A/N: Happy holidays! I've had a busy December, with my ACT and school-related activities, but I managed to squeeze this out today because I wanted to give you guys a special Christmas (eve) present. I hope you all enjoy!
If there are any grammar/spelling issues, tell me and I'll fix it. I'm just really tired 'cause I had like 5 hours of sleep. xD
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 Eleven
How the Heart Works
His personal chauffeur, Toku, was waiting for him outside of the prestigious academy when he walked out with the unconscious girl in his arms.
The old driver didn't question his young master as he opened the door for him, watching as his young master set the girl gently down on the leather seats before going in himself.
"To the estate."
Toku nodded, closing the door and rounded up to the driver seat. Whether he was surprised by his young master being uncharacteristically benign and letting the girl rest on top of his person or confused by the unlikely situation, the old driver knew better than to question it.
The engine hummed softly and began its course to the Dreyar Estate. It became quiet, making Lucy's sporadic, sharp exhaling inevitably pronounced. She was burning up and shivering at the same time.
What am I going to do with you? Laxus pushed back her blond bangs that became slightly damp from sweat. She looked so vulnerable, so helpless in his arms and he was surprised to find that he didn't like it one bit. Lucy Heartfilla was more interesting when she was being stubborn.
Lucy shifted against him as she furrowed her brows. "Hmmph stay away... fromp mmhe..."
Yeah, Laxus smirked, she was more interesting that way.
The unconscious blond's phone suddenly rang, filling the otherwise silence with a segment of the classical piano tone of Amelie. Laxus reached into her brown bag and retrieved the ringing pink phone. The name Mira-san blinked in the small digital screen. Laxus could imagine that she was boss from the animal clinic, but he didn't answer it.
The tone died down after a couple more seconds. Before setting the device down, the blond haired president suddenly grew curious. He flipped the pink cell open and scrolled around until he got used to the old-fashioned device. Then clicking the button on the left side, he reached the contacts list.
15 contacts, it read on the top of the list. He scrolled down each of the contacts, some of the names he vaguely remember from the encounter a week ago, before stopping at a certain name.
"How...original," Laxus chuckled, glancing down at the spitfire slumped on his shoulder. Even in her unconscious state, she never ceases to amuse him.
The pink cell rang again, breaking his gaze away from Lucy. How annoying, Laxus pressed the power-off button and watched as the device blink once and then go dark, along with silencing the caller.
He then took out his own phone from his jacket just as the limo pulled up into the Dreyar Estate and dialled Freed.
. . .
Lucy woke up with a dry throat and a small headache. She could feel the late evening rays beaming down her face and didn't want to open her eyes to the light just yet. Instead, she buried her face deeper into the soft, silky pillow. A wave of smoky sandalwood and a hint of rose hit her senses, making her sink deeper into her bed with appreciation.
...Wait.
Since when did her bed smell like sandalwood? She definitely didn't remember having such soft pillows, either.
Warm chocolate eyes opened abruptly. The colour purple assaulted her sight. Surrounding her was a deep purple comforter and matching silk pillows—a colour she definitely didn't have anywhere around her room. The headache forgotten as panic shot through her body, Lucy tried to recall what happened.
She was at the play rehearsal, then at the storage room, then the pillar fell and she tried to help the ungrateful idiot who caused it... Blond haired jerk... Her mind click.
Laxus!
This must be his room... The thought made her blush, half with anger and half with embarrassment. She was not just purring like a cat at the pleasant scent that no doubt his.
Lucy tried to fumble out of the warm bed but upon looking at herself clearly she could see that she wasn't wearing her school uniform. The red blazer jacket and skirt was gone and replaced by silky, cool to the touch women's pyjama top and bottoms.
"That bastard!" If he lied a finger on her body she was going to castrate him!
"I see that you're awake and well, princess."
Lucy snapped her head to the opened door. There stood the smirking bane of her existence, his muscular body casually leaning against the door frame.
"Y-you! Pervert!" Lucy threw a pillow at the man, to which he easily dodged. "You undressed me!"
"On the contrary, my maid undressed you because you were sweating like a pig with that fever and she was worried that sleeping in them will wrinkle the expensive material."
Now she felt slightly bad. But not enough to apologize.
"That old maid worries too much about irrelevant things," Laxus said with a scuff, "But," his voice became husky as he stalked towards Lucy like a predator, his cobalt eyes gleaming, "if you want think that I undressed you, I won't stop you."
Lucy's face turned fifty shades of red and she tried to throw another pillow at the arrogant man. "You're s-sick!" She balled up her fists as he continued to subtract the distance between them. "Hey! Get out of my face..."
His large hand reached out to touch her forehead, halting her mid-sentence. "The fever's gone," his tone was suddenly serious without a hint of jest or sarcasm.
"..." Lucy felt that her heart was going to leap out of her throat. His sudden warmth and alluring scent filled her being and she couldn't help but lean slightly to the source. He was being so uncharacteristically...kind.
"Your clothes are hanging on the chair," Laxus said after the moment of silence as he stood to walk out of the room to give her some privacy.
Suddenly, it wasn't the diminishing fever that was making her all hot and bothered. He had rendered confused and speechless. Her hand coming up to her forehead where his burning touch lingered. Why was he showing this...caring side of him?
His actions were always confusing, always juxtaposing around her.
What is your game, Dreyar?
Laxus glared at wall once he was outside. He didn't know what compelled him to do such a ridiculous thing.
He was the Laxus Dreyar, and he did not care for anyone's well-being. Freed may have managed to rub some humanity in him, but he was in no way a kind person. He did not have principles that didn't benefit his own well-being.
Good morals were not his thing. He tortured his targets until he got bored.
But as the Heartfilla came into the picture, he found himself time and time again making an exception for the stubborn female. Even the smallest of kindness he did appalled him.
His next few steps will have to be more careful. He couldn't let her win this game. She is but a mere pawn.
A passing fancy.
"...Laxus."
He turned at the feminine voice. Lucy was dressed back in her uniform, blinking up at him with a tint of pink colouring her cheeks. He wasn't sure if it was from the fever, embarrassment, or just her being a stubborn, angry mule.
"So eager to see me?" he pulled a smirk, trailing his eyes down her body knowing that it would make her mad.
"Shut the hell up," she tugged at her shirt as she glared at the marble floor. "...Thank you for taking care of me," she grumbled out afterwards.
Unlike him, Laxus mused, she had good morals tugging at her every fiber. And judging by how she wouldn't look at him in the face, he knew he had affected her. To add amusement for himself, he lifted her chin and smiled like a prince. "You're welcome."
He saw the flash of emotion skip across her giant chocolate eyes before she slapped his hand away with annoyance. "I will like to leave now," she said curtly.
Laxus pushed himself off the wall and grinned. "Are you sure you don't want to spend the night?" He was leading her downstairs anyway.
"Thank the maid who lent me her clothes," she ignored his comment.
There was a short pause before Laxus spoke again.
"It was my mother's."
Lucy looked up at the male besides her. She tried to search for any sadness that may have crossed the president's face, but his expression was firm and unfeeling.
Many knew that the Dreyar had lost his mother over ten years ago from an unknown cause; the news was so huge that it had reached the Heartfilla household and circled between the workers Lucy hung around with for days. There were conspiracies and rumours, but she wasn't one to believe in them.
In a way, the Dreyar was like her...they both lost a mother at a young age.
"I'm sorry," she ended up blurting out.
"She's been dead for years. She won't mind."
"How... how could you say something like that?" Lucy's jaw dropped incredulously, not believing how he could say something like that with such a casual remark. It was as if he was saying the sky was blue, the grass was green... 'my mother died and I don't care.'
"Why? It's the truth," Laxus shrugged, the corner of his lips quirked into what looked like an upwards scowl.
"You..." she sighed, deciding to let it go. It wasn't her business what he thought of his deceased mother, anyway. With the growing silence between them, the hollow, empty feeling of the giant estate suddenly became apparent to her.
It reminded her of her father's mansion.
I wonder if his father or Headmaster Makarov are ever home..? Lucy shook her head, willing away the thought. She didn't care for him and so that wasn't her problem.
"Dinner is ready, Master Laxus," his butler appeared in front of them. His old, wrinkled face was kind and welcoming. "Will this lovely young lady be joining you tonight?"
Lucy declined the man politely, "I was just about to leave."
"That is a shame... It has been a while since young master has had company at dinner—"
"Enough," Laxus said, daring the old man to continue. The butler immediately apologized. "Just take her home."
"Of course, Master Laxus." The butler turned to Lucy. "This way please, miss."
Lucy bit her bottom lip with a wave of guilt she didn't know why she was feeling. She would rather eat dirt than endure dinner with the arrogant, infuriating male, but... still... She pulled Laxus towards her, surprising him slightly, and gave him an awkward half-hug. "...Goodnight, Laxus."
She quickly scurried behind the Dreyar's butler, looking straight ahead so she wouldn't see the expression on the stunned male or give him a reason to tease her for the blush that was forming on her face.
Laxus ran a hand through his spiky blond hair and watched her go out of sight. "How pitiful of you to pity me," there was a certain mirth to his tone.
. . .
The next few days passed by like a blur for Lucy. Between school and work and being the mascot for the basketball game against Blue Pegasus, she didn't have time to fit anything else in her crammed schedule. Naturally, that meant she didn't have to think about a certain blond tyrant and she was happy about that.
What is the point of having this again? She was just taking off the heavy bird suit when she heard footsteps walking towards the locker room. Not wanting to be seen, she quickly dashed into one of the shower stalls. Who would come into the locker room at this time?
"Number 7 from Blue Pegasus waved at me, did you see?" A girl was giggling as Lucy heard the doors being pushed open.
"That's Hibiki Lates, I think," Another replied, "Mou, you were cheering for our rival team!"
"So? Hibiki-kun is cute."
Idiots, Lucy rolled her eyes. She didn't even want to listen on to their pointless conversation anymore in fear of losing her brain to their obsessive fangirling. She prayed that the girls would leave so that she can go; the game had eaten up enough time as it is.
The girls continued their chatter as they walked around the room. It looked like one of them was looking for something.
"—and Laxus-sama has been rather distant these few days." Lucy blinked upon hearing a familiar name. She could practically hear the pout from the girl's face.
"He's busy with that know-it-all transfer, that's why."
Know-it-all? They couldn't possibly be taking about her, could they?
"Why is he even paying attention to her, anyway?" There was some shuffling noises as well as slamming of a locker door. "Mou, where did my shoes go!"
"Just buy another one, Miyaki. You won't believe what I heard though... Laxus-sama carried her all the way home earlier this week. Apparently, she fainted."
Lucy raised her brows with incredulity; that was stretching the truth just a bit too far. She did not expect whatever had transpired between her and Laxus, which was technically nothing, to be something worth rumoured about... Well, then again, he was Laxus Dreyar.
"What if Laxus-sama likes her!"
She felt her cheeks reddened at the assumption, but quickly snapped out of it when she heard something clicking shut and the girls started walking again.
"Hmp. The nerve of that commoner, I bet she's latched onto Laxus-sama's money and status."
Why you— It took all of her willpower to not jump out and give the two girls a piece of her mind—it was a good thing they left. How ironic it was that they accused of her being hung on Laxus's riches!
"Idiots," Lucy repeated as she rubbed her forehead tiredly and walked out of the locker room. The damn Dreyar has managed to have a posse of females out to get her.
She grudgingly grabbed all of her belongings and then pulled out her cell. She peered down to check the time.
4:10 p.m.
That was not a good sign.
She had to sprint to the subway station to catch the quickest subway that was going to get her to the clinic. Because of the small delay, she was going to late for work, again. If Mirajane wasn't so generous, she would have lost her job by now. She couldn't possibly afford that.
Quickly paying for a ticket, Lucy got on her subway and it took off. In ten minutes, it came to her designated stop and she hopped off. The station was crowded as usual and the sea of people quite literally carried her outside to the small shopping district.
Lucy checked the time; she estimated that it'll only take her three minutes to get to the clinic if there were no distractions and if she ran.
"Eh, if it isn't the fairy girl."
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