The next day, in Lucy's newly rented home-
Natsu grinned, flashing his trademark row of white teeth as he looked at the blonde girl before him.
"Let's team up, Lucy!"
"Team up?" Lucy blinked, not quite following.
Happy raised a little paw beside her and explained:
"Aye! Everyone in the guild is a friend."
"But Wizards who are especially close usually form permanent teams."
"That way, difficult jobs that are hard to handle alone become much easier when a team tackles them together!"
"Sure, sure!"
Lucy's eyes lit up, and she clapped excitedly.
"That sounds like fun!"
"Ohhh! Then it's settled!!" Natsu raised both hands and cheered.
"Aye!"
Lucy cupped her flushed cheeks in both hands, already laughing smugly to herself.
Hehe, that's me for you! Looks like they really recognize my skills!
Natsu excitedly slapped a job request onto the table in front of Lucy with a smack.
"Then let's hurry up and get to work! Look, I've already picked out a job!"
"Honestly, you really are impatient."
Lucy calmly reached for the request, looking at Natsu with a touch of wonder.
"Still, you sure bounced back quickly."
"When I saw you run out looking so crushed yesterday, I thought you'd be down for quite a while."
"But today you suddenly break into my home and ask me to team up."
Natsu narrowed his eyes at Lucy, looking at her as though she were an idiot.
"Huh? Crushed? I wasn't!"
Lucy asked in confusion:
"Yesterday! After that Blanc guy wiped out your attack so easily, didn't you run out because you were crushed?"
"Oh, you mean that!" Natsu tapped his fist into his palm in realization and grinned.
"Why would that get me down? It wasn't my first loss. I just suddenly heard news about Igneel yesterday, but couldn't