another extremely self-indulgent piece from yours truly yeehaw (also whoops its been a long time since I've posted on here sorry guys)

It was routine procedure now for Chariot to receive word that she was to come to the headmistress' office at the earliest moment of convenience, ever since she had taken under her wing the most impressively disastrous pupil ever to set foot in the hallways of Luna Nova. Of course, incidents involving the rather unfortunate young witch were much rarer late into the second year of her studies, what with the striding improvements she'd made since the dramatic revival of Yggdrasil, but well, Atsuko Kagari was still Atsuko Kagari after all.

She was quite surprised then, upon pushing open the heavy oaken door, to not see the familiar young face pouting before the headmistress and a stern-faced Finnelan. The latter two were both present, but Holbrooke looked to be in a pleasant mood, while Finnelan… did not, but well, that was par for the course.

"Ah, Professor Ursula!" The headmistress called, jovially waving for her to come over. Hesitantly, Chariot obliged, already wary of the situation.

"Y-You requested for me?"

"Yes, of course! Anne and I were discussing some matters of importance, and there's a certain matter we'd like to ask of you."

Ah, of course, Chariot thought, resignation already wearily seeping its way into her hesitant smile. Another errand to run. She ought to have figured.

"On the contrary, you decided this entirely for yourself. Over my objections." Finnelan said, looking quite exasperated. Holbrooke didn't seem to hear her as she cheerily continued.

"Appleton will be hosting a ball this Sunday, a celebration of improved relations with witchcraft since the last year! They've sent an invite for a Luna Nova delegate." Holbrooke's smile became downright sunny. "We thought you would make a perfect candidate for such."

Finnelan's dour expression indicated that she thought quite the contrary, but Chariot had to take a pause, a few moments passing before she realized just what was being asked of her.

"E-Eh?" She sputtered, hands flying upwards to her mouth. "M-Me!? I-I don't- headmistress, I-I don't think I would make… a very good-"

"Please don't panic, Professor Ursula, you won't be alone. Anne has volunteered to accompany you, so there's no need to feel too much pressure."

"I… er…"

Chariot glanced nervously over toward Finnelan, whose expression had undergone little change throughout the entire discussion thus far. She could swear she saw one of her eyebrows twitch though, causing the younger woman to nervously swallow. Was Holbrooke expecting her to find that reassuring? The very idea of having to spend an entire evening under the scrutiny of her stern senior colleague was making her break out into a cold sweat.

"W-Wait, this… this is all very sudden," she stuttered. "I… thought we were on bad terms with Appleton?"

"Oh my, you really must keep up with the news more my dear!" Holbrooke gave an elegant flick of her wand, a display shimmering to life behind her as dozens of articles began to materialize in a faint green glow. "Ever since the revival of Yggadrasil, public opinion of magic has turned on its head! Even Appleton isn't willing to hold so tightly onto past prejudices while the rest of the world shifts. And given that our own students were responsible for this change, Luna Nova's reputation has never been better. This rivals even the days of the Golden Age, it does!"

"A-Ah… I see…"

"And, because of that," Holbrooke continued, her smile widening further, "who better to represent us then than those very young witches in question?"

Chariot blinked, the realization clicking in her head. "Wait, does that mean…"

"Yes, I've sent the invites to the girls as well. I imagine they'll all have a lovely time with you there to chaperone them."

"Headmistress, I feel that I must stress another time, that things can and do consistently go wrong when this particular bunch get involved." Finnelan interjected now, her expression less irritated than Chariot had expected, and more so a certain degree of… weary. "Are you absolutely sure of this?"

Much as Chariot would hate to agree with that evaluation, it was hard to argue otherwise. Akko luck (or lack of it) in particular was starting to reach a legendary status among her peers. Holbrooke however merely gave a nonchalant wave of her hand, the smile never dipping off her face for a second.

"Oh come now, Finnelan, those children are the usherers of a new era! I'd say they earned this, wouldn't you?"

Finnelan looked very much like she wanted to disagree, but said nothing, only heaving an exhausted huff as she crossed her arms. Chariot had the feeling that she'd already voiced her arguments to the contrary earlier without avail, and was now simply resigned to the fact that she would not be changing Holbrooke's mind.

"I-I still don't see why send me though…" she said, anxiously wringing her hands."Surely you'd rather have someone more… suitable…?"

"Come now, Professor Ursula, you were also involved weren't you? You had no small part in aiding them, it's only fair you be there as well."

Then Holbrooke's eyes gained a bit of a twinkle, her smile becoming a little more… playful?

"Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have a pretty young face represent our school for once, wouldn't it?"

"H-Headmistress!"

Her face became beet red as Holbrooke chortled and Finnelan sighed, again.

"Well, I think that's all there is to say about that. So, Professor Ursula? Is that a yes or a no?"

Chariot made a high-pitched noise, still very much frazzled, her initial intent to scramble for any excuse as to why she wouldn't be able to attend. But faced with Holbrooke's expectant smile and the very thought of Akko present at an aristocratic event without adequate supervision, it only took so long before she caved.

"V-Very well, headmistress, if you're so sure…"

"Excellent!" Holbrooke clapped her hands together with glee. "Then that's settled!"

Two minutes later, the young professor gloomily exited the room with an invitation in hand, looking anything but enthused for the upcoming event. Finnelan waited until the door had clicked shut behind her before turning to her amicable superior with arms still crossed and a disapproving frown.

"You didn't tell her the real reason."

Holbrooke's pleasant smile didn't shift so much a millimeter as she interlaced her fingers in front of her face.

"She'll find out when she gets there, no? It will be a pleasant surprise for her I hope."

Finnelan groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I never took you for such a meddler, Headmistress."

"My my, Anne, there's nothing wrong with the occasional intervention. And after all, even you have lately lamented that she's been staring off into space and sighing a lot recently, no?"

"Only because she'll tune out in the middle of conversation to do so." Finnelan grumbled in exasperation. "I can't believe you convinced the East Mogiana Ministry to allow this."

"Dorlin is a reasonable woman if you know how to negotiate with her. Now cheer up Anne! Ah, the joys of youth! Can you think of anything more wonderful?"

Yes, Finnelan wished to reply, but the effort, she acknowledged, was a fruitless one. So instead she groaned and hoped to the Nine Olde that nothing catastrophic would come of this affair.

"Isn't this so cool, Professor? I've never been to one of these fancy parties bef- well okay I have, but this is the first time I've actually been invited!"

"A-Ah, well, I'm glad you're enjoying it then."

Chariot managed to smile weakly but genuinely at her student, who was currently working her way through a heaping pile of desserts balanced dangerously upon her plate. Akko seemed cheerily oblivious to her precarious situation, ramming another forkful of cake into her mouth as she continued to chatter excitedly to her mentor.

Appleton's main ballroom was as vast and lavishly furnished as one would expect for the country's most prestigious boy's academy. It was all certainly very… nice, she supposed, but to be frank, she had never found herself very comfortable within such upper class gatherings. There was something subtly oppressive about the atmosphere, an unspoken code of conduct to which the rules were entirely foreign to her.

"Ah!" Akko exclaimed, loudly, with her mouth still full, earning her a gentle (and mildly flustered) reprimand from her mentor. The young witch chuckled apologetically before diverting her gaze back toward whatever it was that had caught her attention.

"Sorry professor, I just noticed that Diana and Andrew are glaring at each other again. I'm gonna go see what's up with them."

"Ah alright. R-Remember where we are Akko, don't forget your manners!"

Her student beamed a megawatt grin as she inhaled another bite of pie, cheekily quipping that she was acting "more like a mom than usual" before prancing off in the direction of her friends. Chariot felt her heart rate spike sharply as Akko nearly tumbled headlong into a gentleman while she waved her goodbye, breathing a hefty sigh of relief when the girl swerved at the last second, narrowly avoiding collision with him and his very expensive looking suit by a hair's width.

Now that the girl was gone, Chariot couldn't help but feel even more discomforted by her situation. What was one even supposed to do at these lavish parties anyhow? She felt out of place not having anyone to exchange idle chatter, but neither did she feel like approaching anyone either. More and more, she wondered how on earth the Headmistress had considered her to be a suitable candidate for this endeavour; surely any other member of the faculty would have been more suitable to "uphold Luna Nova's prestigious image"? And it seemed that any time she did get approached, it was always because of-

"Good evening to you, Miss. Might I know your name?"

Oh, here was another one.

Chariot fought the urge to fiddle with the strap of her dress, one of the few things she owned that looked at least acceptable enough to wear to tonight's juncture. She managed a nervous smile at the well-dressed man that was now striking up conversation with her, a Duke of something or another? The name had passed her entirely in a brief moment of panic and she tried to politely endure his gestures of evident interest, his words all but passing over her head as she struggled to maintain eye contact.

"The next song will be coming up soon, would you perhaps care for a dance with me?"

"I…"

Her eyes darted frantically across the room, catching sight of Finnelan near the refreshments table speaking very sternly to an exasperated-looking Amanda O' Neill, and she saw her chance to escape.

"M-My apologies! It seems that my colleague is calling for me! Ah, p-perhaps later, goodbye."

Perhaps never, Chariot thought, swiftly skirting around him before he could respond, keeping her eyes low so she wouldn't catch sight of his expression as she left. She caught up with Finnelan just as she dismissed Amanda, the suit-clad girl rolling her eyes as she grudgingly sulked away.

"By the Nine, that child, I swear…"

Whatever Finnelan had been about to mutter beneath her breath, she stopped upon seeing Chariot approach, her frown deepening at the sight of her younger colleague's sheepish wave of a greeting.

"Professor Ursula." She placed her hands sternly on her hips, a gesture that all too often made Chariot feel like she was a student again, about to receive a sharp reprimand. "So, inform me, which young man are you taking refuge from this time?"

Chariot laughed nervously, her hands twisting together behind her back, a little bashful at how easily her intentions had been read.

"Well I… er… thought you might have needed a hand with Amanda?"

Finnelan's unamused expression said all that was needed as to how much she really believed that blatant fib. Still, her glare seemed to soften somewhat as Chariot continued to squirm nervously under her hardened gaze, and she crossed her gloved arms with a sigh of resignation.

"Is it really so agonizing to tolerate their attentions for only a night? It's simply the nature of ballroom etiquette."

"Even so, I… really can't stand it." Chariot mumbled sullenly. "Dancing seems too intimate to partake in with unknown strangers."

"Are you sure it isn't because they're simply not to your tastes?" Finnelan asked, drily raising an eyebrow as her junior's complexion took on a faint dusting of pink.

"T-That… erm…"

"Spare me, Professor Callistis. I'm all too aware of with whom your true affections lie."

To that, Chariot was rendered speechless, and if her face had been coated with a blush before, it darkened to a much brighter shade of cherry red now. Mercifully, Finnelan's austere gaze lightened as she watched her floundering and she held up a hand before Chariot could find the words to contest her previous statement.

"Either way, if it makes you uneasy, I will not push you. You can accompany me awhile if it makes you feel more comfortable."

Chariot blinked at her with surprise. "R-Really? You wouldn't mind?"

Finnelan sighed again, albeit without its usual bite of disapproval.

"I was intending to speak to Lord Hanbridge soon; your potential admirers would likely be discouraged from interrupting such a conversation. For the better perhaps; it might cast a poor impression on Luna Nova if too many young men left the ball dejected tonight.

Abashed, Chariot could only respond with a apologetic chuckle. When she looked up though, Finnelan had suddenly stiffened, looking past her shoulder with an odd expression. Confused, she turned her head but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just the same unfamiliar masses of well-dressed bluebloods engaging in polite and mannered conversation, as before.

"Professor Finnelan?"

Her senior colleague jolted back to attention, the puzzling expression yet to leave her face, having now redirected it towards Chariot instead. She looked as if she were deliberating briefly with herself before finally shaking her head in annoyance, much to Chariot's further bewilderment.

"No, nevermind. Let's go."

With that, Finnelan briskly strode off towards the other end of the room, where the elder Hanbridge was located amongst a small score of guests. Still baffled by the odd behaviour, Chariot only had time to cast a brief glance backwards once more, puzzled as to who or what it was the older professor had seen, before the strange occurrence would slip her mind as she hurried in the wake of her colleague.

"Meridies, did you honestly even try?"

Croix feigned innocence, badly, as she faced her exasperated parole officer with a sullen expression.

"Why yes, I very much did, Mark. Are you going to be whimpering about it all night?"

"Don't give me that nonsense. You just didn't bother with an effort, did you?"

He was speaking of course about the state of her tie, which looked as if it had been very incorrectly knotted, and with great lack of care. Coupled with her slightly oversized Ministry-issued uniform, she looked decidedly out of place amongst the well-dressed attendees of the ball around, even compared to the other security detail on scene.

"You can't prove that," she grumbled, shoving her hands deeper into the large pockets of her borrowed navy-blue robe. He wasn't wrong, she'd give him that. She'd been forced into too many stuffy dinner parties and award ceremonies to not come away from it all with an intimate understanding of how one was expected to present themselves at such proceedings. Her refusal to fix her appearance had little to do with ability, so much as it did with motivation.

"Please, it's atrocious. Can you not at least straighten it out? Just a bit?"

Mark's request was just short of an outright plea, which did grant her a small and admittedly petty sliver of satisfaction. This she didn't give away, careful not to let her expression of dry disdain slip from control.

"Do it yourself if it matters so much," she muttered, knowing full-well he'd sooner swallow his wand whole.

"I don't understand why you feel the need to be so difficult, Meridies." Mark groaned, agitatedly adjusting his square glasses. "Might I remind you that the only reason you are out of prison, is because the Ministry quite generously offered you early parole on the conditions you provide assistance for the occasions you're called upon?"

"Yes, and I fail to see why that includes converting me into a glorified security guard." Croix gestured frustratedly towards the Ministry members standing near the other entrances and around the perimeter of the room. "You have a small militia gathered already, for what reason do you need me here?!"

Her parole officer sighed, again. He did that an awful lot it seemed, when it came to having to deal with her.

"If I'm being frank, I'd have to agree with you. It's certainly not worth having to put up with your petulance, but Minister Dorlin was inexplicably insistent on having you here tonight. I certainly don't have the authority to contest her decisions, however much I wish I do now."

"Yes well, in that case, looks like neither of us get to have what we want, do we?"

Mark pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like he wanted to fling himself off the nearest available balcony.

"You only need to remain here for a few hours. Could you at least make it as painless as possible for us both?"

"No promises," she grunted, but grudgingly resigned herself to her situation with an irritated huff. There was only so much satisfaction she could derive from wearing her parole officer's patience down to ever-thinning levels. Sullenly, she looked out over the crowd before her, bitterly disdainful of the event that had summoned her from her travels, pulling her from her coveted research into the intricacies of Wagandea's curse. Such high brow events had never impressed her anyway; an elegant waste of time and resources, a gathering for the richest in dollars and stupidest in-

Wait.

It was a bit of a mystery how Croix had noticed at all the spot of dull navy in a sea of far brighter colours, but she felt her throat tighten as her gaze settled. No, that couldn't be right, could it? There wasn't any reason for her to be here-

But then she spied the unmistakable figure of Finnelan close by, not immediately recognizable in her dark purple ball gown, but her trademark frown of disapproval remained as distinct as ever. And well, in that case, there was no question now the identity of the younger woman in her company, mercifully facing the opposite direction of where Croix was standing as she came to grips with her present reality.

By the Nine, of all people, why the hell was Chariot here?!

Suddenly feeling all too visible, Croix took a few steps backwards, nervously edging her way closer to the entrance she and Mark were standing by. The entire time she kept her eyes on Chariot, who still had not looked her way, her body language appearing rather flustered as she spoke to Finnelan. In the back of her mind, Croix wondered why it was that Chariot's hair was blue now; after all, last she'd seen of her when they'd parted ways at the leyline, her old friend seemed to have been comfortable with keeping it in its natural scarlet hue again. Still, finding out would require talking to her, and the last thing she wanted at the moment was for Chariot to know of her presence in the room.

Mark looked at her wearily as she slunk towards the wall, looking unenthused at the prospect of having to ask her what she was up to, but seemed to begrudgingly summon the willpower for it anyways.

"Do I dare question what you're doing now?"

When Croix didn't answer, gaze still nervously fixated on the woman standing only a dozen or so meters away, Mark frowned and turned to look at what had so intensely captivated her attention.

"Hm? That woman… isn't she the one who saw you off when we took you into custody? Ah, yes, they did send for delegates from Luna Nova after all." He looked mildly concerned now as he turned back to Croix and noticed that she'd become as pale as the wall she was pressing herself against. "...I was going to ask if you wanted to greet her, but you don't strike me as being particularly eager to do so."

Croix's first thought was to conjure a snippy retort, if only to disguise her own blatant distress. But it was at that moment that Finnelan caught sight of her, her notice appearing to have attracted Chariot's attention as well. In a moment of panic, Croix pulled up her hood and turned around, taking a step behind Mark for good measure as he sputtered at her in bewilderment.

"Meridies, what are you doing!?"

"Shut up, pretend like I'm not here!" She hissed, her hands clamming as they tugged her hood down further. "Is she looking this way?"

"Well she did for a second, but not anymore." He shook his head disbelievingly, looking like he deeply regretted his choice of career for not the first time that night. "I don't know what's going on between you two, but can you at least be an adult about it?"

"Just tell me when she leaves," Croix whispered, patently ignoring the latter half of his sentence as she nervously kneaded the fabric of her uniform between her fingers.

"Well, she's walking away now, if that's what you were waiting for." He looked decidedly unimpressed with her as she warily trudged back into the open, glancing nervously towards where she had seen Chariot standing last. "Would you care to explain what that was all about?"

"Is it any of your business?" She grunted, irreverent once again now that the danger had passed, and none too pleased that Mark had gotten to see her acting like a complete idiot.

"If it gives people the impression that the Ministry hires utter buffoons, then yes." He shot back, equally as irate. "You parted on fairly amicable terms, did you not? Why are trying to avoid her?"

"Don't bother," she growled, loathe to admit the precision with which his words had struck a nerve. "Not in the mood to discuss."

"Okay, okay." He threw up his hands, unwilling to comment further on the nature of their relationship complexities. "If it's not going to be a problem for the Ministry, then it won't be a problem for me."

"Good. So we've sorted that out."

With that, she tucked her hood tighter over her head and began to stalk off, making sure to keep close to the wall as she did so.

"Wait, where are you going?" Mark called after her, bewildered.

"Don't you already have enough eyes on that door?" She responded, careful not to raise her voice too much in case someone heard. "I'd rather not stand somewhere so conspicuous!"

Croix could hear a loud, aggravated groan behind her, but given that he said nothing else to stop her, it was probably safe to assume that she'd been granted the permission to leave. Keeping her head lowered, her intention was to find the most unremarkable corner of the room to hide out in for the remainder of the night. She left just enough of her vision unobscured so that she wouldn't accidentally bump into someone else; last thing she wanted was to cause a scene with some offended elite and bring attention to herself.

Unfortunately for Croix, her precautions hadn't accounted for the possibility of someone else bumping into her.

Except, to say that someone had merely bumped into her was a gross understatement, given that the impact knocked the air cleanly from her lungs and nearly toppled her over, with only the nearby wall having saved both her and the offending individual from eating the fine marble floor. Still wheezing from the shock of the moment, Croix staggered to an upright position, about to shoot a filthy glare at whichever moron had been so dense as to not watch where they were going in a room crowded with easily insulted aristocrats, when suddenly an all too familiar voice piped up:

"Oh no, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

And then Atsuko Kagari's apology cut off sharply midway, her already widened eyes widening further as they met Croix's own aghast stare. For a few seconds they remained that way in stunned silence, the idle chatter of the party around them fading entirely from notice, before Akko recovered quicker and she gasped. Loudly.

"Oh! It's Professor Cr-"

Akko's characteristically chipper voice was abruptly rendered into silence, as if someone had hit a mute button on her. Which, in a manner of things, was more or less what happened. The moment Akko had opened her mouth, Croix had seen disaster incoming and rushed to cast a silencing spell in a moment of mindless panic, her eyes darting around frantically in desperate hopes that a certain witch hadn't been in earshot of her student's extremely audible exclamation.

When a few seconds had passed and no anxious blue-haired professors came rushing over with concern, Croix breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She then made an aggressive shushing motion towards her former pupil, who was indignantly flapping her lips and gesturing with her hands, looking very put off at being rendered mute without warning.

"I will only lift this if you promise not to start yelling the moment it's off." Croix hissed, cautiously undoing the spell with a flick of her wand when the girl nodded crossly, placing her hands on her hips with a silent humph.

"What was that for?" Akko asked, her cheeks puffed out in a fine imitation of an irate hamster. Croix winced at the volume of her voice, which was nowhere near as quiet as she would have wanted it to be, but she supposed that the girl was technically honouring her promise and didn't warrant being silenced against her will a second time.

"You were drawing attention." She mumbled, still casting wary glances to the crowd nearby.

"Not that much!"

"More than what I wanted."

"Aw come on! Even then, why would it be so bad? It's not like you're hiding from someone are you?"

"Not something you need to worry about. Forget that you saw me okay? Don't tell anyone I'm here."

"What?" Akko cocked her head in confusion. "But why?"

"As I said, nothing you need to worry about." Croix grumbled, wanting very much for this conversation to be over with. "Now shoo, go find your friends or something. It's going to look weird if you're seen talking this long with a hooded stranger."

With that, Croix began to walk away, fully expecting to be left alone. Unfortunately, it was as if Akko existed to disregard expectations (her expectations especially so), and it was to her dismay that the girl took up pace beside her, abjectly refusing to be shaken off.

"Well you're hooded, but you're not a stranger right? What are you doing here anyway?" Akko curiously looked her up and down, not even a trace of resentment to her inquiry. "And why are you dressed like all those security people?"

Croix sighed, wondering what would be the best way to get herself out of her current predicament. Of course, out of all the attendees, she just had to run into one that both recognized her and refused to leave her alone. As much as she would have liked to escape her unwanted company, she had no reassurance that the girl wouldn't just spill the news of her presence to anyone and everyone, especially the one she specifically was trying her hardest to keep it a secret to. Faced with that daunting prospect, it seemed that she had no choice but to weather the young witch's limitless inquiries for now.

"I'm not here because I wanted to be. The long and short of it is that it's under the conditions of my parole that I help out the East Mogiana Ministry whenever they ask me to." She gave a beleaguered huff to emphasize her dissatisfaction. "And for some reason, they really want me to be here for additional security tonight."

"Ohhh, so you're like, being a bodyguard or something? That sounds really cool!"

"Hardly. It just means I have to waste time standing around. They already have more than enough people to handle it if something really does go down."

"Oh." Despite Croix's joyless answer, Akko's mood didn't seem to have dipped at all. "Well, why don't you want anyone to know you're here? It's not like it's embarrassing right?"

"That's not it, and trice now I'm telling you not to worry about it. Do you not have anything better to do than follow me around?"

"Hey, I just wanted to know how you've been doing! You don't have to be mean about it!" Akko retorted, still unfortunately showing no signs of wanting to leave. Croix frowned at her for a few moments, then reluctantly conceded that her grouchiness was perhaps just a touch unreasonable, especially given how little ill-will the girl was holding against her. Their history, after all, wasn't exactly the friendliest.

"Okay fine, I'm sorry." She muttered unenthusiastically, albeit as sincerely as she could manage. "I'm not quite sure what to think of your willingness to tag along with people who have a confirmed history of almost killing you."

"Oh what? That was like a year ago Professor, I know you've gotten a lot better! And, besides, I've had way worse scrapes since anyway." From anyone else, such a proclamation surely would have been sarcastic, but Croix couldn't detect a trace of it from the young witch beaming up at her now. It left her too befuddled to even remind the girl that she was long past being her professor anymore, prompting Akko to continue on with the conversation as if she hadn't at all noticed Croix's look of bemused disbelief.

"And well, Professor Ursula's told me a lot about you since then. How you two used to be best friends and all that!" Akko's eyes lit up as she arrived at a sudden revelation. "Oh yeah! Professor Ursula's here! You should at least go say hi to her!"

"No. No no, that's, the exact opposite of what I'm going to do." Croix replied, flustered at the insinuation that Chariot would have spoken at all about her in the past year they spent apart. "Why do you think I've been trying so hard to stay incognito?"

"What!?" Akko looked up at her incredulously. "You're trying to avoid her?!"

"Don't sound so offended, Kagari." Croix tugged nervously at her shoddily done tie as she saw a head of blue bob up in the crowd, thankfully quite far in the distance, and the tension left her shoulders when it disappeared just as quickly. "I have my reasons."

"But…" To Croix's surprise, Akko looked crestfallen. "You don't want to see her? Why though? She misses you a lot."

Of all the people, she never expected that Akko would be the one to induce the first significant crack in her resolve. Briefly stunned by that revelation, it was a few seconds before she was able to croak out a response.

"She… said that?"

"Well, not specifically, but it's pretty obvious!"

"W-What makes you think so?"

"Well," Akko stood up straighter, a determined gleam in her eye and looking more stern than Croix could have ever imagined seeing her. "She smiles a lot when she talks about you, but afterwards she always looks really sad and starts sighing for hours. That seems like she misses you to me!"

"I… oh. Huh."

"So why would you even try to avoid her?!" Akko was leaning forward now with her hands on her hips, glaring at her accusingly, enough so that Croix felt pressured to nervously lean back in response.

"I…" Croix felt herself withering under Akko's fierce scrutiny, then readjusted her glasses with an uncomfortable sigh. "I… didn't know that, but… it's not that I don't want to see her. I just… haven't fulfilled my promise to her yet."

"You mean helping her be able to fly again? But why can't you still visit her while you do that?" Akko asked, not looking particularly impressed by the explanation. "I think she would want to see you way more than some dumb cure."

"It's the principle of it okay?" Croix insisted, although with perhaps less conviction than she would have liked. "Either way, I'd still like it if you kept it to yourself that you saw me here tonight. Got that?"

When Akko didn't respond immediately, Croix opted reluctantly for a different approach.

"Kagari, I would be very much… grateful… if you did so."

She had to grind out the request through gritted teeth, not exactly the most fond of having to beg for favours, but it had the effect that she wanted. Akko looked deeply conflicted, scrunching up her face in troubled uncertainty before reluctantly nodding her head.

"...Fine. I won't tell... Professor Ursula that you're here."

"You also can't tell someone else to tell her that I'm here." Croix added, raising an eyebrow when Akko made a small disappointed noise of frustration, her plans foiled in the blink of an eye.

"Alright-"

"And also you can't tell her to just come to where I am. Or have anyone else do it. You get the gist."

"Ugh okay fine! But still don't get why you're being so weird about this. If you want to see her, and she wants to see you, why won't you just go talk to her?"

To that Croix chuckled tiredly, a dry humourless sound, absent of levity.

"Ah, if only things could be that convenient." She readjusted her hood and turned to walk away, relieved to see that Akko hadn't moved to trail after her this time. "I'll see her again when it's… something I've actually earned."

Croix cast a final glance backwards to ensure Akko had no more parting words for her, finding herself actually mildly amused now by the look of indignant frustration on the girl's face. Unable to resist another chuckle, she gave a casual wave of goodbye over her shoulder, finally free to lay low for the rest of the evening.

Kids. Everything was so uncomplicated in their eyes, wasn't it?

If only.

"She misses you a lot."

Croix's step faltered. Her fists clenched briefly, before she forced herself to continue her stride.

If only.

this idea's been knocking about in my head for more than a year, out of a desire to write Croix being simultaneously the most petulant little shit and Dumbest Gay Of All