Chapter 34

Can't believe we're already at chapter 34 though.... 34 weeks more or less consecutively ._."
Or that we in 7 reviews' time will be on a quarter of a thousand ._. It's crazy! Besides that, we've already passed the 150 mark for followers and are ten away with the favorites! You. Are. Amazing. Guys!

I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!
Disclaimer: Unlike those two crazy people there, I can't write such a story... So no, only this things is half mine

Earth~

"So what did you manage to spend your night with?" Kozo asked Lucy lowly as they both stood at the side of the court, overseeing the boys' practice.

The blonde sighed heavily at the memory of the - at the time - seemingly eternal night as she waited for everyone to wake up. "Well... After tucking Sat-chan in, I sat in the bed for what was probably a half an hour tops, but felt like infinitely many. Of course, I had to figure something out, if I sat there in that silent room the entire night, I might as well have surrendered my sanity beforehand." She said dramatically.

The Shirogane chuckled at her words. "Well, that would have been unfortunate, had that been the case." He admitted with an amused smile. "But I reckon you still have your sanity, so what did you do?" He repeated his earlier question.

The blonde crossed her arms, finding herself comfortable in that position. "I went out and tested my magical power here." She said in a low voice. After all, it was not something she wanted so easily revealed. "The most I could summon was Solarium, who lies somewhere in between the silver and gold keys." She explained. "I could keep him out for about five minutes, then I ran dry, also from the previous test-summons as well." She told him.

He looked down at her, as he was one of those tall people too, sporting a surprised expression. "That's quite a feat, Lucy. It took me a little above a year to manage summoning Angelis, who is the lighter of the two I own." He said with a sigh. They were lost keys too, so the magic required for both of them were more or less equal.

Lucy shrugged lightly, trying to disguise the surge of pride she felt at his admission. "Well, I'm guessing it may be because I own as many gold keys as I do and use them frequently." She reasoned.

Kozo nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds like a realistic reason." He agreed. "Anyway, I'm sure you're not done with your report of your nightly experiences." He said, urging her to continue.

Momentarily wondering why he was so curious, she continued the tale of how she prevailed over the boredom of the night. "Mmh, of course, the night was long. Next, I decided to go through what I could of Gajeel's training program - push-ups, running and all that." She told him. "But, when I came to the part where I would usually practice hand-to-hand, I found it quite difficult without a partner. Luckily Loke-" She cut her sentence off and quickly corrected herself so that he wouldn't be confused. "Leo came to the rescue through his own power and offered to fill in for Gajeel however long he could manage." She explained.

The elder man nodded. "Ah, I see. So that's why you were in the baths when Aomine burst in without a second thought earlier." He reminded her with a chuckle.

Lucy sighed, but not without a smile as the scene popped up in her memory. "Yes, I remember that quite clearly." She said with a giggle.

The boy had apparently been searching for her, ready to begin training. After all, he had promised to run with her, a decision he would soon regret, as Haizaki had foreseen.

The expression the young boy had gotten as he realized he had intruded on her bath-time in the women's room, brought a smile to her face every time. He had first been smiling from ear to ear, but then realization set in and the bright smile turned into a pink and flustered expression.

She heard the man chuckle next to her. "Well, I believe you scared everyone into showing up to training with that vigorous running of yours." He said amusedly. "Haizaki was even five minutes early."

"Well, that's once in a lifetime." She said. Even showing up five minutes late was rare for him. It was at least ten minutes plus.

"Unfortunately so. He is quite talented." He said with a nod. "Well, we can only hope he keeps it up even beyond this trip." He said to which Lucy nodded, sending the both of them into silence as they got caught up in each of their thoughts.

Haizaki was talented, no doubt about that, but if he didn't keep his training up, the others would run away from him. It was never only about having the talent, it was also about maintaining it.

Later~

While Momoi and Kozo had gone in to get refreshments ready for everyone, Lucy was left alone with Kise, both sitting in the sand and watching training silently.

That was until the male blonde decided to break it. "I have made a decision." He suddenly said, not taking his eyes from the game in front of him, his eyes almost gleaming. "I want to play basketball."

The female blonde beamed at him. "Really?" She asked happily, glad that he had made that decision.

He nodded, finally looking at her. "Yeah. Watching all this has made me very interested in it." He told her, looking back at the court again. "Hopefully it won't get boring as all the other things..." He muttered to himself. Or so was the intention.

Lucy shook her head with a smile. "Oh, don't you worry. If not in the 3rd or 2nd strings, then you will definitely find yourself challenged against these guys." She said and watched as Midorima made one of his slightly ridiculous three-pointers. "Everyone on this team are very talented at what they're doing." She promised him. If anything, that they certainly were.

He looked at her, brow raised in the air. "How can you be so sure it'll be any different than soccer?" He asked her. During the evening get-together she had asked about that thing with the soccer team to confirm if what she had thought was right. Turned out it was. And she had also learnt something else about him as well.

She smiled knowingly at him. "While I may not know your previous teams, I know this one." She reminded him and returned her gaze to the court, where everyone had begun playing the little match against each other, as they always did at the end of training to end it off. Who to begin with... Oh yes! "See Haizaki over there?" She asked and gestured to where he was sitting on the 'bench', waiting for it to be his turn.

Kise nodded as he followed her gaze. "Yeah, I see him." He said. "What's with him?" He asked her confusedly.

"Your weird ability to could do anything after just watching it done once in not unlike what he can do." She explained. It was almost like these guys had magic just like she did, what with being able to copy things so easily and all. "Except his is a little different. Instead of simply copying it, he steals the moves of the other person." She told him.

The other blonde frowned in confusion. "Steals them? How can he do that?" He asked.

"Well... Put simply, he takes a move he sees his opponent do and does it himself, just like you. Only he twists and adjusts the move so that it fits him." She said. "When the original owner of the move sees this slightly altered version of it, he can never perform it himself again." She told and sort of warned him at the same time. You never knew with that guy.

But he certainly would be served an ass-kicking if he ever stole a move from the others from him team. If not by Kozo or Sanada, then by her. The. End.

"Oh... Wow." Kise said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "That's awesome - but also a little scary." He said with an excited and light voice. Although it sounded as childish as it did, she knew he was listening intently to what she was saying and would remember it.

With that, she continued to explain the weird abilities and strengths of the 1st string.

Nijimura and his strong drives, Murasakibara and his unbreachable defense and more than tough offense, Akashi and his exceptional leading skills and his handling of the ball which left nothing to be desired, Midorima and his outrageous three-pointers, Aomine and his wild mix of proper- and street basket and lastly Kuroko and his strange ability to vanish from sight and his incredibly precise passes.

"So don't worry, everyone here will give you a run for your money." She reassured him. She straightened up in her seat as she got an idea. "While I may not be as good as all of them, I'm not completely useless. So what do you say to playing a little with me when they're done and in the baths?" She suggested.

The younger blonde nodded energetically. "Yeah! That sounds fun!" He said, already shining with excitement at the idea of her suggestion. "But... I don't know anything about basketball other than what I have seen here, on this trip." He said and scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile.

Lucy waved her hand in front of her dismissively. "Oh, that won't be a problem. I'll teach you all you need to but don't know" She promised him. After all, she had learnt a lot already. "It's not like it'll be the first time." She muttered to herself.

"Did you say something?" he asked her, having heard her unclear mumble.

She quickly shook her head. "Oh, no! It was nothing!" She reassured him. "I think they're about done out there now, so let's go!" Se said and motioned for him to follow her as everyone made their way towards the main building.

Later~

"Ah, Lucy, Momoi. I was looking for the two of you." Someone said as the two girls exited their room after having taken a long bath.

Lucy was surprised to see Kozo standing with a paper in his hands. "Oh, Kozo. What can we do for you?" She asked him politely.

"It seems we're missing a few ingredients for the curry tonight." He told them. "And I'm afraid the boys can't begin before we have all the ingredients." He said with a deep sigh. "Could I get the two of you to go to the nearby market and get the last ingredients?" He asked them hopefully.

Momoi smiled brightly and nodded. "Of course, Shirogane-san!" She said and took the list he handed them.

The man chuckled. "Just call me Kozo, Momoi. Otherwise I'm afraid it may become a very long trip." He said with a kind, grandfatherly smile. Although a little shocked, the pinkette nodded. "Anyhow, thank you very much girls. I really appreciate it." He said as he turned around and walked towards the kitchen, where he had probably left the guys who were supposed to cook.

"Say, Sat-chan..." She trailed off, getting the pinkette's attention. "Do you remember who will be cooking today?" She asked as the two of them began moving out of the building through the front entrance.

"Uhm..." She said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her index finger. "Well, I think it was Muk-kun, Haizaki and Dai-chan." She said. She looked at the older blonde confusedly. "Why do you ask?"

Lucy sighed as they walked down the street, cold sweat breaking out. "I just wanted to know what I should expect for dinner tonight." She said. "Seems it's going to be... Interesting." She commented. She hadn't really had those three cook for her before, and chances were they were actually good. But those chances had to be very small...

Momoi giggled. "With Muk-kun there, I wonder if there will be anything at all." She commented amusedly.

Lucy laughed. "That's true." She said. "I had been more worried about the end result though. I wonder if Atsushi-kun will even touch it at all." She said, to which Momoi laughed and nodded. "Anyway, what is it we have to get?" She asked, gesturing to the list as the market came into sight.

"Oh, uhm, it was..." She mumbled and fiddled with the paper, checking the list over quickly. "Seems they need carrots and... Rice? Thought we'd have at least enough of that." The pinkette said.

Lucy nodded as she also looked down at the list. Rice was one of the most normal parts of a dish in Japan, it'd be the first thing they would have control of. Normally. "Well, it seems we'll probably get something to eat no matter how much they mess up the curry. I'll be impressed if they manage to mess up a simple salad." She said as she saw the list also contained cucumber, salad, apples and the like.

"I know Dai-chan can do at least that much. We often made the salad together when we were younger." Momoi reassured her. "But I don't think his curry would be any good..." She muttered.

Lucy giggled as she took one of the baskets by the entrance. "Well, Kozo is with them, so in the end it should be all right I hope." She said. Kozo could cook... Right?

They quickly found all they needed to get, seeing as most of it was from the same region in the market. Quickly finishing it off at the disks, they began walking back towards their temporary home, bag in hand.

"Well, if it turns out too horrible tonight, we could go get something to eat out. What do you say to that idea?" She suddenly requested, remembering the conversation they had had just a little while ago.

"Huh?" The other girl asked in surprise at the sudden topic. Then, after a short moment of confusion, she realized what the blonde meant. "Oh. Yes! I think I saw a okonomiyaki stand by the beach earlier today. If worst comes to worst, we could go there?" She offered. It must have been something she had seen during practice, so it couldn't be far away from the main building.

Lucy smiled widely and nodded. "That sounds really good! I've yet to taste okonomiyaki here from Japan." She admitted. She had heard it mentioned on the hallway countless times, but never came around to taste it herself.

The girl gasped loudly and looked at her with an expression of surprise. "What?! You haven't tasted okonomiyaki before?!" She asked as if she had committed a grave sin. Maybe she had.

The blonde shook her head with an amused smile. "No, never." She confirmed.

The younger of the two held her breath, utterly shell-shocked at the information. "It's decided." She then stated firmly, beginning to breathe again. Just as the blonde was about to ask her to elaborate, she did. "If not tonight, then sometime during this trip, you will taste okonomiyaki!" She decided for her.

Lucy laughed and nodded, completely fine with the decision the other girl had made. "I would like that very much!" She said happily. She had actually been wanting to taste it for the longest time, so that was the perfect resolution the pinkette had come to.

Said pinkette nodded curtly as the two of them approached the main building. "Good, 'cause it isn't debatable." She said with her best 'strict' voice. As it turned out, she couldn't be strict at all, it was merely a cute attempt.

"Oh, I see you have returned." Were the first words presented to the two of them as they entered the building. "Thank you for your effort girls." Kozo thanked them.

Lucy smiled and handed him the bag. "Oh, we don't mind it at all." She reassured him as he took the bag out of her hands.

Momoi nodded and beamed next to her friend. "Yeah! We were having fun with it!" She chided in. "It had to be done after all, and the guys would be no good!" She said and giggled.

Kozo chuckled and nodded as well. "Indeed." He agreed. "Well, I hope you have a back-up plan for tonight.." He said with a regretful tone as he began moving towards the kitchen, where those three guys were probably waiting.

Later~

Just like the previous day, today had also been very eventful from the beginning till the end. The interruption in the baths marked the beginning, then talking about basketball with Kise and immediately after playing it as well.

As expected from what he had told her, mastering basketball and its basic elements was child's play for him, right from the start really. And it had also solidified his resolution to play the game. Now all there needed to be done before he could join was that Kozo should evaluate his skill and place him in the correct string. That would be done sometime during this camp. Exactly when was still up in the air.

Anyway, after the ordeal with Kise, she and Momoi had gone to the baths, after which they were sneak attacked by Kozo and had went shopping for the curry, which went horribly wrong. As they had expected.

The rice was way overcooked and disgustingly mushy. Meanwhile they managed to undercook the meat and not even peel the carrots at the same time. Impressively they even messed up the salad. Not only did Murasakibara feel like having a snack at the time, the slices were either ridiculously large or just as ridiculously small.

So, everyone had gone to the okonomiyaki stand to avoid any future upset stomachs. As was the impression she'd gotten over time, the little snack was really delicious. Well, maybe it was because she had been surrounded by all these wonderful people, she couldn't say.

Even after having eaten, they all stayed together and had had fun together, watching the beautifully burning red sunset. She couldn't remember ever watching the sun go down over the horizon of an ocean, but she knew that this wasn't the last time she would do something like this.

They only began making their way back when the sky had been completely black and star dotted for a while. They had only the light of the stars and moon to guide them back, and although they stumbled in the sand a little more or less all them, it was only Momoi who fell.

Almost, anyway.

Of course she was caught before she hit the ground. Not by her childhood friend, Aomine or the otherwise surprisingly gallant Nijimura. No, none of them. Instead, it was little, cute Kuroko who had caught her.

Lucy smiled softly to herself as she remembered the expression the pinkette had sported back then. She could almost see two thumping hearts replace the girl's eyes as she looked up at her savior.

Well, she would probably have to watch out for those two possibly-lovebirds-to-be and make sure people like Aomine wouldn't butt in and complicate things.

Because he certainly could if he decided he would become Momoi's overprotective big brother. Or even worse... If he went and got a crush on the girl himself.

Lucy shook her head and giggled at her own silliness, it probably was just her overly imaginative mind as a writer which kicked in. Luckily there was no one on the beach, everyone had gone to sleep already.

Of course Aomine wouldn't fall in love with Momoi. If he was to, he would have done so long ago. Besides, as someone being close to them both, she didn't feel any such intentions coming from either of them when they were together. No stolen glances, no secretiveness or weird smiles. And most importantly, no awkwardness between them. None at all.

So that was definitely just her imagination getting the better on her. Which seemed to become an increasingly common occurrence as she continued to write as she did.

Back at Earthland.

She picked up some sand and absentmindedly began to play with it as her thoughts stretched around her, far and wide.

She had been feeling a weird pressure-like feeling all day. As if something was tugging at her heart the entire time. Even with everything which had happened these days, both at the end of yesterday and all of today, it had never disappeared. At least not completely.

While she hadn't used much time trying to figure out what it could be then, she knew what it was now, without even having to think much about it.

She missed her team, Fairy Tail. Everyone who wasn't here.

She knew she was being selfish, but she really wanted to be with all of them, both Earthland and Earth, all the time. She didn't want to choose between them, both sides had become close friend, maybe even family, to her.

Why did she have to make this decision? Wasn't the point of throwing her into another world to see where she would fit in? Then what if the perfect solution for her was to stay and keep both worlds and the friends in it? Why wasn't that a possibility for her?

All these questions, but no one to answer them. What was she to do?

She sighed deeply and looked down at what her fingers had traced in the sand all by themselves. The Fairy Tail insignia. The fairy with a tail.

"Hmm... That's the same mark as the one you have on the back of your hand, isn't it?" Someone asked behind her. She jolted at the sudden break of silence as well as her stream of thoughts and looked back at the person, who had sneaked up on her. "Ah, sorry. Did I surprise you?" Midorima asked with his hands raised in the universal sign of giving up.

Lucy smiled at him. "Well... It's all right." She reassured him, deliberately not answering his question, seeing as she would hate to admit she had been really shocked with his sudden appearance. And it would be completely impossible for her to make up a story for the insignia. "What are you doing up so late?" She asked him as he sat down next to her.

"I could ask you the same question." He retorted. "You do realize it's beyond eleven, do you not?" He asked, fiddling around with what seemed to be a feather.

She smiled at his swift reply. "Yeah, but my sleeping-disorder is preventing me from getting any sleep right now." She explained and saw confused understanding in his eyes. "Now then, what's your excuse?" She asked.

"Well.." He muttered as he seemed to check his bandaged fingers over. "I couldn't sleep either." He weakly answered.

Lucy smirked at him. "Hm? Is that all?" She asked, knowing there had to it than that.

He gently shook his head. "No, I also wanted to see the stars just once while we were on this trip. Beautiful and uninterrupted by the city lights." He said and looked up at the starry heaven.

She followed suit and looked up as well. "I didn't know you had an interest in stars, Shin-kun." She commented.

He nodded his head. "I really do." He said. "They're so far away, yet shine with such brilliance. They form images simply by sitting where they do, appointed by god to make up big constellations." He said lowly as he studied them. "And even when they falter and die, they still quite possibly turn into supernovas and live on, but in another form." He continued.

It had been a while since she heard someone else speak of the stars so passionately. It was refreshing. "Yeah, they're amazing." She agreed, finding his explanation left nothing to be desired. She looked down at the feather he was twiddling in his bandaged hands with wonder. "What's with the feather?" She finally asked curiously.

He looked down at it as if he hadn't realized he had brought it with him before just now. "Uhm... Well, it's my lucky item for the day." He explained curtly.

This made her furrow her eyebrows in confusion of his explanation. "Your lucky item?" She asked, now almost even more curious than before.

He nodded. "Yes. The feather was the item which would bring the horoscope Cancer luck today." He said and held it up a little for the both of them to see.

Lucy smiled but was still a little confused. "What would you need a lucky item for?" She asked.

He didn't remove his eyes from the light object even as he spoke "Man proposes, god disposes." He said, dropped his hands to his lap and looked at the blonde. "I am a man that proposes, I always carry my lucky item of the day with me as my horoscope says." He told her. "That is why my shots never miss." He answered.

Although it was sort of beating around the bush, she had finally gotten her answer. "So that's why you never miss?" She asked him curiously. She would never have guessed he was a religious kind of person, it seemed she learned something new about these boys every time she talked to them.

He nodded and looked out over the horizon in front of them, where it was impossible to tell where the sea ended and the dark sky began. "That's what I would like to believe." He said and pushed his glasses up.

Now, Lucy personally wasn't much of a religious person herself, so although Midorima believed in this, she didn't really. She did however believe in the fact that the boy had god-like precision.

She looked up at the sky and smiled as she saw one of the many constellations she knew and recognized. Although she actually would be able to recognize them all by now. "I know you like stars-" She had just learned that after all. "But do you recognize the constellations?" She continued to ask as she kept her gaze locked on that specific constellation.

Midorima looked at her, then saw where she was looking and followed her gaze. "Of course." He replied matter-of-factly. "That one is Cancer, my horoscope." He said. "I know at least the Zodiac constellations." He reassured her.

"Hmm?" She asked with interest, never taking her eyes from the gorgeous night sky which revealed so many stars in comparison to what she was used to. "How many do you know?" She asked him. Her team back at Earthland hadn't even memorized the Zodiacs yet and Natsu could only recognize Orion because there were three stars perfectly lined up on a line. Although he seemed to forget the name of the constellation quite often.

The green haired boy hummed a little as he thought about it, probably to let her know he was listening. "Probably around 30 - not counting the Zodiac." He told her, which actually really impressed her. "What about you?" He inquired, looking towards her.

She smiled. "All the current 88 ones and a lot of the dead ones too." She said and looked at him, snickering when she saw him looking at her flabbergasted and gaping. "Is it so surprising? I had to do something when I was bored and stuck in my room when I was little after all." She reminded him. That and the fact that her magic was based on it. It just felt wrong to her if she didn't know at least the current constellations. The reason she knew some of the dead constellations was purely out of interest.

He nodded slowly. "Yes, it's quite impressive to have memorized all of 88 constellations as well as some of the dead ones. No matter how long time you have to practice." He told her.

Her smile was almost a laughing one as she directed it at him. "I will take that as a compliment, and thank you." She said.

The boy looked over the sea, which reflected the moon and the brightest stars clearly, seeing as there was next to no wind at all to create any waves - which made the beach quite silent. "You should and you're welcome." He responded and they both sat quietly, enjoying the beautiful sight for a few moments. Midorima got up from where he sat with a little sigh and brushed off his clothes. "Well, it's getting quite late." He said and nodded to her. "I will go and get some rest for now. You should too, if you don't want to be completely drained of energy tomorrow. I believe Aomine wanted to give that run another shot." He warned her.

Lucy giggled. "Oh, he can try all he wants." She replied. "But you just go on ahead, I think I'll enjoy this view a little longer." She said.

"Ah, I understand." He said and looked at it all again, seemingly entranced by the mesmerizing beauty of it for a moment before forcing himself away from it. "Then goodnight Lucy." He said, pushing his glasses up as he looked down at her.

She smiled kindly back at him. "Yeah, goodnight Shin-kun. See you tomorrow." She said and waved at him as he began walking back to get some sleep.

She pulled her legs up and locked her arms around them, gazing out at everything in front of her, a little smile evident on her face. So Aomine hadn't gotten scared to death like Haizaki at her running, eh? She had a strange feeling he wouldn't be the only one braving her pace tomorrow for some reason...

And that's that~

As I'm sure you noticed by now, Lucy is more or less on first-name basis with everyone on the team now. And in case you forgot, Midorima's full name is 'Shintaro Midorima', which is where 'Shin' comes from ^-^
And I hope you liked that little scene between the two of them!

But, of course, I also hope you liked it! Thank you to you all, who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed to my story!

~Line464d