CHAPTER 5
[A/N: heya guys JellyBean here bringing you yet another chapter, you guys are seriously awesome, I cant believe how many readers I have it makes me go all mushy inside! Don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you think, also feel free to PM me if you think I'm taking to long I wont mind :D]
SHOUT-OUTS GO TO: ROCKINGCASS12 – FOR BEING MY 70TH FOLLOWER AND COZ SHE'S MY S.A TWIN ;D
AND WaterDragonMaverick for being an awesome reader!
Erza was busy practicing her archery in the schools archery building, she had her hair tied up in a high pony-tail and was wearing her traditional archery gi.
She grabbed a few arrows from the store-room and started walking outside towards the targets; setting them at her preferred distance (which just so happened to be record-breaking). She walked back inside the building and looked towards the target.
[A/N: for traditional Japanese archery they have a long building and the targets are outdoors. As for the bow; it is as long as the person's body or slightly smaller, and can either be metallic in make or wooden, depending on your preference.]
She grabbed an arrow from her quiver and pulled back the bow, she closed one eye as she aimed for her targets center, she slowed her breathing and focused her mind, keeping her thoughts on one thing…
…Piercing her target.
She let the arrow fly and watched it hit the target right in the very center; she let out a breath of relief when it hit then loaded another arrow. She was about to let it fly until a persons voice interrupted her.
"Heya Erza, getting in some practice for the competition?"
Erza turned her head and saw a green-haired girl walking towards her who was also wearing her archery gi.
"Oh Bisca, yeah I figured I should use the free time to get some practice in, this competition is rather important" said Erza.
Bisca unwrapped her bow and started wiping it down, hers was metallic but very well-maintained, she nodded her head and went up to Erza.
"I hear ya, last year was pretty intense with that Mermaid Heel chick, what was her name again?" she asked as she pulled back the bow. She didn't bother moving the target coz it was just far enough for her, there was no way she could even scratch the distance Erza was at.
"Kagura, she's a very strict person, especially on herself, not only that but she isn't particularly fond of me either, so last year when she lost against me she took it rather hard" said Erza sadly.
Bisca hit her target on the mark then lowered her bow to look at Erza.
"No kiddin, girl was trying real hard not to cry, but those waterworks were quite a sight, heck I almost went over to her to give her a hug" she said.
Erza's face saddened at the memory, she felt so guilty about it but it wasn't in her nature to let people win, it wouldn't mean anything unless they won fair and square, and Kagura would have never forgiven her if she held back either.
"But I thought it was a bit uncalled for when she slapped your hand away when you went to shake hers, that girl really needs a chill-pill" said Bisca as she shot her arrow.
Erza frowned, she knew why Kagura was always so hateful towards her, and she just wished that Kagura could let go of the past.
She sighed then shot another arrow "It doesn't really bother me much, I just hope that this time there'll be less drama"
Bisca nodded her head and shot another arrow "I heard that, who knew people could get so high strung over archery, this is why I prefer my regular old rifle; way less drama to worry about" she said.
Erza smiled at Bisca, the girl could shoot literally anything with any kind of weapon, but she preferred guns to anything else.
"Speaking of which, how is Alzack doing these days?" she asked teasingly.
Bisca accidentally let go of her arrow and missed her shot completely, and looked at Erza with a red face.
"A-a-ah, h-h-h-how would I kn-kn-know, we aren't joined at the hip you know?" she answered nervously.
Erza chuckled at her friends' behavior, she and Alzack have been sending signals to each other for years now, but they were both too shy to make a move that it was painful to watch.
"Whatever you say, just make sure to do something about it before graduation, you have to say the things you feel before it's too late" she said as she let an arrow fly.
Bisca stared at Erza for a while, she felt like she was talking out of experience right then, and wondered about what happened to her.
She shook her head and took a deep breath before continuing to shoot, all the while thinking about what Erza said.
"Sweet dreams are made of these, who am I to-"
"Yes, this is Erza" she said as she answered her cell.
Bisca sweat dropped, Erza's love for sweets sure went deep, and it was kind of cute.
"They did what now?!" she yelled with a low growl.
A dark aura was forming around her, and right then Bisca knew what the problem was, she felt kind of bad for Erza who has to put up with those boys.
"I'll be right there, try to keep the rest of the student body out of the way, we don't want anymore injured students, and tell the nurse to have three beds ready as well" she said angrily as she hung up.
The nurse? Erza must really be ticked if she knows she's gonna beat them up that badly, and wait, three beds?
"So what did Natsu and Gray do this time?" asked Bisca curiously.
"Evidently they thought it would be funny to throw a paint-bomb in Gajeels locker, but they made it too big and now the entire hallway is drenched in pink paint, not to mention Gajeel was right in the middle of the explosion so he's on a rampage now" she said while pinching the bridge of her nose.
Bisca tried not to laugh, she really did, but the image of an angry PINK Gajeel was too much for her too handle and she keeled over and held her stomach from laughing so hard.
"S-s-so… G-G-Gajeel's… p-p-pink right now?!" she said in-between laughs, she was struggling to breath.
Erza; who failed to see the humor just nodded her head.
Those boys would be the death of her, and the poor headmaster was sure to get a heart attack from witnessing the carnage. She didn't care anymore, they ignored her warning and would now pay the price; but this time she would leave the punishment up to the headmaster.
"I better get there before they cause anymore destruction, I'll see you later Bisca!" she said as she ran back to the main building, while Bisca was still on the floor laughing.
Those guys are so dead.
"Where the hell are you Salamander, Ice-freak?! I'll knock your Goddamn heads off!"
Gajeel was running all around the school to find Natsu and kill him for bombing him with pink paint; his once unruly long black hair was now neon pink in colour, his arms were pink as well as his neck and face, his uniform was pink too but he threw off his shirt in irritation.
"When I get my hands on you guys, I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" he yelled angrily
He didn't care that everybody her walked past was laughing at him, all he cared about was finding Natsu and Gray and making them scream in anguish.
"You look totally ridiculous pin-cushion, or should I call you pink-cushion?!" yelled Natsu from around the corner, he was laughing at his own pun while Gray just groaned at his lame joke.
"Natsu you idiot, why did you make the paint-bomb so big, did you see what you did to the hallway?!" yelled Gray as he started shaking Natsu.
"Aw what's the big deal, so the hallway got a new paint job, who cares, better yet did you see Gajeel's face when it went off, it was so worth it!" said Natsu with a grin.
"This guy…" said Gray, Natsu was always more of a act now ask questions later kind of guy but this was just reckless, as if his reputation wasn't bad enough already now he had to go and make the hallway explode with pink paint.
He shuddered at the thought of what Erza would do to them when she found out.
"You guys are gonna pay for this!" yelled Gajeel as he charged towards Natsu and Gray with his fist pulled back; ready for the first punch.
"Alright, I'm all fired up now!" said Natsu as he got ready for a fight.
"Geez, what a bother" said Gray as he got ready for a fight.
Natsu, Gray and Gajeel were punching and kicking each other; creating mass chaos wherever they went. All the students were trying to get out of the way but some weren't so lucky…
"Cut it out guys, it's not manly to fight in the hallway-"
"Shut up!" yelled the three boys as they punched the poor guy out of the way.
"Poor Elfman…" said a dark-brown haired girl who was enjoying the fight from the side-lines, she was chugging something out of a water bottle, but everybody could tell that it wasn't water she was drinking.
"Cana-san, you really shouldn't be drinking, especially when we're at school" said a purple haired girl with glasses.
"Oh keep your panties on Laki, its fine~" said Cana with a slur.
Laki just sweat dropped, she knew there was no point trying to tell her to stop drinking; that would be like telling a fish to stop swimming.
Speaking of the impossible…
"Did you call Erza yet?" asked Laki.
Cana grinned "You betcha, she'll be here real soon~" she said evilly.
"Then shouldn't we tell them that she's coming so we can at least lessen the carnage when she gets here?" asked Laki seriously.
"And miss their terrified faces when she shows up?! No way, let em have their short-lived freedom till she gets here and just enjoy the show!" said Cana as she pulled Laki in for a side-hug and make her sit down next to her.
"Cana, you sound so evil right now…" said Laki nervously.
Cana laughed at Laki's comment "Coming from the girl with medieval torture devices in their room".
Laki blushed and kept her mouth shut; Cana got her on that one.
"You call that a punch you freaky pink-cushion!" yelled Natsu as he got back up from Gajeel's punch to his face.
"Shut up, and what right do you have to mock someone who got turned pink anyway!?" yelled Gajeel as he dodged Natsu's attack.
"Hey at least my hair looks manly, and its salmon!" yelled Natsu as he kicked Gajeel in the gut.
"Keep deluding yourself, anyone can tell that there ain't no difference between the two, and if anyone makes it looks manly its me!" yelled Gajeel as he head butted Natsu.
"Oi oi, it doesn't matter coz you guys are both pink; that in itself is the total opposite of manly" said Gray seriously.
"Shut up!" yelled Natsu and Gajeel as they punched Gray in the face.
"Bastards!" yelled Gray as he punched Natsu then kicked Gajeel.
They kept on beating the crap out of each other, completely unaware of the terror approaching them.
"Now the show's getting started" said Cana as she smirked evilly.
The boys suddenly felt a cold chill creep up their spines; stopping them dead in their tracks, they recognized that chill anywhere…
…ERZA!
"Of all the…idiotic…reckless…moronic things you have done… no words can express the depth of my anger" she said in a low growl.
She was holding her wooden katana in her hand as she stalked towards them, her eyes were glowing red and a dark aura was hovering over her head.
The guys' faces were white like ghosts, and they were sweating enough to fill a pool. They were all on their butts slowly crawling backwards to try and avoid the red-haired demon, but it was futile.
"Feel my anger as I place righteous punishment upon you!"
They were so dead.
After their near-death experience and a long trip to the infirmary, Erza dragged the three boys into headmaster Makarov's office to receive their punishment for what they did.
"Nooo, please Erza I can't go through THAT again, just beat me up instead please!" begged Natsu as he tried to get out of Erza's grip.
"Come on Erza it wasn't even my idea I swear, just please don't let Gramps do THAT to me again!" begged Gray as he also tried to escape from Erza's iron-grip.
"Will somebody please tell me what THAT is?! I'm freaking out here!" yelled Gajeel who was also being dragged by Erza.
"That's enough!" she yelled.
"Aye!" they said in unison.
"You boys have ignored my warnings for the last time, and honestly its such a bother trying to punish you myself and it seems that doesn't even work anymore, you've left me no choice but to involve the Master, so shut up and take your punishment like men!" yelled Erza as she continued down to Makarov's office.
Natsu and Gray were tearing up in misery, while Gajeel was nervous about this supposedly terrifying punishment, and they wouldn't tell him what it was!
"We're here" said Erza.
Natsu and Gray paled even more while Gajeel gulped nervously at the sight of Makarov's front door.
Erza knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter.
"You may enter" said a voice on the other side of the door.
Erza turned the knob with one hand while holding the boys by the collar with the other.
"Forgive my intrusion Master, I've brought them as you've requested" she said as she approached the headmasters desk.
"Thank you Erza, good work as always" said Makarov.
The headmaster had a thick white mustache and a bald spot on the top of his head, he was short in size; only reaching the kids to their knees, and was wearing blue pants, a white dress shirt with a red overcoat.
Erza nodded her head and glared at the boys, causing them to flinch.
"Sit" she ordered.
The boys then scrambles to sit in the chairs placed in front of Makarov's desk, they kept their eyes glued to the floor and their hands on their laps.
"Now Natsu" said Makarov
Natsu flinched at the mention of his name but sat up straight to look at Makarov.
"H-hai!" he said nervously.
"You and Gray were the ones who put the paint bomb in Gajeel's locker correct?" asked Makarov.
Natsu nodded his head; he was never a very good liar so he didn't even bother trying.
"I see, now tell me… just what in the heck were you thinking!?" yelled Makarov as he got up from his chair to jump on his table in anger.
"Why in the heck would you make a paint-bomb that big in the first place, I would have let it slide as a childish prank if it only affected Gajeel-"
"Hey!"
"-but for you to make one that redecorated an entire hallway, that's going completely overboard!" he yelled while shaking his fist in Natsu's face.
Natsu's face contorted uncomfortably at the accusations thrown at him.
"You boys are gonna send me to an early grave if you keep this up" said Makarov with tears running down his face.
Erza glared at the boys, causing them to cower in fear. Once Makarov finally calmed down he stared at the boys.
"Ahem, as for your punishment I think the first order of business would be that you two clean that pink mess you made" he said while pointing at Natsu and Gray.
They gaped and were about to protest but a glare from Erza shut them up quickly.
"Forgive me Master, but surely that's not the only punishment they'll be receiving is it? I highly doubt it will be enough to get the message across" asked Erza curiously.
Makarov grinned mischievously and had en evil glint in his eyes which made the guys swallow nervously.
"Glad you asked Erza, actually that's just the first half of their punishment" he said with a grin.
"Wah!?" exclaimed the boys.
"If I only made you boys clean the mess that wouldn't be much fun for me, and there's also Gajeel's punishment to consider" he said.
"What the hell did I do, ain't I the victim here!?" yelled Gajeel angrily.
"You provoked the situation by bolting Natsu's locker shut in the first place! Not to mention the chaos you caused while you boys were fighting in the hall!" yelled Makarov while stomping his feet angrily.
Gajeel opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out, mostly he was wondering how Makarov knew that he was the one who bolted Natsu's locker in the first place, so he just looked away angrily.
"That's what I thought, now you three shall be sharing this half of the punishment as to avoid any 'unfair treatment' you may feel" he said while using air quotes for unfair treatment.
The boys gulped nervously all praying that they didn't receive anything too harsh, especially Natsu and Gray; who have received his punishment before.
"Now your punishment will be…"
Makarov dragged the silence for a good minute until Natsu snapped under the suspense.
"Just tell us already Gramps, we're dying here!" he yelled.
Makarov chuckled to himself then shot the boys a playful grin.
"…You three are to be Erza's errand boys for an entire month and listen to whatever she says, or else she has permission to punish you herself!" he yelled while pointing at Erza with an evil grin.
When the guys heard this their eyes were as wide as dinner plates, their mouths gaping open and they looked like they got kicked in-between their legs.
Erza was surprised by this form of punishment, but it seemed to scare the boys enough with just the thought of it, so she accepted their punishment gladly.
Not to mention she would now have three man-servants at her beck and call for an entire month; oh she would enjoy this.
[A/N: Hehehehehe, enter sadist Erza…]
"E-Erza's… errand… boys…" they said shakily.
"Fufufufu~ this will be interesting~" said Erza with an evil glint in her eyes while crossing her arms over her chest.
"Please Gramps; can't you just do THAT to us instead? I promise I'll behave~" cried Natsu as he begged with tears in his eyes.
"That's just too cruel even for you Gramps" cried Gray, immediately losing his usual cool demeanor from the thought of working for Erza for a month.
"I'd rather eat nuts and bolts than listen to Titania for that long" said Gajeel while staring at the ground fearfully.
"Well that's all for now, now get out ya brats!" said Makarov as he waved goodbye.
They were all in a catatonic state and couldn't move at all; with a sigh Erza grabbed the boys' collars and dragged them out the same way she dragged them in, she was just out the door when Makarov's voice made her stop.
"Oh and by the way your punishment begins now" he said.
The boys snapped out of their frozen state immediately and felt fear crawl up their backs as they saw his office door close.
They all looked up at Erza and noticed the scary smirk she was wearing and felt like they would piss their pants any second.
"Nooooooo!"
School was over and Lucy was on her way home; exhausted from the days events. She kept worrying about the archery competition. She had heard from the students what happened last year when they lost against Fairy Tail and couldn't believe what she heard.
She had no idea how much Kagura really wanted to defeat them, and to find out that she actually cried when she lost last year, that must have been devastating for her, it was no wonder she begged so hard for Lucy's help.
Lucy kept sighing to herself the whole way home and didn't even notice that she was already at the top stairs of her shrine.
"Hime, is something bothering you?"
Lucy's head shot up to find the source of the voice and she saw her long-time family friend Virgo; dressed in shrine maiden clothing while holding a broom in her hands.
"Oh Virgo, no it's nothing, and would ya stop calling me 'Hime'? I'm not 5 years old anymore you know" asked Lucy with a shy smile.
"Forgive me Hime, but I don't think that's possible, I've just gotten used to it, calling you anything else wouldn't be right" she said with her usual stoic expression.
Lucy giggled at Virgo's behavior; she never changes.
"So what troubles you, does someone require punishment?" she asked a little eagerly.
Lucy sweat dropped and gave a nervous smile; Virgo's masochistic tendencies haven't changed either.
"N-no nothing like that Virgo, I've just got a lot on my mind right now" said Lucy trying to avoid anymore talk of punishments.
"Would it help if you spoke to me about it, I am a very good listener" she asked with a ghost of a smile.
Lucy waved her hand in front of her face "No its fine, I think its something I have to figure out for myself, but thanks anyway" she said with a smile as she ran into her house; which was next to the shrine itself.
Virgo stared at the retreating girls figure and smiled a small smile.
"Hime is really too kind; not wanting me to worry about her by keeping her problems to herself… I hope she'll be ok" she said while sweeping the courtyard of the shrine.
"Tadaima!" said Lucy as she opened her front door.
She knew she wouldn't get a response; knowing her dad he was most likely in the shrine praying at this time.
She ran upstairs into her room and got changed into her shrine maiden clothes, and tied her hair into a high ponytail, with a few strands hanging in the front.
Once she checked herself in her body length mirror and found herself to look presentable she went downstairs, picked up her bow and quiver full of arrows from her storage closet, and made her way to the shrines archery range near the side of the building.
She wanted to get as much practice in as possible for the competition as she could; she didn't want to disappoint Kagura, especially considering how much faith she had placed in her.
Considering how strict Kagura was Lucy wouldn't be surprised if she decided to commit seppuku if she lost again. She started freaking out at the thought of Kagura doing that just because of her.
"Oh Kami, what if I screw up and she DOES commit seppuku!? She does own a whole collection of authentic katana's so she has the means for it! Gaaaahhhh! Or what if she decides to go through some crazy torture regime!?" she yelled while scratching her head in panic, she was feeling a little pressured.
When she finally calmed down she realized that she let her imagination wander into craziness again and sighed in frustration.
"Oh man, I gotta learn to control my stupid brain, people will start to think I'm completely crazy with the things I come up with." She whined to herself.
"I thought it was kinda cute"
Her eyes widened when she remembered what Natsu had said to her about her over-active imagination, and she blushed at the memory.
She placed her hands on her cheeks and felt the heat emanating from them.
"W-whats wrong with me, why do I feel so funny?" she asked softly.
"Miss Lucy is that you?"
Lucy's head turned to the voice and she spotted her archery teacher eyeing her curiously, she blushed again, and hoped that he didn't hear her talking to herself.
"Oh Sagittarius-sensei, I didn't know you were coming today" she said with a small smile trying to cover her blush.
"Moshi moshi, yes well I just wanted to check if your skills have softened since the last time I was here, you are after all one of my most promising students" he said while saluting no-one in particular.
Lucy giggled at his behavior "Oh come on Sensei you don't have to flatter me so much, I'm not worthy of such praise" she said with slight pink in her cheeks.
"As usual Miss Lucy doesn't give herself the credit she deserves, it makes me question how well my teaching is" he said in mock sadness.
Lucy started to panic, the last thing she wanted was to upset her teacher "Ah, n-n-no Sensei, your teaching skills are amazing, in fact the only reason I got this good was because of you!" she said while flailing her hands around.
Sagittarius smirked; glad that his student was at least admitting she has skills.
"Well that's good to hear, so why don't we have a little test to see if you're as good as I remember" he said while loading his arrow.
Lucy smiled, finally glad to have her mind focused on something else, and she wasn't one to deny a challenge from a good friend.
"Your on, give me your best shot Sensei!" she said with a grin while also loading her arrow.
For now; all she would focus on would be having fun.
Natsu was walking home after an EXHAUSTING day at school, never feeling so tired in his life. Of all things; to be stuck as Erza's man-servant for an entire month, he wasn't sure he would survive it, he felt pretty sure that she'd kill him within the first week.
"Man this sucks, and to make it worse I have to work with the snow-cone and the walking pink pin-cushion, how am I suppose to find a way to see Lucy n-" he stopped in his tracks when he realized what he was saying. He wanted to go out of his way… to see a girl?
He groaned in embarrassment "And to think that those guys got it out of me on the first day, I am so pathetic" he cried as he remembered that he told Gray and Erza about her.
He scratched his head trying to get rid of the memory, then pulled his scarf over the bottom half of his face to hide his embarrassment; which was not helping in the slightest because the scarf still had that sweet 'Lucy smell' to it; as he now called it.
He continued walking home with a small smile on his face; he didn't know why, but he felt like he would see her again soon.
"Lucy… why do I keep thinking about you?"
[A/N: And done! Whew heya guys hope you liked this chapter, decided to make Erza the lead for a bit, not sure if I mentioned this before but this isnt only a NALU fic, its just mostly about them, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more pairings in the making ;D OH AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!]