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Read and Review
:~:~:~:
You're just a vision of ecstasy, when I know in reality you're just
too much for me to bear
:~:~:~:
"Black Ice?" Levy questioned, the word seemed to roll down her tongue with a sense of familiarity.
"Seems kind of dark" Jet muttered
"Well" Natsu shouted up gaining everyone's attention "I guess that's that, nice to know Gray"
Lisanna nodded "Yeah, thank you for letting us know Gray-kun" she smiled.
"Well it's better than mine I give you that Gray-san. It's mysterious, dark, and also has that enchanting magic that comes with it" Jellel said with a soothing voice.
"An intimidating name indeed it might even match up to mine" Erza nodded in approval "Yes good indeed"
Gray blinked once, and then twice. Maybe they didn't hear him correctly. Black ice, something dark and hateful was forced into that name the minute he got it. He hated that name that he made sure no one besides his family knew it after it took its effect on him.
And they think it's all right? When people knew about it they wouldn't even go near him as a kid. And its all that damn Stephanie's fault.
'If she hadn't suggested it I wouldn't have gotten that accursed name', he frowned. Ever since he gotten this name no one would play with him, and later on people were often frightened if they come upon him at work that's why he changed it to 'avalanche'. No one wanted to mess with 'Black Ice' though in retrospect 'Black Ice' in real life wasn't bad at all, except no one knows that.
"What do you think about it Lu-chan?" Levy asked which snapped Gray out of his thoughts. He turned his gaze towards Lucy who still hasn't given her opinion.
'Will Blondie not want to deal with me after knowing that name?' he wondered.
Lucy pondered about it for a while before answering "hmmmm Actually I think its quite….."
'Quite?'
"Contradictory"
"Eh?"
"Huh"
"Eh?"
"What!?" Gray suddenly spun himself to face Lucy who was giving him a questionable stare.
"What?"
"What do you mean contradictory?" he asked. Out of the many reactions sure he didn't think his friends would like his trade name but Lucy's was by far the most confusing one he had ever received.
"Well…Black Ice is transparent ice and the surface is clear and glazed, it's not black. But honestly when I think transparent I would think that person is easy to see through, is open, and has nothing to hide. Yet you're the exact opposite of that."
It took a moment for Gray to have her words sink in, is that what she has perceived him as? Well it is true he hardly gets close to anyone and he hasn't made an effort to tell anyone anything. But still the words that she said gave him quite a shock 'Where have I heard that from before?'
Lyon watched Gray closely as he took a sip from his bottle water; he then looked at Lucy who still looked confused into Gray's reaction.
'Lucy-chan is quite impressive huh?' he bemused to himself 'She kind of reminds me of Ultear' he smirked
"Well it's only nicknamed Black Ice because the black asphalt road is able to be seen through it. As if the road tainted the ice itself with its black though the road was there before the ice," Lucy continued.
Levy nodded "Yeah now that you mention it, Black Ice is also known as Clear Ice. Wow Lu-chan you know so much!"
"Ehhh not really, when I was little I loved the snow so much that I've read books about them" Lucy scratched her blushed cheeks embarrassed "The winter season has always been my favorite"
Unknowingly Gray grinned at that and after Natsu's smile turned more into a frown it made it much bigger.
"Eh you like winter more? Why? Its cold, the snow is a drag to get through in, and I always gets sick during that time!" Natsu huffed "I thought you liked summer more since you always loved to go to the beach and pools and stuff"
Lucy laughed "Ah well yeah I do love summer, but I've been in love with winter more. I can't explain it but during that time I'm always the happiest"
"Hnnn is that so Lu-chan? You always seemed like a winter to me! As for me I like autumn!" Levy piped up
"Ah you like autumn? I'm more of a spring!" Erza began
"I like summer! It's warm, and school is out during that time!" Lisanna added.
"Ne, isn't it autumn now?" Jellel asked
"Now that you mention it, the leaves have been falling, tinted with red, and yellow every where" Lyon said while watching the group amused
"Yeah that's right" Gray finally spoke up, feeling relief after hearing the reactions from his friends about his trade name "So doesn't that mean the Cultural Festival is coming up?"
Upon hearing 'Cultural Festival' Lucy went rigid, she bit her lip and was trying to shake off the unwanted feelings that was stirring in her chest 'Gah how could I forget?!'
Lucy has been dreading the day the Cultural festival would arrive, that's when her father's co workers' son will arrive and visit her school and meet Lucy for the first time. After spending the day here they will go back to Lucy's house and confirm the arrangement of marriage between the both of them.
She's been trying to think of many plans to get out of it but nothing seems to be good enough. The only option for her might be to just run away. Lucy sighed, she has a part time job at the convenience store owned by Macao but it might not be enough money to rent an apartment and live off alone.
'Just my luck, I only have enough for 3 months rent but what to do after that!'
She still hasn't told anyone about what's going on, but the secret will probably be out sooner or later. She hasn't eaten or slept much in days because she is so stressed about it. She hates it when school ends because then she has no other choice but to go home.
At one point she wanted to tell Gray, but she didn't want to expect much from him, and maybe it's too much to tell someone whom she barely knows.
'But I still want to tell him' she thought glumly
"Hey you okay?" a voice called out that snapped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes gazed up in to dark blue eyes looking at her with concern evident in them.
"E-eh?" she almost jumped out of her seat "Ah n-nothing n-nothing Fullbuster!" she eeped. She covered her mouth before she could say anymore, her cheeks were flushed pink out of embarrassment.
Gray rubbed the back of his head "You've been spacing out lately Heartfilia, are you sure there's nothing wrong?" he asked. The rest of the gang was watching them intently.
Of course they heard that those two were on better terms but it still seemed…weird for them to see them not fight some times. And more over this is a first they've seen them talk more than two syllables 'What's up with that?'
Just something about the two of them, is just different, Gray now acts more polite with Lucy like he is with the rest of the girls (Though he teases her a bit more and he fights with her occasionally) and Lucy acts more flustered around him but she looks at him to be reliable (Though she chastises him a lot and its easier for him to push her buttons).
It's just weird but a good weird.
"Ne, if you two are finally Friends why don't you two call each other by first names?" Lisanna asked as she placed her hand around her cheek, her elbow resting on the table.
Levy grinned "Yeah why? You two seem to be on good terms so why be so formal around each other? Aren't your surnames a mouthful to say?"
Everyone at the table started to murmurs their agreements. Lucy blushed while Gray took his time to answer that "Hmmmm"
"I-is it that weird?" Lucy whined while flailing her arms in the air "It's not that weird is it?"
"Now that I think of it. Yeah I never heard Lucy or Gray say each other's name" Jet added "Yeah no memory what so ever"
"Ahhh don't waste your time Lucy, just stick to the nicknames you've given him those will do!" Natsu jeered. Lucy huffed at his remark "Even so then that will allow him to call me the names he called me before! And I don't want to be known as 'BLONDIE' thank you very much"
"Aww come on, it's a whole lot easier to just call you that!" Gray pouted causing the rest to laugh.
Lucy only glared at him "How hard is it to call me Lucy? Huh? Just try it LU-CY. Loooo seeeee"
Gray closed his eyes in efforts of concentration "Lu—"
Her heart started to skip a beat as he started with the sound of her name "Louis?"
Her heart dropped "Eh?" Everyone's faces were blank, even Grays seemed to be also surprised by his mistake.
He tried again "Lu—" Her brown eyes started to twinkle "Lucielle? Wait what?"
Everybody's jaws dropped "HOW HARD IS TO PRONOUNCE HER NAME!"
"Lucinda?"
.
.
.
.
.
"Lucky?"
.
.
.
.
.
"Luminati!"
.
.
.
.
.
Gray ran his fingers in his hair in frustration "ARGG WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?"
"Yeah what is wrong with you?" Lucy frowned, her hands were placed on her hips, and she looked peeved.
"Yeah Droopy eyes how hard is it to pronounce her name?"
"Ahh poor Lucy-chan. Don't stress over this idiot" Lisanna laughed as she patted her friend's back for comfort. Gray looked shocked "Eh Lisanna!"
"Do you want me to punch him until he finally says it Lucy?" asked Erza as she cracked her knuckles "You'll help right Jellel?"
The blue haired lad grinned as he wound up in arm "Yeah it would be my pleasure!"
"UGH You guys wait! Lyon Do something here!" Gray cried
Lyon nodded "Yeah, so do you want me to upper cut him in the shin or jab him in the jaw?"
"EHH LYON YOU TRAITOR!"
"I thought you took Martial Arts Lyon?" Lisanna asked
"Ah yeah but I also took a boxing class while I was away"
"Oh I see"
"Guys can we just punch him all ready!" Natsu shouted "Or can I just get right to it!"
"Minna!" Lucy shouted, "Its okay, I don't care if he can't say my name" though you can see a frown has started to cascade down her lips "Its fine it just means we're not at the level yet, even I too feel uncomfortable addressing him by his first name so no need to force him"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah we could beat him up until he does"
"No no I'm okay all right! Lets just switch to a new subject okay?"
"Well if Lucy-chan says so"
"I guess if Lucy asks for it"
"If Erza thinks it should be like that I will oblige as well"
"Then I guess its settle then!" Lucy grinned "Now we better hurry and eat before the bell rings"
Everyone went back to their seats, Gray looked at her with a bit of regret but also confusion 'Why can't I say her name? I'm sure I've said it before'
Lyon nudged him snapping him out of his thoughts "Come on, no need to worry about it."
He nodded "Yeah it's just weird that I can't"
"Hmmm" Lyon hummed "Maybe it's because you liiiike her" he whispered.
"What was that?" Gray asked, he turned to face Lyon who only chuckled in response "Nothing, I'm just mumbling to myself that's all"
"That's a bit creepy"
"Coming from you that doesn't mean much"
A vein popped out of Gray's forehead "You know I really like to punch your face right now"
"Ahhh but Gray-chii you might get suspended if you do that"
"Tch"
Lyon laughed and so did the others; they only looked at it as a friendly brotherly brawl, while Gray saw it as an annoying tantrum from the twisted personality of Lyon's.
He sat himself down and took a bite from his frozen yogurt; he subtly took one quick glance at Lucy who was laughing in her conversation with the girls. He frowned and went back to eating his yogurt.
'Now I have two mysteries to solve about Blondie' he thought
xxxoxxx
"So that's what the seniors are planning to do this year for the festival" Mira exclaimed as everyone was gathered around in a circle after their Calculus teacher told them to take a 15 minute break.
"Yeah IT'S GOING TO BE MANLY" shouted Elfman as the other seniors nodded their heads in agreement "We're going to have the manliest Japanese style café in this whole school!"
Bisca giggled along with the other girls "So what do you guys plan on doing for the Cultural Festival Gray?"
"We finally decided to do a haunted house but we still need to cast roles" he said
"You would be a perfect mad scientist!" Mira squealed "And maybe Natsu can be Frankenstein?"
"Pfft Frankenstein has more brains than that flame head"
(During his chemistry class Natsu sneezed)
Everyone laughed besides Lucy who was still zoned out "Ne Lucy what part do you think you will play?"
…
She didn't reply, Mira had to nudge her to snap her out of it "Huh what? Sorry I wasn't listening" she gave a sheepish smile
Mira and Gray frowned in response before averting their worried glances aside "I asked what part do you think you will play for the haunted house?"
"Ummm I'm not sure, I'm not that good at scaring so I might just be the ticket person" she rubbed her arm embarrassed.
"Ah well that's fine too Lucy-chan!"
Lucy grinned "Hopefully this year will be the best Festival we have since all of you will be graduating this year"
"Ah and that's why were putting in more effort this time and I know for sure its going to be amazing!" Mira exclaimed.
"And why do you say that?" Gray asked.
She smiled deviously "I'm hosting an event!"
"Eh seriously? What kind?" Gray asked with sudden interest. Mira winked before explaining "A concert!"
"Ehhh?" Lucy beamed; though she may dread the day of the festival at least she can look forward to something.
Alzack grinned "Yeah the seniors all thought of it and ran by it with Erza, and she approved!"
"Yeah a bunch of people will perform and will be riled up!"
"Who knows maybe there will be some band who will be discovered!?"
"This will be the best Festival we had ever!"
"Yeah but there's a catch" Bisca smiled deviously. Gray and Lucy stopped their chanting and looked at her weirdly "A catch?"
Mira giggled "Yeah, of course there has to be a requirement before performing you know" Some of the girls laughed with her while the boys seemed to pale.
"Ah yeah that reminds me I'm not participating"
"Yeah I suck"
"Don't know how to play an instrument "
"Don't want to perform alone so yeah."
Gray raised an eyebrow at this 'They're acting a bit strange after Mira said there was a catch'
Lucy also seemed to notice this so she decided to ask "So then what's the catch?" she asked timidly.
Mira smiled "Oh nothing much just three requirements. One they just have to sign whether they're a solo or a band"
"Uhh huhhh"
"Two, they have to audition in front of me, Erza, and Jellel to see if they're eligible to perform"
"That seems reasonable" Gray commented nodding.
"And three…" Mira paused taking a breath to add a dramatic effect; she whipped up a piece of paper with writing on it that looked like a list "They're only allowed to sing these songs"
Gray took the piece of paper out of her hand and clicked his tongue in disgust. It was a list of American Pop songs that were really too 'girly' for his taste.
'No wonder the guys don't want to participate, I wouldn't be caught dead singing any of these songs'
"Hey let me see" Lucy grabbed the list out his hands and scanned the contents. She held in her laugh. Now she understood why the senior guys didn't want to participate.
"1) Call me Maybe By Carly Rae Jepsen
2) Girls just want to have fun by Cyndi Lauper
3) Wide Awake By Katy Perry
4) Tik Tok by Ke$ha
5) Girl On Fire by Alicia keys
6) Reflection By Christina Aguilera
(And the list goes on and on and only more girly songs and girl artists only come up)
"Wait so you mean they have to sing this for the audition Mira?" Gray asked hesitantly.
"Ah no for the audition they can sing any song they feel that can show how good they are but those are the songs they can only cover for the event"
"But what if they have written their own songs, you shouldn't limit the performers to this I mean," Gray stopped and took back the list to look at the options "I mean come on! Barbie Girl!? No guy would want to sing this."
The guys nodded in agreement "Yeah Mira why only these songs!"
"Sorry Minna" she frowned "But these were Erza Rules, and they were all ready approved by the council and Master, bare with it."
Gray rolled his eyes "Well it's understandable that Erza would enforce this, though I have a feeling some want to go with this…" at this many of the girls laughed and the boys were muttering.
Lucy also agreed with this statement " I think Erza just like these songs, and probably secretly wants to see one of the guys perform this" she giggled. Mira laughed, "Yeah you're probably right Lucy-chan, but though we might not get much male participants."
"Well of course you wouldn't these songs are too girly even for the MANLIEST MAN to sing Nee-san" Elfman cried
"SO what about you Gray?" Mira suddenly turned to him as he was sitting in his desk laid back, he gulped and tugged at his collar suddenly feeling a bit uneasy "What?"
"If my memory serves me correctly, you used to play guitar and sing" her charming voice going a little bit high, Gray was sweating bullets and was looking out the window "Oh yeah? I don't remember that…"
Lucy was looking at them intently and smiled, the butterflies in her stomach wouldn't calm down 'Eh he is used to sing?' she looked down at her lap 'There's still so much I don't know about him, so telling him might not be a good idea'
"Pleeeeeeeeeease Gray, will you perform?" She gave him a cute pout and her eyes were sparkling. Gray's heart almost raced out of his rib cage, not being used to this kind of Mira, the now nice and sweet one scares him a bit too. "uhhh Maybe another time? I'm not as good as I was before so it will stink," he said trying to make an excuse.
"Aww come on! Why not perform with a group? You know some of the guys can play instruments"
"Ah yeah that's true but I don't think it's such a good idea" he scratched his cheeks trying to avoid Mira's cute puppy dog stare.
"Aww that's a shame because there is a prize for the performer who is the best "
Gray's ears perked up "A prize? There's a prize for this?"
Mira lips tugged upward in a smirk before replying "But of course! The winner will get a paid expense trip to 'Wonder Land' the island off the coast, you and 11 other guests" she chirped happily after explaining.
"Hmmm" he placed his fingers on his chin thinking about it 'It could be nice and a great escape from her …'
"All right Mira, if you find me a band I'll perform in your concert"
Mira clapped her hands excitedly "Thank you so much! Don't worry about that just practice that singing voice of yours all right?"
"Heh, I see you're confident in finding me a band" he smirked "I hope you can back up that bold statement"
"I hope you're ready to audition!"
xxxoxxx
She was humming away as her brush started to glide across the canvas, everyone else was still sketching out their ideas before starting but Lucy decided she would just 'go with it' for once since usually every time she plans something out she takes so much time on it that she doesn't have enough time for actually doing it.
"You seem happy" a voice said behind her, he started to set up his place before painting, only their backs faced each other. Lucy continued to hum as she dabbed a bit of pink onto her painting "Well I'm just relaxed, not happy in a sense"
"Hnnn" he looked at his canvas skeptically before dabbing a bit of paint on to it "So you're not happy?" he asked
"I didn't say that"
"But you didn't deny it. So are you?"
Lucy stopped trying to paint onto her canvas; the questions she was being asked was giving her head ache "Are you trying to pry into my life, Fullbuster-san? Or do you like to ask the same question over and over again?"
She could hear him chuckle for a moment and a few brush strokes here and there "You've been acting weird lately ever since you fell down those stairs few weeks ago. I just want to know what happened to that rambunctious Heartfilia that I knew"
She blushed slightly before returning her painting "Well what about you? You've been coming late to class lately and act like you have something to hide. If something was going on with me why should I tell you ?" she huffed.
"Hnnn"
She furrowed her eyebrows, not wanting to look behind her to see what his reaction looks like. She was reacting like a kid, but she didn't care. He is quite introverted, and not only that but after this last period he's going to be gone for the rest of the week so she couldn't help herself.
"You're right." He spoke softly but she heard him, she looked around to see if anyone was listening to them, when she found that none were she exhaled a sigh of relief.
"Its' okay" she mumbled but she knew that he heard her so she decided not to say much. They continued to paint silently but the silence was beginning to bug her so she decided to speak up.
"So…you're really going to be gone for the rest of the week?" she asked quietly, trying to make it seem that she didn't care.
Gray inwardly groaned, he was having such a good day at school that he completely forgot that he has to go to a meeting immediately after the class ends.
"Unfortunately yeah" he sighed. Lucy noticed this but dared not to turn around "You don't seem happy about it"
"Well its business related so of course I'm not happy about it" he paused and added a sprinkle of blue to his painting "Anything that deals with work you'll see me running the other direction."
"So it's the same for you" she whispered to herself
"What was that?"
"Nothing"
Gray was getting quite tired of the 'Nothing' responses; he put his brush down and turned to face her. He caught a glimpse of her painting, it was the autumn sky that looked like the one he had seen when he first came here walking back home with the boys.
He smiled inwardly 'Even in a regular class, you still are a perfectionist huh?' before he could utter his next word Reedus-sensei walked back in the classroom. He was gone 10 minutes earlier because he received a call from the office.
"Lucy Heartfilia" he called. All the other students stopped their chattering and turned their heads towards Lucy who seemed curious into why she was called.
"Yes Sensei?"
Reedus, a nice man and a good art teacher looked at her worriedly but tried to hide the obviousness in his worried tone. He coughed trying to clear his throat.
"Someone is here to see you"
She raised an eyebrow at this, her father was at work and would never come here personally, and even so her 'guests' wouldn't be here till next week'
'Who could it possibly be?'
xxxoxxx
She walked out feeling a bit nervous; she nodded at Reedus-Sensei before exiting the classroom.
In the hallway, there was a boy she didn't recognize. He was tall, had slanted eyes like Natsu, he was tan, a bit muscular, and has messy brown hair with brown eyes to match. He was wearing a uniform but one different from Fairy Tail so he wasn't a student here.
He was leaning on the wall with crossed arms, he smirked when he took notice of her, his stare gave her shivers down her spine, something she did not like.
He stood up and walked towards her, she took a step back with caution, and her eyes narrowed 'Who is this?'
The boy only grinned "I guess you would react like that, can't expect less from a Heartfilia"
"Who..are you?"
The tan boy straightened himself up before speaking, the glint in his eyes show mischief, and lust as he scanned her body from head to toe in an approving matter.
"The names Dan Harris."
The air turned thick as her heart started beating. 'Harris, Harris, where have I heard that name before'
Then it suddenly clicked.
"Is that any way to greet your soon to be fiancé?"
Her mouth was agape and sweat was started to run down her neck, the person she really was afraid to meet was here a week early.
She pictured so many times how she would bad mouth him, slap him, tell him that she would never be interested in marrying him, but all she could do is mumble, her feet went numb and she couldn't move.
"Well I see you're ecstatic to see me Love, is it all right if I call you that?" he teased inching closer.
She glared at him "Tch. Not in your life" she finally spatted out, relieved that somehow she was able to talk now.
He only rolled his eyes "Yeah that's right, that's been done. How about Lulu-chan, it's cute isn't it?"
Lucy gritted her teeth, Dan laughed, and "Yeah I think you like that one a lot"
"Tell me" she started "Why are you here?"
xxxoxxx
"Hey sensei, I'm going to get some clean water for my paints mind if I go to the bathroom?"
"Ah yeah no problem Gray-san, by the way excellent work on your piece!"
"Thanks I'll be back in five" He took off his smock and grabbed his cup and bolted out the door. There was a remaining fifteen minutes left of class and he wanted to get his painting done before he leaves for a week.
"Maybe I can convince that she devil to have five meetings on Wednesday and two on Thursday?" he muttered as he went past the left corridor. He heard voices coming from the next corner, one he instantly recognized.
"Tell me, why are you here?"
'Blondie?'
He stopped in his tracks as he finally saw the blonde in view, and she looked pissed but her body says something else.
She's afraid. And the person in front of her is probably the cause.
xxxoxxx
Dan only gave her a smug grin but his eyes averted from her face to the newcomer who just came in. He was shocked after recognizing him but regained his composure.
"Harris, what are you doing here?" the voice called, the coldness in his voice was noticeable.
"AH Fullbuster, fancy meeting you here. But we're close lads aren't we? So I should refer to you as Avalanche right?"
Gray only grunted and looked down at the blonde in front of him, her muscles were less tense now that he's here but you could still see the hatred in her eyes.
He placed his hand on her head, ruffling her blonde locks, which snapped her out of her trance. She looked up at him frowning; she had that petrified look saying 'I don't want to be here'
"Do you know him?" he asked urgently. Her brown eyes widened and her mouth opened but she couldn't utter a single sound.
Dan laughed at this "Awww so you didn't tell him? I thought you would be telling all your friends all about me"
Gray looked at her, the crease on his forehead was deepening 'so is this why she's been acting weird lately? Something that relates to this Harris kid?'
"So you didn't tell him?"
"Tell me what?" his voice went rigid and was now itching to give Dan a punch in the face, ever since they met a year ago after business association Dan was one of the first to piss Gray the hell off and not be Natsu.
He doesn't care if Dan is the son of the Harris Company, hell if the guy who runs the corporation has a son and it was Dan then no wonder his company beat theirs in stock exchange
Dan grinned his cocky grin "I don't know, I don't want THE Avalanche to poke into MY private matters now do we?"
I have been trying to think of ways to tell you, but every time I try to, the words seem so uneasy.
gah, not my best so sorry for any mistakes ;_; PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! oh and forgot to say this in my last chapter but please vote on my poll on my profile so i could get the chapters running! I need an obvious winner! so pleeeeease. Thank you again for all my followers i gotten so many ever since the last chapter update^^ I'll continue my best for the new year!
Review and give me suggestions:)
x Pika-Chan