The boy's locker room had a sense of familiarity among it while the young senior walked through the smell of gym socks and sweat to the office in the back as all the other students made their way out onto the green pasture behind the school gym. Laxus pushed open the door to the head coach's office, "Hey Coach G" he stepped inside, "I heard you wanted to speak with me?"
The older male looked up from his work and smiled, "Yeah, come in and take a seat."
He sat down across from his football and basketball head coach. Waiting for him to speak, Laxus stared at the wall behind his coach filled with trophies and plaques. Many of the ones on the lower shelves were brought in during the young teen's stint here as a student athlete. The sweat and blood put into that display along with the tradition of being the best and upholding the best qualities in a person as well as an athlete made Laxus swell with pride as he began his last year of high school.
"So as you know, we received quite a few transfers this year who weren't able to make it for tryouts last Spring." The blond slowly nodded his head, as his coach began, hating where it was leading, "I've decided to give them a three week probation to impress me and the other coaches. A decision would be made after our scrimmage with Phantom Lord Academy as to whether they can remain on the team."
The younger male processed his mentor's words before asking, "Ok, but what does that have to do with me?"
He watched as his coach blew air out of his mouth, "Well, quite a few athletes have transferred over and their previous school was not well known for playing by the book." Laxus nodded his head, urging the coach to go on, "As offensive captain and a senior, you have an obligation to see through harmony between any disputes amongst the players."
The young teen scrunched his face in confusion, "Don't you just mean captain, sir?"
Coach G started to sweatdrop, "Ah, Yes." He ran a hand through his unkempt hair, "That is another change this year. With so many new athletes, we wanted to show unity between players and have another captain." Laxus visibly tightened all his muscles, "Over defense?"
"Who is the defensive captain?" the young man asked.
His coach was about to answer when a deep voice from the open doorway interrupted them, "That would be me pretty boy."
Laxus shot out of his chair to face his old foe. "Gajeel Redfox." The senior stared at the former linebacker for Phantom Lord Academy. At 6'4" with wild black hair that reached well beyond the school's ten inch rule and enough piercings covering his face to pick up satellite signals, he looked tough enough to have any other teen running scared. Even though he is year younger, he's made the past two years a living hell on the gridiron for whichever poor sap happened to be holding the ball. Of course they made him captain. Laxus remembered quite a few times the limber giant got through Bixlow's offensive line and barreled through him as if he were a practice dummy. Not to mention all the transgressions he's made off the field as well.
He tried to contain his rage as the boy in front of him donned a cocky smirk, "The rumors must be true. You really must own a pair of solid iron balls to be showing your face around this school after what you did to Levy last year."
"Who?" the smirk widened as Laxus prepared a fist to defend his girlfriend's best friend and his best friend's sister's honor.
"Oh, you know the girl that you-"
"Laxus!" the young blond slowly unclenched his fist but his body was seething with ire as he turned to face his coach, "Go get the team started with warm ups on the field. I still have business to discuss with your co-captain."
"This guy will never be my equal." Laxus spat out. "As a senior I pull rank over any disputes between us." He paused to ensure his coach got the message.
With a nod the older male conceded, "Done. Now get out before I have to suspend you for your stupidity."
Laxus shoved his way through the narrow opening and left the locker room catch up with his team on the field.
"Thanks for helping out with tryouts, Levy" Lucy looked down at her friend who was sitting at the table in front of them. "I need a skilled eye to watch for the girls that pick up the steps with ease."
"No worries Lucy." the small bluenette smiled at her friend with ease as freshman and transfers filled up the gym seats, waiting on further instruction. "I'm just sad I won't be able to join this year, since I really need to focus on my grades and SATs."
The tall blonde nodded, slightly frowning at the reminder of having to find a replacement for her as well. Levy was the school's best flyer since she was so tiny. She was practically fearless when it came to try out new things in the air which made their routines at competition more original and difficult, earning major points and serious trophies because of it. "I know, me too, but we'll still have our senior year to cheer together right?"
Levy nodded, earning a dazzling smile from her friend before she walked away to approach the gathered group. "Ok ladies, thank you for arriving on time and prepared." she paused until everyone had quieted down so she didn't have to yell too loud. "My name is Lucy, I'm a junior here at Fairy Tail and I am also the head cheerleader. Welcome to Fall tryouts! Some of you are new and some of you tried out in Spring but didn't quite make it, so we told you to keep practicing and return in the Fall. This is your final chance to join the squad for this school year, good luck." She watched as they all exchanged nervous glances with one another and continued, "Now, before we begin, I want to make sure everyone has signed a release form and is aware that any injuries are not the responsibility of the school, the staff, nor the students holding tryouts."
A murmer of anticipation went through the group and a few girls left, not confident in their abilities to remain in injured. After a few "Thanks" and "Try again next year"s, Lucy proceeded on to the next step. "Okay, while we do not body shame on this squad, and we firmly believe beauty is in all shapes and sizes, you must see the school uniform before deciding on if you want to be seen flipping and tossed in the air in it." She blew a whistle and the door to the girl's locker room opened up. The current squad walked out in full uniform led by the assistant captain Evergreen, a senior that wasn't the least bit bitter of being beat out by a junior for captain.
The tall blonde stared at their reactions to the short skirts and small long sleeve tops that stopped just below the chest. "So as you can see, it is very revealing. I don't care what you look like, but if you are the least bit uncomfortable with wearing this, please leave." A few girl's got up to leave, but Lucy saw a few more undecided faces so she continued speaking, "It's all fun and games to be a part of this squad but if you are uncomfortable with how it's gonna fit you, please leave. The last thing I need is for someone to readjust themselves in the air and get hurt or worse, have a catcher readjust and injure a flyer on accident. So please, don't put on the uniform if you aren't going to be confident in it." The last few uncertain faces stood up and left, leaving a group of twenty girls. "Okay would the remainder of you please step down and Evergreen, your assistant captain, will lead y'all through some stretching before we begin." Lucy let the brunette take over as she went to go sit with Levy and observe.
An hour had passed by and Lucy, with the the help of Levy had narrowed down to five girl two sophomores, named Kairi and Maka, and a senior whose name was Ella from Spring tryouts, a junior from Phantom Lord with blue hair named Juvia and a sophomore from PLA with short white hair named Lisanna. Lucy looked at her new squad mates and frowned just a bit, Still no flyer. Sure, Lisanna was tiny enough to toss but her bust size was just more than average, which could cause for a nip slip one some of the more complicated techniques Lucy had in mind. She shared a look with Levy now that they had the full squad together for the first time and saw that she noticed it too. "What are you gonna do Lucy?"
With a shrug, she opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted but the gym door opening, "Sorry I'm late!" A small bluenette with pigtails came running in with her books in her hands looking disheveled as if she got dressed on the run. Noticing her shoe was untied, Lucy put her hands up to try and warn the poor girl but was too late as the latecomer started tipping forward, no doubt about to break her nose on the gym floor.
All the girls cringed and waited for the sickening splat, but it never came. Opening her eyes, Lucy saw that she was caught by some guy that was hiding under the bleachers. "Excuse me! These are closed tryouts," she walked up to the intruder and noticed he wasn't alone, "What are you pervs doing here?" She crossed her arms and stuck her foot out, observing them as she waited for an answer. The one that had caught the little girl was in a white muscle shirt and cargo shorts, he had soft pink hair and onyx eyes that were gleaming mischievously while the other one was just in a pair of basketball shorts and no shirt holding an orange ball, blushing and looking down she could only see his blueish black locks on top of his head. "Hellooo? Do I need to get security?" she eventually said after they didn't respond.
"We were just waiting for the gym to be free so we could shoot some hoops. Plus, our friends are trying out so we wanted to show our support for them and make sure you didn't cheat them out of a spot on the squad." The pink haired boy spoke up, his voice jovial at first but quickly turned into a growl as he finished talking.
Taking a step back, Lucy looked offended, "Are you accusing me of prejudice? I'm sorry if your friends didn't make the team, but n here at Fairy Tail, we have a standard to uphold and I won't take anyone below that standard for the sake of some girl's pride."
The other male popped out from below, "That's not what he meant at all." He pulled on pinkie's arm to get him to leave, "In fact, he was just shutting up before he said anything to make this situation worse. We'll be leaving now. Sorry for the intrusion."
Lucy had already had her focus on the girl who arrived late, "Are you oka-?"
"Gray-sama!" in a flash of blue and alabaster, one of the new girl's jumped on the dark haired man, "You came to see Juvia? Oh, Juvia does not deserve the love and care that Gray-sama shows her everyday."
Suppressing a giggle at the scene before her, she tried to focus on the new girl, "Being late is not acceptable, we have already chosen our squad. I'm sorry but try again in the Spring."
Tears filled up the violet eyes in front of her, "I understand that I'm late, but I'm in the Health and Sciences program here and we had a mandatory meeting with all the teachers after school. Miss Porly gave me an excuse and told me to give it to Lucy." She held out a piece of paper with a shaky hand, "Is she still here?"
"I'm Lucy," the relief the young girl had on the her face was confusing. As the staff sponser, Miss Porly pulled rank over Lucy so she opened the note and read it with wide eyes. Looking over at Levy, she nodded her head to bring her over. "I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" Levy had arrived and took the note, she gasped and suppressed a small smile at the new girl. The note held three words: She's a flyer.
"Wendy," She beamed and held her hand out, "Wendy Redfox."
A/N: I didn't edit this, sorry for any mistakes. Like I said, I'm not gonna be updating this one as often as my other fic, so please be patient.
SpecialShoutout: RepeatingSimplePhrases~ is it weird to say that I kinda sorta love you and hope you are having a fucking fantastic day?