Gajeel's P.O.V.
What... the hell? Levy and the brats were standing a few feet apart from each other in a circle on the training mat, all of them facing into the middle. They were all standing in various poses, their hands open and held in front of their bodies or off to the sides. I was about to step forward, attributing the eerie silence their stillness when Fitz burst into action. His right hand flew forward, swinging at Saki's left hand right next to him. The small healer had looked away from him, and jumped in surprise when he smacked her hand. I still didn't hear anything, and it looked like there should have been a resounding crack from the contact. She pouted, and I saw her jump backwards out of the circle.
Fitz grinned, and I noticed everyone else's attention was on him. He'd apparently had the advantage of surprise in his first attack. He didn't stand motionless for long though. He spun in a circle, swinging back across his body to attempt to smack his sister's hand. She was watching him though, and whipped her hands up over her head. Fitz froze at the end of his swing, his right arm extended fully and his back hunched over slightly, his eyes on his sister in case she retaliated. With a wicked grin, she began a swing towards him, but changed direction at the last second. She spun in a complete circle, whacking the upraised hand of Ryos. He'd been looking at me, actually. Don't know how the hell he knew I was there. The boy fixed me with a sullen glare, and from the look of things, he growled at Sam. I laughed low in my throat at that one, and he stepped back out of the circle before fading into the shadows.
If I have this figured right, that means it is still... I let the thought trail off as Sam confirmed my suspicions, trying the same technique. She completed her spin, adjusting her movement at the last second in an attempt to take out her brother. I folded my arms and leaned a hip against the wall, not wanting to disrupt their fun. And it definitely was fun. The bastards that got disqualified were pairing up here and there and starting one on one matches, laughing and screaming at each other. Even though I was still in the hall and couldn't hear anything, I could tell that's what they were doing, based on their boisterous movements. The game continued, within minutes everyone was eliminated except for the shrimp and the fire starter. They paused for a moment before squaring off as if they were about to spar.
I realized then that this was actually a form of training, building reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Quick as a thought, Kasai lunged at Levy. Their movements were choppy at first, pausing and studying each other as they got their rhythm. But only for a moment. Before long, they were swinging at each other's hands so fast I couldn't keep track of whose turn it actually was. I don't think they knew either. I heard movement behind me and turned to see Ryos stepping out of the shadows. "Hey, kid." He just nodded at me. "Gajeel. You helped me test a new trick, so thanks. I'm heading out for food. I'll be back in a minute."
I looked at him a moment before answering. "Oii, trick?" He nodded again, but didn't say anything. I just stared at him a moment before sighing. "Do ya need money?" He shook his head and smirked. "Levy took care of it already." I cocked my head to the side in inquiry, but he just faded into the shadows. Interestin' how quick his scent fades when he does that. Turning back to the game behind me, I saw Levy lock her eyes onto me. I went to motion for her to pay attention when she froze, allowing Kasai to smack her hand.
I heard it, a split second before a ridiculously loud noise assaulted my ears. I slapped my hands over them, grimacing in pain. Rune barrier. Must have been. Shrimp was shaking the hand that had been struck, the fingers on her other hand flicking out to the side. I saw a word fading from existence, the sound disappearing as abruptly as it'd started, to a chorus of groans from the brats. Several of them had given up their side games in order to start dance parties. They looked at Levy to see what she wanted, and noticed her grin as she walked towards me.
I felt a slight heat rising in my face, and took two steps forward before I heard a squeaked, "Gajeel!" And just as suddenly, a body collided with my stomach, tiny arms throwing themselves around me. I chuckled, meeting the tiny Script wizard's eyes as I patted the little ginger girl clinging to me. "Hey, Little bird." Gently pulling her off of me, I grinned down at child. "You been training hard?" She beamed back, her smile so big it nearly split her face. "Did we ever! We didn't do nothin' the firs' few days ya were gone, but then Levy come back an' she had this trainin' day set up an' we got to go on missions!" I snapped my gaze to the bluenette now standing only a few feet away.
She wouldn't look at me, one hand wrapped around the other arm, her gaze on her feet. Missions?! She'd risk them so quickly after everything? Sam hadn't stopped talking, but I wasn't hearing anything else she'd said so far. Forcing myself to focus back on her, I didn't even realize I was growling. "An' then, I jumped off the mountain! It was 'mazin' Gajeel! I ain't never felt so free! An' I didn't get hurt none, not then at least, an' I made a new friend..." She gradually stopped talking, realizing her words were making me angry. The other brats had seemed excited too, bouncing like they wanted to tell me their part, but I just leveled a glare around at all of them. They immediately stilled, silence filling the room as if the rune barrier was back.
"I can't believe ya would betray my trust like that, Shrimp." She flinched as if I'd struck her, and I almost regretted my words. But she'd promised she wouldn't tell anyone about the brats. "Ya promised. Ya promised ya wouldn't tell no-anybody." She looked at me and then around at our audience. "I didn't, Gajeel. No one knows who these kids are. I-" I cut her off, grabbing her arm and dragging her towards the kids' living area. I saw James move to get in my way as the rest of the brats scrambled out of it, but Sam appeared in front of him, shaking her head. He still looked a little anxious, and I should probably have felt bad about it, but I just kept walking, the tiny bluenette keeping step with me now.
"He ain't gone hurt her, James..." I heard my little bird murmur to the boy. Hurt her? That did make me hesitate, though I was still growling. "I know, Sam. But... someone should tell him..." As soon as I knew he wasn't afraid for his mentor, I picked up the pace again, slamming the door behind us as I stormed into a room. I dropped her arm like it burned me, stalking to the other side of the room and folding my arms across my chest. I kept clenching my fists, trying to control the rage I felt building. She put them in danger. "Put that barrier back up. They don't need to hear this." I growled at her, but when I looked, she'd already had a pen out to do that. I stood glaring at her until she turned to face me. I opened my mouth to snarl at her but stopped when she started first, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"I kept my word, Gajeel. No one has any idea who they are." She started again. I couldn't hold back any longer, and threw my arms down, fists clenched as I roared at her. "YOU PUT THEM IN DANGER WITHOUT CONSULTING ME!" She shrank back from me just a little. "They were never in any danger, Gajeel." My fist flew into the wall nearest me, shaking it. "SAM WAS HURT! SHE JUST SAID SO!"
"You didn't let her finish! Do you know how excited that girl has been to tell you what she learned on her mission? She's been bouncing for days, asking me over and over when you were going to be back." I scoffed at that. "Sure. You mean the job where SHE JUMPED OFF A FUCKING MOUNTAIN?!" I had felt my anger starting to fade in the face of her calm, until she mentioned the little ginger girl. Even as I got loud again, she remained quiet. "She didn't even get hurt because of the mission, Gajeel. I planned everything so they wouldn't be in any danger."
I folded my arms again, turning away from her. I heard her step towards me and I felt shock replacing some of my rage. She's not afraid? She stopped me completely, simply by placing her hand on my arm. "Do you honestly have so little faith in my intelligence? They're tough kids, Gajeel. You know that. But they can't stay living in this warehouse and stealing, living off scraps filched from dumpsters for the rest of their lives. That none of them have been caught yet is a miracle." There really wasn't any arguing with her logic. I took a deep breath to calm myself further, but that was a mistake. Her scent filled my nose, overwhelming me. I could barely focus on the words she was saying. Damn. I missed her.
"They're amazing kids, Gajeel. And they've been through so much. Just like you. Hell, you went through worse than this at their age, and look at the amazing man you've become. I just wanted to give them the oppo-" Growling once again, for a different reason, I whirled and picked her up in my arms, causing her to squeak and cutting off her words with a desperate kiss. With quick steps, I had her against a wall, pulling her legs around my waist. She kissed back with interest, and I allowed my hands to slide up her legs, pausing with them resting on her hips. Feeling her tiny hands sliding around my neck and tangling into my hair, I kissed down her jaw to her neck, chills shooting down my spine at the little gasps escaping from her.
Moving back to claim her mouth, I was suddenly aware of the noises of the children in the other room. I pulled back, taking in her flushed cheeks and gasping breaths, and grinned at her. "Heya, Shrimp." She smiled sheepishly back at me, "S-sorry... I lost focus on the runes." I glanced at the door and back at her. "So if they're standing out there, they can hear us?" She nodded slowly, running her fingers through my hair. I groaned, leaning my forehead against the wall next to her. "Hey, Gajeel?" I turned to face her, raising an eyebrow. She surprised me once again, kissing me softly on my nose, then my cheek and finally kissing me square on the mouth before she pulled back a little. "Welcome home."
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I'm the absolute worst human ever and totally didn't get to chapter 30 by Christmas. Which was yesterday. But little extra long chapter for today, so that balances out, right? Don't hate me. Shoutout to my bestie, Muddyevil, for getting me through writer's block on a few spots in this chapter. Look her up on fanfiction.net some time.