"Hey, ice boy!" Natsu yelled as he made his way across the playground, drawing the attention of none other than Gray Fullbuster. "I need you to help me with something!"
Gray whipped around, glaring at Natsu in the most threatening way he could manage. "Well, fire freak, if you wanna know how dumb you are, it's eleven outta ten!" The boy responded with a smirk.
Ever since the two boys had met, Miss Erell's third grade class had basically been hell due to the fact that they were literally fire and ice.
You see, Gray and Natsu come from complete opposite sides of the earth, Gray was a kind, gentle, and charming young boy who never got into fights.
And then he met Natsu.
Gray was a lover of cold, he preferred winter over any other season, was extremely tolerant to temperatures freezing and below, and completely filled his water bottle with ice just so he could eat it every single morning.
Natsu, on the other hand, enjoyed heat, preferring the high temperatures of the summer months seeing as he was quite tolerant of them, and almost exclusively ate spicy things.
The two had met on the third or fourth day of school when they accidentally ran into each other in gym, leading to them constantly fighting ever since. The teacher had given up on breaking up the fights quite quickly, relying on Lucy and Erza to keep the boys in check.
"What was that, glacier face!?" Natsu called back, raising his fists in preparation for what was sure to be a fight.
It was then that Erza stood from her place on the bench, staring both boys down. "Gray, sit and be quiet! What was your question, Natsu?" She spoke gently, barely masking the terrifying glint in her eye.
Natsu quickly lowered his fist, taking a few steps back in case he needed to run. "Well, uh, Lucy thinks she might be taller than me, but I know I m taller, so we need you to tell us who's wrong!"
"Alright, stand straight up and back to back, keep your feet flat and your head facing forwards, no cheating!" Erza commanded, guiding the children into place.
The redhead took a step back, examining the two before-
"Yeah, Lucy s taller, no doubt." Gray said without much thought, biting into the apple he pulled from his lunch box.
"Wha- nobody asked you! Erza, tell the truth, am I taller!?" Natsu yelled with a horrified expression, his pride as the "alpha friend" on the line.
Erza s features grew apologetic as she looked at Natsu, holding in a small whine as the boy groaned loudly, slumping onto the picnic bench next to Gray.
"Sorry, Natsu," The redhead spoke, gently rustling Natsu s hair. "you'll grow some more soon, you won t be the short one when we reach high school!"
"But I don't wanna wait until high school, that s really far away!" Natsu complained as he slid down further, leaning his head back until it hit the table, using his arms to shield his eyes from the sun.
Lucy began to shake with muffled laughter, drawing the attention of the three kids around her. "You know, I don t think I can be saved by a dragon slayer who's shorter than me..." She said as she openly laughed, running away when Natsu jumped up from the bench, tripping over his own feet as he tried to run after her.
"That fall meant nothing, I m still gonna beat the dragon!" Natsu yelled as he scrambled to stand up, nearly falling for a second time before he finally ran.