A Racer and A Thug

Thoughts and Planning

Natsu's POV

I gave the blond racer a confused look as to why he would "pay me a visit". But, Sting only chuckled at my reaction. He got out of his car and slowly made his way over to the passenger side. I rolled down the window and, once again, gave him a confused look.

"You gonna let me in, or what?" He asked. Finding no other alternative to my situation, I decided to let curiosity take over and I unlocked the door. My rival hopped in and gave the armrest of his seat a few pats before he continued. "Man, this is a comfy car, the seats are a lot better than mine that's for sure."

"What do you want Sting?" I asked, wanting to just get to the point and be over with this meeting.

"Boy you really don't have any patience do you?" Sting began, obviously to try and make small talk just to purposefully stall. I gave him a glare, which caused Sting to flinch, slightly, and continue on with the main topic. "Ahem, anyway, Gemma wanted me to pass along something to you."

I raised an eyebrow at the kid, quizzically. Gemma was the leader of the racing group, Sabertooth. He was a pretty nice guy altogether, he wasn't hell bent of defeating any of the rivaling racing groups but that still didn't mean he was competitive. And, he always had something to pass along whenever there was danger for us racers and it looked like danger was setting in.

"So what is it?" I asked. Boy I was getting really tired of asking all these pointless questions. This could all have been avoided if Sting could've just said what he needed to say and be done with it. But he was always one to drag things out, guess he liked the attention.

"He said that someone in a gang, a strong gang, was looking for you." Sting became serious and studied my face for any type of reaction, luckily I've had practice of looking absolutely clueless. "Natsu, you're not....in a gang are you? Or talking to someone in a gang?"

"No," I answered in an even voice, giving no sign that I was lying. Racers and thugs were pretty much banned from interacting with each other. Too many problems could arise that would cause chaos in the city. If a gangster had racers as an ally, they had a much better advantage than all the other gangs. More protection, more chance of gaining information, they could spread their product (whatever it may be) faster with racers. And the racers, in turn, could gain protection, money, and more territory for themselves.

It used to happen way before I was ever born. And that was when the city was in chaos with itself. Riots would break out, more street racing, and gun fights. It was madness to even think about walking on the sidewalk. So, the idea of gangs and racers having alliances had become taboo. And if anyone were caught in such an alliance, they would be punished by the top racer and the top gang leader.

So, if Sting ever found out about Lucy hanging with Fairy Tail, there would be danger for my group as well as her. Especially her.

"You better not be lying to me Natsu Dragion," Sting said.

"And what if I were?" I replied facing him, challenging the kid. Sting may be a racer, but he was a few years younger than me. He was only in the 9th grade, while I was in the 11th.

"Is that a threat?" Sting chuckled. "You know I could just drag you out of this car to end it all."

I scowled, Sting was one of the few outsiders that knew of my problem but he always respected me as a better racer than him. It wasn't that Sting hated me, he was just very competitive. And when he found out that he was floored in a single race against me, he had made it his mission to beat me.

"Please," I scoffed, while waving my hand at him. "if you really wanted to do that then you would've done that the first time you found out."

We quietly laughed and grew quiet for a minute before Sting began talking again, "You're really not in a gang, right?"