The schoolyard buzzed with the familiar chaos of students reluctantly pouring in from summer vacation, laughing, stretching, chattering about how fast the break had disappeared. The days were still hot as the students gathered inside the school grounds. .
Natsu adjusted his scarf with a lazy grin as he strolled through the gate, hands buried in the pocket of his uniform. His sneakers scuffed the ground in rhythmic steps, light flames danced along his fingers as he twirled his pen, the temperature of his flames was extremely low. He smiled as he saw his progress. He was getting way better at controlling the temperature of his flames. His backpack hung off one shoulder, half-zipped, like he'd packed still waking up from his sleep, which he did.
"Yo! There he is!"
Natsu turned, grinning instantly as he spotted his friends near the front steps.
Itsuki Shou, lanky and animated with wind-swept dark hair, waved at him excitedly. Beside him stood Glowl, shorter but broader, his head, an Owl's. He gave a two-finger salute.
"Almost late to school on the first day." Glowl said, smirking.
"Was savoring my last moment of freedom," Natsu replied with a stretch and a yawn. "Summer break's over, and I'm sad. "
"You went off the grid, you barely replied." Itsuki said, half joking. "Where did you go on vacation again?"
"Mt. Fuji," Natsu grinned, eyes gleaming. "We went on this insane trip, there was snowboarding, hiking, hot springs, even staying in a cool hotel. I even trained like crazy."
"Of course you did," Glowl said, laughing. "Do you ever not train?"
"When I am sleeping." Natsu grinned.
They all cracked up, even drawing a few glances from other students trudging by to see who was being so loud so early in the damn morning.
Inside, the building hadn't changed: Same scuffed floors, buzzing fluorescent lights, and posters about fire safety that looked nervously in Natsu's direction. Their homeroom lists were posted on a giant board near the main stairwell. After the crowd thinned out, they made their way over.
"All right, Class 2-B," Itsuki read aloud. "We're still together."
Glowl gave a firm nod. "Nice."
Natsu leaned in. "Yeah, yeah, I see me. Okay. Not bad. Wait, is this the math teacher that was super strict??" He groaned loudly. "Why did we get him of all people?"
"Damn." Glowl said.
"Perfect," Natsu muttered, dragging a hand down his face. "Just when I was hoping this year would be easier."
"Just don't light the board on fire this year," Itsuki added, grinning.
"That was one time! And it was totally an accident!" Natsu rebuked.
The first day went about as expected, introductions, icebreakers, new schedules handed out, and an avalanche of "we're gonna work harder this year" speeches from half their teachers. By the final bell, Natsu flopped over his desk with a groan.
"Why is second year harder?" he whined.
"Because you're older," Glowl said flatly.
Natsu just mumbled something about not being fair..
As they filed out of the classroom, Itsuki jogged up beside him. "Hey, wanna hit the arcade later? Or grab takoyaki from that new stand by the station?"
Natsu gave a half-smile but shook his head. "Not today. Gonna head home and relax. Maybe study a bit."
"Look at you, finally being studious. I'm so proud of you" Glowl said, with mock seriousness. "See you tomorrow!."
"Later, idiots," Natsu said, waving over his shoulder as he jogged down the steps and toward the gate.
The sun was already dipping a little lower in the sky, shadows stretching across the yard. Natsu tucked his hands into his pockets again, humming a tune under his breath. He look around and saw a dark green haired boy walking home, muttering something. Other students slowly clearing out or heading to their club activities. He let out a breath.
-
The second Natsu stepped inside his room, he threw his scarf over his chair and flung himself face first into his bed. The door slammed shut behind him. His sheets smelled fresh, like pine. It would normally be nice, but he was mentally drained.
"Ughhh," he groaned into his pillow. "School sucks. I want to fight some villains…"
He lay there, limbs sprawled in all directions, letting the weight of his first day back settle over him. He already had homework on the first day, he was hungry, and dinner was still a couple hours away. He just laid there, face down in the bed with his uniform still on.
There was a knock on the door, and before Natsu could even say anything, it creaked open.
Gray stepped in, arms crossed over his chest, barefoot and in a sleeveless training shirt. His turquoise eyes scanned Natsu's sprawling body in amusement. He had almost fully recovered from his "fall." There were faint scars on his chest and sides and on his back.
"Yo. You just get back?"
Natsu mumbled incoherently into the bed with something resembling, Yes and get out.
Gray smirked. "Does that mean you're too tired for a quick spar? Afraid you will lose?"
That got Natsu to roll over just slightly. He narrowed one eye on Gray, lifting a brow.
"Ugh, we spar like almost every other day. It's starting to get boring."
Gray was stunned. Natsu was actually bored of fighting.
"I want to fight some cool villain, like that one time in the alley, or your guy in the forest." Natsu said.
Gray nodded.
"Adsasndjans" Natsu just flailed.
Gray shrugged. "You can try fighting Shoto. We haven't trained with him for a long time either. When was the last time he joined us."
"I don't know. I think it has been a few years. Endeavor keeps him busy with training so he doesn't want to train when he's with us too. I get it though. He trains at the agency by himself and studies all day. He doesn't want more training."
"You can go challenge Endeavor."
"Endeavor is out. Too boring. He uses fire and I can just eat it. I like a good slugfest as much as anyone, but I want to try fighting one of those villains on TV.
"Do you even think before you speak?" Gray sighed. "Why would you even try that? You know if you get caught using your quirk, you can get into trouble right."
"Wasn't it like a slap on the wrist?" Natsu questioned.
"Not always and knowing you, I expect half the city to be destroyed catching a mugger."
"That happened once. And I recall you were there too." Natsu rebuked.
"What about that time you destroyed the port fighting that fake salamander guy."
"He was pretending to be from Fairy Tail. I had to teach him a lesson." Natsu said, matter of factly.
"But why did you destroy the whole port??" Gray asked.
"Collateral damage." Natsu answered.
"Exactly, your "collateral damage" will get you in a lot more trouble than a simple slap on the wrist. They could fine you or charge you or even send you to prison. How exactly do you expect to get your hero license like that?"
Natsu didn't reply at first. He just planted his face back into his pillow and mumbled lightly. "What if I just don't get caught."
"What was that?" Gray raised an eyebrow.
"Nothin…" Natsu mumbled.
"Please don't do anything stupid…."
—
The next morning at Aldera Middle School, the energy in the halls buzzed louder than usual. Students dragged themselves through the second day of the new term, still in the weird limbo between vacation laziness and academic expectations.
Natsu leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs while staring at the ceiling.
Across the lunch table, Itsuki Shou jabbed at his rice with chopsticks. "You okay, man? You've been making that face all morning."
Glowl, currently chewing through three meat buns like his life depended on it, paused mid-bite. "That's his 'bored and gonna do something stupid' face."
"I am not gonna do something stupid," Natsu shot back, setting his chair down with a loud thud. "I'm just… thinking."
"But…you don't think." Shou muttered.
Natsu scowled.
Glowl just laughed, bits of food flying out of his beak.
"Dude, that's gross. Cover your mouth, beak whatever."
Glowl just glared at him.
Natsu continued staring absentmindedly at his friends, ignoring his food.
Then, without warning, he said, "I want to fight someone strong."
Both of his friends froze.
Shou blinked slowly. "Come again?"
"I want to fight someone strong," Natsu repeated, completely serious. "Like, villain strong. Not just these stupid middle school play yard fights." Since starting at Aldera Middle School, Natsu had gotten into a handful of fights, never ones he started, but always ones he finished. Most of the fights were over punks trying to push around his friends or run their mouths at the wrong time. Natsu didn't tolerate bullying, especially not when it came to Shou or Glowl.
The thing was, he didn't even need to use his Quirk. A few quick throws, a knee to the stomach, or a palm to the face was usually enough. Word spread fast: messing with Yakuto wasn't worth it.
"Okay, yeah, he's gone off the deep end," Glowl said, throwing a bun at him. "You do know we're still middle schoolers, right? We aren't even allowed to go near villains, much less fight them. How exactly do you intend to do it?
"You guys can help me find someone right?" Natsu asked, eyes filled with hope. "I mean, you're good at computers."
"And how does that help?" Shou asked.
"Maybe you can use it to find a villain and we can get to it before the Heroes do?" Natsu said it was obvious.
Glowl looked like he was in deep thought. "I mean…. It could technically work."
Shou narrowed his eyes. "So what, you want us to just find some villain in the act of crime and get to him, fight him and defeat him before the heroes show up?"
"That'd be ideal, yeah."
"You're insane. Not only is that extremely dangerous, it's also ILLEGAL…" Shou emphasized.
Natsu just leaned forward and pleaded. "Comeon. I am so bored of just training. I wanna fight someone. I feel like I'm stagnating."
"Stagnating?" Glowl repeated. "Bro, you beat up middle schoolers with ease. I bet you can beat up high schoolers too. Why not give them a whirl?"
"High schoolers are too weak too." Natsu said with a shrug. "I need someone that won't burn out in two seconds."
"PLEASEEEE!" Natsu pleaded.
Glowl just sighed. He looked at shou.
"Okay, fine. I'll try to help" Shou said carefully, "but you do realize if you pick the wrong fight, and someone reports it, you're not just gonna get detention, you could lose your chance at becoming a hero."
That made Natsu pause.
Gray's words echoed from the night before.
You'll never make it to any hero school.
He tapped his fingers against the table, a little rhythm of frustration and anticipation.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm not actually gonna go wild on the streets. I'm just saying…" He looked out the window, eyes narrowing at the cloudless sky. "If there's a way to find a strong fight without breaking the law, I'm taking it."
Shou exchanged a glance with Glowl.
"He's serious," Glowl whispered.
"Of course he's serious. He's always serious when he's being stupid. We're not actually doing this are we?
Natsu gave them both a look. "You guys are supposed to support your friend in need."
"We're supposed to keep you from going to jail!" they chorused.
"Okay, fine. But it will be small and we won't take too much risk and if it seems off, we call it off. Deal?" Shou said seriously.
Natsu nodded.
"Okay, meet me at my house next Friday."
Natsu just laughed, that wild glint still dancing in his eyes. He excitedly returned back to class.
"We're not really doing this, are we?" Glowl asked.
"Do you think he will stop if we don't help?" Shou asked.
Glowl remained silent.
"It's better this way, we can at least keep an eye on him and make sure it doesn't go off the rails." Shou assured. But it wasn't very convincing.
"But it will go off the rails." Glowl replied.
Shou just sighed.
–
About a week later on a Friday evening, Natsu found himself standing in front of a modest three-bedroom apartment building, sneakers scuffed and a backpack slung lazily over one shoulder. He gave the doorbell a few impatient jabs until Shou answered,
"Yo! Took you long enough," Shou said, stepping aside to let Natsu in.
"Blame the train." Natsu muttered as he kicked off his shoes near the door.
The place was cozy. Not fancy, but lived-in and warm. A few framed photos of Shou's family hung on the walls, vacation shots, school events, the usual stuff. Natsu had been here before, but never without Shou's parents around.
"They're outta town for a couple days," Shou said, like he read Natsu's thoughts. "Some company trip thing."
"Nice. So you have the whole place to yourself?" Natsu grinned. "Any snacks?"
Shou rolled his eyes. "You can eat later. Come on, Glowl's already here."
Natsu followed him down the hallway to a bedroom where Glowl was sitting cross-legged in front of a computer. Some sort of forum was pulled up on the screen, chat threads open, video thumbnails everywhere.
"Took you long enough," Glowl echoed, not looking up.
"You two always say that. Maybe you're just early," Natsu said, dropping his bag in the corner and flopping onto the spare bean bag with a grunt. "What's this?"
"We're checking out videos," Shou said. "Underground fights. Not villains or anything, just guys training or showing off their Quirks in private gyms. No pro oversight. Some of them are crazy strong."
Natsu's eyes sparked. "Strong, huh?"
"Don't even start," Glowl warned, side-eyeing him. "We already know what you're thinking."
"I didn't say anything!"
"You didn't have to."
Natsu leaned forward, peering at the screen. His fingers twitched with a mix of curiosity and itch—the kind of itch that only came with the idea of pushing himself harder. Fighting someone who might actually make him try.
"I just wanna see how I stack up," he muttered.
"Yeah okay." Shou said with a smirk.
-
Natsu leaned back on the beanbag, his gaze still fixed on the footage of strong quirk users sparring on-screen. But his mind was elsewhere.
"Strong, yeah…" he muttered. "But they're just playing. I don't want to just beat up random people. I want to fight a villain."
Glowl froze mid-scroll and just sighed. "…You're not serious." Although, he knew that would be his response.
Natsu didn't answer. His silence was more than enough.
"You are serious," Shou said, brows lifting.
Without another word, Glowl stood up and reached under the desk. From a hidden compartment in the drawer, he pulled out a small, old-school police scanner. It was compact, and well-maintained. "Got this from my dad's room. Don't tell anyone," he said in a hushed voice, handing it over like it was some sacred relic.
Natsu stared at it, eyes widening a fraction.
Shou stepped in, voice even but cautious. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"
No jokes. No smartass grin. Natsu nodded once, firm. "Yeah."
For a moment, silence filled the room. There was tension in the air.
Shou exhaled through his nose, dragging open his closet. "Well… if you're gonna do this, you can't just walk out there like you."
"What do you mean?"
"Fire quirk, red hair. It'll be an easy clue for people to see who's kid you are if you get caught. So I have some stuff here."
From the back, he pulled a neatly folded set of dark clothes, plain but sturdy.
"Black turtleneck, black pants, and some Gray high-tops," he said, tossing them over. "Won't stand out too much at night. And here—" He tossed over a folded beanie, the kind that could stretch down like a ski mask.
"Disguise is important. You get seen, you run. No hero license means no room for mistakes."
Natsu caught the beanie in one hand, staring at it with an unreadable expression. Then, slowly, he nodded. 'Like a ninja…'
Glowl cleared his throat, stepping in. "We shouldn't do it here in the city. Too many heroes. If someone strong spots you, you're done."
"Rural areas are better ," Shou added. "Less hero activity… maybe even less villain stuff, but that gives you more time. You go in, test yourself, and get out. No dragging it out."
Natsu remained quiet, absorbing every word. Not arguing. Just listening.
Then, Glowl spoke again, voice softer than usual. "We're only doing this because… you've always had our backs."
"Yeah," Shou nodded, stuffing his hands into his jacket. "You stopped that group from messing with Glowl through the years. And again when they tried cornering me outside the gym. You're a good guy. I know this probably means a lot to you right"
They exchanged looks.
"We got your back," Glowl said finally, glancing at the scanner. "So let's do this smartly. And you run if we tell you to, got it?"
Natsu looked between the two of them, and gave them a warm smile.
"You got it." He said excitedly. "Thanks." He had great friends.
Then he stood up, fists clenched, fire dancing in his eyes.
"I am getting fired up."