Twenty-Nine - Myst Fernandes

Myst was tuning his guitar backstage when he heard the sound of voices and footsteps coming his way. He looked up to see Coco, Hughes, and Sugarboy. He had scrounged up some backstage passes for them and Erza, though the latter had yet to use hers. They walked up to him and greeted him, seeming to not share their friend's dislike for him. Coco even admitted to having listened to every one of his songs.

"Where is Erza?" the girl asked.

"I don't know," Myst said. "I last saw her storming out of my hotel room last night."

"Huh," Hughes said, "I wonder where she is."

"I'm right here," Erza's voice said from down the hall. Everyone looked over in surprise. Coco gasped and Myst raised his eyebrows. "Now you can tell us apart!" Erza said, crossing her arms and glaring at Myst.

She has cut her hair short, leaving it just above shoulder length.

"That was a little unnecessary," Myst said. "I can tell you're Knightwalker by the way distain taints every syllable when you speak to me. Scarlet is generally polite."

"Well I'm not her!" Erza scowled.

"I don't think you're her," he said. "Trust me."

She just grumbled and walked away. Her friends turned back to Myst.

"So," Hughes said conspiratorially. "Do you like her?"

"What? Her new hair?" Myst asked, focusing on tuning his guitar. "Sure. Why not?"

"Not the hair!" Sugarboy said.

"Do you like Erza?" Coco asked.

"Hmm, a question I never really thought I'd get," Myst mused. "Though, I thought there was just the one Erza."

"Sooo?" the three prodded.

"Yeah, I suppose I do," he said. "Weird feeling." The three cheered and celebrated as though they had achieved a great feat. "Why are you so happy about that?" Myst asked.

"Because we want her to be happy," Coco explained. "And she likes you."

Myst raised his eyebrows skeptically. "I very highly doubt that," he said. "She clearly despises me."

"You just don't know her well enough," Hughes shrugged.

"Yeah," Sugarboy agreed. "If she didn't like you, she'd be much crueler."

"You might be dead, in fact," Hughes added.

Myst absently continued tuning his guitar, his mind preoccupied with deciding whether or not he believed what they were saying. If he had been paying more attention, perhaps his string wouldn't have snapped. It took him a second to realize what had happened. His finger was bleeding from being struck by the broken end of the string. He cursed under his breath.

"Now I have to get a new string," he grumbled, inwardly blaming Erza for distracting his thoughts. "I have to go," he told the others. "See you later."

-.-.-

In his room, he searched for his box of guitar strings. He didn't have a whole lot of time before he was supposed to be on stage, and he was frustrated that he hadn't put it in an easier to remember place. When he had finally found it and was running out the door, he smacked right into Erza. They both stumbled backwards, dizzy from the impact. Myst recovered first.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

She scowled, but he noticed she also seemed a bit embarrassed. "Nothing!" she said.

"Why were you coming into my room?" he asked. She just crossed her arms and looked away. "You sure are strange," he sighed. She didn't respond. "Well, I have to get going. See you at the show."

He turned to leave, but she quickly grabbed his arm to hold him back. "Wait," she said.

"What?" he asked, turning to face her again. She didn't say anything. She wouldn't even look at him. He tried not to sound exasperated as he spoke. "Look, I'm gonna be late if I-"

"I'm sorry for acting like a jerk all the time," she interrupted.

"That's alright," he said. "I'm kinda numb to jerkiness. My brother-"

"I'm not finished," she said, cutting him off once again.

"If you're trying to not be a jerk, interrupting me isn't the best way to go," he pointed out. She glared up at him, but she didn't seem as angry as usual. "Is there something you want to say, Erza?" he asked, after she was silent for a long moment. "I really do have to-"

"Okay, the thing is-"

"There you go, interrupting again," he mumbled.

"The thing is," she repeated, "Coco said that the best way to make friends is not to be mean to them."

"You want to be my friend?" he asked.

"Shut up!" she snapped.

"Did Coco forget to tell you that shouting at people to 'shut up' isn't very friendly?"

"You are making this difficult," she said. "I'm trying to be civil."

"I take it that's not your strong suit," he said.

"Fine!" she exclaimed. "Don't be my friend! I don't care!" She started to walk away, but it was Myst's turn to grab her arm and hold her back. "Let go," she said.

"You know, I already considered us friends," he said.

She looked back at him, surprised. "Really?" she asked.

He nodded and smirked slightly. "More than that, really."

"More?" she repeated, sounding slightly nervous, which seemed like a strange tone of voice for her.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "I mean, you did sleep in my bed, after all. I had to carry you. I had to change your clothes. I-"

"My clothes?!" she yelped, pulling her arm from his grasp.

"Wow," Myst said. "I never thought I'd see you blush."

"You-"

"I was joking, Erza," he said with a slight smile. "I didn't even touch you. Hughes and Sugarboy carried you in and set you down on the bed. I checked that you were breathing and then I left you alone until I wanted to sleep."

"Oh," she said, visibly calming down.

"I didn't know you could get embarrassed," he mused. "That seems more like an Erza Scarlet thing."

She frowned. "I'm not her," she said.

"I know that," he said. "Why are you so afraid that I think you're her?"

"Because I'm not," she said. "Because you're not supposed to think of us the same way."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that," he said. "I definitely don't feel this way about the other Erza."

"Feel what way?" she asked tentatively.

"We've known each other for months now," he said. "You're either naive or lying to yourself if you don't know how I think of you."

"I am not naive!" she defended herself.

"Lying then?" he asked.

"I'm not!" she insisted. "You just..."

"I just make your heart flutter so much that you can't think straight?" I have got to stop acting like Sieg, he thought. Say something Jellal would say. That'll cancel it out. "That's how I feel." That might've been too much. Erza didn't even respond. She just stared at him in shock for a moment, and then ran off. Myst figured he would have to talk to her again later. At the moment, he was late and thousands of people were waiting on him.