Mr. Lucy's Date

Chapter 3: Who Knows Lucy?

(A/N: Italics is thinking)

"Alright everybody! Time's up!" Mira announced, making her way back to the stage. "I can only hope everyone's back on time!" The hostess looked around, taking a mental check list. Lucy, check. Bixlow, Freed, Laxus, check. Levy, Wendy, Cana, check. Gajeel and Master, check. Erza, check. Gray and Laxus, check. Natsu, ch- wait, that dumbass isn't here! I specifically said to be back on time, FOR A REASON, Mira ranted to herself.

During Mira's self-rant, the guild door's were slammed open, revealing a disheveled Natsu. "Sorry everybody!" Natsu apologized, scratching the back of his head, "I went to get something to eat, and, um, got lost. Sorry!" No one was surprised, and after Erza quickly punched Natsu to make up for lost time, Mira continued the pageant.

"Now, Fairy Tail, it's time for the second competition! Who knows Lucy the best? I know, I know, Levy would totally win this, but she's a judge, sorry!" Mira turned towards the competitors, and explained the rules. "This portion is quite simple. I will ask 10 questions about Lucy. Everyone gives an answer for each question, and I will announce what the answer was, and who was correct. One correct answer is a point, so however many answers you get right automatically is your score out of 10."

Natsu grinned face to face, this is going to be sooo easy! I'm the only one who knows anything about Lucy. None of these guys pay attention to her! Natsu smirked, giving everyone an arrogant glance, before remembering Erza is also competing. Damn it. She listens carefully, and I get so distracted! Ugh! I wish I wasn't so distrac- where did Happy get that fish?

As Natsu was rambling on in his mind, Mira had started the game. "Time to start. Ready? First question. Where is Lucy's guild mark located? You have 10 seconds, and then I will hear everyone's answers."

Bixlow: Uh, lower back?

Freed: Stomach.

Gray: Front of her left hand.

Laxus: On her body somewhere.

Loke: Back of her right hand.

Natsu: Back of her right hand.

Erza: Back of her right hand.

"The correct answer was - on the back of her right hand! One point to Loke, Natsu, and Erza. Half a point to Gray, for being very very close. I will announce scores every 3 rounds! So pay attention!" Mira reported, before starting the next round. "Question two. What color is her guild mark?"

Bixlow: Purple.

Freed: Green.

Gray: Pink.

Laxus: Blue.

Loke: Blue.

Natsu: Pink.

Erza: Pink.

"The correct answer was, pink! One point to Gray, Erza and Natsu! Let's hurry along, for a score update after round 3. Question 3, what color are her eyes?"

Bixlow: Blue

Freed: Green

Gray: Brown

Laxus: Brown

Loke: Brown

Natsu: Deep, dreamy brown eyes. Wait! No! Just brown eyes!

At this point, everyone was giggling at Natsu's embarrassment. "At least you remembered it, Natsu!" Lucy called out comfortingly, smiling.

Erza: Brown, like Natsu said.

"Correct answer - brown! Many people got this one! One point to Gray, Laxus, Loke, Erza, and I'm gonna give Natsu 2, for being so cute!" Mira squealed. The other contestants groaned, annoyed that Natsu got a free point. "Alright, the first score update! Everybody ready? In order of least to most, these are the standings:

Bixlow: 0

Freed: 0

Laxus: 1

Loke: 2

Gray: 2.5

Erza: 3

Natsu: 4

Wow, Natsu's in the lead everybody! Give him a round of applause!" Mira marveled, a big smile on her face. She was glad that Natsu x Lucy was becoming more real as time passed. The entire time, she had her eyes set on Natsu winning, so why not help him out a bit? Mira giggled to herself, this will be so easy! Lucy's gonna fall head over heels for him - if not already!

"Now, now, guys. Enough noise! Time for Question 4! This should be real easy for you, Loke. How many keys in total does Lucy have?"

Bixlow: 13.

Freed: 12.

Gray: 16.

Laxus: 14.

Loke: 15.

Natsu: 15, furrowing his eyebrows and taking a total shot in the dark.

Erza: 15, coping Loke sneakily.

"As you could guess, Loke has the right answer! 15 keys in total! One point to Loke, Natsu, and Erza! Question 5, what is Lucy's favorite food?"

Bixlow: Ice cream.

Freed: Pizza.

Gray: Ice - cream.

Laxus: Uh, I don't know. Yogurt?

Loke: Bento.

Natsu: YOGURT! I KNEW THIS ONE! SHE LOVES YOGURT! Natsu screamed, beaming that he actually knew one.

Erza. Yogurt, again, coping Natsu. She had an advantage of being last.

"Well… I think everyone knows the answer now, Natsu. The correct answer is, yep, yogurt. One point for Natsu, Laxus, and Erza. Last question before another score update! Question 6, what are Lucy's top two favorite colors?"

Bixlow: Pink and blue.

Freed: Green and green.

Gray: Gray and pink, sniggering to himself at the joke he made.

Laxus: Yellow and pink.

Loke: Blue and pink.

Natsu: Pink and… light pink?

Erza: Pink and blue.

"Isn't this suspenseful! Much harder than the other questions, you had to have two answers! Let's see who got this right. Bixlow, Loke, and Erza earn a point with the correct answer of pink and blue! And now, after some tasteful waiting, the current scores!

Freed: 0

Bixlow: 1

Laxus: 2

Gray: 2.5

Loke: 4

Erza: 6

Natsu: 6

Wow, ladies and gentleman, this competition sure is heating up. A tie with Erza and Natsu?! How crazy! Loke's right behind them, two points behind. But don't worry everyone! You can still catch up! Do your best! Time for round 7! Ready? Question 7, who, so far, is the only one to read Lucy's novel?"

Bixlow: Levy.

Freed: Levy.

Gray: Levy.

Laxus: Levy.

Loke: Levy.

Natsu: Uh, Levy?

Erza: Levy.

"This is quite a surprise! Everyone got it correct! Levy is, yes, the only one to read Lucy's novel! Round of applause for our contestants - and Levy!" Mira congratulated, everyone's eyes on Levy as she blushes a deep red color. Gajeel, next to Levy, who had his eyes fixed on her, immediately noticed her blush. Wow, she's kinda cute when she blushes… Gajeel thought to himself, before dismissing the thought. We're just friends - I tease her, that's all!

"Next round everyone! Question 8, what are her parents names? This might be a hard one, but hopefully you men (and Erza) paid attention to Lucy!"

Bixlow: Jade and Lilly.

Freed: Jude and Layla.

Gray: Judith and Layla.

Laxus: Dunno. Pass.

Loke: Jude and Lilly.

Natsu: Layla and Jude!

Erza: Jude and Layla, obviously.

"Nice job, guys! The correct answer is Jude and Layla, but I will give a half a point to a contestant who got one name right, but not both! One point to Freed, Gray, Natsu, and Erza. Half a point to Loke." Mira quickly looked at her watch, realizing it's getting later in the day - it was 1pm. The party was at 8pm and everybody still had to get ready! And it takes an hour to get there! AND I STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN LUCY'S DATE! Mira shrieked in her mind. She shushed the crowd and began hosting again. "Let's get along now! Question 9, What guild is hosting the party Lucy is attending tonight?"

Bixlow: Love & Lucky.

Freed: Love & Lucky.

Gray: Love & Lucky.

Laxus: Uh. Some merchant guild, I dunno.

Loke: Love & Lucky.

Natsu: Ah! She told me but I forgot! Uh, uh, Lamia Scale?

Erza: Love & Lucky.

"Very good! 5 contestants got this question correct - the answer was Love & Lucky! One point for Bixlow, Freed, Gray, Loke and Erza." Mira announced, before looking at a disappointed Natsu. She knew he was beating himself up for not knowing. Mira curled her mouth into an evil smile and said, "and, one point to Natsu because he has a cute disappointed face!"

The contestants (and some of the crowd) made loud protests, but that didn't defer Mira from helping Natsu to win. In the middle of the guild, she could see Lucy with a bright smile on her face. Everyone knows Natsu and Lucy are supposed to be together - except for each other! Mira thought, as she noticed Lucy's blush when Natsu had glanced over to her with a cheeky grin.

"Come on now, everyone calm down. I'm the hostess, I can do whatever I want! In fact, I'm gonna skip the scoreboard for Round 9, and have it at the end, after Round 10! So there!" Mira stuck her tongue out, forcing everyone to wait even longer. This elicited loud groans from everyone. Half the people wanted to know the scores, and half wanted this stupid game to be over already.

"SHUT UP! Okay. Round 10 - Question 10. One point for each correct answer. Name as many of Lucy's well-known nicknames as possible. In total, there are 7 nicknames, so if you get every single one you will get a huge boost on your points. This is everyone's chance to catch up! Let's start!"

Bixlow: I know the one I gave her - the cosplay queen. Another one is Lu-chan. That's all I know.

Freed: Blondie and princess.

Gray: Princess, bunny girl, blondie, and Lu-chan.

Laxus: Princess, blondie, beauty, and bunny girl.

Loke: Princess/Hime, blondie, and Lu-chan.

Natsu: Luigi, blondie, princess, bunny girl, Luce, and Lu-chan.

Erza: Princess, bunny girl, Luce, and Lu-chan.

"Wow, I didn't know the contestants would know that many nicknames! Nice job everyone! The 7 correct nicknames are as follows: Blondie, Princess/Hime, Luce, Lu-chan, Luigi, Bunny Girl, and The Cosplay Queen! For round 10, Bixlow and Freed earned 2 points. Laxus earned 3 points (beauty is not one of her nicknames - though it should be!). Loke also earned 3 points. Gray and Erza both achieved 4 points, and guess who won round 10. Natsu! With a high score of 6 points! Woo! Nice job Natsu! Now, I have to add all the points up for a grand total. I will be back in a few minutes with the scores!"

"Alright! I'm back! Again, I will start with lowest score to highest, for portion 2! By the way, at the very end of portion 3, I will be adding up portion 1, 2, and 3's point for a GRAND grand total! Let's get going! For portion 2, Who Knows Lucy?

5th: Bixlow: 5

4th: Freed: 6

4th: Laxus: 6

3rd: Gray: 9.5

3rd: Loke: 9.5

2nd: Erza: 13

And .. the winner of portion 2, is Natsu Dragneel with a score of 15 points! Alright!

1st: Natsu: 15"

Natsu jumped up and down in joy - he won! (at least portion 2). He jumped to the center of the stage and let out a big roar of fire, accidentally catching the curtains on fire. The audience was half cheering, half taken aback at the sudden fire in the guild. However, the fire was quickly put out with some fancy work from Juvia. But, the fire didn't matter to Natsu. All he wanted was to see Lucy's face. And he did! He was so happy to see her face! Lucy's smile was one of the biggest, brightest, warmest smiles he's ever seen OR felt. Natsu was proud to be her best friend, and proud to (hopefully) be her date.

While Natsu was congratulating himself, Mira had announced that the pageant would resume in an hour, at 2:30pm. She explained that this hour gave everyone a time for intermission, to get snacks, drinks, chitchat or whatever. Mira also explained that the hour for the contestants would be taken up on deciding their themed costumes and how to model it.

Soon after the announcement, everyone dispersed. Natsu, Erza, and the other contestants went reluctantly behind stage, getting ready for their themed costume portion. They wanted to spend time with Lucy! However, Natsu, Erza, and Loke exchanged glares and this sparked determination in them, as they rushed off into separate places to practice. Each with the same thought in their mind: I will win.

End of Chapter 3: Who Knows Lucy?

I changed talent portion to themed costume - you will understand later.