Fairy Tail Furious

Chapter 38

"Hold on, Luce," Natsu shook his head and made his way to the blonde with an outstretched fist. Wearing only black sweatpants and his famous white scarf around his head, like a bandana, he reached up and lightly pinched her thumb. "Your thumb can't stick out like that, otherwise you're gonna lose it. Tuck it tightly under like this," he moved the thumb to its proper place and forced the fist to tighten. "It's better if you use your knuckles when you hit someone. It won't hurt as much when you hit 'em with your knuckles, but it'll make them cry when you sock them on the nose!"

"So I punch them in the nose?" Lucy pulled her fist back to take note of where her thumb should be and looking back to the punching bag with a raised brow.

"I'd say hit them in the throat first, man or woman," Natsu shrugged and took a step back. "Hitting them in the voicebox usually stuns them and hurts like a bitch, and then you go for the face as hard as possible."

"Okay, like the temple, under the chin..?" Lucy readied her body and punched the black duct tape 'X' on it with as much force as possible. "Keep thumb out of way and tight..."

"Don't forget to balance yourself on your legs, too," Natsu added, quickly bending down to grasp her ankle, quickly moving it a bit farther apart from her other. He didn't notice how she jumped with a peep of surprise while he did this. "If you're not balanced and keeping your stance, you're gonna lose your footing or fall. It's also a weak spot for someone to come up and kick you down, if they see that."

"Okay," Lucy squeaked before mentally slapping herself for her voice. However, Natsu didn't seem to think anything of it as he stood back up with his dorky grin. She readied herself and then punched the bag with force, making a colliding noise echo in the gym.

The Fairy Tail gym was on the second floor of the garage, and was large enough to hold a concert, if they wanted. Equipped with all sorts of exercising equipment, the gym served as a great place for Natsu to start showing Lucy how to kick ass and defend herself. Lucy was able to find sport tights and a tank to work out in and still be comfortable with sweating and trying to learn how to be strong. Natsu was a great instructor so far in showing her the basics, and was patient with helping her with her stance, form and showing her what she needed to start out with.

Lucy has never fought anyone before, nor even hit somebody. She was good at kicking, Natsu reminded her of that and would work with it once they finished with the punching.

"Much better, Luce. You're getting it pretty well," Natsu complimented with a grin, making Lucy's heart flutter and her confidence spiking with a bubbly grin of her own. "I would recommend firming your arm muscles with weights. The small ones, though, to start out with. Start with a five pound for a while until it becomes to easy for you to curl with."

"Okay. Should I start it now?"

"Nah, do it when you have nothing goin' on, like after work or whatever," Natsu shook his head to her. "Do it for about fifteen minutes, if you can, to start out with."

Lucy nodded in understanding and faced back to her punching bag, readying again to hit it with her best shot. Keeping her feet firmly on the ground, Lucy readied and plowed the bag with a left punch and then a right to the duct tape before stepping back and keeping her defensive stance up. Natsu clapped his hands in applause, nodding when she returned to the spot and punched one more time.

"What's going on in here?" a masculine voice spoke at the entrance of the gym, making both Natsu and Lucy turn their heads to see Gildarts and Cana walking in, both wearing sportswear and carrying a few water bottles in their arms. The taller, much more buff man looked at the two with a raised brow in curiosity. "I never see you in here during the day, Natsu."

"Lucy!" Cana perked with sudden excitement and hurried over to the blonde. "Your butt looks cute in those leggings, girl! Let me look. C'mon, turn around and stick out your tush!"

Lucy instantly went bright red in the face when Cana laughed and told her she was just teasing. The blonde woman puffed her cheeks and shook her head at the brunette, only causing her to snicker more. Holding up a bottle of water to her, Cana offered it to Lucy.

"Keep yourself hydrated," Cana noted. "It's not good for you if you don't keep drinking water."

"Says the chick who helps herself to a treat before noon," Lucy rolled her eyes and Cana stuck her tongue playfully. "Quit talking about my butt like that, Cana..."

"Not my fault that you have a cute booty," Cana winked. "Right, Natsu?"

"Hah?" the pink haired man turn his head to the two girls. He wasn't even paying attention, but that didn't stop Lucy from biting back a shriek and her face burn even hotter. "Whadd'ya say, Cana?"

"I was asking 'bout Lucy's bu-! Hmph!" Cana jerked when Lucy's free hand came up and covered her mouth. The blonde didn't even give her the chance to pull it away as she started pushing Cana down to the wrestling stage, farther away from the two guys. "Wait, Lucy! I didn't get to tell Natsu about - Stop that!"

"Cana, teach me some exercise moves, or something! Help me with my punches!" Lucy spoke over her friend's voice, who just blinked and groaned in defeat. "You said you know how to box, yeah? Teach me something that can dislocate someone's nose or jaw."

"Ugh, I guess," Cana rolled her eyes before stacking the bottles on the ledge of the padded square.

Natsu blinked in confusion before looking back up to Gildarts, who was snickering under his breath. "Did I miss something?"

"Nah, don't worry about it," the older man chuckled, waving a hand in dismissal. "Anyway, Makarov wants to see you with Erza and Gray in his office. Somethin' about for the next group race that's happening. He wants to chat with the drivers first."

"Shouldn't you be there, too?" Natsu raised a brow at him.

"Nah, he told me and Macao earlier. Laxus was informed too, but he turned it down for some reason. Something about Mira and figuring out wedding plans," Gildarts shrugged. "Crazy kids, wanting extravagant weddings and stuff - When Cornelia and I got married, we just did a tiny ceremony and party. Afterwards, we went out on a road trip for our honeymoon and it was amazing -!"

"Dad! Stop talkin' about when you and Mom got married! No one wants to hear that!" Cana shouted back to her dad, slipping the pads onto her palms. "You keep at it, and then you're gonna talk about personal things, like sex and stuff without realizing!"

"Cana!" Lucy squeaked dropping a glove while her friend boredly blinked in response. "Cana, pay attention! I'm trying to take this seriously here."

"Luce, I need to see Gramps for a minute," Natsu spoke out to the blonde, who perked at the call of her nickname. "I'll be back. Can you handle being around Cana for a little bit until I get back?"

"Sure, no problem," Lucy smiled and shoved her other glove on. "Have fun!"