A/N: Finals are finally over and done with! Awesome author's note, I know.


Hangover


With a quiet groan, the fiery-haired Natsu unlocked the door to his apartment and entered. It didn't take him long to get home after Lucy exited the bus, and Natsu swore he was feeling somewhat better for some weird reason.

He didn't try to smoke yet though. He had this strange feeling it would've killed him. The very first smoke almost did.

But he lived with by this idiotic code. If, during a hangover, you smoked a cigarette and felt even shittier than you already did, it meant you were still very much alive.

The pinket was instantly bombarded with the stench of alcohol and sweat, his nose crumpling up in disgust. The fuck had he done last night? However, a quick and seemingly heavenly smell quickly pushed away the disgust he was feeling as he turned to the kitchen, noticing his red haired roommate fiddling with the stove, "Yo, Natsu." Erik waved a hand in greeting without even looking back at him, "Long night?"

"The hell are you doing?" Natsu questioned as he removed his Jordans and went to inspect the kitchen, ignoring Erik's question.

"Ramen noodles. Want some?" Natsu's brows furrowed when he realized that Erik wasn't actually cooking – he just bought some insta-noodles from the store. He shrugged though; who was he to complain? That stuff, disregarding the fact that it was unhealthy as all hell and was actually fucking flammable, was delicious beyond belief.

The two roommates sat down near the kitchen table and began slurping on the still-hot food. Erik coughed slightly as the water burned his tongue, whilst Natsu didn't even feel the heat – something that surprised Erik to this day, "So, I hear you had some fun yesterday?" He asked, trying to get back on the topic.

Natsu glared at Erik, "Hey, you were there." He said in an accusatory tone, "The fuck happened, anyway?"

The redhead just chuckled, "Well… you slept with Cana." He stated with a shrug, and Natsu simply sighed tiredly, "She's passed out in your room right now."

At this Natsu almost chocked on a noodle.

"What?"

Erik broke out in a fit of howling laughter as Natsu put his plastic cup of noodles down and bolted to his own room. The redhead grinned as he heard Natsu cursing before the pinket came back, "And you hadn't the slightest hint to try and get her the fuck out of here?" The pink haired Dragneel growled out while pointing his finger at Erik.

"Hey, trust me, I tried." Now it was Erik's time to sigh, "You wouldn't believe how difficult she was being. Saying some annoying bullshit in her sleep like "I've never had sex this good" or "I'm never leaving this bed again." The fuck did you do to her?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I can't remember shit." Natsu plopped back down on the chair he had been sitting on and he rubbed his temple in exasperation, "Wait, how was she not there when I woke up?"

"Beats me. Maybe she was puking or something." The redhead stated as if it were the universal truth of reality and Natsu just kept his thoughts to himself, shaking his head before returning to his food, "Oh, by the way, you do remember that we have a match today, right?"

Natsu facepalmed loud enough that even Cana rustled back in his room, "Fuck, I forgot." He groaned tiredly, "Of course we have a game when I feel like complete and utter shit."

"You look like shi-"

"Shut the fuck up." Natsu glared at his roommate, the redhead later raising his hands up defensively with a chuckle, "Who are we playing against?"

"Pegasus." Natsu let out a sharp hah at this.

"It'll be easy then."

Erik shook his head, "I wouldn't think so. Those three regulars they've got? I hear they've become even better this year ever since they got a new coach." Natsu looked puzzled at this, "No idea who the guy is. All I've heard is that he used to be with the national team some years back or something."

The pinket almost sputtered, "National team?" He gawked, "What position?"

"Haven't the foggiest." Erik admitted and Natsu deflated, making the former chuckle. He had a hunch Natsu had this urge to interrogate Pegasus's coach after the match if the guy ended up being a Power Forward, just like Natsu was, "Tough luck."

"When are we leaving then?"

"You're not going to get Cana to leave?"

"Does she look like she's going to leave?"

"Point taken." Both of them sighed, though admittedly Erik was stifling a laugh, "Jellal's coming over to pick us up in around an hour. It's an away game." Erik added when he noticed Natsu's confusion, and the pinket nodded in understanding before chowing down on what remained of his noodles, "I hear quite a few people are coming to cheer for us."

"Hah, I bet Jelly made sure this match was all over Facebook. I wouldn't be surprised to see that shit on Tinder, honestly."

"Oh yeah, there are like five separate events for this. I swear, that guy needs publicity like oxygen."

"And he tells us we are the ones who need it." Both of them chuckled, though they appreciated what Jellal was doing for them. Erik and Natsu both knew that they weren't really out to be scholars or anything – hell, both of them got into FTU only because of the basketball scholarship they got. Basketball was really the only real thing they had going for them, and being scouted by some team before graduation was really the only thing they wanted.

"Alright, I'm going to hit the shower real quick." Natsu said as he finished his noodles and Erik nodded in confirmation.

"I'm just going to… you know… try to get that chick out of here."

"Good luck with that."


"Natsu!"

The man in question groaned in annoyance as he exhaled a grey puff of smoke and looked over his shoulder to notice a very annoyed Jellal glaring at him, "Didn't I tell you to quit smoking?"

"Yes, yes you did, dad." The pinket drawled out as he inhaled and exhaled again, watching the blue haired man with amused eyes.

Jellal brought a hand to his face before shaking his head, "Smoking isn't going to help you become a better athlete, Natsu." The older man said in exasperation, a quiet chuckle audible behind both of them.

"Don't even bother, coach. You know this guy's an idiot."

"Your face is a fucking idiot, stripper!" Natsu quickly retorted to the amused Gray who had just exited the minibus they were previously in. The raven haired man was quickly followed by Erik, Laxus and Gajeel, the latter scoffing as he too took out a cigarette and inhaled, "See? Gajeel's with me here."

"That's a first." Laxus commented and Erik nodded with a curiosity.

"I'm not with this bastard, I just really wanted a smoke."

"Oi!"

Jellal simply sighed at his team's antics as he waited for both Natsu and Gajeel to finish smoking. The six of them later quickly made their way into Blue Pegasus University's away team's dressing room, the five players, sans Jellal, beginning to change as soon as entering.

"So, what's the plan, coach?" Gray questioned as he looked to Jellal, the four others doing the same.

The bluenet nodded as he folded his arms, "Well, we all remember the Pegasus last year that placed eighth in the inter-uni matches. That makes them pretty strong as is. But they've gotten even stronger this year. Some say they're the favorites this year 'round."

"Is it because of this new coach I've been hearing about?" Erik questioned, chuckling at Natsu's excited expression.

Their coach nodded, but didn't seem as amused as Natsu, "Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki." He mused, "He was a player in Fiore's national team fifteen years ago."

"Wasn't he a benchwarmer though?" Laxus asked as he slipped on his black-red jersey, glancing at Jellal with some form of curiosity.

Their coach nodded, "That's true, but he's been on the court quite enough times to be considered as having national experience. That and he's an observer. He watches and learns." He scratched his chin in thought, "You could say he's shaping Pegasus to be on the national level as well."

"So what do we do about that?" Gray asked, yet his train of thought was interrupted when a certain pink haired individual groaned loudly in annoyance.

"Who cares? We play like we usually do and kick their ass!" Natsu grinned widely as he looked at Jellal with competitive eyes.

Jellal looked at him almost incredulously before closing his eyes and releasing a breath of relief, Why was I even worried? He noticed how the other four players had also begun sporting confident and expectant expressions, ranging from grins to smirks, "Alright! Get your asses in gear and let's go hunt us some horses!"

"Right!"


A few more minutes passed before Natsu and everyone else in the team were ready. The six of them made their way to the court, Jellal giving them their final instructions and warnings which Natsu zoned out due to feeling the brunt of his hangover again. He grunted to himself, why now?

Erik placed a hand on the pinket's shoulder as they entered the light of the court, "You okay?"

Cheers erupted from the almost packed stands which Natsu ignored due to being used to it already as he looked up to look at his roommate. However, as he was doing so, his eyes accidentally locked on a certain blonde girl sitting up at the stands. He moved Erik's hand away as his eyes remained locked on her, "Yeah, I… gimme a sec." Natsu simply ran past Erik, the redhead's eyes looking towards where Natsu was going, a small smile making its way to his lips before he followed their teammates. Erik somehow managed to notice Pegasus's coach giving them orders, ...how the hell was someone this short on a national team?

"Lucy?" Natsu spat out between breaths as he stood below her. The blonde's hazel eyes looked down to notice him, widening in surprise before she offered him a sincere smile.

"Hey." She said in what Natsu swore was the most calming tone he'd ever heard.

"Don't "hey" me, the hell are you doing here?"

She blinked, "What, can't I go see and cheer for our team?"

"Cheer- you- wha-" He shook his head in embarrassment before his eyes locked on her again, "No, you can, I just… Ah, screw it." He sighed tiredly before turning around and making his way back towards the court.

"Good luck!" He didn't know why, but her cheering him on somehow made him feel better. Better and ready to kick ass.

The five of them lined up in the middle of the court, facing the other team head on as they got the introductions out of the way. Natsu also noticed Ichiya looking at his team from the bench, a sweatdrop making itself known on his features. He turned to Erik, "How the hell was someone that short on a national team?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

"Ready to lose this time, Fairy Tail?" The captain and point guard of the Pegasus team, Hibiki, said through a confident and almost mocking grin, interrupting their thoughts.

Natsu quickly returned a grin of his own, "Didn't you say the exact same thing last year, mr. perfect?"

"And you got your ass whooped like the little bitches that you are." Gajeel added for effect, his crimson eyes focused on Ren, their Center.

"That won't happen again." Their Small Forward, Eve, retorted.

"We'll see about that." Gray said and Laxus simply evil-eyed them, choosing to not take part in this meaningless conversation. He and Pegasus's Center both stood in the very middle of the court as the other team members took their respective positions on either side of the court. The referee quickly spoke some drivel that nobody really cared about before tossing the ball into the air. Laxus's knees bent before he launched himself in the air, his eyes widening when Ren flew above him and stole the ball with a smirk.

"We tried to warn you." Ren said triumphantly, watching Laxus in amusement whilst the blond's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Gray quickly dashed to where the ball should have dropped, gritting his teeth when Eve got there before him, "Tough luck." The shorter individual said with a smile before passing the ball to Hibiki.

"Defense!" Erik yelled and the FTU team quickly hurried back to their own hoop to get into defensive positions. Natsu was already breathing heavily, his head spinning from the hangover, I can't even catch this bastard! He cursed inwardly before he just let Hibiki run past him.

Erik clicked his tongue when Hibiki dribbled past him, the Pegasus player holding up two fingers as he did so to inform his team of their plan. It didn't take long for their captain to pass the ball to Ren who, with a combination attack from him and another one of his teammates, managed to get past Laxus's defense and score the first bucket.

"Damn it!" The blond center cursed under his breath as he watched the smiling Pegasus players return to their positions, "Oi, Natsu!"

"I know, I know." The pinket wiped the sweat away from his forehead, trying his best not to flinch under the Center's gaze, "I'm trying here."

"Come on, guys. We can't lose our first official match." Jellal mumbled nervously as he chewed on his thumb, already thinking of calling a timeout as he inspected his players.

But he decided to trust them, and they kept on playing for a couple more minutes in the first quarter. FTU had shaped up their defense and kept Pegasus from scoring, but their offence was lacking as Natsu was in no condition to attack properly and Gray's threes kept getting blocked, "Natsu, damn it!" The raven haired man growled at the pinket who just ignored him.

Natsu was lost in his own head, berating himself and trying to figure out how the heck he was supposed to do this. Literally no plans came to his mind to get back on offence, and he was about to lose hope at the very beginning of the goddamn match.

…when a certain hand on his shoulder brought him out of his musings, "How about we give our fans something to be happy about, huh?" Natsu's eyes met Erik's, and he noticed that his roommate was pointing his finger towards the now-silent crowd that had gathered to watch. Natsu's gaze followed to where Erik was pointing in particular, shock overtaking him when he saw Lucy, looking much too worried for his liking.

And boy did that make him feel good.

He grinned as he ran a hand along his hair, turning to Erik once again as the redhead nudged him, "I got a plan."


"Hey, Gajeel – give me the ball!" Erik shouted as FTU was on the offensive. The black haired Point Guard in question seemed somewhat surprised, but shrugged and tossed the basketball to his teammate who instantly started bouncing it on the court. He locked eyes with his mark, Eve, and grinned, "Time we paid you fuckers back."

Eve blinked and steeled himself for Erik's assault. His eyes widened when Erik drifted to one side and quickly cut back to the other side with a crossover, the Pegasus player feeling himself falling down, his butt hitting the wooden floor of the court, Ankle breaker?!

The redhead quickly charged with a grin on his face, Ren introducing himself swiftly as Erik's new mark, "You aren't getting past me!"

"No, I'm not." Erik's grin widened, "But he is." With one swift motion he flung his arm over his back and tossed the basketball upwards where – to everyone's surprise – Natsu was already there in the air, his right hand reaching for the ball.

A lane up?!

"Eat this!" Hibiki didn't even have time to react as Natsu grabbed the alley-oop and flew by him before slam dunking the ball into the hoop with a battle-cry, scoring their first points. What no one – Natsu included – expected though, was the amount of strength the pinket would put into his charge. The hoop was literally ripped off of its hinges, the glass breaking and showering the players underneath.

Natsu blinked a few times, sweatdropping as he started looking pale. With wide and shock-filled eyes he looked back to the other players on the court, hoop still in-hand, to notice that they were sporting similar expressions.

"YOU BROKE THE FUCKING HOOP AGAIN, YOU MORON!" Erik shouted as be bonked their Power Forward over the head while Jellal facepalmed in aggravation, his mind already trying to come up with how much the repairs were going to cost. Though, admittedly, he was stifling a snicker. Natsu gave a sheepish chuckle before he heard a distinctly familiar female laugh. Turning, he noticed that said laugh did indeed belong to a smiling Lucy, and he grinned.

"Alright, time to win this!... after you guys fix the hoop, of course."