Lucy stuffed her hand in the pocket of her skirt and stared up at the group of boys. "What?" she mumbled, shifting her weight on one leg, "I don't have all day."

The man snarled, "Just because you're woman doesn't mean we'll go easy on you, bitch."

He walked towards her and leaned forward, glaring into Lucy's eyes as he pressed his forehead against hers, "But I am feeling a little nice today. If you kneel and beg for our forgiveness, we'll let this pass," he offered with a sly smile.

The blonde raised a brow, "Ah, I see." She tilted her head backwards and stared down at them, "You're basically saying that you want to seem superior, right? I can't tell because I'm having a hard time seeing it."

The boy snarled, "Why you... GRAB HER!"

His friends ran towards her and Lucy stood still. She closed her eyes and moved her head to the side as the brunette, one of the boys, threw a punch. She swung her head the other way as someone threw another punch. She ducked down when the boy from earlier swung his leg high up in the air, aiming for her temples.

Lucy straightened her back and gripped the teen's ankle, staring at him impassively.

"I must admit, you got some skills," she said and stared at them with half-lidded eyes.

She ducked under his leg and spun around, kicking him on the abdomen,

"But you should know by now that you are too slow."

The boy hissed and Lucy strangled his neck with her right hand, the other still stuffed in the pocket of her skirt.

"Leave," she demanded and snarled, "If you want to continue living, leave."

"Tch, as if we'll-"Lucy threw the teen to the ground and stepped on his chest.

She leaned down and held the boy's collar, "As if you'll what?" she asked, a murderous look in her eyes, "You'll what, bastard? TALK!"Lucy's ears perked as she heard her name being called.

She stepped off of the boy and tsked, tucking her hands in the pocket of her skirt again, "You're lucky."

The teen quivered as Lucy walked away, her cardigan flapping in the wind. She stopped halfway to the school's entrance and looked over her shoulder, staring at the group of seniors one more time before making her way inside the school building.

Lucy sighed and ran a hand through her messy hair, staring at the bluenette in front of her. "Damn you... always interfering in my fights," she hissed and glared at him, "What the hell's your problem?"

Jellal creased his eyebrows, "What do you mean? You're still injured from your falls!" He hissed and stared at the bandages around Lucy's arms and knees, "Yet, here you are, fighting against a group of seniors! You're absurd!"

Lucy walked past him and rolled her eyes. "As if I care about these bruises. Sure, it's the first time in a few years that I've had them but I'm used to the pain," she said and sighed. She stared at Jellal from the corner of her eye, "You wouldn't understand even if I explained, I'm just really out of your league."

Jellal frowned and stared at Lucy's retreating back worriedly. Ever since her victory - and at the same time, humility - in the race, she had been cold, distant, cool and detached. He had to admit that he missed the old Lucy, it was still the same impassive Lucy but the Lucy he was seeing right now was different.She was just too cold to be the older Lucy.

Erza walked up to Jellal, "Is something wrong with Heartfilia? She's acting weird. Fights are occurring everywhere in the school grounds, students are frightened of her - but at the same time, they look up to her." She heaved a sigh, "I don't get it."

"You're not the only one," the president said and released a heavy breath, "Let's not bother her anymore, maybe that's the reason."

"Faster! Harder!"Four-year old Lucy panted, nodding. She threw punches towards her coach, lips pressed together. She inhaled sharply and spun around, aiming a kick towards the coach's head. The woman held her ankle and forced it down.

"Your attacks are light, Heartfilia. If you don't fight properly, your parents' hard work will go to waste!"

Lucy stared up at the clear blue sky. She vaguely remembered her training with her coach back then but she could only recall one thing: the training was hard. She got hit all the time and she had to hit back with the same strength. She was kicked everywhere, she had to do sit-ups, push-ups and also jogging every morning.

She honestly couldn't believe back then why they would perform such harsh training on her when she was only a child.But now, she suddenly remembered why.

"That's it, put your weight behind you!" Her coach, Analee, exclaimed and continued to dodge the punches that Lucy threw.

The blonde had a fierce look in her eyes, aiming towards Analee steady and easy. She was taught that using fast blows wouldn't work because you could get tired easily. However, with single blows, you can put all your weight in it and throw a heavy punch or kick.

She was taught with great care, despite of the cruel training. The way she was taught to kick, punch, dodge and swing were all different compared to the way other people were trained.

Lucy's eyelids dropped.She was trained to become the successor of her parents.Lucy gritted her teeth and yelled out loud as she swung around, raising her leg.

Caught off-guard, Analee stared at her student in a questioning manner. But she couldn't say a word as Lucy slammed her heel down on her coach's head.

She was trained by the most difficult and distinct methods.Analee staggered backwards and stared at Lucy with wide eyes. Regardless of the pain, she grinned widely.

"Yes, that's it, Heartfilia. Make up your own style!" she beamed and patted Lucy's head. She smiled gently, "You can do it."

The young blonde blushed and nodded, smiling shyly, "Yes..."That's right.

Lucy narrowed her eyes and listened to the flapping of her cardigan.She didn't undergo training for thirteen years to fall in love with a man whom she was supposed to execute.

Analee crouched, now eye-level with the young blonde. "Listen, Lucy. Weight does not matter. There was a fight in where a woman defeated a man twice her size in twenty seconds. It doesn't matter if you're too heavy or too light, as long as you place your weight behind you," she said and handed Lucy her fingerless gloves, "Nothing is impossible."

Lucy nodded and wore the gloves, heading into the ring. She was going to win this battle, be known and be the successor of her parents.That's who Lucy Heartfilia is.

Lucy closed her eyes.She went through that training to make her parents proud. To make them realize that she could be a worthy heir. She didn't do all that to fall in love.So from now on...Lucy stared down at her opponent, "Forfeit if you want to live."

"NEVER!"

The blonde remained staring at her opponent and she closed her eyes. She swung her leg high up in the air and she slammed her heel on top of his head. A loud cracking sound was heard and the bell rang.

"The winner is Lucy Heartfilia!"

...She'll keep her distance.

.
.
.

"W-What are you talking about?" Levy stammered, staring at Loke, wide-eyed.The ginger-haired man stared at her worriedly, pushing the frame of his glasses upwards by his index finger. "It's just as I said," he mumbled and stared at the screen of his laptop, "Lucy Heartfilia is a gangster."

Jellal's eyes widened. He knew something was off about Lucy - especially at the part where they got attacked by two women - but he didn't expect her to be that bad. He released shaky breaths as the room went silent, trying to process the information that they had just received.

Erza covered her mouth in shock, wide eyes staring at Jellal, well, mostly at Gray - she knew about his feelings. However, she didn't expect to see a relieved smile from the bluenette.

"Jellal... why do you look so relieved?" she asked, frowning,
"There's a student in this school that is a gangster, shouldn't you be more worried?"

Jellal chuckled and shook his head, "No, I'm not, because the gangster that we know is only a woman who's messing around."

Everyone in the student council stared at him and he chuckled once again, "Ah, what I mean is... Lucy Heartfilia may be a gangster, but has she ever beaten up students for no reason?"

Levy shook her head and Loke did the same. Soon, even Erza and Gray started shaking their heads. Jellal smiled, "Exactly. She only fights with people who either piss her off, has a bad attitude, done something wrong - such as her first day here, I heard she was harassed and the boys were cornering her in. But even with all that, she is still considerate."

"I... agree."Jellal stared at Loke who was smiling calmly, "She may be a gangster, but she has changed since then."

"But right now, fights are occurring everywhere. She reverted back to the Lucy who appeared on her first day!" Erza exclaimed, slamming her hand down on the desk, "We need to think properly about this! What if the students of FTA get involved in her fights? Things might go even worse than the fights occurring every day!"

Laxus closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, "Erza's right but I don't think Lucy would want us to be involved with her problems."

"What are you..." the redhead trailed off.

"President, don't deny it, okay?" the blonde man said, opening his eyes. He inhaled, "I believe Lucy told you that she was supposed to transfer schools again because she didn't want you guys to get involved, am I right?"

Jellal's eyes widened and a series of gasps were heard. Nevertheless, Jellal didn't repudiate the fact and nodded, frowning, "That's right. However, what she told me was different. She told me she needed to transfer because other gangs would come and use us to threaten her. She told me about the gangs but she didn't tell me about being a gangster."

Levy blinked, "I would have figured it out by that time, Jellal."

"...Right."

Laxus smirked and shook his head, "Anyway, back to the topic. Lucy told me some stuff, which is private so don't ask. But she did say that she was supposed to transfer to avoid getting this school involved but due to a certain president," he stared at Jellal who sweat dropped, "She neglected the thought of transferring schools for the seventh time this year. Think about it, no matter how bad Lucy is, she transfers schools and leaves her friends behind multiple times just so that they wouldn't get involved."

Gray closed his eyes and chuckled, "For once, I agree with the guy. We shouldn't just judge books from the cover."

"Exactly," Laxus said and smirked.

Erza's lips tugged upward into a small smile, "Well, I guess she's not that bad-"

SLAM!

"President! A gang just came in the school perimeters and is demanding to talk to Lucy Heartfilia!" a student yelled, his body shaking in fear.

The room went silent and he gulped, "L-Lucy-san is currently..."

Jellal's eyes widened, "What is she doing?"

"She's..." the boy sucked in a deep breath, "...confronting them. But they just ignored her request to leave! She's being surrounded and I think..." his eyes glanced around the room in panic, "...they will engage in a fight."

DASH!

Jellal ran past the boy who froze as he felt the strong gush of wind. And before he could even move from his spot, all of the student council members were running out of the school building. Jellal lead them, running with his tired and sore feet.

He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes, "Damn it, why did this school have to be so big?"He forced his feet to drift as he turned around a corner, the school doors now straight ahead. He started taking in deep breaths, his destination just within his grasps. He heard a couple of shoes sliding against the floor as they followed after the bluenette. His jaw tightened and he pushed open the door, slowly coming to a stop.

He stiffened as he stared at Lucy's back. Surrounded around her were a few pained bodies on the floor, groaning.She didn't seem to notice them for she didn't turn around; none of the other gangsters noticed them as well.

"Just leave this place," he heard Lucy said coldly. "I didn't enroll to another school for my schoolmates to get involved, again," she said and stuffed her hands in the pocket of her skirts, "You're cowards, you should know."

One of the gangster's eyes widened in anger and he growled, "You shouldn't call us a coward, Heartfilia!" His eyes narrowed, "We didn't come here to harm them. Just give us the item and we won't bother you ever again." He smirked, "We promise."

Lucy stared at them through her bangs, unmoving. "Liar," she said and closed her eyes, "As if I'll believe a friend who betrayed me, all for the item."

Laxus whispered in Erza's ear, "Well, well, see? She just wanted to go to school without getting other people involved in her stuff."

The redhead looked at him and sighed, "Fine, I believe you."

The man stayed silent and a woman laughed sinisterly, "Hahahaha! I expected much that people would betray you! You're a greedy woman, keeping the item to yourself! Who would have thought that you killed all those people just for yourself?"

"I didn't kill them so that I could keep the item," Lucy said and opened her eyes, "I killed them because they - you - were going to take away a memento."

Another man raised a brow, "I never knew War Maiden had such feelings, are you going soft now?"

Lucy pressed her lips together, "It's true, though, it's a memento-"

"-WAIT!"

Lucy's eyes widened and her heart started beating rapidly as she slowly looked over her shoulder to stare at Jellal. Her heart ached painfully and she tried to calm herself by biting the inside of her cheek. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, staring at Jellal, "What do you want?"

The bluenette couldn't utter a word as the blonde stared at him with those tired eyes.

Instead, Natsu spoke for him."You're... The War Maiden?" Natsu asked, shock overtaking his features.

Lucy didn't say a word and just answered with a nod.Levy's eyes widened and she covered her mouth in fear, "Y-You're the leader of T-The Crossed Heart g-gang?"

Lucy continued staring at her and decided that it was time for her distance herself from her current schoolmates. Sucking in a calm breath, she faced them with her former cold eyes. A smirk replaced the thin line of her lips."That's right," she said and placed her hand behind her hair, lifting it up. She tilted her head to the side a little for them to see the mark on her neck.

"I'm War Maiden and I am the leader of The Crossed Heart."