There was nothing Lucy liked more then silence and peace. Especially in the morning. Even though Lucy was an early riser, that doesn't necessarily mean that she is in the mood to deal with needless nuisances.
Lucy strolled down the street with a warm cup of coffee in her hand. It was still early dawn. The rising sun caused a beautiful mixture of color to spread through the sky. Lucy paused to admire it. There were obvious bags under her eyes from a result of countless hours she spent into writing her own novel. Hopefully, a novel that will get published one day.
A voice behind her interrupted her peaceful thoughts. "Hey Lucy!"
Lucy carefully turned around, all too well aware of the sweet and familiar sounding, angelic voice.
"Hey Mira," Lucy said tiredly. It wasn't that she didn't like Mira's company. It was the exact opposite. Mirajane is the best friend anyone could ask for but... well everyone knew how she was once called the she-devil. And that wasn't without reason. No one could ever stop her crazy matchmaking plans. The fact that it was way too early in the morning, well before school started too, didn't exactly help improve her mood.
"Good morning!" Mira said cheerfully. "Didn't expect to see you out so early!"
Ha. That was a lie. All her close friends knew that Lucy was an insomniac. Lucy considered herself lucky if she even got three hours of sleep. She couldn't help it. Lucy hated the nightmares that came once she rested her head. Because of this, Lucy often took strolls down the street and to the nearest coffee shop at the break of dawn. It had become a habit. Though once in a while, as rare as they come, she got a good night of sleep without her usual nightmares.
Meeting Mira on Lucy's usual morning route meant one thing. She wanted something. Probably just trying to execute Get Lucy a boyfriend plan #257. Or as Lucy called it, the shortened version, GLAB.
Lucy sniggered. The only fun part was testing out how many ways she could derail Mira's plans. In fact, it had now become a special past time for her. Time to start the little game.
"Yup," Lucy smiled playing along. "I didn't know you were an early riser too!" Lucy laughed on the inside. Mira? An early riser? That was simply impossible. Mira never rose early unless it was for something she considers of utmost importance. In fact, Mira was possibly the grouchiest morning riser Lucy ever seen.
"Hahaha. Yup that's me! The early riser," Mira laughed nervously. She ran and kept up to Lucy's pace.
"So-," Mira smiled slyly. "I heard you meet a special someone." She dragged out the word someone in a singsong voice.
"Yup," Lucy nodded vigorously. "It was the happiest day of my life. He's just so amazing and cute. I think of could die of love right now!" Lucy let out a happy sigh.
Mira blinked in surprise. Lucy was never this open before. But hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Really?!" Mira squealed in excitement. "So what's he like?" She had heard all about the Lucy and Natsu. Mira knows it was fate that wanted them to meet. They just make the cutest couple!
"Well-," Lucy dramatically sighed. "He just has the most gorgeous white hair with deep black eyes."
Wait. Since when did Natsu have white hair? He definitely never had black eyes as far as Mira knew. Maybe Lucy's flower of love had bloomed for someone else?
"He has the cutest voice," Lucy continued. "He even did a dance performance for me! He's so talented!"
Okay, this was definitely not Natsu. No offense to him, but Mira was pretty sure he couldn't dance and neither did Mira ever want to see him dance.
"Wow," Mira said dumbfounded. "He's sounds amazing."
"He has a golden horn-like nose and communicates through gestures and motions. Isn't that adorable?" Lucy droned on.
What kind of human has a horn-like nose? Wait, is it even human? You can never tell if Lucy is joking sometimes. Oh god, just what kind of monster is Lucy dating?!
"He shivers a lot and he can't say anything except for pun-punn! but I still love him to the bottom of my heart!" Lucy paused a while to take a breath and continued. "He also-"
"Wait," Mira interrupted, smiling nervously. "Does this guy, uh, by any chance also go to our school?"
Lucy blinked and stared at her like she had grown a lizard tail. "What?! No! My Plue is way too precious to go to school with those ruffians!" Lucy pouted playfully and took out her phone. She busied herself scrolling through her camera roll for a second and brought up a picture.
"This is Plue!" Lucy announced happily. Mira sighed with relief. Plue was just a white...dog? Hmm, or it could be a snowman...Just what kind of creature is it? Mira shook her head, clearing away the useless details. Lucy had her scared for a second. I'll be horrible if Lucy were dating a person with carrot nose.
"I just got him a few days ago!" Lucy chirped. "I mean, Plue wouldn't be good enough as a guard dog but he definitely makes up for it in cuteness! I never raised a dog before but it seems like fun!"
"Hey, Lucy," Mira smiled brightly. "That wasn't what I meant. Maybe a special someone that has more of a boyfriend aura then a pet dog's?"
Lucy's eyes rose and meet Mira's. "And cheat on my beloved Plue? Nu-uh, no way. My heart already belongs to this white furry ball of cuteness!"
So this was where Lucy was going. Mira should've known she was messing with her. It did take skills to mess up all 257 matchmaking plans of her's, 258 counting now.
Mira pouted and meet Lucy's gaze. She smiled warmly and teasingly at her, like she was challenging Mira in a friendly way. It seems like Mirajane had meet her match in stubbornness. Time to try different tactic as seeing how a direct approach didn't work.
"Lucy, I'm holding a party tomorrow night," Mira said cheerfully. "Can you make it?"
"I don't know," Lucy pondered. "I gotta ask my therapist first."
Mira frowned. "Since when did you have a therapist?"
"Oh you know," Lucy said casually. "Since this time I let my anger get the best of me and I smashed this annoying girl's face into a piece of cake and set her hair on fire. She just wouldn't give up trying to set me up with someone."
Mira laughed. "Damn it, Heartfilia. You win this round." Mira looked into Lucy's eyes, dropping the innocent and sweet girl act.
"At least consider going to the party, okay?" Mira sighed. "You might think we're just being annoying and bugging you into doing something you don't want but-" she hesitated. "-This whole keep to yourself thing is really getting unhealthy for you."
Mira stood and winked at Lucy. "Besides, I didn't completely fail. I have inside help. It takes two to make a relationship, right?" She grinned and waved goodbye, jogging off.
Lucy scowled, confused. This matchmaking thing has gotten to a point where both of them treats it like a competition. Of course Lucy had always won. Though sometimes, Mirajane just didn't make sense. What the hell she mean when she said that-
Oh no. Something just suddenly clicked in Lucy's head. Dammit, Natsu's still vulnerable to the she-devil's attacks. So that's what she meant when she said it took two to make a relationship.
School didn't even start and Lucy's day just keeps on getting better and better.
xxxxxxxxxx
No tutoring session today. Natsu dragged his foot down the stairs, not sure how he felt about that. He was happy, of course, that he doesn't have anymore extra schoolwork though still somewhat disappointed.
He convinced himself that it was just the fact that the month was ending, the next performance test was coming up, and the fact that he hasn't improved the slightest. Natsu groaned. He was going to get kicked off the soccer team!
No! It will not end this way! Natsu scowled. He will put in more work into his grades and pass with flying colors! Huh, probably not with flying colors but still- Natsu was going to work extra hard to make sure he passed!
"Now I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted, pumping his hands in the air, saying that to no one in particular.
"Seriously," A voice interrupted him behind him. "You even act stupid when there's no one to see you." Natsu turned around. Of course it was Lucy. Natsu opened his mouth to snap back but stopped when he noticed how worry lines covered Lucy's forehead.
"Hey Luce?" Natsu asked curiously. "Are you okay?"
Lucy blinked in surprise at Natsu's question. She hadn't expected him to notice something was off this quickly. Some part of her was touched by his concern. Of course, the dense idiot had to ruin it all by speaking again.
"Cause I mean-" Natsu continued. "There are a lot of wrinkles on your face. They're going to get stuck there if you keep on looking like that. You're going to be looking like an old lady by the age of sixteen-"
"Shut up!" Lucy's face reddened and smacked Natsu on the head. "Where are you going anyway? It's lunch already."
"Well, since I'm still failing miserably I decided to head towards the library and study for a bit," Natsu explained.
"Wow," Lucy said in awed. "So the pyro does have some sense of responsibility."
"Oi-," Natsu complained. "What are you implying by that?"
Lucy laughed tightly and shook her head. "Come on, I'll go with you to the library. I need to tell you something anyways."
They walked in silence until they reached the library before Lucy frozed outside the library door. "Oh god," Lucy cringed. "I forgot today's her shift."
"Who's her?" Natsu asked confused.
"Levy," Lucy said mournfully.
"She's one of your best friends isn't she?" Natsu asked.
She laughed tightly again. "The enemy is everywhere," Lucy advised. She reached up and pet Natsu's head. "Remember that piece of advice my pupil."
Natsu stared at her, dumbfounded. "What was that for?" All the heat rushed to Natsu's and his mind was scrambled.
"What?" Lucy asked. A second passed as Lucy realized what she did. Her cheeks reddened. "Don't think of it like! God, boys and their perverted thoughts."
Lucy sighed and shook her head. "Let's just go in." Both of them stepped into the library.
"Hey Lucy!" Levy smiled and called as soon as they stepped in. "You're here with, um, Natsu." Levy grinned slyly.
"Studying purposes," Lucy said flatly. She drifted towards a desk. "Let's just sit here."
Natsu sat down and cracked open his textbook. The boring page stared at him. He tried to remember the endless paragraphs on the textbook but it was like as soon as he read it, it just slipped out of his brain.
"Urg," Natsu sighed, throwing his textbook back on the table. "It's just no use."
"Did you at least try?" Lucy asked, looking up from the book she was reading.
"Of course I did," Natsu sighed. It was unfair. Some people were just born smart and can speed through these school work without breaking a sweat.
Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "Quit it. Stop making excuses for yourself."
"Hey!" Natsu protested. "I'm not doing that! No matter how hard I tried-"
"If you think with a mindset like that, then you're never going to get anywhere," Lucy closed her book and looked at Natsu straight in the eye. "Set a goal for yourself that you want to achieve with all your heart and push yourself to reach it. It worked for me."
Natsu stayed quiet for a moment. What is his goal? To stay on the soccer team? Maybe to make Igneel proud? None of those really sparked a light in him. No, it was something else.
"Hey Natsu," Lucy quietly pointed out. "It's okay if your goal is a bit selfish and gains more for yourself. Stop thinking about others for a second."
Lucy looked like she was about to cry. How could she ask that of him? The biggest difference between them, that Natsu and her friends couldn't see, was the fact that Natsu couldn't ever stop considering about others. He always put them first before himself.
"Luce?" Natsu asked lightly. "What's your goal?" Lucy stayed quiet. Her...goal? She laughed to herself. It was entirely selfish but it had gotten her to this point. Top of the class with a bright future ahead. But like Levy and Mira often suggested, she felt as if something was missing.
"Nothing important," Lucy brushed away the question. "Work on setting your goal first."
"Oh yeah," Natsu exclaimed. "You said you have something you had to tell me before we came here, didn't we?"
Lucy glanced nervously at Levy who was clearly listening to their conversation while pretending to be immersed in cleaning the shelves. "Just-just run the other way if Mira comes to you for something. I'll talk to you more about this concern later."
Natsu nodded and looked down at his book. "Am I your friend?" he asked suddenly.
Lucy was surprised by the question and gave a questioning look at him but answered it anyway. "No, it's more like a forced acquaintanceship."
"Wow, geez," Natsu said sarcastically. "I am moved by how much I mean to you." His joking face faded away and got replaced by a serious one.
"I think I have a goal now."
This fast? Lucy was mildly surprised. That was Natsu for you. He tackled everything in life head-on with a positive perspective.
"If I pass-," Natsu said with a determined expression on his face, stopping for a while.
Lucy would've never imagine the next sentence.
"We're going to be best friends."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Are you an idiot?"
"What?" Natsu protested. "It seems like a reasonable goal. If I pass the performance test then you gotta be my best friend!"
Lucy laughed. "Maybe in a world with talking cats and magic but definitely not in this reality."
"Why not?"
"For one thing, we have nothing in common. We can barely tolerate each other. And I don't feel like wasting my time," Lucy said stiffly. "Why? Why out of everything, you choose something like that?"
Natsu stayed quiet. Lucy had said that he can afford to be selfish just this once. Maybe-maybe if he pushed Lucy into a clear barrier for friends, he wouldn't be doubting himself and his feelings so much. After all, he has to stay focus on soccer and school.
But no, that's wasn't the reason. Something inside of him rebelled against it. He wanted to get to know her more. Show her the world isn't so small like she treated it. Natsu was determined to bring Lucy out of her shell.
Lucy sighed and stretched her arms. "Well whatever. I accept. But on one condition," she grinned mischievous at Natsu. "It's only if you gets higher score then I do."
A higher score then Lucy? That won't be easy seeing as to how she always got the highest score on everything in the school.
"It's a deal!" Natsu declared."Now I'm really fired up!" Natsu had a look in his eyes that he normally got before a soccer match started. He was issued a challenge and he would not back down.
Lucy gave Natsu an exasperated look. There was none to zero chances of him getting a higher score then her but she'll indulge Natsu.
"You really are an idiot, you know?" Lucy smiled in spite of herself.
"Yes but I'm an adorable one," Natsu countered.
The hard days to come in Lucy's future suddenly doesn't seem that bad. To hell with her father issues and personal traumas. Lucy had someone by her side and that was enough.
