Hear me

3

Natsumi hadn't slept that night, nor had she eaten. Despite Lucy's repeated attempts to mother hen her, she'd been inconsolable after being pulled away from Laxus the day before. She knew that Lucy and Gray were trying to distract her, and that had only made her angrier. In a rare fit of temper, she managed to burn down one of the silos at the farm they'd been tasked with clearing encroaching wolves from, and they'd lost their entire reward as a result.

Lucy would have been enraged at the loss, since this was the second time in a row they'd be late on rent, but one look at her friend brought her back down to Earth. Natsumi hadn't stopped trembling, nor had her face relaxed into the easy grin she was known for. For the first time since she'd known her, Lucy had been afraid of the small dragon slayer. Gray and Happy luckily noticed her foul mood as well and kept their mouth shut about both the job and the real reason for Natsumi's temper.

It'd made for an awkward trip home, for sure.

For Natsumi, it felt like she was one word shy of boiling over. She couldn't remember when she'd felt so angry, so insulted, so betrayed. If she'd been thinking more clearly, she would have felt guilty for flubbing the mission and putting her friends through so much trouble, but all she could see was red. Laxus's words bounced around in her head like a broken record, telling her she was weak and small and stupid in his sneering voice.

She'd make him see that she was serious. If he refused to treat her like a true mage and comrade, she'd show him just how strong she'd become.

After a sleepless night spent pacing the floor of her room, and after ignoring the wide-eyed looks of both her roommates, she left the apartment that morning without a word, stomping down the familiar streets that would take her to the object of her fury.

She threw open the guild doors with a blast of flames, and everyone's eyes shot to her. Her eyes frantically moved from the bar to the banister of the set floor to the stage, and her heartbeat sped up when they landed on the tall, muscular form of the blonde lightning mage.

Paying her guild mates' confused looks no mind, she marched toward Laxus, who refused to meet her gaze. That was fine, she decided. She knew he'd try to play the coward just like he always did. But today, she wasn't going to let him.

She approached his table near the stage silently, unblinking. The three Thunder Legion mages looked at her with amused stares, Bickslow barely managing to suppress his laughter. Natsumi ignored them, facing their leader with her shoulders square and her head high, although her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides.

Facing away from her, Laxus didn't acknowledge her presence. After several seconds, Natsumi snapped and shot forward, hooking one of her feet behind the legs of his chair, jerking it away from his table and forcing him to face her.

"I'm giving you one last chance," she growled at him, teeth barely managing to grind out the words in her anger. "Fight. Me. Now."

He only stared at her evenly, and she felt her blood boil when she realized he wasn't looking her in the eyes, but at her chin.

"Answer me, you spineless bastard!" she bellowed and reached for him, hauling his considerable weight up by the collar of his shirt so their faces almost touched.

Her head felt like it swam with fire, and she couldn't think of anything other than how she wanted to punish him, to make him feel as small as she felt every time he looked down on her. But he only continued to stare at her blankly.

She felt herself lose control, her limbs moving on their own as she wound back and socked him as hard as she could in the face, feeling a sickening crunch under her fist. Her hand tingled at the contact, but she didn't let go of her hold on him. When his face turned back to look at her again, he was still calm, though blood poured from his nose and down his chin.