Sshh it's still May and therefore this is still the May chapter :P
Dislcaimer: Don't own them!
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Gray shooed Natsu out and disappeared back into his room for a while. Natsu was almost worried that Gray had decided not to head out, so when Gray came out with his arms full of presents, Natsu was pleasantly surprised.
"Who are those for?" Natsu asked, eyeing the gifts with interest.
Gray gave a weak smile. "You'll see."
While Natsu doubted Gray's mental stability at the moment, he didn't know where the raven wanted to go, and so he let him drive.
That didn't stop him from being as tense as a bowstring during the whole ride though.
When Gray finally pulled to a stop in front of a faded and shady looking building with locked gates, Natsu eyed him cautiously.
What was Gray up to?
What was this place?
Was Gray safe here?
He didn't have much time to contemplate those thoughts as Gray rang the doorbell outside the gate.
"Who is this?" a female voice asked through the intercom.
"It's Gray, Mira."
"Oh, we weren't expecting you, Gray! Hold on, I'll open the gates."
Natsu watched the whole exchange warily.
"Gray… what's going on?" he asked, eyes darting around, searching for any sign of danger. Just as Gray opened his mouth to answer, the gates were opened and loud cheering could be heard inside.
"Gray-niichan!"
"It's Gray-niichan!"
A mob of children came flooding from the gates and pooled around Gray, grabbing at his pant legs and anything else they could reach. Gray chuckled and ruffled the hair of the kids closest to him.
"Hey guys. Have you been good?"
"Yes!" they all chorused. Natsu surveyed each child's face. Every single one was smiling brightly, despite the less than ideal living conditions they were in.
Looking around, Natsu couldn't see one uplifting thing about this place: it was in the middle of nowhere, it looked like a school (which automatically made it gross) and the exterior was decorated in fabulous shades of gray, black and white.
Hooray.
And yet the smiles on those kids' faces when they saw Gray was flooring. The place suddenly seemed to have life and vigor, all because of the appearance of "Gray-niichan". Natsu had to wonder how Gray knew these kids.
He opened his mouth to ask, only to be cut off by a tall, platinum blonde woman leaning against the gates.
"It's been a while, Gray. As always, they're happy to see you."
Gray looked up from the little boy that he had been talking to and gave a nod towards the woman.
"Mira," he greeted. "You're right, I should visit more often."
"Maybe, but that would make my job harder, Gray! You always distract the kids."
Gray chuckled. "It's not my fault that I'm more loveable."
"Ara, but I think they just want you for the presents," Mira pondered.
At the mention of presents, everyone perked up.
"Gray-niichan, did you bring us toys?" she asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.
Gray smiled and leaned down, patting the girl on the head. "I did, Tammy. They're in the trunk of my car."
All the kids cheered and began thanking Gray in earnest, and honestly, Natsu felt like he was intruding on something special. It was obvious that those kids loved Gray more than anything. The affection and admiration in their eyes when they looked up at the raven was overwhelming and the way that Gray returned their awe with gentle movements and kind eyes made Natsu wonder if Gray was related to them. Natsu had only seen such affection and pride in the eyes of… parents.
"Gray-niichan, who's this?" a boy with blond hair asked, pointing at Natsu. The rosette flinched, having been paying too much attention to Gray that he lost track of his surroundings. He grumbled to himself internally. Rookie and possibly fatal mistake of a bodyguard.
Gray didn't seem to notice. "That's Natsu, Luke. He's a friend."
The blond, who couldn't have been much older than eight, looked up at Natsu with wide, innocent eyes. Natsu would deny this later, but he felt a little nervous. It had been years since he had last spoken to a child.
"H-Hi, Luke. How are you?" Natsu asked, hoping that his little slip up wasn't noticeable.
Unfortunately it was, and Natsu would deal with Gray's snickering when they weren't in public.
Luke continued to stare at Natsu before breaking out into a wide grin and throwing himself around the bodyguard's legs. "Natsu-niichan!"
As if that was some sort of secret command, all the kids began rushing towards Natsu, trying to reach for the new visitor. Amongst the sea of children, Natsu was helpless. He looked to Gray pleadingly, only to find his charge trying and failing to hide his laughter. Mira also watched on, an amused smile on her beautiful features.
The chaos continued for a few more minutes until Mira decided to step in. She clapped her hands and Natsu wondered how the kids could hear that over the commotion they were making.
"Alright, let's let Natsu-san and Gray get your presents. You can wait for them inside."
"Yes, Mirajane-sensei!"
"Didn't peg you for the type to be bad with kids, Flame Brain," Gray teased as he picked up the last present.
"Shut up," Natsu mumbled, preoccupying himself with the gifts loaded in his arms. Gray chuckled as he closed the trunk.
"This is an orphanage, in case you haven't guess yet," he said quietly, gazing at the faded building with what seemed to be nostalgia. "These kids have nothing but Mira and me. No one comes to visit this place other than government officials on inspections or some crap like that."
Natsu watched the raven carefully. Something in his tone rang sharper than before.
"Sometimes I drop by if I have some time after work. I bring them some toys and some of the prototypes from Fairy Tail. The kids always go nuts," Gray reminisced fondly. Natsu's eyes softened.
"How long have you been doing this?" he asked softly.
"Ever since I took over the company officially," Gray answered. "I…I used to be an orphan here, until Ur came along, that is. I remember playing with the broken toys and reading books that I had already read over and over until I could recite them by heart; that was all you could do. And then Ur came and gave me a new life. A better life." The raven took a shuddering breath and Natsu was left speechless. Red rimmed Gray's eyes but no tears fell down his pale cheeks.
"I see," Natsu said. What else was there to say? What could he say?
"Come on. I'm sure the kids want to see their new toys."
"A drawing book!"
"A robot!"
"Lego!"
The happy exclaims of the children filled the room as they all unboxed the gifts that Gray had bought for them. What surprised Natsu the most was how each gift was different. Honestly, he had expected them all to be the same toy, something that each kid could be happy with. But no, the presents were all tailored to fit each child and their interests. The little girl from earlier—Tammy, Natsu remembered— had gotten a doll that looked exactly like her. She squealed happily and hugged it tightly to her chest. Natsu felt his heart swell. Gray stood in the center of the kids, assembling toys and explaining what each one did. Beside him, he heard a high pitched chuckle. He started, not having heard his companion sneak up on him.
"You look like a proud parent, Natsu-san," Mira quipped.
Natsu frowned. "If anyone is a proud parent here, it's either you or Gray."
Mira tilted her head to the side cutely. "Did I say anything about being proud of the kids?"
Natsu's cheeks flushed at the implication.
"Ara, ara, you aren't denying it," the platinum blonde pointed out.
"Shut up," Natsu mumbled. Mira laughed and Natsu couldn't help but notice that despite her teasing, she had quite a nice and melodic laugh.
"It's rare for Gray to bring anyone here. In fact, this is the first time it's happened. Who are you to Gray, Natsu-san?"
"Natsu is fine. I'm… well I guess you haven't heard. There was an attempt on his life a little while ago. I'm his bodyguard until we figure out who's after him." The cheery air around the woman dissipated immediately. Despite the noisy chatter of children in the background, it was as if the entire room had gone silent for Natsu.
"What did you say?" Mira asked calmly. Too calmly. Much too calmly for Natsu's like.
"There was an attempt to kill Gray," Natsu repeated.
More silence.
"And did you find the perpetrator yet?"
"I'm working on it with Erza, Jellal and a few of my associates."
"Good. When you find out who it is, let me know. God knows Gray won't."
Natsu fought the urge to shiver. This woman was scary when she was serious.
"Speaking of which," Mira said, her serious demeanor having vanished, "I haven't fully introduced myself. My name is Mirajane Strauss and I'm the… well everything really, of Kardia Orphanage." She extended her hand and Natsu gripped it firmly.
"Natsu Dragneel. I work for Dragon Slayer Corp. How did you get into this job, Mirajane-san?"
"Mira is fine," she said easily. Then her expression turned sad. "Has Gray…"
"Yeah, he told me," Natsu interrupted quickly, sensing the delicacy of the subject. Mira looked relieved.
"Ok. Well I first came here with my younger brother Elfman and my sister Lisanna. Our parents had just died in a car accident and we had an aunt here. She took us in at first and was very kind, but after a week or so, she changed. She got meaner and would throw things around and would start screaming at us for no reason. One day, she just dropped us off here and never came back."
Natsu clenched his fists and dug his nails into his palms. A soothing touch on his arm jolted him as he turned to look over at Mira who continued as if she hadn't stopped.
"We met Gray here. He had already been here for a month or two I think. He showed us around and would play with Lisanna and Elfman." Natsu tensed at the name Lisanna, but remained silent.
Surely, it couldn't be the same person.
"He never pushed us to talk and we never did it to him either. But something about Gray has always made me think that he hides a lot of pain behind the masks that he wears. He would sometimes get this faraway look in his eyes and he would come back to reality looking so broken… Lisanna, Elfman and I didn't know how to help him." Natsu looked sadly back to the raven. Gray was smiling and playing with the children and Natsu couldn't help but wonder if he saw himself in those kids.
"Makarov-san eventually adopted Gray who, as you know, took over Fairy Tail Corp. Lisanna went to live with a guy named Bickslow and Elfman got married to his girlfriend Evergreen." Mira tilted her head up, gazing at something that Natsu couldn't see.
"Me? I could've left if I wanted to. But if I left, then this orphanage would definitely be demolished. The old caretaker died a little before I took over and I couldn't bring myself to abandon these children. But more than anything…
"This is the place where I made so many memories with Gray and my siblings. I couldn't let it be destroyed. Besides, the kids brighten up my day. They're all so cute and loving. They'll grow up to be fine adults," she said proudly. Natsu smiled and nodded.
"Yeah," he replied, staring at Gray. "I'm sure they will be."
"So what did Mira talk to you about?" Gray started conversationally as they made their way back to Gray's house.
"Nothing much," Natsu answered. Gray waited for elaboration and when he got none, deflated. He had wanted to know what his childhood friend had been talking about with Natsu. He had seen the two in the corner talking quietly about something that had seemed important. Obviously, Gray had been preoccupied at the time and couldn't ask what was going on. More than once, however, Gray had caught Natsu staring at him. So when his bodyguard suddenly distanced himself, Gray grew concerned. Nevertheless, he pursed his lips and continued to drive.
"I see."
Natsu stared out the window, ignoring the telltale thumping of his heart. He had felt this sort of nervous anxiety before and after so long, he thought he would never have this sort of emotion rising in his chest again.
Thinking back to all the times he had looked at Gray and just really looked, he should've realised this sooner. It was bound to happen. Heck, the amount of times he had teased Gray and mentally called him cute should've been a bright red indicator. But no, he had ignored the signs and dove headfirst, as always, into something that he didn't know how to deal with and hadn't had to deal with in a very long time.
He hadn't felt it in six years.
He hadn't felt it since Lisanna.
And now, staring out of the corner of his eye and the black haired young man who had a heart of gold, focussing on the road ahead of him, Natsu knew he was screwed.
He was already in too deep.
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