After School Fun | NaLu & More

3 - In The Park (Gruvia)

"Everything's going according to plan. Operation G.O.G. is a go!" Gray's ears rang by the sound of Jellal's voice. He had been walking with Juvia outside the school campus. As they passed by a Sakura Tree, they saw a hooded figure under it. He wore the school's uniform and his long black hair gave away his identity to the two in an instant.

"Gajeel?" Juvia muttered as she saw the man. The man in question looked over to them, before looking away again. Juvia became confused and turned to Gray, hoping that the male beside her would have an answer. "What's wrong with him? Why is Gajeel standing there?"

"O-oh... I uh, don't know." Gray muttered, failing to hide his stammering and making Juvia even more curious. This was starting to freak Gray out, and he didn't want Juvia to suspect what they were up to. So he looked at the entrance of the school before walking and taking Juvia's hand.

"What should we eat? Do you like sweets? I like sweets! How about ice cream? Ice cream sounds nice and..." he continued his babbling while Juvia blushes a seemingly new color of pink.

'G-Gray-sama is holding...Juvia's hand...' she thought to herself. She then smiled to herself and blushed furiously. 'This is the most exciting day Juvia has had!' She didn't mind her hand being held by the raven-haired man, and it was true that she was hungry.

"And you know? There's this burger joint by the park; they say the food is delicious but I haven't really been there..." Gray managed to slow down his talking; slowing down his pace as well to let the girl he was holding to catch up.

"Then why don't we go there, Gray-sama?" Juvia suggested as she, panting a little before regaining her breath.

"Really...?" he asked. The girl nodded and he beamed a grin at her, making her blush in the process. The two walked together to the park, hand in hand and not even bothering with the looks people were giving them. The blue-haired woman got slightly confused by this.

She was always alone, and no one particularly liked her when she was in her previous school, Phantom Academy. She was one of the exiles there along with Totomaru, Sol, Aria and Gajeel. Gajeel and her were the only people who accepted their defeat to Fairy Academy and went there to atone for what they did. Although she and Gajeel had a close relationship, it was more of a brother-sister thing. She would always watch her back and in exchange he would do the same. They share friendly banter here and there, but neither really had any sensual interest with the other. Plus, if Juvia remembered correctly, he had his eye out for Magnolia's little librarian assistant, Levy McGarden.

Though deep in thought, Juvia was able to tell where they were heading. She looked at Gray with a bit of fascination in her eyes. She was curious as to why he wasn't bothered by her presence like he usually was. It didn't help that they were now holding hands...

'Wait? What?!' she thought to herself before yanking her hand away from the raven-haired man, slightly shocking the latter as he stopped and looked at her worriedly.

"Juvia what's wrong?" he asked. He saw her face turning bright red and smirked, right away knowing what caused the girl to act like this. He grabbed the girl's hand again and with a little force, he tugged her into walking again.

"Come on," he said. "The park's close by. We can sit down once we get a bite to eat. How's that sound?" He looked over to her and saw her nod once before lowering her head. Again, a smirk graced his lips.

He knew that Juvia would be acting this way, but he didn't mind. It was always fun to see the woman blush and stutter, that's because she didn't know that she was causing him to do the same. At first it was out of awkwardness that he avoided Juvia. He didn't particularly like stalker types back then. But as the months went by, and Juvia opened up more, he became good friends with her, possibly even more. That's why he agreed to this plan that the guys came up with. He wanted to get Juvia first before any other person could. He heard that Bora, her ex-boyfriend was planning to take her back because she was no longer a bother and they could go out like nothing happened. Gray wouldn't let that happen. He'll just break Juvia's heart again when he finds someone better. To Gray though, no one was better than Juvia. Sure, he had a thing for Lucy before Juvia came, but that was over now. A possessive side of him wanted to never let go of Juvia's hand, but the hungry side of him told him that they need to hurry up.