Gray's POV

"So, you two know each other?" I asked.

Lyon was the one who approached us.  He's a senior like me and he has a spiky white bluish hair. In terms of popularity, he's quite high but not higher than me. 😎

"Yeah. I helped her in some things back then." Lyon answered and gave another smile to the shy Juvia behind my back. "Why are you hiding behind Gray?"

"Er... Uhm... Well..." Juvia said while stuttering. She slowly goes to my side with her head facing down and I can see her cheeks still being red from embarrassment.

That was odd in every levels.

"Wait, I might be mistaken but..." Lyon paused and pointed at the two of us. "Are you guys dating each other?"

"No!" Juvia and I answered quickly without hesitations.

"Oh, sorry about that." Lyon chuckled and fixed his hair. "It was rare to find Juvia with a guy alone, you know? She's quick the shy type when it comes to these."

Now that I noticed it, the girl besides Lyon kept quiet all the time. She's Meredy, a senior as well and Lyon's classmate. She's not quiet, I know that for sure.

"N-No, it's not that. He just helped me with my injury." Juvia answered and raised her injured hand to Lyon to show it.

"What happened??" Lyon asked worriedly and grabbed her hand to examine the injury. That simple action made Juvia's cheeks turn red deeper.

They sorta get along very well. They didn't even notice that Meredy and I are here, watching them interact. Now I know why Meredy's quiet... It's because she couldn't join into the topic because of the two.

They're talking about things they both know. Well, I don't know any of them so I can't make any comments about it. Tsk, so this is what it feels to be a third wheeler.

A few minutes later, they decided to finally stop.

"Well, the bell's about to ring." Lyon said as he checked his watch on his wrist. He smiled at Juvia again. "It's nice talking to you again, Juvia. I hope we can do that often."

"J-Juvia hopes so as well." She answered and tucked a hair strand behind her hair.

HMMM?

She just talked in 3rd POV.

That's literally weird.

Lyon bidded us a farewell as they started walking out. I stared at Juvia as I observed her smile while looking at Lyon from afar.

"You like Lyon, don't you?"

She quickly turned to me and her cheeks turned red again. Okay, I don't need further explanations because it's already obvious.

I pointed at her and said, "Ha! You're so obvious, you idiot! Well, a little because you blush all the time."

"R-Really?" She touched both of her cheeks to feel its heat. "Y-Yeah... I think so... I really do blush when I'm with him."

She talked as if we're friends now. See how one changes when they're talking about someone they love. I wonder if I'm like that as well back then...

I pat her head and said, "Lyon's a nice guy. I think you two would suit each other well." That was honesty, guys.

I flinched when she suddenly grabbed my wrist with her left hand and she glared at me. Okay, the old Juvia returned. "Watch where your hand is, Gray. You're acting like we're close now but think again."

Yikes but I actually preferred this version of Juvia. This is the real her after all. I lowered my hand when she lets go of me.

"And so, what if I do like him?" She asked and folded her arms. "It's normal to like a person who's amazing like him. He helped me a year ago from... I don't need to tell you that but I can say that he's a very important person."

Hmm, I didn't ask any of that.

She looked at me in the eyes and said, "And that's the reason why I can't like you back because I already like someone else so yeah, don't expect anything."

I twitched my eyes at her and said, "I never even liked you in the first place and you should call me with -sama!"

What happened next, surprised me. She gave me a smile instead of a smirk as she turns around and walks out. I don't know why but I think we're almost becoming friends.

***

After school, Natsu invited me to come to this Cafe he always come to whenever school's over. On top of that, Lucy's also coming with us. And being a third wheeler is hard again.

«Fairy Tail Cafe»
“Do fairies have tails?”

I'm quite disturbed by the name of this cafe. Of course fairies don't have tails. Who in the world would think of this one?

Moreover, this cafe is a maid's cafe so the waitresses are wearing maids uniform while the waiters are wearing the clothes of a butler. It seems cool. My hands were on both of my pocket as the three of us entered the cafe. As usual, Lucy's arms are on Natsu's arm and they were laughing. I was getting ahead of them because I didn't want to get left out.

Ugh, I feel like a companion of these love birds.

The 3 maids greeted us with a smile but one of them caught my attention.

"Good morning, master—"

She stopped and widened her eyes while looking at me. The smile on her face didn't fade while the two other maids continued their statement.

"Table for 3, sir?" The maid on her right asked with a smile.

"Uh... Yes." I answered and I didn't even look at her. My eyes just stayed on this certain person.

"Juvia! I didn't know that it's your shift today!" Lucy exclaimed and went to Juvia. Yes, it's the Juvia Lockser in a maid's uniform. You wouldn't see this everyday.

"Um... Yeah, it is. I think you forgot my schedule, Lucy." Juvia said and forced a smile at her and also stared right in through her eyes. Maybe she's asking her what we're doing here through the communication in their eyes.

"To tell you honestly, Lucy was the one who invited us to go here today." Natsu suddenly said to me. "Maybe she was craving for something in this place."

But why invite me as well?

"Please head over to this table, masters and mistress." The maid who asked me earlier said and pointed at the table with 3 chairs around it.

The three of us sat there and the maid who pointed at the table walks out to welcome the other customers. Juvia was about to walk out as well but Lucy caught her attention.

"Juvia, you should be the one to serve us, okay?" Lucy said with a smirk and even wiggled her eyebrows at Juvia.

"Haha... Okay then, mistress." Juvia answered and forced another smile. Well, I could tell that she's trying to control herself because she might get fired if she shouts here.

I would be embarrassed as well if my friends would find out that I'm working here and see me serving.

"I didn't know that you're working here, Juvia." I started. "Hmm... Should I take a picture of you for blackmail purposes?"

"Haha! My, my, master! Please don't be mean to Juvia~!" She said while forcing a smile at me.

Pfft, I wanna laugh here but I'm still teasing her so I can't.

"Master, huh?" I asked as I laid my back on the chair. "Hmm... You already know my name so it should be Gray-sama, right?"

I saw her eyebrows twitching at my remark but it wasn't that obvious at all. She still kept on that fake smile. "M-Master suits you better! Please order whatever you like and call me again, thank you!"

She puts 3 menus on the table and stormed out to greet the others and serve them. Seeing this another side of Juvia is very... Cool and surprising.

I opened the menu and scanned it. The price wasn't that much and anyone can afford it. Well, might as well try their omelette rice and iced coffee.

"Have you guys chosen your order yet?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah." Natsu and I answered her question.

Lucy raised her hand and motioned for Juvia to come. She just greeted the customer and goes to us with a notepad and ballpen in her hand.

"What is your order?" She asked and damn, that fake smile again.

"Blueberry cheesecake and iced tea for me, Juvia." Lucy said and her eyes twinkled when she mentioned cheesecake.

"I'll get the same thing." Natsu said. Umm...

"Omurice and iced coffee." I simply said and closed the menu.

She finished taking down our orders and grabs the menu from us. "Please wait for 10 minutes for your orders. We're glad that you chose this cafe~!" She energetically said and bowed in front of us before going to the counter.

The dress she's wearing is a little short, don't you guys think? Someone might look whenever she bends down.

Okay, I'm just saying.

"Gray, are you wondering why Juvia works here?" Lucy asked, getting my attention.

I just stared at her and that gave her my answer. She beamed and said, "Juvia... Is earning money for herself and to pay for school and for her condo she's staying at. I don't know if I should tell you the other details aside from that."

Earning money?

Where are her parents?

"Lucy is helping her out so I don't think she's on a tough business right now." Natsu added and locked his hand with Lucy's.

I put my palm on my cheek and rested my elbow on the table as I continued on staring at her smiling and serving the customers. This time, it looked natural for her to do all those.

...

Hmm...

***

A few minutes later, Juvia returned to us with our food in a tray. She carefully placed the food for us while mentioning their names. She didn't get it wrong.

She hugs the tray after placing our orders. "Is there anything you guys would like to add?"

"None." We all said.

She smiled again and bowed her head at us. "Please call Juvia again if you need something else or if you want help in anything."

"Jeez, I'm just so not used to this kind of Juvia!" Lucy said and laughed while Juvia glared at her. "You can act like yourself when you're with us, you know?"

"I can't. The manager might caught me." She said and sighed as she took a glance at the person in the counter.

I also took a look and the person at the counter is really keeping an eye at the maids. She seems like a strict person, sheesh.

Lucy sighed before asking, "Anyway, what time does your shift end again, Juvia?"

"Around 7:00 P.M."

It's 5:00 P.M right now and that means she still have 2 hours.

Lucy beamed and clasped her hands together. "Great! We'll stay here 'till 7 and Gray will walk you to your condo! Isn't that awesome?"

.

.

.

"WHAT?!" We both exclaimed.

***