That Person Next Door
Laxus was pretty sure that after several weeks of non stop, excessive work at the company, he deserved at least a couple of days in a break. And he gladly could spent every single minute of it sleeping and eating in this new apartment of his, because the autumn started and he hated the cold.
Even though the building was quite weird on its own. The people living there were crazy in his opinion, always yelling, fighting or partying. Mostly on weekends, but it sure was louder than any other place he'd ever been to. But he'd try to bear it the most he could, since his grandfather was the owner and it was close to his work.
He sip on his coffee cup, tasting the hot water on his tongue. Reading an old book in his big couch, with the temperature of the room in that point after working out, was really a thing he'd do for the rest of his life. He'd been doing it literally for two days straight.
It was all quite and peaceful inside his four walls, until the door fell down.
He was startled only for a second, before anger took the best of him. He quite literally glared at the… at a white haired woman standing there, breathing heavily, a hammer on her right hand. Her big, deep blue eyes looked at him in fear, but then relief. Her long, pink dress was a bit messy. He remembered her by being the girl living next door with her younger siblings.
But the door was out of place and practically destroyed on his floor, and now all the peace was as gone as his patient.
"What the fuck?" Laxus growled, placing down his coffee and book. He got up and walked closer, looking at the damages done.
The girl, around her twenty fives, bowed down her head in a apologize. "I'm so sorry! You haven't been out for days so I thought you were dead in your apartment!"
Laxus was so confused, he didn't know what to say. What was the most shocking of it all?
But the fact that she bowed down for such a thing made him feel a little nervous. What was the need for a formality? She just broke his door, nothing more.
"Dead?" he asked.
"I couldn't hear a sound, and I didn't see you throw out your garbage these days so I thought maybe something happened," she said. "I'm really sorry, mister! I'll pay for this,"
"Ah…" he said. "Okay."
She lifted her head and smiled oh so sweetly at him. Her eyes were more electric than all those lightings he liked to see. "I'm glad we could fix this easily. Also, I'm happy you're not dead."
He scowled, remembering why she was here again and what she did. "Sure."
"How about I invite you over the bar I work at?" she smiled bigger, "The food is nice and I feel bad for breaking your door,"
"Not thanks," Laxus snapped, turning around. He was not in the mood for a bar, even though a beer or two could make him well. "You can go now."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. Why didn't she go already?"
"I'm Mirajane Strauss," the girl announced, making him raise an eyebrow. "Just thought I'd let you know, if you need something one day."
"Okay," he simply answered.
"And yours?" he could sense she was still trying to be nice, but the impatient and irritation were trying to get the best of her. That's what she got for interrupting his afternoon.
But at the end of the day, he'd been educated to be nice to women. So if she introduced herself out of her own will because someday he may need her help, he could at least say his own name.
"Laxus Dreyar," he said. "Now go away."
He thought he saw her smile again with the corner of his eyes. "Goodbye."
She turned around and left, leaving him alone yet again. He groaned at the sight of what was left of that storm, lifting up the broken pieces and kicking the door away to put a curtain instead.
Laxus would like to say that that one was his last encounter with the weird girl, but there was no point in lying. He started to practically see her every single day of his life, and it made him wonder if it was like that before they officially met, and that he only didn't notice.
But now it was always there, her radiant smile even at first hour in the morning. It seemed a crime that someone could be that happy in that hour.
Until one day, of course.
As always, he'd closed the curtain (she swore the door was coming), blinking to try to wake up, even if he'd already done his morning routine. He closed his jacket tighter around him, feeling the cold coming from the window.
And when he turned around, expecting to see her (not that he wanted to) smile, he was shocked to see her with dark circles under her eyes and what looked like a scowl.
Her white hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, different as usual. Her pink scarf was loosely hanging around her neck, her coat not even closed. If Laxus dared to say, she was a walking mess that day.
What was more surprising, was that she turned around left without saying 'good morning' or any of those things she liked to say. He was probably more shocked than he should be. Maybe she was another part of his routine already? No way.
"Ah, forgive her," Mirajane's sister, Lisanna, appeared in the hallway, the corner of her lips slightly lifting in amusement. "Our coffee maker broke, and believe me when I say Mira can't live without her daily supply of coffee."
"Ah…" Laxus said, surprised. Who would have guessed such a thing.
"It's nice to know someone worries about my sis, anyways," Lisanna smiled. "Have a nice day, Mr. Dreyar!"
Laxus was a speechless mess. Even if it only lasted for a second. "What the heck?" But Lisanna was gone.
He was not worried about that woman. He had only been shocked for a moment, nothing else.
But he couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the day.
Days passed, and Mira's lack of kindness was missing in everyone's life. It was like the whole building started to worry about her as time went by, Laxus watching a couple of neighbors come over and ask about her well being.
Him, knowing the source of such a mood, tried to stay away as possible, even ignoring that ache he felt in his stomach whenever they crossed paths and he couldn't help at all. He wondered when were they going to fix that damned coffee maker.
So the morning of a cold, snowy Wednesday after his morning routine, even if he had no work that day, he went out to buy a few supplies for his kitchen. Everything was going good, until he came back.
He was still annoyed by the lack of door of his own home, so what angered him even more, was finding her staring at the green curtain with hate in her blue eyes. She was taking more than needed to buy another one, and he had started to consider letting it go and buying it himself.
He scowled, "What are you doing?"
She turned around, furiously frowning. Her blue eyes had black eyeliner around them, her mouth painted blood red. Her hair was still a mess all around her, and with her black clothes, he dared say she looked like a demon.
A sexy one.
Horrified at his own thoughts, Laxus gulped down harshly. It was not the time to think like that, and he had to remember he was pretty mad at the woman for being a liar.
Mirajane death glared at him with such intensity he almost stepped back. "Why do you care?"
Her snap brought him back to reality. "You're in front of my… house, that's why I care."
"Sorry for standing in a hallway of an apartment building," she said, obviously sarcastic.
Laxus bit his tongue not to curse. She was getting right into his nerves that day and he never was a patient one.
"It's not my problem that your poor coffee maker broke," he murmured angrily.
"Excuse me?" she asked, irritated. So she had heard him. "What did you just say?"
If eyes could kill, Laxus would have died around a thousand times by now. But he held her stare, because there was no way he would lose.
"I said what you heard," he retorted. If they looked like teenagers arguing, he didn't care. Why should he be the one who suffered her bad mood?
"What's your problem?" Mira said, gritting her teeth.
"You're the one with the problem," Laxus argued. "Just because you can't drink coffee doesn't mean you have to throw your shit to others."
For a second, she looked too shocked by his words. But she recovered quickly, "Well, sorry for annoying you, oh, Mr. Sunshine."
His left eye twitched. She was going to make his scar hurt. But even so, he was determine to fight until the very end. "Whatever. I'm pretty sure your coffee was bad, anyways."
Shit. He was running out of ideas to come back at her.
"... My coffee was way better than yours!" Mira fell. "I'm sure of it!"
"Yeah right," he said. He already knew how this would end, and he didn't want it. Why did he have to start a fight with this woman? Now…
"Coffee making war!" Mirajane declared, turning around and entering his apartment like nothing. He knew it.
"Hey!" he called, walking behind her. She had already dropped her things over the couch and was heading towards the kitchen as if she was in her own home.
And he knew there was no way to get her out now. Rolling his eyes, he put his enormous coat over the table and followed her into the kitchen. For the moment, he was confident about his cooking skills, even if it was only making coffee.
"Get ready to lose," Mira said.
Laxus only growled. He was sure he'd be the last one laughing.
Many, many minutes after they started, the only one laughing was Mirajane.
Who could have thought coffee could be so delicious?
Laxus could only stare blankly at the cup, the brown liquid there, looking normal, but tasting so, so good, it was unbelievable.
Mira smiled proudly at him, and surprisingly, she looked less of a mess now. The effect of coffee had acted too quick. She looked more nice, like she used to be.
But he was too embarrassed for losing. It was a good thing she never noticed, as she started to pick up her things again.
"Sorry for the trouble," she smiled. The change was… surprising. "I had an horrible mood these days, I'm sorry. Elfman promised to buy a new coffee maker today, so thankfully I'll be better now."
At least she recognized her change of mood.
"Uh… okay." Laxus said. What a roller coaster of a morning. Hopefully the rest of the day would be better.
The door.
When he looked up to ask her about the most important thing, she had already disappeared through the curtain.
One month later, snow had covered the entire city. Sidewalks, buildings, streets, parks, everything was pure white. The lights, all colors, made everything look more beautiful than it should be. Laxus loved winter. But sometimes it shined a bit too much.
Winter was cold, as well.
The night of a Saturday, around eleven p.m., he had come back to his apartment after one long day of travel, going to Oak Town to visit his grandfather. He was tired, and he only wanted to sleep.
But what he found in that hallways was not what he expected in the very least.
It was her, always her, sitting alone in the dark aisle, only the moonlight leaking through the window. Her face was buried between her knees, her hair falling like a cascade at her sides.
His first thought was to ignore her and go into his own home. After all, what happened to her was none of his business. But then the memories of every single time she'd helped him lately came back, like that time when she prepared him dinner when he came back home after an extremely long day, or that time when she sewed his suit before an interview. And then, when he forgot lunch and she showed up with it at his work.
Those were only a few, but he could never deny the fact that she was always willing to help. So why couldn't he do the same?
Awkward, feeling weird, he approached her with slow steps.
"Hey, Mira," he started, "Are you okay?"
She lifted her head, and if he didn't know better, he'd say his heart broke at the sight. Swollen, red eyes, dry tears in her cheeks, and messy make up.
Her eyes widened when she saw him. She quickly wiped out the tears and stood up, giving him a smile that could only speak of hidden pain.
"I'm okay," she said, "don't worry."
That was such a blatant lie that he stood speechless. A part of his mind remembered that thing his grandpa told him long ago, "Women are special, Laxus. So special that even their lies make your head spin around."
He never thought he would live it.
He looked at her. Only wearing a pink dress, even when the snowfall couldn't stop getting worse. He took in a deep breath, sighing afterwards. That woman -making him do things he'd never do otherwise.
Trying not to look at her eyes, he put his oversized coat over her shoulders, making her blink in surprise.
"Laxus?" she asked, her voice showing her shock.
"Shut up," he scowled. "You look like a zombie. You'll scare everyone that comes here. So you can come to my place."
Even himself knew that that was not the best way to say what he wanted to say, so a bit embarrassed, he turned around and started to walk to his own apartment.
"Okay!" Mira said. He could have swore she was smiling again.
It was the coldest day of December when he found her jumping from right to left in front of her apartment door.
He had gotten used, or thought so, to all the weird things that came with living inside that building, and more living next to her. He had learned that from one day to another, he could even lose his door.
Laxus had just finished shopping, so he carried a few bags each hand. His favorite coat was wrapped around himself, along a black scarf that hung around his neck.
Mirajane spotted him before he could say anything. She was dressing similarly, her white hair falling over her back. He'd say she looked cute, but that was not impossible now that he got to know her bad side. Mirajane Strauss was not cute at all.
But even with that thought in mind that woman made him live the things he didn't when he was in high school. He hoped all that would end soon, or he'd explode.
"Ah, Laxus!" Mira smiled, "Welcome home!"
He growled with his throat. Why was she giving him a welcome, anyways?
"Yeah," he said.
She turned around back to stare at the door, rubbing her gloves together as if to create more heat.
Laxus took his moment to reconsider what he should do. Sighing, he asked, "What are you doing?"
"Oh," Mira said, acting innocent, "first, our heater broke this morning. And I forgot my key inside, but Lisanna and Elfman are both out."
"Your heater broke?" Laxus asked. That was bad luck. "Wouldn't you freeze to death there?"
Mira giggled, covering her smile with her fist. "My, my, maybe not so much. I already called a repairman."
"Oh," Laxus say. Silence fell over them, not quite awkward, but it still made him a bit uncomfortable. He blamed it for his lack of social skills.
Mirajane blinked, eyeing him attentively. Then, she said, "Aren't you going to invite me over?"
"Wha-" he started, shocked, but stopped midway. Inviting her would be everyone should do, after all, it was too cold outside. But remembering the three times she had stepped into his home stopped him.
He gave up, sighing in frustration. There was no point in arguing with her now.
Mira smiled sweetly, hiding her evilness. Without a word, she entered his small house, stretching her arms over her head. Laxus followed her inside once more.
"Wah, it's so nice her. Not too cold, not too hot. Maybe it's because you don't have a door?" Mira said.
Laxus's eyes twitched. "Are you going to buy it or not?"
Mira pouted at him, her blue eyes shining. "It's difficult to find a replacement to a door, y'know? I'm doing my best!"
Laxus rolled his eyes. "Any door is fine."
"So would you like a pink one?"
"Mirajane…"
"Just kidding, just kidding."
Laxus glared as she walked around like nothing, making herself comfortable.
"What would you like to have for dinner?" Mira asked him.
"Uh?"
"My siblings wouldn't come back until midnight, so," Mira said. "What would you like?"
"Why don't you go to ask for the key to the receptionist?" Laxus asked.
"What would you like?" she repeated. She had already tied her hair up and was washing her hands, all smile.
He should have fought longer, insisted for her to go and ask for the key. But the truth was, even if he didn't admit it to himself now, that he didn't mind to have her company at all.
The realization struck him like a truck running over him. But deep inside, he knew that it was true. The fact that weirdly and slowly she had made a place for herself in his life was just an example of the roller coaster of a woman that Mirajane Strauss was.
And he wanted to know more.
"Laxus?" Mira asked. "Are you feeling okay?"
He blinked, "Uh, yes."
"You are daydreaming, aren't you?" she chuckled.
"Hey, Mira," he said. "Remember when you told me to go over the bar you work?"
Mira blinked, obviously surprised at his words. It made him nervous, but he put all of his worries aside.
"I'd love to go one of these days."
Word Count= 3135. Hope you liked it! I don't know how to feel about this, since it's my first time writing Miraxus! Thank you for your patience! Requested by jxlight on Tumblr!