Why hell there, Soul Calibur fans! This is Spinster here, writing his first Soul Calibur fic. Not sure if anyone has thought up this pairing yet, but I thought they'd look great together. Rates and reviews are welcome, it would be great to get some feedback from this new community I have jumped into. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. Now on with the show!
"Man, I'm hungry" Xiba groaned to himself, patting his now growling stomach as he climbed across a mountain side with Natsu, Leixia and Maxi. They were about halfway up when Xiba's stomach demanded food. "Which I hadn't ate all those steam buns when we started, should have saved them"
"What is wrong with you Xiba? I've never seen a man complain about food so much" Leixia sighed with frustration, feeling like they'd had this conversation a thousand times over. "I've never seen Lord Maxi complain once about eating"
"Hey, but I'm not Maxi at all. He has resilience to food that I do not even have, besides, I'm a growing boy, you can't blame me for eating so much. You need it to stay alive you know" Xiba responded, flashing a quick smile before bringing himself upwards to sit on a rock overlooking the rest of the mountain.
"Yes, I know you need food to stay alive, I wasn't born yesterday Xiba" Leixia said, getting more and more frustrated with Xiba by the second.
"Oh come now Leixia, did I even say you were born yesterday?" Xiba began to question, looking Leixia's direction as the young Chinese girl climbed the rock next to him, he got no response from her as she kept on climbing. "Good, now that the problems defused and you've stopped putting words in my mouth, I think I'll have a hard earned snack" Xiba then grinned to himself, reaching into a small bag to pull out a steam bun. "Lucky me, I thought I ate all of them" he smiled to himself.
"All you care about on this whole damn planet are those blasted steam buns!" Leixia shouted, trying to knock the steam bun out of Xiba's hand, nearly causing her to lose her balance. "Now look what you just did? You could have killed me right there!"
"Hey, your the one who tried to knock it out of my hand. So that makes it your fault" Xiba stated a matter of factly as he took a bite out of the steam bun. He glanced to his left to see Maxi trying to contain his laughter, finding the whole situation hilarious. He then turned to Natsu, who was on a rock above Xiba. She was giving him a worrying look while making hand gestures to warn him of something. He just couldn't figure out what Natsu was trying to warn him about, until a hand connected with the back of his head.
"Gosh, you are such an idiot, Xiba. All you do is slow us down with your constant moaning for food, seriously, Xiba, I don't know why we put up with you!" Leixia screamed, finally losing her cool. Xiba tried to protest, but this was one arguement he lost. All he could do was stare at the ground, down trodden and with a sad look on his face.
"Okay that's enough, Leixia. Leave Xiba alone" Natsu spoke up, jumping onto the rock Leixia and Xiba were standing on. She was now standing in between the two of them. "You done enough damage for one day" Natsu added, placing a reassuring hand on Xiba's shoulder whilst glaring at Leixia. That seemed to do the trick, as Leixia quickly shut herself up and carried on climbing. "You alright, Xiba" Natsu asked him, turning her head to look at the boy. No words came out of his mouth, he just nodded slowly, picked up his staff and small bag, and continued climbing.
For the rest of the climb up the mountain, Natsu noticed something rather concerning about Xiba. He didn't even make a sound, not a peep, with the exception of climbing on the rocks however. He didn't even stop once for food, which made Natsu worry about him a lot. She wondered why she cared so much about Xiba, since the day they met she was attracted to him. She couldn't pinpoint the exact reason why, but she just did. Maybe it was cause he was honest about things, maybe cause he was funny, maybe cause he was childish. She then realised, it was all three of those. She then thought about the main question.
Did he return the same feelings?
They had finally made it to their next base camp by sunset, as it had taken them all day to climb up from where they had started from. Maxi had got a little fire going as they set up camp. Eventually night had fallen, Leixia had decided to get some shut eye early, while Maxi and Natsu sat around the camp fire, watching the flashes of yellow and red rise and fall from the fire. Natsu looked toward the edge to see Xiba, sitting all alone, with his legs dangling freely off the edge of the side.
"You like him, don't you Natsu?" Maxi asked from out of nowhere, leaning back on his hands in a casual manner.
"H-how did you know, Maxi?" Natsu question the older man while looking away, trying to hide the light tint of pink that began to spread across her face. "Actually, you know what? Yes I do like Xiba" Natsu found herself adding before Maxi could answer. "I just don't know how to ask him about his feelings towards me"
"What you guys need, is alone time" Maxi sighed with a smirk on his face, before standing up to brush himself off. "I'm gonna give you that, I'm getting some shut eye. Tell me the details!" Maxi added, laughing as he sat down a distance away and slept against a rock.
Natsu slowly picked herself up from off the ground and made her way over to Xiba. She began to tread slowly, so she didn't startle Xiba. Once she got close enough, she quietly sat down beside Xiba, with her legs also dangling freely over the side.
"Are you alright, Xiba?" Natsu asked, staring at Xiba's glum face. "It's okay, Xiba. It's just you and me, you can tell me your problems"
"Leixia was right, wasn't she?" Xiba asked, turning to face Natsu. Noticing the blush on Natsu's face and her inquisitive look, he continued. "That all I do is care about my food, that I slow the team down. Not only that, but she questions why I'm even here" he looked at Natsu once again, Natsu had a face of worry on, Xiba never liked seeing her upset. "She's right, I shouldn't be here. Maybe I should just go" Xiba sighed, seemingly giving up. As he went to get up, Natsu tugged on his trouser leg, urging him to sit down.
"Leixia's wrong about all of those things she said to you, Xiba. All of them" Natsu spoke softly, trying to reassure Xiba. Xiba examined her face to see if she was joking or being sarcastic, but the only thing he could see across her features was an honest and gentle smile. Nodding slowly, Xiba allowed Natsu to continue. "Your a good honest guy, granted you can get annoying. But that's you, you would not be you at all if you were like everybody else. I like different" Natsu quickly question herself in her mind, did she really just try to crack onto Xiba?
"Are you sure, Natsu? What if Leixia keeps going on about this?" Xiba questioned, wanting to make sure he had all the answers he seeked.
"Then I'll watch out for you, Xiba. She won't cause you any harm while I'm around to help keep you safe, and cause..." Natsu began to steer towards what her heart desired, but she quickly put on the brakes. She tried to make a quick exit before Xiba put two and two together, but the rock she stood up on gave way and she fell. Not very far to be honest, Natsu looked up and saw Xiba with his hand outstreached, grasping onto her forearm to stop her from falling.
"Then I guess I'll return the favour Natsu" Xiba smiled, using all his strength to pull her up from off the edge and back onto solid ground. "So then, Natsu" Xiba continued, helping Natsu to her feet, then picking up his staff to lean on. "What was the other thing you were going to mention?"
"I-i-i uh-uh..." Natsu couldn't get it out of her, but there was no escape now. But she just could not even say it, so she did the next best thing. She moved closer to Xiba, and planted a gentle and soft kiss on his cheek. "Th-thats why" she stammered as she began to walk away, only for Xiba's hand to grab hers and pull her back for kiss in return. Butterflies danced around in Natsu's stomach, but she was in bliss as she returned the kiss as eager as Xiba gave her one. Due to a lack of air, the two broke the kiss off. Natsu then gave Xiba a hug, feeling his arms wrap around her gave her a sense of security and belonging.
"I love you, Natsu" Xiba smiled, laughing inwardly cause it rhymed.
"I love you too, Xiba" Natsu smiled back, giving him another soft kiss on the cheek. "It's rather late, and I'm getting cold. Can I borrow that yellow coat of yours, Xiba?" Natsu asked as she began to shiver from the cold.
"Sure thing, Natty" Xiba grinned once again as he dug into his bag and pulled out the coat, which was folded up neatly and gave it to Natsu. "I hope you like the nickname"
"I do actually, Xi Xi" Natsu teased as she walked a small distance away from Xiba and put the coat on. On Xiba, it was a regular trenchcoat. On Natsu however, the bottom of the coat was scraping the floor. Natsu wrapped herself up warm in the coat and lay with her back against the rock. "I sleep better when I've got someone to cuddle me" Natsu spoke in a cute voice, patting the space next to her.
"You don't have to tell me twice" Xiba laughed as he made his way over...
And that concludes my first Soul Calibur oneshot. Hopefully there will be more in the pipeline, and possibly a sequel oneshot to this one! Thanks for reading guys, until next time.