Twinkling Stars

Chapter IV - Karaoke Night

I DO NOT own any of the songs in this chapter. NONE!

If you can't tell by the title, there will be lots of singing in this chapter. At the end of it, I will add who sang what, but if you would like to know ahead of time so you could sing along, the list is at the bottom.

Enjoy!

It was a monsoon outside. Rain lashed against the windows of the guild with brutal force, egged on by the howling wind.

Thunder would boom now and then, and lightning would streak across the sky, lighting up the darkened outside.

It was late in the evening, and the guild wasn't as full as it usually was. Most people were able to escape to their homes before the storm really hit. Among those stuck inside the guild to wait out the storm were Lucy, Jellal, Meredy, Wendy, Carla, Levy, Gray, Natsu, Happy, Juvia, Gajeel, Lily, Cana, and all of Strauss siblings.

Gray sighed as another flash of lightning streaked past one of the windows. He was so bored, and it was one of the few times that he didn't feel like starting a fight with Natsu or Gajeel.

Glancing around at the nearly vacant guild, he observed Jellal and Meredy talking at a nearby table; Wendy at another one talking with Carla and Happy in their human forms while Natsu rested his head on the table with a bored expression next to them. He saw Gajeel munching on a slab of iron at one of the other tables while Juvia sat next to him to converse with Lily; he saw Lucy and Levy at the bar talking with Mira, and he saw Cana - for once not drinking - chatting with Lisanna and Elfman with her cards laid out on the bar counter before them.

A loud boom of thunder sounded outside that rattled the windows of the guild, and Gray let out another sigh as he let his head hit the table in front of him.

He wanted to go home, but the typhoon-like weather outside was preventing him from leaving. He didn't fancy getting blown around and slammed into things, thank you.

"Wait, what?"

Gray lifted his head to stare at the bar where the startled outcry came from. Lucy was staring at Mira with a startled expression, with Levy gawking beside her.

Mira herself was beaming widely and was practically radiating sparkles. "We should do it!" she exclaimed happily. "It'll lift the mood in here!"

"What are you talking about, Mira?" Meredy called over since she and everyone else overheard their conversation.

Mira turned her smile on to her. "Why, karaoke, of course!"

Everyone in the hearing vicinity froze at her words. Many tried to excuse why they couldn't, but Mira didn't have it. "I will be upset at those of you who refuse to participate," she chirped, though the growing dark aura around her was the direct opposite of cheerful.

That was how Gray and all the others left in the guild found themselves crowded around the guild's stage. Mira was explaining how everything was going to go. "Alright, I've written all of our names on scraps of paper and put them in here," she said as she lifted a black derby hat. "Whoever's name that gets drawn will tap the music lacrima and sing the song that will startup."

"Wait, we don't get to choose what we will sing?" Lisanna frowned.

Mira smiled. "Nope! It'll be more fun that way!"

Cana, who was next to Gray, let out a snort. "Yeah, but for you or us?" she muttered.

"Alright!" Mira announced eagerly. "The first name is . . ." her voice trailed off as she riffled through the hat with her eyes closed.