Hiding In Plain Sight

Chapter Seventeen

So I have a couple of chapters already written ahead of this one (which is why I'm able to maintain a schedule) and lemme tell you, things are getting SO spicy. Like so much drama is unfolding, especially in the next chapter. I wish I could post it right now, but that'd be more stress on me since I'd be breaking the routine. But anyway, enjoy that chapter!

The test ended an hour and forty-five minutes after Nashi ran away from Natsu, and she was not happy about it.

Not about her passing the test, she was ecstatic about that, but about how she passed. Because she was one hundred and fifty percent sure he was going easy on her, and if there was anything Nashi hated more, it was people underestimating her.

She had only met Natsu a handful of times after she ran, most of them just glimpses. When she saw him, Nashi would bust down a wall or kick some furniture to create a blockade. Natsu could've blasted through in two seconds, but it would always be at least fifteen minutes before they met again.

Nashi thought back to the last time they encountered each other. They ended up walking into the same room at the same time, and the slam from Natsu opening the door had been so forceful it broke the ceiling above Nashi and blocked the doorway. The hole that was formed was plugged by some heavy furniture that fell over, and Natsu definitely wouldn't just let her walk out of the room.

Basically, they were stuck together. And what does an exhausted Fire Dragon Slayer do when she gets trapped with another Fire Dragon Slayer who needs to capture her?

She recklessly blasts as many attacks as she could to try and overwhelm him, not realizing that he is fully capable of dodging every single one (which he did).

One of her attacks bounced off a wall, where Freed's runes appeared at the first touch. The fire she sent spiraled upwards like a pinball into the ceiling, breaking it down again. Nashi would've jumped up on the pieces of wood that fell and into the next floor when she noticed a glowing stone hidden in the pile.

"I can't tell you what the actual item is, but you'll know it when you see it," Natsu had said almost two hours ago in the main room.

Nashi dove for the pile and clasped the item in her hand, protecting it from Natsu so he wouldn't be able to get to it first. As soon as she did, she ignited her body with her magic and leaped toward the wall. She half-expected to be thrown back again but grinned when the wall broke on impact and she found herself in the air. Because the building wasn't as tall as Redclaw's base and she had been prepared, unlike a few days ago, she was able to land on her feet and sprint away without a backward glance.

This had been just a few minutes ago, and Nashi's fatigue was catching up to her. Dragging her legs through the forest in a direction she hoped to be toward the guild gave her time to go over what just happened, and she confidently came to the conclusion that for some reason Natsu decided she wasn't worth his time.

She admired the setting sun as she brooded. Maybe he was told to lessen his strength. After all, he's leagues ahead of me. But that doesn't explain why he was moving so slowly. This stone was right in front of him, but he didn't go after it. Did something happen during the first time we were separated? He seemed kinda off the rest of the-

Nashi's thoughts were cut off by the sound of a deafening roar, not like something she's heard from a Dragon Slayer. No, she knew exactly what this was: an obstacle she could take care of in five seconds flat, providing she wasn't dead tired from a thrown test.

She stilled as heavy footsteps caught up to her. She turned slowly, lifting her eyes to meet those of a Forest Vulcan peering down at her. A sadistic smile stretched on its face as it started to move its arm to her.