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“I can’t believe you finally got a smartphone, Diana.”
“Seriously. It’s about time.”
Diana’s shoulders were tightly scrunched together, tense and firm from the lack of personal space. Hannah and Barbara had hunched themselves over her like a pair of vultures circling a rotting carcass. Their eyes were shining and their toothy grins irritated Diana almost as much as the conversation they were having. But they weren’t looking at her—they were entirely focused on the black screen between her hands.
“I had no say in the matter,” Diana countered, taking a step back and pulling the cellphone from view. “I only made this purchase because the store no longer carries my old model.”
“You don’t say?” Hannah deadpanned. “Your granny model from the 90s? I’m shocked.”
“I hardly see how age matters, so long as it gets the job done,” Diana snipped, a harsh bite to her tone. “It’s not like I intend to use it for pleasure; I bought this phone for emergencies only.”
Yes, as unfortunate as it was, it was true. Diana Cavendish had become the reluctant owner of a smartphone.
Her previous cellphone had been an old hand-me-down from a relative. Time and time again her friends and family alike insisted that she purchase a newer model, but Diana was content with what she had. After all, phones weren’t meant for entertainment—they were meant for immediate communication when speaking in person or sending a letter wouldn’t do. In fact, Diana could count just about every time she had used her previous cellphone on two hands if she had to.
But, as the fates would have it, her phone had finally given out and stopped working. And so, with a heavy heart, Diana was forced into doing something she never wanted to do—purchasing a smartphone.
Truthfully, she preferred her old phone to her new one. At least her old phone actually had a keypad with numbers on it. And, for what it was worth, she liked the way she could flip it shut while not in use. This new phone was nothing but a black screen. There were no numbers or letters anywhere to be found. It had taken her thirty minutes just to figure out how to turn the blasted thing on.
Although it was meant to be a ‘smart’ phone, it did absolutely nothing to attenuate Diana’s technological ignorances.
“Luna Nova strictly prohibits electronics on campus, anyways,” Diana continued with a flick of her hair. She placed the phone face-down on her nightstand. “I won’t be needing it unless a familial complication arises.”
Hannah and Barbara exchanged exasperated looks. “Sure, Diana.”
As Hannah’s eyes trailed back to the phone on Diana’s nightstand, her mouth parted into an ‘o’ shape. “Oh, hey! I know!”
She buzzed past Diana in a whirlwind, snatching her phone from off of the nightstand. She spun on her heel and held the screen forward triumphantly. “We should christen it!” She winked at Barbara. “Don’t you think?”
A glimmer of understanding sparkled in Barbara’s eyes, and she clapped her hands together. “That’s right!” she chimed eagerly. “Now that you finally have a phone with a camera, we can take a group selfie!”
“I beg your pardon?” Diana squinted. “A what?”
“C’mon, Diana,” Hannah heaved, “even you’ve gotta know what a selfie is.”
“I’m afraid I don’t.”
“My god. You really are a grandma,” Hannah lamented, dragging her hands down her face. “What’re we gonna do with you?”
“A selfie is a picture you take of yourself,” Barbara explained, “thus the term ‘selfie’.”
Diana resisted the urge to scoff. “I have no desire to do something so vain.”
“Oh my god, Diana. Lighten up,” Hannah ribbed, playfully shoving at Diana’s arm. “You can take selfies with your friends, too. You know, as a way of cherishing memories or whatever.”
Ah. It made sense now.
These ‘selfies’ explained the countless hours her roommates spent hovering over their phones any time they went out somewhere—they were taking pictures of themselves. Were Hannah and Barbara really attempting to capture fleeting moments so they could savor them? Did they desire to fondly look back upon them somewhere far down the line and reminisce?
Somehow, Diana had many, many doubts about that.
“I fail to understand how the two of you can cherish so many memories of yourselves in bathroom mirrors…”
“You’re missing the point!” Hannah barked, her cheeks flushing pink. Diana was unmoved.
Barbara rolled her eyes and yanked the cellphone out of Hannah’s hands. “Listen, we’re gonna take a selfie together right now to commemorate your new phone,” she said in a way that sounded less like a suggestion and more like a threat. “And it’s gonna be cute and fun and you’ll thank us later.”
“Yes!” Hannah agreed, bouncing to her friend’s side as she began to swipe through the apps on Diana’s expropriated phone. “What she said!”
Diana gasped as Barbara wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close. “I-I… wait a moment!” Diana managed as Hannah squeezed herself between them. “I’m hardly ready for a picture!”
“Too bad!” Hannah teased as Barbara held out the phone in front of them. “Now say ‘cheese’!”
Diana opened her mouth to respond, but she failed to utter a single word before there was a bright flash of light and the flicker of a camera shutter.
“Metamorphie Faciesse!”
Pink smoke hung in the air as a loud ‘pop’ echoed off of the walls surrounding Luna Nova’s empty courtyard. As the summer breeze cleared the smoke away, Diana’s interest was piqued. Her friend, who had been standing before her moments ago, had vanished into thin air.
Strangely, there was no orange mouse crawling through the grass, nor a white rabbit burrowing out of a tunnel in the ground. These were the routines that Diana had grown familiar with and come to expect. And yet there wasn’t a single trace of Atsuko Kagari anywhere to be found—human, nor animal.
Diana almost wondered if the capricious girl had made a fatal error in her spell casting. It… wouldn’t have been the first time.
“Akko?” Diana called, beginning to rise from where she had been seated on the grass.
“You rang?”
With a sharp intake of breath, Diana nearly tripped on her own heels as a pink bird poked its head into her face from above. The bird was flying upside down and appeared to be far too large for the small wings that flapped wildly at its sides.
Akko’s voice erupted from the bird with a squawk of laughter. “Gotcha!”
Spinning herself upright, Akko landed on the ground below with a ‘thud’. She was lacking even the slightest bit of grace in her performance. Though, as Akko waddled from side to side in the form of a pink, overweight pigeon, Diana felt nothing short of enchanted. She couldn’t stop the small giggle that bubbled out of her throat.
“Hey! I got you to laugh!” Akko pointed out, spreading her wings out wide. “That means this routine was a success!”
As Akko placed a wing to her chest and leaned forward in a dramatic display of a bow, a pink cloud of smoke puffed around her. Seconds later, she was standing before her every bit as human as Diana herself.
“Yes, well,” Diana laughed lightly as Akko straightened out the wrinkles in her clothing, “your magic does have a certain charm to it. I can’t deny that.”
“You loved it!” Akko grinned, plopping herself down in the grass beside Diana. “Just admit it.”
“All right. You got me,” Diana conceded with a roll of her eyes. “I found it to be marvelously adequate.”
“You found it to be marvelously marvelous,” Akko parried, sticking out her tongue and nudging her shoulder against Diana’s. “You can’t hide that from me.”
“Fine.” Diana lightly flicked Akko’s nose. “You were captivating.”
Although she said it in jest, Diana meant it—Akko’s magic was nothing short of captivating. And the more she practiced, the more captivating it became.
Something had changed in Akko following the revival of Yggdrasil. Rarely did Diana hear her speak of wanting to be ‘just like Chariot’ anymore. She now claimed that she wanted to find her own way of using magic to make people smile, separate from the ways Chariot did. Akko wanted to become a new witch who could stand on her own two legs.
It had been an uphill battle, that much was a given. Some things Akko tried fell apart at the seams, while others stuck like glue. Diana had been there with her every step of the way. They would spend hours together outside of Luna Nova as Akko worked towards perfecting new spells. In the beginning, Diana had plenty of criticism and critique to offer, but as time moved on, she found herself needing to correct Akko less and less. Now more often than not, Akko did nothing but surprise and amaze her.
Akko was finally coming into her own as a witch, and it showed.
“You know,” Akko spoke up, kicking the backs of her heels against the grass, “I was sort of worried that finding my own style was gonna be super hard.” She looked at Diana, flashing her a bright grin. “But trying out different types of magic has been so much fun!”
“I think it’s good that you’re branching yourself out like this,” Diana commented, brushing a few stray strands of grass away from Akko’s shoulder. “If nothing else, it’s excellent practice for school.”
Akko snorted, then offered Diana a lopsided smile. “Thanks for being my audience today, Diana. It means a lot to me,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I guess I’d consider you my first fan.”
Diana’s cheeks flushed, and she cleared her throat as she turned her head away. “If that’s what you’d like to call it.”
“It is what I’d like to call it, thank you very much!” Akko snickered, pressing her fists into the grass and leaning forward to look Diana in the eye. “But seriously, I had a lot of fun hanging out with you today.”
Strands of Akko’s hair fell loosely over her shoulders as her red eyes sparkled against the sunlight. Diana could feel her face growing warm again and she almost forgot how to breathe as the scent of plums wafted near her nose.
“I…” she managed with a cough, straightening herself out, “quite enjoyed myself, as well.”
Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Akko giggled and sat back. Diana allowed herself to relax and released a steady breath, but her eyes continued to linger on the girl beside her. She didn’t know what it was about Akko that always left her so nonplussed, but it was becoming a more frequent occurrence the more time they spent together.
With that in mind, Diana supposed that it should have been a relief knowing that eventually days like these would come to an end. And yet, just the thought left her feeling empty and solemn. Someday Akko would no longer need her assistance, and their time together would vanish as though it had never happened at all.
Diana’s heart ached just a little. She wished she could hold onto a moment like this forever—or to stop time and linger in it a little longer. At the very least, she would have liked to have a way of looking back and feeling the same small joys these outings brought her all over again. But, alas, even all of the magic in the world couldn’t freeze the passage of time.
It wasn’t like taking a—
She stopped.
An idea of the foulest kind seeped its way into the back of Diana’s mind. She almost scolded herself for having the thought at all. It was silly—juvenile even. And yet, for whatever reason, she found herself saying, “Say, Akko…”
“Hm?” Akko hummed. “Yeah?”
Was she actually about to do this? Was she seriously about to break the inscrutable moral code she had established for herself over something like this?
Considering that the words that fell from her mouth without her willing them to do so, Diana supposed that, yes, she was going to do this.
Good heavens.
“You see… Recently I…” Diana started, shifting in place as she retrieved her cellphone from inside of her bag. “Well, I’ve acquired a new mobile telephone. My old one was a little out of sorts and—!”
“Woah!” Akko gasped, gawking in awe at the screen in Diana’s hands. “Diana, you got a smartphone!? You?”
“I…” Diana bristled. “Is that really so shocking?”
“Uhm. Sort of?” Akko answered, scratching her temple. “I mean, I almost thought you didn’t know what a landline was, let alone a cellphone.”
“Of course I know what a cellphone is!” Diana snapped, and when Akko reeled back in submission, she sighed. “Honestly, what do you take me for?”
“Sorry, sorry,” Akko apologized with a light laugh, and Diana eased up. “So… you got a smartphone! That’s pretty cool.” Akko scooted closer, leaning over Diana’s shoulder to get a better look. Her eyes widened in amazement. “Woah! It’s the new ePhone!”
“Is it?” Diana blinked, tapping the screen so it lit up. “I just purchased what the sales clerk recommended and I—!” She quickly shook her head and coughed. She was getting off track. “Anyways. I had a request I wanted to pose to you.”
“A request?” Akko tilted her head. “For me?”
“Yes,” Diana said, pausing as she fidgeted in the grass. “But do not feel obliged to go through with it simply to satisfy my asking. If my request brings you discomfort, then I would prefer you tell me upfront.”
Akko furrowed her brows together. “O… kay?”
“...You see,” Diana started, taking a deep breath, “I had a conversation with Hannah and Barbara the other day. And they told me that there are certain…” she hesitated, “rituals that… friends partake in using an appliance on this device.”
“Rituals…? Appli—…” Akko squinted. “Hang on, do you mean an ‘app’?”
“I…” Diana’s cheeks tinted pink, and she turned her head away. “Yes, that. The camera ‘app’, to be exact. Do you know how to use that one?”
Akko stared. “...Yeah, Diana. I know how to take pictures on a phone.”
“Right. Of course you do. That’s good.”
Akko looked Diana up and down and then raised a brow. “Do you need me to show you how to take a picture or something?”
“No!” Diana said a little too quickly. She caught herself, clearing her throat. “Well, not exactly, no. I know how to take a picture. Hannah showed me.”
“Good for you…?”
She must have seemed foolish. For as lexical of a person as she was, Diana couldn’t seem to find the words to ask Akko such a simple question. Was it embarrassment? Shame? She couldn’t be sure. Perhaps she just needed to stop overthinking it. All she needed to do was try to explain herself to Akko as simply as possible.
"What I am attempting to ask you is… Well, it’s silly, I know,” Diana began, twirling a strand of hair around her index finger, “but Hannah and Barbara insist that it’s an important way of capturing moments you hold dear. And I’ll have you know that despite how my attitude may seem at times, I actually do enjoy these outings of ours quite a bit. And, well, moments like these don’t last forever. I mean, they’ll be gone someday, after all. As such, I would like for us to commemorate them in a way that I can look back on. Does that make sense?”
“No. But keep going.”
Okay. Scratch simple. She was rambling. She knew that she was. She was too afraid to ask and was prolonging the inevitable as a result. Diana knew what needed to be done—she just needed to bite her tongue, come out, and say it as any normal person would.
“You see,” she started hesitantly, doing her best to hold down the rising heat that was creeping up her neck, “what I’d like to ask you—and, once again, feel free to decline—is if you would partake in this ritual with me?”
Yes, that was totally normal.
For a long moment, Akko did nothing but stare with wide eyes. Then she parted her lips, as if to speak, but then stopped and squinted. “...Wait, are we still talking about cell phones?” she asked, pointing a finger at the phone in Diana’s hands. “Cause it sounds like you’re asking me to help you bring your mom back to life or something. And listen, I read a manga about that once and—!”
“Of course not!” Diana barked, and Akko held up her hands. With a sigh, Diana fidgeted, pulling a loose thread at the end of her skirt. “I’m…” she started, as if asking were as painful as pulling her own teeth, “trying to ask if you’d be willing to utilize my camera application with me.”
Akko said nothing. She merely stared as though she were thinking over a math equation. The longer they sat in silence, the more embarrassed Diana became. In fact, she had half the mind to stand up and leave right then and there.
That was when Akko gasped. “Hang on!” Diana flinched in alarm when Akko crawled over, so she was facing her head-on. The look in her eyes was deadly serious. “Diana… are you asking me if I wanna take a selfie with you?”
And just like that Diana’s face was beet red. “I…! No! I mean, perhaps if…!”
She was a stammering, stumbling mess—it was so unlike her, but she couldn’t help it. And the wide smirk that had taken shape on Akko’s face did absolutely nothing to alleviate Diana’s febrile state.
The heat in Diana’s face was unbearable, and with a groan, she buried her face in her hands. “Please don’t make me say it like that.”
Akko practically leaped for joy. “You do wanna take a selfie with me!” she cheered, clasping her hands together with a dreamy sigh. “Aww, that’s adorable! You’ve come so far, Diana.”
Diana deadpanned, and, in an attempt to maintain some dignity, rose to her feet. “Forget it,” she snipped, starting to stride away. “I’m leaving.”
“Wait, wait!” Akko all but shouted, grasping Diana’s wrist. “I’m sorry!”
Diana narrowed her eyes, glancing back at her friend in annoyance.
Akko let go of Diana’s wrist with a nervous chuckle. “I just… never expected you to ask something like that!” She rubbed at the back of her neck, shifting her feet in the grass. “It’s a little unlike you, that’s all.”
Diana paused. It was… unlike her?
She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to take that. Was Akko under the impression that she hadn’t enjoyed the time they spent together in a way that she wanted to cherish? Was she really so distant that one of her closest friends thought that way of her? The last thing she would have ever wanted was to come across as being inimical.
Diana averted her gaze, a frown tugging at the edges of her mouth. “I see…”
“But… if you really wanna take a selfie,” Akko started, her smile spreading. “I’d be more than happy to do it with you!”
“It’s fine,” Diana dismissed. “It’s foolish anyways. I don’t want you to have to force yourself for my sake.”
“I’m not forcing myself! Why would I think something like that?” Akko objected. “I take selfies with friends all the time!” Akko shifted awkwardly and scratched at her cheek with a finger. “To be honest, I’ve always wanted to take one with you, too. But I guess I always thought you’d be uncomfortable with the whole thing, so I never asked.” She laughed. “I thought I’d be the one forcing you.”
There was a skip in the rhythm of Diana’s heartbeat. She blinked once, then twice as the dusting of pink returned to her cheeks. Akko had wanted to take a picture with her? She supposed that she shouldn’t have been surprised since that’s just how Akko was, but something about it still left her head feeling a little lighter.
“Of course not. I… quite cherish our time together, Akko,” Diana started quietly, averting her gaze to the ground. “I’d like to have a way of looking back on it when these days are over. I suppose I’m just… not the best at showing it.” She glanced back at Akko, a small smile returning to her face. “But I would like to try getting better at it.”
“Hey, you don’t have to ask me twice,” Akko beamed, slinging an arm around Diana’s neck. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”
A warmth blossomed in Diana’s chest as Akko pulled her in close. Her smile softened and her heart slowed. “Yes, we are.”
“Then…” Akko grinned sheepishly, “selfie time?”
Diana sighed, allowing herself to slide out of Akko’s grasp. “Only if you promise not to make a big deal about it.”
“I won’t!” Akko clearly lied. “I promise!”
“All right, then,” Diana conceded, deciding that pressing it was futile. She tapped her finger against her phone’s black screen to turn it on. “So, I just…” she swiped through her apps until finding the one that resembled a small camera, “click here and…”
The screen darkened before it lit back up with a reflected image of Diana and Akko’s faces. She furrowed her brows, attempting to hold out her phone at the proper angle.
“Hold the camera out like this,” Akko offered, placing her hand over Diana’s to extend the phone out in front of them, “and then when you’re ready to take the picture, press that button there.” Akko let go of Diana’s hand to point at a white circle near the bottom of the screen. “Got it?”
“I think so,” Diana nodded, attempting to hold the phone steady so the image wouldn’t blur. “Thank you."
“Oh. And, Diana?” Akko spoke up, nudging her friend in the side. “Don’t think like that, okay?”
“Huh?” Diana blinked. “Like what?”
“The whole ‘when these days are over’ thing.” Akko shrugged. “It’s sorta depressing, y’know?”
Diana nearly shrunk in on herself in embarrassment. Perhaps she had been a little too… dramatic with her choice of words. But Akko didn’t let it faze her as she instead bumped her shoulder against Diana’s.
“And besides, who says days like these need to end, anyway?” Akko beamed, her eyes sparkling in earnest. “I mean, you’re always gonna be my front-row fan, aren’t you?”
And just like that, the heavy weight that Diana had been feeling in her chest—the somberness—faded almost instantly. She felt weightless, as if Akko’s words alone were enough to quell any of the anxieties she may have been feeling.
The answer to her question was easy.
“I would like to be.”
“Good!” Akko grinned, looking at the camera and flashing a peace sign. “Now smile!”
Diana allowed her eyes to linger on Akko for a moment longer before looking at the phone in her hand. While it was true that there was nothing she could do to stop time in its tracks, perhaps there was more she could do to relish in the precious moments it gave her.
As her fingertip rested itself atop the button, Diana smiled so bright that nothing else seemed to matter.
End.