Disclaimer: I don't own Danganronpa or Fairy Tail. However, I own my own character(s).
Chapter 10: Natsu vs Makoto
It had been three weeks since Makoto mysteriously arrived in Fiore. That amount of time probably wasn't that long, but it felt odd when he really thought about it. A few weeks was approximately the time he'd spent locked up in Hope's Peak, forced to watch his friends turn against each other in their 'school life'. Yet, in the same amount of time, he had forged many bonds with the wizards of Fairy Tail—especially with the 'strongest team', as a lot of the guild wizards referred to them as.
There was never a dull moment in the guild. Every day brought a new adventure, although none as big as the Eisenwald mission from a while ago. Most of the time, he went on a small job with Lucy, Natsu, and the cats every other day, leaving the day in between to relax and spend time at the guild hall.
The jobs managed to earn him quite a bit of money—even with Natsu destroying houses everywhere he went. He kept some for himself, obviously, but the rest of it went towards groceries and other essentials, only occasionally paying some rent. Makoto wanted to put more of his money towards the apartment, but Lucy always insisted that she could handle it and not to worry about it too much. He felt bad, but with the blonde steadfast in her decision—despite her common complaints of not having enough money—there wasn't much he could do.
That particular morning they spent relaxing in their apartment. They'd all overslept a bit, so they decided to take the morning off and swing by the guild after lunch to see what kind of job requests they could accept. That way, Makoto and Natsu could eat something instead of being forced to watch the others eat on the train.
After losing his shirt in the Eisenwald incident, Makoto realized that he didn't have much in the way of other outfits. With the personal money he had left over, he splurged a bit to get himself a new wardrobe more suited for the active life of a guild wizard—although it was small and he was pretty much broke afterward. He picked up a couple of t-shirts, shorts, and trousers, but the more permanent addition to his attire was the short-sleeved dark green hoodie.
He got a new hoodie because he wanted his green Fairy Tail mark to be visible, but he still wanted something to wear over his shirt and Maya insisted—or more like demanded—to have a hood to rest in. Thus, the short sleeve hoodie. He was pretty surprised that there was a hoodie pretty similar to his old one, minus the red along the zip and on the back of the hood.
Speaking of his old clothes, he kept those tucked away in the drawer he had for himself, along with whatever he'd been carrying when he arrived here. His old trainers were fine as they were, so he kept those and bought a couple of new pairs just in case.
Lucy was writing away on a sheet of paper at the desk—what, specifically, Makoto didn't know. He'd inquired but she'd avoided the question, and he liked his bed too much to try incurring her wrath. All he knew was that it wasn't her novel, since that was always tucked away in a locked drawer.
Makoto, on the other hand, was lying on his mattress and entertaining himself by playing with Maya. At the moment, he was tossing her into the air and catching her when she fell back down. Makoto gave a smile as she cheered for the fourteenth time. Maybe he was spoiling her a bit, but hey, she was adorable. It was hard to say no to that face.
He swapped to holding her up in the air with his sock-covered feet, bouncing his legs up and down gently, causing Maya to giggle with delight. He didn't change his game primarily because it would entertain her, though. It was one of the reasons, but this way, it also allowed him to give a few things a little more thought.
Like his newly acquired dragon scale, hidden beneath his hoodie and dangling on a string as a necklace.
Whether it actually was a dragon scale was still debatable, but he just got used to calling it that. Besides, it didn't seem like it worked on Natsu, considering the one time he picked it up when it fell out of Makoto's pocket, he didn't mention anything weird. And Natsu was the type of guy to just blurt out whatever came to mind, so he was almost certain Natsu hadn't been affected.
That would mean it only worked on himself, which opened up a whole range of questions. ("Why does it only work on me? Is it possible that it would work on other Dragon Slayers if we could find any?") Makoto held back a sigh as he bounced Maya a little higher so she just barely lifted off of his feet. ("And where did it come from? Why did I find it near that village? How does it work?")
"Hey, whatcha thinking about?"
Makoto blinked. He must've stopped playing with Maya, which caused her to look over and see the frown forming on his face. He gave her a smile and replied quietly, "Nothing important." He bent his knees to bring her closer and scratched her ear. She purred in response and he returned to his previous actions.
Half the reason he'd spoken quietly was because he didn't want to disturb Lucy, but the other half was due to the unannounced visitor the apartment's residents had received. The visitor seemed quite happy with relaxing in one of the chairs after quietly sneaking in and Makoto and Maya were preoccupied with amusing each other, so really the only person who didn't know about their guest was Lucy. Only when she stood up and turned around did his presence become acknowledged.
"Gray, what are you doing here?!" she demanded. "No stripping in my house, buddy!"
"Whoa, wait! Give me a minute to explain!" She paused just before she was about to kick him. He turned around and placed his hands on his hips. "I was naked when I got here."
"Get out," she commanded flatly.
"Chill. I'm just here for Makoto, considering he seems to have forgotten," Gray explained, getting up and facing the brown-haired boy.
"I haven't forgotten," Makoto objected, still in the middle of bouncing Maya up and down. "Why do you think I'm still in bed?" Dressed for the day, sure, but he wasn't about to leave his comfy mattress.
"Wait a minute, what's going on?" Lucy inquired after calming down a little.
Gray crossed his arms over his bare chest and looked towards her. "Remember before we left on the whole Lullaby ordeal, Natsu challenged Makoto to a fight? Well, today's that day."
"They're seriously going to go through with it?!" she yelled incredulously.
"Well, are you?" Gray turned to Makoto. The Dragon Slayer finally stopped playing with his cat at the direct question. "Pyro's getting antsy waiting for you, and the bets are already piling up."
"They're betting on who's gonna win?!" Lucy yelled.
Makoto sighed. "I know I'm supposed to be the optimist here, but even if I did go, Natsu would probably win." Everyone turned and looked at him in surprise. He looked away. "Well, Natsu's probably been doing this forever. Fighting people, I mean. And me, well…" He sat up and held Maya in his hands. "I'm just me."
"So you're just gonna give up?"
"I don't want to fight Natsu," Makoto told Gray. "He's my friend, and friends should be working together, not—" His words caught in his throat as memories of Hope's Peak flashed through his mind. He gritted his teeth and finished, "Not fighting each other."
Gray and Lucy shared a look that almost made Makoto think they would ask him about his stumble. He watched nervously as Gray opened his mouth, but he was unexpectedly saved when Maya beat them to it. "But you promised him! That's quitter talk, Mackie!"
Makoto's face burned red with embarrassment. "M-Mackie…?!"
She wriggled out of his hands and stood opposite him on the mattress, paws placed firmly on her hips. She wasn't done yet. "You said it yourself: Natsu fights everyone in the guild on a regular basis. But, I mean, look at him and Gray! They fight more often than a bunch of betta fish, but they're still friends!"
"We're not friends," the stripper in question argued.
"See?" Maya continued as if his response proved her point. "And I know you're strong—stronger than you give yourself credit for. You helped pound the bad sickle man and the creepy flute monster straight into the ground!"
"I purposely got hit with an incredibly strong spell and got knocked out of the fight," Makoto flatly reminded her. "And I didn't do that much against Lullaby."
"But without you, Natsu could've not won either fight!"
"You can't say that with certainty."
"And by that same logic, neither can you!" she fired back triumphantly.
("How am I losing an argument with a cat?!")
Maybe it was because he wasn't actually arguing as seriously as he could. A part of Makoto honestly didn't mind either way; it wasn't like he had anything he wanted to prove. But, still…
"There's going to be lots of spectators from Fairy Tail, right?" he asked, already knowing the answer anyway. "Knowing the guild, it's going to get brought up constantly, and I'd rather not have anyone watch me get beaten."
"W-Well…" Maya deflated at that and glanced unsurely to Gray and Lucy. She recovered quickly and said, "But what if you win? And what does it matter who wins or who loses? Just think of it as a… as a…" She paused again. "What is it when you do a friendly match and it doesn't matter the victor and it's more about training and having fun and—?"
"You mean sparring?" Lucy supplied helpfully.
"Yeah!" Maya beamed. "Just think of it for fun! And practice!"
Makoto bit his lip and thought about it. "I… guess…"
The cat thumped her paw against her chest. "Yeah, come on! Besides, you're a Fairy Tail wizard now, and Fairy Tail wizards don't give in and don't give up!"
Gray grinned. "If you left now, you could probably still be considered fashionably late."
"I…" No, he just needed to stop thinking of it as a fight. It wasn't a fight against his friend; it was just a friendly sparring match. If anything, Natsu would like him less if he didn't show up at all. Not to mention all the Fairy Tail spectators, who were apparently so excited about it that they were placing bets.
Makoto gave a firm nod. "All right. I'll do it." His smile changed into a more sheepish one as he added, "Let's go, before I lose my nerve…"
Considering the distance between the apartment and Fairy Tail, it didn't take them long at all to arrive at the guild hall. Even if the event wasn't taking place right in front of the building, it'd still be incredibly easy to find with the massive crowd gathered there.
Makoto's eyes widened at the turnout. "That's… a lot of people."
Maya smacked him on the shoulder, flying beside him as they walked. "Don't tell me you're getting cold paws! Or is it feet…?"
He didn't even get the chance to run if he wanted to. As soon as someone caught sight of him, the news spread like wildfire and the crowd cheered ecstatically. He didn't see who it was but one of his teammates behind him gave him a shove which left Makoto within arm's reach of the crowd. He had enough time to shoot a betrayed look at a grinning Gray before he was pulled through the masses. He discovered that the group wasn't just an unorganized lump of people—there was an empty circle in the middle, large enough to obviously be the battleground.
Natsu was waiting for him on the other side.
Makoto gulped.
"I still can't believe they're really doing this," Lucy sighed. "How's it going to turn out?"
"Oh, hey Lucy!" Mira greeted as the blonde walked to the front of the audience with Gray and Maya. "Came to watch the show?"
"Well, Makoto lives at my place, so I was kinda dragged along," she admitted.
"It's hard to say what's going to happen," Elfman responded as an answer to her question. "Natsu's a man when it comes to fighting, but we know next to nothing about Makoto."
"Hey, Makoto's a great fighter!" Maya protested. "I'm sure he'll come out on top, yup yup!"
Elfman smiled at the tabby. "All I know is that it'll be interesting seeing two Dragon Slayers go head to head!"
"They are both on the strongest team in Fairy Tail…" Lucy muttered to herself.
"Strongest team? What are you talking about?" Gray questioned, overhearing her comment.
"You, Natsu, Erza, and Makoto, dummy!" she said. "You guys are the strongest in the guild; you guys took down Lullaby!"
"We are?" Gray scoffed. "Yeah, right. What idiot fed you that line?" Mira smiled warmly for a while, before she eventually broke down into tears. Gray flinched as he made the connection. "Oh, y-you're not an idiot, Mira!"
"Smooth move, Gray," Lucy and Maya said together.
"I'll hand it to Natsu and Gray; they're tough little dudes," Elfman said. "And I can't speak for Makoto, obviously, but there are stronger guys in Fairy Tail than the two of them combined. Like this guy!" He pointed to himself.
"I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that Erza's the strongest woman," Levy, another wizard at Fairy Tail, joined in. She was a short girl with an orange hairband sitting in her blue hair.
"But if you're talking about the strongest man, there's Laxus and Mystogan," Jet, Levy's teammate, added. He had spiky orange hair that was hidden by his tall furry hat. "As well as that geezer."
Speaking of the scarlet swordswoman, she seemed to appear from nowhere and stood right next to them. She looked into the center of the circle and asked, "So Makoto has arrived… Looks like this match can get underway."
Lucy blinked in surprise. "You're here too, Erza?"
She nodded, a smile forming on her face. "Of course. I've seen how Makoto fights before, but this will give me the opportunity to watch without being in the middle of something myself. Besides, I'm eager to see how Natsu's improved since the last time we fought."
On the inside of their makeshift arena, Natsu smirked as he adjusted his scarf. "Finally decided to show up, did ya? You kept me waiting forever!"
"Sorry about that…" Makoto chuckled. "I'll be honest: fighting isn't something I get excited about. But I made a promise on this, so there's no way I'm just going to leave you hanging. I'm gonna give it my all!"
Natsu's toothy grin widened. "That's just the answer I was hoping to hear!"
Back on the sidelines, Happy shifted his gaze between the two fighters for a long while. Abruptly he turned to Cana, who was sitting next to a giant tally board with Natsu and Makoto's names on it. Happy handed her the wad of cash in his paw. "I'm putting my money on Makoto."
"Ooh, ooh, me too!" Maya chirped, waving a few notes in her paw. Cana took the money off of them and happily shoved it into a full bucket of jewel.
"You're betting against your best friend?!" Lucy yelled at Happy incredulously.
Makarov approached the two wizards with his staff in hand. The audience fell silent and the Dragon Slayers grew tense. The moment had arrived. Makarov raised his free hand and shouted, "Round one! Start!" before getting the heck out of there.
Natsu moved as soon as the metaphorical bell rung. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Makoto's eyes widened at the speed that Natsu came towards him with. He had to stumble back to dodge the punch, almost tripping over his feet as he scrambled away from the following punches. ("Crap! He's fast!")
"Where're ya running off to, Makoto?!" Natsu taunted. "I'm right here!" He swung with his punch again and, thinking on his feet, Makoto turned and yelled, "Earth Dragon's Seismic Fist!" His stone-clad hand crashed into Natsu's own fiery fist. Both Dragon Slayers pushed, but neither was making much headway.
"You're strong," Natsu praised. "Not bad."
"I'm not going to run," Makoto replied. Reading each other's movements, they both broke off the attack at the same time and jumped backward a few feet. Natsu began taking in a deep breath, something that Makoto instantly recognized. In a split second decision, Makoto mirrored his action, building up his magic to its peak. After all, what better way to fight roar than with roar?
"Fire Dragon's…"
"Earth Dragon's…"
It took the audience a little longer to realize what was happening, but they did eventually catch on. They did what they could to take cover—however, since they were Fairy Tail wizards through and through, there was no way they'd go run and hide while there was action going on.
"ROAR!" The fire and earth breath attacks collided, causing a small-scale explosion and giving off a ton of smoke. Makoto reflexively coughed but he tried to keep his ears opening for any hints of movement. All he heard was coughing from the surrounding people—and from directly in front of him.
("Looks like Natsu was caught off guard by the smoke, too.") Makoto thought as a strong wind suddenly started up, clearing away the smoke. Realizing an opportunity was passing by him, Makoto ran straight at Natsu and raised his fists above his head. "Earth Dragon's Impact!"
Natsu quickly retaliated with a flaming fist, blocking the attack and then following up with a kick wreathed in fire. Makoto scrambled backward a few feet and then paused for breath.
"Hey, try not to burn my hoodie," he complained. "It's new and I like it."
"Don't make it easy for me to hit you, then!" Natsu good-naturedly fired back with a grin. Makoto couldn't help but smile himself.
("This kind of fighting… honestly isn't that bad,") he realized. ("It's not that us fighting means we're not friends… It's the exact opposite. We're friends because we fight. It's a way of life in this world. By fighting, you can learn about your opponent—how they think, how they act. And through that, you can understand your friends and trust them to have your back, because they understand you on the same level.")
Fire encircled Natsu's right fist. "What do ya say, Makoto?" he asked with a smirk.
Makoto offered a grin of his own as his fist became surrounded by stone and light. "I couldn't agree more."
"Fire Dragon's…"
"Earth Dragon's…"
They charged head on for each other, fists pulled back to punch with all their might.
"Iron Fist!"
"Seismic Fist!"
"This fight is over!"
Makoto let out a gasp of surprise as a loud clap echoed around the area. Instinctively, he tried to stop his arm before it could touch Natsu's own frozen fist. His momentum still carried him forward, unfortunately, and he fell with all his might. And hit his back with all his might.
He quickly recovered and clambered back to his feet. He shared a brief look of confusion with Natsu before looking over with everyone else in the audience to see who had interrupted the fight at its climax.
It was a green frog on two legs wearing an official-looking robe.
("Wait, what? How—") Makoto stopped and sighed inwardly. ("Well, along with all the other weird things in Fiore, I suppose I've seen a man who looked like a chicken; this should be the last thing that surprises me.")
"May I have your attention please?" the frog continued in a high pitched voice. Makoto figured that it was a female frog, based on that. Was she still a person if she looked like a frog? ("Focus!") he shouted at himself. He needed to listen to what she was saying. No doubt it could be something important. "I have come here on behalf of the Magic Council."
The news spawned several discussions around the crowd, mostly about why the council would send a representative all the way to Fairy Tail. Makoto drowned those out as the frog lady pulled a roll of parchment from her satchel. She announced, "As a result of the Eisenwald incident, two members of your guild have been charged with a total of eleven counts of criminal property damage!"
"Erza Scarlet and Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer are both under arrest," she finished, letting the declaration sink in. Makoto's eyes widened and his gaze shot towards Erza, who had come forward to stand in front of the frog messenger.
"Huh?! You're putting her under ar—what?!" Natsu shouted.
"You're arresting Erza?!" Makoto added disbelievingly.
"Hang on!" Lucy interrupted. "Who else is under arrest? Fairy Tail has two Dragon Slayers."
"It's not Natsu," Erza said suddenly. Everyone turned to her as she continued, "Natsu's infamous for his tendency of destruction. If the council wanted him, they'd refer to him by name."
"Then, it's…" the blonde trailed off in realization.
"Me…?" Makoto said. "But, I…"
"Hold up, you can't arrest them!" Natsu protested. Makoto wasn't sure what was happening, but he really hoped that Natsu had enough self-restraint to not barbecue the frog lady. "They didn't do anything wrong! They helped save all of the guild masters' lives!"
"Natsu!" Erza snapped. He froze in fear. She gave him a hard stare before her eyes softened and she turned to Makoto. "It might not be something you want to do, but we should just go quietly. It'll be easier for everyone if there's not a fuss."
Makoto held her gaze for a moment before looking at Natsu, then over to Lucy, Maya, and Gray, and then finally the rest of the guild. "If you think that's what we should do, I'll trust you Erza," he said after a while. "I don't want to cause trouble for anyone."
"I thank you for your cooperation," the frog lady said. Makoto turned his head to see her standing right in front of them, holding two strange pairs of thick metal loops in her frog hands. Each pair of loops was connected via a red crystal ball.
("What the heck are—Oh,") Makoto thought to himself as he watched the frog lady place one of the pairs of rings on Erza's wrists. ("Cuffs. Very strange-looking cuffs.")
The frog lady then turned to him, but paused before placing the cuffs on him. "The Magic Council also requires your full name. What is it?" she asked.
"Oh, uh…" he stammered from the unexpected question. "I'm Makoto Naegi." He offered her a small smile. "Nice to meet you."
Natsu growled from where he stood. He was angry but at least he didn't look like he was going to attack or anything. "Why the heck are you being so nice to her?! She's arresting you!"
"Natsu, relax," Makoto said as the cuffs were clamped around his wrists. He was momentarily distracted by the feeling that overtook him: it was the exact opposite of when he used a spell. Instead of his magic filling his entire body, it faded until he couldn't feel it anymore. He shook it off and continued, "We'll be fine, I'm sure of it!"
"But what if you're not sure?!" Makoto was almost knocked to his feet when a dark blue blur crashed into the side of his head. "I don't wanna lose you, Mackie! Don't goooo!" Maya wailed as she slid down onto his shoulder.
Even as his face went red from hearing the embarrassing nickname—she wasn't going to stop calling him that, was she?—he smiled at her. "I'm sorry, Maya, but I have to. It'll definitely be okay, though—I haven't lied to you before, have I?"
She sniffled. "No, but…"
"Listen," he said. An idea was coming to mind. "We're partners—no, more than that, we're family. Fairy Tail is my family too, so just wait here with your Big Brother Happy, because there's no way I'm leaving behind family. Okay?"
Admittedly, calling Happy her big brother was a bit strange, but he could tell that the frog lady was beginning to grow impatient. Maya needed to calm down so they could go. Plus, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit embarrassed by her public display of affection.
Maya withdrew slightly and sniffed again as she rubbed away the tears, but they continued falling regardless when she nodded.
"Don't worry, it won't be long," he smiled at her comfortingly when she took flight. "I'll be back before you can say 'yup yup'!" Maya stared at him again before she gave him another big nod. The frog lady led them out through the crowd.
When he passed by Lucy, Makoto stopped momentarily to murmur, "Look after her for me, will you?"
"Of course…" Lucy agreed, but her usual attitude was stunted by the event taking place. Makoto nodded gratefully at her before hurrying to catch up to Erza. The two of them followed the frog messenger around the corner to where their transport to the Magic Council was waiting for them.
Maya stared after where Makoto had disappeared and then drifted softly to the ground, where she landed on her butt and her wings vanished in a flash of light.
"Yup yup…"
Makoto thought that it would take a few hours, maybe even a couple of days or so to travel to wherever it was the Magic Council wanted them to be. He didn't expect to be arriving there in a matter of seconds. As soon as they left Magnolia, the frog lady pulled a crystal out of her bag and in a flash of light, they were standing in front of a huge unfamiliar building. Erza explained to him that the handy dandy trinket was called a Teleportation Lacrima, and went a little further into detail when he told her he hadn't seen such a thing before.
Lacrima were special crystals found in Fiore and their main use was to contain certain types of magic. It came in handy for people who couldn't use the magic stored within, whether wizard or not. As evidenced by its name, the Lacrima they used contained Teleportation Magic and had brought them dozens of miles in an instant.
"So, uh," Makoto began unsurely as they were led into the entrance of the building and down a few long hallways. "Is this the prison or something…?"
"This is the Magic Council's building for the Fiore branch," the frog lady answered matter-of-factly, as if she couldn't believe he would even ask.
Makoto chuckled nervously. "R-Right, of course it is. So where are we going then?"
"The building located above."
"You mean… the floating one?"
"Yes."
Ignoring the painfully obvious question of how on earth they were going to get up there—because the last thing he needed was people questioning his lack of knowledge—Makoto instead asked, "What's up there?"
"The Magic Council has gathered in the courtroom above," the frog lady said. "That is where your trial will be held."
"T-Trial?!"
Erza stopped when she realized Makoto had become frozen in place, and their guide was forced to come to a halt as well. The swordswoman was slightly surprised by the reveal of a trial, but it wasn't like she hadn't anticipated something similar. What was most alarming was Makoto's reaction; gone was the friendly, cheerful optimist she had gotten to know. In its place was a side of him she never expected to see—not the serious side he'd exhibited during the Eisenwald incident, but one with an expression of absolute terror.
"H-Hang on," Makoto continued with a stammer. His eyes shifted between Erza and the messenger. "Nobody said anything about a t-trial!"
…
A bloody corpse.
A dead friend.
A chilling announcement.
"After a certain amount of time has passed, we'll hold a Class Trial!"
…
Unbeknownst to the turmoil in Makoto's mind, the messenger calmly stated, "Well, of course there'll be a trial. The Magic Council will review the case and decide on what sort of punishment you'll face should you both be found guilty."
…
Sixteen stands at the start.
The numbers keep dwindling and dwindling because—
"But if you pick the wrong one…"
…
"N-NO!" Makoto shouted out as he was flung back to reality. Erza and the messenger jumped from his sudden increase in volume and he shook his head fiercely. "Absolutely not! I'm not going! I won't!"
The frog lady, completely unprepared for such a disturbance, turned to the other Fairy Tail wizard and said, "Please, tell your friend to control himself!"
But Erza was as lost as the frog lady. She took a hesitant step forward. "Makoto, what—?"
"I won't go! You hear me?!" he yelled at her immediately, taking a few steps backward in response. He tried to grab his head with his hands, but he ended up hiding his face behind his arms when the cuffs made that difficult. His entire body trembled as he squeezed his eyes shut to try and stop the nightmarish memories.
Erza frowned as she watched. She didn't know any specifics, but it was glaringly obvious that something had happened to Makoto in the past—something bad enough to leave him like this at the mere thought of going to trial. The last thing she wanted to do as his guildmate was force him to attend.
But that was just what she wanted, and there was no guarantee that the council would see it the same way. There would be some members who would definitely be lenient, and they could get lucky with a consensus from the rest of the council—but some of them might just see it as an unnecessary delay, and who knows what could happen then. She couldn't take any chances.
Steeling herself, Erza carefully edged towards the frightened boy. He took no notice of her approach, simply repeating to himself in a terrified whisper, "It's done, it's over, it's supposed to be over—"
"Makoto."
He flinched, shaking his head again and shrinking away. "No no no, you can't make me, I won't do it…"
In one quick motion, Erza grabbed his hands and pulled them down away from his face. "Makoto."
His eyes shot open, wide with terror, but there was a flicker of recognition as they met the redhead's gaze. "E-Erza…?"
"I will be right here," she stated firmly, tightening her grip on his hands. "You remember your promise to Maya, don't you?"
It might've been her imagination, but she felt his tremors subside slightly. "M-Maya… I…"
"You promised her you'd be back as soon as possible," Erza reminded him. She frowned softly. "But to do that, you need to calm down and attend the trial."
He stiffened, and for a moment Erza worried that he'd panic again, but he took in a deep breath and shakily let it out. "N-No, you're right… You and Maya are both with me, s-so it's definitely over… I-I just need to stop worrying about it right now…"
To say it would be difficult to keep it out of his mind was an understatement, but if he just kept reminding himself that it wasn't like the past and Erza was with him, it might make it more manageable.
Makoto took in another breath and then nodded at Erza. "All right… I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
Erza gave him a once-over, checking for herself to see if he truly was all right for now, before turning back to the messenger. "I believe we're ready to go."
The frog lady held out an arm and said, "This way then, please." She set off ahead of them, leaving the Fairy Tail wizards to catch up.
As Makoto found out, the way up to the higher building was almost identical to how they'd arrived at the Magic Council building in the first place. The frog lady led them to a small, empty room and with a push of the button on the wall, Makoto once again felt like he was floating in midair before his insides settled. When they left the room, the hallway was completely different to what it was before. Erza explained that it was a short-distance Teleportation Lacrima, but to Makoto it was basically a futuristic elevator.
"So why didn't we just teleport up here to begin with?" Makoto wondered quietly as they walked.
"If I remember correctly, this building is restricted and only used by high-ranking people normally, or by the council themselves for trials such as this," Erza replied. "So they have defenses in place to prevent anyone from just teleporting in here."
"Oh, I get it."
She gave him a sideways glance. "I'm slightly surprised that this is all new to you, Makoto."
He flinched but tried to brush it off with a nervous chuckle. "Y-Yeah, I've seen a few things in my travels, but I guess I haven't seen as much as I'd like to believe…"
("The last thing I need is Erza getting suspicious of my lack of knowledge. She already suspects something about my past because of that… e-episode…,") Makoto shut his eyes again. The less he thought about that, the better. ("In some ways, it could be easier to just come clean. But… it's not something I want people to know about, really… And besides, that could lead to them finding out about Earth. Sure, the people here are wizards and use magic, but I don't know how they'd react to a whole other world out there—")
Makoto looked up and barely bit back a yell when he narrowly avoided crashing into Erza's back. He regained his balance and looked up at the redhead. He followed her gaze, at the end of which was a blue-haired man. He was leaning against a pillar outside a large pair of ornate doors. The man had a red tattoo that stretched above and below his right eye, and his eyes opened to scan over the two wizards.
"Siegrain!" Erza muttered angrily. Her feet widened and she took a defensive stance, glaring at him. Makoto looked between her and the messenger, who had instead given the man a low bow of respect. That left him with no idea how to react, but he tensed a little. Whether it was in response to his guildmate or a result of his panicked state that had yet to fully disappear, he wasn't sure.
"It's been quite a while, Erza," he greeted calmly, in contrast to the redhead. "Please relax. I'm only here in spirit; I'm sending this projection from Era." Siegrain turned his head to the doors in front of them. "In fact, all of the wrinkled faces in that courtroom are projections as well. We didn't think it necessary to be here for such a trivial matter."
One part of Makoto registered the flicker of Siegrain's form, like a TV with bad signal. He wondered curiously if it could be compared to magic holograms of some sort. The other part of him was furious beyond belief; trials were no laughing matter, and you only had to look at Makoto's life a month ago to see the proof.
"I see. So you're the one who's behind this farce?" Erza spat with hatred. "You make me sick."
"Let's be civil," Siegrain suggested as he walked past Erza, neither of them turning to face each other. Makoto tilted his head to the side to keep an eye on him. "I've always been a staunch defender of Fairy Tail. But the elders are worried that the blame for Clover's destruction will fall into their laps. And the only way to avoid that is to place the blame on someone else entirely." He huffed with amusement. "You and Fairy Tail's new Dragon Slayer; you're their scapegoats."
"Enough!" Erza yelled as she whirled around and glared at him.
"Just a friendly warning." Siegrain turned to face her as he said, "In fact, it's another matter altogether that I wish to discuss with you."
He held Erza's chin between his fingers and leaned towards her right side—opposite to Makoto—and whispered something to her. Makoto strained to hear, concerned for the redhead, but even with his keen hearing everything sounded like white noise to him. The tiny scraps he did manage to overhear weren't enough to piece together anything.
"I must join my colleagues on the council," Siegrain told them as he swept past the two of them again, both of them turning to face forward. "I'll see you shortly on the other side." He moved again and faded out of existence as he walked.
The messenger looked up at Erza with awe from where she was bowing. "Oh, wow… You know some very important people."
Erza's eyes were glued to the spot Siegrain was just standing. "He's evil."
Neither Makoto nor the messenger knew exactly how to respond to that statement. The frog lady tried to move on from what had happened and awkwardly usher the two towards the courtroom. Makoto, however, tucked the encounter away in his head. Erza clearly didn't trust Siegrain; Makoto didn't have enough of an opinion to say what he should think of him, but he felt it would be important to keep note of their exchange.
The doors to the courtroom swung open, and Makoto felt all his courage vanish.
The layout of the room was different, with the supposed council members seated on a giant structure in front of them—he could already pick out Siegrain's electric-blue hair—but the thing that caught his attention the most was the witness stand. That was enough to make him want to throw up. Or bolt from the room.
Or both.
His fingers curled instinctively as something wormed its way into his grasp. He glanced down at the fingers entangled in his own and then looked up at Erza. She watched him with brown eyes full of concern and some sort of determination.
"I am right here," she assured him.
He swallowed and nodded. "R-Right." Holding onto Erza's hand like a lifeline, they both ended up standing where they should. Now that he was behind the stand, he felt his mind go calm as if by instinct. It was strange, but it was better than panicking, so he took a deep breath and focused as the trial commenced.
"This courtroom will now come to order!" another frog lady announced as she banged a gavel. "Before us are the defendants, Erza Scarlet and Makoto Naegi."
"Erza Scarlet, Makoto Naegi," the man at the top of the structure started. Makoto could only assume that he was the chairman of the council, sitting all alone at the top like that. It was too far for Makoto to clearly make out any details about him, so he had no idea what the guy looked like. "You stand before the council to answer to charges stemming from the incident involving the dark guild, Eisenwald. These charges include extensive damage to Oshibana Station, the collapse of the Clover Canyon railway bridge, and the complete destruction of the Clover meeting hall."
"There are eleven property damage charges against the both of you collectively," he continued. "According to eyewitness reports, the perpetrators are described as a heavily armored female wizard and an average-looking brown-haired Dragon Slayer."
Makoto couldn't help but sweatdrop. ("Even in Earthland, I'm average among average.") Fully processing the charges pressed against them, he paused as he realized something felt off about what was just said.
"H-Hold on a minute!"
The entire council, as well as Erza, seemed surprised he'd spoken out at all. Makoto steeled himself and continued, "Why is Erza being accused of any of this? All she did at the station was take out the Eisenwald members; she didn't cause any of the damage there! I should know—I was there! She wasn't even on the railway bridge when Erigor from Eisenwald destroyed it! And the meeting hall wasn't one person's fault! There was no way to avoid something like that—there should also be reports of the giant monster that was threatening everyone there, it was just in defense—!"
He was interrupted when the chairman demanded, "Silence!" and smacked his gavel loudly.
…
The little bear grinned maliciously. The wooden gavel hung in the air above the large red button.
"Let's give it everything we've got! It's PUNISHMENT TIME!"
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
He squeezed his eyes shut as the loud slam resounded from just behind him. The machine hissed, raising the block. The conveyor belt whirred, bringing him closer and closer until he was directly underneath—
…
Makoto flinched violently and took a step back reflexively. Erza turned immediately, reaching out for his hand and grasping it both for reassurance and to prevent matters from worsening if he tried to run out.
The chairman, seeming as if he only cared that his demand had been met, stated, "Makoto Naegi." Said boy's head shot up from suddenly being addressed. The chairman paused for a moment before saying, "Fairy Tail is the first guild you have joined, correct?"
"U-Uhh… Y-Yes, sir," he answered and then swallowed in an attempt to control his nerves. It looked as though the brief flashback had stolen away all of his composure.
"And where do you currently live?"
"I-In Magnolia…"
"And before that?"
"Huh?"
Makoto got the feeling that the chairman was eyeing him with interest. "Our biggest concern with you is that the council possesses no previous records on you. No previous affiliations or residence records. So you can understand that we want information."
His heart started pounding in his chest. Crap, what was he supposed to say?! He tried to think but his brain wouldn't respond fast enough, still reeling from being reminded of the past. "I-I, just… t-travelling, and—"
And the doors behind him exploded.
That resulted in him being simultaneously shocked and relieved beyond belief. At least he didn't have to answer that question now… He winced as a wave of heat washed over him and smoke began pouring in the room. It didn't feel like a normal explosion—and yes, he did have a run-in with one—because there wasn't a large force behind it. Makoto looked through the smoke curiously to see who in their right mind would be dumb enough to—
"I'm the crazy lady in armor you old timers have been looking for!" Natsu announced as he jumped out from the hole in the wall. Not in his normal outfit, but dressed in a very crude imitation of Erza. The costume—if it could be called that—consisted of a red wig that barely hid his pink hair, barrels to act as the armor, and rope to hold it all together. It didn't help that he was also breathing fire. "If you have a problem with the way me and my guild do things, you can fight me! I am the all-powerful Erza!"
Happy then appeared by his side, with a spiky brown wig perched on top of his head, his ears poking through the strands of hair. "Aye! And I'm Makoto, the Earth Dragon Slayer! Arrest us if you can!"
("What the heck are those two doing?!") Makoto thought in exasperation. Suddenly, something crashed into his chest at high speeds and knocked him off balance. He was stable enough to stay standing though, and not tumble into the stand behind him.
Makoto's eyes widened as he recognized the furry something clinging to his chest. "M-Maya?! What are you—?!"
"We're here to help, Mackie!" she announced. There was a pregnant pause before she gasped loudly and pulled away, pointing rapidly between the dressed-up Happy and Makoto. "I mean, he's the real Mackie! How dare you try to impersonate Mackie!"
Makoto stared at the three of them, unsure of exactly how to react to their disturbance. Natsu just finished one of his infamous roars that resulted in another destroyed wall and grinned proudly. Happy, as part of his 'Makoto' disguise, picked up a piece of the rubble and shoved it in his mouth. A moment later, he tried to spit it out subtly and failed miserably.
The chairman sighed and smacked his gavel. "Take them away."
"I'm truly sorry for this, Your Honor," Erza apologized.
"Hey, what the heck're you doing, Erza?! Don't apologize to these council jerks! U-Uh, I mean—I AM ERZA!"
Night had already fallen by the time they were led into the jail cell and left alone. The magic-sealing cuffs that Makoto and Erza were wearing had been removed; it looked as though the cells had some sort of anti-magic of their own. Not that the lack of magic was much of a problem. If they tried to escape, it would get them into even more trouble, so it wasn't really a viable option to begin with.
The cell was roomy enough though, so the gatecrashers found themselves on one side of the jail cell, heads down in shame as the arrested wizards looked at them with a mixture of irritation and disappointment.
"Words can't express how angry I am with you three," Erza growled as the three shrunk in on themselves further. "That trial was just a formality!"
"Seriously?" Natsu whispered.
"It's a glorified spectacle!" she snapped. "The council is using us as examples to remind everyone that if you break the law, you'll be punished. It helps them maintain order."
"Wait a minute…" Happy realized. "So this is all for show?"
"They probably would've found us guilty, and then sent us home with just a slap on the wrist. But thanks to you, we're all stuck in a jail cell!" she yelled. Erza turned away from them with a huff and muttered, "I can't believe you…"
"Bu—Ah—I-I'm sorry," Natsu stammered quietly.
"Aye…"
"Yup yup…" the two cats chorused as well.
Erza sighed but gave a small smile. "I know… You meant well." She moved closer to Natsu and brought his head forth for a hug—which of course ended with his head smacking against her armor breastplate.
"Ack—! Ow, that hurt!" he whined. The rest of the wizards laughed, enjoying each other's company in the darkness of the jail cell.
Maya padded over to Makoto, playing with her bow nervously. "You're not still mad, are you Mackie?"
Makoto smiled. "Of course not." He opened his arms and Maya instantly rushed forward, almost stumbling over her paws in her haste. She clung to his shirt, purring as Makoto scratched behind her ears. "I am wondering why you came along, though."
"Isn't it obvious?" she said, blinking up at him. "You're my family, so I can't leave you behind either! Wherever you go, I go!"
Makoto's heart melted and he hugged her a little tighter. He felt the laughter bubbling in his chest as he heard her mumble, "Besides, there's no way Happy's my older brother. He's at most my little brother, yup yup."
"WHAT?! There's no way I'm younger than you!"
"I refused to acknowledge you as my older brother! Mackie's already basically my big brother!"
"You can have more than one older brother!"
"But calling you that would put you on the same level as him, and there's no way that's happening!"
"What?! Come on, Natsu, help me out here!"
"I dunno. You're pretty little, Happy."
"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE BACKING ME UP, YOU TRAITOR!"
Makoto grinned broadly. Yes, family was the perfect way to describe it.
"Who would'a thought fresh air could smell so sweet?! I'll never take the smell of freedom for granted again! WOOHOO!"
Makoto let out a quiet groan as he buried his face deeper into his arms. Definitely family, because he seemed to have a habit of having family members that just loved to torment the boy in the mornings.
Granted, it was the afternoon and Makoto was normally a morning person, but there was a difference between being in a good mood in the mornings and actually physically waking up. Admittedly, he struggled with the latter. Especially when the previous night consisted of sleeping on cold, stone floors.
When they'd finally been released from the prison, the Fairy Tail wizards were all expecting to be back home within the hour. They were also expecting the Teleportation Lacrima they were given to work properly. Of course, with Makoto's luck, it didn't. Instead, it brought them just short of Magnolia's location—and so they had to walk the last ten miles.
That was the second thing that contributed to Makoto's lingering bad mood.
"Isn't he precious when he gets all excited?" Mira cooed from behind the counter. The rest of Fairy Tail were relieved when the wizards returned, and even more so when they heard about the truth behind the arrest. Of course, the relief had worn off by now and most were at their wit's end listening to Natsu shout about freedom for the seventh time since coming back.
"Natsu…" Makoto began slowly. "We spent five hours walking here; will you shut up about the fresh air already?"
His idea to speak up backfired, as Natsu turned to him with an excited gleam in his eyes. "Hey, we never finished our fight! Come on, let's pick up where we left off!"
Makoto sunk back into his arms. "Please, Natsu. I'm tired and grumpy and sleep-deprived. Not right now, okay?"
"Not gonna happen!" Natsu grinned as his fists burst into fire. "I'm not letting you off the hook so easy!"
Makoto lazily opened one of his eyes and jerked when he realized the Dragon Slayer was charging right for his table. Makoto leaped to his feet, attempting to get out of the way—and his foot got caught on the bench, leaving him to slam straight to the floor, right in Natsu's path.
Natsu, who failed to realize this, kept going until he ran into Makoto, tripped over his torso, fell forward, and smacked his forehead hard against another table's edge, knocking himself unconscious.
The guild hall fell completely silent.
Maya turned to Cana and asked, "So how much are my winnings since Mackie beat him?"
That kickstarted everyone's reactions. They all cheered and laughed, congratulating Makoto on his admittedly-unorthodox victory. He just took his seat again, not really sure what had just happened. ("I was… not expecting that at all. But, I guess it works out…?")
Gray and Elfman were laughing their asses off at the outcome of the long anticipated duel. "Guess we know who the real man is!" Elfman remarked with a smirk.
Mira smiled at the reactions of the guild. They would've been fine with either outcome, but there was always something satisfying about watching Natsu get beaten when he'd been the challenger in the first place. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Makarov nodding off slightly. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine. Just sleepy…" Makarov looked up with heavy-lidded eyes as he stared down at the entrance to the guild. "He's coming."
Makoto blinked, a heavy wave of drowsiness suddenly hitting him. He stifled a yawn and struggled to keep his eyes open. All around him, his guildmates collapsed one by one, either onto the table, the floor, or straight into their plate of food. He watched Maya collapse on the table in front of him in a sleepy pile of furry limbs—
And then jerked awake to find himself lying on the bench. Makoto pulled himself into a sitting position and surveyed the area as the other members were rubbing their eyes or shaking their heads. "Did we all just fall asleep?" he questioned, immensely disoriented by his sudden nap.
"Yes. That was Mystogan's doing." Makoto looked up at Erza's voice. She walked over and sat down beside him. It looked like the nap was nothing more than an inconvenience to her, considering she didn't look tired still.
"Mystogan?"
"He's one of the contenders for Fairy Tail's strongest wizard," Elfman answered from a few tables down.
"For some reason, he doesn't want anyone seeing what he looks like," Gray joined in. "So whenever he comes here to take a job, he puts everyone to sleep."
"That's kinda creepy," Lucy commented after a moment's pause.
Gray glanced over to the old man who was sitting cross-legged on top of the counter. "Master Makarov's the only one here who's gotten a good look at his face."
"That's not true," an unfamiliar voice rang out across the guild hall. "I've seen him before."
Makoto's eyes shot up to the second-floor balcony. Standing there was an unfamiliar man with blonde hair dressed in an orange shirt and a large black jacket with fur along the edges. He also wore spiked headphones and a lightning shaped scar ran across his right eye. He leaned casually against the railing, eyeing each of the members with a smirk.
"He's another contender for Fairy Tail's strongest," Erza muttered to Makoto. "Laxus."
"Mystogan's just a little shy," Laxus continued. "You should all respect his privacy."
Just waking up from his self-induced 'nap', Natsu shot to his feet and loudly declared, "All right, Laxus! You and me, right now!"
"You just woke up now?" Maya questioned.
Gray sighed and didn't even look at the pink-haired guy. "Wasn't getting your butt handed to you by Makoto enough for one day?"
Laxus raised an eyebrow. "Who's this Makoto kid?"
"That's me," the brown-haired Dragon Slayer called out. "I'm Makoto."
Much to his self-esteem's chagrin, Laxus immediately burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me? You lost against this kid? Talk about pathetic, Natsu!"
Maya's fur bristled instantly. "Hey, you—!"
"Maya, calm down please," Makoto interrupted. The cat whirled towards him as if to argue, but one look at his serious face convinced her to silently seethe instead.
"You're nowhere near my level," Laxus continued to boast, not hearing the cat's short cry of rage. "I'm stronger than the redhead, after all!"
"What did you say?" Erza growled threateningly, standing up from her seat. Gray attempted to placate her by saying, "No need to get worked up, Erza…!"
Laxus held out his arms with a sweeping motion. "I'm saying that I'm the guild's strongest wizard!"
"Then come down here and prove it," Natsu demanded.
"You come to me, little man," he taunted back.
"With pleasure!" Natsu hopped off of the table and leaped over the counter, heading for the stairs to the second floor. Before Natsu could even place his foot above the first step, Makarov moved with barely a glance. The Dragon Slayer was stopped in his tracks by the master's giant fist squashing him flat.
"You're not allowed on the second floor, Natsu," Makarov stated. "At least, not yet."
Laxus laughed and said in a teasing way, "I think you made him grumpy!"
"Shut up!" Natsu struggled to stand from the weight of Makarov's fist.
"That's enough out of you, Laxus," the master scolded.
"The most powerful one in the guild isn't a chick or some hooded weirdo," Laxus declared. "You wanna know what the strongest wizard looks like? You're looking right at him!"
"You've got that wrong!"
The shout was accompanied by the resounding thud of a fist colliding with a table top. Laxus' smirk was wiped from his face. The guild once again lapsed into silence and stared at the one who made the outburst.
Makoto gritted his teeth. His fist trembled from how tight he was both clenching it and driving it into the table. He'd heard enough.
"Excuse you?" Laxus said in a dangerously low tone.
"You heard me," he retorted without missing a beat. "Calling yourself the strongest? I'd say you don't know the first thing about strength."
The scarred blonde's face contorted into a snarl. "You better sit your ass down, kid, before I sit it down for you."
Makoto shook his head. "You're definitely not strong… I've seen it myself. I've seen what real strength looks like…" With his eyes closed, he could see them in his mind: the two smiling faces of the strongest people he knew.
…
"I'm going to get stronger… and accept who I am…"
"I will no longer retreat, no longer compromise, no longer regret… I've made my decision! I'm going… to resist you!"
…
His burning hazel eyes shot open—he yelled, "And you're nothing like them!"
Laxus was left silent for a few moments, surprised by the kid's nerve. And then he started to laugh. It was a quiet laugh to begin with, but then it grew into one that echoed around the guild hall.
"You don't know what you're talking about, kid," he said simply. He held out his hand and clenched it into a ball. "The strongest is the one with the most power, and that's all there is to it."
After that, Makoto left the guild in a hurry, Maya trailing behind him in the air. He knew it was possible for him to act foolishly when he got livid—which was a rarity in and of itself—and with his potentially destructive magic on his side, he decided it was best to cool off before he did a Natsu and destroyed a few bits of furniture, or worse.
He ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in South Gate Park, which, true to its name, was located in the southern parts of Magnolia. He just picked a tree and sat against it, watching Maya play around with children passing by or petting her when she decided to have a rest in his lap.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize it had gotten late until Maya poked him and pointed to the bright, white moon rising in the sky. Jumping to his feet and leaving the park, Makoto found himself heading towards the guild hall without really thinking about it.
"Oh, Makoto! You're back!"
Almost everyone had left by the time he pushed open the large doors. The only people who were still around in the hall were Mira and Lucy, the former being the one who greeted him. He smiled at them as he walked over to the bar. It was great that the blonde was there. It meant they could walk back home together.
"Hey, guys," he greeted as he took a seat. "Sorry about storming out earlier. What are you two still doing here?"
"I was just asking Mira why we aren't allowed up on the second floor," Lucy replied.
"Is it because it's str—stru—strack—poorly held together?" Maya asked, giving up halfway through whatever word she was going to say. She made a grumpy face. "I hope that meanie-pants Laxus falls through the floor, yup yup…"
"Play nice," Makoto reminded her as the two girls laughed.
"Not really," Mira said. "That area is reserved for advanced members of the guild. The jobs that are listed on the request board up there make the ones listed down here look like child's play in comparison. They're called S-Class quests."
"S-Class?" Lucy asked.
"They're jobs so dangerous that one wrong move could be your last," Mira warned them. "But with that risk comes a higher reward. Master Makarov handpicks the wizards he thinks are capable of handling these jobs. There are only five people in the entire guild who are considered S-Class."
"They must be pretty dangerous…" Makoto muttered. "If Makarov only thinks that five people out of everyone here can take them on."
"Laxus, Mystogan, and Erza are all S-Class wizards, you know. But I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you two," she said. "In my opinion, there's no amount of money that's worth risking your life over."
"Definitely," Makoto nodded. "You can't put a price on someone's life." He tried not to bring the mood down, but it reminded him again of one of the incidents at Hope's Peak.
("I've really been thinking about that a lot recently, haven't I…?")
"Is that all you wanted to ask?" Mira inquired.
"Yeah, thanks for clearing that up," Lucy nodded. "We'll be heading off then."
"See you tomorrow, you guys." They waved the bartender farewell as they left the guild, walking the streets of Magnolia as the moon and stars shone down on them.
"…And then Natsu came in, screaming like a banshee and proclaiming that he was Erza, all while wearing an awful disguise and spewing fire everywhere!" Makoto recounted. Lucy burst out laughing in response.
"No way! He really did that?" she asked between her giggles.
"His costume was absolutely ridiculous," he grinned. "There was a rubber duck attached to one of his wooden armbands. And geez, then there was Happy! He was pretending to be me, so he tried eating some rocks, which obviously didn't end well."
"Sounds like it was entertaining, at the very least," she smiled.
"Those two sure are silly, aren't they?" Maya joined in, resting on Makoto's head. "Charging in with a not-very-well-thought-out plan."
"Didn't you barge in with them?"
"Well, yeah, but they wouldn't go with my plan!" she said to Lucy. The cat huffed. "They said it'd be difficult to find a super awesome mega castle robot to attack the building with…"
Makoto and Lucy shared a glance and sweatdropped. At least they avoided a major catastrophe that day.
Makoto let out a quiet sigh. "…It was really nerve-wracking, though. I only found out about the trial last minute, and I never knew it was just for show." His cheeks turned red at his next thought. "And it's easy to laugh now, but it was embarrassing when they barged in as well. You should've seen how mad Erza was with them."
"I'd rather not…" Lucy sighed before she looked back up as something flashed through her mind. "Oh, that reminds me. How do you get along with Erza so well? I mean, I don't think she's ever yelled at you or anything."
"Well, there was that time Natsu and Mackie let that shadow Eisenwald guy escape on the train," Maya cheerfully pointed out.
Makoto rubbed his cheek. "Yeah, but…" He stopped before he went any further. There was no point in complaining about it now.
Lucy shrugged. "I guess there's always gotta be that one time. I bet it's like a rite of passage in Fairy Tail to be yelled at by her at least once."
"Probably," Makoto said. He paused and gave her original question some thought. "Hmm… I don't know. I suppose I'm just a person who can get along with most people."
All the good memories of his friends at Hope's Peak came flooding back and made him smile wistfully. Whether it was engaging in activities together or just sitting down and talking… Those were the best moments of his school life. Even with those he struggled to get along with sometimes—Byakuya came to mind pretty quickly—there was still something enjoyable in their time spent together.
Lucy stared at the expression on his face. She wondered if she'd one day know what he was thinking about. The two of them were distracted from their thoughts when their apartment building came up.
"Looks like we're here." They entered the door and walked up the stairs to their apartment's entrance. Lucy stuck the key in and opened the door and instantly let out a scream.
Makoto poked his head in just in time to see Lucy kick Natsu and Happy off of her bed. "You guys stink! Why don't you jerks work out at your own house?!" she demanded angrily.
"Now, Lucy, if we want to work together as a team, we gotta train like one!" Natsu held out a pink dumbbell towards her expectantly. Happy poked out from behind Natsu and added, "We thought you'd like the pink one!"
"I don't care what color it is! I'm not lifting weights with you!" she shouted.
"How'd you guys even get in here anyway?" Makoto questioned, glancing back to the door that was locked when they arrived.
"In through the window!" Happy exclaimed as they both began doing pushups.
Maya giggled quietly to herself. "Intruder window…"
"We've gotta kick it up a notch if we're going to beat Laxus and Erza," Natsu said. He increased the speed of his pushups and Happy followed suit.
"Aye, sir!"
"I just want a little piece and quiet!" Lucy complained. "Now get out!"
"Don't worry," Natsu said in a hushed voice. "We'll train quietly, Lucy."
Lucy grabbed a pillow from her bed and buried her face into it. "Why does this kind of stuff always happen to me…?"
"I've made a decision!" Natsu announced as he jumped to his feet. There was an undertone of excitement to his voice that set off all sorts of alarm bells in Makoto's head. "Our team is ready for the big time! S-Class!"
"Yeah! Check it out!" Happy stood on the desk, holding a crumpled sheet of paper in his paws. Leaning in closer, it was clearly a job request from the guild. The words 'HELP US!' were printed in bold along the top of it with a sketch of an island taking up most of the paper.
The most prominent thing was the bright red stamp that denoted the mission as S-Class.
"Wait, that's—!" Makoto shouted.
"How did you get that?!" Lucy blurted. "I thought we weren't allowed to go on the second floor!"
"Well, I just climbed the stairs and took it!" Happy explained simply.
"You little cat burglar!" she yelled at him while he gave a little snicker.
"Since this is our first S-Class quest, we decided to go with the smallest reward we found on the board." Natsu gave a happy grin. "But 7 million is still a lot of jewel!"
"Are you serious?! We're not qualified for this sort of thing!" Makoto protested. "Lucy and I are as green as you can get, and if the master thought you were ready to take on those missions, Natsu, he'd have made you an S-Class wizard by now!"
"You and Lucy aren't green-colored…"
"Green as in we're new to the guild!"
Maya gave a shrug. "There's silly and then there's insane, but I think Natsu's got a whole other level just for himself, yup yup."
"I think Gramps'll end up being proud of us if we actually pull it off!" Natsu grinned.
"He'll probably be angry because we broke guild rules," Makoto said. He suppressed a shiver. "Punishment is not the kind of thing I want on my mind right now."
Natsu huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "We'll never make S-Class with that kind of attitude."
"It's not about climbing through the ranks!" Makoto retorted. "We would be putting our lives in danger by taking this on prematurely."
"Fine, don't come with us," Natsu shrugged and put an arm around a surprised Lucy. "We'll just take Lucy with us and go."
"Who said I was coming with you?" she questioned.
Happy held up the sheet again. "Along with the 7 million jewel, the person who completes the job also gets a golden gate key!"
"Really?! I'm so there!"
"Lucy!"
"What?" The blonde looked away, having the decency to look a little bit sheepish. "Golden gate keys are incredibly rare, okay? I can't pass up a chance like this."
Makoto looked at all three wizards, weighed up all his options in his mind, and then gave an exasperated groan. "All right, all right. I'm going too."
"Woohoo! We're going on an S-Class quest!"
"Aye, sir!"
"What made you change your mind?" Lucy asked as Natsu and Happy celebrated in the background.
Makoto rubbed his head. "You guys are going to go no matter what I say. I'm just coming to make sure you don't end up killing yourselves. Besides, this is better than waking up in the morning to find you just left anyway."
"All right, team!" Natsu suddenly appeared between the two of them and slung his arms around their shoulders, pulling them in close. Happy and Maya hovered in the air beside them. The Fire Dragon Slayer grinned at all of them. "Pack your bags, 'cause we're going to Galuna Island!"
Well, I'm pretty sure that while waiting for this chapter to be both written and posted, this story has crossed the 100 reviews and 50 followers mark. So…
PARTY
Thank you so much to everyone who reads this story. It really makes me incredibly happy, especially to see the view counter and see that apparently a lot of people go on each chapter a lot each day. Even with this still being only ten chapters long, a kindof obscure crossover, and having the worst update schedule in history. And a big thank you to everyone who leaves reviews as well. I know it must be a pain to have to wait weeks for me to reply, but I read every single review and like to make sure I reply to them to the best of my ability without spoiling too much, so thank you so much for taking the time to let me know you both enjoy the story and any ideas/questions you have.
And a quick sorry to everyone; if you haven't checked out my tumblr page (trimaplenut), where I now have a subpage for this fanfiction where I try to keep chapter progress up-to-date, basically I've entered exam hell and I'm so sorry for the delay. But with summer getting closer, I'm hopefully gonna have more time to write more shit for you guys! I kinda wanted to wait for Ch 11 to be written as well so you didn't have to wait as long, but I finished the draft so basically screw that, here's Ch 10.
Also I caught up with the manga and everything and WAITING FOR CHAPTER 488 SO DESPERATELY. Also I read the Christmas special (Ch 462.5) and THERE IS DRUNK KING'S GAME AND IT IS JUST AS GLORIOUS AS IT WAS IN PERSONA 4.
REVIEW TIME
PizzaSpinner: The way I see it, eating his element refills his magic, but that doesn't really do much in way of his stamina. It probably gives him—and other Dragon Slayers—momentary boosts in their stamina but doesn't actually restore it. A bit like adrenaline, I think. Maybe. (Don't quote me on that.)
WanderingWatermelon: Thanks for all the guesses/suggestions! (I think I'm collecting together quite the large list of possible magics lol).
Guest(1): Wait wut really? Do you remember where you heard that? I had no idea they were made from dragon scales, if you did remember correctly…
Shadow Gumball of Death: Thanks for the name ideas!
Guest(2): Oh, hello again :) Having the IF versions would be interesting I guess, but it would mean a lot of lost character development that the survivors went through. Plus, I've written other crossovers with the six survivors present before this, and that already makes me stress about giving them all enough screentime. I think having all 15 IF characters would make me want to cry XD
Guest(3): Oh lol thanks for the spoilers XD Jk jk, I don't mind (Since writing this review I've now seen said wizard and wow that was fast). Eh, the whole asking about the deceased magic was more of a general question because I was curious; not so much a question for the actual story.
Guest(4): *Salutes* It will be a perilous journey… But I hope to one day be able to bear witness to the light at the end of the tunnel… And finally answer the Fairy Tail lifelong question: Will this story ever be finished? XD
Tatsurian: Oh you're talking about the shadow person. Secret~! Thanks for the nickname suggestions!
Huh… Honestly it doesn't surprise me that someone else had the idea of an Earth Dragon Slayer. Mmm… I might think about it, though it might end up feeling like a Juvia clone… What's this story you want me to read? And you'll have to stay tuned to see if/when Makoto tells about his past.
Haha sure go ahead, even I get tired of typing my full name out. Mmm, possibly. I am a bit hesitant about weapons and stuff, but I'll give it some thought. AND MMM JUST SEEING HIM TREATING WENDY LIKE A LITTLE SISTER BECAUSE HE MISSES KOMARU AHH THE FEELS.
Hey, go ahead! If you've got any ideas it's good to write them down at least somewhere (ugh I had a great idea for this story once but ive forgotten it now grrr) and I'm always interested to see what you guys come up with.
Sonoka12 (Guest): You are Sonoka, right? Pretty sure… Anyway, sosz but I gotta leave you to your speculation ;)
Hopefully this chapter dipped a bit into Makoto's reasonings for not wanting to share his past. I mean it was pretty traumatic, I wouldn't be going around three weeks later telling everyone about it. Aww, you keep smiling too!
The Black Dragon (Guest): I guess you could say it's like a Lacrima 'cause it stores magic power, but it's not a crystal or anything. Does that answer your question?
Hero 22 (Guest): I'm glad to be back in action! (especially with this chapter because I've been sitting on it for ages). I really wanna work in some more bamf trial master Makoto into the story, we'll see where else it fits.
Archsage328: Yeah, I think you just got lucky in finding the story just before I decided to update. Lol I'm building myself up for the reunion as well, and at least I know when they're gonna happen. Mmm I'm loving the deceased-themed spells you're suggesting. I've been thinking about expanding his spellcasting… uh… range…? This should help. Thanks for the epithet, too! Mmmmmmmm *smirks* dat catchphrase. Gosh, Hope on a Distant Mountain. Yeah I mean Makoto really liked VR Kiri (a crush? I think that was hinted at. Or maybe that's just me :P). Maybe I'm hoping too much that there's some shipping, but at least let them make up please.
Reapergenesis32: XD I'm glad I've managed to make your life a little more interesting. I have to say, I haven't given the DR2 cast much thought. Nothing's set in stone, though, so Idk.
Dragon17 (Guest): *Mushu voice* I LIIIIIIVEEEE! Eh, I suppose. I say the schedule started dying at about Ch 7, though Ch 9 definitely had the biggest gap.
Em (Guest): Thanks! It's a thing of mine to make sure I write at least 6000 words because Idk. Hope you enjoy this one, it def turned out longer than I thought it would XD
X20A (Guest): I… guess? Would you like to eat a scale? I feel like that could cause all kinds of stomach problems, especially with the amount of magic XD
Guest(5): HERE'S MY UPDATE. FINALLY. STAY BACK ACNOLOGIA NO ONE LIKES YOU. Sorry it took so long, I thought I'd have time between posting Ch 9 and before exams hit, but whoops. At least I did get around to writing this eventually.
Guest(6): Secreeeet~! ;)
Guest(7): Thanks for offering your ideas!
Eternal4Ever: Thanks for the nickname! (uh I didn't understand most of that p.s., but thanks for the support!)
Thaqif (Guest): Um wow you hold me in high regard. *ducks head embarrassed* I did have a look at it but it's gone by now, so… uh… Well, anyway, thanks for reminding me of Makoto's title, I'll think about it!
There will definitely be some original arcs, but admittedly the first of those is a while off, if I don't decide to make another one in between. BUT THEY WILL COME DEFINITELY.
DietyProphet (Guest): Here's your update, buddy! Unfortunately I want to keep this spoiler free so I can't really comment a lot on specifics, but it's some interesting speculation. And of course Makoto's luck is going to work into this! Besides his optimism it's one of his defining character traits, basically.
Guest(8): Galuna Arc is just around the corner, so I hope you wait and see what happens!
Guest(9): The fact that you've said 'also' makes me think you posted one of the previous guest messages but I literally cannot tell. I don't have a definite chapter where Makoto tells the team or even if it's one chapter or over a course of chapters, but I am going to have to say that it won't happen in this one or Ch 11 for certain. I hopefully plan to keep this story going for most, if not all, seasons of the anime (which means 200+ episodes to cover, plus custom arcs (i am going to cry.)) so revealing his past now is way too early in the scheme of things.
Outcast247: Thanks for the suggestions!
Sigma73 (Guest): Whoa, thanks for the praise. AND SO MUCH ANIME HYPE. I CANNOT EVEN. Hopefully I can implement Makoto's trial/investigation skills soon. I'm trying my best to make their magic fit but also can be used to fight in a way, I've got like a whole list of everyone's suggestions and I keep going back to it and thinking it over so hopefully the end decisions will be okay. Yeah, I've got a few custom arcs planned, I'll see how well they work out and whether I can fit more in as well.
Guest(10): Yeah, sorry about the wait. I needed my friend to check over the chapter once I finished, but both of us had our exams to do, so it took a while for that. I've also been holding back on it so I can get further into Ch 11 instead of making you guys wait as long.
Guest(11): I don't think Earth Dragon King is overboard, though rather than an epithet it does sound more like Natsu's new mode after the 1 year time skip. AND ALSO HERE'S YOUR UPDATE (finally (im sorry it took so long)).
Guest(12): Oooooo that sounds interesting, thanks! Makes me think of Attack on Titan haha.
Curious question!
Writing this chapter got me thinking, how big do you think Fiore is? Obviously in the show, they've basically got them travelling/teleporting most places within the day, but what would probably be the best real-world equivalent size-wise? How long would it really take for wizards to travel around?
Keep smiling, readers!