Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Alright people. I know it's been almost two weeks, but I finally got this chapter put together. This chapter took a while for three reasons: 1) I've been studying for certification exams that are coming up, 2) I have another fanfic that I am working on (feel free to check it out!) and, the largest one of all, 3) ideas for this chapter took a while to flow. I do apologize for the wait since I see a lot of people are already following this story (I mean wow!). Sorry to let you guys down, but here it is!
Now that I got the first totally-me chapter out there, I'm hoping that ideas will start coming to me. I have the big ideas, but the finer details are harder. I'm working as best as I can, so I only ask for patience as I do whatever I can to give you the best I can give.
Okay, end rant. You want to read the next chapter, after all. On to Chapter 2 of Viscernal's A Diary's Secret!
Fairy Tail—A Diary's Secret
Chapter 2
Natsu walked down the streets of Magnolia with his arms behind his head. His face was twisted in a pout as he made his way home. "Stupid Mira. What the heck is her problem? Why was she getting all upset about me reading her diary? It's not like I even understood anything in it." He scratched his head with both hands. "And the worst part is I couldn't even find any secrets worth using! This whole thing is Elfman's fault! If only he kept Mira out of the house like he was supposed to, I could have kept reading! I'll kick his butt tomorrow, that's for sure!"
He walked out of town where his small house sat nestled among the trees of the neighboring forest. It was a quiet location; not much happened there since it was far away from the ever-bustling Fairy Tail guild hall. He rarely ever had visitors. Actually, he never had visitors. It was always just him and Happy in the little place. After all, who would visit? Gray? Yeah right. He'd never let that stripper into his home. Erza? No way. He was way too scared. Lisanna? Well, maybe. He was always over her house, though, and it was much nicer there. Still, he would like to have her and Elfman and Mira over someday…well, maybe not Mira. She would probably torture him.
Natsu walked through the trees where his house quietly awaited him, marked simply by a sign that read "Natsu & Happy". The house was simple; a creamy white with supports and a base made of stones. The roof was made up of poorly constructed wood and red tiles. A chimney of stone rose up into the sky, awkwardly narrowing as it reached its peak. Thick tree branches jutted out of the walls from the inside and into the outside world. There was even a small wooden fence that lined one side.
Natsu climbed up the narrow dirt path that led to the small wooden door, stepping carefully up the stairs that were made of thin logs. Above the door, a skull of some wild animal was displayed proudly on a plaque. Natsu had no idea what the skull once belonged to, but he still thought it was cool and tough-looking. He reached for the plain dark gray doorknob, swung the door open, and stepped inside.
The inside of Natsu and Happy's humble abode made the outside look like a mansion. Objects and belongings were strewn about haphazardly, almost nothing finding its way onto a shelf or into a drawer. In fact, even the dressers and other pieces of furniture had yet to find a home as most of them rested on the floor or were perched precariously against a wall. Old food sat in a pot and on a pair of plates a top the small and short wooden dinner table. There was, of course, the full grown tree off to the side near the large red couch. On the other side of the room was a quickly constructed hammock that was tied to the ceiling. At the far end of the room was a stove that was untidy and covered in crusty old food. Most people would be disgusted at the sight of such a place and run away. Natsu barely even noticed. To him, there was nothing wrong with the way he and Happy lived.
He jumped up onto the red couch, letting his feet swing off of the side as he thought. "Man, today was a total bust. I thought for sure that I could find something in Mira's diary." He thought back to the things he read and saw; Erza's weird girl-girl love (whatever that meant), someone who's over her house all of the time (which is odd, since he's always there and never saw anyone else over), and he and Mira's names in a heart. This last piece that he had seen threw him the most. What did that mean? Why was his name in Mira's diary? He thought and thought until he felt confident he had his answer. His eyes widened. "She must have decided to only target me! Oh man, what am I gonna do?"
Happy flew in through the open door and rested on Natsu's head. "You left, Natsu," the small blue cat said to his father.
"And a good thing to," Natsu said. "Mira's gonna kill me! I'm her target! She said so in her diary."
Happy patted Natsu's head. "Natsu, Lisanna always said that you should try and comfort a crying girl."
"So?"
"Mira was crying and you didn't try and comfort her."
Natsu's eyes widened before falling to the floor. He had seen what looked like tears in her eyes right before he left, but he didn't know that she actually cried. After all, Mira never cried. Ever. Natsu didn't think she could. "She did?"
"Mhm."
"Aw man, now I feel kinda bad."
"You should. You made her cry."
"Shut up! You don't know that!" Natsu exclaimed while trying to look at the Exceed sitting on his head.
"But you did! She kept saying 'Natsu, how could you' over and over again."
Natsu's gaze fell to the floor again. "Aw man, now I feel even worse."
"What are you gonna do, Natsu?"
Natsu took a deep breath. It was going to be scary and he was probably going to die before he said what he needed to, but he had to apologize to Mira. Igneel always told him that apologizing to someone you've wronged was the right thing to do. It made them feel better. "Guess I have no choice," he mumbled. "Tomorrow at the guild I'll tell Mira that I'm sorry."
"There you are, ash face!" Gray shouted as Natsu walked through the door to the guild. He leapt at the small Dragon Slayer, landing a kick to his face that sent Natsu tumbling back outside. Happy had managed to escape from Natsu's head before the kick landed and floated safely to the ground.
Natsu sat up and rubbed his face. "What the heck was that for?" he shouted at Gray.
"Whaddya think that was for?" Gray shot back. "You set me up to get yelled at yesterday so that you could escape!"
"I did not!" Natsu yelled as he leapt to his feet.
"You so did!" Gray threw back. The boy then crossed his arms over his chest. "Whatever. Anyway, I don't think we should read Mira's diary anymore."
"What? Why?" Natsu asked.
Gray looked away. "I have my reasons. Look, just give the diary back to Mira, okay?"
"But I don't have the diary."
"You mean you couldn't get her diary? Did you even find it?" Gray asked. Even though he had a change of heart, he still found it hard to believe that Natsu could actually fail to find a book in an abandoned house.
"Yeah, I found it."
"You didn't read it, did you?"
"Yeah, I read a bit of it."
Gray slapped his forehead. "Well, what did it say then?"
"Not too sure."
Gray almost face planted onto the guild floor. "How the heck are you not sure?"
Natsu crossed his arms. "I didn't understand what was written there. I don't even think I could explain it. It was weird." He then tilted his head at Gray. "I wanna know why you changed your mind, though. Stealing her diary was your idea, remember?"
Gray huffed. He then turned his back on the pink haired Dragon Slayer and walked off. "You wouldn't get it."
"Hey! Don't walk away from me!" Natsu shouted after him.
"Natsu!"
Natsu turned around to see Lisanna, Elfman, and Mira walking towards the guild. Lisanna had a big smile on her face as she waved and skipped, Elfman looked like he was caught between pain and fear based on the fake smile that he had on, and Mira just glared at him. It wasn't as bad as the one he saw yesterday, but it still made his spine crawl. He waved back at Lisanna. "Hey Lisanna. How was your mission yesterday?"
Lisanna stopped in front of Natsu. "Actually, we never ended up going."
Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
Lisanna put a small finger to her chin. "I'm not really sure. Elfman and I were at the station when Mira just kind of disappeared. I didn't notice her leave, so we waited at the station, but Mira never came back."
"Lisanna," Mira called out coldly as she continued to walk over with Elfman. "You shouldn't talk to him."
"What? Why not?" Lisanna asked.
Mira walked over to Natsu, lifted her leg and dug her heel into Natsu's head. "His ears aren't worth your words."
Natsu tried to escape the pain, but Mira's leg was far too strong. He felt like his head was about to split open.
"Mira, that's mean! And stop that! You're hurting him!" Lisanna wailed.
Mira kept digging her booted heel into Natsu's scalp, a wicked grin on her face. "Don't be silly, Lisanna. Natsu loves it. Besides," she kicked him backwards and stomped off, "he doesn't have much in there anyway."
Lisanna ran to Natsu's side and knelt beside him. "Are you okay, Natsu?"
Natsu rubbed the top of his head. "Yeah, I'm okay. It takes more than that to beat me."
Lisanna giggled. "Of course. Such a big, strong man."
Happy walked over and patted Natsu's knee. "Natsu's okay!"
Elfman walked over to Natsu. "Sorry, Natsu. She's been in a really bad mood since yesterday."
Natsu shot Elfman a look. "It's your fault, Elfman!"
"What? What did I do?" Elfman asked while taking a step backwards.
Natsu leapt to his feet. "You said that you, Lisanna, and Mira were all going on a mission!"
"We were!" Elfman assured. "We got to the train station, and big sis said that she needed to go check on something. She said that she'd be right back, but she didn't show."
"I didn't know that," Lisanna blinked. "What did she have to check on?"
"How should I know?" Elfman said. "Look, I'm sorry, Natsu."
Natsu turned his back on Elfman. "Well it's your fault that things are even worse now."
"Say what?" Elfman said in disbelief. "How?"
"She caught me 'cause you lied to me!" Natsu barked.
"I didn't lie. I just didn't know that she'd abandon the mission like that."
"What is going on?" Lisanna ordered.
"Nothing," Natsu muttered. He had no desire to tell Lisanna anything about what had happened.
"Natsu and Gray wanted to steal Mira's diary so that she'd stop picking on them," Elfman admitted.
"Shut up, Elfman!" Natsu shouted.
Lisanna looked at Natsu with shock. "Natsu, you didn't…"
"What's the big deal?" Natsu asked. "I didn't even understand what was in there. It made no sense."
"Natsu, how could you?" Lisanna asked. "You can't do things like that! Those are her private thoughts! You had no right to look through her diary! No wonder she's so mad at you."
Natsu crossed his arms. "Geez, you sound just like Mira."
"She caught you reading her diary?" Elfman asked. "No wonder she wants to kill you."
"Yeah, I got it," Natsu snapped.
Lisanna stood up and stomped her tiny feet, pointing off in the direction that Mira went with a serious look on her face. "Natsu, go apologize to my sister this instant."
Natsu looked at the floor. "I know," he said softly. "I know I have to tell her that I'm sorry."
"Good. Now go," Lisanna said.
Natsu nodded and jogged off towards where Mira had gone.
Lisanna sighed as he ran off. "Honestly, what was he thinking?"
"I don't know," Elfman said. "I told them that it was crazy."
Lisanna glared at him. "And as for you, big brother Elf, what were you thinking?"
"What did I do?" Elfman asked.
"You helped them!" Lisanna said. "You knew what was happening and you went along with it!"
Elfman bowed his head repeatedly over and over again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Lisanna sighed again and gently palmed her forehead. She then bent down and picked up Happy, cradling the cat in her small arms. "What is with all of these boys lately, Happy?"
Natsu searched high and low for Mira. He was terrified about what would happen when he found her, but he knew he had to apologize. He decided on that before Lisanna had told him to, after all. Still, what would Mira do? He had taken a boot to the head in front of everyone. If they were alone, what would Mira do to him? He gulped as horrific visions of torture flashed through his mind.
He stopped at the end of a hallway, panting from all of the running he had done, when he heard the sound of laughter—evil laughter. He nodded his head as he ran towards the noise. There was no doubt in his mind. That was Mira's laugh. He knew it all too well. He followed the laugh until he reached the storage room where he saw Mira and Erza butting heads with each other, hands locked together as they fought. They were so focused on their fight that they didn't notice Natsu standing in the doorway.
"You think you're so funny!" Erza shouted at her.
"Oh c'mon, lighten up!" Mira laughed. "What's the big deal?"
"I'm tired of you pulling that prank!" Erza said.
"Oh, get off your high horse," Mira spat. "I don't do it just 'cause of you, ya know."
"I'll make you pay, you flat-chested harpy," Erza hissed. "You will never interfere with my cake mix again, you hear me?"
"Come at me, you scarlet-haired freak," Mira shot back. "I'll make you regret fixating on me like this."
Natsu watched as the two continued to push against each other with all of their strength, constantly slinging insults at each other that Natsu didn't completely understand. 'Huh. Igneel never taught me words like that. I wonder what they mean…' He was getting tired of waiting, though. He needed to get this over with and face whatever punishment he was going to receive. With a deep breath and a quick reminder to himself who he was the son of, he knocked on the door frame of the storage room.
Both girls looked over. "What?" they shouted simultaneously.
Natsu gulped. "I...uh…need to speak with Mira for a sec, if that's okay."
"We're in the middle of something, Natsu," Erza said. "Come back later."
"I know, but it's really important," Natsu said.
Erza looked at him for a while, head still pressed against Mira's before she sighed. "I guess that's okay wi…"
"I don't want to talk to you," Mira interrupted. "Go away."
Natsu took a step back, almost losing his nerve at seeing the venomous look in Mira's eyes. However, he knew he had to do this. He steeled his resolve and stepped into the storage room. "Just hear me out for one second."
Before Mira could respond, Erza did a quick maneuver to escape the deadlock, causing Mira to crash into the supplies. "I'll leave you two alone," she said as she made her way towards the exit. However, she stopped once she reached Natsu, looked over her shoulder and said, "This isn't over, Mira. We will finish this later." With that, she walked off.
"Yeah, you better run!" Mira called out after her as she brushed off the food that covered her.
Natsu walked over to Mira, his head hanging low. "Listen, Mira. I just wanted to say that I…"
"Are you deaf or just stupid?" Mira spat at him.
"Huh?"
She stood up and leaned in, causing Natsu to back up. She followed him as he went. "I told you that I don't want to talk to you. I don't even want to see your face."
Natsu's back hit the wall, but Mira's face never backed away. She maintained the close distance. He could feel her eyes burning through his. "I know you're upset, but I…"
"I don't want to hear it!" she shouted. "I don't want to hear anything that you have to say!"
"But…"
"Shut up!" she shrieked as she backed off. Her head hung low, her white bangs covering her eyes. Her thin frame was shaking as she clenched her fists. "Just get out of here and leave me alone."
"Just let me say what I…" Natsu began. However, he was soon interrupted.
Mira bent down, picked up an orange that had fallen to the ground when she crashed into the supplies, tore it in half, and pressed the two halves against Natsu's face. She dug the fruit into his face, watching as the juice ran down his skin. "Say another word and this juice will end up in your eyes."
Natsu gritted his teeth. He couldn't take it anymore. "Screw this!" Natsu shouted as he pushed Mira away, orange juice still dripping down his face. "I came to apologize to you, but you won't even let me speak! I mean, I don't even understand what I saw and you're treating me even worse than before!"
Mira threw the orange on the ground, her rage building. "Understanding what you saw isn't the point, Natsu! You can't just read someone's diary!"
"Then why won't you let me apologize?"
"Because I don't want to be anywhere near you right now! I don't want to hear your lame ass apology! You probably don't even understand why you're apologizing because you're so stupid!"
"I'm apologizing because I made you cry!" he bellowed.
Mira froze, her face twisted in anger. "Get out," she hissed.
Natsu huffed at her. "Gladly!" With that, he stormed off.
Mira watched him walk away, her anger not subsiding. Once he was completely out of sight, she kicked the orange that lay at her feet, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Natsu, you jerk."
I will do everything I can to make update occur more frequently. Until next time!
