Chapter 7: Not A Weakling

1/1/16 - Here's another rewrite. Totally new content coming up :P

Thanks for the reviews: chlobear X3, xXTopazWolfXx, Guest 13/6/13, dianeloveanime, 1fairytaillover, ChibiLouise, Kitty 2013.

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Lucy didn't know how to face any of her teammates anymore. She was worried they would hate her for bailing out on them so frequently. And it certainly did not help that she shared all of her classes with at least one member of the team.

Currently she was in her English class, her favorite subject. She always paid close attention to every word that escaped from Libra, the petite black haired English teacher. The said teacher would always have her arms stretched out, saying that it helped her keep her life at balance. Now, Lucy suddenly wished she had followed her teacher's philosophy so that her life wouldn't seem so jumbled up right now.

She supposed that this was the perfect time to drop out of the team. They hadn't played a single match against another team so far. They didn't really need her; they only wanted her court. She was just an extra load they had to carry so that they could play. But Lucy really did not want to drop out; she was in fact beginning to enjoy the practices Gray would call up on random days. But should she follow through with her personal interests when it was so obvious that she was weighing down the entire team?

The blue haired girl sitting next to her would glance at her from time to time, worried about the sudden lack of interest in Lucy's surroundings. She could have very easily nudged her to pay attention, but Libra had a sharp eye and would immediately call out on her. And so, Levy decided to stay quiet, promising herself that she would badger her new friend with ceaseless questions about it soon afterwards.

They had already reached lunchtime and Levy still had no idea what had been bothering Lucy. But she had noticed that Lucy seemed better now. She still hadn't forgotten her promise, though. It had just been… postponed.

The two girls headed to their usual eating spot. The others had already arrived, and things proceeded as they did in a normal day.

"More shaved ice, ice cube?" Natsu was accounted for.

"Look who is talking, Tabasco-breath." So was Gray.

"Can't we all have one day of peace from you guys?!" Lyon was there as well.

"How do you manage to bring shaved ice without melting it?" Siegrain was there too.

"It's a family secret." Ultear whispered conspiratorially. "Only me and Lyon know."

"Can I try some of your food, Natsu?" Lisanna asked shyly.

"I want to try some too! I heard it was manly!" Elfman piped in and plopped a piece in his mouth before Lisanna. Suddenly he jumped up and started running around. "Water!" he yelped.

Natsu, Gajeel and Gray were laughing hysterically, and Jellal procured his water bottle. "Thank you, Jellal! You're the man!" the Strauss boy cheered.

"Tch. They never learn." Gray muttered, poking at his own tiffin.

Juvia popped out from behind him. "Can Juvia try Gray sama's lunch?" she asked shyly as well, fiddling with her fingers.

"Uh, sure?" With that, Juvia grabbed Gray's hand with the spoon and took a bite, effectively making it look like he just fed her. "Wow! So cool! Just like Gray-sama."

Gray's eyes started wandering around, and landed on the two girls that had just arrived. "What are you two waiting for? Come on!"

Lucy and Levy walked over to where they were sitting, and Lucy ended up sitting next to Gray. She could feel someone glaring at her, but every time she turned, she couldn't find anyone.

After a few minutes, Gray suddenly declared, "We are going to have practice for three days in a row." The boys groaned at this. "Will the court be free?" he asked Lucy.

"Of-course! You guys are the only ones who use it." Lucy pointed out, as if that was obvious. "But I won't be able to show up for the practices. You guys go on ahead."

Gray frowned at Lucy's lack of excuse, but let it go. It was only one day of practice after all.

It had been like that from that point onwards. Every time Gray had declared a practice, Lucy would always say that she couldn't make it. It was starting to worry him and the rest of the team as well. Natsu had brought the issue up a week later.

"Lucy doesn't come to practice anymore?" he whined. "How come she gets to skip?" He passes the ball to Siegrain, who shrugs nonchalantly. "Maybe she's decided to quit."

That made Gray come to a screeching halt. Lucy's quitting? Jellal and Lyon glanced at Gray worriedly.

"She can't just quit!" Natsu argued. "She was just starting to get the hang of it!"

"And she would have told us if she wanted to." Jellal pointed out.

"Her house is right here, dude." Gajeel pointed out, gesturing to the building next to them. "If you're all worried so much, you could just ask her right now."

"Oh please," Siegrain scoffed. "Like you're not curious too."

"I am not." Gajeel said defensively. "I'm just pointing it out to the people who do."

As the two started arguing, Gray distractedly zipped his bag open and got out his water bottle. Lucy couldn't be quitting could she? She was definitely no Erza, but she was strong and resilient in her own way. She did complain a lot though, but the team had easily learned to drown them out, just like Loki's absences and his own arguments with Natsu. Should they have actually listened to her? Did she really not like them in the end?

Lyon was no mind reader, but he could easily tell what his brother was worried about. The silver haired boy really wanted to pummel everyone for heightening Gray's steadily rising hysteria. Instead, he chose to throw him a bone.

"Why don't we drop by at her place? She should still be at home. " Lyon suggested.

Natsu heartily agreed. "Then we can finish this once and for all."

The boys quickly packed up but left their belongings on the benches. The court had a security system, and they were going to lock the court before leaving. Since Gray had the copy of the keys, he was determined to be the last one out. He gazed up at her balcony, where the bet had been made. It couldn't be over already, could it?

Staring a little longer than he should have, he noticed some silhouettes flash through the balcony. Before he could look at it longer, a voice snapped him out of it.

"Come on, Gray! I could just as well lock you in here." Siegrain called out.

Gray frowned at him, confused. "You don't even have the keys."

Siegrain then fished out a chain of keys, the brass one shining through the other iron keys. "I fished them out of your bag." He explained cheekily.

Gray rolled his eyes and followed him out of the court. The others were waiting in front of the gates and, seeing Siegrain and Gray, went inside. When Gray followed, he was surprised to see the gates locked shut, stopping them from going any further.

"What's up, Goat man?" Natsu demanded loudly at the old man standing in his post. "Let us in!"

"I have orders to not let you people in here." Capricorn stated indifferently through the intercom. This sent the whole team into a maddening frenzy and tried to force themselves in. Their thoughts went into overdrive. What was happening? Why weren't they allowed to come in?

Capricorn was having a hard time keeping them out. Some of the smarter ones were trying out different strategies of divide and conquer to infiltrate him, while others were using brute force to try and climb up the gates. He even called in reinforcements, namely Taurus, to try to scare them away. After a while, the group stopped and huddled up to find a way. Capricorn's eyes softened as he easily saw the concern in their eyes as they were grasping on straws, trying to make sense of this predicament. Taurus, who was keeping a keen eye on them as well, murmured something into his com.

"You think we should just let them go?" he muttered softly.

Capricorn's features twisted into one of shock, unwilling to even think of turning against his orders. But he knew what was happening at the young Heartfilia's lair right now, and heaved a sigh of defeat. Taurus took this as acquiescence. "Hey boys! Come here for a second!"

All of them now looked up at the other security guard, glaring at him suspiciously. Taurus found it quite amusing when only one of them decided to step forward. "We'll let you guys go in, but you better not let anyone know that we let you in." He explained patronizingly.

The boy in front of him scoffed at the guard's tone, but even a blind man could notice the shine of relief and gratitude held in his eyes. He turned around to face the rest of the boys. "Come on guys! Let's go in!"

The boys herded into the elevator, which surprisingly managed to carry so many people. When the door closed, Capricorn turned to his co-worker. "If they get caught, I'm going to blame it all on you." He deadpanned.

When they reached her floor, they were surprised to find that the door was open. Gray immediately feared the worst. Lucy could have been kidnapped, or mugged or even murdered by someone by now.

"Ow!" he yelped in shock.

Gajeel hushed him. "You were breathing too loudly." He whispered.

"You can't hit me for breathing goddamnit!" Gray whispered furiously.

"Come on, guys!" Natsu urged softly. "We need to get in there."

An hour earlier…

Lucy was seated on the carpet of her living room, books sprawled everywhere. She was biting the back of her ball-point pen nervously, her mind drifting further away from her homework by the second. It had already been two weeks; her father will have a talk with the school principal tomorrow to see if she really pulled out.

She heaved a big sigh and leaned against her couch. Her father had gone too far this time. It was simply a sport; millions of people around the world played basketball every day. True to her expectations, her bruises had mostly faded away by now and her hands didn't hurt as much. He really couldn't be seriously expecting her to remain sheltered all of her life just because of some mistakes in her past. How was she able to life her life if she was always worried about every single twist and turn.

The chimes of her doorbell knocked her out of her reverie, and she extricated herself from her mess to answer the door. This was odd, she thought, Capricorn would have informed me if someone was coming over. She looked through her peephole to find her dad waiting impatiently outside. She quickly unlocked the door, and the busy man hurried himself inside without a word.

He looked at the mess on her floor disdainfully before comfortably seating himself in his armchair. "Have you left the baseball club you were in?"

"It's basketball, dad." She corrected venomously. "And no, I haven't."

The proud man's shoulders drooped, and suddenly he looked older than his forty-five years. "Alright then. I'll have to go tomorrow to tell them that you cannot continue to be in that club."

"But why can't I?" Lucy asked, trembling. She refused to look at her father, instead opting to examine her painted toes. "What is so wrong about playing basketball?"

"Not this again, Lucy." Her father admonished. "Haven't I made it clear? I don't want to see you overexerting yourself. Getting out of it is the better option for both of us. And what are you doing in that club anyway? I thought you had a passion for literature."

Lucy looked up at her dad, clearly surprised to see that he had remembered how she wanted to pursue a literary career. He had never come to the times when she was awarded for her works, always conveniently placing his meetings at those times. Still she held her ground.

"I am! I'm still going to try to be a journalist or a writer, but what's wrong with adding a little sports in as well? It'll look good on my records, and it is a healthier option that sitting around at home or go out to parties all day."

Her father winced at the mention of parties. Lucy had always shunned the pretentious parties her classmates would throw at her old school. Part of the advantages of going to this school was that the students here had no need to declare their social status every few days.

Jude was forced to pull out one last trick. "I know you don't have enough money for the rent for this month."

Lucy gasped in surprise. How had he known about that? As if to answer her question, he continued. "I have seen the list of expenses the team has created to you. I know that you are a proud person; you get that from me. But can't you see that they are using you?"

A part of Lucy was always aware of that fact, but she always refused to believe it. "No they aren't." she fought weakly.

"They are, Lucy." He reiterated. "I ran a background check on your school's basketball team. Apparently, they have been banned from most of the courts and parks in the city because of their destructive tendencies. Surely you can see that they are simply using the fact that you own a court for their own purposes. Why else would the runner-ups from last year's nation-wide under 20 basketball tournament add a girl who has never even touched a basketball into their team? By making you a benchwarmer, they secure a place they can play in. Lucy," he paused when he noticed how quiet his daughter had become. "You are too weak to handle going out of your own comfort zone. It's better that you quit this foolishness and focus on your own future."

Lucy could hear some noise from behind her, but she was too distracted to fight back. Sliding down into her beanie bag chair, she rested her face on her hands. She was hurt. Yes, she was aware of all of this, but it still hurt to hear it out loud. Her sight was becoming blurry and she could feel her throat being choked up.

"You can't talk about Lucy like that!"

Both father and daughter swiveled around to see a herd of boys coming out from the small hallway that was between the entrance and the living room. Lucy recognized them as the boys with whom she had come to enjoy hanging out with.

Natsu, Gajeel and Loki stood in between Jude and Lucy while the rest stayed behind to comfort Lucy. Gray kneeled down right in front of her. "Are you okay, Luce?"

Seeing the boys right in front of her looking so worried had burst the dam. Her tears were flowing freely and she flung her arms out at him, sobbing quietly at the crook of his neck. Gray in turn rubbed her back in soothing circles.

Seeing Lucy so weak unnerved them all. They were so used to seeing her being bubbly and cheerful, sometimes even angry for being so destructive. Natsu growled at the man in front of him. "How can you talk about your only daughter like that? You don't even know how well she manages to play with us."

"Sure she was a beginner at first," Loki conceded. "But since then, she managed to keep up with us. Sure she needs help sometimes, but we're not perfect either. That's what teams are for, to help each other."

Lucy detached herself from Gray's arms, watching as the tables turn. She felt fuzzy, touched by the fact that the guys were standing up for her.

"You are wrong her strength, Mr. Heartfilia." Lucy heard Gray saying next to her. "She is one of the strongest people I know. She is not afraid of breaking her own boundaries for the sake of others. She is not afraid of breaking her own boundaries for the sake of others, and does not hesitate to lend a helping hand to anyone. Regardless of her or their capabilities."

"And what's the point of comfort zones if they are not meant to be broken?" Lyon pointed out.

"Lucy is strong!" Siegrain piped in, earning some half-hearted glares from the rest. Lucy quietly giggled at this.

Jude's face darkened at the sight before him, and Lucy shrunk back in fear. "I suggest you keep out of this matter boys. Or you won't have anywhere else to play with your silly orange ball." He threatened.

"You can keep the damn court." Gajeel snarled. "But we keep her."

Lucy felt tears well up her eyes, but this time because she could not believe what she was seeing. All these boys wanted her to stay. It didn't matter that she was a rich girl or a weak one. They needed her the same way she needed them. With all this drama, she managed to say her piece. "Mama would be very disappointed if I was not allowed to make my own decisions."

That seemed to have been the perfect final blow. Jude took a step back, his face relaxing from the seemingly permanent frown he had. Defeated, he heaved a big sigh. "I'll see you next week, Lucy." He rasped, and made his way out of the flat.

A stunned silence settled over them. For a few minutes, everyone stayed where they were, unsure of what to do next. Finally, all of them simply sat on wherever they could find.

"You didn't tell us that you couldn't pay your rent because of us." Gray glared accusingly at the blonde girl next to him.

Lucy grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, I didn't want to drag you guys in. I mean, it's my rent and I have to be able to control my money if I want to live independently…"

"That may be true under normal circumstances, Lucy." Jellal said. "But when you were not able to pay because of our antics, we can't help but feel a bit responsible too."

"Yeah." His twin agreed, his hands digging through a packet of chips. "And I thought you loved to complain about your problems."

Lucy was indignant. "I do not like complaining."

"Really, Lucy?" Loki joined in. "Do you know how much you whine everyday?"

"My back!" Natsu shrieked girlishly. "It hurts!"

"I… can't…breathe!" Gajeel mimicked, imitating Lucy when she is breathless.

"My legs feel like jello!" Elfman offered.

"I get your point." Lucy snapped. "No need to go overboard."

"Seriously, Lucy. You can tell us or the girls any of your problems. And you have full permission to kick us out if we get too much." Lyon said.

"Not kick us out." Gray protested. "But we can pool in to pay for the damages."

Lucy appeared to think about it, but the deal looked more and more appealing by the minute. "Okay then. You guys will pay for my rent this month. And after that, you will pay for the damages. After all, its not like I'm the one who gets involved in fights in the middle of practice."

"So, how much of your rent do we need to pay?"

"Just $750." Lucy shrugged nonchalantly.

Everyone's jaws hit the floor simultaneously.

Please review any questions, criticisms or ideas. As always, I really appreciate them and every single one of your reviews leave me breathless and excited for god knows how long. See ya XD