"Hey, bastard! I heard you were talkin' smack about me behind my back!"
"What the hell are you talking about!? A real man talks smack right to his opponent's face!"
"So I'm an opponent now, huh? Alright bring it on!"
"Looks like those two are havin' themselves a ball, Lily. Let's join in!"
"Gajeel, don't!...ugh"
And with that, a typical day in the Fairy Tail guild began, filled with name-calling, fighting, and general all-out chaos. Except something...or rather, someone was missing from the festivities.
"Aren't you going to join them, Natsu?" the beautiful barmaid of Fairy Tail inquired of the lad in front of her.
"Nah, I'm not...feelin' it today." was the response that the salmon-haired Dragon Slayer gave her.
Needless to say, this was not the response Mirajane had wanted, or expected, from the fiery Natsu Dragneel. And to think, I went through the trouble of using my Take-Over to turn into Elfman and say all those dirty things about Gray before he got to the guild, she thought to herself wistfully. Despite the fact that her plan had produced the fight it was supposed to - with the added bonus of Gajeel joining in as well - the hail of fists was missing the fireworks that the person she was trying to cheer up should've been causing.
It concerned the ever-thoughtful Mirajane that Natsu had walked into the guild earlier in the morning with a noticeable lack of energy, and then promptly plopped his head down on the bar counter, offering her a weak hello before going silent. Aggravated that her genius plan had failed, she contemplated her next step before seeing her younger sister walk in through the guild doors.
"Hey, Mira-nee! Natsu!" the perky girl greeted.
"Good morning, Lisanna." Mirajane responded, her smile bright as ever.
Between the two bright, beaming, beautiful ladies - a position that the more perverted members of the guild would have killed to be in - Natsu lifted his head, though barely, and gave a weak wave of acknowledgement to his childhood friend.
"Aww, what's wrong, Natsu?" Lisanna questioned, her face etched with concern. "It's not like you to be so...dull. Are you sick?"
The Fire Dragon Slayer looked at his worried friend and tried to give her a smile. "Nah, I'm fine" he told her, not sure if he was trying to convince Lisanna, or if he was trying to convince himself.
"You're not fooling anyone." asserted the younger Strauss sister with a pout on her face.
"Why don't you tell us what the problem is, Natsu?" Mirajane spoke up. "Maybe we can help."
Natsu sighed. Normally, he'd be caught dead before divulging personal information to the two girls in front of him, but this time, he felt that his particular problem might need a...girly touch to solve. Sitting up in his seat for the first time since entering the guild, he contemplated if he really wanted to confide his problem to the two girls in front of him. Am I really about to do this? he thought to himself.
However, feeling a sense of defeat, he took a big breath and started cautiously, "It's not that I am sick...but" the not-so-good-with-words Dragon Slayer began. "But I feel sick?" he concluded, his statement sounding more like a question.
"What do you mean?" the two sisters asked him, simultaneously.
"I failed her." Natsu answered simply.
Lisanna was about to ask who he had failed, when she heard her older sister give off a light giggle.
"It's about Lucy, isn't it?" the resident Romantic of Fairy Tail stated.
Lisanna's eyes widened as she looked back at her longtime friend, realizing the implications of her sister's question. The Dragon Slayer slouched down in his seat again as he put his chin on the table. Both girls watched his every movement before he let out a long sigh, and then a groan of acknowledgement.
The silver-haired sisters immediately darted their eyes towards each another, both thinking the same thought. Is it finally happening?
Clearing her mind and putting on her best poker face, which in her case was her signature smile, Mirajane advanced her line of questioning cautiously. The first order of business was to get to the bottom of his alleged failure of his best friend.
"How did you fail her?" the barmaid began, trying to sound as innocuous as possible.
The Dragon Slayer sighed pensively as he attempted to recall the events of the mission that he and Lucy had gone on.
"I punched our client in his face and cost Lucy all of her rent money." he concluded, without delving into specifics.
Mirajane felt as if she was about to facepalm herself before gathering her senses. Remember who it is you're dealing with here she reminded herself.
"Okay, but why did you do that?" Mirajane pressed forward, before getting quite the shock as the Dragon Slayer finally lived up to his elemental affinity for the first time that day. Mirajane was almost convinced that she could see a literal fire in Natsu's eyes.
"That bastard was hitting on her and feeling her up the entire time." he began with a snarl in his voice, before simmering down a bit. His expression then turned into one of pensiveness, which didn't surprise the Strauss sisters that much, as he was known to change moods in the blink of an eye. "Something about that made me feel...strange." he concluded, his voice markedly weaker than when he had first begun his explanation.
Despite how adorable the two girls were beginning to find Natsu, there was something that bothered Lisanna. "I thought you screwed up your missions with Lucy all the time, though, Natsu." the younger Strauss sister questioned of her friend.
"Well, yeah." the Dragon Slayer started, as he attempted to explain his dilemma. "But we usually get at least some of the reward money for finishing the mission. But obviously he's not obligated to pay up after being assaulted."
The sisters waited patiently as he looked like he had something more to say.
"I failed her. I failed her beyond my wildest dreams and expectations. And now she's so mad at me that she won't even talk to me." Natsu concluded, his voice laced with depression and defeat.
It took a great deal of restraint for both his sympathetic listeners to not flat-out glomp him at that moment. The newly shy-with-his-feelings and painfully thoughtful Natsu was simply too cute for them. However, the notorious Matchmaking Demon of Fairy Tail recognized this as her chance to set in motion something that was a long time coming, in her mind. I will get these two together, if it's the last thing I do! she determinedly resolved. And what better way to do that, than to attack his emotions with the biggest shock she could muster when he was at his most vulnerable, she decided.
"Oh, Natsu." the barmaid cooed, coaxing the boy to look up at her. "You're in love with sweet, little Lucy, aren't you?" she asked of him, her voice sickeningly sugary for added emphasis. Lisanna covered her mouth with both hands in surprise. Mira-nee...so bold!
Equally in disbelief, though over something other than Mirajane's boldness, the Dragon Slayer widened his eyes in protest. "Wha-What are you talking about, Mira!?" he managed to stammer out.
"Whoa, what's gotten your panties all up in a bunch?"
Mirajane and Lisanna looked up to see Gray and Elfman walking towards the commotion Natsu had just made.
"Elfman." the barmaid called out to her younger brother.
"What is it, Nee-chan?"
"Didn't you say that Gray was 'so unmanly he wouldn't even be able to get Juvia's panties wet, despite the fact that she's made of rain'?" Mirajane asked, her voice betraying none of her evil intentions.
"Wait, when did I -"
"That's the last straw, jackass!"
"A manly man will destroy whoever calls him a jackass!"
Fists once again flew, throwing caution the wind, as Mirajane smiled devilishly at the scene she'd managed to cause. She wasn't normally one to stir the pot with such vile words, but... She looked down at Natsu, who was still in disbelief and shock over the idea of being in love that Mirajane had implanted in his head. This is going to be fun, the silver haired demon decided to herself. Very fun.
Chapter 1 of my new story! As always, read, (Please) review, or do whatever you like. Reviews are helpful in motivating me, which is vital since I'm one of the most unmotivated people on the face of the Earth. :P I think I can have a good degree of fun with this story, and I'm sensing a 5-chapter fic with this one. Read away, y'all :D
