Strauss household, evening of first school day
Humming cheerfully, Lisanna Strauss enjoyed the hot water of the shower. Today really has been a great day for the short haired girl. First, she got elected to be the captain of the school volleyball team, and then she met Natsu again.
Sighing in content, Lisanna remembered all the happy days she and Natsu spent in preschool. Fondly she recalled how he always smiled and laughed, no matter what.
Flashback
Little Lisanna clutched the hand of her father Jeremiah. Her older twin siblings, Mirajane and Elfman, were happily walking alongside their mother Elisabeth.
Mirajane and Elfman were born in late April, with Mirajane being 20 minutes older than her brother. Roughly two months later, the celebration of a promotion led to the birth of Lisanna in mid March. That's why Lisanna would be in the same age group as her older siblings. But that didn't mean that there weren't some 'youngest sibling benefits' for Lisanna.
She was shy and quiet and relied on her older siblings a lot, something the other two didn't mind. On the contrary, they both flourished in the role of the overprotective older siblings.
Mira had a rather short temper (something she inherited from her mother according to her father (not that he would ever say that in earshot of his wife)) and would lunge at everyone who came too close to Lisanna.
Elfman on the other hand was a gentle giant. He wasn't necessarily violent, but he was able to hold his ground. But his large build would cause most people their age to turn tail.
However, the Strauss family arrived at the pre-school the three five year olds would visit for the next year until they started elementary school.
All three kids had a fun morning at the pre-school. The Fairy Munchkin Den was a private pre-school belonging to the Fairy school complex. The children would spend up to three years at the pre-school. The school service was excellent, but the price was also quite high. But hey, quality demands a price right?
In the morning the children would learn basic reading and math skills, while in the afternoon they had playtime, where they would be supervised by a team of highly educated educators, who were supported by a few volunteers from the Fairy high school.
And this playtime is exactly where Lisanna and Mirajane were currently heading to. Elfman stayed inside, he wanted to finish a storybook before playing.
The two girls took a look at the playground and tried to decide where they should go first. But before they could go somewhere something happened.
"LOOK OUT!" This caught the attention of the two sisters, but it was already too late. A football hit Lisanna on the head.
"OW! MIRA-NEE!" Lisanna immediately started crying and buried her face in her sister's chest, who was softly patting her head while glaring around in an attempt to find the one who hurt her sister.
"OH NO, I'M SO SORRY!" Shouted the same voice from before. Mira saw a boy around her age with wild pink hair running towards them. His shout also caught the attention of a volunteering teen who immediately hurried towards the three kids.
"Hey what happened? Why are you crying, are you hurt?" asked the young man with a bit of panic in his voice. Mira opened her mouth but the boy beat her to it. "It was an accident! I kicked the ball too hard and it hit her in the face! It wasn't on purpose I swear! I am very sorry!"
"Grrrrr you…" growled Mira. The boy may have told the truth, but still, whoever made Lisanna cry had to suffer. That's why she gave the boy a strong kick to the shin, which caused him to yelp in pain.
"Hey! Young girl, that's no way to treat a classmate!" chided the teenager who was still attempting to soothe the crying Lisanna.
Mira huffed and crossed her arms over her chest "I don't care! He hurt my sister!"
"And I apologized for it! It's not like I hit her on purpose." shouted the boy.
"SHUT UP!" yelled Mira back and tried to kick him again. But another teen had already joined the group and was now holding Mira back. "I think it's best to take the three inside for a few minutes." suggest the second teen. The first one nodded and also called a teacher to help them clear the whole situation.
Inside the lunch room, the teacher Mary Hughes listened closely to what happened from all three children and the two volunteers. After they were finished, Lisanna got a cooling band aid with ponies on it on her forehead and a lollipop to forget the pain. She then got sent back out, as well as the two teens who were praised by her for their good work. Mary then focused on the two other children.
"Natsu, I hope you know that it was quite reckless of you to kick that ball that hard." Natsu looked guilty to the ground and answered "I know, and I am sorry Mary-sensei. I just had so much fun playing that I didn't look"
With a soft sigh, Mary patted Natsu on the head and said "It's good that you know what you did wrong. If you can promise me to be more careful in the future, you can go back outside."
Nodding happily, Natsu replied "Of course Mary-sensei! I will ask Lisanna to play with me in order to make up!"
The teacher chuckled at that "Do that Natsu. Off you go" and with that, the pink haired boy ran back outside.
"Now Mirajane" began Mary but she was interrupted by the girl in question. "Now what huh? That jerk hurt my sister and you let him go unpunished!"
Mary sighed again "Yes he hurt her. But he also apologized to her and didn't try to talk his way out of it. While what he did was wrong, it was an accident. We don't punish you kids for accidents, we punish you when you do something wrong. Like what you did."
"WHAT?" screamed Mira. "You heard me right young lady and now listen. There was no reason for you to hurt Natsu, but you still did. That was wrong and therefore you will get a proper punishment. No outside time today for you and you will apologize for hurting Natsu when your parents come to pick you up."
Mira was shocked. Here she was, protecting her sister and getting punished for it. Her cheeks were bright red from fury and angry tears pooled in her eyes. Mary narrowed her eyes and said "Now now, stop the crocodile tears and come with me" she then took the small girl by the hand and dragged her with her.
Mira was then forced to spend the entire outside time in the office of Mary, where the hard-but-fair teacher made her read several storybooks about forgiveness.
Natsu on the other hand spent the whole time playing with Lisanna. The short-haired girl quickly forgave the pink haired boy and a new friendship blossomed between the two.
Present
Lisanna snapped back into reality when the shower water turned ice cold. Seems like she day-dreamed a bit too long. Quickly shutting the water off, the young woman stepped out of the shower.
She grabbed a towel off the rack and started drying herself. When she came to her (quite ample) chest, her thoughts started to run again. 'I wonder if Natsu likes bigger breasts'.
This caused a blush to spread on her face. Quickly shaking her head to get rid of the steamy thoughts, Lisanna grabbed her pajamas and got dressed for bed.
Snuggling in her warm bed, Lisanna had one last thought before falling asleep 'I have to reconnect with Natsu'.
In another part of the house, the eldest Strauss sibling sat at her dressing table, already dressed for bed, meaning in her case a purple tank top and blue shorts. Mira was busy brushing her hair and as her younger sister, she was currently remembering her time with Natsu.
After their first meeting, Mira became incredibly mean to the pink haired boy. Thanks to her cunning mind, she easily found ways to antagonize Natsu without getting caught.
That meant; stomping on his foot at lunch, kicking him in the shin when they passed in the classroom, shoving him "by accident" in the mud when they played outside and so on.
Mira had to chuckle at herself from back then, because Natsu never once reacted to her provocations in the slightest, which caused young Mira to get even more angry at him.
In the following four years, Mira spent much of her school time beating up Natsu. It mostly only worked because Natsu never fought back, which of course also infuriated the young white haired girl.
In turn this caused Mira to develop her signature style until she was fourteen. Punk Goth. From when she was eight years old, Mirajane Strauss would be feared as the "Demon". Dressed mostly in short clothes, made out of dark leather, she would lash out at anyone who would even looked at her funny.
Because she was also very lippy, Mira often bickered with one of her classmates, Erza Scarlet, who was all for being proper and following the rules.
When she then turned fourteen, her little sister was who set her straight again.
You see, when the Strauss siblings were ten years old (or close to ten in Lisanna's case), Natsu changed schools. He went to his martial arts school in order to learn the basics and improve as much as he could. Lisanna thought that the reason Natsu moved away was because he got sick of Mira.
Four years later, Lisanna finally had enough and lashed out against her older sister. Until this day, Mira never ever heard her sweet little sister be so angry, and in the privacy of her mind, she admitted that she nearly pissed her pants in fear when Lisanna chewed her out.
Flashback, two years ago
Mira just returned from her singing class. While she hated nearly everyone that breathed, she loved singing and regularly took classes in it.
Throwing her bag in a corner, Mira let herself fall onto the couch with a sigh, which caught the attention of her slightly younger brother Elfman.
The large and bulky young man looked up from the rugby strategy book he was currently reading and asked "Everything alright Nee-chan?"
Mira shot a side glance to him and gave another sigh before she answered "nothing too bad. Just people being assholes again".
Elfman chuckled nervously "so, someone hit on you again huh? Who was it this time?"
Mira waved his question away "Don't worry about it. I showed him the error of his advances", this got another nervous chuckle out of Elfman.
"Oh, Mira-nee, welcome back" said Lisanna who just entered the living room. Mira's face lit up in a smile "Hey Lisa~ how are you?"
"Everything is fine I guess, we won our match today by a margin. But Natsu has still not written a letter" said the short haired girl with a pout.
Mira on the other hand scowled. "You are still crying after pinkie?" She stood up and passed Lisanna in order to get a drink. "I say good riddance that he is gone, and you should stop thinking about him. He was nothing but trouble."
"Are you still mad about the ball he hit me with by accident? That was years ago!" hissed Lisanna out.
"So what?" retorted Mira "doesn't change the fact that he hurt you! And because of him I got in trouble. I! I may be a punk but I am still a model student! And that idiot put a permanent mark on my perfect reputation!" Mira finished with a yell.
That was the moment Elfman decided to haul ass as fast as he could. He could see Lisanna's face while Mira yelled, and he knew that her last remark was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"Mira, I love you but you are seriously a bitch with a capital B!" screamed Lisanna. "Lisanna wha-" began Mira but she was cut off by her very angry sister who now stood right in front of her.
"NO Mira! Now YOU WILL listen to ME! NEVER has Natsu done ANYTHING that justified how YOU treated him for four years! No wonder he changed schools! I would want to get away from you as well!"
Lisanna took a deep breath and continued "Because of YOU and your fucking pettiness I LOST my best friend! He probably doesn't write to me because he fears that you would show up at his school in order to beat him up just because he dared to contact me!" she threw her arms in the air with an exasperated sigh.
"What even was or is your damn problem with him huh?! Because he hurt me one time by accident and then had the" here she drew quotation marks in the air " 'audacity' to apologize to me?! God you're a hypocrite! Always blaming everyone else but never yourself! You know what Mirajane? Don't talk to me until you took a very long look into a mirror and reflect on your behavior in the last eight years!"
And with that Lisanna stormed off and slammed the door to her room shut, leaving a shell shocked Mira behind.
Mira was shocked because of three reasons. First, Lisanna yelled, and at her nonetheless. Lisanna NEVER yells. Second, she first called her 'Mira', and then 'Mirajane'. That was the first time in her life that her sister didn't use any honorifics for her. And third, Lisanna was absolutely right with everything she said.
Before Mira could retreat to the safety of her room in order to take the long look in the mirror Lisanna suggested, a large hand on her shoulder caught her attention.
Following the hand she came face to face with her father Jeremiah, who wore a sad smile on his face, with a disappointed look in his eyes. "Guess there were some things you never mentioned huh? I think we should have a little talk about that."
Before Mira could protest, her father pulled her out of the house, into his car and then drove towards Mira's favorite café. He ordered drinks and cake for both of them and then he began their long talk with his eldest daughter about what happened just minutes ago in their house.
Flashback end
At their talk, Jeremiah forced Mira to do some very honest self reflection. And while it was painful, it certainly did Mira well. She made a complete 180 in terms of style and personality. She became polite and helpful, she followed the rules and never ever did she provoke or taunt anyone ever again.
The probably hardest part of her change was apologizing to Lisanna, who accepted the apology just a tad reluctantly.
Putting her brush away, Mira stood up and walked to her bed. She lied down and before she turned off the light she took one last look around her room. It was a quite bizarre combination. The walls were covered in posters of punk rock bands, kittens and crude drawings (they were made by Mira herself. While she was incredibly talented in many disciplines, drawing was not one of them (but she still liked them)).
One last thought entered her brain before she also fell asleep 'I have to make it up to Natsu, starting tomorrow'.
The next day, homeroom class
Natsu was sitting at his desk, staring out of the window. Yesterday, so many things happened that he was unable to check out the school area by himself. He still had no idea where the gym was, meaning he was unable to train. But he vowed to find it out today after class.
The opening of the door caught his attention and to his personal horror he saw Mira making her way towards him quickly with a happy smile on her face. As far as he knew Mira, her smiling was never a good sign.
"Good morning Natsu" chirped Mira as she approached him. "Uh, morning Mira, you seem to be in a good mood today" replied Natsu with a nervous cough.
Mira ignored his cough and continued "say Natsu, out of interest…" "Yeah?" "Do you have lunch with you?"
Confused by the question, Natsu replied "Well, no. I suck at cooking, my mom banned me from her kitchen when I set the toaster on fire" this earned him a deadpan stare from Mira and also Hisui who just entered the room and heard his last sentence.
Looking between the two girls Natsu grumbled "It was an accident ok!?", this caused the two girls to chuckle.
"Well, we don't want that to happen here in your dorm, do we?" Mira reached into her bag and produced a large bento box out of it. She placed it on Natsu's desk and continued "Meaning, from today on, I will be making you lunch everyday." She finished with finality.
Hisui glared at the white haired beauty. 'How dare she try and pamper MY darling? That's my job!' Natsu on the other hand looked at the box and then back to Mira. "Ok, seriously, what did you do with it?"
Confused, Mira tilted her head to the side and replied "What do you mean?"
"You spent four years beating me up for the sole reason of existing. While you seem to be nicer than before, I am simply not buying that "the demon" just makes me lunch. So what is it? Laxatives? A stink bomb? Did you put razor blades in it? Just tell me so we can both save some time." said Natsu with a tired sigh.
Tears welled in Mira's eyes and she sobbed out "T-thats so mean N-Natsu. I spent a lot of work on that bento and you accuse me of such things!" "Wai-" began Natsu but now Hisui cut into the conversation "Well, according to him he has every reason to distrust you!"
Mira was now really close to crying, something Natsu recognized and that sent his brain into panic mode. "WAIT! I'LL EAT IT MIRA! I PROMISE!" he shouted frantically, doing his best to console the crying girl.
'Huh, so crying makes him obedient? Good to know.' thought Mira and Hisui.
Lunch
Sitting nervously at the lunch table, Natsu pulled out the bento box Mira gave him. Next to him sat Hisui and opposite of him was Mira, who looked at him expectantly. Carefully, Natsu opened the bento and a heavenly scent entered his nose. In the box, he found a huge meal consisting of large quantities of meat, vegetables and fish. A beautifully decorated cupcake sat in the middle, but the fact that there was no rice confused him.
"You have to lift the top off" said Mira nervously. Should Natsu not like her cooking, she would never be able to mend their bridges. Natsu did as she said and indeed, below the different meals was a second compartment that was full of cooked rice.
On one side was a chibi-comic version of Mira, made out of different vegetables and so, who gave a big grin and did a victory pose.
When Hisui saw and smelled the quality of the bento, she immediately vowed to improve her housekeeping skills.
Natsu however, was drooling. He tried a piece of meat with a bit of rice and after it entered his mouth he squealed in obvious delight.
"Damn Mira, this is amazing!" Mira gave a relieved laugh and said "Then did in Natsu."
"Don't mind if I do. Thanks for the food!" and with that Natsu dug in.
While he was still eating, Lisanna joined their table. "Hey Natsu" she said after she greeted everyone. Said boy looked up with a muffled "Hrm?"
"Do you have anything planned for when school ends today?" asked the short haired girl. Swallowing, Natsu replied "Yeah, I wanted to look for the gym or at least a dojo on the campus so I can continue my training"
"I know where the school dojo is" "Really?" Beamed Natsu "Can you show me please?"
Lisanna nodded happily and said "Sure, with pleasure"
Lunch then continued and ended without any incidents, except that Hisui once more folded her silverware in half.
After school
Lisanna led Natsu to the small dojo in a remote area of the fairy campus.
"Here we are Natsu. That's our local dojo. Students are always allowed in here as long as they don't litter or destroy anything."
"AWESOME! Thanks a lot Lisanna!" cheered Natsu and he began to walk into the dojo.
"Uh Natsu, c-can I watch your training?" asked Lisanna suddenly with a fierce blush on her face. "I mean, if you don't mind. It's just, we haven't seen each other for six years and I want to spend time with you again." she added quickly.
Natsu just gave her his signature toothy grin and answered "Sure, then I have company and I'd love to spend more time with you as well. Do you participate in any sports? I would love to cheer for you."
"I play volleyball" replied Lisanna while Natsu dragged her into the dojo. "Cool, I guess the other girls wouldn't be too thrilled when a dude watches their training, but I will come to all your games!"
Lisanna smiled at that. But then she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to run an errand for her mom. "Shoot, I completely forgot that I had something to do after school today. Sorry Natsu, guess we can't hang out today. Maybe tomorrow or so?"
Natsu said "No problem Lisanna. I train everyday, mostly around the same time. You can join and hang out while I train whenever you want"
With a nod and a quick kiss to his cheek Lisanna bolted off with a fierce blush covering her face.
One week later
Natsu's daily life had quickly found a routine. In the morning he would receive a bento from Mira, which he ate together with her and Hisui at lunch, where he also chatted with Lisanna. After school, he would head to the dojo. Lisanna visited the dojo while he trained on the weekends, Tuesdays and Thursdays. After training he would either do homework or take a nap and then have dinner with Wendy.
Today was beginning not too different. Natsu was just returning from the bathroom and entered the classroom. Next to his table stood Mira, who just placed his daily bento on his desk.
"Good morning Mira" greeted Natsu from behind her. Mira turned around and gave Natsu a beautiful smile and replied "Good morning to you too Natsu"
Eyeing the bento, Natsu said "You know that you don't have to make me lunch everyday Mira right? But I appreciate it. I really love your cooking" he finished with a grin.
The last week caused Mira to spend a lot of time around Natsu and getting to know him for real. And she quickly found herself falling for the lovable boy. But today was the first time he flashed her his gigawatt grin, she just couldn't take it anymore.
"AWWWWWWW" squealed Mira and slung her arms around Natsu's neck "You are just too cute Natsu!" she cheered and pulled him into a hug. Or to be more specific, she pulled his head into her bosom and hugged it tightly, making it hard for Natsu to move or breathe.
Pulling his head out from between her dirty pillows, Mira smiled at Natsu and said "I will make lunch for you until you are old and gray Natsu!" she finished this with a quick peck to the lips.
While Natsu had no problem per se getting closer to Mira and getting his face introduced to such heavenly gifts, the fact that Mira was acting like a loving girlfriend somehow made him nervous.
However, after school, Natsu ditched his training, because today Lisanna had a Volleyball game. It was a league game between the Fairy High School and the Oracion Seis Institute.
Natsu showed up in the spectator stands dressed completely in the team colors of Fairy High (Gold and White) and he swung a big flag with Lisanna's name and jersey number. He was also cheering the whole time at the top of his lungs.
The game was hard fought. Both teams played excellent, after one hour each team won two sets. In the tiebreaker game, everyone gave their best, but it was a desperate kick-save by Lisanna's team mate Bisca which was followed by a picture-perfect smash from Lisanna that won the game, with the score in the fifth game being 17-15 for Fairy High.
Natsu cheered the loudest, but everyone in the stands gave a generous amount of applause and cheers. After that, the girls all went into the dressing rooms in order to shower and change their clothes.
When Lisanna left the dressing rooms, she was the last one in there, because she tended to enjoy the post-game shower a tad too long.
Outside the dressing rooms stood Natsu, still clad in his fan outfit. "You played a great game, Lisanna! That final smash was awesome!" said Natsu with a wide grin. Blushing, Lisanna replied "Thanks Natsu. And thank you for coming and cheering for us"
Natsu waved her off and shrugged "I came and cheered for you, the others were just a bonus"
Lisanna laughed at that. "Cheeky bugger you are"
"I try" grinned Natsu "However, I have five thousand jewels and an ice cream shop just around the corner that all yearn to celebrate your victory"
Blinking, Lisanna asked "Are-are you inviting me to get ice cream?"
Rolling his eyes good naturedly, Natsu replied "No I invited your bag. Of course I invited you, you up for it?"
"You bet!" said Lisanna, she grabbed Natsu's hand and pulled him with her.
Later
The ice cream was delicious and Natsu behaved like a proper gentleman the whole time. He even escorted her home.
"See you tomorrow Lisanna, alright?" said Natsu when they arrived at her house.
"Sure Natsu, and thanks again. Do you want something to drink before you head back?" Lisanna asked.
"Nope, I rather not get gutted by Mira for bringing you home." Natsu shuddered at the thought of that.
This caused the short haired girl to sigh. She knew that Natsu was still a bit afraid of Mira, but her sister was seriously trying. "Just give her a chance, Natsu. She really changed, ok?"
Natsu wanted to retort, but unfortunately, Lisanna knew exactly how to push his buttons. She looked up at him with a few tears in her eyes and a trembling lip. "I-I…ah damn, ok Lisanna, I'll try"
Instantly, Lisanna's mood switched to cheerful. "That's all I'm asking for! See you tomorrow!"
Feeling bold and encouraged by her win today, Lisanna decided to start acting on her feelings. So before she went into her house, she stood on her tip-toes and gave Natsu a kiss on the lips, even licking his lips with her tongue. Quickly, she broke the kiss and whispered in his ear "If you continue cheering for my team and stay good, you'll get more" and then she disappeared through the house door, leaving a blushing and stunned Natsu behind.
To the dismay of our pink haired hero, Mira saw the exchange between her sister and her crush through a window. Sensing the competition, Mira decided to start getting bolder.
This resulted in her glomping on Natsu whenever she could in school. The bentos also started to resemble those that a wife would make her husband. Needless to say, Natsu was really weirded out by this, but he was still thankful for it, something he told Mira each day, which resulted in his head getting a trip to paradise nearly daily, much to the envy of his male classmates.
When Lisanna realized that her sister was apparently also having a crush on Natsu, she did her best to be as close to him as possible. When Natsu one day complained about his shoulders being a bit stiff, Lisanna started to give him a daily shoulder massage, which also brought the ire of many males on the campus.
Here's the next one. I decided half way through writing this chapter that it would be stupid to make separate chapters for Lisanna and Mira, that's why I included interaction with both of them in this chapter.
I hope you liked it, let me know in the reviews.
Sorry that it took so long, but I somehow messed up my schedule and yeah, the exams took a lot of time lul.
Next chapter: up to you guys. Erza, Juvia, Lucy or Hisui. You decide in the reviews (since I don't understand how I can open a poll lul :D)
However, I will be busy in the next few days watching Lord of the rings and the Hobbit while playing Mario Kart. So….yeah, I give you until next Sunday to give a review of who the next chapter should feature as the main girl.
But till then
Bye :D