"Hey, Natsu!" Gray called out to the pinkette who was spacing out in class.
"What?!" The said boy growled back in annoyance.
"Erza is calling you." Gray explained while pointing to Erza who was waiting outside the classroom with his thumb.
"Eh?" Natsu shot up timidly.
No wonder Gray was calling him by his proper name instead of those weird nicknames that are usually the catalyst of their fights.
"W-why is she calling me?" Natsu questioned politely with fear tinted in his voice.
"Dunno. Go figure it out yourself." Gray brushed him off.
Outside the classroom, Natsu started trembling not because of the usual fear he gets from Erza's threats but because of the goosebumps he was getting from the scarlet haired demon's behaviour. She was twiddling her thumbs and blushing profusely.
"W-What's wrong?" Natsu decided to speak up first since the other party didn't seem like she was going to anytime soon.
"Wrong?! What's wrong?! Nothing's wrong!" Erza screamed while steam gushed out of her ears and her face turned as red as her hair.
"I-Is that so?" Natsu sweat dropped as he decided to pull out from this wacked out conversation.
"WAIT!" Erza stopped the retreating boy with a tight grip on his wrist which made the said boy yelp in pain.
"Y-Yeah?" Natsu just barely managed to make out the word without screaming.
"I...I need help..." Erza stammered.
Natsu raised a brow. The self-esteemed Student Council Vice-President was asking him for help? Okay, something's awfully wrong.
"O-Okay..." The boy started slowly, "With what?"
Looking away to calm herself down, Erza took a deep breath.
"Je...me...te..."
"Say wah?" Natsu couldn't catch a word she was saying.
"Jellal...date..." Out of the whole sentence, Natsu only caught two words and his assumptions decided to do all the work.
"Uh...You need help asking Jellal on a date?" Natsu shot a not so wild guess since it was no secret how Erza always had a thing for their senior who is the Student Council President, Jellal Fernandez.
However, Erza shook her head.
Thinking hard again, he tried another shot, "Uh...Another girl asked Jellal on a date? Don't tell me you want me to do something to the girl-" Before Natsu's assumption could bring them any further from the right track, Erza shook her head feverishly once more.
"Okay, I give up. Seriously, what is it?" Natsu raised both hands in defeat.
"Jellal...sked...me...date..." Erza mumbled out once more, earning a distressed groan from Natsu.
"Seriously woman! You gotta speak up!"
"JELLAL ASKED ME ON A DATE!"
"..." There was an awkward silence that followed shortly after which suffocated the scarlet girl quite badly.
"REACT DAMNIT!" Snapped the girl when she finally couldn't take it.
"Ah... I just...Don't understand how this relates to me." Natsu explained scratching the back of his head while mentally adding, or see what he sees in you.
Erza looked to the ground and started drawing circle on it with the tip of her shoes uncharacteristically, causing more goosebumps to form on the boy's skin.
"Well... This is gonna be my first date and..."
Wincing in an attempt to prompt the girl to be quick about it, Natsu prodded, "Yeah...?"
"I suggested to go on a double date instead." Erza shot out with sudden speed that seemed to have came out of nowhere, causing the boy to step back in shock.
Recovering from the sudden change in speed, Natsu continued, "I still don't see how I fit into things."
"I was hoping you and Lisa-"
"Not gonna happen." Natsu shot the girl down immediately, earning a death glare and iron grip on his collar that pulled his face near her on-stand-by fist.
"Oh? And why not?" Erza's tone was filled with the equal amount of malice her eyes contained.
"I-I broke up with her just yesterday!" Natsu quickly explained before her fist meet his face or the other way round; either way hurts.
Letting the pinkette go, she continued with an unsurprised expression, "Oh. I see. Pity."
"WHAT'S WITH THAT HALF-ASSED REACTION?!"
Turning on her heels, Erza started making her way to Lucy's class.
"Since you're so useless, I guess I'll have to rely on Lucy and Jason instead."
"THEN DON'T COME TO ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Natsu complained in an attempt to hide the hurt he felt when Lucy and Jason was mentioned.
"*Sigh* I wish I didn't." Erza agreed as she waved a nonchalant goodbye without even turning to face the annoyed boy.
With a blank expression, the boy continued to stare at the scarlet's retreating figure.
A double date huh...
"Lucy!"
"Erza?! Why-" Lucy questioned in surprise as she made her way to the girl who called her.
"I know you suggested Natsu and Lisanna instead but that stupid boy was useless; he broke up with Lisanna yesterday." Apparently, Erza found it necessary to stress on 'stupid'.
"EH?!" Lucy was completely caught off guard. They did? Don't tell me it's because Lisanna found out about that night...
Lucy's face couldn't help but heat up after recalling about that night. However, it was short-lived as a certain brown haired boy's voice became a reminder to her that she should be feeling guilty.
"Really? That's a pity. They seemed like a great couple." Jason commented harmlessly.
"Y-Yeah..." Lucy half-heartedly agreed. They did, didn't they?
"So... It seems like we'll have to take up that offer huh?" Jason hinted anticipation to Lucy as he said it.
"Haha! Yeah." Lucy agreed as she winked back at the brunette.
"Really?! Thank you!" Erza thanked the two profusely as she made her way back to class since lunch break was almost over before realising how her strawberry cake still sat untouched in her lunch box.
With her stomach growling, she glared at the pinkette who was still staring out of the window blankly.
Now, where's the bat?
It was in the evening of the next day where the date was held in a cafe near their school grounds.
"Lucy!" Erza called out rather enthusiastically as compared to her usual self. Jellal who noticed her change in attitude couldn't help but smile at that.
"Erza!" Lucy called back in recognition.
"What about me?" Jason sweat-dropped as he followed closely behind his girlfriend.
Ignoring the brunette, Erza introduced Lucy to her crush.
"This is Lucy, one of my few trustworthy friends." She boasted pridefully, earning a blush from the said blonde.
Jellal stood up and shook hands politely with the girl while introducing himself.
"Hi, I'm Jellal-"
"The Student Council President. I know, I heard a lot about you from this girl here." Lucy interrupted and pointed towards Erza to hint something.
Blushing, Jellal continued while scratching the back of his head, "I-Is that so?"
"Hi. I'm Jason. Jason Kenway. Nice to meet you." Jason decided to introduce himself since he realised no one else would.
"Ah, I see, you're Lucy's boyfriend I presume." Jellal identified as he shook hands with the lad.
"Yes."
Seeing the formal conversation between the two gentlemen, the two girls felt really out of place.
"C'mon! Don't be so formal!" Lucy suggested while patting Jason's back.
Smiling at the girl's enthusiasm, Jason nodded. Throughout the double date, the couples first talked about themselves, then each other, then school and it ended up being a talk about how to improve the school. As expected from the heads of the Student Council.
"U-Uh... I think we should end here today... It is getting quite late..." Lucy interrupted as the two members of the Student Council continued to discuss about the school's maintenance.
"Huh? Oh, that is true." Erza stopped herself as she looked at her watch.
After the four made their way out of the cafe, Lucy and Jason purposely excused themselves to make sure Jellal take Erza home.
"That was... interesting..." Jason tried to comment without offending the couple they were with.
"Yeah." Lucy laughed weakly at the remark since she herself couldn't deny it.
As they made their way to Lucy's current home, they walked by a normal park. Well, normally they'll just walk by but this time, something that was happening in the park caught their attention.
"Son of a-!" Before the vulgarity could be completed, a fist landed in the speaker's face.
Lucy gasped when the two made contact but what shocked her wasn't the violence but the owner of the fist.
"WHAT DID YA SAY?!" The said man exclaimed as he brought his fist up once more to land it on the man's already bleeding face.
"NATSU!" Lucy called out to the boy who was obviously lost in irrational anger.
The pinkette turned in surprise to the blonde. Using that chance, the badly beaten lad ran off. Natsu cursed under his breath as he picked himself up to chase after the escaper but the blonde halted him.
"NATSU!"
Growling, the furious kid turned back to the girl.
"WHAT?!" Natsu's voice hinted provocation that the girl ignored.
"What on Earthland happened here?! You looked like you were about to rip that man's throat out!" Lucy demanded for explanation as she made her way to where the pinkette was, Jason following closely behind.
"I was." Natsu admitted as he turned to glare at the direction the man ran off in as though he hadn't given up on that idea.
Jason reached out to hold Lucy back from the beast but she waved him off and continued forward.
"What happened?" This time, the girl asked gently since she could sense something was obviously wrong with the boy.
Natsu said nothing but just stared at Jason coldly from the corner of his eyes. Getting the message, Lucy turned to the brunette.
"Sorry, this'll do for today, you don't have to walk me any further." She apologised with hands clapped together and brought up to the front of her face.
"Are you sure?" Jason questioned in concern which earned him a glare from the simmering boy.
However, he didn't back down, instead, he glared back. Noticing the tension between the two, Lucy quickly pushed the brunette away while repeatedly assuring him that she'll be okay. When the boy was finally gone, Lucy turned to injured pinkette who's wounds were earned from his previous scuffle. Seeing quite the bleed-fest coming from the kid's right bicep, Lucy took out her handkerchief to make a temporary bandage around the wound.
As she did, the patient whispered a soft 'thanks'. Feeling a little warm inside, the girl smiled.
"C'mon, let's get you home." Lucy looked at the boy, smile still gracing her face.
"Yeah." Natsu returned the smile.
When the two made it back, Lucy immediately demanded that the boy take a shower to clean his wounds. When the boy refused and complained about how it'd sting, the girl challenged his manhood and he immediately went into the showers.
"I'm done!" Natsu boasted in triumph as he jumped out of the shower with only his shorts on.
"Mm. Very impressive." Lucy commented indifferently while sipping on a cup of hot coffee she made for herself.
"LIAR!"
All that said and done, Lucy got up from the kitchen table and instructed the boy to sit while she grabbed the first aid kit. Unquestioningly, he did as he was told. When Lucy started dressing his wounds, she heaved a sigh of relief to find most of the wounds to be superficial cuts.
"Aren't you gonna ask what happened?" The boy questioned.
"I did. And I'm still waiting for an answer." Lucy replied as-a-matter-of-factly.
"..."
"..."
"Do you know about the Phantom Lord Academy?" Natsu finally started.
Searching hard through her knowledge, Lucy winced, "I feel like I've heard of them..."
"They are our rivals."
"We have such things?!" Lucy was taken aback.
"Yeah..." Natsu continued while keeping his gaze to the table, "They'll always find someways to provoke us and start a fight."
Lucy held her breath and listened. She could tell that right now, what Natsu really needed was a listening ear.
"This time, some random guy came over and started bad mouthing Igneel and-" Natsu started railing up towards the end and Lucy decided to cut him off before he snapped a second time.
"You hit him."
Calming down, he continued, "Yeah..."
"Who was that kid?" Lucy questioned quite curiously.
"Some lackey of Gajeel's." Natsu replied indifferently.
"EH?! Your cousin's?!" Lucy was once again taken aback.
Amused by her reaction, Natsu turned to the girl and affirmed, "Yeah. Is it really that surprising?"
"Well... yeah... I mean you guys are family right?"
"Yeah, well, not to him." Natsu's expression returned to a cold one.
"Oh..." Lucy felt a little guilty after recalling that they weren't blood related.
"In any case, it was nothing. This kind of thing happens every once in awhile." Natsu stood up the moment Lucy plastered the last band aid.
As Natsu made his way out of the kitchen, Lucy started packing the mess she made to treat the boy's wound. Pausing at the corridor, he caught Lucy's attention.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just... I'm sorry."
"For what?" Lucy felt like she's been taken a lot by surprise in one day that it's starting to lose its effectiveness.
"For... making you worry..." Without facing the girl, he made his way to his room to hide his flushed face.
A little flushed herself, Lucy decided to give her utmost attention to the first aid kit at hand. Little by little, she felt like she was starting to actually know the boy and that no doubt made her heart flutter in many directions. However, whether it was the right direction or not, she had no idea.