Fairy Tail: My Magic is a Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck — Chapter 181

Chapter 181: You Must Come Tonight! Natsu’s Confession to Lucy?

“Really, truly worthy of Chase… accepting an SS-Class request without even batting an eye.”

Lucy lay slumped against the sticky wood of the guild hall table, letting out a soft, drawn-out sigh. Envy pooled in her large brown eyes as she watched Mirajane happily trot up the stairs to process the official registration.

Just a few casual sentences, and the job was locked in.

That was a legendary SS-Class request!

It had only been a few months since she joined Fairy Tail, and the absolute highest tier of danger Lucy had faced so far was the S-Class Galuna Island mission. The sheer terror and overwhelming pressure of that island were still burned fresh into her memory. With her current level of experience, she couldn’t even begin to fathom the nightmarish difficulty of an SS-Class job—let alone the astronomical mountain of Jewels it would pay out.

“If you’re so interested, how about we team up? I’ll show you the world,” Chase asked, his voice suddenly cutting through her thoughts.

At first, Lucy thought the ambient noise of the rowdy guild hall was playing tricks on her ears. It was only when she lifted her head and met Chase’s direct, amused gaze that she pointed a trembling finger at her own face. “Eh? Me?!”

“Yeah. Is there anyone else sitting here?”

“That’s not the point at all! Where did I ever give the impression that I was interested?!”

Receiving actual confirmation, Lucy felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She shot up from her stool, aggressively pointing at the folded parchment resting in Chase’s hand. “That is an SS-Class! Two S’s! Do you know what that means?!”

“It’s just a request. What’s the big deal?” Chase tucked the paper into his pocket, a self-satisfied smirk playing on his lips. “Well then, it’s happily decided~!”

Beneath his casual exterior, Chase’s mind was already calculating the timeline. Based on the natural progression of events, the Magic Council would soon be issuing the joint subjugation mission against the Oración Seis to the Allied Guilds.

While they still had a brief window of peace, he wanted to drag Lucy through a rigorous round of special training. The ideal outcome would be forcing her magical container to expand enough to skillfully wield the power of the Star Dress.

As for the lethal dangers of an SS-Class environment?

Chase, whose current magical output comfortably rivaled the mid-tier members of the Ten Wizard Saints, possessed absolute confidence in his ability to lock down any battlefield. Keeping a single Celestial Spirit Mage breathing was hardly a challenge.

“Don’t just make such a terrifying decision on your own!” Lucy yelled, sending a fine spray of saliva flying across the table.

Deep down, she desperately needed the work to supplement her rent. Teaming up with Chase would also neatly bypass the awkward guilt of taking a job without Natsu—a dilemma she had just been venting to Mira about. But this wasn’t a simple escort mission.

This was an SS-Class meat grinder where a single misstep meant a closed-casket funeral!

“Ah? That’s really a shame.” Chase skillfully raised a hand, wiping the girl’s frantic spit from his cheek with a dramatic, regretful sigh. “I was just thinking that if you were willing to tag along, we could split the eighteen million Jewel reward right down the middle.”

“H-How much?!” Lucy’s already massive eyes bulged to comical proportions.

“Eighteen million J…”

The sheer weight of the number shattered her survival instincts. Lucy’s posture instantly morphed. She shamelessly sidled up to Chase, batting her eyelashes with a sickeningly sweet smile. “Chase~ When are we leaving? How about we go right now?”

Who cared about mortal peril? For nine million Jewels, she was willing to fight a dragon with a butter knife!

“Hey Lucy, I can literally see the stench of money radiating from your eyes~” Happy chimed in, hovering over her shoulder with a deadpan stare.

The blue cat wasn’t the only one eavesdropping. The surrounding tables had gone suspiciously quiet.

“Hey, Chase! Lucy can’t go with you. I need to meet her tonight!” Natsu suddenly shouted, marching over with his usual lack of an inside voice.

“Man! So the person Natsu has been talking about wanting to see all afternoon is Lucy?” Wakaba chuckled around his pipe.

“You really like her, kid, but demanding her time like that is a bit too overbearing!” Macao added, grinning widely.

“They liiiike each other~”

Seeing the perfect opening to fan the flames, the entire guild swarmed in. Max even shamelessly rolled his R’s, delivering a flawless impression of Happy’s signature catchphrase.

Lucy hadn’t even processed Natsu’s demand before the tidal wave of jeers and catcalls crashed over her. Remembering Mirajane’s earlier, highly detailed analysis of ‘office romances’, the blonde’s face instantly burned a violent shade of crimson. She stumbled backward, her hands waving frantically.

Tonight? Meeting me alone? Is this… a con-con-con-confession?!

No, wait! I-I-I-I’m not ready for this! My rent isn’t even paid!

“Then we’ll just wait until tomorrow to set off. Gives us time to prepare,” Chase laughed, leaning back in his chair.

He was the only person in the entire building who knew exactly why Natsu wanted to meet her in secret. Listening to Lucy’s heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird as she spiraled into romantic delusions, Chase had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from bursting into actual laughter.

“Oh, okay. Works for me,” Natsu agreed readily, completely oblivious to the heavy atmosphere.

“Hey, you guys! Before you reach an agreement, could you at least ask the opinion of the person actually involved?!!” Lucy shrieked, feeling like a piece of meat being bartered at a market.

Natsu, utterly lacking the hardware required to read a room, simply pointed at her. “So Lucy, you must come tonight! Got it?”

Lucy’s jaw dropped. “…—”

Time slipped away, giving way to a cool evening breeze.

The night sky over Magnolia was clear, painted with a bright, silver moon and a scattering of sparse stars. The South Plaza Park was dead quiet, save for the rustling leaves of the massive, hundred-year-old oak tree in the center.

Despite spending the entire afternoon muttering things like ‘I don’t even like him’and’Even if we’re partners, I have to firmly reject him,’ Lucy had still acted as if possessed. She had summoned Cancer to give her a flawless, elegant hairstyle usually reserved for high-society galas, and squeezed into a stunning, form-fitting black evening dress.

She told herself she was only dressing up to ‘take Natsu’s confession seriously out of respect.’ But if pressed, she probably couldn’t even explain her own logic.

“Yo, Lucy! You’re here?”

Natsu was already waiting beneath the sprawling branches of the oak tree. He held a rusted iron shovel in his right hand. He blinked at her, looking her up and down. “Why are you dressed so strangely?”

“B-Because this is a very important occasion!” Lucy snapped, her cheeks flushing. She glared disdainfully at Natsu, who was still wearing his usual open vest, baggy trousers, and scaly scarf.

To invite a girl out for a midnight confession looking like a vagrant… he really was hopeless!

“Ahaha, it doesn’t matter what I’m wearing. Hurry up and call out the gorilla maid!” Natsu urged, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Lucy, who had spent the last two hours mentally rehearsing a gentle, polite rejection, froze. “What did you just say?”

“You know! That Celestial Spirit who’s really good at digging holes. Um… what was her name? Right! Virgo!”

“Her name is Virgo! And wait, didn’t you have something incredibly important to tell me?!”

“Hehe, this is the important thing.” Natsu tapped the heavy iron shovel against the hard dirt beneath his sandals, flashing a wide, toothy grin. “I heard the old man secretly buried everyone’s embarrassing childhood photos right here under this tree. With Virgo’s help, we won’t have to dig so hard!”

Lucy stared at him. The crickets chirped in the suffocating silence.

“Hurry and call her out! It’ll be bad if guys like Gray figure it out and get here first!”

“Bad my ass! Go to hell!!”

SMACK!

A crisp, echoing slap rang out across the empty park, startling a flock of sleeping birds from the canopy.

Finally realizing she had spent hours agonizing over absolutely nothing, the sheer mortification broke her. Lucy burst into humiliated tears on the spot, hiking up her elegant black dress and sprinting away into the night, looking like she wanted the earth to swallow her whole.

Following the tragic loss of the handsome guy with glasses from her past, Lucy’s desperate quest for sweet romance ended in yet another crushing defeat.

Natsu stood frozen under the tree, a vivid red handprint glowing on his cheek. He blinked blankly at the empty path, completely disheveled and utterly confused.

Well, in a sense, he was also full of regret. He really needed those photos.

Meanwhile, across town, inside a warmly lit living room…

Chase leaned back against his plush sofa, a steaming cup of tea resting on the table. Beside him, the Dark Magician Girl—having snuck out of her card form for the evening—kicked her boots happily in the air as they flipped through a slightly yellowed, dirt-smudged photo album.

That’s right. The legendary stash of embarrassing Fairy Tail childhood photos Natsu had been dreaming of digging up?

They had already been intercepted by this absolute mastermind.