The Name Game

by TheHardestFall

Dianakko Week 2018 Entry! Day 4. Diana is well aware of how packed her schedule is. Eventually, she also becomes aware of how lonely Akko was getting as well and decides it's up to her to fix things. It may come at a cost, but she was going to spoil Akko in the best way possible.

Hey everyone welcome to my day 4 entry! Hope you enjoy the story! Quick shout out Kinoko-Cha for the review on day 3! Glad you enjoyed it!

Also, shout out to my fantastic Beta ImaginaryEngineer for all her hard work! Its much appreciated!

Day 4: Spoiling Akko.

The Name Game.

Diana sneezed. Again.

She hated her allergies. Absolutely hated them. It took a combination of magic and two types of medication to keep them in check. Pollen, mowed grass, dust, she was allergic to it all. She supposed she had her lineage to thank for it. Unfortunately, as with most older families, there had been some questionable marriages up the line that resulted in compromised genes.

Meaning she had, amongst other things, bad allergies.

And yet, here she was. Driving home trapped in a car with an eight-week-old kitten curled up in a blanket-lined cardboard box on the passenger seat. Akko had been wanting a cat or dog for the longest time, but with Diana's allergies, both of them knew it was impossible. Growing up, Diana had been around horses and hounds, however, they had been kept in the stables and kennels, making it easier to avoid them. This time around, living in an apartment, there was no avoiding animals.

However as time had gone on, Diana realized how lonely Akko was getting. She tried her best, but with her work schedule being what it was it couldn't really be helped. So finally, when one of Diana's coworkers mentioned that her cat had had kittens that were now ready for homes, she knew what needed to be done. It may have meant more medicine or another spell added to her morning routine, but Akkos happiness was worth it. Seeing that huge, slightly lopsided smile light up the woman's entire face, the twinkle that her maroon colored eyes adopted, her happy giggle, made it worth it.

She sneezed again and groaned. This was getting on her nerves. She was just starting to consider turning around when there was a soft rustling noise and a tiny merp. She glanced over as she was pulling up to a red light and felt a smile emerge. A tiny orange head was poking up over the edge of the box, looking around to see what was going on. Green eyes locked on to her as the tiny thing let out a high pitched meow. Diana hit the gas as the light turned green, but not before she felt a weight in her lap. At the next light, she stopped and looked down to see a little ball of orange fuzz curled up on her lap, seemingly asleep.

Poor thing must be scared. Was all she could think. It had to have been. It was just so small, and the world was huge and full of new, scary loud noises. And it had just been taken from its mother. Knowing how that felt, Diana's heart cracked a bit, making up her mind about keeping it. Allergies or no.

She sneezed again.

(~*~*~*~*~*~)

Akko was sitting on the couch watching a movie when she heard Diana come in behind her, however she didn't turn around "Hey how was work?"

"It was fine. I helped a coworker resolve an issue. Akko do you have a minute? I need your assistance with this box."

"Huh? Yeah sure." Akko paused the movie and got up. She was halfway around the couch when there was a rustling sound coming from the box in Diana's arms.

Akko stopped and gave her girlfriend an odd look "Diana, what's in the box?"

"Well...you said you were lonely an- an-" Diana turned her head and sneezed twice "Akko please take the box I need to blow my nose."

Akko was now thoroughly confused. She walked up to her girlfriend and took the box from Diana, who bolted into the kitchen to blow her nose. Meanwhile, the brunette knelt down and opened the box.

And proceeded to get even more confused. "Diana…?"

The blonde walked back over to Akko, a soft smile on her face "Surprise!'

Akko was still confused "But- I don't…"

Diana knelt down next her girlfriend "I know how lonely you've been, and I know how badly you've wanted a kitten or puppy. And while our landlord won't allow dogs, I knew I could at least get you a kitten." She leaned over and kissed Akkos cheek.

The brunette, however, wasn't sure how she felt about it "But your allergies are horrible already! It takes you fifteen minutes just to do that one spell!" she turned to face Diana "I really appreciate the offer, but I can't let you do this! I'll take up Judo or something and make some friends. Really, It's ok."

This was definitely not the reaction Diana was expecting. It threw her off a little bit "Well, I figured out how to increase the strength of the spell. But if you really don't want her…" there was no way Diana would have given up the kitten at that point, however she knew exactly what she was doing. Akkos eyes got huge, and then she was picking up the startled kitten and holding it close.

Diana smiled. That was answer enough.

Then she sneezed again. The kitten spooked and squirmed out of Akkos arms before diving right under the couch. The two looked at each other for a second and then started to laugh. Akko fell over, making Diana laugh harder right up until she sneezed yet again.

Akko wiped the years from her eyes as she stood and went to get Diana a tissue. "Is it a boy or girl?" She called from the kitchen.

"Its a girl. She's eight weeks old."

Akko came back with a box of tissues for Diana. "Poor things so little. We should give her a good name to grow into. Something fierce."

Diana nodded as she blew her nose. "I agree. How about Catherine?"

Her girlfriend looked at her oddly. "What?"

"Catherine. Like Catherine de Medici, Catherine the Great, Catherine of Aragon, Kathryn Janeway…?" It was all lost on Akko. "N-never mind. What do you want to name her?"

Akko was quiet for a long moment. "Well...How about Yuri? It's perfect!"

Diana raised an eyebrow "Yuri?"

The brunette nodded excitedly "Yeah! In anime and manga its the word for a girl/girl pairing!"

Akko was super excited, but Diana just shook her head and sighed "Akko, we are not naming our cat Yuri. How about Jennifer, after the Great Witch Jennifer?"

"No, that doesn't feel right either. Why don't we sleep on it?"

That brought a smile to Diana's face. She stepped forward, her hips swaying, and draped her arms across Akkos shoulders "I don't know if I'm all that tired Akko."

Akko moved closer to Diana and pressed into the blonde. "Ha, maybe we can fix that?"

The blonde giggled and then yelped as Akko suddenly lifted her off her feet and carried her into the bedroom.

(~*~*~*~*~*~)

The next morning, Akko woke to giggling. Grumbling, she rolled onto her side and tried to snuggle into Diana, only to find her side of the bed not only empty, but cold as well. Now confused, she sat up and looked around, only to find Diana easily. The blonde was on the floor at the foot of the bed, playing with a small orange ball of fluff. She had a length of ribbon in her hand and was twitching it along the floor for the kitten to chase. The kitten, in turn, would bunch up and pounce onto the ribbon before flopping over and trying to maul the fabric, tumbling around in the process. The sight of not just the kitten, but Diana's smile, brought joy to Akkos heart.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and got up, walking over to Dianas and carefully sitting down next to her girlfriend as to not scare the preoccupied furrball. "Good morning."

Akkos soft voice brought a bigger smile to Diana's face. She leaned over and kissed Akko tenderly. "Good morning. How did you sleep?"

"Alright, What about you?"

Diana shrugged a little "It...Was alright." Diana wasn't one to lie, but neither did she want to tell Akko her allergies kept her up most of the night. She definitely needed to start using that boosted spell. "She was playing with this when I woke up. She went under the bed but when she realized I was trying to play with her she came right out. She's brave for a kitten of her size."

Akko nodded "Yeah she is. We could name her Nala or Kiara, like from The Lion King."

The blonde shook her head "No. Too overused. Both of them."

"Triss?"

That one Diana actually considered. "I like that one. Where did you pick it up?"

Akko smiled. "One of my favorite video games, The Witcher."

The blonde nodded her approval. " Let's try it." She watched the little ball of fluff roll around with the ribbon, holding it in her tiny front paws and scratching it with her back feet while she chewed on it. "She's a killer."

Akko nodded, leaning into the blonde. "Yeah she is. Let's call in, both of us, and spend the day with her."

The blonde sighed. "Akko…"

"I know I know, you have to go to work. You're a surgical intern, and you have lives to save, and you have to study for your intern exam, and you-"

Diana silenced her with a kiss. She held it for a long moment before she finally broke off with a smile. "I already took it off. Over a week ago, once I told Tami I would take the kitten."

The look on her girlfriend's face was heartwarming. She laughed and hugged Diana, absolutely thrilled at the turn of events. The sudden movement scared the kitten, however, and before Akko could blink the furball was under the bed. 'Oops, sorry."

The blonde next to her leaned down and looked under. "She's pretty far in, perhaps we should go eat breakfast and come back. Give her some space."

In all honesty, Akko wanted to just dive under the bed and play with the kitten, but she had to try and behave. At least a little. "I guess. Will you make french toast for breakfast?"

The pout on Akkos face was hard to resist. "Alright, but I need to run out and get milk, can I trust you to behave?"

"What? Diana come on I'm not twelve!"

"Then explain to me what happened to the toaster."

"I told you it was the ghost!"

Diana sighed and stood. "And that is why I don't trust you alone."

She held out her hand and helped Akko up." I'm telling you the apartment is haunted! The ghost doesn't come out when your around because you don't believe, and it's scared of you."

The blonde headed into the bathroom to change, followed by Akko. "Oh, and how do you know that?"

"It told me so."

(******)

Akko sat on the couch, watching TV and waiting for Diana to come back. She couldn't focus though, she wanted to play with Triss! Finally having enough, Akko got up and headed into the bedroom.

It was quiet, and easy to see that the kitten was still under the bed. Dropping to her knees, Akko poked her head under the bed, struggling for a second while her eyes adjusted to find the kitten. She finally found her hiding by one of Diana's shoe boxes, but no matter how many times Akko called she wouldn't come.

And then she got her big idea. Grinning, Akko jumped up and went to her nightstand, pulling the drawer open and pulling her wand out. She popped it open, a big grin on her face. "Alright, here we go! Metamorphie Faciesse!"

Her pronunciation was off a bit, but nonetheless, the spell worked. There was a flash of light and then Akko was in her well used and familiar orange mouse form. She squealed happily before scurrying under the bed and over to the curled up fuzzball. While tiny, as a mouse the kitten seemed much much larger. Akko actually hesitated a second before walking over and hugging Triss.

She was scratching her softly when the kitten stirred and turned its head to look at Akko. There was a pause as Akko smiled and Triss realized what was going on, then the kitten got up and stretched before turning and crouching down.

'Triss do you wanna play? Oh boy, this is going to be so muc- wait. Triss why are you looking at me like that?" For the first time, Akko noticed how the kitten's eyes were huge, letting in a ton of light so she could see in the darkness, and also how her tail was slowly flicking from side to side.

This was bad. "H-hey Triss...Nice kitty kitty." She started to back up slowly, but that tail was still flicking…

"T-Tris- no no no!" Akko turned and ran as the kitten pounced. Akko felt a breeze down her back as the paws missed her by millimeters. She raced out from under the bed , yelling the spell at the top of her lungs.

Unfortunately, nothing happened.

"Hey what- I don't understand." Akko looked down at her paws and said the words again. And again. Even after the fifth time, nothing happened. The kitten sat there looking at Akko oddly before yawning and licking its paw, seemingly losing interest in Akko.

"Hey! What am I not good enough for you to chase now? Is that it?" Akko yelled with an indignant tone. "Oh...wait- Triss!"

The kitten pounced again and Akko went tearing off, Triss hot on her heels. She scurried under an end table, hoping Triss couldn't fit under it, but she tried anyway, knocking it over in the process. The lamp fell to the floor with a crash, and Akko knew Diana was going to kill her, however right now her biggest concern was Triss not killing her.

Quickly looking around, she spotted the tile floor of the kitchen and got an idea. She raced out onto the slick surface, trying her best to use her pads for traction as she made it about halfway across the floor. Turning, she saw Triss wasn't following her and smirked. "Haha take that!"

The kitten, however, wasn't done yet. She timidly reached out with a paw and touched the slick surface. Realizing it was ok, she slowly walked out onto it, trying to get her footing before looking up at Akko with murder in her eyes.

Akko hardly had time to turn around and run before Triss was racing after her, sliding all over in the process. The young witch scrambled toward the stove, hoping to dive under it, but then remembered what happened with the end table and knew if this kitten wrecked the stove, Diana would absolutely lose it. So instead of going down, she went up, jumping for the dish towel hanging from the stoves handle. She clambered up it, using her claws to hold onto the fabric and propel her forward up the towel.

Making it about halfway up, she stopped and looked down at Triss, who was sitting at the base of the stove and watching Akko keenly. "Go on Triss, nap time!"

The kitten didn't move. She just looked at Akko, her tail still flicking from side to side. The mouse could almost see the gears in her head turning. And then before she could move, Triss hunkered down and then sprung up.

Akko closed her eyes, waiting for the worst. Only the worst never came.

Turning her head, Akko saw a very familiar pair of legs. Following them up, she saw Diana, standing there holding Triss and giving Akko The Look. "H-hey Diana…"

The blonde sighed and put the kitten down before reaching out and gently removing Akko from the dish towel. "Akko what did you do this time?"

Akko rubbed the back of her hand and looked at her feet. "Well, I changed into a mouse so I could fit under the bed and see Triss, but I think I cast the spell wrong because I couldn't turn back. And then she tried to eat me!"

"Akko, you changed into a mouse, to play with a cat. What on earth did you think was going to happen?"

'I-I don't know. I guess I didn't really think it through. Hey Diana, can you change me back?"

Diana was quiet a minute as she thought. "Tell me how you said the spell."

Akko told her, however Diana didn't say anything else. Not right away. She instead sat Akko down on the counter before stepping back and looking her over. "Perhaps if I...yes that will work. Stay still Akko."

Diana stepped back and drew her wand. "Akko, I need you to stay very still, alright?"

Akko nodded an affirmation. With that Diana brandished her wand and pressed her open palm against the first holding her now glowing wand. "Corrigez formulaire!"

There was a flash of deep indigo light and then Akko was back in her human form, sitting on the countertop. She looked down at her hands and then back up at Diana, a huge grin on her face. "You did it!"

Diana put her wand away and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Of course I did, you doubted me?"

Akko hopped off the counter and walked up to Diana, draping her arms across her shoulders. "Never. I trust you completely." She kissed her girlfriend softly.

When they finally broke apart, Diana chuckled. "I trust you too. Mostly."

"Mostly! What's that supposed to mean.?"

"Akko what happened to the toaster?"

"I told you it was the ghost!"

"I rest my case."