A/N: Okay, 'traditional' high school AU might have been a bit of a stretch, Don't worry Natsu isn't going to suddenly become some crime fighting boss, but there will be a little bit of action sprinkled into the story where I think it will make sense.
"What is going on here?!" Erza demanded angrily, glaring down at her pink haired classmate.
Natsu turned his good eye to watch her carefully, the playful glint in the onyx orbs had vanished replaced with a grim seriousness as the green haired waiter moved about his left eye worriedly, dabbing at it with a cotton bud and turning the pinkette back to him to look at the cut carefully.
"What do you care?" Natsu asked flatly "You didn't even know I was your classmate until they said my last name."
Erza was taken aback by the question, while it was true it wasn't entirely fair and it felt like he was just trying to dodge her question.
"I care enough to want to know." Erza replied strongly crossing her arms defiantly
"How interesting and when you finally realize you can't handle it, That my life isn't as perfect as you thought it was from my grades and you leave?" Natsu drilled each point in with painful precision, as if speaking from experience.
Erza didn't move, she just stared at the pinkette fiercely.
"You're all the same," Natsu got to his feet suddenly coming eye to eye with the red head "If you weren't here at the time this happened." He gestured to his eye "You wouldn't even be aware of it, None of my classmates have ever attempted to strike a conversation with me. Do not think I will make the mistake of telling you anything that would put me in a position to rely on you, I will take care of myself just as I always have."
He spun on his heel and stalked into the back of the kitchen leaving a bewildered Erza gaping openly at her table.
The green haired man sighed as he got to his feet "Don't take it personally, That boy has been on his own longer than most add to that the hounding he has to deal with thanks to his father's mistakes, He is not as trusting as he once was."
"They demanded an advance on payments, was his father in debt or something?" Erza asked
The green haired man shook his head sadly "It's nothing that cliché, but it is not my place to tell you."
Erza stared at the waiter in surprise, bowed her head slightly and paid for her meal before leaving the small bar. She got to the corner and turned around, glancing at the name of the small establishment 'Fairy Tail' She chuckled at the odd name before continuing home.
Natsu brought his hand down from his eye, fresh blood coated his finger and he grimaced, it was probably going to need stitches, he slammed his fist into the empty locked beside his, the hollow metal bang echoed around the room as the door caved inwards, he glared at the dented locker door for a few minutes before he sighed and set about changing his bloodied shirt. Freed joined him in the locker room after a few minutes and began dressing the wound, he sewed it together expertly, he leaned back after a minute to inspect his handiwork, he gave himself a small nod of approval.
"Did you have to egg him on?" Freed asked after a moment of silence "Surely you are tired after going through this many shirts."
Natsu couldn't help the small smile "If the old man wasn't so close to kicking the bucket they might show me a little more respect."
"That's life," Freed sighed as he got to his feet "We live, We love, We die."
"I thought there was a 'we fight' in there." Natsu quipped
"Same saying different versions," Freed waved off "But they're all true."
Natsu rolled his eyes at the strange man as he began moving to retrieve a clean white shirt, he stopped as Freed grabbed his wrist "Oh no, don't even think about it young man, you get changed and go home!"
Natsu stared at his coworker in surprise "Freed, It's Friday night you are going to need me here."
"Don't try to sweet talk your way out of this," Freed shut down quickly "I managed this store perfectly fine on my own before you got here, just because women like your face doesn't make you the foundation of this establishments revenue."
"But you were going out of business before I started." Natsu raised his right eyebrow at the man, since the left was currently stitched together.
Freed pointedly ignored him, "Go home Natsu, I can manage two days, you might have a concussion and If you pass out on the job that's worse for business. So get some rest, Maybe try staying awake in school for once and talking to people?"
Natsu's demeanor changed and he rolled his eyes "Fine, I'll go home." He let out curtly.
Freed shook his head "Good."
Erza opened the door to her family's home quietly, she hadn't realized just how late it was until she had gotten a call from Lisanna, she peered around the hallway beyond the front door and stepped inside, closing the door slowly behind her she slipped off her shoes the moment she entered set foot inside the wooden floor the light flicked on and her mother and father emerged from the living room, her mother's arms crossed over her chest and her father looking equally as intimidating.
In terms of appearance, her mother was much like herself, the same scarlet red hair and fair skin, her mother's eyes were green instead of Erza's brown, she wore a simple white dress and had a light green apron tied around her chest, small amounts of flour still stained the outside.
Her father was a head taller than her mother, he had black hair and the same brown eyes as she did, dark stubble covered the lover half of his face, he was still in most of his work clothes, save for his jacket with hung on the coat rack beside her, his top button was undone and his tie was hanging loose around his chest.
"So, Would you like to tell us why you are sneaking into your own home like a burglar this late?!" Her mother demanded, her tone made Erza wince slightly.
"I'm sorry, I was thinking and I ended up wandering around awhile and then got hungry so I ate out, I just lost track of time." Erza explained quickly
Her father raised an eyebrow and shrugged accepting the story, he didn't have a reason to doubt it anyway "Be careful next time." He called as he reentered the living room.
Her mother however, stepped forward slightly closing the door behind her she walked towards her daughter slowly "Were you alone?" She asked suddenly, eyes glinting slightly in mischief, she seemed more like an excited highschooler than a mother in her thirties.
Erza froze technically she was, but she still ended up in a conversation with quite the flirtatious youth and her mind decided to go against her in this instance and flash every image of the said boys mouth watering grins and heart melting smiles, she could feel heat in her cheeks and her mother's face lit up brighter, if that was even possible.
"No, I was alone!" Erza exclaimed "It's just, I have this classmate, before today I had never even seen his face as he was always asleep in class and then I ended up bumping into him at school and then he happened to work where I was eating and he was all smiles and heated looks and-" She cut off as she realized her flustered rant stopped helping her.
Her mother frowned slightly at the news and straightened "He seems…interesting."
"You have no idea," Erza sighed "Despite the fact he's always asleep he has the best grades in school and apparently he works really hard, his boss was telling him to take days off, When does that ever happen?" Erza asked
Her mother flashed a knowing smirk "You seem pretty knowledgeable about him, are you sure you don't like him.
"Mom!" Erza exclaimed, a mortified expression on her face "I don't like him, it's more like I am worried about him."
"Hm, Why? He seems pretty on top of things." Her mother asked
"He's always alone, Is it normal to take care of everything on your own without asking for anyone's help or even talking to them when they offer it?" Erza asked
Her mother paused a moment "It's not abnormal, some people are forced into situations where they can't rely on anybody for a long time, They grow so accustomed to being alone and having nobody and nothing that it's difficult to live life any other way, But I can safely so nobody wants to be alone, It's human nature to seek someone to take comfort in, talk to about anything and just enjoying being around."
"So, Let's just say someone wanted to get a loner to accept some help and make friends, How would you go about it?" Erza asked
"Well, This is one of those, actions speak louder than words situations, You are going to need to prove to this boy you actually genuinely care and want to help him."
Erza nodded her head slowly in understanding and walked towards her bedroom slowly.
Natsu dropped his key in shock, he was staring at his flat, well what used to be his flat, the door was broken off of its hinges, black markings covered the walls, he darted inside, ignoring the broken glass and furniture that was strewn across his home, he pulled the closet door out of the way and bent down to the floorboard in the furthest left corner, he pressed on the edge lightly and it sprang up with a pop, he let out a sigh of relief as he removed the small bundled object from its hideaway.
"Natsu!" The voice caused the teen to click his tongue, hhis landlord stepped through the destroyed apartment carefully, finding Natsu in the back corner of his room with what appeared to be the only non-broken thing in the flat.
"I hope that little trinket there can pay for all this." He announced cockily, crossing his arms, the fat man wobbled as he huffed, personal hygiene was not a part of this man's vocabulary, his white shirt looked brown and green from where Natsu was sitting, grease stained the front and his black pants only appeared clean due to their color, the thin lines of hair still atop the man's head were greasy and pulled across, his mouth split into a greedy smile as he eyed the bundle in Natsu's hands.
"Hey," Natsu swayed as he got to his feet, all fun, mirth and feeling vanishing from his voice as he turned a dead gaze on the fat man "Is security of this place my job?"
The manager froze in his spot as Natsu took one heavy step towards him "No, N-N-N-Natsu, It-s not." He stuttered in fear
"You expect me, to pay for this?" Natsu asked again being within striking distance he turned the flat gaze on the man's face
"No, Please just leave!" The man shrieked
Natsu obliged, not for any other reason than his mind had one single goal, he glanced at the marking on the wall 'Keep your mouth shut, Trash.'
Natsu let out a chuckle, his shoulder shook once before stopping a moment as he broke into a manic laugh he licked across his top lip manically as he left the broken lump that was once his apartment.
Gajeel eyed a member of the upper echelons of phantom from across the bar, the red eyed youth knew the look on Totomaru's face, he didn't even have to ask, the boy had returned whatever insult he had received tenfold and he felt mighty good about it, Gajeel snorted flicking a bang from his eyes as he downed another shot glass of whiskey and indicating the bartender for another.
"Hey, Redfox, Wanna hear about it?" Totomaru cooed playfully
"I hope you didn't do something your gonna regret later." Gajeel responded as he took the whiskey bottle and walked away, fully aware of just how badly his superior had fucked up, the boy was hanging around Fairy Tail after all, that place housed the only person on the planet Gajeel could honestly say, he would never want to meet in a dark ally.
"WHAT?!" Gajeel heard the old man bellow and he closed his door behind him.
"It was just one snappy teenager, Barely in high school how dangerous could he possibly be?" Totomaru defended
Jose held his hand over his face in annoyance "That 'highschooler' is the son of Igneel."
"Oh." Totomaru paled
"He pays us so that he can live his life in peace," Jose reiterated "And then you go and do the one thing you could possibly do to FUCK UP THAT PEACE!"
Three loud resounding knocks echoed around the room, Totomaru gulped and Jose just rolled his eyes, the second the latch on the door was removed the door was destroyed the person who opened it lay flat on his back unconscious from the force of the wood slamming into his body.
Natsu stumbled through the door, his hair hanging over his eyes darkening the top of his face and obscuring his eyes, Jose grabbed Totomaru by the collar and tossed him towards the pissed off teen.
The long haired boy froze as Natsu turned his dead eyed gaze onto him.
"Wait!" Totomaru screamed
"There's no point," Gajeel announced with a laugh "He isn't even awake inside his head anymore, it's the talent of his whole family, they are practically different people when they are like that, You really ought to listen to people Totomaru."
"Ga-" His voice cut off with a strangled 'ack' as Natsu grabbed the boy around the throat and hoisted him into the air.
"Your voice pisses me off, Trash." Natsu growled
Totomaru glared at the boy, not enjoying his own insults thrown at him, He planted his foot against Natsu's chest and kicked off, he coughed as he landed and rubbed his neck with a pained wince.
"You mean to attempt to amuse me?" Natsu questioned darkly
"Fuck you, You're still just a snot nosed Teenager!" Totomaru retorted removing a small switchblade from his boot and flourishing it.
Natsu laughed, a slow dark chuckle as he undid the small bundle of cloth, it fell away to reveal a short bladed Katana, the sheath was a deep orange like that of fire, the handle was a deep red, the ornate cross guard was carved in the likeness of a dragon coiled around the edge of the blade.
Natsu drew the blade and laid it flat along his forearm, flipping the sheath in the other hand "Come Trash, I don't have all day."
Totomaru glared at him and charged, stabbing towards Natsu's head, Natsu didn't move until the last moment tilting his head, the knife flew passed his cheek, Totomaru lurched forward as Natsu slammed his knee into the boys stomach, before Totomaru could move again Natsu's blade was resting on his throat.
"Natsu," Jose paused as Natsu turned a murderous gaze onto the old man "Is there any way I could convince you, to…not kill my subordinate and then be default….the rest of us?"
Natsu paused a moment, in that moment a chain wrapped around his arm as his blade was kicked from his grasp, Natsu's eyes suddenly turned dark all over again and he planted his foot hard, splintering floorboards around his foot as he spun the chain around his arm, his movement came to a sudden halt and he glared down the long chain at the woman who had used it, The blue haired girl who was straining to attempt to shift him again, Totomaru shouted as he charged Natsu again, Natsu dodged his head back and caught the boys with his free hand, he flipped the long haired boy onto his back and stomped down on his chest heavily, Totomaru coughed and blood flew from his mouth as he rolled a safe distance from Natsu, Natsu gripped the chain in both hands and yanked, the woman's feet left the ground and she dropped the chain, Natsu dragged the thread of metal to a manageable distance, kicking one end out it wrapped around Totomaru's neck, he repeated the process with the other girl, both held the chain in an attempt to loosen its hold.
Natsu looked at the pair in turned before raising his leg high, a quiet sound caught his ear and he jumped back as another boy, likely in his early twenties dropped down with a powerful kick, the boy wore a brown and white pinstripe suit, had dark green hair with a very thin mustache above his lip. The chain dropped to the floor as the other two freed themselves from its grasp.
"Move." Natsu ordered flatly
"Ah, I apologize, Dragneel-kun, But that will not be happening these two, Happen to be friends of mine." He gestured to the blue hair and Totomaru.
"I don't care whose friends they are, I only want him." Natsu pointed towards Totomaru angrily "Get out of the way and he will be the only one that gets hurt."
"That's not how this Family does things!" The girl shouted in protest.
"Fine, I will destroy all three of you then." Natsu responded flatly
"ENOUGH!" Jose roared, all eyes in the bar turned to him "None of you will attack Natsu again."
He silenced their open mouths with a single hand movement "Natsu, If you leave now and leave my subordinates alone, Today's payment, Will be the last we ask of you."
That got the pinkette's attention, he watched the old man with a less murderous gaze than what he was directing at the other people in the room.
"Not another cent will be requested from me?" Natsu asked cautiously
"Haha! In the end all he cares about is saving his money-" Totomaru cut off as a powerful blow forced his head into the ground, Gajeel clicked his tongue as he moved around a little bit to make himself more comfortable atop his unconscious comrade.
"That's exactly right Natsu, Nothing more will be requested of you, We will keep your secret free of charge, you just need to walk away from this." Jose reiterated slowly
"Acceptable." Natsu responded flatly, the change that occurred was so sudden you could blink and you'd miss it, a light returned to the pinkette's eyes as he retrieved his short Katana and sheathed it with a metallic chink.
"Jose," The voice was once again dark and terrifying, The old man shivered against the tone.
"Yes?"
"If you endanger me or anyone that is close to me after today, There is not a single force on this earth that will stop me from destroying your entire existence." He finished as he left the room
Jose nodded his head in acceptance, not that there was an opportunity to do anything else.
A/N: So, Who's surprised? How many of you thought it was a debt Natsu was paying off? As you can imagine nothing is going to go quite this smooth for our pink haired friend, but I hope you enjoyed this, I might change the Author's notes in the first chap since I have a feeling they were kind of misleading, but let me know what you think the response to this will basically decide whether I continue as I am now with the story I have already planned out, which I will do anyway, but if I have mislead people into thinking this story was something other than what I am currently writing I will probably release a more standard AU to make up for it (Why do I now get the feeling a bunch of people are going to complain just so I release as standard High school AU -.-') Anyway, see you guys on the next one, Peace!