Be sure to follow me on Ko-Fi page for weekly updates on my Fanfic stories. If you're not followed then please do so now, and if you're feeling generous, please buy one or two coffees for me so that I would be able to keep writing more stories more often than I do now. Even a single one would mean a lot to me and be more dedicated to write.
kofi.c om (slash) christophernagura
Chapter 2: The Past of Troubles
Normal POV
After running around the woods with Kei, the two were currently walking back to the girl's cabin after the two got lost when Natsu practically ran to the other side of the forest.
"Sorry about that, I guess it would have been better if I had just followed your lead after all." The pinkette rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it, but next time, if you really want to run off like that, you should know where you're going at the very least." Kei scolded in a teasing tone as Natsu couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that.
"Guess I relied too much on my sense of smell. I should have realised your coat was masked by the forest's smell."
"Well, how about I just tell you the directions to my house next time?" Kei smiled and the Dragon Prince responded with a smile of his own.
"Yeah, that would really be helpful." The rosette chuckled easily with a smile. For the first time in a while, the Dragon Prince was… relaxed when speaking with the ravenette beside him. Back in the guild, he would always put up a front in order to hide his true identity from the rest of his guild mates.
Besides that, he had never met a girl like her before. Not only was she beautiful, but she was kind as well, and didn't even get mad, or even hit him, for making such a mistake. He had half-expected to get hit by the girl after getting lost, yet she only giggled at him. She was clearly different than some other girls he knew.
Meanwhile, back in the Fairy Tail guild, both Lucy and Erza sneezed at the same time as they looked at each other, wondering to themselves who was speaking about them.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, but why are you living in the middle of a forest? I mean, wouldn't it be better to live in a town?" Natsu asked curiously as a small smile appeared on the girl's face.
"Well, there's actually a reason behind it, but I wouldn't want to bore you with such a thing." She said but the pinkette waved it off.
"Somehow I doubt that, besides I was the one who asked, but if it's something you're not comfortable talking about then…" He started but the ravenette merely shook her head.
"No, it's fine. The whole reason behind it is mainly because of my older sister." Kei sighed the moment she thought of her elder sibling.
"She felt that if I stayed by myself in the town without her, the townspeople would either try to hit on me or that they'd try to hurt me in order to get to her." She explained as the Dragon Prince's eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Is your sister a famous person then?" The moment those words escaped the pinkette's mouth, the girl flinched slightly as she hadn't meant to reveal that bit of information to him.
While the man in front of her might have rescued her from a group from a Dark Guild, that didn't mean she was willing to tell him about her sister.
Though, Natsu noticed her uncomfortableness and waved it off, "Don't worry about it, you don't have to say if you don't want to." Kei smiled in thanks as she rubbed the back of her head apologetically.
"Sorry about that, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but people are constantly looking to get information about my sister, and I don't wish to reveal it to anyone." Natsu waved it off with a smile.
"Don't worry about it. Besides, at least this shows that your sister truly cares about you. Although she might be a tad bit overprotective." The Dragon Prince teased with a smile.
However, a sad smile appeared on the girl's face, "Yeah, she was always overprotective of me, but it got worse after…my father was killed." Natsu's eyes widened in shock before he lowered his head.
"I'm sorry for your lost…" He wished as the girl nodded her head in thanks as she looked up at the sky.
"Even though it happened so many years ago, I can still remember it as if it took place yesterday…"
Flashback
In a small clearing located deep in the middle of the forest, there was a reasonable sized hut located in the centre, as a small group of children could be seen playing with each other off to the side while there was a middle aged man watching the group with a tender smile on his face before proceeding to enter his home.
Amongst the children, there was a young black-haired girl, whose facial appearance resemble to the present Kei, was running around the clearing with a massive grin on her face as she stared at her best friends and sister who were all by her side.
All of a sudden, Kei fell to the ground, landing face first as she slowly pushed herself up, tears slowly began to form in her eyes as small pieces of dirt littered across her face.
"Kei, are you alright?" a young girl with white hair asked frantically as she rushed towards the downed girl before noticing the tears in her eyes.
"My leg hurts!" Kei stated tearfully, as she mustered all of her strength to not cry in front of her friends and sister, but the stinging pain she felt caused her defences to break down and for the tears to start falling down her face. Her friends immediately began to try and comfort the girl as best they could, but it was the white-haired girl from earlier who walked up to Kei before gently pressing her palm atop the wound. That was when a light green glow began to surround the girl's hand and the bruise on the ravenette's leg slowly began to patch up before disappearing completely.
"There, the pain is all gone now, right? You don't need to cry any longer, Kei." the young white-haired girl said with a gentle smile as Kei wiped her tears as she shot the girl a bright smile before proceeding to hug her.
"Thank you Leila-nee!" Kei thanked as the white-haired girl, now revealed to be Leila, smiled back at her younger sister before hugging her back. Their friends who were standing nearby all smiled at the heartfelt moment as well.
However, almost as if to ruin such a wholesome moment, a boy with red hair widened his eyes in shock the moment he turned back.
"Uhh, why is there smoke coming from the direction of Kei's house?" he uttered causing everyone to turn back, only to see that there was indeed smoke coming from that direction.
"We better head back!" Leila said and everyone nodded their heads in agreement as the group all began to ran.
The moment they arrived at their destination, the group's eyes all widened in horror the moment they saw Kei's house on fire while standing just a couple inches ahead was a brunette holding a black-haired man by their throat.
The identity of the ravenette that was being choked, was none other than Kei's father.
"Daddy!" Kei shouted in fear as the intruder's focus went from the girl's father to the little girl and her friends.
"Kids? In a place like this?" the man exclaimed in shock as he dropped Kei's father who fell to the ground and began coughing for air.
The moment the group saw the crazed look in the man's eyes, Leila immediately stood in front of Kei in a protective manner which caused the intruder to scoff at the sight.
"Aww, and what are you going to do princess? Not invite me to your tea parties?" The man taunted as he brought out a knife from his pocket.
"Let this be a lesson to you. Fight someone your own size kid." the man said with a smirk as he charged at Leila's direction with the intention of killing her.
"LEILA!" Her father called out in fear as he could only watch from the ground as the assailant neared his daughter.
However, despite everyone around her feeling panicked, Leila felt no fear whatsoever. Rather, all she did was close her eyes and a few moments later, a light blue aura surrounded the girl as she opened her eyes before placing her hands in front of her.
"Sky Angel's Blast!" Leila unleashed a powerful blast of wind from her hands at the assailant who crashed into a tree, breaking the bark, from the force of the attack.
"L-Leila." Leila's father stuttered in shock, trying to understand what had happened right in front of his eyes.
Meanwhile, Leila and the other children quickly rushed over towards the downed man.
"Father, are you alright?" Leila asked in concern while Kei was crying into her father's chest while he was trying his best to comfort his youngest daughter by petting her head as Kei latched onto his leg, fearing that he might leave if she had let go.
"Yes, I am dear, but what was that just now? How are you able to do such a thing?" her father asked in utter confusion as Leila looked away from the man guiltily.
"Father, I've always been capable of using magic ever since I was born… I know that you and mother aren't my real parents." Leila said which caused her father to feel a sharp pain in his chest at her words.
He had always wondered when the truth would be revealed to his white-haired daughter, but he hadn't expected it to be this soon!
"But…." This time Leila said as she looked at her father, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"I still love you both!" Leila said as tears then start to fall from her eyes. Her father also had tears in his eyes as he proceeded to hug his daughter tightly.
"I love you too Leila…and you'll always be our daughter no matter what happens." The ravenette said with a smile.
Kei and the other children only smiled at the heartwarming scene that was taking place in front of them.
However, all good things must come to an end as Leila's eyes widened in horror after seeing a knife coming out of her father's body.
"HAHAHAHAHA this is what you get for crossing us old man!" The man laughed maniacally.
"DADDY!" Kei screamed out in fear as the ravenette slowly let go of Leila and began to feel all his strength slowly disappear, which caused him to fall to the ground as a result.
The group of children quickly rushed over to the man's body, trying to get him to wake up…Well, all except one person.
Leila gasped as she covered her mouth in horror as tears began to stream down her face. She had just seen her father getting killed in front of her eyes.
Though her sadness was quickly replaced with pure unadulterated rage as she turned to face her father's killer, who was laughing hysterically at committing the murder.
"You'll…" Leila mumbled underneath her breath, catching the brunette's attention as he turned to face her.
"Hmm, what was that kid? You said something?" The killer asked as he placed a hand to his hear as if he would be able to hear her clearer.
"I said you're going to pay for this!" Leila said in rage as torrents of wind began to blow the area, causing everyone to stare in shock as a light blue aura began to surround the white-haired girl's body.
Raising her hand at the brunette, the wind began blowing even harder at him, even leaving cuts around his clothes, almost as if the wind itself was being commanded by her.
"W-wait please! We can talk about this right? We don't need to settle this with anymore violence." The man uttered in fear, staring with horror-filled eyes as he stared at the little girl who was slowly making her way towards him.
"You expect me to let you walk away after what you did to my father? Well think again!" Leila screamed as she lunged at the assailant who screamed in fear.
What followed had been a brutal beating of the brunette, as Leila landed strike after strike at the man, ignoring the fact that he had been unconscious after the second strike.
After a while, Leila stopped her onslaught of attacks as she panted heavily, unaware of the damage she had done to the man.
Though she was quickly snapped back to reality when Kei had run up to her and held onto her tightly, causing the white-haired girl to look down at her little sister.
"Nee-san, please…no more." She uttered quietly and Leila slowly turned back to the brunette where she noticed the damage she had done.
To say that he was beaten black and blue was the kindest way to put it, as the brunette's face was almost unrecognisable due to the strikes he had taken.
"What have I done?" Leila said, grabbing onto her head, horrified of her actions when she heard someone screaming from the side.
"Leila! Kei!" the two girls then turned around to see their mother, Lucia, running towards them.
"I'm so glad that you two girls are alright. When I heard that our area had a fire. I was worried that you two would be caught in it." Lucia said as she embraced her two daughters tightly.
Though they were in their mother's warm embrace, both Kei and Leila let out a couple of tears, which caught their mother's attention.
"Leila, sweety, what's wrong?" Lucia asked in concern.
"Father is..." Leila said sadly as Lucia widened her eyes in horror as she turned around to see her husband's bleeding body laying on the ground.
"Hitachi!" Lucia screamed out in fear as she ran over towards her husband.
Hitachi, barely clinging onto his life, looked up to see his wife hovering over him which caused a smile to form on his face.
"Lucia, I'm so sorry." Hitachi said as the woman began to cry on his chest.
"There's nothing for you to be sorry about, Hitachi! You did nothing wrong! Please just wait for the ambulance to get here!" Lucia cried out as Kei and Leila held onto each other tightly.
Hitachi then smiled as he raised in his hand and rested it on Lucia's head.
"I have to go now, Lucia. Always know that I will always love you and our kids. Forever…." Hitachi said as Lucia continued crying.
"Looks like I have to go now. My beloved. May you have a happy life even without me in it." Hitachi smiled as he lost his consciousness and his hand fell to the ground from her head.
"Hitachi?" Lucia said and seeing that her husband did not respond, she began to worry even more.
"Hitachi? Hitachi? Please answer!" However, the revelation of what happened finally surfaced in her mind as she laid her head atop her husband's bleeding chest and sobbed.
"HITACHI!" Lucia screamed while both Kei and Leila could only watch on.
Flashback Ends
"Ever since then, my mother decided to delve deeper into her work while my sister grew up to be an independent mage, defeating dark guilds and rescuing villagers whenever she can. While I stay here at my shed that my sister got me when I told her that I wanted to stay by myself." Kei revealed her past to the pinkette, although she wore a smile on her face, Natsu knew very well that it was fake one.
"I'm…sorry to hear that." The pinkette rubbed the back of his head as he looked away from the girl, though it was to properly mask the anger that he was certain that had shown on his face.
The Dragon Prince narrowed his eyes at the thought of the girl in front of him needing to deal with such a traumatic incident when she was younger.
From the sounds of it, the person who had attacked Kei's family was some lunatic who wanted revenge on him for some reason. However, the fact that there had been nobody watching the area and providing support was appalling.
'Makes me wonder what those useless fools from the Magic Council do asides from whining and complaining about our guild every time.' The pinkette couldn't help but roll his eyes when he thought about the old geezers from the council.
"It's fine, besides all of that happened in the past, and I'm happy with how things are already going…albeit me almost getting attacked by members from a dark guild." She said in an amused tone causing Natsu to chuckle.
"Well, I'm happy to have been of assistance. Though I feel bad that I brought back some bad memories for you." He said rather guiltily, causing the girl to shake her head in reassurance.
"It's perfectly fine. I wouldn't have mentioned anything if I didn't want to. Besides, it's been a while since I was able to talk to someone my age, much less a mage." She smiled.
"Also, you're a mage, aren't you? You must have a fascinating backstory." Kei inquired with a curious glint in her eyes before her eyes brightened up.
"Ah! I know, could you tell me about how you learned to use magic?" The Dragon Prince wore an expression of surprise as he listened to her request. Not many people particularly shared an interest in how he managed to obtain his Dragon Slaying Magic. Then again, his guild mates from the Fairy Tail guild hadn't really believed that dragons existed to begin with.
Though a reminder of his past did bring a sombre smile to form on his face, something Kei was quick to notice as she tried to backpedal.
"If it's too much, then you don't have to-" Natsu interrupted her by shaking his head.
"It's fine. It wouldn't be fair for me to avoid telling you about it. Besides, I was just caught off guard is all." The Dragon Prince reassured as he placed a hand on his chin, wondering how he could begin the story of his past.
"Well, it all started back in my home village. I didn't know who my parents were since they dumped me in an orphanage, but everyone there, including the villagers, were like family to me. So I never felt lonely. Though that all changed when THEY arrived…"
Flashback
"It's them again! Run away!" A villager screamed out in fear as the village was being burnt. Flames devoured the houses of the village and there were some that were reduced to ashes by the flames.
Dead bodies surrounded the village as a group of dark mages laughed out maniacally at the destruction and the fear that they have caused in such a short period of time.
Sitting amongst the chaos was a man with black hair and long black beard who was playing with a single coin before a group of people, all of which were wearing cloaks, walked up to him before kneeling down at him.
"Sir, we were unable to find the key in the village, we looked everywhere. It's most likely that the key is in another village." a man with blonde hair said as the leader with the long beard placed his hand on his chin.
"Hmm, it would appear that the key isn't located in this village either. What a shame." The ravenette said with a sigh as he got up to his feet.
'We've already been to nine other villages and couldn't find a single key. Does that mean the key is not in this region but in another part of Fiore?' the man thought but a voice then brought him back to reality.
"Master Ki, it would appear that there is a survivor." the man with blonde hair said as they all saw a pink-haired boy slowly began to emerge from a pile of rubble.
"Hmm, this little boy is the lone survivor of this village?" the man now revealed as Ki said in amusement the moment he saw the pink-haired boy looked around his village, or better yet what the remains of his village was.
His eyes widened both in shock and in horror at the chaos and destruction that surrounded him before his eyes eventually landed on Ki and his men who were nonchalantly standing in the centre, almost as if they weren't the cause of the damage.
"After taking your sweet time to search for the key and to kill everyone in this village, you couldn't even ensure every single person in here gets killed?" Ki sighed in disappointment as his men then looked down in shame.
"We're very sorry sir." Ki's men said as they all bowed down.
"All of you will face your punishment later but for now, what shall we do with this boy?" Ki asked before turning to the pink haired boy who wiped away his tears and glared at Ki with hatred.
"You will pay for this!" the pink haired boy growled as Ki then chuckled in amusement.
"What can a little boy like you do to me? Not only are you outnumbered, but you're also clearly outmatched." Ki said with a dark smile but Natsu continued glaring at the black-haired man.
"You know what, kid? I like that look on your face. The hatred coming from you, it's really intoxicating." Ki said as he walked closer to him as the pink haired boy got a stick from the ground as a weapon to protect himself from the people around him.
Ki smirked as he used his magic to burn the stick in the boy's hand.
"Ah!" the pink haired boy screamed out in pain as he quickly dropped the remnants of his 'weapon', but before it even reached the ground, it turned to ashes.
"Now will you give up, boy? There's no hope for you at all." Ki smirked evilly as he got closer to the pink-haired boy.
Natsu dropped on the ground as he was paralyzed with fear, the determination from before completely evaporated and he had no one to protect him, had no one to help him.
All he could do was pray to the Gods above for help.
And his prayers were soon answered the moment he saw a giant winged creature soar above the clouds before slowly descending towards them.
The large creature eventually crashed to the ground before letting out a terrifying roar, which caused everyone in the vicinity to cover their ears, before reality finally set in.
"It's a dragon!" Ki's men screamed in fear as they all started to run away from the mighty creature.
Despite his men's fear, Ki merely stared at the dragon with an interested look plastered on his face.
"Hmm a dragon, eh? I thought that all you dragons went extinct after the Dragon King Festival eons ago?" Ki asked as the red dragon just growled at him.
"I see that humans are still spouting out rubbish!" the red dragon spat out before firing out a torrent of flames from its mouth at the human.
Despite staring death in the face, Ki continued to remain calm as he accepted his fate. However, before his untimely death, he placed a hand on his necklace on uttered a message to the receiver, "Sir, Igneel has finally came out of hiding." Those were his final words as Ki was completely evaporated from the land.
As for Ki's men, they had completely disappeared from sight after seeing the dragon.
"Alright now that that's done, it's time for me to leave." Igneel then flapped his wings, ready to take off but Natsu stopped him.
"W-wait!" Natsu called out as Igneel turned to the small boy in confusion.
"What is it, human? Do you want to be killed as well?" Igneel asked and Natsu shook his head.
"C-could you train me?" Natsu asked meekly as Igneel was shocked at his question.
"What?"
"I don't have anywhere to go, and I'm weak and I want to get stronger, so please train me!" Natsu said with a bow and Igneel was contemplating on the offer.
'Hmm, sounds like a good offer, but I have to see if he's good enough.' Igneel thought.
Igneel then fired out a massive torrent of flames from his mouth at a nearby mountain, completely destroying it in the process.
The red dragon immediately turned to Natsu to see what kind of reaction he could have gotten from the boy and he was pleased to see a look of amazement on his face with no traces of fear.
'How interesting. Most humans would cower at the sight of my roar. To think there are still humans who possess a strong will.' Igneel thought to himself before lowering himself.
"Very well I will accept your offer. Boy get on my back." Igneel said, though he was promptly ignored due to Natsu's amazement at seeing the destruction caused by the breath-attack.
"I SAID GET ON MY BACK!" Igneel shouted as the pink haired boy was brought out of his trance and quickly ran to Igneel and got on its back.
"Hold on tight kid, I don't want to drop you off." Igneel said as Natsu nodded and held onto Igneel's scales tightly.
Igneel proceeded to take off towards the skies at a very fast pace as Natsu was having trouble to hold on, yet he did so with a smile on his face.
After a short while, Igneel landed in a small forest clearing as Natsu then got off the dragon and when he touched the ground, he got a bit dizzy and fell to his backside due to Igneel flying a tad bit too fast for him.
"Are you okay brat?" Igneel asked as Natsu flashed him a toothy grin before giving him a thumbs up indicating that he was alright.
"Anyways, do you know the reason why your village was attacked?" Igneel asked as the smile on Natsu's face quickly turned into a frown when he recalled the devastation of his village but he shook his head.
"I'm not sure..." Natsu said but that was when he recalled the conversation he heard between Ki and his henchmen.
"But… I do remember them saying that they were looking for a key." Natsu said as Igneel's eyes widened in shock before shaking his head, getting rid of that thought.
'If they are looking for a key. That means they plan on reviving HIM, but why would they want to do that?' Igneel thought before he shook his head again.
"Alright but since you have no one else to take care of you. I have decided to take you under my wing, and as you asked me to train you. I'll make sure that you'll become the strongest Dragon Slayer ever." Igneel said as Natsu's face then had a shocked look before he jumped on the face of Igneel.
"Thank you very much Igneel! I promise to make you proud!" Natsu smiled as Igneel grumbled in annoyance as Natsu got off of his face and started celebrating but he couldn't stop a smile from appearing on his face.
Flashback End
"After a few years later, Igneel said he had to leave but for unknown reasons, but after Igneel left I managed to find a wizard guild called Fairy Tail, and they treated me like family." Natsu lied at the end, since he didn't want to reveal to anyone about his Dragon Prince abilities at the moment, only to get no response in the end. So, Natsu then turned to Kei, only to see her sobbing.
"H-hey, what's wrong?" Natsu asked in worry and that was when Kei rushed in towards Natsu before giving him a hug, shocking Natsu with the action as he started to feel his face begin to warm.
Sure, he had hugged a lot of females before, but his heart was never pounding this hard before. This was a brand-new feeling to him and it felt exhilarating.
"You've had a horrible childhood and yet you managed to endure all of that?" Kei asked as she wiped away her tears and moved away from Natsu, much to his silent disappointment. Yet, he still gave her an answer anyways.
"I was never truly alone, I had the guild to raise and take care of me and most importantly to love each other. Fairy Tail cares a lot for one another so that none of us would really alone." Natsu explained with a smile as the girl returned his smile with one of her own.
"So, you always had someone to care for you, eh?" Kei asked as Natsu nodded as the two continued walk through the forest, this time in silence.
Though Kei fidgeted slightly, an act which caught Natsu's attention as he stared at her.
"Are you alright Kei?" He asked in concern as Kei nodded her head before she turned to face the pinkette, with a question that had occupied her mind.
"Hey Natsu."
"Yeah, what's up?" Natsu asked.
"Do you know anybody by the name of Leila?" Kei asked as she bit her tongue. She had no idea what fibre of her being compelled her to utter those words. Especially knowing the repercussions of her actions from her past actions.
The moment people found out about her sister, many did everything in their power to strengthen their bonds with her, but only as a way to meet with their idol.
Yet, here she was, asking a boy she had just met, and was getting along with, about her sister, knowing full well that it could be ruined in an instant.
It was a very strange feeling for her, but maybe she will be able to figure it out next time?
Kei looked at the Dragon Prince in trepidation before he finally gave her his response.
"Nope, never heard of that name before!" Natsu said as Kei had a shocked look on her face.
"Really? The name Leila Angelus does not sound familiar to you?" Kei asked in shock, she was certain that the entire Ishtar Kingdom knows about her sister.
Yet here was a guy that doesn't only know her name, but he didn't know her as a whole! It somewhat made her happy on the inside.
"Don't think so…I mean, majority of the guild members and I were frozen in time for seven years, so maybe that's the reason?" The Dragon Prince explained with a shrug which caused the girl's eyes to nod in understanding.
"So, the rumour that the core members of Fairy Tail returned after seven years is true?"
"Pretty much. Though, who is your sister anyways? She must be pretty special if you asked me about her." Natsu asked curiously.
"Well, special is an understatement, since she's the world's first Angel Slayer." Kei said as Natsu's eyes shined with excitement as he whistled.
"Wow that's awesome! She must be really famous, huh?" Natsu asked as Kei sighed with a shake of her head.
"You have no idea." That was when a small cabin could be seen just in front.
"Is that your cabin over there?" Natsu asked as Kei nodded.
"Yeah, would you like some food? I can cook some for you?" Kei offered causing Natsu's eyes to brighten up in anticipation.
"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks!" The pinkette flashed a toothy grin at the girl who blushed the moment she saw it.
'He looks so cute when he smiles like that.' Kei thought to herself before her face turned redder at her thoughts before deciding to push it to the back of her mind.
Kei then opened the door and when she did both Natsu and Kei saw both Happy and Sachi flying about the house, enjoying a game of tag.
"Tag, you're it!" Sachi said happily as Happy groaned that he was forced to be "it" again. It was starting to get annoying for the Exceed, especially when he was feeling exhausted after his spar with Natsu earlier.
"It seems that you're enjoying yourself, Happy." Natsu laughed a little as Happy then flew over to Natsu's head and rested on it.
"You have no idea," Happy said tiredly.
"Aww, somebody's tired." Sachi giggled as Happy growled at her silently but decided not to retort.
"Alright you two, enough playing, I'm going to cook now. Sachi will you please help me?" Kei asked as Sachi nodded her head and flew over towards her owner.
"Natsu, please make up the tables." Kei asked and Natsu nodded his head.
"Sure, come on, Happy" Natsu said as Happy reluctantly nodded his head with a sigh. All he wanted to do now was rest damn it!
As they grabbed the plates from the counter, an amazing smell wafted through the air causing both Natsu and Happy's mouth to water and they realised that the smell was coming from the kitchen.
Natsu, with the help of Happy managed to clear out the tables and placed both the plates and silverware on the table.
The two finished it just in time as Kei walked in with two plates on her hand while Sachi carried a single one.
"Well then, it's time to dig in!" Kei said as everyone proceeded to take a seat and without any more hesitation, they all began to eat the food.
And unlike the way he usually eats in front of everyone, Natsu was eating politely. Like a gentleman for once in his life.
"What do you think of my cooking?" Kei asked shyly. She hadn't cooked for anyone else besides her sister and a select few, so she really wanted to know what the pinkette thought of it.
"This is probably the best food I've ever had in my life! It's amazing!" Natsu smiled as he took another bite of the food.
Kei sighed in relief when she heard his response as a smile adorned her face.
"That's good to know, I was nervous that you wouldn't like it or something." Kei said.
Natsu chuckled at what she said, "Well, you don't need to worry about it anymore, I mean look at Happy." Natsu then pointed towards the hungry blue exceed who was munching down on his food at a very fast pace.
"Yeah, I think you're right" Kei said with a light giggle.
The two engaged in a short conversation, when Natsu noticed a sword that was laying by the wall behind Kei.
The sword was big but not too big, it was big enough for a person to carry it easily. The sword was carved perfectly as it was kept in a sheath. Though what made the sword unique was the markings on the sheathe of the sword, if one were to notice it, they would say that it resembled dragon-like markings.
Natsu's eyes widened in shock as he was currently looking at the Legendary Sword, "The Draconic Slayer" it was said to be crafted by a Dragon Crafter, and the best of all time.
Rumors say that this sword was the best he had created.
"Where did you get that sword?!" Natsu suddenly asked as he pointed to her back.
"Oh, you mean that sword? It was a gift from my sister, on my 16th birthday" Kei answered, wondering why the pinkette showed such an interest at the sword.
"Can you use that sword by any chance?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl as Kei pouted.
"I may not look like it, but I can actually use a sword pretty well." Kei said as the pinkette raised his hands in defence.
"No, no I mean..." Natsu started as he looked back at the sword.
"That sword is a very dangerous sword; no normal person can just wield it and use it freely. Not even Dragon Slayers are able to wield its powers." Natsu explained.
"Like I said, I know how to use it just fine!" Kei said with a huff.
"Alright, I believe you, but can we have a fight to test if you really can use it?" Natsu said as he punched his fist into his palm with an excited grin.
"Well if that's the case I don't mind fighting now." Kei proceeded to get up and grab the sword before exiting the house. Natsu couldn't help but sweat drop, knowing that he had somehow angered the girl.
Regardless, the Dragon Prince and Kei stood at opposite ends of the field as the pinkette got into his battle stance, "Whenever you're ready, Kei."
"I'm ready as well." She responded as she too got into her battle stance.
"Well, I'll go on the attack first! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu proceeded to charge at Kei with his fist engulfed in flames.
However, to his shock, the girl easily sidestepped his attack before striking his back with the blunt edge of her sword, which sent Natsu to the ground.
He quickly got back up before sending a kick at her sides, but this time Kei was able to block the attack with her sword, she managed to push him back before the ravenette charged in for the attack.
She begun swinging her sword at a rapid pace which caused Natsu's eyes to widen in shock as he was forced to go on the defensive.
'She's swinging her sword faster than Erza!' He thought in shock before he quickly jumped back to create some distance between the two.
Natsu proceeded to go on the attack once more, and this time he lunged forward, wanting to strike the girl with his fists, yet Kei was not fazed by this whatsoever as she, once again, swung her sword at the pinkette's direction, only for him to duck under her attack, before sending a kick at the girl.
However, he only struck the air, as Kei somehow managed to duck under his attack before directly striking his gut with her sword, which caused Natsu to cough out some saliva as he leapt back in order to create the distance between the two.
Both Happy and Sachi watched the fight with keen interest.
"Wow, Kei is dominating the fight against him! Isn't she incredible?" Sachi said excitedly while Happy merely kept silent as he watched the fight.
'Natsu may not be fighting at his full strength, but he's still able to beat some higher-ranking mages at this level, but she's beating him as if he's nothing. Just who is she?' Happy thought as he stared at Kei.
Natsu was gritting his teeth in frustration, 'Even Gildarts doesn't embarrass me this bad! How is she so strong? She's as good as Erza in terms of sword wielding, if not better.' Natsu thought.
Deciding that he needed to get an edge on the fight, Natsu fired off a torrent of flames from his mouth at Kei, who quickly used her sword in order to repel the flames much to the Dragon Prince's shock.
'Damn it, she's so strong, I could still beat the likes of Gajeel and Laxus, yet she's making a fool out of me and she's not even a mage!' Natsu gritted his teeth in annoyance as he clenched his fists.
While he wanted to merely test her strength, she ended up showing him up.
Though that was when Kei began to walk back towards the cabin.
"Hold on! We're not done yet!" Natsu called out to her.
"Yeah, we are, and I was going to lose." Kei replied which shocked everyone there.
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked in confusion.
"Yeah, what do you mean Kei? You were kicking Natsu's ass!" Sachi said as Natsu glared at the white cat although she was right.
"He would have beat me if he had used his full strength." Kei stated as Natsu's eyes widened in shock.
"W-what are you talking about? I am using my full strength." Natsu stuttered, completely caught off guard by what the girl said.
Kei rolled her eyes at the pinkette's attempts to lie, "I lived with a mage that has the strength to beat most of the Wizard Saints in the land, I can tell if you're using full strength or not." Kei stated knowingly.
Natsu sighed, knowing full well that he was caught, "Fine, your right. I was hiding my true strength but with reasons."
"I know, people have reasons for most of the things that they do," Kei said with a smile as she walked back to her house.
Natsu then walked back to Kei's house as well, "It's really impressive that you managed to know that I was holding back when so many didn't." Natsu said as Kei placed the sword by the wall.
"Well, like I said, I've seen my sister fight at full strength, and, when she was holding back, and she's quite unpredictable, so it's much easier to know when your opponent is holding back or not." Kei stated as if normal, but Natsu was still impressed.
"Hey, how'd you manage to fight with the sword like you just did?" Natsu asked curiously, wanting to know behind the girl's strength.
"Actually, it was my sister who taught me how to use a sword when I was eleven. She said that I needed to learn how to protect myself so she taught me how to fight. And let me tell you, her trainings are hellish." Kei said with a shudder, recalling all the training she did with her sister.
It was safe to say that she had detested her sister back then, but seeing as how her training benefitted her when it came to dealing with weirdoes and strangers, she never loved her sister any more than that.
"Wow that's awesome. I think that you're the best swordswoman that I have ever met." Natsu complimented with a smile as Kei blushed at what he said.
"Thanks, Natsu." Kei said as she attempted to hide her blush by looking away from him.
"Actually…" Natsu said as Kei then looked at Natsu.
"What is it?" Kei asked.
"Could you teach me how to use a sword?" Natsu asked.
Kei was shocked by the pinkette's request, "But why do you want me to teach you? I'm sure that there are more people with more talented than me when it comes to swords, also, I'm a horrible teacher." Kei said.
Natsu then smiled at her, "I don't care about that, you're amazingly strong and your kind too! I would love for you to teach me!" Natsu said happily as Kei blushed again from his compliments as her heart began beating rapidly.
Why was she feeling this way? She has never felt it like any other before. Why was her heart beating whenever she sees his smile?
Kei decided to shake these weird thoughts from her mind as she smiled at the pinkette.
"Sure, I'll teach you Natsu." Kei said as Natsu smiled at her.
"Thanks Kei!"
End Chapter
Be sure to follow me on Ko-Fi page for weekly updates on my Fanfic stories. If you're not followed then please do so now, and if you're feeling generous, please buy one or two coffees for me so that I would be able to keep writing more stories more often than I do now. Even a single one would mean a lot to me and be more dedicated to write.
kofi.c om (slash) christophernagura