To say that the first year of studying in Luna Nova was surprisingly hectic for Diana Cavendish would be an incredible understatement – it wasn't so much hectic as it was stuffed with trouble on top of yet more trouble.
From bumping into that Japanese first generation witch that constantly messed things up and having to clean her mess up every single time afterwards, to finding out that the only other legitimate heir to House Cavendish after her mother's passing was selling off the family's possessions for her own selfish goals, to even restoring magic to the world and saving it from what amounted to a hate-powered nuclear bomb… It was surprising that, despite everything, Diana didn't seem to falter the tiniest bit even in the most intense of situations.
Besides, it turns out that Akko, the aforementioned first-generation witch, wasn't really such a problematic person after all. A little immature, sure, but no one's flawless after all.
What Diana didn't expect, however, is finding herself having romantic feelings for the girl. It was… Hard to describe what it was all about. Maybe it was the Japanese girl's surprisingly energetic attitude and sheer determination despite her ineptitude in magic – which, as it turned out, was no fault of her own, but that didn't stop the rest of her problems. Maybe it was something about her looks, like those naturally red eyes and beautiful brown hair always tied up into that odd half-ponytail. Regardless, over the course of summer break following the first year, Diana had plenty of time to think on her situation with Akko…
Only to be in for a nasty surprise when, after going out for a friendly date with both the Red and Green teams, have Akko stop everyone and loudly confess her love to Sucy. While nowadays she couldn't help but laugh at how Akko shouted "AISHITERU, SUCY!" at the top of her lungs, back then it was no laughing matter.
The girl she had feelings for turned out to be completely disinterested in her after all.
Of course, Diana didn't run off crying or anything like that, but the rest of the way back to the Academy was spent by her in silence, not even saying a word to her roommates as she came back. She didn't cry into her pillow on that night, didn't hate neither Sucy nor Akko for what happened, but the occasional bouts of grief came on regardless. At the very least, Diana managed to tell Akko about her former crush on the girl, getting the weight off her shoulders relatively easily.
After that incident, Diana continued to do what she did best – focused on studying and tried not to pay much attention to matters of the heart. That, however, proved to be surprisingly difficult when her heart got the better of her and she found herself falling for a particular ginger girl whose presence seemed almost invisible in classes. Lotte, was it?
Lotte was basically a stark contrast to Akko in terms of personality. Surprisingly focused on her studies, quiet, patient, even with a slight streak of nerdishness that was more endearing than deterring. However, approaching Lotte was even more difficult than Akko. Whereas Akko was incredibly oblivious to any and all of Diana's attempts at flirting – which the blonde admitted were a bit on the meh side, due to her not having any experience in such matters – Lotte seemed to just shy away from conversations for her own reasons.
And once again, Diana was a tad too late when she mustered the courage to confess her feelings for the girl – then again, she felt like she had no real chances in her endeavors, considering that the most interaction that happened between the blonde and the Finnish girl were some occasional conversations in the library over some fantasy books, and that was about it. This time, it turned out Lotte was already dating Amanda for quite a few days before Diana's attempt at a confession. At the very least, this one wasn't so problematic – all of the girls kept the conversation civil, even Amanda throwing in a surprisingly friendly jab at Diana on how she's actually impressed that Diana saw something in Lotte that only the red-headed Irish-American did and made her have such feelings for the nerdy ginger.
By now, Diana knew that if she were to ever attempt a romantic relationship, she'd probably have to be a bit quicker with her confessions as to avoid awkwardness, but for the time being, she once again focused on her studies. What Diana didn't know is that, surprisingly enough, there was one person that, in turn, was actually interested in Diana herself.
A person that barely said a single word in conversations despite being perfectly capable of speech, and was a prodigy in a type of magic that no one else in the Academy knew how to pull off, excluding a particular teacher who, after a particular incident, was relegated to merely work as Professor Ursula's assistant.
Honestly, Constanze never cared much for social interactions. Most of the time outside of lessons, one would only ever see her sitting in her secret laboratory built right under Luna Nova, working on another of her inventions or trying to improve upon an old one, with nothing but her own mechanisms for company. When one did attempt to talk it out with her, however, Constanze would respond with nothing but the occasional grunts or nods, not saying a single word unless the situation called for it. For quite a long while, almsot all of the students just presumed her to be mute, but at least one instance of her speaking was well-remembered by them and firmly cemented the fact that she really wasn't mute after all.
As for why she spoke so rarely? Well, there was a multitude of reasons. For example, Constanze's native country being Germany, English was a second language for the navy-haired girl, and while she had a near-perfect grasp on it, writing and reading text just fine…Well, it was the speaking that gave her trouble. She felt like she had an incredibly thick accent, and in fear of others making fun of her for it, preferred to only ever talk in short phrases, wherein it wouldn't be nearly as easy to notice.
Another reason was that, at the end of the day, there wasn't anyone out there she really felt like talking to. She could speak just fine, and if there were a person willing to understand her native language… Well, she still wouldn't talk to them. She just wouldn't give them the satisfaction of hearing a response.
That being said… She sure wasn't completely asocial. And after a few lucky moments, she even took a liking to a particular co-student.
Said student coming from a rich family, being a prodigy in almost all fields of magic excluding the more niche ones, and probably being smarter than a good half of Luna Nova's teachers.
Even Constanze herself couldn't pinpoint the exact moment she began having feelings for Diana. Maybe it was from her occasional thoughts about the blonde's unusually-colored blonde with green streaks hair, or her pure blue eyes. Maybe it was after finding out through the occasional interactions on duo projects that, at the end of the day, the young lady wasn't such a snob after all, and managed to be nice to others unlike her downright obnoxious roommates.
And the young German girl had to admit that, for some reason, it really hurt her to see Diana try to reluctantly pursue any kind of romantic endeavors, only to miss the mark completely after finding out that her romantic interest is dating someone else.
Constanze couldn't believe that she would ever try to pursue someone's attention, but yet there she was, trying to think of ways to approach Diana and talk it out with her without alienating her in any way, or fumbling her words too badly.
However, that said, Diana seems to have refused completely to notice Constanze, now deciding to go back to focusing on her studies instead of trying to pursue any relationships. That would have concluded the story right there, had it not been for one tiny thing…
One tiny bit of interference courtesy of a certain Japanese witch.
Honestly, Akko wanted to slap herself for not noticing everything sooner. Turns out those odd gazes she saw Constanze cast in Diana's direction weren't just something she imagined! She totally saw Constanze cast a longing look or two in the blonde's direction, she could swear on her entire Shiny Chariot merchandise collection that she did!
Augh, but it frustrated her to no end to see Diana just act so… Oblivious to Constanze! Even she herself wasn't nearly as oblivious when Diana was dropping hints of liking her in that way! But whereas Akko was just a dummy who couldn't see the obvious, Diana, on the other hand, had no excuse, and Constanze herself just couldn't find the mental fortitude or whatever to just go on ahead to Diana and tell her how she feels! Akko had to fix this ASAP!
Which is why she thought of inviting the two on a double date to see if they'll get the hint and hoping maybe, just maybe, that Diana realizes that Constanze has feelings for her. All it would need her is to give them each a note asking them to come over with her and Sucy to that one small café and that would be it!
"I just hope you know what you're doing." – Sucy remarked, leaning over Akko's shoulder as she scribbled down the two notes.
"I'm telling ya, Suce, it's totally going to work!" – The brunette remarked as she just finished scribbling one of the notes and went onto the other. Sighing, the alchemist added: "You know, I'd usually expect Lotte to be the one to play matchmaker, not you. If anything, had it not been for your crush on me, I'd probably think you're not interested in any romantic relationships whatsoever."
"Yeah, but have you seen how Diana was lately? She falls for me – I have a thing for someone else. She falls for Lotte – she's already with Amanda. I'm sure Diana's really upset from all these repeated failures, and I just think she needs a chance with someone who is legitimately interested in her!" – Akko said as she scribbled down a second note hastily, and moments afterward, used a silent spell to fire both of these notes at the people intended to receive them – while in Constanze's case it landed right in front of her on the desk while she was still busy stuffing her textbook back into her bag, Diana wasn't so lucky and got the note stuck right to her face.
While both girls were busy analyzing the contents of the notes, Sucy sighed and remarked: "There are two discrepancies with your trail of thought, Akko. One, the only things that can upset Diana are either family matters or a failed test, and matters of the heart don't matter to her the tiniest bit. Two, you probably got some mixed signals in Constanze's case. She doesn't really strike me as the type to seek anyone's attention, you know."
Akko's only response was a pout, prompting Sucy to groan yet again and add: "Look, I'm not stopping you from going through with your plan, but don't tell me I didn't warn you if things go awry."
"Don't ya worry, it'll all go according to keikaku!" – Akko cheerily quipped, making Sucy roll her eyes at her girlfriend's gratuitous language slippage.
"Alright, but first things first, we gotta get back to our dormitory."
"After all, we do have to dress appropriately for the occasion at least."
