An Annoying Fly

"Daddy!" Lily shouts as soon as her eyes land on her monster of a father in front of the school. She runs as fast as she can to the man with his arms wide open then jumps up to hug her father's neck. "Daddy, did you miss me?"

Lucario chuckles to himself while lifting Lily off of the ground. "Of course, I missed you, baby girl! It was so boring without you at the house."

Lily gives her father a kiss on the cheek before smiling widely. "Thank you, Daddy."

Confused, Lucario glances over at Lily after passing Ryan Lily's backpack. "Why are you thanking me, Lily? I haven't even done anything yet."

"Thank you for letting me go to school," Lily excitedly answers, swinging her feet back across Lucario's sides. "I had so much fun today. School is a lot more fun than I thought it would be."

Content that his daughter is happy, Lucario turns to put Lily in the car when he hears someone calling for him.

"Mr. Buenavista!" a boy shouts against the sounds of children meeting with those who came to pick them up.

With Lily still in his arms, Lucario turns around and finds Ethan trying to catch his breath. "Is there something you need from me?" Lucario asks, subconsciously glaring at the boy.

"No glaring, Daddy," Lily nags as she covers her father's eyes with her hands. "Your eyes are scary when you do that."

"I'm sorry," Lucario responds, taking his daughter's hands from his eyes. "It's a force of habit." Before continuing the conversation, Lucario puts Lily in the car for her safety then closes the door. "Why did you call for me, Ethan?"

The boy clears his throat then takes a deep breath to calm himself. "Lily won't tell you this, but Jeremy kept trying to pick on her today. She did her best to ignore him, but he was very persistent."

"Is that all?" Lucario questions, leaning against the car and crossing his arms.

Clenching his hands behind his back, Ethan musters enough courage to look Lucario in the eyes. "I saw that you were at the school earlier today. I managed to steer Lilly away since it seemed like you weren't here for her personally, but I couldn't think of another reason why you were here if it wasn't for Lily."

"That's none of your concern," Lucario dismisses. "Your job is to make sure my daughter is safe from those who try to bully her and to make sure that she has a lot of fun. I'll take care of everything else."

"Are you implying that something happened today regarding Lily?"

Lucario observes the boy below him with curious eyes. "Are you really seven years old?"

"I know that I am very mature for my age. I have to be in order not to worry my mom. I don't have a dad, so she tends to worry about me a lot," Billy explains. "Even more so since I'm staying in the school's dormitories. I have the help of the nannies that work there, but I tend to do things myself so as to not burden others."

"Did you say that you are staying in the school's dormitories?" Lucario quickly asks with his harshening eyes.

"Yes, I did. My mom's work is in DC, so I stay at the school."

Lifting up from the car, Lucario squats down and beckons Ethan to come closer. "Do you think you can take on another role for me?"

"Is this for Lily's sake or yours?"

Not sure if he likes Ethan's brashness, Lucario stops himself from instinctively hitting Ethan. "This is for Lily's sake. It's not too difficult. I just need you to watch that kid Jeremy Johnson. Keep an eye out for when he leaves his room and when he leaves the school. You don't have to go out of your way. Just take note of whenever you happen to see him go somewhere."

Ethan peeks over at the car behind Lucario's shoulder. He can't see in the window, but he knows that Lily must be right by the door. "If it's for Lily, I don't mind doing it," Ethan finally answers after taking a moment to think. "This seems like something I shouldn't tell my mom, so I'll keep it to myself."

"You're a smart kid," Lucario comments as he stands up. Noticing one of the dormitory nannies waiting for Ethan, Lucario rubs the top of the boy's head. "It looks like someone is waiting for you. It's best you head inside before something happens."

"Then, have a good evening, Mr. Buenavista," Ethan concludes before running off to meet with the dormitory nanny.

"How was your talk with Ethan, Daddy?" Lily asks as soon as Lucario slides into the front passenger seat.

Smiling to himself, Lucario twists his head towards Lily. "He's a good kid, Lily. You made a good friend at school." Lily proudly smiles, hearing her father's compliment, but the guard next to her seems to have the most frightened look in his eyes. "Ryan, your face is going to get stuck like that if you don't relax," Lucario mocks after turning back around in his seat.

—

Watching his daughter eagerly doing her homework in his office, Lucario warmly smiles as he witnesses a sight that he never thought would ever happen in his life. However, the peace is disturbed when he hears a notification from his computer go off. Begrudgingly looking away, Lucario checks out the email that he received when suddenly his face turns serious.

Ryan who is next to Lily notices his boss's expression darken and takes action. "Lily, I just remembered that some of the guys bought you some special cookies that were only on sale for a limited time. Do you want to take a break from your homework and eat some?"

"Okay!" Lily excitedly answers, jumping up and over to the door before Ryan could even stand.

Ryan glances over at his boss one last time and sees him nodding then holding up the hand gesture for thirty. Acknowledging his boss's order, Ryan shifts his attention to Lily who can't stop tugging on his shirt.

"Come on, Ryan!"

"I'm coming. I'm coming."

Alone in his office, Lucario adverts his eyes back to the computer.

[From: Haily Turnip]

[Re: Your fly problem]

[I contacted some of my subordinates who specialize in hitman and assassination groups to find any information regarding Meyling's Food Court. It seems that the organization goes deeper than expected. One of the businessmen that sponsors a separate branch of the nonprofit has actually turned the branch into an assassination group. On the surface, it looks like a normal soup kitchen, but further in the back, they hold meetings with people who need "assistance".

[They haven't found any hit list from them yet since you just messaged me about this today, but I'll let you know if they find anything]

[Also, I guess I owe you one. My son would have been traumatized if he saw Lily die in front of him. Thanks for looking out for him even though I know it isn't on purpose.]

Lucario reads over the attachment that the email contained. It lists all of the branches of Meyling's Food Court and how legitimate they are from the FBI's standpoint among other information. However, his mind can't stop thinking about the last part of the email.

"She owes me one?" Lucario scoffs in disbelief. He leans back in his chair and stares up at the ceiling. "No one has ever thanked me for anything before Lily came."

Confused about whether or not he likes the feeling, Lucario grabs his phone and dials Billy's number, letting it ring once then immediately hanging up. Not even two minutes go by when the door to the office swings open with enough force to push an elephant away.

"Did you call for me, Father Lucario?" Billy pants before even entering the room. Seeing a familiar hatred in his eyes, Billy knows that whatever his boss is about to say, a lot of people might die.