Chapter 2 - Classes With The Brat
A/N So I've been thinking and honestly I just had to put in a certain white haired woman (not Lisanna). This chapter contains more NaLu than the last chapter, so you NaLu fans will get what you're promised!
By the way, the surprise character might be a bit OOC. If you don't like, don't read.
I do not own Fairy Tail.
She wandered around the gardens until she heard the bell from the clock tower ring, then hurried into the school. /Once we have break I am changing my schedule/, she promised herself.
"Wendy McGarden?" A voice caused her to turn around. It was Laki.
Gulping, she took a deep breath and smiled. "Sorry, but I'm going to be late for my class-"
"That's alright. I'm going to Trigonometry as well -" wonder how she found that out "- and maybe I could guide you to the room?"
Nodding agreeably, Wendy followed Laki to the Trig room. They made it just seconds in front of the teacher himself. For the next hour Wendy was bored as she listened to the Trig Ratio basics, something she had already read up on from the very beginning of summer. Seeing the student next to her struggle made her pity him, though, and she offered to explain everything to him instead of reading a book or preparing for her next class (Chem).
"What's your name?" she prompted the orange spiky haired guy. He was chewing on a pencil.
"Oh, I'm sorry, was I grossing you out?" He muttered back, then directed a winning smile at her (mind you, he was looking down about 45 degrees because he was so much taller than her). "I'm Loke. You must be the young scholarship girl - I heard she was cute, but you're just adorable."
He got up, tossed the pencil in the trash, and walked back, attention focussed entirely on her. "So, how can I help you?"
"Um, it's not like that. I wondered if maybe you needed some... that is, I read about these over the summer, so..." I must sound like either a know-it-all snob or a goof.
To her astonishment he responded with another, bigger smile (he had been grinning the whole time). Loke took a quick glance back at his paper, then laughed and accepted her offer.
When the bell rang, they straightened up only to find they both had very stiff backs. "Good thing it's break, I'm beat," Wendy admitted with a small chuckle.
"What classes do you have after break?"
"Um, Chem, Soccer and after lunch, Soccer," Wendy recited. The word was beginning to get stuck in her head.
Loke's face lit up. "I've got Soccer and Soccer as well! (A/N oh that sounds sooo weird doesn't it?) Third block I have Astronomy but I'll see you in Fourth." He waved goodbye and disappeared into the crowd of students.
/Hm... Uh oh, I forgot to ask him where to go for Soccer.../
She stared at the map, but there were four fields - one for each grade in the North, East, West and South - and she couldn't remember which was which. She tapped on the shoulder of the person in front of her:
"Excuse me, do you know which field is the junior's?"
The student spun around. "Oh. I thought you weren't speaking to me." Romeo grinned boyishly at her.
/No way! I completely forgot he was in this class!/
"Were you even present at this class today, because I didn't see you at all," Wendy asked suspiciously, her mind unable to recall any memories of seeing him.
"So you looked for me?" Romeo's eyes twinkled. "I actually was at the back, resting on a couch while you slaved over the Trig with your new boyfriend. I assumed you had moved on but now you come looking for me? Sorry but I'm way outta your league."
Wendy held her chin up and tried to look indifferent. "One, it's not like that at ALL. Two, we do NOT come to this school together, no matter what anyone says, okay? And three, could you please show me which of these fields is for the juniors?"
The boy rolled his eyes and jabbed at the South field. "That one. And you're the one who wanted to talk to me," Romeo pointed out.
/Ugh! You brat! I didn't even know it was you!/ her inner justice screamed.
"So," he continued, "see you in Chemistry?" He winked, and before Wendy could come up with a practical retort he had sunk into the wave of students rushing to make the most out of their break.
-o0o-
Lucy sighed as she scribbled down another answer, then erased it.
/This is so STUPID./
She looked up and saw Mr. Capricorn staring right at her, arms crossed with a stern but calm look.
"Fine, fine, I'll finish it."
Spinning the pencil in her hand expertly, she stared at the math question until her eyes went fuzzy. How could anyone work these out without fainting?
/Ugh! If only I hadn't been staring at that crazy pink hair the whole block./ She allowed herself a small smile. /Crazy guy... but so cute./
"Miss Heartfilia!" Capricorn snapped his fingers right under her nose and she realized she was dozing off. "If you won't finish your work you'll stay after school." He stalked around the front of the room. "Your attention has been drifting in and out of this room the entire period! Focus on your basic mathematics. You're usually not this - ah, unheeding."
Lucy just stared. /That's right. It's my first class with him sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME and I can't believe I'm this inattentive. He's cute but I'm usually a good student! Crap, is this how it's gonna be all year?/
Capricorn's voice sounded concerned. "Is there something bothering you, Miss Heartfilia?"
She stood up. "No, sorry, I'll have it done by tomorrow, sir." She was afraid he might protest but instead he just bowed and gave her a look of sympathy.
Her thoughts flashed back to her unfinished math homework. /Yup, I need all the sympathy I can get./
But first she had to find Mira. Certainly she would have the answer.
-o0o-
"Made it!" Wendy slipped into the only empty chair left. Why she was always late to classes she would never know. It must have had something to do with the amount of reading, thinking and studying she did during breaks.
A couple of students looked at her, and then a familiar chuckle rose from the student to her right.
/Shoooooooot./
"Don't. Bother. Me." she hissed.
"You're the one who started talking," Romeo hissed back. Wendy could sense the smile lifting on his face.
"We're just classmates, okay?"
"Yup. Got it. Don't know you, you don't know me." Wendy lifted an eyebrow suspiciously, but pulled out her books without another word.
/If he says one word to me in this entire period, I will definitely disown him for the rest of our lives,/ she promised herself.
Romeo's POV
Romeo smirked. /Cute kid./ He shook off the fact that she was exactly his age. She seemed younger, but smarter. For her age.
Obviously, I have got to have better marks than her. Come to think of it, he couldn't recall any mention of her being so academically gifted even at their old schools. Then again, he hadn't paid much attention to her, only knowing her as "that blue-haired, short girl who never talks". He gave a low chuckle, remembering how one of his friends had always had this stupid crush on her for being sweet and pleasant and innocent.
/Yeah, right./
She lifted her head, turned, and glared at him.
-o0o-
Wendy sighed, dropping her books in her locker then pulling out a worn out gym bag.
/The only perk about having soccer classes is, the fields are out in the fresh air. It must smell almost as nice as the gardens!/
She allowed herself a small smile and then marched out the building towards the South Field, assuming the locker rooms were down there.
She breathed in the sweet air.
/Well, at least I was right about one thing./
Wendy nodded to herself, and entered the changerooms.
At the same time...
Romeo double checked his map. /Shoot, got water spilled onto it./
Not that he could recall it happening.
Tossing it in the rubbish bin, he turned to the student beside him. "Excuse me, could you please show me where the Juniors' Locker Rooms are?"
"Just head straight to the North Field, they're in a building with signs for male and female. It won't be hard to miss," the student responded.
/North Field!?/ "Um, don't you mean the South Field?"
The student blinked in confusion. "What?! No, that's for the Freshmen."
/Dangit. I gave her the wrong information!/ Romeo screamed at himself. /She's soo gonna kill me now.../
He heard the warning bell ring which meant two minutes until the next period started. Romeo darted into the classroom, scanning it desperately. His jaw dropped. She had already left!
/Shiit, I am so dead. Late on the first day? Even I wouldn't want that!/
There was only one way out of this.
He gathered up his courage and ran for the South Field.
In the South Field...
"WHAT!? I - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Wendy stuttered as she faced the Freshman Gym Teacher.
"Don't worry about it. You should head up to the North Field now, you don't want to be late." The tall athletic woman smiled down at her, then blew her whistle and walked off towards the waiting freshmen students.
Glumly, Wendy walked back to the locker room and grabbed her gym bag. It was all that stupid brat's fault! She should have known he would pull something like this.
She stopped walking. Footsteps?
A head popped up in the bushes in front of her. "Wendy!"
Romeo.
"What in the world are you doing here!? You gave me the wrong information you st-"
"I KNOW!" Romeo gritted his teeth, then changed his mind and grabbed her by the hand. "It's the North Field, hurry up or we'll both be late!" He took off running, dragging her after him.
Wendy seethed but did as she was told. Being caught by the hand made it hard to run, so she yanked it out. "Arrogant brat," she muttered under her breath. She could be nice to anyone else, just not him.
Thankfully she was already changed, so once she got there she stood off the edge of the small crowd of students. Romeo was the last to join them, not because he had been running slower than her (because he hadn't) but because he hadn't changed beforehand.
The teacher still wasn't there, Wendy realized with a smile. She was partly disappointed (Romeo didn't get in trouble) but also relieved that neither of them had to face an angry teacher on their first day.
"Hey who's the new teacher, ya think?" one of the students nearby her was saying.
"I hope this year's Junior is really nice - you know, funny and participates," a girl suggested.
"Or really stern," a black haired guy said, "We need someone who takes this job seriously."
"As long as it's a man, I don't care," a fourth student shrugged. "Remember last year's woman sub? Creepy." he shivered. Wendy thought something looked familiar about him. Pink hair.
"That's cuz you were messing around with the sports equipment, smartypants!" a red haired girl slapped him on the head, and Wendy knew. They were the students from yesterday. Pink Hair was the one who yelled and laughed a lot, Black Hair was the guy who kept insulting him, and Red Hair was that girl who punched both.
Red Hair noticed her, locking eyes. "Stop fooling around you two, we have a scholarship girl in our presence," she snapped, punching them again. They fell on their backs.
"Hi there, you're Wendy, right?" She held out a hand, all signs of sternness erased. "I'm Erza Scarlet, the Student Council President. If you ever need anything, just let me know, okay?"
Wendy nodded. "Th-thanks."
"I'm Gray, this is Firebrain." The black-haired boy dusted himself off and yanked on his shirt collar. "Stupid restraining shirt."
"STOP COMPLAINING!" He was punched back to the ground. Erza helped the pink-haired boy up.
"This is Natsu. He's a bit of a, er," Erza looked to Gray for help.
"Cheesehead," Gray mouthed.
"Cheesehead," Erza finished.
"Did you say cheese?" Natsu perked up, earning a sigh from both Erza and Gray.
Wendy just laughed.
/These people seem nice./
Erza continued, gesturing to the girl and boy - "This is Bisca and Alzack." Bisca and Alzack both waved and smiled before turning back to each other to continue... whatever it was they had been doing, consisting of a mixture of trailing off sentences and very obvious blushes.
The redhead looked Wendy up and down then gave her an approving smile. "You look like an incredibly responsible girl, right?" she leaned in closer and whispered, "they have committed a lot of, shall we say, crimes, in the past couple of years. It'd help a lot if you kept an eye on them, make sure they're not fooling around on school grounds." Erza straightened up. "Well, looks like the class has finally begun to get restless."
They turned to watch a loud group of boys sorting the other students into two teams. Wendy recognized Loke standing among several fangirls, trying to sort them out into groups. She laughed when he was tackled by three very lovesick females. They dropped to the ground and all she could spot of him was some spiky orange hair that was being stroked by the girl kneeling over his head.
After five minutes of extreme torture and pampering Loke finally straightened out, by that time the class had already divided into two soccer teams, fourteen in each. Wendy was on a team with Erza, Gray, and Natsu (because they had all been conveniently standing together when picked). Bisca had oh-so-conveniently tripped and now she was in the infirmary with Alzack (who had insisted on carrying her there), although Erza had had a different idea of where they had gone.
Wendy looked at Erza. The redhead was standing next to her with a big, devilish smile, glaring daggers and threats at the opposing team.
Erza smiled kindly at her.
"Are you good at soccer?"
Wendy winced, remembering the many bruises she had applied to herself while playing any sport (even swimming - she tripped over the edge while trying to dive and ended up filling the pool with blood from her scraped knees). Soccer was the worst. "I, er, um," she began.
"She's horrible!" A familiar and loud voice popped in, followed by the sauntering figure of Romeo in front of them. He was flanked by the two guys from that morning, as well as another that Wendy had seen flirting with Talia Finch before school started that morning (thankfully the Freshman Prefect shooed off any attempts to date her).
"Last time she played as a forward, she tripped over the ball and injured over three people." Romeo smiled ever-so-sweetly at Wendy, a smug look that she would not forget so quickly. "It would be safer for all of us if she just sat this one out, wouldn't it?"
"As the Student Council President I demand you NOT to say such things to Wendy! She is sweet and smart and I bet she's just fine at soccer-" Erza's rant was interrupted by Romeo holding up one hand calmly.
Romeo just smiled and before Wendy could react, a soccer ball was sent flying from his hand. She moved to catch it but tripped instead, sending it flying over Romeo's head. One of the boys caught it, tossing it expertly up and down with his hands.
"Student Council President, I think you might want to rethink that. This clumsy little girl is never going to excel at sports, especially not soccer."
Wendy felt the blood rushing to her head. "Just because you're so good at soccer doesn't mean you have the right to say that!" she huffed, pouting her cheeks in a very cute way. She didn't notice Romeo's cheeks turning just the slightest pink.
He let out an obnoxious laugh. "Thank you for the compliment. But really, don't mess up on the field. On second thought, maybe you should. Then my team will win for sure." Still laughing, Romeo and his 'lackeys' headed down the field to the opposite team.
Wendy didn't notice the tears until after she had gotten up. Her vision was blurry, so she accepted the handkerchief Erza handed her and wiped her face and knees.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have allowed them to do that - It's vile," Erza apologized. "Please accept my apologies for being a horrible President and punish me any way you like."
The bluenette shook her head quickly. "No way! It's fine, really."
"But-"
"Don't. It was kind of you to say those things about me, but honestly, I am horrible at soccer." Wendy sighed. "Just please don't pass to me."
Erza continued giving her doubtful and apologetic looks, but then a student named Max walked out into the middle of the field between two teams. "I'm the ref again," he was singing loudly and triumphantly. He earned a few weird looks but Wendy decided he wasn't too bad, at least not as bad as the most talkative people back at her old school.
"Oi, people!" Max yelled. "Cuz the teacher's incredibly late, we're starting in half a minute without 'im! Get your lovely selves off the benches," he directed this part at the girls still tying their fancy Converse shoes, "and get on the field."
"Who's the teacher?" Wendy asked Erza. The redhead replied with a shake of her head.
"I'm actually not sure. None of the Student Council members have been told yet, because it's a new teacher. The speculating we - Natsu, Gray, Bisca, Alzack and I - were doing earlier proves that we don't know a thing, not even what gender or how much experience the teacher will have." She crossed her arms while staring at the opposite forward.
/Well, I know one thing. He or she either has a good excuse to be late or is just naturally a tardy person./
It was ironic, really. Of all the teachers, it was the P.E. teacher, supposedly fit and knowledgeable about sportsmanship, that was late on the first day.
Wendy stared blankly at the team across from her, who was still talking and arguing about who got which position. Romeo walked towards the bunch and in a few seconds they were all given positions of which no one seemed to complain about. She noticed Loke was assigned as goalie, looking very smart in a green sports suit and sunglasses. None of the defense were girls, a smart move on Romeo's part considering they'd be doing more fangirling than defending.
/Not that he's smart, obviously. It's something anyone with the littlest marks over 50% would be able to figure out./
Romeo himself was a forward, as well as the boy who had been flirting with Talia. He noticed her staring and directed a smug smile just for her. She clenched her teeth and turned defiantly away, the fact that he was across from her and would most likely use her clumsiness to his full advantage not overlooked.
Pretty soon the half minute was over, but it wasn't Max who marched out onto the field. Wendy's eyes widened as she recognized the man walking out towards midfield.
As if on cue he saw her as well. His eyes had a certain sparkle to them. "So we meet again."
"You're our teacher!?" Wendy squealed, then clasped a palm over her mouth, embarrassed at her outburst. Of course he was, he had told her he was a physical education teacher, and Erza had explained that the teacher was new.
He laughed. "Glad to see you're in my class. I realized I forgot to tell you my name. I'm professionally known as Doranbolt," he informed her. "Let's get started, or should we say, continue. It seems you have already sorted yourselves out." Wendy watched in amazement as he blew the whistle around his neck, making sure the whole class was paying attention before giving out questions. "I'm sorry, was there going to be a referee?"
There was an awkward silence as the class contemplated this, then one female student jabbed a thumb towards the benches where Max was scratching his head, confused. "That would be him."
"Ah, there we go, a referee. Then I'll just stand back and let you all play, since you are already so acquainted with the sport." Looking satisfied and relieved, he gave Wendy a thumbs up and then backed up to sit on a bench outside the playing boundaries.
. . . and Max marched out on the field again, raising one arm and holding a trumpet speaker up to his mouth in the other. "Ladies and gentlemen! Both teams are now in place, sorted out, etcetera. Make sure you stay on your side of the field at the beginning. No foul play and foul language. Respective to the goalies, the teams will be called under Loke and Warren."
"Can we start now?" A student groaned.
Max turned and stared before tossing his trumpet speaker towards the building and grabbing a soccer ball. "Right, sorry." He stuck it in the center, decided on how to begin the game then said, "Loke's team, heads or tails?"
"Tails!" the orange haired goalie called out.
"Alright, Warren's team can be heads." He flipped a coin that had been taken out of his shirt pocket. Wendy blinked when it reflected light into her eyes before Max slapped it down and announced, "Tails, Loke's team it is!"
Max stuck the whistle in his mouth and signalled for everyone to get into their respective places.
Wendy bit her lip, grimacing. Romeo had such a determined and confident look on his face that it was obvious he was sure to win. The bluenette ran the script over in her head: Someone passes the ball, Wendy trips, the other team gets the ball, Romeo scores, routine repeated a dozen times, at the end his team wins and Wendy is embarrassed and hated by her own team forever. Yup, definitely gonna happen.
"Get ready to lose, darling," he hissed, and the whistle blew.
Before Wendy could move Romeo had the ball and was running it down the field, with expert posture (well as far as Wendy could tell, being a soccer-messup) and keeping the ball away from everyone around him. There was no time for defense and the first goal was easily scored.
Guilty, Wendy sulked as the few defense who had actually moved returned to their positions warily. She, of course, didn't have to because she hadn't even left the general area that she had started from. She tried not to watch Romeo grinning as he sauntered back to his first position, trying to catch her attention to flash her another smug look. The ball was returned to the center circle and Erza patted her on the back before another round began.
In the following minutes she managed an adequate pass to someone she didn't even know but was on her team, and thankfully that was the only chance she got to have the ball, she thought as she stood in once place staring at the barely sweating Romeo, alone with the ball surrounded by three students on her own team. They were giving him a tough time but she was sure, unfortunately, that it wouldn't stay that way for long. In addition to the first goal he had scored two others, with one other student on his team scoring one, leaving the score currently 4-0 for Loke's team.
/Why does he have to be such a good athlete, of all people?/
Sighing, she moved towards him and was surprised when he spotted her, smiled brightly and kicked it over. Astonished, the three students trapping him actually moved away to let Wendy get it. She stopped it with her foot and stared down at it, dazed.
"Hey, what are you waiting for!? PASS!" Wendy looked up in surprise and unconsciously kicked it towards the voice.
Then realized it was the OTHER forward on the OTHER team: aka Mister I-Love-You-Talia-Finch.
/CURSE MY STUPIDNESS!/ Wendy screamed internally. Romeo ran past her, but not before looking directly at her and making the 'Loser' sign with his fingers.
Wendy refused to continue participating for the rest of the game. She stayed near the corner where no one ever came, despite the fact that she was supposed to be a forward. She tried not to look at Doranbolt, either, but once in a while he caught her eye and every time he smiled. It hurt her to know that he was so friendly despite her being such a mess up and not participating. She watched Erza instead and cheered alongside her team when the redhead scored the first and only goal for their team.
She made sure not to look at Romeo, either.
-o0o-
"Wheew! The boys smelled crazy bad," Erza chided. "It annoys me to no end that they neglect the proper physical hygiene, especially during exercise blocks! I'll have to mention it to the rest of the Student Council and have something done about it. Air fresheners or something."
Wendy was sitting at a table in the cafeteria with Cana, Laki, Lisanna, and Levy to her left, Lucy to her right, and Erza, Natsu, Gray, Bisca and Alzack across from her in left-to-right order. The whole table rolled their eyes at Erza's complaint.
"How did you like the teacher?" Wendy asked, not sure why she wanted to know.
"Doranbolt Sensei? He looks pretty cute," Bisca commented.
"Did he, now?" Alzack teased, with a smirk on his face.
"N-no, of course not!" Bisca stuttered. Bisca blushed when he interlaced her hand with his, earning giggles from Lisanna and Levy.
"I think he's nice," Laki said.
"You've met him?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"Yes, in the hallway. I dropped some books and he picked them up for me. I even let him read one of them, but he declined although he said they looked very interesting."
The table went silent at this last comment while Laki finished her burger and tossed the wrapper in the garbage can. The only books Laki ever read were on Medieval Torture Devices.
It was Levy who broke the silence. "So, Wendy, how did you like your first day at Fairy Tail so far?"
The newcomer bluenette grimaced. "Umm, it was alright..." The only good parts were meeting Doranbolt and Loke, but she didn't want to bore them with that or suggest their company was not good enough. "I didn't learn very much though."
"How was being in the same class with Romeo? Disgusting? Dreadful?" The bookworm sounded genuinely concerned but Wendy wished she didn't have to be reminded.
Lucy leaned over the table, smiling shamelessly. "Or... did you like it?"
"Lu-chan, that's enough!" Levy swatted at her friend. Lucy slumped back in her seat but kept her eyes on Wendy.
Truthfully enough, Wendy didn't know how to answer. She was sure she hated it but how could she describe Romeo being a selfish and arrogant brat even after he came to get her from the South Field? It would be really mean of her, and she didn't want to appear that way in front of such a friendly group on her first day of school.
"I didn't like it," Wendy said honestly, "But he did catch up with me to bring me to the North Field (although I hadn't needed it) - but after giving me the wrong information," she finished, unsure of how it sounded.
Lucy, Lisanna and Laki all nodded in unison, staring at her and waiting for more.
"I am SUPER, INCREDIBLY FAMISHED," Erza said as she arrived at the table and set down her tray. Cana peered over at her choice of food.
"Strawberry shortcake again?" she asked skeptically.
"Does it bother you?" Erza shot an evil look at Cana (who withdrew immediately) before settling in happily to eat her cake.
"Mmmm, delicious! Nobody touch this cake, it's MINE. You lovely thing. All my pains have been washed away~" Erza sang out, earning weird looks from everyone at the table.
"Your limbs don't hurt?" Natsu asked, pausing temporarily from his food to look up inquisitively. He had rammed into some opposing players (completely by accident, he had claimed with a foolish grin) but insisted on continuing playing.
"Can't stand a little pain in life, can ya, Flame Brain," Gray snickered.
"Like you can, Ice PRINCESS," Natsu shot back.
"Tch. You're always being such a sissy," Gray scoffed.
"Says the one who wails regularly about such a simple thing as being stalked by one girl," Natsu retorted. Everyone but Wendy had amused looks on their faces when he said that.
"I do NOT wail!"
"Yes, you do!"
"No, I don't!"
"Yes, you do!"
"No, I don't!"
"No, you don't!"
"Yes, I do!" Gray yelled. A second later he realized his mistake. The table members sat, awed that Natsu was actually smart enough to trick the raven-haired stripper.
"Sissy, sissy," Natsu chanted before digging into his lasagna again. He was such a baka it was impossible to tell whether or not he had actually done it on purpose or by accident.
Gray's POV
/It couldn't be... Urrg, dang that Natsu, doing something as stupid as that!/
But honestly there was only himself to blame for falling for it. Gray stared in shock before retaliating. He smiled wickedly.
/I've got the trump card. You better be ready for this, flamebrain/
Lucy's POV
Lucy watched as the boys bickered as usual. Sighing, she took a bit out of her slice of lemon meringue, deciding to wait it out although she had been on the verge of telling the table that she needed someone to help her. Oh well, she could just ask Levy later.
/Why are they both such idiots? No, not idiots... just... inhumanely dense./
Gray and Natsu went through a "Yes you do" "No you don't" argument before Natsu unexpectedly turned the tables.
She was contemplating leaving early for the next block when she spotted Gray's shameless smile. He noticed her looking and his grin just grew wider. Rolling her eyes, she dug back into her lemon meringue, when she heard:
"Who's the one crying cuz the girl they like doesn't like him back, Squinty Eyes?"
Lucy dropped her fork.
CLANG!
/The girl he likes!? Why didn't I know he likes a girl!? And it's obviously not me because that girl rejected him. I didn't even know Natsu had confessed to someone - huh, how does Gray know this before I do!?/
But of course Lucy was not Natsu's keeper and he had every right to tell a secret to Gray.. or confide in him.. or whatever you call it when a boy shares his love life with another boy who is supposedly his enemy.
Normal POV
Natsu choked when he heard Gray's last comment, terminating his lasagna demolishment to let the words swim around in his brain until he finally got the message. His face turned a deep shade of red.
But not as much as Lucy's. She dipped her head to hide her blush, then blonde got up, dropped her food in the garbage and plopped her tray on a pile, and stormed her way out of the cafeteria.
Her departure was went unnoticed by all but three people: 1) A curious and confused Wendy 2) A concerned Levy and 3) A very, very, VERY interested young woman sitting at the table by the door, aka Mirajane "Matchmaker" Strauss. Her best friends called her that for a reason.
"Lu-chan! Wait!" Levy squealed, hopping after her friend. Wendy decided to get up and follow them to see if she could help in any way, and then-
Heck this lovely milkshake, I'm going too. Mira hopped up and tossed the milkshake in the trash, proceeding to follow the three girls discreetly and stealthily outdoors.
"Lu-chan!" Levy and Wendy screamed, obviously they had lost track of her. Sighing, Mira decided to blow her cover. The two bluenettes screamed as Mira unexpectedly stepped out from behind a pillar.
"Gomenasai, did I shock you!? I'm so sorry, really, oh-is there something wrong?" Mira asked concerned. She decided to go with the 'I was just here staring at the cracks in this pillar when I heard you scream' act.
Wendy quickly shook her head and pushed out her palms as a sign of polite declination. "N-no, it's nothing we can't deal with." Levy quickly moved to agree.
/These girls need a bit of prodding./
"Are you sure? I thought I heard Lucy running out of the cafeteria, too."
The bluenettes looked at each other, then came to an unspoken decision. Levy spoke first.
"Well, you see, Mira, Natsu and Gray were bickering..." she trailed off. Wendy picked up.
"And then Gray said something like, 'You're the one crying because the girl you like doesn't like you back'...and called him something."
Levy nodded. "He said, and I quote, 'Who's the one crying cuz the girl they like doesn't like him back, Squinty Eyes?'" Both bluenettes winced at the name even though the bookworm should be used to it after two years with those crazy kids.
Mira giggled earning a strange glance from her two... er... 'informants'.
/Oops! Better say something so they don't close up to me.../
"That's... not nice at all. Do they do that often?" She earned a nervous laugh from Levy.
"I'm surprised you haven't noticed; they've been doing that for years," Levy sighed, remembering the many sad, funny and sometimes very disturbing occurrences between the two rivals.
/...Okay, so maybe that wasn't the right thing to say./
"Anyways, that statement didn't stand out to me for a bit until the words really sunk in. Gray looked like he had just won the lottery but Natsu turned red... and then... really, our whole table was shocked."
Wendy nodded enthusiastically. "Including me, and I don't even know Natsu very well."
Mira nodded sympathetically. "But, why did you and Lucy come out?"
Levy looked uncertain as she said, "Er...Luce told me that... I mean..it's like that." She finished, turning her eyes to the white haired girl as if pleading for her to understand.
Mira laughed and ruffled Levy's hair. "It's alright if you don't share, I understand it could be a personal matter," Mira said with smooth generosity, although she was bursting in the inside.
Wendy smiled. "That's really nice of you, Miss Strauss." Levy smiled too, the pair of them obviously relieved.
Mira's proceeding thoughts went something like this:
/NOOOOOOOO YOU HORRIBLE BAKA MIRA! WHY DID YOU LET THAT HAPPEN? WAIT, STOP THE CRITICIZING RIGHT THERE! YOU ARE THE QUEEN OF ALL MATCHMAKERS AND YOU CAN DEFINITELY DO THIS! JUST FIND OUT HOW LUCY, WENDY AND LEVY ARE AFFECTED BY THIS COMMENT AND MAKE SURE WHATEVER RELATIONSHIPS THERE ARE BLOSSOMS! AND WAIT, IF YOUR HUNCH IS CORRECT AND LUCY LOVES NATSU MAYBE IT'S THE SAME WAY AROUND! IT'S GOTTA BE! NOW PUT YOUR SMART AND SNAZZY BRAIN TO ACTION AND-/
Well you get the picture. Anyhow, after Mira was done cheering herself on and the girls were done staring at her for like five minutes full of "..." and sweatdrops, she put on her very best smile and made sure her eyes were twinkling with concern.
"I really hope you can catch up to Lucy and solve... whatever it is," Mira nodded as she said the kind words, which were true because it would make her job so much easier if they just found the blonde for her.
"Thanks, Mirajane," Levy's eyes lit up. She couldn't believe the girl with the Matchmaker nickname would be so lenient, but the white-haired beauty was also very kind.
"Yeah, thank you!" Wendy chorused, also bright eyed and more happy.
"Remember, if you need anything, advice, help, someone to talk to, maybe explain a couple of, ah, adult things, just come to me," Mira said brightly. The two naive and innocent girls nodded like little kids that were offered candy for being good and then skipped away in the direction they thought Lucy had gone.
When she was sure they were gone, she returned to the cafeteria.
A pie hit her smack in the face. Rushing to the washroom, she washed her face then returned quickly enough to see Gray and Natsu in a food fight. Alzack was suddenly hit with a kiwi and decided to join in. Unfortunately the moment he threw was also the same moment Erza moved over to eat her strawberry cake more comfortably.
SPLOTCH!
Erza held up the plate with tears in her eyes. "N-no... My precious cake...!" Then she turned with evil eyes at Alzack, Natsu and Gray, who stared like men who were sentenced to death (which they pretty much were).
Mira smiled in amusement. Sure enough, Erza was on a rage and quickly beat up the stripper and 'Lovelorn Male', as Mira decided to call him for the meantime. She didn't bother giving Alzack a nickname considering he and Bisca had oh-so-obviously gotten together the past year, going more lovey-dovey than she had originally intended.
When Erza had finally calmed down, and only after putting the three in a semi-conscious state, Mira walked over and offered her another plate of strawberry cake. "There you go, Erza. Is everything alright?"
Erza's eyes teared up. "I've never received such a heartfelt gift from you before. Thank you so much, I will endeavour to repay you in any way I can!" The cake-loving girl bowed in thanks and then took the cake gratefully, savouring it like there was no tomorrow.
Chuckling, Mira leaned over to the other girls; Cana, Lisanna, Laki and Bisca. "So," she began, "I want to hear all about it. Why did Lucy run off? What made Natsu and Gray get into a fight? Why are Wendy and Levy involved? Answers, my lovely girls."
Did I forget to mention? She also has another nickname, and that is Satan Soul. She has the ability to coerce, scare and tempt anyone who is weak enough into doing what she wants, either by instilling fear or treating them to a guilt trip because of her usual kind and beautiful manner.
Bisca blushed and gestured. "It's just a romance thing. Gray mentioned Natsu's rejection... by some girl that he likes, and they started arguing, then fighting."
"Sh' no more 'an the usual teasing," Cana slurred, obviously in the process of getting drunk on green tea. Sake was not allowed during school hours.
"Rejection?" Mira said in a pretend-surprised tone.
"Yeah, none of us knew about it except Gray," Bisca giggled.
There was an awkward silence as a hand went up, a hand belonging to a certain sadistic and purple-haired girl.
"YOU KNEW!?" All four girls screamed at Laki.
She nodded. "It was obvious he likes someone, and he was crestfallen the whole day."
Mira smiled. /Now you're talking./
"So, any idea who he likes?"
The purple haired girl paused, then shook her head. "I won't share any theories."
Mira nodded, respecting Laki's idea. "Right. Of course, I have my theories too." She sighed and straightened her body, stretching like a cat. "Alright then girls, it's been fun talking. Need anything," she looked at Laki with a smile, "or if you've come up with more than a theory, don't hesitate and at once contact me. I'd love to chat again."
She walked out, her head spinning with ideas.
My first step: See whether or not Lucy and Mister Lovelorn really have feelings for each other.
The white haired beauty smiled, taking in the full plot of this crazy crush series.
Mirajane Strauss, at your service.
-o0o-
After hanging around for a little while to see if she could catch any more gossip, she promenaded out of the cafeteria lazily, proud of her day's information.
Little did she know that a narrowed pair of greenish blue eyes were following her all the way out the door.
A/N so did you like the way I added Mira in there? I'm sure I made her completely OOC and not kind at all, but I wanted to portray her matchmaking side more. If you don't like it please complain, I'll try to change it in the upcoming chapters.
Btw review the pairings you'd like, alright? Me being both a GaLe fan and a RoLe fan, Levy will be a busy and much sought after girl. The real problem is with Lucy. I'm planning to do NaLu, for the first few chapters, of course, but I'm thinking StiCy might prevail in the end.
Oh, and no question about it, Erza is ending up with Jellal.
Love you all,
suzukanachronicles