Chapter 1: A Lock of Hair


Bessel's Potion is an elementary potion of puissance only usable by one person. The main ingredient of the potion is a lock of specially prepared hair of the intended user. When added, the hair will make the potion turn into the hue of the person's eyes. The only notable side-effect is that the user's eyes will glow for up to an hour after consumption.

Just reading that excerpt made my head hurt a little. What does puissance even mean? I had my English to Japanese dictionary somewhere under my bed, but I didn't feel like diving into the depths just to look up one word. I'm sure my roommates knew what it meant.

I shut the book. From my place on the floor, I looked up to Sucy, who had been busy working on her own Potions assignment. While I and a few others were stuck with the baby potions, she was at the top of Professor Lukic's class, hitting pound for pound with Diana. I couldn't see what stuff she was adding to her small cauldron, but from the green smoke wafting out the open window, I didn't think I wanted to know. "Hey, Sucy, what's a potion of puissance?"

"A strength potion," she said, not even sparing me a glance as another puff of smoke – red this time – shot violently out of the cauldron. She cackled to herself, and it eerily reminded me of the cackling I heard earlier.

If you don't want to repeat Magic Pharmaceuticals I, Professor Lukic had said with that raspy voice of hers, then you'll make me a Bessel's. All the ingredients are common enough except for the activating reagent 'Fleetfoot's tail', which I can provide in a fortnight's time. You'll know you did it right if it takes the shade of your eyes. I heard you've made progress in Flight class, Ms. Kagari. I hope to see that same progress in Potions as well.

That's why I had the musty old tome out in front of me. I wasn't going to flunk Potions if I had anything to say about it! "Thanks. Have to make one for Professor Lukic."

"Can I see?" Lotte said, peeking out her head from the top bunk in order to meet my eyes. I stood up, handing the book to her. As she ran her eyes over the text, I couldn't help but notice the Nightfall book at her side. On the copyright page was Barbara Parker written in neat handwriting. I smiled. Since me and Sucy weren't into Nightfall, I was glad that Lotte had finally found someone to gush to. Sure, it was a little surprising that Barbara of all people was into such a geeky series, but I found it charming nonetheless.

"How much am I going to suffer, Lotte?"

"Procedure: Add the ingredients listed below into a mortar and pestle and grind into a paste. Add the paste into a cauldron and stir clockwise for ten to thirty seconds on no heat," Lotte read, and at that line, I heard Sucy shift in her seat.

I turned around and saw her with a toothy grin on her face. "Wow, not even you could mess that up. Professor Lukic must have been feeling merciful today."

As I poked the offending Filipino's cheek, Lotte said, "The ingredients seem simple too. Even I have some kaho leaves and kude nuts lying around, and I rarely make potions outside of class. Although, there seem to be a few difficult ones. I heard the stockroom's all out of Fleetfoot's tail-"

"Professor Lukic's gonna gimme some when it's time to turn in my assignment."

"That's great. That means the only thing to worry about is the hair," Lotte said, running a finger over the print. "Hair must be plucked while the witch is in a state of heightened infatuation. I wonder what that means."

"A potion of puissance with a special kind of hair? Sounds like Bessel's to me. I was never good at preparing the hair," Sucy said, a frown gracing her features. "You need to be in love, after all. The romantic kind."

"In love?" I said, clutching my head out of exasperation. Love wasn't something I thought about often. Sure, I loved the hell out of my family and friends, but romance was different. I thought back to my junior high experience back in Japan. While I'd feel stares follow my bloomer-clad legs as I ran laps during my time on my school's track team, I had been told that boys thought I was too rowdy to date, and none of the girls seemed interested in my apparentl "rowdiness" either. I had zero romantic experience. I hadn't even had my first kiss yet. "How am I supposed to get this done now? I don't even have a date!"

"Hm, I'm still not done reading the entry in its entirety," Lotte said, her gaze so intense it looked like she was going over the print of the book with a fine comb, "but I think you only need to feel that you're in love at the moment of plucking."

"You're right," Sucy said. "There should be a blurb there that mentions that plucking the hair moments after consuming chocolate works, although the potion will take a milky color."

"So that's why Professor Lukic specified the color," I said. "She doesn't want me to 'fake it' – she wants the real deal."

Sucy said as she stood up from her desk. I couldn't help but notice that her cauldron had been emptied, and that the materials Lotte mentioned earlier were on her desk. Aw, she already prepared everything for me. I felt my heart melt. Sucy never showed it, but she could be a real softie.

Then, she leaned in, her lips set in a manic grin. "Maybe you should ask Professor Ursula to wear her old costume for you."

Instantly, I felt heat rise to my cheeks. T-that would be way too improper for a teacher. It had a cleavage window, for Arcturus' sake! Besides, it had been years since then – would it even fit her? Professor Chariot sure has grown in places- no, she was my teacher. I refused to go down that line of thinking!

As I shook my head to get rid of the inflammatory thoughts, Sucy's hand shot out, and I felt a harsh pang of pain as hair was pulled from my scalp. I raised a hand to massage the sore area. "Hey, that was way more than a single hair!"

"More hair strands lead to more consistency," Sucy said. She placed the bundle – I could count at least twelve strands, you witch – on the desk and waved a hand, as if inviting me to sit down in front of it. "Time to get to work. I only have one Fleetfoot's tail, so don't mess this up."

"Yes ma'am! Thanks a ton, you guys," I said, wrapping my arms around the Filipino witch. She squirmed in my grasp. I hugged harder. I heard Lotte get down from her top bunk, and I felt her tap my shoulder. I let go of Sucy with a pout in order to receive the Potions book.

I sat down at the desk, opened the book to the recipe page, and began to brew the potion. I chuckled a little to myself. My friends were right – this was incredibly simple. Normally, potions were picky things. They needed ingredients to be prepared in certain ways – for example, Kefkli seeds had to be crushed with the flat of the blade before adding since the juices created foul smelling fumes when added to boiling water. Potion ingredients also needed to be added to the cauldron with specific timings under specific temperatures, and the brew had to be stirred in specific ways as well – two times clockwise, rest, one half circle counterclock wise – it was a messy affair.

This Bessel's potion, however, was straightforward. Toss all the ingredients except the hair and tail into a mortar and pestle, grind it into mush, toss it into a cauldron, stir for ten seconds, and boom, you got enough of the base potion to make twenty phials' worth. Once the base potion's in the phial, add the hair and tail used to activated it and –

"Nothing?" I said, looking at the mixture in my hand. The ingredients had already dissolved in the solution, but there was no reaction. I double-checked the book, and there were no other steps to take. I looked over my shoulder to see my friends with furrowed brows on their faces. They looked just as confused as me. "You guys think I missed something?"

"Your procedure's correct. However, you probably weren't feeling enough of a love high when I plucked your hair-"

"Hairs."

"-out," Sucy said as Lotte patted my shoulder. I smiled wistfully at the two of them. "Looks like you'll need more than thoughts to kickstart the dopamine in your system."

"What about a kiss?" Lotte said, and I saw her gaze more towards the Nightfall book hanging precariously on the edge of her bunk. "Maybe that'll be enough."

"Well, might as well go all out and go on a date," Sucy said. "I'm all out of tails, and Akko said the next shipment is coming in two weeks. Might as well get the strongest hair strands we can get."

I pouted, poking her pale cheeks. "You're just saying that 'cause you're not the one going on the dates."

"Correct."

"Mou," I said, ignoring her unabashed statement, "who can I even ask?"

The room fell silent. I looked to both of my friends. They were giving each other pointed stares, as if they were having a little battle of the minds. I imagined a conversation in my head:

Are you gonna tell her?

Tell her what?

Y'know, that.

What? I don't wanna tell her that.

But it'll help!

Then why don't you tell her about that?

But saying that outright is a little-

"I feel like I'm not being told something."

"N-no, not at all," Lotte said, tugging at her collar. "I was just thinking… maybe you can ask your friends."

My face fell. "Huh? But I don't like my friends that way… I think."

"Well, maybe you have a deep-seeded love for someone, and now's the chance for it to finally rise to the forefront of the rocks-for-brains head of yours," Sucy said, giving my temple a gentle rap with her knuckles.

They weren't even trying to be subtle about it anymore! "Hey, who's this 'someone' you're talking about?"

"Akko," Lotte started, "you kinda look at Diana sometimes."

"If by 'sometimes' she means 'all the time'."

My cheeks started to heat up, and I had to hold back the urge to slap my two friends silly. "Hey, I do not stare at Diana! She just sits in front of me in all the classes I have with her. In order to pay any attention to the lecture, I'd have to look her way. Totally. "Y'know what, I think what you said earlier was right, Lotte."

"Huh?"

"I should ask my friends."

I raced for my bed, pulled out a slightly crumpled sheet of A4, and hopped back onto the desk. I started scribbling names in katakana so Sucy and Lotte couldn't read. I quickly penned down the names of my teammates. If they were going to tease me about Diana, then they were going to have to suffer an afternoon with me. Those jerks. I wrote down the names of the green team too. Amanda wouldn't mind, and I'm used to imposing on Constanze and Jasminka. My writing stopped for a moment as I thought of the blue team.

Diana. A date with Diana.

Well, if I was going to ask Diana out, I might as well ask Diana's whole team out. I wrote down Diana, Hannah, and Barbara.

I looked at the list so far. Seven names – all girls. Hmm, maybe I should add at least one guy to the list. I never really put much thought into my sexuality, so for all I knew, I could be straight. I apologized silently to Andrew as I wrote his name down.

Lastly… I sneaked a glance at Sucy, who had been looking at me with a glint of curiosity in her eyes. I cursed her in my head for putting thoughts of Professor Ursula in a Shiny Chariot costume into my consciousness. Still, Sucy was right. I penned Chariot's name down.

"What's that list, Akko?" Lotte said, her expression betraying her illiteracy when it came to Japanese.

I leaned to the side, snatching a ten-sided die that was on the floor, and said, "It's a list of people I wouldn't mind asking out. I'll roll this die and decide who to ask out first."

"Nice looking d10," Lotte said. These things were called d10's?

I grinned, showing the side where the one should be. In its place was a star – Shiny Chariot's star. "It's a limited-edition die used to play the card game."

Sucy said, "Why didn't you use the die when you played with Lotte last time?"

"N-not important right now!" I stammered, cupping the die and shaking my hands vigorously. "Let's gooooooooooo!"

I chucked the die. It landed on two. I looked towards the list, and in slot number two was Sucy. I turned to the witch in question and shot her my own tooth grin. She met me with a grimace.

"I don't like the look on your face," Sucy said. She made a move to turn away, but my hand darted for hers, keeping her in place.

"Hehe, go out with me tomorrow, Sucy!"