dark haired boy whose attention was drawn to the book he was reading. "No!"He rejected. But that was not enough. Volunteers were like leeches; they won't get off your ass unless they suck the blood out of you-money, in this case. They kept chanting how cool their event was and what fabulous prizes would he get on clearing each level. Gray was trying hard to ignore them but it was getting difficult for him to tolerate them anymore.
"Just get the fuck off!" he stood on his feet and closed his book with anger. "I don't care about you and your silly events. Go and find someone else to disturb." He cussed. The juniors trembled in terror. They quickly turned around and ran without looking back.
"I knew something was wrong with you." A voice came.
"That's not your business." He spat.
"I know." Erza said calmly. She was going to attend her next class but stopped midway when she looked Gray studying on the stairs of the school building. "But, when you need some help, well, you know where to find me." She walked away.
~Flashback~
"Man, you should have just said yes. She looked so desirable." The pink haired boy was walking with the raven haired boy on his way home. "And fragile."
"Fragile?" Gray muttered. "What? Now, she's some kind of glass to you that you're calling her fragile."
"I was saying that she complements your personality truly." He tried to sound logical. "You're an exhibitionist with no behavior at all and she's a girl who's just so cheerful and cute. You would look such a couple together. What do you say?"
"Being an idiot, you talk too much." He said. "Besides, I was never interested in any girl of our college."
"Because you always keep crunching on the books and never look at the beauties around you. You're missing so many things."
"Can we, please, stop talking about this?" he stopped before the gate of his house.
"Okay." Natsu put his hands in the pockets of his pants. "You won't mind if I ask her out?" Gray looked at him annoyingly. "Okay! Fine! I drop it!" he stepped away. "What a jerk!"
Gray watched him go. The light of the setting sun had a profound effect on his hair color- it made his cerise hair look more rich and dark. He looks beautiful, Gray thought. He stared at his back for long. Am I checking him out? I guess, yes. He smirked but then he felt the pink haired boy's shoulders tensed. Natsu paused as he felt someone's dark eyes boring at him. He half-turned and looked back. Gray was walking towards his house. "Strange! But, I felt he was looking." He scratched his head before walking back again. That was close! Gray let out a sigh as he opened the main gate of his house. He turned around to have a final look at his rival before he disappeared from his sight. Natsu was whistling while walking away, with his arms kept crossed at the back of his head. Idiot! Gray smiled. Natsu stopped whistling as he put his hands back into the pockets of his pants and walked more comfortably. There was a warm smile on his lips.
~Flashback-End~
There was a time when Gray enjoyed leaving the school building because a certain idiot would always be waiting for him outside the campus. That was the only time in the day when they would walk together and talk and laugh and smile. They were rivals but they were best friends nonetheless. But, now the roads looked lonely as he walked back to his home alone. Damn these memories! He ran his hand through his uneven hair that the strong wind had been playing with. The sky had developed a black hue as the big succulent clouds had herded in the sky and engulfed the sunlight. Every time I lie awake, a feeling of emptiness fills my heart. I don't feel good anymore. Why do I keep missing him? Why am I getting all these feelings? I don't love him. I hate him. I despise him, I hate his guts. I hate everything about him. The clouds roared and it started raining heavily, satisfying the thirst of the parched brown land. Everyone in the ground ran to take a shelter in the different academic buildings within their reach. I try. And I try so hard to stop thinking about him but his face. He stepped out of the building, without bothering about the cold weather and the rain. His smile. The raindrops started falling on him mercilessly. His hair. His eyes. Everything. Everything keeps haunting me. "Gray! It's raining." a blond screamed but he couldn't hear her. He couldn't hear anyone. He didn't want to hear them. He wanted to shut out all the noises around himself. He wanted to shut out the noises in his mind. But, he couldn't. Where did I go wrong?
"Tell me, who do you like?"
"I like you."
"What?"
"Aah! Nothing! Just…"
"I think you said you like me."
"Did I?"
"You're so funny, Gray."
He stopped coming to school since that day. What was in my mind when I told him that? Why? Why did I? I should have never told him. He'd be thinking I'm crazy. Yeah, surely. I wish if I could take back my words. His chest tightened at the thought. But, I wanted him to accept me, my feelings. Was I asking too much? No. I was expecting too much. Now, it's too late. He grabbed his hair in a fist and gritted his teeth. Why did I let the only happiness in my life slip through my hands? Every day is all the same without him. It brings me down but I'm the only one to blame. I ruined everything. But.
"But, I love you, Natsu!"He could barely breathe, his eyes filled with tears but no one could see him crying for the rain hid them cleverly.
Aww..! I can feel your pain, Gray. :(
Let me tell you guys, I am not a biology student and never was. :P So, it took me a little bit effort to write about it. After doing a little research, obviously. Students scared of live frog and not the dead one? Strange. ;)
Well, this fic can be a one-shot if you wish (I don't hate cliffhangers, you know.) or it can be a two-shot fic that I planned it to be. So, review and tell me guys if you liked it. Have a lovely day!
