Lucy entered the store with one objective, to find some snacks. As she walked down each aisle, her stomach convinced her mind that what she needed were sweet foods.
She skipped the chips aisle. Eyes scanning the foods on display, her mouth began watering. She stared at the candies and cake topped with lots of cream, but none of those would do. Lucy sighed and looked at the food in a secluded corner of the store. Pocky. There was Pocky on display, and strawberry flavored ones too.
But there was only one strawberry flavored Pocky left. Lucy all but sprinted towards the rack full of Pocky. Just as her hand grasped the box, another one snatched it away from her.
Lucy gasped. The last pink-coated Pocky! As she was internally crying, she glared at the person who so rudely took the snack from her.
Her eyes widened. The culprit was a man, but not just any man. A man whose hair was the same color as the snack he took away from her. Big onyx eyes concentrated on the Pocky box.
While she just gaped at him with curious eyes, the man stared at the Pocky like it was gold and started drooling. How disgusting, Lucy thought. Pinky quickly wiped the drool off. Noticing her watching him, he grinned.
"Sorry, ya snooze, ya lose," he cackled. Lucy felt anger surge throughout her body. How dare he say such things! He grabbed the box out of her hand!
"You took that from me! I had it in my hand before you took it." Lucy snarled. He's so stubborn, I can't stand it.
"Finders keepers, losers weepers. First come, first served. Choose whichever suits you." He had some nerve to keep smiling.
"Look her Pinky, I found it first and came here first. I fit those words exactly, so give it back."
The man finally stopped smiling. In fact, he looked quite offended. "I have a name you know. It's Natsu, not Pinky."
"That's off topic!"
"How would you feel if I called you Blondie?"
"Stop talking about that. We're strangers and I'm blonde anyway. But for the record, my name's Lucy."
"So Luigi, you really want the Pocky? There's still some on the shelf over there," Natsu pointed to another part of the store, but Lucy knew it was just a distraction. He was pointing at some fish.
"It's Lucy! And you're pointing at the fish on display." She stated with a firm tone.
"Gah! Stop shouting! It hurts my ears. You see though? You hate being called Luigi, just like how I hate being called Pinky." He said this with a loud cry.
"Hypocrite. The Pocky over there," she pointed to the corner, "are all chocolate. I came here for the strawberry."
"Che. Just take one of those then, 'cause this box is mine." He waved it above his head when Lucy lunged at him. As she tried to reach the box on her tiptoes, the two young teens overheard a conversation.
"Look Mama! Two people are fighting over a simple snack!" A young toddler pointed at them with one hand, the other one being held by, presumably, his mother.
"Young couples these days, fighting over such small matters. Don't grow up to be like them when you get a girlfriend, okay?" She said this while looking at the "couple" with a scowl.
"Yuck! I don't want a girlfriend. Girls are disgusting." He stuck his tongue out.
"This again? Young man, I will punish you once we get home for talking back. Come on now," she stated, tugging the boy towards the exit. His complaints slowly faded as they walked away.
Lucy was ashamed. She normally tried to set a good example for others, but the family had just mocked her. She stopped her attempts at retrieving the Pocky. Defeated, she said with a sigh, "You can have it."
Natsu looked shocked. He lowered the arm holding the Pocky and just watched Lucy walk out the store.
Lucy started walking to the bus stop, but her heart seemed to have led her to a bench in the plaza. She sat down with a loud thump. At this point, she didn't care about what others thought of her anymore.
"Hey!~" Her ears felt like exploding with the rest of her head. She recognized that voice. That voice belonged to the person who started this.
Said person ran up to her, out of breath. Lucy looked down, watching a few ants crawl by. She refused to look at the person who caused her so much embarrassment.
She heard some rattling and saw something being handed out. She finally looked up and was greeted with a box of Pocky, but not just any Pocky, it was a strawberry flavored Pocky box. The same one she had fought for.
Lucy looked farther up, trying to see Natsu's face. He turned his head away upon eye contact. "I wanted to apologize for my, uh, actions earlier." He looked and sounded like he had never apologized to someone in his life.
His head turned back to Lucy. "You left because of what those two said, right? You felt ashamed, right? And, well, they wouldn't have said that if I wasn't playing around, so I bought this for you."
Lucy took the Pocky from his hand hesitantly. Was there a catch? "I know you might not forgive me, but, uh, sorry again." What he did next surprised her. He bowed. And not a quick, shallow bow, but a slow and deep bow, almost a 90° angle. After the bow, he walked away.
After making sure he was gone, Lucy eagerly opened the container. Her hands felt tape on the back. She flipped the box over and found a little piece of paper with Natsu's email address as well as his phone number.
Lucy smiled as she took a stick and bit into it, savoring the flavor. She had entered the store for one reason, to find a snack. And she found it. She had found a sweet, yet stubborn Pocky.