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.)
Chapter 11: Chance
Year… Unknown…
Month… Unknown…
Day… F-Day… (No, not F**k you Day, it's Fantasia Day)
Hour… 32 before the real day…
…so that means it is not the actual day of the Fantasia but a day prior to it.
…why couldn't the author just say so?
Because there is a reason to that, that's why.
Now, back to the story, we find ourselves in the middle of Magnolia's boulevard, following a quintet of guys as they make their way through the bustling people towards many destinations that were of their interest. Namely, get to spend some time together before the Fantasia while helping one pink-haired moron into hooking up with one scarlet-haired beauty, with temper problems.
Coughs, that is the truth, everybody.
"I remember seeing that place around here…" Gray murmured as they kept on walking down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets and eyes focused on the signs of the stores to their left. Loki was texting someone with his phone, Lyon was walking with nothing interesting to discuss, Jellal was reading a small book with no title on the cover and Natsu was in the middle of the group, groaning tiredly at the whole charade.
What was the point of all this?
"This is stupid, why are we even here again?" Natsu asked aloud to the group of teenagers with him, gritting his teeth together and wondering why the hell they were still trying to help him when everything already went to hell the day before. Seriously, didn't they know when to quit?
"Duh, we're all here to discuss the next course of action." Gray explained after surrendering in finding that particular store he saw the other day. The group stopped and made a circle with all eyes focused on the pink-haired. "We can't have you lose your last chance with Erza."
"I already lost it, guys, there's nothing else I can do…" He sighed tiredly, and the others did too, but for different reasons.
"Look, we still have today and tomorrow," Jellal explained with his eyes returning to the book in his hands. He was preparing himself for college and couldn't miss a single minute of his studies. He couldn't leave his friend alone either, and that is why he's following the others in this last attempt of theirs. "Graduation was not much of a chance… except for you to apologize, which you wasted because of your nervousness," he regarded the pink-haired with a side-glance and continued. "So, we need to make sure everything goes according to plan tomorrow."
"And what's today then?" Natsu asked in cluelessness, already having an idea of what they were plotting.
"Easy enough, we make ready." Loki crossed his arms and nodded firmly. "You can't go to war unprepared, so we'll spend today in making you the man Erza wants."
"You do know that college is just around the corner, right? What's the point of getting us together when there's no much time to enjoy afterwards?" Oh, if only he could have the same vehemence when talking with the woman, their friends wouldn't even need to think about helping him.
"Yeah, we know." Lyon told him, speaking for the first time since they met a few hours ago. "We also know, thanks to Jellal here, that she's going to the same college as you and the rest of us."
"W-what?" Natsu stared at the smugly grinning face of his best friend in surprise. How was it that he always seemed to know everything?
"Yeah, Macbeth, a friend of mine, told me about it." Jellal explained with a carefree wave of his hand. "He's part of the Committee and is in charge of receiving the new students next year."
"I-I see…" Okay, that more or less settled it.
"You can get her now and use the few months of vacations to know each other more before getting into college." Lyon summarized for the entire group, especially Natsu. "If it works, good for you, you'll have a sexy and intelligent girlfriend during college… and if it doesn't," he shrugged nonchalantly. "It's cliché but as they say, there're many fishes in the sea."
"Is that supposed to encourage me?" Natsu asked with a small sweatdrop, not understanding why they were helping him then. Wasn't it better to leave him be and solve his problems by himself? He could always try again at a later time, right?
"There are many guys waiting for the right moment to get Erza, Natsu." Jellal said as if reading his thoughts, which further creeped the hell out of his best friend. He flipped to the next page of the book and continued. "If you don't take your opportunity now, you won't have any hope against the others in college."
"U-uh… is that so…?" The pink-haired man asked dumbly, seeing his group of friends nod firmly in answer. "O-oh…"
"Yeah, I have guys asking me for Erza's number all the time, y'know?" Loki explained as he brought his phone out for the others to see. There were twenty unread messages in his inbox and all of them started the same way. He clicked on one and read it aloud. "Loki, a perfumed message to my good friend, I know it's too much asking but can you give me the number of the beautiful Scarlet?"
"S-so it's true then!?" Natsu asked in shock.
The brown-haired playboy only nodded to his question with a bored expression.
"Yeah… especially this guy whose message I just read… Ichiya Vandeereich Kontortionist." He revealed, badly, the name of the guy and typed a bit more, going through some old folders and showing another batch of messages. "There was also this guy… uh… Simon Pickasushi… he stopped sending messages last year." He saved the phone in his pants' pocket and gave a reassuring smile to the pink-haired. "I didn't answer any of these guys messages after hearing you were interested in her from Gray, so, consider yourself a pretty lucky bastard."
"O-okay… thanks…?" He nodded unsure of what to think of the new piece of information.
"Get yourself together, man, tomorrow is the last chance for this to work and you cannot blow it like the last times." Gray crossed his arms and nodded, giving a sharp scrutinizing look to each one of the guys with him. "We'll not let it go to waste; we'll make sure Natsu gets her tomorrow by all means necessary!"
"Yes, sir!"
'T-They are more eager than I am…'
Unbeknown to them, at the other side of the boulevard, hidden in the middle of the crowd and shielded from view because of the trees in the middle of the street, a group of five girls was also going through a last hour planning. Especially now that things were getting nowhere with the guys and their plans to help Natsu get together with their friend; it was time to take the matter into their own hands.
"Jeez, these guys are morons, they wasted the last two months like nothing and got to nowhere in the end." Lucy grumbled for the umpteenth time of the hour, grabbing the sides of her head to make her point clear. Behind her, Mira was listening to her rambles, Levy was chuckling nervously, Erza was immersed in her own thoughts and… "Aside that, I still don't know why Juvia is here with us."
"Juvia wants to find something pretty to wear tomorrow too." The blue-haired from Phantom High explained with a monotonous voice, looking to the side with a small blush when remembering her reason to do so. "Lyon asked Juvia to go with him to the Fantasia in Fairy High."
Lucy titled her head to the side in confusion. "Eh…?"
"The Fantasia is a Fairy High event but it allows people from other schools to attend." Levy explained without missing a heartbeat, standing next to the blond girl with her usual happy attitude. "Gray invited Lyon and Lyon invited Juvia, so she's going to the festival."
"Isn't that sweet? We're doing just that so I told her to come along." Mira added to the girl's explanation, beaming a thousand-watts smile to deter any other comments from the blond girl. She knew Juvia thanks to the yearly competitions held between schools, befriending the girl from the rival school and adding her to the group of friends she had in Fairy High. "She's really nice and trustworthy so I asked her to come with us."
"O-okay…?" The blonde replied somewhat taken-aback, seemingly unable to argue anything with that smile thrown her way; she sighed and let the issue aside, stopping the group to discuss it completely, looking at Levy first and taking from where she left off when speaking about the main trouble they were facing before leaving high-school completely. "Back to the topic though, Levy almost had it done with her three steps plan but… well, it didn't work."
"Y-yeah, sorry about that…" Levy whispered quite sad, not fond of remembering the injuries her friend got in an attempt to save her from breaking her skull against the floor. Though, with how Natsu risked himself at that time, she was now more determined in getting him together with Erza. "I-It doesn't matter, Lu-chan! We still have tomorrow to work it out!"
"Yep, she's right, we still have the Fantasia to get Erza and Natsu together." The white-haired beauty reminded them, casting a questioning look to the blue-haired girl from Phantom when this one raised her hand to speak. "Yes, Juvia?"
"Juvia wonders… why are you speaking of your plans in front of one of the people that shouldn't know about it?" Juvia asked in mild cluelessness and worry, casting a nervous look to the frowning red-haired woman standing next to her.
The girls just chuckled at her question.
"Oh, Juvia, that's because she's not listening to anything we're saying now." Lucy explained to her, pointing a finger at the Council's President with a grin of amusement on her face. "She's so immersed in her thoughts that we can continue our plotting without any worries."
"Uh? Is that so?" The girl asked and she got a nod in answer from all the girls, turning her deep blue eyes to look at the red-haired woman and find, with much surprise, that she really wasn't paying attention to the discussion around her, even if she was the main center of the discussion, and also, even if the main topic included getting her together with a boy. "Oh, you're right, she's not listening."
'What was wrong with him?' Erza thought with a frown on her pretty face, glaring at the floor beneath her when remembering the words spoken/sung by Natsu when they met at the café the day before. It started as she expected it to start, the guy was fumbling with his words and couldn't utter a single complete and coherent sentence in front of her, but then, he started to talk to her clearly and was saying things she wanted to hear… cough, things she found more suitable for their meeting, yes. 'But then it took a complete turn to the worse and he started to speak as if we've been going out for months and going downhill…' Her eyes narrowed. 'What's the meaning of this?'
"If I'm right, and I'm sure I am, she's surely going through what happened yesterday in her mind." Mira told the girls amusedly, giggling lowly when she herself remembered what the guys told them what happened when Natsu met Erza and Loki took charge of helping the pink-haired out. "I still can't believe Natsu did that."
"One would give him more credit since he's always aware of what he's listening to… but I guess he was really nervous in front of her." Shaking her head after laughing quietly at the guy's misfortune, Lucy straightened up and led the way again, more confident and determined in helping her friends out now that they only had one last attempt to get them together. "Doesn't matter though, we'll make sure they're together by the end of the day tomorrow."
"Uhm… can I ask how all of this began?" Juvia asked meekly to the white-haired woman next to her, not knowing much about the issue but feeling like giving a hand. Mira tilted her head her way and got to explaining, not missing her smile while doing so.
"It all started three years ago when Jellal noticed how Natsu stared at Erza whenever she was around, or did they meet at the entrance of the school?" She pouted and looked up in thought, bringing a finger to her chin.
"I heard Erza bumped against him at the entrance of the school the first day of classes." Levy said to the girls, overhearing the conversation and adding her own information. "She apologized to him and he stared at her without saying anything for like… ten minutes."
"Didn't Jellal say he stared at Erza like a dumbfounded fool for five minutes?" Mira asked a bit troubled, not remembering the story well.
"I think they were late and were hurrying to the premises of the school… that's why Erza bumped him in the first place." Lucy said absentmindedly, looking through the wide variety of clothes showcased in the stores' windows. "She picked her stuff with Natsu helping her while answering to her words like a robot, and then waved dumbly when she rushed again."
"Oh… and then Jellal smacked him to get him out of his daze." The girls giggled at the story but Juvia could only think about something that was slightly off with the story.
"You say this started three years ago?" So she voiced it out, out of curiosity more than anything. She wanted to understand the story well before daring to join the others in their crusade. "Why are you trying to get them together now?"
"Oh… that…" Mira voiced out sadly, making the group stop and look at her with worried glance that weren't missed by the blue-haired girl. "Natsu was still getting over my sister's… accident…" She took a deep breath and continued with a somewhat normal smile, trying to keep herself together. Even if it was a long time ago, she still got sad when remembering about her little sister's fate. "They were going out and after that… Natsu was crushed, like my brother and I or more… he closed himself to the world and went on as if nothing had happened."
"He behaved really different from how he was, honestly." Lucy interjected for her friend's sake, knowing that it was a pretty sore subject for the white-haired to talk about. "Like… more quiet and detached… barely speaking to anyone… sans Gray and Jellal."
"Oh…" Juvia nodded in understanding, frowning at the sad little story she was hearing.
"Yeah, and then when we got to high-school, he met Erza and he suddenly went back to normal." Levy added with a small smile, remembering the day Natsu started to behave like boisterous and annoying little brat he used to be. She nodded to herself and looked at Juvia with a fist closed in determination. "So we realized right then and there that he needed to get together with Erza, so he could be himself again and love like he used to."
"As cheesy as it sounds, it is true, that's why we're helping him… and her now." Lucy smiled to the blue-haired girl who continued to nod as she got the information and went back to leading the group through the sidewalk and people. "If they get together, the better for the two, so that's what we're doing now."
"I see." Juvia nodded when the story finished and got into thinking, noticing that Natsu was slightly like her. At least, that's what she thought when Mirajane got into details and told her about the pink-haired's strange habits of muttering the red-haired's name at times when thinking or gazing at her longingly from afar. Almost the same as her previous habit of following Gray around after they met, except for the creepy stalker part, so that only made up her mind more. She made a fist of determination too and looked at the group confidently. "Yes, Juvia will help you in getting them together! For Natsu-san's sake!"
"Uh?" And just like that, at the loud mention of the pink-haired's name, Erza snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the group, wondering why they suddenly went quiet when she finally spoke after an hour of being silent. Mira was smiling sweetly, Levy and Lucy were sweating bullets while keeping shaky smiles and Juvia, the girl from Phantom, was frozen in place with a fist raised mid-way. She blinked a couple of times and asked. "What is it with Natsu?"
"N-nothing! We were just…! Just…!?" Levy tried to come up with a reasonable excuse but her mind was scared of the stern gaze the woman had at the moment, so she turned to Lucy. "W-what was it, Lu-chan?"
"E-eh!? I-I don't remember!" The blonde spoke quickly, averting her gaze from the now piercing brown eyes of the Council President.
"We were telling Juvia of what happened yesterday with Natsu, Erza." Mirajane cut in simply, smiling sweetly to her friend when her eyes fell on her. Unlike the rest of the crew, she was unfazed when Erza narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She chuckled to add more credibility to her lie. "It was pretty funny when he started singing that song at the café, don't you think?"
"…no, Mira, it wasn't." Erza replied sternly, hastily making her way forward to sightsee the rest of the shops. Her main reason to do so was so to hide the slight blushing of her face when remembering the kiss to her cheek given by the shameless pink-haired student. She had to admit, he had guts for pulling that on her, especially when making a show in the middle of a public area. 'The tone of the song was catchy too.' She bobbed her head back and forth at the rhythm she remembered Natsu singing. He was pretty good at it, another thing she had to admit. 'Na na na na na na na na na~.'
2 hours later…
"Man… I'm beat…" Natsu wheezed out after finally leaving the store in which Loki got his things for the next day. In fact, he was the only one of them who actually bought something for the Fantasia, whereas the others only tagged along and chatted about random things while the brown-haired tried out different outfits.
Now, they were at the same café Natsu attended yesterday, sitting on one of the tables outside with their little group now enjoying a break from all the walking and buying, with Loki being the most happy of them all.
"Neat, they had the suit I asked for." The man himself beamed when looking inside the bags he carried with him, pulling out a red tie, a white dress shirt and a black tuxedo to show. He ran a hand through his hair and styled it backwards, the same hair going back into place despite his attempt. "I only need to get my hair done and the killer machine will be ready~."
"Many will die, yeah, of a laughing fit." Natsu mocked lowly, grinning with Lyon chuckling at his joke.
"Anywho, what else can we share with lil' Natsu here?" Loki asked aloud, making Natsu shut up, Lyon to sit straight, Gray to think of something… and Jellal to continue reading through his book. He raised his arms in exasperation and sighed tiredly. "I already taught him a lot of stuff and he failed… so we're obviously missing something."
"Jellal?" Gray looked at the blue-haired man and saw him raising a finger in the air to give him some time, reading the last sentence of a certain page before using a random napkin to mark his progress. "What did Loki say to Natsu the other day?"
"He basically gave him a quick course on how to be like him." Jellal said and looked at the pink-haired and brown-haired sitting on opposite sides of the table. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned back. "So it's no wonder Natsu didn't manage to do anything."
"Hey! My method is the best!" Loki yelled in defense.
"Yeah, for guys like you, but here we need to think of something fitted for Natsu." He released one of his hands and motioned to his friend with a thumb. "He's the average idiot who fumbles when speaking to the girl he likes,"
"Hey!" Natsu yelled a bit offended.
"He obviously needs something more adequate to his personality than what you shared with him." He sighed and stared at the table with a serious expression. "A direct approach of sorts that can stop with his fumbling…" His brown eyes glanced at the foster-brothers. "Any suggestions? Gray?"
"Uh? And what the hell am I supposed to say?" The droppy-eyed student asked a bit nervous.
"I don't know, some experience maybe?" Jellal waved a hand in the air to make his point. "Like… how did you get Lucy to date you?"
"W-what!?" Gray blushed slightly and stared in bewilderment at the blue-haired, seriously not believing the question. His expression got even worse when he saw the others waiting patiently for his response. "I'm not sharing any details, assholes!"
"Okay, no need to yell." The level-headed student glanced at the other brother and saw him go stiff when figuring he was next on the questioning line. "Lyon?"
"I-I… I didn't have to do anything, honestly…" The white-haired guy answered sheepishly, staring at the ground in between his feet with a hand scratching his head nervously. "I only asked Juvia out and she said yes."
"I… see…" Jellal murmured in slight awe, blinking a couple of times before sighing and looking at the pink-haired youngster that was laughing at the expressions made by Bastya and Fullbuster. He stopped when the blue-haired coughed on his fist to call his attention and sit straight to listen carefully. "So, that leaves me… okay then…"
The guys stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the Council member in surprise.
"Wait…" Gray.
"You had a girl once?" Lyon.
"Who was it?" Loki.
Were the questions asked by the guys mentioned above and Jellal only smirked in amusement.
"Oh, you don't need to know." He chuckled when the others glared in his direction but paid them no mind, right now, his goal was to help his friend. So he continued where he left off. "And that's not on what I'm basing my words, you see, I know Natsu so I can tell what he's being doing wrong all along and it was one thing and one thing alone." He titled his head to the side when looking at his longtime friend and smirked again, a bit more evilly this time. "Tell me, Natsu, if I call you a moron, what do you say?"
"You're a prick." Natsu replied almost instantly, frowning at the insult made by his friend, who only laughed at his rebuttal.
"See? That's what you've done wrong with Erza." The guys exchange glances among each other and then looked back at the smirking blue-haired student, not understanding one bit of his explanation and demanding a better one. Jellal brought a hand to cover his mouth to calm himself from laughing out loud and continued. "Whenever you're with her, you think of your answers, Natsu, and that's what has you fumbling or stuttering."
"Uh?" Was Natsu's reply… along the other guys; they seriously couldn't understand what the guy was trying to tell them.
"Remember that one time you got late to school and she hunted you down for that?" Natsu nodded slowly, grimacing at the memory with a slight pain in his legs. He never ran so hard in his life before. "Well, there you go, she told me you two had a very good conversation after everything was cleared," the guys looked at the surprised Natsu with equal surprise on their faces. "From what she told me, she asked you pretty simple questions and you answered them without a bit of a stutter."
Flashback…
"So, what do you do?" Erza started after they got all the things the pink-haired dropped on his escape from her. "Besides school, I mean."
"Eh?" Natsu turned his head to look at her, her eyes were fixed to the road ahead. "Well, not much, I listen to some music and go out with my friends…"
"Any band in special?" She continued a bit interested in the subject.
He looked up in wonder.
"Nah," and shook his head. "I like a little of everything… and you?
"I see," she nodded with a small smile. "Same as me."
"Ah…" He shut his mouth after that. Erza eyed him from the corner of her eyes, almost rolling them at noticing that she would have to continue the conversation.
"And," Natsu turned to look at her again. "Who are these friends with whom you go out?"
"Uhm," The pink-haired student raised a hand to count them. Don't mistake him, he had plenty of friends; it's just that he goes out with those he was more acquaintance with. "I mostly go with Gray, Lucy, Jellal and Levy…"
"It's strange then, that we haven't crossed our paths before," He gave her a questioning look and she turned to look at him with her explanation ready. "I hang out with Lucy and Levy after school too, sometimes."
"Ah yeah, that," Natsu started sheepishly, scratching the back of his head at remembering why they never found each other outside Fairy High. "Lucy doesn't want Gray and me when she's out with her friends, says we're too childish or something like that."
"Figures, I've heard of your meaningless quarrels before." She commented with a bland frown.
He laughed nervously.
"Y-yeah, but that's mostly Gray's fault," the pink-haired tried to explain. "He doesn't know how to take a joke."
"Even if you're not the one to start it, you're at fault for following his lead," His face dropped at the truth, but her next words made him look at her incredulously. "But I cannot blame you; I used to be the same with Mira."
"Mira? You mean Mirajane?" She nodded.
"Yes," Erza gave him a victorious look, almost gloating at her next words. "But it was a long time ago, when we were kids."
"O-oh, I-I see…"
End of the flashback…
"Oh damn… you're right!" Natsu's jaw fell to the floor after remembering the conversation.
"Yeah, I am, and that's why I tell you now." Jellal took his book again and opened it in the page he left the napkin on, restarting his studies after getting his point across. "You don't need to think hard when trying to talk with Erza, just answer her honestly and you'll win."
"…that's the same fucking thing I told Loki!" Said brown-haired teen laughed nervously when the pink-haired glared in his direction, looking for help from Gray and Lyon but finding them talking with a waitress to ask for something to eat. "You son of a bitch, I knew I had to keep it honest."
"O-oi, in my defense, you didn't!" Loki pointed a finger at the aggressive teen and backed a bit from the table, feeling the hostility in the air. "I-I mean, Jellal had to remind you of it!"
"Shut up, moron!"
"They're pretty noisy down there." Levy told the other girls in the table, trying to find the guys who were making a ruckus in the first floor of the café while Lucy, Juvia and Mira double-checked the clothes they bought earlier. Erza was still thinking of something but she did buy a few sets to try for the Fantasia. "I wonder who it could be."
"I got this pair back in the last store!" Lucy showed to the other two, completely missing the petit girl's comment, a white and fine pair of jeans that were supposed to stick close to her curvaceous legs. She smiled giddily when imagining it with the rest of her outfit, and Gray's reaction would to it. "I can't wait to see his face!"
"Juvia already has something to wear, so she bought a few extras to give a better impression." Juvia, if you didn't notice, informed the blonde with a small smile, blushing slightly when imagining what the white-haired teen from Lamia High would say to her when they meet. "Juvia's heart is racing in anticipation!"
"Oh I love this song." Mira blurted out of the blue and out of the topic of conversation, closing her eyes to focus on the lyrics of the slow tune that was playing on the speakers of the café, hearing the singer's soothing tone and the simple yet harmonic strums of the guitar. "Who kicked a hole in the sky so the heavens would cry over me~?"
"I know that song!" The blue-haired girl, the shorty one, beamed after hearing the lyrics sung by the white-haired beauty, closing her eyes as well to enjoy it. "I used to listen to it all day when it came out."
"Hm-hmm." The other listener was too occupied with listening so she barely registered the words.
"It would be beautiful to hear it completely, without those annoying guys yelling down there." But Erza, who just finished going through her thoughts in favor of enjoying the afternoon with the girls, did hear what Levy had to say, and she was a bit miffed by the loud voices resonating in the lower floor. She stood up from her seat and walked towards the railing that gave view to the first floor, glaring at the two individuals fighting in the middle of the shop. "Hey! Stop that! You're disrupting the quietness!"
"G-ghh!" Natsu dodged a punch to his face and tried to back away when Loki moved to grab him by the collar, failing to do so when he heard someone else yelling at them and now having the guy pulling from his scarf. He clenched his teeth in annoyance and brought a foot up to the brown-haired's face, trying to push him away while shouting his answer. "H-hey! I'm not the one who started it!"
"Y-yeah, you did, moron!" Loki yelled back, pulling harder from the guy's scarf and trying to get his foot out of his pretty face. He stopped though when, in between their movements, he got a look of the person asking them to stop. He froze. "E-E-E-Erza!?"
"U-uh!? E-Erza you say!?" Natsu froze as well and turned around, his eyes glancing towards the second floor and meeting the Brown eyes of the scarlet-haired Council President he embarrassed the day before. His jaw fell to the floor and his leg made a final push that ended up with Loki being stamped to the floor with a hard crash that knocked him out. 'O-oh crap!'
"What are they-" The group of boys by the table looked up from their points of interest and glanced at their friends in the middle of the café, their eyes growing wide in shock when they spotted the girls looking down towards them by the railing. "O-oh… they were here…"
"Wait… that's not important." Jellal blurted out quickly to the foster-brothers, closing his book with a thumb to mark the page and giving the situation between Natsu and Erza his full attention. He stared intently with anticipation. 'Come on, Natsu, remember… don't think and you'll win.'
"T-the boys are there." Lucy whispered in shock, finding Gray, his foster-brother and Jellal sitting in a table not far away from the previously brawling Natsu and Loki.
"A-and Lyon is with them." Juvia felt her heart racing more at the sight of the white-haired teen, whom only waved a nervous hand in greeting.
"Looks like we didn't see them enter." Mira concluded with little interest, her focus remaining on the pair they were trying to get together since two months ago. Her blue eyes went to the table again and she saw Jellal staring intently at the form of his friend, waiting anxiously for something. She giggled in her mind. 'Oh? Did you find a way for Natsu to finally do it?'
"N-Natsu?" Erza spoke nervously, the hint of a blush tinting her cheeks at the prolonged eye contact between the pink-haired student and her. She spent the last three hours thinking about him and what he did and here he was now, in the same building as her and just a few meters away from her. "W-what are you doing here?"
"W-what? M-me? I-I… I was…" Natsu started out lamely, suddenly feeling nervous and stammering his answer.
'C'mon, Natsu, you can do it.' His friends thought encouragingly, even Loki who was beneath the pink-haired, while the girls could only frown in disappointment at the situation. The same as always, it was happening again. 'Poor Natsu…'
"I-I was… doing… this… and that…" Natsu continued to fumble with his words, his eyes now traveling everywhere inside the building and going through the faces of all the people present that were staring at his nervous form. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes met those of his friend Jellal, the other teen nodding firmly in his direction in hopes of encouraging him.
"You don't need to think hard when trying to talk with Erza, just answer her honestly and you'll win."
'Calm down, don't be scared… remember what he said.' The pink-haired student thought slowly and clearly, easing his nervousness in a matter of seconds. He blinked to adjust his eyes and took a long deep breath, heaving it out in a swift sigh before looking back towards the scarlet-haired girl standing on the second floor. 'Be honest and you'll win.'
"I-I was looking for you! Yeah! That's it!" Natsu yelled loudly enough for everyone to hear, his actions surprising his friends and freezing their movements for what was about to come, even Erza took a step back in astonishment. He finally overcame his nervousness, it seems. He pointed a finger at the Council President and followed through with what he was burning to say. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday and ask you to come with me to the Fantasia!"
After that was said…
All eyes fell on the scarlet-haired woman who remained speechless at the sudden outburst of the pink-haired.
Her mind blank for a moment, when she finally came to, her face went ablaze at repeating the words she heard.
A few minutes later…
"So… will you go with me? Tomorrow, I mean." Natsu asked again after they were outside the café. Due to the loud yells, the fighting and many other things that also included the breakage of some chairs, glasses and etc., they were asked to leave nicely and never return there again.
"Y-yea – I-I mean, yes, I will go with you." Erza replied shyly, still trying to overcome the new embarrassment brought upon her by the boy who had her affections. Seriously, everyone looking at her… it was a miracle she didn't yell out loud. She nodded slowly to the now grinning Natsu and lowered her head a bit, trying to hide her flushed face. "I-I will send you a message later with the address and time… okay?"
"Yush! Sounds good to me!" The pink-haired replied instantly, now following Jellal's words to the letter. Don't think and be honest; simple and effective. He gave one last grin to the girl and turned around to meet up with his friends by the fountain, waving a hand in goodbye. "I can't wait for tomorrow! See you later, Erza!"
"S-sure! S-see you later, Natsu." She replied slowly, now raising her head to see the departing young man be greeted by his friends, the guys punching his shoulder to congratulate him or simply nodding in approval. She smiled when her eyes caught sight of his still grinning face, remembering that grin to be the same she saw when they first met three years ago.
Flashback…
"A-again, sorry for running into you." Erza Scarlet, new student of Fairy High, said to the pink-haired teen that helped her get her things from the floor. She was so nervous the night before that she almost fell asleep that morning, which prompted her to take a quick dash towards the institution. She didn't watch her steps and she eventually rammed another student on her way, her things falling to the floor after the collision.
"Don't worry, it was nothing." He helped her pick her things from the floor, with his blue-haired friend watching the exchange mutely, and was now standing in front of her with an understanding smile. "You were getting late, right?"
"Y-you could say that, yes." She nodded slowly out of shame and gazed at the ground, finding it more interesting at the moment. "I didn't hear the alarm and-"
"Told you, don't worry." Natsu repeated after a small amused chuckle, grinning widely to the scarlet-haired girl he just met. Erza stared in trance at the merry face of her helper/unfortunate victim. She never saw a more vibrant grin before. "Happens to all of us, so no need to apologize too much."
"O-Okay… if you say so, okay." Erza nodded a bit more determined now, trying to get out of her trance, and was going to introduce herself to the kind boy that helped her if not because the school's bell rang and signaled everyone to go inside. She turned around with lightning speed and dashed towards the entrance, now remembering and fully experiencing her earlier nervousness. "S-sorry! I have to go!"
"Yeah… no problem…" The pink-haired replied in a bit of a daze, staring at the departing form of the girl even after she got into the building, his mind now trying to process what the hell happened. He wasn't sure how, but just now, his mind just went on auto-pilot and- "Ouf! Hey! What was that for!?"
"Stop gawking and move, Natsu." Jellal said after punching his friend's arm, doing so to get him out of his bafflement. He witnessed the whole exchange in awe; there was no way the others would believe him when he told them of this. He chuckled when the pink-haired glared at him and made his way to the entrance at a steady pace. "The bell rang a few minutes ago; we have to get inside before we get scolded for being late on the first day of school."
"Yeah yeah, whatever, you still didn't need to punch me, idiot." Natsu growled out as he followed his friend to the entrance, using one hand to rub his sore arm while his mind still replayed the entire scenario that just happened, the girl's face and most notably, her unique hair color, standing out in his mind. 'Who is she?'
End of the flashback…
Erza chuckled lightly at the memory and turned around, heading towards her smiling friends with the news that they were dying to hear, hearing all kinds of compliments and congratulating words while Natsu by the fountain got teased over the situation inside the café.
What a pair of silly love birds, don't you agree?
The next day, Fantasia, was going to be really interesting.
To be continued.
AN: HAHAHAHAHAH! I had such a laugh writing this chapter. *chuckles* Seriously, I wrote it with all my mind focused on romance... and humor too, of course, and this is the final product of it all! Yes~! One more chapter and we will be done with My Candy... not that I'm too eager to finish it, but I suddenly had a revelation about what else to do after it was done... *grins* It is an interesting idea/story, so please be patient with me and wait for this one to finish and for me to gather all of my ideas for the next project.
So here we have it: Natsu is finally Natsu, he finally asked her out and more importantly, we finally saw what happened at that time they met when high-school started. *chuckles* How thoughtful of me, but yeah, I can't risk leaving any plot-holes in this story... it is one of the first ones I wrote, so it must be finished correctly, close to perfection! I'll work on the next one as soon as I get some free-time, my friends, be certain of that.
Until then, please, read and review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did!
Saludos.
PS: Oh yeah... I don't own any of the songs mentioned in this chapter... namely Let There Be Love and Stop Crying Your Heart Out by Oasis, and again, Fashionably Late by Falling In Reverse. Even though I only wrote small parts from those songs, I still have to write this disclaimer thingy, you know, so that the story isn't deleted over something idiotic as not putting it.