After being spoiled by Natsu at the amusement park, Lucy's day one of the school trip continues!

~ Truths and Dares ~

It was just after dinner and Lucy was on her way back to her room when Juvia suddenly sprung out of nowhere and pulled the blonde aside.

"Juvia?! What's going on?"

"Come with Juvia!"

"E-Ehhhh?!"

The blunette yanked Lucy off in a different direction. Instead of the lift lobby in the Ambrosia Wing, they headed towards the lifts in the neighbouring Blossom Wing.

"Juvia? Where're we going?" Lucy asked once they were in a lift.

"Hehehe! To Gray-sama!"

Lucy shook her head, not quite in disapproval but more because she knew the girl would say something like that.

But wait– "Aren't our rooms in the A Wing? And isn't Gray's room your room now too?! Why're we going somewhere else?"

Juvia glanced up at the moving numbers in the lift as she distantly replied, "Lucy, did you know? Gray-sama has friends outside of Fairy Tail too, people he met from before he transferred."

"No, I didn't know… But, isn't that a given? He's bound to have known some people at wherever he was before he came to Fairy Tail."

Ping! The lift arrived at the 55th floor. Its doors opened and the two ladies stepped out into a corridor, which was decorated differently but still looked as luxurious as the other wing.

"True, it should be a given, but Juvia just realized it today when Juvia and Gray-sama bumped into Gray-sama's friends after windsurfing."

Juvia looked left and right, decided that it was left and dragged Lucy along again.

"Gray's friends?" Lucy echoed.

"Yup," Juvia nodded. "A bluish-silver-haired guy and a cherry pink-haired girl."

"So? What does that have to do with us acting like sneaky thieves here?" Lucy didn't get why she was peeking at an empty corridor from behind a corner with Juvia.

"Gray-sama was invited to hang out in their room earlier," said Juvia. "Juvia was about to be invited too, out of politeness probably. But, Gray-sama interrupted and Juvia didn't manage to hear the full unit number so now Juvia and Lucy have to wait here."

"Right… So, why exactly am I here, Juvia? You don't need my help for this; you're perfectly fine on your o–"

"Juvia is not fine," the blunette said quietly. Her tone was solemn yet unwavering. "Juvia really, really, really, really likes Gray-sama. But Gray-sama doesn't understand and keeps pushing Juvia away. Juvia doesn't want to give up but Juvia feels like Juvia might be at her limit. That's why… Juvia needs Lucy. Juvia needs Lucy to make sure that Juvia doesn't do something Juvia will regret! Juvia refuses to give up!"

Lucy smiled, heartened by Juvia's little speech. "Alright, I got it."

Juvia could be pretty weird and intense sometimes, but that was exactly why Lucy liked the girl. She didn't hesitate when it came to the stuff she wanted; she always went directly for them.

…Actually, that kind of reminds of a certain pink-headed idiot, the thought crept into Lucy's head. Ah, crap. Why am I even thinking about him now?

"Ah! It's her – the one called Sherry!" Juvia exclaimed in a whisper as a cherry-haired female appeared at the end of the corridor. "55-014!" Juvia announced once the door to one of the rooms shut behind that girl.

"Ok!" Lucy said. "Let's go press the bell."

"EHHHH–?!" Now it was Juvia's turn to be surprised.

"What?" The blonde looked at the blunette. "You can't be thinking of waiting out here until Gray appears right?"

"But… Juvia doesn't really know the other people that well…"

Lucy was a bit astounded to see Juvia being so uncharacteristically hesitant. She decided to talk some sense back into her. "Juvia Lockser, was all your confidence blown away when you were windsurfing or what? Since when do you get bothered by the presence of others anyway? Besides, didn't they try to invite you before Gray intervened? So it's not like they're gonna kick you out. Who's Gray to decide whether you can or cannot be there? Don't you wanna be with him? Where is the brave, forthcoming girl that I've always admired?"

"Ahhhhh, Lucy's right! What's wrong with Juvia?!" She chided herself and slapped her own cheeks. "Right!" she said, all pumped up now. "Juvia is going to knock on their door."

"Good!" Lucy followed her and watched as she knocked, waited, and then rang the doorbell when there was no answer.

"Yes, coming!" came a voice that was similar to Gray's but slightly different.

"Lyon, did you invite somebody else?" Another voice spoke.

"No. Who's that I wonder…"

Faint voices could be heard through the door. The sound of footsteps followed before a click unlocked the door and it swung open to reveal a boy with icy-white hair.

W-Why's he half-naked?! Lucy immediately noticed. Juvia, on the other hand, didn't bat an eye.

"Eh? You're… Juvia, right?" Lyon recognized the blue-haired girl. Then he saw Lucy, "And you are?"

"Oh– Lucy, a friend of Juvia's," she introduced herself shortly.

"How did– No, why are the two of yo–"

"Juvia is here to see Gray-sama!" With that, the girl rushed in like a storm.

"Well, there's the answer to your question. Pardon the intrusion!" Lucy said and unceremoniously entered as well.

"Oh. Sure. By all means, come in," Lyon shut the door behind him, mildly perplexed.

Juvia had already ran ahead and burst into the room loudly shouting, "Gray-sama!"

"You?! What the heck are you doing here?" came Gray's frazzled voice.

"Gray-samaaaa! Juvia missed youuuu!"

"S-Stop it! It's embarrassing!"

Lucy smiled to herself in amusement as she took her shoes off at the doorway. Unlike her room in the other wing, this room had a traditional ryokan style with tatami mats instead of carpeted flooring.

"Well, make yourself at home," Lyon said as he went ahead.

"Ehhh? What's this, Lyon? Girls at your door?" A female voice asked.

"Ah." That guy Lyon replied.

"How rare."

"Nice! How many?" A different male voice asked.

"I didn't know girls were coming." Another unknown male said.

"Hey, I'm right here you know," the female replied.

"Just two," said Lyon, answering the first dude. "The other one's called Lucy, I think."

"Lucy?" An all-too-familiar sounding voice spoke and Lucy paused.

Wait. That voice just now sounded like… But that's impossible!? She apprehensively crossed the few steps through the narrow corridor leading into the room.

"Yo, Lucy!"

It IS him! "Why are you also here?!" Lucy yelled, pointing a finger at the sakura pink-headed male.

He flashed her his sunny smile in response.

"Lucy? That Lucy Heartfilia?" One of the other guys spoke and Lucy became aware of the number of people gathered around the low square table in the middle of the room. Packets of junk food and canned drinks were strewn all over it.

"Well, well," that same guy went on. "The rumours don't do you justice, hotstuff." He had a unique shade of blondish-brownish hair, which Lucy couldn't decide whether it was dark blonde or light brown.

"Kawaii…!" The true blond pretty boy next to him marvelled.

"She's too damn cute, seriously," said a tanned-skinned dark-haired guy, who was laidback and chilling.

"W-What?" Lucy was instantly thrown off guard by the sudden rain of flattery. She hadn't expected so many people to be present. She thought it was only gonna be Gray and those two other friends that Juvia mentioned. But not only was Natsu here, three other guys were also here. Isn't this a really bad timing? Lucy realized.

"You guys, would it kill you to at least introduce yourselves before you hit on someone?" Sherry, who sat in between the blond pretty boy and the tanned guy, said.

Natsu watched on, quietly simmering.

"Sincere apologies, my lady." All of a sudden, the blondish-brown haired male had gotten up and was beside Lucy. "Hibiki of the Hundred Nights, at your service." He took her hand in his and planted a kiss on the back of it.

Why does he remind me of Loke? Lucy wondered as she gently slipped her hand out from his.

"I'm Eve of the Holy Night," said the blond boy. "Won't you come sit with me?" He looked at Lucy with puppy dog eyes.

"Ren of the Silent Night," said the tanned guy. "It's not like I was hitting on you or anything."

"What a bunch of love quacks," the cherry-haired girl commented. "You can call me Sherry, by the way. You're a friend of Juvia's huh?" She looked pointedly at the blunette who was all over Gray.

"Yeah, I'm Lucy."

"Have a seat, anywhere you like," Lyon said.

"Well then, my lady, come right over here." Hibiki took Lucy by the hand and led her toward the space in between Eve and himself.

It's been a while since Lucy found herself in such a situation. Loke was always there to ward off such unwanted attention. Now that Juvia had abandoned her – not that Lucy blamed the girl – she felt a little awkward being so excessively tended to. Moreover, the fact that Lyon seemed to be the most normal guy in the room – even if he had opened the door topless – was saying something.

And that was when Natsu decided to take action. Nonchalantly, he got up from his spot and then settled down again on the other side of the table, wedging himself in between the two of them adamantly and forcefully pushing Hibiki aside somewhat.

"H-Hey!" The playboy protested.

"Sorry, Hibiki," Natsu said. "I usually don't care who your target is, but could you keep your hands off of this one?"

"That's mean, Natsu! Hogging the lovely Lucy all to yourself," Hibiki whined.

"Shut it. You're too noisy," Natsu shot back.

"Wait a minute. It can't be? Natsu, did you finally get yourself a girlfriend?"

"I'm not her boyfriend," Natsu replied. "At least, not yet."

"Ehhhh? Is that so?" Hibiki looked to Lucy. "Lucky~ That means I still stand a chance, right, Lucy?" He gave her a playful wink.

"Just ignore him. There's something wrong with his head."

Watching them banter, Lucy giggled at Natsu's remark while Hibiki acted hurt. At that moment, the blonde realized, the awkward feeling from earlier had melted away and, for once, she knew why. Despite being of few words tonight, Lucy was actually grateful for Natsu's intervention. In a room practically full of strangers, his presence was unexpectedly comforting.

"You ok?" Natsu spoke softly to her.

The girl nodded.

"That's good then." Casually, he reached for one of the canned drinks on the table. "I saw how you turned stiff when he grabbed you," Natsu continued as he popped open the can. "Don't mind him, he's always like that." Then he handed the drink to her.

"Thanks." Lucy gave him a slight smile as she accepted it. Taking a sip, there was a subtle taste of vanilla so she rotated the can to find out what she was drinking. 'Ice cream soda' was printed on the side. It reminded her of the kiss from that evening and it made her blush.

"Is that flavour nice? I haven't tried it yet," Natsu asked. Without warning, he took the can from her and took a gulp.

"Ah, an indirect kiss with Lucy," Eve randomly spoke. "How nice~"

"Hey, that's cheating!" Hibiki exclaimed but Natsu jeered back.

"Now, now, settle down, boys," Sherry cut in. "I get that love is in the air tonight but we're not here to fight over Lucy. Those two over there as well, please come out of your own lovey-dovey world." She got Gray and Juvia's attention too.

"It wasn't easy for us to all get together after all," Lyon said.

"Eh? You mean– All of you knew each other before this?" Lucy glanced around the room and wondered how these people met.

"Ah, yeah," Natsu answered. "Through this and that we somehow became friends."

"What? You mean you haven't told Lucy? Are you really trying to woo her, Natsu? Do you even know how to?" Sherry said.

"Haah?" went the pink-head in question.

"Stop spouting rubbish, Sherry," Ren said.

"She has a point, you know," Gray spoke up. "I'm surprised Lucy doesn't already know about what a problematic crackhead you are."

"Oh, I know he's problematic," Lucy said.

"Are you sure?" Lyon asked.

"Wow, if only you knew this guy's entire record. You'd come running straight into my arms," Hibiki said.

"Don't worry," Eve added. "You can always come to me. I promise I'll be here if you need any comforting."

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to hear you out during my spare time," Ren stated.

"W-Well, thanks for the offers but I'll be fine," Lucy answered, still a little awkwardly but she was slowly getting used to them.

"Juvia doesn't care about Natsu-san's past unless it has something to do with Gray-sama," the blunette spoke.

"Oh, but it does," said Sherry. "The two of them were inseparable during those days. Ask him," she nodded her head in Lyon's direction.

"Yeah, those two were always fighting – with others and with each other," said the white-haired teen.

"YEAH!" Sherry exclaimed. "And they were always doing idiotic things and getting into trouble together!"

"Back up just a bit," Lucy said. "I think I missed the part about how you all got to know each other."

"Ren, Eve and I," Hibiki spoke. "We're from Blue Pegasus Institution. And then, Sherry and Lyon are from Lamia Scale. Well, Lamia Scale Middle School back then but Lamia Scale High now."

"Eh?! So it's not just one different school but two different schools?" Lucy was surprised. "Then, how did you guys meet?"

"Juvia is curious now too!"

"I transferred schools a lot," Natsu explained. "Gray and I, both of us, actually. We transferred schools a lot."

"Ah, yeah," Gray said. "I think I first met this guy at Phantom Lord? Then after the school closed down, I transferred to Lyon's school and saw Natsu there again."

"Oi, oi… Don't just gloss over the important bits!" Sherry reprimanded. "You forgot to mention the explosion that the two of you caused at Phantom Lord which led to its closure."

"Explosion?! You made the school explode?" Lucy gave Natsu a look of utter shock.

"It was an accident, really!" Natsu defended himself.

"Tch, what a joke," Ren commented.

"Oh, please," Hibiki said. "You're lucky your last name is Dragneel otherwise you could've been sued."

"What did he do?" Lucy was intrigued and she wanted to hear more.

"Lucy, have you never heard of the incident? The news even travelled to Lamia Scale," said Sherry.

"No." The blonde shook her head. Before attending high school at Fairy Tail, the girl had lived in a closed-off world by staying at Heartfilia Konzern and commuting to school everyday in a chauffeured car.

"Idiot set the school on fire is what happened," Lyon answered. "And Gray, he tried to put it out but somehow, instead of making things better, he managed to aggravate the situation and the flames just exploded."

"If Igneel hadn't generously compensated Jose Porla, I think I might've ended up in a boys' home," Gray added. "Seriously, he thinks Natsu and I are arsonists or something."

"It's ok, Gray-sama. Juvia understands Gray-sama was just trying to help."

"Right. Well," Gray looked at Natsu. "I don't know about him but I'm definitely not an arsonist."

"What? You pickin' a fight with me?" The pink-head went.

"You freaking pyromaniac, you almost got me into trouble again at Lamia Scale, don't tell me you forgot."

"I did?"

"Yes, you did."

"What did he do this time?" Lucy asked.

"In addition to constantly skipping classes and getting into fights, one day, the backyard burned up in flames because somebody was trying to build a bonfire. During the summer. On dry grass," Sherry told the story.

"What an idiot–!" Lucy exclaimed.

"O-Oi!" Natsu went.

"Over the next few days," Lyon continued. "Ooba Babasaama's prized koi in the garden pond dropped dead one by one due to the pollution from the aftermath. She was so pissed, she expelled him."

"I was smarter this time," Gray said. "I ran in the opposite direction the moment I saw what he was trying to do."

"You're one to talk," Sherry rebutted. "Some dude almost drowned at the ice-skating party you organized during the winter break."

"I-Ice-skating party?" It sounded suspicious to Lucy.

"Yeah, using the same pond as a rink," Lyon supplemented. "I think you can figure out what happened next."

"Gray-sama was expelled again?!"

"Ah, well... yeah," Gray answered.

"I was there," Eve said. "It was a lot of fun–"

"See! It was, wasn't it?!"

"Until the ice over the pond cracked," Eve finished.

"Pfft– Idiot!" Natsu commented.

"You're the one I don't want to hear that from the most!" Gray yelled.

"And so after that, they both ended up at Blue Pegasus," Hibiki said.

"And somehow successfully made it through middle school too," Ren added.

"Unfortunately, their weird habits and delinquent tendencies never stopped so…" Hibiki's sentence trailed off.

"Bob, he– I mean, Master Bob," Looking at Hibiki's face, Natsu corrected himself. "He called me into the office one day and said I should transfer schools–"

"AH–!" Gray exclaimed. "You got that same talk too? 'You should transfer to another school that can better cater to your needs' he said."

"Sounds to me like he couldn't tolerate all of your nonsense anymore," Lucy said. "I sympathize with Master Bob."

"I've never heard about this," Sherry said. "What exactly did you do this time?"

"Do you even have to ask? Just look at the dude now," Ren said.

All eyes went to Gray in the next second.

"Gray-sama's as wonderful as ever!" Juvia went.

Lucy noticed that he was topless, just like Lyon, and, at least to her, he didn't look any different from usual… Wait a minute, are those boxers?

"PERVERTED STRIPPER!" Natsu loudly proclaimed.

"You got kicked out of school because you kept stripping?!" Sherry couldn't believe it.

"Not only that, he would always lose his clothes somewhere and then he would randomly ask to borrow any passer-by's uniform," Hibiki added. "It was borderline sexual harassment I'm telling you."

Ah, that's right, thought Lucy. I don't really see Gray around much on campus but I've heard of these rumours. Actually now that I think about it, except on his first day at Fairy Tail, I don't think I've seen Gray wearing a shirt (even while he lived at Fairy Hills as my neighbour).

"It's all Lyon's fault!" Gray accused. "Hanging out with him too much has perverted me!"

"Nothing of the sort!" Lyon retorted. "You were already innately twisted to begin with!"

"Oh– Then, what about Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"He skipped classes, flunked everything and somehow managed to get involved in every fight that semester," Eve told her.

"Ehh? Is that so…"

"Ho~? What's this? Are you actually showing interest in my past?" Natsu asked.

"What? No– I just don't recall you fighting in Fairy Tail," the blonde replied.

"Welllllll… that's a bit tough now."

"Are you kidding?!" Gray erupted. "With that she-devil around, nobody's stupid enough to go along with Natsu."

"Ah, that's right," Lucy realized. "You're even properly attending classes now…"

"Nope, still skipping, duh. Do you even have to ask?" Natsu replied.

"Eh, but, you're always in Art Hi– mmph!" The pink-head frantically rushed to shut Lucy up after putting the can of soda down. He had one arm around her neck in a rough stranglehold and a hand over her mouth.

Wha-Wha-What? Lucy was thrown into a state of disarray. Should I not have mentioned that?

"Huh? What's that? 'Art Hi'?" Sherry asked.

"Natsu, is that any way to treat a lady?" Hibiki reproached.

"OHHH! ART HISTORY, WAS IT?" Gray suddenly exclaimed. "OH MY GOD, THAT'S WHY YOU ASKED ME TO ASK JUVIA FOR LUCY'S TI–"

"SHUT UP!" Natsu grabbed the first thing that he saw on the table and flung it at Gray. It was a soggy French fry.

"OI!" Gray protested, and he retaliated with a potato chip.

Natsu then scooped up a handful of jelly beans and threw it in Gray's direction. The colourful beans went everywhere, implicating Lyon, Juvia and Ren who were all sitting near that side of the table. As the food fight brewed, Lucy sorted it out in her head.

What? He only regularly attends Art History? The girl caught on. Then that means… it's because of me…? No, that sounds conceited but– I wouldn't be surprised since this is Natsu we're talking about…

Her vision refocused just as Natsu got smacked in the face with some half-eaten pizza. Lucy started laughing at the sight of stringy cheese and tomato sauce all over his face.

"Oh, you think this is funny?" Natsu said as he wiped his face. "Take that!" He threw a handful of Skittles at her. "Skittles Dragon's Rainbow Fist!"

"Wha– Hey!" The girl held both hands up to shield her face but still got pelted by the fruit-flavoured sweets elsewhere. "Why you…" She looked at the table and chose her weapon. She hurled an empty ramen cup at him.

Natsu dodged with his fast reflexes and the cup hit Hibiki. Hibiki, who had stayed out of it thus far, decided to join in. Pretty soon, the food fight escalated into one very big and very dirty mess.

It was ten by the time the ruckus died down. They cleaned up and more or less returned the room to its original state, except for a lingering smell. Many of them needed a shower so all of them had agreed to meet back there again after lights off, which was at twelve. Then the real party would begin.

"Hurry up," said Natsu.

Lucy scuttled toward him who was standing by the open door, waiting.

"Ahhh, wait, the keycard," Lucy backtracked and snatched up the card from the table.

"Geez, did you really have to take a bath?"

"It's not like the world will end if we're late by a couple of minutes, Natsu."

The door clicked shut and a beep signalled that it had auto-locked. Natsu and Lucy went toward the lifts. As it was in the middle of the night, a lift arrived almost instantly.

"You are okay with going right?" Natsu said, jabbing the 'close' button impatiently.

"Of course. I'm completely used to the Trimens by now," she replied. "In fact, I'm glad I was there earlier. Otherwise I wouldn't have found out about your blazing past." The whole talk from before made Lucy realize how little she actually knew about Natsu. It also made her realize that, if she were to give Natsu a chance and consider him seriously, she owed it to him to at least find out what kind of person he really was.

"Oh? You realize how badass I am now?"

"No," Lucy laughed. "But I did realize you're a through and through idiot."

"Oi–"

"Ah, we've reached the lobby." Lucy stepped out.

The two of them made their way to 55-014 of the Blossom Wing with hurried steps. They were the last ones to arrive.

"Oh! Lucy in hotpants is really cute too!" Hibiki striked as the blonde walked in with Natsu.

"Bastard, I told you to leave her alone," Natsu said with some ire in his tone.

"Just shut up and get your ass over here," Gray ticked him off. "Who do you think you are, keeping us waiting?"

"It's Lucy's fault we're late," Natsu protested.

"Sorry," the blonde said as she got seated between Hibiki and Natsu. "What're we doing?"

"Strip poker!" Lyon slammed a hand down on the table.

"EHHHHH–?!" Lucy shrieked.

"Splendid! Juvia can't wait to admire every inch of Gray-sama!"

Sherry smacked the back of Lyon's head and sat down beside him. "Please ignore this habitual pervert over here," she said. "His idiocy knows no bounds. I don't know why I'm friends with him but I guess love knows no bounds either."

"It's alright, Lucy, you can relax," Eve spoke. "We don't have poker cards."

The huge grin on Hibiki's face dropped.

"Can you not look so disappointed?" Sherry scolded. "At least try to hide it, you shameless perv."

"Oops! I got found out," Hibiki said unapologetically. "I was thinking of Lucy though, not you."

"Urgh, you," Sherry simply said.

"We do, however," Ren spoke. "Have chopsticks." He produced five pairs and set them on the table. They were the wooden disposable kind.

"For the 'Ousama Game'," Lyon clarified.

"As in the drinking game?" Lucy went.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm gonna become the King!" Natsu got all excited.

"Juvia wanted to play strip poker," she sulked.

"It's ok," Lyon said to her. "If you become the Ousama, you can order anyone to do anything."

"Don't give her any weird ideas, Lyon," Gray said.

"Lighten up, we'll all be so drunk, nobody will remember in the morning!" Sherry declared. "Lyon and I went to buy beer just now!" With that, the cherry-haired girl brought out two cartons of beer from under the table, followed by another two cartons, followed by another two cartons. She presented the dozens of cans to everyone with such a broad smile that Lucy believed she would've been able to produce more and they would never run out all night.

Oh, God. The danger of the situation suddenly dawned on her. Lucy turned to Natsu and whispered, "Just how out of hand will this get?"

"It'll be fine," Natsu answered, not quite reassuringly.

"Be thankful we're not doing shots!" Lyon said.

"That's right! This is also another form of love!" Sherry seconded that.

"I'll write the numbers on the chopsticks." Eve began separating the five pairs.

"Bring on the booze and let the games begin!" Hibiki exclaimed, and Lyon helped Sherry distribute the cans.

"Pick a number, everyone," Eve held nine sticks up to the rest of the group, covering up the end with the numbers.

Everyone leaned forward and drew one. Lucy took the one nearest to her and saw that she was number five.

"HAH! Call me King, suckers!" Lyon proudly showed off the 'Ousama' that was written on his chopstick, rubbing it in their faces.

"Oh no." Sherry looked worried because she knew how much of an 'S' Lyon was.

Seeing as Lucy also seemed uneasy, Lyon decided, "Alright, fine, your benevolent Ousama will start small. Just a little warm up, 'k? I happen to have one very small question for Natsu."

"Me?" The salmon pink-head looked up.

"Yeah, if you answer it, I'll allow us to move on," Lyon said. "It's about a rumour I've heard actually. Is it true that you groped Lucy on your first day at Fairy Tail?"

WHAT? Lucy's face immediately flushed and she almost spat her beer out.

"Ah, yeah," Natsu replied.

"That's despicable, Natsu," Hibiki shook his head in disapproval. "No wonder she doesn't want to go out with you."

"What kind of neanderthal are you?!" Sherry burst out. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Gray wanted to know what size she was and he dared me to find out, so," Natsu answered with a straight face.

This was the first Lucy had heard of this and she turned to glare at the raven-haired, half-naked guy.

"Don't contort the truth!" He yelled. "You wanted to know too!"

"Gray-sama shouldn't have encouraged Natsu-san!" Juvia sternly said.

"I see," Lyon said. "Drink up everyone, and this Ousama shall step down."

"Round two, round two," Ren hurried them. "No more mercy from now on."

Eve collected everyone's sticks and let them pick again.

"I'm King!" Hibiki announced, showing his chopstick to the rest.

"And your order is?" Sherry prompted.

"Mmm… I order number 6 and number 8 to spend Seven Minutes in Heaven in that closet," he pointed.

"Ah, I'm 6," Eve said.

"What?! But I'm 8!" Ren shouted.

"Ok, change," Hibiki stepped in. "We have more guys than girls so if you think about the probability, this was bound to happen. Number 7 shall go instead of number 6."

"Eh?" A sound slipped from Sherry, notifying everybody that she was number 7.

"Bye," Lyon sent her off coldheartedly.

"This is going to be seven minutes in hell," Sherry groaned as she got up. "Don't you dare touch me," she warned Ren.

"Who'd wanna lay a hand on you?" Ren rebutted.

"Time it properly, you hear me?!" Sherry shouted before getting into the closet.

"Just come out after three rounds," Gray said.

"Take some beer in with you," Natsu passed Ren two cans on his way into the closet.

"See you guys later," Ren said coolly and the closet door slid to a close, leaving the rest of the seven to continue with the game.

"I'll take out numbers 7 and 8 for the time being," Eve said.

Everybody drew a stick again for round three. This time, Juvia was the Ousama. The blunette was delighted. She stared at everyone's faces intensely as though their numbers were written on their foreheads and not on the chopsticks, and then said, "Juvia orders number 5 to strip!"

"Woohooo!" It was Lyon. And he gladly stripped.

"Aww, number 5 wasn't Gray-sama." Juvia didn't bother hiding her real self.

"I'm begging you, please leave your boxers on," Hibiki said just as Lyon removed his shorts. "I don't want to ruin my eyes."

"Right then," Eve gathered up the sticks for round four. They all picked again.

"Woooooo! I'm the Ousama!" Gray whooped, and everyone who wasn't drank. "Let's see… I order number 4 to sit on number 1's lap."

Lucy's heart lurched and she looked down at her number. Phew, it's not me.

"Eh… I'm number 4." Eve said.

"What, but I'm 1," Hibiki said.

"Too bad," Gray said. "This Ousama doesn't care."

Hibiki sighed. "Can't be helped. Come on, Eve. Luckily, you're small."

The blond pretty boy went over to Hibiki and settled down in his lap.

Natsu got all the chopsticks together. "Round five," he said as he let everyone pick.

"Ah, I'm the King again," Hibiki stated, raising his chopstick as proof. "Not feeling very lucky tonight though, but drink up anyway, all you underlings."

Everyone took a swig.

"Hmm…" The playboy gave it some thought. "Since the previous round was a failure, let me try again. I order number 2 to sit on number 3's lap."

Lucy laughed at the thought of both numbers being guys again. But when she looked down, she wasn't laughing anymore – because she was number 2.

"I'm 3," a husky voice next to her spoke and Lucy's head snapped in his direction.

"Okay, then who's 2?" Lyon asked.

"…" Lucy kept silent; she was still in denial.

"'fess up, people, who's got number 2?" The current Ousama asked. "I know it's not Eve," said Hibiki who could see over the blond boy's shoulder.

"It's not Juvia," the blunette answered.

"Not me." Gray showed his number to everyone.

"Not me either," Lyon said. At once, all eyes went to Lucy.

"Yes, alright, it's me," she admitted.

Natsu's eyes widened in surprise, then his face split into a giant smile. "Get over here, princess."

"…" The blonde downed the remaining beer in her can before she wordlessly crawled into Natsu's lap.

The pink-head happily wrapped his arms around the girl's slender waist and hugged her like a doll. Lucy had to lean against his torso because of the way he held her, leaving zero space in between them. The pink-striped spaghetti tank top that the girl wore exposed her midriff. So not only did she feel Natsu's body heat warming up her back, his arms around her felt hot too and her cheeks were absolutely flaming. This was bad.

"Ah, kawaii! She turned pink!" The red tinge in Lucy's cheeks became even more obvious at Eve's remark.

"…Somebody go get Sherry and Ren from the closet," Lucy bashfully said, in an attempt to divert the attention away from her.

"I'll go." Lyon got up and everyone saw that his boxers were plain. "Ahem!" He cleared his throat loudly when he stood before the closet. "Time's up!" With that, he ruthlessly pulled open the sliding door of the closet.

Sherry and Ren looked as though they had just been talking the whole time, what with the way each of them sat. But nothing could escape the sharp eyes (and fertile imagination) of Juvia.

"Ah! Sherry and Ren were making out!"

"We were not," Sherry denied calmly, although even Lucy could tell that her hair was more dishevelled than before she went into the closet with Ren.

"Long time no see," Ren said as he came out of the closet.

"Whoa, what happened out here?" Sherry said when she saw Lucy sitting in Natsu's lap and Eve sitting in Hibiki's lap.

They all returned to their original places and nine of them carried on with the Ousama Game.

"What round is it now? Six?" Sherry asked as she gathered up the chopsticks and held them out to everyone.

When Natsu reached forward to grab a number, his other arm subconsciously squeezed Lucy's side and the pressure of his body against hers increased. His hand! His hand…! She freaked out internally. Natsu probably wasn't aware that his hand had travelled lower and now rested precariously on the hipline of her denim shorts. Lucy wanted to move it back to a 'safer' area – as safe as one could get when it came to a woman's body – but she found herself immobilized with tension. Despite her telling herself not to over-think it, the girl couldn't calm her heart down and she felt as though it was gonna burst. She tried to focus on the game and not on Natsu's hot breath against the back of her neck but it wasn't working.

"Give back your stick, Lucy," Gray's voice brought her back to the present.

It was round seven now – she'd missed the events of round six – and Eve announced that he had gotten the 'Ousama' chopstick.

"I order number 1 and number 8 to do a love shot with a whole can of beer each," he said.

"Who's 1?" Lyon asked, sounding a little anxious.

"Who's 8?" Gray asked, sounding just as anxious.

"Oh, shit, it's you, isn't it?" Lyon said to Gray.

"Shit, you're 8?" Gray went.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sherry, who was a little wasted now, started rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Bottoms up!" Natsu raised his own can in the air. His husky voice was right next to Lucy's ear, making her hair stand on their ends and sending shivers down her spine. The girl found herself wondering how much beer has he had.

Lyon and Gray got to their feet and linked arms with each other. It was quite a sight – two fully-grown, almost butt-naked men guzzling beer in a love shot. The pale amber liquid that dripped down Gray's rippled abs made Juvia swoon while Ren and Hibiki applauded.

In round eight, Sherry squealed when she discovered she was the King. "Time for a shot at revenge!" She declared. "I order number 7 to lick number 2's ear."

Natsu looked at his chopstick. Then he glanced down at Lucy's.

Holy.

Freaking.

Shit.

She was number 7.

And he was number 2.

The blonde had noticed her number, but she was looking around the table for number 2.

"Lucy." She jumped at the sound of Natsu's voice. "I'm 2."

Oh, crap, no freaking way. The girl slowly turned to look at Natsu, something she hadn't done since she got into his lap.

"Oh, hurry up!" Sherry was getting impatient. "Who's 7?"

Lucy swallowed hard, and answered, "It's me."

Very carefully, the girl turned around in Natsu's lap. Consciously avoiding eye contact, she kneeled in front of him, placing one hand on each of his shoulders, before bending over to complete the King's order. Coincidentally, her chest had come very close to him and, feeling her bated breath against his ear, Natsu was beginning to lose it. He could tell she was hesitant because of the puffs of hot air coming from her when she lingered. But then, borrowing courage from the booze, the girl eventually did it, she licked his ear. Even though Natsu had braced himself for it, every ounce of his inner strength crumbled the second Lucy's wet tongue came into contact with his skin. It was the single most tantalizing and most frustrating feeling ever.

Once she was done, Lucy settled back into Natsu's lap again and tried to appear unaffected. But who was she kidding?

Natsu consciously kept his hands to himself now, not daring to test his will lest it crumbled too. And from the way they both reacted, everyone could tell it was getting pretty risqué between them.

"Fwit fwoo~" Gray wolf-whistled.

"Hundred bucks say they both have the hots for each other," Hibiki said aloud.

"Not gonna bet against you on that one," Ren answered.

"I second that," Lyon added.

Oh, Lucy… I wonder if she's gonna be alright sleeping in the same room as Natsu-san later? Juvia quietly pondered.

"Round nine anyone?" Sherry picked up the chopsticks and held them out. Everybody took one again.

"Ah, I'm the King again," Hibiki said once he'd chosen his chopstick. "Hmm…"

"There's no need to think so hard." Sherry rushed him.

"It feels like everyone is getting tired so let's end it with a bang," said Hibiki, who was currently the most clear-headed one of them all (apart from Eve who didn't drink much in the first place). "I order number 5 and number 6 to kiss."

"For half a minute!" Sherry added, knowing that it wasn't her.

"Ok, for half a minute," Hibiki readily agreed.

"Whew~ safe," Ren declared as he tossed his chopstick onto the table. The number 4 landed facing up.

"It's not Juvia either. If Gray-sama is number 5 or 6, Juvia is going to strangle Hibiki-san."

"I'm 8," Gray said.

"C'mon, who is it? Own up!" A semi-inebriated Sherry yelled. "I don't care if it's two guys. Is it you, Lyon?" She peered over.

"No, I'm 2." He showed her his stick.

"I'm 3," said Eve. "Which means…"

All heads turned to Natsu and Lucy.

"NaLu again huh?" Hibiki said. "For some reason, I feel like I've been playing Cupid for the two of you a lot tonight."

Call it fate or just pure coincidence, neither of them could really believe this was happening to them. First of all, Lucy warily got out of Natsu's lap and carefully studied Natsu's face. It was expressionless, just like hers.

Then Natsu spoke, "It's just a kiss."

"W-Wait, you can't be serious?" She backed away.

"It's not like we haven't done it before." He rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the wrist so she couldn't avoid him.

"Natsu!" She yelled in a reprimanding tone that could also be translated as 'shut up'. Starkly aware of the audience in the room, her face was heating up. Did he forget that there were people watching or did he simply not care?

"It ain't like we're gonna die from it."

"Wa–"

Natsu pulled her in and stole her breath before she could utter another sound.

Lucy felt the light brush of his lips against hers, which parted automatically, against all reasonable train of thought, for him. It was as though she'd lost control over her own body. She went fluid and pliant, and her arms stretched upward to wind themselves around his neck. In response, his arms slid around her waist, crushing her body ardently against his and feeling the softness of her alluringly bare skin. The gentle kiss soon grew fierce as each of them felt the blood and booze rushing through their veins, which created an incredibly dizzying, but exhilarating sensation. Both of them struggled to restrain themselves from taking it any further and giving in to their, now rather obvious, inner desires.

For a moment the world had fallen away, and when Natsu eventually let go, Lucy felt like part of her had been torn away. Also, for some reason, the world was spinning, but she couldn't tell if it was merely an effect of the beer or more.

To the others, it was definitely the effect of the beer, mostly anyway.

"She's swaying," Hibiki said.

One of Natsu's hands stayed around her, supporting her by pressing a palm against the centre of her shoulder blades. "Let's go back."

"Mm," Lucy hummed. Not caring whether that was an 'ok' or not, he got to his feet and swept her up in a princess carry.

"See you guys around," Natsu said to the rest of the room before heading for the door. Eve quickly got up to open it for him, seeing as he had his hands full.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Natsu's tolerance for alcohol was higher than Lucy's. He carried her all the way back to the Ambrosia Wing, setting her down on her unsteady two feet once they were outside their room's door. Convincing himself that it wasn't sexual harassment, he slipped his hand into the back pocket of her shorts for the keycard and entered. Once they were inside, he carried her to the bed, pulled the blanket over her and then left her alone. Lucy easily slipped into dreamland once her head hit the pillow.

As for Natsu, he knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep that night unless he took a cold shower, so that's exactly what he did.

So. I unintentionally ended up writing another chapter with underage drinking again. Now I'm wondering whether this is still under the T-rating. I don't think it's M though?

Anyway, about those people from Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale, yeah, they also just happened to be on a school trip at Akane Resort. And yeah, the people from Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale know each other; just imagine they had a combined sports meet or something. I don't wanna write about that.

This chapter is the longest I've written for this story thus far. I swear I almost died trying to coordinate that 9 people conversation, although I did one with 12 that was much harder in My Fairy Tail Adventure, but still. It never gets any easier.

I'm not sure about overseas, but where I'm from, we like to play poker cards or other games late into the night during school trips. However, I've never actually played the Ousama Game before but I just wanted to write about it. Hopefully it's pretty close to what the real game is like.

Last but not least, I really hope this chapter wasn't boring for you because it's like 90% conversation and like, I hope the beginning wasn't too draggy or anything. Also, I've decided to postpone the thing about Loke and Lucy to later chapter.

I'll edit another time because right now I needa sleep! Seriously rushed this out in one day. I had the rough outline planned but when I actually sit down to type out every word, it's a whole other story.

Once again, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter – this story has reached chapter 10, yay! – Thank you for reading! ^^

**UPDATE 6/10/2014 – edited.