Alright, here it is. I hope you guys like it, and constructive criticism is always welcome. ^-^

Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, I wouldn't be writing a fanfiction about it.

( -_- )(*w*)

Shuffling papers and the constant tapping of a pen could be heard throughout the entire apartment. Lucy was plopped on living room floor, hunched over dozens of musty old books that reeked of mildew and decomposing paper. The novels were scattered atop a coffee table littered with copious pages of carelessly written notes and an overturned coffee mug that she didn't even know spilt. A frustrated sigh escaped the blonde's lips as she squinted at the distorted text in front of her. She had been up all night, desperately trying to complete the many assignments Mrs. Mann had so kindly given them.

Beside her, Natsu was lazily sprawled out on the floor. After classes had ended, he constantly begged her to go on a mission. To her astonishment- after firmly being told 'no'- he snuck in through the window to continue his harassment. Despite all the whining and pleading, he didn't bother to help her with the workload and instead gutted the fridge of all its contents, trashed her bathroom- she didn't want to know how- and set her couch on fire. Twice. Lucy glared down at him with irritation when he murmured incoherent nothings under his breath for the tenth time that night. His rosy hair was a tangled wreck and he was sprawled out on his back as if he had been knocked out during a battle. His uniform was a wrinkled disaster, and his shirt buttons weren't even in the right holes. Even so, he managed to maintain an idiotic grin throughout the entirety of the night.

"You know," Lucy exhaled deeply as she leaned against the couch with another book. "You'd be cuter if you weren't so obnoxious."

"You'd be cuter if you weren't such a weirdo." He retorted barely loud enough for her to hear. Natsu propped himself up on one elbow and wearily blinked the sleep from his eyes. He glanced over at the clock in the kitchen to see it was only five in the morning. The Salamander turned to face the window with disgust; the sky was an eerie tint of blue and frost gathered on the glass in crystallized patterns. "Damn it, I hate waking up before noon…" He fell back to the floor with a thud and tugged his scarf over his eyes.

"If you fall asleep again, I'm not waking you up." She warned him while mindlessly picking at the corner of a yellowed page. As if trying to piss her off, his snores instantly filled the air. She slammed her book shut; forcing dust to escape the bindings in a puff. Without a second thought, the girl pelted the heavy novel at the Dragon Slayer's face.

Natsu let out a muffled grunt and tossed the object of assault to the side. "You're as mean as Erza, ya' know that?" He stumbled to his feet and made his way to the kitchen. He began to search the cupboards for something to eat, only to find that they had long since been cleared out.

"And you're as ignorant as Gray- maybe even worse." She shrugged.

Natsu knelt on the floor and waved off her comment as he continued rummaging through the cereal cabinet. "Don't compare me to that nudist bastard." Disappointment overcame him as he blankly stared at the one remaining box sitting in the back corner with a sheet of dust on it. "Geez, Luce, where'd all your food go…?" It was a known fact that the fire breather wasn't picky eater, but there was no way in hell he was going to enjoy a bowl full of stale 'Yum-O's'.

"You ate it all, remember?" Because of him and that damn Exceed, she was forced to survive off of take out and instant ramen noodles for the past month.

"I'm an honest man, Lucy Heartfilia, so believe me when I say this; I do not recall eating anything." He crossed his arms and continued to mentally burn a hole in the box with his gaze.

Honest man, my ass. Lucy sighed with defeat and got off the floor. She knew there was no chance in winning this conversation and tramped over to her disgruntled teammate. Natsu observed curiously as she rifled through a junk drawer. After a couple minutes of searching, she yanked out a small box and pressed it into his hands. "Here, you can use these."

He fixed his eyes on the cardboard container; it looked too small to be capable of providing a snack, let alone proper meal. "Hmm,"He sat down on the floor and observed it closer. "Matches…" Natsu sounded out the word on the box, but was clueless on how to use them. He shrugged passively and tore it open; causing multiple wooden sticks to scatter onto the tiles. He picked one up and his face filled with distaste. "How the fuck do you to eat this?" Man, that box of Yum-O's was looking better and better.

"You out of all people should know what a match is, Natsu." He looked up at her and pouted like a cat having its fur brushed the wrong way. "Heck, I bet even Gray knows how to use them-"

As if on instinct to hearing his rival's name, Natsu grabbed the fire starters and stuffed them into his mouth. "Mmm…" His voice rang out with sarcasm. Lucy gaped at the boy before her, currently unsure of his mental stability. Everyone knew he was physically prone to doing idiotic things, but this was a new low. Even so, the Dragon Slayer's face beamed with victory; oblivious to the disapproving stares he was receiving. That is, until he tried chewing his food.

"Jeez, you look like you're on a train." The motion-sickness prone teen keeled over at the thought of transportation. "Oh god, don't puke on my floor!" She let out an exasperated cry and yanked on his scarf.

Natsu grasped her wrist in an attempt to regain his footing and sprang at the trash can, barbarically ripping the lip off in the process. After spitting the matches out like a child would with broccoli, he glared back a Lucy in disbelief. "I take back what I said before; you make Erza look like a saint."

Lucy felt a slight headache coming on, and this time, it wasn't from getting wasted. Grabbing an icepack from the freezer and pressing it on her aching temple, she turned on her heels and strode to the bathroom; deciding that the previous events never happened. "We should head out soon so we can meet up with the others before class." She called before slamming the door shut.

Natsu pulled out the Tasty O's and leisurely leaned over the counter. He took out a handful of the cereal, and other than the disturbing chewy texture, they weren't too horrible. To the average person, this won't be an ideal way to wake up. Having a book thrown at your head, being tricked into consuming horrid household items and resorting to out of date food for breakfast seems less than satisfactory to most, but for the fire breather, this was pretty much as normal as it got.

He became consumed in his thoughts as he continued to eat. Maybe it was just his instincts playing tricks on him, but something felt off. Was it some sort of holiday he forgot about, because that happens a lot? Maybe it's someone's birthday. No, it was something else. Perhaps today was the day he'd finally beat the shit out of Laxus in a one on one battle. Just imagining the lightening user bowing before him in defeat forced a demotic grin to stretch across his face. "Man that would hilarious!" He laughed with a mouth-full of cereal.

The rosette began to pace about the living room as he strategized his attack. He was so concentrated on planning his suicide mission that he didn't notice when his stellar friend returned.

Lucy couldn't fathom what the babbling idiot was thinking-which she had grown used to- but from where she was standing, he looked like he was choreographing some sort of new dance move. "That's it!" He shouted out of the blue, causing the blonde to jump back. He took another handful of cereal before continuing, slightly slurring his speech. "It's fool proof; I'll hide behind the door before class. When Laxus walks in, I'll jump out and before he knows what's happening, I'll-"

"Get slaughtered." Lucy added; her voice coated with a venomous layer of monotone.

Natsu's shoulders slumped when he looked back at his partner. "You're so mean."

"Yeah, yeah, I make Erza look like a priest-"

"Saint," He corrected.

"Whatever. Just finish getting ready so we can leave." She waved at him to hurry up.

"What're you talkin' about? I've been ready this whole time." He pointed an accusing finger at her. "You're the one who's been making us wait."

Lucy scowled at him. Not only did she want to snap his finger off like a twig, but there was no way in Earth land or Edolas she was walking to school with someone looking like that. "You look more dressed up after a mission than you do right now." She gestured at the obviously misplaced buttons on his shirt.

"This is why vests are better- nothin' to button or tie." He grumbled as he fixed them. "Anything else, yer majesty?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets; indicating that he wanted to leave.

Ignoring his impatience, she searched for any other possible flaws. "Brush your hair."

"What? It looks fine." Natsu whined, deciding he was never going to ask a rhetorical question again.

Lucy let out a stifled laugh at his pathetic expression. "Are you serious? You have horrible bed head." More like floor head. She grasped his shirt collar and brought him to her eye level. "And your bangs are messed up; usually they stand up more…" She tried to brush them back, only to have them vale over his face again.

He looked away with slight irritation. "It does that on its own; I have no say in how my hair looks."

"Hmm…" She gently ran her hands through his hair; trying not to pull too hard. But to her surprise, her fingers slid effortlessly though it. Despite its spiky nature, his hair was silky and- "Soft…" She breathed out quietly.

"Hmm?"

"N-nothing," She quickly pulled her hands away. "You've been using my shampoo, haven't you?"

"Do you seriously think I want to smell like cucumber melon?" He stood up straight and reached for the door. "C'mon."

"I think this is the first time I've ever seen you use the front door." She teased as she followed behind him.

"It's difficult to jump out of windows while eating cereal." He confessed.

"You sound like you're saying this from experience…" She locked the door behind them.

The Sky was painted a melancholy gray and fog blanketed the ground as the two walked down Strawberry Street. Lucy balanced along the river wall while Natsu put forth all of his energy to not pass out in the middle of the road. "This is so depressing." He adjusted his scarf.

Lucy peered up at the clouds. "The weather is so indecisive lately," She agreed as they continued walking. "The sky's been so bleak lately, and it's been raining on and off even since we've gotten back. It's almost like it's confused..." She rambled; unaware of the confused stare she was receiving from the Dragon Slayer.

"I say Juvia is just in a pissy mood."

"Seems like she's not the only one." She grumbled and quickened her pace.

He laughed and held up his cereal box. "Eat these; they'll make you feel better."

"No way, that's disgusting! Those have been in that cabinet since before I even moved into the apartment. Hell, they're probably as old as Master."

"You could have just said no."

( -_- )(*w*)

An awkward atmosphere consumed the room as the mages sat in silence and watched the intimidating redhead pace back and forth across the classroom. Her metal boots clanked angrily against the floor with each step, though no one knew why she was in her armor. Erza stopped in her tracks when the door opened to properly scold the two people who entered. "You're late."

"S-sorry," Lucy whispered and took a seat between Cana and Lisanna, the three girls exchanging exhausted glances.

"What's this about?" Natsu flopped on the ground and crossed his arms over his chest. "I could have slept an extra hour if it weren't for you."

Gray kicked him in the back, obviously not amused that flame-brain decided to sit his ass right in front of him. "If you're trying to get yourself killed, do it somewhere else." He snarled.

Natsu glared at the exhibitionist behind him and threatened to light his shoelaces on fire- except for the fact he was barefoot. "I'll die wherever I want." He snapped back. The Ice Mage gaped at his 'friend', unsure of how to respond to such a self inflicting insult.

"Be quiet." Erza warned sternly. She quickly scanned the dimly-lit room before speaking again. "By the looks of it, everyone who received my message last night is accounted for."

Gajeel leaned back nonchalantly in his chair and scowled at her. "By message, do you mean that rock with a note tied on you threw through my window while I was sleeping?"

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" Her eyes darted at the Iron Dragon Slayer irritably.

His eyebrows arched curiously. "Other than the fact that I have a huge-ass bruise on my head and the new window I have to pay for? Nope, everything's fine."

"Gajeel, knock it off." Levy tugged on his sleeve, gaining the metal-head her attention. Her lips were pursed into a small pout, making him decide it was best to stay quiet.

"That's good." She nodded; unaware of the obvious sarcasm the Dragon Slayer had just spewed. "Now, as to why you're here. You are all aware of the essay we have to write before Friday, correct?" The group let out collective groans at the mention of the project. "Good,"

Mirajane stood up and faced her Guild mates. "Erza was working with Ichiya-san and the rest of the staff last night, and they came up with an interesting idea." Erza nodded, with an approving smile painted on her lips. "Instead of only having a punishment for those who don't complete the assignment, they decided to make this more... entertaining." She smiled sweetly. "This will be a competition for the best grade."

"What?" Natsu jumped to his feet and grasped his head in horror. "There's no way in hell I'm going to win that!"

"With Natsu as a partner, I'm screwed…" Lucy sobbed.

"A MAN DOESN'T NEED GOOD GRADES!" Elfman roared, knocking his chair onto the ground in the process.

"Fuck this," Gajeel made his way to the door, with Levy desperately trying to drag him back.

"SIT." She hastily drew her sword.

"A-aye!" Natsu fell back onto the floor as Gajeel grabbed the closest chair, effectively shoving Macao off his seat.

Everyone cowered behind one another as the Titania swung her weapon dangerously while she spoke. "The Council is keeping a close eye on us, so who knows what they'll do if they find out we're slacking off." They all gawked at her as she dramatically sheathed the weapon. "You're all going to participate in this, whether you like it or not."

Wendy politely raised her to attract the Knight Mage's attention. "Um… What are we going to be doing, exactly?"

"Oh, yes of course. Each class has a specific topic they must write about and is divided into groups of two. However, most of us aren't even capable of writing our own names without having to think about it," She glanced over at Natsu, coaxing the group to let out a few stifled laughs, "so instead, we will be displaying our topics rather than reading about them."

"Displaying them?" Freed questioned.

"For example, if your topic was 'Making a rune', you would demonstrate writing one, not read directions about it to us." Mira chimed in. "But don't forget, the rule about those who fail to complete the assignment attending summer sessions still applies. Understand, Freed?" Her smile morphed into something more murderous.

"Y-yes," He grumbled, half of him wishing the barmaid hadn't been his selected partner.

"So, we have to act out our project, and if we fail to do so, we have summer school." Wakaba thought aloud. "But, what do we get if we win the highest grade?"

"Oh, I forgot!" Mira joyously clapped her hands together. "The winner, or should I say winners, will be given the privilege of early graduation."

"In other words, you'll get out of here before everyone else and not have to do homework. Anyways, class is about to start," Erza motioned at the clock. "Make sure to practice what you'll be doing, because I don't pass people who don't take their work seriously."

"Woah, w-wait," Gray stuttered. "You're grading us?"

"Don't worry- I'm sure you'll do fine!" Lisanna put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, with Juvia searing in rage behind them.

"We should go, Gray-sama." She clutched his arm and dragged him out of the room.

Lucy tapped Natsu's shoulder to grab his attention. "We should probably get going, too. We don't want to piss off Mrs. Mann again." He looked down at his blonde companion for a moment before grasping her hand and racing out of the room. Heat rose to her face when her fingers intertwined with his.

"Screw class, we're going to get a head start with our practice!" The rosette cheered as he dragged the stunned Celestial Mage down the hallway.

( -_- )(*w*)

Huzza! This is where I left off on my last account. I have half of the next chapter typed up, so it'll be up within the next week. Please leave a review letting me know what you think!

-Siearah