Kasumi: Wings and the Ocean

Chapter 3

Natsu, ever the bottomless pit that he was, agreed to lunch, and Kasumi had eventually come out of her daze, and her own rumbling stomach agreed.

"My name's Lucy, by the way." Lucy introduced herself at the restaurant she took them to. "It's nice to meet you." 

"Aye!" Happy agreed, although Natsu paid absolutely no attention as he was stuffing his face, Happy joining him, Kasumi covering her face to pretend that she didn't exist.

"Uh... um, Natsu and Happy, was it?" Lucy tried to ask, and looked to the smaller girl sitting beside her. "And you're Kasumi?" Kasumi nodded, suddenly quiet.

"Mm-hmm, you're so nice." Natsu told her as he continued to stuff his face, Lucy trying to block the flying food from hitting her.

"Thanks. You can slow down. We're not in a hurry. And food is kind of flying everywhere." As they ate,  she thought about how all of the food they were eating was eating right through that 1000 jewel she had saved at the magic shop. She then looked to Kasumi. "Are you okay?" She nodded, staying quiet. 

"Kasumi doesn't talk very much!" Happy said with his mouth full. "She's not a big people person!" Natsu nodded.

"Yeah! That's why it was weird she was so into that guy!" 

"Natsu!" Kasumi hissed. She didn't want to be reminded about how enthralled she had been with that Salamander. He was cute, and she wouldn't mind getting to know him better, he seemed real nice. But the way she had acted was so embarrassing! More embarrassing than what Natsu had done! 

"Evidently, that Salamander guy was using magic,  a charm spell, to hypnotize the ladies in town into thinking they were in love with him." Kasumi sat up at that. Was that it? "Charm spells have the power to attract people to you against their own will, but they've been banned for years. Nobody even sells them anymore." 

"He must've gone through some kind of trouble to get his hands on that kind of magic." Kasumi said softly, running her fingers through her hair anxiously.

"What a creep." Lucy grumbled. "We totally fell victim to his spell. But, I at least snapped out of it thanks to you barging in when you did. I really can't thank you guys enough." 

"He has a tendency to do that." Kasumi smiled. 

"It's no problem." Natsu muttered, before shoving more food in his mouth.

"I know I may not look like it, but I'm a wizard too." Lucy told him sweetly.

"Is that so?" Lucy nodded at Natsu's question.

"Yeah, but I haven't joined a guild yet or anything." Then she realized that they might not know about guilds. "Oh, I should probably explain, huh? See, guilds are these organizations  where wizards come together to share information and find work, and things like that. Unfortunately, you aren't considered a full-fledged wizard until you become a member of a guild." she got all fluttery, just thinking about joining a wizard's guild. "But there a ton of them all over the world. I've heard it's really tough to get into the popular ones. And the guild I want to join is the most popular one there is." She swooned just thinking about it. "Oh, yeah! They're the greatest, and they're always featured in Sorcerer Weekly!" Steam was practically bursting from how hard the cogs in her head were turning thinking about this guild. "Oh, if I could actually convince them to let me in, I think I'd just about die!" 

"Yeah?" Natsu droned, unamused by her excitement. 

"Oh, I"m sorry. I guess all this wizarding talk must sound like a bunch of gibberish to you, huh? But I'm telling you," she leaned in close. "I'm definitely gonna join that guild someday. And then I'm gonna take all kinds of exciting jobs and make tons of money." 

"Oh, yeah?" Natsu said, his eyes big and wide.

"I hope you can make it into your dream guild, Lucy." Kasumi said softly, smiling sweetly.

"You talk a lot." Happy added, and Lucy realized she had been talking a lot, and hadn't really given them the chance.

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. You guys came here trying to find someone, didn't you?" Happy nodded eagerly.

"We're looking for Igneel." Natsu nodded as he tried to chew through an entire pizza, Kasumi snatching one slice. 

"We heard a rumor that a salamander was gonna be coming through this town, so we came to see him. Turns out, it was somebody else." Happy nodded.

"Yeah, that guy didn't look like a salamander at all." Natsu crossed his arms.

"No kidding, I bet that poser can't even breathe fire like a real dragon." Lucy was a little confused by that particular statement.

"Uh, I don't get it. Your friend Igneel looks like a dragon?" Natsu swallowed, a little surprised, but realized she wouldn't know.

"No, you got it all wrong. He doesn't look like a dragon. He is one." Lucy pictured a terrible, roaring, fire breathing dragon, and her eyes nearly rolled back into her head from the confusion.

"Huh?" 

"Aye, Igneel is a real-life fire dragon." Happy piped up. "We're looking for a water dragon too, her name is Ryuu. She's Kasumi's dragon!"

"Shut up, Happy!" She growled, but Lucy was in complete shock, and a little bit of fear. Dragons were fierce, extraordinary creatures, and very few people had ever actually seen them. Lucy didn't know a single person who had ever even caught the wind of one!

"Why would a fire dragon or a water dragon show up in the middle of town?! It's totally ridiculous!" 

"It's not that ridiculous." Kasumi murmured, Natsu and Happy looking shocked that she would say that as Lucy laid down the money for their lunch.

"Well, I should get going. Enjoy the rest of your lunch, and maybe I'll see you around." As she went to leave, the hostess was saying goodbye, but gasped when she saw what was going on behind Lucy. Lucy turned around, and was shocked as well, to see Natsu and Happy bowing to her, Kasumi trying to pull them off of the floor.

"Thank you for the food!" Natsu cried out.

"Thank you!" Happy repeated.

"Natsu! Get up!" Kasumi begged, running over and pulling Happy into her arms, but he kept his head down. "Why do you two always have to embarrass me?"