"Gray-sama?"

The young woman raises a brow as Juvia freezes in her spot.

S-she looks so beautiful and mature, w-who is she?

"Geh?! Ultear!"

A familiar voice catches her attention, her worries and uneasiness start to rise. Behind the young woman is her beloved Gray-sama.

"Gray?"

"Don't just suddenly go out after taking a bath like you own this place." he frowns.

"You were busy so I opened the door."

"That's true, but don't go out with that appearance. It will cause trouble!"

"Heh, and I thought stripping is more of your habit."

Juvia listens to their conversation, watching how comfortable they are talking to each other. This is the first time she saw her, they both seem to be on good terms and have a close relationship. And also, the young woman just took a bath...in Gray's apartment...

The bluenette bites her bottom lips feeling uneasy at their closeness. This is the first time she sees another woman in Gray's place, a beautiful one, nonetheless. Despite his complaints, the raven head seems to be very fond of her, his eyes are softened at the young woman's movements.

Who is she?

Gray turns to her, smiling softly at her presence. Ultear retreats inside, though her eyes are still gluing on the young couple.

"Sorry if she surprised you." said Gray "So, what's wrong?"

"Oh, uhm, Juvia..." she needs to come up with an excuse, fast "Ah, st-studying. She was hoping that we could study together but it seems like you have a v-visitor. Juvia might be disturbing you two s-so she's going home."

Gray blinks at her words and opens the door wider, inviting her in.

"You're not really disturbing. Come on in!"

"N-no, today...she..." the bluenette stammers "Juvia remembers she has some errand to do, so...uhm...she'll see you next time."

"U-uhm...I see...bye...?"

With that, Juvia hurries back to her apartment, holding the box tightly in her hand. When the door finally closes behind her, the bluenette bites her lips as she frows irritatedly. From Lucy to Erza to Cana, and now this young woman, just how many beautiful women are there around her beloved Gray-sama? Why is it that every time she takes her eyes off him, there's a new love rival enters the scene and threatens to steal him away?

"No, no, NO!" Juvia lets out a frustrated scream "It can't be!"

While Juvia is in her apartment, confused at everything that just happened, Gray is in his place, complaining to Ultear that she has scared the young bluenette. The young woman, Gray's sister, smirks at her young brother's odd expression. It's not every day she sees he's being concerned over someone, let alone being protective over a certain little girl.

She walks to the kitchen, surprised to see there's food in the fridge. Knowing her younger brother, he only eats either instant ramen or bento at the convenience store, the only time he really eats food is when their mother cooks something and asks Ultear to deliver it to Gray. But all this food in the fridge looks nothing like the ones she sees in the convenience store, not only that, the way they are being stored is oddly neat.

Ultear takes a look around, ignoring her younger brother who is lounging on the sofa, noticing how tidy the place is. She even checks his bedroom and is surprised at how his clothes are folded neatly in the dresser. Since when did Gray become such a tidy person?

"Gray!"

"What is it?" he answers while munching down a bar of chocolate.

"Did you...bring your girlfriend home?"

Gray swears he almost choked after hearing this.

"W-what are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend!"

"Then, was it that girl? The one who called you 'Gray-sama'?" Ultear asks again "Your apartment seems to be way too tidy for a bachelor like you."

"..." he grumbly responds with a blush on his face "Juvia is my neighbor..."

Ultear smirks, amused at her brother's answer. Today, their mother has asked her to bring some homemade food to Gray, afraid that her beloved son might have malnutrition because he's an idiot who doesn't take good care of himself. But it seems like they don't have to worry about Gray anymore...

Ultear has to admit that she is surprised to see that Gray is being taken care of by his lovely neighbor. Even Gray's most recent girlfriend wasn't as tender as Juvia, having such a loving and caring girl by his side, Ultear hopes that her brother will treasure the young bluenette.

Gray sits up on the sofa, shivering as he meets Ultear's face. He knows that look, he knows it very well. Whatever his sister is planning in her head, he doesn't want to be a part of it.

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

Meredy curses again for the nth time today, she is sitting on the piano stool, gritting her teeth as Juvia makes another mistake during the rehearsal. Jellal, who is standing backstage, confused at his sister's dull face, looks like a walking dead rather than the sunshine girl he knows.

"Juvia, focus!"

The bluenette flinches, turning to her friend with a pale expression as she nods his head. She starts again from the top, pulling the violin bow as Juvia tries to calm the storm in her heart. She doesn't want to cause any trouble and is trying her best to get the notes right, but the picture of that young woman and Gray and how close they are just overwhelmed her brain.

As Juvia is reaching the climax of her performance, the scene of Ultear dressed in a tank top with a towel on her head splashes across her mind, making her pull the violin bow sharply, resulting in another screeching sound.

"Okay, that's it! Time out!" Meredy stands up, storming towards her friend "You, come here with me!"

Juvia sees how her hand is being pulled by the pink head as they head backstage, following them is a concerned Jellal. Meredy forces the young bluenette to sit down on a chair, her face is irritated as she looks at her friend. Juvia's brother sweatdrops, trying to calm things down when he sees steam coming out of the girl's head.

"Speak, Juvia! What happened?"

"N-nothing, Juvia just have a bad day..."

Her answer doesn't please the pink head as she grabs her friend's cheeks and pulls them, a murderous glint in her eyes, a fair warning for Juvia to speak the truth.

"I agree with Meredy, even if you have a bad day, that screeching sound is inexcusable." Jellal nods his head "Tell us, Juvia. Maybe we can help you with your problem."

The bluenette pouts, rubbing her now pained cheeks. She doesn't want to talk about it nor she wants to remember it, but her lack of information about the sensitive matter causes her to think about it even more. Not only that, it negatively affects her rehearsal and she hates how poor her performance was.

"Well?" Meredy puts two hands on her hips, her patience is slowly slipping away.

"Juvia saw it..."

Jellal tilts his head, not quite understanding what his sister is saying. What did she see?

"Yesterday, at Gray-sama's apartment..." she bites her lips before letting out a distressed cry "She saw a woman at his place!"

Her cries startle both of them as Meredy and Jellal both take a step back at the sudden outburst. When they finally regain their cool and actually process her words, the pink head sighs in defeat. This scene is oddly familiar to the one where Juvia lost her cool when she saw how close Lucy and Gray were to the cafeteria. The pink head doesn't mind her friend's fear of the rising number of love rivals, but to have that affect her rehearsal is unacceptable.

"Okay, what is it this time? Did he tell you that the woman is his girlfriend? Did she kiss him or hug him or do something that a lover usually does to their boyfriends?"

"N-no, she didn't see that." she bites her lips nervously.

"Then why do you care about it? She's not here to steal Gray Fullbuster from you!"

"Bu-but Juvia saw her taking a bath in his place!"

The older bluenette stares at her, his eyes almost pop out of the socket. A woman who took a bath at a bachelor's place is indeed very suspicious, maybe he should ask Erza about this, the redhead knows quite a lot about her junior's private life.

"Okay, so let's assume that the woman took a bath at Gray-san's house..." Meredy pinches her forehead "That doesn't make her his girlfriend, maybe that person is his sister, who knows!"

"Sister...?" Juvia mumbles "I-it can't be, Juvia never hears Gray-sama say that he has a sister."

"Well, maybe he hasn't had a chance to tell you!" the pink head exclaims.

The bluenette pouts, not convinced by her friend's words. That beautiful woman was very close to Gray and the raven head seemed to be very fond of her, and the way their conversation played out was very natural. She even got a chance to use his bathroom, too...

"NOOOO!"

Jellal sweatdrops, amused at her outburst. He wonders what's going on in her mind right now, if he knows something then maybe he can help her get through it. Meredy, on the other hand, is very annoyed at her friend's silly thought. She feels like her patience meter is going down every time Juvia says 'Gray-sama and that beautiful woman'. It's irritated the pink head to the point where she can feel a vein pop on her forehead.

"If you want to know the truth, then go and ask him." Jellal offers his advice "No one can help you figure out the answer except Gray himself."

"Or maybe you should go and ask his so-called girlfriend, maybe she will tell you."

"Meredy!" she cries, her lips pursed up.

"Well, we can't have you here if you can't focus. Go home and cool your head, Juvia."

"B-but..."

"Meredy is right, just go home and get some rest." her brother smiles "You can't do anything if your mind is occupied by that thought, right?"

Juvia reluctantly agrees. Although she doesn't want to leave, her lack of focus will only do more harm than good. The bluenette sighs and nods her head, putting the violin back into the case as she gets ready to leave. Meredy and Jellal look at each other, one shrugging their shoulder and the other just smiles at Juvia's defeated look.

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

The bluenette sighs again, slowly walking back to her apartment, her heart weighs a ton after everything that happened yesterday. Loke has told her many times that she's special to Gray as the bluenette is the first girl he invited to his place, however, she's starting to doubt that after seeing that woman at his front door.

That woman...she believes Ultear is her name...

She is so beautiful and mature and sexy. When Gray stood by her side, Juvia's heart almost sank at how perfect they were together. Just like how Lucy and Erza were when they stood next to him.

She should have known that her beauty is no match with those women, she also doesn't have their confidence or charming characteristics, all Juvia has is her love of music and her skills in violin. But Gray doesn't seem to care about those traits, right? He's a math student, a young man who follows his brain rather than his feelings, for him to take an interest in a theatre art student like her is almost impossible.

But Meredy and Lyon-san...

If Meredy and Lyon can be together, surely there's a chance for her to be with Gray, right?

The bluenette pouts, puffing her cheeks cutely. If she wants to know the truth then she should come to Gray for an answer, that's what Jellal told her.

Yosh, Juvia will ask Gray-sama tonight at dinner time...

As Juvia is walking, she doesn't notice a sinister smile behind her as the stranger starts following the bluenette back to her apartment. When she finally reaches the apartment area, a hand grabs her wrists and pulls her to a hidden area right under the stairs. The stranger covers her mouth to stop the poor girl from screaming, smirking as if he has found a bag of gold.

"Juvia, long time no see!"

Sapphire eyes open widely.

No...

"Well, such a lovely girl you are, Juvia. Do you miss me?"

She stares at the man in horror. Why is he here? How did he find her?

Tears form in the corner of her eyes as Juvia remembers how this man almost did that horrible thing to her. Bora...

"Shall we continue where we left off a few years ago? There's no one here to interrupt us like last time, right?"

Her face is getting paler and paler, tears trailing down her face. She feels suffocated, her mind is clouded at what happened a few years ago, where he trapped her in the storage room and proceeded to do that...that horrible thing...

If it weren't for Meredy, she would have died in shame. She thought that Bora was a nice person, that he wanted to be her friend, she never thought that he wanted to add her into his collection, or achievement, or whatever he wanted to call it...

She squirms violently, trying to get away from his touch. It disgusts her, the way his hand caresses her cheeks and travels down her neck.

"Let go of her, don't touch Juvia!"

"Ah, still as feisty as ever." Bora smirks "Well, I love it when my woman plays hard-to-get."

"Go away!"

Juvia screams, twisting her hands that are being locked in his hold. No... She won't accept this, she won't let this scum of the earth touches her like this. She has to fight back. But as Juvia is wiggling her way out, her pupils dilate in horror when she feels a sharp object press against her cheek.

"Now now, you don't want me to do this, do you?"

"L-let her go!"

"Tsk, tsk. Talking in 3rd person, as always." says Bora as he applies more pressure onto the knife "I always find it a bit creepy, but your beautiful face makes up for it."

The bluenette shuts her eyes tightly, tears streaming down as she silently prays for someone, anyone, to come and save her. Her stomach twists painfully when she feels the knife travels to the hem of her shirt, threatening to tear it.

Gray-sama...

"ARGHHH!"

A scream erupts as Juvia opens her eyes to see Bora lying flat on the ground, his face is red from the impact. The bluenette raises her head, her eyes are glossy from the tears when she sees her savior. That person takes hold of her hand and pulls her behind them, shielding the poor girl with their tall and feminine figure.

"U-Ultear-san..."

"Damn it..."

Bora tries to stand up, but his body is trembling from being punched by the young woman. Ultear kicks the knife to the side, murderous glints in her eyes as she looks at the man, ready to beat him.

"Son of a b-?! UGH!!!"

He is blown away by another punch from Ultear and falls onto the ground, there's blood coming out from his mouth.

"You scum!" Ultear sourly spats at him "Get the hell outta here, bastard! Don't let me see your face again or else."

Bora winced at the wound on his mouth, the man grits his teeth and casts Juvia a dark look before running away. The bluenette holds tightly onto Ultear's arm and cries, her body shivers in horror and distress as she realizes how close Bora was to harming her. The young woman smiles softly and brushes the blue locks, securing the young girl in her arms as she slowly guides her back to her apartment.