Notes from the Author

Yeah, so, remember that M rating?

Chapter 3

Distraction

"By the Nine!" Lotte exclaimed, letting out a long sigh as she slammed her new Night Fall book shut and tossed it onto her pillow. "I didn't expect an ending like that! I sure hope Annabel gets the next installment out soon." Dark half-moons had developed beneath the Finnish witch's eyes. Her strawberry blonde hair stuck out in nearly every direction, thick glasses askew on her small nose.

She had read the entire night. Sucy managed to sleep soundly with her earbuds in, but Akko could hardly get any rest with all the reactionary noises that Lotte kept making. She had even listened to her cry for an hour.

"I can't wait to see what Barbara thought about it!" she added with a squeal.

"Uh-huh," Sucy mumbled, narrowing her eyes as she poured a small test tube of fluid into a beaker sitting on a hot plate. The combination of the two liquids began to fizz wildly together. "I am definitely not sick of hearing about Night Fall. Please continue."

"I know when you're being sarcastic, Sucy," Lotte huffed, turning on her bed to let her legs dangle off the edge. "It's not my fault that you don't know good literature. What are you making, by the way?"

"Hallucinogen," Sucy muttered. "It's processed through skin absorption. All it takes is a single drop." She dipped her eyedropper into the beaker and drew a tiny amount of the purple liquid. "Want to try it, Lotte?"

Lotte narrowed her eyes. "What's it make you hallucinate?"

"Not sure."

"Then no."

Sucy shrugged. "Akko?"

"Nandeshou?" Akko mumbled from her bottom bunk, not bothering to look up from the manga she'd been staring at for quite some time.

"English," both Lotte and Sucy groaned simultaneously.

"Oh, sorry," Akko said, finally glancing up to find Sucy staring at her, sharp teeth flashing in a devious smile. Though Akko hadn't been paying enough attention to know what was going on, she could tell Sucy was up to something. She always had the same look. "Whatever you asked, definitely not."

"What are you even doing?" Sucy asked, narrowing her eyes at her roommate. "I haven't seen you move in forever. I've been wondering if you were even still breathing. You're lucky I even asked, I could have just put a drop on your hand without you even realizing with how zoned out you've been."

Lotte hummed. "She has been awfully quiet for Akko," she said as though the Japanese witch wasn't even in the room. She hopped down from her bunk and threw herself onto Sucy's bed to stare at Akko.

"I'm reading," Akko grumbled, raising her manga in emphasis. "As you can see."

"You haven't even turned the page in an hour," Sucy pointed out. "Don't argue," she added when Akko opened her mouth to protest. "I noticed. It can't possibly be that you're thinking. You don't know how to do that."

"Sucy," Lotte reprimanded. "Akko, is everything okay?"

"Of course," Akko said, squinting her eyes at Sucy and Lotte. "Everything is great."

Both of the other witches looked unconvinced.

"I probably just fell asleep with my eyes open," Akko groaned, rolling over onto her back and stretching her arms across her head, at the same time carelessly knocking her manga onto the ground.

"Whatever then." Sucy shrugged. "No skin off my back."

"As long as you're sure, Akko," Lotte said. "Well, I'm going to go find Barbara. I hope she's finished! I can't wait to get her theory for the next book."

As the door closed quietly behind Lotte, Sucy grew silent and returned her attention to her desk, carefully organizing her ingredients and monitoring the sizzling potion.

Akko turned her head to stare at her Shiny Chariot poster. She hadn't lied. Nothing was wrong. In fact, she felt pretty good.

She reached out with her hand, idly tracing the letters as she let herself, once again, become lost in thought over a certain blonde witch, as she found happening more and more often. Ever since the two soared through space to defeat the Noir Missile, Diana had seemed… different… to Akko.

And it was most certainly not a bad kind of different.

"Akko, please," Diana said with an exasperated sigh. "Listen to me, for once."

"What do you mean?" Akko blinked up at Diana, lowering her wand back to her side. "I'm doing everything that you told me to do."

Diana circled Akko, peering at the Japanese witch's form with the scrutinizing eye of an expert. "Feet shoulder width apart, but make sure your dominant foot is pointed in the direction of your casting. Focus on the target," she waved her hand at an old book that she had poised on the back of a chair. "Square your shoulders. No, not to the side, you are to twist your entire upper body in the direction that your spell is aimed. Right, like that."

Akko froze exactly like Diana indicated, peering at the taller witch as her muscles quivered. "Uh, this?" she questioned with a meek smile.

"Exactly. Now cast. But, please, Akko, focus."

Akko took a deep breath, brought her wand back toward her body, and then flung it toward the book in an exaggerated motion that made Diana wince.

"Murowa!"

She felt the magic flow into the wand, but it was weak. A spark of green darted through the shaft of her wand before fizzling out at the tip. Frustrated, Akko brought the wand back and tried again. And again. And again. Still, nothing happened.

"Murowa, Murowa, Murowa!" She stamped her foot in impatience. "Diana, it's not working," she whined. "I'm doing everything that you told me to do!" She dropped the wand to her side and pouted at her study partner.

Diana shook her head, allowing a small chuckle to escape her lips as she crossed her arms across her body. "This is exactly why we are practicing. Would you prefer to go back to the books?" She tapped her index finger against her bicep. "Or continue practical exercise?"

"I'm tired of both," Akko moaned. "Can we please just take a break?"

Diana directed her gaze to the large grandfather clock that adorned one wall of the empty practice room that Professor Ursula had reserved for them. It had been well over an hour since they'd taken their last break. "I suppose," she agreed. "But only for a couple of minutes. I don't have all night. I have my own studies."

Akko let her shoulders droop as she let out a long sigh. "Finally. This is making me sore." She threw herself into the nearest chair in dramatic fashion. "Tell me you don't do this all the time."

Diana shrugged, taking a seat at the table across from Akko. "Not all the time," she said. "But frequently enough. Magic may be innate, but the art of spellcasting is not. One must continually practice to maintain optimum results."

Akko groaned, letting her forehead hit the hard wood of the table in front of them. "You're insane," she grumbled. "There are a million things I'd rather be doing."

"Oh?" Diana raised an eyebrow, leaning back in her chair and letting her unsettling blue eyes fall on the top of Akko's head. "Indulge me, then."

Akko sat up, staring at Diana with lips slightly ajar to gauge whether or not the other witch was serious. Upon receiving no hints otherwise, she launched into her spiel while ticking off her fingers. "Well, eating, for one. Hanging out with Lotte and Sucy. Sleeping. Playing with my Shiny Chariot cards. Trying to ride my broomstick." She drew a deep breath and continued. "Reliving the Samhain Festival, riding on the back of that Cockatrice, being devoured by a Basilisk-"

Diana sighed, raising her hand in a signal for Akko to stop. "That's enough, Akko. However, I highly doubt that you would rather be eaten by a Basilisk than practice your spellcasting. Speaking of which, what is the Basilisk's greatest weakness?"

"Greatest... weakness?" Akko narrowed her eyes at Diana, scrunching her eyebrows together in thought. "Uh, I know this." She hesitated, sorting her brain to try to find the correct answer to the impromptu quiz. "It's, uh, got something to do with a rat-"

"Go on," Diana said. Was she smirking? Though the corners of her lips quirked upwards, Diana showed no emotion behind her cold blue eyes. "You're on the right track."

"Uh, the rat farts, or... something," Akko finishes.

Diana sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "Not quite, Akko. However, the general idea is the same. A strong gas otherwise known as effluvium is used to kill the Basilisk. It is most commonly found in the weasel, though, yes, rats are also known to emit such a gas. However, the amount in which they do so would not be sufficient to defeat or even deter a mature Basilisk."

Akko nodded confidently. "See? I've been studying!"

"I believe you." Diana rose, striding to the front of the unused classroom to glance through the Defensive Magic text she had placed on a dusty podium that sat against the far wall. She cleared her throat.

"The only confirmed weakness of a Basilisk is effluvium, which is a noxious odor emitted from certain mammalian species when threatened, most notably the weasel. Upon inhalation of the effluvium, the central nervous system of the Basilisk will slowly deteriorate. This will result in the paralysis of the Basilisk or, more commonly, death."

Akko yawned and leaned back against her chair, stretching her arms out above her head. "Yeah, yeah. See? I studied."

Diana couldn't argue. If Akko had not studied, the resulting answer would have been so outlandish it would have been obvious. However, a ballpark guess did show her that Akko at least opened her textbook to that page at one point in time.

"That's enough of a break," she said, shutting the book and returning her gaze to Akko's. The Japanese witch's brunette locks were falling wildly around her face, a few strands of her trademark bangs plastered to her sweaty forehead. At least Akko was putting in enough effort for it to reflect physically. That was reassuring.

Grumbling, Akko slid out of her chair and meandered back to the circle Diana had drawn in chalk on the concrete floor. She focused her gaze on the book she had been attempting to attack for the evening and resumed her posture, raising her wand.

"No," Diana said immediately. She strode to Akko, shaking her head. "Wrong. Like I said, feet shoulder width apart. Akko, which is your dominant foot?"

Akko stomped her right foot on the ground in emphasis.

"This one needs to be leading, then." Diana grabbed Akko's leg, pausing as the familiar shock ran through her system. She grit her teeth together and powered through it, pushing against the limb until Akko took the hint and moved it to the front, readjusting her posture. "Toes forward," Diana said, gently tapping at Akko's foot with her own until the girl changed her angle.

"Square shoulders," Diana continued, placing her hands gently on Akko's shoulders and inhaling sharply as she rotated the girl's upper body. "Exactly."

She stood back, ignoring the conflicted look that had etched its way across Akko's face as she studied the witch's poise. "Straighten your back. Right, like that. You have to carry yourself with the utmost confidence, Akko. Remember, a successful spell never leaves the wand of a timid witch."

Akko nodded, tensing her jaw in acknowledgment. She turned her head away from Diana and drew a slow breath as she raised her wand and-

"Wait, no." Diana halted Akko's arm from moving forward with her own hand, feeling Akko's muscles tense beneath her grip. "I believe I understand, now. The rotation here is all wrong."

"Wrong?" Akko narrowed her eyes and glanced at Diana.

"Yes." Diana came up behind Akko, her hand never leaving the girl's arm. "You're much too impulsive. Spellcasting is all about poise and control, Akko. You must be aware of your every movement. You have to feel the magic transfer."

Sidling up behind Akko, she held her breath as she drew the girl's arm back before pressing it forward in the same controlled motion that she herself used.

Akko tensed. She could feel Diana's warm breath against her neck, tickling at a few strands of hair near her ears. A familiar spark ran through her body as their magic wavered at the proximity. Magic transfer. She could feel it, though she knew it wasn't the type of transfer Diana was referring to.

Akko could feel the heat flooding into her face. "Um, Diana, I think I've got it," she said after a moment, swallowing hard at the feeling of Diana's body pressed against her own.

Diana stepped away as though she'd been shocked, grateful that Akko couldn't see the warm blush dusting her cheeks. "Cast the spell," she muttered, tensing her jaw and struggling to maintain her poise. As always, the feeling of Akko's magic had thrown her center of gravity completely. She shook her head in an attempt to gain back her own cognition.

Akko, taking a deep breath, flicked her wand in the exact way that Diana had shown her and shouted, "Murowa!"

Green light emerged from the tips of her fingers and pulsed down the shaft of the wand. But, instead of erupting into action like Diana's had against the Wyvern, the spell only sprayed from the tip in a few short bursts.

Akko sighed, lowering her arm. "It's not happening," she mumbled. "I suck."

"Akko." Diana shook her head, stepping forward. "You do not 'suck'. You have accomplished many a great thing in your short career as a witch, I am confident that you can execute a spell as simple as this. You merely aren't focused. A spell with the intended outcome such as this requires complete immersion. Your mind is elsewhere."

Of course it was. "Well, yeah." Akko lied easily, rubbing her stomach. "I'm hungry."

Diana rolled her eyes, stepping to the table to begin shoving books into her bag. "Look, Akko, I have some actual studying to complete. Maybe you should have increased your portion at supper. Either way, if you do not want to learn, there is not much that I can accomplish here. I suggest you return to your dormitory before curfew. I cannot guarantee a free pass, were I to theoretically find you in the halls again."

Before Akko could even reply, Diana had shrugged her bag over her shoulder and stormed from the room.

"But," Akko said, lowering her eyes to where Diana had previously stood to help guide her body into the correct position, "I do want to learn."

Often, Diana's mind floated back to that day.

All too well, she remembered Akko's arms wrapped around her waist as the two propelled into space, chasing the Noir Missile that Professor Croix had created, their intent to save the destruction of an entire country. She remembered Akko's voice as she thanked each member of the Nine New Witches as they provided their own individual assistance and took their leave to let Diana and Akko proceed onward.

Diana paused, her highlighter poised over a section of her Magical Numerology notebook that she found particularly important for the upcoming end-of-term exams. However, instead of highlighting, she straightened her back and took a tentative sip of her lukewarm tea as a familiar warmth coursed through her body.

The memory pervaded her thoughts, as it did often.

She remembered, very well in fact, the adrenaline of the chase after the Noir Missile, the skipping of her heartbeat as she watched Akko perform the metamorphosis spell in an attempt to defeat the mass of unsupervised technology that was the missile. She recalled tumbling from the sky, readying herself for impact and the prospect of death when Akko had reached a hand out and grabbed her while maneuvering the uncontrollable broomstick known as the Shooting Star.

But, most of all, she remembered the magic. The connection.

How it had pulsed through their bodies. How it had surged between them, weakening their limbs, tapping into their nerves to make their skin tingle with anticipation. While they had been resolute at the time in the face of danger, Diana all too well remembered the sensation that was Akko's magic, that was Akko's inner being.

She took another sip of her tea, letting her gaze settle on the rim of her cup as she drew a sharp breath. She could hear the gentle snoring of Barbara and the quiet mumbling of Hannah as they slept. Diana had to admit that it was late. Retiring would probably be the best idea; exhaustion was of no benefit to a prospective witch and the onslaught of exams that loomed on the horizon.

She closed her books and switched off her desk lamp, polishing off the remainder of her tea with a large gulp before stretching and climbing beneath the covers of her comfortable bed. She squeezed her eyes shut, determined to drift off.

But sleep didn't come. Her mind wandered.

Diana recalled the sensation of her body pressed against Akko's as she guided the other witch's arms in the correct rotation to successfully cast the Murowa spell. She remembered the flow of energy between the two, their magical auras struggling to connect as though peering at one another through a glass window. She had felt her own magic straining to reach Akko's, determined to connect in the same level of harmony that they had previously achieved. The simple act had distracted her to such a degree that she'd had to excuse herself.

Her mind pictured their hands, interlinked, as they stood atop the Shooting Star and pulled back the string of the Claiomh Solais to fire an arrow into the Noir Missile. The bright green magic swirling between their bodies, penetrating their minds, souls, their very cores before ejecting in the form of a devastating Shiny Arc.

She knew Akko had to feel it too.

Her hand was wandering, tracing across the soft skin of her abdomen as she inhaled deeply and recalled the torrent of magic, rushing in a desperate attempt to escape from its confines by whatever means possible. She tilted her head back, a soft gasp escaping her dry lips. But she made no noise. No, she remembered Hannah and Barbara were in the room, even if they were asleep. And she certainly did not want to be caught in an act that did not befit the heiress of the House of Cavendish.