"Kids these days are certainly something." Miranda Holbrooke hummed lightly as she blew on her tea to cool it down. "Wouldn't you agree, Anne?"
Anne Finnelan stared at her teacup. It had been chipped, although it had nothing to do with the loud outburst she had heard a moment ago—mental note to check on whatever that was. She could easily repair the cup, mind you, it was just that whenever she tried it wound up breaking itself again. In the same place, with the same size chunk taken out of it. Again and again and again and again.
She also kept winding up with the same teacup whenever she and the headmistress had tea together. She tried to avoid it; shoving it to the back of the cupboard, shoving it to the front of the cupboard, hiding it in a completely different cupboard…it always made its way back to her and her alone; none of the other teachers had to deal with this cup, of that much she was certain.
She had, for a short while, considered the possibility of a curse. But no matter where she looked for magical traces—on the cup itself, on the cupboard, on the teapot, in the tea itself—she found nothing. Not a speck of magic. The cup was mundane and non-magical, perhaps disappointingly so.
Eventually she decided that the damn thing had sentience and was currently going through its "moody teenager" years, making the chip the porcelain equivalent of a scenester haircut. No, she was not "speaking from experience", please do not look through the Luna Nova 1987 yearbook, thank you.
"Hm," Professor Finnelan said non-committedly, "such rowdiness. Probably Kagari again."
"Oh my," Holbrooke stirred some sugar into her tea, "if that's the case, aren't you curious about what's happened?"
"Certainly not," Finnelan raised her chipped teacup, "today is one of the few days I have time away from classes. I want absolutely nothing to do with Kagari, her friends, or any shenanigans they're causing this time."
"HEADMISTRESS!" Lotte's voice—surprisingly loud for someone of her size and demeanor—was accompanied by a loud "BANG" of an (antique, irreplaceable) door being slammed into the wall it was attached to.
Finnelan let out a long, breathy groan.
"Miss Jansson?" Holbrooke blinked. "Is something the—"
"I-I apologize, professors!" Diana hastily half-jogged, half-walked into the room, panting slightly.
"Miss…Cavendish?"
This got Finnelan's attention. Cavendish may have recently joined Kagari's "band of misfits" as it were, but she was still a model student. Some of the professors thought that Kagari was bringing Cavendish down, but Finnelan played against the odds, choosing to believe that Cavendish was bringing Kagari's crew up. She enjoyed betting on long-shots; she never really won any of the long-shot bets she made, but she enjoyed betting on them.
Regardless, Cavendish was nothing less than a straight-A student even now; she wouldn't simply barge into the room willy-nilly. And, for that matter, Jansson of all people being loud was even more rare…
"Is there a problem?" Finnelan asked, worry crossing her face.
"I am so sorry for the interruption," Diana continued, "but there is a…small…issue…and, well…er…how do I put this delicately…?"
"Start from the beginning, if you please." Headmistress Holbrooke motioned politely towards the girls.
"Y-yes, well," Diana rubbed her hands nervously, "th-the thing is…er…well…there seems to have been an…accident? No, that's the wrong word…Lotte…?"
"A completely inexplicable magical catastrophe?!" The girl offered.
"Not…quite 'catastrophe', but closer to what I mean, yes." Diana shifted nervously. "And, well, uh…well…"
Finnelan frowned.
"Well?" She huffed. "Spit it out already! What could possibly have you prattling on like thi—hm?"
She felt a light tug at the bottom of her robe. She glanced down and studied the specimen before her. Clad in a dirty but not ratty white witch's hat, a dark-purple cape, and a soft pink dress.
Now, some of the more…frustrated and—shall we say—less academically inclined students might claim that Finnelan hated kids. This wasn't true; she loved kids. Kid-kids, that is. Teenagers were more of a toss-up, but she only disciplined them because she cared (or so she told herself). But yes, she did have a soft spot for kids.
"Well now," she cooed in a tone that didn't suit her at all, "who is this little sweetie?"
Finnelan scooped up the child in her hands and brought her up to face-level. Such pretty eyes, and an infectious smile seeing as Finnelan herself couldn't prevent a grin from breaking out.
"My name's Atsuko Kagari!" The girl chirped happily. "You can call me Akko!"
Finnelan's smile grew noticeably strained.
"Oh." She said.
"Hey, you're a witch, aren't you?" Akko beamed. "That is so cool! I bet you're super powerful! Can you show me some spells?"
"Uhm…" Finnelan turned towards her students, slowly and jerkily and constantly maintaining her forced smile. "Miss Cavendish…?"
"I am so sorry professor," Diana expertly dodged her teacher's gaze, "this is what I was trying to bring up."
"Whyyyyyy…?" Finnelan struggled to maintain her composure.
"We don't know what happened, exactly…" Lotte fidgeted. "We just…found her, in the infirmary…like this."
"How did Ka—"
"Akko," Lotte interrupted, "has…aheh…never met a real witch before, which is why it's…convenient? Convenient is a word…for her to have appeared at Luna Nova. Wouldn't you agree, professor?"
"Uh huh!" Akko nodded in place of the teacher. "Witches are so cool! I wanna be just like you when I grow up!"
Diana motioned with her hands as if she were presenting a new model car on a podium.
"The situation, headmistress…" She said. "As you can see."
"Yes." Holbrooke coughed slightly. "I do indeed…see."
Finnelan gently set Akko down and joined Holbrooke and Diana in a small huddle, while Lotte waved Akko over to the other corner of the room.
"Miss Cavendish…?" Finnelan began warily.
"L-let me just explain as best I can…" Diana whispered. "Yes, Akko is currently a child, and we have no idea how or why. She visited the infirmary for a light fever and then…we just found her like this."
"Does she…remember anything?" Holbrooke asked.
Diana sighed.
"She doesn't, unfortunately." Diana spared a glance across the room, watching as Lotte tried her best to keep up with Akko in some imaginary game. "As such, we've been trying to keep her relatively unaware of her…condition, as it were."
"Do you have any idea of what her…condition is, then?" Finnelan copied Diana's glance across the room, watching as Jansson spun herself into dizziness in an attempt to chase after the girl.
"Nothing but vague theories thus far, I'm afraid." Diana shook her head. "We were hoping you and the rest of the staff could provide assistance."
"Indeed." Holbrooke sighed. "I'll have some of the professors start research in their down-time. Anne, you and I will investigate the Horologium room for any traces of time travel magic. Urs—Chariot, that is, can start searching the archives for additional data."
Diana nodded, then blinked.
"Ursu...CHARI—!" She said, panic rising in her voice. "We have to warn her before—!"
"I am so sorry I'm late!" The voice of one Chariot du Nord panted from the doorframe. "There was this problem with Arcas and there were just so many bees and then I had to wash out the smell of fish, it was a whole thing."
Chariot looked up and noticed the looks of utter horror on Anne Finnelan, Miranda Holbrooke, and Diana Cavendish.
"Did I miss teatime?" She frowned.
She felt a tug at her dress, and stared down directly into a pair of crimson eyeballs.
"You look like Shiny Chariot!" Akko said.
Shiny Chariot blinked.
'This is bad,' Finnelan thought, 'this is the worst possible situation.'
'Oh dear…' Holbrooke frowned.
'Oh no…' Diana clenched her fists. 'I didn't consider this…this wasn't supposed to happen!'
'What if this is time travel?!' Lotte shook nervously. 'We totally screwed up the future, haven't we?'
Finnelan leaned back in a panic, Holbrooke gripped her staff tighter, Diana shut her eyes, and Lotte chewed her nails from her chair.
Chariot's mind was running a mile a minute, and maybe jumping hurdles and sliding under obstacles to boot. Who was this girl? It couldn't be Akko, could it? Was she another fan? Should she hide her identity? Did she miss teatime?
"Are you…" Akko tilted her head.
The entire room seemed to lean in, every piece of furniture holding its breath.
"Are you Shiny Chariot's mom?!" Akko grinned.
Chariot—or perhaps Chariot's mom, as the case may be—crashed to the floor in an undignified heap. So too did Finnelan and Lotte. Akko merely stood there, a fingertip stuck in her mouth in confusion.
Chariot was the first to miraculously recover.
"I-I'm not that old, am I?!" She shouted, comically on the verge of tears.
Diana and Holbrooke let out a sigh of relief.
"I-I put on makeup!" Chariot poked at her own cheek. "I exercise! Do I really look that old?! I'm not old! That's Finnelan's job!"
"Hey!" Finnelan shouted.
Diana mercifully stepped in.
"Akko…" Diana emphasized the name, hoping Chariot would catch on to the situation. "This is…uhm…Ursula! She's…um…"
"Chariot's older sister!" Lotte shouted from the corner of the room.
"Yes!" Diana clapped her hands. "Sister! That she…is!"
"E-eh?" ̶C̶h̶a̶r̶i̶o̶t̶ Ursula blinked. "I-I don't have a—"
Diana clapped a hand on the professor's shoulder and squeezed. Chariot was rather shocked at how much of a monster grip the girl had.
"Of course she doesn't like talking about it." Diana said, clearly flustered and panicked. "Because of Chariot's fame, that is. Of course."
"Wo~ow…" Akko hummed. "It must be so cool to have a sister who's famous! I bet you're super proud of her!"
"Y-yes?" Chariot darted her eyes back and forth between Diana, Akko, and a rather interesting spot on the far-right wall. "Q-quite proud…of her…"
"I wanna be just like Shiny Chariot when I grow up!" Akko declared.
Chariot let out a small, pitiful noise that was a cross between a whimper and a groan.
"A-Akko!" Holbrooke spoke up in an attempt to cut through the awkward atmosphere. "H-how about I walk you back to the girls who found you? I'm the headmistress of this school, so I can tell you all about what it'll be like when—if—when you go here! In the future!"
"Eh?!" Akko's eyes lit up even brighter, which many would say was impossible. "You really think I can go here when I grow up?!"
"I…I know so, Akko." Holbrooke smiled, noticeably uncomfortable.
"Yaay!" Akko cheered and darted to the door, running around in a circle as Holbrooke hobbled after to catch up with the girl.
As soon as they were gone, Chariot turned to Diana, looking as if she had seen the ghost of a particularly scary-looking monster.
"Wh-wha-wh-wha-wh-WHAT WAS THAT?!" She managed.
"Akko is c-currently a child." Diana said.
"WHYYYYYY?!"
"W-we don't knooow!" Lotte cried back.
"Ohhh…" Chariot slumped down. "I just got used to telling her the truth and now I have to lie again? I feel bad…"
"It's for the best, professor…" Diana reassured her with a pat. "I-I don't like lying to her either, much less lying to her as a child of all things, but telling her the truth is…well…"
Diana motioned vaguely with her hands.
"I-I understand," Chariot sighed, "I just don't like it."
Finnelan snorted.
"Still though," she said, "that girl…always getting into trouble. If she didn't keep sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, these kinds of…incidents wouldn't keep happening."
Diana knit her eyebrows.
"Excuse me," Diana huffed, "but Akko has done nothing wrong. This isn't her fault, she's the victim here."
"And you know that for certain?" Finnelan raised an eyebrow. "Kagari is nothing but trouble, she could have done something you're unaware of, Miss Cavendish."
"As a matter of fact, I know exactly where Akko was." Diana crossed her arms. "I took her to the library yesterday and I kept her up all night."
"You did that one on purpose!" Lotte shouted.
"And as for the rest of the day," Diana continued unabated, "I spoke with our friends and each one of them can confirm her presence at some point or another. During the past 24 hours, Akko has been completely accounted for. I say this as a fact: she has done nothing wrong."
The student and the professor held a glaring contest for a while, before Finnelan relented with a sigh.
"Very well," she said, "if you insist it isn't Kagari's fault, then I believe you. This may come as a shock to you, but I don't want her to remain a child."
Diana, Lotte, and Chariot all gave her a look.
"I-it's true!" Finnelan huffed. "For a witch to be transformed into a child on campus…this mistake must be rectified. And let's say nothing of the potential horror of informing her parents…"
Finnelan frowned.
"And…also…Akko doesn't deserve to have her self simply…wiped clean like that. It isn't…fair, I think is the word. As a witch…no, as a teacher, I refuse to let a student suffer such a fate!"
Diana smiled, as did Lotte. The group sat in silence for a moment, appreciating the mood.
"That's fine, and all…" Chariot finally said, breaking the silence. "But, um…I don't really look old enough to be my mother, do I?!"