Akko fished her hand around in the sea of paper scraps, shutting her eyes tightly. The other eight girls in the Red Team's room watched her with collective anticipation.
"C'mon Akko, we don't have all day," she heard Amanda groan.
Akko's fingers finally latched on to a piece of paper and swiftly pulled it out, clutching it tightly to her chest without looking at it.
"About time," Sucy said, getting up from her seat. Akko stuck her tongue out at her.
Stepping back from the hat held out in Lotte's hands, she watched as the other girls got up one at a time to pull names out of it. They all managed to remain cryptic about who they got: Costanze looked at her paper sternly with a small nod, Lotte smiled to herself, Diana's face didn't move at all.
On the other hand, Amanda rolled her eyes reading hers and Hannah let out a subtly disappointed sigh (then again, getting anyone besides Barbara or Diana would've disappointed her anyway).
"Akko," Lotte tapped her shoulder. "You still haven't looked at yours yet."
Akko hesitated. She didn't want to admit that the reason she refrained from reading was fear that she would over-react. Especially if she ended up with someone's name in particular. When it came to concealing her emotions, Akko could not have been worse at it.
"Uh, yeah, I'm waiting until later," Akko said, her eyes darting around as all the attention seemed to move onto her. "I don't want to accidentally spoil it or anything!"
Amanda smirked at her before shrugging nonchalantly. "Suit yourself."
"Alright then, we all have our recipients," Diana stated. "Remember the rules: no revealing to anybody, even if they aren't participating, and nothing overly-expensive."
"Funny coming from her," Amanda muttered to Akko, who couldn't help but snicker.
Diana paused to stare at them both for a moment before continuing.
"Also do try to put effort into your gift, don't wait until the last minute," Diana said, still glaring at them. Finally breaking the gaze, she continued. "We'll all meet up again in a week to exchange gifts and reveal."
The group clapped and the blue and green teams slowly trickled out of the room, off to mull over what gifts they could give. Diana lingered behind for a moment, her eyes still on Akko.
Akko looked around and shifted awkwardly on her feet. Diana was already intimidating enough, but when she said nothing, it made her even scarier. Strangely, it seemed as if Diana wanted to say something before she left, before silently stopping herself and sighing instead.
"Best of luck to you all," Diana tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and opened the door. Her eyes found Akko one last time before she left.
Akko clutched the paper tighter in her hand. She wondered what kind of gift Diana would like the most. Not that it mattered! There was no way she had gotten Diana. Judging by everyone's reaction, she wouldn't have been surprised if Amanda of all people got Diana's paper.
Amanda wouldn't even know what to get Diana! She would probably get her some joke gift or something. Akko thought, a bit self-importantly.
"Akko, just go outside and look at the paper already," Sucy said. "You're acting all tense."
"Fine," Akko grumbled, shuffling out the front door.
As soon as the door closed behind her, Akko leaned against the wall, her fingers shaking as she slowly unfolded the now-crinkled paper in her hands. She took a breath, collecting herself before allowing herself to look at the name.
The delicate, dignified cursive fell under her gaze and a rush of excitement rose up through her from the bottom of her feet.
Diana.
Akko couldn't hold it in, the buzzing in her stomach was too overwhelming, along with the light feeling in her chest. She pumped a celebratory fist in the air.
"Yay!"
Lotte and Sucy heard the muffled exclamation from behind the door and grinned to one another.
"I wonder who she got?" Sucy said sarcastically.
Diana entered her room before Hannah and Barbara made it back, hurriedly moving around the bookcase and leaning against the shelves.
Reopening the folded paper, she looked at the name once more, written in big, bold letters.
AKKO.
Diana couldn't help but allow herself to sigh and smile, wondering what kind of gift would make Akko grin the widest.
