Content warning: Descriptions of emotionally intense scenes.

"EEEEK! They're here, they're here!"

Hannah and Barbara clutched each other's hands, watching three envelopes slide through their dorm room's mail slot. They dared not move or pick them up.

"Girls, please! The sooner you get it over with, the sooner your anxiety will dissipate," Diana said calmly, walking towards the door and picking up the letters herself. She shuffled through them, passing Hannah and Barbara their results before carefully unwrapping her own.

"Oh, thank goodness! I passed!" Hannah exclaimed, holding up her letter triumphantly.

"Yay! I did, too! Almost a perfect score!" Barbara instinctively mimicked Hannah's reaction before quickly lowering her arm, blushing.

"What about you, Diana?" the girls said in perfect unison, gazing at their friend with big eyes. Diana chuckled softly.

"Patience, patience. I mustn't get a papercut, now."

Finally having opened the envelope, Diana calmly slid the letter out and focused on the text.

Everything seemed to be in order. Name, date, Diana Cavendish, we regret to inform you that…

Wait.

What?

Diana felt nauseous. This had to be a mistake, right? A simple typo. Those printers could be funny sometimes, it's nothing like good old fashioned ink and quill.

But right there, in her hands, was the first ever sign of Diana's failure in an academic field.

Her knees were weak, her face pale.

This wasn't real. It was a nightmare.

Wake up.

"Well?"

Hannah and Barbara's voices brought Diana back to the real world. She wasn't sure if her reaction had reflected on her body, but she did feel herself sweating just a little bit.

"W-Well what, girls? Another perfect score, as expected."

"Diana, you're amazing!" Barbara exclaimed as Hannah embraced Diana in a hug. She did her best to keep the letter's contents away from their eyes as she put on her best stoic face.

"Thank you both. Will you excuse me for a moment?" She let Hannah finish her hug before delicately walking to her bedroom and closing the door. Once she was sure she was out of sight, she collapsed on her bed and stared at the paper again, letting out a soft sigh.

We regret to inform you? Diana was the one experiencing regret right now. Those stupid peer reviewing tasks… who would let somebody's entire grade rest on what your classmate thought about you personally? And why wasn't she able to find out who marked her paper? She studied for weeks, as was the norm, and spent ages preparing in advance. All of that effort, completely invalidated by some red ink on a page.

What would others think? The Cavendish name would lose a lot of its luster if people found out the prestigious Diana finally received a bad grade. Hannah and Barbara would completely lose faith in her. Amanda would have a field day. Lotte and Sucy would certainly think less of her. And Akko… she'd probably be shocked. Appalled, even.

What? No, she wouldn't, right? Akko had terrible grades at Luna Nova. She's been doing a lot better at Luna Academy, though. She's taking her studies more seriously and really enjoying work experience with Professor Chariot. But she still knows what it's like to fail. If anything, Akko would be able to help out.

Diana knelt in front of her bed and pulled a covered crystal ball out from under it. Activating it, she sent a quick message to Akko, asking if they could meet in their usual cafe the next morning. Almost immediately, she received an excited reply confirming the event, so Diana put the crystal ball away and just decided to get ready for bed.

– x –

"Hey, Diana! Over here!"

The bell on the little cafe's door rang as Diana walked in and looked around. Spotting Akko waving to her from a table by the window, she joined and took a seat. It was quite early in the morning, so the area wasn't too busy just yet.

"Good morning, Akko. How are things?"

"Oh, they're great! I taught another class with Professor Chariot yesterday, and it was so much fun!"

"Good, I'm glad. Are Miss Jansson and Miss Manbavaran also well?"

"They're great, as well! Doing their own things, and, uh…"

Akko noticed something off with Diana's demeanour. Her blue eyes looked duller, and her voice seemed more carefully controlled than usual.

"Diana…? Everything good?"

"Of course, Akko. Why wouldn't it be?"

She scanned the cafe for anyone important.

"Oh, Akko…" she finally exclaimed. "I received my results from an exam yesterday…"

"And?" Akko asked innocently. "I bet you killed it as usual, right?"

Oh, how Diana hated wiping that smile from Akko's face. She said nothing, but took out a piece of paper and slid it towards Akko. Akko picked it up casually and nearly fell off of her chair after reading it. Her reaction made Diana wince and prepare for the worst.

"D-Diana?! What ha-"

Diana quickly flung her hands over Akko's mouth.

"Shh, not so loud!" she hissed, glancing all around the cafe again. The few people who were there weren't really paying attention. "If this gets out, it's the end of me."

"What happened? This is so unlike you," Akko asked in a whisper, as Diana rested her head in her arms on the table.

"It was a peer reviewing task. The person marking mine must've had it out for me… I've never seen so much red ink on something I've written."

Diana sighed deeply, fully expecting Akko to say something harsh. But Akko couldn't stand seeing Diana so upset, so overcome with shame.

"Tell you what. I know it isn't much, but I'll pay for our breakfast!"

A small smile formed on Diana's face, much to Akko's delight. Everything was okay, at least here.

"Thank you, but you really don't-"

"No, it's my treat today!" Akko insisted. "And don't just get something cheap, either!"

Diana couldn't help but laugh. At least Akko always knew what to say. The two of them ordered their food, with Akko encouraging Diana to have some tea, as well.

"What did your roommates have to say?"

"I haven't informed them yet. I think the shock might just kill them…"

Diana's shoulders and neck were loosened just a little bit, but there was still the matter of what everyone else would think. She decided she'd talk to her lecturer about it later that day, and they made idle conversation for a while until the items they ordered arrived.

"Akko?"

"Hmmm?" Akko looked up at Diana, her mouth full of eggs on toast.

"Please keep this a secret. You're the only one who knows about this at the moment."

Akko giggled. "Who am I gonna tell, Lotte? Sucy? I don't think they'd care."

"I sure hope not… I don't trust Miss Manbavaran to keep her mouth shut."

"Aw, Diana, she doesn't hate you anymore."

"True, but she still spends a lot of time with Amanda and her friends, and Amanda hates me."

It was true that Amanda still held a vicious, undying grudge against Diana, for many reasons. Jasminka was more neutral about Diana, but Constanze especially didn't like Diana's prior attempts to bust her for owning technology back in Luna Nova.

Despite their prior friendship, since Akko and Diana started dating, Amanda had become very sour and unpleasant towards Akko, as well. Their once playful banter had turned into genuine mean-spirited insults, mostly on Amanda's side. This was something that bothered Akko deeply, but she wasn't able to really do anything about it. Jasminka and Constanze were still friendly enough to Akko, but their friendship with Amanda led to them drifting apart from Akko and her friends.

"Diana, I promise I'll keep this a secret. Sucy won't know, Lotte won't know, Amanda won't know." Akko reached over the table to hold Diana's shoulder as she said this. In response, Diana smiled softly and they continued their meal.

Once they had both finished, they stood up, both with various errands to run. It was the weekend, but Akko had some grocery shopping to do.

"Good luck, Diana! You can fix this, I believe in you!" Akko enthusiastically pumped her fist.

"Thank you, Akko. I'll let you know what happens."

After a quick hug, both left the cafe, heading in opposite directions.

– x –

"Sucy, hi! Can you ask Lotte if she needs any more gluten-free bread?"

Akko trudged through the grocery store aisles, wand in one hand, full shopping basket in the other. She was able to talk to her friends through their wands, like a phone.

"Hey, Lotte. Akko's asking if you need bread." On the other end of the line, Sucy was back in their dorm room, doing yoga with her wand on the floor. Lotte looked up from a stack of books about contacting spirits.

"Umm, I should be good for now, thanks!" She adjusted her glasses and scribbled down some more notes.

"Thanks, guys! I'll be back before you know it!" Akko ended the spell and put her wand back in its holster. With that information, her shopping was done, so she began heading to the registers, but she bumped into someone on the way.

"Sorry, sorry!"

"Watch it, dumbass!"

The person in question turned to face Akko, and their demeanours both shifted.

"Oh, Amanda! Hi!" Akko put on a smiling face.

"Oh. It's you," Amanda said back. Akko looked behind Amanda and was much more pleased to see that Jasminka and Constanze were also there.

"Hi, guys!"

"Good morning, Akko!" Jasminka's soft, sing-songy voice was hard to misattribute. Constanze gave Akko a nod of acknowledgement, sitting on top of their trolley full of snacks and soda.

"Akko! Been meaning to ask you," Amanda began. "I saw your bitch on the way here. What's her deal?"

"What do you mean?" Akko immediately began thinking of excuses and ways to get out of the conversation.

"Sad, down in the dumps, like the stick up her ass was wedged a little tight today. Whatever you wanna call it."

"Cool it, Amanda. I don't like you insulting my girlfriend."

"Whatever. Answer the question."

Akko struggled to think of something to say. Glancing all around, she noticed Jasminka reaching for a bag of chips, but Constanze slapped her hand away, pointing to the registers.

"What's it to you?" Akko eventually asked, folding her arms. "You probably wanna know so you can use it against her."

"Bingo! You aren't such a dumbass, after all." Amanda said, grinning. Akko began to sweat, looking everywhere for a suitable exit from the conversation, but none presented itself.

"W-Well, I'm not telling! Push me all you want." Akko pouted at Amanda, who rolled her eyes.

"Hmm, maybe it isn't worth the effort."

Akko breathed a sigh of relief, but Amanda continued.

"Doesn't Sucy run an illicit potion shop on campus grounds?"

Akko's eyes widened. "Uhh, h-how should I know?" she lied, knowing fully well what was being said. Amanda ignored her.

"It's in one of the old storerooms. Wouldn't it be a crying shame if, oh, I dunno, somebody swung past the vice-chancellor's office and let something slip?"

"You wouldn't…" Akko uttered, looking positively furious. Amanda just smirked coyly at her.

"I'm making you choose, Akko! Save Sucy or save Diana?"

Akko's hands were balled tightly into fists. The hand clutching the shopping basket began to hurt from the handle digging into her palm.

"I like Sucy, y'know. I'd hate for her best friend to be the cause of her livelihood going under."

Akko's mind went to some terrible places, speeding through all sorts of awful scenarios. A flaming concoction of anxiety and pure rage slowly bubbled through her.

"What, are you gonna throw a tantrum or something? Would it help if I called Diana a bitch again-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Akko's voice echoed throughout the entire grocery store. She had thrown her basket onto the ground, spilling its contents everywhere. The store had gone dead silent and all eyes were on Akko as she breathed very heavily, staring at Amanda with a look that could kill.

"Whoa, I guess I was right," Amanda remarked, and Akko strode right up to her and got in her face.

"Stay out of our business, Amanda! Just because your life sucks, it doesn't give you the right to crap all over everyone else's lives!" Tears fell from Akko's eyes as Amanda grabbed her by the collar.

"Oh, MY life sucks, huh?! You're the one dating that royal pain in the ass!"

"LAY OFF HER!"

"SPILL THE BEANS!"

"NO! I'm NEVER telling you that Diana failed her exam-"

Akko's hands covered her mouth at lightning speed, her eyes wide.

"Oh… my… GOD," was all Amanda could get out, and a sinister smile spread across her face.

Akko crumpled to her knees, not even bothering to pick up the strewn groceries. Amanda stood over her, a hand on her hip.

"You aren't so bad after all, Akko. Maybe we'll hang out again sometime."

She turned to Jasminka and Constanze, the former looking very peeved and the latter looking scared. They paid for their goods and left the store, but Jasminka came back to give Akko a big hug.

"I'm sorry, Akko… we'll talk to her."

Constanze gave Akko a concerned thumbs up from the trolley, but Akko wasn't looking at either of them. She would probably have sat on the floor for hours if a security guard hadn't told her to get lost.

– x –

"I can't BELIEVE that idiot fell for that. Did you guys see her face?!"

Amanda and her friends pushed open the door to their dorm room. She shoved a pile of newspapers onto the ground and knocked some pizza boxes over on the way to their couch. Feeling a tap on the shoulder, Amanda looked back and saw Constanze handing her a stack of unopened mail.

"Why, thank you, Consey! Let's see here… failed exam, failed exam, job rejection, job rejection, job rejection…"

She haphazardly tore every envelope open and skimmed through each letter, crumpling them up and throwing them behind her into an overflowing trash can when she was done.

"Y'know what? These don't even piss me off anymore, now that I have the REAL goods."

Jasminka entered the dorm last, shutting the door and taking her coat off.

"Amanda…"

"'Sup, Jazzy?"

She turned to meet Jasminka's gaze, which was surprisingly stern on her sweet face.

"Your behaviour today was disgusting."

Amanda gave her an offended look.

"MY behaviour? Did you see how Akko got in my face? Whose side are you on?"

"Why are we taking sides, Amanda?! We aren't high-schoolers anymore."

Amanda frowned at Jasminka. "So what, I'm supposed to keep this juicy intel to myself?"

"Um, yes? And maybe apologise to Akko, as well?"

Jasminka's expression was still stern. Amanda had to admit that she didn't really like seeing her this way, but she remained steadfast.

"Uh-huh. What's your take, Consey?"

Constanze, who was sitting on a cardboard box and working on supercharging the microwave, looked at Amanda, her big eyes full of sadness. She just shook her head and got back to work.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go find Diana and taunt her stupid face." Amanda lifted herself off of the couch and was just about to open the front door when she heard knocking from behind it. Opening it revealed Sucy standing there, staring at them all blankly.

"Can I come in?"

Amanda was a little surprised, but happy to see her nonetheless. "Sure, dude, make yourself comfortable! I was just about to leave, though-"

Sucy slammed the door behind her and grabbed Amanda by the collar, fists shaking with rage.

"Akko is upset, and it's your fault," she said in a calm, controlled voice. Amanda gave her a bewildered look.

"W-What are you talking about?"

"You forced sensitive information out of her. You threatened ME if she didn't comply." Sucy's grip got tighter as she spoke, and Amanda began to struggle.

"S-Sucy, relax! Let's talk about this-"

Sucy leaned over Amanda, taking heavy, shaky breaths. Her voice sounded like it was taking every fibre of her being to keep controlled, and she cracked her neck.

"If I ever hear about Diana's secret from anyone other than Akko, I swear to God, I'll pump you full of so much fucking poison that your filthy room will feel like a sanctuary in comparison."

Amanda chuckled nervously, but her smile quickly disappeared.

"You're… not joking."

Sucy threw Amanda to the ground. Jasminka and Constanze stared at her incredulously.

"I hope I've made myself clear. Jasminka, Constanze."

She nodded at each girl as she greeted them before turning around and leaving. On her way out, she slammed the door so hard that a poster fell off the wall.

All three girls sat in silence for a good few minutes. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. After a while, Amanda stood up again and rubbed her neck.

"I'm goin' for a walk."

"Amanda, don't…" Jasminka's tone was disappointed, but Amanda turned to her again.

"Dude, relax. I'm not looking for Diana. I just… need to think some things over."

With that, Amanda left the dorm room, leaving her roommates speechless.

– x –

The sky began to darken as Amanda sat on a park bench, watching people go by. Her head was spinning with thoughts about the prior day, and how she'd treated Akko.

They used to be good friends. Amanda and her friends helped stop the magic missile, and they spent a lot of time together in Luna Nova.

So why was she so vitriolic towards Diana and Akko?

Amanda tried to think about something else. Cool broom tricks, maybe? The poster that fell off the wall was of her favourite broom athlete. That's what Amanda should've been doing. Not attending some haughty magic university, studying a subject she had zero interest in.

She leaned back on the bench and sighed, watching the people. One of them had beautiful emerald-green highlights in her hair, and kind of looked like Diana.

Wait.

"Hey, Diana!" Amanda wasn't sure why she was calling out to her, but she did anyway. Diana looked over and her expression very subtly changed, but she kept things professional as she headed Amanda's way.

"Good evening, Miss O'Neill. What can I do for you?"

Amanda scoffed. "You can drop the act, Diana, I just wanna talk to you."

Diana folded her arms and kept a calm demeanour, but her voice showed a hint of annoyance.

"I'm rather busy, Amanda, so it'll have to be quick."

Thoughts of what Akko told Amanda crossed her mind. Diana failed her last exam? The Cavendish line is over! Her reputation is ruined!

All of a sudden, though, mocking Diana for her failure didn't seem so appealing.

"Let me level with you," Amanda said, sighing. "I dunno if Akko already told you, but I forced her to tell me the reason you were upset earlier."

Diana's shoulders tensed up.

""U-Upset? Whatever do you mean?"

"That you failed your last exam," Amanda clarified.

"And you forced this out of Akko… how?" Diana's face began to convey her irritation, with her eyebrows lowering. She put a hand up to her temple and rubbed it.

"By pushing her until she broke."

"I see," Diana uttered. "And I suppose you mean to spread the news around campus and absolutely humiliate me? I appreciate the advance warning."

Diana turned around with a huff, but Amanda reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Slow down, I… I'm not gonna do that."

Diana pulled her arm out of Amanda's grip, turning around again impatiently.

"Why should I believe you, O'Neill? You hate us."

"That's the thing, Diana…" Amanda said cautiously, staring at the ground. "I don't… want to anymore."

Diana lifted an eyebrow as Amanda continued.

"I've been a jackass. I only hate you guys because my own life sucks. Watching you guys have cool jobs and do really well in your classes, classes that you CHOSE to take… really got to me. Not to mention I've also driven a wedge between me and my own friends…"

Seeing Amanda's genuinely sullen face, Diana let out a sigh and sat on the bench next to her.

"It isn't too late to fix things."

Amanda lifted her head curiously, and was surprised to see Diana smiling at her.

"I knew you were better than that, Amanda. There had to be outside factors for the shift in your mood, and the fact that you recognised them is really good progress."

"But where do I go from here?" Amanda asked. "Any idiot can talk about themselves, but what do I do now?"

"Try apologising." Diana pushed some hair out of her face. "I think your friends would really appreciate hearing you speak from your heart."

Amanda chuckled softly before turning to Diana.

"Guess I'll start here. Diana, I am so deeply and incredibly sorry for the way I've been treating you. My behaviour has been disgusting, and I know some dumb words won't undo months of my bullshit, but… yeah."

Diana put a hand on Amanda's shoulder, smiling warmly.

"Apology accepted."

Before either of them could say anything else, though, Diana's wand started to buzz in its holster. Picking it up, she saw that it was a call from Akko.

"Hi, Akko-"

"Dianaaaaa!" Akko exclaimed, mid-sob. "I t-told Amanda about your s-secret, I'm so s-sorry!"

"Akko, hey! Relax! Amanda is here, and we're working things out." Diana passed the wand to Amanda, who took a deep breath.

"Akko… it's your turn. I am so damn sorry. About earlier today, about yesterday, about the past months. You absolutely did not deserve the brunt of my own unsorted issues."

"Amanda…" Akko said, before smiling. "Of course I accept! Thank you so much!"

"Hey," a familiar nasally voice called out from Akko's side. "Is that Amanda?"

"Sucy?" Diana asked. "How are you?"

"Amanda. I need to apologise for the, uh… death threats."

"The WHAT?!" Akko and Lotte both exclaimed from Akko's end. Amanda scoffed.

"No worries, man. You might've actually snapped me out of it."

"Hey!" Lotte called out. "What kind of lesson is that? I'm glad it worked out this time, but don't do anything like that again, Sucy!"

"No promises."

"Thanks for being so accepting, guys," Amanda said. "I really don't deserve it."

"You're our friend, Amanda! Always have been!" Akko's huge smile was audible through the wand call. "We knew you'd come around eventually."

Both sides of the call were silent for a moment.

"So now that we all know about it… did you get your grade fixed, Diana?" Akko asked, tilting her head.

"No, no, I think I may have to deal with a blemish on my record just this once."

"Would all of us getting together cheer you up? We've got some free time, haven't we?" Akko looked over at Lotte, who was still studying. Diana grinned.

"That may just do the trick."

"Wait, hold on," Amanda said, getting off the bench. "I need to go talk to Jazzy and Consey. Let's sort out this meet-up thing later, okay?"

They all agreed. Amanda went back to her dorm, while Diana went to go meet Akko and her friends in their dorm. After things were straightened out, they all hung out for a while, telling stories and eating snacks like they did back in Luna Nova. Everything was good, and Amanda was finally satisfied.