Just High School Life

Chapter Nineteen

"What's going on here!?" Cana Alberona bellowed as she stood at the top of the stairs, her hand clutching hard onto the wooden banister. She looked like she was ready to kick a few people out of the mansion. The permanent smile of her Joker make-up was now in stark contrast to the deep frown on her face.

As if on command, the blaring music stopped, and in its absence the room slowly filled with hushed, panicked, whispers.

Cana surveyed the room carefully, then pointed an accusing finger at the blonde Sabertooth boy. "You!" She yelled.

The boy smirked. "Me?"

"Who are you?!" Cana demanded, hands on hips. "I've never seen you in my entire life! What are you doing at this party?!"

"The name's Sting." He sneered. "And me and my homeboys are crashing your party."

The whispers grew into a loud buzz at Sting's bold words. Natsu could feel Elfman shift his weight next to him, and then a hand gripped onto his own shoulder. Laxus was holding Natsu back from making an irreversible mistake, like getting involved and punching Sting in the face. Though, in Natsu's opinion, it felt more like Laxus was trying to hold himself back from exploding. Laxus was ready to break something, Natsu was sure of it.

Cana bared her teeth. Despite the white face paint, it was clearly visible that she was turning an ugly shade of red in anger. "Excuse me?!"

"You deserve it. This party ruined my party! Barely any guests are there because you stole them all!" Sting accused.

Almost everyone's eyes immediately flitted to Cana, including Natsu who felt his anger rise up again. This Sting guy was irritating.

"This party isn't for you!" Cana hissed. "It's for Lucy and she's allowed to have as many guests as she wants!"

Natsu's attention immediately snapped. Lucy! Oh my God, where's Lucy? He had left her to go find Erza himself and now he couldn't find either girl. Natsu knew damn well Erza would never let what's-his-face-Sabertooth breathe in Mirajane's direction, much less get Mirajane so riled up, so she clearly wasn't here either.

Sting made a face of disgust at Cana's speech before opening his mouth and making a comment nobody needed to hear.

"Ew,"

What did this fucker say?

"You're all up to no good!" Sting proclaimed.

Says the guy who's deliberately crashing a party!

"Especially any fairies named Lucy. What a cowardly name! Did you know a Lucy asked me for a booty call on Tinder, then chickened out when I got there?!"

Natsu felt himself shake with anger. Lies! Lieslieslies! No way was he going to believe shit rumours from some pretentious prick! He was sure he wasn't the only one who was angry. Just who the heck is this guy? Barging into their party, bad mouthing them, speaking lies of Lucy when he probably never met her!

"All of you here Fairies are bitches! You lot and Lucy and definitely Nya Nya over here, dressing like that!" Sting exclaimed. It was clear he was mumbling like a drunken idiot.

Natsu was about to lose it, and then someone pushed past him.

Laxus broke out of the crowd and rushed right at Sting, winding his arm back. "Fuck off!" Laxus yelled, taking a swing, and connecting, with Sting's nose.

The visceral sound of knuckles cracking cartilage echoed around the quiet room, like time was standing still. And then the screaming started and everything rushed into fast forward as there was a stampede of scared onlookers rushing for the exits. Sting, to his credit, kept his feet. He staggered back a few paces, eyes wide with shock as he gingerly felt what was left of his once straight nose.

"I'm going to beat your ass!" Sting warned as the shock wore off. He finally let go of his dripping nose and shifted into a fighting stance, the arrogant, gleeful, expression that had been in his eyes now replaced with something steely and serious.

Natsu and Elfman tried to make their way forward as well but were buffeted on all sides from people running away, people trying to call the cops, and people just trying to get a good vantage point to film the fight on their phones.

"I'll handle it," Laxus's words rang in Natsu's head. Oh, he's handling it alright. Handling it totally the wrong way! A fight, really? A fight!?

"Come on, Natsu!" Elfman roared, grabbing Natsu's arm and dragging him through the last barrier of people and into the fight.

With no time to prepare, Natsu found himself in the midst of Sabertooth, his body moving and shoving them aside like it was muscle memory. All those spontaneous fights he'd had with Gray over the years were finally coming in handy. So much so that Natsu almost wanted to thank the fool.

His heart leapt into his throat as Natsu ducked under a kick, the fight reaching a temporary stalemate as the five Sabertooths grouped together and stared down the three Fairies. If Elfman and Natsu hadn't stepped in Laxus would have been beaten to a pulp. Honestly, what was Laxus thinking? Hell, what was he himself thinking? Too much was going on.

Somewhere in the background Cana screamed for her boyfriend to help them, panicking, not knowing where he was. Probably passed out someplace. Mirajane was lost as well on what to do as she stood among the others. Evergreen had already fainted into her cheerleader friend's arms at the sight of Elfman fighting.

Sabertooth lunged forward again, this time with a clear plan in mind. Elfman was tackled by a man equally as big and muscular as he was, while Laxus was fighting Sting and some blonde hair-Freed look-alike with a hat. This left Natsu to get ganged up on by the remaining two. This time he wasn't fast enough to dodge as a high kick connected with his chin, knocking him off his feet. Sabertooth wasted no time and immediately piled on, showering him with short jabs and knees to the body. All this was happening, but Natsu's head was still swimming about Lucy and Erza's whereabouts. It's no good, in the middle of this chaos of a fight, Natsu Dragneel can't help but be worried.

"Natsu, look out!" Someone screamed. One of his assailants had rolled off him while the other continued to pin him down. Standing over him, the boy pressed his foot into Natsu's face before jumping high in the air to stomp his skull into a puddle.

Life flashing before his eyes, Natsu kicked into gear. He popped his hips, lifting the Sabertooth that was pinning him down up and over his head, while taking that opportunity to slip under him and out of harm's way. The stomp came crushing down on the back of the guy's head and smashed his face into the floor. Natsu staggered to his feet, looking around wildly to get his bearings.

In the corner of his eye he saw Lisanna looking at him. She was leaning her deadweight against two seniors Natsu wasn't very familiar with, looking pale and woozy. She looked helpless. Natsu started to stagger over to her before being pulled back into the action.

"Fight me, ninja boy."

Natsu turned his head. It was Sting, blood still streaming out of his nose and over his lips, curved widely into a manic smile. This was his element. Sting didn't stay still; he rocked on his heels, ready to pound anyone in his way. He raised his fists and started circling Natsu like a vulture.

Somehow, Natsu found himself face to face with the one who started it all, Sting. Laxus was supposed to take care of him, who knows where he was now.

"Fine," Natsu answered, he needed to get his head in the game.

Tired of being on the defensive, Natsu lunged at Sting, grabbing him around the middle and trying to push him to the ground. But for a drunken guy, Sting was pretty solid. The blonde slid back, but again kept his two feet planted firmly on the ground. With his back now exposed, Sting rained punches down on Natsu's spine repeatedly, his grip on Sting's waist slowly slipping.

Natsu had been in dozens of fights before with Gray, but none had ever went this far. None were this violent or painful. Sting meant business. All around him people were yelling. At him, for him, at his friends, at the Sabertooth students. Just yelling all around. Natsu gritted his teeth, this wasn't over.

As Sting landed another blow to the back, Natsu buckled his knees and crouched to the floor. A laugh of triumph had barely escaped Sting's lips before Natsu had curled his arm around Sting's right leg and launched himself back up. Natsu hoisted Sting into the air by the leg, before driving him back into the ground, elbow pinned to Sting's throat. Sting squirmed under the elbow, blood gurgling in his mouth as he struggled to breathe. Caught up in the moment, Natsu pressed harder, but leaned in to close and was sent flying as Sting connected with a right hook.

Natsu tried to get to his feet but couldn't as the room started spinning underneath him. He managed to get onto all-fours but was knocked back again as Sting kneed him square in the temple.

Stars invaded his blurred vision as he tried scrambling to feet but his legs kept collapsing underneath him, he was totally defenceless.

"Natsu!"

Lisanna's worried voice cut through the ringing in his ears. He couldn't see what was going on, he just knew he needed to get to his feet and his body wouldn't let him.

"Lisanna, no!" Bickslow yelled.

Lisanna attempted to wrestle out of Bickslow's grip. "Don't hold me back! Natsu's my best friend, Bickslow-Senpai! I can't just –"

"I'll help!" Bickslow cuts in before Lisanna can say anything else.

Like a shark hunting his victim, Natsu could feel that Sting was somewhere near him, so he lashed out wildly, but was unable to make contact. And then he was on him. Sting's arm wrapped around Natsu's throat and he started choking the life out of him from behind. The world was fading to black.

Bickslow shouted, shoving Lisanna into Freed's chest. "Take care of her, Freed!"

"Bicks, no!" Freed's voice came into the panicked conversation.

The next thing Natsu knew, someone had knocked Sting off of him. Natsu sucked in oxygen greedily as he tried to make out his saviour through watery eyes. Bickslow had flung himself into the middle of the fight – feet first and face full of regret – cannoning himself into Sting. The impact was so hard that the two slammed into a wall and almost busted a hole through it. Bickslow clumsily attempted to punch Sting while they were both down, but he was swatted away with complete disdain. Sting pushed right past him and stalked back towards Natsu, eyes hungry.

"Watch out Sting!"

"Holy shit!"

Bickslow would not be ignored. He jumped onto Sting's back and started pulling at his hair and raking his eyes. Sting swung around manically, attempting to shake Bickslow off him, but Bickslow held on like his life depended on it. Through it all Sting still struggled towards Natsu, nothing would come in between him and his prey.

Natsu got up again and raised his fists in front of his face. He wouldn't back down with Bickslow sacrificing himself like this. Natsu charged forward and went to punch Sting in the face, but Sting found a burst of energy and charged forward as well, head-butting Natsu in the forehead and splitting them both open. Natsu tasted the metallic bitterness of his own blood as it streamed down over his swollen eye and into his mouth.

"Fuck," Natsu cursed. Everything hurt!

Someone grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back. It was blurry but Natsu could tell he was surrounded by people, one of them looked like he had green hair.

"Wha – ?" Natsu asked.

As he felt himself being pulled away, Natsu saw several other fairies taking his place; finally jumping into the fight, helping Bickslow, Elfman and Laxus.

Natsu couldn't help let a thought wander through his mind, God, what if this was permanent? I'm going to be blind.

"It's me, it's me, It's Mira." Mirajane repeated over and over for assurance as she and Freed continued dragging him away. Lisanna didn't say anything, only whimpering as she followed her sister and her senior drag her best friend to safety.

"Mira, I can't see." Natsu slurred and Lisanna reached out to squeeze his hand.

"I'm not surprised, your eyes are swollen and covered in blood." Freed replied and Mirajane frowned at him in response.

"Oh, that's good then." Natsu sighed, at least he's not blind. A funny smile spreads on his face then he started drifting away.

"Natsu?" Lisanna called, noticing his eyelids fluttering.

"I think he's passing out." Freed said, hauling him on a sofa. The fight continued in the background as yelling and shouting could be heard.

"Natsu! Don't go to sleep!" Mirajane screamed and shook him violently.

His thoughts muddled, But why not? Sleep is so peaceful …

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." A new voice came into the conversation.

Familiar red hair dominated what little vision Natsu had left.

"Erza!" The teens sputtered.

"You did well, Natsu." Erza said as her face soften for him. She wiped some of the blood out of Natsu's eyes and smiled encouragingly at him before she nodded at Mirajane, Freed and Lisanna. "Now if you'll excuse me – Out of my way, people!"

The crowd of people parted hastily.

"You!" Erza boomed, bringing the fight to an immediate pause. She pointed a finger at Sting, still trying to get Bickslow off him. "I heard you messed with my best friend." Erza cracked her knuckles. "Bad move."

Natsu chuckled to himself as people swarmed in front of him, blocking the fight from view. He lifted a fist in the air, cheering her on. "Get him, Erza." And with that he finally lost consciousness.

Mirajane looked on anxiously. Aside from managing the student body; breaking up fights was technically Erza's job. She'd worked hard to get to this position, being hard on her peers and herself to not break the rules, maintaining straight-As, going to the Drama Club to overcome her stage fright (because there's no fear big enough to slow her down). But this was a bit of an extreme situation, and Erza wasn't being herself.

After cracking her knuckles, Erza had laid into the remaining members of Sabertooth. Elfman had fought his opponent to a draw and they both looked on battered, bruised, and exhausted. Laxus had taken out the guy with the hat, before succumbing to Sting. And Natsu had managed to defeat one guy before losing to Sting as well. The other that had joined in had less experience fighting and didn't do much damage.

This left Erza with two more Sabertooths to deal with, and she dispatched the first one fairly easily. But despite the victory, there was just something about the way Erza fought that seemed off. It was different. It looked badly calculated – clumsy kicks and random swings. It was powerful, no doubt, but it was like Erza had switched her mind off. She wasn't fighting with any sense of duty, or using any calm strategy. She was fighting like she was getting something out of her system, not caring how hurt she got in the process.

As Erza exchanged blows with the final member, Sting, Mirajane looked on in shock. The Erza she knew would never stand and brawl like she was now, she'd dance and weave and dodge her opponent's strikes. In the end it didn't matter, Sting was far too tired and a straight right hand, driven through the middle of his defence, was enough to rock him. Sting staggered back and forward and back before spitting out blood onto the floor and collapsing in a heap.

Erza rushed forward and began kicking his lifeless body and that was the last straw for Mirajane.

"Erza, that's enough!"

Erza whipped her head around to glare at her but her expression slowly softened and the fire died in her eyes.

The large Sabertooth man who'd been fighting Elfman sighed and lumbered forward, hoisting Sting up onto his shoulders like a backpack, to go with another Sabertooth already on his other shoulder. The hat guy followed silently behind him, leaning on the final Sabertooth for support. As soon as they limped out the front door of the mansion, it was official – the party was over.

"Mira," Erza cried out. She staggered over and hugged the girl tight. She almost sobbed into Mirajane's shoulder. "I'm so so so sorry. I should have been there for you, not holed up in a bathroom. What kind of best friend am I? Letting those punks leer at you like that?"

Mirajane responded by shushing Erza and stroking her red hair. "It's not your fault. You can't be everywhere at once, you can't always protect me. Maybe I shouldn't have dressed as Chat Noir –"

But Erza cut off Mirajane's words, a little bit of her temper rising again. "Don't you apologize for what you're wearing. You're dressed as a kid's cartoon character, you shouldn't feel this way. You shouldn't –" Erza looked into Mirajane's eyes and couldn't complete the sentence. Instead, she just hugged Mirajane tighter.

"Thanks, Erza." Cana walked over and slapped her on the back casually before addressing the crowd. "Show's over folks, go home!" She shooed people out, frowning hard, then whispered to herself, "Man, I need a drink."

"Me too." Erza replied, finding herself smiling despite the shit night.

Natsu was smiling weakly, leaning heavily on Lisanna for support, as he watched Mirajane and Erza hug things out, and Cana barking orders for the guests to leave. He came to his senses about five minutes ago or so.

"Are you okay, Lisanna?" Natsu asked.

Lisanna replied weakly, "I got drunk. And in the middle of the catastrophe I couldn't help any of you. I didn't do anything. I feel like a pretty shitty friend right now." The fact that Lisanna had cursed made the scene even more heart-wrenching.

"It's not your fault." Natsu offered lamely. What else was there to say?

Lisanna looked like she was on the verge of crying. Guilt was eating her up. "I got Bickslow-Senpai involved."

"It's not your fault." Natsu repeated himself. There's a pause, then a sigh. "I have to go".

She sniffed and dabbed her wet eyes. "Why?"

"Lucy,"

Lisanna's only response was a raised eyebrow and a tilted head.

"I'll tell you later on the ride home." Natsu replied.

"Okay." Lisanna answered, bobbing her head. "Do you want any help?"

"No," He waved her off and she nodded again.

The fight was over but there was still so much to do.

Natsu let out another sigh. He turned to Erza and laced his hands together, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Erza," Natsu began, trying to ignore the way his cheeks were aching when he talked. "Erza, where's Lucy?"

Erza gave Natsu a quizzical look. "What are you talking about?"

"Didn't Lucy go looking for you?" Natsu asked, a sudden fear striking him. Where is she?

Erza shook her head in return. "I haven't seen her since I left the two of you alone in the backyard."

Natsu's eyes widen in return. He feels his heart stop. Shit, where is she?

…

"Can you find Erza by yourself?"

"Yes, I can."

So …

So.

So all this time, he'd just left her all alone?

After the huge bust-up, the guests didn't stick around and followed Cana's orders; exiting the huge house and hopping into their vehicles. This included the Thunder Legion, Freed had gone full concerned-mother-friend mode and had decided to take his friends home before anything else could happen.

"Keep me updated if you need anything." Freed had said to Mirajane as he clapped a hand on her shoulder.

Laxus stood groggily behind Freed, trying not to meet Mirajane's eye. His back was turned as he pretended to be busy with Bickslow.

"Thanks, Freed." Mirajane answered.

"It's the least I can do, Mira." Freed has said.

They both exchanged smiles before the night could get any more confusing. Then Freed departed, dragging a bruised Laxus, a beyond drunk Bickslow, and a freaked out Evergreen.

The drive back home was silent. Natsu had only agreed to leave the mansion after Levy had sent a text message, informing him that Lucy was back at the dorm, drinking hot cocoa.

On one hand, Natsu felt relieved that Lucy was safe from the disaster of tonight. But on the other hand, he was hurt that she didn't bother telling him anything before she decided to just go home like that. Weren't they friends? Why didn't she say anything? Doesn't she know he cares about her well-being?

Natsu's mind was still muddled as he limped onto his front porch. No matter how much he pondered the issue, Natsu couldn't help but let his mind drift back to Lucy. For the entirety of the night, what did she want to say to him? If it was so important, why did she just leave? Did she lie to him when she said she would find Erza herself? To begin with, did Erza have anything to do with this?

"Night, Natsu." Lisanna waved from the other side of the lawn, standing on her own porch. Her own voice is low but audible.

The girl knows the moment she steps into her house, she'll be in big trouble. Natsu knew this because Lisanna is very much going to get the scolding of her life from Mr and Mrs Strauss. They will be far from pleased to find Lisanna smelling strongly of booze and Elfman covered in bruises.

Natsu thinks, at least he can push back from getting scolded until tomorrow morning to the latest. With his own parents were working extra shifts at their family animal shelter; Halloween was the time of year that black cats were endangered from cruel pranks. Natsu knew he'd be able to lay low for a little bit before his parents chew his ears off. But Natsu also knew that he wouldn't be able to hide anything from Wendy's radar. She's way too sharp.

He tried to ease some of the pain in his leg by shifting his weight while he pulled out his house keys, a difficult task when you can barely see through the swelling around your eyes. Is a calm night too much to ask for?

"AHH!" A shout filled the air, scaring Natsu the second he opened the door. He swore his heart missed a beat for what seemed like the fifth time tonight.

"Natsu, why are you home so early? I thought you were an intruder!" Wendy exclaimed, frozen in her spot.

Natsu mirrored his half-sister, freezing too. He didn't expect to see her this soon. Wendy's eyes travel up Natsu's body. She took in the cuts, the bruises, the purple on his throat and then the mess that his face. The baseball bat she's holding slips out of her hands and falls to the floor. She runs towards him at top speed, crushing him in a hug.

"I uh – the party kinda flopped." Natsu offered jokingly, resting a hand on her head to calm her down.

Natsu couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as he hugged Wendy back, staring past her at the fallen weapon. It was the same bat from Lisanna had used in her mega High School Musical phase and thought she could swing-batta-batta-swing her way to the league. The thought of Lisanna brings the thought of the musical-play and the thought of the musical-play brings the thought of Lucy into his mind. It makes his head spin and not in a good way. He can't get Lucy out of his mind.

"What happened to your face?" Wendy sobbed through tears.

Natsu opened his mouth to answer but then thought better of it. He just rubbed her back gently as they hugged in the hallway.

"Why don't you tell me about your night instead, Wen?"

Wendy looked at him doubtfully but ushered him into a seat on the couch and went to get some bandages. When she returned she was a bit more composed and launched into a hurried story about her flu messing with her thoughts. That and the fact that Sherria had left after the scary movie was over, causing her to think of horror related things like a serial killer invading the house.

She said to her brother, "I'm so glad you're home, Natsu. You always make things feel safer."

Natsu went to hug her again but she slapped his hand away playfully.

"Sit still! I'm not even closed to finished patching you up!"

Natsu did as he was told as all his ugly cuts and bruises slowly disappeared under band-aids of happy Winnie the Pooh characters and smiling Disney princesses.

Natsu sighed as he stared up at his ceiling; faded glow-in-the-dark constellation stickers glow back at him. Despite the tiring day, he was wide awake. He listened to the night as it dragged agonisingly on, arms behind his head. Every joint ached, every cut stung, and he wasn't even sure how to describe what his face was feeling. The night was filled with nothing but crickets and the occasional shudder of the window as the wind blew. It was way too peaceful after such a tumultuous evening.

Finally there was a break in the silence. The sound of the garage doors opening and his parents pulling up on the driveway.

Natsu let out another sigh.

Should he go downstairs and tell his parents about the fight now? Or should he wait until morning and let them have a good night's sleep before attempting to clear things up?

Unlike Lisanna, Natsu wasn't all that worried about his parents finding out about the party. A fight was practically nothing compared to the time he set Gray Fullbuster's shirt on fire. Or the time his basketball friends encouraged him to snag Principal Makarov's car keys before all of them took a joy ride. Or that time he toppled the bookshelves over after tripping on his shoelaces, causing a domino effect to trash the whole school library.

Yeah … he wasn't too worried about his parents finding out. Though, he was worried about one person receiving the news.

Natsu was worried about what Lucy would think.

Ever since he became her mentor, he'd managed to stay out of trouble for a solid two weeks which speaks in volumes. Sure, he had a small spat with Gray but it ended almost as quickly as it started and now those two were on good terms. It was all chill until the party happened. He didn't even know how things could have spiralled out of control so fast. One minute he was talking to Elfman about some girl named Evergreen, then the next he was dragged into a fight and ended up injured and soon-to-be-grounded.

Lucy's words continued to ring in his head. "I expect more participation from you, Natsu. I'm warning you not to mess this up. I swear I'll write weekly reports about you and tell Principal Makarov if you don't keep your promises."

If Lucy snitched to Principal Makarov, if she stayed true to her weekly report threat and word got out that he fought someone from another school, then Natsu was sure he could kiss his life at Fairy Tail Academy goodbye.

– ARC ONE COMPLETE –

CANCELLED

because

(1) Dead threats from Nalu haters which is stupid because I don't even have feels for the ship. I just want to write angst and drama. Plot and character growth is my favourite thing, I don't care about the ship, I just want to write. However, I have tried to like this ship, I even wrote Nalu to spite the Nalu haters for picking on me but in the end, I hate to admit it but the Nalu haters were right. This ship, man, the community is ... really messed up. I would rather not get involved anymore.

(2) Can't even write about Gruvia (a ship I care about) because someone's like "you don't ship Gruvia, all you do is write angst about them" like, boi, do you think I'd write pages and pages about them if I don't love them? I've read a lot of stupid things, but that just took the crown. I hope that person never takes that crown off.

(3) Writing like 10K per chapter only to be left on read and get death threats? Talk about encouraging, yeah :) (like bless those people who say "I've read this three times and love it", like if I don't personally drag these morons to hell myself, I'd shower you with so much love you'd drown)

– SPECIAL THANKS to my BETA, Checkmate-13, for editing the fight scene because I've never even been in a snowball fight –

Notes

(hands you my garbage) Here, take it, I'm done with it. (Peace's out to write other garbage, mostly one-shots. My other nine and counting in-complete stories trail after me, begging to be updated, I ignore a majority of them)

Thanks again to those who's stuck around for the entirety of this story and to those who signed the petition!

Also, BREAKING NEWS, I just realized I had written something my beta told me a year and half ago into the story and I am greatly embarrassed. It was about his arms being hella smooth. I don't even know?

– 26 February 2018

╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ˂ᵒ͜͡ᵏᵎ⁾ Bye