#date request

I really like Kagura x Lucy (what's the ship name?). I think that they would make really good friends and I wish that they had some moments together. I honestly can't remember if they did interact. I think that they look great as a couple. It's a really attractive ship and I wish there were other fics about them.

I should also note that I do not know anything about swordsmanship, so everything I write in this is what I got from Google.

I hope you enjoy!

Swordsmanship Lessons (Kagura x Lucy)

"90...91...92...93...94...95...96...97...98...99...100!"

Lucy rolled over onto her back, sweating and breathing heavily. She lay on the dirt of the training clearing and her arms were aching from having just done a hundred push-ups. As she took some time to catch her breath, she heard footsteps approaching her, followed by a voice that she enjoyed hearing, "you did good. Are you ready to begin sword training?"

Lucy responded breathlessly, "give me a few minutes, Kagura."

The celestial wizard looked up at Kagura and watched as she kneeled beside her. The Mermaid Heel mage responded, "the push-ups will get easier."

Lucy sighed and pushed herself up into a sitting position. She stared down at her lap, her breathing still heavy, though a bit less so now. She was relieved that she was finally going to start learning how to use a sword. She had been doing all sorts of exercises, all to improve her physical condition so that she could start her swordsmanship lessons.

She knew that learning how to use a sword wasn't exactly necessary, considering she had celestial spirits and a whip, but she still felt as though she had to do more. Too often she felt like she wasn't doing enough in battle, so she decided that she should broaden the range of weapons that she can use. Something that she had quickly noticed over the years was that swords were a common weapon that many mages used alongside magic. Thus, she decided that she would learn how to use a sword.

The obvious choice of teacher was Erza, however, Lucy didn't even think about going to her for lessons. Instead, she traveled to Mermaid Heel and asked Kagura to teach her swordsmanship. One may wonder why she had gone to a mage from a different guild rather than one of her closest friends. Well, the answer is simple.

Lucy is in love with Kagura.

She saw the lessons as a chance to get closer to the other mage, not just to learn how to use a sword. When Kagura agreed to teach her, she was incredibly happy as well as surprised, having expected the black-haired woman to turn her down. Lucy was, nonetheless, excited to begin the lessons.

They had decided to meet every Tuesday at this particular dirt clearing and surprisingly were able to keep the date without faltering once. Kagura had started her off by building her physical condition. Push-ups, jumping jacks, sit-ups, sword swings, and other such methods of exercise. This went on for a few months. It was tiring, but she managed to push through, determined to learn the art of sword fighting and become closer to her teacher.

She had many times attempted to ask out Kagura, but would either get interrupted to move on to some other exercise, or would be unable to speak the words that she wanted to. However, she wasn't discouraged. She was determined to ask out the gravity mage.

After having regained control over her breathing, she stood up, dusted off her clothing, and turned to face Kagura, giving her a large smile as she exclaimed, "I'm ready!"

Kagura gave her a nod before she turned around and walked to a nearby wooden table. It is here that she kept a couple of katanas along with a couple of wooden ones. Lucy frowned to herself upon noticing that Kagura hadn't returned her smile with any indication of enjoyment of their time together. In fact, she couldn't think of a single time that the Mermaid Heel mage seemed to be happy at all. Was she not enjoying her time with Lucy? Would she rather be somewhere else? If that was the case, then why had she agreed to teach Lucy?

The blonde mage was broken out of her thoughts when she heard Kagura speak, "here, take this."

Lucy accepted the wooden katana, the feeling of the wood a familiar sensation from the sword swings that she had to do with it. Just thinking about those hundreds of sword swings made her arms hurt. She looked at Kagura as the other woman continued to speak, another wooden katana in her hand, "there are several factors that go into being successful in a sword fight. Your body must be in excellent physical condition, so you should continue to exercise even after we finish your lessons completely. You must also be aware of your surroundings and remain calm in battle. Keeping control over emotions would give way to mistakes."

Lucy nodded as she listened, hanging on to every word that Kagura said. "you must also know how to be deceptive. Fighting fair will ensure that you lose. You must be able to trick your opponent into thinking that you are going to do one thing, when really, you are going to do something else. You must be confident in your abilities. Faltering for even a second could spell your demise. You must lack rhythm. If you set a pattern while you fight, then your attacks will be predictable. You must be able to not only keep yourself from being intimidated, but also to intimidate your opponent. You must know when to strike and how closely to do so. Finally, you must never underestimate your opponent. Do you understand?"

Lucy nodded her head, her brown eyes and smile reflecting her determination. Kagura took a step closer, instructing her, "raise your sword and get into a long stance." After Lucy did as she was instructed, raising her wooden sword, placing her feet apart with one behind the other so that they were parallel with her shoulders, and bent her knees, Kagura continued after having raised her sword above her head, "it appears that I am going to attack you with an overhead strike, however, this is an example of deception. My actual attack will be a kick." She closed the distance between the two of them, bringing her foot up to press against Lucy's midsection as she moved her sword to rest across her front. The swordswoman added, "I keep my sword positioned like this so that if my kick is unsuccessful, then I can follow up with a strike, or I can block your sword if you try to strike at me."

Lucy moved back into a long position when Kagura stepped away from her, asking, "do you remember what a parry is?"

Lucy nodded, remembering a few weeks ago when Kagura had taught her what a parry was for her sword swing exercises. Kagura nodded and raised her wooden sword over her head, instructing, "parry my strike."

Lucy nodded and tightened her grip on her sword. She raised it, waiting for her teacher to bring her own sword down in a non-threatening attack. When the sword was finally brought down, Lucy whipped her sword up, blocking the strike. Kagura said, "good."

The black-haired woman brought her sword back up, seeming to go for an overhead strike again. Suspecting that this was instead a feigned attack, Lucy side-stepped, causing Kagura's sword to swing down to the ground. Just as Lucy was about to go for her own attack, aiming to hit her teacher's back, a foot swept one of hers from under her, causing her to crash onto the ground on her back.

She gave an 'oof' from the impact and stayed where she lay, wondering what had just happened. She looked up at Kagura, who was leaning over her, and asked, "what the hell?"

The corner of Kagura's mouth twitched up to a small, half smile, something that Lucy noticed and was both surprised and delighted to see. The black-haired woman responded, "you need to be aware of possible deception. Your dodge was very good, but you still left yourself open for an attack on your legs. You should have continued to move behind me and then attack me."

Lucy heaved a sigh, her eyes moving to look past Kagura's head and stare up at the clouds above. She then sat up before looking over at Kagura and watching as she sat next to her. The celestial wizard stared down at her lap, her hands clamped together. She instantly noticed how closely she and the other mage were sitting, the proximity causing her to blush and divert her gaze from the gravity mage.

She sighed once more, figuring that right now would be better than any other chance to actually talk to her. Lucy's gut became filled with butterflies and her palms began to sweat as she turned to Kagura, asking, "Kagura...I was wondering. Are you not happy to be teaching me how to use a sword?"

The Mermaid Heel mage titled her head slightly to one side in confusion, inquiring, "what do you mean? If I wasn't happy to help you, then why would I have agreed?"

Lucy shrugged, looking back down at her lap. "You don't really smile or anything like that. You don't seem to be happy."

"Well, I am. I have no reason to not be happy." There was a few moments of silence before Kagura continued, "after all, you're here."

Lucy whipped her head around to look at her in confusion. What did she mean by that? The blonde opened her mouth to ask for clarity, but was quickly cut off when Kagura asked with a small smile, "would you like to go on a date, Lucy?"

Lucy stared at her with widened eyes. She couldn't believe that the woman she had fallen for was asking her out. She wanted to do that! A grin spread across her face as she nodded her head excitedly. Kagura gave a small chuckle before she stood up, saying, "let's finish our lesson and then we can get some lunch. How does that sound?"

One of my favorite celebrity fastcards of 1D- Date Request