Erza had never seen so many big, juicy strawberries outside of a farmer's market before. She couldn't help but stare at them.
Whoever had grown these delectable fruits must have had an excellent green thumb.
She was tempted to try one out - just one, and only to see if they really were as sweet and delicious as they looked. She was sure whoever owned the house and garden she was at wouldn't mind if she just took one. They had so many strawberries; they wouldn't even notice if one was missing.
Erza carefully picked out a berry. If she was only going to have one, she had to make sure that it was the best that she could find.
She had to suppress a moan of delight when she bit into the strawberry. It was so much more delicious than she had expected. She ate the rest of the berry slowly, determined to savour the taste and make it last as long as possible.
Even so, she had eaten the strawberry in a few bites.
Maybe just one more won't hurt, she thought as she plucked another strawberry. And another one. And another one. And another one.
A sudden sound made her look up. She came face to face with a blue-haired man with a tattoo on his face. He was most likely the person who lived in the house. It seemed that all he could do was to stare in shock at the woman who was helping herself to his strawberries.
Erza turned pink as she became aware of how many strawberries she had eaten. And judging by how red her hands were, it was a lot.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something - anything - to break the tension between them. "In my defence, I really love strawberries, and these were really good."
Well, except maybe that! What posses her to say that in the first place?
The man blinked at her, obviously not expecting her answer. He seemed to struggle to come to a reply. He eventually said, "Um, I'm glad to hear that. I put in so much effort to grow them. My cousin doesn't like them very much, so I thought that I did something wrong while I was growing them. But since you love strawberries and you like them, I think that she was pulling my leg." He swallowed. "But she's not the type to do that, so I think her boyfriend put her up to it. He has an unusual sense of humour."
At least she wasn't the only one who was blabbing. That was a relief. Erza got to her feet and wiped her hands and her mouth on her handkerchief. She supposed she should introduce herself to the guy since she had helped herself to his strawberries.
"I'm Erza Scarlet," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake. "And no, it's not made up, and my name has nothing to do with my hair."
"Jellal Fernandez," he said, accepting her handshake. "I think it's a pity, your last name not being Scarlet because of your hair. It's beautiful. Your hair, I mean. Not that you aren't beautiful, because you are. Beautiful I mean. I think you're beautiful."
As if on cue, both of them blushed. God, how does Erza even end up in situations like this? She was thinking of ways she could gracefully bow out of this embarrassing situation when Jellal spoke up.
"Do you want to come inside?" he asked. "I've been baking all morning, and most of the stuff I baked have strawberries in them. Since you like strawberries so much, I think you would like the pastries too."
Well, Erza Scarlet wasn't going to say no to free food, especially if they were baked treats with strawberries.
"I would love to," she said.
She grinned as he led her to his house. See Lucy, I can get a date on my own! And I don't need you to play matchmaker by getting me to date your cousin, no matter how great you think he is!