Chapter 3

Zeref!" Natsu called from upstairs. "Can I borrow your phone?"

"What?" A muffled voice called back.

Natsu sighed as he walked down the stairs. Zeref sounded like he was taking a bath. And Natsu didn't have it in himself to ask for Mirajane's phone. He still didn't think that it was appropriate for him to disturb her that way, even after she had said exactly otherwise.

Natsu finished climbing down the staircase and passed by the kitchen. Mirajane appeared to have been cooking breakfast. The sound of dishes and utensils clanking against each other filled Natsu's ears. He stared at the door to the kitchen for a while, wondering if he should ask Mirajane for help, but then decided against it. He walked past the kitchen and entered Zeref's bedroom.

As he had thought, Zeref was taking a bath. The sound of his horrible singing emanated outside the bathroom door. Natsu sighed. He looked at Zeref's bed and found his suit and office clothes shabbily laud out over the bed sheet. Natsu bent down and ironed them with his hands the best he could, and then he walked to Zeref's table. He looked for his brother's phone, but couldn't find it. The phone charger was coiled over the table. Had Zeref taken his phone with him to the bathroom?

Natsu sighed and then sat down on the bed. He couldn't find his own phone, and needed to make a call so that he could locate it from the ringing.

Zeref's singing continued. His voice sounded even worse through the glass window as it was muffled.

Natsu sighed again.

"Hey Zeref, come out quickly. I need your phone."

"What?" Zeref called again.

Natsu growled. If only he could turn down the music on his phone, he would be able to listen to him.

Natsu just waited for him to finish. He didn't even know why he was hurrying so much. His school wasn't on for at least another half an hour. Maybe he was getting twitchy and impatient because he wanted to have his morning smoke quickly. He wanted to leave the house and enter a dark alley where he could smoke in peace.

He sat in silence, only the noise of the shower filling his ears from the bathroom. Natsu looked around Zeref's room. He hadn't been here that often these past few days. He remembered how he used to play video games on Zeref's PC not a long time back, but that was before he had gotten his own PC. Natsu looked up at Zeref's computer. He wondered what new games Zeref had bought.

He stared at the computer screen, its LED screen reflecting Natsu's fuzzy face on it. Natsu leaned forward and placed his elbows over his knees as he sat, and looked deep into the computer screen. His eyes narrowed.

He suddenly got startled and looked around. It felt as if someone had spoken to him. It was a feminine voice that had said some words in his ear that he couldn't understand properly.

Was it Mirajane? He turned his head around to look at the doorway. Maybe she had heard him calling for Zeref and wanted to check what was going on. But the doorway was empty.

Natsu looked forward again. He looked back at the computer screen, and could have sworn he saw something move in it. He slowly stood up and neared it, his head leaned forward, and stood right before the screen, pushing the swivel chair away. In the deep black darkness of the clean surface, he saw his face close up, as if he was inspecting his own face—as if the screen was a mirror.

Suddenly, colours jumped onto the screen and Natsu leapt backwards, startled. He breathed heavily as he stared unblinking at the computer screen. The colours were grainy and pixelated. Natsu slowly ducked and looked at the switch that the computer was plugged into. It was turned off. He rose back up and looked at the screen again. The colours were still dancing frighteningly and strangely on it. They glared bright and extraordinarily, and almost seemed to be seeping out into the real world itself. The colours danced before Natsu's face, as if they were varied coloured vapours. Natsu slowly extended his hand and tried to enclose some of that vapour in his fist, but he grabbed nothing. He opened his fist, and the vapour was gone. Natsu blinked at nothing for a while, before looking up at the computer screen. It was back to being blank.

A loud noise was heard, and the door to the bathroom opened beside Natsu. Natsu looked there, and found Zeref wearing a towel walking into the room. His long black hair fell over his face. He used his hand to part them.

"What's up, little man? Were you calling for me?" He asked.

Natsu stared at him, his mouth slightly open, but he only breathed silently. He didn't utter a word. As if words seemed to completely escape him. Something… was wrong. There was a big space in his mind where words were supposed to be.

He stood up and walked to the doorway.

Zeref stopped brushing his hair with the towel. "Natsu?"

Natsu slightly turned around as he continued walking.

"No… uh… nothing. Just… I'll leave."

As Natsu walked further, he bumped gently against Mirajane. He quickly extended his hands and grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling. She looked up at him.

"Natsu? Where are you going in such a hurry? There's still time before school."

Natsu couldn't even comprehend her question, let alone answer it. His mind wasn't working the way it was supposed to.

"Yeah… sure… I'll just leave."

"Wait, Natsu!" Mirajane called, but all she heard was the door shutting loudly behind Natsu.

Zeref walked over to the doorway of his room, and stood beside Mirajane. Both of them looked concernedly at the maindoors of the house. Mirajane looked down at her hand that held Natsu's phone.

The school was loud as always. Chatters and murmurs filled the halls and the classrooms, merging into each other, resulting in a continuing sound that didn't make any sense at all and couldn't be distinguished. Some talked of the latest video games that they played, some talked of the new anime that they had watched, and some about the cute girl or the cute guy they had seen in the hallways a few days back. It was always the same. Never interesting.

Natsu sat on his table, looking down at his desk, his head buried in his hands. Why couldn't everyone keep quiet? Why couldn't they talk about something worthwhile for once? Why couldn't they just enjoy the silence for a moment?

In the chatters, he heard a familiar voice. That voice intrigued him. That voice… reminded him of sweet flowers.

He quickly looked up and around himself, and tried to look for the girl who that voice belonged to. He found her entering the classroom, smiling at her friends. She walked to a desk that some girls and boys sat around, and shook hands with some, while high-fiving the others. She had always been popular with people. Something Natsu could never achieve.

He looked at her for a while, hoping to every god that he knew the name of that she looked at him. Just once. Just for a moment. For a fleeting second. But she never did.

Natsu sighed. He knew Erza would forget about him the next day. He had almost expected it. Then why did he feel so… displeased. Why did he feel that there was a thorn pricking at his heart? Why did he feel that his body was floating in an ocean of the hottest lava, searing into his body and hurting every bit of his skin?

He looked back down and sunk his head into his hands again, lower than before this time.

"Natsu?"

He quickly looked up when he heard another feminine voice. This one was different from Erza's. This one sounded sophisticated—including even his name that was said in it. That voice said his name in an accent that sounded almost pushed in, something that Erza would never do.

He looked at the girl that stood beside his desk, looking at him smiling. She had a bright smooth skin, a beautiful and pretty face and golden long hair flowing in the soft winds that breezed into the classroom from the open windows.

Natsu knew her. She had talked to him before. She would usually come to him with doubts about her lessons in school that she had been having trouble with.

"Lucy…" Natsu mumbled.

Lucy smiled wider when she realised that he remembered her name.

"How are you?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah… good."

Lucy giggled, and then pulled a nearby chair to face it towards Natsu's desk. She sat down in it, and pulled a book onto Natsu's desk.

"Would you mind helping me a little?"

Natsu looked down at the book.

"Biology…? S-sure."

Lucy clapped her hands once. "Great. So I was having trouble with Klinefelter's syndrome. What exactly is it? And why does it happen only to men?"

Natsu poured into the book. He had read that part. He even knew where the answer to her question in the book was. He pointed to the exact line.

"Here… look. It says that it's a chromosomal anomaly. Sometimes the sex chromosomes don't separate properly during gametogenesis and triploidy occurs during fertilisation. When two x chromosomes and one y chromosome meet, they cause Klinefelter's syndrome."

Lucy stared at Natsu's face. Completely lost. "Wha…"

Natsu sighed. "Look. Every cell in the human body consists of two types of chromosomes. Somatic and sex chromosomes. The 45 pairs are somatic… and the 1 pair is sex–"

"How are you so smart, Natsu?" Lucy interjected.

Natsu lost his voice. He looked up at her. He realised that he had gotten so lost in the textbook and explaining to her the concept that he had completely forgotten that he was a socially inept individual that wasn't supposed to speak so boldly. Maybe the unanswerable question from her was a price to pay for his extreme fluidity in speaking.

He went back to his mumbling. "I… I don't have much else to do… so I spend my time reading…"

Lucy raised her brow. "Reading… science?"

Natsu fumbled with his words. "No… not really. I read… I read novels too."

Lucy gasped. "Wow. Just like an adult. That's so cool."

Natsu found himself in a greater bind when the talk progressed this way. All he was trying to seem was as uninteresting as possible so she would leave him alone.

"Alright class. We will read biology today." The teacher entered the classroom.

As soon as she did, everyone quickly took up their seats. Lucy waved Natsu a quick goodbye and stood up.

The teacher quickly took attendance, and then got down to the lesson.

She looked around the classroom to ask someone a question.

"Okay, Lucy… if you can, please tell us all what Klinefelter's syndrome is?"

Lucy stood up. "Well… you see, teacher. In the human body, there's two groups of chromosomes. The somatic and the sex chromosomes. Out of the 46 chromosomes, 1 pair is sex and the rest are somatic–"

"Okay. You know what that is. Well done, Lucy."

Lucy smiled. "I had some help, teacher. From Natsu."

The entire class turned to look at him. Natsu stared at some of the faces looking at him. Some of them looked on with jealousy, some with contempt, and some impressed.

Natsu sunk into his chair, as if hiding. He dug deep into his chair and fidgeted nervously.

"Good job, Natsu. I would like you to try and teach some things to more people. It would honestly make my job easier."

Natsu slowly stood up from his chair, as per culture when the teacher was talking to someone. But he didn't speak. He just awkwardly stood and stared at the teacher. He slowly stole a glance at Erza, who was staring at him with a bright, mischievous and knowing smile.

The teacher soon realised something. "Oh right. Talking isn't your strong point. It's okay then. No problem. Looks like I'll have to do the teaching afterall."

Natsu sighed and sat back down.

The evening had come. The clouds were orange with the streaks of the sun almost dissolving into the great vast sky. Cool winds swept past the streets and roads in front of the school, and the bells indicating the closing of the school rang loudly and tunefully. The snow had stopped falling for now.

School kids dotted the roads, chattering and talking loudly amongst themselves. Their talks mostly consisted of the same few things that they had been talking about during the beginning of the school day, albeit more energetically this time around. The school was over. They all could go home and rest and watch cartoons and anime and play video games. That had to warrant some happiness.

Natsu walked silently down the footpath, his swinging school bag hitting his back every now and then. Where could he do it? What place was good enough? The park? The alleys in the commercial district? Up the old hill behind the school? By the lake?

He wanted to smoke, but he had to wait a little for the school goers around him to pass by. He didn't want to hear a lecture from his teachers, and then have that lecture magnified at home. He knew Mirajane would blow her top off should she learn that he had been smoking. Zeref would only probably give him a small pat on his hand, given how lax he was. But Mirajane Natsu feared.

The smoking didn't take long. Nothing eventful happened while he did that, except for Natsu thinking his own thoughts and delving deep into his own mind. He did that a lot. To fantasise that he was someone special–like a superhero, destroying his enemies with flashy moves and superpowers.

He slid off the small alley he had been smoking in, sprayed some freshener into his mouth, and then he was ready to head home.

He passed by a crossroad, and his home was through the route that went right up ahead. As he turned towards the right, he heard someone clear their throat. He halted, staring up ahead, at the horizon dotted by some faraway high rise buildings and the clear orange sky that met them.

That voice… it… it was her.

He quickly turned around, almost as if he was eager to see her face. She stood leaning against the wall, her hands folded. She stood straight and faced him, a frown on her face.

"So… you lied to me about your home being this way."

Natsu stared at her, partly lost in her beauty and the gleeful feeling that she was once again talking to him. That she hadn't forgotten about him. That she was waiting for him.

"Huh…?" Natsu mumbled.

Erza shook her head. "This is the same crossroad we met at, Natsu. Remember? You said you lived this way."

She pointed her thumb behind her.

Natsu quickly realised what she was talking about. He looked around himself. It definitely was the same crossroad they had first met at, where they had crashed into each other.

She remembered it?

His lie had been caught. She must have probably seen him turning the other way just now. Now the question was, what does he tell her to cull the situation.

Erza blew her cheeks out. "I don't like liars."

Natsu fumbled. "Yeah… I… I am sorry. I had forgotten which way I lived. I must have been a little confused."

Erza raised her brow. "How can you forget where you live?"

"No, seriously." Natsu retorted. He felt a heaviness in his heart for having had to lie to her. But it was only after he had already lied that he suddenly realised that he hadn't needed to. That she could be trusted.

He sighed. "Okay… I lied."

Erza glared at him. "Why?"

Natsu didn't know the answer to that. Or if he knew, he didn't think he would want to tell her that he at first thought that she was a demon that was after him wanting to harm him.

He looked down at his feet, resigning to answer. Ashamed, but defiant.

Erza's cross expression was diluted for a while. "So… you don't want to be my friend? Is that why you lied to me?"

Natsu felt as if a needle went through his heart. He quickly looked up at her. "No! I… I mean… that's not the reason. I… I don't know why I lied."

Erza slowly approached him. "Do you want to be my friend?"

Natsu nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

Erza smiled slightly. "Then the most important thing that friends do is be honest with each other. Say that you won't lie to me ever again."

Natsu's lower jaw dropped slightly. So… he was really her friend now. Was he ready to be honest with her? Would that mean telling her about his problems? He didn't really know what kind of things friends shared with each other. He didn't think that he was yet ready to share that part of his life with anyone. But… he really wanted to be her friend. He was in a difficult situation at that moment. What does he say to her?

Erza smiled slightly wider. "It's okay. Don't worry. I won't ask you to tell me why you lied to me. I understand. You said it yourself, right? Making friends is difficult for you?"

Natsu gazed at her dumbfounded. Did she remember their conversations together? He did very well. He had been going over the conversation a lot recently. But to think that she did as well… It was strangely blissful.

"Yeah…" Natsu responded.

Erza laughed. "So? Ready to show me your house?"

Natsu stared at her, debating the idea. On one hand, he really wanted to do that. He didn't want to hurt her any further by making her think that he was still keeping silly things from her. But on the other hand…

By this time it was sure that she wasn't one of those men that were after him. But still. Accidents could happen. Maybe she could let it slip to someone. And that someone to someone else. And on and only it would go, until it reached prying ears. That was what Natsu was afraid of.

"Natsu? Hi!" He heard a familiar voice cut into his ponderings.

He turned around, and faced the beautiful white haired lady who stood at a distance, holding a bag of groceries.

"M-Mirajane?"

Erza stole a glance at her. "Oh… Hi."

Mirajane walked closer to the two of them. "Oh, what's this? Natsu and a friend, I hope."

Natsu felt flustered at that thought. He still wasn't sure if he and Erza were friends.

"I actually just met Erza–"

"Yes. We are friends." Erza piped, extending her hand to Mirajane. "I am Erza, Natsu's classmate. And you must be Natsu's sister-in-law. He told me about you. How he talks a lot to you."

Mirajane appeared happily surprised as she shook Erza's hand. "Oh? Natsu said that? That makes me very happy. And also the fact that he has made a new friend."

Natsu groaned internally. Maybe he had said that he talked to Mirajane, but he never said that he did it a lot. Miscommunication. His words had been taken out of context.

Erza pulled on her bag straps, and then walked backwards. "Okay, Natsu. You should head home. I'll see you tomorrow."

Natsu nodded awkwardly.

Erza smiled and then turned around, and headed down the street. Mirajane kept her hand up as she waved at the girl. After that, she turned to Natsu.

"Hey, Natsu. She is quite pretty, isn't she?"

Natsu's eyes widened. He shook his head. "I… I think you've got the wrong idea. That's not it at all. I just met her by accident the day before yesterday—"

Mirajane giggled and turned around. "It's okay. Come on. Let's go home. It's no reason to fret, Natsu. I am glad that you are making friends with beautiful girls. Looks like I have something to tease you with should you not listen to me now…"

Natsu sighed. He glanced one last time at the street that Erza had turned into. She had already vanished. Natsu stood there for a while in the lonely evening winds.