Chapter 13
Dragneel Dating Service
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Flashback
"Scroll Communications"
Location / Date / Time Change
Beacon Library
"Come on. You can do it, Velvet." Coco encouraged her Faunus teammate, who looked around a bookshelf.
"Stop it." Velvet said back. "I've never done anything like this before."
"If you don't go for it, then I'm gonna do it myself." Coco crossed her arms.
"What?" Velvet turned around. "Since when have YOU liked him?"
"Recently, but I won't do anything about it if you go first." Coco said.
"Hey, guys." Both teammates looked over to see Yang walking over to them. "What'cha doing?"
"Uh, well..." Velvet mumbled.
"Little Velv here is about to ask Natsu on a date." Coco answered for the nervous girl.
"Oh, really..." Yang rubbed the back of her head. "Because, I was hoping to do the same..."
"Well, this is awkward." Coco said. "That makes three of us."
"I thought you were just joking about that." Velvet said.
"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't." Coco smiled. "So, how are we going to solve this?"
"My, this is an interesting conversation." All three looked over as a girl with black hair swept over one of her eyes in a Haven Academy uniform walked over.
"Didn't you ask to dance with Natsu?" Yang asked.
"Yes, my name is Cinder." The woman said. "So, what's this about dating mister Dragneel?"
"Don't tell us you want to ask him out too?" Coco asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" Cinder asked back. "He's certainly attractive enough."
"Okay, we need to figure this out." Yang spoke up. "We need to get his opinion. It's his choice who he wants to be with."
'Not if I had my way.' Cinder thought. "Agreed." She felt a tug on a dress and rolled her eyes. "Looks like we have to make it five." All looked over at a girl with black hair with twintails tied by white ribbons and green eyes in a Haven uniform and white heels.
"Who is that?" Yang asked.
"This is Spumoni." Cinder said. "She's a friend and teammate."
"And she's interested in him already?" Coco asked.
"What can I say?" Cinder shrugged her shoulders. "Love at first sight. So, how do we get his opinion on this?"
"I've got a crazy idea." Coco spoke up. "Here's what we do. We corner him and have him take us all out on dates. After we've all had a turn, we have him pick who he wants to keep dating. Agreed?"
"Sounds good to me." Yang said. "So, who's first in this little plan of ours?"
"It should be her." Cinder motioned to Coco. "It was her idea, so she should get him first."
"We're done, Natsu." All five looked around the corner to see Natsu stand up from his table, followed by Ruby.
"Thanks for helping me, Ruby." The Faunus said. "I can't understand half of the stuff Oobleck wants us to do."
"Yeah, same here." She nodded. "Hey, can you walk me to my room?"
"Sure." Natsu grabbed his books and walked next to Ruby.
"Oh, great. Now your sister is interested in him." Coco complained.
"Do you think we should include her in the plan?" Velvet asked.
"I'll talk to her later tonight." Yang said, walking away. "You guys better start planning your dates." The others looked at each other before walking away, Cinder by herself.
Spumoni started walking after her when Coco put her hand on her shoulder. "Wait outside Bits and Pieces tomorrow. He'll run right out the door when I'm done with him." She nodded and followed Cinder while the CFVY members heading to their room.
'If I can get Natsu to choose me, I might be able to get him on our side.' Cinder thought as Spumoni caught up with her. 'Worst case, I just find out why I feel so strange around him.' "Are you seriously interested in him?" She asked, making her friend nodded.
Night
Team RWBY's Room
Yang sat on her bed, waiting for her sister to return from walking Zwei. Blake had gone out to the library while Weiss went to Miss Goodwitch for extra assignments. The door opened and Ruby and the dog walked in. "Hey, sis."
"Hey." The blonde stood up. "Listen, we need to talk."
"About what?" The scythe wielder asked.
"It's about Natsu." Yang answered. "How do you feel about him?"
"Well, he's a fun guy, and a good friend." Ruby started. "He's super loyal and real funny. Why do you ask?"
"It's just..." Her sister sighed before just looking at her sister. "Look, me and some other girls are interested in him. So, we're each gonna take him out on a date. When we're all done, we're going to ask him which one of us he wants to keep dating. Sounds like something you'd be interested in?"
"Yeah." Ruby nodded. "Can I ask just one question?"
"Sure." Her sister nodded.
"What's a date?" Ruby asked, making her sister stare at her.
"It's what you two were doing in the library today." Yang explained.
"So, a date is just tutoring someone in history?" Ruby asked.
"Wait, so it wasn't a study date?" Yang asked.
"No." She shook her head.
"So why did you have him walk you here?" Yang asked.
"I... Still get lost from time to time." Ruby nervously confessed. "So can I still join in on this dating thing?"
Yang smirked before rubbing her sisters hair. "Sorry, sis. You're still too young to be thinking about boys." She walked over to the bathroom and opened the door. "Get some sleep, little sis." She closed the door and pulled out her Scroll. She punched in a number and put it to her ear.
"What do you want?" The person on the other end of the conversation asked.
"I'd like to make a reservation for two in you VIP section for Saturday." Yang answered.
"Blondie?" The man asked.
Next Day
Professor Port's Class
Natsu slept through another one of Port's self-praising story. The third one this week, about a Deathstalker and a sandstorm. His third dream of supreme victory at the Vytal festival was interrupted when Ren nudged his shoulder. "This is for you." He handed the Faunus a little piece of paper. Natsu took it and unfolded it.
'Meet us by the statue in the courtyard after school. We have to talk to you. C.S.C.V.Y.'
'What team is CSCVY?' He looked around but didn't find anyone who took ownership of the note. 'Well, might as well see what they want. Worst case, I can just fight my way out of a trap.'
"So, I took aim, calmed my breathe and-" The bell rang, interrupting the story. "Huh, I have to stop mistiming my stories. Well, the surprising conclusion will have to wait until next time."
Natsu stood up and grabbed his bag, unknowingly dropping the note on the ground. Someone picked it up and read, before crumpling it up in anger and glared at Natsu as he left the room.
He walked out the building and headed through the courtyard to the statue. Standing in front of the statue was Coco, a girl he hadn't meet before, Cinder, Velvet, and Yang.
"I see you got our note." Coco said.
"You guys wrote that?" Natsu asked, and the girls nodded yes. "Who is she?" He pointed to the girl between Coco and Cinder.
"This is Spumoni." Cinder explained.
"Okay. So what do you want to talk about?" He asked.
"Well, you see..." Velvet mumbled.
"We're all interested in you." Cinder finished for the shy girl.
"Interested how?" Natsu asked.
"We all want to be your girlfriend." Coco explained. "So, we've come up with a solution. For the next four days, you will be dating each one of us. At the end of the week, you will pick whoever you had the most fun with and stay with them."
"This sounds like a really bad movie." Natsu said.
"Maybe so, but it was either that or we grab a limb and pull you apart like a wish bone." Yang said.
"Well, I don't like that idea." Natsu sweat dropped. "Okay, let's give it a shot. So, who's first?"
As the girls explained the order, a group of four males watched the Faunus male with disdain.
Downtown Vale
Bits and Pieces
"Look, I may not be the brightest student at Beacon, but I'm pretty sure this does not count as a date!" Natsu complained as he held a tower of boxes and bags hung off his arms and tails.
"This is so a date." Coco said, placing a dress on his tail. "Guys buy girls presents."
"Yeah, presents, not the goddamn store!" Natsu shouted. "Okay, something just popped in my tail."
"Relax, we're almost done." She said back as she walked ahead. "There's just one more thing we need."
"What?" Natsu looked to the side of the tower and nearly fainted.
Coco pointed to a massive diorama of Beacon Academy. The description read 'made of metal and plastic. Total weight: 600lbs.' "After this, we'll head to the cashier and checkout, okay?" The sound of things crashing to the ground made her turn around to see Natsu running out the store. 'And just like that, I've scared him into Velv's arms.' She gave a soft smile, content with the success of her plan.
"Excuse me? Can anyone help put this stuff back?" She asked, unaware of the teen watching her.
"Looks like he scared her off." He said. "Cardin's gonna like this."
Outside Bits and Pieces
"Freakin' shopaholic..." Natsu panted as he caught his breath. He felt a tug on his scarf and looked over to find Spumoni in a black, sleeveless blouse with white frills and a black ribbon on the collar. Black arm bands went up to her elbow and a white belt held up a white skirt. "You're Cinder's friend, right?"
She nodded before grabbing his hand and leading him to a Jen & Harry's. "You don't talk much, do you?" He asked, making the girl stop in her tracks. Grabbing her Scroll, she sent a message that soon got to Natsu.
'I was born a mute. I know, I'm a freak.'
"I don't know about that." Natsu said, making her look up. "Hell, look at me. I've got claws for toes and fingers, scales instead of skin on my shins, and a tail sticking out of my back. If anyone here's freaky, it's me." She wrapped her arms around him and squeeze tight. "Powerhouse, aren't ya?"
She smiled and the two walked into the store and up to the counter. "I'll have a Schnee Storm Blizzard. What do you want?" She pointed to the neopolitan flavor with three fingers. "Triple scoop neopolitan for her." A few minutes later, the woman behind the counter came up with the order. Natsu payed her and the two sat down at a small table.
"Are you sure you don't want a real date later this week?" He asked as the girl licked her ice cream. She sent him another text as he ate a spoonful of his dessert.
'This is fine.'
The Next Day
'If that's what Coco's idea of a date is, I hope the others have a better idea.' Natsu thought as he slept through Oobleck's random drabbles about some unimportant day in history.
"Mr. Dragneel!" Oobleck shouted, waking Natsu up. "I know that the Vytal festival is a few weeks away, but please refrain from daydreaming in my class."
"Yes, Doctor." Natsu nodded as the bell rang.
"Remember class, you have assignment due Monday." Oobleck said, taking a sip from his thermos. "The history of Beacon, pages one hundred to one hundred fifty." He rushed out the door as the students walked out the door. Natsu was about to stand up when Emerald walked over to him.
"Cinder wants to see you in the courtyard." She said. "Make sure you change out of your uniform." Having relayed her message, she walked over to Mercury and the two walked out the door.
'Well, let's get this over with.' Natsu shook his head and left his seat, leaving the classroom.
"I don't know what Cinder sees in him." Emerald muttered.
"You wanna go against her?" Mercury asked, earning a head shake from her friend. "Then let her figure this out for herself, unless you're jealous?"
"Shut up." Emerald huffed walking away.
"Yeah, you'd never see anyone but me." He joked following her.
With Natsu
Natsu walked out of the locker room, now in his normal attire, and headed to the courtyard. Standing in front of the statue was Cinder in her new look. Black pants, a beige sleeveless jacket with a light beige trim and a pauldron on the left shoulder. Brown gloves covered her hands, a sarashi around her chest and hips, and a belt with brown pouches on it.
"Good to see you." She said. "Follow me." She turned and headed towards the air docks. Natsu followed her, both unaware of the man watching them behind the statue.
"So where are we going?" Natsu asked.
"The Emerald Forest." She answered. "The Festival is in a few weeks, so I figured we could use this date as a training exercise."
"Why can't we do that in the amphitheater?" He asked.
"Too many cameras." She said. "Don't want anyone seeing how we fight before the tournament." 'Nor do I want Ozpin seeing me use that.'
The Emeral Forest
Cinder and Natsu walked through the forest, having found no Grimm it fight so far. 'Looks like I may have to do this myself. Thankfully, that little troll spying on us got lost in the brush.'
"Anyone in there?" Natsu asked waving his hand infront of her face.
"What?" She shook her head, clearing her head.
"I said, we should probably turnaround now." He repeated. "I haven't seen a Grimm to fight yet."
"No need." Cinder walked ahead a bit before turning around. "Maybe we could practice on each other." She summoned two swords out of fire and held them ready to strike.
"Sounds like fun to me." Natsu cracked is knuckles as ice coated his tail and arms, turning the tip into a spike ball and his arms turned into gauntlets with spiked knuckles. "Shall we, my dear?"
Cinder smirked and charged forward as Natsu did the same. Natsu spun around and swung his tail, but Cinder caught it between her blades. Natsu jumped over her and kicked her in the back. Cinder turned and swung her blades, but Natsu blocked them and punched her in the gut, sending her back.
Cinder combined her bows and turned it into a bow. Summoning five arrows from nowhere, she fired all of them at once. Natsu ducked the first two, but the last three pinned against a tree. She charged forward and separated her blades, slicing the tree and breaking his ice.
As Natsu rolled along the ground, Cinder summoned a ball of fire and threw it at Natsu, hitting him and sending him flying into the woods. 'Still haven't figured out why I feel attracted to him.' She thought. The bushes started rustling as she regained her focus. 'Well, we still have plenty of time.' "Come on out, Natsu. We're not done yet."
The rustling ended when a Griffon raced out of the bush, Natsu hanging around its neck. "A little help please?" He shouted as the creature took off, missing Cinder. Natsu didn't see that, so Cinder faked flying back into a tree and laid there, in fake unconsciousness.
"Now you pay!" Natsu shouted, swinging himself onto the body of the creature. "Let's see you fly without theses!" He shouted before pulling the wings right out of the sockets. The hybrid Grimm plummeted to the ground as Natsu jumped off and created an ice slide to the ground. Once on the ground, he created a bed of ice spikes that impaled the beast.
"Well, that's done." He mumbled. A roar turned him around as a pack of Beowolves emerged from the woods. "Are you kidding me right now?!" He glanced over at Cinder, still lying against a tree. "Looks like I'll have to do this myself." He reached around and opened a pouch, took out a fire crystal, and ate it.
Cinder opened her eyes to see Natsu ignite his fists in flames. 'Why is he using fire?' He jumped off a wolf and created a giant ball of fire before throwing it a the pack, obliterating all the Grimm at once.
"I'm impressed." Cinder said standing up, making Natsu turn around in shock. "I didn't know you could control thermal pressure. That explains why Mercury said there was something off with your ice."
"Please don't tell anyone." He begged.
"Oh, don't worry, I won't." Cinder smirked. "Well, I think that's enough training for one day. Let's head back." She dropped her swords and they shattered like glass.
"You gotta teach me that trick." Natsu said.
"Maybe one day." She smirked, before faking falling back, making Natsu catch her.
"You okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine." She nodded, bringing herself closer to his chest, nuzzling her chin on his shoulder. 'I don't know what it is about you, but I won't ever let you go.'
Friday
Natsu sat through his mom's combat lesson as Vergil and Ren traded shots with their weapons before charging each other. The buzzer rang and both stopped with their blades at each other's necks. "Excellent match, you two." Glynda said as she walked onto the stage. "Both of you will represent Beacon very well in the tournament."
The bell rang and students started leaving. "Remember, people, practice you skills. The tournament is in two weeks."
Natsu stood up as Velvet walked over to him. "So, where are we going today?"
"Dust World." She answered. "It's the best amusement in Vale." She noticed the confused look on his face. "What's wrong?"
"What's an amu-man-t park?" He asked.
"It's pronounced a-muse-ment park." She corrected. "Have you seriously never been to it?"
"I've never even heard of it until now." He answered. "My mom and tutors had me focus on lessons."
"That's, kinda sad." Velvet said. "Well, there's a first time for everything." She grabbed his hand and led him out the door.
"Are you sure you don't want us to follow them, Cardin?" Dove asked.
"Who cares what the freaks do?" The leader asked. "We need to focus on tomorrow night."
Dust World
"Whoa..." Natsu stared up at the massive coaster in front of him. "This is a roller coaster?"
"Yep." Velvet nodded. "Come on." She climbed into the cart and Natsu did the same. The handle slid down locking them in place. "This is so we don't fly out of the cart."
"How fast do these things go?" He jokingly asked.
"I don't know." She laughed as the ride started. Instinctively, she grabbed his hand. "The climb up always scares me the most."
"Then you can hold on as long as you want." He smiled at her as the ride reached the top of the hill before flying down, making everyone cheer. A few hoops and spirals later, the ride ended and everyone got out of the cart. "That was awesome! What do you wanna do next?"
"I was thinking maybe some bumper Grimm?" She asked.
"Sounds fun, let's go." He followed her to the ride and both climbed inside Creep like carts. "So, how does this ride work?" The ride powered on, and Velvet slammed into his car.
"You just slam your cart into anyone else's." She explained.
"Really?" Natsu asked. Taking his controls, he turned his cart around and bumped into Velvets.
"Hey!" She giggled back. The two Faunus took turns bumping into each other, and other riders until it ended. They got out and walked around a bit before Velvet led him into the Hall of Mirrors.
"Wow, I look REALLY weird." Natsu said, looking at his wide reflection. "You look pretty normal."
"Thanks." She blushed as Natsu looked at the tall, wavy reflection. The two walked out and Velvet noticed the food court. "Wanna get something to eat?"
"There's food here?" Natsu asked.
"Of course, this is an amusement park." Velvet said. She led him to the food area and turned around. "So, what do you want first?"
"How about..." He looked around before noticing a pink and blue cloud inside a swirling machine and walked over. "What is this?"
"It's cotton candy." The vendor said.
"Why would anyone want to eat cotton?" Natsu asked.
"No, silly." Velvet chuckled walking over. "It's called that because it looks like cotton. Two sticks please." She gave the vendor ten Lien and she was handed two sticks of the food. "Here." She handed a stick to Natsu, who looked at it confused. "You eat it like this." She took a bite of her candy and Natsu did the same.
"Wow, this is good." Natsu said before quickly eating the rest.
"You must really like it, huh?" Velvet chuckled before looking over at a game booth. "Wanna win a prize?"
"Sounds like fun." Natsu said. "One second." He went over to a hotdog vender and bought one before he walked over to the booth with Velvet. "So how do we... Is that me?" He asked, pointing at a plushy that looked exactly like him.
"All in preparation for the Vytal festival." The man said. "We got plushies of all the Beacon teams competing in the tournament."
"Want me to win you something?" Natsu's asked Velvet. She nodded and he put five Lien on the counter. "So I just throw the ball and knock over the bottles?"
"That's it." The vendor nodded. Natsu took the ball out of the man's hand, took aim and threw it, knocking the bottles over. "Wow. You sure you haven't done this before?"
"First time I've even been here." Natsu answered before turning to Velvet. "So, who do you want?"
"You." She said with a blush. The booth operator grabbed a Natsu and handed it to the Faunus girl. "Come on, there's more we have to do." She grabbed Natsu's wrist and lead him away.
"Ah, young love." The vendor sighed.
Nighttime
Outside Team CFVY's Room
"I had a lot of fun today." Velvet said, holding her plushie and wearing a Dust Land hat.
"Yeah, you're a lot more fun than Coco." Natsu joked. On his back was large plushy Ursa Velvet had won for him.
"So, that just leaves Yang tomorrow?" Velvet asked.
"Yeah, I guess.." Natsu added. "Now mater what happens, we're still friends right?"
"Yup." She nodded and reached for her nob. "Oh, almost forgot one thing."
"What?" Natsu asked, only to have Velvet kiss him on the check.
"Night." She opened the door and walked in, leaving a confused Natsu outside.
"How'd it go?" Coco asked.
"Great." Velvet answered before taking out her camera. "Here, take a look." Her teammates crowded around her as she started showing off pictures of her and Natsu.
"Oh, he seems really happy." Coco said.
"Yeah, he does." Velvet said before turning to her leader. "Be honest. You blew your date with Natsu on purpose."
"You caught me." Coco raised her hands in surrender. "I thought it might give you a better chance."
"Thanks." Velvet said, putting her plushy on her bed.
Saturday Morning
Natsu woke up with a yawn and a smile. He scratched his chin and noticed that his teammates were already up and out of the room. A knock took his attention to the door. He walked over and opened it and found Ruby holding a note.
"This is from Yang." She said, holding the note out. He took the note and Ruby started walking away. Natsu closed the door and unfolded the note.
'Meet me at the Beacon air docks at 7pm.'
Yang
He walked over to his closet and changed into his normal look when another knock brought him back to the door. "You forget something, Ruby?" He asked, only to come face to face with his mom.
"We need to talk." She said before grabbing his vest.
Downtown Vale
Radiant Raiment
"Why am I doing this?" Natsu asked, as a tailor took his measurements before walking away.
"You're going out on your first date." Glynda said in a chair. "It's a big day for a mother."
'If I tell her the truth, she'd probably kill me, AND the girls.' He thought. "It's not that big a deal. It's just Yang."
"Miss Xiao Long?" She asked. "I thought it would be Miss Scarlatina."
"Well, maybe she'll be next." Natsu chuckled.
"Absolutely not." She said. "I raised you as a gentleman, not some ruffian. You will have one girlfriend, unless you break up. That's it."
"Yes ma'am." Natsu nodded as the tailor walked in with garments on his arm.
6:50
Team NVAR's Room
Natsu stared front of the mirror in a black tux with a white undershirt and a black tie. His scarf was wrapped around his neck before it feed into his jacket pocket.
"I still can't believe it." Vergil said, leaning against the wall. "Yang Xiao Long, the blonde badass, the one girl every guy is scared to ask out, asked you out."
"I still can't believe he got four OTHER girls to go out with him." Ryuko added, looking up from her book. "A lot of guys would kill to be in your shoes."
"Well, I think it's great." Aerith said. "After all we've been through, we could use a little love."
"Who said anything about love?" Natsu asked. "It's just a date. See you guys later." He opened the door and walked out the room to the dock.
"Guys, I feel a little guilty telling Glynda about this one." Aerith confessed.
"Why?" Ryuko asked. "Yang is gonna appreciate how he looks."
"I mean no disrespect to Glynda, but god help whoever he ends up with." Vergil chuckled.
"Speaking of which, how's the pool look?" Ryuko asked.
Beacon Docks
"Alright, get it all out of your system." Natsu rolled his eyes as Yang, in her battle attire rolled on the ground laughing.
"I'm-I'm sorry." She wiped a tear from her eye. "I just can't, believe you let your mom, dress you for this."
"I still don't know how she found out." Natsu said.
"Okay, okay, okay, I think I'm done." Yang pushed herself up and dusted herself off. "Come on, our rides here." Natsu followed her around a corner to an Bullhead. The two climbed aboard, missing the fact that Dove was hiding on board. The ship soon landed and waiting for them was Yang's bike with two helmets.
"Where are we going?" Natsu asked as Yang threw him a helmet.
"Somewhere special." She answered as she put on her own helmet. She kicked the bike on as Natsu climbed onto the back. "Hold on to your tail." The bike took off just as Dove threw a tracking device on the back of the bike. Zooming down the streets of Vale, the two soon arrived at the blonde's destination.
"We're here." Yang said, shutting the bike off and taking off her helmet.
"Where is here?" Natsu asked as he took off his own helmet. The blonde pointed to a Dust powered sign; The Bears Den.
"Come on, I got us VIP reservations." The blonde wrapped her arm around Natsu's and lead him down the staircase to the doors, only to have the guards panic at her sight and run inside, closing the door behind them.
"You idiots, let them in!" A voice shouted as the door opened. "Sorry about that, blondie. These two had the day off."
"Not a problem, Junior." She said as she led Natsu forward.
"That's your date?" Junior asked, looking at Natsu.
"Is that a problem?" Yang asked back.
"Not at all." He shook his head. "I'm not racist, I'm a business man. I'll take anyone's Lien. Follow me, I'll lead you to your table." The two followed the club owner as dance music played and people danced to the beat. He led them up the stairs to the VIP section and motioned them to a booth. "Your orders?"
"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice. And don't forget the little umbrella." Yang said.
"I'll take a Fire Valehattan." Natsu said, looking at the menu. Junior wrote down the order and walked away. "So how'd you find this place?" He asked Yang.
"It's kind of a funny story..." Yang rubbed the back of her head before telling him the first time she was here. At the end both were laughing as Miltia walked over with their drinks, placing them on the table before walking away.
"So, you came her looking for info on your mom?" Natsu asked as he blew the flames out before taking a sip of his drink.
"Yeah, didn't find anything though..." Yang sighed. She felt a hand on hers and looked down at Natsu's.
"Don't worry, we'll find them." He said.
"I know..." She said. "I just wish we didn't have to."
"Yeah, but hey, if they didn't leave us, we might not have meet." Natsu said, looking at the bright side.
"Yeah, I guess." She giggled. "So, can you tell me who adopted you?"
"Can't give you a name." Natsu shook his head. "But I can tell you she's human."
"Really?" Yang's curiosity was peeked as she took a sip of her drink. "Well, that narrows it down to a quarter of Vale's population. You know, I could never talk to anyone about this. It feels nice to get it off my chest."
"Same here." He said. The two looked eyes as she inched in closer to his lips, her eyes closed and lips puckered.
"Hey! You can't come up here!" Both looked over as the guards at the rope were knocked out of the way of a giant mace as Team CRDL walked over to the two.
"What do you think you're doing, freak!?" Sky asked glaring at Natsu.
"Having a drink with Yang." He said, holding his glass as Cardin knocked it out of his hand.
"Not that!" Cardin slammed his hands on the table. "What gives you the right to date a human? Why can't you stick to your own kind like the girl with rabbit ears?! That's what your parents did!"
"First of all, her name is Velvet!" Yang interrupted. "Second, I asked him out! Third, he was adopted by a human mother! And fourth, what business is it of yours who I date!?"
"See, that's the problem in this world." He turned to Yang. "It's people like you, and his whore of a mother-" He stopped talking when Natsu tackled him to the ground.
"Don't ever! Talk! About! My mom!" Natsu shouted between punches. Cardin's teammates pulled Natsu off and held him still as Cardin stood up and started tearing his suit, punching him at the same time. Yang had enough and punched Cardin away from Natsu as he threw the others off him and Junior ran up the stairs.
"Alright, what's going on!?" He shouted.
"These jerks ruined our date." Yang said as Cardin swung his mace at the blonde. Natsu caught it before pushing the wielder back.
"That's it, get them all out of here!" Junior shouted as guards restrained the students. "We'll give your money back, blondie, but until this little issue is settled, you're all kicked out." The guards walked to the door, up the stairs and threw them on to the street.
"Do you have any idea how expensive that was!?" Yang shouted at Cardin.
"Hope it wasn't much, because you would have wasted the rest on this animal." He pointed to Natsu who growled at him.
"That's it!" Yang shouted as her eyes turned red. She unfolded her gauntlets, launched forward, and punched him through a building.
Natsu whistled as Cardin flew through the air. "Nice shot. Let me try." He froze the ground beneath the other three and trapped them on the ice before summoning a giant bat out of ice. "Fore!" He swung the bat and launched the other three after their leader.
"I think that's golf." She said as her eyes returned to normal. "Just a shame we got kicked out. I was hoping we could dance again."
"We still can." Natsu said back as his bat shattered on the ground. "I can hear the music. What do you say?" He asked as he held his hand out.
"It would be my pleasure." The blonde smiled as the two started dancing to the beat, be it fast or slow.
One Week Later
Beacon Academy
Natsu walked down the hall until he was grabbed by the arm and pulled into a room. Standing in front of him was Coco, Spumoni, Cinder Velvet, and Yang.
"Alright, Natsu." Yang started. "We've given you a week. Time to make a decision."
"I already know it's not going to be me." Coco giggled as she walked out the room, winking at Velvet.
"We deserve an answer." Cinder said. "You can't just string us along like this."
Natsu stared at the four girls still interested in him. Spumoni, Cinder, Velvet, Yang. All three beautiful in their own ways, all wanted to be with him. He didn't want to hurt any of them because he still wanted to be friends with all of them, but mostly for his own safety. Yang would probably blast him to kingdom come, Cinder would burn him alive, Spumoni would go boa constricter on him, and Velvet would probably sick her teammates on him.
Swallowing his tongue, he looked at the girls waiting for an answer. "No matter who I choose, we're all still friends, right?" The girls all nodded. "I... I choose..."
I did this chapter because I didn't want an awkward transition from single to couple. The pairing partner will be announced at the top of the next chapter. If you haven't figured it out yet, Spumoni is Neo in her disguise form. The name comes from Italian ice cream with three flavors.
This was really hard for me to write because I don't think I'm that creative. I've never done a romantic chapter ever, and trying to come up with five dates, it was hard. Thankfully, Natsu is Awesome helped me out tremendously and I thank him for that. I know these aren't the top five on the poll, but they were the ones who were at Beacon, plus Neo, so I used them.
Poll results this week. Ruby is in first with Yang behind by five. Winter, Coco, and Neo all tied for third, with Cinder and Velvet bringing up the rear. Unfortunately, I have to disqualify Ruby. Torches and pitchforks down! Let me explain. With everything that happens next, plus what I have planned and volume four coming out soon, I'm pretty sure she won't want anything to do with Natsu. Hell, if anything, she'll be terrified of him. Just trust me on this. But you should be proud, she pretty much dominated this poll from the beginning.
Honestly, when I started this story, I didn't think it would have a pairing, so because of you this story will change forever. Ultimately, it's my decision to make, but I promise you, whoever I pick won't be some random person at the bottom of the poll. Let try to break 200 voters before the poll is done. Only 13 more to go.
Up next we start the Vytal festival. Wanna give a big thanks to AnimeLover7597, grimlock987, and ortizale317 for their suggestions on NVAR's opponents. Honestly, if it wasn't for them, I'd probably have written in something lame excuse like their opponents chickened out. You guys don't deserve that. See you next chapter.
Beta read by digemsmack.