Hey guys! I re-edited the first chapter since we made some changes that are pretty significant to the plot so yeah go and check that out. Sorry this took so long but I'll try to update at least once or twice a month. So yeah, enjoy!
Loke was the only reason Lucy got to school on time the next day. The lion kwami had taken it upon himself to act as Lucy's alarm clock by persistently poking her cheek until she woke up. "Only twenty minutes until school starts," he announced and that got Lucy throwing on clothes and racing down the stairs where Erza was setting breakfast out on the table.
"Good you're awake," the redhead commented. "I was afraid I would have had to wake you up myself." Lucy shuddered at the memory of Erza dousing her in cold water to get her to wake up.
"No, I'm fine. Thanks Erza, I just had a long night last night," Lucy yawned as she remembered her walk home and getting saved from her harasser by Chat Noir. "That history project is killing me."
"Then you shouldn't have procrastinated," Erza lectured. Lucy sighed before scarfing down her breakfast and running out the door.
"Bye Erza!" she called as she sprinted down the lawn and out the gates of the mansion. Erza was about to call her back and tell her to wait for the limo to take her to school but by the time she reached the sidewalk Lucy was nowhere to be seen. The redhead sighed with a small smile. She knew that Lucy was stressed what with her secret life as Ladybug, school, and dealing with a stressful father.
Natsu had woken up a couple of minutes after Lucy and like her he was just rushing out the door. "Natsu wait up!" he heard Lucy yell from down the street.
"Hey Luce! How are you?" He stopped while Lucy jogged to catch up with him. Upon closer inspection, Natsu noticed her clothes were wrinkled and her hair was a mess. Clearly she had gotten a bad sleep, which made perfect sense in Natsu's opinion. After all she had been working on a project and then she got harassed.
"Exhausted," she breathed. "What about you?" She wouldn't tell him about her encounter with Chat Noir last night. That could wait for later. Knowing Natsu, he would interrogate her for every detail and Lucy really didn't want to get into that discussion before school. She needed coffee first. Before Natsu could reply she stopped in front of a small coffee shop. "Natsu you don't mind if we're a little bit late right?" Lucy asked and Natsu shook his head.
"I need coffee too. You could say I had a long night last night," was all he cryptically answered her with and Lucy shrugged. Five minutes later the two best friends emerged from the coffee shop and back into the Magnolia streets. "We need to hurry."
"I never thought I'd see the day when Natsu Dragneel is trying to get to school on time," Lucy teased and he rolled his eyes.
"No, I just don't need to give that ice jerk more things to use against me," Natsu defended. By "ice jerk" he was referring to their friend Gray. Lucy laughed as the two of them continued their walk in comfortable silence, both sipping their coffees. By the time the two of them reached the Fairy Tail Academy's courtyard they heard the school bell chime and they sprinted through the halls until they reached their classroom.
"Sorry we're late Gildarts," Lucy apologized to their teacher. One of the great things about Fairy Tail was the fact that all of the teachers went by their first names. It was completely informal and everybody loved it.
"Just try to make it on time from now on," their teacher reprimanded. Natsu and Lucy both knew, however, that this certainly wouldn't be the last time they were late. Saving the city did have some consequences and lack of sleep was definitely one of them. The two best friends took their places. Lucy sat next to her friend Levy while Natsu sat, with great reluctance, next to Gray.
In Natsu's opinion, school couldn't have felt longer. He wanted to find out what Lucy thought of Chat Noir without being too obvious that he was the masked hero. And he also needed to ask her for help with his history project. He hadn't even started. When the final bell rang Natsu whooped and jumped up. "C'mon Luce, let's go get something to eat!" Lucy didn't quite share his enthusiasm but humored him anyway. "So what made you have a long night last night?" he asked innocently and Lucy sighed.
"I was working on my project with Levy and I got home late from it," Lucy omitted the part of the story that directly followed although she knew it would be useless. Natsu might be a bit dense but he wasn't stupid, not at all. Not to mention he was also one of Lucy's oldest friends and he could tell if she was lying with little to no trouble.
"And that's all that happened?" the pinkette raised one of his eyebrows and stared at Lucy intently, trying to get her to cave.
"Some guy stopped me in the middle of the street but I managed to deal with it," Lucy summarized but Natsu didn't back down. "Really Natsu that's all that happened!"
"I don't believe you," he sang and Lucy had the sudden urge to hit her head against a window.
"Fine! Chat Noir was nearby and he beat the guy up before walking me home. Are you happy now?" Lucy snapped and Natsu inwardly smirked.
"What did you think of Chat Noir?" Natsu continued his interview in a nonchalant voice. Fingers crossed, she would say that she liked him. At least that way she was in love with at least half of him right? If she did like Chat Noir Natsu could hold on to the slim hope that she might be in love with his civilian self too.
"He was ok, I mean he walked me home and made sure that I was alright which was sweet," Lucy replied. She couldn't actually come right out and say what she did think of him (that he could be too cocky and sometimes way too flirty) because that would reveal her secret identity.
"Is that all?" Natsu prompted and Lucy nodded her head. To be fair, she also was trying desperately to block out the thought of how she wished it was Natsu instead of Chat Noir. "By the way Luce," the blonde turned her head and looked at him.
"What's up Natsu?" she asked.
"Can you help me with the history project? I haven't started yet." He gazed at her with puppy dog eyes and Lucy sighed. Whenever he pulled that expression she couldn't say no.
"Sure, let's go to my house and we can start working on it," she consented and Natsu internally cheered.
"Who is it?" Erza asked through the intercom when Lucy and Natsu approached the gates of Lucy's house.
"It's just me Erza; I have Natsu with me," she answered with a sigh. "I get so tired of this," she admitted when the gate silently swung open.
"Hello Lucy, Natsu," Erza nodded her head in greeting when the two teenagers entered the house. "Did the two of you have a good day?"
"It was average," Natsu shrugged. "C'mon Luce, I need to get started on that project!"
"You haven't even started?" the blonde shrieked. "That idiot," she muttered.
"I'll bring up food for you two," Erza said as she started walking away.
"Thanks Erza you're the best," Lucy said as she sprinted after her best friend. "Natsu! Where are you?" she called, the pinkette nowhere to be found. "Natsu come on, you were the one who wanted to start this project," she whined. She sighed to herself before Natsu jumped out of a closet and right in front of her.
"Boo!" he yelled and Lucy screamed out of surprise. In front of her stood her pink-haired best friend who was bent over with laughter. "Your face was priceless!"
"You idiot! If you came over here to work then get serious already!" Lucy yelled back and she dragged him by the white scarf he always wore to her room.