Author Notes

Well hello there! Here we are with a special chapter before we continue with our little couple. I hope you like it. If you want this special part of the story to continue developing, please tell me in a comment. See you soon! Oh, and there is a little WARNING this chapter includes sensitive topics, so please read with that in mind.

Any constructive review is really appreciated.

Declaimer: I don't own any characters from Little Witch Academia, I'm just doing this for fun.

Chapter XI

Dianae

She still remembers those words as if everything had happened just seconds before; in fact, she can still recall the fervor and strength that the young Eastern girl put into opening her heart in front of her, and how was she received? Simply by crushing it until there was nothing left, and then discarding it like a dirty rag.

And why did she do it?

Why was she so cruel?

Maybe it was a fit of nervousness when faced with such a strange situation, or maybe it was an indirect way of venting the frustration that had been killing her for a long time. The truth is unknown, and she probably will never find it, but what she did feel when she saw Akko's face contort in pain, will never disappear from her mind.

Every night she was hunted like a leopard hunts a gazelle, and for a long time, deep sleep had been a luxury she couldn't afford. And when, by some miracle, she managed to fall into a deep rest, her mind turned into a tsunami of horrendous dreams. Among these, sometimes she saw the Japanese girl crying inconsolably, other times the girl, in an act of desperation and depression, committed suicide in front of her, and on the worst nights, Akko disappeared and in her place was her mother, crying with shame for the daughter she had in front of her.

Adding to this, there was not a day when she wasn't needed for something. It could be a teacher or any student; there was always a stressful activity waiting for her daily, clearly adding the letters from Aunt Daryl that gave the final push to the snowball that was growing uncontrollably.

And she couldn't do anything, or so she saw it.

.

.

Diana was truly at her limit, but as always, she didn't show it to people. On the outside, she continued to be the same prodigy student everyone admired and followed as an example. Absolutely no one, not even her roommates, had realized that she was crumbling little by little and that if she continued this way, her fate would be the same as her parents', as hard as that sounded.

In fact, she was already starting to feel it. At such a young age, she began experiencing small glimpses of daily mental fatigue, difficulty breathing, and sometimes her muscles would fail.

Each time she undressed to bathe in the mornings, she noticed herself a little thinner, and occasionally some bruises wouldn't heal quickly, leaving a mark for several days.

And that wasn't the worst part. Due to her mental instability, there were moments when she was alone and her mind clouded over, and another person took control of her body. This entity only brought her to a state of peace, but at a great cost - her own well-being. It could be through small cuts on the sides or through the sleeves where no one would notice, and each time they were deeper, the sensation was stronger, more addictive.

When she came back to herself, her surroundings were a complete mess, and a feeling of repulsion hit her hard, forcing her to run to a bathroom to vomit.

.

.

In one of those many attacks, she almost got discovered. She was running desperately through the dark hallways of Luna Nova at night, and upon seeing the bathroom sign, she entered in desperation and locked herself in the first stall she noticed. Immediately, everything from dinner came out, and her body spasmed from the sensation, accompanied by small chills running from the soles of her feet to her head.

When she finally finished, she stood up and, turning her face away to avoid the mess, flushed the toilet, took some toilet paper, and cleaned herself as best as she could. Feeling a bit more comfortable, she left the place, and as she reached the bathroom corridor, she came face to face with a girl. The girl looked at her in surprise from head to toe, and without recognizing her, asked,

"O-hey, are you okay?"

She averted her face without responding, hoping that maybe by some miracle her condition would not be noticed, but her uniform and the clearly visible red marks betrayed her.

"..."

"Er, U-m, do you need help?"

With evident nervousness and some tears spilling from her eyes, Diana finally managed to respond,

"N-no, t-thank you." After giving that response, she quickly fled the place, hoping that the darkness of the night would hide her from everyone.

.

.

.

.

It was the morning of a new day at Luna Nova, and Diana was already patrolling the corridors of the school, her first duty before she could have breakfast and go to class.

That day had started relatively well so far. When she left her room, there was no one waiting to ask or request something from her, and that night, although she could not sleep peacefully, there were no nightmares to add another trauma to her list.

Walking through the corridors was becoming a therapy she truly enjoyed. The silence, along with the changing lighting, was something that relaxed her, and that was the dangerous part - she could never let herself relax.

Suddenly, her vision started to blur, and she felt her body losing strength progressively. She saw the corridors stretching out for no reason, and as she collapsed to the floor in slow motion, a dark shadow approached her slowly while a voice in the distance called out to her,

"Diana…"

"…Diana,"

Enveloping everything in deep darkness.