Chapter 6
As soon as the sun came up, Natsu was already seated in his usual chair. He was all dressed up already for his work, wearing white long sleeve shirt, ash gray blazer, and dark blue flat front dress pants. He was drinking his coffee when his sister came down and joined him for breakfast.
"Good morning Natsu-nii!" Wendy giddily greeted as she pulls the chair next to her brother and sit on it
"Morning Wendy, how's school?" Natsu asked as he puts down his cup of coffee then looks at his sister who was smiling happily next to him
"It's good, I'm excelling in Anatomy and Biology, I got both A in those classes" Wendy updated her brother before she started scooping up food for her plate
"What about chemistry?" Natsu continued to ask as he takes his cup again to sip his drink
"Umm, it's fine. Romeo is helping me, though, I sometimes mix up the formulas for chemical balancing and such..." Wendy replies before looking back at her brother, "You liked chemistry back in your school days right?"
"Yeah, I actually wanted to become a chemical engineer. But I had to take over our business" Natsu then smiles at the young girl whose smile somehow faltered, "Hey, I'm doing this so that you can pursue your dream to become a doctor"
"Natsu-nii..." Wendy suddenly felt her eyes become watery
"No dramas, please...It's too early for those tears" A voice suddenly came, making the two Dragneel children to look back and saw their mother enter the dining hall followed by their father, "Good morning..."
Natsu quickly stands and bows before his parents as a respect, making Wendy follow next. Grandine suddenly stiffens at the odd behavior of her children making her annoyed, "Why are you two bowing?"
"Uhh... Okaasan, we are just giving respect" Wendy said before she started fiddling with her fingers
"Well, I'd rather have a hug and kiss instead of those stiff gestures…" Grandine opens her arms and awaits the hug she has been waiting for from her children. And soon enough, Wendy runs up to her mother and tightly hugs the older bluenette. Despite the hesitation, Natsu slowly walks to his mother and hugs the woman as tight as possible and place a kiss to her temple.
"Good morning mom…"
"Good morning…" Grandine then places her hands to the young man's cheek and smile dearly to her son, "have you eaten?"
Loving the warmth of his mother's hand, Natsu smiles back genuinely and nods, "Yes, I have. And I have to go"
"Now?" Grandine then runs her hands to her son's collar and fixes before she flatly places her hand to her son's chest, "Can't you sat a bit longer for breakfast and join us?"
"I'd love too, but. . .I have to go" Natsu then grabs his mother's hand and kisses her knuckles, then her cheeks, "Bye" and with that Natsu walks away from his mother, shuffling the hair of the younger bluenette-haired girl then disappears.
Grandine couldn't help but frown as she watches her son leave their home. When the man was no longer in view, she quickly looks at the red-haired man and glared at him as if she was trying to burn his soul.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Igneel asks nonchalantly as he kept his gaze to the newspaper he was turning
"Because I'm mad at you" Grandine sternly replies before she pulls her chair and sits down angrily
"And what did I do to make you mad?" Igneel then slowly looks at his wife with his cold gaze
"You are making my son suffer" Grandine then hisses at the man who just chuckled, finding it amusing
"Love, it's not my fault that our son has to go to work" Igneel quickly ignores the annoyed look that his wife was sending, and he just continues to read the newspaper
"But it's a Saturday! You could always tell him to take a rest!" Grandine finally flaring up in anger as she slams the table with her fist. Wendy who was eating silently in her spot felt how her mother felt so when the table suddenly shook, she taken aback because her mother would never show such emotion.
"Grandine, get hold of your emotions." Igneel reprimands harshly as he firmly looks at his wife, "You over reacting things"
"Well for you I may be over reacting but don't you feel it Igneel?!" Grandine shouted as she stood making the chair screech loudly, "I'm losing my son because of your damn business!"
"Grandine!" Igneel exclaimed, making the blue-haired woman even furious
"Enough Igneel! I won't tolerate this cold treatment you have for your children or for my children!" And with that Grandine walks away from her spot and walks to Wendy to grab her hands and leave the red-haired man alone in the dining hall.
As Natsu arrives in the Dragneel Art Corp., almost everyone in the building was surprised to see the President of the company enter the almost empty building. Since it was a Saturday, not much staff were present but only few art scouts who had an incoming art exhibit to attend to and just had some errands to do. Lissana quickly sees her friend and runs up to the man who was thinking silently as he walks.
"Mr. Dragneel!" Lissana shouted as she runs up to the man
Natsu quickly glances at his back and sees his silver-haired friend. Smiling towards his colleague, he patiently waits as Lissana runs up to him. "Morning Ms. Strauss"
"Morning sir" Lissana playful smiles at her boss before she walked along with the president
As the two just silently walks towards the office of the president, people around would give a skeptical look at them, but Lissana just shrugs it off and soon enough they enter the large room. "So, it's a Saturday, and the president is here…"
"Yes," Natsu plainly replies as he walks towards his table and places his bag on top of his desk, "Is that bad?" Natsu then questions the silver-haired beauty as he sits down to his chair
"Not really but it's just surprising because technically you don't need to come to the office on a weekend. It's your off" Lissana answers back as she walks closer to the man while her arms were crossed under her chest
"I know" Natsu just then smiles before he took his laptop out of his bag and began to turn it on
"So, yeah, why are you here?" Lissana insistently asks
Noticing the tone that Lissana used, Natsu quickly looks up at the woman before he slumps his back to his chair, "Because I need to finish some paper works that is needed by tomorrow. There is this one exhibit that-"
"Wait" Lissana suddenly interrupts with her hands up, making the man stop in the middle of his explanation, "So you're saying, you came to the office to submit some paper works that could be done at your home and yet you still decide to come to the office?"
"Uhh. . .Yeah"
"Your stupid" Lissana unempathetically insults making the pink-haired man scratch his head in defeat
"Okay, I'm stupid."
"Natsu, this is not you. So, I don't understand why you're here? You'd rather sleep all day or eat two boxes of pizza by yourself as you play your video games" Lissana scolds as she places her hands to her hips as she tries to show how mad she is
"Alright, I get it you're mad. The truth is . . . I just need to distract myself" Natsu timidly replies as he kept his gaze to his friend
"Distraction? Why do you need a distraction?" Lissana curiously asks as she relaxes her shoulder after hearing her friends unusual answer
"Were you at the party last Thursday, in the bar?"
"Yeah, what about it? I heard you just disappeared after you said that you'd just get some beer." Lissana finally sits down in front of the man when she realizes that the conversation would get serious
"I did because I met this woman…" Natsu kept the fear inside as he watches the face of Lissana be surprised
"A woman again?" Lissana skeptically asks
"It's not any woman!" Natsu defends then he continues, "She reminded me of the woman I met at Levy's exhibit. Her eyes, her voice, her laugh, everything made me feel like I was with the same girl" Natsu unconsciously smiles, making Lissana raise her brow at the man, "I recall how she said my name, how soft her hands were when we shook hands, how her cheeks would redden and how she said that my hands were warm" Natsu then looks up at Lissana with a grin on his face
Lissana was not feeling good seeing how the man before her was like an in love man. It's not like she is against this undiscovered crush for the woman but it's just that she is worrying for his sake. "Ok look," Lissana then sits up straight which Natsu copied, "It's not that I don't like seeing you happy like this, but, I'm worried about this obsession or whatever you'd call it, that you have for this woman. Let me just remind you, you are engaged…"
Natsu's face slowly falters when he was reminded once again by the marriage he wasn't excited for, and which in fact he is fully aware of. "I know, that is why I need to distract myself from this woman and just mind my work and my engagement."
Lissana then sighs deeply as she looks back at her friend, very concerned, "Natsu if I just knew this woman, I would have introduced her to you personally. But, no matter what we do, you can never be in a relationship with that woman because you gave your word to the Zuhara family about the engagement."
"Lissana I get. I'm not pushing it, so you don't have to worry" Natsu insists as he tries to convince the woman, but it seems like he is not getting through with his defense.
"Well, I hope you really understand what you're saying because you don't sound like you're convinced with your words." Lissana just silently looks at her friend who seemed to lose his interest to work. After a few minutes of waiting, she slowly stands up, "How about this, I'll help you with a distraction. Let's eat out later for lunch, my treat"
Softly smiling at Lissana, Natsu looks down at his hands then back to the woman, "Alright, I'll hold on to that"
"Good. Now get your work done, and I'll pick you up" And with that Lissana walks away and heads out of the office.
When Lissana was no longer inside the office, Natsu tiredly slumps back to his office chair and twirls it around to look at the peaceful city he lives in. "I need to forget you…"
When lunch time came, true to her words, Lissana came back to the office to pick up the man and start heading out to have lunch. At first, Natsu was about to bail out when Lissana forcefully grabs his paper works and hides it away. Left with no choice, Natsu complies and leaves the office with his silver-haired friend.
Natsu was not the picky eater, he eats every kind of food. From street food to the most class meals but if he was to choose, he'd rather eat a home cooked meal. So deciding to eat something big, Lissana and Natsu decided to eat in a family diner that was established near different local stores. As usual, Natsu ordered almost everything in the menu which surprised the waitress. As for Lissana, she decided on a creamy carbonara with a slice of Hawaiian pizza
"Are you sure you not in a diet?" Natsu asks curiously when the waitress places the food of his friend
"Are you sure that you're not some monster in a human body? You look like you haven't eaten forever for all the meals you ordered" Lissana counter backs making them laugh together.
When the waitress finished placing all the food and left, the two quickly digs into their food. They started talking about their college days, their funniest moments with their friends and even the worst breakups. And soon enough, Lissana was done eating, having Natsu left behind to eat.
"I like to see you like this…" Lissana remarks as she places her glass of water, "You're like the same old Natsu we know. The Natsu who laughs at ridiculous things, acts weird, calls his friends names… You should be like that more often in the office"
"I'm still the same Lis. I just have to tone down that side though" Natsu replies before he shoves a spoonful of chili hot soup
"Well, your people would enjoy more their work if they see their boss smile like that…" Lissana defies, making Natsu smile wider hearing her reply
"I'll try."
"Don't try, do it. It's better" Lissana then smiles back at Natsu who just nods in agreement
Soon enough, Natsu and Lissana finished their meals and left the diner. It was a very satisfying meal and going back to work in a Saturday afternoon was a boring idea, so Lissana and Natsu decided to walk the streets of Magnolia first before they head back to the building.
As the two strolled around Magnolia, they saw different shops. From jewel shops to clothes to music stores. When the two had enough strolling, Lissana invited the pink-haired heir to go back to the office since they have been gone for almost two hours since they had lunch. So as they walked to a street that had a shortcut towards their building, Lissana and Natsu animated walks back to the Art corp.
As soon as the two made a turn to the corner of the street, Natsu quickly notices an odd shop, "Lissana look!" Natsu pointed childishly as he pulls the silver-haired beauty to stop
"What is it?" Lissana curiously asks as she looks around
"It's a costume shop!" Natsu exclaims excitedly. Soon Lissana was able to spot the store and audibly reads the name of the store, "Tadichiko's Costume House…" Lissana then glances at the man and gave a suspicious look, "You're kidding…"
"What? No! I thought you wanted me to act more of myself?" Natsu then smirks devilishly at his friend
"I hate you…"
"I know." And with that Natsu pulls Lissana to cross the street as they headed to the store
The store was almost empty and Natsu and Lissana were happy about it. When they opened the door, the door chimes suddenly ring making the man behind the counter to wake up.
"Kon'nichiwa!" Natsu greets giddily as he pulls Lissana inside the store
"Welcome to Tadichiko's…" The man then yawns before finishes his greeting, "costume house…"
"Uh, are you Tadichiko?" Lissana pryingly asks
"Yeah…Well, what costume are you looking for? We have everything you need" The brown haired man asks sleepily as he slowly stands up from his seat
"Everything?!" Natsu excitedly repeats making the owner of the shop snap out of his daze and nods furiously, "Well then, do you have a dragon costume?!"
"Uh…yeah, we do but it's in the special room for Halloween occasion" the owner then scratches his head in defeat
"Can I borrow it? Even better, I'll buy it!" Natsu cries out as he grins widely at the man who was taken aback
"Natsu! What are you going to do with a dragon costume?!" Lissana bellows as she slaps the man in the shoulder
"Just for fun at home…So," Natsu then looks back at the owner who was still stunned with the remark of the pink-haired president
"A-alright…I'll sell it to you for 10, 000 Jewels" the own suddenly smirks as if he won a lottery
"10,000 jewels? Alright." Natsu merrily nods at the man
"Good. How about you miss?" The owner then turns his attention to the silver haired woman who was shaking her head in disbelief
"Well, do you have a tigress costume?" Lissana then smiles sweetly at the man
"Yes, you can check it inside" The brown haired man the points to a curtained entrance, "You'll see a side where it's written animal costumes. There are plenty costumes to pick at, so feel free to choose from them"
"Okay, thank. Natsu," Lissana then glances at the man, "I'll just go inside, how about you?"
"I'll wait up here for my costume…" Natsu states before he shuffles the hair of the short beauty
And with that, the owner left Natsu to retrieve the costume while Lissana left to enter the costume room. As Natsu waited by the front desk, he suddenly notices a wall full of pictures. Walking closer to the wall, he notices that each picture had a pair image. One picture was a picture of a person then next to it would be a picture of the person wearing the costume. He was amazed at the pictures he was seeing. Some were ridiculous and funny while others were just simple and boring. As he continued to gaze at the pictures, he suddenly notices a picture that was standing alone. No pair.
Natsu walks closer to it and began to scrutinize the image. As he kept his gaze to the image, the image suddenly becomes as clear as the day, "Wait . . . Isn't this . . . It's her!" Natsu screams as he points at the photo before snatching it from the board.
Natsu held on to the photo as if it was going to disperse if he held it too light. Without noticing the owner returning, the voice of the man surprised Natsu and suddenly skipped in his spot, "Hey, why did you take that?"
"This?" Natsu raised the photo as he asked before looking at it back, "She looks…familiar"
"Oh, so you know her?" Tadichiko asks as he puts the large costume to one of the tables by the counter
"I'm not sure…" Natsu replies looking up at the man then quickly looks down to gaze at the familiar face, "Is this just a costume? Because I know her for having a different hair color" Natsu asks unconsciously thinking of the woman in the art gallery
"Yeah, that's her costume with her friend. Her friend actually used a purple hair while her a black hair." Tadichiko nonchalantly replies as he kept on doing the paper works for buy a costume
"Is her hair blonde?" Natsu suddenly looks up hopeful at the man, who just looks at him back curiously, "I mean, I remember . . . her hair was like . . . blonde?"
"Yeah, true. She has blonde hair and it's long, I even wondered how she was able to hide her hair perfectly over that wig" Tadichiko replies before he slams a clipboard in front if Natsu, "So, this is the papers you need to sign."
Hearing the confirmation from the owner that the woman he saw that Thursday night was indeed a long haired blonde woman. His smile just kept growing as he suddenly felt his guts tickle inside, knowing now that he really did see the woman in the art gallery once again.
Happily taking the pen to sign, he scribbles his signature then excitedly pulls out his credit card to pay the costume. Soon, Lissana came out of the costume room holding on to the tigress costume, feeling happy as well like a kid. "I'm borrowing this" Lissana said as she places the costume to the counter
"Lis!" Natsu shouts making the short silver-haired beauty jump in her spot
"What?!"
"I found her" Natsu calmly tells
"Who her?"
Natsu then raises the picture and smiles at Lissana, "The woman in the art gallery"
To be continued…