~ Surprise ~
I'd already decided I wouldn't hope for much. Yet, why? Why do you keep doing things that mislead me? Why do you always raise my hopes? Why is it so hard to ignore this feeling?
"What are you spacing out for? Let's go." Natsu took my hand and dragged me off. I followed silently.
Come to think of it, I thought. Doesn't he always hold my hand whenever he rushes off like this? That time at Hargeon, and that time on Galuna Island too… Normally, people would just hold the wrist right…? It really makes me wonder… Is he doing this on purpose?
…nah. Knowing Natsu, he probably doesn't realize it at all. It's all in my head.
"Where are we going?" I asked when I noticed he was going in the wrong direction. "Don't you have to meet Boze and Sue?"
It seemed like we were walking towards the school exit instead of the courtyard.
"Nope! We're meeting them at 5 today. We have 2 hours until then," he replied. "For now I'm taking you to town! Or somewhere nearby at least." He looked back with a heart-stopping smile.
"Why? Is there something you want to buy?"
"Stop asking so many questions and just follow me!"
After that I didn't speak until we were in the middle of Oak Town. It was quiet, unlike Magnolia's main street which bustled with abundant market life. But that was to be expected since Oak Town was an old castle town situated atop a hill. There was hardly much to do here… which makes me want to know what Natsu is up to.
"This way!" He turned a corner and I walked after him.
"I know I've already asked but, where are we going?"
"I wanna show you something!"
"What?"
"C'mon!" Caught up in his own excitement, he broke into a run, causing me to scramble after him and rendering me breathless.
When he finally slowed down, he had come to some… vegetated place? Alright, fine, it looked like the opening of a forest.
I looked at him questioningly and he replied, "I found something over here the other day."
Still holding my hand, he bent forward and began searching in the thick bushes with his one free hand. I pulled at my hand, intending to free his so he could search more efficiently, but his grip tightened and I felt my heart squeeze.
Keep calm, I told myself. It doesn't mean anything. I took a deep breath.
"Ah! Over there!" He must've heard something or smelled something for he leapt forward, going deeper into the bushes, and I got pulled along by him.
"Ouch." The bristles in the thigh-high bush felt prickly against my bare legs and I subconsciously winced.
Natsu whipped round immediately. "Ah – sorry!" He quickly apologized. Next he let go of my hand and squat down before me.
What's the point of piggybacking me if the bushes are so tall? I thought, but then he said, "Get on my shoulders."
"Eh?" I was taken by surprise. "Is it alright?" I asked because I was worried about my weight but realized I was being stupid.
"Yup," he replied without missing a beat.
He felt my hesitation and said, "Hurry up! There're even more bushes up ahead."
"Alright, alright," I said. Just when I was about to lift a leg I realized something. Conscious of my mini skirt I warned him, "If you dare turn around I'll kick you okay?"
"Yea, sure." I could hear him smile.
Supporting myself against him, I cautiously got onto his shoulders. He then put his hands firmly on my thighs and stood up.
"Waah," my voice trembled as I swayed unsteadily. My hands instinctively rested on his head of pink hair as I tried to balance myself. I didn't expect his shoulders to be so high!
"Yosh! Let's go!" He walked on surely. The sound of rustling leaves ensued as he trudged through the bushes and entered the forest.
When I looked ahead, the view was awesome. The lowest branches were still way taller than me and my view was unobstructed. Everything looked clearer from up here and I could see somewhat further. As we proceeded deeper into the forest, it became darker. The canopies of the trees overlapped and light only managed to flutter through the cracks.
"By the way, what is it you want to show me?" I looked down even though I couldn't quite see his face.
"That." He pointed.
When I looked up again, I was utterly amazed. We had come to a clearing where everything was bathed in a golden hue as hundreds and thousands of little glowing spheres floated down like snow. The golden lights were enchanting. They were like stars on Earthland and that sight took my breath away.
"What are these things?!"
"Shh! Not so loud!"
I observed in silence for the next few minutes, thoroughly bewitched.
"What are they?" After a while I asked again.
"Who knows?" he replied. "I just found them the other day, those plants I mean." He pointed at something on the ground.
Some distance away from us, there was a cluster of bud-like plants*. The plant looked sort of like a giant onion and it had hearts carved on its exterior. From the opening at their tops, they took turns spouting out those little spheres of light.
"I've never seen anything like this before…" I marvelled.
"There're no bushes here so I'll let you down," he said and lowered himself.
"Ok." When I got off I asked, "Can we get closer?"
"Huh?"
"To the lights."
"Oh," he said. "Yeah." He took my hand again and brought me into the midst of all the luminous spheres.
The magical light was all around us and I was captivated as they danced in mid-air; I was lost in their beauty. I never knew the wonders of magic and the phenomena of Mother Earthland combinedcould be so fascinating.
While I was enthralled by the lights, Natsu tugged at my hand and led me to one of the nearby trees. The tree was enormous and had large buttress roots which formed a cosy section. Natsu and I settled down there. Our backs leaned against the tree's sturdy trunk and we sat with our shoulders touching each other.
I was probably the only one who noticed our hands were still intertwined but I could not control my heartbeat. I kept my eyes on the waltzing lights, not daring to look at Natsu. The silence was so loud I worried he could hear my heartbeat so I kept talking.
"How did you discover them?" I asked.
"Eh…" He took a moment, seemingly thinking of how to answer. "Don't tell Erza, but I sneak out almost every night."
"Why?" This was news to me.
"Um," he hesitated. "For… midnight walks…?"
"Is it a nocturnal thing?" I asked even though I was pretty sure it wasn't, what with all the times he slept so soundly in my apartment at Magnolia.
"Nope."
"Hehhh… So it's just a weird habit you picked up?"
"Not weirder than you." I turned to look at him when he said that. He had a huge grin on his face and I quickly went back to watching the mesmerizing lights, partly to hide the slight blush that had surfaced.
As I only focused on the lights, I failed to notice Natsu nodding off. Only when his head rested on my shoulder did I realize he had fallen asleep. He was out like a light and yet, his grip around my hand remained firm.
The sleeping Natsu took all my attention away from the lights. It was rare to see his guard completely down. I ran my free hand through his pink hair.
He looks tired, I thought as I observed carefully. Why have I never noticed how cute he was before?
The motion of my hand stopped and I sighed when I caught myself thinking of my best friend as 'cute'.
Without quite realizing it myself, I spent the next hour watching Natsu sleep.
"Whew~! That was a refreshing nap!" Natsu said as he stretched. We were on our way back to Phantom Lord Academy to meet up with Boze and Sue for another training session.
"Somehow I became your pillow for one hour huh," I said while I rotated my stiff shoulder.
He smiled his signature smile. "Hehe! That's because you're comfy!"
"Geez, if you're that tired then don't sneak out at night," I said.
"It's not my fault that I can't sleep well recently," he retorted. "It's this unfamiliar place and–" He stopped abruptly.
"And what?"
"…And the fact that you're not there makes it harder to fall asleep."
A full-on blush hit me and I had to look away. There was silence for the next few minutes and I kept looking at the shops we walked past instead of at him.
"Lucy, actually I–"
"Uwah! Is that the time?" I exclaimed when we passed by a clock shop. The clocks in the display window told me it was 5.20pm. "We should hurry; we're really late!"
I started running without warning but he soon caught up. Afterwards I forgot to ask him what he was going to say but he never brought it up again that day. I guess it's probably not that important.
The next day
"Attention everybody!" Ikaruga sensei called. "Summer is coming, and as you all know, this means the cultural festival is coming up!"
The atmosphere in the class changed slightly. People were excitedly whispering to one another.
"This year, our cultural festival will be held on the 1st of July!"
Hehhh… 1st July huh?
"All second year classes have to open a food stall! Then, I'll hand over this homeroom period to the class rep so please use this time to discuss what the class will do for the festival."
Once the class rep took his place at the front of the classroom, Ikaruga sensei left. He cleared his throat before he spoke, "Well… It's the beginning of June now so we have almost a month to prepare. First off, can we decide on what we're going to sell? Anyone have any suggestions?" He looked across the classroom but only received blank stares in return.
A few seconds later, one girl gradually put her hand in the air. She had long chestnut-coloured hair which was wavy and went down the middle of her back. I noticed that her eyes were a unique dark pink.
"Ah, yes, Aceto-san?"
"Um, I was just wondering, does it have to be a stall?" She cautiously posed her question.
"Eh, no, I don't think so. As long as we sell food it's fine," the class rep replied. "Did you have something in mind?"
"Yea! I was thinking, maybe we could do a maid café?"
"Ohhh! That sounds like fun!" Éclair, who sat in front of me, exclaimed.
"Hmm, we'll keep that in mind for now. Other classes might also be thinking of doing a maid café so we should think of something different," the class rep commented.
"Hey! Why don't we do a butler café instead?" Some guy at the other end of the class shouted.
"Hahaha, yeah! And we could get all the guys to serve topless, like a host club! That'll bring in the crowd!" Somebody else shouted in agreement.
Wait, what?
"Hmm, that sounds like a plan. I wonder if I can get approval from Ikaruga sensei…" The class rep thought aloud.
Huh?! You can't seriously be considering this? I was yelling in my head.
I took an anxious glance at Gray who sat two seats to my right. He was completely chill and laidback. The sight of him so calm made me want to knock some sense into him. He could afford to look a little worried, right?
I caught Juvia's attention and whispered, "What should we do?"
But she just gave me a worried look and shrugged.
Maybe I could tell Erza about it and somehow get this proposal rejected… Hmm…
"Alright, all in favour of the butler café idea raise your hands!" The class rep raised his voice.
A bunch of hands went up, easily making up half the class. A little more than half of the people who supported the idea were guys.
"…7, 8, 9, 10," the class rep concluded. "That's an equal split. I assume the other half want to do a maid café? Anybody have any alternative suggestions?"
One guy raised his hand. "I don't want to serve topless, it's embarrassing! Besides, a maid café should be able to draw in a lot of people too!"
"Yeah! What's more, we have Lucy Ashley right?" Another guy shouted. I jumped upon hearing my name (even if it's not my real name).
"Shh! She might not want to do it!" A girl said.
"But just any old maid café is not good enough. We need a main attraction for guaranteed success!" The same guy retorted.
"That's why we should do the butler café!" The guy sitting in front of Gray yelled.
"Yeah, and I don't want that pink-haired ruffian coming after us…" Another guy seated diagonally to my right said at normal volume but I could hear him. "He confronted my friend at the pool; it was somewhat scary. Plus, I heard he won against Matsushima even though he'd never learnt karate before!"
Is he talking about Natsu? Why haven't I heard about this confrontation at the pool?
"Oh yea, that's right! Now that you mention it, maybe a butler café would be better after all. Yosh, iinchou**, can we redo the vote? I changed my mind," some guy across the classroom shouted.
"Ok, all in favour of doing a butler café…"
Wait, wait, wait…!
"I volunteer!" My hand shot in the air and I stood up agitatedly. "I'll wear a maid costume!" It's not like I haven't dressed up as a maid before anyway.
I received a few wide-eyed surprised looks and some guys at the other end of the classroom whooped in delight.
"J-J-Juvia volunteers too!" All of a sudden she stood up too. Her face was slightly red and I easily read her intentions. All for Gray's sake huh?
In front of me, Éclair gave a soft resigned sigh and muttered, "Can't be helped then…" Next her hand went in the air and she shouted, "I'll wear one too!"
"In that case… all in favour of doing a maid café, please put your hand up," said the class rep.
I kept my hand up while I sat back down. My eyes counted the number of hands in the air.
…8, 9, 10, 11– Yes! It's more than half!
"18!" The class rep announced the final count. "I guess that means we'll be doing a maid café!"
Juvia and I both heaved a sigh of relief.
"Right, so let's divide up the jobs. We'll need to split up into different committees for decorations, costumes, logistics, food and so on. Let's decide on it soon so I can submit a proposal before the other classes do. Then we'll have a better chance of getting approval…"
For the rest of homeroom, the class discussed noisily and tossed around ideas for the maid café.
When it was recess, and after everyone, except Gray, left the classroom, I went up to Gray and gave him a hard smack at the back of his head.
"Did your ice cube brains melt or something?!" I yelled.
"What!?" He soothed the spot where I had whacked him.
"You could've at least said something when they were going on and on about a topless butler café right?"
"Why? I think it's a great idea," he asked, obviously clueless.
"Do you think you can walk around topless without anybody finding out we're from Fairy Tail?"
"…oh yeah. My bad," he said and I knew that fact had only just dawned on him.
"Seriously! Even Juvia put herself out there for you," I said.
"Really? I thought she just wanted to wear a maid costume."
"Honestly, you're so dense," I said.
"Speak for yourself!"
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Well," I continued. "Surely you must know by now that she likes you?"
"How can that be considered 'like'? She's completely obsessed! Anyhow, I just can't take her seriously."
"No– but she cares about you a lot," I tried to make him understand. "She thinks about you all the time. She does everything with you in mind. I think it's sweet! I wish I had someone like that."
"But you do."
"Huh?" Natsu's image flashed across my mind but I chose to ignore it.
"I mean… You will meet someone eventually." I found it odd that Gray didn't jump at the opportunity to drag Natsu into the picture but I didn't prod further.
"Oh!" I remembered something. "Just now during homeroom, do you know what that guy was talking about?"
"Err… Which guy?"
"The one sitting in front of Juvia. I don't know his name," I said. "He said Natsu confronted his friend at the pool. Do you know anything about that?"
"I, err… Hey, what's taking Juvia so long?" He looked up at the clock. "The queue can't be that long right? Heh. I better go find her now. See ya!"
"Ah, wait–!" But he had already disappeared. Seriously, why'd he rush off so anxiously?
Oh well… I shrugged it off and made my way to the courtyard to meet my partner as well.
"Lucy, over here!" Natsu waved me over the moment I arrived at the courtyard. It was funny how the mere sight of him made my heart flutter.
Boze and Sue were already in the midst of practising some moves. It never fails to amaze me knowing that Natsu could actually teach somebody else how to fight. I thought he was only good at bashing things up. I watched from the sides and waited patiently until the bell rang, marking the half of recess.
"Shall we go?" I said as I joined them in the middle of the courtyard.
"Yeah," Sue replied. "I think that's enough for today."
"Me too," Boze said.
"I'm hungry!" Natsu exclaimed and started walking off ahead of us.
There were lesser people and shorter queues in the canteen during the second half of recess. In no time, we settled down in the cafeteria with our bentos. It was quiet and everyone focused on eating.
The feeling when I was with Boze and Sue was different. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable but it didn't feel familiar; it's not the same natural feeling I get when I'm with Fairy Tail. Maybe it's because Natsu and I have a hidden agenda for getting close to them, which is not our usual way of doing things. It felt forced but still, a mission is a mission.
The three of them wolfed down their food while I ate at a leisurely pace.
It felt strange that nobody was talking so I started. "What're you guys doing for the cultural festival?"
"Ugh, my class is doing something lame," Sue groaned. "Something to do with basketball hoops I think."
"Hm!" Boze spoke with his mouth full of rice. "I haven't been to class this week so I don't know."
I turned to Natsu and he answered excitedly, "My class is doing a haunted house!"
"Oh? Sounds fun!" I said. "My class has to sell food, but instead of a stall, we're doing a maid café!"
"Really?" Boze looked up from his food for the first time since we sat down at this table.
"Yup!"
"What's that?" Natsu asked. "It sounds weird. Why would maids have a café?"
"Hahaha! You're seeeriously one interesting guy!" Boze laughed out loud.
"A maid café is where waitresses wear maid costumes and serve customers like they're their masters," Sue answered Natsu's question.
"Ohh…" Natsu said. "Hang on a minute, does that mean you'll be wearing a maid costume?"
"Yeah…" I said somewhat bashfully. This is all Gray's fault. "Juvia, Éclair and I have to make our own maid uniforms by the end of June."
"You don't have to make one," Natsu said. "I still have your maid uniform."
I almost choked on my food when he said that. Boze and Sue cast weird looks which said 'why does she own a maid costume?' and 'why does Natsu have it?' But I was honestly just as puzzled as they were.
"Since when did I have a maid uniform?!" I yelled. And why do you have it?!
"You know, earlier this year. I don't know where you got it from but it was for our Daybreak migh–" "Hai! Have a tamago!" I shoved an eggroll into his mouth with my chopsticks to stop him from talking.
I had a forced smile on that really meant 'keep your mouth shut or we'll both be dead'. Natsu understood me and went all quiet. At that moment, I noticed he had already finished his bento. Just what kind of animal is he…
Boze and Sue watched on with increasingly confused expressions but I couldn't come up with a suitable excuse so I just kept quiet. At the back of my mind, I wanted to know why Natsu kept my maid uniform. I decided I would ask him about it later when we're alone. Right now we have to find a way to get Boze and Sue talking about their encounter with the ghost.
Natsu has probably given Boze and Sue four or five lessons, using up school breaks and sometimes staying back after school, and I've been joining them. But each time we just couldn't seem to bring up the topic of ghost or ghostly encounters. Forget Natsu, even I wasn't sure how to approach the topic.
"Speaking of haunted house, don't you think the school is a little spooky?" I gave it a try.
"How?" Boze asked.
"Like… I heard there're a lot of ghostly incidents," I said cautiously.
"Is that right?" Sue said quietly without looking up from her lunch.
At this point I noticed Boze kept his head down too even though his bento was already empty. It felt like they were avoiding this topic, not because their ghostly encounter was an occasion they didn't want to remember, but rather, I think they were hiding something. My gut feeling told me we definitely needed their piece of the puzzle if we want to solve this mission. But how? How do I make them talk without making it too obvious?
Maybe talking about my own encounter would help, I thought. So I said, "I was even attacked by one…"
"What? When?" Boze looked up in surprise.
"At least 1 month ago? Sometime in April when I just came to Phantom Lord?" I turned to Natsu for confirmation.
"Uh, yeah," he spoke again.
"How?" Sue asked.
"Huh?" I wasn't sure what she meant.
"What happened?" She clarified.
I looked over at Natsu. He should be the one telling the story because I don't remember it.
"Well, we were at the rooftop," Natsu started off with uncertainty. He probably wasn't sure where this conversation was going and didn't see the point of telling them our version of the story. "And then out of nowhere this thing appeared, and it used some underhanded method to make Lucy faint."
"I was out for 3 days after that," I added. "I couldn't remember a thing when I woke up."
I couldn't miss it when Sue and Boze exchanged looks. Sue began to look pale as well despite her darker skin tone. The way she broke out in cold sweat told me something was up.
"Sue, are you okay?" I asked but she did not reply.
"Is she alright?" I directed the question to Boze this time.
"Yeah, I think she'll be fine," Boze said. Then he put a hand on her shoulder and whispered something I couldn't hear.
"What incident?" Natsu's words dropped like a bomb.
When Natsu asked that question, my entire being went stiff with shock. I don't think we were meant to hear what Boze whispered to Sue. Moreover, normal human beings shouldn't be able to hear it. Will this give us away?
There was a moment of still silence as Boze stared at Natsu expressionlessly. I didn't know if he was angry or if he was just shocked; I couldn't tell. Sue, on the other hand, was lost in her own fear, not caring about the people around her.
"This thing you're talking about," Boze broke the silence. The tone of his voice was cold. "What did it look like?"
"Um, it had no face, just long black hair," I replied carefully, afraid to shatter that thin bit of trust Natsu and I had managed to build up over the past week. But things didn't go as planned.
"How would you know?" Boze turned hostile and he shouted, "Didn't you just say you couldn't remember anything?!"
"Eh–!?" I flinched. "T-That's because I had a dream while I was out…" Without realizing it, my voice had become small.
"…don't mess around with me," Boze's voice was ominously calm. Then, without warning, Boze and Sue upped and left.
"What's wrong with that guy?" Natsu said after their back views had already disappeared from the room, along with the hope of unravelling our mission. He didn't even know what he had done wrong.
"…you idiot!" I smacked him hard. "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" I repeatedly vented my frustration on him.
"Ahh, geez," he said and caught my hand. I tried to hit him with my other but he caught it too. "You can hit me as many times as you want but that wouldn't help me understand anything," he said. "Calm down a little. What did I do?"
"Idiot! You weren't supposed to hear whatever Boze said! Can't you act like a normal person for once? Now you've busted our chances of ever finding out what's really going on!" I yelled relentlessly. I managed to free one of my hands to hit him again, though he swiftly seized it again afterwards.
Damn, he wasn't even flinching. Just how thick is his Dragon Slayer skin?
"What? You mean–?"
My frustration brought me close to tears but I didn't want to lose it in front of him, not this time. I knew I had to make my escape before it was too late. So I pulled away from him and left with a "See you later."
That's probably the first real argument Natsu and I ever had. That day, I didn't return to class and I never went down for dinner. I cooped myself up in that room at the top of the tower, reflecting on what I'd just done. Was I too harsh? I worried.
But… was it wrong of me to wish our mission would go well? Ahh… This is such a mess. I was just a bunch of tangled nerves, really.
I plonked myself onto my bed and fell into a deep sleep. I wanted to forget everything.
However, the next morning when I awoke, I immediately remembered everything and was hit with a pang of regret.
Urgh… I'm such a horrible person, I thought. Wallowing in this self-pity and remorse, it was the first time that I dreaded a new day ahead since I joined Fairy Tail.
"Lu-chan, get out of bed already! We're going to be late!" Levy shouted.
"… …" I refused to reply and dived under the covers in an attempt to block it all out. I hadn't told Levy and Juvia what exactly happened although they knew things didn't go well with Boze and Sue yesterday. They didn't know what happened between Natsu and me; I couldn't bear to tell them.
Let me be, I pleaded silently. Just let me die in this bottomless pit of shame…!
Next, there was the sound of the bathroom door opening and Juvia's voice followed, "Juvia's done!"
"Come on, Lucy, get up!" Stressing on that last syllable, Levy yanked my blanket off.
"You're small but feisty you know that?" I said that out of spite as I sat up sleepily.
She let my blanket drop onto my bed again and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked mildly angry when she said, "I don't know what's going on but nothing will be solved if you don't face it so get moving!"
I stared blankly at her, incredulous as to how she managed to give such accurate advice even though I hadn't said anything. She's not my best friend for nothing.
After a few seconds without words, Levy said, "Juvia, let's go." She must have thought I wasn't listening to her.
She disappeared through the telepad. Juvia followed, casting me a sympathetic glance before vanishing as well. I heaved a huge, long sigh as soon as they were gone. I knew what I had to do now, but that didn't mean I looked forward to it.
I dragged my lethargic self out of bed and into the shower. I took my time preparing for school that morning and so by the time I got there I was late. When I stepped into the classroom, the usual morning fatigue that hung over the students was not there. In its place was excitement which buzzed in the air.
The students had already moved most of the desks and chairs to the sides of the class, making space for the cultural festival preparations. It would seem the class rep had already distributed the duties for everybody had gotten to work. I joined Éclair, Juvia and two other girls at the back of the classroom, first dumping my bag on the floor and then sitting myself down.
"Sorry I'm late," I mumbled.
"It's ok! We just started!" One of the girls replied with a friendly smile. I think she was the one who suggested doing a maid café. What was her name again… Aceto?
On a normal day, I would have probably smiled back but today I could not be myself until I had properly faced Natsu.
"So… What are we doing? Costumes right?" I said.
"Yea," Éclair said. "Katja-san here was just saying we should standardize the colour of our maid uniforms."
"Oh," I said.
"Yes!" Katja gave an affirmative nod. She was a petite girl with short dark blue hair and light brown eyes. Her hair bobbed along when she nodded. "I think a classic black dress with white collar, sleeves and apron would be the best. As for the exact design, I don't quite know how…" She looked around the circle.
"I can try!" Aceto said.
"Really, Aceto?" Katja asked.
Aceto nodded with a sweet smile. "But it'll be much easier if I had some reference material."
"You mean like books?" I said.
"No, Juvia thinks she means an actual maid uniform or anything like one."
"I meant both actually," Aceto said. "It'd be great to have both but I understand it's probably easier to get our hands on books."
"Actually, I have one, a maid uniform that is…" I said bashfully. "But it's with–" I paused abruptly at the thought of him but continued, "It's with Natsu."
The three of them reacted the same way as Boze and Sue did and I berated myself inwardly for unintentionally creating more misunderstandings about Natsu and me. Juvia was the only one who looked in awe like she wished she had one. At times like these I begin to doubt whether I really know Juvia well at all. I don't know how there's still a weirdo out there that's not a member of Fairy Tail.
I could tell they were holding back their questions about what I had just said. But I couldn't answer them even if I wanted to so I let that awkward moment pass.
Éclair cleared her throat and was the first to speak. "Can you get it back from him?"
"Err, yeah… Probably." After I make up with him… Then I added, "Oh, I think it's in Magnolia though. I'll have to go back and get it this weekend."
"That's fine," Katja said.
"It's Thursday now," Aceto said. "We'll just do all the research we can without a real reference during these two days."
"What will we need?" Juvia asked Aceto.
Eventually, we nominated Aceto to be the person-in-charge of the costumes committee because she seemed to know what to do. We all looked for her when we had questions.
About 7 or 8 girls in total were going to take up the role of maid waitresses on the day of the cultural festival. As such, we needed to start taking their measurements and stuff. Aceto sent Éclair and I to the storeroom to get a whole box of stuff we would need for the preparations.
"Lucy, can you fetch the costume-making supplies from the storeroom?" were her exact words, but Éclair kindly volunteered to accompany me because she remembered I didn't know my way around Phantom Lord so well.
"Where is the storeroom exactly?" I asked as we walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. This was where all the Year Three classes were and I somehow managed to feel like a thief who didn't want to be spotted.
"It's over there," Éclair said as she pointed in the direction opposite of all the classrooms. I felt a wave of relief and I knew I was not ready to face Natsu yet.
As we approached a rustic wooden door, we saw two other students coming out from it. One of them called out to Éclair and they started chatting away enthusiastically about things I couldn't understand. Éclair told me to go ahead first and I gladly did.
In the storeroom, it was dark. The only light source was a single bare light bulb in the centre of the room. The entire room seemed huge for I could not see the end to the rows and rows of shelves. The multiple shelves that lined up neatly reminded me of a library, but instead of books, they kept all sorts of magic items from elaborate paper lanterns that never wear out to lacrima-powered projectors to shrinkable tentages. It was pretty amazing.
I looked for a box that should probably be labelled 'Costume Supplies' or something along those lines. Towards the back I found a shelf with a lot of boxes. I scanned their labels and sooner or later found what I was looking for on the fourth shelf, second from the top. It was a little high but I could reach it if I tiptoed.
I tried to lift it all at once but realized it was too heavy. So I inched it forward little by little and attempted to bring it down when it was about one-third off the shelf. Still, I struggled and the box nearly toppled over. At that same instant, I lost my balance while tiptoeing.
I cringed and braced myself for an impact that would probably knock me out but then I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist and pull me away. At the same time, there came a clink from the items in the box that were jostled by that near-fall. When I looked up I saw my saviour looking back at me, his other hand supported the box and prevented it from tilting over.
"What the hell are you doing, Lucy?" His voice sent tingles down my spine. All the things I had planned to say to him were at the tip of my tongue and yet I struggled to form words.
Using both hands this time, Natsu reached up and easily brought down the bulky box. He handed it over to me but when I reached out to receive it, he pulled away.
"I think I'd better carry this for you," he said. "Come, I'll walk you back to class." He turned on his heel and headed in the direction of the exit.
"Um–!" Watching his back walk away from me, I forced myself to speak. "I– About yesterday… I'm sorry!"
He turned around with a smile. It was a different type from his usual sunny smile; this smile was gentle and it eased all tension. He put the box down on the ground and walked back to me.
Then he raised a hand and I wondered what he was going to do. When he placed it on my head, an indescribable calm fell over me. He patted my head with affection I never knew he had. Slowly and then all at once, my worries were scattered to the ends of the world.
"It's okay," his soothing voice spoke, emphasizing once more that I was forgiven.
"I was too anxious to find out what Boze and Sue knew… So when they stormed off, I got frustrated and I took it all out on you. I'm sorry…"
"I know."
"I–"
"Lucy!" Éclair's voice cut me off and Natsu withdrew his hand.
"Lucy~ Oh! There you are!" Éclair's head popped out from the side at the other end of the shelf. "Natsu's here too? Oh my, did I just ruin the moment or something? I'm so sorry…!" She looked like she was ready to get out of here but then she came back. "Ah, that's right. Did you manage to find the supplies, Lucy?"
"Yeah, I found it," I replied.
Natsu went to pick the box up from the floor. "It's here," he told Éclair.
"Oh! Thanks!" Éclair went forward and made to take the box from Natsu but then she stopped and said, "Actually, could you help Lucy bring this back? I still have things I want to talk to my friends about."
"Oh, sure," Natsu replied.
"Thank you!" Éclair delightedly skipped off and swiftly disappeared from sight.
Éclair was another person I've met at Phantom Lord that I just can't seem to understand. She always seemed so free-spirited.
"I'm leaving you behind," Natsu called and broke my little trance. He was already halfway to the exit.
"Why aren't you helping your own class with the preparations?" I asked as we neared my classroom.
"Because a certain somebody's scent distracted me," he said. "Somebody who's been avoiding me since yesterday."
"Sorry," I muttered.
"How many times are you going to apologize?"
"Sorry–" I clasped my hands over my mouth almost instantly.
"Hahaha. Stop or I'll decide not to forgive you anymore."
"Eh! That's–! You can't take it back like that!"
"Just kidding!" He smiled and I could only concede defeat.
At that point, we had arrived at 2-01 and I could feel multiple pairs of eyes on us the moment we entered the classroom. Crap.
"Where do you want me to put this?" Natsu asked, unfazed by the attention as usual. Was it because he was constantly the centre of attention no matter where he went? Destroying whole towns, dancing weirdly on table tops…
"What are you doing here?" Gray said when we walked pass.
"Please don't start anything," I intercepted before Natsu had a chance to respond. "Natsu, put it over there." I led him to the back of the classroom, trying as hard as I could to ignore all the stares.
He set it down effortlessly on the floor beside the group of girls which consisted of Juvia, Aceto, Katja and three others I didn't know. They were probably all the girls who were going to need maid uniforms.
"Thanks," I said.
"Welcome back, Lucy!" Aceto and the rest of the girls gathered around the box too.
"You're… Natsu Dragion, right…?" One of the three girls I didn't know asked.
"Yeah," Natsu replied.
I proceeded to say matter-of-factly, "Éclair had to look for a friend and the box was too heavy so…"
"Sorry, Lucy," Aceto went. "Asking you to get this on your own, what was I thinking?"
"It's okay," I said. I didn't mind. In fact, I could even thank her for giving Natsu and I a chance to be alone.
"Should we open it?" Katja was the first to sit down.
Everybody else, including Natsu (even though he was not part of the committee or the class), followed in succession, either sitting or kneeling. Juvia was the one who opened the box, revealing a jumbled mess. Shit! Did I do this?
There were two sewing machines in the box (no wonder it was so heavy), some unfolded scraps of fabric, many rolls of thread of all colours, several pin cushions with many silver needles stuck in them and a whole bunch of loose measuring tapes which tangled like spaghetti over everything else.
"Oh dear. I think the class who used this last year didn't keep it properly hm?" Aceto said.
"Yes, I think so too," Katja agreed. Phew, so it's not me then.
I reached in and picked at the measuring tapes, trying to separate one from the rest so that Aceto could at least begin taking measurements of the other girls. With little difficulty I managed to free one and passed it to her. The other girls gathered in one corner of the classroom and Aceto soon got busy with them.
"Should I tidy up the box a little?" I asked myself.
I removed the bunch of measuring tapes from the top and took out the fabric as well. As I began folding the fabric, I noticed Natsu beside me was trying to untangle the measuring tapes from one another.
"It's okay, you can leave it," I said. "You should go back to your own class."
But he replied, "It's fine, they can do without me for now."
My heart did a little flip when I knew he was going to stay. I could barely contain the happiness that swelled within me. I didn't realize I missed his presence this much. And to think it had been less than 24 hours since I last saw him…
I was done with the fabric and I made space at the bottom of the box for it. Then I rearranged the rolls of thread and the pin cushions before moving on to help Natsu with the measuring tapes.
"Careful not to tug at it too hard or you might just break it…" I said in an undertone.
"I got it," he said.
"So… I'm going to need that maid uniform you said you have."
"Oh, okay," he said. He was concentrating on sorting out the measuring tapes, determined to do so without tearing them.
"Can we go back to Magnolia this weekend?" I asked.
"…Can we walk?"
"No," I flat out rejected his idea. "I'll die before I get to Magnolia on foot from here."
"Aww, come on, I'll carry you so you don't have to walk at all!" He looked up and flashed a smile before resuming the work with his hands.
I suppressed a mild blush and retorted, "Natsu, you're not a comfortable form of long-distance transport, so the answer is still no."
"Alright, fine," he said. I could almost see him thinking 'how can any form of transport be comfortable?'
"By the way, I just remembered," I said. "What exactly did you hear Boze say that day?"
"Eh?" He sounded surprised, probably because he didn't expect me to bring that up here when there was a class full of people around. Still, he answered my question, "'That incident is already over, so pull yourself together.' That's what Boze said."
"What incident?"
"That's what I said."
"Oh right."
"Hmm… But it's probably the ghost incident right?" Natsu said.
"Yeah… Somehow it feels like there's more to this than meets the eye."
"Speaking of eye, it's been bothering me for a while now, but someone seems to be glaring at me from the front of the class."
"Eh?" I turned to look and one of the guys quickly avoided eye contact with me. I recognized him as the one who sat in front of Juvia and was immediately reminded of something else.
"There is," I said. "A guy was staring at you. But how did you know?" Natsu's back was facing the front.
"You know the answer to that already," he replied and the answer floated to mind. Dragon Slayer senses.
"That guy said you confronted his friend at the pool," I said. "When was that? What's that about?"
"Huh?"
I caught on to the slight change in Natsu's outward composure. He seemed jumpy now so I said, "Natsu, what did you do?"
His hands stopped moving and he looked straight into my eyes. Then he came out with the honest truth that sent my heart going a million miles an hour.
"I wanted to beat his friend up for talking shit about you."
I had to think a while before I found the right response. "'Wanted to'… means you didn't right?"
"Yea, I didn't," he said and then he went back to the measuring tapes.
"But… thanks." I smiled when he looked up. "For standing up for me."
"Any time."
"But seriously, please don't go wild," I said. "It'll be an impossible mess to clean up after."
"Yeah I know. But ugh, that guy really annoyed me," Natsu replied. "He's a real ass, more ass than Gray."
I giggled at his comparison. "You don't have to bother with such douchebags. I wouldn't even pay any attention to him," I said. "I'm very picky about guys you know? Have a little faith in my taste!"
"Is that so? Then, what kind of guys do you like?"
"Mmm…" I pondered for a moment. What if I said… "Someone like Natsu?"
His head snapped up and his dark eyes bore into mine. They seemed to be searching for something.
"Then," he said. "Lucy, if I asked you to be my girlfriend, what would you say?"
Eh?
Unleash: the awareness of Natsu to his romantic feelings! Wahahahaha!
Ok, that's just me being crazy. Anyway, about this story… I hope I don't make Natsu go OOC when I write my chapters from now on. I find it hard to strike a balance between Natsu's real character and his romantic side.
Another thing: I hope you guys don't find Lucy annoying here… at the argument part that is… It was very, very difficult for me to write that part T_T I didn't even think of it until recently to be honest. I wrecked my brains to come up with it. Actually, I think it's necessary for NaLu to have a disagreement before they can become a real couple so yeah… Might not have written it that well though, it's my first attempt so please be lenient!
I actually took down this chapter after uploading it for a while because I realized I could still edit that argument part some more. Sorry for that… false alarm, is that what I can call it? Because the site sends new chapter alerts to your emails and you might have checked but not been able to find it! Really sorry!
Also, I added some new characters again x.x But only the named ones are worth noting alright. Aceto is from the ballroom dancing anime episode… and Katja, you might not remember, but she's one of Will Neville's disciples from Key of the Starry Sky arc. Oh, but in this story she's not a celestial wizard though.
Lastly… this might be a little evil but… I actually don't think I can post another chapter in September. In other words, my hiatus kind of begins, um, now? Please don't kill me or worse – abandon my story!
I'm going on a break because, well, not sure if you want to know, but I'm telling you anyway. The thing is, I have a pretty good chance of getting into med school but I need to focus in these last 3 months for my straight A's.
So! Once my exams end on 28 November, I promise to start writing the next chapter and put it up in a few days! And then after that, I will have my freedom back in December so I can write a chapter every week or so (that's the dream here)!
Until then! Thank you very much for reading my story. I appreciate all the reviews, favourites and follows. Especially those who have followed this since chapter 1 and those who write a review every chapter (I know who you are)… ^^
See you in December!
* From anime episode 154/manga chapter 264 of FT! That Jerza moment ^^
** iinchou means class rep in Jap!
*** UPDATE 1/12/2013 - Hello~ I'm back. I'm about half done with the next chapter? I think it will be a long one. Anw, a clue to what happens next is in the first paragraph of this chapter!