NORMAL POV

It was during diner that Neon decided to go home, or more likely, agreed to go home after some ranting and a promise by Cassey, one of her loyal maids that they'll be going there again. It was truly a relief to say, being all day with his new young mistress had drained almost all of the energy he had in his body. Gray dug in the plate of noodles in front of him, completely ignoring the pinkette beside him trying to pick a fight with him. A red-haired woman sat at the other side of the table, completely taking time to finish her meal, exactly the opposite of what Gray had been doing. Gray would slowly glance at her sometimes when he had the courage to, only to see what expression the woman was wearing. The fourth time Gray spared a glance for her, she looked up to him, a smile found its way on her beautiful lips.

Gray immediately blushed and look away, it wasn't everyday that Erza would smile like that to him, of all person in the world, but Gray somehow felt his cheeks heat up and had to force himself to look away before Erza could notice. Gray saw a man with dark brown hair walking through the doorway, but not after hearing Senritsu's soft voice asking, "Where's Kurapika?". The man whose name was Bashou, Gray learned, shrugged before saying, "He's still with Nostrade-sama. Probably helping him with bussiness". Gray looked back at Senritsu, who had the expression of a worried plus disappointed mother crossing her face. She heaved a sigh and said, "I don't think he'd had lunch earlier. I'm not even sure if he had breakfast this morning".

Just as Senritsu finished her words, the person of the conversation walked into the dining room, his pale face still void of any emotions, making Gray wonder if he ever smiled. "You don't have to worry about me, Senritsu. I'm perfectly fine and I can take care of myself". He took the empty seat beside Bashou, closing his eyes – setting a prayer, probably – before slowly digging into his food, with eyes still purposedly closed. Gray watched as the blond spooned the the noodle on his plate and bringing it into his mouth before chewing it, like any other human beings would. Gray absent-mindedly watched as the blond repeated his action, as his conversation with Senritsu earlier started to play in his head.

"Kurapika might seem like that from the outside but..."Senritsu let the words crawl on his tongue as they sat in the limousine, with Neon and her maids sitting at the far end of the vehicle. They can still hear Neon's voice, excitedly chit-chating with her maids about the new-bought clothes but decided to completely ignore it. "I can tell from his heartbeat that he's not what he's portraying himself to be,"she explained. Gray arched a questioning eyebrow, turning to his left to face the woman's face, and asked, "What do you mean?". Cautiously glancing towards the three other occupant of the vehicle at the back, she said in soft whispers, "His heartbeat tells me that he's still lonely and scared, though he made himself believe that he's nothing but angry".

Scared... It was the feeling Gray felt the moment the fact that everyone he knew had left him alone it him hit hard on the face. The harsh reality had made Gray feel like he's alone, and he's just afraid of knowing what future had in store for him. But then, he met Ur, and not to mention Lyon, and those two feelings left, making room for one, dangerous feeling to take over Gray's heart and mind. Rage. It was the rage that had kept Gray from realizing how lucky he was, to still have Ur taking care of him and taking him as her student. It was by pure rage that Gray had decided to kill Deliora when his logical mind had decided otherwise. Was Kurapika really scared like Senritsu told him? Was he scared of death? Or was he afraid of something else? Gray didn't think-

"Excuse me?"the two simple words had brought Gray back to the reality as he found himself blinking away those thoughts and looked around only to see everyone's eyes curiously pinned on him. He looked back towards the blonde, who seemed like the one who had asked the question to him. A sudden realization that he might've stared at the blond for a bit too long hit him, and he felt blood rushing up his cheeks, as he clumsily stood up and said, "Umm.. Nothing. I'm sorry, I need to go". Gray scrambled out of the small dining room, not daring to take a peek to see what kind of expressions his nakamas are giving him. Why? Oh, why does he always have to embarrass himself like this? Well, maybe it's his fault that he's constantly lost in his own thoughts like that. Taking a deep breath, he let those thoughts away as he released his breath. It will feel better if he completely ignored what just happened.

Night didn't come as quickly as Gray wished it would. Gray had spent the rest of his time just sitting around and watch as his friends play some card games with Neon, having decided that he had enough of Neon and her bratty attitude. When it was finally 10 pm that Neon went to sleep, leaving her bodyguards some time to rest before going to bed. Gray was once again drowning in his own thoughts as he brushed his teeth when Lucy decided to come into the bathroom – don't get it wrong, Gray had purposefully left the door open because, well, he's just brushing his teeth. Lucy collected all of her things that she accidentally left beside the sink before any other person could destroy it. "Hey, Gray,"the pretty blonde said. Gray gave her nothing but a lazy sound from the back of his throat.

"You know.. I'm not trying to pry off your personal problems but... I've noticed that you've been acting weird towards Erza for the last few weeks. I must say that I'd sometimes catch you giving her a sad look when you think no one's looking. And just today, you've been acting even weirder, as if trying to avoid her by any means," Lucy said, making Gray start thinking that she's not as dumb as he thought she was – she's actually very smart, really. Not knowing how to answer the blonde's question, Gray chose to keep silent as their eyes battled in a staring game, one determined and caring, while the other one filled with embarrassment and sadness. After a long while enveloped by this thick silence that Lucy can literally cut through with a knife, the blonde spoke, setting Gray off-guard with her correct deduction, "You liked her, right?".

Gray found himself with his eyes wide, and his lips slightly parted, a second after the blonde's four simple words reached his ears. Loosing all the words that he'd ever learned since he was still a little toddler, they once again fell in a thick silence. "Lucy! What are you doing alone here with Gray-sama?!"said an enraged Juvia Locser, barging in to the toilet room with her pale face red due to anger. "Juvia, I was just collecting my stuffs," Lucy said as he shot Gray a glance, that Gray deciphered as, This is not over, Gray. Lucy walked out of the bathroom, leaving the two bluenettes alone. "Don't worry, Juvia. She wasn't lying when she said that she came here to collect her things,"Gray said as he too, started collecting his toothbrush and all before walking out of the bathroom. "Don't worry?" said a chibi Juvia said with a dreamy look on her blushing face.

Ooops...Wrong choice of words, Gray thought, but decided to leave his 'admirer' be and continued walking out of the room. Gray wasn't an idiot, he knew what Juvia feels towards him, it was too obvious for any human being not to notice. But Gray had never felt the same towards her, like how Erza never felt anything for Gray. Gray would sometimes feel sorry for her, because he knows how exactly she feels, but he really can't return the feelings. Gray sighed, love sure is a big, twisted problem. If only Gray is the type who never falls in love. The thought suddenly made Gray wonder if Kurapika had ever fall in love. Well, the thought of someone like Kurapika actually liking someone like how Gray liked Erza was just...plain weird. Dammit! Why am I even thinking about this?! Gray scolded himself before accidentally bumping into a person standing in front of him. "Hey! Are you blind, Ice Boy?!" Natsu, the person he'd bumped into of all people in this universe, brought his fist near Gray's face, threatening to punch Gray any time soon.

"Err... Sorry," Gray said, effectively putting Natsu off-guard as his fist slowly retreated to where it came from, and Natsu's angry expression drained into nothing but pure shock. Right, the Gray Fullbuster Natsu knew was someone who'd never ever ever apologize to his nemesis, Natsu Dragneel. "Gray, you've been acting really weird since we arrive here," Natsu asked, eyebrows knitted together in nothing but utter confusion. The realization hit Gray, he really was acting weird ever since they've been here. And Gray definitely didn't know why the hell did he kept thinking about that Kurapika all the time. "I'm not sure. It's nothing," Gray said as he crashed on to the soft matress, decided to completely ignore everything and get some sleep. He desperately need it right now.

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"And Senritsu, Gray and I, will be attending the auction. Understand?"came the stern statement that had to make Gray arch his brows in confusion. "Huh?"he muttered. Everyone in the room turned to look at him, which made Gray cursed himself inwardly. "N-n-nothing,"Gray said as he looked away towards the window near him. "I'll repeat it once again," Kurapika said, not sure if Gray had paid attention to what he'd just said. It seemed like the bluenette have a tendency to keep losing himself in his own thoughts. "Bashou and Natsu will stay at the mansion and guard Miss Neon, Erza and Lucy will be in-charge of the main entrance watch, while Wendy and Juvia will watch the back entrance. You, Senritsu and I, will be in-charge of the auction,"the blond said, receiving a little nod from Gray.

"Ne, Kurapika. What about us?"Happy asked as he pointed towards himself and the white female cat beside him. When Kurapika's expressionless black eyes stared at him, he felt cold shivers run down his spine as he took some little steps farther from the scary blond. The blond finally blinked, and calmly said, "I think Neon-sama would like to play with you two". The male blue exceed timidly nodded, a nervous smile broke on his cute face of a cat. "Mission starts," Gray heard the blonde say, and soon, he can see everyone walking out of the room with different expression on their faces. It'd been almost a week they'd been working there, and it was nothing more than playing with their young boss, following her shopping and listening to her rantings about his father breaking his promises. They'd finally been given a job that might not be as boring, but Gray almost felt bad for Natsu who had to stay and guard Neon. Almost.

He wasn't sure if he should feel happy to get to enter the auction center, but he was sure grateful that he didn't have to perform his duty with Erza. Or Lucy. Or even Juvia. It would be troublesome if he had to answer those question Erza and Lucy had in store for him, and he's just not in the mood to deal with Juvia and her antics. Gray blinked as he spot black car in front of him – he must've walked to there without his mind registering it. "Gray, can you drive for us?"Senritsu said, a small smile on her pale face. The whole Genei Ryodan incident have taught her one important thing – Kurapika could be a very reckless driver – just imagine if there's suddenly a spider in the car. They'd be dead for sure. "Okay,"Gray said as he circled around the car, trying to get to the driver's seat.

Just as Gray took his sit before the steering wheel, he heard the door to the seat beside him being seized open, only to see his blond boss sitting on the passenger seat. Gray had to suppress a groan, he was hoping that it was Senritsu who'd sit beside him so that the situation would be less awkward than it already is but...well.. Gray took a deep breath as he started driving out of the mansion's huge backyard, or whatever it's called, and their drive started with an awkward silence between the three of them, which did not seemed to affect the blond man beside him at all. Hell, had he ever felt anything at all? Gray looked at the small mirror in the middle of the driver seat and the first passenger seat and found the reflection of Senritsu's green eyes directed to him, as if trying to say something.

After a short time keeping her eye contact with Gray, Senritsu moved her beady eyes towards Kurapika, which made Gray look at the blond who had his eyes set on the window. Then, it hit him. Senritsu wants him to start a conversation with Kurapika. Gray panicly sent the small woman an unsure look, which was replied with Senritsu's eyes that obviously meant, It's for the best. Gray gulped to himself, and after a few minutes of convincing himself that he could do it, he took a deep breath and said, "Erm... So, Kurapika, how old are you, actually?". Silence. More silence. And finally, "Why would you ask such a question?".

A nervous bead of sweat formed on his forehead and Gray suddenly felt like a young teen trying his best to impress his date on their first date. "W-well, I'm just curious.. Well, you look around seventeen or so and yet, you are the head of bodyguards,"he said as he turned the vehicle at a corner. "Twenty-three,"he shortly replied. Gray nodded, even though he's slightly surprised because the blond seemed much younger. Well, Gray himself looked seven years younger than his real age. Not knowing what to say, he glanced at Senritsu through the front mirror for some help but the woman at the back of the car just nodded, a sign that probably mean that Gray had already did it well. So, he decided that he should go with the flow, "Umm... Sorry for the sudden random question but... What's your hobby? Well, if you have one".

This time, there was no awkward silence between them before the Kuruta answered, "I like reading foreign literature". Gray nodded, quite impressed with the blond's choice of activity, but somehow, it's expected. "Favourite book?"he asked again and it seemed like a very good question. Gray could see the blond's eye spark in interest at the subject of conversation, even though it was very slightly – it seemed like the blond was a bookworm. Figures. "Candide by Voltaire and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas,"he said as he finally turned his face to look at Gray in the eye. "French?" Gray didn't know why, but his instincts that rarely works when needed kept telling him that he should ask that question. To his utter surprise, though, the blond then nodded as an answer."What about you? Your hobby?" he heard the blond asked in a sudden.

Senritsu was surprised to be honest. Usually, if it weren't Senritsu or his friends asking, Kurapika wouldn't even bother to answer the questions but not only did Gray managed to pull an answer out of the blond, he also made the blond ask him a random question like his hobby. Good job, Gray, Senritsu thought as she tried her best to keep the smile threatening to take over her face away. "Well, I...don't particularly have a hobby but I enjoy fighting... with that Natsu," he said, deciding that it's the best not to even try to deceive the blond. "...Interesting," was the short reply from the blond. The building where the auction was supposed to be held – a eighty-two storey high building with the modern art of architecture, situated in the middle of the Yorkshin City – seemed as if getting bigger each meter Gray drove. Time sure flies fast when you're making a conversation with someone not talkative.

As soon as Gray parked the black car owned by Mr Nostrade at the place where a group of expensive-looking black cars were parked, the three of them walked into the huge building. Thousands of people in black suits and simple dresses can be seen roaming around the building, with different appearences and personalities, but with one purpose. The auction. "Well, the auction will start in fifteen minutes. I guess we'll just stand around here?" Gray said as he glanced at the watch on his left wrist – and yes, he's left-handed. Receiving the nod from their leader Gray started to lean against the wall covered by soft beige-coloured wallpaper with delicate patterns.

"Our boss said that he really want the scarlet eyes," he heard a man a few centimeters from him. Kurapika didn't even turn his head the slightest, but Gray can sense that the blond was acutely listening to the conversation of three male bodyguards. "Of course he do. The Scarlet Eyes is one of the most beautiful colours in the whole world. Thanks to the people of the Kuruta clan, the world now have such a treasure,"a skinny man with bright orange hair said. "I don't think anyone in the world feels grieve when the whole clan was killed. They say that the people of the clan are assistants to the demons, that's why their eyes turns red when enraged," a fat man with narrow Chinese eyes said.

Stop listening to their conversation, Gray moved his attention towards the blond beside him, who had his hands balled into shaking fists. Gray could literally feel the blond's sudden rage, but before Gray found the courage to ask anything, he heard Senritsu's soft voice saying, "Ignore them, Kurapika. They know nothing". He saw the blond taking a really deep breath, his eyes tightly shut, and when he opened his eyes once again, he was completely calm.

END OF CHAPTER.