So I got asked to do another GrayMi fic, and I can only do friendship in that pairing (same with Grayza) and so I was thinking through some ideas, and whilst writing the last part to the newest chapter of another fic I have, I thought "why not have Mira take care of koinu Gray!" Why Gray? Well, one this is a GrayMi fic so he's got to be in it, and two...he's the character I work with most and he's my favourite character so most of my Fairy Tail fics are about him...? I'm sorry that it is so, but I am working on Natsu...I'm working on him. Anyway, enjoy. You might see a bit of Gruvia too. Commence the oneshot fic!
I sat there on the bar counter, being fussed over by pretty much the entire female population of the Fairy Tail guild. And the look on my face was one of pure irritation, but nevermind what I thought, the girls thought I was the cutest thing alive! You'd think I'd be happy, getting all this attention from the opposite sex, but no, you're sadly mistaken. You see, I, Gray Fullbuster, may have liked this attention once upon a time as perhaps a kid, but now in my late teens and I...well...felt different about it all. I had my eye on one girl in particular, but had I the courage to actually voice my feelings, knowing full well they'd eagerly be returned without a doubt, I would have that attention from the person I so desperately wanted it from. But alas, I was scared. I was scared of losing her, to anything. Whether that be my surrogate brother, a demon, a monster, a dark guild, anything.
Right now, I was in desperate need of that person - she was the only one who could get me out of this situation, right? I took a glance at the clock. Right, I only had to endure this for ten more minutes, then my saviour would arrive and keep me protected from the scratchy nails and feminine hands that I wanted to struggle away from. After those ten minutes had passed, I was staring longingly at the doors. Where is she? She's normally always here on time...oh no. Oh hell no! Don't tell me she ran into Lyon! I huffed and gave a thump on the counter.
"Okay girls, I think he's had enough" Mira's voice sounded from behind me. I looked up as the crowd moved away and gave a small smile, skeptical of what she was going to do to me now since she was the one who found me outside the guild. Did she even know it was me? Just then the doors opened and I grinned, beginning to squirm eagerly as Mira picked me up. "Oh Juvia! Just in time, let me present to you the cutest thing on Earth!"
Juvia walked over slowly, half keeping an eye out for me. Sweet thing, isn't she? I squirmed in Mira's arms, but man the she-devil had a tight grip. Juvia eventually gave up looking for me around the guild and then looked at me being held in Mira's arms. "A...puppy?" Yes. That is what had happened. I ran into some stupid delusional wizard on my way back from a job and got turned into a stupid mutt! This is what my life has come to. And the minute Mira found me, she decided to present me to all of Fairy Tail's women - what a lucky dog I should feel like, no pun intended.
"Yeah, isn't he adorable?! Seems like he's eager to get to you though, just look at the darling thing!" Mira squealed and thrust me toward the former rain woman, my ears pricked up, tongue lolling out and tail wagging like an idiot. Yes Juvia, look at the adorable thing that happens to be the very guy you're looking for! Take him home and care for him til he turns back to normal and we can all forget the whole thing. I was thankful Juvia had come before my team had. Who knows what would've happened if they'd turned up and smothered me. Just the thought of Natsu handling me gives me the shivers. Mira eventually handed me over to the bluenette and I gave a small gleeful grunt, effectively pushing onto my hind legs and licking her cheek. I know, bold move, but still, nobody knows it's me, right? As far as I know... "Aww, that's so cute! I bet Gray would be jealous Juvia". Wait...what? Why in the world would I be jealous of a puppy, even if it wasn't me? Mira's beginning to lose her mind, I swear it.
"B-But Mira-san...J-Juvia doesn't know how to look after a pet..." ...WHAT?! She's joking right?! She has to be kidding! No, no, Juvia don't do this to me, please! I'll do anything! I-I'll even make a new team of just you and me! Seriously Juvia, I'll do anything just be the one to take care of me like this! You'd soon know it's me, bet you can already tell, right? You can always tell when something's wrong with me, so why not now?! Are you embarrassed? There's no need to be, I'm not some sick pervert like Lyon, that's a promise! Please Juvia, I'm begging you to take me in for perhaps a few days, it'll be easy!
"Oh, please Juvia? He seems to really, really like you too. And he's ever so adorable and sweet. Just for one night at least, see how it goes?"
"Juvia doesn't really-"
"I could always ask Lucy if you're sure you can't". Haha, good ol' Mira. Always knows how to reel people into doing things they're unsure of. I wonder...was half the things Juvia put herself up for due to Mira's 'matchmaking skills'? Hm...perhaps she should work her magic on Natsu and Lyon. I mean, I may have been blind in love when it came to Juvia for so long, but it's clear as day Natsu has a thing for Lucy - it's more than friendship, maybe not quite love, but it's definitely more than a friend. And Lyon? Well, since Sherry got engaged to Ren, shouldn't he try and find someone else? Someone other than Juvia of course. I mean, I've seen plenty of girls in my lifetime so far, and Lyon could do so much better than Juvia. I'm not saying there's anything bad about Juvia for him not to like her and for her to not be the best but...she's mine goddammit! She's mine and mine alone. If that white spiky haired bastard lays even a fingertip on her from now on I'll pummel him into the Earth's core. Yeah, I'm not kidding about that one.
Anyway, Juvia looked down at me and I gave a small pleading whine, nuzzling affectionately against her shoulder. I mean, not that living with Lucy would be bad it's just...ugh, Natsu would probably constantly be there and sometimes there are days when I just can't bear to be around that fire breathing lunatic. I even pressed my ears flat to my head and gave her goddamn puppy eyes I was that desperate! Eventually she relaxed and gave in, agreeing to give looking after me a trial. Man, I was gonna be on my best behaviour for sure. Worst case scenario would be if someone actually got Natsu of all people to look after me since he used to treat Happy like a pet once upon a time. I let out a small sigh of relief and gave a small bark of approval. See, I told you she was my saviour.
After not having seen the proper form of me for the day, Juvia finally gave up on me appearing and went to my house. When she didn't get an answer, she looked at me sort of worried. I just gave a small whine and pawed her arm gently. She sighed and then took me back to Fairy Hills with her. Boys weren't allowed in here, so if anyone blabbed about Juvia's little puppy being me if they ever found out, I was top of Erza's list for people to terrorise for the rest of the year. I shuddered a little at that. I'd be a laughing stock and be labelled a good for nothing pervert for the rest of my life until I ended up marrying this woman! No, nobody could find out it was really me. Nobody could know. Nobody at all.
She opened her door and set me on the floor. What greeted me wasn't much of a surprise as you might think, but it was still a little shocking. I looked round curiously, paws thudding lightly on the floor as I walked around. I knew the girl had a serious passion of love for me but I didn't think she'd dare to go as far as buying all the merchandise Max sold to do with me. Talk about devotion and dedication. I'll admit the plushies were a little creepy, and they were so precise on detail. The guild mark was in the perfect place. The eyes were just the right colour. Heck, I'd rather be turned into one of the dolls than this stupid form of a puppy dog! At least I would've still looked decent enough. And there'd have been no reason for Mira to coax her into looking after me.
After getting over my initial shock of being surrounded by myself - wait, I don't remember posing for a body pillow, where the hell did that ever come from?! Well, it is a good photo, I'll admit. Even I'd want to sleep with that if I became desperate enough. That'd be after I found one of Natsu probably. Don't tell anyone I just said that, the flaming idiot would make a mockery outta me for it - I jumped onto a box beside her bed and scrambled up onto the duvet covers. Sitting at the end of the bed I could easily read it as my name - typical Juvia I suppose. I yawned and stretched out, boy it was comfy, I reckon I could just drift off right here and never even-
"Gin".
What? She wasn't missing me so badly that she was doing an impersonation of Cana and resulting to alcohol, was she? I snapped my head up at her voice and watched her as she looked at me thoughtfully. She then clapped her hands together once and smiled brightly, walking over and scratching behind my ear. Oh man that felt pleasant! I reckon I could stay a puppy forever if this is the sort of treatment I get. But then she'd end up going berserk over where the real me had gone and probably go on a rampage of trying to find me. That wouldn't be good. Maybe being a puppy forever isn't a good thing for her, especially since it's me.
"Juvia will name you Gin. Do you know what that means?"
Since I couldn't talk back and answer her, telling her I knew exactly what it meant, I just titled my head a little, y'know, like dogs often do. She giggled and scratched me under the chin, making me groan and eventually flip onto my back. God if anyone knew I was being this soft and pleasant around her they'd think me as an imposter. And then I began thumping my foot like a rabbit having a seizure. She just giggled again and rubbed my belly - I'd rather die before anyone knew about this.
"Gin means silvery, like your fur. Silver was also Gray-sama's father..." she drifted off and I nudged her hand for her to continue. She hated it as much as I did whenever someone mentioned the word silver or anything about Tartaros. She still felt guilty about what defeating Keyes had led to. I'd forgiven her for it, she knew that. Heck, I even cried and hugged her that day we met after it was all over. I cursed myself for not going back and looking for her and the others when I'd heard about the poison she'd taken in from both Keyes' body and the flood water that came after. Lucy told me that before she lost consciousness she'd wanted to see me. Of course she would, I'd been kidnapped by my own nutjob of a father and disappeared into thin air, only to be taunted by the dead bastard. "Oh, Gray-sama is a really special person to Juvia". As if that was news to anyone, c'mon Juvia, just get with the game and realise what I've been trying to do recently. Oh, did I not mention? I'd been giving subtle hints of liking her back, the odd flirt here and there and other stuff. I'm not usually big on showing my true feelings but something about Juvia draws that out in me. "Gray-sama has always been there for Juvia since they first met. And Juvia sometimes thinks she's not enough for Gray-sama". Wait, what are you talking about? Of course you're enough! Maybe not to start with, things were a little awkward, but look at the both of us now! I couldn't ask for a better partner! "Juvia knows she over exaggerates, can be annoying, can get needy...but Gray-sama is important to Juvia more than anybody knows. Even Gray-sama doesn't know how important he is to Juvia".
I turned onto my front and climbed into her lap as she sat down on the bed next to me. Man, I wished I could speak, tell her that she's important to me too. I'd tell her in person but...I'm too much of a coward to do it. I know, pathetic, right? I'm gonna lose her someday, I know that, and a part of me worried that I can't protect her and give her everything she needs. She puts me high on a pedestal and I'm scared that if I start dating her then she'll find flaws I've never shown, parts of me that will make her think differently about me. I like where our relationship is for now, and even with the subtle hints, I'm trying to keep it that way. But is this how she truly feels? Does she truly feel she's not enough for me? To be honest with you, it breaks my heart to hear her say such things.
"Juvia is tired, Gin-kun...so Juvia is going to go to sleep now. She'll see you in the morning". So the woman took a shower and got changed and got into bed, hugging a plushie of me tight against her chest. I sat at the end of the bed for awhile before crawling up to curl up in the space beside her. Part of me wished this was all a dream, that I had never heard her say such things about herself. They were lies. All of them. Lies fed to her through her dark and gloomy past. But I thought that day on top of Phantom Lord's guild had changed all that? There were no more rain clouds above her head when I was around. And it made me happy to know that it was my doing that she was now happy and bright like she should be. I was proud of the fact she put me above everyone else because of that reason alone. I know I shouldn't, but there's only few people who know how much clear skies mean to her. It gave her a new life, a new beginning. And I've been there every step of the way, and there's no way I'm about to quit now.
Juvia was sad the next day. We went to the guild and she handed me back over to Mira, her eyes watery. "Juvia cannot take care of Gin-kun, Mira-san, Juvia is sorry..."
"Did something bad happen?"
"No...Juvia is just missing Gray-sama is all...Juvia feels lonely and cold without him nearby..." And that was when Mira picked me up and held me close as the bluenette walked back out of the guild. I whimpered pitifully and looked up at Mira, who looked back at me. We stared at one another for a few moments before her eyes widened a bit and a tiny gasp left her mouth. I flattened my ears in fear. Did she...know?
"Gray...it's you, isn't it...?" the barmaid whispered. I slowly nodded and looked back toward the doors. I gave another whimper as Mira put me down on the counter and hung my head. I wanted- no, needed to change back into my human self! I began panicking in my mind, running over different scenarios of what could possibly happen to her whilst she was out there on her own. A teeny part of me hoped Lyon would be around. But most of me didn't want that. Mira then picked me up again and took me over to where my team sat. She put me down on their table with a smile. "The little guy needs cheering up, I thought you guys would be great at that. Juvia named him Gin".
Lucy patted my head affectionately, but I just slumped onto my belly and huffed, ears flattened and muzzle resting between my paws. "Why isn't he with Juvia now? I heard you'd given her a puppy".
"She misses Gray too much...so she won't be around today. And I don't know when he'll be back from his mission".
"Poor Juvia..." Erza directed her attention from her cake to me, and I knew she was trying to put two and two together but getting nothing. I sighed, I guess I was spending my day with my team.
I spent the rest of the week staying overnight at Mira's, and spending the day at the bar with her. She'd found my necklace after a few days, and nobody had seen Juvia since. It wasn't until the day that Juvia came back into the guild that I began to give off a faint glow. Mira quickly put me down before anyone saw, knowing I was turning back, and I grabbed my necklace, running off into the back and finding some clothes I'd lost beforehand to change into. As I turned back human, I gulped for air hungrily, like my lungs needed it more than usual. I got changed and hung my necklace round my neck. I then slipped out the back and came in through the front doors, giving everyone a tired smile. "Hey guys, I made it back in one piece".
"Where the hell you been Ice Prick?! I've been itching for a fight!"
"Mission took a little turn for the worst and lasted a bit longer than I thought". I felt something thud against my body and looked down to see it was none other than Juvia. She was shaking, her arms wrapped tightly round my torso. I smiled and hugged her back. "Miss me I take it?"
She nodded and looked up at me, tears running down her face. "Juvia was...worried...Gray-sama... Juvia knows she shouldn't have been but Juvia just-"
"No, you're right, you shouldn't have been worried about me. You know why?"
"Because Gray-sama is strong and can take care of himself?"
"Well yes but that's not the answer I'm looking for".
"Then...why?"
"Because you should know me well enough by now to know I'll always come home, no matter what. I'm never going to leave you behind. Because...because I love you, Juvia".
"W-What...?" I bet she thought she was hearing things again, huh? Wouldn't surprise me. So I did the only thing I knew I could. I gathered up all the courage I had and forced it into the most passionate filled kiss I could muster. And let's just say that...it made everyone take a double take.
I smiled after we broke apart before turning it into a wide grin. "Call it Koinu Love if you will".
Well there we go. I know, it was more Gruvia than Graymi, I'm sorry. I was going so smoothly with it and then as daylight began to fade outside since I've been writing this all fricking day, I just wanted it to end cutely so I kinda rushed it. I know, I shouldn't have, but it's still okay, right? Also, Gruvia may be my second most favourite ship in Fairy Tail, but this is my first ever proper Gruvia fic I've done. (Gratsu OTP).
Also, in case you didn't guess. Gin does in fact list as a dog's name in Japanese and means silvery, like I said in the fic. And Koinu means puppy in Japanese :3 I also apologise if you see "I" anywhere in Juvia's lines, I'm not really used to writing her character's speech patterns, so I apologise if I messed up a little there.
And I solely believe that Gray loves Juvia back, but hasn't said anything because he's afraid of losing her - remember, he thought like that before. He thought it was a curse that the people who got close to him soon disappeared. And yes, when Gray does confess his love for the beautiful woman, I do believe she won't react straight away, that she'll think it's her imagination once again because that's the type of character she is - she's a hopeless romantic for God's sake!
Ugh, sorry, I was reading forums and stuff about why people hate Juvia and the Gruvia pairing and it was all just a bunch of bullshit about how he obviously doesn't like her back, and that she's so annoying and useless and it just really pissed me off big time. I almost fricking cried over the damn thing. I know, pathetic, right? But still, I don't think people should judge Juvia and Gray's relationship on how they act alone, you have to relly understand a character and their motives and how their past affected them to truly try and gain an understanding of how they really feel towards one another.
And seriously? I've seen people say that if Gruvia becomes canon then they'd gonna quit the Fairy Tail fandom and shit - that's no reason to dislike an entire fandom just because of one pairing you dislike. Heck, I don't particularly like NaLu but when it becomes canon that doesn't mean I'm gonna forget all about Fairy Tail and just pretend I never watched the thing. And then there's the people who are jealous of Juvia. Okay, I admit I've been in this boat. It was with a film character, it was around 3 years ago so I was still a bit immature about things like Love since I'd never experience requited love before in my life, truly. The two characters didn't even end up technically canon at the end of the movie but there was a hint of mutal romantic feelings being shared. So yes, I did not like this female character because she was also in love with the guy from the movie that I had a crush on also. But I realised it was stupid and when I read about her past, I begun to feel sorry for her and realise she'd been through so much and deserved happiness. And let's be honest here; they're fictional characters, they're not gonna harm you and break your heart by stealing away the guy you like because let's face it, you're never gonna be with him anyway, duh! Only in your dreams and Reader X _ fanfictions are you gonna be with that guy.
This is why I often don't like joining fandom communities and such, because there's always the immature people who just can't get a grip on reality, and end up hating something/someone from the fandom for no entire reason. I know Juvia gets a lot of hate, but to me she doesn't deserve any of it! I think the only thing that bothered me about her was the fact she was used as comic relief most of the goddamn time.
Ugh...anyway, sorry for that massive little rant there, but seriously, things like that need to just stop. Besides, can we just get one thing straight? Fairy Tail isn't even supposed to be a Romance anime -_-