The Firefly Effect | jerza

2:00

We were not late, thankfully, because if another one of my friends dropped out of school, I was going to curl up into a ball and cry.

Criminal Justice, first period, was going to be a blast. It takes place in the West Wing (the newly renovated part of Fiore Uni!) which means the lights would actually work, the desks were new, and- gasp! There would be ceilings! 

When I had expressed my excitement to Lucy, she had rolled her eyes and whispered, "You should be happy about the renovation, Erza." Of course, that was a joke. The renovation was supposed to be completed two years ago. Didn't work out exactly.

The seats in the back were already filled (dang it) so we shuffle into the room and sat at the front, closest to the door, awkwardly. 

"Fresh start?" I whisper, setting my bag on the floor.

"Fresh start," Lucy agrees.

We sit together, eagerly awaiting the world-renowned, camera shy, absolute genius detective- and our very own professor- to enter the room. And when he did, tan jacket billowing, it was...a not so pretty sight.

He was camera shy for a very obvious reason. He was short.

Not just below average, short. Short-short. Tiny. Tinier than fun-sized.

Giggles echo throughout the lecture hall, but Makarov climbs onto his desk with utter confidence.

"I am Professor Dreyar, and I will be teaching you brats Criminal Justice 101."

The laughter is cut off immediately.

"You sophomores are lucky to have me. I, on the other hand, am not lucky to have you. This two-semester course will be a vigorous one, and by the end of this year at least seven of you will have dropped out due to poor grades, five of you because of a disruptive incident, and a whopping thirteen of you because you were kicked out."

"Kicked out?" Lucy shrieks.

"Blondie," he says, turning his piercing gaze toward my friend. "is there a problem?"

"No, sir."

"Good. Please put your pencils away."

"W-What?" someone in the back of the room asks.

"Are you deaf? I said put your pencils away. They won't be needed."

The rustling of students putting away their belongings fill the room once more. As soon as everyone has returned their gaze up front, Professor Dreyar pushes a button on a remote and an image is projected onto the board.

A few students gasp at the bloody sight.

"Turn to your seatmate and discuss possible causes of this man's death."

"There's blood," I say, stating the obvious. "So there's an open wound."

"Stabbed to death? Bullet wound?" Lucy guesses, her eyes glued to the gruesome image.

"A vehicle could've run over him," I decide thoughtfully. I open my mouth to further elaborate but a feeling of vertigo suddenly washes over me. "L-Lucy," I try to say, but my mouth suddenly feels like it's filled with cotton.

"Erza, close your cardigan," she hisses, nudging my shoulder.

"What?" I murmur, blinking desperately. The vertigo has disappeared and now I feel warm and fuzzy inside. It's the feeling you experience when you get an unexpected hug from a friend, or a good grade on an exam, or when your mom bakes you chocolate chip cookies just because.

"Your heart," Lucy growls through gritted teeth. "is glowing."

I sit up straight and yank my cardigan over my T-shirt. The glow is still visible, but only faintly.

"Damn, Erza. Maybe dead guy over there is your soulmate."

"Quick," I hiss. "Check if anyone else is glowing."

We both turn around in our seats and do a quick scan of the room. There are hundreds of students, and not one of them has a glowing chest.

"No one. No one even looks like they're hiding it," Lucy informs me sadly. "Erza, maybe you really-"

"Sixty-one meter rule," I murmur quietly. "It could be someone in the hallway."

Lucy raises her hand before I say another word. "Professor, could I-"

"What killed the man?"

"Uh...my partner and I were thinking maybe a bullet wound?"

"Incorrect," he barks.

"I really have to go-"

"Answer first!"

"He was stabbed to death!" someone else yells.

"No!"

"A car ran-" Natsu begins to say.

"No!"

"Suicide?"

"No!"

"Then what?" Gray shouts in frustration.

"If you were using your puny eyes," Dreyar explains dryly. "Than you would know his twin brother beat him up."

"What?!"

~ ~ ~

Arms crossed and body hunched over, I made my way to the restroom, but, before I had even entered, the glow from my heart faded into nothing.

"It'll glow again next class," Lucy says gently. "Don't worry. It took me a month to find Natsu. Hmm...I wonder what triggered it?"

"A body of a dead man triggered it?" Mirajane snickers, brushing past Lucy and leering at me. "God, your mind is way darker than mine."

"Nothing triggered it," I snap, taking a step forward and placing my hands on my hips. "Love isn't triggered."

"'Love isn't triggered,'" Mirajane mimics, her eyes glowing hellishly. "says the girl who's never been in love."

"At least I know I have a soulmate somewhere in this building," I whisper harshly. "At least I have a soulmate."

"Take that back, Scarlet," Mirajane screams, causing heads to turn. 

Mirajane and I have been rivals since high school. We were both captains of sports teams, top of the class, and competitive. The rivalry had gone from "healthy competition," as the teachers liked to put it, to "a disruption to the school environment" after I won position as class president, leaving Mirajane behind in the dust.

"It's true," I reply, unable to wipe the smile from my face. I have a soulmate and she doesn't, how hilarious. "Maybe you'll never find your soulmate. Maybe you don't have one. Maybe you're a Loner."

"Shut the f-"

"Strauss," Laxus, grandson of the well-respected Makarov Dreyar, says. He grabs her arm and yanks her away from me. "You have a Bio test tomorrow. Let's go study."

"Don't you dare touch me," she screeches, pushing Laxus aside and launching herself toward me. I had done an excellent job of avoiding Mirajane freshman year (we had no classes together), but this year looks like it's going to be different.

"Too slow," I remark, watching as she stumbles forward, slamming into the wall. My right hand curls into a fist. Finally, I have an excuse to punch.

"Scarlet. Strauss. Heartfilia. Dreyar."

Makarov Dreyar is staring at us disapprovingly. Laxus bows his head with shame, and Lucy opens her mouth, probably trying to somehow get me and her out of this mess.

"Lucy and Laxus did nothing," Mirajane and I chorus. We scowl at each other.

"Next time you try to kill each other, do it somewhere else. That way I don't have to deal with any tedious documentation once one of you dies." His morbid humor takes me by surprise- Laxus was more similar to Makarov then I had realized.

"Yes, sir," Mirajane says. "I'm sorry, sir." She turns on her heel, and Laxus follows after her, his gaze stony. Her brother, Elfman, and her sister, Lisanna await her by the exit.

"Let's go and put some body tape on, Erza," Lucy whispers. "For now."