I just keep loving this fanfic more and more after each chapter. Is it weird that I'm loving my own fanfic? It's weird, isn't it.
Just wanted to let you guys know this fanfic will be in a Japanese school setting with some Japanese customs. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask so I can explain it to you!
Good luck to everyone taking midterms at the moment! Just two more days and you'll be free for the rest of the year~
Thank you so much for reading! It really means a lot to me. c':
See you guys next week, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :3
"So what are you going to do after school ends?" Lucy interrogated for the third time that morning.
"I'm going to run here and stay in my room," Natsu answered with the voice of a robot.
"And how long are you going to stay there?"
"An hour."
"No, Natsu," Lucy groaned, shaking her head. "You're going to stay in your room until my friends leave."
"Oh, yeah," he recalled, carelessly shoving his breakfast into his mouth.
Lucy rolled her eyes as she rose from her seat that was opposite of Natsu's. She leaned against the counter after gently placing her plate in the sink. She stared at Natsu's messy eating with distaste.
"Hey, Lucy," he began.
"Don't talk with your mouth full!" she exclaimed, horrified with the amount of food that spewed out of his mouth.
"Sorry," he chuckled at her reaction. "I have a question."
"What?" she lifted a brow.
"What if I have to use the bathroom?"
"You hold it," she instructed simply.
"What if I get hungry like you did?" he asked.
"That's why you have some snacks in your room," she responded.
"What if—"
"Can you just stay in your room?" Lucy whined, somewhat tired of how complicated Natsu was being.
A smile tugged at the edges of Natsu's lips; he directed his attention to his packed lunch on the counter.
"I hope your friends have fun while being here," he stated while snatching his lunch bag.
"W-Why do you sound like that?" she stuttered after catching a glimpse of mischief in his eyes.
"See you later," he spoke, not bothering to answer her question.
"Natsu, wait!" she shouted as he exited the apartment and shut the door behind him.
Lucy grit her teeth as she saw the tips of Natsu's spikes out the window.
"If you do anything while my friends are here, your life will end tonight," she threatened under her breath.
With a sigh, she tried her best to push away her anxiety.
"He won't do anything, right?" she asked to herself silently while she walked to school.
For the time being, Lucy had no choice but to trust that Natsu won't be doing anything that would jeopardize their secret while her friends were over.
"Good morning, Lu-chan!" Levy greeted as Lucy ambled into the classroom.
"Good morning, everyone," Lucy smiled to her friends, sitting down in her seat.
"I'm excited to see your apartment today," Erza said.
"I have the drinks right here," Cana lightly patted her school bag with a grin.
"I brought some snacks!" Levy imitated Cana's movements.
"You didn't have to do that," Lucy gave a nervous laugh. Their enthusiasm made her feel incredibly uneasy.
"What kind of best friends would we be if we didn't bring something?" Cana inquired, giving Erza a side glance at her empty hands.
"I'm bringing you my friendship!" Erza defended herself.
"Not enough," Levy shook her head with disapproval.
"It's fine," Lucy assured to Erza's panicked expression.
The bell began to chime throughout the school but that didn't stop that girls from socializing.
"Are you going to be making dinner for us?" Levy questioned, nearly jumping in her seat.
"Sure," Lucy replied without a second thought.
She then realized that making dinner for her friends meant they were going to be staying over until late. What if Natsu won't be able to stay in his room for that long?
But Gray stayed over until late, so why couldn't her friends do the same? It was only fair. This was Natsu's payback.
"What will you be making us?" Erza asked.
Lucy paused to think, her thoughts only focused on revenge. Then it clicked when she remembered the small hot sauce bottle Natsu dropped into his lunch bag in the morning. A wicked grin spread across her face.
"How about spicy chicken curry?"
"I can't wait to see your apartment!" Levy cheered as the bell rang, dismissing the students from school.
"I've been thinking about eating curry ever since you mentioned it," Cana admitted, giving Lucy an accusing look.
"The wait will be worth it," Lucy guaranteed.
As the four stepped out of school, Lucy hoped that Natsu was sprinting to their home as fast as humanly possible.
"Is it okay if we stop at the store for a bit? I forgot I don't have some of the ingredients for the curry," Lucy spoke when they were close to her apartment.
"Sure," her friends responded.
It wasn't a lie, but this short trip to the store would give Natsu extra time to get home. The only thing Lucy was doing was a favor.
"I've never been here before," Levy revealed as they entered the small store, her eyes scanning the four aisles.
"Me either," Erza stated.
"You two don't get out much," Cana scoffed.
Lucy didn't want to spend too much time in the store; it would look suspicious if she did. So once she was sure Natsu was securely tucked inside his room, she strolled to the front counter.
"300 Jewel," the person at the other side of the counter told Lucy.
She handed him the money, trying not to let her eyes linger on his numerous piercings for too long.
"Come again," he said disinterestedly as though he was reading a script.
"Well, he was boring," Cana said bluntly, the girls leaving the store.
"Those piercings made me want to cringe," Erza shivered.
"It must have been painful to get all those," Lucy shuddered along with Erza.
"I think he was sort of cool looking," Levy mumbled.
"You like those kinds of guys?!" Cana blurted out with surprise.
"T-They're not bad looking," Levy stammered, struggling for words.
"It seems like Levy has a crush," Erza teased.
"I don't even know him!" Levy flushed.
"But you want to," Lucy giggled.
Levy averted her gaze to the ground so her friends couldn't see her blazing face anymore.
Lucy had forgotten all about her anxiety, but once she looked up at her apartment building, it returned all at once.
"Not bad," Erza observed the building.
"It looks better inside," Lucy replied, leading her friends up the stairs to the second floor.
She swallowed back a lump of panic as she touched the doorknob. Her breath jumped into her throat as she subconsciously turned the doorknob without unlocking it first.
"You left your door unlocked all day?" Levy gasped.
"That's not safe, Lucy. What if someone comes in?" Erza scolded.
"I guess I forgot to lock it this morning," Lucy smiled sheepishly, mentally cursing Natsu for making her take the blame. She turned back to finish opening the door for her friends.
"Welcome to my home, guys," she spoke loudly so Natsu could hear. She took the silence as a good sign.
"It's better than what I imagined!" Levy raved, entering the apartment and spinning around in a circle.
"I like it a lot," Erza complimented.
"You wouldn't mind if I accidentally started living here, right?" Cana joked, just as impressed as Erza and Levy.
"Show us your room!" Levy ordered, bouncing in place.
Lucy excitedly widened her door for her friends to enter; she couldn't help but want more compliments.
"It's so nice," Levy sighed happily, sprawling across Lucy's bed.
"It is," Lucy couldn't deny it.
"I'm so jealous," Cana admitted.
"You can come over whenever you want," Lucy told them with a smile, not worrying about all the precautions she would have to do beforehand.
The girls exited the room; Lucy's back began tingle as she shut the door behind her.
"What's that room for?" Erza asked, nodding her head to Natsu's door.
"That's where I put all my useless stuff," Lucy replied, desperately wishing she could see the look on Natsu's face at that moment.
"Even the bathroom is amazing!" Levy proclaimed, her voice echoing inside of the bathroom.
"Thank you," Lucy grinned, content with the compliments.
"I love this place," Levy did another sigh of delight as she fell onto the couch.
"You're too childish, Levy," Erza clicked her tongue, sitting beside her.
"You look like a child, too," Cana chimed in, plopping down with them.
"I'm just happy for Lu-chan," Levy pouted.
Lucy giggled at her friends, feeling courageous that she had crossed the line and there was no way Natsu was ever going to know.
Turning on the TV, she put the volume louder than usual just in case Natsu decided to do something.
Strangely enough, Natsu was completely silent in his room for at least an hour. He had even slipped from Lucy's mind until she heard soft scratching noises behind her.
"I didn't know you had a cat, Lucy," Erza spoke as she twisted around to the bedroom doors.
Lucy turned around with a perplexed expression, forbidding her eyes to widen when she saw Happy dragging his paws on Natsu's door.
"It's not mine," she said quickly, heaving herself up from the couch. "He likes to come in here at random times."
"Why don't you just keep him?" Cana questioned.
Lucy was too focused on trying to get a hold of Happy so she didn't answer Cana's question. She opened the door slightly so Happy could slide through.
"There you go, Happy," Lucy gave him a gentle push into Natsu's room, closing the door immediately after Happy entered.
"What kind of name is Happy?" Cana snorted.
"A weird one," Lucy responded.
Returning back to the couch, she let out a sigh. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, but she was grateful her friends weren't questioning her just yet.
"Do you guys want to help me make dinner?" Lucy asked after a while, the snacks Levy brought being completely finished.
"I'm starving," Levy stated, rising from the couch to head to the kitchen.
"I don't know how to make curry," Cana confessed.
"I'll teach you," Lucy confirmed.
They were already in the kitchen and pulling out the ingredients when Levy's voice made Lucy freeze.
"Lu-chan, why is there a guy's shirt on the floor?"
"W-What?" Lucy squeaked, poking her head out of the kitchen to look at what Levy was staring at. Her jaw dropped after seeing Natsu's crumpled up shirt on the floor.
Hastily placing the onions back onto the counter, she dashed to pick up the shirt.
"D-Don't you know it's smart to have a guy's shirt when doing laundry?" Lucy laughed nervously.
"This apartment complex doesn't seem like it has a lot of weird people here, though," Erza frowned.
"I'm just trying to be safe," Lucy replied, spinning around and opening Natsu's door. From the kitchen, the girls couldn't see inside the room.
"I'm going to toss this in here," she said, flinging the shirt right into Natsu's face.
She felt satisfied to see his covered face but when he slid it off to reveal his smirk, her eye twitched in irritation.
"Lu-chan, how many cloves of garlic do we need?" Levy called out.
"Your friends need help, Lu-chan," Natsu whispered with a grin.
"Shut up," Lucy glared at him, using all her strength to not slam his door shut.
Marching back into the kitchen, Lucy had never felt such motivation before as she made sure the smell of curry drifted throughout all of Magnolia.
"This is delicious!" Levy exclaimed after the curry was made.
"I'm surprised you can taste the curry with all the water you're chugging," Erza laughed slightly at the glasses of water surrounding Levy.
"Is it too spicy?" Lucy asked, feeling just a touch of mild heat on her tongue. For some reason, she could always tolerate spicy food.
"It tastes exactly how it should be," Cana guaranteed, although she had three cups of water beside her.
"It's perfect," Erza stated as she was nearly halfway done with her bowl.
"Thanks to you guys," Lucy smiled, hoping that the smell of curry was the only thing Natsu was breathing in.
Three more servings later, the girls leaned in their chairs with a full stomach.
"We're so coming over again, Lu-chan," Levy spoke with her head dangling back.
"Me too," Cana agreed.
"I'll bring something next time," Erza said.
"Your friendship is enough," Lucy assured.
Once the girls were capable of lifting themselves off their chair, they began to step towards the door.
"You better let us come again," Levy attempted to be menacing.
"Of course," Lucy nodded while opening the door. "Come over anytime you want."
"We'll remember that," Cana smiled slyly.
"See you tomorrow, Lucy," Erza waved.
"Bye, guys," Lucy returned her wave.
Lucy was nanoseconds away from closing the door when there was a loud sneeze behind her.
"What was that?" Erza questioned.
"I think my neighbor sneezed," Lucy responded, looking behind her. "The walls here are really thin!"
"No kidding," Cana spoke, eyeing the neighboring door with judgment.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then! Thanks for coming!" Lucy said shortly, giving another wave and abruptly shutting the door.
Once it was locked, she spun around to lean against the door with relief. The stress that was inside of her deflated like a balloon.
She felt a huge weight begin to float away from her chest; it made her pause to realize that she wouldn't have felt so stressed if it weren't for him.
"You girls sure do talk a lot!" Natsu yawned as he exited his room, his hands stretching up to the ceiling.
Lucy's eyes narrowed at the nonchalant boy.
"What is the matter with you?" she asked furiously, stomping towards him to make direct eye contact.
"What did I do?" he gave her an innocent look with playful eyes.
"You!" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "You made me look ridiculous in front of my friends!"
"I didn't do anything!" he claimed.
Lucy stared at Natsu feeling more enraged than ever. Searching for the closest object, she seized a pillow from the couch.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Natsu smirked as Lucy held up the pillow.
"Oh, I'm sure," she ensured with a nod, not wasting a second to connect the pillow to the side of Natsu's head.
"Oh, you're on," Natsu grinned, leaning over to the couch to get his own pillow.
"No, wait!" Lucy yelled after seeing Natsu's competitive eyes. Before he could take a swing at her, she scampered to the other side of the apartment.
"We can have a truce," Natsu negotiated calmly, taking steady steps towards her. Lucy was too busy contemplating about it to notice he was close to her.
"But I don't want to do that yet," he stated, swinging the pillow so it hit her on her shoulder.
"That's not fair!" she proclaimed, taking Natsu's pause as her chance.
Natsu easily blocked it with his pillow and went in for another swing, but Lucy leaped out of the way just in time.
"H-Hold on!" she giggled breathlessly, tucking her loose locks of hair behind her ear.
"It's not healthy to run away from your problems, Lucy," Natsu taunted as he began to close in on her.
"I'm not running away, I'm just—"
Lucy didn't get to finish her sentence as Natsu planted a soft hit on her face.
"What were you saying?" he asked with shining pearly whites.
Lucy stood stunned when Natsu pulled back the pillow. There was no way he was going to get away with this.
"Come here right now!" she commanded, chasing after Natsu around the apartment.
Lucy and Natsu paid no attention to their surroundings as they hunted each other around the apartment with Happy looking up at the two with confusion.
She had even forgotten about how furious she felt before the pillow fight.
"Truce?" Natsu eventually offered with heavy breaths.
"Wait," she lifted a hand. When she was a few feet away from Natsu, she gave him another hit.
"Okay, now we can have a truce," she grinned, dropping the pillow on the floor and extending her hand out.
Natsu looked down at Lucy's hand. When he looked back up, he quickly stole a hit with his pillow. She opened her mouth to say something but dismissed her thought. It was only fair for him to get his own free hit.
"Okay," he replied, letting his pillow fall beside Lucy's pillow. "Truce."
As the two shook hands, their eyes both fell to their feet. Both of their breaths hitched.
"This never happened, okay?" he spoke, his hand still holding onto Lucy's.
"Agreed," Lucy nodded eagerly.
They had both crossed the line and were on the opposite side.
Lucy glanced at her hand inside of Natsu's, but he quickly released before she could say anything.
Sniffing the air, Natsu let his legs lead him to the kitchen, the pillow fight already gone from his mind.
"You were torturing me while making the curry," he groaned, looking at the small leftover food on the plates.
She watched as Natsu stared down at the food unhappily. She thought she was going to feel fulfilled, but seeing his frown made her feel bad.
"There should be leftovers," she revealed, walking into the kitchen. "Here there are."
She handed him the leftovers that were meant for him in the first place. Though she hadn't realized she left some extra curry for him until the girls were full.
"This is amazing," he moaned in happiness as he took a spoon full of curry.
Lucy looked at him scarf down the curry, amused with how bright his eyes were.
When he had licked the plate clean—literally—he connected eyes with Lucy. He wordlessly rose from his seat and walked towards her.
"W-What are you doing?" she stammered while Natsu leaned in towards her.
"Your hair," he said softly, patting her hair down. He looked down at her face. "It's sticking in every direction. It's horrible."
Lucy's breath stopped as her eyes widened in surprise.
"I can fix it myself!" she huffed, placing a hand on his chest and pushing him away.
"Thank you for the dinner," Natsu chuckled as she angrily headed for her room.
"Pick up the pillows and don't oversleep tomorrow!" she ordered, entering her room and slamming the door.
Lucy could hear Natsu's laughs from the other side of the door as she leaned against it.
"Unbelievable," she shook her head, the image of Natsu's radiant expressions imprinted into her brain.
Even though she was annoyed, her brain wouldn't stop replaying all of the expressions she was able to witness for the rest of the night.
For some odd reason, those expressions made her feel happier than it should had.