Ch. 51 - separated

Lucy's POV

Natsu let go of my hands when the whistle was blown. I watched his back as he walked towards his group. After that, I saw Sting sitting on the hammock tied by the tree, swinging it sidewards as if he was on a relaxing vacation. I went towards him with my arms crossed against my chest.

"Sting, what are you doing?"

He shot up a glare as if I said something offensive and that lightened my mood. "Tsk. Ain't it obvious? Aren't you the smart one? Figure it out." with that said, he turned to his side and started snoring.

"Okay, so that wasn't the question, really. We need to get going! Do you have the map?" I asked. His hand pulled out an old paper, revealing that it was the map.

Yarghh! The list of things you hafta find :
1) A pirate flag
2) A black eyepatch
3) A huge hook
4) The anchor
5) A huge pair of underpants
6) Soggy boots
7) A gold tooth
8) An old music box
9) black beard
10) a giant spider

P.S. Ya'll can take them photos BUT, the giant spider must be captured alive.

My lips curved into a creepy smile. "T-The... B-Big s-sp-spider... c-captured," I gulped. "A-Alive...?!" I crumpled the map closed then shoved it into my pocket. "This is much worse than drowning!"

Sting raised a hand. "That's what I was telling you."

I smirked, tapping his head. "Why? The wittle stingy is afraid of spiders?" I felt his body flinch at the sound of the name. I sighed jokingly, "If only there was a man who could wear boxers and capture a huge spider with his bare--"

He rose up from the hammock and glared. "I hate you." he declared as he started walking along with Gajeel, who was already starting.

"L-Lucy, Juvia is not feeling well..." Juvia came near me, hanging her arm on mine. "Juvia is separated from Gray-sama!"

I shook my head then, smiled, patting her hand. "I knew it. But, I'm sure you'll see him later."

"Ah! By the way, Juvia saw Natsu-san near you earlier. Lucy seemed happy about it. What happened?"

My heart started beating rapidly again of what she said. I like you, Luce Heartfilia. I could hear his voice inside my mind again. It keeps echoing nonstop. But, I wouldn't mind if it never stops. I liked hearing that line.

"N-Natsu...told me he... likes me." I told her, making her open her jaw wider than before. She gasped.

"Pleeeeeaaassee, tell Juvia your secret! Juvia wants Gray-sama to say that, too!!" she started letting her tears crawl down from her eyes as she tugged on my sleeves.

"B-But, I've no secrets about it. It just came naturally." I snapped my fingers, "In your case with Gray, though, I think avoiding him and stopping your oogling for his existence will catch his eyes."

"Lucy thinks it would really work?"

I nodder then, smiled at the poor girl. "Yes. Trust me on this one." especially when I used that tactic once on Natsu and it worked! How could it not work in her case, too?

Natsu's POV

My group started to get a move on as we started searching for the items on the list. Lisanna keeps on nagging on me about how impossible it would to find them all for some reason.

"Ne, Natsu, haven't you found at least one yet?" she complains as she started scratching the back of her neck.

I glared at the woman. "It would've been easier if you were helping." damn it. It would've been easier if Lucy were here. She would've been patient and help me instead of complaining.

"Natsu, I think I saw something!" Levy stated, pointing a finger by the bushes. I lit my phone and saw one of the items; a huge pair of blue and white-striped underpants. I smiled and started jumping, feeling victorious. "Yahoo! We have found one item already! Nine more to go!"

Gray took a picture of the underpants. After that, placed it on top of his head. "Ha! Beat that, wimps!" he challenged, making a peace sign with his right hand.

"Ha!" I scoffed at his challenge then swore, "Once I find the spider, I'm grabbing it with my own bare hands!"

"You got yourself a deal!"

Lucy's POV

"O....kay." I crossed off eight items off the list since surprisingly Gajeel and Juvia are great in searching in the dark. We found every single item in one go! This I did not expect. "We need the pirate flag and the spider..."

"What the hell's up with this game, anyway? It has absolutely nothing to do with exercise." Sting complained, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

I ignored his complaint and said, "Maybe this is an exercise for the brain."

He rolls his eyes and groaned, "Yeah, right."

Juvia moaned affectionately all of a sudden, making me look in her direction. She was shaking her butt when I went towards her. "Juvia! Are you okay?"

"Juvia... has seen Gray-sama naked!"

My eyes squinted when I looked up and saw Gray climbing a tree with his buttocks exposed. I blushed and looked down, ignoring that fact. "Uh Juvia, you aren't supposed to see that." I told her then, yelled at him. "Gray, put on some damn clothes!"

"Wha-?" Gray screamed when he suddenly lost his balance and fell on his head. He groaned, scratching the back of his head. "Damn it. I was so close to getting that stupid spider!"

My eyes widened, turning my frown into a smirk. "Ne, Juvia, you told me you like Gray, right?"

"No. Juvia loves him!" she declared as she gripped onto her hands.

She kept drolling over his 'awesomeness' and then, I took advantage of this. "Juvia, you know, Inthink Gray would be really impressed once you get the spider first."

Juvia's eyes sparkled, saluting at the tree. "Juvia is going!" she went at a different speed, a lot faster than I had comprehended, and saw her climbing the tree without scratch. She caught the spider before Gray did with her own hands protected with gloves. When she came down, she smiled as she went towards me. "Hai! Juvia has caught it!"

She raised the spider in her gloves proudly in the air. Gray fell off the tree, going towards Juvia. "Hey, no fair! I saw it first!"

"Juvia got this for Gray-sama!" Juvia gladly handed the spider into his hands, making Gray smile.

He jumped for joy. "Whoo!! Natsu! I got the spider!" he went in deeper into the woods, looking for his teammates. Meanwhile, I stared at Juvia with a surprised look on my face. She just continued to smile at me with her hands tucked in her back.

"Juvia," I covered my face in frustration. "Why did you hand the spider to the other team?"

"Eh? Juvia is on the side of any sides of Gray-sama." Juvia claps her hand. "Ah! Juvia just remembered." she turned to look at Gray and started running into the woods. "Juvia needs to get Gray-sama!~"

"Ah, wait, Juvia!"

"We're your teammates, idiot!" Gajeel yelled, resting his head in his arms up in midair. He then shook his head, "This is the worst team I could ever think of, honestly."

"Relax." I looked in his way. "Maybe Juvia can find another one. All that'll be left is the flag."

Sting popped out of nowhere, waving a black rug in front of me. "What am I gonna do with-" my eyes widened in shock when I realized it was the pirate flag. "a... pirate flag?"

"Oh, I don't know. Let's try and sell it. Maybe a nice old woman would be interested." Sting stated in a very undiscrete sarcastic tone before rolling his eyes on me.

"Let's just find Juvia, look for another spider and win the fricking prize."

"And... the Heartfilia team has come in second place!" after principal Maviz announced the important detail, they gestured us to go ahead to claim our prize. But, first, I had to wait for Natsu since... I wanted to.

"Hey, what'cha waiting for? Come on." Sting signalled, grabbing my wrist, pulling me towards the restaurant but, I pulled my wrist and told him, "Ah, I-I have to wait for someone..."

As soon as I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, he sighed in despair. "Man, don't go cryin' once we finish our fill." he stretched his arms as far as he could before resting his head in between them in midair.

"Juvia wants to have a feast with Gray-sama!" she drooled over biting her handkerchief. "Juvia is so sorry for betraying Lucy's trust!! She hasn't seen Gray-sama for so long that she lost control."

Gajeel shrugged, "You two didn't see each other for just five minutes after the game began."

"Losing a second with no Gray-sama in sight means death for Juvia!" she started to play with the two tips of her pointing finger, pouting in my sight. "Will everyone forgive Juvia...?"

I shrugged, "It's really okay, Juvia. You didn't have to say sorry. After all, we were able to complete the mission since you managed to get another spider when you ran into one by the trees."

Juvia smiles, "Juvia is so happy!" she hugs me then, looks up at me. "Juvia will just prepare her outfit for dinner. Juvia will see Lucy in a few minutes." she bids me farewell then went straight into her room while I was left, thinking whether I should go or wait til Natsu comes.

Wait? Stay. Wait? Stay. Stay? Wait. Wait? Stay? Ohhhhhhh....which one?!

"Kya-!" I quickly covered my mouth when I felt someone place me on his shoulder. I looked down and saw Sting. "Sting, wha-?! Put me down!"

He just clucked his tongue at me and glared. "If I hadn't picked you up, we would've been disqualified, stupid! Now, stop fucking complaining 'cause my stomach's been rumbling all night long!"

He started running, making me feel like I was about to be thrown from his shoulder anytime now. "O-kay! Fin-Fine! Just put me down please!!"

Wonder how Natsu and the others did?

***