It took her mind longer than usual to register an emotional response, watching Akko recoil, clasping where she had just been struck. In the span of a second, she went from staring blankly to being utterly horrified.

"Guh! My dose!"

"Agh! Akko! Oh my god! I-I'm so sorry!"

"Doh, i-ids awright! D'Im okay, I dink."

"I'm so sorry! L-let me look at it, please!"

Diana quickly removed Akko's hand and inspected where she had accidently hit her. (And Oh God she just headbutted her date! Bad!) Fortunately, it didn't look nearly as awful as her panicking mind told her it must be. There was only a small purple bruise forming, and there didn't seem to be any bleeding (And what kind of date even involved blood oh no this was so bad!) so the only thing Akko would have to concern herself with was the initial pain (She hurt her! She hurt Akko! What in the world was wrong with her she just screwed up everything and now-!)

Akko sniffed, forcing her back into reality. "Diana. I said I'm alright." She took her hand from her face to rub Diana's arm, and offered a reassuring smile. "This isn't even the most painful thing to happen to me this week."

"R-regardless!" Diana whipped out her wand. It was, most likely, something of an overreaction to use a healing spell. They were designed to repair physical injuries to the body, and only numbed pain to a minor degree. But nonetheless, it was the only thing she could do to even begin to improve this disaster. "I am so sorry, I didn't…I just…I don't know what happened."

Akko stared cross-eyed as magic flowed from the tip of her wand and rested on the bruise. Diana, thanks in no small part to a great deal of practice with performing incantations under pressure, pushed the frantic thoughts from her mind, put all her concentration into the spell, and watched as the blemish's color faded until it disappeared into her skin tone entirely, as though the impact had never happened. The visible part of the injury was gone, for as admittedly little as it was, and judging by the wonderment on the other girl's face, Diana could only hope any actual pain went with it.

"Heh." Akko sniffed her nose experimentally. "Healing magic feels really weird."

"Does it feel better at least?" Her thoughts, no longer occupied trying to ramble out an apology, raced to think of an additional solution. She could conjure some ice, place that on the injury. She didn't have a bag or a pack for it though. Would the nurse's office still be open? No, of course it would be, it was available 24 hours a day, there was no need to be oblivious. She could take Akko back, get an ice pack there, maybe some aspirin or a similar remedy. Would that even help?

"Doesn't even hurt!" Akko tapped where the bruise had been to make her point. "And it was just a little bump anyway. Don't worry about it, okay?"

She could only meekly nod, and she turned away, absent-mindedly inspecting her wand to distract herself. They sat in an awkward silence, and the first thought into her mind was that the mood was irrevocably ruined. Diana might've scoffed had she been less chagrinned. That wasn't true. It was abundantly clear there hadn't been a 'mood' in the first place.

Akko was unpredictable. Never had Diana met someone who defied her expectations at every turn, and every time she thought she understood her, Akko did something unbelievable to take her breath away. Diana loved that about her. She loved how consistently amazing and surprising she was. But at the same time…just this once, it would've been nice if the night had gone how she planned. It certainly wasn't Akko's fault that Diana seemed to be incapable of planning something as simple as this. Whenever they were together, she couldn't keep her wits about her and flailed in anxious panic, and could do nothing to keep her cool. All she wanted to do was look her best in front of the person who mattered to her most, and there was no telling what she would say to her now that she had failed so spectacularly.

"I liked the dessert thingies."

Diana looked up at the sudden statement, to see Akko smiling at her. "What?"

"The dessert thingies you made." she repeated. "I thought they were really good."

"The…the tarts?"

Akko nodded, reaching into the basket. "I saved one, it didn't look like you got any." She pulled out the tart, outstretching her hand in an offering to a puzzled Diana. She motioned for her to take it, with a hopeful gleam in her eye. "Here!"

"Oh." She made no effort to take it. It was a kind deed, but Diana had never intended to have any herself in the first place. Besides that, it wasn't like she was in the mood to eat anyway. "Thank you, but…it's fine, you can have it. I don't really care for them."

Akko tilted her head. "Why'd you make a dessert you didn't like?"

"…Because you liked them." Diana admitted. "I…thought you'd appreciate the gesture."

Akko only stared at her, the confusion written plain on her face. Biting back an unbecoming sigh, Diana returned to inspecting her wand. "Well…I…had been trying to make sure you enjoyed yourself. I planned out this night to make it as special as I could, and you've said in the past you enjoyed those, so…I went to the kitchen and prepared some just for this."

"You did all that for me?" Akko sounded touched, but Diana found whatever warm feeling it filled her with was quickly overpowered by the sense of failure.

Diana dismissed her efforts, saying, "It was hardly that much. They're just little sweets. But…I wanted this night to be perfect." Bitterly, she added, "Clearly, I've ruined it."

Akko studied her for a long moment, and Diana tried not to falter under her gaze. "It's not totally ruined." She finally said. "I mean, yeah, some things went wrong, but I'm still here, so you can, um…y-you can try again."

"I don't…" Diana glanced back up, her brows furrowed. "Again?"

"You know…with the…" She cleared her throat as she looked away, and pointed to her mouth. "T-that."

As Diana realized what she was asking, her sobering humiliation was quickly replaced with manic hysteria. "T-that!" She managed to squeak out. "I-I see. We…I, erm…w-we…can…" Akko reached over, taking her hands, in an attempt to set her at ease. It had the opposite effect, and Diana struggled to keep herself from shaking.

"O-o-okay. This…this is fine, right?" She stammered out. "You…you still want me to do this?"

"Yes, Diana." Akko smirked at her. "I still wanna do this."

"E-even after I-?" She cleared her throat, not yet beside herself enough to admit her mistake out loud. If she could maintain any appearance of dignity, she had to take it. "O-okay. Y-you're sure, right? You don't mind me trying again?"

"I said you should. Don't worry!"

"I-I know, I just…I-I'm going to…and y-you absolutely are fine, right?" Akko's smile dropped, and she squinted at her.

"…Diana, do you just want me to do this, beca-"

"No!" She said quickly, cutting the other girl off. "I can do this, Akko. I assure you, I can do this." Her pride would not allow her to fail any more this night. She did not get to where she was today by falling apart. She was a Cavendish. She needed to be a Cavendish now, and this panicking was unacceptable. "I can do this…" She murmured, more to herself than to the girl in front of her. Diana was sure her face couldn't get any warmer.

"Just, uh…" Akko whispered to her. "Be more gentle this time, okay?"

No, she was mistaken. Now her face couldn't get any warmer.

Diana didn't respond, and it certainly wasn't like she could form a coherent sentence right now. Taking a deep breath in and out, Diana closed her eyes once more, and puckered her lips. Her heart was racing, but she couldn't let nervousness get the better of her again. Taking care to lean forward much more softly this time, she closed the gap inch by inch until finally, Diana felt her lips make contact. She could feel Akko flinch beneath her.

She…she was doing it. She was actually kissing-! She was doing it this time!

Diana noted the texture of Akko's lips had not been what she had expecting. There was an odd motion to them, like a feeling of fluttering, as though they were moving away. Diana hadn't really payed much prior attention to how kisses were described, but she knew enough to hear words like "warm" and "soft." This kiss was sort of…squishy. And a little wet. There wasn't much pressure on Akko's part either. And she swore she just felt a peculiar prickly sensation on her mouth, almost like hair, but that didn't make sense.

After a few seconds, Diana pulled back and opened her eyes, feeling a little lightheaded. Well… it hadn't fit her expectations, but there could be no denying that she had just kissed her. It hadn't been the perfect moment she wanted it to be, but she had done it. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she could be dignified when it came to these things. "I, erm…wow." She said breathlessly. "T-that was very…very different. I-it was nice though."

Looking over to gauge Akko's reaction, she seemed to be…winking at her? No, that wasn't it. She was blinking her left eye over and over. Diana wasn't sure what to make of that. "You look strange. Is everything okay? Did I not do it properly or…?"

The corners of Akko's mouth upturned sheepishly. "You, uh…kissed my eyelid."

"Oh." Diana said flatly. "I see...a-are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm good."

Diana nodded. "…Good."

Diana shrunk back, away from Akko and into an angry loathing. Why was this so difficult for her? How did couples do this all the time? Diana had seen people kiss before, and sometimes it looked like they were doing it unconsciously. It must've been due to practice, because it never appeared nearly as dangerous as this night was turning out.

But no, more likely was that the fault lied with her. Other people could probably kiss their loved ones with no issue because they at least had enough self-control to keep their head about them, something Diana had demonstrated repeatedly she simply could not do, no matter how hard she tried or how much she hated that she behaved so stupidly when it came to these things. No matter how much she wished differently, it was too difficult for her to fight her instincts and express herself like everyone else could. It was time for her to face the facts, and admit that the one of them she had hoped to prove was false couldn't be closer to the truth.

Amanda was right. She really couldn't do this. The plan she had thought was so smart had blown up in her face. Her two attempts at proving herself merely proved laughable. All her effort to be romantic had been for not, to the point where Akko even questioned if she actually cared at all. Diana certainly wasn't the one who should be ashamed to be seen with the other. Her mind drifted back to the end of the conversation, to what Amanda had said that truly provoked her in the first place. With a long, inaudible sigh, she could only manage to glance in Akko's direction.

Diana spoke low and defeated. "I'm sorry I disappointed you."

"What do you mean?" Akko asked, oblivious to her distress. "I mean, kissing my eye was weird, but I said I'm fine. It's no big deal."

"Not that." Diana shook her head. "…well, actually, yes that. And everything else. You wanted me to do this, and I didn't want to let you down, but I just…keep falling apart. I wanted to prove I could handle this, but..."

She wondered if Akko would join Amanda and everyone else in reveling how inept she was when it came to romance, and it struck her that rambling to her would hardly make her look any more respectable. "I'm sorry. I know how bad this looks. Believe me, I tried to do the best I can, but I can't…I can't just express myself like you can."

The humiliation was too strong for her to glance up and gauge Akko's reaction, so instead, she sat silently, awaiting her scrutiny. "…Well, I admit, I always thought you'd be a lot more confident." Akko said, hesitantly, trying her best to spare Diana's feelings. "You're really good at everything, so it's a little weird to think you'd have trouble with this."

Akko continued before she had much of a chance to let the words impact her. "It's just…I'm sorta wigged out too." Diana looked up in surprise. "I was hoping you were gonna take the lead because I don't have a clue what to do here."

"You don't have a clue?" She asked, disbelievingly. "But…you've been much more composed than me this entire night." It was hardly a high bar to cross, but Diana still resented how incompetent she must've looked in front of her girlfriend.

Akko shrugged, grinning. "Like I said. I mess up so much I guess I'm just used to it by now. It's okay even if you're not the best at this. I still like you and I'm still glad I got to spend time with you."

She looked up, more desperately than she liked to admit. "But…I don't want you to think I don't like you." She pleaded. "You're important to me, you really are, and I-!"

Akko held her hand up, cutting her off. "I get it, Diana. You don't have to do this tonight if it's making you feel bad. If you're not ready…then we can just wait." Her expression brightened, gentle and placating. "We can try again some other time."

"Akko…" Initially, she felt touched by the kindness. She was giving her an out. She was willing to spare her all this grief and emotional degradation, and Diana couldn't help but feel hopeful. Perhaps it may have been better had the night never happened at all, but at least she had made it clear their feelings were mutual. That could be enough. She could find another way to show how much she cared that didn't involve her making a fool of herself, go back to being able to stand with the slightest degree of respect. She could learn to work past her own insecurities some other day and re-earn her reputation. Out of the goodness of her heart, Akko was willing to let her get out of all this embarrassment.

But whatever sweet feeling it filled her with turned bitter when she registered the feeling hidden behind her kind words. She knew Akko more than well enough she'd never speak so lowly of her, but it did little to stop Diana from thinking of her leaving with nothing to show for it but private regrets. Akko had wanted this all along, and she was giving it up for the sake of her emotional distress.

What would Akko think of her, after tonight? Diana had been blindsided by Akko's earlier anxieties, so she had no way of telling what could go through her girlfriend's mind except what her fears told her. She watched Akko turn away and began to toss things into the basket, with the apparent intention of packing up and leaving. Suddenly, watching her prepare to end the date on this note, the idea of disappointing her felt all the more crushingly tangible than it ever had been.

"…Wait." Diana moved, so that she was kneeling right in front of where Akko sat.

"D-Diana?"

It wasn't just for spiting Amanda, or for her own pride anymore. No matter how foolish she was when it came to affection, she would not let Akko doubt hers. She suppressed her instincts, her every thought that told her this was a poor decision, told her she'd look like an idiot again, told her she'd be made fun of and mocked once more. Right now, the only thing that truly mattered was making sure Akko knew how she felt, knew how deeply Diana cared for her. She didn't get love. She didn't understand how to deal with it or how to talk about it. But she understood how she felt about Akko Kagari.

"Please." She whispered, unsure who it was directed at. She spoke, relatively, more clearly to the girl in front of her. "L-look. Just…h-hold on, for one second. I know…I know the moment has passed. I know I've messed up this entire ordeal, and I know you said you were okay with it, but…l-let me just…"

She still couldn't bring herself to say the words, but despite that additional failing of hers, Akko finally seemed to catch on to what she was doing, and turned a bright red. "I-if you don't wanna do this, y-you don't have to."

"I…it's what you want." Diana took a deep calming breath that did little to help. "So I want to."

Right now, no matter how disgraceful and pathetic it would end up being, she could do nothing else until she showed Akko how much she loved her.

She watched Akko swallow and pinch her eyes shut. She sat still, all but forcing her to take the lead. Diana leaned forward. Unwilling to let her last attempt turn out like her previous ones, she had decided not to close her eyes until she was sure she was on track to Akko's mouth and not any other part of her body. Her brain once again seemed to go haywire. She was close enough to count the individual lashes on Akko's closed eyes. And she still didn't know where to put her hands. Akko's earlier offer hadn't been retracted, and she could still back out, stop herself now before her girlfriend's opinion of her lessened even more.

The temptation was there, but ignored. It was no longer important. Carefully and gingerly, she drew closer, and with every inch she gained her anxiety grew more and more. Akko's lips were pursed, and it would be better that she be disappointed because she did this poorly than because she was too nerve-racked to do it at all. The lone thought was the driving force keeping her moving forward.

She was close enough that everything in her vision began to blur, and she finally closed her eyes, hoping as the gap between them grew shorter and shorter, that no matter what happened next, even if Akko would leave thinking less of her, she could at least prove this much to her.

She wasn't even sure what she was doing until she felt an opposing pressure against her lips. Time seemed to stop, and Diana lost focus on all sensations but the force pressing back on her. It wasn't very strong. It was…gentle. Soft. Sort of warm. Her mind was caught on how pleasant it felt pressed against her, and then her breath hitched as it quantified what exactly the pressure was.

She struggled not to shake or do anything else that might ruin this night further. The encompassing sense of shame was still somewhere in her mind, but she had lost track of it. Everything was being overshadowed by the euphoria consuming her. God knows she had no idea if she was even doing this half-decently, or even if she had truly managed to land on her lips, but she could hardly keep her heart from bursting at the seams. She could feel Akko pressing back on her, and the mere thought of that was large enough to occupy her consciousness. But the actual sensation of feeling it, knowing she actually right there, was actually doing this, was simply too immense to allow room in her being for anything else.

Whether it was so powerful because of her own emotional constipation, or because kissing was just a really good deal that did this to people was very hard to say.

Diana's focus was far too long gone to tell how much time had actually passed, but considering the burning in her throat demanding her to take in air, which she definitely knew she hadn't done since before they started, it couldn't have been terribly long. As soon as the pressure on Akko's side lightened, she pulled away as well. As their lips parted, and Diana sucked in quick breaths, she was too overcome to look at Akko directly. She could feel her mind racing, but could hardly identify a single coherent thought rushing by. She stared at the ground ignoring the fire in her cheeks.

Diana gasped out a question. "T-that was right, right?" She shook her head, wincing at the wording. "I-I mean, I actually d-did it properly, right? I…didn't hit anything else."

"Oh my god…" She heard Akko giggle hoarsely. "You got it Diana!"

Hit by a cool wave of relief, she found enough willpower to direct herself to look at Akko. Her face was flushed, and she too seemed to find a sudden interest in staring at her own two feet as opposed to the girl she had just kissed. It was satisfying to think she hadn't been as alone in her bashfulness after all. "Was…w-was it good?"

There was a swell in her chest as Akko tensed and the red hue on her face grew more saturated. Diana bit her lower lip, afraid to hear how poorly she must've done. After a moment, Akko looked into her eyes and smiled.

"Well…it was nicer than the one on my eye."

Diana gawked at her. She was joking, at her expense. Maybe she should've felt embarrassed by it. Maybe a little ashamed or offended. She had put her pride on the line and went through all that turmoil just to be made fun of. She had put everything she had into making this right just to be teased once more, as though nothing had changed.

She snorted. And then, couldn't stop herself as she fell back giggling like a madman. She held her hand in front of her mouth, unable to quiet her laughter as it grew louder and louder. She barely noticed Akko getting infected too, cracking up at either her or her own remark but it made little difference. She barely noticed her head missing the blanket and instead falling to rest in the grass and dirt, too beside herself to do anything but let herself laugh until her breath turned short.

She was covering her eyes with her hand, and it felt like a hundred different emotions were rapidly cycling through her. It took some effort to catch her breath. "Nothing ever goes how I expect with you, Akko…"

She felt Akko's finger poke into her arm. "It's my bad luck." She teased, the happiness clear from her voice alone. "Now you got my germs on you, you definitely got it too."

She removed her hand, and gazed into Akko's lovely eyes as they watched over her. "I…might need your help then, since you're so used to it."

"Of course!" Akko's face brightened, and Diana still found herself amazed at how naturally she could bounce back from setbacks and beam as though it never happened. "You're stuck with me now!"

Unable to keep the grin from warming her features, Diana simply laid and looked at the night sky as starlight filtered through the tree tops. Akko really had picked a nice spot. The two merely rested in another bout of silence, one that was much more comforting than the ones before, until after a moment, Akko's expression dropped as a realization dawned on her.

"…Oh shoot." she groaned. "It's past curfew. I'm gonna get yelled at."

Diana barely consciously thought the words as they left her. "Don't worry about it. I'll cover for you. I've certainly earned enough favors from the professors."

Akko sat up, her brows raised high on her head. "Really? You're okay with me just breaking the rules like that?"

Diana was almost as taken back by her words as she was. She could only shrug, smiling helplessly at Akko. "I suppose there's no need to be proper all the time."

As would be typical, Akko did indeed get scolded by a professor when Diana walked her back to her room, but Diana simply said Akko had been assisting her with a task, one she didn't bother to specify, and they both had been let off with a warning. She didn't really remember much else, and couldn't recall how exactly she and Akko said their goodbyes and parted for the night. It was all a bit of a blur. All Diana knew is she went to bed feeling lightheaded, more than a little drained, but nevertheless satisfied.

When she awoke in the morning, her first thought was a burning desire to have another…discussion with Amanda O'Neill about her habits. She had instigated this whole thing, not to mention a growing list of other emotionally compromised moments in her life, and it was high time for her to pay her reparation. Before that, however, she dealt with her second thought, a vivid recounting of her actions the previous night. After taking a half hour to pause, remove the pillow from beneath her head and bury her reddening face in it, she finally got up, got dressed, and left the room with purpose in her steps.

Granted, she had accepted certain flaws about herself last night, and privately admitted O'Neill had a point, but doing this would at least help her feel a bit more like normal, and it was hardly like O'Neill was a saint anyway. She had managed to make it all the way to O'Neill's room when Akko had caught her in the act, and once she pieced together what she was doing, began to try and defend her friend from punishment.

"I just don't think Amanda did anything too wrong, though," Akko argued with her. "I mean, it all worked out, right?"

Diana was unconvinced. "That girl has done plenty wrong, and I'm quite tired of her attempts to rile me up."

"I-it was just some teasing! We don't need to overreact or anything!"

"I'm not overacting." Diana bristled. "Her behavior is unbecoming of a witch, and it's borderline bullying otherwise."

Akko had a pensive look, clearly weighing her words. "Well…there's no need to be proper all the time, right?"

Diana blinked, then groaned. "You're really going to use my words against me?"

"C'mon, Diana! Please? For me?" Akko made a point of batting her eyelashes. Diana couldn't just give up whenever faced with a sad look. She wasn't going to cave just because Akko looked so miserable at her.

Oh, she was kidding herself. Once again annoyed at her lack of willpower when it came to matters with her girlfriend, Diana crossed her arms. "This better not become a reoccurring trend…"

"Thank you! And it won't, I promise!" Much to her surprise, Akko threw her arms around her shoulders in a tight embrace. "Besides, all she did was try and tell you to kiss me, and you did it! So who cares what she said, when everyone won in the end?"

Diana made a vague, affirmative noise, fighting off a blush at the close proximity. She considered that it might be nice to return the hug if she could just get her arms uncrossed, when a thought struck her. "Wait, how did you know what she said?" Diana turned her head downward to face her as she asked the question when Akko suddenl-

…

…

Wh-

…

Eh-

…

"So who cares what she said, when everyone won in the end?"

"Wait, how did you know what she said?"

Amanda grumbled underneath her covers, doing what she could to tune out the argument right outside her door. It was Sunday. There was literally no reason to be awake before noon on a Sunday, but her two current least-favorite people didn't seem to know that when they decided to start having a loud, stupid conversation outside of her room. Not only that, but about her too, which made it even more impossible to sleep through.

Mercifully, the back-and-forth had stopped, but she didn't hear either of them make an effort to leave, and in fact, one of the voices kept going. "Aw, don't worry about that Diana! It's no big deal!"

"…Diana? Are you okay, or…?"

"W-what was that, Akko?!"

"Augh! Wh-why are you mad?"

Oh come on, now they were yelling at each other. Amanda sat up just enough to glare at the door, angry it wasn't doing enough to block out the voices. Stupid door. Stupid girls. Just go away, already. Go have your big stupid fight in front of your own rooms.

"Y-you can't just-! You can't just do that!"

"I-I mean, we already kissed once, so what's the problem?"

"That doesn't mean you can-! Right in the middle of the hallway! T-that's completely inappropriate!"

"What happened to not being embarrassed by me?"

"N-no! Oh no! Don't you turn this around on me! What happened to waiting until I was ready?!"

Growling, Amanda pulled the pillow tighter over her ears, irritated that she couldn't make people shut up through willpower alone. It was way the hell too early for this. Why did she ever feel bad about teasing the two if they were gonna go and pull this nonsense when people were trying to actually sleep?

This was not worth ten bucks.

A.N. Wanted to post this yesterday, but ended up making some changes to the climax to give it a bit more...meaning I guess. I can't write fluff without it being a whole production, clearly. I'm glad you found the headbutting thing funny! It's less funny in real life, but I'm not gonna say which side I was on! This is the most backstory you'll get out of me.

Anyway, Diana may be the one making mistakes, but Akko still can't catch a break, can she? Thank god it's only three chapters. Lord only knows what would happen to the girl if we went on.

I dunno what else to say, so here's where I thank you for reading and leaving nice comments! Thank you for reading and leaving nice comments!