Mystogan took up the challenge of charming Erza voluntarily for he loved challenges, no matter how small or big. But what he did not take into account was the fact that he did not know how friendships worked. Would he casually approach her and just ask her to be friends with him? No! That could not work. He could NOT come off as bold for goodness's sake! Mystogan's confidence when it came to schemes, was depleting with each moment he stared at her from afar. She was in his reach but so so distant. He could not afford to make a mistake. He wasn't used to making too many. He wouldn't want to either for he had seen the unspeakable happen to those who made those flaws. The worst that could go wrong in this plan was not the complication of it being exposed, but rather the failure itself. If it was not Erza herself that would bring his doom, it would be way worse.

He wasn't used to being afraid, so he swallowed his human emotions and concentrated on his target. Erza had just entered the cafe to buy a pastry for herself. She seemed to be in a good mood. He wondered why, but soon turned his attention to his main objective.

"Welcome to 8-Island Cafe, miss Scarlet. Are you ordering the usual: The Berry-sweet cake with white chocolate drizzle on top?" Siegrain asked, with a small smile on his face.

"Oh uhh, I would prefer if you dropped the formality and called me Erza instead. I am almost familiar with everyone in Magnolia. And I am very pleasantly surprised that you know my order choices or perhaps you guessed it, Siegrain, if I remember correctly?" Erza said back, with a pleasant smile.

"You guessed right, mi- I mean Erza. I am not really used to talking in a casual way. Don't get me wrong, I am not reserved or anything of that sort. It's just that casual conversations tend to give female customers a wrong signal." He sighed.

Erza somehow felt the words resonate with her. She had experiences of such sort as well, however, Erza is a double-edged sword. She could be the one with a vast heart as well as play the assailant with ruthlessness and no mercy. No man ever dared to move past their mistake of getting mushy with her. Erza preferred to keep her heart closed, for it had been scarred for as long as she could remember, her deepest wounds barely healed.

"I would know that. You have been quite a thrilling newcomer in Magnolia. In a town which is as bustling or was bustling as Magnolia, people hold onto stuff to gossip about, all the time." Erza replied, her hand almost itching to put itself on his shoulder. And alas, her hand did exactly that.

Erza's head malfunctioned. Her hand was on his shoulder. At the moment, she regretted all her life decisions. 'Oh my goodness, what if i just made him uncomfortable?! I know I don't really care about being casual with others but he's not just anybody- Oh god- I-' Erza's eyes moved to see his reaction and the blood in her immediately rushed to her cheeks.

Siegrain was giving her a thankful smile. He appreciated the gesture, instead of being uncomfortable! Erza tried to take her hand off as slowly as possible from his shoulder without appearing rude. She really hoped that Siegrain didn't think too much about her cheeks matching the scarlet of her hair and she wished on a lucky star that if he did, he thought of it as a reaction to the hot and humid air.

"Thank you Erza. Oh my- I have totally forgotten that you ordered a cake! My bad, I will get it right now!" Siegrain said, rubbing the back of his neck, with a sheepish smile. So adorable!

"It is fine! I have not enjoyed a conversation in quite some long time, so I should thank you. Besides, you are fun to hang around. I hope we keep having this type of conversations in the future too. I am kind of on the verge of running late so I will run into you later." Erza said, right after Siegrain put the packaged box in her hand. She left quickly, with a big smile on her face.

Realizing seconds later that she hadn't paid for the pastry, distracted by the flow of the conversation, she went in again. "My goodness, I am so sorry that I almost forgot to pay you. I will pay right now!" Erza's hand went to fish in her wallet for the money, but was stopped by the soft and warm grasp of a hand. Siegrain's hand. Erza groaned internally, hoping her heart would just stop beating so fast just because of hand-holding. Since when had she become so shy at these kind of things?

"It's okay, Erza. It's on the house. I want to treat you since you are the very first friend I made in Magnolia." Friend. The word rang in Erza's ear, filling her chest with an unexplainable warmth. Siegrain thought of her as a friend and that made her feel so great. Meanwhile Siegrain continued his rambling, "uh I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable that I called you a friend. We can get there someday that is if you wa-" "Of course we can be friends!" Erza interrupted.

Siegrain grinned and it wasn't long till a shy smile appeared on Erza's face too. She was acting unusual, unaware of the changes in her behaviour, but she didn't mind. She had earned herself a friend, or so she thought…

Erza was blissfully late in the meeting. But the police department couldn't care. Though Erza is responsible, she can be tardy at times for the love of cake and her other beloved possessions. Erza immediately switched her work mode, keeping aside her giddy emotions and stepping in the armor of her seriousness.

"Chief Makarov, what is the important thing you had to discuss today?" Erza asked the chief of the Magnolia Police Department.

"Oh Erza, you can drop the honorofics. It's nothing much that I had to discuss. But indeed there is something I need to inform you about." Makarov smiled joyfully. Makarov was indeed a jolly man, though old in age, his optimism kept the motivation and the atmosphere of the team strong.

"Oh what is it Gramps?" The jolly smile on his wrinkled face immediately hardened a little. "The National Police agency has decided to put the CAB in this investigation." Upon hearing this, Erza' face went rigid.

"This is utter nonsense! Those bunch of ravens are nothing but dishonest bribed lowlives!" Erza cried in anger.

The Criminal Affairs Bureau or known as CAB was consisted of Makarov's own son and his lackeys which could not care anymore or less about serving justice. All they were after was money from all sorts of bribery, money embezzlement and other illegal acts. They were called raven-heads because they were not any less annoying than the ravens that cawed at people. Eitherways Erza found this to be absolutely unforgivable!

After learning this information, Erza fumed all the way home. She was distraught at the thought of associating with those horrible people. Why in the world would they put someone so horrible to complete such a job?! She didn't want to believe this was happening.

Just as Erza had decided to get some rest at the comfort of her room at the dorm, an oddly familiar voice called out to her, "Erza?". Erza turned around to be met with a man she hadn't seen in years. "Simon?" She uttered, her eyes wide open.

Mystogan was watching from afar. He gritted his teeth. 'What is HE doing here?' He thought. The storm hadn't hit but it soon would. He could feel it. It was the start of both their dilemma…

A/N: What could this mean for both of them? I beg your pardon, readers. This chapter was very hard to write! Chapter 5 is on the way.