Chapter 17
Welcome To The Family
The morning sun shown through the large window over Akko's desk, all but blinding Diana when her eyes fluttered open. With a wince she immediately closed and rubbed them before setting her gaze on the girl in front of her, the girl whose limbs were entangled with her own. She smiled adoringly and studied Akko's features as she slept, always taking the time to memorize every inch of the brunette when she can. Akko's hair was sticking out every which way, her mouth open and most likely drooling on her pillow. Diana silently giggled at the sight and reached out to move some hair out of her girlfriend's adorable face. Akko shifted slightly at the light touch but stilled almost instantly as she settled back into a deep sleep. This had been the second time that the blonde had woken up next to her girlfriend like this, next to the girl who she couldn't live without. And although she wouldn't admit it yet to anyone but herself, she wished she could wake up next to Akko every morning for the rest of her life. As she was lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice that her girlfriend was awake and staring back at her now with crimson eyes full of amusement.
"Good morning." Akko whispered sleepily with a sly smile.
Diana blinked a few times, pulling herself out of her daze. She just now realized that she had been staring and smiling at her sleeping girlfriend like a fool. Luckily Akko didn't seem to mind.
"Good morning, Akko." Diana replied, voice low and raspy from sleepiness.
Without another word, Akko shifted herself so that she was facing the blonde on the bed and closed the small gap between them, naked bodies now pressed up against each other. The brunette rested her forehead against Diana's and stared into her girlfriend's impossibly beautiful azure eyes. They remained like this for a long while, content to just be with one another.
"You're so beautiful." Akko murmured lovingly. "How did I get so lucky?"
Diana began to blush and had to look away as she couldn't contain her shy smile.
"I assure you, Akko, I am the lucky one."
The brunette leaned back and shook her head.
"Nope." Akko said with a tone of finality before flashing a smirk. "If the expressions on all the girl's faces last night told me anything, it is me who is the lucky one."
"Last night?" The blonde furrowed her brows, thinking back to night before.
"Yeah. Most of those girls aren't even gay, but damn they were thirsty for a little Diana Cavendish." The brunette giggled a little at her own joke before leaning in, her lips ghosting her girlfriend's. "But you're mine. They can't have you." She said before kissing Diana softly at first, but it seemed her words had sparked something in the blonde, as she deepened the kiss almost immediately. The blonde took Akko's bottom lip between her teeth, making the brunette moan before Diana pulled back.
"Getting a little possessive?" Diana smirked before trailing kisses across Akko's jawline.
"I see the way people look at you." The brunette breathed out, tilting her head to expose more of her neck as the blonde trailed her kisses lower. "How can I not be?"
Diana pulled back, making Akko whine from the loss of contact, and flashed an amused smile toward her girlfriend.
"I hadn't noticed how other people look at me. Because I only have eyes for you, Atsuko Kagari."
The brunette opened and closed her mouth like a fish, trying to come up a reply to her very smooth girlfriend. It was infuriating sometimes how good Diana was with words. And at the moment, Akko struggled to come up with even one word. But before she could, the blonde continued.
"I'm not complaining though. I actually kind of like it when you get pos..." Diana's smirk suddenly faltered as she trailed off. After a short moment, her eyes widened and a look of horror replaced her playful expression from just seconds before. "Last night. Oh my god."
"What?" Akko asked, confused at the sudden change in her girlfriend's demeanor.
"I...you..." Diana leaned back out of Akko's embrace and pointed at herself and then to Akko. "In front of everyone." She then covered her face that was slowly being overtaken by a furious blush.
"I don't know what..." The brunette trailed off in contemplation, staring at her girlfriend with concern.
"I gave you a lap dance in front of everyone!" Diana squeaked out, her voice slightly muffled as her hands still covered her face. "Oh my god what was I thinking?"
"Oooh." Akko said slowly before she covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her grin, but she couldn't hide her laughter as her shoulders shook.
"It's not funny." The blonde glared at the brunette between the fingers covering them.
"Okay okay." Akko put her hands up in front of her in surrender, still giggling a bit. "You don't have to be so embarrassed, Diana. No one is gonna judge you."
"Your friends are never going to let me live this down." Diana groaned, not seeming to have listened to the brunette's statement. "I made a fool of myself."
"You...uh...you really didn't." Akko said before clearing her throat. "You're really good at...lap dances."
"That's not helpful, Akko." The blonde stated flatly, finally uncovering her face.
"Oh." The brunette said simply before she turned her head at a loud noise that had come from downstairs. That's when she noticed the smell. "Breakfast! Hey, let's get dressed and eat. You'll feel better after-"
"No! I'm not going down there! I can't face your friends yet." Diana sat up and leaned against the wall in defiance, bringing the blankets up to cover her naked body.
"Seriously?" Akko raised an eyebrow as she sat up as well. "I never thought I'd see the ever poised Diana Cavendish acting so childish."
Not responding, the blonde just crossed her arms and looked away pursing her lips, making the brunette chuckle.
"Why do you care so much about what everyone else thinks?" Akko asked as she moved to sit next to her girlfriend and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder.
Diana stayed silent for a long moment, contemplating the question. She then let out a long sigh.
"Because that's how I was raised." She said quietly as she looked down at her hands fidgeting with the blanket in her lap. "I'm not..." She trailed off, struggling to find the words to explain. "this person I've been since I met you...it's not who I'm supposed to be."
Akko stayed silent. She was surprised at the sudden admission and had no idea what to say nor what to think. Was Diana having second thoughts about being with her? Why couldn't things be simple for once? As things finally became easy and clear for Akko, it seemed the blonde was still struggling with their relationship. The brunette snapped out of her internal musings when Diana continued to speak.
"Before I met you, Akko, my life was planned out. I knew who I was. I was Diana Cavendish, prodigy of Luna Nova, heir to Cavendish Medical. Nothing more, nothing less." She stared absentmindedly at the wall in front of her with sad eyes. "All I cared about was school and carrying on my family legacy. Honestly, I believed there was nothing else to life than that. It was pounded into my head over and over again how I should behave, what should be important to me, who I should be acquainted with, what kind of person I should...be in a relationship with." Diana chanced a glance at her girlfriend after that last statement, gauging her reaction. As she had expected, Akko had turned to her with her eyebrows raised.
"You were told who you should date?" The brunette asked in shock.
"My aunt tried." The blonde said, chuckling at the memory. "After a few disastrous dates she set me up for, she had let the subject drop fairly quickly."
"Disastrous dates?" Akko giggled a bit. "Was there something wrong with who she set you up with?"
"Yes. They were the wrong gender." Diana said as they both laughed out loud. After a moment she calmed herself enough to continue. "And pretentious and entitled. They only cared about my name and my money. After those dates, I had given up all hope of ever finding someone. I believed I could never find someone who would just...see me for me. I threw myself into my school work because it was one the only things in my life that I could control. And then I met you."
Akko stiffened at the mention of her name. This was the first time Diana had really opened up to her like this and she wasn't exactly sure where this was going. For a reason unknown to herself, she was nervous to hear what was going to come out of her girlfriend's mouth next.
"This gorgeous girl with painfully short shorts comes to my rescue out of nowhere."
"Hey!" The brunette playfully glared. "They are not painfully short. They are a...normal short."
"Akko, they are no better than underwear." Diana arched a brow and her lips quirked up into a lopsided smile.
"I'll bet you were wishing they were my underwear, eh?" Akko winked exaggeratedly at her girlfriend who just groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Anyway," Diana started as she chuckled and playfully shoved the brunette from her shoulder. "you came into my life and everything I had built up, the walls, the facade, you knocked them down with ease. Without even trying." The blonde took Akko's hand in her own and brought it up to kiss the brunette's knuckles before continuing softly. "At first I didn't understand. You threw a wrench into my life and it was changing so quickly. I was changing. And suddenly I didn't know who I was anymore."
Akko squeezed Diana's hand reassuringly, urging the blonde to continue.
"But when I was in London, I realized that the person I am without you, it's not who I am. I lived so long thinking it's who I was supposed to be, but you brought out the real me. The me who can be happy and have fun. The me who can play games, and ride scooters, and-"
"Give lap dances?" Akko cut her off and smiled brightly.
"Ugh." Diana fell face first into the pillow beside her. "Can we just forget that ever happened?" Her words came out muffled.
"Nope. Because you just admitted that it's who you are, remember?" The brunette chuckled and laid down once again beside her girlfriend. "And I love who you are. I'm never going to let you forget who you are ever again."
The blonde turned her head to gaze into her girlfriend's loving eyes. She found no hesitance, no question. What she found was love and adoration.
"Promise?" Diana questioned softly.
"Promise." Akko replied simply with a lopsided smile before she leaned in and began to trail kisses along her girlfriend's jawline causing Diana to bite her bottom lip and let out a soft moan. "And I honestly don't think I could ever forget that lap dance anyway. Or what happened after." Her kisses trailed lower onto the blonde's neck now. Diana grabbed Akko's bare hip and lightly dug her fingernails in as she pulled her body closer to the brunette's. "You were s-"
'BANG BANG'
"AH! Shit!" Akko yelped, responding to the sudden banging on the door by flailing her arms as she fell off the side of the small bed. She had been closer to the edge than she had thought apparently. She landed on the floor, entangled in the blanket she had been sharing with her girlfriend. "Ow."
"Ay! Lovebirds! Breakfast is ready! Stop your canoodling and come down here to eat food and not each other." Amanda called out from the other side of the door, snickering at her own lewd joke.
"Wha?! We d-don't...I d-didn't..." The brunette stuttered out before shifting her gaze from the door to her girlfriend now sitting up on the bed and covering her face with the pillow she had grabbed frantically to cover herself with.
"Uh huh. Sure." A disbelieving voice came once more from the other side of the door before heavy footsteps moved down the hall and faded away as Amanda moved down the stairs to the lower level of the house.
Akko and Diana sat in silence until the footsteps could no longer be heard before both sighing in unison.
"You live with too many people." The blonde stated as she slid off the bed to help untangle her girlfriend from the blanket. "How you've managed to deal with Amanda on a daily basis is beyond me."
"She's not that bad." Akko chuckled, finally standing and pulling the blanket up to cover her naked body. She still wasn't completely comfortable baring everything in broad daylight in front of her gorgeous girlfriend. "She's my best friend. And well...I don't really have another option for living arrangements at the moment." The brunette joked as she walked to her closet.
"You could always move in wi-" Diana slapped her hand over her own mouth, cutting herself off from what she had been about to absentmindedly suggest.
"Huh?" Akko asked, oblivious to the blonde's slip up as she sifted through clothes.
Diana closed her eyes and let out the breath she'd been holding and sat back down on the bed and hugged the pillow again. God, she'd heard of the u-haul lesbian stereotype but she never thought she'd be one to embrace it. What was she thinking? What was the proper timeline for things like moving in together? Just months ago she was perfectly happy shutting herself in her room alone everyday as she buried herself in school work or a good novel. She hadn't needed anyone. And now she had almost invited this girl she'd known for a couple months to move in with her. This girl. Akko had really done a number on her. Suddenly she was hit in the face with something soft, jolting her out of her inner musings. She looked down at what had hit her and found a pair of red shorts and a white tank top, both sporting the familiar LN logo of Akko's hockey team. Confused, she looked up at her girlfriend who had already put on her own underwear and sports bra, and was now putting on her own pair of shorts and shirt. The brunette was staring at the blonde with an arched eyebrow expectantly.
"You okay?" Akko inquired with an amused expression.
"I...yes." Diana cleared her throat and looked back down at the pieces of clothing in her hands. "What are these?"
"...Clothes." The brunette simply stated, her lips twitched in her attempt to hold back a smirk. The blonde rolled her eyes at the answer and stared expectantly at her girlfriend once more, as if to silently say 'try again'. Akko chuckled as she pulled her shirt over her head and pushed her arms through the appropriate holes. "You don't have any spare clothing here as far as I can tell. Unless you want to wear that...um...buttonless shirt down to breakfast. Sorry about that, by the way." She flashed the blonde her most apologetic smile.
"It's fine, Akko. I have others. But I do have a suitcase downstairs with extra clothing. Would you be a sweetheart and go get it for me?" Diana pleaded innocently.
"Hmm..." Akko tapped her chin as if in contemplation. "Nope." She finally replied with a mischievous grin.
"Really?" The blonde asked, exasperated.
"Really." The brunette smiled brilliantly and winked for good measure. "Good thing you have some perfectly good clothing right there in your hands."
"You're serious." Diana shook her head and held up the short red shorts. "Akko, no." She groaned as the sheer lack of length of the clothing.
"Diana, yes." Akko taunted. "Those are the shorts you love oh so much. And no, I don't have any longer ones, before you ask." She smirked at the look of horror on the blonde's face.
"But..." Diana tried to argue as she watched the brunette walk over and pick up the light blue bra that had been thrown and ended up draped over the computer screen sitting on the desk. The bra was then thrown onto the clothes in the blonde's lap. "I have pants." Diana whispered too loudly, eyes desperately searching the floor.
"No." Akko breathed out as she joined the search for the trousers. Luckily for her, she spotted them just a second before her girlfriend and dove to snatch them up just as Diana ungracefully slid off the bed. The brunette then ran to the door and disappeared with the pants over her shoulder, slamming the door behind her.
"Oh for the love of..." The blonde grumbled, once again pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance at the brunette's childish antics. With a sigh she stood up and began searching for her underwear, and once she she found them, she slipped them on and clasped her bra in place before putting on the skimpy clothing. She stood in front of the full length mirror next to the closet to give herself a once over. If she was being honest, the outfit didn't look half bad on her. She didn't fill the shorts out quite as well as Akko with her less muscular frame, but the tank top suited her bigger chest. Luckily, her girlfriend had chosen a somewhat baggy top which was probably meant for exercise. A loud grumbling sound coming from her stomach immediately stopped her train of thought as she realized just how hungry she was. After one last look at herself in the mirror, she put her hair up into a low ponytail and headed downstairs for the delicious smelling food.
Diana paused at the bottom of the stairs, suddenly very self conscious about the uncharacteristic amount of exposed skin she showed. Looking around, she noticed Lotte and Sucy sitting together on the love seat in the living area, both with a plate of food. Constanze sat on the floor in front of the small coffee table with a plate in front of her, but she paid more attention to the controller in her hand rather than the food. She was playing some sort of game on the television, an odd character ran around with a gun on the screen. The blonde took a few steps until she could see into the kitchen. Jasminka, as always, stood in front of the stove tending to whatever she was cooking. The kitchen table was full of breakfast food. Plates of eggs, pancakes, a selection a meats, and toast scattered over the table in what looked like a buffet. Her mouth began to water at the sight. She hadn't eaten since before she left for the airport the day before.
Then her gaze landed on three figures staring back at her in shock. First was Hannah who was frozen in place, a spoon full of eggs in her hand half way between her plate and her wide open mouth. Amanda stood next to her holding an empty plate and a fork paused just before stabbing a stack of pancakes, her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. And then there was Akko. The brunette was leaning her back against the fridge with her arms folded. Her eyes sparkled when their eyes met and she smiled brilliantly before she pushed herself away from the refrigerator and began making her way over to where Diana stood only a few steps away from the stairs. The brunette's gaze wandered down to the blonde's legs as she walked, making Diana blush and look away. But when she felt arms wrap around her neck, she once again looked into her girlfriend's crimson eyes before their lips met in a kiss a little too passionate for public eyes. The blonde faintly heard a chorus of snickers and one flat voice mumble 'get a room' before she pulled away from Akko's lips reluctantly.
"Akko, we aren't alone." Diana whispered frantically.
"So?" Akko smirked and tilted her head in amusement before letting out a giggle and continuing. "You look really hot in those clothes by the way."
Luckily for Diana, that last statement from Akko was a whisper only she could here, but it made her blush furiously nonetheless. The brunette grabbed her hand, interlocking their fingers as she pulled her toward the kitchen. The blonde was met by Amanda's feral grin when they approached the kitchen table and she could imagine how many comments were on the redhead's tongue at the moment just waiting to be let loose. This is what she was afraid of after her actions the past night. She acted without even thinking of the repercussions that awaited her in the morning. And although her conversation with Akko this morning did make her feel a little less nervous, it was a completely different story when she was staring this wolf in the face.
"Mornin princess." Amanda said happily and winked before walking away without another word.
"Good...morning." Diana replied hesitantly with her eyebrows raised as she watched the redhead walk away into the living room. What? Nothing? No judgment? No jokes? She saw the redhead sit between Hannah and Jasminka as she taunted Constanze about something that had happened on the TV screen. Laughter filled the space as the small girl turned around and gave the middle finger to Amanda. The blonde smiled slightly at the display before her smile turned sad. An unwelcome feeling building up inside of her, a feeling she'd been fighting all morning. These girls were all so close. This was unfamiliar. Did she belong here? This all seemed so normal. When had she ever felt this comfortable? She knew the feeling should make her happy, but a nagging voice in the back of her head still fought with her, telling her that this was wrong. That her being this happy was wrong. This was all the sudden very overwhelming. Suddenly she wished Amanda had made fun of her, said something to make her feel less content.
Akko must have noticed the lack of movement and paused piling the food onto her plate to look at the blonde with concern.
"Hey, you okay?"
"This is all..." Diana gestured to the crowd in the living room with her hand. "not what I expected. After what happened last night." It wasn't the complete truth, but she couldn't burden her girlfriend with the unexpected meltdown she was having internally.
Akko gazed over the room where the blonde had gestured in confusion.
"Uh...breakfast?" The brunette asked with an arched brow as she held out an empty plate.
"What? No!" Diana grabbed the plate hastily before sighing, fidgeting with the white porcelain object. "This...it's comfortable. I feel a little out of place to be honest. I've never had...this. You all seem so close and I don't think I deserve to be a part of this yet." She said quietly so no one else could hear her besides Akko.
The brunette furrowed her brows, taking in what Diana had admitted and trying to fully understand it. Why was she feeling out of place? She'd never had what exactly? Friends? No, she had Hannah and Barbara. Frustrated by the sudden change in her girlfriend's demeanor, she grabbed the plate out of the blonde's hand and put it down on the table with her own before she led her to the hallway out of sight and out of earshot of the rest of the girls.
"Why would you think you don't deserve to be a part of this?" Akko asked before turning to lock eyes with the blonde. "Do you not want to be here?"
"No, Akko." Diana's expression turned soft. "It's the exact opposite. There isn't anywhere else I'd rather be." She could tell that her answer only confused the brunette more. Which was understandable. How could she explain something she couldn't fully understand herself? "Akko, after my parents passed, I was alone. I remained alone because I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone. As far as I was concerned, I had no family. My aunt acted more like a professor of business, required to deal with me rather than wanting to help her niece. I had no one." Again, like so many times before, the bitter memories of being alone for so long came flooding back and a tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. "I spent most of my life being unhappy, being unloved. And now that I have both it feels wrong." The blonde sniffed once as the tears began to fall. "Like this isn't going to last and I'm going to go back to suddenly being alone. And it scares the hell out of me."
Akko, who had been frozen watching her girlfriend fall apart in front of her, finally snapped out of her shock and reached out to wipe the tears away from the blonde's cheeks and pulled her into a tight hug. She rubbed soothing circles into Diana's back and didn't let go until her breathing became normal again. She pulled away until she could look into the blonde's wet eyes.
"You will never be alone again if I have anything to do with it, you understand?" Akko's eyes were full of determination as she said the words. "You may have had no one before, but now you have me. And you have every girl in that room." Without looking away from Diana, she pointed in the general direction of the living room. "Blood doesn't make family, Diana. You're part of our family now. And every single one of us will make sure that you don't forget that. We've all accepted you. The real you." She added, continuing on the conversation from before. The brunette cupped Diana's cheek before continuing. "I know it's different for you, and I'll be here for you until it sinks in. Because I love you and I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me." The brunette flashed her trademark goofy smile, earning an adoring smile and small nod from her girlfriend in return.
"You're stuck with us too, ya know. No way you're getting off that easy."
Diana and Akko both jumped at the new voice and turned their heads in unison to see Amanda standing at the end of the hallway with a smirk on her face, the rest of the girls stood behind her all nodding in agreement with the redhead's statement. The blonde's eyes went wide and her hands went up in self defense as Amanda stalked forward and wrapped her and Akko up in a tight hug around their shoulders.
"What do you think you're doing O'Neill?" The blonde asked between grit teeth as she try to pull the redhead's arm off of her shoulder.
"Shhh...just let it happen." Amanda whispered playfully, holding the two girls tighter and eliciting a giggle out of Akko.
One by one, people joined the group hug as Diana did her best to squirm her way out, but it seemed more impossible with each additional person. The last one to join nearly made the whole group fall over as Jasminka all but crashed into them. For a while it was silent as they all embraced until they felt another nudge of someone joining them. Eight heads turned in surprise to the newcomer.
"Barbara?" Hannah and Diana spoke in surprise.
"What did I miss?" The black haired girl asked as she smiled and seemed to melt into the group hug between Lotte and Jasminka.
"Death by affection." Sucy said flatly with an irritated expression as she wasn't hugging anyone but was being held tightly by her orange haired girlfriend.
Laughing rang out in the small hallway at the statement, and at the center of the pile, Diana locked eyes with Akko who was smiling brilliantly at her. The blonde rolled her eyes playfully but on the inside, for the first time in a long time, she felt like she belonged. She wasn't being judged, there were no expectations. It would take time to get used to, but she knew her girlfriend was right. This was her family now.
After the hug dissipated, the nine girls found themselves in the living room. The reason Barbara had returned was to bring Akko's gifts that Diana had left on their kitchen table before she'd left for Germany, thinking she would be going home before the party. That reminded everyone that the blonde had pulled Akko away from the party before the presents could be given to the birthday girl. So they now sat watching the brunette as she opened various presents from her friends. The biggest being a large framed poster of an action shot of Akko in her hockey uniform from the team. The border was filled with every player's signature. The heartfelt present drew a few tears from the captain and also a pang of guilt that she hadn't opened it last night in front of her team. She was sure they all understood as they were all witness to her bombshell of a girlfriend dragging her upstairs for obvious reasons. Although she was sure she was going to be teased endlessly for the next couple weeks at least. But she didn't care, last night was worth it.
"Alright! I think Diana's presents are the last ones." Lotte said, looking around one more time before nodding to the blonde.
"Oh. O-okay." Diana stuttered slightly as the nerves took over. She stared down at the two wrapped boxes in her lap, wondering if she had done enough. She would give everything she had to the most important person in her life, but she was afraid of going overboard. But what about not enough? She was clueless.
Hesitantly, the blonde handed Akko the two presents and the brunette set them in her lap before picking up the smaller one and started to open it. After the wrapping was gone, Akko stared at the small black box, most likely meant for jewelry of some sort.
"Holy shit, Cavendish. Giving Akko a ring already?" Amanda half joked, but the shock on her face gave away that she believed that Diana could possibly do something huge here.
"What?! No!" She said a little louder than intended and waved her hands in front of herself frantically. "Not that I don't...that I wouldn't..." Diana stuttered and internally face palmed before shutting her mouth and clearing her throat. "It's not a ring." The blonde kept it simple, not trusting herself with anymore words at the moment, now chancing a glance at Akko who was staring back at her in surprise, lips parted slightly.
"Oh." The brunette nodded slowly, lips twitching to hold back a smile as she turned her gaze back to the box and slowly opened it. It was a necklace. Two items hung from a simple silver chain. First, a silver heart encrusted with sapphire gemstones, and second, a pair of crossed silver hockey sticks encrusted with ruby gemstones. Akko wasn't an expert on jewelry, but it looked expensive. And it was absolutely gorgeous. She reached out and ran her finger over the necklace, first the heart. It reminded her of Diana. It reminded her that Diana had given her heart to Akko so freely, that she trusted her enough not to break the already fragile thing. The blue gems reminded her of the sparkling blue eyes she would lose herself in for forever if she could. She then moved to the hockey sticks. The rubies matching her team colors perfectly. The sticks representing a passion that has saved her more than once from losing herself, saved her from going down a path that would have changed her life for the worse.
"Thank you." Akko whispered, still staring at the necklace in awe.
"D-do you like it?" Diana, who had been watching intently for a reaction, whispered back.
"I love it, Diana." The brunette turned to look her waiting girlfriend, smiling brightly. "Will you help me put it on?"
The blonde flashed a toothy smile in returned on nodded as she took the necklace. Akko turned away from her and allowed Diana to clasp the necklace together at the back of her neck. Once the necklace was in place, she held it in her hand tightly, smile never faltering.
"Will you open the other present so we can get on with our lives?" Sucy drawled, rolling her eyes at the lovesick pair on the couch.
"Oh." Akko blinked a few times before looking down at the other present. "I almost forgot. Heh."
She ripped the paper off of this one more quickly and opened the plain cardboard box revealing a black book. Furrowing her brows, she picked it up and threw the box on the floor before turning the book over and gasped. It was a music book. The title, in elegant white font, read 'A Believing Heart' and underneath the title it read 'by Atsuko Kagari'. With wide eyes she turned to the first page revealing the first song.
"Olivia." Akko whispered to herself, but everyone heard the name and tensed up for a moment.
The brunette swallowed hard as she stared at the first song in the book. It was the first song she'd ever written. The first song she'd played publicly at Olivia's funeral. She had simply titled it 'Olivia' for lack of a better title at the time. But it fit, so she never changed it. She turned the pages, seeing song after song that she had written in this published form was unreal. It seemed that Diana had somehow gotten her hands on all the songs she had written. When she reached the end, that last song was titled 'Diana'. The song she'd began writing shortly after meeting her girlfriend for the first time. The inspiration was so strong, even if at first, she wasn't sure why. She closed the book after looking through the whole thing one more time and turned to the blonde and leaned in to capture her lips in a kiss. The move surprised Diana but she instantly reciprocated for a moment before Akko leaned back.
"How did you do this?" The brunette asked with a wide grin.
"Well, Lotte and Sucy acquired your sheet music for me. And Andrew pulled some strings with his connections. I kind of just...put it all together." The blonde stated quietly. "I hope the title is okay. I wasn't going to put a title on it but I thought it fit be-" Another kiss from her girlfriend cut off her ramblings, thankfully.
"It's absolutely perfect. You're perfect. Thank you." Akko said breathlessly.
The brunette's genuine praise and loving expression instantly filled the blonde with warmth, with love. She wondered for a moment why she had been so nervous. She was always over thinking things. Akko was not someone who she needed to impress.
Someone who was now standing in front of them cleared their throat, snapping the two out of their daze. They looked up to see Sucy smiling evilly at Akko and holding out a present.
"What? I thought Diana's presents were the last." The brunette slowly reached her hands out and took the gift, eyes narrowing at the purple haired girl and expecting some sort of trick.
"I was feeling generous." Sucy shrugged and walked back to her spot next to Lotte, who looked at her girlfriend in surprise.
"Oh. Th-thanks." Akko warily began ripping the wrapping paper off that covered the plain cardboard box. Slowly she ripped the tape off of the top and opened the box cautiously as if expecting something to pop out. She could here Sucy's snickering at her nervous behavior. When nothing popped out, she leaned over and reached in and moved aside the newspaper that was used to pack whatever gift was tightly in the box. Akko's hand felt something soft, and round. She pulled it up and saw that it was black and…
"Gah!" She gasped loudly and pushed the object back into to the box and closed it, leaning her weight on it as if whatever the object was, was going to try to fight it's way out. "What the hell, Sucy?"
Sucy was now cackling loudly, doubled over and almost falling sideways to the floor as she shook in amusement. Everyone else looked thoroughly confused at the two girl's behavior. Sucy calmed herself down and wiped a tear of joy away from her eye.
"You seemed to be interested in that when we were at the store yesterday." The purple haired girl grinned as Amanda's and Lotte's jaws dropped and looked at Akko.
"What store?" Diana chimed in with an arched eyebrow.
"That's not really im-" The brunette started.
"The sex toy store." Sucy spouted out unhelpfully.
"Sucy!" Akko and Lotte squeaked in unison.
Diana's eyes shot open wide before she glanced at the box and then to her girlfriend who was now covered in a deep blush. The blonde's mouth opened and closed a few times, unable to find her voice. Amanda was shaking with silent laughter and hid her face in Hannah's shoulder. The auburn haired girl was biting her cheek in an effort not to let out her own laughter at Akko's expense. And next to Hannah, Barbara had both a look of shock and amusement on her features. Constanze only held out a fist to Sucy, who in turn, bumped it with her own fist. Jasminka was eating some potato chips and leaning forward on the couch in anticipation.
"You went at a sex toy store?" Diana finally found her voice and raised her eyebrows.
"Amanda made me go!" Akko suddenly yelled, as if the accusation was bubbling up inside her and finally couldn't be held in any longer.
Amanda gasped as the blonde turned her surprised gaze to the redhead. Amanda gulped, her eyes darting around to the other girls and landed on Barbara.
"Diana gave Barbara a lap dance!" Amanda yelled, pointing at Diana and then to Barbara.
The blonde and black haired girls both gasped and narrowed their eyes at the redhead.
"What?" Akko asked, confused. "You gave Barbara a lap dance?"
"Amanda told me to! And got me drunk!" Diana shouted, pointing at the horrified redhead. The brunette then turned to Amanda, still confused.
"Wait, wh-" Akko started.
"Diana took off her shirt and Barbara fainted!" Amanda shouted again earning another gasp from the blonde.
"Amanda told Diana to take off her shirt! And then I fainted!" Barbara shouted, defending her friend. She stood up and glared at the redhead, who also stood up.
"Stop!" Akko yelled so loud that both Amanda and Barbara shrunk back down into their seats. "What do you mean you told her to take off her shirt." The brunette asked through grit teeth.
"What? She...she..." Amanda stood up off of the couch and began slowly making her way around the table, staying as far away from the brunette who had murder in her eyes. "She said she was hot!" The redhead's voice cracked as she tripped over a bag sitting on the floor and stumbled.
"You got her drunk!" Akko growled as she moved forward.
"It was just to loosen up!" Amanda's back hit the door to the back yard and she fumbled with the doorknob. "Shit shit shit shit."
"You told my girlfriend to give Barbara a lap dance!" The brunette shouted and started sprinting when Amanda finally got the door open and ran. "I'm gonna kill you!" Akko shouted before running through the doorway after the redhead.
The remaining girls all made their way to the windows that looked out on the backyard to watch the scene unfold.
"Well that was unexpected." Sucy stated flatly and turned to Lotte. "Who do you think will win this time?"
"My money's on Akko. She's pretty mad. And she's been on a winning streak lately." Lotte replied, not looking away from the girls in the back yard.
"This time? Winning streak?" Diana turned to look at Lotte in surprise. "How often does this happen?"
"A couple times a month, sometimes more." The orange haired girl said as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
Diana nodded slowly and turned back to the window. At that moment Akko dove at the fleeing redhead and pulled her down hard onto the grass, making everyone inside wince at the sight.
"Welcome to the family." Sucy grinned mischievously at Diana before walking away, bored of the show already.
The blonde let out a long sigh instead of replying before letting a small smile show.
"Welcome to the family indeed."