A.N : Phew ! Sorry for the wait, I was pretty busy these last few days. But nos it's here ! The first chapter of my H&B two-shot ! ... Well, okay, there isn't H&B in this chapter, I'm just putting everything in place so our two idiots end up together. I hope you'll still like it ! Enjoy !
Chapter 1 : The potion
"Argh ! I can't take it anymore !"
Akko fell on her bed, groaning after this cry from the heart. As usual, Lotte turned towards her friend, worry written on her face while Sucy ignored her, focused on her potions. The little blonde asked :
"What's going on, Akko ? Did you fail the last Magic History test again ?
- Yeah, but what bothers me the most is that Hannah and Barbara used this as an excuse to mock me again ! I know I don't have the best marks of our class, no need to remind me all the time !
- Do you want a potion to make you smart ? I always liked challenges, smirked Sucy who had listened to the conversation after all.
- I don't need that ! What I need is a miracle so Hannah and Barbara finally leave me alone !
- Hmmm… I think I have what you need.
- What, seriously ?!"
Lotte and Akko were now focused on the third member of their group, one with a careful expression, the other with eyes shining with hope. Sucy snickered before pointing to the potion she was working on and explain :
"The incident with the Love Love Bee at the Hanbridge's party inspired me : I tried to create a potion that can affect human feelings. Not like those love potions you can find on the internet, those are just extracts of Love Love Bee poison. My potions are way more complex. And I think this one can help you Akko.
- Really ?! Wonderful ! Can I have it ? Please, please, please !
- Only if you accept to be my guinea pig for my five next potions without complaining. It's annoying to always put it in your soup when you don't pay attention.
- Hey ! Stop doing that ! But fine, I'll do it.
- Akko, are you sure ? Using a potion to affect others' feelings isn't very legal nor moral.
- What they always do to me isn't legal nor moral either ! It's time to pay them back ! And it won't hurt them to leave me alone !
- So it's decided. Just wait a minute, I'll give you a vial of potion."
Akko had trouble waiting patiently for Sucy to finish the preparation. She barely listened to her friend's recommendations :
" It's pretty strong, so you'll only need half of the bottle for each person. I don't know what would happen if you used more than that on one subject, so be careful.
- Okay, okay ! Now, give it to me ! I have to try it as soon as I can !"
Clearly not convinced that Akko actually remembered the instructions, Sucy still gave her the potion. After all, it wasn't as if she cared about whatever could happen to those two idiots. Lotte tried to say something, but Akko had already left. The two remaining girls looked at each other, one worried about what was going to happen and the other trying to appear concerned to escape a lecture.
Hidden behind a wall, Akko was looking at a group of girls. Among them was one of her targets : Barbara Parker. For once, the girl wasn't with her best friend and chatted with the purple team. As soon as the three other girls left the place, Akko walked closer to her black haired classmate and greeted her :
"Hey Barbara !"
Surprised, the girl turned around and smiled wickedly as she spotted the Japanese witch.
"Well, well, what's gotten into you ? Didn't you have enough earlier ? Or maybe you can't cast a spell and want to ask for my help ? Too bad, I have other things to do than taking care of a dumbass like you !"
Akko grinded her teeth upon hearing her classmate's words. But she wanted to know what Barbara would say if she asked her to apologise and leave her alone before using the potion, so she did her best to smile, waiting for the other girl to stop talking before saying :
"Actually I wanted to offer you a deal : excuse yourself for all the times you bullied me for no reason and promise me you won't do it again, or else, there will be consequences."
Barbara looked shocked upon hearing those words, but it only lasted a second : the next, she was bursting out laughing, forced to double over and hold on her stomach with how stupid the idea sounded to her ears. After a while, she calmed down enough to respond :
"Consequences ? You really think you're scaring me ? Hahahahaha !"
It was enough for Akko. Quickly, she took the bottle in her pocket, removed the cap and poured the content on Barbara's head. Unfortunately, she wasn't careful enough and ended up emptying the vial completely, giving the girl a double dose of potion. When Akko noticed her mistake, she almost panicked, but she quickly thought to herself that, with how horrible Barbara was with her, a single dose may have not been enough and so, her mistake may be a good thing after all. She would just have to ask Sucy for another bottle that she could empty on Hannah's head and she would finally be free of those two bullies !
Smiling, Akko was ready to leave when she noticed that Barbara was not moving and still in the same position as she was in when the brunette used the potion. Akko panicked : what if Sucy trapped her by giving her one of her poisons ? What if she just killed Barbara ?! She started to franticly shake her classmate, screaming :
"Barbara ? Barbra ?! You're still alive, right ? Hey ! Answer me !"
The black haired girl finally looked up and stared at Akko's eyes. The Japanese witch immediately noticed that something was wrong with the way Barbara looked at her. She had already seen that somewhere, but where ?
She didn't have time to think further about it as Barbara interrupted her train of thoughts with a tender :
"Akko !"
And just like that, the member of the blue team enveloped her scapegoat in a tight embrace, holding on to her as if her life depended on it. Akko didn't know what to do, the situation was totally out of her control. Then she remembered : the Hanbridge's party ! That's where she saw this look ! Diana and Andrew looked at her in the exact same way after the Love Love Bee had stung them !
The brown-haired witch would have slapped herself if Barbara's hug wasn't restraining her movements : of course she should never trust Sucy's potions ! Now Barbara was in love with her ! Internally -and externally- groaning, she wormed her way out of the embrace, but before she could even say anything, her classmate started to speak :
"Akko, I am so sorry about everything I did to you up until now, I really don't know what got into me, my behaviour seems so stupid to me now, apologised the girl with a sincere look on her face. I feel so bad !
- Oh, hum, don't worry about that, it wasn't that bad ! Well, it was, but, huh, I also need to apologise to you because-
- No no, you don't owe me any apology ! I hurt you so much… But now I understand how stupid I was and what I really feel for you… Akko, I… I love you !"
Barbara looked so nervous and sincere, her cheeks red with embarrassment, but her eyes burning with confidence, Akko didn't know what to say. This confession was very different from Diana's, she seemed more genuine, more… real. Akko gulped loudly, cleared her throat and thought about what she should do. If she told Barbara about the potion, the girl wouldn't believe her and would only harass her with confessions to prove her honesty, but at the same time, she couldn't just answer her with fake feelings, it would only cause her more problems. So she decided to stay in-between : not talking about the potion and not encouraging Barbara either. It should work, at least until they reached the red team's room and Sucy accepted to make an antidote.
Taking a deep breath and praying all the gods she knew that this could end quickly and without more problems -as if she could ever be so lucky-, Akko said :
"I'm- I'm happy that you don't want to bully me anymore. I don't know if I can answer your feelings, but we can start with being friends, right ? Come, let's tell Lotte and Sucy the good news !"
Not leaving Barbara enough time to answer, Akko took her hand and led her to the dorms. The walk was silent, Barbara still shaken by her confession and Akko's response to it while the brunette wanted to avoid any embarrassing situation.
Unfortunately for Akko, when she arrived at her team's dorm, it was empty. She only found a note from Lotte telling her that she and Sucy went to the library to study. Groaning again, the Japanese girl turned toward her classmate who was looking around the room with interest. Taking her hand once more, Akko smiled and said :
"Looks like they went to study at the library. Shall we go ? I can't wait to tell them that we're friends now !"
She tried to walk out of the room, but Barbara tugged on her hand to make her stay and look at her in the eyes before she asked :
"Akko, are you in love with someone ?"
Honestly shocked -and embarrassed- by the question, Akko could only stutter :
"Wha-What ?! No-no, not-not at all ! What could ever-ever make you think that ?!
- Nothing, answered a relieved looking Barbara, I just wanted to be sure.
- I… I see… So, how about we go ?"
The blue team member nodded, so Akko led her towards the library. On their way, while Barbara seemed to be lost in thought, Akko couldn't help but think about the question she was just asked : "Are you in love with someone ?". Even without Sucy's potion, the Japanese girl would have never, never confessed to her classmate that, upon hearing the question, the memory of long, blonde and green hair accompanied by beautiful, hypnotising blue eyes invaded her mind. Mentally shaking herself, Akko focused on her mission : she had to bring Barbara to Sucy to cancel the potion's effects and bring the girl back to normal. The brown haired witch shivered as she imagined what would happen to her when her classmate will understand that she used such a potion on her, but it was still better than forcing Barbara to love her when she clearly couldn't return these feelings.
As they walked in an empty hallway, Akko was suddenly pulled away from her thoughts by Barbara tugging on her hand. Surprised, the brown haired witch turned around to look at her classmate, ready to ask what was wrong, but her question was totally forgotten when the British girl pushed her against the closest wall, desire darkening her eyes. Unable to utter a word, Akko could only listen with growing discomfort as Barbara explained herself :
"I don't think I can just be your friend, Akko. I love you so much, I can't stop myself from touching you anymore. At least, give us a chance…"
And with that, Barbara passionately kissed her classmate. Totally shocked by the turn of events, Akko took a second to understand what was going on and put her hands on Barbara's waist to try and push her away, but the sound of books falling to the ground stopped her and made her turn her head towards the end of the hallway. What she saw made her feel like her soul was leaving her body, as if she just made a terrible mistake -which was pretty much the case- : Hannah England, paralysed, her books lying the floor around her, was looking at her best friend, huddled against her worst enemy, as if the world just came crashing down. Panicked, Akko tried to call after her, to explain, but the words refused to leave her mouth and, when she was finally able to speak again, Hannah had already clenched her jaw -from rage, sadness, both ?- and ran away.
A.N : Hum... So yeah... Hannah is heartbroken. I'm a sadist. I'm sorry. But don't worry ! She'll get all better by the end of the next (and last !) chapter !
As always, it would make me really happy if you could tell me what you thought about this first chapter and/or what you expect for the next one.
Have a nice day/night !
