Caught Red Handed
"Caught Red Handed"
Rated T
Summary: Lucy thought she was safe gushing over a gorgeous pink-headed boy in Japanese. Turns out she wasn't.
“You got another perfect score on the exam?” Lucy asked, bewildered when her friend had showed her the test, full marks written in red ink in the top corner, along with a smiley face. Though by now, she really shouldn’t have been surprised. Levy was practically a genius, and when it came to foreign languages, she couldn’t be beat. Even after only a day of studying a language, she was able to pick up on sentence structure just by comparing different sentences. She was the university’s prodigy, surely going to be successful in life.
“Yep!” Levy replied with a cheerful grin. “What about you?”
“I got a ninety-three,” Lucy answered, her lips curling into a smile of her own. It may not have been a perfect score, but she was still proud of it.
“Good job, Lu-chan! Let’s go celebrate with some smoothies!”
“Okay!”
Lucy glanced towards her petite friend, her smile growing. Levy was her best friend, and despite only knowing her for the past school year, it felt like she had known her forever. The blue-headed beauty was kind, intelligent, and welcoming. Even though nobody could compare to her intelligence, she was humble and never made anyone feel down about themselves for not being as smart as her.
She met Levy the first day of the school year in the intermediate Japanese class. The two sat at the front of the class, often paired to do projects together. They bonded immediately over their love for books, and once Levy found out that Lucy was an aspiring writer, their friendship was sealed with a promise that she would be her first reader.
Since then, they shared classes every semester as they advanced through the Japanese classes the university had to offer. They were nearing the end of the program with only one last class to go before they finished. Through countless nights filled with kanji flashcards, vocabulary sheets, and loads of homework, the two girls were practically fluent in the language.
Lucy never would’ve guessed that she would eventually become fluent in Japanese. She loved watching anime on her downtime, but it never occurred to her to actually study the language until she went on a business trip with her father to Japan. Falling in love with the culture and hearing the beautiful language firsthand, she knew she wanted to take classes.
Since then, she started watching anime without subtitles, she made penpals living in Japan, and she was able to talk to Levy without most people understanding what they were saying thanks to the program being small. Most students took Spanish or French at her university, after all.
Reaching the smoothie shop, Lucy was surprised to find that it wasn’t packed with students. It was one of the most popular stores in their city, usually filled to the brim with customers.
“Everyone’s probably home studying since it’s final’s week,” Lucy thought with a shrug, following Levy inside. Luckily, she and Levy had already done most of their studying.
As Lucy approached the line, her feet stopped in their tracks as she noticed a boy standing at the end of the line. Heat rushed to her cheeks, her mouth dropping open as she ogled the boy. His hair was pink, part of his bangs spiked up. A strange scarf was wrapped around his neck. She could tell the texture of it wasn’t normal cotton or fleece, but she couldn’t tell what it was. He also wore a weird coat with only one sleeve. Oddly enough, he didn’t have a shirt on, showcasing a set of toned abs.
As he talked to his friend- another attractive boy with raven hair and an unbuttoned shirt- she couldn’t help but stare at his grin. It was so wide and cheerful, showing off his teeth. His smile was infectious, as she could feel the corners of her lips curling into a small smile of her own.
Feeling a light nudge on her arm, Lucy jumped as she glanced towards her friend. Levy gave her a knowing grin, wiggling her brows skillfully at her.
“He’s cute, huh?” Levy asked with a snicker.
“Levy-chan!” Lucy squealed, glancing towards the boy to make sure that he didn’t hear her. Luckily, it seemed he was too caught up in his conversation to notice them.
“What? All I’m saying is he’s cute!”
Lucy’s face burned red as she slapped a hand over her friend’s mouth, shouting, “Japanese!” If her friend was going to tease her about it, she could at least do it in another language so that he wouldn’t understand. Glancing over her shoulder to see if the boy had heard her exclamation, she was immediately met with a pair of onyx eyes. Whipping her head towards Levy, she tried to calm her erratic heart and drain the pink from her cheeks.
In Japanese, Levy said, “Come on, let’s get in line.”
Lucy nodded, keeping her eyes on the floor. Standing just behind the boy and his friend, she gave a soft sigh of relief once the boy turned around to face the counter. Now that she wasn’t able to see his face, she could finally lift her gaze from the tiled floor.
“As I was saying, he’s cute,” Levy said in Japanese. “His friend is too. You should ask him out.”
“Ask him out?” Lucy repeated in the foreign language so that they couldn’t understand. They continued the rest of the conversation this way. “No way! We don’t know each other. He’d probably think I’m some freak if I did that.”
“Lu-chan, have you seen yourself? Trust me, no guy would ever think that. If anything, he’s probably trying to think of a way to ask you out in his head.”
“Yeah right.”
“It’s true. You’re a blonde bombshell. Every guy in here is drooling over you.”
“Blonde bombshell? You’re starting to sound like Cana!”
Levy gave a cheeky grin. “It’s true though.”
Lucy sighed. In an attempt to steer the conversation away, she asked, “What about you? Why don’t you ask his friend out since you think he’s cute?”
“He is, but he’s not my type.”
Now it was Lucy’s turn to snicker. “Oh right, your type is really tall guys with muscles bigger than your head, long black hair, and piercings just about everywhere. Someone like-”
“Lu-chan! Don’t say his name!” Levy shrieked, glancing around to make sure nobody heard them. Not that it mattered since they were still speaking in Japanese.
Lucy laughed at her friend’s red face. It was nice to get some payback.
Levy narrowed her eyes at her. “Besides, we aren’t talking about him. We’re talking about you and how you were undressing this guy with your eyes earlier!”
There was a quiet chuckle coming from the pink-headed boy, causing Lucy’s stomach to drop to the floor. Could he understand them? Slowly turning her head towards him, she breathed a sigh of relief as she found him engrossed in his phone. He probably laughed at a funny picture. There was no way he could understand them. If he did, he would’ve said something forever ago.
“I wasn’t undressing him,” Lucy said, rolling her eyes at her friend’s suggestion. With a playful tone of voice, she joked, “Though I’d like to.”
The two girls laughed as they moved up a step in line. The store was understaffed today, making each order take longer than usual. Not that Lucy minded. It gave her more time to ogle the gorgeous boy in front of her. Though, all she could see was his backside.
“Wow, Lu-chan! That’s pretty bold coming from a virgin!” Levy said.
Lucy giggled. “What can I say? The pink hair is working for me.”
“I’m sure those abs are working for you too.”
“Oh, they are. It’s weird that he isn’t wearing a shirt under his coat, but hey, works for me.”
“He is really fit. He’s even more fit than Dan.”
A groan slipped past the blonde’s lips. “Don’t even bring up Dan. I’m so glad he’s not in our class this semester.”
“Yeah, he was creepily obsessed with you.”
“He never got the hint either. Even though I kicked his ass whenever he approached me, he still asked me out every day.”
“What do you think this guy’s like? You think he’d be creepy like Dan?”
Lucy studied the boy for a moment before shaking her head. “No. First of all, nobody could be creepy like Dan. Second of all, he seems pretty carefree and easy going judging from his smile.”
Levy snickered. “You got all that from a smile?”
Lucy narrowed her eyes at her friend. “I can just sense it.”
“I’m telling you, Lu-chan, you should ask him out! I’ve never seen you so curious about someone before!”
“No way! He probably has a girlfriend already! I mean, look at him!”
“No way of finding out without asking him!”
Lucy shook her head. “Nope. Not gonna happen.” They took a step forward in line. She watched as the boy ordered his drink. His voice was heavenly, not too high nor too low. “I may not have the courage to ask him out, but I can definitely keep looking at him. God he’s so hot.”
“I’m sure that author brain of yours is coming up with some smutty stories right about now.”
Instead of denying it, Lucy played along, joking, “Oh definitely. My brain is just imagining all the things I would do to him if we were alone together.”
The two girls erupted in a fit of giggles, but their laughter was cut short as the boy suddenly turned towards them, drink in hand and a heavy smirk on his face.
Lucy quickly shut her mouth, warmth rushing through her body as he stared into her eyes. His gaze was so mesmerizing, she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
And then, in perfectly fluent Japanese, the boy spoke.
“Oh yeah? And what would you do if we were alone together?” he teased, his body shaking as he tried to contain his laughter.
A cold chill ran through Lucy’s body, her stomach dropping to the floor as she gawked at the boy in front of her. Her brain was short-circuiting. Her face was set ablaze, her heart pounding wildly in her chest as if she had just finished running a mile.
“U-Uhh, I uhh…” Lucy stammered, trying to wrack her brain for the right words to say. What could she say? She was just caught red handed talking about him. Her words from before now haunted her. My brain is just imagining all the things I would do to him if we were alone together. How embarrassing! Why in the world would she even say anything like that? “I-I was just kidding!”
The boy laughed as if her mortification amused him. His friend glanced between the two of them, brow raised in confusion.
“Later, weirdo!” the pink-headed boy said in English, waving to her before heading out the door, his friend following behind.
The two girls were still, trying to comprehend what just happened.
“H-He knew what we were saying this whole time,” Levy murmured, now speaking in English.
Lucy absentmindedly nodded. “Yes. Yes he did.”
“Even when you said-”
“Don’t repeat it!” The red tint in her face deepened as she replayed the situation over and over again in her head. Each time she did, the angrier she had gotten. “Stay here. I’m going to go give that jerk a piece of my mind!” Without waiting for a reply, she was out the door in a hurry to catch up to the boy who had humiliated her. Luckily, he hadn’t gotten too far, only a few feet from the entrance.
Running up to him, she grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around, planting her hands on her hips to give him a harsh glare. Meeting his gaze, however, was a mistake as it reminded her of how handsome he really was.
The boy stared right back at her. He was bewildered at first by being suddenly spun around, but once he saw it was her, that playful grin was right back on his face.
“Yo, weirdo!” he greeted with a nonchalant wave.
His friend glanced between them. “Do you know her, Natsu?”
“Nope. But when we were in there, she was talking about how-”
Lucy shrieked, slapping her hand over his mouth. “Don’t say it!” A squeal slipped past her lips as something wet slid against the palm of her hand. Yanking her hand away, she glared at him. “Did you just lick me!?”
The boy- Natsu, she had figured out thanks to his friend- glared right back at her. “You shouldn’t have covered my mouth!”
Lucy ignored him, turning to face his friend. Her brows were slanted as she pointed towards the shop. “You, go back inside. I have to talk to your friend.”
The raven-haired boy held his hands up in surrender. “Whatever.” Not wanting the blonde to take her wrath out on him too, he followed her instructions and went back inside the smoothie shop.
“Hey look, we’re alone now,” Natsu teased, the smug grin on his face causing a vein to tick in her forehead. “How about you do those things to me now since you never told me what they were earlier?”
Lucy’s blush deepened, her hands balling into tight fists. “You’re such a jerk!”
Natsu cocked his head to the side, his bangs sweeping over his forehead as he did. “How am I a jerk? You were the one talkin’ about me behind my back thinkin’ I couldn’t understand you.”
“W-Well, you could’ve told us from the beginning that you spoke Japanese instead of letting me go on like that!”
The boy’s grin returned. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Lucy internally swooned at the look he was giving her. All of her anger- her irrational anger- started to melt away at the sight of his carefree smile. She wondered if he knew he could have the world wrapped around his finger with that smile.
“W-Whatever,” Lucy muttered, crossing her arms and turning her back towards him so that he couldn’t see how flustered she was. “I’m going back, jerk.”
As she walked away, a warm hand wrapped around her wrist. Her heart lunged up to her throat as she was spun around to face Natsu. Their faces were close, and all Lucy could think about was how her jokes from before- the ones about wanting to undress him- may not have been jokes after all. An ache grew between her legs as her gaze dropped to see how close his body was to hers, and how she longed to close the space between them.
“You don’t hafta call me that,” he said. When he finally let go of her wrist and shoved his hands in his pockets, she immediately noticed the loss of warmth. “You can call me Natsu, weirdo.”
Warmth spread through her body. “Well… Then you don’t have to call me weirdo. I’m Lucy.”
Natsu grinned at her. “Nice to meet ya, Luce!”
Ignoring the new nickname he had given her, she asked, “You aren’t mad at me?”
The boy arched a brow. “Mad? For what?”
“For the weird stuff I said about you.”
“Oh, you mean the sexual stuff?”
Lucy blushed. Unable to say anything, she simply nodded.
“Nah, I’m not mad about that,” Natsu assured her, his lips curling into a smirk as he continued, “It was funny. ‘Sides, I think you’re hot too.”
Lucy’s body burned, butterflies swarming around in her belly. With newfound courage, she forced out, “Are… Are you seeing anybody?”
“Nope. I’m single. What about you? I’m guessing you are too considering your friend was telling you to ask me out.”
She nodded shyly. “I am. Do you, uhh, do you want to go out sometime?”
Natsu’s grin was filled with confidence, but by the light dusting of pink on his cheeks, Lucy could tell that he was nervous too.
“Sure! Sounds fun!” he answered.
She eyed him skeptically. “Despite what I joked about earlier, I’m not putting out.”
Natsu wasn’t deterred, he only laughed. “Jeez, Luce! You gotta get your head outta the gutter and stop thinking ‘bout that kinda stuff!”
“I just want to make sure you don’t get the wrong idea!”
“I didn’t agree for that, I agreed because you’re weird. But in a good way. You’re funny and I wanna get to know you.”
Lucy swallowed thickly, warmth running through her body. “O-Oh. Good.”
“So? Gonna give me your number?” Natsu asked, handing her his phone.
“Oh, right!” Quickly putting her number in his contacts, she handed his phone back to him. “I guess we can figure everything out later?”
“Yeah. You should probably get back to your friend. She’s been watching us for a while now.”
Lucy turned around to find Levy’s face pressed against the window in the smoothie shop, spying on them as she stood next to Natsu’s friend. Once the blue-headed girl realized she was caught, she dove away from the window, most likely crashing into something and causing a scene.
Lucy sighed. “I should’ve known.” Turning back to Natsu, she gave a sheepish grin. “So… I’ll talk to you later?”
Natsu nodded and teasingly replied in Japanese, “Talk to ya later, Lucy. You can tell me next time what you wanted to do to me when we’re alone!”
Lucy gave him a heavy smirk, her confidence raised. “Why tell you when I can just show you?”
Natsu immediately shut his mouth, his face burning red. With a wave, Lucy turned and headed back to the smoothie shop, making sure to swing her hips with each step.
And though she wasn’t planning on putting out, she made sure to make a mental note to buy some new underwear for her date because she had a feeling Natsu was going to be seeing them.
