Remember, I wrote this fic before episodes 2+ of the anime were released. As such, all Akko/Diana interaction and references are based ONLY off the OVAs. No mention of the events of the anime or what happened with them in episodes 2 and up. I have other fics for that haha

Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.

Chapter 2. Fruitless Efforts

For the remainder of the week, Akko, Lotte, and Sucy were determined to figure out for certain whether or not the former might have a crush on Diana, or vice versa.

In order to do so, it required Akko to go and talk to her classmate more often than she normally would have otherwise. While Akko stammered away, trying to figure out something to talk about that wouldn't result in Diana's biting her head off, Lotte and Sucy observed from afar, trying to stay undetected.

"Just act normal!" they told her.

But Akko discovered it was much more easily said than done.

Until now, Akko had always interacted with Diana however she'd considered to be 'normally'.

But now, the possibility that she might have a crush on Diana was constantly tacked to the back of her mind. It was all she could think about, whether she was in the middle of a lecture or a quiz, or face-to-face with her white-haired classmate.

The conscious consideration of the fact that she might harbor feelings for Diana had a major effect on the way Akko acted around her. She was much more flustered, much more likely to blush, and much less coordinated than usual – and that wasn't even a lot to begin with.

Akko needed to keep coming up with excuses in order to talk to Diana as often as possible so Lotte and Sucy could see how they acted around one another.

By the end of the week, Akko felt more exhausted than ever as she crashed onto her bed with a long groan.

"You guuuuuys... I don't think we've accomplished anything. All I've done is annoy her more..."

That was true for sure. Akko had gone to Diana at least ten times a day, simply to ask her random questions about homework that had been due a week earlier, or say something that ended up just being nonsensical.

Presently, Sucy sat down beside Akko and tapped her shoulder to get her to sit up.

"Well, let's replay the scenes, shall we?" With a wave of her wand, she cast a miniature movie screen in midair, the image being one of Akko and Diana in one of their classrooms. Naturally, Akko shrieked.

"S-Sucy! You recorded us?!"

"For science. Now shut up and watch. Maybe if you see for yourself how you act around her, you can figure something out."

She swished her wand and the makeshift movie screen started playing. Akko watched herself shuffle her way up to Diana's seat. She watched Diana roll her eyes even before Akko herself had called out to her.

"D-Diana!" her past self called out with a grin. "H-Hey, I was just wondering if you, um..."

"I am not giving you more of my notes, Akko," she'd snapped. Her two roommates appeared a second later.

"Yeeaah!" they chanted. "Like, go away."

The present Akko felt like she was being tortured, forced to watch herself make an attempt at speaking to Diana over and over again without success.

One time, she just stammered a lot of nonsense and didn't even end up getting out a real word before she'd been chased off.

Another time, when she was trying to sound interested in the spells they'd learned about that day, she switched up the words "pretty cool" and ended up saying "critty pool." That one got the biggest and loudest reaction from Diana's goons, and Akko felt the pangs of embarrassment just as badly now as she had at the time.

"Jeez! All right all right, just make it stop!" She grabbed Sucy's wand and cancelled the spell. "It's bad enough I had to live through all this the first time! Now I'm just getting second-hand embarrassment from myself again!"

Lotte came over to sit on her other side.

"So then... what do you think, Akko? Because Su and I can't tell if you're... well, if you might actually like Diana and that's why you're so nervous around her. Or if it's just because we're kinda making you go talk to her and you don't know what to do."

"So basically, we can't tell if you're embarrassed because you were talking to your crush," Sucy interjected. "Or if you're embarrassed because you knew you were the main subject of an experiment that was being observed."

"Ew, stop calling it an experiment!" Akko whined. But then, her shoulders slumped and all her vigor seemed to drain away. "But... I think I really might... have a bit of a crush on her... Whenever I... look at her or talk to her or even just think about her, my chest feels all tight. And my face always gets warm. Not a lot, but... it's enough to be noticeable."

It felt so strange to confess such a thing, but it also felt good.

Of course, her roommates reacted with confusion. It was very hard to swallow, after all.

"Huh." Sucy shrugged. "So even though she's so persnickety and always bullying you and making fun of you for liking Chariot-"

"Well, you guys did that too!" Akko said. "And you're still my best friends, right?"

"Oooh~?" Sucy hummed. "Jumping in right away to defend her, huh? Yeah, you've got it bad."

"H-Huh? I-I didn't even realize..." Akko's face started to turn pink again, and she slapped her hands to her face. "Oh man... what am I gonna do...?"

Thankfully, Lotte was a bit more sensitive than Sucy. She wrapped an arm around Akko's shoulders in an effort to comfort her.

"Well, that's up to you, Akko. If you wanna try to keep suppressing your feelings and keep it a secret, you can do that-"

"Buuuut I wouldn't recommend it," Sucy cut in. "Keeping it all bottled up? It's just gonna keep fizzing like a bottle of soda you keep shaking, until it finally explodes. And who knows, with your luck, you might actually explode."

"Sucy!"

"What? I'm just being realistic."

Akko whimpered at the idea of bloating until she popped.

"B-But... what are my other options...?"

"W-Well..." Lotte cleared her throat. "You could always tell Diana the truth."

"W-What?!" Akko yelped. "Y-You mean confess to Diana that I h-have a crush on her?! No way, no way, no way! I can't do that! She'll laugh at me for sure! Sh-She'll tell the whole school! She'll... she'll..."

But as she went on, Akko realized she was thinking about what the old Diana would do.

But maybe not the present Diana.

After all, Akko had saved the school from the Dragon, and Diana had helped her do it. She'd also saved Akko from falling to her premature death and splattering into a puddle.

And of course, she'd recently told Akko her heartfelt feelings of guilt and humiliation about releasing the Dragon in the first place. She'd even cried in front of her, hugged her back, and hadn't refuted it when Akko had called her a friend.

So maybe... maybe Diana wouldn't be so mean to her. Not if it was about something as serious as Akko's honest feelings towards her.

As she considered it mentally, her friends waited for her to say something else. Gradually, Akko shifted from a more high-pitched, panicked tone, to a calmer one.

"Then again... maybe she won't. M-Maybe she'll hear me out a-and consider me seriously. After all, we have kind of gotten, a little closer over the weeks, haven't we? She always acts mean in front of other people because she doesn't want to lose her reputation. S-So maybe if I can get her alone and tell her that way... maybe it won't be so bad."

"Yeah!" Lotte agreed. "That's a good way to think about it! Who knows? She might even like you back!"

"Unlikely-" Sucy commented. Lotte gave her a warning glare. Sucy rolled her eye. "Unlikely. But still possible."

Akko felt a smile spread across her lips. She straightened her back and looked to each of them in turn.

"Really? You guys think I should tell her?"

"I mean, it sounds much safer than keeping it all bottled up and risking explosion, right?" Lotte reasoned.

"And when you think about it," Sucy said. "The worst she can do is say no."

"Yeah..." Akko's eyes lit up with a new kind of determination, one she'd never experienced before.

She wasn't aiming to ace a test (not that she ever had), or learn a new spell, or save the school this time.

This time, she was going to confess her feelings to someone.

Of course, the fact that it was Diana was more than a little unnerving. After all, she had always been somewhat of a bully, and even after their conversation in the library, she'd continued putting up a front and didn't treat Akko very differently.

But Akko liked to think she knew Diana better than that. She was just saving face in front of the rest of the school. She wasn't about to let people know she might actually be friends with Akko.

But if Akko could just get her alone, and have her feel comfortable enough to be honest...

Maybe Diana would hear her out.

And if she's really my friend now, she'll take it seriously. Even if she doesn't feel the same way about me, we can still keep on being friends! That would be really great!

So that night, Akko thanked her roommates for all of their help. She wasn't one to wait on these kinds of matters. She was the type to take action, even if some people might label her as impulsive because of it.

"Tomorrow," she decided. "I'm gonna tell her tomorrow."

Again, easier said than done.

Akko woke up the next morning a complete mess, and not just because her hair was tangled and her clothes were ruffled and there was drool dribbling down the side of her mouth. She was always somewhat of a mess externally.

But today, there was also chaos inside.

She was stiff on the surface, but it felt like her insides had been turned to mush. She even accused Sucy of actually doing that with another spell of hers.

But Sucy proclaimed her innocence. "I've only gotten to altering entire physical forms and appearances," she said. "I can't do the inside without doing the outside. So it wasn't me."

"Are you suuuuure?" Akko whined as she wrestled her way into her uniform. "I think I might prefer if you really turned my guts to jelly."

"Really?"

"W-Wait! N-Never mind..."

As the excited spark faded from Sucy's uncovered eye, Lotte found Akko's hair tie and tied her ponytail for her.

"Are you really going to do this today, Akko? You could wait a while, you know. It's not the end of the world if you take your time and try to figure things out a bit more."

But Akko shook her head.

"Mm, no! I've gotta do it! Now that I know how I feel, it's only fair to Diana that I tell her right away! Th-That's what it feels like..."

"Well, okay. If you're sure." Lotte gave her a pat on the back. "Whatever happens, remember Sucy and I are here for you, okay?"

Akko bit her lip and looked up at her friend. Lotte was always sincere, especially when it came to looking after her friends. When Akko glanced at Sucy, even she smiled and gave a nod.

Akko felt a surge of tears welling up.

"Uwaahh, you guys!" She grabbed each of them and pulled them into a tight hug. "Thank you so much! I'll do my best today!"

Of course, Akko wanted to maintain a confident mindset as she prepared herself for what she planned to do today.

But as soon as she was stumbling (late) into class again and taking her seat, she felt like the entire world was staring at her. She knew nobody was, because she was almost always late, so her classmates and professors had stopped being surprised about that.

But it felt like everyone was just... staring at her. Like the whole Academy knew what she was going to do today, even though in reality only her two closest friends really knew.

She'd often spend half her lectures trying to pay attention to the professor, and the other half stealing glances at Diana whenever she participated, or even sometimes when she was just being quiet.

But today, Akko only managed to steal one glance at her, and couldn't handle any more.

Keep it together! she coached herself. All you've gotta do is be honest with her! I'll ask her to come to the library with me after classes just like I planned.

That way, even if someone overheard them somehow, they wouldn't have to sit through afternoon classes feeling incredibly awkward. If anything went awry with this, they'd have a weekend to figure it out before coming back to classes.

She kept replaying how it would go in her mind, in addition to the possible outcomes based on Diana's reaction. She'd probably be totally blown away to start, but in the end might actually admit she felt something for Akko, too. Maybe they'd have to keep their relationship a secret, or maybe they could proudly tell the whole school.

Though that seemed highly unlikely.

Diana could reject her, but Akko felt she'd try to do it kindly, at least. Hopefully she'd still want to be friends to a certain degree.

Akko felt she'd be more than fine with that, too.

She just wanted to be closer to Diana. She wanted to be her friend at the very least, someone Diana wasn't afraid to talk to or cry in front of.

Anything more than 'friends' was a stretch, and perhaps even a miracle.

But 'friends' was the basic tier of desire for sure.

Akko sat through six hours' worth of lectures on magic, spells, and significant witches throughout history. She didn't even manage to bring herself to eat at lunch because she was too excited and nervous.

By the time the final bell rang, she felt like she might fall out of her seat. Lotte and Sucy were there to hold her up.

"Akko!" Lotte chided. "I told you you should've eaten something!"

"N-No... Can't... I'll barf..."

"Well, that would certainly guarantee Diana never speaking to you again," Sucy offered helpfully.

"Uughgh..." Akko swayed between them as they tried to support her. "But I gotta. I've gotta do this! I planned it out specifically! It has to be today! It has to be now! I've gotta tell Diana-!"

"Akko!" Lotte hushed her before she could announce it to the entire classroom as everyone was leaving for dismissal.

To make matters worse, Diana herself just so happened to be walking past them at the time. She heard her own name and paused, turning towards the trio with mild interest in her eyes.

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow. "Tell Diana what, exactly?"

Akko shrieked and nearly stumbled back over her own chair. Lotte and Sucy grabbed her and helped her stay upright. As if on cue, Barbara and Hannah popped up and went off.

"Oooh~? Like, what's this? Little Miss Fritty Pool again?"

"Like, why can't you just leave us alone? When are you gonna get it through your thick head that Diana doesn't wanna talk to you?"

They started cackling as usual, a sound Akko was sure she'd heard in her nightmares before. She suddenly felt even worse than before, like there was someone punching her in the gut repeatedly.

But at least Diana wasn't laughing at her, too. She was still waiting for an answer as to why Akko had said her name. She even went so far as to silence the other two with a flick of her wrist.

"Well?" she said expectantly. "Let's hear it, Akko."

"Yeaah!"

"Let's hear it!"

Both trios faced one another. Sucy glowered at Hannah while Lotte gave Barbara a look of stern disapproval. Leaving Akko and Diana to focus on one another.

Arms behind her back as always, Diana's stance and posture made her look habitually impatient, like she had somewhere more important to be. But something about her eyes said she was genuinely curious about what Akko had to say.

The brunette sucked in a deep breath, trying to ignore the twisting feeling in her stomach.

"Actually... I'd wanted to talk to you alone, Diana. Th-Think we could-"

"Sorry," she said. "I've got somewhere to be. Whatever it is, you'll have to say it here, or it'll have to wait until Monday."

Akko's heart sank. She'd been resolved to do this today, but not like this.

By now, all of their classmates had stopped to surround them, mumbling and murmuring as they wondered what was going on between the six witches.

Akko didn't know what to do. She looked around herself at all the other girls gathered here now. She looked to Lotte and to Sucy, who also appeared to be at a loss. She knew they'd support her no matter what she decided to do.

Akko ignored Barbara and Hannah with their mean smiles and narrowed eyes. She looked directly up into Diana's calculating gaze.

Though there was a bit of impatience there indeed, Akko failed to detect any intentional unkindness. More than anything, she seemed curious to hear what Akko had to say.

So that was it. She had to tell her.

Akko took another deep breath, hoping the idle chatter that had filled the room by now would drown her out. But the second her voice hit the air, everyone fell dead silent.

"It's just that... I-I really like you, Diana!"

Her voice echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls and coming back to her, making her listen to her own confession again and again.

No one moved. No one spoke. No one even breathed.

The shock was palpable, almost tangible, as everyone's jaws dropped. They all turned to Diana for a reaction, waiting in the highest form of suspense.

Akko didn't budge. She kept her eyes trained on Diana's, showing her just how serious she was about this.

This was it. The moment of truth.

Depending on how Diana reacted to this – in front of everyone – her relationship with Akko might be able to flourish and turn into something kinder, more productive. They were friends now, right?

Akko trusted her. She trusted Diana with her feelings-

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"...Huh?"

Akko felt her heart jolt.

Diana was looking back at her in disbelief, which was understandable. But the defensive tone of her voice was a little uncalled for. She squared her shoulders and repeated herself coldly.

"I asked if this was a joke?" she snapped.

Again, silence. Akko realized she needed to say something.

"N-No! It's not a joke! Wh-Why would I-"

"Because it seems like a joke to me. Are you making fun of me? Trying to embarrass me in front of everyone and throw me off my game?"

"Wh-What? No, I-"

"Because it isn't going to work, Akko. I don't believe you."

Diana turned away, hiding her expression from Akko and from everyone else.

Akko was stunned, her voice nothing more than a tremor now.

"D-Diana-"

"Hey, you heard her!" Hannah barked.

"Yeah, leave her alone, you freak!" Barbara snapped.

Akko was at a complete lost.

She'd been embarrassed before. She'd made a fool of herself in front of the entire school more than once before.

But she'd never... never... felt as horrible as she felt right now.

Diana hadn't spared her at all.

Not only had she rejected her feelings, but she'd accused Akko of lying about it. Diana hadn't even believed she was being genuine about her confession.

Helplessly, Akko turned to Lotte and Sucy. But each of them looked just as shocked and dejected as she was feeling.

It wasn't long after that when everyone else started to chatter again.

"D-Did she just-"

"Confess? To Diana?"

"As in, like... she's in love with her?"

"She can't be serious."

"Maybe she got hit on the head when she was fighting that Dragon."

It was more than she could take. Akko really felt like she was going to be sick this time.

With a burst of adrenaline, she wrung herself away from Lotte and Sucy, then darted down the aisle for the doors. She didn't even look back as she passed Diana. She just kept running.

Someone called out for her, but she didn't listen.

No one was coming after her. She didn't want them to.

She just ran until she found the nearest restroom.

And she didn't need a wand in order to lock herself inside and cry her heart out.

A/N: I know, I know, probably a bit too dramatic, even for Akko? I'm still not sure myself if this is how she'd react to something like this, but I think it's a possibility. If she really felt something with all her heart and had faith it would turn out all right, only to be proven so horribly wrong, I think she'd break down crying.

So far, in the anime, we've only see her whimper and almost cry. But god, I can only imagine how heartbreaking it'd be to see her really sobbing.

How is this going to affect Akko in the future? What's she going to do?

Please review!