Gray looks at the weird black thing that is still sizzling on the pan and frowns. Pancake isn't supposed to be like this, right?

Scanning through the description on the box one more time, the raven head doesn't understand how and why the final product can turn out to be like this. Pancakes are supposed to look fluffy, with a golden brown surface that begs to be coated with a slice of butter and maple syrup.

Gray sighs in defeat, not knowing what to do or how to fix it. All he wants is to eat pancakes, the same dish that his aunt, Ur Milkovich, has made for him when he was young. Looking at the black stuff on the pan, he huffs a bit. He should have known that moving out and live alone wasn't an easy task, especially when he has absolutely no cooking skills. Besides the usual bento boxes that he buys in the convenience store, Ur and Ultear will come over sometimes to make sure that the Fullbuster boy has a healthy diet.

"Damn it..."

His stomach is growling as Gray mumbles a string of words that only he can understand. Turning off the stove in a forceful way, the raven head throws the spatula into the sink. His facial expression anything but pleased, a vein pops on his forehead as Gray ready to serve himself another bento box of the convenience store near his place.

Gray is very hangry...

*DING DONG*

The raven head glares at the front door, a murderous sight appears in the midnight blue eyes as he's ready to break the door. He's both hungry and irritated, the last thing he wants to do is to meet someone when his empty stomach is being ignored. The doorbell rings again and Gray sighs, running a hand through his black hair annoyingly while walking to the door and opens it.

"Yes?"

Standing in front of him is a young lady around his age, with ocean blue hair, blue eyes and a cute blush that adorns her face.

"Uhm, e-excuse me. My name is J-Juvia Lockser, y-your neighbor next door..."

"Ah, hello." he nods his head "So?"

"S-sorry for the sudden visit but, uhm..." she lowers her head, trying to find the right words "Lately, y-your room is quite harmful? D-don't get it wrong b-but she smells burning and sounds that similar to explosions. She's worried so..."

He freezes a bit upon hearing the word "harmful". His place? Harmful...?

Gray turns his head away, the word "harmful" begins to fill up his brain. He never notices that his apartment has a burning smell or an explosion or anything like that. Sure, he put tin foil in the microwave once but that can't be counted as an explosion, right?

"Don't laugh..." he bites his bottom lip, averting his gaze away from the young girl.

"Laugh?! Juvia would never laugh at you, Gray-sama!"

Gray turns to look at her again, this time nervously admit his own failure in cooking.

"I...How should I say this? I was getting tired of lunch boxes at the convenience store so...uhm...I was c-cooking..."

The look on Juvia's face is priceless. Her blue eyes open widely as she stares at him, the burning smell and the explosion are the results of Gray's cooking skill? She then asks him about the dish that he wants to make, offering Gray a helping hand but he quickly turns down her offer. He doesn't want to trouble Juvia.

However, they both startle when a loud grumbling sound comes from none other than Gray's very own stomach. He blushes a bit, feeling embarrassed at the situation while Juvia just gives him a warming smile.

Gray opens the door wider, welcoming his new guest into the house. It has been a while since he has friends come over, let alone a stranger. Juvia twiddles her fingers, feeling quite nervous when stepping inside a bachelor's place like this. She turns to the kitchen and sweatdrops at the mess around the place, there is pancake flour on the counter, the pan is still on the stove with the burning black thing on it, eggshells and mixer bowl scatter around the table.

"Sorry for the mess..."

"It's okay, may I take a look at the pancake box?"

Gray hands her the box and watches Juvia's blue eyes scan through the description. She nods her head and begins to put all the ingredients inside a clean mixing bowl, mixing it well to incorporate all the ingredients then cook it like the instruction on the box. The raven head man watches her in awe, the way she flips over the pancake is so graceful that even Gray thinks that he can easily do that as well. When she stacks the pancakes on the dish, Juvia smiles a bit and turns to Gray, asking if he wants any butter and maple syrup on it.

"Wow, this looks amazing! Are these really the same pancake?"

"Uhm, it's baked mix so..."

"I did bake the mix but it didn't turn out like this. Guess it was a failure, right?"

She stares at him again, finally understands the reason behind all the burning smell and explosion. Maybe she should make a mental note to not let him near the kitchen, she doesn't want this whole building to burn down because of this.

"Why don't you eat with me? There are plenty of pancakes so let's eat together!"

Juvia startles a bit as a blush appears on her face. She can't believe that she's able to eat with Gray-sama...

As she sits down and looks at the plate in front of her, Juvia can't stop smiling at the progress between the two. They may think of Juvia as this sweet and lovely girl but no one knows that she is also the one who plans out everything in order to get close to Gray Fullbuster.

Juvia remembers the first time she meets Gray, around 3 years ago, he was the one that got rid of the molester. To the bluenette, it was love at the first sight. From that day, the young girl began her journey of getting to know her Gray-sama, mainly watched him from afar and gathered all his information through a mutual friend. She enters the same university as Gray, goes to the coffee shop that he works at before eventually moves into the same apartment building where he lives.

While she's unable to talk to Gray, sitting here and eat at the same table with him, it's a huge progress, nonetheless.

"By the way, how do you know my name?"

"Eh?" she startles, feeling the chill running down her spine.

"You call me by my name, right? It's even Gray-sama."

Oh shoot...

How to respond to this?

Juvia shifts uncomfortably as she tries to think of a response, she can't let him know that she has been stalking him since day 1.

"It-it's because you are Juvia's next-door neighbor, ahaha..."

"I see..." he nods his head before looking at her again, feeling a bit guilty "My bad, I don't remember your name."

Juvia sweatdrops at his words, feeling a bit disappointing. It's okay Juvia...Don't be sad...

"It's Juvia..."

Please remember it this time, Gray-sama...

"We didn't introduce ourselves probably earlier, right? Nice to meet you, Juvia. Please take care of me from now on." he laughs a bit "Also, you can call me Gray, no need to add '-sama' after that."

"Y-yes! Gray-sama!"

"Like I said, no need to call me Gray-sama!"

******************************************************************************

Juvia closes the door behind her and giggles like a child on a Christmas morning, she can't believe it, she just shared a meal with her beloved Gray-sama. Grabbing her phone, she calls her best friend to share the great news.

"Eh? Really? What else did you guys do?"

"Well, we just ate pancakes, so..."

"No way! You're telling me that you didn't have any plan after that?"

Oh Meredy... Always know what Juvia has in her mind...

"Juvia offered to make cook lunch and dinner for both of us. Gray-sama seems to be a bit hesitant..."

"Did he say yes after that?"

"He accepted her offer after she said that it's quite boring to eat alone." she smiles, remember Gray's blushing face as he said thank you to her.

Meredy then reminds her about tomorrow's practice at the theatre club tomorrow and asks her to come early to help out the seniors in their club. Juvia agrees with her friend's words, believing that for a second-year student like her, she should devote more time as it will help her a lot in the near future.

"Good night, Meredy! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Juvia lies on her bed, holding the phone close to her chest and thinking about what type of bento she should make for Gray. The bluenette doesn't think that he is a picky eater and he seems to be the type who eats everything that is served to him. The raven head really enjoyed the pancakes that she made, maybe he will enjoy other dishes that she makes as well?

The young girl can't help but grins widely, thinking about how amazing it will be for Gray to eat her homemade bento with a satisfied smile on his face, that would send Juvia into her own dreamland.

Juvia isn't lying when she said that it's quite boring to eat alone, it has been a while since she last shares a meal with someone. If she remembers correctly, it's been around 3-4 months since Meredy's last visit to her place and ate dinner with her. It's quite hard for a student like her to balance school work, club activities, and the freelancing job, however, that doesn't stop Juvia from having the enjoyment of making homemade meals that are cheap and healthy.

The bluenette turns her attention to the picture frame on the top of the console table and smiles. She walks toward it and picks up the picture, a glimpse of grief and sadness appears in the beautiful blue eyes.

- Nii-san... -

How long has it been since the last time she saw her beloved brother? Has he been well? Juvia would love to call him, she misses seeing him and being wrapped in his warm embrace, but the thought of what might actually happen if she actively seeking him out scares Juvia.

No, she can't do that to him. She can't bring more trouble to her beloved brother...

The bluenette sighs heavily, it's not the time for her to be all gloomy like this. Juvia walks toward the kitchen and begins to make some food for her beloved Gray-sama tomorrow. She hopes that he will like it...

******************************************************************************

Gray lies on his bed, sighing as he remembers Juvia's offer this afternoon. He was taken by surprise when the bluenette informed him that they actually went to the same university and that she often saw him in the cafeteria. The raven head feels embarrassed for knowing nothing about the young girl, his words actually made Juvia laughs as she told him a little bit about herself.

Juvia is a 2nd year student in Theatre Arts major and a member of the theatre club at the university. She is one year younger than Gray, who is a 3rd year Math student at the University of Magnolia. She recently moves into this apartment building as it's closer to her previous one and has been staying here for around 4 months.

Gray sighs again, blaming himself for being too oblivious about who and what is going on around him. He should have, at least, greeted Juvia as she is his new neighbor. It's very weird for him to stand there, knowing nothing about his new neighbor until she actively shares some information about her.

It's very embarrassing...

But then again, since when did he care so much about other people? Gray only has a small group of friends that he knows since his high school days, besides them and his family, the raven head doesn't really care about meeting new people. His friends have tried to get him back to the dating scene or at least meeting new friends but Gray shows little to no optimism about this.

Gray is still quite surprised about Juvia's offer to make lunch and dinner for both of them. He thought that after the pancake incident, they would return back to their normal routine, he would continue his life with the bento boxes in the convenience store or cup noodles and she would continue hers. Juvia's pancakes were amazing, even though it's a store box type. He bet that all her foods are just as amazing as the pancake she made. The raven head doesn't really want to trouble her, they just met after all, but Juvia's reason seems to be very valid and he really does miss eating homemade meals.

*DING*

Gray opens his phone, only to find himself drooling over the picture Juvia just sent him. She is making rolled fried eggs, the picture is way more appetite than the one he uses to get at the convenience store. To Gray, it doesn't matter what dishes she makes, as long as he doesn't have to eat food from the convenience store, he's happy.