"Well that was a very easy mission!" said Lucy that was sitting opposite of Ikaruga.
The three wizards that have finished their job were sitting on the train after they returned from the estate of Oscar to let him know about the success of the mission and get their prize, Oscar was happy and not even cared that Natsu forget his name. They received the award with a little bonus for the Knight that Ikaruga fought against who was wanted with a small prize on his head, the three went out of the mansion and directly to the train that was just leaving. As with the previous ride Lucy sat on one side and Ikaruga sat on the other with Natsu on her legs who was relieved of his illness while he was close to the pink-haired one who was more than happy to help and ease the suffering of her rescuer.
"So Ikaruga, what do you think of your first mission?" asked the staler Mage.
Ikaruga still played with Natsu's hair and looked at Lucy with a smile "it wasn't like my other mission, it was much nicer than I thought!".
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself... wait, you had other missions before?" Lucy questioned as she heard her friend's answer.
'You fool! your not supposed to talk about the past!' Ikaruga thought to herself as she unveiled in some of her past her new friend. "W-well I have some previous experience just like everybody!" she tried to say with a smile and moved past the subject before she felt something moving on her legs.
"Mmm..." murmured Natsu and moved closer until he was inches away from her belly trying to find a warmer and a more comfortable position.
"Ahh!?" Ikaruga was in quite a shock as she felt his head that was near her until he's breath washed on her stomach over her clothes, causing her body to shiver slightly.
Lucy's eyes caught the sword-mistress's reaction and smiled a malicious smile. "So Ikaruga, what do you think about Natsu?" asked Lucy that decided to find out about something more juicy.
"W-what do I think about Natsu?, why do you want to know L-Lucy?" replied the pink-haired one with her voice shaking.
Lucy crossed her hands and looked to Ikaruga's red face that stopped to pet and play with the hair of a dragon slayer. "You two look very close right now, so I thought there might be something..." Lucy stressed.
"W-why do you think that?" Ikaruga tried to stay calm despite the fact that Natsu was very close to her moved from time to time.
"Well there's the fact that you live together according to what you said, and now you look like a couple" Lucy said and pointed to the two.
"Y-you're just imagining things, Natsu is just my roommate Lucy" she replied back want started to pat Natsu's head after she calmed down a bit.
"You know you're blushing right?" answered back the stellar mage with a naughty smile.
"Are you telling me that if there was someone on your legs you wouldn't be embarrassed?" asked the sword-mistress with a raised eyebrow and studied the response of the blonde who was in front of her, despite the appearance of the pink-haired one she wasn't someone who was ever interested in the opposite sex, except of course for Natsu.
'If Natsu was on my legs?' began to think Lucy before her face began to turn red and the thought of her and Natsu as a couple sitting under a tree and his head on her legs, "w-well I guess you're right, sorry about the strange question".
"It's ok, I will agree with you that it looks like that so it's not surprising you thought that way".
Lucy smiled and breathed a sigh of relief in response to the sword-mistress's answer and turned her head back to the window slightly embarrassed for still thinking about herself and Natsu.
A few minutes passed in silence until Ikaruga decided to break the silence and to pass the time with a pleasant conversation with the blond.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Natsu, Ikaruga and Lucy finally came back to Magnolia after traveling several hours that were pretty quiet apart from discussions between the two girls.
The first off the train was Natsu with the help of Ikaruga, ones the pink-haired boy came down he hit with his knees on the ground "I'm not going to get on a train again in my life!" he promised to himself out loud causing Lucy to snicker.
"Isn't that what you always say Natsu?" in the whole time that she knew the dragon slayer no matter what he was saying he always come back for transport because of a mission.
The dragon slayer looked at her with a serious face "this time I mean it!".
"Okay okay if you say so, anyway I will return to the Guild to inform Mira that we finished the job. So I will see you two later!" waved Lucy to the two and began to walk back to her apartment to get herself clean from the mission and then go to the Guild and left the two members of her new team alone.
Natsu who already started to stretch and return to himself looked at the direction that Lucy disappeared to and watched Ikaruga who was standing next to him. "So Ikaruga what do you say we eat somewhere before we get home?" he asked and rubbed his belly to show that he's hungry.
A giggle came from the sword-mistress "your still hungry?, I thought you ate enough before we left the customer's estate".
"That was just something for the road! and besides, its on my so fine!" he finished with a smile full of teeth.
Ikaruga returned the smile "if someone should pay it will be me Natsu, after I defeated that golden knight" she said proudly.
"I know!, I'm so jealous of you!" he said holding his hands behind his head with angry face. "I was against some of his goons who weren't strong at all and you get to fight their boss" He said like a child that did not receive the gift he wanted. But his expression didn't stick around too much when his new teammate grabbed his arm and began to pull him away.
"I promise I will let you fight the strongest one next time we go OK?" she promised and finally they moved to get something to eat before heading back to fairy tail.
Ikaruga and Natsu were sitting on a bench next to each other, on the dragon slayer's face was a big smile and he rubbed his stomach. On the other hand Ikaruga also was full but ate much less than him.
"Thank you for the invitation Ikaruga, that hit the spot!" his smile vanished when he remembered something. "I wanted to ask you Ikaruga how do you feel about your first mission with us?, and more importantly, how was your battle?".
"To tell you the truth, Lucy already asked this but you probably didn't hear because you were asleep for the entire ride" she noted with a smile. "My fight was fine except the one I fought was really slippery!, he was not particularly strong but still a worthy opponent that you should watch out for".
"Now I really think I should had fought him, I am the team leader after all!" he cried out loud and pointed to himself with his thumb.
"The leader of the team?, you?" she asked with a confused look. In the past she was the leader of her team because she was the most powerful one.
"Of course!, I'm the leader of the team and after me there is Lucy, Gray and Erza!" in a second Natsu started to feel pressure in the air and saw the look of anger on Ikaruga's face. "Uh, what happened Ikaruga?".
Ikaruga shaked her head from side to side and smiled to the pink-haired boy who looked confused, "it's nothing Natsu, I just thought it would be nice if we make our own team!" she tried to give an excuse so he wouldn't questioned her anymore but was surprised as a big smile appeared on his face.
Natsu's face changed into a big smile "Ikaruga what would you say if I would suggest we create a new team?" he asked her and made her look at him with a stunned look.
"W-what?, you want that w-we-" she stuttered a little as he cut her off.
"Yeah! when we were with Lucy I thought we dealt with the situation really well!" the dragon slayer's smile grew up in that moment as if he's got good idea, "we need to have happy join as well! that would be great!".
'Happy? who is happy?' thought the sword-mistress while she listened to the excitement in his voice and began to wonder who was the one who caused Natsu to get so excited. 'Maybe it's someone I haven't met yet from the guild?' she thought to herself before a certain though creeped to her mind, 'perhaps this Happy is a girl...'. The thought made her heart beat faster and she began to panic without really knowing why. "N-natsu?, who is Happy?" she asked with a trembling voice, afraid to know the answer.
"Happy lives with me in my house ever since I can remember!".
'So it really is another girl! and she lives with him before me?!' the horror she felt made her white skin look much more pale.
"Ikaruga you ok?, you look a little sick" said the dragon slayer that didn't see his friend's face like that, except the time he found her in a tower. 'How did she get to the tower and those injuries anyway?' it was a question he didn't asked her from the time she woke up, the pink-haired boy was not someone who gets into the small details, but something in the pink-haired girl made him curious.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Natsu and Ikaruga were moving to their house after Ikaruga heard about Natsu's 'roommate'. She was sure that she could handle her without any trouble, or it may have to a 'talk' with this Happy.
The couple arrived after a short walk from town, back to the home they shared. The first was Natsu that sniffed the air and smiled.
Ikaruga went inside after him and tried to find out where exactly is this 'Happy' was. Her eyes moved from side to side of the room while she went and followed him to the kitchen. "Someone is here" she said weakly, but strong enough so that the dragon slayer can hear.
"It's probably Happy. Hey Happy!, Where are you?" he said, calling throughout the house before the two could hear something that moved in one of the rooms.
'She's in the bedroom!' thought Ikaruga and ran quickly into the room to meet her rival, she arrived a few seconds later and saw something that was beneath the bed sheets 'so your here!' she pulled the blanket.
"Uh?, Natsu?" said someone who was lying on the bed.
To the eyes of the pink-haired one was a small blue cat that slept on the bed and awoke when she lifted the blanket from him. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked around only to see Ikaruga.
"Where's Natsu?" the cat said and wiped his eyes a little.
The cat looked at Ikaruga, he was all blue but his belly and his tail that were white, his little round ears were droopy and showed that he's tired. On his back was a little green bandanna that was tied around his neck. The little creature's eyes landed on Ikaruga's hair and he jumped up from the bed and started to cry.
Ikaruga grabbed him out of reflex and drooped her sword to the floor while the little creature grabbed her shirt tightly and mumbled something.
"What happened?!" asked Natsu that came in to the room and looked at the situation, he began to relax as he saw his furry friend that wept and embraced Ikaruga "what is it?, why are you crying?" he asked with a soft voice and smile.
"Natsu? Natsu!" the little creature said and lunged into the dragon slayer that hugged him in response.
'D-Did the cat just talked?' the thought crossed Ikaruga's head before she headed to Natsu. "Natsu who's this?".
The pink-haired boy looked at her with a big smile "Ikaruga this is our roommate Happy!" he introduced the cat that still wept at his chest.
"I thought you left me here alone... I was afraid that I wouldn't see you anymore..." the cat kept crying into Natsu's shirt.
"I will never leave you alone Happy, I was on a job with Lucy and Ikaruga and you wern't at the Guild" he replied.
It's been a few minutes as Natsu continued to pet his little friend's back until he calmed down and finally remembered that Ikaruga was still watching them, "Oh, you remember Ikaruga that we found in the tower right Happy?" said Natsu and turned his blue friend to his Ikaruga.
Ikaruga just stood and stared at them with eyes open, 's-so that's Happy... and I thought it was a girl. I'm so stupid so why do I feel such relief?' she thought to herself, but still didn't respond to the dragon slayer. "N-nice to meet you Happy" she felt a little strange to speak and introduce herself to a cat that could speak but ignored the issue at least for the time being.
"Do you feel okay now?, when Natsu find you you looked in a lot of pain, you all right now?" he asked cutely and looked at her with big eyes.
'He's so cute!, I can't believe I wanted to hurt him!' she thought and brought a smile to the little cat. "I'm fine!, Natsu pulled me away and I'm still alive!" she replied with a smile almost red.
"By the way Happy, where did you've gone to? you weren't at home or the Guild" Natsu asked his little friend.
Happy jumped from the hands of Natsu and to the floor "aye! I was at Lucy's House!" answered the cat.
"At Lucy's place?" asked the two magicians.
"Aye!, I left her a present in one of her closets!" he replied happily with cute smile.
"What kind of gift exactly?" asked Ikaruga while Natsu just laughed out loud.
"I can imagine what kind of 'present'" Natsu's laughter stopped and he finally slumped on his bed.
"Ahh... it's good to be home!. Mmm?" he started to say before the sword-mistress looked at him with eyes that avoided looking at him but failed. "What happened Ikaruga?" it had seemed that something was on her mind but she just smiled at him.
"Its nothing Natsu, I'll just go to prepare our dinner" the sword Mage and left the room leaving the fire Mage and his cat alone.
"What happened to her?" asked Happy and began to float in the air next to Natsu.
The dragon slayer's gaze fell to the floor and he picked up her sword. "Mmm?" he raised the sword and started to check it.
Standing in the kitchen Ikaruga cut vegetables for their dinner, she planned to make something that would take several hours to cook and be ready when they come back from the guild. Although she was in the middle of preparation while her hands worked hard, her thoughts refused to let her rest.
'What should I do?, I keep on delaying the inevitable and tell him the truth about me...' these thoughts kept her while she were in her first assignment with Natsu and Lucy. She felt bad that she hide the truth about herself and especially after he saved her life and gave her a place to live and a new life. "Maybe I will tell him?".
"Say what?" said Natsu that came from behind Ikaruga and surprised her.
The sword-mistress jumped when she heard his voice and dropped the knife she had only for Natsu to caught it and placed it on the table, "you sure you okay Ikaruga?" he asked with concern in his voice.
"I-I'm fine Natsu, but you can't sneak up on me when I'm preparing food its dangerous!" she started to scold him, she was glad she had not struck him out of reflex. "A-anyway if your hungry it will take some time.." she began to say and noticed he was very close to her.
"No, I'm not hungry but I'm going to do some things and I will meet you and Happy at the Guild okay?" he said with a smile and without waiting for a reply moved to the door.
"W-wait Natsu I have to-" she started to say but not fast enough as he already walked out of the House and closed the door after himself.
The pink-haired one was left alone in the kitchen and watched the door closed, she sighed and returned to her cooking before she saw in the corner of her eye Happy flying towards her. 'Why am I not surprised?' she thought to herself and returned to her preparations as the cat began to float around her as if looking for something.
"You're making dinner?" he asked as he looked at the pot with the meat and ingredients.
"Yes it will be ready in a few hours" she could see his disappointment before she smiled. "But I can make you steamed fish if you want?" she asked, as he immediately he approached her.
He looked at her with eyes flashing "steamed fish?, I don't know what that is but it sounds delicious!" he replied with drool from the side of his mouth.
"It's very good but it's going to take me a few minutes, so you can wait a little?" she asked and got a nod with a smile from Happy.
She pulled some fish from the fridge and cleaned them before she began to roast them and within a few minutes the flying cat's food was ready to his joy. After she finished with Happy's food he ate the fish she made him while she continued to work on her and Natsu's dinner.
Since than it's been a few hours and still no Natsu, the pink-haired Mage started to worry but Happy reassured her when he told her that it's usually like that and Natsu is at the Guild.
"Maybe we should go to the Guild and see if Natsu is there and to check what about our reward" she asked herself out loud.
"Aye!, let's go take our prize!" replied the cat that was tired and floated in the air onto her shoulder and rested there.
"You're tired, happy?" she asked, even by the voice and the way he float she could tell he was tired or sleepy. She began to stroke his head emphatically "what do you say we go and find Natsu?" she asked in a quiet voice and received a nod from him while he began to relax on her shoulder with his tail that was around her neck.
The two came out of the House and started to go to town, or more accurately to the Guild. The city was quiet with a cool breeze that blew around town, luckily for the pink-haired girl the cold didn't bother her especially with Happy on her neck that warmed her. There weren't many people who roamed this time except for a few couples who went next to the other and held hands.
"It looks nice..." Ikaruga murmured to herself as she saw all the couples who were hanging around together.
"You like him!" cried Happy loudly, causing the sword-mistress to jump.
"I-I don't like N-Natsu! I don't know w-what you're talking about Happy" she started to say before she noticed the cat was still sleeping and talked in his sleep.
She giggled and patted him again "what are you mumbling".
"Lucy, you like Natsu!" he exclaimed and went back to Mumbles something incomprehensible.
She knew that he was just mumbling nonsense again but she couldn't help worrying about if her new friend Lucy really likes the dragon slayer, not that she care!.
She pushed the thought from her head as she and Happy came finally to the Guild that was just as usual full of people, her eyes passed on every Wizard, but she couldn't find the pink-haired boy. What she could see and feel was the looks from her Guild mats.
"Ikaruga!" it was the voice of someone that the pink-haired identified immediately.
It was Mira that as usual was the waitress at the bar, she approached the new addition to their Guild.
"Good evening Ikaruga!, you've come to collect your reward?" she asked with a sweet voice and a big smile.
"Good evening Mira, I just came to see if Natsu's here, he left the House after we got back and I haven't seen him since" the sword-mistress replied back.
"Mmm... no, I didn't see him at all today except for this morning before you all left" she answered.
"I see...".
"I see you've met Happy!" said the Take Over Mage when she saw the blue cat that was still on Ikaruga's neck.
"Yes, I met him after we returned from the mission".
"If we're talking about that I heard from the client and Lucy on your success with the Raiders and their leader that was quite popular!" said Mira while returning to the bar with Ikaruga that walked behind her.
"It wasn't so bad as they said, but he was very evasive" said someone who approached to the two girls.
"Good evening Lucy!" welcomed Mira her blonde friend that set on a single bar chair.
"I'm so tired... I thought I could take a shower and rest after the mission but had so much work..." the staler Mage said and placed her head on the bar.
"What kind of work?" asked Ikaruga that sat besides the blonde.
"Ohh... I don't know how but when I got home it had a strange smell that came out of my room and from my-" Lucy didn't get to finish before ahe saw Happy on the neck of Ikaruga.
"Good morning!" he said with a smile and stood up "ah! Lucy did you liked the gift that I left you?" he asked the blonde.
Lucy took a few seconds before she picked up on his question while her face changed to one of rage and she began to strangle the little cat.
"I knew it! it was you!" she shaked him comically. "I thought to myself who was that hide fish inside my drawers, you know how much laundry I had to do to get the smell of fish off my underwear!?" she asked furiously and continued to shake him continuously.
Mira began to laugh while Ikaruga tried to save Happy and calm the angry blonde.
The Mages that were around laughed from the scene in front of them.
"What are you all laughing about?" asked someone who just entered the Guild.
Mira was the first to noticed and greeted her with a smile "ah!, Erza welcome back!".
Ikaruga turned her head slowly as she heard the name of the one that destroyed her beloved sword and almost killed her as her blood began to boil. In-front of her eyes was the same red-haired Mage.
Their eyes met and locked on one another.
Erza noticed the girl's angry gaze and pink hair that she recognized but was not sure where from 'do I know her?' she thought to herself and noticed some things that seemed very familiar to her. 'Pink hair with two moles below each eye...', and the main thing was that the long katana that she held.
"That's right, Erza this is Ikaruga! she joined us today!" said Mira happily.
Erza didn't wait a second and lanced herself from the entrance doors and to Ikaruga that just pulled out her sword and advanced for an attack.