Fusion Cuisine – Part XVI: Tipping Generously
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.
[-]
Kyoto, Japan
Fifteen Years Ago
"Now Diana, make sure to stay where I can see you," said Bernadette Cavendish, smiling kindly to her daughter. "Mommy's going to get us some snacks, and then she'll be right back."
"Kay!" called out the little girl, waving to her mother and sitting down dutifully on one of the benches opposite the venue's food stalls.
Bernadette chuckled as she got in line for the stand selling popcorn. She knew she didn't have the slightest thing to worry about. "Best behavior" was pretty much Diana's default setting, and all the more so when she'd traveled halfway across the world to see her idol.
Diana had begged and cajoled her for months on the subject, asking for absolutely nothing else for her birthday, Christmas, and Samhain combined. She'd even roped Anna into teaching her some of the household chores, solely to increase her cache of "good girl" points.
Father and Daryl had both made their positions on Diana's latest obsession eminently clear. But Bernadette was the family head, not them, and so she'd put her foot down.
Sure, Diana was likely to forget about "Shiny Chariot" once the fad passed, but what was the harm in the meantime? It was no different than how Bernadette had been quite taken with David Bowie or Freddie Mercury in her own heyday.
Diana had plenty of time to learn to be the next great witch of House Cavendish. Right now, she deserved some time to just be a six-year-old girl.
"Forgive my impoliteness, but is that your daughter over there?" came a voice from behind. Bernadette turned around to see the person behind her in line, a slightly plump Japanese woman with shoulder-length hair. "The resemblance is uncanny."
Bernadette smiled and moved to extend a hand, before realizing which country they were in and changing it to a bow at the last second.
"No offense at all. Yes, that's my Diana," she said. "My name is Bernadette Cavendish. Very pleased to meet you."
The other woman returned the bow. "Rio Kagari. If I may say, Cavendish-san, your Japanese is excellent," she replied.
Bernadette let out a light chuckle. "Much as I'd like to take credit, I cheated a bit. Used an automatic translation spell on Diana and myself after we arrived," she explained conversationally. "It's one of our family's signatures. If you're treating a foreign patient, you never want there to be any ambiguity in your communication."
"Spell?" repeated Rio, raising an eyebrow slightly. "So you're a witch as well? Just like this…Chariot woman?"
In lieu of answering, Bernadette pulled out her wand, a trail of starlike sparks emerging from the tip as she waved it.
"I suppose we're probably in the minority at an event like this. Some of my 'colleagues' don't have the…highest opinion of Chariot's performances," she said. "But my daughter can't get enough of her. Card-carrying member of her fan club. Collects the trading cards and everything."
"Oh, my Akko is exactly the same way!" Rio exclaimed, covering her own laughter with her hand. "It's practically all she can talk about these days. Insisted on coming here in full costume! Although it makes her easier to spot in a crowd, at least."
The Japanese woman gestured to a spot several yards away, where a little girl was giggling and rolling along the grass, a replica Chariot hat on her head and a blanket tied around her neck as a makeshift cape.
Bernadette turned her head, and caught Diana staring at the racket the other girl was making. A second later, though, her daughter straightened herself in her seat and turned up her nose, as if deliberately contrasting herself from such "uncouth" behavior.
"It must be a very different experience, these magic shows," she found herself remarking. "For non-witches, I mean."
The angle of Rio's smile fell, just slightly.
"Yes, Akko's completely enthralled. Convinced she's going to be a great witch someday, just like her idol," she told her fellow mother. "I'd like to support her, but my husband and I don't really know anything about this world. I think I heard my paternal aunt might've been a witch, but I barely knew her."
Rio shook her head once, then sighed, "Of course, it's also possible this'll fade in time. Just like that month she spent convinced she'd grow up to be Sailor Moon."
"Well, it's not impossible. These days, usually only people from witch families tend to take up magic, but it wasn't always that way," said Bernadette. "It'll be harder for her, I won't lie. But if she's willing to work for it…maybe she'll be joining my Diana at a witch's school someday."
They both looked again at the bench Diana was seated upon. The blonde girl had her eyes firmly shut, categorically refusing to be taken in by Akko's increasingly rambunctious horseplay.
Mind, it might've been more convincing if she wasn't opening her eyes a crack and sneaking glances at the other girl every few seconds.
"I've heard a bit about those schools, but I don't really know all that much. Japan doesn't have any," Rio muttered. "Which did you attend, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Luna Nova Academy, in Ireland," Bernadette answered at once, always eager to discuss her alma mater. "We're directly descended from one of its founders. And in fact, it's also where…"
"Chariot graduated?" Rio finished for her. "Yes, Akko's only reminded me of that four or five dozen times. I may not know anything else about the school, but I'm sure I'll remember that piece of trivia until my dying day."
"Well, it's a wonderful school. It has its…quirks, certainly. But a lot of heart too," said the witch wistfully. "I miss it, sometimes. Things were…a lot simpler, back in our schooldays."
"Do you have a job with a lot of responsibility?" asked Rio.
Bernadette chuckled again, though there was no humor in it this time. "As the head of one of the most prominent surviving witch houses? I suppose you could say that," she responded. "Now, don't get me wrong. I love magic. And I love my family. But that kind of legacy comes with…expectations. Ones I'd rather not burden Diana with."
The girl in question had finally abandoned all subtlety and was now watching Akko openly. Belatedly, the other child finally noticed she had an audience, and raised a fake wand in the air to give Diana a cheery wave.
Unfortunately, in her exuberance, the wand flew out of her hand and conked Diana over the head.
They were too far away to hear her reaction audibly, but Diana's body language was as clear as crystal: crossing her arms, turning around with a great swish of her golden hair, and then storming away in a huff.
"…Okay, perhaps they won't be bosom friends," Bernadette admitted. "Or maybe they will. We've got ten years before they're old enough to take the Luna Nova entrance exam. A lot can change in that time."
Rio's lip curled upward. "That's certainly the truth," she said. "We never really know where life will take us. That's part of what makes it special."
Bernadette opened her mouth to agree, but was interrupted by a portly man angrily shouting, "Hey! Yer holdin' up the line!"
The witch did a double-take and realized she was, in fact, at the front of the snack line at last. Given that the popcorn now needed to pull double duty in cheering Diana up after getting hit in the head with a plastic stick, she figured she shouldn't delay any further in procuring some.
Bowing again, Bernadette spoke, "It was lovely to meet you. Best of luck with your daughter. And…everything."
"Likewise to you," returned Rio. "Maybe someday, they'll both laugh about this."
[-]
Akko was getting real tired of waking up in beds she didn't recognize.
(…And not in the dirty way, urgh.)
Anyway, it didn't take her long to realize the bed in question this time was a hospital one. She'd never been all that fond of hospitals – all clean and sterile and almost blinding in their overuse of white – and her parents' accident hadn't done anything to change that.
Yet the fact that said parents were sitting right at her bedside brightened her mood immediately.
"Mama…Papa…" she groaned, surprising herself at how weak and hoarse her voice was.
"Oh, Akko-chan! Dear, she's awake!" said Rio Kagari, shaking her husband from the brief doze he'd been experiencing himself. "How are you feeling?"
"Like Sucy just used me as a guinea pig for like a dozen potions in a row…" Akko replied groggily, holding her head. "Where's Diana? And, uh…everyone else…?"
They didn't comment on the fact that Diana had been the very first thing on her mind, for which she was immensely grateful. There'd be time for that conversation later, but not right now.
Instead, her father calmly explained, "Diana is in another room, also recovering. Most of your friends are with her now, though your teachers left to pick up some lunch a few minutes ago."
"From how it was explained to us, you were both completely drained after that whole kerfuffle," added her mother. To Akko, "kerfuffle" seemed a bit of an understatement, but she didn't interrupt. "It's not like the doctors knew how to treat the root cause, so they just brought you back here for rest and fluids."
"Kinda ironic, huh?" Akko asked of no one in particular, chuckling weakly. "Probably the only person in Japan who could've treated that was…Diana herself."
"She's been making quite the 'kerfuffle' of her own, from what I understand. Second-guessing her treatment, demanding to see you even though she's not cleared to walk yet," said a bemused Junya Kagari. "I guess it's true what they say. Doctors really do make the worst patients."
Akko couldn't help her chuckle from turning into a deep snort. That was definitely something she could picture.
"And you guys? How're you doing?" she turned her next question back on her parents. "I don't see any full-body casts anymore."
The couple shared a brief glance, before her mother answered, "Health-wise, we've been fine for a while. Out of those 'Arcanum Council' sorcerers your headmaster arranged to guard us, one happened to be an expert healer. What might've taken months of difficult recovery and physical therapy was over in minutes."
"Before they left, they got in touch with your friends Andrew and Frank as well," her father told her. "Now that the danger's passed, they're no longer in hiding. Same with Taichi-kun and Kenichi-kun. They're all safe, Akko-chan."
Akko let out a long, heavy sigh of relief. That definitely took a big part of the weight off her shoulders.
But it also reminded her of the elephant in the room.
"And…Takeuchi…?" she murmured.
"Arrested. And probably not going to see the light of day for a while," Rio Kagari said at once. "Mind, a lot of what he did probably won't be admissible in court. But as I understand it, he still had the Yasakani no Magatama on his person when the police searched him. Between stealing one of the Imperial Regalia, and all those weapons he smuggled into the country for his henchmen, I can't even imagine what kind of sentence he'll get."
Another sigh of relief exhaled from her mouth – albeit a conflicted one. On the one hand, that seemed almost too light a punishment for his crimes. With the Somnarca gone, there was probably no way to prove all the fraud, bribery, and violence he'd inflicted with it. Even if there was a criminal statute for brainwashing people or unleashing a dream-eating spirit on the world.
(Which…there wasn't, right? Not exactly Akko's area of expertise.)
But at the same time, she was actually a bit happy to know he was alive. Their final fight hadn't been for nothing.
There was one other thing he'd done, however, that was irreversible. And the idea of admitting it to her parents had Akko biting her lip.
"You…heard about what happened to the restaurant?" she whispered in a trembling voice. "All the work we did, and in the end it still…"
Before she could finish, however, both her parents cut her off with tight hugs around each shoulder.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Akko-chan," said Junya Kagari. "In the end, it's just a place. They're just things. You and your friends are okay. That's what really matters."
"Now, are you ready?" asked his wife, smoothly changing the subject. "Because I don't know how much longer we can hold them back from seeing you. Especially that Amanda person. I don't know if you've noticed, but they are literally floating outside your window right now."
Akko turned to the opposite side of her hospital room, only to see that Amanda was indeed sitting astride their broom, casually leaning against the windowpane and smoking what was very likely to be an illegal substance in Japan. They gave a cheeky grin and flashed a peace sign when they saw her looking.
"Guess I don't have much of a choice, huh?" responded Akko, though she was smiling as well.
She couldn't help it. All in all, this was a good day.
[-]
Whatever was the acceptable amount of noise in a hospital setting, Diana was fairly certain they were exceeding it.
While she'd awoken about six hours ago, Akko had remained unconscious – a fact that filled both Diana and the collective remainder of the Luna Nova alumni no end of consternation. Tooth-grinding, nail-biting consternation.
Diana had largely spent the intervening period inside her own head, mulling over and over the events of the past few days. So much had transpired, and it was only after the dust settled that she could properly wrap her brain around all of it.
Their schoolday adventures had involved their own share of close calls and brushes with danger, but nothing like what they'd just gone through. Multiple times, they'd come within a hair's breadth of losing one another. Of losing their friends.
Of losing magic itself. Which, to Akko, would've been as good as dying.
It was the type of experience that really put things in perspective. That showed Diana just how foolish and stubborn she'd been all these few years.
Yesterday, she'd finally tossed aside her gnawing insecurities and admitted what was in her heart. She had no intention whatsoever of going back on that decision.
And she would tell Akko precisely that, as soon as she…
"Umm, hi…?" whispered the Japanese witch, poking her head into the room where all her friends were waiting anxiously.
That was when the aforementioned "far too much noise for a hospital" came into play.
For the next several minutes, Diana's hospital room was awash with witches leaping up and down and whooping exuberantly, so relieved to see their friend had made it through in one piece.
Lotte, who had apparently been up all night soothing her coffee spirit Robbie and feeding him high-end dark roasts to calm him down, still found the energy to seize her best friend in a crushing embrace.
Sucy's reaction was far more low-key, casting her gaze from one side to the other before joining the hug. It lasted less than a second, and Sucy leaned into Akko's ear to whisper something that sounded suspiciously like, "If you tell anyone this happened I will end you," but it was the thought that counted, right?
Amanda, who'd impatiently leapt onto their broom and gone to retrieve Akko in the first place, had pulled out their smartphone and was taking silly-faced selfies with everyone they could get their hands on. Since Akko and Diana were both still in hospital gowns, this was a fate they both avoided to the best of their ability – albeit to little avail.
Constanze led a synchronized march and chorus of half a dozen Stan-bots, who celebrated Akko's good health with a song that was likely from some obscure anime only the two of them knew. Hannah and Barbara elected for a (perhaps overly formal) get-well card, still feeling somewhat awkward around the woman they'd bullied relentlessly at school.
But it was Jasminka, sitting in the corner and chewing idly on a bag of veggie sticks, whom Akko gravitated toward once she broke free of the greeting party.
"How's it going, Jasna?" she asked, chuckling nervously with her hand behind her head.
The Russian woman looked up and offered a tired, but genuine, smile. "Much better," she said. "I talked with my family a few hours ago. They all came out of the spell when I destroyed the Somnarca. They were under its curse just as long as I was, even if their orders were far more…limited."
Akko knelt down and gripped her friend around the shoulders.
"Thank you for everything you did. For being so strong," she told her quietly. "But it's okay if…if it still hurts."
Jasminka nodded once. "While you and Diana were asleep, I visited this hospital's psychiatry department," she admitted. "I set up some outpatient appointments, at least for the next few weeks. It'll be…helpful, I think. To talk to someone."
Diana had been listening to this conversation in silence, but at those words she leapt from her hospital bed, and joined Akko in offering Jasminka another, full-armed embrace.
"That's what shows you're the strongest of us all, дорогой друг," said Diana, hoping she was pronouncing the Russian correctly. "Because you aren't afraid to ask for help."
"Something we all can learn from, I think," Jasminka murmured, before placing hands on both of their forearms. "But enough about me. You two need some privacy. I bet there's a lot you need to talk about, and none of us are going anywhere. I'll let you know when Ursula and Croix return with the sandwiches."
"You're, uh…not gonna eat ours, right?" responded Akko, patting at her suddenly grumbling stomach.
Jasminka narrowed her eyes. "Akko, I'm surprised at you! You know sharing of food is something I take very seriously," she declared in dramatic fashion.
The glare lasted just long enough for her to press her finger to her chin and add, "Well, unless of course one of you got tuna salad. Then anything goes."
Unsure whether or not to take her seriously, Diana and Akko compromised by descending into breathless laughter. Jasminka joined them a moment later.
They said their goodbyes to their other friends, letting them know they'd be back soon, and then headed out into the hallway.
[-]
After discussing with her parents and the charge nurse, Akko was able to secure ten minutes of privacy in her hospital room with Diana.
"But after that, I want you back in your own rooms! Visiting hours are almost up, and you're both in need of serious rest," he said, kindly but firmly. "Press the call button if you need anything."
Yet as soon as the door closed behind them, leaving the pair alone for the first time since the battle, Akko found everything she'd wanted to say had evaporated in an instant. It all felt like too much and not enough at the same time, now that their feelings were finally out in the open.
Then again, words had never been Akko's specialty, had they? Action was.
And so, seized by uncontrollable impulse, Akko pulled the other woman toward her and kissed her again.
This wasn't like any of their previous kisses: hasty, caught up in the moment, desperately trying to convey so many long-held emotions while knowing they might not have another chance.
Instead, they kissed each other slowly, taking their time to savor every breathtaking second. Some of the kisses were light and gentle, others wild and hungry. They shifted around the room and alternated positions every few seconds, no longer allowing anything to stand in the way of their desire for one another.
All clothes stayed on – this was still a hospital, after all – but Akko was pretty sure she wasn't the only one wondering where this might've gone if they were in a less public place.
"Weird question…" she whispered, once they finally broke apart for air. "Have you ever, uh…?"
Diana seemed to understand her meaning fairly quickly. "You're the only woman with whom I've done this, Akko," she said. "And the only one I ever want to."
Akko felt her face heat up like it was on fire. Why had she thought this was a good question to ask?
"Not to change the subject…okay, one hundred percent to change the subject," she blabbered to the other witch. "But how've you been holding up? I know the last few days have been…a lot…"
"To put it mildly," replied Diana, who seemed equally grateful for a conversation topic that didn't involve dancing tongues, judging by the pink in her pale cheeks. "I am…adjusting. But one thing is clear, and growing clearing by the moment. That I cannot go back to the way things were before."
"What do you mean?" Akko asked, tilting her head to the side.
Diana fiddled with her thumbs as they sat down upon Akko's hospital bed, hesitating before speaking again.
"I wasn't happy, Akko. That much, I have already conveyed at length," she said. "Yet I had resigned myself to the notion that I had no choice in the matter. I'd selected my path in life, and it would be…ungracious to go back on it. How would it look, I thought, to have begged and cajoled Aunt Daryl so that I could attend a non-magical medical school…and then to turn around, not two years later, and say it wasn't for me?"
"Would that be so bad, though?" muttered Akko. "I mean, you've never cared about what she thinks."
"But I care what I think. Whether or not it's reasonable," Diana sighed audibly. "I have always prided myself on a certain level of…certainty. I was certain I would graduate at the top of my class at Luna Nova. I was certain I would become Head of House Cavendish, like my mother and our ancestors before her. And I was certain I would bring Beatrix's legacy of healing and magical medicine into the modern age, by becoming a great witch and a physician in turn."
Wordlessly, Akko threw an arm around the other witch's shoulder. Diana accepted it without protest.
"And that, I think, is the part that scares me most," she added after a long pause. "The lack of certainty. For the most time in my life, I haven't the slightest idea what I'm supposed to do. Only that it needs to be something new. Something different."
"Well, uh…okay then," said Akko, shifting awkwardly along the hospital bed. She was hardly qualified to be dispensing life advice, but she'd do her best. "Then how about we try this? What's the last thing that did make you happy? Like…really, really happy?"
Diana's eyes shot open.
"Cooking with you," she spoke at once, as if the speed with which the answer came to her was, in itself, a revelation. "Those precious few days between your parents entrusting the restaurant to us, and Takeuchi's interference. To be sure, it was difficult. Stressful. And yet…"
She leaned in closer, burying her face against the nape of Akko's neck and sending a chill across her whole body.
"There was this moment. I don't know if you even realized the effect it had," Diana went on, whispering the words into Akko's very flesh, her breath hushed and hot. "I was overburdened by the lunch rush, and a few seconds from giving up entirely. My thoughts in a death spiral, convinced our venture would fail because I wasn't good enough."
The blonde witch swallowed audibly. "And then, Akko…you started to perform," she finished at last. "And I was transported. It was as if you were performing just for me. Suddenly, I didn't feel that same despair that crushes my heart every time I'm in the classroom. Suddenly…it felt like everything would be alright. As long as we stayed together."
But Diana wasn't the only one who felt her chest tightening. Those last words had stirred…something in Akko's heart. She wasn't quite sure what it was yet.
She did, however, know how she was going to find out.
"I don't know what the future holds. For either of us," she said. "But I know that I want you in mine, Diana. I need you in it."
Rather than respond with words, the other witch cradled her cheeks lovingly, and pulled her into another, searing kiss.
If nothing else, thought Akko's two remaining brain cells, the fact that I'll get more of this proves I'm making the right call.
"I'm not going anywhere, Akko," Diana told her with a smile, once the irritating need for oxygen forced them apart once more. "Never again."
[-]
The next few days were filled with a battery of tests, long and boring conversations, and altogether far too much paperwork.
Medically speaking, Akko and Diana were both fine, but the doctors insisted on keeping them both "under observation" for another forty-eight hours. Standard procedure, they said, for anyone who'd been admitted while unconscious.
Akko wasn't really sure she bought that explanation, but she didn't have the energy right now to object.
The others had mostly gotten through with a few bumps or scrapes, which were long healed up by the time Akko and Diana awoke. Even Croix, who'd suffered the worst injury in the form of a nasty gash from the Yume no Seirei's claws, was expected to make a full recovery so long as she took it easy for a few weeks.
(Or more accurately, so long as her wife made her take it easy for a few weeks.)
By the end of the week, Akko felt absolutely exhausted. If it was just doctors and nurses poking their heads in, that would've been one thing, but it seemed just about everyone wanted a piece of the witches now.
There were police officers interviewing them for the investigation into Takeuchi Holdings, real estate and insurance agents trying to sort through the (literal and figurative) mess he'd left Kagari's in, and even a few members of the paparazzi, who'd somehow managed to figure out "Akko the Shining Star" was recovering here.
They weren't allowed inside the hospital, of course, but it made things pretty hectic for her friends and parents every time they exited the building.
The one nice thing about their extended hospitalization was that it gave Akko a good amount of time to…decompress. Reconnecting with all the people she'd been closest to at Luna Nova was awesome, of course, but dodging murder attempts from a crazed, magic-hating criminal tended to put a damper on reunions.
Now, she was finally free to do things like swap recipes with Jasminka, groanworthy queer memes with Amanda, and mecha anime recommendations with Constanze (how did she not know there was a yuri Gundam show in production? A. YURI. GUNDAM?!). To find out everything going on with Lotte's career, and absolutely nothing about Sucy's – who still insisted that it was a "if I told you, I'd have to kill you…and hell, I might just kill you anyway" sort of thing.
Akko offered her Filipina friend oodles of hugs for that one. God, she'd missed her.
But most of all, Akko rejoiced in the opportunity to catch up with her mentor. Whether you called her Ursula Callistis or Chariot du Nord, her astrology professor had done more to shape her life than anyone short of her parents.
And when it came to this particular problem, she was also probably the only person in the world who could fully understand.
They were sitting together in the hospital cafeteria, having a slow, leisurely lunch of soup and salad. Akko picked up a piece of tomato with her chopsticks, twirling them between her fingers for a few seconds before plopping the fruit in her mouth.
"The food's surprisingly good here. You know, compared to what…like, five decades of stand-up comedy would tell you," she said. "And I'm a restaurant brat, so I like to think I've got high standards for this kinda stuff."
Ursula nearly snorted into her next sip of minestrone. "Is that why you were always so…vocal about Luna Nova's overuse of potatoes in the menu plan?" she asked.
"Nah, I just don't like potatoes that much," spoke Akko with a shrug.
"From the way Benjamin described things, it sounded like a lot more than a simple difference in tastes," Ursula replied, cocking an eyebrow. "Or do you, five years later, still disavow any knowledge of the mysterious thief who so creatively titled herself the 'Steal-Everything-Except-Potatoes Bandit'?"
"Okay! Okay, look!" Akko immediately yelped back. "I was young, and foolish, and this was before the strike! I didn't realize how much of a problem it'd cause to the fairy workers!"
She jabbed a finger forward and added, "I'll have you know, I did apologize…a year later. Plus I worked the kitchens in secret for a few weeks to make up for it! Ben read me the riot act, but he forgave me in the end. He's an old softie."
"Yes, he is," Ursula let out a fond sigh.
"Do you miss it?" said Akko, hearing a bit of wistfulness in her old mentor's voice. "Teaching at Luna Nova, I mean?"
"I still do, technically. It's all remote of course, but astrology is one of the few magical disciplines that can be effectively taught at a distance," she answered. "In my case, the pandemic actually came at a somewhat convenient time. It made easing back from my sabbatical a lot simpler. Well…apart from all the tech support Croix needs to handle for my crystal ball. You saw how I was with her laptop."
Akko mentally pictured her "technologically challenged" teacher trying to unmute herself during class, and had to suppress a sharp pang of laughter.
"But that's not really what you wanted to talk to me about, is it?" Ursula asked shrewdly, cutting her mirth short with a kind but piercing glare.
With how kind and good-natured she was, Akko had almost forgotten how dangerously perceptive her mentor could be.
She exhaled slowly, sitting up straighter in her chair. Enough stalling.
"Diana's on the phone with her dean right now," she said. "She dropped out of med school today."
Akko watched her teacher's eyes widen with surprise, though she recovered quickly. "And how do you feel about that, Akko?" she murmured.
"G…Good! I mean, uh…I'm proud of her, of course!" Akko stuttered back. "Hopefully, this is the first step to finding something that really makes her happy. She deserves it."
"But…?"
Ursula was frighteningly good at this – teasing the confession from her once-pupil with a single word.
"But…it's got me thinking. A lot," said Akko, suddenly glad that Amanda wasn't here to comment on what a rare occasion that was. She loved the redheaded witch, but their antics were occasionally…less than helpful. "About what I'm gonna do. Where I'm gonna go."
"Don't misunderstand me, Akko. I'm flattered that you're still able to open your heart to me, all these years later," Ursula spoke carefully. "But if this is going where I think it is, then am I really the right person to be asking?"
"You are. Because…" the Japanese witch forced down a giant lump in her throat, willing herself to complete the sentence. "Because you're the only person who's ever been Shiny Chariot. And…the only person who's ever stopped."
Akko held up a hand to preempt her mentor from responding. "This isn't about rehashing the reason you quit. We've talked about that more than enough," she quickly added. "I just wanna know…how it felt. To walk away from it all. Didn't you worry what your fans might think?"
Ursula bit her lip, eyes seeming to retreat behind the reflective shine of her glasses.
"It was the hardest part of it, for certain. I hated disappointing my fans, even about little things. And I knew leaving was going to be the worst disappointment of all," she told the younger woman. "In the end, those fears never really went away. In fact, they were validated. I remember spending far more time than was healthy, poring over articles and opinion pieces about my 'disappearance.' Festering in all the negativity and baseless speculation."
"What pulled you out of it, then?" said Akko.
The answer flowed from Ursula's lips as easily as breathing: "You."
There was a long pause as the teacher chewed thoughtfully upon a piece of celery, a distant look in her maroon eyes.
Then in a quieter voice, she explained, "At first, it was guilt that drew me to you. Thinking it might be a way to…atone for my mistakes. But it quickly became far more than that. I grew truly invested in your journey. In helping you grow into the greatest witch you could be. And it made me realize something else."
Akko cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side, unsure where her mentor was going with this.
"I truly, truly love teaching, Akko. More than I ever did being Shiny Chariot," she went on. "That part of my life will always be important to me. But what came after, getting to guide you and so many other students…that's my proudest work."
"But still. Changing your whole career like that, it must've been…really scary, right?" Akko asked slowly.
"Of course. And I won't pretend it won't be the same for you, Akko," said Ursula. "But it's clear to me you've already made up your mind, even if you haven't admitted it to yourself yet. So I'll just tell you this: it doesn't stay scary forever. Rely on the people close to you. Get their input and their support, but ultimately…choose the path that feels right in your heart. And everything will work out in time."
Akko hung her head and let out a low, rattling breath.
"Thanks, sensei. That really is what I needed to hear right now," she muttered, reaching forward and squeezing her once-idol around the wrists. "You're right, I know what I need to do. I've known for a while. I've just been…running away from it."
"You do have one advantage over me," Ursula pointed out gently. "I had no choice but to leave when I did, and to do so without leaving a trace. I never even had a chance to say goodbye."
Akko nodded slowly, a plan slowly beginning to ferment in her mind. Or at least the faint beginnings of one.
"I…I think I've got some phone calls to make," she said, before picking up the rest of her salad and devouring it in a single gulp.
[-]
Akko had been expecting Erica to blow up over the news, but her manager was surprisingly understanding.
Still, even by the older woman's impeccably efficient standards, this livestream had been thrown together surprisingly quickly. Only a single day had passed since their discharge from the hospital, and yet Erica had already managed to rent out a studio in Tokyo for filming – just to avoid inconveniencing her parents or Diana by streaming out of their homes – and advertised the hell out of this "surprise announcement" on every conceivable social media channel, to ensure the maximum number of fans heard the news from her lips rather than secondhand.
Akko was going to have to make sure she got a really nice severance package.
Diana sat several meters away, smiling encouragingly. They'd both agreed that joining her on-screen was a bad idea (Diana had enough going on in her life without some toxic segment of her fanbase deciding she was "Yoko Ono-ing" their idol), but she insisted on coming along anyway, for moral support if nothing else.
"Two minutes till we're live," declared the cameraman Erica had hired, before returning to meticulously readjusting his camera's focus for the ten-thousandth time.
"I'd ask if you're nervous, but I expect I already know the answer," said Diana, nodding deftly to the other woman as she fidgeted across her seat. The fact that she was surrounded on all sides by "Akko the Shining Star" banners and merch, while thematically appropriate, wasn't helping matters. "So instead, I'll ask if there is anything else I can do to help."
"Lie to me," the words escaped Akko's lips readily. "Tell me everything's gonna be okay. That nobody's gonna hate me when this is all over. That I'm not gonna wake up tomorrow and find #CringeyWitchApologyPhail trending on TikTok."
Diana's smile fell a little bit, though she quickly made a valiant effort to regain it.
"I am…not going to say those things. Not the least because I have no idea what the last one means," she told the other witch. "Be that as it may, what I can say is that you are ready for this. You always have a way of sneaking into people's hearts."
Akko flushed and giggled. "Oh, you watch that show too, huh?" she asked.
But Diana just quirked her head to the side and repeated uncomprehendingly, "Show…?" Which only made Akko giggle harder.
"Weirdly, this actually did help," she said, leaning over and pecking Diana across the lips. It was nice to be able to do that on demand now. "See you on the other side of this thing, Miss Cavendish."
It said a lot for how much Diana had grown that, despite her own reddened face, she was able to readily quip back, "There'll be a hyphen in that name before long, if I have anything to say about it."
…Okay, on second thought, this really didn't help at all.
Forcibly mastering the heat in her cheeks and focusing her gaze back on the camera, she watched the man count off on his fingers in the most dramatic way possible.
"We're on in five!" he exclaimed, while Diana hurried back to her seat off-camera. "Four…three…two…!"
Akko got in one last, loud gulp, straightened her posture, and got ready for the most important speech of her life. From someone who'd never exactly been great at them.
"Hey, Starlings! Welcome to this magical stream!" she cried out, turning on all her showman's charm in an instant. If this was going to be her last performance of this magnitude, then she was definitely going to make it count. "I've seen the numbers, and…wow. I'm humbled so many of you were able to join me today."
She took a deep breath, allowing her gigantic smile to shrink, just a bit. She didn't want to completely lose the sense of fun, but this was a serious moment too.
"I know I…left you all with a lot of questions. And I'm sorry I won't be able to answer all of them. It's been…one heckuva week, I'll tell you that much," said Akko. "But I know the biggest thing you all wanna find out. When is Akko the Shining Star coming back?"
She braced herself in her seat, knowing she was about to break hearts all across the world, before finally forcing out the words, "Well, the truth is…I'm not."
There was a tablet to the side of her table, queued to display all the comments people were posting to the stream, but she didn't have the heart to read through it. She had a pretty good idea what they were probably saying right now, but if she confirmed it with her own eyes she was sure to lose her nerve.
Instead, Akko continued on, "I know that's not the answer anyone wanted to hear. It definitely wasn't an easy decision to make. But…I'm just not cut out for this, guys. The constant touring, the big sold-out shows. Truth is, I haven't been enjoying my performances for a long time now. And that isn't fair to you."
Swallowing a big lump in her throat, she told the millions of fans watching from all over the world, "I love you all, my Starlings, I really do. That isn't what this is about at all. But I gotta know when I've hit my limit. And…honestly, I hit it a while ago. My brain just took a long time to catch up to my heart. It, uh…does that a lot."
Though none of her fans could know it, Akko was staring straight into Diana's eyes as she spoke those words.
"It won't be the end of everything!" she quickly assured the audience, once she managed to wrench her gaze away from the other witch's supportive smile. "Mendez Talent Studios will have a PO box where fanmail and autograph requests can still be sent. I can't promise I'll always be able to get to them, but I'll try my best."
Another handful of deep, calming breaths. This part, she had to get right.
"And…I won't totally rule out coming back someday. Maybe for some smaller shows," she said. "But if I do, that's way off in the future. Right now, I just need…time. Time to find out who I am, and who I want to be."
She straightened her posture again, imagining that she was looking every single one of her fans right in the eye.
"I guess what I wanna say most of all is…thank you," she declared, an energy far more potent than any magic pulsing through her skin. "For sticking by me when times got tough. For respecting my privacy, while I worked through all this stuff. And…for always believing in my dreams, the way I believe in all of yours."
Finally out of breath and out of things to say, Akko found her eyes drifting at last to the stream comments. Time to face the anger and frustration that her incredibly sudden retirement had, in all honesty, earned.
Except that wasn't what she saw at all.
Sure, there were a few that were rude or abusive. It was the internet, after all. But they were swiftly drowned out by the literal flood of other commenters, words flashing across the tablet at a mile a minute as so many fans took the opportunity to say their piece.
FightThePowah u got this akko! we all believe in u 2!
DatenDemon F*** YEAH GIRL GOIN OUT LIKE A BAWZ DONT TAKE S*** FROM THESE F***ERS
StayAtYourHouse Your shows got me through a lot of lonely nights. Won't lie, it's sad to see you go, but I'll cherish the time we did have.
HallelujahForCroquettes You know what they say, all good things must come to an end! I mean, think about it! Cheese is awesome, but if you leave it out in the sun for too long then it gets all gross and fuzzy and maybe it'll kill you if you eat it, and nobody wants to die from old cheese! How would you explain it when you get to the Pearly Gates, huh? You'd be standing next to some guy who drowned in the ocean and another who got, like…a buzzsaw to the tummy or something, and you're there, telling your bad cheese story! Wait huh? What do you mean there's a character lim
LayYourHands The connections you made with us will live forever. No matter where your next journey takes you. All the best Akko
JusticeAintOver ANY OF YOU GIVING OUR FAVORITE WITCH GRIEF ABOUT THIS IS GETTING THE BANHAMMER OF JUSTIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE
SilverWolf I've been around a long time. Seen a lot of acts come and go. Yours was the real deal, kid. But I'm happy you were able to find what really matters to you. Seize it, cherish it, and don't ever let anyone tell you different.
KissOfDeath awwwww guess me and darling will have to find something else to get us in the mood before bed ;)
[KissOfDeath temporarily suspended for posting of age-inappropriate material.]
FreelancerLee Breaking News! Hit up my blog if you want to give a statement for the article I'm writing on this!
AccessFlash You're a true hero, Ms. Kagari. You don't even know how many lives you've touched, how many kids look up to you. If you ever come back, we'll be waiting.
Kaerun ur streams were sooooooooooooooooo gud! no1 can ever fill that hole! o btw speaking of streams ive got mine in 2 hrs if u wanna see the cuuuuuuuuutest frog themed idol in teh world b sure 2 like share & subscribe
GoldburnGirl Me and my cuz loooooooooove your shows SO much!
PleaseDontDigest WELL MISS U AKKO 3 3 3
Akko's eyes were already brimming with tears. But they only intensified when an alert popped up on the tablet, and the screen switched over to another stream chat – a separate, private channel that Erica must've set up without her knowledge.
EdgarXAlbertOTP You'll always be my best friend Akko! Whatever you choose, we're all rooting for you!
DoYouDoPoison plus your skull is so thick it should cushion you wherever you wind up landing
StanCorpCEO If there's anything StanCorp can do to support you in your next endeavors, just let me know. My door is always open.
Sixty O'Nine ME UNIRONICALLY
I Pirozhki I probably wouldn't be here if not for your support, Akko. The least I can do is offer it in turn 3
DefaultUsername2427468 Croix, am I doing it right this time? Can Akko see that it's me?
CupRamenQueen Ah never change Cherry
CupRamenQueen But yeah kid, we're behind you, 100%
There were even a few comments that, while she didn't recognize the usernames, were easy enough to parse from context.
SorryButAlbertXEdgarIsTheSuperiorPairingEveryoneKnowsWerewolvesAreNaturalTops after every thing u just went thru this shud b nothing
OMGImDatingThisPerson Dunno how much it means from us but we know you can do it!
BurningSoul HELL YEAH! BEST BOSS I EVER WORKED FOR! NO STOPPING THE FIRE IN HER HEART!
NoLongerMad Ken, she was our boss for less than a week. Nonetheless…yes, I have to agree with those other girls. If you can take down a megalomaniac and his big evil magical ritual, you can handle a little career change
UKForeignSecretary I learned a long time ago that there was no use explaining, obstructing, or dissuading Atsuko Kagari. Your path is your own, and no one else can choose it for you. You taught me that lesson years ago, and it changed my own life irrevocably. So in this moment, I choose to repeat it to you. Best fortunes, Akko.
LadiesCantWeAgreeToDisagreeOnTheHorrorFantasyHomoeroticaSexualDynamics thumbs up emoji thumbs up emoji thumbs up emoji 2 everything andy said!
The very last comment was one that Akko was able to witness being written in real time, because she could see Diana dutifully typing away to the side of the camera.
It took her a very long time, because Diana typed one fingerstroke at a time like a technophobic grandfather, but eventually the text appeared on Akko's tablet.
DianaCavendish You are, and forever will be, the one woman I truly love. Not Akko the Shining Star, celebrity performer. But Atsuko Kagari – the greatest witch of her generation. The one who taught me the true meaning of what magic could be.
DianaCavendish Tibi offero cor meum credens.
It took Akko a couple seconds to copy and paste that into Google Translate. And a couple more for her stream of tears to turn into a flood.
Realizing, belatedly, that the camera was still rolling, she wiped her face on her sleeve and turned back to it. After everything she'd just read, she knew her fans deserved a few last, parting words.
"I've never been good at goodbyes," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "They always feel so…so final, y'know? But there's something important I learned recently. I had a person who was very close to me, and we…lost contact."
Though she knew she probably should've been delivering these words straight into the camera, her eyes remained locked on Diana's, and she couldn't bear to tear them away.
Hers were brimming with moisture as well.
"But then we saw each other again. And it was like those years apart never happened," Akko continued. "None of us really know what'll happen in the future. But we can cherish each other, and the happiness we bring to each other's lives."
She allowed herself a few more, halting breaths. And then finished, "My star…may be going away for a while. But all of you will still continue to shine. Shining on…so bright."
[-]
After pouring her heart out to nearly a million strangers online, it felt good to spend that evening with a simple, homecooked meal.
Prepared, in full and equal cooperation, with her three favorite people in the world.
It was a momentous enough occasion, in Rio Kagari's opinion, to pull out all the stops and prepare a feast that put her previous thirty years as a professional chef to shame. Both because it was her first since being discharged from the hospital…
And because for the first time in her life, her daughter had brought someone home.
Akko knew Diana had been nervous about this for quite some time, and equally knew that she had nothing to worry about. It took her parents all of three seconds to start treating her like a second daughter, which in the Kagari household meant putting her to work in the kitchen straight away.
While Akko and her father handled the prep work – cutting vegetables, cooking rice, making a quick run to the corner store when they ran short on some seasonings – her mother and Diana were busy grilling up prime cuts of both steak and salmon, not to mention minding the most complex soup Akko had ever seen in her life.
At least they didn't have to worry about dessert. Jasminka had stopped by earlier today to drop off a homemade red velvet cake, with "Спасибо" carved into the lactose-free frosting. "From the whole Antonenko clan," she'd told them.
For a while, the steady rhythm of the kitchen kept the quartet largely silent, save for Rio instructing each of them on how they should tackle their appointed tasks.
But as they brought the last of the dishes to the table and got ready to savor the fruits of their labors at last, the older woman cleared her throat.
"Now, sweetheart, you don't have to decide right away. You've just gone through some major changes in your life, and you deserve some time to sit back and take stock of things," she said. "But have you thought at all about what you'd like to do next?"
Akko cast a quick glance toward Diana, who was seated to her right. Slowly, naturally, their hands drifted until they linked together.
"Diana and I talked about this before the livestream. A lot," she answered her mother. "And I know what I – what we'd like to do. I'm just not sure it's even possible now."
"The happiest we've both been in years…was when we were co-managing Kagari's on your behalf. Using our combined talents to bring people joy, with both food and magic," Diana explained. "It isn't a field I'd ever given thought to working in, and I won't deny that I found my first few days in the kitchen quite daunting. But it also felt so incredibly…rewarding. Immediately and viscerally so. There's nothing quite like seeing a child's face light up when they bite into something you prepared, and find they've discovered a new favorite food."
Rio Kagari nodded once, a fond twinkle in her eye, and they knew she understood right away.
"But I mean…you guys are all better now. So you probably don't need us for that anymore," muttered Akko in a small voice, feeling herself deflate like a balloon.
Now it was her parents' turn to exchange a look.
"To tell the truth, Akko-chan…" said Junya. "We've actually been thinking of stepping back from day-to-day management for a while now. Neither of us are getting any younger, and it gets harder to keep up with each passing year. I mean, you saw my office."
"And in the kitchen, it would mean the world if I could have a true sous-chef to rely on. One I could take as an apprentice, and pass on all my recipes," his wife added. "Especially if it was someone as studious, industrious, and reliable as you."
Upon hearing these words, Diana's cheeks flashed a deep crimson, and she suddenly busied herself with an overly large bite of salmon.
"That being said…I'm surprised to hear this out of you, darling," spoke Junya, leaning across the table to look his daughter straight in the eye. "Kagari's was always yours for the asking, but I never thought you really wanted it. And that was okay. Your dreams didn't have to be the same as ours."
This was it: the most important point. The idea that'd been slowly taking form in her mind since the battle, developed through her discussions with Diana, Ursula-sensei, Erica, and the rest.
"The thing is…I don't think I need to choose one or the other," she responded, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "The things I loved about performing – that I still love – aren't the sold-out stadiums, or my face on big banners, or action figures with light-up action and seven pre-programmed phrases."
Diana had such a horrible poker face that, when her eyes involuntarily widened, Akko could tell two things: (A) that she had one of those action figures at home, and (B) that she was never in a million years going to admit it.
But that was beside the point.
"What I really want…is just to see people smile. And that's what I got when I was manning front of the house last week," said Akko. "A little light show, or a quick transformation between waiting tables. It's not a lot. But I could see it in the customers' eyes. Just how much it brightened their days."
Her mother held her napkin up to her mouth to cover a short chuckle.
"Well, your 'little tricks' certainly helped put Kagari's on the map before. And that was just as a part-timer in high school," she remarked with a grin. "Now that you're all trained up as a big, fancy, world-saving witch? I bet you could really dazzle them."
They all got in a bit of a laugh at that one, though Diana's petered off after only a few seconds.
"Of course, we've all been neglecting the elephant in the room," she declared pointedly. "All this presupposes that Kagari's can go back to business as usual. Ignoring that it…ahem…"
"…Kinda blew up?" finished Akko in her usual, unsubtle way.
Those same shared smiles turned to grimaces at the reminder. Junya recovered first, twinging at his beard like he always did when he was delivering bad news.
"I talked with our insurance agent the other day. In the long run, he thinks we can recover damages, but it'll be tied up in legal garbage for years, most likely," he said. "And business already wasn't the best even before Takeuchi started meddling. So no, we certainly won't be able to reopen for a while. But maybe someday, if we…"
But his words were interrupted by three sharp knocks at the front door.
Rio frowned at the two younger women. "Were you expecting anyone else?" she asked.
Akko shook her head slowly, but nonetheless got up to check. The whole Takeuchi mess still had her a bit jumpy.
Fortunately, the person standing on the other side turned out to be Amanda, looking smart in jeans and a flannel and carrying a plastic container in their arms.
"Hey Akko. Jasna says this sauce is supposed to go with her cake. She'd have come herself but she's got a family thing," they told her, thrusting the container forward. "Uh…mind if I come in for a sec?"
Akko, still a bit stunned by the American's sudden appearance, only had time to nod mutedly before they stepped into the foyer.
"Yo, Mr. Kagari. Mrs. Kagari. Future Mrs. Kagari," they said, flashing a cocksure smirk that caused Diana to roll her eyes. "I couldn't help overhearing, mostly because I was eavesdropping. And it sounds like you're in quite the pickle. Need to rebuild your watering hole from the ground up, and no fundage to make it happen. Well…"
Amanda patted Akko on the shoulder, radiating the mix of irritating overconfidence and genuine supportiveness that only they could pull off.
"That sounds like a problem the Nine New Witches – and change! – might be able to do a thing or two about."