The Huntress

■Chapter Eighteen-Rejective Friends■

Weeks later and Lucy had fully accepted Natsu, allowing him to hang out with her and see her smiles. He'd been so kind and caring towards her, he'd worked his way into her heart and knocked down her walls. He even convinced her to sit with him and his friends today, causing her to stare off into space during class, wondering how it would go. 

She caught him staring at her through her computer screen and smiled at him, sticking he tongue at him teasingly. He scrunched up his nose as he resisted the urge to laugh at her humorous expression. Looking away he thought to himself about how happy he'd been lately. He smiled knowing it was the work of Lucy. Ever since she smiled at him he watched as she started getting less and less quiet and protective like a mama bird. She started acting more like a friend than a knight and actually treated him like someone her age. 

Gray nudged him, curious as to why he was smiling like the idiot he was. The pinkette glared over at him through the corners of his irises. "What?" he snarled. 

"Why're so happy?" Gray asked, showing a genuine expression of curiosity. 

Suddenly remembering Lucy's promise he tapped his foot on the floor in excitement and and clenched his fists to contain the happiness he felt. 

"Luce's gonna sit with us at lunch!" he gushed quietly. 

Gray's eyes instantaneously sparked and he smirked. "This is my chance to woe her!" 

Natsu's eyes widened for a split second before he slammed his forehead against Gray's glaring dagger into his eyes. 

"There's no way in hell I'll let you do that!" he whispered shouted.

Gray smirked even more, pressing against Natsu's forehead. "Really? How do you suppose you'll stop me? Beg her not to fall for my devilish charms?" 

"The only thing devilish about you is your creepy way of persuading people into doing whatever you want!" he growled. 

"Dragneel, Fullbuster! That's it! I'm separating you two. Natsu come to the front, sit wherever I don't care! Just stop fighting!" screech the teacher. 

Gray smirked at Natsu as he watched him gather his stuff and and walk to the front, muttering angrily under his breath. 

His grimacing face quickly transformed a toothy smile, realizing he could sit next to Lucy. He jumped into the seat beside her and sent her a wink, pulling out his notebook. She rolled her eyes at him and went back to typing up her written response to her question. Being the nosy sixteen year old he was he peered over at her screen, wondering what she was learning. He almost fell back in his chair when his eyes laid on her sophisticated response to her question, more than half the words being things he'd never seen before. 

She reached her hand out, pushing his head to face the front. Natsu blushed and started to take notes, losing interest in class fast and doodling not long after. He wasn't worried anyway, he knew Lucy would teach him in private when he visited her at her house later. She always did. He smirked as he turned in his seat and grinned cockily at Gray, who snapped his pencil in anger. 

■+++■

As the lunch bell rang Natsu executed his well thought out plan he'd constructed during class. If Gray wanted to try and compete against him in his efforts of courting Lucy then he could finally go all out. All's fair in love and war anyway, not like they established any rules anyway. Natsu smirked as he watched Gray run from Juvia, a sophomore that was obsessed with him. He waited until Gray had successfully gotten away and Lucy was at her locker to start.