Chapter Eleven
"Good morning, Lu-chan!"
Levy was like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy Friday - the cloudy day referring to Lucy's ill mood. Not only had she snoozed through her alarm after a restless night of sleep, but she and her car had a disagreement before it decided to allow her to drive. So there she stood, huffing, blinded by both anger and fatigue. "Nothing is good about this morning," Lucy grumbled, rubbing at her tired eyes.
"Oh, Lu, what are you doing this weekend?" Levy asked, tailing behind the blonde as she made her way to her locker.
"I'm not sure…" she paused, looking at the ceiling and stopping as she thought about it. She felt Levy collide with her back and turned around to apologize, but froze when she spotted the devious smirk on the blue-haired girl's face.
"Oh, I can ask to hang out another time if you're gonna have another sleepover with Natsu," she hummed casually.
Lucy's cheeks immediately turned pink, and she stomped her foot, turning around to open her locker, clearly flustered. "You know it's not like that," she whined, pulling out her books for her first class. "I still can't believe Erza posted that picture…" As it had turned out, when the three musketeers had spent the night at her house the previous week, Erza had snapped a picture of Natsu and her cuddling in their sleep, and proceeded to post it on Instagram for every club member to see. She cringed at the thought.
"But really, they opened a new bookstore on the other side of town and I thought of you!" Levy grinned, catching Lucy's attention. "I'm gonna apply for a job there, and you should too!"
Lucy slammed her locker shut, turning around with a look of wonder on her face. "A job? At a bookstore?" For the few years leading up to the present, Lucy's father had told her not to worry about a mediocre job like the other girls at school had - rather, he wanted her to focus on learning the ropes of the Heartfilia business while keeping on the lookout for a wealthy and secure suitor. Still, it might have been influenced mostly the idea of rebelling against the orders given by her father, but Lucy wanted that job. "Yeah, okay! I'll pick you up!"
"Is noon okay? We can go apply and then hang out until the match tomorrow," Levy suggested.
Lucy nodded. The match had been postponed until Saturday due to a school event involving the debate team, and Lucy had realized that Fairy Tail High supported all of its clubs nearly as much as they supported the fight club. Nearly.
"Yeah, that's perfect," Lucy nodded, walking towards their classroom. "I'm going Christmas shopping with Natsu after school today but I have no idea what to get anyone."
"Don't put too much thought into it," Levy shrugged as they sat down. "I mean, you already bought us a bigger and better HQ."
It was a silent agreement among the club members not to mention that they all knew the generous donation had been from the Heartfilia heiress; an agreement that Levy had shattered into billions of tiny pieces. Though, when Levy said it so casually, Lucy didn't seem to mind too much.
"I just want to get everyone something special since I won't be there," Lucy sighed, pouting.
"Oh yeah, why aren't you celebrating with us, Lu-chan?" Levy glanced at her curiously, befuddlement masking her doubt. It was strange, because even though Lucy had only been in the club for a few weeks, she had already integrated into their family - so her missing out on one of the biggest celebrations of the year was bizarre.
"Family stuff," Lucy grimaced, combing her fingers through her hair.
The conversation ended there.
For the first time in a while, Lucy was centering all of her attention on the math lesson being taught to her. She took lengthy notes and was actually understanding the lesson until -
Buzz-buzz.
After almost jumping at the feeling of her phone vibrating in her pocket, Lucy slid the device into her lap, glancing at the text from Natsu.
I'm bored.
Her eye twitched and she shook her head, glancing around before furiously typing a reply.
That's your problem! Don't text me. I'm trying to learn.
She huffed angrily, although a small fraction of her mind wondered why she was so bothered. As soon as she started to believe he wouldn't text her again, she was proven wrong.
That's boring.
Well it's not my job to entertain you.
What class are you in?
None of your business! :-(
You're in math with Wakaba, right?
No! That was a lie, but the ideas flooding her mind as to why he would ask sent her stomach on a roller coaster ride.
Yes you are.
Leave me alone.
Lucyyyyyy.
If you stop texting me, I'll buy you all the food you want after school.
Apparently that was enough to convince him, because she didn't hear from him until her science class. Coincidentally, she shared that class with not only Natsu, but Gray, Erza, Levy, and Gajeel as well (Gajeel was a year older than all of them, but he had started school a year later than he was supposed to).
"Okay, kids," the teacher, Mr. Conbolt, began, silencing most of the class. Natsu and her other friends called him 'Macao' because they were familiar with him-and he was Romeo's father. "Today we're going to begin partner work."
A chorus of shouts erupted, people claiming each other as their partner before he could finish. Lucy put her head down on the desk; she could work with anybody, so it didn't matter to her.
"I've assigned the partners." The room went dead silent and Lucy could only imagine the looks of horror masking everyone's faces. "Once you know your partner, sit with them. Then I'll start outlining the details of what you have to do."
Lucy closed her eyes, relaxing, focusing on the thrumming of her heart and the steady flow of her breath. She was tired.
"Okay, first up, Natsu will be partnered with Gajeel-"
"NO WAY IN HELL!" The cousins stood at once, glaring at the teacher.
"Sit down, boys!" Erza demanded, and when they didn't comply, she kicked both of them forward so they landed a tangled mess in the front of the classroom. "Please continue, Macao."
"Thank you, Erza," he nodded, looking at the paper again. The fight club members utilizing their skills in class was nothing new, and the teachers were pretty lenient about it due to their fondness of the students. "Levy and Erza." He paused, watching as the redhead moved to sit next to her partner. "Lucy and Gray."
Natsu was on his feet, pointing a finger accusingly at Gray. "How come ice-for-brains gets to be partnered with Lucy while I'm stuck with metal-face over here?"
She heard the chair scoot out next to her, followed by a "Hey, partner."
Lucy turned to smile at him, but instead she frowned and shook her head. "Gray, your clothes," she sighed, resting her chin in her hand as she turned to face the front again.
Natsu sulked about the pairings for the duration of the class, but when Lucy finally met up with him after school, he was all smiles.
"Ready to go?" Lucy questioned, buttoning up her jacket and slinging her backpack over her shoulder.
"I'm fired up!" he exclaimed. He was going to hold her to her promise of free food.
"Natsu, what do you want for Christmas?"
He looked over at Lucy with bags hanging from her arms, clearly not having expected the question. Most people usually got him random things: his favorite foods, movie collections, cheesy little gifts that caught their eye in the store. Watching her then, though, with her rosy cheeks and bright eyes, holding her cup of hot chocolate close to her face with gloved hands and allowing her mouth to twist into a warm smile, he realized that she wasn't 'most people.' She was weird. She was Lucy.
"I want a dragon!" he exclaimed, earning a laugh from her. "And a lot of food!" Dark eyes zoned in on her after a moment, the overbearing enthusiasm quickly replaced with bubbling curiosity. "What do you want?"
"I don't need anything," she shrugged honestly, her cheeks hot. "I can't think of anything better than being a part of the club."
"You're gonna love the Christmas celebration!" he began talking excitedly. "We spend the night on Christmas Eve and then the first person to wake up wakes everyone else up! It's usually Lisanna or me, but I let Lisanna do it because Erza is even scarier when you wake her up." He shuddered, as if remembering a past experience he wished to forget, and Lucy could only imagine the torture he must have been put through. "And then we all open presents and-" He caught the way the glimmer in her eyes dulled and the way her delighted grin turned into a sad smile and he stopped talking. "What's wrong?"
"I won't be spending Christmas with you guys," she admitted, tugging at her coat collar. Even in the snow, she had suddenly become hot.
"Why not?!"
"Family business," she mumbled, looking down. He resembled like a kicked puppy and it just made her feel even worse. She didn't know why she didn't just cave in and celebrate with the club, but something was holding her back. Someone. "I'm sorry, Natsu."
"Alright," he nodded doubtfully. Something was off about her, about the vague excuse she used, but he wasn't going to push. Not now, anyways. "I'm hungry! Let's go!"
He grabbed her free hand, pulling her through the crowd. She stumbled closely behind him, keeping a tight hold on her purchases and her drink-though she nearly spilled it on herself when Natsu came to a sudden stop in front of her.
"Hey, warn me next time you stop like that!" she protested, sobering up when she received no response. "Natsu...?"
But she didn't catch what made him stop, because he turned to her with a grin and squeezed her hand. "C'mon!" He was tugging her along again, though she trusted him to lead her while she searched the crowd for the source of uneasiness he clearly felt. For a brief second, her eyes met with the glare of a dark-haired man, but he disappeared after a passerby obstructed her view. Natsu was talking to her- "After Winter Break, we're gonna have another two-on-two and I think we should be partners again!"
Lucy peered up at him, suppressing all thoughts of the strange man. "Why don't you wanna be partners with someone stronger and more experienced? Tomorrow is only going to be my second fight."
He suddenly stopped again, but this time he turned around a gave her a toothy grin, his eyes squinting and his hand forming a thumbs up. "Because we're a team!"
Mouth opening into an 'o' shape, she let his words sink in, before she nodded. "Yeah!" Then she was walking ahead of him, beckoning for him to trail behind her. "Let's get some food."
Once they were settled comfortably at their table, Lucy fulfilled her promise and allowed Natsu to order whatever he wanted to. "Oh, the next big competition coming up has more than the two-on-two tournaments!" Natsu said, as if remembering something. "There's an event for a team of five. Erza wants us and Gray but she hasn't picked out a fifth member yet."
"I want Wendy," Lucy stated without even thinking.
"Tell that to Erza." A shrug.
"Oh, can you tell me about the championship?" She had forgotten to ask about it when it was mentioned before.
"It's a team of five competition too," he began, pausing to take a large bite of steak - then he proceeded to talk with his mouth full. Lucy sighed. "There's one-on-one and two-on-two matches, but they also have weird challenges that aren't just fights. Last year they made us fight with our hands tied behind our backs. The final event is one big fight between all the teams."
Lucy nodded slowly in understanding, chin resting in her hands as she thought about it. "The competition we're partnering up for… who is it against?"
He grimaced. "Grimoire Heart," he muttered, shaking his head. "They're… tough."
A lot of these other clubs have bad reputations, huh? She smiled. "It's okay! We're definitely going to win! As long as you have my back and I have yours, there's no way we could lose!" She mimicked his words from the beginning of the month with a wink.
The rest of their dinner was filled with idle chit-chat, though Lucy almost had a heart attack when Happy slinked around her feet (and it was then she realized to where the fish had been disappearing), and before she knew it, she and Natsu were approaching her house, the tall structure standing proudly in the distance. Somewhere along the way, she had convinced Natsu to carry the majority of her bags (even though Lucy insisted it was no more than half) while she had one bag in each hand and Happy sitting contently upon her shoulder.
"Hey, Lucy," the pink-haired boy spoke suddenly, drawing her attention away from the way her brown boots sunk into the white blanket covering the ground. "I know you said you have plans, but you should stop by the club hall on Christmas."
Lucy traded Happy for the rest of her bags, suddenly feeling small with all of her purchases hanging from her arms. Natsu looked hopeful, expectant almost, his usually spiky hair dampened by the snow and hanging in his face, tiny tufts of white decorating his jacket and the blue cat in his arms, and she knew that she couldn't deny him in person. "I'll try my best," she answered with the same amount of enthusiasm he would have projected, had he been in her position, but she knew it was more than likely that her club mates would have to spend Christmas lacking the presence of a certain blonde.
He believed her promising words, and then they were bidding each other a farewell, but Lucy didn't go inside until Natsu was out of sight. When she felt it was right to enter her house, she pushed through the front door, waving off the offered assistance from her maids as she fumbled to bring all of her bags to her room. The blonde dropped her bags, tripped out of her boots, and fell into the seat at her desk, opening her laptop and biting her lip.
"Even if I won't be there in person, I'll be there in spirit."
The crowd seemed even more riled up than usual.
After the bookstore interview with Levy - which, in Lucy's opinion, went swimmingly for both of the high school students - the two friends spent some time at the mall. Not only did they bond a lot more, but they shopped a lot as well. Levy picked out piles upon piles of clothes for herself and Lucy, though, admittedly, Lucy's favorite part was when they bought new clothes for fight club competitions. They spent much time in the fitting rooms, only keeping the ones that they liked the most, but both of them still left the store with a fair amount of bags added to their already colossal collection of new clothes. Currently, Lucy sported a bright pink sports bra that was snug in all the right places and a pair of black shorts that molded perfectly to make movement easy (and made her look good). To top it off, her hair was pulled into two low pigtails, tied with ribbons that match the pink she was wearing.
"Hey there, Lucy!" Before she could even respond, Natsu had his arm slung over her shoulders, nearly causing her to spit out her mouthful of water. Instead, she was left sputtering. "Levy, hey!"
"Hi, Natsu," Lucy said flatly.
Levy sweat-dropped. "Hey, Natsu! Ready for your fight?"
"You bet!" he exclaimed, punching the air with his free hand. Levy noticed he was shirtless. "I'm all fired up! Those Lamia Scale punks are going down."
"How's the competition looking?" Lucy questioned, shrugging Natsu's arm off of her. While hanging out, Levy babbled about many of the other schools; Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus were sister schools of Fairy Tail, so although the air was tense during any sort of competition, the three student bodies were actually very close - as well as the three principals. They were all pretty much equal in skill when it came to fighting, so it was bound to be a arduous fight for Lucy especially.
"Tough." As if voicing Lucy's thoughts. Levy tapped her chin. "I didn't see everybody who was competing tonight, though."
"Oh, I checked the board earlier to see who I was up against! Lyon and Gray are fighting each other!" Natsu snickered, as if it were some inside joke - which Lucy assumed it was, because she knew nothing of this Lyon figure. Natsu took notice. "Lyon and Gray trained under the same teacher together and they've never been able to beat one another."
"Oh," Lucy nodded. It must be frustrating on both of them.
"I'm fighting that weird guy, Toby, and Erza is versing the guy with the big eyebrows - and Lucy's up first against Sherry!" Natsu listed, as if those were the only important ones. Lucy raised her eyebrows, though, imploring him to tell her who else was fighting. "Er, uh… Wendy is against Chelia, Sherry's cousin, I think, and Levy, you're fighting Jura-" Natsu cringed at the name and Levy visibly paled. "-and uh… Laxus is… I don't know."
Another thing Lucy had learned from Levy was that no matter how many club members enjoyed fighting, not all of them enjoyed fighting in the competitions. While Natsu, Gray, and Erza participated every week, some members, such as Reedus (who was much more invested in the arts), only fought in a competition once a year - at most.
They didn't join for the fighting. They joined for the familial connections, kind of like Lucy.
Her thoughts dispersed when she took her place on the mat, posture straight and eyes locked on her opponent. Sherry was not someone you would expect by appearance to be in a fight club (then again, neither was Lucy); she was very pretty and held herself confidently, long pink hair brought together in a ponytail atop her head and her blue eyes boring into Lucy's.
Once the referee gave the girls the signal to begin, Lucy's guard maximized ten-fold. She was wary of the other, especially when she started spouting off nonsense about love. Deciding that it was best to attack first, Lucy rushed forward, swiping her foot through the air and into Sherry's chin.
Holding her throbbing face, Sherry scowled at Lucy, appearing rather offended. "That is so not love."
"It's not supposed to be!" Lucy retorted. They were supposed to be fighting. The blonde was preparing to voice such a thought when Sherry's fist flew towards her without warning, connecting with her ribs and knocking her clear onto her backside.
"Ow," Lucy whined, standing up and rubbing where she had landed. Her eyes widened as Sherry lashed out again, wickedly quick, but Lucy managed to duck just in time to avoid the vicious kick sent towards her. A shriek emitted from her throat when Sherry pulled her forward by her sports bra, nearly showcasing her breasts to the entire crowd, and Lucy's arms crossed protectively over her chest, her foot rearing back before digging itself into Sherry's stomach.
Lucy stood there, horror masking her face as she watched Sherry on the ground, still hugging herself as if to conceal her chest. Sherry leapt from the ground, tackling Lucy to the floor, attempting to pin the girl's arms down - but Lucy was faster. She flipped them over with her foot, straddling Sherry and pinning her arms above her head. The crowd was silent, leaning forward in anticipation as the ten-second countdown commenced.
Then someone from the stands had the nerve to whistle.
Both competitors' heads swiveled to the side, eyes sharp and easily locating the junior boy who let out the high-pitched sound. He shrank back, not only under their stares, but under the ferocious glares of many of their teammates and even some of the other students.
Sherry took the opportunity to lean up and headbutt Lucy, throwing her to the side and sitting up, rubbing her own forehead. Lucy grimaced, rubbing her head and glancing around. She saw the crowd of Fairy Tail students, all avidly watching, and she saw the other club members, eyes on her.
Everyone was watching her.
There's no way I can lose now.
Sherry had already risen, taking slow, threatening steps towards Lucy, her foot lurching forward, intending to find a home in Lucy's face. However, to Sherry's surprise, Lucy wrapped her hands around the other's ankle, preventing the kick from hitting her - and then she was pulling the foot towards her, Sherry's back hitting the ground and Lucy on top of her once again.
This time, nothing distracted her.
A/N: Hey everyone! Sooo clearly I'm finally back from vacation! Sorry for not updating while I was there, but I had no time whatsoever on my laptop! Anyways, it was fun, I talked to some nice people, swam a lot, and got turned into a lobster by the sun. :)
Here's the eleventh chapter! It's extra long to make up for the lack of updates for a week, and the next chapter should be up later tonight or tomorrow! :)
Lots more NaLu in the next few chapters. ;) Then again, like I said, slow-burn.
By the way, school will be starting soon for me (cue horrified screaming). It means I will have less time to write, a lot less time, and since school has the tendency to put me in a rather sour mood, I might not update as often as I like. Bear with me?
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Keeps your eyes open for the next one. :)