Akko stared at Diana with wide eyes, she felt her heart drop as soon as the words spilled from the British witch's mouth. Her time came into a halt, she could still make out the tears flowing from Diana's face.

"H-How did-" She knows that vow, but how did- The burgundy haired girl was hit by realization.

'Dia...cchan...?' The burgundy haired girl took a hesitant step forward, afraid of what would happen next. The blue eyed witch shook her head. She shouldn't have told her. She already accepted it. She was fine with Akko not knowing of their past.

"Diana-"

"I'm sorry." The prodigy whispered, her head hung low, preventing the crimson eyed girl from seeing her tear stained face. She took Akko's pause an opportunity to flee from the situation.

"Wait, Diana!" She heard Atsuko shout behind her, but she didn't slow down. She didn't want to appear broken in front of Akko. Hot tears continued to stream down her face, she doesn't know what to do. She had ruined their promise and now she wanted to continue?

'What a coward. I thought you wanted her to remember, and now you're running away?' She bit her lip. Her rushed footsteps became increasingly loud. So much so that it made her ears ring, her heart beat thuds painfully, her throat burning. She was never a good athlete, that was...always Acchan...

She ran and ran, she could feel her legs giving out but she ignored it. Diana could finally see her room's door, being washed over by relief, she hurriedly opened the door and slammed it close, disturbing her team mate's slumber.

In surprise Barbara woke up first, she jolted awake followed by Hannah. As soon as they adjusted their vision, they gasped as they were met by a surprising sight. They saw their Diana standing there, tears in here eyes as she trembled. The prodigy gave them a painful smile whilst tears continued to trickle down her face.

"H-Hannah...Barbara..." She said, her voice cracking. She sounds...in pain. Hannah and Barbara rushed towards their team mate, unsure of what to do and gave her a big hug.

"Heavens, what happened Diana?" Barbara asked, her voice full of worry, stroking the British witch's hair to calm her trembling. Never had they ever encountered the prodigy so weak. So broken.

"I s-shouldn't...I shouldn't have..." Diana whispered in a broken language, she clutched their shirt and tears soaked their clothes. But they didn't mind. Their friend needed them.

...

Akko walked towards her room with a distracted look, she staggered and she nearly tripped for a couple of times. Still, why did Diana have to run away? She couldn't believe it, Diacchan?

'Why didn't I remember?' She scolded herself. It was a mixture of emotion, happiness, confusion, enlightenment, relief, doubt, anger. Yes. Mostly anger. Akko was angry at herself. She couldn't begin to imagine what Diana felt when she couldn't recognize her. She was so stupid.

'Maybe Sucy was right. My middle name is idiot.' She sighed, still feeling the guilt she felt when the blue eyed witch looked at her with pained eyes. She was confused, why did Diana had to run? Couldn't she just have told her from the start that they were childhood friends? But there was one more question that had been bugging the crimson eyed witch. So much so that she suddenly found herself staring at an empty space as tears slowly build up in the corner of her eyes.

"Why did she left me?" She shook her head. No, she would never blame that on Diana. No. Bringing up her palm to wipe the tears that was threatening to fall.

Finally stopping in front of her door, she extended her hands towards the knob then she flinched. She felt her heart drop, she felt her lips trembled.

'Why didn't I chase after her?'

...

The next day, Diana found herself waking up to her bed. She looked down on her attire and saw that she was still wearing her uniform from last night. She felt awful. What could have possibly happen for her to wake up-

"Oh." She said. That's right, she cried herself to sleep with her teammates comforting her. She needs to remind herself to thank them later. She grabbed her fresh new set of Luna Nova standard uniform and a towel and head towards the bathroom to freshen up. She closed the door, settled the clothing down and looked at herself in the mirror.

"Good heavens." She whispered. Diana looked awful. She noticed that her eyes were puffy and they stung a little bit with all the crying she did, her nose were red her hair was a mess. The prodigy opened the sink and splashed her face with water then looked at herself once more in the mirror. She remembered, she ran away from her childhood friend. That thought made her laugh pitifully at herself as she looked at herself in disgrace.

"You are by far the most pathetic...You ran away...You..." She gasped when she felt hot tears stream down her face once again. Then laughed once again. "P...Pathetic..." She choked, she placed a hand on her chest and slides down the floor.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." She chanted silently. She had probably done a terrible mistake that had cost her to probably lose Akko. She wanted her to remember but she ran away. She was pathetic. The blue eyed witch trembled. "I'm afraid, Acchan...So afraid..." She said, her voice cracking.

"Acchan...W-What should I do?"

...

Akko felt heavy. She had to drag herself in order to come in class. Her teammates were surprised when they saw her up in the early morning, usually the mornings consist them trying to wake her up for the next couple of minutes. But not today. Sure she felt tired, as she mostly stayed awake last night. She yawned loudly catching the attention of some students and for them to look at her in mild disgust.

"You sound tired Akko. " Lotte said, she adjusts her glasses and looked at Akko with worry. "Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Did something happen?"

"She probably panicked for today since professor Finnelan gave us assignment to be passed today." Sucy said then snickered. "Hmm." Akko hummed, catching the duo off guard. They looked at each other then at the burgundy haired girl.

"Are you alright Akko? You seem...unAkko like."

"I'm fine, just a little bit under the weather." Akko reassured by smiling at the both of them. Lotte cast her one last look before deciding to drop the topic. Sucy looked at Atsuko suspiciously, causing her to make an unnoticeable frown.

As they arrive the classroom, they could hear the sound of the students buzzing quietly. But they weren't silent enough.

"Hey did you see Diana's face? She looked like she's been crying."

"For real? Well whatever happened, she probably deserves it."

"Seems like the great Cavendish finally realize that she's too much of a pain."

There was a loud bang, surprising all the students inside causing them to look at the door. They saw Akko with fist clenched tightly on the door as her hand trembled slightly. The remaining red team was also surprised at their teammate's action, never had they seen Akko look so furious.

"Hey..." The burgundy haired girl started. "You should all just shut your mouths." She stated, as she glared at them at her unusually cold crimson eyes. Her eyes were like a cold fire that could make anyone burn to their deaths.

She could take being made fun of, but never her childhood friend. She growled quietly enough for only Lotte and Sucy to hear, casting her with worried gaze.

"What is going on here? All of you take your seats." Professor Finnelan's voice broke the tensed atmosphere, the students sighing in relief as they scurried towards their respectful chairs.

The red team went over to their spot. Akko could feel a gaze in her direction, she looked to where it was coming from and saw Diana looking at her with a worried expression, then averted her gaze immediately when she saw Akko looked at her. True to the students' words, the blue eyed witch indeed looked like she was crying.

"Miss Kagari take your seat so we could start the lesson." The burgundy haired girl looked at her professor and gave a small apology before sitting. The professor started her lecture but Akko was too distracted to listen. Diana... She was the reason why she was crying. What's worse is that she doesn't know why.

...

"Diana wait!" Akko shouted, trying to catch up to the blonde but the sea of students were preventing her from doing so. Diana, on the other hand, was relieved by that. She quietly thanked the students for blocking Akko's path, she wasn't ready to face the crimson eyed witch in the moment. She expertly strode away from Akko with Hannah and Barbara trailing behind her.

"What a loud girl." Barbara said.

"Well what do you expect from a girl that didn't have any magical background?" Hannah said with a chuckle. Diana almost wince at their words, sure they were great friends, but they didn't have to belittle Akko.

"Diana wait!" Atsuko shouted once again, now just a few steps away from the prodigy. Diana gave a glance towards Barbara before the black haired girl nodded.

Barbara turned to look at Akko then huffed.

"Diana doesn't want to talk to you, so leave her alone!"

"No, I need to talk to-"

"Can't you just give her some space? I shouldn't have told you that she was having her patrol, do you have any idea what she looked like when she arrived in the dorm?" Akko stood still, listening intently at the other girl. "She was crying for Christ's sake! And all that is your fault." Barbara gave her a look, she turned around to walk away but stopped when she heard the girl whispered.

"But I don't even know why she's crying. I...guess, it is my fault." The black haired girl peered over her shoulder and saw that Akko was walking towards a different direction.

...

Akko settled in a open field area, she had her back on the grass as she stared up the sky. There were no students nearby which gave her time to think. What do you say to your childhood friend that was so close you didn't even realize she was there.

She sighed, it was infuriating at how she was so stupid. I mean, how can she have missed the hair? Surely she would remember that, why did she forgot Diacchan?

Atleast now she remembered, leaving a question finally answered. She groaned, she felt extremely guilty. She needed to talk to her or else she would never have the chance. But how? Diana kept on avoiding her like a plague. Sighing once again she sat up and rubbed her head in frustration.

"Whoa there, is that a new trend?" An unfamiliar voice called out, she looked to the left and saw a student with light green eyes and orange hair with salmon undertones.

"What's with the rubbing, got ants in there?" She said and laughed. "No, I was feeling frustrated." Akko said, then she heard another laugh. "Really now." The girl walked towards her and plopped down beside her.

"What got you in the dumps? Heart broken? Someone stole your tart? Got blasted off by a lazer?" The crimson eyed girl looked at the other girl, weirded out by the claims.

"Uhh no...Got blasted off by a Lazer? What?" The American laughed once again. "Nothing! So tell me, why the long face?" Akko stared at her, then the other girl slapped her forehead in realization. "Oh that's right!" She held out a hand. "Amanda O'Neill at your service." The crimson eyed witch took the hand and shook them.

"Atsuko Kagari. But call me Akko."

"Oh so nicknames huh? Then call me Andy." Amanda said with a smirk. "Seriously?" Akko asked then heard the other girl laughed once again. "Of course not! Why would I want to be called Andy if my name sounds cooler than that?"

"I guess." The light green eyed girl patted Atsuko's shoulder. "Hey now don't feel down." The crimson eyed girl shot her a thankful glance. "So tell me what happened." She hesitated. I mean, who tells their problems on a stranger? Well now that they introduced themselves, they aren't technically strangers anymore.

"Well...I don't know how to talk to a childhood friend."

"That's it?" Akko nodded.

"Well I'll show you how to talk." Amanda pointed at her mouth. "You open you mouth like this, think of the words you're going to say and then-"

"Not like that. I know how to talk, just I don't how to start it without sounding so...I don't know...awkward?" Amanda gave her a confused look. "Why would it be awkward? I mean you are childhood friends right?"

"Yeah, but we haven't actually seen each other in years..." She paused. "And I may have, in a teensy tiny bit, forgot about her?" A laugh came from the other girl. "Teensy tiny bit? Are you serious?" She chuckled. "It's not funny, I made her cry." Akko said in a solemn tone, catching Amanda's attention.

She cleared her throat. "Well then, Akko, that is,uh, that is bad. Like really bad." The crimson eyed girl groaned. "I know, and now I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose my childhood friend just when we just saw each other again." Akko bit her lip. "I don't want to lose her." The American cast her gaze towards the sky then looked at the other girl in the corner of her eyes.

She brought up her arms behind her head and lay down the grass. "Hmm, well at this rate you will surely lose her you know." Amanda said as she closed her eyes. Akko looked at her with annoyance.

"What?"

"Instead of moping around and saying you don't want to lose that friend, you should barge in her room, look her in the eyes then say 'I don't want to lose you." Amanda cackled at the thought. What a cheesy romance flick. "Are you trying to help me or are you making fun of me?" Atusko said then laid down along side the American.

"Well yeah, but I wasn't joking about the first part." Amanda started. "You should seriously just go to the said friend, you know. If you made her cry, then be there for her."

"But she kept on avoiding me."

"Pshh, so what?" The light green eyed girl huffed in annoyance. "You're her friend little girl, even if she kept on avoiding you, be there for her. Have you ever had friends before or are you just dumb?"

"Hey! I was starting to actually have respect for you then you ruined it!." Akko sat up, looked at Amanda then nodded. "But thanks Amanda, I needed that. You're actually a decent person."

"Hah?! Do you want me to punch you?!" Amanda shouted with a smile then playfully punched the crimson on the shoulder. The duo laughed together, before the light green eyed girl started.

"Who's this childhood friend of yours anyways?" Akko stopped. "Oh, uh, Diana." A beat of silence erupted, the sound that the crickets surrounds them.

"HAH?! Diana?!" The burgundy haired girl nodded then looked at the American. "Holy shit! You're childhood friends with Diana Cavendish!"

"I,uhh, I guess."

"And you forgot about her!"

"STOP REMINDING ME!"

Amanda laughed at her, laying down the grass once more as she heartily laugh at the other witch. "This...This is epic!" Akko groaned. "It's not funny Amanda."

"Oh, hahahaha, yes, of course!" The American wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes. "Any who, you should go now if you want to talk to your dear childhood friend." She teased, the crimson eyed girl sighed punching the other girl playfully, then stood up almost immediately.

"I will, thanks Amanda."

...

Diana stood in front of the Jennifer tree, she lets out a breath. Her nerves calming down as she closed her eyes. She felt a little better ever since coming here, it always does it job well. She was tired, it felt like she had cried like there was no tomorrow ever since she found out that Akko was here.

She frowned. Why was she avoiding her? She wondered. Then she came into a realization.

'That's right, I'm a coward.' She opened her eyes, watching how the tree's leaves danced along the wind with her look of melancholy. She sighed, apparently Hannah and Barbara, fortunately, left her be for sometime alone. She admit that she appreciate it when they asked her if she was alright by herself and had to reassure them.

They were great friends. Yes. They were. Friends.

'But they aren't Acchan.' She thought solemnly, telling herself that Akko probably hated her now since she ran away without any explanation. She clenched her hand.

'What a perfect student. Diligent, smart, respectful, caring...' She paused. 'Caring, huh.' She thought bitterly. Diana if only her mother could look at her-

"Diana?" A sudden familiar voice called out, making her tense all over. She know that voice. Of course. Slowly she turned and it was in fact the person she's been avoiding.

"Acc- Akko, what are you doing here?" She asked, careful not to trip her words. Akko's eyes darts everywhere, not sure if she should look at the other girl in front of her or not.

"I was...looking for you. I asked the staff if they've seen you somewhere and a kind Taurus led me here." The crimson eyed witch stated, while the British witch sighed nervously. Of course the staff would reveal her location, they probably thought it was another student in need.

Hesitantly, Diana tried to slowly walk away but to no luck.

"Diana, please, just...Just for a while talk to me." Akko said, her eyes finally focusing on Diana's blue ones. The prodigy stopped to her tracks.

"What...What is there to talk about? I...I blew it. I told you that I wouldn't leave you but I never came back." She paused. "We made a promise...I cherished that but-"

"Diana don't blame-"

"Don't...Just don't." Diana placed a hand in front of Akko. "Don't try and make me feel better by saying kind words. I know you're that kind of person. It's my fault that you forgot about me. T-Then I have the audacity to tell myself that we should be friends again. No, I broke a promise once and-"

"Diacchan..." Akko's voice cut her off mid sentence, surprised at the use of her own nickname. "You didn't break any promises. If there's someone to blame, it's me."

"But-"

"It was me who forgot about you. I shouldn't have, but I did, and I'm sorry." The crimson eyed girl looked at Diana's blue eyes. Taking a step forward towards the prodigy to pull her into a hug. But Diana took a step back.

"No, this isn't right. You're suppose to hate me, hold some kind of grudge not-" She gasped when she firm yet warm sensation wrap around her body. She could smell the scent of apples on Akko, it takes her back.

"Shhh, I never hate you. Why would I?"

"Because I left you."

"But you're here aren't you?" Akko said in a calm voice, she tighten her grip. She felt all anxiety leave her, she felt light, relieved, she felt...whole. "You're here and that's what matters." She whispered. Then she heard it. The burgundy haired girl heard Diana sniffle, she felt Diana return her hug. It was a familiar feeling, severely familiar. She missed this.

"Just for the record, Diacchan, you didn't leave me." Her words. Akko's words brought her a sense of extreme relief. She felt the weight on her shoulder lift up, she felt her heart thump in her chest in happiness.

Clutching the crimson eyed witch's uniform, she cried for the last time. But this time, they were happy tears.

"Acchan...Acchan...Acchan..." She whispered in a chant. The feeling of enlightenment wash through her. Akko smiled. "Yes, Diacchan?" She pulled away from the hug and looked at the crimson eyed girl.

"Never leave me."


Oh my gahd this is so gay.