A/N: So I just started my online classes this week and as I've said before, when my school started again, I'll be taking a hiatus. For how long? I'm not so sure. But since I've had this chapter written already, I wanted to update this story. For any readers of my other stories, I promise you I'm working on the next chapter of those stories too, it's just with life kind of starting up again, it leaves me with less hours in a day to work on it. Also, sometimes I'm happy a crappy day and just not in the mood to work on it, so there's that too.

Tiger State Week

"Where is she?"

It was week three of the football season for Magnolia University and also, another week the school's band, the Mighty Marching Dragon (accompanied by their dance line, the Fabulous Dancing Fairies) would perform. Last week, they went up against Cedar Valley University (which the band had politely dubbed a 'nobody school') that didn't have a band, so there wasn't any direct competition for the Dragon. Despite this, their football team lost the game.

"It's almost 4:30pm," stated Erza Scarlett, a 3rd year veteran on the Fairies, looking at her watch. "Practice starts at 4:00pm... Why is she so late? This is unacceptable."

The woman speaking was wearing a Sun Village t-shirt and black leggings, with her long red mane tied up in a messy bun. Her violet eyes travelled back and forth from the door, to her wristwatch with slanted disapproval. The ballet shoes on her feet tapped methodically against the polished floor as an outlet for her nervous energy.

All around them, girls were stretching in dance attire, ready for practice.

"Have you tried calling her?" Mira suggested. Mirajane was also a third year vet on the team, and she and Erza were crab sisters (they started the team the same year).

"Of course I have! 16 times!" Erza shoved her phone obsessively in Mira's face, to show that she indeed did call Evergreen 16 times without an answer.

"Umm, okay... Heheh," the platinum blonde chuckled nervously, whilst politely moving her friend's device out of her face. She began to sense impending doom for Evergreen, their currently absent captain (who was also her crab sister). She pulled out her own phone and started scrolling through her contacts.

"I'll text Bisca."

Erza was very doubtful. "I wouldn't even bother," she said. "I've been calling her for the past twenty minutes and have gone straight to voicemail every time."

'Maybe there's a reason why you haven't gotten a response from them yet,' Mira deadpanned to herself. Whatever the reason the two of them were so late aside, Mirajane understood fully why the last person they'd want to be talking to was Erza. She of course, didn't want to be the person to rip that band aid off to her best friend.

Just as she was drafting her text to Bisca, a text popped up at the top of her screen from Evergreen.

"Oh!" She said, opening up the text. "I just got a message from Evergreen!"

Erza, who had decided to go against the wall to do some split exercises quickly scampered over to peak at her phone. Mirajane's own reaction to the text was hard to read. She kept staring at her phone screen, with her big, blue eyes reflecting the words in them.

The other girls in the room had all subtly quieted down, so that they too, could know what was going on with the captain.

Bam!

Just then, the door to the Fairy room had been barged open by an older pinkette woman with a stern expression.

"Ms. Porlyusica!" They cried out in unison.

"Ladies," she started with a no-nonsense expression. "I'm here to inform you that Bisca and Evergreen won't be coming to practices for the next few weeks."

Mirajane gulped. Evergreen's text was starting to make more sense.

'Hey Mira, I won't be coming in today. Bisca probably won't be either lol.'

"What?! Why?!" Erza questioned.

"They've been suspended."

All the girls were stunned. The crabs in the room, Lisanna and Laki, felt a special kind of shock rock their body as their crabbing process caused them to rely heavily upon their captain, their mother figure in the whole process. Of course, neither of them made a move to say or do anything in that moment.

Crabs were supposed to be seen and not heard.

There was a tense atmosphere settling over the room. There was a low whistle let out from one of the girls closer to the back by the wall-to-wall mirror.

"Suspended? B-but, what did they do?"

"It was the decision of the band director and myself to suspend them for the unauthorized tampering of the team's uniforms, which is school property by the way."

"Well what uniforms did they tamper with?" Asked Mickey Chickentiger from the center of the room. She was wearing a black cat suit for practice and had her dirty blonde hair in a low braid. Mickey was a second year veteran on the team.

Porlyusica had her eyes closed, but opened them grimly with a scowl on her face in Mickey's direction. The girl shivered at the dirty look.

"So you're telling me that none of you were aware?" She asked.

"Aware of what?"

"The uniforms that were tampered with were the ones that you all wore at the last game."

Erza had a flashback of the team wearing that adorable, white, two-piece uniform last week. Everyone loved the look, but the red head had thought to herself that the uniform looked unfamiliar. She brushed it off as being one of the really old uniforms that the Fairies haven't worn in a long time.

"But, when would she have the time to..." Erza cut off her own train of thought with a ghostly gasp.

Erza had recalled something suspicious one day after practice last week.

What had actually happened...

A caramel colored ponytail was bobbing inside of an old trunk fervently for a new uniform. Evergreen's heart was set on something simple but chic for her and the girls to wear that week. The Fabulous Dancing Fairies were a team that's existed for decades, and as such, they have uniforms in their closet that were once worn by the Fabulous Fairies of almost fifty years ago.

Evergreen was throwing out piece after piece in terms of clothing, messily about the dance room in pursuit of something she would like. Bisca, who had stayed behind to help, was confused as to why none of the perfectly good, perfectly cute leotards Evergreen had tossed aside would do.

"Well that's because I want my team to wear uniforms that are forever fabulous... Just like me," she finished, turning around and winking at the green haired woman behind her glasses. Evergreen turned back to her trunk, about to throw something haphazardly again, but she stopped midway. She placed it against her body and turned around to Bisca.

"Oh Bisca! Isn't this cute!"

The girl agreed, although that was partly due to the fact that she didn't see anything wrong with it, (just like the other ones) and also partly due to the fact that she really wanted to go home. She couldn't wait to see her daughter.

"Oh, but wait..." Evergreen lowered the leotard, examining it with narrowed eyes. "Don't you think it'd look better without the straps connecting it? The straps make us look like a bunch of strippers."

Bisca took it out of her teammate's embrace, eyeing the gold straps that connected the top and bottom parts carefully. "I reckon I've got a cousin who'll stitch this right up for us for free! Or at least, little to nothing."

Evergreen squealed with joy, clapping her hands like a Walrus.

She had instructed the other girl to help her scrounge up enough uniforms for all the girls on the team, in just about the right sizes (the material could stretch so they weren't too worried about accuracy). The brunette couldn't fit everything in her own bag, so she decided to employ the use of a large, black garbage bag.

Just then, Erza walked back into the room.

The scene she met was one of Bisca clearing up the thrown about uniforms, and Evergreen tying up a black garbage bag. The redhead had retraced her steps back into the rehearsal room because she had lost the back of one of her earrings.

"Oh, hey Erza," Evergreen said sweetly as she walked past her out the door, with the team's uniforms in tow.

Erza saw Bisca locking up the uniform trunk, and figured that the two of them must've stayed behind to do some extra cleaning. She also figured that the bag Evergreen was holding had the remainder of the trash that she was going to throw out.

"Ever!" Erza planted her hand firmly on the girl's bare shoulder, caused the Fairy captain to jump out of her skin.

"Y-yes?"

"Thank you for your hard work," she stated solemnly, her eyes squeezed tight to avoid any tears from falling out. "Both of you!" She said turning to Bisca.

The two girls looked at her, then at each other in confusion.

Such dedicated captains we have, Erza thought to herself.

Back to the present...

"I was there!" Erza shouted holding her head. "I can't believe I was there and didn't stop those two idiots!" She bit down on the top of her shirt and gnawed her teeth in frustration. She looked down at her open palms. Her fingers were twitching mercilessly.

"If I had known that it was the uniforms she was carrying I would've TACKLED HER WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!"

From the back of the room, Cana, another third year vet, let out a loud snicker. She lightly jabbed her elbow against the girl beside her. "And I'm willing to bet she probably would've too," she whispered.

Shock quickly dissipated into rage, and now Erza had the rage of a thousand suns in her eyes as she imagined a chibi version of Evergreen sticking her tongue out in Erza's face, while she smugly snuck away with their uniforms like Swiper the Fox. [A/N: Chibi is a Japanese slang word describing something short or tiny.]

"N-now now Erza," Mira cooed. "Violence is never the answer..."

"And Bisca, that idiot! What was she thinking?!" Erza imagined the chibi Evergreen seeking out a chibi Bisca to help her alter the uniforms without the band director's permission, and she imagined tiny Bisca just going along with it. "Why didn't Bisca act more responsibly?! Ugh!"

It was killing Erza on the inside that all of this happened right under her nose, and that she had the power to do something about it, but was blissfully unaware.

"Ladies," Porlyusica continued. "I've also come to let you know that we'll be playing against the Tigers on Saturday coming."

The bomb Porlyusica had dropped shook everyone to their core. There was no more small side conversations, and both Mirajane and Erza froze in their spots.

"You mean... That it's Tiger State week already?!" Mickey spoke up again. "But why is it so early in the season?"

Porlyusica shook her head slightly. "I wish I knew."

Tiger State Week was a huge deal for Magnolia University and it's students every year. The two schools have carried on a bitter rivalry for decades from everything including academics to sports. Every year, the Tiger State game would be anticipated and hyped up as one of the premier events of the season, attracting spectators from all around. Anybody who's anybody would be there.

The Tigers also happened to have a college marching band, of which, fans of the band world have been arguing over which band was the best for DECADES. Similar to the Marching Dragon, their band was also world renowned, achieving many accolades over the years, along with critical acclaim and success.

The rivalry between the schools' football teams was one thing, but the rivalry between the bands was always one for the books. Every year, each school brought their A game to the table, with hunger in their eyes, ready to trump their rival.

Another thing that both bands had in common was the fact that they also both had dance lines that were widely adored and highly coveted. Fans of the Tiger Girls often stress that their team were the trendsetters for all other teams (even though the Tiger Girl dance style is very unique to them).

Erza's brain was starting to malfunction. She was scratching her hair trying to make sense of it all. "How could this have happened?"

Those two nincompoops just had to have pulled this stunt the week before one of the biggest games of the year...

The redhead saw the chibi versions of her currently missing crab sisters smiling, completely oblivious to all the turmoil they were causing the girls in the Fairy room. All Erza could do was sigh.

No. Erza shook her head. This is my fault. I should've been more vigilant in that situation. I was the one carelessly oblivious!

She slammed her forehead against the nearest wall. All of the girls turned to her in concern, but the hit didn't seem to affect her at all. She raised her fist in the air, looking sorrowfully at the sky.

"I'm a failure!" She cried. "I've failed this team! Punish me... I deserve to be punished!"

Whilst Erza went on her wordy lament, Mira tried her best to calm her down, assuring her that she was indeed not a failure and that this wasn't her fault. The room filled up with their usual back and forth exchange, with Erza on the brink of tears... again... for some reason...

Their antics however, couldn't hide the elephant in the room...

With both their captain and co-captain suspended... Who was going to lead the team?

"Mira." Porlyusica asserted her presence again causing the girl to jump.

"Yes ma'am...?" She asked unsurely.

"After much deliberation, Mr. Dreyar and I saw you as the best fit to lead the team in their absence... as interim captain."

Mirajane's world stood still for a moment. Interim... Captain...? Me...?

Porlyusica raised an eyebrow at the girl's reaction. "What? Do you not think you can do it?"

Flustered, Mirajane shook her head. "No ma'am!"

Porlyusica nodded her head. "Good... because it's all up to you now."

Truth be told, out of the remaining girls with the most seniority on the team, Mira was simply the right choice. Mirajane, Erza, Cana, Bisca and Evergreen all made up the crab class of X781. They were all third years on the team, with Evergreen being the appointed captain, and Bisca the named co-captain of course.

Erza took her role as a member of the team very seriously and she was very responsible, however, she had a very short fuse whenever things didn't go her way, and she tended to take things to the extreme. Porlyusica secretly feared she'd end up with high blood pressure before she reached 25.

Cana simply wouldn't be interested in the job, as the girl seemed to love goofing off and was damn near allergic to responsibility. Hell, she had been coasting her way along this team for three years now!

Mirajane was someone who also took her role as a member on the team very seriously, she was responsible, but most importantly she was very level-headed and patient (which was something Porlyusica knew whoever leading the team needed to have).

In all honesty, if it were solely up to Porlyusica, she probably would've made Mirajane the captain.

But that Evergreen had been advocating for herself to be the face of the team since, practically her crab year.

"I'm going to be the well beloved sweetheart leading the Fabulous Dancing Fairies one day, just you wait and see Erza!" She used to say. Erza was too much of a team player to even begin to see a competition between herself and her crab sister, so for three years now Erza's remained oblivious to Evergreen basically making her a rival.

The only thing Porlyusica could possibly see wrong with Mirajane was the fact that she didn't believe in herself enough.

Mirajane seemed like a shoe in for the position, but she was always too modest and never outwardly expressed any interest for it, like Evergreen had. Makarov took note of all of that, and that factored into the decision. Once Evergreen was appointed captain, she quickly made Bisca her right hand man. Porlyusica suspected that was because Bisca had no problem not being the main star and helping to make Evergreen's year memorable.

This wasn't to take away or invalidate Evergreen's captainship either. As unorthodox as she could be, the team fed off of her excitement from being the leader and Porlyusica frankly found it to be refreshing. Sure, previous captains were confident in themselves in the position, but for the most part, they all tried to be modest. Evergreen however, relished in it.

...she was still kind of annoying though.

Once the door closed, the atmosphere shifted slightly again.

"So I guess that means Mira's in charge now...?" Someone said.

There was a collective murmuring between the girls but they all started getting up and back into their usual groove of practicing technique across the floor. Mirajane's feet were glued to her spot.

She put her hand over her face so nobody could see her distress.

'Its all up to you now.'

'They've been suspended.'

Her face turned beet red as her lower lip quivered despite her best efforts. Her mouth formed an ugly frown as she started to let out a good cry. This was all too much for her.

She was now the interim captain.

And the next game was the Classic against the Tigers.

What was she supposed to do? They hadn't been able to practice anything special for stands, they haven't even started a field show yet. Thankfully, the band used the same drill routine on the field for weeks one and two, so the girls were able to use the same field show choreography two weeks in a row. However, she knew that the band was going to be working on something new for this game, so now she had to find the new field show song, and choreograph a brand new routine, not to mention think of some new counts for stands.

"Hey Mira are you okay?"

Someone seemed to noticed the girl's faint sobbing in the corner, and all the girls turned towards her in concern. Mirajane sniffled, wiping her nose as everyone watched.

"Hey."

Erza's voice cut through the silence and the girl's train of thought. She was crouched down in front of her, her bangs were covering her right eye, so only her violet left eye was piercing through her.

Erza extended her hand. After a moment's pause, Mira took it.

Once she was up, Erza's expression softened and she smiled sweetly at her.

"You can do this," she whispered.

Mira stared at her. And then, she took a breath and then beamed at her.

"Thank you... Erza."

She turned to the rest of the team, they were all smiling supportively at her. Lisanna was in her spot in the back secretly giving her sister a thumbs up. Mirajane giggled.

"Thanks everyone," she said in gratitude.

"Let's get cracking now snow bunny!" Cana shouted, hoisting her arm over Mira's shoulder, ushering her to the center of the room.

And just like that, Fairy practice... was now in session.

Three weeks.

Well... it's almost been three weeks. It's been about two weeks and two days. I've been to college for exactly two weeks and two days... and I'm freaking swamped.

This workload is ridiculous. Everyday I have a billion and one things to do, between homework assignments, weekly tests and group projects... I feel like nowadays all I ever have the time to do for myself is eat, sleep and watch YouTube in my spare time.

Okay, I've contradicted myself a little there, but it's true.

I wanted to add managing my social life to the list, but I only have a handful of people I talk to on this campus and I never really see any of them too often because they're all busy. Even Lisanna. Because she's had to take such early mornings and late nights due to school and her commitment to the team, whenever she had some free time during the day, she'd use it to take power naps in the room. I should know. I once caught her in the middle of one.

The cafeteria was loud with a billion different conversations happening at once. I was sitting in a booth near the entrance so I could see whenever people entered or exited the building. After two classes and a chemistry lab that lasted for two and a half hours, I was exhausted. I took out my headphones and plugged them into my phone. I think a little me time was well deserved.

My YouTube feed recommended videos of behind the scenes on Michael Jackson concerts, Bon Jovi songs and for some reason a DIY video.

"Hey there!"

A voice cut through the music in my headphones and I looked up to see Natsu approaching my table. You know, I had seen when he had walked in surrounded by his group of friends as they were talking and laughing, but that had been a while ago.

"You wanna sit and eat lunch with us?" He asked, while pointing his thumb to the table full of strangers that he wanted me to dine with.

"No thank you," I say, trying to be as polite as possible. The fact that he offered was nice enough for me, because frankly the offer wasn't appealing. I go back to my food, which was today's special from the Mongolian grill.

"Hmmm... Yeah I don't think so," he says, picking up my tray, which held all my food on it, preparing to walk away.

"Hey! What the heck?!"

I slid from around my booth to make chase to the boy holding my tray and headed to his table. He stopped suddenly and I almost bumped face first into his back.

"This isn't funny you know Natsu."

"Hey, I'm serious." He turned around to me, and I was caught off guard by his concerned expression.

"And I'm not being funny Juvia."

My mouth clammed up again. I was astonished. He actually said my name right this time.

"You really gotta stop closing yourself off, ya know?"

He turned around, resting my tray on the table before grabbing both of my shoulders and giving me a very serious look. I can't deny that I wasn't at least a little intimidated.

"Did you know that you and I eat in here the same time three days out of the week?"

"Uhhh..."

"And everytime I see you in here, if you aren't sitting with that one girl, you're sitting in here by yourself... with your face buried in that phone."

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. I have yet to see anything wrong with what he's pointed out.

"I don't see your point," I say with a bit of an attitude.

"Juvia," he said, giving me a knowing look. "It's reached a point where even my friends are asking why you're always by yourself."

Okay now that, kind of caught me off guard. I became frazzled as my cheeks started to sizzle.

"Hey, I am not always by myself thank you very much!"

He shrugged. "Well it seems that way. Face it Bluvia, you act too antisocial."

I gasped. "I am so not antisocial you, you... you take that back!"

He let out a small laugh, clearly not taking me seriously, and stood his ground. "Nope." He said, stressing the 'p'.

He picked up my tray again, this time with no protest from me, because frankly I didn't have anything to rebut. Mavis I hated it when people had a point... especially when I don't want to see it.

Probably sensing my own self shame, Natsu turned and gave me a small smile.

"Do you remember what I told you the first time we met?"

I raised my eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Don't be a stranger," he finished with a big, toothy grin.

I sighed.

When we got to the table, I was met with three other guys and one girl. I recognized one of them (the honey blonde boy, who's always wearing shades) sitting on the countertop space connected to the top of the seats of the booth. One of his Timberlands were in the chair while the other was on the table.

"Dude get your foot of the table," a pale, skinny, orange haired boy next to him said... (in disgust by the way).

The boy with his foot on the table was bopping his head up and down, playing with an air drum set.

The orange haired boy hit his foot repeatedly to catch his attention, and his hand was moving so fast, I almost couldn't see it.

"Hellooo, are you listening to me?"

Natsu's table was in the center of the cafeteria, so there was constant foot traffic of people moving to and fro and there was always somebody who seemed to be hailing them, or wanting to talk to them... especially Natsu.

"Hey guys," Natsu said after not being distracted by banter with people passing by. "This is my friend."

Right after he introduced me, the pinkette was called over by a bunch of seniors boys whom he answered by threatening to jump them all. The senior boys playfully accepted his challenge as he ran over.

"I'm Juvia!" I jump, with a tad too much enthusiasm. I'll show Natsu that I'm not antisocial.

"Hey, nice to meet you," said a girl with a black, blunt bob and large, circular, wire glasses (she was the only girl at the table). "My name is Daphne."

Daphne... such a pretty, pretty name. She was super cute, and her button up shirt and necktie gave me preppy, A-type vibes. I liked it.

"That's Jet, Droy..." She gestured to the skinny orange haired boy, and his much larger, black haired friend. They did a small wave with their fingers. "...and this is Loke."

She gestured to the honey blonde with his feet where they didn't belong. He stopped his air drumming when he noticed I came to stick around his table for more than 20 seconds.

"Oh," he said, taking out his ear buds that were hidden by his hair.

To my surprise, he took my left hand and placed a chaste kiss on the outside of it. My eyes bulged out of their sockets.

...HUH?!

"Bonjour madam," he said with a thick french accent, and winked at me as he slowly rose from my hand. I felt all my blood run cold.

What, did he not speak English or something?! Is he French?!

He dispelled my suspicions with his next statement.

"I hope, you and I will get to know each other soon... very soon."

I think his words were supposed to hold more meaning than I was picking up. He was smirking at me with the ghost of a raised eyebrow. Was he suggesting something?

"Alright you man whore," Daphne's aggravated voice cut Loke's introduction short. She actually ended up pinching him in the bicep, causing him to yelp in pain and turn to her crossly, rubbing his arm.

There was a muffled snicker coming from either Jet or Droy beside me. They tried desperately to keep straight faces though, so Daphne most likely wouldn't find out who laughed between them. Jet just flung his gaze towards his phone, while Droy picked at his plate of only vegetables with a telling smile on his face.

"You're always so mean to me!" Loke whined to Daphne. Gone was whoever that heavily flirtatious boy was from earlier.

"That's because you act like a dog in heat instead of an actual human being whenever there's a girl around!"

He leaned downward and closer to her, with the same smirk he gave me, cupping her chin with his thumb and index finger. "If you want me, all you've got to do is say-"

But he didn't finish his sentence as Daphne had grabbed him by the wrist and was about to viscously bite his finger, before he quickly slipped his hand out of her grasp. There was a loud clank when her teeth connected.

She was seriously about to bite his finger off.

"Hey watch it!" He said with a terrified expression, looking at what could've happened with his hand and then back at her. I mean seriously, he looked like a mortified Chihuahua.

"If you ever touch me like that again Celeste, I will kill you," she growled.

I felt a chill go up and down my spine watching her. She was a little intimidating.

"Hey why don't you pull up a chair?" Jet asked me.

"I don't really think she needs a chair," Droy said to him. "I mean if we all just scoot over we could make space for her."

They all started clamoring in agreement, squeezing together and moving their things to the ground, giving me more than enough room. I can't lie, I was surprised at how they were all so accommodating to someone they didn't even know. It made me feel... special. I ended up sitting on the end next to Droy, who was next to Jet, with Loke in the middle, and Daphne on the other end.

"So... Juvia," Jet started. He stressed my name, like he was testing saying it out loud for the first time. "How's your semester going so far?"

"Oh! Well, it's pretty good. A lot more work than high school-"

"-I'll say," Daphne interjected, stabbing her peas with her fork.

"But it's not bad, so, you know..." I trailed off, taking a sip of my apple juice just to avoid any awkward silence.

"What's your major?" Droy asked from beside me, cutting the steak on his other plate with just meat with perfect table etiquette. After taking a quaint bite, he took one of the folded napkins in front of him and dabbed his mouth. I watched for a few seconds in awe of his manners, and suddenly I felt like a pig.

"I'm actually a nursing major," I say.

The rest of the conversation steered toward our shared struggles of adapting to college life, how different it was from high school, the intense workload, being away from our families and everything in between.

I had gotten so relaxed, I didn't even realize I had stopped fretting about when exactly Natsu was supposed to come back.

I found out that Loke was a Global Business major, Droy was majoring in Botany (Plant Biology), Daphne was double majoring in Zoology and Mythology (ideally she wanted a major that specialized in both because she was really into large, mythological creatures, but she settled for that) and Jet was undecided.

By the time Natsu came back, the five of us were already knee-deep in a conversation about Daphne's Freshman Orientation class that was very bluntly named "Sex, Dating, Porn and God". I know... a very interesting class indeed. And no, I only wished I was joking.

"So... do you guys get to like... watch porn for homework?" Droy asked bashfully.

Jet tried to hide a snicker from beside him. Loke rubbed his chin thoughtfully and hummed.

"Sounds titillating..." the honey blonde trailed off.

"No you ingrates," Daphne snapped, glaring at them. "Unfortunately, it's much worse..."

She went on to tell us about how their first unit was on dating and how their professor wanted them to understand and eventually challenge their dating preferences, so the first assignment was to asses the person closest to you, to see if you would date them.

"So this guy that smelt like feet the whole time, walks up to me smiling, and asked if I would ever go on a date with him," her nose crinkled up. "He was staring at me the entire class and... God I think he liked me."

Natsu, who had been eating his food like a starving boar, suddenly stopped mid-chew to laugh causing the rest of us to see some of his chewed morsels. Daphne scowled deeply at him and I could see her disgust mounting. Finally, she yanked him roughly by the ear, causing him to squeak a series of "ow" as his ear started to turn red.

"CHEW WITH YOUR MOUTH CLOSED YOU NO-TABLE-MANNERS-HAVING DOG!"

"Okay, okay I'm sorry!"

Everybody at the table started to bellow out in laughter at Natsu's misfortune, even I had to let out a chuckle or two, however, even though everyone was laughing (I don't know if it was just because he was right beside her or what), but Daphne seemed to single out Loke and pinched him in the chest.

"Ow, ow, ow!" He said holding on to her wrist.

"Oh, don't act like you didn't just have your dirty feet on the table," she said softly, twisting her pinch.

"Oweeeeeeeeeee," he cried, his voice going higher and higher in pitch. "I'm sorry! And I'll never do it again Daph, I promise!"

Eventually she let both boys go, causing them both to sigh in relief and massage their sore flesh. The rest of Natsu's ear started to turn red.

The girl let out a deep sigh, adjusting her glasses.

"I swear I'm the only one with any sense in this group..." She said to herself.

I giggled. I couldn't help myself. I don't know why, but for some reason I found all of their banter to be really fun.

"And one would think that we get enough fussing from Makarov already," Jet said dryly before slurping his spaghetti.

"He's been up our asses more than usual lately…" The Mythology major had a Monte Crisco in her hands, poised for the bite which she took as soon as she was done talking. "But that makes sense since Fire and Ice is on Saturday."

It took a few seconds for the topic of conversation to sink in with me.

"Wait, are you guys all in the band? And what's Saturday coming?"

"Are you kidding me?" Loke asked incredulously, quickly snapping out of his stupor sliding off of the counter and into the booth. "I've been waiting all my life for this. I hear Jordan Valley State has all the babes."

His outburst was met with the chilly wind of indifference from all of us as we all ignored him. I could tell he felt awkward just standing there in his excited pose.

"The Fire & Ice Classic is what they call the game between Magnolia University and Jordan River University." Droy stated a matter-of-factly.

"But why Fire and Ice?"

"Because, well, you know, our school's mascot is the fire breathing dragon, and theirs is the Sabertooth tiger… like from the Ice Age."

Now that they mention it I did notice a shift of attitude on campus lately. The cheerleaders were doing more impromptu pep rallies on the yard, the football team's hype squad (because I literally don't know how else to describe this group of people) have been running around campus with their faces painted gold and blue reminding everyone to get their tickets for the game on Saturday, and the bookstore was oddly sell "F*ck the Tigers" t-shirts.

Yeah… I'm not kidding. There are literally red t-shirts with "F*ck the Tigers" in gold print being sold in the bookstore for $20 a pop... I hate merchandising.

"So are these like your hometown rivals or something?" I asked dipping my fork into my chocolate cake slice for desert, wanting to know more about the bitter grudge between these schools.

"Jordan Valley State literally has the only band in the FPC that could possibly pose a threat. And honestly, when I was looking at colleges to go to play the tuba, I was seriously considering going there."

Natsu let out a loud scoff from his spot next to Daphne. He had been quiet the whole conversation, picking at his mashed potatoes with a disgusted look on his face and something told it wasn't because the food was bad.

His scoff caught Droy's attention too as he looked at him and snapped his fingers. "Oh that's right!" He said. "How could I forget that ole Natsu-boy here was offered a full music scholarship to go there, just to play in the band."

My mouth stopped mid-chew. My eyes popped out of their sockets. My hand froze with my fork in my mouth.

"Say what?!" I shouted after I swallowed what was in my mouth. Natsu's arms were now folded as he now directed his repulsed look to the side somewhere.

"Oh-ho yeah," Jet said beaming. As a matter of fact, the whole table seemed to beaming in one way or another. "You should hear what all he can play. He's like an ace in the hole. Jack of all trades."

The whole table turned to him expectantly, and I did too. He peaked back at us and very cluelessly glanced at us all.

"Well?" I said expectantly. "What do you play?"

Natsu rested his chin in his hand for a bit as he recollected before giving me an answer.

"Well, okay I play the baritone, the trumpet, the trombone, the tuba, the bass drums, the snare drums, the cymbals, traditional drumset, the flute, the piccolo, the French saxophone, I'm learning some saxophone and Daphne's teaching me the clarinet." He finished off. With every new instrument, he listed it off with his fingers. His thin eyebrows were furrowed together in concentration as he looked up at the sky. "Oh! And I also play the piano and acoustic guitar. I'm trying to learn as many instruments as I possibly can you see."

When he was done, my eyebrows were practically grazing my hairline and my jaw was to the floor. He said all of that so nonchalantly, as if he singlehandedly couldn't play every single position in the band. There didn't seem to be a trace of arrogance or bragging in face or voice though. It was all just 'matter-of-fact'.

Natsu stared at my surprised face blankly, and I turned back around to the others who were all sharing secret looks with each other, practically talking with their eyes.

"It's okay," Jet said jokingly. "That's the reaction that gets from most people."

"So, what made you decide to come here?" I ask Natsu. "...if you don't mind me asking."

"Ehhh, it just wasn't for me," he said scratching his head. Then he shrugged. "Magnolia U's the only school for me anyways."

"Oh, forget about him babe," Loke said dismissively waving away Natsu's impressive achievements. "I'm the only cymbalist you need to concern yourself with." He finished off with a wink.

I recalled my very first question.

"You guys are all in the band too right?"

"You got that right Lady Juvia," he said, adjusting the shades on his nose with a smirk. "I play the cymbals, Daphne's on clarinet, Jet plays the trumpet and Droy's on Tuba."

As the conversation went on, a memory suddenly connected with the revelation of why all the crabs seemed to gravitate towards Natsu for help. Looking at him, you wouldn't think, a loud, brash guy like Natsu would so seriously master all these different types of instruments, but it only served as a reminder to me to not judge a book by its cover.

The rest of the conversation steered back towards the game. Everyone was really excited for it. The guys were talking about seeing family members and old friends at the game, and Natsu tried to start up a betting pool on which football team would take win, in which he initiated by standing in his seat and shouting it out from the top of his lungs. Daphne nearly killed him.

All of this got me really excited. This game was a home game (even though if it was an away I was still going) which was all the more better.

A small part of me couldn't help but wonder what Lisanna was feeling getting ready for this game.

After the sun had set, and the icy night had settled in over the southern part of Fiore, there was a conversation taking place outside the dorm buildings of Jordan River-Valley University.

"What do you mean you're breaking up with me?"

A short, pink haired girl in a cheerleader uniform let her question ring throughout the night sky.

The boy sighed. He ran a muscular, tan arm distraughtly through his black bob.

"Nab!" The cheerleader screamed. "We just made things official this morning!"

"It's not you Cheryl... it's me," he said remorsefully, looking off to the side to avoid eye contact with her. He began to play with the beginnings of a beard on his face.

The young man named Nab was tall, tan and very muscular, sporting a muscle tee that gave ample views of his arms. There were identical sun tattoos on both of his shoulders, the color of which reflected the sun headband he wore around his forehead.

"Oh, don't give me that crap," Cheryl spat back with her arms folded. Her ponytail bobbed along with her feet with every tap it made whilst she waited for a suitable answer.

Nab scratched his chin, diverting his gaze to the moths swarming around one of the night poles nearby. "I… I like you Cheryl, I really do… it's just…"

"It's just…" she repeated.

"Oh I don't know… was this a bad idea? This was probably a bad idea. But, I was feeling so off this morning… maybe it was the weather."

"So… you don't want to break up with me?'

"No… but I am sure I was feeling uneasy about this relationship all day. Although… I was feeling so good about all of this yesterday…" he furrowed his eyebrows with his chin between his fingers, looking at her sceptically.

Cheryl smacked her face with her palm and groaned loudly. "God Nab... just make up your mind!"

By the time the exchange was done, Nab and Cheryl had made up, and he had decided to give the relationship another chance. As he walked to his car he was continuously reassuring himself of his decision. This was the right choice. This was definitely the right choice.

As Nab strolled alone that night, he had caught the attention of a few guys who had been watching him carefully from inside the cafeteria dining space, for a while now. One of them made a slight part in the blinds with their fingers as he walked to his car.

"Hey… isn't that…?"

"Yeah."

Nab dug his hands in his pocket, looking for the keys to his Chrysler. Yep, definitely the right choice… but wait, what if I'm just fooling myself to be okay with this because she was around? Maybe I wasn't making the right decision. Crap!

He did a quick survey of the desolate campus and considered running back to the girl's dorm to tell her he had changed his mind. He made a small circle, beginning to make his way there but deciding against it. This was probably the right decision after all.

Before he could take another step in the parking lot, the young man suddenly found himself surrounded. Slowly, they formed a circle around him, their aura reminiscent of sharks when they smelled blood in the water. Nab instinctively balled his keys in his fist.

"Excuse me fellas... I'm just trying to get to my car..." he said defiantly, about to sidestep them and go back home.

One of the guys (who was surprisingly even taller than him) placed a firm hand on his shoulder as he stepped by him.

"You're a long way from home... aren't ya?" The guy whispered, leaning over to Nab's ear.

Another guy from the circle snickered and stepped forward. The parking lot was more dimly lit than the actual campus and area by the dorms. Nab's car was parked outside the gates of student and guest parking as guest parking wasn't available after hours.

Parking lot.

Empty.

Desolate.

Dimly lit.

"You didn't think we'd just let an Magnolia Dragon March into and territory and walk out, right?"

Nab started shaking as he backed up, but he tried not to let it show. His mind threatened to go to wild assumptions but he dispelled them as soon as they popped up. He was too old to start reacting like a high schooler in this situation. He couldn't stop his erratic heart however.

"Excuse me," he said again, but this time more assertively.

Sensing an ominous presence behind him, Nab turned around to see one of the Tiger students holding something giant and metal in his hands. Before he could react, another one came out of the tightening circle and restrained him by both of his arms. Instinctively, Nab tried to break free of his hold by jumping around, kicking his legs and screaming - but to no avail.

The man holding the metal pipe took a strong swing for Nab's mid-section, eliciting a loud groan from the older man. He doubled over in pain.

"Should've never came over here dragon scum! You knew what you were getting yourself into!" Shouted the guy, firmly holding his arms.

Nab's veins were surging with animalistic adrenaline to jump, kick, attack... and he fed those urges graciously. On accident, Nab managed to knock the back of his head against the nose of his captor, causing him to release the man.

The JRU boys let a look of panic sweep over them when they saw the giant of a man was free. Wasting no time, they all rushed towards him. Nab's fist connected with one of their jawlines, knocking him out for good, while somebody else managed to tackle him.

While Nab and the faceless assailant wrestled on the ground, the other JRU boys piled on top too. Even though Nab had the advantage in terms of weight and strength, unfortunately he was still too outnumbered.

Six of them were pinning him down now. One guy holding each of his arms and legs, and then there were two guys holding him down by the neck.

Even though he struggled, he was unable to break free from their hold, leaving him defenseless.

The remaining boys all stood around him. When Nab looked at their faces, all he could see were their twisted smiles. From Nab's angle on the ground, the streetlight were casting a large shadow on their face. One of them even seemed to take pity on him, as he snorted and shook his head.

"This just isn't your day man."

The boy heaved the top of his boot into Nab's side causing him to let out a voiceless scream. One by one, they all took turns to kick him, to punch him, tenderizing his body to the point where his skin was blistering red. A foot came flying out of nowhere towards his face, and it successfully connected with his left eye.

All he could see after that was stars.

With every punch or kick, Nab couldn't hold in his shouts of pain any longer. Some of them were breathy and voiceless, while others were loud and agonizing.

These sounds all floated aimlessly into the dark, unforgiving night, with only dim, flickering streetlights as their captive audience.

0_o

So... Ish just got real.

Next Chapter: Midnight Madness BOTB