"You expect me to study alone?" I whine, throwing my hands up in dismay. It is a fact that I get distracted much too easily. At least with a partner, I know I can be on track. For the most part.

"Sorry, Erza. I promised Mr. Clive I would help with designs," Lucy says with a sigh.

"What designs?"

"For the Fiore Ball," she informs me. She grabs her pink purse and a stack of posters from her desk before making her way toward the door.

"Holy crap. When's that?!"

Lucy's brows scrunch together pensively. "Hmm...Two weeks? One and a half?"

"Where am I supposed to get a dress from?" I ask frantically. Clearly, my priorities are out of order. 

"I'll handle it." She gives me a wink. "You focus on your exam because if there's one thing I can't handle, it's paying for your failed class."

"Luuuucy," I groan, smiling despite myself. 

~ ~ ~

It turns out everyone's "busy."

Lucy and Levy are prepping for the ball, Natsu and Gray make useless study partners (the "cat incident" still gives me nightmares), and Jellal, after apologizing profusely, grudgingly admits that he has to drop something off at his house.

"As much as I enjoy our study sessions, Wendy's going to kill me if I don't return her DS," he remarks, waving a small, pink device.

"You stole her DS?" I gasp, feigning horror. "How dare you?"

"I know, I know," Jellal replies, hanging his head with shame. "I'm an awful person. But my DS is messed up and I can't afford a new one."

Unable to fight off a grin, I say, "I'll let you borrow my DS if..."

"...if?"

A flutter, like a butterfly's wing, deep within my chest. 

"-if you can guarantee I'll get an A in math."

"Erza!" Jellal complains, eyes wide with laughter. "If you paid more attention-"

I suddenly notice a flash of dark hair behind Jellal.

Ultear...?

No. It's just Gray. He winks at me and mouths something.

F-L-I-R-T

All amusement fades. The guilt...Why do I feel guilty? It's Ultear who's wrong, not me...

What if she truly thinks Jellal is her soulmate?

"Well!" I say at last. "You'd better get going. Tell Wendy I said hi."

I whirl around and walk down the hallway. The cool spring air hits my face as I exit the stuffy building. 

The beat of my heart returns to normal.

~ ~ ~

"Jellal told me you were looking for a study partner," Ultear says, slamming her textbook onto the seat beside me. I jump at the sound of her voice and nearly end up falling off my chair.

"Oh, uh, hi, Ultear. Yeah. You studying for history too?"

"Yep. I made a study guide if you want to take a peek." She pushes a pile of neatly typed papers toward me.

"Thanks." I read the papers intently, but unfortunately, my mind wanders.

She saw you and Jellal.

You weren't doing anything, though. Just talking. With a friend.

She saw.

She's the one lying.

Maybe you're the one lying.

That last thought is so ridiculous I nearly laugh out loud.

"Nice button you got there," Ultear observes. I follow her gaze to the silver button attached to my bookbag. "Is that a Fiore University button?"

Our school is known for handing out little "buttons." Drama club buttons, "Read to Succeed" buttons, algebra-styled buttons- it may seem a bit weird to other schools, but at Fiore Uni, it's tradition to collect them all. I've seen seniors with tons of these pins attached to their bags.

"I don't think so. I found it laying around," I say offhandedly. I return my focus to the study packet.

"It's interesting. Do the lines mean anything?"

I look up from the packet again. "Uh..probably not. It's just a pattern. I think."

"Hm...By the way, do you have any new leads on the Lisanna case? Lucy said your meeting with Brandish was unsuccessful."

"Mm. I'm kind of stumped."

"I was looking at the list. Of, you know, people who bought belladonna. One of the names is unlike the others." 

"The names? Yoriko, Chi...Chiyeka, and..."

"Yoriko, Chiyeko, and Spriggan." Ultear turns to me eagerly. "It's really simple; we were all so caught up in the case we completely missed the obvious." She leans closer. "One of the three first names...isn't a name."

"Spriggan," I mutter under my breath. I had once known a girl named Yoriko from middle school, and Chiyeko was a fairly common Fioran name...but Spriggan...

"Spriggan is a Bosconian word for 'spirits' and is derived from a type of goblin in traditional faerie lore." Ultear's eyes shine with enthusiasm. "This 'person' named Spriggan Tuerebu...Tell me, Erza, what does Tuerebu sound like to you?"

"Twelve," I say in a hushed voice. "So...Spirits Twelve. What does that mean?"

The glint in the raven-haired girl's eyes die. "No clue."

I tap my pencil against the table impatiently. "Spriggan Twelve. Spirits Twelve. Well, the 'twelve' implies there are twelve people."

"But that could mean anything..." Ultear ponders. "Maybe there were twelve founders, but they're long dead. Or maybe they have twelve missions."

"Twelve could just be a lucky number," I suggest. After a short pause, I ask, "Do you think all twelve of them go to this school? Assuming there are twelve people."

She shakes her head. "Not a chance. That's too risky. I'd guess half the group is over twenty-one and out of school. That way, they have more freedom."

We sit in a thoughtful silence.

"Hey guys!" a voice says, interrupting our moment of peace. 

"Hey," Ultear and I reply. I instantly recognize the voice. Juvia Lockser.

"Come to the Fiore Ball! It's on March twenty-second at eight pm." She hands us each a brightly colored flyer.

"I'll be there," I tell Juvia. "but I don't need the flyer."

The blue-haired looks around before whispering, "Just take it! It's for Juvia's graphic design class! Please! Juvia needs an A!"

I crack a smile at her desperation. "Alright, then." I watch as Juvia traipses to the next table and timidly offers one of the boys a flyer. At first, I am worried they'll laugh; it turns out they're a decent bunch because they take the papers and listen attentively to the blue-haired girl.

Probably freshman, I guess, from the way they look at the paper with fascination.

"Do you have a dress?" Ultear asks after stuffing the flyer into her bag.

"Not yet," I say with a shrug.

"Hmm...I think...a blue would look good on you." I keep my face expressionless. Ultear cocks her head to the side. "Or maybe a...violet." 

Don't panic, Erza.

I force a laugh. "Hey! That's the color of your heart, right?"

"Yeah. Didn't your heart glow too? What color was it?"

"Lime green," I answer without missing a beat.

"Huh." She opens her textbook to page 394. "Okay. So...where should we start studying?"

~ ~ ~

"Mira, I did what I thought was best," Elfman protests, tugging on his older sister's hand.

"Are you trying to get killed?" Mira hisses. Her new clothing style- a pink, floral theme- does nothing to conceal the burning anger reflected in her tired eyes.

"You can't keep doing this," her brother whispers, so low Mirajane has to lean in to hear. 

"I'm the eldest in the family! It's my job to look out for you guys...I failed once- I'm not failing again!"

"You think it's easy for me?" Elfman roars, punching the wall beside them. The wall withstands his attack. His fist...not so much. The boy watches as blood oozes from his knuckles and trickles down his wrist. "...It's not. I'm the youngest, now. It's my job to look after you."

~ ~ ~

"A soulmate bond can be severed under one, simple circumstance: death. The death of a human, regardless of gender, results in the disappearance of a heart's glow, permanently, from their significant other. Symptoms of a severed bond may include dizziness, heart attacks, and hallucinations."

-THE FIREFLY EFFECT,  pg 255