*Authors note:* this is a crossover of Fairy Tail and Clannad, however the main plot line and the situation of the characters are inspired in part by C.L Stone's "The Academy" book series. This isn't exactly a crossover with the books, but I thought I should mention it and give credit to C.L for the inspiration, and if you haven't read her books I highly recommend them. :)
Advice Needed: See Juvia
Chapter 1:
In which a wall is dented.
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A bright light shining into my closed eyes broke my unconscious state. I half expected it was calling me to the afterlife. Instead, I opened my eyes to find bright sunlight shining through the window of an unfamiliar room. Suddenly, the room vanished around me, and I found myself falling into an endless abyss of water.
"Juvia? Juvia, wake up!" The perturbed voice of my roommate startled me out of my dream. I sat up abruptly, feeling confused and half-awake.
"What happened?" As reality set in I realized that my roommate, Lucy, was sitting next to me on my bed. Her amber eyes bore into mine, looking concerned. "It almost sounded like you were screaming. Did you have a nightmare?"
"Juvia is alright, Lucy-san," I assured her, despite still feeling rather confused and sleepy. "She was just dreaming."
Lucy looked a little more satisfied, but still wary. She sat back from me and stood up, crossing the room to sit on her own bed. "Well that didn't seem like any normal dream," she said. "You were tossing and turning, and right before you woke up you looked like you couldn't breath and were trying to scream for help."
"Juvia is sorry, she didn't mean to scare Lucy-san," I said apologetically.
"It's alright, but if you start having more nightmares like that you should talk to someone about it," she said.
"Juvia will," I promised.
"Good." Lucy settled back into her bed, appearing to be satisfied now, and after a few minutes she seemed to drift off back to sleep.
How early was it? In the back of my sleepy mind it seemed like I was forgetting something.
In a panic, it occurred to me. I glanced over at the alarm clock on my bookshelf which read 6:07 AM. Crap! How had I forgotten to set the alarm? Now I only had an hour to get there, and the train ride alone would take at least thirty minutes. I sighed, pulling myself out of bed; I could almost hear the warm sheets and comforter calling me back. I walked over to the closet, selecting a hanger from the collection that mostly consisted of blue dresses.
I stared for a moment at the yellow and navy blue school uniform. I was required to wear it, but something about it just felt wrong. Even so, I didn't have a choice. I put it on and checked myself in the mirror, twirling once to test the navy blue skirt. It still didn't feel right, but I guessed I would have to get over it. I quickly twisted my wavy cerulean blue hair into a braid, grabbed my bag of school supplies I had prepared last night, and started for the door of my room.
I walked down the hallway past the other girls' rooms on our floor. I descended the stairs down to the bottom floor, where there was a central kitchen and dining room that everyone living in the building used, since no one had their own in their rooms. I didn't expect anyone else to be awake for at least another hour, but I walked in to find a petite, royal blue-haired girl sitting at one of the three tables, engrossed in a book and drinking from a mug of coffee.
"Good morning, Juvia," she greeted me, looking up from the pages. She blinked when her chocolate brown eyes trailed over the uniform I was wearing. "Oh, that's right—you start at the school today, don't you?"
"Good morning, Levy-san," I greeted her back. "Juvia is quite nervous about it," I admitted.
"Don't be," she advised. "You wouldn't be going if Master didn't think you could handle it."
I smiled. "Thanks, Levy-san."
I said goodbye to Levy and headed out the front double doors of the dorm building. I would've liked to enjoy the walk in the sunshine, but I had to hurry; being late on the first day would not help my confidence about this job.
My heart was beating out of control and my palms were sweaty as I made my way down the unfamiliar hallways. I still didn't like the idea of being here alone, but I didn't have a choice in the matter. Master knew I wasn't comfortable being all by myself in a completely new school—but maybe that's why he chose me. Throwing me into a huge job all by myself and basically forcing me to learn some social skills was definitely his style. Kill two birds with one stone.
Thinking about it made me more homesick than I already was. Being here almost felt like a betrayal to the family I had been with and never been apart from since I was eight. It wasn't like I was leaving them forever—I technically wasn't leaving at all—but I missed it nonetheless. Perhaps I was being over dramatic.
Where was the classroom? It was only the first day and I was already lost. Wonderful.
The wide, winding halls filled with students confused me. I wasn't used to all of the people around me in such a commotion to get to classes, find their friends, or rushing to finish last minute homework. All of the stress in the air around me started to make my head hurt, but I shook it off.
My nervousness didn't take long to return though, and worse than before. Looking around, I wondered how I could even begin to accomplish this job when I couldn't even find my way to the classroom.
"Umm, miss?" a soft voice asked from behind me.
I turned my head. A violet-haired girl about my age was tapping my shoulder, trying to get my attention. She was a bit shorter than myself and was wearing a uniform identical to mine. Her eyes were a soft blue and were quite pretty.
"Yes?" I asked, speaking softly, although I didn't mean to.
"You're new here, right?" the girl asked, looking hopeful.
"Yes, Juvia just transferred here," I replied and I stood up straighter.
The violet-haired girl looked relieved. "Thank goodness. I'm Fujibayashi Ryou, the class leader. The principal told me a new girl was joining our class today, and I've been looking all over for you."
"Juvia is sorry." I felt a little guilty. "Juvia hopes you weren't looking for her for too long."
"Not at all," she said, smiling. "Well, Juvia, it's nice to meet you, but we should get to class before we're late. I'll show you where it is." She beckoned me with her hand to follow her.
Ryou led me up a flight of stairs and down another hallway. She stopped in front of one of the doors.
"Here it is." She opened the door, inviting me to step in. "Class D3."
I suddenly froze, and I hesitated a moment. The last time I had been in a normal classroom in a normal school was when I was a child. Repressed memories started playing in my mind. I shivered. Ryou looked at me, concern in her eyes.
"Is something wrong? You're shaking like crazy."
"No, Juvia is fine; just a little nervous. She'll get over it," I lied.
I gathered my courage and stepped in. All the other students were either sitting at their desks or standing, talking to each other. My face went almost completely red because everyone in the room turned to stare at me, the new girl—just great. Ryou showed me to my desk on the right of the room by the wall before she left to talk to a sky blue-haired boy who had just walked in, late. I reached into my bag and pulled out my notebook so I could write in it when class started. On the outside I had taped several pictures of my friends; it was sort of my way of making up for being apart, which seemed a little over dramatic seeing as I would go home when this was over.
Crash! Suddenly the door of the classroom flew open and another violet-haired girl stomped over to where Ryou and the blue-haired boy were talking. I would've mistaken her for Ryou if it wasn't for her hair being much longer. They were about the same height, and both had blue eyes. Twins? I could tell they were definitely sisters anyway.
"You, Tomoya!" She threw her book at the blue-haired boy's head. "You're gonna pay for picking on my sister, you flea-brain!" She grabbed his shirt collar, yanking him toward her.
"I wasn't picking on her!" the boy, Tomoya, insisted.
"Don't worry, Kyou, he really wasn't," Ryou added.
"Oh, in that case." She let go of his shirt, and Tomoya seemed relieved.
"Were you having Ryou read your fortune or something?" Kyou asked Tomoya.
"She said that I'll 'meet a certain girl' today," he replied.
"Really?" Kyou sounded interested. Then she patted Tomoya's shoulder. "Well, good luck." And then she sauntered off, humming merrily.
"So how's it going so far?" Ryou asked, coming to sit at her desk, which was apparently the one behind mine.
"Ryou-san can read fortunes?" I was interested in spite of myself.
"Yes, actually; it's a hobby of mine." She smiled. "I'll read yours sometime, if you like."
"That's nice of Ryou, Juvia would like—" I got cut off because the door to the classroom opened, and the teacher stepped in.
My jaw fell to floor at the sight of the stumpy-bodied, red-haired man.
"Maaaaaaan! I am Ichiya, at your service, ladies," he said in a creepily deep voice, winking. A bright aura surrounded him—almost blinding. "And can't forget you too, meeeen!"
"I feel violated," a girl from the front of the room cried.
"You stay away from those students, you creep!" A scarlet streak flew toward the man and sent him sprawling across the room and hitting the wall.
My eyes widened in shock. "Erza-san?!" I almost exclaimed out loud, but I knew better than to give anything away.
The tall, scarlet-haired woman was extremely intimidating, but I knew she was actually sweet underneath that exterior. She took her place by the chalkboard, seeming to pretend that nothing had happened, and wrote her name with red chalk.
"My name is Ms. Scarlet, I'll be your real substitute teacher for today," she addressed the class, who looked terrified. Ichiya twitched on the floor nearby. I couldn't blame them. I knew how to react when the scarlet-haired fireball lost her temper, but the rest of the class had no clue who she even was. Additionally she was only a year older than us, so it was hard to imagine that she was the teacher.
"Now then, we should..." She stopped speaking as Ichiya had stood up.
"Meeeen, your lovely parfum still intoxicates me Erza-san," he said, sniffing her.
Erza's eyes went wide—she was plainly horrified. "Stay far away from me, you freak!" She kicked him again, this time sending him flying out the door and hitting the wall on the other side of the hallway.
Exactly how much would that dented wall cost for damages? Master would probably have a fit, as usual whenever Erza's team got involved with almost anything. If humans had the power to destroy a town with their bare hands, this place would be doomed. Erza resumed her place at the chalkboard and began to write notes to continue on the lesson; once again acting like she hadn't just kicked someone out a door and dented a wall.
I wondered how she had convinced the school she had a teaching degree. All of us had learned a few basic teaching techniques each a few years ago—it was essential after all, as we mostly helped teach each other rather than take classes—but we still weren't legally qualified to teach a whole class in a real school. Knowing Erza, she probably found a way to pull a few strings. And the class wouldn't dare question her, of course; she had made her impression.
"So, any questions?" she asked once she had finished her lecture. The class looked bewildered because she had taught too fast. "No? None at all? Wow, I never knew I was such a good educator!" Her eyes twinkled with satisfaction and I resisted the urge to laugh. Whenever Erza thought she discovered a new "talent" of hers, she became a little... silly, for lack of a nicer word.
The lessons seemed to go on like that until we were dismissed for lunch break. I realized then how hungry I was, but I had been in such a hurry earlier that morning that I hadn't thought of bringing food with me.
I decided to wander outside and try to clear my head a bit. After all, I had nothing better to do for the rest of the hour. Near the front of the school I found a short wall surrounding a small tree garden. I noticed there was a girl sitting there. She had deep brown eyes and auburn hair that was down to her shoulders and almost glowed like fire in the sunlight, and she seemed to be in deep thought. I didn't want to disturb her eating and thinking in peace if that was what she wanted, so I sat a little away from her. I took out my notebook again and began writing down what I'd seen so far that might be important. Everything was quiet for a few minutes. That is, until my stomach started growling.
My cheeks went red because I noticed the other girl looking over at me.
She smiled. "If you're hungry, I'm willing to share," she offered shyly.
"Oh, no, it's fine—you don't have to do that," I replied, my cheeks still feeling hot.
"Trust me, I don't mind. I actually brought some extra today... kind of a weird coincidence, huh?" She scooted closer to me and handed me some kind of pastry I didn't remember seeing before.
"Um. Thank you," I said, feeling a little confused, but it was nice of her to be so inviting when she didn't even know me.
The pastry tasted rather strange, I decided against saying that out loud though, and anyway I was too hungry to really mind.
"I know we just met, but have you seen a tall boy with sky blue hair?" she asked suddenly, turning to meet my eyes.
"Juvia thinks she saw him in her class," I replied, nibbling on the pastry. "Why?"
"Well, I met him this morning and he was really helpful to me, but I don't know his name and didn't get the chance to thank him," she said. "Oh, and I'm Nagisa, by the way. I'm sorry for being so open and I haven't even told you my name," she said apologetically.
"Nagisa-san shouldn't worry about it, Juvia doesn't mind."
"Who's Juvia?" she asked.
My cheeks heated up again and I looked to the ground in embarrassment. "Juvia is me," I said, pointing to myself pathetically.
"Oh!" Nagisa exclaimed, blinking dumbly. "I'm sorry! Well, you have a very pretty name, Juvia. Does it mean anything?"
"Juvia is pretty sure it comes from the word 'lluvia'—it's Spanish for rain," I told her.
"Really? Is there a reason your parents named you that?" she asked.
"Not that Juvia knows of."
Come to think of it, what possible reason could there be for a name like that?
"Well, I think it's really pretty," she said, smiling. "Wait, you're new here, aren't you?" Nagisa asked.
"Yes, Juvia just started today, actually."
"Do you like it?" she asked. The question caught me off-guard.
"Juvia isn't exactly sure yet, but in the end she thinks she will," I replied, my lips twisting into a grin.
I had only known this girl for five minutes, and yet she seemed so open, like I could tell her everything about my real school and why I was here and she would hardly be fazed at all. Of course I couldn't tell her—at least not yet—but I silently promised I would one day.
I grabbed my notebook and the rest of my pastry. I put my notebook into my bag and stood up.
"Juvia is sorry, but she has to get back to class. It was nice meeting you, Nagisa-san. Oh, and Juvia must thank Nagisa-san again for sharing her pastry," I added.
"It was nice meeting you, too," Nagisa replied, "I'll see you around at school sometime."
I walked back toward the building, waving. When I was near the entrance, I looked back to where she was sitting. To my surprise, I saw the blue-haired boy I had seen in my class walk toward her and greet her. I smiled.
Apparently Ryou's prediction had been right.
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*Author's Note:* Thank you so much for reading, and big thanks to CeeCee Dragneel for all her help editing. Please leave a review and tell me what you think, and follow and favorite!