This isn't my first Gruvia one-shot, but it's the first time I've published one all on its own.
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Fairy Tail
Gray sighed as he strode down the length of the sidewalk with four grocery bags gathered in his right hand, and an umbrella in the other. His mother, Ur, had apparently thought it a wise choice to send her fourteen-year-old son on an errand to the nearby local supermarket in the middle of a rainstorm. Even now, thirty minutes later, the raindrops assaulted the top of his umbrella furiously, and dropped onto the ground in rivulets. It wasn't that the cold weather bothered him – after all, he loved the cold seasons – it was that during a storm, cars had a habit of passing by you at top speed, and didn't care if they splashed water all over you or not. Gray had already taken a shower, and now that he was damp and muddy, he didn't feel like he was in his brightest mood.
Even so, he appreciated the cool breeze on his cheeks and the smell of rain in the air. He would take his umbrella away from his head to wash off his clothes this instant if not for the likely lecture from his fierce mother if he did so.
"You'll get a cold!" she stressed – as if she didn't walk out into the streets with only a tank top and shorts when Japan was in the middle of its winter season and it was snowing out.
Gray stepped through a puddle as he crossed the park, and stopped when he heard a sharp yell of frustration. Being incredibly curious and nosy, he stopped and stepped into the park, crouching behind a bush when he saw a brown-haired boy standing as he confronted a girl seated on the bench. They looked about his age.
"I can't take it anymore! Our relationship is over!" the boy shouted, raking a hand through his sopping wet hair. The two of them didn't have an umbrella with them.
"But why?" asked the girl, her voice heavy with distraught and surprise.
"Why?! Why?!" the boy said, laughing in disbelief at the reasonable question. "I'll tell you why! You're incredibly, superbly, unbelievably unbearable and weird! You only schedule our dates when it's raining or freezing cold, you never bring an umbrella when it is raining, you never where a coat when it's snowing, and since you only ever want to go on a date when the weather's pouring, I find you gloomy! And your way of talking is weird! Do you find the way you talk cute?!"
"Juvia can't help it! Talking in third person has become second nature to her!"
"Our relationship is over Juvia! I can't picture myself continuing this relationship with a gloomy girl like you – someone who is weirdly obsessed with rain and cold weather!"
The boy threw his hands up in the air and stomped away, splashing up mud and puddles as he went. The girl stood up to stop him, but when it was apparent that she couldn't catch up with him, she trailed miserably back to her bench, and started to cry. Gray, whose legs had become quite sore from the position he was in, shifted the bags in his right hand awkwardly, and debated on what to do. Should he just leave? After all, this had nothing to do with him. Nodding his head slightly, he stood up and prepared to leave, but stopped when he heard a loud sob come from the Juvia girl.
Biting his lip and moaning inwardly, he gave in to the side of his personality that was chivalrous and kind, and blew his cover. He approached the girl, and fidgeted awkwardly. After a few seconds, the girl felt his presence and looked up. Her cheeks were wet with rain and tears, and her lips shook as she regarded Gray with curiosity and politeness.
"Do you…need something from Juvia?" she asked, turning away.
Gray racked his brain for a response, and groaned silently as he came up short. He began to quietly panic, and in the spur of the moment, he practically shouted, "Gray likes rain!"
The girl's eyes widened, and her jaw grew slack. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she opened her mouth to say something. Before she could, Gray cut in by whipping the umbrella away from his head, allowing the rain to soak him through to the bones, and shouting, "SEE?!"
For a moment, there was nothing but silence between them. Gray was worried that the girl was simply going to run away and scream from his weirdness. And then, Juvia shifted, and set her elbows on her knees, and rested her head in her outstretched hands.
"Yes…Juvia…certainly and definitely sees, Mr. Eavesdropper, sir."
Gray's face flushed, and he nearly stabbed his umbrella into the ground. "Uh, s-sorry…Gray's mom says he's nosy, and he should stop that, or he'll never get a girlfriend, but he's not lying! He really does like rain…and cold weather, always has! Sometimes…"
His voice trailed off, and then he plucked up his courage to continue. "Sometimes, Gray even goes outside during the snow season half naked! Oh, and…Gray's name is Gray…uh…hi?"
"You-"
"Gray likes to talk in third person. Gray's older brother, Lyon, says it's annoying, but Gray doesn't care. Gray tells him to shut up or he'll bash his face in, because that's just the way Gray is! So…Juvia-sama should just cheer up?"
He mentally slapped himself for that one.
Juvia stared at him in shock, and then smile. "Juvia likes to talk in third person, too."
Gray relaxed. She had bought his act. Who knew how awkward it would have been if she had found out he was only feigning to emulate the way she talked just to comfort her?
"Gray knows."
He let the rain douse him for a moment before he sat down onto the dripping wet bench. Gray let him stare at Juvia in wonderment. She was very pretty. Her pale skin stood out in the dimness of the evening, her dark eyelashes were long and shiny as they came away from her eyes, and her unusual blue hair curled and cascaded over her shoulders as they hung heavy with the weight of the water.
She turned to look at him with a small smile gracing her lips as she noticed him observing her. Gray's face flushed red as he looked away and set the umbrella he was holding onto the ground. People passing by stared at the curiously, shaking their heads at the weirdness of middle school students these days.
"Is it true? Do you really go outside half naked during the winter seasons?"
Gray almost started out talking in first person before his memory kicked in. "Would Gray lie to Juvia-sama? Of course he does."
She giggled as her hand covered her mouth daintily.
"Juvia…sama?"
He scratched the back of his neck. He already came off as strange, so there was no way to go back now.
"Yeah."
She laughed, leaning back, and tucking a strand of her soaked hair behind her ear. Smiling brightly enough to make Gray's stomach twist, she tilted her head to one side and asked, "Then…you are…Gray-sama?"
He felt his heat rate pick up at a hundred miles per hour as the temperature of his face rose. "If Juvia…if Juvia-sama wants to call Gray that…then Gray supposes it's all right."
"Gray-sama."
The way his name rolls of her tongue and drops from her mouth softly and endearingly makes him want to shrivel up in embarrassment. Laughing softly, he lifted his head and stared into her eyes. They are opaque, and as her pink lips curve up into a smile on her porcelain face, his heart drops to his toes.
He can't even feel the cold anymore because he feels so hot inside. Before he can even do anything else, he leans in and kisses Juvia lightly on the lips.
She is taken aback, and her eyes widen as he pulls back, astonished himself.
His mouth scorches from where their mouths had made contact.
The world around him is cold and rainy. Just the way he likes it.
And on this kind of day, he found someone he liked.
"I…like the way you smile," he whispered, rubbing his cheeks.
Juvia, blinking rapidly, broke out into a grin. "Juvia knew she was the only one who spoke in third person here."
"Huh?"
"Never mind, Gray-sama," she laughed. Her fingers intertwined with his, and the two of them sat there for a long time.
"I don't care how much you like rainstorms! If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, you weird kid! YOU CATCH COLDS LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE!" Ur screeched as she took Gray's temperature the next morning.
And that is the conclusion of this one-shot. I usually write NaLu stories, so I hope you liked this one!
Please review!
Hope you liked this one-shot.