Just like everyone in Fairy Tail, after so many years Kabe had already come to see the guild as his true home.
So the moment he heard someone belittle and insult his guild, he immediately turned, eyes cold, glaring at the idiot who dared.
The speaker rose from the back seat and slowly walked up to the row where the two of them were sitting.
"Hmm? You are Phantom Lord's rookie, one of the Four Elements, Juvia?"
A blue haired, blue eyed girl, her hair curled on both sides, holding a pink umbrella upside down.
Hearing her name called so easily, Juvia's expression flickered with surprise.
But she quickly regained her composure, staring at Kabe with open disgust as she spoke calmly:
"Juvia knows you too. Fairy Tail's S Class mage, the so called number one among the younger generation, Destroyer Kabe.
But you are even more disgusting in person than Juvia imagined from the rumors."
Running into Juvia here was unexpected, especially this future important side character from the original story.
But Kabe was not about to back down just because of that, nor let her mock him freely.
"Heh, my girl and I are just playing around a little, what is so wrong with that?
Besides, since when does someone from Phantom Lord get to jump out and play righteous hero?
With all the filthy stuff your guild does, calling Phantom Lord a dark guild would not even be an exaggeration."
Juvia ignored his jab at Phantom Lord. Her ears caught on two very specific words instead.
"Girl and I?" "Playing around?"
She looked at the handsome, tall young man and the seductive, sultry woman beside him.
Her gaze then brushed over Sorano's slightly flushed cheeks, still pink from shame.
Juvia immediately misunderstood something, quickly turning her back and stammering out an embarrassed apology.
"S sorry. Juvia misunderstood. You… you two go on…"
Even knowing that Juvia was kind at heart, seeing how quickly she apologized and turned away still left Kabe a little stunned.
'Is this girl a little too gullible? I just said anything that came to mind and she actually believed it.'
When Juvia returned to her seat, the three passengers in front and behind fell silent because of the awkwardness.
Juvia stared down at her hands, rubbing her fingers together in embarrassment.
Sorano shot Kabe a furious glare, cursing this reputation ruining bastard a thousand times over in her heart.
...
"Hey, Phantom Lord girl. Want to come sit over here for a bit?"
After a long silence, Kabe suddenly called out and invited Juvia over.
Juvia's first reaction was to refuse without even thinking.
"No. Our Master forbids us from talking to Fairy Tail mages."
"You going to chant 'Master, Master' forever? Are you a kid who never grows up, listening to everything your Master says?"
At fifteen, Juvia was right in that age where she wanted to be rebellious and prove she was an adult.
Hearing that, she immediately lost her composure, got up, and walked over to Kabe's side with a cold face.
"Move. Juvia is going to sit there."
Kabe stepped aside without protest, then slid in next to a very unwilling Sorano.
Juvia, however, began to regret it the moment she actually sat down in Kabe's old spot.
Because of certain reasons she rarely talked with other people, and now she was sitting across from her guild's mortal enemy.
No matter how she thought about it, the situation felt weird. Her body squirmed restlessly in the seat.
"Heh. Kids are kids. You are squirming already.
If you cannot even talk to someone face to face, how are you going to work as a mage, or deal with clients?"
Kabe's teasing reached Juvia's ears, but instead of angering her, it made her stare at him in shy surprise.
"You… are you worrying about Juvia?
Other than Mama and Papa, nobody has cared about Juvia like this in a long time. Juvia is… really happy…"
Her nose stung and suddenly her tears poured out like a broken dam. In a heartbeat, water was already spreading across the floor.
The entire carriage erupted in chaos. Passengers who did not know what was happening shrieked and jumped up onto their seats.
"Are you kidding me? Women might be made of water, but yours is a bit much."
Kabe could not help swearing as he and Sorano both propped their legs up to keep their shoes from getting soaked.
Realizing from the commotion that she had lost control of her power again, Juvia hastily opened the window and used her magic to draw the water outside. At the same time, she apologized with a choked voice:
"Juvia does not want this. Juvia just cannot control it…"
Outside the train, the rain started coming down harder, growing heavier with her gloom.
Sorano glanced at Juvia's sorrowful face, then at the downpour outside.
After so long under Brain, she had learned quite a bit. In an instant, she understood a lot.
"Looks like you are a gifted one too. I have never seen water magic affinity this strong."
As she spoke, she took a pure white silk handkerchief from her luggage and handed it to Juvia.
"Here. Wipe your face and try to calm down. Learn to control your emotions."