Chapter 3

"Come on, Nobu!"

A voice? The boy felt like he was floating in blackness. It was awfully lonely. If he did here a voice, he hoped dearly that it would stay.

"Wake up man! You gotta pay these bastards back for what they did to us!"

Who was this voice? Who was this Nobu? When the boy tried to ask, he found it was like talking under water; his voice sounded muffled and didn't reach very far. The voice seemed to know what he asked though, and answered.

"You are Nobu! Noburu Ryuunosuke! That's your name! Now wake up! You have work to do!"

Nobu was his name? The boy didn't want the voice to go; he had so many more questions he wanted answered. But before he could open his mouth again, he felt an upward sensation that gave him the feeling of being pushed up. He was heading towards a ray of light.

Before he knew it, light exploded all around him as he shot upright in what he hoped was a bed. Three things registered with Nobu before he took in his first waking breath. One, he was indeed in a bed, but in a room he didn't recognize. Two, he heard birds chirping outside and the sound of wind blowing; letting him know he was not in a city. And three, he was not alone in the room.

Turning his head sharply, Nobu found a girl staring at him in shock. His jaw dropped. She was gorgeous. The girl had lightly tanned skin, a toned but curvy body, and seemed about his age, but the most noticeable features rested above her shoulders. She had a full lips, bright green eyes, and long pink hair…PINK HAIR?!

Nobu had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Yup, this girl definitely had pink hair. Not like the hot pink one would imagine, but a light subtle pink that seemed to compliment the rest of her features, instead of clashing with them. That hair color seemed familiar, but Nobu just couldn't seem to place it.

After the shock of seeing Nobu awake, the girl recovered and gave him a huge, warm, smile. Gosh, it was a gorgeous smile. "Oh good!" she said in rich and energetic voice. "You're awake! Mom and Dad will be happy to hear it, once they get home!"

"Where am I?" Nobu asked; not feeling as though this girl would hurt him. "Who are you? Why is your hair pink?"

A slightly hurt expression appeared on the girl's face as she mumbled, "It's salmon…"

Nobu, realizing he had hurt the girl's feelings waved his hand frantically and replied, "Oh! Right salmon! How silly of me! Of course it's not pink!"

Amusement sparked in the girl's eyes. "I'm just messing with you." She claimed with a laugh. "I don't really care anymore. It's a common mistake." As Nobu released a sigh of relief, she continued. "Anyways, you're in my house on the outskirts of Magnolia, my name is Nashi Dragneel, and my hair is salmon colored because that's the color of my dad's hair and I inherited it from him."

"Dad?..." an image of a scarf, fire, and a head of pink(or salmon as Nashi stated) flashed through Nobu's mind. "That was your dad that saved me?"

"Yup!" Nashi exclaimed excitedly. "My dad is so cool! He's a fire dragon slayer, and he's super powerful! He destroyed that building they were keeping you in, in one hit! Mom got mad at him for that though and he had to sleep on the couch." Nashi sat in thought for a little bit until she saw Nobu staring at her blankly. Her face turned a deep shade of red. "My gosh! Here I am rambling about my family and me, when I haven't even asked you your name yet."

"No no!" Nobu said; waving away her apology. "It's fine! I like listening to you talk!"

At this statement, Nashi's face goes beat red with embarrassment. "Oh. You do?" she asked shyly.

"Uh, yeah…" he responded, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "But anyways… my name is Naburu Ryuunosuke, but you can call me Nobu for short."

Nobu held out his hand to Nashi, and she shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, Nobu." She said with a wide toothy smile. Nobu gulped as they released each other's hands. She did have a gorgeous smile.