Chapter 03 :: The Truth

It's been a week since the incident happened with Juvia. I am so thankful that nothing bad comes after that, or just no other Hoarders saw what happened. I don't want any troubles in life.

I try my best to avoid her after that, too. My feet still stops when I hear even the tiniest sound of her voice, though I never went to her direction anymore. It seems to work, because since this morning, I still haven't hear her voic-

"Hey!"

(Silence)

This is a joke, right?

"Hey, Mister."

No. No. NO! I can't hear her. No way.

"He-lllo? "

Please don't tell me I'm really losing my mind.

"I'm talking to you, Mr. Stalker."

That's it. I'm insane.

I close my eyes for a second, take a deep breath and count to ten. Then, slowly, - as I pray to whomever Gods available to let me go insane instead - I take a peek at the bottom of the tree I am standing at.

Oh God, she really is there.

Juvia smiles widely when she finally sees me looking. "I know that you can hear me!" She claims cheerfully.

"Oh, please, I hope I can't." I mutter under my breath.

I stand frozen from where I am as she stares up at me, starting to look uncomfortable. "Uhm..." She says. "Can you please get down from there, first? My neck starts hurting."

There are two ways this story is going to end. One, I can just ignore her and flew away from here and leaving her thinking that she's losing her mind. Then there's the second option, where I get down there and talk, and that's when I start losing mine.

Neither option seems pretty. And like I told you, I don't want any troubles in life. I really don't. But this girl seems to be an expert in bringing troubles in life. And unfortunately, that includes mine.

Juvia takes steps back as I jump from the tree. I am surprise by the fact that someone jumping from a four-meter tree didn't surprise her. But hey, everything about her is a surprise. I shouldn't question it that much anymore.

The moment my feet hit the ground, I start regretting it. I can still run away and change my wrong decision, only if she didn't grab my arm. I flinch and suddenly can't move anymore.

Humans cannot touch us. Supposedly.

"Thank God I finally found you." She says, "I'm looking for you everywhere for the last three days."

I want to retort some sarcasm, but my mind can't seem to think of any and my voice won't come out.

When I didn't answer, Juvia continues to talk some pointless things I never bother to listen anymore. Even if I often watch her, I never thought that she would be this noisy. Maybe because her voice seems so close now.

"Well, thankfully, I catch a glimpse of you at that tree when I was walking with my friend." She then says, pointing to the tree meters away from us. I can barely see the blonde girl peeking behind the tree, somewhat looking scared as she looks at our direction.

"What is she doing?" I finally utter out.

"Waiting for me?" Juvia answers, not sure if that's what I'm asking for. Well, I don't know either.

"She doesn't want to come here." She shrugs.

I ask, "Why?"

"Because she can't see you."

That statement is the one that wakes me up from all this. That's right. I almost forgot. I am a Hoarder. She is a human. She isn't supposed to see me. She isn't supposed to touch me. This is all wrong.

I look at Juvia. She's already looking at me. Our eyes met, and for the first time, I didn't break away.

"But you can." I say softly, almost to myself. "Why is that?"

"I don't know." Juvia admit. "But I want to know too. Are you a ghost, maybe?"

I am about to say that I don't know the answer either and I'm definitely not a ghost, when someone appears besides me. It's another Hoarder. My eyes widen in both shock and fear.

"Heh, this looks wrong, Gray." says Lyon, as he lands at my side. "You're not supposed to talk to humans."

"Lyon." I say. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, checking out a troublemaker?" He arches his eyebrow at me and then smirk, before checking out Juvia. "And who do we have here?"

I can see Lyon's eyes widen in awe. "Wow. She's... beautiful. What's her nam-?"

"It's nothing to do with you." I say, which comes out more annoyed than I meant to.

"What?" Juvia and Lyon say at the same time.

I look at Juvia. Her eyes are still fixed in mine. Her eyebrows are in knots, as if she didn't realize that what I said is not meant for her. Or maybe, she really doesn't. "You can't see Lyon." I say to her.

"Of course she can't see me." Lyon answers instead as Juvia looks utterly confuse.

"Why?" I ask Lyon, but not breaking my eye-contact with Juvia. I hear Lyon laugh short, as if he's mocking me.

Then, he answers.

"Because I don't want her to see me."

That's the moment I knew that I do lose my mind.