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impracticaldemon · 8 years ago

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Gajevy Week 2017: Chapter 6— The Spear of the Shinsengumi

Summary: The Fae members of the Shinsengumi start introducing themselves to Levy in the wake of the Kinmon Rebellion and the great fire. The cast of characters starts to fill out and more information is provided on the infamous Split. But when Gajeel brings Levy with him to Shimabara (the red-light district) to go drinking with some of the other Fae officers, the results could be interesting.

Words: ~6600 Find it here: FF.net | AO3 | Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Want to know who is who in Fairy Tail? See the bottom of the story for which Shinsengumi character above is who from Fairy Tail.

Chapter 6: The Spear of the Shinsengumi Prompt: Grief

Author's Note:

Once again, thank you for your continued support! For those who are interested, I note that this Fairy Tail x Shinsengumi story has become more of a Fairy Tail x (Hakuouki) Shinsengumi story. As the rest of this Note is long, I have moved it to the end for tumblr only.

[I]—Ice, Wind and … Sake?

The great fire that followed the Kinmon Rebellion ended up destroying over twenty-eight thousand houses in Kyoto. Consequently, patrols became even more challenging: as Kyoto's population tried to rebuild there was a great deal of coming and going among the population, making it more difficult to distinguish residents from visitors who might actually be rebels using the turmoil in order to establish false identities within the city. Also, as with any large population center dealing with a disaster, the opportunists—thieves, thugs and swindlers of all kinds—were out in force.

For Levy personally, the period following the Kinmon Rebellion was both busy and satisfying. For one thing, Lahar-san continued her lessons in magic without being prompted, which she enjoyed tremendously. For another thing, as a result of her actions during the fire, several of the Fae members of the Shinsengumi started to introduce themselves to her. She never found out exactly what she did that caused more of the exiles to reveal themselves, but it was evident to her that Okita-san—or rather, Natsu-san—and Saitō-san were instrumental somehow.

One evening, less than a week after the fire, Saitō-san arrived at the door of the room that Levy shared with the three others. Shimada-san had already left on the mysterious business that he and Lahar-san seemed to undertake on a regular basis for the Vice Commander. Lahar-san was just completing Levy's after-dinner lessons with her: they had started making a habit of eating early so that Levy could practice for a short time with little fear of interruption while everyone else was having dinner.

"Excuse me," Levy heard, as she was forming the characters for 'paper' for the fifth time.

Lahar-san casually dismissed Levy's magic with a wave, which was annoying; she was still working on improving her power. "Come in!" he called.

Saitō-san entered and bowed slightly with his usual grave politeness. He exchanged a brief look with Lahar-san and then turned to Levy.

"I wish to introduce myself. It will be more efficient if we need to work together in the future."

Levy rose quickly and bowed. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Saitō-san." (1)

A slight smile touched the man's lips. Lahar-san had told Levy that Saitō-san—in any guise—was a more reserved person than most of the others, so it was better to be too formal than too casual.

"You are Levy of the Yōsei, although your actual family is still unknown. I am also of the Yōsei; my family name is Fullbuster, but you may call me Gray when we are among only our own people or with trusted allies such as Gajeel-san."

There was a snort from the big man. "Thanks, Gray. And I told you to stop with the Gajeel-san. Makes me nervous."

Gray-san turned cool eyes on Gajeel-san. Levy thought that both his hair and eyes were a very, very dark blue, but it wasn't easy to tell. Black or midnight blue—it would depend on the light, probably, and what he wanted you to see. He looked almost no different as a Fae than as a human, although Levy saw the fine-boned sharpness about the features that she was coming to associate with the Yōsei.

"As you wish, Gajeel." Gray turned to Lahar. "Are Levy-kun's studies going well, Lahar?" (2)

"Yes. Faster than expected, in fact."

Gray-san turned back to Levy.

"I am pleased that you have joined us, Levy-kun. If I may be of assistance in the future, you may come to me." He nodded to the three of them and left, moving so quickly and quietly that Levy felt as though he had faded away.

"Just as outgoing as ever," commented Gajeel.

"Well I thought it was kind of him to come by," Levy said firmly. "And there's nothing wrong with being polite, either."

"I agree, Levy-kun," said Lahar.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "You getting all fancy on me now, Shorty?"

Levy tried to glare at him, but he performed such a deep bow—with his long, barely-constrained mane sweeping the floor—that she had to laugh instead. "As if shrimp wasn't bad enough, Gajeel-san! Yamato-kun isn't any bigger and Harada-san doesn't call him names!"

Gajeel-san gave her an odd look then shrugged and grinned. "Well, not even I really want to get into it with the Titan, you know? Not without a reason, anyway—I'm not as crazy as Natsu. So Harada can call his people what he likes."

"His people? Does that mean I'm yours?" Levy hadn't meant anything serious by it, but a totally uncharacteristic chuckle from Lahar-san made her reconsider her words and blush. "What?" she demanded, whirling on him.

That proved to be a mistake, of course. Lahar-san raised a thin black brow at her, amethyst eyes as calm as ever.

"I didn't say anything," he stated, with perfect truth. "Perhaps you are the one reading meaning into things?"

"I… no…"

"Weren't you just heading out?" growled Gajeel to Lahar.

"I was. Levy-kun, it is too late to finish your practice now. Tonight, concentrate on simple writing. I've written out a list."

Both Levy and Gajeel looked down at Lahar's small desk. Sure enough, there was a list of neatly written words. Levy sighed. Usually, she loved to learn whatever she could. Tonight she felt oddly keyed up, however, probably because of Gray-san's visit. It just seemed to open up vistas of how the world could be.

"Thank you, Lahar-san. Konbanwa." (3) It was amazing how she could go from blushing for no reason at all to 'polite student'. Lahar-san had that effect—the politeness part—on most people. But she could have sworn he had laughed.

As soon as the door slid gently closed behind Lahar-san, Gajeel-san put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. At least, Levy thought that it was meant to be a smile; his sharp canines seemed a little more visible somehow.

"You don't feel like copyin' out words, do ya?" he said, his eyes glinting with mischief.

"Ah… Gajeel-san?" Levy had learned to be wary when her mentor's accent started to slip.

"Well, it's been a long week an' I'm due some leave. Let's see if anyone else feels like an evenin' out."

"But—"

"An' you know what else? Go ahead an' call me Gajeel unless we're in refined company—which doesn't include Lahar or Shimada. It won't bother me."

The hand on Levy's shoulder tightened slightly.

"Um, Gajeel-san—I mean, Gajeel?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I allowed to go out?"

Gajeel-san—Gajeel—gave her a confused look but then considered her question more seriously. "No reason why not. I mean, if Gray's decided to approve you—and Flame-brain, I suppose—then you're good. You've been here over a month. You can mostly draw a sword without hurting yourself"—he ignored Levy's protest at this less than stellar praise—"and now that I think about it, the Vice Commander himself cleared you to use magic in the city. For an emergency of course, but that's true for all of us."

"So it's okay?" Levy couldn't help the excitement that leaped into her voice.

Gajeel laughed and yanked her ponytail. "Yep. Let's go."

"Ow!" Levy tugged her hair out of his hand—he'd already let go, of course—and started to redo the tie.

She liked the bit of orange and blue twisted silk that Gajeel had given her a few weeks before to tie on over the plain white cord; he'd said that it matched the Shinsengumi haori��and wasn't against the rules. (4) In retrospect, she wondered if Lahar-san had maybe overthought that purely friendly gesture. After all, Harada-san allowed Yamato-kun to wear a red ribbon in his hair. For a moment, a suspicion darted across Levy's mind, but it was dislodged by the sound of Gajeel laughing.

"Doing your hair, huh? What's next, a change of clothes?"

Levy didn't deign to turn around, but she did straighten her neat—and still relatively new—hakamashita. (5) It was light blue—again to the match the Shisengumi uniform—and fit her much better than what she'd had when she started. Of course, she was a good needlewoman, so making alterations wasn't a problem, but she was rather fond of the two shirts that she'd been allowed to make herself from new or nearly new cloth.

"Do I bring my sword?" Normally this would be a dumb question, but Gajeel gave her an approving look.

"Good memory, Shrimp. Nah, most people aren't allowed to carry weapons in Shimabara. (6) I can bring mine, but you may as well leave yours behind. Don't want to borrow trouble and have some hothead take a run at you." Once again, Gajeel's smile looked rather… pointy. "The Vice Commander hates the extra paperwork when people decide to hurt themselves on us."

Levy trotted along behind Gajeel as he crossed into the smaller courtyard that adjoined the officers' quarters. As curious as she was about who might be going with them, she didn't want to delay things with questions.

Gajeel stopped outside the room that Harada-san shared with Nagakura-san. There was a murmur of voices from within, which stopped abruptly as Gajeel approached the door.

"Excuse me captains," Gajeel called politely.

Yamato-kun opened the door, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of Levy behind Gajeel. Although Levy had hoped to get to know the other page a bit better, there had been next to no leisure time over the week since the battle and the fire.

"Hey Tani, come on in," said Nagakura, the Second Division Captain. "Bring the kid with you and close the door. We were just talking about you."

Nagakura Shinpachi-san and Tōdō Heisuke-san, the small but fearless Eighth Division Captain, were Harada-san's best friends, as far as Levy had been able to make out over the past few weeks. Tōdō-san was the most cheerful and friendliest of the captains, but he was still in bed with his head injury from the Ikedaya Inn. Lahar-san—being the Shinsengumi medic—had been treating the wound every day, but Levy was honestly surprised that the young captain hadn't died from it.

"Talking about me, or talking about the kid?" asked Gajeel, shoving Levy in ahead of him and sliding shut the door.

Nagakura-san grinned and leaned back against a wall, sipping at a saucer of sake. "Both of course. From what I heard—"

Harada-san, sitting cross-legged nearby, smacked the other captain. "Stop it. Since the girl's here now…"

"Yeah, yeah, okay."

"Oh, girl is it," said Gajeel, black brows suddenly pulled down into a tight vee. "We playin' guessing games this evening, Nagakura-san?"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Metal-head," snarked Nagakura. "The Titan wants to come clean. Figures it's safest for everyone, somehow. Me, I don't care. It's the kid's head on the block if anything goes wrong."

There was a blur of motion, and then the Second Division Captain—who was not a small man—was suddenly dangling from Gajeel's left hand. Levy was pretty sure that everyone present could see the pointed canines and furious red eyes at this point.

"Gajeel-san!" cried Levy, horrified. Yamato-kun looked similarly shocked.

Harada-san just sipped calmly at his own sake and cleared his throat. "Put her down, Gajeel, and do at least try not to rise at every fly—you know better."

Her? Levy stared at the muscular Nagakura-san, who just laughed. Gajeel set him—her—down with a thump that didn't seem to bother the captain in the slightest.

"I'd apologize, Levy-chan," said Harada kindly, "but you might as well get used to her now. I'll start."

Levy, who was standing frozen just inside the door, just nodded. Gajeel stalked back to her side and dropped gracelessly to the floor.

"Sit down, kid."

His flat tone made Levy nervous, but she dutifully knelt beside him.

"I expect that this will come as a surprise to you—or it should—" said Harada calmly, with a flickering glance at Gajeel, who frowned and shook his head, "but there are a few women in the Shinsengumi other than you. I am one of them."

Levy's eyes widened further. Her quick brain had already started assimilating the information about Nagakura-san (and Yamato-kun?), but for some reason she'd stopped short of reaching the obvious conclusion. The "Titan" was a woman? Levy had heard that the Tenth Division Captain had been known to wield a six-foot spear in one hand and a three-foot katana in the other when things got really "interesting" (Gajeel's word, not hers). Since nobody used even a katana one-handed, let alone a spear, Levy had always assumed that this was hyperbole.

Harada-san inclined her head to Levy. "I am Erza. In… better… times, I was sometimes called Titania. You may call me Erza when we are among those of the People who are hidden within the Shinsengumi." The red-head's expression was sad, but still kind.

To Levy's amazement, the captain's long, bright red hair remained the same, but the tall, lean spearman was gradually replaced by a slightly shorter, equally lean but most definitely female warrior. The white and red bandages that Harada-san invariably wore around his chest and mid-section suddenly made a great deal more sense. While it was not entirely uncommon for warriors to wear such bindings, it certainly wasn't standard among the Shinsengumi.

Despite her shock, Levy's first real thought was: she looks fantastic in binding strips and hakama—life is not fair. Her next thought inevitably pulled her eyes over to Nagakura-san, who rarely wore much of anything on his chest and the loosest of sleeveless kimono-jackets.

"I'm Alberona Kana," said Nagakura with a wave and a grin. "You can call me Kana. Nice ta meet ya, Levy-chan."

Levy's mind was reeling. The second woman wore a pretty cloth in dark blue knotted attractively between her breasts, but otherwise she only wore the loose white trousers and knee-high soft boots that Nagakura-san always wore. It was scandalous attire for a woman. It occurred to Levy that she didn't have any real knowledge about what was customary for women of the People.

Kana-san drained another saucer of sake and winked at Levy. Given the rumours that Levy had heard whispered around the barracks over the past several weeks about the exploits of Nagakura-san among the geisha and oiran of Shimabara, it was a little difficult to take in. She could feel her cheeks getting red and tried to stop any further speculation on the matter.

"Manners, Shrimp," muttered Gajeel, just a fraction sourly. "Don't want to upset the ladies an'all."

"Ah-ah-yes, gomenasai!" babbled Levy, bowing deeply, her cheeks flushed and her forehead almost touching the floor.

"No worries, kiddo," said Kana with another grin. "Not like Metal-head usually worries about manners too much anyway. But I've heard you're a, uh, special case. Or is it just a case Gajeel?" Her eyes twinkled with a knowing look that would have made Levy blush if she hadn't been blushing already.

"Kana! Enough." Erza-san shot a surprisingly hard look at her friend and Kana-san waved a hand in semi-apology.

"I take it you've got one more introduction to go?" Gajeel put in, keeping his eyes carefully on Erza instead of Kana.

"Yes," Erza agreed. "Yamato-kun, as you already know, is one of the Yōsei. But she is also a young woman like you—in fact, a few years younger, since Gajeel said that you were seventeen. I'm afraid that I was very… concerned… when Yamato told me that you had discovered her secret, but Gajeel explained that you had only seen her hair colour, which was the least of things." The formidable red-head's voice was still quite kind. "You have done very well concealing your own secrets, for somebody who is new to so much of this."

"T-thank you," stammered Levy, since it seemed to be appropriate. The truth was that she was feeling overwhelmed. Her eyes went to Yamato-kun, who was looking distinctly anxious.

"I'm Marvell Wendy," the younger page blurted out. Then she ducked her head in a slight bow and went on quickly: "Please call me Wendy. And I'm so sorry for hurting you, Levy-san! The thing is that I didn't do very well acting as a boy when I first arrived here so Erza-san and Kana-san have been teaching me to do better. But… I did try to heal you a little, after."

Levy just nodded, unsure what to say. It hadn't really hurt, after all—although apparently magical healing was involved. It was embarrassing, though, to see that Wendy-chan was barely of an age to be called a young woman—she was perhaps thirteen or fourteen years old—and in reality slightly shorter than Levy. Obviously the girl had good control over her illusions. Of course, Levy hadn't really tried to do more than hide her hair colour and maybe increase her height a tiny bit. And from what Erza-san said, Levy hadn't been recognized as a girl by Wendy-chan.

"Do you want us to go through our names again?" asked Erza, as Levy remained speechless.

"Ah—no," said Levy quickly. "Arigatou gozaimasu. My memory is quite good, Erza-san."

"That is what Gray told me. We are very fortunate to have you with us, Levy-chan. Solid Script magic is a very flexible magical discipline; we have no others here who can use it."

Levy found herself relaxing and could even feel some self-confidence return, thanks to Erza-san's praise. She wondered why such a strong leader and warrior was only commanding the Tenth Division and not the First or Second. Then again, Levy still didn't understand how everything worked around here. After all, it had been Erza-san and the Tenth Division that had been sent in to fight the one significant battle undertaken by the Shinsengumi at the Imperial Palace.

"So," Gajeel said in a brusque but somehow less strained tone, "Shimabara? I could use a break and Shrimp hasn't really been out in weeks except for a few errands and that gods-forsaken hike to and from and around the damn Palace."

"I'm in," said Kana immediately, to nobody's surprise.

"Wendy's awfully young," said Erza dubiously.

"Oh, that's okay," replied Wendy, who was starting to look more cheerful now that the adults were getting along—more or less. "I'll go look in on, um, Heisuke-san."

The betraying hesitation before the name hardly came as a surprise. At this point, Levy would have been more surprised by anybody who wasn't one of the People. Shimada Kai-san, her other roommate, seemed quite normal—although very tall—but the fact that he was close friends with Gajeel and Lahar made her doubt that he was really human.

"You goin' to invite the Ice Princess?" Gajeel asked Erza. "He's not exactly a barrel of laughs but as long as Natsu isn't there I don't mind."

Erza-san frowned and the room suddenly felt quieter; even Kana-san tilted her head to look back and forth between the red-head and Gajeel. Then she sighed in a way that Levy thought most men would pay money to see—from what she had heard around the Ikedaya, that is, not to mention the common room and living quarters here.

"One day, you, Natsu and Gray will need to resolve this issue," Erza murmured. "Hard decisions had to be made…"

"I know," Gajeel responded flatly. "And we do okay, right? But the three of us out drinkin' together doesn't always lead to being relaxed."

"No worries," Kana interpolated, rolling her eyes at her two suddenly-serious comrades. "Natsu doesn't have leave to go out and for once he'll obey orders 'cause he knows somebody other than Wendy-chan needs to stay with Heisuke, am I right? So stop pulling the long faces and let's get out of here! Besides, it looks like I may be losing a drinking buddy to other pursuits soon"—she winked again at Levy—"aaaand it's not like I don't know what you've been up to Titania, so ikezo! You can stand not to fuss over him for a few hours, you know."

Levy had no idea what Kana-san was talking about by this point, but the Second Division Captain was looking around smugly at several red faces, so obviously her words had meant something to the others. Gajeel "helped" Levy to her feet—which momentarily left the floor—and shortly afterward they were trooping across the inner courtyard to Saitō-san—no, Gray-san's—room. Levy couldn't tell if he actually wanted to go or not, but at any rate he didn't protest. Once again, Levy realized that she would have to wait for another opportunity to speak with Wendy-chan.

[II]—Blame it on the Alcohol

The evening out was eye-opening for Levy in a few ways. For one thing, Gajeel and Kana-san encouraged her to drink sake for the first time. She had actually tried it before, in fact, out of sheer curiosity—working at the Ikedaya had been educational in certain ways. But she had never really drunk it before, which was quite a different thing altogether.

She was only just getting used to the somehow sweet-heavy-dry taste (she couldn't decide), when Gajeel declared that she had had enough. Kana-san laughed at him for stopping Levy so soon, but Levy was relieved. She knew that it was considered unmanly (so many things were!) to refuse alcohol, but she could feel her perceptions blurring a little. On the other hand, she suddenly realized that she hadn't felt so relaxed in a long, long time. It made her wonder how the others managed to drink so much—unless those were just rumours—and still keep their secrets. A question for another day, perhaps.

The most difficult thing to keep track of was how people looked. It was strange, because she had never seen Gajeel as anything other than a big man with a long fall of shaggy black hair and ruby-coloured eyes; she presumed that the eyes, at least, must be concealed from others. And she always saw Lahar-san with purple eyes now and it didn't trouble her. Similarly, Saitō-san—Gray-san, rather—was easy to perceive as having either black hair with a midnight blue gloss or dark blue hair that was more or less black. But Erza-san and Kana-san were a totally different matter. Their appearance flickered and shifted from male to female, which was especially hard on Levy as the alcohol hit her system. Eventually, she gave up and just focussed on the conversation, which was mainly about inconsequentialities, with occasional, veiled, references to the People—specifically those who had been on the winning side of the Split.

Gajeel had cut her off after she'd told her second story about life as a servant at the Ikedaya. Both stories had been funny—even funnier than she remembered—and had been well-received, with even Gray-san's impassive countenance giving way to a slight smile at one point. However, Gajeel had seen the danger in what she was doing, for which she was grateful. They had stayed for a while longer after that, and she had forced herself to start getting used to Erza-san's appearance as a woman, which was easier for her than Kana-san's undeniably female figure and (from Levy's perspective) very masculine behaviour.

She was still thinking about this on the walk back to the Shinsengumi headquarters with Gajeel. She had worried that he would rather stay and drink with Erza-san, Gray-san and Kana-san, but he'd just told her not to be an idiot and that had been that.

"Bit of a long day for you, Shrimp," Gajeel said quietly, as they threaded their way through the still-busy streets of the red-light district. "You obviously made an impression on 'em. I thought it would take longer than it did for you to get to know Harada and Nagakura better, if you know what I mean. Whoa there!"

He reached out a long arm and caught Levy, who had just been knocked sideways by a drunk reveller. Levy ended up carried along for several steps before Gajeel set her down again—he had been too busy glaring after the man who had bumped into her to notice that her feet were several inches off the ground.

"Gajeel-san," Levy began, once they were out of Shimabara and into the almost deserted night-time streets leading out to Mibu and the Shinsengumi compound.

"Tani," Gajeel corrected, without heat.

"Sumimasen, Tani-san," Levy apologized. The sake was really starting to hit her small and totally unaccustomed system. "Why does, um, Harada-san always look so sad? I mean, not that she—oh—he does usually—but um…" Levy trailed off, concepts and prounouns hopelessly confused.

Gajeel gave her a tolerant, understanding look. "Mmmm. You mean, why does he look sad whenever he lets his guard down a bit?" he translated for her.

Levy nodded emphatically and then staggered. "Ahhhh…"

Once again, Gajeel easily caught her before she fell, although this time nobody had caused her sudden sideways lurch.

"Careful there, short stuff!" He laughed a bit, but this time left his arm loosely around her shoulders in case of another stumble. "I should've remembered to stop you sooner, huh?"

Levy was torn between embarrassment for being unsteady and a glow of warmth at being able to walk (or stagger, in her case), together companionably like this with Gajeel. Eventually, it occurred to her that he hadn't actually answered her question, though.

"Um, so, about Er-Harada-san?"

"Oh yeah." Gajeel seemed abstracted, although not at all drunk, despite how much sake he'd managed to put away. "Well"—the arm around Levy tightened slightly, so that she was walking almost against Gajeel's side now—"a lot of bad things happened during the Split. It's funny really; if it'd happened sooner, I might even've been on the wrong side o' the fight. An' Rain Girl too…"

He went silent again, which was frustrating, but Levy was starting to feel rather sleepy, and she didn't want Gajeel to move his arm. She peered up briefly at him, and could tell that his eyes were a little unfocussed, obviously seeing things—or maybe people?—that weren't there. Then his words fully sank in and she felt a flash of alarm. Well, not alarm, obviously, but… something a bit like alarm.

"Who… is… Rain Girl?" Levy asked, carefully pronouncing her words, since her tongue felt a little clumsy right now.

"Huh? Oh." Gajeel huffed softly, and Levy could feel his eyes on her. It didn't matter that she was looking at her feet now—just trying not to stumble, she told herself—she could tell that he was looking at her. "We don't talk about her, so don't, okay? But she was a friend o' mine that Saitō kinda… saved… once. She ended up being very fond of him, if you know what I mean, though I never got to figure out exactly how he felt about it. He hasn't really changed that much since the Split, just gotten quieter."

…And once again the story was left incomplete, since they were approaching the main gate to the compound and there were two guards on duty, as usual. They bowed slightly to Gajeel and smirked a little at the obviously-inebriated page. Gajeel grinned in response.

"Oyasumi!" he called back over his shoulder, as he and Levy crossed into the courtyard. (7)

"Oyasumi, Vice-Captain!" one of them replied.

When they got back to their room, Gajeel propped Levy against a wall—which she didn't need… much—and started to get out their futons. Lahar-san and Shimada-san weren't back yet, but then, it was still before midnight.

"So," Levy tried again. She hesitated, unsure now whether to ask about Erza-san or Rain Girl. Although it sounded as though the woman, whoever she was, had been interested in Gray not Gajeel. Not that it mattered, but it was good to have things straight with all these new people… You're jealous, a small part of her mind told her. Am not, she told herself, with dignified maturity. Fortunately, Gajeel broke in at this point.

"So…" Gajeel responded, lying down on top of his futon, arms under his head. He'd already put his swords on a stand, although he hadn't changed for bed.

Levy took her cue and lay down as well, although she turned to look at Gajeel. It was surprisingly comfortable to talk together like this, she thought, although even her excellent night-vision couldn't make out his expression very well. It occurred to her belatedly that Gajeel hadn't lit any lanterns.

"Erza is and was very attached to her friends and to the peaceful existence of the People within the fabric of Japanese society," Gajeel said at last. "She took it badly—worse than most, maybe—when Laxus took over, especially since not all her friends were able to escape and not everyone who escaped managed to get away without serious injuries. Heisuke—Tōdō-san to you—was one who isn't quite the same now as he used to be. I'm really not allowed to talk about that and I'm not going to. Rain Girl—Juvia—didn't get away at all."

"Oh!" Levy murmured, distressed.

"I don't think she's dead," Gajeel continued, in the same slightly distant tone, "but the truth is that we just… don't know. In the end, only Erza saw what happened to her, and I think she still blames herself for not rescuing her. But at that point, we knew we were beaten and had to run for it. Wouldn't have gotten away without Titania at our backs, though, and she says that she wouldn't have made it if Juvia hadn't taken a hit for her. The rest of us have gotten a lot stronger since then of course—an' most of us were already strong—but that's the story in a nutshell."

He paused, and Levy saw the red gleam of his eyes disappear as he closed his eyes. Concerned, she moved closer and laid a hand on the muscular forearm closest to her.

"Gajeel?" She cleared her throat. She still had a definite glow in her from the sake, but her speech seemed a little easier—although that could be wishful thinking. "Are you sad about Juvia-san as well? Um, like Erza-san is? Or, or more maybe because she was your friend?"

Gajeel's eyes opened and he turned to look at her.

"Hnh. There's a lot wrapped up in those questions, Shrimp, I can tell. One thing you should know—especially for when you're dealing with Natsu, 'cause he's a lot harder and doesn't laugh the way he used to before the Split—is that those of the Dragon Clan can kind of smell how you're feeling. We just have very good physical senses—hearing, smell, vision, stuff like that"

"Okay," said Levy, puzzled. She didn't think she'd said anything weird.

"First of all, I'm not exactly sad the way Erza is, 'cause I still wasn't a part of things the way she was back then. You see, I—and Juvia—were relative newcomers at the time and we'd had kind of a rocky start with Erza's… well, the People call them Guilds. You might think of it as a village, or… I dunno… affiliated group? But Fairy Tail Guild was different 'cause it was the home of the King. Being allowed to join Fairy Tail Guild was a big deal."

"But you're not all related, are you?" asked Levy, confused.

"Nah. I mean, that's how it works with a lot of Guilds, don't get me wrong, but Fairy Tail was made up of the orphans and the strays for some reason—the best ones, anyway. And that's the thing. For the people who are part of Fairy Tail, it really is their family. Or was. So losing Fairy Tail was very hard on people like Erza—and Natsu, and Gray, and a few others."

Levy found that there were tears in her eyes, probably thanks to the alcohol, since she'd learned a long time ago not to cry too easily. She also noticed that she'd somehow crept even closer to Gajeel, and was gently stroking the corded arm under her fingers. She felt the blood rise in her cheeks and froze, unsure what to do but not wanting to offend or draw attention to herself by snatching her hand away.

To her surprise, Gajeel forestalled any action she might have taken by putting his free hand over hers. He had big hands, and Levy could feel roughened skin and callouses of his palm—as she had before, she reminded herself, during sword-practice and the odd time when he picked her up to move her somewhere (she always objected and he went on doing it anyway). Either way, there was no reason for her to shiver slightly—was there such a thing as a warm shiver?—or for her heart rate to pick up.

"Second of all," Gajeel said calmly, as though nothing at all had happened, "Juvia was—and I really hope still is—a very good friend of mine. She was one of the only decent people in the Guild where I… kind of grew up, I guess you could say. And maybe there was a bit more to it than being friends at one point—but it depends on what you mean. We were never in love with each other—I don't think either of us could even think that way back then. It wasn't that kind of Guild. Power and control was everything and I was not a nice guy."

Once again, Levy found her eyes prickling with tears, and she didn't know why. What she should do of course, was point out to Gajeel that there was no reason on earth that he had to tell her these things. It was rather embarrassing, after all, and surely more for him than for her. But I wanted to know, the annoying, rational side of her protested—or maybe it was actually the drunk side, that was an interesting thought.

Gajeel had fallen silent, but his hand still covered Levy's, pressing her fingers into his arm. Levy was grateful for the darkness, because she knew that her face was bright red. Finally, she got up the courage to say something.

"G-Gajeel? If the place you came from was that bad, then I think you must have cared a lot about Fairy Tail as well; probably just as much as everyone else." Levy swallowed, still blinking back the annoying tears in her eyes. "So you must be sad too. You see, I know what it's like to go from a not-very-good place to a place where you might find friends, and, and somewhere to belong. You see?"

I am going to be SO embarrassed in the morning, she thought to herself. Maybe Keiko-san was right about the evils of drink.

The big hand over hers tightened for a moment and then withdrew. Even though the weather was warm, Levy immediately felt colder for the loss.

"Yeah, Levy, I do see. You're a smart kid—sometimes."

"Gajeel…" She wasn't a kid. At seventeen, she was older than a lot of girls who were married and starting families. Not that she was planning to do either, of course.

She almost jumped when Gajeel leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers and lightly touching her hair.

"We've got time, Levy. Don't rush things and mistake gratitude for something else. And I promise I'll explain more about… everything… eventually. But give yourself a chance to settle in before worrying too much about me or any of the others. Okay?"

Argh… Even in her currently muzzy-headed state, Levy couldn't ignore the implications of Gajeel's words. He seemed to be assuming certain feelings that she wasn't too sure about herself. Or maybe that was his point? Better to be close friends than do or say the wrong thing for the wrong reason? And if they weren't just friends, then she really shouldn't be lying next to him—practically in the same bed!—so… since she had felt perfectly comfortable with everything—up until now, her annoying sober half muttered sarcastically—then obviously they were just friends and…

"Argh!" she said aloud, totally lost. Gajeel let go of her and she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

"Confusing isn't it?"

"Oh stop being so, so irritating!" snapped Levy.

"Yes ma'am, Shorty."

Annoyingly, that made Levy giggle.

"Get some sleep, kid. If you're as tough as you seem to be, you might not even feel too bad in the morning. You can always hope."

"Okay, Gajeel. Oyasumi."

"Yeah, you too."

Levy heard him quietly strip out of his hakama and hakamashita as usual, and tried not to think about it. She'd only gotten partway changed herself when sleep overtook her and she curled up on top of her futon and passed out. If a pair of red eyes watched over her wistfully while she slept, she never found out about it.

[END]

Picture Who is who? From let to right: Saito Hajime/Gra, Nagakura Shinpachi/Cana, Tani/Gajeel, Harada Sanosuke/Erza, Yukimura/Levy, Shimada Kai/??, Yamazaki Susumu/Lahar

Original Author’s Note:

I am almost caught up again on my writing but I acknowledge that this story is still a little behind. On the other hand, I find myself writing longer chapters as my ideas start to come to fruition.

While the story is entirely about Fairy Tail characters in the historically-based Shinsengumi, the depiction of the Shinsengumi themselves (and one or two minor events) are taken from the game/anime Hakuouki.

Hakuouki is quite faithful to the history of the Shinsengumi in many ways (it does not mess around with character death—bad things happen and people die). However, it incorporates a supernatural element that made it somewhat adaptable to this Fairy Tail AU. There is no character death in this fanfic.

On that note, I'd like to thank those of my Hakuouki fanfic readers who have read this story and decided to watch Fairy Tail as a result. Thank you also to the Fairy Tail fans who have been kind enough to read my Hakuouki stories!

Slight differences in the romance aspect of things (compared to canon Fairy Tail) are primarily driven by the setting: this is 1864 Japan; women were barely allowed to learn how to read/write, so it took exceptional courage (and usually exceptional circumstances) for a woman to be able to affect her own future.

Final note: I was undecided whether to use "Lahar" or "Laharl" for the purple-eyed Inspector. After another review of the various Fairy Tail websites and translations, I've decided to use "Lahar" for this chapter. Any thoughts?

End A/Note: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. Just one more to go! When I'm done, I may see if there's interest among my readers for either more about Gajeel and Levy, or side stories featuring the other members of Fairy Tail. Because I do actually know each of their stories. 😊

If you have enjoyed this chapter, or have any comments, a review or message or note would be very much appreciated. Both short notes and long are encouraging. I try to respond to everyone if I can.

End Notes:

(1) Polite thank you: "Thank you very much."

(2) Although "–chan" is a more common honorific for a girl or very young woman, or between close female friends or family, "–kun" may also be appropriate in a school-, work- or team-type of setting (even though it usually applies to boys or young men).

(3) Konbanwa = "Good evening."

(4) Haori = jacket or coat (open in the front with cloth or decorative ties across the lower chest)

(5) Hakamashita = a kimono designed to be worn with (i.e., tucked into) hakama pants

(6) Shimabara = well-known Kyoto red-light district of the time, authorized by the government

(7) Oyasumi = "Good night." (note: always used in parting, not greeting)

Thank you to @tanasha91 and @artoo94 for your kind words! Also to @nalufever and @shell-senji for continuous encouragement. Finally, to @sassyhazelowl for drawing Gajeel of the Shinsengumi for me!

#fanfiction #fairy tail #gajevyweek #gajevy week #gajevy #impracticaldemon #prompt grief #chapter 6 #gajeel of the shinsengumi

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