The Runes Master [chapter 3]

Previously...
“There's this guy, 'The Runes Master', who seems to be playing a bit too much with his magic."
...
DREAM ROOM: GET IN AND MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!
“Tsk, that's just ridiculous. How could people actually fall for something like this?”
...
“Dreams come true... Let's get in, Gray-sama!”
...
"Juvia... Uhm, they're black, right?” “Uh, w-what?” she asked, starting to tremble. He became more and more red. “Your... panties. I can see them from here.”
...
“Yes! You did it, Gray-sama! Well done!” Juvia cheered as Gray finally stepped into the house.

Chapter 3 - Say it

They finally were able to see the inside of that enormous house. They were in a small corridor, with only one way to go. It looked suspicious, but they had no other choice. “Gray-sama... It really seems that we'll have to pass all of the traps to get to the Runes Master...” “Don't make me think about that” he pouted.
When they arrived at the end of the corridor, a wider space showed up. It was an empty room, except for some people screaming and calling for help scattered all over the place. At the deep end of the room, there was a door. That was clearly the only way to reach to the following 'level' of the game. “Look... All these people are stuck here because of the magic traps!” Juvia said. “Yeah” Gray nodded. “And there are probably more, over that door.” “Juvia wonders... if we're able to free them all, one after the other... Or if it's quicker to pass through the other traps and bring the runes mage down.”
Gray looked around: there were many people, and there was no guarantee that they would get out of the house without falling in other traps. The two mages couldn't take care of all of them, after all...
“Other people! Yes!! Hey, you! Please, help me! I need someone else to get out of here!” a boy near them shouted. They looked at him: he seemed to be more or less their age, he had long brown hair and was wearing glasses. Gray approached him, but without getting inside the magic barrier. “What does your rule say?” “It just says 'Hug to be free'! But I'm here alone, I can't hug myself to get out!” the guy uttered desperately. Gray shrank as he heard those words. He had some unpleasant memories of a certain guy he had fought, who had seemed to enjoy a bit too much every physical contact with him, and was now reluctant to hug another man.
Juvia noticed his awkwardness, so she took a step forward. “Okay then... Juvia will help you.” She was reluctant as well, but she was there to help people out and that boy only needed a hug to be free, so there was no reason not to do it.
“Thank you! Thanks a lot!” the long-haired guy seemed very happy to hug Juvia. Gray couldn't help but wonder if he was happy because he could finally be free, or because of hugging such a beauty. What am I thinking of? He's probably been here for an awful lot of time, it's obvious that he's happy to get out of here... But the ice mage still felt an uncomfortable feeling, seeing the boy's arms around Juvia's waist, though he couldn't explain, or admit, what it was.
The magic barrier soon disappeared, and he sharply said: “Alright, you're free now. Get out of here, the trap on the door is not there anymore.” “Thank you a lot, Miss! I wish I could do something for you too!” The boy was way too excited, Gray thought. Juvia shyly replied: “D-Don't worry.” “Yeah, as I said, get out of here now, we have an idiotic mage's butt to kick.” Gray seemed to be in a kind of bad mood.
“What are you thinking, Gray-sama? Is something bothering you?” Juvia asked. The boy hurriedly shook his head. “Nah, it's just... this whole thing, it's crazy. Let's go on. I think we should head over to that door, and defeat the mage behind all of this. This way, all these people will be free at once, and we'll lose less time.” “Alright.”
A few steps, and Juvia was caught again. What's more, this time she found herself capsized and floating in the air! “Waahh! No, not Juvia's skirt again!!” she screamed desperately, trying to keep her skirt down. Or up. “C-Calm down, Juvia! What's with this trap? What are the rules?” Gray tried to keep cool and not to look at her exposed skin, though the whole scene was kind of funny.
“It's hard to read like this! Wait... 'You're trapped and... capsized... until you say a... word you... you have never pro... pronounced before.'” The poor girl was wriggling in the air in an attempt to get back to normal, but it was useless. Gray was beginning to struggle not to giggle at that weird situation. “Well then... say something you've never said! It can't be difficult.”
“Juvia... Juvia doesn't know... and this position is making Juvia sick!” Juvia was almost crying with frustration and embarrassment. Why did she have to fall into such a humiliating trap, in front of Gray-sama?!
“Try to swear! I've never heard you swearing since I met you.” Gray suggested. “Not gonna work...” she replied shyly. She swears?! Never mind, that's not important now. “Then... I don't know, say something stupid! Like that flame-head idiotic 'I'm all fired up!' thing!”
“Er... I-I'm all fired up...?” Nothing happened. Gray suggested: “Try someone else's typical words! You can't have said all of them. Lucy's?”
“Open, a door to the... to the treasure vase palace! Aquarius!...”
“Erza's?”
“Requip, Heaven's Wheel Armor...!”
“Uhm, Cana's?”
“Sake, please!”
“What about Happy's?”
“Aye! Wait a sec, are you having fun there, Gray-sama?! And when did you take off your shirt?!”
Gray was laughing out loud now, he couldn't resist anymore. He felt sorry for Juvia, but at the same time it was just too funny to keep a straight face. He was so amused that he didn't realize he had started stripping too.
“Hahaha! I'm sorry! But... Why isn't it working? You can't have said those things before!” he said while putting his shirt on again.
“Well, here it says it has to be a word, not a phrase... Juvia clearly has already said every single word of those before!” Juvia replied, a bit nervous realizing she'd been losing time.
Gray stopped laughing, and said: “I see... Then try to think of something you've never wanted to say, or you've always avoided, I don't know. It's up to you.”
Juvia's mind immediately turned to Gray and everything she'd always wanted to tell him, and she started blushing again. She wished she could move her hands to cover her face, but in that moment it was more important to cover her nether regions.
Calm down! Juvia has obviously said 'love' before, so it's useless now! she thought to herself. What's something that Juvia has never had the courage to say?... The water mage was thinking hard, and didn't realize she was staring at what was right in front of her. That was, as she was upside-down, Gray's legs and groin.
“Aahhh! No, no no! Juvia's embarrassed!” she screamed, closing her eyes and feeling the heat on her cheeks. Gray obviously didn't get what was going on in her companion's mind. “What? Did you find something? Come on, there's no time for shame now, we've got to hurry and finish this mission!”
“Juvia can't...” she pouted.
“Just say it!”
The girl just couldn't ignore an order by Gray.
“F-Fine! Juvia will say it! But don't you think that Juvia was staring at Gray-sama's crotch or-”
She suddenly fell on the ground, with a loud thud. “Ouch...”
The magic barrier had disappeared. Gray helped her stand up, and with a smirk on his face he said: “I've just witnessed Juvia's first time saying 'crotch'...”
She looked at him with a desperate face. “S-Stop it, Gray-sama! It's not funny...” He repressed another laugh, and they began walking again, to the door.