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”Are you sure you’re gonna find the owner this way, Lu-chan?” Levy asked as the blonde pinned a paper on the wooden notice board in front of her.
“Exceed had no information on his collar so I have to do it this way”, Lucy answered to her best friend’s question.
Lucy Heartfilia had found a lonely blue Exceed nearby her apartment complex last night and she had no idea who was his owner. The cat had a collar on his neck but it provided no information on who the owner was. She only knew the cat’s name was “Happy” because it was written on a golden plate that hang on the collar. She had taken the cat into her arms and brought him to her apartment because he had been shivering from the cold and Lucy just couldn’t let it stay outside. She and Levy had quickly made him a bed to sleep on and then Levy went to the store to get some red snapper for him. Blue Exceed had eaten it like he hadn’t had food in ages. She had then decided to print some papers where she had a photo of the cat and her contact information below.
“Well, I hope this works and fast so we can take these down”, Levy said. “Do you think it was wise to write down your phone number there though?”
“Isn’t that what people usually do when they do these?” Lucy asked her and furrowed her eyebrows at her friend in confusion. Had she messed up the message!?
“They do but you know how some students here are, Lu-chan. They might start harassing you.”
“I will Lucy Kick them quicker than they can imagine in that case”, blonde said and shivered. She hadn’t really even thought about all those perverts that could take her phone number and start harassing her with… whatever they did to harass women and girls. Lucy had never experienced it and she knew Levy hadn’t either because her boyfriend Gajeel Redfox scared everyone away from her.
Lucy thought it was hilarious.
“I would love to see you do that to them”, Levy giggled. “Good thing that I got Gajeel because he scares them all away from me.”
“Lucky you, Levy. I have nothing but my Lucy Kicks.”
“Maybe you can go out with the owner of the Exceed.”
“Are you assuming the owner is a dude?”
Levy nodded. “Exceed looks familiar but I can’t remember why.”
“How do you know the owner is a guy if you don’t remember? Besides, he can’t be the only blue Exceed out there. There must be others. Maybe that’s why you think it looks familiar”, Lucy argued as she and her blue haired best friend left the noticeboard to go to a class of creative writing that they had taken together.
“No, I have seen Happy in a picture with some dude. That’s why”, Levy said. “I can’t remember whose photo it was though.”
“Damn, would’ve been easier if you did”, Lucy sighed. “Then we could’ve just asked them about it.”
“I agree but no can do”, Levy agreed.
As the day went on, Lucy began to regret that she had put that notification on the noticeboard at her school – not even twenty minutes had passed before she started getting nasty messages from people on her phone. Luckily Lucy was smart enough to ignore such messages but as time went on, it got more and more annoying. Especially because they began to come and talk to her face to face and offered sexual things to her as a payment for taking care of the cat.
“What was the name of the cat?” Lucy asked them every single time.
“Exceed”, said one of the guys who had harassed her. He may have been attractive with the playful grin on his face but he didn’t charm her because she was already in a bad mood. He looked like someone who pretended to be a big hip hop star. He had a grey cap on his head and as well as an oversized cotton pants and a hoodie. Lucy knew how men like him were like and didn’t enjoy talking to them at all.
“Wrong”, Lucy simply said and walked away from the guy. She sighed and wished she could just go back in time to stop herself from making that damn poster because it had been an obvious mistake. Maybe she should’ve just asked around through social media or some other way instead? Yeah, that probably would’ve worked a lot better than this way.
“I’m gonna take those posters down, rip them to pieces and throw them into the trash can”, she mumbled and walked over to the closest notice board where she had pinned one of her posters that morning. She noticed people had sabotaged it by drawing dicks on it and writing stupid little messages on the edges of it. Blonde rolled her eyes at it and then ripped the paper to shreds and threw it into the closest trash can. After that she made her way to the next board which was located in the cafeteria where the students ate lunch.
“Yo, Luce!” said a voice behind her all of a sudden.
Lucy sighed and turned around, expecting to get harassed by yet another guy who thought that mocking her was a perfect way to flirt. But she ended up being surprised to see Natsu Dragneel looking at her. He showed her one of the posters Lucy had pinned up earlier. It was also sabotaged the same way like the one Lucy had already destroyed.
“I’ve been told that you’ve found my cat Happy”, said the salmon haired guy hopeful look on his face. “I’ve been looking for him everywhere since he ran out of my apartment.”
“No way”, Lucy said in complete shock. Obviously she knew who Natsu Dragneel was. She had gone to the same school with him since they had both been kids. Natsu was known for being destructive and a troublemaker and it sounded really, really odd that a guy like him would own a cute little cat like Happy. “That makes no sense, Mr. Troublemaker”, she told him.
“It does, blondie”, Natsu grinned. “I got money so I bought one when school started. Easy.”
“Did you just brag how rich you are?” Lucy asked him and smiled. Natsu was a goofy guy who was also one of the most charming men Lucy had ever met. She also thought that he was probably the most handsome guy she had ever seen in her life. She just didn’t think she was the type he’d go after so she never bothered to flirt with him – well, at least knowingly.
“Maybe just a little bit. Well?” Natsu answered and brought her back from her thoughts.
“Happy’s in my apartment. Me and Levy made him a bed and fed him.”
“I’m grateful, Lucy”, Natsu sighed. “Can I come over and take him home after school?”
“Sure”, Lucy said. “Come to this address…”
*
“Wow, Lu-chan, so it was Natsu Dragneel’s cat!” Levy said later in the girls’ apartment when Lucy had told her about her encounter with him. They lived in a apartment complex that was owned by the Magnolia university. Apartment wasn’t a bad looking one either, Lucy had been lucky to be able to find it so easily. It was perfect for two people to live in as they had space for everything. Apart from the living room, both girls had their own rooms. They had a kitchen – which wasn’t that big actually – and even their own shower in the apartment. Lucy thought the location in the town was pretty good as well because all the shops they needed were pretty close. She loved the place so much that she didn’t even care when their neighbors partied every weekend until dawn in their apartment.
“Yeah, I was surprised too”, Lucy said.
“How did he find you?”
“I was taking down the posters I had put up when he found me. I wanted to kick him because I had been harassed by a bunch of people earlier. I was frustrated at that time but talking with him somehow made all that go away.”
Levy raised her blue eyebrow quizzically and then smiled. “Did you finally get affected by his charm, Lu-chan?”
“I wouldn’t say that exactly”, Lucy said. “But he tends to make me feel better when I’m in the bad mood. That’s why he’s such a good friend.”
“I think you and him could be so much more than that”, Levy said and grinned.
Lucy smiled. “Maybe, but I haven’t thought about that.”
“Do you even think about boys?”
“Not lately. I’ve been busy taking care of this absolute mastermind of cuteness”, Lucy said and kissed Happy on his forehead. He was laying on her lap and purred happily. Lucy had learned that the Exceed was a big fan of snuggles and she loved that about him. It just made him even cuter than he already was!
“This cat loves you already”, Levy giggled. “It has to be a special skill of yours.”
“It might as well be”, Lucy laughed.
“You can become a crazy cat mom of 72 cats!”
“Why 72?”
“I don’t know”, Levy said.
Doorbell rang.
“I’ll go. You’re too busy with your fluffy friend”, Levy chuckled and got up from the yellow sofa they had been sitting on in the living room. Blue haired girl went to the door and opened it. Lucy tried to stretch her neck to see if it was Natsu but it was impossible because of the house plants that Levy had had to have everywhere in the apartment. She had a phase that Lucy hoped to pass because the place already reminded her of a mini jungle.
“I came here to fetch my cat Happy”, said a familiar voice in the corridor that lead to the door.
“Sure, Natsu. Lucy’s in the living room with Happy”, Levy said.
“Why’s there so many plants here? Looks like a jungle!”
“Don’t you start that too! Lucy always says the same!”
“Luigi, where are you?” Natsu called a hint of laughter in his voice.
“It’s Lucy!” blonde told him, raising her hand into the air to show him where she was behind the big plant pots that surrounded the sofa.
Natsu came over smiling. He was carrying a cozy looking cat carrier box in his other hand. “Ah, looks like Happy already made you a bed for himself”, he said.
“And I don’t mind it at all”, Lucy said.
“I can tell.”
“I’ll leave you two here so you can flirt a bit”, Levy told them and made her way towards her room. “Don’t do anything nasty on the sofa though, it’s new.”
“Levy!” Lucy protested and blushed.
“Bye bye!” Levy just said and went to her room.
“What is this?” Natsu asked curiously.
“I think she wishes we’d start dating or something”, Lucy said quietly as Natsu sat next to her and petted Happy who purred even louder – Lucy was sure that the cat had recognized his owner.
“I wouldn’t mind taking you out on a date, Luce”, Natsu said just as quietly.
“Really?” Lucy asked him.
“There’s something different between you and me. You know there is.”
Lucy sighed. He was right. There had always been something between them. It was deeper and stronger but also so natural. Lucy just didn’t really think about it much because she had been convinced that she could never be Natsu's type. He had, however, proven her today that she had been wrong about that the whole time.
“You’re right, Natsu", she agreed and smiled.
“So now that you have saved Happy’s life I thought I’d like to return the favor and take you out for a movie date or something”, Natsu said and he smiled the way that he didn’t show anyone else but Lucy. He had always done that and Lucy had nothing against that. It made him look adorable.
“That’s actually a good idea”, Lucy agreed.
“Great!” Natsu grinned as Happy got up from Lucy’s lap and stretched his body. He walked over to Natsu who picked him up into his arms.
“You two are so cute together”, Lucy said as Natsu put Happy into the carrier.
“Let’s be cute together, all three of us”, Natsu said.
Lucy giggled. “Is that one of your pick up lines?”
“It is, actually. It never works though.”
“I like it”, Lucy said. “So when’s our date?” she added before she could even stop herself.
“Saturday?”
“I’m in.”