A Touch Too Far
A small flame emanating from the tip of Diana's wand lit her path forward. The halls of Luna Nova always felt deserted this late at night. Every student smart enough to follow the rules had crawled into bed hours ago; only the occasional teacher or worker would ever cross her path. It always felt strange to see the halls so empty, but after most days, she'd welcome a few minutes of silence and isolation with open arms.
With only the warmth of her wand's flame and the soothing rhythm of her own footsteps for company, she continued through the halls at an intentionally slow pace. In all honesty, she was technically breaking the rules by doing this. No teacher had ever officially given her permission to walk the halls after hours, but no one ever seemed to have a problem with her being out this late, either. She assumed that this was one of the perks of her family name–one of the few she actually enjoyed.
Either way, long since discovering this privileged freedom, she'd taken upon herself to scope out the halls every night before heading to bed. She never knew exactly what she was looking for, but after so many times, it'd simply become a nightly ritual.
Her final stop before heading to her room was the library. Turning the corner that led to the large room's main entrance, a vague outline in the darkness immediately caught her eye. She stopped mid-step in the open doorway, her body freezing for a split second before she pointed her wand forward.
The white flame from her wand's tip cast a thin stripe of light across the room. She quickly aimed toward the outline she'd seen, and let out a quick sigh of relief soon after. The outline belonged to a single Luna Nova student, still in uniform, and currently sitting motionless at one of the farther tables with their head resting between their crossed arms.
Making sure to keep her steps light, Diana approached the girl and allowed her wand's light to wash over her. The closer she got, the less she believed what she was seeing. Out of every student she expected to find in the library after hours, Akko was probably the very last name that would've crossed her mind–yet here she was.
"Akko…?" she said softly, stopping a few feet behind the girl's chair.
Akko didn't respond to her voice. Peeking over the motionless girl's head revealed the reason for this by offering her a view of two closed eyes and a slowly rising and falling chest. A curious glance to the table saw a few open books scattered around.
"Wow, you were actually studying," Diana whispered while walking around the table. "I wonder how much you got done before falling asleep?"
A lone candle sat at the end of the table, already half melted. After using her wand to light the candle, she relinquished her own flame for the far warmer, orange flame. Following the candle's slowly growing cone of soft light, she continued around the table and sat down at the seat directly opposite Akko.
A light rain smacked against the window's that lined the back wall, creating a strangely soothing sound that bounced throughout the large room. A thin smile crossed her lips as she settled into her seat. She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, at least at first. It was already late, and on an ordinary day she'd no doubt be in bed by now.
Still, for whatever reason, a large part of her was more than happy to stay where she was for the time being.
Akko had yet to move. The girl's face was hidden entirely between her crossed arms, and only the left side of her body was being illuminated by the candle's flame. If the girl was snoring, it was light enough for the rain to cover it, but she was definitely in a deep sleep regardless.
"Akko…" Diana tried again, this time at a slightly higher volume. No response.
Shrugging away the problem for the moment, Diana sat in silence, watching Akko's sleeping form with a soft gaze. She had no idea how much time was passing–it felt like minutes, but could have easily been hours. More than once, she caught her own eyelids closing, and had to force them back open. When it became clear that Akko wasn't going to wake up on her own, she let out a quick sigh and reluctantly stood up enough to lean over the table.
Her intent was to nudge Akko's arm. however, as soon as her hand neared the sleeping girl, Akko's head turned alongside a soft moan. Diana pulled back, but not before her fingertips had gently grazed Akko's right cheek.
"S-Sorry!" Diana blurted out, practically throwing herself back into her seat. "I was just trying to…" she allowed her sentence to trail off upon seeing that Akko's eyes were still closed. "Seriously?"
Akko grumbled something under her breath, so low that her lips barely moved. After another short silence, Diana stood back up and reached forward once more. Her patience was nearing its limit, and she mentally steeled herself for the action she was about to take. Her open palm reached around Akko's head, where her fingers wrapped around the girl's short ponytail.
"Wake. Up. Akko."
One light tug was all it took to get a response. Another groan, far louder than the first. Akko's eyes slowly opened as Diana released her grip.
"Ugh…Diana?" Akko asked while squinting two bloodshot eyes.
"Students aren't allowed in the library this late," Diana said quickly, hoping she could avoid having to explain what she was doing here. "You should head to your room before a teacher sees you; you get in trouble enough as it is."
Akko's right eye had closed again by the time she finished speaking, and the left eye wasn't far behind. "Ugh…" the girl repeated. "Can't. Too tired to walk. I'll just sleep here."
Diana sighed deeply and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "No, Akko, you can't–" There was no reason to continue; Akko's head was already back to resting on her crossed arms. Any more words would have to be spoken to the top of the girl's head.
"You sound tired, too," Akko said, her voice muffled but still audible. "Why don't you stay here with me? No way any teacher will scold us if they see you here."
She knew Akko couldn't see it, but Diana shook her head anyway. "Stop being so childish, Akko. Just–"
This time, it wasn't her decision to cut her sentence short. Instead, what caused her silence was Akko suddenly reaching out and gently grabbing her right hand with a solid grip.
A rush of blood filled Diana's cheeks in a matter of seconds. Akko's slender fingers slid between her own. Their palms rubbed together for a moment that was more than enough to send a sudden chill down Diana's spine. She couldn't accurately describe Akko's skin as soft, but it was warm, and immensely comforting to touch. She bit down hard on her bottom lip as Akko's thumb started to slowly rub her palm.
"That's not fair," she squeaked out through a dry throat. Her embarrassment was instantly doubled by Akko's muffled laughter. "Just…for a while."
Akko mumbled a response, but Diana couldn't make out a word of it. She didn't want to say anything else; the last thing she wanted right now was for Akko to look up and see the intense blush spreading across her face. The girl had been treating her like this for quite a while now. After they'd grown close enough to call each other genuine friends, it'd taken Akko no more than a few days to discover that she was extremely weak when it came to physical contact.
Of course, a regular friend would have shrugged off such a fact. Akko, on the other hand, chose to use it to endlessly tease her any time they were alone. She always had the feeling that saying something could easily put a stop to this, which was precisely why she chose to always remain silent on the matter.
Her fingers had grown tense at first, but were now loose enough for her to entwine them with Akko's. Without the will or desire to hide her smile, she used her free hand to pull over one of Akko's books and rested her head on its open pages. The warmth from Akko's hand soon spread to her own. As that warmth slowly spread to the rest of her body, her eyelids finally grew too heavy to bear.
She awoke to the feeling of sunlight heating her lower back. The immediate thought that she'd slept all through the night came as a bit of a shock, but not enough of one for her to open her eyes. If a teacher hadn't discovered them yet, they were in the clear until classes started.
"Diana…" Akko called out in a hushed whisper.
The girl attempted to pull her hand away, but Diana kept a firm enough grip to make that a challenge.
"Diana!" Akko repeated, her voice slightly higher pitched.
Diana pouted as the girl made a second attempt to free her hand. "Relax, Akko," Diana said in a calm tone. "We've still got time before class starts. Just a bit longer, okay."
If she hadn't already been blushing, what happened next would've caused her face to turn beet red. It wasn't Akko who responded to what she'd said. Rather, the voices of several incredibly close girls filled her ears.
"Oh my…did you hear that?" one girl asked in a tone full of shock.
"So it wasn't an accident after all," a second girl added. "They were sleeping like that on purpose."
"She was almost talking like they're lovers," a third girl declared in a gossipy tone. "You heard what she said. She was practically begging Akko for more."
"Oh, tone it down, Mary! We were just holding hands!" Akko finally responded, her voice breaking more than once."
It was about the last thing she wanted to do in this situation, but Diana forced herself to lift her head and open her eyes. The rain outside had been replaced by a crystal clear blue sky. As a result, the rays of light shining into the library were bright enough to cover the entire room. Had this not given her the unfortunate ability to see the dozen or so Luna Nova students forming a tight circle around the table, she would've considered such a sight pleasing to the eye.
A couple of the students were blushing almost as much as she was, while the rest were either staring down in shock or disbelief. No matter their reaction, Diana found it near impossible to meet any of their eyes directly. Her fingers were still entwined with Akko's, and after the things she'd said, it'd be near impossible to make up any excuse that would explain their situation.
As awkward as she felt right now, one look across the table revealed that Akko was having a much harder time dealing with the sea of judging eyes surrounding them. The girl's face was dark red, so much so that the tips of her ears had even started to change color, and she had yet to stop squeaking out halfhearted explanations that were clearly convincing nobody.
While watching the girl protest their situation will all of her might, a realization hit Diana hard and fast. She finally understood why Akko always waited until they were alone to tease her. Alone, Akko could flirt with reckless abandon, but in public, she seemed unable to handle even the implication of anything romantic. At first, this caused Diana to feel sorry for the girl–then she thought about it for a couple more seconds.
"What's wrong, Akko-tan?" Diana asked with a devilish smirk on her lips. She placed her free hand on top of Akko's, making it all but impossible for the girl to pull away. "You were so pushy last night. Is a few extra eyes all it takes for you to lose your nerve?"
"What?" Akko asked in wide-eyed shock. "W-What are you talking about, Diana?! And how do you know that honorific?!"
Diana sat up enough to lean over the table. She finally released Akko's hand, but only so she could use her own to quickly cup both sides of the girl's face.
"And here I was thinking you truly cared about me…" Diana said while meeting Akko's eyes. Her right thumb caressed Akko's cheek before finding its way to the girl's bottom lip. "If you do, surely you're willing to prove it right here and now, no matter how many eyes are upon us."
If she wasn't already taking extreme delight in getting some long overdue payback, Diana could have easily matched the color of Akko's face. She met the girl's eyes with a gaze she prayed looked passionate enough to stop Akko from calling her bluff.
The girls around them had gone deathly silent. More than a few had their mouths agape, and the amount of blushing faces among the crowd had doubled. For a moment, she felt a rush of embarrassment herself. She'd certainly never live this moment down, and it was probably safe to say that the rumors regarding her sexuality were no longer up for debate, but seeing Akko's reaction made it all worth it.
The girl's eyes looked physically incapable of opening any wider, and the red on her face had long since spread to cover every last inch. After soaking in this sight for a few seconds, Diana decided she'd pushed the situation far enough.
Her expression softened alongside another soft sigh. A brief look of confusion from Akko struck her pretty hard. She opened her mouth to explain that she was only teasing, but was robbed of the opportunity by Akko's right hand gripping the back of her head. All she managed was a single blink of her eyes before Akko closed the space between them, all but smashing their faces together.
A series of deep gasps filled the room, some beyond even the group of girls surrounding them. However else the other girls reacted to what they were seeing, Diana had no way of knowing. The moment the sensation of Akko's lips pressing against her own fully hit her, her mind lost the ability to focus on anything else.
It wasn't a long kiss, and she spent the better half of it frozen in shock, but it definitely wasn't an experience she'd describe as unpleasant. Akko's eyes were shut tight, while her own were open wide.
Akko pulled back and opened her eyes a few seconds later. "T-There!" the girl shouted. "Does that–why are you looking at me like that?"
"You…actually kissed me…" Diana could barely speak the words aloud. It took every ounce of will she had to meet Akko's eyes.
"W-What do you mean?" Akko asked in a desperate tone, her eyes occasionally darting off to glance at one of the many girl's surrounding them, all of whom had once again gone silent. "You…you wanted me to, right? You just said I had to prove that–"
"I was teasing you, Akko!" The truth came out before she could stop it.
"What?!" Akko yelled, a sudden eye twitch accompanying the vacant look on the girl's face. "Well…tell me that next time!" Akko pleaded.
Diana threw up her arms in frustration. "That kinda defeats the purpose!" she replied.
Nothing more could be said after that; both girls had reached their emotional limits. In an instant, Diana felt her legs grow weak. An attempt to grab the table came far too late. She started her descent as soon as her legs gave out, her back destined to meet the floor. A last second glance across the table saw Akko in exactly the same position.
As the sound of footsteps and shrieking filled the room, one last thought slipped into her mind: Perhaps I'd taken things just a touch too far.