Chapter 3: Burning Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or High School DxD. The former is owned by Hiro Mashima and the latter is owned by Ichiei Ishibumi.

Akeno had used her lightning magic to light up another flash to distract Natsu and quickly teleport away. She didn't go too far though considering her physical condition and doing it so suddenly. She was now laying against a tree and she could still see Natsu and the others, but she was far enough to be hidden from their view.

Akeno watched the whole scene with a curious look on her face. She saw how the blue-haired woman embraced Natsu with a look of pure joy on her face. Then, the muscular man with white hair helped Natsu onto his feet. He hit Natsu on the back in a friendly manner, but accidently made him fall over again. With that, the scarlet-haired woman knocked the white-haired man to the ground as well with an annoyed look on her face. This time, the girl with long black hair and the girl with blue hair got on either side of Natsu and began carrying him away with the other two following.

"His friends were so happy to see him and they care so much about his well-being." Akeno said with curiosity. This was foreign to Akeno considering how her own guild mates have treated her. She was never really close to them except for two in particular. Whenever she was badly beaten in battle, they showed no sympathy for her and were disappointed by her performance. Her "father" had her train hard every day and was unpleased with her most of the time because of his high expectations.

"We were both raised and abandoned by our dragons, but we found completely different people. He has incredible power and great friends by his side." She remembered how close he and his friends were with each other when she was spying on them in town.

"I thought I could overcome my fear…. but I failed." Akeno thought as she remembered how she just froze up when she was surrounded by Natsu's flames. The sensation of burning flames was just too much for her to handle. "When he was charging up his magic in that pillar of fire I didn't even recognize Natsu. All I could see was…"Him"." Akeno's body cringed in fear at the thought of that terrible person. Akeno wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her head in them. She stayed like that for a while until she was ready to start moving again.

The Next Day, hospital...

Natsu slowly awakened from his long slumber as he took in his surroundings.

"Huh." Natsu said as he was confused by the barren, white room that only contained the bed he was laying in and a few chairs.

"This is a crappy looking hotel room." Natsu remarked on the scene.

"That's because it's a hospital Natsu."

Natsu quickly turned to the direction of the voice and saw Levy sitting in a chair by his bed with an amused look on her face. Levy wore a long bright orange shirt that went down to her waist with long sleeves separated by her shoulders. She also wore long black tights and soft dark-red shoes high above her ankles. Her usual yellow headband tied her back with a flower clip attached to it and her long blue bangs sticking out. Natsu wore a look of disappointment, not because of Levy, but the current setting.

"Seriously!" Natsu yelled. I didn't get messed up that bad. I've been through much worse than this. It wasn't worth going to the hospital for. Natsu tried to sit up, but slightly cringed in pain from the cuts and bruises all over his body.

"Don't give me that mister. Like it or not, you still had some serious injuries. You were covered in blood when we finally found you." Levy said in a stern tone.

"Oh yeah that reminds me. How did you guys find me anyway?" Natsu asked her calming down almost instantly and gave Levy a confused look.

"You're joking right. We could hear the explosion from that last move you made from miles away. I bet the guys back at Fairy Tail could hear it." Natsu let out a small laugh.

"That was actually pretty good. My humor must be rubbing off on you." Natsu said with a big grin. Levy was very relieved to see that he was recovering great and was still his same old self.

"I know I may have overdid it with that last attack, but I learned that move for a reason."

"Tell that to half the forest that's now burnt to a crisp." Levy replied.

"Oh come on! It did not cover that much area!" Natsu shouted with tick marks on his head. Levy giggled at his small outburst. Everyone loved to tease Natsu and get him all riled up, especially Levy. She thought he was cute when he responded like that.

"Alright I'm done teasing you, let's get serious now." Levy said regaining her composure. "What kind of mage were you fighting anyway because there were claw marks all over your body and unfortunately your jacket was torn to shreds?" Natsu then realized nothing was covering his upper body under the covers.

"Don't worry about it, I have another one of those jackets back at home." Natsu said slightly disappointed. Don't let the claw marks fool you into thinking I was fighting that cat-lady, Millianna. Surprisingly it was a mage from the major dark guild, Grimoire Heart."

Levy gasped and opened her mouth in shock.

"Seriously, that's one of the dark guilds from the Balam Alliance!" Levy exclaimed. "Forget what I said; you were right to use that powerful move!" Natsu grinned as he was satisfied that she finally understood, but then the fight started flashing back in his mind.

"She definitely had a lot of magic power, but I felt like she wasn't using her full potential. Akeno definitely had the edge at the beginning, but she just suddenly fell apart and couldn't think straight. That face of pure terror was only there for a short moment, but it is permanently etched in my mind. She was calm and reserved the whole time then in an instant she's overfilling with rage. What did she mean by those words?"

"I won't let you hurt me again!"

"This time I'm going to win!"

"We just met, but she made it sound like we have fought countless times before. I have a feeling that it is far from over with the lightning dragon-slayer."

"Natsu are you even listening to me!" Natsu was awoken from his deep thoughts and saw Levy glaring at him in an irritated manner.

"Sorry Levy, but I seriously wasn't" Natsu replied bluntly. He has been caught daydreaming countless times by his friends and just gave up on coming with excuses. Most of the time it was during Ezra's countless lectures which earned him a knock on the head.

"Ugh." Levy sighed. "Well, at least you're honest." Levy looked down in disappointment. Levy was always trying to get Natsu's attention and got really depressed whenever he just ignored her. Suddenly, a light bulb went off over her head and her lips formed a mischievous smirk.

"This can't be good" Natsu thought as he noticed the look on Levy's face.

"If you're not listening to me then I have a way to keep your attention." Levy said with mischief in her voice

"Red flag! Red flag!" Natsu screamed inside his head. Levy slowly got up and sat on Natsu's bed and started taking off her shoes. Natsu tried to get up to avoid the situation, but Levy pushed him back down lightly with her hand.

"Where do you think you're going?" Levy said in a sly tone. She then moved her whole body onto the bed and cuddled up next to Natsu holding his arm like a pillow. Natsu had a flustered look on his bright red face. Levy smiled in pleasure as she knew she got his attention now. She thought he looked even cuter when he got embarrassed like this. Normally she was more reserved around him, but she decided to step up her game after that last meeting with Kagura.

Natsu let Levy stay in her position for a few minutes until he finally said something."Levy c-c-come on. You're making me feel uncomfortable here. It's only a matter of time before someone walks in and misinterprets the situation." Natsu said nervously.

"Would you relax it's no big deal. Don't act like you don't love it." Levy said as she nuzzled Natsu's arm.

"Of course. Why would it be a big deal to you? I'm just going to get blamed for this no matter what we say." Natsu said getting annoyed now. He wasn't about to admit that this position actually felt kind of nice.

"Don't worry about them. That crazy swords-woman had to go head back to Mermaid Heel to help Millianna with something. Also, I'm sure our friends will understand." Levy was very content that she had Natsu all to herself now.

"You comprehend that you're talking about Erza. Right?" Natsu asked her like she was insane.

"Who's talking about me?" A voice suddenly spoke up. Natsu felt like gray had just used iced shell over his entire body as he slowly turned his head to see Erza leaning against the doorway like she's been standing there for a while. She was wearing her usual custom-made Heart Kreuz armor, a blue skirt, and black boots. She also had on her metal gauntlets that went up to her elbows that went with her armor.

"I KNEW IT!" Natsu screamed inside his head. Natsu wanted to say words, but he was panicking so much that nothing came out of his mouth.

"I'm dearly sorry to interrupt Levy, but I need to have a word with Natsu. You can have him again when I'm finished with him...and hopefully in a more appropriate setting.

"No problem Erza!" Levy said quickly as she got her shoes back on.

"Don't leave me alone with her" Natsu thought as Levy ran out the door.

"Sorry Natsu, but you're on your own" Levy thought as if responding to him telepathically.

Erza proceeded to enter the room and shut the door behind her to give them some privacy. "That doesn't make me feel any better." Natsu thought.

Erza walked over to Natsu and sat down on the chair next to his bed. Erza put on her most genuine smile for Natsu.

"Why are you so uneasy Natsu? We are just two friends conversing aren't we?" Erza said nicely surprisingly.

"This is even scarier than her just lashing out at me. It's like she's playing it cool while she thinks of various ways to punish me." Natsu thought.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Is something wrong? How are your wounds healing up?" She questioned him with concern.

Natsu finally calmed down enough to reply to Erza. "I'm doing all right. My wounds aren't that serious and are healing up fine."

"Excellent, that all I needed to hear." Erza said in satisfaction. The moment Natsu had been expecting finally came. In an instant, Erza's fist impacted Natsu's head with great force. A large bump was already forming on Natsu's head.

"That's for turning a chunk of the forest into ashes!" Erza shouted furiously. Erza grabbed him up and sent another impact rocketing into the other side of Natsu's head. "And that's for being indecent in a public hospital!"

Natsu was in pain again, but he was relieved that the punishment finally came. "You know Erza with a friend like you dying doesn't sound so bad...wait did I just say that or think that." Natsu said as he clamped his mouth shut with his hand. Erza re-quipped a sword and stabbed it into the bed centimeters from Natsu's head.

"That can be arranged." Erza said with a calm tone and for some reason her face was partially shadowed with glowing yellow eyes like headlights.

"I'm s-s-sorry. I will try to be less reckless next t-t-time." Natsu replied nervously with fear on his face. Erza put her sword away and sat back down. Natsu flinched when her hand was moving towards his head again, but all she did was run her hands through his hair.

"I would appreciate it Natsu." Erza said warmly. "Don't get me wrong; I am impressed by that amazing new technique you unlocked, but you need to understand that it should only be used when absolutely necessary. That's a big part of being an S-class mage. You need to take into account how your actions will affect the surroundings and people around you. I know it's hard to resist the temptation of using your true power, but your magic is highly unstable and could cause mass destruction.

Natsu gave her a serious look and nodded his head. He has heard these words many times before, but when he gets caught up in the heat of battle his rational thinking goes out the window.

"I did overact, but that assassin had some powerful magic and was really motivated to end me." Natsu said referring to Akeno.

"What do you mean by that?" Erza asked being confused.

"That woman treated the situation like it was business at first, but something happened that made hate every ounce of my being." Natsu replied as an image of Akeno glaring at him menacingly appeared in his head.

"You don't remember ever seeing her before or hearing the name" Erza asked

"No I've never met her before in my life, but she spoke to me like we have fought each other before. Not only that, but when I finished her off it seemed like she was crying out from sadness more than pain." Natsu said

"I understand your confusion. Who knows what of kind of background she has? Since she got away like you said, there is a chance we will find out."

"Yeah, but she may not make the same mistake as last time." Natsu said as he remembered how Akeno just took his attack head-on. "Anyways...we can discuss this with The Old Man once we get back to the guild. Right now, I need food before I can do more thinking" Erza smiled at Natsu's response.

"Good thinking. You already missed breakfast and lunch today." Natsu's eyes widened. "Say what!" Natsu shouted. He completely forgot about the fatigue and hopped out of bed and through the door.

Erza sighed. "I better go bring him a shirt before he causes a commotion."

Somewhere else,

Akeno was currently in an empty town that looked to be devoid of life. The town was ravaged badly like it was in the middle of an apocalypse. She was walking around looking for any sign of life, but found nothing. Her gaze met a broken glass window of a building and she gasped that the reflection showed a younger version of herself. Flames suddenly erupted around the entire town. These flames were different though. They were black in color and had evil aura to them. Akeno collapsed to the ground and stared at the flames in fear as there was no escape from them.

"Found you!" Akeno suddenly heard a voice call out to her in a malicious tone.

The flames around her formed into a giant pair of jaws and snapped around her whole body trapping her inside.

"AAAHHHHH!" Akeno screamed in utter agony at the pain of the black flames.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The voice was now cackling in pure enjoyment at the sound of Akeno's screams.

Akeno woke up from her nightmare and sprung out of bed nearly knocking over the person standing beside her. She was taking a lot of deep breaths as she realized that she was in the Grimoire Heart infirmary. She had gotten back to the guild two days since her fight with Natsu after she had contacted Ultear on her communication lacrima. Since she was in such a bad shape that she needed Ultear's assistance to get back to the guild. Ultear didn't mind since she was one of the two people in the guild that really cared for Akeno. For some reason, she seemed to have more bruises on her body than before she arrived at the guild.

"What's wrong Akeno?" A voice yelled with her concern. Akeno turned to the side to see a short, young girl with short, pink hair. She had some sort of gold-like headgear around her ears. She had on a tight purple leotard with brownish thigh-high boots that has white stripes at the top. Over her uniform, she wore a red cape with a golden lining around the edges.

"Another nightmare?" The young girl asked. Akeno just nodded at her question.

"It's alright. Thanks for watching over me Meredy." Akeno said to the young girl and gave her a small smile.

Meredy sat on her bed and gave her a big hug.

"I will be here for you even if no one else will." Meredy whispered in Akeno's ear.

Akeno's smile grew bigger at her words. She was glad that there were at least two people that really mattered to her.

There you go folks. I hope you guys enjoyed the NastuxLevy scene. He's gonna have small moments with her and Kagura until he's officially with Akeno. I like to you use those two as well because there aren't too many fanfics pairing them with Natsu. Thanks for all of the favorites/follows.

Review Responses:

To DarkPlasmaDragon: Thanks for the feedback. I may have introduced Akeno too soon, but it's too late to change that now. There won't be any more ORC members or anyone else from DxD in this story. I hope you enjoy how the story turns out.

To Mexican Ninja1996: Thanks for the positive review. I really appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

See you next time…