No. Juvia had grown far too accustomed to that word and she hated it every time she heard it. Each day, she'd make her way over to Gray and ask him the same question, only to get the same question each day. She'd always ask if he wanted to go to dinner with her, even if he'd only go just the once, but each time he'd always reject her with the word no. No explanation, no other words following it and definitely not the answer she was hoping for. She would always wake up thinking that this day would be different and she would always end up disappointed. She had tried asking people around the guild what kind of things Gray liked, hoping that they would persuade him to go with her and she'd tried them all. All to no avail.
Juvia woke up at 9:30 in the morning and rubbed her eyes, getting rid of any sleep in the corners of her eyes. The bluenette had her usual breakfast and followed her usual schedule: she brushed her teeth, got a morning shower and put on her usual blue and white dress and boots before stepping out of her door and heading towards the guild.
She pushed open the large double wooden doors and stepped into the guild. She looked up at the clock. 10:30. The guild was a lot livelier than what it usually was at this time of day. It was always so much quieter when she arrived on a morning and it made Juvia curious. Was there something going on that she didn't know about? She looked around at each table. There wasn't any signs of any unusual things on them and no one was talking about anything special. They were just having everyday conversations like comparing the difficulty of their last job with those of other teams in the guild, or talking about what they've done over the week. Juvia's eyes continued to scan the room. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The bluentte turned her attention to the bar. Two of the stools had people sat on them. Cana had a barrel resting next to her and Elfman had a large cup in front of him. She glanced at each table and then froze. There was no sign of that signature raven black hair that she was used to seeing around the same table as Lucy, Natsu and Happy. Gray wasn't there. Everyone was at the guild, everyone except the one person she was looking for, the one person that she wanted to talk to. She checked the clock. 12:30. Past Noon. The ice mage was often pretty late to the guild, but never this late, not for as long as Juvia could remember. Maybe it was for the best. He had always turned her down so maybe it was God intervening, saving her the pain of rejection today. The water mage made her way over to an empty stool at the bar, away from everyone else. She let out a small sigh of disappointment as she sat down. The ever cheerful barmaid walked over to her, a slight spring in her step.
"Everything ok?" Mira inquired. Juvia sighed again before she answered.
"Yeah, I guess so".
"You sure?" Mira was the typical bar maid. She was the main person people turned to when they had someone to talk about and she could always tell when something was bothering someone. Juvia nodded.
"Yeah, I'll just have the usual thanks". Mira nodded before turning on her heels and walking away. She came back a couple of minutes later with a teacup in her hand which she placed in front of Juvia. The bluenette thanked the former S-class mage before taking a sip from the steaming cup. She set the cup down in front of her and placed her arms on the bar, propping her head up in her hands. She found her mind listing all of the things that could have kept Gray from coming into the guild today, ranging from normal things such as he was busy at home today or he was on a job to more serious and much less realistic reasons like he broke one of his legs. The water mage shook her head and took another drink of her tea before her mind wandered to one of her usual overly romantic and unrealistic fantasies where Gray confesses his feelings towards her and they live a long and happy life together. Her mind fluttered across several fantasies, each following the same simple storyline and each more unrealistic than the last. In her imaginary world, several minutes had passed, but in the real world, it was closer to several hours and Mira was stood in front of her, trying to tell her to go home for the night. Mira practically had to shake Juvia to get her to come back to reality. The bluenette looked around. The whole guild hall was silent and empty, except for Juvia and Mira, but that quickly changed as Juvia stepped out into the night, leaving just Mira in the guild. Before she knew it, Juvia was at home and in her bed.
The water mage found herself awake at 8:00 in the morning and followed her usual morning schedule to the letter. It was half past nine when Juvia walked into the guild. She headed straight to a table at the back of the hall and faced the door. She played her usual game of naming each person as they came into the guild. Levy, Jet, Droy, Cana, Elfman, Lisanna, Erza, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Gray... She stopped playing her little game when the ice mage came wandering in. He took a seat on one of the seats close to the bar, sitting alone like he commonly did. Juvia took a deep breath as she built up the courage to ask her now routine question. Her knees refused to bend, making her legs stiff as she walked over to Gray. he had made this same walk countless times so she wasn't sure why it still made her so nervous. Thinking back she may be more nervous now than when she was the first time she asked. Maybe it was because of all the rejections she had gotten in the past that she was so worried about getting another one, or maybe it was the butterflies in her stomach, frantically fluttering to try and reach freedom as she hoped for a little three letter word beginning with 'y' and ending in 's' to come out of Gray's mouth this time. She cleared her throat in a futile attempt to get Gray's attention.
"Gray-sama?" The ice mage looked up at the bluenette upon hearing his name.
"Yeah?" Despite asking the same question so many times that she had lost count, Juvia still found it hard to find the words.
"Juvia was wondering..." She paused and took a couple of deep breaths to get herself ready for the big question. "Juvia was wondering if Gray-sama would like to go to dinner with her tonight?" She exhaled straight after she'd finished speaking, as though a weight had been lifted off her chest. Gray just looked up at her, not saying a word. Usually he had said no by now, was he actually considering it this time? Juvia's heart was beating a lot faster than it normally did when she asked this question. This time she might actually get a yes from him. The silence seemed to last for an eternity. Gray finally opened his mouth, making the water mage devote her complete attention to the next word that came out of his mouth.
"No, I'm busy tonight". Juvia's heart sank. Why had he waited so long just to give her practically the same answer as he had done every other time she had asked this question. Had he actually considered it and then decided against it? Was he intentionally being cruel? Or was this his way of telling her that he was sick of this question and she should stop asking him all the time?
"Ok..." Juvia was holding back tears as she walked away, leaving Gray alone to his drink as she headed towards the bar. She slumped down on one of the stools, earning her a visit from Mira.
"The same as usual?" Juvia shook her head. "What'll it be then?"
"Something stronger". The bar maid looked at the water mage, confused.
"Like what?" The bluenette took a second to look around before saying anything. She was sat next to Cana, with her usual barrel beside her.
"I'll have what she's having". Mira nodded before turning to walk away. "Just a glass though please, I don't think I could drink a barrel".
"I figured". Mira smiled as she walked away. It only took a couple of minutes for her to come back with a glass of the same sake that now took up half of Cana's barrel. Juvia took a sip before coughing. This was not a drink that she was used to. It was a lot stronger than the tea she usually drank. She had no idea how she could win over Gray, she had asked everyone for some ideas, even Natsu and Happy, although they didn't provide any answers that were helpful, Happy had just suggested giving him fish. She tried to list people who she hadn't asked, but the list was so small she had practically no list. Elfman had suggested putting on some display to show she was a man, whatever that meant, Mira had suggested talking to him to tell him how she felt, as if he didn't already know how she felt, Erza had suggested getting him cake, Lucy had no idea what she could do and Cana had suggested... Juvia stopped. She didn't remember what Cana had said. In fact, she didn't recall ever asking Cana what she should do. She span on her stool to face Cana.
"Cana-san?" Cana put her barrel down on the floor and looked at her, silently asking her what she wanted. "What kinds of things does Gray-sama like?" Cana smiled as leaned in close to Juvia and started to whisper in her ear. The bluenette's eyes opened wide as Cana whispered, she tried her best to memorise every word she said. "Will that work?"
"It does for most men". She smiled as she leaned back to relax on her stool and picked her barrel back up.
