Welcome to the Mafia Family

Chapter 23 - First Training Session

This morning I woke up early for Natsu's training. Laxus drove me to Dragneel Inc. and now both of us were waiting in the lobby for Natsu to show up. I was dressed in a pink sports bra and black high waist leggings. Over my shoulder, I had a change of clothes in a pink duffle bag.

"I hope he doesn't go too hard on me since this is my first day of training" I said. "He better not. If he hurts you, he'll have me to answer to" Laxus grumbled. He wasn't too pleased when I told him about my first training session last night. He didn't want me to get hurt but knew I needed to learn self-defence in case I have to face our father's men. "Stop it Laxus. You know it was my decision to agree to these training sessions" I lightly scolded, and he scoffed.

"Hey Lucy!" Natsu shouted out as he ran towards me. He was wearing black gym shorts and a red gym singlet. Over his shoulder was a red duffle bag similar to mine. "Hey Natsu" I replied just before he stopped in front of us. "Ready for our training session?" he asked with a bright smile. "Yep, let's go" I replied, returning the smile and then walked side by side with him towards the elevator. "I'm coming to supervise" Laxus said as he followed behind us. "But don't you have work to do?" Natsu asked and Laxus glared at him. "I can do that later" he growled. "Aye! Right, the training room is this way" Natsu replied in a slightly high voice.

"Laxy, you didn't have your coffee this morning, did you?" I asked and he grumbled. Laxus gets extra grumpy when he wakes up early without his morning coffee. "Why don't you go to the Cafeteria to get one and meet us in the training room?" I suggested. "Hm, fine" he grumbled and then walked off. Natsu let out the breath he was holding, and I giggled.

Natsu took me down the elevator to the Fairy Tail's empty underground bar. I was confused until he turned right and led me down a hallway beside the bar. We stopped at a door that had a 'Training Room' sign on it. He used his key card to open the door and then turned on the lights.

The whole room was as big as a dojo. There was an inbuilt mat for mock fights in the centre of the room and different types of weapons hanging up on the back wall. "So this is our training room which we also use as a safe room if we're under attack" he explained as he put down his bag and wandered onto the mat. "Put your stuff by the door and then I'll explain what we're doing" he said, and I did as he said before joining him on the mat.

"I'll start you off on the basics and then we'll move onto self-defence techniques" he said. "Alright" I said, keen to learn. "Ok so first I want you to raise your fists like you were about to fight someone one-on-one" he said, and I did as I was instructed. He walked around behind me and then push my elbows in closer to my body a fraction. "Always remember to keep your elbows as close to your body as you can, and your legs bent and apart, one in front of the other" he said before walking to stand in front of me.

"Now pretend I'm an attacker. Try to punch me" he instructed. "Ok" I replied and then threw a punch towards his head which he caught in his hand before my fist could land. "Good, you aimed for my head. The punch was a bit weak but we can fix that" he critiqued. I was hurt to hear my punch was weak, but I took it as constructive criticism. "Next I want to see how you kick" he said and without hesitation, I kicked him in the stomach. He flew back onto to the floor on his back and groaned as he sat up, holding his stomach. "Oh my gosh Natsu! I'm so sorry!" I panicked and then a chuckle echoed the room. "Lucy's got the deadliest kick I've ever seen" Laxus smirked and then took a sip of his coffee as he leant against the wall next to the door. "Noted" Natsu groaned as he stood up.

He coughed, "let's move onto the self-defence" he said as he stepped forward. "I'll be the victim and you'll be the attacker first and then we'll switch alright?" he explained, and I nodded. "Ok let's say you wanted to punch me" he said in a fight stance and nodded his head for me to do it. I did as I was instructed and threw my fist at him with my right arm. He swung his right foot back so he was standing sideways and on the right side of my arm. He then grabbed my wrist with is right hand and pulled my arm down further while almost elbowing me in the face with his left arm.

"Did you see that?" he asked as he let go and stepped back. "I did but it was a bit fast" I replied. "That's ok, I'll do it slower this time and explain how to do it then you can have a go" he said, and then reset his position. As he said, he explained while showing me each step slowly and then we switched roles.

We continued the training for an hour. He taught me all the techniques to defend myself against an unarmed attacker. Laxus wasn't too happy with Natsu touching me in certain positions but it was all part of the training. When we were finished, I was sweating from head to toe. "Good job today. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow. The showers are across the hall" Natsu said as he grabbed his red towel from his bag and wiped the light sweat off his face. 'How the hell is he not sweating much?' I wondered as I took a big gulp of my water bottle and then wiped my face with my pink towel.

"Ok, I'm going for a shower" I said as I quickly packed my things and swung my bag over my shoulder. "We'll meet you outside in the hall when you're done. I need to 'speak' to Natsu first" Laxus said. Now Natsu was sweating a lot with a forced smile on his face. "Alright" I replied and exit the room. I was going to have a shower and then get ready for our coffee date.