Me and Natsu continued our training. During that time we had pretty much destroyed most of the gym. Unknowing to us though we had a few people watching us. There standing on the sidelines hiding behind a pillar was Meredy and Ultear. "Are they even human?" Meredy asked scared at the training session they were watching. "If we leave things as they are, even the wrestlers we hired wont be able to win." She said starting to tremble as Lucy and Natsu ran past them and in the process some of the rubble from the damage they just caused flew past her head. She had to duck to avoid it.

"I'll guess we will have to result to dirty tactics." Ultear said with her arms crossed just calmly watching the scene in front of her. She didn't show it but she herself was also surprised by the way these two could fight.

~After training~

I was walking around the back of the school getting ready to leave. I was lost in thought humming to myself when suddenly a potted plant fell and landed just inches from me. I barely managed to dodge it. I looked up to see that all the windows were closed so I just went about my way. Now I was inside the school, going down the stairs. There was something spilled on the top step and I suddenly slipped but thankfully my reflexes kicked in and I managed to land at the bottom without any injuries. Once I landed I turned around to see a bunch of bamboo sticks stuck in the ground behind me. That was another close call for me today.

I am starting to get a funny feeling. A lot of strange things have been happening today. I just brushed it off and walked away.

~In a field with Natsu~

I was surrounded by a bunch of hooligans dressed in all black. They came at me with baseball bats and I managed to beat them and I managed to keep the last guy conscious. "So care to tell me what this is about?" I asked as I towered over him. "We were ordered by the president's assistants to beat you two up." He said with a smirk. "Assistants? Are you talking about the pink and purple haired girls that are always with the president?" I asked and he nodded the smirk never leaving his face. "If I was you I would be worried about the other one. I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't unharmed." He said and I ran off and quickly went to find Lucy.

I ran to the gym and busted open the doors yelling her name. I looked over towards the exercise equipment and noticed that she was laying there. I yelled her name and rushed over to her but when I got close I saw that she was asleep. I released a sigh of relief and said her name once more but in a whisper. She started to wake up and open her eyes when they landed on mine. "Huh? Natsu? What's up?" She asked looking at me confused. "Are you hurt?" I asked and she shook her head and continued to look at me with a puzzled expression. I sighed once more and relaxed my shoulders.

"But there have been a lot of strange things happening today that almost caused me to be hurt." She said as she started to do sit-ups. "Like stuff falling from above me and-" I walked closer to her and when she noticed she stopped mid-sentence. "Lucy, I think it would be better if you switch places with Gajeel or even Erza." I said and she looked at me in shock. She fell back from doing her sit-ups and immediately sat up and straightened herself out. "What? Why?" She demanded, I knew she would get upset but I didn't want her to get hurt.

"The reason you almost got hurt is because of the student council president's assistants." I said as she looked at me for a better explanation. "No matter, there is really no need for you to participate." I said and I know that I was upsetting her but I just looked away from her. I didn't want to see that expression on her face. "Why? Why are you saying all of this now?" She asked me sounding desperate. She immediately started to tell me that she would be fine since she has been training and started talking about everything she can do now. But it's not enough.

"I can do this Natsu, we have been training so much and the match isn't too far away!" She said. I closed my eyes. I guess I am going to have to resort to that no matter how much I don't want to. I turned back to her, trying to keep a straight face. "Then let me be blunt. If you participate, you will be a burden on me." I said and I knew it was harsh. I could tell by the look in her eyes that I had hurt her but she quickly masked it then walked away. I sighed wishing that I didn't have to resort to that.

~Back with Lucy, still training but outside now~

I was standing outside, with a stack of cement blocks sitting in front of me. I punched my fist through the the blocks trying to release my frustration. Next I punch my fist through wood and anything I could get my hands on. What he said kept repeating over and over again in my head. I was lost in thought. How could he? Why would he say something like that? Thousands of thought were going through my mind at once. I moved onto the next stack of cement blocks that was three times taller than the first. I jumped and sliced my hand straight through it. I heard my friends gasping and saying praises but I paid no attention to it.

"Lucy, you don't need to train so hard." Mira said. "Natsu said that I would be a burden on him if I battled." I stated. Am I not worth of being his partner? I couldn't get these thought out of my head. Thinking about what he said is basically like him saying that I would never be able to beat him.

~Back inside~

I was just finishing with my training and I went inside to change. I was opening the door to the locker rooms when Natsu came down the hall with a towel wrapped around his neck. He started to walk past me like he didn't even want to talk to me. Which all that did was upset me more. "Do you not trust in my abilities? Will I truly be a burden to you? I...will participate in the match!" I shouted at him. I then stormed away quickly before he could say anything in return.

I didn't want to hear his stupid excuses.

~At the start of the match~

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome and thanks for coming! I am Gray Fullbuster and I will be you referee for this match! And your commentators are Erza Scarlet and Gajeel Redfox! The mascots are Levy Mcgarden and Mirajane Strauss!" I heard Gray shouting to the crowd. Me and Natsu were in the locker room waiting for the time for us to enter. "So you intend on participating no matter what Lucy?" Natsu asked. "Of course" I said determined. "Then I shall fight first" He said standing up. "You shall be my back up." He added. "Your planning to fight the match without a single tag aren't you?" I asked turning to him and narrowing my eyes. "I wont allow that!" I said getting upset once more. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

The door slid open and revealed a woman but I couldn't see her face because of the hat she was wearing. "Um, excuse me but I have something for you from the president." She said. I stood up and walked over to see flowers in her arms. "Oh wow, a bouquet!" I said walking closer. "Please accept these." She said sweetly. We reached out to grab the flowers and suddenly...

~Back at the ring~

"And now representing the student council president. The Fankyuu brothers! And in the other corner, representing all of Fairy tail is their oddball combo. Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel!" He shouted and when the spotlight lit up where we were supposed to be but no one was there everyone started to gasp and chatter between themselves. After a minute we finally walked up. "Ah! Here they are! They finally arrived!" Gray shouted. "But wait what is this? They are handcuffed!" Gray shouted noticing our hands.

Erza immediately turned to Jellal with fire in her eyes. "What is the meaning of this?" She demanded. He just shrugged his shoulders before answering. "I don't know maybe a handicap?" He questioned himself, having no idea what those two girls have been doing. Of course this made me happy since this meant that he could not avoid letting me fight. "Now you can no longer avoid me fighting." I said triumphantly.

"And now to the match! This is a very important match with Fairy tail's top two on the line!" Gray yelled getting the crowd excited. Then the bell rand signalling the start of the match. I went to charge but was pulled back by the handcuff's that connected us. "Don't be hasty." Natsu said. "You too. Don't get in my way." I said to Natsu as I stood back up. One of the brothers was charging towards us and Natsu rolled then landed a kick to his face. "You didn't have to do that Natsu! I can take care of myself!" I said getting pissed.

The other brother then used the ropes around the ring to jump towards us. Natsu pushed me out of the way but since we were connected his hand flew forward with me and the brother in green landed right on his wrist. I gasped. "What a predicament! The younger brother is now stepping on Natsu's wrist, holding him down!" Erza yelled. "Natsu and Lucy are unable to move!" She said then she sent a glare at Gajeel telling him that he should be participating as well.

"Well their teamwork sure looks poor right about now." He finally said. I got up and tried to remove the brothers foot off of Natsu's wrist. "What the hell Natsu! Why are you so worried about me?" I said in frustration. I was still struggling to remove the foot when Natsu suddenly smiled at me. I blushed slightly but kept going when he jumped up and threw the guy off him. I was shocked thinking that he could have done that from the beginning. "Natsu why have you-" I was asking until he interrupted me once more.

"More importantly, watch your front." He said not looking at me. I turned to see the older brother in red running towards us. Natsu flipped over me then placed an arm under my knee's and one behind my shoulders and picked me up in a bridal hold. He dodged the attack then carried me over to the ropes and placed me outside of it. "What are you doing?" I asked confused. "You will be safe here" He stated. And I watched in horror as the brothers charged over towards him and started to kick him again and again on his back.

"Stop it Natsu!" I shouted. Here I was standing outside the ring while Natsu was protecting me and not fighting back. He reached his hand out and placed it on my shoulder. "This is wrong! It's not supposed to be like this!" I shouted at him feeling the tears in the corner of my eyes. "It's okay Lucy." He said softly. My eyes widen and the tears start to fall. "Please, stop it Natsu!" I said desperately. "Who would have thought that it would turn out this way!" Erza said standing up with one foot on the table being held back by Gajeel. She wanted to go over there and pulverize the brothers for hurting her friend.

I grabbed hold on Natsu's arm that was still on my shoulder. "Please! That's enough. No more!" I said wishing he would listen to me. "Please just do as I say." He said his voice breaking in pain. "This match-" This time I cut him off. "Don't you dare say it! Don't you dare tell me to stop our contests or to not participate! I feel so sad when you say those things to me!" I closed my eyes as more tears fell down my face. "Lucy." He said simply and I looked up to see him smiling. "This handicap sure is rough." Gajeel said like he was bored. "Well all that Natsu has been doing is trying to save Lucy." The president stated. "All she is, is a burden to him." He said also and my eyes went wide.

"Who is," Natsu started to stand up. He removed his hand from mine and turned to face the president. "Who did you say was a burden?" He demanded clearly pissed off. He reached down and grabbed the chain linking the handcuffs and pulled them apart. "Lucy will never be beaten by anybody! She is an incredible person!" He shouted reminding me of what he said when those guys broke into the staff room. I felt a blush spread across my features as I stared at him in awe. He then turned towards me and raised the arm that had the cuffs on it. "Other than me that is." He said smiling at me. "I think it's time we got serious." He said and my smile returned. "Hai!" I shouted. "And now returning to the match, Natsu and Lucy have an incredible amount of momentum!" Erza shouted. We were charging at the brothers and I went behind the brother in red and pushed his face into the floor of the ring. "And a successful Face crusher performed by Lucy!" Erza yelled. Levy and Mira started cheering and jumping for us. Natsu jumped towards the younger brother and landed a kick to his face.

"Another hit to the brothers this time it was the Enzui kick done by Natsu!" She shouted. She knocked Gajeel on the back of the head once again telling him to help her and he grunted in response. We landed a series of attacks on the two brothers and they were almost beaten. We decided to use one final move, we jumped into the air and headed straight for them. "Here it comes people! The jumping double elbow!" Erza yelled as Levy and Mira cheered even louder. Our attack hit and knocked the brothers out. "The winners! Natsu and Lucy of Fairy tail!" Gray shouted holding our arms up.

The crowd cheered and so did our friends. I turned to Natsu and pointed at him. "Natsu! Make sure you stay number one! Make sure you stay there until the day I beat you!" I yelled at him. He was shocked at first but then smiled at me. I smiled back in response. I watched as the president and the assistants were exiting the gym. They were calling us monsters when I called to them. "Hey!" They stopped and turned towards me. "I had a lot of fun today. Thanks, and make sure next time you come at us with everything you got." I said then waved and walked away.

We were walking down the hall in silence for a few minutes when Natsu spoke first. "By the way Lucy. About the contest between us about who could land the most amount of moves." He said and I turned to him. "Yeah?" I asked waiting for him to continue. "It's 15 to 16 so I win." he said as he walked off and left me standing there in shock. "I wonder what I'll have you do?" He said still walking off. "Fine then, next time I will definitely beat you!" I shouted while running to catch up with him.

~To be continued~