Chapter 54
Ah, yes, I forgot to mention last chapter…. WE REACHED THE 400TH REVIEW! The honors go to 12Rayne! Thanks for your loyal and continuous reviews! I really enjoy reading and replying to them!
I apologize for any grammar error that I have made! Read and Review!
Disclaimer: … :/ Not mine. None of the two stories.
Earth~
Having completed his usual morning routine, he exited his personal bathroom. Before that though, he caught sight of himself in the bathroom mirror. Running his fingers through and ruffling his red locks, he found that maybe he should let the fringe grow out again. It was a little too short in comparison with the rest of his hair.
With a sigh, he closed his multicolored eyes, not wanting to look at his own reflection any longer than necessary.
Ever since the incident a few days back, his other self had been… Disturbed. Well, he had made his presence clear when she returned as well, however he had remained dormant until then, only scratching at the surface a pair of times.
It did not matter though, although he had lost his rhythm with the sudden difference inside him, his opponents on the court had been no trouble. He had no doubt the other five had been feeling the distraught state he was in, but cleverly none of them had brought it up.
He would get over his momentary weakness soon enough. When his other self realized there was nothing to be done and gave up, everything would settle into place again.
With that concluded, he closed the door behind him, grabbed his phone and bag and closed the door to his room as well. Aiming for the kitchen, he went down the stairs to where he knew Iris, the maid who had been with him for as far as his memory reached, to be. In all likelihood , she had finished cooking by now.
He was in for a surprise though, as even when he stood by the door, leading to the kitchen and even though it was ajar as well, none of the usual delicious smells fanned over him. That, and there was suspiciously silent in there. The maids were usually so chatty.
With slightly furrowed brows, he pushed the door open, to see every single maid in the household all huddled together by the door on the other wall, leading to the living room. It was closed, but they stood with their ears against it, listening in on what was going on, on the other side. Whatever that was. And with tears in their eyes. Some were bawling already.
He entered the room and closed the door behind him, bringing their attention to him. "Oh! Seijuro-sama!" Iris quickly said, having just placed an empty tray on the desk and was already flailing around, moving towards her usual position in the kitchen. Though the others exchanged worried gazes, they decided to keep doing what they were doing. "I'll get to cooking your breakfast immediately!" She said with a hushed voice, though at the same time loud enough for him to hear it.
This only made him even more curious as to what exactly was going on here. "Thank you, Iris." He said, walking towards the counter she was cooking at, keeping an eye on the maids, wondering what was going on and why they were refraining from doing their duties. This would most likely require punishment. "What is it you are all doing?" He asked them all.
Once again sending nervous glances his way, they remained silent, even in the face of authority. Iris halted what she was doing, and shook her head. "Before you judge them, Seijuro-sama, you should hear that as well." She told him and gestured to the door.
A little hesitant at first, even more confused as to what was riling his maids up this much, he accepted the offer, approaching the door. The maids parted to allow him entry to the door and as he placed his ear there, to could hear what was going on, on the other side. When he heard the voices of the two people on the other side, his eyes widened.
Pulling back and almost glaring in confusion and shock at the door, he turned to the maids. "By chance, the girl out there with my father is not blonde, is she?" He asked his maids, more specifically directing the question to Iris.
Iris nodded. "Yes, she is. It is the girl you brought over once in a while when you were younger, the sweet girl, Lucy. A very kind girl, indeed. And she hasn't changed the least bit since last I saw her! It's been such a long time.." She rambled on, though keeping her voice low throughout her little rant.
Akashi looked back to the mahogany door in wonder. What was she doing with his father? He put his ear to the door again, eavesdropping on their conversation like some maid. He had to know what was going on.
A little earlier on~
She awoke to the feeling of a gentle hand on her shoulder, kindly rustling her into awareness. Much to her confusion, she looked right up into the face of someone she didn't recognize at first. That was until she saw the maid outfit. First she thought of her old estate, but that was impossible. Alas, it couldn't be her own. And that face, she recognized it. And that was how she pieced it all together.
A bright smile graced her features. "Iris!" She said in recognition of the person in front of her. Way back when, it had been the maid who had come in, while Akashi was sleeping after a talk they had, in his room. Ever since she'd come over to Akashi's, she'd found she and Iris really talked together well and got somewhat close ever since.
"Lucy dear! I knew it was you!" Iris replied, throwing her arms around the young girl, who responded in kind by wrapping her own arms around the quite busty and definitely strong maid. After squeezing the life out of her, the maid kept the other girl just far enough away to not be uncomfortably close. "Oh, sweetie, where have you been these two years? I've missed you so horribly!" She said, squeezing the blonde's hand affectionately.
The blonde smiled softly at the maid. "Sorry, Iris. I had a lot of things I had to take care of back home." She told the maid, who only shook her concerns off. Finally Lucy looked around, finding she was on one of the counters of the kitchen, the whole kitchen staff staring at her confusedly. She gave them a blinding smile and a wave, which she was hesitantly being returned.
"I see your strange sleeping antics haven't faded during this time." Iris commented.
Lucy nodded and scratched her head. "Yeah, well.. It's sort of hard to get rid of." She admitted. She let her hand drop to her other arm and flinched for just a moment at the light bruise which had formed there, flooding her mind with the memories of her conversation she'd had with Loke after that, on Earthland. True to his word, they had really had a talk about all of it.
Flashback~
She'd just finished the hell that was Capricorn's training schedule and she was, as of this moment, at the very limit between life and death. As she had been the past few days. All she wanted to do was to just fall over on her woolen bed and sleep for an eternity.
Of course, she wasn't that lucky. Loke came over, placing a hand on Capricorn's broad shoulder. "Before you kill our Princess, could I possibly borrow her for a moment?" He asked of the other Spirit, smiling as he fixed his glasses. Lucy had a feeling that she would far prefer it if she could just play dead right about now. Unfortunately, Loke knew she was alive.
Capricorn nodded stoically. "As you wish, Leo." He agreed, turning to Lucy, who had crashed to the ground, opting to play dead though it was in vain at this point. "Training is over for today, Lucy-sama. Be up at five tomorrow, we will get some training done before you return to your guild." He said and then immediately disappeared in a golden light, getting no reply from the blonde. Tomorrow they would be going back to the guild and then the following day they'd make it to Crocus.
The Lion watched his master with an amused smirk, knowing what she was trying to do. "Oh, no, it looks like my most precious Princess has passed away!" He said overdramatically. "What must I, a mere knight of the Princess, do now?" He continued. Though it began to get difficult, Lucy reigned in her giggles. "I know! I must follow her in death!" He announced, stepping up close to the blonde girl, kneeling by her side. "But first… I would have to be certain she is indeed not of this world…!" He said, a grin spreading on his cheeks as he poked her side. Her most ticklish spot.
Almost. With that one poke, he almost made her squirm. She really hated when he did that. She was so damn ticklish at her sides and that bastard Lion both knew it and knew to take advantage of it and tease her with it. Constantly. Especially when she was having sulky moments.
And now, he was using it again, poking at her sides. "Please wake up, my Princess. I cannot live without you!" He said, picking up the speed on his poking of her sides. And soon enough, his master caved in and began squirming around on the ground, giggling.
Not long after, her giggles became full blown cries of laughter, tears rolling down her cheeks, as she fought to get out of the way of his tortuous fingers. "Loke! Stop! I can't take it anymore! Please stop!" She cried out in anguished, hysterical laughter.
He relentlessly continued though, not even twitching in hesitation. "Why ever should I do that, Princess? You sound to be having so much fun!" He replied, chuckling when he truly hit the soft spot and the blonde squealed loudly.
Figuring he wasn't about to stop anytime soon, something else had to be done. So, pulling herself together through the torture, she sprang at her Spirit, pinning him to the ground just like Gajeel had taught her: Him on his stomach on the ground and her having a firm grip on both of his arms on his back.
She grinned at the surprised Lion. "Told you to stop, didn't I?" She asked him, reveling in his still surprised expression, looking up at her from the corner of his eyes.
Soon enough that surprise turned into a grin. "Well, I wouldn't mind staying like this a little while longer, Princess~" He said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes at his implication of their current position, what with her straddling him by the hips and all. "Pervert." She said, giving him a light hit to the back of his head before getting up and off, placing herself on the ground beside him. "So…" She trailed off, knowing the happy mood was at its end.
Loke knew too and his grin faded a little. "So… I'm afraid there is no escape this time, Princess. Phoenix is driving Natsu into the ground still, Gray is fast asleep, Erza is preoccupied with sparring with Orion. The other two are equally busy." He reminded her. His expression dropped even further, frowning in worry at the look in her face. "Lucy, I don't want you to feel cornered here, all I want to do is try to understand what's going on in that pretty, little head of yours. I want to help you, you know?" He told her.
She sighed again. "I know that, Loke." She reassured him. She knew all that without him having to even tell her at all. "I know, it's just… it's just hard to explain." She said, not knowing what else to say.
He gently placed a hand atop hers comfortingly. "It's only as hard as you make it to be." He told her, then remained in a thoughtful silence for just a moment, before speaking up again. "I never got an answer the other day. Do you feel weak, Lucy?" He repeated the question he had asked her before.
The blonde looked down, not meeting the Spirit's eyes and in the most silent voice he had ever heard, replied. "… Yeah…" She muttered so softly if he hadn't been listening, he would have been confusing it for a breeze.
He squeezed her hand, his brows furrowing in confusion of where she got these delusions from. No, it wasn't delusions, not for her, it was most likely her conviction. He could see it in her eyes. "Can you tell me more, Lucy? Is it because of your momentarily weakened magic?" He asked her, breaking to give her a chance to answer.
Still not looking up, she answered. "It's… It's not just that." She admitted, her voice kept low.
Figuring he'd really have to fish some before getting anything out of her, he moved closer to his master. "Then what is it?" He asked her worriedly.
She sighed, turning the hand he was covering with his around and intertwined her fingers with his, comforted by the touch. Growing a little bit more confident with it, even. "It's always me… Always me who needs saving. On missions with Team Natsu… They always have to save me. Even though I've been training so hard." She said, closing her eyes. "I can't even fend for myself, I'm completely reliant on you guys." She muttered out in addition.
This almost made the Lion reel back in shock. "But, Lucy-" He was cut off before he could say any more.
"Don't you see, Loke? I'm weak. I'm still just the high class, aristocratic damsel in distress. I can't do anything…!" She said, staring into his slightly widened, hazel eyes. "I should just go back to the estate and-" Now it was Lucy's turn to get cut off.
"No!" He basically yelled at her, turning to face her and grabbed her arm painfully in one flowing but aggressive movement. It would probably bruise. "Don't say you should return to something as horrible as that, Lucy. I will not hear it!" He told her fiercely, reaching up to brush away one tear gently with his thumb. Realizing he'd surprised, scared her maybe even, with the outburst, he calmed down as much as the situation allowed. "Listen, Lucy. You're a Celestial mage. You're a long-distance fighter - that's why you have the fleuve de'étoiles. You're supposed to stay in the back and support us, your Spirits, your magic, with the power we need. It is not us who beat the opponent, because we could not do it if you didn't supply us with your magic, you are the one who beats him or her." He reminded her.
He knew he had explained this to her before, he thought she understood the importance she held. The importance of her giving them the magic to could defeat her enemies. The strain it took for a Celestial mage to keep a gate open, not to mention two or three.
He took a deep breath and moved his hands to cover both of hers, cupped together. "But not only do you do that, you fight right alongside us. Earlier with fleuves, but now also training to aid us with fist-fighting." He said, looking into her chocolate eyes. "You are strong, Lucy. Very strong. You are everything we, as Spirits, could hope and wish for. And more even then." He said, thinking back to how she had saved his life what seemed so long ago, yet at the same time such a clear memory in his mid.
Lucy broke eye-contact, casting her gaze to the forest-floor between them, shaking her head. "I'm not as strong as you say, Loke. You know that." She said, shaking a little with all the emotions running through her. When Loke suddenly, out of the blue, clutched her into his embrace, she more or less squealed in surprise. "Loke?" She asked, her voice a little high-pitched, wondering.
"I really can't take hearing you say that, Lucy." He told her, squeezing her even tighter to him. "Please don't say things like that." He almost seemed to plead her.
Carefully, slowly she placed her hands on his back. "Loke?" She asked with a calm and soft voice, urging him to tell her what was going on.
He pulled a little back, but only so much so he could sit forehead-to-forehead with her, looking into her eyes. "Lucy you saved me from death, gave me hope that I could repent for what I had done. What you did was much, much more than anyone could ever ask someone to do. You stood up to the Spirit King and you have now earned his and every single Spirit in the Spirit World's trust and respect." He told her.
Even if she had had something to say, she couldn't. She was speechless with what he had told her just then. She had… Sort of just thought that all she had done was save his life and then that was it. Sure, she knew that Loke was really thankful for it, but… The Spirit King himself? The rest of the Spirits? It was a lot to suddenly have to take in.
"You called out every Spirit you had; Taurus, Aquarius, Sagittarius, Cancer, Virgo, Plue, Horologium, Lyra, Crux. That's five gold keys and four silver." He pointed out.
She nodded slowly. "But it was only for a short moment." She reasoned.
The corners of the Lion's lips tugged upwards. "Look at it like the cup is halfway full instead, Lucy. You summoned eleven Spirits all at once." He reminded her. "That's an amazing feat, you know. More than amazing, it's borderline impossible." He told her. "But you did it."
Lucy smiled at his words, remembering the incident and how happy she had been when she received his key. He was… Well, he was right. It was quite impressive. She had also been drained afterwards though.
"To put things in perspective." He said, pulling a little back from the close contact they'd had. "Karen, my former owner, she could summon two gold keys in rapid succession and use them in battle and she was a fairly strong Celestial mage despite everything. She had two gold keys, after all." He told her. "Angel could summon two Spirits at once and use them in combat, gold or not, and owned three gold keys. She was a very strong Celestial mage." He said.
For obvious reasons, the blonde remembered Angel very clearly. And she also remembered how amazed she had been with her summoning two Spirits at once…
"Then there's you." He said, cutting through her thoughts like a vice. "You, Lucy, you own no less than ten out of twelve of the gold keys and five silver. As if that wasn't testify enough of your strength, you can now keep out three Spirits, no matter the key." He looked right into her eyes, determined to convince her of her strength. "Lucy you are the most powerful mage we've had in centuries. You are strong." He told her almost sternly.
She sighed. "That may be, but… I still can't hold my own against an opponent." She reminded him.
One again, he placed his hand in hers, smiling. "No, you could." When she looked up to protest, he put up a single finger, silencing her again. "But because you didn't believe in yourself, you couldn't." He told her.
She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "Because I didn't believe in myself? Really?" She asked him incredulously.
He nodded, keeping the smile up. "Yeah, it's that simple. Believing in yourself makes you many times stronger, and that's especially true for Celestial mages." He told her.
"Wow…" Lucy muttered, stunned with the new information. Even though it was something so… Well, seemingly little, yet would make as big a difference as he hinted, she wasn't sure she could do it. Not just yet.
"Yeah, it is so simple, yet does so much." He agreed.
For a somewhat long moment, there was a silence between the two as they both mulled over the words the other one had spoken. Finally, Lucy decided to break the silence. "That's.. That's not all." She told him, her voice low, yet felt like it could be heard a mile away in the quiet cloud between them. When she only received a confused gaze from her Spirit, she elaborated. "There is… One more reason." She admitted.
Loke perked up at this, having thought they'd gotten around everything. "Yes? What is it?" He asked her, curious but worried. He hadn't thought she would have so many reasons to think she was weak, especially when she weren't. On the other hand though, he knew she was a very sharp woman, so at the same time it wasn't really surprising. ´
She looked up at the Spirit again, her vision a little clouded with regret of what she was about to tell him. She didn't want to think or feel that way, but she did. "It's not only on Earthland I seem to be a weak link." She told him.
This only confused him. "On Earth? But wasn't that place supposed to be…" He left the sentence unfinished, but they both knew what he meant. The place where she was supposed to be the strong one.
She nodded. "And in fighting, I am." She confirmed, to which Loke nodded in relief. If those crows flocking around his master were Earthland-strong in fighting too, then there was no way he'd let her near them ever again. "But.." She said, drawing his attention back to her again. "In… In what really matters in that world, among them, I'm far, far behind." She said.
Having witnessed the latest few matches between the Miracles and other teams, the difference was more than clear. Lucy could probably just keep up with those other teams, but those six (plus Kagami), those she couldn't keep up with at all.
"In basketball, you mean?" He asked her, trying to understand what she meant. Though he didn't see the importance of it, if that was it.
She nodded. "Yeah, those guys, I can't keep up with them any longer." She told him honestly. When she had played with Aomine and Kise and his team, she had found out they'd lowered the level to could play with her. When Loke just nodded slowly, probably wondering what the problem was, she smiled a little and decided to explain. "You see, they've gotten very split up these past years, and I want to bring them together again, I'm pretty sure that's the 'reason' the Spirit King sent me there." She told him.
The Lion's eyebrows shot into the air. "You found out what those two words mean?" He asked her, surprised. "'Akashi' and 'help', right? How does that fit with that?" He asked her curiously.
"Well, bringing them back together is one part of it, the other I've figured out is helping Akashi with his split personality, bring him to balance of some sort." She explained.
He nodded again. "I see. But what does that have to do with your not being as good at basketball as they are?" He continued to ask.
"Well…" She said. "They've… Many of them have never tried losing and… I think that's what split them apart. If they experience loss, that will bring them closer to what they were back then." She reasoned. "But I can't beat them myself, I have to rely on… Someone else. Again." She said, looking down.
Loke leaned back, supporting himself with his arms behind him. "Well, I see what you mean. But even if they're beat and taste defeat, it's not for certain they'll go back to being buddies, you know." He told her. When she just stared at him as if the world came crashing down, he chuckled a little at her. "What I'm trying to say is that without you, they likely still would have that rivalry between them. Well, they will no matter what, but without you I have a suspicion they might not talk with each other so easily." He told her.
Lucy chewed on that for a moment. "You may be right, but… Well, I think it will still be impossible without them losing too." She told him, convinced that was what had the heaviest weight in this one.
He shrugged, taking a deep breath at the same time. "You would know them better than I do." He conceded, seeing the stubbornness in the blonde shining through. "However, to get back on track again, not only do you have an immense magical strength and even more potential just waiting for you to tap into it, your personal strength is even greater." He told her.
All he got was a frown from the blonde. A confused one. "My personal strength? You've got to be kidding me. I'm nothing special." She argued. Now he was getting ridiculous.
With a grunt of laugh, he shook his head. "Well, while it's still inside the limits of reality, not many belong to the group you are in." He reassured her, looking up at her seriously. "You are incredibly kind, caring and empathetic towards everyone and everything. Even that Haizaki, despite what he did to you, right now you're regretting beating him up like you did, aren't you?" He asked her.
Her eyes widened at the sudden exposal of her feelings, which she had yet to tell anyone about. "Yeah.. Yeah I do." She confirmed. He was only a human without magic, she had probably been a little too rough with him.
"See?" He asked, gesturing towards her. "You've already forgiven that asshole, whose ass I'm going to kick next time he comes close to you, you've forgiven Gajeel, Juvia and Jellal too. You've forgiven your dad. You forgive everyone." He told her with exaggerated arm-movements. "You are special. And the most visible place to see that, is how you treat us, your Spirits. Like friends, not the tools that many think of us as." He said. "And we're eternally grateful." He confirmed.
Meanwhile, she was blushing wildly at all the praise and compliments she was suddenly getting, staring straight at the ground in her flustered state. "I'm just glad I've met all of you." She answered earnestly.
Loke got up from where he stood and pushed his blue-tinted glasses up. "Now then, I will leave you to think about this while you go take a bath. See you tomorrow, Princess~" He said before disappearing in a shower of gold.
And think, she did.
Present~
Though she thought so much about it all, she didn't truly reach a conclusion on anything, really. But it was also one of those processes, which took longer time getting through than just a half an hour of space to think.
"Are you all right, dear?" She heard the kind maid ask her worriedly.
Lucy smiled at her, figuring she had probably been quite quiet for a long time, just staring into space as she remembered that whole thing. "Oh, sorry, Iris. Yeah, I'm fine, just dazed for a moment there." She reassured the maid, jumping down from the desk, opting to give the maids space to do their work, as the door almost burst open the way she remembered her father doing it.
And right in stepped a middle-aged man. Handsome for his age, not extraordinarily tall, but with burning red hair, attempted at being pulled back with gel. But it seemed to have a life of its own. His eyes were dark and hard, cold almost, in contrast to his hair.
It didn't take a genius to figure out who this man was, especially not with the stature of a high class man. This was Akashi's father, Masaomi Akashi.
He immediately turned his hard gaze to all of the maids, who were huddled in the corner, having been unable to work with Lucy filling everything. He almost glared at them. "What are you all loitering around for? Get to work!" He ordered them and they all quickly shuffled to get to work.
Lucy frowned at the treatment of these maids, especially because they had had no choice, and looked at the man with a hard gaze, but a soft posture, her upbringing kicking in again. "I am sorry, Mr. Akashi. It was my fault they have not been able to get to work." She told him, redirecting his anger from the maids, who took a sharp intake of breath at her unexpected defense of them and obvious offense toward him.
And his gaze shot to her instantly, not used to that tone from anyone. "And who are you? I have not seen you before, you are not one of my employees." He stated, stepping forward threateningly towards her. "What are you doing in my house?" He asked her hostilely, his eyes narrowed at the blonde in front of him.
Iris quickly came to her defense, stepping in front of her. "Master! She is certainly no threat! She is a friend of Seijuro-sama's and will be accompanying him to-"
The maid was cut off as Masaomi sent a heated glare her way. "Did I ask you, Iris?" He asked her rudely, making the poor woman flinch.
Lucy gently placed her hand on the maid's shoulder, smiling reassuringly at her. "Don't worry, Iris. I can take care of myself." She assured the maid. Then she turned to the man in front of her, meeting his gaze for a short moment, before doing a little curtsy, her head bowed and ankles crossed. "Pardon my unannounced intrusion, Mr. Akashi." She said, looking up at him again, her gaze not faltering the slightest bit against his angry feeling of authority. She'd faced a dragon, torture from a crazed Dragon Slayer and her own father. This guy didn't even compare. "It is correct, I have come here to accompany your son to the tournament." She told him.
He remained silent for a moment. "That blasted game, taking up all his time." He said, seemingly mostly to himself. "What is the state of your relationship with my son, nameless woman?" He asked her, clearly annoyed.
"You can call me Lucy, sir. Lucy Heartfilia." She introduced herself quickly, bowing her head gently in greeting. "If I were to put a word to the relationship between your son and myself, I would say we are close acquaintances, sir." She replied to him.
The man sent her a levelling gaze, studying her completely. "It is clear you are of no no-name descent, Lucy." He stated. Though her choice in clothes sure didn't show that right now. "How do you know my son?" He inquired, still quite hostile.
She smiled a little. "During his first year in Teiko Middle School, we did see each other approximately every day. I as a helper during his and his team's practice, sir." She explained.
"That game, huh?" He asked, his voice dripping with toxic at the mention of it. "So can I take it you were the one to encourage him to play such a worthless sport?" He asked her, contempt in his eyes.
She took a short moment to consider. "No, I did not assist him in his decision, it was entirely his own." She reassured him. Seeing the disgust in his eyes, she dared to speak up again. "Pardon me for asking, sir, but it is my belief that your son is at the top of his school grade-wise, and he is the captain of his team, which normally is unheard of as a first year." She stated.
"As can only be expected of a son of mine." He cut in before she could ask her question.
She ignored his remark and continued. "Yet still, it does not seem like you appreciate him playing the game much. Why is this?" She asked him. Bravely, in the eyes of the maids, whose ears were solely on their conversation now.
The look the older Akashi sent her was as cold as the ones her own father had sent her so often. She'd brought up a topic he didn't like. "How does that concern you, girl?" He asked, not even using her name.
"Well, you could say there are two reasons for that." She told him, holding up a finger. "One, I do care for your son and want to make sure he is happy." She said, raising a finger. "And two, his situation is very reminiscent to my own when I was his age." She dropped her hand as a thought stroke her mind. "As a matter of fact, I do believe you should hear that story. I do think it would help you greatly to perhaps understand what is going through your son's head." She said thoughtfully.
He crossed his arms at the audacity of the young girl in front of him. "Remind me again how the stories of others could possibly hold any meaning to me." He said rudely.
She smiled at him, a little, soft smile. "Would you not listen to what I have to say before reaching conclusions?" She asked of him. His lack of reply told her he would consider it. "If you are willing to listen, should we not find a more… Private place to talk?" She suggested. Despite this, she knew the maids would do everything in their power to eavesdrop on their conversation anyway.
After a moment, he nodded and gestured for her to follow him as he exited out of the door he had entered, walking down the hall to the door of the adjoining room. He held the door for her and closed it behind her when she had entered and they both made it to the oversized dinner table.
They both got seated on each side and as he remained silent, she jumped right out into it. "As you already have deciphered, I too descend from a family among the higher classes in society." She confirmed, to which he just nodded slightly. "It was a business my father built up with my mother since their young days and soon enough they had me." She told him, remembering the story she'd heard from both her mother and father when she was younger. She far preferred her mother's version, it was much sweeter. "Back then everything was as good as it could possibly be. Idyllic, happy, perfect." She told him. She caught her gaze in having moved upwards towards the ceiling as she spoke and quickly redirected it to the man in front of her. "However then my mother fell ill." She told him.
Even this far in, she could see the man was surprised. When she'd heard Akashi tell her his story she was surprised too. Their upbringing was eerily similar.
She sent him a nod in acknowledgement and confirmation of what the man was thinking; he'd be hearing his and his family's story from another person. "Like with your son, my mother too taught me an art my father did not appreciate. More specifically, he did not appreciate it after the passing of my mother." She clarified, seeing in Akashi's father's face and eyes how he was drawing threads from one to the other. "I'm sure you can already see the similarities?" She asked, to bring him into the conversation a little more.
He nodded. "Of course. One would be a fool not to see the similarities between your story and ours. However how can I be certain you are not just citing our story?" He asked her, suspicious as men like him seemed to have to be.
She sighed, folding her hands in her lap. "Well, you cannot." She told him, her bluntness seemed to shock him for a fragment of a moment. "However even if it is not my own story, it is a prediction of what could happen to you." She told him.
He nodded, seemingly accepting that. "I see. Please, do continue." He urged her.
She nodded as well and did as she was told. "After my mother's passing, my father got engrossed in his work and the family fortune." She said. "Of course, me being his only child, I was to take over as the new CEO of his company. Therefore arts such as the ones my mother had taught me, one of the only remaining mementos I had of her, were trivial and had to be put to a stop." She met the redheaded man's eyes fiercely. "He forbade me from doing it." She said.
When she paused dramatically, he felt it was only right if he said something. "Why is it I feel a 'but' here?" He asked, wanting her to continue.
"But." She confirmed, smiling a little. "As I had no siblings and he would not speak to me, I only had our employees to talk to. Of course, they were busy, so they could not entertain me always. And I missed my mother horribly. So without his permission or knowing, I practiced those arts in secret." She told him. "Of course, he would find out and then scold me for not obeying him, but it never did stop me." She said melancholically. She tilted her head a little. "Now, this is where the story actually gets interesting for you." She told him.
"How so?" Was all she got to keep her going.
"When I reached my seventeen years, I had gotten enough of the treatment I was receiving and ran away from home." She told him and she could see the surprise clear in his face. "I ran and found a group of people who took care of me without questioning me the slightest. Here, I continued to practice the arts my mother had taught me, putting it to good use, helping others." She told him.
"These people you speak of, of what standing are they?" He asked her curiously.
She smiled fondly at the mention of her guild-mates. "Well, they would be considered street brawlers for you, I believe." She said, giggling a little at the unintentional gasp the man had released in horror. "Yes, I am aware it is quite a drastic difference, but contrary to what you are thinking they are the kindest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."
"My God…. Street brawlers?" He asked, incredulous. While he could tell by a first glance that the woman in front of him was different, strange, this would not have crossed his mind for even a moment. It was outrageous!
She smiled at him. "They are not what you believe them to be, sir." She reassured him. "I have something to prove this as well." She offered, to which she got a nod to continue. "As any good father would, mine attempted to get me back home. However he hired people who would take me home by force, physical force, and could do whatever they wished to me, as long as it did not kill me, to bring me home." She told him. "And they did. However my new family and friends among these street brawlers came to my rescue and quite literally saved me from torture." She told him, remembering the pain Gajeel had dragged her through. Now the torture was by choice. "In the end, they beat the hired people up, stopping their plan."
She took a moment to get her feelings under control again. They were whirling around inside her right now as she retold her story to the man in front of her. It was basically an emotional rollercoaster for her, it always was.
"At any rate, with the support from all of them, I went to stand up to my father, telling him I did not plan to become the next CEO of his company and instead intended to stay with the street brawlers." She told him. She laughed a little, though it was hollow. "He did not like it, of course, but knew there was nothing to be done as well. So he began sending me letters, telling me to come home, trying to convince me."
She already hated this part of the story. Not only because it was a lie, but also because this was probably the most painful part of the whole thing. But it was very, very necessary.
"Of course, I stopped reading the letters quite quickly and just stored them without reading. Even as I came here to Japan, he found my address." She said with a sigh. "Time passed as I ignored all the letters, but right around two years ago, the end of Akashi's first year in Teiko Middle School, I opened one of the most recent letters. I do not know what compelled me to do it, however I read it." She said.
Looking down she saw her hands were clenched and trembling slightly with the many and strong emotions running through her.
She didn't raise her gaze as she continued. "The company had gone bankrupt and he had fallen ill, the stress having gotten to him." She said, her voice now also trembling with emotion. It wasn't the true story, but it hurt nonetheless. "I went there immediately, but…" She trailed off, collecting herself again. "But I was too late." She finished. "He too, had passed away and I never got to tell him anything, neither did he me other than through those letters." She said.
Silence remained between the two for a while, Lucy never looking up at him, but keeping her gaze trained on her hands in her lap. Finally, the silence was broken by the door leading to the kitchen being opened and Iris appearing with two cups on a tray. "Excuse me." She said as she placed the porcelain in front of the two, tea in Lucy's and a black coffee in Masaomi's. They both thanked her and she quickly left again.
Lucy took the teaspoon and gently stirred the tea, before bringing it to her lips. It was soft and sweet, definitely laced with honey. It was very good.
The silence was broken by Masaomi. "I am sorry for your loss, Lucy, and I now realize there was no reason to doubt the authenticity of your story." He said, his voice not quite as cold as it was before.
Her head whipped up so quickly it wouldn't be a surprise if she'd gotten whiplash. Fortunately, she didn't. "Huh?" She asked, surprised and confused with his words.
He met her wide eyes calmly with his own dark ones. "The emotions you displayed throughout the explanation, especially at the end, they are not simply something you can bring out so easily. I believe you." He told her.
She smiled softly at him, fighting her tears. "Thank you, sir." She said, honestly happy he believed her.
He shook his head. "It is me, who should thank you. Your story and your words, I will take it all into consideration and avoid things from developing like yours did, I thank you for sharing this with me, it must not have been easy." He said, almost - only almost though - sounding sympathetic.
She smiled at him. "It was not, however just the fact that you are willing to consider it makes it worth it." She earnestly said.
The man leaned back in his chair, a strange expression on his face, a mix of amusement and something else. "Someone like you…" He started out. "I would not mind if you would become more than a close acquaintance. You would fit my son very well." He said thoughtfully.
It took Lucy a moment to truly digest and understand what he had just told her, but as she did, the door Iris had entered from earlier burst open with said son standing in the opening, more or less directly glaring at his old man. "Father. You have said enough." He declared, a faint tint of color in his face. So he had been listening in with the maids, had he?
The blonde looked from father to son and back again, then smiled awkwardly at the older Akashi. "I think you might be mistaken, Mr. Akashi, the relationship between your son and I is nothing of that nature." She assured him.
He just laughed. "No, not as of yet." He said, making both young people immediately flustered. Having had his fun with the two, he got up from his seat. "At any rate." He said, looking at the blonde, who also got up in response. "I believe I will take my leave now." He said, looked to his son and to her again. "You may accompany my son to this basketball tournament if you wish."
The younger Akashi almost dropped his jaw to the floor. He had never even once heard his father mention the sport as anything other than the 'blasted sport' or 'worthless game', never once had he called it by its name. Just what had the blonde been doing to him?
Lucy smiled brightly, realizing the same thing, and curtsied again. "Thank you very much, sir!" She thanked him, quickly straightening up again.
Though little, the older Akashi returned the bright smile. Which only made his son's jaw fall down further. "Please, just call me Masaomi, Lucy." He said, not minding that the smaller duplicate of himself's brain had just been blown up. "See you around." He said friendlily and exited the room.
The blonde turned around to the other person in the room. "So, shall we go watch Murasakibara and Kuroko play?" She asked him, her smile never leaving her face.
He, however, was speechless. First surprise of the day had been that she was here, the second that she had been talking with his father, and now this? What was going on?! "What did you…?" Was all he could manage in his confused state.
She just shook her head. "It's nothing special, I just told him something he couldn't ignore." She told him, jumping out of the mannerisms she'd been controlled by before, in pure ecstasy with what she had just accomplished. She was simply thrilled, exceedingly happy. She couldn't control it. And that completely destroyed the awkward atmosphere which would have been between them if she wasn't. "Now, let's go!" She said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him after her, out the door with only mild protests from him.
Yup, leaving it off here. So, obviously, it's going to be Yosen vs Seirin next chapter. Aaand Lucy and Akashi will also have to figure things out between each other. Exciting, exciting~
Deep conversations were had in this one though. Let's hope that this truly will change Akashi's father's perspective on things, and that Loke's words will change Lucy's as well. We'll see~
Anyhow, for those of you, who have been reading Acnologia, my Childhood Friend, I'm sort of trying to draw the dragons in the story. Should I post them somewhere or would you rather keep your own image of how they look? So far, Simakan, Grandine, Sacheba and Glanasile have been made. This one's all up to you.
Hope you liked it! And thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following!
~Line464d
