Friday came, and Aina silently thanks the gods for the week to be over. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, but it was still torture for being responsible for him all day. She would constantly have to prevent him from skipping and she cried when he would pull something stupid in class.
"Dragneel, it's nice to see you on time today. I'll be collecting homework in a few minutes, so I would suggest you quickly write down something to hand--"
Natsu smirked and handed him a fully done homework sheet.
"Wha--"
"What's wrong, teach? Didn't think I could do homework?"
Mister Justine just looked at the boy dumbfounded before looking behind him to see Aina handing him her usual overly annotated and filled out homework sheet.
"How did you get him to...I don't wanna know."
Aina looked at him confused, but Natsu just scoffed and sat in the back.
"I hope you all are doing well with your projects..."
Natsu tapped Aina's shin with his foot and spoke to her as the teacher continued to talk.
"He totally almost shit himself."
"I told you, Natsu. The best way to shut people up is to play their game. Besides, this will improve your grade at the same time!"
He chuckled quietly and leaned back in his chair.
"Dragneel, don't you dare put your feet on my desks," the teacher warned.
Natsu pointed to his feet that we planted on the ground and shrugged as he coolly said, "I would never think of doing that to your furniture, Mister Justine."
The teacher looked even more shocked, but he coughed and continued speaking. Natsu sent a mischievous smile Aina's way. Class went by as usual, and the teacher gave the last twenty minutes to discuss the projects. They all got into their groups, and he would walk around to each one to check in. He reached Aina and Natsu and looked hopeless.
"And what did Aina come up with?"
"Actually Mister Justine, Natsu came up with the idea."
"What?"
"Yeah teach. I even know what happens in Priest of the Flies. Quiz me."
"I'm not very hopeful when you called it that instead of Lord of the Flies."
Natsu rubbed the back of his head and grinned. The teacher asked to hear their plan and looked shocked to hear that it was actually planned out.
"Well, I guess I was right to put you two together. Well done, Aina."
Natsu started grumbling when Aina spoke up again, "You're right, Mister Justine. I've really learned a lot from working with Natsu."
The whole class looked at the salutatorian with wide eyes, shocked to hear her be so sarcastic to a teacher. Aina smiled sweetly and innocently to the point where the teacher had no other choice than to be convinced that she meant it in the best way.
"Damn sweetheart, you got some balls on you."
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Natsu stretched across the library table and sighed.
"What's up with you?"
"I'm waiting and it's already been fifteen minutes into the period."
"Waiting for what? It's our free period."
Natsu's phone vibrated and he smirked.
"Finally," he breathed. "Well I have somewhere to be, sweetheart. Don't let anyone come into the drama room, 'kay?"
Aina gasped and looked at him with wide eyes, but he just laughed and slipped out of the library. Her face scrunched up.
"Jesus Christ. During school?"
She looked down at the table and held her hands together.
"This is stuipd. Why am I getting upset about this?"
She shook it off and forced herself to do her homework, sighing every so often.
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Lunchtime had come along and she could feel her shoulders relax when Natsu was nowhere to be seen.
"What's up with you?" Lucy asked, immediately noticing something was off.
"Oh nothing. I'm just ready for this week to be over."
"No kidding. Then you'll be rid of your shadow."
"I mean," Levy reasoned, "it hasn't been that bad. Plus he had gone to all his--"
Lucy and Aina looked at her unimpressed.
"Okay, most of the classes. And he did some homework, so I say that it was productive."
"Yeah I guess," Lucy said.
They all started eating when Aina suddenly spoke up, seeming to speak without thinking.
"He ran off with someone during our free period."
"Wait, like the type of running off that's--"
"He snuck off to the drama room."
Lucy choked on her food and coughed a couple times.
"During the middle of the day?!"
"Wait," Levy questioned, "why's the drama room so bad?"
Lucy looked just as shocked at Levy's question as Aina's revelation.
"How do you not know, Levy?"
"I've never heard anything about the drama room. I didn't know that Natsu did drama."
"My dear salutatorian, there's a section behind the stage that people sometimes use for sex."
"O-Oh. Well that's...new information to me."
"Hey Aina?"
"Yeah what's up? Did you want me to see if I could grab another muffin?"
"Um, no. I was gonna ask why you're crying."
"Huh?"
Aina brought her hand up to her face and jumped back when she felt tears drip onto her fingers.
"Well that's weird."
"You're not...upset about that, are you?"
"What? Not at all. I'm probably just getting my period."
Lucy studied her friend for a few seconds and asked her if she was sure.
"We kissed once," Aina lied. "It's not a big deal."
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The final bell rang and she jumped up, scaring her teacher and some of the students. They all looked at her, expecting some sort of answer.
"It's the end of the week!"
Some of the students caught on before the others and laughed with her. The teacher couldn't help but smile at her favorite student's enthusiasm. Aina grabbed her stuff and followed the other students to the lockers. Lucy jumped out from behind her once she got to her locker and cheered.
"You're free!"
Levy appeared a second later and shouted, "And you didn't die!"
Aina giggled and continued to talk to her friends before Lucy had to run off to cheer practice and Levy left for the bus. She shut her locker door and screamed when Natsu was standing there.
"What the hell do you think you're doing scaring me like that?" Aina yelled.
"I just wanted to wish my dear shadow buddy a farewell."
"Okay. Goodbye."
Natsu laughed and pulled her towards the parking lot. She sighed, assuming she was driving him home. She became confused when he dragged her past her car and into the lower parking lot.
"Where are we going?"
She groaned when she saw his friends leaning against their cars.
"What am I doing here?"
"We all wanted to thank you for taking care of our boy here," Loke spoke up.
"Okay, whatever. Can I go now? I have to get to work."
"Aw come on, Aina. Can't you stay for a few minutes?" Sting asked.
"Yeah. We promise we won't get you arrested," Gajeel snickered.
Aina scoffed and started walking away. They all rolled their eyes at her typical behavior, and Natsu wished them goodbye before following her.
"What?" Aina snapped as she reached her car. "If you want a ride then get in. I have to get to work soon."
"Just wanted to thank you for your supervision this week," he joked. "See ya."
She rolled her eyes and spun around, climbing into her car.
"You know, you might wanna invest in a lower car, sweetheart. You're too short."
"Fuck you. I can drive this perfectly fine."
He chuckled and waved it off before disappearing back to the lower level.
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Aina walked into her room and grabbed her uniform before quickly putting it on. She stared at herself in the mirror and scolded herself for crying.
"Why would I even do that? It's not like he cares anyway, so it's useless to get upset."
She fixed her hair and smiled in the mirror.
"Yeah. I'm just another girl to him. I'm not gonna let him get in my head. I'll just ignore it."
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"Hey Aina, do you think you can help me with the cats?"
"Sure thing, Wendy. Let me just clean this hamster wheel."
Aina made her way over to the cat adoption section and unlocked the door, ushering the young girl inside and going over the process of taking care of the cats.
"Make sure to give them new water every couple hours, and you have to be careful about giving them too much food. Believe me, that one," Aina warned as she pointed to a particularly fat cat, "always tries to trick everyone into thinking he wasn't fed yet so he can get more food."
"What about this one?"
"Lily? He may look scary, but he's the sweetest little thing. You don't have to worry about him. He likes kiwis, but he can't have too many, so always check with someone before giving him one."
"And what about her?"
"That's Charle. She's aloof most of the time, but she's very loyal and very, very smart. She knows how to open her cage, so make sure the door to the room is always shut and locked when you're not in there."
"And him?"
"That's out newest little guy, isn't that right my little baby Frosch. He's very young, and he loves to cuddle and play. He's actually pretty attached to another worker here, so if you ever need help with him, you can ask for Rogue if he's here."
"He looks cute."
Aina laughed and explained, "That's Lector. He's very stubborn and prideful. You'll definitely have fun with him around."
"This one his Happy, right? I met him briefly yesterday."
"Happy is what I would call the more oblivious of the group. He was the runt of his litter. He's very playful and energetic. In fact, he and Lector have a little rivalry over Charle."
"How do you know so much about them?"
"I've been working here for a while. Don't worry, It's only your third day. You'll get the hang of it."
The bell on the entrance sounded, and Aina made her way to the front of the store to greet whoever it was. She raised her eyebrow when it was Sting and Natsu.
"Can I help you?"
"Oh hey Aina. Do you think you could help me find a filter?"
She nodded at Sting and led him over to the filter section.
"Can I ask why Natsu is tagging along with your fish errand?"
Sting chuckled and said that they were on their way to a party.
"So you stop by a pet shop and grab a filter before going to get hammered? Nice logic."
He just grinned and said that now he wouldn't have to worry if he was too hungover in the morning. Rogue came around the corner and jumped on the register once another customer came up.
"Thanks, Rogue."
"Miss Aina, how do I open up the gecko tanks?"
"Sorry boys," she dismissed as she left Sting and Natsu in the aisle, "but if you don't need me then I need to get to training."
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The trio started to joke around in the hallway when they heard a familiar voice.
"Hey Aina. Long time no see."
Aina turned around to see a brunette boy they had all known as Tyler. Her smile faltered and her breathing hitched. Lucy and Levy glared at him, and Lucy started to step protectively in front of her.
"It was nice to see you as well, Tyler," Aina quietly stated.
Aina waved it off and dragged both of them down the hall. Once they were down the hall and around the corner, Lucy huffed and started to go back. Aina grabbed Lucy's wrist and gently tugged her back.
"It's not worth it, Luce."
"Anything is worth kicking his skull in."
"Are you sure you're okay, Aina?" Levy asked, voice full of concern. "He hasn't done that in a while."
"Yeah because he knows I'll fucking beat him to a pulp!" Lucy screamed.