I own none of these characters except my own. All the official Fairy Tail characters are owned by Hiro Mashima.
Ch 8: Fate Is A Strange WordThe ball has rang signaling the end of school and most of the students were heading home in their carriages or limousines parked in the front or the school parking lot. Except for some of the overachieving students like Celestia who was now heading dejectedly out of the library. Her head was down, heavy with sadness, and sighs were coming out of her lips. Her feet made heavy sounds on the stairs as she walked in the opposite direction of the students heading inside to study.
"Gosh darn I can't believe those two already took all of the shifts. I wanted one, just one, but Lucy and Levy love their jobs as library assistants so much!" She raved softly and grumpily stuffed her hands into her blazer pockets. When she got to the bottom of the steps, she flipped her phone out from her skirt pocket and checked the time. Okay it's 3:10. Hatsune probably wouldn't like me coming in to check on her this early. She would kick me out in a second… Celestia deadpanned and pursed her lips in thought before remembering Yuuta's begs of her becoming the girls' soccer team manager. Well it's not like I have a choice now. If I want to get out of the house, this is my only chance.. Natsu is also on the boys' soccer team. He owes me that meal.
She nodded her head, confirming her plans to becoming the manager. She took a right from the school library entrance, taking a paved path to the locker room. Slightly remembering the details Yuuta rambled to her, she recalled that practice started at 3:30 on the soccer fields and that the coaches hung out in the locker room beforehand to do paperwork. Fall was getting an early start with the trees around them starting to harbor multicolored leaves and the air getting chillier in the afternoon. Bringing her hands closer, she breathed warm air on them before checking a text from her parents. She let out a breath of relief when she saw it was confirmation of them clearing her to tutor Wendy for the night. She skimmed over the reminders to go to school the next day and all the other unusual necessities. Turning off the device, she placed it back into her pocket so she didn't have to worry about running into any student on the way.
She gazed upwards lost in thought at the clear blue sky and wondered what future was she going to have. One of freedom seemed so far away and one of chained to an arranged, failing marriage corroded her back. She sighed but closed those thought away when she came to the locker room building. Reaching the back of the building first, she walked to the far right and knocked on the girl's locker room office door. She assumed the coach was a female and barely remembers Yuuta mentioning something about it. The door swung open from the inside and a small blonde girl dressed in a baggy dark punk t-shirt and green shorts with a bring pink whistle around her neck stood in the doorway, "Yes Celestia may I help you?"
"Madame Mavis are you the girls soccer team coach? My close friend has informed me there is a vacancy for the position of the team manager? I would like to apply for that position please." She responded formally and waited for confirmation. She knew the "girl" as her third period "Advanced Etiquette" instructor. The women looked really young for her age and she is also the dean of the school. Celestia is impressed with what the dean juggles and wonders how she has any time to herself. Before her thought process could progress more, she catches Mavis's grimace and the distressed look in her eyes. Wondering if she got something wrong, she questioned, "Is something wrong?" She paused and then wondered if she got the wrong person. "I'm sorry are you not the soccer coach? Did I make the wrong assumption? I'm sorry for wasting your time if you are."
Mavis then stuck her arms out in front of her and shook them. "No no, we actually do need a manager." She then pointed to the left using the same hand. "Go talk to Coach Zeref and tell him his wife sent you. He'll give you the paperwork and show you around." Celestia nodded her head and bidded goodbye to Mavis, "Thank Madame Mavis. I'll be going there now." She turned and started towards the opposing office on the other side. A thought of the punk shirt she was wearing being her husband popped up in the back of her head but she tucked the thought away, deeming it unimportant and inappropriate.
"Bye Celesta. I'll see you later… I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help to you." Celestia looked back after a few steps in confusion but before she could ask any more questions, Mavis waved and closed the door. Well that was… interesting She thought to herself and shrugged, dismissing the thought. After a short two minute walk around the building, she made to the door and knocked on it gently but firmly.
"Agh! Do I need to keep telling you boys to just walk into the office through the locker room is it that har-" The door flew open with a dark mop of hair ranting but it stopped when it noticed it was Celestia and not one of the players. "I'm sorry but who are you?" The grumpy person asked and blew his dark hair out of his face. The coach was tall, much taller than his wife Mavis, and he was wearing a similar punk rock shirt that she wearing before except teamed with a pair of cargo shorts and he had a clipboard and a stopwatch in his arms. A dark gloomy gaze was plastered over his face and his thin lips were pressed into a wild snark. While most people would have been shocked or scared, Celestia's face bore the same blank expression. Sure she felt her heart beating fast as if it was about to jump out of her chest but her face was the same as if it was cut off from the switch that connected emotions. Without missing a beat, she introduced herself in her all business manner, "Hello Coach Zeref. I am Celestia Namazaki and your wife Mavis sent me here to grab the paperwork to apply to become the manager of the soccer team. I was informed there was an empty spot and that a manager was needed effectively. I am a hard worker and I would like to contribute my abilities to better and assist the soccer team."
Zeref raised an eyebrow in surprise and he tapped a finger on the clipboard he was holding in her hand. He wasn't expecting someone to apply in fact no one has applied in years since they were afraid of him. He simply stared at her thinking and Celestia had a short mental breakdown inside of herself while he did. After a count of ten seconds, he had a smirk spread across his face and stepped back motioning for her to come into his office.
After a moment of hesitation, she followed him inside and felt the warm air of indoor heating blow over her. The office smelled a little musty like a combination of different men's colognes and had gym equipment lying around everywhere in an orderly mess. There were three computers on top of a long desk along one wall and several rolly chairs next to it. There was a clear window showing into the locker room but Zeref was closing the curtains at the moment to shield her eyes. Once he was done so he pulled two rolly chair to be across from each other and motioned for her to sit in one of them. She took a seat in the one closest to her and stopped herself from crying out when she sank into the soft seat more than she expected. Zeref, too, took a seat and started shuffling through the papers in his clipboard before taking one out.
"There really isn't any paperwork for you to complete other than a signed slip from your parents saying they'll agree to let you manage for the team and your signature also. Here is the slip but you can stick around and see what you need to do and who the team is." She nodded and when he handed the slip of paper over to her, she skimmed over it and she had a moment of confusion when her eyes landed on the word "BOYS SOCCER TEAM". Pursing her lips, she cleared her throat to signal she wanted to say something and Zeref raised an eyebrow. He paused before asking a question as if he didn't want to, "Is there um something wrong?"
"Yes. I was told there was a vacancy for the GIRLS soccer team. I didn't know I was signing up for the boys." She explained and raised her gaze back to Zeref's face and noticed the similar grim look on his face to the one Mavis was supporting before. There was another pause of silence as they simply stared at each other. Coach Zeref is considering something about me. She inferred and patiently waited for an answer. A sigh came from between his lips and he has seem to decided to provide some information. "Yeah you're too late to sign up for the manager of the girls team." He rushed on before she could say anything in response, "However the boys team still doesn't have one and we're in desperate need of one. I usually wouldn't ask this because most girls would manage a team to gawk at the boys but you seem to be responsible and could care less about the boys." He also seemed to be observing her like she was doing to him. "Am I right? You must be looking for something to do after school if you're asking to be a manager."
Celestia did a "Zeref" and stared back at him considering her options. Although it was disappointing that she couldn't help the girls team, she still needed an excuse to stay away longer from home. Managing the boys team didn't seem too bad besides the smell of the locker room and the boys but the coach seems to be pretty nice. His sense of humor intrigued her and her parents would probably strongly approve of her managing the boys team. They'd assume she'd finally compelled to their wishes and was using the team as a way to scout for potential boyfriends.
"I'm fine with being the boys team manager." Her words seemed to rise Zeref's spirits and she placed the paper in her school bag. "I'll bring the sheet back tomorrow signed and I think I would like to stay and learn my duties today." She figured if she was going to do the job she might as well as put in the effort. She heard from Yuuta the soccer team was one of the better renowned teams of the school and didn't want to make half baked efforts around something so serious. A grin spread across Zeref's face as he rose from his chair.
"Great to have you onboard, Namazaki. Do you have a jersey or sweats to change into? If not, what you're wearing now is fine since all we're doing is tryouts today. I need you to record down information for me and help me run drills." He moved to the desk and picked a clipboard off of it. "This will be yours. I'll explain all the paperwork outside. If you need to change, you can use this office. Be sure to lock the door after I leave." He nodded at her before he took the clipboard with him and closed the door behind him. A clicking sound occurred from the outside as he closed the door. A few seconds later, she could hear him barking orders at the remaining boys outside.
"Well that happened faster and different from expected." She got up and after making sure the door was closed, she got changed into the extra clothes she carried in her bag. Reaching into her bag, she took out a jersey and a pair of sweatpants and placed them gently on the chair she was sitting on. The clothes were from the sports team she had joined her freshman year. The jersey was from the school's track team and the sweat pants were from cross country. Celestia liked to run a lot in her free time from a young age since it takes her mind off of her parents and was a good way to blow off steam. She was so good at running that she was on the varsity teams for both despite being a freshman. However, her grades suffered from the pressure and time she put into the teams so this year she had to skip out on cross country. Coach Sagittarius was disappointed in giving up one of his promising runners and pleaded with her which was a sad scene but she needed her parents to get off of her back. Managing seems to be easier since she wasn't competing and she could multitask while on the job.
Taking off her blazer and sweater, she pushed the clothes into the bottom of her bag after carefully folding them. She then unzipped her skirt and let it fall to the ground. Stepping out of it, she dusted it off before putting it into also into the bag. She quickly got into the clothes she had placed in her bag and after putting then on, she made a quick sweep of the floor making sure she didn't drop anything. Gathering her bag in her arms, she left the office and entered the boy's changing area which was now empty except for Coach Zeref who was waiting for her.
"We're going to head over to the soccer fields now. Most of the boys are already there or on the way there. They leave their bags in here so you can leave your stuff in my office for now. I can give you a small locker later or you can lock it in the cabinet in my desk." She listened to his instructions and after walking back in, she simply laid her backpack on the chair she was sitting on before. "It's fine. There's nothing important in it besides homework." She walked to Zeref who handed her the clipboard he's prepared for her. She first took the pencil out from its holder before skimming through the pages on it. The first two were blank columns waiting to be filled while the rest were mostly roll call and rules and regulations.
"Today you're going to be writing down scores and names of valuable players along with the positions they want to play. We're assembling the varsity and junior varsity. There's a fewer people than yesterday since today is the second day of official tryouts. Don't worry about messing up but please try to make few mistakes." Zeref's voice started to sound fainter as he walked out of the locker room fast and Celestia had to walk in longer, quicker strides to keep up. She noticed he was carrying a backpack and piped up, "Is that the first aid kit?" He didn't turn around but the proud tone in his response showed he was pleased with her, "Why yes it is. Good observation. You'll be in charge of this and of providing first aid to players. I hope your knowledge is up to point."
Celestia made a mental note to brush up on her first aid and to check out some books. "I'm pretty average at it but I have knowledge of first aid." She confessed as they made fast progress as they moved from the back of the locker room to the soft grassy fields which were a good 300 meters from the locker room. The field was nice with trimmed grass and goals on either side. There were bleachers on one side of the field and a score board set up across from it. A big group of about 100 or so boys were positioned in the center of the field and most were doing static stretches. Zeref lead her to the patch and all the boys immediately stood up in a straight line when they saw the coach. The freshmen and even some of the upperclassmen seemed to shake under his steely gaze.
"Now for all you newcomers who still don't know me, I am Zeref and I am the coach of the boys soccer team. Address me as Coach Zeref or sir. I am your coach not your friend so please refrain from calling me buddy or pal or by my first name." He addressed the group before motioning for Celestia who stood silently behind him the entire time to step forward. "And this is our new manager Celestia Namazaki." His tone then dropped to an even colder tone from before and it seemed to drip with poison. "She is the first manager we've had in ten years and I want you all to respect her with all you have. We are not going to lose the first respectable manager I've seen in all my years. If any of you disrespect her, I'm kicking you off this team regardless if you're on varsity or junior varsity. Don't give her extra work than she needs and remember she is your manager not your slave. Am I understood?" He asked and all the boys gulped before answering with a loud "YES SIR".
Celestia scanned the crowd while he talked and recognized a good handful of the students who came to try out. She could see Natsu and Gray bickering quietly while Gajeel watched them with an amused expression on his face and Jellal stared off into the distance. On the right near the front, she spotted Laxus with a few of his lackeys in the crowd. There was Elfman, Orga, and even skinny Rufus mixed in. Celestia raised an eyebrow when she was tiny Romeo with some of the freshmen and wondered if he actually liked soccer or was simply following Natsu. Her mood instantly soured when her gaze onto a blonde spiky hair boy who smirked when they made eye contact.
Sting again… Why do we keep meeting- She pursed her lips together and her grip tightened on the clipboard. Surprisingly, he was also in her last two periods. He sat in the same row as her in Language and was in her Astronomy class, too. Celestia was mostly surprised he was in Astronomy since she didn't peg him as a guy who liked looking at the stars. They didn't talk in either of those periods but at this point, it was official they had their entire schedule together. Dear Mavis someone save her.
"Okay. We're going to warm up now. I want you to run two laps around the field. Manager Namazaki will record your times and you will do stretches afterward. The required time is 3:30. Anyone over the time by even a second is out. LINE UP and I want a straight line." Zeref ordered and the boys immediately started to line up in front of him, scrambling to get in order. While they panicked, Zeref whirled to instruct Celestia, 'I'll be calling out times for the first lap and the second lap. You only have to record the times for the second lap in the second column. You write their names in the first column and it has to be last name then first name because I'm old fashioned." She held her laughter back and simply nodded at his comment.
Zeref sighed and hung his head at her bland response, "Didn't get you to laugh huh? Well I'll be starting soon. Are you ready?" She nodded in response and made an "Okay" sign with her thumb and index finger. "ALRIGHT YOU ALL SHUT UP! WE'RE STARTING AFTER A COUNT OF THREE. ON ONE YOU START RUNNING! THREE… TWO… ONE!"