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Sucy stood in front of the deluxe sized cauldron in Professor Lukić's room. Normally only the elderly professor herself was permitted to use the expensive tool, but Sucy was the teacher's favorite, and a ritual like the one she was planning to perform would require something larger than her usual personal cauldron.
To the untrained eye, it would be strange why witches cauldrons were so expensive, when a normal cooking cauldron was comparatively so affordable. However, the amount of wards and charms it took to ensure the cauldron could handle even the most caustic of deadly poisons and the most reality warping of enchantments did not come easily.
"Why do you need to borrow Lukić's cauldron again, Sucy?" Akko asked, yawning as she checked the time. Helping Sucy find the ingredients for her potion took longer than she'd thought it'd take.
Even as second years, and with Akko's fame of saving the world and all of magic alongside Diana, that didn't mean Akko's magic had progressed much past simple flight and a proficiency in transformation magic. Especially without the Shiny Rod in her possession anymore, the first generation witch had been given quite the setback. Still, she was determined to improve no matter what, and had happily accepted Sucy's request to help her best friend find ingredients. It just meant she had to engage in a lot more physical activity to get them, where most witches could use magic to get what they needed. It had left even the energetic and vibrant girl feeling somewhat sluggish after the clock struck ten and Sucy wasn't even halfway through the potion.
"It's for my familiar finding ritual." Sucy explained in a monotone voice, not taking her eyes off of the potion as she sprinkled in a few tablespoon's worth of crushed mandrake root. "Most witches don't bother to summon a familiar these days, as there is little practical use for one, and they are much higher maintenance than a standard pet. But if I complete the ritual now, I can apply for an Honors Potioneering class."
"Woah! That's so cool!" Akko gushed, her eyelids drooping even as she clapped her hands delightedly. "What do you think your familiar will be?"
Sucy tossed a bag of fairy dust (that Akko had spent hours negotiating with the union to receive) into the bubbling brew, humming to acknowledge she heard Akko's question. "Hmm... I suppose the most likely answer would be some kind of sentient mushroom creature. There are all kinds you can find all throughout the world, though most of them are rare as familiars. Whatever my familiar ends up being, I just hope its venomous, kekekeke~"
Akko nodded, mumbling something as she began to succumb to sleep, drooling on the desk she had perched at while she and Sucy used Lukić's room. "I don't know what your Familiar will end up being, I'm sure of one thing. It's gonna be as great as you, Sucy..."
Sucy was glad Akko had fallen asleep after saying that, because despite how excellent her poker face was, Sucy couldn't hide her blush as Akko said that last bit. "...Idiot." Sucy grumbled, not sure whether it was directed at Akko, or her own heart.
Midnight had well passed by the point Sucy finished her potion, and the shark-toothed witch didn't bother to check the time as she inspected the glowing liquid swirling in the cauldron.
Everything looked correct, so why was Sucy so nervous to perform her chant? Did her instincts know something her brain didn't?
Growling with annoyance, and maybe a tiny bit of sleep deprivation, Sucy finally just bit the bullet and began chanting the spell to the familiar-summoning-and-subsequent-bonding ritual. "Ad te voco, amice. Animae nostrae unum sint. Ad te voco, amice. Animae nostrae unum sint. Ad te voco, amice! Animae nostrae unum sint!"
The potion began to glow white hot, as the room filled with smoke, and even Akko' loud snoring was drowned out by the roaring sound of time and space being torn apart to search the planet for Sucy's soulbound animal familiar.
Only, when the mist cleared and the cauldron was left empty of its potion, no companion could be found inside of it. Sucy could feel that her potion had worked, her magic wouldn't feel this drained if it hadn't succeeded, but there was still no familiar.
Scowling down at the empty cauldron, Sucy felt a pang of something akin to sadness bubble up in her gut. She wasn't used to being so affected by failed experiments. But this was more than an experiment. It had taken Akko a whole day to find the ingredients, and it took Sucy's whole night to make it work. It was supposed to find the creature she'd be destined to spend her life with, and never have to be left behind by, and yet... nothing came of it. Sucy knew she was intimidating, sadistic, and maybe even a tiny bit evil. But this felt like the universe was spitting in her face and telling her that she really wasn't someone of value. Not even magic itself could find something willing to spend its whole life by her side.
Akko's sleep talking distracted Sucy from her inner worries, as the messy haired Japanese girl muttered something about 'dating a mushroom'. Sucy would never admit it to anyone, but her crush on Akko had started a long time ago, when the reckless young woman had entered Sucy's dreams to cure her Sleeping Witch Disease. After that point, Akko had understood Sucy a lot better, and Sucy truly felt appreciated and seen, perhaps for the first time ever.
Of course, that didn't mean Sucy was ever planning to tell Akko any of that. By the Nine Olde Witches, she planned to take the foolish crush to her grave. When Akko became a famous performer, and made millions, she'd probably forget all about creepy old Sucy, and Sucy had no plans on making it harder to move on from Akko than it already would be.
With a sigh, and a heavy heart, Sucy set about cleaning out the cauldron of all its wasted potion residue.
Sucy told the others that her potion failing hadn't bothered her, but Akko knew her puce haired friend better than that.
If Sucy wanted to talk about it, Akko planned to listen with open ears, but she also knew Sucy well enough to know pressing the issue would only make her more defensive. So instead, Akko had decided that she would just double down on being extra nice and extra active around Sucy.
The all potato diet that Luna Nova had forced upon its students last year had luckily been abolished once the resurgence of magic in the world after the Noir Missile Crisis led to the school receiving more funding. Akko had never been happier about that fact until today, when she walked into the canteen for breakfast with a rumbling stomach and a craving for hearty meats.
Sitting down at her table with the rest of the Red Team, as well as the Green Team and Diana. Hannah and Barbara would sometimes sit with the rest of the group, but the table was only so big, so they usually preferred the privacy of their own space.
Amanda eyed Akko's breakfast steak, piled high with salami and sausage, and let out a snort. "Trying out a carnivore diet, Kagari?"
Akko shrugged noncommittally, picking up the steak with her bare hands and biting into it, tearing off a chunk of rare meat. "I dunno, it'sh jusht what lookged ghood,"
Diana made a face, averting her eyes. "Please don't speak with your mouth full, Akko."
"Oh, shorry!" Akko replied, her mouth still full, before she swallowed. "I just like, woke up really, REALLY hungry, y'know?"
Amanda eyed the plate of food suspiciously. "I know your metabolism is high, but you're making Jasminka's plate look empty, are you sure you're just hungry?"
Akko blushed in embarrassment, guarding her plate with a pout. "Well now I'm feeling self conscious. Anyone else want to make fun of a happy girl with her steak?"
"There there, Akko." Lotte patted her friend's shoulder with a kind smile. "We aren't trying to judge you, we're just a bit curious about this sudden shift in diet, normally you've got an eye for the donuts they serve in the morning. I'll be honest, I didn't know we could even get steaks here."
Taking another bite of the steak, Akko continued to talk, already having forgotten Diana's request. "Well, it helpsh to be the union represhentative of the chef!~" Akko grinned triumphantly, smug about her special treatment from the fairies, while the rest of the table rolled their eyes.
"Those fairies spoil you..." Amanda grumbled. "How come you get off-menu food, while I can't even stay out past curfew without them writing me up?"
"I think that's just because you make trouble," Jasminka said bluntly, her serene voice showing no sign of hurtful intent. "Constanze got the fairies help to build her lab, and they let me order food all the time. It helps to be polite."
"You're all a bunch of showoffs!" Amanda scoffed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.
While the table continued to banter, Sucy stayed silent the entire time, eyes fixated on Akko. Or more specifically, Akko's mouth. While she had eyed her excitable friend's lips before (for totally heterosexual reasons, mind you), Sucy noticed something new today.
Were Akko's teeth always that sharp?
It was a few days later when Sucy noticed the next strange thing about Akko.
It was another boring day in Professor Finnelan's class, and Akko was, as usual, sleeping through it. Nothing was out of the ordinary there. In fact, it started out with Sucy being the abnormal one.
Sucy had been finding it harder to stay apart from Akko in recent days. When the red-eyed idiot wandered off, it felt deeply, truly wrong. Perhaps it was because she was feeling lonelier with each passing day since her failed summoning ritual, but Sucy wasn't interested in any more introspection than was strictly necessary.
That being said, something about Akko's sleeping form, head on the desk with her face turned towards Sucy, it awoke something in the alchemist. Looking around to make sure no one was paying attention, Sucy was relieved to see that the rest of the class was paying attention to the actual lecture. Sucy didn't care much about the lesson, too busy staring at her sleeping obsession friend.
Reaching out a hand, Sucy petted Akko's hair, her hands slightly unsteady. To Sucy's surprise (and horror), Akko stirred, mumbling something incomprehensible as she scooted closer to Sucy on the bench that the Red Team shared. Sucy felt her heart actually stop when Akko fully pressed her head against Sucy's arm, and against all logic or reason, began to purr.
This idiot just snuggled up to me and started purring! Sucy's inner thoughts screamed, scrambling for any way to hide her feelings behind her mask of indifference. She considered shoving Akko over, or dumping a potion in Akko's hair like she usually did, but she couldn't convince herself to do anything mean spirited, and ruin what could very well be the most intimate moment she shared with her beloved guinea pig.
For another few minutes, Sucy relished in the warmth of Akko's head against her arm, and the gentle vibrations of the purring, not even really questioning Akko's ability to purr in that moment. But then, Professor Finnelan had to ruin everything.
"Miss Kagari!" Boomed the irritated voice of the Professor. "Have you been sleeping this entire time!?"
Akko woke up in a blur of limbs, suddenly sitting straight up and back at her portion of the bench, looking the perfect model student, though her embarrassed expression and the trail of drool still on her chin would show anyone who actually cared that Akko had indeed been asleep. "Wh-What? No! I was totally paying attention!"
Finellan looked unimpressed, before a smug expression crossed her face. "Very well then, you won't mind giving us a demonstration then, will you, miss Kagari? It's truly a simple spell, I'm sure it'll be no issue for the 'savior of magic', as you've been referring to yourself."
Akko deflated, already knowing she was about to be humiliated by the one teacher who still hated her. An ugly feeling burned in Sucy's chest as she watched the event unfold, and she found that she was actually mad at Finnelan. Since when did Sucy care? Normally she loved watching Akko get into trouble, but instead, now she just felt anger. Only I get to insult Akko!
Before Akko had to go up to the front of the class and inevitably fail miserably, Lotte tried to at least give Akko a fighting chance, as she was the only member of the Red Team that actually paid attention. Leaning in close, she whispered, "It's a demonstration on transfiguration magic, turning a daisy into a rose. You've practiced that spell before, I believe in you!"
Sucy would have to make it up to Lotte later, she was too busy staring at the wet spot on her arm where Akko had been drooling to think about doing anything except sending death glares at Finnelan. It's not like she had known what the lesson was about anyways.
When Akko was at the base of the lecture room, wand out and daisy in front of her, she took a gulp. Here goes nothing...
Akko shouted the incantation, and waved her wand. Normally, no matter how good her form was, Akko couldn't get any glow of transfiguration magic to sprout forth from her wand, no matter how hard she had ever tried. But this time, it was different.
To the shock of Finnelan, Akko, her friends, and the entire student body, Akko actually cast the spell successfully, and a glow of light shot from the wand and enveloped the daisy, before it faded, and a perfectly healthy red rose sat on the desk instead.
"I did it...?" Akko's eyes widened with wonder, before a huge grin spread across her face, and she jumped in the air, performing a victory dance in front of the entire class. "I did it, I did it! It didn't even explode or anything! I did it!"
Finnelan recovered from her shock enough to find something new to be mad at Akko about. "Yes yes, now stop showing off and get back to your seat. It is unsportsmanlike to be so performative about a simple spell."
Akko pouted, before reaching for the rose she had transformed. "Can I pretty please keep the flower at least, Professor Finnelan? I promise to stay awake the whole class!"
"Hmph, fine. Just get back to your seat already, Miss Kagari."
Akko was already running back to her spot, rose in hand before Finnelan even finished her sentence.
When Akko made it to her seat, she continued to ride that high for the rest of the class. While she kept her promise not to fall asleep, that did not lead to her paying any attention to what the lesson was about after that, instead, far too pleased with her own success, Akko spent the entire bell just staring at her rose, humming to herself the whole time.
"Did you see that Sucy? I cast a spell, a real spell!" Akko cheered, when the rest of the class had filed out after the bell rang. Turning her head to face Sucy, Akko found her friend looking rather tired. "Are you alright, Sucy? You look exhausted."
" 'm fine..." Sucy slurred out, standing up and stretching. "Just a long class, looking forward to getting back to my experiments now that free period's started."
"Oh, well..." Akko knew something was bothering Sucy, and she looked for some way to help that wouldn't push Sucy's boundaries. "Maybe you can use this as an ingredient!" Akko thrust the rose into Sucy's hands.
Akko only realized after Sucy stared at the rose, and then back at Akko with a dumbfounded expression, that her gesture looked like a lot more than just giving her friend an ingredient to a potion. Akko all of a sudden felt all too eager to get out of the class and maybe go hide in a hole somewhere as a blush spread across her face. "OKAY NICE TALK BYE SUCY I'LL SEE YOU LATER!" She shouted suddenly, bolting past Sucy and out the door.
Sucy still lingered in the empty classroom, staring at the rose that she held so tightly in her hand that the thorns had pierced her skin, tiny drops of blood hitting the floor. "...What."
When Akko had cast that spell earlier, Sucy had felt her magic drain, and exhaustion filled her body, like her entire pool of magic energy had just been erased alongside the daisy's transformation. No other witches around seemed to have changed, making it all the more suspicious.
Sucy was beginning to consider the possibility that something had changed between her and Akko, but she could barely focus on the actually important stuff when she was too busy short circuiting over Akko giving her a rose. Sucy didn't even like flowers, why was she so excited to get one from her idiot of a friend???
Another few days had passed since the most recent incident of "Akko is acting weird in a way that is different from her normal Akko being weird moments", and unsurprising to anyone who was paying attention (Sucy. That person was Sucy.), Akko's strange new traits were only getting more apparent.
Sucy, Akko and Lotte had all been walking through Blytonbury when it happened. Akko had taken the group's lead, marching forward with an un-breakable grin, while Lotte kept her nose in the latest edition of Nightfall that had come out, and Sucy stared at the back of Akko's head, questioning her emotions for the one millionth time this month. They were just meandering the cobbled roads of the peaceful city, trying to find a new shop, restaurant or destination to blow some cash for fun, when Sucy suddenly found herself on the ground.
Some random meathead had shoved her, looking to be several years older than the group and multiple feet taller than any of the young witches. "Watch where you're going, freak!" He had shouted at her as he continued to walk away, like he hadn't been given ample time to simply ask them to move over, or go around them.
Normally, Sucy wouldn't care that much. She might blow toxic spores at him when he wasn't looking or something, but she wouldn't overreact or anything of the sort.
This time, however, she didn't even need to take any kind of measures for vengeance, Akko did that for her. "How about you watch where you're going, jerk!" Akko spat, squaring up in what was probably supposed to look like an intimidating stance, but seemed to more resemble a yippy chihuahua. "It isn't Sucy's fault you wanted to shove someone around today!"
That got the man to stop, turning to glare at the group. Sucy knew that she or Lotte could easily stop the man in his tracks with magic if he tried anything, but Sucy realized that hers wasn't in her pocket anymore. "You're a pick-pocket." She stated dryly. "You're probably hiding my wand in your coat somewhere. You bumped into me on purpose to try robbing us."
"What kinda accusations are those!?" The man shouted back, clearly looking nervous at being called out. "You girls ought to know how to respect your elders!"
Lotte hardly seemed to look up from her book while this whole exchange had occurred, clearly unphased. Sucy and Akko had caused enough trouble and near death experiences that she didn't seem to even register a common pick-pocket as something worth being concerned about.
Akko meanwhile, seemed to be the only one taking him seriously. While Akko was always a protective of her friends, and quick to start shouting when things didn't go her way, this was a new level of anger, something Sucy hadn't seen from Akko... maybe ever. "I'll respect whoever I want to respect, you cowardly, good for nothing, wand-stealing, waste of-"
"AKKO!" Lotte squeaked out, staring at her friend with concern, the vitriol that the normally upbeat girl was spitting being enough to shock her out of her book. "He's not worth it! Let's just take back Sucy's wand and move on."
Akko was red in the face, baring her teeth (Which Sucy found to confirm her suspicions that Akko's teeth were definitely unnaturally sharp, her canines full fangs that could compare with Sucy's own shark toothed jaws) at the man while she heaved with anger. "He pushed my Sucy! I swear if he doesn't give back her wand, I'm gonna..." Akko began to growl. It wasn't one of those silly little grumbles that she'd make when someone got on her nerves, either. It was a bona fide animalistic growl, like what the sound a wild wolf would make before tearing the meat off of its prey's throat.
The pickpocket, despite his size, seemed to have realized that he was in more danger than the band of witches were in, and decided that the trouble wasn't worth it. He turned and ran the other way, Sucy's wand visible in his overcoat's pocket.
Akko didn't give the man a chance to get far though, as she chased after him. Dimly, Sucy decided that if Akko hadn't gotten hyperfixated on magic, she would have become a gold medalist as an Olympic sprinter.
Lotte followed Akko, trying to make sure her strangely feral friend didn't commit homicide, while Sucy cursed herself for being dumbfounded yet again.
'My Sucy'. That's what Akko had called me.
If Sucy was going to keep on crushing for Akko, she was going to have to figure out how to handle affection from the blundering hero that had stolen her heart.
A few minutes later, Lotte returned with Akko, as well as Sucy's wand. Akko still seemed angry, stomping her foot on the ground impatiently in that way she did when things were taking too long and she was in a hurry. Sucy only caught the tail end of their conversation as they returned.
"-Akko, it isn't okay to try and bite people like that! Are you feeling alright? You've been acting very strange these past few days."
Finally, Sucy felt herself come up with a thought that wasn't related to her obsession with her roommate. Well, sort of. Akko was still the subject of the thought, but it was about Akko the guinea pig, not Akko the kind, lovable, exhausting, perfect... you get the point.
"Akko, Lotte." Sucy's voice was guarded and conspiratorial as she took her wand from Lotte's hand and gave the redhead a nod of approval.
"Yes, Sucy?" Came Akko's startled response, not expecting such an urgent tone.
"We need to go back to Luna Nova, now."
Akko and Lotte had tried questioning the importance of their urgent return to Professor Lukić's room several times, but Sucy was on a mission, and wouldn't say anything except that while Lotte could come or go, Akko was not allowed to leave.
Of course, Lotte stayed, ever the loyal friend. Sucy made a mental note to thank her at some point. Lotte was someone that meant a lot to Sucy as well, and maybe if not for Akko, living embodiment of the concept of a Summer Saturday, maybe she'd have been the one to find the heart under Sucy's frigid personality first.
But Sucy was side tracking herself again, with unnecessary daydreaming. She had been doing that so often lately, maybe Akko was rubbing off on her in more ways than she thought.
The potion that Sucy had begun brewing in the professor's cauldron was much simpler than the one she had crafted exactly one week ago. However, it was equally important to the puce haired girl who had just dumped in an entire quart of catoblepas milk into the frothy mass.
"What are you making?" Akko questioned, her eyes shimmering with a strange light, almost as if she had been hypnotized. "It smells amazing..."
As Sucy prepared to reply, she noticed Alcor flying into the room, separate from Professor Chariot for perhaps the first time that the Red Team had ever seen. What followed was quite the hubbub as nearly all the familiars in the school seemed to make their way into the room, each one having that same glossy look in their eyes. When the animal noises had quieted down, Sucy poured a cup of the thick potion and passed it to Lotte. "Drink it."
When Lotte politely shook her head with a nervous expression, Sucy rolled the one eye that wasn't covered by her hair. "It isn't poisoned, I promise. Now drink."
Finally, Lotte took a small sip, only for her face to distort in disgust, nose scrunching up and her whole body seeming to freeze up at the horrid flavor. "It's... indescribable!"
Taking the cup back, Sucy fixed Akko with a serious and intense stare, Akko freezing up in a similar way to Lotte without even having to drink the liquid. "Oh no, I am not drinking that, Sucy! Whatever you put in there to make it smell good but taste bad, I don't trust it! I'm not gonna-"
Akko apparently did not get a say in the matter as Sucy took Akko's hands and pulled the girl closer than Sucy had ever willingly done so before. The act was so intimate and sudden that Akko seemed to forget all about the potion, now blushing profusely. "EEEEEEEEEHHHHHH???"
Her shock was ultimately her downfall, as Sucy's hands clasped themselves across Akko's lips, prying open the girl's jaw as the potion was poured down Akko's throat.
When the cup was empty, Sucy stepped back, and Akko affixed her with a furious expression. "Sucyyyyy! That was so not cool! You totally should have-" Akko seemed to cut short whatever rant about Sucy's actions she was about to make, smacking her lips for a moment, before her expression shifted to something of delight. "W-Wow! That's actually really good! Can I have some more?"
Sucy pointed at the cauldron with her thumb, her half lidded expression bearing a somewhat smug look. "If you can fight it away from every familiar in Luna Nova."
Akko let out a shriek of surprise as she noticed the two dozen assorted animals, all of which had their faces deep in the cauldron, drinking the liquid like it was their last meal. True to form, Akko had no concerns about sharing food with animals, or how to do with any semblance of tact, simply rushing over, shoving a black cat out of the way to dunk her face into the cauldron as if she were bobbing for apples.
After about thirty seconds of straight chugging, Lotte decided that clearly Akko had forgotten the topic at hand, or anything outside of the disgusting potion that Akko and the familiars seemed to find so alluring. "So, um, Sucy... What exactly is it that you made?"
Sucy took a moment to realize Lotte had spoken, staring at Akko with an expression that seemed half pleased and half terrified. When she finally did register the question, Lotte had to repeat it before she actually answered. "Oh, it's a special brew of pet food designed specifically to attract and please any familiar that tastes it. It's rancid tasting to any non-familiar, but to a witch's companion, there's nothing that tastes better."
"Wait, so that means..." Lotte trailed off, her eyes widening as both she and Sucy faced Akko, who had pulled her face out of the cauldron, staring at Sucy with an expression of shock while the 'pet food potion' dripped from her hair and face.
"I'M A FAMILIAR???" Akko finally blurted out, suddenly a blur of limbs as she flailed around the room, inspecting her body as if she'd suddenly sprout fur and turn into a wild animal. If for some reason she did, Sucy imagined that she'd become a Quokka. The world's happiest animal, a dumb marsupial with a dumb smile and no natural predators to the point that they seemed to lack the concept of self preservation... There was that daydreaming again. Akko had truly corrupted Sucy's brain with irritating trivia. Sucy hated to admit she didn't mind.
After blundering about for another few seconds, Akko settled on grabbing Sucy by the shoulders and shaking her violently while screaming. So... nothing out of the ordinary this time. "SUCYYYYYYYY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M A FAMILIAR??? DO I HAVE ANY POWERS??? WHO'S FAMILIAR EVEN AM I???"
Sucy pushed Akko off of her with a firm shove, though it was impossible to hide the genuine smile on her lips, though she still seemed somewhat worried. Feelings were terrible and Sucy hated having them, she decided. "Akko, I think you're my familiar."
When Akko's brain seemed too frozen to reply, Sucy decided to continue speaking. "That's why my familiar summoning ritual seemed to fail. It just didn't need to summon someone who was already in the room with me. I think that's why you've been so strange lately. Our souls are linked. Your spell worked because you pulled from my magic reserves to cast it, your teeth got sharp like mine, and you've been acting more feral and predatory because you've become—in a way—my pet. I know you probably aren't pleased about all this, but it won't change how I see you, and it won't stop you from becoming a great witch in your own right. A witch being another witch's familiar is unprecedented, but you've done weirder stuff, right?" Sucy felt like she was just trying to placate herself at this point. There wasn't a chance in the world that Akko was going to be okay with this, who would want to be a living pet? Let alone for someone like Sucy.
Akko seemed confused, and for a minute, Sucy worried she'd have to explain the entire thing in much more detail, which would only make it even more humiliating. But then, Akko's eyes lit up and she shook the rest of the pet food off of her face like a wet dog, before pulling Sucy into a bear hug and lifting her off the ground, spinning around several times before depositing a very dizzy and very flustered Sucy Manbavaran on the ground. "That's amazing, Sucy! I mean, I've always wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, but now its like even Fate itself wants it to happen! We're never going to be apart!" Akko's expression froze as the sound of her brain fracturing in her own head seemed to become audible. "Wait.... Did I... say that out loud?"
Now it was Akko's turn to be flustered, trying to backpedal out of her obvious confession before Lotte let out a shout of anger. "ENOUGH!" Lotte grabbed both Akko and Sucy by the backs of their robes as the two witches tried to flee, before forcing them to face each other. "I have watched you two dunderheads pine after each other for two years! You both are the most infuriatingly oblivious slow burn couple I have ever seen, and I read a romance series that started being written over one hundred years ago! If you two don't confess right now, familiar or not, you both are spending the rest of your weekends in the doghouse!"
If there was one topic in which Lotte was a true expert, it was poorly communicated romance, and it seemed that the Finnish girl had had enough.
When it became clear that neither of them could get out of this any longer, Akko began to speak. Of course she would be the one to confess first. Sucy thought to herself. Akko has always been the first one to make changes in my life.
"Sucy... I like like you. I have for a little while now. I don't know when I realized it, but I've known for a long time. I love how you don't let anyone decide who you are but yourself, I love how you're always honest with me, and you always try to make me feel better in your own Sucy way. I love how, even when I'm being loud and accidentally mess up your potions, you still let me be around you and you only sometimes put potions in my mouth while I sleep afterwards! In general I just... I think you're so cool and that you're more important to me than I know how to put into words. I've never felt this way about anyone!"
"Even Shiny Chariot?" Sucy wanted to throw herself out a window when she responded. Why would you say that you mushroom brained idiot!?
Despite Sucy's inner selves all agreeing that that was perhaps the lamest possible response Sucy ever could have been made to Sucy's one true love confessing in such a heartfelt manner, Akko didn't seem to care, only nodding with slightly teary eyes.
"Yes. Even Chariot."
Akko was always the first to do anything important in Sucy's life. She spoke to Sucy first. She was Sucy's first friend. She was Sucy's first crush. She even got to confess first. For once, Sucy wanted to have one of the firsts in this dynamic.
So instead of giving a heartfelt speech of her own that Sucy knew she wouldn't be able to say properly without sounding like a fool, Sucy simply took Akko by the waist and pulled her familiar into a hug, before kissing Akko on the mouth.
Sucy was not a good kisser, as she soon found out. But Akko didn't seem to mind, once the shock wore off.
Sucy didn't know when Lotte had left the room, along with the herd of familiars that had lost interest once the cauldron was dry, but she was glad no one else was around to see how much Sucy was like putty in Akko's surprisingly strong arms.
Trying to take back any semblance of 'coolness' that she had lost when she revealed she was a sappy loser just like Akko, Sucy tried to say something flirtatious and smart. "If you're going to be my familiar now, I guess I should get my special guinea pig a collar, shouldn't I?"
Instead of making Akko blush with embarrassment or even give a gasp of shock, Akko only smiled back dumbly. "That'd be sooo cute! Let's totally do it! You could wear one too!"
This idiot is going to be the death of me. Sucy decided right then and there, as she all but fainted at the thought of Akko actually happily wearing a collar.
While the pair laid in Akko's bed back at their dorm, Sucy mourned the death of her coolness as she happily gave into the thought of snuggling with her familiar/new girlfriend. "I'm still going to test potions on you, dummy." Sucy grumbled while Akko purred against her chest. "Don't think just because I love you, you're going to get to escape my experiments."
"I know..." Akko mumbled with a peaceful expression. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Sue~"
The pet name brought another agonizing blush onto Sucy's cheeks, and she couldn't even bring herself to try and pretend she didn't like it.
Akko was Sucy's. Sucy was Akko's. They were soul-bound, forever linked and destined to share their hearts forever. Sucy had lamented the fact that she would forever be alone only a week prior, when the one person who was never going to leave her slept not even ten feet away. Sucy felt like an idiot for ever thinking Akko was actually going to leave her. Familiar or not, it just wasn't in Akko's nature to leave someone behind.
"Akko?" Sucy mumbled out, staring at Akko's easy grin. Or more precisely, her new fangs.
"Yeah, Sucy?" Akko looked up at her witch, that smile not fading as she pressed her face into the crook of Sucy's neck.
Sucy did not have any justifications for what she was about to ask next, except for the fact that she was a simp.
"Could you bite me?"
As it turns out, Akko had one more power left to discover from her becoming of a Familiar.
She was very, very venomous.
As Sucy smiled victoriously to herself on a gurney in the school's infirmary, she knew one thing for certain. It would not be the last time that she asked Akko to bite her like that.