It had been three days since the incident with the Jennifer Memorial Tree, and it had been three days since Diana had last interacted with Akko. Diana wanted to apologize to Akko, but she wasn't able to on account of Hanna and Barbera constantly flanking her. And so, Diana gave up. She could have quite easily caused Akko permanent damage because she hadn't listened to her, and after waiting three days to tell her, why would Akko forgive her?

Diana made her way to the library, brushing off girls who tried to make conversation with her. It had just gone half past four and it was a beautiful day outside so the library was practically deserted, but Diana wasn't satisfied. She quickly grabbed several books on things they had covered in their lessons and looked for the most deserted area she could find. Upon finally settling on a table in the corner mostly hidden by bookcases Diana picked up a couple more books and had them levitate with a quickly flick of her wand.

When Diana reached the table she froze. Akko was sat there, happily shuffling her Shiny Chariot cards. Diana must have not been able to see her because of a bookshelf obscuring part of the table, but that didn't matter. What mattered was not being seen by Akko.

Diana quietly turned around, making sure Akko hadn't seen her... and immediately collided with someone.

"Sucy, are you okay?" Lotte asked Sucy, who was rubbing her nose but still standing.

"I'm fine, we should be much more concerned with the school hero" Sucy's voice was dripping with more venom than her cockatraice feather and her expression was cold and unforgiving.

Diana got back on her feet and after dusting herself off replied "I'm hardly the school hero for just that"

"You're quite right, considering all you did was shock Akko"

It is needless to say that a nasty argument would have began there and then, had Akko not gotten involved.

"Now now, it's not like Diana meant to hit me with her spell, and besides, I got to use Shiny Rod again"

"Akko-"

"And I'm fine now, so what does it matter?"

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to win in an argument with Akko, Sucy chose to let the subject go and took the seat opposite Akko's, putting down her various books on poisons and potions beside her. Lotte quickly moved past Diana and took the seat next to Sucy.

Diana didn't know what to do, she didn't know when she would be able to talk to Akko without Hanna and Barbera around, but at the same time it would be embarrassing to say it with Yanson and Manbavaran listening.

"Are you just gonna stand around Diana?"

"What Sucy meant to say was 'do you want to join us?'" Lotte clarified, shooting her friend a look telling her to be civil.

Akko quickly pulled the chair next to her out and indicated for Diana to sit there. Once Diana was seated Akko pulled out her cards and shuffled them quickly before dealing them.

Lotte and Sucy examined their cards and whispered strategies together. Akko quickly looked over her cards and grinned before showing them to Diana and whispering "I've got a good hand, this should be over in two or three turns"

Sure enough, Akko easily won the game, crushing Sucy and Lotte without hesitation. After shuffling the cards Akko dealt them again, but placed hers in between her and Diana.

"Do you want to learn how to play?"

"Please say yes, me and Lotte might actually have a chance of winning then"

"Sucy!"

As soon as Diana asked for Akko to teach her how to play she was swept up in a convoluted explanation of how the game worked, what the cards did, in what situations a card would be able to do something that wasn't written on it, and the best way to counter an opponent.

When dinner time eventually rolled around Diana had began to grasp the fundamentals of the game and almost didn't want to stop playing. Almost.

Diana left the books she had collected earlier with the librarian so she could get them after dinner, but when she turned around Diana almost jumped out of her skin; Akko was there, with a grin on her face.

"Akko, you almost scared the life out of me"

"Sorry sorry, anyway, thanks for playing with us today, it was really fun"

As Akko turned to go Diana grabbed her sleeve. "Akko, I'm" Diana took a deep breath in and hoped for the best "I'm sorry for what I did to you when the tree's roots went out of control, I-I should have listened to you but I didn't and hurt you as a result, and then I didn't tell everyone that you were the one who knew about the chrysalises and took the credit for making the Jennifer Memorial Tree better" as Diana recounted all she had done wrong she felt even guiltier about it, and it must have shown because Akko gently pulled her into a hug. Diana felt her worries disappear as Akko held her there, and wished she could stay like that for as long as she wanted.

The moment was ruined by Sucy shouting that Akko would miss dinner if she stayed in the library any longer, and so the two broke apart. Akko ran off to catch up to her friends leaving Diana alone, but happier than she had been in ages.