𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙁𝙏 // 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙭 𝙤𝙘

ＦＩＦＴＥＥＮ．

He let an amused huff out at her mockery, "I wanted to see you, obviously."
"Won't your master be angry with you? For speaking with me?" she asked, concern lacing her tone as she nervously eyed Sabertooth's balcony area.
"I don't care about that," he shook his head, "won't Natsu be angry at you for speaking with me?"

As he turned the question on her, Fuyumi did look around anxiously for her older brother — she sighed in relief, however, when she saw him crushed beneath Lucy, where Leo had evidently disappeared again.
"He won't know," she waved it off.
"Gosh, you're getting bolder by the day. What happened to betraying your guild, hm?" Sting raised a brow, giving her a slow spin, "you look good in a dress, thought I'd say."

"Ah— thank you. You aren't all that bad-looking either," she averted her eyes, "and hush, now."
"What, I'm just saying," he grinned, "you must be a little nervous about it... there must be so many eyes on us right now."
Fuyumi glanced around — she couldn't pick any one individual staring them down, but Sting must be right that a lot of people would be shocked to see them act even amicable towards each other.

"You're right..." she whispered, dropping her hand from his.
"Huh?" he tilted his head in confusion.
"With everybody watching us, our every move... Sting, we do have reputations," she replied with a somewhat apologetic smile.
"Oh! Right," he nodded, "I can keep a secret, just letting you know."

She nodded to him, and he returned a wink, when all of a sudden there was an eruption of repulsed cries all around the stadium. The both of them looked up to the source and recoiled in disgust at the sight, Sting giving a horrified shudder. Above the crowd was Lamia Scale's elderly, wrinkly master, Ooba Babasama, in a skimpy red bathing suit.

With that, the fun was over, and the interlopers trailed away. Sting and Fuyumi were both first out of the arena to avoid prying eyes, although the last to settle back with the rest of their guild.

Both were back in their normal clothes now, the wedding outfits having magically vanished. Sting gave a mischievous chortle.
"That was fun," he grinned, "I don't think there's every been a dress-up contest in the Games before."
"Macao and Wakaba must have been pleased to see so many young ladies in bikinis, all in one place," Fuyumi sighed, "a lot of those dogs out there would have been..."

"Well, you know that I'm only here to see one person," at the waggish tone in his voice, the Ice Dragon Slayer smacked him in the chest.
"Be quiet," she huffed.
"I wasn't down there for anyone else, though, so it isn't a lie," he cackled.

"Sting, shush! What if someone discovers us, here, alone, together!" she replied, "what if... Natsu finds a Sabertooth wizard here with me?"
"He won't," Sting patted her shoulder with reassurance, "and if he does... well, a little workout won't hurt."

"You're still on fighting him?" Fuyumi questioned.
"Always have been," he shook his head, "I won't... talk about that."
"Mhm, you seem like you get quite passionate about that, Sting," the girl narrowed her eyes.
"Hey, hey, I haven't said anything yet," he raised his arms up in surrender in the same manner he had done the previous night.

"I can read it in your eyes. You're like this with me, sure, but... you're still just another Sabertooth wizard with an inferiority complex, aren't you?" she hummed, tapping her chin, "you still want to be the best, no?"
He frowned, "that's not fair at all."
"I know," she nodded an affirmation.

He sighed, "you're still mad at me?"
"Mad is an understatement," she said, "sort of. I'm not mad, per se. You know?"
"Yeah, I know," he nodded, slight disappointment washing through him, "I get that... this kind of thing takes time, right? But it's been four years since we last met, that's enough, isn't it?"
"It was until you approached me last night," Fuyumi confided, "I don't know, just seeing you, face-to-face... it brought back all kinds of emotions, I suppose."

Sting nodded again at that, "I get it, it's fine. Anything, just... let me make it up to you, after the Games. I'll take you out for some food, maybe."
"Maybe," she agreed.

"The final match of the day will be Mermaid Heel's Kagura... versus... Sabertooth's Yukino! Here we have another match between beauties!"

"Oh... that's us," Sting said.
"I suppose we had better get back to our guildmates," Fuyumi added.

"Mhmm. I've gotta give Yukino a fair warning, anyway," he shrugged nonchalantly.
"What... kind of warning? I'm sure she's aware that Kagura's a powerful opponent," the Fairy Tail wizard tilted her head.

"She's new around the guild, fresh meat. I've just... got to tell her what it means to be a part of this team," he explained slowly, as if he was choosing his words cautiously, "that she shouldn't— no, she mustn't bring shame on the name of Sabertooth. Before you get pissed off at me again— it's for her own good. With the master, and all..."
"What, like you did back in the contest part of today?" Fuyumi teased, "stop trying to explain yourself to me, Sting, I understand. I don't think I could be anymore upset with you than I have been over the past years."

"Oh, great," he nodded, "well, uh... we'd best get going, to watch Yukino annihilate Kagura, huh?"
"Right," Fuyumi suppressed a grin.

The two walked hand in hand until they eventually had to go their separate ways.
"Will you see me tonight again?" Sting asked.
"I might," Fuyumi answered, "if I can sneak out of the inn."
"Alright... I'll see you later, then?"