Natsu and Levy were in the middle of recording another song. Since the others weren't available, Natsu was just recording a new song he wrote. It sounded nice and was a little slow, but it sounded really sweet and beautiful.
Your eyes are shining
Beautiful blue as the sky
They captivate
They lure me in
When I look into them, I can see the shine
I can see the light
Your blue eyes shine
How those eyes make me fly
How I can see your pure soul
Those pure blue eyes
Those pure blue eyes
Those blue eyes know how to shine
"Sounding good, Natsu." Levy said. "Come back inside. Let's see how it really sounds." Natsu stopped recording and went in to check it out.
"You really think it's good?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah. I just have one question." Levy said. "Why did you say blue eyes? Lucy has brown eyes."
"Lucy?! What? She has nothing to do with this?" Natsu said as he nervously laughed it off.
"Natsu, it's me. I think it's sweet. I'm not going to harass you like Gray or Gajeel would about your crush." Levy said. "So what gives? How come you're saying blue eyes when Lucy has brown eyes."
"You said the reason." Natsu said. "I'm so sick of Gray and Gajeel, or anyone else for that matter, giving me a hard time. If they find out about that, they would just add fuel to the fire. Not to mention some of it might come Lucy's way. Besides, blue eyes sound better in a song than brown eyes, don't you think?"
"Yeah. I suppose I see your point." Levy said. "Okay. Let's finish this song. We need to get ready for our upcoming tour."
"Hey, guys." Zeref said as he came into the room. "Don't mean to interrupt. I was just wondering where you keep some of your textbooks."
"Textbooks? Dude, this is our recording studio." Natsu said. "It's where we hang out and work on our songs. Why would we bring school here?"
"Because that's part of the deal, remember?" Zeref said. "You're all allowed to do this band, but your parents want you to not fall behind on school. While they all think it's great the band is doing well, they don't want you to fall behind on school."
"He's got a point." Levy said. "Our band is taking up a lot of our time and our schoolwork might suffer from it. That's why I ordered some booklets to help us out thanks to the school. I've also planned for us to take a tour around the country soon. That will be a problem as well."
"Exactly. That's why Gajeel, Erza, and Gray are all working on their homework today." Zeref said.
"What about Lucy? She's a straight A student." Natsu said.
"She is doing well, but her parents took part in the agreement as well." Zeref said. "So where are the textbooks?"
"You can borrow mine. I got them right here." Levy said as she reached for her backpack and handed it to Zeref.
"Thanks." Zeref said as he was on his way out, but stopped. "Natsu, that applies to you too, you know."
"Relax. Mom made me stay up until I got it all done and she watched over until I did get it all done." Natsu said.
"FYI, I got all of my schoolwork done ahead of time." Levy said.
"Okay." Zeref said as he left those two.
"I am so not liking being a student and a rock star." Natsu said. They can't help it. If they're schoolwork suffers, the band could be in trouble.
...
The Band
The others were in their usual hangout in the studio. They were working on their schoolwork just like Zeref said. Zeref came back in and was glad to see they were still at work.
"Okay. I've got the textbooks to help with the lessons." Zeref said.
"No need. I'm all done." Lucy said as she stood up and handed him her booklet. Zeref was actually impressed with how fast Lucy got it done. He looked it over and it all appeared to be right.
"Wow. That's actually impressive, Lucy." Zeref said. "Well, since you got it done, how about you pay Natsu and Levy in the recording booth? I think they're working on a new song."
"Sure." Lucy said as she left the room.
"Can we leave too? This is stupid." Gajeel said.
"Gajeel, man up. It's not going to hurt to get some education." Erza said.
"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back to the music." Gray said. Gajeel groaned as he can't believe he's stuck doing this.
"Save your groans, Gajeel. You remember the deal you all made with your parents." Zeref said. "That's why I'm here. I'm here to help you so you don't fall back on your schoolwork. So let's take a look at what you've all done. Let's see how far the rest of you've come. Erza? Gray? Where do you two stand?"
"Pretty good. I understand most of it." Erza said.
"Same here." Gray said.
"Let me take a quick look." Zeref said. Both of them handed their booklets to him and took quick looks. "Not bad. Both these around a B GPA. Gajeel, what about you?"
"Uh... Yeah... I'm doing okay and there's no need to check." Gajeel said, but Zeref didn't seem to buy it. Zeref walked over and grabbed the booklet out of his hands.
"Gajeel, most of this isn't even filled out. You've been at this for about ten minutes. What have you been doing?" Zeref said, but Gajeel wouldn't say anything. "Gajeel, part of the deal is that your GPA would be a C or higher. If you can't keep that up, you know you'll have to be taken out of the band."
"I get it." Gajeel said.
"Well, you still need a lot of work. Erza and Gray, you two should join in as well." Zeref said as he pulled out the textbooks. The three of them were not looking forward to this.
...
The Recording Booth
"Sounds pretty good, Natsu. Want to hear it again?" Levy asked.
"Yeah. Start it from the second verse." Natsu said and Levy hit play. Once they started playing, Lucy came in without them even noticing.
Take my hand
Together we can dance the night away
I could spend all my time with you
I could just stare into those eyes
Those beautiful eyes light up my day
So would you please just stay
Your blue eyes shine
How those eyes make me fly
How I can see your pure soul
Those pure blue eyes
Those pure blue eyes
Those blue eyes know how to shine
"Sounds really great." Lucy said with Natsu and Levy finally noticing her. Natsu hit stop and the song stopped playing.
"Lucy! I thought you were doing homework with the others." Natsu said.
"I got done. Is that a new song?" Lucy said. "It sounds lovely. Who do those beautiful blue eyes belonged to?"
"What?" Natsu said as he was trying to be serious.
"Who's the song about?" Lucy asked.
"It's not about anyone." Natsu said as he tried to play it cool, but he wasn't doing a good job at it. "It's just another song. People write songs that aren't about anyone all the time."
"Really? So why are you acting so weird?" Lucy asked.
"Am I?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah. Are you trying to hide something?" Lucy taunted. "Come on, Natsu. Who is this song about? Where did you get the idea to write a song like this?" Lucy was starting to back Natsu into a corner. He wasn't ready for her to know it was about her quite yet. So there was only one thing he could do in a time like this. He just ran. Lucy looked to Levy for an understanding.
"Don't look at me. I don't know a thing." Levy said and went back to work.
...
The Others
"Okay. Erza, you got it right that the densest element is osmium. Gray, you were also correct in this math problem. You also solved it perfectly." Zeref said. "So that just leaves you Gajeel. Tell me the names of the Renaissances masters." Gajeel tried to think, but he was drawing a blank.
"Come on, man. Just think of four turtles that know ninjutsu." Gray said.
"Gajeel, you haven't been doing so well." Zeref said. "If you don't improve your schoolwork, your parents are going to take you out of the band and I know you don't want that to happen."
"I'm trying! I'm just not getting it!" Gajeel said. Gray and Erza could see Gajeel is really struggling and they don't like seeing their friend stressed out like this.
"Zeref, could you give us a moment?" Erza asked. "We'll help Gajeel get back on track."
"Sure." Zeref said as he left the three them alone.
"Gajeel, what's going on with you?" Erza said.
"Nothing." Gajeel said.
"Gajeel, this isn't the first time something like this has happened." Gray said. "If you're having some sort of problem, you know we can help you. We don't want you out of the band, but if your schoolwork suffers, it's going to happen."
"I know, but... I'm just not getting some of this stuff. Nothing is really sticking." Gajeel said. "I don't want out, but I don't know what I'm going to do about my schoolwork."
"Don't worry too much about it." Gray said.
"That's why we're here to help. We just need to figure something out that will help." Erza said. Those two are going to help Gajeel through this. They just need to figure out how to get him to learn.
...
Natsu
Zeref left those three like he said. As he left the room, he spotted Natsu.
"Hey, little bro." Zeref said as he came over. "Is everything okay? I thought you were working on a new song."
"I was until Lucy came in and started asking me questions that I didn't know how to answer." Natsu said.
"Let me guess. The song is about her, isn't it?" Zeref said.
"Yeah..." Natsu said. "However, I changed a couple of the lyrics around. I'm afraid if I tell her it's about her, she's going to ask questions. She might be offended that I don't really know her. There's just so many ways she might take this and I'm just not sure what to do."
"So it's about her without really saying it's her." Zeref said, but Natsu didn't really understood. "Just say what you think of Lucy, but since you're too afraid to admit that it's her, just don't say her name."
"Just don't say her name..." Natsu said and he liked the idea. "Thanks, bro!" Now that Natsu knows how to handle this, he went on ahead. One problem down, one to go.
...
Gajeel
Gray and Erza tried to help Gajeel out with his studies, but nothing appeared to have been sticking.
"Come on, Gajeel. You can do this." Erza said. Gajeel kept trying, but he ran out of patience.
"Aw! It's no use!" Gajeel said as he threw his papers and pencils all around. "Nothing is working. Nothing is sticking."
"Do you think maybe you have..." Gray said, but wasn't sure what to say.
"No. I don't have a learning disability." Gajeel said. "I'm just not getting it. I can read everything just fine. The numbers look normal to me. It's just not reaching my brain. Besides, if I had a learning disability, I wouldn't be able to beat the drums and play our songs the way that we do."
"Wait." Erza said as she had a thought that might help him. "Maybe that's really the problem. Maybe you're just having a hard connecting to the material. That happens with a lot of people. What if we tried using the material from our studies using something you can relate to, put it in a way you can understand."
"Yeah! That could work, but what do we use?" Gray questioned.
"I already know." Erza said as she looked towards Gajeel's drums.
...
The Recording Booth
Levy and Lucy were still working on the new song. Lucy wanted to know who the song was about and thought listening to the last part of the song might help.
Please don't ever go away
Please stay here with me
Let's stay side by siiiiiiiide
Cause you are the light I need
You pierce through the dark
It's thanks to those eyes that you connect to my heart
It's because of those eyes that I found love at first siiiiiiiight
How those blue eyes make me fly
How I can see your pure soul
Those pure blue eyes
Those pure blue eyes
Those blue eyes know how to shine
Those blue eyes
Those blue eyes
"It's really good." Lucy said.
"Yeah. Natsu knows what he's doing with these songs." Levy said.
"You really like it?" Both of them looked to see Natsu standing at the door.
"Yeah. It sounds lovely." Lucy said.
"I think maybe I'll leave the two of you alone." Levy said as she stepped outside and left the two of them to talk.
"So why did you run off earlier?" Lucy asked. "Are you embarrassed to tell me who the song is about?"
"Something like that." Natsu said.
"Well, it is nice knowing you've got a real soft side in there." Lucy said. "So why don't you tell me who it's about? I'm not going to laugh. I think it's really sweet."
"I can't tell you, but I can give you some hints." Natsu said and Lucy thought this sounded interesting. "She's a great girl. She's really nice, smart, always fun to be around. I really think she's something special. She's the kind of girl that could be anyone's friend."
"She sounds really great." Lucy said.
"She really is." Natsu said as he got a look at those eyes he sung about even if they aren't blue. Before the story ends, there's still one problem to solve.
...
Zeref
"How's it going?" Zeref asked as he was checking on the others, but they saw Gajeel playing with his drums instead. "Gajeel! You're suppose to be studying!"
"We are. We found a way to help this info stick with Gajeel." Erza said. "Watch. Gajeel, what is the square root of fourty-nine?" Gajeel played his drums and beat it a total of seven times. "Correct. It's seven."
"Gajeel, tell us some stuff about the amendments." Gray said. Gajeel started playing his drums again.
"We've got the Bill of rights. The amendments involve freedom of speech and right of arms." Gajeel said. "Other historical facts are that Ponce de Leon was a Spanish settler that tried to find the Fountain of Youth. The king had to obey the rules because of the Magna Carta. We also got Susan B. Anthony that wanted to go to jail because she wanted the same equal treatment as men."
"Impressive." Zeref said.
"We figured out that Gajeel just needed something to help relate and connect to the material." Gray said. "It's a little tricky, but his drums seem to help."
"That means I'm still in the band!" Gajeel said as he beat on his drums. Gajeel has his work cut-out for him, but at least he isn't leaving.