Dinner that night in the dining hall was not a pleasant experience for Akko. As with any gossip in an all-girl's school, the news about Akko's shouting match with Light Spinner had spread all over Luna Nova within the hour. She heard whispers all around her as she sat eating between Lotte and Jasminka. The funny thing was that none of the whisperers seemed to mind her overhearing what they were saying about her – on the contrary, it was as though they were hoping she would get angry and start shouting again, so that they could hear her story firsthand.
"She says she dueled with the Great Witch – "
"She thinks she tried to murder Minoru…."
"Yeah right…."
"Who does she think she's kidding?"
"Puh-lease…."
"What I don't get," said Akko, showing a remarkable amount of restraint (built from years of mockery for her lack of magical talent), "is why they all believed the story two months ago when Professor Holbrooke told them…."
"The thing is, Akko, I don't think they did," said Diana grimly. "Ugh, let's get out of here."
She rose from her seat and the rest of their tightknit group followed; Jasminka looked sadly at her half-finished cranberry pie but followed suit. People stared at them all the way out of the hall.
"Whaddya mean they didn't believe Professor Holbrooke?" Akko asked when they reached the first-floor corridor.
"No offense, Akko, but you have no idea what it was like after it happened," said Hannah tactlessly. "You dropped out of nowhere in the middle of the field, Minoru with her throat cut open before she literally died for several minutes…. No one saw what happened in the maze. We just had Holbrooke's word for it that Jennifer had come back and fought you and Minoru."
"Which is the truth!" said Akko indignantly.
"We know that, so stop trying to bite her head off!" Barbara shouted defensively on Hannah's behalf. "You don't get it. It was just before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're an attention-seeking nutjob and Holbrooke has gone senile!"
Rain pounded on the windowpanes as they went their separate ways back to their dormitories. Akko felt as though her first day had lasted a week, but she still had a mountain of homework to do before bed. A dull pounding pain was developing in her temple. She glanced out of a rain-washed window at the dark grounds as they turned to into the Polaris corridor. A numb part of her wondered in the figure in the black hood was out there, watching her from a distance.
The common room was almost empty when they entered; nearly everyone was still down at dinner. Blair uncoiled herself from an armchair and trotted to meet them, purring loudly, and when they took their favorite seats at the fireside, she leapt into Akko's lap and curled up like a furry purple cushion. Akko gazed into the flames, absentmindedly stroking Blair's fur, feeling drained and exhausted.
"How can granny have let this happen?!" Lotte cried suddenly, making them jump; Blair bounced onto the floor with a startled screech. Lotte pounded the arms of her chair in fury, so that bits of stuffing leaded out the holes. "How can she let that terrible woman teach us?! And in our S.T.A.R. year too!"
"Wow, even Lotte can get angry," said Jasminka astonishingly.
"Kinda hot," said Amanda teasingly.
"Well, we haven't had a great string of teachers over the past few years," said Sucy. "We've had everything from child authors to immortal death gods."
"Yes, but to employ someone who's actually refusing to let us do magic?! What is granny thinking?!"
"It's not like she has a choice," said Blair, climbing onto the back of the couch. "The Magic Council are trying to assert their authority by any means necessary. Granny has to play along for the sake of the school."
"And she's trying to get people to spy for her," said Stan-Bot; Constance had a dark look in her eyes. "Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying Jennifer's back?"
"No point in worry about it," said Sucy listlessly. Lotte opened her mouth to retaliate, but Sucy cut her off, "Even if we wanted to, what could a bunch of teenagers do? If we cause trouble, it'll just hurt Luna Nova."
"I hate to say it, but she's right," Amanda sighed in defeat. "Nothing we can do but grin and bear it…. Let's just…get to working on our homework, get it out of the way…."
They collected their schoolbags from a corner and returned to the chairs by the fire. People were coming back from dinner now. Akko kept her face averted from the entrance, but could still sense the stares she was attracting.
"Shall we do Professor Azusa's stuff first?" said Amanda, scribbling messily at the top of the sheet. "'The properties…of slime goo…and its uses…in medicine….' There." She underlined the title, then looked up expectantly at Sucy.
"So what are the properties of slime goo and it's uses in medicine?"
But Sucy was not listening; she was squinting over into the far corner of the room where Garie and Sabi were now sitting at the center of a knot of innocent-looking first years, all of whom were chewing something that seemed to have come out of a large paper bag that Sabi was holding.
"What are those two munchkins up to this time," she said distractedly, tilting her head for a better look.
"Huh, wha – " Akko babbled, looking around for what Sucy was referring to. "You mean Garie and Sabi? Looks like they're giving out candy – "
"You know perfectly well that those aren't candy," said Sucy with a hint of curiosity. "They're experiment with their illness treats. Either for nosebleeds or vomiting or – "
"Fainting, apparently," Blair commented languidly.
One by one, as though hit over the head by invisible mallets, the first years slumped unconscious in their seats; some slid right onto the floor, others merely hung over the arms of their chairs, their tongues lolling out. Most of the people watching were laughing; Sucy, however, held a neutral expression as she rose from her chair and glided over to where Garie and Sabi now stood with clipboards, closely observing the unconscious first years. Akko and the others turned to Lotte – the Prefect – to see if she might intervene, but the bespectacled girl muttered "She's got this" and sank as low in her chair as her tiny frame permitted.
"Not bad, not bad," Sucy complimented her siblings, both of whom looked up in mild surprise. "Let me guess: ground pixie bones and honeysuckle?"
"You know us so well, ate," said Garie, grinning. "We threw in a little a little artificial sweetener to make it easier to go down. No one likes a bitter pill."
"You know that changes the chemical composition completely," Sucy remarked. "The revival pill won't work unless you add ginger root."
"What do you take us for, amateurs?" Garie scoffed. "Of course we added the ginger root, right, Sabi?" But her twin was startlingly silent. "I said, 'Right, Sabi?'"
"Er…," Sabi muttered weakly.
A few seconds of awkward silence passed before the twin scrambled to shove the second piece of the sweets into the first year's open mouths. But when they did not stir, Garie and Sabi glanced at one another before turning to their older sister with sheepish grins.
"I figured as much," Sucy sigh exasperatedly. She reached inside her sleeves and pulled out a pair of chemicals from god knows where and started mixing them. "Move aside. If they don't wake up, I'm the one getting an earful from Ina."
Naturally, it only took a few drops to rouse the first years. Several looked so shocked to find themselves lying on the floor, or dangling off their chairs, that Akko was sure Garie and Sabi had not warned them what the sweets were going to do.
"Feel all right?" said Sabi kindly to a small dark-haired girl lying at her feet.
"I – I think so," she said shakily.
"Excellent," said Garie happily, jotting a quick note on her clipboard before Sucy snatched it up. "Hey! Get your own!"
"Nothing is 'excellent' about this," said Sucy disapprovingly.
"Course it is, they're alive, aren't they?" said Garie angrily.
"Only because I cleaned up your mess," said Sucy, her lip curling into a frown. "You should've tested the new formula before handing them out."
"Since when do you care about what happens to other people?" Sabi snapped.
"Yeah, you experiment on your friends all the time," Garie pointed out.
"That's because I know how to fix a problem if something goes wrong," said Sucy. "You two don't even think about the consequences. If these kids didn't wake up, the teachers would – "
"What, put us in detention?" said Garie in an I'd-like-to-see-them-try voice.
"Make us write lines?" said Sabi, smirking.
"Yes," said Sucy evenly, "after they wrote to Ina."
"They wouldn't," said Sabi, horrified, taking a step back from Sucy.
"Oh, yes, they would, because I would tell them to," said Sucy grimly. "I can't stop you from taking those things yourself, but if you even think about handing those out to other people, I better know about it first."
Garie and Sabi looked thunderstruck. It was clear that as far as they were concerned, Sucy's threat was way below the belt. With a last threatening look at them, she thrust Garie's clipboard back into her arms and stalked back to her chair by the fire.
"What was that all about?" asked Amanda strangely.
"What, I stopped them from causing trouble," said Sucy calmly.
"Which is the weird part," said Amanda. "They're right – you've never had any problems with experimenting on people before."
"You've shoved potions down my throat while I was asleep," Akko pointed out.
"And weren't you the one that helped them get the ingredients for those treats?" asked Stan-Bot.
"That's none of your – "
"Actually…," Lotte chimed in, "I did notice that Sucy was spending a lot of time with Garie and Sabi over the summer. When we stayed at Sucy's house last year, she never wanted to spend any time with them; she always kicked them out whenever they were in the same room."
"Oh yeah," said Jasminka thoughtfully. "That was right around the time Jennifer came back – "
Sucy suddenly slammed her textbook shut, causing everyone to jump. She stuffed the book and homework in her back, shot up, and practically glided up the stairs to their dorm, slamming the door shut behind her. There was a silent pause before the girls began to snicked and chortle.
"Aw, that's cute," Akko giggled. "She's worried about her sisters."
"I guess even Sucy is capable of affection," Amanda commented.
"Doesn't she have a girlfriend?" said Jasminka.
Amanda looked at her homework and closed her book with a sigh, saying, "There's no point in trying to finish now, we can't do it without Sucy. I haven't got a clue what you're supposed to do with slime goo, do you?"
Akko shook her head, noticing as she did so that her headache was getting worse. She thought of the long essay on Titan wars and the pain stabbed at her sharply. Knowing perfectly well that she would regret not finishing her homework tonight when the morning came, she piled her books back into her bag.
"I'm going to bed, too."
The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as the previous one. Jasminka was the first to point out that, again, Professor Ymir was absent.
"But on the plus side, no Light Spinner today," said Amanda bracingly.
Double Charms was succeeded by Double Alchemy. Professor Kowata and Professor Finnelan both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of S.T.A.R.s.
"What you need to remember," said Professor Kowata, acting uncharacteristically serious, even dressing her proper and combing her hair rather than the sloven mess she usually was, "is that these exams can, and will, influence your futures for the years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we'll be working hard than ever to make sure you all don't fail tragically!"
They spent more than an hour reviewing Summoning Charms, which according to Professor Kowata were bound to come up in their S.T.A.R.s, and she rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest amount of Charms homework ever.
It was the same, if not worse, in Alchemy.
"You cannot pass a S.T.A.R.," said Professor Finnelan grimly, "without serious application, practice, and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve a S.T.A.R. in Alchemy as long as they put in the work…. Today we will be starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until your Mark of Mastery level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be test on in your S.T.A.R."
She was quite right; Akko found the Vanishing Spell horribly difficult. By the end of a double period, no one but Diana had successfully vanish their newts on which they were practicing, though Lotte said hopefully that she thought hers looked a bit paler. Diana was also the only one not given homework; everybody else was told to practice the spell overnight, ready for a fresh attempt on their newts the following afternoon.
Now panicking slightly about the amount of homework they had to do, Akko, Hannah, and Amanda spent their lunch hour in the library looking up the uses for slime goo in potion-making. Still angry about being teased the previous night, Sucy refused to help them. By the time Akko reached Modern Magic in the afternoon, her head was throbbing again.
Professor Croix classroom was similar to her mind – cluttered and always active. Akko lost count of how many times she had fallen flat on her face because her foot got caught on a cable, or bumped her knees into one of Croix's discarded projects. And the constant flashing lights were an epileptic nightmare. Akko trudged her way to the workbench she shared with Constanze and Barbara, both of whom had already pulled out their tools and waited intently for Croix's instruction. The Modern Magic teacher was without her flashy cape, her work goggles hanging around her neck, and covered in grease. She looked like she just came directly from her workshop without freshening up.
"All, simmer down while I take attendance," called Croix. Unlike other teachers, she used her phone to mark down who was present, finishing within a minute. "All right, let's get cracking – who can tell me what these are?"
She indicated to a pile of what looked like gray sand laden on the table in front of her. Barbara's hand immediately shot into the air a full minute before Constanze, a fact that seemed to annoy the shorter witch. The rest of the class had no idea what Croix was going for, and Akko couldn't blame them. What could a bunch of grains have to do with modern magic.
Her answer came almost immediately when the "sand" suddenly sprang into the air, swirling in place, and molded into a great gray eagle. The creature swooped over their heads, circling around the classroom while the entire class in awe. Croix held out her arm and the "eagle" landed on her forearm, where it altered its form again into a hanging sloth. The whole time Croix was grinning smugly.
"Impressive, right?" said Croix, dropping the "sloth" on the table, where it collapsed back into a pile of gray sand. "So – anyone want to tell me what these are? Miss Parker?"
"Nanobots," said Barbara. "Microscopic machines capable of assembling and disassembling together."
"Five points to Lunar," said Croix. "Yes, these are nanoscopic robots, as Miss Parker has correctly pointed out. But before you get your hopes up, no, I am not teaching you how to make nanomachines – that's a little above your skillset. This is simply an example of what I will be teaching you this year: Artificial Intelligence. I think anyone who has watched a movie or anime can tell me what that is. Miss Kagari?"
"Er, machines that can think for themselves?" Akko answered lamely.
"You're half right," said Croix. "There's a lot of technical jargon that goes into what defines artificial intelligence, but to put it in simple words: Artificial intelligence is a program that can think and learn without human interference. There have been many examples of artificial intelligence since the turn of the century, most of them prominent in America. While the idea seems fantastic, there is an underlying danger of programs becoming too intelligent, as known by the whole Ultron fiasco over a decade ago.
"This year, your year-long project will be to develop a machine with a simple A.I. program. You'll be spending the first term studying programming, then you will use the second term to develop you're A.I. program using computer systems that I will provide for you. And in the third term, you will create your machines that will run the programs. And instead of turning them in to me at the end of the year, you will present your final products for your S.T.A.R. exams, who will determine your final grade.
"I am texting you all a link to the e-book that you will be reading for the year," Croix announced, tapping her phone. Akko felt her own smartphone buzz in her pocket and pulled it out, finding a link to an online textbook called 'A.I. Programming and How to Prevent a Robot Uprising by Tony Stark.' "You will spend the rest of the class period reading the first chapter. Please do so quietly."
"Professor Croix," said Stan-Bot suddenly while Constanze raised her hand. "May I be excused."
"Oh, yes, you're exempt from this project since you're already done the work," said Croix referring to the tiny robot. "You'll be presenting your…other project for the exams?" Constanze grunted and gave a thumbs-up. "Good girl. You're excused."
Constanze nodded in confirmation, packing up all her things and making her way out the door. The rest of the class didn't notice her leave, trying to bully their brains into reading the programming guide. Curiosity made Akko wonder what this other project she was working on. She knew, at least, that Constanze had received a grant for her work and even had her own workshop, which Akko had not seen yet. Akko desperately wished that Constanze would have stayed to help, because when Akko opened the link on her phone, she spent the rest of the class reading the same paragraph without understanding a lick of it.
Everyone groaned in relief when the bell called for the end of classes; Akko never thought she would find anything worse than the Borrin book, but she had been wrong. As she dragged herself out of the classroom, her head was pounding even worse from information overload. She massaged her forehead as she made her way down to ground level headed for Herbalism when she ran into Lotte and Sucy.
"Rough day?" asked Sucy, though she likely wasn't interested in an answer.
"Horrible," Akko groaned. "Professor Croix is making us read a bunch of techy book stuff for the whole term."
"A class where you actually have to learn stuff? The madness," said Sucy sarcastically.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," said Akko, grimacing. Together they traipsed across the school grounds. The sky still appeared unable to make up its mind whether it wanted to rain or not.
"Constanze left at the beginning of class," Akko brought up. "Professor Croix said she's working on some big project. Know anything about that?"
"We don't really interact with Constanze all that often," Lotte admitted shamefully. "But she's usually working on some project every day, isn't she? Maybe you should ask Amanda or Jasminka. The three of them are best friends, right?"
"Bet Constanze wants to be more than friends with Amanda," said Akko teasingly.
"Not so much these days," said Sucy. "She doesn't seem as interested in Amanda as she did before."
"But I thought Constanze had a crush on her," said Akko surprisingly.
"It's natural for people to grow out of crushes," said Lotte as they crossed the vegetable patch. "I guess Constanze finally decided to move on."
"Huh, guess so," Akko mumbled.
The door to the nearest greenhouse opened and some fourth years spilled out, including Molly McIntyre.
"Hello, Akko," she said brightly, sidestepping to let her classmates pass. "Having a good year so far?"
"Not exactly off to the best start," Akko answered, scratching the back of her neck when she remembered the piles of homework on top of her confrontation with Light Spinner.
"Yes, I imagine so," said Molly. "But for what it's worth, I believe you. I believe that Jennifer is back and you fought and escaped her."
"Thanks, Molly," said Akko appreciatively. After the week she had been having, it was nice to know that there was someone outside her group of friends that didn't think she was a liar.
"Just a word of caution before I go," Molly lowered her voice suddenly, whispering close to Akko's ear as several fourth-years eyed them wearily while passing. Akko got the sense they weren't just looking at her. "It may seem difficult at first, but don't rise to her provocation. It's better to endure and wait for a better opportunity than to make things worse when you know you are at a disadvantage. Trust me, she will get what she deserves."
Suddenly, Akko got the sense that they weren't talking about Jennifer anymore, but before Akko could follow up on it, Molly patted her back reassuringly and trotted away.
"What was that all about?" asked Sucy strangely.
"You think Molly might have had another vision?" asked Lotte curiously.
"I haven't known her long enough," said Akko, "but I get the sense that she's the type to never give a straight answer."
"Straight is the last thing you would find in Luna Nova," Sucy snorted; Lotte gave her a withering look.
They stepped into the greenhouse, which was always fully of strange and (more often than not) toothy plants. The Sonnentreppe that they had planted back in second year had been completely removed from its usual corner in the back, which, considering the origins behind it, Akko wondered why they took so long to get rid of it. There was an entire plot on the left side dedicated to large blue roses with sharp-looking thorns that seemingly moved to follow anyone that got close. Akko was setting up at her usual plot when her childhood friend, Nanoha Takamachi, took the plot across from her.
"Hey there, stranger," said Nanoha teasingly. "Haven't seen you in a while. Not even back home."
"Hey, Nanoha-chan," Akko greeted. "Yeah, I've been…busy."
"I can imagine," said Nanoha understandably. "The whole school is talking about you."
"And they made no effort to hide it," Akko grimaced. "Thanks, by the way. Hannah told me what you did to Gaëlle, how you defended me."
"We've known each other since we were babies, Akko-chan," said Nanoha, smiling softly. "I like to think I know you better than anyone. If you say that Jennifer is back, then I have no reason not to believe you. And just so you know, Fate-chan and Hayate-chan believe you, too. Hayate-chan's even putting together a group, though I'm uncertain about the name."
"What's the name?" Akko asked curiously.
"Hayate's Lesbian Army."
Akko could feel herself sweatdrop; her friends were nice, but definitely had some…interesting personalities.
To no one's surprise, Professor Roselei started their lesson by lecturing them about the importance of S.T.A.R.s. Akko wished all the teachers would stop doing this: she was starting to get an anxious, twisted feeling in her stomach every time she remembered how much homework she had to do, a feeling that worsened dramatically when Professor Roselei gave them yet another essay at the end of class. Tired and smelling strongly of chimera manure, the Polaris students trooped back up to the school an hour and a half later, none of them talking very much; it had been another long day.
As Akko was starving, and she had her first detention with Light Spinner at five o'clock, she headed straight for dinner without dropping off her bag in Polaris Tower so that she could bolt something down before facing whatever she had in store for her. She had barely reached the entrance of the dining hall, however, when a loud, shrill voice said, "Oy, Kagari!"
"What now?" she muttered wearily, turning to face Avery Buckland, who looked as though she had been told Christmas was cancelled.
"I'll tell you what now," she said. "How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"
"What?" said Akko. "Why…. Oh yeah, the team tryouts!"
"Please tell me you didn't forget," groaned Avery, running a hand down her face. "Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team, and find someone who fit in with everyone? Didn't I tell you I booked the race track specifically? And now I find out you're not even going to be there!"
"I didn't decide that!" said Akko, stung by the injustice of it all. "I got detention from that Light Spinner woman, just because I told her the truth about Jennifer – "
"Well, then go and ask her to let you off on Friday," said Avery, "and I don't care how you do it, tell her Jennifer's a figment of your imagination if you have to, just make sure you're there!"
She turned on her heels and stormed away.
"You know what?" Akko said to her friends as they entered the dining hall. "I think we'd better check in with the Magic Council whether Amelia's been killed or not, because Avery seems to be channeling her spirit."
"What do you think the chances are of Light Spinner letting you off on Friday?" said Amanda skeptically, as they sat down at their favorite table.
"Less than zero," said Akko glumly, slurping her ramen. What? It's her comfort food! "Better try, though, right? I'll offer to do two more detentions or something, I don't know. I just hope she doesn't keep me too long. Do you realize I've got to write four essays, practice Vanishing Spells for Finnelan, workout a countercharm for Professor Kowata, and read up on that programming book for Croix's class?"
"Welcome to the real world," said Barbara. "It sucks. You're gonna love it."
At five to five, Akko bade the others good-bye and set off for Light Spinner's office on the third floor. When she knocked on the door, Light Spinner beckoned her in with a raspy voice that always made Akko's hair stand on end. She entered cautiously, looking around.
She had been in this office once before when Zeref was the self-defense teacher. It had been packed with various instruments and artifacts associated with dark magic, most prominently a self of demon-bound books that could cause untold havoc if released. Akko wondered what happened to them after Zeref was turned into a Heartless.
Now, however, it seemed a thousand times worse than what a Dark Wizard would live in. The room was painted in dark, muted colors – even darker with all thick, heavy curtains covering the windows – giving it a suffocatingly oppressive atmosphere. Akko could only made out the few outlines of objects hidden in the darkness, silhouetted by the small, glowing-red gemstones that hanged in the air. It was such an unpleasant place that Akko stopped at the door, almost afraid she was be swallowed by the shadows, until Light Spinner spoke again.
"Good evening, Miss Kagari."
Akko started and looked around. She had not noticed her at first because she was draped in the darkness and only became visible when she snapped her fingers and another red gemstone illuminated over her desk.
"…Hello," Akko mumbled timidly.
"Well, sit down," she said, pointing toward a small table beside which she had drawn up a straight-backed chair. A piece of blank paper and a seemingly ordinary No. 2 pencil on the table, apparently waiting for her.
"Er," said Akko without moving. "Professor Light Spinner? Um – before we start, I – I wanted to ask you for a…a favor."
Her sharp eyes narrowed.
"Well, I'm…I'm on the Polaris Chariot Racing team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new player on Friday and I was – was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it – do it another night…instead…."
She knew long before she reached the end of her sentence that it was no good.
"Oh no," said Light Spinner in a way that gave Akko the impression that she was smiling most vindictively behind her veil. "This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Miss Kagari, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it is a rather good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you."
Akko felt the blood surge to her head and heard a thumping noise in her ears. So she told evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, did she?
Light Spinner was watching her with her head slightly to one side with that look of delight in her dark eyes, as though she knew exactly was Akko was thinking and was waiting to see whether she would start shouting again. With a massive effort, Akko looked away from her, dropped her schoolbag beside the straight-backed chair, and sat down.
"There," said Light Spinner in a voice of sweet triumph, "we're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we? Now, you're going to be doing some line for me, Miss Kagari. I want you to write 'I must not tell lies.'"
"How many times?" Akko asked, with a creditable imitation of politeness.
"Just until the end of detention," said Light Spinner. "Off you go, then."
Light Spinner reached down into her desk and pulled out a book – "How to Emotionally Traumatize your Cat Girl" – and began to read under the light of the glowing gemstones, seemingly ignoring Akko.
Akko stared at her for a moment before picking up the provided pencil. She placed the point of the pencil on the paper, but paused before she started writing.
This seemed way too easy, she thought. Writing lines as a punishment after it was clear that the Magic Council was out for her blood? There had to be some kind of trick. The first thing that came to mind was a memory back in second year when Sucy casually mentioned instruments that drew blood from it uses as a form of self-inflicted torture. Given who is handing out the punishment, Akko wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. But if she said anything, there was also the likely chance that Light Spinner would force her to do it anyway or come up with something worse. So, steeling herself, Akko moved the pencil and wrote: I must not tell lies.
…and nothing happened.
That in itself made Akko pause in confusion. Noticing that she had stopped, Light Spinner looked up from her book and asked, "Is there a problem, Miss Kagari?"
"Er – no, ma'am," said Akko awkwardly.
"Then please continue writing," said Light Spinner.
Akko looked back at the paper, place the pencil upon it one more, wrote I must not tell lies, and stopped once again, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But once again, nothing happened.
And on it went. Again and again, Akko wrote the words on the paper without any word from Light Spinner. And again and again, Akko paused between lines, her eyes sweeping around anxiously as if expecting to be ambushed by something hidden in the darkness. And again and again, nothing came to Akko as she wrote the next line.
Akko did not know how long she had been in that office. She did not dare ask when she would be allowed to stop. She didn't even check the time. She knew Light Spinner was watching her for signs of weakness and she was not going to show any, not even if she had to sit here all night….
"That's enough, Miss Kagari," said Light Spinner, making Akko jump in her seat. "You are free to leave. Be sure to return tomorrow at five o'clock to continue where you left off."
Akko looked up at Light Spinner, locking eyes with her as she slowly rose from the straight-backed chair. They maintained their stare down as Akko collected her bag and did not break eye contact until Akko shut the office door behind her.
The school was quite deserted; it was surely past midnight. She walked slowly up the corridor then, when she had turned the corner and was sure Light Spinner would not hear her, broke into a run.
She had not had time to practice Vanishing Spells, had not read a single page of the programming guide, nor had she written her essays. She skipped breakfast next morning to rush a scrawled mess of an essay for Urara, her first lesson, and was surprised to find a disheveled Wendy keeping her company.
"What happened to you?" Akko asked, as Wendy, eyes bloodshot and her hair a tangled mess, scribbled her pencil across the paper so fast, it was in danger of catching fire.
"Do you even have to ask?" said Wendy frantically. "They said that fifth year was supposed to be brutal, but it overkill."
"I thought you were supposed to be a genius," Akko remarked.
"The smarter you are, the worse it get," said Wendy. "Have you seen Diana lately."
In truth, Akko hadn't spoken to her girlfriend for a few days outside of lunch and dinner – if she ever turned up at all. Hannah said she was usually in the library studying. Akko's memory flashed back to third year when Diana took on took much work and nearly had a mental breakdown as a result. Akko thought she should take Diana on a relaxing date next Blytonbury visit.
When they both had a semi-coherent report ready, Akko and Wendy hurried off to the North Tower together.
"I heard you had detention with Light Spinner yesterday," said Wendy, frowning in concern. "Are you okay? What did she make you do?"
"She made me write lines," said Akko.
"That it?" asked Wendy, appearing just as surprised as Akko had been. "I thought it would've been way worse, given how the Magic Council had been treating you."
"I know, it's weird, right?"
It was another bad day for Akko; she was one of the worst in Alchemy, not having practiced Vanishing Spells at all. She had to give up her lunch hour to force her way through the first chapter of the programming manual, and meanwhile, Professor Finnelan, Croix, and Ursula gave them yet more homework, which she had no prospect of finishing that evening because of her second detention with Light Spinner. To cap it all, Avery tracked her down at dinner again and, on learning that she would not be able to attend Friday's tryouts, slammed her fists on the table, causing several dishes to clatter on the floor, and stalked away yelling at Akko's lack of commitment to the team.
"I'm in detention!" Akko yelled after her. "Do you think I'd rather be stuck in a room with that creep or racing?"
"Don't let it get to you," said Amanda with a surprising amount of understanding. "She's lashing out, but it has nothing to do with you. I heard from one of our upperclassmen that Avery started taking several jobs in Blytonbury to pay for her tuition since her parents disowned her. Add that on top of Chariot Racing responsibilities…."
Akko opened her mouth, closed it again, and nodded. It was a painful reminded that once again that so many lives are being ruined because the Magic Council didn't want to admit they were wrong, and all of them were related to Akko. She didn't say anything to her friends because she knew they would tell Akko it wasn't her fault and that she shouldn't feel guilty for what's happening. But how could she not? All of this started because Akko told the truth and now the whole world was punishing them for it. It really put her less-than-punishing detention with Light Spinner in retrospect.
Halfway through the second detention, Akko lost all sense of apprehension and became lost in the boring tediousness of writing the same line for hours on end. Once again, Light Spinner busied herself – grading essays that looked suspiciously like her class – never paying Akko any mind. From the moment of entering the room to the moment of her dismissal, again past midnight, they said nothing but "Good evening" and "Good night" to each other.
Her homework situation, however, was now desperate, and when she returned to the Polaris common room, she did not, though exhausted, go to bed, but opened her books and began Professor Azusa's slime goo essay. It was half-past two by the time she had finished it. She knew she had done a poor job, but there was no helping it; her brain felt like it was on the verge of a nuclear explosion. She had then dashed off answers to the questions Professor Finnelan had set them, and strained her eyes on her phone screen until she finished the first chapter of programmer guide until she had a semi-understanding of the material. She staggered up to bed afterward, where she fell fully clothed on the bed covers and fell asleep immediately. Sometime in the middle of the night, Blair tucked her in properly, which Akko was thankful for.
Thursday passed in a haze of tiredness. Akko's third detention passed in the same way as the previous two, forced to endure endless hours of painful silence where the only sound came from the scratching of Akko's pencil.
"I think that will be enough for today," said Light Spinner, closing her book – A Guide to Emotionally Manipulating a Magical Girl – with a snap. "You may leave for tonight."
"Do I still have to come back tomorrow?" asked Akko, picking up her schoolbag and slinging it over her shoulder.
"Oh yes," said Light Spinner. "You will come for your last detention as scheduled. But don't worry, I promise I won't keep you too long."
Akko didn't like the implication behind those words. So far, Light Spinner hadn't done anything that would cause Akko to be on her guard, but as tomorrow was the last day, she figured then would be her last opportunity to strike. But Akko wasn't going to give Light Spinner the satisfaction of knowing she was getting to her. She kept her mouth shut tight as she left Light Spinners office and climbed the staircase to the seventh floor –
"Blair?"
She had reached the top of the stairs where she found her guardian sitting on the railing, looking deep in thought while taking a drag of a cigarette. Akko didn't even know that Blair smoked – maybe it was a recent habit? Blair glanced sideways at Akko, took one last drag, and snuffed it out on the railing.
"Out early, Akko-Nyan?" asked Blair
"Er – yeah," said Akko. "What're you doing here?"
"Waiting on you," said Blair. "You've been coming back to the dorm past midnight the past couple of days. Just wanted to make sure you're okay."
"Yeah, I'm fine, mostly just tired," said Akko.
"That Light Spinner woman" – Blair spoke with obvious disdain – "she hasn't done anything, has she?"
"No, not really," said Akko, shrugging. "She just been making me write lines all day. She hasn't harmed me so far. I was so sure she'd whip me or cut me or something."
"That's not Light Spinner's style," said Blair, frowning. "She doesn't need to physically harm you to hurt you."
"What do you mean?" asked Akko curiously.
"I asked the Sphere to look into Light Spinner," said Blair. "And trust me, they found a lot. Do you know how she got a seat on the council?" Akko shook her head. "Through years of mental and emotional manipulation. She has a long history of exploiting or blackmailing anyone that could be of use to her. And she plans them years in advance. More than half the people with any influence in the Magic Council were all helped by Light Spinner and she takes advantage of them with careful planning and precision so that no one escape her claws without serious repercussions. One time, she manipulated her own apprentice in getting rid of a political rival and it left him unable to trust people for years."
"Well, she hasn't done any of that so far," said Akko. "She barely speaks two sentences to me."
"Then she's waiting for the moment to strike," said Blair. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a carton of cigarettes, pulling one out with her teeth and lighting it. She took a long drag and exhaled a white cloud in a moment of thoughtfulness. "Light Spinner is just as much of a threat as Jennifer. Her organization manipulates from the shadows, but Light Spinner does it in the open. Be careful, Akko-Nyan."
Friday dawned sullen and sodden as the rest of the week. Akko had hardly made a dent in the mountain of homework she had to do and she still had another detention with Light Spinner.
Two things sustained Akko that day. One was the thought that it was almost the weekend; the other was that, dreadful her final detention with Light Spinner was sure to be, she would no longer before forced to spend another night with that unnervingly quiet hag. These were very feeble rays of light, it was true, but Akko was grateful for anything that might lighten her present darkness; she had never had a worse first week at Luna Nova.
At five o'clock that evening, she knocked on Light Spinner's office door for what she sincerely hoped would be the final time, was told to enter and did so. The blank paper and pencil lay ready for her on the table.
"You know what to do, Miss Kagari," said Light Spinner.
Akko picked up the pencil and glanced toward the window, wishing there was even the slightest crack in the curtain through which she could see the racing stadium. The Polaris team auditions should be starting now. Akko wished she could be there instead of numbing her brain writing the same five stupid words repeatedly:
I must not tell lies.
I must not tell lies.
She wondered audition process was like. The last person to join the team was Akko herself and she had skipped the tryouts owing to special circumstances.
I must not tell lies.
I must not tell lies
What would Avery be looking for in the new player? Speed was an important factor, but Polaris's main strategy was collecting points during the first four rotations so that Akko – the anchor – could focus on reaching the goal. Maneuverability was another thing; the track changed shape every circuit and some of them were treacherous. And of course, there was also aiming and spellwork that was useful for knocking down the other teams.
I must not tell lies.
I must not tell lies.
"That will be enough, Miss Kagari," said Light Spinner, giving Akko pause. That was the shortest detention yet – it couldn't have been more than a few hours. "Hopefully this will be the last time I see you in this office. Ah, before you go – " Light Spinner stopped Akko as she stood up, reaching for her schoolbag. "There's something we need to discuss."
Here it is, Akko thought to herself. The moment that Blair warned her about. She cautiously sat back down while maintaining steady eye contact with Light Spinner. The veiled witch reached down into her desk drawer and produced a folder, tossing it on the table in front of Akko. The younger witch recognized it from Elma's filing cabinet with Akko's name written in fancy looped handwriting.
"I…procured this from Miss Elma's office," said Light Spinner smoothly. "She keeps a very detailed record of all student activities. At least, those worth keeping track of. You have quite the ledger, Miss Kagari. Entering out-of-bounds corridors, running into the forest – repeatedly – found in association with criminals, leaving the school without permission, and not to mention the hundreds of other violations you've committed. In all honestly, it is alarming how these offenses have been allowed to go unpunished. If I were in charge, I would have expelled someone like you. To make an example."
"Is that your big play?" Akko scoffed. "Threatening me with my past mistakes? Good luck with that. In case you've forgotten, the Council failed to expel me last month."
"Oh, I'm well aware," said Light Spinner coolly. "You may have been able to escape justice last time. But can the same be said for your friends?"
Light Spinner reached down and pulled out several more folders, tossing them on the table. Akko withheld a startled gasp as the names jumped out at her: Lotte, Sucy, Amanda – even Nico and Wendy's names were among them.
"You have a nasty habit of dragging your friends down with you, Miss Kagari" said Light Spinner in a maliciously soft voice. "I have no doubt that if the Magic Council were to attempt expelling you again, you would find a way to worm yourself out of trouble. But I do not think your friends would be so lucky. Any one of these offenses would be just cause for the Magic Council to…coerce the school into expelling these troublemakers. And even if they managed to avoid expulsion, I wonder how their families would be able to survive the scandal. Like Dr. Manbavaran at Alchemilla Hospital or Councilwoman O'Neill."
"Leave them alone!" shouted Akko, who had jumped to her feet without realizing it, knocking the chair over.
"Temper, Miss Kagari," said Light Spinner calmly. "I'm not as heartless as you like to believe. I am willing to negotiate a deal."
"What kid of deal?" asked Akko apprehensively.
"I promise not to get your little friends in trouble," said Light Spinner. "Provided you stop spreading those terrible lies about the Great Witch Jennifer and keep in line like a good little girl. As long as you remain polite and civil, your friends will be able to graduate without incident. But one more outburst like before, and I may be tempted to…mislocate these files where the wrong people may come across them. Do we have a deal?"
Light Spinner held out her hand expectantly.
Akko wanted to scream. She wanted to argue. She wanted to slap the hand awaya and punch Light Spinner in her stupid, ugly face. But before she could let her worst impulses take command, Molly words strangely came to the forefront of her mind.
"It may seem difficult at first, but don't rise to her provocation. It's better to endure and wait for a better opportunity than to make things worse when you know you are at a disadvantage. Trust me, she will get what she deserves."
Ah, this must have been what she meant. Molly had seen Light Spinner's threat and warned Akko before she made a mistake.
And so, begrudgingly, Akko grumbled and low "Deal," and took Light Spinner's hand. At once, Akko felt a sharp pain searing across the length of her spine, tracing over the pattern of her scars. At the same time, she felt the back of her brain throb painfully, her ears pound in a disorienting haze.
Akko wrenched her hand out of Light Spinner's grip and leapt away, staring at her. Light Spinner looked back at her, giving her a most peculiar look. Whether she was offended by Akko's sudden actions was unknown.
"Well, I think I've made my point," she said coolly. "You may go, Miss Kagari."
Akko snatched her schoolbag and left the room as quickly as she could.
Stay calm, she told herself as she sprinted up the stairs. Stay calm, it doesn't mean what you think it means…
Akko nearly broke her knuckles punching the sequence for the Polaris common room. A roar of sound greeted her as she entered. Avery, Rashmi, and Rajani – the other members of the Chariot Racing team, were surrounding a small Latina first year that Akko had seen during the Sorting.
"Akko!" Rashmi (?) shouted once she spotted her, waving her down. "Come meet our newest member!"
"What? Oh – right," said Akko, trying to smile naturally, while her heart continued to race and her head throbbed.
"Meet Luz," said Rashmi (?), pressing a soda onto her. "She's a first-year, just like you were when you joined. Funny how that works, huh?"
"Yeah," said Akko distractedly. "Have you seen Blair?"
"She's there," said Rajani (?), pointing to an armchair by the fire when Blair was curled up in her cat form.
"Let her sleep," said Rashmi (?). "Fifth year is brutal. I remember all the late nights we had to work."
"Not that out upcoming Marks of Mastery are any better," said Rajani (?), grabbing Luz by the shoulder. "Come on, Luz, let's see if Amelia's old uniform fits you. We can take her name off and put yours on instead…."
As they twins took their newest member away, Avery came striding up to Akko.
"Sorry I lost my temper with you," she said apologetically. "I've…been under a lot of stress, what with my family crisis and this captaining crap, you know, I'm starting to think I was a bit hard on O'Neill sometimes."
"It's okay, I get it," said Akko understandingly. "You're only a year older than me and you've having a tougher time than I am. At least I have a home and family to go back to…."
"Yeah, well, it still wasn't right for me to take my frustration out on you," said Avery, watching Luz as she took a swig of soda. "Look, Noceda is good, but she's not great. She's got potential and the right attitude, and with a bit of training she could turn out all right. She's a decent flier, at least, knows how to make sharp turns and dodges like a pro. I'm banking on her turning out to have a bit more talent than she showed today, to be honest. Regina Vega and Elaine Mallory both flew better, but Mallory's a real whiner, she's always moaning about something or other, and Vega's involved in all sorts of clubs, she admitted herself that if training clashed with her Charm Club, she'd put Charms first. Anyway, we're having a practice session at two o'clock tomorrow, so just make sure you're there this time. And do me a favor and help Noceda out as much as you can."
Akko nodded and Avery strolled to back to the team. Akko moved over to sit next to Blair, who awoke with a jerk as she put down her bag.
"Oh, Akko-nyan, it's you…," she said blearily. She shifted around in the chair, morphing into her human form. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just so – so – so tired," she yawned. "I was up until one o'clock scouting the town for Jennifer's spies. You never know where they might be hiding."
"Right," said Akko distractedly; if she didn't tell somebody soon, she would burst. "Listen, Blair, I was just in Light Spinner's office and – "
Blair listened closely. When Akko had finished, she said slowly, "You're worried that she might be involved with Jennifer?"
"Well," said Akko, dropping her voice, "it's possible, isn't it?"
"I suppose," said Blair, though she sounded unconvinced. "But last year your scars hurt when nobody was touching you, and didn't granny say it was because your scars can sense when the Seven Stars are under threat. I mean, maybe this hasn't got anything to do with Light Spinner at all, maybe it's just a coincidence it happened while you were with her?"
"She's evil," said Akko flatly. "Twisted."
"She's horrible, yes, but…Akko-nyan, I think you should go talk to Ursula about your scars hurting."
"Why her?" asked Akko. "Shouldn't I talk to Professor Holbrooke? Besides, she's got enough problems as it is, fighting off her disease. Besides, it's not a big deal. It's been hurting on and off all summer – it was just worse tonight, that's all – "
"Akko-nyan, Ursula would want to know this is bothering you – "
"Maybe I could write to Izetta-obasan, see what she thinks – "
"Akko-nyan, you can't write something like that!" said Blair, looking alarmed. "Do you remember, the Magic Council could be intercepting our messages!"
"All right, all right, I won't tell her, then!" said Akko irritably. She got to her feet. "I'm going to bed."
As Akko stormed off to her room, Blair threw her head back with a groan. She reached inside her pocket and withdrew the carton of smokes that she had taken to carry around lately.
"This is why I picked up this filthy habit…," Blair grimaced as she lit the stick.
Next chapter: Messages at Midnight