Chapter Text
Akko sat in class, astronomy class, tired. She was struggling not to dose off, while one of her favorite teachers turned out to be her idol after all, much of today's lesson was droning on to the poor girl.
A strange and out of place "tweet" noise surprised Akko, preventing her from falling asleep during class. In front of Akko was a small paper bird, animated with magic and given a sweet voice. The small bird looked directly at Akko, hopping in front of her and tilting its head to the side, Akko mirroring the paper bird before it unfolded itself and gently floated down to the desk. The note, written in careful handwriting and beautiful smudgeless ink, read:
Meet me in the philosophy classroom after school. Please bring only yourself, I need to talk with you in serious confidence.
-H
"That's weird," Akko commented.
"What does it say?" Lotte was very curious, asking without particularly realizing how nosy she was being.
"Who cares, it's not for either of us anyway," Sucy interrupted Lotte's questioning, indirectly pointing out to her friend how it was neither of their business.
"Oh, c'mon, aren't you a little bit curious?"
"No."
"I don't know who sent this, but they want to meet with me after school," while not prompted by Sucy, Akko shared with her friends the note, Lotte leaning over to scrutinize it, while Sucy decided not to pay attention.
Akko focused on the note for the rest of the afternoon, and while most would have put heavy consideration as to whether it was even a good idea to meet up with this mysterious person, Akko knew she would. And when the school's day ended, Akko slowly made her way to the philosophy classroom, Professor Pisces having already left with her daily work.
Akko opened the door only partially, leaning in to see who might be waiting for her, but she couldn't see who she was meeting with from here. She slowly moved herself into the classroom looking around to find whoever sent the note that asked her to come here. Though Akko couldn't see her, a certain student discreetly poked her head out from behind a desk, making sure it was the person she intended to meet with. The girl breathed in and out slowly, collecting herself.
"Hello, Akko." Akko yelped in response, nervous from not seeing who was speaking before hearing her.
Akko relaxed when she focused on who was speaking to her, "Oh, hi Hannah. Did you get a note to come here too?"
Hannah slapped her forehead, almost shocked and definitely embarrassed that Akko hadn't put two and two together, "Um, no, Akko. I was the one who sent you the note, I wanted to meet you here."
"Ohhhh, that makes more sense. Soooo, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Hannah drew in a breath and exhaled, summoning her courage, finally doing what she needed to do after all this time. "I-I wanted to apologize."
"Huh? Why?"
"What do you mean, 'Why?' I was terrible to you!" Hannah was shocked. Did Akko really brush off everything we did and said to her? I wouldn't have, but, Akko is… different. "I jus-just wanted to say I'm sorry. No. No, n-not just say 'I'm sorry.' everything I did and said to you, I-I just felt awful. I want you to believe it. I thought, maybe," at this point, Hannah was slowly losing her nerve, fiddling with her hands. She hadn't even asked Akko what she meant to, and yet she was already a stammering mess.
Hannah closed her eyes, slowing her breathing. I can do this "I thought, that, I-I could make it up to you. That maybe I could treat you to a nice time out, a-as friends." Hannah struggled to say the last part hoping to keep the somewhat casual air between the two of them. "I just need to know what time is good for you so if, maybe-"
"What about tonight?" Hannah was shocked, again. Tension filled with silence for only a second as Hannah looked at Akko. In that silence, Hannah was distracted, her thoughts whirling inside her head, her eyes traveling everywhere. Nervousness filled Hannah, but calming when she saw Akko, the smile patiently waiting for Hannah to respond.
"T-t-tonight?" Hannah truly did feel hopeless.
"Yeah! We could all have so much fun!" that sentence made Hannah panic. Nononononono.
"A-all? No, I-uh, this is more personal, a direct apology to you, Akko. I want to make this up to you, jus-just-just you." Hannah held her breath, waiting for Akko's response.
"Okay? Yeah! Tonight! Just the two of us!" Hannah couldn't believe it, it worked, but tonight? "Let me just get changed, I'll meet you at Full Moon Tower, okay?"
"O-Okay," and just like that, Akko left, returning to her dorm room to change for tonight.
The talk out of the way, now Hannah simply needed to finish planning for the night, and this was not going to be easy. However, Hannah's family had done nothing if not prepare her to make plans and use connections to make an impression on somebody. She knew what she would be doing for the most part, but planning and action are vastly different.
With everything set, Hannah was ready. Hannah followed Akko's lead and changed out of her uniform into something comfortably casual, a pair of blue short shorts, a frilly sleeveless yellow top, and a pair of baby blue flats. She knew what her plans for tonight were, but Akko did not and Hannah did not want to look too drastic from Akko, possibly pressuring Akko to change her mind. This needed to go just right.
It was evening and Hannah stood at the top of Full Moon Tower, watching the sun begin its descent as she waited for Akko. The sunset felt warm, a feeling Hannah was growing more used to, a warmth that reminded Hannah of the passion and bright friendliness that Akko seemed to exude.
"I'm here! Sorry, you must have been waiting here for a while. Sorry," Akko was slightly out of breath from her rush to the top of the tower.
"It's no trouble, Akko, really. I honestly wasn't waiting very long," Hannah tried to calm Akko down, this was supposed to repair the relationship. Hannah really couldn’t place any high expectations for the poor girl.
"So," Akko positioned herself over her broom, ready to fly to their destination, ready for a night on the town, "where to?"
"This flight is going to be a little longer than just the nearby town, they don't have the kind of place I want to take you. Just follow me." Hannah readied herself, looking behind herself to make sure Akko was ready. Akko nodded her head, letting Hannah know she was good to go. The two took off and flew to see what Hannah had in store for the evening.
Sure enough, the flight was long, like Hannah had said. When they arrived at the larger town nearby, Hannah and Akko walked toward their destination. They had made decent time on their flight and had time to look at the shops in town, Hannah had assured Akko that she would let her know when they would need to start moving again. The two witches made their way from shop to shop, enjoying the sight of everything from jewelry, to local art galleries, to live musical performances.
Hannah hurried Akko along and finally brought them to the one part of their stop that was scheduled. Akko's eyes lit up when Hannah had finally stopped, indicating that they finally made it. It was a Japanese restaurant, "I thought you might be missing a little bit of home, I know the food is very different here in England than Japan, so I made reservations for us."
What Hannah did not expect was for Akko to tightly grip Hannah in a hug and hop up and down in joy. "Oh thank you, Hannah! This was so thoughtful of you! And you were right, I was really starting to miss home, thank you so much!"
"Hello, I'm Hannah England, I made a reservation for two people," the host confirmed Hannah's reservation and brought them to booth to seat both of them and provided their menus.
Hannah looked up from her menu to Akko, "a friend recommended this restaurant to me, they told me they've come here for years and are friends with the owners. They've owned this business for a long time after moving here from Japan, and most of the people that work here are family or are friends of the family."
"Wooow, so this is gonna be really good."
"Yes, I haven't dined here yet, though I've heard immigrant owned restaurants are rather good. I haven't eaten anywhere very adventurous, to be honest. I think the most I've done was the cooks from my visit to my cousins in America."
"What was that like?"
"It was good, though there was a lot of fat and spice."
"So, do you need help picking something from the menu?"
"I- um, yes. It does have descriptions but I think you'd be a better judge than me. And don't worry about the price, this is supposed to be my treat to you."
"Oh, well, thank you, Hannah."
Akko took some time to consider the menu, Hannah had set hers down, trusting Akko to take care of it. When the server arrived, Akko greeted him in Japanese, testing the waters to see if she could speak to him in her native language. The two talked for a short time, the waiter writing Akko's and Hannah's order as Akko gestured very excitedly at the menu, though only getting a few things. Hannah, unable to even start knowing what the two were saying, took the opportunity to simply look at Akko while she was distractedly speaking to their server.
Akko thanked the waiter and looked back to Hannah, flashing a big smile at Hannah, who nervously returned it.
Their appetizers arrived and Hannah was happy to eat, to give herself at least some excuse for being quiet. After only a short while later, their entrees were brought to the table. "Yummm, shrimp yakisoba. Oh, I just got you beef with vegetables, sorry. I wasn't sure what you might like."
"It's no problem, Akko, thank you," the two began eating their meal, Akko being vocally excited about her food. However something suspiciously caught her eye.
"Hey, why haven't you eaten any of your rice?"
"Oh, I-uh, I just have never had it before. It's strange I know, but I get nervous about trying new things."
"What? You've never had rice!? Here, c'mon, try some!" Without thinking, Akko picked up a small portion of rice with her chopsticks, offering it up to Hannah. Hannah was very surprised and flustered at Akko's gesture. While, rationally, Hannah knew Akko was just being friendly, Hannah couldn't help but lock up over such an intimate gesture.
"Akko, I don't know-"
"C'moooon," Akko's pleading felt unfair to Hannah, being so easily made to do something like be fed food like this. Still, Hannah leaned forward and took a bite. While not anything to write home about, Hannah was very surprised at how she enjoyed something as simple as rice. Hannah figured that if she wanted to spend more time with Akko, she'd need to get used to trying new things.
The rest of their dinner went without too much awkward incident, and the two girls left after Hannah paid for their food and tipped their server. Afterwards, Hannah did have something else planned. As the two got on their brooms, ready to head back to Luna Nova, Hannah turned to Akko to tell her something that only Hannah would realize would be brave, "Okay Akko, stay by me, I want to show you something."
"Okay," Akko responded with a smile, one Hannah was so glad to be directed at her.
Hannah and Akko started flying, and rather than flying directly towards Luna Nova, Hannah directed them to fly over nearby wilderness. Hannah had grown a wonderful appreciation over wild countryside and always loved flying by moonlight.
"It's beautiful tonight, huh?" Hannah commented, wanting to share such a beautiful night with Akko.
"Yeah, it really is," Akko had never grown tired of flying, it had eluded her for so long and every time she lifted herself into the air, it really was magical.
Hannah nervously attempted more conversation to fill the silence between the two of them, "I haven't seen a lot of you this year, I guess with our core classes out of the way you're electing to take more classes to become the star you always dreamed of being."
"Yeah, it's been weird only seeing most of my friends only in a few classes, but I don't think I'm going toward stardom anymore."
"What?" Hannah was genuinely shocked, following the steps of her idol and finding her was all Akko ever talked about throughout their first year. "Why?"
"Well, I did end up finding Chariot after all. Transformation magic is fun and all, but…" Akko paused, looking for the right words, "well, I know I don't want to be a teacher either."
"So, do you know what you're going to do?"
"I was- um. I was thinking about reaching out to do human-itarian work," Akko stopped briefly in the middle of "humanitarian", likely between being a somewhat difficult word and the slight embarrassment over confessing her decision.
"Really? How did you come up with that?" Hannah was very interested, this was likely something Akko hadn't actually discussed much with other people, but it did seem like it suited her.
"Well, there's a lot of reasons, actually. I mean, there was the fairy strike, there was the time I stopped the poachers while I was trying to find Professor Pisces. I just like helping people, and I'm really good with languages so there is that."
"This coming from the person who got a C on her Crow Language Final."
"Hey! Crow is really hard! It was easier leaning fish than that." Akko pouted and folded her arms over her chest, letting a silence build between the two of them before it bursted with laughed.
"Y'know there's not a lot of money in doing humanitarian work," Hannah didn't say it to be rude, she was simply concerned over Akko's wellbeing.
"I know, but hey, I always wanted to marry rich," Akko chuckled at her own comment, but the remark stuck to Hannah, who nervously stayed quiet. Her thoughts screaming at her, but too nervous to even jokingly offer herself as a candidate. I mean, a lot of people think that, right? She wouldn't be thinking about me, oh goodness what if she was thinking about Diana? I don't think my heart could take it-
"Hannah!" a loud voice and firm grip shook Hannah out of her thoughts, "geeze, Hannah, don't scare me like that, I don't think I could catch you if you fell."
"S-sorry, Akko."
"It's okay, Hannah, I just don't want to see you getting hurt," Akko's hand confidently placed her hand on Hannah's shoulder trying soothing her friend over. Emphasis on trying.
Slowly, they flew through the night sky, drinking in the sights. Hannah drifted closer to Akko, hoping to be closer to her, staring at her every time she looked elsewhere and kept her attention on her whenever she talked with Hannah. Even flying as slowly as they did, Hannah still felt like their night was cutting too short as they approached Luna Nova again. The two landed on Full Moon Tower, and Akko, again to Hannah's surprise, pulled Hannah into another hug.
"Thank you, Hannah. I had fun tonight, we should go out again some time," Akko whispered to Hannah, hoping not to be too loud so late, but the closeness made Hannah burn up over Akko's behavior, let alone her phrasing.
"D-d-definitely, I-uh-I-I should uh-uh-hea-head back," Hannah rushed down the steps of the tower, hoping to avoid any more awkward situations for the night.
And just like that, their night together was over, and the two witches returned to their dorm rooms.
Hannah made it back to the Blue Team's dorm without encountering anybody she knew, though she dreaded the conversation she'd have when she stepped inside. Hannah opened the door, immediately hearing Barbara greet her, "So~, how did it go~?" Hannah had told her teammates what she was doing this evening, much to her own regret with how much Barbara pestered her with questions, more and more curious about the goings-on in their friend group.
"It was-" Hannah hesitated, trying to find a decent enough word for how the night had gone, "-good. It was really good." A small, contentedsmile spreading across her face thinking about tonight.
"Oh re~ally?" Barbara teasing her friend over her little, well maybe not-so-little, crush on a certain somebody.
"Yes re~ally," Hannah echoing her friends remark.
"Did she give you a kiss goodnight?"
"Wha-? N-no! No! No. Besides, I doubt she has any idea about my feelings for her."
"Well somebody better figure it out before somebody else tries to sweep her off her feet." Barbara paused, granting Hannah a slight suspicion over what she was going to say next, "or worse yet, she starts chasing after someone else." Hannah met that with a smack of her pillow against her friend, hoping to shut her up.
"Hey, Hannah, I'm playing, really, c'mon. I'm proud of you, really."
Meanwhile, Akko had headed back to her own room and had run into Amanda, likely on a late night trip back from the kitchen. "Hey Amanda!" the sound of her own name startling Amanda, nearly dropping her pilfered goodies.
"Oh hey short stuff! Where've you been?"
"Oh, I was out with Hannah."
"Really? You two are dating?"
That comment shot Akko in a panic, "wh-wh-what? What?! No! What are you talking about?!"
"Well when you said 'out with Hannah' I thought you meant 'out with Hannah'" Amanda punctuating her point with air quotes.
"Nonono, Hannah wanted to take me to town, she said something about 'making up for her behavior.'"
"Aw, that's a shame. I thought maybe you were planning on marrying rich."
"That's ridiculous, I don't want Hannah for her money!"
"But you do want her?"
"I-yo- nnnghhgh" Akko pouted and stamped her foot, frustrated at the corner she had seemed to paint herself into, it's not her fault English was so hard. "Whatever!" Akko gave up, making her way back the rest of the way to her dorm room.