The Knight and The Strawberry

chapter 14

Erza strolled casually through the streets toward the northern end of Magnolia. After sleeping on a table at the guild one night, and then leaning on the wall of a jail cell, and before all of that having spent a week on the road, sleeping in her own bed had felt wonderful. 'But Ichigo had to sleep on a couch. We should see about getting him an apartment today.'

She absentmindedly looked around the neighborhood she was walking through. Most of the families looked a bit older, and many school aged children were running around. It gave off the vibe of a more family focused neighborhood.

"Not exactly the kind of place I think Ichigo might want to live. I wonder what made Gray decide to move here."

Erza had decided to meet Ichigo and Gray that morning and see about getting Lucy and Natsu to all go on a job. She was getting pretty close to the ice wizards apartment and was starting to feel anxious to get back to work. 'And if we pick something good, I'll get to see how much stronger Ichigo has gotten. It was bold of him to stand up to Laxus like that.'

Gray's town house was getting closer and before long she was standing on the young man's doorstep. She raised a metal fist and made three sharp knocks on the door. She heard an abrupt chorus of thuds from somewhere on the other side of the door. A short moment later, a disheveled looking Gray opened the door.

"Erza? What are you doing here this early?" He mumbled sleepily.

Erza rolled her eyes at him. "Gray it's nearly ten o'clock. Are you telling me you hadn't woken up yet?"

Gray stepped back as Erza made her way into his home. "That's still early to be showing up unannounced."

"Is Ichigo still sleeping?"

Gray looked over at the couch where he had last seen the soul reaper. "Well judging by the lack of him being on the couch I'd say no."

Erza looked around the modestly decorated apartment. Ichigo's suitcase of clothes was lying open next to the sofa and a pillow and blanket were neatly set on the arm rest. As she was looking around, a door down the hall opened.

"Hey Gray you only had one towel in the shower. Hope you don't mind if I used it." Ichigo's voice came from the hall as he made his way into the living room.

He stopped in place as he noticed the home's new occupant. "Hey Erza. What are you doin here?"

Erza couldn't answer as she was staring at Ichigo. He had put on a pair of blue jeans that sat low on his hips. He had neglected to put on a shirt.

At first she had simply been ogling him but her gaze very quickly turned to one of shock and sadness as she focused on several jagged scars covering the man's upper body. She felt sick imagining just how horrific the wounds that had caused them must have been.

Recovering quickly she looked back up at Ichigo. "I thought I would come and get the two of you and pick up Natsu and Lucy so we could go on a job so you could start saving up some money."

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and dug through his belongings for a shirt. "Sounds good to me."

Gray was of a different opinion however.

"Nah I only worked with that idiot because you needed my help and it was serious." He said waving off Erza's proposal. "Count me out on this one."

"I can't believe you actually managed to get those two to cooperate like that." Ichigo said as he pulled a black t-shirt over his head.

Erza looked between the two men. "I thought the two of them worked rather well together. However if you really don't want to then I suppose Ichigo and I will just go with Natsu and Lucy without you."