Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail
Summary: Natsu has been acting out a lot so his parents decide to send him to boarding school. Natsu thinks this is going to suck, but meeting a strange, quiet boy on the bus might just change his mind.
"Natsu, this is for the best. You've been acting out so much lately. We believe this could be good for you. Who knows who you'll meet? Who you'll become friends with? You might even find a significant other."
"Yeah, that's all nice and swell for CAMP maybe, but boarding school! Mom, dad, you can't be serious!" Natsu cried. His eyes alight with rage. "The only people that are going to be there will either be stuck up, stupid, or somewhere in between! You can't do this to me!" Natsu screamed and ran out of the house. He knew what he was doing seemed childish. But honestly, he was a freshman in high school, he was ready to face the year, make new friends, blow off homework, and do teenage boy stuff. And now, he was going to go to a school for four years, where everyone was rich and snobby and going to think he was some sort of rebel just because he had pink hair! And for their information, it was salmon! And, it was his natural hair color, but how was he going to explain that to them?
Two weeks later Natsu was boarding the train that would take him to the very school he had no interest in going to. His parents smiled encouragingly at him. all Natsu did was scowl. "See ya." He grumbled under his breath and marched angrily up the steps. There were several other boys who had the same uniform as him. they all eyed him as he walked down the aisle. "Is this seat taken?" he asked one of the boys. The boys' eyes traveled from his face to his feet. Finally, he said,
"Yeah, this seat has been officially reserved for my bag." The boy said and placed his bag on the seat.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know this was the jerk aisle." Natsu growled and moved on. The boy stared after him, appalled by what he had just been called. Or more importantly what his bag had just been called. Natsu got several aisles where the answer was just as rude if not ruder than the first boys. Natsu was starting to give up hope when he spotted one more dark-haired boy in the very back of the car. "Hey, is this seat taken?" Natsu asked. he hoped it was a no because the train was about to leave. Not many people knew this, but Natsu got extreme motion sickness. He hoped the boy wasn't rude about that and either taunted him or looked extremely grossed-out like most people inevitably did.
"No." the boy said quietly. He didn't even turn to look at Natsu. He deemed that probably the rudest anyone had been to him. but at least he could sit there. Natsu already disliked this boy and he hadn't even seen his face yet. All the guy was doing was staring out the window like some creep. Natsu frowned and settled back in his seat, prepared to be miserable for the time being.
Once the train started moving Natsu groaned and laid his head back on the seat, taking deep breaths. He felt the train lurch and doubled over. He quickly took out paper bag from his carrier. "Hey, I hope you don't mind the smell." Natsu said after he was finished, a small grin on his face. The guy didn't even look at him. he seemed to be intent on ignoring Natsu. "You know, you're really rude." Natsu said, crossing his arms with a scowl. The boy once again did not turn toward him. "Look, I know that you might not be very happy that you're going to boarding school, but I'm not ignoring you." Natsu added unhappily.
"Just leave me alone." the boy whispered quietly. Natsu growled and then a groan. Natsu leaned back again. he would yell at the boy once the train had stopped so he could actually talk without feeling nauseated.
They were on the train for hours before it finally came to a stop. Natsu leaned forward, feeling instantly better to look out the window. He could see a huge building. Slowly everyone started to pile out of the train. Natsu didn't even try to crane his neck so he could see the boy he'd been sitting next to the entire time he was on the train. He didn't even want to know who that rude boy was.
"Welcome, to Fairytail Boarding School." The woman on the top said. She had a sweet smile and seemed nice. "My name is Mirajane Strauss, and I'll tell you right now that it is a pleasure to have all of you join us." She said with a huge smile. Natsu sighed. if all the teachers were like her this was going to be a long four years of his life. "Now you will all get your 6 other uniforms at the principals office." She stepped out of the way and a short little man came out.
"Good day, my name is Makarov Dreyer, but you can call me Mr. Makarov." He said grinning. Yep, a very, very long year.
"Please follow me." Mira said as she turned around. She and principal Makarov led the way. Natsu noticed that there were about 10 other students besides himself. They all had either black or brown hair. Natsu felt rather out of place among all of them. Maybe his parents and all the stereotypes were right. Maybe he was just a delinquent. "And this is the principals office, as you can see." Mira gestured to the sign on the door. They all nodded. "And here are the dorms." She said as they continued walking. Soon they were all standing outside the principals office ready to get their uniforms. Apparently, classes started the next day.
"And what's your name?" Makarov asked. Natsu almost rolled his eyes. There was no doubt in his mind that the principal already knew his name.
"Natsu Dragneel." Was what Natsu said instead of glaring like he wanted to. Makarov nodded and handed him his uniform and room number. "Your roommate's name is Zeref…" the principal squinted at some forms on his desk. "Hm… that's odd, it doesn't say his last name." Makarov shrugged and waved goodbye. Natsu gave him a small smile before turning around and rolling his eyes. Natsu glanced at the room number. 125. Natsu sighed and started wandering around the school. "Hey, excuse me." The boy with black hair turned to him. "Do you know where room 125 is." Much like the ones on the train this boy eyed him up and down.
"So… you new here? I've never seen you before and I think that I would have noticed you." Natsu frowned. He didn't like this guy already. "My name's Gray Fullbuster. Yours?"
"… Natsu. Natsu Dragneel." They shook hands.
"As for your room, that would be this way." Gray said. They started walking down the halls together. "So, you a freshman?" Natsu nodded.
"What're you?"
"I'm a sophomore." Gray said. "Don't worry, you'll catch up someday." Gray patted him on the head like some kind of child. Natsu glared. "Maybe." He added.
"Just you wait. I'll be five feet taller than you soon enough." Natsu growled. Gray laughed. That was when Natsu decided that Gray was his rival and Natsu was going to try his best to beat him in everything.
"Yeah, sure you will, pinky."
"IT'S SALMON!" Natsu cried. Gray only smirked.
"Here is." He said, gesturing to the room marked 125.
"Oh… good, thanks I guess." Natsu said.
"You guess?" Gray raised one perfect eyebrow. Natsu rolled his eyes and unlocked the room with his key. "Well, see ya." Gray added, waving. Natsu hesitated for a few seconds before whipping back around.
"Wait!" he said urgently.
"Yeah?"
"Um… do you know anything about… Zeref? He's supposed to be my roommate and I don't know his last name… neither did the principal, which I find kind of weird… or is that common or something?" Natsu asked.
"Uh…" Gray hesitated. "I don't know much about him. there're rumors that go around. They say his family's cursed and has been bringing the school bad luck. But that's just people trying to blame someone else with problems that they don't want to admit are their own fault… I think. I mean, it could be true. People that hang around him and his family are unlucky. But that's only if you believe in superstition and curses. Which, I don't so it doesn't really matter to me. They do say he ignores everyone and I've seen that in action. Just don't bother him I guess. Anyway, bye." Gray said and walked away before Natsu could ask any more questions.
Natsu frowned. Despite what Gray had said it was obvious he was uncomfortable talking about this Zeref guy. From what Natsu could tell he tried to play it off as cool but Natsu could tell that Gray didn't like whoever Natsu's roommate was. Natsu gulped and turned the knob. When Natsu opened the door there was another kid, sitting on the bed furthest from the door. He wasn't facing Natsu and he could tell from the back of his head that this was the kid he'd sat next to on the train. "Um… Hello?" finally the guy turned to look at him. Natsu was surprised to see that Zeref wasn't as scary as Natsu had been picturing him. Despite the sort of blank look, he wore on his face, Zeref looked like a completely ordinary kid. Even more ordinary then Natsu looked himself.
"Good evening." Zeref's voice was quiet. Natsu had to strain to hear him. "You're Dragneel-san, right?"
"Just call me Natsu." Natsu said, a little uncomfortable with how formal Zeref was. Zeref had black hair like almost every other student in the school. What Natsu did fine unnatural was how big and black Zeref's eyes were. At first glance those eyes would seem innocent but if he looked longer then he could see darkness and intelligence. He bit his lip. "And you must be Zeref." Zeref didn't comment on Natsu's lack of respect. "Also, you're the guy on the train. The rude one."
"I apologize. I did not mean to seem rude I was just… thinking." Zeref said quietly. Natsu scowled.
"… Alright. I guess I'll let it slide." Natsu said, crossing his arms and flopping on his bed. Zeref blinked and turned back to the window. Staring out of windows seemed to be the guys favorite thing to do. Natsu decided to close his eyes and drop his bag next to his bed. he heard Zeref shuffling around occasionally.
The next morning, they got up and got dressed. And walked to breakfast together. It made sense since they were both going the same way anyway. When they got to the kitchen they each got trays and stood in line to get their food. Natsu piled pretty much everything that would fit on to his tray. Natsu noticed that Zeref got an apple and a breakfast sandwich. Natsu knew that if that was all he got until lunch Natsu would be starving. But, he supposed that not all boys needed to eat like he did. Maybe Zeref didn't do a lot of sports and therefore didn't need much food. Zeref didn't seem like the type to play a lot of sports anyway. Natsu had just spotted an empty table when he heard his name called. Natsu turned to look at Gray who was motioning him over. Natsu exchanged a look in Zeref's direction but did a double take when he realized Zeref wasn't beside him anymore. The guy had a way of simply disappearing. With no one to choose between Natsu walked over to Gray. "Morning Natsu! This is Loke, Jellal, Gajeel, and Alzack." As Natsu peered around the table he saw that maybe not ALL the boys had black or brown hair. This table was filled with different people. Out of all of them, Gray and Alzack looked the most normal. Gajeel had piercings all over his face, Jellal had blue hair and an odd red tattoo, and Loke had ginger hair and was wearing sun glasses indoors. This group seemed like his type of group. Natsu had the feeling that he and Gajeel would become the best of friends. He looked like the trouble-maker of the group.
"Hey guys." Natsu said, waving. "I guess Gray already said my name, but I'll introduce myself anyway. My name's Natsu Dragneel."
"Gajeel Redfox."
"Jellal Fernandes."
"Alzack Connell."
"Loke Regulus." They all introduced themselves. Natsu grinned and waved.
"Nice to meet you." He said and sat next to the one named Jellal. Jellal reminded Natsu a bit of Zeref because of the quiet, calm voice he used. Although, his voice carried so Natsu had no trouble hearing him.
After eating Natsu went to his first class. He didn't remember much of it, mainly because he fell asleep half way through. He did notice Zeref in the back, sitting straight and staring out the window. Yet, he somehow knew the answer when the teacher called on him, despite the fact that it appeared he wasn't paying attention. His right answer gave the teacher pause as well but he quickly continued as if by talking faster would hide the fact that he'd been surprised.
"Yeah, you should avoid Zeref as much as you can." Loke told him at lunch when Natsu asked about Zeref. They'd all looked at him, surprised and asked why Natsu would want to know about him. that was when Natsu explained that Zeref was his roommate. "He's bad luck you know."
"Oh, come on guys, you don't seriously believe that, do you?" Gray asked with a teasing smile.
"Don't pretend as if you're above the rumors Gray. We all know that you despise him." Jellal said quietly. Gray gave him a warning glare but either Jellal didn't see it or he was not affected by it. Either way his facial expression didn't change.
"Why?" Natsu asked once he noticed that he was the only one at the table left out of the loop.
"My mother passed away because of Zeref." Natsu raised an eyebrow, unsure if he should believe Gray. After all, how could Zeref possibly be the cause?
"Zeref's father killed her." Jellal explained, looking at Natsu. "Because Zeref told him to."
"WHAT?" Natsu cried. Was he sleeping in the same room as a murderer?
"That's another rumor, but some students say they heard the two of them plotting together. Zeref's father was a teacher here before he was convicted. Plenty of people say that Zeref was in on it too, but to this day there's no evidence whatsoever. Still, it's pretty easy to imagine that he's plotting murder since he never talks to anyone. He just creeps people out, it's possible that's why people are out to get him. after all, most people who said that Zeref was also guilty were people who'd had bad luck associated with him. and all the people who weren't, were their friends."
"So… people think Zeref's a murderer… because they had bad luck when he was around?" Natsu asked, astounded.
"Well, it is a pretty big coincidence." Loke said with a shrug. Natsu rolled his eyes and settled back in his chair. People just didn't know when to quit. No wonder Zeref was so quiet. If he said anything people would start accusing him of all the murder that happened in the world.
"Do you guys think that?" he finally asked. all of them were silent, looking at each other.
"Maybe not, but he still has that depressing aura. Regardless of whether he was involved in murder or not I don't like him." Jellal said, his eyes flickering up to Natsu's.
"Well I'm going to go find him." Natsu said, standing up from his chair. He scanned the area and at last found Zeref, sitting in a corner in the far right of the room, his eyes glued to the window. Natsu walked over to him quickly, despite his new friends protests. Natsu tapped Zeref on the shoulder. Big black eyes flickered upwards. "Hey, how ya doin?"
"I'm doing well, thank you for asking Dragneel-san."
"Didn't I tell you to call me Natsu." Zeref just stared at him, blinking occasionally. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to sit at our table." Natsu said, grinning. His friends from across the room obviously heard this and were staring at him like, what the heck?
"That's a kind offer, but an unnecessary gesture." Again, Natsu was straining to hear his responses.
"It's not an offer." Natsu said, staring Zeref down with his sharp eyes. Zeref leveled him with a blank stare, as if he didn't comprehend what Natsu was implying. So, Zeref turned his back on Natsu and stared out the window once more. Natsu, now mad, glared at the back of Zeref's head. The mature thing to do would be just to excuse himself and walk back to his table. Natsu took a deep breath and let it out. Then he promptly grabbed Zeref's plate and dumped it on the boy's head. Zeref let out a surprised squeak, the most human reaction Natsu had gotten from him, turned around, and stared at Natsu's smirk with a shocked gaze. Everyone else was too. The noise had been surprisingly feminine and was practically unheard of in the school. The only other time a boy had made such a noise was when one had knocked over Ms. Scarlet's cake. "I see your not ignoring me now." Zeref's large black eyes filled with tears. Natsu, who had been expecting anger, panicked and went to go tell the teacher. When he turned around however he felt something freezing stuffed up his shirt. This time it was Natsu's turn to shriek. His friends had been watching this exchange. Surprisingly the first student to come out of his stupor was Jellal, who stood up and yelled,
"FOOD FIGHT!" and then smash his plate on to Gajeel's head. Gajeel took his own spoon and flung some food at Jellal. Jellal however, dodged and it hit Gray instead. Soon food was being flung back and forth across the room. Mira was panicking and trying to tell everyone to stop and get back in their seats. Makarov looked amused and Erza was yelling about how this was a prestigious school.
Natsu turned around and gave Zeref the most wide-eyed stare he could manage. Zeref was smirking at him. "You are one of the most interesting characters I have ever met." Zeref told him. Natsu blinked, surprised.
"Really?" he asked, unconvinced. Zeref nodded a small, innocent smile on his face. "Cool!" Natsu cried, pumping his arm up in the air. Zeref then, scooped up the mashed potatoes from his head and smashed it into Natsu's face. "Aw…" Natsu whined. "What was that for? I just took a bath too."
"Payback." Zeref whispered quietly. The food fight continued for several more minutes. It was all fun and games until Erza got hit with flying food. The entire room froze as Erza stood there with the most terrifying look on her face.
"Who started this?" she asked in a barely controlled voice. Everyone pointed at Natsu and Zeref. "OFFICE, NOW!" She shrieked at them. They both hurried out of the cafeteria. All Natsu could do was hope that he would survive the next four years at this school.
"Thank you." Zeref said quietly as they walked to the principal's office. Natsu raised an eyebrow. "No one's talked to me in quite a long time. I was beginning to forget what human interaction felt like."
Natsu found that strange but didn't comment on that as he smiled. "Yeah well, stop ignoring me and we could do more than have human interaction." Zeref blinked.
"What do you mean?" he whispered.
"I mean we could be friends." Zeref frowned.
"Friends." He murmured looking thoughtful.
"Or more than friends." Natsu said suggestively, winking. Zeref leveled him with another blank stare. "You know what I mean." He said, smirking. Then Natsu thought about it. "You do know what I mean, right?" Zeref blinked. "You know… like dating? Or… do you not…" Natsu trailed off.
"I do believe I know what you're talking about. And I could go either way. I just haven't really thought about that."
"Yeah well… if we survive this what do you think about going out some time. It doesn't have to be a date, we could just… hang out. Outside of school I mean." Zeref nodded slowly.
"I believe I could come to enjoy that. As for dating… perhaps one day." They walked through the halls to the principal's office. Makarov was looking sternly at them.
"What you boys did today was unacceptable." Makarov said. "… however, I'll let it slide this once." They both looked confused. "Don't tell Ms. Strauss or Ms. Scarlet, but that was the most fun this school has been in years. Don't tell either of them about this." Makarov said. It was clear by his slightly pale face that if either woman found out that Makarov had let them off the hook all three of them wouldn't live to see daylight. They nodded seriously, and Makarov leaned back in his chair.
"So, I'm going to introduce you to my friends."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Zeref said.
"Lighten up." Natsu said seriously. "Here, you can hold my hand." Natsu said.
"The invitation is not necessary." Zeref said quickly. Natsu looked at him seriously.
"It's not an invitation." Natsu said plainly. Zeref blinked, sighed, and took Natsu's hand. They got odd looks but neither Natsu nor Zeref seemed to care. They had both gotten used to being stared at. And Natsu had decided that this boarding school thing wasn't so bad. Especially since his future boyfriend was attending it. Zeref might think that the whole dating thing was an if, but Natsu had already decided. And once Natsu decided on something there was no one that could tell him otherwise. And Natsu decided that the four years at this school might be the longest of his life, but they were going to be the best years of his life. And they were.
A/N You guys probably thought I forgot about this since it's been almost a month since it was last updated! But no, and I prove that by posting a chapter! Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it. Unfortunately this probably won't be updated again any time soon since life is really busy (also multi-chapters take up a lot of my time.) But hopefully it will be updated some time next month. I'll be giving you a special one on February 14th *wink wink* you guys will love it I guarantee. So, anyway reviews/follows/favorites are all appreciated! Now please enjoy the rest of your day! Bye!
