"Juvia, meet me in my office," Makarov broke in as he passed by Juvia, who was sitting with a few other members at a table in the lobby of the area.
"Yes sir," she nodded, following the extremely short man.
They were currently in their underground building, which everyone referred to as "Fairy Tail." However, Fairy Tail also referred to the group of the highest trained assassins in all of Fiore. Some may call them hit men, but their expertise was above that. Every person in the country had probably heard of them, but in all the years of being together, they were never caught. Makarov had started the group several years ago, disgusted with the other pathetic groups of hit men throughout Magnolia.
Fairy Tail assassins were hired by political figures, gang members, and spiteful business men all over the country. The reason they were so popular is because they always finished the job flawlessly. And among those members, Juvia Loxar was one of the best of the best.
As the two entered the office, Makarov shut the door behind them. Juvia took a seat across the desk, and Makarov strided past her to take a seat on the opposite side.
"I have a job for you," he explained, "but there's a catch. He's one of the most dangerous men in the country. Many people have tried to go after him, but it all ended in their deaths."
Juvia nodded, unphased by the challenge.
"I'm sure you've heard the name 'Gray Fullbuster'?"
Juvia recalled hearing about the infamous man, him being one of the most wanted men in the country. She had never seen his face, but she had heard rumors about the sly man who continuously smuggled narcotics in from other countries. She wasn't surprised someone had placed a hit on him, there had to be an endless number of angry businessmen who wanted his head.
She nodded in response again.
"Good. Then you know what you're up against," he snickered, starting to laugh. "You know I hate being too serious. But you really must be careful, Juvia."
Juvia warmly smiled at Makarov. She was thankful to be a part of Fairy Tail. She was previously involved in another popular group, but they got busted a few years back while she was on a mission. Somehow, Makarov had heard about her and adopted her into Fairy Tail.
"What information do you have on him?" Juvia inquired after a few seconds.
"Ah! Right," Makarov remembered, pulling a file out from inside of his desk. "Let's see, Gray Fullbuster.. His current whereabouts are suspected to be in Magnolia. He is currently traveling with his business associate, Natsu Dragneel. Here's the most recent picture of him," he went on, holding out a mug shot of said man.
Juvia took the picture in her hands, and glanced at the scowling man looking at her from in the picture. She was a little caught off guard, surprised at how handsome he was. Usually the men and women who had hits on their heads were, well, extremely unpleasant looking.
"Oh, and, the reward is 5,000,000 yen," he added, as Juvia stared at the photo.
The usually expressionless woman felt her jaw drop a bit, "W-what?"
"He's a vicious criminal. People want him dead!" He laughed, standing up. "Good luck, Juvia-chan!"
She followed his lead out the door, pondering the reward. Are these people mad? Is he really worth that much?
"Shut up you idiot! Someone will hear you!" Gray exclaimed as loud as he could while still whispering.
Natsu smacked his hand over his own mouth, trying to contain his roaring laughter.
"Sorry, sorry! I just can't believe you got away with that!" Natsu giggled, as they both entered the rundown apartment that the two shared.
Gray had just finished smuggling a new batch of drugs from some stupid dealers whom he had double crossed.
It wasn't anything special, Gray thought. He had been doing the same thing for years. He would smuggle, steal, and rip off whatever he could get his hands on. Once obtaining said narcotics, he would sell them at an extreme price to other dealers and customers. It was such an easy way to make a living and he was so good at it. He had never been caught once, despite having many killers after him. The only drawback was how unhealthily illegal it was. It's not like he wanted to be one of the most wanted criminals in the country, that was just how his life had unfortunately played out. The part he hated the most was the people he had had to kill in the past out of self defense. It was either kill or be killed, he reminded himself. Either way, it was a heavy burden he didn't enjoy carrying.
He used to work alone, but that was a lot of effort. A couple of years back, he met a customer that was so adamant on joining his line of work, he didn't have much of a choice but to let the idiot join. He didn't really want to drag Natsu down the path he was on, but he was asking for it.
Natsu was in charge of distributing the stolen narcotics to various dealers. The fiery-tempered man always complained because he wanted to do the "cool" stuff that Gray did, but Gray drew the line there, considering he didn't necessarily wish to have to deal with several hits on Natsu's head as well.
Closing the door behind him, Natsu started again, "Tell me again about that guy's reaction!" He boomed, wiping a tear from his eye.
Gray chuckled a bit at the thought of the head dealer he had just betrayed, "well, as I was running out of his house with the goods, he started screaming something like 'COME BACK HERE FULLBUSTER! YOU AREN'T A REAL MAN!'" Gray mocked, recalling the large white-haired man.
They both busted into a fit of laughter, clutching at their sides. They were interrupted by a loud growl from Natsu's stomach.
"Wah, Gray I'm starving!" Natsu whined.
Stuffing the stolen merchandise in a safe underneath the ragged couch, "I am too. Come on, let's go to the pub," Gray replied, as the two of them got up to leave as soon as they had come home.
Juvia had spent all afternoon on a train ride to Magnolia. Since her meeting this morning with Makarov, she had been dead set on assassinating her target as soon as possible. She always had a strong sense of justice, and despised criminals. Especially ones like the one she was currently assigned to kill.
With her sense of justice, it wasn't always easy for her to kill people. But she reminded herself that they were criminals, and she was a vigilante that would make them pay for their sins. Of course, people didn't just put hits out on evil people, they put them on people who they needed out of the way as well, evil or not. However, Juvia tried not to think about this part, and made herself focus on the job at hand.
As she finally arrived in Magnolia, she began her search. The sun was nearly going down, but she was ready to complete her mission. She was dressed in her usual attire, a long sleeve black dress with a warm black hat, no matter what the weather was. Her elegant blue hair with loose waves flowing down far below her shoulders. She found herself frowning, something that usually happened while on the job. Just because she was one of the best assassins Fiore has to offer, didn't mean she ever enjoyed it.
She had been doing some research on Gray Fullbuster before she left, and found out some of his usual hangouts. The one he visited the most often was a popular bar in town, called "Loke's pub."
Juvia made her way towards the pub, only to see the silhouette of her target sitting right next to the window, across from his partner in crime, Natsu Dragneel. He makes it so easy! She thought.
She climbed into a tree on the other side of the road, across from the pub, to hide her body. She hated hiding in trees, but the sun was still somewhat up, and she couldn't just start shooting in broad daylight. She also didn't have the patience at the moment to way until night time to assassinate the vicious criminal.
Crouching on a tree branch, she set up her gun. She had a clear shot straight at his head, and she focused her sight on the man in her view. This time, she really looked at him. He was laughing at something his friend had said to him, smiling ear to ear, his eyes scrunched up as he laughed.
Her jaw dropped for the second time today.
He's.. so... beautiful...
AN: Thanks for reading! c: I'll try to update as soon as I can!