~:~:~:~
"Alright… Yeah I'm here just waiting outside in the hallway... I don't know! The teacher told me to stay put before he notifies the class… No I don't think they will care about my last name. Yeah Lyon. I get it. I just got here and you're all ready interrogating me! Just make sure you make it to your flight. I'll see you tonight. Have a safe trip."
A click was heard and the dark black cell phone was put away into the young man's pocket.
He slummed his hands into his pockets as he leaned himself against the wall, hearing his teacher and most definitely amused that Gildarts adressed his students 'brats'.
"This will be one most interesting school year indeed" he almost held in his grin "I got to give you credit Gramps. I honestly can say I will be at home at this peculiar school…"
~10 minutes earlier.
"Oi Master" a tall rugged man came in trying to stifle a yawn "What is so important that you have to yank me five minutes before my class starts?" he ran a hand through his brown locks.
The senior male that he addressed as 'Master' was sitting in his big red swivel chair. He spun around gleefully while Gray watched him with laughing blue eyes.
Gildarts took note of the new presence "Who's the kid?"
Master stopped spinning in his chair and jumped right out, he twirled his white mustache mischievously "We're actually welcoming back a student" he responded while Gray glanced at Gildarts who was eyeing him skeptically.
"Welcoming? I don't remember this kid's face" he deadpanned with indifference. Master merely waved his small finger disappointed "Tsk Tsk. Gildarts I know you're getting old but I'm shocked you don't remember this child's face. My child"
"Who are you calling old? You old fart!" Gildarts looked at Gray again, observing him more closely. A glint of mischief went past Gray's eyes, the smirk plastered on his face made him look all too familiar, just proving Gildarts' assumptions.
"Yo it's been a long time geezer"
"Gray?"
"I'm back old man"
~:~
Even now he couldn't contain the chuckle that escaped from his lips "The look on Gildarts face was priceless" he averted his gaze to the door after hearing a pause in Gildarts speech "Don't be foolish" he heard his teacher say.
'So who should I be today?' he thought quickly 'Reserved? Arrogant? Cocky? Shy? Buisness? … Me?'
"Oi you can come in now"
'I'll go with cocky'
…
~:~:~
Gray glanced over at his classmates 'What? They look as if something shiny has walked through the door' . The girls seemed pleased with his introduction. The guys on the other hand looked irked 'Well Gee sorry for being incredible' he thought hauntingly.
He again looked around the room, 'All the girls are drooling at just the mere look at me. Sheesh.' His eyes then noticed a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes who seemed annoyed and unpleased 'Well almost all girls. What's this girl's problem?'
Before he could answer that thought he heard a chair skid back. And the next thing he knew he was facing a boy merely an inch or two shorter than him giving him a smirk as if challenging him, he would've ignored this confront if it weren't for the familiar air the boy seem to radiate. And his pink hair.
'Could it be?' he didn't want to believe it but he couldn't break the grin that was plastered on his face after he heard "It's been a long time since I had a good fight. I'm all fired up!"
'After for so long...'
He couldn't help but replying, "Yo, it's been a while since I had a good form of entertainment" he smirked. The student in front of him only grinned back.
xxxoxxx
"Now that we established that you two know each other…" Gildarts was frustrated that the first week of school wasn't going as laid back or smoothly as he intended it to be. He was pulling his two students by the cheek showing no mercy for them disturbing his class.
Gray and Natsu sheepishly grinned at each other giving each other a knowingly look
"CAN WE GET BACK TO THE DAMN CLASS!" he screamed in both Gray's and Natsu's ears. The students sweat dropped at their teacher's sudden outburst, he really was a child when things didn't go his way. Natsu was covering his ears while Gray had swirly eyes due to being so close to Gildarts sensei's scream.
"Fullbuster your new seat will be next to Lucy, the blonde chick over there" he pointed towards Lucy, she grimaced and made a face 'Why do I have to sit next to him?' Gray noticed the disgust on her face 'Tch like I want to sit next to you blondie'
Gray looked at him annoyed "Sensei, are you sure there aren't any available seats?" he cooed while staring directly at her "I don't want to be sitting next to someone…so weird," Lucy twitched in agitation, she was blushing madly 'Embarrassed to sit next to me? This moron!'
Gildarts raised his eyebrow giving Gray a questioning look "Ahhh what's wrong with Lucy? I know damn straight that any guy would do anything to sit next to her..."
Lucy stood up slamming her hands on top of her desk. She had enough of this. "URESAI SENSEI that's sexual harassment!" she screamed, her face tinted a noticeably red.
Gildarts just gave her a weird look and returned his gaze to Gray "Mmm maybe you're right she is a bit weird…"
Natsu laughed "Ahahaha. See? I'm not the only one who thinks you're weird Lucy" he said with a smug face, he continued laughing. Lucy fumed "Don't call me weird BAKAAAAA" she stuck out her tongue then sat back down.
'Hmph these guys are really idiots'
"Well sorry Gray-kun but the only available seat is right next to her" he sympathized as headed straight towards his chair and sat down. Gray only sighed and headed towards his desk "It's fine I'll endure it" he shot a glare towards her and she did likewise. He sat down and placed his elbow on the desk's surface and rested his cheek on his palm. He yawned looking bored with his eyes facing the front.
'Hopefully this school isn't too boring' he yawned again not really paying attention to whatever Gildarts started blabbering about, after a thirteen hour flight who wouldn't be tired?
Lucy eyed him suspiciously 'what's with this guy? How did he manage to get into this academy with that slacker attitude? And how does he know Natsu of all people!
At least in an hour I'm Scott free of this jerk' she adds while writing her notes 'I shouldn't be worried about this idiot. This is probably the only class I'll have with him, I should be more worried about my schedule change than this jerk,' her eyes flickered towards him and noticed he was sleeping; annoyance was clearly shown on her face. She then turned her heads towards Natsu and almost bit her tongue at the sight, he was snoring really loudly and doodles were drawn on his face.
She sighed as she notices that her best friend and the jerk sitting next to her both share almost the same qualities.
'Oh brother'
xxxoxxx
Class was almost over but Gildarts decided to actually be a teacher and give out a surprise pop quiz. The class groaned as some of the questions on the paper were not even gone over until they went over the next lesson, only those who paid attention or went on ahead would probably have passing marks. Lucy hummed to herself as she jotted down the answers, she didn't want to brag but she was pretty good with school. The material on the quiz was quite simple and she was glad that she went on ahead with the lesson.
As she finished the last question she smiled proudly at her work after examining it, feeling quite accomplished, she stood up to turn in her quiz. Gildarts was playing a game on his cell phone and looked up to see Lucy already handing in her work.
"Hmmmmm" he eyed her quite weirdly; like something was off.
"Nani?" she replied while her eyes were twitching. She didn't specifically hate Gildarts sensei but he was the only teacher that took enjoyment on picking and teasing her.
"Are you sick Lucy?" he asks her with a bit of concern in his voice. Lucy eyed him suspiciously 'Did she look sick?' she wondered.
"What do you mean by that? I don't feel sick," she said while rubbing the back of her head with the quiz paper still in her other hand.
"It's just that you're usually first when it comes to tests or quizzes.." he said looking back at his game with concentration. He was pressing the buttons frantically as he tries to get his player to the next level. Lucy twitched 'Nani..?'
She furrowed her eyebrows at his statement "Well I was first to finish wasn't I?" she asked incredulously. His phone started to vibrate with noises indicating that he won the game. He yelled a WOHOOO and a big toothy grin was placed on his face. Lucy glared at him, waiting for him to respond to her question.
"Nope" he said bluntly and started to stack up his papers, Lucy looked at him wide eyed, not noticing other students were passing by her returning their quizzes. She was frozen on the spot; she looked like she was turned into stone.
'H-how…'
"Wait so you mean Levy finished first right?' the girl asked, she didn't mind if Levy beat her, it was quite understandable but she didn't even notice Levy get up from her seat before her. She was so concentrated on her quiz and finishing first she didn't hear Levy get up.
"Nope" Gildarts said uninterested but he was amused with the face Lucy was making right now, he chuckled at the sight.
"Then w-who?" she asked stuttering, her mind racing with more questions.
Gildarts smirked as he looked down at the student's quiz paper. They got all the questions right, he made the 100% mark really noticeable to Lucy who was fidgeting for his answer after seeing it. He chuckled and looked at her.
"Our new student Gray is really interesting ne?"
xxxoxxx
The bell has rung and Gray couldn't wait to get out. It's been a while since he's been put into a seat for a long time that he has the actual need to move. He stepped out of the classroom like the rest of his classmates who were still eyeing him.
Not like he wasn't used to having all eyes on him, but this time it felt different. He looked down on his sheet of paper looking for his next class. He felt a hand on his shoulder that prompted him to stop walking, he didn't have to look up to know who it was.
"Gray"
He cracked a crooked smile before turning to his companion "Natsu" he uttered. Natsu beamed grinning from ear to ear, he slung an arm over his shoulder and they continued to walk as so. "Walk with me"
"Well we're all ready walking"
Natsu gave him a look before pouting, "Does that matter?"
Gray looked up to ponder it a bit "Well I guess not"
Natsu nodded, "Good. I'm glad to see you're still all right" he laughed "Though I'm not sure you're still the same Gray that I knew five years ago. What was that playboy act you were doing?"
Gray couldn't help but laugh "Ah that, it's a cover. You know things have changed that it's been a hassle to find a place where I can be… well me"
Natsu didn't push it any further understanding what he meant. "So uh… what about 'them' are they here?" he asked with a small smile.
Gray frowned; a new darkness was starting to inflict hurt in his eyes "Just Lyon"
Natsu's eyes widened "Wait, what happened to Ul—"
"I'll tell you later" he silenced his friend's thoughts with a sad smile. Natsu open mouthed could only nod. Wanting to change the subject he asked a different question "So what class do you have next?"
Gray gave him his schedule and waited for his response after looking it over. Natsu bore a toothy grin once he looked up at him "You have class with me next"
"Oh joy" Gray said sarcastically which earned him a punch from the other lad. "I'll show you where it is"
Gray nodded appreciating his old friend's efforts "Thanks"
"NO problem. After all it is my duty to help the mindless and weak"
Gray cocked an eyebrow "I see you're still you're usual annoying self"
"Well not everything changes" his friend responded. Gray shook his head "So are the others here?"
Natsu gave him a look "Gray what do you know about family?"
Gray gave him a dirty look "Not much you idiot"
Natsu shook his head "No about OUR family"
Gray instantly cracked a small smile "We always stick together"
"Right" Natsu shook his arm off of Gray and placed his hands behind his head, walking in front of the confused Fullbuster "And where there is one of us," he looked back "There's bound to be others"
xxxoxxx
"I can't believe I lost to him!" It was lunchtime and Lucy was frustrated with the thought of Gray beating her in her own game. She was currently with Levy and her friends Cana, Lisanna, and Natsu's little sister Wendy. They were seated at a table opening up their lunch boxes while listening to Lucy's rant about the new student.
"Hey its not that bad Lucy at least you still got a good score" Levy said trying to comfort her friend while eating a celery stick.
"Mo. I got 99%! A FREAKING 99%! I was in a hurry and I forgot to put a comma in the sentence so Sensei docked me down UGGH" she cried while pulling out her hair. She really hates Gray's guts right now.
"Hmmm who is this new kid?" asked Lissana while munching on some cookies, she's in class 2A so she didn't know who this guy Lucy was talking about was, but she heard from a lot of girls that he was very handsome. Wendy also intrigued stop sipping her juice pouch to hear what Lucy was about to say, Cana on the other hand looked rather bored.
Lucy muttered his name but they couldn't hear it, Levy knowing that her friend was obviously annoyed decided to say it "His name is Gray Fullbuster" she chirped.
Lucy groaned, just the sound of his name makes her stomach into knots. She wanted to vomit.
Lissana on the other hand was shocked, her eyes widened in surprise "G-Gray? He goes here now?" she asks in disbelief. Levy looked at her confused "Yeah he does. Why do you know him Lisanna?"
Lisanna giggled "Yeah. He was a childhood friend of Natsu's and mine. We used to play all the time when we were kids." She smiled at the memory.
Levy's eyes widened in delight "Ah is that so? That explains why Natsu recognized him when he first entered the class"
Lucy's head banged on the table, still depressed about her quiz score " I can't believe you were friends with that jerk when you were little" she muttered. "I bet he was a hassle to handle when he was young huh?" she adds
Lisanna chuckled "HAHAH Gray? A hassle to handle? Gray was such a sweet heart when we were little! The only person that made him frustrated and explode was Natsu."
And as if on cue you can hear the duo shouting at each other, they were both in line for lunch and were irritated that they were "too close" for one's comfort.
"I was here first droopy eyes!" screamed Natsu, Gray gritted his teeth, not liking the sight in front of him.
"huh? SHUT UP SQUINTY EYES! I was obviously here first so stop making yourself look stupid" he huffed.
"So you wanna go at it then?" Natsu retorted back glaring at Gray. The guy sighed and took off his tie in a swift "Sure but I hope you don't mind me beating your ass." He replied smirking. Right before they were about to go at it the president suddenly appeared.
"What do you two idiots think you're doing in the middle of the cafeteria!" screamed an angered Erza. Erza the student council President, she has long red hair and is a beautiful young woman, but deep inside her is a ruthless monster that won't hold back. She possesses a lot of qualities and talents that the Academy actually begged her to enroll, but her most known talent is being a leader. And fencing.
"Gray! Natsu! Stop it this instant or I'll have you both expelled. Or worse.." she trailed off giving them a death glare that send shivers down their spine. "You'll have to deal with me are we clear on that?"
"A-aye!" they said in unison, their eyes showed horror and fear as they hugged each other tightly. "W-were best friends Erza ahah we won't fight at all right G-gray?" Natsu asked trying to get back up. His legs were feeling weak just standing in front of the terrifying Prez.
"Y-yeah" he said while giving her a forced smile. Nodding in approve-ment of their obvious fake act of peace she walked off and sat down at Lucy's table.
Lisanna only giggled at the sight "Ah this reminds me of old memories. Even though it seems that they hate each other they are actually best friends its just that they won't admit It." she said smiling. The rest of the gang just looked at the duo with bewilderment as they finally sprinted back to life getting their trays of food muttering incoherent things while heading towards the table.
The two sat down, Natsu started adding hot sauce to his sand-which happily, while Gray was eating only ice-cream for lunch
"Dame Gray~ It's not good to be only eating sweets you know" scolded Lisanna playfully, he looked at her and smiled "It's good to see you too Lisanna."
"Gray do you remember me?" asked Wendy cheerfully as she pointed to her self. Gray laughed and reached out his arm to her side of the table and ruffled her hair.
"Of course I remember you! You've grown so tall and it seems like it was only yesterday that you were crying like a baby about Natsu being a bully" he chuckled, Wendy pouted as she puffed out her cheeks "I wasn't a big baby, mo Gray you're so mean" she stuck out her tongue he laughed in response.
The gang started to join too (well except Lucy xD) laughing at old memories.
"So Gray..." Erza started as she took a bite off of her cheesecake "What brings you here? Weren't you supposed to be traveling the world? As you said looong ago?" she added amusedly.
He twitched; leave it to Erza recalling memories of him when they were little. At that time he always ranted about leaving Mangolia and explore the world and just live off the land like a pirate. He was foolish he will admit but that was the glorious nostalgic feelings of when he was young, if only he can go back at the time.
The Fullbusters, Dragneels, the Strauss and the Scarlets are close family friends so often that their children would come across each other and played. Gray wasn't too fond of Erza when he first met her since she was the first girl to tick him off and scare the shit out of him at the same time. But as the years go by he grew to respect her and like her a lot more but more as a sister.
They all had amazing adventures together and they all felt that it could just go on forever, just live in bliss until they all grow old together; but they were wrong.
Something happened.
"Pfft, That was a long time ago when I said that! Can't you let it go?" he asked with a tint of blush appearing on his cheeks. Erza only laughed in reply "No really Gray how come?" she says curiously, Lissana and Natsu stared at him also wondering what happened.
Gray looked around the table, he obviously didn't want to share his private life in..well…in public, but the surprise of seeing all the people he believed he would never see ever again. Did he have a choice?
"Well umm.. something came up and I had to come back in town so here I am" he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, darting his eyes around the table, Natsu and Erza understood and nodded. They will speak of this later.
Gray shoved a spoonful of cold ice-cream in his mouth, trying to avoid conversation, his eyes shifted towards Lucy whose head was placed on the table. 'What the hell is she ok?' he wondered.
He raised his eyebrow and faced Levy expecting an answer. She only giggled out of embarrassment "Ehh it seems Lu-chan isn't feeling well? Hehe" she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. 'Oh its that blonde girl who didn't want to sit next to me, the name rings a bell. Lucy huh?' he smiled deviously. He caught on earlier that the girl disliked him but he's going to have a fun time tormenting her now that he's here.
"Oi blondie, you look sick are you gonna puke or what?" he asked jeering at her, Lucy looked up and instantly regretted it, she was hoping she could get away with just playing it cool and hearing their conversation (though she didn't like to admit she was curious about Gray's transfer). She furrowed her eyebrows "What?"
"You look sick just wanted to point it out blondie"
"Then leave, I want to throw up upon seeing your face" Grays eyes twitched at her reply 'She really hates my guts but what the heck did I do?'
"What's your problem?" he says harshly, everyone around them looked at them amusedly. Lucy never got pissed this much, and Gray only lost his cool when it came to Natsu or Erza. It was funny to think their 'Lucy' is provoking Gray, and Gray had this affect on Lucy. Cana suddenly spoke up (She was there but she didn't say a word due to consuming some suspicious liquid)
"You guys act like an old married couple"
…
"WHAT! WHO WOULD WANT TO MARRY HIM/HER!" the two said in unison as they stood up in outrage. They looked at each other after "STOP COPYING ME!"
They both sat down and crossed their arms avoiding eye contact with the other.
Levy chuckled and stretched out her hand to Gray, he looked at her confused, she inched her hand closer, understanding what she meant he grabbed her hand. They both shook it firmly.
"The names McGarden, Levy McGarden. It's pleasure to meet someone who can make Lu-chan act this way," she said politely as she points her thumb towards Lucy hearing an 'hmph' from the blond girl after words.
Gray inwardly smile, from feeling her touch there's more to it than meets the eye to this Levy McGarden. She seems interesting.
"Nice to meet you too Levy," he says coolly. They both grinned. Lucy was ready to explode, 'so with every other girl he is fine with but he only taunts me and for no good reason at all.'
"Jerk.." she muttered quietly
"What was that?" he says as he turns to face her.
"Nooooothing BAAAKKAA. Just eat your desert"
"Yup like an old married couple" Cana says smirking causing the two to flinch.
"LIKE THAT WILL EVER HAPPEN!" They both said again at the same time.
Wendy giggled as she turned to face Lisanna and Erza who were smirking at the scene; Natsu was laughing his butt off saying irrelevant things like "GO LUCY" or "Kick his ass!" or something of the sorts.
Levy couldn't help but laugh at the scene "Well this indeed will be one interesting school year"
Nothing like secrets to bring people together or drift apart