Dedicated to the Juvia-Gajeel bro-ship.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is the work of Hiro Mashima
The Kurogane awoke from his sleep with a start to find water surrounding all sides of his brand-new sofa, which had become an island. Mentally cursing the hands of fate that had orchestrated his meeting with the girl currently in front of him, he sat up.
"What do you want at - " he glanced at the clock, "THREE IN THE MORNING RAIN WOMAN? Are you insane?"
"Juvia knows what time it is, Gajeel-kun," the woman replied calmly, unperturbed by "Gajeel-kun's" outburst. She also seemed immune to his death glare, which normally sent people cowering in fear.
"Then why are you here?" Gajeel demanded, "spit it out."
"No reason, Juvia simply wanted to check on Gajeel-kun."
"Nothing?" Gajeel repeated incredulously, "you woke me up at this hour for no reason and brought this flood with you?"
"Well, Juvia wanted to wish Gajeel-kun luck."
"Huh?"
"Tomorrow is the S-Class exam," Juvia reminded him, "since both Gajeel-kun and Juvia will be competing, Juvia came here to wish Gajeel-kun luck!"
"Is that all?" Gajeel asked warily; past experiences taught him that the Rain Woman, whom he was (un)fortunate to call best - and only - friend, always have a motive. Her motives may be silly, perhaps, but her actions never spontaneous.
"Of course Gajeel-kun! Does Gajeel-kun not trust Juvia?" she asked innocently, "Juvia is sorry to have disturbed Gajeel-kun, Juvia will go home now."
Juvia rose from the arm of the sofa and made her way towards the door. When she reached the metal-studded door however, she suddenly walked back towards Gajeel, water swirling about her as she did so. Leaning forward so that he could feel her breath on his ear, she whispered:
"Juvia heard that Gajeel-kun is looking forward to fighting with the Salamander. Juvia wishes Gajeel-kun the best of luck. Juvia will be watching. However, Gajeel-kun must not forget that metal would always rust in water, Juvia will be waiting, Gajeel-kun."
With that, she strode out the door, bringing the flood with her until not a single drop remained. It would have been impossible to tell that his apartment was up to his knees in water merely seconds ago.
Now fully awake, the Kurogane stood up and closed his apartment door. No one would have been able to miss the excitement on his face. Sure, he had been looking forward to fighting with Natsu and the others, but Juvia's thinly-veiled challenge had made his blood boil in anticipation.
Although the Kurogane had been acknowledged as the most powerful member of Phantom Lord, few had known that Juvia, the water mage of the Element Four, had been on par with the fearsome Kurogane himself.
Gajeel would never understand why Juvia chose to keep such a low-profile, but she had earned his respect that day long ago, when he had challenged the Rain Woman to a fight, so he would not question her decision. He earned something else as well - her friendship. They didn't advertise the fact and one would never have been able to guess but in reality, they were probably closer to each other than anyone.
It has been years since the two had fought seriously.
As he returned to the sofa, Gajeel felt his lips curling into a frightening grin. Had anyone (except for Juvia of course) seen him right then, they would have ran for their lives. His crimson eyes shone with battle lust and his intimidating smirk exposed his unnaturally sharp canines. Even the most foolish of fools would have known not to provoke him at the moment.
"Metal would always rust in water Juvia?" he mused aloud, "we'll see about that."
