A/N: So I realized that high schools in Japan only have three years and went back to edit some of the ages. Lucy and Levy are second years starting on the spring term (give or take 16) - Laxus and freed are third years (last year before they graduate, 17/18).
On another note, it's come to my attention that a lot of my readers think that Laxus is pretty much the anti-hero throughout this fic so far, but that's how he was during the earlier arcs and I wanted to keep him in-character. He will get less asshole-y, eventually... I won't disappoint y'all. ^^
TessaJane: good guess! Lucy got careless and didn't make sure it was locked the second time around… but you are right, knowing Laxus, he would have a key.
ConstellationOblivion: thank you so much, darling! Reviewers like you just makes my day (':
I love all of the responses, and trust me, I read every one and take it to the heart. Thank you guys!
Decoding
Laxus Dreyar was entirely too many things: too hot, too rich, too manipulating. And he has his sights set out for a certain, unsuspecting Heartfillia.
Chapter Six
Nakama
Milky chocolate eyes roamed around the lively diner tenderly. Everyone she held dear was here—Natsu was having a fist fight with his best-friend-slash-rival Gray, their antics attracting strange looks from other customers, especially when the raven haired male stripped off his shirt as a habit. The Love & Lucky High Student Body President, Erza, was happily munching on her cheesecakes, and Happy, that sly, sly cat found a way inside the diner undetected and lazily stretched across the booth with a fish poking out of his mouth.
The scene before her, albeit a little crazy, was picture perfect.
Lucy bounded over to the loud group with a friendly wave. Contact with them had been minimal since she transferred, because with her juggling work at the clinic and maintaining straight A's, it was hard to relax and see her friends frequently.
They haven't changed a bit, she smiled when the group all cheered at her arrival. She didn't care that people stop and whisper at the way her friends behave, because when she is with then, everything else dissolves into the background.
"Yo, Lucy! You finally made it!" Gray commented, flashing the pretty blond a wide smile. "I was worried that we may have to break into your house and drag you out like the last time!"
"That was only because you guys are impatient!" Lucy defended with a blush, a girl's got to look nice when she goes out, doesn't she? "And Gray... Your clothes."
"Ha ha, ye damn pervert!" Natsu provoked, jumping up to make a clown face.
"Meow!"
"Shut your trap squinty-eyes!" he waved his fists, "Ya, where'd they go?"
Lucy laughed, seeing the raven haired 'stripper' and her hot-headed best friend go at each other was something of the norm, too many times to count with her fingers and toes. She took a seat besides Natsu just as Erza finally glanced up from her cheesecakes to slap both boys across their head.
"You two are causing a scene!" she bellowed with a glare. Natsu and Gray shrank back with fear and forcefully hugged each other; the redhead was not someone they wanted to mess with, with her fearful title as the queen of the school.
"Behave yourselves!"
"Aye!"
Yup, Lucy thought to herself, it's a good thing they didn't.
"Ehhh? Lucy, what a surprise to see you here!" a tall brunette exclaimed. She towered over their table slightly with the standard waitress attire of the diner, plate of drinks in hand. Lucy widened her eyes, equally with surprise, and stood to hug the taller girl.
"Cana!"
Though they weren't that close, Lucy was still happy to see the older brunette. She had almost forgotten that the older girl worked at this diner. The slight scent of alcohol filled her nose and she knew Cana had been drinking. Like always. It was a wonder how the brunette never got drunk—it was rumoured that she could drink two whole barrels without being knocked out. Or died of alcohol poisoning.
Cana threw her head back, "Kinana, I'm taking a break!" she called. A purple head popped out from the back and gave her a thumbs up, granting the break. "So," Cana scooted into the booth along with Lucy (Happy meowed angrily as his spot was taken with the cramped space), "How have you been?"
"Oi oi Cana," Gray raised a brow at the newcomer, "if you're going on break, who's going to be our server?!"
"Awe, don't be such a party pooper! Besides, you have a table full of cake enough to feed the whole diner," she said offhandedly, not at all frightened by the threatening glare Erza gave her when she mentioned sharing the sweets. It was a sensitive subject for the redhead.
"Ne, Lucy!" she turned back to back to Lucy, "How's Fairy Tail? I heard there are a bunch of hot guys there, not to mention rich," she wiggled her brows, fully interested in hearing about the blond's experience at the new school.
Hot guys? Lucy's mind was boggled. If she'd actually taken the time to search for them...
"Say, did you snag yourself a boyfriend?"
Lucy choked on her water. "Wh-what? Cana!"
"Boyfriend? Lucy has a boyfriend?" the usually stern redhead's eyes sparkled at the suggestion. "Oi Natsu, did you finally ask her out?" she poked Natsu, who was stuffing his face with chicken wings.
"Hrut?" he asked, too busy eating to hear what Erza said. Lucy turned bright red at the accusation; she and Natsu were best friends and practically siblings, nothing romantic will ever blossom from it!
"Erza, no! I don't have one," she whispered frantically. She suddenly felt a hand on top of her head—Gray was patting it as he nodded understandingly.
"It's okay, you can tell us," he fully believed she did.
"Gray!" she sighed exasperatedly.
Cana laughed at the situation she put the pretty blond in. She pulled out some tarot cards from her waitress pouch and laid them on the table and said seriously, "How about I give you a reading, Lucy-chan? Maybe we'll find your perfect man."
Lucy nervously eyed the cards, wondering why Cana brought them everywhere she went—her readings were quite insane, but very entertaining, and that made her wonder instead why the brunette wasn't cast on a reality show.
"Here," she pointed the deck at Lucy after it was shuffled, "pick three cards."
Lucy gulped and chose three from the deck, looking more and more weary as a grin spread across the card master's face. Oh-uh, this does not look good. Cana, after reading the cards intently, set them down on the table carefully and closed her eyes.
"I sense something big," she proclaimed.
"What! Where!" Natsu snapped his head over to the girls raising both hands that sported chicken wings, "Will there be bigger chicken wings?" Cana shot him a silencing look and continued.
"...There will be big, strong men surrounding you... Eh, now nice," she sighed enviously, looking off to the distance in a way that Lucy could only describe as wishful dreaming. About men, particularly. But Lucy didn't think Cana's insight sounded too incredibly pleasant. "Let's see... white will not be your lucky color, and it says here that you will be caught in numerous lightning storms, hmmm... better check the weather before you go out on a date, Lucy."
Everyone at the table sported a confused look. Lightning storms? White? Big men? Cana was definitely buzzed with alcohol, if only slightly. She opened her eyes, "What? That's what the cards said," she shrugged. "Ah~ A boyfriend sounds nice."
"I'm telling you Cana, I don't have a boyfriend..." Lucy sighed. Any type of argument with the brunette when she was influenced by alcohol would just be lost through deaf ears.
"Cana-san!" the girl named Kinana called in distress, "Sorry, but we need your help in the back right now."
"I'll probably need a drink before I go in," Cana said seriously. She gave Lucy a hard pat on the back and winked, "I'll see you in a bit And Natsu, don't let the manager see that furball."
"Happy isn't a furball! He's an important friend!" Natsu yelled disbelievingly when the brunette left, as if the notion of Happy being anything else was absolutely ludicrous.
Yes, her friends were loud and obnoxious and Lucy didn't mind one bit. She loved them all. She watched Natsu and Gray bicker again, and Erza giving them the evil look because they disrupted her again.
Her eyes barely scanned across the back of of the diner, but something caught her attention. Lucy stood up and the figure shifted towards the back exit. "I'm going to the bathroom," she stated.
. . .
The door of Ivan's office slammed none too quietly as Laxus stormed out. It was loud enough to echo throughout the expansive hallway, causing a few maids and servants in earshot to turn their heads.
"Where do you think you're going?" Ivan demanded pointedly.
"Out," Laxus replied curtly. He'll go anywhere his father didn't want him to be. His supposed fiancée was coming today for the first meeting, but that was not his thing. No way in hell was he going to be committed to some bitch he's never met in his life.
"What's wrong with the Aguria heiress?"
"I don't know her."
"So?" Ivan scuffed. This was getting ridiculous. "That's never bothered you before. You're always pleasing women without me asking you to."
Maybe that was it. The mere fact that it was his father telling him to spend time with someone was ironic and repulsive. It was typical of Ivan to announce something out of the blue such as the sudden fiancée; he'd also had one two years ago.
He doubt this one would last.
"You are meeting Angel Aguria this evening."
"Not if I can fucking help it," Laxus muttered loud enough for Ivan to hear, and made his way to the garage. It might take a while, but he was determined to get out of this arrangement.
He grabbed a set of car keys from the rack and hopped in one of the ten cars he owned. He saw Ivan making a phone call, knowing right away that he will be tailed. Laxus smirked; the man wants a high speed hide and seek?
He's got one.
. . .
"Why are you here, Capricorn?"
The loyal Heartfilla butler bowed. He was an old friend of her mother, Layla, and chose to serve as the family's butler after the woman got married. Lucy wasn't the least bit surprised to see him, but after so long, and here of all places?
"Master Heartfilla has requested for your return, Lucy-sama" he relayed back the request.
"It's been a year…" A full year since her father has had any attempt in communicating with her—and to send Capricorn as that attempt instead of coming to see her himself did not serve to make her happy.
"He is very worried about you."
Lucy cracked a sad smile. That might have been the most famous lie she heard all throughout her life. Saying she never wanted to have anything to do with the man was one thing, but he was still her father, flesh and blood. She would have been content with a phone call, a letter, anything! But she's come to learn that it was too much for the busy man.
She held back the bitter surge of emotion that made her want to throw up. "Please leave," she asked, never forgetting her politeness.
"Lucy-sama."
Lucy almost faltered at that tone that was frequent upon her childhood. After her mother died, Capricorn had been looking after her and taken care of all her childhood reprimands.
She bit her bottom lip.
"Capricorn, I'm…I'm not going to see him."
"Luce! What are you doing back here in—who are you talking to?" There was Natsu, her saving grace, standing there with the usual goofy grin. He looked at Capricorn, amazed. "Cool sunglasses! I can see why you'd want to wear it indoors, too!"
Capricorn was clearly nonplussed at the loud salmon haired male, and Lucy got the hint from the look in the butler's face. "Lucy-sa—"
"Ah! Ah! Ah!" she shouted, trying to stop him from saying the rest. Her friends still don't know about her past saved for a lie, and as selfish as it sounded, she wasn't ready to tell them just yet. She was afraid of rejection. "Natsu! This man was just asking me...where the, uh, subway station was."
Capricorn stepped forward, "I do not think that-"
"I hope you find it! Bye!" Lucy bowed and pushed her confused best friend away in a hurry back to the table. She was here today to enjoy lunch with her friends, and she hoped that the loyal butler will understand that she had no intention of dragging them into unnecessary drama. "Please let this be the last time you carry out one of his orders for me," Lucy called back to Capricorn, just when Natsu was out of earshot.
With a father like hers, she never knew what would be next.
"Cana, come on~! Read my fortune!" Natsu whined at the end of the service. The brunette did not look amuse as she busied herself with piling tower high dirty dishes, curtsey of Erza's enormous cake order. That bottle of whiskey under the counter was so calling her name.
"Natsu! Stop bothering Cana," Lucy chastised and sent him out. She turned to give the girl a final hug, careful not to knock the dishes over. "I'll come visit you again!"
"You better," she raised an eyebrow at Natsu and Gray already fighting outside the diner, "and remember to bring good looking men next time. Someone from your new school, 'kay?" She really was a woman on a man hunt.
Lucy waved, sauntering out of the diner with a content smile spread across her face. Her friends were waiting around the corner, but so was a familiar looking car and her smile dropped for a millisecond.
"We're thinking about going to the amusement park, wanna come?"
"I'm sorry guys. I just remembered that I have to get this assignment started if I want to get it in on time..." and there was another little white lie.
. . .
The first thing she did after she sent Natsu and the others on their way was to make a run for it. She couldn't believe that after her warning, Capricorn still stuck around. Running to the end of the street, she made a sharp turn around the corner and took off.
The black car followed but couldn't get past the other vehicles as fast.
Lucy sighed, seemingly lost the butler for now. Taking some twists and turns to shake off the attentive butler, she ended up in a somewhat unfamiliar area. She wandered out of the cramped streets and was relieved when she found the beach. This part of the city was near the ocean, so there was a long beach strip next to the road.
Just as Lucy was halfway across the road a car appeared around the corner and was speeding head on at her. The worst thing that one could do was freeze up, but that was exactly what she did—she completely froze up like a deer caught in the headlights.
Shit—!
Laxus slammed on the breaks just in time, another foot and he would of killed that incompetent pedestrian. He swore out loud when he realized just who he almost ran over.
The Heartfilla chick.
He got out of his car, ignoring the passing drivers who beeped and drove past him for stopping in the middle of the road. Lucy had clasped on the ground when the shock wore off; he towered over the girl and barked irritatedly, "What the hell is wrong with you!"
She looked confused for a second, but recovered fairly quickly as she jumped to her feet and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You! Do you even have a license?!"
Was that all she had to say about the accident she was almost in?
"Girl, you almost got yourself killed and you're worried about whether I'm a legal driver or not?"
"Well, yeah!" she exclaimed like it was the most obvious and right thing in the world, "And you were way over the speed limit, buster! Who even taught you how to drive? They did not do a good job—no, I bet you piss off all your instructors with your arrogance."
Laxus rolled his eyes. He was not in the mood for a pissy speech today, and from the girl who stupidly walked across the street without looking both ways—they taught these kind of things in preschool. He was very easily frustrated today and she was testing his patience.
"Are you even listening to me?!"
"No." He walked back to his car.
Stupid girl.
The passenger door slammed shut just as he pulled the stick knob to drive. Pressing down on the brakes again, Laxus turned his head to the female. "What are you going in my car, Heartfilla?" If she was thinking to continue her annoying yapping inside the car, he will not be shy to kick her out. Literally.
"Just drive, please."
This was the first time she's ever spoke to him with such a soft pleading tone and it caught him off-guard. After a moment of hesitation, Laxus let his foot off the brake.
The car cruised off.