A/N: I made this as long as my brain and my body and could handle (So expect spelling mistakes, missing text that I thought about instead of typed, and a lot more grammar things. FF could probably handle a lot more than this, but the other two influence this heavily). I told myself that if this passed 12K+ words, I'd split it, but I didn't. SO LOVE ME FOR IT ...and forgive me for not updating anything else...

Ahem. Moving on.

School's starting up soon *cue heavy sighs everywhere* and I won't have time to write as often, but I'll do my best. I made sure I had Fridays off for unwinding, extra studying, and other educational stuff. Weekends will be for spending time with family and possibly writing more things. On calm days though, I'll try to do some writing too.

So enjoy and as always, see you in the next one! -808Lionfire

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima

Overview: This is apart of my (currently non-existent) High School!AU (possibly one of the ways I could start the AU when I eventually get the drive to write the series). Rated T because I will never, ever categorize anything under that rating. Genre: Romance mostly, but as usual, there is some Friendship/Family feels in there... and Humor possibly. Word Count: 12,190

Summary: YES, it's a one-shot and NO, you are not reading the word count wrong. If I decide to continue this, I'll think of a clever summary. But for now, it's simply just a super long one-shot High School!AU adaption. Read at your own risk.

Pairing(s): Natsu/Lucy, Levy/Lucy friendship, implied Fairy!Boys/Fairy!Girls siblingship, Lucy/Wendy friendship, Lucy/Yukino friendship, Yukino/Lucy heroship, one-sided Dan/Lucy, and more Natsu/Lucy (always Natsu/Lucy).

A Fairy Tail Adaptation

NaLu High School!AU

"I SAID DON'T TOUCH IT!"

That was the very first thing Lucy Heartfilia heard after walking into the classroom that day.

And it shocked her.

Although she hadn't been attending Fiore High for very long, she had quickly adapted to the school's extensive branch system and the chaos that one of the main branches creates. So normally, the random outburst here and there shouldn't have shocked her. Especially from Fiore High's number one Guild, Fairy Tail. And especially from Fairy Tail's number one troublemaker, Natsu Dragneel. It was a daily occurrence that even she had gotten used to.

However, when she stepped into the room, the air was suffocating. Each breath was heavy and thick, as if she was trying to breath underwater. It sent a shiver of unease down her spine, but she forced away the urge to flee and focused on the main reason for all this tension. When her eyes eventually fell on the source, she felt her breath catch in her throat. Never before had she seen the normally eccentric, loud-mouthed, salmon-haired boy so furious. If the Dragons he babbled on about every so often were real, his current expression could fiercely match theirs. His olive-eyes had taken an unusually hardened quality to them and his salmon-colored eyebrows pulled down, unintentionally making his eyes narrow and darken dangerously. The frown on his face gave a harsher edge to his normally boyishly handsome face.

Yeah... she wasn't afraid to admit he was good looking.

"Hey, Lu!" A voice whisper-yelled from her left, forcing the blonde to turn that way.

Her brown orbs quickly caught onto the petite form of her blue-haired best friend sitting at her desk near the backdoor of the classroom. She didn't know whether or not to be amused when she caught her friend 'discreetly' waving her over, so she just settled on letting herself be entertain. With a shake of her head, the blonde hiked her bag higher on her shoulder and effortlessly made her way down the aisle of rows of desks, chairs, and the occasional bag. Her eyes slid to the right as she gracefully hopped over a deep crimson backpack, taking in Natsu's furious gaze and following it to the small, cowering teen in front of him. She blinked in confusion, her brows furrowing at the scene.

"What's up with him?" The golden-haired teen questioned, hooking her thumb in the pinkette's direction. The bluenette followed her gesture and frowned for a long moment. "Levy?"

The blue-haired teen, Levy McGarden, sighed in response, "Well, I don't know all the details, but it seems like that girl–" At this, the bluenette pointed a slender finger towards the cowering, brown-haired Freshman, "–confessed. Or, at least tried to."

"Another one?" The blonde ask in surprise, sliding into the seat in front of her friend.

"Yeah," Levy pursed her lips, absentmindedly picking at the paper sleeve of her eraser, "And as per usual, Natsu refused outright. And– get this, as he was about to walk away, she grabbed his scarf."

Ah, yes, Lucy thought with a grimace, the infamous scarf.

She never had a problem with the salmon-haired teen, even if she thought he had a weird obsession with both his scarf and fire. Actually, she was pretty sure she heard people refer to him as 'Salamander' and even 'Pyromaniac' because of that. Either way, she didn't mind him. He never gave her too much trouble, so she learned to just accept the quirk and move on with life. It wasn't even a week after she decided that, when she heard a list of Fiore Academy's 'Unspoken Rules'. One of those unspoken, yet dire, rules were that nobody can touch the scarf.

On the rare times when she finds herself holding a decent conversation with the pyromaniac, which were usually short partnerships within class and the occasional hello in the halls, she noticed that he always had his scarf and that he treated it as if it was the most precious thing on earth. It was then when her curiosity piked, but she did her best to keep it at bay. They were hardly friends, much less acquaintances, so she didn't want to ask something that seemed so personal. The last thing she wanted to do was pry into his private life because she was curious. Despite that though, her curiosity won her over and she found herself asking him about it.

"My scarf?" She recalled him saying with a bittersweet expression, "Ah, my pops gave it to me before he left for the field. He told me it wasn't much, but it's his and he asked me to take care of it."

He didn't look like he minded her prying, so she dared another question, "The field? Your dad's in the military?"

"Oh yeah! He's super strong too!" She distinctly remembered the proud grin he flashed her, "My pops is a Major General in the Marines, so he doesn't come home often, but that's okay. He always came home for the important things." He ruffled the hair on the back of his head, an embarrassed flush spreading across his cheeks as he buried his face into the fabric of his scarf, "He gave me this as a present for graduating Elementary."

After a passing silence to calm his blush, he went on an entire spiel that lasted the rest of the class period. Luckily, they didn't get into too much trouble because their teacher, Gildarts Clive, gave them a 'free period' to finish the partner worksheet they were working on. She finished it—of course—while listening raptly to the Pyro's storytelling. Now that she took the time to think about it, that's the most she heard him talk without starting a brawl with someone across the room. Most of what she knew about him was probably revealed in that whole conversation. And if that girl actually grabbed his scarf...

"Oh no," Lucy grimaced again, hesitantly glancing at the scene behind her, "That girl has guts."

"That's what I was thinking," Levy agreed with a wince, shooting a sympathetic glance a the girl who started towards the exit with her head hung low.

The pair turned to Natsu, warily eyeing him as he adjusted the scarf around his neck with an uncharacteristic frown. Lucy noticed his hand clench firmly around the end of the cloth, where she supposed was the spot that the naïve Freshman grabbed it. She stiffened as he pulled on it and, for a moment, she was worried he might accidentally strangle himself. The seconds of rare silence in the classroom were tense and heavy. It wasn't until the pinkette let out a heavy sigh when the students in the room brushed off the events and went back to their usual rowdiness. And when he dropped his hand, Lucy instantly relaxed.

The blonde sunk heavily into the back of her chair, a breath of relief passing her lips. At that very action, the bluenette couldn't help but shoot an amused smile at her. Lucy just rolled her eyes and ignored it. Of course she was relieved, but there was no hidden meaning or ulterior motive like Levy's smile suggested. A crisis was adverted. That's all.

"So who was that anyway?" Lucy asked, focusing on the bluenette as Natsu sulked to his seat a row or to away.

"I believe her name was Tara Ethans," Levy recalled, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "She's a year below us, has a decently average GPA, transferee with recommendations, and a blank."

The golden-haired teen sighed heavily at the term, earning and accepting the small smile of apology from her blue-haired best friend. Lucy couldn't blame her; it's that kind of lingo they grew up on. And when she says 'they', she doesn't mean herself personally. When she says 'they', she was talking about the students that lived, breathed, and grew up in the system. Their school, Fiore Academy, had four different divisions; Elementary, Middle, High, and College. 'They' are the ones who started from Pre-school hand never once left the system.

'They' are the students that graduated from Fiore Elementary and immediately enrolled into one of the many branches Fiore had to offer.

Once a student graduates into Fiore Middle, they are able to choose one of eight 'Guilds'; Lamia Scale, Sabertooth, Phantom Lord, Blue Pegasus, Legion, Edolas, and Fairy Tail. Any student who transfers after the Elementary period, has to wait a minimum of seven weeks before they can request entry to a guild. Unlike the graduates from the Elementary division, transferees aren't guaranteed a spot in the guild. The head of the Branch, fondly recognized as the 'Guild Master', has every right to deny an applicant.

Now, the term 'blank' is usually associated with students who are—in lack of a better word—guild-less. Every school activity, from Academic ranking to Athletic placing, has a list of your name, age, rank or placement, and guild. If a guild-less ranks, which is surprisingly rare, the spot where his or her guild would have appeared, will remain blank. Hence the term.

Despite attending Fiore Academy for nearly a year, Lucy is a blank. It's not as if she wants to be, she just never found a reason to join any of the guilds. She has friends despite being guild-less and her Academic and Athletic life is well balanced, so she never found the urge. The only inclination she has towards a guild would be Fairy Tail. Only because her best friend and fellow bookworm is apart of it. It also didn't hurt that Fairy Tail was number one for both Athletics and Academics. That was it really.

"All these confessions are a little too convenient," Levy observed, pulling her notebook and pencil case out of her bag.

"Hm?" the blonde hummed in question, "What do you mean?"

"Well..." The bluenette trailed hesitantly, "I mean, Natsu's not really– those girls aren't really–" The petite teen cut herself off with a groan, dropping her forehead onto her palm, "I don't know how to say this without sounding mean."

Lucy giggled at the pained look Levy shot her, "Are you saying you think Natsu's not good looking enough for all those confessions?"

"Natsu's not... bad looking... per say," The bluenette grimaced as she said that, making the blonde snicker, "It's just, he's like my brother—all of them are—but you know how oblivious he can be with the opposite gender and such. He also doesn't trust a lot of people out of Fairy Tail either, and that's kind of a put off for girls looking for a conventional romance. With the Sports Festival today and the Grand Games a week away..."

"You think they're trying to use him to get into Fairy Tail," Lucy finished with a knowing tone while Levy nodded solemnly.

"You haven't been here long but I feel relieved you understand," Levy sighed, "Middle schoolers usually don't play in the Grand Games, it's rare if they do. Not to sound arrogant or anything, but when we graduated to the High school division, Fairy Tail shot further ahead in both Athletics and Academics."

"And people want in on that," The blonde sympathized, folding her arms on the bluenette's desk and resting her chin on them.

Levy leaned her cheek onto her palm and twirled her pen restlessly, "It's not just Natsu either. Gray, Elfman, Max, Jet, Droy. They're all getting confessions."

"And what about the girls?" Lucy asked curiously, "Surely you have gotten some kind of confession recently?"

"No," The teen grumbled, pushing out her bottom lip petulantly, "Guys won't even go near us. Much less me."

The golden-haired teen lifted her head, "But, Lev, you're adorable!"

"It's not that," She sighed, tapping her cheek in mild irritation, "Since a lot of us joined Fairy Tail after Elementary grad, we're like a tight knit family. No matter how cliché that sounds. We can each hold our own in different respects, but the boys are like brothers and we, sisters. I'm the 'little' one." At this, the petite teen sent a dry look at a few of the Fairy boys in the class, "If we aren't chasing away boys on our own, the guys are threatening them with just being around."

Lucy smiled at the last part, she would pay money to see Levy chasing away a guy who was trying to ask her out. She could just imagine it, the fierce little bookworm chasing around a guy twice her size. Probably threatening him with a book or something. Against her will, an amused snort escaped her before she could stop it and she snickered. Yeah, she'd do anything to make sure she saw that at least once.

"But the girls still try," Lucy rushed to point out when Levy gave her a weird look, "Why don't you just return the favor and scare them away?"

"Really, Lu?" Levy deadpanned, "I'm like– what? Barely five feet? No one is going to get intimidated by me."

"I don't know," The golden-haired teen sang teasingly, "The first time I meant you, you gave me a pretty threatening glare when I bothered your fictional romance between Romeo and Juliet. I was intimidated."

"First of all, it wasn't Romeo and Juliet," The blue-haired teen rolled her eyes, "It was Benedict and Beatrice. Secondly, my underlying point was that someone made up a stupid rumor that you had to be invited by Fairy Tail to join Fairy Tail. That's where all these confessions are coming from. I mean– sure, we don't accept a lot of applicants and, sure, we don't openly invite people, but that doesn't mean we don't think about it."

Lucy snickered, "Just admit it, Lev. You guys are pretty picky."

"We have a good dynamic," Levy defended, puffing her cheeks, "It just wouldn't feel like Fairy Tail if we invited someone who ruined that chemistry."

The door to the classroom slid open and the girls instinctively straightened in their seats. Inside stepped their haggard copper-haired teacher, Gildarts Clive, holding a stack of papers in front of his face to hide a yawn. His presence immediately commanded the attention of the class. By the time he made it to his desk, which was only ten feet from the door, everyone was sitting in their seats and rearing to go. Clive lazily drawled a good-morning and the students echoed his greeting with equal enthusiasm. Lucy pondered for a moment before twisting just enough to catch Levy's gaze.

The golden-haired teen smiled, tilting her head encouragingly, "My mama always said to keep an open mind and an open heart to new things and new people. Fate brings them to you, but it's up to you whether or not you want to accept them."

"You're joining the games too, Lucy-san?"

The namesake slipped into her P.E. shorts before turning around and tilting her head down at the timid voice. Her lips lifted automatically at the sight of the young girl she ever so fondly came to knowing not even a month ago. Wendy Marvell. Although the tiny bluenette was four years younger than her, the kid was smart enough to skip a few grades. Truthfully, it was a strange first meeting between the two. They both attended the inter-division tutoring and imagine her surprise when she found out that she was supposed to tutor this young Middle schooler.

After reading her file, she felt a little intimidated. Because, why would a girl ahead of her own age group need tutoring? Surely it had to be a mistake. However, when they finally met after the small orientation, Lucy's concerns immediately washed away. Wendy looked more intimidated by her than she had felt when she read her Academic file. So with the warmest smile she could muster, she cheerily greeted the young teen and patted the padded seat next to her.

Lucy smiled fondly at the memory. It hadn't been long, but she felt a kind of sibling-ship with the small blue-haired teen. And out of habit, the blonde reached out and placed a comforting hand on Wendy's head. Her smile grew when the younger girl relaxed under her hand and started to ruffle her hair playfully. Lucy was extremely excited to find out Wendy was being promoted to the High school division after this year.

"Yeah, I am," The blonde answered with a smile, dropping her hand to pluck her baggy white-T out of her locker, "It's strange to see you here during school hours. You got around okay?"

"Yes," Wendy smiled back, "My friends Romeo and Chelia made sure."

Lucy nodded in satisfaction before tugging her shirt over her head and tucked the hem into her shorts or else they would completely cover them. She freed her golden hair from her ribbon and lightly bit the end of it before gathering her hair into a high-ponytail. Wendy helpfully handed her the running shoes from her locker and she took them with a grateful hug. Lucy sat down on the locker-room bench, easily slipping her feet into the shoes and tying the laces.

"Your seven weeks are up right?" Lucy asked when she stood into a stretch.

"Mm-hm," The young bluenette hummed happily, rocking back on her heels, "But I'm not sure what guild to join."

The blonde dropped her arm around the Middle-schooler's shoulders and led them out of the locker-room, "Are Romeo and Chelia joining the games today too?"

"Yes, but they're already in guilds," Wendy admitted, wringing her fingers anxiously, "Romeo's in Fairy Tail and Chelia is in Lamia Scale."

"I suppose you're trying to join one of the two?" Lucy asked curiously. When the bluenette nodded quickly, the blonde patted the girl's shoulder comfortingly, "Well, whatever you chose, I'll support you one-hundred and fifty percent!"

Wendy gave her a relived smile before peering up curiously, "What guild are you planning to join?"

Lucy faltered for a second, narrowly avoiding from tripping up on her own feet. She tilted her head in thought as they stopped at the outer edges of the Football field, seriously considering the question. That was a hard one to answer. This Sports Festival was basically a fancy way of getting the opportunity to recruit students into different guilds. And for the past three recruiting games she had been to, she hadn't joined any guilds. She participated for the fun of it and left before anyone could approach her.

If she was to be completely honest, she felt a little reluctant to join a guild. It wasn't until recently, and by 'recently' she meant during lunch that day, was when she learned about all the benefits being in a guild provided. First off, she'd be able to move out of the co-ed dorms that they provided for blanks and settle into the guild's gender-separated dormitory. Unlike the co-ed dorms, she could pay for her dorm by doing assigned or volunteered services for the school. Whereas she'd have to pay money upfront for the co-ed dorms.

Secondly, breakfast and dinner was provided everyday in the guild's jointed mess-hall. Each dorm building had their own cafeteria that was open twenty-four hours to the dorm's residents, but a lot of the other guild members liked to convert the small building connected to the dorms as a place to hang out and eat. At least... that's what Levy told her. Also, depending on the guild she'd join, she would have access to certain facilities within the school and benefits with off-campus 'exploring' during weekdays. Everyone has free reign to leave campus, with approved leave, on the weekends. However, only the top three guilds had a timetable they could spend during weekends.

It was then when Lucy decided to resign her fate to whatever guild that would take her. She's not confident or selfish enough to believe a top tier guild would immediately pick her up. And, although those benefits would be good– amazing actually, she's not doing it for that. It's starting to get hard keeping up with rent and pay for her daily meals. Her free time would be taken up by all those volunteering jobs to pay for her dorm, but that was a lesser evil.

With a resigned sigh, Lucy squatted in front of Wendy and smiled. Thinking back to the younger girl's question, the only answer she came up with was that she wasn't exactly sure, but she couldn't tell that to her. So instead, she let a mischievous glint take over her face. She placed her hands on Wendy's shoulders and gave the girl a wink when she tilted her head curiously. With a secretive smile, Lucy lift her finger and let it rest on her own lips.

"It's a secret."

Wendy giggled when the blonde playfully tugged at one of her pigtails. Lucy offered the young girl a round of 'good-luck's before sending her off towards her friends with a fond smile. The tiny bluenette turned back to her when she was halfway to her friends, gave her an excited wave, and cupped her mouth to yell an exuberant shout of her own encouragements. Lucy couldn't help but laugh and lift her hand in farewell when Wendy blushed at the attention she drew, giving one last excited wave before disappearing in the crowd with her friends.

The golden-haired teen shook her head in amusement, dropping her wave and pulling her arm across her chest into a stretch. She held that pose for a few second before she switched arms and started walking towards the sign-up booth. Her eyes casually scanned the field until they locked with a dark olive gaze from across the field. She dropped her arms and held his gaze, immediately knowing who it was without looking at the rest of him.

Natsu Dragneel.

She noted the frown on his face. Albeit, he didn't look as mad as he did in the classroom, if he was even mad at all. He just stood there and eyed here critically, as if he was... what's the saying again? Sizing up the competition, she supposed. It was strange, uncharacteristic even, but she didn't feel any malice in his gaze so it didn't bother her too much.

She felt guilty to admit, but she did her best to avoid the Pyro. It was a half-day because the festival, so it wasn't that hard since she didn't have any morning classes with him except for Clive's. She couldn't help it. She was surprisingly used to a normally enthusiastic, loud, and occasionally annoying Natsu and not the brooding teen he was in first period. Sure, it was a pretty bad excuse, but she doesn't know how to deal with someone who was so out of character. Neither did she know him enough to be able to even attempt to cheer him up.

He looked fine now, maybe a little disgruntled, but fine and safe enough for someone like her to engage a small interaction. So half out of guilt, and half out of effort to keep their small camaraderie between them, Lucy lifted her hand in a wave and offered a small, sheepish smile. Natsu's dark eyes blinked once, then twice. Then with painstakingly slow movements, he unfolded his arms to wave back and returned her smile with a large, Natsu-esque grin that made her instinctively relax at the sight of it.

Natsu's attention was quickly diverted to something behind him and he barked angrily at someone in the bleachers, promptly starting a friendly fistfight with the one and only Gray Fullbuster. Lucy grinned at the relief the sight brought. Now that kind of angry Natsu she was familiar with. The blonde snorted in amusement before she shook her head and quietly slipped into the safety of the sign-up tent.

"Your routine was amazing!" A silver-haired Freshman, who Lucy came to know as Yukino Aguria, beamed from her mat next to where the blonde was exercising her warm-down stretches, "That roundoff to back handspring transition was flawless!"

"Oh, thank you," Lucy laughed in embarrassment, straightening enough to peek at the girl, "But that's a pretty basic transition."

"Even so..." Yukino smiled sheepishly, shyly scratching her cheek, "It was still nice to watch. I have a hard time transitioning from the roundoff into the handspring, sometimes I mess up the positioning of my hand and I land rougher than I should and makes the handspring awkward."

"Ouch," The blonde grimaced at the imagery and, after a fleeting moment of hesitance, motioned for the girl to stand. Although confused, Yukino obediently followed. "What Guild were you planning to join again, Yukino?"

"Oh, ah," The silver-haired teen shifted on her feet, glancing nervously at the blonde, "I want to join Sabertooth."

"Is that so?" Lucy questioned with a smile and nodded approvingly, "I suppose that's a good choice; Sabertooth does have a pretty solid athletics and their academics are decent. However, they can be quite... unmotivated." Yukino downcast her eyes, silently toeing the edge of the routine mat. Noticing this, Lucy immediately backtracked, "But they still are a very good choice! Maybe in a year or so you can even give Fairy Tail a run for their money!"

At this, the silver-haired teen brightened, "You really think so?"

"Er, sure," The blonde laughed hesitantly, before leading the other teen onto the mat and standing next to her. Her brown orbs slid to the corner of her eye and watched the young girl fidget. She sent her a reassuring smile, "Show me a roundoff."

"Eh?" Yukino squeaked, turning wide eyes on the blonde, "B-but–"

"Just this once," The blonde cut her off before she could protest. Lucy lifted her hand with one finger extended and continued with a smile, "I'm going to help you with this routine. Just this once. After this though, we'll be rivals on the floor." Lucy winked playfully, a mischievous glint in her eye, "Please go easy on me, Yukino of Sabertooth."

The silver-haired teen's mouth popped open in surprise before a slow smile took over her lips. Her eyebrows set in determination and she clenched her hands in front of her, promising the blonde that she'll give it her all. Lucy tilted her head back and giving the young girl a critical one-over. The blonde narrowed her eyes for two seconds before returning her determination with an equally determined smile and a firm nod, stepping back and gesturing to the floor. Yukino's smile faltered for a moment before she reinforced it with stubbornness.

That's how the impromptu lesson went on for the next twenty minutes. Every time Lucy stopped the younger teen, Yukino's smile twitched for just a moment before she hardened herself and went through the motions again and again until she got it right. The golden-haired teen was sure her smile was deceiving because she worked the teen just as hard as her trainer worked her. Maybe even more. But after those twenty-minutes of nonstop executions, progress was finally showing and the blonde smugly placed her hands on her hips.

Yukino stuck the landing on the back handspring, but promptly fell backwards in complete exhaustion. She was breathing hard and sweat beaded down her face, but her smile was extremely satisfied. Albeit a little tired, but satisfied nonetheless. Smiling as well, Lucy offered the silver-haired teen a hand and led her through a relieving warm-down stretch.

"I can do this," The younger teen chanted with a firm press of her lips, her eyes shining brightly, "I can finally join Sabertooth!"

"Y'know, I'm looking to join a guild this time," Lucy admitted softly, missing the surprise look Yukino sent her, "I've been a blank for this whole year, I decided it must be time to join something."

"But I thought you were already in a guild," The teen muttered in awe, "Since you were so good, I thought you were in a bigger branch like Fairy Tail or something."

"Oh, I wish," Lucy barked out a laugh, shaking her head in disbelief, "Joining Fairy Tail would be nice, but I doubt they'd take me. They're like a close knit family, y'know? I'd only ruin their chemistry and feel like a burden. Heck, the only person from Fairy Tail that I actually talk to on a daily basis is Levy. "

"Seriously?" Yukino blinked, "I thought you and Natsu-san seem to get along well enough though."

"Eh? Really?" The blonde asked in surprise, "We barely even know each other. I mean, I don't even know his favorite color– ah, nevermind. Yes I do, it's red and sometimes orange, but not the super bright kind. I don't even know his favorite food– err. Another bad example, it's Fire Chicken or anything spicy." Lucy pressed her knuckles to her temples, feeling her head spin already, "His favorite smell is burning pine wood. And his favorite thing is the scarf his dad gave him. His favorite subject is Chemistry. His favorite things to do is eat, fight with Gray, sleep, make things either burn or explode, and– why do I know this?"

Yukino stifled a giggle behind her hand, making the golden-haired teen send a hard look. The younger teen was just about to open her mouth, but then her eyes caught onto something—more like someone—behind the blonde and her face paled. She discreetly shook Lucy's arm and pointed behind her. The golden-haired teen frowned before turning her head to look over her shoulder and her whole body froze.

"Natsu?" Lucy blurted before she could stop it, "What are you doing here?"

The pinkette grinned bashfully, running a hand through his hair and letting his palm rest on the back of his neck. He changed his clothes from the last time she saw him. Instead of his usual school attire, he donned Fiore Academy's male equivalent P.E. uniform. Lucy wasn't surprised to see his once white T-shirt freshly stained with both grass and dirt, and littered with wrinkles as if it was gripped too tightly. Yet, the scaly scarf that he always wears was in mint condition and free from blemishes.

One hand was shoved in his pocket, but she could see the familiar black wristband making its appearance. Natsu lifted the hand off the back of his neck and gave her a small wave, her eyes catching on his other wristband with the word 'Salamander' embroidered in a bold golden cursive. Yukino smiled at the two, excusing herself when Lucy waved back at him. Before she left, the blonde reminded her to continue practicing and offered a comforting smile. The silver-haired teen smiled and bowed before taking off towards Mavis knows where.

"I noticed you signed up for the fancy flipping competition and decided to come watch," The Pyro explained after Yukino left, a bright grin on his lips.

"Hmm," Lucy hummed, eyeing him before begrudgingly accepting his answer. "It's not fancy flipping, Natsu, it's called: Gymnastics," The blonde chided with her hands on her hips, turning around to face him fully, "And you completely missed it."

"No, I saw it," Natsu grinned wider, his sharp canines making an appearance, "You were pretty good, Luigi!"

Lucy the blonde balked. But not at his butchering of her name. That, for some reason, was always a problem with him. She long forgot about trying to correct him now, she tried once and it was no use. She balked at the fact that he was not only complimenting her, but he actually watched her routine. And since he was there to watch her turn then–

"You were here for that long?!" The golden-haired teen spluttered in surprise, "Natsu, that was thirty minutes ago!"

The pinkette's olive eyes widened in shock, "WHAT?! What time is it?!"

"It's two-ten!" Lucy cried incredulously.

"Crap," Natsu cursed, his eyes frantically scanning the gym, "The game with the guys s'posed to start at two! I'm missing the game!"

"What are you still doing here then?" The blonde cried out, storming over and started to push him out of the gym, "How could you lose track of time like that?! They probably delayed it to wait for you. If you go now you'll probably make it! Go, Natsu! Go!"

"No!" The salmon-haired teen's hand caught on gym door as the girl tried to push him out, "Wait! I was supposed to ask you something!"

"You're late enough as is!" Lucy argued, "Whatever you were supposed to ask me can wait after your game!"

Natsu's dark-eyes widened in panic, "But Luce–"

"After your game, Natsu," Lucy stressed, pinning him with a glare that nearly silenced his protests, "Or do you want Erza Scarlet on your case because you missed a game just to ask me a question?"

The blonde never knew why everyone was scared of the beautiful red-headed Junior, but they were and it made everyone even more afraid when you used her whole name. So when she stooped low enough to use her last resort, she wasn't disappointed. The salmon-haired boy immediately paled and his fingers unconsciously released the gym door from his tight grip. He looked over his shoulder before he hesitantly eyed the blonde in front of him. Her brown orbs were fierce, but they held enough concern that it made him relax instinctively.

Her small hand rest on his chest before giving him one last push.

"Go."

He didn't need to be told twice.

Lucy cursed under her breath, her eyes seeing nothing but darkness. She cursed herself for even signing up for this game, cursed this for even being apart of the game, and cursed the sudden want to join a good Guild.

This was the last game for the day, thank everything that was holy. In the beginning, she was determined to participate in as many as she physically could so she had a better chance in joining a decent Guild. However, looking around and seeing nothing, she regretted it. Her muscles screamed from the entire exertion throughout the day. She should have expected this twist at least. Fiore Academy was known for being unconventional and untraditional when it comes to stuff like this. Especially when it comes to stuff like this.

Her brain hurt from all the voices bouncing around in the pitch-black room, calling to their friends, trying to find them in this endless darkness. It didn't help that she nearly overworked her brain trying to figure out what Natsu was going to ask her. It had something to do with the games, for that she was sure. She even went to watch the Fairy Tail vs Blue Pegasus Basketball game. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay until the end to see who won—although she had an inkling feeling that it was Fairy Tail—because the match overrun this game due to the delay.

She needed to participate in this one.

Even though it was barely twenty minutes since she watched Fairy Tail's game, she hadn't been approached by any guilds. She saw a glance from a few of the other guilds' 'Scouts' but it looked like they couldn't nerve up to talk to her. That made her frown. They definitely looked like they were considering her, but they didn't act upon it. In a way, that made her feel... inadequate.

That's why she needed to participate in this game, no matter how untraditional, or weird it started. She not only had to look for a partner in complete darkness, but she also had to avoid bumping into the other participants, trust someone enough to partner with her, and that partner had to be a Guild member. Did she mention that she had to do this all in the dark?

Lucy crashed into somebody with a small grunt of surprise. She would have definitely fell on her butt if it wasn't for the strong arms that caught her around her midsection. She clutched onto the arms as if it was her lifeline, a small whimper of apology escaping her lips when her savior grunted at her tight grip. She immediately released whoever it was she grabbed. The golden-haired teen winced, she definitely left nail marks on the obviously male arms.

"S-sorry," She mumbled softly, accepting the stranger's help to regain her footing.

The arms froze around her before they experimentally tightened around her hips in curiosity, "Lucy?"

The namesake froze, her heart jumping into her throat. This... couldn't be who she thought it was. No, it couldn't be. She could vaguely recall that she just ditched him with the Basketball match, not even five minutes ago. How did he get here so quickly? It took her sprinting 'til her lungs burned and a good three minutes to get from the court to the weight-room which was all the way on the other side of campus. He was so divulged in the basketball match. How...

Lucy gulped, "D-Dan?"

"Is that you, Lulu-pi?!" The copper-haired Junior gasped, his arms tightening further around her waist, "I knew these wide hips felt familiar!"

The golden-haired teen felt something in her snap in anger and it took every once of her willpower to keep from hitting him. She let out a girly squeal when the ground suddenly left her feet and she was being spun around. Her hands clamped around the older boy's shoulders against her will, clinging to him and praying that he wouldn't drop her. The very last thing she needed that day was an idiotic fool in love dropping her in joy.

"I didn't know you were joining the Three Legged race, My Love!" Dan continued with an extremely loud voice, "This must be Fate's way of blessing our union! We must partner up, my dear Lulu!"

"Read the rules, Dan!" Lucy hissed in a softer voice than his, "It specifically says that I have to partner up with a Guild member! We're both blanks!"

"Ah-ah, my dearest," The older teen tisked fondly.

Dan placed her on her back on her feet and somehow managing to tap her nose like some kind of doting boyfriend. The golden-haired teen scrunched her nose in annoyance, glad that the darkness concealed every expression of both hers and his. Lucy took the opportunity to move away, but the arm that was still resting on her hips pulled her closer to him. The freaky thing about it was, Lucy grumbled in her mind as his other arm came back around to link with the other, he could probably keep her there with one arm even if she used every ounce of her strength.

"That is where our ever-forgiving twist of Fate blesses us!" The copper-haired student announced jovially, "I have been approved and recognized as a Legion member a mere ten minutes before this event!"

"Excuse me?" Lucy nearly choked on her own spit, "They what now?"

"Now come, my lovely Lu, and hand me your foot," Dan ignored her protests, releasing one of his arms to dig for something in his pocket before bending forward, "Let me tie the red-string of Fate around our ankles! We shall forever be bonded and bound for this hurtle on our track to happiness!"

The golden-haired teen was sure she choked on her spit this time, "Now hold on– EEK!"

For the second time that day, she felt the ground disappear from under her feet as she was—quite literally—plucked out from under Dan's arm like she weighed nothing. Thankfully, there was no nauseous spinning this time. Instead, she was almost immediately placed on the ground. Her savior's warm hands left the curve of her midsection and was quickly replaced by a strong, warm arm. It tightened around her waist until she stumbled back and bumped into a chest. Her shoulders tensed, but then instinctively relaxed at the heat that enveloped her like a glove.

She let out a content sigh, a little confused to what was happening, but glad to be anywhere other than Dan's arms. Still, she twisted her neck, the back of her head lightly bumping her second savior's shoulder. It was dark, so of course she couldn't see, but she still squinted in the darkness to make out at least one distinguishing feature. It went as expected since she had no night vision, so she dared to ask. Although that didn't work out too well either, because her savior slid a slightly calloused hand—which strangely smelt like asphalt and worn-out leather—over her mouth before she could speak.

"Shh," He rumbled quietly into her ear, making her sink back in shame and flush in embarrassment.

"Lulu-pi?" Dan's confused voice made her freeze.

She could somehow hear his footsteps over the loud chatter from the other participants that were still in the room. Thankfully, they were heading in the opposite direction she was in. A small part of her felt incredibly guilty for just ditching him like that. However, the larger, much bigger, part of her was immensely relieved that he was gone. Devotion like Dan's deserves some respect... when they weren't bouncing from girl to girl at the snap of a finger. So yeah, her bigger part won by a landslide.

"Is he gone?" Lucy managed to whisper through the person's fingers.

"Mm," The boy hummed affirmatively, his hand leaving her mouth and letting her breathe. His arm disappeared from her waist and she only had a moment to morn the loss of his heat before his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder. He bent forward slightly, his warm breath teasing the skin around her ear, "Come with me."

It wasn't a question and even if it was, her savior didn't wait for an answer. He turned them towards where she supposed the exit should be and effortlessly maneuvered them around the other participants. She couldn't see anything, but there were multiple occasions where another student's voice brushed way too close for comfort. However, she never seemed to bump into them. Someway, somehow, the boy who was leading them gently pushed and pulled on her shoulder, literally steering her out of the way of anyone else.

Every time someone else's shirt managed to get close enough to brush her arm, his hand slid down to that exact spot, covered it, and pulled her a little closer. Overall, it was a weird experience. Her senses where hypersensitive in the dark, but this guy's senses must've be off the charts. There's no way she could have maneuvered the whole weight-room without hitting at least one person. Yet, this guy did it as if he was walking under the sun!

So she knew it must have been on purpose when she ran into that support pillar. Judging by the stifled laughter and the harsh shaking of her savior's shoulders, it couldn't have not been on purpose.

"Jerk," She muttered under her breath, rubbing her slightly bumped nose and keeping her arm slightly extended just in case that happened again.

He chuckled and replied with an unconvincing: "Sorry, couldn't hear that."

Lucy had a retort for that, she really did, but she was cut off when her palm pressed into something cold. She barely had a moment to even registered that she touched something, before her savior—Mavis that title was getting kind of annoying—pulled her in front of him and led her through what seemed like a doorway. Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard a small click from the door behind them. She was then led a few more feet before the piercing sunlight blinded her.

She swore out a loud curse as tears spring to her eyes. The golden-haired teen forced her eyes closed and furiously rubbed them, desperately praying for them to adjust. The snicker from behind reminded her all too well of the boy who led her out here and she spun on her heel, fully intending to berate him for letting her run into that pillar. However, despite the tears blurring her vision, she took account of the infamously, unmistakably, salmon colored locks that belonged to none other than Natsu Dragneel.

And he was snickering at her, the jerk.

"Why aren't your eyeballs dying right now?" Lucy complained instead of showing that she was surprised by his presence. He was in the Basketball match, why was here here?

"My eyes were closed," Natsu grinned, flashing her a glimpse of his canines.

"No way," The blonde denied, wiping the rest of the tears out of her eyes. She squinted at the salmon-haired teen in distrust, "Even if you close your eyes right before you opened the door, it still should have affected you."

"I had them closed," He grinned again, "The whole time."

The teen said that with so much conviction that Lucy couldn't help but believe him. Even if she didn't want to, there was something in that grin of his that felt like she could. She came to that conclusion the first time she was partnered with him all those months ago. Because, Natsu was—in one word—strange. A good strange. He had an uncanny knack for getting himself—and sometimes her, as much as she hated to admit it—out of seemingly impossible situations, his five senses were out of this world, and his hunches were a force to be reckoned with.

Lucy curiously tilted her head back to look at him, "How'd you know where to find me?"

"Eh. It wasn't hard," He shrugged in nonchalance, but she saw his grin dim a little, "That guy, Don or whatever his name was, was talkin' pretty loud." Natsu sent her an amused look, "And I could recognize your yelling anywhere, Lulu-pi."

He deserved that slap, no matter what he says later. That nickname, even if Natsu was the one saying it and not Dan, was atrocious. The very thought and existence of that horror created by the copper-haired Junior sent shivers down her spine. And another thing; she did not yell. Not even once. Probably.

"Don't ever say that again," The blonde shuddered, hating the way he just laughed it off. She folded her arms across her chest, "What are you doing here anyway? You're supposed to be in the Basketball game against Blue Pegasus."

"First to fifty," The pinkette explained, a small smile played on his lips, "It went pretty quick. Good thing too, or you would've been stuck with Don."

"Is butchering people's names a thing for you?" Lucy asked, amused.

Natsu smirked, "Only when it bothers someone."

"Glad to know my name bothers people," The golden-haired teen snorted. She stretched her arms above her head, sighing happily when spine clicked back in place. The blonde sent the other teen a relaxed smile, "Oh yeah, how'd the game go by the way?"

"We won," Natsu grinned, then rolled his eyes and added a: "Naturally."

The blonde scoffed at that, "Don't get too arrogant there, Fairy, someone ought to knock you down a few pegs."

"Oh yeah?" The salmon-haired teen clicked his tongue, jumping into a combat stance, "You gonna be that someone, Blank? You wanna go?!"

When he playfully nudged his elbow into her side, he was rewarded with her laughter and smiled when she shoved him away in mock-annoyance. She tried her hardest to keep her glare when he started to fight her. And when she says 'fight', she literally means it in the loosest term possible. He over-exaggerated by hopping on the balls of his feet like a character from a fighting game, even going the distance to 'block' his face. And when he 'punched' her, he was actually poking her sides until she was spluttering to hold back laughter.

Eventually she started to fight back, swatting his hands away when they got too close. Much to her dismay and amusement, he didn't shy from swatting her hands away either. He always took advantage of her surprise to sneak past her defenses, mercilessly poking her sides with an overly amused cackle.

"I give! I give!" Lucy pleaded through laughter, managing to catch his hands in hers. A couple of deep breaths later, she tried to glare, "You're a jerk."

A smirk slid on his lips, but his reply was cut off because the doors to the weight-room flew open. A surprised squeak passed the blonde's lips as she stumbled back from shock, barely registering the warm hand that caught her around her arm. In a strange, sadistic way, she wasn't surprised to see the familiar copper hair as Dan Straight tumbled out of the doors. The worst part? He was alone.

She prayed that someone would stumble out behind him—maybe that'd give her an excuse to pair up with Natsu—but to her absolute horror, no one did. Her breath hitched and she was sure her heart stopped beating in the exact moment that his eyes landed on her. She let out a near inaudible whimper when his face lit up in recognition.

"LULU-PI!" The copper-haired teen cried out happily, rushing towards her, "THERE YOU– ah? AH!"

If Lucy hadn't been watching, she would have been confused to what had transpired between the moment he rushed towards her, to the moment he fell flat on his face. Then again, even though she had been watching, she wasn't exactly sure what had happened. As far as she knew, she was once again saved by Natsu.

He reacted quicker than she ever could. Right before she could feel the crushing embrace of the upperclassman, Natsu's hands wrapped around her waist and, once again, plucked her out of Dan's reach. By this point, Lucy was starting to feel weightless in the his hands. She knew she wasn't that heavy, Gymnastics and her regular exercising routines ironed that fact, but she knew she wasn't light. Or, at least not as light as Natsu was making her out to be.

Anyway, once the pinkette placed her back on her own feet, he safely tucked her under his arm in the blink of an eye. Dan must have been as shocked as she was by her sudden disappearance because he started to stumble forward in effort to stop himself. On one foot, he skipped a step or so to regain balance and would have succeeded. However, Lucy felt Natsu lean a little of his weight on her and she saw—or at least, she thought she saw—his foot quickly dart out and give Dan that last push into the dirt.

This happened all in the span of two seconds.

As Lucy gaped incredulously at what just happened, she felt Natsu shift to grab something from the pocket of his Basketball shorts. She felt her mouth unhelpfully flap open and close as the salmon-haired teen unwrapped his arm from her waist and bent down. If her mouth could have made a sound, she was sure she would be spluttering nonsense at the sheer shell shock of what had just transpired. She had never been so thankful for being speechless. Otherwise, she'd look like an idiot and sound like one.

"Hopefully that'll hold," Natsu muttered to himself when he straightened.

He suddenly kicked his right leg forward, bringing Lucy's left one with it. The golden-haired teen squealed at the sudden movement and—due to being unprepared for it—felt herself tip back. She desperately reached out to grip something, cursing aloud to the open air, only to feel Natsu's arm wrap around her waist again. Due to her heart pounding in her ears, she felt his laughter more than she heard it.

Then there were running. Instinctively, she wrapped an arm around his waist and reflected his movements with nearly perfect accuracy. She dared a glance to her left and eyed the pinkette's amused, and strangely satisfied, face as he stared at Dan's crumpled form on the ground. The blonde wanted to question why he suddenly became her racing partner before blowing that thought away with a sigh. Even if he answered, she doubt she'd exactly understand what was going on in his mind. She didn't even want to try.

Instead, she focused her attention at the task at hand. Everything else between them strangely matched, from the distance of their strides to the pattern of their breathing. Fortunately, she was relived to find that his pacing was similar to hers when she ran, so it wasn't too difficult to keep up. The tie on their ankles was loose enough to give them complete control and tight enough so it wouldn't untie on it's own. Although, she was curious to see what kind of sash he chose.

Daring a peek down to their bound ankles, she felt a snort of amusement escape her. He chose the exact one that caught her eye when she was passing the booth. If it wasn't for the rule that only boys could choose a sash—the Academy strongly supported mixed gendered partnering—she would've chosen that one too. The reason why it caught her eye could be considered a little childish, but it worked.

It was a simple design; the background was a dark-pink, nearly salmon. But the thing that caught both of the teens' attention were the flaming shooting-stars. Yes, the shooting-stars were burning. However, before she could even comment on his perfect pick, a distant call of her name made her look over her shoulder and her mind blanked at the sight.

"Er, Natsu?" She felt his olive gaze burn into the side of her face and she looked up to catch them, "Don't look now, but I think 'Don' is chasing us."

"Who?" The salmon-haired teen questioned cluelessly.

At the blonde's roll of her eyes and quick jerk of her head, he looked over his shoulder to see the copper-haired upperclassman sprinting towards them at full speed. It took a second to register, but when it did, a lazy smirk slid on his face. Watching Dan chase after them, Lucy finally understood how he got to the weight-room so fast. She nearly forgot that he was one of the fastest Blanks on the track. That must have been the reason why he was so quickly accepted into Legion.

She turned to relay the newfound information to Natsu, but the words died on her lips when she recognized the look of determination and challenge in his green orbs. In that split second, that's where she remembered why the Three Legged race was so popular within the Guilds. Remember when Lucy pointed out that Fiore Academy's ways of doing things were unconventional and untraditional? It was comply true. Why? Because participants always got away with one thing:

Combat.

Well... technically it wasn't combat, but partners could be taken as long as they could separate and retie faster than the other could. And it wasn't gender preferred unlike the beginning. If he wanted to, Natsu could have ditched her to partner up with Dan, but Lucy greatly doubted that would be a scenario that she would see.

"No," The golden-haired teen refused sternly when she felt his muscles tense for an impending brawl, "You are not going to fight with me tied to you."

The salmon-haired teen turned to her with a pained face as if not being allowed to fight physically hurt him, "But Luce–"

"Don't 'But Luce' me! I refuse to fight anyone and you know that you'll get disqualified if you purposely untie–" The blonde suddenly cut off in surprise and looked up at him with large doe-like eyes, "Wait– what did you call me?"

Before Natsu could even get a single word out, Dan had dived for their legs and managed to catch their sash in his hands. Lucy only had a split-second to register the horrifying sound of their sash tearing around their ankles, before they were falling forward. The blonde figured that her salmon-haired partner must have some kind of hero complex—or something like it—because before she could turn to land a bit more softly, he brought her in his arms and twisted them so his body could take the blunt of the blow. Saving her.

Again.

He could have been fine on his own, but her extra weight caused him to land more heavily than he would've by himself. Thus, resulting in knocking most of the air from his lungs while she was left unscathed. Teaches him not to lift me like I'm weightless, Lucy thought smugly, but then groaned when she realized that she indirectly called herself fat. Nevertheless, she quickly scrambled off of his chest and landed softly on her butt next to him. Her eyes catching on the ripped cloth that slipped through their offender's fingers.

Lucy couldn't help but sigh in defeat. Well, there went the hope that it wasn't their sash that was brutalized in the fall. As if sensing her thoughts, Natsu sat up and eyed their freed ankles before staring at the torn cloth at the bottom of the now-standing, Dan Straight. The upperclassman himself seemed surprised at it. Though, that surprise only lasted a second because his face lit up.

"I have torn the sash that has kept up apart!" The copper-haired Junior crowed smugly, "Now we can be tied by our romantic red-string of fate!"

He dug in his pocket and pulled his own sash, the crimson colored cloth that Lucy supposed he was going to tie on her ankle in the weight-room, and made his way towards them. If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to use that against her, she would have laughed at sheer absurdity of the connection he made. However, he did want to use that against her, so she settled for shifting her legs and bunching her muscles to make a quick break for it. Briefly, she caught Natsu's eye and he nodded quietly at her. She swallowed nervously and watched Dan close the distance.

However, he didn't even make it a foot closer to her. In unison, Lucy jumped to her feet and skipped a few steps back while Natsu, who also jumped to his feet, caught the other teen's outstretched hand and tugged the cloth from his grip. The salmon-haired teen quickly took advantage of the upperclassman's surprise and scooted away before he could retaliate. He sent Dan a smirk and held the sash in both hands. Lucy briefly admired how quick Dan masked his shock and shot a harsh glare in Natsu's direction.

"Another step, and this thing tears," The pinkette bluffed, tugging at the opposite ends of the crimson cloth.

"You're not going to do it," The copper-haired teen smirked back, calling out his bluff.

"No?" Natsu asked with a raised brow.

He wrapped each end of the sash around his knuckles and pulled until his arm muscles bulged under his T-shirt. Lucy's breath caught in her throat when she heard a nearly inaudible tear from the crimson colored cloth. That sound alone would have anyone second guess themselves. Unfortunately, the look in Dan's face didn't look like he was buying it. He only confirmed his suspicions when he spoke up again.

"You can't do it," Dan smirked, squaring his shoulders and took a step forward, "That sash was picked especially for its deep meaning and extreme durability–"

The copper-haired teen's speech was suddenly cut off by the loud tearing of cloth, his dark amber-eyes widening in horror. Natsu smirked smugly and dropped the torn sash to the ground, taking pride as the cloth fluttered silently to the dirt. Lucy's heart sympathetically went out to the upperclassman as he dashed forward and fell to his knees. His hands were shaking dramatically as he mournfully picked up the two separate pieces. It would have been hilarious if the scene wasn't so heartbreaking to watch.

The pinkette clapped his hands together as if he was getting rid of some dust. He readjusted his scarf around his neck, plucking out a burr from their fall, and stepping around the anguished teen. The blonde felt a headache form at the self-satisfied smile he had on his face as he made his way over to her.

"You're..." Lucy tried to comprehend, her hands coming up looking as if they were squeezing an invisible stress-ball, "You're an IDIOT!"

"Wha–" Natsu spluttered in shock as he stopped a foot away, "You wanted to partner up with him?"

The blonde resisted the urge to either face-palm herself or face-palm him when he turned and pointed to the teen who started to curl in on himself, "I didn't say that!"

"Then how am I an idiot?!" The salmon-haired teen argued, "I just saved you the trouble from being partnered up with someone you didn't want to!"

"You're an idiot because WE COULD HAVE USED THAT!" Lucy bellowed as she pointed to the torn sash Dan still held in his grip.

Natsu reared back as realization flashed in his eyes. The pinkette snapped his head to the torn cloth on the ground and a loud curse slipped past his lips. When he turned back to the blonde with a sheepish smile, he simply said 'oops'. Oops! Lucy wanted to cry in frustration. Or possibly join Dan on the ground and curl in depression until she had to drag herself back to her dorm for lights-out. Her co-ed dorm because this was her last chance at getting noticed by a guild and joining their gender-separated dormitories.

"Down the drain," The blonde whispered to herself as she sunk to her knees and sat back on her legs. She was unaware of the mixture of confusion and amusement on the pinkette's face. Her head bowed sorrowfully, "The time I actually wanted to be recruited is the exact time I wont."

"What are you talkin' about, weirdo?" Natsu snickered and stopped in front of her, holding out his hand to stand.

"I..." Lucy choked up against her will, ignoring his hand, "I tried so hard to avoid getting recruited, but I don't know if I can last another two years in the co-ed dorms."

"Never figured why you didn't," The pinkette rolled his eyes, taking initiative and bending down to grasp her hand in his, "Still don't. Being in a Guild is one of the coolest–"

The way the blonde squeezed his had was as if she reached past everything and squeezed his own throat. As morbid as that sounded, it was true and stopped whatever he was about to say. And when she lifted her watery eyes to lock with his, he felt something in him break and shatter. His concern must have shown on his face because not even a second later, her free hand reached up to quickly swipe at the unshed tears. Her weak laugh when she dropped her head back down stepped on the pieces that fell.

"S-sorry. I don't know why I'm..." She trailed off into a watery sniff, holding her hand to her face.

"C'mon, Luce," Natsu grinned determinedly, pulling her to a stand and was relieved she let him, "What'cha cryin' for? We still got a race to finish, don't we?"

Lucy shook her head, "But we don't have a sash..."

"Oi! This is a Fairy you're talkin' to!" The salmon-haired teen barked good-naturedly, "I ain't gonna let some stupid piece o' crap sash stop me! Fairy Tail members don't give up 'cause of something that stupid."

"Excuse me for trying to follow the rules," The golden-haired girl bit back, a small fire sparking in her brown orbs, "And if you hadn't noticed, I'm not a Fairy. That doesn't apply to me!"

"Yet," Natsu corrected, a smug smirk tearing his lips at the surprise that flashed across her face. "What?" He asked when she continued to stare up at him, "I heard what you told Yuki-toe. You wanna join Fairy Tail, don't 'cha?"

"Her name is Yukino," Lucy hissed, "And if you did hear what I told her, you would have heard me say that I would join any guild that came first."

"I heard that too," He pointed out with a raised brow, "So? Did anyone come?"

She grimaced, "Well... no, but–"

"Then it's settled," The salmon-haired boy cut her off with a overly-smug grin, pulling her into his side and unwrapping his scarf from his neck, "Fairy Tail's offering their hand first, so you're gonna take it like you promised. All the other guilds just gotta deal with it."

"Wh-what are you doing?" The golden-haired teen stuttered when he bent down and wrapped the surprisingly soft cloth of his scarf around her ankle, before getting shaken out of her thoughts, "Wait! Don't I get a say in this?!"

"Nope," He answered, popping the 'p' just to annoy her like he knew it would, "You just gotta deal with it too."

Her jaw dropped in disbelief, "But Levy said–"

"Levy was talkin' a bunch of crap, Luce," Natsu rolled his eyes and tried to focus on the task at hand, "I mean, all that stuff was true. We are like family and it'll suck if that dynamic was broken, but she made it sound impossible because others were listening. It's not like she was sayin' all of that because she didn't want you to join. She told me one time that she tried to ask you, but you said you liked being a blank and she lost the confidence to bring it up."

"But..." Lucy trailed, overwhelmed by the newfound information, "...why me?"

"Hmm," The pinkette hummed thoughtfully, his hand pausing his tie-job and tilted his head to look up at her, "Because your favorite color is blue." The blonde felt her eyebrows draw down in confusion, but he went on before she could ask, "And sometimes pink, but not the super girly kind."

She didn't know what was more surprising, that he knew that or that it was supposed to be an answer to her question, "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"It has to do with everything," He answered with a grin, "Just like how your favorite food is spicy Beef Stew, or anything with meat."

Her gaze softened, "Natsu..."

"I know you like the smell of the air after it rains," The salmon-haired teen continued on, "Your favorite thing is the keys your mom used to collect and your favorite subject is literature. I also know that you like to read, cook, and write, and hang out with Levy in the library." He paused, a look of contemplation on his face before he added: "Maybe not at the same time."

"Oh no," Lucy groaned and blushed in horror, hiding her face in her hands and shaking her head in mortification, "I can't believe you heard all that."

Natsu grinned even though she couldn't see it, "Like I said, Luigi, I could recognize your yelling anywhere."

"I did not yell!" The golden-haired teen argued, "And I told you to stop calling me that!"

"Why not?" He asked with a pout, "It's the nickname I gave you!"

Her jaw dropped for the second time in disbelief, "It's not a nickname if it's a completely different name! And it defeats the purpose if the nickname is longer than the actual name!" He blinked blankly at her before slowly flashing her the underside of his wristband. She actually faltered at that, but then quickly gathered her bearings, "You at least resemble that title, Salamander. I, however, do not resemble a 'Luigi' what-so-ever." When he continued to blink blankly, she felt something inside her snap.

"I DO NOT RESEMBLE A TINY, PIXELATED, ITALIAN PLUMBER!"

That was all it took for Natsu to cave. He burst into a round of loud laughter, occasionally snorting when he desperately tired to suck in well-needed air. He would have fallen and started to roll on the floor if it wasn't for the fact that he was kneeling and his free hand was already braced against the ground. The salmon-haired teen had to tuck his scarf in the crook of his knee so he could clutch his stomach in futile effort to make it hurt less. He even had tears running down his face.

Lucy rolled her eyes at him. Eventually, when he calmed enough to chuckle about it, he returned to tying his scarf around their ankles. Unfortunately, he was shaking so much from his stifled laughter that it was starting to take longer than it should have. The blonde took the initiative after another minute, slapping his hands away and carefully taking the cloth into her hands.

"Don't do it like that," She muttered, unaware of the surprised look on the pinkette's face, "If you tie it that low, the ends are going to get dirty."

He would've protested against her help, but he saw the cautious way she held his scarf and the delicate way she slid it higher up their legs so the excess fabric wouldn't scrape the floor. So he let her help, positioning his leg so tying the scarf would be easier.

It was a nice feeling, seeing someone treat his scarf with as much care as—or maybe even more than—he would. So when she finished the tie, and thoughtfully tucked the ends into the folds, he stood up with a grin and wrapped his arm around her shoulder in thanks. Their heights were perfect for it to work without difficulty, so he let it rest there. Natsu felt her arm hesitantly wrap around his waist, her small hand gripping his shirt nervously. He grinned at her and started them off with a quiet walk until he felt her shoulders completely relax under his hold.

"Luce?" He called out carefully, smiling when she answered with a comfortable, distracted—but completely positive—hum, "To Fairy Tail?"

He felt her shoulders tense again. Instinctively, his hand slid down her arm until his pinky was teasing the skin at the edge of her sleeve. She sighed at the new, but familiar gesture and he felt her shoulders relax once more. She contemplated it for a few more nerve-wreaking seconds before she turned to him, her cheeks flushed bashfully and a shy smile on her lips. Her hand coming up to rest on the one gently holding arm, and squeezed it experimentally, as if doing it would give her strength to reply.

Her answer was quiet, nearly inaudible, but he caught it as clearly as if she yelled it to the world.

"...okay."

He didn't need to be told twice.