Mirajane looked like she was working hard, but she was actually intently watching the doors to the guild hall for any signs of Gray walking in. She wanted to pull him aside and tell him about the mission without Natsu seeing them. Natsu was stupid, but even he would figure out that his partner is Gray in that situation.

Mira jumped a little when she finally saw the half-naked man push through the doors. She dropped the dish towel in her hands and power-walked towards the front. She kept an eye on Natsu. He had remained in the same seat for the past hour, looking up at the ceiling with a blank look in his eyes. She hoped he was just bored waiting and not debating his decision.

She walked up to Gray and grabbed him by the arm.

"Hey, Mira, what are you—!"

Mira pulled him towards the side of the guild, away from Natsu. "Shush, Gray, come here."

Gray did as instructed. Mira thanked god that Gray was at least quiet. She pulled him behind a thick pillar and double checked to make sure Natsu had not seen anything. Natsu was sitting in the same position.

Gray sarcastically cleared his throat to get Mira's attention. "Mira, what's going on?" He looked a little concerned.

"Hi, Gray," she started, trying to throw off her strange behavior. "Sorry, we have a mission to give you and I didn't want anyone else hearing about it."

"Uh… sure, okay," he said, shrugging. It was weird, but as far as Fairy tail went: not that weird. "What's the mission?"

Mira patted down the pockets of her dress, feeling for a bump. She felt it and pulled out the folded mission request paper. "Here." She gave the paper to Gray.

He unfolded it and, similar to Natsu, his expression changed as the words sank in.

"This is…" he met Mira's eyes. "You said you were giving it to me?"

"Me and the Master believe you are best suited for this mission."

"Why?"

Mira noticed how much more direct Gray was than Natsu. "Because the job deals a lot with fighting back the mountain elements. Ice, plus any type of maker magic, is really useful for that."

Gray crossed his arms and leaned back against the pillar. "An entire year by myself sounds awful."

"We've also assigned a partner for you."

"Who?"

Mira pressed her lips together once more. Gray would not be as easy to fool as Natsu. "I'll wait to reveal the name until they tell me if they're taking it or not."

"My decision changes a lot depending on who I'm going with."

"I know, Gray," Mira said sternly, "but I'm not going to tell you. Both of you were picked because me and the Master agreed that you'd be perfect for the job. We did factor in if you and your partner would work effectively with each other." Mira did not mention the exact specifics of that effectiveness discussion, but it had definitely been discussed.

Gray sighed out of his nose. "Just… give me some time."

"I understand. Tell me when you're ready."

Gray nodded absently and meandered out into the main guild hall. Mira checked to see if Natsu was watching. He was not, so Mira stepped out from the pillar and went back to her position at the bar. She picked up the discarded dish towel and resumed working.

Gray sat at a random table. He leaned back in his chair and held a similar position to Natsu. He rubbed the bumps of his knuckles with the heel of his palm; a nervous habit of his. He preferred to rub his right knuckles, but sometimes he switched the hands.

He started to think through his critical decision, but was suddenly interrupted.

"Hey, jackass!" Natsu yelled from across the guild. Gray grunted in annoyance. This fucking guy!

"What the hell do you want?"

Natsu ran over to his table. He slammed his hands onto the table, making it rattle. "Fight me," he announced.

"No," Gray said stubbornly, "I'm busy."

"You don't look like it."

"I'm internally busy."

"That's stupid." Natsu hit the table again. "Fight me!"

Gray did not move, so Natsu decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed the table and ripped it away from Gray in order to open up a path. He lunged forward and threw a punch directly at Gray's face. Gray tipped his entire body to the side to dodge the hit. Natsu's fist collided with the back of Gray's chair.

"Too slow," Gray goaded before getting out of his seat. He tackled Natsu to the ground.

"Ack!" Natsu sputtered. Gray backed off and Natsu rolled to stand up. "That fuckin' hurt!"

Gray rolled his neck, "You asked for it."

"Sure, sure. I wanted to beat you up one more time before I have to leave." Natsu slid a foot back into an athletic position. Gray matched it. So Natsu was going to leave on a mission soon, too. Gray had not yet decided if he would go on his own mission—but just in case he went he wanted to reiterate his dislike of Natsu before he left.

Gray sent a kick towards Natsu's knee. Natsu was not expecting it, so the kick connected. His leg buckled and he fell onto his knee. Gray followed up quickly, grabbing the side of Natsu's head in an attempt to slam it into the ground. Natsu already felt humiliated after the initial move, so he absolutely did not allow that to happen. He used all of his upper body strength to stiffen and resist the initial strike, then grabbed Gray's arm and pulled him down to his level. He curled his arm around Gray's neck and squeezed.

Gray figured he would not be able to get out of the hold straight-on, so he kept on the offensive. He maneuvered his arm to elbow up into Natsu's ribcage. Natsu, similarly, did not want to give up his offensive. He squeezed harder and Gray felt his throat start to press closed. He elbowed again, pushing Natsu's diaphragm into his lungs. All of his air was suddenly expelled. Natsu struggled to catch his breath. Gray choked as the air trapped in his lungs became stale.

Some of their guildmates began to notice the fight. The fights were so common that they usually ignored it—but this one was getting particularly vicious. Levy watched them quietly from another table. Lucy was sitting next to her, also watching. Both of them wanted to say something to break up the fight, but neither did.

"Hey!" Erza yelled, "Boys! Stop that!" She ran up to the pair and pulled them apart. They sputtered and wheezed, each finally being able to breathe. "What is wrong with you two? That was too far!"

Natsu coughed and held his ribs. He really hoped they were not damaged. "Can't wait to get away from you, asshole," he spat.

That reminded Gray. He was supposed to be deciding if he would take the year-long mission or not. Natsu—damn him—had a good point. If he left for a year he would not have to see the idiot for a year.

"Me too," Gray said decidedly.

Natsu looked shocked for half a second. His eyebrows pressed down, "Good. I won't have to see your sorry ass."

"Natsu, stop it!" Erza yelled, grabbing Natsu's scarf and using it to pull him upright. "Apologize."

"Sorry Erza, but no. He deserves everything he gets."

Erza stuttered, entirely shocked at his disobedience.

"Hate to admit it, but I wouldn't want him saying sorry, anyway," Gray sneered, standing up. "Wouldn't feel right."

Erza let go of Natsu's scarf. She gave both of them scathing looks. "I always held out hope that you two would fix whatever was wrong between you… I guess I was wrong."

She stomped away and out of the guild. Everyone watched her leave then turned to stare judgingly at Natsu and Gray.

"Oh, come on! It's not my fault she thought that," Natsu yelled at them.

"Shut it, dumbass." Gray walked past an indignant Natsu and towards the bar. He leaned over the wood where Mira was watching them. "I'm taking the job. When do I leave?"

Mira nodded tersely. This idea of hers looked like it might just fall apart. "...Okay. Go home and pack, you'll be leaving immediately."

"Sure," Gray grunted. He left the guild without another word—just a middle finger directed towards Natsu.

Mira pressed her lips together in worry. He was not even going to say goodbye to the rest of the guild? Nobody else knew how long he would be gone.

She sighed in an attempt to force the tension out of her body. She stretched her neck out. No—of course not. He would not do that. Mira knew Gray loved them… just not Natsu. She had to believe that he would come back and say goodbye after packing. For now, she just had to worry about the other man.

Mira walked out from the bar towards Natsu, who was grumbling angrily to himself. She gently touched his arm. "Natsu, come follow me," she requested softly.

"What? Why?"

"Just… follow."

Natsu relented and followed Mira into one of the guild's back rooms. It was a semi-storage room, but had a lot of empty space. He stood awkwardly as Mira closed the door.

"I'm going to go talk to your partner right now," she lied, "can you wait here while I do that?"

"Oh, I get it! Yeah, sure."

Mira looked at him sadly for a moment before leaving. Natsu did not understand why.

Mira did not talk to anyone. She finished up some cleaning while she thought about what she would say. A few minutes went by. Maybe this was salvageable… or maybe Master was right, and they would just be paying for a destroyed house in a week.

She kept her eyes on the clock. Was ten minutes believable? Probably not, but Natsu was not one to worry about trivial details like that. She went back to the room she had put him into.

To her surprise, he had not done anything besides sit on the floor and wait. Mira had half-expected for a few of the things in here to be broken by the time she came back.

Natsu perked up when he saw her. "So?"

"Well, good news. Your partner agreed."

"Cool! Who is it?"

"Ah… I'm still going to wait before telling you."

His face fell. "But why?"

"Because, well…" Mira quickly changed the subject. This was something she wanted to talk to him about, anyway. "Natsu, don't you think that last fight was a bit extreme?"

Natsu grunted in annoyance. "This again? No, the bastard knows I hate him already, that's not new information."

"Sure, but… you could've hurt each other pretty badly."

"And? We get hurt all the time!"

Mira took a deep breath. "Okay, Natsu."

He looked a little uncomfortable. "Is that all, or…"

"Go home and pack. Remember, it's a year, so pack a lot. Come back here when you're done."

"Okay," he nodded. He looked conflicted for a moment before adding quietly, "Was it really that bad?"

"Yes."

Natsu tugged at his scarf nervously. "I'm gonna leave out the window. Can you tell Happy to meet me at our house?"

"Sure," Mira obliged. "I'll see you soon."

"See ya."

Hey guys! Thanks for reading. Reviews and follows (i think that's what they're called) are appreciated. Here's some art of mine (remove spaces and dots):

https . :/ . /gallery/DP6vFtD

https . :/ . /gallery/wpqztKN