It was one of those days when Erza just wanted the taste of peace and comfort, especially after one tiring duty off her school work. Her legs were aching as though she had been standing for days, her eyes tearing up almost every time she blinks, and her eye lids were actually in pain. It was as if her muscles restrained to fall into sleep, which is what she needs right now.

But no, she refuses to let herself be pulled into unconsciousness until her brain stops running back and forth, and the only thing that could do that is a slice (or one whole piece) of strawberry cheesecake.

It was one of those days when she seems to be one with the weather. The sky was gray of pollution and the fact that the sun cannot be seen was a contributing factor. It wasn't raining, but it wasn't exactly warm either. She wanted it rain though, because the delicacy that await her would be much more fulfilling, and sleep would be a lot more satisfying.

Bittersweet; Cake and Coffee Shop. Bitter like coffee and sweet like cake. It is her favourite. It is self-service, you see, so it lessens human interaction. She loves it.

Erza entered the shop, and inhaled the familiar warmth she had been anticipating for days. The shop was dimly lit with incandescent light bulbs as it always was, adding accent and drama around the place. It wasn't crowded, in fact, there were barely any people in it, thank goodness.

As it was a self-service café, you would be the one to grab whatever food you want, make your own tea and coffee, and various ingredients were neatly laid out in a bar. Once you're done with your selection, you go to the cashier, where they look through your purchase, then pay.

She neared the bar. There was one cheesecake left, much to Erza's disappointment as she was planning to get more than one. Erza positioned her plate and prepared to get her cake when she hit something.

There was another spatula intending to get the same thing as her. She looked to whose body the cake-stealer arm was attached to, but did not withdraw her hand from the cake. It was a man probably around her age, quite handsome, but not that she cared. He was about to get the cake! Her cake!

How cliché could this get? It was almost like those things when two hands would reach for something only to touch one another, except it was an iron cake spatula in her case, and instead of some cheesy music that played in the background, it was the hiss of metal against metal. It wasn't romantic, in case you were wondering.

With eyes both in contact with each other, it took mere five seconds for Erza to finally say, "That's my cake."

The man just raised his eyebrow and replied with an "Oh?"

Erza stiffly nodded. She was determined not to lose this one. She will not lose. She doesn't do losing, and the fact that her comfort food was in the line, losing would be unacceptable.

"My spatula was already in the cake when you tried to get it."

"Yeah? Well, so was mine."

"You know, the polite thing to say in these kind of situation is 'Oh, I'm sorry. You go ahead, and get it. I'll just get another one.'" Assuming this man has any sense of decency, he would apologize (was expecting an apology too demanding?) and just let her get the cake, as normal people do.

Apparently, he is not one of those normal people.

"Well, I'm not in the mood to be 'polite' right now, as you put it. I have something to do, and buying this cake is on the list. Gotta do what I have to do, y'know." The guy's hands were now on his hips, his dark blue eyes challenging, questioning.

It was weird that in this little conflict, it seems he's more interested in where the conversation is running rather than the cake. That thought got Erza's blood to her head. How dare this black haired, blue eyed, tall, cute guy challenge her desires!

"And you think you're just going to get it? I have been craving for something good for more than 24 hours! You barely even seem to want the cake."

"Well, you see, it's not for me. It's for my girlfriend," then he leaned closer, and whispered, "She got mad, so I need a peace offering."

"Well, it's not my fault you were an idiot." How dare this man go near her, and let her nose catch a snuffle of his scent, all the while talking about his girlfriend!

He went back to his original position, his face returned to its business-like manner. Finally. Erza took a deep breath— she needs to calm down and solve this rationally. Once she thought something, she spoke again, her voice much steadier, and also a bit deeper, than her earlier note.

"Hey, can you just lay off the cake? I swear I'll buy you even a box of any cakes. Just please give me this one."

"Tempting, but no"

"Come on—"

"I said it was for my girlfriend. Why do you want this so bad anyway?"

"I've had a bad day and this is the only thing that would make me better. And I'm sorry about your girlfriend, but if you messed up, I think there are more important ways to fix things, like saying sorry for instance."

The man stared at Erza, and said, "And what's your name again?"

She frowned. Where is this going? She just wanted the cake!

"Erza Scarlet," and why did she reply?

"Well Ms Scarlet—"

"—Just Erza"

"Well, Just Erza—"

"—Erza!"

"Well, Erza," the man said, emphasizing her name, pronouncing it sharp and clear, "I just so happen to have sighted the cake first, unfortunately for you."

Erza frowned at this. "How would you even know that? I didn't even notice you until you got in the way."

The man opened his mouth to speak, but didn't produced a sound, so he just shut it again.

"Why," Erza started, a sly smile slowly formed on her face. "Did you notice me even before this interaction? My, my, got in trouble with your girlfriend?" Then she muttered, "No wonder."

"Hey!"

"And what about you, then?"

"Huh?"

"I just gave my name to a stranger. For all I know, you're some insane kidnapper who's trying to get other people's identity for cover, or something. At least you have a name?"

He rolled his eyes. "Gray," he said, "Gray Fullbuster. Oh, and here's my school ID, in case, you're looking for one. Do you also need a birth certificate?"

"I only asked for your name!"

"Well, you could have just asked, not go through your whole imagination of me being some criminal"

"I was only being cautious."

"You were being a walking piece of sass."

Before any could continue, a soft and melodic "May I help you, sir?" cut through as both heads turned. A woman with white locks of hair and a BitterSweet uniform was standing before them, a small smile lit upon her face.

Now this is odd. This shop is supposed to be self-serviced, so why was there a waitress offering assistance? Nevertheless, Gray took advantage.

"Yes, I'll take the last slice of the strawberry cheesecake, please."

"Ah, the last slice for your girlfriend right?" the waitress replied, then turned to look at Erza. "You are lucky to have such a sweet boyfriend."

Gray's confident smirk fell all of a sudden. "Wait, wha— no, I mean—!"

"Right? The sweetest." Erza was now clinging to Gray's arm, smile as sweet as the desired delicacy.

Truthfully, Erza wasn't in the mood. But she would do anything for the cheesecake. Besides, this is good preparation for their senior play, she'd been auditioning to get the lead role after all.

"Hey, woman—"

"He's a bit shy though. He's not the one to show affections in public, thus the grumpy face."

Gray's chest pumped up in dignity. "I don't look grumpy." Then Erza continued, "Even so, he still looks quite handsome."

"I— I do?"

Now. While he's distracted. "We'll have the cake, please." Smiling, Erza got the cake after it was put on a plate. As she was about to pay, another hand intervened.

"It wouldn't be nice if the boyfriend let his girlfriend pay for the date, would it?"

Erza couldn't speak. How could she? This was unexpected! She had won this round, does he want another? After paying, would he take the cake away from her? For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Heck, she didn't even know what to think, which was probably okay as the next thing that happened was Gray going away with the cake.

Gray turned his head, and said, "Let's get that table over there."

The table Gray pointed was the farthest from the door, and just beside a wall. Two brown sofa chairs occupied the space, positioned in front of one another, with a coffee table in between.

As Gray laid down the tray, Erza noticed a cup of coffee, and a glass of water. Was she in her head that long? She didn't even notice him move from her side, much less make his coffee!

Exhaustion. She blames exhaustion.

"I know when I'm defeated, so instead of trying to keep up the fight, I got a coffee instead." Gray said as he made himself comfortable. "And since I don't know your preferences, I just got you a glass of water."

"I don't understand," Erza was looking at him, still on her feet. "You could have just said that you wanted the cake for yourself, why throw in a non-existent girlfriend?"

Gray looked up. Lips formed an almost amused smile as he said, "What makes you think it's non-existent?"

Erza eyed him, sat down, crossed one leg over the other, and smirked. "I just do."

"Oh, so you're some mind reading expert or something of that sort. I bet you don't have a boyfriend either!" Gray retorted.

"Who needs one when you have your trusty creamy strawberry cheesecake?"

"Sure, sure. And without my gentlemanliness, that trusty creamy strawberry cheesecake wouldn't be yours!"

Erza had to stop herself from snorting. That wouldn't look nice. "Please, without you, I wouldn't have a problem at all."

"Well, without you. . ." he took in a breath in excuse to pause and think. Without her, what? He wouldn't have this interesting encounter? He had been so bored of his every day, non-changing routine, and here is this one small conflict to change the flow. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing, or a bad thing.

Gray, I thought you were getting annoyed with her, why even consider it a good thing?

Erza, as impatient as she was, didn't wait for an answer and said, "I have a question." She was licking off cake remnants in her fork as she did so. Gray grunted, so Erza continued. "Why bother fighting for the cake when clearly I was the one who wanted it more?"

"I dunno, I'm not usually the one to lose in a battle."

"But apparently, you surrender to one."

"I did not surrender; I simply became aware of other people's needs."

"You just said a while ago that you know when you lose a fight!"

Gray paused before saying, "Are you always like this? Everything's a competition? Seriously you got your cake already, and now—"

"You're changing the subject." Gray doesn't need to look at her to sense her smugness.

"Huh, competitive, aren't we." He muttered to himself as he leaned back.

Silence. Truth to be told, Erza was already sick of any human encounter (another reason why she loved this shop. You get your own cake and make your own coffee! How cool is that?) Yet here she was; eating cake with someone she just met. Someone who paid for her cake. Someone who puts up with her petty arguments. Normally when this happens around other people, they just nod in agreement, and scatter away. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"So," Dragging his words, Gray was looking at her, eyes with obvious interest. "Girlfriend, huh? Nice acting out there. For a moment, even I believed you."

Forget about what she thought of a while ago. This is bad. "I will pay you back for the cake, I promise, and do you want anything? I told you I'll but you one if you let me get this, didn't I?" All was said in a breath, much to Gray's surprise. Shy and slightly embarrassed Erza was a new show for him.

"Oh, no it's alright, really. To be honest, this is quite nice." Seriously, I'd buy you more strawberry cheesecakes just for another round of squabbling, he continued in his head. If there are actually people like this in my school, I might actually save myself from Sherry's definition of love and probably date one. But no, they just had to agree with everything I say. Every single day.

Gray realized he had been staring. He quickly looked down before he could be noticed, and his eyes landed on his watch. Oh great, it's time.

"So!" Gray popped off his seat as he saw Erza licking off the last piece of cake. "Sorry, have to go now. Want to repeat this whole encounter sometime?"

Erza just stared at him. "Did you just ask me out?"

Gray shrugged. "You're my girlfriend, right?"

Now this made Erza blush ("She's actually capable of that!" Gray thought) "Hey, that was—"

Laughing, Gray just shook his head, and helped her off her seat. One hand scratched the back of his neck, while the other was hidden in his pocket when he said, "I really did enjoy that, though."

Erza gave him a smile, a genuine one this time, without any acting. "See you next time then."

When Erza returned to the Bittersweet; Cake and Coffee Shop, she was in a whole better mood, and much better rested. She would actually say that compared to the last time she visited, she looks decent now. Not even a strand of hair looked as stressed as she was.

Although it was raining, she was clothed in a summer dress she barely wore, and flats she just bought days ago (much to her friend Lucy's surprise, she had always stuck with her boots).

She entered the shop, and the smell of welcome greeted her as she did so. She scanned the sweets in front of her. Do I want to try anything new? But as her eyes reached the last piece of cake she decided her answer was no. Strawberry cheesecake won, as always.

She was just going to get her favourite cake, when another tried to get it.

While they had their eyes both in contact with each other, Erza said, "That's my cake."

The man just raised his eyebrow and replied with an "Oh?"

"Yes. It is supposed to be for my boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend?" The black haired man said. "Ah yes, I remember him with you, sometime before, in this place too. You are lucky to have such a gorgeous boyfriend."

"Gorgeous? Well, I guess you could say that."

"Well, miss, sorry to say but this is supposedly for my girlfriend."

Erza had an amused smile on her face, having a sense of déjà vu. "Your girlfriend? Oh, yes, I think I remember her with you too. She is very pretty. I do hope you did not do anything that could have angered her? For all I know, you're buying this last piece of cake in exchange for her forgiveness"

"Ah, no. I just enjoy seeing contentment in her face. Doesn't always happen, you know?"

Erza smiled. "Really? And how would you know that?"

"Perhaps I don't." The man said, frowning as he did so. "But I would certainly like to know."

"Well, maybe you will, after you give me the cake."

"Sorry, but no can do, sweetheart."

"Don't call me that." Erza snapped.

The man, however, just smiled. Here we go.

While the lights in the shop were warm as its delicacies, the lights in the staff room were white, and it wasn't just warm, the air was humid from multiple huge ovens and pans.

The voices also differ from both rooms. While one was with a man and woman bickering, the other was between two employees, a conversation more from exasperation than annoyance.

"You know, I never thought your this hobby of yours would actually reach your working place. I swear Mira, everywhere I go, there is at least one couple that has been brought together by you games."

"Games? Cana, I was just displaying my skills! Heaven knows how much this world needs them." The brunette, Cana, snorted on her drink. "Besides, it's actually more than you do. Aren't you supposed to be washing the dishes, and not drinking?"

"I'm taking a break! Besides, I'm reading the 's part of the job too, you know."

The employee, Mirajane, was just going to reply to her friend when she heard another squabble in the restaurant, much similar to the one days ago "Oh, they're at it again."

"Should we go in there again? I think I should go this time, it would be too suspicious if you appeared agai—"

"I don't think there's any need for that," Mirajane smiled, then continued, "it's what they call a 'lover's quarrel' after all!"