Fairytale | Jerza | AU

40. Career.

Two Weeks Later

Erza's POV:

     I had made sure that Jellal was absent from school for two days. We all had went to visit him on Sunday. He was doing quite well now, all his injuries had healed. The delinquents were caught and punished for their acts.

     These days, the thing that worried me the most was what I wanted to do in my future. Accordingly, I had to choose the college or university I wanted to go to. But I had no idea what I wanted to do.

     "Good morning." Mr. Gildarts voice brought me back to earth. All the students stood up to greet him and my eyes landed on a pile of paper he brought with him.

     'Ofcourse... Tsuyu is about to end. Summer's here already...' I thought, taking my seat. Mr. Gildarts took attendance and then called Jellal to distribute the sheets to the class.

     I gave Jellal a small smile when he gave a sheet to me, but it faded quickly. My eyes ran up and down the paper. We had to give three names. I had none.

     "Fill these forms and hand them in by next week. It's about your future, so think carefully about what you want to do and which college you want to enter." Mr. Gildarts informed the class as Jellal took his seat, a paper in his hand.

Lunch

Erza's POV:

     Once everyone was at the table, I hesitantly asked the question, "What are you guys doing? About the career forms I mean..." The table fell silent for a few seconds.

     Levy spoke up, "I want to become a librarian. I love to read books... And I can't find a better job. The pay won't be much, but I'll manage." She smiled.

     "Well, Juvia wants to become an artist. Juvia is good at painting, so Juvia is hoping to do something in that field..." She said. "Whoa, that's cool..." Gray said and Juvia blushed a red darker than my hair.

     Lucy said in a small voice, "I don't know what I want to do... Not yet." "Nor do I." I said, sighing. Gajeel grinned and said, "Don't worry! Even I don't know what I want to do."

     That cheered me up a bit, to know that there were others like me, who didn't know what they wanted to do. Gray then said, "I think I would like to become a detective... Or police."

     "That would be nice for you... With your sources, wouldn't it?" Jellal asked Gray, smirking. Gray grinned, "Yep!" It was some joke that only the two of them understood, so I let it go.

     "I want to be an archaeologist!" Natsu said, "I'm gonna prove that dragons exist!" Everyone snickered. Gray explained, "It's been Natsu dream since he was small... He believes that dragons existed many, many years ago, and he wants to prove that to the world."

     Natsu growled at him, "What you think I can't do that?!" Gray chuckled and said, "You could. If dragons existed." "They do! You just wait till I bring you a fossil!" Natsu shouted at Gray.

     "If you manage to find even so much as the toenail of a dragon, I'll beg you for forgiveness and wear that thing around my neck." Gray spat at him. Natsu was about to retaliate when Laxus banged his fist on the table and said, "That's enough."

     Reluctantly, Natsu turned away from Gray and stuffed his mouth with his lunch. "Oh well, we have a whole week to think about it... " Gajeel said, scratching the back of his head, "Let's not talk about that now."

Evening

Erza's POV:

     I opened the packet of cookies we had made in the club today and sat on the couch. With my free hand, I opened my bag took out the form. We had to fill in the name of the college or university and the course we want to pursue.

     I thought hard, munching on the cookies and glaring at the sheet of paper in front of me. After the cookies were finished, I crumpled the bag and tossed it into the dustbin in the kitchen.

     I drank a glass of water and sat back on the sofa, to continue staring at the paper. About ten minutes later, I gave up. I picked up my phone and called Lucy.

"Hello, Lucy..."
"Hello, Erza."
"Could you help me out?"
"Ofcourse! What do you need?"
"I don't know what I want to do... In the future."
"Oh, yeah. Erza, don't worry about it."
"How can I not Lucy? Most of the people already know what they want to do..."

     I heard her laugh. I wanted to not worry about it, but I couldn't help it. I felt like I was lagging in some way.

"Actually, you know Erza, I said that I don't know what to do either..."
"Yeah."
"The thing is, there is this one thing I want to do. But I don't know if I can."
"What do you want to do?"
"I... It's... I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it... Father wants me to inherit his business and... That's not what I want to do..."
"Oh... But you should pursue your dream, you should work to make it happen, Lucy. You're lucky enough to have a dream."
"Erza... I-I want to become a fashion designer."
"That's so cool! You should really do that. It suits you so much!"
"Thank you, Erza... But back to your problem!"

     I couldn't shake off the feeling that she was trying to change the subject. But if she didn't want to talk about it, I wouldn't want to pursue the subject.

"Okay..."
"I might have a solution to your problem..."
"What is it?"
"Here, we have this technique... You have to answer four questions."
"Okay... What are they?"
" First... What do you love? Second... What are you good at? Third... What does the world need from you? And fourth... What can you get paid for?"
"What do I love, what I'm good at, what the world needs from me and what can I get paid for..."
"Yeah. Think about the answers. The thing that is common in all those answers is your calling."
"Oh... Okay. I'll try that. Thanks a million, Lucy."
"I'm glad I could help, Erza. Thank you to you too."
"Why?"
"Nothing... And everything. Bye!"
"Bye."

     I thought long and hard about the questions Lucy had given me. 'What do I love? What am I good at? What does the world need from me? What can I get paid for?'

     I thought about it all evening, and into the night. I questioned myself while making dinner and eating it. The only time I didn't think about it was while doing the homework.

     But when I got into bed to sleep, I thought about it again. I needed to find that perfect answer. 'Something that is common to all those questions...'

     It came to me. So easily. I laughed to myself, embarrassed at my own stupidity. 'How did I not think about this before? Oh my, I'm so stupid. So simple... But anyways, now that I know, I need to thank Lucy tomorrow.'

     It suddenly felt so nice, to have it off my chest. Feeling lighter than I had for the past few days, I fell asleep quickly, snuggling into the warmth of my blanket.

______________________________________

(A/N): Hello, my dear readers! Thank you so much for reading this book, voting on it and commenting. Everytime I get a notification like that, it makes me so happy. Thank you so much.
Also, I'm sorry if I disappointed y'all at any point. I get the feeling that I have. Sorry.

I uploaded this on 31st Aug, Japan time. ^_^

Note:
The technique mentioned above is real. It is actually a Japanese method to choose a career, called Ikigai. The questions are-
1. What do you love?
2. What are you good at?
3. What does the world need from you?
4. What can you get paid for?
If you have an answer that fits all the questions, you've found your calling.

Next Update: 14th September, 2020.