(A/N:) Sorry it's been awhile guys! Things IRL have gotten kinda sucky, so it was nice to just dive into Fairy tail and escape reality for some time. But enough about my personal troubles! Not here to whine! Here to write! Inspire! Torture! Lol, here's chapter 6. Hope you'll like it!
Oh!
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and characters belong to Hiro Mashima sensei, and all names and events are purely coincidental and unintentional.
CHAPTER 6
~LUCY~
"And so, the Great Wall of China fell due to the…"
My eyelids drooped, fighting off the urge to fall down completely and rest for a while...and the stupid eyelids were winning.
Well, up until I felt something brush my cheek. My eyes snap open, just as I hear my name being called out.
"...Lucy?"
I clear my throat and then proceed to straighten my shirt, doing everything I can to show that I was falling asleep. Nonchalant, Lucy! I chide myself.
"Yes, Mr. Bleach?" I ask, fixing my hair in the front that seemed to have stuck onto my forehead.
He frowns at me, and says, "It's Breach, not bleach, Miss Heartfilia. And I was asking you if you would happen to tell the rest of the class what year the bombing happened? I assume you were paying attention, so I feel no need to explain which war I am referring to…" but I zone out to his lecture and feel my head slowly fall forward. But again, I feel something brush my arm this time, and I sit up straighter in my chair, determined to beat both sleep and Bleach. Something flutters onto my desk, and I snatch it up when I see words scribbled onto it. It says:
Say 1942. Nagasaki.
'Just in time,' I think, and look up with a confident grin. "1942, in Nagasaki, Mr. Bl-, er, Breach." My smile fades as a sick gleam enters his eyes, and I groan internally as I figure out what was going to happen. His eyes flit to someone behind me, and his grin grows wider. "Why don't you stay with Mr. Raion after school today, and discuss with him a number of possible answers? Perhaps over grading tests?" and with a glare, he turns around to face the board once again. I roll my eyes at his back, and turn around to see none other than Loke, grinning at me from ear to ear, as happy as a clam in front of a vegetarian. I scowl at him and quickly turn around, determined to go home on time with Levy today.
...But no luck.
"C'mon Lucy! You're not really mad, are you?" Loke peers at me from under my bangs.
"Loke?" I say quietly.
"Yeeees?" he says, unaware of the growing rage boiling underneath the surface.
"I….hate...staying for detention, Loke. I am a good, hardworking, and dedicated student!"
"I'm sorry." he says simply. Sincerely. I look up to see him holding his hands up in protection for whatever is near him, and I realize that I've stood up and have towered over his figure.
I deflate immediately, and my fist lowers. "Sorry about that. It's just…I want to be on all the teacher's good sides. They all think I'm strange for not going to school just 3 years, and it's not like I want to explain stuff to every single one of them…" I sit down and look him square in the eye.
"So we're grading papers right now?" I say reluctantly. But nevertheless, I pull out two red pens from my backpack and hand him one and shuffle papers to get started. But his hand stops me, and I look up to see his face too close to mine.
"Ummm, Loke? What's wrong?" I ask, using the small amount of air in my lungs. I'm breathless, and it feels like so is he.
He realizes the small space between our faces, and he lets me go. But he doesn't move back. "Mmm, Lucy? How 'bout we go do something this weekend? To make up for getting you in trouble today." He smirks. "I know how much you like to hang around me."
I grin back at him, and rise up to the bait. "Oh, nu uh. You can't stand to be away from me, that's why you got us both into trouble." I laugh and elbow him in the stomach. "Now shut up and start grading, or else Bleach over there-" and I point to the front of the class, where His Highness glared at us, "is gonna kick us out of the classroom, too."
Loke pouts, and then starts scribbling quickly onto the test. But soon after a couple of minutes of silence, he slams his paper down and walks to the front of the classroom. He clears his throat, and states: "Erza wants us to help her in the library, Mr. Breach."
I hold back a laugh of disbelief as Breach's face instantly pales, and he stammers out, "O-of c-c-course! Go on, then! Give my regards to Ms. Scarlet! Do leave quickly, you must not be late, you two! Go on! GO ON!" he yells, and we scramble around getting our stuff and walk out the door.
A minute of brisk walking and silence is too much for me, and I burst out with, "LOKE. What. Was that?!" But he only grins at me. I pull his shirt, insistent on finding out who holds that much power over the teacher.
"C'mon, who's Erza Scarlet? Why's she so scary?"
And then we both stop, standing in front of the most intimidating girl I've ever seen.
She's taller than me, but what makes her intimidating is not her height. It's the crossed arms and glare that she's giving both me and Loke. Her red hair is combed neatly in two parts, and her skin glows even underneath the shade of the trees. Her feet are spread apart, as if she's going to stop some impossible force. And I believe that in that moment, she can. She would.
Loke clears his throat, and then says, "Erza! We've come to report for washing duty! I humbly apologize once again for eating the last slice of cake the other day. I've brought the new student to show her the consequences of intruding on the Cake Tasting Club!" and he snaps his arm out to salute the young woman. On instinct, my arm snaps into a salute as well, but her face does not change from its stony expression. Erza walks toward us quickly, and before either of us can react, she pulls me into an iron hard hug. I try to breathe between her breasts, uncomfortable in this sudden gesture of kindness, until she whispers, "I know of your circumstances, and it's alright with me if you wish not to speak about it. We all have our burdens to bear, and I'm glad you're here attending our school." She lets me go and smiles, automatically brightening her features and my face warms. 'She's nicer than Loke painted her out to be...' I think as she leads me and Loke into the library.
I close my eyes and breathe in the book smell, walking past the front desk as we are led to the back room behind the counter, and we stop in front of a small sink. Sitting next to the sink is a bucket, and a pile of towels. I look questioningly at Loke, who seems to have grown paler by the minute. I reach out to him, concerned, but he just shakes his head and faces Erza.
"Thank you, Erza for giving us such a humbling duty." He bows dramatically,and then looks up to see a grinning Erza.
"Is he here?" Loke asks.
Erza's smile grows into a mischievous grin. "Of course. Why did you think I gave you such a chore? After you two are done, please dust the books and help the librarian's assistant to put away the books that have been returned." With a quick twist of her heel, she walks out of the back room and into the front of the library, where it looks like she calls out to someone and then proceeds to leave.
I sigh. 'I hate dust. I get all sneezy and my face goes red….' But I look over at Loke and see that he's filling up the bucket with warm water. "We were just talking about a friend of ours. He's the librarian's assistant, and I just wanted to know if he was here so I can go bug him while we're here."
My focus sharpens after he mentions the librarian's assistant. I think back to yesterday, when I saw the boy with the pink hair, but Levy didn't take me back to see if he was still there. I would have loved to get some suggestions as to what books I should read next, but for some reason, Levy kept my attention focused on other things, and I forgot all about coming back.
"What's your friend like?" I ask, trying to keep my curiosity on the downlow.
"Well, he's pretty cool. When we first started talking, he was awful at keeping a conversation going. He still sucks at it when meeting new people, actually. But once you get to know him, he really likes to talk about music and bikes and books. Oh, and food. Don't get me started on food. Natsu's always up for tasting something new, and sometimes he finds out that he's allergic to it." He makes a face, remembering something no doubt. He laughs then. "This one time-"
"Hey! I can hear you, you know!" a voice calls out from the desk area.
Loke laughs louder. "I know. How 'bout you tell her, then?" He calls out to the voice. He then looks back at me and smirks. "I'm gonna go dust the shelves right now. C'mon. I'll introduce you to Natsu."
With what feels like a blender going through my stomach, whirring on like there's no tomorrow, I follow Loke. Determined to find out who this guy is.
(A/N:) Soooo! This is where I decided to stop it! I've had some maaaaajor writer's block for a while, not to mention all the stuff that Life decided to throw my way. Not good stuff, but I'm handling it pretty well, overall. Hope you guys liked it, and please review! If there are any suggestions about how I should write this, please feel free to PM me! I will gladly accept any and all tips and suggestions! Finals is this week, so I might not be able to update as soon as I'd like to, but after that, I'm all yours, friends! :D
Yours truly,
BatheMeInSprinkles
