Gray muttered curses as he sprinted out of the cemetery to his car. He had visited the grave of his late father for his anniversary, and had completely forgotten the time. Natsu asked him early this morning to keep an eye on the youngest Heartfilia, and he accepted the job willingly. Aside from it could be his distraction for this specific day which he usually spent curled up in his room, he wanted to know Lucy more. He wanted to find out what spell she had casted on Natsu to be worked up like that whenever summer time came.

As he pulled his car away from the place, a smirk made its way to his lips. Annoyed. "That damn moron…"

He doesn't know what trouble he's getting himself into, eh?

Natsu cared too much. The kind that was destructive.

He glanced at his wristwatch while parking his car near the Fairy school building. He was only five minutes late, but he was sure he would receive a bonk on his head once Natsu found out.

Looking around, Gray scanned the students' faces. Well, even from afar, anyone would notice a Heartfilia's standing out beauty. But he wanted to make sure that he wouldn't miss a sight of her, as he remembered Natsu's warning.

"I strictly told her to wait for you. But she's a spoiled brat, Gray. She'll do whatever she wants even if she's forbidden."

Who knows. She might go as far as disguising.

Not seeing even a shadow of her, he decided to just sit on one of the near benches while waiting. He thought maybe she was still inside and preparing to go home. However, ten minutes had passed, until it became twenty and more and his patience was already running thin. Lucy was not coming out.

Running his fingers through his raven hair, he let out a sigh of frustration as he approached the entrance. What? She was having so much fun swimming?

"Excuse me," he caught the security guard's attention. "I just want to check if my…" What, bastard? "...uh, cousin is still inside."

Cousin, huh. I wonder how Natsu introduced himself when he enrolled Lucy.

"I apologize, Sir, but students are not allowed to stay after their classes. Your cousin has surely left already."

"P-Pardon?" This can't be!

"The staff are done checking every part of the building." The guard raised his radio device. "I can confirm it for you—"

"No, no. Thanks!"

Gray turned to leave, dugging his teeth on his lower lip as he reached for his phone. His eyebrows furrowed when he realized that it was off, making him sweat bullets as he realized that Lucy might have been contacting him and he wasn't aware. Cursing under his breath, Gray watched his device come into life, his screen loading that seemed to be taking forever. As soon as it opened, Lucy's message was the first to pop up.

Lucy

Just pick me up in front of FSS later at four. And don't tell Natsu anything.

Received 1:14 PM

Another curse slipped past his lips as he attempted to dial her number. But to his horror, her phone was off. Gray could feel his heart start pounding fast, his mind was already narrowing down any possible locations Lucy could be at. Shopping malls? Town square? Park? Where?!

In the middle of panicking, his eyes found a little girl on the next bench who was busy with her popsicle stick. She had long blue hair fixed in two high ponytails, and a pink backpack on her back. Their eyes met, the girl giving him a worried look.

"Are you looking for someone, nii-san?"

"U-Uh…" Gray swallowed hard, dropping his gaze to his phone to dial Natsu. Damn. He already knew what his reaction would be. "Do you know Lucy?"

His expression brightened when the girl nodded. "Lucy-san is my classmate."

"Do you know where she went?" His hand gripped tightly on his phone, Natsu's contact was already displayed on the screen. "I'm here to pick her up, but it seems she's not here anymore."

"She's going to Hakobe Falls with her friends, I heard. They're riding in a white pick-up truck when they left about thirty minutes ago."

Gray's eyes widened. Hakobe Falls! That's not what she told Natsu! So she's not just going to a simple shopping mall, but to a secluded and more dangerous place with her so-called friends that they didn't even know anything about!

"Thank you!" Gray patted the girl's head before running back to his car. Giving her one last glance, a small smile formed on his lips when he saw her waved at him, and greeted her mom who had just also arrived.

However, as he brought his engine into life, his expression darkened as he dialed his friend.

"Gray."

"Bad news. Lucy has already left even before I arrived from the cemetery."

"..."

He gritted his teeth, hand tightly gripping on the steering wheel as he increased his speed. The deafening silence from the other line was making his palm turn colder. What now? Say something, dumbass!

"Gray—"

"I tried calling her but she's out of reach. A schoolmate of hers said that she's on the way to Hakobe Falls with her friends, riding a pick-up truck."

All he heard was curses before the line was cut off. It might seem like an exaggeration for others, but that was a very expected reaction from someone who was tasked to keep the Heiress safe. She was a Vermillion-Heartfilia, and she's someone Natsu cared for the most, too...

After minutes of driving, Gray glanced at the rear view mirror to see two motorbikes coming from behind, one was at its highest speed. It passed by his car in a flash and slowly vanished in his sight. While the other one matched his speed as the rider pressed the horn twice. Rolling down his window, Gray threw glares at Loke's smirking face in a helmet.

"End of the world is coming, bro. Speed up!" And he drove away with a chuckle. How can he be playful in a time like this?!

Stepping onto the accelerator, Gray followed them with a hope for Lucy to stay safe, or Tenrou would turn upside down.