A/N: Aside from a really bad sprained foot I got from playing flag football, I was pretty busy with the amount of summer homework that I have and I took two weeks off to go on vacation. I tried to get this out as soon as I possibly could, so there may be some mistakes... Please correct me if you see anything!

+ 200 reviews! I'm so happy c': 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 Sixteen

...Always Comes Back Around

The smile on Lucy's face twitched. "Will that be all?"

"You'll also need to sort out this folder and take out everything that was dated back last year to that cabinet in the back. Then you can clean up and leave." She sighed as she received another stack of club papers she had to look through before it can go through. As prestigious as this school was, she guessed that the work of the council members didn't lessen any. Of course, most of them probably took the opportunity and dumped the work all on her.

The council member then left, leaving her to deal with a desk full of paper.

Really, Lucy looked back at the task in front of her, does Fujiokaji honestly enjoy doing something like this? She wondered as her eye twitched at small print in front of her. Something about requesting new equipment.

She rubbed her eyes. I wish there was some special glasses that could allow me to read everything in just a few minutes time.

"Tired, Heartfilia?"

Luc blinked away the sleep and shot a glare at the person leaning against the council room door. Of course Laxus would be here to relish in her misery. "Having the best time of my life, actually," she grinned angrily, her hands moving fast to put every paper in the right pile. Choosing to ignore the president would be to her best interest, so she did.

This goes here... No, that one goes over here... Agh, where the hell does this go?! This is so annoying!

Laxus let out a low whistle and stepped into the room, coming up right in front of the girl and watched with amusement as she showed the frustration over a single paper in her expression.

This annoyed Lucy further, who couldn't concentrate because his figure was looming over her.

"If you don't have anything for me to do, the door is over there, prez."

Instead of leaving, Laxus grinned. "That goes on this pile," he pointed carelessly to the stack on the left. Lucy blinked, glaring at the paper in front of her and then to the stack he pointed to and huffed stubbornly. He was right.

She mumbled out a string of incoherent curses before pouting, "...always so annoying."

"Is that what you really think of me, Heartfilia?" Laxus drawled, yet there was a serious undertone to that as he caught on to her quiet statement. He lifted her chin up with his fingers, his grip gentle but firm, so she was forced to look at him.

Chocolate pools caught stormy blue, and Lucy couldn't help but become trapped in his gaze. He really was gifted with undefinable good looks. Being in such close position with him had always bothered her, but more because she had really hated the man... She didn't understand what she was feeling now that they were sharing such close space.

The way he could always manipulate everything and everyone to his favor always made her furious because she would constantly be caught in between. She already determined that he was deemed to have no likeable trait, but why was she at a loss for words now?

It was annoying that he always seemed to be wherever she went just for the purpose of vexing her. However... Admittedly he did help her more than a few times, forcing her reevaluate what she thought about him constantly. What even was his purpose of helping her, if he only thought of her as some passing entertainment?

Laxus Dreyar was cruel and manipulative, yet pinches of kindness always shine through when she needed it, whether it was the time she fainted when she was sick or stupidly drunk at that house party. He was so confusing and she hated it.

"You're..." she finally voiced out, though softly as she tried to think of what she wanted to say. There he was, getting inside her head! Lucy pulled away from his grip and cleared her throat, "I don't think of you as a decent human being. But then you show the capability to be decent sometimes..." she frowned, "You're difficult and I hate that about you."

"Difficult, you say?" Laxus laughed. It wasn't a genuine laugh; his resembled more of dry amusement, as if he was mocking her. He leaned in, hot breath fanning her face with caress, "I think you are the one who's being difficult," he whispered seductively.

Failing to move away as a result of his firm hold, Lucy could only glare defiantly at him as she tried to stop her heart from beating so fast. She was stuck in a very, very bad situation.

"Let..." her mouth could barely form the words that she wanted to say, instead only keeping it in a small "o" shape as she breathed in.

"Hm?" Laxus replied, his eyes never leaving her own. "Why don't you be more honest about yourself, Heartfilia. You don't really hate me, do you?"

The heir could see that she was trying hard not to show any emotion that may give herself away, but he could see her faltering. "I want you to say it."

"I..." she started to rasp out.

The toy...

"I don't..."

...is broken. Surely she didn't mean to show him that this was all she got? Laxus' lip rose slightly in a victorious grin, the whites of his teeth just barely glinting through. The female in front of him shook.

"I don't think you got it through your head that I hate you, you conceited bastard!" Lucy bit out finally, surprising him a great deal as she pushed him away with sheer strength. She slapped down the last paper onto the designated pile and stood up, the chair scrapping on the marble floor quite roughly. "I'm done for the day."

With the scarlet blush present on her face, she left the council room hastily. So much so that she didn't notice the slim figure standing by the door, smirking before taking his leave as well.

. . .

"She is the heiress to the Heartfilia Konzern?"

"Precisely," Ultear confirmed.

Hades rested his chin on top of his interlocked fingers. Well, this was an interesting twist. So the blond girl seen around the Dreyar brat wasn't just some common wench, she holds some value.

The Heartfilias did not possess much of a threat to his own company business-wise, as they weren't too prominent in the world of the highest ruling powers, but he decided that he wanted to keep an eye out from now on to see further progression.

"Why is she attending Fairy Tail as a scholar-fund transfer?" he asked, remembering his first impression of her a few weeks ago.

"It is not for certain, but my sources said she is not in a good relation with her father ever since Lady Heartfilia passed away. It seems she wanted to attend the academy without the status of her heritage."

A bit ironic, if Hades was to say, that the brat chose to stick with someone so much like himself. He recalled that the Dreyars did not favor each other, especially not after the mysterious death of the brat's mother.

"If I may say something, Master Hades," Ultear interrupted his train of thought.

"Go head."

"What are your plans for the girl?" she asked.

Hades paused, a grim smile on his face. "It depends on what the Dreyar is willing to offer."

"Ah," Ultear nodded without much emotion. "Master, I also would like to inform you that Ivan Dreyar has sent his right-hand man Kurohebi back to Japan."

"I wonder, whatever for..."

. . .

Even as she left the school campus and was on her way towards her apartment, she couldn't shake off the weird feeling the blond president induced. But he thought he could intimate her to say what he wanted to hear—ha! As if she would give him that satisfaction!

But he was so close—

Stop.

No point in thinking about that infuriating bastard, she huffed to herself, resolving to forget about what had happened all together. However, she needed to do something to get her mind off it, so she took out her phone and texted Levy.

"My council duties are over, do you want to meet up at the library for a study session?"

Today was the only off day she had from work and anything else that came up, so she was fully intending on using it to her advantage. There was a lot of effort that needed to be put into her schoolwork if she wanted to maintain a perfect GPA, and though many difficult or bothersome things were thrown at her, she never let it hinder her performance.

Lucy nodded to herself in determination. She decided she was going to get a head start on the upcoming essay in her literature class and study for the calculus test that was scheduled next week.

Her phone beeped with the bluenette's reply:

"Sure! I'll meet you there in thirty mins!

-Levy M."

"Maybe I should start planning with Levy about what science experiment we should do for next month!" she mused, getting fully pumped up for it. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, she heard a twig snap from behind her and she whipped her head around.

But no one was there.

"Hm?" Was I imagining it?

An eerie feeling rose within her, but maybe she was still spooked from earlier... Sighing, she continued to walk, although a little faster just in case. But this time, she could hear footsteps coming behind her. I'm not imagining this... Someone is following me!

Quickly making her way down the sidewalk, she slipped into another narrower street and hid behind tree that was big enough to conceal her body. She peeked around the corner and saw a dark figure coming towards her. "Could it be a stalker?" she whispered to herself. Where in the world did she gain this type of attention?

However, the figure looked familiar...

Lucy narrowed her eyes and flexed her fingers. Whoever it was, she was going to take him down. When she heard the footsteps get closer to the tree, she jumped out and aimed her foot at the stalker. "YA— e-eh?"

She stood there frozen, with her foot in midair. Why...

"Lucy-sama."

.

.

.

She glanced at the man wearily as she set down a cup of tea. They've migrated to her apartment since it was close by. "Capricorn..." she hasn't seen him since the last encounter at the diner, where she told him to leave her alone and stop abiding to her father's requests.

But here he was, again, with the same objective in mind.

"Your father requests that you come back, Lucy-sama," he simply said, sipping the tea.

Lucy's frown deepened. "I told you that I don't want anything to do with him anymore. As you can see, I'm fine by myself."

"Lucy-sama, your father may not show it, but he does care about you."

If he cared about her... If he cared about her, he would have stopped her from moving out in the first place. He never showed an interest in anything she did, and even still, he was not willing to seek her out himself. Clearly she was not his priority—she never was.

If there was one thing she did inherit from that man, it was his extreme sense of pride and stubbornness.

Lucy wanted to prove that she didn't need his influences to be successful, and she accomplished that. But she still felt a little empty inside... she just didn't want to admit that it was because of her father's lack of care and attention.

"Please come with me. Your father just want to talk to you," Capricorn told her softly. He knew of the girl's inner conflict and wanted to make her realize that her father did care for her in his own way.

"I'm sure I'm not that important," Lucy argued. "I refuse."

Capricorn set down the ceramic cup and stood up. "Then forgive me for this, Lucy-sama." With lightning speed, he was by her side and before she knew it, she felt a painful pressure on her neck.

Then, there was nothing.

. . .

"Hmm... That's weird..." Levy tapped her foot on the carpeted floor of the library she was suppose to meet her friend at. The time they agreed upon has already passed and she was growing worried. She tried texting and calling, but the blond hasn't replied to any of them.

Levy knew that the girl was rarely late, if ever, when they hung out. She grabbed her things and walked out of the library, deciding to head the direction where Lucy would take to get here in hopes of meeting her halfway.

But to her dismay, she did not see the blond anywhere, even when she reached Magnolia Street. "Lu-chan, where are you?"

Wandering around the apartment complex Lucy lived, Levy paused for a few moments before walking in. Maybe the girl fell asleep or something... she did hope that nothing happened to her friend.

"Lu-chan?" she tried knocking on her door. Nothing. This was starting to become unnerving. "Lu-chan?"

"What are you yapping about, brat?" The plump landlady came up behind the bluenette with her arms on her hips. "Yer disturbing my tenants!"

"I'm sorry," Levy said, her eyes wide, "I'm trying to find my friend... S-She lives here."

The landlady peered at the small girl up and down and then at the door. "Lucy Heartfilia lives here. Is she who yer looking for?"

"Y-Yes! Have you seen her? She hasn't returned any of my calls and I'm worried."

"Of course I see her, like I said she lives here," the older lady snorted. "But her business doesn't concern me."

Levy pouted, "Landlady-san, can you, um, check if she's home? Please?"

The ample-bodied woman weighed her options with the situation at hand and thought she could either tell the girl to go away or help her. And honestly the latter seemed too bothersome...

But she rolled her eyes and dug into her pocket for the apartment key sets, flipping over each one until she found the key to the Heartfilia's apartment. "I'm only doing this once, brat, then you leave."

Levy nodded feverishly, "Thank you!"

Upon opening the door, the bluenette and the landlady stepped into the small yet homey apartment. Everything seemed to be in its place and nothing was out of the ordinary. Other than the absence of the blond girl, of course.

There was two cups set at the kitchen table; the tea left in them was still lukewarm.

"She's not here..."

The landlady sighed in annoyance, "Maybe she left on a date. Now, get out!" And she promptly kicked the bluenette out.

"Ow..." Levy rubbed her bottom as she stood by the curb. It didn't make any sense; why would Lucy ask her to hang out if she was just going to leave with someone else? "This doesn't feel right..."