Little Witch Academia: The Fantasia Melody
Chapter 9: The Streets of Shibuya
"AHHHHHHH!"
"Push harder Mrs. Kagari!" said the doctor kneeling where her exposed area was, waiting for the new life that was meant to come today to pop out.
While the doctor waited for the baby, Shuichi Kagari held on to his wife Ryuko Kagari's hard iron grip.
"SHUICHI!" Ryuko cried out. "IT HURTS! IT HURTS SO MUCH!"
"I'm here Ryuko I'm here!" Shuichi said as he held on tighter. "You can do it! And soon our baby girl will be born!"
"Yes, you're almost there Mrs. Kagari! Just a little more!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
From the last mighty cry from Ryuko that could almost make your ears bleed the sound of another small tender cry could be heard in the doctor's arms. Hearing those cries Ryuko smiled and finally relaxed as her husband Shuichi cried tears of joy.
"Your baby girl Mr. and Mrs. Kagari," the doctor smiled as he placed the baby girl in Ryuko's arms. Both she and Shuichi stared at the beautiful scarlet eyes that could match a ruby.
"What do you want to name her Ryuko?" Shuichi asked his wife.
Ryuko smiled cheerfully as she grabbed the small baby hand, "She's so warm and gentle...I call her...Atsuko…"
"You hear that Little Atsuko?" Shuichi spoke roll his daughter in a playful voice, "You're gonna be part of the family."
"Yes, I can't wait to take you-"
But then the movements of the baby become still and Ryuko was the first to notice. Young Atsuko stopped her cries and her body became limp as the light in her eyes seemed to dull.
"Ryuko?" Shuichi noticed the concern in Ryuko's face, "What's wrong?"
"Shuichi call the doctor…"
"W-what?"
"Call the doctor!" Ryuko practically shouted, "Something's wrong with Atsuko!"
Listening to his wife Shuichi called for the doctor and he came running to see the motionless Atsuko in Ryuko's arms.
"Atsuko stopped moving! What's wrong!?"
The doctor took the baby from her arms and listened to the heartbeat...to find no sound. He shook his head in despair and gave a saddened look to the Kagaris.
"I'm sorry…" the doctor held his head down, "...she is gone…"
"No…"
Shuichi's legs felt weak and fell on his wife's hospital bed staring off into space trying to escape reality while his wife balled in the realization that the little hope they had just brought into the world was gone in an instant.
"I am so sorry...we will take care of the body, but we will give you a few minutes if you would like that…" the doctor gave them their now dead child and left the room quietly to give them time to grieve.
"Why…?" Ryuko asked the world as she held onto Atsuko tightly trying to feel the warmth from before but there was nothing left. Shuichi held on to his wife and cried the same amount of tears as he wished for the child to come back.
Like a little flame that was quickly blown out by a mighty wind, Atsuko was no more.
Akko woke up with a start, her body covered in sweat and she felt like she was hit over the head with a jackhammer.
"That dream again...why do I keep…?"
"AKKO!"
Akko perked in attention by hearing her mother's voice.
"Breakfast is ready! Come on down!"
Sunlight peeked through Akko's curtains to make her realize it was morning. The girl got up, made her bed, and slapped on some casual clothes. After brushing her teeth she walked downstairs to see her father Shuichi Kagari in the kitchen making eggs while Ryuko was in her business dress sitting on the table.
"Good morning Akko," Ryuko said with a smile.
"Good morning dear!" Shuichi quickly said as he was trying to keep the eggs from burning.
"Good morning Mom and Dad..." Akko replied as she took a seat next to her mother. Both her parents could notice the lack of emotion in her tone and the bags under her eyes.
"Akko?" Shuichi asked his daughter, "Are you okay? It looks like you haven't slept."
Akko rubbed her eyes, "Yeah...I have had some trouble sleeping lately but it's not a big deal…"
"Are you sure you can still go to work?"
Akko nodded, "Yep! I mean I can cook ramen and noodles half asleep anyway so it doesn't matter."
Ryuko stared at her daughter and sighed. She placed the newspaper and turned to Akko with her usual "I mean business" look, "Akko...are you still upset about Luna Nova?"
The mention of the name of the place she once called home made Akko's body twitch in irritation. When her parents got the call that Akko was expelled they were shocked and appalled to hear the things that she did. They did what normal parents would do and grounded Akko the moment she came home but not before comforting her when she broke down in front of her house crying. And it was Akko's personal choice not to tell her parents about the whole Elizabeth and Mirage fiasco thinking that they won't believe her since they don't understand magic.
"I know it's been a week since you've been expelled but you gotta let it go. There are many things you can do other than magic you know."
"Yeah!" Shuichi chimed in, "I thought I was gonna be a police officer but I ended up doing horrible in training. A few years later I learned that I had a talent for drawing and decided to be a mangaka! It is truly enjoyable and most people like my stories! So don't worry Akko maybe magic wasn't your calling but you will find one eventually!"
Her parents' words were kind and reassuring but Akko honestly didn't take them to heart. Ever since she saw Shiny Chariot for the first time she knew that this was her calling. When she was born into the world she felt she didn't belong and that she wouldn't make it, but magic was just as abnormal as she was and it was able to make her feel a joy she could never feel from something else.
"I get what you guys are saying but…" Akko looked up at her parents with her red eyes full of determination, "...but magic is just a part of who I am! I can't just give up on it, I gotta pursue it!"
Ryuko stared at her daughter with seriousness and sighed as she realized there was no breaking this stubborn girl, "Fine Akko. If you want to keep going with magic then do so. Just please be careful and don't be too upset if it doesn't work out." She stood up from her chair and took her big black purse, "I'm off. And you should hurry to your job. Mr. Kai won't appreciate you being late again."
"Yes Mom," Akko said as her mother went out the door. The brunette quickly ran upstairs to her room to get her things and then ran to do the door but not without giving her father a goodbye kiss.
"Love you, Dad! See you in the afternoon!"
"Akko wait! You guys didn't eat your breakfast!"
But both Akko and Ryuko were already gone. Shuichi groaned as she threw his spatula into the sink.
"What's the point of me making breakfast if no one is here to eat it!"
"Meow~!"
Curled up on Shuichi's foot was the house cat, Pluto. He tickled Mr. Kagari's skin with his black fur, making him feel calm as he stared into the deep blue eyes of the cat.
Shuichi sighed, "Okay I guess I'll give it to you."
Akko always hated taking the subway. Even though it was quicker she couldn't take how packed it always was when she took it. She would waste her breath saying sorry to every single person in a car for bumping into them and would have to stay standing and try to ignore the powerful smell of sweat from other people. She would always try to find a seat but the gods of bad luck would always leave her short.
"I miss the Leyline Terminals…" Akko sighed to herself as a big fat guy from the right was pushing her to the left squishing her against another person.
"Two minutes until we reach our destination," said the voice through the intercom.
"Two more minutes Akko two more-oph!"
"Ow! Hey watch it lady!" yelled the fat guy.
"Sorry!...wait…"
Akko touched her right pocket and realized it was empty.
"My wallet…"
The brunette turned around and saw a suspicious hooded fellow who was not far from her making for the door.
"Hey!"
Right as Akko was about to follow him the subway train stopped and the doors opened. That was the thief's cue to push through the crowd and run out.
"Dammit!"
Ignoring the people around her Akko pushed through and ran right after the thief. Getting out of the subway Akko saw the thief heading down the stairs. She jumped onto the railing and slid all the way down to the bottom of the stairs and continued her chase.
"I always wanted to do that~!" Akko said aloud with a smile until she went back into serious mood. "Come on Akko focus! Get your wallet back!"
Knocking down people like a football player, the thief moved to the stairs that lead to the streets of Shibuya. Akko cursed under breath knowing that she probably might lose him but she still kept following him. The two made it to the sunlight and the crowded streets and Akko focused all her attention on the hooded figure and put all her energy into her legs as she chased after him. But the thief was like a track star; he was simply too fast for Akko to catch up.
"Does this man not get tired!? Guess I have no choice!"
Akko went into her left pocket and took out her silver wand. Even though there was no Sorcerer's Stone for miles she still had some magic left over. She took a deep breath and channeled a tiny bit of magic as she aimed the wand at the thief like a gun.
"Murowa!" A green energy beam fired out of the wand and aimed for the thief. The hooded thief looked back for one second and noticed the attack coming his way and with great reflexes, he slid down on the ground to dodge it. The beam missed and blew a hole in a building.
"Oh come on!" Akko roared as the thief got up and ran around the corner.
As Akko was cursing her horrible aim she followed the thief down the corner but stopped until she heard-
"GAHH!"
"Huh?"
Akko peeked through the corner and saw the same thief she was chasing on the ground with a foot on his chest. Standing over him with that same foot was a teenage girl with mid-length, black, feathery hair and a single red streak on her bangs. Her blue eyes had peculiar gear-shaped pupils with eight grooves around the edges and her outfit was a simple white shirt with a red ribbon tie, a black miniskirt, white sneakers, and a black jacket with white and black-striped, rolled up sleeves.
"Watch where you're goin you bastard!" yelled the teenage girl as she pressed her foot down putting more pressure on the poor guy's chest.
"Scary~!" Akko said to herself as she slowly approached the two.
"H-hey."
The scary teenager looked up at Akko, "What do you want?"
"U-uh...that guy stole my wallet so…"
"Hm?"
The teenage girl looked at Akko's right hand to see her wand still having a little bit of magic coming off of the tip.
"She's a witch…"
The teenage girl then took her foot off the thief and picked him up by his collar. She was definitely not an average girl if she was able to pick up a grown man like that. The girl then pinned him against a wall and rummaged through his pockets. After a few minutes of struggling the girl took out a brown leather wallet.
Akko ran up, "Yeah! That's mine!"
The teenage girl glanced at Akko for a second and then opened up her wallet.
"H-hey! Don't do that!"
"Huh?"
The teenage girl's eyes shot open when she saw the contents of Akko's wallet then she looked back at Akko with a weird threatening stare.
Akko backed away in fear, "I-is there a problem..?"
The girl looked back in the wallet and then looked up at Akko to ask, "You're Atsuko Kagari?"
"Huh?" Akko scratched her head. "Yeah, why?"
"...no reason."
The girl then threw the wallet into Akko's hands and released the thief. The thief tried to run but then the girl put her foot in front of him and he tripped.
"You're not goin anywhere…"
"What are you going to do to him?" Akko asked as she watched the poor man groveling on the floor as the girl put her foot on his back.
"Hand him over to the cops, but first I'm gonna beat the shit out of him!"
"Y-you don't need to do that!"
"True...but I want to!"
The enraged teenage girl balled one fist and was ready to bring it down until-
"RYUKO~!"
Akko and the teenage girl turned around to see another teenage girl. She had brown eyes and brown hair that was styled in a bowl cut and is wearing purple shorts, and a pink top with a white undershirt and a purple purse.
"Mako?"
The new girl known as Mako ran up to the girls in a span of two seconds ("So fast!" Akko screamed in her head) and grabbed onto the girl known as Ryuko's arms.
"What are you doing down here!? You promised to take me to that cloth shop!"
"Uh…oh yeah sorry, I forgot Mako."
"Well then come on! Let's go!" Mako pulled Ryuko forward with all her might.
Ryuko yelled, "Alright alright! Geez, you're hurting me!"
The two went down the corner and were gone leaving Akko alone.
The brunette girl placed her wallet back in her pocket, "You meet strange people anywhere huh? For some reason, that girl reminded me a lot of Amanda…"
Akko shook her head wildly as her brain was about to trespass into the forbidden lane of memories from a place she once thought of as home.
"Come on Akko you don't wanna be late for work…"
Meanwhile, on another street, Mako was skipping around happily while Ryuko walked slowly behind with her head down thinking deeply.
"She was Atsuko Kagari? Something's not right here…"
"Ryuko! Look!"
Ryuko lifted her head up to see Mako with a shocked expression pointing at something in front of them. It was building but it looked like it just came out of a hurricane. There were many people gathering at the sight taking pictures as the cops were putting up caution tape trying to push them away from the scene.
But what caught everyone's attention was the huge black painted symbol of a Treble clef with a huge creepy eye staring down at the crowd.
"What the heck is that?" Mako asked Ryuko but was met with silence. She turned to her friend who showed an emotionless look.
"So those assholes are already on the move huh?"
"Welcome to Ramen Heaven may I take your order?" said the waiter as she had a pencil and notepad.
The customer put his finger to his chin and began humming to himself as the wheels in his brain were turning.
"I would like...uhhhh…"
The waiter continued tapping her pencil against the notepad impatiently as the customer was trying his hardest to come up with a decision.
"Sweetie!" the customer's girlfriend touched his arm and showed him the menu. "Try number six! It's called Angel's Breath and it's really good! I tried it myself when I came here last time!"
"A-alright! I'll try Angel's Breath!"
The waiter wrote it down and bowed as they left the table. They ripped the piece of paper from the notepad and placed it on the tab order grabber.
"Another order Akko!"
Inside the kitchen was the hard-working Akko who was wearing a white robe with folded sleeves, a dark blue apron with ribbon ties at the top, and a bright white bandanna.
"Coming!"
Akko took two of the notepad papers and groaned.
"So many number sixes! Well, can't complain since it is our best dish. Welp," Akko cracks her back and stretches her arm.
"Time to get started!"
Akko took out three pots and laid them on the stove. She filled the pots with boiling water and placed two hard eggs in one of them. She then placed the noodles in another pot and focused solely on the pot with nothing but boiling water.
"Okay," Akko took out a bunch of bottles and other ingredients as she poured them into the pot, "Some soy sauce, chicken stock powder, some ginger, and garlic! And some good old sesame oil!"
The brunette took out a spoon and stirred the ingredients together.
"That's it that's it. And now just wait…"
Five minutes later the flavors started to come out. Once that was done Akko took a strainer and poured the soup into a bowl. Right after that she strained the noodles and put them into the same bowl. She then took out the boiled eggs and peeled them while adding some more vegetables and delicacies along with it in the now complete ramen dish.
"Yes! Kanpekina!"
Akko ran the bell right next to her and yelled, "One Angel's Breath coming up~!"
Hours later and the afternoon and finally hit the day. Akko sighed to herself as she watched the news while cleaning the table.
"Records of a strange religious group that calls themselves the "Orchestrators" have launched multiple rallies. News reporters and witnesses have stated that the end of each rally gets violent by the minute as the members begin wreaking havoc on the streets."
An image of a bunch of people wearing bandannas and hoods while carrying bats, golf clubs, or just any type of weapon roamed the streets and destroyed any piece of property that got in their way. That scene didn't really catch Akko's attention, but what did was seeing one a dude wearing a bandanna over his mouth firing a blue light beam from his palm.
"Reporters have claimed that this a Demi-human religious group as most members of the party have attacked the law enforcements with magical abilities."
"Psh! Weirdos!"
Coming from behind Akko was a teenage boy wearing a school uniform looking at least two years older than her and had the snarkiest smile on his face.
"I heard rumors that the whole Orchestra thing or whatever started in Britain or something," the boy continued to give Akko free education even though she didn't ask for it. "That's where most of the freaks are, so there is no wonder."
The boy places his hand on Akko's shoulder the brunette side-eyed the boy with an annoyed glare but of course, he didn't get the hint.
"What's your input on this? Scared of these radicals?"
"Not really," Akko said nonchalantly as she pushed the boy's hand off her shoulder.
"Really? No way! You must be scared of some crazy guys wandering the streets of Shibuya and blasting it with their evil magic and shit!"
Akko continued wiping the tables, "Once again, not scared."
Even after two rejects the boy does not quit and makes his way towards Akko again.
"Come on girl! I bet you are scared! If you are...I'll take you out tonight and we can have some fun~..."
Akko rolled her eyes.
"Sir are you going to order something or-"
"Hey watch it!"
The two teens turned around to see another boy who was wearing the same school uniform as the other one and someone on the floor in front of him. Akko couldn't see who it was because the big teen was blocking their figure.
"Watch where you are going four-eyes!"
"I-I am so sorry! I-I didn't know where I was going!"
The voice sounded like a female's so Akko made up that much. The other teen boy groaned as walked over to his partner.
"What's up, bro?" The boy asked his friend as he stared down at the scared girl.
"This four-eyed bitch bumped into me and made me spill my soda all over my clothes!" The big teenage boy pointed at his now messed up shirt that was dripping with fizzy juice.
"Damn bro! Guess we're gonna have to make her pay for that huh?" the boy cracked his knuckles as he said those words.
"Absolutely!" the big teen chuckled as he stretched out one arm to grab the defenseless girl.
"W-wait-!"
"Excuse me!"
The two boys stopped what they were doing and turned around to see Akko with her hands on her hips.
"It's obvious you two are here to start trouble so leave."
"Excuse me?"
"Did I stutter? Remove yourself from this building or I will remove you."
"Oh yeah?"
The big boy walked straight up to Akko easily over towering her by his height.
"Try me!"
Akko sighed, "Fine...Leva."
"Huh?"
All of a sudden the big boy felt his feet no longer touching the ground and he looked down to realize that they sure weren't.
"What the-!?"
"Bro!"
Akko held out her wand and waved it in the air throwing the big boy onto his friend. The two boys were thrown onto the door and feel outside tasting the concrete ground. They both got up quickly and stared at Akko with intense fear.
"S-she's one of those Orchestrators I know it!"
"Let's get out of her dude!"
The two boys ran away in fright nearly falling over each other.
"Akko~?"
The voice of Akko's boss Mr. Kai was heard from the kitchen.
"What happened out there?"
"Some troublemakers were disturbing some customers. I got rid of them though."
"Alright, that's good."
Once she was done explaining the situation Akko looked down at the girl on the floor.
"Are you alright you-"
Akko stopped as she observed the girl's appearance. She looked to be around the same age Akko was, had short dark blue hair, blue eyes that were under glasses, and she wore a green sweater and some jeans with brown sneakers.
The girl looked up at Akko and immediately had the same stare the brunette did when she laid eyes on her.
"A-...Akko…?"
"K-...Keiko…?"
Author's Note:
Been a while but was finally able to finish this chapter. This is the next arc of the story and this is where I start getting in on the relationship between Akko and Keiko. By the way, Keiko is Akko's childhood there is a concept art of her from Yoh Yoshinari. Keiko is not her actual name, I don't believe she actually has a name but if someone does know it they can say it in the comments and I can put it in there. But if not...I'm sticking with Keiko Ichigo.
And yes that was Ryuko from Kill la Kill another Trigger anime. As I have stated before this story will bring in a lot of other Trigger animes and Studio Ghibli because my silly brain sees them as existing in the same universe. Of course, she plays an important role later on but I'm not going to get into that.
Anyway thank you so much for reading this story and I hope you all have a good day. Thank you and goodbye!
Next Chapter: Keiko Ichigo