The Plan

In Fiora Town, a group of people clustered around the town's center; it was time for the finale of the Battle of the Bands—The Vote. The Battle of the Bands always ended with a vote and a score from the Judges. In today's Battle of the Bands, the bands in question were Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord. The groups were divided into three now: fans of Fairy Tail on the right, fans of Phantom on the left, and fans of both in the center. All hoped for their own favorite to win.

Amidst the crowds of cheering fans, backstage, were the two bands. Phantom Lord, or Phantom for short, consisted of Lluvia, Sol, Gazille, Totomaru, and Aria. Lluvia, the blue haired girl, was the vocalist of the band. Sol played the keyboards and Totomaru played the guitar while Aria played the Bass. Gazille had the drums in the back, which suited him fine.

It felt good beating the drums with that rose haired drummer's face popping in mind. Oh that Natsu...This morning, during practice, Natsu barged in and demanded a drum-off. His freakin' annoying voice somehow managed to convince Gazille into doing it; he was desperate to get rid of that obnoxious brat. As if that wasn't enough, that brat started to boast about his band and then freakin' slammed his drum a way bit tad too hard until his fist made a hole in it. "What the fuck? Get the hell outta here!" Gazille had yelled before he kicked him out, cursing as he did that. So his drum set got broken. His anger had prevented him from replacing the drums, and it wasn't until much later that he got it replaced. Thanks to Natsu, Gazille got a new drum set. That damn Natsu…

On the Fairy Tail side, came a loud yell from the rose-haired drummer. He was still in fury from that stupid meatballhead Gazille. Damn him for ripping the autograph that he gave during practice. Any sane person would have wanted it, but nooo! That damn Gazille just had to rip it right in front of him, even when he was nice enough to give him one. Originally, Natsu hadn't planned on it, but Levi and Lucy had encouraged him to "get-to-know" Phantom more. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Even though it was this morning, what had happened still pissed Natsu off. Gawd, he was so annoyed right now, and when he saw Gray coming in, he just had to yell at him.

"How many fucking times did I tell you to get your shirt back on, Gray?"

"Chill, will you? Why so angry?"

Before Natsu could answer, a woman's voice from the speaker interrupted him. "Good afternoon. Today's Battle of the Bands is a huge success…" It was Mirajane, one of the judges. Oh goodie, and for a moment, Natsu cooled down. Just think, after winning, he'd spit in Gazille's face. That's what he get for messing with me, Natsu Dragonil.

Natsu's mind was thinking of insults to share to Gazille, so he wasn't paying attention until Mirajane finally revealed the winners, "…and though the results was very, very close, the scores have been totaled and the winner of this year's Battle of the Band is…none other, Phantom Lord!"

What? How did they win? I rock at drumming…Lucy's an awesome singer and Erza's great on the bass. That damn Gray is superior too, he had to admit, and to top it off, Fairy Tail has the best manager—Levi. How in the world had they lost? By this time, Natsu had lost it. How did Phantom Lord win? Obviously, they were better than them, so how the hell...? That was when the light bulb lit. He beckoned Gray toward him. "Remember the bet last time that you lost and agreed that you'd be my lackey for a day? Today's your lucky day!" and whispered his newfound plan. The prospect of revenge never tasted as sweet. Not quite abominable, but it sure was a great plan. At least to him.

Natsu knew something about Lluvia. This morning, when Natsu sneaked up to see Gazille, he had bumped into her. When he accidentally bumped into her, the magazine she was reading dropped. The magazine was about Gray… and he was about to pick it up but she snatched it away, all red in the face. It took Natsu a few hours to figure out the meaning of her actions, but it suddenly dawned to him… By now, even the dense Natsu knew of her secret crush but Gray, being Gray, did not have a clue. It was from this speculation that Natsu came up with his "GREAT PRANK".


"So, once we get there, congratulate them but when you get to that blue-haired girl, just pretend you like her, give her a hug, profess her your love, tell her she's awesome, give her flowers, whatever…. Remember, it's only pretend so it's like no big deal…."

Gray looked hesitantly at Natsu, before replying on how stupid this was, but Natsu ignored him, "JUST DO THE DAMN THING!"

"Do what?" asked Erza, who suddenly popped up, followed by a curious Lucy.

"Uhh…N-nothing!" Invisible sweat drops came out of Natsu's forehead as his eyes bulged. Good thing they didn't hear of his plans…Erza, being Erza, would not have improved anyways. Lucy and Levi were killjoys as well.

"Okay. Just don't do anything rash," replied Erza before leaving. "Or else…"

Slowly, Natsu turned around to check if she was gone. Sometimes, Erza could be so scary. Back to the conversation, "Okay, we're almost there. See there? Lluvia's the one with the medium length blue hair. And that freak next to her is Gazille. When you get there, smile and wink at her. Then when everyone's gone, give her a big hug or something. Act, man! Act. Now go out there!"

Despite Gray's objections, Natsu gave him a big push forward.

How the heck did I get dragged into Natsu's mess? Whatever. Gray shrugged and nonchalantly sauntered toward Lluvia's table, unknowingly taking the longest route possible.

Lluvia sat by herself. Gazille had to go take a leak, at least that was what he said. Totomaru was looking for some hot chicks or something. Sol was complaining about the food and who knows what Aria was up to? She sighed, "Lluvia really wanted to celebrate today with them but they all left." She sat there in silence for a few moments, when a figure caught her eyes. The figure had black messy hair that framed his handsome face. On his body was a casual jacket a T-shirt and jeans; his outfit complimented him so well. Her eyes were nearly burning from his handsomeness and in no time, Lluvia recognized him. Could it be Gray-sama? Oh, this is just awesome! She grinned. Come closer, she urged in her mind, and to her surprise, he followed.

Under his breath, Gray muttered what Natsu had said. "Okay, give her a charming smile. Then wink, a ridiculous hug, and…" As he murmured to himself, he did not notice he was right next to the blue-haired singer.

"Ah!"

Gray looked down. Oops he had bumped into someone and spilled something.

"Oh. Sorry 'bout that!" he said quickly apologizing.

"Oh.. that's okay!" Lluvia replied, her eyes enchanted by Gray. Her staring was uncomfortable to Gray who was used to crowds of people admiring him, but just one person was weird. It took him a few moments before he cleared his throat. He could see Natsu outside the window acting crazy. This must be Lluvia.

"Ah-hem. Uh…hi!" Charming smile and wink, "Lluvia, right? Congrats on winning the Battle of the Bands." Awkward silence.

"Huh? Oh, thank-you, Gray-sama!" Her eyelashes involuntarily fluttered as her face flushed red. Lluvia could almost hyperventilate right now if it weren't for the embarrassment that would happen afterwards if she did.

"…" What's up with her?

From the outside, Natsu could see them and it was not cool. Gray normally was good at acting…at least better than Erza so why was he messing up such an easy thing? Natsu could see Lluvia talking to him while Gray stood there at lost of words, like a fool. Dammit! His plan wasn't working. Bam! Bam! Bam! Get back from space, Gray!

The annoying knocking from Natsu returned Gray back to Fiore and he was about to curse. Then he remembered the plan. Great, he thought, now I have to do this or else Natsu will make my life a living hell. Okay, time for the hug. This shouldn't be too horrible.

It wasn't. At least, at first.

When Gray went in with the unexpected hug, he found it actually felt good—at least nothing out of the ordinary. For a moment, Lluvia did not notice anything, but when she found his embrace, she was so surprised that she accidentally squirmed. It just was too much for Lluvia, after all, even though she had a huge crush on him, he barely knew her. All that commotion knocked over the table. Happy, Natsu's sidekick cat flew in, shouting, "FOOD FIGHT!" And then chaos followed.

Lluvia was in lala land. Dreaming. About. Gray-sama! This evening's unexpected events sent her straight to heaven and she actually hyperventilated. When she woke up, she found herself holding Gray-sama's shirt like it was a pillow. Confused, she asked a waiter what had happened. Apparently, she got drunk and took off Gray's shirt, which made him flee from "that crazy woman". The waiter also mentioned about a rose-colored man outside who was laughing his head off. Unbeknownst to them was Gazille, sitting in a corner. He had a smug smile on his face; he had seen everything.

Inspired by the evening's events, Lluvia had a great idea for her next song. She wrote it on a nearby napkin.


The next day, Gray got a new package sent to him. Carefully unwrapping it, he found a CD that said:

To Gray-sama from Lluvia

"Gou Ai" and "Practical Joke" by Lluvia Loxar

And a note:

"Dear Gray-sama,

Lluvia's heart is all yours and always brimming with love! Come visit Lluvia sometimes! 3"

Gray smiled. That girl, Lluvia, sure was persistent.