My Pink Puppy (Book 1)

Chapter 9 - Roses are red, violets are blue

"I can't wait for our job tomorrow. Are you excited Natsu?" I asked as I cuddled the pink puppy to my chest on our way to my apartment. He happily barked in response with his tail whacking my arm in excitement. "You know Lucy, with how you and puppy Natsu interact with each other, you could turn him into a handbag pooch" Gray commented. "I wouldn't do that to him. He's not a handbag accessory. You wouldn't like that, would you Natsu?" I replied. Natsu playfully growled meaning he agreed with me.

"Please don't tell me you're one of those type of people who like to baby animals" Gray groaned. "Yeah Lucy, you've been babying Natsu all day" Happy said. "When have I ever babied Natsu? I'm not like that, am I Natsu?" I asked and Natsu barked back. "You just did it right now!" Gray and Happy exclaimed. "Erza, can you please knock some sense into Lucy?" Gray asked. "We should go to the park and play fetch with him" Erza said to no one in particular as she daydreamed. Gray sweatdropped at Erza's reply.

"Anyway, Lucy, please promise me that you will stop babying Natsu or I will take him away from you" Gray said. I gasped, "you wouldn't dare" I said as turned my body way from him with Natsu still cuddled to my chest. "I would" he lightly threatened. I saw my apartment in the distance and decided to make a run for it. "I'll never let you take him away from me!" I shouted behind me. "Oi!" I heard Gray shout and his footsteps running after me. Luckily for me, the landlady was coming out of the door so I was able to quickly slip inside. I ran upstairs and into my apartment. I quickly locked the door before placing Natsu on the floor. "We beat him" I said and at my feet, Natsu barked back.

"Roses are red, violets are blue, I've come to get you, my lovely Lu" a stranger's voice spoke in my apartment. "Who's there?" I asked and one of the Death's Five Sins, Hiroshi, came out of the shadows. "Levy's the only one allowed to call me Lu" I said with my guard up and my hand on my keys. Natsu stood protectively in front of me and growled at him. "Did I forgot to tell you that I'm a thief, and that I'm here to steal your heart" Hiroshi said and I sighed. This guy is worse than Loke. "Stop with the lame pickup lines" I said.

I tried looking around for a way to escape but I noticed there was a wall of water blocking the window. "I've set up a water barrier so it's just you and me, Lu" he winked and walked closer to me. Natsu barked angrily at him which I guessed he was saying 'back off' or something like that. "Oh I didn't notice you" Hiroshi said as he looked annoyed at Natsu. Natsu looked shocked as his jaw dropped and his tail drooped.

'Even though I don't want to mess up my apartment, I need to summon one of my spirits' I thought and grabbed Loke's key until the water barrier froze into ice. 'Gray' I thought with a smile. "Who's freezing my water!" Hiroshi exclaimed and then the ice shattered. Happy flew into the widow carrying Gray while Erza burst through the door. "Are you ok Lucy?" Happy asked as he let go of Gray and flew to my side. "Yeah, I'm ok" I replied, "so what are we going to do with...him... where did he go?!" Gray exclaimed. Hiroshi had somehow vanished.

"We were blocking all the exits so how did he get past us?" I mumbled to myself. Suddenly I realise he's a water wizard like Juvia so that could only mean... "I know where he went" I said and ran into the kitchen. I looked down the sink and noticed it was wet. "He escaped through the pipes" I explained to my team. "He's a slippery one" Happy said, "see what I did there?" he added and snickered. "What happened while you were trapped inside?" Erza asked. "Did he hurt you at all?" Gray asked. "No, he was too busy flirting" I sighed.

"Anyway, I'm glad you were unharmed and this didn't end in a fight" Erza said. "I'm glad my apartment is still in one piece" I replied and then I heard a whine from my feet. I looked down to see Natsu looking up at me with worry in his eyes. "Aw were you worried about me Natsu?" I asked as I picked him up and cuddled him to my chest. "I mean what I said Lucy" Gray said and I glared at him. Natsu growled at him too.

"Should we plug up the pipes in case he comes back?" Happy suggested. "Nah, the sewers are like a maze. He'll never find his way back" I reassured him. "Plus we'll smell him from a mile away" Gray chuckled and we all laughed. "Speaking of smell" I said as I held Natsu up. "You need a bath" I said to Natsu. He whined and his body went limp in my hands showing his disagreement. "Your cute face isn't gonna get you out of a bath" I said as I took him to the bathroom. "I'll come help" I heard Happy say before flying into the bathroom.

I placed Natsu down in the bathtub and filled it up enough to soak his legs. He began licking water, "that's not for drinking Natsu" I giggled as I got the shampoo I bought. I kneeled in front of the bathtub and squeeze a bit of shampoo on my hand before rubbing it all over Natsu's fur. "Happy, can you continue rubbing the shampoo on Natsu while I fill up a bucket of water?" I asked Happy. "Aye" he said and took my place rubbing the shampoo on Natsu while I walked over to the shower. I grabbed a bucket from beside the shower and used the showerhead to fill it up with warm water.

Once it was full of water, I took it to the bathtub and poured the water over Natsu to rinse off the shampoo. Happy and I giggled at the soaked slightly depressed pink puppy. Natsu was frozen for a second before he shook all the water off his body, splashing me and Happy. Now all three of us were wet. Natsu barked happily at us which made us laugh. Typical Natsu.