Wheels of Fire

Fireball's Mistake

The next day, Lucy took Fireball Natsu to the guild early in the morning. They ate breakfast there while waiting for Elfman to arrive. Gray, Gajeel, and Levy also decided to come to the car race, although Levy mostly came to keep Lucy company since she knew her friend would be bored at such an event.

They went to the train station, and again Edo-Natsu was excited. His personality completely changed once he got on that train, and it annoyed Lucy a little. He was cocky, sly, a little too self-assured, and she could hardly stand it when he flirted with the stewardess who brought them drinks. She no longer knew whether to think of him as timid or rambunctious. Like this, he was almost like her own Natsu, except way worse.

The train came to a stop, and Lucy immediately stood. "Let's get off this thing."

Edo-Natsu chuckled. "My, you sure are in a rush. Relax!" He suddenly slapped her on the ass, making Lucy stiffen. "Life's a journey, not a destination, babe."

Gray saw the furious look on her face and whispered, "Dude, you are so dead."

"Fireball," Lucy said between clenched teeth, keeping her face toward the exit so she could avoid seeing what she was sure must be a smug look on the Edolas boy's face. "If we weren't in public, and if I wasn't supposed to keep you from getting hurt, you would be pounded into a pulp right now." She glared around her shoulder at him. Sure enough, he had a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Don't ever touch my butt again."

"Did it get you that worked up?" he teased. "You like getting spanked, don't you? You put the 'Mmm-mm' in masochist."

She sneered a little in disgust before stomping away. Levy chased after her, but not before quickly shooting Fireball a dirty look.

Gray shook his head. "You should be a little less bold, idiot. You have to live with her, after all."

Edo-Natsu chuckled softly. "Oh yes, indeed I do. I look forward to a whole extra week with her, living together, eating together, practically bathing together. She's already seen me naked, you know."

Gray's eyes narrowed suspiciously at him.

"What's wrong, Gray? Jealous?" Fireball asked with a cunning smirk. "Juvia won't like that, will she? Of course, if you're opposite from my Gray, you probably hate Juvia."

"I don't hate her."

"Oh?" He chortled softly. "But you don't love her either." The pink-haired teen leaned into Gray's face and whispered, "Do you, perhaps, love Lucy?"

The ice wizard glared at him. "Lucy is my friend. So is Juvia."

"Just friends?" Edo-Natsu asked slyly. "That's so boring, and that doesn't seem like you at all."

"What doesn't seem right is how you've been acting since you boarded this train. Aren't you going a little overboard?"

"Am I?" wondered Edo-Natsu. "Maybe because it's been such a long time since I've been on transportation like this. You know, back home, all we have are tanchimos. They're dumb creatures, and although they're one of the fastest animals you can ride over land, they aren't anywhere near as fast as my car used to be. You can only push them so fast, and then they tire out quickly. All I get are a few minutes of freedom, nowhere near what I used to be able to feel. Maybe it's because Yusō is more like a friend now, but I just don't get the same feeling. When I'm riding him, I simply don't feel like I'm on transportation at all. It's ... rather depressing." His eyes flashed up. "So if I want to have a little fun while on this train, just let me and stay the hell out of my way, ice stripper." Then he turned around and stormed off.