After the eventful, avalanche-filled day passed... the highly anticipated cherry blossom viewing day finally arrived.
"Achoo!!"
In Magnolia, inside that mysterious little rented house worth 70,000J a month, Lucy bundled herself tightly in a thick cocoon of blankets.
Her face was flushed red as she sneezed violently into a tissue.
As expected, Natsu—who had let himself in through the window uninvited as usual—stood beside her bed with crossed arms.
He frowned down at Lucy. "Aren't you coming to the cherry blossom festival, Lucy?"
Happy also expressed his deep concern, hovering near her pillow and asking.
"But haven't you been looking forward to this day for weeks?"
Lucy's voice sounded heavily muffled, tinged with sniffles and quiet sobs as she leaned against the headboard, barely able to keep her eyes open.
Her expression appeared dazed and thoroughly uncomfortable as she whimpered, "I really want to go..."
"But I've caught a cold and don't feel like moving at all. I might even infect everyone if I go out there."
"Sorry, you guys go have fun without me. I just want to sleep..."
Watching Lucy stagger back down into the depths of her bed, pulling the covers over her head, Natsu reluctantly agreed.
"Alright then..."
Happy sighed and patted the lump of blankets to comfort Lucy. "Take good care of yourself and get well soon."
Lucy responded with a raspy, weak voice that was hard to believe came from her.
Exchanging worried glances, Natsu and Happy refrained from their usual boisterous, destructive behavior and quietly let themselves out of the room so she could rest.
"Ah... what a letdown. And she was looking forward to it for so long," Natsu muttered.
Natsu walked toward the cherry blossom viewing party organized by the guild, holding the back of his head while staring blankly at the sky.
Even Happy felt sorry for Lucy, spreading his paws as he flew beside his partner.
"Well, if she's sick, there's nothing we can do. Poor Lucy..."
"Yeah..."
...
At Fairy Tail's designated spot in Minamiguchi Park, the magical cherry blossoms were in full bloom.
Delicate pink petals drifted down like gentle rain with every breeze.
Many guild members had already gathered, laying out large picnic blankets and sitting in small groups as if camping.
They were eating, drinking heavily, and roughhousing in typical Fairy Tail fashion.
"What? Lucy's sick?"
Ankh looked at Natsu, who had just rushed over to their spot after checking on Lucy.
Ankh felt somewhat surprised by the news.
Natsu silently folded his arms and nodded, his usual fiery energy entirely absent.
Juvia, who had naturally gravitated closer to Gray's side, couldn't help but ask.
"She's not even coming to the cherry blossom viewing she was so excited about? Is it serious?"
Happy chimed in from nearby, holding a fish lifelessly. "She's got a bad cold and a fever, her nose is all runny, and she looks really pale."
Erza, sitting cross-legged in her casual clothes and being somewhat clueless at times, wondered aloud.
"How did she catch a cold? The weather's been pretty nice lately."
Carla, sitting primly beside Wendy, couldn't resist deadpanning, "I'm surprised you're even asking why she caught a cold. Yesterday on Mount Hakobe, Lucy was buried in snow longer than anyone else after that avalanche you all caused."
"And she's not exactly physically robust compared to the rest of us," Ankh said, carrying a plate of festival food as he sat down next to Natsu.
"Yesterday, I noticed Lucy seemed unwell and thought about using Magic to boost her constitution, but she insisted on toughing it out and rushed home to prepare today's bento boxes..."
Happy turned large, hopeful eyes toward Ankh and pleaded, "Can you still use your Magic to heal Lucy now, Ankh?"
Ankh popped a small cake into his mouth, chewed, and shook his head regretfully.
"My Magic can only change a person's constitution right now, like making Lucy naturally resistant to illnesses, but that takes time to adapt. By the time my magic finished rewriting her system, she'd probably have recovered from the virus normally already."
To be honest, Ankh's Life God Power was rather inefficient when it came to minor ailments like this.
'Even if Lucy were in a much more serious condition—like losing an arm or a leg, or even half her life—I could restore her in an instant,' Ankh thought. 'But... a common cold, which poses no real threat to life and actually helps build natural immunity, is something my magic can only prevent, not instantly cure.'
Wendy also expressed her concern, her shoulders slumping.
"I visited Lucy this morning too and used my healing Magic on her, but it'll still take a day for her to recover."
Wendy's Sky Dragon Slayer Magic worked similarly in this regard; curing microscopic viral illnesses was actually even more troublesome than healing massive physical trauma, and this was despite Wendy's Magic being quite advanced.
"I see..." Happy's ears drooped sadly.
Aside from Natsu, Happy was closest to Lucy, and the little Exceed was feeling noticeably down without her around to tease.
Ankh watched Natsu, whose mood was clearly at rock bottom, and something seemed to click in his mind.
'Wait...' Ankh mused, looking at the falling petals.
'It seems like there was a storyline exactly like this in the slice-of-life episodes outside the main plot back in the anime.'
Even without recalling all the specific details, Ankh had a vague memory—this seemed to be a famous scene that got all the Nalu shippers incredibly excited.
He decided to let things play out.
...
As the cherry blossom viewing party officially began, the highly anticipated Bingo Competition naturally started too.
On a makeshift wooden stage, Guild Master Makarov stood next to a large, spherical Magic drawing machine.
At regular intervals, he would randomly select a numbered ball from the machine and display it to the crowd.
Meanwhile, each member below the stage had been given a unique grid card, with different numbers in each square.
When the number on the grid matches the number drawn by the Master, members can poke a hole through that number.
Once the poked-open grids form a straight line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, "Bingo" is achieved, and the winner can claim one of the grand prizes.
Of course, the prizes were limited, so everyone was poised and ready, glaring at their cards with intense focus.
Ankh clutched his bingo card, watching as the Guild Master drew the very first number.
"Number 24!" Makarov shouted.
Ankh looked down.
Not a single number on his card matched.
'As expected,' Ankh sighed internally. 'Luck-based games like this should be left to Lucy.'
Mirajane leaned against Ankh's shoulder, smiling radiantly as she peeked at his completely blank card.
It was unclear what she was so happy about, but she seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere.
"Number 42!"
Erza, full of overwhelming enthusiasm, violently poked open a number on her card and let out a mighty, triumphant roar, as if she had already won the grand prize right then and there.
"Yes!!"
Ankh looked at Erza with amusement and teased her, "You really have to win at absolutely everything, don't you?"
"Of course," Erza replied proudly, curling her lips into a confident smirk before sitting back down on the picnic blanket and subtly nudging Mirajane aside to claim her space.
Mirajane didn't bother arguing with the childishly competitive Erza.
Instead, she smoothly moved to sit directly beside Ankh.
She smiled sweetly at Erza and proposed, "How about a long-awaited competition between us, Erza?"
Erza raised an eyebrow confidently, her warrior instincts flaring even at a picnic.
She asked, "Interesting. What are we competing in?"
Mirajane waved her bingo card in the air.
A mischievous glint flashed in her blue eyes, making it look as if a little devil's horns had appeared above her head.
She said, "Let's see who gets bingo first. The loser has to meow like a cat in front of everyone. How does that sound?"
Erza snorted lightly.
Her entire body began radiating intense competitive energy.
She declared boldly, "Fine! You're on! I already have one number matched!"
Mirajane waved her own card, which also had one number matched, and giggled darkly.
"Don't underestimate me. I'm in the exact same position."
Ankh, who still hadn't matched a single number on his card, scratched his head in utter bewilderment.
'What does this have to do with a 'competition'?' Ankh thought.
'Isn't it still pure luck? Your willpower doesn't change the numbers!'
After several more agonizing rounds of Makarov drawing numbers...
Erza suddenly grew incredibly excited.
She gripped her card, her eyes burning with the fire of victory, and confidently exclaimed.
"I already have four in a row! Just one more number, and I'll—"
"BINGO!"
Ankh flinched, feeling as if his right ear had just been struck by Erza's broadsword, while his left ear was suddenly punched by Mirajane's shout.
Mirajane held up her clearly aligned bingo card, striding confidently toward the Master's stage to claim her prize with a victorious sway to her hips.
Ankh, looking down at his own card—still without a single match—was left speechless.
'Huh? Is this thing really that easy to get? Am I cursed?''
But Ankh's terrible luck paled in comparison to the sheer despair radiating from his right side.
In stark contrast to the slightly frustrated Ankh, Erza had completely turned to solid stone on the picnic blanket. H
er eyes were blank, her jaw dropped, the card slipping from her paralyzed fingers.
'It's over...' Erza's shattered internal monologue echoed.
'Completely over... I have to meow now...'
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