A/N: Smh I love how in the comments I was like "Imma explain the lore more next chap!" (lmao in Ao3) And then I proceeded to write some Diana angst and blue and red team fluff. Oh well the lore WILL be explained at some point. Hope you enjoy!

Akko, still looking at the ceiling, feels like she just got done running a marathon. She desperately takes a few breaths to calm herself. Kuso, what in the actual heck was that?!

"Uh, Akko? What was that?"

"What the hell was that?"

Akko hears both questions emanating from either side of her at the same time. Akko jumps a tiny bit, still not fully calmed down from the...from the whatever that was. Experience.

"N-nani?" Akko squeaks then starts laughing nervously, running a hand through her hair. Sucy and Lotte was staring at her in shock. Akko turned her head back a little to glance behind her and saw Amanda and her two teammates staring at her in a similar fashion. "W-what was what? You talking about the demonstration Diana did down there? Pretty, uhm, cool right?"

Sucy's expression turned into more of a deadpan look. "No. We're talking about that fact that you just went nuts."

"Sucy." Lotte says in slight admonishment.

"What? I'm right."

"She kinda is. I mean my Beast is still reeling a little bit from what Diana just did, but it was hard not to notice what you were doing too." Amanda chimes in.

"What I was doing? What was I doing?" Akko asks, confused.

Lotte starts tapping her fingers together nervously, "You were flaring your magic. A lot."

"Seriously, I didn't even know you possessed that much magic." Sucy says, squinting at Akko with suspicion.

Lotte shoots Sucy a look, "Sucyyy."

Sucy just unapologetically shrugs.

"I was flaring my magic? No I wasn't! I probably would have felt that." Akko states, head tilted in confusion. She was definitely having trouble of late actually using her magic. Was there anyway she could have actually been using it without knowing?

"No, you totally were. So, what happened just now?" Amanda asks.

What happened just now? To Akko, that was the question of the century. Akko laughs nervously again and desperately tries to think of something to change the conversation. Akko fully turns to the girls behind her, "Wait hey we never got your names!" Akko gestures to Amanda's two teammates.

Amanda and Sucy rolls their eyes at the obvious attempt to change the topic. The girl on the right side of Amanda pauses eating her chips.

I don't actually think we're supposed to be eating in here. Akko thinks idly. She mentally shrugs. Not like the Prof can see them well from where they're sitting, but then again, Diana saw her just fine.

The girl gives them a pleasant smile, "Jasminka Antonenko. Want a chip?"

Akko rapidly nods, smile on her face. Akko takes a chip from the offered bag.

Barbecue. Nisu!

The girl on the left side Amanda holds up a sign that says "Constanze" and gives them a thumbs up. Akko and Lotte give the girl a wave.

"I'm Kagari Atsuko. But you can call me Akko!"

"I'm Lotte Jansson, nice to meet you." Lotte says with a smile.

Sucy looks at the three with a neutral expression and says "Sucy." She then turns back to Akko, "You never answered the question."

Akko lets out a panicked grunt. She frantically tries to think of another way to distract them. She points to the front of the room, "Hey another Beast is doing the thing! Let's watch that."

Lotte just nods her head in understanding and gives Akko a gentle smile. Sucy rolls her eyes once more but acquiesces and turns her attention back to the front.

Akko mentally sighs in relief, happy they backed off. She starts getting lost in her thoughts once more. She didn't know what just happened to her but it was intense. She's never felt anything like it.

I had so many odd thoughts. Thoughts about a complete stranger.

Akko intently ponders on what happened. She feels the urge to look down and try to find Diana, but she's not sure if she's actually ready for that.

Still. I need to talk to her. What I felt I know for a fact she felt too.

Akko thinks back to the look in Diana's eyes. Deep blue and glowing bright, pupils slit animalistically. Pinning her down and hyping her up with just a gaze. Akko decides then and there to find her right after the lesson.

We have to talk.

Diana could sense people blatantly staring at her, but yet, not the set of eyes that seem to deeply affect her. She runs her hands through hair, stress building.

By the Nine, what in the world? That was...that was. Diana didn't even know how to finish her thought. Terrifying? Insane? Fantastic? Exhilarating? Her feelings were all over the place. Diana could hear the professor calling up another student, but Diana keeps her eyes on her desk, staring at her notes but not actually seeing anything, deep in thought.

Okay calm down. Lay out the facts. What exactly happened?

Diana takes another calming breath and thinks back to what just occurred, second by second. And the more she thinks back, the more confused and mortified she gets.

Mostly mortified.

Diana puts her hands over her face. I almost lost complete control over my beast in front of a crowd of more than two hundred people.

Diana thinks back to her high school years, people giving her a wide berth and nervous looks. She hated it. It made her feel...she hated it so much. She doesn't want to face that here.

A thought suddenly occurs to her. Her pulse starts to race once more, but this time out of fear.

Her teammates.

They saw the entire thing. Diana gulps at the thought of how they may view her now. How they might be feeling. They saw their teammate, someone they're supposed to trust, almost completely lose it.

Diana knows for a fact that most humans tend to be a little nervous around beasts. That's the main reason Luna Nova tries to keep the Human to Beast ratio for teams at 2-1. She's the goddamn reason why.

No no no no.

She must see how they're feeling, she has to know. Diana puts her hands down and slowly lifts her head to glance at Hannah and Barbara, fearing the worse. But to her surprise, she didn't see what she expected: nervousness and slight fear, mistrust. All she saw was worry and a decent amount of confusion.

She could tell they wanted to try to whisper to her, but they are all very well aware of the many eyes still set on her person. Diana watches as Barbara discreetly writes something in her notebook. She tilts the notebook so Diana could see what was written. Written in neat handwriting was, "Are you okay?"

Diana looked down at the paper for a few seconds. She was honestly unsure as to how she felt. Right now, she supposes, she feels an immediate sense of relief. Relief that, at the moment, it seems like her teammates still trust her. But beyond that feeling, she has no clue, feeling lost in the void of confusion.

Diana gives them a small shrug. Glancing back and forth between the two on either side of her, she sees the worry in their eyes grow, Hannah tapping at her desk and Barbara twiddling her fingers nervously. They nod, there's a clear message in their eyes.

We'll talk about it later.

Diana nods her head slightly in understanding and acknowledgement.

"Thank you, Rita, for your demonstration. Very good! You may calm your Beast and return to your seat." Professor Hearth's voice snaps all three of them back to the present. They turn their attention back to their Professor.

She talks a bit more about the history of the machine they just saw in action then said, "That about wraps it up for today's class. We'll get more into Beasts' magic limitations and history next week. Remember! This a Monday class only. Don't show up here Wednesday unless you have another class that dictates it. Dismissed."

A steady rumble of voices breaks out through the room as students gather their things to head to their next class. Diana gets up and starts putting her stuff away, moving fast, but not so fast as to draw even more attention to herself.

She moves to leave the room, her teammates right behind her, when she feels it…her. She knows what 'it' is now, that stranger who somehow had a hand in whatever happened between them.

She hears a voice shout, "Wait!"

She doesn't, slipping out the door and into the hallway. Her feet carry her to the direction of her dorm room. She hears the steady sound of her teammate's footsteps behind her. They walk silently for and second before Diana speaks up, "Do you two have a 9 am?"

Hannah and Barbara shake their heads. "Nope, free till Familiars at 10:30."

Diana nods, "I also have Familiars then."

At this, Hannah gives her a questioning look. "Don't you already know how to summon your family's familiar and your own?"

Diana tisks, "Yes, while it is true I've mastered summoning my Family's familiar, I'm frustratingly having trouble connecting to my own. Besides, Familiars II will be less about summoning techniques and will delve into more about how to actively use your familiar for various tasks."

Diana puts a hand to her chin, "I'm very interested in that, but since my connection to my personal familiar feels discordant, I don't imagine I'll be able to test out of Familiars I."

Hannah makes a noise of understanding, "Yeah me and Barbs are having trouble connecting to ours too."

A beat of silence passes. Hannah and Barbara exchange a look. Barbara clears her throat, "So…did you hear someone shout 'wait' when we were leaving the classroom?"

Diana opens her mouth to deny, but immediately changes her mind. She has no desire to lie to them. "Yes, I heard it."

"Think she was talking to you?"

Diana closes her eyes and sighs, head bowed slightly. "The chances are probable."

Her teammates just hum in response. A few more minutes of walking later, they find themselves back at their room.

Diana makes a beeline for the tea kettle, desperately needing something to help calm her nerves. Hannah and Barbara head to the couch. They both sit, leaving a space in between them and get on their phones, waiting for Diana to finish making the tea.

Diana mindlessly goes through the motion of making tea, thoughts still stuck on the situation.

"Do you girls desire a cup?" And at the sound of her teammates' agreements, she pulls out her wand and hovers 3 cups of tea over to the table situated in front of the couch.

Diana notices the space the other two girls left for her and dutifully sits in the assigned spot. Diana raises her cup to her lips and takes a sip. It burns her tongue and sharpens her thoughts.

Hannah and Barbara exchange another look between each other. Hannah opens her mouth to speak when Diana's voice suddenly rings out.

"Girls."

Hannah and Barbara immediately straighten, hearing the seriousness in Diana's voice.

"Please answer me honestly. I will hold no grudge to you no matter the answer." Diana pauses, bracing herself for a negative response, jaw clinching.

"What happened in class today…did that frighten you at all?"

Hannah and Barbara jolts in surprise, mouths dropping open, struggling to keep quiet and let Diana finish her question.

"Or did…did it make you feel like you cannot trust me? Or feel unsafe being around and living with me?"

The two girls could stay quiet no longer.

"No way!"

"Not at all!"

"Not even a little!"

They both continue to drown Diana in denials. Diana looks carefully into both of their eyes, worried that they could be feeling pressured to deny what they may truly be feeling. But all she sees is genuine emotion in both of them.

Diana puts her cup down and palms her face, her emotions desperately wanting to bubble to the surface.

"When I was in high school, middle school even, people would go out of their way to avoid me. I honestly have no idea as to how the assumption got started, but people assumed that I was dangerous. I suppose it was the knowledge that people of the Cavendish line are particularly skilled and powerful magic users, combined with the fact that Beast magic users are stronger than human ones. I'm unsure. But it made for a miserable grade school experience."

Diana looks down at her hands, lost in a memory, "Once, in Year 11, a classmate tried to hur-" Diana cuts herself off and shakes her head lightly to dislodge the thought. No reason to bring up memories best left forgotten.

Hannah and Barbara exchange a panicked look with each other, both of them itching to physically comfort their teammate.

"The only people that actually tried to speak to me, I could tell was only trying to find an in with my family." Diana remembers the sickly sweet smiles, almost obvious in their attempts to hide their discomfort with talking to her.

"I was so very worried that you two would feel the same way, think similar things. But when I met you two, I didn't get that feeling in the slightest. It was…like a breath of fresh air. But with the way I acted in class, I thought that it was over. That I would start seeing the same looks I've been receiving all my life from the only people my age that treats me like a normal person. I-"

Hannah and Barbara can't hold back any longer, they both lunge forward and wrap Diana up in a tight hug.

Hannah starts talking, "Hey. Hey, listen to us okay?"

Diana stiffens in their hold, shocked by the sudden hug.

"The people at your high school treated you that way because they're all bloody daft and blindly believed lies."

Barbara continues, "So blind that they couldn't see what was right in front of them. Something we could tell almost immediately. We saw someone who is polite, reserved and calm."

Hannah picks back up, "Someone who cares about others so much and is extremely kind. We knew the second we met you and talked to you that you weren't someone to be feared. We felt safe from the very beginning."

Barbara nods, "When you started letting your beast out earlier, we weren't afraid. We were awed. I guess I can't speak for Han, but honestly, I felt even safer knowing you're my teammate."

Hannah rapidly nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly, "Definitely! One hundred percent. There's a lot of scary stuff out there yeah? And knowing that you'll be by our side is honestly a relief."

Diana, who was slowly relaxing bit by bit all through their speech, moves her arms out from under Hannah and Barbara and puts them around her teammates, trying to hold back a few stray tears wanting to fall.

Hannah and Barbara smile and snuggle even closer. "So don't worry about us fearing you. It's not going to happen. Okay?"

Diana takes a second to gather her bearings and says, "Okay."

Hannah and Barbra look up to examine Diana closely.

"Yeah?"

Diana nods. "Yeah."

The two girls give Diana dual grins and leans back into her embrace.

The three of them sit together for another minute longer when Barbara whispers, "Damn, the tea is cold."

Hannah immediately breaks out into laughter. Diana leans her head back onto the couch, eyes closing, and lets out a few chuckles.

Diana feels warm inside and a determined growl wanting to build in her chest. She knows without a doubt that she'll do whatever it takes to keep these two safe. She feels her Beast side rumble in agreement.

I'll protect them no matter what.

The second the Professor dismissed the class, Akko rushed to get her things together and go find Diana. They need to talk.

She zips up her pack and pauses for a second to say, "It was cool meeting you! Let's get lunch together sometime." To the team behind her, and then rushed down the stairs.

Akko's eyes roam the sea of moving students and settles on a head of distinctive blonde hair.

Kuso! She's getting away.

Akko struggles to get past the mass of students all flowing down the stairs, trying her best to weave and spin around people. But by the time she makes it to the bottom, she sees Diana about to slip through the doors.

"Wait!" Akko cries out almost desperately. She has to figure what's going on. What's happening to them.

She has to know I want to talk to her. Even if she couldn't hear me, I know she senses me or something.

To Akko's frustration and disappointment, Diana didn't even falter in her steps and slips out the door to disappear down the hallway. Akko groans and slows down, accepting defeat.

For now.

Next time I see her, I'll catch her.

Akko was still staring at the exit, shoulders slumped, when she feels a tap at her shoulder. She turns and sees her teammates.

Lotte wore a confused but worried look on her face and Sucy, at first glance, seemed to look uncaring, but if Akko looked closer she could see tells of confusion, a slight downturn in the corner of her mouth and a minuscule eyebrow raise.

Lotte hums in thought as she looks at Akko, trying to figure out what's got her looking and acting like this. She didn't know what the problem was nor how to help, but there was one thing she could try to do to lift Akko's spirits up.

Akko's eyebrows rose in surprise and her mouth dropped slightly when Lotte timidly opened her arms, invitation clear on face. Akko felt a smile immediately start to pop up on her face. She darted into Lotte's arms and hugged back tight, greatly enjoying the attempt at comfort.

Akko peaks over Lotte's shoulder and sees Sucy standing close and looking at them both with a calm gaze. Strangely, Akko found the solid look to be comforting. Akko starts to feel warm with delight, getting happy knowing that her roommates will be there for her when she needs it.

She was excited but oh so nervous about moving to this country for school. She was excited about starting her path to becoming a great witch, but nervous she would have trouble making friends and fitting in at school along the way. She feels her worries start to fade with the knowledge that her teammates are right by her side.

Akko smiles brightly and says, "Arigato! I needed that."

She pats Lotte's shoulder, "You have class at 9 something, right? Come on we'll walk you! And we'll come back after to head to Familiars together."

Akko looks at Sucy for confirmation. Sucy gives a single nod.

Lotte smiles at the two of them, "Thanks!"

The red team turns to head out the door. Akko, with her spirits now lifted, begins to chatter about anything and everything, with her teammates nodding along.

A/N: Let me know if you have any comments or constructive criticism :D I kinda feel like there's something missing from my writing but I can't quite pinpoint what it is or how to fix it. Also! Tell me in the comments if you want Diana's familiar to be a Wolf or a Panther. I know which one I'm leaning towards, but I'm curious as to what others might think is best. Thanks!

-Skit