goaway071: lol, thanks?
Chai Chandler: Thank you, I'm glad you like my stories! This one was super fun to write! Though it's my second fairy tail crossover, I just posted this one first.
Wishfull-star: I thought everyone might like a crossover that's NOT My Hero Academia! I finished editing the second Fairy Tail crossover and also the Avatar: Last Airbender one, too! Finally!
After dinner, which was delicious even if it was minimal, he was allowed to sleep in the lounge room. He slept on a comfortable couch under a blanket, and he felt he was living like a king. This was so wonderfully comfortable, and Erza said it was their least comfortable couch. Then he wanted to keep this couch and sleep on it every night.
He went to sleep, but in the morning was surprised it had not all been a dream. Magic just sounded so… imposbbile and unrealistic, even though he somehow had his own that he didn't know about, didn't remember. Ace wondered if it would actually be useful on jobs. At least, ones that weren't for fighting bad guys. Other guilds, as Erza said there were dark guilds that existed.
When he went out to the main room for breakfast, there was someone new there with pink hair and an open vest and pants with a… skirt? Robe? But only as bottoms. There was also a talking blue cat, so that was new. Gray didn't have his clothes on again, and Ace was wearing a shirt.
He sat at the bar to eat, and made conversation with Mirajane again. She really seemed ike a genuinely nice person. "Do you get tips? Waiting tables and all?"
"Oh, no, I get payed by the guild. Technically, I'm an employee. I do get paid since I don't go out on jobs." Ace asked why curiously, eating his pancakes. "My sister died on the job. I couldn't return to it in the end."
"My brothers died, too," Ace said. Then he blinked. Why had he said that? He had a dead brother? Wait, more than one? She looked surprised too, her eyebrows raised. "I don't remember having any brothers, but that felt like the truth. That's sad," he said with a frown. He wondered if everyone else in his family was dead, too. "Sorry if that totally sounded like I was one upping you or some shit. I'm sorry for your loss."
She waved it off, and said, "I know you weren't trying to be insensitive. I'm sorry for your loss, as well. Losing any family member hurts." Ace had a flat voice and said he wouldn't know. "Maybe you'll remember, like you said before." Ace nodded, and finished his pancakes. He cheered up, not wanting to be sad anymore. More like bittersweet in a way. Due to this feeling, he assumed it happened not recently.
"Hey, you!" Ace turned and saw it was the pink haired one. Ace already knew everyone's names from Erza schooling them on both their names and magic. Ace waved. "You control fire, too?" Ace nodded. "Fire off!" Natsu announced. "Let's compete!"
"I don't think would be a good idea. I'm not very used to using it right now," Ace replied.
"Aww, damn it! You should just try anyways!" Natsu said brightly. He didn't seem angry that they both had fire powers. Ace wondered if it was the same. "I wonder what your fire tastes like, too." Ace blinked a few times in confusion. He hadn't heard about Natsu eating fire. Ace wondered if fire tasted good. "Hell yeah! It tastes great," he replied.
Ace grinned, and said he wanted to know what his flames tasted like, too. "Can you eat fire, too?!" the other teen exclaimed.
"No, and I'm not gonna try. I want to see what you think of the fire." Natsu was all for this. Ace stood in the middle of the room, and took a deep breath before lighting his hand on fire, not letting it shoot out and cause damage. It made him sweat, he wasn't used to using it, maybe. Natsu hurried over and sucked up the fire, but it sucked up his whole arm.
"Ah! I ate your arm!" he screamed, trying to spit out the flames. But once he stopped sucking, Ace's arm reformed out of fire. "Phew!" Natsu sighed in relief. Ace was more confused. "Are you like, made of fire, or something? That's really different from mine!"
"It's good they're not the same!" Happy exclaimed. Ace honestly said he had no idea how his fire worked. But he asked what his fire tasted like. If it tasted like burnt meat. It was probably really gross to say that, but he couldn't help it. Natsu said it tasted kind of sour.
"Should I be offended?" Ace asked.
"Nah! Macao's fire tastes like how shit smells." Ace was disgusted, and made that face, and made him laugh brightly. "I'm not gonna eat you again, though. That was freaky. You're not so bad after all! As long as our fire isn't the same, it's not a big deal. We could be fire buddies!" Ace snickered.
He said he'd be useless on a job. "So would Natsu. All he does is destroy shit."
"You're not one to talk, Gray," Cana said, who was said to be a perpetual drunk. "And put some clothes on." Ace wished he could be shirtless, but it seemed to not be approved of. Though Natsu had an open vest, so maybe Ace could have an open shirt too or something. Gray ignored her, his shirt and pants thrown in the back of the room somehow. He didn't care.
Gray said he wanted to try something. "Don't worry, you'll be fine in a bit." Ace didn't know what to expect him to do, but he was on guard. But he didn't expect Gray to send a spike of ice into his arm. But the spike passed right through his body, as if he was intangible. Many grew angry with Gray potentially stabbing Ace. "He's fine, don't worry," he waved it off.
Ace was surprised by his own ability. "So, am I intangible? I mean, others have touched me and I am clearly solid, aren't I?" He picked up an empty and abandoned mug just to prove it. They didn't know, and Ace asked for them to use their magic against him. He grinned, and wondered just what he could handle.
Then commenced the guild attempting to use their magic on him. Some worked while others didn't. While things that were meant to penetrate or harm his body in a physical way didn't work, with him being unable to be burnt or stabbed with Gray's ice or Erza's more basic weapons, Cana's cards did work, and he was electrocuted. Warren could use his on him, but that was non-invasive or physical.
Over all, it seemed that Ace was hard to physically be wounded by sharp things or blunt objects. But he wasn't immune to all magic. "That's really cool," Happy said. "But Natsu's fire is better!" Natsu agreed.
Erza said, "They're just very different. We don't know how Ace is at fighting with his magic. His magic could just be him being intangible. The fire did no damage before at the bar." She looked thoughtful. "It could be very strong magic, once you get used to using it." Gray asked if he wanted to fight with a grin.
"Not on the property," Makarvo shouted. Ace didn't think he would die by fighting with Gray, and if he did get injured, he assumed they'd be minor. But Gray said it wouldn't be with their magic, he wanted to fight Ace physically.
"If he wins, that means he can beat you, too, Natsu. Cause you always lose against me," Gray sneered.
"I do not!" Natsu raged back, and they both became aggressive with each other almost instantly. But Erza said she'd like to see Ace's fighting skill as well. After all, it wasn't like he wasn't fit. He was very muscular compared to the average person. Gray asked if she was checking him out. Ace turned a bit red, feeling like they were talking as if he wasn't in the room. "I'm just stating a fact," she said cooly, not flustered at all.
But Ace felt an immense amount of pressure now, to impress and not look weak. But he agreed, not wanting to seem like a coward this time. As long as he didn't need to use his fire and risk hurting someone or something, he was okay to fight. So they went out the back, which had a yard area with some benches, but it was nothing very special. A lot of wasted space.
There were a lot of weeds that Ace wanted to get rid of. Ace and Gray stood across from one another. Ace took a deep breath, and imagined himself turning off his planning skill, and just going off of instinct, and if he was a natural fighter. After all, he had no idea what he as like before yesterday. He could have been a professional fighter and not know it.
Ace shot forward before Gray got ready, and decked him in the face, dodging any punch. He didn't hesitate to play dirty and kicked his nuts and then nailed his face with his knee. Then he dodged a punch against and kicked his chest away. Blood was from Gray's nose, and he looked stunned. Ace felt he went too far.
"Nahahaha! I knew Gray was weak!" Natsu taunted. Erza looked surprised, and those watching from the guild and out the big double doors were shocked.
"Did I go too far?" he asked uncomfortably. Happy reminded him that Gray was the one to challenge him. It was his fault he got beat up. Gray stood up and wiped the bloody nose. He asked who went for the nuts when fighting. "An underhanded fighter," Ace replied. "Hah, I guess that's me, then, isn't it?"
Natsu wanted to challenge him, and Ace accepted. He felt Natsu would bug him about it constantly if he didn't agree. They stood across from one another while Gray held some ice to his nose and chest. A bruise was already forming. Ace did the same as he had with Gray, though not exactly, but Natsu was able to take more hits and nailed Ace in the face before Ace swiped his legs and dropped onto his chest with his fist over Natsu's face.
He was sweaty now, and Natsu had gotten a hit to the face. But it didn't matter because it didn't hurt him. Blunt strikes didn't seem to hurt him due to his body being made of fire. Natsu had a bloody lip, but that was really it. "Heh, you're a good fighter!" Natsu grinned. "I like you!" he announced. Ace smiled. "But my fire is better. Yours is sour."
Ace rolled his eyes. He was glaring at the weeds, and finally went and ripped them all out and burnt them. The three looked at him with raised brows. "It appears that I'm a neat freak," he explained bluntly. Erza said it was better than what Gray and Natsu left after jobs. Gray accused Erza as being just as bad. She wrecked things as well. "That isn't the point."
"You're just shrugging off blame-" she glared at him, and he instantly backed off. Ace snickered, and went inside to pick out a job, a bit more confident in himself and his unknown skills. Ace looked at the board, but had no idea what to choose. What was fire useful for? What was it dangerous for?
He mentally crossed off any jobs having to do with environment or animals. Anything that could easily burn. He couldn't avoid people, that was just impossible and irrational. Natsu was noisy, so Ace knew he was coming over without even looking. "Hey, come with me! I heard Igneel was somewhere!" Ace had no real clue how Natsu would know where a dragon was, but he also realized head no idea if dragons existed here. Erza had said Natsu said he was raised by a dragon, but he could be lying. But he knew he wasn't.
"Do dragons exist here?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot you were dumb."
"Very dumb," Ace agreed patiently. "Do dragons live here?" The pink haired teen said that he was raised by a dragon but he disappeared seven years ago. "Are there many? Do they raise a lot of children?" Ace asked in great interest.
Natsu said, "Well, nobody here says they ever saw or heard of a dragon in real life. I don't know about other dragon slayers, but Igneel was real! And I'm still looking for him out on jobs and everything. I chase rumors!"
"But the rumors are always wrong," Happy said, sitting Natsu's head.
"Hey, don't be so negative!" Natsu shouted to his pet cat. "So will you come?" Ace said he had to have money to pay for himself to live somewhere. He couldn't mooch off of the guild forever. "Of course you can! Just cry and beg and they'll le you stay! Or maybe keep saying you're dumb and don't know anything and they'll feel bad for you!"
He was being way too loud, and Makarov told him Ace could live there if he paid rent. "But I want him to help me!" Natsu whined.
"You give me half of the money on jobs. Then I'll go with you. Maybe I can find a place to live. Like a treehouse."
"Living in a treehouse would be awesome." Ace wondered why he would ever want to live in a treehouse. He would be vulnerable to the elements. So why did he say that? Oh well, maybe he liked a treehouse when he was a kid and that thought just stuck with him and showed up out of nowhere. "But I'll split." Ace grinned, and said he'd go with him.
"Alright, I gotta get my backpack. Happy, make sure he doesn't leave while I'm gone."
"Aye, sir!" Happy declared, and Natsu zipped away. Ace waited for a moment before asking if there was something he should take. "You have nothing, what would you take?"
"That sounded really mean, but also sadly true," Ace sighed. "All I got are shorts and some boots. Not even socks. Why would I ever wear boots without socks?" Ace wondered. Happy said all he carried around in his sack was a fish for snacks and he was fine. "You're also a cat. Talking, but you don't need clothes or blankets or anything. Natsu is your owner."
Happy gasped in offense, and yelled that he wasn't a pet, he was Natsu's friend. Ace apologized for offending him. "You'll never fit in with us! You're too polite, Ace." The teen said perhaps Natsu's penchant for disrespect could even out with his respect. "Or he'll become like you."
"Maybe."
"Or you'll sink to his level. Puhuhu," Happy said. Ace sighed, but didn't respond. Natsu took all of ten minutes to pack a bunch of shit in a backpack, and asked what Ace was bringing. "Ace has nothing, what would he pack?"
"Please stop saying that," Ace said. "You better be planning on sharing the blanket. I'm not sleeping on the dirty ground after that amazing couch. My expectations will forever be compared with that couch."
"Wow, you have bad taste in furniture." Happy told Natsu their house had no real furniture, they just threw everything together. Ace wondered what kind of place Natsu and Happy lived in. He imagined it was very messy. "Besides, you're made of fire, aren't you? Do you even get cold?" Ace shrugged, but said he still expected to have some of the blanket. "Fine. We'll share," Natsu said. "Let's go find Igneel!"
The three left the guild, and Ace had to follow Natsu because he had no idea where anything of importance was. Where that amazing train station was or stores or really anything. He knew his way to the park, he remembered that at least. He followed him to the train and they got on. It looked like official guild wizards rode for free. They just had to show their marks. Ace got his on his wrist, easy to see and present. Plus he could cover it with a wrist band if ever necessary. It was painless and stuck on like a tattoo. It was removable, but Ace wasn't planning on doing so anytime soon, at least.
"Wow, this is amazing!" Ace said as they got onto the train. Natsu didn't seem as interested or excited. Ace wondered at everything, and wanted to go to the front of the train and see what the engine room looks like. They went to an empty car and sat down. Ace looked at Natsu and how miserable he looked. "Aren't you excited to go and maybe find Igneel? Why do you look so depressed?"
Happy said Natsu got terrible motion sickness. "Its too far to walk, probably."
"I know… and too far to fly," Natsu said sadly. He slumped in his seat, and the moment the train got going, with Ace still in irrational awe, Natsu's face turned green and he looked like he was really going to throw up. The train station they were going to based on flimsy evidence was an hour away. Ace didn't that that was terrible. But he did feel for the guy who was clearly feeling very ill.
"Here, try eating my fire."
"Why would that help?" Happy asked. But Natsu managed to open his mouth enough for Ace to flick a good chunk of fire inside, glad the fire was able to part with his body and it wasn't only him that was flaming. Natsu chewed on it, and then his face looked a bit less green. "Whoa, it helped!" Happy said in shock.
"Only cause it's so gross," Natsu said, but he was happy he didn't feel sick, too. Ace didn't take it as an insult. Though he probably could not take a second opinion given the fact that he was sure not many people, even in this magic filled world, ate fire. Ace looked out the window at the changing scenery.
He looked over the river, and a chill ran down his spine. He wasn't cold though. "Hey. If I ever fall into a river or lake or something, save me," Ace said firmly. Both of his new travel buddies looked surprised. "The last thing I remember from before Levy found me was that I was drowning." Happy and Natsu looked very serious, and Happy asked if Ace couldn't swim. "I'm not sure. As of now, I'm not confident in water." Happy promised he'd save him if he was drowning. Ace smiled and thanked them.
"That would be a lame way to die," Natsu commented bluntly.
"Yeah, I agree. Though I can't think of a not lame way to die. Even in a fight, dying means you lost, right?"
"You've ruined the prospect of death for me, jerk," the dragon slayer complained. Ace sighed. This might be a long trip. The ride wasn't near long enough to need to sleep, but Ace did fall asleep, and missed most of the ride. "Don't worry, we have to take it back to Magnolia," Natsu said as Ace looked depressed getting off the train.
Ace asked where they were looking first. "Where should we?"
"I don't know, I've never been here," Ace replied. "Or anywhere. What does Igneel look like?" Natsu said he was a big, red dragon. "Oh. Then why are we in the city?" Ace wondered. Natsu had no answer, and Ace mused, "What if Igneel used magic to turn into a person?"
"Ah!" Natsu shouted, pointing at Ace. "Happy! That's a great idea!" Happy gave Ace a nasty look, and Ace thought he just seriously messed up.
He said, "I was only musing. Like, a 'what if' situation. I don't think it is how it happened."
"How would you know, you don't know anything?" They were so honest it was getting annoying. But he had a point. Ace knew most basics about magic by now, but didn't know as much as Natsu, who had had magic for a long time and lived in a magic world his entire life.
This city was not spotless like Magnolia. "This place is a dump," he stated, picking up a can and tossing it away. "Why would Igneel come here, anyways?"
"Not everyone is a neat freak," Happy said. "You're the only one really." It was better than always being dirty or living in crap. Not that he ever knew he did that. Maybe he had lived in the slums or a messy house before, and being clean just came over with him when he lost his memories. Maybe the hate of messes was so deeply ingrained that it would come anywhere with him.
Ace was easily distracted when he saw things in the windows of shops. He walked into a magic store and looked around in interest. "What can I get you today, good sir?" the clerk asked politely.
"I'm just curious," Ace replied honestly. The polite demeanor of the man changed immediately, and he asked Ace to leave if he wasn't going to buy anything. He grumbled as he left the shop, and looked around to find Natsu and Happy gone. He put his hand to his face and groaned. "Natsu! Happy! Where'd you go!?" he called. He even waited in the same spot for a good five minutes for them to return. Well shit. Now he was lost and alone.
He wandered around a bit, looking for Natsu and Happy before he got distracted again by book stores with magic spell books on display. He could grab it and run easy, but he didn't want to commit a crime and risk being kicked out of the guild. It would be a complete waste, but he had no money. Ace saw through the window of another store as a young woman tried to look sexy, and got free stuff. Hmmm.
Walking into the store, completely not thinking about his travel mates, he walked to the counter. "If I take my shirt off for you, will you give me that book?"
"Huh?" the woman asked in confusion.
"I saw a woman across the street do that. Do you think it would work for me? I think I'm conventionally attractive," he said awkwardly. The woman burst into laughter, and Ace's face flushed. She kept laughing, but it paid off, as she offered him the book for just the good laugh and story he'd given her. "Wow, really?!"
"Women take personality over looks any time, kid," she said, and handed him the spell book for free! Nice! Didn't go how he imagined, but it worked regardless. He walked down the street and looked at the book. There were all sorts of different types of magic circles, and he wondered if people were supposed to draw this. Could he create money? Well, probably not or it would mess up things. But it would be cool. How would someone be able to replicate money and fake it? And why was he thinking like a criminal? Was he a criminal before he lost his memory?
He was naturally polite. Were criminals polite? Hmm. So many questions. He wandered away with the book and found a park, sitting on the bench to read further. He was glad he was able to read just fine. When he got back, he'd ask Mira about all these spells. He shoved the book between his shorts and hip, and decided he should probably look for Natsu, now.
Now he couldn't put the full blame on the other teen because he'd been distracted, too. He looked for Happy, since a flying blue cat would be pretty noticeable. But he found none until he looked in the window of a restaurant and saw Natsu stuffing his face like an animal. He got food without him!
Running into the diner, he demanded to know why they wandered off. "You're the one that wandered off, not us!"
"I went into a store and came out and you guys were gone. You could have waited ten seconds before I was kicked out."
"Puhuhu, cause you have no money." Ace pulled out the book, and said he'd gotten it for free. "You stole it? That's against guild rules." Ace said he wasn't dumb, he'd charmed the store lady and she gave it to him for free. "Hmm…" Happy mumbled, seeming unconvinced. Ace sat down and took some oft he food for himself. "You're dirt poor, too, how did you afford this?" Ace asked, also stuffing his face, though much less messy than the pink haired teen.
"We charmed a lady into giving it to use for free." Ace sighed, but was grateful for free food. And good free food. The freckled teen wondered how on earth Natsu had charmed someone into giving him something like a ton of food for no charge. He didn't ask, feeling he'd not get a good answer.
Happy brought up the girl that gave them the meal, and said she'd gone off about wizards and magic and guilds like they had no idea what it was. "She didn't even let us talk. Then we would have said we were in a guild, but she was self absorbed." Ace didn't mention that both of them seemed to fit that description in varying severity. As they left, with Ace stacking all the plates perfectly and wiping up most of the mess with a napkin before leaving the table, he asked if getting into guilds was that hard.
After all, he sort of just walked inside, was nice, and was invited to join. "You got brought by team Shadow Gear. You didn't just walk inside. Usually it's hard to get into guilds without connections," Natsu said. "Hah, yours was super lucky though. You having amnesia scored you points."
"What a womanizer," Happy said. Ace ignored this, and asked what they were supposed to do now. He'd had no luck finding Igneel in any form, but definitely not as a dragon. It didn't make sense for anything huge to be in the middle of a city in the first place, even if dragons were a total part of normal society and were plentiful in the current times.
They made it to an overlook of the ocean and bay beyond. It was pretty, but Ace wanted to go nowhere near the ocean. He saw a big fancy boat in the distance. "That Salamander guy said they were having a party on his big yacht, right?"
"What's a yacht?"
"It's a fancy, expensive boat."
"Oh, okay," Ace replied, glad he got a straight answer. "They're having a party? How do you know?"
"We overheard." Both he and Ace turned to the side when they heard some women gossiping over the Fairy Tail wizard throwing a party. Everyone wanted to go, but weren't invited. Ace was interested, and wondered if wizards ever went on fancy vacations. And if they made enough money to buy a yacht. "That's not someone from Fairy Tail!" Natsu said angrily.
Ace was taken aback by the anger in his voice. "How do you know?"
"I saw his face. He's not a Fairy Tail wizard, he's using our name!" Then he had Happy pick him up and fly him to the ship, leaving Ace behind, glaring. Ace took a deep, calming breath. This was very annoying. He wanted to go back. So, he walked to the port area, looking at the yacht that Natsu was no doubt on by now.
Ace stood there before sitting down and putting his feet in the water. He waited for anything to happen, unable to hear or see what was going on in the ship. When he looked up from the other boats, and he heard screaming, he saw as the yacht was send hurtling towards the port. Ace barely got out of the way before the whole thing slammed down.
"Whoa, it is fancy," Ace mumbled. He got on, interested on the inside, wrecked though it may be. He heard a scuffle going on, and Natsu shouting. Well, he was probably engaging with the fake wizard, so Ace didn't go and see or help, finding no real reason to. Natsu wasn't in trouble. So he explored the broken ship in the parts that were empty.
He saw a fancy ring and picked it up. He didn't put it on, and pocketed it before realizing what he did. Well, this guy was a fake! He was an enemy of Fairy Tail, surely it was fine for Ace to take it. He'd ask Happy and Natsu once they were done. He did find some spell books, and added them to his own free book.
This time, he didn't mind. He entered the main room to see Natsu standing at the beaten bodies of people, the room on fire. Happy was there. "You assholes left me again. Oh, you're that girl from the shop!" The blonde one who used her body to get a cheaper sale on something. Though Ace topped her and got his for free without degrading himself. Not that being shirtless bothered him.
"Ah, this is a mess!"
"Don't clean it up, its not worth it," Natsu said. They heard the sounds of shouting, and Ace asked if those were police. "They're the army! We're running!" Ace snatched up everything valuable in the room and ditched along with his guild mates and the woman. Apparently they were bringing her to Fairy Tail, too.
Ace jogged alongside them, turning around and jogging backwards. "They look really angry. Was that illegal?"
"Natsu did send a ship slamming into the port, so probably!" Happy said. "What's that? Did you steal that?"
"Yeah. Hey, you just beat a guy up and destroyed a ship! I think taking some forgotten books is less of an offense than that," Ace grumbled. "Besides, I got some good ones!" he held the three books to his chest as they lost the army behind them. "Oh, and some fancy jewelry," he added about the handful of rings in his pocket.
They made it to where the woman, Lucy, had been staying and got her suitcases. Happy kept his tail wrapped around Ace's wrist so he didn't wander off in the interesting shopping center. They headed to the train, and Lucy was now part of their compartment. She looked extremely excited, beaming and tapping her foot, waiting for the train to leave.
"Are you a member of Fairy Tail, too?" Ace nodded, and said he'd joined the day before yesterday. "Really?"
"Ace joined because he forgot everything and is cute." That was about right, though.
"I saw you in the store earlier. You climbed onto the counter and tried to bargain." Lucy looked awkward about it. "I tried that, but it didn't work the same. But I got something for free anyways. One I didn't steal. And look at this. What is it? It doesn't look like regular jewelry," he said, holding out the ring.
Lucy snatched it out of his hand and tossed it out the window. "Hey!" he said indignantly.
"That is an illegal magical object. Even if you did keep it, you wouldn't have been able to use it," she said simply. Ace said they could have sold it.
Happy asked if he was a criminal in another life. "You know, I was wondering that, too." Happy looked shocked and Natsu was sick. Ace didn't offer him fire because he was irritated with him. Ace should have checked to make sure he'd get paid for this, but instead he got a wasted journey and no money to try and find a place on his own. "I think I used to be a thief," he said honestly. "Don't tell anyone, I'm not gonna steal from the guild. That's wrong and would be stupid." Lucy looked wary of him, and Ace realized he'd ruined their meeting. Well, if they were going to be going to the same guild, they'd get to know one another better.
Ace did ask if Fairy Tail had rules against crimes, considering what Natsu just did. "I mean, it's recognized under the government as an official guild. I'm sure stealing would be looked down on." Ace frowned and slumped. "Um, so your name's Ace, right?" Ace nodded, though he was in a funk. He shouldn't have said anything. "I won't tell anybody," she promised.
Happy said he'd keep a secret too, but Ace doubted that. Natsu was too sick to say anything and Ace turned to his new books. His only books. They were interesting as well as confusing, and he finished each page having no clue what anything he'd read actually meant. But at least he didn't have to pay for them.
He fell asleep again, and woke when they got back. Ace walked like a zombie to the guild, holding his books, and feeling discouraged and hungry. He entered through the closed doors, and groaned. Mira came out, the only one left right now since it was pretty late. "Oh, how'd it go?"
"Natsu ditched me twice. And I got some books. But I don't understand them at all," he said honestly. "At least I got something from the trip. I'll go on a job tomorrow and make some money." She wished him goodnight, and he went to the wonderful couch to sleep like a baby.
Natsu sure is a handful, and with Ace being polite and all, how will he handle being friends with him in the future? See you next time!