Sorry that this story is taking a lot of time to update. I choose quality over fast updates.
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Turns out that one day wasn't enough to cure Gray's bad mood.
"I'm. Not. Fat!" Natsu shouted at the older mage in anger. What the hell was his problem? He understood that he had had a bad day but the next one too? And why was he venting it all on him? And by this new stupid way?
"Well how do you explain those chubby cheeks of yours then?" Natsu felt enraged. He slammed his fork on the table loudly. Did the bastard ever quit?
"What the fuck is your problem?!" He shouted. Gray only seemed to find the entire situation amusing.
"Ooh, nothing. I'm just making sure your fat ass won't take up my seat." Gray said and poked Natsu once sharply in his side. As soon as Gray's hand retreated Natsu grabbed his wrist and held it firmly while staring the older angrily.
"I don't need to look like some thin girl. And I'm not fat. You know that I have muscles, not fat." Natsu continued, trying to make the older mage stop him from using this stupid new way of teasing.
Gray only laughed. "Well I sure disagree."
Natsu gritted his teeth and was about to lash out again. He stared at the raven-haired man for a while and saw something that made him calm. There was hurt in Gray's eyes. Something was causing him to be pained and he could not get out those feelings in any other way than fighting Natsu.
The younger mage felt his anger settle and he let go of Gray's hand. The other looked surprised by the action and even more so when Natsu gave a loud sigh and wordlessly, turned around and left.
Unfortunately, Natsu couldn't get far before Gray suddenly grabbed his arm from behind and pulled it harshly, causing Natsu to stumble and almost fall.
"You're running away?!" Gray asked in anger and surprise. Natsu didn't feel like fighting anymore. Gray was surely hurt because of something but surely Natsu didn't have to just stand and take all of it?
"I just think this is stupid." He said calmly but as he somehow expected, Gray became more angry.
"Stupid? The only thing stupid here is you!" He shouted at Natsu.
Natsu would have usually felt his blood boiling by this point. But now, he didn't. He just stared at the older into his eyes, trying to see what was wrong with him. Was there something that he could do?
Gray kept waiting for an answer with his teeth gritted in anger. The two stared at each other for a good while before Gray decided that he had had enough and he let go of Natsu's arm. For a while the pink-haired thought that Gray would have calmed down but instead he shoved Natsu on the floor with unneeded force and turned away to leave the guild once again.
Natsu sighed and got up. He watched Gray's retreating back and he wondered once again what had made his mood so bad.
Before he could thing about it any longer he heard a clatter of armor and a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it Natsu. Gray is just having a hard time lately as he was turned down by a girl a couple of days ago." Erza's voice told him.
Natsu raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"What? That's what he's so upset about?" Erza made an agreeing sound and patted Natsu's back.
"So don't worry about it." She finished and left.
Natsu kept staring at the guild doors where Gray had just left. That's all it had been? A girl?
Natsu felt a strange feeling go trough him. Who could be so special to him to make him so upset? And why did he not see that he had so many people who cared about him? Even Natsu himself... Gray just didn't see any of it.
He found himself becoming sad and feeling sort of betrayed. He wondered if he should go to find the older but he brushed the thought away.
Gray would handle himself and hopefully he might even be on a better mood the next time Natsu saw him even though he doubted it.
Natsu felt hungry but with everything that the other mage had just insulted him with, he just didn't feel like eating. He could almost hear Gray insulting him again: 'You're such a girl..' Natsu shook his head. He shouldn't think about it. It wouldn't do him any good.
Natsu went over to the quest-board. Many new quests had been brought in today. Good. He looked at them and compared them. He didn't really care how much he got out of them, he just felt like venting his own frustration into something else than his fellow mages.
He saw one quest with a familiar client name. This guy lived a couple of towns away and he owned a big transport company. They mostly did their business by train but sometimes they would get trouble with the Vulcans while using carriages. This quest was the same. A pack of Vulcans had been sighted at some forest Natsu hadn't heard about and were asked to be dealt with.
Natsu knew that kicking some Vulcans' ass was a fine way to let out some steam and so he took the paper from the board and walked over to the counter.
When Mira had confirmed that Natsu took the quest and had made a quick call to the client, Natsu turned to leave.
He saw Happy hanging out with Charla and Lily and he made a quick decision to leave him behind this time. Natsu needed some time on his own. He walked over to the Exceed and quickly told him his intentions.
"Really? Are you sure you won't need my help?"
"Yeah. You just go home without me today. I'll be back in a day or so." The young mage told his friend and left for home to pack.
–
Natsu's stomach rumbled for the first time when he waited for the train on the platform. He figured it would be best if he didn't eat anything so if he was to get nauseous on the train there wasn't going to be much to throw up. As even the thought of getting motion-sick made Natsu's stomach turn, he tried to think about something else.
Confusingly, the first thought that popped into his head was: 'I wonder if Gray is feeling better?' He wondered if the older had gone home to sulk or if he had decided to hook up with some girls at the local bar. Natsu found himself becoming a bit annoyed by the thought of Gray flirting with the skinny and pretty girls. Noticing his reaction, he quickly shook his head. Why would he be bothered by that?
The train arriving was a good distraction for Natsu as he could only think about keeping the last of his stomach contents inside of him for the next couple of hours and not think about anything unnecessary. Although, he wasn't quite sure which was better in the end.
–
As Natsu stumbled out of the train he really wished he could some day get some kind of cure for his motion-sickness. It really was a bother!
"Mister Natsu Dragneel?" A sweet voice of a young girl said suddenly right in front of him. He lifted his gaze to find a blonde girl with a white dress staring at him with a fake smile on her face.
Natsu had forgotten about this client's strange habit. He would always send one of his 'girls' to pick up the mage performing the mission.
"Uh, hey." Natsu answered the girl a bit nervously. The last girl he met had been everything else than what the sweet look had suggested. In fact, her she had been so foulmouthed-
"What are you? An exhibitionist? Cover yourself up!" Yeah. This girl wasn't really any different.
Natsu sighed. He definitely wasn't an exhibitionist (unlike a certain someone he knew) because he just preferred to wear a vest instead of a shirt.
He would have argued if he wasn't still feeling so sick because of the train ride and so he just walked past the girl.
"Let's just go." He said and tried to stand straight. The girl soon followed him and was thankfully silent even though Natsu could feel her bad mood in the air. Unfortunately it didn't last long and she started rambling about how unsophisticated the people in Fairy Tail were. Natsu wasn't listening to a word she was saying. His guild was perfect just the way it was and he didn't really care what other people thought about it.
–
Natsu was overjoyed by the fact that the client offered him a good meal when they reached his mansion.
Natsu and the client now sat at a long table, the mage on the other end and the client at the other. Natsu received his first plate and began to hog down the meal.
The client looked at him with round eyes. "Uh.. you sure have an appetite, Mister Dragneel." He said and as a drop of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"Just 'Natsu' is fine." The mage said in between his munching.
"Are you sure you should eat so much?" The comment made Natsu stop. Sharply, like a knife, words of someone else pierced his thoughts and made his heart ache.
"No wonder you have such fat cheeks when you eat so much." He gulped down what he had in his mouth and stared at the huge amount of food that was still waiting to be devoured by him. He suddenly didn't feel like eating any more. But as he couldn't deny his hunger, he took a bite of the meat that he had almost completely finished. He was surprised to find that he felt unable to swallow. He finally managed to do so but his appetite was gone.
Natsu was on a bad mood now. He knew he didn't eat enough and he remembered the stupid ice-freak too.
"I'm leaving." Natsu stated and got up. The client panicked and shot up from his chair. "Wait! What about the mission!?"
Natsu turned to look at the man in annoyance before answering, "I'm leaving to do the mission." He said and turned. Before he could walk out the client called for him again.
"Wait, there is something else!" The man said and ran to Natsu before he offered money for him. "Here, take it. It's the reward. I know that I am supposed to give it to you afterward, but I have to leave for an important business-meeting. I know I can count on you to complete it and you won't have to return here again for it."
Natsu raised his brow in wonder. "Okay...Sure. Whatever." He said and took the money before stuffing it into his pockets and leaving. He just wanted to get the mission over and done with.
–
Natsu didn't really think that the lack of food would affect him so much.
He had found the noisy Vulcans in a couple of hours but they had turned out to be a lot more trouble than Natsu had imagined.
It was impossible for him to lose to such creatures, but the lack of food made his movements sluggish and he soon got tired.
It took time and he got too much damage to feel too proud about himself, but the Vulcans were down.
Natsu fell to the ground, panting as the battle was finished.
"Damn it.." Natsu panted, "That was pathetic.."
He leaned back to a tree and tried to catch his breath.
Once he felt a bit better, he stood up. He swayed on his feet and felt pain all over his body. The Vulcans had really done a number on him. He was covered in bruises and he tasted blood in his mouth. Nothing was broken, thankfully, but it was a real embarrassment. How could he show his face at the guild now?
Natsu sighed and decided that he didn't care what everyone else thought about him right now. He just wanted to head back home so he could catch some sleep and forget about everything that had happened.
–
This chapter isn't that interesting. It will be better in future. Just stick with me.