Chapter 4 is finally here! *cries tears of joy*
Gray snorted at the two people in front of him. "What?" he asked, snickering at Lucy's expression.
"So it is true," Lucy spoke, "you went to Erza's on Saturday? And you didn't tell any of us?!"
"Yeah, I did." He shrugged at her disbelieving expression. "You guys know she's going through another breakup, I was just there to help her out."
"And it wasn't a big deal at a-" Lucy was saying, when Natsu propped his arm on top of her head.
"Hey now, someone sounds a little jealous!" he joked.
Lucy frowned as she shook his arm off. "Of course I am! It's very un-Erza-like behavior."
Gray shrugged. "Well, she looks fine. Erza!" he called. Their friend was down the hall, closing her locker.
Hearing Gray the redhead made her way over, nodding at each of them. "Hello." she greeted, and turned to Gray, "Did you finish the calc homework Mr. Alors gave out? I didn't understand a single thing."
Gray shook his head. "He never explains anything. I'll probably read about it later."
Erza clicked her tongue. "The only thing worse than a useless teacher is a useless classmate." she stated, shaking her head. Gray opened his mouth to protest, when another voice interrupted.
"Well well well, what's going on over here?" Mira asked, her head popping up between Gray and Erza's shoulders.
Erza arched an eyebrow at the white-haired girl. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"
"So, it's true? You guys made up?" she prodded, placing her hands on Gray and Erza's shoulders.
"Yeah, we're cool now." Gray shrugged.
Erza nodded in agreement, "Yes. And stop being creepy." she spoke, shaking Mira's hand off her shoulder.
"Sure." Mira nodded, and arched a suggestive eyebrow at the two of them. "But you know what I think? I think you guys should-"
Lucy interjected, clearing her throat. "-Hey, I saw Freed walking to the library, don't you need to help him?" she interrupted. She dealt enough with Natsu and Gray's fights, the last thing she needed was one with Mira and Erza.
Mira pouted at her, but nodded. "Actually, I do. I have to give him my Spanish notes."
"Oh, that's all you're giving him?" Gray joked. Erza slapped his arm as he snickered.
Mira sent him a glare, before walking away. Lucy turned to Erza. "Anyway, how have you been doing Erza? You're okay?" she asked.
"You seem normal-ish." Natsu chimed in.
Erza nodded. "Yeah, I've been fine, it's- " A head of blue hair caught her eye. She looked to see Jellal leaning against a locker, his back to her. He was talking to someone...She saw the expected head of dark purple hair. She felt the familiar, bitter taste of betrayal. The redhead suddenly pulled out her phone, checking the time. "It's almost 8:10, Gray. We should be going to Calc."
Gray frowned. "Now? We still have- " But Erza started walking, not valuing Gray's input in the slightest. He sighed, waving to Natsu and Lucy. "See you guys later." he said, and turned to catch up with Erza. "Slow down, would ya? You're rivaling a cheetah at this speed…" he muttered.
"I'd slow down if we were on time, but according to my clock, we're not."
"Yeah, your clock." he muttered.
"What was that?"
"N-nothing!" Gray blurted out. She gave him a warning glare, but saw something past him and quickly turned around. Curious, Gray looked back the slightest bit, following her gaze. He saw Jellal with Ultear, the two now walking down the hall. He looked back to Erza, frowning slightly. She wouldn't care that much. he hoped.
It's not like how it was before. Two people can talk in the hall. It's nothing. Things are different now, it's-
"-Can you explain the second pre-lab question to me?"
Erza snapped out of her thoughts, turning to the the boy in front of her. "Fine." she agreed, eyes narrowed. She hoped he noticed her irritated tone. But Gray remained clueless, placing his paper on top of hers and explaining his problem. She flinched his sudden closeness- she could smell his cologne, see the threads of fabric that made up his purple Hawaiian shirt, and feel the warmth of his body next to her.
The feeling of deja vu waved over her as her thoughts immediately jumped to Gray's impromptu visit over the weekend. And by default, they jumped to how she saw Jellal this morning. Her face reddened as the same feeling of embarrassment passed over her body.
"-So do we use sample 2 or sample 4?" Gray finished, looking to Erza for an answer.
Erza glared at him, ignoring his entire question. "Look, I'm not your answer key, Gray." she snapped. "Get your answers from Lyon, or Juvia, or anyone else."
Gray almost laughed, caught off-guard by her sudden mood swing. "Okay, what did I do now? Your stress wrinkle just got ten times bigger. " he asked sarcastically, referring to the crease in Erza's forehead that appeared when she was worried. "Did you forget your lunch again?" Erza simply turned away from him. Gray leaned towards her, a look of concern on his face. "Is this about Jellal and Ultear?" he asked, voice lowered.
Erza's eyes widened in surprise. How did he know? But she shook her head. "It's not your place to ask." she stated dismissively.
Gray frowned, taking his paper. "Well, okay, but you can tell me if- " He watched as Erza suddenly turned to her paper, away from him. "Jeez. Whatever you're angry about, don't take it out on me. It's one thing to yell, but another to-"
"-Do you ever stop talking?!" she hissed, shaking her head, glaring as she looked him up and down. "And of all the clothes you strip, why isn't that stupid shirt one of them…"
Gray looked at her in disbelief. He opened his mouth to retaliate, but something held him back. He simply shook his head, walking back to his seat on the other side of the room.
In another row, Juvia watched the two with a giddy smile, squealing at the couple's discordance. "You look very happy." a voice spoke. She turned to her left and saw Lyon looking at her, an interested expression on his face.
She placed her pencil on her open notebook, smiling to herself. "Yes. Juvia's noticed that Gray and Erza aren't getting along anymore."
Lyon frowned, her response clearly not what he expected. "Oh. So?"
"So?! It's the perfect opportunity. Juvia knows exactly what Gray likes. He's practically Juvia's." she squealed.
Lyon's face reddened as he heard her enthusiasm for Gray. "Uh, yeah, sure...um…" he stammered, looking the blue haired girl over, "Y-y'know, your hair looks really nice today."
Juvia frowned at his comment. "What?" she asked, confused as to why he even cared. They talked semi-often in this class, but she still didn't know him that well.
Lyon shook his head, turning away from the blue-haired girl. "Nothing." he told her, trying to work on the homework sheet in front of him.
"Look, Lyon, Juvia appreciates your compliment, but she only accepts compliments from Gray-sama." she told him, sticking up her nose. She hoped he couldn't tell she was lying. But then again her statement wasn't exactly a lie; it just hadn't happened yet.
"Well, obsession isn't the way to a man's heart." he murmured, still staring at his chemistry worksheet.
Juvia scoffed at him. "Excuse?" she exclaimed, but Lyon was working dutifully on his worksheet. She turned back to her own worksheet as well. How rude! she thought, chest puffed defensively. But beneath her anger, something about Lyon's words struck her.
Lucy stared at the boy in front of her, unsure of what to think. "You...you what?" she asked, but she had a feeling the answer wouldn't change her confused state. Natsu whined loudly below her. She wasn't sure what had happened: she and Levy were walking from gym and went to her locker like usual, but all she saw next was a sudden flash of pink hair, and then Natsu on the ground. He was complaining about something, but between their distance and his garbled words she couldn't understand a thing he was saying.
"I said, my stomach hurts! You know how important my stomach is to me!" Natsu wailed, clutching his stomach in desperation.
Levy giggled. "That sounds like a 'you' problem."
Lucy laughed as she looked down at him, rolling her eyes. "C'mon Natsu, you look awful down there!" she spoke, holding a hand out to the pink haired boy.
Natsu took her hand, slowly standing up. "I don't know, Luce. I definitely look better than Gray, right?"
Lucy frowned. "Why, what happened to Gray?"
"We can ask him." Natsu spoke, waving over the dark haired boy that was walking towards them. Gray reached their spot, hands in his pockets and a frown on his face. "You look like shit. Erza beat you up again?" Natsu asked, brows furrowed in concern.
Gray rolled his eyes. "She freaked out at me in Chem. Again." He shook his head. "Makes no sense."
"But Jellal did just break up with her. Of course she's snappier than usual." Lucy pointed out.
"I don't care. She doesn't have to take it out on me."
"Didn't you guys already talk?" Levy asked, confused.
Gray nodded. "We did. But she's still acting the same." He shook his head. "It's like I didn't help her." The bell rang, signaling that there was a minute till the next class started. "I'll catch you guys later." he said, before leaving down the hall.
Natsu snorted. "Since when did Gray care that much?" he snickered.
Levy, on the other hand, turned to Lucy. "What was that all about?"
The blonde shook her head. "He's clearly upset."
"Can we do anything?"
Lucy pursed her lips in thought. "There is...but the boys definitely wouldn't approve of it."
"What? Boys? As in me?" Natsu chimed in.
"Oh, so we're using Mira?" Levy clarified.
"Using Mira? For what?"
Lucy nodded. "We'll talk about it at lunch." The two nodded, and walked to their fourth hour classes.
"But- what?" Natsu called after them, but he went unnoticed. He sank his shoulders, huffing a strand of pink hair out of his eyes. "Yeesh. Girls."
Mira looked around the lunch table, taking a seat across from Lucy. "Where is everyone?" she asked, noting the absence of most of their friends.
"Erza's making up a test, but as for the boys," Lucy responded, "we had to clear them out."
"Clear them out?"
"Don't worry Mira, I'm just as confused as you are." Cana chimed in.
"Wow, so you got all the boys to miss lunch today? That's impressive." The white haired girl leaned toward Lucy, a mischievous grin on her face. "Did you use laxatives?"
"What?! No! Mira, that's disgusting!" the blonde scolded, pushing Mira away.
"Hey now, this is a big feat! I'm interested in how you got them all out of here."
"Well, we didn't get all of them out of here." Levy added.
"What do you mean?"
As if on cue Gray sat at the table, lunch in hand. "Okay, I don't know what this meeting's about, but don't yell at me. I've been yelled at all day."
Cana snorted. "What, you and Erza? I thought you worked things out?"
"Yeah, I did too. But she freaked out at me again, probably because she saw Jellal and Ultear together this morning."
"Not to break your bubble, but this meeting is about you and Erza." Lucy told him.
"We want you guys back to normal already." Levy added.
Gray shook his head, "She just needs to stop taking her anger out on me. All I wanted was some help with frickin' chemistry, and she makes fun of my shirt…"
Cana snickered to herself. "Well, that shirt is a little -"
"-Hey!"
"Cana, be nice!" Mira interjected, "Luaus aren't always in Hawaii!"
"Hey!" Gray protested while the two exchanged high fives.
Lucy suddenly sat up, face lit up with delight. "Wait, that's it!" she realized, holding a finger in the air.
"What? What's 'it?'" Gray asked, confused.
"You have to get your chem notes early and dress really nicely!" she responded, nodding her head excitedly.
Gray stared at her skeptically. "Lucy, what- ?"
Lucy leaned forward, hands clasped in excitement. "Erza always gets mad at you because you go to her for answers, right? So why don't you come to class with the answers already? That way she won't be annoyed with you, because you won't have to ask her!"
"And the shirt thing?"
"C'mon, Gray," Cana sneered, pinching the purple fabric, "We'd do anything to get rid of this."
Gray looked down at the shirt, gripping the fabric in his hands. "There's nothing bad about this shir-"
Levy interrupted him. "Gray, think about it: she made fun of your shirt. But what's there to make fun of if you wear really nice ones?"
He frowned. "This one isn't even bad…" he grumbled. "I don't think it's gonna work."
Lucy shook her head. "Come onnnnn. You have nothing to lose."
"And I don't know about everyone else, but I'm tired of hearing of you guys argue." Levy nodded.
After a while, Gray shrugged. "...Alright. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." he agreed.
Lucy happily clapped her hands together. "Perfect! You can find shirts yourself, but Levy can give you her Chem notes, because she has Chem 1st hour." she decided, nodding at the blue haired girl.
Levy choked on her apple. "Wait, my notes? Why do they have to be my notes?! Lyon's in that class too!" she protested, but saw Gray and Lucy's pleading faces. She frowned at them, crossing her arms. "Alright, fine. But I'm only doing this because I think it's nice that you care for Erza so much." she explained.
Gray laughed this time, shaking his head. "I don't care for her any more than you guys," he spoke, "I just want her to stop mopin' over Jellal."
Mira nodded. "Agreed." She flicked Gray's shirt, "And best of all, Gray will never have to wear this thing again!" she snickered.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS SHIRT?!" Gray shouted, as the girls cackled with laughter. Cana, on the other hand, sat quietly in thought, resting her chin on her palm. There must be more than that.
Ultear walked through the school parking lot, headed for her car. She looked around at her surroundings, thankful that the mid-evening darkness didn't hide her car. She sighed as she piled her backpack and textbooks into the front seat; her day was already long as it was, and her voluntary tutoring sessions after school didn't make it feel any better.
"Ultear!" a voice called through the quietness.
Ultear immediately turned around. Her heartbeat quickened as she saw Jellal walking towards her, carrying his backpack and a duffel bag over his shoulders. "Hey, Jellal." she greeted as he neared her.
"You leaving?" he asked. She noticed his damp hair and the sharp scent of men's body wash- she almost blushed.
"Yeah, you?" she responded.
Jellal nodded. "Soccer was crazy. Elfman's really energetic as a coach, but sometimes I feel it's too much." he laughed.
"It's always the alumni, huh?" she joked.
"Right, right." Jellal responded. He watched as Ultear's eyes darted to her car, when he spoke up. "You wanna grab something to eat? I haven't eaten since school got out, and it's dinnertime anyway." he proposed.
Ultear eyed him carefully. She saw the hopeful expression on his face, and was about to dismiss him, when she noticed something else: he almost looked...nervous.
A warning flashed in her head.
She gave him a saddened expression. "I have a ton of calc to do, so I can't tonight." she declined politely, still studying Jellal.
"Oh, yeah, that's fine." he shrugged. She was about to leave, when he took a shy step forward. "Can I ask you something?" She gave him a wary look. "Well, you mentioned calc, and I was meaning to ask you earlier today…" He paused, then looked at her. "Would you be my tutor?"
She heaved an internal sigh of relief. That question could have gone so many different ways. "Aren't you getting an A?"
Jellal shook his head. "Between games and practice I barely have time to study, and that last test really killed my grade." He looked at her with the same hopeful expression. "So...would you be able to?"
She looked at him, searching for the betrayal, the dishonesty, the lie. But all she saw were Jellal's brown eyes staring innocently into hers. It was a genuine request, a favor.
A favor for a friend.
"Alright." she agreed.
Jellal's sighed in relief as he clapped a hand onto Ultear's arm. "Thank you so much, Ultear," he told her, smiling in appreciation, "You're a lifesaver!"
She shrugged. "Just let me know what you want to work on, and when. And you actually have to work, don't waste my time!"
The blue haired boy laughed, waving her words off. "You know I won't."
She smiled bashfully, casually slipping out from his arm. "Alright, I'll see you later." she told him, turning away to walk to the driver's seat.
"Ultear." he spoke, and for a second time she turned to him. "Thanks again." he repeated.
The second she saw the happiness in his eyes she wanted to smile just as brightly- but she knew she couldn't. So she shrugged, smiling ever so slightly as she gave him a nonchalant wave goodbye. Her smile faltered as soon as she got in her car, watching Jellal's retreating figure.
It was definitely a warning.
Mira hesitantly walked up the to the red front door. She knew she was at the right place, but something about meeting at a random person's house at 8 in the evening still seemed strange to her. She gave the door in front of her a wary look, before ringing the doorbell.
The door opened, revealing a young, blue haired boy. He gave her a smile, but tilted his head in confusion. "Mira?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"
Mira was as surprised as he was. In front of her was Romeo Conbolt, freshman at Fairy Tail High and Mr. Conbolt's son. "Romeo! Sorry, there must be some mistake…" She looked down at the open text on her phone, and the gold numbers that adorned the space next to the door- the address was correct. She frowned. Why would Cana tell me to-
"Mira, you're here, great!" a familiar voice greeted. Cana was now at the front door, pushing past Romeo and pulling Mira inside.
"Why is Mira here? Does she have a sheet of Trig laws?" Romeo asked, following the girls inside. Mira noted the calculator and sheet of paper held in his hand.
"Nope, but she does have business with me." Cana responded, ushering Mira through the living room.
"Well if she doesn't have them, then why is she here? I thought you said you could help me with this-"
He was suddenly cut off as Cana turned around, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Alright, kid. I need five minutes with Mira, and then we can help you with whatever trigonometric thing you need. Sound good?" Before Romeo got a chance to respond, however, Cana was already off, tugging Mira into a room. The door slammed shut behind them.
"Cana, what's going on?" Mira asked. She watched suspiciously as Cana sat down at a computer.
"What do you mean? I told you we needed to meet." the brunette shrugged.
"Yeah, but not at Mr. Conbolt's house!"
"Relax, it's fine. I just need five minutes." Mira looked over her friend's shoulder, noticing that she was on the school website. She watched as the brunette entered a series of login codes. Within a matter of seconds the screen displayed what looked like seating charts. The brunette started looking over the chart, switching certain spots around.
"How'd you get here anyway?"
"It's not hard. You tell the kid you'll help him with his homework, and he's down."
Mira watched as Cana continued working on other seating charts as well, switching certain places around. "So, what exactly are you doing?"
"Being a genius." She gave one final definitive click of the mouse, before nodding triumphantly at her work. "Done." She started getting up, logging out of the website and turning off the computer.
"With what? Can you tell me already?" Mira asked, following her friend out the door.
The two were immediately stopped- Romeo was right outside, arms crossed. He raised a suspecting eyebrow at Cana. "What were you doing in the computer room?" he questioned.
Cana simply shrugged. "I needed to check my grades. Why?"
"Yeah right. You don't care about school."
"He's got a point there!" Mira giggled.
Cana sent her a glare, before turning back to Romeo. "Tell you what. You'll keep this little detour a secret, and I'll let you hang out with Natsu."
Romeo's eyes immediately lit up, any ounce of suspicion completely erased. "You will?! Really?!" the boy asked eagerly, thinking of nothing but having lunch with his pink-haired role model.
Cana nodded. "You bet." she promised, pulling Mira with her to the door. They stepped outside, waving goodbye. "Thanks again kid!"
"Wait! But what about my Trig homework? I don't know if it's right!" he protested.
Cana waved him off. "You can miss ten assignments before things start getting bad, trust me." She gave a final wave over shoulder. "Bye!"
The two walked down to their cars, parked at the end of the driveway. Once out of earshot Mira turned to Cana. "Alright, so are you gonna tell me or not?"
Cana nodded, eyes bright with excitement. "I got into the classes that Gray and Erza have together, and made them sit beside each other in every one!"
Mira's eyes widened in shock. "Cana, isn't that," she smirked, "illegal?"
She nodded. "Probably. But with Lucy and Levy's plan, I think this will finally give us some peace and quiet with those two- "
"Heeeeey, gorgeous!" a new voice called. Startled, the two turned and saw a car had pulled up to them. Through the rolled window and the nearly dark night was an unmistakable head of soft, honey blonde hair.
"Hey Hibiki!" Mira greeted cheerfully, recognizing Hibiki Lates, another boy in their grade.
Cana, on the other hand, rolled her eyes, turning back to Mira. "Anyways, as I was saying-"
"Ms. Alberona, what do I have to do to get your attention?" Hibiki continued. Mira held a hand over her mouth, trying to hide her already-obvious giggling- Hibiki and Cana's interactions were always hilarious to her.
Cana sent her friend an unappreciative glare, before turning to the boy. "What's up, Hibiki? Another date go wrong?" she joked, smirking at him.
"Actually, I'm on my way home- I was studying at the library- I have to get good grades for a girl with expectations as high as yours." he responded smoothly.
Cana couldn't help but smile the tiniest bit. "Bullshit." she laughed. "Besides, you're out of luck- the guys I go for graduated last year."
"C'mon Cana, can't I ask you to dinner?"
Cana snorted, shaking her head in disapproval. "Maybe when I give up alcohol." she joked, and obnoxiously waved her fingers at the boy. "Bye, Hibiki!" He gave her a fake pout, before driving away. As soon as he left Cana turned back to Mira. "Anyway, I- " She frowned, seeing Mira's arched eyebrow. "What?"
"And you say you don't like him." the white haired girl smirked.
"What- because I don't! C'mon, even you know that." Cana rolled her eyes, "Anyway, we have a job to do."
"And you have a boy to do."
"Shut the hell up, Mira."
My year is finally un-busying itself, so look for more frequent updates to come :) Thank you for all your patience and support, and keep those reviews comin!
-PinkKoala213