"Okay, go do it now."
"B-but he's not alone yet!"
"Gray just walked away! He's alone now."
"Ugh, do I have to? Isn't it satisfying enough to know you were right?"
"... Nah."
Lucy and Cana argued silently across the courtyard from a certain pyro who was eating a giant sandwich on the nearby bench. The blonde had lost the bet. She had been fully expecting Natsu to wave her off and tell her nothing when she asked about his office visit with Makarov the other day, but the guy had done the complete opposite just as her friends predicted.
Now she had to go over to him and admit that he was hot, to his face.
There was literally no scenario where this didn't end in an awkward moment.
"This is so weird, Cana," Lucy whined. "I wouldn't even call a boy I actually liked attractive to their face!"
"Why not? I do it all the time," the brunette snickered. "Plus it's Natsu. The guy will forget by lunch."
She threw one last puppy dog face at Cana.
"Alright fine, you don't have to do it."
"Really?!"
"Nope." And with a firm push, Lucy was shoved in the middle of courtyard traffic with nowhere to go but forward.
Alright Lucy, you can do this, just get it over with.
She walked until the bench was just a few feet away.
I can do this, I can do this…
Natsu looked up, sensing her approaching figure.
I can't do this.
She turned swiftly around… only to be met with Cana's disapproving stare. She whined to herself and flipped back around, and now Natsu was smirking. Gods damn it.
Without looking at him, she sat on the opposite side of the bench and crossed her arms with a defiant expression. From the corner of her eye, she could see him put down his sandwich and turn slightly in her direction.
"What I am about to say is not a reflection of my true feelings," she lied.
"Uh, okay?"
"Natsu Dragneel, you're…"
"Oh hey guys!" Lisanna's voice entered the chat, and Lucy panicked.
"... cat is blue."
Natsu blinked, unsure how to respond, though his eyes filled with mirth a second later.
"... So uh," he began, and she could tell he was on the verge of cackling. "What color do you truly feel he is then?"
Lucy abruptly stood and walked away to avoid further embarrassment.
"What's with her?" Lisanna giggled, taking Lucy's place on the bench.
"Dunno, she might be making an emergency visit to the eye doctor."
That day, Lucy was unable to fulfill her terms of the bet.
Of course, that didn't mean Cana would let it go that easily.
The very next day at breakfast time, the tipsy mage decided to try again at the cafe table where they all ate together.
"Oh right, I almost forgot!" Her eyes went wide like she was remembering something. She turned to look at Natsu from across the table, but not before making sure Lucy was paying attention. Levy and Lisanna seemed to instantly understand what was about to happen, and ended their conversation abruptly.
"Natsu, Lucy said she had something to tell ya. Super important. Right Lucy?" She looked markedly over at the girl in question, who stared back in an expression of disbelief that screamed, here?!
Cana snickered and returned a look of her own. Yes here! You promised.
Lucy made a weird circular motion with her fingers. Everyone is here!
Cana nudged to a nearby exit with her chin. You don't have to do it here, just go outside and come back!
I'll do it later!
Oh come on!
That's my line!
"Are you guys doing that weird thing girls do where you argue with your minds?" Gray suddenly interjected, glancing between the two girls currently glaring and flailing at each other in silence.
"No." Cana went back to looking neutral as if nothing happened. "Lucy is gonna go talk to Natsu now."
"And no one will follow them," Lisanna added, Levy nodding vigorously beside her. Lucy gaped at her blue-haired best friend's betrayal, only to be met with a shrug and sympathetic smile.
Natsu, who hadn't said a word during the whole exchange, looked over at the celestial mage with interest. "Got somethin' to tell me Luce?"
Lucy wanted nothing more than to jump over to his side of the table and slap the beautiful (huh?) knowing grin off his face, but opted against it since it would mean potentially knocking over Erza's slice of cake.
"I-"
"Brats." The short principal of the school suddenly appeared at the foot of their table with a look of seriousness, cutting off Lucy's spiteful retort.
"Hey gramps!" Natsu cheerily greeted the new presence with a wide grin.
"Good morning, Makarov," Erza gave a polite nod at the older man. "How may we be of assistance?"
"I need to see this group in my office as soon as possible. Stop by when your breakfast is over."
Confused, apprehensive looks were exchanged around the table.
"Don't worry, you're not in trouble."
Relieved, thankful looks were exchanged around the table.
30 minutes later, the group found themselves piled in Makarovs office.
"Tomorrow, we have two new students transferring into Fairy Tail."
All of the students tensed.
"Um, from where are they transferring?" Lucy asked hesitantly. Everyone(except Natsu, who seemed not to care at all) seemed to hold their breath as they looked towards the principal and awaited his response.
"Phantom Lord. One of our school's rivals."
"What? You can't be serious," Gray almost yelled incredulously. "Those guys are worse than Sabertooth!"
Fairy Tail was one of three high schools in Crocus, each based in a different section of town. History had taught everyone that it was best to keep them separated, or bad things would happen. With such prestigious schools that boasted the most powerful young wizards in the country, an overwhelming sense of pride from all sides led to intense rivalries. The streets of Crocus were a bloodbath until the board of education had finally made it a rule to avoid interacting with a student from a different school.
One student transferring in between these schools was unprecedented, let alone two.
"Phantom Lord is proposing a plan that will hopefully result in peace amongst the Crocus magic school district," Macarov explained. "This decision has been approved by the board. We will take two students from Phantom Lord Academy as our own."
"Do you really think that's gonna work?" Natsu asked casually, absentmindedly bouncing a fireball in his hand. "Those bastards hate us."
"Natsu, do not swear in front of the principal," Erza warned darkly, snuffing out the pyro's fireball with a single look.
"He's right though," Levy murmured under her breath.
"Whether it works or not is yet to be seen," Macarov said with a frown, "but if I can help in destroying the petty rivalry between our schools once and for all, I will do so."
"We understand," Erza nodded with purpose. "What do you need us to do?"
"Well, Erza, you're the student body president, so I trust you and your friends the most to get them acclimated."
"It won't be an issue."
"Can they really be trusted though?" Lisanna looked up in thought. "I mean, Sabertooth students are just a bunch of pompous bigots, but Phantom Lord is… " she shuddered slightly, "they just seem, well, evil."
"No worries! If they start misbehaving, we'll just kick their ass," Cana laughed. Natsu voiced his cheerful agreement, and they exchanged a high-five. "We're the toughest of the three, after all!"
Macarov's brow twitched and he shut his eyes pensively. "Just… Don't cause any more trouble than you normally do," he warned. "We need these transfer students to feel comfortable."
"No problem, Gramps!" Natsu smirked mischievously and cracked his knuckles. "We'll give them a Fairy Tail welcome." Gray and Cana snickered while Lucy rolled her eyes, trying(and failing) to fight the smile forming on her face.
"Oh Mavis what have I done," the principal sighed, already looking regretful. "Alright brats, go to class. The students will be here tomorrow."
Six respectful bows later, the group left the office and headed off to their first class of the day.
Lucy, Natsu, Gray and Lisanna made their way to the math class they all shared, discussing the prospect of new students from a rival school as they walked across the courtyard.
"I can't believe they're really letting students from Phantom Lord go here," Gray muttered as they made their way to the general education building. "Those guys are so creepy."
"Right?" Lisanna agreed. "There's no way this ends well."
"You guys need to have more faith in Gramps," Natsu said, looking bored. "I'm sure he knows what he's doing."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually agree with this idiot," Lucy added with a thumb pointing to the fire mage walking beside her. "We're Fairy Tail. We should be more accepting of others." Was she happy about the idea of two transfer students from a school known for their hostility? Not exactly, but if going to Fairy Tail taught her anything, it was not to judge a book by its cover.
Natsu grinned widely and threw a strong arm around the girl's shoulders. "Luce gets it!"
"H-hey! Get off of-" Lucy glared up at him to yell in his face, but whatever she was about to say died in her throat when she was met with a close-up view of his radiant smile.
Damn it, it was so much easier to be bitter towards him when he just looked like another snotty kid. How was it possible to be so damn cute and hot at the same time?
"Ugh, nevermind…" she murmured with a light blush.
She somehow convinced herself that the reason she didn't push him away was because they were already so close to their destination, so there was no point.
"I guess you're right…" said Lisanna, who was looking ahead from the other side of Gray, completely oblivious to the duo's interaction.
"Yeah, I dunno," Gray mumbled, unconvinced.
The group were the last students to arrive at class, making it just before the bell rang. Lucy hastily made her way to her seat in the back corner, with Natsu following a few steps behind to take his assigned seat next to her.
"Oh, right!" Natsu turned to Lucy as he took his seat. "What was that thing Cana said you had to tell me?
Crap, Lucy had forgotten about that.
"It's nothing, I'll uh… tell you later… maybe," suddenly, the view of the empty sports field from the window beside her chair was looking mighty interesting.
"And you four have arrived just before the bell, once again," Evergreen shook her head disapprovingly at the new arrivals.
"Sorry Evergreen, the dean wanted to speak with us," Lisanna chuckled sheepishly.
"Probably to discuss your frequent tardiness, if I had to guess."
"Uh, no, but… We'll try to come earlier in the future!"
"I'm not holding my breath," the teacher muttered humourlessly, before moving to her desk and opening her freakishly large binder. "Anyway, we'll be starting something new today. Your first project."
The class shared a collective groan.
"You'll pick a certain mathematical subject, and create a presentation on why it is important in magic. Then, one month from now, you will present to the class."
Sounds of protest intensified.
"Don't worry though, you'll have a partner to work with."
Lucy sighed in relief. At least she could work on this boring project with Lisanna.
"... That partner is the person sitting next to you."
…
Dear Mavis why hadn't she seen this coming.
She could see Natsu's instant smirk from the corner of her eye. Of course he was enjoying this.
"Looks like we're working together for a whole month, Luce," he said quietly as Evergreen began discussing further details about the project.
"Guess so," she muttered through her teeth.
"Just promise me one thing though."
She knew the next thing he would say would likely be something that made her want to slap him, but for some reason she humored it. "Yeah, what's that," she questioned, sounding unamused.
"Don't catch feelings for me," he answered, snickering when he dodged a kick from under the table.
Well, at least now she knew how to handle his quips.
"Sure. Just one thing…" With a devious smirk of her own, she waited until Evergreen was looking over at the other side of the room before leaning over until she was as close to his ear as her chair would allow.
Her smile grew when she saw him tense slightly.
"Don't fall for me either, Salamander."
His famous nickname dripped from her lips like sultry honey and Lucy swore she heard him gulp as she returned to her personal space.
Not for the first time, she admitted to herself that there was some fun in this game they played, after all.
The next day at the breakfast table, the friend group was discussing animatedly about the new students they would be meeting in just a few minutes.
"I bet at least one of them has kicked a puppy in their lifetime," Lisanna half-joked.
"And the other probably houses some dark demonic shrine in their basement," her twin sister chimed in with a snicker.
"Come on guys! Let's at least meet them first before we make our judgements," Levy spoke up from the corner of the table.
"Yeah," Lucy agreed from beside her. "The last thing we want to do is stoop down to the level the world thinks we're at."
"Agreed," Erza spread a disapproving look across the table. "Macarov trusted us with showing these two transfer students our wonderful school. We will be civil."
"Yeah, yeah," Gray plopped an ice cube from his empty cup into his mouth. "Until one of them tries to kill us."
"They can't kill us," Natsu countered. "We're Fairy Tail."
"Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, and Lucy Heartfilia, please come to the principal's office immediately." A teacher's voice crackled through the speakers in the school cafe.
"They're here." Erza stood from her seat, followed by the rest of individuals whose names were called. "Remember, be civil."
"I'll be as civil as they are," Gray muttered in as they walked down the hallway leading to the office, shrinking when he caught a glare from the frightening stupid body president.
"Good luck guys!" Lisanna cheered from the table as they walked off. Natsu turned and gave an enthusiastic wave back, and Lucy couldn't stop the tiniest of smiles from invading her face.
When they finally arrived at the dean's office, Erza placed three firm knocks on the door, opening it when Macarov vocalized to enter.
"... Wow," Gray's gaze instantly gravitated to the two unfamiliar faces in the room.
The giant male standing closest to Macarov screamed trouble, with piercings all over his face and long, wild black hair. He dressed in all black donning a leather jacket, jeans and combat boots. To top it all off, the look in his vicious crimson eyes boiled with disdain as he looked down at his new classmates.
Lucy winced a bit in the brief moment that they met eyes. Well, Lisanna may have been right about the puppy kicking thing.
The student standing beside him looked less menacing at least. She was a girl of average height with wavy, pale blue hair that fell to just above her waist, wearing a long navy-colored dress and tall brown boots.
She would've seemed perfectly normal if her big cobalt eyes didn't look so empty and soulless.
Definitely has a dark, demonic shine in her basement, Lucy's mind thought without her permission.
"Brats, meet your new classmates, Gajeel and Juvia."