Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is for entertainment purposes only

A/N: Hey everyone! Here we are with another tasty Diakko fic! And good times will be had by all.

With the current success of Bewitching Diana Cavendish (if you haven't read it yet, go and do that. No. Seriously. I'll wait) one of the most requested things I got was Diana and Akko's little 'tryst' when they were in school. Well, I figured it would be good to post as its own stand-alone two-parter instead of tacking it onto Bewitching, which is it's own story. So, in essence, this is the prequel to Bewitching Diana Cavendish; in which Akko and Diana are both thirsty teenagers, and they finally do something about it.

Enjoy.

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A Real Witch

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Seriously, if she has to sit through any more classes about 'seeing through your inner eye' or 'how the philosophy and practicality of magic benefits modern society' or 'the thousand uses of Morian Spores' – even though Sucy had paid rapt attention to that particular lecture – she is going to crack.

Aksuko Kagari sighs tiredly, rubbing at her stomach. It is as though there is a gaping hole in there, and the feeling is anything but comfortable. She had eaten breakfast of course… like she was anyone to pass up a hearty breakfast! But still, who would have though sitting through lesson after lesson, barely moving for hours on end, would make you so hungry?

Come on, Akko. Keep it together. You can do this… just a little longer until lunch!

Nodding firmly to herself, she straightens her back and resolutely looks at the board, and whatever the professor is lecturing about at the moment.

"And then, as you can see, when you include the variable of the 'Trevior' suffix to the spell, it adds the effect of velocity to it and therefore overtly shifts the desired use. Consequently, if you were to add the suffix 'Treviar' instead of 'Trevior', not only to you change the velocity, but also the trajectory. You can understand this by referring to the chart behind me…

…

…

Thump!

"Gawawawah!"

The startled screech shocks Akko as much as it does the entire class, and it was only after she realizes it came from her – and the fact that she had fallen asleep in mid-lecture and hit her forehead on her desk – does Akko shrink back into her chair to avoid the withering glare from the teacher and half of her classmates.

"S-sorry…" She mutters, shamefaced. She rubs at the sore spot on her head for a moment before she is sure all attention had turned back to the lesson, and then sighs again, her chin resting in her hands.

Is it lunchtime yet?

It isn't that Akko finds the lessons boring, but she just thinks that going to a school to learn to be a witch would be more… fun. More… interesting. Akko knows she isn't the best, or the most talented witch at Luna Nova, but she is sure she tries the hardest, darn it! And that had to count for something! Someday soon, she would show them all that Atsuko Kagari would be a real witch worth talking about.

Akko's crimson eyes cuts across the room to the one person she wants to prove herself to most of all. Diana Cavendish is sitting there, silently and diligently taking notes as the professor rambles on. Akko watches as Diana's attention flicks up from her desk to take in the scrawl on the board, and then drops again to transcribe it expertly on her own pages, her hand and eyes never seeming to stop even as the professor pauses every few minutes to either gather herself or refer to her own lesson plans.

Akko sighs yet again, this time letting her gaze fall to the taller girl's figure. Beauty and brains; the girl seemed to have it all. Not only is she smart – after all, who could seriously communicate in dozens of languages and memorize all the class material from childhood! – But she always seems to look like she was ready for an interview with every magazine on the planet. The outfit she wears is regulation; every student at Luna Nova wore the same thing. But for some reason, when Diana wears it, it looks like it was made for her. Akko's eyes skim over the dark cloth of her robes and the white sleeves of her shirt – all pressed and pristine as if she recently ironed it herself – to the very top where the material met the pale skin of her collarbone and the delicate arch of her throat that travels up to her neck and ears and –

Whoa. Whoa. Gay.

Akko jerks and sits up straight, her eyes falling down into her lap. Best not to think about that during class.

But it isn't as though it was entirely Akko's fault – far be it for her to not look at an attractive girl when she saw one.

What? Was she supposed to just not notice or something? She always considered herself an open kind of person. And she's always been a bit overcurious with what that kind of thing would be like, after all.

It has always seemed so… foreign to her. So… naughty.

Akko licks her lips, the word flitting across her mind like a tease, because surely naughty is the best way to describe what she was thinking. She isn't sure what the overall idea about 'boys with boys and girls with girls' thing is in witch society… but darn it if she isn't more than a little curious. When she brought up the idea – veeeeeery carefully, mind you – with Lotte and Sucy, they had both shrugged and said that it 'wasn't unheard of'.

Okay, Helpful.

Not.

And getting a read on Diana is a next-to-impossible task. The girl always seems so… unflappable, so stern and so darn perfect that every time Akko thinks about even talking to her, her mere stare would be enough so send Akko packing, tail between her legs.

Sometimes literally. She still hadn't gotten Metamorphosis magic perfected.

Compared to Diana, the proven, competent witch who seemed to handle everything with ease, Akko is a bumbling, mewling kitten that somehow manages to scrape by her lessons with good luck and a charming smile. It's humiliating now that she actually thinks about it, but she is far too invested on becoming a witch to stop now.

Not when she is so close to becoming like her idol, Shiny Chariot!

Soon Akko finds her gaze crawling over her classmates again, the lesson buzzing in the background. For lack of anything better to look at, her eyes find focus on Diana's hands – namely her slender, perfectly manicured fingers – before floating upwards. She follows the curves of her arms to her shoulder and then her now-familiar neckline. It is impossible to ignore how good she looks in the school uniform, a rare smile on her stoic face, and those blue eyes sparkling when you looked at her just right, and holy moly she's looking directly at Akko!

Akko blinks, her eyes caught by Diana's stoic gaze. Somehow, by the grace of magic she is able to keep her face smooth and in check, and not show any reaction – both physically or audibly – to her being caught red-handed in staring at her classmate. But that doesn't keep the warm blush from prickling across her cheeks as she fidgets in her seat.

And Diana just keeps staring at her! And what was worse, her hand just keeps taking notes! Apparently, her talents also extend to multi-tasking of listening to the teacher, taking notes, and embarrassing the heck out of one Atsuko Kagari!

Akko huffs, finally breaking the spell that Diana had over her and turning away to look out the window. Honestly, is isn't her fault; she's just a student at a school for witches! Not a curious, slightly horny teenager with far too many spazzing hormones to keep in check! Nope – definitely not!

Well, okay… maybe a little.

She chances another glance towards Diana, sure that the girl had given up her staring contest with Akko and gone back to watching the board, but no – Diana is still looking directly at her. The girl blinks slowly at Akko as she freezes, the usual focused look in her eyes directed one-hundred percent at her.

Grimacing, Akko turns around again. Darn it. Darn it all to heck!

It should be a crime to be that pretty, Akko decides right then. But she is just so… Diana; glossy, blonde tendrils of hair, clearly and expertly maintained, like the fields of a golden plain. And her eyes the color of the clearest pool of water she wouldn't mind drinking from every day of her life.

Whoa. Okay… Down girl. You're doing it again. How about you lower your expectations a little, huh?

She doesn't look over to Diana again for the rest of class. She has had enough of feeling sorry for herself, and further comparisons between her and the 'heiress of the Cavendish family' would only make her feel worse. As it was, even Akko's boundless enthusiasm could only take so much before needing some food therapy.

And since it was soon to be lunchtime… she had other things to drool over.

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"Well, hello baby!" Akko croons softly as she sits down between Sucy and Lotte, already salivating at the modest spread before her. "Come to mama… no, no, don't be scared! Akko's gonna take reeeeeal good care of you. Just hop onto my spoon and it'll all be over soon~~"

Class had ended a few minutes before, and it didn't take Akko long to make a mad dash to the cafeteria, her stomach leading her like a rabid canine pulling its owner down the sidewalk. Even with her speed, however, she still arrived to a line forming around the cafeteria and it took her a good matter of minutes of grumbling and foot-tapping to finally walk away with her spoils; two servings of mashed potatoes, meatloaf and steaming vegetables.

The vegetables would be eaten last. Maybe.

If at all.

She didn't know how her friends had all gotten their food and found a table before her, but regardless, they waved her over and Akko sat, almost immediately digging into her food with abandon.

"You know, it's kind of creepy when you talk to your food like that." Amanda mutters from her seat, grimacing as Akko spoons bite after bite of mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"It's best not to say anything…" Sucy sighs morosely, an action mirrored by Lotte as they picked at their lunch at a much more relaxed pace.

"What? I'm a growing girl!" Akko protests, but with her mouth full it ends up sounding more like 'Whu? Ib a gwowwig guul!'

"I'm… not even going to dignify that with a response." Amanda shakes her head and digs into her own meal along with her own friends, Constanze and Jasminka.

"For the best." Sucy agrees solemnly.

Akko swallows her food, lifts her fork towards her so-called friends and opens her mouth, again to declare that she was hungry darn it, and to stand between her rumbly tummy and precious food was tantamount to war on a small country, when a shadow fell across the table.

"Ara, ara… what do we have here?" comes the unmistakable voice of Diana Cavendish, sending Akko's spine into levels of rigidness she had never felt before in her live.

She looks up, her fork still held aloft, and sure enough the girl is there, flanked by her minions – at least, that's how they looked to Akko.

What were their names again? Sarah? Jessica? Paige?

"It's Hannah!" the red-head snarls, glaring at Akko.

"And Barbara!" the other sneered, her chin held almost as high as her nose.

Huh. Apparently, Akko said that out loud. Go figure.

"What do you want, Cavendish?" Amanda growls from her seat.

If the girl is disturbed by the clear aggression radiating from Amanda, she does a great job of keeping it to herself. She makes eye contact with everyone at the table, and lingers on Akko for a moment longer than the others before saying, "I was intending on joining you six for lunch today. Would that be acceptable?"

Akko blinks, as did everyone else, Hannah and Barbara included.

"W-what?" Barbara squawks. "S-surely you are joking, Diana? You can't actually want to eat with them!" The way she says 'them' sounds awfully similar to her tone when talking about insects, and it raises Akko's hackles. But before she can even argue back, Diana raises her hand.

"I'm not joking," she says simply. Ignoring her friends' indignant stares, she gently places her tray across from Akko. "May I?"

"Sure!" Lotte, ever the voice of peace, is quick to the punch. "We have lots of room. The more the merrier!"

It is hard to stay angry when Lotte seems so genuinely sweet, and Akko shares a glance with Amanda, who simply shrugs and digs back into her meal, clearly intent on ignoring everything for the remainder of lunch.

Diana sits, followed shortly by her friends, and the group falls into an uncomfortable silence. Akko, for her part, follows Amanda's lead by staring intently into her tray, trying to discern the number of potatoes that made up her meal, along with where the rest of her lunch came from.

It isn't as though she doesn't like Diana – her friends notwithstanding – as Amanda clearly does… the problem is that she isn't quite over her little 'embarrassment' episode she suffered through during class. It wasn't every day she was caught staring – ogling, really, because that's what she had been doing – her classmate.

And Diana still hadn't acknowledged it at all, leaving Akko to think that she either didn't care about such a thing… or that she did care, and was simply waiting for something.

But what?

"Well, this is awkward." The silence is finally broken when Sucy snickers, saying aloud whatever everyone is thinking.

Everyone giggles a little, but the tension is still there, so thick it couldn't be cut except with the sharpest knife. Amanda glares at her food, Sucy and Lotta trade nervous looks between them, Constanze and Jasminka seem ignore what was clearly shaping up to be some sort of confrontation, and Akko resolutely does her darndest to avoid the stare she was sure Diana was sending her way.

Hannah and Barbara simply sit there, steaming in silence.

"I noticed you were having trouble paying attention in class earlier, Akko." Diana suddenly says.

Akko jumps in her seat, finally looking up to see Diana placid gaze piercing into her. "Um…. Okay?"

A blonde eyebrow lifts minutely. "Care to explain what had you distracted so?"

Akko blinks, trying to pick apart the girl's words. Surely she knows that Akko had been staring at Diana during class? She had caught her looking! Shouldn't it be clear what Akko had been distracted with? There shouldn't be any reason for Akko to say that out loud, but from the seriousness lingering in Diana's eyes, and the frown on her lips – pink and glossy and perfect and whoa… that's enough, Akko – it was clear the girl was waiting for an answer.

"Um… n-nothing." Akko finally says, lifting her chin. "I was just hungry."

Diana's eyes flash, and her frown remains unmoving. Akko gets the distinct impression that she had just failed a test of some kind.

Hannah's derisive snort breaks the silence, and she crosses her arms over her chest. "Leave it to the commoner to hold food up to such high importance."

Akko glares at the girl, and it is Jasminka's pleased humming around a cookie in her mouth at her words that keeps her from raising to the girl's obvious baiting.

But it was a near thing.

The table falls into silence again, only broken by the occasional clink of silverware or frustrated growl from Amanda. Akko sends tentative glances towards Diana, who had yet to look away from her, taking the occasional bite of her lunch in small, dainty nibbles and hnnnnnnnng Akko never wanted to be a slice of meatloaf so badly until that moment.

After a few minutes of quiet eating, Diana finally speaks again, her tone as casual as it can be when spoken with her usual haughtiness.

"If you are distracted in class, Akko, maybe I can assist you."

Amanda is up on her feet, her chair skidding across the floor, even before Akko has time to blink. "She said she was just hungry, Diana! Just leave it alone!"

Both Hannah and Barbara stand, hands on hips in equal measures of disapproval. Amanda meets their glares resolutely, and Akko stands just to make it an even two-on-two.

"Don't yell at Diana like that!" Hannah shouts.

"Yea! She's just being courteous!" Barbara adds. "Though, one would wonder why, since Akko here is barely a witch!"

Akko's lip curls in irritation, her food now forgotten. She can feel Lotte tug on her sleeve, but hearing the Barbara's insults towards her – and her dream of being a Witch worthy of the school and Shiny Chariot – fills her with righteous anger.

"Who's barely a witch?" She snarls, jabbing a finger towards Barbara.

"I think I was quite clear," the girl quips. "After all, who is it that can't even fly a broom, the simplest of acts that even children learn to do?"

"Yea, or mastered Metamorphosis magic?" Hannah snickers.

"Or mix a simple potion?"

"Or understand the Avian language, which all witches know how to do?"

"Or even stay awake in class?"

Each mention of everything Akko couldn't do was another blow to her chest, another shot to her pride. She curls inward, her shoulders drooping as she dropped her eyes to the table. Yes, it was true that she wasn't as advanced as the other students at Luna Nova… and that she is progressing slower as well, but she is farer along that when she first got here! That had to count for something!

"So what!" Amanda growls from beside Akko. "Even if she can't do all of those things, she's still better than all of you prisses!"

Spurred into action at Amanda's words, Akko points her finger at the girls again. "Y-Yea! What she said!"

"She got here, didn't she? And she hasn't been expelled yet, right?"

That was technically true, but really, Akko had only finally arrived to Luna Nova due to lucky circumstances, and the fact that she happened across Shiny Rod by chance rather than being able to fly to school under her own power. And that she hadn't been expelled yet… well… that was a work in progress.

But she isn't about to let everyone know that. No siree.

"Even if she can't fly, or do magic, or know anything about anything, she still tries! So she fails all the time and can't seem to learn anything! So what? At least she doesn't quit when she fails! Which is often!"

Akko turns her glare towards her friend, ignoring the snickers coming from everyone around her. "Uh, Amanda? Seriously – right now? You're not helping."

Whatever angry haze that had taken over the girl seems to dissipate, and she sputters as both Hannah and Barbara erupt into raucous laughter. Soon other students join in, and eventually everyone save for Lotte, Sucy, Amanda and Diana are laughing at Akko.

Akko stands still, her head down as the laughs wash over her – mocking her dreams and her goals alike. So she was not the best witch out there? Someday, she would be. She would be as good, if not better, than Shiny Chariot! She was just… taking the long way around.

"I'm finished with my lunch," she announces, picking up her half-finished tray and marching towards the entrance to the cafeteria. She hears her friends call out to her but doesn't turn around. She tips her food into the trash and, ignoring the innocuous munching sounds coming from the faeries she just knows live in the trash cans, she leaves the room.

She stands out in the hall for a few moments, listening as the laughter grows in pitch now that the butt of the joke was gone. She feels a twist in her gut, but refuses to acknowledge it as she breathes in and out, determined to not lose hope. She was here, she was learning and trying and doing magic every day! That was more than she ever expected – more than the ever dreamed – and she wasn't going to stop now!

But it's times like this, when Akko is on her own in the face of adversity that she really wonders if it's all worth it in the end.

The sound of the door opening, and the sound of laughter grew louder for a moment until the door shuts again, drawing Akko from her thoughts.

She slaps on a grin and whirls around, "Hey Lotte! Sucy! What's the plan?"

She is expecting to see her friends, expressions both aloof and worried for her unceremonious exit, standing in front of her. What she doesn't expect is Diana standing before her, the girl's placid expression adorning her face like a second skin.

Akko immediately feels her grin drop from her face. "Oh, uh, hi Diana. What's up?"

"You left quite quickly. I wanted to make sure were alright."

Unable to keep herself from scoffing, Akko folds her arms over her chest, "Oh yeah? So, what, you care now?"

Diana's blue eyes narrow almost unnoticeably. "If you recall, I was not laughing with the others."

It is her tone more than anything that settles into Akko's stomach like an ulcer. Her words may have been kind, but her tone was laced with indignation. Impatience. It was a tone that Akko hears often; from the staff – except Professor Ursula, who always seemed to have nothing but patience for Akko -, from the other students, and even from her friends on occasion. Most of the time Akko just brushes it off with a grin, but now, with the remnants of laughter still buzzing around her from the cafeteria, and Diana herself staring at her with all her perfection and stupidly good looks, she doesn't feel nearly as charitable.

"Yeah, well, it could have fooled me." Akko grunts. "You seemed perfectly happy with letting your friends make fun of me. Real peachy."

"Hannah and Barbara were out of line, I admit. But Amanda seemed perfectly capable of carrying the entire conversation on her own."

Akko's cheeks flush. It's true, she would have to talk with Amanda later about how to properly defend someone. But that is an issue for a later time. Right now, she is irritated, embarrassed, and more than a little frustrated with Diana standing there looking so darn good!

"You could have said something! Anything, really! Instead you just sat there, staring at me!"

Diana's lips thin and she folds her arms over her chest. "You were staring at me during class," She states matter-of-factly.

"I totally wasn't staring." Akko growls, half-turning away and lifting her chin defiantly.

"Yes, you totally were."

"Was not."

"You were."

"I were not!"

Diana blinks, "That's not even grammatically correct!"

"Well! Aren't we perfect?" Akko snarls, whirling around and throwing her hands in the air. "If you're so perfect all the time, why don't you guess why I was staring at you?"

Diana is silent for a moment. She tilts her head a little, as if to get a new perspective of Akko. She opens her mouth, closes it, and then sighs. "Never mind. Just… go on. Don't be late our our next class."

Akko leans in close.

"Make me." She hisses, too worked up and angry to realize she is basically picking a fight with Diana Cavendish.

Diana takes a step closer and before Akko can even blink, Diana's fingers are in her hair and her mouth is on hers. It's a desperate and messy kiss, and Akko's not entirely sure what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this. Diana's mouth was soft and her teeth are digging into her bottom lip and it's a mix of rough and slightly painful and Akko is really, desperately into it. She should probably be having some kind of crisis over how wrong this is and how she should just turn and run as fast as she could in the opposite direction, but it was so good.

Dang it – it felt so good it had to be illegal.

After a moment they push apart forcefully, and Akko blinks as her surroundings come back into focus. The hallway outside the cafeteria, blissfully free of other students except for her and Diana, the girl she was only moments before having a near-argument with. Little-miss-perfect, Diana Cavendish. And she just kissed Akko. It's messed up, but Akko doesn't even have the willpower to pretend to apologize. She's way too busy staring at Diana fixing her hair.

"Okay," Says Akko after a long moment. "That was, um… yea –"

Diana straightens, her face tightening as she stares at Akko. She fidgets, unsure of what else to say.

After a moment, Diana clears her throat. "I'm going to my room. Hannah and Barbara won't be back for a while."

"Oh," Akko says, nodding jerkily. "Okay… yeah."

"Do you want to come, too?" Diana asks with a long, significant look.

Akko blinks, feeling a hot spike of something in her stomach. It is much stronger than when she was staring at the girl during class and arguing with her moments before. She is so distracted that she barely notices when Diana is no longer in front of her; her footfalls echoing down the empty hallway.

"Are you coming?" Diana calls out, not looking back.

Akko takes a shaky breath. She should just stop and think about it. After all, this is Diana and seriously, what possible good can come from this?

And then Akko thinks about their kiss and how good it felt… and how naughty it had been, right there in the hallway, where anybody could have seen them. And now, Diana wants to invite her to her room.

Her heart lurches up to her throat, and then drops straight back down to her groin.

Welp, in for a penny…

Akko takes off down the hallway after Diana.

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To Be Continued

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A/N: Thanks for reading! See you on part 2! :D

***Will work for glomps***