~ FTC ~

~ . ~ . ~

Chapter 2

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Natsu looked up at the large gray building with distain, cursing to himself over having to do this again. His eyes ran up the dull brick walls in loathing, eyeing the large windows that attempted to make the place seem more welcoming, before landing on the large black letters that hung over the front doors of the building.

Fairy Tail High

He held back a snort. Fairies, huh? If only they knew.

Fixing the scarf around his neck and pulling on the lone strap of his bag hanging off his shoulder, he took a moment to glance at the people around him. Students flocked from every direction. Some quickly made their way inside as soon as they arrived on school grounds. Others milled around outside, talking in groups or sitting to the side with a book. Busses pulled in from the road behind him, circling around to the designated drop-off area as dozens of kids stampeded off into the front yard.

From first impressions, Fairy Tail looked like a bustling school. Judging by the number of people he's seen so far, he guessed their student numbers were in the thousands. He also had to admit, the school itself was among the better ones he's seen. The spotless walls and glimmering windows suggested it was cleaned regularly, as did the evenly trimmed grass in the front yard and the blooming flowers of the garden beds. He guessed that the school most likely hires someone to maintain it all, which meant the school had money.

Good to know, he supposes.

The structure itself was rather grand. The 3-story building was built in an 'F' shape with a tremendous football stadium situated right in the middle. A large parking lot connected behind the field, almost three times the size of what normal high school parking lots were sized at. He had also remembered seeing an arena behind the school along with an additional wing — his nose had suggested that that side of the school was left for the labs and chemical use.

All in all, the school wasn't too shabby. It was obvious the town valued its education, which he could respect. Granted, it was also the only high school nearby so naturally all the funds would come here, but it was still probably the most impressive school he's attended.

A loud burst of laughter brought him from his thoughts and his head swiveled around, curious to see what the commotion was about. His eyes landed on a large group of students to his right, crowded in a circle as the typical clique would as another chorus of laughter erupted from the small gathering. In the corner of his eyes he noticed others watching; a few with a bit of annoyance but most with a look of longing and echoed amusement.

Ah, so these were the popular kids.

Great.

Historically he has never meshed well with the popular cliques. Every school had them, and every single one had the same problem — they all had sticks up their asses. The guys would be jerks who showed off their looks and athleticism while the girls would flaunt their own attractiveness around, often starting up pointless dramas just for the hell of it.

He hated those types of kids, especially since they were also usually the ones bullying the little guy. They never seemed to understand what life was like outside of school or what it was like to grow up. He figured that for most of them this was the peak of their lives, and that was just sad.

In truth, that was the reason he hated the popular cliques. He didn't care much for the attitude, but he also held no animosity towards kids just being kids. No, what he hated about these types of individuals is that it they were often throwing their lives away. They take things for granted and never once stop to think just how lucky they are to be put into a regular situation. To be born normal.

What he wouldn't do to have that kind of life.

Returning to the present, his eyebrows furrowed as he regarded the chatting group, checking off the boxes of his mental list.

Guys wearing letterman jackets?

Check.

Girls wearing revealing outfits and carrying expensive phones and purse?

Check.

Guys getting into each other's faces and throwing punches around until a girl steps in and breaks up the fight by bashing their heads together?

Che-oh wait, that was new.

An eyebrow raised at the odd behaviour. That was not something you saw every day. His eyes followed the redhead — the one who had broken up the fight — who appeared to be scolding a shirtless dark-haired boy and a taller guy who had as many piercings as he had fingers and toes. More laughter came following the fight break-up and his eyes jumped from a blue-haired guy with an intricate tattoo, to a small girl with a similar hair colour, and settling on a blonde who had one of the brightest smiles he has ever seen in his life.

He almost had to do a double take when he saw that this girl was practically glowing. Her golden strands were pulled up into a side ponytail as the rest of her locks flowed down her shoulders and behind her back. She was very pretty, he noticed, with large chocolate eyes and a smile that seemed to brighten the area around her. The rest of her was also quite attractive but it was her small curled-up lips and flushed cheeks that got his attention the most.

Of course, at the moment, she was under the arm of another guy — a ginger fella with wild hair and blue-tinted glasses. He noticed that the way this guy dressed was a bit odd, as he wore a buttoned-up shirt and dress pants; a near complete opposite to the very casual, t-shirt-no-shirt look the others had. The guy leaned down and whispered something into the blonde's ear, causing her to giggle and playfully shove him away.

The sound was like music to his ears. Something inside of him really liked that sound, causing his heart to skip a beat; if only for a brief moment. The feeling was so sudden it caught him off guard as a familiar warmth took over his chest.

He hadn't felt this way since…

…since…

Oh.

His mood dropped and he immediately began scolding himself mentally, feeling so stupid for falling for his emotions. He nearly forgot why he was here — to lay low, keep quiet, and finish off his senior year without a hitch. Once those eight-to-nine months were over, he'd be out of here.

The sudden ring of the school bell agreed with him as the straggling students quickly filed into the building, eager to get the day started. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the group he had been watching join the lineup and for a brief moment he thought he saw a flicker of blonde hair look at him for a second before turning back.

He quickly shook his head, removing those thoughts from his mind.

With a sigh, he made his way inside to start his first day at his new school.

~ . ~ . ~

"So you are Natsu Dragneel?"

"Yes."

"And you're coming from San Francisco?"

"Yup."

"Why move here to Magnolia?"

He shrugged. "Had to get out of the city, you know? Too many distractions."

The stubby old man he was currently talking to — Makarov Dreyar as his name plate suggests — nodded his head in understanding, taking another look at the papers on his desk. It was hard to believe this guy was the principle. He looked old enough to be his grandpa, which in all honesty might even be the case. But age aside the man seemed nice and very genuine, even apologizing before-hand for needing to confirm everything that was listed on his document, which was understandable.

"It says here you are currently living alone?"

"Yeah, just me and my cat."

Makarov raised an eyebrow. "If you don't mind me asking, where are your parents?"

"Pops owns a company overseas and is currently over there for the time being. He sends money and checks in every once in a while," he easily lied, haven practised it multiple times last night with Happy. "Mom died when I was young."

Instantly the old man's expression softened. "I'm sorry to hear that. It may surprise you, but most students here have suffered loss in one way or another. You may find that many of them might be ablet or relate to you. Don't feel afraid to speak to someone if you need; we've all suffered loss once in our lifetime."

I doubt anyone's suffered as much as I have, he thought and had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

Makarov nodded. "As for your living arrangement, we are normally against students living without a guardian but since you are eighteen and technically a legal adult, coupled with your unique situation, I would be inclined to allow this. Your generous donation certainly helps too." The old man broke out into a large grin at the end of that.

This time he did roll his eyes. Nice work Happy.

"Thank you sir, I appreciate the trust."

"No need for 'sir', mostly everyone around here calls me Gramps," the man said.

He blinked. "Gramps? Why's that."

Makarov sighed, smiling and leaning back in his chair. "Here we like to think of each other as family. Fairy Tail may be a big school, but the bond and spirit we share is something we carry for the rest of our lives. We pride ourselves in our family ties and I suppose I've adopted the grandpa role for all these young brats, which now includes you."

What a strange school motto to go by. It was definitely unique; a refreshing new line as opposed to the cheesy Learn, Grow, and Have Fun! Still, he's never heard of a school being called a family before.

"Sounds cool, I appreciate the welcome," he said anyways, flashing a grin.

"That's good my boy, very good. Now then, shall we get to your schedule?" the man asked, picking up one of the arrant papers sprawled on his desk and holding it out for him to grab. "This is your timetable for the semester. Here at Fairy Tail we run an alternating-day block schedule. Of the five ninety-minute periods per day, one will be for lunch, one will be a spare, and the other three are classes which rotate with your second block every other day. For example, you'll have your A block today, then your B block tomorrow, your A block the next day, and etcetera; totaling six classes on the semester. Clear?"

He nodded, accepting his timetable and peeking at it. He was well aware of how block schedules work, though he's noticed that every school system is different. He's not really sure why. Wouldn't it be simpler if there was just a universal system?

"As you can see, you've already been signed up for your six classes for the semester. For a senior like you, you have your standard English, Advanced Functions, Calculus, and for a science you'll be taking Chemistry. As for your electives, it looks like you've been signed up for Creative Art as well as Combat Training."

He perked at that last one, taking another glance at his schedule to find that he did indeed have a course called 'Combat Training' as the last class of his B block. That certainly was new. The corner of his lips quirked upwards, knowing he'll have to give props to Happy later for signing him up for this one. He'll probably have to grab him a fish on the way home.

"It seems you have some interest in that last class," the old man noted with a knowing smirk. "That's one of our most popular classes, unique only to the schools in our district. It only recently got approved by the board a few years ago and so far it's been a blooming success. I'm sure you'll find it quite interesting."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Fantastic," Makarov smiled, cleaning up the papers from his desk before reaching down and pulling up a flask of some kind. As the man took a swig of its contents, his nose immediately caught the indistinguishable scent of alcohol. He quirked an eyebrow which Makarov noticed and responded with a chuckle. "What? I'm old alright. I need something to get me through a day of dealing with these brats."

He couldn't help but grin. He liked this guy.

"Well Natsu, that's all I got for you. Welcome to Fairy Tail," the old man smiled, offering a hand. He accepted the handshake easily.

"Thanks, glad to be here."

After their handshake, Makarov walked around his table to walk him out when suddenly the old man perked up. "Oh, I almost forgot," he said, eyeing him up and down. "You seem like an athletic kid and we have a proud program here. We have quite a few rivalries with other schools, you see. Would you be interested in joining any sports teams?"

He blinked. "Sports teams?"

He hadn't joined a sports team since middle school, when he had dominated the senior basketball team and almost been recruited around the nation. When you're trying to lay low, getting nationally scouted was about the last thing you wanted to happen, so he and Igneel had agreed that it was probably best to avoid doing sports. He still ruled gym class but he's avoided athletics ever since.

Then again, that wasn't to say he wasn't interested. A part of the reason he hadn't done any sports in high school was because he and Happy usually moved at the end of the semester, making any kind of extra curricular involvement kind of pointless. But now that they were here for the entire school year, that excuse went out the window. He also couldn't deny that he'd love an opportunity to let loose for a change.

Maybe he could afford to join a team. Happy probably wouldn't agree right away, but he's sure he could convince him. Nothing a few fresh salmon wouldn't fix. There was a risk, but in such an out-of-the-way town, he doubted he'd be noticed.

"Sure!" he grinned brightly.

"Great! I know for a fact our football team has been looking to fill a running back position for quite some time. You look like you fit the bill. I'll give Coach Gildarts a heads up you're coming his way. I'll follow up with some information at another time."

Following Makarov out of the room, his eyes immediately began to scan his surroundings — a habit he had learned at a young age, and one that has proved invaluable. Glancing around the main office, he noted the many administrators getting ready for the day as well as a few students still lingering around.

That was when he noticed a familiar head of blonde hair poking out in the corner by the printers. He immediately recognized the shade of blonde and the pitch of her voice as she hummed to herself quietly.

Unfortunately he wasn't the only one to notice.

"Ah Lucy! Perfect timing," Makarov suddenly called out, grabbing the blonde's attention. Her soft brown eyes looked over, briefly flickering to his wide-eyed gaze before landing on the shorter man beside him.

"Morning Gramps!" the girl, Lucy, smiled.

"Morning to you too," he chuckled, gently nudging him forward. "This is one of our new students. Would you be so kind as to show him around the school?"

"Sure!" she chirped brightly, grabbing her printed papers before strolling over to them. Her eyes locked onto his and her smile brightened even more, extending a hand. "Hi I'm Lucy."

He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. His tongue suddenly felt incredibly dry.

Get it together Natsu, what's wrong with you?

Taking a brief moment to clear his throat, he quickly reached out and took her hand. It was small and soft, yet fit perfectly in his larger grasp.

"Natsu."

Her eyes seemed to sparkle at his name.

"Summer."

"Hmm?" he sounded, the questioning noise coming out before he even realized he was doing it.

Lucy's face immediately blushed red and she retracted her hand, much to his disappointment, and looked at her feet in embarrassment.

"Summer… I read somewhere that Natsu means summer…"

He blinked, his mouth falling open. "You know draconian?" he asked in disbelief. Nobody knew draconian. Not unless you were someone like him.

"Only a little," Lucy admitted. "My friend Levy loves ancient languages and I've learned a bit off her." Suddenly she paused, looking at him strangely. "How did you know it was draconian?"

His eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights. Wow, what a slip-up. A part of him wanted to say it was because he knows about dragons far too well, but obviously he couldn't do that.

"My dad is a fanatic," he lied easily, though for the first time it felt incredibly uncomfortable doing so. "He believed dragons existed and spoke that language. He made me learn it when I was young. I guess that technically makes me bilingual."

Lucy giggled, and he decided right then and there, that it was his favorite sound in the world. "That's actually really cool. You should meet my friend Levy. Maybe you two could even hold a conversation."

He smiled. "Maybe."

"Anyways, I'll show you around the school. It's pretty big and easy to get lost. When I first started it nearly took me a month to find homeroom without wandering into some random class."

He nodded, matching a smile with the humorous blonde. "Thanks for the help old ma…" he trailed off, expecting to find a short old man beside him only to find it empty. He blinked, confused as to when he left and how he wasn't able to notice.

"He does that sometimes," Lucy explained with a giggle, before walking away and waving for him to follow. "Come on."

He followed along quietly as his new blonde companion dragged him around the school, enthusiastically explaining everything she could; whether it was fun facts about the teachers and students or helpful information on the school's history and traditions. With the way she talked and the glint in her eyes, it was clear that she loved the school. He liked how she spoke so passionately so he happily stayed silent and let his chatty guide babble on to her heart's desire.

During their little tour he got to know Lucy a little better as well. She was very active in the school community; one of the heads of student council, co-lead of the school newspaper and book club, as well as a member of the cheer team. If she had nothing going on for a particular day she often volunteered at the local primary school. He also found out she loved all her friends dearly and was incredibly fond of every single one of them. She had briefly gone into exclusive detail into her close friend group, which he assumed to be the one he saw outside, and the little quirks that made them who they are. Supposedly they were primarily made up of a stripper, a warrior, a book worm, an asshole, and a self-critic, with a couple other oddballs sprinkled in between. All in all, he was quite amused, and his perception of the group had definitely switched from popular bastards to a group of freaks.

It was during this tour when he noticed something very peculiar about the girl pulling him around. That golden glow he saw outside wasn't just some overexaggerated description. No, this girl was literally glowing.

It was hard to describe it. It wasn't like she was visibly glowing like a light bulb, but rather he felt it. It was like a warm light beckoning you to its side during a chilly winter night. It intrigued him. He had never met anyone with such a strange… aura, per say. He took a mental note to look into it later and maybe keep an eye out for Lucy Heartfilia in the future.

As they returned to the first floor after completing the tour, he couldn't help but chuckle when they passed by the cafeteria and Lucy immediately went into a frenzied talk about how good Taco Tuesdays are and that he should always get a cookie because they're made fresh in the morning and are heavenly. He had to laugh again when she started into a ramble about the differences in the milkshakes and how the strawberry-vanilla one was the best one by far.

She sure loves to talk, he mused to himself.

"Hey!" she suddenly exclaimed, her cheeks flushing red and her face pulling into a pout. "I don't talk that much!"

Whoops, guess he might have said that out loud by accident.

Instead of taking it back though, he turned to her with a grin. "You're weird Lucy, but I kinda like your weird."

Her face blushed further to the point where her cheeks matched the colour of his hair. He had to laugh — this girl blushed way too easily.

"Sh-shut up!" she shouted, snatching his timetable out from his hands. She held it up over her face as she looked it over, obviously shielding herself until the red in her face went away.

"You're so cute."

Immediately the paper was lifted further to now cover her entire face and he laughed whole-heartedly. She was just too easy!

After her embarrassment finally came down and she removed his timetable from her face, she smiled and pointed at some of the information on the sheet. "Your locker's just down the hall from mine, and we have the same homeroom! You'll love Gildarts; he's the school's best English teacher so you definitely lucked out with getting him this year."

He nodded, also remembering Makarov mention Gildarts was the school football coach as well.

Suddenly the bell rang and he watched Lucy's eyes widen.

"We're late! Come on, you can't be late for your first day here!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand and running off, with him right in tow.

Laughing at her panicked expression, he couldn't help but peer down at their interlocked hands.

Maybe he'll end up liking this place after all.

~ . ~ . ~

Author's Note:

I only realized after the fact that Natsu actually means summer in Japanese. I had thought it was something the anime made up or something. I didn't want to rewrite that scene so I guess in this universe Japanese is the ancient language of Draconian. Maybe I can have some fun with that down the road.

By the way, football is American football for those wondering. I was a coach for a number of years and it has somehow trickled into this story. I'll do my best to limit the football writing since not everyone will know of the sport.

Hope you enjoyed. :)

~FTC