Of Fate and Miracles

I'll love you more tomorrow than today
These overflowing emotions won't stop
Right now I love you so much
I can't even put it into words
The days you've given me accumulate
The days that have passed, the path we walked together
Whether our meeting was coincidence or fate
Just the fact that we've met
Is a miracle. — Greeeen; Kiseki.

Chapter 1

The sound of the crowd and the dance of the cheerleaders somehow had almost made his ear deaf. That was probably the reason why he couldn't exactly feel the nervousness of the ticking clock. That, or he was probably too busy glancing at the red haired beauty cheering in her outfit. Gray scrunched his face, catching the ball thrown towards him before dribbling it all the way nearing the ring. His focus wasn't exactly in the game. She could barely hear Lucy screaming his name, nor Natsu's loud voice telling him to pass the ball over.

He cursed himself for eavesdropping the conversation between Jellal and Erza two hours before the game. On his defense, he didn't mean to. He just happened to pass by when he heard Jellal practically proposing.

'If we win this game, will you marry me?'

Marry him, huh? Gray gritted his teeth, dribbling the ball faster, ignoring Natsu's sound of protest. He knew he never had the chance from the get go. But he really wasn't in complete control of his own heart. Erza and Jellal were probably dating since before he met them—maybe not officially but that wasn't the point. Right now, he was just contemplating whether he should purposely lose this time, and delays the proposal so that he still had time to change Erza's heart. Not that he succeeded even the slightest. Erza never exactly saw him as a man. In the eyes of that scarlet haired beauty, he was always a younger brother and probably would remain so.

"What the fuck are you doing, Gray?" Natsu yelled. "Pass the ball! We are running out of time with only two points difference! Pass! We can still make it!"

Should we lose? Should we win? Internally, to Gray, it had become the matter of pride or love. And he didn't want to lose any. For a few seconds, he hesitated.

That was when one of the opponents suddenly stole his ball, and the ball happened to bounce back.

"God damn it! Gray! What the fuck are you doing?" Natsu scolded him, almost ready to go back for defense.

But Jellal was quicker to grab the loose ball, and the players felt themselves froze. It was just four seconds left. And they were dashing—some for defense, some to assist. Jellal dribbled out of the three-point line, grabbed the ball and began to shoot.

And Gray wasn't sure what to think, nor feel.

Juvia clasped her hands together, closing her eyes as she prayed earnestly. Please let them win, please let them win. She could feel her heart drumming loudly against her ribcage. And when the kyudo judges started to step on the stage to announce the winner, Juvia swore she was almost fainting due to her fast heartbeat. The microphone echoed the voice of the head judge, and just like that, he announced the winner.

It wasn't their school. Even though their name was mentioned later.

Juvia sighed, looking down at her student sitting right beside her, still in her hakama and muneate, hands gripping her yugake glove tightly. "It's alright, Meredy-san. We can still try again next year."

Meredy's head was hanging low, but Juvia knew the girl was trying to conceal her disappointment.

"Bronze isn't all that bad. We brought back a medal for the school," Juvia tried again.

"Which part of it that I did wrong?"

Juvia blinked, before gently patting the pink haired girl. "You were perfect. You just needed a bit more practice." Meredy's ashibumi was a bit too narrow in Juvia's opinion. And her hanare was still a bit too clumsy. But Juvia didn't want to break Meredy's heart any further. It was enough for today.

"Promise that you'll train me more," Meredy finally turned to face her, eyes pleading silently. "Next year will be my final year in high school. I want to win. I need to win."

"Juvia will, Meredy-san," the elder lady nodded. "Juvia promises she will." It was her fault as the teacher that Meredy did those mistakes anyway. Archery wasn't a sport anyone could do. But Meredy had tried this far to the national tournament. She had proven her talent. If Meredy wasn't lacking, then Juvia thought probably she was. Clutching a hand over her chest, Juvia tried her best to ignore the painful tug in her heart. She was such a useless teacher. Could she ever do anything right in her life?

"For now, let's get back to school."

"I was really sucks," Gray grumbled, strapping his sling bag over his shoulder as he lightly stomped out.

"You just knew?" Loke laughed, shaking his head as he followed his friend. "I was seriously wondering what the hell was going on in your head during the game. Your pass, your shoot, you dribble—everything was terrible. You're the reason why we lost."

"Thank you so much for being frank," Gray rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Natsu would never let me live this down."

"You deserve it. Practice harder," Loke chimed.

Gray inwardly groaned. He wasn't even sure how he should vent out the frustration inside. Having a one sided love sucks so much to the point that he wasn't even sure if he was himself. What happened to the Gray who would excel in everything he did? What happened to the Gray who was so ambitious and never wanted to lose? Gray decided that if this was how it would be, he hated being in love. He needed to quit—now.

Loke's steps halted when they reached the bus stop, blinking in confusion as he looked at Gray. "We're taking bus?" he asked. "You didn't bring your car?"

"My car is in service. I'll fetch it later today. I didn't tell you?" Gray answered uninterestedly.

"Not really."

"Not like I have the duty to report that to you," Gray shrugged, boarding on a bus that had just stopped by.

Loke raised a brow before chuckling and boarding the bus together. Gray noted the bus was rather fully occupied. Luckily enough there was two last seats for them, and they sat comfortably. The first thing he noticed when he was seated was the soft hue of blue hair sitting in front of him. She was wearing some jasmine scented perfume and Gray couldn't help but to sniff slightly, making sure he was discreet enough. He wasn't a creep after all—he never did that before. But he somehow liked the scent. Perhaps he had always liked jasmine scents. She smelt like jasmine and sea spray, with some touch of mandarin somewhere around it. It reminded him of ocean.

"Don't you think so, Gray?"

Gray blinked. "What?"

Loke made a face. "Seriously, what happen to you? You didn't seem to concentrate at all today."

Actually, this time was a totally different reason that at the game. But Gray wasn't going to tell that to Loke. "I was just spacing out. What was it that you were saying again?"

"I said Lucy looked hot in that cheerleader outfit, don't you think?" Loke repeated, a sly grin appeared on his face.

Gray almost rolled his eyes. "And here I thought it was something important."

"It is important," Loke said defensively.

The bus had just stopped at another station, and Gray saw an old lady with a stick climbing up the bus. Instinctively, he stood, trying to let the old lady sit down. What he didn't expect was that the azure haired lady in front of him also stood at the same time, offering the old lady her seat. And he felt her body colliding with him.

She gasped, turning to bow to him. "Juvia is sorry!"

Gray blinked. "No, no, it's okay. Please sit. Grandma can sit next to Loke too," he offered politely, which the old lady bowed thankfully before sitting.

"Juvia doesn't mind standing. You can sit down, sir."

"No, seriously. What kind of man I am to let a lady stand?" Gray refused, gesturing her to sit. She was fidgeting bashfully, and for the first time, he took a closer look at her face.

She was wearing a long dark blue coat with a Russian hat covering her head, her soft blue wavy hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall. Her skin was so fair and pale, with pinkish lips and round eyes. She wasn't exactly exotic. Certainly not the same as Lucy, Erza, Cana or anyone in the FS Corporation in that matter. But she was alluring still. And Gray found himself staring a little bit too long for his liking.

"Then, can Juvia at least hold your bag, sir?" the girl's voice snapped him back to reality, her hands timidly held out to him towards his sling bag. "It would be really rude for Juvia to sit all for herself."

"Eh?" he was clueless at first, staring at her dainty fingers for a while before her words registered in his mind. "Oh, yeah. Sure," he quickly took off the bag and let her have it without thinking much. She bit her soft lips—or at least Gray thought it looked soft—, before grabbing the bag and slowly sat back on her seat.

"You were staring at her boobs."

"I did not," Gray whacked Loke's head lightly.

Loke muttered an 'ouch' before chuckling. "Oh yeah, I can't even see her boobs to be honest. Her coat was too thick."

Gray stared at his friend incredulously. "Are you kidding me? You were checking her out? Come on, dude. We just lost the corporate basketball tournament and the next thing you do is checking a girl out?"

"You were so whipped, I couldn't help but to stare at what attracted the great Gray Fullbuster," Loke insisted, walking hurriedly to their favorite restaurant 8-Island. "Now I know your taste is the prude one."

"I was not whipped," Gray protested, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Besides, if Erza was any indication, his taste in women was nowhere near prude. "We just happen to have the same moral towards elderly people," he adjusted his bag, patting its side to get his cellphone. He needed to call the workshop to ask if his car was ready. "Unlike some heartless guy who happen to be FS Corp athlete but refused to let a lady sit—"

Loke noticed Gray's sudden pause in front of the 8-Island door. "What? What's wrong?"

"It's not here."

"What's not here?"

"My cellphone," Gray opened his bag, rummaging his stuff again but found nothing. "I slip it at the side pocket of the bag and now it's gone."

Juvia jumped slightly when she heard the ringing tone right beside her thigh. Glancing aside, she saw an unfamiliar phone screaming for attention, and she debated with herself. Whose phone that was? Should she pick it up? Should she ignore it? Her eyes glanced at the street, noticing that she would arrive at her stop near her apartment soon before glancing back at the phone. It was still ringing, and she could see the name 'Loke' displayed on the screen. Maybe she should. And then she could send it to the police station.

Tentatively she reached the phone and answered. "H-hello?" she wished people won't accuse her of stealing.

"Hey, who are you?"

Juvia blinked. "Uh, you see—sorry. Juvia wasn't stealing. This just happens to be beside Juvia and Juvia doesn't know why—"

"No, no, it's okay. I think it dropped from my bag somewhere along the ride. I'm Gray. The phone owner. I'm calling using my friend's phone. Can you please keep the phone for me for a while and give it back to me tonight or something?"

His voice was gentle but manly at the same time. And Juvia wondered where she had heard it before. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure," she looked up when the bus almost cruised to a stop. Hastily, she took her bag and rushed down, hand still holding onto the phone. "Uh, when do you want Juvia to hand it to you?"

Gray glanced at his watch before tucking his hands back into his coat. It was almost winter, and he could feel the night getting colder than autumn could offer. He took a deep breath as he leaned against the railing by the side of the road. Damn, he was early. Never in his life had he ever been so early. But he needed the phone by tonight. He would need to go to work tomorrow and he certainly would have some difficulty to connect with his clients. And if he was late, he didn't have a phone to contact the 'Juvia' stranger either.

Just a few seconds later, he almost jumped when he was greeted by a soft timid voice, and Gray turned to face the blue haired girl donned in her long dark blue coat. She was still alluring even in the darkest night. "Hey," he greeted with a smile.

"J-Juvia is sorry she was late," she bowed deeply.

"No, no. I was the one who was early," Gray quickly took another look at his watch. "And you're actually ten minutes earlier than our appointment."

"Ah, Juvia sees," she nodded before opening her clutch, taking out his phone. "Here, sir."

"Thanks," Gray took it with a grin before offering her a handshake. "The name is Gray Fullbuster. Your name is Juvia?"

She blinked before reaching out for his hand. Her hand felt small in his grasp, and so delicate too. "Yes, Juvia Lockser. Pardon Juvia, Gray-sama, if she speaks weirdly in third person."

"It doesn't bother me. Thank you for going through the trouble to give my phone back."

"Juvia just did what society should do."

Gray nodded. "Yeah, you have good moral values, I can see. Even on the bus earlier today."

He saw her chuckle softly, and Gray decided he loved the way she laughed. "Well, Juvia is a teacher after all. If she failed to show a better example, Juvia wasn't sure what the society would be like."

"You're a teacher?"

"Yeah. A high school teacher."

"That's cool. I missed those high school times when we study and fail together. And play basketball aiming for Inter High Championship," Gray grinned fondly at the memories. It was carefree back then. He didn't worry about anything other than not losing to Natsu. And his powerhouse with Loke was perfect too. When did he get worse anyway?

"Gray-sama played basketball?"

"Yeah, it's my hobby. I still do. I play for my company in the corporate basketball tournament," Gray said before pausing. "Well, we just lost though."

Juvia gave him an encouraging smile. "Juvia thinks the fact that Gray-sama still plays even after working is already very inspiring. Gray-sama never forgets the passion. And that alone is already great."

"Well, if you put it like that..." Gray scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Juvia is sure about that," she insisted. "She is an archery coach at school too and we only got a bronze medal from the national kyudo high school tournament. Even so, she was proud that her students managed to go that far. Juvia really hopes her student won't stop here and waste the bigger potential."

"You practice kyudo?" Gray's eyebrows rose.

Juvia nodded. "Yes, Juvia has always loved it since high school. She used to practice some other martial arts too. But she liked kyudo the most."

"Wow, you didn't strike me as an armed lady."

"Really?" Juvia looked down to scan her build innocently.

It was surprisingly easy to talk to her. He wasn't always that friendly to a stranger. But Gray found her very interesting and before he knew it, it was so hard to stop. "Well, are you in a hurry? Since we both just lost a tournament, how about we go out and drink? And to thank you for this too," he idly waved his cellphone.

"Tonight?"

"Yes, I know of a good place."

"Um, Juvia guesses she could for a while."

"Good," Gray grinned, placing a hand at the small of her back before steering her to his car. "Shall we?"

Juvia looked rather surprised when she faced the sedan. "Gray-sama had a car? Then why did he took the bus earlier?"

"Oh, no, this is my dad's car. He's not using it now so I borrow it for a while," Gray opened the passanger door for her. "My car is still in workshop. It happens to break down two days ago. It's supposed to be done by today so maybe I'll fetch it tomorrow."

"Ah," she nodded, and for a moment, she hesitated before entering.

"Yo! Welcome, Gray! Got yourself a girl tonight?"

Gray snarled warningly once he walked in the hotel bar. "She's just a new acquaintance. She's decent, don't start talking non-sense, Cana."

Cana laughed. "Yeah, yeah, of course. Sit down," the bartender gestured. "What would you like to drink?"

Gray pulled a chair out for her. "Sit down, Juvia."

Juvia approached really slowly, eyes wandering around the elegantly decorated bar in the particular hotel. "Isn't this a bit too expensive to be drinking for losses?"

"Nah, this hotel actually belongs to my company," Gray dismissed her worry. "I got a lot of discount here so practically it's the cheapest for me."

"Discount?" Cana scoffed. "You practically own this whole building."

Gray grinned cheekily. "Well, there's that too."

Juvia was flabbergasted. "G-Gray-sama owns the building?"

"Yeah. FS Corp is my family's company, so in a way, I own this hotel," Gray nodded in honesty.

Suddenly the image of her letting such a rich person to stand in a bus flooded her mind. "Ah, Juvia is so sorry for being rude!" she bowed in shame.

"No, Juvia, please don't treat me any different than the way you did. I would seriously be offended if you do. Just treat me like an equal like before," Gray reached for her shoulders to pull her back up and he was relieved to see her blue eyes meeting his again. He was enjoying the moments he had with her and he definitely didn't want it to change.

"Oh, Juvia is sorry."

"It's fine. So, order? Cana is really good at making cocktails and I'm not even exaggerating," he chuckled as they sat across each other.

Juvia stared down at the menu, biting her lower lips before muttering slowly. "Juvia will have a kiwi juice."

Silence.

Juvia almost thought the world had died when Cana and Gray stared at her with wide eyes. And she shifted in her seat comfortably. And then they erupted into laughter. Like, really, who went into a bar and ask for a kiwi juice?

"Kiwi juice? Really?" Cana clutched her stomach, trying to hold back her laugh. "Are you sure you don't wanna add some vodka with peach schnapps? Mix in some orange juice and you'll get a Fuzzy Russian!"

Juvia's already pale skin blushed into a healthy pink. "N-no. J-Juvia is a lightweight. She couldn't exactly handle alcohol."

Gray blinked. "You should have told me. I could bring you somewhere else."

"Well, when Gray-sama said 'drink', she thought it was a regular drinking. But she really doesn't mind drinking here either," she blushed heavier, and Gray couldn't help but to think she was adorable.

Grinning slightly, he waved over to Cana. "Very well. Get her some kiwi juice, Cana. And I'll have Mojito."

Cana raised a brow, watching Gray interestedly. "Yes, boss."

"I'm not your boss," he glared at his bartender once before the brunette escaped behind the bar.

Cana pulled out some bottles and shaker to start working, but her eyes were trained towards the two. Gray was her childhood friend. Somehow, her father was rather close with Gray's aunt and they played together a lot. And he wasn't someone who would easily mingle around with strangers—she was really certain she didn't know this new girl. Rather, he was such a closed person. Especially after his defeat earlier that day, Cana expected a quieter Gray. And even though she expected Gray to come to her tonight—he would always come to her whenever he was troubled—, she didn't expect him to come with a smile, and with a girl on top of that.

She put the shaker in her hands aside, pulling out a set of tarot cards she kept as her hobby. Fate had always been confusing, and Cana was sure this Juvia girl wasn't here for nothing. She didn't have time to do a full reading, but a simple one would do. Shuffling and rearranging the cards, she pulled one out and flipped it, eyes glancing at the couple once before darting down the card.

Wheel of Life.

A/N: I was listening to Greeeen songs titled Kiseki and I suddenly feel like writing something like this. It was one of my favourite songs and the music was inspiring, probably becoz the drama too. And I really love writing aspiring stories and I hope I would be able to write another one too this time. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much for reading!