So sorry. It's been such a long time. I've finished taking my SAT and ACT and now am free to write as much as I want.
I need all you readers help with the next chapter. In the relationship of Gajeel and Kagome, how do you want it to advance?
Hope you like the chapter. REVIEW, FAVORITE AND FOLLOW:)
Previously
"We're friends. A family. And we protect each other." Panther Lily said. Walking closer to Kagome, he cuddled up to her leg before falling asleep again.
"Family… huh." Kagome mumbled under her breath as she looked at Wendy and Lisanna across from her, then Gajeel and Panther Lily who were with her.
"This family may just be my downfall."
By the time the group of friends returned to Magnolia, the first hours of the day had just started. Kagome's eyes blearily opened up to see Panther Lily tapping her on her cheek.
"The train has stopped. Shall I wake up the rest of them?" Panther Lily said, turning to Lisanna and Wendy, who were sleeping against each other and Gajeel who was sleeping on the couch area beside Kagome.
"Wake up Lisanna and Gajeel. I'll carry Wendy." Kagome began to get her luggage and Wendy's together while Panther Lily woke up the rest of the group.
"What? Where are we?" Lisanna groaned, stretching her arms out, almost knocking Panther Lily out of the air and punching Gajeel in the face..
"We just stopped in Magnolia. Come on, you should sleep at home." Kagome said, reaching over to where Wendy was sleeping on the couch and picked the girl up, juggling their luggage at the same time.
"I'll carry the pipsqueak for you. You're going to end up falling." Kagome blinked and looked up into crimson red eyes. Gajeel had woken up, gathered his luggage and went to help out Kagome. Handing Wendy over to Gajeel, Kagome readjusted her luggage in her arms. Once the group was set to leave, they exited the train and began to walk to Kagome, Wendy and Lisanna's house.
"I'm tired. Can I sleep?" Lisanna said, walking next to Kagome – more like leaning on Kagome while Kagome supported her.
"We're almost home. Mira and Elfman will be waiting for us." Kagome said, urging her younger sister to walk. Gajeel was chuckling under his breath, causing Kagome's eyes to glare at him.
"Oi dumbass! Stop laughing." Kagome hissed as the walked down the main street that led up to the Strauss family's house.
"Never Seaweed." Gajeel retorted, gaining laughter from Panther Lily, who was flying beside Gajeel, while Kagome's glare was sending the two boys six feet under.
"Just walk faster. We're almost there. My legs are about to give out." Kagome replied before turning to the half-asleep girl on her shoulder.
"What do you eat? You weigh a ton." Kagome grumbled. They had finally made it to the Strauss family's house. Knocking on the door, the group waited until either Mirajane or Elfman came to the door.
"Just a second." A feminine voice called out. Kagome and Gajeel recognized it to be Mirajane. They waited as Mira fumbled with the lock before opening the door.
"Nee-sama, You guys are back." Stepping away, Mirajane let them into the house. Mirajane took a look at the two sleeping girls before yelling for Elfman to come and take Lisanna to her room.
"I'll let you two settle this." Mirajane winked to Kagome before leaving the room with Panther Lily carrying the bags, after Elfman and a sleeping Lisanna.
"Thanks for carrying her here." Kagome said, gesturing to the sleeping slayer in Gajeel's arms, a blush still coating her cheeks from Mirajane's statement. Gajeel grunted before replying.
"No big deal." Gajeel replied, settling Wendy down on the dark blue couch.
"I can take her from here." Gajeel nodded. Calling for Panther Lily, the Exceed came moments later followed by Mirajane.
"Thank you Gajeel." Kagome smiled. Gajeel grunted before heading towards the door, Panther Lily flying behind him.
Hours Later
It was about noon when Kagome woke up. Rubbing her eyes, she hazily looked at the blinds in her room. Sunlight was streaming into the room. Getting out of bed, she headed to the bathroom to take a shower and get changed for the day. Once she was dressed, Kagome headed down the stairs to see Lisanna cooking a small meal.
"Good morning Lisanna." Kagome said, walking into the kitchen. Lisanna turned to see her older sister and smiled.
"Nee-sama, it's the afternoon." Lisanna giggled as Kagome's eyes shot open.
"Mira-nee woke me up just before she and Elfman headed to the guild, but I fell asleep again. Wendy left a note saying that she was going to find Charle." Lisanna replied, flipping an omelet on the pan.
"Let me help you." Kagome said, grabbing two sets of plates, forks and knives before setting the table.
"Thanks." Once lunch was ready, the two siblings ate before getting ready to head to the guild. As they were walking up there, Lisanna showed Kagome some of her favorite stores in town.
"We should go shopping some time. I can buy you some new outfits. Maybe short shirts, tangtops and shorts." Lisanna sung as she looked at the clothing that was modeled in the store windows.
"Hai hai. Let's get to the guild first. Mira will worry about us otherwise." Kagome replied. Lisanna nodded and the two made their way to the guild.
"Ohayo." Lisanna and Kagome greeted the guild members, walking towards the bar where Mirajane was working. Elfman decided to head over to the Thunder God Tribe's table where a certain fairy mage was sitting.
"Mira, can I have a vanilla shake?" Kagome asked, as she sat down on one of the stools.
"Sure. Lisanna, do you want anything?" Mirajane asked.
"No thanks. I'm full from lunch. I'm going to go find Natsu and Happy." Lisanna told Mira and Kagome before walking off to find the fire slayer and his flying cat.
"How was the mission?" Mirajane asked, handing Kagome her drink.
"It went well. I'm going to start Wendy's training." Kagome replied, taking a sip of her shake.
"Mama!" A voice called out behind Kagome. Turning around, Kagome braced herself as Wendy threw herself at the girl.
"Wendy. How are you?" Kagome asked, sitting the petite girl beside her on a bar stool. Charles flew over and sat on the bar top in between the two girls.
"Good. I heard we're going to start my training." Wendy said, her face sprouting a large grin.
"Yes. Do you want to get started?" Kagome asked, setting her half empty glass.
"Yes!" Wendy shot out of her chair and began to drag Kagome toward the back of the guild where the training fields were. Noticing a missing cat, Kagome turned to see Charle still sitting on the bar top watching her and Wendy.
Telling Wendy to go ahead, Kagome turned back and walked to Charle.
"Charle, are you coming with us?" Kagome asked, a smile painted on her lips.
"Why would you want me to? I made Wendy cry. I belittled her." Charle replied.
"That's in the past. You were worried about her. If I were in the same position, I would have done the same thing that you did. So don't beat yourself over it." Kagome replied. Reaching over, she grabbed Charle and wrapped the small cat in a hug.
"Arigato." Charle replied. Hearing Wendy call for Kagome and Charle, Kagome nudged the Exceed in the direction of her partner. Charle took the hint and flew toward the training fields, followed by Kagome. Once the two got there, Kagome saw Wendy stretching her arms and legs.
"Okay. To start off, I'm going to test you to see what you can do. Come at me." Wendy faltered, not wanting to injure her mother but pushed past it and began to run towards Kagome, pushing her magic into her hands.
"Sky Dragon Slayer's Claw!" Wendy swiped her hands at Kagome's stomach, but didn't hit. Kagome then made her own attack.
"Water Dragon Slayer's Roar." A large jet of water went shooting towards Wendy. Wendy braced her arms and let her sky dragon magic envelop her arms to act as a shield. The small spar lasted a couple minutes longer, with Wendy going at her full power and Kagome still testing the girl, before Kagome called the fight off.
"You have all the attacks down. What you are missing is endurance, confidence and power behind your attacks." Kagome replied, sitting down on the ground with Wendy.
"Warm up with doing 10 laps around the training field at a medium speed, then 10 laps at full speed." Kagome said. Wendy nodded and began to run around the training field. Halfway through, Wendy felt her legs turning into noodles and tried to push on. By the end of the warm up, she collapsed on the ground, panting hard.
"Here. Drink this." Wendy looked up to see Kagome standing above her, a bottle of water in her hand. Thanking her, Wendy greedily sipped the water before getting up and putting the water bottle to the side.
"Now do 3 sets of 50 pushups and 30 sit-ups. Take a 30 second break between each set." Kagome said and Wendy got to work. While she was doing so, Kagome was planning out Wendy's training schedule.
Meanwhile
In the Guild Hall
"Pass me another strawberry cake, Mira." Erza growled out as she stabbed the last piece of the cake in front of her and stuffed it into her mouth. Mirajane nodded warily and headed to the back room to grab another strawberry cake, making sure that this was the last one Erza could eat today.
"That bitch… some nerve to talk back to me... payback…" Mirajane came back to hear Lucy mumbling and cursing under their breath.
"You wouldn't happen to be talking about Nee-sama, would you?" Mirajane asked, setting the cake down on the bar top and looking at the two females.
"Who else?" Lucy replied, taking a sip of her strawberry vanilla milkshake.
"She has the guts to tell me that I was the cause of Wendy's crying. Lies. She's got everyone wrapped around her finger." Lucy continued on. Erza did agree with Lucy, more so the fact that Kagome was close to beating her and they didn't get to find out who was the stronger one.
"Why do you two hate her so much?" Mirajane asked, taking a seat on the stool behind the bar.
"She's an unknown person. Despite her ties to you, Lisanna and Elfman, you can't hide the fact that there is something that she is hiding. I mean, no one just takes in another dragon slayer like that. And the way that she left on a monster-eradication job a couple days after she comes. Don't you find all that strange?" Erza set her fork down on her plate and put her head in her hands, her elbows resting on the bar top.
"You shouldn't be so quick to judge your guild mates, Erza." Mirajane reprimanded in a soft tone. Despite the soft voice that was heard, Erza could hear the dark threat behind it, one that she was far too familiar from her past rivalry with Mirajane.
"I know." Erza mumbled before continuing to eat her cake.
"Where is she anyway? I haven't seen her, Wendy or Charle around for a while." Lucy asked Mirajane, unaware of the grumpy dragon slayer that had been listening to their conversation the whole time.
"Nee-sama is training Wendy. Charle is with them. They're in the training fields out back." Erza nodded, accepting the answer, while said grumpy dragon slayer and his Exceed left their corner of the guild and headed out of the guild.
"You should go apologize to Nee-sama." Mirajane said, wiping a wine glass. Erza and Lucy lifted their heads from their cake and drink to look at Mirajane.
"Why should I have to apologize to her?" Lucy snapped.
"Nee-sama is a dragon slayer. She was protecting her young, Wendy. You guys let Wendy down when you said she was too young. That's why Wendy was crying. And as her mother, Nee-sama's dragon won't like anyone that tries to hurt Wendy." Mirajane said, putting the glass down as she turned her head to face the two girls.
"Even Levy apologized." Lucy's eyes shot open as they widened. Erza saw that coming though. The timid bluenette was a very calm, caring person. She couldn't hold grudges for too long.
"What! Why should she have to apologize to her?" Lucy yelled, slamming her hand on the table.
"Lucy, I think Mira's right." Erza said, finishing up her cake.
"You're on her side now? Why?" Lucy said, shifting her glare to Erza, who wasn't fazed.
"We all have our own qualities. Gray strips. Natsu acts like a blockhead and wrecks everything. Laxus has his superiority. Cana drinks too much. Wakaba smokes all the time. Maybe Mirajane is right, that Kagome was only trying to protect Wendy because of our actions. It makes sense, that she would fly off the handle after wanting to go on a walk alone, but wasn't allowed." Erza said, standing up from her seat.
"What are you doing?" Lucy asked, seeing Erza stand up.
"I'm going to apologize to her." Erza replied.
Meanwhile
Training Fields
"Ahhh….huh…" Wendy fell on her back, panting. She had collapsed on the ground, her muscles writhing in pain.
"You okay?" Kagome asked, sitting down next to Wendy.
"Just tired… huh…huh…" Wendy breathed deeply, trying to catch her breath. Hearing footsteps, the two turned around to see Gajeel walking towards them, Panther Lily flying beside him.
"So you two were out here." Gajeel said once he reached the two girls.
"Gajeel-san. Thank you for carrying me home last night." Wendy stood up and bowed slightly to the male before cooling down by running around the training field at a steady, slow pace.
"Keh." Gajeel said before turning to the water dragon slayer beside him.
"What are you going to do with her training?" Gajeel asked.
"I'm going to get her endurance and strength up first. Then move on to her senses. Think you could help? I haven't trained someone before so I'm only going off of what Taisho taught me." Kagome asked.
"Of course you'll need my help, but I'm going to need something in return." Gajeel's lips curved into a dark grin. Kagome glared at Gajeel before gesturing for him to continue.
"Is that the right idea? Having to pay Gajeel for something?" Charle asked herself as she watched the two dragon slayers talk from her position on a rock.
"Maybe you can dance in a bunny suit?" Gajeel replied, chuckling as he saw Kagome's face grow dark.
"Or I could get you to clean my house?" Gajeel continued to list different things to do whilst Kagome's aura grew darker and darker steadily.
"God dammit dumbass. Just tell me what the fuck I have to do!" Kagome snapped, cutting Gajeel off. Gajeel went back to his usual self, a sinister grin still planted on his face.
"You're going to be my maid for one day - tomorrow. That includes calling me Master, wearing a maid outfit that I will choose." Gajeel grinned when he saw Kagome's eyes widen in shock.
"Damn sadist." Kagome cursed before heading to where Wendy was panting. Helping the girl up, the two began to walk back to the guild, catching up with Gajeel.
"Are you going to be Gajeel's maid for tomorrow? Can I pick the outfit?" Kagome looked down at Wendy. Despite that pretty smile and innocent look that Wendy put on, Wendy was working on the same side as Mirajane and Lisanna, the matchmaker side.
"Let's go find it now." Grabbing Wendy by the arms, Gajeel slung her over his shoulder and walked into the guild, passing a certain red head. As Kagome stared at Gajeel and Wendy's retreating forms and for a split second, she swore she saw an mischevious grin spread on Wendy's face.
"I'll follow her." Charle said. Kagome nodded and watched as the Exceed flew off to catch up with her partner.
"Ahem." Hearing a cough, Kagome looked to her right to see Erza standing there.
"What do you want, Scarlet?" Kagome asked.
"I wanted… I wanted to apologize to you. Mira helped me see what you were trying to do. I'm sorry for what I did to you and Wendy." Erza said.
"Geh!" Bickslow said, choking on his drink. Freed began to pat his back, helping the poor soul mage.
"Are they about to fight?" Bickslow gestured to the two girls standing at the back of the guild. Freed turned to see who Bickslow was talking about and froze.
"They're not." The two mages turned to face the man sitting at the head of their table.
"What do you mean?" Freed asked the dragon slayer.
"Erza's apologizing." Laxus said before tipping his shot glass back and drinking.
"Apology accepted." Kagome pulled Erza out of her bowing positions and patted the scarlet head on the shoulders.
"Shall we try this again? Hello. Nice to meet you, I'm Kagome Taisho, Water Dragon Slayer." Kagome held out her hand, a smile painted on her lips.
"Same here. I'm Erza Scarlet, an Equip Mage." Smiling back, Erza gripped Kagome's hand gently.
"I had better check on Mira, Lisa and Elfman before finding Wendy. God knows where that dumbass iron piece of shit took her. Come by for tea sometime." Kagome grinned before heading off to find her siblings, while Erza went back to the bar and ordered another strawberry cake. Mira smiled and gave Erza the cake, sending Kagome off to find Wendy.
The Next Morning
Strauss House
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Mmmmrgh." A groan came from under the covers.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Stop making a racket Mira." A voice grumbled from under the pillow.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Large tick marks popped on Kagome's face as the girl rashly pushed the sheets off her and got out of bed. Her eyes were blurry and her senses were wacked up. Walking downstairs, she noticed that no one was awake. Heading to the front door, she slammed the door open and dreaded that action right after.
"Seaweed, I brought you a gift." Gajeel said, holding out a box. Kagome took the box from Gajeel and opened it. Pulling the object out of the box, her eye's drowsiness immediately left, her senses snapped into place and she dropped the box on the ground.
"Get changed." The guest, Gajeel, grinned as he leaned on the door frame, watching Kagome stare at the outfit in her hands.
In her hands, laid the skimpiest maid outfit that she had ever seen. Now Kagome knew, that some how in her past life, she must have done something terribly wrong.
Hope you liked it:) PLEASE REVIEW, FAVORITE AND FOLLOW.