The Specter
"So you're saying he is one of them now?"
We currently are in dim lit room. A man dressed in a white tuxedo stood on chair, cross-legged, smoking. He had a white hat on, mafia style, so we couldn't see his face. Another man, seemingly taller, was standing in front of him with his arms crossed. He had a very long and messy black hair, red eyes and lots of piercings.
"Yeah. I saw him with Scarlet. Apparently he's also a street racer now. And he's not too shabby at all." the taller man said.
"Oh? I'm impressed! Coming from you, Gajeel, it means he is something. Very well. Continue watching them and report all what you see." The one addressed as 'Gajeel' nodded. He turned around and exited the room.
"..Mmm...Fairy Tail took measures, eh? No problem! This way I will be the one to collect the reward for 'his' head...Ku-ku!" said to himself the remaining man in the room.
2. Failure is the path to success (or so it seems...) - Part 1
Natsu was sleeping in a large and comfy bed with a small and satisfied smile on his face. He was hugging a pillow tightly and he was nuzzling it from time to time, also chuckling doing so. And he seemed to be enjoying a very pleasurable dream. Too bad Erza had to say something about it...
Just then the door got slammed into the wall with enough force to shake the entire room. At the sudden noise he startled and opened his eyes wide, but regretted it when he saw the face of the red haired. He started shaking as he compared her to Medusa. She dashed to the bed and scared Natsu even more, making him jolt from the mattress and land with his head on the wall.
"Natsu! Why weren't you up by now?" she asked enraged.
"What are you talking about?" he asked as he rubbed his back of the head and walked over to her. He looked at the clock on the nightstand. "It's only 5:30 am!"
"Exactly! You should've been up 30 minutes earlier! We have to meet up with Jellal at 6 am! Now move your lazy ass and get ready!" she said and she stormed off, closing the door with to much force and so a part of the painting cracked. Natsu sighed as he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the sleep from them and headed to the bathroom.
"Can't you drive faster?" asked Erza. She and Natsu were now inside his car, going to Glen Canyon where they were supposed to meet with the others.
"Erza..I've already passed the limit by 30 . How fast do you want me to drive?"
"Well if you would've moved faster earlier this morning then you wouldn't have to drive faster..." she mumbled. Natsu snorted.
"It is my fault the rendez-vous is set to early for me?"
As they reached the destination, they got out...only to see that they were the first arrived. A vein popped on Natsu's forehead.
"You said we had to be here at 6 am. It's already half-past and no one's here!" said the pink haired pissed off. Erza tried to get smaller to avoid his wrath to be poured on her.
"M-Maybe it-it was set f-for 7?" she asked weakly as she was bringing her index fingers together. Natsu just stared at her and let out a sigh.
30 minutes later
A gray Dodge Charger SRT made his way on the deserted road to the Glen Canyon. It stopped right beside a black Ferrari FF. Leaning on the former car were two teenagers: a red haired girl and a pink haired boy. Out of the the other car got out a light blue haired teenager.
"Erza! Good to see you! And you've brought Natsu back in San Francisco, too!"
"Good to see you, too! It wasn't that hard to find him anyway..."
"Okay, that's lovely and all, but can we get to the subject now?"
"Wow, you've really changed a lot..." said Jellal.
"Thanks." said Natsu with a sweet smile.
"Right. Gray should arrive any minute now. After that we can move on to the plan."
And just how he said, in a couple of minutes a dark red Ford Evos appeared next to the other cars. A raven haired teen appeared from inside and ran towards Natsu with an out held fist. It connected to the pink haired jaw which made him stumble backwards a few steps.
"Ouch..." he said as he glared at the newcomer as he stroked the pained area. The over one grinned at the scene.
"Well that feels better." Erza and Jellal stared at him in disbelief.
"Really, Gray, really? That's how you say 'hi' to someone you hadn't seen for over two years?" scowled Natsu.
"Yeah, whatever..."
"I found the location of Phantom Lord's base. It's in Richmond, not very far from here. Let's get into the cars and let's move out." Jellal said that while he headed to his car, soon followed by all the others.
The trip last around two hours. When they reached the base, they started some preparations. "Gray!" said the blue haired teenager.
"Yeah, yeah, I got them." the said boy replied. He got to the car and got a small black box. He headed back to where the others were, he opened the box and revealed four bluetooth-based single earphones. "Put them on and we can keep in touch."
"And now the plan. Natsu will enter the building while we stay out on guard. There are three entrances: one in south, one in north-west and one in north-east. Erza will take southern one, Gray the north-east and I the last one. Natsu you will enter through the ventilation."
"Huh? And can I ask you why? If I enter through the door, I'll get more attention and it'll be more fun!" said Natsu in a serious manner.
"I should've expected that." said Jellal with a sweatdrop. "Okay, Natsu enter however you want, just tell me when you do that." Natsu smiled happily. "You have to break that thing to pieces, got it?" the pink haired nodded excited.
"Natsu, what did you bring?" asked Erza. Natsu smirked as he turned to the car.
"I thought you'll never ask." he opened the trunk and looked at the others. "You might want to check all of them and then pick."
"What do you mean?" she asked as she went to him. She then widened her eyes at what she saw. The other two stared at each other then walked over to the others were. They looked inside the truck. Jellal widened his eyes and Gray voiced his thoughts exactly.
"Oh My Fucking God!"
They stared at four Blackheart M92 AK-s, two DPMS MOE Warrior Carbine-s, one Gatling Gun, four Kimber Stainless Pro-s and over 20 grenades. And about 120 ammo for every gun.
"So? What do you want?" asked Natsu with a smile.
"I'll have two Kimbers." said Erza as she raised her hand.
"I'll go with DPMS." said Jellal.
"And I with a Blackheart." said Gray.
"Yey! So I have the Gatling Gun!" said Natsu excited. Although he also took about 10 grenades with him.
The base wasn't very attractive... If you'd ask Natsu he'd tell you that it was abandoned. All the walls were cracked everywhere, leaving large parts of paint and rock to just hang out. The building had around 150 m square and didn't have any kind of details, just some holes which were supposed to be windows probably, which was plain odd, the painting itself being a muddy white.
The four teenagers split up in the movement, leaving everyone on their own... except Jellal and Natsu, the former heading to the same entrance. He somehow figured up that that was the principal way out of the building.
As they made their way to the entrance, Jellal took the chance to discuss some private matters.
"Natsu, care to tell me where have you been for all this time?" he asked.
The said boy blinked. Then rubbed the back of his head, trying to decide if he should tell him or not. He trusted the guy, but him being in F.B.I. could get him in trouble if he had the information. The pink haired decided it wasn't his job to think about this so he took the world on his shoulders.
"I've traveled through many towns, then I just settled down in Miami." Jellal scowled.
"What were you doing there?"
"Well...um..." 'should I answer directly?' He thought. "Enjoying my time?..."
"Are you asking me?" Jellal said looking at Natsu. "What were you exactly doing?"
"...earning...money..."
"From what?"
"P-Part...-time job..." Now Jellal was also curious and suspicious.
"And what might that be? You've continued with your passion in weaponry as I can see..." the blue haired man said, looking down at his DPMS. Natsu remained silent for a moment then sighed and let it out.
"I've become an assassin actually." at that Jellal widened his eyes. Then he came to a realization. 'The Specter is very well known mostly for his accuracy.' He remembered an old sentence he'd heard from one of his superiors. He gulped at the thought, but didn't dig any further into the subject as they arrived at their spot.
"I'm in the spot." the two of them heard Erza's voice into the earphone.
"I got there, too" this one was Gray.
"We're ready to get this over with, then." Jellal said into the microphone. He nodded to Natsu and he nodded as well as he got the message. He positioned himself in the front of the door and then with a strong kick he opened the door. He immediately took the stance to shoot, but widened his eyes when he saw no one.
It was a large room with big wooden boxes used definitely for ammo and guns at the corners. He scanned the area and slowly started to move forward into the building. He reached a door which was slammed too into the wall, revealing another empty room, this one most likely used as a bar. He looked inside of it and again found nobody.
He frowned in disappointment and frustration. He decided to contact the others.
"Jellal are you sure this is their real base?"
"Yeah. What of it?"
We go now back at the blue haired mentioned above.
"There's absolutely no one in here and the whole place doesn't look like it was used recently. " Jellal stood there for a moment to process the whole thing out.
"B-But that's impossible! I've checked only yesterday to be sure!"
"Sorry to break it to ya, but the thing is completely deserted."
The others, who could also hear their conversation, were as stunned as Jellal.
"Natsu, you sure you've checked the whole thing up?"asked what it seems to be Erza's voice.
"Yep. If you want I can make sure that here's no living being left."
"W-What are you talking about?"
"Oh, you'll see..." responded Natsu, his voice muffled.
And back with the pink haired, he was currently holding four bombs in one hand as he was pulling out their key with his mouth. He instantly threw the green spheres and ran to the door.
Back with Jellal, he was looking at Natsu as he rushed through the exit.
"DOWN!" he yelled as he dragged him behind the wall. As soon as they hid, orange flames erupted with a loud BANG! from the building. It then started to crumble down from inside out. The two teenagers left their spot and put some distance between them and the building. When the noise died down, Jellal and Natsu had to get off their earphone as their comrades were screaming curses directed at the pink haired.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING! COULDN'T YOU AT LEAST WARN US BEFORE YOU BLOW THE WHOLE THING UP?" that was spoken by Gray while he and Erza were spitting other curses.
"Natsu, just you wait! I'll punish you severely for this!" Erza said in a venomous tone. And Natsu shivered as he thought: 'Medusa!'
"Are you two both alright?" asked Jellal, a bit worried.
"Yes, but not thanks to that pink haired idiot!" Gray's voice was heard from behind as he and Erza were heading towards the group. But what caught Natsu's attention was the perfect replica of Medusa which was mirrored by the red haired. She walked over to the pink haired, caught him by his ear and dragged him to the car. The other guys could only pity him for what shit he got into. As soon as Erza got in the car with Natsu, the car started literally shaking and from its insides could be heard sounds of punches and slaps. The other two could've sworn they also heard a bone cracking...
The way home was made in deep silence in the black Ferrari. Even if the two got over their previous issue, they were in a bad mood. Natsu because he didn't get to spill some blood and Erza because she didn't get to break the necks of some phantoms rolling around. At some point they arrived in front of Erza's rather small mansion. Natsu pulled out the keys from contact and the two of them just stayed there for a couple of minutes.
"You know, our gang is running low on money." said Erza, breaking the silence.
"And how's that supposed to concern me?"
"It concerns you because our income comes mostly out of races and since you're the one in charge of driving, you should take action." she said. Natsu looked at her.
"Really?... And what exactly should I do?" he replied.
"The day after tomorrow is the monthly race between gangs. Since you're our representative you'll race for us with one of our cars so you won't take any collateral damage out of it. The prize is 5 000 000 bucks but also the track is very dangerous and tricky, every participant being able to use any kind of weapons when racing."
"And how are the money divided?"
"You'll get your share of 1 000 000 and the rest goes to the gang." Natsu snorted.
"And why does the gang need money anyway?"
"Weaponry, cars and the building itself needs reparations from time to time. And some of the members also need to borrow some cash."
Natsu sighed. "Very well then...What do you have in store for me?" At that Erza smirked.
"Let's go to the basement and see. You won't be disappointed..."
The basement was currently located in south. A trip of about one hour... As they parked the car, Natsu shivered at the thought of seeing his comrades again. As he and Erza entered through the doors, all the people there gasped and widened their eyes at him. Two tears went down the face of a white haired girl. 'M-Mira' Natsu thought with wide eyes as looked at the barmaid. She changed a lot since then... The pink haired's eyes darkened as he looked away. Erza saw the change in the mood and made him a sign to follow. They went down a dark hall and stopped in front of the door. Erza took a glance to the pink haired's face and cracked a smile. She next opened the door and let Natsu enter into the what seems to be their garage.
For starters, it was a huge room. There were placed all the cars they had along with the guns in their recipients. But as the pink haired looked around, his jaw dropped. Erza really enjoyed the view. Unfortunately, he closed the gap fast and started walking around all the muscle cars. His sights landed on something really 'nice', if you know what I mean... It was dark gray Mustang Shelby GT500.
"You have nice tastes in cars. V8 engine that'll pump up to 662 hp. It also has a nitrous mode. Master thought it would be a good choice to add one to the model. And it's all yours to be taken." Natsu was already drooling as he stared at the car.
"Haw-haw!" he said as he rubbed his hands to one another."This baby will soar through the streets! Can't wait to see what she has to show me!"
"Well, over 200 mph at top, that's for sure.." she said. "Take your time preparing it!" Erza then exited the room. The pink haired wiped his drool off his face and got to work.
Natsu was in his new car, standing at the red light. When it turned green, he smirked. 'Let's see how you know to roll, babe!' He shifted into the second gear and dashed forward, achieving 60 mph in less than 4 seconds. He shifted into the fourth gear and the speed was continuously increasing. As it reached 110 mph he stabilized it for a tight turn. He shifted into fifth and reached 140, the number only growing. He put it in the sixth gear and when the speedometer hit over 170, he turned into nitrous mode, jumping up to 197 mph. He started slowing down and then stopped at another red light.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning lit the clouded skies and the thunder roared. The rain started pouring. 'Great,' Natsu thought. 'exactly what I needed.' His attention though got drown out by a feminine silhouette running through the raindrops. Her silver hair fluttered behind her in a heavy way, giving the weather conditions. She wore a long dress, probably pink, the tone being muffled by the darkness. Even so, Natsu recognized it perfectly.
"MIRA!" he shouted as he got out of the car. The silver haired's attention fell on him, a smile cracking on her face. "Come and get inside or you'll catch a cold." the girl nodded and headed to the car's door. The two got in almost simultaneously.
Mira looked at the pink haired with a soft smile. "Thanks."
"No problem." he said as he ruffled his hair to get the water out."What were you doing outside on this weather anyway?"
"Well, I was going home. The rain surprised me." she said with a light blush.
"I think I remember where your home is...Balboa Street, right? Very close to the ocean."
"Exactly." Natsu shifted into first gear and got moving. He changed into second gear and kept a constant speed of 50 mph.
"So how have you been since...you know what..." he asked in a soft voice.
"I tried to get over the shock for a long period of time. I wasn't easy at all to live without her." said Mirajane looking at her feet. Her face got even more gloomier as she continued speaking. "And the fact that it was all my fault didn't help."
"Mira, it wasn't your fault. If I were to blame someone for all of this, I'd blame myself. But doesn't even matter. It won't bring her back and it won't get the things better. Trust me." he said in a very kind voice, trying to reassure the girl. He looked at her turning all his head to the left. Mirajane also stared at him with wide eyes, also taking glances to the road.
"Uhm... Natsu shouldn't you be looking where you're going?" she asked worried.
"I trust you enough to know that you'll guide me if anything goes wrong." he replied calmly. Mirajane widened her eyes, then blushed a little, a smile spreading on her face while she turned her head to look at the road. Natsu continued to look at her for a moment then looked back before him also with small smile.
The rain stopped abruptly, typical for this time of the year and the clouds cleared revealing the waxing crescent moon. The two looked at the luminary, fascinated by its looks. It seems to be brighter and bigger for some reason. They arrived firstly on the shore and they had a little more to go forward and then turn right.
"Would you mind if we'd stay a little on the beach? It's nice outside." Natsu glanced at her before giving in.
"Why not? I don't have anything scheduled anyway..."
And so Natsu parked right in front of the beach. They got off and Mira ran off on the sand, barefoot. The feeling of the wet sand under her feet was pleasurable and she was enjoying it very much. The pink haired was only staring in awe at her, before waking up from daydreaming and dashing toward her, a smile spread on his face. Mira giggled and ran away from him. He chased after her and when he finally caught up, he lifted her up in bridal style and made sure she wasn't going to run off somewhere any time soon. He then sat down on the sand, putting her down next to him.
"It's very beautiful. I've been here many times at night, but I never saw the moon shining like this...Or I don't remember." said Mira. Natsu took a short glance at her before closing his eyes. The breeze was feeling so good against his tanned skin.
The sound of a sneeze made him open his eyes though. He looked with a raised eyebrow at Mira, who was whipping away her nose tenderly with one finger. When she felt his gaze on her, she blushed a bit. But her blush only reddened when he put his arm around her shoulders and replaced her in his lap, rubbing her back as he tried to warm her. She instantly felt better and she wrapped her arms around his torso.
They stayed like this for a few minutes, before Mira finally looked up, only to see a pair of onyx eyes gaze down at her. She blushed even more and the color in her cheeks was almost comparable to Erza's hair. But even so, she also started to stare in those eyes. That until each one of them realized what was doing.
Mira shot up from his lap and he also got up, the girl all flushed up, the boy with a little tint of pink on his face.
"I should take you home." he said "Your brother might be worrying."
"Tonight, he's not coming home so I'm all alone..." she said and then continued with a thought that made her blush again '...to be taken.' She slapped herself in her mind for even thinking of something like that.
"Oh, really?" asked Natsu as he started to walk to the car, followed close by Mira. "You sure you'll be alright? Want me to stay a little or something?"
"If it's not troublesome." she said with a shy smile. Natsu waved it off with his hand.
"Not at all."
They got out of the car after parking it before a two-story mansion. The garden itself wasn't very big, but the house was huge. The two entered through the front door, being greeted by silence.
"Make yourself home." Mira said with a soft smile as she made her way to the kitchen. Natsu entered the living room and remained stunned by how many photos she had from when they were kids. The sight only made him melancholic. He grabbed slowly one of the photos of a silver and short haired girl, definitely younger than Mira, with the same blue ocean eyes and a kind smile on her face.
"Lisanna..." he whispered. In his mind he could almost her giggle. He sighed and put the photo back in itself.
"It has been almost three years since then..." he rapidly turned to face the voice alarmed. She found Mira looking in sympathy at the picture. "Can I ask you where have you been? For all these years...and to not show up just once...I thought you died or something..." she whispered.
"I had been traveling for most of the time, not settling down until I got into Miami. I took a liking on the city and the last almost years I've spent there."
"Miami?! But there had been all those murders...You really could have get yourself killed, you know that, don't you?" she asked worriedly. Natsu sighed and closed his eyes shut.
"I've been the one who committed all those murders. I was living out of killing people, short to say." at that, Mira's eyes widened in horror.
"W-Why did you killed that many?" she asked.
"Money. I'm an assassin, Mira. That's how I live...And I can't say I regret anything I've done. The people I killed had lots of sins on their souls anyway. All I did was take a one way ticket down to hell for when I die." Mira shivered at the words, then let out a heavy sigh.
"I can't say that these words and all you've done until now would please Lisanna in any way, but all the people at Fairy Tail aren't that pure after all..." Natsu chuckled.
Mira then put on the tea table the drink she was holding along with two wine glasses. The bottle contained St Vincent Sunset Rum and the pink haired liked her choice. She poured the brown liquid into the glasses as Natsu took a seat on the sofa. He took in a sip and his face twisted a little from how strong the drink was. He then exhaled deeply. Mira, on the other hand, took a large sip took it all down at once. Big mistake. She started coughing and she beat herself with her hand over her chest and barely managed to calm down. This made Natsu giggle again. You could very easily see she wasn't quite the drinker, in fact almost the exact opposite of Cana. He took the remaining part down with one gulp and he was totally unaffected. Mira stared at him in disbelief.
"You have experience in drinking, no joking..." Natsu chuckled again evilly with a smug grin on his face.
"If you want I can teach you to win a contest against Cana." she shook instantly her head.
"No, no, no! Not a chance... I don't want to become vicious...like you or her."
She watched him snatch the bottle off of the table and start gulping down its liquid. He put the bottle down when he finished and out a long exhale. A tint of pink was making its way on his face. He got himself drunk. Then, Mira literally slapped herself across her face, earning a raised eyebrow look from Natsu. She had completely forgotten that he had to drive his way home.
"Natsu...How are you going to get home if you're drunk?" she asked in a guilty manner.
"What do ya mean?" he asked, obviously drunk.
"You can't drive in your state!"
"And why's that?"
"It's a law!"
"Yeah and what about it? Laws are made to be broken..." Mira face palmed at his last sentence. She sighed in defeat. Knowing him he won't listen to her anyway...
"Okay, but promise you'll be careful..."
"Mm? We're breaking up so soon? I haven't finished the bottle yet!" he complained with a pout, extending his arm to the bottle.
"And you never will! Or at least not tonight." said Mira determined, also snatching the bottle from the table. She rose up and headed to the kitchen.
"Noooo! Mira! Please don't do this!" she laughed at the manner he was saying that. The white haired reached for the cupboard, put back the bottle and turned around only to see Natsu in front of her... and very close. She blushed as she saw he was staring directly at her face. He leaned over her a little with a scolding look.
"Mira, I'm not that drunk yet and I really want to take one more sip." and he screeched out his hand to the cupboard.
"No, Natsu! Don't be such a kid!" she said, grabbing him by his wrist. It didn't affect him though as he clenched the handle. She pulled hard of his arm and she somehow slipped and landed on her back. Natsu, at the sudden weight, lost balanced and fell on top of Mira. They stared in each other's face with wide eyes, blinking. Their faces were at mere centimeters distance. 'Kiss him! Kiss him! Kiss him!' small voices were telling her inside her head. Without even noticing, she was pulling up to shorten the distance between them. And Natsu wasn't moving at first, but slowly dived down to her face. Their lips connected and stayed like this for awhile, closed eyes and living through the sensation. Just then realization hit Natsu hard in his head.
He jolted up right, panting a little from the lack of air. He looked at Mira with wide eyes.
"Sorry for that." he said as he helped Mira get up. Then it hit her too. Her face got red as she stammered to response.
"Th-Th-That's a-a-alright..." she managed. Once she was back on her feet, Natsu rubbed the back of his head and looked away.
"I should get goin' then... It's getting late..."
"O-Okay. " she said, becoming a little disappointed.
They headed to the door and the pink haired walked out of the mansion. Natsu got into his car and drove away not without letting out a loud roar with his car. Mira smiled and waved 'good bye'.
Erza was sleeping peacefully in her bedroom. Rays of sunshine made their way through the windows, bathing her bed in light. Little by little, the light got very dense and it was shining down Erza's face. The red haired opened her eyes as she woke up only squeeze them at the painful brightness hitting her dilated pupils. She yawned after she adjusted to the light and slowly rose up from the bed.
She firstly went into Natsu's room for no reason...but she found it empty. She searched in disbelief after the pink haired and when she decided no one was in there, she went down in look for him. And just when she arrived in the living room, she saw a scrabbled piece of paper on the arm of the sofa. She took it up to her face to read.
Good Morning!
I went out to look for some ammo and other stuff. Don't worry, I won't take too long.
Natsu
Erza frowned. After he got home drunk with the car, she really started to have doubts in the fact that he can take care of himself. She sighed, thinking it wasn't her business anyway. She crumpled the paper and walked to the kitchen, throwing the small ball into the trashcan.
Around the sunset, a pink haired boy got out of a gun shop. He was holding a large box in his left arm as he moved to a black Ferrari. The Mustang was only used for car racing to keep it in its best shape.
Just then, a white haired teenager walking into the opposite direction almost bumped into him. The white haired managed to avoid the impact and continued walking. He took a few steps forward as well, before stopping and turning around. The white haired was staring at him with wide black eyes.
"N-Natsu?" he asked doubtfully. The said teenager widened his eyes in recognition.
"Haru..." He then smiled. "Long time, no see, pal!" The white haired continued staring at him with wide eyes. He then smiled and approached the pink haired. They had a fist bump just before Haru's face gloomed.
"So where have you been all this time? I thought you've died that night..." he said narrowing his eyes.
And so to speak, Haru's been Natsu's partner in his jobs for a period of time, the two becoming very close. That until Natsu went missing one year ago...
Haru would appear to be a brat with nothing heavy hanging on his heart. However, he's been alone for almost his entire life, not even remembering pretty much about his parents or over siblings. He grew up on the streets, earning money by stealing from others. He barely had a shelter and the world was always very cruel to him. Having no one to teach him what to do and what not to, he started around 14 working with weapons of a large caliber. Haru was enhanced with a pair of golden eyes and always liked the guns with a very high accuracy. He started to even kill the persons he's choose as targets only for their goods. He was always on the run to never get caught by the police. They somehow managed to catch him when he just hit 17. He got into the juvie for a whole year before reaching the maturity age and being sent to prison for a full 10 years; reason: voluntary manslaughter. However he barged out relatively quickly. After that, the skies pressed even harder on his shoulders when he lost everything he got over the years because of the confiscation the cops put him through. Just when he thought of committing suicide, he met Natsu in Tucson. The former had left San Francisco for 4 months already. He initiated him in the secrets of the assassination missions and helped him get over the darkest time of his life. Haru also worked with him in terms of accuracy, getting him to achieve the title of Specter. In all missions, Natsu was on the front, always in close combat, while Haru was watching his back from afar. They always relied on one another and traveled together from town to town. And for almost a couple of years, Haru finally felt that the life wasn't that bad, but one day the truth about the world hit him hard in the head when the one he considered his brother disappeared without a trace while on a mission.
The pink haired's smile died down and looked into the ground, ruffling his hair. "Well, that night...The mission didn't go as planned..."
FLASHBACK
Natsu was sitting on a chair while making a detailed check up on an Arsenal SA rifle. The thing got damaged on the previous mission and he just couldn't tell what's wrong with it after repairing the busted part; the rifle didn't shoot straight anymore and it was one of the best they had. Sweat was rolling down his face after the whole staring and rubbing he'd done on it. When he got to a point, he reassembled it and tried to see if he got the thing to it. The target was missed by less than a couple of inches. He let out some curses while hurriedly and carelessly unraveled the weapon for the forth time that day.
A light chuckle was heard from behind, one that made Natsu stop and look at its owner. He let out a low growl in annoyance and got back to work.
"What do you want, Haru?" he asked grumpily.
"I never saw you until now having any problems in fixing any firearms. It's kind of amusing..." Haru said, at the last part he barely managed not to laugh and Natsu noticed. That made him growl again, but this time in frustration. He sighed and tried to calm down, whipping away some of the sweat on his forehead then got back to work.
He stared at the rifle from all angles and in all holes. At one part he remained checking it. He narrowed his eyes, thinking he saw the problem. The interior of one of the parts the bullet was supposed to take its coarse was visibly dented and hindering its trajectory. After looking even more intense, he got to the resolution that it cannot be adjusted and that he'll have to change it. He rose up from his chair and walked to the storage. Haru was watching all his moves intently. The pink haired looked desperately through all the spare parts he had and panicked when he saw none of what he needed. It was already 11 pm and one certain store would have to be closed at this hour. The worst thing was that they had another job tonight and Haru needed especially that rifle. He hit his head with the steel door of the room, trying to remember where could he had put it elsewhere. His eyes widened when he remembered that he put that part in the kitchen. He dashed past Haru who was staring with a raised eyebrow at what was happening into the kitchen and opened the counter tops one after another. He finally found it alongside the cutlery. The pink haired checked if it was the right piece. When he was sure it was exactly what he needed, Natsu rushed to the scattered rifle. He rapidly made the change, rebuilt it from scraps and tried it again. This time, he hit the target.
Natsu grinned and handed the firearm to a stunned Haru.
"C'mon! Try it and tell me what you think!" Haru took the rifle and did exactly how he was instructed, leaving an awe-staring Haru at the machine.
"Wow! You really are an expert..." the white haired said. Natsu rubbed the back of his head.
"Thanks... Well we should head out...is already half past." the pink haired said as he looked at the clock on the wall. Haru nodded and prepared his weapon for the trip.
As they got to the place, Haru went on a roof of a block from where he could see all the area Natsu was going to patrol. They also had communication systems so the two of them could keep in touch.
The white haired leaned with the abdomen against the floor, waiting for Natsu or for anyone to make a move. His partner was still in their car, a black Porsche 911 Turbo, waiting for their target to appear.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting sound roared across the black roads and a green Plymouth dashing at exhuberant speeds entered in the view. The porsche jumped forward with loud wheel cries to stop the Plymouth. The black car slammed into the other one, sending the last one crashing into a wall.
Haru's face twisted when he saw the damaged front of his car. However, he kept looking at the scene. Natsu already shot the wheels of the green vehicle, making it stay in one place. The pink haired got out of the car carefully, using the car's door as a shield while he pointed his gun at the Plymouth and he stood there for 30 seconds...1 minute...2 minutes...until he decided to approach the car. The other teenager took glances at the car, thinking that something was wrong. The fact that no one moved was disturbing him. At a closer look, he saw something like a electronic clock with green digits. The thing was that it was showing seconds. 15 seconds...going downwards...
He widened his eyes in shock and just before he could contact his teammate, he saw him running like crazy in the opposite direction of the green car. Just when he hid by the corner of a building, the Plymouth erupted in large orange flames and a loud BOOM! The sheer heat and some rubble reached even the white haired. Just when the explosion died down, Haru looked at the corner where Natsu was supposed to have took cover, but just from over there he heard a bunch of shots. Without thinking he shouted the name of his friend for him to then see Natsu running with his left hand clutching his right part of his neck. He entered an abandoned building which happened to be nearby and hid in there.
Then the whole gang they were after entered in the scene. Haru remained shocked by the large number of guys.
"Natsu, can you hear, me? They are too many of them for us to handle!" he said in his device.
"No shit!? I didn't know that!" he practically shouted sarcastically.
"Can you get out somehow?" Haru asked.
"No, I'm surrounded..." Natsu responded.
"Don't worry I'll clean them all..." Haru said, changing the angle of his rifle. He pointed and prepared to shoot as fast as he could. Hit after hit, the bodies were falling to the ground as he was making his job. When he made erased all of the aggressors, he descended not before telling Natsu to head to the front entrance. In the said point, Haru found the pink haired leaning against the wall, again with the left hand covering the right part of his neck. When he saw his blood dripping, he instantly got next to him and get his hand to the side. The sight of the wound scared him. The blood was flowing from a horizontal gash.
"How is it?" Natsu asked weaker then usual. Haru put some pressure on the wound with his hand to not let anymore blood get out.
"Not very nice...The blood won't stop coming." But Natsu wasn't listening anymore. He was looking at the detached hey of a grenade from mere meter distance. He searched with his eyes the grenade and found what he was looking for in the hand of one of the corpses. Without even thinking, he pushed Haru to the side with enough strength for the former to stumble backwards about 4 meters. Natsu ran back into the building to take cover.
All happened so fast for Haru. He first got thrown back by his friend and just when he was about to yell at him he saw the pink haired walk back into the block. Then a very loud BOOM! echoed through the air and out of instinct Haru takes a few steps back. Fire spread everywhere and the white haired lost sight of his comrade. He then saw the building starting to crumble down in the right side. Another BOOM! and the block just fell to the ground engulfed by flames. He just stared at the mass of fire before him, feeling the heat in his face.
He widened his eyes in realization and pure fear.
"Natsu!" He ran to the building, but a big wave of flames made the passage impossible. He put his hands before his face to cover it from the heat. Soon sirens were heard in the distance. He hid in the shadows and watched the firefighters do their job. Polices were soon at the incident's place, but Haru was long gone by then...
Natsu entered the building, to take cover from the explosion. The loud BOOM! produced by the grenade was soon heard and the place was flooded by fire. With a hand against his wound, he ran to a back window. He jumped through it, shattering the glass, just when another round of flames was set ablaze.
When he got out of the building, he heard through his pants the sound of sirens approaching his location. Fearing it was the police, he ran away from the place, stole a car and drove away to a peaceful place to tend to his wounds. The rest wasn't enough but the cops catching him off guard got him into a crazy run for his freedom past the borders of the current town he was in...and never returned.
While telling the story, Natsu and Haru were walking through the streets lit by the dim rays of the sunset. When they stopped talking, they stopped walking as well.
"Why didn't you turn back for me at least?" asked Haru in a sad tone. Natsu looked expressionless to the ground without telling a word.
"I don't know..." the pink haired finally responded in low whisper. "I really don't know...Like how I don't know why I haven't returned to San Francisco in the first place..." Haru snorted softly.
"Guess I should leave the matters how they are. It won't change anything if I keep questioning you." Natsu looked at him. Then he looked at the sunset...sunset...he told Erza he won't take long... One by one the parts connected, the result making Natsu shiver uncontrollable.
"Y-You know, I think I should get goin' if I value my life...See ya!" said Natsu nervously, before turning around and running like crazy. Haru watched him disappear around the corner with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged and continued walking forward.
"I'm so dead! I'm so dead! Oh, fuck, I'M SO DEAD!" he kept telling to himself, while running like crazy to his car. However, an acute scream made him stop. Considering the high pitched sound it was most likely to come from a woman. He looked around with wide eyes as his right hand grabbed his gun from the back pocket. The sound came from somewhere in his left. Stepping slowly in the direction his ears indicated him to go, he heard sounds of kicks, slaps and punches getting louder. When he arrived at the source he saw a blonde fighting a rather one sided battle against a rather tall man with dark blue hair. The man was heavily beating the poor girl with everything he got. That made Natsu's blood literally boil. Without a second thought, Natsu shot the man in his neck, killing him in an instant.
When the man just fell over limply beside the blonde, she looked at her savior.
"Thanks." she said smiling. Natsu walked over to her and helped the girl stand up. She had dark bruises all along her body, but nothing too severe.
"What did that guy want with you anyway?" he asked rubbing the back of his head. The girl look at the ground before responding.
"His name was Bora and he was a terrorist who mostly raped women in violent manners. By the way, my name is Lucy!" she said. Natsu stared at her before smiling.
"Name's Natsu." he said. "So you were one of his victims?" he asked folding his arms.
"N-no..." Natsu raised an eyebrow at the response then frowned. "It was my mission to capture him dead or alive."
"Mission?...Are you an assassin or something?" he said while he tilted his head to the side. Lucy sighed.
"No. I am part of a gang and my master ordered me to do this." she said as she bent to grab her dropped gun. 'SIG Mosquito' he thought. '...pink...' "Maybe you know the gang maybe you don't but I'm a part of..." pause while she sighed and her eyes shadowed "...Phantom Lord..."
Natsu's eyes widened as his mouth opened a bit.
And that's a little cliffy! Fuck.. this chapter took me some good long days to write down... However, leave a review and tell me what you think... So, if there is someonewho doesn't know who Haru is, then I'll advice you to watch the sixth OVA of Fairy Tail. Bye!