Chapter 6

Everything annoyed him right now. He had come back to the guild in search for Gray so he could pent out his frustration through the usage of his fist's, only to find him gone, apparently somewhere with Juvia. So until the ice mage returned Natsu was resigned to sit and wallow in his new found anger glaring at the untouched plate of food he had ordered for himself .The most irritating part about his rage, was that he didn't even know the reason. Sure he had seen his best friend with another male, but it wasn't anything unusual for Lucy. Often she would go on dates to try and find "the one" and Natsu never had a problem with it. Although the whole concept of dating was lost on Natsu. Thinking back to what Igneel had taught him, dragons lives were a lot simpler in this certain area. With a dragon you didn't go on different "dates" with different people, you found your mate and that was it. Same with Dragon slayers, you didn't go really go and actively search for your mate, you just found yourself drawn to them and gradually realised that they were yours and you were theirs. Igneel had said something about not taking too long once you realised they were your mate but Natsu couldn't recall all of what he said, probably because at the time he hadn't found it very interesting.

Lucy had tried to explain to him that at date was weather to see if you liked the person and if you did you continued on more dates until you became girlfriend and boyfriend. At that point Natsu was utterly confused. He was a boy and he was Lucy's friend so wasn't he her boyfriend? And why was it called a boyfriend? Lucy had many friends that were boys. Not only that, the males she "dated" were just downright weird too. Lucy usually went with girlish looking guys, who looked weak and pathetic in Natsu's eyes. They never lasted long though. From what Natsu could recall the longest male she dated was a quiet bookworm with glasses who Lucy had brought to the guild a few times. He barely said one word and kept his nose stuck in a large book, whilst Lucy sat beside him trying to get a response from him. It had angered him to see his best friend ignored so Natsu decided to have a little word with male, although he apparently didn't take it too well when Natsu had ignited his fist in front of his face and he never went near Lucy again. All Natsu had said to him was that if he proceeded to ignore his best friend he would plummet him into the ground and burn him to crisp. But it had proved the point that he too was too weak. Lucy needed someone strong, someone to protect her. Natsu fully knew Lucy was a capable mage but she needed someone strong, maybe not someone to protect her physically, but someone who could protect her from sadness and bad memories. Natsu decided himself until someone suitable came along he would be the one to protect Lucy, he would always be her best friend. So why now was he so enraged at this other male? For all Natsu knew he could be Lucy's "one", and Lucy clearly already knew him. Thinking about them again caused another surge of anger that had Natsu gripping the bar in front of him. The whole day seemed to have revolved around mates,dating and all that stupid stuff. Natsu thumped his head down on the bar trying to clear his full of all the pointless things that were swirling around in there. Still consumed in his frustration he had not realised that his reason for coming to the guild had just strolled through the doors and was standing behind him.

"Oi! Are you listening you idiot!" the ice mage shoved the Dragon Slayer trying to get his attention, after he had already ignored his first taunt.

"Get lost." Natsu replied bluntly, deciding that if he fought Gray now he wouldn't be that playful about it.

"What did you say Ash Brain?" Gray growled grabbing Natsu by the scarf. Before Natsu could react by throwing a flamed punch at the ice mage's face the guild doors opened, bringing in a familiar scent of vanilla and strawberries which overcame Natsu's attention. Instinctively he turned around, as he always would anytime his best friend's scent crossed his nose. She stood there with a beaming smile on her face, but the smile wasn't directed at him or any of the others in the guild it was cast at the unfamiliar male beside her. Somewhere behind him he heard Mira call out Lucy's name in greeting and in seeing her walk towards him he quickly disengaged Gray's hand off his scarf and turned round trying to look distracted with the food in front of him that tasted of nothing as he shoveled it into to his mouth. Lucy had stopped her approach as she conversed with Levy who had ran over to he with Gajeel trailing not far behind. Glancing behind him he caught Gajeel's eye and a irritating smug grin spread across the iron dragonslayer face. Growling under his breath he turned away and gripped the bar. He felt Mira stare at him quizzically and also back towards Lucy clearly trying to decipher what was going on between the two. Ignoring her stares he heard Levy voice the question Natsu wanted the answer to since he first smelt the strange male.

"So Lu-Chan who is this?"

"This is Kei, he is a childhood friend of mine", there was a pause Natsu assumed was for handshaking between this Kei and Levy, "He just kinda turned up at my front door out of nowhere" Lucy laughed.

" Luce! That makes it sound weird, what really happened was you bulldozed me down and then ran off not even realizing who I am" he chuckled. Both Lucy and Levy joined in his laughing, whilst Natsu seethed at that fact that "Kei" had called her Luce. What right did he have to be so over familiar with her?

"Natsu?" a small voice spoke to the side of him, and looking down Natsu saw the blue exceed stare up at him in concern. He quickly smoothed out his mask of anger into his usual carefree grin and tried to ignore the ongoing laughs of Lucy and Levy.

"What's up Happy?"

"Who's that with Lucy?" questioned Happy. Not wanting to turn back around Natsu simply replied with a shrug of the shoulders and began picking at his food again. He could still sense the stares of the exceed but his attention was quickly diverted when he heard Lucy's recognisable boot heels come closer towards him, bringing her scent closer until it was all consuming as she stood behind him. A few moments passed in which Natsu guessed Lucy was waiting for him to turn around and when he didn't she lightly tapped him on the shoulder sending a wave of warmth through his arm that lingered even after her brief touch. He knew he couldn't exactly ignore her, so begrudgingly he turned around to face the blonde with the male irritatingly close next to her. It wasn't as easy faking a smile as it was with Happy, with the source of his annoyance right in front of him staring at him with green eyes that held a hint of amusement in them. Feeling a very strong urge to punch him Natsu focused his gaze back to Lucy was was beaming with happiness. She looked expectantly at him, waiting for him to start the conversation and as he sat there awkwardly trying to find something non insulting to say but mercifully Mira cut in.

"Welcome back Lucy!" she called warmly from the behind bar, she quickly shot a look in Natsu's direction probably questioning his gaping silence and then turned her gaze back to Lucy.

"Hey Mira I have someone I want to introduce to you, well both of you" Lucy said excitedly looking back at Natsu causing him to quickly avert his gaze to the ground. He sensed the approach of the rest of their team and also Levy with her new found shadow Gajeel and looked back towards Lucy who was looking at the other male with an expectant smile.

"Well I am Kei Haruki and I am a childhood friend of Lucy's", both of them looked at warmly at each other causing Natsu to grip the bar behind him to keeps his hands from doing something violent, "Oh and I'm also her Fiance" he continued.

The entire guild stopped and there would have been a dead silence if it hadn't have been the sounds of wood protesting and breaking between Natsu's fingers.

"Natsu!" Mira scolded.

"Sorry Mira" he mumbled back as he bent to pick up the chunks of wood scattered around his feet. The group all stared at him for a moment before they turned their questioning eyes back to Lucy.

"Wait seriously?" said Gray.

"Lucy-san you're getting married? asked Wendy.

"Lucy.." muttered Mira sending a unhelpful sad glance towards Natsu.

"N-no wait!" cried out Lucy as she playfully elbowed his side, "I told you that was just a childhood promise, we're not really engaged!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I take my promises very seriously Lucy, weather I was a child or not when I make them. You guys at Fairy Tail take your promises seriously I hear too" Kei said casting a sideways glance at Natsu on the floor. Natsu felt sick with male, this Kei Haruki was trying to claim his best friend all because he apparently knew Lucy since childhood. So what if Lucy had promised to marry him, she was a kid at the time and clearly didn't mean it. He wouldn't allow it. He felt an overwhelming need to prove to Lucy that this male was not suitable for her, but he knew if he got into a fight with him it would upset Lucy and Natsu never wanted that. He needed to reign in his anger. What the hell was wrong with him today? Apparently none of his other teammates agreed with Natsu as the where all currently distracted introducing themselves. They would probably think Natsu was being irrational but they didn't care for Lucy the way he did. He was the one who saved her and brought her to Fairy Tail. He was the one he first invited her to team up with him. He was her best friend and he concluded this is what any best friend would do. There was no way he would approve or trust this male just because he thought a promise between children was valid. If the world worked like that then Natsu would be married to Lisanna by now because of what she had said as a child. Natsu didn't see Lisanna like that, she was an important member of the guild and family but there was no way he was marrying her. He was positive that Lisanna was not his mate, he would have been able to tell by now after so many years. Still lost in his thoughts Natsu did not realize that Lucy had knelt down next to him on the floor until her scent surrounded him. He quickly snapped up his head not realizing she was only inches away from his own face. Bewilderment mirrored in both their eyes and as her face quickly turned red and she shot back up into a standing position.

"U-um Natsu will you come and meet Kei" she asked averting her eyes. It was too much. His fury towards this other male was all consuming and as he got to his feet he spoke before he could even rationalize what he was saying.

"What do you think you are doing?" he growled at her. Moments of silence passed in which Natsu kept his eyes firmly on the ground.

"What do you mean?" she finally spoke quietly clearly upset.

"Bringing in a stranger like that. He could be anyone. He could be working for a dark guild, but you just thought you could bring him here because he's a childhood friend" he knew he should stop but he couldn't reign in his rage.

"He could be here to learn about the guilds structure or what type of mages we have here or anything! How do you even know that he is who he says he his? You were kids maybe he is an imposter, you wouldn't know Lucy because you were just so happy just have your stupid fiance back!".

He was breathing heavily now, and finally looked up at Lucy and a pain so unimaginable coursed through his being. She was stood there motionless with tears beginning to stream down her face. Her eyes were clouded as she just stared at Natsu. He could sense that the rest of the guild was staring at him too but they didn't matter. What mattered was that he had made Lucy cry and he would never forgive himself for hit. Turning on his heel he quickly vaulted over the bar and bolted for the door at the back of the guild. Everyone had expressions of surprise and pity and stood stationary in shock except for the blue exceed that flew after the Dragonslayer.