Five

"Lucy, I need help on this problem. "

"Lucy, can you show me where the bathroom is?"

"Lucy, where are you going? Can I follow?"

"Lucy!"

"Lu—"

She slammed the door, her heart thudding furiously. It was just yesterday morning that Gray confessed he was Gray, the person she detested the most and not Lyon. Ever since then he had been ceaselessly tailing her, asking for the weirdest of favors that called for them spending more time with one another. She had already detested his existence in the first place, why would she further any possible time together now that his true identity was revealed?

"D-despicable," she stuttered, plopping down on the ground of an empty classroom in wait for the coast to be clear. "To think I was hoping the bullying would stop…"

Gray wasn't very shy of displaying his interest in Lucy which contributed to the existent hatred girls had of her. The antics against her seemed to have intensified and while Natsu's words have given her enough strength to cope with the childish pranks, she didn't appreciate spending extra money on book replacements.

Ring!

Classes have ended and so did her free period which meant it was lunchtime. She sweat-dropped, contemplating whether she should go in fear of facing Gray. She had passionately expressed her hatred towards the boys when she first met them but never did she know she was expressing this to Gray himself. What kind of fool did she make herself out to be?

"No, no, Lucy," she thought as she decided her course of action. "don't be afraid! Don't be afraid!"

"You're pretty strong! For putting up a front like that! That's really, really great! Being happy is the best thing after all but being with your friends during hardships, telling them your troubles…that's really strong of you!"

"That's right!" Lucy declared resolutely, marching her way to the outdoor patio, "during a time like this I should gather my fighting spirit! If he bothers me, I'll just pretend I don't know him! I shouldn't have to deal with his nonsense at all!"

"Deal with whose nonsense, Lu-chan?" a voice piped up and Lucy snapped out from her self-cheer, seeing that she had already reached her destination. She blushed and sat down next to Eve who appeared to be alone.

"Ah, nothing," she said, "say, where's everyone else?"

"Oh," he held out three of his fingers. "Hibiki and Loke signed up for prep classes." He dropped two of his fingers, the last one still held up. "And Lyon—"

"—Gray," she interjected crossly, upset her friend was still tricking her, "I know Lyon is Gray, Eve."

"Eh?" his eyes widened, "really?"

"Yeah. It's not cool to lead me like that. Are we even friends?"

"Lu-chan, I'm sorry!" he spoke a bit too high, his eyes tearing up a bit, "h-he just does whatever he wants and there's usually nothing we can do about it and-"

"-whatever," Lucy grumbled, picking through her bag for a handmade sandwich. Her father wasn't giving her any allowances lately for reasons unknown. "Just leave me alone."

"H-hai…"

True to his words, he didn't utter a single word on this perfect sunny day. They sat in uncomfortable silence, Lucy trying to digest the food she attempted to make and Eve eating his lunch which looked utterly edible and sellable in a five-star restaurant. Seeing that he hadn't even taken a bite, Lucy's mouth started to salivate as she tried to civilize herself.

Too bad Eve caught her and held a hopeful glance. His expression resembled too much of a teddy bear she once owned, all vulnerable and pitiful and cute, that she couldn't resist anymore.

"E-eve…if you don't mind…could I…"

"Here Lu-chan! You can have as much as you want!"

And she was thrust with the fancy bento box Eve carried with him. She took only a look at the full strawberries, the vegetable spring roll, rice and sprinkles of broccoli before completely downing the entirty with great ferocity. She had almost forgotten that she was eating someone else's lunch if it weren't for a chuckle that stopped her from having a final bite.

"Heh, heh, Lu-chan, your face is so cute," Eve smiled but stuttered at Lucy's blank face, "n-not to say that you're never cute or anything! I…uh…"

"I know what you mean, Eve," Lucy gently said, smiling, "thanks a lot!"

"So…does it mean I'm forgiven?" Hope brimmed too much in his voice.

It didn't feel right to be so petty so Lucy reluctantly said, "Sure…but why didn't you tell me? I must've made myself a fool for saying I hated Gray."

"You didn't!" Eve blurted a bit too rashly, "you were amazing, Lu-chan! That ability to state how you feel, it's amazing!"

Lucy blinked. Really? Was she really that incredible? She always thought her biggest mistake to be the inability to face her problem which was indirectly related to revealing how she truly felt.

"But…" Eve continued, "…it's understandable why you hate Gray…I sometimes do too."

"What? You seem like best friends though."

"That guy…" Eve said with more contempt Lucy thought he was capable of having, "…had always taken the world a bit too seriously. Always doing things himself, always succeeding. If someone were to marathon, he'd do it in a stride. And what's worse is that he doesn't even do it for himself. So imagine how much he could achieve if he did do it for himself? But there is one goal he has always had. He couldn't accomplish it so that's why he removed himself."

"Removed himself…" despite her animosity towards Gray, she was curious with this spring of information. It seemed to have portrayed Gray differently from the boy who wanted to mess with everyone's business. "…what do you mean by that?"

Before Eve could say another word, someone shouted Lucy's name. The two turned around in face of pink hair and wide toothy grin. Natsu.

"Natsu!" she jumped up, a foolish smile slinking on her face, "what are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to thank you," he chirped, "you talked to Gray yesterday right?"

"Yeah!" Though she was touched he went out of his way to look for her, did it have to be about that nuisance? "he's…" The image of Gray sobbing in her arms flashed briefly in her mind and she grinded her teeth from recalling that moment. "…he should be fine.

"That's great!" Natsu smiled, "I hope you'll take special care of him!"

Though Lucy loved his smile, this time, it didn't exactly reach his eyes. "Why's that?"

"No reason," Natsu easily shrugged off. He peered over Lucy's shoulder and grabbed what was left of the eaten bento, chomping it whole. "Delicious! Eve, was it you who cooked this?"

Eve, who was practically nonexistent this entire time, trembled, nodding. "Y-yeah."

"Well this is delicious!" Natsu chirped. He wiped his mouth and sighed. "Alright, sorry for bothering you! Bye Lucy! Eve!"

"Bye Natsu!" she said a bit too enthusiastically, waving her arm feverously, completely missing the look on Eve's face.

—

"You gotta be kidding me," was the thought that entered her mind when she was faced with the person she wanted to avoid the most.

"...so in order to help him catch up," the teacher was saying, "I called you, Ms. Heartphilia, one of my most promising student to help this young man catch up in his studies. I hope both of you get along now."

"Yo," the boy cheekily grinned, "I'm Gray Fullbuster."

His emphasis on his name was like a freaking, cruddy taunt. Lucy wanted at the moment to just stamp and yell her heart out. Eva was right. Gray did have that uncanny habit of getting what he wanted with ease. How infuriating it was.

"Please to meet you..." She managed out, doing her best to keep her cool in a place like the teacher's office.

—

He was of perfect manners when they were in the room, the embodiment of a gentleman albeit a cheeky one. Lucy nearly thought she would have an okay first tutoring session (the teacher requested that they hold one in order to build a 'friendly atmosphere,' like hell she wanted that). They found a vacant classroom and Gray even held the door out for her and led her to a seat nearby the windows. Everything went fine up until he dropped his friendly smile as soon as he sat down.

"So Lucy, you're finally going to have to talk to me~"

And so began a launching of pesky, trivial questions from what her hobby was down to why she smelled of vanilla (Lucy herself wasn't aware of her own scent). But then he went ahead to the great unknown, asking a question that shouldn't be asked. At all.

"So how's it going with Natsu?"

That was it. "Can you stop fooling around?! I'm here to tutor you, not to share secrets like freaking BFFs!"

"So things aren't smooth sailing on the love boat I see," Gray mused, completely disregarding what Lucy had said. "I bet he's asking you about me, isn't he?"

How the hell does he know this?!

"How do I know this?" He asked rhetorically, his uncanny accuracy rendering the blonde speechless, "because Natsu is a predictable baka. And you tend to have a fake glint in your eyes when something's wrong."

"I do NOT have a-" she stopped herself, realizing the agony would just continue if she contributed, "look, can we just get this tutoring done for the day?"

The boy seemed to actually think about this simple request, making quite the scene by stroking his nonexistent beard in a philosophical way. It started to tax Lucy's patience but luckily she was spared from screaming her lungs off two minutes later.

"How about we make a deal?"

"...deal?"

"Yeah. Since you obviously hate my presence, we'll make a deal."

It was scary how he acknowledged someone's hatred towards him with a smile. "Wh-what's the deal?"

"Next week we're having an AP Chem test, right? I'll tutor myself without your help. If you score higher than me, I promise I'll no longer bother you or even come close to your sight."

It sounded promising but too good to be true. "What will happen if you score higher?"

"I get to play Cupid and hook you up with Natsu!"

She stared bewilderedly at the boy, unable to believe his selflessness. "How is that a prize at all?!"

"I just want to help you," Gray admitted, "not for your benefit but for mine."

"What could you possibly benefit from seeing Natsu and I getting together?"

"I'm just tired of seeing broken hearts and unrequited love. That's all."

—

"You're studying?" She sounded proud, an emotion Gray hadn't heard from her in a long time. "I'm so proud of you! You're finally going to school and you're even studying!"

"Yeah, well," he tried not to blush but it surfaced anyways. Dammit, didn't he resolve to rid these taboo feelings? "I just want to bet this person. It's just competitiveness, Ultear."

"Competitiveness, whatever, you're studying! Would you like me to get you anything? Cup of coffee...fruits..."

"I'm not a child," he complained, "give that to Lyon! He only has this year to relax before college—"

The mood practically darkened, the happiness Ultear seemed to have exude was nearly nonexistent. Her ruby lips seemed to have dimmer, her eyes narrowing.

"Ah yes...your brother is another to worry..."

And she shook her head, the darkened mood no longer there. "I'll be off now Gray. I trust you to study hard."

—

"Someone just shoot me now," Lucy moaned as she banged her head on the counter.

The difficulty of the bet she made with Gray hasn't sank in until too late, and by then she had already undergo an hour and a half worth of studying. She knew for certain getting a higher grade than a person who didn't come to school for nearly a year would be easy but chemistry wasn't that hard to catch up. It was possible for a failing student to suddenly ace the next test if they tried—especially if the unit was something as simple as stoichiometry.

"Is there something wrong Lucy?"

She looked up in face of a lavender haired girl and nodded. "Yeah...I have to get a higher grade than Gray."

"Gray Fullbuster right?" She wiped a glass. "That'll be hard. He's always has this incredible ability when it comes to studying."

"Yeah, or so I've heard," Lucy muttered as she remembered her conversation with Eve. "Why did he stop though?"

"You don't know Lucy?" Lisanna set the glass down, "he's known for falling in love with his own sister."

"...WHAT?!"

"Well he may have changed now," Lisanna said as if overcoming desire for your blood sibling was completely normal, "he wasn't able to because someone said something to him."

"Wait, wait. So Gray loved his own sister?!"

"Technically they're not blood related," Lisanna shrugged.

"Still! Does no one find that creepy?!"

"You should understand where he's coming from, Lucy," her tone was no longer playful but serious. "Gray doesn't have anyone to trust when he was little. He was abandoned."

"What..."

"Natsu!" her typical approachable attitude sank back in, startling Lucy a bit. Is this girl bipolar or…?

"Yo Lisanna," the approaching boy grinned, "Lucy. Are you studying?"

"Ah yeah!" she quickly shut the book, red tinting the sides of her face. She didn't want to seem like a geek in front of him. "but I'm done now!"

"She's competing with Gray," Lisanna explained, earning a stern look from Lucy.

"Oh Gray is competing?" Natsu said cheerfully. "That's great! I'm glad he has someone like you Lucy!"

Again, why does Gray have to be the topic of conversation every single time? "Thanks! But what are you doing here—"

"—so the competition is whether who'll score highest on a test," Lisanna interjected, "which is why she's studying right now."

"Lisanna!" Why was the world so harsh on her? "That's enough!"

"But that's interesting," Natsu had somehow accessed her books, flipping through the pages. "All these notes and books you brought yourself? You must be really dedicated!" his voice mixed with awe and praises filled Lucy with happiness. "But…you'll probably not be able to score higher than him." Her smile fell.

"What. Why do you say that?"

"Well," he held out three fingers, ticking them off as he listed his reasons. "Number one, he's smart. He's a douchebag with no sensibilities but he's smart. Number two, he's hardworking. Yeah he's a lazy ass who never lifted a finger for anything. But he does at the last minute which was how he gotten into Fairy Tail. Number three…well…" he chugged down a drink Lisanna set in front of him, Lucy sweat dropping.

"You seem to think highly of him," Lucy remarked gingerly, "even though you pretend to be hostile when you see him and all."

"Oh? Lucy noticed?" he grinned and Lucy felt her knees wobble. Of course I noticed, baka. "Lucy is so attentive! Uwah~" he snaked an arm around Lucy's neck and whatever information stored in her head immediately melted into liquidy goo. "But Lucy~ I'm not as great as you say I am."

Lucy, in her jellied self, tried to recompose herself but the warmth of his arm around her neck was making it difficult. "Wh-what?"

He winked, and just like that, removed his arm, yelled out for Lisanna to grab him another drink. Flushed, Lucy tried to absorbing the information in her textbook to no avail while Natsu stared, at her, through the corners of his shining eyes.

—

Pulling all-nighters and downing several cups of coffee later, a week passed.

Words: 2626

Author's Note

I would've updated two days ago but was immediately bombarded with three tests. ;_; Sorry! I hope this chapter was worth the wait! This chapter wasn't anything innovative (the whole bet thing is a very trite trope, sorry!) but the whole point is to reveal bits of Gray. With that said, I am really grateful for all your support! Will love your reviews and support forever~ 3

Silverstein71: Heh, heh, sorry for the delayed update. ;D But I hope this chapter lives up to what you're hoping for!