Disclaimer: I don't own LWA!


Diana was out by two-thirty in the afternoon.

It was a surprise to have so few patients, but it meant that their community was getting healthier and that no children with allergies were gifted stuffed animals by well-meaning but misinformed uncles and aunts that day. She stepped out of her office, keys jingling, to find Barbara flipping through a novel behind the small front desk.

"Slow day, huh?"

"It's a welcome change," Diana agreed softly.

"I'll stay a while in case there are any emergencies," the other woman smiled at her. "Now go! You've actually got a free afternoon."

Diana bid her farewell, thankful that she would be able to indulge in her novels in peace. Barbara worked as nurse at their clinic and very capable one, at that. She'd be able to manage anything immediately life threatening, at least until Diana arrived.

Diana walked home in a steady pace. Blytonbury wasn't a big town, her clinic was a manageable distance away from her apartment, and all of this was no lucky coincidence. Diana's decision to move to Blytonbury was the result of careful planning and consideration. The town was adjacent to Luna Nova University, one of the county's more prominent institutions. She wanted to keep her options for educational advancement open and LNU's Faculty of Medicine & Surgery was housed within the famed St. Bellatrix Memorial Medical Center. It was painfully cliché, but everyone was right when they said 'learning never stops'—especially for doctors.

But she supposed the best part was that it was a small, quiet town. People were civil, but not nosy. Shops were close enough to walk to, travelling farther distances was easy and traffic-free. Moving here was one of her better life decisions in life, and she relished the thought with a comfortable sense of satisfaction.

She paused at a traffic light, watching the red pedestrian crosswalk numbers count downwards. The local bakery and cafe was across the street, and Diana entertained the idea of treating herself to some cheesecake. She could see Jasminka, the owner, chatting with a little girl while seated on one of the outdoor tables. Diana didn't know much about Jasminka other than that she came from a wealthy Russian family, baked wonderful pastries, and had never been drunk on vodka even after drinking liters of it. That last snippet of information was entirely unsolicited, but Barbara told her over a cup of tea anyway.

Right. Cheesecake it is.

The light flickered green, and Diana stepped into the crosswalk with her usual grace, wondering if she should buy another slice for later that evening. Just when she began wondering about dinner, she was quite rudely shoved aside and—

"Sorry!"

Diana frowned, regaining her footing and nearly dropping her purse. She was thankful that her heels were a reasonable height; falling on asphalt would have been damper on a good day. She caught a glimpse of a foreign face and a lot of brown, but not much else. Straightening out her clothes and hurrying to the other side of the street, she shook her head and hoped that the girl—woman?—was running for good reason.

"English Breakfast, Dr. Cavendish?"

Jasminka's kindly voice pulled her from her thoughts, and she felt a warm appreciation that the cafe owner could remember her tea of choice. Then again, she was a woman of habit; she doesn't recall having ordered anything else.

"I'd prefer the cheesecake for today," Diana politely replied, mumbling a small 'thank you' while she was led through the cafe's doors and embraced by the delectable aroma of coffee and baked goods. It was her first free afternoon in quite some time; she realized that she hasn't really stayed within the cafe for much longer than it took to get tea for take-out. It was a quaint, cozy place. She wistfully entertained the idea of tucking herself into a corner seat and writing her days away.

"Cheesecake for the good doctor," Jasminka chimed, and Diana smoothly handed over her bills—exact amount and tip prepared beforehand because that's just how she was—before waving goodbye and going on her way. She noticed that Jasminka returned to her table outside; the little girl had dutifully waited for her to finish work. It seemed quite nice, sharing a coffee with a friend on a lazy afternoon. Perhaps someday she should invite Hannah and Barbara. Contrary to popular belief, Diana wasn't quite as severe as everyone thought she was—the medical profession was simply rigid by nature.

It didn't help that the townsfolk tended to put her on a pedestal, either. She appreciated the town's small community and tight-knit efficiency, but sometimes, despite having stayed for quite a while, she felt that the warmth and closeness was something she only saw from the outside looking in.

Diana caught sight of the imposing Oak tree adjacent to her apartment, and she effortlessly found her keys, sliding the appropriate one into her lock once she arrived at her doorstep.

Maybe she'll think about socializing another day; her books were waiting.

Oh crap, oh crap, oh shit!

Being late for your first lecture, on your first day of classes was definitely not the impression Atsuko Kagari wanted to leave. Especially if classes started at two-forty-five in the afternoon. Who the hell had classes at two forty-five?! Would it kill them to move it down to three? She grit her teeth, falling into a controlled sprint while avoiding a fire hydrant, narrowly missing a small child ("Watch it, kid!"), and finally skidding to a halt because her sides were starting to ache. She paused, catching her breath while she darted a look to her watch.

14:32

Acceptance was the first step, she supposed. She had thirteen minutes to get to class and groaning wasn't going to change that.

A bike, she bitterly thought to herself, trying not to spill her belongings while she sped back up into a run and vaulted over a cart full of computers (pushed by a weird-looking lady). She hit the pavement running, you need to get yourself a goddamn bike. The run itself was exhilarating, but her first class was Sociology and this 'Professor du Nord' sounded like a serious big-shot.

Perhaps she should have been more careful, she's heard stories that graduate school classes and professors didn't really care all that much about attendance and punctuality, but it was a bit too late to be careful at this point. She was approaching a pedestrian crosswalk and could not afford the sixty-second countdown if she missed it. So she strained her legs, feeling them burn, mildly forgetting about the threat of on-coming traffic and feeling a surge of victory when she made in just in time. But then—

She had been so distracted by beating the countdown that she didn't notice the other person crossing the road. It was a mild collision, and Akko was going too fast to slow down so she looked over her shoulder for a second while she ran, and yelled out an apologetic, "Sorry!"

Come in late for her first afternoon class, cause nearly three road accidents, and shove a pretty, blonde girl all within the same hour. Typical Akko.

14:48

Akko barged into the classroom, panting and genuinely proud that she was only three minutes late. She expected the room to be nearly-empty, but she was instead greeted by about twenty kids who looked about sixteen to eighteen years old. She narrowed her eyes in confusion and noted that Professor du Nord was not yet in. Taking a hold of her breathing, she observed her surroundings. The architecture was old-fashioned and European, with a high ceiling and several lamps hanging overhead. The room was a small lecture hall, with each row climbing upwards towards the back, and the main pedestal at the lowest level towards the front.

"Are you our professor?" one of them tilted her head, and Akko groaned, realizing that she would be taking core subjects with undergraduates before moving on to post-grad units.

"No," she took a deep breath, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Oh!" the student's eyes glazed over at her in wonder, "you did look too cool to be a professor!"

Akko laughed, feeling herself fall at ease when the awkward quietness returned to the excited chatter of the first day of school. She looked towards the back of the hall, hoping that there was still somewhere to sit that was a respectable distance from the pedestal when she saw a small, orange-haired woman with an empty seat beside her.

Akko shuffled up the steps of the auditorium, dramatically sinking into the seat beside the bespectacled woman before shooting her with a determined look.

"H-Hi?" the woman said meekly.

"I'm Akko!" Akko grinned, eager to make her first friend. She didn't look like a freshman, so maybe a senior? "Be my friend!"

The other woman blinked, completely caught off-guard, but then she seemed to nod and took Akko's hand in what looked like mild apprehension.

"I'm… Lotte Jansson."

The lecture transpired without further incident. It was what she'd expected: a quick introduction, a rundown of what was to be expected, and an early dismissal after a whole fifteen minutes in class. Akko had quickly warmed up to Lotte, and while she was a lot more subdued than Akko, she seemed to take to Akko quite quickly herself. She was apparently finishing a master's degree in creative writing, taking up units in Humanities that she felt would contribute to her craft. They had a trinket shop back home. She loved books. It was all-in-all a charming life story.

"And you?" her new friend tilted her head in inquiry.

"Oh!" Akko grinned, "I'm a violinist."

Lotte blinked at her, curious, and she couldn't help but ask—"what are you doing taking up Sociology?"

"I needed more Humanities units," Akko shrugged. Lotte looked like she was going to ask a bit more, but apparently left the rest for another conversation. Akko didn't mind, and was all but happy to find out that her new friend was staying near her apartment in town. "You've been staying here a while?"

"Ever since I started further studies, yeah," Lotte looked around the streets, "it's a nice place for a writer."

Akko nodded, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. They walked briskly, but in no particular hurry, and the brunette appreciated the slower pace. Making friends with Lotte put her at ease; she didn't feel so alone anymore.

She was a new girl in a foreign town, after all.

Lotte had sputtered into laughter when Akko told her about how she nearly missed the bus stop when she first came here, and she was given a quick overview of how commuting and transportation typically worked within the village.

"There's a shuttle that usually travels to the University and back. It leaves the center of town—near the clinic—at regular intervals," Lotte supplied.

"It isn't that far though," Akko pouted, crossing her arms. An earlier idea wormed it's way back to her mind.

"Hey, Lotte!"

The other woman looked at her curiously.

"Is there a bike shop somewhere nearby?"


OKAY! Holy shyeeet this is my first multi-chap attempt at LWA and I am honestly hoping for the best. I've also like, never really done AUs before, so this is a whole new adventure for me and I hope that you guys enjoy it along the way!