"What the hell?!" Akko stumbled backwards, clutching her forehead.

"Language." Diana mumbled.

"What the hell?!"

As soon as Diana had up and decided to assault her like that, the shared mindscape they had created had shattered like glass. Now she was back on solid ground. Almost quite literally, considering how much force Diana had put into the impact. If she hadn't been holding onto her hands, Akko was sure she would've fell face-first into the grass.

Diana bit her lip. "I…realize how this sounds, but are you okay?"

"You just headbutted me!" Akko cried. "I can't believe you just headbutted me!"

Diana shrunk back with a sheepish smile. "I…I did apologize beforehand. If I had warned you, you might've unconsciously fought back. Even apologizing beforehand risked compromising the spell, but I couldn't just-"

"That was to fix my headache?" Akko asked incredulously. "How does hitting me in the head more fix my head hurting?"

"Do you still feel that intense ringing you felt earlier?"

"No! Because now my forehead hurts, Diana!"

"But the ringing is gone, yes?"

"I…!" Akko started, only to pause. Aside from the bruise forming just above her brows, her head now felt…fine. Clearer than it had for days. No more pounding at all. "…huh. Yeah, I…I guess it is gone. So you did…fix it then. Uh…thanks."

"If that bruise on your head hurts, I could perform a quick healing spell?"

Akko crossed her arms. "So now magic can fix this…so not fair."

"This is just physical trauma." Diana pulled out her wand. "It's a very easy fix. And again, I'm very sorry about that."

The tip of Diana's wand released a flurry of emerald sparks, which joined into a deep, green wave of energy that flowed into the fresh bruise on Akko's forehead. Akko herself, making an effort to stand still so Diana could concentrate, just shrugged. "I'm not mad at you. At least you didn't do it just to prank me or something."

The wave faltered for a brief second. "Why would I prank you?"

"I dunno!" Akko said, suppressing a shiver at the cold sensation of healing magic. "I just thought…well, I dunno what I thought."

Which was something of a lie. Her thoughts were a bit more composed than she was willing to admit, or able to articulate. It was a problem she had with her current company. Because sometimes, Akko thought, it really felt like Diana was playing-

"-mind games with us!" Lovely Akko sighed, sinking lower into her beanbag. "I really thought she was going to do it this time. She said all those nice things about all the things she wanted to be for us, and she was holding our hand…"

A sullen feeling weighed down around the large, circular lounge. Almost every single Atsuko in the mind deflated and drooped as the Original's mood fell, one of the few times any of them diverted attention from the Crystal Ball in the exact center of the room. Even if the Original hadn't been projecting her disappointment across the mind, the image of the beautiful Diana Cavendish gingerly casting a healing spell on their body's forehead playing inside the Crystal Ball might've left quite a few of them embittered.

Word had spread fast about what was happening in the real world, from the flurry of excited emotions the Original had spread out, and almost every emotion had rushed to the lounge either to watch the moment happen, or if they believed in themselves, to help influence the Original in her desire. A desire that had been consuming her incessantly for the past week, a desire the Original kept either chickening out on or missing her chance on.

The Original, and by extension, almost every single Atsuko in the mind, wanted them to kiss their girlfriend. And the four Atsukos on the beanbags in front of the giant Ball were getting really tired of falling short of that simple goal.

Sociable Akko adjusted her sunglasses, glancing to the Lovely girl sitting next to her. "Ugh, I can't believe I made us lean in for a kiss. All the social cues made it seem like that was what she was going for. How was I supposed to know she'd headbutt us?"

Lovely Akko glared. "Don't be mean to Diana!" She gestured to the Ball. "She was doing that to help us, and she looks like she feels bad about it!"

Smart Akko straightened up from her own beanbag. "Come on, guys! Let's just think about this logically. Yeah, that was sort of embarrassing that we leaned in when that wasn't what she was going for, but she also basically said she loves us! We can still turn this around in our favor!"

Diligent Akko gave a bored shrug. "What's the plan to get her to kiss us then? We all know whenever we try to get the Original to do this sort of thing, it gets messed up along the way."

The four of them exchanged serious looks. The Original was usually pretty good at handling her emotions. She was pretty aware and unashamed about how she felt. So whenever it came time for one of the emotions to help influence the Original in her decision making, it was a fairly simple process. Almost all of the Original's decisions were made from emotions, and the Original wasn't one to second-guess herself once she started. Rarely did they have to convene and plan like this on anything.

But ever since last week, there was Diana. And no matter how strongly Lovely Akko worked, or how much Sociable Akko reminded everyone of all the right social cues, the Original flipped each and every time. Which meant if tonight was the night they were going to get that kiss, they had to put on their game faces and really plan this out.

"Diana's our girlfriend!" Lovely pointed out. "We can just ask her to kiss, can't we? Especially since we've already done it twice!"

"That's a good point…" Smart tapped her chin. "…but we gotta build up to it a bit, if we want the Original to listen to us on this."

Sociable tapped her chin. "Well…the atmosphere on the broom was romantic…honestly, if we just talk about that a bit, try and get some feeling going, we can probably build up another good atmosphere."

Lovely bounced up in her beanbag. "And then we can get her to kiss us! And not a possessed Diana or a Diana who thinks she's dreaming, but the real Diana!"

"Then that's the plan!" Smart encouraged the four to scoot closer to the Crystal Ball. "We'll tell her we thought she was gonna kiss us on the broom, and since she's already our girlfriend, she'll take the hint and we'll have her kiss us! That way, the Original won't mess it up!"

The four all nodded, and gingerly, Sociable Akko reached out and placed her hand on the Crystal Ball. As the suggestion filtered through to the Original, the emotions watched with baited breath. There was no time for play or merriment, not with this. Not now. The operation was on.

As Diana finished her spell and withdrew her wand, Akko rather awkwardly cleared her throat. "S-so! Um…aside from the whole…whacking me thing, that uh, broom vision whatever thing was kinda cool, right?"

Diana kept her gaze on Akko's forehead, making sure the bruise was well and truly gone. "It was certainly an experience. And you're sure you're not angry about…?"

"Headbutting me? Nah." Akko shrugged. "I get hit in the head all the time. It's no big deal."

"It's a big deal to me." Diana muttered. "I have no desire to see you hurt, not if I can help it. And causing it to you does little to make me feel better."

Akko felt the blush creeping back up her cheeks. "Y-yeah…well um…you fixed everything anyway, so it's all fine! Don't worry! I think you did a really nice job and…uh…yeah!"

Diana hummed, finally looking back down into Akko's eyes. "If I can…ask…where do you wish to go from here? In regards to…us?"

"W-with us?" Akko blinked. "I don't…what do you mean?"

"I…look, I know you basically said you were fine with all of this but…" Diana bit her lip. "Well, I read that communication is very important in successful relationships, so I'd just…like to hear your opinion, if you have one."

"Wait, w-were you reading…dating advice?"

Diana flushed, rolling her eyes. "…You don't have to say it like that, Akko." She grumbled. "A-and yes. I may have looked at a few things here and there. It's like studying for a test. It helps to be prepared, after all."

"A…test?" Akko repeated.

"Not the point." Diana held up her hand. "Since we were being more honest with each other, I thought I should at least…ask. It was on my mind. I'm not expecting you to have a whole solution thought out, but…"

"But?"

"I-in all honesty, I'm just...somewhat…w-" Diana stopped. "…curious, as to what you think should happen, now that everything's been laid on the table like this. What happens now?"

Lovely Akko swooned. "Aaaaw! She's so cute! Do you think she read up on all that just for us?"

"Ugh…why do we keep stuttering like that?" Smart groaned. "The Original's making us look like a moron. It's like our mouth isn't working right."

"Yeah, that was…super lame." Sociable crossed her arms. "If Diana hadn't said all that stuff about how she doesn't care that we look lame in front of each other, I'd be really pissed at ourselves right now."

"Plus it was slow." Diligent said flatly. "Very inefficient way to convey information. Also, we never really answered her question and I think she's waiting."

Smart crossed her arms. "Well obviously, we gotta make sure she knows we wanna keep being with her." She explained to the lounge. "That's the most logical answer to her question."

"Can we tell her we think she's pretty?" Lovely asked hopefully. "That way, she doesn't have to seem worried about us, and it'll make her wanna kiss us more!"

Sociable let out a long sigh. "We still gotta try finishing what we were saying about the broom." She suggested. "As long as we don't mess it up, I think it'll send all the right cues to make Diana wanna kiss us. We just gotta hope the Original gets it through our head."

The four turned their attention back to the Ball, and to the image of the blonde girl waiting within.

Akko shifted on her feet. "I mean…I dunno if we really have to worry about that sorta stuff yet, Diana. I don't…totally know where we're supposed to go either, but you know…I'm…I'm happy with whatever this is now, if that makes sense."

A relieved smile crossed Diana's face. "I'm happy to hear that." She said. "I don't mean to put pressure on you like this, but after what happened with that illusion, I'm a little…out of sorts, at the moment."

"Y-yeah! That broom thing!" Akko nodded enthusiastically. "Like I said, that was cool. I thought it was fun being up there with you, a-and I thought you looked…I mean I think you're….you're really…you know?"

"I…see." Diana lied, very obviously lied. "As long as you had fun up there, then I suppose I have nothing to worry about."

"Well the thing is…w-when we were on the broom…well I guess we were just on the ground but we thought we were on the broom but…" Akko shook her head. "My point is…it was kinda cool, and I was…I mean I sorta thought y-you were gonna…"

Diana took a step closer, and Akko found herself craning her neck back slightly. "Yes…?"

"Y-you know…um…" The words died in Akko's throat as she studied Diana's face. "…hey you got a big bump on your forehead."

"I…what?"

Akko pointed to the purple spot right between Diana's brows. "Yeah, right there in the middle, from when you hit me."

"O-oh. I see." Diana flushed. "Give me a moment then."

She pulled out her wand once more, this time aiming at her own head. And as soon as Diana's attention was off of her. Akko buried her face in her palm.

All the Atsukos groaned.

"Diligent Akko, why did you make us say that?" Lovely Akko glared. "You can't be mean to Diana like that!"

"But it was true." Diligent said flatly. "She has a bruise right there. I was just being honest."

"That's not romantic to say that!" Lovely argued. "How is this fair? I send up a suggestion for the Original to say and all I get is a bunch of stutters, but when you wanna point out a big ugly bruise all of a sudden we can speak again!"

"This is just sad." Sociable muttered. "I don't think the Original can even speak complete sentences anymore. We're looking like a complete mess right now. There's no way Diana is impressed."

Smart elbowed her, in an effort to keep the group energized and mission active. "I mean, let's just keep in mind, Diana said we don't need to impress her. We can still succeed even if we mess up a lot!"

Sociable just grabbed her by the elbow and pushed her back. "Hey, I know the context of this talk better than anyone, but that doesn't mean we can just babble like a maniac in front of our girlfriend like this! It's like the Original is a moron."

"I don't think we're supposed to talk about the Original Atsuko like that."

"Are you saying she's not a moron?"

"…I'm just saying, we're not supposed to say that." Smart turned to Lovely. "Here's what we can do then. Lovely Akko, when Diana fixes her bruise, you make the Original tell her she looks pretty. Something like how she looks prettier than ever."

"I can do that! She always looks pretty!"

Smart nodded, turning to the other two Atsukos. "As for the rest of us, we just gotta keep ourselves focused and keep this on track, so the Original can't chicken out again."

Diligent simply blinked her lidded eyes, while Sociable scratched the side of her nose. Smart did her best to psych up the psyche. "Come on guys! I know this is bad, but we can totally do this! How much worse could we do at this point?"

Diana lowered her wand, lightly brushing her finger against her forehead. She turned to Akko. "The bruise is gone now, yes?"

"Yep! Your face looks…looks all like it's usually looking."

Diana snorted, thankfully interpreting it as a deliberate joke. "Thanks for that." She shook her head with a small smile. "So…you found that whole…ordeal on the broom…cool?"

"Y-yeah! I just…I like big cool things like that, you know?"

"That you do." Diana nodded. "I've never known you to back down from something you want to do."

Had it not been said in a soft tone, Akko might've thought of it as sarcasm. "I just like to do fun stuff I guess…Hey, when's your birthday? I could throw you a party!"

"Ah…no. That's fine."

"Ah come on!" Akko pleaded. "It'd be fun!"

"That's more…I just really don't want another repeat of what you did for O'Neill's."

"What was wrong with Amanda's party?"

Diana arched a brow.

Akko held up her hands. "Okay fine! But we cleaned all of that up! And look!" She lifted a leg, gesturing to her calve. "You can't even tell where the glass shards were anymore."

"They were right below your kneecap and in the middle of your hamstring." Diana crossed her arms. "And you can still faintly see the mark on the back of your leg."

Akko attempted to twist around to see the mark for herself. "I…oh. I guess it is there. Huh. How did you notice that? On the back of my leg?"

Diana thought for a moment. "Look, I appreciate the thought, but you really don't need to throw me any sort of party. Truth be told, I prefer…well…moments like this."

"What do you mean?"

"Just things like this." Diana gestured to the sun, now lower than ever on the horizon. "Peaceful, quiet…where I don't have to worry about all my responsibilities." And in a much quieter voice, she added, "And I find that…I enjoy them so much more when I'm with someone I trust."

"I mean…I usually like bigger stuff, but…if you're having fun…then I'm having fun too."

Diana was quiet for a moment, before she turned. "Akko…what were you saying before?" She asked softly. "You said you thought I was doing something on the broom? What…precisely did you think I was doing?"

"W-what did I…?"

"Okay, we're still here even after all those setbacks!" Sociable Akko said. "We can do it! She's our girlfriend! C'mon, Original Atsuko, stop getting nervous and just say something!"

"Come on come on come on!" Lovely bounced up and down on the beanbag. "Just kiss her! Just kiss her and do it already! We're so close!"

Smart laughed to the group. "This is our moment, Atsukos! We just need to capitalize on this and we-" She glared as the lounge door opened. "…I said ize! Capitalize! Not ism! Get out of here, Communist Akko!"

"Oh my god, this is it!" Lovely couldn't stop bouncing. "If we can just make sure we say something cool here, we'll get that kiss for sure!"

The four leaned closer and closer to the Ball, eager to see what the Original would do next.

"I…" Akko's thoughts raced for a moment, and a million statements ran through her head. "I…dunno!" She lied, scratching the side of her head. "I g-guess I forgot what I was gonna say!"

"Oh." Diana pursed her lips. "You can't think of anything you were expecting up there? B-because…I'm still…"

"W-well, it's just…j-just…"

"Yes?"

"I…um…thought it was…neat?"

A shoe sailed through the air and thumped uselessly into the Crystal Ball.

"YOU MORON!" Sociable Akko shrieked. "This! Isn't! That! Hard!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Lovely Akko said, throwing her other shoe. "I sent up my suggestion to the Original as clearly as possible and that's what comes out?!"

"I'm filled with rage." Diligent said completely emotionlessly.

"Why can't the Original just say this?!" Smart wrung her hands through her hair as roughly as she could. "She's already your girlfriend! Just shut up and do it already!"

"…Well." Diana said after a moment. "I'm…glad you found it neat, then."

Akko shook her head. "N-no, neat's not what I meant to say. W-what I was trying to say was…!" She sighed. "Ugh…I'm sorry."

"For what?" Diana asked. "Just finish what you were saying. You know I'm not going to judge you."

"I mean…I dunno!" Akko scratched the side of her head. "You said you didn't care if I was impressive or not, but I mean…I still wanna do something impressive. E-even with everything else, I really…I really like you, and I wanna do nice things for you."

Diana stared at her blankly for a moment, before reaching over and laying a hand on her shoulder. "…I do too, you know." She admitted. "That's why doing all of this was so hard for me. I've never dealt with a relationship like this, and…I suppose I'm something of a perfectionist at heart."

Akko's brows shot up. "Wait, I'm your first girlfriend? R-really?"

"Why is that so surprising?" Diana tilted her head. "Honestly, no one's ever asked."

"Never?" Akko asked, her voice full of disbelief.

"…well, some boys asked here and there, but…" Diana pursed her lips. "Even with that aside, I think people hear about my reputation and get intimidated. You're probably the first person to ever really try and get that close to me. So if everything else wasn't enough to convince you you've impressed me, just keep that in mind."

"I just…I always figured…well that's kinda…cool then." Akko smiled to herself. "I'm the first."

A blush crept up Diana's cheeks. "…Perhaps it would be better to…better to say you're the…o-only. After all, we…decided to take these things one day at a time…right? You said…not to worry about that yet."

"I did!" Akko squeaked. "I mean…I don't want you to worry about that sorta stuff…"

"I…I believe we've already discussed I'm rather attached to you, Akko…"

"Y-yeah…I guess you said that, didn't you?" Akko managed to take a step closer to her. "J-just you and just me, right?"

Diana's expression softened. "Yes…that's what I said, isn't it? And I…w-well…I suppose I should back that up then."

"S-sure! Y-yeah, you can do…that."

Gently Diana reached over and cupped the other girl's chin. And slowly, almost agonizingly so, she leaned down, closing the distance between their lips more and more…

"Oh wow!" Sociable Akko "She's actually gonna do it!"

"YES!" Lovely Akko jumped up to her feet. "Yes yes yes yes yes yes! Diana is gonna kiss us! We're gonna kiss Diana!"

Smart crossed her arms with a smug smile. "See, Atsukos? I told you we could do it. Even with all that stuttering, we managed to convince Diana to kiss us. Mission accomplished."

"Hey guys." Diligent called out.

Lovely darted over, enthusiastically shaking Smart's hand. "Your plan worked great! We finally got Diana to kiss us! This is the greatest day in our life now!"

"Guys." Diligent repeated.

"I gotta admit, I was wrong." Sociable smiled. "I know Diana said she's bad with this sort of social situation, but now that she's got it, not even the Original could mess it up anymore."

"She won't have to." Diligent said. "Diana's not kissing us."

The room's eyes snapped to the Crystal Ball. Diana was still there, with their chin in her hand and a rosy blush on her cheeks. But unlike the soft expression she had before, the one on her face now was visibly nervous. She was frowning, and her brows twitched as she attempted to concentrate. It was abundantly clear Diana was not going to move forward.

"She's…she's chickening out." Sociable paled. "She's stopping!"

"No!" Lovely shrieked. "No no no no no no! She can't chicken out! She needs to kiss us!"

Smart chewed on her finger. "She has admitted she's not very good at this. I guess I should've considered this happening."

Sociable just groaned, long and loud. "Yeah, but she's supposed to be the smart one who gets all these social cues! Why is she stopping? Come on, how is this fair?"

Smart sighed helplessly. "What do we do now? How are we supposed to get the kiss if Diana's not gonna do it!"

Diligent raised her hand. "Hey, she's right there. We could just meet her halfway."

The other three looked over in surprise. Diligent just shrugged. "All we have to do is lean forward and kiss her, right? So just tell the Original to lean forward and-"

Lovely Akko shoved the other girl out of the way and jumped straight for the Crystal Ball. She slapped both of her hands down on the surface with every single microgram of willpower she had. And within a second, the other three emotions joined in too, doing everything they could to compel their body forward.

They were getting that kiss now.

And something within Akko compelled her forward. And so forward she went, with as much passion and energy in her action as she could manage. Perhaps a bit too much, considering as soon as her lips made contact by way of physically smashing directly into the other pair, Diana reeled back in pain.

Akko felt guilt stab through her chest as Diana stumbled backwards. "O-oh my god, sorry! Sorry!"

But to her surprise, Diana actually snorted. "I-it's fine, really." She giggled into her hand. "I suppose fair's fair, considering I already hit you tonight."

"S-still! I didn't mean to-!" Akko groaned. "Gah, I just can't seem to do anything right with this…"

"Akko, really, it's fine." Diana assured her. "I guess we're both just overthinking this..."

Akko glared down at the grass beneath their feet. "Yeah, I know I am! I just…gah." She crossed her arms. "How should we do this then…?"

Diana tapped her chin. "W-well…we already have kissed twice in the Archives, haven't we? Just…focus on that, and I'm sure we'll…figure this out just fine."

"I know, I know. It's just that I-" Akko stopped, and looked at her incredulously. "Wait…twice?"

"I…assume so, yes?" Diana shrugged. "I…I mean, the position I woke up back in the Archives was…compromising. I assume that was what happened to wake me up from that, yes? And then of course, I…kissed you right after that."

"But I thought…" Akko's brows furrowed. "Wait, didn't you think you were dreaming when you first woke back up?"

Had Akko not been rather well-versed in the types of expressions that usually crossed Diana's face, she might have missed the flash of horror on Diana's face before it was quickly hidden behind a neutral mask.

"…Well it's about that time." Diana spun on her heels back towards the dorms. "Good night Akko, I hope you have pleasant dreams, always lovely to see you."

Akko quickly darted in front of her, cutting off her escape route. "Waitwaitwait! H-hang on! You can't just admit that and leave!"

Diana winced. "It…would be rather hypocritical for me to stress honesty and then…" She cleared her throat. "But I…merely think we could…table this discussion, for a more appropriate time."

Akko was unconvinced. "You remember doing that?" She asked wide-eyed. "W-were you just…pretending to be all loopy?"

Diana's gaze turned skyward. "I…admittedly, I was not entirely in my right frame of mind at the time. I was still rather…loopy from everything that happened, but you seemed embarrassed, so I thought I would…"

"S-so…wait." Akko swallowed, feeling the heat rise up her cheeks. "That was actually you kissing me…?"

"I…thought you did a very good job." Diana admitted quietly. "I felt like I had to do…thank you somehow, and I…made a rather rash decision. My apologies then."

Akko crossed her arms, and took a moment to collect her thoughts. And once her thoughts were thoroughly collected, she turned around once more and cleared her throat. "S-so! You did it to thank me for helping you, but…I mean, today, you helped me. I feel like maybe then…I should thank you."

Diana smiled as she realized what was happening. "…I certainly wouldn't be opposed. It would be proper to thank someone when they do something kind."

Akko stood on her toes to get a better vantage point. "So I'm just gonna put my arms around your shoulders…s-so I can…"

"By all means." Diana arms settled around Akko's waist. "S-so…how would you like to show your gratitude then…?"

An embarrassed giggle escaped Akko's throat as she pulled herself closer. "I can't…really think of anything else to say." She whispered.

Diana's arms squeezed just a little tighter around her waist. "N-nor can I…" Her breath was hot against Akko's lips. "I suppose…perhaps…we can just…"

Akko closed her eyes and leaned forward. And from her grip around Diana's shoulders, she could feel her doing much the same. And suddenly she found that a lot of her anxieties were disappearing. She was doing her best not to be worked up anymore. After all, maybe this was the real solution to her problem. If she just stopped paying so much mind to everything and went with her gut like she used to always do, things would work out. From now on, she was going to mind le-

And then they heard a sharp, scandalized gasp.

Both Akko and Diana froze, their eyes snapping over.

Professor Ursula was looking everywhere but directly at the two girls locked together. Her cheeks looked much the same shade of red as her hair. "S-so sorry, girls! I didn't mean to walk in when you two w-were…I didn't even know you two-! Sorry!"

Neither Diana nor Akko could bring themselves to try and say something in response.

Ursula cleared her throat, still looking pointedly at the blank brick wall of the classroom building. "Professor Pisces contacted me and said Akko wasn't…I thought I should check and…" She pushed her glasses up her nose before finally glancing down at the two. "S-so Akko, you're okay then? F-feeling better?"

All Akko could do was slowly nod.

"Good! That's good! Very good. Good, good, good." Ursula nodded back in a very mechanical way. "Sorry to interrupt your…I mean, we were all teenagers once, after all, it's not like…" She paused, and when neither girl responded, forced a smile onto her face. "I'll…ah…be going then. Have a night nice. Nice night."

With that, Ursula turned and walked in the other direction, pulling her hat down over her face. Diana and Akko silently untangled their arms to lay flat at their sides, and Akko went right back to flat on her feet, watching as the Professor darted away.

Diana spoke up first, in a quiet voice. "…Nice of Ursula to come check on you."

Akko nodded, speaking equally quietly. "Yeah. That was cool of her."

"She was very quick to respond to Pisces."

"Yeah. Quick. She's always coming by at the…best time."

"Hmm."

"Yeah."

Diana finally turned to look at Akko. "I…suppose we could go get dinner now? It's a little later than usual, so…I suppose the others will have eaten already."

"So just us." Akko said. "Cool. I could eat something. Let's do that."

With little else they could bring themselves to say at this point, the two simply gathered their nerves and walked in almost silence towards the cafeteria. And after a moment, Akko braved enough to smile to the girl walking at her side.

"…Hey, Diana. This wasn't how I wanted to do it, but uh…thanks again for fixing everything today."

"Think nothing of it." Diana said simply. "And don't hesitate to…thank me if the desire ever comes up again."

Akko's cheeks heated once more, but she reached over and softly took Diana's hand in her own. As the two walked back for a late dinner, her thoughts raced once more.

And all around the Crystal Ball, three emotions scowled while one looked on with a bored expression. Sociable Akko threw up her hands. "Well doesn't that just fit our luck!? We finally work up the nerve and something comes completely outta nowhere to screw it up!"

"We did manage to kiss her though." Diligent pointed out.

"Yeah, by slamming our face into her." Lovely said, hiding her head in her hands. "Oh my god, that was just terrible. And we were so close to fixing it and then…uuuugh."

"Think she's as disappointed as us?" Sociable looked down at the Crystal Ball. But Diana's expression on the Crystal Ball was as blank and inscrutable as ever.

The four of them sighed.

Smart stood from her beanbag with an optimistic smile. "Well, it's not a total loss. I mean, she basically just said we can kiss her whenever we want." She smiled brightly. "And now we're getting dinner together. We like food, right?"

Sociable slowly, but surely, began to nod. "At least the Original went for it this time. There's hope for us yet. We actually are getting better. The Original usually doesn't worry about stuff she already did once."

Lovely let out a swoon. "Yeah…at least we got to hear Diana say she loves us. She's so amazing. And we're still holding her hand, so it's not all bad, right?"

And even Diligent managed to crack a smile. "Hearing that really did motivate the Original. And Diana's been saying things like that a lot more since last week. Next time, it should be much less work to get the operation to succeed."

And despite the failure, the four happily began to chat, going right back to their typical carefree activities. It wasn't like a little screw-up here and there was enough to get this mind down for long. Maybe all that changed today was getting to learn a bit more about Diana being just as anxious about this as they were, but small progress was still progress.

They'd find some way to make it up to her. And now they knew for sure they had all the time they could need. There was no doubt she was going to be at her side for the long haul, and for Akko, that was enough of an outcome to feel positive about the future. Even if Diana wasn't as disappointed with this outcome as they were.

One mind over, in a professional, well-maintained conference room, a psyche remote control was tossed with great force at the projector. A Diana with a Rose in her hair seethed, sending the chair she was sitting on tumbling to the ground, startling the several mental Dianas next to her. All of them were fairly frustrated at the sudden interruption of their big moment, but Rose in particular burned with absolute fury at their failure to convince Akko to kiss them.

"What the hell?!" Rose threw up her arms.

"Yep." Officer Diana nodded in agreement.

"What the hell?!"

A.N. So a bit like how the climax of MindFull was a showcase of strength vs MindLess being an admission of weakness, I thought it'd be fun to take the dynamic between the mind and the speaker from the bonus chapter and flip it around. Akko is much more in touch with her emotions than Diana, which is why all her personas have the same voice as her vs how differently all the Dianas spoke, but then just because you know how you feel doesn't mean...

But nonetheless, it comes to a close! I hope you enjoyed these two stories! I don't have any other big projects planned at the moment, but with my finals done, I'll probably write a one-shot or three. Which usually turns into three chapters, because I'm way too long-winded and can't shut up. Ah, but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. Until then, hope any of you still in school make it to the holidays! Thanks for so many amazing comments and feedback on the both of these! I can't overstate how much those really got me through the day sometimes!