Year 3.5
"WHOOOOO" Natsu ran around the house as one of the maids kept chasing him. He was thrilled. He was finally able to run properly. Finally! Although he was still slow and weak. Being this mobile again was exciting.
"Please, young master Yakuto! You have to change out of your pajamas!" The maid said as she tried to chase him down.
"Call me Natsu damn it!" Natsu yelled as ran forward.
Rei and the maids were expecting Natsu to be different, but it was far worse than expected. Each year, he became more and more unstoppable. It's like he had infinite energy. Except for the moments where he stopped to eat or sleep. He was never still. He was more like an animal. He would constantly try to run off. He refused to have others dress him. He kept trying to climb over the main gate like he was trying to escape.
"Comeon, I wanna see the outside damn it!" Natsu yelled as he tried to climb the gate. Although Natsu had been out, it was mostly when he was carried or strapped down in the stroller. He was never able to explore alone. He decided that today would be it. He did try a week ago, but definitely today! However, before he was able to get very far, a butler came out of nowhere and grabbed him and placed him down. The butler already knew Natsu was up to and kept a close eye on him.
"Young master, please stop trying to escape. Lady Rei already said she would take you outside sometime. Just wait for that to happen."
Natsu sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll stay back." He resigned and walked back into the house.
The butler sighed in relief. This kid was too energetic.
On the other side of the house -
"Young master Haise…you have to stop taking your clothes off…" Another maid chased after the other child with clothes in her arms.
"I want to be called Gray. Stop calling me Haise!!" Gray evaded getting grabbed by the maid and ran under her legs into another room where he met up with Natsu. Gray was another issue altogether for the maids. He was a lot more level headed than Natsu, but he had a strange habit of taking his clothes off and leaving them around the house. His coolheaded demeanor also vanished whenever Natsu was in the same room as him and the two of them together were their own forces of nature.
"Three years of being called "Yakuto! And I still haven't gotten fully used to it." Natsu grumbled.
"Yeah and for two of those years we couldn't even speak the new language properly. What the hell?!" Gray added.
"So you remember anything after everything Zeref did yet?" Natsu asked as the two ran into their secret hideout.
"Nah…just remember being engulfed by a bright light. It's all still a blur to me." Gray responded.
"Yeah…I miss Happy…" Natsu's expression changed and the fire in his eyes vanished.
"Yeah…all of Fairy Tail…gone… I want to think they're safe though…or maybe they reincarnated like us and are living as babies again."
"And of all people I'm stuck with the streaker." Natsu said with a cheeky grin, throwing Gray's pants at him.
Gray snickered back in a mocking tone. "Shut up…Yakuto."
"Dammit, not you too! Haiseeeeee!" Natsu and Gray began to butt heads again only to be interrupted by the shouts of the maids looking for them.
"Crap. We gotta find a new hiding place." Gray said, trying to run while putting his clothes back on.
"Fine, we'll settle this later!" Natsu and Gray both ran out of the room, running in opposite directions in the hallway as the maid had to choose which one she would chase down today.
"Young masters….." Her voice faltered as she slumped over, exhausted. "I don't get paid enough for this…"
—-------------
Natsu and Gray eventually heard their mother Rei calling for them as they scampered around the house.
"Guess the maids gave up and decided to call mom huh?" Gray commented.
"She's scary when she gets mad! We gotta run!" Natsu responded.
"Run? No you idiot, we need to go to her before she reaches that point!" It'll be worse if we stall it out."
"Have you seen that look in her eyes?! She's almost as scary as Erza!"
Rei suddenly appeared behind them both, scooping them up into her arms. She saw Gray was completely butt naked and Natsu was still in his pajamas.
"Were you two causing trouble for the maids again?" She asked sternly, but there was no actual anger.
"No.." Natsu tried to lie, but his face twisted as it was extremely obvious he was lying.
"You mean trying to escape and streaking around the house" Rei's stern expression faded and she laughed.
"Just let me go outside! It's so boring being caged up in this house all day!." Natsu complained, trying to free himself from Rei. But it was no use.
"I have no excuse. I think my clothes just fell off." Gray said matter of factly, also struggling to escape.
Rei raised an eyebrow. "Fell off huh? I also hear you've been telling the maids to call you Natsu and Gray."
They both nodded. "Yeah!"
Rei just sighed. She looked at Natsu. "We can't call you Natsu, that's your elder brother's name and it'll just be confusing. Natsu tried to protest but a stern look from Rei just silenced him immediately. She turned to Gray. "And we don't want to call you Gray. Haise is so beautiful. Why would you want your name to just be a color?"
"It's not a- what?" Gray was dumbfounded.
Just then, a toddler with half white and half red hair waddled in. He was wearing neat and tidy clothes. He innocently looked up at Rei and raised his arms towards her, wanting to be carried.
Rei sighed and picked Shoto up as well. She grunted slightly. "You kids have so much energy.
She saw Natsu's disappointed face as he struggled and sighed "How about I take you three to the park for today.
Natsu suddenly stopped struggling, and had an excited look on his face. 'The park, that's where I can train.'
Gray stared blankly as he sighed and let himself be carried. 'When will this be over…'
Rei finally took the kids towards the car. However, when Natsu saw the vehicle, he suddenly panicked and backed up.. "No way, I am not getting in a vehicle!! Let me walk."
Although Gray had already seen cars multiple times now, It still surprised him. It reminded him of how advanced this world was.
Rei quickly picked up Natsu and carried him to the car. "Yakuto, why are you so afraid of cars?" She calmly patted his head and placed him in a carseat in the back. Natsu thrashed around, however, Rei had done this enough times to quickly tie him in. She seated herself in the passenger seat.
Gray watched as Natsu thrashed about. This wasn't the first time he saw Natsu freaking out in the car. Normally, Gray remained silent except this time, where Natsu's flailing hit him in the face, leaving a visible red mark on his cheek.
Gray punched Natsu on top of his head, causing Natsu to reel from the pain. He leaned over and whispered.
."Hey flame for brains, you're not a dragon slayer anymore. You don't have motion sickness. It's all in your head."
Natsu froze and scratched his head right. The first time he went into the car, he thought was having motion sickness. However, after a few times he realized it was actually in his head. However, there were times when he forgot that he no longer had it.
"Right, I forgot." Natsu replied and sat straight back.
Gray rubbed the part of his face where Natsu smacked earlier.
"It's too early to be this stupid."
"What did you say snowflake!" Natsu turned and glared at Gray. The two of them locked eyes briefly before Natsu suddenly grabbed Gray by his shirt and punched him.
"You want some of this!!" Gray retaliated back with a punch.
Shoto reached over and tried to stop them.
Rei quickly turned around and sighed. She glared at her two fighting children. Both Gray and Natsu felt a chill in the air and looked towards their mom, some frost forming on her face with a cold look in her eyes.
"You two stop and behave right now!" She said sternly. The car felt colder than usual and Natsu and Gray froze as an image of Erza glaring at them that exact same way flashed in their head. The two of them immediately ceased their bickering and hugged each other.
"A-Aye sir"
"No fight!" Shoto chimed in from the side.
The duo quickly put their heads down and said nothing as the car drove off towards the park.
"Scary…" they both mumbled at the same time.
"The park!" Shoto looked outside the window of the car.
The car parked and the family left the car. Rei sat on a bench to the side talking with other mothers as Natsu, Gray, and Shoto entered the playground.
"I'm gonna be king of the jungle gym!" Natsu shouted excitedly as he ran to the playground. Shoto and Gray followed after him but Shoto paused briefly, looking at the shovels and buckets in the sandbox.
"Oh? You want to make some stuff in the sand?" Gray noticed. A smirk formed on his face. "Time for my "Sand-Make."
An hour passed as the three kids played on the playground. Gray had just finished making a huge sand castle with intricate details. and stood proudly above it. Shoto watched him with awe.
"That's so cool."
"Looks like I still got-" Another child suddenly ran through the sand castle. "No my castle!"
Shoto looked visibly sad and Gray turned to see the kid who did it. The kid looked like a six or seven year old. He had a mutant quirk that gave him the head of a lizard. Only the head.
"Watch where you're going you idiot!" Gray shouted at the child. The child stopped and turned around to face Gray with a menacing stare.
Natsu suddenly ran in and stopped next to Gray.
"That's the guy who threw me off the ropes and buried me in the sand! It's time for a rematch!"
"Come at me you losers!" The child taunted.
"Come and get it you dumb lizard." Natsu shouted. He charged at the kid and wound his fist back. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
The kid held Natsu by his head as Natsu swung at the air in front of him, unable to make up for
the lack of reach.
"Damn this tiny body!" Natsu shouted angrily.
The lizard headed kid dropped Natsu suddenly as a plastic bucket hit him in the head. He reeled in pain and looked up to see Gray running at him.
"Natsu, this kid is twice our size, we gotta fight differently." Gray shouted.
A grin formed on Natsu's face. "Alright then…I'm all fired up!"
"That was a cheap shot!" The lizard headed kid said. Gray jumped up into the air and threw sand at the kid.
"My eyes!" The lizard kid screamed. Gray immediately lunged at his legs and held onto one to restrain him. Natsu appeared behind the lizard kid and jumped onto his back.
"No- stop" Shoto began to tear up.
"Fire Dragon's Fang!" Natsu bit down on the kid's head and the kid shouted in pain. Natsu began grabbing his cheeks and stretching his mouth open.
"THATS ENOUGH!" A deep booming voice echoed through the park. A tall man, also with a lizard head appeared and pulled Natsu and Gray off of the kid.
"You brats think you can just attack my child?!" The Lizard man was furious.
"Some lousy parent you are. Your kid stepped all over my castle and buried Natsu!" Gray retorted.
"What is going on over here?" Rei exclaimed as she ran to her kids.
"Lizard head boy was bullying us." Shoto exclaimed with some tears in his eyes.
"They what?" Rei looked at Natsu and Gray and then at the lizard headed kid. She bowed her head apologetically.
"I'm sorry for my children. I'll be taking them home now."
The lizard man shook his head. He didn't want to get more involved in this.
"Come on son, let's go." Just faintly, Natsu and Gray could hear the man say something to himself. "It's always gotta be us heteromorphs…"
The car was quiet as they drove home. Natsu had some bruises on his face. "What were you thinking!!" Rei said.
"I-" Natsu started.
"Nope. You could've gotten hurt." Rei said as she reached over to caress Natsu's cheek where the bruise was forming.
"But he started it." Gray shouted but immediately closed his mouth when Rei looked over.
"It doesn't matter. If you get bullied, you come to me next time, okay!? You boys could've gotten seriously hurt."
Gray wanted to argue but he just lowered his head. "Okay…"
Natsu was just quiet as he looked out of the window. Rei looked through the mirror and sighed.
—
The sun was setting by the time they arrived home.
The front door slid open before Rei even reached for the handle.
Fuyumi peeked out, smiling, until she saw Natsu's face.
"Oh my gosh, What happened!?" she said as she reached down and inspected Natsu's face.
Before anyone could answer, she disappeared back inside and returned seconds later with a small medical kit. She knelt in front of him the moment he stepped out of his shoes, gently lifting his chin.
"It's not bad," Rei assured as she followed them in. "Just a bruise and a couple scratches."
Still, Fuyumi dabbed antiseptic on the scrapes.
Natsu didn't flinch, even as Fuyumi dabbed it on his face which surprised her. But she didn't think much about it. She continued cleaning Natsu when heavy footsteps echoed from deeper in the house.
Endeavor appeared, sharp-eyed and intimidating.
His gaze immediately locked onto Natsu's face, bruising and a red mark against pale skin.
"What happened?" he asked, his eyes just softening slightly.
Rei answered before any of the boys could.
"The boys got into a small scuffle at the park."
Endeavor's eyes narrowed. There was panic in his voice.
"Was Shoto injured?"
Rei shook her head. "No, he's fine."
He exhaled, not in relief, but irritation.
"And you allowed them to get into a situation where Shoto could have been put at risk?"
Rei stiffened, lips tightening. "I was watching them. I only looked away for a moment."
Endeavor pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh, then placed a hand on Shoto's shoulder.
"Be careful next time." He said to Natsu and Gray. "Come along Shoto" He turned.
Shoto hesitated. He glanced at Natsu, at the bruise, at the downcast look, wanting to say something.
But Endeavor steered him away before he could.
Rei let out a quiet breath after they left, one hand gently sweeping Natsu's hair back from his forehead.
"Go wash up, okay? Dinner will be ready soon." Her voice was quiet.
Natsu and Gray both nodded and went to their room to clean up.