A Flugel's Gacha

Everyone's gaze, including mine, subtly turned to look at the three members of Team Shadow Gear, who were clearly embroiled in an argument.

Levy stood opposite of Jet and Droy, a furious look on her face, while the other two looked completely stumped by Levy's outburst.

"Levy, what's wrong?" Jet asked, recovering from the outburst.

"What's wrong?" Levy growled. "What's wrong? You both are what's wrong! I am so sick and tired of you both treating me like I'm made of glass!"

"We just want to protect you," Droy argued. "What's so wrong with that?"

"How am I supposed to grow if all you do is protect me?" She growled.

"You can just train!" Droy tried to tell her. "You can train, and then when we think you're ready, you can fight!"

"Oh, when you think I'm ready?" She snarled. "Newsflash, neither of you are my parents! You aren't my brothers! And you certainly are not my boyfriends! You're just friends and, frankly, I'm tired of you both trying to take advantage of that fact!"

Jet frowned. "Levy, don't you think-?"

"No!" She snapped. "No, enough is enough! I want to make this clear to you, right now, where everyone can see so there's no misunderstandings, and no skirting or ignoring the truth on your part! I do not like either of you romantically or physically! Frankly, I'm having a hard time thinking of you as my friends and not as my captors! On top of that, you both have consistently kept people away from me because you seem to think you have some 'right' over me, like you own me just because we're on the same team!"

"That's not true!" Droy complained.

"Don't lie to me!" Levy hissed. "Do you think I'm blind to it, the looks you give other people when we're out and about, as if daring to get close to me? Do you think I don't know how you tried to intimidate Ash when he first joined the guild, because you saw him as some sort of competition? Hell, even our team's name is named after you two, like everything within Shadow Gear belongs to you both!"

There wasn't a sound as Jet and Droy actually began to tremble… From rage, fear, or something else, it was hard to say.

Levy took a deep breath. "I am my own person," she said in a cold voice. "Nobody in this world owns me except for me. What I want to do, so long as it is within the bounds of the law and Fairy Tail's rules, nobody can stop me from doing. Not the master, not Gildarts, and certainly not you two!"

Finally, Levy's shoulders slumped, almost as though she were defeated as she looked at them both tiredly. "No more," she told them. "I can't do this anymore. I'm tired of you both treating me like some bird in a cage for you both to admire… I'm a person, not a pet. You're both stifling me, suffocating me… And I can't do this anymore…" She shook her head.

"I'm sorry…" She sighed. "No, I'm not sorry actually, just disappointed that it's come to this. I'm leaving Team Shadow Gear."

Jet and Droy stared in dumb shock at Levy, while I just nodded at her words… I had partially seen this coming. After my arrival and my talks with her, I had definitely seen her getting more and more frustrated… I had known- everyone had known- that it was only a matter of time before this day came. The day Levy quit Team Shadow Gear.

"What…?" Both Jet and Droy's expressions were of pure shock and disbelief, as if they couldn't understand… Didn't want to understand the words that Levy had just spoken.

"Y- You can't just quit!" Jet said quickly.

"Why not?" Levy retorted.

"Because… You just can't!" Droy added, almost desperately. "Levy, you're our team member-!"

"I am not your team member!" She hissed. "Stop talking like I'm one of your possessions! I am a human being, with my own thoughts, feelings, and desires! And right now, my desire is to quit Team Shadow Gear!"

Levy took a deep breath and looked at them. "I used to think of you as friends," she told them. "But the constant coddling, stifling me, and the unwanted advances… I can't do this anymore. We may be members of Fairy Tail, but you two aren't my family…" She turned and ran out of the guild without another word.

"Wait!" Jet cried and looked like he was about to give chase, before his shoulder was grabbed and he looked over. "Let go- huh?"

The one holding his shoulder was Makarov, his arm having elongated with magic to stop him.

"Enough," Makarov told Jet. "That girl has made her choice… And, frankly, I support her decision. I let you children deal with your own problems, come to your own choices… But she is right. You two have been acting disgracefully for Fairy Tail members. Levy is not your possession, and the way you have acted towards her has been aberrant. It breaks my heart to tell you this… But both you and Droy are being put on probation."

Everyone fell quiet at those words…

Everyone knew what that meant. Being put on probation meant that you were essentially being told to straighten out your act… Or else, you would be kicked from the guild.

Both Jet and Droy looked at the master in total disbelief at his words before they slowly, almost dazed, made their way over to a table and just sat down.

I felt no sympathy for the two of them, this was a long time coming, and I was proud of Levy for finally standing up to them.

"What… Was that?" Lucy asked quietly.

I glanced at her. "That was Team Shadow Gear breaking up," I told her. "Levy, Jet, and Droy have been in a team for a long time. The thing is, Jet and Droy both like Levy romantically, but she's not into them like that. The two are also very coddling of her despite her objections… Everyone has been able to see that this is a long time coming, I guess it was just bad luck that the blow up happened the day you joined."

"Oh… That's so sad…" Lucy said.

I sighed and finished my drink before I stood up. "I'm going to go and check on Levy, make sure she's alright," I told Mavis. "I'll see you later."

"Okay," Mavis nodded, a slightly worried look on her face. "Please take care of her."

"I will," I nodded at Mavis's words. I cast a glance at the distraught Jet and Droy before I made my way out of the guild.

As I left the guild and walked through the streets, I began to think of just where Levy could have gone to. Normally, when people had intense emotional episodes, they wanted solitude in a place of comfort. Usually in their own homes, where they felt the safest.

However, I knew Levy. And I knew the place that she felt safest wasn't her own house, but the library. Jet and Droy never stuck around in the library long, since they couldn't flirt with Levy without incurring the Librarian's anger. It was Levy's safe space where she could spend time alone, without both Jet and Droy bothering her with their antics.

While the library also did seem like an obvious choice, it also had the benefit of being a public place so people would be around. In addition to that, the Librarian was a retired B-Class Mage so neither Jet nor Droy had a chance of causing havoc.

Indeed, the Library was the best place for Levy to be.

I made my way to the library, stepping through the doors. It was spacious, with books lining the shelves as far as you could see. You could tell from a glance that the books had been handled with great care so as to not damage them, treating them as though they were more precious than gold.

I made eye contact with the librarian. He merely nodded at me and jerked his head to the side.

I took the hint for what it was and followed the direction he jerked his head. And, eventually, I came to one of the sitting areas where Levy was sitting with a book. But it was easy to see that her heart wasn't into reading it.

I made my way over to her, gently placing my hand on the seat beside her. "Hey," I said, keeping my voice light and gentle. "This seat free?"

"Knock yourself out," she responded, not turning her eyes to me.

I slowly took a seat beside her, gently tapping my finger on the table. "Did you put up a silencing space?" I asked, feeling the very quiet energy of magic around us. Putting up a silenced bubble was within Levy's capabilities.

"Yeah…" She nodded quietly. "Why are you here, Ash?"

"You already know why."

"To check on me," she muttered and sighed, putting down her book. "… I'm sorry you had to see that."

"I'm sorry you were pushed to that point," I responded. "But you shouldn't be sorry… Everyone knew that it was going to happen sooner or later."

"Everyone?" She asked, looking pained at that admission. "Even Nozomi?"

"Even Nozomi."

"Fuck," she uncharacteristically cursed, banging her head on the table. "How blind was I to how bad things were…?"

"You wanted to believe the best in people you saw as friends," I told her. "I'm sorry that this happened… No, correction. I'm not sorry that it happened, but I'm sorry that it's having such a strong effect on you."

She chuckled bitterly. "Yeah… I'm sorry that I'm so bothered by this too…" She sighed heavily. "What happened after I left?"

"Master put them both on probation," I told her. "He'd also had enough of their attitude, gave them a small dressing down, will probably give them a bigger one in private later. I suggest you tell Master that you don't want them to approach you until you're ready."

"He probably already knows, but I'll do that," she nodded and sighed, covering her head with her arms. "What am I going to do? Even if it sucks, Team Shadow Gear has been my home for years, I don't remember how to be a solo mage anymore."

"Hey, hey," I pat her back. "You'll figure something out; I know you're strong enough to push past this and become even better. I don't think S-Class is a dream for you, not by a long shot."

She looked up at me. "You mean it?" She asked. "You really think I can become S-Class?"

"I know you can," I told her. "Letter Magic is a powerful Magic, after all. If you want my suggestion, maybe you should try learning words from different alphabets… Maybe older Alphabets. Older words tend to have more 'power' in them."

"How do you mean?" She asked, tilting her head.

I hummed. "Well, when languages first came around, words were in short supply," I told her. "Since it was being developed, rather than having fancy words with one meaning having multiple words, they used one word for multiple meanings, where it would change depending on the context. For example, the word for 'Light' in a language might also mean 'Guide,' since lights guide the path, or 'Life' since the two are commonly associated with one another. Because these words cover multiple meanings, they accumulate more power and are thus much stronger than a normal word."

"I see…" She looked thoughtful and smiled. "Thank you…" She gently reached out and placed her hand over mine.

For some reason, I felt shudders roll through my body, originating from my hand.

This was the first time that my hand had been touched by another person since I came to this world.

To some this may not be a big deal, but hands are far more sensitive than people give them credit for simply due to how much people use them. Hands themselves could be a rather strong erogenous zone.

Looking down at Levy's hand, I couldn't help but notice how close her hand was in size to mine. I, forever sixteen, had rather small hands compared to a normal man. Levy's hands were slightly bigger than my own, but they were soft, almost tender.

I slowly lifted my gaze, and my eyes met Levy's.

I saw how her cheeks were flushed, how her grip on my hand tightened slightly, her gaze became lidded…

My pants grew uncomfortably tight.

What was happening right now? Where was this coming from? How had the mood shifted like this?

"L- Levy," I stuttered, unable to help it. "I-!"

"Shh…" She said, lifting her other hand and pressing it to my lips.

I fell silent.

"I've been watching you," she admitted in a soft voice. "Ever since you came to the guild, I watched you… You're different than the other boys… You're cute, but you've got such a unique handsomeness… You're humble and shy, but you display such confidence… You're strong, but you don't like showing it off…"

She trailed off for a moment, almost as though she lost her train of thought, before she spoke again. "I didn't know what to think when you first started talking to me… But, before I realised it, I really enjoyed your company… Someone who I could talk to about books… The way you talked, the passion in your eyes… Maybe that was why my heart started racing every time I saw those beautiful eyes of yours, twinkling like the stars within…"

I didn't know where Levy's boldness had come from… Was it possible the adrenaline of finally leaving Jet and Droy behind was still pumping through her, leading to this surge of confidence…?

I felt heat rise to my face, my cheeks flushing red. "I…"

"Hey, Ash…" She gently leaned against me, staring up into my eyes.

"I don't want to go home today."

Perhaps those words were the trigger… But my head leaned down of its own accord, and my lips sealed over Levy's.

The two of us couldn't leave the library fast enough.

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Hey. Just wanted to leave you guys a note here, stating that I will not be writing smut for this story. While writing this story, I have been contemplating on if I'll write out sex scenes or not, and I decided against it for a few reasons.

My primary reason is that not only is this story a harem, but it's also a multiverse story. So, he's going to be getting a LOT of lovers, and I know you'll all want me to write sex scenes for each and every one. The problem is that, from a longevity perspective, at some point the story starts becoming overwhelmed with sex scenes to the point that a sex scene disrupts the flow of the story and many people just skip over it because it's just 'in the way of what you actually want.'

I don't want this story to degrade into sex scene after sex scene, where most people are probably going to skip it to get to the story. I know that, personally, I've skipped a lot of sex scenes in books spanning hundreds of chapters because I'm there for the book, not for the smut.

I'm sorry if this choice upsets people, but I want to write this story for a long time and I do have to consider these things from a content longevity perspective. I'm leaving this note here so that you all don't get your hopes up on a sex scene, because it's not coming. I hope you can all understand my choice. If not, then that's fine too, I get it.