Content warning: Some intense scenes. Less so than prior chapters, but still.

Amanda and her friends usually spent their nights lounging around in their apartment. Amanda and Jasminka were watching a baseball game on the TV, while Constanze was working on a robot that would bring them stuff from the fridge.

"Jazz!" Amanda barked. "How many times do I gotta tell you to chuck shit in the trash?!"

"Mmm… but I'm so comfy." Jasminka had balled up her now-empty bag of chips and thrown it randomly behind her.

"Look at this place! We're the laughing stock of the other witches, y'know!"

"Well, why not clean up then?"

"Why not clean up- You're making the friggin' mess!"

"Hey, Amanda, watch this." Jasminka downed a can of soda, crushed it on her forehead, and threw it somewhere in the room. Amanda gritted her teeth.

"You're infuriating, Jazz! I'm actually going to move dorms one day."

"You've been saying that for years, now…" Jasminka said, in a taunting melodic voice. Amanda stood up from the couch, almost stumbling over an empty bottle that was poking out.

"CLEAN YOUR SHIT UP!"

Jasminka just giggled to herself and ate a slice of pizza, leaving the empty box on a pile of empty boxes. Before Amanda could really lay into Jasminka, they both heard the front door slam, and when they looked around, Constanze was missing. In her place was her chalkboard, which read:

"I've had ENOUGH."

Amanda read the message aloud to Jasminka, who hadn't moved.

"Aw, why did you make Consey mad?" she said, looking sullen. Amanda quickly spun around to face her, full of fury.

"You're the one making the GODDAMN MESS!"

"Stop shouting at me… let's go find Consey."

Amanda sighed and folded her arms. "Let's truce for now. I'll kick your ass back to Russia later. Do you know where Consey might've gone?"

"Mmm… the campus generator room?" Jasminka stood up and pushed past some trash to reach the door.

"Heh. Good thinking." The two of them left the apartment and made their way down. On the way though, they ran into Lotte, who looked very deep in thought. So much so that she bumped into Jasminka.

"Oh, sorry- Amanda? Jasminka?"

"Look here! We've won the Lotte-ry," Amanda drawled, laughing to herself. Jasminka didn't even give her a sympathy chuckle, though.

"Sorry, Lotte, we have to go find Consey. Amanda upset her, and she ran away."

"I did NOT! Don't listen to this liar!"

"Your word against mine."

Lotte just kind of stood there awkwardly as the two argued. Realising she wouldn't be able to crash with this group after all, she turned back around and just kept walking, unsure of a direction, but still not wanting to go back to her dorm.

The generator room was a place of comfort for Constanze.

When the world got a little too overwhelming, she tended to duck down here and surround herself with the sounds of machinery while she worked on comfort projects, like Stanbot upgrades.

On this particular night, even the machinery was having trouble calming Constanze down. Every day, Amanda and Jasminka had petty arguments. The fact that they stayed friends was a wonder. Constanze frantically worked on her Stanbot, waiting for that moment where everything would click and she would start to calm down.

A moment that didn't come. Instead, she heard the generator room's door open, followed by light footsteps.

Uh-oh, she thought. This place is off-limits, and she should probably hide. She ducked behind a big cable, waiting for the inevitable grumblings of a fairy complaining about bad pay or something. However, Constanze instead heard light breathing, and peeking from behind the cable, she saw none other than Lotte.

Lotte didn't really know what she was doing here. It wasn't often she wandered through doors clearly labelled "STAFF ONLY", but she really just wanted to get away from everything, no matter how it happened.

Her mind spun with thoughts of Akko. Her insistence on doing things a certain way and roping her friends into it, then getting frustrated about any pushback or injection of logic into her plans. Just the other week, Akko had convinced Lotte and Sucy to try brewing a potion in one of the communal toilets, then blamed Sucy for using the wrong ingredients when the concoction inevitably blew up and put that bathroom out of order. They were punished by having to clean that entire bathroom until it was spotless, and the whole time, Akko complained about the other two not having been subtle enough.

Lotte sighed deeply, staring at the machinery. In her peripheral vision, though, she saw something move from behind one of the cables. She was already wired, and this movement caused her to audibly gasp.

"H-Hello?" she called. "I'm sorry, I got lost. I can leave if I'm not meant to be here."

Nobody replied, but Constanze emerged from behind the cable, with Stanbot in tow.

"Oh, Constanze! It's just you." Lotte took a deep breath to steady herself as Constanze gave her an inquisitive look.

"I'm just thinking about some stuff. Friend-related stuff."

Constanze looked a bit concerned, and Stanbot climbed onto her head.

"Friend-related stuff registers true for Constanze, as well!" Lotte turned to look at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Big fight between Amanda and Jasminka! Every day with the fights! Dorm room is very dirty, Constanze is tired!"

Lotte gave her a softened gaze. "I'm sorry, that sounds tough."

"Lotte's problem?" Constanze and Stanbot cocked their heads simultaneously.

"Oh, just Akko being Akko. You know how she can be sometimes… I just need a break, that's all."

The two of them stood in silence for a while. Things didn't seem so bad now that they'd told their feelings to someone, but they still needed a moment. With the sounds of machinery droning and thudding away, Lotte decided to focus on how she'd sort out the Last Wednesday Society's storeroom the next day, during her shift.

Start from the beginning, throw out whatever was broken or couldn't be sold, work your way in.

Sort out the magical items from the fine china and pottery. Sweep as you go along, make sure no dust gets on anything that gets put out front.

Yeah… that would work. It'd be done before she knew it. Right?

"Consey! There you are!"

Both of them whipped around to see Amanda and Jasminka at the door.

"We knew we'd find you here. Amanda is here to apologise."

"Apologise for WHAT?! It's YOUR fault!"

And they went at it again. Lotte found it kind of funny, but looking to the side, she saw Constanze looking very uncomfortable, like her place of refuge was disturbed.

"G-Guys! Hey!" Lotte called, and they stopped arguing.

"What? I was just about to prove that Jazzy's an idiot."

Jasminka opened her mouth to retaliate, but saw Constanze and her demeanour. She went over and pet Stanbot, and Amanda followed her.

"There you are, Consey! Sorry about all that, let's go back to our dorm."

Constanze folded her arms and reluctantly agreed. On the way, she and Stanbot gave Lotte a little wave goodbye, which Lotte returned. She decided not to sleep in their dorm, after all, and decided she'd give her own dorm a shot. Hopefully Akko was asleep by now.

Akko was not asleep. How could she even lie down with everything weighing on her mind? She paced around the dorm, muttering to herself and trying to sort her thoughts.

"Akko. Cork it," Sucy called out from the bedroom, lying down on her bed with her arms crossed over her chest like a sarcophagus. "Some of us have classes tomorrow."

"I just can't relax… Am I really that insensitive? Even Diana said I was."

"You not shutting up is pretty insensitive." Sucy rolled over and tried to pull the brim of her nightcap over her ears.

"She called me Atsuko, Sucy! Nobody calls me that except for old people!"

Sucy sighed from the bedroom before emerging to meet Akko, using a glowing mushroom as a lamp.

"When has Lotte ever stayed mad at you for something?" she queried, rubbing her eye.

"I mean, never, but this feels different. Like she's been holding a lot in."

"She'll cool off, you'll cool off, then you two can talk things over. That's how this stuff works. You're both still emotionally volatile, and you'll get nothing done trying to sort it out right now."

Akko didn't respond, mulling over Sucy's words.

"In fact, I'd recommend sleeping on it." Sucy then yawned, looking sleepier than ever.

Akko folded her arms. "You're probably right… maybe I'll just get ready for bed."

"Great," Sucy said quickly, turning around at lightning speed and heading back to the bedroom. Before she could reach it, though, the front door opened and Lotte entered quietly.

"Lotte! How are you? I thought-"

Akko was cut off by Lotte walking right past her without so much as a glance.

She greeted Sucy with a nod before shutting the bedroom door and getting herself ready, much to Sucy's frustration. Akko sighed and just decided to take Sucy's advice, sleeping on it and talking to Lotte in the morning.

Morning came, and Akko found herself up way earlier than anyone else, eating breakfast. She couldn't really stomach all that much due to her anxiety about Lotte, however.

Sucy emerged at some point and left to attend her classes for the day, carrying a big stack of books and a mushroom-flavoured energy drink with her. Then came Lotte, who started going about her pre-work schedule.

"Good morning, Lotte!" Akko chirped. Lotte turned and gave Akko a little wave before turning back to the cupboard.

"Uh… so about last night…" Akko tried to start, but Lotte cut her off again.

"Can we talk about this later? I didn't sleep very well."

"Oh! Neither did I…" Akko wondered if Lotte had also been kept up by their conflict. In truth, Lotte had still been thinking about the Amanita beetles, and the anxiety had woken her up several times.

"I'll see you later."

Lotte left the dorm, leaving Akko alone with her thoughts. At least Lotte was acknowledging her again, but she still seemed cold. To occupy herself, Akko also decided to leave the dorm and go for a walk around Blytonbury.

The sun was out, the air was crisp, and the people on Blytonbury's streets seemed cheerful. Akko wished this, along with an ice cream cone in one hand, was enough to lift her spirits, but she still found herself feeling clouded by doubt.

She glanced left and right, looking for something that might catch her interest, when she found herself coming across a familiar street. On this familiar street was a familiar magic item store, where a certain friend of hers was supposedly cleaning out a storeroom.

Akko was still deciding her next move when she almost absent-mindedly entered the Last Wednesday Society's storefront. The proprietor raised an eyebrow at her, still a bit frustrated with her and the others for damaging his precious new item.

"Hi, sir! Is Lotte busy?"

He motioned to a closed door labelled 'Employees Only' with his head. "Very busy. She can't play right now."

"I figured…" Akko sighed, then her mouth moved before her brain did. "Can I help?"

The proprietor shook his head. "Unpaid labour is illegal, apparently. Drop an application here sometime and I'll look over it."

Akko pouted, then jumped a little when she heard a loud crash from behind the door to the storeroom.

"Lotte! Everything good?" the proprietor called.

"Y-Yeah…" Lotte answered in a weak voice. Akko's head whipped between the proprietor and the closed door a few times, and she looked furious.

"You're just gonna sit there?! She needs help!"

Before he could respond, Akko ran to the door and flung it open to find a mess of boxes and random junk scattered all over the floor. In the middle was Lotte, trying to sort it all out with magic.

"Akko?! What are you doing here?"

"How can you work for a crook like that? I'm gonna help you out whether he likes it or not!"

Akko reached for her wand in its holster, but Lotte raised a hand.

"Get out of here before he bans you, Akko! I can't talk right now!"

Ignoring her, she pulled out her wand and began to try and pile up a stack of scattered boxes. In the end, they tumbled to the ground, and Lotte pressed her hands to her face.

"You weren't this enthusiastic to help yesterday…" Her voice was muffled under her hands. Akko kept trying to stack and whip the objects all around when her concentration was broken by the proprietor's hand on her shoulder, again causing items to clatter to the ground.

"I hate to do this, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

Akko groaned in frustration and waved goodbye to Lotte as she left. Lotte just watched with a mix of anger and bewilderment before getting back to work.

A few hours had passed, and Lotte had made progress. Wiping her brow with a handkerchief, she sat on one of the boxes and took a breather. A knock on the storeroom door revealed the proprietor again, and he handed Lotte a glass of lemonade with ice cubes in it.

"Oh! T-Thank you, sir!" She took a sip and immediately started to feel refreshed.

"No, thank you. I appreciate the help."

Behind him, a customer in the store caught Lotte's eye. Taking a closer look, it was Amanda, and she waved to Lotte after spotting her.

"There you are! Got a minute?"

The proprietor looked behind him, then at Lotte.

"Go ahead, take a break now," he said, returning to the front desk. Lotte emerged from the storeroom to meet Amanda, who had been observing an old painting of a couple holding a baby.

"What's up?"

"God, you should see the state Akko's in," Amanda remarked, scratching her head. "She hasn't said anything annoying all day."

Lotte's face faltered. "What, did she send you here to interrogate me?"

"Nope, I just wanted to know what the hell was goin' on. Sucy's in class, and I can't find Diana."

Lotte removed her glasses to clean them, sighing.

"I was going to talk to her about this stuff after work, but she basically ambushed me here and got kicked out." She held her glasses up to a light source to inspect the lenses before placing them back on her face. "I just don't know anymore… every time I want to think she's changing, she does something selfish again."

Amanda leaned on the wall with her arms folded.

"She cares about you, y'know."

"Does she?" Lotte asked with a little frustration. "She certainly doesn't care about what I think."

"She does, in her own weird way. I know you hate her following you around, but it means she's actually thinking about whatever you said instead of just throwin' it out."

Lotte looked at the ground, thinking.

"Besides," Amanda added, "she's an idiot, but she's got a big heart. She's dating the person who, just a few years ago, wanted nothing to do with her. One of her best friends is someone who does experiments on her all the time. She even immediately accepted my apology after months of petty drama."

Lotte was still a bit unsure. "I know… but am I supposed to just ignore her stubbornness?"

"Absolutely not, just understand where her heart's at. You're a big part of her life, and I know you'd be worse off without her, as well."

Lotte responded with a small 'mm-hm' of acknowledgement, but the words kept bouncing around in her mind.

"Anyway, don't let me keep ya. I hear you've got a storeroom to clean… sounds rough." She gave Lotte a friendly slap on the back before starting to head off.

"Amanda…"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Amanda smirked. "I know you like that loser. If you didn't, you'd be talking a lot more shit about her."

And with that, she left, leaving Lotte to mull things over for the rest of the shift.

Akko and Sucy sat together at the table in their dorm, the former eating a sandwich and the latter buried in revision notes. Akko had barely eaten due to the stress, but despite being so hungry, she still couldn't force anything down without feeling sick. The sounds of keys jingling behind the front door made her stomach drop even further, and she froze up.

Lotte entered and shut the door. Sucy greeted her with a nod, but Akko just looked at her.

"Do you have a minute?" Lotte asked, her voice sounding a bit softer than it had been for the past day. This alone was enough to give Akko some life again.

"Uh. s-sure!"

Sucy gave them both a thumbs up before taking her things into the bedroom to study there. Once she was gone, Lotte sat across from Akko.

Before she could even say anything, Akko became hysterical.

"I'm s-sorry! I'm trying to do b-better, but it's so hard! I'm really trying-!"

"Akko! It's okay."

Akko looked up at Lotte, who was smiling.

"You d-don't hate me?"

"Of course not! I know you care about me. You have a big heart."

Akko wiped tears from her eyes.

"I talked with Amanda, and she made me see sense. I don't regret what I said to you, but I'm sorry for how harsh I was." Lotte handed Akko a pack of tissues, which she immediately tore into and took one out to blow her nose.

"Lotte… I want you to keep telling me when I screw up."

"What are friends for?"

Akko laughed. It seemed to almost immediately alleviate the tension in her gut she'd been holding onto since last night. Feeling a lot lighter, she jumped out of her seat and gave Lotte a huge hug.

"Can't… breathe…!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise I'll do better!"

Once Akko finally let go, Lotte took a deep breath before smiling again. Her appetite regained, Akko wolfed down the rest of her sandwich.

"Lotte?" she asked, mouth full.

"What's up?"

Akko swallowed. "AMANDA vouched for me?!"