Sorry its been a while again. But here is an update!

Last time: They searched for the imposter

Now: The team takes a job.

Chapter 5- Strange Encounters

The next morning…

Krysta eyed the request board as the crowds filled in for the day. The small job she took yesterday to help that old woman look for her missing tabby cat was enough to keep her occupied while the others were away for the day. But today she wanted to get back to taking more adventurous jobs. Her injuries from the incident with the Nightmare guild had all but disappeared. There were still a few tender bruises, but mostly, she was back to full strength. Even though she looked over the board a number of times now, her eyes kept returning to one particular job request. It was asking to deal with a group of bandits who have been recently messing with a swap meet event that was happening in Onibus. It was asking for wizard support and was willing to pay 80,000 jewels for the capture of the thugs.

"Find anything you like?" Gray asked as he appeared next to her.

"I'm eyeing the bandit one there," she said, gesturing to it.

"Oh I was going to take that one," Nab, who always loomed near the board but never took a job, said with a groan.

Krysta and Gray gave him an incredulous look.

"Really?" Gray asked skeptically. "You were going to go deal with bandits?"

"You know what you're right. I should pick something easier," Nab agreed as if Gray had convinced it was a horrible idea.

Krysta shook her head. "Anyway, what are you up to?"

"I was thinking of taking a job myself," Gray said, shrugging. "Sticking around here and waiting for something to happen sounds boring. I'd rather do something in the meantime."

"Do you want to join me?" Krysta asked as she pointed to the request.

"Sure, sounds like fun," Gray said, smirking.

"You guys are going on a job?" Natsu asked as he walked over with Happy. "I want to go!"

"Trying to stay safe is so boring," Happy commented.

"What job were you thinking?" Natsu asked, looking over the board.

"This one," Krysta said as she plucked it off the wall and handed it to Natsu.

As Natsu read it over, Gray leaned in close and whispered. "Please tell me you are not thinking of bringing the pyro with us?"

"I'm okay with it if you are," Krysta said looking at him.

He held her gaze for a moment. She could tell that he wanted to spend time alone with her, but she didn't want to be rude. She then leaned in and whispered.

"Let him come with us and I promise to make it up to you. I'll buy you a drink when we get back," Krysta suggested, but gave him a subtle wink that Natsu and Happy wouldn't be able to see. She hoped that Gray would take the hint. She would buy him that drink, but also maybe some dinner too.

Gray didn't seem to catch on as he audibly groaned. Krysta raised an unamused eyebrow at that. "Fine." He looked back to Natsu as he leaned away from Krysta. "I guess you can come with us, fire freak."

"Awesome!" Natsu cheered. He looked over to another table. "Hey Luce, we've got a job!" He called over to the Celestial wizard.

"Wait, we said you could join, not the whole guild," Gray said, peeved.

"I'm cool with Lucy coming," Krysta said, smiling. "I assumed she might. Plus I would need help keeping you two in check."

"Hey!" Gray and Natsu said at the same time as if insulted as their heads whipped around to look at her.

Krysta just laughed at their reaction. While Natsu looked annoyed, Gray's expression broke at the sound of her laugh and he could help but smirk.

"They're in love," Happy said behind his paws.

"SHUT IT CAT!" Krysta and Gray yelled.

Lucy walked up by that point and looked at them all with a raised brow. "So we've got a job?" She asked, more to Natsu than the others.

"Actually, we are going on a job and we are inviting you guys to come along," Gray corrected.

"If you want to come with that is," Krysta added politely.

Lucy smiled at her. "I'd love to come with. It's better than hanging around here right now." She added with a roll of her eyes.

"It seems we are all itching to go out," Krysta said, chuckling. "Alright, I'll go get the job approved." She said as she passed Natsu, plucking the paper from his hands. She headed over to Mira at the bar.

The white haired mage looked up at her with a smile. "Hi. Find a job you want?" She asked.

Krysta nodded. "Yep. We will take the bandit job," she said as she held up the flier for Mira to see.

Mira nodded. "Alright, I'll call ahead and let them know you are coming. Have a safe trip."

"Thanks Mira," Krysta beamed as she headed over to where she left her satchel.

Grabbing the bag off the wall, Krysta stuffed the paper into the main pouch as she simultaneously pulled the strap over her head. Once her bag was on, she turned to face the rest of her party. They had gathered near the front entrance to the guild, waiting for her.

"Shall we?" she asked them as she approached.

"Let's go!" Natsu cheered as they headed out the door.

"Master, are you sure it's a good idea to let Natsu go on a job right now?" Mirajane asked as Makarov walked over to the bar, his gaze towards the team that exited the guild.

"We don't know if the boy's life is in danger or really what the situation is right now," Makarov admitted as he came to a stop. "The best thing to do is to continue doing things like normal until the situation changes."

"But you're having him stay with Lucy for safety reasons?" Mira asked, trying to understand his thoughts.

"It is possible that the imposter might know where he lives," Makarov said, looking up at her. "If he goes home at night and something does happen, then we didn't take the proper precautions to prevent it. Plus Lucy is just down the road from Krysta. So if there was an issue then they have nearby help." He paused for a second to jump up onto the bar and take a seat. "So I guess you can say I mainly did it because the imposter already knows that he can find Natsu at the guild during the day time. I just don't want anything to happen to my children if they find him when he doesn't have the whole guild to back him up."

"I understand now," Mira nodded. "Then we don't have to worry about him on a job."

Makarov sighed. "We always have to worry about that boy on a job. He destroys everything!" He groaned loudly. Mira giggled.

"Do we really have to take a train? Can't we walk there?" Natsu complained as they stood in the Magnolia Train Station waiting for their train to Onibus.

"It would take us days to walk there, Natsu," Krysta pointed out. "And the swap meet is ending this weekend according to the flier. So we need to get there sooner rather than later if we want to catch those bandits."

"Natsu, I'll knock you out if it'll shut you up," Gray offered.

Natsu snarled at Gray. "How about I knock you into next week ya stripper? You lay one hand on me and I'll beat your ass."

Gray folded his arms across his chest and glared at Natsu. "You think you can beat me, fire face?"

"Yeah!"

"Boys!" Krysta barked loudly which caused a few people to stare at them. Gray and Natsu immediately looked over at her, terrified expressions clearly written on their faces.

"She's scary," Lucy and Happy mumbled under their breath, frightened by Krysta's sudden sternness.

"Would you two stop fighting for five minutes? All Gray did was offer to knock you out you wouldn't have to deal with your sick stomach on the train," Krysta explained as she folded her arms across her chest, unamused. "But if you would rather suffer for the next couple hours because your stomach is queasy."

"But I don't want him to touch me!" Natsu argued.

"Then how bout I do it?" Krysta offered as she shot him a sharp look and raised her fist.

Gray and Natsu gulped nervously.

"N-no, I'm cool with Gray doing it," Natsu said, nervously.

"Good," Krysta said as the train pulled up. She then sharply turned on her heel and stomped over to the train.

"Man, is she scary," Natsu said, still uneasy.

"Yeah, she reminds me of Erza," Happy agreed.

"Well, she beat me to it. I'm just glad you two knocked it off," Lucy said, slightly annoyed as she rushed after Krysta. Once she reached her said, she frowned at Krysta. "Are you okay?"

Krysta looked at Lucy and smiled. "Yeah," she chuckled. "Erza told me to try that the next time I go on a job with those two to try and be hard on them to get them to stop fighting. It seems to have worked."

Lucy looked at her, dumbfounded, before she burst into laughter. "Yeah, you sure showed them. I didn't know you could be so scary!"

Krysta laughed too. "I learned from the best."

Gray stared at Krysta, stunned as he was still shaken by her hardened tone at them. He recognized that tone from Erza, but it freaked him out to see Krysta acting like that. He felt his brows furrow slightly as he felt like he might have actually made her mad at him. He realized now that he never wanted that if she was to get this terrifying. But then he saw her and Lucy laughing as they walked towards the train and he sweat dropped as his eye twitched.

She pulled an Erza on us… how rude, He thought to himself in an irritated tone.

"We should get going," Gray sighed.

"I'm still not letting you knock me out," Natsu grumbled under his breath as he started walking towards the train.

"Then just your mouth when we are on the train and keep moaning to yourself," Gray bit back.

"Fine," Natsu growled as they kept walking.

The group of wizards boarded the train and made their way over to their assigned seats near the back of the car. Krysta sat down on one of the benches as Lucy sat across from her. Happy hopped off Natsu's shoulder and landed on Lucy's lap as Natsu sat down next to her, already looking a little green in the face even though the train wasn't moving yet. Gray sat down next to Krysta, shooting her an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry we made you mad," Gray said quietly to her.

"It's alright. I'm not actually mad," Krysta assured him quietly. "I just did what Erza advised me to do the next time I'm alone with you two. I thought I'd try it out."

Gray couldn't help but smirk. "Well it worked alright."

"It was still mean though," Natsu added through a pout as he looked away from Krysta like an upset toddler.

Krysta smiled at him, apologetically. "I'm sorry, Natsu. How about I buy you lunch when we get the job done in Onibus?" She offered kindly.

Natsu beamed as he looked back at her. "You've got a deal!"

"I hope your wallet can handle it," Gray said, teasingly as he leaned back in his seat.

Krysta looked at him, confused for a second before she recalled that Natsu was known to have a massive appetite. She then sweat dropped as she realized the dragon slayer might make her go broke.

Suddenly a strange presence nagged at her mind. She blinked and looked around to see where the strange feeling was coming from. It felt like they were being watched but from a great distance. She tensed in place as the train started to move and the feeling didn't disappear, but she couldn't see where the presence was coming from. But as quickly as she felt it, it quickly disappeared.

"Hey, you okay?" Gray asked, concerned as he placed a hand on her knee.

Krysta came out of her daze with a shake of her head. She looked at Gray and nodded. "Yeah, I thought I sensed something."

"Oh? Like what?" Lucy asked as she gently stroked Natsu's hair as he laid in her lap.

"I'm not sure. Like someone was watching us," Krysta explained, looking at her.

"I didn't sense anything," Gray said.

"Me neither," Lucy said, shaking her head.

"Hm." Krysta frowned slightly at that. This was worrying that she was able to sense something they weren't. She made the mental note that she would have to keep an eye out for that feeling again.

Mason looked around the train station in his latest disguise. After gathering the intel last time, he was here to invite Natsu to the experiment that they were going to perform. They thought a formal invite would be the best way to go about this without causing problems. That was the last thing his father wanted to do. But-

He stopped short as he spotted Natsu's salmon colored hair boarding the train he just got off of. He blinked in stunned silence, unsure of what to do. What were the odds he would run into him here of all places. Quickly, he came out of his daze and ran after Natsu. But he was too late. The train started to move before he could even reach the door. He skidded to a halt and looked through the windows of the train, breathless from his short sprint. His eyes scanned the faces of all of the passengers, but saw no sign of Natsu.

Then he saw them. He recognized Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilla sitting on the train which meant that Natsu was most likely with them. But from where he stood, he couldn't see where he was. Maybe the bathroom or something? Then he remembered that the dragon slayer had severe motion sickness. He recalled that from the chariot race during the Grand Magic Games when Natsu, Sting and Gajeel all were struggling to run the race due to their stomachs trying to kill them. So the bathroom was an option. But so was the floor or the seat if he was laying across it.

But then Mason spotted the girl next to Gray. He felt like he recognized her from somewhere, but he couldn't figure out where from. And he stared at her as the train passed him by, leaving the station.

The job went okay. Once they arrived to the swap meet, they met with the meet organizer who told them to patrol the event. So they split into pairs with Natsu, Happy and Lucy searching one side of the meet and Krysta and Gray searching the other. Not long into their search did they find the bandits messing with a few different vendor stalls. As soon as they found them, it turned into a chase around the market. However, while they were able to catch the bandits, they did cause a bit of damage in their chase. A couple stalls received some burns from Natsu's fire, but thankfully were not burned down. A few stalls or walkways were covered in ice and thankfully no one was hurt when stepping on the ice. A couple of stalls might have lost their tops due to Taruas swinging a little wildly, but no one was injured and all goods were still intact. And a few stand's items might have gotten blown off their tables when Krysta used her magic to catch the bandits.

When all was said and done, and the bandits were caught, Krysta and Lucy were worried that they might have to pay out of their reward for the damages they caused as the swap meet looked to be in a state of disarray. Thankfully, the organizer was super nice, but she wasn't too thrilled with the state of the swap meet. So in order to get their reward, they had to stay and help clean up then help around the meet for the rest of the day. Relieved to hear that's the consequence of their destruction, Krysta and Lucy gladly agreed to the terms. Natsu and Gray were a little irritated that they had to do this to get paid, but they both understood that they were also responsible for what happened. So they took the bandits to the jail then joined back up with the girls and Happy to help clean up the meet.

They stayed there for the remainder of the day, earning a few tips along the way that they were each walking away with some extra jewel than the reward. When the meet shut down and everyone started packing up, the organizer thanked them for helping out and stopping the bandits. She even invited them back next month for the next one with the opportunity for more pay as either security or entertainment as apparently the next one is supposed to be their big fall festival swap meet. Krysta and Lucy agreed, and put it in their calender for next time. Lucy even made the note of inviting Levy and Wendy to join them for that as she was sure they would have fun with a job like that. The organizer then paid them and sent them on their way. They returned to the train station and caught the last train to Magnolia just in time.

Now they were about an hour out from Magnolia and it was getting late that dinner was going to be hard to find once they would return to town. There would be a few pubs open, but not many places to choose from. Krysta lowered the book she was reading as she thought more about dinner, realizing she hadn't eaten since this morning. Her stomach growled and she was feeling a little dizzy. If she didn't eat for long periods of time, she would get light headed and even have some nasty dizzy spells from time to time. Lena used to say that it wasn't anything she would need to worry about as long as she ate something. Setting her book in the open spot between her and Gray, who had dozed off against the window, Krysta then reached down into her bag and started to search around for a possible snack that she might have left in there from their last mission to deal with the Nightmare guild.

She flinched when she thought about that, feeling her back ache for a second. Even though she was completely healed physically, it was still hard to shake what happened that day. That everytime she thought of her mother…

Krysta shook her head, trying to clear it. Focus on food. She thought to herself as she resumed digging around in her satchel. After a few minutes, she found nothing. Sighing in defeat, she leaned back and rested her head back against the seat. She stared up at the ceiling of the train as it rumbled along the tracks.

"You wanna use my shoulder?" Gray suddenly asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Huh?" Krysta looked at him to see that he was staring at her. He was still leaning against the window and looked to be pretty tired. She risked a glance across the row to the bench seats that Natsu, Lucy and Happy occupied. Natsu was quietly moaning on Lucy's lap as his stomach was still trying to kill him. Happy was snuggled up on the other side of Lucy, snoring with a cute little smile on his face. And Lucy, at some point, had dozed off as well from their long day. Her hand still rested on Natsu's head with her fingers intertwined with his hair. She then looked back at him. "No, I'm okay. I was just thinking," she answered quietly.

"About what?" Gray asked as he straightened up.

Krysta lowered her chin and looked away. "Blackthorn."

"Oh," Gray said quietly. He reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Krysta admitted. "I was just trying to find a snack in my bag. To see if I had left any behind after we went to deal with Nightmare. Then I started to think about all of that again and her. And…" She sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. That was still fairly recent for you," Gray said gently. "I completely understand if it'll take some time to fully recover from what happened. Just know that I am here to talk if you need someone to talk to. There is also Lucy too." He nodded his head over to the sleeping blonde.

"I know. And I'm grateful to both of you for helping me through this the past couple weeks," Krysta said, looking at him. "I'm just not ready to talk about… her."

Gray frowned, but nodded. He then patted his shoulder. "Then how about you get some rest. We'll be home soon."

"I'm not tired. I'm more hungry than anything," Krysta said as her stomach growled loudly on cue. "Do you have any food in your bag?"

"No, sorry," Gray said, smirking. "If I did, I would share. Promise."

Krysta sighed and leaned back again. "Fine."

"How about this, you get some rest and I will take you out for dinner when we get back?' Gray suggested.

"I'm not tired," Krysta protested before stifling a yawn. She then glared at Gray. "You did that on purpose."

He grinned at her. "I didn't do anything. I could tell you're tired. I've noticed you haven't gotten much sleep recently and you did exert yourself back at the swap meet. A little nap won't kill ya," he said.

"That you know of," she joked.

Gray chuckled. "Fair point," he said with a smile. He then looked at her with a slightly worried brow. "Come on."

Krysta creased her brow and nodded after a moment. He was right. She grimaced slightly that it had been so obvious that she hadn't slept much. SInce the nightmare guild mission and Lena's funeral, her sleep schedule was completely trashed. She barely got a few hours of decent sleep a night. The only night she slept well at all was the night after her first date with Gray, but that had been because he made that such a wonderful night that she was able to sleep through the night. And there was also the next night when everyone found out it was her birthday and decided to get her drunk. The guild floor was a surprisingly comfortable place to sleep.

But as hungry as she was, sleep sounded really nice too. Krysta nodded and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around her to pull her closer. She felt her cheeks flush crimson as she realized that they were still technically in a public setting.

"You promise about dinner?" Krysta asked, flustered.

"Yeah, I promise," Gray said with a smirk in his tone.

"Okay, fine. You win," Krysta said as she squeezed her eyes shut.

She heard him chuckle and felt his chest move as he did that. She then felt her eyes get heavier as she actually started to fall asleep. Before she knew the rest of the train ride disappeared as she relaxed against Gray's shoulder. His presence next to her was oddly comforting that she felt at peace enough to get some sleep.

The train arrived in Magnolia about an hour later. The train came to a stop in the station. Lucy and Happy dragged Natsu off the train as his queasy stomach was still bothering him even though the carts had stopped.

"Man, you're pathetic," Gray grumbled as he watched Natsu get dragged away by his scarf. Many other passengers were staring at them with questioning glances. Gray looked down at Krysta who was still resting soundly against him. He reached over and gently shook her. "Hey, Krysta. We arrived. Wake up."

She moaned softly against him, but didn't stir.

"Krysta," Gray said as he started to move as if to stand to see if that would wake her.

She was out.

Gray frowned slightly. He didn't realize how tired she had been that she was down for the count at the moment. He carefully moved her so she rested more against the seat as he stood. He then slung both of their bags over his shoulders. Spotting her book still on the bench, he picked it up and placed it into her bag. Once the bags were situated, Gray reached down and lifted Krysta into his arms before adjusting her so she was riding on his back. He received a few strange glances as well as he carried off, but they were less of the confused kind that Natsu and Lucy got. They were either more sympathetic or just a piqued brow. Gray got off the train and walked over to where Natsu and Lucy were waiting for them.

"She okay?" Natsu asked as he was hunched over his knees, still trying to recover from his motion sickness.

"She's just tired. I didn't have the heart to wake her," Gray said as he adjusted her on his back,

"Well we were thinking of grabbing some dinner and were going to ask you guys to join us," Lucy said. "But if she's really that tired then maybe we should get her home."

"You guys go ahead and grab some food. I'll get her home," Gray said, nodding his head towards the exit. "I'll see ya at the guild tomorrow."

"Alright. Night Gray. Krysta," Natsu waved them off as Gray walked away.

Natsu watched them leave before looking to Lucy. "Do you think they are together now?" He asked, rather forwardly once Gray was out of ear shot.

"What?" Lucy exasperated as she held Happy in her arms. "I don't know. I don't think so. I know she likes him, but I think he hasn't said anything yet."

"What's stopping that ice loser?" Natsu grumbled as they started walking. "He should tell her."

"Natsu, I think he wants to, but you know that Juvia is still crazy for him," Lucy reminded him. "He has to get things figured out with her first."

"How do you know he likes Krysta?" Natsu asked, glancing at her.

"By how he acts around her. How he talks about her," Lucy said simply. "In the years I've known Gray. Hell, in the years you've known him, has he ever acted like this towards anyone?"

"Well… no," Natsu said, scratching his head.

"Then that proves that he has feelings for Krysta," Lucy said with a knowing expression.

Natsu thought about that for a moment. Lucy had a point. The way Gray cares about Krysta and talks about her makes him a different person. He seems happier than Natsu has ever seen him. He has seen his friend laugh, cry, or punch him right in the face when he was pissed. But he had never seen his friend smile when a girls name was mentioned, blush when thinking about someone, or even go out of his way to see a girl. And as that dawned on him, he realized that Gray did all of those things when it came to Krysta.

Natsu then glanced at Lucy who walked beside him and suddenly realized that he did those things too. Lucy looked up and met his gaze. She blushed as she caught him staring.

"What?" She asked, uneasy.

"Oh, nothing" Natsu said slightly flustered as he looked away, rubbing his neck. "I just realized that you were right about Gray and Krysta is all. I hope it all works out for them."

Lucy blinked at that then smirked. "Since when have you been so supportive of Gray?" She teased.

"That pervert? Yeah right," Natsu said dismissively as if he was insulted.

Lucy giggled. "Keep telling yourself that," she said softly under her breath.

His dragon hearing caught that and he tried to hide a smirk. He then draped his arm around her shoulders. "Come on, let's get something to eat. I'm starved."

She blushed as he did that, but still smiled.

"Aye," she and the sleepy Happy in her arms said at the same time.

Gray walked quietly through the streets of Magnolia to Krysta's apartment. He thankfully didn't run into anyone from the guild during his walk to her place. He still had a few people here and there stare at them strangely, but no one bothered them as they continued. Soon, he reached her apartment and opened the front door. He could hear talking and conversations coming from a few of the apartments as he made his way upstairs. When he reached her apartment door, he realized that her keys were most likely in her satchel. He didn't have a way to get to her bag and grab them with her on his back.

Sighing, Gray created an exact copy of her key with his ice make powers and put the key into the lock. Unlocking the door, he pushed it open and carried Krysta inside as he used his foot to lightly kick the door closed. He then walked over to the couch and lowered her onto it. Once she was settled, he set down both of their bags with a sigh. His stomach loudly growled throughout the room. Rubbing his stomach, he walked over to her fridge to see what she had. He blinked as he stared at the lack of food.

"Well, looks like we are eating out then," he said quietly.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw she was still sound asleep. He then checked the time on the wall. It was getting late, but he knew a place that had take out that he could run over to grab them some grub. He walked over to her bag and searched the exterior pocket where she kept her keys. He grabbed the keys and left, locking the door behind him,

Heading down the road, Gray reached the take out place in about ten minutes. There were not many customers inside ordering food. He walked up to the counter and ordered two boxes of rice, orange chicken, teriyaki beef, and some potstickers along with two sodas. After paying, they said it would take about twenty minutes before it would be ready to go. So he took a seat nearby and waited patiently for the food.

The door to the restaurant opened and Erza walked in to Gray's surprise. He straightened up in his seat as she walked over to the counter.

"Erza?" Gray spoke up.

She turned at the sound of her name and looked over to him. She smiled as she approached him. "Gray, I didn't know you guys returned from your job. You just grabbing food before heading home?" She asked as she gestured towards the kitchen where his food was being prepared.

"Yeah, pretty much. You doing the same?" He asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, I got back late from a job too and was rather hungry. I thought I'd grab something too," she said simply. "How did your job go?"

"It went well. We thankfully didn't destroy the swap meet," Gray said, looking towards the kitchen. "But Natsu and Lucy headed home. And I took Krysta home since she passed out on the train."

"Well that's good. I'm sure Master would be furious if you guys destroyed that," Erza said with a chuckle.

Gray nodded. He then looked up at her. Something felt off about her. Normally, Erza exuded magic energy even when she is at her lowest. Now her magic energy felt weaker than normal. "Hey, you doing okay? Your energy seems… lower than normal," he observed.

"Oh yeah, I am just exhausted. I fought off a rather large beast. But once I eat something and get some much needed rest then I will be in good shape," Erza assured him.

"Okay," Gray said, uncertain, but not wanting to question Erza in a public place like this.

"Speaking of which, I should go order something," Erza said as she turned back to the counter to order.

Gray watched her as she ordered her food with a curious brow, Something really did seem off with Erza, but he couldn't put his finger on it. After a few moments, she came over and joined him again.

"So Natsu and Lucy headed home? Back to her house or his?" Erza said in a slightly teasing manner.

Gray looked at her, bewildered that she made such a joke. "Uh, Lucy's. And you know that. The master ordered that he stay there to be safe. What's going on with you?" He asked a bit more accusingly.

She made a sad smile. "You're right. I was just teasing since it seems like they are becoming closer. It's so crazy to think that Natsu might be in love," she said simply. "I know that he staying there. And don't worry. Nothing is wrong. I was just trying to make a joke despite my tired state."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Sure."

"Gray Fullbuster," the worker behind the counter called as she held up a bag of food.

"Looks like my food is done. I'm gonna head home," Gray said as he stood and walked over to grab his food. "See ya tomorrow?"

"Of course. Good night Gray," she said sweetly.

Gray looked at her strangely before grabbing his food. He then walked out of the restaurant. He made his way back towards Krysta, but constantly kept looking back to see if Erza was following him or if anyone was as he suddenly became uneasy. He quickened his pace and hurried back to her place, not noticing anyone chasing after him. Once he got back, he quickly headed upstairs and entered her apartment. He closed the door shut behind him, set the food down on the counter, and carefully peered out the window to see if anyone had followed him. It appeared to be clear. He backed away from the window and looked down. He didn't understand why he felt so anxious and paranoid all of the sudden. But that interaction with Erza didn't sit right with him.

"Gray?" Krysta asked from the couch.

Gray whirled around to face Krysta as his heart leapt out of his chest. "Jeeze. You scared the crap out of me."

"Well it's my home. By the way, how did I get here?" She asked, confused.

"I carried you from the train. I didn't have the heart to wake you," he admitted as he calmed down.

"Oh." She blushed at the thought of him carrying her through town either on his back or in his arms. She then cleared her throat. "So, what are you doing?" Krysta asked as she sat up on the couch. Her hair was a little frazzled from her nap.

"I went out and got us dinner," he said gesturing to the bag of food on the counter. "But I ran into Erza at the restaurant."

"And what? Were you hoping she didn't follow you here to see us alone together?" Krysta joked as she stood up and stretched.

"More like I'm hoping that I'm just being paranoid," Gray said, still shaken.

Krysta frowned and walked over to him. She placed a hand on his arm. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I saw Erza at the restaurant like I said," he started after a moment. "But she seemed different. Like her magic energy seemed lower than normal and she was acting strangely. After I left, I had this weird feeling that I was being followed. So I practically ran here and quickly got inside before anyone could catch up."

"And were you being followed?" Krysta asked, worriedly.

"No, I think I'm in the clear," Gray said, looking at the window. "But it was the weirdest thing."

"Let's talk to Erza tomorrow and see if everything is okay. She might have just been tired or something," Krysta guessed, unsure.

"Maybe," Gray said, distantly.

Krysta reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, guiding his face to look at hers. He looked down at her and she gave him a reassuring, small smile. "It'll be okay."

He sighed and leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. "Thanks."

"Of course," Krysta said, her smile growing. "Now what did you get us for dinner?"

Gray pulled away and grabbed the bag of food. "I think you'll like it. And i got enough for leftovers for you."

"Thanks," she said as she sat down at the kitchen table. "I need to go to the store tomorrow for food or else I'm gonna need to go on more jobs to feed myself at the guild."

"Well when do you wanna go? I could help if you'd like," Gray offered as he set out the take out boxes one by one on the table.

"That's nice of you to offer. I'd love the company, but I think it might be best to look into this Erza thing," Krysta suggested. "Though, I'd like to see what that's about too."

"Then let's go first thing in the morning? I can meet you at the market. I need a few things myself. Then we can go to the guild and talk to Erza?" He offered as he sat down next to her.

"Sounds good to me," Krysta said as she started digging into one of the boxes of rice.

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