Change of Hearts

Chapter 1: Blood stained hands

A woman with beautiful scarlet hair was running that night, racing the wind home, her black pack swinging against her back,. The breeze felt chilly against her skin, the sky clouded with dark wisps that covered the moon's light. She turned into another, empty road, not a single person in sight. She could pick up the faint cricket's chirps accompanied by the wind's howl, but the rest of the night was accompanied by a still silence. Further forward she ran, chest heaving from her quickened intake of air, but she slowed down when she finally spied the silhouette of another human being crouched on the floor. The figure was bent over by a brickwall hands moving swiftly.

When he turned around it was if time stopped moving, her heart lodged in her throat.

His blue eyes blazed with a strange hint of lifelessness and malice when their eyes met. She had never seen such emotion in a person's eyes before. She knew little of what the raw emotions his eyes held. Was it really loathing, or something more?

Wind picked up at that moment playing with strains of her red hair, making her black dress flutter against her legs.

At that very moment he lifted himself up, eyes examining her briefly.

It was dark, the hands on her wrist watch pointed ten minutes before the twelve. The clouds finally drifted away from the moon, letting its light illuminate the scene before her.

His hands were covered in blood, the glint of his knife sharply reflected into her eyes. The young man looked about her age, dressed up in a dark blue hooded jacket, baggy jeans and his shirt looked as if there was a morif on it, underneath the splatters of blood. He looked up momentarily at the moon and seemed completely unfazed by her prescence. Her eyes widened as he bent back down and continue to deal with his victim.

Taking a life in front of her very eyes was a crime in itself. "Hey you, stop what you're doing." Her voice had a hard edge to it, absolutely commanding leaving no room for negotiation.

He stopped his mutilation and swiftly turned his head. The young man slowly staggered up again, eyes glinting slightly hinting at his amusement.

She regarded him with serious eyes.

He was taller than she thought; easily towering over her, blue hair swaying in the wind. An intricate tattoo ran down the right side of his face. He was quite handsome, but she remained unperturbed even after acknowledging his appearence. She simply wasn't the type of girl who would get distracted by trival matters.

"Well, aren't you a strange person."

"Strange- how?"

"A normal person wouldn't have the guts to stop me. You're either incredibly dim-witted or looking for a fight. But... if you hadn't stopped me, I would've come after you. You know-to make you keep my secret."

His voice was husky, low and monotone.

Erza continued to stare at him; eyes showing signs that she did not completely comprehend his sentence of threat.

"Now that you've witnessed my murder, are you going to turn me in?"

"Well... i think i should, but the man is already dead, so there's not much you can do about it and if i did you'd probably escape before they can catch you." Erza set her lips in a straight line. Not only that, she knew she didn't want to turn him in, after staring in his eyes long enough. Something about his blue depths made her more forgiving towards his actions. She gave him a sharp glare. "Make sure you don't do this again."

For some reason he found her very amusing, mouth tugging at its edges, hiding a smile.

Her eyes didn't falter, as if she knew no fear staring head on at his blood stained face. This time a smirk found its way on his face.

"Miss, you are very interesting." He began to circle her as if she was his prey and he was her predator. "Pray tell why I should stop?..."

"Taking another person's life is wrong."

She stared unfazed by his gory appearance; blood splattered his body like an abstract painting, more noticeable now that the light of the moon shone on him.

His grin widened. "Do you stand by your theory, no matter the reason?"

"I believe in social justice... You can beat them up to a bloody pulp, but not take their life." He red eyes were as blazed as his.

This time he laughed out loud. The red haired woman cocked her head to the side in question. She could not fathom what was so funny.

""You're an unusual person, brutally honest. Rare in people these days" He lifted up a hand and carefully caressed her red hair. His blood stained hands completely blending in with her scarlet hair. "Your hair is very beautiful."

The young woman flinched away from him, eyes wide in shock. In a flash she lifted her legs up, twisting her hip and swung it until she had her foot inches near his face. His smile widened once again.

"Miss, you have very fast reflexes."

"Sorry..." She mumbled and she looked away avoiding his curious gaze. Her hair was a very delicate subject for her.

"There's nothing to apologise for."

The young woman looked up about to question what he meant, when she spied the flat side of his knife held up, nearing her ankle, another inch and she would have found herself severely cut.

She slowly put her legs down. "You are not a normal person."

He chuckled. "I could say the same for you."

The young woman continued to stare at him with regarding eyes. "Are you going to come after me?"

The young man contemplated his answer, eyes shining with humour. "I may or may not."

She remained silent, trying to figure out what her meant by those words. "I see... Well I shall take my leave then." She bowed slightly and turned to depart.

A hand wound around her wrist and she whipped her face around to face him again. She could feel the fresh blood from his hands rubbing against her skin, smudging the red liquid against her wrists.

The young man felt as if his arms had moved by itself. He didn't want the interesting young woman to leave after only getting to know her.

"You really see me as a normal person?"

"I do not judge a person if I do not know them."

He smiled, but the young woman knew that this time his smile was genuine. "Jellal Fernandes."

She felt as if she had been granted an enormous privilege. "Erza..."

He looked at her perplexed when she didn't give a last name.

"...Just Erza."

"Just Erza?"

"I do not know my last name..." She finally admitted.

"Well aren't you a mystery, I think I'll just make one up for you."

"Make one up? Whatever for?"

Jellal looked up in thought, and then directed his piercing gaze at her. "Red... scarlet..."

"My hair?"

"Your new name will be Erza Scarlet- It'll be easy to remember!"

Erza opened her mouth but thought against it. She directed her eyes towards the ground, feeling a bit embarrassed that she was feeling slightly elated.

"...Thank you." She blushed slightly and then turned her tough gaze on him, attempting to hide her embarassment. Jellal's eyes had also widened as a blush spread across his own face. He had actually thought another human being was adorable.

He coughed to himself unable to comprehend why this was so. The blue haired young man brought a hand to his face up in thought., rubbing his chin.

She glanced at her wrist watch and gasped. It was already so late.

"Jellal Fernandes, I need to get going now."

He's expression fell slightly. Erza looked at his hands still clasped around her wrist. Jellal found her leaving incredibly sad and disappointing. "Where are you going?"

"What are you talking about Jellal Fernandes? I am going home."

Jellal hesitantly released his hold on her.

"Good bye, Jellal Fernandes." She turned around and began to walk off.

Jellal wiped his blood stained hands on his shirt and brought it up to his mouth to help give his voice more resonance. "SEE YOU AGAIN."

The scarlet haired woman lifted up a hand to send him her goodbye.

Jellal stared after the strange woman with a new found warmness in his eyes. He couldn't wipe the grin plastered on his face and turned to face the body he was mutilating.

"Well, sir as you can see I'm in a very good mood now, so I'll honour Miss Erza's wishes and stop tryng to kill you~" He hauled the half cut up body on his shoulders and dragged the corpse, leaving a trail of blood as he walked.

Erza woke up as soon as her alarm clock began to resound throughout her room. She flung the offending object at a wall and it broke into pieces, glass shattering and gears protruding out of the now broken clock.

The red head rubbed her eyes, and opened her draw up to pull out another. She slammed in on top of her bed side table and wished that she didn't have to get up today. This was the start of another long day.

After preparing herself, Erza walked outside, admiring the beautiful day and began to stroll to her job. After a while she spinted faster and then screeched to a halting stop as when she spied a group of males. She resumed her walking, her pace slowing down considerably, curiosity getting the best of her.

"You wanna give me your money pretty boy."

Erza's eyes narrowed at them.

Were they bullying someone for money? She walked up to them and gave one of them a pat on their shoulder to get his attention.

"Get away from him and leave him alone if you don't want to get hurt."

Her glare was spine chilling and immediately the temperature dropped a few degrees.

Another thing that shouldn't be done in front of Erza Scarlet is bullying the weak.

Jellal was walking, hands in pockets, eyes filled with the same glee he had felt the night before. He couldn't remember feeling this happy in a long time.

The world wasn't so boring and corrupted if it had people like Miss Erza Scarlet in it. Jellal decided that he wouldn't commit another murder for a while, and made sure to ignore calls from the agency. He wanted to meet the red haired beauty once more.

He sighed out loud.

There was a very low chance that he would meet her again. She could've been from another state for all he knew.

As Jellal walked further on and he spied a group of young men laughing in a loutish manner that made him shudder slightly. The young man made up his mind to see what was going on and walked up to them. They dispersed before he arrived and he spied a younger boy brutishly beat up; face filled with bruises and grime, his empty wallet resting on top of his scraped and bloody knee.

At once his eyes darkened in rage and the need to kill began to rise. Emotionless, Jellal walked up to the thugs and pat them on the shoulder to gain their attention. They quickly surround him, eyes snickering at what they thought was a poor defenceless boy- another easy pickings.

"You wanna give me your money pretty boy?" The ugliest of the bunch demanded.

Jellal could feel his vision blurring with red, his hands moving towards his belt feeling for his knife. His anger only intensified as he watched the people passing by, look at him and walking off quickly.

This world was corrupted, filled with vile and repulsive creatures.

"It looks like we'll have to beat it out of you..."

Jellal could feel himself lose all reason to stop, rage building up ready to explode.

"Get away from him and leave him alone if you don't want to get hurt." The familiar voice snapped him out of his dangerous trance and his head tilted upwards.

The thugs around him began falling one by one, and finally familiar red hair flittered across his vision. He's eyes widened as the red haired beauty from last night began to mercilessly kick them into the cement ground, showing impressive hand to hand combat and speed.

When they tried for a punch, she'd duck and return a punch. They attempted to kick her to render her moment; she would block and return a kick. Jellal couldn't take his eyes off her rough yet elegant grace. He felt his heart quickened and he felt a smile coming onto his face. Only she would try and help a defenceless person getting picked on. She was like a rare flower in a garden filled with weeds.

A truly curious person.

The largest of the group watched her flabbergasted as she took down all his large men in a flash. He was left standing and trembling. "W-w-what is wrong with you bitch!"

He yelled out loud and came charging towards her, fists ready to fly at her.

Erza shot him a deadly glare. "Don't bully the weak!"

She dealt him a swift round house kick and he flew a good few metres away. Jellal swallowed his saliva loudly. She was simply so intriguing and his lips was graced with a smile the entire time.

Erza turned around to face him and then her eyes widened. "Jellal Fernandes!"

He's eyes warmed slightly at her flushed face. "Good Morning Miss Erza Scarlet."

She flushed even more when he used her new last name. "It seems that I saved you just in time."

"Believe me, I don't really need saving, if you saved anyone it was them."

Erza nodded with eyes serious. Jellal walked back over to the injured child and then picked him up gently. Erza watched him curiously. "So this was why you were facing those hooligans."

Jellal began to deny the fact, but stopped when she gave him a smile. "It looks like you are a good person after all."

The young man blushed and felt his heart race even more. He couldn't understand why he was feeling so flustered at the moment. Maybe he was coming down with a cold or sickness of some sort? He turned away quickly and trudged off.

Erza watched him walk away and directed her glance at her watch. She swore to herself and began to run again.

She was definitely late for her work.

It was all that Jellal Fernandes' fault.

I love Erza X Jellal :P You've heard of Playboys changing for a person they love? How bout a serial killer changing for someone he loves? :P Wahhahahaa, don't worry, Jellal's not so much as a psychopath to kill for no reason. You'll find out his reason in a chapter or 2 x3

That is all, and i cbs continuing my other story with them.

As usual ideas and comments if you'll please. Also recommendations for other pairings is very welcome as well.

Ja ne,

Marina.