Here's the next chapy and I'm so so so so so so sorry for the lateness, I had mid-terms (still do in fact) and hope that the length of this chapter will make-up for it! Hope you enjoy ^^

And special thanks to MiyuTanemura for beta-ing this chapter as well :D


Gray and Loke were standing outside the infirmary waving goodbye to the nurse who thanked them when they brought the young injured girl. The boys had trouble believing their ears when the nurse told them that the victim was a girl, not to mention the many injuries that would definitely leave scars on the child. Gray was astonished as such brutality, and to a young girl to boost! Also, he had a feeling that he knew the girl from somewhere but he couldn't put his finger on it. She had a small stature and her hair was short and pink, just like Natsu's but a shade darker.

Thinking about his rival made Gray's thoughts go back to what happened earlier during the day. It was the first time he saw Natsu act or even look like that…Usually, he hid his feelings behind a very gorgeous smile - a smile that was used to conceal how he's really feeling from his friends. With time though, Gray has been able to decipher some minor, but very important, details behind the mask Natsu wears daily. Natsu would be smiling brightly, his olive eyes would gleam strongly – giving the effect of a glittering emerald under the light, and last but not least, his pink strands would fall over his face giving him a few more feminine traits. Yet, deep inside the mesmerizing eyes, a darker emotion dwells. Gray would be able to see some sort of sadness and grief behind the curtains of joy that were placed on the expressive eyes by its owner on purpose. It's during these moments that the ice mage would realize that not everyone reveals their true selves; many people surrounding him hide something they don't want others to know. It just never occurred to him that Natsu is one of these people. He seems so happy and excited about everything that anyone would be fouled by his act, although this reminds him of something his mother used to tell him all the time,

"Sometimes, the one who smiles the most is the one that, ironically, is suffering the most. These types of people try to hide their pain and sorrow by smiling. Next thing you know, you'd find-out that they actually cry behind closed doors and that they fight battles nobody knows about. All it takes is for a person to put on a very nice smile so that they can hide a broken soul, and no one would ever notice how badly that person is falling apart. So, Gray, make sure to learn the difference between a genuine and a fake smile. You never know, when you grow-up, baby boy, you might be the reason a fake smile transforms into a real one, capiche?"

This small memory flash made Gray give a soft sigh; he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before taking off to search for his friend while screaming for Loke to head to class before him. He was unaware that the said boy was too busy flirting with the nurse to hear him.

Gray ran to the first place that came to mind- the rooftop. Whenever Gray and the others weren't feeling like socializing, they would hide there. It was like a sort of hide-out that came in handy when one of them needed their private space. On his way to the roof, Gray halted in front of one of the huge windows that were framed with meaningful designs from the ancient times when he saw a blob of pink in the courtyard. Having nothing to lose, he ran outside to find that it was, indeed, his friends' head that he saw from the third floor.


Natsu is able to smell the scent of his rival as soon as said rival stepped out of the school building, but he is in no mood to talk or fight so he just goes ahead and tries to ignore him. The strong smell of balsam and pine trees remind Natsu of winter and soothes him to no end. It is surprising to him how much this mix of scents makes him feel appeased and relaxed, it makes all the tension he feels disappear just like that, but what displeases him the most about it is that this comforting scent comes from his oh-so-great rival. He can't understand why Gray's smell has this kind of effect on him and at the present he doesn't care about that, all that matters is that it makes him feel safe. After all, that's what he needs - to feel safe.


When Gray reaches Natsu, he finds him sitting on a bench under a chestnut tree that is close to the school's entrance. Natsu's eyes are closed, his head is tilted up towards the sky, his hands are tucked in his pants' pockets and his legs are spread in front of him. Gray decides to join him on the other side of the bench and leans forward propping his arms on his knees.

Natsu has a hard time ignoring Gray, or to be more precise, it is difficult for him to ignore the smell that does wonders on him. At this point, Natsu gives up trying to ignore the ice mage, there's no denying that his smell is very calming now... he thought. He opened his eyelids when he felt someone's palm on his forehead. Natsu's eyes went to find the hands' owner and met dark eyes in the process, "You look paler than usual, are you sure you're fine?"

Natsu starred at his interlocutor for a few seconds before closing his eyes again and humming as an answer.

Gray sighed softly and retrieved his hand while contemplating the silent boy in front of him, "Natsu," he waited until said boy looked back at him to continue, "If there's anything wrong you can always tell me. Also, don't ever tell me you're fine when you're obviously not."

In a low voice Natsu said, "You wouldn't understand even if I told you about it. Besides, since when do you care about me and how I feel? Last time I checked, we weren't this close."

Gray gave out a sigh before saying, "First of all, how would you know that I wouldn't understand? You'd be surprised to know that I'm no idiot. In fact, people think that I'm a cold-hearted person who doesn't feel any sort of empathy towards others, but I do! I just don't like to show it to other people, that's it! As for your other question…" he took a deep breath while massaging his temple with his right hand, "Again, I may not show it but I care about you a lot. Actually, I care more about you than I do about Erza, Loke and Lucy. I'm not saying that I don't care about them it's just that if I were in a situation where I had to choose between you and them, then I'd choose you!"

Natsu's eyes were stuck on the raven head as if they were enthralled by him. He couldn't understand what he was feeling right now. It is as if he was shot with a spell. A warm feeling spread through Natsu's body, it wasn't the type of warm that he was used to feel from his magic – no – it was something even deeper than that. Scared to be betrayed by his voice, Natsu spoke in a whisper, "I thought you hated me…I thought you couldn't tolerate seeing me…that you wanted me to disappear from your life…"

"What?! Who said that? Have I ever told you that?" Bewilderment was written all over Gray's face.

"No…but we always fight. And…," Natsu lifted his eyes to the sky, "And by always I mean always, I never spent a second with you without fighting. Isn't that indication enough that you don't like me or anything related to me?"

Gray gave another sigh, he has been sighing a lot lately, "Look here you idiot, I might fight with you most of the time but that doesn't mean that I don't like you. I actually find it fun, that's why I fight with you a lot, and last I checked, we were best friends! Aren't we?"

A soft smile spread itself on Natsu's lips and his green eyes started watering but he was able to restrain himself from crying by closing his eyelids. Softly, almost in a whisper, Natsu replied, "Yeah. We're best friends."

Seeing the pink head smile like that made Gray feel happy, he slapped the back of his friend's head and gave him a huge smile. "What's wrong with you and slapping my head?" Natsu said amused.

"It's your fault for saying stupid stuff such as me hating you, and for you to not know that I actually consider you my best friend, idiot! Besides, if I were to be honest," Gray scratched the back of his head, "I think I like you."

Saying that Natsu was astonished would be an understatement. "Eh?"

"Yeah…um…lately I've been feeling weird around you and it's not the displeasing kind of weird but the kind that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy and wow! I'm talking like a girl in love, that's just creepy! Ok and now I'm rambling about nothing, but just to make sure you understand what I mean, I actually meant the like-like not the simple friendship kind of like. Well, that's what I think…"

"You think?"

"Yeah I think…I'm not really sure about my feelings, I mean come on! Put yourself in my shoes and see if discovering that you fell for your best friend is a fun thing, and it's a boy too!"

"Eh? You don't want to fall for me because I'm a boy?"

"No not really, I believe in the freedom to love whoever and whatever you want. It's just my first time feeling like that for a boy…" Gray turned his head away from Natsu and blushed.

"So it's not because it's me that you're unsure of what to feel?"

"No, I'm actually happy it's you and not someone else…" Gray looked back at Natsu, and saw him smiling warmly at his words.

"Thanks Gray. That's actually the best thing I've ever heard through my whole life!" He grinned, "Ah! But…um…it's kind of sudden and all and…um…it's not that I'm not interested in you or anything, I mean you're not the problem, it's just that I'm not really ready to get into a relationship yet and…," Natsu's voice got lower at his last words.

Gray chuckled at Natsu's rambling and said, "You know I wasn't actually expecting us to start a relationship between us from the get-go, but, hey, it would be nice if we went out together, just the two of us, from time to time!"

"You mean going on dates?" says Natsu innocently.

Gray has a small blush on his cheeks, "Yeah dates."

"Sure. I don't mind."

"Yes I know it's a stupid idea and all but it was just a suggestion," Gray's eyes grow wide, "Wait! What?! You don't mind?"

A small chuckle comes out of Natsu, "Yup! I don't mind, ice princess."

"Hey! I thought you didn't like fighting, flame-brain!"

"Insulting you is nothing close to fighting, Popsicle breath!"

"That's how our fights usually start, squinty eyes!"

Natsu laughs softly at that, "Don't worry, droopy eyes, right now I don't have the energy to fight."

"Oh yeah! You reminded me, are you alright, you were pale and you're actually still pale right now."

"You won't believe me if I said I was feeling fine would you?"

"Not one bit…I told you before, I'm no idiot. Besides, you look horrible right now."

"Is that something you'd say to someone you just confessed to?"

"I say whatever I want, you idiotic flame-brain."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So? You still haven't answered my question."

"It's nothing really, I had a very small fever in the morning and well here I am now…"

"Fevers are the beginning of all illness."

Natsu gives him a blank look, "Shit, you sounded just like my brother right now."

"You have a brother?!"

Natsu clasps his hands over his mouth before saying, "Oh fuck! I wasn't supposed to reveal that! Erase it! Take it out of your memories now!"

"What the hell Natsu? Why do you need to hide that you have a brother? That's just plain weird!"

Fear is what is written on Natsu's face, "Um…Natsu what's wrong?" says Gray worriedly.

"He's gonna kill me! Oh my god! He's gonna kill me!" Natsu's voice is trembling slightly.

"Helloooo," Gray waves his hand in front of the pink head, "Natsu what's wrong?"

Said boy latches onto Gray and gives him begging eyes, "Please Gray I'm begging you here! Please don't tell anyone about this! Please!"

"Natsu calm down! I have no idea what you're talking about! Just calm yourself first then explain!"

Natsu takes a deep breath and then sits straight, "Ok, so here's the thing, before I say anything, I'm trusting you here with something very important go it?"

"Uuuuh…okaaay…"

Natsu takes another breath and continues, "So I live with a bunch of idiots that I call siblings, there are three older than me and three younger. So in other words, I'm the middle child here. Anyways, you already know two of them."

"Really? Who are they?" Gray is surprised by such information.

"Let me continue first. As I was saying, you know two of them and I'm sure you've heard of rumors about two other ones. So," Natsu clears his throat, "Have you ever heard of Gajeel, Cobra, Wendy and Laxus?"

"Gajeel as in the guy who looks like a pin cushion and goes under the name of black steel in Phantom Lord High?"

"The one and only." Natsu smiles while holding a finger out in front of his face.

"And Cobra as in that's actually his nickname not his real name and goes to Crime Sorciere High?"

"Yeah, but how'd you know that?"

"Don't mind the small details, to continue, when you mentioned Wendy and Laxus…you meant the Wendy and Laxus right?"

"Bingo! The Laxus from our physics class and the Wendy that was eating lunch with us today."

Gray laughs so hard that he falls from the bench and starts rolling on the ground. "Wow Natsu, I knew you were an idiot but I never thought you'd be delusional!"

A tick mark forms on Natsu's head, "Who're you calling delusional you pervert?"

"Can you blame me? Who would believe that!"

"You tell me! Have I ever lied to you? Well if you try to ignore the lies that served to prank you…"

"Okay fine you got me there, but it's still hard to believe…I mean you guys act as if you don't know each other!"

"That's because we're trying to hide that we're family."

"Why?"

Natsu sighs, now that he knows all this, there's no harm on telling him more right?

"Look here, I can't take the decision of telling you the reason but if you head home with me maybe Laxus would."

"Really? Then I'm so going back home with you!"

Natsu chuckles at that and stills when a thought occurs to him, "Wait! I take that back! We'll stay after school and talk to him in his desk here…If we go back home we might get obliterated on sight!"

"Obliterated, really?"

"Yes! Remember…chemistry lab report…negative hundred…all that plus Laxus equals my death so yeaaah…"

"Um…okay then staying after school it is."

"Besides the fact that Gajeel and Cobra would kill me for telling you…Laxus alone is enough…"

"Yeah…"


When the school emptied of its students and the teachers settled on their desks to start correcting all type of assignments, Natsu and Gray entered the building. During the time where classes were still being held, the duo moved from the bench to the backyard of the school so that they can avoid meeting their friends. Explaining to them why they skipped the second half of the day would have been a pain in the ass, especially to the student council president Erza Scarlet. Not only would she not spare them but she would not leave them alone until they tell her why they missed it, and none of them was keen on being interrogated about their absence. Natsu finds it risky enough to have Gray know about his family issues, adding the rest of the group of friends in on the secret would just add to more trouble and confusion from their part. As for Gray, he gave his promise to not reveal anything about the matter and his pride and faithfulness towards his friend would never allow him to break such an important promise.

The boys reached the room where Laxus's desk was placed in and knocked at the door. They didn't wait long before Freed, the spell-casting teacher, showed up behind the unlocked door.

Surprise etched on his features when he saw who bothered them during their corrections, "Gray and Natsu?! What a surprise! What are you guys still doing at school?"

With his inhuman hearing, Laxus was able to perceive the question that was asked and it left him stunned. Natsu presented himself to a teacher's desk and after school to boot! The blond man turned to stare at the sky from the window- checking if by any chance there's an apocalypse on its way to bury them all underground. But there was none which made Laxus's astonishment triple. His attention was once again lured to the conversation occurring at the entrance of the room when he heard Gray reply.

"We were wondering if it was possible for us to talk to Mister Laxus."

"Laxus? Oh! Is he also your teacher? Today is just so full of surprises! Wait here, I'll go tell him you need to see him." Freed went to do what he said, not knowing that the bulky blond man already heard the whole conversation with disbelief.

Waiting for Laxus to show-up, Gray leaned on the door frame while Natsu bounced himself on his heels. Whispering, Gray told Natsu, "I still can't believe you guys are related…you look nothing alike!" The surprise was evident in his voice.

"So? You and Lyon are brothers and I don't see the resemblance."

"I'll hand you that one," said Gray with a nod.

Natsu chuckled and their conversation got interrupted by the teacher that both boys stayed after school to meet, "The end of the world must be near if both of you are asking for me, or any teacher for that matter, when it's not even school hours!"

Irritation drew itself on the fire mage's face, "What's wrong with all of you? Assuming that we can't be proper students and go ask for our teachers, isn't that just you teacher's way to degrade from a student's self-esteem or something?"

"Self-esteem? I was unaware that you had such an enriched dictionary," Laxus pointed his finger at his temple, "in your less than average brain, brat."

A tick mark formed on Natsu's head and he would have retorted back if it weren't for the fact that he came to discuss something important with the annoying man standing in front of him. Gray sensed the irritation that was coming out of his friend and tried to change the course of things by speaking, "So yeah…Us brats need to talk to you and in a more private space so find us one or follow us outside. Your pick! And before you say anything more insulting, you should know that it's very important so, yeah…"

Laxus eyed them suspiciously and sighed before yelling inside the room he was standing in, "I'm leaving for a bit, take care of things for me during my absence Freed, Bickslow!"

A united "Ok!" was heard before he gave back his attention to the boys standing in front of him. He had a feeling that whatever they needed to tell him was not something good, and Natsu's worried look just made the feeling grow more.

They decided to go outside, to the same bench the younger boys were having a discussion on earlier in the evening. Laxus sat down while the two others decided to stay standing- like that if he decides to go on a rampage by the news they'll give him, they'd have a head start by running away. The blond man stayed silent and waited for them to start talking.

Natsu sighed, "No reason for me to beat around the bush, so here we go…," he took a very deep breath before continuing, "LaxusIkindatoldGrayaboutourfamily!" His words were jumbled up together and Laxus was unable to understand a thing from what was uttered.

"Uh…Mind repeating that Natsu…," Laxus held a confused look.

Said boy tried again, but he was overreacting, he couldn't form the words properly so Gray took it upon himself to tell Laxus what they came for, "What flame-brain here," he pointed his thumb at Natsu, "was trying to say was that I know about the relation you have with him and I also know about Wendy. In case I sounded too unclear, I know that you guys are siblings."

Natsu's face paled immensely and his lips formed a thin line. The expression Laxus was holding would have been very hilarious. During any other day, Natsu would have been cramping on the floor from the hilarity behind the utter shock Laxus was expressing, but right now isn't any other day, his older brother's face made him inapt of making any type of noise.

With a dark and grim voice, Laxus spoke, "Natsu?"

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but I blurted it out by accident and I wasn't in my right mind and I don't know I just…I don't know…," Natsu gripped his pants on his sides, clenched his teeth tightly and shut his eyes closed, "I'm sorry." He said the last part so quietly that Laxus would have missed it if it weren't for his draconic ears. Hearing the honesty behind those words made Laxus calm down and think rationally again.

When no retort or punch came to him, Natsu slightly opened one of his eyelids and saw Laxus leaning back on the bench, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"U-Um…Laxus?"

"I knew this would happen one day…," he replaced his hand on his lap, "but I expected Sting to be the one that will reveal it you know? ... Never in the least had I thought that it would be you…"

"I'm sorry…," guilt was apparent on the pink head's face.

"It's fine. We just got to make sure that this brat," he nodded towards Gray, "keeps his mouth shut about it. Besides… I know you weren't feeling all that great today so yeah…"

Gray took this as a chance to intervene, "About that, I already promised Natsu that I won't let my mouth loose, but I would like to know why be so secretive?"

Natsu flinched at the question and kept his gaze on the floor while Laxus contemplated his options. He can easily tell Gray and knowing him from all the years he was a student in Fairy Tail High, Laxus was sure he would never break a promise. Besides, killing him if he reveals anything about the matter would be done without difficulty. In addition to that, worrying about what the others would think is futile. Laxus doesn't give a damn about Cobra's and Gajeel's opinions, the kids are too stupid to understand what's being asked of them-well Sting is, Wendy would actually be very delighted to have an addition in on the secret and finally, Natsu doesn't seem to care and only brought him Gray so that he won't make the ultimate decision himself and get the others enraged over stupidities.

Laxus let out an aggravated sigh. "I'll tell you, but it won't be fair if you only get to get something out of it, so let's bargain information instead."

"Anything!" Gray said excited to finally know why Natsu's family was acting like a secret organization.

"The information I'm about to leak is of grand importance, so giving it to you ain't an easy task for me and the other members won't be happy to know that I gave it to you easily… well…except for Wendy and Natsu…," he mumbled the last part under his breath and continued with his previous sentence, "anyways, what I mean is that if you want me to tell you the one thing that we're trying to hide from society then you should give us something of equivalent value. And, I don't mean money or any junk of that sort, I want valuable information regarding you. Something you're trying hard to hide from the others. Even if it's the most stupid thing ever, got it?"

Gray stood there weighting his options before being interrupted by Natsu who told him with a sad expression, "You don't really need to think twice about it you know? However way you see it, you're the one getting the better part of the deal, and I'll tell you right now, whatever piece of information you'll give us, it won't be worse than the one we'll give you…"

This perked Gray's curiosity even more, particularly since he was unable to imagine what kind of secret would make Natsu show such a sorrowful expression, so he found himself nodding to the deal in agreement, "Sounds fair," he said.

At that, Laxus dropped the bomb without any form of warning in front of the raven head, "We're dragon-slayers." He disclosed it in a way that gave the impression that he was uninterested and that he was talking about the Halloween party occurring next week, his monotone voice didn't help to make it feel more serious either. After all, he just exposed his and his family's true nature - monsters.

An awkward silence fell on the group of three, feelings of anxiety were invading the younger boys as they felt the pressure to speak growing but are unsure of what to say next. Gray thought that he heard wrong so he turned to face the boy he confessed to in the mid-afternoon to confirm Laxus's words, seeing his friend with an unnaturally serious face, made Gray realize that his ears weren't playing tricks on him.

To show his surprise, Gray was only able to utter an "Oh fuck!"

Natsu was devastated, he didn't want to lose his friendship with Gray over something as stupid as being a type of magic user that is segregated from all humans. He wanted to keep this friendship, especially after what Gray told him earlier when they were alone in this same spot he was standing on right now. That's why Gray's next words almost made him cry of joy. Laxus saw the hidden tears in his younger brother's eyes and gave a microscopic smile to that.

"You were right Natsu! My secret is nothing as grave as yours! Man! I get why you're all very reserved about it… It must be a pain in the ass to hide such a thing."

The pink head couldn't hold it anymore, he crouched down on the floor and his body started shaking. He was holding onto his stomach and his head was bent on his knees. A small noise came out of his mouth and it instantly transformed into loud laughter that was the result of the huge relief he felt. Gray had a small grin on his lips and Laxus's smile widened. He felt more than relieved at Gray's reaction and he was grateful for it, not that he'll ever show it.

The raven head waited for Natsu to calm down and control his laughter so that he could do his part of the deal.

"My turn now, it's just like you said, it's nothing special, well… not to you guys anyways, but most people would freak-out if they ever discover about it so can I ask you as well to keep it between us? Oh! But you can tell Wendy and the others, no problem with that!"

This got the brothers' attention and they gave a small nod to affirm that whatever will be told will stay between them. At that, Gray took a deep breath and continued his earlier rambling, "as I said, it's nothing as major as yours, but-"

A united shout interrupted him, "Will you just tell us already you ice brat?" Laxus used a little bit of force in his voice when he called Gray a brat, as for Natsu, he may have insulted the ice mage, but it was still void of any heat or anger.

"Okay, okay!" Gray raised both his hands in surrender, "Sheesh! No wonder you're siblings, you both have zero patience!" A death glare from Laxus and Gray decided to get-on with it; he cleared his throat and finally unveiled his secret, "I'm a devil-slayer…as in, a very strong lost-magic user."


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and constructive criticism is welcomed ^^ oh yeah! and if you have any ideas or things you'd like to see in this fic please do tell (I don't bite) ;) I will try my best to include it :p and last but not least, what do you think of mpreg? as in should I put mpreg at the end of the fic or not?

Thanks for reading *kneels*