Diana woke up in a cold sweat. She had another nightmare, but the ending was different. When Akko had reached out to her in the dream, a piercing sound echoed through her mind. It sounded a lot like a bugle.

"Finally, you're awake."

Diana almost fell off her bed. Looking to the side of her, she locked eyes with a young girl, who was no doubt as old as her. Perhaps even a few years younger. She had light blue hair tied in a single braid, and firm grey eyes. She was pretty small, and her skin was slightly tanned. She wore an oversized sweater and shorts that were still kinda big for her.

"I'm not that short," she grumbled.

"W-Who...?" Diana stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Ursula and I saw your message last night," continued the girl. "And I gotta say, I'm impressed. Oh, and yes, I was the 'mysterious' figure in the shadows, everyone. Just clearing up any doubts."

Diana didn't understand. "Who are you?"

"God," the girl shook her head. "For the daughter of the Speed King Dragon, you sure don't catch on fast. I'm Bree Anthony, the daughter of Gravitas the Strength King Dragon and your new trainer. And I'm not a child, you stupid author! I'm 23, screw you!"

"You're my trainer?" Diana's eyes widened. "I see. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is-"

"I know already," Bree yawned. "You're Diana Cavendish, the daughter of Kinema and Grace Cavendish. Your adopted parents are Bernadette Cavendish and William Cavendish, and they push you around a lot. Also, your aunt Daryl and her daughters are bitches. Yeah, yeah, Chariot filled me in."

Diana scowled at the use of such vulgar language, but shrugged it off. "Might I ask why you are in my room at... 5:30 a.m.?"

"Because I don't give a damn about the time!" Bree happily replied. "I'm gonna begin your training right now. And if you fall asleep, I'll just blow my special bugle that only dragons can hear. Anyways, follow me."

Left with no other option, Diana got up and was about to put on her uniform until Bree smacked her hand away from it.

"You really think you'll be able to train with that dainty skirt?" the short witch raised an eyebrow. "Stop calling me short, dammit!"

"Well, then," the blonde frowned at her. "What do you suppose I should wear?"

Bree threw a black t-shirt and light blue shorts at Diana. "This will do."

After she wore the clothes, the pair headed to the new field, which had apparently been set up by Bree beforehand.

"Preparation is key, after all," she smirked. "Hmm... what should we start with... Ooh! I know! Punch me!"

"I beg your pardon?" Diana asked.

"I wanna see how strong your punches are," Bree explained. "You don't have to worry about me getting hurt, since I'm the daughter of Gravitas and someone like you won even leave a scratch. Now punch me with everything you've got!"

"Very well," Diana took a deep breath, retracted her fist, and struck a blow on Bree's stomach.

Her fist felt like every bone in it had been cracked.

"Oh my-," Diana stopped herself before she could curse and instead screamed silently.


"Psht," Bree yawned. "Babies could hit harder than you. Speaking of babies, quit whining, Cavendish. I can fix your bones but not your bruises."

Diana looked down at her fist. What used to be almost white was now blue, purple and every other colour that it wasn't supposed to be. "I will never try that again."

Something in that sentence ticked the tanned witch off. "You're darn right I'm ticked! Why would you ever take the oath if you can't even throw a single punch without hurting yourself? Do you want Prima to hurt Atsuko Kagari? Because it sure looks like it. The most pathetic thing I've ever seen is a guardian who can't guard."

Diana was getting irritated as well. "My adopted parents barely wanted me to watch television when I was a child. Do you really think that I, of all people, would be skilled when it came to fighting? I wanted you to train me so that I can do my job, the one that I decided to take of my own will. So if you see little promise in me, then you may leave. But I will not stop practicing until I am able to protect Akko."

Bree sat in silence, then started laughing. "You really care about this girl you took the oath for, huh?"

"... Yes," Diana admitted. "However, I'd like you to understand the fact that my feelings for her are completely platonic."

"Sure, whatever," Bree waved her off, still chuckling. "Now, enough chitchat. Let's get to work."


Akko was anxiously waiting for Diana to come pick her up. Unable to sleep properly, she got up at around 7 a.m., which meant she still had to wait for three hours. Right now it was 9:55 a.m., which meant that the blonde witch would be coming to get her anytime.

Akko decided to wear a cute red and pink dress shirt, with no sleeves and a few ruffles at the bottom. Over that, she wore a white hoodie. Sneakers seemed to be a more comfortable option that sandals, since she and Diana would probably be walking around town a lot. And instead of the red string used to tie her hair, she used a pink ribbon and made a cute bow.

"When is she coming...?" Akko muttered to herself. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. Jumping out of her seat, she opened it to see Diana with her hands in her pockets.

The taller witch had worn a light blue collar shirt, white skinny jeans, and whit sandals. She was also wearing a simple necklace. Her hair was as unkempt as ever and a gentle smile rested upon her face. "Good morning."

Akko felt herself blushing furiously at the sight of Diana. No matter what she wore, she still looked flawless. "M-Morning..."

"Shall we get going, then?" Diana asked. "I'm sure you'd rather explore town then stay here."

"Y-Yes!" Akko nodded happily as she linked arms with Diana, who tensed up a bit but quickly relaxed. "Where are we going first?"

"I believe breakfast must be taken care of first," Diana replied. "Allow me to treat you to some of the finest food England has to offer."


"Wow!" Akko gasped in delight. "This looks sooo good!"

The pair had gone to a very nice diner Diana had been to a couple of times. She ordered a classic English breakfast consisting of sausage, bacon, eggs, toast, and a cup of tea for herself.

Akko had just begun to gobble down her delicious meal when she noticed Diana's hands. Maybe she didn't see them before because the blonde had kept them in her pockets until now, but both hands were wrapped in bandages.

"Diana," Akko reached to touch her hand. "What happened to you?"

The half-dragon quickly retracted her hand from Akko. "Er, it's nothing, really. Just an... out-of-control minotaur on my night patrol."

"Minotaur, you say?" The brunette puffed up her cheeks angrily. "I'll find out who it was and give him an earful, just you wait! I'm good friends with one of the minotaurs, so I'll be able to track down-"

"There's no need for that," Diana interrupted her hastily. "I've already taken care of it."

"Oh. I see." Akko nodded slowly. She then went back to her breakfast as Diana let out a quiet sigh of relief. She really wished that Bree had gone a little easier on her.


"Kawaii~ " Akko said as she looked at her reflection in the changing room'service mirror.

"What does that mean?" Diana asked from outside.

"It's Japanese for 'cute'," the shorter witch explained. "OK, get ready to be dazzled!"

Akko pulled the curtain aside, and Diana was sure her heart was going to give up hope on her sooner or later.

The red-eyed girl was wearing a fluffy red dress, with no straps and a bow tied around her waist. The bottom part was very frilly, and sparkled if you looked at it from a certain angle. Her socks were striped black and red, and she wore black dress shoes.

"Whatchya think?" Akko winked at the blonde, whose mind was malfunctioning at the moment.

"Ahem, well," she tried to clear her embarrassment away. "It's very cute, Akko. Very cute."

"Arigato!" Akko smiled. "Would you like to try something on?"

"Ah, no thank you," Diana shook her head. "I don't like wearing dresses if I don't need to."

"Well..." Akko looked as if she was deep in thought. "It doesn't have to be a dress..."

"...Eh?"


"Im not so sure about this..."

"Don't worry about it, Diana! I'm sure you'll look great!"

"...Okay, I'm done."

The blonde stepped out of the fitting room, her new look making Akko's heart beat spiral out of control. She was wearing a baby blue tuxedo, with a little white bow and a black collar shirt. Her shoes were black.

"Akko?"

"..."

"Akko."

"..."

"Akko!"

"Wawawawa!" Akko blinked out of her stupor. "Y-You look so good..."

"Thank you," Diana slightly smiled. "Or should I say, 'Arigato'?"

"Aw~" one of the employees cooed. "You two look absolutely adorable together."

It took them quite some time to explain how they weren't together in that sense.


"Hey, Diana!"

"Hmm?"

"Let's go eat something! Like ice-cream!"

"Alright. What flavor would you like yours to be?"

"Uh... aren't we gonna share?"

"..."

"..."

"I think I understand why that employee thought we were together."


"I love the arcade! I didn't even know they had one here."

"..."

"What's wrong, Diana?"

"I've never played any of these. Can you win teddy bears from that machine?"

"Yep. But first, I wanna play Guitar Hero!"

"Shouldn't be too different from playing an actual guitar."

"You play guitar?"

"Don act so surprised. Andrew can play the piano after all. So why can't I play the guitar?"

"...(Fuck I'm not winning this)..."


After what seemed to have been an entire day, the two girls sat on a bench in the park, waiting for a firework show to start. Diana had taken them there because she knew they'd get an amazing view from that perspective. Akko couldn't care less, she thought to herself as she happily clutched the teddy bear Diana had won for her. She was planning on naming it Cherry, after Shiny Chariot.

Thinking about it twice, Akko finally decided to take a deep breath and tell her friend what was on her mind. "Hey, Diana..."

"Yes?" the blonde , still worrying about that matchmaking employee's words.

"I need to tell you something very important," Akko shuffled closer. "And no matter how much you may hate me for it, I have to tell you. Otherwise, I'm gonna go crazy."

Diana tilted her head curiously. She could never hate the brunette, no matter how hard she tried. So why...?

"I... I think I-" Akko was cut off by a deafening explosion. They turned their heads toward the direction of the noise and saw bright colors illuminating the sky. Akko turned her gaze towards Diana and gasped at how innocent she looked. Maybe if was her hair, slightly flowing in the wind, or maybe it was her sapphire eyes that reflected the brilliant lights from the fireworks. Perhaps it was her adorable, excited smile.

Whatever the reason, it made tears well up in Akko's eyes. She felt an aching pain in her chest, and couldn't believe that she was about to say what she had been hiding for so long. She couldn't understand why she was so selfish in her wants.

"I... like you, Diana."

Diana's attention was caught by the school hero. "...What...?!"

"I really like you. Romantically. I... I have a crush on you!"

Akko gently kissed her cheek and got up. Before Diana could do anything, she had run away, her tears still threatening to fall because of the fear that she had lost her wonderful friend.

The blonde sat on the bench still, touching her cheek and blushing a bright red. It felt like an electric current had run through her. She felt strong, stronger than she had ever felt before. But the current matter at hand did not require any strength, no. She needed to use her head.

"What am I going to do...?"