Heart of Writing

The next incident was two and a half weeks later, on the last day of school when classes were short and summer fever was running rampant through the school. Yearbooks were being shoved into hands as fast as would allow, each student desperate to make sure they got signatures from all of their friends before the end of the day. No teacher was teaching today, letting the kids get everything out of their system as they looked on in equal fondness and annoyance.

It was Physics, the last period of the day before school let out for the next two blessed months of pools and parties, and Lance was to be found flirting with senior Allura Altea when their teacher Mr. Shirogane walked into the room with a slight drop in his usual smiling countenance. The tall man cleared his throat to get the attention of his class, causing Lance to turn his face in half-interest to look at (admittedly) one of his favorite teachers in the school. He was probably one of the most chill members of the faculty, and in his twenties to boot. Lance wouldn’t be lying if he said he admired the guy’s ability to calm a class with a look, as well as be genuinely interested in what his students had to say. That kind of teacher was far in between.

Which is why Mr. Shirogane’s next words blew Lance out of the water.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you guys. I’m not going to be coming back to school next year—“

There was an uproar from his students, including Lance, all of which would probably fight for him. Out of the corner of his eye, Lance saw that the only person not screaming or standing up was Keith Kogane in the back of the classroom, who was looking like he was going to be sick. Something in Lance’s brain rung alarm bells at that, and they were justified as Mr. Shirogane’s quiet next words cut through the class like a hot knife through butter.

“I have cancer.”

It was like someone had cut Lance’s strings, his legs wobbled and he had to sit down. He couldn’t see it, he couldn’t imagine his cool and smiling teacher in a hospital bed or...dying. It was like water was rushing past his ears, and everything was muffled. He could faintly hear someone asking desperately if he was pranking them, and the sound of Mr. Shirogane’s simultaneous sad denial and the clatter of a chair hitting the ground. Looking up from the shiny white tile in slow motion, Lance caught Keith Kogane storm out of the classroom, slamming the door behind him.

There was no Hunk after class to give him a hug since his family had gone to Honolulu for a week starting yesterday. To make things worse, it had started to rain. Lance looked out at the thunderously gray sky, fat raindrops splattering on the soaked pavement in front of him from where he stood under the overhang in front of the school. Most people had either gone home or were huddled under trees to keep out of the downpour. For some reason, Lance had stayed around a little longer that day before heading home.

He didn’t want to use his umbrella, he wanted to let the water drench him so he could vent out a little bit of his depressed mood, but he knew his mamá and his coach would crucify him if he got sick before practice season. Reluctantly, he opened his umbrella, stepping out under the chilly rain. Suddenly he noticed someone else trying to make their way out of the school, backpack held overhead as a makeshift protective shield. Pity rose up in the lacrosse player, and he walked over to the slightly shorter person and tapped their shoulder. They whirled around and brought their bag to their chest, revealing a red-eyed Keith Kogane. It was hard to tell if he had been crying or it was the rain.

Whichever it was, the glare Keith sent him shut whatever offer of help he had been planning in his chest, unable to escape him. Instead, he silently offered the umbrella above his head to the male in front of him, staring as the water drenched his clothes and caused him to shiver a bit. Keith looked torn, looking wistfully up at the promising shelter of the umbrellas hood for a moment before he tore his gaze away and spat, “I don’t need your help, McClain,” and walked quickly away through the school gates.

If Keith Kogane were asked what kind of person Lance McClain was, he would say that he was your average dumb jock. There didn’t seem to be anything in that lanky lunkhead’s brain except chasing skirts and lacrosse. So how did such an idiot get a better grade than him on the English final? From the back of the classroom, Keith glared at the back of Lance’s irritating brunette head, clutching his 98% in his hands as the lacrossse player laughed at his best friend who was currently mourning his abysmal score of 68%. Keith’s eyes wandered over to the large boy who was pouting at Lance. Hunk Garret, a member of the school’s varsity football team as well as president of the cooking club, known by freshman to be one of the kindest upperclassmen in the school. How such a good guy got stuck with a airheaded prick like Lance, Keith would never know.

The two sports players must have felt the eyes on them because suddenly Lance curiously looked over his shoulder, those blue eyes meeting Keith’s dark ones, jumping a little in his seat at the simmering fury held within them. Just then, the bell signaling the end of the period rang, and Keith grabbed his backpack before storming out of the classroom, those hauntingly blue eyes following him as he left.

Back in the classroom, Lance McClain grabbed his things a bit distantly, wondering at the expression in that guy’s eyes. Had Lance messed with his girlfriend or something without knowing? He tried not to go into the territory of girl-stealer if he could help it. But why would some random dude he’d never even spoken to before give him that look, if not because of some reason like that? Next to him, Hunk nudged him with an elbow with a look of concern on his face.

“You good, dude? What’s up? Next period starts in eight minutes and you’ve just been staring the whiteboard with this weird frown on your face for the last two minutes,” Hunk grinned jokingly. “What, did you see a pretty girl or something?”

Lance snapped out of his thoughts, groaning at Hunk with a frown as he haphazardly shoved everything on his desk into his backpack. “Not everything I think is about girls, Hunk!” When his bigger friend raised an amused eyebrow at him, Lance turned red and lightly hit him in the shoulder as he incredulously cried, “What do you think I am, some kind of horny animal or something?!”

Hunk watched him sling his backpack on, slinging an arm around Lance’s shoulders as he led them down the hall and replied with mirthful chuckle, “Exactly.”

Lance opened his mouth to deny such ridiculous claims, but he was stopped short when someone ran into him...quite literally. The other person stumbled in response to Lance’s strong stance, dropping a notebook. Leaning down, Lance quickly swept it up before turning his eyes to whoever it was, already holding the notebook out to return it. He was shocked when he was met by cold eyes and a frown that were familiar. As the guy snatched back back his notebook, he realized it was the guy who was glaring at him in English just a few minutes ago. From up close, he realized the the other guy was actually rather pretty, almost like girl-like.

The other guy stared him in the eyes almost challengingly, and Lance coughed uncomfortably, breaking the deep eye contact first. At this, the other guy’s lips smugly quirked up a bit at the corner and he shoved past Lance, bumping shoulders in the process. Staring after him, Lance grumbled, “What was his problem? Bastard.”

Follwoing Lance’s eyes, Hunk quietly said, “That’s Keith Kogane. Rumor has it he was expelled from his last school for sending a kid to the hospital, that’s why he transferred here last year. He doesn’t really seem to want to make friends, so everyone kind of leaves him alone. He gets really good grades though, I’m jealous.” He sighed wistfully at the end, shoulders drooping as he remembered his English final grade.

Title: Wishes Defy Space and Time

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Pairing: Gajeel x Levy (less romantic than you’d think)

Fic Type: Time Travel AU

“They'll never see it coming."

”You hired a stripper!!?"

”Who in the hell gets detention on purpose?"

”Not on my bed please."

“I told you not to leave a hickey."

“It was love at first sight."

“Just confess to them already. I hate seeing you like this."

”You have to chose, me or them."

“Can you chill with your teenage angst?"

“Tonight's the night we get you laid."

“What did I say about letting ____ in the kitchen?"

“Why do you two look like drug dealers?"

“It's you and me against the world."

“Do you know how you kill someone? You tell them you love them and never speak to them again.”