Lucy woke up that morning strangely in a good mood, for the second time since she started living there. The blankets were warm and with Autumn quickly approaching, the girl couldn't ask for anything better than a good sleep. The selfish sun's rays, which broke into her room through her window, slapped her in the face pulling her away from her dreams.
Unwilling the girl, moaned before stretching. All students had 2 days of holiday after the exams, so she could have slept until noon, but she knew she had to meet up with someone that morning. Now, fully awake, yet still in bed, the girl stared at the ceiling for a while before getting out. Slowly her mind wandered to what happened yesterday without her noticing.
-Flashback-
"Here are all the photos." Lucy said, before handing the pictures to Jellal.
"Good job." The boy said, showing her his famous smile. It was known as the most attractive smile in the whole school.
"T-thanks..." Lucy whispered, looking away while blushing.
"Lucy Ashley. I have a question to ask you." Jellal said, suddenly serious and Lucy looked up at him with a confused look, without answering.
"You know what's going on with the schools around Magnolia, don't you?" At those words the girl froze. With great effort she gulped and looked into the boy's eyes, unable to look away.
"N-no?"
"Pretty much, the strongest students disappear into thin air and the school gets destroyed with some of th students still inside. Although, we are doing our best to save them in time." Jellal explained, as he stared down at Lucy which on the other side, bit her lip and took a slight step back.
"I-I don't see what this has to do with m-me ..."
"Don't get me wrong I'm not accusing you of anything, but ..." The boy said, as he walked towards her, stopping beside her.
"We have some ideas about who the next victims might be and unfortunately our school is one of them." The man looked down at the girl with piercing cold eyes.
"I thought it was a good idea to tell the students one by one. You know, if someone gets even the smallest of scars I doubt that those foolish people will live to see another day. If you get what I mean." Lucy didn't say anything, she just looked in front of her without moving at all.
"However, I have other stuff to deal with, so master's going to take care of the announcement. Now go back to class quickly, I don't want you to miss out on the lesson. We clear?" Lucy just nodded and stumbled slightly in her feet before going to her class at a fairly quick pace.
No... It can't be ... Lucy thought entering the classroom and sitting down at her desk.
There is no way he discovered that stupid Sting and his gang. Yet ... The way he put the situation ... Fuck! If he gets caught, they will also probably discover the connection he has with me! The girl thought, nervously biting down on her fingernails, when out of the blue a message came on her phone. Opening her phone she saw that it was from Natsu and that he urged her to meet him in the courtyard immediately.
Confused the girl managed to get out of the room and reach the backyard where she saw from afar Natsu pacing back and forth nervously. Lucy tried to reach him quickly and before she could call out to him, he turned around and took her by the arms.
"Lucy!"
"W-what?!"
"You fucked up big this time!" Natsu said while shaking her, and for the second time that day the girl turned to stone.
I-It can't be... Don't tell me that I've already been found out! Lucy thought scared.
"W-w-w-what did I do?" Lucy asked, fearing the answer.
"You handed to Gramps 199 pictured, you big dumbass! Argh! You really make me insane!" Natsu explained, throwing the camera in her hands before shaking his head dramatically with one hand on his forehead.
"Huh?" Lucy said, looking down at the camera in her hands. Natsu was right, on right bottom of the screen the number of pictures showed 199 and not 200.
There was a brief pause before Lucy realized the shitty situation she was in. Hopeless the girl looked up at Natsu with pleading eyes and asked:
"A-and now? W-what do we do? I've already handed over the pictures to Jellal! I'm sure master is already looking at the them in this moment!"
"This is a big mess ..." Natsu breathed, staring at the ground seriously trying to find a way to save Lucy, when all of a sudden he had an idea. The boy slowly raised his head and looked at Lucy who was walking in circles and occasionally crouching down on herself, trying to get some ideas.
It's not a bad idea ... But I'm afraid Lucy won't like it... Natsu thought, worried about his future. When all of a sudden his father's words rang in his mind.
'Do what you think is right without regrets my boy.' Thanks to those words Natsu took courage, and inhaling the boy walked towards Lucy.
"Lucy." He said in a determined voice, as she turned her head towards him.
"What?"
"I got an idea." Lucy's eyes twinkled hearing those words. At that time, through Natsu's eyes, Lucy glowed a light golden light. The boy gulped before suddenly taking the camera from her hands. He grabbed her with the other hand by the chin and pulled her towards him. His hot lips colliding against hers.
Lucy was thunderstruck. She felt as if her body was overwhelmed in a blink with a million kinds of feelings. Her eyes were trembling, her heart was beating like crazy, her stomach clenched. A outstanding warmth and light overpowered her and enveloped her completely destroying even the smallest of her fears.
Slowly the girl closed her eyes and before she could return the sensational kiss Natsu pulled away, leaving her pending in the air.
"I-I'm sorry Luce, but I really have to go now b-before it's too late!" Lucy managed to collect from the thousands of words that Natsu spurted in her face, before running away at the speed of light.
Without any strength the girl fell to the ground and slowly raised a hand to her lips. If before she was red as a tomato now she was even worse.
"My first...kiss..."
-End of flashback-
Once again Lucy's face flared up remembering that situation. Suddenly she put her right hand over her eyes and bit her lip before muttering some gibberish words.
All of a sudden her stomach growled and thus she realized she had to make breakfast. With no desire, the girl kicked off the covers and was about to get out of bed when a mysterious force stopped her. Her left hand was still under the covers and she didn't understand what was holding her down. The girl began to pull harder and was surprised to feel the other force on the other side react and pull back.
"What the-!" The girl groaned as she pulled with all her strength, when all of a sudden she heard a loud and frightening growl. The force pulled her harshly back in the bed where she was caged in a tight hug.
W-wait a minute ... Lucy thought surprised, as she looked over her shoulder only to see something move under the covers.
I've already heard this roar somewhere ... Lucy, no longer surprised and scared, started to poke the big lump under the covers next to her receiving a whiny groan. Wherever the lump moved, Lucy was following it and with a bit of fun she poked it continuously without stopping. When all of a sudden it roared and stood up. With a simple "oooh ~" without any enthusiasm, the girl took with the other free hand the heavy book she had on the bedside table and began to hit it, starting to get some more human-like sounds.
"Ouch, ouch! Who the hell wants to die early this mornin', hah?" The 'mysterious' source of noise yelled before the covers were pulled off and showed a Natsu half asleep and half pissed off.
Angrily the boy turned to his left and right continuously. The first time he ignored Lucy, but the third time he saw her and he stopped from searching the idiot who hit him, to rub his eyes.
"Oh, Luce, you're already awake...Have you seen the idiot who hit me with something pretty damn heavy and hard on the head?" He asked as if nothing had happened. Lucy raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Oh, yeeeeah of courseeee I saw him. Hey, by chance, was the shot as powerful as this?" Lucy hummed before hitting Natsu on the head with the same power as before earning a cry of pain from the boy.
"OUCH! Lucy what the hell's wrong with you?"
"What is wrong with me?! What the heck is wrong with you! Stop creeping into my house so freely! I swear I'll call the police! And now get lost before I smack you once again!" Lucy threatened, raising the book again to let him know that she would hit back with no problems. Natsu raised his arms to protect himself for a possible new attack before whining:
"Oh, c'mon Luce! don't be like that! After all that happened, how can ya still be so cold towards me?"
"W-w-what?! I-I don't know what you're talking about! N-nothing happened between us!" Lucy stuttered embarrassed, before quickly blushing, obviously remembering what happened.
"Liar! You know very well what happened..." The boy said in a sultry voice, dangerously approaching Lucy's face which he caressed with one hand before cupping it. Almost as if she was stuck by lighting Lucy bite down a shriek and pushed herself against Natsu's shoulders falling from her bed with a high pitched "kya!" followed immediately by Natsu's ear-splitting laughter, who was now rolling all over the bed.
"Aahahh you should have seen your face before and after you fell!" He laughed, pointing a finger at her face. Enraged and humiliated the girl took the first thing that came to her hand, that is her pink slipper and threw it at him but the boy caught it easily.
"Woah, what's up? Now you wanna hit me with this p-pink slipper ...Pff!" The boy mocked her before getting back to laugh.
"I-I hope you get hit in the head by a meteor!" Lucy stuttered, getting to her feet. Anger slowly reaching its limit.
But she was completely ignored by Natsu who couldn't see the tears forming at the corner of her eyes. She stormed out of the room slamming the door behind her, finally making Natsu notice that she was angry.
"Hey-hey c'mon Luce, I was only joking!" Natsu quickly caught up to her on the stairs, where halfway Lucy suddenly stopped and turned around to hiss:
"Get. Out. "
"Aww c'mooooon! Luceeeeeeeee!" Natsu pleaded with his hands clasped in front of his face before making a puppy face, striking Lucy directly in the heart.
"Ah! ... Urgh ... O-okay ... Y-you can stay a little longer-just a little!" Lucy muttered before running into the kitchen, followed by Natsu behind who was silently celebrating.
"So what are you goin' to make us?" He asked as he sat down at the table, watching Lucy take a bottle of water from the fridge and drink from it before looking at him confused.
"Sorry what?"
"You know, for breakfast? Scrambled eggs, bacon n' stuff, maybe some pasta oh! Or even steak, oh I would love-"
"Hold your horses, Pinky pig. Why should I cook for you in the first place?" She said putting her bottle on the table, her other free hand now resting on her hip.
And also who the hell eats pasta or steak for breakfast!? She kept that thought to herself.
"Well, it's obvious." The boy said calmly, putting a hand on his cheek as he looked directly into her eyes. He suddenly changed personality as only he can do. That is, from a small whining brat to a a sexy hot boy with messy bed hair and a killer's smile.
"Usually the wife cooks for the husband, no?" He asked waiting for a response.
"U-umm ... Y-y-yeah and?" Lucy stuttered, afraid of where this was going and blushing at the thought of him possibility call her 'wife' unintentionally. Natsu just smiled at her, knowing that she already knew the answer.
"... N-no way I'm not gonna cook for y-you!" She screamed, turning around as she crossed her arms over her chest. She closed her eyes shut, feeling her face burning all over.
"Oh c'mon Luce. I'm dying here! Don't make me force you!"
"F-force me? Hah, and what are you going to do?" Natsu smirked, before slowly saying:
"Did you forget what you told me... the day before the exam?"
"I-I lied!"
"But you promised me!"
"Not all the promises can be kept!" Lucy shouted back, trying to force those words out of her mouth. She wasn't the kind of person who would break a promise, but her dignity was at risk there somehow.
"Then I'll have to call Gramps and tell him to destroy that last photo of us ki-Mpfh!"
"Okay okay okay! I take it back, geez!" She slapped her hand on his mouth, showing her red as a tomato face. Natsu smiled under her hand, before taking it and kiss it on top.
"Thanks Luce!" He flashed his famous toothy grin.
God, this boy is driving me insane! She thought as she was making him some egg and bacon since he demanded some meat but she didn't have any at that moment. Once she finished cooking her part of bacon she put down the plates on the table and sat down next to Natsu who immediately engulfed himself into wiping out all of the bacon he had on his plate.
As she ate, she couldn't deny the fact that she felt relaxed and happy almost as if that situation was 'normal'. Maybe in another life this has already happened.
"It would be nice ..." She whispered sadly.
"Yosh! Then it's decided! It's a date!" Natsu suddenly stood up, slamming his hands on the table to pull himself up.
"Eh? What?"
"I'll pick you up later, now I have something to do, ok?" Natsu said quickly putting his shoes on and taking the bag he had brought with himself from school, before crashing out of Lucy's place.
"W-wait were are we going!?" Lucy said running after him out of the house.
"Didn't you listen? I told you, we're gonna go eat something later and visit this event they're gonna do downtown. You agreed to it so you can't say you won't come!" The boy immediately shouted when he saw her open her mouth with a stern look on her face, soon replaced by a surprised one.
"See ya Luce! Ah, and I don't care what you're gonna wear just get ready on time!" He yelled shamelessly as he ran away earning a funny look from her neighbors on the street. Lucy sighed as she face-palmed.
That day she had to meet with Sting and 'help him' in his small collection of new guys. Yes, Sting was behind everything that was going on with Magnolia's schools. Well, more precisely Minerva. Minerva was the daughter of Saber tooth's president. A school known for its brutal tests to get into the school. You had to be strong to get into it and once inside it, resist until the end.
Lucy was about to go to that school when she met Minerva, who made her change her mind immediately but it was too late. Minerva immediately discovered who she was and what was her situation and didn't waste time in using it to her advantage against the blonde girl. Lucy foolishly challenge her and she was easily put on a leash like a dog. Now she had to follow every single order of that spiteful woman, otherwise she was going to say everything to that man, her father. She didn't trust her, but so far, it appears that she's been keeping the secret. No matter what happens, Lucy would still have a plan B in her pocket in case that bitch was going to say something.
Lucy knew she had to call Sting and come up with an excuse. Not because she wanted to go out with Natsu, but because she preferred to deal with an angry Sting than have a Natsu following her all day long while whining, even if either ways would have been really dangerous.
"Yeah?" Said a bored voice on the other line. Annoyed by his tone she replied:
"It's me."
"Oh? Lucy! Why this sudden call, already missing me~?" You could hear a sudden fake happiness in his voice.
"Listen Sting, today I can't help you, let's do it tomorrow, I have to... finish an important project for school." Lucy explained immediately, getting a chuckle from the other side.
"Wooow, this is the first time you dare to leave me hanging. You know what happens if I go to Minerva, right?" The girl bit her lip, knowing exactly what would happen.
Fuck ... She thought as she once again heard the boy laugh.
"What's so funn-"
"You actually have a 'date', no?" Lucy's eyes widened hearing those words.
"W-w-wha-?"
"Ok, I'll let you go this time, cuz I also have other stuff to do today. I don't have time to babysit you."
"Grrr!" Lucy almost broke the glass of water that she now had in her hand, hearing him boss her around.
"But tomorrow I want you for the whole day. Come even 1 second late and believe me Minerva's gonna spill everything. "
"Why you littl-"
"In any case have fun with Natsu~" The girl was about to curse at him, when his words stopped her abruptly.
"W-wha-!? W-wait, how do you know him!?" She only heard him chuckle.
"You sure like to jump in front of cars in order to get a boy's attention. Never thought you were that kind of girl, though." Confused the girl was about to ask him more questions but he suddenly hang up and when she tried to call him again, she couldn't reach him, as if he had turned his phone off.
"Fuck!" Lucy shouted as she threw her phone across the couch and put her hands in her hair. She drew up her legs to her chest. How the hell did he know she was meeting Natsu? Or better how did he know his name? Did he and Natsu have have any connections? Those were some of the thoughts that crossed her mind as she stared in front of her biting on her nails.
"Ugh! This is bad! This is soo bad!" She breathed desperately, as she got to her feet and started circling around her coffee table.
"If Natsu gets to know about what's going on from Sting, then shit's going to hit the fan ...And like really hard!….Wahh, what do I do?!" She crouched down, shouting while scattering her hair. And it was then that her phone vibrated on the couch next to her. She reached just to see that she received a message from Natsu.
-Seems I'll be there sooner. Be ready in more o less 30 min ;)
Natsu. -
30 minutes. 30 fuckin' minutes.
"How the hell am I supposed to get ready in 30 min!?" Lucy shouted as she got to her feet and ran to her room to get ready as fast as she could. She knew that Natsu would have been there before 30 min. He would always say something like he would meet her in 10 minutes and he would be there in 5 minutes or less. So she went to her wardrobe and she rummaged through the thousands of clothes she had.
She took a pink dress, with some nice frills at the end, and on top of it she decided that a black light jacket wouldn't be bad. She jumped in the tub and did one of the quickest showers she ever did in her life. A few minutes later she was drying her hair and after combing it she immediately went to put on her dress. She was fighting with her zipper when she heard the doorbell ring and Natsu shout that he was there.
"D-damn it, why didn't I let Virgo help me?!" She whispered as she reached again to her zipper, trying to catch it.
"Luce, what the hell are you doing? Did you fell in the toilet?" Lucy strangely heard him closer almost as if he was on the stairs. He couldn't come into her room, because it was upside down. Almost all of her clothes were scattered on the bed while her undergarments were laying on the ground. She ran towards the door reaching it before Natsu would.
As she opened the door her surprised eyes met those of Natsu, who caught her in his arms as she bumped into him, before falling down the stairs together. Once they stopped Lucy slowly opened her eyes before shouting:
"P-Pinky!" Afraid that he got hurt because of her.
"Ugh! Fuc- L-Luce what's wrong with you? Why did ya came out of your room like that?" Natsu asked as he scratched the back of his head as if nothing happened.
"A-are you ok?" She asked as she watched him closely, amazed by his immunity to get hurt. But Natsu just stared back at her.
"W-what?"She asked slowly blushing.
"Luce, did you hurt your head?"
"W-why?"
"All of a sudden you're asking me if I'm ok and you're sitting on top of me like it's nothing, not that I mind it, but you're damn heavy you kno-" Natsu couldn't finish his phrase as Lucy suddenly punched him in the head.
"Well, I'm soo sorry If my weight it's not to your liking!" She sarcastically said as she got up to her feet.
"Ahaha, that's ok, you're actually lighter than when I first met you...or the other way around I can't remember-"
"Enough! I'm not going anywhere!"
"Ahaha, I'm joking Luce!" Natsu laughed as he grabbed her by the arm.
"Don't go please." He begged while smiling at her sincerely, but she wasn't falling for it. She turned towards him as she crossed her arms.
"And what if I don't want to go anymore? You can't stop me."
"Of course I can! Today you have to do whatever I tell you!"
"For the last time, Pinky, I'm not doing anything you say. Plus you can't prove that I said it." She said as she smirked thinking that she was right.
"And that's why I went to Gramps and asked him to sign this contract." He showed her a piece of paper. Astonished the girl read the paper. It's true, Master signed that paper but how did he managed to get him to sign it in such short time? Or rather how did he come up with such an idea. Lucy raised her surprised eyes to see Natsu smirk down on her.
"How did you came up with this thing?"
"Gray told me."
Of course ... Lucy thought, biting her lip and rolling her eyes. I swear, if I get my hands on him, I'll give him a reason to never walk around the school naked!
"So, you have to stick to the promise or I'll tell Gramps to destroy that photo. Oh, and did I tell you that I was the last boy with whom you could have taken that photo?" Lucy gritted her teeth as she saw Natsu take the piece of paper from her hands, fold it and put it inside of one of his jacket pockets. He had a really nice leather jacked with flames at the hem. He almost looked like a biker even with that nice scarf of his.
"Sigh...Okay. I get it..." Lucy sighed, defeated.
"So are you going to come out like this?" Natsu asked, raising a brow.
"No, I still have to finish getting ready."
"Woah, you girls sure take your time when getting ready." Natsu pointed out, as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall.
"Like you know anything." Lucy hissed, blaming him in her mind as she also crossed her arms.
"I do know. You're not the only girl on the planet, you know?" Natsu said offended.
"Yeah, yeah sure..." Lucy breathed, dropping the argument, thinking it was pointless, as she turned around. She was walking up the stairs when she said:
"It's only going to take 2 min-"
"Wait Luce." Natsu suddenly interrupted her.
"Your zip is open." He said as he closed it for her. With her heart beating in her throat she stayed silent for those mere seconds as she waited for him to finish up her undone work.
"Done, now you can go." He said as his hand slowly went down her back sending thousand of shivers down her spine.
"T-thanks..." She whispered as she ran up, hiding her eyes behind her bangs. And a little bit after she was ready. She decided to put a little more effort into this thing and put on a little bit of make-up and tied her hair in a high ponytail. When she came out of nowhere Natsu shifted his eyes from his phone to look at Lucy from top to bottom obviously blushing, but too surprised to react.
"W-what, do I look bad?"
"No...You look ok...Let's go, i-it's late!" He quickly said as he took her by the hand and dragged her out of her house.
"Wait Pinky, you're going too fast! My feet are hurting!" Lucy said as she tried to keep up with him but going up a bridge in high heels was like trying to climb a mountain without any tools.
"C'mon Luce if we're late they're gonna close on us and I don't wanna miss the special menu because of you and your freakin' high heels!" Natsu nagged her as he stopped to watch her.
"Excuse me? I believe we can get there in time even without running and don't drag my heels in this story, they go really nice with this dress!"
"You didn't have to wear a dress you know..."
"Of course I had to, it looked cute and I couldn't not wear it!" Lucy protested as she put her hands oh her hips. Natsu groaned as he put a hand over his eyes and then massaged his temple.
"Okay, I don't care...Let's just get moving, here give me your hand." He said as he extended his other free hand in front of her at which she looked, before saying:
"It's ok, I can walk on my own only if we don't run-"
"Don't be silly you look like you're gonna fall anytime soon. Just take my hand."
"Don't wanna." Lucy said between greeted teeth before Natsu took out the paper from before and was reading it out loud before Lucy took it and desperately ripped it into pieces.
"Hmph, don't worry I made a photo of it, in case you destroyed the paper." Natsu smirked as he took out his phone and showed her a picture.
"Who... Told you to do that..." Lucy hissed as she tried to burn down his phone with her glare.
"Gramps." Kinda predictable. Tired and angry, Lucy grabbed the phone and threw it from the bridge as far as possible, smiling when she saw a car go over it.
"Woah, thank goodness it was my old one! God, that shit gave up on me like a few months ago, so I also brought the new one with me." Natsu said, showing her a new phone and Lucy tried to take it but the boy raised his hand in time, passing it from one hand to the other when she was about to reach it. Exhausted the girl crouched down, releasing a groan.
"Give up Luce, either way, you can't destroy the fact that I met Gramps." He said as he proudly grinned.
If I destroy you then I could, but you wouldn't die at all...Lucy thought looking at him, while pouting.
"Now. Let's go." Natsu said as he once again showed her his hand. Resigned, Lucy slowly raised a hand towards him. The boy took it halfway and with a small 'kya!' Lucy was on her feet again, before being dragged somewhere faster than before.
Once inside a restaurant that she had never seen before, Lucy was extremely disgusted by Natsu. She knew that he ate a lot, but didn't know how much exactly, so she was surprised when she heard Natsu say that he wanted everything on the menu to the waiter who reacted like her. And let's not talk about his table habits. It was as if he had been brought up by a beast.
"Even though this placesh is not very famoussh, the food here is delicioush!" Natsu said, spitting out most of the food in his mouth on Lucy. Reluctantly the girl began to furiously stab her chicken meatballs before trying to send them down her neck.
As she ate she looked at him and wondered, how was he going to pay the bill. She couldn't see the prices in time but she knew that it was extremely expensive. As they left, the 2 guys were arguing about which was the best dessert and yeah, after eating almost everything, Natsu also wanted the dessert. They were stopped immediately on the threshold of the restaurant.
"Hey you two!" They heard a hoarse and stern, old voice say behind them. Lucy turned around along with Natsu, and at first she didn't see anyone. She then looked down and saw a little man, perhaps a bit taller than Makarov, holding 2 pink packages. He was dressed as a chef and the huge hat on his head made him a little taller.
"Oh, Yajima!" Natsu yelled as he spotted the old man on the ground.
"Thanks for the treat, the food was delicious!" He said as he showed him his toothy grin and did a thumbs up.
So that's why we didn't pay a thing. Lucy though as she stared down at the man, and was startled when he looked up at her. Strangely enough she thought, for sure, that she had seen him open one of his eyes and stare sternly at her, making her gulp and take a step back. She slowly broke out in a cold sweat.
"Is she...Your friend?"He asked cautiously choosing the right words.
"Hmm? Oh yeah she's Lucy, Lucy this is Yajima, Gramps' friend. He's the owner of this restaurant."As they both now looked at her she suddenly came back to reality and she cordially greeted man.
"I'm Lucy Ashley, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Yajima..."
"Yajima Shitou, miss." He said as he reached to shake hands with her, which she reluctantly did. His name kept ringing a bell but she wasn't sure who he was, and she didn't like that feeling. He could be dangerous.
"Sooo, whatcha doin' out here? Shouldn't you be in the kitchen?" Natsu asked recalling the old man's attention.
"Oh yeah, I brought you this. These are some newly baked cakes, here's one for you and one for the young miss." He answered him as he handed both of them the 2 packages.
"Oh! Thanks' a lot, Wendy will surely love it!" Natsu exclaimed, raising the package to his nose only to smell the odor.
"Ehehe, I'm sure she will. Well, now I have to go, I still have some stuff to do before I close everything. You're going to that event this night, right?"
"Yeah. You're not gonna come?" Natsu asked, gaining a chuckle from the old man.
"Nah, I'm too old for things like that. You, youngsters should go and have fun, but beware. It's good to be cautious even while having fun. You never know when danger may occur." He eyed Lucy for a sec when he stressed the word danger.
"Whatcha talkin' bout? You know I'm the best fighter around here, if anyone dares to come at us I'll smack them away." Natsu said half joking and half being serious, as he punched the air.
"yeah, yeah, have fun." The man once again said as he waved them goodbye.
"Woah, this is the best night yet!" Natsu shouted as he walked next to Lucy while looking at cake.
"We got free lunch and also cake to take home, what do you think Luce?" He happily asked as he turned his head to look at the girl next to her who for the whole trip didn't say a thing. He was surprised to see her quietly walk with her head low, blankly staring in front of her.
"Hey, Luce, you alright?" Natsu asked, grabbing her by the arm to stop her, bringing her back to reality.
"E-eh?"
"You didn't say a word since we left the restaurant." He explained seriously, staring right into her eyes which she quickly avoided.
"I-it's nothing..." She muttered.
"Bullshit. What's wrong." He more like demanded than asked but Lucy didn't answer him, instead she tried to change the subject by looking at the stalls around. The main big street was filled up with stalls of any kind. Food, games, shops and stuff like that, almost like a summer festival only that it was held in autumn.
When a candy stall caught her eye she immediately turned towards Natsu and said while trying to smile:
"H-how about a snack?" He was about to deny and ask her again if she was truly okay when she took him by the hand and dragged him towards the stall where she forced him to buy something.
Soon they forgot about the bad mood that there was between them early and enjoyed the event, while playing games, buying random stuff and watching some street performers. There was this young man that was juggling some swords on fire earning some really nice reactions from the public. Even Lucy was astonished by his skills, well, that was until Natsu decided to butt in and do even more dangerous stuff with those swords while breathing true fire from his mouth before eating the fire from the swords and bow down concluding his little show, earning more reactions from the audience.
"You didn't have to do it." Lucy hissed as she stormed through the people trying to get away from Natsu.
"Luce wait, I'm sorry I didn't mean it, it's just that I wanted to show you that I can easily do that stuff too!"
"But you didn't have to shout out loud t-that thing!"
"What? That I like you or that he sucked? Because his performance was really shitty and I did a million times better than him, you have to admit it!" Natsu proudly pointed to his chest as he laughed.
Angry, Lucy walked away leaving him behind, blushing furiously again. He was really shameless. Midway trough his performance he shouted that he liked her as he also breathed a flame in the shape of a heart on top of his head. She has never met such a person before who could shout his emotions to the whole world so easily. Distracted, the girl didn't realize where she was going until she suddenly bumped against a person.
"Pink-Ah I'm s-sorry, I've mistaken you for someone else." She said once she saw that the person, which she bumped into and thought it was Natsu from behind, was actually a girl. Now that she looked around, she noticed that the crowd has grown more and more tight since they came, and she could hardly see the street. She couldn't see the street, imagine spotting a person. It's true, he had pink hair for God' sake, but she still couldn't spot him.
"P-Pinky!?" She yelled, as she worriedly looked around and slowly advanced trough the crowd.
"N-Nat-Kya!" She once again bumped into another person.
"Hey! Watch it! This jacket cost me a whole bunch of shit!" An angry man shouted as he turned around.
"I-I'm sorry." Lucy stuttered afraid by his appearance. This man had danger written all over his face. Literally. On his forehead he had a tattoo which showed the word 'danger' written in a scary font.
"Oh jackpot! What a cute chick, boss!" Another man with a blonde mohawk said as he came from behind the man.
Oh no... Lucy thought, as she realized that she was in deep shit right now.
"U-um I'm sorry right now I have to go and meet my fr-"
"Woah woah woah! Wait a sec, aren't you that Lucy babe?" The man asked as he checked her out, making her feel uncomfortable other than surprised.
"Woah, boss you're right! She's really hot like how he told us!"
He? Lucy thought while slowly backing away.
"I-I have to go."
"C'mere (come here), you can spend a little time with us, can't you? Lucy dear?" The man with the tattoo said as he put a hand over her shoulder and forced her to stumble closer to him. He reeked of booze and cigarettes and Lucy hated it.
"I mean it, I don't want to come." Lucy stated, as she pushed herself against the man, who grabbed her by the arm. He squeezed it strongly making Lucy shriek in pain, but with all of that commotion, it was almost impossible to hear it.
"Listen up little bitch. We weren't inviting you, you're gonna come with us like it or not." The other man said cracking his fingers. Lucy glared at them angrily as she bit on her lip, she mindlessly though of taking the whip from her purse and cut in half the two bastards in front of her, but she was aware of the consequences if she did so. All those innocent people around there, had nothing to do with this.
Who the hell are these guys that know my name? O-Or, maybe, who sent them? Lucy thought, but before she could understand the situation the man once again squeezed her arm making her scream again, before starting to drag her.
N-Natsu... Lucy thought as tears started to form at the end of her now squeezed shut eyes. As soon as she thought those words the man's strong grasp on her arm disappeared almost magically and she fell backwards on the ground. She slowly opened her eyes to see a familiar back in front of her.
"N-Na-!" She was about to call out to him, when he slightly turned around to glare at her, over his shoulder. His cold stare petrified her.
It was the same exact psychopathic stare which she saw when he almost punched the life out of Loki. Trembling the girl saw Natsu slowly, almost agonizingly, turn his head back towards the two men who now became 6.
"Boss you alright?!" One of the man shouted as he reached the tattooed man who was barely moving trough a pile of rubble of a now destroyed stall. His face was hardly recognizable and everyone could see that he needed serious help.
2 other men furiously lashed out at Natsu one materializing a sword and the other one a mace ball chain. Natsu easily dodged their combined attack and caught their head with both his hands before engulfing them (the heads only) in fire and burry them upside down in the ground.
A man tried to run away but Natsu all of a sudden appeared in front of him and with his foot, set on fire, he kicked the man back to his starting position, before starting to pummel him.
"O-oh fuck! We're in deep shit!" The other alive man screamed to the blonde mohawk guy, scared shitless as he backed away.
"What? D-do you know that crazy bastard?!"
"That boy i-is!" They both now looked at the boy waving around the man's almost lifeless body.
"He's Natsu Dragneel, dude! The n.1 delinquent you don't want to mess with!"
"He's that Natsu Dragneel?!" The blonde mohawk man yelled scared, as he dropped on the ground his boss while backing away.
"We're dead brother, we're so fuckin' dead! You didn't tell us nothing about having to do with that monster!"
"How the fuck was I supposed to know, that Saber tooth man just told us to take the chick and bring her to him! E-either way, l-let's run!" He gulped, watching Natsu slowly getting to his feet and turn around to look at them.
"N-no way, he's gonna catch you immediately didn't you see what he did to Ryo!? Heck, I'm sure he fuckin' killed h-!" Suddenly Natsu ran towards them and jumped in the air before kicking the man that was talking in the chin, sending him through some stalls and taking the blonde man with the mohawk by the mouth, bring him closer to his face.
"What the fuck do you think you're doin' to my girl?"He slowly growled as you could hear the man's jaw's bone snap.
"S-stop..." Lucy whispered as she saw Natsu punch the older man like it was a doll. She was dead scared by his personality and she didn't like how he could easily torture people however he wanted. That part of him reminded her of her dad, and that was enough to hate him.
"P-please stop, it's enough now!" Lucy shouted, but Natsu wasn't listening to her. There was no way in hell that he would have listened. Once he's lost it, he's lost it for good. Before he always managed to stop himself but since his father left him, he couldn't control his anger anymore.
He was about to deliver the last punch to finish off the last man when all of a sudden from the behind he felt someone hug him. He knew it was her. He smelled her getting close so he wasn't surprised.
"Let me go." He demanded, but Lucy shook her head and hugged him even more. His burning body making her shiver in pain.
"Please stop...It's already over...Please..-hic-..." She whimpered, still dead afraid.
Without saying anything, Natsu dropped the man, who fell to the ground with a loud muffled groan. He stayed silent as he listened to Lucy's muffled whimpers. His eyes covered by his bangs.
"What's going on here? What's with all this commotion!? Move!" Some police men shouted as they slowly made their way through the crowd. Suddenly Natsu easily freed himself from Lucy's hug and as he turned around he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away. Taking with the other free hand the bags she left on the ground.
"Stop! Y-you're hurting me! Aah!" Lucy let out a small cry when Natsu pushed her against a wall, caging her with his body. As she looked up to glare at him with trembling red eyes, she was once again scared stiff. He was staring icily down at her with an undecipherable expression.
His green eyes, illuminated by the moon's light, almost looked like a dragon's, she thought as she tried to gulp but her throat was too dry. Suddenly Natsu brought a hand to her cheek and she flinched when his burning hand touched her. As soon as she flinched the boy threw his arms around her and hid his head in the crook of her neck.
"W-w-wha-?"
"Shhhh..." Lucy managed to stutter something but was soon silenced by Natsu, who slowly pulled out her hair band before moving his hand thorough her hair for a few times.
"God girl...you sure know how to piss me off sometimes..." He whispered in her ear making her shiver in his hold. Feeling sorry, the girl silently returned the hug. They stayed like that until Lucy started to feel a really bad sting in her legs.
"H-hey..." She started to say, catching Natsu's attention.
"What's wrong Luce? And this time tell me." He quickly added piercing her with his stare.
"M-my legs...hurt..." Lucy muttered, hovering her weight from one leg to another. Soon after they found a bench were Lucy sat down and waited for Natsu to come back with some bandages.
Sure, she was scared to be left alone again, but she doubted that there would have been anyone out there. The bench was on a lone hill top, from where she could see a small part of the city. It was quiet and there was a shortcut to get up there in no time, but it was really hard to find. Natsu told her only him and his crew knew about it so she shouldn't worry about anything. As she watched the city's lights, she didn't even heard Natsu arrive and she jolted in her seat when he touched her shoulder from behind.
"It's me, don't worry." He said with a straight face. It irritated him that she reacted like that but he couldn't help it. Everyone would act like that if they were her, after seeing him that way there's no way one would act normal around him.
He silently took out her shoes and looked at her bruises. They were kinda bad but they would eventually heal before a week, he thought as he sighed and took a band aid.
"I really don't get you, if they're gonna hurt you so bad why wear them, stupid..." He muttered, but he didn't get any response. Not that he was expecting one. Once he finished Lucy thanked him and he sat down next to him. They sat in silence for a while, not daring to open their mouths, when they saw a couple walk hand in hand down below them.
"Honey, did you have fun~?"
"Yeeees~ darling! It was the best day of my live!"
"Ahaha, for me it's every time I see you~!" Was the last thing they heard coming from the man's mouth. Lucy slightly frowned and Natsu tsk-ed.
"It used to be even for me, before someone really dumb was about to get it from some shit heads." Natsu commented as he looked away when the girl turned towards him astonished.
"I-it wasn't my fault! I couldn't do anythin-"
"You're a mage for fuck's sake Luce!" Natsu finally snapped at her.
"Just do something with it or you could have called out to me!"
"I tried to!"
"Liar, I didn't hear you call my name at all!"
"I did! I-I really tried to! B-but... with that c-crowd there was no way you could have heard it-"
"Lucy. I'm a fuckin' dragon slayer. All my senses are way more stronger than a humans'. Do I need to show you?" He said as he picked a rock from under the bench and easily broke it using only a hand. His serious expression never changing.
"Y-you're a what?"
"A dragon slayer. It's a person wh-"
"I know what it means! It's just that...H-how was I supposed to know..." She whispered the last part as quietly as she could. She was shocked to hear him answer her with a:
"You could have known if you watched one of my matches with the others at school." And silence fell between them again.
"Sigh...Next time, even though there won't be a next time, make sure to call out to somebody, to me, it's common sense to ask for help you know?" He said with a sad smile while ruffling her hair. She just nodded, a little bit relieved that he somehow forgave her.
"Seriously, didn't your parents teach you anything? This is like the basics of basic self defense." Suddenly Lucy froze in her seat. She did it so all of a sudden that even Natsu noticed the change of mood.
"Luce?" Natsu asked as he withdrew his hand and as he did it he locked eyes with Lucy. His eyes widened when he saw her cold and bottomless ones. The same eyes she had when they met for the first time.
"No. They never did." She said in a monotone. She slowly got to her feet and quickly withdrew her arm when Natsu tried to take it.
"I'm sorry. I think it's time for me to go."
"Luce, wait!" Natsu said as he managed to get a hold of Lucy's arm before she turned around.
"What the hell's wrong with you? You've been weird for the whole day!?"
"Let me go ... I wanna go home ... Thanks for everything, but now I really want to go home, please." She pleaded in a weak voice, and when she turned towards him in tears he could see the pain in her eyes. Without realizing he let go of her and she ran away. He was shocked to see her that way.
The Lucy that she showed at school was strong, hot-tempered, and unsurprised by anything, but this Lucy was the opposite. She wasn't as strong as she tried to show, she got amazed by every little thing that they saw that day and when her true colors came to the surface, the boy discovered that there's more to what meets the eye.
Once he started talking about her parents she suddenly changed. He on the other hand wasn't like that, well, more or less, he liked when people asked about his father but he really hated it when they made fun of him or bad-mouthed him or stuff like that. She reacted differently from him. She wasn't actually trying to hide her hatred but more like her sadness.
Maybe the sadness of having never seen someone or having lost someone, either way Natsu decided to investigate.(and you're fucked Lucy :D) He knew this was a bad thing to do, but he knew he wouldn't get anywhere by talking it out of her. The boy took out his phone from his jeans' pocket and dialed a number. After 3 rings the person from the other end picked up.
"Hey, sorry for callin' ya so late, you can kill me another time, I actually need your help...Yeah...Yeah I know it's strange, but listen to me it's important...Yes, I promise I'll do that...Yeah, yeah whatever you say, I know you know something about Luce's past. Meet me tomorrow at noon at Barno's Gelateria. I'll tell you there what's going on, now I have to go...See ya."