Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Wow. Another late update. I feel like no matter how hard I work, I just keep lagging behind. Anyway, I apologize for the long wait. Work was...well work and it took a while to come up with the idea for this chapter. I hope that you'll enjoy this latest chapter from Viscernal's A Diary's Secret! Enjoy!
PS. Check out my other story (which is experiencing the same tardiness as this one...why can't life just be all about writing?)!
Fairy Tail—A Diary's Secret
Chapter 9
Natsu stretched and yawned as he woke from his deep sleep. He rubbed his eyes and lazily sat up. He wanted to go back to sleep, but it was almost breakfast time and there was no way that his stomach would let him lie back down. He swung his body out of his hammock and stretched again. The cool morning air wafted in through the door and windows and tickled his bare torso, but he barely even noticed it as he trudged to the kitchen.
"Happy," he called out sleepily. "What's for breakfast?" He got no answer. He waited a few more seconds, but there was still silence. "Happy?" He searched the house for the small blue cat, but he was nowhere to be found. It was then that he finally remembered. "Oh that's right; I left him at Mira, Lisanna, and Elfman's place." He sighed. "I was kind of hoping that he'd gotten up and started preparing some fish, but I guess that won't happen." He walked over to the couch where his vest was hastily thrown the night prior and put it on. "Looks like I'll just have to eat at the guild." He yawned once more as he made his way out. "Man, yesterday took a lot more out of me than I realized. I kinda hope today is completely relaxing."
"Natsu!" Erza called out.
Natsu waved. "Hey, Erza. What's up?"
She power walked over to him until she was practically on top of him. "Where have you been all day?"
He sweatdropped. "It's 9:00 in the morning! I wouldn't exactly call that all day."
She backed up and crossed her arms. "Honestly. I've been waiting for four hours."
"Why were you here before the sun was up?" he asked in bewilderment. He then paused. "Wait. Waiting for what?"
She opened her eyes and looked at him. "For you of course."
"Me? Why?"
She reached into her pocket and whipped her hand out. Pinched in between her index finger and thumb were two tickets to a festival. "The town is throwing a big summer celebration tonight. These events are far more enjoyable with other people, so I thought that you would enjoy accompanying me."
Natsu's eyes lit up. He loved festivals. All of the games, the food, the prizes, the food; it couldn't be beat. He nodded emphatically. "Yeah, sounds like fun!"
Erza smiled. "Good. I'm glad that you agree. Make sure to meet me in front of the guild by 6:00 sharp." She walked away. "I'll see you tonight."
Natsu watched her walk over to a table and sit down in front of a slice of strawberry cake. He sighed. "You'll also see me all day in the guild, but whatever."
He walked over to the bar and ordered some breakfast. Whenever he ate at the guild, he tended to eat the same thing—a meat lover's platter of all kinds of meat. It didn't even matter the time of day. As he got started on his plateful of succulent meat, he looked around the guild for Happy. However, he couldn't see the small blue feline anywhere. 'Huh. Guess he's sleeping in.' He shrugged and continued to eat.
As he ate, he thought about everything that happened yesterday; specifically hanging out with Lisanna. 'I don't care what Elfman said, there's no way I imagined it. Lisanna was definitely acting strangely. Maybe I should ask if she's feeling alright when she gets here.'
"Natsu!" Natsu turned around to see Happy flying at him. The little blue cat landed on the bar in front of him and his wings disappeared. "Hi, Natsu!"
"Hey there, Happy. I was just looking for you."
Happy pointed a paw at Natsu. "You left me behind yesterday!"
"Well yeah. You fell asleep on the couch."
"You still could've taken me with you!"
"Whoa, why are you so angry all of a sudden?"
"It's not all of a sudden! I've been angry since I woke up this morning."
"But you just said 'hi' so nicely a few seconds ago!"
Happy crossed his small arms. "Lisanna always said to be nice to people when greeting them."
Natsu leaned on the counter. "Why do I get the feeling that you listen to Lisanna more than me?"
"Because I do. She's smarter than you, Natsu."
A tick mark appeared on Natsu's forehead. "You take that back!"
"I would, but Lisanna also said that I shouldn't lie."
Natsu was about to explode, but managed to reel it in. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and exhaled slowly. "Fine. I'm sorry that I left you behind last night." He bowed his head. "Please forgive me."
Happy smiled. "Aye! You're forgiven."
Natsu let his head hit the bar counter. "It's too early for this."
"What did you say?" Happy asked.
"Forget it. So where's Lisanna?"
"She went with Mira and Elfman on a job today."
Natsu sat up and crossed his arms. "Damn. I wanted to ask her something."
Happy sat down. "What did you want to ask her?"
"I wanted to make sure that she's feeling okay."
"Why wouldn't she be feeling okay?"
"She seemed weird yesterday."
Happy thought about it. "She seemed fine to me. She seemed fine this morning, too."
"Really? You sure?"
"Yeah."
Natsu sighed. "Maybe Elfman was right then. Still, I could've sworn…oh, whatever. I'm tired of thinking about it. Say little buddy, what are you doing tonight?"
"Nothing. Why?"
"I'm going to go to the Magnolia summer festival tonight with Erza. Wanna come along?"
Happy leapt to his feet. "Aye!"
Natsu grinned as he stood from his seat. "Then we should do an easy job now and then get going!"
"Aye!"
The two ran to the mission request board, grabbed a simple and quick job, and bolted out the door.
"Man this thing is itchy," Natsu complained as he flailed his arms about. He was wearing a navy blue yukata tied closed by his scarf and he was still wearing his same old sandals. "Why did we buy this thing?"
"Because you wanted to," Happy replied as he flied alongside Natsu. He was wearing a tiny deep purple yukata tied closed by a black obi.
Natsu stopped flailing his arms and pouted. "It looked more comfortable in the store. Geez. What a waste."
"It'll be okay. Just don't think about it too much," Happy said reassuringly.
"Easier said than done," Natsu grumbled.
The two kept walking until they reached the guild. And standing there waiting for them was Erza.
Erza was wearing an orchid floral yukata tied together by a burgundy obi and traditional sandals on her feet. Her scarlet red hair was tied up in a high ponytail by a pink ribbon. She was holding a small kinchaku that matched her outfit in her hands. Her gaze remained focused straight ahead as she waited.
Natsu waved. "Hey Erza!"
Erza's gaze snapped to them and the look she gave them was fierce. "You're late!"
Natsu froze in his tracks. "What? No I'm not!"
Erza pointed to the large clock face in the middle of town. "What part of 6:00 sharp did you not understand?"
Natsu followed her finger and peered at the clock face before almost face planting in the dirt. "It's 6:01!"
Erza covered her eyes with her hand and sighed. "I clearly need to teach you better time management skills."
Natsu gulped. 'Not another one of Erza's lessons! Please, anything but that!'
Erza stepped forward. "Anyway, that's a matter for another day. Let's make our way to the festival now."
He gave his signature grin and nodded. "Sure thing! Summer festival here we come!"
The two walked into town and were immediately bombarded with bright lights and festive music. Games and food stands littered the streets as people crowded around. Almost everyone in Magnolia was there and wearing a yukata for the occasion.
Natsu looked around with a look of excitement. "Wow! This looks awesome!"
Erza smiled. "Yes. They really outdid themselves this year." She looked around. "Now where is the baker? He said he'd put a strawberry cake aside for me…"
Natsu wasn't listening. "Whoa, everything looks so delicious! Hey Happy, what should we try first?" He turned around to look at his friend, but was surprised to see that he had already vanished. "Huh? Happy? Where'd you go? Hey Erza, have you seen…," he began, but stopped once he turned further around and noticed that Erza, too, had disappeared. Natsu's jaw nearly hit the ground. "Where the hell did everyone go?"
He began searching the streets for any sign of his lost comrades, stopping only every other minute to try out a sample from a food stand. He searched and searched, but he couldn't find them anywhere.
"What the hell?" Natsu groaned. "She said that she wanted to go and then she ditched me the first chance she got. Why didn't she just go by herself if she was just going to abandon me?" He pouted. "And then there's that traitorous Happy who probably saw something delicious and wanted to keep it for himself, so he didn't tell me where he was going. Greedy cat."
He continued roaming the festival in search of Erza or Happy, but he had already pretty much eaten his fill and all of the games seemed more fun to do with someone else. He crossed his arms behind his head. "Maybe I should just go. It's not like I've really done anything but eat since I got here and I'm pretty much full now…"
"Natsu?"
Natsu turned around upon hearing his name and was blown away by what he saw.
It was Mira. She was wearing a black yukata with purple flowers decorating the fabric and it was tied closed by a pink obi. Her silky white hair was tied up in a high ponytail by a purple ribbon, as was the usual, but today it seemed to really shine. She was wearing traditional sandals and she was holding a dark purple kinchaku in her hands.
The Demon of Fairy Tail looked as captivatingly beautiful as an angel.
Natsu could feel his face getting hot for some reason. He didn't understand why. He had seen Mira hundreds of times throughout his life and never before had he felt so…funny.
She walked over to him. "What are you doing here?"
Natsu gulped as he continued to look at Mira with a stunned look. "I'm, uh…I'm here to…check out the festival," he said slowly. For some reason, he couldn't think straight. It was like his brain had gone numb. "You look beautiful."
Mira's face turned bright red as she quickly averted her eyes. "Geez, what are you saying stuff like that for? It's embarrassing."
Natsu quickly realized what he said and he, too, turned bright red. He looked off to the right and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Oh, sorry. That just kind of slipped out." He looked back at Mira. "So what are you doing here? I thought that you, Lisanna, and Elfman had all gone on a job."
"We did," Mira replied with a sigh, "but someone really wanted to go to this festival tonight. Made such a big deal out of it that we finished the job quickly and headed home."
Natsu chuckled. "So Lisanna really wanted to come, huh?"
"No, not Lisanna. Elfman," Mira said. "He loves festivals."
Natsu burst out laughing. "Wow. Didn't see that one coming. I never would have thought that Elfman would make such a fuss for a festival."
Mira laughed as well. "He's something else, that's for sure."
Natsu looked around. "So where are they?"
Mira rested a hand on her hip. "Unfortunately, I somehow got separated from them. I was looking for them when I ran into you."
"Gotcha. Want me to help you look?" he offered.
A playful grin graced Mira's face. "Oh no, that's not necessary. In fact, I'm sure they're having fun doing whatever they're doing. What do you say the two of us enjoy the festival together?"
Natsu thought about it. He still kind of wanted to find Happy and Erza. "I don't know…"
She linked her arm with his and leaned forward while looking up at him. "Oh come on. It'll be fun!" She then proceeded to drag Natsu down the street. "I promise I won't bite."
Natsu followed dumbly, his eyes staring at the link between his and Mira's arm. He could feel his heart start to beat faster and the same flushed feeling on his face was returning. 'What the hell is going on with me? Maybe I caught what Lisanna had.'
The two mingled around the festival together for hours. At first, it was slightly awkward for Natsu as he continued to feel strangely nervous, but he quickly became more and more like his usual self. He even found his second wind for eating when Mira said that she wanted to stop for a bite. They talked about the missions they did that day. They played games. They laughed. They had fun spending the festival together.
As they walked, they came across a strange booth with a curtain. Natsu was ready to just pass it off as nothing, but Mira was intrigued.
"Let's check that out," she said while pointing to the booth.
"Why? It doesn't look like a game," he replied.
She started dragging him towards it. "Oh come on. It won't kill you to look at it."
He groaned. "Fine. You win." They approached the booth and Mira peered inside. After a few seconds, she pulled her head out and smiled mischievously at Natsu. He gulped. "What's with the look?"
She giggled as her evil grin widened. "Oh you'll see." She then pulled him inside.
He fell onto a bench and blinked in confusion as he took in his surroundings. "What the hell is this?"
Mira sat down beside him. "It's a photo booth, dummy."
Natsu looked at her. "A photo booth? Why are we in a photo booth?"
"Well, most people go inside to get their picture taken," she replied sarcastically.
Hr glared at her. "I know that, but why are we inside of one?"
She grinned. "Why not?"
He gave her a deadpanned look. "You want us to get our picture taken together."
"That is why we're inside a photo booth."
He sighed again. "Fine."
She giggled as she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her front against his arm. "I love how easily I can control you."
Normally, Natsu would have reacted to such a comment. He wouldn't have taken it lying down. He would have gotten fired up and challenged her to a fight. That was what he would normally do. But he wasn't feeling normal. For some reason, feeling Mira press up against him was making him feel funny again. He inhaled and the sweetest smell hit his sensitive nose. It was like rich vanilla and it made his heart beat even faster than it already was. 'She smells incredible.' He blinked rapidly and shook his head. 'GAH! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?'
"Natsu?" Mira asked as she looked at him. "Everything okay in that crazy head of yours?"
He laughed nervously. "O…Of course! Heh heh! Why wouldn't I be okay? Heh heh!"
She shrugged and looked at the camera. "Fine. Now look at the camera and smile!"
They both smiled, Natsu's looking more nervous than anything else, as the picture was taken. They both left the booth and when Mira retrieved the photo, she pouted. "You couldn't have smiled better?"
"Hey, I tried!" he exclaimed. He was still feeling a little shaken up.
She sighed. "I wish you smiled like you usually do," she said softly.
"You wish I what?" he asked.
She shook her head as she put the picture inside of her yukata. "Nothing. Thanks for taking the picture with me."
"Yeah, no problem."
"There you are, Natsu!"
Natsu and Mira turned to see Erza walking over. Natsu sneered at her. "What do you mean there I am?! You left me!"
Erza stopped in front of the two. "What are you talking about? I told you that I was going to go look for the baker."
"When?"
"Before I started walking away to find the baker."
He scratched his head furiously. "I give up!"
Erza looked towards Mira. "Hello there, Mira. I didn't know you were here tonight."
Mira glared at her. "Funny. I was about to say the same thing to you."
Erza nodded. "Yes. I came with Natsu."
Mira clenched her fists. "Is that so?" she said slowly.
Erza narrowed her eyes at Mira. "Is there a problem?"
Mira stepped forward. "Maybe there is."
Natsu looked between girls as a wave of fear washed over him, sending chills up and down his spine. "Why do you both look so mad?"
"Stay out of this!" both girls snapped.
Natsu shrank back. "But I don't understand…"
"Feel like settling this the old fashioned way?" Mira asked while cracking her knuckles.
"Settling what?" Natsu asked, desperately trying to figure out why his friends were suddenly at each other's throats.
"Oh? Well if it's a fight you want, then I'm more than happy to oblige," Erza said with a smirk.
Mira rolled up her sleeves. "Then bring it on!" she cried as she leapt at Erza.
Erza gracefully dodged every punch that Mira threw. "Is that the best you can do? I thought you were stronger than that."
Mira smirked. "Don't taunt a demon, Erza!" She threw a punch and once Erza dodged it, she swept her leg at Erza's legs, effectively knocking Erza off of her feet.
Erza caught herself with her hands and feet before her back could collide with the ground. She then swung her right leg up in an arcing kick that caught Mira in the chest.
Mira stumbled backwards, regained her footing, and leapt forward again. "Not bad!"
Erza began blocking Mira's punches and throwing some punches of her own. "Same to you. But I won't lose!"
"That's my line!" Mira roared as she sent forward a powerful punch. Erza managed to block it, but the force caused her to skid backwards. Mira chuckled and leapt after her.
Natsu followed the fight with his eyes, but he wasn't registering what he was seeing. He was too lost in his own mind. 'What's wrong with me? Why didn't I jump right into the fight? Hell, forget that. Why'd I try to stop the fight? That's not like me.' He looked at his hand. 'And why don't I feel like myself? It's so weird. I've never felt anything like this ever before.' He looked back up to see the fight, but the two girls had vanished. All that remained were stunned citizens talking about what they had just seen from "those crazy Fairy Tail wizards". He blinked as if awakening from a dream. "Huh? Where'd they go?"
"Do you…give up…yet?" Mira panted.
"Not on…your life," Erza replied as she, too, tried to catch her breath.
The fight had carried the two halfway across Magnolia. They weren't sure how they got that far, but they were too focused on defeating the other that they didn't particularly care too much. They just kept exchanging blows without thought for anything else. They were now facing off in an entirely empty part of town away from the festival, but both were fairly exhausted.
"Okay Mira tell me; what has you so upset?" Erza asked.
"I don't know what you mean," Mira replied. "We're just having a typical sparring match."
"There's more anger in your movements than usual. It's evident based on how much sloppier and slower your attacks are."
Mira gritted her teeth. "I don't think I like the way you just said that. Keep talking like that and I will get pissed off."
Erza was staring down Mira when something on the ground by her feet caught her eye. It was an upside-down photograph. Curious, she bent down to pick it up.
"What do you have there?" Mira called out. "Some trick to try and help you win?"
Erza examined the photo in silence. After she had finished looking it over, she lowered her guard and looked softly at Mira. "I get it now." She held out the photo so that Mira could see it. It was the photo she had taken with Natsu. "You really like him, don't you?"
Mira froze and stared at the photo. "What are you talking about?"
Erza sighed as she tossed the photo at Mira. "Everything is perfectly clear to me now. Look, Natsu and I are just friends. I invited him to the festival as a friend and nothing more. If I hadn't invited him, I would have been alone at the festival since everyone was on jobs today."
Mira caught the photo and looked at it. "I don't like him, Erza."
Erza smiled at her. "Right. That's why you got so defensive as soon as you heard that I came with Natsu. Because you don't like him." She began walking away. "You're a lot easier to read than you think, Mira."
Mira didn't respond as her rival walked away. She just kept looking at the photo. She looked at the smile she had on her face and how genuine it was. She looked at how adorably nervous Natsu seemed. She looked at how close their bodies and faces were to each other. She closed her eyes and put the photo away. 'What am I doing? I can't. I can't like him. I just…I can't.'
