20th chapter! WOW!
I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving and ate a lotta turkey cuz I sure did. Gobble gobble. Im super thankful for the AMAZING LOVE AND SUPPORT from each and every one of you! WOoOoO!
Disclaimer: FT belongs to Mashima-sensei!
"Lyon Vastia and Lucy Heartfilia! Gajeel Redfox and Levy McGarden! Gray Fullbuster and Natsu Dragneel! And finally, Jellal Fernandes and Erza Scarlet!"
Lyon groaned and Jellal stood there, stiff. Was he happy? Angry? Scared? He didn't really know, but he did know luck just had to be with him today.
Lyon immediately turned around to face the bluehead with a evil grin. "Wow, Jellal. You're sooooo lucky. You and Titania. . .oo la la." Jellal rolled his eyes, ignoring Lyon's comment.
As the two boys walked to grab a paintball satchel, Jellal tried to avoid the gaze with anyone because he could already feel embarrassment building up as glares flew upon him. Everyone would love to be Titania's partner. But lucky him (or maybe not)! He would be Titania's partner!
He reached to grab a bag and just as he was going to pick it up, someone did before him. "Get another one," he heard the person say. Jellal turned to the it was Gray Fullbuster. He didn't even look at the bluehead before he set off with his partner, Natsu.
Jellal sighed as he picked the last satchel on the ground. It was much more beaten up and only contained three paintballs. He searched for Lyon, but he had already left and now he was stuck with. . .Erza.
"H-hey, Jellal," a quiet voice chimed it. Jellal turned around and indeed it was the redhead. She was wearing a well-fitting tank top shorts.
When he first saw her, he couldn't help but stare at her exposed skin. Did the temperature rise another ten degrees because Jellal was sweating a lot right now, or was it just him?" He eventually caught himself and cleared his throat. "Uh, hey Erza. Um, let's go."
Erza obediently nodded and stayed by Jellal's side as the two started heading into the woods, looking for a good place to hide until a loud whistle signaled the start of the game.
An awkward silence enveloped them.
"Congrats on first place in midterms," Jellal finally said. It was really late to say that, but right now, he was searching for anything to make it less quiet.
She smiled as she stepped over a branch. "Thanks. You did really good too." Jellal had to strain his ears because her voice was barely audible.
"Yeah, but I would not have done so good if it wasn't for you."
"Thanks," she quietly replied. She kept her eyes on the ground and hoped Jellal would not see the blush creeping up her cheeks.
The wave of silence returned.
"D-do you know how to use the paintball gun?" Erza asked shyly. She stopped walking and opened her satchel to retrieve the harmless weapon.
Jellal chuckled. "It's easy." He pointed at the reloading area. "That's where you place one paintball and you simply press to trigger to fire it. The hard part is the aim. We have to make sure that we don't waste our supplies. Got it?"
Erza nodded her head, but started furrowing her eyebrows. She remembered what Mrs. Fernandes said. He gets a little bit, er, crazy. He starts blabbing and doing around random stuff without even thinking. And after the day has passed, he doesn't recall doing anything! Ain't that weird? Erza can't help but feel a little curious at how Jellal acts when he's overpowered by the heat. She shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking such things.
"You're sweaty. . .If you don't feel good, we don't have to play," Erza suggested.
"No, it'll be okay."
She rummaged through her satchel, where she had placed her bottle of water. "Here, drink some." She shoved the bottle in front of Jellal's face, and the bluehead was forced to take it.
"Ok, fine." Jellal unscrewed the bottle and bought it to his lips. As he sipped the water, a stupid thought came over him. I'm indirectly kissing Erza Scarlet. He stopped drinking and he immediately spat the water out.
Erza knotted her eyebrows. "Jellal. . .are you okay?!"
Jellal was recovering from coughing and passed the bottle back to the redhead. "I don't need water. I'm fine." He picked up his stuff and walked away, hoping Erza won't ask anymore.
As soon as he turned around, he couldn't help but place his fingers on his lips as a blush formed. Does that mean I have Erza's spit in me? He shook his head. What a stupid thought.
Erza eventually caught up to Jellal's side. "I'm, er, sorry if the water had any bugs or whatever."
"No, it's not that. Just that. . ."
Jellal was interrupted by a loud sound that pierced the ear. Assassin had started. He gulped, a little anxious on what to do next. "Should we seek out other players?" he asked, and Erza nodded.
The two walked through the woods, eyes darting at different directions to spot their opponents. But there were many players in the game, making it easy to bump into others. Almost immediately, Jellal spotted a figure in the distance. "Erza, look," he called in a low tone. He motioned the redhead to come towards him. "I found a group." He pointed to a figure in the distance, and started opening his satchel to reach for the paintball gun. He loaded the gun with the paintball and fired it. "Hide," he said and the two ducked into the bush in front of them.
Erza parted the leaves so she could see their opponent's figures, who were approaching. But there was something weird. The figure did not look like two people as it came closer.
"Um, uh. . .Erza, what's that?" Jellal asked, his voice shaky.
"How would I know? You fired at it." Her eyes, like the bluehead, were glued to the moving outline.
The two remained quiet and watched as the figure approached, paralyzed with fear. Soon, the silhouette became clear, and a large bear emerged in the distance. It's brown, furred body had a splash of blue from the paintball Jellal fired earlier, and its angry eyes searched for its attacker.
"I never knew there were bears in the woods!" Jellal exclaimed. But as soon as he let the sound slip, he regretted it. The bear had caught sight of the two peering from the bushes and started running as quickly as it could to them.
"Oh shit, run," Jellal mouthed under his breath.
Erza nodded and the two ran throughout the forest. The redhead looked back, but she knew the bear was not going to give up. Suddenly, a paintball whizzed in her view and hit the bear again. The bear stopped for a moment and stared at a new patch of green on its arm before continuing its chase but this time with more rage.
"Jellal!" Erza shouted, still fleeing from the bear.
"What?! I thought I was being helpful!" He was panting as he ran, and they both knew they couldn't run any longer because. . .
"The fence!" Erza shouted. it was the boundary marking the out of bounds region that was basically more forest and trees. Going there would mean elimination from Assassin and if anyone found out, Erza and Jellal would be suspended from school. "W-what are we gonna do?!"
"You think I care about anything else? Climb it!" Jellal ordered without a second thought. He ran up to the fence and easily got to the other side. "C'mon, Erza! Your turn!"
The redhead stepped in between the gaps of the wires and slowly made her way up. She was not used to this climbing, and by the time she reached the top, she didn't know how to get down. "Jellal!" she screamed.
The bluehead dropped his bag and opened his arms wide. "I'll catch you, don't worry!"
Erza was too scared to second think it and she jumped down, landing on the ground. She immediately faced the bear's direction, and it left after realizing it couldn't climb over. She turned back to the boy. "Hey, Jellal! It's. . ." Her voice trailed off.
"Oh no," she murmured. Once again, she was in another awkward position with the bluehead, since she was basically lying on top of him on the ground. Last time this happened, the two were in the library, and Erza used much effort to push that embarrassing thought aside.
Both times, it was her fault she was in this unpleasant posture. Her face was literally inches from Jellal and she was so close to him that she could feel his heart pounding as fast as hers. Her legs were spread on either side of his torso and oh gosh. Poor Jellal.
Erza immediately lifted herself from Jellal's chest and pretended nothing happened. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she said. She didn't dare make eye contact with Jellal and busied herself by brushing off the grass from her arms.
Jellal, too, was very awkward. He slowly sat up and tried to get rid of the image of Erza's warm and brown eyes, her luxurious and red hair, her pink and soft lips. . .Okay, he should stop.
Erza was going to stand until she collapsed back to the ground again. "Ow," she groaned. She looked at the source of the ache and realized her knees were bleeding. She must have scraped herself as she jumped down.
Alarmed, Jellal rushed to Erza. "Are you okay?" His eyes filled with worry as he stared at the wound. Unlike the time Jellal found Erza at the alleyway of the shops, he could not rush to the convenience store to buy some bandages and water. In fact, we had no idea where he even was. What am I supposed to do?! I don't have my phone, a batman signal, or anything.
He slipped off the flannel he was wearing and wrapped it around Erza's knee. "Um, does that feel better?"
Erza sighed. "I-it's nothing anyways. Just a scrape."
"Just a scrape?! What if you get an infection or something?!" Jellal replied, unintentionally raising his voice that silenced the redhead. "We gotta find some way to get back to Marco-sensei. We need to climb back to the other side."
He stood up and offered his hand to Erza, who accepted it. He couldn't help but realize how warm and welcoming her hands were, but he immediately discarded the thought.
The two slowly made their way to the fence and carefully climbed back to the other side, since no bear was chasing them. As soon as they made it to the other side, Jellal squatted in front of Erza, his back facing her.
"W-what?" Erza asked, confused.
"I'll carry you. It's a piggyback ride."
"What?!"
He stood up and faced Erza. "I said, I'm carrying you back to camp. Get on."
"But I already burdening you so much. I feel so bad because. . ."
"Because. . .?"
"Well, you're always helping me. Do I seem like a pitiful person?"
"No, it's just that I care about you, Erza." What the hell did my stoopid mouth just say?
"Wait, what?"
"Nothing." Jellal lied and before Erza knew it, the bluehead swept Erza onto his back. Erza gasped at the sudden surprise. "Don't whine or anything or else I'm gonna lose my focus," he warned.
With that, Erza stopped protesting and she hesitantly placed her head on crook of Jellal's neck. "Okay, let's go," Jellal announced before starting the walk.
Did Jellal just say he cared about me? Erza thought, and she couldn't help but smile at the thought.
Erza focused on the sound of Jellal's shoes as it crunched the twigs on the ground. With each breath, she inhaled his cologne, which made her calm and all she felt was his warmth. His sweat trickled down his neck and slid onto her hand, but she didn't mind.
Soon, Erza realized his steps made her rock at a steady rhythm and her eyes grew heavy with exhaustion.
"Hey, Erza," Jellal called.
"Yeah?"
"You're not sleepy are you?"
"N-no, of course not," the redhead replied in a drowsy voice.
"Ah, you liar. Just take a nap. It'll be a long time before we get anywhere."
"Mm," Erza hummed in response. She tried to fight the weariness, but she knew she was losing. She kept on staring at the sweat beads that formed on Jellal's neck but soon, all she could see was the darkness that overtook her eyes.
"Yah! Erza Scarlet, wake up! We gotta eat dinner!"
Erza her body rocked back and forth until someone decided to throw a pillow in her face. Irritated, the redhead's eyes flickered open to see she was back at her dorm. She saw Lucy putting on a sweatshirt and a clock that read seven o'clock. The blonde caught sight of Erza and she motioned the redhead to get up. "Let's go."
Erza nodded and rose. Now that she thought about it. . .how did she even get back? She checked her knee, and they were all bandaged and cleaned. The flannel? It was gone now.
"Where did you even go during the game?" Lucy asked. "Gray and Natsu won, and no one knew where you and Jellal went so the game. And by the time I came back to the dorm, you were already back."
"I was sick," Erza lied, and Lucy bought the excuse.
Erza quickly changed into a set of casual clothes before heading out to the main hall with her best friend. There, she expected to see Jellal, so she could at least thank him, but he wasn't there. Instead, was Lyon with his suitcases who was talking to Miss Strauss.
Erza ran up to him. "A-are you leaving early, Lyon-san?"
Lyon nodded, but he immediately frowned. "I'm going back to Magnolia because my family's going on vacation, but. . .I kinda regret it now because Jellal's all sick and such."
"Wait, what?"
"That kid, Jellal, he's sick right now. Jeez, I told him that he gotta watch out for himself before we played Assassin. Well, he just decided to disappear and next thing I knew, he was back in our room."
Erza blinked her eyes in disbelief. "What room is he in?"
"Room 2-155. But you can't go there because it's in the boy's section, remember? But, Jellal passed out and now he's sleeping in his room, not wanting to eat dinner, not wanting to talk to me. I would help, but I need to leave real soon."
"Oh," Erza said. In her chest, there was a tug in her heart because she knew that it was partially her fault. Correction, all her fault.
Erza said her goodbyes to Lyon and during the entire time she ate dinner, she couldn't help but think about Jellal. Was she going crazy? Even when Lucy suggested the two to go back to the dorm to sleep early, Erza declined because she knew how unsettled she felt.
After dinner, Erza strolled alone in campgrounds mindlessly. But her mind kept on replaying the same event of the day, no matter how hard she tried to push the thought away. She just kept on walking and walking until she found a familiar number.
2-155. She stood in front of the room. She's not supposed to be here. Come to think of it, how did she get here despite all the supervisors? How did she instinctively know where 2-155 was? How did she even get here? Erza got no clue. She hesitantly reached up to the doorbell and pressed it.
The door clicked open and a tired Jellal poked his head out. "Erza Scarlet?" He opened the door to let the girl in.
As Erza walked in, she couldn't help but notice his bicep muscles, since this was the first time she saw him wearing a tank top. Wait. . .what was up with her today? Why is she always staring at Jellal like a creep?!
The boy didn't say anything and went back to his bed. He tucked himself back underneath the sheets and closed his eyes.
Erza took a nearby chair and set it next to Jellal's bed. Well, he didn't look sick. Just that he was really pale, hyperventilating, and murmuring gibberish. Okay, maybe he really is sick.
"Jellal?" Erza called in a quiet voice. It would prove disadvantageous to him, but advantageous to many. That was what Ultear said. She was scared Jellal was just going to jump up in a fit and bash Erza's head against the wall.
"Hm?" His voice was weak and shaky.
"I'm going to get some water for you, okay?" Erza stood up and was about to head to the room's fridge when she felt a tightening on her wrist. She looked down and saw Jellal's hand wrapped around her wrist.
"D-don't go," he said, pleading like a child. He sounded like he was going to cry if Erza really did leave, so the redhead had no choice but to sit back down. Erza already knew her face was turning to the color of her hair, which must be so ridiculous of her.
"Titania," Jellal called. Erza perked up, surprised that he had called her by her nickname. "I missed you."
Erza choked on her own spit. "What?"
"Aww," the bluehead complained, back in his child mode. "You forgot already."
"Forgot what?"
"Don't you remember the summer three years ago?"
And that's when suddenly, everything clicked for Erza Scarlet and she was whirled back to the Magnolia beaches with the crisp blue skies of summer.
Okay, actually this chapter was so cringey and even I was cringing as I reread it. :) What am I doing with my life when I have 4 tests to study for? Rip me. #pray4chs2k16
Toodles, my amazing readers.
~CHS