Oneshot #4

'Open Up'

Summary: She was a mystery to him, but maybe she wasn't all that hard to understand. Too bad it was already too late.

The light from the large glass windows and the sound of chalk hitting the wooden board lulled the Dragneel to a state of drowsiness. The monotonous voice of their last period teacher did nothing to hold the attention of the pink-haired sophomore.

The sun was setting and the board was filling up and Natsu's legs were starting to fall asleep.

As was he.

Like any other day, he would set his head atop his left hand and stare out the window, indifferent to the world around him. He just wanted to go home, to sleep and rest, maybe make some music, browse the Internet. Nothing in his agenda was in any way related to attending classes.

Like any other day, he would look out the window, out onto the tennis court down below, far by the mountain tops, tinted orange by the setting sun.

And like any other day, his view would be so blatantly obstructed by a head of golden hair.

He wasn't exactly sure whether it was golden or merely a light blonde- perhaps the setting sun had an effect on it too- but frankly he couldn't care enough to double-check.

She had always been there, in the seat right next to his. The seat that had always been unoccupied was then constantly filled by a warm presence. Why she switched out her seat in the front row to a seat at the back was a mystery, akin to the one he made himself out to be.

And simply out of spite, or out of the fact that she was as confusing as he thought he was, he was very indifferent to her. Brushing her off whenever she spoke and glancing away whenever she smiled his way.

He merely stared when she greeted him for the very first time. No one ever had the heart- or mind- to greet him before. No one had ever smiled like that to him, no one had ever looked at him for more than just a second.

And maybe it was because he secretly liked the attention, but as time went on, the reserved teenager began to open up.

Now, this was not a sudden change of heart. After all, Natsu was the unnamed king of subtlety. No, this was something that evolved. From looking at her when she greeted him, to nodding his head slightly every time she waved at him.

He never really realized the life flowing back into his eyes until his little sister pointed it out to him one night.

Whether Wendy was simply joking or just wanted to get a jab out of him -something she did quite often so he wouldn't really be surprised- he would be lying if he said he didn't notice it either.

As the weeks went on, nothing had changed as much as he expected it would. The blonde beside him would occasionally peek over at his results whenever they got a test back, not before pouting a bit at her own. She quickly put on a bright smile as she turned to face him.

'Perfect again, Natsu? You really are amazing' She would say, tilting her head to the right and giggling to herself. The way she looked at her own tests though, and the way her smile would falter a bit didn't escape the ever-observant Natsu.

Of course, there was nothing he could do about it, was there? After all, he was only just Natsu.

Little did he know, that Natsu was all Lucy may have needed.

Another test back, another perfect score, and another faltering smile from the scarf-donned blonde. He had not reacted at all when Lucy had plucked his ripped test from his hands- he hadn't even realized he tore it apart.

Why she constantly wore a red scarf was a mystery to him, again much like the mystery he made himself out to be. Perhaps out of spite again, or out of mere exhaustion, he sat patiently, watching in confusion as the blonde stared at his result, flipping the pieces over like a puzzle.

Mind drifting, he decided to ignore her and look out the window. It had been quite a while since he had taken the time to stare out the window. In the time he had spent watching her instead, he had missed the erection of a building, scaffolding still up. All that time, and he failed to notice the mountain tops now littered with tiny houses.

All his time had been devoted, albeit unnoticed, to the girl sitting beside him. Not out of interest, but out of curiosity, he chastised. He was merely curious, curious as to why she was there and why she was acting so nice to him and why she was still bothering him and didn't she see the only thing she does to him is make him forget?

He didn't know why, but whenever she greeted him or whenever she smiled his way, he forgot who he was. He forgot the fact that no one else treated him like that, that Lucy Heartfilia is the only person to ever notice him. He forgets, and all he knows in those few seconds and in those short, fleeting moments, is that he is a person. He is someone worth befriending, he is worth something more than just a 100, more than a ranking.

Does she do it because she knows he's smart? Does she do it for her own benefit? That he would eventually help her in her studies? Was she using him?

No, the way her eyes light up and the curve of her lips seemed too real, and somehow, somewhere in Natsu's heart, he knows her actions are genuine and true.

And again, perhaps that was just himself speaking. Perhaps he just wanted it to be real, wanted someone to treat him like she treated him. And anyway, what would he know about genuine kindness? All he had ever received were hollow greetings and paper mache smiles, reactions caused only by the numbers and ranking that defined him as a person.

Because who in their right mind would care?

A light tap to his table brought him back to reality. Lucy had tapped his table with the tape canister in her right hand, a crumpled up, taped paper crane in her left. Her smile grew impossibly wider when he took the crane from her hand, slowly, as if afraid it would truly fly away.

Shifting back into her seat, she had grabbed a hold on her own test, flipping it the same way she did to his. Folding the paper and setting the canister back on the table, she worked away at her test, eyebrows scrunched up in concentration.

Finding the will to finally look away, The pink-haired teen looked down to the paper crane in his hands. Besides the tape and the multiple creases, it did look beautiful, and for once in his time in high school, Natsu let a smile creep it's way onto his face.

So, yes, he admitted it. Natsu Dragneel had opened up his heart to Lucy Heartfilia. He didn't realize it until he smiled a real smile, he didn't realize it until his sister pointed it out him, he didn't realize it until she greeted him for the very first time, he didn't realize it until her bright smile was replaced with a ceramic vase, and blonde hair replaced by pastel flowers.

Natsu didn't realize it until she was gone.

A/N: WOW 12 YEAR OLD ME WAS ANGSTYYY¡

this was originally a piece for shinaya (in, like, 2013 or smth), but I changed it, so Natsu is shintaro and Lucy is ayano, but you don't really need to know that to read this. I never got around to posting this, but I found it again and thought wow I actually really like this why did my writing degrade over the years

Anyway

I realized how much it still fit (and by that I mean Wendy could also be Momo) but otherwise it's just this different, ooc, AU. I love those kinds of things, but if you don't and you like that true to character fanfic then that's okay too. I go a bit crazy with these AUs, so if you're following this expect a lot of ooc NaLu and/or a wild au

Up next is either:

Hercules au

Autumn/October setting

Sexual tension setting (but not really maybe)

My secret romance au (omgg)

Alternate story for 'resplendent'

Jose rizal lovers au (see? no sense but I actually wrote way more than I should've for this)

More angst?

Review for what you liked, what you didn't, what you want to see, what you don't. Just- review. I'll need your help for the next ones, so I leave the plot of my future multichap in your hands haha

Thanks for reading~