Hi there guys *waves hand*
so I just wanted to thank MiyuTanemura for beta-ing this chapter as well, seeing that if she didn't you guys would have been in on some very crappy writing -.-'
so thanks a lot dear :D
Also a many thanks for the one who reviewed, faved and followed (and even thought of reading this story!) thank you *bows*
Bullshit! This is plain bullshit! There's no such thing as hope when it comes to this heartless teacher… Gray thought. Miss Evergreen was nothing close to being kind; her mood wasn't at its best either. In fact, Evergreen was in her worst mood today. She could only see red because of her foul mood. Her behavior with the students and how she interpreted the supposedly innocent words that came out of her students mouths was manipulated by her bad mood. During those two and a half hours of chemistry, the students suffered without being given a reason. In other words, the two rivals were far from being spared by their currently diabolical teacher. Miss Evergreen was beyond frustrated when she didn't receive any form of paper from the boys and seeing how her eyes gave-out a red glint; said boys knew they were doomed.
At the sound of the bell, all the students fled from the classroom as if they were being followed by an evil spirit, causing those who were in the hallway to stare at them weirdly. But, at the moment, none of them cared about how they looked in to the eyes of the others; all they wanted was to run away from the gorgeous demon that was giving them a chemistry lecture a few seconds ago. In the midst of these students, stood two good-looking teenagers whose souls seemed to be escaping from their mouths? Their oh-so-great teacher ended-up giving them a hard to obtain grade. They both got a hundred in their assignment, but there was one thing wrong about it. It stood in the negatives.
Natsu wasn't thrilled about that at all! Today must be a bad one for him. The anxiety he felt was getting closer to its peak; starting the day with that depressing conversation and now this. He was never going to escape his brother's wrath. Laxus will surely kill him as soon as he discovers about this abominable red mark…Even Cobra hasn't reached this level of stupidity! Natsu's anxiety was eating at him from the inside, so he took a deep breath trying to calm down. It helped him a bit but it didn't quell the uneasiness that he still felt. Trying to ignore the feeling, he lifted his head up and looked, from the side, at his rival who was still hunched against the wall. He couldn't help but to feel bad for his rival but not that much, after all, Gray isn't the one who will be skinned alive – he is! Gray can save himself from being punished by catching-up in the coming exams and next set of assignments. Technically speaking, Natsu can too but seeing that the bulky spiky haired monster works as a teacher in the same school Natsu attends, doesn't help one bit! And if the rumors are true, then he is surely going to get it from his older brother. Miss Evergreen is one of his followers along with the spell-casting and wood-carving teachers. There is no way on earth that the busty teacher will ever hide such a thing from the physics teacher. Natsu is convinced that she will complain about her classroom to Laxus and his grade is surely going to come-out in the so-called conversation between them, it is in her nature to doom her students.
With a heavy sigh, Natsu walks towards his locker with Gray by his side. Their lockers are situated next to each other. When they reach them, they replace their chemistry materials by their physics ones. Fate must be against him not only today but since the first day of school! How many chances in a million can a guy end-up choosing the course and be in the same classes as their rivals? ONE! It's one chance in a million! Natsu gives an aggravated sigh and kicks his locker shut waiting for his rival to be done.
Gray is able to catch sight of the uneasy expression that is written across Natsu's face. He is ignorant to what is bothering the pink head but something in the back of his mind tells him that Natsu isn't alright since he set his eyes on him when they met in the morning. It might be true that they are rivals but that doesn't mean that Gray doesn't give a damn about the boy walking next to him. Actually, there is this small part of Gray that cares about the boy deeply, even if he will never admit it. That soft side surprised even him, the first time he realized he had it – he went berserk thinking that he was going crazy. It specially manifests itself during these very rare moments where Natsu isn't acting like his usual boisterous self. During the moments where Natsu isn't trying to get on his nerves, where he is unusually calm or taking a brief nap in the midst of lunch break. During these moments Natsu looks just too adorable…Okay, maybe not adorable but still cute. Unfortunately, these moments are called rare for a reason. They don't occur often enough, to the point where Gray only gets the chance to see them once, twice if he's lucky, per year! After shutting his locker, he heads with Natsu towards Laxus's class.
When they reach their classroom, they find their blond friend already sitting at the back of the room. Lucy chose a seat next to a window, the seat on her other side is occupied by her playboy of a boyfriend, Loke. Her elbow is poised on the desk and she is leaning on her hand while talking to Loke. She looks up and takes notice of the presence of the boys that are still standing under the door frame. Lucy waves them hello and they decide to go in. Natsu takes the seat in front of the busty blond girl and Gray sits beside him just in front of Loke. They exchange some words before Laxus comes in, indicating with his arrival that it is time to start the physics lecture.
Boring. That's all Natsu can think about as Laxus is explaining the course's material to his current students. Things such as momentum and impulsion are mentioned, but Natsu isn't paying attention at all to anything that comes out of the teacher's mouth. He still has that restless feeling inside of him and it isn't going away anytime soon. His head is leaning on the palm of his right hand and he is daydreaming while starring out of the window. The view is so appeasing and calming that his eyelids are getting heavier and so, it's harder to keep them open. Until something hits his head painfully, causing him to fully wake-up and turn his head towards the culprit.
Gray is staring absently ahead of him, bored of the lecture to the extreme and trying very hard to stay awake. In front of the class, Laxus is explaining the theory behind a weird formula that looks and sounds so alien until his clear-blue eyes drift to the seat next to Gray. His aura darkens and he lifts the hand that is holding the chalk he was writing with a few seconds ago. Realizing what's going to happen, Lucy tries to get Natsu to pay attention by poking him on his back but it is useless. Gray is about to take over but it is too late, a flash of white flies from their teacher's hand aiming at the pink head who is clueless about what's happening around him. Gray can't help himself from smirking when he hears Natsu groan in pain, although he feels a tiny bit bad about not giving the boy any warning.
Natsu caresses the bump that is forming between his pink locks and shouts, "The hell?! What was that for?"
"It's nice to know that watching the sun set ever so slowly is more interesting and important than my lecture!" Natsu is about to retort to that but remembers who he is talking to and tenses slightly. Reminding himself that if Laxus chose to be merciful here, then he won't let him escape from his clutches when he gets home. He is definitely going to chew him off at home… Or so he would have thought if it was any other day. Today he isn't feeling well and he just wants the day to end. Natsu would have skipped the rest of the day if it weren't for the fact that he knew if word of it came to Laxus, he was in for a long and ear damaging scolding. He gives out a sigh before saying in a monotone voice, "Sorry…not my fault if physics isn't my thing."
"Your thing or not your thing, I don't give a fuck! When you step into my classroom I expect you to do two things", Laxus continues with a stern voice, "It's whether you come here to learn like you should be doing or to get the fuck out!" He points his finger towards the door.
Natsu stares at his older brother for a few seconds and then looks at where he is pointing. The uneasiness in him gets worse; he needs fresh air and fast! He feels his chest tighten and there's this heat that is emerging from the core of his body, causing his anxiousness to worsen. Natsu tries to control his voice when he replies, "Yeah…sure…I'll opt for the getting the fuck out of here option". Students gasp loudly at his answer, expecting their teacher to lash at him. Little did they know that the teacher himself is stunned at Natsu's unexpected words. The tan skinned boy gets up from his seat, holds his unopened books and leaves without giving a second glance to his teacher and classmates. Leaving a dumbfounded Laxus who stares wide-eyed and jaw slacked at his younger brother's back.
At the back of the room, Lucy is shifting in her seat, wanting to run after her friend but scared of what will happen to her if she does. Loke balances himself on the back legs of his chair and whistles at Natsu's action. As for Gray, he is in the same state as his physics teacher. His earlier doubts got confirmed with this. Natsu may possess a daring character but he never retorts back to Laxus, especially when the blond man is angry at him! Or even worse, Natsu never dared leave in the middle of a class even if the one giving it would piss him off to no end. This was a first! Gray's expression turns worried. Natsu. Laxus decides to ignore what happened for now and continues with his class as if nothing had happened.
When the bell indicating it is time for lunch rings, Gray runs straight to the cafeteria knowing that his rival and friend will be there. He finds him sitting and laughing with Wendy at one of the tables far-off at the back of the room. A normal person would think that the pink head is actually happy and that his laugh is genuine but Gray isn't a normal person, he isn't fooled. Natsu's lips may be forming a huge grin but it definitely doesn't reach his gorgeous green olive eyes. This makes Gray's worries amplify but he decides not to pry into the other's business and keeps walking until he reaches the table both of his friends are sitting at.
Gray gives them a level headed stare when he reaches them and lightly hits the back of Natsu's head. "Yo, flame-brain, you could've had the sympathy of dragging me with you out of that hell-hole!"
Natsu gives him a half-hearted glare for the slap but otherwise replies with a vague "yeah…maybe next time".
His reply doesn't ease Gray's worry but he decides to ignore it and sits next to him while stealing a shrimp from Natsu's lunch. They are, later on, joined by the rest of the group which consists of Lucy, Loke and Erza. They are greeted by them and end-up, as usual, engaging into many different conversations.
Lunch goes by fast and the group of friends leaves to attend their respective classes. Wendy goes back to her campus while Lucy and Erza head to their lockers to pick their things. That leaves the three boys who have the same class together yet again. On their way, they see a group of students huddled in front of a dark classroom. Being in his nature and all, Loke drags his two other friends towards the students making his way to the front of the group with his charms. Natsu and Gray sigh in unison knowing that they were going to be late to their next class - which is situated at the very end of the campus, and it is their favorite course to boot! They bump on Loke who stands still at the sight in front of him. Curiosity takes the lead when they hear shouts coming from inside. Both boys peer from Loke's sides to have a clearer view of what's happening. They are stunned by what they see. Inside, lying on the floor and bleeding profusely, is a young child. It seems like he lost consciousness a long time ago, but even through that, the older boys that were surrounding him didn't stop from beating him to a pulp. Sneers such as "you disgusting lost magic user" and "there's no need for magic users such as you in society, you should go ahead and die!" are heard from the violent teenagers.
A scowl forms on Loke's features while Gray's bangs create a shadow over his eyes and both have their fists clenched tightly. They are about to interfere when they see a flash of pink enter the room causing all the bullies to fall unconscious on the floor, leaving their leader intact. The leader stands there stunned by what just happened but refuses to run away like a coward. Natsu takes a step forward and punches the culprit on his stomach sending him flying towards the wall. He approaches his senior with a calm and steady step. When he reaches him, he sees him shivering badly in fear. Natsu crouches so he can be at the same eye-level as the frightened senior and holds onto his throat tightly.
Natsu's voice carries so much hatred and anger, "What's wrong with being different?"
Natsu's captive is unable to answer, not only is the tight hold preventing him from voicing his thoughts but the glare that olive eyes send his way made him lose his voice from fright. Seeing that no answer comes, Natsu decides to hold on tighter and pushes his senior back until he collides harshly with concrete wall. The boy starts choking from the lack of air and isn't that far from passing-out. Natsu doesn't give a damn about that, he could die for all he cares.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, Loke runs to the the injured student that is unconscious to tend to him while Gray runs towards Natsu. He places a gentle hand on his shoulder and waits patiently for Natsu to turn his head slowly and face him without releasing his hold on the bully. He tenses a bit when he sees the mix of raw emotions swirling freely in the green eyes he always loved. He is able to sense the grief and sorrow that these eyes are emanating but he doesn't know the reason behind such dark emotions. Gray tries to calm his friend down by relaxing and giving him a soft smile.
Natsu releases the senior's throat and stands up slowly, again, his anxiousness has amplified from this morning and he suddenly feels extremely nauseous, he needs to get out. He has to leave now before he regrets it. Not trusting his voice, he speaks in a whisper, "Thanks Gray, I feel better, you can let go of my shoulder now."
Gray can feel the lie behind those words but complies to his friend's request and lets go of him. He keeps his worried gaze on Natsu even when he heads to the door of the classroom. When Natsu reaches the door frame, teachers come running from the end of the hallway towards the room he was in. He doesn't recognize any of them and he doesn't care either, all he wants right now is to leave. He needs to breathe some fresh air immediately. Natsu resumes his walking, ignoring the screams teachers send his way, for him to come back. He isn't looking up so he ends up bumping into a solid body. When he glances up, he sees Laxus standing in front of him with an angry expression. The expression on Laxus's face transforms from angered to extremely worried when he sees the usually bright olive eyes dark and lifeless. Seeing that his older brother hasn't said or done anything, Natsu continues his way outside as if nothing happened.
Staring as the younger boy walks away, Laxus whispers to himself, "First the classroom and now this?"
Laxus knows that he should have cut-off this morning's conversation with Wendy and Cobra as soon as it was opened. He knew it would invade Natsu's thoughts and cause him to act weirdly, but now it was too late to regret. In fact, it's a good thing the others already left for school back then, it would have been even more complicated if Gajeel and the two kids were present as well…
Gray stares at the spot where Natsu was standing in front of the leader of the bullies wondering why Natsu is acting this way. Knowing that he won't get answers by standing around doing nothing he decides to help Loke tend to the injured lost magic user.
