A Celestial Mage and Battle Lovers #Wattys2017

A New Yumoto and the Romantic Conundrum?

"Lucy, over here!" Lisanna said, motioning Lucy to join her and the others. "Hey guys, anything new?" Lucy asked. "A science test is coming up. I'm not too excited about that." Erza bemoaned. "I can barely make a B on any of the tests." "Come on, it's not too bad once you know the formulas," Lisanna spoke. "Oh, now that I think about it," Atsushi said out of the blue, "you know I saw these two cheat on one of them." He spoke, looking point-blank at Erza and Juvia. Lucy and Lisanna gasped "Erza! Juvia!" "In our defense, Erza fell asleep studying and Ryuu and I are talking about something important," Juvia said, raising her voice in the slightest. "Like what?" Lisanna asked, tilting her head as if viewing Juvia and Ryuu from a different angle would explain their reasons. "A-Anyways, what are you guys having?" Ryuu quickly asked. "Chicken curry." "Matsutake rice!" Lucy said, while Lisanna practically announced her choice of lunch to the cafeteria. "The Daily Special." Erza and Io said. "When it comes to lunch, the cafeteria's daily special is the way to go. It's completely satisfactory in terms of both value and flavor." "It's the cheapest option, plus the dessert that comes with it is usually pretty good." Io and Erza spoke their reasoning. "Actually," Erza started, "You've been getting bread more often, En." "Yeah, everything else is just a pain." He responded. 'That's not surprising,' everyone thought.

"You should have some vegetables, too," Atsushi spoke, using his chopsticks to pick up chopped daikon from the stew he dished up. "Want some of this stew?" He asked and En ate it, a pleasant expression filling his face. But before Atsushi could go back to enjoying his meal, he had an unsettling feeling. He turned to his right to see Lisanna giving a tiny glare, biting her lower lip. 'I am so sorry.' Atsushi thought, an understanding look dawning on his face. But that was nothing compared to the look Yumoto was sporting, which frankly, was nothing. A blank expression on him as he held a star-shaped carrot in his chopsticks. "Uh, Yumoto, are you alright? You've seemed a little spacey since the second period." Lucy asked him. "I don't seem to have any appetite." Everyone froze, almost shocked that the notion of him not being hungry came out of his mouth. "WHAT?!" All of them shouted, staring at him as if he had grown a second head. "It's unusual for you to have no appetite," Wombat said. "And today's the day big brother Gora made lunch for me, too..." Yumoto trailed off. "You look like you're about to pass out," Hoshi spoke. "I guess the impossible had happened. The end is nigh." Lisanna jokes, trying to liven the mood. Yumoto then turned to her, an almost lady smile crossing his face. "Huh? Now that I look closer, Lis-chan-senpai, you have really long eyelashes..." Yumoto spoke. What was meant to be a compliment did nothing but kinda weird her out. "Okay, seriously. Are you alright?" Lucy asked.

Yumoto leaned back, but missed the back of his chair, and was about to fall off of his chair until someone came in and sat him upright. It wasn't anyone in their friend group, but an outside party. "Oh, look out!" The boy, another student, spoke. "Megawacchi..." Yumoto said. The student Yumoto was referring to was a boy with reddish brown hair that was parted on either side of his face, with the front portion of his hair neatly combed up, and chocolate brown eyes. 'Who is this guy?' Everyone else thought. "Huh?Yumoto-kun, your face is red." The person pointed out. "Now that you mention it..." Atsushi trailed off. "Megawacchi?" Ryuu and Juvia asked. "I'm Yumoto-kun's classmate: Megawa, Rui. I'm the manager of the baseball club. Nice to meet you." Megawa said to the group, giving a smile that seemed to glow. "R-Right..." Ryuu and Juvia stuttered, a bit flustered at the boy. "Yumoto-kun, do you have a cold? They've been going around lately." Megawa informed him. "But I've never caught a cold in my life," Yumoto stated. "Why don't we check your temperature? Hang on." Megawa reached into his bag and pulled out a thermometer. 'He's a manager, alright.' Lucy thought, taking note of his responsible nature.The thermometer beeped and after taking it out of Yumoto's mouth, it read 37°C(98.6 °F).

"Wow! I've never reached 37°C before! No wonder I feel so lightheaded!" Yumoto proudly proclaimed. "Wait, you've been lightheaded this entire time?!" Lucy squawked. "Yep, and it's throbbing, too." "I don't think I've ever seen someone so happy to catch a cold," Ryuu commented. "It does explain why Yumoto has been acting so odd; odder than usual." Juvia chimed in. "Yumoto-kun, why not leave early? Maybe you should just get some rest today." Megawa suggested. "Yay! I'm leaving early! Hooray!" Yumoto cheered. "Hey, Megawa!" Someone shouted. The table looked over to see a few students in baseball uniforms. "Coming!" Megawa shouted before turning back to the table. "Well, I'll be going now. Take care!" He said, before leaving. "He seems like the really pleasant type," Ryuu commented. "Yeah, he's probably well-liked by the other students." Juvia pointed out. "Anyways, about the whole going through something..." Lisanna said to Ryuu and Juvia. Juvia flinched and even Ryuu tensed up. "Let's just keep eating!" They vehemently clamored before practically shoving their lunches down their throats, their faces nearly putting Erza's hair to shame.