"What do you mean there's a monster under your bed Erza?" Makarov, the guild master of Fairy Tail, asked the young Erza, who stood in front of him with her arms crossed around her chest.
"Like there's a monster under my bed!" Erza somewhat pouted, disappointed that not even the guild master did not believe her story. "What else?"
"It could just be your imagination," Makarov continued his walk, Erza followed right behind him. "Besides, there are no monsters under the bed. It's just a myth."
"But-"
"No buts Erza, there are no monsters under your bed." Makarov quickly dismissed the young mage, going back to his quarters.
Erza sulked about in the hall of the Guild, sitting by herself. "Why does no one believe me?" She said to herself, feeling like the boy who yelled wolf.
"Yo, Erza." A familiar Ice-mage voice was heard from behind her.
She turned, looking at a stripped Gray coming her way. "What happened to your clothes?" She asked him.
He looked down and realized that he didn't have his shirt nor his shorts, just his underwear. "I… I don't know." He took the seat next to her.
"What's up?" She asked him, drinking her glass of water that she had been given by Mirajane earlier.
"Did you hear? There's a new kid that joined the Guild a couple of days ago," Gray said, telling her some late news. He then noticed the new kid, walking into the guild. He pointed right at him, showing Erza. "That's him right there."
"What's his name?" Erza asked, still looking at the pink haired boy.
"Oi!" Gray called out to him, waving around his hands telling him to come to our table. "What's your name?"
The pinkette took the chair across from them. "My name is Natsu Dragneel, I'm a fire dragon slayer." He said, still somewhat shy.
"Well, I'm Gray Fullbuster, an Ice-mage," Gray said. "This is my friend, Erza Scarlet."
"H-Hi." Erza seemingly reached in for a handshake.
"Hello." Natsu gladly shook her hand.
"Tell me, do you believe in monsters under your bed?" She asked him immediately about her problem, but somewhat being subtle about it.
"Really Erza?" Gray raised an eyebrow. He heard her stories, yet like everybody else, he didn't believe in her.
"What? It's a serious question." She retorted back at him.
"Well there are monsters," Natsu seemingly said. "I don't see why they wouldn't be crawling under our beds or something."
Erza's eyes widen, finally someone believe her. "Really?" She asked him again.
"Yeah," Natsu was now intrigued in their conversation. "Why? You have a monster under your bed?"
"Apparently, she does." Gray chuckled, answering for her.
"It's not funny." Erza said, elbowing the young Ice-mage in the gut, cutting off his laughter.
"Sounds serious," Natsu said, now more intrigued than ever. "I can probably help you, if you want."
"Don't Natsu," Gray opposed the idea. "It's just a waste of time."
"That's not for you to decide Gray," Erza told him, releasing a dark aura that scared both boys. She then hid the aura once more. "Anyways, come to Fairy Hills after sunset."
"Fairy Hills? Is that the place with a lot of apartments and what not?" He asked, somewhat describing the place she lived in.
"Yeah, I live alone." She said.
"I guess." Natsu agreed to go.
"Good then," Erza then got up from her seat. "See you 'til then."
Both Natsu and Gray stared at Erza, walking away from the table and to out of the guild. "Why don't you believe her?" Natsu looked back at the young Ice-mage.
"And you do?" Gray retorted back with his own question.
"Well before stumbling into the guild, a few months ago, there was this village I stayed in for a couple of days." Natsu said, revealing an anecdote.
"And?" Gray leaned on his arm, putting his head on his hand.
"There was this other girl, probably the same age as us, who had told me the same thing as Erza," Natsu continued on with one of his tales. "About a monster also under her bed."
"Was there?" Gray asked.
"Yeah," Natsu answered. "A shadow of some sort was under it."
"Did you defeat it?" Gray raised an eyebrow, hoping that it's not the same shadowy monster that Erza kept feeling in her room at Fairy Hills.
"Couldn't, ran away before I could've incinerated it." He said.
"Is that why you're seemingly willing to help?" Gray asked him.
"Yeah, why else?" Natsu was slightly confused at his question. He had already told him the reason of why he is helping the Scarlet haired girl.
"Oh nothing." Gray got up from his chair, seemingly walking away with his arms behind his back.
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
...
Erza had finally made her way back home. She took out her keys from her pocket and slowly opened her door. As she entered, she realized that her apartment was messy. Magazines of different types laid out on the floor, her novels that she had borrowed from Levy were spread out on her bed, her pillows on the floor and her bed was all messy. "Geez, I didn't even think this place was all that messy until now…" She crouched down on the floor and seemingly picked her magazines.
Several minutes after picking up her mess from her apartment, she looked outside her window, watching the sun set. "Hope he didn't forget…" She continued to watch the mirage of colors that the sun exhibited as it went down.
"Howdy!" Natsu suddenly appeared from the tree that reached Erza's window.
"Gah!" As Erza was startled by Natsu's sudden early appearance, she fell back to wooden floor, hurting her butt.
"Oh sorry," Natsu quickly apologized for frightening Erza. "Didn't mean for you to get hurt."
"It's ok," she got up and rubbed her butt. "How'd you even know I was in this apartment?"
"How about you open the window first?" Natsu said, seemingly trying to hold on to the branch.
"Right." She walked towards the window and opened it.
Natsu jumped from the branch he held on to and landed on her apartment floor. "Phew, any second now, that branch would've snapped and I was gonna fall. Thanks."
"N-No problem," Erza closed her window again. "Now, tell me how you knew this was my apartment."
"I have an acute sense of smell." He pointed at his nose, sniffing about.
"And?" She was slightly impressed but still wondered how he knew about her place.
"I just sniffed for your scent." He told her.
"You can do that? Impressive." She complimented.
He looked around the room, somewhat surprised that she even owned her own apartment. "Nice place, how'd you get it?" He walked around in the room.
"The manager here was kidnapped and I saved him," Erza sat down on her bed. "In return he gave me one of his rooms for free for the good deed."
"Cool," Natsu then saw Erza instantly reequip to her pajamas. "Holy- How'd you do that?"
"My magic, it's called Reequip," she explained how her magic works. "Basically, I can instantly change my clothes to any using it."
"That's pretty cool." Natsu then sat on the floor, somewhat tired of standing.
"You shouldn't sit on the floor," Erza then slightly moved a bit to her right, making space for the young fire dragon slayer to sit on the bed next to her. "Come."
Natsu then moved from the floor to her bed, sitting next to the girl. "Thanks."
"No problem." She said.
"So about the monster under the bed…," Natsu somewhat turned their conversation to the topic at hand. "What do you want me to do?"
"First off," she started. "Check under the bed first."
"Ok." He seemingly got up from the bed and crawled down on the floor. He moved the cover upwards, uncovering the space between her bed and the floor. On one hand, he lit a fire on his palm, lighting up the shadows, while the other held the cover from falling down.
"What are you doing?" Erza then joined the pinkette on the floor, seeing he had lit a fire on his palm.
"Just making sure it ain't hiding in the shadows." He searched all around.
"You're gonna burn my bed down…" Erza was concerned about the fire in his hand.
Natsu then closed his hand, ending his light source. "There, nothing under the bed." He put the cover back down.
He and Erza seemingly got up from the floor. "I still feel kind of uneasy about this…" Erza sighed, hopping back onto her bed.
"If you want, I can sleep the night over here…" He scratched his head, hoping Erza will take on his offer.
"Y-You will?" She asked, somewhat blushing.
"Y-Yeah." He answered her.
"Ok," She slightly moved to her left, making space on her bed for both herself and Natsu. "You can sleep here."
Natsu gulped, he never slept with anybody else besides his dragon father, Igneel. "I can sleep on the floo-"
"You're my guest, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor." She persisted him.
"… I guess you're right." No use arguing, he went by Erza's side and laid down next to her on the bed.
"You can put your scarf right there on the counter, next to my lamp." She told him.
"Ok." He took off his scarf that Igneel had given him and put it in the place that Erza just told him.
"Now, was that so hard?" She said.
"… I've never slept with another person…" He admitted to her.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked, figuring out what he meant by what he just said.
"I've always slept with Igneel, my dragon father." He said to her, looking at the ceiling.
"Right, you're a fire dragon slayer, I totally forgot about that." She said.
"Yeah, so it kind of feels awkward." He told her.
"You'll get used to it." She turned to her left side, staring at Natsu.
"I hope you're right about that." Natsu put his arms under his head.
"Well good night Natsu." Erza closed her eyes, finally falling into slumber.
"Good night Erza."
…
For the next few hours or so, Natsu had pretended to have fallen asleep, awaiting to see if his suspicions were correct. Come on you asshole, come out so I can fry you. Natsu thought to himself, still closing his eyes, baiting the creature.
Natsu then turned to his right side, still with his eyes closed. He then felt someone hug him like if he was a teddy bear of some sort. He then opened his eyes. To his surprise, Erza hugged him, which made his face turn bright red with blush. E-Erza? He then saw that she had put her head on his chest, making it much harder for the Dragon Slayer to move about. Crap, if the monster is here, she's kind of screwing me up from countering the damn thing.
Then something catched Natsu's eye. A black shadowy figure emerged from the shadows. "I remember you…" Its chilling voice sent goosebumps up Natsu's spine. "Yes… you're the one who foiled my plans from a long time ago." The shadowy figure then stretched its arm out, transmuting it to a scythe-like weapon. "You're not foiling this plan as well."
"Shit!" Natsu quickly put Erza in his arms, carrying her bridal style and dodging the creatures attack.
Its scythe-like weapon made Erza's bed to waste, cutting it in half and destroying it. "You can't get away from here."
"Erza! Time to wake up!" He tried to wake Erza.
"… Ugh… what's going on?" She was still half-asleep but conscious.
"That monster under your bed, yeah it's fucking real!" He told her.
Her eyes then widen, now fully aware of the situation. "IT'S REAL!?"
"Children," the shadowy figure slowly walked towards them. "Don't make this harder for me."
Natsu, still carrying Erza bridal style, was thinking, trying to find a way out. He then looked at the window. "Well sorry to burst your bubble but..."
"Natsu, what are you-"
Natsu, along with Erza, ran to the window, crashing through it with his back in hopes to not hurt Erza. Both kids fell from what seemed to be the third floor. Natsu landed on his back while still holding Erza in his arms, taking the majority of the fall damage. "AH!" He screamed in agony, hurting his spinal cord.
"Natsu!" Erza quickly got off of him. "Are you ok?"
"I… can't… feel… my… back." He panted.
"What were you thinking!?" She then slowly helped him up, wrapping his arm around her neck. "You could've gotten us killed!?"
"That thing would've killed us!" He retorted back.
The shadowy figure simply stretched its body, making it down to the ground floor from Erza's apartment. "You little runts, there's nowhere to run now."
"Erza…" Natsu still panted, aching from the pain in his back.
"What?" Erza still helped him up.
"Leave… me… behind…" He suggested to her.
"WHAT!? I'M NOT LEAVING YOU BEHIND!" She refused to leave her comrade behind.
"I'm just weighing you down, you can escape by yourself!" He told her.
"No is no." She gripped him harder, hoping he doesn't do it himself.
"You're both wrong," It then leaped at them again, charging at them. "You're both dead!"
Suddenly, a large fist hit the shadowy figure, sending it flying and leaving both children startled. "STAY AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN!"
The fourth person to join the battle was none other than Master Makarov. "Master!" Erza called out to him.
"Are you 2 okay?" He asked, hoping it didn't do anything to them.
"It's Natsu, he hurt his back trying to save us." She told him.
"Don't worry now, I'm here." Master Makarov awaited for his opponent to come out of the dust.
"You just had to make it harder for me, don't you?" The shadowy figured walked out of the dust.
"I'm not letting you near my children you fiend." Makarov readied himself.
The shadowy figure ran towards the master, now with both arms being scythes. "Master!" Both children called out to him.
"Hmpht." Master Makarov simply smirked, stretching his body to now to that of a goliath, startling both children and the shadowy figure alike.
"Whoa!" Natsu was amazed, he didn't know the guild master had such power.
"Like I said before," The master readied his foot, about to punt the creature. "You're not going anywhere near my kids!" He kicked him, sending the shadow flying.
"You truly are worthy of your title, Master Makarov." The shadowy figure laid on the floor, disintegrating into dust as the sun came up.
Makarov then returned to his small like height again, walking towards his children. "Let's take you both at the guild, check up on your injuries."
Both children nodded.
…
Back at the Guild, both children, Makarov and an elderly woman going by the name of Porlyusica were all in the infirmary part of the Guild.
"Boy, what you did was idiotic," Porlyusica said as she bandaged his back. "I'm surprised you're still able to walk."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever Granny." He laid on a bed, still getting his back damaged.
"You should respect your Elders, Natsu." Makarov said.
"Sorry, I didn't get enough sleep, so I might be cranky." Natsu yawned.
"What was that creature anyways?" Erza asked, wondering what the monster wanted with her.
"The shadow," Makarov explained. "They're called Shriekers."
"Shriekers?" Both children looked at the Guild Master.
"Yeah, they're known to suck the life of children, making them shadows themselves." Makarov furthered explained.
"Ugh, thank god you stopped it from causing any serious damage- OW!" Natsu grunted with each bandage Porlyusica put on him.
"Stop moving boy!" The elderly woman struggled to put the bandages on him.
"Say master," Erza turned to look at Makarov. "How'd you know to come to my apartment?"
"Gray told me about Natsu's story." Makarov told Erza.
"Story?" She then looked at Natsu once more, still being treated for his back wound. "What story?"
"It was just a hunch," Natsu finally told Erza about his earlier encounter with the monster. "I met that thing awhile back before coming here to the Guild."
"And you didn't mention this to me why?" She asked, trying to figure out why the pinkette kept this a secret from her.
"Like I said, it was just hunch- OWW!" He yelled once again at the way Porlyusica treated his wound.
"Stay still boy," she almost finished up on his bandages. "There, all done."
"Thank god." He said, turning to his back.
"You're going to have to stay here for the next several days, young man." She told him.
"Well that sucks." Natsu pouted about.
"Well if you 2 need anything, just call me." Master Makarov walked with Porlyusica, out of the infirmary.
"Ok." Both children said to him, just as they walked out.
"Still though, why didn't you tell me?" Erza went back on topic.
"So you didn't become more scared than you already were," Natsu truthfully answered her. "I was awake the whole time, I was ready to protect you if it attacked." Natsu looked away, trying to hide his light blush.
"You were?" Erza now had blush on her face as well.
"Y-Yeah." He stuttered.
"You going to sleep now?" She no longer had her blush on her face.
"Yeah, I'm tired." He put his hands under his head.
"Can I join you?" She asked him.
"Sure. Like you said, I should get used to it." He remembered what she told him from before.
"Right." She then got on the same bed as the boy, and simply put her head on his chest.
In a matter of minutes, she had fallen asleep before him again. He didn't mind sleeping with her. He soon followed her, closing his eyes and falling asleep as well.
Ten Years Later…
Now a 19 years old, Erza was in her apartment, in her pajamas, reading one of her graphic novels before she goes to sleep. Just as she was about to put down her book, she heard a knock on her window.
She got up from her bed and walked towards the window, unveiling it from her curtains. A familiar pinkette peeked his head, hiding something from behind him. She opened her windows. "What did I tell you about using the damn window, Natsu?" She asked him, hoping he had an excuse to why he used the window to come in.
"Well," Natsu then revealed what he had hidden in his back, a bouquet of pink roses. "It wouldn't be more surprising to show you these?"
"T-These are beautiful, Natsu." Her eyes widen. She grabbed them, smelling them in their sweet aroma.
Natsu then finally came inside, closing the windows behind him. "You like them?"
"I love them." She then put them on the coffee table, putting them in her empty vase she had there.
Natsu then walked towards her, hugging her from behind, kissing her cheek. "I love you." He whispered to her.
"I love you too," she turned around, kissing the dragon slayer in the lips this time, putting his arms around her waist as she did too to his neck. "Chocolate?" She tasted the last thing he ate.
"Yeah, it was a snack Happy gave me before I came over here." He released her from his grip.
"Good choice." She said, going back to her bed.
"Tired?" He asked her, also going on her bed.
"Yeah, got to go on a mission tomorrow with Lucy and Mirajane in the morning." She said, getting more comfortable on her side.
He took off his scarf and placed it on near the end table. He proceeded to take off his waistcoat and put it on the floor. "What kind of mission?" He asked.
"Escort mission." Erza laid on her right side of her body. She then felt Natsu hug her, cuddling up on her.
"Ah, well tomorrow, I go on a mission with Gray and Happy as well. Some sort of fugitive escaped." He revealed his plans as well.
"We should go to sleep now then." She turned to her other side, cuddling back to Natsu.
Her head laid on his chest, the same way she always had for the past decade, clinging on to him like if he was a plush doll of some sort. "Yeah I hear you." He yawned.
Natsu seemingly played with Erza's hair until she finally fallen asleep first, like always. He closed his eyes, following her into deep slumber as well, as he always did as well…
Update: Fixed a few words & sentences and now further explained the purpose of the monster. Hope you still enjoy this one-shot.