A/N: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Prologue - It Started With A Kiss. Well, Kind Of...

A new uniform. A new school. A new start.

Or it was meant to be.

"I'm telling you Erza, he pushed her! I saw it."

Gajeel-kun scowled, "I didn't touch the girl. We bumped into each other. It's not my fault she's so damn tiny she bounced off me. And down the stairs. It was purely accidental."

If this had been our old school this would no doubt have been an excuse fabricated for the teachers. That is, if any of them had dared challenge us in the first place. But this wasn't Oak Town and we weren't in Phantom Lord anymore. This was Magnolia High, Gajeel and I had been here all of two minutes yet, despite our best intentions, trouble was already brewing. I felt a flicker of worry that maybe starting over wouldn't be quite as easy as we'd hoped.

"Calm down, Jet. Are you okay, Levy?" asked Erza.

The blue haired girl who was, in Gajeel's defence, pretty small, wiped a tear away as it rolled slowly down her cheek, "My wrist hurts." Her right arm was pressed defensively against her chest and she did look a little pale.

"Ano, it really was an accident," I said softly, trying to ease some of the tension.

Erza turned towards me and I felt her cool gaze as she evaluated me. "Juvia and Gajeel, right? Two of the new transfer students. I'm Erza, the student council president."

As if she needed an introduction. Erza Scarlet was infamous. A living legend. Even in our old school that was full of nothing but badass delinquents everyone knew better than to cause trouble with anyone from this school. Magnolia High was a solid no-go zone because of her. And thus the perfect choice for getting away from our less than ideal past associates and all the bad memories. Except we seemed to be getting off to a really unfortunate start.

"Come on Erza. Just look at them. I can practically see the word 'trouble' stamped on their foreheads," said the other boy with Jet and Levy, giving us both a mutinous stare.

I sensed Gajeel-kun tensing up next to me. He probably wanted to beat these guys to a pulp. At our old school he would have and for much less than this stupid argument. A look that lingered too long, a hasty word spoken a little too loud, sometimes for no real reason other than he felt like it. Phantom Lord valued strength above all else. I strongly doubted that was the case at this school. Gajeel obviously knew that too so he put his strength to better use, stepped forward and swept the girl up into his arms. She let out a little squeak of surprise and both the boys with her looked shocked.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The words exploded from Jet's mouth in a rush.

"I did not push this little pipsqueak down the stairs. But if it'll shut you up I'll take her to the school infirmary."

"Like hell you will!" Jet said at the same time that Levy asked, "Pipsqueak?" They both looked equally outraged and I almost sighed out loud at Gajeel's complete lack of social niceties.

"Thank you, Gajeel. I'm certain this was a regrettable accident. I'm also sure you're aware that this school has a zero tolerance policy on bullying," Erza cut in smoothly with just a hint of warning in her eyes, "And thank you Jet, Droy and Levy for agreeing to show the new students around."

"We what?"

Oh. So that was the type of look Titania tossed around to keep the students in line. It wasn't aimed at me but I still felt the force of it. "Any more objections?" the redhead asked. Obviously, there were none. "Good. See the school nurse but don't be late for the opening ceremony." And she was gone, hauling on some poor kid's collar because his uniform was a rumpled mess.

"Umm, there's actually nothing wrong with my legs. I can walk, you know," said Levy from her perch in Gajeel's arms.

"Clearly not so well since you managed to walk straight into me," Gajeel retorted.

"She managed perfectly well before you pushed her," Jet said.

"Can we just stop? My wrist really does hurt and this sexist idiot obviously wont see reason."

"Sorry Levy. Droy and I will take good care of you later. I can't believe we got stuck showing this lot around."

"Maybe I should have pushed you," murmured Gajeel under his breath and I elbowed him.

We headed down the polished corridors, the three boys exchanging thinly veiled insults with Levy as referee, albeit a very biased one. I was checking out the school. The vibe here was so different. All around us people were excitedly greeting friends they hadn't seen all summer. Bright posters for all the different clubs vied for attention on the walls. Baby-faced freshmen clung together in groups, as wide eyed as I must be. I wondered if-

"Damn! Watch where you're going!"

Great. Just great. I looked down at my previously white shirt, now stained by what must be at least half of my iced frappaccino. Erza was always more proactive on the first day of a new term. She'd eat me alive for arriving at the opening ceremony looking like this.

The girl who'd bumped into me pulled a blue handkerchief out of her bag and started dabbing at me. "Juvia is so sorry. Are you okay?"

"I told you," said Jet with a shake of his head, "These two are pure trouble."

I studied what must be two new students. The barest of glances at the guy told me that Jet was probably right. Tattoos and piercings did tend to say trouble. Never mind the fact that in his arms Levy seemed even tinier than I already knew she was. Jet and Droy looked pissed off and the new guy was none too happy either. Not my business. I wasn't the slightest bit tempted to ask what the hell was going on there but I wouldn't put it past Levy to have acquired yet another fanboy. The new girl though... Now, trouble or not, I could make her my business. She was a little shorter than me, with blue hair curled under at her shoulders, wide eyes and fair unblemished skin. A pretty face and an even better body. A hottie. She was standing close enough to me that I could smell her perfume. Fresh and earthy. Unusual but not unpleasant. Kind of reminded me of... the way the air smelled after it rained. Like the whole world had been washed clean. I decided that I liked it.

"Can you show her to the opening ceremony? We need to take Levy to the infirmary and we could do without having two walking disasters with us," Jet added. He sounded more than a little fed up and I could hardly protest to being introduced to a beautiful girl.

"Sure. I'd love to," I said. The guy with her gave me a sharp look but he obviously wasn't her boyfriend or, he didn't know of my reputation, because he walked away from us, following Jet and Droy down the corridor. Which left me alone with the hot new girl who was clearly flustered and continued to pat at my chest. "What's your name?"

"Juvia. Juvia really is sorry. Gajeel-kun and Juvia are getting off to a bad start at this school. Really bad."

She referred to herself in the third person. Different and a little cute, I could deal with that. "Welcome to Magnolia High, Juvia. I'm sure things will get better."

He was hot. Really hot and being so kind to me after I'd spilled his drink. If he noticed the cold coffee seeping through his ruined shirt, he gave no sign of it. Instead his eyes burned into me, taking in every detail. I prayed I wasn't blushing but if he was checking me out then it was only fair if I did the same. I pressed my handkerchief down a bit harder, under the guise of cleaning him up a little and was pleasantly surprised. His abs were rock solid. There couldn't be an inch of fat on him. I felt my heart skip a beat. I always did like guys who worked out. "Ano, Juvia doesn't know your name."

"Gray. Hold this for me, would you?" He pushed his coffee at me and I grasped it with two hands, eager to help but disappointed not to be touching him any more. "Not like that," he said readjusting my hands so only one held the cup and the other was held out towards him, palm up.

Then he stripped.

I'm pretty sure my mouth was gaping unattractively open but I couldn't help it. Gray laid his tie across my hand and with lightning speed his shirt was off and draped over my arm and the school hallway suddenly seemed a few degrees too warm. Gray was so fit. His body toned and sculptured to perfection, a rival to any of the boys at my old school. No, better, definitely better. A warm feeling swept through me but I tried to ignore it. This was most definitely not part of the 'new start' plan.

Any second now animated hearts were going to start shooting out of this girls' eyes. I took my drink back and took a long gulp, never breaking our gaze. She was blushing but it wasn't enough. I had a pretty good idea what a sweet girl like her would think was a big deal and what can I say? I lived to please.

He held the cup out to me, "Do you want some?"

Oh. My. God.

An indirect kiss with a hot guy on my first day at this new school. Forget rough starts, I must have arrived in heaven. A heaven filled with half-dressed men. Definitely my kind of place. My heart felt sure to pound right out of my chest but I tried to take the cup nonchalantly, like I did this sort of thing all the time. Which I didn't. I hadn't been exactly popular at my old school, for various reasons.

"Yo, Gray!"

I jumped and what remained of the coffee sloshed out of the cup and over our hands. Way to go, Juvia! Just humiliate yourself like fucking always!

Gray was laughing at me, "You're really clumsy." He took his shirt out of my hand and used it like a towel to wipe up the coffee, first off our hands then off the floor. Taking the empty cup from me he shot it at the bin across the hall. He didn't miss. I felt like such an idiot standing here next to him. He was so confident and cool and together. I liked that but it also highlighted the massive gap between us. My life was anything but together. I shouldn't have needed to be reminded of that.

Reality check. This girl was so not my type. I had a bit of a reputation with women. Thus far it didn't include corrupting innocents and I planned on keeping it that way. Juvia was cute but things weren't going to work out between us. "Jellal! What's up? You're scaring the new girl."

"Oh, sorry," he said and we bumped fists. "What's this I hear about you quitting the dojo?"

I shrugged, "It's my senior year. I have better things to do on Saturdays then kick your ass."

He laughed, "You mean get your ass kicked by Erza."

"That too." No point denying it. Erza kicked everybody's ass so there was no shame in admitting defeat. Thinking of Erza, "You don't happen to have a spare shirt?" I held up the crumpled, coffee stained mess that had once been a part of my uniform.

Jellal raised an eyebrow, "Class hasn't even started on the first day."

"Her fault," I said and jerked my thumb at Juvia whose blush deepened. Yup, she was so sweet I could practically taste the sugar. I was normally pretty good at filtering out the girls who'd suit me but my aim was off this morning. There'd been something about her in those first moments when our paths had crossed, something dark around the edges that'd made me think she might be one of those good girls with a naughty side but that illusion was well and truly dead. Juvia and I were almost certainly incompatible.

"Juvia is very sorry," I bowed.

"Juvia. One of the new transfer students," the new boy mused. He had a really intricate mark on his face and I had to try hard not to stare.

"Hai."

"I'm Jellal, vice president of the student council. Nice to meet you. I'll have to arrange for someone to show you around. Not this reprobate."

"Who me?" asked Gray with mock indignation. It was immediately obvious that they were really good friends.

"Ano," I interrupted, seeing my chance and seizing it, "Erza-san asked a few people to show Gajeel-kun and Juvia around but Juvia would like if Gray-san did it."

"That's what all the girls say," Jellal said and Gray snickered. Jellal pointed at him, "You have a filthy mind. I did not mean it like that and neither did she."

It took a few seconds but then it struck me what had been said that could be turned into a joke. I covered my face with my hands, horrified. I must be as red as a tomato by now. How could this boy have me falling to pieces so easily?

No doubt now. This girl was definitely way too innocent for me. She couldn't even handle one simple innuendo without blushing like crazy. "Gray!" An unmistakable voice yelled my name. Ah, man. I was so busted.

"Are you harassing the new girl? And where the hell are your clothes?" Erza demanded. This girl must have eyes in the back of her head or a sixth sense or something like that, damn. She always appeared out of nowhere whenever anything was going down. Usually to my detriment.

Jellal wrapped his arm around Erza's shoulders and tugged playfully on her ponytail, "Relax Erza. I'm keeping our resident Casanova in line."

I watched them carefully. We'd been friends for a long time but even I found it hard to believe when Jellal and Erza said they weren't fucking. Whatever. If they wanted to keep their friends with benefits thing under wraps from even their closest friends then that was their business. Right this moment, I just didn't want Erza to beat me up again. "Jellal is getting me a new shirt."

"Yeah, it's fine," he said, not missing a beat. Our history was complicated, what with our mutual links to Ultear who seemed to play almost sister, faux mother and definite royal pain in the ass to both of us at various stages in our lives. A lot had changed in my life in the last ten years yet no matter what, I could always trust Jellal to have my back.

Temporarily mollified, Erza turned her attention to Juvia, "Fine. You go get dressed properly and I'll show Juvia to the opening ceremony because at this rate she'll never get there."

Erza-san and her boyfriend looked really good together. They must have been going out a long time to be so comfortable acting this way in school. Jellal was twirling the scarlet strands of Erza's hair around and around his fingers. "You changed your shampoo," he said, nuzzling her hair.

Erza, Titiana, the legend who managed to scare more or less everyone with just the force of her well deserved reputation, blushed. Blushed. Like a normal in love school girl. This time I managed to keep my mouth shut, despite the second earthshaking surprise in under five minutes. "I didn't think you'd notice," she said to him.

"Don't I notice everything about you? Usually," Jellal pulled Erza closer, fitting her against his side.

Even though they were only standing there, talking, it felt like I was intruding on something private. It might have been the way they looked at each other, the easy, confident way he touched her, the way she let him, but I unconsciously took a step back, surprised by the intimate vibe coming from them. You'd have thought they were home alone, not stood in the middle of the hall with an audience looking on.

"Don't worry," Gray said, "You'll get use to them being that way."

"What way?" The couple said in perfect unison and Gray sent me a look that made it seem like we were co-conspirators. I didn't feel so far out of my depth now and it was looking like this new school might suit me after all. I smiled at them. It'd be nice to have real friends for a change.

Juvia looked more relaxed than she had the whole time we'd been talking. The warning bell rang and Jellal reluctantly released his hold on Erza. The opening ceremony would wait for no one and as council members today was going to be hectic for them. Even so, Jellal took the time to whisper something to Erza. They stood there, lost in their own little bubble. Crazy. I'd eat my school tie if they really weren't having sex. The connection between them was off the fucking chart. I winked at Juvia and she smiled back, those blue eyes of hers sparkling. She was hot but way too sweet to interest me. A shame really as I wouldn't have minded having a taste of her. I took one step away from her but something in me wouldn't let things end like this.

I nervously tapped my two index fingers together. Erza was going to walk me over to the opening ceremony but I still didn't know anything much about Gray. What homeroom was he in? Would we met again? Did he want my number? This wasn't a huge school but it'd be nice to know this meeting wasn't a one-off.

"Hey, I think I owe you something," he said and stepped close to me. My heart went into overdrive as he invaded my personal space. He caught my chin in one hand, the other circling my waist to land on the small of my back and leaned down. It was presumptuous and forward and I should have slapped him for his audacity. Instead I squeezed my eyes shut, anticipating the kiss. As first days went this was fucking insane. And wonderful. Really, truly wonderful.

Gray's nose bumped mine and my first thought was that for all his bravado he was going to be a terrible kisser. But this wasn't a kiss at all. At least not of the kind I was expecting. Gray rubbed his nose gently over mine three times. I opened my eyes in surprise and was immediately lost in his. Despite my best efforts to keep it suppressed, a feeling I'd thought was gone for good sprang to life in my heart.

"There," he said in a soft whisper, his breath warm against my lips, "is the indirect kiss I owe you. Eskimo style."

And just like that everything was lost without me even knowing it was up for grabs in the first place. "Oh," I breathed as my heart twisted, "Gray...-sama."