Luna Nova sports field
With Broom Flying Class over, everyone dispersed from the sports field to do their own things or head to their next classes.
"Annabel, are you alright?" Akko, having just removed the plant from her head and restored her ponytail, asked as Lotte approached her.
"I'm fine..." Lotte responded. "Barbara suddenly stopped Hannah from breaking my glasses, but I don't know why..."
"One of the Blue hyenas stopped her friend from bullying you? When she did it all the time herself?" Sucy suddenly cut in. "Smells like hypocrisy to me..."
At that same moment, Hannah and Barbara passed by the Red Coven while flying on their brooms toward the main building. The duo paid no attention to the Red Coven as they talked to each other.
"So, Barbs, what are you going to wear to the banquet this Sunday?" Hannah asked her friend.
"Oh, I'm going to wear the purple cocktail dress that I have kept in the wardrobe since last year." Barbara answered. "What about you, Han?"
"I'm going to go with the fur-trimmed dress that my mum sent over to me on my birthday." Hannah answered back.
The Blue Coven duo's conversation has nothing to do with the Red Coven, so Akko, Lotte, and Sucy didn't mind them as they watched Hannah and Barbara pass by them.
"Speaking of the banquet..." Akko pointed out. "What are we going to wear to it? We can't just wear our uniforms or casual clothes..."
A familiar head full of red suddenly shoved herself into Akko's field of vision.
"Yo, Reds, I just heard you talking about what to wear to the banquet!" Amanda informed the Red Coven. "And I know just the place where you can get them!"
Lotte reeled back and let out a surprised yelp in reaction to Amanda's sudden appearance. But Sucy remained indifferent while Akko simply isn't surprised.
"Really? Where?" Akko asked excitedly.
"Well, first things first," Amanda said. "it's a little shop in the town, but it closes in about three hours from now-"
"Our next class isn't until-" Akko interrupted Amanda, then reached into her sleeve to pull out a folded piece of paper, which turns out to be a copy of her class timetable. "Four hours! So we still have time to get to this shop you mentioned!"
"Wow, that was quick." Amanda remarked at the speed of Akko's response. "But you sure you want to go there now?"
"Why not?" Akko answered as she raised both hands excitedly. "After all, I'm free for the next three hours!"
Amanda touched her chin. "Well, you sure are really enthusiastic about it." She then said. "But about going to town right now..."
Akko lowered both hands. "Is there a problem?"
"Well, that depends on how you define this 'problem', Miss Kagari." Professor Nelson said as she suddenly appeared behind Amanda.
Akko and Amanda started sweating nervously at the Broom Flight Instructor's presence.
"But if you want to go to the town right now, you have to go through me first." Professor Nelson then sternly informed, using her drill sergeant tone for emphasis.
Akko and Amanda both gulped nervously at that statement.
...
Leyline Tunnel
"Heh. I'm so used to sneaking out that I forgot you can simply inform Professor Nelson when you want to leave the campus on weekdays..." Amanda said apologetically.
As per academy policy, for students of Luna Nova to leave the campus grounds on weekdays, they will have to inform the academy's Head of Security about why they are leaving the campus, where they will be going, and for how long, which will also have to be approved by the HOS before they are allowed to make their off-campus trip, and even then they are only granted a total of two hours worth of off-campus trips per week providing that they get back to campus in time for classes or before 6 PM each day (not counting weekends where students are allowed to come and go as they please between 9 AM and 6 PM) and do not have any ongoing detentions in their records.
Luckily for Akko and Amanda, Professor Nelson, who also happened to be the Head of Security, approved their trip to the town providing that they return to the campus within two hours or else she will personally come to drag them back before giving them detention.
And so Akko and Amanda finds themselves flying through the Leyline Tunnel on their way to Blytonbury, with Amanda mounted on the Shooting Star. Both girls had brought along their respective teammates.
"But if we did end up breaking the conditions that she mentioned, how is she going to find us in the first place?" Akko then brought up.
"One of my former coven mates didn't return to campus within two hours one time," Lotte gave a story. "and Professor Nelson found her at the arcade even though she said she will be at the town library."
"And one time, Heather actually decided to find out for herself by hiding in a dumpster right as her two hours is almost up." Amanda gave her own story on the subject. "The prof found her anyway and dragged her back to serve an American-styled detention for the rest of the week." The redhead continued. "I guess being former US Air Force has its merits."
"Just wait until you hear about how Nelson managed to catch Amanda that one time!" The Shooting Star suddenly cut in.
"Shut up." Amanda told off the sentient broom.
...
Last Wednesday Society; Blytonbury
Upon reaching Blytonbury, Amanda and her Coven mates promptly led the Red Coven to a quiet part of the town, stopping at a small shop called Last Wednesday Society.
"What is this place?" Akko asked as she looked up at the weathered sign of the shop.
"The name doesn't indicate it, but this looks like a place I would like..." Sucy said as she stood herself before the display window of the shop.
"I've never heard of this place before." Lotte said.
Amanda placed herself in front of Akko and Lotte. "Well, ladies, this is the Last Wednesday Society." She introduced the shop. "It's a shop for unique magical items. If you're looking for anything magical that your typical run-of-the-mill magic supply stores don't have, then this is the place you'd come to." She continued. "It's also a cafe with all that entrails, though I wouldn't say it is as good as the standard cafe you'd find anywhere else. Not that the shopkeeper minds, though."
"I do mind." Shooting Star said. "I spent 10 years gathering dust in there until you brought me."
Amanda shook the Shooting Star. "No one's asking you, loudmouth."
"A magic item shop that is also a cafe?" Akko continued to analyze the shop. "Looks interesting."
The girls then entered the cafe. A bell is rung as the door is pushed open.
The inside of the Last Wednesday Society is very... rundown, to say the least. It's not very well lit, and some of the furniture appears to be very old. The shelf in particular is covered in dust, though the items on it are free of any contaminants. The chairs and tables that a typical cafe would have is also short on numbers, only able to sit a grand total of 10 people despite there being enough space for 10 more. A counter with a cashier on it is placed to the left of the shop interior.
"Still don't have much customers, I see." Amanda muttered to herself.
Akko approached the shelf to look at the items on it. "These are some really weird stuff..." She commented.
Sucy approached the shelf, and immediately laid her eyes on a jar containing a strange-looking bee. "That's a Lovelove Bee. Anyone who gets stung by it will fall in love with the next person they lay their eyes on, even their own reflection in a mirror..." She said as she tapped the jar. The bee made no response whatsoever.
"That's not the real thing, young lady." Said the voice of a middle-aged man all of a sudden.
The girls turned toward the counter where the voice came from, and saw a portly middle-aged man with brown hair that reaches his shoulders.
"If you're looking for more of those Bees, then you've came to the wrong place." The man told Sucy.
Amanda stepped forward to greet the man with a wave of her free hand. "Yo, Chumlee, how are you doing?"
The man, Chumlee, sighed in response. "I'm fine. And please stop calling me that, Amanda."
"Well then, I'm here because my new friends here-" Amanda informed Chumlee, as she gestured at the Red Coven girls. "need something to wear for the upcoming banquet-"
"So they can woo the boys that'd be coming over for the same banquet!" Shooting Star loudly interrupted.
Amanda disciplined the sentient broom by punching it. "Maybe Blair from the Purple Coven would want to woo the boys. But that's not our intentions right now."
"I'm just speaking my mind..." Shooting Star then complained.
Chumlee chuckled at the sight. "Maybe the Shooting Star being a loudmouth is why I'm glad you took it away from my hands, Amanda..."
"Anyway," The redhead resumed. "you still have that magic box from last time?"
Chumlee touched his chin. "You mean the Cinderella Magic Set?" He said. "It's been months since I put it in storage. Give me a moment, please." He added before heading into the storage room at the back of the shop. "This might take a while, so please make yourselves comfortable out there." He called out from inside the storage room as he began his search.
With the shopkeeper temporarily gone, the girls decided to sit themselves down at the tables as they waited for him to come back.
"Before you ask," Amanda took the initiative to speak. "we're on first name basis because I'm probably the only frequent customer here."
"Oh, I was going to ask just that." Akko said. "So next question: what else have you bought from here?" She then asked.
"Nothing." Amanda answered. "I always came here for the coffee. This place never had any magic items that I'm interested in. I'm only here right now because I'm helping a new friend."
"Oh. Um, thanks."
With their short conversation over, Akko and Amanda became silent. In the background, Lotte is trying to dissuade Sucy from pocketing a vial of "Frog Leg Potion", while Jasminka just casually ate out of a bag of chips as she watched Constanze tinkering with what looked like a piece of her hoverbike-broom.
"So, how's it like to have an actual celebrity as your Coven mate?" Amanda started another conversation with a new question.
Akko became confused by the question. "Celebrity? What are you talking about, Amanda?"
Amanda scoffed. "You dunce... I'm referring to the freaking creator of the cluster-eff of a franchise called Nightfall." She said as she pointed at Lotte. "She's Annabel Creme, ain't she?"
Lotte froze in shock upon hearing that. Though whether it's due to being reminded of the Curse of Annabel Creme, or due to Amanda just casually insulting Nightfall like that, it's hard to tell.
Either way, the Finnish girl started crying before running out of the shop in tears.
"Annabel!" Akko called out as she ran after Lotte.
With Akko and Lotte having made a premature departure from the shop, Amanda turned to look at Sucy with utter confusion, to which the pale Filipino responded with a shrug as she proceeded to stuff the "Frog Leg Potion" into her sleeve.
"Ouch..." The Shooting Star remarked. "That's as if someone just told Stan Lee that Marvel is a bunch of shithole. It hurts..."
Chumlee then emerged from the storage room with a face full of dust. "Whew. I ought to spend some time cleaning up the place..." He said as he coughed and wiped the dust off his face. "But here it is: the Cinderella Magic Set! It allows you to-" He then noticed that Akko and Lotte have disappeared from the shop. "Hey, Amanda, where did your friends go?"
"Well, uh... something came up all of a sudden, and they need some alone time..." Amanda answered.
Well, I'm glad that I'm able to get back to this...
I can't believe I put this on hiatus to work on my Dianakko Week 2020 entries which all turned out to be pieces of shit that also has a poorly thought out running gag that made me look like a misogynist. It was bad enough that I decided that I'm better off disowning all seven of my Dianakko Week entries, even going so far as to orphan them all so that I don't have to see them in my AO3 feed ever again.
Let this be a lesson to my fellow fanfic writers that 1) some jokes are not funny at all, and you're better off not telling them; and 2) if you don't like a ship, then don't write anything for it.
With that said... man, am I glad to be able to come back to this series...
"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic."
Afterwords end here.