*Knock* *Knock*
After the third or so times, Akko finally got out of her bed, peeved that she was woken up in the middle of the night. She put on her Luna Nova jacket after noticing it had gotten cold due to the brewing storm outside. Her visitor then knocked again, as she got to the door.
“Yeah, Yeah I’m Coming!” She brashly opened the door, very irritated from this wake up call, “Where’s the fi---”
She couldn’t finish that sentence, shocked to see who was standing in front of her door visibly soaking from head to toe.
“DIANA!!??”
*5 Minutes Later*
After being dragged in instantly by Akko into her home, Diana was sitting on the living room couch waiting for her friend to return.
“Sorry, about this intrusion Akko” Diana Apologized as she was drying her hair out with the towel Akko gave her, “Hannah and Barbara left for the theater a while ago, they borrowed my keys to our dorm room as they misplaced theirs and couldn’t find them in time.”
“Nah, it’s ok Diana!” Akko replied from the kitchen, “ I’d be glad to help my friends anytime, anywhere!”
“I thought they’d be back by the time i got back from my studies at the library, but then this storm appeared” Diana Continued to explain, “ I was sure the forecasts said it would be clear the whole day”
“Well we live in a world of magic, crazy things can happen i guess” Akko returned with a tray of hot mugs of Cocoa
“Cocoa?” She offered with her trademark smile
Moments later the two luna nova girls chat away drinking their cocoa as the storm goes on
Akko and Dianna laughing together while recounting some moments in their early years at Luna Nova
“I’ll never forgive Sucy for having me go through her head again!” Akko complained, annoyed written all over her face as Dianna tried to stifle her giggles at her friend while drinking from her cup, “Even with Lotte’s help it was still a nightmare, I mean how could there be more SUCYS and MUSHROOMS IT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL!!! Ughh”
“It is Sucy after all” Dianna commented, “And it seems she trusts you a lot to get her out of a tough spot if she even still considered trying her potions on herself”
“I know that, but she’s still a pain in the neck! Even now she still tries to use me as a Guinea pig for her potions, sneaking them into my food when I aint looking.” Akko then chugs down her mug of cocoa in one go after
“Good thing lotte’s around to warn me or reprimand Sucy, she can be such a mom here”
“I can see that, otherwise things wouldn’t be as it is right now here” Dianna commented before realising what she implied, “Not saying that you’re that disorganized Akko or Sucy for that matter, it’s just that things don’t seem to stay constant with you three for a long time”
Akko laughed at that, “You could be right about that hahaha! I mean Sucy nearly made a potion that nearly blew up the hou- urk!”
“What?” Dianna’s look grew serious at the last part
“Um, nothing!” Akko turned away to hide her scared face from Dianna “Totally nothing bad was about to happen here, no ma’am!”
“I’ll take your word for it, Akko” Dianna dropped her glare and went on to finish her drink
‘That was close’ Akko thought as she brought her attention back to her guest
“By the way where are Lotte and Sucy?” Dianna asked as she placed her mug down, “It doesn’t look like they’re here right now”
“Oh those two went out, Sucy had errands and Lotte went to get that new book in her series, ya know the one that’s been around for centuries?”
“Night Fall if I wasn’t mistaken, I think Barbara is into the series also and Hannah too since they started going out”
“Yeah, that one, but if you ask me Sucy probably tagged along with Lotte first before going for her own stuff, I bet she’s been trying to read the series in her own time”
“Why is that?”
“Oh, Sucy’s been having a crush on Lotte for a while now” Akko’s face twisted at that and face palmed herself, “I should not have said that, Diana?”
“My lips are sealed Akko don’t you worry”
Akko sighed in relief and then she noticed the rain outside poured stronger
“The rain’s pouring harder now” Diana said with a worried look
Akko noticing this, did the most Akko thing she could do, blurt out words without thinking
“Diana, you know you can sleep here tonight if you want to ya know!”
Silence filled the air until it was followed with a reddening and steaming Akko who realized what she had said to her friend
“I-I mean not in that way ya know, it’s just that we have a spare bedroom here and that you can use and--” Akko then heard giggling, “ Uh Diana?”
Diana quickly stopped her giggles but her smile remained “Sorry Akko, it’s cute when you do that”
Silence filled the air once more and this time both girls in the room turned red
“Um I mean, I gladly accept your offer tonight, Akko, for the room I mean!” Diana quickly recovered herself a small blush remaining
“Oh uh, yeah, sure, I-I think I’ll go prepare it now, make yourself at home!” She quickly ran down the hall with still a very red face while Diana sighed and let loose the breath she’d been keeping in.
5 minutes later
Akko leads Diana down to their guest room at the edge of the hallway, both luna nova graduates still conscious about their earlier mishaps. Akko opens up the door and into the simple room, a single bed beside the window and in the corner of the room, a dresser and mirror.
“Hehe, sorry if this isn’t like your room in your dorm house Diana” Akko scratched the back of her head slightly embarrassed
“No no this is quite fine already Akko don’t you worry” Diana placed her hand on her friends shoulder trying to ease her worries, “Besides you’ve done a lot for me now, bringing me in and offering warm drinks this late, if anything I should apologise once more for this”
Akko smiled warmly to that but couldn’t help placing her hand on to the one on her shoulder
“And I’ll say it again and over and over if I need to, Diana, I’ll always be glad to help my friends, whenever and wherever, so don’t you worry about it!” Akko finished without flustering and with her ever bright smile.
Diana flashed her own smile, not as wide as her friends but enough to show she took her words to heart.
Akko’s heart jumped at that sight, not that she would admit it.
Suddenly a flash of light and loud thunder rattled the room, startling the both of them
“Wow, that was the biggest one tonight” Akko said in surprise, but she felt pressure on her shoulders and she felt the hand she held stiffen yet shaking slightly. She looked to Diana who looked frozen and had her eyes closed hard. Oh
“Diana? Are you…..” Akko asked but was cut off when she felt those azure eyes glare at her, embarrassment replacing the fear they once held
“Not one more word out of you Atsuko Kagari” She said with a slight temper in her tone, but quickly dialed down at the sudden aggression she displayed, “But yes, I’m not too comfortable with those kind of thunderstrikes, rare of those happened back home so I’m not too used to them”
“So you have thunder-phobia?” Akko bluntly stated but recoiled when Diana glared at her again for a second, “Ok not mentioning it again, sorry hehe”
“It’s alright, you can sum it up that way, it’s not a well known fact to many so it’s really embarrassing for others to see me like this” Diana explained blush tinting her cheeks
“My lips are sealed Diana, don’t ya worry” Akko replied, repeating her friends earlier words to her, smiling kindly.
At the back of Diana’s mind, she thought of another way to seal her friends lips, but that thought had been shot down hard.
“Anyways I believe the both of us should be going to sleep now, as late as it is now” Diana explained
“Oh alright, you going to be alright here alone?” Akko asked slight concern on her face
“I’ll be fine here don’t worry about it”
“Alright then, I’ll be next door if you need me then” Akko replied as she made her way out of the door, “Good Night Diana!”
“Good Night Akko” she waved back at her and then made her way to the bed and then trying to sleep despite the pouring outside
An hour later
Akko was still wide awake, much to her annoyance.
“Must be the cocoa, I’m sure of that” she said to herself
Unknowingly to her, her thoughts had been drifting to her friend next door in concern and all, wondering how she’s sleeping with her secret fear in mind. Her common sense tried to ease those trouble thoughts, trying to convince them Diana will be fine because she’s Diana! Then again when has her common sense won more than her instinctive mind?
Then another thunderbolt ripped through the sky, much larger than the last one.
Akko quickly sat up on her bed, ears on guard for any sound from the other room, readying herself to jump into action.
She stayed alert for the next couple of minutes and found nothing of concern from her friend. With the adrenaline fading she found herself tired and eased herself back onto the bed. Not soon after, her eyes slowly closed shut.
“Are you an idiot or something?” a small voice spoke in her head
“Huh?” she replied
“Are you not going over there yourself and not check on her?” a small akko spoke
“I didn’t hear anything now, she must be deep asleep” Akko replied to her small self
“You should know a lot about Diana at this point already big-me!” A small akko pointed out, “She’s the type to not want to burden her friends with her problems, remember that time when we followed her when she left Luna Nova?”
“You might be onto something there”
“I am your instincts after all”
“What happened to common sense?”
“Sleeping…..” Small Akko looked to the side and crossed her legs and placed her arms behind her and whistling
“Ok…...I’ll just check on her now, then we go to sleep”
Akko jumped off her bed carrying her pillow in her arms as she left her room for her friend’s
“Diana, you ok in there?” She asked while knocking
No reply
“Diana?” She knocked again
‘Enough’s enough’
She slowly turned the knob, knowing it was still unlocked, and quietly made her way in
She saw her friend’s form over the blanket and calmly breathing from the door, but Akko being a perceptive one, she saw the slight trembling from Diana’s body, as more of the rain poured and the smaller rumbles sounded every now and then.
Akko sighed knowing she can’t leave her friend like this and seeing there was enough room on the bed, she made her way to it and lied beside Diana, who gave no reaction. Akko brought the blanket over herself and tried to see if her friend will react once more and again no reaction.
Akko being considerate face away from Diana and tried to get some shut eye now, hoping her presence would calm Diana just a bit tonight. To her surprise however she felt the bed shift and soon felt her friend embracing her from behind.
“Thank you”
Akko heard the whisper unsure if Diana was awake or not and smiled, she reached for one of the hands embracing her, and soon after she herself fell asleep. Neither disturbed anymore by the storm outside and sleeping as if it was never there.
END