Troublemakers - Fairy Tail X Reader

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"Come on, already! What's taking so long?"

Happy winced as Natsu's loud, impatient yell, shattered the still, summer air. He hoped their guide would come soon. Natsu would be smashing trees before long, and that would not make a good impression on their employers.

The little blue cat glanced at the job request again. They were definitely in the right place, but Happy began to feel that something was definitely wrong. Very rarely were they asked to meet someone by the side of a rarely-used dirt road.

He reflected it had been a good idea to leave Lucy behind. She had been somewhat astonished, and perhaps slightly hurt, when Happy and Natsu had insisted that they take the next job alone, especially since they were leaving so soon after their last. Lucy had been too tired, and too proud, to argue with them.

"Hello! Are you from Fairy Tail?"

Happy stared at the owner of the cheerful voice that had cut though his musings. A little girl stood before him, her head tilted slightly and (e/c) eyes wide. She was quite small and very young. No more than 6 or 7, Happy guessed. He was more than a little surprised to find that his guide was so young.

"Finally!" Natsu hesitated when he saw the person who had spoken was a child. "Were you the one who sent the Job Request?"

The girl giggled. "No, silly! I'm just supposed to take you into the town."

"Then what're you waiting for! Let's go!"

She ran energetically through the dirt road, turning back every so often to check that Natsu and Happy were following. As most of the trees on either side of the road were much the same, one tree, much larger than others, made quite an impression in Happy's mind. Mostly because a pack of dogs were resting in it, lying on the lengthy branches of the tree.

The girl led them into the town, to a middle-aged man in a waistcoat, strutting around and shouting orders to groups of people hanging brightly-coloured banners and lights in the town. "I found them."

The man ignoring the girl, growled irritably at Natsu and Happy. "You're late."

Happy restrained urge to reply with a cheeky comment, and forced himself to think of the reward. Beside him, he felt Natsu stiffen with anger and guessed he was doing the same.

Without giving them a chance to reply, the man ordered, "(Y/N), show them what they need to do. Don't make any trouble."

The little girl muttered something Happy couldn't hear. Apparently, the man could, as his face reddened with anger. Before he could react further, the little girl grabbed Natsu by the arm and began to run laughing and squealing.

"I got him that time!" the girl yelled gleefully. "Pompous idiot. That'll show him."

"You never said who he was," Natsu complained.

Leading them out of the earshot of the man, the girl elaborated. "He's the mayor of Orchid Town and very stuck up about it. He's always mean to me."

As she led them out of the town again, the girl began to question them relentlessly about Fairy Tail and its members. She was curious about everything, from how job requests worked to what drinks Mira served at the bar. But she seemed to be especially eager to learn about Lucy.

"She can be a difficult person sometimes, but I suppose her heart's in the right place, and she always does her best for all her friends, including her Celestial Spirits," Natsu mused.

Somewhat surprisingly, the girl nodded approvingly at that. Perhaps she wanted to be a Celestial Spirit Mage one day?

But this did not quite fit his impression of her. She seemed to fit his every preconception of what a mischievous little girl would be, from her (h/t), (h/c) hair to her bare feet, and the troublesome glint in her (e/c) eyes.

She stopped before the tree that had caught Happy's attention.

"This is the town's lucky tree," (Y/N) explained. " About a week ago, all these dogs came out of nowhere and decided to camp on the tree."

"How did they even get up there?" Happy wondered out loud, astonished by the sight. Hundreds of dogs, large and small, dark and pale, long and short-haired, filled every branch of the tree.

"Apparently these ones can. If all those dogs are still in the tree tomorrow, when the midsummer festival starts, it's supposed to bring bad luck to the town. All the townspeople have tried everything they could think of to get the dogs down without harming the tree, but nothing's worked so far."

"Well, then, I'll just have to bash the tree until it falls, and all the dogs will be gone, right?" demanded Natsu. "Easiest job ever!"

(Y/N) pouted in annoyance. "Didn't you hear what I said? You can't harm the tree. That's also supposed to be bad luck."

"Maybe we could scare them off," suggested Happy. "These dogs don't look very brave, or very smart."

Natsu ground his fist, grinning. "Easy!"

He strode confidently up to the tree and yelled, "Hey, you! Yeah, you!"

Every dog's head turned to face Natsu.

Natsu tried to rearrange his face into what he thought would be a terrifying expression of menace. "Get outta that tree or I'll beat you up so bad, you'll... um... scream every time you... er... look at a tree. Maybe?"

The dogs simply lay back down, ignoring the Dragon Slayer.

"Hey, don't you ignore me!" Natsu jumped up and down in anger and frustration, yelling at the dogs.

"That started off well," (Y/N) murmured quietly from the sidelines.

"Maybe if he didn't look constipated, it might have worked," Happy replied softly, attempting to stifle his laughter.

"That's it!" Natsu curled his hand into a fist and summoned flames around it. "This tree is goin' down!"

"No, Natsu, don't! We won't get the reward if something happens to the tree!"

Fortunately, the thought slowed Natsu down. Unfortunately, he could not stop himself in time, and fell heavily against the side of the tree, his head bouncing off its hard trunk. As he shook his head in a futile attempt to clear it, he heard wheezing growls above him. He glared up into the branches, as he realised that the dogs were laughing at his accident.

Before they could goad Natsu into resuming his attack on the tree, Happy interjected, "I don't think this is working. We're going to need another plan."

(Y/N) spoke up, her voice filled with curiosity and amusement. "What would you suggest?"

"Happy, take me up into the tree and help me beat up those dogs." Natsu pounded his fist into the tree, leaving barely a mark on impenetrable bark.

"Don't hit the tree, Natsu," Happy scolded. "We don't want it to fall down, remember?"

"And isn't beating up those dogs just a little bit mean?" (Y/N) added. "Some of them are only puppies you know."

"No, I can't hit kids!" Natsu sat heavily on the ground, tracing patterns in the dirt. He looked so much like a petulant child deprived of a favourite toy, that (Y/N) couldn't help smiling.

She sighed, unable to believe what she was going to do.

"Can I make a suggestion?"

Happy and Natsu stared at her.

"I don't think anyone tried to talk to the dogs."

Happy and Natsu continued to stare, then screamed in unison, "We should've thought of that!"

(Y/N) giggled. Normally, she objected to helping people. She followed her older friend's principle of misunderstanding every command she was given and generally causing mayhem, but for some reason, she found herself liking these two. Perhaps because they were also such free spirits. Or perhaps because they were also troublemakers, although unintentionally.

Natsu turned to the tree and spoke almost shyly to the dogs. "Listen, you need to leave the tree. It's going to be bad for the people in the town if you don't go."

The dogs lifted up their heads to stare at him.

"I'm sorry I tried to scare you and knock down the tree. I was being really grumpy."

The dogs turned to Happy.

"I'm sorry I said you weren't smart or brave. I didn't really mean it."

The dog on the highest branch barked once. Instantly, every dog vanished, as though they had never been there.

Natsu turned to the little girl, disappointed. "You were the one who finished the job. It was your idea. You can have the reward."

(Y/N) was shaking her head before he finished. "The best thing you could do for me would be to take that reward. Trust me," she continued, cutting off Natsu and Happy's objection. "You need to take it."

When they informed the mayor that they had completed the job by talking to the dogs, he raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"If you don't want to tell, don't tell me. Don't lie." He tossed a thin box at Natsu and Happy before they could reply. "Take your reward. He narrowed his eyes in malicious glee. "Good luck trying to use it. It's got a very troublesome reputation. Not many people can get the stupid thing to work properly."

Natsu deliberately turned his back on the mayor, looking around. "Where'd (Y/N) get to? I wanted to thank her for her help before we left."

The mayor walked away, laughing in ridicule.


By the time Natsu and Happy reached the guild, the sun was setting. Lucy had taken her usual place at the bar, talking to Mira and Levy. She looked up as Natsu and Happy approached her.

Natsu held out a thin, long box.

"We're sorry for accidentally breaking into your house again," Natsu told her, solemnly.

"We're also sorry for accidentally eating all your food again," Happy added, with equal sobriety.

"We sincerely apologise!" they yelled together, before tossing the box at her.

The rest of the guild gathered around them, eager to see what was happening.

Lucy blinked in surprise. "I know I got cranky at you guys, but you didn't have to get me anything!"

"Just open it! I want to see what it is," a rowdy voice yelled from the crowd.

Lucy cast a glare in the general vicinity of the heckler before gently lifting the lid off the box. She gasped in surprised to see a silver Gate Key nestled in tissue paper within the box. She instantly identified the key, having seen it many times before.

Levy lightly touched her arm. "Why don't you try to use it? I want to see what the spirit's like."

Lucy nodded before lightly picking up the key and summoning the spirit. The whole guild seemed to be holding it's breath.

"Open, Gate of the Child. I summon you!"

A bright, white light appeared in front of Lucy, then solidified.

Happy gasped and flew into the air, as Natsu jumped back in shock. There was one last surprise in line for the two.

"(Y/N)!"

She smiled mischievously at the two, then turned to Lucy. "Hello, Lucy! It's been a while. You know, you look a lot like your mother now."

Lucy smiled at her. "It's good to see you again, (Y/N)."

(Y/N) grabbed the stunned blonde's hand and dragged her off. "Come on, let's go somewhere less distracting. I want to get the contract all sorted right away. Besides, we should get home before it gets too dark and catch up."

The two walked off, (Y/N) still chattering and Lucy nodding as she listened to the ceaseless talk.

"I have a feeling that little (Y/N) is going to make things even more interesting around here," Mira quietly noted to herself.

The guild murmured as they stared at they watched the two leave. 

"So cute!" 

"Looks like a troublemaker though." 

"So's the rest of the guild, you know."

They laughed at that before resuming the conversations and activities they had abandoned.