Twenty-Five - Laxus Dreyar
Laxus was not in a good mood, not that that was different from normal. Six times already, he had denied the request to be the faculty advisor for the swim team. Those girls were persistent, but he was stubborn. That didn't mean that they weren't getting to him, however. His irritation had been slowly building and he was about ready to snap.
"Hey, Laxus-"
"WHAT?!" he shouted at the intruder in his quiet bedroom. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" He spun around in his desk chair and froze when his eyes fell on the white-haired woman in his doorway that had her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. "Uh, Mira," he said sheepishly. "Sorry, I-"
"If you're just going to shout at me, I'll leave," she huffed, turning away.
"Wait!" he said, jumping to his feet and grabbing her wrist. "I'm sorry I yelled."
"And?" she said expectantly.
"And I'm sorry I swore," he grumbled.
"Hmm," she said. "You don't seem very sorry."
"Mira," he complained.
"No, it's too late," she said. "I'll just be on my way. I'll have dinner with the girls tonight instead."
"Don't be like that," he said. "I really am sorry."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes," he said.
"Very sorry?" she continued.
"Yes," he said, more slowly as he noticed a malicious glint in her eye.
"Will you do anything to make it up to me?" she asked, her expression practically evil at that point.
"Mira, please don't," he pleaded.
"There's one way to show me how sorry you are," she said.
"Mira, no," he said.
She shrugged. "I guess I'll be going then."
"Okay, fine," he said. "I'll be their damn-" Her eyes flashed and Laxus backpedalled. "I'll be their faculty advisor."
"Hooray!" she exclaimed, clapping and smiling. "I love you, Laxus!"
"Yeah, whatever," he grumbled. She stuck out her bottom lip at him and he rolled his eyes. "I love you too," he said. She started humming as she skipped away. "I'm not getting in the water!" he called after her. She just laughed and he slammed his door. "Shit," he said. "How did this happen?"
-.-.-
The next afternoon, he begrudgingly made his way to the pool. He hadn't even realized that Fairy Hills had a pool, but apparently the girls had cleaned it up and gotten it ready to use. He stayed far back from the water. His usual interactions with swimming pools always seemed to end badly. Four times he had managed to get himself electrically shocked.
"Laxus, aren't you going to swim?" Lisanna asked from the edge of the water.
He shook his head firmly and frowned.
"Oh, you know Laxus," Mirajane's voice said from over his shoulder. He turned to see her sauntering over in her bikini. "He's just afraid of the water."
"I am not!" he protested, letting his eyes linger on his girlfriend longer than he probably should have. "Why are you here?"
"Breaking in the pool!" she smiled. "You should join me."
She purposefully batted her eyelashes at him and leaned forward adorably. He almost caved in until she began to wander towards the pool.
"I'll pass," he mumbled. "I don't even need to be here, right? You don't need me at meetings, do you?"
"No, I suppose not," Aquarius said. "We'll only need you for things that concern the school."
"Then I'm leaving," he said. "It's just creepy for a guy to sit here and watch a bunch of girls in their swimsuits."
"Aw, Laxus," Mira started.
"You won't convince me," he assured her. "Besides, I have to help the old man with preparations for Tenrou."
"He's nearly done," Mira said.
"Then it shouldn't take long," he said, waving as he walked off. "Have fun swimming. Don't get electrocuted."
-.-.-
Makarov was hanging up the phone when Laxus walked into his office at the foster home. The old man sighed and turned to a stack of papers, speaking to Laxus over his shoulder.
"They changed our flight arrangements at the last moment," he grumbled. "The plane we were scheduled for broke down or something. They moved us to a smaller one." He sighed. "At least there won't be so many other people on board for you brats to annoy."
Laxus chuckled. "That's a good point," he said. "Do we leave at the same time, at least?" he asked.
"Four hours earlier," Makarov groaned.
"Four in the morning?" Laxus complained. "We'd better get our money back."
"They did give us a massive discount, which helped, considering so many people will be going," Makarov said, exiting the office. "Maybe Natsu and the other loud ones will just sleep and we won't have any issues."
"You should have demanded a full refund!" Laxus exclaimed, following him. "You're just gonna let them walk all over you?!"
"Watch your tone, Laxus," Makarov warned quietly as the other foster kids in the vicinity glanced over. "I told you yesterday, you're on thin ice."
"Maybe I'd have a better tone if you'd stop being such a wimp," Laxus growled.
"That is it!" Makarov exclaimed. "You are hereby grounded!"
"Tch," Laxus scoffed. "I'm a grown ass man. You can't ground me."
"Tenrou," Makarov said icily. "You won't be going."
"You already bought the tickets," Laxus reminded him.
"Yours can go to someone else! Uhh..." Makarov said, looking around. He pointed toward Gajeel, who was in the middle of a tutoring session with Levy. "Gajeel will go instead!"
"Eh?" Gajeel grunted. "Where am I going?"
"Pay attention, Gajeel," Levy scolded.
Laxus was fuming as Makarov continued to tell at him. "Now get out of my sight!"
Laxus didn't speak, he simply stormed out the front door and slammed it behind him.