Y'know when in those movies, there's sometimes—usually often—that one slow-mo scene? The one where they might highlight a dramatic scene at war, or when the villain shows up looking amazing or that one tragic final attack against the antagonist—usually some kind of theatrical knife stab? Or even when the music stops and all you can hear are heartbeats—cleverly created by sound effect makers or whatever the hell they are? This scene of my life was like that, because all my thoughts halted as my mind began to be drowned in nothing but dragon tattoos.

Maybe it was suppose to be a knight in a shining armour moment, because of the slow-mo effect. Or maybe it was suppose to be something even better; like the princess and the dragon moment; where the prince tries to 'save' the princess but the princess tells him to fuck off because yo, bro, this dragon dude has been protecting me my whole life and you think just cause you're mildly hot means you can just take me away from my life protecter?

I'll never know because all of it came flashing back to reality, and Natsu Dragneel; alleged can of Monster saviour, owner of dragon tattoos, crooked grins, calming laughter and pink hair strode to the centre the room and grinned.

"Natsu," Ms. Vermillion began, "is a student from many countries; I hear he's travelled far and wide. Tell us about it, Natsu."

Ms. Vermillion, the rest of the class and what was left of my soul stared at the new student. In the left corner of my eye, I could see Gray was grinning, whilst in my right, Juvia was visibly fascinated by the new student. I knew her long enough to already know that she was planning on him becoming her new alcohol test subject, also known as HMVSCD (How Much Vodka Someone Can Drink).

Oh God, new kid, you came to the wrong school with the wrong people who will force you to do wrong things with the right vodka.

My face remained blank alongside my brain.

"Well," Natsu laughed, "That's all there is to it actually; I've just been to lots of places. And is there a cafeteria here?"

"Yes, there is." Gray hollered.

This seemed enough for Ms. Vermillion as she smiled and asked, "Anything else, Natsu?"

"..I guess I'm a half-decent flute player or so-"

As they scanned broadly across the room, Natsu's eyes finally met mine. A mixture of emotions tightened my stomach, all whilst I continued to starve for food. Does he even recognise me? I mean the only reason I recognise him is obviously because of the hair but I'm just plain blonde hair. There's blonde people everywhere! I don't even mean the stereotypical blonde, I mean the blonde-blonde, the platinum blonde, the Dolly Parton or something. Wait, wha-

"CAN OF MONSTER GIRL."

Sporting a familiar crooked grin, Natsu's eyes were directly on me. And the whole room followed his own as everyone quickly reacted by gluing their eyes on that blonde, always-sober chick that the new kid just randomly called out.

"What?" Gray broke the quick silence.

"It's that chick from the convenience store." Natsu replied more calmly, as if it all made sense in an instant.

"Oh my God, Natsu, you can't just say 'that chick from the convenience store'." Gray face-palmed, still leaving me with more than a dozen curious eyes to deal with, unfortunately including Juvia.

I decided to finally reply to him; after all, we really hadn't had much of an introduction unless you call 'move on with your life' something of an introduction.

"Hey.." I breathed out, eyeing the boy in front of the class, "..Natsu."


Natsu—I noticed—was still as tall as I remembered him from the convenience store. It wasn't to say that he was suppose to grow, but rather to realise for myself that when you're half-asleep and craving for an energy drink in a convenience store, you're not really able to properly take in a person's appearance or anything about them whatsoever.

Now that I had maintained a decent amount of sleep and my head was fairly functional, I realised that apart from his pink hair being something that amused me, Natsu had well-rounded facial features and now that I had observed him in the sun instead of the pale yellow lights of the convenience store, his tan skin was near a fair complexion—despite the fact that it still somehow glowed when he was near patches of sunlight. Natsu Dragneel, or whoever the hell you are—you probably have a secret identity; Monster Can Hero?—trust me when I say and swear to God that I will find what self tanner you use.

During the last two periods, Natsu made it easy for the class and maybe even the whole world to acknowledge that he was easygoing and of course, adaptive. It helped that he was the alleged 'middle school childhood friend' of Gray, who—despite the fact that they were at least four seats away from each other—bickered with him the whole two hours. Which meant that Juvia constantly told Gray to shut up, alongside Lisanna and Levy. And since Levy was distressed and annoyed at Gray; Gajeel 'Ultimate Boyfriend' Redfox followed as he threatened Gray to shut up by telling him he was going to break 'every goddamn, fuckin' vase you own in that apartment of yours'.

Gray and Natsu persisted; whether it was just to specifically piss us off or if they were genuinely ready to beat the hell out of each other, I could never tell. Natsu was seated four seats away from the group, but he continued to bicker at Gray nonetheless; his voice echoed throughout the room as Gray spat his insults back. The rest of class remained somehow nonchalant with Bisca commenting; "it's not like this didn't happen every other damn day with Gajeel and Gray."

The two boys continued, this time onto the subject of me;

"You just called one of my friends 'some chick from the convenience store'!" Gray spat out, pulling my attention from my current work—Advanced Vocabulary sheets—into their argument.

"No, you fuckin' ass. I called her that chick from the convenience store." Natsu visibly gritted his teeth.

"How the fuck does that even make a difference?"

Juvia's voice came up once again even as she focused on her work, "Shut the fuck up, Gray."

Natsu continued, "It's a metaphor or some shit. Why do you even care?"

"I don't. But Lucy isn't just some chick from the convenience store. She's, like, top student or some shit."

Gajeel added his own words as he similarly focused on his work, "Lucy's probably even more than top student, you dumb ass."

"Shut the fuck up, Gray." Juvia repeated.

"What does that even have to do with anything?" Natsu yelled.

"I don't know." Gray shrugged but yelled; "Bro, do you have twenty bucks?"

"Yeah, but I ain't giving any of my fuckin' money to you!"

"Fuck up! You probably owe me, like, hundreds of bucks since middle school!"

"Shut the fuck up, Gray." Juvia's voice yet again.

"Fuckin' hell. I need it on this wager thing."

"Gray, are you seriously getting money off the person you're betting on?" Lisanna asked, almost whispering.

"Watch me as I do, fuckers." Gray smirked then continued to face Natsu, whilst Lisanna silently muttered about him being broke sooner or later.

"I will not give you my money." Natsu yelled firmly.

"It's just twenty bucks, you dumbass. And wasn't I the one who suggested this place to you?"

"Well, I fuckin' regret seeing your face already!" Natsu yelled.

"Fuck you! I have the face of a God."

"Truly, a sexy beast." Lisanna said sarcastically, to which Gray, Natsu and the whole room took full attention in.

"Wowzers," Gajeel said dryly, "Sexier than a rock; Gray Fullbuster, everybody."

Levy added as she continued to scribble down on her paper, "Carved by Michelangelo himself."

I decided to add to their parade; "Abs sculpted by Abraham Lincoln, probably. Practically a walking heater set to a thousand degrees."

"And Donald Trump once admitted he would win the elections for Fullbuster's face. Sexier than even Donald, himself. Let's give it up for Gray Fullbuster, everyone!" Juvia exclaimed as the whole room erupted in claps, cheering and some soul yelling; "Truly, an inspiration to us all."

Despite the swearing, mini appreciation speech drowned in sarcasm and overall insanity, Ms. Vermillion only smiled. Sometimes, I felt that she even liked the chaos of Class 5B, causing her not to interfere with us—hormonal teenage adolescents—and our striving, almost endless energy.

In the midst of the cheering and chatter amongst the class—which seemed acceptable because everyone was considered a top student, so it was natural for us to quickly finish our work—I took the opportunity to finally whip my head around from the front of the class to the back; where Natsu sat, eternally grinning. His laugh continued to echo amongst even others and again, I found it calming me. He was beginning to be surrounded by a student or two.

Finally finishing their work and loosening, Gajeel and Levy sat up to walk to Gray; Gajeel's arms wrapped around her tiny waist and all that romantic jazz. Juvia and Levy began another intense conversation; this time on the American elections and the stupidity within it. I glanced at the two in their depth as they traded thoughts on Donald Trump; each passing word negative. I laughed at their intensity and sighed happily as I took in the view of the chattered room; almost everybody was standing up.

In the midst of the chaos, Natsu and I's eyes met once again. And this time, it felt real. Most likely because I hadn't been focusing on curry at the time or losing my mind in an convenience store. I smiled at him like I had meant to my whole life, and he smiled back.

The most warmest smile I could've imagined, and for a split second—despite the fact that the weather showed clear, early waking calls of the winter season—his smile engulfed me in summer.


Here goes Chapter 4! There will be even more banter in the next chapter, but right now, I'm having a dilemma; I was planning on updating one chapter each day, but I feel like updating two chapters today. Tell me in the reviews below if you want two chapters each Friday. I might update another chapter today, but only if people really request for it. I have Chapter 5 and 6 already under wraps and am working on Chapter 7 and 8 on the weekend. You'll get to have more Natsu and Lucy's banter next chapter if I do update it!

Thank you for reading!

Apricity; (noun) the warmth of the sun in the winter.