Fusion Cuisine – Part V: Seasoning to Taste
Disclaimer: In case you haven't figured it out yet, I don't own Little Witch Academia. All LWA-related characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of Studio Trigger and Yoh Yoshinari.
[-]
Luna Nova Academy
Three Years Ago
"You're really going on sabbatical, Ch…erm, Ursula-sensei?" asked Akko, watching on as her mentor packed a suitcase.
"I know my decision was…sudden. But I truly think this is the best path forward," said Ursula, her words apologetic but her voice firm. "Croix's prison sentence ends next week. I want to be there when she gets out."
"I'm surprised they only gave her a year," Akko mused absently, tapping at her chin. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy! But she did kinda…ummm…"
"Nearly cause a magically fueled nuclear disaster?" her teacher finished for her. "Yes, I think she was as surprised as we were. But she got a good plea bargain – turned over much of her magitronics research to the government, as I understand it."
Akko frowned slightly. "Is…that a good thing…?" she responded.
"Probably not," Ursula admitted with a sigh. "But I'm about to see my best friend again, and she won't be trying to kill me this time. So I'm considering it a win overall."
As she spoke these words, she was looking at a framed photograph she'd taken off her mantle. It featured two young witches, one with fiery red hair and the other lilac. While their expressions were as different as day and night – the former smiling brightly and striking a Sailor Moon pose, the latter grimacing and avoiding the camera's eye – their fingers were laced together as tightly as woven cord.
In the end, she placed the photo in her luggage, wrapping it lovingly within a sweater for protection.
"Uh…sensei. Is it okay if I ask you something?" said Akko in a small voice.
Her professor startled briefly, clutching at her glasses to keep them from sliding off her face. "O…Of course, Akko," she stammered, flushing.
"You and Croix-sensei. Y'know…when you used to go to Luna Nova," the Japanese girl started hesitantly. "Were you…umm…?"
Thankfully, Ursula didn't take long to grasp her meaning.
"We were…and we weren't," she answered, taking a pause in her packing to gaze ponderously through her office window. "It was complicated."
"And…" Akko paused even longer before asking her next question. "Do you wanna be now?"
"That…should be complicated. After everything she's done," said the redheaded teacher. "But it isn't. The answer is yes, Akko, a million times yes. I don't think I ever stopped loving her. Even when things were at their worst."
She clutched at her arm, seeming to marshal her strength. "I know Croix better than anyone else. I can tell when she's lying. But I've been visiting her in prison, and the last few times we've talked…" she continued, breathing deeply. "I know she's sincere this time. She wants to change. And I…want to help her. Need to help her."
"That's why you're going away for so long, isn't it?" asked Akko.
Ursula nodded once. "It's going to take a while for her to get her life back on track," she told her closest pupil. "And if I want to be a part of it, that's a full-time job on its own. I'll be back, once…once we're both ready."
She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, due to the sudden embrace of a short Japanese girl.
"I'm gonna miss you. You'll always be my favorite. Whether you're Shiny Chariot or Professor Ursula," Akko said through tight lips.
The older woman smiled at her fondly. "I know as a teacher, I shouldn't play favorites…" she whispered back. "But you'll always be mine, too."
Akko held onto her like that for some time, before ultimately relenting when Alcor let out a little squawk that translated either as "Chariot, you need to finish packing" or "Chariot, your royal parts are showing."
(Hey, she had a D minus in bird language class for a reason!)
As Ursula placed the last few items in the now-bulging suitcase, she bit her lip and looked askance, as if considering whether or not to say something.
Ultimately, however, she turned to Akko and spoke, "Can I offer you some parting words of advice, as your teacher? One last time."
"What about?" asked the girl, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"Part of the reason things got so bad between Croix and myself…is that we weren't honest about our feelings, when we had the chance," said Ursula distantly. "I encourage you not to make the same mistake we did. Don't wait to tell her what's in your heart."
Akko's face immediately went red as a tomato, heating up until it felt like steam was coming out of her ears.
"I, umm…I…that is…y'know…" she squeaked, determinedly looking everywhere but at her professor. "I've…got no idea what you're talking about!"
Ursula's eyebrows scrunched together in silent incredulity.
Faced with that withering look, it didn't take long for Akko's pathetic attempt at playing ignorant to crumble. She gasped deeply and allowed herself to flop to the ground, like someone had let the air out of a balloon.
"Am I really that obvious?" she finally said.
Ursula let out a small chuckle. "Not to Diana, if that's what you're worried about. That poor girl really is so much like Croix: unparalleled genius in academics, utterly oblivious when it comes to human emotions," she replied. "But to the teacher who's been watching over you since your first day at Luna Nova? Yes, it's pretty clear you've got it bad."
Akko shrunk down even further, letting out a sound halfway between a groan and the cries of a dying animal.
"Well I'm not gonna do anything about it, okay?" she declared, knowing she sounded pathetically petulant right now. "She doesn't feel the same way, so there's no point!"
Ursula's expression softened, and she abandoned her suitcase to sit down beside her pupil. "What makes you think that?" she asked.
"Are you kidding? I mean, why would she?" demanded Akko in turn. "She's so beautiful and smart and wonderful – the best witch of our generation! I mean, I like to think I've been getting better at school and stuff…but the fact is, I'm still a dunce who's failing half her classes."
"Akko, you know that's not your fault," said her professor, wearing the same strained expression she always did when this subject came up. "What I did to you…"
But Akko cut her off with a raised palm.
"Diana and I both got hit with Dream Fuel Spirit. It knocked us both back to zero, and now look at where we are," she interjected. "Because when Diana lost her magic, she didn't quit, or go looking for some shortcut. She practiced and practiced and practiced, until she was the best damn witch Luna Nova has ever seen."
Akko inhaled deeply through her nose, before adding in a lower voice, "I…I'm not worthy of standing beside her right now. I might never be. But I can't…I won't…until I am."
[-]
"I looked over the slides you emailed me. Are you sure this Diana of yours doesn't have any food service experience?"
"She isn't 'mine,' papa," said Akko, wincing as she held her phone next to her ear. Thankfully, she didn't have video on as she hurried along the sidewalk, trying to make it to the restaurant on time. "And nah, that's basically just how she does everything."
"Well, I'm impressed. And her plan has my full support. Did Kenichi-san and Taichi-san give you any trouble?"
"Taichi's definitely…a character," Akko replied to her father, trying to keep her tone diplomatic. "But they both got in line in the end. Diana's definitely an inspiring leader."
She heard a deep-throated chuckle on the other end of the line.
"I remember saying the same thing the first time I saw your mother ordering the kitchen staff around."
"Paaaapaaaaaaaa…" Akko groaned. "Don't you start with that too!"
"I'm just saying. I do distinctly recall you coming home a few years ago and telling us you were bisexual, and that you'd discovered it because of, and I quote, 'some stuck-up blonde girl as infuriating as she is gorgeous.' Which is a weird thing to hear from your daughter, but I rolled with it."
"I'm hanging up now," said Akko, deadpan. "I'll let you and mama know how the first day went."
"All teasing aside, Akko-chan…I know you'll do great. Both of you."
The Japanese woman checked the time on her phone as the call ended – 5:47, perfect – and then stepped through the staff entrance of Kagari's.
It was a good thing she did too, because if the coroner asked later, she'd know precisely the time that her heart stopped.
Diana was sitting at one of the tables, her laptop open and copious pieces of notepaper strewn around her. And she had clearly gotten a haircut.
But not just any haircut. The haircut. The shoulder-length bob that was the universal language for "queer ladies, I am ready to rock and in addition, ready to roll."
"Good morning, Akko," she called out, without looking up from her screen. "Apologies, I was making some last-minute tweaks to the new menu design. I should be done by the time the rest of our staff arrive."
Akko nodded dimly, quite aware of how dry her throat suddenly was.
"I, um…" she said, after several failed attempts to pass sound out of her lips. "I…like your hair."
"Oh, thank you," Diana replied absently, pulling at a few of the strands with her fingers. "I visited the hairdresser after we parted last night. Can't keep it so long if I'm going to be working in a hot kitchen for the next few weeks. I'll just use a hair-regrowing potion once my tenure here is concluded."
"That, uh…makes sense…" Akko mumbled, though that really wasn't what she most wanted to say.
Unfortunately, "please step on me mommy, I've been a bad girl" was probably not appropriate for the workplace.
(She still thought it, though.)
Once she managed to get her head on straight – for a given definition of the term – Akko took a seat beside her former classmate and scrutinized the new menu.
"It's good. Solid way to cut down waste without sacrificing what makes this place Kagari's," she said. "But…I dunno. Doesn't it feel like it's missing something?"
"I was thinking the same thing all night, tossing and turning in bed," Diana sighed audibly. "All we've done is remove or rearrange items from the old menu. We haven't added anything new. I'm hoping that, through the course of this soft open, that's something we'll be able to find in time."
Before Akko could say anything in response, the doors opened again, signaling the arrival of Kenichi and Taichi – although they weren't alone.
"Please don't ask me to explain," the latter growled, cocking one thumb over his shoulder. "This girl followed us in and wouldn't take no for an answer."
But while the waiters might not have recognized their "special guest," both Akko and Diana very nearly did spit-takes.
"Jasminka…?!" they yelled in unison.
The rotund Russian woman smiled cheerfully as she munched on her usual bag of chips with one hand. With the other, she held up a printout of a job application.
"Heard you were hiring," she said between bites.
[-]
"I've got, like…a million questions," Akko sputtered, as the three Luna Nova alumni settled into her father's office. "But let's start with why the heck you're in Japan."
Jasminka shrugged her shoulders, continuing to chew away merrily.
"Actually I've been living in Kyoto for about four months now," she answered. "Ever since the invasion of Ukraine. My па́па was always an outspoken critic of the Putin regime, and that was the last straw. In the Antonenko household, there are only two rules: always clean your plate…and fuck Vladimir Putin."
Akko's jaw dropped even lower. Jasminka showing up randomly in Japan was one thing. Jasminka swearing was another.
"Both are certainly sage principles," said Diana with a nod. "Still, I'm surprised you responded so quickly to the advertisement. I only asked for it to be posted yesterday."
"I've been looking for a cook position for a while now, actually. It can be hard when you're a foreigner, and your Japanese isn't very good," Jasminka told them. Indeed, they'd been conversing in English without thinking much of it. "But when I saw the name 'Kagari,' it seemed like a sign. I took a chance, and look how it turned out!"
"Riiiiiight…" Akko muttered nervously. "Honestly didn't think anyone would make the connection."
Jasminka leaned forward and cupped her hand around her mouth conspiratorially. "Well it is a surprise to see you both here!" she spoke in a carrying whisper. "Akko, the rumor on your fansites is that you ran off for a shotgun wedding!"
Her head tilted to the side, and the corners of her mouth dipped slightly downward, as she stared at the space between the other two women.
"Unless…you did…?" she added in curious tones.
Akko and Diana looked at one another, and immediately turned identical shades of red.
"Let us…ahem…return to business," said the blonde, her eyes determinably everywhere but at her fellow witches. "Do you have professional kitchen experience, Jasminka?"
"Some. I'm mostly self-taught, but I worked at a bakery in Saint Petersburg for a few months," Jasminka answered promptly, her ever-serene smile returning once more. "Oh, their pirozhki. So, sooooo much pirozhki."
Akko raised an eyebrow at the way the Russian woman was patting at her bulging waistline.
"And, by any chance…" she added, grimacing a bit that she needed to ask the question. "Did you end that job because you kept eating the merchandise?"
Jasminka looked toward her and tilted her head once again. "We were all young and foolish once, Akko," she said, as if imparting sacred and profound wisdom.
Diana sat there for a moment, tapping a pen against the desk between them.
"Well, if you can promise us those bad habits stay in your youth, I see no reason not to hire you. At least on a provisional basis," she finally declared, nodding to the lavender-haired woman. "Akko and I can both vouch for your character, your work ethic, and your ability to coordinate well with others. Anyone who can tolerate being roommates with Amanda O'Neill for three years surely has the temperament we need."
"Hey, they aren't that bad!" Akko tried to protest, though she knew it sounded weak. "Okay, sure, some of their pranks got a little out of control…"
"What about when they tricked you into giving the hero Siegfried's sword to Fafnir as a gift?" said a skeptical Diana.
"That was one time!" Akko exclaimed. "And they helped me put the fires out!"
"They made them worse," Diana let out a groan.
"Worse…or better?" replied a winking Akko.
Diana buried her face in her hands. "Would you be able to start immediately?" she asked Jasminka, without looking up. "It's a part-time position, but you'll probably be getting closer to full-time as long as we are this short-staffed."
Jasminka downed the entire rest of her chips bag in a single gulp, then stood up straight, striking a pose that resembled a salute.
"Comandante Antonenko, reporting for duty!" she called out, her smile brighter than ever.
[-]
The next four hours were some of the busiest Diana had ever experienced in her life.
Even with an unexpected fifth pair of hands to help out, the amount of work needed to get Kagari's ready for reopening was staggering. Up until the very minute before the doors opened at ten, they were sweeping floors, carrying around heavy boxes, and prepping ingredients.
The latter was particularly key. As Taichi had noted, if somewhat rudely, Diana's inexperience with running a professional kitchen was their biggest potential liability right now. She'd studied as many books and scholarly articles on the subject as she possibly could in the short time allotted, but she knew that was no substitute for real-world experience. It was an open question whether she'd be able to keep up, even with Jasminka's aid.
So getting as much of the prep work done ahead of time could only be a good thing. Diana and Jasminka, with Akko and Kenichi pitching in on occasion, diced and sliced and minced like their lives depended on it.
Complicating things further, ingredients like vegetables and noodles generally needed to be prepared the same day they were cooked. So there was a macro-level challenge on top of it all, gauging the quantities of each item they were likely to need that day and trying to match that as closely as possible. Missing the mark meant wasted inventory, which they could ill-afford right now.
"Tables are prepped, floor's spotless," said Taichi, once the first couple of hours had passed. "What's next on the chopping block, Cavendish-san?"
He seemed to have realized he hadn't made the most…optimal first impression, and while his tone was still a bit curt, the young man was making much more of an effort to come across as a team player today.
Diana didn't know either of her waitstaff especially well, but she could definitely tell he was the type who valued results above all else. As long as she could deliver them, she had his respect. If not…
The blonde shook her head. There was no "if not." Anything less than perfect success in this venture was unacceptable.
Akko was counting on her. They all were.
"Please start preparing dishware. As we don't have a dedicated dishwasher, it behooves us to have as many serving plates and glasses as possible readily available," she told him, without looking up from the cabbage she was chopping. "Then if you could find Kenichi, and ask him to take a look at that box by the front? I noticed our highchair for infants was damaged, so I ordered a new one. It would be tremendously helpful if he could assemble it."
"On it, boss-lady!" called out an exuberant voice from the other side of the restaurant.
After both waiters left to tackle their respective tasks, Jasminka turned to her and said sweetly, "It's nice to see you in your element, Diana."
She herself was working on some miso stock, humming merrily as the mixture simmered.
"What do you mean?" asked Diana, frowning a bit.
"Oh, nothing negative!" Jasminka replied quickly, waving both palms. "All I meant is that you're a natural leader. Even at school, you were good at that. Our team didn't really have one."
"Some might say 'natural leader.' Others might prefer 'obsessive control freak' or the like," spoke Diana with a grimace. "There are many aspects of who I was at Luna Nova that I regret today. Your team, or Akko's, were far more…egalitarian. There was never really a point where I treated Hannah or Barbara as equal partners."
"Well, I think it's a good thing you're able to stop and reflect on your weaker points," said the lavender-haired woman, using a ladle as a pointer. "That's all anyone can ask, isn't it? And I'm sure you've done plenty to make it up to them since then."
But that just made Diana hang her head lower. "I…haven't actually spoken to either of them since graduation," she admitted in a low voice.
She set down her knife and began wringing her hands anxiously over the cutting board, her chest suddenly rather tight.
"Maintaining personal relationships was never a strength of mine. I only had one companion as a child who could even debatably be called a friend, and if that bond can be said to remain then it is certainly…frayed," she continued to explain, figuring that was the most diplomatic way to describe Andrew Hanbridge. "Luna Nova changed that in some ways, but not others. For the first time, I had an abundance of close acquaintances. Yet at the same time…"
"You weren't used to having that many friends. Or what to do with them once you did," Jasminka finished for her.
It was easy to forget, in the face of her ever-present smile and constant snacking, just how shrewd the Russian woman could be at times.
"I am adept in areas where there is…protocol. Rules. Systems and guidelines," said Diana, exhaling deeply. "There is no protocol for what to do when you lose contact with your closest companions. And trust me, I looked for one for quite some time."
Jasminka offered another of her signature head-tilts.
"That doesn't seem so hard," she pointed out. "Can't you just call them?"
"Oh, I am well aware that I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be. That is simply my modus operandi," muttered the blonde. "One part of my brain considers reaching out, and then another holds it hostage. Constantly second-guessing every course of action. I become so paralyzed by the very notion of doing the wrong thing, that I wind up doing nothing."
Her head dipped low over her station, as she added through gritted teeth, "That's how I lost…her, the first time. And it's probably how I will lose her again."
They were both wearing gloves covered with culinary detritus, so Jasminka didn't reach out physically. But Diana could tell she would've placed a hand on her shoulder if she could.
"I'm not going to pry. Or judge. That's not who I am," she said. "But I'm not the one you should be telling these things to."
Diana was spared from having to respond to that very cogent point by the ringing voice of a certain professional performer.
"Five minutes to opening!" shouted Akko. "Let's get ready to fill up some believing stomachs! Or…uh, something. Still workshopping the slogan."
[-]
To say Akko was a giant bundle of nerves right now would be the understatement of the century.
Right now, her parents were counting on her. They'd given her so much over the years – raising her in a loving home, paying for her tuition to Luna Nova, supporting her dream every step of the way – and asked for so little in return.
This restaurant was the legacy of four generations of Kagaris. And now its fate rested on her shoulders. Shoulders that, to put it lightly, had never been all that great with responsibility.
Which, of course, was why she'd enlisted the aid of the Queen of Responsible. A person who had absolutely everything figured out in her life, where Akko most certainly didn't. A person who could pull off just about anything with the grace and poise of a ballet dancer, and probably still have time left over to cure cancer or whatever.
…Just went to show she didn't know Diana nearly as well as she thought she did.
Their conversation the other night still had Akko's gut gnawing at itself with guilt. She'd been treating Diana, not as a person, but as a "fix-all" button she could pull back into her life to solve her problems. Ignoring that she'd clearly been hurting just as much.
It was why Akko couldn't bear to share her own career troubles. She was already burdening Diana enough with the restaurant. Piling on more would just be heartless.
She needed to make this up to her, somehow. Her own feelings for the gorgeous blonde were almost an afterthought in comparison.
Even if she never got to be more than friends with Diana…well, she'd already been a pretty crappy one. The least she could do was try and ease the pain she'd been experiencing all this time, facing the medical industry alone.
But those thoughts would have to wait. For now…they had customers to serve.
The first group came in right as Akko unlocked the door and turned the sign to "Open." It seemed the flyers had paid off, because a sizable crowd was already waiting outside the restaurant, chatting animatedly.
"Welcome, welcome!" she greeted each guest as they came in, wearing her brightest, shiniest smile. "Kagari's is so happy to have you! Please, let me know if you need anything at all."
Despite the relatively small size of their dining area, the initial group was large enough that Akko needed to pull double-duty as hostess and waitress right off the bat. Kenichi and Taichi were covering six tables each, already a pretty tall order, leaving her to handle the remaining four.
"Oh, I've been looking forward to this!" said a balding businessman as he sat down at a table by the window. "I work late nights, and I stop at Kagari's before the office practically every day. Nearly had a heart attack when I saw you were closed last week!"
Frowning a bit as he peered around the restaurant, he added, "But strange…I don't see Junya-san anywhere. He always knows what to get me."
"Junya Kagari is actually my father. He and okaasan are…err, taking some time off," Akko replied carefully. She and Diana had agreed that, while some of the regulars were aware of the car accident, it was best not to spread the story around too widely. "My name's Akko, and I'll be happy to serve you in his place. Did you wanna start off with any drinks or appetizers?"
"Green tea, please. And a small order of your gyoza," answered the man. "My liver can't take anything too rich these days. Rio-san had a way of making it that was just perfect."
"Well, you're in luck! Our new chef is…uh, really something special. She should be able to pull off the recipe no problem!" Akko declared. Okay, maybe she was a little biased there, but it was true! "Let me go ahead and call this into the kitchen for you."
Similar sentiments cropped up at her other three tables. An elderly couple took three tries before they understood that just saying "the usual" wasn't sufficient. A group of college students apparently included the one person in the world whose favorite dish was on the "red list" Diana had eliminated, and was quite cross to learn that fact. A large family had several screaming toddlers who outright refused to be served by her, because she wasn't "big man with fuzzy whiskers."
With enough finagling, she did manage to wrangle coherent orders out of all her patrons, but it was clear she was definitely out of practice. Performing for an audience at a distance required very different skills from dealing with customers face-to-face.
Things didn't improve once she reached the expediting station. One glance through the window to the kitchen, and Akko could tell they were already in trouble.
They hadn't planned on all sixteen tables getting filled right from the start, bombarding Diana and Jasminka with over two-dozen orders at once. Akko had hoped the flow of customers would gradually increase across the day, allowing the inexperienced chef and cook time to adjust. Instead, they'd been thrown into the deep end right from the start.
Both women took every order with curt smiles and tight nods, but it was obvious they were struggling to keep up. Cooking in a restaurant was a very different beast from doing it at home, as the time pressures for all manner of dishes competed against one another.
One moment, Diana was stirring a pot of curry on the stove, and the next she was frying yakisoba on the grill, beating eggs for some omurice, and ladling out five separate bowls of soup. All at once, with nary a break in between.
Both she and Jasminka, who wasn't quite as behind but was still definitely feeling the pressure, made a valiant effort to keep up the pace. But Akko wasn't sure how long they'd be able to keep it up without crashing.
The Japanese woman wanted to help out herself – she knew all her mom's recipes by heart, more or less – but she had her hands more than full trying to juggle waitressing with being the front-house manager. Because as orders piled up more and more…
So did customer complaints.
"We ordered our food over thirty minutes ago," said the mother of the large family, a vein pulsing in her temple as her youngest child tugged on her hair. "If we don't eat soon, we'll miss Honoka's soccer practice."
"I'm so sorry for the wait. We're really short-staffed right now," Akko replied, bowing so low that it strained her spine. "But we'll have that food out to you as soon as we possibly can. Honoka-chan will be shooting goals on a full stomach, and that's a Kagari's promise!"
But the little girl in question stopped drawing in her coloring book as soon as she saw Akko's bowing face.
"Hey, aren't you that witchy girl?" she asked in a lisping voice. "Daddy, we saw her at the market yesterday!"
"Huh…you're right," spoke the father, an even-tempered man with short hair and glasses. "I hate to bother you while you're working, young lady, but is there any chance you can do any more of that 'magic' stuff? It'd go a long way to keeping these ones occupied while we wait."
Given that he had two children quite literally hanging off his body, Akko couldn't really blame him for the request.
Still, she had to weigh her options. She was already running behind herself – table four needed a refill on their drinks, and she had to take the order of a new guest who'd just joined the group at table ten.
On the other hand, if she didn't give them another reason to stay…it looked like half the restaurant was about ready to walk out. Their partially cooked orders would need to be thrown away, wasting all the time and ingredients the kitchen staff had already put in. Not to mention the damage it might cause to their reputation.
Akko bit her lip. She still only had about a minute's worth of magic stored in her wand. Would that be enough to hold the attendances of a couple dozen impatient diners?
Well…
It was worth a try, wasn't it?
"This one goes out to all our wonderful guests!" she called out, drawing her wand and doing a little twirl. Her waitress uniform wasn't quite ideal for this, but would have to do. "Welcome, one and all…to the world of magic!"
[-]
Diana felt about ten seconds away from a full-on nervous breakdown.
It wasn't just that the orders kept flying in at a ceaseless pace, leaving her with scarcely any room to breathe. As was often the case, the biggest obstacle wasn't anything external…but Diana's own, treacherous brain.
She was a perfectionist; no two ways about it. And usually, that was a good thing, or at least not actively detrimental. Her marks since preschool were proof of the value of obsessively, compulsively striving for the best possible result – when there was time for it.
When she was cooking for herself, the only time limit she had to worry about was set by her own stomach. She could afford to fixate over every last, minute detail, making sure everything on the plate was just so.
And certainly, that was still an admirable goal in this context. Diana was relatively new to making a number of these Japanese dishes, and needed to take great care if she wanted them to turn out right.
But speed was now equally important as, if not more than, quality. Producing the perfect version of a dish meant nothing if it took an hour to finish, at which point the guest was already gone.
Jasminka was a little better than her in that regard, but not by enough that it made up for Diana's deficiencies. As she'd feared, her inexperience was slowing down all of the restaurant's operations around her.
Had this been a mistake from the start? Had it been selfish of her to take on the mantle of head chef when she clearly didn't qualify for it, rather than throw her all into finding someone who did? Perhaps it would at least be more suitable for her and Jasminka to switch roles…
Those negative thoughts built and compounded upon one another, taking her entire mind into a downward spiral. Her body and hands began to shake – not a good thing when she was handling hot cookware.
And that was the moment when she saw the telltale emerald sparks of a certain witch's magic.
Even through the narrow slot of the expediting window, Diana could see the woman she loved as clear as day. Akko was casting a basic duplication spell, creating four clones of herself from the magical energy, whose actions mirrored hers.
Then, as one…
All five Akkos began to sing.
"Kakedashita hibi ni yukitsuita kono basho, fureta tobira hiraite…" her voice rang out melodically, forming a perfect symphony with herself. "Hoshizora no kanata yume no ashiato, hiroiatsume utau yo…!"
Okay, admittedly, "perfect" might have been a slight exaggeration of the facts. Akko was just slightly off-pitch, an issue magnified fivefold due to the nature of the spell. Additionally, one of the duplicates wasn't fully formed, and so came in about half a second behind the others.
None of which mattered, of course. Diana felt her heart swell up, just as it had so many times when they were schoolmates. Watching Akko achieve wonder after wonder in her own, unique way.
Hatching the Pappiliodya and restoring the Jennifer Tree to full health. Taming the Shooting Star. Freeing the spirit of Vajarois from the throes of despair. And of course, unlocking the Grand Triskelion and reviving Yggdrasil, granting magic to all the world once more.
"I didn't know Akko was such a lovely singer!" said Jasminka cheerily. "But oh, you should probably take that chicken off the grill, or it's going to burn."
Diana hastily came back to herself and pulled the katsu cutlet from the heat. Another few seconds and it would've been unsalvageable.
Still, even just that brief moment spent watching Akko – and listening to her, as she continued serenading the restaurant with some J-pop song Diana didn't know – seemed to have awakened something in the blonde woman. She fell into a much more comfortable groove, her pace improved as she let Akko's rhythm guide her.
It was a small thing. It didn't erase that she still was most definitely not prepared for the oncoming lunch rush.
But for now, it was enough.
[-]
Around seven hours later, as the last handful of customers were finishing up their meals, Akko allowed herself a moment's respite.
It'd been one hell of a first day, that was for sure. Just about everything that could've gone wrong, had gone wrong, short of the restaurant catching fire – and there'd been a near miss around two in the afternoon.
But at least Diana and Jasminka seemed to be getting used to the pace. While the food was still coming out a little slower than was strictly ideal, there'd been a marked improvement across the day's shift.
More to the point, despite a number of additional complaints, not one customer had skipped out on their meal all day. And for that, she hoped it wasn't vain to give herself a little pat on the back.
All in all, she'd managed to pull off another of her "mini-shows" about once per hour. Normally, such a frequency would've been impossible this far from a Sorcerer's Stone, but a lot had changed in the past two years.
After graduation, Constanze had founded her own magitronics engineering firm in Germany. And the invention that put StanCorp on the map was a portable wand charger, which converted ambient electricity into magical energy the wand could use.
It was definitely a lifesaver for someone like Akko, who never knew the next time she'd be in range of a Stone. Sure, most wands only had the capacity to hold a minute's worth of magic at a time; two at the most.
But in an emergency situation – and impatient people getting ready to walk out on Diana's awesome food definitely qualified! – being able to use just a few spells anywhere she wanted was a big, big deal.
Because of both the time limit and the cramped quarters, the types of magic she'd been able to cast were a bit restrained. Still, she'd managed to delight a great number of kids and kids-at-heart with her illusions and elemental spells. Distracting them from their hungry stomachs long enough for Diana and Jasminka to catch up.
It wasn't a perfect system. But it got them through the day okay. And by the end of it, more than a few customers were saying they'd come specifically because they'd heard of the "magical girl waitress" via word-of-mouth.
"Thank you so much for joining us! And good luck on your date night!" exclaimed Kenichi to a young couple as they started to pack up and leave – the last diners to do so. "Ah, young love. Don't they remind you of us, Taikkun?"
"He runs a health food store and she's a realtor, I fail to see anything we have in common with them," said Taichi, his "customer service smile" fading away the instant he didn't have to pretend any longer.
Akko watched on with some bemusement as the two young men pulled out rags and started wiping down tables.
"Okay, sure, it isn't an exact match," Kenichi continued on as they worked. "I meant more that one's a smart, down-to-earth, realist type of person, while the other…"
"Is a big oaf who thinks more with his muscles than his brain?" Taichi finished for him, his lip curling.
But rather than be bothered by the snide remark, his companion smirked and returned the volley with even greater force.
"You weren't complaining about those muscles last night," he said, winking exaggeratedly.
Akko nearly burst out laughing at the deep scarlet that filled Taichi's cheeks. Seeing the acerbic young man flustered was definitely a treat she hadn't expected today.
"Sh…Shut up! Not at work, you idiot!" he chastised the other man, turning around so that he could feign his usual cold demeanor.
Mercifully for his sake, the doors to the kitchen opened a moment later, their chef and cook both traipsing out with sweat-matted hair and exhausted faces.
"That was certainly an…eventful first day," came the even-toned voice of Diana Cavendish. Whose sexiness, by the by, wasn't even slightly diminished by these factors.
"I know! We got more customers in an hour than the bakery used to get in one day," said Jasminka. "But the important thing is, we all got through it together!"
"I mean, busy's good in one sense, I guess. Definitely did a lot of business today," Akko murmured. "Just hope it's gonna be enough."
"If we can maintain this pace across the next few weeks, I believe it shall. Especially if we can continually apply lessons learned and readjust operations as needed," the blonde woman told her, before biting her lip. "I know that I, for one, have much still to learn. I slowed everyone down today, and for that, you have my deepest apologies."
"Hey, don't worry about it! We're all improving," Kenichi exclaimed with a grin. "Plus, you had your own personal witch-girl coming through in a clutch! Man, Kagari-san, I heard you knew some magic, but I didn't expect that!"
"That's because you don't read the news," added Taichi with a roll of his eyes. "Or have you already forgotten the giant glowing tree that showed up in the sky two years ago? That was because of these two."
"Wait, you knew?" asked Akko, before she could stop herself.
Taichi crossed his arms and let out a sigh. "Magic isn't something that interests me. Just because you're some big celebrity in that world or whatever, doesn't mean I'm gonna treat you any different," he said. "Still, guess I can admit it was…a little impressive."
Akko suddenly felt her own cheeks begin to heat up. And that situation wasn't improved by Diana placing a hand on her arm.
"I could only see bits and pieces while I was working. But your magic remains, as ever…breathtaking," she spoke, blissfully unaware of the effect her worn-out, breathy voice was having on Akko's psyche. "I'm not sure what possessed you to start performing in the middle of a crowded restaurant, but it was clearly the right call."
"I agree!" Jasminka declared, one finger pointed straight up in the air. "But do you know what would make it even more amazing? If you performed while wearing a…"
But the Russian witch never got a chance to finish her suggestion. Because in that moment, the front door of Kagari's swung open.
"I'm so sorry, but we're closing up right now. If you'd like, we'll be open bright and early at ten tomo…" Akko began automatically. But her voice trailed away as she took in their newest guests.
There were three men in total, all wearing crisp black business suits. The first man was flanked on either shoulder by the second and third, both of whom were built like gorillas, their muscles straining against the fine material. One was bald while the other had a blond crew-cut, and they wore identical sunglasses that hid their eyes completely from view.
Their leader, by contrast, had something of a wiry figure, with sunken cheekbones and a neatly trimmed beard. His hair, which looked like it'd once been a vibrant green but was now graying at the temples, was slicked back with copious amounts of hair gel.
"Don't worry, little witch," he said in an oily voice. "The name's Masato Takeuchi. And we'll be taking our order to go."