After Gray dropped her home, she quickly went to brush her teeth and wash her face to just crash on her bed and press her face into her pillow.
She let out a muffled groan into it.
She loved Gray. She never thought she'd cross that line, but here she was getting stressed about it. Honestly, now that she was looking back and examining her feelings, it felt similar to when she used to like Lyon except that this one felt more mature for obvious reasons. It also felt stronger.
"I love Gray, huh?"
...
...
...
"And you're a pretty girl, so he might think the same!" she placed a curious hand on her cheek.
"Mira, please... you're killing me." the younger girl moaned in despair. "Why do you have to keep torturing me like this?"
"Now you're just being silly." Mirajane straightened up with a wave of her hand.
The black haired girl heaved out a sigh and crossed her legs underneath the counter. "I don't have any experience with love to understand if I have feelings for someone." Karissa casually said with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders with her hands.
...
...
...
She looked to the side, her cheek squished against the pillow, and frowned at her closet.
Damn. What didn't I realize I felt so strongly about him?!
She let out another groan.
―
The first week of November felt like a flash.
The morning after she realized her feelings for Gray, she took the easy route and decided to keep her feelings in check and act like everything was normal. Easy. She was good at hiding things anyway.
Like, what was she going to do? Confess to him? Out of the question.
It was better that way for both of them, she didn't want to risk making things awkward over something she couldn't control. Besides, she didn't even have any real experience when it came to love so she didn't know how to address her feelings and she certainly didn't want to ask for advice because it felt somehow embarrassing.
Just because she realized she had feelings for him didn't mean she was going to start avoiding him like the plague. That felt too childish and irrational. Besides, she very much enjoyed the rush when she was around him now that she was more aware of it, almost like a drug, it felt good.
However, even with the resolution to hide her feelings and not act upon them didn't mean it made it less easy to watch Juvia interact with Gray, flirting with him in front of her face. She'd often just drop by their table whenever they were talking together or just stare from afar which only served to annoy Karissa. Gray obviously noticed this since she'd often brood and look quite peeved.
To counter the sparks of jealousy in her heart, she chose to pretend like Juvia wasn't even there. Much like with the incident at the Tower of Heaven, she stopped looking at her and rarely spoke to her, not like she often spoke with her to begin with. She went back to ground zero.
Sometimes, she gets the irrational urge to just stuff Juvia's water body into a jar and just put it in the freezer whenever she would send weird aura towards her whenever she chatted with Gray.
She didn't have the right to be jealousy, he wasn't hers.
Currently, she was sipping her mango juice that Mirajane gave her, silently watching the fluid get sucked up into her straw. She was quiet and lost in thought. Even if she chose to not act on her feelings, it still plagues her mind.
Cana, who was sitting nearby, noticed her silent demeanor from the side, prompting her to tip her head curiously and hop off her stool to join her. She settled into the seat next to her and leaned back against the counter with a bottle in her hand.
"What's up with you?"
"Hm?" Karissa looked up and saw her brunette friend looking at her with concern. She must have realized how quiet she was. With a shrug, she leaned her cheek in her palm and frowned. "Just having trouble coming up with a design for the store. Max says we should make a new item." She easily lied to her.
Cana stared at her for a moment as if to gauge her sincerity, and then lifted the bottle to her lips to take a swig. "If it's you, I'm sure you'll be able to make something good. I have faith in you." Cana patted her head affectionately to cheer her up.
"Thanks." Karissa playfully leaned into her touch.
Maybe I need to keep myself busy...
What should I do?
What do I want to do right now?
Blinking, she perked her head up when she recalled something important.
Yeah, maybe I could do that. That would be fun!
―
...
...
...
Lucy looked concerned as she sat with Gray, Natsu and Happy.
"Lucy, what's up with you? Why do you look so worried?" Happy wondered innocently.
The Celestial mage looked at her teammates with a frown. "Why hasn't Karissa shown up at the guild in the last three days?"
The pink haired mage tipped his head as if he just realized it. "I don't know, but I don't think we should be too concerned." He pointed his finger at Van who was happily chatting away with Bickslow and Elfman. "If something was wrong, I think Van or Pandora would have said something."
"Maybe she's sick?" Lucy guessed. She looked at Gray who was just reading a magazine he swiped from the counter. "What do you think Gray?"
"She's not sick. She rarely gets sick." He said nonchalantly as he turned a page, looking quite bored. "Don't worry. She's fine."
Gray actually knew where his friend had gone in the past three days. He just wished she didn't just suddenly disappear from her house albeit she did leave a note behind. It's not like her to just up and leave.
"Oh, look there she is."
Hearing Natsu say that caused Gray to perk his head up to look at the entrance, looking a little more alive, a reaction that did not go unnoticed by Lucy which reminded her of a dog that suddenly noticed its owner return. It was a bit amusing.
Karissa came to their table dressed in clothes that indicated that she was traveling. With her headphones around her neck, she was wearing a dark green jacket, a red t-shirt, navy blue shorts and black high knee socks with blue shoes. She had a shoulder bag with her too. With a look of anticipation, she looked directly at Gray who straightened up in his seat to give her his full attention since he had a feeling she came to talk to him with how she had a bounce in her step, it made him smile.
"Wanna go train?" she asked him with a hopeful little smile. He noted that her bangs were shorter, they hung above her left eye. She must have trimmed it before leaving. He liked that he could see both of her dark brown eyes clearly.
Gray arched a brow. "Something good happened that you wanna tell me about?"
"Something like that. You wanna come?" she grabbed his sleeve with her fingers and gently tugged.
Curious, he pushed himself up and agreed, making her smile excitedly. He really wanted to know what got her so jaunty. He took his place by her side and walked with her to the exit. After the ice mages excused themselves and walked off, Lucy couldn't help but wonder what was up with Karissa these last several days. She was smiling a little more often than usual which was obviously different from her usual apathetic face. She had been mostly quiet but also somewhat subtly happy, especially around Gray.
What was going on with her?
―
"You're not going to ask why I didn't show up at the guild for the past three days?"
"Everyone needs time to themselves. Besides, it's not mandatory to show up every day."
"You weren't worried?"
"You have two siblings who show up at guild so it's pretty easy to check in on you."
"Creep."
"Introvert.
"You talk as if you're not an introvert either!"
"Touché."
They reached the top of a hill that had many trees. It was the usual place where Karissa would choose to train on her own. Sometimes, Gray would also train there. Every once and a while, they would also spar against each other just to keep her on her toes. He wouldn't want her to get rusty from all the long range fighting.
The purpose of her trip was to get a book in a town where a certain library resided. That library was known to contain a lot of information on magic. She went to go get herself a book on Unison Raid since she still was eager to learn more about it after she and Gray agreed to work on it before the whole Edolas ordeal. She spent the last three days on her own, reading, drawing, and spacing out. Her thoughts wandered off to Gray several times on the way back since she was so excited to try it out with him.
Sitting on the ground next to each other, Karissa took off her bag and showed him the book and going through the passages of more key parts. Unison Raids were basically an amplified attack that is created by uniting two kinds of Magic together, two kinds preferably of the same nature. That was perfect. She had ice and wind which worked perfectly with his ice.
"It says here that being in proximity with each other increases the chances of making a Unison Raid since our magic can link up easier. So, we'd have to be standing close to each other."
Gray scratched his head absentmindedly while looking at the illustration of two people holding hands as an example. "Then, the closer we are, the higher the chances, so I guess we should hold hands."
"Yeah, that's what the book gives as an example." Karissa fingered the edges of the book. Gray, who already flung off his shirt, leaned back on his hands to look at her from the back. She looked at him curiously over her shoulder.
"When you do a Singular Raid, what do you do?"
She took a moment to reply. "I usually focus the two different spells into one point before releasing it because it's better if they are timed correctly." She looked up as she remembered how the lack of timing made her Singular Raids fail, resulting in the wind and ice flying in all sorts of directions.
"Okay." Gray he tipped his head after nodding. "So, if we hold hands, we should be able to get the timing right since we could feel each other's magic power emitting from our hands. It should help link the spells." he waved his hand lazily.
"But would that work? That was for a Singular Raid..."
"But aren't Singular Raids basically Unison Raids but with a single person?"
The youngest Sinclost still looked a little unsure. He was right though. Singular Raids were just Unison Raids done by a single person. But would the method really be so easy?
Seeing her worry for no reason made him roll his eyes and stand. He reached for her arm and yanked her up on her feet, causing her to stumble and bump her nose in the middle of his chest, making her groan and rub her nose, giving him stink eye once she took a step back. He just rubbed her nose for a good second as an apology.
"Let's just try with that and go from there, alright?" He suggested with an easy going smile. That suggestion just put aside her needless worry and made her nod in defeat. He held up his hand and motioned for hers to hold his, teasing her about how he wouldn't bite. With a playful roll of her eyes, she held his hand in the typical way: down-facing palm.
Now that I look at it, this is how you hold hands when you dance in those fancy balls, huh?
Karissa looked at him patiently and noticed how he was staring at their hands with a hard stare which made her raise a singular eyebrow. It looked like he was contemplating something. Was something wrong?
Then, he shifted his hand to intertwine their fingers together.
UM...
She was definitely not expecting that, her heart got all excited over it.
He looked directly in her eyes, scratching his ear with his free hand. "Is this okay?"
She blinked stupidly and ignored the way her heart just jumped. The only thing she could do at the moment was just nod shyly, doing her best to mask a blush that tried to surface on her face. She would have laughed and joked about it, but because she didn't dislike the feeling of the spaces between her fingers being filled perfectly by his, she chose to say nothing about it and change the subject back to training.
Warm...
―
Gray and Karissa were both smart and determined ice mages. If they put their mind to something, they would surely achieve what they wanted through hard work.
They were so invested in their training that they had to take breaks from overusing their magic. Currently, they were working on combining their ice together instead of working on the compatibility of wind and ice. Working with double ice seemed like an easier step to begin with. Their ice would often just spike and go off in different directions instead of what they wanted. They had a hard time figuring out how to control their spells on the same wavelength, but even so, they were dead set on making it work.
It was only when the skies turned orange and pink that they finally achieved great progress.
At their feet, the ice swirled rapidly and then expanded before shooting off in different directions, destroying trees and freezing the ground around them. Anything within the size of circumference that they choose would get pierced or frozen in place. This spell was going to be useful against a large number of enemies that surrounded them. It wasn't big, but it was well done considering how that was the type of result they envisioned. They needed to work on it a bit more to perfect it.
Hands still intertwined, they both stared in awe as their breaths came out in white puffs.
"Whoa, that's cool." Gray let out a breathy laugh, staring in awe at the Unison Raid they did.
"Isn't it?!" Karissa flashed him an excited smile. He could feel her tightening her hold on his hands from trying to contain her excitement. It made him grin as he looked back at her. They both looked stupidly happy after working so hard. Her eyes that shined with pride and glee gradually became weary as her knees buckled from tiredness. His eyes grew wide when he saw her lose her strength. Releasing their hands, Gray caught her in his arms before she fell.
He tried peering at her face. "Are you okay?"
Karissa lightly laughed in his chest. "Just feeling tired." she mumbled.
The taller mage sighed at her, reaching up to her head and rested a hand atop it as a smile crept up his face. "You didn't have to push yourself, dummy. There's no rush." Even when she works hard like this, she shines.
"I wanted to make it work." She mumbled tiredly, feeling the effects of using so much of her magic power. Her body needed to recover from the constant exertion.
Gray looked around them. Aside from a small circle in which they were standing in, everything was covered in ice. She'd probably slip and fall if he tried supporting her as she walked.
She closed her eyes for a moment as if a few seconds of rest would be enough, but then quickly opened them when she felt him lean down, feeling his hair brush against hers when his head was close, and then lifted her up in his arms. He jolted her up properly in his arms, causing her to squeak and instinctively wrap her arms around his neck even though she knew he wouldn't drop her.
"Why?" she finally asked a few seconds after he started making his way towards a gap in the ice. He took confident strides across the ice.
"As funny as it would be, I don't want you to slip and possibly breaking your nose." Gray simply told her, he lightly hopped over the ice that blocked his path and landed on the earth. "We need to figure out a way to keep at least a way out of there or else we're going to be doing rock climbing when we do this in a real fight." He said, looking over his shoulder to look at the ice from another perspective.
Karissa timidly looked over at the ice too. "You didn't have to carry me though..."
He kept his face up, refusing to look at her with the blush creeping on his face. "I want to." Her heart swelled.
"Okay then." She said with a nod and couldn't fight back the stupid smile that surfaced, looking down at his neck to finger the chain of his necklace. "I'm not complaining."
She heard him chuckle. "Of course you won't, lazy girl."
Her finger lightly poked his cheek. "You're the one who volunteered to carry me."
He didn't put her down even though there was no ice on the ground. He just kept on walking while carrying her with him to the place where their stuff was. Discreetly, she peeked at his face and saw how he kept a cool face. She was unable to resist admiring his looks. She was easily reminded of how attractive he was. She didn't even stop her hand that reached up and played with the hair at his nape, not caring about the sweat he had there.
He blinked in surprise and looked at her, his features softening as he saw her staring at him with doe eyes.
It made him stop.
"Hmm? What's the matter?" he tipped his head to look at her a bit closer.
Karissa blinked, her mouth opened but nothing came out as her mind went blank for a moment there. The way he looked at her made her heart stutter for a second.
"Um, no, I just thought your hair looked soft for a second there." She pouted and then wiped her hand on his shoulder. "There's sweat."
He frowned. "Oi, don't wipe it on me."
"It's yours anyway."
Staying natural was a must. Seriously, she never thought love would be part of her life with how pessimistic she can get. It makes her heart race and she has to make an effort to hide her restless mood that seems impossible to settle down.
He continued walking after her she rested her hand on his shoulder. A few years ago, she actually went into a phase where she would often touch his hair because she apparently liked the feeling of playing with his dark locks. It used to make him so sleepy. He didn't realize how much he missed it.
"Hey, let's name our attack." Karissa suggested after he carefully set her down near a tree. She dropped on the ground and sat back against it, watching him go through her bag to pull out a water bottle she had with her.
Gray handed her the bottle. "Uh... how about Ice Wall?"
"Boring." Karissa pouted and started chilling the water, draining more of her magic.
"Ice Piercer?" He went to get his clothes that he gradually stripped off during each break he took. He was only in his underwear at the moment.
Karissa let out a satisfied sigh after drinking. "That's still boring."
"Ice Blast?"
"Uh... nah."
"Wave Impact?" He scratched his head.
"What wave?"
He shot her an exasperated look. "Why don't you come up with something better since my names aren't good enough."
"Yours are just plain!" she whined after he started getting dressed. She didn't even realize she was watching at him attentively as he did so.
"Help me come up with something then." he grumbled.
"... How about... Ice Ring?"
"The hell?!" Gray slipped on his shoes after putting on his pants as he snapped. "That's as plain as the first names I suggested!"
Karissa giggled with delight at the annoyed look on his face when he approached her. "Yeah," she gave him a cheeky look. "But doesn't it sound nice and simple?"
He picked up the forgotten book and tucked into her bag before picking it up along with her jacket and headphones, bringing it along with him as he went over to her side and plopped next to her to rest his back against the tree with a sigh of defeat. "I guess you're right about that."
She smirked at his admission and then offered her water bottle in case he was thirsty which he gladly took. "So, Ice Ring?"
"Yeah, Ice Ring."
Gray felt her rest her head on his shoulder to recuperate with him as he drank the water. It was quiet with the ambience of the leaves of the trees rustling from the light breeze. It was nice and calming. From above, he turned to watch her breathe gently next to him after setting down the bottle on the side. He was unable to fight back the smile he felt. Who would have thought he'd feel so content just having her next to him like this. The soft light from the sunset coming from their side almost made her seem like she was glowing. This peaceful setting with her made him feel like nothing else mattered, it made him forget about everything else, and he didn't dare move out of fear of shattering the moment. He would rather stay put in silence if it meant keeping her like this. And he did stay put until the sunset light completely disappeared, shrouding them in the dark of the forest. It looked like it was time to retire home.
It took time for her to get up after he suggested they head home since she was still feeling the fatigue. She traveled and went straight to training, so she was a little more exhausted than him. He had to pull her up on her feet to get her to walk. She put her shoulder bag on while settling her jacket on it before putting her headphones around her neck. She quickly fell into step with him after she caught up, holding the strap of her bag in her hands. She peered up at him, the rush of excitement coming back alive. "Can we train a little more tomorrow, please?"
"I can't. I'm going on a job tomorrow."
"A job? It's not with the team?" Karissa guessed and he answered her question with a shake of his head.
"Juvia asked me to go with her since it required two people. The reward money looked good so I agreed."
Instantly, the remnants of her excitement just turned off when he said that. He was going on a job with Juvia. That was a first. It honestly made her heart twinge a little, but she easily brushed it off. It's not like she planned to train with Gray the next day. She didn't even consider if he had any plans today and just dragged him off to train. She felt a little abashed for her lack of thought.
"Oh... okay."
Gray noticed the drop in her tone and looked at her to see her look a tad bit disappointed.
"But when I get back, let's train again." He told her, making her blink. A little surprised, she looked at him and saw him shove his hands in his pockets. He gave her a side smile before taking out one hand to nudge her on the head when she kept staring at him. "You don't want to?"
"I do!" she replied fast.
He snorted. "Then stop looking like that."
"What, like this?" her eyes grew wider and she leaned towards him creepily. He shook his head and brought his fist up to gently bop her on her forehead.
"Today was fun though." Gray admitted as they walked down the street where only a few people were. The streets were softly illuminated by yellow light. "It's been a while since we trained together."
"That's because we're always getting wrapped up in crazy shit." Karissa let out a scoff as she stretched her arms above her head. "Eisenwald, Galuna Island, Phantom, the nightmare back in Novera, the Harvest Festival, Tower of Heaven, Oración Seis, and now Edolas." She listed the events on her fingers. "July to October... a lot happened."
"Sheesh, it's really been a hectic four months, huh?" Gray ruffled the back of his hair with a frown. Those months really went by in a flash.
"But yeah... I missed this." Karissa said after a pause and looked down at the street, fighting back a smile. There was something about training together that was different from simply being with each other at the guild. It was fun.
"Me too." He admitted and turned to look at her just in time for her to look up at him. The mutual feeling made them smile. It was nice to know that they both enjoyed spending time together like this.
"By the way, you've been smiling a lot more recently." Gray decided to point out.
Karissa cocked her head. "I have?"
"Yeah. Anything good happen other than you going out to get that book?"
Aside from peeling away the blinds covering my eyes and realizing I have feelings for you?
"Not that I can think of."
Gray watched her keep a cool face after she said that, still wondering what could have gotten her to smile a lot these days. It wasn't a bad sight though, he very much enjoyed seeing her smile. It suits her even if she might not realize it.
"If you say so. As long as you're happy."
Happy, huh?
When they reached the intersection where their paths would have to diverge, they stopped and looked at each other. Karissa adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "I don't think I have to tell you to take care, but I'll still say it: take care on your job, okay?"
"Thanks, but I'm sure I'll be fine." Gray said in coolly in a laid back manner.
"I know that." Karissa huffed at his nonchalant response, slightly offended. "I'm just being nice."
"Really?" he said cooed, his voice dripping with a sarcasm, making her shoot him a deadpan look which made chuckle in amusement. Then he looked behind his shoulder, staring at the path that led him home, his mouth tugged downwards. He noted how lonesome it was. He didn't want to go home just yet.
He turned to her. "I still wanna walk a little more. I'll drop you home."
This made her eyebrows raise a little. He didn't want to go home yet? Funny, she didn't want to go home just yet either. Well, she wasn't really complaining. Even if she could only spend just two more minutes with him, then that's fine. Actually, it made her fight back a stupid grin. This love for Gray was really making her feel excited when she would otherwise just brush it off prior to her enlightenment. Everything just felt amplified.
"Okay—"
"Gray-sama!"
Karissa's eye twitched while Gray blinked with confused hum.
He turned and found Juvia running towards him with a bag that looked like a grocery bag. The blue mage was bolting towards them with an enthusiastic smile when she saw her beloved Gray even though he was with her rival.
"Juvia?" He watched her skid to a stop in front of him.
"Juvia thinks we should discuss about tomorrow!" the water mage quickly said, excitement evident on her face. "Juvia should tell you the details of our job." She looked in Karissa's direction and gave her a triumphant smirk that was met with a blank expression. Why was she looking at her like she just scored a date with him?
I wonder how she'd react if she found out I slept in the same bed as him a few times in a hotel, and once ended up cuddling with him in my sleep...
Aaaand, I'm not going to stand here and listen to Juvia's obvious attempts to make me feel jealous.
"You know what? It's fine, I'll head home. You should go over the job details." Karissa patted his arm with a lazy tone, causing him to whip his head towards her when he saw that she was already casually walking off.
Gray's hand shot forward and grabbed her wrist before she went out of reach. She stopped and looked at him, surprised. He was also surprised at how fast he reacted. "Just wait. I'll be done in a second." he almost pleaded.
"Gray, it's okay. My house is nearby." Karissa gently pried his fingers off. "Plus, I'm really tired." She made a show of slumping forward to showcase her fatigue, her face expression exaggerated tiredness. He only stared at her with a frown on his face. He wanted to walk her home. He wanted to spend more time with her even if it was just a little. He wanted to be with her a just a little longer, but if she was really tired then he shouldn't keep her waiting selfishly even though he wanted to.
"Okay, get some rest." Gray told her reluctantly after a small pause, his hand awkwardly waving at her. This made her shoot him a brief smile as she lazily waved her hand back.
"Goodnight, Karissa-san." Juvia added with a a smile that made the female ice mage want to scowl at. But she only responded with a hum and caught Juvia linking her arm with Gray just as she turned away from them. Her hands reached for her headphones and put them on to cut off the outside world, flooding her ears with a soft ballad.
I sincerely hope Juvia followed us up to the forest and watched us hold hands the whole time.
Unbeknownst to Karissa, Gray discreetly watched her leaving figure with hidden longing in his dark blue eyes, barely listening to Juvia who hugged his arm with enthusiasm.
―
...
...
...
Karissa spaced out with her cheek resting in her palm.
For the past four days since Gray left on his job with Juvia, she had been relentlessly training herself to grow stronger, strong enough for when she gets possibly chosen for the S-Class Exam. It was getting close. Every S-Class Exam took place on the fifteenth of December. Last year, she took that Exam and failed during the second test. After failing, she became determined to grow stronger to make sure she passed the exam next time, she didn't like the taste of failure. She was perseverant.
And with Gray gone for the past four days, she thought it would be a good thing to keep her mind clear.
Nope. She missed him.
"Ouch!" Karissa flinched when she felt a bonk on her head.
"Stop spacing out." Max flicked her forehead. He pointed at the table that had a few new designs laid out for the store. "You're not helping here!"
The black haired mage pouted and slouched on the table, her head resting on her arm. "I'm on my period so I get really out of it." she said with a tired groan.
Maybe my damn hormones are making me miss him...
"Oh geez, don't tell me you're about to snap if I annoy you."
"I'm not Pandora. I'm pretty tame." She said nonchalantly, still looking pretty spaced out.
Max then grinned, trying to lighten the mood. "Want me to get you ice cream to feel better?"
It worked because she chuckled. "Nah." Karissa slurred before straightening up. "So, which one did you pick?"
―
...
...
...
"Where are you taking me?" Karissa wondered.
"To the dorm." Erza replied with a smile, keeping a tight hold on her wrist to prevent her from escaping.
It was the third week of November, the fifteenth day to be precise. Gray and Juvia came back some time at the end of the third week, and like he said, he trained with her again. With how relentlessly they worked to improve the spell, they were able to perfect it without too much trouble after they got the hang of it. With how familiar they had gotten with fusing spells, it gave them an idea on how to do the same for wind and ice.
However, because she had been training so hard lately, Erza decided to take it upon herself to force her to take a break while she was up in the forest with Gray. She was reluctant to leave because they almost took a bigger stride in progress, but Gray, the traitor, allowed Erza to steal her away.
"I commend you for working hard to get stronger, but you also need to relax and have fun." Erza had chosen this time, five in the afternoon, to fetch her since it seemed like a good time to hang out.
I was having fun with Gray...
"I was preparing for the S-Class Exam that's literally in a month!" Karissa argued. If she chose Gray as her partner for the exam, they could Unison Raid their opponents into oblivion.
As they neared the dorm, Erza released her wrist and looked at her, Karissa could see sparkles in her eyes. "By the way, I've been reading this book recently, and I think you would be interested in reading it when I'm done." She informed her casually without mentioning the genre of the book. Karissa knew full well what kind of book it was.
I think... that's a little dangerous to read right now. I don't need my imagination going wild, thank you.
She was far from being a hundred percent innocent.
Karissa rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Sure, but I'm currently reading a cool adventure story right now." She lied easily. "So just... take your time?"
Erza gave her a nod in reply, masking her excitement that the book gave her.
...
...
...
Lucy, Wendy, Carla, Bisca, Evergreen, Levy and Juvia were eating in the hall, most likely waiting for Erza who told them she was going to fetch Karissa to join them. Karissa was greeted by them when they saw her trailing behind the taller mage. After chatting in the hall for a long time, the girls decided to move and head to Juvia's room who suggested they have tea there. Apparently, she bought some type of new tea that she was eager to share with the other girls. She didn't know what the name was other than it had the word 'gray' in it. No surprise there.
When they arrived, Karissa remained rooted at the doorway. The room that belonged to Juvia was the one she used to live in back when she used to live in the dorm. When Lucy said her name since she was blocking the way, she quickly snapped out of it and stepped into the room to join the girls sitting at a coffee table.
After Juvia served the tea and snacks, Wendy peered at Karissa, who was sitting next to her, and blinked curiously. "Karissa-san, what's the matter?"
"H-Huh?" Karissa looked at the younger mage who was staring at her with Carla.
"For a while now, you've been ogling the room and spacing out." Carla said bluntly, also curious as to what was causing it.
"Oh, uh... I was just admiring the room." Karissa said dumbly. "Maybe admire is not the right word..." she added, mumbling to herself.
Juvia smirked behind her tea cup. "Juvia has worked hard to make her room look nice. Is Karissa-san envious?"
"Not at all." Karissa deadpanned, making the blue haired mage sputtered her tea a little. "I'm just thinking about how there's actually stuff in here."
Evergreen raised a brow. "Why wouldn't there be any?"
"Well... this used to be my room when I first came to Fairy Tail..." Karissa started off, staring at the biscuits on the table. "The room was pretty empty for the majority of my eight years in here. Juvia's been here for how many months already?"
"Two." Juvia answered as she was actually piqued about the conversation. She had no idea Karissa used to be the previous resident of the room.
"Five years." Karissa looked around the room again. "Five years, and the only thing in this room for me was the issued furniture, my clothes, and some sketchbooks. It felt pretty hollow compared to now."
"Right. You arrived with very little things." Levy remembered with a small smile. She remembered how Karissa used to always be outside instead of in her room because there was literally nothing to do but draw, sleep, and get dressed.
"But today, you live in a big house that's filled with comfort." Erza reminded her. "It's different now that you have money."
Karissa just nodded softly. "Yeah."
I'm really glad I have a lot of money today.
They talked about Max's Souvenir Shop, Erza's figurines were being sold extremely well, the girls praised Karissa's hard work for making all the designs which only made her bashful. Then, Wendy blurted out that she saw Jet and Droy purchasing Levy's figurine, causing the women bar Karissa to gush about how the petite woman was adored by the duo. Levy was pretty calm about it and nonchalantly dismissed the idea of team members forming a relationship, thinking that it would only be a distraction.
"Juvia believes Gajeel-kun has feelings for Levy-san."
Juvia's statement evoked a different reaction from Levy since she started coughing and almost spilled her tea on her lap when she fumbled. "Wh-What?! No way! He's just being kind to me to make up for what he did during the Phantom incident!"
"You seem pretty at ease with him." Karissa said flatly after seeing how rattled she got. "You like him?"
"No!"
Juvia smiled an encouraging smile at the petite mage. "It's okay! Gajeel-kun is a very kind man at heart and is loyal to those he cares for."
"That's true. He just doesn't like to show it." Erza remarked with a small smile, crossing her arms.
"A-Anyway," Levy looked at Bisca in a flustered manner. "Bisca, do you have your heart set on Alzack?!"
The green haired mage took her turn to look flustered and muttered about how he gets shy around him which leads to him ignoring her, making her wonder if he ever looks at her as a woman.
The prideful member of the group just smirked and leaned back against the couch. "It's precisely because he likes you and sees you as a woman that he gets all shy. You should just go ahead and confess your feelings to him."
Confess your feelings? That's not easy.
Curious about it, Karissa decided to ask the group what urges a person to suddenly confess their feelings. "Why would you make yourself vulnerable when you could potentially get hurt?" Karissa tipped her head, not understanding the concept.
"Oh dear." Evergreen commented, choosing to back out of this one and simply sip her tea. Right now, Karissa seemed like that one person in the group who would try to search about love in a library.
"Well, if you don't take a chance, you'll never know if whoever you confess to likes you back." Lucy tried to explain it to her like as if she had experience. Didn't the Celestial Mage once admit that she never had a boyfriend before? "You might regret it."
"But some people still confess even knowing that the other person doesn't like them back." Karissa narrowed her eyes, still confused.
"Um... I guess it makes you feel lighter if you have an answer? It's good to let it out."
"Also, think of it this way," Erza interjected. "The person you confess to will most definitely appreciate that you think of them so highly."
"But isn't it scary?" Karissa rubbed the back of her head.
"It can be, yes." Bisca sighed.
"Why the sudden curiosity?" Carla wondered. "Do you perhaps like someone as well?"
Karissa did her best 'are-you-kidding- face which made Carla shrug in response claiming it was simply an innocent question. She also ignored the way Juvia lasered in on her the moment the cat asked the question.
It's scary to confess your feelings because you feel vulnerable but it's worth it to get load off your shoulders and let the other person know how much you appreciate them.
... Geez. I can't. I'm too much of a coward.
"Speaking of confessing, Evergreen, do you think anyone from your group may confess to you?" Bisca decided to ask the vain woman.
The mage wearing glasses just huffed and shook her head. "I doubt it. Plus, Freed and Bickslow are not suitable partners for me, neither is Laxus as he can be incredibly cold."
"That's true." Erza put a thoughtful hand fist under her chin. "I've never heard any rumors about him being with a woman."
Karissa looked off to the side as Pandora's face appeared in her mind. "I mean... he got along with my sister."
Levy nodded in agreement. "They bickered all the time but somehow got along, but it didn't seem like they liked each other."
Ohooo, you think so?
Karissa chose to shrug and remain silent about Pandora's affections for Laxus since she wasn't sure if her sister would appreciate her just exposing her feelings like that, she was secretive about it much like how she was hiding how she felt about Gray.
"Maybe he'll meet a lady during his excommunication?"
"Maybe."
"And maybe he'll also soften up and become a different man?"
That would make her a sad.
"Lu-chan! Do you have your eyes on anyone?" Levy decided to ask the blonde excitedly.
"M-Me?! No way."
"You have a great figure so I'm sure a lot of guys would have their eye on you though." Bisca commented with after sipping her tea. This caused Levy to become slightly desponded because her figure was a great contrast to the blonde, she couldn't hope to grow anymore since she was already seventeen with no sign of change in her body. Her little depression caused Wendy to feel glum as well, earning her a gentle bonk on the head by Carla who told her not to get so depressed over it.
Karissa nonchalantly took a cookie from the plate and started nibbling on it. "I don't see the point in wishing for a body that gives you backpain. I'm fine with my body. At least I can see my feet," she casually pointed her thumb at Lucy. "She once dropped her Celestial Keys at her feet and didn't realize she couldn't see it for about two minutes because of her boobs. It was pretty funny."
"Hey!"
Levy shot her head up with a pout. "You may have a small chest but you still have a nice figure!" she argued, making the black haired mage raise a brow at her sudden retort.
Karissa really couldn't understand why some girls want such an outstanding body. When she goes on jobs with Lucy and the rest, she often catches men leering at her body. Just the thought of it happening to her made her uncomfortable. Honestly, Levy should be glad if someone fell in love with her because they would be looking at her and not just her body.
"But you're fine as you are, Levy." Karissa said straightforwardly, slightly cocking her head. Levy just pursed her lips lightly, playing with her fingers.
"Do you think Natsu might be into you?" Bisca decided to move back to the topic, curiously leaning closer to the blonde mage. "He never once agreed to be part of any team before until he met you."
Lucy just scowled, crossing her arms in annoyance. "That's because he needed a blonde for his job."
Karissa snickered. Bait.
"What about Loke?" Evergreen suggested. "Think he could be a potential partner?"
"Nope." Lucy shot that suggestion down fast. "And I've never really thought of it because he's a Celestial Spirit."
"What if he was human?" Bisca asked.
"Still no. I can't stand playboys."
"Says the girl who was excited to see Hibiki in the flesh at Master Bob's retreat house..." Karissa looked away when Lucy shot her a look.
"That's different! I didn't know back then!"
"Potential partners, huh?" Levy smiled coyly and looked in Karissa's direction who stared back at her impassively. "Karissa and Gray look like a potential couple."
Evergreen nodded, looking more interested now that they shifted the attention on the ice mage. "That's true. You two are very close after all."
Wendy and Carla nodded as well. "Almost too close in fact." The white cat said as a matter of factly, remembering the way the two were interacting once she and Wendy first got off the train in Magnolia. Karissa was holding onto Gray's arm who didn't look bothered at all unlike when Juvia latches onto him.
The sudden turn in the conversation was making the ice mage feel... excited? She couldn't properly describe the feeling, she just knew it didn't feel bad, she was feeling shy and somewhat pleased. She did her best to keep a straight face as the girls eyed her with funny looks.
A couple... the chances of that happening looks non-existent.
Did she want to date Gray?
She'd be lying if she said no because she was aware of the part of her that wanted to.
"Juvia loves Gray-sama!" the water mage suddenly blurted out now that they were talking about Gray. Again, she was looking at Karissa intensely who did nothing but avert her eyes to look at something else, ignoring her.
"Why do you like him?" Evergreen asked, curious. To her, Gray just seemed like a smart, laid back guy who liked to take off his clothes. There were plenty of guys like that minus the stripping.
Juvia blushed profusely and held her face dreamily. "Juvia always had rain following her until she met Gray-sama. The rain that constantly followed Juvia disappeared because of him!"
Puzzled, Karissa's eyes slightly squinted when she heard that. She looked towards Evergreen who met her eyes that expressed the same confusion as her. That was the reason why Juvia loved Gray? Seriously? She expected something different. She expected something cliché, or like he made her realize Fairy Tail was a great guild or she just fell in love with him at first sight. She was expecting something that made more sense.
"Are you sure it was him? Gray's an ice mage so I doubt he had anything to do with the rain. It must be because of a spell." Evergreen tried to rationalize Juvia's thoughts, causing the water mage to look displeased.
"It was the power of love!" Juvia insisted in a sudden flurry of anger. Everyone watched in shock as Evergreen got doused with water. Karissa's eyes widened at the sight of Evergreen dripping wet, looking quite displeased. Was it really necessary to throw water on her? She was only speaking logically. Hell, she would have said it too if she wasn't the type to hold her tongue.
"And with that, I am bored of this conversation." The Raijin Tribe member sighed, annoyed. She stood up and bid everyone a nice night before walking towards the door. As Karissa glanced at the clock in Juvia's room, she noticed that it was already nearing eight o'clock. Now seemed like a good time for her to head home.
"I think I'm going to head home too." Karissa stood up after snagging another cookie from the plate.
"Are you sure?" Erza asked her, surprised by her sudden decision.
"Yeah. Thanks for bringing me here by the way."
Everyone bid her good night and then focused on Juvia who looked saddened by how the conversation turned out. Karissa caught the door just before it closed and found Evergreen standing outside, flicking off the water onto the carpet.
"Oh, Karissa." She said before flicking off more water, walking with her down the hall. "Honestly, I don't think throwing water on me was necessary. She overreacted."
"... Yeah, it was too much."
"What about you, don't you think Juvia's reason is irrational?" The light brown haired mage looked at her from the side, removing her glasses to wipe them.
"Um... yeah. I don't see how the power of love has anything to do with it. If it did, it's definitely one-sided. I don't think he caused the rain to stop because he didn't love her, he literally just met her and was fighting her to stop Jupiter. Like you said, Gray is an ice mage, he doesn't know anything about water magic." Karissa had a thoughtful look on her face. "Juvia was the one who probably stopped the rain herself unconsciously once she saw him. Love at first sight triggered her to stop it maybe? Otherwise, it just makes no sense, it's not rational."
"As expected, how very logical of you." Evergreen laughed a little. "I know I said I have no longer have any interest in the topic, but I would like to add that if you or Gray had feelings for the other then it would make sense. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he randomly asked you out on a date sometime soon."
Karissa rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, sweating dropping at the thought. That was impossible. "Oh? You think so?" Evergreen nodded and noted how shy she suddenly became, making her raise a well done eyebrow.
"You know, you're very different when you're not fighting." Evergreen told her. "It's surprising."
The taller mage could remember how terrifying she was when she fought her during the Harvest Festival, it was a complete contrast to her current demeanor.
"So I've heard..."
―
THREE DAYS LATER
...
...
...
"And you're down!"
"Oof—!"
Panting a little, Karissa grinned victoriously as she managed to pin Gray on the ground. As she straddled his waist, holding his wrists down and watching him pant, she couldn't help but frown, feeling confused despite her win.
"What's up with you? You're distracted." She pointed out. "What's on your mind?"
Gray lightly furrowed his brows as she kept staring at him from above, her hair creating a curtain around them, choosing to avoid her eyes. "I got distracted. Don't worry." He breathed. His cool and composed face had cheeks tinted in pink for some reason.
He felt her soft hands loosened and eventually let him go. "You sure? Nothing wrong?" she tilted her head, resting her hands on the ground at his sides. Just as she felt like she could tell him anything, she wanted to lend him an ear whenever he was troubled too.
He pushed himself up a bit. "Yeah. I'm okay. So, now what?"
They were face to face, extremely so.
Their eyes met and she could feel his breath ghost over her face. Her eyes grew wide when she was literally hit in the face by their proximity. She was still sitting on him, and his face was centimeters away after he propped himself up on his elbows. His dark blue eyes were observing her attentively and it made her fingers twitch when she felt herself get caught in a trance like spell, just like a few weeks ago. Her heart raced. But she knew she had to move. His eyes flickered to her mouth when she bit the side of her bottom lip, her eyes averting, just before she pushed herself off of him and stumbled a few steps away.
"Sorry. I got a little carried away." She dusted her hands off, doing her best to calm her thundering heart with a calm expression.
Gray sat up properly, sitting criss cross and then reached up to play with his hair. "Me too." He looked to the side coolly.
Deciding to take a break, they sat down together against a tree and enjoyed the breeze with their water bottles in hand. Karissa had her eyes closed as she relaxed under the shade, stabilizing her breathing. Their little sparring match was supposed to be a little warm up, but they just carried away and turned it into a full-blown match. They didn't even start practicing their Unison Raid and they had to take a break. It wasn't her fault though, he started it first by provoking her. She just didn't understand why he got distracted near the end.
She reopened her eyes and lolled her head to look at him. He was drinking from his water bottle; he was so thirsty that he didn't even care about the water dribbling off the side of his mouth and dripping down on his bare chest. His Adam's apple kept bobbing up and down. Impassively, Karissa had to look away from him, turning towards a pebble on the side to give it a look of disbelief.
Good grief...
She didn't think she'd feel so affected by the same typical scenes she read in a book in real life. Why the hell did Gray have to be so damn attractive. It wasn't fair!
But this is nice.
Enjoying the calm breeze without saying anything, just being close to each other, was pleasant.
"Hey."
Karissa looked at Gray who turned to her, wiping off the water from his chin with the back of his hand. "Want go on a job with me?" he suddenly asked.
The shorter ice mage furrowed her eyebrows a little after a tiny pause. "What's the job?"
Gray scratched his cheek with his finger, a frown on his face. "I still didn't choose yet. But do you want to?"
"Sure." She nodded with a smile. Why would she refuse? She didn't have anything else to do right now but train. Field experience is also good training in a way.
This made him smile back, looking rather hopeful now. "Cool. Just keep the next four days open for me, okay?"
"... Okay." She gave him a suspicious look, tipping her head, not sure why he needed four days specifically.
Four days. But isn't that...?
"You're not going to tell me what the job is?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow."
"Why can't you tell me now?!"
"Just be patient, Karissa." he teasingly patted her head.
With huff, she pouted lightly. "Fine, keep your secrets, mystery man." She said in a childish tone, and it made him chortle in response. She casually rested her head on his shoulder. She felt him ruffle her bangs. "Alright, now get up I wanna practice our Unison Raid."
"Ehh... didn't we just start resting?" Karissa whined, watching him stand up looking ready to go.
"We're not even moving around to do this." Gray took her bottle and set it aside. "Come on." He cooed and clasped her forearms to tug her up on her feet. He was already invested in this training, he wasn't going to slack off and do it half-heartedly.
Without hesitation, Gray grabbed her hand and began walking to the middle of the open space. Karissa trailed after him, feeling her mouth tug upwards at the warmth he shared with her. He must have gotten used to holdings hands. She didn't dislike it.
"Let's do wind and ice." He moved his fingers to intertwine their fingers together and she might have felt him gently squeeze her hand in his. Karissa still couldn't get over the fact that it felt nice to hold his hand like this.
"Okay, let's do this." Karissa smiled at him, and he smirked at her, sharing her fervor for improvement.
―
...
...
...
"I need rent money..."
Karissa looked up from her little doodle and turned her gaze to the right to see the blonde mage leaning her cheek in her palm, looking quite stressed. It was always the same problem with Lucy near the end of the month: she didn't have enough money to pay off her rent.
"Why not move out of that place and find some place cheaper?" Karissa suggested, dragging her pencil lazily across the paper after looking back down.
"But my place is so cute, I don't wanna move." Lucy complained, prompting the older mage to raise a brow at her reasoning.
"And that same cute place is always stressing you out at the end of each month. Cuteness isn't exactly helping you save money."
"I know but... ugh." Lucy groaned.
Currently, Erza was out of town because she went to Heart Kreuz to personally order some clothing. Natsu and Happy were still in town but they weren't at the guild, they were probably training somewhere, leaving only Gray, Lucy and Karissa available from the team.
"Karissa... let's go on a job together." Lucy grabbed her wrist, looking at her with puppy dog eyes. Having the female ice mage with her who was strong in her own right meant that they could take on a challenging job. Karissa could only shake her head in response, informing her that she told Gray she had to be available for the next four days for a job. She had to be obedient and stay put for him.
"You're going on a job with Gray?" Lucy blinked in surprise, but then she smiled hopefully. "Can I tag along?"
"For money?"
"Obviously."
"Sorry, Lucy."
The two girls jumped when Gray's deep voice interjected. They found him standing at the other end of the table with his hands in his pockets. He made his way to the opposite end where they were sitting. "The job is only for two people." He told her, pulling out two tickets and laying them flat on the table.
Curiously, the two picked them up to read the details. Karissa's eyes grew wide. It was two tickets to a luxury boat cruise. Lucy's eyes also widened, she looked at Karissa who couldn't remove her eyes from the ticket.
...
...
"I know I said I have no longer have any interest in the topic, but I would like to add that if you or Gray had feelings for the other then it would make sense. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he randomly asked you out on a date sometime soon."
...
...
Her inner self laughed dismissively while clapping the nape of an entity called assumption. Nah, nah, nah. Don't think about what Evergreen said. That's ridiculous. This is a job for goodness sake. He didn't ask anything!
Elbowing Karissa gently, Lucy leaned closer and whispered, "That's... like a date?" her voice carrying a slight playful tone.
"No, it's not. It's called work." The female ice mage whispered back fast, catching a glimpse of Juvia staring at her from behind a beam.
Not this shit again.
Karissa looked at Gray who was looking puzzled by their whispering, she chuckled sheepishly. "... You, uh, don't want Juvia to go along with you?"
"What?" Gray squinted his eyes, confused. "Why'd you bring her up? Anyway, she has her own job to do. Besides," he flicked her forehead, making her flinch and recoil a little. He leaned closer to her. "you said you'd keep your days open for me. You reserved those four days for me." He reminded her, looking a little upset.
Karissa pouted and shrunk a little under his gaze. "I know, I know!" She watched Lucy slide the ticket back to Gray. As Lucy noticed the concern on Karissa's face when she turned to her, she already had a feeling what she wanted to say so she quickly stopped her.
"No, no, it's fine. You guys go on ahead... I'll just find a job on my own." Lucy laughed almost pitifully, taking that as her cue to wander off towards the request board to find a job that could probably give her all the rent money she needed, fat chance.
After watching her walk away, Gray took a seat in front of her, leaning back while keeping one arm on the table, observing the way Karissa stared at the ticket still a little taken back. Did she not like it? He grew a little concerned.
"Not up for it?"
"Huh?" Karissa looked up and met his troubled eyes. "No! I mean, yes, I just never went on a cruise before. This is a first." In her opinion, taking jobs on the land seemed much safer than taking jobs that gave her limited space even though she could just use her wind magic to fly. Plus, she didn't know how cruises functioned... was there some sort of etiquette she needed to worry about?
Gray relaxed, leaning forward on the table to fold his arms, observing her carefully. "Does it make you nervous?" Even if she was doing much better with her anxiety today, he still wanted to make sure she was okay with it. He didn't want her letting him drag her along while she internally panicked for the sake of saving face. If she had concerns, then he wanted to hear them so he could set her mind at ease.
"Just a bit." She admitted with frown, disliking the way her anxiety decided to spike up over a simple cruise trip. "But I'll be fine, I promise. Anyway, what's the job?"
"It's pretty easy. There's a group of auctioneers who are selling off rare jewels, but they're concerned about how a local thief was in town and targeting them. They need two mages to just blend in with the crowd to keep an eye out and protect the items and bidders."
"Yeah, that's sounds pretty easy."
"After that, we can enjoy whatever the cruise has to offer." Gray smirked and held up two fingers. "We get a free trip on a luxurious cruise and get paid a lot for stopping some thief. It'll help you live a little too."
Karissa rolled her eyes at his last sentence. "How much?"
"1,000,000."
Karissa slammed her hand down on the table. "What the fuck?!" She sputtered, her volume raising.
Gray laughed at that. "I know right."
That's even more than what the people of Galuna Island offered!
That's five hundred thousand each!
"How'd you get so lucky?!"
Gray shrugged with a self-satisfied grin. "First come first serve."
That was a lie.
A few days ago, he actually took a peek at the jobs before they were even up on the board and was quick to snatch two good ones and told Mirajane he'd choose one of them soon.
He refused to tell her the real reason why he needed time choosing and simply told her not to ask. But she figured out that he was planning to take Karissa with him much to his shock, she also figured out why. Because of that, she let him off the hook and allowed him to take the two job flyers for as long as he needed to decide, all while giggling knowingly.
"But," Karissa knitted her eyebrows as she drummed her fingers on the table. "What exactly do you wear at an auction?"
"I'll have to wear a formal suit so just wear something formal." Gray advised her. He's been to an auction once before so he had an idea of what to wear. "You don't like wearing dresses, right? So, just wear the clothes you wore back at Akane Resort if it makes you comfortable, those look formal enough, and if you feel like you can freely move around in it, that's even better. Just wear something nice and you'll be fine."
"Agh, but what if they don't like it?"
He scoffed. "Then they can fuck off and mind their own business. No point in trying to please people who don't even know you."
If he saw someone give her a look even after she gathered the courage to stand there, he wasn't going to be pleased. Having a stuck up rich person giving her judging looks was the last thing she needed. She used to fidget so much under the gaze of a client back when they were fifteen, always self-conscious about the way she presented herself, hoping she didn't look bad. She was always concerned about how people saw her. Now, after she managed to make long strides and improve herself, she proved to be much better socially, but her anxiety still exists. Those traits don't fully disappear overnight.
His blunt response made her laugh a little, it was somehow comforting.
"That's true. I'm only there to protect the stuff they wanna buy." Karissa leaned her cheek in her palm after propping her arm up. "When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow. We'll catch the train at twelve and get there in the afternoon a few hours before the ship leaves." He informed her, tucking away his ticket in his pocket. "Sounds good?"
She hummed with a nod.
A cruise, huh? I guess that could be fun.
―
That girl talk was taken from the light novel I mentioned in the previous chapter albeit it was cut short because I don't need the whole conversation. The cruise idea is also from the novel.
Anyway, yikes, I just rectified a mistake. I didn't think properly when I wrote that Karissa is eighteen. No, she's actually seventeen right now but she's still older than Lucy, Juvia and Levy who are also seventeen because she was born a year earlier. Gray is actually 18 now because he's older than her. There was no canon date for the characters' birthdates aside from the year that they were born on. Since there's no date, I went ahead and made Gray's birthday March 20 in this story, so his birthday already passed.
This gives you an idea of what's happening next.
Don't be afraid to drop a comment to let me know your thoughts!