"No!"
Lucy flinched as she tried to distract herself from the ruckus inside the CEO's office. It's her last day and her things are already loaded and ready so she's just waiting to get things done before she officially ends her work. Things were calm and usual when suddenly, a fuming Erza and the rest of Team Natsu barged inside the CEO's office one by one, only minutes apart. What the hell happened?
Natsu sounded angry with that resounding 'no' a while ago. The blonde started to wonder just what happened on her last day. Just what luck does she have to have this kind of farewell? She heard another bang as she went stiff in her desk. Natsu isn't just angry, he is furious with that bang... And all the while she worked under him, he's never been this angry. She fiddled nervously on her pens as she waited anxiously.
"No, Gajeel, wait--"
The door bursted open, revealing a fuming dark-haired man with red eyes, directly walking towards her desk. "You. What the hell are you still doing here?" Erza harshly grabbed his collar as she pulled Gajeel away from the petrified Lucy who was frozen on the spot. "Get ahold of yourself, Gajeel!" Levy followed as she went and held the larger man's arm. "W-what's wrong? What happened?"
"What the hell are you still doing here?!"
Lucy looked at Gajeel with blurry eyes, filled with tears. What the hell is happening? She felt her hands tremble and her insides mushing. She doesn't have the slightest idea about what's happening but she knew that this Gajeel's anger is directed towards her. She blinked and felt her tears fall as she made out Natsu's silhouette as he followed and finally made an appearance. "N-Natsu, what is happening? I don't understand--"
"Lucy."
Gray placed his hand on his shoulder as an attempt to calm the CEO down, whatever his reaction to Lucy crying will be. Erza sighed and folded her hands. Thankfully, the floor for the C-suite is not crowded as for it's only for the executives and a handful of the company's important figures.
"Calm the fuck down, brats."
All of them turned to a rather short but imposing figure who just exited the elevator, together with a white-haired Mirajane who walked behind the elder with a solemn expression on her face. The fuming Gajeel stepped back as they let Natsu come over to comfort the still crying Lucy. He pulled her up and looked at her face, wiping her tears. "One step more, Gajeel. Just one fucking step and I'll fucking end you," Natsu menacingly gave Gajeel a look as he placed his hand at the back of her head and pulled the crying girl to his chest. "Natsu, enough. This isn't the time to be like this," Erza chided as she blocked Gajeel's attempt to advance.
"Brats, conference room. Now."
"Schatzi, you don't have to talk. I'll do it all. You can stay here if you want. No one will force you."
Natsu held her as she calmed down. Despite not knowing the situation, she was bugged out of her mind with the sudden burst out a few minutes ago. The rest of them already entered the conference room as Natsu stayed to make sure she has calmed down. She looked up to see Natsu as he combed her hair with his fingers with his other arm, still embracing her. His chest itched to just get over everything and just call the grand marshal and get the imperial armada sailing, if that's the only way to appease Lucy.
"What happened, Natsu?"
Natsu sighed as he explained, "We found out the rat's origin. Data was traced back to the Konzern." Lucy's eyes got wide in panic, "Papa would never. Natsu! He would never do that." The pinkette nodded, "I know, schatzi. Jude can be one cruel bastard but he would never put you in a tight spot especially now that you're about to take over." Lucy bit her lower lip in confusion and fear. What the hell's happening? She blinked as her mind swirled with possibilities. "I want to know what happened. I have to."
"Natsu, Lucy. We're about to start."
Both turned to Levy who is by the door. They both stepped back, out of each other's embrace. Lucy cleared her throat as she hastily wiped her tears. Natsu turned to her and offer his hand, "Let's go, schatzi?" She swallowed a lump of nervousness and took his hand. There's only one way to find out.
He laced her hand in his as he led her towards the conference room. They entered and have every pair of eyes on them. He maintained a passive expression as he tucked Lucy to his side. They found two available chairs placed at the back of the room, sitting beside the chairman. He waited for her to get settled on her seat, with Erza on her other side, and sat. Levy poised to speak in front.
"Let me keep this short. Yesterday, I found a trace of data that I have decrypted. I worked around it to find out where the rat had been from or who it was working for. Around midnight, we finally found the IP address some of the data has been sent to. Comparing the address to the potential entities we can connect the espionage to, we found out one company's IP address which matches."
Levy sadly gave Lucy a look before saying, "Heartfilia Konzern, Crocus HQ." Lucy felt her whole body tremble at the thought of this possible betrayal. She could never dare betray Natsu. Her father would never have the heart to damage its working relationship with Fairy Tail. Sure, there are currently no existing consortium between the company but there wasn't enough bad blood to actually have her father do this. At least, not as messy as this.
"Which brings me to claim that this might be a set up."
The room began to murmur in complain and Natsu turned to Lucy to comfort her. A set up? What company had this deep hatred as to put the Konzern in boiling water and in such a haphazard way? "How do we know it's a set up? We can never be sure, Shrimp!" Gajeel roared as he shot Lucy a nasty glare. The man is known to be quite protective about the Fairy Tail. "Calm the fuck down, Metal-freak," Gray turned to Gajeel.
"How? Well, if you actually listened to me, Gajeel, you would hear me emphasizing that the job was too obvious and messy! If the Konzern would hire someone, with its power, it wouldn't choose a shitty hacker."
Erza sighed as Gajeel continued to murmur in complaint, turning to the elderly Chairman at the head seat. Makarov cleared his throat, "Levy has a point. Jude is a careful man. He wouldn't spare some cash for people who does less than perfection." That resounded inside Lucy's head. Even she wasn't spared when it comes to her father's OCD. The senior continued, "Besides, I see no point in targeting Fairy Tail. We have no pending rivalry with the Konzern which would push Heartfilia to target us. I have entered into an agreement to take in Lucy and this had ensured security in our meager Crocus operations. If Jude wants to make a point to get his daughter back, he would have just showed up and boldly claimed his daughter rather than being a snake. His pride would never allow him to stoop this low." Lucy felt a rush of relief at the patriarch's words. Right. His father would never allow any of this ruckus to happen. If he wanted her to come back, he would rather send her an entourage and just haul her in his most expensive vehicle because that's the kind of man he is.
"So, what could be the cause, Master?"
Makarov gave everyone a look one by one and finally gave Natsu a lingering one before he stared at the empty board right in front of him. "Which entity wants to destroy Fairy Tail and is in Crocus?" Silence ruled the conference room until Natsu briskly stood up, fuming.
"I'm going to kill Sting."
"Calm down, Natsu. I said, calm the fuck down!"
Erza slammed her files on the table as Natsu fumed, making everyone else flinch. The redhead almost pounced on Natsu, forcing him to stop from just storming towards Crocus and sat back down. Makarov turned to Lucy who is silently listening to everything, "My dear, why don't you call your father to give him a heads up? I'm quite sure the news has already reached him when Levy gave them a heads up before we started the meeting." Lucy nodded and stood up. She sighed as she looked at Levy who encouragingly smiled at her. Levy remarked, "I'm sure it isn't the Konzern, Lu."
"Where are you going?"
Gray groaned as everyone turned to Natsu who seemed not to notice his menacing tone. He shook his head towards Erza who was about to retort when he saw Lucy smiling at Natsu. She bent down to whisper something in his ear as he visibly calmed down. So much for denial, Natsu. Lucy exited the conference room.
"I told you to calm the fuck down, Gajeel. You didn't even give Levy a chance to explain."
Gajeel rolled his eyes as Gray chided him. Natsu stayed silent as he looked at the weary looks of his friends. All because of Sabertooth's personal mantra against him and his adoptive family, possibly. Even Lucy got dragged in this mess. In her last day of work too, dammit. He leaned back on his chair to calm his heat down.
"We have to stay calm, everyone. Our prime suspect is situated hundreds of miles away. We have to be careful. However, we aren't even sure as for Saber's possible involvemnet in this. What's our next move, then?"
Mira silenced everyone as she announced. Gajeel smirked, "If this is Eucliffe's intention, then we might as well involve the whole clan, Salamander. I say, a direct confrontation. A hatchling like him can't begin to understand what a show of power means." Makarov nodded, "Yes, but until then, let us make sure the treasure safely goes back to her father's care."
"I can protect her, Gramps. She can stay--"
The elderly chairman shook his head and tapped the CEO's overly warm hand. "No, Natsu. The protection she needs right now is finding out who is behind this frame up before she could fully take over the Konzern." The pinkette groaned in frustration as he combed his fingers in his hair. Levy gave Gajeel a look and the other man nodded, "I'll call the elders to give them notice about the brat's misbehavior and to call forth an investigation." Natsu nodded and just stared at the door, waiting and scarily contemplating about something.
Minutes passed and Natsu went eerily quiet. The tension rose and everyone was on their toes, waiting for the explosive dragon's next move. Suddenly, he shoot out of his seat, fishing for his phone. Then, Makarov rushed to have someone stop him. Thankfully, Erza is within reach and grabbed his wrist.
"No, Natsu. We can't have Alvarez' imperial armada enter Ishgar's zone. We can't risk exposing your location to the government. Your brother might be really calm on the surface but he's rather impulsive and easily-angered. We don't know how he will react. Until we make sure he will take this calmly, then we can notify the empire."
Lucy entered the conference room and noticed the weird situation. She slipped her phone onto her slacks' pocket and asked, "Anything wrong?" Mira smiled sweetly, "Why don't we take a break and get something to eat, everyone?"
Because, that exactly is what everyone needs right now.
Hello, guys! I'm back with another chapter. How is your 2020 so far? Honestly, I'm not yet fully well and will probably update slower but I'm hoping you'll like this small gift of mine. Happy New Year! ️