I do not own Fairy Tail! It belongs to Hiro Mashima-sama! :D
[xXx]
"You want a piece of me, you fire breathing idiot?!"
"I can kick your butt anytime, anywhere!"
"Oh, yeah?!"
"Yeah!"
It was another one of Gray's and my typical fights, the both of us butting heads and our Magic volatile around our bodies, clashing with one another as we growled in anger towards each other. The cause of today's arguement was just for spite, the both of us needing to vent. We haven't been able to lately thanks to Erza constantly breaking it up with just one glance. Now that she was away on an S Class mission, Gray and I could finally bicker and fight it out like always.
"How about right here, right now?!" Gray challenged.
"After you get your clothes on, I will!" I barked. I nearly smirked in satisfaction when he glanced down to see that he was only in his boxers. His reaction was priceless.
Crack!
"Will you two knock it off?!" Gramps yelled at us, his enlarged arm receeding back to its normal size. He had knocked us both upside the head, effectively stopping our bickering. At least for the moment. "We just finished rebuilding the Guild Hall, so we don't need you two idiots going and destroying it!"
"Ah, come on!" I whined.
"If you two are going to fight, go outside and do it!" Gramps snapped, crossing his arms.
I glanced at Gray who huffed, finally having his clothes back on. "Fine," he said, beginning to stalk off towards the back where we could bicker and fight it out. I followed. The moment our feet touched the grass, we were at it again, our faces smooshed together and our words harsher and harsher as we spat them out at one another.
"At least I'm not a streaker!"
"What was that, Flame Boy?!"
"You heard me, Streaker!"
"That's it!"
Gray punched me square in the jaw, showing me no mercy as he did so. I was sent flying back, my body doing three spirals before skidding along the ground. I hadn't been expecting that. I was quick, though, to get back up on my feet. I was soon running back at him, my fist drawn back as a loud battle cry ripped itself from my throat.
My fist connected with the palm of his hand.
He smirked at me, as if challenging me by mentally saying, 'Is that all you got, Fire Boy?'
That made the fire in my stomach burn with a vengence.
I quickly lowered my body, performing a round house kick that knocked him off of his feet. His back connected with the ground easily, knocking the wind out of him. I grinned victoriously before I felt him grab my ankle and pull me down with him. A yelp left my mouth when my back collided with the earth beneath me.
"You jerk!" I growled, kicking him with the foot he had a hold of. He was lucky I didn't kick him in the ribs or else one or two of them would have been busted.
"Watch it!" he spat, pushing me away. We both got back to our feet, glaring daggers. I thought I saw some sparks as well fly between us.
"How about a Magic battle?" I offered, flames surrounding my clenched fists. My Fire Magic heated the around me. "I have a real fire in my belly and I need some target practice.
Gray snorted, stripping himself of his shirt. "You're on," he said in a low tone. He bumped the side of his fist into the palm of his hand in front of him, Ice Magic beginning to chill the air around him. We were both ready to fight it out, one on one. "Ice-Make...!"
"Fire Dragon...!"
"Hammer!"
"Iron Fist!"
Two things happened at once.
One was that I sent a flame coated punch straight into Gray's gut, making him cough up saliva.
The second was that I was suddenly crushed under the weight of something cold, huge, and wet.
The Ice-Make Hammer melted against my Dragon-like flesh, my body found to be buried in the dirt slightly. My body ached from the impact, but I bet Gray was in much the same shape as me. And judging by his curled-in body and his arms wrapped around his stomach? I would have to say that my guess was pretty spot on.
"You idiot," Gray ground out.
"I'd say it's a tie," I mumbled out at him, sitting up slightly. I heard my back pop and fell back into the ground, suddenly feeling relaxed. "Wouldn't you say so?"
"Ice-Make...!"
"Gray! That's enough," a voice boomed, stopping us both from beginning yet another brawl. We both felt chills roll down our spines at the voice.
Erza was back.
"H-heya, Erza..." I managed out, forcing a toothy grin. I lifted up my hand and gave her a wave, though it was as shaky and nervous as my chuckle.
"Y-yeah," nodded Gray, looking over at the S Class Wizard. "H-hey..."
Erza looked at us both evenly, calmly, with her brown eyes narrowed. I wanted to shrink back into the dirt slightly. Gray and I had been caught fighting by her...! I didn't want to think about what she was going to do to punish us for not getting along! Stab us through with her swords? Impale us with her spears? Beat us black and blue with her fists? I shuddered to even imagine it.
She had her hands on her hips, watching us, as if she expected us to say more or do something. Instead, we watched her a bit worriedly and a bit stubbornly. The air was tense and thick. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until it jumped out of my lungs as Erza suddenly broke the silence.
"You two were sparring and sharpening up on your Magic skills, weren't you?"
Gray and I looked at each other. Erza was giving us a scape goat! One that we embraced quickly and without question.
"Yeah!" I grinned, looking back at the woman. "We thought we needed some practice since, you know, we almost got our butts handed to us before." I looked at Gray nervously. "Right, Gray old pal?"
"Yeah, best friend!" Gray jumped, giving a big old grin toward Erza.
She gave us a kind smile in return. "Good," she spoke. "That's what I like to hear." She then helped us both stand. "Master Makarov has a mission for the two of you."
"Wait, just the two of us?" I asked with wide eyes as she lifted me by the scruff of my vest. She then placed me on my feet.
"Me and Natsu?" Gray added on as Erza lifted him by his elbow. "Together?"
After Erza stood him on his feet, she gave a curt nod. "There isn't a problem with that, is there?" she asked us, her eyes beginning to narrow again.
Gray and I wrapped one arm around each other's shoulders, seemingly cheering. "Nope, not one bit!" we declared.
"Right, buddy?!" I cried.
"You got that right, pal!" Gray cried.
"Aye!" we declared in unison.
Erza smiled at our seemingly agreeable friendship. "Good," she mused. The moment her back was turned, Gray and I were face to face, growling lowly at each other. "Natsu, you go get Happy and then the two of you can be on your way." She looked back at us, our growling stopping to look happy to be the best of friends. "Good luck, Gray, Natsu." She then went back inside of the Guild Hall without another glance back at us.
We unlatched from one another, our foreheads clashing together painfully. We were growling and our Magic was volatile once more.
"Maybe I don't want to go on a mission with you!" Gray hissed, pushing against me.
"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to go on a mission with you!" I growled in return, pushing back against him.
"I hate you!"
"I hate you, too! And you know what else?!"
"What, Natsu?!"
"I wish I never met you!"
"I wish I never met you, either, you idiot!"
"Do I hear the two of you fighting out there?" called Erza's voice from inside of the Guild.
"No, ma'am!" we both cried, dispersing instantly. It would be no use to fight again with Erza here. We couldn't do another Magic battle either, not with it getting dark out. It wouldn't be the smartest thing, not while we were so close to the Guild.
I huffed and glared at Gray. "So you wish that you never met me?" I asked him.
"Yeah, that's right," snapped Gray, crossing his arms and looking away from me. "And you?"
"Yeah..." I agreed, looking away.
"Then it's settled," he grumbled. "You take Lucy to do the mission."
"No," I snapped. "Erza said that Gramps had the mission for us both. So we might as well do it and get it done and over with."
Gray glanced at me then snorted. "Fine. We'll meet up in the morning to head out."
With that, we parted ways. Gray went to who knows where while I went to go get Happy. I didn't know that the words we spoke would affect us until later.
And it was too late.
[xXx]
Hehehehe~. -w- Cliffhangeeeer~. You guys will know what happens hopefully next week! :D *Has laptop now so everything should be coming waaaaaaaay faster than before. Possibly weekly updates? ;D*
Read and Review, my pretties! :D
~Usagi