Hiding In Plain Sight

Chapter Two

Nashi nearly spat out her water. "Fairy Tail?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"Are you a parrot? Stop repeating what we say." Storm scoffed.

"Shut up, Ice Princess. You heard of it?" Kaiser turned to Nashi.

"Uh, yeah. My mom... reads Sorcerer Weekly."

"Yeah, we get featured in it a lot because of our parents," Malika said, grabbing a second helping of food.

"Your parents? Why?"

"Our parents are called the 'strongest team in Fairy Tail,'" Cayden said next to her. "Well, Kaiser and Malika's parents are in a different team, but they're still really strong."

"Yeah, our dad is the Iron Dragon Slayer." Kaiser smiled, obviously proud of him.

"Uh-huh, and that makes us Iron Dragon Slayers too!" Malika yelled out, swinging an arm around her brother.

"Oh, because you inherited it?"

"Mhm, you're pretty smart."

"Thanks. So who's a part of the strongest team?"

"My mom, his dad," Cayden nodded at Storm, "and that pink-haired guy we talked about."

"Erza, the strongest female wizard of Fairy Tail, Gray, the resident ice stripper, Natsu, the hot-headed fire dragon slayer, and me, a simple celestial wizard. The strongest team in Fairy Tail."

Her mother's words flashed through her mind and Nashi felt a sense of sudden nostalgia, even though she'd never met these people before.

"And, uh, who's the strongest out of them?" Nashi asked, pulling on the best nonchalant look she could.

"It really depends on the circumstance," Kaiser said. "Aunt Erza could and does knock them out on a daily basis and could probably take on half the guild at the same time. But Uncle Natsu, if the whole guild was facing the strongest enemy in the world and felt like they had no power left, he would be one of the only ones who could still stand."

"Jeez, when'd you get so cheesy?" Malika jabbed an elbow at her brother.

"Interesting." Nashi maintained her look, taking a bite of her food to prevent a smile from breaking out on her face.

Then, she felt pressure on her face, as if someone was staring at her. She turned to the source to find Storm gazing intensely at her with an unreadable expression. Nashi stared back, raising an eyebrow in confusion. They were caught in each other's gazes, neither of them able to look away.

The others didn't notice the silent tension among the two, except for Kaiser. He sat looking back and forth between Nashi and Storm confused at their suspenseful silence. Needing to find a way to break themselves up, he cleared his throat.

"So Nashi, are you a wizard too?"

Nashi's eyes snapped to Kaiser's. "Yeah, I'm a fire wizard."

"Really? That's so cool!" Malika exclaimed. "Uncle Natsu's a fire dragon slayer. He'd wanna fight you."

Nashi let out a small laugh. "I don't think I'd be able to beat him."

"Probably not, but I think you could hold out pretty well."

Nashi smiled and continued talking and laughing with the wizards. Half an hour later, she looked out the window where she found the sun close to the horizon. She'd probably have another hour until it set completely and she had to be home.

"I better get going," Nashi sighed. "It's getting late and I still have some things to shop for."

Malika pouted. "Aw, really? I was hoping we could hang out until we had to leave."