Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1 : Diana’s prediction

    Diana sighed while exiting Professor Finneran’s office. As if her exam week hadn’t been long enough, now she had to replace a professor for their night patrol. She thought she could relax a bit and enjoy a tranquil evening with Hannah and Barbara, but her plans were now out the window. She knew the Principal would have asked someone else if she could, but Luna Nova had reduced its staff to the bare minimum because of the false debt the dragon Fafnir had asked of them and since all the professors were already busy, she didn’t have any other choice than asking this service of the best student in school. As she was ready to go back to her dorm room to tell her teammates and prepare herself for the patrol, the blonde heard someone call her :

“Diana ! Good timing, I was hoping I could talk to you. Do you have a minute ?”

  The blonde hold back another sigh while turning around to face Professor Ursula. The young woman’s request was surprising : unlike the other teachers -especially Finneran-, Ursula usually didn’t go up to her student to talk to her outside of the classroom. To be honest, out of all of the school’s teachers, Ursula certainly was the most “indifferent” to Diana : without being hostile in any way, she didn’t show the same admiration and expectation of perfection from the blonde as the other professors. For that, the young prodigy was thankful : it had been a long time since she last had the sensation to be a student like any other in the eyes of a teacher. She appreciated the praises and was aware and proud of her abilities, but it didn’t stop her from feeling a bit crushed under the weight of her responsibilities as well as her reputation and her family’s. Knowing that at least one person in the whole world didn’t expect her to be absolutely perfect at any hour of the day or night and wouldn’t judge her if she, unfortunately, was to make a single mistake made her feel better. Becoming aware that she still didn’t answer her teacher, Diana wiped those thoughts away and asked :

“How can I help you, professor ?”

  Ursula smiled at her with a softness and a motherly look which brought the surprising desire of an embrace in Diana’s heart. Preposterous : it had been a long time since she last hugged someone. Even when her teammates pressed themselves against her to celebrate a success, it was brief and she never returned their affections -not that she didn’t like them, but she was a bit ill-at-ease when it came to this kind of demonstration, even if she would never admit it. Mentally shaking herself to focus on the blue haired woman, Diana prepared herself to answer any request that might be brought to her attention.

*

*      *

    Akko had already spent half an hour scouring the hallways in search of Professor Ursula. She wanted to properly thank her mentor for defending her in the Headmistress office and so she took advantage of a trip to the city with her friends to celebrate the end of the exams to buy her a dessert as a sign of gratitude. Unfortunately, the young woman was nowhere to be found, neither in her classroom, nor her chambers, nor any other place the brunette could think of. Releasing a huge sigh, Akko resigned herself to turn around and bring her the cake later this evening, when her teacher will be back in her quarters. It brought her near the hallway where Professor Finneran’s office was located. Just thinking about the barely covered attacks and insults of her elder made Akko cringe. She was brought back from her dark thoughts by two familiar voices coming from said hallway. Popping out her head to confirm her doubts, Akko smiled at seeing that she wasn’t mistaken : Ursula was right there, talking with Diana. Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, Akko readied herself to step back to give her some intimacy ; the boring discussions on the complicated details of the lessons Diana often had with the teachers didn’t interest her anyway -especially since she usually didn’t understand a lot of what was going on. But one sentence from Ursula caught her attention and made her change her mind :

“During your astrology exam, you read Akko’s future, but what you pretended to have seen has nothing to do with what you really saw, has it ? May I know why you lied ?”

  Her jaw dropping at the mere idea of Diana lying during her exam -to say she would be expelled at that !-, Akko decided to hide behind the wall and listen to her classmate’s reasons.

*

*      *

    Diana tensed up upon hearing Ursula’s question -which sounded more like an affirmation by the way. Of course. The young woman’s clumsiness often made her forget it, but Ursula was a teacher at Luna Nova, meaning a highly-qualified witch in her field : it went without saying that she was able to read the signs Diana’s magic gave to her, enough at least to know that her prediction had nothing to do with Akko’s expulsion. For the second time in two minutes, Diana held back a sigh : strangely enough, the idea of Ursula reprimanding her was even more painful than the one of deceiving any other teacher in school, even Finneran. Perhaps because the young woman was usually so sweet ? Whatever it was, it would be better if she just told the truth and ended it as soon as possible. So she took a deep breath and said :

“It is not a secret for anyone that Akko admires Shiny Chariot more than anything else.”

  Ursula seemed to be surprised by the change of topic, but she let her student keep going.

“If there was anything or anyone able to encourage our walking disaster to surpass herself for the exams, it would have been her idol. But she disappeared many years ago. So the best option after the inspiring idol is the rival you want to defeat at any cost, isn’t it ? I just thought I could use this opportunity to make her study seriously. It seems reasonable to think that if I encouraged her by saying that she will succeed, she would ride on this and not study, but if, on the contrary, I predicted her failure, she would do anything she could to contradict me.

- I see. Yes, I imagine the idea of proving you wrong get her back on her feet after her bad results at her exams and Professor Finneran’s threat.”

    Diana who had looked away after ending her explanation for fear to see disappointment on her teacher’s face looked back up to Ursula. The young woman was smiling at her with the same usual softness and a spark of amusement in her eyes. Diana immediately relaxed and breathed again, noticing at the same time that she stopped breathing while waiting for the young woman’s reaction. Relief brought a tiny smile to her lips which soon became a little laugh Ursula almost immediately replicated. After a few moments spent giggling while picturing Akko throwing herself on her books, swearing to prove that Diana was wrong, teacher and student calmed down, even though their lips were still stretched in an amused smile. Diana seemingly being in a good mood, Ursula decided to ask the second question who had been bothering her since the exam day :

“Well, since your prediction didn’t have anything to do with Akko’s exclusion, would you tell me what you saw ?”

  Diana opened her mouth to answer when she saw from the corner of her eye a movement at the end of the hallway. There, behind the wall, she noticed a piece of uniform belonging to a student with a belt a beautiful ruby red. Guessing the person’s identity, Diana smiled with tenderness, looked back to her teacher and simply said :

“That she will fulfil her dream.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 : Akko is in a teasing mood

  Akko had a hard time not jumping out of joy : she wouldn’t be expelled ! She had sent a teacher down the drain and failed all of her tests, but she wouldn’t be expelled ! She could still study at Luna Nova and become like Chariot ! She wanted to laugh and jump like the first day of school when she miraculously appeared in front of everyone during the Headmistress’ opening speech.

  Lotte and Sucy went to ask the members of Green Team if they wanted to celebrate the end of exams and Akko not leaving the school with them in town ; their teammate was in charge of asking permission to go out for the six students -a formality, but still necessary. Since the responsible agreed, Akko was heading towards the main entrance of the school when she remembered leaving her wand in her dorm room after her meeting with the Headmistress. Cursing herself for being so forgetful, Akko turned around and prepared to go back up the stairs leading to the dorms to retrieve the precious object.

*

*       *

    Diana sighed after reading the first few words of the letter her aunt sent to her. Since the exams ended two days earlier for her since she didn’t take the witchcraft’s philosophy class with Professor Pisces, she was expecting a letter from her family when she woke up that day to congratulate her for her perfect marks. It didn’t keep her from feeling a wave of irritation with a hint of sadness upon reading the letter without finding any question like the ones regularly appearing in her classmates’ mail : “How are you ?”, “Did you make new friends ?”, “Do you like your teachers ?”, “Are you getting along with your classmates ?”, etc… As if her aunt was only interested in her results and nothing else. A sad smile stretched the blonde’s lips : it wasn’t just an impression. Since her mother’s death, her aunt had closed off, became colder and never took an interest in anything else than her abilities, her knowledge, her results and what she could gain from it ever again. Diana knew she was making her family proud, but she sometimes had a hard time believing they still cared for her for something else than her talent.

    So caught up in her dark thoughts, the young prodigy started to go down the stairs leading to the main entrance and failed to notice one of her classmates taking the same path, but in the opposite direction. She would soon pay the price for this negligence…

*

*       *

    Akko raised her head upon hearing other footsteps than her own. Diana was going down the stairs, lost in thought, a sheet of paper having visibly been folded then unfolded in her hands. A letter perhaps ? Not that it really interested her, but it was the first time she saw Diana with such an absent look on her face. Curious, she went up the stairs a bit faster, walked past her classmate while tilting her face to the side to see her better, but didn’t get any reaction. Intrigued and a bit annoyed at being ignored, Akko thought of a way to make the beautiful blonde pay attention to her. Suddenly, her joyful mood brought out her teasing tendencies and gave her an idea. Quickly going down the stairs, passing Diana by -the blonde still not noticing her-, Akko positioned herself a few steps ahead of her classmate, just in front of her, flexed her knees a bit and prepared her hands like a goal keeper would in a soccer game. When Diana, still unaware of the danger, put her foot on the step just before Akko, the brunette caught the blonde at the waist while screaming and lifted her in the air, making the young witch squeal in surprise and horror. Akko laughed upon hearing Diana’s adorable reaction and turned on herself, still holding her classmate up in the air and making her release a few more little screams. Feeling her head starting to spin, Akko stopped and carefully put Diana back down, a huge smile sticking to her face. Feeling her own head spinning, the blonde put her hands on Akko’s shoulders to use her as a support, not noticing that she let her letter fall to the ground in the confusion caused by her classmate’s surprise attack.

    Akko couldn’t help but laugh upon seeing Diana’s disoriented look. The blonde quickly recovered and shot the brunette a glare while asking :

“May I know what has gotten into you ?!”

  Akko just smiled and answered :

“You were so lost in thought, I couldn’t resist. C’mon, don’t make such a face, you liked it, didn’t you ?”

  Not wiping her pout -that Akko found absolutely adorable- from her face, but also not denying, Diana made a remark :

“You seem awfully happy, even more than usual. Seeing the kind of idea it gives you, I am not sure it is a good thing…”

  Akko laughed again : for once, Diana wasn’t really convincing with her eyes sparkling with amusement and her lip corners almost imperceptibly lifted up. Still smiling, she exclaimed :

“I won’t be expelled ! I sent Professor Pisces down the drain, but then I went to search her with Lotte and Sucy and I saved a family of rare fishes, which made me succeed my witchcraft’s philosophy test and made me win a prize so Professor Finneran can’t expel me !”

  Diana was left slack-jawed. Akko’s “explanation” didn’t really help her understand how her classmate escaped exclusion, especially if she really sent a professor down the drain, but she still smiled : after all, the details weren’t really important and she would feel bad if she spoiled Akko’s joyful mood with her questions. She decided to congratulate her classmate instead :

“I am happy for you, Akko. It would have really been a shame if you were expelled before you had any chance to get better and prove yourself.”

  Akko’s smile got even bigger, warming up Diana’s heart. She was sincere : Akko’s exam results didn’t show her incompetence, but the lack of consideration from their teachers : how could they expect a student born in a normal family to immediately be able to do the same things as students born in witch families and having grown up surrounded by magic ? What kind of person would expect to see Akko casting spells like her classmates when the Japanese girl, unlike them, had never held a real wand or ridden a broom before attending Luna Nova ?

  Not only did no one, save for Professor Ursula, try to help Akko, but the other teachers also didn’t even take this disadvantage into account and tried to judge her in consequence.

  Diana did not only want to become a great witch, she also wanted to restore her community’s honour and pride : remind the whole world that magic was an art and far from a useless one, that it was fascinating, wonderful and intriguing, no matter what said the old witches and wizards as stuck up as Luna Nova’s teachers or the condescending statesmen leading the country. She didn’t want to make shows like Akko, but make magic interesting again for the humans, educate them to remind them that this art was far from absurd or outdated. In fact, Akko could help her by amazing humans with her shows… But no matter if she succeeded or not, Diana was determined to make the magical education more accessible for young humans and that meant a complete overhaul of Luna Nova’s programs to adapt them to students coming from the non-magical world. If you just think ten seconds, the mere idea of letting someone who never had the chance to learn how to talk to animals take tests of crow language or take a class being taught by a fish… It was simply aberrant.

  So yes, Diana Cavendish will become a great witch, take the place of Headmistress of Luna Nova and reform magical education. It was time to make a serious overhaul of the school’s programs-

“Di-a-na !”

  The young blonde was suddenly pulled away from her thoughts by Akko’s voice and noticed that her classmate’s face was only a few inches shy from her own. With a little surprised -and very embarrassing- squeal, Diana took a step back while trying to talk.

“W-What ?!

- You were thinking of something again, I’ve called you three times already ! You deserve to be punished…”

  Akko’s smile while saying that made the witch shiver and prepare herself for the worst… But she was still surprised by the sudden wave of hilarity that overcame her when Akko started to tickle her. She quickly backed away, but the irreversible had already happened : she let a little laugh escape. Akko was so surprised that she let Diana escape and now watched the blonde as if she just transformed into an alien. Now with her guard up, Diana asked her classmate :

“W-Why are you looking at me like that ?

- … You laughed.

- … Wasn’t that what you wanted ? You were the one who started to tickle me, were you not ?

- That was so cute !

- W-What ?!”

    Akko had now the excited look of a child on Christmas. Diana even thought she saw little stars in her eyes.

“Oooh, Diana ! I never thought your laugh could be so cuuute ! Do it again !

- N-No ! Akko, you are ridiculous !

- Haa, you don’t want to ? Then, I’ll have to help you a little…”

    While Akko raised her hands in a threatening way, a hungered smile on her lips, Diana felt her blood freezing in her veins. She had to escape, and quickly…

    Without a second thought, she started running up the stairs, quickly followed by Akko who screamed :

“You won’t escape, Diana !”

And indeed, the blonde didn’t escape. Diana would never have thought that Akko could be so fast, but at the top of the stairs, she had really been caught up to, and in every way : Akko now held her in her arms, her chest against the blonde’s back and she tickled her classmate without any mercy. The poor Miss Cavendish was splitting her sides laughing, mainly because of the treatment Akko made her endure, but also a bit from the excitement of the chase. It had been years since she last participated in such activities and Akko’s hands, which were running on her sides, her belly and her ribs without mercy, making her gasp and laugh at each passing, were as much of a curse as a blessing : she felt free, this little, childish pleasure progressively lifting all of the stress from the last weeks.

    Unfortunately, she quickly started panting and soon had trouble breathing. Akko stopped her attacks, but kept Diana in her arms, firmly pressed against her, so the blonde doesn’t fall to the ground, her legs now too weak to support her. None of the girls needed to see the other to know that they both had a delighted smile and a joyful spark in their eyes.

    Diana turned around in Akko’s arms to embrace her and use her as a support while hiding her face in the brunette’s neck. Akko’s smell was both strong and soft and reminded her of milk chocolate and the red berries growing up in her garden, a reassuring smell, almost as reassuring as the surprisingly strong arms encircling her waist. Diana let out a sigh of relief. Any other day, she would have moved away as soon as possible and would have chastised Akko for her childish behaviour. But not today. Not when the girl brought back her smile after reading her aunt’s letter. Not when the brunette’s joyous mood did her so much good. Not when she desperately needed warmth and human touch. A human touch she could only have with too few people.

    Akko seemed to understand the feelings going through her classmate. She squeezed her a little tighter and hid her face in Diana’s neck too, taking a deep breath, inhaling the blonde’s citrus scent mixed with a light smell of tea and old books. Diana may be her rival -even though Akko was the only one to see their relationship like that-, she may have scolded the brunette for her mistakes a few times, but Akko knew, deep inside, that the blonde was a good person and only did what she thought to be right, no matter what Amanda said. They didn’t agree often, but Akko respected her classmate and appreciated her, even if she didn’t say so a lot -or rather she never did. An embrace didn’t hurt anyone and if it could help Diana, Akko would hold her for hours without any hesitation.

    Unfortunately, the peaceful moment was broken by Amanda’s impatient voice calling for Akko from the bottom part of the stairs. The girls reluctantly separated from each other and shared a look. No words were needed, just a smile and they went their separate ways, Diana going to the first floor, reminding Amanda that she shouldn’t scream in the hallways before taking her letter back while Akko ran to her dorm room to retrieve her wand and then joined her friends for their trip. The rest of the afternoon went normally for the two witches, between laughs, drinks and good food for one and tea, books and light conversations for the other. But, that night, when the two teenagers went to bed, neither could help but think about their meeting that afternoon, their embrace and the strange feelings they felt at this moment.

    They both fell asleep with a smile on their lips.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 : Night tea

    With a sigh, Professor Anne Finneran signed the last paper of the pile which kept her busy all evening. It wasn’t always an easy job to be the Principal of a magic school, especially when the Headmistress was as frivolous as Miranda Holbrooke. Upon seeing the easy-going old woman who, clearly, lost all sense of reality after the first 150 years of her life, no one could imagine that she was one of the best witches alive. But, of course, being a good witch didn’t help in doing paperwork, task that the Headmistress was utterly incompetent for, which often led to the Principal and Magical History and Languages teacher doing the dirty job.

    The brown-haired woman held back another sigh : as if it wasn’t enough, she had to share the chambers of three of her students until the end of the week and, unfortunately, they weren’t the calmest. Teaching them to behave like proper witches, proud and distinguished, wasn’t an easy task. But it was precisely because the three girls -and especially one of them- lacked manners that she had to show them how to correct their attitudes and do justice to their school.

    Deciding that a cup of tea would do her good before going to bed, the teacher went out of her office and headed to the kitchens. Outside, the night had fallen and everything was still. The students were in their dormitories and even the fairies taking care of the school’s maintenance were resting. Delighted to be able to enjoy the silence, Finneran took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, letting go part of the stress accumulated throughout the day. Nothing was better than the night’s peace for one to feel appeased as well.

    Being lost in her thoughts, footsteps coming from an adjacent hallway almost made the teacher jump. Surprised, she waited to see who it was before making any remark. A light smile appeared on her face when her gaze met the beautiful blue eyes of her favourite student : Diana Cavendish, the most talented witch she’s ever seen. Not only was the girl very clever and totally in control of her magic, but she also worked very hard, to a point that she was way ahead on the school’s programs. If Diana hadn’t asked to have a normal schooling, Finneran wouldn’t have hesitated to make her pass tests usually reserved to last year students as soon as she entered high school : the woman knew that the prodigy would have had perfect scores in every subject. But she also understood that the heiress wanted to enjoy her student years and spend time with her friends. Diana may be a prodigy, the school’s and her family’s pride and joy, but she was still a girl who should be able to think about something else than her studies. Thinking about it, the teacher felt a bit guilty to ask for her help so often, but, unfortunately, she didn’t really have a choice. So for now, she kept her smile and warmly greeted the blonde :

“Good evening, Diana. Are you taking a stroll ?

- Good evening, Professor. Not really, I just ended my researches at the library, so I thought about drinking a cup of tea in the kitchens before going to bed.”

    Well, that explained why the girl was still in her school uniform at this hour. Finneran smiled and carried on :

“Well, what a coincidence, I just had the same idea. May I join you ?”

  Diana smiled as well before answering :

“Of course.”

  Student and teacher then proceeded to walk side-by-side, alternating between comfortable silence and light conversations until they arrived near the kitchens. But as they walked towards their destination, they were surprised to notice light and noise coming from the half-opened door. Finneran thought to herself that a lot of people stayed up that night and it took her a few seconds to remember that it was the full moon. Perhaps it was part of the explanation for this unusual nocturnal activity : after all, witches had always been particularly sensible to the phases of the moon.

  As they were getting closer to the half-opened door, the noises became more distinct and Finneran made a face when she finally put a name on the voice she was hearing : Atsuko Kagari, the most difficult student she’s ever had. The Principal had still trouble understanding why Headmistress Holbrooke decided to keep the Japanese girl : she clearly was nothing like a real witch, no matter what Professor Ursula said. Not feeling up to the task of handling the phenomenon when she was already tired from her long day, Finneran thought about turning around and go back to her usual chambers to take her tea before going back to red team’s dorm room for the night, but Diana didn’t give her the time to put this plan into action : knocking on the door as to not surprise her classmate and the person she was talking to, the blonde pushed the wooden board, revealing a kitchen still in order -surprising, knowing who was using it that night- as well as two people : the turbulent Atsuko and her mentor, Ursula Callistis, sitting across the table, both still wearing their student and teacher uniforms respectively. The younger girl’s clothes were dirty, probably the result of another magical disaster that occurred during their training session that evening.

  Upon seeing her classmate, Atsuko’s smile grew wider and she brutally stood up from her chair, almost screaming :

“Diana ! What are you doing here ? Coming for a night snack ?”

  The malicious look on the brunette’s face while pronouncing those words could have been funny if she hadn’t been wiggling her eyebrows at the same time. Finneran didn’t even try to hold back the exasperated sigh that her student’s attitude inspired her, which drew her colleague’s attention upon herself.

“Oh, Professor Finneran, you wanted to drink something too before going to bed ? You really work hard.

- I would say the same to you, Professor Ursula. You have some merit to use your free time to tutor this walking disaster.”

    Atsuko pouted upon hearing her elder’s comment and replied :

“Hey, I haven’t made anything explode tonight ! That’s a progress !

- You’re right Akko, you’ve done a good job, praised Ursula.

- So the next step is to actually succeed in your spell-casting ? asked Diana with a smirk.”

    Finneran was surprised : she didn’t think the two students were close enough for Diana to tease the brunette. But it seemed like she was wrong since Atsuko pouted again while complaining :

“Not you too, Dianaaaa ! Let me enjoy my progreeeess !”

  Such a child. But the prodigy surprised her teacher once more by letting a slight giggle escape and patting her classmate’s head to be forgiven.

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry.”

  The brown-haired girl smiled and, without warning, took hold of the heiress’ shoulders and made her sit on a chair just next to her while saying :

“To punish you for mocking me, you have to sit here and drink my tea ! You’ll be so in awe of my talent to prepare tea that you’ll never dare tease me ever again !”

  Diana chuckled upon hearing that, but let the girl do as she pleases and stayed at her place while Atsuko fussed over a new teapot, Ursula and her having apparently already drank all the tea from the previous one.

  Finneran took a sit next to her colleague, but couldn’t stop herself from telling the Japanese girl :

“I hope the result will be better than during your concentration and control exercise.”

  The teacher will never forget the cup of tea and the scones that were thrown at her face that day. She saw Ursula hiding a smile behind her hand at the same time that Diana coughed a little -no, her favourite student was certainly not hiding a laugh, it was simply ridiculous- and Atsuko’s cheeks started to turn to red -from anger or embarrassment ? She was unable to tell with the Japanese girl. Just after that, Atsuko shouted :

“It was an accident ! And my tea was good, it was the “magical transport” part that had a problem.

- Of course, of course… I still want to warn you that if you make us ill, you will clean Professor Lukic’s potion utensils : cauldrons, tubes, ladles… Each and every one of them !

- Keh ! Don’t worry, Professor, I’m the Queen of jasmine tea !

- Oh, really ? asked Diana, smirking again.”

    Noticing her classmate’s amused expression, Atsuko started to tell everything about her prowess in tea making, from the time where she made some for her mother’s friends to her uncle’s birthday where her aunt, a big fan of animated series, gave her the nickname “Iroh” referring to the firebender and tea lover in Avatar : The Last Airbender. The brown-haired girl’s big gestures and exaggerated faces made the blonde smile and laugh while still listening attentively to her classmate’s funny anecdotes while the teachers were completely disconnected from the conversation, but each for different reasons. While Finneran was wondering -once again- what she would ever do with this excited ball of energy, Ursula leaned towards her to whisper :

“First loves are really cute, don’t you think ?”

  Luckily, the oldest of the two didn’t have a cup of tea in her hands yet or else, she would have dropped it from the shock. She turned to her colleague, praying to have misunderstood or for it to be a joke, but Ursula seemed to be totally serious. Noticing her elder watching her like she was crazy, the young woman leaned towards her again to explain her thought better :

“Look attentively : Akko is purposefully acting as a fool and emphasizing the most funny parts of her story. Despite that, Diana is listening to her religiously with a tender gaze contrasting with her amused smile. And when Diana laughs, Akko’s eyes sparkle and she looks proud.”

  Albeit doubtful, Finneran payed more attention to her students’ interactions and was soon forced to admit that her colleague was telling the truth. The two teenagers seemed to have forgotten their teachers’ presence and sent each other love-struck gazes and tender smiles in turn.

  The alarm made them come back to reality. Atsuko quickly took back her role of official tea maker and took the tea ball out of the teapot before serving everyone a cup. Her task completed, she sat back in her chair, but Finneran noticed that she was now a lot closer to Diana, their shoulders almost touching. The blonde didn’t seem to be bothered by that, on the contrary ; she even crossed her legs under the table, taking advantage of the movement to shift even closer to the brunette who looked absolutely delighted.

  In fifty years of teaching, Anne Finneran had rarely seen two students as different from each other as those two were. The last pair was ten years ago and even then, they had some common points despite their completely different marks in class. While bringing her tea cup to her lips, the teacher thought to herself that, even if she didn’t believe that a potential relationship between the two would lead to anything, the two girls in front of her were rather cute together.

  Finneran’s eyes widened upon feeling her tea spread in her mouth. It was delicious ! She took a look at Atsuko smiling to Diana while the blonde congratulated her for her preparation, an impressed expression on her face.

  In the end, the teacher thought, she could also be wrong from time to time.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 : What am I going to do with her ?

“You’re doing this all wrong.”

  Atsuko Kagari pouted upon hearing her professor’s comment, but didn’t say anything so she wouldn’t, on top of that, have to go through a lesson about respect and good manners. Anne Finneran appreciated this change, but regretted that she had to threaten her student of depriving her of dessert to get the girl to finally settle down and start acting like a dignified witch. “Start” being the key-word : there was still a very long way to go.

“This spell requires focus, Miss Kagari. Shaking your wand while screaming the formula won’t be enough to make this book fly.

- I know and I focus ! But it still doesn’t work !

- Focus more !”

    Professor Finneran sighed while her student -pouting again- got back to work. Professor Ursula had to go in a neighbouring town for some errands ordered by the Headmistress, leaving to her elder the task to help the young Atsuko master the levitation spell Professor Badcock tried -in vain- to teach her at the beginning of the week. Honestly, it was a basic spell that even a child could cast ; without talking about making a dozen books as large as her arm fly, it shouldn’t be too hard for a teenager to make a little 200 pages book get off the floor. But the young brunette was perfectly unable to do so. After a quarter hour of effort, the little book still hasn’t moved from its place on the floor. Seeing this, Finneran wondered, for the umpteenth time since the beginning of the year, what Atsuko Kagari was doing here at Luna Nova. She had to admit that Professor Ursula’s passionate outburst in the Headmistress’ office, almost a week ago, made her think and change her view on Atsuko, but even if the girl’s determination was admirable, all her efforts caused more problems than anything else. Really, the school -and Atsuko herself- would be far better off if the girl went back to a human school.

    Finneran had read the new student’s record : she had excellent marks in biology in her previous school, one of the few classes which seemed to have caught her interest with language classes and volleyball, an activity that brought her to the national tournament two years in a row ; the teacher had a hard time understanding why her student preferred to chase a childish dream inspired by an illusionist instead of pursuing regular studies or keep playing volleyball, both choices being far more logical in light of her abilities in both fields. It was simply ridiculous. Instead of being reasonable and still take a path that she seemed to like, Atsuko kept trying to learn something she clearly had no talent for. Perhaps she should try to talk to her, but not in the same, hard and almost insulting manner she had been using so far. Maybe another approach could open the girl’s eyes ? Finneran didn’t like the idea of seeing a child spoiling her future, so any method was good to make her student see the truth.

“Miss Kagari, could you please tell me why you enrolled in Luna Nova ?

- Huh ?

- I find it strange that a girl gifted in both science and sports enrols in a school teaching something she knows absolutely nothing about, even more so in a foreign country. You were aware you would be at a great disadvantage compared to your classmates, were you not ? So why did you chose this path instead of studying biology or becoming a professional volleyball player ? I know your wonderful feats in the national tournament during your middle school years put you on the list of the Japanese hopes for the Olympic Games, so it shouldn’t have been too hard for you to take this path, am I right ?

- You probably are, but my goal is to become like Chariot ! A witch that brings wonder to adults as well as children ! So of course, I had to come to Luna Nova, it’s the only magic school in the world ! And since one of my neighbours back in Japan is English and taught me the language, it isn’t too hard for me to study here.

- Even then, Shiny Chariot is far from a good example. She isn’t even worth to be called a witch. If you want to follow this path to look like someone, you could at least chose your model a bit better ! There is a lot of great witches far more interesting and amazing than Chariot who, unlike her, brought something to the magical world instead of making fun of it.”

    Atsuko looked at her teacher for a few moments, a confused expression on her face, as if Finneran didn’t understand something that seemed obvious to the young Japanese. Then she asked, eyes full of sincere curiosity :

“But did they make anyone smile ?”

  Surprised by the question, Finneran stammered a bit before trying to calm down, cleared her throat to regain her composure and finally ask :

“What do you mean by that ?

- Exactly what I asked : did the witches you are talking about make someone smile ? Did their researches bring joy to a sad person ?”

    Once again, Finneran didn’t know what to answer to that, giving Atsuko all the time she needed to expose her ideas :

  “I don’t doubt that those researches were interesting for the witches, maybe because it helped them to understand magic a bit more or something like that, but in the end, it didn’t make the world better. No one found or fulfilled a dream thanks to them, no one made friends because Elisabeth Hemington charted the world’s Leylines, no one felt happy by thinking about the conference where Jane Cook presented her last theory about the evolution of magic in the Middle East. Shiny Chariot gave me a dream. I came here, at Luna Nova, to fulfil it and I made a lot of friends. Every day is more exciting than the previous one ! And I am still in awe when I see Chariot’s show’s record or I read her cards, just like ten years ago ! I want to become this kind of witch too : give a dream, happiness and hope to someone, like Chariot did to me ! What could possibly be magic’s purpose if not to make people happy ?”

    At the end of her improvised speech, Atsuko’s eyes were shining even brighter than usual and Finneran couldn’t find her voice. After a little while, she gave up on the idea to answer the girl’s -rhetoric- question and just nodded, which seemed to be enough for her student who immediately went back to work.

    Professor Finneran didn’t know what to believe anymore. Yes, Chariot was a shame for the magical community, but the passion she inspired in Atsuko was real, as well as the brunette’s happiness each time she learned -or rather tried to learn- a new spell. Incredible, but true : Atsuko Kagari was making her professor doubt not only Chariot’s title of absolute shame in her mind, but also the girl’s abilities. Her reflexion was far more profound than Finneran would have thought it to be, way too much so for the dunce her student was usually seen as. Was Atsuko smarter than she appeared to be ?

“Professor, professor ! Look ! I did it !”

  The girl’s scream stopped Finneran’s train of thoughts and brought her back to the real world : indeed, the little book was levitating a good meter above the ground, as per the adult’s instructions. And the young Japanese’s smile didn’t leave any doubt about her happiness and proudness at finally mastering the spell. She didn’t wait to expand on the wonderful idea that finally allowed her to reach this result :

“In fact, it’s just like the transformation spell, you just need to find the right image in your mind and after that, it becomes super easy ! I’m sure with a bit of training, I’ll be able to make a whole bookcase fly !”

  Image ? What in the world was Atsuko talking about ? Finneran would have asked the question, but her instinct told her that she wasn’t be able to accept the -most likely weird- explanation her student would give her, so she gave up, thinking to herself that having the girl succeeding in her spell casting was already good enough of a result for that day. It would be useless to, on top of that, try to understand how Atsuko Kagari’s strange mind worked. She clearly wasn’t paid well enough for that.