Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.
I do own the idea for the fic though.
My candy.
(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I's original fan-fiction story.)
Finale: Operation FFAOHC.
(Full Frontal Assault on Hot Chick.)
Part II: The playboy and the strategist.
Day 1… 20:43…
"Okay, Natsu, first part!" Loki said enthusiastically to the bored-looking pink-haired, who was lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling; his eyes closing slightly because of the time it was and because of the tiredness he felt after they studied for most of the day before the orange-haired teen decided that it was time to start training Natsu into the 'solemn art' of flirting. "Let's test your normal skills, okay?"
Natsu shrugged, Loki changed his position on the desk-chair.
"Okay?"
Awkward smile, narrowed eyes.
"Okay."
"Good! Tell me, how do YOU approach a girl?" Loki grabbed a notepad and a pen, looking at the boy expectantly to hear and write down whatever he says; the pink-haired felt an eyebrow twitching, was this necessary?
"I just say 'Hi' and start a conversation…" The shades-wearing teen wrote down what he heard and later nodded before throwing another question.
"What do you say to her?"
"I ask her how's she doing… and start talking with her depending on her answer…"
"And if she's willing to talk… what do you do?" Natsu shrugged, his left hand scratching his head.
"Nothing else… I just go with the conversation…" Loki shook his head in disapproval, scribbled what he heard and turned to explain to his friend.
"Natsu, if you approach a girl, you MUST make the conversation… not let it 'go' or 'flow'…" He sighed. "You know, throw topics that might interest her, crack a few jokes, and get to know her likes and dislikes…"
"Yeah, right, as if that wouldn't come up if I just let the conversation flow…" The pink-haired said sarcastically while rising from his lay position and sat indian-style in the middle of the bed, crossing his arms in the process.
"Not at the speed one needs, you're looking for a one-time thing or for something longer?" Loki asked the definite question to know how to train Natsu properly; the pink-haired looked up in thinking, shrugging again after a minute.
"I don't know… the second, maybe."
"Then we'll have to train harder than what I thought…"
"Boys!" A knock on the door. "Time to eat!"
Natsu's stomach grumbled; Loki sweatdropped.
"But first, let's go to eat…"
"Aye sir!"
Day 2… 15:21…
"If she asks for your interests…?"
"I say I'm more interested in hers."
"Yes! And if she questions you why's that?"
"I only shrug and say that's because I want to know her better…?"
Sigh. "No, Natsu, listen; you tell her: 'Because my interest is you.'"
"Thanks but I don't swing that way…"
Sigh. "Natsu…"
"Sorry, it's just that it sounds like something from Lucy's or Levy's novels…" The pink-haired boy said with distasteful eyes; Loki sighed again.
"It might be, but it is better than what you said…" Natsu tilted his head in puzzlement.
"Didn't you say that she likes it better when they're honest with her and themselves?" Loki opened his mouth to say something but decided against it, knowing that the boy had him there.
"Okay, you're right, for now let's make you more appealing for her." Loki moved to Natsu's wardrobe, opening the drawers to check his clothes, the owner of said clothes feeling his eyes twitching at the sight.
"Hey, those are my clothes, you know? And my drawer." The orange-haired didn't hear him; instead, he threw a black tee with a dragon printed in gold at the center towards Natsu, the boy looking at the piece of clothing in surprise before feeling something else fall on top of his head. "Hey!"
"These two should work for now…" Loki said with some pride, smirking at his friend's shocked face eyeing both things on his lap; a black tee and white trousers with two side-pockets in each leg.
"I can't believe you found them…"
"Uh?" The shades-wearing boy asked in puzzlement.
"I lost these a year ago!"
'But they were in your own drawer!' Of course he wasn't going to yell at him for something like that, besides, this is Natsu of which we're talking about. "O-oh… A-anyway, go and try them to see if they still fit, and if they do, I'll check if you need to add something else to the combo…"
"Yeah, sure…" And he left towards the bathroom, leaving Loki to search for more clothes that were worth the try and also for something else to add to the whole picture.
"Now, let's see if we can find a pair of shoes and a jacket to match that shirt and pants." And to the closet he went.
20:01…
"Conqueror of most part of Greece, Asia minor and northern Africa?" Natsu asked with a book in his hands, looking at Loki struggling to find the answer in his mind.
"U-uh… uh…" The pink-haired sweatdropped.
"Come on, Loki, we read this a moment ago…"
"It's just that I don't remember…"
Sigh. "Okay, then ask and test me while you re-read the answers of the questions you missed…" He passed the book to Loki, the boy eagerly taking it and searching in between the different topics for something to ask; finding something, he looked at Natsu with a wide grin.
"King of the Franks during the years of 768 and 814?"
"Charlemagne…"
"Okaaaaay… First emperor of Rome?"
"Julius Caesar Augustus …"
Grunt. "Port city that was the gate to the east?"
"Constantinople."
Growl. "The last member of the Tudor dynasty?"
"Isabelle the First."
Loud growl. "Who was her father?"
"Henry the Eighth."
"Okay! I give up!" He yelled in annoyance, throwing the book back to Natsu, the pink-haired smirking proudly at his progress while Loki crossed his arms and glared at the book now in the boy's hands. "Stupid History…"
"Aw, come on, Loki!" Natsu said with a small chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's not that hard to learn this stuff, you just have to read it and read it until it sticks to your brain…"
"You saw me reading that like a hundred times, Natsu…"
"If by reading it it's not enough, try thinking about what will happen if you don't know the answer…"
"I'll get a low grade in History… big deal."
"That's not my point; try thinking about something serious to you that might happen if you don't know what's in this book."
"Like…?"
"In your case; you are trying to hit on a smart girl and she rejects you because you don't know History very well."
"As if that could happen…"
"Try asking Gray then, and why did he get better in Literature…" Loki thought about it for a moment, his brain connecting the dots, his eyes widened in shock at the realization.
"…Seriously?" Natsu nodded with full seriousness. "Give me that book!"
Day 3… 14:20…
"Hi!" A cheerful voice said to the occupants of the room, the voice's owner entering a messed up room and inspecting it closer to see several arranges of clothing discarded and three piles of books close to the room's desk; a pink-haired and an orange-haired boy looking at him with tired eyes and books in their hands, the blue-haired boy that entered the room sweatdropped. "It looks like you two are taking it seriously…"
"Of course," Loki said with a long yawn, turning back to check the book in his hands. "We can't fail History if we want to leave Highschool… and Natsu doesn't wants to miss his last chance with Erza…"
"Tch, I told you I'm not sure about my feelings for her, dumbass…" Natsu remarked with a growl, staring at Jellal for a moment before returning his gaze to his book. "Why's Jellal here?"
"Well, Loki called me…" Jellal said as matter of fact, stepping inside the room while avoiding the things in his way to take a sit on the desk-chair. Said guy looked up in thinking before rummaging through his stuff to look for his cellphone, Natsu averting his eyes from the history book for a moment.
"You called him?" Finding the cellphone, Loki clicked a few buttons and after a moment nodded.
"I believe I did… at 10am…" The azure-haired boy sweatdropped again, chuckling uncomfortably at the situation.
"Y-yeah, you said that it was important for Natsu, so, I asked Erza to let me leave earlier today…"
"And she let you?" Both boys asked in surprise, Jellal nodded.
"Yeah, she said that since I finished with my part, I could leave and return for the graduation and the Fantasia…" Both boys stared for a moment before looking at their books again… until Loki grew tired of reading and threw his and Natsu's books towards the piles next to the desk, almost hitting the blue-haired teen in the face. "H-hey! Be careful!"
"Okay, Natsu!" Loki yelled to the pink-haired teen, standing up with a finger pointing at him. "It's time to man-up! You cannot be doubtful about your feelings anymore! So…!"
"Hey! Kids!" A loud knock on the door calmed Loki's rant. "Lower your voices, some people are enjoying their sunday!"
"Sorry, Dad!" Natsu yelled from inside the room, hearing the sound of footsteps going down the stairs, he motioned for the shade-wearing teen to continue.
"As I was saying…" Loki said with his voice lowered, to Jellal's and Natsu's content… and the last's father too. "It's time for you to man-up and stop being doubtful about your feelings, stop being afraid…" He shot a meaningful look at the pink-haired that the guy understood immediately. "So, I called Jellal to remind you of something…"
"Oh! That's why you called me?" The azure-haired asked in surprise. "I thought you wanted me to help you guys with your studies…"
"Well, I called you for that reason too…" The boys in the room sweatdropped.
"Okay, priorities, friends before business;" Jellal leaned on the chair he was sitting and thought about how to start his speech, remembering some things that he deemed important for his friend to know and remember; gathering his thoughts after a few minutes and returning his eyes back to the pink-haired on the bed, the guy flinching at the strong glare his friend was giving him. "Natsu."
"H-hai?"
"Do you remember when we were kids?" The boy looked up in thinking, nodding after a moment.
"Yeah… what about it?"
"Do you remember when Ultear moved out of town?" The pink-haired looked down in thinking before nodding.
"Because I remember you telling me something that might make you slap yourself…" Natsu looked at the side with narrowed eyes, cursing inwardly for saying those words when he was younger.
"I'll never hide my feelings again, especially my feelings towards the people I care about…" Jellal nodded to the words, crossing his arms and leaning back on the chair.
"Exactly, and that's a phrase that we followed to the letter…" Loki moved to sit next to the talking blue-haired man, using his arms as supports to lean back on a kind of comfortable position.
"Yeah… until Lisanna…" Natsu clenched his healthy fist at the memory, making Jellal and Loki frown.
"Yeah, I know, Natsu; shit happens," Loki muttered quietly, remembering a few things about his past. "That's why you should take your chance with Erza, you cannot continue with your whole life grieving for one tragedy, she wouldn't have wanted or liked to see you like this your entire life…"
The other teen just nodded, watching the changes in expression on the pink-haired closely.
Natsu thought hardly about it, he was grieving? No way! That couldn't be, since grieving means to be in sorrow for most of the time, and most of the time, he worried about his life, friends, family and school. Doing homework, helping around the house, going out with his friends and listening music; listening music…
'When I'm alone… I play music to keep me entertain… and…' He frowned at discovering his own subconscious attempt to avoid letting out his pain. 'I hid myself behind the music player…'
He thought about the days after her death, after he was punched out of his grief and returned to 'normal'; when Elfman, Gray and Jellal were over with him and believed he was back to his old self, he went home and sat on the bed in thinking… not liking his memories, he spotted the cellphone and his earphones close.
Putting them on, he entered into a secret denial.
That even he failed to notice.
"Okay, let's suppose –and I remark 'suppose'- that you two are right." Natsu said with a slightly tired voice, looking sideways and avoiding eye contact with his friends, who were smiling knowingly at him. "How do I take this chance -if I really have it- and how the hell can I do something like ask her out on a date or for the Fantasia when I barely talked with her in the past three years?"
"I've got that covered." Jellal said with a small smirk, laying his head on his open palm and watching at his friend's shocked face with a chuckle; his other hand moving up and waving his cellphone in between the two, not Loki or Natsu understanding what he was saying. "Do you guys remember those rumors about her and a student from our class? That silly thing going on a month ago?"
"Y-yeah…? What about it?" Loki asked a little unnerved by the azure-hair's smirk and his 'almost evil' chuckle; the man shrugged, playing with his cellphone a bit to later show something to his two friends, their jaws hitting the ground and their eyes widening like saucers. "I-I can't believe it!"
"You better do." And he chuckled again. "I heard her say it to Principal Makarov once and I just couldn't stop myself."
Erza Scarlet has a crush on a student from
class 3-A! OMG! Tell everyone!
From: Private Number
To: School Acquaintances.
XX/XX/11 17:34
"Y-you magnificent bastard!" Natsu managed to blurt out after reading the message over and over again, not believing its contents; Jellal just nodded and bowed to the insult, feeling complimented.
"Thank you very much, I tried my best." Loki chuckled uncomfortably at the whole exchange, shaking his head to get out of the daze and concentrate on the matter at hand; he turned to Natsu and nodded in his direction.
"Okay, Jellal took care of starting everything, and more importantly! It is true! Which means you have a better chance with her!" He said enthusiastically, getting Natsu off the bed and moving him with the clothes chosen by him to the bathroom. "Get a bath and change your clothes! We'll tell you more when you're over!"
"Do I send her a message?" Jellal asked with his smirk dropping to a small smile, the orange-haired nodded with death seriousness. "Good and it just happens that I know what to say to her."
Erza? Hi, what are you doing?
From: Jellal.
To: Erza.
XX/XX/11 15:11
Jellal. I finished with today's paperwork,
I'm going home.
From: Erza.
To: Jellal.
XX/XX/11 15:13
So you have free time? Great! A friend
of mine wants to meet with you!
From: Jellal.
To: Erza.
XX/XX/11 15:15
I do have free time, but not for playing
around. Who's this friend?
From: Erza.
To: Jellal.
XX/XX/11 15:17
Remember Natsu? He wants to talk with
you. Privately.
From: Jellal
To: Erza.
XX/XX/11 15:20
"She's taking her sweet time to answer…" Loki commented with a sigh, watching his phone's clock to see that almost twenty minutes passed since Jellal's last message. "Are you sure she is interested in him?"
"Of course, I wouldn't have started all of this for nothing, you know?" Suddenly, his phone went off and started to play his ringtone while vibrating; both guys looked at each other before gluing their faces to see the president's answer.
When and where?
From: Erza.
To: Jellal.
XX/XX/11 15:40
"Victory!" Both guys smirked and jumped in happiness at their success –mostly Jellal's success, but who cares?-; they clashed fists, patted their backs and returned to the message with a single thought crossing their minds.
'When and where…?'
To be continued.