Another day, another several hours spent practicing her magic. Akko stood outside on the grassy fields of Luna Nova, hands on her knees and breathing heavily. She had been practicing magic ever since classes ended for the day and hasn't stopped since. Her clothes were slightly damp from sweat and the skin on her hands had small scratches and blisters from constantly waving her wand around when casting spells.

The rest of her body wasn't faring any better. If her appearance didn't already give away her exhaustion, then the aches and pains that wracked her body did. It was a wonder how she even got aches and pains just from spell casting, since the act didn't really require long, intense physical movements to pull off. Truly, it was a testament to just how hard and how long her practice sessions were. This was how the young witch had spent the last several days. On the bright side, if these practice sessions didn't improve her magic then the apparent physical exercise she was getting would improve her endurance and physical conditioning at least.

Her two friends, Lotte and Sucy who were also the two other members of red team sat leaning on a nearby tree. They had been helping her in any way they could, demonstrating the spell, casting it, giving her tips, and all around doing what they can to solve whatever problem was preventing her from casting spells successfully. They even checked her posture and offered to switch wands. None of their attempts worked and they soon gave up and just let Akko practice on her own. It was all mostly Lotte anyway, the kind witch was the one that offered to help the most. Sucy just sat nearby and suggested Akko never do magic, as if that solved the problem. The jerk.

The young witch took a few seconds to catch her breath before getting ready to cast another spell again. Maybe it will work this time. She had spent these last few weeks outside performing spells until she mastered them.

So far she hasn't mastered even one. It was the same story over and over again. She would cast and the spell would either utterly fail, or fail halfway.

Akko pointed her wand and focused, chanting the words to start the spell. She could feel her magic beginning to flow within her.

So far so good.

Now she had to focus on letting the magic transfer to her wand and cast it at a steady pace. If she released it too fast and too suddenly, her magic would flow out all at once in the form of a small explosion. Too slowly and the spell wouldn't have enough power to sustain itself from continuing and just blatantly cease casting. It was painstaking work that didn't deserve the amount of effort she put in for the results it gave. Seriously, it was considered an average spell at best from what she heard from the teacher.

An average spell and it was already costing her this much effort? That had to be an exaggeration. Or a joke.

Akko felt a huge build up of magic forming on her arm then to her hand. She was beginning to pour the large congregation of magic from her hand into her wand. As soon as it entered the wand it all flowed out at once against her will. Her heart leaped into her throat, her body seemingly knowing what the results would be before her brain could.

White filled her vision. She didn't hear anything. There must have been an explosion. Because she was now lying on her back a good distance away from where she was standing originally. The aforementioned spot now tinted black and smoking.

One finger worked its way into her hear in an attempt to clear out the ringing in her ears. She saw her two friends running in her direction, faces filled with panic and urgency. Akko continued to lay there silently, just staring at them and attempting to fight off the ringing in her ears as her two friends looked over her checking for any injuries from the explosion she caused. She could see Lotte trying to speak to her- no doubt worried about her well-being- but all she could hear was a high pitched static sound in her head.

The brown haired witch continued to work her finger in her ear. "what?" she asked loudly, still hearing the flat static sound.

"-ou...-kay?" her hearing was coming back to her slowly, now instead of a flat ringing sound she was able to hear things again, albeit muffled. She quickly pieced together the words her glasses wearing friend asked her.

"I'm fine, my hearing is just a little wiry. Give me a sec"

The look of worry on Lotte's face disappeared and a look of relief took it's place. Sucy finished inspecting her body and they both helped her up, both of them draping each of her arms over their shoulders as they hoisted her up. They walked a couple of steps, careful not to move too quickly, treating her like glass all of a sudden and sat her against a tree.

Another failure. Another failure among hundreds, maybe even thousands of other failures. It was the same story, she just couldn't seem to control her magic as soon as it left her body. It would go out of control as it was transferred into the wand itself. She didn't know how all the other witches could do it so easily. It looked like they were able to do it without even thinking, like it was second hand nature. As easy as breathing.

Granted she was able to do it too to an extent, now that she practically mastered self-transformation magic. But that was an exception, she cast the spell onto herself. She transformed her own body, so it wasn't like the magic was going anywhere else when it went into her wand. Instead of a tool used to release magic, it was more like a bridge used to transfer magic from her body back into it. If that made any sense.

The brunette pushed herself off the tree despite Lotte's protests. It was just one explosion out of many, she wasn't a glass vase, the witch mentally rolled her eyes. She walked back to the spot she originally stood on and stared at the burnt patch of ground, the edges marred with black grass resembling cinder. Smoke slightly rising from the surface.

"It's okay, Akko. I'm sure you will get the hang of it someday. For now why don't we call it a day? You've been practicing hard for hours now and you're in pretty bad shape". Akko couldn't deny she wanted to go back as well. Her clothes felt wet against her skin and her muscles ached, she longed for a bath, to lay down on her bed and relax. At least that's what her body wanted to do, her mind wanted to stay for a little while and think about things.

About her failures.

"Yeah, we've been out here watching you practice for forever now. I want to go back in our room, some of us have things we'd rather do after this". Sucy as usual didn't hold back or sugarcoat her words. The blunt comment earned her a quick admonishment from the bespectacled witch.

A part of her wanted to remind them that they really didn't have to follow her out here when she was practicing. Nor did they have any obligation to stay out here, they could leave if they wanted. The other part quickly told her they probably did so out of consideration, and were still being considerate when they offered to go back together. Even if Sucy made it sound like she didn't care, that's just the kind of person she was. It also wasn't fair to take advantage of their concern, she already cost them several hours of their after-school time just watching her practice and while they might not be as tired as her, it didn't mean that watching someone practice and generally just wasting time sitting around wasn't a tiring endeavor in and of itself. They must have been so bored just staying out here.

Even so, her mind was already going a mile a minute in her little quandary. She needs to stay a little longer and get this load off of her psyche. Now was as good a time as ever. But just because she wanted to stay doesn't mean they couldn't go.

She spun on her heels, facing her two friends. "You guys are right, we've been out here for awhile haven't we?" she grinned sheepishly and rubbed one hand on the back of her head.

"awhile" might have been a gross understatement, and the expression on both of their faces certainly showed it. One tried to hide it, the other blatantly let her expression do the talking. She felt a tug on her lips at the sight.

"still, someone needs to fix this mess. Why don't you two go ahead and I'll catch up?"

"You know it's just grass, right?"

"I know"

"and you know that the grass will find a way to heal itself without your help?"

"Doesn't mean I shouldn't try" with that Sucy shrugged and walked off, Lotte lingered before shooting her one last look.

"are you sure? Like Sucy said, you don't have to fix that"

"And like I told Sucy, it doesn't mean I shouldn't try. This scorch mark is my mess so I should at least clean it up. I need to learn to be more responsible, you and Diana made it clear" Lotte looked like she wanted to protest but the brunette cut her off "don't think I forgot about the way you scolded me when we got those ingredients, you may not have said it but I can read between the lines, you know". She grinned widely to show she harbored no hard feelings over the incident.

The bespectacled witch laughed nervously, the act basically confirming what they were both thinking. The brown haired witch pressed on. "So you go on ahead, I'll fix this up. You must have been tired just watching me mess up over and over again right? don't worry, I'll be back before you even notice I'm gone!

The expression on her friend's face still looked like she wanted to disagree, but she saw the pure determination in the bubbly witch's eyes and saw no room for argument. With a sigh, she reluctantly settled with a few parting words and a wave before walking briskly to try and catch up with Sucy.

As soon as both of her companions disappeared from view, she slumped her shoulders and sighed audibly.

'and thus concludes another spectacular session' she narrated dramatically as she thought about the events that transpired in the last few hours. From the start of her training session, the ending and all the struggles, flops, and misfires that happened in between. Hours of work and very little improvement, but a lot of stumbles. A lot of them. It seemed to be the only thing she continues to get an abundance of.

'Why couldn't it be the other way? Why not lots of improvements and very little stumbles?'. She wished it could be that easy. As if switching the formula around would be enough to solve her current problem. She released a breath as well as the child-like question along with it.

It has been several weeks since the missile crisis and Akko has not made any relative progress in her magical endeavor. Days and days spent trying, practicing, struggling and all around busting her butt off trying to make even the slightest improvement. She knows that she wasn't the most talented witch but come on. You'd think that after several days of continuous practice that there would be some result.

Seriously. it's like the laws of physics or something.

What was it again? For every action there's a reaction? If that was the case where was her reaction? Where was the fruits of her many days of labor? Constantly practicing for days on end not even a slightest margin of improvement?

Akko was cursed. She had to be. What else could explain the blatant refusal of her magical powers improving? She was cursed and apparently it was a strong one, a curse strong enough to break even the laws of physics itself.

The brown haired witch paused for three seconds after uttering such a thought. Letting it echo in her head before realizing how ridiculous it sounded. 'I'm comparing the laws of physics with magic'.

Magic.

and physics.

Magic, of all things. The very anti-thesis of science. And she was currently applying the two together in order to explain her failures. She was going insane, becoming crazy from all the failed attempts to get better at magic. Clearly doing the same thing over and over with no indication of change was taking it's toll on her brain and driving her into a full unadulterated descent into madness. Didn't Einstein once say the definition of insanity was doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting something different to happen? Yep, maybe the small possibility of insanity might not have been as small as she first thought. When the day comes that she finally reaches her goal, she might need to go see a psychiatrist. She would obviously need it if things continued to stay like this for the next few years in Luna Nova.

Akko plopped herself down and laid on the grass, arms spread wide. Her body seemingly groaning in relief as the aches and pains temporarily drifted away. A breeze softly blowing through, slightly ruffling her hair. Letting the serenity of the day calm her addled mind, she stared at the clouds above. "I wonder if this is what Diana felt back when she lost her magic".

Akko let the scene play in her head, of a little small Diana out in the field furiously practicing her magic. Her cute little face scrunched up as she focused on getting whatever spell to work.

The tired witch let her imagination stray further from reality and imagined little Diana now rocking back and forth, hands clutching her legs, knees pressed to her chest, eyes wide and staring blankly into space as she catatonically muttered "Please work, please work" over and over again.

Akko shook her head, dispelling the line of thought and laughed to herself. She didn't know where the scene came from but she laughed at it nonetheless. The scene was so outlandish, so ridiculous, and just plain wrong when compared with the Diana she knew.

It was just so not her. Diana Cavendish-star of Luna Nova-young prodigy that can do anything who always wore a calm and collected expression, going crazy due to her ineptitude. She could already imagine Diana raising a very sarcastic eyebrow if she found out the scene Akko was thinking. Hhmm, maybe she could draw the scene in her head, make it come to life and show it to Diana just to spite the perfect witch. That would show her.

Anyways. Diana has always been a tough nut to crack ever since they first met. Diana embodied the word discipline itself, having full control over her emotions at all times. It was hard getting much of a reaction out of the young prodigy. Throughout the time the two spent together, the only reaction she ever got out of the blonde witch were various degrees of scorn and disappointment. Sure there must have been other emotions she hadn't mentioned, such as the very tsundere-like behavior the young heiress portrayed during their broom ride back from Diana's mansion, but scorn and disappointment were the most prominent. Yes, Diana was good at reigning in her emotions, completely opposite of Akko who frequently wore her feelings on her sleeve.

It was the first time the brown haired witch thought this deeply about the subject so it dawned on her just how much of a polar opposites the two of them were to each other. Diana was a talented witch, Akko was struggling just with average level spells. Diana came from a famous line of a noble witch family. Akko was the only witch in her family line. Diana excelled in her studies, Akko once got a grade just for getting on a broom. Even their eye color, Diana had blue eyes while Akko had red. Diana was seen as the lead student of Luna Nova, the role model the others should take after, while Akko was the lead example of how not to be a student or a witch. Sometimes she wondered how she was able to make friends with the green team, heck the fact that she made friends at all with Lotte and Sucy was a wonder in and of itself considering her scuppered reputation of being the laughing stock just from the first day of school. The red eyed witch certainly went through many struggles to slowly improvement herself into the witch she was now as well as lucky to have such great friends that who would support her from thick and thin.

It was this line of thought that she found yet another difference between her and Diana. Diana easily breezed through her time in Luna Nova while Akko had to scrape from the bottom of the barrel, fight tooth and nail, even risked expulsion and all around embodying the meaning of the words "hard work" just to get where she was.

All these glaring differences that she never thought about before but were now as unmistakable and hard to ignore as the light of a lamp being shined in your face.

Diana was a capable witch, and being her polar opposite, what did that make Akko? Would she be stuck forever as the incompetent witch that barely knows how to levitate on a broom or cast mediocre spells? Judging from the progress-or lack of it- of her persistent practicing sessions, she wasn't sure anymore. Many other girls in Luna Nova might call her stupid, or an idiot, or dense but that didn't mean she can't put two and two together.

Akko felt her spirit wane a little. She swiftly crushed the negative emotions under the heels of her figurative boot.

Her mind thought back on past memories, of the instances of her fellow witches and classmates after she was embarrassed by Hannah and Barbarah for being a flightless witch. Her reputation had taken a big hit there. Recalling the way they would stare and whisper among each other when Akko and her team would enter a room. It was hard not to notice, honestly, were they even trying to be discreet? At the time she shrugged off the little snickers and gestures as typical reactions to someone making a spectacle of themselves, but now she begins to piece together the kind of words they must have shared between each other when out of earshot. After the festival and the missile crisis the scorn vanished and gave way to a look of newfound respect. Though she begins to wonder how long that would last after several weeks of her not making any progress on her abilities. Consistently falling behind the class and struggling once again.

How much longer would it be before the judgmental looks came back? Hopefully never. She didn't let them bother her, but life would still be easier not needing to deal with them at all. It would be easier for more than one reason most likely, reasons that she hasn't figured out yet. Hasn't had the time or opportunity to sit still and figure out.

For all she knew they might have started already. It could just be her imagination playing tricks on her but she thought she saw the faint glimmer of mischief in her classmate's eyes during her last few classes. The faint spark of amusement that said they found entertainment at her shortcomings. It was a look she could easily recognize after seeing it sent her way so much. Was it bad that she was starting to familiarize herself with such looks? Probably, but she honestly can't find it in her to be surprised anymore. Disappointed maybe, but not surprised.

Akko never understood why they were keen on putting her down when she was already so low. If someone was down, doesn't it make more sense to help them or cheer them up, just like what she did with the yeti?

So why? The small witch didn't know. She didn't know, three words that summarized her experience in the classes of Luna Nova. Three words that's costing her so much.

'that's one of the witches that prevented the missile crisis?'

'what a joke'

'surely she just went along on the ride and let Diana do most of the work if this is all she's capable of'

'hanging on to Diana's coat tails and enjoying the credit, despicable'

Her treacherous mind unnecessarily filled in the blanks of her thoughts. Making her think words that she assumed must have been swimming inside her classmate's heads.

"well, whatever" the little witch spoke to nobody in particular. "I'll just have to prove them wrong, prove all of them wrong!" she put her hands on the back of her head and looked to the side. "I'll make them eat their words, make them eat and then ask them what regret tastes like!"

Akko stared up at the sky once more, the sun slowly disappearing into the horizon. She stared at the gray clouds above, golden yellow light washing over her face. Red eyes closed softly as a gust of wind passed by, ruffling her hair and sending a few strands on her face.

she'll show them. She will become a great witch like Shiny Chariot, and like her idol, she will use her magic to make others smile. Her dream will come true, she'll make sure of it. Any other outcome won't be accepted. It was practically her destiny! Professor Ursula said so, Lotte and Sucy expect her to, heck even Diana admits the little witch is already on the right path! And it was Diana who said that, she was never wrong.

Akko chose to ignore the loud voice in her head screaming how hypocritical she sounded. she's well aware how wilfully doubtful she was of the blonde witch's abilities but for now maybe she'll make a small exception. Heh, it totally wasn't because she liked what she heard or anything. She was just..returning the favor that's all. Diana said she believes in the clumsy witch, well if that was the case then this clumsy witch will gladly return the faith and trust.

Yep, that's the only reason. that's her story and she's sticking to it!

Thinking about Diana, Akko was reminded just how far she was from her goal. It was time to start believing in the blonde witch, which means it was also time to face reality as well. Compared to Diana, Akko was a peasant.

Literally.

She was a literal peasant and Diana was a noble.

The peasant witch was further from her goal than she was to Saturn. Her earlier assessment between their characteristics made it blatantly clear. If the young peasant ever hoped to shine as bright as her idol then she must at least stop living in the shadows of her self-proclaimed rival.

And that thought felt like an anvil being dropped unceremoniously on her poor, straw-lifting, peasant back.

Most of all because she didn't want to have a face carved from stone. That was what Diana's face looked like roughly ninety percent of the time. If being as great as Diana meant she had to start looking and acting like the resident Ice Queen then fate had another thing coming.

The other reason was how utterly impossible it sounded. Measure up to Diana? Diana was at the top of the whole school, was able to master every spell the brunette witch could think of and possibly even more spells that the little witch doesn't even know exists yet. Sure Akko found the seven words but her magical aptitude was miles upon miles below even the slowest of all witches when her life didn't depend on it.

She can't depend on short powerful bursts of magic that only emerges when inspiration hits. Those moments were like shooting stars. It's bright, beautiful, and so very brief. She can't rely on those "shooting star" moments forever, not when she can't bring out the power at her back and call.

As much as she hated to do it, she must let go of those moments. She hated letting it go because it was the only thing she had that Diana didn't already beat her in. Without those moments, what even was she?

A washed up incompetent witch.

A washed up incompetent witch with no talent to speak of, who can't even hope to burn half as bright as Diana. Professor Ursula once said that everyone had their own strengths. Akko was quick to ask what her own talent was.

She still didn't get an answer, the professor still didn't have an answer. After all, you couldn't give an answer to a question you don't know the answer to without lying first. And professor Ursula rarely lied, least of all to Akko. The fact that the professor changed the subject proved it. Because her idol either had to tell the painful truth or not say it at all. So she chose the latter, the professor chose not to answer. To change the subject and spare Akko's feelings.

The little witch didn't know what to expect. Though, a big part of her knows what she should have expected, but she was stubbornly clinging on to a small part of her that still had hope. Akko asked her professor what her own strength was, hoping, desperate to have even an inkling. An inkling of what, she wasn't sure. An inkling of her own powers, something that she would be good at? Or perhaps she was desperate to hear even an inkling of support, a virtuous voice that reassures her that she wasn't a hopeless case. It could also be both, but the truth denied her either of those two.

A sigh escaped her as she pushed herself off the grass and sat up. Her eyes tiredly scanned numerous small cuts and blisters lining up her hand. A sign of how much effort she poured into bettering herself.

So much effort and so little progress to show for it.

And she expected herself to be on Diana's level. As a minimum. At the rate this was going, she was more likely to get Constanze to give a speech.

The young witch released one more sigh and stood up wearily. Her muscles protesting the movement and a sudden wave of exhaustion washing over her. Half lidded eyes stared off in the distance as the sun dipped completely in the horizon. She had a long way to go, a fact that she already knew but was once again reminded. Kept being reminded of for the past few weeks. Nobody knew that fact better than her now.

'I'll keep working hard. I don't care if it takes me a thousand years, I will accomplish my goal. I can't stop trying even if it's the last thing I do'. That was all the brown haired witch could do for now. She found herself needing to repeat that same mantra to herself recently.

Turning around, the little witch trudged back in the direction of the school. The sun was set, it was getting dark, and the breeze that was once soothing now felt cold and rough. She was going to have some explaining to do about her late arrival to Lotte once she made it back to her dorm.

Her feet felt like weights attached to her legs as they trod through the grass. Her normally fiery red eyes seemed to lack it's usual vibrancy and were downcast, locked on the ground in front of her.

As she walked off, one last thought echoed inside her head. A call-back on her thoughts about the stark differences between her and a certain flawless witch.

'Diana was able to completely recover her magic after losing it'

Sleep didn't come easy that night and for once it wasn't because of the aches and pains that wracked her body.