I apologize to all Nalu fans in advance…just know that I'll make it up to you later tenfold.

Chapter Four

The Boy on the Ledge

Natsu awkwardly cleared his throat as he descended the stairs into his loud, bustling living room, his school uniform haphazardly thrown onto his frame and his backpack strapped over only one shoulder. Zeref's helpers were busily scurrying about the space, preparing for the election and, in particular, the speech the number one candidate would make later that evening.

The constant presence of others in his home, from even the earliest hours of the morning to late in the night, drove him a bit insane. It was never quiet and peaceful like it used to be, and Zeref's campaign workers were part of the reason why he hung out with his friends as much as he did, taking any excuse he could get to away from the bustling activity.

Assuming he wouldn't have a chance to exchange morning greetings with his brother, Natsu ducked through the scattered people and towards the door, hearing a cry of his name as he slipped his sneakers over his heels without even untying the laces. His mom used to scold him like crazy for his bad habit, and Wendy had taken up the task of attempting to save the backs of his shoes after she died, although his sister was much more gentle and amiable in her admonishment.

The salmon haired boy glanced up to see Zeref rushing towards him from where he'd been in conversation with Dimaria, a stack of papers in his hands that Natsu assumed held the contents of his speech. The blonde woman had a look of distaste on her features as she was left behind, her lips curling in irritation and her fingers clenching tightly around her own large stack of papers.

Natsu ignored the heated stare she shot his way, more than used to his brother's peculiar helpers by now. None of them were pleasant people, though he supposed the world of politics these days was more than enough of a reason for why they acted the way they did.

Zeref had a look of disapproval on his face as he glanced at his little brother's tie, exasperatedly reprimanding him, "You punk. Seriously…are you ever going to learn how to tie it properly?"

"I'm gonna be late," the salmon haired boy complained, trying to find an out so that he didn't have to deal with Zeref's expectations of him. As the younger brother of the number one candidate for the governor of the state, he had lot of standards to live up to, most of which contradicted his preferred way of life. He liked to live each day unrestrained and riskily, dealing with things as they came his way. The perfectly composed and meticulously disciplined life didn't suit him.

But despite his childish fussing, his older brother had already fixed the accessory, patting it against his chest with a content smile, "There. Just like mom taught." He grinned warmly at his brother, "Natsu, I'm sure you already know this, but I promise that I will win the election again. And once I've won, I'll put everything I have into helping Wendy get better." He set his hands on his brother's shoulders, giving him a little, affectionate nudge, "Until then, please stay out of trouble. Can you do that for me?"

Natsu's lips quirked in a half smile, his voice joking, but also sincere, "I can't make any promises."

Zeref chuckled, pushing him towards the door, "Now go. You're gonna be late."

Gildarts paced in front of the chalk board, lecturing his class from a textbook, "Confucius thought that the reason for societal chaos was due to the corruption and immorality of humans. Because of this, he proposed that…"

Natsu tuned his teacher out and instead occupied his bored mind with doodling dragons and fire in his notebook, trying and failing to ignore Gray's light snoring from his left. The raven haired boy had been asleep practically since the class had begun, his head hitting the desk the moment his name was passed in rollcall.

The salmon haired glanced over at Lucy, who sat on his other side, as her pen scratched across her own light blue, star-covered notebook, the blonde dutifully focused on Gildarts and hurriedly jotting down notes with a purple pen. His lips quirked in a small, amused smile when she shook out the wrist of her writing hand, catching sight of a large purple smudge of ink on the outside of her pinkie finger.

She hadn't spoken to him since that day in the cafeteria, which had nearly been a week ago by now. But he was content with her ignoring him, at least for the time being. He knew she'd probably only push him further away if he tried to get close to her before she was ready, and her lack of care for him meant he could stare at her all he wanted while they sat next to each other in class.

At first, he'd only marveled at her looks, her blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes unforgettably etched into his thoughts since that night in the rain. But after what had happened in the cafeteria, he admired her for her bravery and dedication, too. She'd courageously stood alone against a group of four who clearly held the advantage over her, her devotion to her brother unceasing and giving her the strength to hold her own, at least for a little while.

He realized that she was a lot like him when he thought about it, their loyalty to those they held dear often getting them into trouble with the worst kind of people.

Natsu lightly jolted from his daydreaming about the blonde when chimes suddenly sounded out, Gray's snoring coming to an abrupt halt at the same time. The raven haired boy let out a heavy sigh as the school bell cut off, closing the book he'd propped up on his desk to hide himself and sliding it into his backpack.

"Natsu, Gray!" they both jumped as Gildarts called their names, freezing in the packing of their belongings, "You're both on cleaning duty today. Wait for my inspection before you leave."

The boys both let out small groans of dread.

Gildarts sharply tapped the edge of his textbook on his podium, a grin upon his face as he looked over his students, chuckling at the two in the very back of the room as they slouched over, "Class dismissed."

After one particularly hard shoulder shove from Elfman, Loke stumbled backwards over his own feet, only barely managing to keep himself from toppling onto the dirt ground of the basketball court. He shot back to his full height in an instant, fully intent on spewing a string of curses at his tan friend and giving him a piece of his mind. But he paused when he caught of glimpse of gold in his peripherals, doing a double take of the girl sitting on one of the benches at the edge of the court, her chocolate brown eyes anxiously glancing towards the school entrance again and again.

His brows furrowed as he recognized her, quietly speaking to himself in disbelief, "The pretty blonde from Friday night?"

"Shouldn't we tell the teacher?"

"About what? That boy from Crocus?"

Lucy perked up as she overhead the conversation of two passing girls, knowing right away that they were talking about her brother. They'd created quite the reputation for themselves at the high school of the small country town, city kids like them an uncommon sight in Magnolia.

"Yeah."

"No way. You don't want to get on Macbeth's bad side, do you?"

Lucy's eyes widened at the mention of the black haired boy, her bag slipping from her shoulder without her realizing as she shot to her feet and back towards the school, a feeling of dread pooling in her stomach as she ran.

Sting stumbled backwards from the force of the blow that landed on his jaw, barely managing to keep himself on his feet with his one good leg. As soon as he managed to straighten himself back out once more, Eric mercilessly punched him again, the blond having to use his hands this time to keep himself on his feet. His knuckles scraped against the rough terrain of the school's roof, blood gathering in the small cuts and mixing with the loose, black grit on the ground.

Macbeth, Sawyer, and Sorano were simply standing back, comfortably watching on in silence as Eric beat the blond until he bled, his face already littered with bruises and splotches of blood from his skin breaking open upon impact.

Sting's gaze hopelessly found the door that he'd been shoved through earlier, the school's roof access still wide open and softly creaking as a soft breeze blew past. Once more, he found himself praying for somebody, anybody to come to his aid, his own shame about his current state shoved aside and overpowered by his need for release from the hell he'd been trapped in. He didn't care how pathetic he looked, he just wanted it all to be over.

The black haired boy followed his gaze, quirking a brow, "What? You think someone's coming to save you?"

Eric's foot landed in the center of Sting's stomach, sending him toppling over his stiff leg and to the ground, landing painfully on his tailbone. He wrapped an arm around his stomach, groaning in pain as his ribs ached with phantom traces of the impact.

Macbeth finally stepped forward, taking Eric's place above the blond and setting his foot atop the boy's permanently disabled knee, "Why don't you pray for yourself like you always do?" He chuckled cruelly as he put all of his weight onto his foot, crushing the boy's limb beneath him, "But I don't think even God will listen to your pathetic mumbling."

Sting curled into himself out of instinct, screaming in pain as his leg was crushed. Just when he thought his bones might snap, the pressure was gone, Macbeth's foot lifting from his leg to kick him in the face, his head painfully cranking backwards as blood sprayed from his nose.

Lucy flew through the school's entrance, immediately shooting up the stairs with the unexplainable hunch that she'd find her twin on the roof. During after school hours, it was the only place other than the bathrooms that would be free of the presence of teachers and other school staff, and something within her told her that she wouldn't find Sting in any of the restrooms.

She didn't pay much attention to the other students descending the stairs, brushing shoulders with a few people on her way up without any whisper of an apology. Her need to save her brother was too strong for her to pay much mind to anything else, her thoughts focused solely on him and the four who were tormenting him.

The blonde conquered one set of stairs without incident, but as she hurriedly rounded the corner to start up the stairs leading to the third level, her body roughly collided with a firm chest, the girl letting out a tiny yelp of surprise as she reeled backwards and fell to the floor.

"You okay?"

Lucy glanced up at the sound of the concerned voice, seeing two different hands held out to her. The paler of the pair drew back after a moment as if in realization that the other, tanner hand had beat it to the chase.

She followed the arm of the tan hand back up to its owner, tightly grasping onto it as the salmon haired boy pulled her to her feet.

Even once she was on her feet, she kept holding onto him, grasping onto his wrist with her other hand and desperately boring her gaze up into his, taking a few deep breaths before she quietly, hysterically began, "You have to help me."

Natsu's brows furrowed as he glanced over at Gray, finding that his rival looked just as confused as he felt.

Lucy turned her gaze to the raven haired boy, too, extending her desperate plea to him as well, "Please…please help my brother."

"What's wrong?" Gray questioned in concern.

Her voice quaked in a strange mixture of anger and fear, "It's those same jerks from the cafeteria…I think they took him to the roof."

The raven haired boy sneered and immediately turned to head back up the stairs, his voice low as he glowered, "Those fucking bastards." He slowly came to a halt when he noticed that his rival wasn't following behind him, turning back over his shoulder, "Ashface…aren't you coming?"

Natsu's gaze was on the floor, his thoughts taking him back to what Zeref had asked of him that morning. Despite his lack of care and usual disregard for the perfectly composed lifestyle that his brother had forced onto him, he knew that getting into a violent skirmish, which would likely become public knowledge given that word spread fast in a small town like Magnolia, was a blight upon his family record that Zeref didn't need. His brother viewed losing even a single citizen's support as a massive failure, and Natsu knew that beating up the children of potential voters would be a sure way to earn his brother's wrath.

And just like Zeref, now he, too, would see losing a single vote as major loss, not just because he wanted his brother to succeed, but also because of the promise Zeref had made to him that morning. He desperately needed Wendy to get better, and because of Zeref's promise, winning the election and helping his sister heal had become goals that were one in the same.

Natsu glanced back down at where Lucy was still hopelessly grasping onto him, his jaw clenching at the way her grip conveyed her desperation. He'd never been one to turn down a fight, but now, his sister was infinitely more important than justice to him.

Gray seemed to get fed up with his silence, descending the steps once more, most likely to beat some sense into him and snap him out of whatever daze he'd fallen into.

But before he could do anything, Natsu came back to himself, grabbing tightly onto Lucy's wrist and prying his hand out of her grasp, his lips pressing into a thin line as he looked into her wide, brown eyes. His tone had a bit of a bite to it as he surmised, "You said you'd take care of it yourselves."

He turned to his rival before he could see much else of Lucy's reaction, ignoring the way her hands still floated in the air where his hand had been and finding himself unable to look in her pleading, tear-filled eyes any longer, "Let's go. Loke and Elfman are waiting for us."

Gray's features hardened in irritation as he snapped, "What the hell's wrong with you?"

Natsu glanced back at the blonde, surprised to find more anger in her expression now instead of sorrow and fear like before. He sucked in a heavy breath to strengthen his resolve, "You shouldn't come to us for help anymore. Go find a teacher instead."

Her jaw clenched, angry tears welling in her eyes as something akin to betrayal blazed to life in her irises. She shoved them both aside and stormed between them to charge up the stairs without another word, Natsu keeping his gaze trained on her back until she disappeared around the corner at the top, guilt immediately puddling in his gut.

Gray's brows furrowed as he took a small step closer to the salmon haired boy, "Natsu…are you really just going to ignore all this? How can you turn your back on her?"

"It's not our fight," Natsu grew defensive despite his regret for how he'd turned the blonde away, still fully devoted to what he believed would help his sister out the most. "Are we the police now or something?"

The salmon haired boy turned to finish descending the stairs, but Gray roughly dug his fingers into his shoulder and yanked him back around, his brows furrowed in anger and his voice low, "Is it because of Zeref?"

"It's none of your business," he ground out.

Natsu attempted to leave once more before their fight could grow more heated, but the raven haired boy fisted a hand in the back of his jacket and spun him around once again.

Gray had a knowing, yet still angered look on his face as he lowly growled, "He told you to be careful didn't he? He's so worried about his stupid election and he's afraid you'll do something to ruin it for him, right?"

"Watch your mouth," Natsu spat back, angered by the harsh tone his rival used while speaking of his brother. "Why are you so eager to get involved?" He nodded in the direction had Lucy disappeared, his tone spiteful as he snarled, "You got a crush on her or something? Is that it?"

Gray drew back, his lips pressed into a thin line as Natsu continued with his defensive, heated lashing.

"If you do, then why don't you go after her yourself and be her prince charming? You don't need me there to ruin the moment, right?" He roughly shook himself out of his rival's grasp, sneering, "Get your hand off of me."

The raven haired boy stared after him as he finally started down the stairs, knowing that Natsu was only acting the way he was because his brother must've said something to him.

Everyone was afraid of Zeref and his power, and now it seemed that even his little brother was, too.

But Gray couldn't run after his rival to beat some sense into him at the moment. There was another, more urgent matter, and so he clenched his jaw, climbing the stairs two steps at a time as he chased after Lucy.

Lucy was heavily huffing for breath as she burst through the door to the roof, her eyes desperately scanning the area for her brother.

Her body went rigid when she spotted him, her eyes widening and her throat clenching at his appearance, his name tearing from her throat in a desperate cry, "Sting!"

He was standing atop one of the radiating systems on the roof, his belt unbuckled and his pants unzipped and halfway down his hips, his trembling hands the only thing keeping them up. His face was littered with purple bruises and blood, the crimson liquid pouring from his now crooked nose and mixing with the black grit that clung to his skin.

The same four who had harassed him in the cafeteria surrounded him, the white haired girl filming him with her phone. Their gazes lazily turned to her as she cried her brother's name, Macbeth's black-painted lips quirking in annoyance.

Lucy stumbled closer despite their glares, her breaths beginning to tremble at the implications of the sight before her.

Sting's faced scrunched in pain as he gazed at her, his eyes desperately pleading with her, "Just go, Lucy!"

She could hear it in his voice, his plea for her to leave him behind so that she could save herself from their torment. But despite his wishes, she squared her shoulders, swallowing heavily and pressing her lips into a grim line, "Sting…don't do this. Pull your pants back up…please."

She bored her gaze into his, promising him through their unspoken connection that she would do everything she could to get them both out of this, safe and sound. After a moment of speaking through their irises, he softly nodded his head, his hands moving to the front of his pants to pull them back up and secure them.

Sawyer hands shot out and roughly snatched his wrist before he could get them all the way up, Macbeth simultaneously sneering, "Who said you could tell him to do that?"

Lucy's voice grew louder in desperation as her eyes filled with angry tears, hopelessly fighting to hold them back and stay strong in front of the four who had harassed her twin, "Please, stop this!"

"Why don't you let your brother speak for himself for once?" The black haired boy turned back to Sting, his voice low as he threatened, "What do you say? Should we show your sister the picture we took of your junk…or do you want her to leave so you can play with us?"

Sting looked to her once more, his eyes already letting her know which he was going to choose. She desperately shook her head as tears gathered in his eyes, his voice trembling in fear and shame as he pleaded, "Please…just…just go."

Macbeth sneered at her over his shoulder, "Did you hear that? He told you to leave."

Her gaze fell to the ground, her fists clenching in determination despite the panicked tightening of her throat. Like her father had said a few days prior, she was his guardian, and she refused to leave him alone with his tormenters, no matter what it took to set him free. She was well aware of the fact that she would never be able to take them all out on her own, but she knew there were other ways to save her brother, and she would take them without hesitation, regardless of what it cost her.

She nervously licked her lips, her voice barely managing to stay even, "I'm begging you. Let my brother go."

Macbeth smirked as he lazily approached her, his hands coolly tucked into his pockets, "If you're going to beg, at least do it properly. You should know by now that nothing comes for free in this world." He caught her gaze as she finally lifted her focus from the ground, his voice low as he ground out his command, "In exchange for your brother…you take your clothes off instead."

Natsu dejectedly shoved his hands into his pockets as he slumped out to the basketball court, his eyebrows troubled as he thought over what had just happened in the stairwell. That fight had been different from his and Gray's common skirmishes, their venomous words fully loaded and actually carrying substance. In a way, it kind of felt like Gray had chosen Lucy over him, though as soon as the thought came to mind, he tossed it aside, knowing the idea was baseless. The raven haired boy was just helping out a person in desperate need, and he knew that he shouldn't have gotten mad at Gray like that, figuring that if their roles were reversed he probably would have acted just the same.

He felt awful for how he'd refused Lucy's cry for help, too, but he had no doubt that Gray would be able to handle the situation just fine on his own, maybe only picking up a few scratches and bruises in the mix. Despite their constant arguing, he had faith in his rival, and everything would turn out fine, he was sure.

"Natsu!" Loke's brows furrowed as he caught sight of him, immediately noticing the lack of another's presence at the salmon haired boy's side, "Where's Gray?"

Not in the mood to speak of what had happened, he sighed heavily, dropping his school bag on the edge of the court before stealing the ball from Elfman's hands, "He's not coming. Let's just play without him."

Lucy was now the subject of the camera on Sorano's phone, Macbeth's hands moving across the blonde's front as he stripped her of her tie and reached for the buttons of her uniform's white shirt, starting at the top and undoing them one by one. Her jacket had already been ripped from her shoulders, Eric roughly yanking it off the second Macbeth had offered to strip her in exchange for her brother's safety.

Sting was still stranded atop one of the radiators, Sawyer keeping a tight grasp on his wrists and preventing him from moving much. His eyes were wide and dead as he watched his tormentors strip his sister, a familiar sense of uselessness and shame weighing down upon him once again, this time heavier and more crushing than ever before.

Lucy's hands were shaking in fists at her sides, her eyes zeroing in Macbeth's chest in an attempt to ignore what was happening and force her mind elsewhere. She kept repeating Sting's name like a mantra in her head, constantly reminding herself that she was doing it for his sake. She knew that Sawyer was still near him, and she wanted nothing more than to glance at her brother and make sure they were keeping their promise and leaving him alone. But she knew that he'd be close to tears; that his eyes would be full of shame and self-loathing as he watched her take the fall for him, and his expression would completely shatter her resolve. So she swallowed heavily and kept her focus trained on the nasty stain on her assaulter's shirt, the air in her lungs escaping her in hurried, shaky breaths.

Her shirt fell open as the last button was undone, Macbeth sliding the white shirt over the pale skin of her shoulders with traces of anticipation in his features. The sleeves caught on her wrists and bunched at the ends of her arms, but the damage was already done.

Eric let out a low whistle of satisfaction as her chest was revealed to his gaze, clad only in her light pink bra. He traced his fingers over her shoulders and across her collar bones from behind, his touch dropping and looming ever closer to the upper curve of her breasts as Macbeth's hand moved to teasingly stroke her stomach along the edge of her skirt, the tips of his fingers dipping into the hem.

The black haired boy suddenly stumbled forward when something forcefully slammed into his back, Lucy staggering backwards to avoid colliding with him as a hiss of pain slipped through his lips.

He growled as his head whipped around to find his attacker, the blonde girl's eyes widening as she found Gray standing near the door to the roof, his shoulders still twisted from chucking his textbook at Macbeth.

The raven haired boy's fists were clenched and his face was twitching in anger, his eyes dark and warning as he lowly growled, "Listen carefully." His eyes scanned over the four who surrounded the twins in a threat, seething as he spat, "From now on, I'm not considering any of you human. All you are to me is complete trash."

Eric took a step towards the new comer, his frame tensed in preparation for a fight, "What's this bullshit?"

Macbeth stopped his friend with a hand to his chest, his eyes narrowed at Gray, "I guess you still don't know your place."

Lucy took advantage of the fact that with the raven haired boy's entrance, everyone's attention had shifted off of her, anxiously sliding her shirt back over her shoulders and hurriedly buttoning it back up with quivering hands.

Macbeth took a few steps towards his newest opponent, "Without that bastard Natsu Dragneel, you're just a worthless peasant. You need to learn your place, you low-life."

Gray sneered as he made his way over to one of the brooms leaning on the wall near the door, grabbing the top of it while he kicked the bottom, snapping the stick in two, "I'm on cleaning duty today."

The black haired boy apathetically quirked a brow, "What the hell are you saying?"

Gray swung the pointed stick around a few times as if in warmup, leaning forward and glaring at the four as he glowered, "That means I'm in charge of taking out the trash."

None of them moved an inch, Macbeth seething in silence at the insult.

The raven haired boy lightly chuckled to himself as he provoked, "Aren't you going to attack? Or are you too afraid?"

"Bring it on, peasant," Macbeth taunted back.

Gray ran forward at the same time as the other three boys, tucking his knees into his chest and vaulting over the mop Eric swung at his legs. On his way back down, he planted his right foot in Sawyer's chest and shoved him backwards, simultaneously shooting himself to the left and brining his stick to crack against Macbeth's skull, the two boys falling to the ground just as Gray landed on his feet.

The raven haired boy turned around just in time to dodge Eric's fist, catching sight of Sawyer shooting to his feet and charging towards him over the maroon haired boy's shoulder.

As the fight commenced, Lucy ran to her brother, placing her hands under his arms and catching him as she pulled him down from the radiator. She slung one of his arms over her shoulder and began leading him to the edge roof where he would be safely away from the fight, forcing herself to ignore the small winces he let out at nearly every step. She glanced back at Gray as she pulled Sting away, fully intent of running back to his aid once her brother was taken care of.

Once again, Gray shoved Sawyer away with a foot to his chest, the force of his own kick sending him falling backward onto his butt. Without taking a moment of rest, he rolled onto his hands and knees and tried to stand, a sharp grunt slipping through his lips when something thick and solid whacked against his back rather weakly, but still hard enough to send pain thrumming across his shoulder blades. He clenched his teeth as he shot to his feet before his attacker could bring their weapon down on him again, spinning around to find Sorano with a strip of wood clasped between her hands, her shoulders hunched in uncertainty as he towered over her. He caught her wrist when she moved to swing it down on him again in panic, crushing her forearm in his grasp. He didn't care if she was a chick, she was just as much a piece of garbage as her friends were.

He'd seen the phone in her hands when he'd first caught sight of Macbeth stripping Lucy upon bursting through the door to the roof, and he had no doubt that she'd had plans of using the footage of the blonde allowing two men to grope and ogle her as blackmail.

People like her had no right to escape punishment simply because they possessed a certain trait, and so he raised his fist above his in preparation.

Macbeth suddenly launched another attack from behind, sending the raven haired boy staggering into Sorano, the white haired girl stumbling back into Lucy and Sting in a domino effect. Gray managed to keep his footing, but the other three fell to the ground, an agonized groan tearing from the blond boy's throat as his sister landed on top of him.

Gray ducked when Sawyer swung a fist at him, lunging forward to tackle the blond by wrapping his arms around his middle and driving him backwards and away from the downed twins, Macbeth and Eric chasing after him. Although it made things harder on him, he was glad the three boys were so focused on taking him down that they seemed to completely forget about the two blondes, hoping that the twins would take advantage of the lack of attention on them and escape.

"Sting!" Lucy hurriedly pushed herself to her hands and knees to rid her abused brother of her weight, her eyes widening at his lack of verbal response, the only sounds escaping him being pained whimpers as his arms clutched around his middle.

Her concerns for him were left unvoiced, the blonde shrieking as a hand fisted in the hair at the back of her scalp and yanked upwards, shooting to her feet in an attempt to ease the pain. Her hands grabbed the wrist of her attacker as she whipped herself around, finding that Sorano had opted for skirmishing with her instead of Gray.

The blonde grit her teeth as she swiped her fingernails at the girl's cheek and broke skin, absolutely no qualms about roughing the white haired girl up a bit, too, regardless of the uncanny resemblance she bore to one of her and Sting's dear friends. She'd been one of the people to harass Sting after all, and for that, there was no forgiveness.

Lucy shrieked out something akin to a battle cry as she lunged to tackle the other girl to the floor, using her own weight to pin the white haired girl down. She wasn't quite sure what to do next now that she'd placed herself in a position on top of Sorano, but she figured that as long as everyone was kept away from Sting, things weren't going so bad.

The raven haired boy fighting with the other three finally managed to toss Sawyer off of him, landing a punch to Eric's jaw and following through with a knee to the maroon haired boy's face in hopes of sending him to the ground for good.

Gray was growing more desperate to start taking people out of the fight permanently, realizing that the meager blows he'd given thus far weren't enough. If he wanted to win, he couldn't keep splitting his attention between three different opponents, and so he grew more brutal with his attacks, sparing the three who had tormented the blondes no mercy.

Macbeth ruthlessly beat at his back with Sorano's abandoned piece of wood, and without any regards for his own spine, the raven haired boy jumped and threw his upper body backwards, crunching his abs to bring his legs up into his chest and twisting so that his foot struck in the center of Macbeth's face. Gray let out a hiss as his tailbone collided with the ground, but the blood spilling from the black haired boy's nose made the pain of the hard landing completely worth it.

Natsu sighed heavily as he dribbled the basketball, not in the mood for Elfman's and Loke's antics as they dramatically jumped and hopped around in front of him to block his shot, neither of the two trying to steal the ball from his hands even though he was standing completely still right in front of them.

Their daily afterschool basketball games just weren't the same without Gray there to protest against his every call and steal the ball from his hands even though they were always on the same team.

He glanced towards the hoop as he prepared to finally take a shot, his body going rigid with the ball still in his grasp as his eyes were drawn to the sight beyond the backboard.

Loke's arms were still waving wildly in the air, his brows furrowing as he shuffled back and forth in front of his salmon haired friend, "What? Did I psych you out?"

Natsu was silent, his eyes slowly widening as he continued to stare up at the roof.

There, standing atop the meter tall barrier that ran along the roof's perimeter was a bloodied and bruised blond.

The salmon haired boy hadn't bothered to learn the boy's name, but he was easily recognizable as Lucy's twin, his blond hair and pale skin a perfectly resembling his sister's own.

The ball slipped from Natsu's hands as he rushed back into the school, ignoring Elfman's and Loke's calls as he slammed the glass doors open in his haste.

As Gray panted on the ground of the roof, he briefly took notice that his knee had, in fact, taken Eric out of the fight for good. Similar to Macbeth, blood was pouring down the maroon haired boy's face from his nose, the bone obviously broken and leaving him unable to do much more than writhe in pain on the ground as he clutched at it.

The fact that he had downed one of his opponents was the only thing Gray found positive about his situation, which was steadily growing worse by the second.

Macbeth and Sawyer were growing smarter as the fight progressed, ganging up on him together instead of attacking alone, one at a time like they had before. They took advantage of his downed position, digging their fingers into his arms and yanking him to his feet, keeping a study hold on him as he exhaustedly tried to tug himself out of their grasp, "Let go of me!"

Because of his anger over finding Lucy and her brother in such as state as they were upon bursting through the door to the roof, he'd given his all during the beginning of the fight, figuring that if he came down on them hard and fast, they wouldn't be able to withstand it. But he'd overestimated his own abilities, and now he was exhausted, his body unable to keep up with his drive.

Lucy finally shoved herself off of Sorano once the girl grew too exhausted to fight back, shooting to her feet and whipping around herself to search for Sting. It was like instinct, the need to make sure he was okay; his life taking priority over hers in her mind regardless of the bruises and scratches that now littered her own skin.

Ice filled her veins and froze her body solid when she found him, his eyes trained on the ground five stories below as he stood atop the roof's perimeter wall. Her eyes went wide and her voice cracked as she fearfully cried, "Sting!"

The three boys still wrestling against one another whipped their focuses towards her at the desperate cry, their bodies stilling in their skirmish as they saw where the boy stood.

Gray quickly shoved his shock aside, taking advantage of the loosening grips on his arms and tugging himself out of Macbeth and Sawyer's grasp. He shot forward towards the boy on the ledge, freezing after only a few steps when the blond boy moved one of his feet closer to the edge as he approached in a warning that if he came any closer, he would jump.

The raven haired boy cautiously stood completely still, his gaze warily traveling to Lucy to see her next move.

Through their unspoken bond, the blonde knew that her brother wasn't just bluffing to bring the fight to an end. He'd climbed upon the ledge with every intent of jumping and ending it all, and tears fill her eyes when she thought over how much he must've been hiding from her; of all the pain he'd endured quietly on his own.

She tried to keep her voice calm despite her overwhelming panic, her sorrowful voice breaking as she desperately shook her head, tears endlessly flowing down her cheeks, "Sting…please don't do this."

"I shouldn't have been born," his voice carried an heavy sorrow, an eerie sense of acceptance and belief in his tone as he uttered his next words, "Your life would've been so much better if I hadn't been your twin."

Lucy shook her head more vigorously, her tears growing stronger and harder to control, "Don't you dare say that!"

"He's not going to do it!" Macbeth sneered from where Gray had left him standing next to Sawyer, "He's just putting on a show!"

Sting's dead eyes slid over to the black haired boy at the shout, his voice eerily void of any fervor or drive, "Everyone here's the same. There's only one way to escape it."

"That's not true, Sting!" Lucy barely managed to desperately choke out between her sobs. "We can change things! I'll help you!"

He ignored her cries and looked heavenwards, the cloudy, rather dreary sky above him somewhat of a comfort. He took a few deep breaths as Precht's words from their earlier meeting echoed in his head.

'The Almighty's heart is always open.'

With the reassurance that someone would be waiting for him in the next life, he resolved to take the leap.

Sting slowly lowered his gaze back to his sister, his voice solemn yet sincere as he saw her sobbing before him, "I'm sorry, Lucy."

She desperately shook her head, her eyes crinkling in disbelief as more tears slipped from her eyes.

Time seemed to slow as he stared lovingly at her for a moment more before his face went slack, his eyes slowly sliding shut as he let the tension fade from his muscles so that he fell backwards, his body slipping over the edge.

"NO! STING!" Lucy desperately screamed as her brother disappeared from her sight, her legs giving out from under her as sobs consumed her existence, curling into herself as she sorrowfully screamed into her knees.

Gray shot forward, uncaring of the pain that raked his body as he slammed against the barrier wall, his face going pale as he leaned over the ledge as far as he could. The blond boy's body was lying in the midst of the garden below, his limbs splayed out unnaturally and his blood splattered on the white flowers beneath him.

"N-no…"

His head whipped around at the small cry, tears beginning to sting the backs of his own eyes without his volition as he turned to find Lucy collapsed on the ground behind him, her body quivering uncontrollably as she sobbed.

The door to the roof suddenly burst open, Natsu's eyes frantically scanning the rooftop and finding Gray first; his rival standing right next to the barrier where the blond boy had been, "Gray!"

As the raven haired boy's eyes slowly slid to him, they were filled with furious tears, his features shaking in rage and his lips pulling back in something akin to an angry sneer. Part of that fury was directed at him, Natsu knew. He'd refused a cry for help, and because of it, someone might have died.

The sound of sobbing was the next thing the salmon haired boy processed, his heavy breaths from his climb suddenly stopping all together as he found the source, his face going slack at the sight.

Lucy's entire form was trembling with the onslaught of her sobs, which were beginning to sound more like harrowing screams, her hands tightly pressed against her chest and fisting in the fabric of her shirt.

Her irises were shaking as her gaze slowly lifted to his, two, barely audible words slipping from her quivering lips, "…s-save me…"

Natsu's eyes widened as she sobbed, with those two words confirming his fears.

He was too late…and her brother was dead.

AN

Farewell, Sting…you will be dearly missed. I apologize for how short lived he was in this fic, but he will continue to influence things throughout the rest of the story, so he won't be forgotten so easily.

Yes, yes, we have a death already and we're only four chapters in. But don't be too concerned, because like I said before, there really won't be a ton of deaths in this story. There is one more coming up pretty soon and then a few at the end during the climax, but there won't be an overwhelming number like I've had in some of my fics before.

And yes, I did change the rating of this fic to T. I revised some of my plans and the scene for which this fic was originally rated m underwent some serious changes, so I bumped the rating down. I don't think it will, but it may go back up to m though as I finalize my plans for the ending, and I'll try to let you guys know in advance.

For all you Nalu fans who wanted Natsu to charge in and save Lucy, have no fear, he'll have plenty of opportunities to do so later. He'll go through a lot of changes really really soon as he experiences the final events that finish setting up for the main portion of this story, and from that point on, a large part of his character arc will revolve around him making up for his past mistakes, particularly for Gray's and Lucy's sakes. So have no fear, the Nalu will come eventually, and when we get there, the wait will have been well worth it, I promise.

For the next couple of chapters, Lucy's part in this story will be centrally focused on the aftermath of Sting's death, and the focus of this fic will momentarily shift more towards Natsu and Gray's stories as we finish setting things up. The next chapter is really heavy on the Gratsu bromance, and it has one of my fav scenes in it. I'm excited for you all to read it!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read!