Little heads-up before reading: If you think it is OOC for the girls to fall for Fuutarou so quickly, remember the words of the old man from last chapter. When the two soulmates meet one another, they will fall in love so hard that it hurts. :D Oh and Akko's surprisingly smart here

Akko sighed, knowing that she blew her one chance at keeping a quiet high school life now that she met her 'soulmate'. Still, maybe she could try and save herself and the girl from this? Even if they were 'bound by a string of fate' like what the old god said, it would be better for her if she stays away from her. It would save her from the humiliation of dating someone like Akko, and she would be able to live her school year in peace.

This was already somewhat of a miracle, because Akko Kagari DOESN'T care about anyone on a normal basis!

"Pardon me, I was unaware that you were already at this table." Akko quickly stated, picking up her tray and closing her eyes which finally broke their eye contact. "I will just move to another table. Sorry for bothering you." With a quick bow, Akko willingly gave up on her usual seat and prepared to leave, only for someone to stop her.

"W-Wait…!" the girl quickly let go of her tray and reached out to grab Akko's arm, successfully stopping her in her tracks. "I… I wouldn't mind… e-eating with you…" she said, her voice becoming softer by the end. When Akko turned around to look at her, she immediately turned away, unable to look at her directly.

Now, Akko had two choices here. She could either leave her alone like what she had intended, rejecting her in the process and be the very cause of her 'death', as to how the god of love interpreted it. However, she could also comply with what she wanted, and accompany her in eating lunch, letting herself succumb to her fate of having a soulmate.

…yeah, she'd rather not deal with being possibly charged of murder and digging a deeper grave for her family's finances.

"Alright, then." Akko sighed in defeat and went to the opposite seat, as her and the girl sat down with their respective trays before them. This resulted in various murmurs and whispers breaking out from several tables around them.

"Woah, no way… Kagari-chan is eating with a girl?"

"Is that her girlfriend…?"

"Impossible, the girl has 0 social skills! She must have felt bad for her or something…"

Akko rolled her eyes in slight annoyance. "Seriously, these people don't have anything better to do…" Not even bothering to utter the traditional Japanese phrase of thanks before eating, she began to dig into her rice and soup, but that was when she noticed the girl looking down with a heavy blush on her cheeks, unable to eat due to embarrassment.

Swallowing a portion of her rice, she called out to her. "Hey. Lunch period doesn't last forever. You should start eating before the bell rings." Her red eyes then trailed down towards the girl's tray, where she was taken aback with all the food that she ordered: a combination of udon, two shrimps, squid, kashiwa, sweet potato, and pudding.

Her soulmate must be a heavy eater…

"O-Okay… itadakimasu." Clasping her hands together and uttering the phrase of thanks, she grabbed her chopsticks and started to eat. She quickly noticed the big difference between their lunches, which caused her to send Akko a look of concern. "Will you be satisfied with a meal like that? It looks like the yakiniku set, but without the yakiniku…"

Akko waved off her words of concern. "I'll be fine. Just focus on eating your own lunch."

Apparently, the girl didn't listen at all and instead grabbed one of the shrimps that she ordered with her chopsticks, before handing it towards her.

"P-Please have one of mine…!" she exclaimed with a heavy blush on her cheeks, which caused Akko's eyes to widen.

"Uh… you don't have to do that. I'm fine with my lunch being like this." She was planning to review her exam while eating, but she couldn't do such a thing with this girl distracting her.

"I insist, please just take it…!" Closing her eyes, she shoved her chopsticks forward, only to hear a muffled voice as a result. She looked back at Akko in confusion, and her face became completely red when she saw that she had fed her the shrimp, while Akko herself was surprised with her action. "I'm sorry! I apologize for my action just now!" she quickly sputtered, pulling out her chopsticks from her mouth.

"Don't mind it too much," Akko muttered, chewing the shrimp slowly in order to savor its delicious taste. Oh well, she tried to decline her offer, right? As soon as she swallowed the piece, she took a deep breath and went back to eating her rice. "You didn't have to give me that shrimp, but thanks, uh…" she trailed off. She was well aware that this girl was her soulmate, yet she had no idea who she was. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name. Would you mind enlightening me?"

"Oh!" The girl jolted in surprise, before she quickly recomposed herself by bowing her head slightly. "It's Diana. Diana Cavendish. It's a pleasure to meet you, uhm…?" she looked up at Akko with eyes full of curiosity, and Akko knew what that look meant.

"Atsuko. Atsuko Kagari but you can call me Akko. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Diana-san." Akko gave her a small nod, before going back to eating. This girl may be the soulmate that the old god was referring to, but she wasn't going to tell her about that.

Diana continued on with her lunch, but not before sending her a small smile. "T-Thank you for joining me, Kagari-chan. I appreciate your company."

Gulping down some water, Akko sent her a little frown. Remembering the elderly god's words from last night, he said that a girl falls in love instantly, but what exactly did he mean by that? Akko wanted to test something out. "Why did you want me to sit with you, anyway? You have nothing to gain from asking a stranger like me to eat lunch with you."

"I-I just… I just wanted to eat with you… that's all…" she stammered nervously, unsure of what to say at first before puffing her cheeks in a big pout. "B-Besides, what is wrong in connecting with other people? It's what new students would do when they transfer to a new school!"

"So you're new around here? That explains the uniform you're wearing," Akko said, pointing to the black top that she was wearing compared to the lighter tone of the school's standard uniform."She's having difficulty in holding a conversation, meaning that she's not that much of a social person like me. It'll be hard to speak with her. Is this really my soulmate…?"she thought to herself in a deadpan tone.

Diana nodded, gobbling up some of her udon. "Y-Yes, I just transferred recently. I have been touring the whole campus since morning, and my feet are at their limit. I could certainly do with giving them a rest for now."

Akko wanted to get up and put away her own tray since she was already done eating, but to leave Diana alone just when she's beginning to eat, especially now that they were acquainted with each other, puts Akko in an awkward position. Plus, there's no telling how she would react if she just leaves her here, and Akko would rather not make a scene in such a public place. With this, Akko reaches into her pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper.

"Do as you wish. I'll be here reviewing my exam," She said, opening up the paper and beginning to read through the test questions carefully.

"Exam?" Diana asked curiously.

"One of my teachers gave our class a pop quiz, which ended up being a mock test. The teacher only intended for it to gauge how much the class already knew about the lessons ahead," Akko explained nonchalantly.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but… isn't it bad manners to do something like that?" she asks, slurping up more of her udon.

"While you make a very convincing point, Diana-san, I am already done eating my lunch. Thank you for the shrimp, by the way, it was really good." She broke eye contact with her exam paper to give the girl an awkward smile, a clear sign of her low social skills, before turning her attention back towards her paper. "Now, since I am done with lunch, I should be putting my tray away and do this while on the way to my next class, but if I were to just get up and leave you here, that would be even worse manners, right?"

"T-That's true, I… I don't want you to leave…" Diana spoke with a very soft voice, but was still enough for Akko to hear, causing the both of them to blush up a storm and created an awkward atmosphere between the two as a result.

Akko faked a cough, cutting through the tension before it could get any worse. "Regardless, I will remain here until you finish your meal. Please don't bother me too much while I am studying, Diana-san."

With that, the next few moments were quiet between them, until Diana's curiosity piqued that concerned Akko's test results. Perhaps Akko could help her with her little… problem regarding this subject. "M-May I know your score on the exam, Kagari-chan?" she asked while munching on her squid.

Akko tore her gaze away from her test paper to give Diana a blank look. "I don't think that's a good idea on your part. It would be better off if you don't have any knowledge of it."

"Please…? I just need to know something important," Diana insisted, unintentionally pulling off a puppy-eyed look that was so adorable it ended up giving Akko an imaginary punch to the gut due to how cute she looked.

"F-Fine…" she grumbled, handing over her paper with shaking hands while her thoughts were filled with confusion."What the hell is wrong with me? I normally don't feel this way, especially to a girl I just met! Is it because… she's my soulmate? I'm really starting to hate this… oji-san, why did you have to pick me in the first place?"Akko complained in her mind.

"Let's see here… Kagari-chan, you received—" Her eyes widened in astonishment upon seeing Akko's score. "—a perfect 100…" she finished in awe, before turning back towards Akko, looking genuinely impressed.

"Don't look at me that way," Akko deadpanned. What was so impressive about it? It was just a mock test, and it didn't count for anything when school just started? "Have you never seen someone get a perfect score in an exam before?"

Diana thought about her question for a moment, before shaking her head. "As far as my memory goes, I haven't. But seeing you get a perfect score in this, it reminds me of my own grades…"

Akko raised an eyebrow at her. "Your own grades? How?"

"Well, the truth is… as hard as it is for me to admit it, my grades are not so good." She sighed, handing back the test paper towards Akko.

Akko took her paper and hid it into her pocket again. "Really? I find that hard to believe, because you look like you're the studious type."

The sudden comment causes the girl to blush deeper, before she shook her head to try and recompose herself. "Is that so…? Well, I… I do try my best to study as hard as I can… but regardless, my grades do not reflect it. Perhaps it is the way that I study, or perhaps I simply cannot retain any material that I read…ah!"

Diana suddenly clapped her hands together.

"I just thought of a great idea. Eating lunch with you must be a work of fate in itself," she says with a bright smile adorning her face. "Since we are already acquainted with one another, may I ask that you tutor me, Kagari-chan?"

"Tutor you…" Akko murmured, not expecting such a thing to come from her. Regardless, she thought about her options, to either accept or decline. Declining her plea would be risky, as she didn't know how she would take it, but what if Akko accepted?

She would have a job.

Maybe this 'soulmate situation' that the god of love gave her wouldn't be that much of a bad thing after all, if it meant earning money for her family. Plus, she wouldn't be the cause of Diana dying anytime soon and who knows? Maybe Akko could even fall in love with her for real and be her girlfriend?

Nope, it's best to not think about such a thing right now! Focus on the girl's offer instead!

"Hmm, I have never tutored someone before, but I'm certain that it would be a lot of work." Before Diana's smile could drop, Akko continued in her words. "That being said, I don't mind tutoring you; however, the job itself would be taxing on someone like me, who is only a student like you. I apologize if I'm being rude, but I would like to be compensated for my actions as a tutor if we come to an agreement."

"A salary? Oh, please do not worry, that can be arranged." The girl nods strongly, her smile never wavering, until a few seconds later. She then twiddled her fingers together, looking quite nervous for what she might receive as an answer. "So… w-will you accept?"

"Well, since I have nothing else to confirm with you, I believe we are in agreement. Let's shake on it." With the smallest smile that she could muster, Akko held out her right hand for her to take. "I look forward to teaching you, Diana Cavendish."

"And I look forward to learning from you, Akko Kagari-chan." Diana's smile returned full force, eagerly accepting the handshake in sheer happiness.

The two shook hands while their eyes were closed, which surprisingly lasted for more than 30 seconds until the both of them noticed that the other one wasn't letting go.

They opened their eyes at the same time, and they ended up locking gazes as a result. Both teens just stared at each other for a few moments, until Diana's cheeks began to turn red. The girl was the first to break eye contact, looking down at their hands that were still joined together, which caused her face to turn red.

"E-Excuse me…!" she exclaimed, quickly letting go of Akko's hand and swallowing the last of her squid.

"She's embarrassed… like me."Akko simply stared at her the whole time and within seconds, Diana stood before her while holding her empty tray.

"I-It's been a pleasure spending lunch period with you, Kagari-chan…! Until we meet again!" With a quick bow, the green-haired girl then walked off quickly to put away her tray.

As Akko watched her leave, she took it as a sign that it was also time for her to leave. While she was putting away the tray that she used, she was also in deep thought about something important.

"That wasn't as bad as I expected. Diana is the soulmate that I was supposed to meet today, but she didn't seem like she was even interested in a relationship, at least for now which is a good thing. I can deal with that, and since I'll be her tutor, I can earn something for Atsumi and the old man. She's my soulmate, huh? Well, I might not be opposed to the idea in the future, but for now… she'll be my student."Akko then thought about Diana and the way she smiled at her, which caused Akko to feel a weird sensation in her chest.

"Strange… why does she somehow look familiar, when this is obviously the first time we have met?"

Not bad for the first meeting between Akko and Diana, lucky girl #1! It went hella lot different compared to the Quintessential Quintuplets story, but that's what this fanfic is for. Now that they are starting on better terms, along with the fact that they are soulmates, expect more wholesome and fluffy moments between them next time.