A/N: Okay, so I'm literally publishing this so soon only because Doosh Doosh still doesn't believe that I'm back. Here, this is proof! That and I was bored.

Also, thank you guys for reviewing. It puts a smile on my face every time I wake up to find a new review. And yeah, I'm kind of basing Natsu off of my own personality, so you guessed correctly!

Now, enjoy this. Some fluff at the end - I figure it's high time something happened.


Hangover


"Oorah!" Natsu roared as he dunked another ball into the newly replaced hoop. It didn't take long for Pegasus's technicians to replace what Natsu had broken, but they were worried that it would break again at the rate this match was going, so they stayed behind to watch the events unfold, their annoyed eyes locking on FTU's players each time either Natsu or Laxus dunked.

The amount of times they did was too many to count by this point though.

"Damn it." Ren cursed under his breath as he was unable to predict Natsu's movements again, the aforementioned pinket simply grinning in the Center's direction as he landed on his feet, beads of sweat trailing down his neck. At first Natsu didn't pose too much of a threat by himself because he was out of it for reasons Ren couldn't tell, but Erik, Fairy Tail's Small Forward, just had to intervene. The duo bombarded Pegasus with combination attacks when, suddenly, Natsu had found enough strength in him to score points on his own, his play catching fire.

Let's just say the home team's hoop had begun being abused after that happened.

Gray had joined into the scoring frenzy finally as well, putting in threes like nobody's business. Pegasus's poor Center and Small Forward tried blocking as best they could, but FTU's Power and Small Forwards were simply too fast, putting themselves as screens in between Gray and whoever tried to block him. With a grin, the raven haired man took a step back into a jump shot as Erik screened Ren out again, scoring another three like it was his day job.

Gajeel scoffed with indignation, watching as his team was toying with Pegasus like the guys were a novice team – which, in the red eyed man's eyes, they really were. He stopped bothering to give his team orders, playing with the basketball like a master as he dribbled around three or more players from the three point line to the hoop like it was child's play, either dunking the ball in or simply laying it in lazily.

Laxus, even though he didn't show it, was putting in so much effort into his play it surprised even Jellal, who had played with the blond on a national level before Gray, Natsu and Gajeel even joined. The blond was taking in rebounds with ease, his defense seeming like an impenetrable wall. However, he was as dangerous offensively as he was on defense.

After Natsu's pathetic excuse of a long-range shot failed and rebounded, Laxus was the very first one grabbing the ball, pushing both Hibiki and Ren to the side as his massive hands took control of the basketball. Without even landing on the ground the seasoned FTU played smashed the ball into the hoop, his sharp eyes focusing on the two Pegasus players who fell to their knees in exhaustion after his display of power on the putback.

Ichiya had called several timeouts by that point, but Jellal didn't even bother. FTU's coach just watched his team play with a smile on his face, a chuckle escaping him when he noticed that Gajeel, the team's captain, had stopped giving the players orders and just let them do whatever they wanted and have fun, which seemed to work. He smiled when he watched each player give their all to the game, nostalgic memories making him zone back into when he and Laxus were playing for the Fiorean team.

And it all started with the single dunk that ended up destroying Pegasus's hoop. Natsu had that effect on people, Jellal noticed. Even in the dressing room, the seemingly simple and idiotic reasoning Natsu gave was enough to set a fire in each player's eyes. You didn't see that too often.

"Time to end this, what do you think?" Gray questioned their Power Forward without looking at him.

Natsu grinned at this as he looked to Gajeel, getting ready for the final play as their Point Guard nodded in the pinket's direction, "Hell yeah."

"Just don't break the hoop again or we'll take it out of your allowance." Natsu paled at the thought Erik voiced as he ran past Natsu to get into his position. Shaking his head, the fiery-haired Dragneel made his way to his own position, joining his teammates near Pegasus's three point line, an amused smirk morphing his expression gloriously as he saw how exhausted his mark, Hibiki, seemed.

"Don't pull a muscle there, pretty boy."

"Shut up." Hibiki growled out, his eyes glaring holes into the pinket's soul. Natsu chuckled, yet his eyes remained locked on Pegasus's captain. He didn't even have to look at Gajeel to know what hand signs FTU's captain was showing to inform them of their plan of action. It would be simple – the team would scatter Pegasus's defense in the zone with a series of quick passes and dribbling, and later they would pass to him to deal the finishing blow through isolation play.

It was borderline poetic how synchronized they were.

Hibiki struggled not to move as he witnessed his teammates being toyed with, the Fairy Tail University team almost running circles around them effortlessly. Finally, Natsu received the ball, and the captain could've sworn he was marking someone entirely different than Natsu Dragneel.

Natsu's eyes were wide, exuding such intimidation and killing intent that it made Hibiki's face pale. Each bounce of the ball from his hands to the court deafened the chants of FTU's fans and the protests of Pegasus's stands. Hibiki couldn't see anything besides Natsu's deadly gaze, and he felt as if he was staring some massive mythical beast in the maw, which quickly opened wide and was about to swallow him whole.

His body froze and, suddenly, he felt like something had smashed into his chest as he fell backwards, the air literally being knocked out of his lungs as he almost passed out from the pressure. Hibiki quickly managed to gather his bearings after falling to the court, the impact of his body hitting the ground bringing him out of his daze. He swiftly lifted a hand to call a foul, but it was never approved by the referee. The captain's eyes widened in shock when he realized that Natsu didn't receive the charging foul because he never actually made contact with him – it was the wind pressure emanated by the Power Forward moving around him with such speed and strength.

Due to the Pegasus team being scattered around the court courtesy of Natsu's teammates, the pinket found too much room to do what he pleased. "I'm all fired up!" Grinning to himself, he figured he might as well add insult to injury with a bit of fun. As he ran, he smashed the basketball against the court with such force that the ball bounced above the hoop. The grin still intact, the fiery-haired male put most of his strength into his legs and leaped upward, feeling himself being lifted into the air.

Catching the ball to the side of the hoop, the Power Forward laughed to himself as he chucked the ball into the goal with ease, yet with most of his remaining strength as well. It smashed against the hoop, and the basket itself stirred before the ball calmed and fell down the net.

Natsu was propelled out of the court due to the strength behind his jump, and landed near FTU's stands, grinning and raising a fist in victory as the final whistle was blown and the cheers of their fans deafened the entire area.

They had tripled Pegasus's score.

124:43 – Fairy Tail University wins!


Natsu plopped down on a bench in the dressing room, breathing heavily. He nodded his thanks to Jellal who draped a towel over Natsu's pink locks and offered him a bottle of water before the pinket chugged down on its contents. He released a breath of relief before looking at his team, all of whom were in a similar condition to him – sans the hangover, which he was already feeling again. What the fuck is with this shit. Can it not piss off? He thought with a twitching brow, irritation evident in his squinted onyx orbs.

With a sigh the pinket figured he should check his phone lest Lucy replied to his previous message regarding going out for coffee on Saturday. A tick mark formed on his head when he saw that she had 'seen' his message, but never replied. Combine complete and utter exhaustion with something like that and Natsu was feeling pretty damn depressed. He didn't even care that they had completely obliterated Pegasus by that point. Though he had to admit – seeing those arrogant pricks being taken down a notch did make his lips twitch upwards ever so slightly.

"Yeah, I'm taking the train home." Natsu announced after getting out of the shower and slipping on his sweats, his eyes meeting the somewhat surprised yet worried gaze of Jellal.

As it was natural for their coach, the blue haired man instantly noticed that something was wrong, and Natsu thought himself transparent because of this, "What happened?"

The pinket shook his head, "Nothing. Just need some air is all."

After hesitating for a quick few seconds, the tattooed coach only nodded as Natsu waved a hand in goodbye before leaving the dressing room.

When Natsu left Pegasus University, he instantly felt somewhat better as the cold late November air invaded his private space, but it still wasn't quite enough to make him feel healthy. He swore he was going to pass out from the exhaustion and, since his body was at its limit, his hangover was having fun tearing his brain apart. He cursed under his breath when he almost felt like puking.

It didn't take him long to reach the train, and yet another curse escaped him when he noticed that there were no seats remaining as FTU students crowded the vehicle. Oh how glad he was that he was wearing a hoodie under his jacket to conceal himself – girls would be all over him after a match like that one.

Though he didn't know what was worse – standing on a moving train, on the verge of passing out, or sitting in a seat trying to seem alive to people he didn't really care that much about. Neither choice was really pleasing. Though, when you take in the circumstances, the latter definitely seemed like the better option when Natsu felt his eyes darken and his form leaning forward helplessly.

He was, however surprisingly, caught mid-fall by two frail hands that held his shoulders in place. His head fell on the shoulders of a person significantly shorter than him, his eyes barely open to notice a few strands of blonde locks, "…Lucy?"

"That's my name." Her voice was like a whisper, but he swore he had never heard something so serene in his life. He didn't know what it was, the exhaustion, the hangover, or the fact that he was about to pass out on public transport, but right then and there he was feeling the happiest he'd been in a while, a smile making its way to his face, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just… tired, you know?" The pinket answer with a hoarse voice, closing his eyes as he got comfortable in the embrace.

"It was a great game. My first time seeing basketball up close." Lucy admitted, a smile morphing her own features as she pulled him closer whilst he got comfortable. Uncaring of the stares people were giving them, she pulled his hood down and played with his hair to get him to relax a bit.

He hummed into her collarbone, his mind too blurry to figure out what the heck was happening – nor would he really care either way. He was enjoying this too much, "Thanks. I'm glad you were there."

"Oh really? And why's that?"

Natsu couldn't see the expression she was sporting, but somewhere in the back of his head he knew she was smiling, so he didn't even try to hide what he was thinking this time, "I… you give me confidence, for some reason." He paused, mulling over his words before realizing that there was really no point in trying to, "When you were watching me I thought I could do anything, honestly."

It was her turn to hum in acknowledgement this time, but she didn't answer his words. The two of them just remained in a relative silence before Natsu remembered something that put him in this slump to begin with, "You never answered my message."

Lucy blinked in puzzlement, feeling confused. A few moments passed as she ran over the exchanges between her and Natsu in her mind, and it finally hit her, "Oh! Coffee on Saturday, right?" She felt him nod as she played with his soft pink hair, his cheek nuzzling hers, "Yeah, I'd love to."

At that particular point every single negative thought Natsu had instantaneously disappeared. He didn't really know why, but even his breath hitched, and he could've sworn the way his thought process kept changing made him think he was a teenager again. His hangover magically subsided after Lucy agreed to go out with him too, but he remained silent, enjoying the embrace they were sharing. His gaze caught the people staring at them in shock. He chuckled at this, "People are staring, you know?"

"Yeah, I've noticed." She admitted with what Natsu could perceive was amusement, his smile only widening at this.

"Aren't you worried they're going to start gossiping?" He questioned, though he already knew the answer since this was her he was talking about.

"What, that I'm together with the great Natsu Dragneel?" She giggled, "I could think of worse rumors than that."

Okay, that he didn't expect.

But he really didn't have the energy to react how he normally would have.

"I'm going to take a short nap, okay?" He felt her nod in the embrace as his hands unwittingly found their way around her waist for support. Natsu felt relieved when she didn't make an attempt to shy away from him, "And Lucy? Thanks."

Now it was Lucy's turn to bury her face into his shoulder, and Natsu wondered if she was blushing again, grinning to himself inwardly, "A-anytime."

I'm starting to like hangovers.