A/N: AS PER REQUST ALL FLASHBACKS WILL BE DONE IN ITALICS AS TO AVOID CONFUSION.
It had been a few days since Damian's explosion. Everyone was surprised by the news, not because they didn't expect it, pretty much everyone knew of Damian's antics, but they were surprised the principal actually managed to go through with it. For Leo he was a little saddened by the sudden expulsion of his friend, but he also had mixed feelings about the whole thing. He knew that Damian ultimately got what he deserved and he was even more concerned about Damian's behavior. He knew about Damian's antics before but he never seen him go that far.
It had been a couple of days since that night and Leo still thought back to the image of Nullpuding on the ground in bloody heap. It scared him to think about what compelled Damian to go so far. He couldn't shake from his mind, he had been thinking about it all day. He made his way down one of the hallway towards the lobby for lunch. Perhaps some food and time with his friends would give him the chance to get his mind off of it.
When he arrived at the usual table in the cafeteria he noticed that only Jellal and Mest were sitting at the table. He found it a little odd; Erza and Jellal were near inseparable. Though he knew that it was probably better that it was just the boys for today. He wanted to get his mind off of what happened that night and about what happened to Damian, but perhaps it was better for him to talk it out with the others.
"Hey guys," Leo said as he took a seat next to Jellal. Leo's tone of voice sounded disheartened as both Mest and Jellal could tell. Mest watched him closely from across the table as put his fork down; both he and Jellal exchanged gazes.
"What's wrong with you?" Jellal asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah man you've been out of it all week," Mest said as he leaned in closer. "Are you still upset about Damian? I know it's a shocker to us all, after all Damian was a close friend, but you got to realize he probably deserved it. I mean that kid was fucked up. And I mean really fucked up."
Leo's eyes fell on Mest with a more chilling glare. Mest was a little taken back as he turned to Jellal for some help. Jellel just shrugged as he too could sense that there was something abnormal about Leo's behavior. He wasn't his spry and cheery self.
"I know," Leo grunted as he dropped his head into his hands. He rubbed his forehead in agitation. "I just don't know what went wrong. I know Damian should be expelled but I guess it's more on how I don't know what happened. And I know how Damian is. He's not going to take this well."
"Well let's get our minds off of Damian then," Jellal said patting Leo on the back offering him a friendly grin.
"Yeah man forget him," Mest said shrugging. "What you should do is listen to the news that Jellal has," Mest said smirking. His grin was wide as he motioned his eyes back to Jellal. Leo became more intrigued as he turned to face Jellal.
"So what's up?" Leo asked.
"Well I've been giving it a lot of thought and I finally decided to ask Erza out," Jellal chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. His face turned a light shade of pink with embarrassment.
"Oh shit man," Leo said as he burst into laughter. "Well it's about time you two finally made it official, I mean shit man." His frown disappeared and replaced with a toothy grin. "So when are you going to ask her?"
"I'm going to ask her after the big game," Jellal said as his eyes turned back down towards the table. He was still blushing a little bit from embarrassment but it didn't faze him all too much. Leo had never really seen Jellal get all flustered. "You see I had this plan," Jellal muttered, he was becoming a little bit more flushed. " I'm going to go buy her a locket in it and give it to her when I ask her. You know as a symbol of our relationship."
"Uh huh," Leo said nodding his head as he followed every word Jellal spoke to him. "I like the idea. It's cute." Leo teased him fluttering his eyes. Jellal just laughed as he shoved the other boy.
"Fuck off," Jellal chuckled along with Jellal. Mest joined in with them as the three of them were laughing so crazily. People from the nearby table turned to look at them awkwardly. The boys didn't care though, they were too busy doing their own thing. "But seriously what do you guys think?"
"I think that it's pretty good idea," Mest told him once he calmed down a little bit. "I think Erza will certainly like it. It just doesn't scream extravagant but it still works in my opinion," Mest said nonchalantly. "I know that Erza will definitely like it."
"Speaking of which," Leo said as he peered around the room. "Where is Erza and the other girls anyways?"
"Oh they had something going on for their Biology or some kind of science class," Jellal said shrugging. He didn't really know what the girls were doing at that point, but he did hope that they were getting along. Erza and Mira didn't exactly get along with each other and often times he found himself breaking up would be fights between them. How and why those two were friends he could never understand, but then again he could never understand half of the things those girls did. "But at least it gives us the opportunity to talk about this now without Erza finding out."
"So you give her the locket after the game what's the big deal?" Leo asked.
"Well you see I don't actually have the locket just yet," Jellal said scratching the back of his head.
"Wait what?" Leo asked confused. His eyes turned to Mest he just returned it with a shrug. "What do you mean that you don't have the locket yet?"
"Well you see I didn't want to risk losing it or having something happen to it so I decided to let the store hold on to it until the night of the big game," Jellal told him. "I mean you know me."
"Yeah that's true," Leo said nodding in agreement. "Besides knowing Erza she would have found it eventually like she always does. No matter what you do that girl always seems to find out everything."
"Yeah I know," Jellal chuckled as he turned his eyes back towards the table. "But that's why I'm counting on you guys to keep it a secret." Jellal lifted his finger and pointed it at both of them warningly. Though he was just joking with them, the boys just offered him some wide smirks.
"Don't worry man you're secretes safe with me," Leo told him.
When Friday finally came around everyone in the Academy was full of excitement about the big football game that night. The Academy was playing one of the local high schools from down the road, and almost everyone in the student body was going to be there. For Jellal that night was bigger than just a game between the two rival schools it was the night that he was finally going to make his relationship with Erza official. He waited anxiously by the main school gates with Leo and Mest as tried to stop his body from shaking.
It was a chilly night and many of the students had already left or were preparing to leave. Everyone dressed in their school coats or jackets and scarves to keep warm, and to show school support for the team that night. There were a few inches of snow of the ground but that didn't deter anyone from going. It wasn't so bad, the night was clear as the stars shined brightly in the blanket of darkness, and the air was still.
Leo watched as Jellal paced back and forth. He leaned up back against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. Mest stood next to him with his hands in his pockets, his eyes moving from Jellal to the girl's dorms where Erza and Mira were getting ready. Though he knew that Jellal was always overly excited this night in particular he just seemed to be more excited than usual.
"Hey Jellal calm down man," Leo said to him as Jellal passed by him again. Leo had lost count by now and he was beginning to get annoyed. "You keep acting like this than Erza's going to know that something is up. You just need to breath and relax. You know she's going to say yes."
"You really think so?" Jellal asked his voice still nervous. He may have stopped walking but his body was still jittery.
"Dude come on this is Erza we're talking about," Leo said rubbing his temples in annoyance. "You two have pretty much been dating for years now. We know she likes you, so stop getting all nervous."
"Okay man," Jellal said as he took in a deep breath. "I'll try."
"Speaking of which here they come," Mest said as he motioned his head towards the direction of the girl's dorm. Both Leo and Jellal looked over to see Erza and Mira walking together towards them.
Neither of them were talking and both had a scowl on their faces. Leo groaned when he saw them. It looked like the two of them were already fighting like they usually did and he knew that the night might not be as great as he would have hopped for. He turned to Mest who seemed to have the same expression as Leo. He knew it too, however Jellal was still too busy struggling with his own nerves.
"Hey girls how you doing?" Leo asked as soon as the two of them walked up to the other boys.
"Fine," Mira grumbled as she walked by them and sulked near the gateway.
"Okay," Leo sighed as he exhaled a deep breath. "And what about you Erza?"
"I'm fine too," Erza practically growled as her eyes glared over at Mira. Mira returned it with one of her own creating such tension between everyone. Leo and Mest both exchanged glances of worry, but soon saw Jellal step in between them.
"Hey Erza," he said offering a smile. Erza's scowl immediately vanished was replaced with a friendly smile of her own. Mira just scoffed as she looked away from them. "You're looking lovely tonight."
Erza blushed at the compliment as her eyes fell to the ground. "Thank you," she said softly as her eyes looked back up and met with Jellal's. The two of them stood there smiling at each other. Leo's eyes darted back and forth between them as he slid in between them.
"Okay guys before you two start something we should probably get going," Leo snickered as he could see the look of embarrassment on both of them. "We don't want to be too late for the game."
"Yeah okay," Jellal said as he took a step. Both he and Erza's faces were a crimson red now.
With that the group made their way down the street. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the local high school where the game was being played. Already students had filled the stand to the point that there were no seats left. They knew that they would now have to watch the game from the railings if they wanted to watch it at all.
The field was cleared of snow, but there were still some small mounds on the outskirts of the field. The football field was located behind the high school in its small little sector. There were two sets of stand on either side, one for the home team and one for the away team with large scoreboards at both ends of the field. The away side was covered in people wearing the Academy's colors, mostly because they were wearing their uniformed coats. On the other side was a mixture of purple and yellow, the local high school's colors.
Police guards monitored both sides standing near the fence and between two sides to keep any fights from breaking out. Already taunts were being yelled at from both sides and even curse words. It was way too noisy except for those that were standing near the railing.
When the game began an eruption of roars and cheers echoed through the stadium. The Academy's football team was playing particularly well. When halftime came around Jellal nudged Mest and Leo motioning them to follow him. Leo and Mest both nodded as they began to follow. It was about that time that Jellal had determined that he would leave to go grab Erza's locket. It was late at night but the jewelry shop was still open giving him the chance to grab it just before it closed.
"Hey where are you guys going?" Erza asked as she saw the three boys leaving. Mira said nothing, only leered at all of them.
"Oh I was just going to go grab something real quick," Jellal told her. "Leo and Mest were just going to come with me."
"Oh okay," Erza said nodding her head.
"Great just leave me here with the bitch alone," Mira grumbled.
"What was that?" Erza growled as she stared over at the white haired girl. The boys exchanged looks as they saw the oncoming fight between the girls. They became worried, especially Jellal.
"Hey, hey, hey ladies come on now," Leo said as he took a step towards them. The two of them glared at him causing the orange haired boy to recoil backwards. "Okay," he said waving his hands in the air taking a step backwards.
"Erza, Mira come on," Jellal said as he took a step towards them.
Erza leered one last time at Mira before complying. She scowled as she turned her attention back onto the field where the local marching band was performing. Mira held her glare but when she knew Erza wasn't going to say anything she just scoffed and turned her attention back to the field as well. Both of the crossed their arms, the tension between them was ridiged.
"Hey listen Leo," Jellal said rubbing his chin. "Do you mind staying here and keeping those two from killing each other?" Jellal asked gently. Leo frowned at him, there was no way he wanted to be struck alone with those two girls.
"Why can't Mest stay?" Leo asked as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"Because you know as well as I do that Mest is useless when it comes to keeping those two from going at each other's throats," Jellal sighed. Mest looked somewhat offended but he knew that it was true.
"Fine," Leo moaned rubbing his forehead. "But you owe me."
"Thanks Leo," Jellal said grinning. With that he and Mest took off and made their way down to the jewelry store.
The jewelry store wasn't too far from the high school. Jellal and Mest made their way down the pier. It was dark; the only lights were the few streetlights that were still lit and some restaurant and bars that were still open. The store they were looking for was located on the other side of the food court. When they arrived at it there was a large florescent green light that read "Herman's Jewelry."
It didn't take long Jellal walked inside and quickly grabbed the locket. Mest waited for him by the door. Jellal thanked the clerk before leaving. "All right I got it," he told Mest as the other boy followed him.
Jellal kept his eyes on the locket smiling widely as he did so. It was a small gold heart on a gold chain. Etched on the heart was "E & J" in cursive. On the inside was a picture of Erza and Jellal when they were only kids. It was back from when they were about six or seven years old. It was when they first met. Though the picture was small it as still easy to see the young girl sitting there smiling a wide smile with her front two teeth missing. Her hair was kept up in a pony tail as she sat there wearing a white sun dress. Jellal sat next to her only one tooth was missing from his own smile as he wore a white tank top over orange swim trunks. It was a small adornment and it cost him a small fortune, but he knew it was worth it.
Jellal managed to pull out his cell phone and send a text message to Leo letting him know that they were on their way back.
"There's that little cock sucker," Damian said as he watched the two of them walk out of the jewelry store. Standing next to him was Zancrow and the other boys that he often hung out with. Zancrow just grinned widely as he too watched the local boys walking out. "I'm going to teach that little piece of shit snitch what happens when he fucks with me."
"Stupid fucker shouldn't have told you about his plans now should he?" Zancrow chuckled flicking his eyebrows at Damian.
"What an idiot," Rustyrose groaned in annoyance as he placed his hands in his pockets.
"All right," Damian said as he placed a black ski mask over his face. "Let's go."
"So what do you think?" Jellal asked holding the locket up to Mest.
"It's nice," a voice said from behind them. A cold chill ran through Jellal's spine as he felt his heart sink. When he and Mest turned around they saw five boys standing behind them each of them holding aluminum baseball bats. Before they had time to even think about running four of the boys made a circle around the two of them.
"Oh shit," Met breathed deeply as he watched them. Jellal held his ground as he quickly placed the locket in his pocket.
"What do you want?" Jellal growled as he watched as the boy who was talking to them walked towards them.
"Oh nothing but a little fun," the boy said shrugging. Jellal watched as he took another step closer and soon he was just within arm's reach of him.
Quickly Jellal took a swing in an attempt to punch the boy. But to his dismay the boy dodged it by stepping to the side. Jellal fell stumbled forward as the other boy swung the bat hitting Jellal in the back of the thigh. He let out a loud scream as he fell down to one leg. The boy watched as he fell down but said and did nothing after that but take a step passed him and moved towards Mest.
"Don't worry you're not the one I'm after," the boy said as Jellal lay their grabbing his thigh in pain.
Mest took a step backwards but bumped into one of the other masked boys. He turned around to look at him. He was a large fat boy who chose not to hit him with the bat but instead lifted his large foot up and kicked Mest in the stomach knocking him backwards into the boy who had just hit Jellal.
"Hello sunshine," the boy said jokingly as he smirked. Mest's eyes went wide as the boy swung the bat striking him in the side of the head. Mest collapsed on the blow as blood spewed forth from where he was struck. The boy raised the bat again high above his head and with great force struck Mest in the back knocking the boy into the ground. Though Mest was unconscious his body was still twitching.
Jellal watched in horror as he attempted to pick himself up and move away while the others weren't looking. He managed to crawl a few feet but soon felt a foot strike him in the back knocking him down into the pavement. He let out a cry of pain and rolled to his back. He still clenched his leg but soon opened his eyes to see two masked boys standing above him.
"Well, well, I know that you weren't supposed to get caught up in this, but sometimes shit happens," one of the masked boys said. Jellal recognized the voice he knew that it was Zancrow. He could hear the sound of bats colliding with flesh, as he dared not look over at Mest. The boy was already unconscious from the first blow so Jellal knew that he wasn't awake. But he could feel a warm liquid substance against his leg. When he looked down he saw that it was blood, blood that was coming from Mest's unconcious body. The snow underneath his was a deep crimson, but fortunately there was still a fog of air coming from where he was breathing. At least he knew that the boy was still alive.
"Fuck you," Jellal growled clinching his broken arm in pain.
"Fuck me?" Zancrow said sounding offended as he pointed to himself. "No fuck you." With that Zancrow lifted his bat into the air. Jellal turned to his side lifting his arm up to shield his face allowing the bat to hit his arm rather than any other part of his body. He let out a cry of pain as he could feel the bone in his arm break.
Though he knew that it was a long shot he couldn't just lie there and let them hit him. As Zancrow lifted the bat again for another blow Jellal took the opportunity to kick the boy in the groin. Zancrow let screamed as he dropped the bat and grabbed at his testicles. The other boy stared at him rather shocked about what had just happened. While he wasn't looking Jellal struck him in the groin as well. The other boy yelled out in pain.
Jellal got to his feet as he stumbled to keep his balance. He could only stand on one leg. Damian turned around, as he was no longer striking Mest with a bat. The boy was motionless, as Jellal feared the worse had happened. There was nothing but a puddle of blood and blood stained clothes. Jellal gulped as he tried to stagger away. Damian walked towards him holding his back out in front of him.
It wasn't long before Damian was on him. "Where you think you're going?" the boy called out to him as he swung the bat hitting Jellal in the back. The boy cried out in pain as he fell down to the ground. He heard the sound of a piece of metal hitting the ground. He breathed heavily the pain in his leg and in his back was just too immense. His arm was broken he knew that as a searing pain radiated through it.
He clinched his teeth. When he opened his eyes he saw the locket lying in the street a few feet away from him. Without hesitation he forced his body to move towards it, extending out his hand to grasp it.
Damian watched wondering what Jellal was doing. But then saw the small piece of medal just inches away from the boy's hand. "Oh what's that?" Damian asked chuckling. Jellal was almost there, the locket just within his grasp but then Damian stomped down hard on his hand. Jellal yelled but seethed hoping to relieve some of the pain, but it didn't work. He watched as Damian squatted down and picked up the necklace.
"Well, well, isn't that a nice piece," he said holding up so he could admire it. When he opened it he saw the picture of Jellal and Erza inside. When he closed it up he saw the letters "E & J" etched on the outside. The sight of which caused him to scowl. "You know I think I'll keep it."
Jellal breathed heavily trying his best to ignore the pain. But now it seemed like his whole body was in searing agony. "Fuck you," he managed to gasp between breaths.
"Well that's not very nice," Damian said as he tucked the locket away in his coat.
"You piece of shit!" Zancrow yelled as he ran over, bat high in the air. He swung it down striking Jellal hard in the back. Again and again he wailed on the defenseless boy until finally Damian grabbed his arm.
"That's enough," Damian ordered as he pushed the boy back. "He's done. Come on. Ditch the bats and let's go."
"Wait but what about fingerprints," the large boy asked as the others dropped their bats.
"We're wearing gloves you dumbass," Damian said angrily.
"Oh yeah," the large boy laughed. He threw his bat down and followed them.
At that point Jellal was motionless. His eyes shut but he was still breathing, although barely. Blood began to seep trough his thick wool coat and down into the white snow turning it into a deep crimson.
"Come on let's get out of here," Damian said as he motioned the other boys to follow him.
The boys ran down the street back towards the school. As they ran Damian took off his ski mask to let his face breath. He inhaled a deep breath of the icy air savoring it every last bit. He felt good. Actually he felt fantastic. Revenge provided such a sweet feeling and a rush that he rather enjoyed.