Akko Kagari was incredibly distracting. She was also loud, brash, blundering, and entirely too overzealous. Most days the girl was a literal walking disaster, and yet, she was also oddly endearing. It was perplexing, a puzzle that not even the resident scion of Luna Nova herself could solve.

There was something so attractive about Akko, something that Diana just could not place her finger on.

Yes, Akko had a pretty face, yes, she had the toned legs of an Olympic athlete, yes, her eyes were as stunning and smoldering as a pair of rubies, but-physical attractiveness aside, Akko Kagari was inherently captivating. She had this uncanny ability to catch Diana's eye, whether she was performing one of her foolhardy antics, or doing something as simple as eating her lunch.

It was as if every move that Akko made was intended to capture Diana's attention, and it was working marvelously.

She was distracting. Too distracting, even after she had mellowed out since her arrival at Luna Nova. It was the most menial things that confounded Diana so.

Akko's radiant smile. Akko's musical and often too loud laughter. Her whines and huffs over something that was frustrating her. That thing she did with her tongue, sticking out of the side of her mouth, when she was actually giving all her attention to a task. Her damn little ponytail, bouncing with her every move and flooding Diana with the unbearable urge to reach out and grab it in an attempt to tame its unruliness.

She was just so... charming, Diana decided as she sipped her cooling tea while watching her classmate float about on her broom, giggling like a madwoman. Akko let out the occasional "yay" as she went along, arms high in the air and an infectious grin on her face. Despite herself, the blonde smiled with her lips against the rim of her cup at the sight.

O'Neill cheered her on overhead, performing rather dangerous-looking twirls on her own broom that Diana could do without. Akko did not need any more hazardous ideas put into her head.

To Diana's left sat Hannah and Jasminka on a cobblestone wall, sharing whatever confections that Jasminka had brought along in her picnic basket. To her right, seated upon the same quilt as she sat Barbara and Lotte gushing about something Nightfall related. Diana had tuned out their nonsensical conversation ages ago.

Constanze was tinkering with her Stanbot and Sucy was combing through the grass looking for mushrooms.

Diana herself rested in the middle of all this commotion, nursing a cup of tea and observing her classmates. Though… she would admit, Akko commanded her attention more often than the rest of the girls, as she always managed to. At least here Diana was not supposed to be taking notes or listening to a lecture while the other girl had her concentration in a vice-like grip.

It was very pleasant. Noisy, but comfortably so. It was fortunate that the Red, Green, and Blue teams had all managed to put aside any past animosity to become friends, though Diana guessed saving a country from a weapon of mass destruction together did that to people, excluding Hannah and Barbara. Her two old friends were being more cordial with the others at least, and Diana appreciated that.

Drinking in the satisfying atmosphere, interrupted by Akko's frequent laughter, Diana inhaled deeply, then exhaled, sliding her eyes shut.

"Di-an-ahhh!" The very girl who beguiled her sing-songed, and her eyes snapped back open to seek Akko out.

She could not explain the slight lurch her stomach experienced when she laid eyes upon her classmate, who was standing upright on her broom, hands propped on her hips. Thankfully, Akko was not even three feet off the ground, but if there was even the smallest chance of Akko Kagari falling…

Diana opened her mouth to reprimand her, but Akko spoke before she could get a word out.

"Ha-hah! Look at me!" She lifted one hand from her waist to jab her index finger out. "The next Shiny Chariot is here! Just you watch!" Akko declared proudly.

Diana's grip tightened on the handle of her cup as the brunette began accelerating. She was getting a terrible sense of foreboding.

"Ah… Akko?" Lotte, who to Diana's relief shared her worries, said timidly.

"Akko—" Diana herself began, but she was cut off this time by O'Neill shouting,

"Do a flip!"

Diana exhaled huffily through her mouth at the American's suggestion.

"Do not." She commanded sternly.

"You got it!" Akko heedlessly yelled back at Amanda, giving her a thumbs up.

Her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in that adorable way, Akko crouched to grab her broom, lost her balance, and promptly fell backwards.

Almost everyone winced as she made impact with the ground. Sucy snickered, her lips split in a sharp-toothed grin.

Unclenching her jaw, Diana sighed heavily and set her teacup down onto an empty saucer. She rose to her feet, taking a moment to brush her skirt off, before approaching her fallen classmate.

Akko laid in the grass, groaning and cradling the back of her head. The heiress shook her own head briefly as she peered down at the other girl, a puzzling fondness for Akko washing over her once more.

Akko was a complete moron sometimes, but she was a cute one.

Ah… cute? When had Diana started describing Akko Kagari with the word "cute"?

"Akko, are you okay?" Diana extended her hand after giving her head another shake to banish the confusing thought.

Akko planted her hand, calloused but delicate, into Diana's own, and the blonde flushed at the contact despite herself.

This again. She internally groused as she helped her classmate climb back to her feet.

Why did her heart start to race whenever they so much as brushed against each other? Why did Akko's presence make her head so light, so clouded, and her chest so warm? It was disconcerting, to say the least. Diana was going to get to the bottom of these convoluted, intrusive feelings one way or the other, they were really starting to interfere with her academics.

"Ugh, I'm fine." Akko replied, unaware of the blonde's plight. If anything, she doubled its intensity by squeezing Diana's hand in her own when she declared, "I'm gonna give it another shot!"

Diana found that she had no desire to untangle their joined hands, and on a selfish whim, placed her other atop Akko's already captured hand.

"Akko, no. You've been doing so well with your broom riding. Why not continue to take it slow? Soon you'll be able to perform more…"

The corner of her mouth twisting, the blonde cast a glance at O'Neill who was floating overhead. The redhead winked at her, and Diana scowled. "...daring feats."

Akko appeared thoughtful, considering her suggestion, and absentmindedly, Diana let her gaze wander over the rest of her classmates.

Everyone was watching the two of them, Lotte smiling softly, Sucy smirking, Barbara looking dreamy and Hannah wearing a similar look. Jasminka retained her usual carefree expression, nibbling on a potato chip, but her eyes were bright. Constanze gave her a thumbs up and a purposeful nod when Diana met her eyes.

It was then that Diana realized that she had been holding onto Akko's hand for an entirely inappropriate amount of time.

With a panicked speed like she had just been burned, Diana released Akko and formed fists at her sides to keep her wayward hands from wandering anywhere else. The brunette looked at her with bewilderment, blinking.

O'Neill laughed obnoxiously at the exchange, and Diana glowered up at the redhead who was now laying sideways on her broom, her chin in her palm.

No matter how distasteful Diana found Amanda's audacity and general disregard for authority, she had to admit that her skill with a broom was impressive. Still, she was a massive, irritating, show-off.

"Oh, come on. Quit babying her, Cavendish. What better way is there to learn than by trial and error?"

Trial and error? Using that kind of psychology Akko was liable to kill herself! She certainly the tenacity to keep getting back up when things went awry.

Diana narrowed her eyes at the redhead, projecting every ounce of her displeasure with the flinty look.

"I'd say the best way to learn does not involve concussions or any other sort of bodily injury, O'Neill." She shot back curtly.

"Ooo." Amanda simpered, raising both her hands in surrender. The redhead shifted herself so that she was on her back, folding her arms behind her head. "Though our opinions don't really matter, eh? Akko, what do you think?"

From the corner of her eye, Diana watched as Akko positioned herself over her broom, holding it between her legs. The blonde turned toward her and was met with a grateful smile that made her stomach flutter.

"Thanks for worrying about me, Diana, but I think Amanda's right,"

Those words were almost like a slap to the face for some unfathomable reason.

Diana's tongue tasted bitter. Was she just being too overprotective, or was this jealousy? What in the world did she have to be jealous about? Akko brushing off her worry for her was a little irritating, and Amanda was a less-than-desirable influence for her, but… jealousy? This was a foreign feeling to Diana, though in all fairness, every emotion that Akko arose within her lately was foreign.

"...The only way I'm gonna get better at broom riding is by doing!" Akko finished happily while pumping her fist in the air.

"Alright Akko!" O'Neill whooped overhead.

Diana sighed in a jaded manner, crossing her arms.

Perhaps she was "babying" Akko, as Amanda had so eloquently put. Akko, as she was aware, was impatient and impulsive. Most everyone around her had been flying on brooms since they were children, and she had a great deal of catching up to do. This snail's pace that she was going at was most likely only making her more eager to make progress.

Still, Diana also couldn't help but worry. She was certain that one way or another this was going to end with Akko in a groaning, bruised heap, as her various endeavors usually did.

"Tia Freyre! Let's go!" Akko cast the spell and shouted with gusto, and she shot off like a comet… straight at Diana.

Diana barely had the time to curse her penchant for Akko, the lovable idiot, before she was bowled over.

Akko's chest collided into hers, stealing Diana's breath from her with the highest velocity hug she'd ever received. They fell, Akko's svelte body flush against Diana's, their legs entangling, their foreheads knocking together painfully, and most shockingly: their mouths crashed right into the other's.

Those few seconds it took for Diana to finally meet the ground were maddening. She was being bombarded with so many rushing emotions and sensations.

Akko's lips pressed against hers were so soft and plush. She enjoyed this feeling.

Akko's body, lithe and slimmer than her own, was a comfortable weight that she wanted to pull closer.

Her chest was tight and burning, begging for the oxygen that had been forcefully taken from her.

Her head, Dear Jennifer, her head was hurting profusely and was certainly going to bruise.

Diana's back at last slammed into the hard ground beneath her, and Akko's "comforting" weight was fully dropped onto her, winding her for a second time. The brunette may not have looked like it, but the Nine help her, this girl was heavy.

With Akko sprawled on top of her, Diana wheezed into her classmate's mouth, desperate for air.

Through the ringing in her ears and the static that was consuming her mind, Diana registered their audience's various reactions. Lotte, Hannah, and Barbara gasped loudly. Jasminka murmured something that sounded like "Oh dear," before crunching on a chip of some kind. Amanda was laughing uproariously. Sucy was cackling just as animatedly. All Constanze offered was a vaguely interested "hmm".

Diana heard Sucy say through her laughter, "Whoa there, Akko. That's pretty bold of you."

Consuming her vision was Akko herself, ruby-red eyes wider than the moon and her complexion quickly flushing pink. In all honesty… it was a sight that Diana would not have minded seeing more often.

Ah, what? Goodness, where are these thoughts coming from?!

Even through all the pain, embarrassment, and shock, Diana couldn't stop the wave of disappointment she felt when Akko pulled back, lurching off her.

"Ah!" She shrieked, her face quickly flushing a vivid red. "I-I'm-ah! So sorry Diana!" Akko sputtered, frantically waving her hands in front of herself. "That was an accident, I swear!"

Diana, stars flashing in her eyes for reasons other than the head trauma she had just received, didn't move from where she lay. She could hardly form a coherent thought at the moment, never mind words.

There was a flurry of footsteps, feet crunching on the grass, and Hannah and Barbara were suddenly flanking her at each side. Her friends grabbed her upper arms and gently coaxed her to sit upright.

"Ah, Diana, are you okay?!" Hannah placed her palm over Diana's throbbing forehead. She shot a glare at Akko, who flinched. "Look what you've done, you dunce! You could have really hurt her!"

"Yeah!" Barbara added hotly, "Like, this is whole other level of carelessness for you!"

Lotte appeared next to Akko, a worried smile on her lips as she tried to mediate the situation. "Now, now. It wasn't entirely Akko's fault. It was an honest accident…"

Sucy, who had joined her teammate, snickered again, and Lotte jabbed her in the ribs with her elbow.

Akko continued to spill out more unintelligible apologies, hiding her face in her palms. Diana blinked, misty-eyed, up at her classmate, lifting her arm to brush Hannah's hand from her head.

"Everything okay over here, girls?" A familiar voice came to Akko's rescue, Professor Ursula, who looked like she was trying not to smile and failing horribly.

Akko started as their professor approached, her hair whirling around her face when she turned quickly enough to almost give herself whiplash. Her expression lit up with relief that drained the pinkness from her complexion.

"Ursula-sensei!" Akko dashed over to their shared idol and grabbed the woman's arm, peering up at her with those infamous puppy-dog eyes of hers.

"H-hey, soooo how about we work on my transformation magic some more?" The brunette suggested, stepping around Ursula and beginning to tug her back toward the schoolyard. Their professor complied, that knowing and amused smile never leaving her face. "I-it's not like I'm busy right now and I could really use the…"

Akko's shaky voice faded the further she and Ursula went, before the two of them disappeared completely around a wall.

Still struggling to recollect herself, Diana watched her idol and classmate's retreating forms, distractedly rubbing at her aching head. The murmuring around her and both Hannah and Barbara's continued fretting were mere background noise.

She believed that she had finally figured out what made Akko Kagari so captivating. Diana had developed romantic feelings for Akko.

She shut her eyes, her fingers moving down from her head to her lips, which were still tingling with sensation of Akko's upon them.

Yes, that had to be it. It explained so many of the confusing feelings and states that she found herself in whenever Akko was around. Her racing heart, her clouded mind, and her shortness of breath were not signs of some kind of health problem, but... a crush?

Diana did not think that she had ever had a crush before Akko. She had always been so focused on her education and legacy that romance had been a frivolous afterthought.

There was also the fact that Akko was a girl. This revelation was honestly not all that shocking, though. Diana had never understood the appeal of boys, or girls until recently. While Hannah and Barbara swooned over Andrew, Diana had been unaffected by his supposedly "devilishly handsome" looks. Though that might have been related to the fact that he felt more like an irritating sibling than a potential love interest.

Lowering her hand from her mouth, Diana brought her attention to the two pressure points on the bridge of her nose to ward off her oncoming headache.

When had it began, she wondered? When she and Akko chased after the missile into the breathtaking vastness of the atmosphere and performed the Shiny Arc together? Diana could still vividly remember their closeness in that moment. She stood at Akko's shoulder, her arms draped around the other girl as they grasped the Shiny Rod together. Her hand was over Akko's, she turned to Diana before they fired and smiled that beaming smile at her.

Or maybe it had begun the day Akko pursued her from Luna Nova to her family's estate. Her self-proclaimed rival had argued harder than any teacher or even her friends to convince her not to leave. Akko's stubbornness and disregard for her own duties had been infuriating, but Diana also recalled how endeared she felt. Akko Kagari, her "rival", cared enough about her to chase her down and demand that she not leave the school of her dreams.

Maybe it had begun even further before that. The Samhain Festival? The Pappiliodya incident? While her opinion of Akko had been less-than-savory at those times, she had been impressed, starstruck even, at the fact that Akko could accomplish things that she could not.

Akko was just… incredible. Diana did not have enough words in her expansive vocabulary to explain it in more detail.

She was abruptly shaken from her musing by someone's hand gently jostling her shoulder. Diana opened her eyes and dropped her hand from her face.

"—iana? Diana?" It was Hannah, crouched in front of her. Barbara was next to her, both looking concerned.

"Uh, are you okay? Like, do you need to go see the nurse?" Barbara asked.

"Oh, it's just a little head trauma. I'm sure she's fine!" Amanda piped up, and Diana turned sluggishly to the sound of her voice. The redhead was on the ground now, her broom in hand.

Hannah and Barbara immediately began to bristle, the two of them twisting around to snap at O'Neill. Blinking harshly, Diana reached out and captured Hannah's forearm to stop her. With her other hand she grabbed Barbara's. Her friends froze, returning their attention to her.

"It's okay, girls. I'm... okay." She soothed the two of them, attempting a convincing smile.

"You sure, Diana?" Hannah said. Diana then looked to Barbara, expecting her to finish the thought.

"You and Akko um… hit, pretty hard." Barbara said with a small wince.

Amanda snickered into her palm, and Diana's two oldest friends rolled their eyes in sync.

"Well, Diana? You looked like you were thinking hard." Sucy spoke before either girl could retaliate. "Did Akko, literally, knock some sense into your head?"

"Sucy!" Lotte chided her teammate.

"What?" Sucy retorted gruffly, shrugging. "Aren't we all tired of watching these two blockheads dance around each other?"

Diana should have been offended by that jab at her intelligence, but... she agreed. Everyone else around her had been able to see her attraction to Akko, so why had it taken her this long to figure it out for herself?

Sighing, Diana picked herself up off the ground and primly brushed the grass from her skirt.

Her audience watched, eagerly awaiting her response. Well, except for Constanze, who had her back to Diana and was hunched over her machine.

"Yes, she did," Diana said to Sucy. "I need to go find Akko." She directed to the rest of the group.

Jasminka stepped forward, a chocolate chip cookie that she had seemingly pulled out of thin air outstretched.

"A cookie for confidence?" She suggested merrily.

Diana regarded the offering for a moment, before accepting. She wasn't particularly fond of sugary things, but she needed all the courage she could take right now.

"Thank you, Jasminka."

Inhaling to gather herself, Diana turned on her heel and started toward the school. As she walked, she prepared to take a bite of her gift. Just as she closed her mouth around it, Amanda's obnoxiously loud voice rang out behind her.

"Go get your girl, Cavendish!"

The cookie was crushed to pieces between her teeth, and blushing furiously, Diana quickened her pace.