"Hey! That's her!" Akko exclaimed, her attention acutely snapping to the blonde holding up a pristine white umbrella. She turned to her new housing buddies, a pair of girls that were quickly becoming her friends despite having known them for scarcely more than a day. Okay—maybe she wasn't wholly convinced on the purple-haired student yet; Sucy was indubitably a bit of an... eclectic individual—but Akko, being Akko, had already decided to do her best to establish something amicable there. Then there was the petite girl with orange hair, Lotte, whom Akko had practically glued herself to because their short time together had already revealed her to be a docile sweetheart.
The latter pushed her glasses up a bit, squinting at the woman standing across the courtyard by the steps.
Given how the moments happened to coincide, a ghost of a feeling began to wriggle in Akko's gut, a sensation that hinted towards the idea that the universe was toying with her. After all, Akko had just been telling the two of them about Weird Staring Girl (that being the perfectly suitable nickname her brain had assigned to the blonde), and now the person in question had materialized with perfect timing.
And to Akko's immediate dismay, neither produced the alarm or concern she felt was warranted for the situation.
"Oh!" Lotte exclaimed, recognition flashing across her face as she raised a finger to indicate her sudden realization. "That's Diana Cavendish!" Just as the words left her mouth, Akko watched with apprehension as the apparent... Diana... turned to stalk up the stairs, disappearing in a flourish as quickly as she'd emerged.
"Diana?" Akko said slowly, testing the syllables on her tongue. It was a pretty name—one that clashed with the strange, preconceived image that Akko had already brashly painted in her head.
"She's the descendant of an incredibly well-known royal family," Lotte informed, nodding. "And she's very popular. A lot of students look up to her work, even the teachers too sometimes." The ginger shifted in her spot, the next line of words falling out in a way that was almost bashful. "I haven't interacted with her much, but her diligent nature is very admirable."
Akko glared at the ground, biting her lip in vague frustration. Really? Her? Weird Staring Girl with the piercing azure irises and flighty attitude was actually... something of a local celebrity at Luna Nova? That couldn't be right. No. The brunette roused the memory of her sharp, derogatory comments, the snooty atmosphere and oddly harsh gaze, the way she really hadn't hesitated to make less-than-savory jabs at her personality. "She accused me of not being able to read maps," Akko said, scowling, although the words admittedly sounded a bit silly once they leaped into the air.
"But can you though?" Sucy piped in, seeming genuinely curious with the way she cocked her head the slightest bit. But upon Akko's indignant expression, she began snickering in a way that could have been interpreted as malicious but probably wasn't. While those sorts of interactions mostly bounced off Akko's unwavering personality, the almost-mean-spirited-but-not-quite nuances that Sucy flaunted were something the brunette was still growing accustomed to.
"It was very confusing!" Akko pouted, crossing her arms and looking away as she deflated. Lotte just smiled at the interaction, ignoring it as she continued.
"Diana can be a little..." Lotte searched for the word. "Clinical? Especially towards those she's just met. Her image is very important to her."
"Well, insulting new students and stalking them doesn't seem like a good way to make people like you," Akko grumbled.
"I doubt she's stalking you," Lotte giggled, patting her on the shoulder. "It's probably a coincidence."
Akko grumbled and stared at the space where Diana had been standing just a few minutes ago.
A coincidence, huh?
Akko tapped the eraser end of her pencil against the desk erratically as her eyelids fought an intense battle to maintain their ability to stay open; it was a quarrel that was quickly being lost. As the soft tapping of the utensil created a haphazard beat, Akko found her sleepy thoughts crafting imaginary lyrics to the monotonous melody. Something about the endless waves of the ocean... and also something about food?
She was abruptly yanked back to the waking world when Professor Finneran's sharp voice hollered her name out for the entire class to hear.
"Miss Kagari! Just because this is your first day of attendance at Luna Nova does not mean you may assume a lax posture. Quite the opposite should apply, rather! How about you come down here and fill out these blanks?"
Still tangled up in a daze, Akko narrowed her eyes at the chalkboard. There was a lengthy sentence written out with several missing words in it, chunks removed from a whole. It sort of reminded her of Swiss cheese. "Uhhh..." The brunette scratched at her head. "I don't think I can, ma'am?"
Finneran, with a deep scowl that wrinkled her expression, was in the act of opening her mouth (presumably to give Akko a lecture) when a voice from the row above cleared their throat. As Akko instinctively swung around to look up at the noise, her breath tripped on its way down her throat when she realized that it was Diana, arm stiffly extended into the air.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but I'd like to solve the problem if that's alright."
Seeming mildly irritated that her endeavors to chew out a helpless Akko had been cut short, the professor nodded for Diana to come forward... though not without leveling a glare at Akko that insinuated that she'd be keeping a close eye on her. Swallowing thickly, the brunette watched the blonde strode to the front of the classroom with an air of elegance, noting the poise in her step as she stopped to pick up a piece of chalk before filling in the blanks of the sentence in a fancy-looking cursive.
Being of no surprise to anyone in the classroom, Diana's written answers were flawless and Finneran praised her accordingly (if not excessively). "Miss Kagari, it would be wise to take a page out of Diana's book when it comes to academic assiduity." And while the remark was somewhat irritating, and she also had no idea what that last word even meant, Akko couldn't help but feel a tiny spark of admiration for the other girl... Paying attention and maintaining above-average grades had always been a less-than-easy task for Akko, and witnessing someone who seemed to do precisely that with such unassuming ease sent equal parts jealousy and inspiration twirling through her. Really, it wa—
Whatever thoughts she'd been entertaining about the blonde burst in that second and that second alone, the various sparks of emotion spiraling down the drain when Diana turned away from the board. As the pair of icy cerulean eyes happened to land directly on her, the entirety of Akko's mind went blank, zapped for a second that felt tout over the course of an eternity before snapping under the pressure. When everything sort of jump-started back into gear, Akko found herself looking back at an almost quizzical expression. It made her feel funny and somehow offended all at once. Maybe because Diana's mien seemed to regard her like a benign growth that was in haste need of dissecting. Or maybe because Akko wasn't fond of being visually assaulted.
Either way, Diana hadn't even managed to return to her seat before Akko was already leaning over to hiss in Lotte's ear.
"Did you see that?! That was not a coincidence!"
Let it be known that I really struggled with this chapter and I'm not pleased with it at all. I ended up rewriting and cutting out several scenes multiple times and it got weird. I just hope it's not too disappointing; the main purpose right now is to build up the oddness and tension of their dynamic and point out for both characters that there's a mutual draw towards one another that can't be explained yet.
Next chapter we get to see these dweebs interact a bit and Akko starts thinking a bit... which we all know probably isn't a good thing for all parties involved.
Thank you so much to everyone for the interest and support so far! It means the absolute universe to me.