Good morning TSB fanbase. Look a new chapter has been posted. So as it seems, these chapters seem to be relatively short. That in itself bugs me. I don't like short chapters. However, my fear is that if I keep going that it will be too long and I can't have that either. Don't worry though. None of my chapters will be less than a thousand words. That I can guarantee. So onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't even need to say it.

~~Chapter 9: Lucy's POV~~

The next morning I woke in my bed. Which I am pretty sure that I fell asleep on the roof. Does that mean that Natsu carried me down from the roof? Either way, I rose from my bed and headed for the bathroom. Twenty minutes later I was ready to go and was making breakfast for Natsu and I. Soon it was done and I set it on the table.

"Natsu! Breakfast is ready!" I heard fast thumping and Natsu appeared in the doorway before racing to his chair. I giggled before I sat as well.

"Vis is verisious."

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Breakfast continued on as normal, and after we left the house. We walked carefully through the streets and avoided human contact as normal. Soon we arrived at the school. We stood staring at it from a distances before I looked at Natsu's clothes. He wore a blood red shirt underneath a black leather jacket, dark jean with chain hanging from random pockets, and his usual gloves were on his hands, scarf around his neck, and goggles in his hair. So now instead of the hyper, obnoxious, loud boy he was, he looked cool, calm and quiet. Now I am really confused.

"Natsu?"

"Hm?"

"What's with your clothes?"

"What?" He glanced at himself before looking at her. "Oh that. Yeah...it's a long story. And we kinda don't have time for me to tell you right now."

"You will tell me later, right?"

"Yeah, but you won't like the story."

"It's alright as long as you tell me."

"I will. But, right now we need to get inside."

"I–inside?"

"Yeah. Don't worry. Like I said before, I'll protect you."

"O–ok."

"Also, no matter what I do just follow along. K?"

"K." He nodded and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I wasn't sure if this was part of the act but I did as I was told and went along with it. As we approached the school I heard the whispers starting. However, not the whispers I was expecting. I was expecting things along the lines of, "Is she the daughter of that famous business tycoon?"or "Or isn't that the runaway child in the papers?" or even something like, "Isn't that Lucy?"

Instead I got, "Who's that girl?" "Why is she with our Natsu?" Their Natsu? Why would he be their Natsu? Do they even know him?

"Who does she think she is trying to take our Natsu away from us?" Um...I'm his best friend. Why wouldn't I be next to him? Was this what Natsu meant by protecting me? Did he know that the other girls would act this way? I glance at him from the corner of my eye. Was he even listening to the whispers that floated around us? When I looked at him, he seemed to be too distracted by looking for someone than to listen to the whispers.

Did he not hear them? Was he ignoring the whispers? Why did these girls not like me? I haven't even met any of them yet. How could they hate me? What did I do to them? Was it because I was friends with Natsu? That couldn't be it. After all we just met and it's just barely the first day of school. How can they already decide to not like me? Did they hate me? Were they jealous? How could they be?

More and more of these thoughts filled my head. Soon the world around me seemed to fade. What was going on? I didn't even realize Natsu was talking to me until I being shaken back and forth.

"Luce? Luce. Are you ok?"

"Huh?" I shake my head to clear my thoughts.

"Are you ok? You suddenly got pale. You sick?" I glance around to see we were in an empty classroom. Why were we here?

"I'm fine, Natsu. Just a little stressed."

"If you say so. Come on. Let's go meet up with the others."

"O–others?" He didn't seem to hear me as he put his arm around my shoulders and walked from the classroom.

"W–where are we going?"

"Where the wind takes us." I couldn't help but smile as his words. They made me feel warm inside and that made me happy. As we walked a group of girls walked up to us. Natsu tried to avoid them but they blocked is off. Natsu growled.

"What do you girls want?" I noticed that his tone was a little less than friendly than normal. The lead girl, I think, smirked.

"I just wanted to know who this slut was. I've never seen her before." I gasped and I felt Natsu's grip tighten.

"What makes her a slut?"

"The fact that she wasn't here before and suddenly she's here and under your arm. Isn't that a little bit suspicious?"

"New students come here all the time."

"True, but they are never with you." I felt Natsu's arm slip from my shoulders. Was he letting me go? It can't be. I was about to panic when I felt his arm stop around me waist. So he didn't let me go.

"So? What does that matter?"

"Well, for one no one can just come in and already be close to you. They have to join the fan club then pursue you. This bitch can't just swoop in and steal our Natsu from us." At the "b" word I shrank back as far as I could and grabbed onto Natsu's jacket. Natsu growled. Then I buried my face into the side of his chest. I changed my mind. This was worse than being recognized as his daughter.

"I'm not yours. I don't belong to you."

"He belongs to us." I felt Natsu glance over his shoulder before looking back. The voice female and had a lot of authority.

"We don't appreciate it when someone talks to our leader like that." A male voice said.

"Especially when they say that he belongs to them." A second male voice.

"Salamander belongs only to Dragon's Breath. The most feared gang in the city." A deeper third male voice.

"And why would we be called that if there was nothing to fear?" Very carefully I slowly wrap one arm around Natsu's waist and kept the other in place as to not divert their attention.

"S–sorry."

"Leave," the girl said.

"Y–yes m–ma'am." Then I heard shuffling feet running away.

"Took you guys long enough," Natsu muttered without turning.

"Well sorry we had to find you first."

"Let's go." I glanced up at him.

"Wait," the girl said.

"What, Erza?"

"Who is she?" I stiffened. No. Not yet. I didn't want to met to anyone yet. I wasn't prepared. I don't know what to say. What to do. I don't even know what to think. How did they even see me? Natsu's back was turned and...wait. I'm not standing in front of him am I? If I remember correctly then I'm standing off to Natsu's side where they can clearly see me. Crab nuggets. What? I don't swear. I felt Natsu sigh.

"Don't do it," I barely whispered. "Please don't do it."

"You have to met them eventually."

"Met who eventually?" The gruffer of the three voices asked.

"Not yet."

"They're not that bad."

"What the hell are you talkin' about, Salamander?!" I flinched at his loud voice.

"Shut up, metal freak! I'm not talking to you!"

"I don't want to," I answered Natsu as quietly as possible.

"Come on." I shook my head.

"Please?" He whispered. I gazed up at him.

"Oh, now Salamander is beggin' and won't even tell us why." Natsu didn't answer and I could feel his gaze on me. Very slowly I rose my head and looked him in the eyes.

"You're going to see them at the guild you know. It's best to met them now before they explode with curiosity." I smiled at the thought.

"We will not!" The other male voice screeched.

"Ok."

"Good." Slowly he began to face the voices, probably because I was still holding on to him.

"Natsu, I have been patient with you for this whole thing. So if you don't explain yourself this instant then I will pulverize you," the female voice said. I heard Natsu wince.

"I change my mind. I don't want to." My voice come out muffled as my face was once again buried into his shirt.

"Don't Erza. You're scaring her."

"Scaring who?"

"Luce."

"Who is Luce?" Natsu sighed irritably.

"How about she is the girl who is clinging my shirt in fear? I am the leader here, Erza. You may be in control at the guild, but here you listen to my orders...And provide discipline as it may. But right now I suggest you stop scaring the poor girl who has never been inside a high school before. Let alone been targeted like this before."

"W–what?"

"You heard me." With that he began to peel my hands off my jacket and turned me to face the people. The first I saw was a tall red-haired girl. However, red wouldn't cut it. It was brighter. More like Scarlet. The second was a dark-haired boy. He had raven hair and a silver cross necklace hung around his neck. The last was a tall black-haired boy with unruly black hair, almost glowing red eyes, and lots of piercings covered his face. I squeaked and tried to turn but Natsu prevented me from doing so.

"I don't think so. Look, they're not gonna hurt you. See? Her name is Erza, the scary lookin' guy is Gajeel," Natsu said introducing his friends.

"Hey!"

"And the Ice Princess in the middle is Gray!"

"Hey!"

"I–Ice P–Princess?"

"Yeah. Guys," Natsu said addressing his friends, "this is our new member. Lucy Heart."

DUN DUN DUN! Ok fine. Not really a cliffhanger but this isn't a huge 'uh oh' moment. Don't worry. We'll get there. And oh look! Jealousy! Just what the audience wanted. (LuvThisFanFict in particular and I'm sure many others.) And can you believe it? 67 followers. Now I know that isn't a lot a lot but it still makes me happy.

Thank you to mkben, Hanna Kurosaki-chan, XxFairy-chanxX, StormAria, RustyRose16, Terrixghost hunt1353, Cat-nee, JessieDragon99, Dodst, Hikariko93, Emastar01, and QueenPenguin, for joining the fanbase that is TSB. I really super appreciate it.

And thank you to Hanna Kurosaki-chan, Terrixghost hunt1353, Cat-nee, JessieDragon99, and QueenPenguin for becoming favoriteers for TSB.

That is all for now. BTW, this story has the most chapters compared to the others. However, I think that Dragon Scales will soon over take it even if it has less chapters. We'll see. Til next time.

~Brought to you by Jazmin Gato

~Follow Favorite, Review

~Peace out!