The setting sun cast a reddish glow over the now-deserted courtyard of Hatsuka High, where two figures were walking toward the entrance. Natsu’s dyed blonde hair was ablaze with the sun’s reflection, his entire posture a challenge to anyone who might be near him at the moment. Boro stood beside him, as defiant as him, with his eyes scanning the horizon in front of them.
“You sure he’s there now?” Natsu asked, taking a drag from the cigarette in his mouth.
“That’s what Shadow told me.” Boro replied, dodging the smoke clouds.
“Good.”
They left the school grounds without another word and an extra speed in their step. Across a few walls from them, inside the library, the tension was thick. Nina’s fingers drummed a rhythmic beat on the wooden table, barely audible to Sakura who sat across the table, her eyes darting toward the door every few seconds. “He’s not coming.. again.” She muttered under her breath, more to herself than Sakura.
“Maybe we should.. um, like go find him first and talk to him?” Sakura was fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, and whispering.
“I.. don’t think right now might be the best time.” Nina said sharply, her blue eyes shining behind her glasses. Both of them immediately pictured Boro, the giant mass of muscle that had stayed by Natsu’s side all day every day since the start of the week.
“Right…” Sakura’s soft pink hair dropped over her shoulders as she looked down, slumping in her chair.
Though the school had mostly emptied by now, there still lingered a few voices carrying their sound through the library they were in. Each retelling the same story that had been circulating for the past couple of days.
“Did you hear about Natsu? Apparently him and those goons sent one of those guys that hang around Ryo to the hospital!” One voice spoke.
“Yeah dude, kinda hard not to hear when everyone’s been talking about it,” The second voice laughed, “Man’s a beast, from what I heard it wasn’t even a fight.”
Nina and Sakura exchanged a glance, the weight of the rumors and his absence bearing down on them. Nina’s posture stiffened, her resolve hardening like the walls around them. “This is getting out of hand.” She murmured.
“Do you think… Natsu really.. I mean what they’re saying?” Sakura couldn’t phrase the sentence any better, her large brown eyes brimming with concern.
“Who knows what that idiot has been doing anymore,” While her words were harsh, it was obvious to Sakura, who had spent a lot of time with her, that Nina’s face was glistening with the same concern that Sakura held. “But regardless, we need to get him back to studying with us.”
***
The following day, the clatter of lunch trays and the murmur of idle chat filled the air as Natsu ate the food Boro had brought for them, in a darker corner of the cafeteria. The rumors about him hung heavy in the atmosphere, as he caught more-than-usual probing glances from the other students, with occasional whispers. Almost exactly in the opposite corner of the large room, he could see the flash of pink hair and reflective glasses, sitting with each other.
“Natsu!” A voice boomed, a familiar voice that was tinged with a threatening tone. The sea of students that stood between the voice and Natsu parted quickly, revealing Ryo’s towering form striding toward him, each step heavy.
“Ryo,” Natsu acknowledged, his tone even, betraying none of the adrenaline that had blasted into his veins at the sight of him, ready for a confrontation.
“Not only one, but now both of my people are in the hospital because of you.” Ryo’s scowl was etched deep as he narrowed his eyes with accusation. “Did you think I would look the other way? What kind of dishonorable person would pick a fight with someone obviously weaker than themselves?”
Natsu’s eyes didn’t blink as he locked onto Ryo’s, “You got some fucking nerve.”
“Excuse me?” Ryo seemed confused, but still angry.
“Coming spewing that bullshit about honor when you ordered your men to jump Gale from the shadows!” Natsu’s voice was near a scream as he quickly stood up.
“I did no such thing, what are you talking about?”
“Right.” Natsu ignored his statement, “If it’s a fight you’re looking for then let’s stop skirting around it. I’ve been looking for you anyway.”
“Not here or now. We can meet after school tomorrow out in the track field.”
“Fine,” Natsu said, the word slicing the tension. “I can wait a day to beat your ass.” He shrugged and turned back towards Boro at the table.
“Be ready.” Ryo warned.
“Mhm.” Natsu waved him away while eating. Internally, he was glad that Ryo had made the fight at a time and place that wouldn’t cause too many issues for Nina and himself.
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As Ryo turned to leave as abruptly as he had arrived, a murmur was rippling through the crowd of onlookers filled with anticipation. Natsu didn’t even have to turn to look at Nina and Sakura’s direction to know their eyes were plastered to the scene.
The whispers hadn’t yet died down when Shadow’s silent presence nearly materialized beside Natsu, as if simply teleported into place. The crowd, seeing Shadow’s all black visage, dissipated.
“Got some info you might want to hear.” Shadow whispered, his voice quiet but traveling to Natsu’s ears as if directed.
Natsu turned and nodded, before looking at Boro and motioning him to follow them. They walked their way to the same spot Hiroshi had taken Natsu the last time.
“What is it?” Natsu said curtly, the adrenaline from before still lingering a bit.
“Ryo,” Shadow began, his voice keeping it’s usual monotony, “his whole honor talk is true it seems. For one, it doesn’t seem like he knew about the attack. I had a … talk with one of his guys in the hospital.”
“How the hell would he not know it happened? I can buy him not ordering the hit, fine. But it’s been almost a week.” Natsu responded angry.
“I don’t know exactly how, but I do know he’s not at school often. He has permission from the school to miss more days since he helps his parents on their farm a lot.” Shadow shrugged.
“Still..” Natsu was running out of arguments.
“Back to the info. Like I was saying, he’s more honorable than the usual delinquents we deal with. He quit competing in official martial arts fights, not because he was kicked out, but because his last fight led to his opponent getting seriously injured. I guess he felt bad enough to quit.”
Shadow was pacing a bit as he talked while Boro had found a spot to sit at while he listened. Natsu wasn’t sure how to take everything he was saying and so he waited for him to finish.
“The final thing I found out is that he’s only at 10th rank in the school because he purposefully decided not to go higher. From what I could see, he’s only at the bottom to prevent other people from joining into the delinquent ranks, I don’t even believe he considers himself one.”
“So he thinks he’s better than us?”
“That’s not the point. The point is we can avoid the whole thing by talking to him. He did not cause Gale’s injury and he’s honorable enough to have a truce.”
“I think you’re forgetting an important fact.” Natsu replied.
“What’s that?“
“It’s also an act of honor for him to get his revenge for his men. We already decided to fight, so we will.” Natsu motioned Boro to follow him again, “Thanks for the intel, Shadow.”
“It’s your call.” Shadow said simply, as he retreated silently.
***
Nina’s fingers were drumming nervously on her desk, as she often did, her gaze occasionally looking over at Natsu’s desk, where both Boro and Natsu sat side by side, like a guardian statue.
“Do you think we should talk to him?” Sakura had moved over to Nina’s desk and whispered. Despite them not having heard the entire conversation between Ryo and Natsu, as they had been on the opposite side of the cafeteria, it had become a big gossip topic amonst the students for the rest of that day and the next. Natsu would be facing off against Ryo after school today. Sakura silently agreed that she had put off confronting him to long, and leaned into Natsu’s desk.
“Natsu we—“
“Not now.” Natsu waved her off, before standing up with Boro and heading for the door. He seemed determined.
The final bell rang, like a starting pistol in a race. The halls emptied rapidly, a mass exodus towards the meeting grounds for the two. Natsu did not rush, allowing the silence of the halls to calm his conflicted feelings.
“Time to end this,” he said aloud to no one. Boro beside him just gave him a quick glance and kept walking.
His steps were deliberate now as he made his way to the spot. Each footfall a prelude to the fight that was going to take place. He rolled his shoulders, almost feeling the past bruises he had gotten on his body.
It was a fairly short walk to the field outside of the school, Natsu reached it within five minutes. By the time the sun hit his eyes and he stood at the center, his doubts of whether he should do this had vanished. The only thing that was on his mind was beating Ryo.
Having been entranced in his own thoughts, it took him a moment to realize the crowd around him had already formed. Whispers reached his ears, conversations centered around who they thought would win, “The Demon” or “The Beast”, yet no one had the courage to raise their voice too loud. The crowd, a few moments after he had gotten there, started to swell in excitement. Down a ways from the direction of the school, walked Ryo toward them. Alone, and confident, as he approached.
Their eyes met across the dusty sand of the field, and something unspoken passed between them- hard to place into words, but an understanding of the path they had chosen.
“Thought you might back out,” Ryo said calmly.
“Not a chance,” Natsu spat back, “Are you ready?“
“First,” Ryo bowed, “I want to apologize on behalf of the two under me.”
Natsu squared his shoulders, prepping himself for the fight, but upon hearing those words, he was visibly shocked. He quickly recovered his composure and uttered a grunt as a response, but his mind was recalling Shadow’s words from earlier.
“That being said. It is not my intention to put a stop to this fight. I just hope we can keep it civil.” Ryo said, straightening back out.
Natsu couldn’t help but laugh at the difference in viewpoints they shared. It seemed his background of fighting in sanctioned fights was coming out. To Ryo, a fight was a show of training and ideologies, whilst to Natsu, it was a raw battle of power and will. It wasn’t something honorable or glorified, to him it was an inevitability when pride and anger mixed.
“Well. Let’s not keep them waiting.” Natsu growled at him, every muscle in his body tightening. The distance between them was just a few paces now, but the tension made them feel miles apart. Every eye in the crowd was locked onto the sight, all mouths closed.
Sakura’s face was pale amongst the crowd, her skin in bright contrast with her pink hair, as her brown eyes were wide with fear of what was happening. She couldn’t look away but her mouth was covered by her hands.
Beside her, Nina’s expression was a frozen mask, akin to her nickname of the Ice Princess. But beneath the surface was a tempest of emotions; fear, anger, and disappointment. Not only was this in direct conflict with her goal of an orderly school, but deeper within her, she worried for Natsu. Not only the result of the fight, but also the work they had done together and the promises he had made.
“That’s enough!” Nina yelled out of the crowd, breaking the silence. Almost instantly, everyone’s eyes turned and stared at her. Even still though, Ryo and Natsu stayed locked into the fight. Sakura tapped her shoulders after a moment had passed.
“I might have an idea, I’ll be back.” She whispered to her. Nina only nodded as Sakura ran from the crowd into the direction of their town.
The sun was already setting, casting long shadows over everyone present. The atmosphere was teeming with energy as the two boys prepped to begin.
Here we go, Natsu thought.