Chapter 3
Both Juvia and Natsu's jaws hit the floor at Happy's conclusion.
"WHAT?" Both of them scream.
"Juvia doesn't love Natsu-san."
"Happy, there's no way I'm in love with Juvia."
"But you both look suspicious to me. " Happy snickers.
Both of them start countering Happy at the same time.
"It was just a friendly match." Natsu says with a frown.
"Between two members of the guild." Juvia adds.
Happy shakes his head in disbelief, "You overdid it again, Natsu. You didn't even spare your own house."
"It wasn't me this time. It was her." Natsu points at Juvia and she bows her head. "Not every time it's me who breaks things, you know!" He says loudly.
Happy looks at her with shock when she doesn't defend herself. "Why would you destroy our home, Juvia?"
"Juvia is sorry Happy-kun. Juvia got carried away. Juvia will help rebuild your home. Juvia promises."
"Natsu, let's stay at Lucy's apartment until this is sorted out." Happy suggests happily.
"Aye, Happy!" Natsu agrees without a second thought.
Juvia clears her throat making Natsu look at her. When he raises an eyebrow at her, she looks at him meaningfully.
"Oh! Right." He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, "Happy, we won't stay at Lucy's place."
Happy notices the exchange between the fire mage and the water mage but doesn't say anything about it, "But Natsu, we always go to Lucy's place."
"Well, we may to stay for a couple of days so…" Natsu pauses to think of something appropriate to say.
"I'm sure Lucy won't mind." Happy says but Natsu hesitates. "Well, I'm going over to Lucy's place. I know eventually you will end up there too." Happy's wings appear and he flies off from the forest.
"That was close, Natsu-san." Juvia tells him sternly.
"I forgot, okay! Anyways where am I going to stay?" Natsu asks her sternly.
"That's easy!" She beams at him, "Gajeel-kun's place."
"What! I'm not staying with Iron Fart!"
She grimaces at the nickname, "Why not? Gajeel-kun normally doesn't refuse Juvia's requests."
"NO!"
"Then where else…" Her eyes sparkle as realisation dawns on her. "Gray-sama's apartment! It's perfect."
"Hold it! I'm not staying at Ice Breath's place either."
"But Natsu-san, it's perfect. You can make Juvia look good in front of Gray-sama."
"And how does that help me?"
"Natsu-san come on, Juvia said she'd help you with Lucy-san," She whines. "I just have to think of something good. For now, can we just do this?"
Natsu is unconvinced but he agrees anyway. "Fine, let's go to Brain Freeze's place."
Juvia leads the way with a skip in her step. 'I've never been inside Gray-sama's house. I'm so excited.'
"So, how are we going to take it from here?" Natsu asks suddenly.
"Juvia doesn't know yet. But Juvia is sure together, Natsu-san and Juvia will find a way to work it."
For some reason Natsu finds himself believing that both of them will succeed in their quest. 'In a way, it is like a quest. So, we have to do whatever it takes.'
"We are here." She quickly gets into the building and takes the stairs. Gray lives on the 3rd floor.
"Do you think he's home yet?" Natsu asks her doubtfully.
She stops mid-step to consider the possibility that Gray may not be home. "Well then Natsu-san will have no other option but to stay at Gajeel-kun's place then."
"I hope Gray is home. I hope Gray is home. I hope Gray is home." Natsu starts chanting it like a mantra. Juvia chuckles at his actions.
She knocks Gray's door. They hearing shuffling from inside and they both sigh in relief.
The door opens. Gray stands there in his naked glory.
'What more did I expect? If he doesn't have problems stripping in public, he probably doesn't wear anything at home.' Natsu shakes his head dejectedly. 'I wish I could go to Lucy's home instead.'
"Gray-sama, your clothes…" Juvia tells him. 'Gray-sama is so hot. Which is ironic because he is an ice mage. Whatever Gray-sama is so hot.'
Gray sighs when he sees Juvia in front of him. "Juvia… what are you doing here?" Finally, he notices Natsu behind her. "Natsu? What are you doing here?"
"Gray-sa…"
Natsu clears his throat behind her. 'Not on my watch, Juvia!'
"Gray-sa…n, Gray-san, Please do Juvia a favour." Juvia says timidly.
'Gray-san? When the hell did she start calling me that?' He frowns and folds his hands on his chest. "What is it?" He finally notices their clothes. 'Were they in a fight or something?'
"You see, Juvia and Natsu-san fought a little bit and Juvia sort of (Natsu scoffs) destroyed Natsu-san's home."
"Wait what?" Gray ruffles his hair in confusion.
"Is your brain made of ice too? We fought and she brought my house down. Can't you understand something so simple!" Natsu says loudly.
"Shut up! Flame Breath!"
"Do you wanna fight ice princess!?" He takes a fighting stance.
"Certainly not outside my house!" Gray makes himself clear.
Juvia puts her hands in front on Natsu's chest to stop him, "Natsu-san, we are not here to fight. Besides, isn't one fight enough for today?" She asks him pointedly.
Gray notices her touching Natsu and feels a fang of jealousy pierce him. 'What the hell is happening here? First she calls me san and now she's touching him.' He makes a sort of a strangled noise even though he was just going for clearing his throat.
That brings Juvia's attention back to Gray. "Juvia was wondering if Gray-sa…n would let Natsu-san stay with you for a couple of days."
"And why would I do that?"
'Juvia needs to think of something fast.' Her proverbial bulb lights up, "Well, if Gray-sa…n doesn't let Natsu-san stay with him then Juvia will have to sneak him into Juvia's dorm…" She pauses dramatically. 'This is your litmus test, Gray-sama.'
Natsu and Gray's eyes widen and their mouths open wide in shock at her words. Natsu wonders if this is a part of the play.
"But wouldn't that be wonderful?" Natsu tries to say it in a husky voice, "We could get closer don't you think?" He says suggestively.
Now it is Juvia's turn to get shocked. She slowly turns to look at him and blinks at him. She blinks twice, thrice, four times. She has no words to say so all she can do is blink at him.
'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! WHY ON EARTH ARE THESE TWO ACTING LIKE THIS? THIS IS NOT GOOD. WHY? WHY? I DON'T LIKE THIS. JUVIA STOP LOOKING AT THIS ASSHOLE LIKE THAT. NATSU, YOU BASTARD, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!' Gray mentally shouts at the two people in front of him.
Natsu enjoys Juvia's reaction. He smirks and then winks at her. Juvia catches on and nods slightly.
"Are you both done eyeing each other?" Gray suppresses his anger but some of it seeps out.
Juvia and Natsu face Gray at the same time.
"So, Can Natsu-san stay with you for a couple of days, Gray-sama? Please." Juvia looks at him expectantly.
He frowns uncertainly and nods, not trusting to say any words at the moment.
Juvia beams at Gray. "Thank you, Gray-sa…n." She attempts to get closer and hug him but he puts his hand out to stop her.
"Gray, watch where you are touch her in public." Natsu comments with a smirk.
Gray looks and his jaw drops. He accidentally caught Juvia's boob. He pulls his hand back quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't me to."
Juvia is about to brush it off but Natsu gives her a look and shakes his head. Juvia gulps, "Gray-sa…n should be sorry." She says it relentlessly.
Gray raises her eyebrow at her. He looks at both of them suspiciously. 'What exactly were the two of them doing anyway? … Nah, no way, they would have done that. What if they did? They are acting so different from the way they usually do. Did I overdo it? Is she tired of waiting for me?'
"Well, Juvia should go now. Natsu-san, do you want me to meet you here? The stores are close by, so we can just pick everything up from here and go to your place?"
"Hold on, why are you going to his place again tomorrow?" Gray asks before he can stop himself.
"Well, she broke my house so she is going to help me fix it. Why are you asking such a dumb question?" Natsu answers for Juvia.
Gray opens his mouth to say something but stops himself.
"You got a problem?" Natsu pushes further.
Gray shakes his head. "It is only fair."
"Hmmm… Good night, Natsu-san. Good night, Gray-sama." She slips. "Juvia means Gray-san, Gray-san."
Natsu looks down and shakes his head. 'Everything she did till now just went down the drain.'
She waits a few awkward seconds for the boys to say something. "O…kay, Juvia will be going then." She turns around to leave.
"Juvia wait." Natsu calls out just as she about to go down the stairs. "I had fun today." He sounds smitten.
Juvia for the second time doesn't know what to do or say and blinks slowly but repeatedly.
Natsu pulls her closer and hugs her, "Just go with it," he whispers in her ears.
She nods slightly and loosely wraps her hands around him. She pulls back and smiles widely at him, "Me too."
Next second, Natsu is quickly pulled out of Juvia's mock embrace. Juvia and Natsu notice that Gray pulled him by his scarf. Gray doesn't allow any more exchanges in between them. He pulls him into the apartment, "Bye Juvia." He shuts the door and bolts it.
Juvia chuckles at Gray's antics, "Well, Natsu-san seems to know what he is doing. Now, Juvia better come through on her word and do something for Natsu-san and Lucy-san."
Please read and review! Thank you so much for the reviews for the previous chapters, you all are so encouraging! :-) Thanks also to the people who have added the story to their favourite and alert lists.
Enjoy! Neepa...:-)