Akko played with her cards behind the souvenir and charm display. By the shrine well, a miko spoke to a group of tourists. At the back of the crowd, a young man and woman were holding hands as they took a picture of themselves by the statue of the shrine guardian. Somehow, just looking at them made Akko feel lonely. She wondered how Diana was doing.

"Hey, Ari-nee-san, how do you know if you're in love?"

Her cousin, Arika looked up from a romance novel and stared at her. "Are you in love?"

"What? No! I was just curious..."

"Who is it? I bet it's Hiro-kun!" said Arika excitedly. "He's been coming here everyday since you started working."

Hiro was a childhood friend and had been buying charms for good luck. "I bet he just wants to pass his exams. It has nothing to do with me."

"Oh, look! Here he comes!"

Akko gathered her cards in a stack and put them behind the display.

Hiro strode over. "Hi Akko-chan, Arika-san. How are you?"

"We're doing fine. How can I help you?" aked Arika.

"I have some relatives visiting. What souvenirs do you recommend?"

"We have some shrine themed stationery and stamps. Oh, it looks like we're missing some carved bookmarks. Akko, can you get some from the storeroom?"

"Ok." Akko went inside and got a box of carved souvenirs. She gave the box to Arika who showed several designs to Hiro.

"I'll take these and some stationery... and this one too." Hiro put his choices on the table.

"That'll be 2100 yen," said Arika.

After Hiro paid and left, Akko started playing again. The Believing Heart card was missing. She looked around the stand and under the table. "Ari-nee-san, have you seen a Chariot card in English?"

"No. Where did you last see it?" asked Arika.

"I was just playing over here." Akko pointed to the empty area near the souvenir stand.

"Ah! Hiro put his things there. Maybe he picked it up by accident. He went left at the gate. If you hurry, maybe you can catch him."

Akko didn't wait for her to finish and ran to the gate. She ran down the street and about a block later, she saw him enter a shop. She went in and ran down the aisles despite the curious stares of patrons. At the sixth aisle, she saw him. "Hiro-kun!"

Hiro turned. "Akko-chan, what's going on?"

She drew several deep breaths. "I... I'm looking for my card. Shiny Chariot... Do you have it?"

"Why would I have that?"

"Ari-nee-san thinks you picked it up by accident. Please check your bag." Hiro dumped his purchases on a nearby shelf. Akko saw it as he moved the stationery around and grabbed it. "There it is!"

"Are you still playing that?"

"Yeah. Isn't it great? It's the premium card!" Akko held it up.

"Er, it's nice. Hey, there's this new card game, Magicmight. I have this booster pack." Hiro offered a package of cards.

Akko looked at the package and read that it contained a starter set of 20 cards which can be used to complete a deck of 50 cards. She offered it back. "No, thanks. I can't collect enough cards to play. I don't have much allowance." Her summer vacation had drained her pocket money.

"Just keep it. I'll give you my extra cards later. I'm playing in a tournament this weekend. You can watch me play and maybe you can learn some tips. I'm really good. I won second place last tourney, but this time, I'm gonna win first place." He held up the good luck charm from the shrine.

Akko tried to give it back again. Constanze told her that they could chat on Saturday. "No, that's all right."

"With the booster and extra cards, you'll have a full deck in no time. That's worth 3000 yen. It's a really good game with lots of different combos and very fast pace. It's much better than any kiddie card game."

A vein popped on Akko's forehead. How dare he talk about the Shiny Chariot cards like that. Since he wouldn't take it, Akko put it down on the shelf. "That's nice of you, but I'll pass. I need to work now. Bye!" She ran out of the shop and made her way to the shrine.

"Welcome back! Did you find it?" asked Arika.

Akko took a deep breath. "Yeah... Ari-nee-san, I know you mean well, but don't ever do that again."

Arika took a small step back. "Do what?"

She glared at her. "You slipped my card into his bag. You tried to pair us up. I'm not interested in him so don't do that again." She put the Believing Heart card into the silk pouch.

"I'm sorry. I just thought you'd make a cute couple."

Akko put her cards back in her pocket to prevent Arika from doing anymore matchmaking.

-----

That evening, she played with her cards on her bed. When she drew the Believing Heart card, she stopped and looked at it for a while. It reminded her of a conversation with Anna before she left for Japan.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She was taking a break from studying by playing cards and didn't notice that Anna had approached her until she cleared her throat.

"A-anna! I'm just taking a break." She gathered the cards.

"That card looks like the same one that Miss has." Anna pointed to the Believing Heart card.

"It is... er... was. She gave it to me."

Anna looked surprised then her expression softened to a small smile. "I see. It's her only card. Miss should've asked for more. My Lady would've bought an entire set for her. But Miss isn't like other children who scream and shout to get toys. She's not demanding and she doesn't want to inconvenience you. If she wants something, she'll give you a small hint. She won't push you. You'll be going back to school soon, so I'd like to ask a favor."

She swallowed nervously and hoped it wasn't too difficult to do. "What is it?"

"Please take care of Miss."

Relief filled her. "Of course! Count on me!"

"Thank you, Akko." Anna left the library.

While putting the cards back in place, she realized that Anna called her by name instead of a formal 'dear guest'.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Akko leaned against her pillows. "I almost lost it." Diana would be upset if it really was lost. "I wonder why she gave me her Believing Heart?" Just saying it out loud suddenly introduced another possibility into her imagination. What if more than just a card was given? Anna's words echoed in her mind.

"...she'll give you a small hint."

Was this the hint? "She gave me her heart..." Her fingers trembled as she cradled the card between her hands. "OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod" She held the card against her chest and rolled around. Her body tingled with the possibility that Diana saw her more than just a friend.

If it were true, then some things made more sense. She thought that Diana was making fun of during DAM, but if she was dropping the figures to make her bend over and expose...

Warmth flooded her cheeks at the idea that Diana was checking out her pale behind. The prim and proper model student had a naughty streak and she was the cause. A smile formed on her lips.

Then there was the fair and their meeting that evening in the dreamscape. Was Diana jealous of Constanze? Diana also seemed upset when she was applying lotion on Amanda's back and didn't speak to them until much later.

"Wait... were we dating all summer and I didn't know? Ahhh! No wonder Amanda was making fun of me!"

Diana seemed to live in a totally different world and being from a non-witch lineage, she thought that someone else would be more suitable for her, so she didn't take things seriously and ignored it.

A tear rolled down her cheek. "I miss her... I miss her so much." This time, she'll answer Diana properly.

-----

Late Friday night, Akko received a chat request on her smartphone.

[ ==[] ] Testing

The icon showed the von Braunschbank symbol and underneath it were characters that seemed to form a hammer.

[ ==[] ] Akko, it's Constanze.

She had given Constanze her chat ID in hope that they would be able to talk.

[ Akko ] Hi Constanze! How are you?

[ ==[] ] Good. Finally figured out chat on my pc

An icon of a four leaf clover appeared with the letter A under it.

[ A ] Yo, it's Amanda.

[ Akko ] Hi! How's it going?

[ A ] Ok just hanging out

[ Akko ] Is Diana there?

[ A ] Not yet. Still at work

Akko felt disappointed. She hoped that she could at least say hello.

[ Akko ] How's Charion?

[ ==[] ] Making good progress. Working on back now.

[ ==[] ] We visit junkyard so much, guy there is saving parts for me.

They talked about Charion for a while then Akko heard a knock on her door. "Akko, it's getting late. We need to get up early tomorrow," said her mother.

"Ok!"

[ Akko ] Sorry, got to sleep. Need to wake up early.

[ ==[] ] Talk to you later. Bye

[ Akko ] Bye

-----

The next day, after helping her mother for the early bird shopping sale at the local grocer, Akko went to her part-time job at the shrine. It didn't pay much but any pocket money would be useful during school. About late afternoon, she got a chat request from Constanze.

[ ==[] ] Hi, you busy?

[ Akko ] No, slow now

When Constanze didn't reply right away, she stood up and checked her connection. About a minute later, an icon of a unicorn appeared.

[ Diana ] Hello Akko.

Her heart skipped a beat as her fingers formed a reply excitedly.

[ Akko ] DIANAAAAAA! HOW ARE YOU!

She gasped. In her haste, she activated caps lock. She quickly sent another message.

[ Akko ] Sorry, caps. Seriously, how are you?

[ Diana ] I'm fine, how are you?

[ Akko ] I'm doing ok. Super hot here. I'm sweating under my robes

[ Diana ] Why are you wearing robes?

[ Akko ] I'm working at the shrine. I have to wear this outfit

[ Diana ] What kind of outfit is it?

[ Akko ] 1 sec

Akko posed as cool as possible near an intricately decorated pillar and took a snapshot. She sent the snapshot and eagerly waited for a reply. When none came soon enough, she checked her connection again. Worried that the chat was disconnected, she sent messages.

[ Akko ] Did you get it?

[ Akko ] Hello? Still there?

A few seconds later, she got a reply.

[ Diana ] I'm still here. I saw it. You look very pretty

If she had a broom, she would fly to the moon and back, but since she didn't, she contented herself with a hop since tourists were nearby.

[ Akko ] Aw thanks :)

As expected, Diana wanted to return the Shiny Rod card. Since her heart was still floating from Diana's compliment, her fingers recklessly typed.

[ Akko ] It's yours now. I'm incomplete without you anyway

Just after she sent it, she began to regret it. Was that too forward? In an effort to avoid offending Diana, she sent a wink emote.

[ Akko ] ;D

Once again, she didn't get a reply and began to worry that she offended her. As she waited, she paced back and forth behind the souvenir table. Finally, the chat updated.

[Diana] What do you mean by that?

She lost her nerve.

[Akko] Sorry, got to work. See you later!

For a while, Akko held the phone to her heart and tried to calm herself. After realizing that she didn't know what to do in this kind of situation, she went to the town library after work with the intent of borrowing as many books and manga about shoujoai and yuri as the library would allow her.

-----

To be continued in: Back to Normal?

----

References:

Diana seemed to live in a different world - In Ep 12, Akko says this.