"Our line is one of power and knowledge. We're expecting only the best from you."

"Yes, father."

"For decades, we have been the valedictorians of that school. And so will you."

"Yes, mother."

"But that means valedictorian is but a standard for us. We expect more. We expect you to leave an impact on that school. Understood?"

"I won't let you down."

"As expected from our darling girl."

Diana and Akko landed slowly, and it did not take long for the other students to follow. They had barely touched down before they were swarmed by a mob of 'Akko, you're so cool!'s and 'How did you do that, Akko?'s. Akko blushed a little and rubbed the back of her head.

Sure, now she was humble.

Diana slipped off to the side and watched as more and more students swarmed around Akko, unable to stifle a spurt of jealousy and pettiness. She had done her part as well – she had guided other students to safety, and even saved Akko's life. Surely that warranted some praise. But the feeling passed as quickly as it had come as she recalled just whose fault the release of the dragon was. And who had saved the day. Akko had found the Shiny Rod. Akko had fired the magical arrow that had stopped the dragon's rampage. From a purely objective viewpoint, Akko deserved all the praise being heaped on her.

Diana had underestimated her by a great deal. She came off as a naive, untalented idiot, but... well, really she was still those things. But she was a naive, untalented idiot who made up for her lack of natural talent with her drive, whose naivety was well placed, and whose idiocy allowed her to conquer catastrophes those with more brains would've walked away from. She was amazing. From a purely objective viewpoint, of course.

The clamoring did not cease; if anything it grew louder, and Diana found herself hoping another dragon would appear and shock everyone into silence for the sake of her ears. But the mass of students finally fell silent as none other than the principal of the school flew up to them. Not quite a dragon. But close enough. As the principal landed and made her way towards Akko the student body split to let her through, staring on in silence. It was quite the grandiose display.

"So, you're the hero of the hour," the principal said, not asking so much as stating a fact.

"Y-yes, ma'am," Akko responded, head bowed.

"Well, then," the wizened witch said, her blue eyes piercing into Akko. "On behalf of-"

"Actually, that isn't quite right, ma'am," Akko interrupted. The principal cocked a grey eyebrow, the slightest hint of a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Er, sorry for interrupting, ma'am, but while I did do pretty amazing-" Diana rolled her eyes, "I didn't do it alone. I had a lot of help from my friends. I wouldn't have been able to do anything if it wasn't for them. Heck, I don't think I'd be here at all!"

Diana was a little surprised. Akko obviously had a lot of drive, and a great need for recognition and respect – anyone who had spent five seconds with her could see that. Thus, Diana had expected her to lap up the limelight, bask in the glory, and take the lion's share of the credit. But instead Akko was going out of her way to ensure her friends were appreciated too. Such loyalty, humility, and responsibility to those who had brought her to success was admirable. Diana was beginning to get the sense that Akko was quite unpredictable.

"Who helped you, then?"

"Lotte Yanson, Sucy Manbavaran, Hidaka-sensei, and Diana Cavendish." Diana's eyes widened at the mention of her name. She had expected Akko to mention her two best friends, and it was not surprising for her to bring up Hidaka-sensei's role. But Akko didn't even like Diana.

"You heard her. Yanson, Manbavaran, Hidaka, Cavendish. Get over here and get the brunt of my dramatic speech."

Diana hurried over, which considering that she had barely moved away from Akko at all made her the first to arrive. One by one, the others made their way over – Hidaka-sensei walked up calmly, her face almost entirely composed and her posture straight and formal. But Diana could see a glimmer of excitement in her eyes, and a smirk on her face. Yanson was skittish, obviously neither used to nor comfortable with having so many eyes on her. But Manbavaran... Manbavaran somehow managed to go in front of everyone while moving as slowly as she could and looking completely and utterly bored. She was more than calm; she was careless – completely uninterested in the proceedings, and whatever the principal was going to say. It was almost admirable.

"Now, if Miss Kagari has nothing more to say?" Akko smiled sheepishly, and Diana had to fight the urge to roll her eyes again. "On behalf of the school, I thank you. The five of you went above and beyond the duties of a student, and of a teacher. You exhibited extraordinary courage, skill, and determination. To the students, I tell you that our eyes are firmly set on you, and we expect great things. And to miss Hidaka, I say that you have made your faculty proud, and have forever reinforced my decision to hire you as the right one. You are a model for both the students and the teachers."

Hidaka-sensei was obviously deeply touched. She bowed gratefully, and there was the slightest hitch in her voice as she said, "I... I only did what any other teacher would."

The principal snorted. "Yes, who wouldn't throw themselves in the way of a 50 foot dragon's rampage without a second thought?"

A slight chuckle rippled through the crowd.

"Now, our four heroic students. Anything you'd like to say?"

Yanson stepped forward. "Um..." She began, obviously at a loss for words. The audience waited with bated breath for her words. After a few seconds she finally stammered, "I was glad to help."

There was a pregnant pause as everyone waited for her to say more, but instead she merely stepped back, apparently satisfied with her words. Akko stepped up next.

"I'd just like to say thank you, to my friends and to this school. My grades weren't the best, and I didn't come from a prestigious magical family. Well, I didn't come from any magical family at all, so." There was a small scattering of laughs. "But this school, the most famous in the world for witchcraft, accepted me anyway. It took a chance on me when a lot of people in my life laughed at my dream. So, thanks." She finished with an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of her head.

Even as Akko stepped back and thunderous applause rang out, Diana could not remove her eyes from her. Akko had had a perfect chance to lap up the limelight, or fire shots at people like Diana who had put her down, and she had let it pass. Instead, she had shown humility and respect for where she came from. Akko was full of surprises. Diana let out a sigh as she stepped forward. She had already been planning to do it, of course, but seeing Akko's honesty and kindness left her with no choice. Damn her.

"I thank you for the attention and the praise, but... I do not deserve it."

"Hm?" the principal questioned, and Akko turned to stare at Diana, surprise and... worry in her eyes. Why Akko would worry for her sake perplexed Diana, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

"The dragon attack was my fault." The crowd let out a small gasp. "I-I had come across it in the dungeon when I had gone deeper into it than the teacher intended, and set it loose from the Iron Maiden that contained it. I attempted to contain it, but failed to realize that magic fueled it until it was too late. The resulting destruction is wholly my fault." She bowed sharply, and held back the tears that threatened to leak. "I offer my sincerest apologies, and I humbly beg for your forgiveness! Whatever punishment you see fit, from detention to-to..." Flashes of stern eyes and harsh yelling appeared in Diana's head, causing her to wince. She took a breath to steel herself for what was to come, "E-even expulsion," she finally choked out, "I will accept it as my rightful penance! I'm sorry!" Silence engulfed the crowd, as all waited for the principal's response.

The principal continued to look at Diana, her face a stone wall, giving no indication of her mood.

Finally, she rose an eyebrow. "Is that it?"

"Eh?" Diana gasped.

"I was waiting for the bad part. You made a mistake, Cavendish. An honest mistake, with no malice in it. And even more impressively you did not try to shift the blame, or dismiss it as someone else's problem. You accepted what you did, and immediately set out to rectify it. You were an invaluable help."

"Y-yes, ma'am!" Akko cried out, taking both the principal and Diana by surprise. "She even saved my life! She-"

The principal raised up a hand. "I was in the middle of my speech, miss Kagari, do not interrupt." Akko nodded, with a furious blush on her face. As idiotic and misguided her attempts to speak for Diana was, Diana couldn't help but appreciate it. "Neither of you are to worry. You will not be punished, Cavendish."

"Th-thank you ma'am!" Diana exclaimed, punctuating it with a bow.

"Indeed, you are an admirable example these students should aspire to." Diana nodded, still in some disbelief. And once again, there was thunderous applause. "Now, let's wrap this up. Manbavaran? Any words?"

Manbavaran stepped up nonchalantly. The crowd eagerly waited for her words. After a moment, she finally spoke. "Do we get medals for this?" The silence was overwhelming; one could hear the small, light breeze. "I'd prefer silver. S'the most useful medal for alchemy and potions." More silence. Suddenly, the principal's cackling cut through the air like a whip.

"I like you, Manbavaran," she wheezed, wiping a tear from her eye. "I'll see what I can do. Now," she shouted, turning to the crowd, "what I want you all to take away from this is it does not matter what your talent or background is. You can be from a magicless family, or a long line of prodigies. You can be an academic, or an alchemist. A teacher, or a student. What matters is the qualities you hold. What matters is determination, ingenuity, intellect, and belief. When you are guided by these things, that is when you will do truly great things. Let these witches be an example to you! Now, give them one last hand, then get some down time. The rest of the classes today are canceled, but we'll be getting right back into them tomorrow!"

The students clapped and whooped, though whether it was for them or for the canceled classes Diana wasn't sure. Hidaka-sensei disappeared masterfully into the crowd. Apparently, she wasn't that big a fan of attention. Manbavaran and Yanson made their way to Akko, and several students began to swarm the heroes – though predictably most of them went to swoon over Akko. A surge of jealousy welled up in her as she watched fangirls squee over Akko, and at Akko's infuriating blush. It was over Akko's success, of course – it could be nothing else, even if it did feel somewhat different from the last wave. She was beginning to think Hidaka-sensei had had the right idea in leaving, but was spared from thinking further when her two friends Hannah and Barbera hurried over.

"Diana! We're so glad you're okay!"

"We, um, really appreciate you not naming us in the whole dragon thing."

"Of course." She was in charge of the two dolts. They were her responsibility, and they were expected to screw up. Diana was supposed to be better.

"Well I mean, technically you were the one who released it, right?"

Nor had she really expected them to stand up and try to share the blame. They didn't have the spines to risk their schooling. So this sense of... of disappointment and hurt was foolish. But as she watched Akko goofing off with Manbavaran and Yanson, talking to these two felt strangely hollow. She watched Akko as Hannah(or Barbera, or maybe both, their voices really started to blend together and she wasn't truly paying attention) droned on and on, and soon Akko's eye caught her own. Then Akko was waving admirers off, and making her way to where she stood. Diana lifted a brow, wondering what she was up to.

"Hey," Akko began, gasping after finally making it through the crowd. Diana rolled her eyes. "Um, can you and me talk? Alone?"

"Oh, definitely, definitely!" Hannah affirmed.

"It's no problem, Akko!" Barbera agreed. "Whatever you want! We'll see you and Diana later, right?"

Diana almost rolled her eyes again, but at this point she worried they would roll out of her sockets. Now that Akko was popular and heroic they were sucking up to her. Sickening.

"Um, sure, yeah!" It was worth the risk, Diana decided, and rolled her eyes. As the two walked away, Akko faced Diana with a shy expression. It was almost cute. "I, um, wanted to talk."

"I gathered that."

"Yeah, right, cause I asked if we can talk. Makes sense." She grinned. It was what some would call an infectious grin, but luckily Diana had gotten a vaccine for that particular disease. Still, she could feel the corners of her mouth turn up slightly. "Well, first, I never said thank you for the rescue."

"I told you, no thanks are necessary. It was my duty to evacuate the students."

"I know, but here I am, thanking you anyway."

"Fine then. You're welcome." Diana wondered if this was part of her humility thing. The crowd was certainly loving it enough.

Akko sighed. "Can't you just accept a thank you with a smile?"

"No," Diana deadpanned.

She groaned. "Should've saw that answer coming, from prissy queen bee."

Diana put on a smile. "You said thank you. Are we done? Because I-" she turned to walk away, but Akko panickedly grabbed her hand.

"Wait, wait, please. I'm sorry, it wasn't meant to go this way. I, uh, just wanted to say, you were amazing. With the rescue, and afterwards."

"I..." Diana was at a loss for words, and as those red eyes stared into hers she felt her cheeks burning.

"You accepted the wrong you did-er, the wrong you think you did, because really I think you were being too hard on yourself, and you tried to fix it instead of whining about it or blaming someone else, and then you admitted it to the whole school, and I dunno if I could've been that brave and risk my education, and yeah," she finished, taking a breath. "You were, are, really cool, and I misjudged you. So, sorry." She finally realized she was still holding onto Diana's hand and awkwardly let go, shuffling away from her. Diana felt a peculiar sense of disappointment. "Sorry."

"I... There is no need, Akko. To be honest... I misjudged you as well. You really do have what it takes to be a witch, and your actions today were truly admirable. I should not have treated you the way I did and for that, I am genuinely sorry," she finished with an apologetic bow.

"Heh, thanks. Guess it's a good thing we're studying magic instead of law, right?" At Diana's puzzled expression, she hastily explained, "Because we both misjudged, so we wouldn't be good judges, get it?" At the awkward silence, Akko's face fell. "It...was funnier in my head." Diana couldn't hold back a giggle, and when Akko grinned once again Diana couldn't help but smile back. After a moment of nice, companionable quiet, Akko asked, "So... see you around?" Despite it being a standard farewell, there was a tinge of hope to it, as though she wasn't sure she would see Diana again. Diana smiled.

"Yes. See you around, Akko."

Akko smirked, and there was a danger and cunning in it that set Diana on edge. "Course we will. After all, Shiny Chariot fans have to stick together..."

Diana swung for her head, but Akko narrowly dodged it and raced quickly off. "I will end you, Kagari!" Akko only laughed joyously in return.

As soon as Diana was confident that Akko was gone and could not see it, she smiled.

A/N:Thanks to Professor-Piggy for being my faithful editor.