FOUR: She looks different
Magnolia Country Club
As the night of Wendy's birthday party came, everything went well. All the guests came in their best semi-formal clothes and brought no gifts as instructed in the invitation. Though, of course, some still brought and handed it to the parents of the celebrant, so not to disappoint the young Dragneel.
As Natsu and Lucy arrive, the whole gang was excited and surprised to see that the country club was full packed. Doubting that they could get themselves a table, Wendy, Chelia, and Romeo suddenly came and approached them. As soon as the trio saw the group of Natsu and Lucy, Wendy excitedly welcomed her big sisters and brothers. Each one of them greeted Wendy a birthday greeting and soon was assisted by Chelia and Romeo to their tables.
When Lucy and Natsu were the last ones to greet Wendy, the young blunette couldn't help but gawk at who she saw.
"Wendy! Happy birthday, kiddo!" Natsu greets as he hugs his baby sister, who was still speechless at something. When Wendy was not reacting at all, he suddenly waved a hand in front of Wendy and mumbled to her face, "Oy, Wendy…are you alright?"
Not exactly answering, Wendy just tugged the sleeve of Natsu's jacket as she whispers back in awe, "Is that Lucy-nee?"
Raising his brow at his sister before turning around to look at his best friend, Natsu saw Lucy was just timidly waving back at Wendy. Sighing at this weirdness of his sister and best friend, he nonchalantly said, "Yeah…why?"
And with that, Wendy shrieked in excitement as she ran past her brother and ran up to Lucy. She cheerily welcomes her as she sees the big change in Lucy's fashion. She couldn't help but be emotional, knowing that her big non-blood sister has gone through a transformation.
"Hey, Wendy!" Lucy greets the celebrant, who was slowly becoming emotional. Soon, Wendy teary-eyed replied to Lucy, "Lucy-nee! This is the best gift ever!"
Of course, Natsu had to raise his brow in confusion at his sister as Lucy just awkwardly laughed at the birthday celebrant. Lucy didn't know if her appearance before was so much of a bothersome that it had to be a gift to Wendy. But Wendy corrected herself and said that seeing Lucy dress up for her was such a big gift knowing that Lucy didn't like dressing up so much, especially wearing a dress, heels, and makeup.
"Lucy-nee, thank you!" and with that, Wendy hugged the blonde who happily hugged her back, tightly, "Aw, Wendy, of course for you! I'll dress up as a clown if you want me too…"
"Ha! Luce! You'd look hilarious!" Natsu suddenly injected as he slightly nudged Lucy too hard, making the blonde stumble. When Lucy quickly tried to get her balance with the help of Wendy, she straight off glared at the pinkette and replied, "Yeah and you are the Monkey that I would be cutting in half as a magic trick!"
Instantly, Natsu stopped laughing and stood up straight as he innocently smiled at the blonde. With the way Natsu kept behave, Lucy couldn't help but roll her eyes at him before looking back at Wendy and genuinely smile at her.
"Happy birthday Wendy," Lucy finally said as she hugged the blue-haired girl again, who quickly gave her thanks as she hugs her big sister. When they pulled away and did a few chatting, the MC of the party suddenly spoke, making it obvious that the party was about to start. So swiftly, Lucy urgently told Wendy to go since her party was starting already.
As soon as Wendy ran off towards the front, Natsu quickly grabs the wrist of the blonde, who quickly yelps as she stumbles forward, "Luce, let's go eat!"
"Natsu! Wait!" Lucy whined as she tries to catch her steps but she was suddenly pulled back by her other hand, making her stop from walking. As Lucy looked back, she saw Cana was pulling her the other way. She wasn't looking at her way, instead, she was facing the direction Cana was intending to bring her.
"Luce! Come on, why can't I pull?!" Natsu utters as he struggled to pull a little since he was wearing leather shoes and the grip of his shoes to the tiled floor was too slippery.
When Lucy was being pulled at both ends, she was like a boomerang making her groan in pain. She quickly pulled her hands away from Natsu and Cana as she exclaimed, "Guys! Stop, okay!"
Natsu then scowled as he turned to look at Lucy and quickly noticed how Cana was at the other side of Lucy who had the same expression as his.
"Cana! What the hell?!" Natsu bellows as he quickly grabbed the wrist of the blonde again as if trying to secure that Lucy was going with him. But Cana did the same thing as she counters back to him, "Lucy is coming with me! I better introduce her to someone!"
"Lucy knows those people and she doesn't need to be introduced again!" Natsu asserts back
"But she was different back then! They need to see her now as a lady!" Cana retorts madly as she tugged the wrist of the blonde who stumbled with the force
"What the hell?! That's stupid!" Natsu answers back with his nose flaring in anger
"Oh, what do you know?!" Cana snappily answers
Hearing the two bicker back and forth, Lucy was beginning to be deaf since their voice continued to ascend as they continued to fight. Feeling like the fight was going nowhere Lucy finally interjected as she loudly calls them, "Guys! Would you stop?"
"But, him(her)!" Cana and Natsu whiningly points at each other, making Lucy grumble in annoyance
"Seriously, guys, you both sound like some spoiled brats and it's annoying," Lucy forcibly pulls her wrist away from the two to cross her arms across her chest, "Okay, let's do this calmly…"
"Lucy, you've got to come with me, Levy and the girls want to introduce you to someone they know. And take note, it's someone you haven't met yet. It's the brother of Wendy's friend," Cana cheekily says before she grins at her friend
"Luce, I'm hungry so let's eat," Natsu then attempted to take her hand but Lucy stepped away from him as she looked at him and said, "Wait, Natsu…Let me just…" Lucy then trails off before she looks at Cana who was mentally pleading to come with her. When Lucy looked at Natsu this time, she saw Natsu was clueless as ever to what was happening. Of course, it wasn't much of a bother, so Lucy knew why Natsu was not caring so much of what her choice would be. So, she sighs and finally says, "Why don't you go ahead first to the buffet? I'm not hungry yet…I'll just see this guy," Lucy said to Natsu, who quickly furrowed his brows
"What for?" Natsu irritated asks as he takes a step closer
"I'm just trying to make friends Natsu…and what's wrong to be introduced?" Lucy then smiled at him before she turns away from him and loops her arm around Cana's who triumphantly grinned at the pinkette.
When Natsu gawked at the two ladies, Natsu couldn't help but feel betrayed. As Cana blows raspberries to Natsu to tease, Natsu began to grumble and this only made the brunette laugh.
"Women are ridiculous…" Natsu says as he sulks in his place when suddenly an arm drapes around his shoulder, making Natsu look at the intruder, which was Laxus
"You just noticed?" the blonde-haired man boringly looked at Natsu before he takes off his arm and head back to where the boys were staying, "Come on…"
As Natsu followed Laxus back to their table, he saw that it was only the boys. All the girls were at the other side of the room, all laughing at some conversation initiated by Lisanna. Dropping down to his seat, he looked at them and said, "So…I'll assume this is for boys only,"
"Well, it looks like it…" Lyon replies before he grabs his drink and finishes it. When he was done, he looked up at his friends and asked, "Who's hungry?"
"I am," all the boys replied in-chorus as they raised their hand. And soon, the boys stood up and headed for the buffet.
"Lucy!" All the girls quickly chimed when they saw Lucy walk towards them along with a grinning brunette
"What took you so long?" Erza questions as she pulls a chair for Lucy to take while Cana rounded up the table to grab her previous seat
"Well, Natsu put up a fight with me…" Cana said as she fixed her seat and grabbed a drink in front of her, "does this have alcohol?"
"He put up a fight?" Mira echoes back as she glanced at the blonde who shrugged her shoulder
"Well, he was inviting me to eat…" Lucy then sheepishly smiled at the white-haired girl, who chuckled along with some girls while the others rolled their eyes
"Did you see Gray-sama?" Juvia suddenly asks, making Erza scowl at the blunette as she answers her
"Juvia, how many times should I tell you to forget Gray for a moment?"
"But Juvia likes Gray-sama!" Juvia whines and Yukino quickly consoled the blunette
"Anyways, Lu-chan! I want you to meet someone, he goes to our school and he is the brother of Wendy's classmate!" Levy then giddily stands up to pull Lucy along with her. Soon, Cana, Mira, and Lisanna stood up from their seats as they came along with the blunette and blonde.
As Levy gave a few more details about this man to Lucy while they headed to the table, the girls couldn't help but wonder who this man was. After all, it was a classmate of Gajeel and Jellal in their general psychology class and at the same time, the guy was a Kendo practitioner an opponent Erza has battled once.
"Lu-chan! He's there, the one with the red hair!" Levy points as she tries to stop herself from squealing in excitement for her friend. When Lucy squints her eyes to see the man Levy was pointing at, she barely could see the man's face since he was not facing her direction
"Levy-chan, I really can't see his face…" Lucy said as she continued to try and see his face
"Levy, let's just go there!" Cana then pushed the two girls forward and soon they were heading for the table. But before they could go far, Gajeel and Laxus suddenly appeared, holding a plate in one hand and a glass drink in the other.
"Where are you all heading? The foods over there," Gajeel pointed at the other side while he kept his gaze at the blunette, who was obviously surprised to see her boyfriend
"Gajeel!" Levy exclaimed as she stumbled back, making the other girls from her back surprised with the sudden halt, "What are you doing here?"
"Obviously looking for you," Gajeel then raised his brow in question at the startled blunette
"Laxus!" Mira suddenly calls as she realizes that Gajeel was with her boyfriend, "We're you all looking for us?"
"Yeah," Laxus then skeptically looked at the white-haired girl, "But I don't think you were looking for us,"
"Oh, sure we did!" Cana answers as she tries to cover up for her friends, "We were just heading this way, then around the buffet, then to your table!" Lisanna and Lucy then shook their heads as they found their friends ridiculous.
"We were heading to that table," Lisanna suddenly spoke as she points at a table where the red-haired guy was sitting, "to introduce Lucy to the guy with red hair..."
Gajeel and Laxus then glance their back to see the guy Lisanna was talking about. When Gajeel had a glimpse of who was the red-head, he swiftly looked back at the short blunette and widens his eyes to her.
"Seriously?!" Gajeel questions, making Levy pout a little
"Yeah, what's wrong with him?!" Levy retorts back irritated
"A lot of things!" Gajeel then shook his head, "Nope! Not happening!" And with that, Gajeel gave his plate to the blunette and turned her around, "Go, eat instead!"
"Uhhh! Gajeel!" Levy whined as she was being gently pushed back to their table, while the girls just complied with the studded teen and headed back.
"Oh! Gajeel-kun!" Juvia quickly greets once she sees the teen and walked up to her friends. When she was in front of them, Levy walked past her as she took her seat grumbling about her plans being ruined, "What's wrong with Levy-chan?"
"I stopped her from being a matchmaker," Gajeel then crosses his arms as he stares at the blue locks of his girlfriend
"Having Mira as the matchmaker is too much already..." Laxus mutters after, which earned him a devilish glare from his girlfriend
"What did you say Laxus?" Mira dangerously asks and Laxus just looked away as he tried to ignore the menacing look of the white-haired girl
"Ahhh...Levy-chan is not trying to be a matchmaker. She's just trying to introduce the guy to Lucy-chan," Juvia then leaned to the side to look at her grumbling friend
"Exactly!" Levy shouts before she snivels again
"Don't worry, boys, we'll watch over them..." Erza then stood up as she looked at them, "Why don't you just enjoy the party over there with the other monkeys?"
"Monkeys?" Gajeel and Laxus then looked at their previous table then back to the redhead, "So...Jellal's a monkey too?" And with that, the two boys ran off as they laughed at the redhead who quickly stuttered and shouted about Jellal being an intelligent monkey.
As the party went on, the girls decided to keep their plan in low profile. They didn't want to be stopped again by the boys. As for Lucy, she just found her friends ridiculous for trying so hard to introduce her to a guy they know.
"Lucy! Its time!" And with that, Levy abruptly stood up and pulled Lucy to stand as well. When Lucy yelped in surprise, she began to stumble as she and Levy hurriedly dodged other people.
"Levy-chan! Wait!" Lucy frantically shouts as she tries to get her balance with her shoes, "How can you run so fast with your heels!?"
"Practice, Lu!" Levy shouts back as she continued to swerve around people
Without knowing, the boys from the other side were keeping an eye on the girls since a few guys were wandering around the venue. So, when Levy and Lucy started heading towards the end of the room, Gajeel and Laxus quickly called the pinkette.
"Oy, Natsu! I think Levy has an evil plan!" Laxus said once Natsu headed towards them
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked
Gajeel then grinned as he pointed at his running girlfriend, "Levy wants to introduce Lucy to a guy that goes to our school..."
"What?! They were serious about it?!" Natsu exclaimed before he dashes away from his cousin and headed for the two sprinting girls.
Soon enough, Natsu was able to catch up to the two ladies and without warning, he took the wrist that Levy was holding. Stunned to the sudden detachment, Levy gawked at her back only to see Natsu was pulling Lucy away from the venue and was heading for the balcony.
"Argh..." Levy sighs exasperatedly before she twirls to look at the other side of the venue, where the boys were staying. When she saw Gajeel was grinning to mock her after sabotaging her plans, she began to pout before turning away and head back to their table.
"Wa-wait! Natsu! I can't walk fast with my heels!" Lucy shouted as she continuously tried to regain her balance. When Natsu slowed down a bit as they nearly approached the balcony, Lucy was finally able to keep a steady pace until they were outside.
"Goodness, what is with people pulling me in heels when they know I'm not good at this kind of footwear!?" Lucy immediately exclaims when Natsu lets go of her wrist and continues to walk towards the railings of the balcony. When Lucy noticed how Natsu was a little off, she cocked her head to the side to have a glimpse of his face but she couldn't see it.
"Natsu?" Lucy calls as she takes a step forward but quickly retracted when Natsu swiftly turned to look at her with a stern gaze
"Was Levy really trying to set you up?" Natsu questioned seriously and this made Lucy nervous a little
"S-set me up? With who?" Lucy innocently asks back but this only made Natsu groan in annoyance
"Gah! I don't know! Gajeel said she was trying to introduce you to some guy!" Natsu flared before he threw his arms up in irritation and turn away from the blonde
"N-Natsu…" Lucy then exhales as she tries to calm down her heart before she attempts to calm the man down, "Levy wasn't trying to set me up… She just wanted to introduce someone to me as a friend…"
"Friend?" Natsu hushes menacingly
"Y-yeah…" Lucy then raised her brow, feeling confused as to why Natsu was so mad, "Why are you so mad? It's not like I'm going to a blind date or something…"
Natsu then becomes silent. Lucy was right, she wasn't going to a blind date and start dating someone. So why was he so mad? And why would he care if someone wanted to date her? He shook his head and exhaled calmly.
"Sorry, Luce…for the overreaction…" Natsu then looked down at his shoes, slightly kicking the asphalt as he continued, "It's just that…just because you look like a girl tonight all the girls want you to meet the guys around this place,"
Laughing a little first, "Tell me about it," Lucy said as she truly relaxed and came closer to Natsu and poked his bicep. When then pinkette glanced at her, Lucy coos and ruffles his messy pink hair, "You're worried about me…"
"Of course I am!" Natsu quickly replies as he sternly looked at the blonde like she was some nutcase, "You're my best friend…and I'm worried about you...Just look at you, you're wearing a dress…"
"Like every other girl…" Lucy counters back as she smiles at him
"And heels!" Natsu said pointing at the nude five inches heel
"Like girls do on special occasions…" Lucy replies, shrugging her shoulder
"No! Wendy is wearing flats!" Natsu tries to make an argument but Lucy just scoffs at him as she replies, "Are you sure?" Lucy challenged and Natsu leaned a bit to the side to have a glance at his sister and sure he saw Wendy was wearing a white stiletto heels
"Fine! You win!" Natsu then crosses his arms as he turns away from his best friend, who only chuckled at his ridiculous behavior
"Natsu, I don't even know what we're fighting about…" Lucy said as she walked in front of him and looked at him like she was asking for an explanation. But the pinkette was trying to be stubborn.
"What is going on with you?" Lucy asks as she places her hands on his shoulders and shook him a bit but Natsu just continued to mope. But Lucy knew better, so she continued to shake him until he will be annoyed and start to speak up.
"L-Lu-Lucy!" Natsu suddenly bellowed when he started getting dizzy and Lucy just chuckles at him as she stops her torture to the pinkette
"Are you now sensible?" Lucy inquired as she looked at him in the eyes and when Natsu met her gaze, Natsu then nods his head, "Okay, good. Now, I'll make a promise…"
"What promise?" Natsu dubiously asks
"I promise not to do anything that you wouldn't want me to do…" Lucy then wiggled her brows as Natsu skeptically looked back at her. So Lucy continued, "I promise! You will be the first person to know everything that will be happening to me from now on…"
"It doesn't have to be everything…" Natsu then smiled at the blonde, who was smiling back at him. Soon, he wraps an arm around her shoulder as he guided her back to the party, "Just don't keep secrets from me…"
"I won't…" Lucy then wraps her arm around Natsu's waist as they headed back inside. As they entered the venue again, Lucy has been trying to pull down her dress with her other hand. Struggling a little, she suddenly asks Natsu, "Do you have a sweatshirt? I could use it now…" and with that, Natsu laughed at the whining blonde before he replies, "I knew you would need it… it's in the car…"
"Hey, Natsu-san!" Sting calls as he rolls down his window from the driver's side of the car. When Natsu turned to look at his blonde cousin, he furrowed his brow at him as he patiently waited for him to continue.
"I'll just drive Yukino and Sorano home" Sting then grins at his cousin, who quickly chuckled at his suave move, "I'll drop the car tomorrow morning,"
"Yeah-yeah..." Natsu then turns his back as he crossed his arms behind his head while he and Lucy headed back to the Dragneel house. Soon, the car drove off leaving Natsu and Lucy alone in their street.
It was past midnight when Natsu and Lucy were dropped off at the Dragneel residence. While the others have stayed behind in the venue to party, the two decided to go home. They were not feeling comfortable anymore around other people, especially for Lucy who's legs were so exposed that older brothers of Wendy's classmates kept on glancing at it. Of course, Natsu being the best friend, quickly suggested to Lucy to go home and ignored the guys' plead to stay.
Still in their party clothes and neither one of them had the energy to change, Natsu and Lucy decided to enter the house. But despite the tiredness, the two didn't head for the rooms to rest and sleep. The two best friends headed to a room, where it was accessible to climb up the high roof of the house. Lucy insisted on Natsu that they star gaze for a moment before they decide to call it a night. After all, the night sky was still awake.
Sitting on the roof, Lucy and Natsu contently sighed as they looked up at the night sky. It was full of stars, making the sky look like it was painted with gold dust and made it look magical.
"Natsu, isn't this magical?" Lucy voices out her amazement as she becomes enthralled with the view before her
"The stars always enchants you…" Natsu softly chuckles before he glances at his best friend. As Natsu gives a long gaze at his best friend, watching her hair flowing behind her back, eyes glowing with excitement, he suddenly fell into deep thoughts.
Has Lucy always been like this?
Always been a girl?
What am I saying?! Of course she's always been a girl…
but this is just the first time I have looked at her like she's a girl…
I guess it's the way she's dressed up tonight
Will she be dressing up like that from now on?
"So," Natsu suddenly says as he cuts the silence between them and makes Lucy look back at him. When Lucy did, the blonde smiled at him as she patiently waits for him to continue.
"Is this going to be a daily thing?" Natsu questions as he curiously looked at Lucy but she didn't seem to catch his question
"What is going to be a daily thing?" Lucy asks back, barely answering the question of her best friend
"That…" Natsu points to her clothes. As Lucy looks down to her clothes, in which she was wearing Natsu's sweatshirt over her dress, and his leather shoes instead of her heels, she suddenly chuckles as she looks back at Natsu
"I don't think so…" Lucy continued to laugh while Natsu just looked at her skeptically. So, she slowed down her laughter as she speaks, "I don't think I'll always wear your sweatshirt and your leather shoes daily…"
With Lucy's fail joke, Natsu finally laughed as he shook his head before he decided to ruffle the blonde locks of his best friend.
"You know you have the weirdest jokes…" Natsu teased, making Lucy animatedly mope but they quickly laughed together
"Fine-fine…I'm not a joker…" Lucy then smiled at Natsu before she looks up once again to admire the night sky
"Luce, answer my question…" Natsu insists before he pokes the arm of the blonde
Lucy didn't answer immediately, instead, she just stared at the sky. She was feeling queasy with the question of her best friend. It wasn't supposed to but it gives her the uneasiness that makes her question her self. As she thought about the question, Natsu could see how she was thinking too deep. He could see that his question was not just some simple question she could answer with a yes or a no.
"Does it matter?" Lucy suddenly returns a question instead of answering, "Does it matter if I will keep this way of dressing up?" Natsu didn't answer but instead, he just kept quiet as he waited for her to continue.
"I've always been a girl…I don't have to wear dresses or skirts or heels to feel like I'm a girl or beautiful…right?" Lucy finally looked at Natsu with tears almost pooling in her eyes
Natsu was taken aback for a moment with how Lucy was being emotional about her transformation. Smiling genuinely at her, he replies, "Of course…" Natsu then scoots closer to her as he drapes an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her close to him, "You don't have to wear dresses to make everybody believe you're a girl…"
With Natsu's warm embrace, Lucy couldn't help but feel assured. She has always felt assured with Natsu around because he looked past her physical appearance and looks at her inner self. Laughing a little despite being teary-eyed, Lucy then nods her head before she leans her head to Natsu's shoulder and says, "But I guess it's not bad either to keep a few girly habits…" Lucy starts to joke
"Please not the habit of taking so long to put makeup…" Natsu quickly plead as he glances at Lucy, who immediately laughed at his response
"Don't worry just the lip gloss…" Lucy jokes back
"Oh! No!" Natsu mocks as he and Lucy laughed together, "That will take forever…"
"Excuse me that takes less than a minute!" Lucy then sits up as she looks at the teen next to her with wide eyes but still with amusement. As she and Natsu chortle, she began to click his shoes together as a habit whenever she was feeling happy.
"You're destroying my shoes, you know…" Natsu says as he takes notice of her habit. With him pointing it out, Lucy quickly stops her feet as she froze in her spot
"No, I'm not…" Lucy denied but Natsu just laughed at her and brought the hood of his sweatshirt over her head, almost covering her face, making Lucy squeak in surprise
"Whatever you say…"
Fairy Hills Dormitory
The weekend finally ended and a school day came. Even if no one wanted to get back yet, college students started heading back to their dormitory building by Sunday night.
Once the Monday morning came, students began to prepare for their school. As some girls were taking their bath, the others headed to the dining hall of Fairy Hills dorm. And while everybody was busy preparing, a certain pink-haired boy sneaked inside the female dormitory.
Lucky for Natsu, Hilda, the matron of the dorm was not seated on the reception for she may be at the cafeteria, eating her breakfast. So with that opportunity, Natsu quickly ran up the stairs as he targeted the fourth floor where Lucy and Levy shared a room. Despite knowing that boys were not allowed in the dormitory, Natsu casually walked the halls of the fourth floor once he reached it.
He is so used to sneaking inside Fairy Hills dormitory every Monday because it's the only day that he has the same class with his blonde best friend. So, as the other girls staying on the fourth floor see him casually walk their hall, they just greet him a good morning, not really caring about the fact that Natsu was trespassing.
When Natsu finally reached Lucy and Levy's door, he immediately knocks and says, "Luce, let's go…"
Since he knew that Lucy would take a little time to answer, probably because she was still in her room, Natsu made himself comfortable on the floor as he patiently waited for his best friend to come out. While he waited, Cana suddenly came out of her room still yawning.
"Yo, Cana!" Natsu quickly called. When Cana looked around, she was a little startled to see Natsu was sitting on the floor
"Natsu...what are you doing here?" Cana questions as she slowly approached him
"It's Monday," Natsu simply said, answering the whole idea of the question
"Ahhh..." Cana then nods before she started walking away, "Well then good luck about Hilda 'cause she's probably sitting in front already..."
"I'm used to it..." Natsu laughs along with the brunette, who continued to walk away and head down the stairs.
As minutes pass by, with a few girls waving at Natsu, the door finally opened and a pair of black sequined flat shoes revealed. Not familiar with the footwear, Natsu didn't dare to look up and just ignored the passer. But when he noticed the girl was showing some nice flawless legs, he dared to glance a little.
He knew it wasn't Levy because Levy at least had small scars on her leg when they played baseball back in high school. But this pair of legs is so unblemished that he knew he hasn't stare on those legs yet.
"Natsu!" A voice suddenly called out. It was so familiar for Natsu that he had to look at his back but it was the wall that faced him. Grumbling for his weird idea, he almost glared at the wall when suddenly the voice spoke again.
"Oy! Natsu! Let's go!" Natsu was sure, it was Lucy's voice, but he hasn't seen Lucy step out of the door yet, only those pairs of legs...
Natsu abruptly looked up and saw a girl, a few meters away from him, wearing a black skater skirt, a floral hanging shirt, and black sequin flat shoes. It was Lucy.
"Lucy?" Natsu questions as he stares at the woman before him. He couldn't believe he was just about to check out the chick that passed him by when it was Lucy all this time.
"Yeah, come on. Hilda-sama will get mad at you again if she sees you around," Lucy says and continues to stare back at her best friend, who was skeptically looking at her. But their staring contest was suddenly cut short when Levy came out of the room and locked it.
When Levy was done she looked down at the side and saw Natsu was still stunned, looking at her best friend. She chuckled to herself before she turns away from the door and muttered loud enough for Natsu only to hear.
"Get used to it, Natsu. She'll be dressing up like that from now on…" and with that, Levy entwines her arm to Lucy and urged her to continue walking, leaving Natsu by himself on the floor. As Lucy and Levy neared the stairs, Natsu finally snapped out of his surprise as he mumbles to himself, "Was that really Lucy?"
Coincidentally, Lucy turns her head to look back at Natsu. As she did, it was like a slow-motion scene for Natsu. Lucy was sparkling, like stars were her backdrop and that her brown eyes were so emphasized that he couldn't help but stare at it longer. Her golden blonde locks were crowning her as the soft wind caresses her hair. She looked so enchanting.
"NATSU! Let's go!" Lucy loudly shouts, finally snapping Natsu out of his sudden daydream
"Yeah! Yeah! I'm coming!" Natsu frantically scrambled off the floor as he tries to catch up to the two ladies.
After the trio dropped by to a neighboring bakery shop, Levy finally headed to a different route as Lucy and Natsu headed for FTU. Their first subject class started at 8 am and they still had forty-five minutes to spare. So, Lucy and Natsu unhurriedly walked their way to their school.
"Sorry about awhile ago…" Natsu suddenly says before he takes a big bite to his cinnamon bread
"About what?" Lucy questions as she looks at him and chews her cheese buns
"Me, zoning out…" Natsu returns the gaze and when Lucy laughed a little, he raised his brow
"Don't worry, I can't blame you…" Lucy said shaking her head when she remembered how Natsu was dubiously looking at her back at the dorm, "I'd probably be like you too if suddenly my best friend comes out of her room wearing something unusual,"
"I don't find your clothes unusual!" Natsu suddenly defended but Lucy just looked at him hesitantly, "I know you may be weird-"
"Hey!"
"But I know that this fashion of yours now is…I guess normal? Well, your clothes before were normal too. Just not the everyday clothes of a girl…" Natsu then grinned at Lucy, who scoffed at him after his explanation
"I know…" Lucy then looked down to her attire, feeling a little uncomfortable and afraid that her skirt might suddenly fly up and show her underwear
"So…since when did you have these clothes in your dorm?" Natsu asks as he noticed Lucy was frowning at her clothes. With his question, Lucy suddenly looked up and regarded to him
"Oh…ah…apparently, last night…" Lucy said before looking away
"Last night?" Natsu curiously asks back
"Yeah…Levy raided my closet while I was not yet back. Just like what the girls did back at home, she changed every single bit of my 'big shirts and lousy jeans'…" Lucy quoted with her fingers before she sighs in regret about not being able to save at least one
"So that means," Natsu cautiously stared at the blonde, "You'll be wearing skirts and dresses always?"
"Not always, Levy at least bought me a few pairs of skinny jeans…" Lucy said shrugging her shoulder
"Ah…then why didn't you wear a jean today?" Natsu then looked down at the exposed legs of Lucy and he suddenly took notice again of her flawless and porcelain-like skin
"I tried too but Levy insisted me to wear these…she's like my fashion stylist…" Lucy then noticed that Natsu was still looking at her legs, making her a little conscious, "Hey! Eyes up here!" she shouted as she slaps him upright in the head
Scratching his head, Natsu bashfully apologized as he mentally scolded himself, "Sorry, Luce…just not used to it…"
"What? That I have legs?" Lucy ambiguously stares at the pinkette
"No, that I see you have flawless legs…" Natsu carelessly says back. When he realized what he said, his eyes suddenly grow wide as Lucy slightly turned red, "I mean! You have no scars or something!" Natsu then chuckled nervously as he stared at the stunned look of his best friend, "Good for you!" Natsu hurriedly said as he tapped the shoulder of the blonde and quickly took off, leaving Lucy by herself, blushing.
When the first subject of Natsu and Lucy started, the two barely talked to one another. Despite sitting next to each other, the two pretended to be strangers because hell, they were so awkward with each other.
Lucy could still remember how Natsu commented about her legs being flawless. To be honest, she doesn't mind being complimented about her looks because damn, people have been criticizing her about her choice of fashion before. So, being complimented for a change is not bad.
But, hearing does words from Natsu felt so weird and awkward. Never in her life had Natsu complimented her about her physical physique because obviously, she never showed her real body. But still, it sounded so weird for her, that for a moment, she thought twice if the Natsu who said those words to her was her real best friend.
As for Natsu, well, obviously he has been questioning his mind if he was sane. He would have never said that out loud to Lucy. He knows complimenting women was not bad but saying to Lucy that she has flawless legs, he sounded so cheap, like he was trying to hit on her. But no, he wasn't, that's for sure. He didn't mean to sound flirty, he just meant to compliment.
But then again, what was wrong with what he said? He was just giving her a compliment that she has blemish-free legs and she is cool for it. No matter how she would have dressed up, even if she still wore those big shirts and too big jeans, if he had the chance to see her legs like that, he would have complimented her still. So, what is wrong?
Natsu knows what is wrong. The thought itself was not a pure idea. It was mixed with enticement and fantasy. When he first saw those legs without knowing who owns it, he was so enticed that he wanted to flirt with the girl once he sees her. But when he saw it was Lucy, he couldn't help but mix her image with some sexiness, which is bad because, hell, they are best friends and friends don't imagine each other like that. That is officially a foul.
So that is the reason why the two felt so awkward with each other during class. When the class ended, Lucy barely said goodbye to Natsu as she hurriedly walked away, still with red cheeks.
As the day went on, Natsu and Lucy went to their major classes. Not being able to see one another for they were at different buildings, the two couldn't help but feel thankful enough to give them space to resolve their own minds.
When Monday classes finally ended, Natsu and the other boys quickly met up back at the Tenrou boarding house. Their boarding house has their own basketball court, so the boys decided to play in the boarding house instead of going to the park.
Their small competition started with Natsu, Jellal, and Loke as teammates while Gajeel, Gray, and Bickslow were team B. The two teams played for quite some time until the sun has settled down and stars replaced it up in the sky.
When they finished their game, Natsu, Jellal, and Gajeel took their places at the bleachers and drank some Gatorade to replenish their thirst. As the two UM students watched their other friends continue to play, they suddenly realized Natsu was in deep thoughts. Since they were cousins, Gajeel knew that it wasn't normal for Natsu to just suddenly shut up and think deep unless he was hungry.
"Let me guess…you're hungry," Gajeel suddenly remarks, successfully snapping Natsu out of his thoughts. When Natsu stared back at him, startled, Natsu quickly shook his head as he replied
"What? No…" Natsu then looked down at his rubber shoes and clicked the front together as he continued, "I have something else in mind…"
"What else is more important to you than food?" Gajeel sarcastically questions the pinkette before he loudly laughs at his own joke. But Jellal got the hint of Natsu's words.
"What happened with you and Lucy?" Jellal suddenly ask, making Gajeel stop from laughing and skeptically look at the blue-haired teen
"What the fuck? How did Lucy get into this topic?" Gajeel dumbfounding ask his schoolmate but Jellal kept his attention to the pink-haired teen.
"I complimented her body…I mean, I didn't mean it sensually…but it came out that way…" Natsu continually trailed off before he looked away from his shoes and recalled that instance. Natsu began to groan in annoyance as he didn't like one bit of his tone and words
"You don't mean harm to Lucy, Natsu. So, why don't you just explain yourself to her?" Jellal suggested while Gajeel just intently listened and pretended to be bored
"I tried but…I just can't do it," Natsu says as he shakes his head relentlessly, "Lucy looks so different that I don't know how to put my thoughts in order! It's like the best friend that I have been used to is no longer there…"
"Did Lucy change? Not just the way she dresses but her personality?" Jellal continues to question while Natsu thought about it
"Well, she's still the very considerate person…she is still the same Lucy I have known. It's just her appearance…" Natsu then sighs exasperatedly as he let his head dangle low.
Soon, Jellal places a hand on Natsu's shoulder as a gesture of assurance when he said, "There, you said it. It's just Lucy's appearance, there is nothing different from Lucy except her choice of clothes and that's it…"
"Oy, flame-ass, you shouldn't worry too much. Bunny-girl may look like a chick now but I'm pretty sure that woman still enjoys the big hoodie…so don't get your panty too twisted," Gajeel then chuckles before he stands up and adds, "You're just some paranoid shit…" and with that, Gajeel walks off telling the boys that he was seeing Levy so he was heading inside first.
When Jellal and Natsu were left alone in the bleachers, Jellal gave another reassuring squeeze to Natsu's shoulder. He then says, "Gajeel's right…you don't have to worry about Lucy. Just…get used to how she dresses up now. Maybe that will help you forget the idea that Lucy is acting different," Jellal then stands up as Natsu slowly looked up at him in wonder, "I better go, Natsu…I need to catch someone…"
When Natsu nodded to Jellal, he quickly left the court and headed inside the building. As Natsu was left alone to think, he preoccupied his mind with the game in front of him. But then again, his mind quickly drifted off to another course, which was Lucy.
Jellal is right
I'm just thinking Lucy is being different because of how she dresses up now.
Right. Right. I shouldn't worry…
But why does it feel weird…
Why do I feel like Lucy will become more feminine in my eyes?
How come the boyish Lucy I have been accustomed to is suddenly making my heart race?
This is not right…
It's not just Lucy who is changing…
Also me…
Why?
Up Next: 5: Her skimpy clothes
