It's been rough for Akko and for all of us, hasn't it? It pains me to write her being dejected just as badly as it pains you to read it.
But at least she's not alone!
Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.
Chapter 4. Quiet Recuperation
The next morning, Lotte and Sucy were awake at the crack of dawn.
They checked to make sure Akko was in her bed, and were relieved to find her still asleep.
This was their only task for today; to keep Akko within their sights, and to ensure she didn't get up and disappear from the Academy before Diana could try her hand at making things right again.
Diana hadn't told Lotte and Sucy the specifics of her plan, but she'd promised them she'd do everything she could. She just needed a bit of time to prepare everything.
So today, their job was to buy Diana time, and to keep Akko from leaving.
They didn't think that would be very difficult, since Akko had been intent on staying in her bed all week now.
But today, she actually pushed herself out of bed with a surprising amount of conviction. Lotte perked up right away and leaned over the side of her bunk bed to peer down at her.
"Akko! You're up!"
"Feeling any better?" Sucy wondered.
But Akko didn't give a direct answer. She just let the blankets fall from her shoulders and sat there on her bed.
At the very least, she'd gotten up to take a bath, change out of her uniform, and remove her shoes a few days ago, but she hadn't changed out of her pajamas since. Her t-shirt and shorts were ruffled now, and her hair was a matted, unkempt mess.
But when she lifted her hand and motioned for them to come sit with her, Lotte and Sucy didn't waste a second. They were on either side of her immediately, stroking through her hair and smoothing out her clothes.
"Akko?" Lotte murmured. "What is it?"
"Wanna go eat?" Sucy offered.
But Akko shook her head. She pulled them both into a hug, and broke down before she could even start talking.
"I-I'm... so sorry..." she whimpered.
Lotte and Sucy shared a pained look, but hugged her back tightly.
"What are you saying?" Lotte asked. "You don't need to be sorry about anything."
Akko only wailed louder.
"N-No! T-The other day... all this time, you guys've only been trying to help me... a-and all I ever did was yell at you and push you away..."
They could tell this wasn't her usual manner of crying. There was no over-exaggerated blubbering or excessive sobbing. It wasn't an Akko-like way of crying.
This sounded like it really hurt, like she was really broken and at a loss, like she was truly feeling wretched and horrible.
"I'm sorry..." she whispered. "Lotte... Sucy..."
"Akko..."
"It's okay."
They just kept hugging her back, their support being most of what was keeping her up now. She sobbed bitterly into Lotte's shoulder first, then turned around and did the same for Sucy. She left damp spots on both of their clothes, shaking and crying all the while.
They tried to soothe her and reassure her everything was all right.
By the time she was finally able to speak again, Akko still refused to look either of them in the eye.
"Y-You guys... I... I think I'm gonna quit school..."
Both of them tensed up immediately.
"N-No!" Lotte pleaded. "Akko, you can't!"
"You won't be expelled," Sucy put in. "You've used up a lot of your absences, but you'll still be able to stay if you come back to classes on Monday."
"No... I... I don't think I can do this after all... I can't become a witch... I'm not even descendent from them..."
"D-Don't say that!" Lotte gasped. "Akko, becoming a witch is your dream! What about Chariot?"
"You're upset," Sucy reminded her. "A lot's happened this week. Don't make such a big decision when you're not thinking clearly."
"She's right!" Lotte said instantly. "Please, Akko. Just... give it one more day. Think about it a little longer. You can't give up now. Please..." She pulled Akko in and hugged her tighter than ever before.
Akko could tell right away how earnest they were both being. She let out another heavy breath.
"You guys are right... S-Sorry..."
"It's okay," Lotte murmured. "Just don't give up, Akko..."
"We're here for you." Sucy scooted closer and put her arms around them both.
Akko cried for a while longer. Lotte and Sucy refused to leave her side.
By noontime, they were shocked to see a change in their best friend. Akko wiped her own tears away and sat up straight. She sniffled a bit, but when she spoke again, there was an unmistakable smile on her lips, the first one she'd shown in a week.
"You guys..." She bit her lip a little bashfully. "I'm really hungry."
Their eyes widened, but the sight of her smile caused them to do the same.
With happy cries of her name, they tackled her down onto her bed in a big, joyful group hug.
All day from then on, Lotte and Sucy did everything they could to help Akko come back to being her old self.
Realizing she'd always have them no matter what had been the catalyst to her recovery, and they wanted to do whatever was necessary to keep her spirits up.
They prepared a nice bath for her first, Lotte running the water before casting a spell that would keep it warm regardless of how long it sat out in the open air. Sucy placed a few herbs in the water to make everything smell sweet and feel relaxing.
Wrapped in her towel, Akko watched them prepare it all. When it as all ready, they closed the door and left her there for as long as she needed it.
Of course, they were both pressed against the other side of the door, listening intently in case they heard her crying. To their relief, all they heard were happy, though sometimes tired, little sighs.
But they'd rather hear exhaustion over sadness any day.
Once Akko had finished her relaxing bath and put on her clothes, Sucy cast a spell to help dry her hair with one quick, warm blast of air, gathering all the water and letting it splash onto the floor. Lotte scolded her and asked her to clean it up, while Akko gave her first little laugh in a week.
It was a wonderful sound, one they realized they'd lived far too long without hearing. It raised their spirits and made them all the more determined to help her feel better.
While Sucy cleaned up the water, Lotte brought Akko to her bed and started brushing her hair for her.
When they were all ready, they finally decided on what to do for lunch. All this week, Akko had been eating morsels of whatever they'd brought back and left for her, but she hadn't had an appetite for any full meals.
It was certainly reassuring to finally see her hungry enough to want to leave the room.
But just before Akko could step out the door and into the hallway, images of all her laughing classmates flooded her mind once again. She froze, shuddered, and recoiled.
Lotte gave her a curious glance.
"Akko? Are you gonna come?"
"M-Maybe not. Not just yet..."
The others seemed to understand right away. Sucy offered to fetch food herself and bring it back for them all, while Lotte opted to stay behind with Akko and keep her company. Akko thanked them both, relieved they weren't frustrated with her.
She and Lotte talked alone together for a while. Lotte listened to all Akko had to say about the upsetting matter of Diana's rejection.
Lotte very nearly revealed that she and Sucy had talked to the other witch and seen her side of things. But she held her tongue, knowing Diana would pull through with her own plan to try and make things right.
They talked until a familiar knock on the door announced Sucy's return.
All that afternoon and evening, the three of them ate and chatted together, just as they always had. It made Akko realize just how badly she'd missed this, and it made the others realize just how badly they'd missed her.
By the time they changed into their pajamas and started getting ready for bed, Akko tripped and bonked her head against the side of Lotte's bunk. Her friends rushed to her side to check if she was okay, and Akko merely gave a sheepish laugh.
With the return of her old self came the return of her clumsy personality, it seemed. Lotte and Sucy wouldn't have it any other way.
Akko set her alarm, then placed the pumpkin-shaped clock on her nightstand as always. Sucy closed up the last of the potions she'd been working on and fed her carnivorous plants their supper before heading to her own bed. Likewise, Lotte sang her bottled nymphs to sleep, then crawled up into her bunk above Akko.
They all got settled, but Lotte and Sucy couldn't help but keep their attention trained on Akko.
"So..." the former hummed. "Are you feeling any better, Akko?"
"You usually do after you've gotten something in your belly," Sucy noted.
Akko smiled again.
"I think I do feel a bit better! Thanks you guys! But... I bet going back to classes on Monday is gonna be brutal..." Her shoulders slumped, and she looked down at her lap.
It took her teammates a second to comprehend what she'd said, but as soon as they did, their hopes lifted.
"C-Classes?" Lotte piped. "Y-You're gonna come back to classes on Monday, Akko?"
"You're not gonna quit?" Sucy realized too late that she probably shouldn't have put the idea back into her head.
But Akko met each of their gazes calmly, albeit a little sadly.
"No. You guys are right. I can't quit just because of something like this. This shouldn't affect my dream of becoming an awesome witch like Chariot! I gotta get back to classes and learn more about magic so I can become like her!"
Her familiar, fired-up speech was refreshing to hear, especially when all they'd heard from her for a week were tired, unresponsive mumbles. They were relieved Akko was finally starting to bounce back.
"Thank goodness!" Lotte sighed. "We're so glad to hear that, Akko. And don't worry. Sucy and I will help you however we can."
Sucy gave a grunt of affirmation.
Akko clasped her hands together and let out a long sigh.
"Thanks, you guys. You're the best friends a witch could ever have!"
At last, she flopped back down onto her bed and burrowed beneath the blankets. Her voice and movements were wonderfully, drastically different and more expressive now than they had been for the past week.
Briefly, Lotte and Sucy shared another glance. It was clear they were both wondering if they should contact Diana somehow and let her knew Akko was feeling better.
But at the same time, they mutually decided not to interfere with the white-haired witch's plans, especially since she was going to work hard to try and make up with Akko.
So they just pretended they were none the wiser.
Lotte blew out all of the candles in the room with a one-word spell, and they all laid down for bed.
Hopefully, tomorrow Diana would apologize to Akko as she'd said she would, and everything would go back to normal.
Diana had toiled the entire day away with her plan.
Typically, she spent her Saturdays completing all of her weekend homework all at once.
But today, she hadn't so much as touched a single assignment.
She'd told Hannah and Barbara she'd be working alone in the library, though to their knowledge, she was simply doing her schoolwork.
However, Diana had been working on something entirely different.
She'd sat all day at the very same table Akko had found her at before to return her notes. Diana had surrounded herself with a few thick books in order to give off the appearance that she was studying to any passerby.
But in reality, she'd been working on her apology to Akko, all day long.
When she'd finished, she'd gotten to work in setting things up.
It was late in the evening by the time she exited the library. Had Diana not been granted special sentry privileges by the Academy, she would've been horrified to be out past curfew.
But as things were, she was allowed to be out later than most students, patrolling the hallways and campus for signs of anything unusual.
As such, she killed two birds with one stone.
As she made her way around the now-quiet Academy, she also set things up for Akko in the process.
That had taken her a good amount of time as well.
By the time she finally got to Akko's dorm room, it was late at night. The lights in the hallway had been dimmed, so she needed to light the lantern on the tip of her broomstick in order to see better by.
She was quiet as she approached the door, then paused a few feet shy of it. She reached into the pocket of her robes and extracted a simple envelope which she'd handwritten Akko's name on.
Diana enchanted the paper, then guided it with her wand.
Confident everyone inside was asleep, she slipped the envelope beneath Akko's door. Once it was out of her sight, Diana had to remember the layout of the room well enough to be able to land the envelope on the cluttered desk.
After it was done, she put her hand to her chest and sighed. Her skin was tingling with excitement and nervousness at the same time.
She had to wonder if this had been how Akko had felt before she'd confessed to her last week.
Diana quickly shook herself off and composed herself.
I've done what I said I would do. Now I've got to get some sleep.
With a flutter of her robes and hat, Diana turned away and headed down the hall to her own room.
She knew for a fact that tomorrow would be a very trying day.
But hopefully, it would be worth the trouble.
A/N: So Akko is finally feeling better! But Diana doesn't know that. What's her plan? Certainly when someone like Diana Cavendish puts so much time and effort into something, it's going to be grand, right?
Please review!