Disclaimer: I don't own Middle School or Fairy Tail, but I do own this fan fiction.
Previously:
This was the thing that Gray Fullbuster would do for Juvia Lockser. And it did bring a smile on her face. She danced wild, all dignity forgotten. She knew that the person behind it all had arranged it all for her or that's what her heart told her.
But, things were far from rosy for Gray Fullbuster. Drenched in shades of blue and orange on his white shirt, he stood smiling at his handiwork. Until…
"That's it! With this final act of breaking rule no 34: No false fire alarms, you are officially expelled! Permanently!" Keyes shrieked.
Chapter Nine
Gray stepped out of the school, his once white shirt now in different shades of blue and orange. His face was difficult to read for people who didn't know. There was a streak of disappointment in it, but mostly it was resigned. As if he had expected it to come.
"Oh-ho!" An unpleasant voice made him turn. A frown etched on Gray's face as he saw his least favorite person right in front, standing near his brand-new red car. Carl looked up and down at him and sneered.
"Well dude, this is phenomenal! Who knew you would get kicked out of a school in just eight weeks? If I was a betting man, who I am, I would have lost money on you, man!" Carl said, roaring with laughter. Gray's frown deepened. But then, Carl's face became contemptuous. "But in the end, you're still the same loser as before. I knew this would happen."
X.X
"Gray! How could you get kicked out of yet another middle school?" Ultear cried exasperatedly.
"Ultear, you've got to believe me! The principal is pure evil! He's been out from me ever since day one of school." Gray argued.
"Or maybe you just decided that he was going to make your life miserable, and that's why…" Ultear continued hotly.
"Ultear! He suspended the entire class even after I admitted that I was the one who bent the rules! " Gray defended himself.
"Gray, I think you just did a little more than bend the rules."
"You were the one who told me to think outside the box!"
"Gray, I think you know that there's a huge difference between thinking out of the box and destroying it!" Ultear spoke, her hands on her hips. "If you were having problems with talking to the principal, why didn't you talk to me first?"
"Because, who would believe the word of a student against the head of the school?"
"I would, Gray. I'm your sister, your guardian. I could've tried talking to him at least. Now, it's too late. This was the last school that would accept you. Now what are we supposed to do? Find a new school in another state, another country? I'm out of options!" She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair, before swearing softly.
"And that's why…Carl found a school, a boarding school. It has some military aspects…" Ultear let out, gaining a wide-eyed expression from Gray, who was seated on his bed.
"Are you telling me that you are shipping me off to a military school?" He blurted, sounding disbelieved.
"Gray, please understand. I don't want to. It's for people like you, you have difficulty with rules. I took the day off tomorrow. Why don't we go check it out tomorrow? Maybe it won't be as bad as we think it is." Ultear pleaded.
Gray just looked at her with expressionless eyes, and scoffed. "Whatever." He said.
Sighing, Ultear sat down next to him. "Oh Gray. It's so hard for you, isn't it?" She said softly. He didn't respond.
"I know you miss him. We all do. Meredy does, I do. Nothing's been good since the day he got sick. At times, I didn't know if I could handle it. After Mom passing away…it's been hard on all of us after left. But it must be the hardest for you. Brothers." She spoke softly, her hand on Gray's head, ruffling his raven hair gently. Gray sniffed a little, refusing to release the tears trapped in his eyes.
"I know you still like to think that he's around, Gray. I know you do. But you have to let go. It is the cold truth, honey. He's gone, Gray. Natsu is gone."
Gray broke down. His tears escaped the prison of his eyes. They ran down his cheeks, refusing to stop flow. Ultear smiled gently at him, while a stray tear ran down her cheek. For a moment, no words were exchanged between the step-siblings, while they both mourned the loss of a person who had brightened their day everyday with his fanged grin.
Ultear hugged Gray, and ruffled his hair. "You know I love you, right? I love you so much, Gray." Ultear said, smiling at her brother. Though none of them were related by blood, they loved each other as if they were.
She got up, wiping her tears on her sleeve, and began walking out of the room which Gray once shared with Natsu. Her eyes landed on a photo frame which contained four smiling faces: Gray, Meredy, herself and Natsu. Natsu was clutching his cat and giving his bright smile.
"Love you too." Gray whispered. Ultear looked back, smiled at him and walked out. She turned and saw Meredy, sitting down on the floor. Mr. Giggles was on her lap as well, mewing softly, as if trying to comfort her while silent tears streamed down her cheeks. Ultear bent down, and gave her hug.
"Happy misses him, too. Ul, did you forget?" Meredy whispered, and patted the cat's fur. Ultear nodded, and patted him gently.
X.X
It was evening, and Gray gazed out at the night sky through his window. Debating with himself, he gazed at the upper bunk of his bed. With a flick of his head, he climbed on it, and laid down on it. Drawing out a brown envelope from his jacket pocket and stared at it. It was the same card Natsu had given him along with the diary he was using now.
(A/N: See Chapter Two for reference.)
Hey Gray,
By the time you are reading this letter, I will probably have boarded the Cristina ship and gone, if you know what I really mean by that statement. So…it will kind of suck for you, and even me, because we won't have any adventures together anymore. Heck, I never thought that our adventures would come to such a rude and brutal end, because I was really looking forward to more. I wanted to spend so much more time with Lucy, and tell her so many things. But I guess I will never be able to. But I won't go away without saying anything to you. Gray, I don't know how I will manage it, but what I will say will make me disgust myself now.
Gray chuckled, knowing what would come next. Perhaps an apology, or even a confession. But when he read ahead, his eyes grew wide.
Gray, do you know how creative and imaginative you are? I'm so blown away by how talented you are, bro. Words can't describe my awe for your brilliant drawings, and the genius you put in making the characters. Therefore, I urge you don't ever give up on it. There may be people who may think that it's useless, but there are always loads of people who will see and appreciate your potential.
Single-handedly, you made a new world, in which both of us found solace from the real world. And I lied above. I'm not disgusted, because I've been meaning to say this to you for a while. I probably already knew that my time had come.
Gray, you don't know how much I will miss you. Even if I'm not around anymore, I'm glad to know that in the world we made together, Fire Dragon Slayer and Ice Devil Slayer are still having adventures, and still together.
I will miss you, dude. I never thought that I will say something so cringey, but bro, I really will.
Your younger brother by a year and three months,
Natsu.
Gray wiped his eyes, and looked up at the ceiling. He had finally accepted the fact: Natsu was truly gone, and he wouldn't return. He had to let go for good, because that is what Natsu would have wanted. He took a deep breath and sighed. He then broke into the first true smile he hadn't worn for days, no, months.
A knock on the window of his room distracted him from his thoughts. When he looked down from Natsu's bunk and gazed at the face of the person who knocked on the window, his eyes grew wide.
"Juvia?" He blurted. She waved, and pointed at the window.
"Are you gonna let me in?"
Gray jumped down from the bunk, and opened the window for Juvia. She climbed into the window and hopped into the room. She looked around.
"Nice room." She commented.
"Thanks. But why are you here? And why do you have that huge bag with you?" Gray enquired.
"Oh, that has a VCR player. You don't mind?" She asked, when she kept her bag on his study table and started taking out the VCR.
"Oh, I don't. Go ahead." Gray said. Juvia smiled, and started setting up the VCR. While she was doing so, she was also talking.
"I came here to see if you were okay, you know after TODAY." Juvia said, her eyes growing wide for dramatic effect.
"Ah…it was…it was a total crap-storm of a day today." Gray said.
"Yeah, I know. But the fire alarm party was totally the best thing ever. And, you know, I kinda knew that you were the one behind the Project R.A.F.E. But then, I confirmed it, when I watched this." She said, bending down to plug it into one of the plug sockets on the wall. She then pulled out something black from her back.
"And…what is that?" Gray asked, sitting down next to her.
"It's a VHS tape." She said, her eyes bright, as she sat down too. "It's vintage." She added.
"See, it's basically like a box, full of gears, pulleys and tape which is then put into a larger box, i.e, our VCR right here. The VCR then projects the images on to the television." She explained.
"But, wouldn't an I Phone be easier?" Gray asked.
"An I Phone doesn't have enough memory for a project like this. I…uh…secretly filmed the school as a part of the documentary trying to find the creator of Rules Aren't For Everyone." Juvia said, rather breathlessly.
"Oh…um…" Gray stuttered, feeling rather flattered. "Well, you found me, I guess. But too bad my art didn't change anything."
"I wouldn't say that, because what I've got here says that you're wrong." Juvia said, pointing at the VHS tape, labeled 'B.L.A.A.R'. She then inserted the B.L.A.A.R tape into the VCR.
"You came prepared." Gray commented. The screen then began to flicker, as the tape began to play. Then, Gray saw an all-too-familiar scene, and his ears became red.
"You ready to witness my greatest masterpiece?" Gray said, as he started inserting the colors into the pipelines.
"Natsu, for Juvia Lockser, I would walk through fire just to see her smile. Grak-tung!"
Juvia smiled slightly, while Gray's ears grew redder.
She tilted her head and asked, "Who's Natsu?"
"Um…" Gray hesitated. Juvia looked at him with concern. "Natsu's my brother. But, he's not just my brother, he's my best friend. And…" Swallowing, he decided say the bitter words. "And, he died. So, sometimes, I like to imagine that he's still around, still here, when I'm lonely."
Juvia smiled softly, her eyes softening. "Oh, Gray…"
"It's stupid. He's gone, isn't he?" Gray let out, looking away.
"It's anything but stupid." Juvia said. "You know, Picasso once said: 'Everything you can imagine, is real.'"
Gray smiled. "I like that." He said softly.
"I liked it too." Juvia said. They gazed into each other for sometime, before looking away quickly. "Okay…uh…look at this." Juvia said, clicking some buttons, and the screen began to flicker and the scene changed.
"Taurus, open up those lockers." Keyes said, his hands on a trolley full of all-too-familiar things.
Gray narrowed his eyes. "Aren't those the lockers of the remedials?"
Taurus did as he was told, but not without hesitating. "I don't like this. It seems unfair."
"Really? Then I would like to know whether you would like unemployment better. Do as I say, Taurus. Open up." Keyes threatened.
Taurus did so, and Keyes started stuffing the lockers with the so-called 'evidence' that Keyes had accused Gray's class with.
"YOU HAVE EVIDENCE!" Gray exclaimed.
"Oh! And get this, not only does B.L.A.A.R testing give the school bragging rights, it also gives the Principal a significant bonus." Juvia said with a nasty look.
"So…suspending Jellal's class was just about getting a better score for the B.L.A.A.R?" Gray asked, horrified. Juvia nodded with disgust.
Gray thought fast. Was it the end of R.A.F.E? Nope, not yet. Not Today.
"Juvia! We need to stop the B.L.A.A.R test tomorrow. And we'll need all the help we can get." Gray said urgently.
"I know the numbers of some of the kids who don't have school tomorrow." Juvia said shrewdly.
"You text them. I'll set up Transportation." Gray said, getting up and getting out of the room in a flash. Juvia grinned widely.
X.X
Gray tapped on a sleeping form, which was cuddling with a cat. She turned and groaned.
"What?" Meredy asked.
"Up for a drive?" Gray whispered.
Meredy's eyes shot open. She smiled wickedly. "With Carl's car?" She asked. Gray nodded, smiling evilly as well.
"Good. Because I know just how." She said, patting on Happy's fur, her evil grin intact.
Done for now! You don't know how much time went typing this. I literally received a message from someone called korpotiah on Wattpad, and he/she urged me to update this! OMG I was so touched! Please support my Original on Wattpad by reading and voting as well. My Wattpad is called TitaniaTia as well.
Also, there is a poll on my profile. Vote on it and help me know which plot should I work on next after I complete this, because the next chapter updated will be the last!
Special thanks to Korpo2003 for reviewing! Leave tons of reviews, if you want the next update, which will have the grand finale of R.A.F.E! Also follow if you want more, and give it a fav to let me know that you loved it!
~Tia