Chapter 2: Room Mates

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and it's characters are not mine ^^

I followed Wendy, Romeo, and Nexus to the train station.

"So apparently a Vulcan has been terrorizing Onibus." Wendy explained once we'd taken our seats.

"Shoulden;t be to difficult." Romeo mused.

Nexus nodded, "Didn't your father defeat nineteen Vulcans in his day, Romeo?"

"Yeah." the dark haired teen smiled proudly.

I smiled to myself at the three mage's team relationship.

"Oh, hey guys."

I looked up to see Kiyoshi standing awkwardly in the isle.

"Hey." I smiled encouragingly.

"Uh- fancy meeting you here-? mind if I sit?"

I quircked an eyebrow, "I thought you work alone?"

"Yeah- well- I'm allowed to hang out with my guild mates aren't I?"

"Uh, sure? Have a seat Kiyoshi." Wendy stuttered.

The blunt looked unsure what to do. Romeo kept his expression neutral, but I thought I was a brief flicker of confusion in his eyes. Nexus, however, being his usual self, immediately began chattering.

As Kiyoshi awkwardly sat down beside me, Nexus talked a mile a minuet.

"Where are you headed, bud?"

"Oh- I- I'm going to Onibus."

"Really!" Nexus perked up, "that's where our job is!"

"I know," Kiyoshi looked away, "Mira told me."

This brought on an uncomfortable silence as Nexus pondered this.

"So- uh-," I broke the silence uneasily, "what sort of magic do you use, Nexus?"

"I use High Speed magic like Jet!" he replied eagerly, "it's really fun, especially when I'm fighting someone, and they just, like, miss and miss and miss!"

I laughed lightly at the blonde's enthusiasm, I should have guessed. Nexus' antics seamed to help quite a bit, I could see both Wendy and Romeo visibly relax. However, Kiyoshi still looked tence.

"What about you?"

Nexus' question fought me a bit off guard, but Kiyoshi jumped in for me.

"Living Script! It's so cool! Her magic is like Levy's, but, not!"

"Would you mind shooing us?" Wendy asked brightly.

"No problem?" I smiled.

"Living Script: Cat."

The letters popped into the air with soft, calico fur. The C stretched itself open in a lazy yahn.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Wendy grinned.

Romeo even smiled, "That's pretty impressive."

I cheered inwardly, "thank you both so much!"

I glanced at Nexus, who was entranced with the cat, staring at it closely. After a moment cat got tired of having a dopey looking blonde it it's face. It bit Nexus on the nose, then disappeared in a puff of magic.

"Yeesh!" Nexus jumped back, "that is the most- amazing- cool- unbelievable- thing I've ever seen!"

After that we were all much more relaxed, and spent the rest of the train ride making small talk.

We got off the train in Onibus, and were greeted by crushed buildings and broken glass.

"Woah, this place is a mess." Romro muttered, "are you sure we haven't already sent a team here?"

"Good luck," Kiyoshi chuckled, "I've got to go do my own request now. I'll see you later."

"Bye." we all chorused.

I felt a strange pang of loneliness as he walked away. Weird. After Kiyoshi disappeared into the rubble, Nexus stepped forward.

"I'll go find the beast."

A yellow magic circle appeared underneath him, then the blonde disappeared in a flash of light. He returned a few moments later, and he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"It's in a clothing shop, on main street."

"Alright," Wendy nodded, "let's get going."

"Okay everyone, grab on and I'll get us there in a flash!"

I glanced at the blonde nervously. Could he really carry all three of us? Tentatively, I reached out and placed a hand on Nexus' arm. Romeo and Wendy held hands, and Wendy put her right hand on Nexus' other arm.

With only the blink of an eye we found ourselves inside the demolished clothing shop. The merchandise was strewn everywhere and the mannequins were broken, leaving body parts laying comically around the floor.

A huge Vulcan stood in the middle of the destruction, waring a floppy woman's hat and a pair of sunglasses with the tag hanging on for dear life.

"Man, man, woman, woman!" the Vulcan chanted gruttaly.

"Uh, hello there." Wendy said nervously, "why are you breaking things, ?"

"Pretty! Like pretties!"

"Oh boy."

"Pretty woman!"

The giant ape grabbed Wendy around the waist and lifted her into the air.

"Gah!" she yelped.

Romeo immediately grew dark, waves of anger rolling off him.

"Jerk." he growled, his right hand enveloping in purple flame.

"Fire." the Vulcan took a single step back, while still holding onto poor Wendy, "fire bad."

"Let her go." Romeo growled.

"Pretty woman!" the Vulcan replied, then turned and ran.

"Wall!" I yelled.

The words 'brick wall' appeared in front of the Vulcan, who simply charged into it. Unfortunatly for him, my walls are known for their rubbery quality, and he ricocheted right back. The Vulcan growled in annoyance and tried to storm around the wall. However, thanks to my Living Script, the wall just slid in front of him.

"Um, guys, now would be a good time."

"Right."

Nexus grabed Wendy, using his High Speed magic, then reappeared at Romeo's side. The moment Wendy was safe Romeo shot the Vulcan with his purple flame. The Vulcan danced around, howling for a moment, then he disappeared into a burst of bright light. Left in his wake was an injured old man.

"What the-?"

"Vulcans absorb humans for their energy, they're like big paracites."

I turned around to see Kiyoshi standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?"

"My job was to track down a missing old man." he motioned to the unconscious victim.

"It seems like we keep accidentally helping each other."

I laughed lightly, "I guess."

"Come on," Wendy interjected, "let's go back to the guild."

The ride home was quiet, with both Wendy and Nexus sound asleep. The blunett lay, snoring softly, with her head on Romeo's shoulder. The mentioned black hairs teen stayed alert, keeping a close eye on the sleeping Wendy. Nexus snored loudly from Romeo's other side.

Kiyoshi and I shared the seat across from Flying Dagger.

I held my hands in my lap awkwardly, counting my breaths trying to calm down.

"Did you have a good time with Wendy and her team?"

I jumped, then smiled a little, "yeah, they're all great. They work together so well."

Kiyoshi smiled, "that's good. I intend to keep my promise to you."

"Wa-" then I remembered, when Kiyoshi had been convincing me to join, what he'd said...

We continued on in silence until the train arrived at Magnolia station.

Romeo woke Wendy gently, then punched Nexus in the face. It left a comical bump on his forehead.

Nexus jumped up, looking around wildly. When he realized what had happened, Nexus glared at Romeo.

"Was that nessary?"

"Yes." Romeo deadpanned.

I smiled at their antics and followed Kiyoshi off the train. As we walked back to the guild, my mind wondered to the crazy events of the past two days.

"Hey, I just realized, you don't have anywhere to stay, do you?"

I looked away, "I can find something."

"No. This is my fault."

Kiyoshi's voice was harsh and angry.

"Hey," I looked up at him, "it's okay, really. I've been I'n much worse situations."

The silver haired mage's green eyes were clouded with rage.

"You'll stay with me."

His tone was firm and decisive.

"What?!"

"I live in a two bedroom flat not far from the guild. You'll stay with me until we find you a place of your own."

"Uh- I don't know ab-"

"This is not a question. I brought you into this, so I'm responsible."

"Kiyoshi-"

"No arguments."

"... thank you."

We arrived at Kiyoshi's building and he led me to his flat. The door was made of strong oak, with a simple brass doorknob.

Kiyoshi opened it, revealing soft grey walls, with a simple steel coffee table. There were also a few steel chairs scattered around. I mentally face palmed, of COURSE his furniture is made of steel. He uses Steel Make! There was also a steel couch with rough looking cousins that seemed to be home sewn. A small kitchen was separated from the rest of the main room by a simple counter. All the appliances, were, obviously, steel.

"Let me show you your room."

Kiyoshi led me into one of three doors leading off of the main room. The walls were painted a bright green, and there was a soft, forest green carpet. The room had a simple steel dresser and a desk and chair in the far corner. The bed, however, was made of oak similar to the door, with a very soft looking mattress, and a large, pine green blanket.

"Do you like it?"

Kiyoshi's voice was barley audible.

I nodded, "it's beautiful."

Kiyoshi smiled, "I'm glad. W-would you like to shower first?"

I nodded again, "thank you."

"The center room is the bathroom, towels are in the cabinet..." with that, Kiyoshi wondered back into the main room.

I walked quietly into the bathroom and slipped out of my ratty, ripped up clothing and into the shower. The warm water washed over me, reeling the stress from the past few days. If you told me a week ago that I would be a member of Fairy Tail, and staying with a hot guy, I would have laughed in your face.

After a while, I stepped out and wrapped myself in a fluffy brown towel. I dried off quickly and changed back into my cloths, then I tied my hair up in the towel.

I walked back into the main room to find Kiyoshi sitting on the couch, lost in a thick book.

I cleared my throat.

Kiyoshi looked up and gave me a small smile.

"It's all yours."

"Alright," he replied, "if you want something to read, there's a bookshelf in my room. Your welcome to anything in the fridge."

"Thank you." I replied softly.

The silver haired man nodded, then walked into the bathroom. After a few moments I heard the water begin to run.

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since the train ride to Onibus. I hurried over to the fridge and swung the door open.

My eyes flicked over the contence. A carton of eggs, gross. An uncooked steak, no. Then, I noticed a stack of leftover pancakes and a bottle of chocolate syrup. I licked my lips and took out the chocolate and two pancakes. I slid my cakes onto a steel plate and heated it in the oven. After it was finished I smothered them in chocolate and sat down at the counter. It took only minuets to devour the delicious food and clean up my mess.

I glanced around, my gaze falling onto Kiyoshi's door. I wonder if venturing in there is a good idea... Kiyoshi said I could, but then, that would be a huge breach of privacy. Could it be a test? Unfortunately, my curiosity won me over, and I found myself turning the knob.

The inside of Kiyoshi's room was painted black, with shaggy, white carpet. One corner held a weight set. There was also a desk and dresser similar to the ones in my room. I walked over to the dresser to take a closer look at the dresser. On top was a steel framed picture of a much younger Kiyoshi, along with a man and woman. The man was tall, taller than Kiyoshi is now, with silver hair reminiscent to my friend's, along with sparkling gold eyes. He was laughing and smiling happily. The woman stood grinning at his side, with long raven hair and green eyes almost identical to Kiyoshi's. Are those his parents? I wonder what happened to them...

I turned away and continued my inspection. His bed was huge, and looked just as soft as the one he'd given me. It had an enormous, fluffy, fuzzy, grey blanket spread neatly across it.

I sighed and moved on to the bookshelf. It was relatively small, but overflowing with books. It had quite a verity, school life, sports, adventure, and, gulp, romance? I scanned through them for a while, then settled on an adventure story. Then I walked back into the main room and sat down on the couch to read.

A small cough brought me out of the world of medieval knights, and back to reality. Kiyoshi stood in front of me, waring a beat up t-shirt and baggy sweat pants.

"I realized while I was in there that you probably want something better to wear." he said tentatively, and held out a small pile of clothing.

"Thanks."

Kiyoshi's expression darkened, "I didn't even give you a chance to pack, did I?"

"It's alright," I replied softly, "I didn't have anything TO pack."

Kiyoshi's expression darkened further, and a look of concern filled his green eyes.

"I would have been okay..."

"No," Kiyoshi shook his head, "it's a good thing I found you, Manami."

It felt strange to hear him say my name, and sort of... nice?

Kiyoshi sighed and sat down beside me, "why don't you go change?"

"Right." I nodded, then hurried into my room.

i leaned against the door for just a moment. Is this really happening?

I quickly changed into the soft black t-shirt and grey shorts, both of which were huge on me. Then I slid quietly back into the main room.

"Better?"

I nodded, "thank you."

"You don't have to thank me all the time."

I shook my head, "but you've already done so much for me, and, it's the polite thing to do."

Kiyoshi laughed, a wonderful deep sound.

"This is only the tip of the ice burgh, so don't worry about it!"

I blushed, and tried desperately tried to hide it. I sat down beside him and returned to the book I'd been reading. After a while, I felt eyes on me, so I glanced over at Kiyoshi.

"Can I help you?"

A small blush crossed his cheeks, but it faded just as quickly as it appeared.

"Uh, no. I just, finished my book, and got... bored."

I smiled, "what was it about?"

Kiyoshi's eyes lit up, and he went into an animated description of the adventure tale he'd been reading, gesturing wildly as he spoke. I laughed along happily, hoping he wouldn't realize I thought his erratic movements were more amusing than the story.

After he'd finished his narration, Kiyoshi looked out the window at he night sky.

"It's getting late, we should get to bed."

I made a pouty face, and tried not to laugh, "awe come on, five more minuets?"

"Now now, we've got a big day tomorrow." Kiyoshi chided with a smirk.

"Okay," I sighed, "goodnight!"

Then I trudged comically into my room.

I heard Kiyoshi softly call goodnight after me.

I smiled, then slipped into bad and stared up at the ceiling, going over the day's events. My thoughts wondered to Kiyoshi and a light blush covered my cheeks.

Oh come on Manami! Get it together! You met this guy two days ago!

Yet, as my eyes fluttered closed, a small smile spread across my face at the thought of the silver haired mage in the next room.

Well, here's chapter two! R&R tell me what you think :)

~Sora~