Chapter 12

Cooking Wars!


...

Saturday, July 8th, 2017

2:00am


..

'RINNNNNNNGGGGGGG!" Went the pink haired boy's phone.

It was around two o'clock in the morning, Natsu and Crystal were fast asleep like everyone else in the house. Natsu slowly fluttered open his eyes, seeing his phone vibrating on the bedside table, he aimlessly reached for the phone and grabbed it just barely. He squinted his eyes at the bright light, trying to make out the name of the caller.

"Dad" was what it said.

When he was about to answer it, the call hung up on its own. The pinkette sat upright and prepped himself against the bed.

Why was he calling him so early?

Natsu opened his phone to see over ten missed calls and messages from him, he seemed really worried or concerned. The phone started to ring again from the same person, he answered the call and placed it by his ear.

"H-hello?" He gave a sleepy reply.

'NATSU IGNEEL DRAGNEEL! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?! I COME TO SEE THE HOUSE IN A MESS AND EMPTY?! THE HELL ARE YOU?! LEMME COME GET YOUR ASS FROM WHENEVER YOU ARE!'

Natsu groaned, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling. He looked beside him, to see the bluenette peacefully sleeping with the light blue covers over her waist, her chest rising up and down slowly with every breath she took from her lungs. Her sky blue hair fanned out against the pillow, some of it draping down on the side of her face.

Why was this so appealing to him?

'NATSU DRAGNEEEEEL!'

"Jesus Christ, yes?" He had forgotten that he still had the phone by his ear, "Do you wanna blow my eardrums out? It's two in the morning!" Natsu harshly whispered.

'EXACTLY! IT'S THIS EARLY IN THE MORNING AND YOU'RE NOT HOME! I just came home from work to find the house in a mess, your clothes gone and the house unlocked! Someone could've broken in! Do you know how careless this was?!'

Natsu frowned, "Not like anyone would actually break in the broken down shit we call a house."

His father sighed, 'Son, you don't know how the outside world works yet. People will take anything, kill anything, kidnap and rape anything. Why the hell do you think I'm working two jobs? To pay for schooling, make sure you get a good education!'

"I've heard this lecture before, Dad."

'And I'll keep lecturing you about it until you get it through your thick skull! Now, where the hell are you?! I swear to God, if you're sleeping around with some chick again-'

"Why don't you call Zeref and ask him where he is, huh?! You always gotta yell at me... Why not him?!"

'I don't need to constantly look after Zeref like he's some snot-nose toddler! Your brother is a responsible adult that has a good job, a house and someone to love! Natsu, you're still in Highschool, you don't have a job nor your own house. You live under MY roof, eating the food that I buy and spending MY money! I expect you to live underneath MY rules!'

Natsu drew in air from his lungs and let it all out heavily, "Okay, okay. To answer your question, I'm at a friend's house, alright?"

'WHAT!? Who is that? Do I know him? Or her? Are you seriously sleeping with Erza or Lucy? No... This is someone new, who is she!?'

"You automatically assumed that it's a girl..."

'Because if I know you, you won't sleep a some guy's house unless they were Gray and Lord knows that you wouldn't share a room nor a house with him. Who is she!?'

"Stop yelling! You'll wake her up!"

'She's sleeping next to you!?'

Natsu gulped, mumbling a curse underneath his breath, "No..."

As soon as he said that, he heard a moan coming from the bluenette sleeping next to him. He looked over to see she had turned to the other side and then faced him once again.

'What was that noise?'

'It was me! I'm so sleepy!" Natsu gave a fake yawn, "Yep! Can I go to bed now?"

"Natsu...?" The sky blue haired girl slowly sat up and rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes, "Why are you up so early? Who's on the phone?"

"Shit, sorry for waking up up, Chrissy... My Dad called."

Crystal tenderly smiled, "He doesn't know you're here, does he?"

"No..."

"Give me the phone, I'll handle this..."

The bluenette took the phone away from him and cleared her throat, sitting up against the bedframe then she placed the phone by her ear.

"Hello, Mr. Dragneel?"

'Who is this!? Are you one of the girls that my son has slept with?!"

"My apologies, sir, you must have me mistaken. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Crystala Dragnela, the owner of Dragnela's Incorporation. I'm sure you must've heard about how successful my business is."

'A-ah, yes, Miss..'

"See, I go to your son's school as The Student Council President. We became friends around the ending of April and so forth, we've been friends ever since. Your son and I made a bet, if he were to come first in exams then he gets to pick a place where all of us; Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Juvia Lockser, Zeref Dragneel and his girlfriend, Mavis Vermilion, should go. He won the bet and this is where we are now, in my private Beachhouse on a private beach secured with alarms, bodyguards, security cameras and such. Your son is perfectly safe here."

'He... Came first?'

"Indeed he did. I apologize your his inconvenience and I will send my condolences directly to your address. One million dollars for everything, I will send someone to give that to you as a apology gift."

"Chrissy.. You don't need to do that..."

'Wait, seriously?! Wow, thank you! But you really don't have to, dear.'

"Perhaps you'd like jewels, cars? A new house? Land?"

'It's fine, really, Miss Dragnela! I'd like to talk to Natsu now, please.'

"Of course, are there anymore questions before I hand you over to Natsu?"

'No, I don't.'

"Alright then." Crystal handed over the phone to Natsu which he took it with a look of shock as he placed it by his ear.

"Yes Dad. Yes, she's the real deal... Go in a magazine or something to see her! She doesn't like pictures, maybe somewhere in a magazine you can see how she looks..."

"I know I didn't tell you I came first, sorry 'bout that... You can meet her someday, if she wants to, that is... Yeah, it's okay. Love you too. Bye." He hung up the phone and set it down on the small table beside him.

He turned to Crystal with a smile, "You're a life-saver. Y'know that? You saved my ass back there, thanks."

Her cheeks changed red, "Y-yeah... Don't mention it..."

"And sorry for wakin' ya' up, I didn't mean to talk so loudly."

"It's fine, really... But, why didn't your Father know that you were here?"

Natsu didn't answer.

"Why didn't you tell him?"

No answer, his hair covered his eyes and his head was facing the other way. With a sigh, he folded his arms.

"You know how I'm poor, right?"

"Yes... What does that have to do w-"

"How poor do you think I am? On a scale of one to ten."

"I dunno, three?"

Natsu dryly chuckled, "No... It's around seven. Or sometimes, and rarely, nine."

Crystal gasped, putting her hands up to her mouth. She knew that he had financial struggles but shed didn't know that it was that bad..

"The reason I didn't tell him was because that you're rich. He would've thought that you were doing this to feel sorry for me, he hates asking people for money or people pitting us as a family. Also, he would've thought that he might have to pay for the trip. We do not own a lot, we don't have a lot. He works his ass off to feed and care for his ungrateful son, known as me..." Natsu sighed, "But enough of that.."

Natsu turned to her and grinned, "You cleared it up! So thanks again, Kitten!"

"I apologize for my lack of knowledge on your situation..." Crystal gave him a small smile, "You do know you never have to ask me for money, right? I will give you regardless, don't be afraid to let your pride down a bit and ask for assistance. I don't want you to feel like you're alone on this."

"I am alone, Chrissy. I always have been, since I was born. I'd probably die alone, too. Y'know the saying? What happened in the beginning will always come back in the end..."

"Natsu..." Crystal shifted herself a bit closer to him till their shoulders were touching, "You can be a King or a Street Sweeper. But everyone dances with The Grim Reaper. It doesn't matter what happened in your past, no matter what you did, no matter if it was good or bad... I'll never leave you. Even if you push me away."

"No, you don't get what happened... Zeref said I should tell you but again... I don't want you to hate me..."

"I won't. And I could never, Natsu..." She rested her head on his shoulder, "I will always care for you... Even in death."

"Dammit, Chrissy..." Natsu rolled his eyes, sniffling, "Don't say those things... You're making me all sad and shit."

"I mean it. It's okay to shed tears, you told me that before..."

"This is why I trust you more than anyone... You understand me." Natsu's hand moved to stroke her hair, "I'll tell you my past someday... Someday, I will... I just hope you don't think of me differently..."

"I won't..." Her eyelids grew heavy on her eyes, "I'll... Always... Care about you, Natsu..•

Natsu looked down at his shoulder to see her eyes drooping over her dark blue eyes, her breathing going slower. He decided that he should get some sleep to, he prepped himself properly on the bedframe and wrapped an arm around the bluenette, pulling her closer as he rested his head on top of hers.

Then...

The door to their bedroom slammed open, the two bolted up from their position, Crystal's face red.

There stood a man with pitch black hair and black eyes, wearing a black shirt is with a sweatpants on. His veins pulsed through his head, his teeth gnashed and his eyes had dark circles underneath as if he had not gotten any sleep.

"Natsu... Little brother..." Zeref growled, "Do you want to tell me... Why... Why in the World... Was Igneel calling my phone?" He asked in a deadly tone.

"Do you know... What he disturbed with Mavis and I? Natsu... You know very well that Mavis and I like our silence and privacy around this time..."

Natsu was about to open his mouth to speak but Zered stopped him.

"And no. It's not sexual intercorse. There are other things to a relationship..." Zeref turned to Crystal and forced a smile, "Lady Crystal, a thousand apologies for waking or disturbing you."

Zeref glared at Natsu, "Get your ass here right now or you're dead."

"But I was gonna go sleeeeep-"

"Do you want me to drag you out of bed...?"

Natsu looked at Crystal who had a concerned look on her face, she was staring down at her thighs as if she were thinking.

"Go, Dragneel."

"But... Fine..." Natsu groaned and narrowed his eyes, getting out of bed and dragging himself towards Zeref who pulled him by his salmon pink hair and pulled him out of the room and closed the door, apologizing to Crystal once again before exiting.

When they were outside, Zeref released Natsu who rubbed his head with a childish pout.

"Explain. Now."

"Jeez... Dad just wanted to know where I was."

"You didn't tell him where you were?!" Zeref facepalmed himself, "Natsu, do you have any idea what it's like for a Father to come home from work and not find his son there?!"

"Oh, so you're gonna yell and give me a lecture, too?" Natsu rolled his eyes to the ceiling, "Make me feel like more shit, why don't ya'?!"

"Jesus Christ, Natsu! At least put yourself in Igneel's position! You're not old enough to get a job or have your own house, therefore, you need to respect and live underneath Igneel's rules!"

"How many damned times must I say to not call him by his name?!"

"That isn't the point here!"

"Says the one who's talkin' about respect!"

"I can call him Igneel if I prefer!"

Natsu growled lowly, grabbing his brother's shirt and slamming him against the wall, his ears piercing through his soul but Zeref didn't take his glare off, both of them growled at each other.

"He saved our asses when we were younger. Show some damned respect for the man that took us in."

"Get your hands off me, Natsu. We aren't back in his house, put your hands on me like that again and it won't end will for you..."

"Wanna test me, big brother?"

"You're asking for your own suicide, little brother."

Someone interrupted them both, they looked down the hall to see a short woman with pale blonde hair that reached her ankles. She wore a white shirt with a black short pants, she had her arms crossed.

"Hurry up and come back to bed. Stop fighting with Natsu and just get it over with. You're an adult, act like one..." Mavis gave him a menacing look, "Got it?"

Zered sighed, "Yes, dear..." He removed Natsu's hands off of his shirt when he saw her go back into the room.

"Listen, Natsu. Just... Make sure to follow the rules Ign- Father, put out for you..." Zeref grinned, grabbing Natsu by his shoulders and ruffled his pink tresses, "Now, go get some sleep."

The black haired man let him go, sauntering towards his room but stopped midway.

"And tell Lady Crystal that I said sorry once again."

Natsu walked up behind him and grabbed him by his shoulder, "Why the hell do you call her Lady Crystal? Just call her by her name."

"Is there a problem if I call her that?"

"Yes!"

Zeref's lips curled into a smirk, "Is that so? Are you perhaps jealous or angry that I call her that?'

"Jealous? I dunno what kinda weed it had on your Campus but you must be smokin' if you think that I could get jealous. Just... Don't call her that."

"Mmhmm... So, do you prefer I call her Chrissy?"

"No!"

"How about Kitten?"

"You're looking for a Death sentence if you think you can call her that."

Zeref moved away from him, slyly smirking at him, "Well then. I'll keep calling her Lady Crystal."

Zeref entered his room and closed the door behind him. The pink haired teenager snarled at the room he was in then went back to Crystal and his room. Once he opened the door, he saw her sittinh at the edge of the bed with her hands cupped together and resting on her thighs, her ears twitched at the sound opening so she glanced from the corner of her eye to see Natsu standing there.

"You heard, didn't you?"

She gave him no response.

The student shook his head side to side and took a deep breath in, making his way towards her and took a seat next to her.

"I heard you two arguing, that's all I heard..."

She responded so suddenly it caught him off guard, his onyx eyes trailed to look at her.

"You seem to have a problem with your brother calling your Father by his first name. Igneel, was it? Why is that? I heard something about he saving you..." Crystal shied down in guilt, "I may or may not have pressed my ear against the door to hear your conversation... I didn't mean to, I was just worried, is all."

"Worried? About me?"

"Who else, you idiot?" Her cupped hands clenched tighter, "Why do you have to make me feel this way? It's not fair, you know... I've never felt this type of emotion towards Erza, only you, Dragneel. I'm failing to understand why I'd be feeling this way..."

"You were never worried about Erza?" Natsu arched an eyebrow.

"There was nothing to be worried about, hence why I said, I only felt this from you. Sure, this feeling came here and there while my Mother was still with me as well as my Father... I don't know why but... Whatever happened in your past... I..." Her cheeks changed a darker shade of red, "I'll be there..."

"Chrissy-"

"Let's get to bed. I have something planned later today around breakfast time. You need rest for this."


...

9:00am

...

"Alright! Welcome to Cooking Wars!" The sky blue haired student threw her hands up in the air with a large grin on her face. She wore a light blue apron and a white Chef's hat, she stood in front of the large and long kitchen counters that had mystery baskets placed on top them for each team.

Natsu was supposed to be with Lisanna but refused, pairing up with Crystal instead.

Zeref was paired with Mavis.

Juvia was paired with Gray much to his protests.

Mirajane was paired with Lisanna.

Erza and Lucy were the judges since Erza could only make desserts and Lucy didn't really like to cook all as much.

"Cooking Wars? Really? The best you could come up with, Chrissy?" Natsu scoffed at her with a smirk, "This is kind of a rip-off of Cupcake Wars."

"Shut up and listen, Dragneel," Crystal clapped her hands together, "In front of you is a mystery basket with the key ingredient you shall be using in this round! The rules are simple, you have exactly one hour to make something of that ingredient, you'd be judged on Presentation, Taste and Creativity. If your dish doesn't please the judges then you'd be disqualified."

"For the team that wins first place, they would get a request of anything they want, granted, that it could be money, jewels-"

"If our team wins, I can still get it, right?" Natsu raised his hand and blurted out what he said, cutting Crystal's sentence off.

"Yes, Dragneel, you can..."

Natsu nodded to himself, "Sweet.."

"Now, open your baskets and take out the ingredient!"

All of the teams opened their baskets at the same time and took out something in a clear container that was filled with a brown powder, a strong and radiated off of it.

"CINNAMON!" Crystal cheered.

"I thought you didn't like cinnamon, Crystal?" Erza raised a scarlet eyebrow, "Since when you enjoy it?"

Her face turned red, "U-um... Change is great, is it not? Heh... Anyways! You must use this ingredient and finish on time, good luck everyone! Begin!"

Crystal briskly walked where her station was with Natsu. The pinkette gave her a confused look.

"Yeah, Erza's right... Since when?"

"Um... Never mind that! We're competing to win! We're gonna crush everyone into the dust! I'm on your team so this should be easy, despite this would've been great bonding time for you and Lisanna but nonetheless," Crystal crouched down to the cupboards located underneath the counter, she took out a white and orange bag and dropped it on the table.

"I thought we could make cinnamon rolls!"

"Alright, what do we need? I'll get them."

"I already took out the flour. You get the brown sugar, butter, eggs, milk and yeast."

"Yeast?"

"Yep! It's something that makes dough ri-"

"I know what it is! But aren't you supposed to wait a while for it to rise?"

Crystal winked at him, "This recipe only takes around forty minutes. And yes, it cooks all the way through, go get those ingredients!"

Over at where Lisanna and Mirajane were, the short white haired girl couldn't focus on the task at hand, doing the instructions her older sister gave her with distraction and carless. Her ocean blue eyes constantly glanced over at Crystal and Natsu, seeing the two laughing and working together.

Lisanna sighed deeply, taking a white rolling pin and flattening out some dough Mirajane had prepared.

"Lisanna."

The white haired girl continued to flatten the dough.

"Lisanna!"

"Huh?" She looked at Mirajane, "What?"

"You can stop rolling now," She giggled, "That's all we need!"

Lisanna stepped away from the dough and Mirajane moved towards it, sprinkling some brown sugar and cinnamon on it, pressing the ingredients down into the dough then took a sharp, sliver Kitchen knife and sliced them into long strips. Mirajane peered over her shoulder, seeing her sister with a frown on her face as she watched Crystal and Natsu.

"I'm sorry you couldn't go with Natsu, sis. Crystal honestly planned on having him be your partner for the Vacation but I guess he had other plans."

"He likes her, doesn't he...?"

Mirajane placed the strips unto a cutting board, "Well... I'm entirely sure in that one. Natsu was always a womanizer, but I like to believe that his perverted ways have changed because of our President."

"I wonder, if I would have been here when we were younger... Would he still be mine?"

Mirajane walked towards a pot that had oil sizzling in, she placed some of the strips in one by one.

"Everything happens for a reason, Lisanna."

Over at Juvia and Gray's station, the was smoke coming from the oven and pots, cinnamon and flour all over the floor, Juvia was waiting loudly and Gray attempted to put the fire that took place in the oven.

Zeref and Mavis were handling things pretty well, Zeref mostly showing her what to do and helping her. The were moving at a relatively slow pace but tried their best.

Erza's mouth was watering at the sweet smell of sugar and cinnamon combined, she decided she'd pay Crystal and Natsu a visit while they were cooking just to get more of that delicious aroma.

"Hello you two, seems that all is well."

The bluenette had a whisk in her hand, mixing brown sugar, milk and added drops of vanilla extract in the mixture.

"Well, yeah. I plan on winning~"

"THE POWDERED SUGAR COMPELS YOU!" The pink haired jumped out of nowhere with a bag filled with white power and dumped it into the bowl Crystal was mixing in, the powdered sugar got in her nose by accident and she let out a small sneeze.

"That was adorableeeeeee! Even your sneezes are small, like you~"

"You're just a giant!"

Erza chuckled, "Well, I'll leave you two to it." She moved unto Mirajane and Lisanna.

Lisanna was sulking in the corner while Mirajane was hustling around getting things done.

"Lisanna? Why are you not participating?" The scarlet haired girl asked, Lisanna looked at her.

"I wanted to do this competition with Natsu..."

"Crystal did say that you can get anything you want, sponsored by her. Maybe she can get Natsu to spend some time with you," Erza hinted, that alone was enough to get the white haired girl back into her bubbly spirits and working together to win.

Erza moved to Juvia and Gray's station, "Gray, Juvia, how are you t-"

She saw the state of how messy their side was, burnt food on the counter and water possibly from Juvia's tears on the counter as well. Erza pretended like she didn't see anything and walked back to Lucy.

"You know that Juvia can't cook and Gray isn't bothered with it."

"That is correct, Lucy. Let's see how it turns out in the end."


Some time has passed and most teams were getting things done. Crystal and Natsu sat around, waiting for their Cinnamon rolls to finish. Mirajane and Lisanna were preparing to put their dish on a plate, Juvia and Gray attempted to make something last second while Zeref and Mavis finished theirs already.

"Contestants! You have two minutes left!"

The sky blue haired teenager took one of the cloths on the counter and held the oven handle, opening it to see if the Cinnamon Rolls were finally finished considering they started later than expected. The top was slightly golden brown and they smelled delicious, she grinned to herself and took the tray out of the oven and set it down on top the counter.

"Finished!"

"Finally!" Natsu grabbed the bowl he had set in the fridge with the vanilla dressing to go on the rolls. He hurriedly brought it over to the Cinnamon Rolls and pouted the dressing over each one.

Crystal took a sharp knife and cut two of them out, putting each one on a separate plate for Erza and Lucy, the dressing running down the sides of the Cinnamon roll.

"Is this the part where we eat the leftovers?"

Natsu and Crystal gladly took one of the roles in their hands, Crystal wincing from the heat while Natsu bit into it immediately.

"This is good..."

"I know..." Crystal moaned in delight, "It's fully cooked, the cinnamon goes so good with the Vanilla... Were so gonna win~"

"Definitely!"

Erza looked at her watch, it was only seconds away till it ten o'clock.

"Ten!"

Mirajane and Lisanna dressed their plate, pouring a type of syrup over the dish they made.

"Nine!"

Juvia sulked in the corner as Gray tried his best to make something of what they made.

"Eight!"

Zeref and Mavis placed their dish into a small bowl with another little bowl at the side that was filled with a light brown liquid.

"Seven!"

"Six!" Lucy joined in on the countdown.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! ONE!"

"TIME'S UP, HANDS UP!" All the teams stopped immediately what they were doing and place their hands up in the air. Crystal and Natsu had smug looks on their faces, Gray and Juvia had sweat rolling down their faces, Mirajane and Lisanna looked pretty confident, Zeref and Mavis looked more calm than anything.

Erza and Lucy called all of them forward to present their dishes.

First was Team Crystsu, Crystal and Natsu. The two walked up to them with their dishes in hand, they gave it to them and they dug in.

Erza moaned in satisfaction, not bothering or caring to give them a critique on their dish. Instead, she just ate and hinted at Lucy to give the judgment.

"Seems that our other judge is busy..." Lucy cleared her throat, "But Crystal and Natsu. The presentation was beautiful, the taste was outstanding but however! Your creativity is lacking, I suggest to be more creative in the next round. Nevertheless, I wish you good luck."

Crystal and Natsu stepped aside for the next team to go forward. Team Mirsanna, Mirajane and Lisanna. The two brought forward their dish which were harden like dough in strips, all of it was aligned to make a circle, it had a slight gloss to it from the syrup the sisters drizzled onto it.

Erza had finished eating the Cinnamon Roll and gave them a thumbs up as her judgement.

"This is cinnamon sticks that were cut into strips and fried in oil, the cinnamon is embedded into the dough before frying. The dressing was a simple syrup."

Lucy and Erza took one of the cinnamon sticks into their mouths and bit down on it, enjoying the satisfying crunch that came along with it.

"Well done, Mirajane and Lisanna. The presentation was good and creativity was good as well but... The taste is a bit on the downside for me, the oil you fried it in, it seems that you didn't drain them out properly," Erza crushed the stick within her hands, clear liquid dripping down her fingers, "The oil ruined the taste for me."

Lucy nodded in agreement, "I'll have to agree with Erza on that one."

Mirajane and Lisanna stepped to where Crystal and Natsu stood, letting the next team go forward. Team Gruvia, Gray and Juvia.

In front of Lucy and Erza was a plate with a bubbling gray substance that had cinnamon sprinkled on the top. The two girls sweatdropped, poking at the unknown substance in front of them with their forks.

"Erza, Lucy, you both know I don't like to cook. But to be honest, I have no idea what this was."

"Juvia attempted to make the pudding that Irene-san makes!"

"My Mother? You mean the Cinnamon Crunch Supreme Pudding? Juvia, you don't even have the recipe for that... Pudding takes a while to make."

"Juvia thought she could make it from remembering the taste..."

"When last did you eat that?"

Juvia fiddled with her fingers, "Last year January..."

"R-Right..." Erza and Lucy stuck their forks inside the supposed pudding that Juvia made and took a small scoop of it. They both took a deep breath before shoving it into their mouths, Erza gagged and Lucy had the fork still in her mouth, her face turning different colours of the rainbow.

"So... How is it?" Juvia asked them both.

Erza swallowed down whatever she had in her mouth just barely and caught her breath, "My tastebuds are confused... It doesn't know what it just tasted... The creativity... The presentation and God, the taste... What about you, Lucy?"

"Lucy?" The scarlet haired teenager turned to Lucy, seeing the blonde passed out on the floor with her face bright red, the fork hanging out her mouth as foam spilled out the corners of her lips.

Gray shook his head, pulling his phone out from his pocket, "Do I need to call an Ambulance again for Juvia's cooking?"

"Gray-samaaaaaa!"

"Let's move unto the next team and then we should see who gets disqualified. Though I think it's obvious since that particular team made the judge pass out..."

"Juvia's sorry..."


...

After Lucy was passed out for a solid ten minutes of Erza repeatedly shaking and calling her name, they tasted the last team's dish which was Zervis. Zeref and Mavis, the two made Cinnamon balls that had two toothpicks to pick them up and eat them easily along with a small side of a sauce made from cinnamon, cocoa powder, heavy cream milk and powdered sugar.

As predicted, Gray and Juvia were disqualified. Gray didn't seem to mind but Juvia on the other hand cried her eyes out, saying that she wanted a private room alone with Gray.

After all the rounds that consisted of celery, and strange fruit named Durian which served a very difficult task of preparing, crab legs and eel. Team Zervis was the last one to be disqualified, leaving Team Crystsu and Team Mirsanna to compete in the finale.

The last dish was up to them to decide. They both agreed on making Pasta that had a cheese cream sauce, a specific time of seasoning with mushrooms and white chicken due to Crystal's diet, Mirajane respected that she couldn't eat certain foods and it wouldn't be fair game if she had picked something she could bit consume, nevertheless, even taste it.

The two teams stood next to each other, waiting for the judge's answer to who would be the winner.

"I'm sorry Crystal and Natsu but I'm afraid you both didn't win this round."

"WHAT?!" Natsu yelled in disbelief and shock while Crystal looked relieved and happy.

"The chicken was overcooked, the pasta was undercooked and the cream cheese sauce was salty. For these reason, we had to disqualify you from the competition," Erza smiled at Mirajane and Lisanna, "You both are the winners of this competition."

"Congratulations Lisanna, Mirajane," Crystal shook hands with them both, "Is there anything you'd like from me?"

"Can I request that Natsu and I spend a night together? Is that possible?" Lisanna asked excitedly. Crystal chuckled at her.

"Yes."

"NO!" They all turned towards Natsu.

"NOOOOOOOO! NO! NO! NO! HELL NO! NO! ZEN! NADA! ZERO! NO!" The pinkette crossed his arms, "Fuck that shit, I'm not doing anything."

The sky blue haired girl glared daggers at him, "You can. And you will."

"You can't make me."

"You will go or else you're sleeping outside on the sand where the water washes up in you, mosquitoes eat you alive and you're freezing cold."

Natsu groaned in annoyance, "Aaaahhhh! I'll think about it..."

"You don't get it, you don't have a say in this," Crystal pulled him by his scarf and leaned in close to his ear, "You said you'd do it. For my sake, or have you forgotten your promise?"

"No, I-"

"You're going to do it."

"If I get to see you in a Maid's Outfit tonight."

Crystal blushed and pushed him away, folding her arms underneath her chest and pouted, "Ah, whatever, Dragneel! As long as you go, I'm happy."

"Yayyyyy!"


...

8:00pm

...

Walking out of the bathroom located in their room, the sky blue haired girl sighed happily as she closed the door behind her. She had just taken a warm shower that relieved almost all of her stress and anxiousness for tonight, Natsu wanted her to wear a Maid's Outfit but to stall time, she asked if she could take a shower first.

The bluenette scanned the room, it was quiet...

No Natsu to be found. Did he run off?

Crystal held the rim of her towel by her chest tightly, taking cautious steps towards the bed were a white letter was placed. She sat down gently, taking the note in her hands and unfolding it.

"Someone writes worst than Erza... The penmanship is atrocious..."

It read;

Hey, Chrissy. Sorry for running off like that, I didn't mean it in a bad way or as a prank. While you were in the bathroom, I was thinking about certain things. Things that I've kept secret from you, I know almost everything about you and yet you don't know a single thing about my personal life except that I'm broke as a joke. So, meet me outside and come alone, dress in something warm, I'm waiting by the beach area where the shelter and chairs are. Make sure that nobody's following you, we need to talk in private.

-Natsu, your best friend

What could he possibly want to talk about? It made her sromach do flips, it made her anxious. She never did like confrontation...

Coming alone? Needing to talk?

It must be serious since he asked so specific of her.

Crystal sighed, putting the letter down.

'Let's go see what he wants to talk about...'


...

What do you think Natsu wants to talk to Crystal about? Sounds serious ;)

Stay tuned for the next chapter, the next one will be kinda serious and sensitive to certain topics. So, heads up. Grab your blanket, put the lights on, I dunno. Do what ya' gotta do.

Thanks for your support, follows and favorites! Please review and tell me what you think! I love you all, until next time. Bye!~