GRAY - PART 2

"WHERE WERE YOU YESTERDAY?!"

You slam your hands over your ears. "Pipe down!"

"Sorry."

The person apologizing is your best friend from the first chapter, whose name is Mikoto. She is currently fuming because you ditched her yesterday. Of course, you didn't mean to - it was Mr. Gray Fullbuster's fault. Yep, that charming man from yesterday who seemed to belong to heaven with the rest of the angels.

Or perhaps, the other place, as he was also pretty mischievous.

At any rate, after convincing you to get hooked up with him, the two of you simply parted ways after he said he'd meet you the next day. You were so dazed that you ended up stumbling back home, and by the time you realized you were supposed to be partying with your friend, it was too late.

Unfortunately, to add to your negativity, you had realized that Mr. Fullbuster Dude hadn't explained exactly how or where you would meet. Didn't even exchange phone numbers. Jerk.

"Earth to Y/N?" Mikoto waves a hand in front of your face.

You jolt back to the present. "Uh... yeah?"

"Hello? I'm asking what you were doing yesterday? You were supposed to be partying with me, remember?"

You shrug. "If you really want to know, I was abducted by aliens and sent to a far-off planet world somewhere, saved a human boy who turned out to be the Prince of the kingdom, and got married and lived happily ever after. The only reason I'm here now is cuz an evil villain sent me back through a time travel machine-"

"Aw come on!" Mikoto protests.

"Fine. I got a boyfriend."

"You WHAT?!"

You glance around nervously. "Shh, it's no big deal! Now be quiet before the entire class hears us!" you hiss to your best friend.

Mikoto nods and lowers her voice. "Okay, I'll be quiet. But seriously, when did this happen?"

"Yesterday. Long story short, I, uh..." Your mind blanks. What should I say? I can't just tell her the plan...

Suddenly a voice interrupts us. "Long story short, we bumped into each other and it was love at first sight."

You jolt out of your seat. Scrambling around to face him, you are about to shout but suddenly your voice stops short.

W-wow. He looks amazing in this school's uniform.

"Hm? What's up, Y/N?" Gray Fullbuster grins, folding his arms across his chest. "You're staring at me. Are you really that impressed?"

"Sh-shut up!" you protest, hitting him on the head to distract him from your blushing.

Mikoto giggles. "Wow. Is this your boyfriend, Y/N?"

You startle. Oh, right... Gray's my boyfriend now. Well, fake boyfriend.

"That's right," you say, nodding. "We're, uh, dating."

"Haha. Yep. Are you Y/N's friend?" Gray say to Mikoto.

She nods. "Best Accomplices Forever. You're her boyfriend, you say, but you're wearing a uniform - you're a new student?"

Gray nods. "Yeah. I just applied this morning. They assigned me to this class, so I'll be here for a while, at any rate."

"Huh? You're not staying permanently?"

Gray shakes his head. "Nope. My family is staying in town here for business."

"Ooh, so you guys will be having a long-distance relationship after you leave, huh?" Mikoto giggles.

Oh. Right. I guess we'll just have to make some kind of excuse when his job is done, like we broke up or something. It's not like we'll get to stay like this forever.

Gray smiles at me. "We'll see."

Your heart nearly stops. Wait, is he implying that we might actually...? Gah, no that'd never happen... right?

Just as you are trying to conjure up a reply, the door to the classroom opens.

The three of you turn and look at the person coming through the door.

He is a young man, with slightly messy dark hair, and downturned eyes. The aura around him is so gloomy and depressing that it's hard not to feel depressed yourself. Although he looks like a teenager, he is dressed in a dark teacher's robe with a white toga draped over his shoulder and chest.

"Why... does the world reject me..." he mutters.

"Whoa. Isn't that...?" Gray blinks, pointing at the man.

"That's our teacher, Zeref-sensei," you say cheerfully.

"Uh, I don't think-" he begins to say, sweat forming on his temple.

"Nah, don't worry about him. He's always like that."

"That's not the issue here," Gray insists. "I'm pretty sure I've seen that guy somewhere!"

You smile. "Yeah, probably. He ditches teaching class, like, all the time. Watch - he's probably gonna do it now."

Sure enough, the teacher continues to mutter.

"I just... don't understand... why... I'm so disappointed... Dragneel..."

Gray turns pale. "Hold it, what the heck? He just said 'Dragneel'!"

"Eh? I heard him say 'I'm so disappointed, Drag Queen. He says it a lot, so the students here just think he's probably wanted to be a drag queen in his past life or something." You put a hand on his forehead. "Are you okay? You're saying a lot of weird things. Maybe it's a fever or something?"

Mikoto giggles. "Whoa, Y/N, looks like your handsome boyfriend is delusional."

"No I'm not!" Gray sighs. "Whatever, I'm just gonna pretend I didn't see anything. Your teacher's leaving, anyway."

"Hehe yep, I told you. He's supposed to be our homeroom teacher, but he always just leaves the moment he shows up," you explain with a smile. "Anyway, it's about time for math to start..."

Suddenly the intercom buzzes. "Good morning, students. Would Y/N and Gray Smith please come to Room 101? Repeat, Y/N to Room 101. Thank you."

"W-wha?!" You startle. "Why am I being called to somewhere? And where's Room 101?"

Mikoto nearly chokes on her water that she had been drinking. "Room 101?! You can't be serious!"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Mikoto looks worried. "Uh, nothing. Y... you should probably hurry up and go. Good luck," she says, and quickly scampers off.

"What was that about?" Gray mutters.

"I don't know. By the way, Gray Smith? Seriously?"

He shrugs. "It was the first thing I could think of. C'mon, let's go to that Room 100 or whatever."

You nod, but for some reason, you feel anxious. He notices and takes your hand. Startled, you look up to see Gray smiling at you.

"Don't worry. No matter what happens, even though I'm just your fake boyfriend, I'll take care of you, got it?"

"G-got it," you mumble, turning your head to hide your flaming cheeks.

He laughs. "Come on."

Together, you exit the room and walk down the hallways in search of Room 101.

It is surprisingly easy to find the room.

Room 101 looks exactly like any other classroom, except it is in the clubroom section of the school. One would nearly miss it if not for the sign hanging over the door reading out its name.

Nodding at him, you lift your hand and are about to knock when suddenly the door opens and someone crashes into you.

You both fall to the floor.

Stunned, you open your eyes to see someone staring back at you.

The someone turns out to be a good-looking young boy with shocking gold hair. He's extremely short, but his sparkly eyes captivate you with a charming, sharp maturity past his age. Adorably squishy, mochi-like cheeks and an irresistible white-and-blue sailor uniform complete his shouta look. You fight the urge to pat his fluffy golden hair.

What's a cute little boy doing here? Must have wandered in from the primary school building next door... I wonder if he'll accept if I offer him candy? I think I've got strawberry-marshmallows in my pocket...

Lost in thought, you are startled when the little boy suddenly gets up and holds out his hand.

"Huh? M-marshmallows?" you blurt out.

"Hm?" He cocks his head and blinks.

"Uh, sorry, nevermind," you stammer awkwardly.

He smiles. "Are you okay?"

"...Uh. Yeahh..." your voice drones off, eyes staring bewildered at his outstretched hand. Why's he holding out his hand?

"Um..." the guy looks embarrassed.

Ohh. Right. Haha. I'm an idiot.

Blushing, you are about to take his hand when you feel someone lift you roughly onto your feet.

Gray.

The little boy glances at the two of you, then retracts his hand and snickers. "Wow. Is there something going on between you two?"

"Girlfriend," Gray mutters, glaring at him.

Undaunted, the blonde simply giggles back at him. "Cute. Your immaturity, I mean, not that ugly mug. At any rate, I suspect you are Gray Smith and the lovely young lady here is Y/N, correct?"

He beams at you.

"Y-yes?"

"Well then, come inside. We're waiting for you."

He gestures and holds the door open as we walk inside.

"The Student Council is very excited to meet you."

You gasp to face him. "What?!"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" He smiles, and despite his tiny height, the dangerous glint in his eye causes icy shivers to run up your spine. "I'm the Student Council President."

END OF PART 2