Weighted Hearts chapter 10: The Grand Fighting Games Tournament.
The roar of the crowd was almost deafening as dusk finally fell and the speakers surrounding the large auditorium crackled to life, signifying that now was the time for all the spectators to take their seats least they miss any of the action that was sure to unfold.
It was now only minutes until the beginning of the ceremonies and each team was stationed by their individual entrances, waiting until their gym name was mentioned so that they could enter the arena and wave at their fans, their names being read, indicating who each of them were.
The premises were simply brimming with excitement, a key source of that energy and eagerness belonging to none other than Fairy Tail's very own troublemaker.
"Yeah! Come on! These games need to start already so I can kick someone's ass! This is great!"
Sighing, Lucy merely rolled her eyes at her excited friend and not so lightly whacked him in the back of the head,
"Natsu, calm down, you're making a scene." The blonde complained, an exasperated look on her face as she crossed her arms, "We all know you're excited, but just please calm down for now, okay? Besides, the actual competitions aren't starting till tomorrow so it's not like you'll be able to fight anyone today anyway."
"Aw, come on, Luce, how can you not be excited?! I mean, Fiore's strongest Martial Artists are all gathered here and I get to fight them! I'm all fired up!"
The blonde rolled her eyes but was unable to resist the smile that crept to her lips as she saw at the excited look on her best friend's face.
"You goof…" She laughed softly, her arms uncrossing, "So… Did you get that ice boy to come?"
Immediately the grin seemingly plastered on the tan man's face disappeared, only to be preceded by a blush right after,
"What are you talking about, Luce? Why would I want him to come? It's not like I like him or anything…"
Grinning, the cute blonde put her hands on her hips,
"I never said anything about you liking him. Is there something you aren't telling me, Natsu?"
"N-no! Of course not! I mean, I don't like that idiot ice princess! He's just an old friend…"
"Mhm, whatever you say." She winked, "But I've seen the way you look at him. It's the same way a boyfriend would look at his girlfriend… Or… In this case, boyfriend."
"How would you know that, Lucy? You've never dated before."
The girl's face swiftly rivaled that of a tomato as she shook her head and clenched her fists, sputtering,
"You don't need to bring that up, you big idiot! And don't say it so loud!"
Her obvious embarrassment caused the pinkette to chuckle as he gently patted his friend's head,
"Heh, okay, sorry, Luce."
"You should be." She muttered indignantly, pouting slightly, "Besides, I've only never dated because I'm waiting for Mr. Right to come along…"
He smiled,
"Now you sound like Juvia."
"Don't compare me to her… She's obsessed…" She sighed softly and looked over at the girl mentioned, who seemed to be lost in thought in the corner of the hallway leading to where they would make their entrance with Gajeel, Laxus and Elfman hanging by the doorway, just waiting for their cue, "Speaking of her, do you know what has been up with her lately? These last few days she's been kind of withdrawn…"
Following Lucy's gaze, Natsu guiltily rubbed the back of his head and quickly looked away from the depressed looking blue haired woman.
"Nope, not a clue…"
Luckily the blonde wasn't looking at him to see his suspicious expression, instead she sighed and gave her friend a sad look,
"Well, I hope she gets back to her normal self soon… You know… I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss her going on and on about that guy she liked when she was younger."
"Yeah…"
"Hey!" A gruff voice called from a little ways down the hall, causing the two to look towards where Gajeel, Laxus and Elfman were gathered, "They've started announcing the teams, so get over here, Salamander and Rainwomen… And you, bunny girl, get outta here, we don't need any distractions from you." Gajeel grunted.
Turning to face away from his friend, Natsu adjusted the scarf he always wore around his neck and stared ahead at the door, a determined look marring his features before he shifted his head slightly to the side to glance over his shoulder at his comrade, a small grin on his face,
"Go on out and sit with the rest of our gym mates so you don't miss anything. We've got it here."
Huffing slightly at the nickname Gajeel gave her, Lucy reluctantly nodded before returning the smile, giving her friends a thumbs up,
"Okay. Good luck you guys, see you later!"
Giving the blonde one last nod of recognition, the pinkette walked over to his teammates, intentionally looking away from the so called Rain woman, who seemed to be glaring daggers into his back.
She blamed him for her precious 'Gray-Sama''s supposed death, not that he could really blame her, seeing as in a way he did kill Gray.
He killed the old, trusting and loving Gray and instead caused him to be reborn as a cold and distrustful man.
Now it was his job to get close to the guy who kept everyone at arm's length in order to show him he no longer had to worry about getting hurt.
He swore to himself that he would bring his Gray back.
He didn't know, who would leave and who would stay, so instead he pushed them all away.
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"Welcome everyone to the X791 Grand Fighting Games!"
Immediately the crowd rumbled with cheers at the announcers words and the male adorning a rather odd pumpkin outfit paused a moment, allowing the noise to quiet before he continue; his voice loud and clear,
"This year is certain to be full of surprises and excitement with all the strong gyms competing."
Another round of cheers deafened the building and flags bearing teams symbols were flying freely, being held by eager fans,
"Now, before the teams are announced, I must remind everyone about how these games are performed. The competition will last for three days with several matches per day. Although the matches will differ. Some will be agility, speed, or problem solving while others will be fights either one on one or two on two. Information about each event will not be revealed until the day of and only a small clue will be supplied as to what the task will be when it comes to the special events, whilst the battles will be predetermined."
The announcer cleared his throat before turning away from the audience to instead face the first of the numerous doors that littered the circular arena.
"That aside, let us introduce this year's competing teams!"
A series of screams and excited chatter resounded from the spectators as the first door slowly clambered open, revealing a horselike flag as well as three young boys, an older looking, short gentleman who was continuously starting striking poses as he walked and a taller figure in an odd bunny outfit…
Blue Pegasus had taken the field in their own unique way.
After them was Raven Tail, and then, the one guild known for their continuous damage to property everywhere; Fairy Tail.
"Fairy Tail's team, Gajeel Redfox, Laxus Dreyar, Elfman Strauss, Juvia Lockser and Natsu Dragneel!"
Natsu was the first one out when the doors opened, signifying them to enter the arena. A huge grin was set on his face as he proudly walked out into the spotlight, his fist pumping up into the air as loud applause and cheering followed their entrance, most prominently from the section their gym was occupying.
"Yeah!" The pinkette cheered as he glanced over at his team, excited to find everyone except Juvia looking proud and eager to represent their team, "Fairy Tail!"
As was instructed of them, they stopped walking half way into the field, only feet away from the other gym members, of which they all knew well from former years.
Once they made their way to their scheduled positions the announcer continued calling off the names of the other teams, however Natsu wasn't paying his words any heed. Instead he took to scanning the front row of the spectators, searching for a certain familiar head of raven hair…
Only to come up blank.
He felt his heart sink.
Gray wasn't in the seat the pinkette had reserved for him… He wasn't there watching the Salamander like Natsu had hoped he would… He wasn't there to watch him win and he wasn't there for the pinkette to impress…
He didn't show up.
The fire dragon slayer felt his happiness slowly melt away at that realization and it took all his strength not to frown.
It looked like he did lose his Gray after all…
But then again, Gray never really was his to lose, was he?
Disheartened, the pinkette shook his head at the thoughts and instead attempted to focus on the announcers words.
Now was not the time to get distracted. Maybe the idiotic raven was just running late or something… Maybe he would be there soon…
Hell, he didn't know. He just knew that he wanted his friend there more than he thought he would.
Dammit.
Quarto Puppy, Mermaid heel, Lamia Scale, the names went on.
"And finally, the last competing team and last year's victor, Sabertooth!"
An especially loud roar of applause and yells illuminated from the crowd at the former number one gym's name, however Natsu just rolled his eyes and glared at the opening door.
He really couldn't stand those Sabertooth morons, Sting in particular.
He wasn't certain why, but there was just something about that arrogant blond that made the pinkette want to just punch him in the face.
Even when they were kids Natsu despised the blonde idiot, but for reasons the pinkette couldn't understand, Gray didn't, so he unfortunately found himself spending more 'quality' time with Sting than he would have preferred.
But even after all that time together Natsu still found the blonde to be the bane of his existence.
"This year's team consists of Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, Rufus Lore, Lyon Bastia and…."
No…
Finally the pinkette's smile dropped as an all too familiar name was announced, shocking several of the teams into stunned silence.
That was impossible…
There was no way the announcer just said the name he thought he did…
But… If that was true, then why was it that he saw that familiar dark blued haired man walk towards the center of the arena with the rest of Sabertooth…?
If he misunderstood the name then why did he hear his cousins and Elfman gasp behind him and why was it that Juvia squeaked, her eyes misting over as she stared at the man that she had loved for eight years…?
Why did the Fairy Tail gym members suddenly go so uncharacteristically quiet…?
His green eyes widened as he finally accepted the fact that he saw the one person he never expected to see on the battlefield again…
"Gray Fullbuster"…
He's back….
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And done! Hah! Two chapters in a row.
Sorry if this seemed a little rushed.
Thanks for reading!