4: compromising.


Gray Fullbuster came out of his car wearing a black clerical outfit a priest would wear. Closing the door, he looked up at the house he was invited to. "Let's get this shit over with."

He walked over to the front door and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, a couple who looked to be in their late 30s or early 40s answered the door.

"Good evening," Gray said, bowing.

"Yes, good evening," the wife said.

"Please, come in," the husband said.

"Thank you so much," Gray humbly said before entering the house.

The house wasn't filled with much furniture and the little furniture in the house was spaced out. The light grey walls had no pictures hanging from them and the hardwood floor was polished to the point you could see your reflection. Gray was taken to the living room.

"So, please tell me about your child," Gray said as he sat down on the couch.

"We don't know...she was fine before...but suddenly she started acting out!" The wife said before breaking out into tears. The husband pulled her into a hug to comfort her.

Gray stood up. "I will have a look, ma'am. Please, when you're done, have your money prepared for me. I'm very expensive."

He took off his top and handed it to the husband. "?" The husband responded as he walked upstairs.

"I'm guessing this is the child's room..." Gray concluded when he reached a room upstairs. The chalkboard sign that read "Miki's Room Don't Enter" made it obvious.

Gray knocked on the door before entering. "You're Miki, right?"

He was finally able to get a full view of the room. The window was cracked and the walls looked like it was scratched by wild animals. Anything that was glass in the room was shattered on the floor. Miki's arms and legs were tied to each post of her bed by belts as she thrashed around.

Gray calmly put his hands behind his back. "Okay, I'm going to ask nicely. I'm Gray Fullbuster, a member of the Fullbuster Family of Demon Slayers. Leave this poor child's body now before I make you."

Miki's body stopped thrashing and was suddenly as stiff as a stick. Slowly, she turned her head and glared at Gray. Her eyes were no longer human eyes. They were golden, resembling cat eyes. However, they weren't cat eyes. They were the eyes of a demon. Miki started laughing. "Suck my dick, pretty boy."

Gray sighed. I hate my job. "Okay, so you don't wanna leave when I'm asking nicely. Just don't start crying or anything when I make you leave."

Suddenly, frost covered the walls and the temperature in the room dropped rapidly. They could see the breath they let out.

"Leave," Gray said, narrowing his eyes at Miki.

Frost began to cover Miki's body. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" She screamed, thrashing around the place. "Make it stop make it stop make it stooooooppppp!"

Gray, temperature confused as ever, began to fan himself. "Resisting will only make things worse."

Miki started to laugh with the little energy she had. "You think you've won? Hehehe, END, the king of the demons, has been released. What are you going to do about that? Slay him the way you're slaying me?" Miki's demon eyes turned back into a human's eye and she suddenly stopped moving.

"END's out, eh? I'm the strongest demon slayer my family's ever had. Dealing with END will be nothing," Gray said to himself as the original temperature returned to the room and the ice melted off the walls and Miki. Once everything was back to normal, he casually strolled out of the room. Miki's parents were waiting at the foot of the stairs.

"Is Miki going to be alright?" The wife asked.

"Yeah. You have my money?" Gray asked, caring more about the money than the wellbeing of the daughter.

"Yes, let me get it," the husband said, handing Gray's top he gave them.

Gray comes from a long line of demon slayers. In the past, demon slayers could openly declare that they're demon slayers and use their magic freely in the open. However, this is the modern era. Most humans have forgotten that magic exists. As a result, secret meeting places such as Fairy Tail have been created for those who have not forgotten that magic exists can practice their magic freely, although there are some that use their magic in the open like the Oracion Seis. Wizards choose an art to learn and stick with it. Mythological creatures such as shapeshifters and giants have magic related to who they are. Demon slayers are more focused on slaying demons and often have to go around and say that they're exorcists. Gray was using the disguise that he was a priest in order to slay the demon that had posseted Miki.

He soon arrived at the penthouse he lived in. The minute he entered the house, he saw Lucy sitting on the couch in the living room with a pink haired boy.

Lucy stood up. "Gray?"

"Why you always here? How do you get in here? Do you have a spare key or something?" Gray asked, closing his front door before entering the living room.

"I'm a Celestial wizard. We're good at breaking into places," Lucy answered.

When Gray made it to the living room, he got a good look at the pink haired boy who glared at him. He glared back. "Who's he?"

Lucy nervously looked at him and fiddled with her fingers. "He's, um, a friend from oversees. He's staying here for a while but has nowhere to live, and I remember you were saying you were looking for a new house mate. His name is Natsu Dragneel by the way. He's a fire wizard."

Gray inspected Natsu from where he was standing. "I'm expensive, you know."

"Yes. He will get a job and pay the amount of money you charge him," Lucy said.

"Lucy," Gray started before sitting on the white sofa across from Lucy. "I need to know this guy's background. I can't just like anyone live here."

"Sweet. Let's leave," Natsu said, standing up.

Lucy blinked. "What do you mean? Don't you want a place to live?"

"I'll just live with you like I used to," Natsu answered as if it were nothing.

Gray choked on his saliva. "Whoa! What!?"

"Hahahaha! He's joking! We've never lived together! Besides, how would that work!? I live at Fairy Hills! Guys are not even allowed to step foot in Fairy Hills!" Lucy cried.

Natsu held Lucy's hand and brushed his fingers along her knuckles. "We did live together. You just don't remember." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I know every face you make when you sleep, and I know all your little habits."

Gray cleared his throat. "You know what? Natsu can stay here, as long as he pays up by the time the money's due."

Lucy slid her hand out of Natsu's. "Really!? Thank you so much!"

Gray stood up with a smile. "Anything for you, Lucy."

Suddenly, an awkward silence fell between the three of them. To break the silence, Gray offered to make them tea so he left for the kitchen.


Natsu was clearly not happy with the living arrangements. "Why do I gotta live with him? I don't even like the guy!"

"Do you want to live in that tiny room Mirajane had you stay in last night?" Lucy asked.

Natsu shook his head. "Anything but that."

"Exactly," Lucy said, sitting down on the sofa. "This is anything but that."

Natsu sat down next to her. "But we really did live together."

"Natsu, I'm sure we did," Lucy dismissed sarcastically, checking her phone.

Natsu frowned. "How do you know this guy anyway?"

Lucy didn't look up from her phone. "I got into a pretty big accident when I first came here so he helped me out. He was the one who showed me Fairy Hills and from there I discovered Fairy Tail."

"What? So you view him as your savior or something? Psh, whatever," Natsu asked, pouting.

"Of course I do. I would have died if it wasn't for him," Lucy answered, still not looking up from her phone.

Natsu softened a bit. So, if droopy eyes never saved her, I wouldn't have met her. Fuuuuccckkk, now I owe the guy!

"Oh yeah, he's a demon slayer so you're gonna have to be careful," Lucy said without looking up.

Natsu's eyes grew wide. "You're leaving me in the home of the enemy!?"

Lucy finally looked up from her phone. "Shhhh! You're so loud!"

"Is everything okay over there!?" Gray called from the kitchen.

"Yeah! We're good!" Lucy called out before facing Natsu.

"Bruh, you know what demon slayers do to demons like me!? They kill them! Are you trying to kill me!? I thought we were cool!" Natsu whisper-yelled.

"Relax! He'll only kill you if he finds out you're a demon so you have to keep your demon powers in check!" Lucy whisper-yelled back.

"Okay, so then what do I do if he falls and gets hurt or something!? I'll end up eating the pain and he'll notice! I'm a dead man!" Natsu whisper-yelled.

"Then make sure he doesn't get hurt! You're a big boy, you can do it!" Lucy whisper-yelled.

"Okay but look. I'm okay with him getting hurt. I don't like him. What if I purposely hurt him? I mean, I have the power to do it and it sounds like a good idea," Natsu whispered.

Lucy wacked him on the back of his head. "Don't even think about it!"

"So get me out of this house!" Natsu hissed.

"You should be grateful that I've taken the time to look for a place for you to live that isn't in some tiny-ass anti-demon room! This is a generous offer!" Lucy hissed back.

"Lucy. You don't get it. A demon living with a demon slayer. Think about it," Natsu whispered.

"Wow, so what was all that at Everlue Mansion? I thought you were some fearless demon who can defeat anyone?" Lucy whispered.

Natsu pouted and looked away from Lucy. "This is a bad idea."

"Letting you become my partner was a bad idea yet I'm not complaining," Lucy said, looking away from him.

"Did you guys fight just now or something?" Gray asked, entering the living room with a tray that had 3 tea cups on it and a file tuck under his arms. He put the tray down on the coffee table.

"No. Everything's fine," Lucy quickly answered, reaching for a tea cup. Gray put the file he was holding down on the table and took a tea cup. Natsu didn't take a cup. Instead, he glared at Gray.

Gray took a sip of his tea before putting his cup down and opening the file on the table. "So, these are the papers Natsu is going to have to fill out."

Lucy blinked. "He has papers to fill out?"

"I like to keep things very professional. Does he have any bags? I need to search through them to make sure I'm not bringing a criminal into my home," Gray asked.

"No, he doesn't have any bags," Lucy answered.

"Anything he came with?" Gray asked.

Lucy shook her head. "Nothing."

"Wow," Gray said, looking at Natsu as if he was a poor homeless child. That only caused Natsu to darken his glare.

"I've talked to Jason, my boss, and he's letting Natsu work as a paid intern," Lucy told Gray as she looked through the papers Natsu had to sign.

"What? Jason just lets anyone work at his magazine?" Gray asked.

"Yeah. He let me, a girl with no prior journalism experience, work for him, after all," Lucy answered, feeling a little offended.

Gray noticed. "Oh...sorry."

Natsu looked over Lucy's shoulder. "So, I have to fill out all that?"

"Yeah. I'll help you out since you don't know how things here work," Lucy answered.

Natsu snatched the papers out of Lucy's hands. "I can do this! I know how things here work!"

"Rightttt. Sureeeee," Lucy said sarcastically.

"Watch me work," Natsu told her as he put the papers flat on the desk and reached out for the pen that was sitting on the table.

Lucy rested her chin on Natsu's shoulder as she watched him work. She hissed every time Natsu made a mistake and Natsu was forced to scratch out his mistake and redo it until Lucy stopped hissing.

Eventually, all of the papers were signed.

"I'm heading home. It's getting late," Lucy said, standing up.

Gray stood up with her. "I'll walk you out."

"Me too," Natsu said, glaring at Gray. Gray glared back.

Lucy noticed the tension between them. "No, it's okay. Y'all two start bonding. Natsu, be ready at 8 in the morning. We have work. Borrow one of Gray's suits. He has a large suit collection so one suit going missing shouldn't hurt him."

"Okay. Stay safe," Gray said, hugging Lucy. Over her shoulder, he glared at Natsu.

"'Kay. Bye," Lucy said, hugging him back before leaving the penthouse.

The minute the double doors of Gray's penthouse closed, Natsu and Gray quickly grabbed the first thing hey grabbed (a flower vase for Natsu and a tea cup for Gray) and threw it at each other. They dodged the items. Then, they charged towards each other.

Natsu grabbed the collar of Gray's shirt. "Wow! Tryna make moves on my girl!? You'll pay!"

"Last time I checked, Lucy's single! She's still not over Loke, her ex! Trust me when I say that!" Gray cried.

"Surrrreeeee! Like I'll believe that bullshit!" Natsu cried.

Gray pulled on Natsu's hair and Natsu head butted him. Then, they threw fists at each other. As they were engaging in their fist fight, Lucy entered the penthouse.

"I literally left for a minute," she said in disbelief.

The boys quickly broke up their fight and stood a few feet away from each other.

"Lucy! Why're you back here!?" Gray cried, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I need to get my Virgo key from Natsu," Lucy answered, eying the boys suspiciously.

"You got Virgo's key?" Gray asked.

"I mean, to be fair, it was Natsu who got it," Lucy answered.

Natsu dug into his pocket and pulled out the golden key. Then, he pointed to his cheek. "Equivalent exchange."

Lucy sighed as she walked over to Natsu. She kissed her hand. Then, she lightly slapped his cheek with the same hand she kissed.

"Progress. We're making progress," Natsu said, giving Lucy her key.

She pointed her key at the boys. "No more fights. I'm dead serious." Then, she turned around and left the penthouse.

Once again, the boys were left alone. However, instead of fighting, they sat across each other on the sofas in the living room.

"For us to, uh, dorm together, we have to set some ground rules, work out what's yours and what's mine, and compromise on everything else," Gray said.

"Agreed," Natsu responded.


In the morning, Lucy and Natsu entered the news station where Lucy worked at.

Natsu adjusted the tie of the suit Gray was force to lend him. "This is too uncomfortable! You really expect me to wear this all day!?"

"Yes. It makes you look professional," Lucy said.

Natsu groaned. "But this sucks!"

"I like a guy in a suit though," Lucy said quietly. It Natsu didn't have super hearing, he wouldn't have heard Lucy's comment.

He awkwardly cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. "It ain't all that bad..."

When they entered the elevator, Lucy noticed Natsu's tie wasn't even tied the right way. She sighed and reached out to fix it. "You didn't ask Gray to help you?"

"Why should I?" Natsu asked her with a smile. Lucy was close to him, and it was out of her free will. She could have just let him show up to his first day of work with his tie on wrong but she didn't. He couldn't help but smile.

"Your stubbornness is going to be your downfall," Lucy simply answered. Once she was done fixing the tie, the elevator doors slid open. "Okay. Don't do anything stupid and you'll be able to continue to make money for showing up," she said as they walked out of the elevator.

The minute they entered the office, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at them.

"Um, morning?" Lucy said, sounding more like she was asking a question than greeting everyone.

"What's going on?" Natsu whispered.

"How am I supposed to know?" Lucy whispered back.

Suddenly, their co-workers started talking.

"OMG! The pink guy is so cute!"

"Is that the new intern!?"

"Give me your babies!"

"Can I kiss you!? You're such a hottie!"

"Daaammmnnnn! I ain't never seen a guy like him!"

"He makes me wanna break up with my boyfriend!"

Is Natsu really that attractive? I don't see it, Lucy wondered, looking at him. I mean, he's got muscles. He has a six pack. Umm...he has...weird hair...? His smile is nice though, not gonna lie.

As the co-workers gossiped about Natsu's attractiveness, Natsu and Lucy made their way to Jason's office. In there, he was busy working on some paper work. His face lit up when he saw he had guests.

"Lucy! Is this Natsu Dragneel?" He asked.

"Yeah. Um, he's a homeless foreigner so he doesn't have a resume or anything for his interview," Lucy said.

"As long as you say he's cool, then it's cool for him to work here!" Jason cried.

Lucy bowed and pushed the back of Natsu's head so he could bow as well. "Thank you much!"

"Anytime! Oh, leave him here. I still have to interview him. I wanna see what type of person he is," Jason said.

Lucy nodded before leaving the office. The minute she sat at her desk, some of her co-workers rolled on their swivel chairs to her desk and sat around her.

"Can I help y'all?" Lucy asked.

"Who's the guy?" Lily, one of the girls, asked.

"Um, an old friend," Lucy answered. In Natsu's world, I'm not exactly lying.

"How did y'all meet?" A second girl named Julia asked.

"We met at the library," Lucy answered. I'm actually not lying.

"Most importantly, is he single?" A guy, Curtis, asked.

"No," Lucy answered. In Natsu's world, I'm definitely not lying.

The people who had crowded around her "awe-ed" and rolled back to their desks. Once they were gone, Lucy got to work. After discovering how Lord Everlue earns all of his money, she was eager to write an article on it.

"Hey, Lucy," the co-worker who sits next to her, Violet, said. Lucy looked up from her computer to see what Violet wanted.

"I heard about the wildfire that broke out at Everlue Mansion. You were there, weren't you? How did it start?" Violet asked.

Lucy quickly thought of something. "I'm not really sure. I was gone by the time the fire actually started."

"Oh. That sucks. I wanted to write the story on how a promising businessman lost everything to a fire and was tragically burned alive," Violet said.

"Have you not been keeping up with the news? The police went to the mansion and saw that he was involved with Titians Nose," Lucy said.

Violet gasps. "You mean that sex trafficking ring!? Really!?"

"Yep. I was almost sold myself. I'm writing the article about it right now," Lucy said.

"Whoa...I'm glad that you're okay!" Violet cried.

A co-worker named Dylan ran into the room. "Guys! Did any of you hear about what happened to Galuna Island!?"

"That's the first thing you say when you enter the room?" One co-worker who Lucy didn't know the name of asked.

"Wasn't the movie The Freeze Emperor staring Lyon Vastia going to be filmed there?" Lucy asked.

"Yep! But we've gotten reports that everything on that island is frozen in time! It's always night there, the clocks don't work, objects hang in midair, and the people there can't move!" Dylan cried.

The journalists started conversing among themselves.

There's obviously magic involved, no doubt about it. But I've never heard of anyone freezing a whole island in time. Is that even possible? Lucy wondered. As she came up with theories as to what happened to the island, she got a text from Levy

Levy: hey gurl heyyyyy!

Levy: so i just now bumped into mira when i was on my way to work

Levy: i told her u got the virgo key so she says good job

Levy: she also says to tell u that the sagittarius key is on galuna island so u should think of a way to go to that island

Perfect timing! Lucy thought, closing her phone and standing up. "I'll go to the island and see if I can uncover what caused time to stop. It'll be the perfect article. I'll also take the intern with me," she announced to everyone.


Random Fact: My overprotective cousin who is the closest thing to a father to me heavily insists that Fullmetal Alchemist is demonic. Ironically, he also says that about anime even though he's a bigger anime fan than me

Wassup!? It's ya gurl sugarsugarrush!

I've decided not to give a fuck over how long the chapter turns out to be and to just type the shit I have planned. Honestly, I even had nightmares about the length being too long!

Reviews:

Amanny- Thank you so much!

N.I.- Thank you so much! And true, you do gotta point. Everyone always think the guys as the rowdy ones and the girls are just fan service. The Oracion Seis may or may not play a big role...hehehehe. Sorry for not making the magic clear enough in this AU. I kinda explained things in this chapter. Does it clear up the confusion? Thank you so much for the tip! It's greatly appreciated!

Cookie-4IS- Thank you so much!

FireShifter- Thank you so much!

Jakob all father- Bro, I know, right?

So, I got some image songs for Natsu and Lucy

Natsu's song is Lac Troi by Son Tung M-TP, and Lucy's song is Sleep Away by Lexie Liu. Both the lyrics and the music videos of their image songs fit their feelings and their aesthetics

ima close this so I can live my life. Don't forget to PM me or leave a review! later, yo!


Edited: 05/10/21