~ Lucy's POV ~

I sat and stared around at the still, silent group, seemingly waiting for me to speak, but since my introvert-level stamina for amount of words spoken has now expired, I refused to say a word unless asked a question.

The first one to speak was the obnoxious voice of the boy who got me into this mess, Natsu Dragneel, an older student, but still a bright, beaming teenager, with pink hair. He kept a straight face as he spoke: "I just stared FMA..."

Mira immediately replied, squealing, "OMG, I am so glad you brought up newly-starting anime, because I have just started Toradora! which is so much fun, and I am getting so many ships out of it! I just don't know which one is my favorite! Taiga and Minori? Ryuji and Kitamura? Or Minori with Kitamura??—"

"Glad to know, Mira..." Her sister interjected. "I am I also watching Fullmetal Alchemist along with Natsu at his house," she giggled, "and we are having so much fun! I've seen Brotherhood, and I have to say..-" she trailed off into a rant I instinctually blocked out.

I only had come back when Erza said, "Lucy, what is your favorite series?"

I whipped my head to her, and said bluntly, "Fairy Tail."

Erza shook her head while saying, "Not Fairy Tail but another series."

I stared into the distance while mulling it over. I've never really decided it, even though I've seen... probably a hundred series. Fairy Tail seemed to stand out against all the others, though I still had a great love for many. I played it off "cool", and replied, "I prefer not to reveal that information to people I've only just met."

Natsu squinted and leaned forward, though it was useless, since the circle was large. "Have you only seen one series and hiding that fact?"

I rolled my eyes. "If that thought makes you feel better, than yes."

He sat back. "Fine."

The other club members had the most boring conversation about which was the best KEY anime, whilst I scrolled away on my phone checking over... literally nothing, honestly; just photos and current events.

Levy leaned over at my library and commented on my phone case, but I turned my head to look at her, and despite my liking to her comment: "The sunset looks like it was painted by a master artist," because that is what I thought when I first bought it, I glared and said, "I don't care about your taste."

For the rest of club we watch an episode of... you guessed it, Fairy Tail. I assumed that they went through the show each episode every day.

I got up to leave when Erza stopped me just when I was at the double doors.

"Oh God, there's more, isn't there?" I said out loud, unintentionally.

Erza narrowed her eyebrows, but said, "I am afraid not, but you have more to do outside the club. Visit Natsu's place and help him plan the next club trip with a couple of kids from the children's center so that you can contribute to the club and get along better with the leader."

She handed me a couple of pieces of paper containing her and Natsu's home address, number, and club information, including a chat number for Talkster, -a messenger app-, options for trips, and amount of funds.

I skimmed them over. "Prepared, now, are we?" I remarked.

Erza smiled. "I'm glad you think so. I hope you enjoy your membership here at the club, and get along with the members."

"Right.." I murmured, and turned on heel to exit.

~ Natsu's POV : Dragneel Residence ~

I stumbled to the giant home that belonged to my eccentric brother, viewing the dark paint and creepy pictures like I always did; with a small grimace, but one thing was different, and I knew exactly what.

I walked into the home, and hearing the noises, I immediately stopped mid-stride, while taking off my shoes. What I heard was the "Zerism" meeting going on, which was nothing good. Every month, a strange cult called the "Banana Brothers," (you'll see what that means in a moment) would all gather into my brother Zeref's house, and perform some kind of ritual, which consisted of the twenty Banana Brothers walking slowly around a lantern above a small basket of bananas, and afterwords, burn them, representing that they let go of everything good in the world (bananas), to focus on their obsession with my brother... for some reason...

I think Zeref was a god of death at one point— and death was a good thing for the most part? Like, it's nice getting out of Earth for a new place, but these guys treat their lives as something like a curse.

Suddenly realizing this, I ran over without thinking into the darkly-lit kitchen connecting to the living room where the men all sat around couches, the ground, and one creepy dude with a ponytail, a cushiony spin-ny chair. Zeref, who was glazing ham, his favorite meat, greeted me, saying, "Welcome, brother! Did you come to join us?"

"Are you doing sacrifices?" I asked.

Zeref looked offended. "Goodness, no! Our lives are given to us for a reason, so we must endure the suffering no matter how horrible, and wait for the celebration of death at a specific time."

Zeref was the type to talk softly, sweetly, but it's totally manipulating to the average human mind. I knew him well enough to believe that he is just trying to lure the weak in to thinking he is the innocent person he acts as, but after you do something wrong, he flips and acts like the person he really is. The young man of around 20 (thought believed by the Banana Brothers to be over 500 years old) tilted his head and smiled. "You can sit down, if you'd like, my dear brother. I'm sure we have space somewhere."

I shook my head hastily. The last time I attended one of his weird rituals, one of his members explained in gruesome detail of one of his one-night-stands turning into a thing you hear in horror stories in a slightly-realistic setting. How they always recap their one-night-stands they constantly have since, because they forbid relationships, was bad enough, but the story I'd rather not put to words is even worse, and adding them together wasn't ever a pretty picture.

"I actually have a..." this time I didn't have to lie, since I just have realized I had a job to do. "I have a club trip to plan. You know, the orphans... a place to go... We still need to figure out the details with the local children's center."

I slipped out of the room swiftly, down the wide hall into my rather small bedroom. "I really have to clean this place..." I mumbled. As one would expect, my room was far from clean. Bed unmade, with half the covers on the floor, dropping off the mattress, my desk was cluttered with paperwork for the club and academy expenses. Manga and various clothing items were scattered across the floor, and the dust was not helping with the smell.

I plopped down on my desk chair, and finally remembered I wasn't doing this project alone. I bolted out of the chair and started to throw items on my floor into my closet in a blur, since the volunteer would be here any minute. I didn't know who, but Erza said it was going to be a surprise, so impressions were important in this case.

My room was not even half-cleaned when Zeref knocked on the door.

I hurried to it, straightening out the polo I went to school in, and opened the door to reveal an angry face of the blonde new girl in our club.

"Luigi!" I said, grinning.

She did not return the smile, rather, she glared at me with sharp, brown eyes.

"I'm guessing Heartfilia and brother already know each other," Zeref said, smiling slightly. "This almost never happens. Best of luck, you two!" He went off into the living room with a thumbs-up.

Lucy stared, waiting for me to do something, so taking the message, I stepped back, opening the door a little wider.

"Come in," I said.

Lucy walked in, and without even asking, took out a pink composition book, a ballpoint pen, and a small stack of printed papers.

"Let's get this over with," she sighed. She looked around, her face changing from a stern look to an embarrassed glint in her eye.

"You can sit on the chair," I suggested, taking the hint.

She shot back at me, "I knew that." She sat down in the chair, her face tinting pink.

I guess she's kinda awkward sometimes I thought. I sat down on the bed and smiled.

"So! I haven't done this before, so what's the plan?"

~ Lucy's POV ~

I had just recovered from my confusion of trying to find where to sit and Natsu requested of me to take the lead and explain what we needed to do for the project, which was too much for my practical energy. Instead of answering the question properly, I decided to face-palm, hiding my shame of the earlier chair-incident, and the ignorance of what to do for the project.

"You really don't know?" I asked.

Natsu scrunched his face into a funny look, and replied, "Well... I would have known what to do if Erza allowed me the papers."

"You're the president, so why does Erza-senpai decide to take the lead?"

"For one, you don't need to use honorifics for the members- and for two, have you even met her? She's the natural master for literally everything! I had a small lunch group once I've organized, and once I've asked her, she's been telling everybody what to order, how to eat, and how to respectfully pay and thank the lunch man."

"Why don't you just ask her to stop?" I asked.

Natsu perked up, his eyes a little wider. "I've never said I hate it. She takes responsibility while I sit back, which isn't the most horrible way to raise a club, especially if you have Erza at the reigns."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. We've got an activity to plan. Erza-senpai wrote here—"

"Quit calling her that... it's freaking me out," Natsu interrupted.

I scowled and said, "Unlike you, I treat people with the respect they deserve. Erza-senpai is an older, more mature, organized one, who—"

"Ha! Keep telling yourself that."

I continued the list, ignoring Natsu. "We've got theme park, zoo, pool, museums of different kinds, arcade, theater, and there's a list of options for the museums, and addresses for the closest options previously said."

I looked up from my papers, and asked, "These all seem... very far from what the club is all about."

Natsu glanced at me. "Well... the earliest club members had a tough childhood, so we decided to volunteer for various children centers and take them places using the money from selling merchandise, fanart, and DVDs online and at the school."

"I see." I hid it, but a smile entered my eyes and threatened to spread my lips. That's really sweet, I thought. Natsu leaned over and broke into a grin, studying my face. "Hey! You really do have feelings! You just smiled."

I swiftly jerked my head to him. "No, I don't have feelings!—- I... I mean..."

Natsu burst out laughing. "What do you mean you don't?!"

I blushed, turning away. "Quit losing focus from the objective! Let's just do the project."

Natsu calmed down and started to copy the paperwork and add up fund amounts, until I decided to mess with him. "You seem pretty chummy with that Lisanna girl," I said. "She wouldn't be too happy about you studying my face like that."

Natsu glanced up from his work. "Whadd'ya mean?"

"You should have been studying my eyes to really have noticed me smiling there... right?"

Natsu chuckled. "That's what you think."

I stared. "Are you saying you're an esper?"

"No... I'm saying I don't know."

I leaned back in the chair, crossing my arms. I grimaced, and said, "You're a tough one."

"I just can tell how one is feeling," he responded.

I shook my head. "Fine..." I gradually got embarrassed about my accusation, since the victim didn't react at all.

"Are you dating her?" I asked, suddenly. "Lisanna?"

Natsu looked up to the ceiling and tapped his pen against his chin. "I guess you could say that... She kept harping on about getting married and stuff, and we spend a reasonable amount of time together." He turned to me and grinned. "So I guess the answer is 'yes.'"

"I see." I intended to drop the subject, but unfortunately, Natsu brought it back.

"Are you dating anyone?"

I think I walked into that one, I said to myself.

"No... but I've dated before..." That was a lie. I haven't ever dated anyone in my life; I haven't kissed anyone -or- now that I thought about it, I have never even had a best friend, just those who had kept annoying me and constantly asked me to study sessions.

"So what should the location be?" Natsu said, interrupting my inner conversation.

I jumped, not expecting the sound of his rather squeaky voice. "Uh... sorry about that, I was thinking about something," I said to his surprised face. I shook my head and suggested someplace educational, but fun for the kids to learn something effectively. "We can rule out theme parks and arcades since they don't have educational value. Pool can be good exercise and social building... but—"

"Not when Spring had just begun," finished Natsu.

"Museums are educational, but most of it'll fly over the children's heads. We could watch a good movie, but I doubt we can keep everyone together in a local theater and watch something all of them can agree on."

"That brings zoo out as the winner," said Natsu. "Perfect! We could probably get a discount from the school's permission slip."

"Alright then. How many people are we bringing?"

"Plus the club members, we have group B for us, which is about twenty middle-school-aged students so... Not depending on how many people come, I'd predict about forty people!"

Sweat beaded on my brow.

"Seriously?" I can't handle that many people..

My phone buzzed, and on the screen I read a message, Lucy, I can't pick up the medicine today, so do you mind?

-Jude

I texted back, What about the staff?

Jude sent back a minute later, They are off for today. Here's the prescription number

And the number.

"Jude.." I murmured. "He's always like this."

Natsu looked up from his calculator. "Huh?"

I shook my head and put my phone back in my pocket. "I have to go, so good luck on your planning."

"But you were only here for ten minutes!" He complained.

"It was that long...?" It felt longer.

I took my bag and headed out the door, but before I left, I grinned and turned to the boy, "Any tips for me escaping the banana burning?"

lll

I've never once in my life took the bus, and I could see why Jude suggested never to go on. It was peaceful for the first five minutes, until we stopped at a small neighborhood where a whiny old lady sat in front of me, complaining to her poor husband on the other side of the phone about their son suddenly taking drugs. It was a horrible matter, of course, but she hardly took it seriously and just started yapping on about how much money it would cost. What was worst is that ten minutes later a smelly, middle-aged man plopped next to me and tried to start a conversation with me about fishing.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I have not gone fishing yet..." I started.

The man stared at me with a horrified look, but before he could answer, we arrived at the pharmacy, giving me a chance to escape.

And I thought Natsu's brother was strange... I thought. He was, but that man was way too annoying.

"Hello! I'm here to pick up Jude Heartfilia's medicine. I have the number right here," I handed him the napkin I wrote it on.

The man sighed. "Jude again?"

I nodded.

"Okay, I'll just take a look at your ID and I'll be back with the medicine in a moment."

I rummaged through my purse and pulled out my student ID. "Is this okay?"

He tilted his eyebrow as he looked at it. He gave it back, looked me up and down, and asked, "Are you really seventeen?"

I stared at him, my face turning red. "Excuse me?"

lll

I had just only entered the house when I heard a violent "CLUNK," and knowing my father collapsed as he always does, I rushed over to the kitchen to see the man currently wide-eyed and in the fetal position. His heavy, forced breathing distracted me from reading the label for the suspicious-looking shot mixed in with pills and tablets in the paper bag, so I ripped off the top and injected the clear liquid.

I waited anxiously for a half a minute, watching Jude loosen himself and started to breathe normally. I finally got a hold on myself and read the hand-written label: "Use only in emergency!" so apparently my instincts took the right path.

I, too, steadied my breathing while Jude finally got the strength to move. "Jude..." I said. "What the hell is up with you?"

My father turned to a sitting position against the sink cupboard. He chuckled softly. "Overworking?"

"Dad!" I yelled, refusing to use his name like I always did. "Tell me now! This is the third time for the past month you've collapsed and I have no idea why! Will you just stop being stubborn and tell me?"

Jude sighed. I thought he was too tired to yell, so he just went with, "Will you stop being stubborn and just let it go?"

I stared him straight in the eye. "You'd be dead if I wasn't here. You'd be dead if you were all alone, here in this dark, dreary house. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me! I deserve to know!"

Jude scratched his head. "Honestly, I don't know what the problem is. I've had this horrible stream of symptoms for so long; fevers, nausea, coughing up blood, and just for this year, collapsing, plus a lot more than that." He shook his head and smiled. "Maybe I'm just getting old."

"You sound like a middle-aged pregnant woman," I remarked.

"You sound like you need to work on your manners. Yelling at your father like that? Have I raised you to be such a spoiled young woman?"

At first I thought he was just joking, but I actually looked up to see his face, and it was stern and serious.

"Help me into bed. I don't feel too well to go about on my own," he said.

And that's the most we've talked all month.

~ A Week Later : Magnolia Academy ~

Getting used to the club was tough, and I definitely wasn't, at all, used to it by a week after membership, where I was supposed to spend two times my club time with the annoying members plus a whole mob of children I didn't know -and wasn't close to wanting to know them- in a crowded zoo filled with smelly animals and processed meats being ravaged by suspicious forty-something year olds on fold up chairs. As you would guess, my first experience at a zoo wasn't anything close to good. Cancer, my butler and hairdresser, decided to take me out after my mother died of, ironically, cancer, to cheer me up (and, not to mention, because my father forced him to take me someplace "suitable"). Being attacked by a pygmy goat in the petting area, having eaten an exotic butterfly on my churro in the insect room, and tripping over a loose stone on top of a stray ice-cream cone that was right where my stomach-area was, is fun and all, but the weight of my mother's death made it worse, and being pitied by unknown workers wandering around who happened to hear me and Cancer's conversations did the opposite effect of comfort.

Now, I was determined to make my zoo trip fun, despite all of my traumatic memories of it. It would have been easier if all of the kids just shut up.

I sat in the corner of the club room, searching my phone for medical uses for my father's disease symptoms while Natsu was sorting out all of the children with the older, willing members of the club to look out for them while discussing with Erza about meal problems. A certain blue-haired shortie caught my eye, standing out against the children's neon yellow t-shirts. Even though she always looked like she did, red-faced and nervous, I could tell something was wrong. She looked frantically around the room so pitifully, it made me stand up and weave through the small crowd of children only younger than her, and head shorter than me.

"Wendy," I said, walking up to her.

Her face shown a flash of relief, and she greeted me with a small bow and a, "Hello, Lucy-san!"

"You look like you need something," I said, flushing slightly at the formal greeting.

"Ah! Yes.. Um.." she looked around. "I think my friend is here, but I can't seem to find him—" she was interrupted by a loud opening and closing of a door. A small boy around the age of fourteen emerged from the hallway to enter the room. His purple, spiked hair contrasted with his neon yellow children's center hoodie.

"Romeo-kun!" Wendy exclaimed. She turned to me and smiled. "Never mind, I found him." I smiled as I watched her skip off to join the boy, Romeo. I thought about my own life as I watched her greet him and laugh away with a little conversation they must have been having.

A fourteen year old is moving faster than me in her love life, I thought with a disappointed sigh.

My thoughts were interrupted with Erza announcing that it was time to get on the bus. There was an added groan from Natsu for some reason, and we headed out to the parking lot.

I was half-way through the door until I noticed a vibration in my shorts pocket. I headed to the side of the hall and checked my messages.

Dear Princess, it appears that Jude-sama hath caught a horrible fever and must be treated immediately. Whereto is the medicine that Princess uses for Jude-sama?

- Virgo

I texted back, If his fever is worse then usual, call a nurse over. Give him the medicine in the upper cabinet overhead of the stove.

Not long after I entered the parking lot, Virgo sent back, I thank you, Princess, but the nurse seems necessary. I hath given him the medicine.

And people wonder where I get my formal dialect I thought. I didn't care to message back, so I turned my phone off and entered the bus.

lll

Plopping down on a seat near the back of the bus, I returned to my phone to continue to search for the diseases that may have been the case for my father. The bus was noisy, but even so, I heard the very loud conversation between Gray and Natsu.

"For the last time, Flame-Brain, a professional bus-driver can only drive this many children, and not you, no matter how sick you'd get!" Gray cried.

Natsu whined. "What if I just run beside the bus instead of riding?"

Rolling my eyes, I turned back to my phone, but again I was interrupted by the passenger next to me who said, "It's rude to be on your phone the whole time we're on a trip."

I turned to see the girl, Levy, who argued with both me and Lisanna on very different subjects. She was wearing red glasses over her large, brown eyes this time, and on her lap sat a very large book with small text. I leaned over to see the title on the spine-cover, and read: The History of Martial Arts.

I narrowed my eyebrows. "You're not so much innocent, either, since you're reading on a trip."

Levy took off her glasses and folded them. "Reading is different," she simply said. "I didn't introduce myself properly, so I'll do it now." She held out her hand, and said, "I'm Levy McGarden. I already know you're Miss Lucy Heartfilia, right?"

I shook her hand. "Yeah."

"Wow, a Heartfilia, that's a real pleasure to be meeting one who's not over the camera. I've met your father once, you know," she said.

"Really? I never have heard of you before I joined the club."

"My parents write books for father, organizing data and such. We're good customers of his."

"I see."

"That's where we get our rent!" She grinned. She changed her expression. "Say, what were you reading on your phone?"

I showed her.

"Ah, symptoms of your father's problem, I'm guessing."

"He told you?" I said. My face fell. I've always known that Jude had very little trust in me, but not as much as this. "To keep something like that from his daughter... Until yesterday, that is."

"Well, my parents had to record it along with his other details of his life. I'm sorry he kept it from you."

I turned from her. "It's not your fault."

A boy, much younger than Wendy, which was strange since I though we were hosting a middle-schooler group, popped his head up from the seat in front of us.

"Hello!~" he chimed. "I'm Rowen!"

"Hello Rowen, how may I be of use to you?" I asked sarcastically, not making eye contact.

Levy grinned. "Sorry about Lu-chan, she's feeling a bit grumpy today."

"Lu-chan?—"

"Awww, that's too bad," said Rowen. "I bet it's the time of the month for her."

My face flushed (even though he was wrong), and I yelled, "How do you know about that?"

"I was right?" He beamed innocently.

Levy held in a chuckle.

"My mom told me about that," explained Rowen.

"Your mom? But she—" I said, without thinking.

Thankfully, Levy interrupted. "Lu-chan!" She turned to Rowen. "She sounds very brave to have taught you that."

"She was..." Rowen choked back a sob, his eyes filling with tears. "Lu-chan brought it up, so..."

My eyes grew wide with guilt, and Rowen started crying.

"Wait! Wait wait wait!" I begged. "I take back what I said! What I meant to say!"

Rowen turned his face to me.

"Just don't cry!" I went on.

Rowen winked, making me realize the farce. "You damn brat," I mumbled at the child, clenching my fists that I once held at the boy in protest.

Rowen grinned, but quickly went back to his act, and cried, "Lu-chan called me a 'damn brat!'"

"No I didn't!" I quickly responded. "And don't repeat that!"

"Rowen!" Shouted a girl his age near the front of the bus. "We know you're just messing with her, so quit making a fuss."

"Aww," said Rowen, back to normal. "I thought I was rather convincing."

My arms flopped back to my lap. "Who teaches you children at the center?"

"That bitch of a caretaker," mumbled a boy on the left side of the bus. "She outa get fired."

"Wow," said Levy, in awe. "These kids have quite the attitude."

"Don't encourage them!" I said a little louder than intended.

"We've arrived!" Announced Gray on a megaphone.

"FINALLY," yelled Natsu, who was collapsed on the ground. He desperately crawled to the doors, clutching at the bottom.

"I agree.." I murmured.

I reached the end of the bus, crawling out into the fresh air of that was the Acalypha zoo.

"Ah, dear old Acalypha," I cried, stretching out my arms. "I've visited some of my father's factories up here not too long ago." I chuckled. "Seventeen years living with him and I still don't know exactly what he does."

"Your business spreads out this far?" Asked Erza, patting Natsu on the back while he puked in some nearby bushes.

"Yeah," I answered, turning to a range of peaks. "We own most of the business properties up to there," I said, pointing to a specific, tall mountain.

Most of the students stood there, slack-jawed while I gestured to Natsu. "What's up with him?"

"Motion sickness," said Wendy, getting out of the car. "I get it sometimes, too."

She handed him a pill, which I guessed she often carried around with her.

"The zoo," murmured Lisanna, behind me. "This was my brother's favorite place. I've only been here once, and that's when an alligator tried to attack me. Scared the shit out of me, so I never came again."

"Oh really?" I said. "I guess an alligator is a lot scarier than a pygmy goat and a couple of pathetic part-timers."

"Well," said Erza. "If we want to compare the past to the present, let's give the memories something to compare to." She gestured to the rest of the group. "Well, kids? You ready to go to the zoo?"

lll

"I feel like that penguin was possessed by something," said Levy, shivering.

We were leading group C, or rather, Lisanna was, since she was desperately trying to find a good place to eat at and doing head counts every thirty seconds. Despite us asking her if she needed any help, she shook us off and insisted that her job was hers and hers alone.

"I think there was one making bedroom eyes at me," said Loke.

"That's what you think about anything that has a pulse," chuckled Levy.

"Levy! Loke!" Intercepted Lisanna. "This is a place for children, so no inappropriate content will be mentioned from here on out."

"I think that if we want to eat, we should meet up with the rest of the group," I suggested, changing the subject.

"Finally! Someone who actually cares about this trip," said Lisanna. "This is why Lu-chan is my favorite out of the three of you."

"I guess that nickname's gonna catch on," I murmured.

"Kids," said Lisanna. "What do you all want to eat? Any food allergies?"

A couple of kids raised their hands to tell of their uncommon allergies that consisted of many things I did not know about. Tropical fruits, I knew, and at one point a small girl decided to proclaim her allergy to a certain type of bush that grew in South America.

"I remember being a kid like that," whispered Levy, wistfully.

I asked her what she said, since I had only found out afterwards, but she replied that she said nothing.

We decided on a local place in the food court where the kids could pick out any meal under the price of 800 yen, or rather, 7.5 dollars (I think), and notified the rest of the club of our mealtime by phone. By the time that the other three groups arrived, I felt the familiar vibration of a cellphone call in my skirt pocket, and, embarrassingly, the ringtone of an 8-bit anime opening.

I picked it up, knowing that it was an unknown number, a relatively good distance away from the group, to hear a high, nervous voice,

"Hello? Is this Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of Jude Heartfilia?"

"Yes," I replied. "Who is this?"

"This is the Magnolia Hospital speaking. One of your maids called in a nurse for your father, Jude, and she discovered that his conditions are far from normal, so we brought him in and found some terrible news."

Sweat beaded on my brow. "And what should that be?"

"I suggest you brace yourself, but" she cleared her throat. "Your father is dying here in the hospital."