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‑ˏˋ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐈𝐗 ˊˎ‑
"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 mean 'Romeo was shot'?" Lucy had asked the same question every one of us was asking ourselves. Despite everything that Romeo did, all the crimes he committed, I couldn't stop the sense of dread that shook me.
Erza interlaced her fingers under her hair, lifting the strands in her worried state. "When they were arresting him, one of the police officers thought he was reaching for his gun and shot him."
"Those damn idiots!" Gray punched the wall with the side of his fist, his teeth clenched and his body rigid with grief. And when he looked up, it hurt to see tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "Why the hell does everyone in our family either get shot or killed?!"
I tried to ignore Gray's words, but they were stuck in my ears and wouldn't leave. Those were the thoughts that I found myself thinking at this exact moment. No matter which way we turned, there was always someone leaving us. There was always an obstacle that had to be faced, and there were always people that were hurt the most by that trial.
And all of it's my fault.
Lucy's words still rang clearly in my head, but no matter how she worded it, no matter how anyone saw it, the real reason why people kept getting hurt was because of me. I hated the feeling of being harmful to my friends, and it was that feeling that had me sitting up.
It wasn't until I swung my legs off the side of the bed did everyone rush toward me. Lucy had her hands on my shoulders with Erza leaning over the bed to grab my arm. Gray stood firmly at the hospital room's door, and Jellal was frowning behind Lucy, preventing me from going anywhere.
"Don't do anything rash," Jellal warned, his hand gripping the bed's railing.
My grunts were the only response he got; my shoulder burned and my lungs ached with my shallow breathing. I had to stop, but it wasn't because of everyone trying to keep me in that bed: I couldn't catch my damn breath.
"You can't go see him, Natsu." Erza's harsh but gentle voice pleaded for me to rest. "Even if you were able to get out in that hall without nurses and doctors tackling you to the ground, Romeo's been arrested. He can't have visitors."
"Screw that," I muttered.
I could hear Gray's facepalm without looking at him. "I can't catch a damn break. Natsu, have you been blind for the past day?" Silence filled the air, leading me to the conclusion that I was shot yesterday. "Don't answer that. What I mean is that you've been shot. You need to rest, God damn it."
"Gray, watch your language! We're in a hospital, idiot!" Erza hissed.
"You can't stop me."
All four of them turned at my quiet statement. If there was anything that stood out clearly to me these past few years, it was that everything ― everyone ― always crumbled around me. I was too weak to do anything about it; I know that now. And deep down inside of me, I knew I had known that all along. Maybe it was because of my lack of strength or maybe it was the fact that a black cat crossed my path once in my life; I'll never know.
