Hungry. Thirsty.
All Natsu was thinking about was food and water, about how badly he wanted those two things right now. He cringed feeling his stomach growl loudly again. The pinkette rolled over in bed clutching his stomach tightly.
This was unbearable, he'd never gone through something like this before. He wasn't physically or mentally prepared for this stress. But he had to drop this weight before the weigh-in at that end of the month.
Natsu thought back to Laxus' smug face, Makarov's warning, that elbow Erigor had thrown in the video. It all pissed Natsu off so much. All he wanted to do was pound their stupid faces in. Why did he have to go through this?
Wait.
He didn't have to go through this... No one was holding a gun to his head. Natsu didn't have to go through this much torture for those sons of bitches. Making up his mind the rookie rolled out of his bed. He wandered to the kitchen on wobbly legs.
Desperately he started digging through the refrigerator. It didn't take Natsu long to find some left over chicken from before his weight management started. Yeah, he'd eat this whole thing and no one was here to stop him.
He wasn't even close to making weight anyway. So what did it matter...? His cracked lips parted, his dry mouth ready to accept the food into it, his angry stomach growled once more. Erigor's elbow rushed through his mind again, Gray's face came into his head too.
"Dammit!" Natsu's throat was bone dry making the cry sound hoarse and gruff.
The chicken was thrown into the kitchen wall splattering everywhere, Natsu collapsed onto the floor. He clutched his aching stomach closing his eyes tightly. Just a few more pounds, all he needed was to lose a few more pounds.
He wasn't going to fall behind.
.oO1Oo.
"You aren't going to make weigh." Makarov stated the obvious after calling Natsu into his office.
"Like hell!" Natsu was getting ready to argue when Laxus walked into the office behind him. As usual the blonde acted as though Natsu wasn't standing there. The muscular man sighed looking down at the old man.
"What did you want, gramps?"
"Natsu," Makarov began folding his hands together on the desk. "You'll be training with Laxus until the end of the month... He is training for his championship match. I can't make any promises since you might not be about to handle it. But if you can, you just might be able to drop down to the lightweight class."
.oO2Oo.
Another workout down.
Like clockwork, Laxus went back into the office at the end of the gym. The blonde was trying to get rid of Natsu at every turn. The pinkette was able to keep up with the others but just barely. It wasn't like he was sweating anyway, would he really shed the weight he needed like this? He might drop from exhaustion first and end up in the hospital.
"Don't mind, don't mind." Natsu got a big pat on the back that made him wince. The one speaking was another member of the gym that was used to training with Laxus. Freed Justine, Bickslow wasn't far behind the other man. "Laxus can be a little-... Tense before big fights."
"I don't care about that asshole..." Natsu panted out between breaths. "I just want to cut weight..."
The pinkette looked half dead at this point. Dry skin on his face was literally peeling right off, it was clear that Natsu was almost at his limit. Freed shot a worried look over his shoulder at Bickslow.
"Heh..." Bickslow scoffed obviously not as friendly to outsiders as Freed. "You should just give up on that match. We can hardly keep up with Laxus' schedule right now. There is no way a four rounder rookie in your condition can even touch Laxus."
"Eh?" Dark onyx eyes narrowed into slits when the rookie glared over at Bickslow. Natsu was ready to go to war if need be. "Is that a bet?"
"L-Let's not get hasty guys." Freed muttered weakly trying to avoid a fight. "We should all just try to do our best! We shouldn't cause any trouble for Laxus leading up to his t-title fight... It is very important for the gym after all."
"I'm not going to lose out to that overpowered jock." Natsu growled turning his glare on the shaky Freed. "He better watch out or I'll go up a couple weigh classes and crush him after I settle my business as a lightweight."
"B-But... We should all do as best we can in our own divisions and bring as many titles back to the gym as possible." Freed begged with a firm nod. "I'm aiming to be the Japanese featherweight champion... Though, I'm only ranked ninth in the division right now."
"Don't sugar coat things for this kid, Freed." Bickslow jumped back in maliciously. "He isn't cut out to be a boxer."
Freed tried to speak again but Natsu held out an arm to stop him. The pinkette took a few steps closing the gap between himself and Bickslow, he got right in the taller man's face.
"Watch me touch the untouchable."
.oO3Oo.
Natsu may have been very naive before joining the gym though he wasn't completely ignorant. He knew enough to run a few miles everyday to keep himself in fighting shape. However all that running before he joined Fairy Tail was nothing compared to this.
Laxus was currently running three times a day. Three miles in the morning, three miles in the afternoon, four miles in the evening. That was ten miles a day, everyday. Laxus said he'd keep up this schedule until the day of his championship fight.
They were out on their night run now. A mile in Natsu was already falling behind. Both, Freed and Bickslow were jogging ahead of him, Laxus was sprinting in front of all of them. The pinkette was starting to have trouble breathing.
His mouth was so dry that it felt like he'd been running in the desert for days. His skin of course was the same, not a single drop of sweat came from any of his pores. Hazy onyx hues could only watch the boxers in front of him.
Every now and then the group would stop moving to shadow box. Natsu savored the moments when they stopped, doubling over to catch his breath. He didn't have enough strength in his arms to lift them and shadow box. His mind was too focused on regaining oxygen, he couldn't picture his opponent to box anyway.
The group would shadow box for only sixty seconds before beginning to jog again. Natsu kept falling further and further behind. There was nothing he hated more than being left behind.
He was tired of being left behind.
But how was he suppose to touch the untouchable in the shape he was in? No... He was just making an excuse. He couldn't make an excuse after coming so far.
"Ah!" Natsu roared his tired legs beginning to sprint as hard as they could. His weak arms swung back and forth as he moved into a full sprint. Before Natsu knew it he was beginning to pass the slower Bickslow.
"H-Hey!" He called after Natsu who wasn't listening.
Next was Freed who was pretty fast in his own right. That wasn't going to stop this hotheaded rookie. It was full speed ahead and guns blazing, he was on a roll now.
"N-N-Natsu-san!" Freed tried stopping the pinkette this time to no avail.
All that was left was Laxus, Natsu's eyes finally zeroed in on his broad back. He was the fastest of them all, Natsu would certainly admit that much. But not for much longer if he could help it...
So this was a champion? Natsu found himself thinking.
Well if that was the case then the pinkette was determined to put the blonde in his place. Dash, dash, dash! Natsu's overworked legs strained harder as he attempted to close the gap.
Laxus glanced back over his shoulder after a moment grimacing, he finally noticed the rookie closing in. The leader of the group wasted no time picking up the pace. Natsu growled seeing this, how was it possible this jerk could go faster?
No matter, Natsu would just follow suit. His legs ached more painfully as if begging Natsu to stop. The rookie refused to listen to his body, he only pushed himself harder. Just a little more, just a little more.
Natsu began feeling a little dizzy, a little lightheaded. But that didn't matter because the gap was beginning to close once more. Natsu was getting closer to the bigger man that had taunted him. Now was the moment to prove that smug bastard wrong, to touch the untouchable.
Come on...
Natsu's hand outstretched in front of him toward Laxus' back limply.
I have you...
Before his hand could touch Laxus, everything went black.
.oO4Oo.
When the reckless rookie came back to his senses he was laying on a couch, a warm towel was laying over his eyes. A weak hand came up from his side to pull the damp towel off. He couldn't do it after all... Natsu sighed staring at the ceiling.
"Finally awake?" Natsu's head snapped around looking for the source of the voice.
Laxus was sitting nonchalantly in a chair across from the couch. Natsu gritted his teeth before pulling himself upward to sit correctly on the couch. He wasn't about to lay down and take it easy with Laxus around.
"That was some stunt you pulled." Laxus continued with a tired sigh. "I couldn't even finish my roadwork because you had to act like a child. Who do you think had to carry you back?"
"I didn't ask for your help." Natsu growled threateningly clenching his fists.
"Trust me, I only did it so the old man wouldn't give me shit." Laxus sneered back before grabbing a full water bottle beside him. "Forget that now. You should take a few little sips of this now." Laxus shook the water bottle in his direction. "Unless you want to spend a few days in the hospital."
Natsu looked at the big bottle of water. The sound of the crystal clear liquid splashing around inside of it was almost too much to bear. Natsu had to resist the urge to snatch the bottle and chug the whole thing now. Natsu reminded silent looking away from Laxus.
"I get it," Laxus started with a knowing chuckle. "Don't trust yourself? I'll do it for you in that case."
"Huh?" Natsu was about to protest. Laxus descended on the rookie quicker than he expected though. A big hand grabbed Natsu roughly by the chin forcing him to look up. The pinkette tried to keep his mouth shut, Laxus' fingernails dug into Natsu more. He did this until the rookie's jaw slackened and his mouth fell opened.
Smirking the blonde poured a string of three or four tiny streams of water into Natsu's dry mouth. After this was done Laxus released him and started to the door. Thoroughly embarrassed Natsu managed to call out to the bigger man one more time.
"Dammit! I'm going to kick the hell out of Erigor!"
The proclamation only made Laxus chuckle as he walked out the door.
.oO Ruckus! Oo.
A/N: What do you know? This chapter wasn't that long after all. I cut a few things down to avoid pointless ramblings and decided to just get the point of this chapter across simply. The fight is inching closer! The weigh-in and pre-fight fun will be what you are in for in round 8. Lucy will be introduced soon along with some of your other favorites.
