Face Your Fears (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Hard To Say

{YUUKI'S POV}
My back is covered in blood, which causes a lot of double takes when I run past people. The bar on the first floor of the Fairy Tail hotel is rowdy.

The adults are drinking and making merry, since Nashi, Storm, Avery, Lexi, and Reiki are all out doing their own thing. No lacrima can find them.

Nostrils flare when I enter the bar, as all the dragon slayers of Fairy Tail pin me with surprised stares.

Lexi's mom, Mirajane Dreyar, approaches wearing a worried expression. "Yuuki? Are you alright?"

I shake my head breathlessly. "It's—It's not my blood. It's not my blood."

The guild master, Lexi's dad, sniffs deeply. His eyes widen in recognition. "Reiki?"

"And Lexi. They're hurt bad."

"Is this why Wendy left in such a hurry?" Mirajane frantically grabs my shoulders with a little too much force, her expression scary. "Where is she? Tell me."

I swallow hard, nodding. "They're at Sabertooth's hotel right now."

Laxus, Mirajane, Erza, and Jellal all sprint out of the bar. Natsu, Lucy, and several other members of the guild follow, almost bowling me over.

After a few more hours, Lexi and Reiki's conditions have improved enough that Wendy stops using magic, to let their bodies heal the rest. They're sleeping peacefully in mine and Yuuna's beds right now, their parents all sitting at their bedsides.

Avery's mom stops by briefly to take her daughter back to their hotel. Emilia leaves shortly after. I can tell by the 0145 on her fearometer that she was afraid she wouldn't be enough to save them.

I'm left alone with my guild and the time is almost up. I swallow hard, Avery's smiling face popping into my head unbidden. Have courage, Yuuki.

What a cheesy pun on my name. Such a small thing, yet I've fallen harder than I ever have in my life. She'll never like me back, and that hurts worse than a rusty dull knife slammed into my rib cage.

Avery now knows me better than my blood family. How sad is that?

"Hey," Dad notices my own fearometer, which bears a 0063 on the digital face. "Good job."

He grins at me and my heart aches, because I'm going to follow Avery's advice and that means hurting everyone here. I take a deep breath.

No sound comes out.

I'm the strong one, the leader, the center of attention. I'm supposed to be the future guild master. I've bottled up my discontent so tightly that simply admitting my plans to Avery was terrifying. It has to be now, or I'll chicken out and be stuck forever.

The number rises to 0064. 0065.

Dad's eyebrows raise in surprise. People notice my fear rising as I stand here, so they gather round. Their curious eyes weigh down my tongue.

0071. 0074. 0079.

It's rising faster now. My heart hammers and I open my mouth, looking at Dad. "I-I-I-I—"

0082. 0087.

Dad looks genuinely concerned. My skin is pale. I'm sweating buckets. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I—"

0100.

Be brave. I bite my tongue, hard. Pain spurs me into action. In a very small voice, I finally speak my mind: "Dad, when the Storybook Games are over, please remove my guild mark."

I feel a sense of relief after the words leave my mouth. All is dead quiet. Disbelief fills the room.

Behind me, Yuuna is the first to speak. "You're losing your touch, Yuuki. That joke wasn't funny."

I turn solemnly to face my twin sister's stricken expression. "It wasn't supposed to be funny."

"You can't be serious?"

"I'm serious." I turn back to Dad. "Da—Father. I've made up my mind. I'm quitting Sabertooth."

"No!" Yuuna hugs me from behind.

"You won't change my mind, Yuuna." I bring my hands up and try to pry hers apart.

"I'm not letting go!" Yuuna protests, clinging tighter. I feel her tears on my back. Of course this is hard for me too. We've been together since birth.

"Are you going to fight me?" She tenses against my back at my question. "Chain me up in the basement and force me to stay there for the rest of my life?"

"Do you have to quit?" Yuuna sniffles.

"I've got to." If I stay here, trapped, I might end up hating Yuuna and Dad and Mom and everyone else I hold dear. I don't want that.

I want to say more, to explain myself, when a horn sounds. The cue that the Storybook Games fifth day event has ended and all contestants should make their way back to Domus Flau.

"We'll talk about this later." I mutter and flee the morose atmosphere of the Sabertooth hotel.

{NASHI'S POV}
All five members of every team have arrived back at Domus Flau, with special exception for Fairy Tail.

Everybody looks haggard and disheveled. As it turns out, facing your fears is really hard. Whistle is covered in scratches. Lionel and Mirror have been crying, but seem content with their puffy eyes. On the other hand, Yuuna Eucliffe is absolutely distraught, clinging to her twin like it's the end of the world.

Yuuki is pale-faced but looks rather proud of himself. Avery is just pale-faced. The only ones not here are Lexi and Reiki, who are asleep and covered in bandages from head to toe.

I feel like I missed a lot, but I don't really regret it. I'm just glad everyone's alive.

The final rankings don't change much. Sabertooth barely manages to overcome Mermaid Heel to steal second place, but we keep our position. Confetti rains down and people cheer.

"We did it!" I hug Storm and Avery, jumping up and down. I'm determined to celebrate enough for Lexi and Reiki too. "We really did it!"

"Who's number one?" Storm bellows.

"Fairy Tail!" We all shout, and several people from the audience join in.

Storybook Games Final Rankings
1st: Fairy Tail
2nd: Sabertooth
3rd: Mermaid Heel
4th: Blue Pegasus
5th: Lamia Scale
6th: Quatro Cerberus