Lucy's breath hitched in her throat. Her eyes widened. 'Impossible. There's no way N would tell someone he's N. But if he is...'

Lucy smiled at him. "If that's true, then you're a person I respect and admire."

"Thanks." Natsu said. "The reason why I told you is because I thought you might be able to help us on the Fairy case."

'The probability that Lucy-san is Fairy is less than five percent.' Natsu thought. 'But, among the people I was watching, I have the strongest feeling about her... You're too perfect.'

Lisanna chuckled as she took a good look at Natsu. 'Not a bad looker.'

'If this guy is N, or even if he's not... I can't do anything to him...' Lucy thought, frowning a bit. 'If he really is N, then he's shown his face to my father as N... His name, Natsu Dragion, is obviously an alias. I might accidentally kill the actor, if I write his name down.'

'Does he think I'm Fairy?' Lucy thought, shifting a bit in her seat. 'If he does, he's limiting his investigation to the people Jellal Fernandes investigated... But, why would N contact me directly?'

"That was an interesting school entrance ceremony, Lucy." Lisanna said floating behind Lucy a she left the auditorium.

"Lucy-san."

Lisanna raised an eyebrow. "That guy's calling you."

Lucy turned towards Natsu.

"Thanks for today."

Lucy smiled. "No, thank you."

Natsu nodded before heading to his limousine that was waiting for him.

"Well, I'll see you around campus." Natsu said, getting into the car.

"Y-Yeah..."

Lucy felt depressed on the subway train ride home. Just moments ago, she met a hot, pink haired guy, only to find out he's working against her. Lucy sighed.

Lucy entered her house, closing the front door. She slowly walked up stairs. Wendy was watching television in the living room.

"Welcome back, University student." Wendy teased.

Lucy didn't respond, merely walking up to her room and locking the door. She sat at her desk and laid her head down.

Lisanna floated behind her, confused at Lucy's depressive nature.

Suddenly, Lucy slammed her hand on the desk, startling Lisanna.

"Life is so unfair!" She groaned.

"Unfair?"

"Yes!" Lucy snapped. "I finally meet I guy I like... and then I find out he could possibly be my mortal enemy."

"W-Well there's plenty of more good looking guys than him."

"Still, I don't bat an eye at the other guys." Lucy said, more softly now. "Just him."

'This is the first time the normally calm and collected Lucy's ever been flustered.' Lisanna thought.

"At first... I thought I could find N's identity, then make him die in an accident or commit suicide." Lucy said, rubbing her forehead. "But now..."

Lucy sighed, placing her head back on her desk. "When N first challenged me, I got a little excited... No ones ever out smarted me before. And now that I know what he looks like... I only feel more attracted to him."

Lisanna tilted her head, confused. 'Is she talking to me, or mumbling to herself?'

"Well if he finds out that you're Fairy, it's all over for you." Lisanna said.

Lucy raised her head.

"That's right... I should try to keep my identity a secret." Lucy said. "A-At least until I figure something out... N will still keep approaching me at school. I need to stay one step ahead..."

'Figure something out?' Lisanna thought. 'She intends to pin the blame on someone else... so she could be with that sexy pink haired guy?'

Lucy was tying her shoes outside the tennis court. Natsu had asked her to play a game of tennis, so they could get to know each other better.

Lucy smiled at him. "Are you sure you want to play? I'm pretty good at this game."

"Don't worry Lucy-san, I used to be a British Junior champion." Natsu replied.

"Oh! So you grew up in England?" Lucy asked.

"I lived in England for five years."

Lucy went to her side of the court and Natsu went to his.

'Should I go easy on him?' Lucy thought. 'Don't want him to feel bad, getting beaten so easily.'

"So whoever wins six games first is the winner." Natsu said. "That alright with you, Lucy-san?"

"Sure."

Natsu bounced the tennis a ball a few times, getting ready to serve.

'This is just a tennis game... it's not enough to determine if she might be Fairy.' Natsu thought. 'But, Fairy hates losing...'

Natsu tossed the ball in the air, hitting it at blinding speeds past Lucy, almost hitting Lisanna.

Lucy stood, shocked.

"Fifteen-love."

"Haven't you ever heard of warming up?" Lucy asked, giggling a bit.

"He who takes the initiative always wins." Natsu replied.

'Ain't that the truth.' Lisanna thought.

"What do you mean, you can't tell me?" Gildarts asked, angrily.

"I'm sorry sir, but N's orders were nobody outside the investigation was to know." Mr. Heartfilia replied.

"Not even to account for where you are or what you're doing?"

"I'm very sorry, sir."

Gildarts sighed. "It's already been over four months since this case started. The papers are saying the police are incompetent... that N is incompetent."

"With due respect sir, the police were so scared of Fairy, they've abandoned the case." Mr. Heartfilia said. "You know very well how many detectives I have left on the task force, sir."

"Now, if you'll excuse me." Mr. Heartfilia said, leaving the office.

"Jude... What about N?" Gildarts asked. "Can we trust him?"

Mr. Heartfilia stopped. "He's certainly more competent than we are. He's out there as we speak, risking his life to solve this case."

Natsu sprinted quickly to hit the ball flying to the far end of his side of the court. A huge crowd had gathered to watch the tennis game. Natsu hit the ball over to Lucy's side, which Lucy easily deflected back over.

"Are they really amateurs?" A guy in the crowd asked. "Who are they?"

"Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragion." Another replied. "They're the top two students from this year's freshman class."

Natsu struck the ball, returning it to Lucy's side. 'Relax, Lucy-san.' Natsu thought. 'Fairy hates to lose, but you do not have to be Fairy to want to win a tennis match.'

Lucy ran towards the ball and struck it back over. 'If I try too hard to win, does that make me seem like Fairy?! If I lose on purpose, he'll think that I thought trying too hard to win would make me seem like Fairy. So losing makes me seem like Fairy too, right?'

The ball continued to be struck by Natsu and Lucy, as the match grew more intense. Lisanna and the crowd watched in awe.

'There's no way he'd analyze me through this tennis match.' Lucy thought, hitting the ball again.

Natsu ran towards the ball hitting back over to the other side, with Lucy running in the direction it was coming from, returning the ball back with a powerful swing.

'This is why, I'm going to beat him in tennis.' Lucy thought, as Natsu ran towards the ball, but was unable to hit it.

Natsu was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath. 'See... She is trying to win."

"Game count, four all." A referee said.

Lisanna chuckled at the sight. 'You guys suddenly have a referee and linesmen.'

"I thought I'd heard of Lucy Heartfilia before." A guy in the crowd said. " She was a two time junior champion. She announced that she was quitting once she started high school."

"So then, that guy must really be something, holding his own against a junior high champion." A girl said.

Natsu struck the ball that came towards him. 'I can read you, Lucy-san. I know what you're feeling.'

Lucy ran towards the ball. 'This is just a ceremony for us to say we're friends... He can't deduce anything from it...'

Natsu sprinted towards the ball and struck it back towards the other side. 'You'll think that, through playing this match, I've laid the ground for moving a step closer to you.'

Lucy returned the incoming ball with the skill of a champion. 'He'll bring up the Fairy case and try to make me say things only Fairy would know.'

'But you would ask to be shown information from the investigation before you'll trust me.' Natsu thought, striking the ball with immense force, sweating a bit.

'If we're going to talk about the Fairy case, it's obvious I'd want some proof that he really is the one in charge of the investigation.' Lucy thought, as she struck the ball.

'Therefore, what you are going to ask me to do now...' Natsu thought.

'...is to meet with a reliable third party, who can confirm that you're really N.' Lucy thought

'In other words, go to the task force headquarters together...' Natsu thought, as he barely reached the ball.

Lucy quickly ran over towards the incoming ball, striking it out of Natsu's range. Natsu missed the ball.

"Game set! Won by Lucy Heartfilia, six games to four!" The referee said.

The crowd cheered, as the amazing spectacle finally came to a close.

"As expected Lucy-san, you beat me." Natsu said, walking next to Lucy.

"That's the first time I played for real in ages, Natsu." Lucy said, a hint of blush on her cheeks. "Since we're both thirsty, and since there's something I want to ask you... w-would you like to go for some tea?"

"Well, since you just beat me, you can ask me anything you want." Natsu replied.

Lucy smiled, delighted.

"But there's something I should to tell you first." Natsu said.

"What is it?"

"The truth is, Lucy-san... I suspect you may be Fairy." Natsu whispered.

Lucy mind went blank.

"If you still want to ask me, then go ahead."

Lucy stopped walking, causing Natsu to stop walking. For a while, Lucy stared at the ground, before she looked up at Natsu and laughed.

"Me, Fairy?'

"Well, I am actually talking about a factor of one percent." Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head. "Actually, I am hoping that you really are not Fairy."

"With that brilliant power of deduction of yours, I wanted to ask you to help us with the investigation."

Natsu started walking again, as Lucy followed.

'One percent, huh...' Lucy thought.

"This is one of my favorite coffee shops." Lucy smiled, as she and Natsu sat in a booth. "If you sit here in the back, nobody can hear you talking."

"Thanks for showing me this place." Natsu smiled.

"And nobody's going to be staring at you for sitting like that." Lucy giggled, referring to the way Natsu sat with his knees pressed against his chest.

"I just can't sit any other way than this." Natsu said, frowning. "If I sit the way other people do, my reasoning ability drops by forty percent."

"So... what did you want to ask me." Natsu asked, pouring tabasco sauce in his tea."

"Oh, that can wait till you're positive I'm not Fairy." Lucy said, sipping her own tea. "So you can go ahead and start, Natsu."

"In that case." Natsu said, sipping his tea. "Is it alright if I can test your reasoning abilities, Lucy-san?"

"It's alright." Lucy said. "Sounds like fun."

Natsu reached in his pocket and pulled a few note cards out.

"First then, please take a look at these notes." Natsu said, handing them to Lucy. "These notes were written by criminals in prison before they died. I assumed Fairy controlled them into writing the notes. I'd like to hear your opinion on them, Lucy-san."

Lucy picked up the notes and studied them carefully. "These are very interesting."

'These notes are the ones I wrote to him.' Lucy thought. 'But there are print numbers on the back of them... If I didn't noticed that...'

"It looks like there is a hidden taunt to N in here." Lucy said, placing the cards on the table. "If you take the first word of every line, they form a sentence... Let's see... the order that would make the most sense would be 'N, did you know Death gods only eat apples.'

"But there are print numbers on the back of them so it reads 'N, did you know only eat apples, Death gods.'" Lucy said. "I don't think Fairy intended for it to be read like this."

"Wrong..."

Lucy blinked, in confusion.

"In fact, there's a fourth note." Natsu said, pulling out another note. "If you add this, you get... 'N, did you know love apples? Death Gods, have red hands."

'This is a fake one.' Lucy thought. 'I didn't make a criminal write this fourth one... already lying to me, Natsu?'

"But if there were only three notes, my reasoning was flawless." Lucy insisted.

"No, it wasn't..." Natsu said. "There were in fact, four notes. Figuring that out would have made your reasoning flawless... You assumed there were only three notes and therefore could not infer there might be a fourth one."

'I get it... He doesn't want to see how smart I am.' Lucy thought. "He just wants to see my reaction. So if I insist on my version, he'll only be more convinced it's me."

"You're right, I didn't think of that." Lucy laughed. "But still, either way I don't think these notes will help you find Fairy."

"I mean... Death Gods don't even exist." Lucy said, sipping tea.

"Then... let's pretend you're N." Natsu said. "I you came face to face with someone who might be Fairy, how would you try to determine if he was?"

"I'd try to make them say things that haven't been reported in the news. Things only Fairy could know." Lucy replied.

"Just like what you're doing now, Natsu..." Lucy smirked.

'Impressive.' Natsu thought.

"I've already asked the same question to a number of detectives, and most of them took a few minutes to think about it." Natsu said. "But you, Lucy-san, were instantly able to think about it from the perspective of Fairy talking to an investigator."

"I have to say you're quite brilliant, Lucy-san." Natsu said.

Lucy turned several shades of red. "Y-You think so?"

"This increases my desire to have you help us in the investigation." Natsu replied. "Even if you're Fairy... I'd still like you to help us with the investigation."

"I-If I help you, the investigation might move forward." Lucy said. "At the same time, if I'm Fairy, I might slip up and betray myself. So in other words, you can kill two birds with one stone..."

"But, you also can't prove that you're not Fairy." Lucy said. "Is it fair that you get to question me, but I can't question you? But, if you are N, you should be able to prove it... I'm talking about having someone I trust, like my father, tell me straight out that you're N. If you can't do that, then I can't work with you on this case."

'Lucy-san sure talks a lot.' Natsu thought 'She is a classic example of someone who hates to lose... could she truly be...?'

"I never said I wouldn't let you meet with members of the investigation." Natsu said. "I'm working directly with your father and the rest of the investigation team right now."

Natsu cellphone started to ring.

"Excuse me..." Natsu said, answering the phone.

Lucy's cellphone also started to ring. "Oh, mine too."

"Natsu... we have an emergency." Makarov said, through the phone. Natsu's eyes widened.

"Lucy! It's your father!" Layla cried through the phone.

Lucy sat, stunned. "My father... had a heart attack?"

"All right, then. I'll be back tomorrow with some more of your things." The Layla said, as she left the room. "Thanks for coming, Lucy."

Lucy and Natsu sat in the hospital room. Mr. Heartfilia was laid in bed, recovering.

"Are you really sure this was just caused by overwork?" Lucy asked, concerned.

"I collapsed, when Fairy crossed my mind, but I'm fine now." Mr. Heartfilia said. "I've just been pushing myself too much lately."

Lucy wiped a few tears from her eyes.

"Having your own daughter under suspicion must be an emotional strain as well." Natsu said.

"You told my father I'm under suspicion." Lucy asked, angrily.

"Yes." Natsu replied. "I told your father everything. Including the fact that I'm N."

Lucy looked at her father.

"That's right." Mr. Heartilia said. "This is N... We've been calling him Natsu so that nobody finds out. This is the real N."

'So I was right.' Lucy thought...

"So Natsu," asked Mr. Heartfilia,"has talking to my daughter cleared away your suspicions."

"My suspicions of her are really small." Natsu replied.

"I can't blame you for being suspicious." Lucy said. "But, I'll help you with the investigation, since you proved that you are indeed N."

"Lucy..." Mr. Heartfilia said. "You just concentrate on studying right now. You'll have plenty of time for catching criminals after you join the NPA."

"What are you talking about, dad? That's still years and years from now..." Lucy argued.

"Listen, Lucy..." Mr. Heartfilia said. "Fairy is evil, but lately I've been starting to think of it more like this. The real evil is the power to kill people... Someone who finds themselves with that power is cursed... No matter how you use it, anything obtained by killing people can never bring... true happiness."

Lucy sat and listened in silence.

"You're absolutely right, Mr. Heartfilia." Natsu said, looking at Lucy. "If Fairy is an ordinary human being who somehow gained this power, he or she is a very unfortunate person..."

'I'm... unfortunate...?'

"Natsu, I'm sorry about collapsing like this, but I'll be back at work as soon as I can..." Mr. Heartfilia said, as he closed his eyes.

Natsu and Lucy walked out of the hospital building, Natsu's car was waiting for him.

"Natsu..." Lucy said. "Isn't there some way to make you trust me and make you believe I'm not Fairy?"

"If you aren't Fairy, Lucy-san, you don't have to do anything at all, do you?"

"Stop the bullshit!" Lucy growled. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to be suspected?"

Natsu sighed. "Now I feel terrible..."

"How about locking me in a room for a month, with no television so I can't see the news?" Lucy asked.

"I can't do that, it would violate your rights to privacy and freedom." Natsu replied, getting into his car.

"I see."

"It's all right. If you aren't Fairy, it will become apparent eventually." Natsu said, out his window. "Plus... watching you with your father today, I doubt that you could be Fairy..."

"Well then, take good care your father." Natsu said, as he prepared to leave.

"Oh, one more thing...: Lucy said. "I said I'd help out with the investigation, but I don't think I 'll have the time until my father gets a little better."

"I understand."

Lucy watched as the car drove away.

She stood still, before she collapsed. Tears falling from her eyes. 'What am I doing...?' Lucy thought as she cried. 'I can't do this... I can't be Fairy any longer...'

"Lucy... are you okay?" Lisanna asked.

Lucy nodded as she wiped her eyes and stood back up.

"Lis... I've never thought that finding that notebook and gaining this power would be a misfortune." Lucy said, looking solemn. "But now... I don't know what to think. I don't think I can be a god."

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Lisanna asked.

"I don't know..."

"What is this?" A man asked. "Is this the best you can come up with? You guys think all we have to do is run a Fairy special and people are gonna tune in is that it?! Listen to me, the reason my shows gets the ratings is because I do stories the other networks won't touch! You get?! The point it, we need a story. A story! Find me a new scoop on this Fairy thing!"

"But there aren't any new scoops, sir." A man said. "The cops aren't saying a word. It's hopeless."

"Idiot! If you can't find any good stories out there, then make something up!" The man retorted.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a woman entered with a package.

"Director Erigor, there's a package for you." The woman said handing Erigor the package.

Erigor opened the package and a within were a few tapes. "What the hell's this?"

He looked at the note. "Who's it from?"

He read the note before, he grinned. "This is what I'm talking about! This is what I'm asking you guys to bring me.

"This is great. A message from another Fairy proclaiming to be the true god of the world?" Erigor laughed. "'If you do not broadcast these tapes as instructed, I will kill your company's board of directors one by one.'"

Erigor grinned. "If I don't broadcast these tapes? If there's another Fairy, this is going to get so many ratings. I'm getting so excited, I'm trembling!"

A/N
Thanks for Reading! Don't forget to Review! Next chapter should be up soon.