The Black Angel [Gratsu]

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

★ Natsu's POV ★

A/N: This chapter got unnecessarily long so now the actual plot and action will begin in the next chapter. Yay! Sorry for another filler.

I had come to the conclusion that juggling two lives at once was hard. Especially when one of those lives was the charismatic superhero of Starlight City.

When I knew I was out of Gray's line of sight, I ducked behind some random person's house and changed my clothes, slipped on my mask, and shoved my two jackets and pants into my backpack. I decided soon I would need to invest in a new one; usually I only held my clothes in it but being a high school student meant I needed plenty of room for school supplies. Still, I made it work. I always did.

After zipping it up, I put my backpack behind the bushes, knowing that no one would find it between the short time I left and came back. I checked to make sure the coast was clear, and considering it was nighttime, not many people were walking around. I took a running start before soaring into the air.

I needed to kill some time before I visited Gray again, this time as Angel, so I decided to go on a patrol of the city. Considering my house was too far away to go there and back, surveying the city in person would be much more efficient. I flew into the clouds, straight for the heart of Starlight City, before swooping down and landing on the top of a building. I ran across the flat roof, looking down into the streets for any sign of crime. When I reached the edge, I jumped and flipped in the air, landing on the next one. Because part of my DNA was a bird's, I was naturally very agile and had a lithe body, which made it easier for me to fly.

I continued to survey the city, swooping down dangerously lower when I heard the sound of shattering glass. I landed in an alleyway, which was stained with questionable liquids and trash wrappers littered everywhere.

An old man was sleeping by the dumpster, looking rough as he shivered violently under a thin, frayed blanket. I fished out a ten dollar bill from my pants pocket and put it on top of him with a sympathetic smile, wishing the best for him. Hopefully he would get himself breakfast in the morning.

An old alley cat leaped out of the dumpster, and I realized it was what knocked over the glass in the first place, as shards were scattered all around it. A shiver went down my spine when the cat looked at me through its heterochromatic eyes, and I quickly bolted out of the alley and flew up into the sky again.

This time, I flew higher up, able to view more of the city streets at a time. Most of the city was well it and easy to survey from hundreds of feet above, but sometimes I had to fly lower through the roads with broken streetlamps. Most of the city was already silent and snoring; still, I saw a lot of cars still on the roads and the occasional pedestrian walking home.

I landed on one roof in particular; the top of one of the more swanky international business companies of Starlight City. The skyscraper, a glass building that extended hundreds of feet into the air, had one of the most magnificent views for miles around (the best, of course, was my treehouse view). I admired the city, knowing it would always be safe while I was here. It made me feel important because I finally had a purpose in life.

And considering the first thirteen years of my life were solely spent trying to survive, having a purpose was goddamn amazing. Satisfying. Fulfilling.

I lost track of time, and before I knew it I found myself staring off into space for ten minutes, lost in the crystal-clear memories of the past. Well, memories wasn't the right word. More like nightmares. Treacherous, hellish nightmares.

I balled my hands into fists, digging my nails into the top layer skin. Like I was running away from my past, I took off into the sky and flew as fast as I could towards Gray's house. Sometimes, I wondered if Gray was simply a distraction from my reality. That I was only using him to escape from a world I could never leave.