While Zorn and Laxus were out clearing Dark Guilds and searching for clues,
Juvia's plan and Lucy's heart, which Mirajane had disrupted, were also in motion.
Fairy Tail Guild
Early in the morning
"Ah, what did Natsu mean last night? Does he like me…?"
Lucy ate a pastry, her eyes blankly staring at a book.
Her mind was filled with what Natsu had told her last night—that he had something important to tell her.
The words "likes me", along with Natsu's resolute gaze and face, filled her mind, making her blush instantly and feel shy.
"Well, never mind, I must be overthinking it. Natsu wouldn't, he just wouldn't…" Lucy shook her head, temporarily casting aside her terrible thoughts, and focused on her book.
Time passed, and Lucy picked up the last rectangular pastry and ate it.
"Ugh, this is so boring!"
Lucy sighed, lifting her head. But the next moment, a thick arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"Hey there, Lucy, are you feeling better today?" Natsu's boisterous voice suddenly came from beside her, his warm breath blowing directly onto Lucy's face.
Lucy, who had just composed herself, immediately blushed again and pushed Natsu away, pretending to be annoyed: "Ugh, you idiot, don't just touch me like that!"
"Hey, Lucy."
Natsu looked at Lucy, who was walking away with her head down, feeling very confused. He couldn't help but guess that his uninvited entry into her room yesterday was why Lucy was still upset.
"This is bad, I'm already a bit bothered!" Lucy's mind was completely filled with Natsu's image, and she didn't even notice Gray walking by with an angry expression.
"How long are you going to keep playing around, Natsu?!"
"What do you want, are you looking for a fight, Gray?"
"Damn it…"
Natsu and Gray started fighting at the drop of a hat. One was annoyed that the other wasn't working, while the other was hindering him from finding something very important to him.
The two were locked in battle, but Juvia was watching Gray's every move from the side, looking for an opportunity to administer the love potion she had bought.
Meanwhile, Lucy heard some shocking news that made her heart pound violently.
Wakaba, Macao, Marx, and others were gathered together, mumbling about something.
"I heard that Natsu kid has someone he likes."
"No way, you're kidding."
"That guy clearly has no luck in that area."
"Really, he keeps saying, 'I miss her so much, I miss her so much' lately."
"Oh, who is it?"
"Don't know."
After hearing this, Lucy walked step by step towards the Guild's entrance, her legs feeling like they didn't belong to her. Her mind was completely filled with a beautified image of Natsu and her living a Happy life together.
Just as she was daydreaming, a voice suddenly broke her fantasy.
"Hey, Lucy."
"What is it?!" Lucy shyly turned her head to look at Natsu and asked.
"There's something very important tonight. Can you come to the big tree at South Gate Park?"
"Tonight? Why?"
"Anyway, there's something important to say. Remember to come alone." As Natsu said this, he blushed, awkwardly turned, and ran off: "See you tonight, Lucy."
Lucy watched the blushing Natsu and his retreating figure, steam practically rising from her head. After saying goodbye to Mira, she too ran off, disappearing from sight.
…
Juvia now held up her magic potion and blew a breath towards Gray, but he dodged it, and it went directly into the Master's mouth.
"Gray-sama, don't move around so much, whoosh."
Watching Gray walk away, she quickly increased the dose and blew an even larger breath, but he dodged it again, and it went directly into the mouths of the Thunder God Tribe trio, Macao, Levy, and others in the Guild.
"Ah, damn it! I only need Gray-sama's passionate gaze, Gray-sama!" Juvia took a deep breath, blew her last breath with all her might, and finally, as Gray yawned, she successfully blew it in.
"Haha, it worked!"
Gray was also stunned, then looked at Juvia with a blush, walking step by step towards her. Juvia looked at Gray with full anticipation.
But she didn't expect Gray to walk right past her and look at Happy behind her.
"Happy, you always fly around as you please. I'm strong and can't fly, you're weak and can fly. Our strengths are the same, you are my true rival, let's settle this."
"Huh? Natsu, where are you? Gray's gone crazy, I'm scared…" Happy flew back and forth, searching for Natsu, his expression full of fear.
Gray angrily challenged Happy to a duel, then chased after Happy, leaving Juvia watching everything with a livid face.
Everyone else in the Guild also found their respective opponents. Macao and Wakaba competed over who earned more money, the Thunder God Tribe trio and Levy's trio competed over whose aura was more impressive, the Master wrestled with alcohol, Erza wrestled with a pillar, Mira chased after Erza, and Elfman cried hysterically, saying there wasn't a single man in the Guild…
And so, a group of people spent the afternoon making noise in the Guild. Erza and Mira even used their Heaven's Wheel Armor and Satan Soul Take Over, causing destruction in the Guild.
The Guild was practically ruined by this love potion. The shop owner had already fled, leaving an empty shop when Juvia later tried to inquire about it.
Gray and Happy, however, were standing on the upper floor behind the Guild, facing the sea, ready to compete in flying. And just now, Juvia had added a bit more potion to them.
At this moment, Gray was like Natsu possessed, his whole body emitting purple flames, his face resolute as he looked up at the sky.
"I'm burning even more! I must fly, ahhhhh, I can definitely fly!"
Gray accelerated and charged off the roof, roaring as he ran towards the sea, his arms outstretched. He jumped, fell straight into the sea, and slowly floated on the surface.
Meanwhile, Lucy, beautifully dressed, arrived at South Gate Park.
"Yo, Lucy."
Natsu saw Lucy arrive and smiled at her, showing two rows of big white teeth.
"Oh no, what do I do? I can never refuse people." Lucy, seeing Natsu like this, was still daydreaming about their beautiful life together.
A "clink-clank" sound rang out, and Lucy suddenly saw Natsu diligently digging something with a shovel.
"What took you so long, Lucy? Hurry and call out Virgo. This dirt is too hard to dig."
Natsu urged Lucy impatiently, completely oblivious to the blank and stunned expression on Lucy's face. At the end, he even hit the ground hard with the shovel.
"Uh, you… weren't you going to say something important?" Lucy asked, her voice dazed and stammering, bringing up what was most on her mind.
"I heard there's a treasure buried here. I heard it's all the ugly photos of Everyone in the Guild, buried personally by the Master." Natsu's face immediately lit up with excitement upon hearing this, and with a slight smirk, he leaned close to Lucy and said.
"But… but didn't you say you recently liked a girl, and… and said you liked her…?" Lucy took a deep breath, still stammering as she spoke.
"I don't really have likes or dislikes. Oh, you mean Virgo, right? I just wanted her to dig a hole." Natsu replied calmly, digging at the ground a few times with his shovel.
"*Splat*~"
This answer made Lucy despise herself from the inside out. How could she, how could she have thought this single-celled organism would have the words "likes" in his vocabulary?
Natsu covered his face, watching Lucy run off strangely, completely bewildered.
"Well, I guess I'll just dig myself!"
"Clink-clank," went the sound of the shovel digging dirt.
Natsu recovered himself and started digging even harder.
"Ah, haha, found it, found it!"
"This is… hahaha, it's Laxus's motion sickness photo."
"And this… Gray being lectured by Erza's photo, haha, and Everyone else's ugly photos, this is great, this is great!"
Natsu carefully hid them in his arms, quickly restored the ground to its original state, and ran home, chuckling all the way.
…
The next day, when Lucy arrived at Fairy Tail, she found the entire Guild looked as if it had been robbed, and Gray was nowhere to be found.
After asking around, she discovered that Gray had already headed towards the coastline.
The culprit—Juvia—was now hiding in a corner, filled with guilt and secretly grieving.
"Gray-sama… Juvia misses you…"
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