Chapter 5: Friends?...Only Time Will Tell

There comes a time in our life when we question the meaning of life. Often times we wonder whether it will all be worth it. And when we find out the truth, we go down a pit that we cannot get out of. However, it is the hearts and souls of others… that bring us back from the depths. - AdmiralWhiteFang

"Woah your gym is awesome!"

Lucy cried out in joy as she saw Fiore High's massive gym hall. The hall was filled with students playing different types of games ranging from basketball to soccer (they called it football) to kickball.

"It's called a-" He stopped himself. "A taaki…. taakuki…. takiisan…"

Lucy frowned. "Taiikukan. It's called a taiikukan."

"That."

"But holy cow it's almost as big as a stadium." She said.

"Uhhhhh that is way too big…" Natsu said, looking at her in confusion.

"Hmmm you're right." She began to ponder about it before exclaiming out loud. "I know! It's as big as a football field!

That...was right on the dot. Wait what was he saying? And did she have to say it so loudly?

"Right." Natsu said, his vision scouring the gym. Already people were noticing the pair, pointing it out their friends or whispering about it.

Crap.

"Ok now that we've seen the gym, let go see the… umm… classrooms next to it."

Smooth

Lucy nodded. "Sure."

Wait that worked? "Great!" Natsu turned around before Lucy stopped him.

"Hang on. Lemme ask you something."

"Huh? What's up?"

"Is this… alright for you?"

Natsu stared at her. "What?"

"Well I mean…" She looked lost in thought before shaking her head. "Nevermind. Lets see the rest of the school. Remember you need to get me back to class before the bell rings."

Natsu eyed her. He could tell there was something definitely up. But it wasn't his place to ask. Not yet anyways. "Right."

As they were about to leave, Natsu noticed someone staring at him. It was weird. He was used to people staring but this was different. It was as if he were looking for a fight. Their eyes met and the boy grinned. He had a natural tan, probably meaning one of his parents was from the south part of Japan. The top four buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned, allowing people to see a small portion of his chest. On his hands, he wore black fingerless gloves studded with five dark gray bits that went over his knuckles. He was sitting down cross-legged on the floor of the gym. But what really creeped him out was the fact that he was looking at him in a weird way. It was a gaze he was familiar with but Natsu couldn't put his finger on it. The boy grinned.

Natsu looked away. H didn't want to deal with it right now. Right now, he had to be a tour guide. Or school guide. He left the gym with Lucy but he couldn't forget the guy's grin. It was as if it had been imprinted in his mind. It kept nagging him. Where had he seen that grin before?

"Hellooo. Earth to Natsu! Wake up!" Lucy cried out, snapping her fingers in his face. "Where are you?"

"Huh what?" Natsu had blanked out again. "Sorry I …."

Lucy finished his sentence for him. "Blanked out."

"Yeah…"

"You seem to do that a lot."

"I do don't I." Natsu agreed. He had wondered about that himself. It had started to happen ever since he arrived in Japan. He zoned out every time his mind was put under stress. Time just seemed to.….. jump.

"Yes. Yes you do. And it's pretty weird." Lucy said.

"Gee thanks." Lucy began to laugh and Natsu joined in. A few onlookers glanced at them but they kept on walking.

Soredewa nai pink haired kid that the grade talks about?

Yeah but who's that girl next to him? Is she crazy?

Probably. Hanging out with a gang member might be what she does.

Maybe she doesn't kno-

That was all he could hear before they went out of earshot. Natsu tightened his fist. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? What did they want from him? This happened every time he tried to make a fri-

Lucy punched him. Hard.

"Oww!" He glanced over at Lucy like she was crazy. This girl had the audacity to hit him! And they had only just met! Who is she? "What?!"

"You did it again." She looked worried and Natsu's face immediately softened. Had she overheard the students whispering? "So you can't understand Japanese at all right?" She continued, changing the subject instantly.

Natsu looked at her curious. "No. I can't."

"Oh." She sighed. "Ok then. How are your Japanese lessons going if that's the case?"

Wait was she trying to make conversation with him? "Do you mean my Japanese language lessons or the actual lesson…"

"Both I guess. But mainly your Japanese language one since you don't understand Japanese itself."

"Its… unintelligible." Natsu twinged inside. He didn't want to lie to her but he also had to maintain his facade. "I have no idea what's going on in class."

Lucy looked at him in shock. "But what about the teachers? Don't they help you?"

"Not really." Natsu replied. "Some of the teachers have just given up on me entirely. Others are trying to help but its still very difficult for them since they don't know English that well. Even the English teacher herself. Though she has been the most helpful out of all of them. She translates what she can but even she can't translate everything."

Lucy didn't say anything. It was as if she were thinking hard on a decision to make. Natsu wondered what was going on inside of that brain of hers. She was so mysteriously awkward. It made her seem different all the people he had ever met in his life. But it still felt familiar. Her aura. Her gaze of life. He couldn't explain it. It was… weird.

"Ok how about this." She finally said. "I'll teach you how to read and write Japanese. You can come over to my house and we can study together."

Natsu was dumbfounded. "What?" He exclaimed. "But you barely know me? We have literally only just met!"

"True." Natsu looked at her for the umpteenth time today as if she were crazy. "But still. I want to help you."

"I don't need charity." He said.

"I wasn't giving any." She replied. " I'm doing this to help a fellow classmate. Since no one else will H.E.L.P properly." Lucy spelled out the word 'help' as if she had to emphasize it more to him. She looked confident that he wouldn't refuse her help. Her smile said that. But it was her eyes…. that made him believe her.

"Fine." He said, finally. "But will your parent allow it?"

"Oh yeah my host parents will be fine with it. They said I could bring anyone over as much as I wanted to." She paused. "Now that I think about it, maybe that didn't extend to boys… I'll have to check."

Parents. Right. He had been living with only one person for so long that he had forgotten about the second one. Odd wasn't it? You always forget there are different types of things in life, when you have only seen one of them from the very beginning. Wait what did she say her host parents were okay with?

"Oh we're here? I know this place."

They had arrived at the principal's office. Or the headmasters office. Or the dean's office. Or whatever the Japanese called their head of school.

"Oooh let's start with this!" She jumped in front of him and pointed to the sign on top of the door. This is the Kocho-shitsu. In America, it is the equivalent of a principal's office."

Natsu nodded, indulging her for a moment. Technically, nobody had told him what the office was called so he technically shouldn't have known it. Lucy continued. "And the one inside is obviously the principal and the people called him-"

The door to the Kocho-shitsu opened making Lucy and Natsu jump away.

"Kocho-sensei." The man at the door smiled. "I am called Kocho-sensei. Also you were very loud, my dear Lucy."

Lucy blushed slightly. "Sorry.

The Kocho-sensei smiled. He was a tall, slim man with long, straight, dark hair reaching down to his shoulders and a thin mustache. The moustache went down on both sides of his mouth which made him look like a Mexican man than a Japanese man. Only his eyes deceived the picture. He had eyelashes that popped out even without the usage of any cosmetics and his eyes were almond shaped; a lot like Lucy's eye.

"If it isn't Natsu Vermillion! How are you doing today?" He spoke in perfect English.

Natsu gave him a slight bow in respect. Lucy followed suit. "Kocho-sensei." he said. The principal smiled. Natsu wasn't sure what his real name was. He had never bothered to learn it. And since everyone called him Kocho-sensei, he also called him Kocho-sensei. But in his mind, he had made a nickname for him.

Jose Porla. We meet again! En garde, mon ami! Let us fight to the death! Heil! An image of a boy in a thin moustache similar to the principal with a sword in hand came to his mind as he bowed. He wanted to laugh but restricted himself. Now is not the time!

"That is all I will get from you, I suppose. But it is nice to see you around with people. You should get out more. Socialize with your peers. If not your peers, then at least with your upperclassmen."

"Yes, kocho-sensei."

"Good. Now run to class. Lunch is almost over."

The man turned around and went back into the office. When the door closed, Lucy shivered. "Principals are always so scary. But he seems friendlier than others. And nicer too."

Natsu stared at the door to the office. "That he is. Come on let's go. I have to get you back to class otherwise Cana will have my head."

"By the way, while we're on that subject, why does Cana and Erza have such European names? Are they transfer students too?"

Such European names? Natsu scrunched up his eyebrows and looked at Lucy. "Who said the Japanese couldn't have European names? I'm white and I have a Japanese name. You ever heard of that before?"

"I don't know its just… I understand Levy- I mean Saionji-san having a given name and a self proclaimed name. That sort of thing is common in America but here…." She shook her head. "Maybe I have to get used to it."

"How about this. Why don't you ask her why her name is so….. American." Natsu said, trying to avoid being as much racist as he could. The conversation was already pretty awkward.

"But we just met!" Lucy exclaimed. "I can't just ask her something like that!"

"But we just met!"

"Yeah but you're a guy. It's completely different with guys."

Were all girls as confusing as this one? He thought back to his mother and her squealing antics. He looked at Erza at her raging moments. Yes. Apparently they were.

Natsu sighed. "Let's just go. The school is pretty big. And plus we haven't eaten lunch yet."

Lucy's eyes lit up. "Food! I forgot! Come on! I'm starving!"

Lucy began walking faster and motioned towards him to walk faster too. Natsu was shocked but only for a moment before he jogged after her.

Girls like food.

Go Figure.

X

The gate squeaked as it swung on its hinges. Natsu cringed. He would have to oil it later this week. A touch of it wouldn't hurt and it would get rid of the god awful sound it made every time someone opened it. As he began to close the gate, he heard his mother's voice from inside the house. It was loud. Much louder than usual. Not enough for the neighbors to hear but enough for him to hear it. Maybe she was excited about something. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time she had brought down the house with her squeals of joy. But as he got closer, he could tell that something was wrong. He could tell she was in distress. Her voice was much angrier than usual. In fact, Natsu didn't think he had ever heard his mother this angry. It seemed like she was having an argument. In Japanese. Was someone inside the house?

"My life is of no concern to you!" She paused and then started on again. "We are not! We haven't been that for a long time!

She's on the phone, he realized. That would explain the pause.

"I don't care! Even if I live on the street, I still won't take any of your filthy money! Do you understand me!" She paused. This time it was longer than normal. Natsu strained his ear, trying to listen as closely as he could to what his mother would say.

"Don't you dare bring my son into this." With a start, Natsu realized that the person on the other side had said his name. That meant that they knew us? But who did they know? Mom and I had barely been here for a few months. Who would know us well enough to want to give us money?

"You have no idea what he's been through…. no idea…." Her voice went soft to the point where he could barely hear her. "No idea, Hachikō."

Hachikō? Why do I know that name?

"So leave us out of this. Do you understand me?! I don't want anything to do with your pathetic lies of us being family!"

The house became silent. A minute went by. Two minutes. Five minutes. Ten minutes. The call had ended. Natsu realized that his hand was shaking the entire time and he immediately clenched his fists. Get a grip. He reached out his hand and was about to open the front door when he froze. He tiptoed off the stone ledge situated in front of the door and opened the gate. It squeaked and screeched as he opened it, paused, and then closed it. Then he began to walk as slowly as he could toward the house. His heart pounded with each step as he drew closer to the door. He turned the knob and walked inside.

Almost immediately his mother pounced on him and gave Natsu a big hug. "Hi."

Natsu smiled. "Hi."

She giggled. There was no sign of the anger he had heard ten minutes ago. It was all gone now. "How was your day?"

Natsu's mind flashed back towards lunchtime. He froze before giving his mother a big smile.

"It was good."

He thought his mother would narrow her eyes again at the response since he made it everyday. But instead, her eyes widened. What? That wasn't her normal response...

She let go of him, smiled and turned around. "Food!" she exclaimed to the house. Huh?

Yup. Girls were confusing.

And apparently liked food too.

Fanfiction was being weird with the spacing so i had to put that extra dot there. But the main question is...

What is Lucy's main goal?

Will Natsu become friends with Lucy? (Yes of course. Why are you reading this if you don't like shipping Lucy and Natsu?)

Who is Hachikō?

Will Star Wars Episode 9 be good? (Wait what?)

Who knows?

Only Time will tell.