Chapter 4: Date and Fight
Three days have passed since the departure of the dragon slayer after his legendary move that has shocked the entire male population of the guild to infinity. He hasn't arrived back yet but the guild constantly saw the glaring match, which was more than usual, way more than usual between the Demon and Knight of Fairy Tail did.
"Master..I think we should take life insurance policies for our own.." Macao sat at the edge of the bench near to the counter, where Makarov sat, trying to force the beer down his throat.
"Yeah...anyone could get in the crossfire. It feels like we are in a battle field. And the silence we are having for the past few days are like that of an upcoming storm." Wakaba whispered out from his spot near the Master. Today the two girls haven't checked in but that didn't make any of the guild members go out of alertness. The guild was silent. It silences the silence.
"I think it's cute. After all young love is the step stone for something big in the future. Oh I wonder if they will get married? Maybe all three? Oh babies too." Seemingly, the only person who doesn't seem to be affected at all was Ur as she sighed dreamily.
"D-does t-t-that m-m-mean? D-d-d-demon b-b-babies?" While Ur seems to think of this as a pretty and sweet thing, many didn't shard those thoughts, actually, none of them did. Makarov knew how much damage could Erza and Mirajane inflict and from the story Ur told, Natsu wasn't bad either..
And the equation: (Erza+Natsu)(Mirajane+Natsu)= Natsu (Erza+Mirajane)= Up to no good brats that might go for world domination.
It's been like that for the past few days, the first day after Natsu left with the few job flyers was the most tragic one. The fully refreshed Gray came back slamming the guild doors open and was immediately caught in the crossfire and ended back in the infirmary with actual broken bones than the punch he received from Natsu, which didn't do any serious damage.
Suddenly Erza entered the guild hall as she usually does, the tension increased drastically and a few guild members ran out of the guild and with the same speed came running back. Makarov watched this curiously, wondering why until the doors opened and the answer came, Mirajane, followed by Lisanna who gave everyone a nervous smile and Elfman also came in a similar fashion. If the tension wasn't increased already, it was now as they both glared at each other, Erza's hands were loosely over the hilt of her sword while Mirajane's hands were dimly lit by purple.
Slam!
The sound of the door being kicked open entered all of their ear canals. "Now girls, whoever it is, don't hurt-" Makarov tried to help whoever the new unlucky soul was that was going to share the wrath but was cut off by the familiar, cheerful and innocent loud shout of the dragon slayer.
"I am back!" Just as he appeared inside the guild, he disappeared without any trace along with the two angry females.
A few seconds passed, until a guild member with shaky legs stood up "T-they are gone. They are really gone!" The relief in his fellow guild members followed as murmuring and shouts came to life.
"Oh they are having their first date and Natsu managed to get two girls! Mhmm talking about girls, when Natsu grows up, he might become a stud." Many female murmurs and squeals in agreement came.
Makarov, Macao, Wakaba and other males could already feel the sexual future ending as they saw the fawning female population over an underage male. Is intercourse going to be just a fleeting dream for the old men.
"NOOO!" They collectively cried.
.
.
.
Three hours into the shopping expedition of Natsu, he was starting to feel very bored. After all, Erza and Mirajane would come out wearing a new cloth every five minutes and pose for him and he would have to say something nice since Erza told him to do so on his first day itself.
"Natsu, how does this look?"
"Nice."
"What about this?"
"Nice."
.
.
.
The dragon slayer felt his hamster wheel inside going to break as he sat there doing the same comment 'nice' over and over again and 'nice' isn't the word a girl, be it Erza or Mirajane want to hear. "Psst. Kid." Natsu turned his head to the side from his spot on the sofa and saw the woman at the counter standing. "Is this your first time taking out a girl..err..girls?"
"Uh yeah?"
"Pretty impressive. Hey. If you want them to pick any clothes anytime soon, say beautiful instead of nice to the clothes you like on them." The lady winked before going back to her seat.
"Okay..what's so impressive of buying clothes for the needy? Ah well there's nothing wrong in trying..." Natsu muttered and waited for the girls to exit.
"Natsu.." That was his cue and he utilized it.
.
.
.
Surprisingly..and dumb luckily, Natsu only said beautiful for four clothes each..otherwise it would have emptied his remaining half of jewels in his raged sack. Now the three walked through the street, following Natsu while holding their bags, which annoyed them. A gentleman always need to take care of a lady and her bags..in this case ladies. But not knowing what he signed up for was a war, no one could blame the dragon slayer.
"Oh look! Food!" He grabbed both their arms and dragged them to a restaurant which was one of those fancy ones. Upon reaching the reception, the woman there asked without looking from her magazine. "Table for how many."
"Hey! I thought this was a restaurant! Ow!" Both women smacked the dragon slayer on his head.
"Excuse him, table for three please." A waiter came and took the to their desired table and the receptionist shook her head before continuing to read the magazine.
.
.
.
After roaming around for a while..
'He doesn't seem to mind or look at how I am dressed..am I having a crush?' Erza shook the thought away. '..no I have a lot of things to take care of..my old friends.. I need to get stronger..'
'He's not fawning over me and didn't ask for any favours..but didn't complain.. And rather cute..hold it Mira! You did this to annoy ginger!' Mirajane also shook the thoughts away. '..besides if he finds about what my magic is..he will definitely want to keep his distance..'
The boy too, was in serious thinking 'Hmph why do I have to pay for their food too? Oh yeah! Because I got to be nice!' Natsu sighed annoyed as he walked with the two girls who were leaning on his shoulders.
"I had a great time Natsu..although it was just spent mostly on looking for clothes.." Erza gave a small peck on his cheek with a light blush.
"Me too..it was nice..maybe we can hang out again? You too tin can!" Mirajane also gave a peck on the other cheek and added a smirk as she looked at Erza.
"My pleasure goth." She returned her own smirk.
.
.
.
Natsu opened the guild doors to take a few more simple missions that will sum up to a beefy amount but just as he entered; he was sabotaged by a group of mages which included Makarov.
"Natsu! How did it go?" Ur being the first and most excited mage in the group shot her question.
"Uh okay?" 'Seriously? What's this all about? I am sure it's because of that Gray bastard these people are bugging me!' Natsu thought annoyed.
"Natsu, did you use a cond-" Makarov couldn't believe it as Ur smacked his head, but it was too late as the boy heard what was conveyed.
"What's a cond-"
"You will find out when you are older!" Ur cut him off.
"Ah but I want to know what it does! Or is it something to eat?" The boy asked curiously and this curiosity helped him get rid of the crowd as no one wanted to explain what it was. Grumbling in annoyance the temporary member picked up a few simple flyers and walked out of the guild.
Watching the boy go out the door, Ur turned to Makarov who settled himself on the counter and was sipping his beer. "Master, will he join?"
"It's never our decision, Ur." Makarov took another swig.
.
.
.
"So, how do you like the guild, Natsu?" It was warm evening a few days after Natsu came back from his mission. Everyone in the guild was simply enjoying the evening and was having, their own enjoyment in some small way.
Even Gray was sitting on one of the bench, talking to Ur and Cana. And Makarov found this to be the appropriate time to ask the question. Natsu gave a small smile and gazed over the hall and outside the door."I think it's great. Erza and Mirajane can be pretty scary, but everyone else is really cool. I learned a ton of new things and a lot of food names and got to taste some of them too! Lisanna, Cana, Levy, Macao and Wakaba are all great to hang out with. I think I wanna stay and become a member gramps..."
.
.
.
Gray's and Natsu's rivalry grew with passion on each passing month. On every fight they had, Gray seem to land more hits on the dragon slayer, but it only took one hit from the latter to immobilize the former, but in between all this the two shared the feeling of comradeship although the people around were kept none the wiser.
Lisanna and Natsu shared a special bond that being mostly based on Lisanna being his first real friend and one of the few who believed in what he said. The two were seen always together, much to the jealousy of Mirajane and Erza who have passed their S-class exam recently. The root of their friendship soon turned out to be the giant egg which later hatched into a small cat, Happy, as he was called. Happy and Natsu were inseparable companions, always getting into mischief, mostly influenced by Natsu while Lisanna acted as their probation officer.
Laxus was another case, Natsu was a simple boy, no desire for fame, but the small jobs he took always let him train in solace and without worrying anyone. This is the main reason he missed the S-class trials as he contributed very little to the jobs on the board and was always missing from the guild along with Happy sometimes, usually he leaves his feline friend. This often made him miss many serious events such as Makarov expelling his son, who he had never seen, Laxus's change in attitude. All this was missed by the dragon slayer who only dropped by occasionally.
Erza and Mirajane, the two closed up women spent as much time they could with the boy when they got the chance. What started out as an act of mockery and jealousy for the two girls, turned out to be new feeling that both haven't felt before, but alas the dragon slayer was still dumb to these feelings but send them signals that usually occurs due to some misunderstood action or word.
.
.
.
"Hey Natsu, do you think Lisanna will give me fish?" The excited cat asked his companion.
"For the last time Happy, yes!" Natsu stated to the small cat as they both were returning from another small job they took up so that Natsu could train away from the guild as usual. This was actually something the dragon slayer did, so that the guild doesn't have to know or pay for the damage his magic causes while he does stealth missions, which isn't his speciality.
The guild door quickly came in their sight and two grins formed on both their faces as they saw their home and without any delay, they raced towards it and Natsu slammed it open as usual. "We're back!"
"Aye!"
But no response came, other than Ur, who was sitting alone while reading the Sorcerer's Weekly, Erza, who was having her strawberry cheese cake and of course Lisanna who was hugged by Happy.
"Morning Natsu, how was your mission?" Ur closed what she was reading and looked at the boy who placed his hands on his cheek and thought for a second.
"Same old, boring." Natsu spoke after his thoughts ended, making the woman sigh.
"Did you have fun Happy?" Lisanna cooed
"Aye! Natsu baked a tonne of fish!"
"Hello Natsu, would you like to share some of my cake?" Erza politely asked the boy who went up and sat close to her making the knight's cheek get a pink tint as she could feel the warmth emitting from the boy who was munching the cake she saved for him.
"Oi where's everyone?" Natsu finally asked the question he was supposed to ask when he arrived earlier.
"Oh, Mira challenged Gildarts again. They are having their match right about now." Natsu stopped eating..or there was nothing more in the plate.
"Ha Mira's gonna kick his ass!" Natsu's words paused Ur's reading and looked at him curiously.
"No Natsu. Gildarts is Fairy Tail's ace. I and Laxus can be compared in terms of power, but Gildarts is in whole different league than any of us." She continued.
"Hey how come I never knew about the guy?" He pouted.
"It is because you are always absent and like you, Gildarts also takes some jobs and disappear, but those are 100 year quests." Erza explained properly
Natsu looked at Erza and asked. "What's a hundred year quest?"
"Those are missions that are very hard to complete and often result in imminent death." She answered him
A broad grin came over his face as he grabbed Erza's hand and ran. "Come on Erza! This guy seems to be strong! Let's go see the fight and if Mira loses, I wanna go a, round!" Erza didn't get a moment to register as she was dragged outside and towards the fight.
.
.
.
Mirajane knew that the man in front of her was a Titan in magic, much like their Master in power. For the past ten minutes she was trying almost all spells in the book but still hasn't managed to lay a small scratch on the man who only swatted all her attacks without any difficulty.
Gathering energy between her hands she threw it at Gildarts "Soul Extinction!" But upon waving his hands, Gildarts shattered the spherical ball of energy into thousands of pieces.
"Wow so this is Mira's magic! Cool! Hey Erza, what is it called?" Natsu excitedly asked the knight who was analysing the fight. "Huh? Oh, it's Take Over magic. It allows her to use a demons powers, Lisanna and Elfman use similar magic." Mirajane tried to engage Gildarts in hand to hand, but was quickly overpowered by the man who had strength, speed and size to his advantage, although he wasn't moving at all from his spot.
"Wow! That guy is strong! I wanna fight him next." Natsu grinned at thought of the challenge that was about to come and it would come sooner than expected. Ten more minutes later, Mirajane was knocked unconscious by the Crash user.
"Mirajane has been defeated." The Master announced and motioned a few members to take the unconscious girl to the infirmary.
"Mira has improved Master. But she needs more training. Tell her to concentrate her attacks near her opponents." The middle aged man advised the guild master with a smile, who nodded in return.
"Well Gildarts, you-" Makarov couldn't reply as a loud and familiar voice invaded all of their ears.
"Oi! Old man! Fight me!" Natsu came through the crowd and stood facing Gildarts.
"Oi Flame brain! You are gonna get your ass whipped!" Gray yelled with a laugh.
"Shut up you two jewel stripper!" He yelled back.
Watching the exchange, Gildarts waited for the boy to turn back to him. 'Hmm I haven't seen him before..must be new.'
Makarov was a little uncertain, 'A dragon slayer and crash mage? Oh dear..'
"Ready or not, here I come!" Gildarts watched as the boy charged at him, but his eyes widened as he saw flames cover him halfway through and double his speed. And Natsu took the gap to its maximum, he didn't punch him as Gildarts expected him to, instead he grabbed hold of his belt and pulled him off the ground and threw him into the air, everyones eyes bulged out at the action. The Gildarts Clive being lifted off his feet, much shocking was, it being done by a ten year old. Natsu didn't waste time and followed up with a "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
This was the first time everyone was seeing the dragon slayer's magic. Gildarts quickly crashed the flames into thousands of pieces and cancelled the attack. He landed on his feet with a thud and saw the dragon slayer pouting. "Dragon Slayer, eh?" Gildarts face broke into a smile. "I accept your challenge and I suppose I have to take you seriously."
"That's right old man! I'm gonna kick your ass!" He charged at the man before jumping up and igniting his feet "Fire Dragon's claw!" Gildarts blocked the attack but winced as he felt the fire which burnt his skin in the process.
But Natsu wasn't done with that as he flamed up his hand "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" The attack was delivered to the man's chest and made him stumble back but didn't let go of the leg he was holding.
Seeing that he needed to escape from the man's grip, he ignited both his hands and brought them together "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" The resulting explosion caused the man to let go of the boy and stumble back a feet.
"Your flames are strong, what is your name kid?" Gildarts looked at the boy who looked at him with mistrusting eyes.
"Natsu!" his face had large primeval grin.
"Natsu, nice name, I think I might have to use a bit more of my magic to ease you."
"Bring it on old man!" Natsu charged with a flaming fist and threw it at Gildarts who in return gave his own blow, the two attacks collided and the resulting force pushed back the members gathered around. Natsu jumped back and stood staring at the man who did the same, everyone else who was stunned at the display before was expecting more words of greatness and more attacks but all they got was.
"Ow ow ow ow!"
"Ow ow ow ow!" Both fighters cried anime tears as the eased their throbbing fists. Gildarts was blowing on his fist as it sported burn marks and steam was coming off it while Natsu felt like his hands came in contact with an iron rod.
"A-are you kidding me?" Elfman stuttered at the scene.
Gildarts stopped his comic attitude and saw the Master looking at him, he nodded. "Natsu, bring it on." Gildarts turned and demanded.
"With pleasure!" Natsu charged at the man, just what the latter wanted.
"Fire Drago-" Natsu couldn't finish as he felt a sharp pain behind, on his neck and he collapsed, unconscious.
.
.
.
Natsu wasn't seriously harmed but was still placed in the infirmary "I didn't think I would get this old, Master." Gildarts took a swig from his beer.
"It's a good thing that you didn't advance him and yourself into more serious level, otherwise the damage would have been pretty big." Master said while taking his own beer.
"Where did you find the boy?" Makarov knew if there was anyone he could reveal all his secrets, from his dirty stash of magazines and booze to Fairy Tail's darkest secrets; it was Gildarts, part of the reason being Gildarts way of converting those things into weird stories that even if he told, nobody will care to listen.
Makarov sighed and told the story which Gildarts absorbed carefully. "oh..that explains why his power is so different..otherwise his fire couldn't have burnt me.."
"Oh and he has a gun for the ladies too, he's already started his own small harem." Ur joined the conversation.
"Haha don't tease the kid Ur..wait you are serious?" Gildarts looked at her in disbelief but was confirmed by Makarov nodding.
"Damn.."
.
.
.
Please Review