Natsu leaned against the wall of Magnolia high school, his face twisted in an angry scowl, he sent a glare at anyone who passed in front of him as he waited, he sighed and shifted his bag. 'She tells me to wait, but how long does she think I am going to stand here, club activities are over now!'
"Yo," Erza greeted casually "Did you wait long?"
Natsu darted to her with an angry look on his face, he grabbed her cheeks and pulled on them harshly "Wait long?! Club activities ended and now you show up?! How long do you think I stood out here for?!"
Erza chuckled whilst rubbing her cheek "Serves you right, besides you're my slave for the day!"
"Don't remind me," Natsu snapped "So, Where are we going?"
"Oh, Isn't that tone a little harsh for a slave?" Erza turned her hand in and smiled, like one of those posh evil laughs you see in television shows.
Natsu's eyebrow twitched "Where is it we are going today, my lady?" He tried to sound civil, tried.
"Hm, I liked you better before," Erza shrugged "Today I'm making you a pack horse!"
"Carry your own damn bags," Natsu snapped "I'm going home."
"Denied!" Lucy appeared seemingly out of nowhere in front of Natsu
Natsu started slightly "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"If you don't do as you are told as agreed on by yourself and miss Scarlet you have to play the punishment game!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing at Natsu angrily.
"I never agreed to a punishment game." Natsu sighed
"Punishment games aren't agreed, on otherwise it wouldn't be a punishment game." Grey interjected calmly
"What are you two joined at the hip?!" Natsu exclaimed
"Of course not," Lucy waved off "Your punishment game is…"
"If you don't do as your told today you need to strip down naked and confess your feelings to the girl you like from the roof!" Grey exclaimed
"Yeah, That!" Lucy agreed.
"Don't screw around, I'm not doing that and I'm not carrying her bags!" Natsu growled
"What if I reward you?" Erza asked "I actually could really use the help."
She seemed really sincere, contrary to her usual tone, Natsu glanced at her for a few seconds before sighing "Fine, I'll help."
"And as he slowly discovered the soft side to the beautifully strong delinquent, the two share a meaningful conversation and slowly fall." Lucy started before being cut off.
"Not in love idiot!" Natsu snapped, lightly chopping the top of the girls head.
Lucy rubbed the small bump slowly, by the time she looked up the pair was already walking away.
"You might want to take is a bit easier around Natsu, he seems like he's on a shorter fuse than usual." Grey noted
"Good point." Lucy nodded "Okay! To the Café!"
"You don't want to tail them?" Grey asked calmly
"You want to?!" Lucy's eyes lit up dangerously as she grabbed the other boys arm.
'Well, my wallet can't handle anymore of your cake eating spree's.' Grey thought dejectedly "Yeah."
"What am I helping you carry anyway?" Natsu asked as he watched the red head a small distance from him calmly
"Food mostly, a lot of sales are on so I need to stock up while I can." Erza replied calmly
"Hm." Natsu hummed in reply.
"What?" Erza asked glancing up at him.
"Well, shouldn't your parent's handle that?" Natsu asked calmly, closing his eyes, he cracked one open and watched the girl calmly.
"My dad…died when I was little in a car accident," Erza explained "My mum works really hard to put me through school, I don't want to cause trouble, so I cook for myself."
"You get into fights by yourself too," Natsu countered "Sorry, about your dad."
Erza shrugged "It was a long time ago, I don't mind, wait a second, Why am I even telling you all this?"
"How should I know, walking in silence is boring so I brought something up." Natsu replied
"Well, what about your parent's?" Erza asked
"Don't know," Natsu replied with a shrug "Never knew my mother, dad stayed around long enough to teach me to 'always save girls' whatever the hell that means and then left."
"So you're on your own huh?" Erza asked
"Yep, just me myself in my fortress of solitude!" Natsu exclaimed jokingly
"I see, you've got it hard." Erza chuckled
Natsu shrugged "Not really, I only answer to myself it's actually really easy."
"Yeah, but at least I can rely on my mother for someone to talk too," Erza responded flatly "You can't rely on anyone, must be hard."
'It was,' Not that he'd ever admit that out loud, he watched the red head beside him silently 'He would never admit he wanted someone to say 'welcome home' when he opened the door or tell him to 'be careful' on his way out.'
"Well, you know." He replied vaguely.
"Hang on," Erza waved for him to stop as she removed her cell phone from her pocket, she took a step away from him as she answered it "Hello?"
"Ah, Auntie what's-" She cut off
"Oh." She said quietly. Natsu stopped.
"I got it, I'm on my way." Erza replied calmly
She turned to Natsu 'You're obviously forcing that smile idiot,' Natsu thought grimly "Ah, sorry looks like I have somewhere to go, you're free for today."
She turned to walk away and Natsu stepped up and grabbed her arm before waving his hand "Taxi," He called, the car pulled up to the curb "It's your mom right? It's so obvious idiot, get in." Natsu snapped at her.
"Magnolia General please." She asked quietly, the driver nodded.
"Try to be as fast as possible." Natsu asked flatly
Natsu leaned his face against the top of his fist and stared out the window 'I guess I'll eat cheap for awhile.' He thought to himself as he glanced at the girl beside him 'Could you be more obvious.' He thought dryly.
He reached out his hand and placed it over the top of hers, she started slightly and looked at him, all teary eyed and sobbing, her breath hitched and she hiccupped.
"I'm sure your mother's fine," Natsu started slowly "She's living for more than just herself right?"
Erza just stared at the pink haired boy in surprise, she smiled at him calmly and nodded her head "Mm." she hummed as she squeezed his hand tightly.
"Mom!" Erza exclaimed as the pair arrived at her hospital room.
Her mother looked at the young red head in surprise "Oh, Erza? What's wrong you look worried."
Natsu stood in the door awkwardly, the older woman was practically identical to Erza, the same red hair though she cut it short, a few wrinkles by her eyes and on her forehead but other than that she was the spitting image of Erza, it sort of took him off guard.
"Auntie said you got into an accident." Erza replied worriedly
"Huh? Well, it was a little slip up, look like my leg will be out of commission for a few weeks, but I'm fine, my boss said he would still pay me leave for it." Erza's mother shrugged
"That means I got all worried for nothing." Erza slumped against the foot of the bed in exhaustion.
Erza's mother smiled warmly and rubbed the younger girls hair "I'm sorry."
Erza turned her head to look at her mother calmly "As long as your okay it's fine."
"So, is that you're boyfriend?" Erza's mother asked with a mischievous thought.
Erza snapped up as her cheeks colored a dark crimson "N-N-No!" She stuttered out
'That's not convincing in the slightest!' Natsu thought angrily, although his own cheeks colored at the question against his will.
"Please take care of my daughter." Erza's mother called from the bed
Natsu bowed his head "Uh, it's nothing like what you are thinking though."
"Hm?" Erza's mother hummed in question
"He's my rival!" Erza exclaimed clenching her fist slightly
'huh? I haven't even reached friend status?' Natsu thought 'Although I guess rival suits our current relationship more.' "Yeah, We are rivals." Natsu agreed.
Erza's mother tilted her head "That's too bad, you seem like Erza's type too."
"Mother!" Erza exclaimed seemingly mortified.
"What he does," Erza's mother pouted stubbornly "So, Why'd you help my daughter if you're her rival?"
"Uh," Natsu stuttered out "A momentary lapse of weakness?"
"What brought on this momentary lapse of weakness?" Erza's mother continued to interrogate.
He couldn't just blurt out she was cute or the fact that he was on his own and he didn't want to let anyone else fell the same way, he stopped sighed and took a long breath "Honestly, it could be the fact that you're daughter's cute," He started
Erza's head snapped to him "Oi!"
"Or the fact that my family is gone," Natsu continued over the top of the young red heads protest "I also believe it's important to help people when they are in trouble, whether they are my enemies or friends."
"Hm," Erza's mother rubbed her chin in thought "He thinks' your cute, Er-chan." Her mother cooed playfully.
"Don't take one thing out of them all," Erza replied as she slumped against the bed again "Well, he did help me out, I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there," She turned to face Natsu, a bright smile on her face "Thank you."
Natsu stiffened slightly "D-Don't mention it."
Erza's mother just left a knowing smirk on her face and Natsu took another deep breath "I'll see you tomorrow, red!" He shot at her from the door before closing it behind him.
Erza stared at the door for a few more minutes before turning back to her mother "You like him." Her mother stated flatly
"I doubt it," Erza replied calmly "You don't know what he's normally like."
"I think I have a pretty good handle on it." Erza's mother responded knowingly.
"He's probably sworn to never fall in love with someone like me." Erza chuckled
Erza's mother ruffled her daughter's hair calmly "You never know, the heart's a pretty fickle thing."
The pair sat in relative silence after that.
Natsu breathed into his hands as he walked down the street, he pulled his blazer towards him more, the nights chill had fully set in, despite that couples roamed the streets in groves, Natsu trudged along calmly, for the most part ignoring the people around him 'I think I have enough cup noodles to last a few days.' He thought to himself calmly 'Man, cabs are really overpriced these days.'
He stopped at the corner and looked up, the stars that lined the expanse of black above him twinkled slightly 'Man, Erza's mom is a little bit scary.' He shrugged as he moved across the street 'Still, I can't remember a day where this many things happened,' He opened the door to his small apartment, kicked off his shoes dropped his bag and fell onto his bed heavily 'I wonder if she sticks around, will life get any more interesting?'
With thoughts of the red head circling around his head he fell asleep.
A/N: What'd ya think? It was sort of dramatic for a little bit but we hope the banter between the mother and daughter gave ya a smile or maybe a chuckle. As usual hoped you all enjoyed this chapter and I will see you in the next one.