The title of this chapter is for Gajeel's POV at the end!
Levy's first day of University was quite uneventful after the excitement surrounding lunch. Lucy had wanted to pester her endlessly about her minimal conversation with the dark-haired man, who, as it turned out, knew Natsu.
"Hey Lev! Was that who I think it was?" Natsu came bounding over. He frowned at her. "You alright? You look a bit red."
"I-I'm fine," Levy smiled, though mentally she willed her cheeks to cool down.
"I can't believe you talked to Gajeel." Natsu grinned.
Levy's eyebrows quirked. "You know him?"
"Yeah, met him over the summer when I came to visit here." Natsu shrugged. "Doesn't talk much and keeps to himself, but he's alright. I think he's just shy."
"Him...shy?" Lucy muttered doubtfully. "I think he keeps to himself for other reasons, Natsu."
"He does look like the dangerous, gang-leader type." Gray nodded in agreement. Natsu frowned at both of them.
"He's okay guys, sure he has a foul mouth and looks the way he does but he's a good fighter, real nice right hook on him!"
"You FOUGHT the guy?" Lucy yelled in shock.
"Duh, how else would I have gotten to know him?" Natsu gave her a look, as if to say 'Stupid Lucy'. Levy rolled her eyes in amusement at the typical actions of the pink-haired boy.
"You fought with a student of the Uni you wanted to get into..." Lucy muttered.
"Ahh, he's actually just a Trader*," Natsu corrected. "He works for the Headmaster and gets a huge discount on any courses he does in exchange, but can only take a couple. He works in the Garage most of the time but he's also a bouncer for one of the clubs the Master owns in town. Ironically named Fairy Tale."
"I've heard of that place!" Lucy exclaimed brightly, distracted by topic of clubs. "It's a super popular bar in the town down the road! All the students get a discount entry there if they attend this Uni, and its themes are voted by the students!"
"Sounds good," Gray smiled.
"We should go soon! When's the first party, does anyone know?" Lucy gushed. Levy laughed at her friend's energy, silently thankful that the conversation had moved on from Gajeel.
"Lu-chan, the first day's barely started, I don't think there'll be a party that soon."
"Can we go get food now? I'm soo hungry!" Natsu shouted suddenly, grabbing Lucy's hand and heading towards the doors that led to the canteen. Levy sighed, wondering when the topic of the tall delinquent-type man will rise up again. For now though, it could wait.
The rest of Levy's classes were relatively normal. Lucy and Levy sat together at the front of their Literacy Studies class and discussed famous pieces of literature enthusiastically with the lecturer, much to the slight disgust of the less-excited students in the class. Then, after Lucy skipped off to meet with Natsu and Gray again, Levy trudged into Advanced Japanese with high hopes of learning the language quickly. Much to her surprise it was more difficult than she thought, and by the time the class ended at 6pm she still had a couples exercises to do on top of the revision the lecturer set out.
She resolved to herself that she would start on them immediately.
Well. After food.
The dorm was empty when clicked open the door, which slightly surprised her, but she didn't focus too much on it. It was hardly 6pm and the sun was still out, so Lucy and the boys were probably still up to no good as they did back in high school. As for Erza and MiraJane... well, she didn't know them well enough to guess what they're up to.
Checking her phone whilst she dropped her bag onto one of the couches, she read a text from Lucy who had written that she was eating with the boys and would be back later. There were several Facebook notifications, alerting her to the accepted friend requests she'd sent the day before. Lucy, Natsu, and Gray had accepted them last night, whilst Erza and MiraJane had accepted them some time this morning; Wendy's was still pending. A few highschool friends also accepted her friend request. There was even a message from one of them, a girl named Laki.
It was a fairly simple message, just a 'hey how you doing?' bubble of text, and Levy mindlessly replied as she contemplated what to eat.
A key clicked into the door, and Levy looked up in time to see Wendy letting herself in.
"Wendy-chan, you feeling hungry?" Levy smiled as she put her phone away.
"Hai," the smaller girl nodded as she took off her shoes and left them by the door. Remembering that hers were still on, Levy quickly did the same.
"I was thinking of making something with noodles, want to help me?" At this, the younger brightened considerably and her head nodded enthusiastically.
"Can we make cheesy noodles?! It's really easy, just noodles with cheese melted on them!" Wendy made big puppy eyes at the slightly taller blunette, who laughed and ruffled her hair.
"Sure Wendy-chan. Go fill up the kettle, okay?"
Clapping her hands and stiking an 'alright!' pose, the long-haired girl rushed to the kitchen area, grabbing the kettle and filling it all the way to the top. In the mean time, Levy wandered over and opened up the cabinet, grabbing a couple of packs of instant ramen and emptying them in a big plastic bowl and setting the flavour packs to the side. As the kettle boiled, Levy grabbed the pack of thinly sliced ham and sliced strips of it on a chopping board.
"Do you want some ham for your cheesy noodles? I like having onion too, but I don't think we have any."
"Yes please!"
Smiling, Levy cut up some more ham for their dinner and the kettle finally came to a boil. Wendy very carefully poured the steaming water into the bowl, then used a fork to gently break apart the dried ramen noodles.
"That's right!" Levy exclaimed in shock. "Wendy-chan! I was going to ask you how your day was!" she pounced on the unsuspecting girl, who squealed.
"It was fine! J-Just fine! Let me breathe, please!"
"Wasn't it really difficult? Your classes are all advanced, aren't they?"
Wendy nodded, but seemed unfazed. "Yep, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, all advanced. But other than that my other classes are for beginners: Paramedic Science, Midwifery 101, Medicine 101, Modelling 101 and Fashion Studies-"
"Ehh?" Levy gasped. "You're taking Modelling too?! So is Lucy! And Fashion Studies!"
"Great! I'll have a friend in those classes then!" Wendy giggled happily.
After waiting for a couple more minutes, the noodles were loose and soft, so they added the flavour packets, stirred gently, then tipped the noodles into the strainer and poured the water away.
They scooped up their portions respectively, then sprinkled grated cheese over the noodles and mixed them in as they melted. Then, with more cheese, they added the strips of ham and went to sit at the dining table, where they ate in comfortable silence.
"I should go study now," Wendy mumbled, grabbing her bowl and fork and taking them to the sink, where she rinsed them quickly and set them to the side.
"Same, night Wendy!" Levy called after the girl who was now bounding up the stairs. I forgot to ask if she got my friend request, Levy thought suddenly, but she shrugged. Surely Wendy would see it soon enough. Rinsing her bowl and fork as well, Levy trudged upstairs with her bag in tow, yawning loudly. It was quarter to 7 in the evening, and she was already tired. Well, her first day of Uni was jam-packed with difficult classes, so there was no surprise really.
Kicking her bedroom door shut behind her, the petite girl unpacked the workbook from her bag and sat at her desk, beginning to work out the rest of the symbols and definitions. Eventually, she finished the workbook and the revision, and tiredly stood up from her slouched position. She stretched with a loud yawn, before pulling off her top, shorts and headband, leaving her to sleep in her bra and underwear. She quickly used the bathroom and brushed her teeth before jumping into bed, plugging her phone into the charger, and glancing at the time.
It's barely 9pm and I'm already tired enough to sleep...Lucy isn't even back yet...ahh well, Natsu will look after her, Levy thought to herself hazily. Sooner than she thought, she drifted into a peaceful slumber.
Gajeel POV
Gajeel made sure to eat lunch in the garage. There was no way he was going to risk running into her or the pink-haired brat that turned out to be one of her friends. The other Traders in the garage didn't ask any questions when he turned down their invite to eat with them, and he didn't mind. He was always a bit of a lone wolf like that.
"Gajeel-kun?!"
Eyes widening at the familiar voice, Gajeel stood up suddenly and ran to the front of the garage, where he saw, standing in the glaring sunlight, was his one dear childhood friend.
"Juvia!"
He'd never been so excited to see someone in his entire life, though he'd never admit it. He hadn't really believed her when the dark-blue-haired girl had called him, saying she was coming to Fairy Tail Uni. But here she was in front of him; happy, healthy and free.
Somewhere between him seeing her and her seeing him she'd jumped at him, hugging him fiercely.
"Juvia missed you so much, Gajeel-kun," she mumbled into his long mane of hair. He'd deny ever tearing up, but it happened for a brief moment as he stroked the familiar loose curls of the girl he considered his sister.
"Yeah, me too," he murmured, keeping her close for a few more moments. Juvia pulled back, giving him a warm smile, before pulling out of his embrace. He could tell now that she was wearing a loose white tank top, a blue knee-length skirt, black tights and black boots with a small heel. Bracelets hung from her wrists and three necklaces of varying lengths dangled over her chest. It was refreshing to see her like this, he thought. Much better than before..
"Juvia has to go to class now," she told him. "Advanced Psychology. Juvia is going to achieve her dream of becoming a children's therapist!" There was a determined look in her eye, and Gajeel knew that she'd be able to do it. After all, Juvia went through a lot herself, to get here after all that happened was an achievement in itself.
"You'll do great," Gajeel told her with a small smile. "Now clear off before yer late, Drippy."
"Baka!" Juvia cried in shock. She clutched the part of her chest over her heart in a dramatic fashion. "Gajeel said he'd never call Juvia that nickname ever again!"
"Not sorry," Gajeel stuck his tongue out.
"Juvia will have her revenge!" the energetic girl cried out dramatically as she ran off to class, leaving an amused Gajeel behind. He turned to head back into the garage, feeling somewhat lighter than he had the past couple of weeks. Seeing Juvia had definitely lifted his spirits, and somehow he felt less stressed than before. He ate his lunch in peaceful silence, then continued working on the machine the Master had wanted fixed.
He worked well into the evening, stopping only for water and towel breaks, and the occasional bathroom break. It was about six in the evening when his fellow coworkers started wolf-whistling out of nowhere.
"My my! You lost, sweetheart?"
"I can give you a fix if you want, baby!"
Gajeel, having a feeling who had returned, was about to growl out a vicious insult, when the person being cat called replied.
"Juiva has no interest in the words of pathetic grease-monkeys of low intelligence, remove yourselves from her sight before her aggression is something two years of counselling is no longer able to control." The glare boring down on the idiotic Traders was enough to even send shivers down Gajeel's spine, and the cat callers quickly scattered, in fear of pissing their pants in terror.
Whirling around to face Gajeel, who nearly jumped at the movement, Juvia smiled up at him innocently. "Gajeel-kun! Juvia brought you some dinner, since she had a feeling you'd be working late!"
Carefully, Gajeel took the wrapped pack lunch from the now-cheery blunette and examined the contents, surprised with some of the snacks he found.
"You got a lot of the stuff I like," he noted, taking out a triangular cut sandwich which had ham and pickle in it.
"Gajeel is my dearest friend, he deserves a treat for taking care of me," in a rare declaration of first-person words, clasping her hands behind her back with a giggle, the lively girl rocked back and forth on her feet. Gajeel smiled, nodding his head in thanks. It was slightly cooler outside, but the pair of them didn't seem to mind.
"Juvia thinks this place will do her a lot of good," the blue-eyed girl muttered under her breath, reverting back to third person. She turned to the long-haired man next to her. "Does it do you a lot of good, Gajeel-kun?"
An image of a petite girl with sky blue hair and hazel brown eyes popped up in his memory, and he sighed.
"You have no idea how much, Juv."
(*) Trader - a term I made up xD Someone who works as staff under the Master around campus or for his businesses and in return gets a large discount on a certain amount of classes. Gajeel gets paid as a bouncer and for helping out in the University's garage/mechanics business, and in return gets a huge discount on his classes.
Here ya go! I've been avoiding my assignments to write my stories instead! Be sure to let me know what you think in a review, check out Small Steps and The Inkwell (my new drabble series) if you haven't already, and maybe go vote on my poll. I LOVE YOU GUYS! :)