Hey guys, sorry that there haven't been any updates recently. As you'd probably imagine, the last month of 2015 was very busy for me. Work was a huge slog in terms of getting things done before Christmas and then Christmas itself was busy in terms of travelling home and spending time with family. I have literally not had the time to write. So yeah, really sorry about that.
I didn't plan on writing a chapter like this, but the idea actually came to me in a dream one night. I literally dreamt this chapter happening. It's kind of a little crazy(a lot of dreams are), but that can be good sometimes, right?
Oh, and, 'gray'? I don't know if you're reading this, but I'm sorry that the last chapter clearly disappointed you. Hopefully this one will be better.
So anyway, Happy New Year to all, and I hope you like what is finally a new chapter.
A few weeks had passed since the incident with Laxus and it was now approaching mid February. School had settled down pretty well now that the semester was well under way and the last month or so had passed without much incident. A result of this was that there wasnt much to really talk about, hence why Lucy, Juvia, Cana, Lisanna and Elfman were currently sitting together in silence, lunch break not as lively as usual. This was also in part due to the large number of absentees from their usual 'group' though. Mirajane, Erza and Levy had a student council meeting whilst Natsu, Gray and Gajeel had soccer training.
"So hey, if you guys are free this Friday, I was thinking we could all hang out," Cana suggested, finally breaking the brief silence. Lucy shook her head.
"Sorry, I can't. Me and Loke are going out."
Lisanna smiled. Just like Lucy had thought, the youngest Strauss sibling had started to lower her walls around Lucy and two were on more friendly terms recently. Lucy thought the main reason for this was actually her own relationship with Loke. The more Lisanna felt Lucy was getting closer to Loke, the less threatened she felt about Natsu and Lucy, and the more she then opened up to the blonde. "You and Loke sure spend a lot of time together, don't you?"
Lucy was about to reply when Cana snorted. "I can't believe you're still with that guy…"
Lucy sighed. Regardless of how well her and Loke were doing, there always seemed to be disapproval of their relationship amongst her friends, Cana and Erza mostly. To them, a leopard didn't change it's spots, regardless of what Lucy said. "What's that supposed to mean? I told you, Loke's a great guy."
"Hmm, if you say so…"
"I mean it! Come on, how can you judge him when you've barely even tried to get to know him?"
Cana laughed. "Come on Lucy. His first words to me were 'Hey beautiful, I lost my number, could I borrow yours?'. Do you seriously think a guy like that is worth being with…"
Lucy shook her head. "You're wrong, Loke's changed. He's not like that anymore."
"Whatever."
"Cana!"
"Hey, come on you two!" Lisanna said desperately. "Don't fall out over something like this…"
Elfman nodded, crossing his arms. "Arguing over boys is not a man."
"That doesn't make sense…" Cana muttered. "But he's kind of right anyway. Just talking about that guy creeps me out. Let's change the subject..."
######
"A Bachelor auction?"
It was the end of soccer training and Mr Gildarts had gathered the squad together in the changing rooms, saying he had an idea for how they could raise some more money for their tour that summer. The coach nodded excitedly. "Yeah. Valentine's day is coming up soon, so why don't we try selling Valentine's day dates?"
Gray snorted before turning to Natsu. "Who the hell would want to spend Valentine's day with that jackass?"
A vein popped on Natsu's forehead. "Hey, unlike you, I have a girlfriend! I'll be with Lisanna on Valentine's day!"
Mr Gildarts shook his head. "Nope, no excuses. You're all participating. Girlfriend or not."
Loke blinked. "Wait, what? But coach, I really want to be with Lucy on Valentine's-"
"No excuses. We need everyone to take part to raise the maximum amount of money possible. Honestly, what's the big deal, it's just gonna be one date…"
######
It was the Friday 13th February, the day before Valentines day, but more importantly, the day of the Fairy Tail High School Soccer team Bachelor Auction. A large group of students were gathered in the school's main hall. On one table, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Jellal, Juvia, Gajeel, Levy, Mirajane and Eflman were sitting, waiting for the 'event' to begin.
Mirajane squealed in delight, as bubbly as always. "Wow this is so exciting! This was such a fun idea!"
Lucy pouted. "I don't know. I don't like the idea of Loke being auctioned…"
Mirajane smiled at her. "Well, if you don't want him to go out with another girl, all you have to do is win the date with him!"
"Huh?"
Erza nodded. "That's right. That's what I plan on doing for Jellal."
"Oh really? I see. But wait, I'm sure Loke's auction's gonna be crazy…"
Mirajane giggled. "Yeah, Loke's really popular with the girls…"
"By the way, where's Cana?" Levy suddenly asked. Everyone blinked in confusion, only just noticing the absence.
Gray shrugged. "I guess she's the only one who missed the news somehow. Oh well, I'm pretty sure this isn't her thing anyway…"
Just then, Mr Gildarts took to the stage and grinned at the audience. "Hello everyone! Good afternoon and I wish you all a very warm welcome to our Bachelor's auction! Today what we have on sale are Special Valentine's Day dates with some very special guys - The Fairy Tail High School Soccer Team!"
Everyone cheered, really getting into the spirit of the event. Mr Gildarts laughed, him more excited that anyone. "Alright then. Well, without further ado, let's begin. First up we're gonna go with one of the team's newcomers. Introducing… Natsu Dragneel!"
Natsu got onto the stage, greeted by a smattering of applause, most of it from his friends. He grinned at the audience. "Yo!"
"Alright then," the coach began, "Let's start bidding at $50! Any takers?"
Silence.
Natsu's jaw dropped. He looked angrily at the audience. "Aww, come on!"
"Oh… OK, wow. Um… I guess we could go lower than 50…" Mr Gildarts muttered, earning him a glare from Natsu.
Lucy looked around. "Where's Lisanna?"
"She's having a check up at the doctors," Mirajane replied. Lucy frowned.
"Why don't you bid for him Mira?"
Mirajane smiled sheepishly. "I can't, I'm being auctioned off later, so I'm not allowed."
Lucy's jaw dropped. "You're being auctioned Mira?!"
Mirajane smiled cheerfully. "Yeah, I thought it would be a nice way to help the guys out."
Lucy looked over to Erza. "Why don't you bid for Natsu, Erza?"
"I can't. You can't bid again once you've won an auction and I'm waiting for Jellal's."
Lucy bit her lip. Looked like she had no choice since this was kind of humiliating for Natsu. She stood up. "$40."
Natsu blinked, surprised. "Lucy?"
"Going once, going twice… sold!"
Natsu grinned, jumping off the stage and sitting next to Lucy. "Thanks for that!"
Lucy was about to respond when she was interrupted by a worried looking Loke hurrying over to their table. "Lucy? Why did you do that?"
"Loke? What's wrong?"
"If you've won Natsu, you can't bid in my auction!" Loke replied angrily.
Lucy froze. That was a good point. "Uh… Well don't worry, one of the others will bid for you, right guys?"
Gray scowled at Juvia. "It can't be Mira or Erza. How about you?"
Juvia shook her head, a determined expression on her face. "No way, the date with Gray belongs to Juvia!"
"I figured. Alright, how about you Levy?"
Levy blushed slightly. "I… I can't. I promised Gajeel I'd bid for him… J…Just so that he doesn't have to go out with some weird girl! It's not because I like him or anything…"
Gray gave Levy a weird look before turing back to Loke. "Huh. Damn dude, looks like you're out of luck."
Loke glared at him. "This isn't funny!"
The group were interrupted by Mr Gildarts clearing his throat. "Well that was underwhelming, although I guess it can only go up from here. Anyway, our next prize is actually a lovely Bachelorette - Mirajane Strauss!"
The eyes of nearly every guy in the audience collectively turned into hearts as Mirajane took to the stage, her smiling kindly at her adoring fanboys. This auction was going to be a lot different from the previous one, that was for sure…
"Let's start bidding at-"
Before Mr Gildarts could finish his sentence, one guy in the front row practically jumped up. "$100!"
"110!" another shouted.
"120!" a third enthusiastically offered.
"150!"
"200!"
"300!"
"500!"
Mirajane giggled, flattered but not necessarily surprised by the attention she was getting. "Oh my…."
Lucy looked over at the crowd of desperate guys. "Mira sure is popular with the guys, huh…."
Elfman cracked his knuckles, scaring Lucy and Levy a little. "Those punks need to be a real man to take my big sister on a date…"
Jellal smiled and nudged Erza. "Look's like Mira's auction's gonna bring in a lot of money, huh?"
"Hmmph…"
Jellal blinked and looked over to the adjacent table, where Laxus was scowling at the still bidding guys. "Is he… jealous?"
"$900!" One of said guys shouted, his desperation to secure the lucrative date with Mirajane clear.
Mr Gildarts grinned. "Are we done? Going once, going twi-"
"$1000."
Everyone in the room collectively froze in shock, slowly turning to look over at the late bidder. Laxus just sat there calmly with a blank expression on his face. Mirajane blushed. "L… Laxus?"
Laxus ignored her, looking at Mr Gildarts. "Well? Do I win?"
The coach chuckled. "Sold! To the captain!"
"That's our Laxus!" Freed gushed, "Always makes the most impressive entrances…"
"I would have thought you'd be a little jealous. Plus, now you can't bid in Laxus' auction.." Bickslow muttered. Freed looked over at him.
"Sorry, did you say something?"
"Never mind…"
Jellal stood up and walked over to Laxus. "But hey, aren't you meant to be one of the bachelors we're auctioning off later? How can you do that if you're already gonna be going on a date with Mirajane tomorrow?"
"Remove me," Laxus said bluntly. Jellal glared at him.
"What? That's not fair, you can't just skip out on-"
Erza put her hand on Jellal's shoulder. "Could you just do it? I think this is something that both of them want…"
Jellal blinked. "Both of them?" He looked over at Mirajane, who was walking down from the stage, her cheeks still tinted pink slightly. "Oh..."
Mr Gildarts shrugged. "I guess we've got no choice. Sorry ladies, but Laxus Dreyar is no longer available."
Everyone, including Laxus himself, was a little taken aback by the loud sigh of disappointment that followed from the majority of the female population in the room. Mirajane laughed nervously as she went to sit by Laxus' side, the two exchanging a slightly awkward glance before looking back to the stage.
"Alright," Mr Gildarts announced, "Next up - Gray Fullbuster!"
"I think I can already predict the way this one is going to go…" Lucy muttered. Levy nodded in agreement, glancing over at the happily smiling Juvia. She was definitely ready.
Mr Gildarts waited for Gray to sit down on the stage before turning to the audience. "OK, can we start bidding at $50? Do I have-"
Juvia immediately stood up. "$300!"
The coach blinked. "Well that was quick…"
"Go figure…" Gray muttered, not too thrilled by the prospect of a date with Juvia.
"Do we have any other bids?" Mr Gildarts asked. One girl was about to stand up when Juvia looked over in her direction. The girl literally froze completely at the icy cold, somewhat creepy, glare Juvia gave her. When she finally recovered, she immediately sat down and stared straight down at the ground. She'd have nightmares tonight...
Mr Gildarts laughed nervously. "OK then.. going once, going twice, sold!"
Gray sighed as he made his way down the stage and sat next to Juvia, trying his hardest to ignore her beaming happily at him.
"Alright, next up…. Our Vice-Captain, Jellal Fernandes!"
Erza smirked as Jellal walked onto the stage. "Looks like this is my one…"
"I think we'll start bidding a little higher here. How about $200?"
Erza raised her hand. "$200!"
Jellal smiled at her, happy with who his date was going to be with. However, just then…
"250!"
Erza's blood boiled at the sound of the familiar voice. She looked over to the side where a familiar blonde was smiling smugly at her. "Jenny…"
"Is that all? OK, going once-"
"260!" Erza shouted, glaring heatedly at Jenny.
"270."
"280!"
"290."
"300!"
"Hmm… I think I'll go for $400 then."
Erza was about to bid again when she froze. "Wait, I can't afford to outbid that…"
Jellal blinked. "Wait, what?"
Mr Gildarts laughed as he looked between the panicked Erza and Jellal and the smug Jenny. He could see the funny side of this. "In that case, going once, going twice… sold! $400!"
Jellal sighed and reluctantly went over to sit with Jenny. Erza glared heatedly at the 'couple' making Mirajane laugh nervously. "Oh my, what have you done Jenny… ?"
Lucy's eyes lit up. "But hey, there's a silver lining to this. Now Erza can bid for Lo-"
"Hmmph!" Erza huffed, standing up and storming out of the room before Lucy could complete her sentence. Mirajane sighed, before turning to Laxus.
"Oh my... Maybe I should go and try and calm her down…"
Laxus shrugged. "Sure, go ahead…"
With that, Mirajane went after the redhead as Mr Gildarts introduced Gajeel onto the stage as the next bachelor. Gajeel looked expectantly at Levy, as if to remind her of their pre-arrangement.
"I think we'll start bidding at 50. Any takers?"
Silence.
Gajeel glared at Levy. "Hey! What're you waitin' for?"
Levy glared back at him. "Don't be stupid Gajeel, if no one's gonna bid for you, I can get you cheaper than 50!"
"What the… don't be stingy damn it! Besides, there's no way I'm gonna let myself go for less than Salamander!"
Natsu's eyes lit up. "Yes, I'm more expensive than Gajeel!"
Gray smirked, "Well if that's how we're competing, I cost more than the two of you together."
Freed glared at him. "Hey, don't get cocky Gray! If Laxus had been auctioned, he would have sold for $1 million!"
Bickslow rolled his eyes. "And you would have probably been the one who paid that…"
"I sort of feel like we're getting away from the point here…" Mr Gildarts muttered. "Do we have any bids at all for Gajeel?"
Levy stood up. "I bid… ugh, fine….$41."
Natsu's jaw dropped. "What?! No, Levy, don't…"
"Sold!" Mr Gildarts shouted. Gajeel grinned cockily at Natsu.
"Haha, how does it feel to be the cheapest loser here Salamander?"
Natsu glared at Lucy. "Why couldn't you bid $42 damn it?"
Lucy glared back at him. "Don't blame me! How was I supposed to know Gajeel would sell for $41?"
After a few of the other members of the squad were auctioned, Mr Gildarts finally got to Loke. "Alright, our last Bachelor today… Loke!"
Loke gulped as he got up onto the stage to a huge round of cheers from the audience's female population. He genuinely could end up with anyone. Mr Gildarts smirked, sensing another lucrative auction here. "Alright, let's start bidding at 200."
"200!" a girl immediately shouted.
"210!" A second girl shouted.
"220!"
"250!"
"300!"
"350!"
"400!"
"450!"
Before Loke knew it, there was a crowd of at least ten girls furiously trying to outbid each other. Lucy frowned at them, clearly not happy with the high demand for her boyfriend. Just then, the door opened and someone entered the room. She looked dully at the stage first and then the screaming girls before walking over to Lucy and the others. "Hey guys, what's going on here? I've been looking everywhere for everyone."
Lucy's eyes lit up at the familiar face. "Cana! This is perfect! You need to bid for Loke!"
Cana blinked. "I need to do what now?"
"Just do it!"
Cana shrugged. "Fine, whatever."
"We're currently at 750!" Mr Gildarts announced. "Going once, going twi-"
"751." Cana said in what was literally the most uninterested voice ever. Mr Gildarts beamed and turned to the new bidder before realising it was his daughter. His happy expression quickly morphed to a panicked one.
"C… Cana? No, no, I forbid this! You're far too young to date!"
Cana rolled her eyes. "So do I win?"
The girl who had been about to win Loke glared at Cana. "What the.. how dare you! $800!"
Cana sighed. "Listen, I really can't be bothered with this crap. How much is the most you're gonna offer, 'cause I'll just go $1 higher than that."
"But that's not fair!"
"I agree!" Mr Gildarts nodded. "Cana, you are banned from this auction! I will not allow my sweet precious innocent daughter to go out with some lowlife creep!"
A vein popped on Loke's forehead. "Hey!"
"No offense Loke."
"I'm still offended!"
Jellal sighed, seeing he may have to intervene. He turned to the other girl. "Is 800 your final offer?"
The girl glared heatedly at Cana before sighing in defeat. "Yeah…"
Jellal turned to Cana. "Sold. $801."
Cana yawned. "Sweet, I guess…"
"But Cana," Levy began nervously. "Can you really afford to pay so much for Loke?"
Cana laughed. "Oh yeah, I can't. I guess I'll need you guys to help me out a little…"
"I'll cover it," Lucy immediately said, surprising the others. Cana blinked.
"You mean the whole $800? Really?"
Lucy shook her head dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. You were bidding on my behalf after all."
Everyone exchanged a collective confused look aside from Natsu, who knew that $800 really was nothing for Lucy. The blonde watched as Loke climbed down from the stage and breathed a sigh of relief as he went over to Cana. "Thanks for that…"
Cana scowled at the (former) playboy. "Don't thank me, thank Lucy."
Loke smiled and went towards Lucy, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. "Thanks."
The door opened again and in came a still angry looking Erza followed by a nervous looking Mirajane. The eldest Strauss sibling looked up at the stage which was now empty. "Oh, is it over? What happened after we left?"
"Levy got Gajeel and Cana got Loke," Gray replied.
"Yeah, about that," Cana said. "What did I win exactly? Dad said something about a date, didn't he?"
"We're now supposed to go on a date on Valentine's Day," Loke explained. "Although, that's no longer necessary."
Mirajane blinked. "Huh?"
"Lucy has Natsu and Cana has me. I'm sure neither of those two would have any complaints if we cancel the dates, allowing me and Lucy to spend Valentine's day together, which would also allow Natsu to be with Lisanna."
A vein popped on Gray's forehead. "Hey, in that case I wanna call off my date too!"
Juvia gasped dramatically and grabbed onto Gray's arm. "No! Juvia paid for a date with Gray, so Juvia wants the most super special romantic date with Gray!"
"Let go of me damn it!"
Levy gulped, before turning to look sheepishly at Gajeel. "I.. uh… I guess we don't have to go on a date either…"
Gajeel scoffed. "Hmph… fine. Not like I was looking forward to it or anything…"
Erza cracked her knuckles. "I guess I'll just have to 'convince' Jenny to cancel her date with Jellal too…"
"No!" Mirajane shouted, looking surprisingly upset. "This was all meant to be for fun and what you're all suggesting is not in the spirit of fun at all! You've committed to a date and that's that. I won't allow any cancellations!"
Erza sighed. "Trust you to get worked up over something like this. But fine, you're right. It's just one date after all, right?"
Lucy nodded slowly, before glancing at Natsu. "One thing's for sure, this is gonna be an interesting Valentine's day…"
So yeah, mad, right? So much stuff happening and as Lucy alluded to - the next chapter is going to be very interesting.
So once again, so sorry that I literally haven't been able to update over the last month or so, and I will do my best to write chapters whenever I can. It is really hard though because I am so busy these days.
