Sorry this took so long to update x.x between midterms and practice I'd get 20 minutes tops to sit down and actually get some writing done. This chapter is just to explain what's actually going on, but I tried to make it as interesting as possible so please enjoy :D
This is the first story I've ever done on Fan fiction, so please R&R! Constructive Criticism is always welcome [:
Disclaimer: We all wish we owned Fairy Tail, but alas, it belongs to Hiro Mashima.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Lucy's pace slowly came to a halt as the Academy came into view through the heavy sheets of rain. She squinted to be sure what she was seeing was actually there, and not just a hallucination left over from all the booze. Before her, a large brick building with towers loomed over the outskirts of Magnolia; casting a dark shadow over its surroundings. The hell is this... She scoffed as she continued walking.
Within the building, everything was bustling with energy as countless mages gathered together for their studies. The Stellar mage pushed through the heavy duel entryway and gaped when she saw inside. Forgetting about being soaking wet, the corners of her lips curved up as she began blindly walking through the corridors. On the ceilings hung brightly glowing lacrima chandleries and the floors were paved with decorative tiles which gave the building a character of its own. She reached the front office and noticed the Fairy Tail symbol printed onto the floor with brilliant colors.
"So this is what a school looks like," She mumbled to herself. As she continued walking about, something caught her eye. Curiosity consumed the teen as she approached a long stretch of what seemed to be filing cabinets. "Amazing…" Cautious fingers gently ran along the vent of a locker, wondering what their purpose was. Too entranced by her new surroundings, Lucy paid no mind to the people trying to get her attention, until—
"Damn it, you asshole," An oddly familiar voice roared. Lucy cocked her head up to the side just in time to see a rosette haired moron flying straight at her.
Before she knew it; the Salamander face-planted into the locker next to her. Everything seemed to go quiet for a moment as he tried to regain his composure- if he had any to begin with. "I'm gonna fucking kill you…" The Dragon Slayer sat up while holding his head in his hands. It was difficult to tell if he was in pain from the concussion he probably just got or a lingering hangover.
"What'd you just say, fry-pan?" Gray stormed over towards him, and surprisingly enough, he looked pissed.
"You heard me, brain-freeze!" Natsu growled back as he got back on his feet. Oblivious to the sudden change of atmosphere, the two boys made their moves simultaneously.
"Ice Make—"
"Fire Dragon's—"
"It seems like fate draws us all together once again," An authoritative voice bellowed from the end of the hall. The two brawling teens stopped in their tracks and hesitantly turned to face a very unimpressed Titania. "Is this how friends treat each other?"
Gray threw his arm around Natsu with a forced grin on his face. "W-we were just showing each other our new moves…" Natsu shook his head in agreement, too afraid to say anything.
"Oh, Erza," Lucy waved at her teammate to grab her attention.
Erza approached the blonde with a small smile on her face- at least there's one sane person here. "Did you go swimming? You're drenched." She pointed out rather bluntly.
"I hope you're being sarcastic," I have a strange feeling that you're serious, though. "Are there any extra uniforms?" She twisted the bottom of her vest to get some of the water out.
"There should be some in the office," She turned her attention back to the others. "Gray, Natsu," They looked up at her, still frozen in their fighting stances. She crossed her arms over her chest; making her seem like she was scolding a small child. "If you don't stop screwing around, I'll be forced to personally bring you to the Head Master." The redhead motioned for Lucy to follow her.
The two girls continued their way to office, leaving Natsu and Gray standing there in awkward silence. "Head Master?" Natsu scratched his head in confusion.
"It's the person in charge of the school—"
"I know that, idiot." Just how little did Gray take him for?
"Sorry, I wasn't sure of your level of stupidity." Sarcasm poisoned his voice. "But, those uniforms are pretty nice, huh?" The ice mage teasingly nudged Natsu in the shoulder; forgetting that they were just trying to kill each other.
He swatted him off like he was a mosquito. "What, you mean the colors? Red would have been a better choice."
"Wait… What? No, you ash-for-brain, the skirts!" Who cares about the color?
Natsu pondered this for a second, obviously not understanding what Gray was getting at. "The girls in our Guild wear skirts all the time, nothing new." He had a point; the ladies of Fairy Tail weren't exactly known for being modest dressers. "I've gotten so used to it that it's abnormal to see them completely covered. I've seen Lucy in less, anyway." It's not like he tried to sneak in her window while she was changing. He shivered at the memory of being kicked in the face by his temperamental teammate.
"You have…?" He gawked at his comrade's casual expression.
"You haven't?" He replied with a grin on his face. "She must like me better than you." Wow that felt a little weird to say…
"No way, you're obviously bluffing." He shook his head. There was no way this air head was more popular than him; at least, he hoped so.
"Why would I bluff about that? It's not really a big deal. Don't most guys see a girl in their underwear at this age?" He asked completely seriously.
Gray tried to comprehend what the Dragon Slayer was saying. "I don't think I even want to know." Stop painting pictures in my head. "Seriously though, you don't have any opinion on the skirts? And you call yourself a man." He mimicked Elfman as he tried to go back to the original subject.
"I don't see why you're obsessing over them. Is it because you want to wear one?" He laughed half-heartedly at his friend. "That's sick, man. Though, you'd probably end up taking it off like you do the rest of your clothes."
"Damn it, that's not true! You're such an ass." Jesus Christ, quit ticking me off.
"Rather be an ass than a stripper."
"That nickname is getting old, think of something more creative if you're trying to piss me off." The Ice Mage smiled; feeling as though he won the fight.
"Whatever, I'm going to see what class I'm in." He began to walk down the hall. "Wait, Gray."
"What now?" He seemed irritated, not that Natsu particularly cared.
"Put your shirt back on; you're disturbing the peace."
He looked down, and of course his shirt was chilling by his feet. "What the hell?"
Natsu wasn't sure why, but for some reason he felt like going back to sleep for the next week. "This sucks…" He grumbled as he sluggishly made his way to the class board.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
"Here," Erza handed the shivering girl a dry uniform. Who knew soaking wet clothes were so cold?
"Thanks," She took it and made her way to the backroom. Erza leaned against the wall and waited. "Oh, thank god," Lucy sighed in relief as she took off her wet shoes. She tossed them to the floor; making a sloshing noise.
"Hey, Lucy," Erza called through the door. "What class are you in?"
She began to pull on a light blue skirt as she spoke. "Not sure, I haven't been able to check yet. Hopefully we're all in the same class; I'd hate to be stuck with only people I've never worked with before."
"True. It would make any group work more efficient if you know you're partners well." She nodded in agreement.
She heard the door open and turned to see Lucy pulling a beige vest over her white t-shirt. "The council really went all out with this, didn't they? These uniforms are really nice." She looked over at her superior. "Why is yours different?" Lucy pointed at Erza's uniform which had a violet jacket in place of the vest. Wait, was she wearing glasses?
A smile graced her face as she looked her seriously in the eyes. "Because… I'm the class president." Pride filled her voice as she said this. The Celestial Mage stood there in awe; unsure of her upperclassmen's sanity.
I-I see… "Congratulations! Oh," She quickly looked over at the clock. "I should probably get going if I'm going to have time to check the class board."
Erza made her way to the door and waved for Lucy to follow her. "Then I'll go with you. There's not much to do in the morning." Lucy smiled as she walked along side her. They stayed in silence; content with the atmosphere around them.
A goofy grin painted on Lucy's face as they walked down the hallway. This brought her back to her childhood while living in the mansion before her mother passed. "Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Erza's words shattered the silence like one of her swords.
She suddenly snapped out of her trance- perhaps by a minor heart attack. Lucy pretended to not have just been scared shitless and glanced over at the girl beside her. "Huh?"
"This school… It's different than I thought one would be like." It's kind of weird, if you ask me. She turned to face her. "You haven't been to one either, right?"
She looked down, remembering when Erza told everyone about her past. Now that she thought about it, everyone here seems to have a dark past. "To be honest, I was pretty nervous when we found out about the Academy. New things always scare me…"
"Same here," The redhead chuckled with embarrassment. "I didn't get much sleep last night; because I had to make sure my uniform re-quip was in perfect condition." She admitted with a slight blush tinting her cheeks.
Lucy giggled at her friend's confession. "All I could do was hide mine and pray Happy wouldn't find it and use it as a play-toy. Of course he did though, and I had to spend an entire afternoon sewing it back together with Natsu constantly whining at me that he was bored." She let out a drawn-out sigh. She wasn't sure why Natsu and Happy enjoyed making her life difficult, but it didn't bother her in the least. If anything, they made life more bearable and- Wait, what the fuck? What the hell am I thinking…? She slapped her hand on her forehead to try to get the thought out of her head.
"That's just how they show their affection, I suppose." Erza shook her head.
"I guess," She pondered this for a moment and forgot she was in the middle of a conversation.
"Still, I can't believe we're here. After all these years passing by without us knowing it; it's funny how things work out." Erza added after a few minutes.
"I know… I'm not sure what's going to happen from here, but…" She looked out a window to see the rain sliding down the window in little streaks. "It's going to be fun, with everyone together like this. We really are just one big family, aren't we?"
"Yeah…" They continued to walk in silence.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
A crowd gathered around a bulletin board with several sheets of paper pinned to. Each paper represented a class and the names on it were the students attending it. While some people were overjoyed by their class, others wanted to crawl into a hole and die. "Excuse me. Pardon us. Ugh, move, damn it!" Erza yelled as she head-butted people out of her way. Once the two girls reached the front, they began frantically searching for Lucy's name.
"Um…" The blonde scanned the board. "Ah, there it is!" She pointed at the third list of names. "It says I'm in room 207." She looked over at Erza for reassurance.
Erza nodded in satisfaction. "It seems we'll be classmates, then."
"Thank goodness," Lucy sighed with relief. "Who else is in our class?" She looked back at the board. "Cana, Elfman, Erza, Evergreen, Happy, Levy, me, Makarov, Macau, Natsu…" That seems about right. Shit, wait… She looked over the board again. "Oh no,"
"What is it?" Ezra looked worryingly at her.
"Gray isn't in our class." She pointed at the list where Gray's name should have been. It'll be nice not to have him and Natsu beat the shit out of each other over a pencil, but where's the fun in not having the entire team?
"This is bad," Titania tapped her chin. "We should use force to get him in our group."
"That's a terrible idea…" Lucy waved away the comment.
"W-what is this…?" Someone mumbled behind them. They turned around to see a pale-faced Ice Mage gawking at the paper with his name on it. "I'm stuck with…" He pointed a shaky finger at the paper next to theirs. "With…"
"Spit it out, before I get annoyed." Erza glared at him.
"Ah, Gray-sama~!" Juvia ran to where they were standing. Lucy felt tempted to ask her to make the rain stop, but then decided against it. "We'll be attending the same class," She fidgeted with embarrassment. "Please, take care of Juvia…" The Water Mage's face flushed with pink as usual when she looked at her crush.
"Christ," He covered his face with his palm. This was too much, even for Gray; which was saying a lot.
"I think it'll be fine." Lucy smiled at him.
He let out a sigh and walked away mumbling, "I don't think I can look at you right now, Lucy." For some reason, he sounded extremely disturbed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She pouted.
"Juvia thinks it means that you should give up on Gray-sama…" He's going to be with Juvia from now on, my rival in love.
Give up on what…? She could already tell this was going to be a long day, as usual.
"Enough small chat, we need to get to class," She pulled on Lucy's arm and turned to face the rest of the Guild. "You should all do the same, before the Head Master gets angry." Everyone scurried away from the board to get to their rooms. Lucy wasn't sure why, but they seemed like they had just seen Acnologia.
"Who is the Head Master?" Lucy called to Erza as they ran down the hallway.
She stopped in her tracks and hung her head. "You don't know?"
Lucy tried to catch her breath as she looked up at her "N-no?"
Erza took a moment to choose her words before she spoke. "The Council needed to find someone who had the free time and power to take on the roll of the Head Master, so other Guild Masters weren't a possibility." She tightened her grip on Lucy's wrist.
"Erza…" This was starting to freak her out, which she could honestly do without.
"The only other option was to find a high level mage, so they…" She glanced around to see if anyone was following them. Erza leaned over to Lucy and whispered something quietly.
"Eh?" She stared at the distraught mage next to her. "EHHHH?"
She nodded slightly and continued walking. "That's why, no matter what, even if it costs us our lives, we can't get in any trouble."
"Right." Lucy felt determination building inside of her.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
In room 207, everyone walked around to see who they'd be spending the year with; well, other than Makarov. "This is madness." The short man grunted as he tried to get into his seat. He was going to kill whatever dumbass proposed this idea; he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints, for crying out loud! "Damn it, these chairs are huge!" The Master shouted while kicking it across the room; obviously finding any reason he could to complain.
The desk hit Elfman directly in the head while he was in the middle of a lecture about men. "Whoever did that isn't a man!" He picked up the desk and threw it at Wakaba. Everyone could tell this was going to be just like a bar fight back at the Guild; excluding the alcohol.
"You wanna go?" He put out his cigarette.
"Real men use fists, not desks!" Elfman charged at him. The smoke user instantly dodged his attacker; forcing Elfman to run face first into a wall.
"People these days…" Cana pulled out her cards, clearly not amused.
"You're all so annoying. Just shut up and sit down!" Macau barked as he prepared a spell.
"Knock it off." Natsu snapped as he leaned back in his chair. "You're just gonna piss off the Head Master, ya' know?"
"Pretty weird coming from you," Levy mumbled from her book. "Usually you're the one who starts these things."
Everyone looked over at the bookworm. She's right. They all stared at the fire mage in confusion. This was new- Natsu didn't want to fight. What next, he'll think summer is too hot?
Suddenly the door opened and everyone turned their attention over to Erza and Lucy. "Ah! Lu-chan, Erza," Levy waved over at them.
Natsu raised his head for a moment before looking down at his desk again. It was a strange sight to see him completely quiet.
"Natsu…" Happy whispered.
"It's nothing." He replied nonchalantly.
The girls walked over to Levy "Looks like luck is on our side!" Lucy put an arm around her shoulders.
"Nice to see another friendly face," Erza acted as though she only knew a few people in the Guild. "What happened in here?" She put her hands on her hips as she observed the over-turned desks. Nobody was expecting to have the Titania in their class, so they hadn't exactly used their best behavior.
"N-nothin'," Elfman scurried to pick up some of the discarded seats. Lucy shook her head and sat down beside the blue-haired mage. She was too tired to deal with this anymore, plus she still had her rent to worry about.
"Alright, everyone, take a seat that isn't knocked over." A stocky woman called from the front of the room. She resembled Mirajane- if she gained forty pounds and shrunk a foot. She had a messy red mane for hair and her face was covered with stress wrinkles. Okay, maybe she didn't look so much like Mira. "Let's get class started." Everyone obediently returned to their seats, which was surprising to say the least. The woman tuned to the chalk board and began to write on it as she spoke to her new class. "My name is Mrs. Mann and I'll be your instructor over this next year-"
"Pfft." Makarov covered his mouth to try to keep from laughing. Lucy covered her face with her palm, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.
"Is something funny, Mr. Makarov?" Mrs. Mann turned to look at the babbling idiot in the front row. It looks like she got the good class.
"Of course not," Elfman butted in, "There's nothing funny about being a man."
"Excuse me?" She felt her temper reaching her limit and it was only 6:05. Everyone could feel the tension growing in the air.
"Elfman, be quiet. Let the man talk so we can get class started." Erza raised her hand to get her teacher's attention. "Please continue, sir."
"Erza, she's not a man." Lucy mouthed to the girl beside her. Sometimes, Lucy felt like she was the only sane one in this Guild.
"Oh," She bowed her head to cover her reddening face. "I apologize for my outburst."
Mrs. Mann turned back to the board. "The purpose of this school is to teach you how to properly use your magic," she let out a huff as she began writing with some chalk. "But, I refuse to pass anyone who lacks manners, or common sense for that matter. That means, when someone says 'Mrs.', they're a woman, so don't think otherwise." It almost felt like she was teaching kindergarten, but everyone in the class was the kid who sits in the corner and eats paste. Wonderful, fucking wonderful.
Natsu raised his hand, "I thought it just meant someone was married, whether they're a man or a woman."
"Bahahahahaha!" Makarov lost any control he had over is laughter and fell out of his seat. "Who would marry someone with the last name Mann? Does that mean your husband is Mr. Mann?"
"I think that's a wonderful name." Elfman interjected once again. He felt as though everyone she be named Mann. Elfman Mann. Elfman the Mann. He recited his name in his head.
"Ugh, shut up, Elfman. No one cares about your obsession with men." Cana snapped at the talkative bone-head behind her. What she wouldn't do for a beer right now. Scratch that, she'd do anything for a beer; being sober sucked.
"Shhh, Cana. Maybe he's into guys; leave him be." Macao hushed.
"You bastard—"
"God damn it!" Mrs. Mann yelled at her students. "If you don't stop talking, I'm going to fail you all so you have to take another year of school." The room fell silent as she tried to calm her nerves. "Your first assignment is going to be an essay." Everyone looked around; unsure of what an 'essay' was. She let out a sigh and explained, "It's when you write about a subject to answer a question that has been provided." They all nodded as she continued. She stepped to the side to show what she had written on the board- not like they couldn't see over her anyways. "Each class has their own topic. Our question is; 'What makes a strong team?'. You'll being working in groups of two. This is to have you practice working together in a non-combat environment and better your understanding of teamwork."
Lucy quickly raised her hand. "Are we allowed to pick our partners?" For the love of God, say yes!
Mrs. Mann smiled slyly at this comment. "Perhaps if a bunch of morons hadn't been so rude as to call me a man I would have. Instead, we'll be using this to choose." She walked over to Makarov and pulled off his hat.
"Hey, wha-" He tried to grab his hat back.
The teacher began ripping names off of the attendance list and folding them up before putting them into Makarov's hat. "Alrighty," She reached into the hat and pulled out two slips. "Cana Alberona and Makarov."
"Wonderful…" The fortune teller grumbled; looks like she'd be doing all the work.
"I heard that." Makarov turned to glare at his underling.
"Macao Combolt and Wakaba Mine."
The two men glared at each other, "As if," They scoffed simultaneously. "Don't copy me, jackass!"
Mrs. Mann coughed; making them cease their nagging. "Moving on," She pulled out a couple more paper slips. "Happy and Elfman."
"Ehhhh?" Happy pouted at Natsu.
"Even a cat can be a man if he tries." No one bothered to tell him to shut up; all their efforts would be in vain.
"Evergreen and Levi Macgarden."
"Sorry, Lu-chan…" She mumbled after hearing her name.
She reached into the bag once again. "Oh, there are only three slips left; Erza Scarlet, Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel will be a trio." She tossed the hat back to Makarov.
"That group sounds a little dangerous…" Evergreen shook her head.
The stocky woman began going over the requirements for the project; not that anyone was listening. "Lastly, an assembly will be held for all the groups to read their reports out loud this Friday. Anyone who skips out on the assembly or doesn't complete the essay in time will be required to take summer classes." That got their attention.
"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" Whined the Exceed.
"I'm sorry, but the rules are the rules." She shrugged. "Now, get in your groups and start planning-"
"WAAAAAIIIIIT!" The door flung off of its hinges as a short figure slid into the room before tripping.
"What the hell are you doing?" Mrs. Mann screamed, obviously regretting taking this teaching job. "Oh, Head Master, my apologies,"
"I need Erza Scarlett," The bulky man got back onto his feet. "Oh, my honey~!" He swooned when he caught sight of her.
"Ichiya…" The redhead backed away.
"The school board is lacking staff at the moment, so we need you as a temporary replacement, men~." He inched his way closer.
"W-w-wouldn't Master be better?" She pointed at Makarov who looked like he was off in Lala Land.
"Don't put this on me." Makarov chimed as he scribbled with crayons.
"Master," Titania pleaded. "You'd be able to get the work done more efficiently." Or not…
"Now, don't worry, my love. The work won't be too difficult." He took her hand. God, this had to be the best moment of his life.
Erza pulled from his grip and ran through the doorway shouting something along the lines of 'Fuck off'.
The room fell silent as Ichiya pranced away. After sitting in awkward silence for a few minutes, Mrs. Mann cleared her throat and began to speak. "Well, I guess Erza's out of the question. Natsu, Lucy, you'll be a group of two now." She picked up her things and waddled towards the doorway. "I'll go find someone to fix the door; try not to kill each other while I'm gone." With that, everyone started to get into their groups.
Lucy took the seat beside Natsu and pulled out her light pen to take notes. "Alright, how should we start this?" She looked over at him after he didn't bother replying. He was resting his head in the palm of his hand and staring at the window; a blank expression hid any thoughts he could possibly have. She had only seen him like this once before, and honestly, it was a little scary. "Don't ignore me you idiot!' She smacked him upside the head.
"Jesus, Luce! That… hurt..." He lost his words as he turned to face her. The way she was looking at him was unsettling; making him unsure of how he should respond. Her brown eyes looked at him playfully and a large smile was plastered to her face. He couldn't help but let out a stifled laugh at his friend's childish expression, she really was something else. "So, what were you sayin'?"
Lucy leaned forward and began writing in the air. He noticed she was using the pen he had gotten her for her birthday; he liked it because it was the same pink as his hair. "I was thinking we should start out with a rough draft to get the main idea. Then, we could add details to make it more interesting." She went on to talk about the importance of spell checking and what-not.
"Hmm?" He squinted at her writing. "Your handwriting sucks almost as bad as Mira's."
The blonde shot him a death glare, taking a great deal of offence. "You do it then," She grabbed his hand, which caught him off guard. Lucy placed the pen between his fingers and sat back. He looked at her for a moment in awkward silence. "Well, write." She waved at him to go.
"Riiight…" He began adding his own scribbles next to hers. God damn it, what's wrong with me? Natsu cursed to himself.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Sorry if Natsu seems OOC, he's not the easiest character to use in a romance story, lol.
The school uniforms are the same as in the Fairy Tail OVA's and the Academy is actually based off of Stadium High School (If you haven't seen it, you should look it up!). I first saw this school in the movie "Ten Reasons Why I Hate You" and I loved it [:
Thank you who are bearing with me even though I'm still a beginner, I hope to keep continuing this story ^^