#but idk why it looks like lately all of my posts are consistently getting 0 notes

[milascenta]

June 26th 23:38

I apologise for the late post, I've had a cold all week. Thats why I haven't streamed since sunday lol. My nephew had a party and one of his friends came over, and he walked in like a lil patient 0 all coughy and rubbing his nose on his sleeve haha. I took one look at him and went yeah I'm getting sick. Sunday stream was so great and I'm so glad I could at least take you out of your mind for a lil bit, I will be streaming on Wednesday 9pm (your birthday) and will try to get more consistent with it too.

I'm glad you felt a lil better to write to me though, you don't have to push yourself right now, just focus on you and what your body is telling you. Take time to feel so you can heal. Its ok for your sleep and eating to get disrupted, its completely normal and is really just your body trying to come to terms with everything, and it will pass I promise. Please if anything gets worse, promise you'll seek more appropriate help, I can't help further than what I can you know. Please talk all the nonsense you want, I'll listen. I'm so sorry you have to do everything alone, that really isn't fair, this is meant to be a time for the opposite. I really glad you had your cousin with you at least for a lil bit to collect some things, he sounds like a good dude and the doggy sounds amazing too, I'm glad they give so much love and affection at the right times (dogs seem to really know that kinda stuff)

Its ok to feel like crumbling like that, I'd find it odd if you didn't you know. It really is one of those moments where you truly don't know yourself until you're in it, so I completely understand all of the emotions brought up. Again I'm really glad you had your cousin there with you, I wish I could have been there too, to support you. I'm also glad you got to feel overwhelmed by the emotions and he did too (that might sound weird idk), I'm glad you didn't just bottle them up. It sounds like you picked the exact right thing for him to wear, and I bet he looks badass too. The undertaker sounds good too, very professional and know how to deal with these things. I like that he helped you figure out what to do, I can't imagine how hard it would be to have to figure it all out. I really hope everything worked out with the flowers and the registry. I know they'll be beautiful and fitting, because you picked them. I know it will be hard, I wish I could be there to help you through the little things too.

Of course your hair is beautiful, it suits you so well. It frames your face and of course the colour, need I say anything hehe. Omg the scratchy stage for tattoos SUUCk, I have one on the back of my arm and when it was healing I remember waking up one day and it sticking to the bed sheets and literally leaving an imprint, like full colour and lines just right there, I had to pull myself off haha, didn't hurt though or damage the tattoo must have been a bit of the excess ink drying to the sheet lol. I hope yours is healing more now and out of that annoying stage. Ooo 3 more too thats exciting, I know they'll be good. I love small tattoos too, I know they'll do him justice, and I hope they provide you with a lil peace too. I'm sorry your mother thinks that, thats so stupid lol, you're not ruining anything and the idea that you are is kinda stupid too, more stupid that she seems to care more about your skin/hair then everything else, but I'll restrain myself from talking more about it. Its yours and you can do whatever you want.

We're on a small break from gigging with the band till september, which is good, gives me time to properly assess how its going and focus on other things. I honestly don't really know the direction its going, plateauing or not, but yeah gives me some time to think about it.

Thank you for coming to my stream again, you weren't too chatty at all, in fact that was what helped talk for so long haha. (also its good for the algorithm hehehe) I was just going off you and the game. I'm sorry I haven't been streaming too much though. I really wanted to stream all week but couldn't really. I feel my perfectionism is really holding me back from it too, but I'm glad I've done at least one because that took a lot of the pressure off it. But I will power through it for Wednesday, I'm gonna start a new Cyberpunk playthrough, ready up for Phantom Liberty dlc which looks AMAZING, and I remember you said you got addicted to it during covid too. Then I'll go back to more tentacle god and alternate a bit. Though weird thing with Cyberpunk is hat OBS hates playing it and having my facecam on, so my facecam just turns off randomly, I have no idea why, my only thought is that Cyberpunk hogs my CPU so maybe its not enough for the camera, idk, so no camera while I play Cyberpunk but ESO and other things should be fine.

I'm so glad you got to finally see Chonky and how she acts, its hard to explain her to someone without them seeing so I'm glad you saw her. She looves belly rubs but also looves latching on to arms with her claws at random moments too. I play hardcore and really roll the dice by my putting my face into the floof and giving her raspberries which she finds amusing.

Its not weird reading through these, if it comforts you then do it. I write these for you so they're yours.

Yes Little Hell is one of my all time favourite albums, Silver and Gold, We found each other in the dark, some of my favourite songs. I will say Bring me Your Love is my favourite by him though, What Makes a Man has a hold on my heart and soul forever, and speaks to me on too many levels haha. I just love how he's this hardcore icon in Alexisonfire, covered in tatts and sings some of the most heart-wrenching poetic music, I love it when that happens with people haha.

Don't feel guilty for celebrating, I completely understand why though. But you need to, for you, and for him. He would want you to do what ever makes you happiest and without concern. I know it will be hard. But its normal to feel what you're feeling, it will be a range of emotions. Don't let it stop you from feeling positive as well.

I hope you can get to sleep a bit easier, I hope these messages help you sleep and take you mind off things. Happy birthday soon, I'll write again soon too.

"I fell straight Into your arms Like a drunk Who's been on it All morning"

[intertwined-destinies]

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how we could have gotten the most beautiful tragic love story if done right… seriously considering writing an “alternate episode IX” fic myself

Looking at Trevorrow’s leaked script and Abrams’s finished movie… it can’t be that hard

[serowotonin]

LiPS𝐓1CK St4𝐈NS ! (💋)

❝ having lipstick and giving him a kiss and he doesn't realize he has it on his face until his teammates are all like 0-0 ❞ — @/luna-in-luv

++ fem!reader x oikawa, kuroo

| wc. 1.3k 

| note. djslsdf it took so long to edit this post T-T,,,,, when ur indecisive af and can’t decide on a post format :D anyways just wanna say reblogs are greatly appreciated and i hope u guys like this<3

( ➷ ); ― OiK4WA

another day of school, another day of.. well, another day of boredom

you had to admit though, school had become a lot more fun since you and oikawa got together;)

altho you were in different classes, you’d still pass each other in hallways and see each other during breaks

and ofc every interaction, no matter how small, definitely made your day brighter

the smaller interactions consisted mainly of random head pats as he walks pass by, or a smirk and a wink whenever you two make eye contact 

when there weren’t as many people around,,, maybe a hug or a kiss if either of you felt like it

and very rarely.. 

a makeout session in an empty classroom or staircase

its rare but it does happen

and it was happening… right now

school ended about half an hour ago and everyone either left or went to do their club activities 

which was what oikawa should probably be doing too,, but today he just “felt like going in a little later”

and so there you two were, in the dark corner of an abandoned classroom grasping at the other as if you haven’t seen them in years

idk how to describe a steamy makeout sesh okkk

anyways,, after about 6 ignored calls from iwaizumi tho.. you two figured it was probably time for him to go to practice

you two straightened yourselves out; cleared the ruffles from your uniforms, tidied your hair, etc.

oikawa texted iwa that he was on his way while you touched up your makeup

“you gonna walk me to practice?”

“of course,” you smiled. “altho i have my own club activities today too so i can’t stay and watch :( ”

“dont worry babe,,, just walking me there is enough” he replied with a grin

then he slung an arm over your shoulder and the two of you walked out of the classroom as if nothing happened

as you neared the entrance of the gym, you slowed to a stop and tugged at oikawa’s shirt

he turned and you leaned to give him a kiss on the cheek

“good luck with practice” you said before giving him a small wave and walking off

did you see the dark mark your lipstick left on his cheek?

yes.

were you going to say anything about it?

well,,,, you already turned to walk away and oikawa was already entering the gym

so no.

anyways,, as oikawa entered the gym, the first thing he saw was his beloved iwa-chan

looking not very happy

oikawa waved sheepishly as he turned his head to the side to look at where everyone else was

this for some reason made iwaizumi look even more not happy

makki and mattsun then walked over and snickered upon seeing oikawa

“ah was y/n here? why didn’t you invite her to watch hmm?~” makki teased

“she’s got club activities too you know..”

smh

they probably realize oikawa doesnt know bout the kiss mark

the three of them were just staring at oikawa like (￢_￢;)

and oikawa's just standing there like (◕‿◕)?

“can we go practice now..?” 

iwa: (￣︿￣) “wipe that stupid mark off your cheek”

huh? mark? he was pretty sure he wiped off any evidence from ahem what was happening earlier…

at this point some of the younger members started staring at them

and oikawa spotted them out of the corner of his eye and could practically feel the awkwardness in their gazes

he put a hand on the cheek everyone was staring at and removed it to see the same color that painted your lips

oh...

a slow smile spread on his lips at the realization of what you did

he laughed to himself

‘she’s gonna be the death of me..’

and with that he wiped off the remnants of your lipstick and hurried over to start practice

later tho, he asks you to kiss him again wearing that lipstick

and you do

and he snaps a selfie,,, which is now his phone wallpaper ;3

( ❣︎ ); ― KUR0O

today, you’re boyfriend, the one and only Kuroo Tetsurou, had a volleyball match

and ofc being the amazing, supportive gf you were, you were present in the stands, cheering him on

you didn’t get to meet or even talk to him before the match started, save for a few quick texts 

so when he came on to the court for warm up and spotted you in the crowd,,,

he gave a cheeky wink and wave

you could practically feel the confidence roll off him in waves but you knew, deep down, he was the tiniest bit nervous too

afterall, the opponents weren’t a weak team by any standard

they were strong and known for their relentless attacks

which were put to display almost immediately after the game started

nekoma held on though, and managed to put in a few attacks of their own to level the game

you could see the hard work behind each of the members’ skills, having witnessed a lot of it yourself

it was most clear in kuroo tho

and as he jumped to block another spike, you were on the edge of your seat

the boys just needed one more point… which came when kuroo shut down the last spike

you and the rest of the people in the stands around you erupted into cheers

and as they were leaving the court, you ran to steal kuroo away for a more personal cheer

the two of you walked the halls of the stadium talking abt the game

you were gushing about this block and that and he was smiling at your gushing cuz damn was his y/n cute 

N E WAYSSS,,, he received a text from kenma saying that they were all waiting for him at the bus

“i should go.. don’t wanna keep them waiting long”

“yeah.. you should”

before he could move tho, you tiptoed and placed a big fat kiss on his cheek

you swear you saw a blush on those cheeks as you backed down

he grinned and gave you a kiss of his own on your forehead before saying bye and running off

as he did, you realized you forgot to mention the lip-shaped mark on his cheek 

oops… its too late now ┐(︶▽︶)┌

anyway,, kuroo arrives all smiles to where the team are waiting 

and make no mistake they all CLEARLY see evidence of ur “little” kiss from back there

they just kinda,,,, don’t say anything at first?

kenma rolled his eyes and went back to doing whatever on his phone

yaku glared at it out of spite or some similar emotion

the others just choose to ignore mainly cuz they assume kuroo already knows and chose to keep it there

to them its just kuroo being a cheesy mf who was rubbing the non-single life in their faces or smth

ofc he has no idea tho

which just makes it all the more better when lev says

“y/n has nice lipstick”

and kuroo’s just like wtf ?? whatcha goin on bout my gf’s lipstick hUH

and he says that.. or something similar at least

and lev just points to his cheek like

“duhh i can see it right there”

he grabs his phone, opens the front facing camera, and is met with the outline of your lips on his cheek

and thats when he obviously started blushing

but then he just kind of smirked once he realized you knew about the mark

when yaku sees the smirk he went “OMFG JUST WIPE IT OFF ALREADY !! WE GET IT !! YOU ARENT SINGLE YOU GET KISSES STFU”

not like that but practically exactly what he was trying to say anyway

tbh kuroo’s a little reluctant to rub it off cuz idk,, he likes it ?? 

but he does anyway cuz they were still in public and there were teachers who were gonna come soon and all the other reasons

once hes comfortably seated in the bus tho, with a clean cheek, he sends u several texts

‘ saw that gift you left on my cheek… ’

‘ wouldn’t mind if u gave me more tmr afterschool ;) ’

| taglist. @lilikags @luna-in-luv ... send an ask if u wanna be added !!~

[kyidyl]

Kyidyl Explains Bones - Part 6

(All of these are under the KyidylBones tag.) 

Age Determination 

Well, age at death anyway.  I’m gonna put this warning up front: 

Today’s post will contain pictures of the skeletons of children.  This is something that a lot of people, even those who think they won’t be bothered, find upsetting.  This goes double if you actually have children.  This post will also include frank discussion of child death.  

You have been warned.  

So what is age determination? Age determination isn’t the process of figuring out how old a set of remains is, it’s the process of figuring out how old the individual was when they died.  Because of the sensitive nature of the topic, I’m putting everything behind a cut today.  

Ethics: Beyond the normal respectful approach, there aren’t separate ethical considerations with dealing with age like there are for sex and race.  Just be considerate of the fact that child death is super upsetting to some people.  I literally had people in my classes at the masters level who were moved to tears by some of the younger remains, so even when you’re used to looking at things from a clinical perspective, kids can be tough.  

General: Age is separated into three general categories: juvenile (0-early 20s), adult, and elderly.  Juveniles are from birth until the last known skeletal change takes place.  IE, until all your teeth come in and all your bones fuse.  These are really good indicators of age, so we use them as much as we can for as long into the lifespan as we can.  Adults range from “done growing” to “showing signs of degeneration” EG, arthritis and that kind of thing.  Elderly is anything older than that.  

Also, this applies to all age categories: size is not an indicator of age.  Ever.  

Juveniles: We say juveniles instead of children because people in their late teens and early 20s aren’t really children, but they haven’t finished growing yet.  So juvenile is a more inclusive term, and the more accurate one.  That said, kids are by FAR the easiest to know the age of.  Juvenile remains do not look like small adult remains, because juveniles that have skeletons that do not resemble adult skeletons beyond the basic “ah, that’s probably a human”.  

There are a few ways that we determine the age of a juvenile, and the first thing we check is the teeth.  Before the body, before any other signs.  Because the teeth are consistently accurate across race, sex, economic standing, any pathologies, etc.  Teeth are formed and come in on a schedule.  Here is that schedule: 

And here is a link to a high res PDF version that you absolutely should take a look at (Source).  

Beyond this, the 3rd molar AKA wisdom teeth come in between ages 17-25.  Now, archaeological remains won’t have scars on the bone from the wisdom teeth removal that a lot of people commonly undergo, but in the future that will be visible on the bone.  I’ll get into this more when I get around to doing the damage and pathology posts, but healed bone has a different appearance than unbroken bone, so a healed-over tooth socket has a different appearance than bone that never had a tooth there to begin with.  In addition, while tooth eruption in a living juvenile is accepted as the time when the tooth breaks through the gums, in the remains of a juvenile we can see un-erupted teeth within the jaw.  It looks like this: 

(Source) 

As an aside: those lines on the teeth are called enamel hypoplasia, and I’ll cover it more in the teeth post, but essentially if you don’t get proper nutrition as a child when your adult teeth are developing in your jaw you get these lines in them.  

So anyway, because teeth come in on such a precise schedule, and because teeth survive better than anything else in your body (especially in a child’s body.  Childrens’ bones are fragile, partially ossified, and they decay quickly.), they’re very good for estimating age at death.  Even more so than bones, because bones can be altered by illness, malnutrition, repetitive activity, or genetic anomalies.  Teeth almost never are.  Or, rather, their rate of growth isn’t.  

Another thing we look for when determining age at death is the fusion of the bones.  See, as you’re growing you have more bones.  Those get larger until they meet up with the bone they’re part of, and then they start to fuse.  These are called epiphysis (growth plates).  Very young children don’t even have entirely ossified (bone instead of cartilage) bones, let along epiphysis that touch.  Babies don’t show up often in the archaeological record because of this. To better illustrate this, here is an image of an xray of a baby’s hand: 

(Source) 

You’ll notice that the finger bones (Metacarpals and carpels, known collectively as phalanges.) have small little bones at the ends that aren’t attached - that’s not an anomaly, that’s normal.  Those are the physis, which will fuse later in life after they are larger, and the plate between them from which they grow is the epiphysis.  You can also see that the wrist bones have barely begun to ossify and don’t show up on the xray, and the physis for the radius and ulna (arm bones) also haven’t begin to ossify and thus don’t show up - that’s why the arm bones look like one bone.  They aren’t, they have an epiphysis at either end (Your elbow is a separate bone called the olecranon and it doesn’t fuse until later on.).  This happens at a very predictable rate, and so we can tell how old someone is from a combination of their teeth and which bones have and have not ossified and fused.  In addition, the bone of the epiphysis has a unique texture that is referred to as “billowy” in the literature (even tho I hate that word).  Here’s a picture: 

(Source)

The one on the left is what you want to look at, since this is a progression through age.  Also I sniped this from a paper on age estimation, so if you’re interested in this take a look at it.  It’s on researchgate so it’s not behind a paywall.  As an aside: researchgate is amazing and you should all learn to use it.  

Anyway, see that bumpy texture on the left? That’s what unfused bone looks like at the growth plate.  This actually applies to, as far as I know, all land mammals.  So if you find animal bones with this texture at the end of the bone, then that animal was a juvenile when it died.  Bones fuse at different times in your life, but we know the times when they fuse.  There are 206 bones in the adult body, so that would be a lot for me to try and put in a tumblr post, but if you google a specific bone you should be able to find the ages they fuse.  I believe, if memory serves, that the skull sutures are the last to fully fuse, and they in fact continue to become more tightly fused as your life goes on. I’ll cover that in the next section tho.  It will hold together as a teenager, but the skull bones take a long time to fuse to each other.  Two of the last epiphysis to fuse though are the iliac crest (The curved part of the hip - it’s actually its own separate bone.  Like just the small, smooth curved part.) and the sternal end of the clavicle (clavicle = collarbone, and the sternal end is the medial part towards the sternum.).  This happens in your early to mid 20s.  

So teeth and bone fusion are the two most used methods of age estimation.  So if anyone ever shows you a small skeleton with fused bones and calls it a child, roll your eyes at them.  It’s not a child.  

One last note on juvenile skeletons: until the individual undergoes puberty, sex and race determinations are extremely difficult (teeth can be used for race, but not for sex.  Not really, anyway.).  So again, anyone who professes to know the sex of a set of pre-pubescent remains without like...a gravestone or something telling them is probably a liar.  Right now the methods for doing that are either expensive (genetics) or inaccurate.  And doing genetic evaluations on old juvenile remains is difficult, because their bones are more fragile than adult bones and break down easier, which exposes the DNA to easy degradation.  It’s not impossible, it’s just usually more difficult and more expensive.  

For reference, here is a juvenile skeleton laid out in standard anatomical position.  There is more than one individual here, so ignore any of the bones outside the arms and above the head.  

(Source)

Adults and the Elderly: After an individual finishes growing, estimating their age becomes increasingly difficult.  There’s no such thing as, for example, an average number of tooth cavities.  In addition, the natural growth and destruction of your bone cells over your lifetime means that things you do habitually can significantly alter the shape of your bones and the rate at which they break down.  

However, there are a few things that can be used.  Joints wear down at a fairly consistent rate, and arthritis leaves specific markers on the bones that we can identify as arthritis rather than normal wear and tear.  This is most easily views in two places: the public symphasis (the front where your two hip bones meet.) and the acetabulum (The socket that the round end of your thigh bone is in.).  The picture I used above is an image of the wear and tear seen on a series of pubic symphysises (symphysii? IDK.).  And so these are matched against skeletons whose age at death was known and age ranges for changes to this area were arrived at.  

When I was doing my MSc, we did a project where we were assigned a set of remains and had to use everything we’d learned in the course to do a full evaluation of our skeletons.  Well, the majority of my skull was missing and so I used the acetabulum to do age estimation on the skeleton (I had some teeth, but not most of the ones that are diagnostic of age, which I’ll cover in a sec.).  This is an image from and a link to one of the papers I used: 

(Source)

Two things happen here as you age.  One, the edges of the socket become damaged and it starts to change the anatomy (F is oldest).  Two, that space in the middle is called the acetabular fossa, or the acetabular notch.  And as you can see, the shape of it changes over time due to normal wear and tear.  In combination with resources like the one I linked, we can use this to estimate the age of an adult or elderly individual.  

Another tool we use has to do with the fusion of your growth plates.  After the bones fuse, the line is still visible.  Throughout your life the remodeling (normal breakdown/growth of bones and healing from damage.) causes the sutures to be come less and less visible.  We call this obliteration.  In the elderly, most of their sutures and growth plates will be completely obliterated.  For example, the femur is in four pieces as a child.  The main body of the femur, the head of the femur, the greater trochanter (The big bump on the top outside.  This is like...the part that’s wides below your hips where your thigh meets your pelvis, but on the outside.), and the condyles (the rounded pieces on the far end.).  The greater trochanter fuses and obliterates pretty early on, but the head and the condyles are pretty easy to see even in adults.  Here’s an example showing the femoral head: 

(Source)

As you can see, the trochanter has fused and is obliterated, but the head has fused and you can still see the line from the growth plate.  The sutures in the skull are especially good for this, as cranial sutures take the majority of the lifespan to obliterate (sometimes they never fully do.).  If you see a smooth skull, that person was ooooold.  

The last easily accessible way we assess age at death is via tooth wear.  Now, this won’t work in modern skeletons, which is why there’s a lot of research surrounding the evaluation of age at death.  We’re well aware that after humans entered roughly the industrial age, our foods became soft and teeth no longer wear like they should, and after that point in time it’s not possible to use the standardized methods of tooth wear to evaluate age.  Well, I should rephrase, it won’t be possible in westernized and industrialized societies.  Cultures in Africa and South America that still practice pastoral or hunter/gatherer lifestyles will likely still have expected tooth wear.  Anyone who lives in a society that has and uses grocery stores or doesn’t use two rocks to mill flour (Do not underestimate how much bread people ate.), is not going to have expected tooth wear (so it’s not about rural vs city.).  

See, it’s normal and natural for teeth to wear.  It’s normal and natural for the yellowish substance below the enamel, called dentin, to show.  Dentin is almost as hard as enamel, and it actually regrows.  We evolved to have tooth wear both on the surfaces and between the teeth.  Humans used to eat much tougher foods, and even when we weren’t, our foods had a lot of grit in them (IE, tiny pieces of stone from milling flour.  I have a whole ass theory about the role of dirt in the evolution of teeth for all animals but that’s neither here nor there.) and wore our teeth down.  Wear isn’t a sign of bad dental hygiene, it’s a sign of a tougher diet.  After the industrial age we started using different methods to produce food and started eating softer food overall, so we stopped putting the stresses on our jaws required for both proper tooth wear and the proper growth of our teeth (AKA: wisdom tooth impaction.).  So normally worn teeth look like this: 

(Source for both images)

If you’ll notice in that top image the lines where the teeth meet fit exactly together.  This is because of tooth wear.  Interestingly you’ll also notice in the bottom image that this individual’s teeth are unevenly worn, meaning they chewed on the right side of their mouth.  This is actually something we see all the time because of both handedness, and insult to the teeth on one side of the aw (AKA it was painful cause they had cavities.).  This individual was likely a young adult given that they don’t have a lot of tooth wear to begin with, but they were preferentially using one side of their mouth to chew and so it is more worn than it would be for someone who wasn’t doing that.  Here is the chart we use to grade tooth wear and age on adult teeth: 

(Source)

That link has a larger version of the chart and more images.  

So the fact that I’m 40 and still can feel all the cusps on all of my molars is an anomaly compared to previous humans.  Soft foods.  So if you compare the above image of the jaw with the chart, you’ll see that the individuals in both pictures have wear in the 25-35yrs old age rage, or what we would consider to be a young adult.  And before you start talking about average age of humans back in the day, don’t forget that the average includes a lot of dead children.  Once you made it to adulthood you lived a decent amount of time.  

So those of you who are older than your 30s or so might not remember this, but when your adult incisors come in they had small ridges on the edges.  It was easier to tell on your top teeth (maxillary incisors) than your bottom ones (mandibular incisors.), but it’s present on both.  These bad boys: 

(Source)

That is obviously a living human, but I’m showing you because they wear quickly.  They do, however, wear at a prescribed pace so if a set of remains has them they were young.  Sometimes they’re gone before you’re even an adult, but I figured I’d mention them because they are another kind of tooth wear.  

Disease: The last thing that helps in age determination are age-based diseases.  Namely, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.  There are circumstances wherein someone younger can have both of those pathologies, but that’s why we have all of the other things.  So if we see signs of arthritis in a younger person, we’ll have the other signs to help us realize that they aren’t an elderly individual.  

Osteoarthritis is, essentially, a thinning of the cartilage, fluid, and other soft tissues in the joints, causing the bones to rub against each other instead of sliding nicely on the cartilage.  Now, a certain amount of thinning is expected with age - obviously, as arthritis in the elderly is extremely common even now.  But osteoarthritis is an escalation of the normal wear and tear into a pathology.  Osteoarthritis damages the joints, and so bone attempts to regrow, so you see a lot of abnormal outgrowths of bone that fit tightly together because they were rubbing against each other.  You also see, in extreme cases, striations on the bones where they were grinding together.  Like this: 

(Source)

This is a knee joint, viewed from the posterior side.  You can see on the bottom condyle and the opposing articular surface that there are lines.  Those lines are from the bones grinding.  You also can see, especially on the tibia, all those little funky looking bone bits.  All that roughness sticking out around end, below the flat surface.  Some roughness there is normal, but that’s rougher than it should be and that’s the result of osteoarthritis.  

The other disease common in the elderly is osteoporosis.  Osteoporosis is an illness that causes compact/cortical (the thicker hard bone around the spingy bone to thin and become porous (hence the name.).  I’ve held bone with extremely advanced osteoporosis and they are about half the weight of normal bones.  So that’s the first sign.  The next sign is that they’ll be damaged, both from the natural processes of time and from subsequent handling, because they’re farm more fragile than health adult bone.  The vertebra also take on a “squished” appearance due to the forces of gravity and the remodeling during the life of the individual.  You also will often see poorly healed breaks (I’ll show you more of this later in this series when I get to pathologies.).  

So that brings us to the end of the bit about age determination.  Hope you guys are enjoying this series. :) I think next up is gonna be teeth! =D 

[snakedevour]

my thoughts on chapter 81 ahead, fellas. it feels like it’s been a while since i analyzed a chapter drop but in my defense they only release once a month and 80.5 didn’t give me a lot of meat to bite into.

nyanyway -- here’s kkg 81. this chapter brings the focus back onto yumeko a little bit, showing us again how she plays, how she thinks, and how she challenges the people around her. basically, for me, this chapter was the whole buffet after several chapters of scraps.

SPOILERS BELOW.

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.

.

i made a post maybe a week or so ago at this point mentioning that i wanted to talk about how yumeko’s friendliness is “impersonal” despite being genuine and how that feeds into her ( for lack of better words ). and i’m still going to do that and it’ll be in a separate post from this one but this chapter gave me some ammunition in regards to that thought.

the thing that makes yumeko difficult to navigate in terms of interacting with her is that she challenges the conventional definition of “kind” and in a way kind of forces you to delineate between that and “friendly”. 

yumeko is a cocktail with two major components:

1. she is friendly 2. she is powerful

and when you have a friendly powerful person it’s easy to fall into the trap tsubomi has here, in which you feel that because you side with someone friendly and powerful you’re inherently under their protection.

and in a lot of storytellings that’d typically be true... but yumeko is awfully atypical. recall tsubomi’s commentary from chapter 63:

so long as we frame “friendly” as something that inherently goes hand-in-hand with “good” i think we set ourselves up to misunderstand yumeko’s personality. yumeko is friendly but she is not altruistic. yumeko does not “save” people; every time that it seems that she has it’s because they “won” it from her -- yumeko has never been benevolent for benevolence’s sake.

by a lot of standard definitions, i’d argue that she’s not even a good person. 

it’s really nice to be reminded of that weird layer of nuance. we’re also reminded of something that might have gotten overshadowed by her comparative calmness lately and the housepet drama from the last few chapters --

more than just wantonly putting herself at risk, yumeko is obsessed with simultaneously imposing high antes on other people.

let’s briefly throw all the way back to chapter 16 just to get that in her own words:

i kind of want to say that yumeko has sadomasochistic tendencies but that’s probably for another post another day.

anyway, this takes us back to today and chapter 81, where tsubomi goes on to notice the folly in her own thinking:

paired with her thoughts from chapter 63 this says a lot.

“would yumeko bother helping me if I’m not taking any risk?”

i’m pretty sure the answer is no. 

this really just sort of further cements my original opinion that yumeko definitely operates on some sort of metric of “earning” what one has. if you’re interested in my thought piece on that subject it’s right over here.

i really like where tsubomi’s train of thought is going here. up until now we’ve seen yumeko’s cutthroat mentality mostly as applied to herself and an opposing player. we’ve seen her drive the stakes high with yuriko, with sayaka, with miyo and miri and so on. 

this is what i mean when i say yumeko’s friendliness has an element of uncanny valley to it. you can argue that we’ve seen yumeko drag people into gambling alongside her ( like itsuki ), but we haven’t really seen it in this kind of light where it’s leveraged against her willingness to help people.

so +1 to chapter 81 for re-highlighting this fact about yumeko.

moving along, tsubomi is having these thoughts in the first place because terano came by and pointed out to her that she’s an “extra”, and per the logistics of the game yumeko only really needs suzui’s cooperation to win. then we cut to this short set-up scene where yumeko tells the gang ( and us ) the plan for this turn:

this gets tsubomi thinking. because yumeko is donating to suzui, she’ll have 0 points which means if tsubomi challenges her, she’ll win and thereby fulfill the requirements of her life plan to “knock either yumeko or terano out of the election”. tsubomi we’ve seen in past games though is still kind of coming into her own individuality, and is very much used to just taking orders. on top of that, she still feels indebted to yumeko for pushing her to play against kiwatari during the debt swap indian poker.

another thing i commented about in the past was the “human” qualities and motivations of the characters. tsubomi is a real highlight of this chapter because she reminds us of that quality too, because terano’s remarks spark what i think is a very organic conflict in her thoughts:

“i don’t want to be a housepet” vs “i don’t want to betray the girl i’m indebted to”

“i want to live as a person” vs “i want to keep a good conscience”

it’s the portrayal of internal struggles like these that make me angy at the sexualization in this series because these really show that it just isn’t needed. kawamoto absolutely knows what he’s writing and it’s not like he’s writing it poorly so its like...what gives.

not to make this about yumeko again but she does seem to get pretty meta here. i’m pretty certain that she knows what tsubomi is thinking here and i’ll also go as far as to suggest that she might have even set up the play this way to test tsubomi’s mettle. i’ll get into that here in a moment though :)

i say yumeko has an idea of what’s going through tsubomi’s mind here just because her question is very telling -- “have you made your decision?” -- yumeko definitely knows that some sort of choice has been imposed onto tsubomi, and tsubomi’s mentioning of her lack of guidance this turn also implies that yumeko is leaving her to fend for herself. which i think is something yumeko will always do. we’ve established that she’s not altruistic in the slightest...i don’t think yumeko is at all interested in people who lack the will to help themselves, regardless of how pitiable their circumstances.

i know suzui is supposed to be the audience-proxy but idk my guys... i think tsubomi is shaping up to be the better conduit through which we see yumeko’s real colors. 

also, more of yumeko giving us some insight into her values and how she thinks... but @ naomura why did you draw her doing this. yumeko you look SILLY but ily anyway

“only a choice at the end of agony can move your heart” -- yumeko’s starting to give me vibes of someone who’s apathetic unless the ante is driven wildly high hence why she does it but i need at least one more backstory drop before i speak more on that one. just saying it’d line up with a few things tho

moving on, it follows that tsubomi ultimately decides to challenge yumeko because that’s the logical thing to do if she wants to look out for herself. plus some commentary from terano about how it’s all according to keikaku.

anyway, i really enjoyed this next sequence because it throws back to yumeko even more. it reminds us that while yumeko loves taking on huge risks, that doesn’t mean she plays to lose. it’s been a while since we’ve seen yumeko engage in a setup like this so it was great to see that kawamoto still remember what kind of gambler she is:

i actually really love terano but i do enjoy seeing yumeko consistently trip her up. it really upholds yumeko’s role as a dark horse.

anyway, remember how i said yumeko probably set this play up to see what tsubomi would do? this is where we can circle back to that because we see, in fact, that yumeko did not donate her points to suzui like she said she would. 

yumeko is such a convoluted character that you can get caught up on one aspect of her character to the point of forgetting another. in recent chapters we’ve seen her in a supporting role: supporting mary, seemingly helping tsubomi... but thanks chapter 81 for reminding us that yumeko is a gambler before she’s anything else and can and will set up other players. this also kind of raises a mild albeit interesting moral quandary: i think it’s pretty safe to say that this was manipulative on yumeko’s part, but it could also be argued that this is a gamble and she read far enough ahead and just acted accordingly. i think that ambiguity is the point.

and that’s the jist chapter 81, and tbh i really enjoyed it. it felt like i was back in ye olden days of yore where kkg was yumeko’s misadventures. for a while there it felt like they were like “ok we’ve established she’s a really good gambler we must shine the spotlight elsewhere now” -- which is fair, don’t get me wrong. knowing the rest of the -bamis is really important to the plot. it’s just nice to see yumeko back in action proper again 🥺

[shintorikhazumi]

“Hikari no Jukyo” (The Dwelling place of Light Pt1)

A/N: SO this is a part of my post for ideas/requests from last time. Though this will be a two-shot. I overdid it, my bad. Now, there’s a part that is supposed to be “quintet” instead of “quartet” because I miscounted the girls… Sorry! I can’t find it. But anyway, different from A Warm Diana story setting, and you’ll know why later.

Kill me for the slight (?) OCness… I am way too sleepy.

If you wanna jump to romance, jump to the end, but feel the build guys… since I’m bad at this. XD

@croissantrose71

“maybe Diana pays Akko a visit in Japan and Akko is in a kimono or something?? Idk it seems like it’d be pretty gay :3”

Got it ;)

~Shintori Khazumi

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

 It was quiet.

That alone was normal, especially if you consider the fact that Diana Cavendish was sat alone in the library, at her favorite table, indulging herself in a sweet, historical and educationally beneficial novel at just around sunset.

It was quiet.

As it usually was in this time and place, as it should be.

However, the heiress felt it to be… too quiet.

A sigh escaped her lips as she shut the book with a clap. Looking around, it was rather lonely compared to how it usually was during school days-

Ah yes, the reason why she felt as if the whole place was deserted, was probably because it really was, because, as it was announced in the earlier closing ceremony, it was time for vacation period to begin.

Needless to say, there was quite the bustle from all the students, from fussing about how they needed to clean up and pack again, deciding what gifts to bring home, to squealing and/or jumping for joy at the knowledge that they’d finally get more than a weekend of rest from all the training and studying received for a full semester. And that, even for the prodigious student, was honestly an overloading amount of information that most people would forget come professionalism.

As she returned the book to its proper spot on one of the many shelves lining the old room, she remembered that she too had to pack up, though she wouldn’t be going home any time soon.

The Cavendish home was undergoing renovation due to the sudden influx of money- support handed by other Cavendish relatives that had previously been too ashamed to show their names after their downfall, but after a rather useful discovery by Diana’s now sincere aunt, there was no trouble on their pathway to rebuilding.

Now, in an empty hallway of a relatively empty school building, Diana made use of the fact that there was no one there to watch or keep their eyes on her.

This meant a chance.

And, not to mention, this had been something she had always wanted to try. Try, after seeing a certain brunette always performing such during the class in-betweens when they’d have to switch lecture halls for the next lesson, or maybe during the times she secretly “supervised” the girl’s cleaning penalties. (It would always put a scowl on her face whenever she thought of how the dunce had to clean an entire hallway, with windows.)

Doing one more check, just to ensure she was truly alone, Diana began her attempt with the smallest of steps, steadily growing larger, the gaps between the time of the steps, smaller as bit by bit she ran the lengthy halls of Luna Nova Academy with sheer abandon, a smile slowly creeping on her face as her speed remained consistent, her hair flying behind her in waves.

It was overly fun!

A word Diana rarely used in her dictionary. One that could only be brought out by whom it was associated.

And by no means were these thoughts brought on by her missing the witch… They could never- maybe… just be because of-

Kagari Atsuko.

Just the thought of the girl, and the other free things she had done in these same corridors made Diana want to try it for herself, the look of utter joy on Akko’s face, she too longed to feel such.

After completing the seven words and completing their mission, the two had bonded a bit, but due to certain circumstances, they were no able to see each other before Akko went off. Something that made Diana sad.

Doing these things just to soothe her own loneliness was a foreign thing to her, as well as thinking of someone else whilst doing such things.

Still, experiencing so many new adventures, feelings, emotions with Akko unlocked a desire in Diana.

Thus, as much as it killed her to find an explanation if by chance she were to be caught, it was too worthwhile, these emotions, dancing, flittering in her chest as she too, waltz the entirety of the hall.

What was meant to be her private dance session, had unintentionally turned into a rather graceful display to a quartet of onlookers.

The pair of the four were teammates of someone she knew all too well, one was her favorite bickering partner, and the last was a respected instructor.

“Ehem…” Said instructor cleared her throat, traces of nervousness wafting off her very being.

Diana froze in her spot mid-twirl, making quite the comical sight as she slowly righted herself, looking as though nothing had just occurred.

“I-I am sorry to…interrupt? But… horsing about in the hallway is prohibited, even for you, Diana.” The woman smiled sheepishly, Diana immediately coloring at the words, her image having a small stain.

“O-of course. I sincerely apologize.” She bowed slightly, before tuning into her professional mode. “And might I ask, did you have some business with me ma’am?”

“Yes, I do. Professor Finneran actually wanted to tell you, but she had to go home, so I, still being here volunteered to do so.” She scratched her head, coughing as she straightened her posture at Diana whose face just said, ‘go on.’. “You have been here for two weeks since vacation started, three having just started. Aren’t you going home?”

At the inquiry, Diana felt a bit guilty. Maybe the staff of the school had also wanted some form of vacation and she was intruding.

“Do I need to go? Umm… to tell you the truth, I cannot really return home due to reasons such as being told not to because we have been undergoing renovations.”

Anna, her maid had personally sent her a letter of apology, and order, about half a week ago asking her to not come home and strain herself with worrying over such matters, and had received enough money to look for somewhere to stay for at least a week, before she could return home.

Diana usually had duties to finish at school, thus the household was used to her returning late for vacation. Though now, her homecoming would have to be pushed back even further.

She wanted to help, yes, but she also knew that she just might become a bother, not knowing what to do, thus she relented, and was now spending her days in the dorm.

“I see.” Ursula nodded in understanding, albeit very concerned about Diana. “That is certainly a problem.”

The headmistress had wanted to close the school and do maintenance this break, and was hoping all the students had gone home, but Diana had left her standing corrected. Ursula explained this, and felt horrible, seeing Diana hang her head, deep in thought and trouble.

“I wish I could offer you some sort of place to stay, but as of now, my home is… kind of inhabited by the creature of the cross who just won’t leave me be…and has taken my bird hostage if I don’t let her stay…” She muttered something under her breath. “-That, and we had a little spat.”

An awkward silence resumed as each person had their own imagination containing a ramen-loving techno nerd.

“So even Diana Cavendish can dance the halls.” A comment sliced through the air, making Diana inwardly curse at it because she had just forgotten that fact.

“Sucy!” Her partner exclaimed, completely mortified at the girl’s amazing bluntness.

Only now did it register in the heiress mind that there were other people here, and for some reason, every single one of them were dressed in travel attire and carried a questionable amount of luggage for people about to go home, too little for a person going back home, if they intended to take their luggage themselves instead of via delivery, but too large to just be for personal necessities for on-hand use.

“Are you all about to go on some trip? I was under the impression that Miss Manbavaran and Miss Yanson had gone home, and that Miss-“

“Amanda, please.”

“… really?” Diana sighed, continuing her speculations. “Fine, Amanda was taken home earlier due to family issues?” Said girl scoffed at the implications.

“Well, we have gone home already.” Lotte replied, fidgeting the slightest bit. “But then Akko sent out invites to us to join her for some local inn’s promo near their place.” The girl smiled, showing what looked to be a plane ticket, and a reservation form.

Akko? Invites? She hadn’t heard from the girl at all considering it was a vacation and there was free time. Of course, now she remembered that there was probably no way of communicating wherever Akko was, with her. She could consider that fact, albeit feeling down.

Diana seemed to be in thought before looking over each invited person, stopping at a certain red-haired student.

“Amanda, as well?” She asked innocently. Deep inside though, she felt sad. If even Amanda received one, why hadn’t she?

“Oi! What the heck’s that supposed to mean, eh?” Obviously, the person in question retaliated and their bickering was about to start all over again.

“Oh, I apologize. That must have come off as rude.” Diana looked sorry, and the rest were left to think if she felt the part. “I just sometimes forget that you and Akko are actually friends.”

“Biased little bi-“

“ANYWAY!” Ursula quickly cut in. “There were actually five tickets, but Jasminka and Constanze can’t make it on the set date, and said they’d have to just follow later, whenever they’re free.” The woman diverted the subject back to their trip.

Jasna had to return to make it to a cooking festival that was about to take place, and Constanze was attending a builder’s conference.

“Originally, I wasn’t part of the guests, but Akko agreed to me tagging along… and since she has impeccable timing, this chance helps in my-“ She seemed to be thinking deeply, searching for the right word. “Situation?”

“Lovers’ Quarrel.” Sucy chuckled, rolling her eyes and avoiding the deathly sweet smile from her teacher.

“We will talk soon, Manbavaran.”

“Whenever you’re ready.” The girl replied fearlessly, grinning. The smile was wiped off her face as Lotte slapped the back of her head.

It was awkward now again, no one uttered a word, and they did not exactly have anything in common to chat about.

Suddenly, Ursula remembered why she had approached Diana in the first place.

“Right! Diana, I’m so sorry I forgot.” She placed her suitcase down for a moment. “What are we going to do about your situation.” It was apparent that they had not thought much of this, and now Ursula was slowly giving in to her panic. “It’s not possible for you to stay here, oh but where else? And I’m worried about having a student sleep anywhere randomly, no offense.” She hinted at Diana’s capabilities, the blonde nodding.

With their professor wracking her brains for some far-off solution, Lotte had raised her hand to grab their attention.

“Umm… we do have an extra ticket?” She asked nervously. Akko would more or less be okay if they took Diana, she was a kind person, just really driven and misunderstood. And she doubted Akko would mind having Diana of all people go see her, seeing as she stared at the girl most every day. Things were fine on that front.

But Lotte also needed Diana’s consent and their teacher’s approval to the plan.

“Right. That’s a solution.” Sucy said, mindlessly brewing another potion with her materials on hand, portable station and all.

“HAH?! Think about it, guys… even if it were ‘okay’ with Akko, think about us! We’ll also be staying with her.” Amanda objected to the idea.

“That is… actually the most ideal plan.” Ursula hummed, and Sucy showed Amanda a three-one with her fingers, telling the girl she was defeated.

“A-amanda is right!” Diana piped up after standing there dumbfounded as the group discussed her lodgings. “I can’t just intrude on you all- besides, I have the means to stay in some apartment nearby in this town. I’ll be perfectly-“

“No, Diana. This way is safer.” Ursula took hold of the students wrists. “And not to mention, more fun. Isn’t that right?”

So the woman had heard her. Curses.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

 It didn’t make her any more comfortable travelling by plane than by broom. Maybe she just wasn’t used to flying without having to exert any amount of magical energy and just lounge and relax.

It didn’t help that it had cost her no penny to enjoy such luxury.

A first class seating in a plane.

Guilt stirred in her abdomen… and hunger in her stomach, as she was too shocked at the fast-paced happenings that hit her like a truck mere moments ago.

“Would you like one, Diana?”

The heiress looked to her fellow blonde, holding out a sandwich after she had pulled the other out of her thoughts.

“You know, there is food service, and it will all be covered by the Kagaris, but we all feel as you do.” She pointed to the rest who were snacking on the sandwiches and on some tea. “We don’t want to take advantage of Akko’s kindness, either. Hahaha… weird, huh? Even with such a privelage.”

“No,” Diana shook her head, a small smile coming to rest on her lips. “I think I can relate quite well to everyone when it comes to these things.” It made her remember the reason behind why she hadn’t gone home. As to not unknowingly become a burden.

Looking at the giggling, the interactions, the smiles, Diana couldn’t help but relish the atmosphere as well, the calm ambiance.

“I can really relate.”

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

 “Is this what they call jetlag? Now I know brooms really are the best.” Amanda grumbled as she returned from the comfort rooms to empty out her churning stomach.

The rest more or less agreed, none of them really being used to such things, not really needing to since they had magic and flying for a while.

“So now what?” Sucy asked, reading through a pamphlet she picked up from somewhere, reading about this mysterious place known as Japan. “What did Akko say about us getting to their place?”

“She said someone would come to pick us up.”

Speak of the devil, and he shall hear. Quite the common phrase, usually shortened.

“Ah.” Everyone turned to the poison enthusiast, pointing off to a buff man, in a suit with sunglasses, looking like a bodyguard, holding up a sign that had their names written out in quite the charming calligraphy. Except the last-minute guest, Diana.

“I guess that’s our cue. Shall we?” Ursula asked, but for some reason, the girls had a feeling of fear, just from how the man looked. “N-now, don’t judge a book by its cover.” The teacher tried to quote, though even she had to admit that their welcoming party was quite intimidating.

“What in the world is Akko?” Amanda mused, thinking of how this felt so familiar to how she usually went home, just less… familiar.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

 Professor Callistis was right about one thing, and that was to not judge a book by its cover.

The man who picked them up led them to a black van, and the girls still had slight feelings of trepidation that were too slowly easing, until they had all settled in and the man tuned the radio to some catchy tunes that everyone enjoyed.

His name was Ryuunosuke. He wasn’t a chatty man, but he was responsive to any question and conversation, or topic that the girls would bring up.

All except things pertaining to… Akko. Which was odd, if by chance he did work for them since Diana had never pegged Akko to be the type to not socialize with her own workers- whatever Kagari Atsuko’s social standing was to have said workers.

“We have arrived, Young Miss’s distinguished guests.”

‘Young Miss?’

In front of them stood a fairly old, but not run-down, traditional-looking building. It was large, stretching for a few acres most probably- the size large enough for it to be pension house of sorts.

The passengers had to get off as Ryuunosuke rounded the car to a parking shed over at the side, the girls being entrusted to someone, a lady in her middle ages, dressed in a beautiful cloth, that she explained was their uniform around here, as they climbed about a dozen steps before reaching the entry way.

A placard, made in wood carving, intricate and pleasing to the eye, had the words ‘Hikari no Jukyo’. Ursula-sensei explained to the girls that it meant “The dwelling place of light.” In Japanese, which left Diana especially impressed.

Just what was this place, and how much had the Kagaris paid for lodging here. Wait- what was the invite for? A get-together? Some meeting in this… whatever place this was? And why hadn’t Akko come to pick-up or even meet them here? Where was the girl?

“Irasshaimase. Hikari no Jukyo ni Yokoso, houmon-sha.” A man, well groomed, standing at roughly five inches taller than Ursula, in a suit, bowed, welcoming them to the Inn.

“Umm…”

Suddenly, his stiff formalities turned into chuckles as he laughed, realizing they did not look the part of mere, local guests.

The fact that this man loosened up somewhat allowed the foreigners to also relax, chuckling along.

“I really do apologize.” He spoke, in english now, though with a bit of an accent that did not hinder his communication skills in the slightest. “I wasn’t paying much attention. It’s been quite the busy day. We’ve been preparing for some very special guests and I’m assuming those would be you?” He smiled, in inquiry, showing them a sample of the invitations they all had, and they showed theirs in turn for confirmation.

The man nodded, clapping as more service people came out, offering their hands in service, taking the luggage and walking behind the group as the man lead the whole party.

“Right this way please.” He lead them up a few stair cases, to what was probably the third floor, and led them down an expensive looking hall, right to the end where a few doors had been marked reserved with more signs.

As the door opened, the visitors gasped in awe at the sight.

Sliding doors were opened slightly allowing them a gorgeous view of a hidden ocean just around the back of the building. The room was a spacious place, and there seemed to be a few doors on both sides, maybe smaller sleeping rooms since what they first entered was a lounge space, tatami spread across the floors.

There was a lovely gust of wind blowing through the open room, giving it a refreshing feeling, but it did not smell of salt water at all. A sweet fragrance- one from eye-catching and vibrant flowers displayed throughout the room served a soothing purpose.

There was too much beauty compacted into this space of the world and it was a feast for the eyes.

However, all of them would agree that there was none quite as alluring as the lady knelt by the center table, arranging another bouquet of fresh flowers, draped in exquisite wear, a robe of sorts filled with flourishing colors, the color of autumn and of the sunset, accenting her hazel, gleaming hair tied in a loose bun, few strands framing her face, and making those russet-tinted orbs pop out.

None was as arresting as the lady dressed delicately, hands moving with grace that had yet to notice her guests that were gazing upon her so intently that it took them moments to realize, or rather for Lotte to realize what would stun them more than the beauty.

“Akko?!”

-Who the beauty was.

“EH?!” The rest of them had to do a double-take as the servants jumped in surprise at their outburst.

“Is that really you, Akko?” The short-haired blonde screeched, scrambling forward, placing her palms on the girl’s face, scrutinizing her so closely, face scrunched up. “Wow.” She exclaimed after confirming that it was indeed her best friend. “You… just wow.”

“Indeed the Young Miss is stunning.” One steward said proudly, the other escorts agreeing.

The rest of the group were just as speechless, Sucy’s visible eye widened so much, Amanda gaping like a fish, and Ursula just… standing there.

Diana was thinking that she must have looked like some fool, staring in awe, and she might have been just that, as fools weren’t exactly capable of thinking coherently when stunted with such beauty. She’d be a fool for such a sight.

“So you guys arrived, huh.” Akko got up and scratched the back of her head with a sigh. “Sorry ‘bout… this.” She gestured to her attire. “It’s unusual right? For me to wear such things… Ahahaha.” She looked at her feet, insecurity seeping into her voice. “Wearing such clothes even though they don’t suit me.”

“No-“

“No, that’s not true.” Lotte’s words were cut off by someone who had similar, but stronger feelings. “You look absolutely breath-taking.” The heiress had said without thinking, but when it all registered, how she had just blurted out what she did, steam seemed to come off her as she burned red.

“Diana?!” Akko was shocked. She hadn’t expected this at all, or did she? -and well, she wasn’t really opposed to the idea of Diana being here, but the girl seeing her like this...

“Ah.” Lotte slapped her forehead. “I’m sorry, I forgot to call!”

After Ursula had explained the situation to Akko, the girl had assured her teacher and classmates that there was no problem and that it was quite alright for her and the inn. The rest of the servants had gone back to their duties, including that manager they all had met in the entryway of the inn.

“Inn? This is what this place is?” Amanda commented after they had changed into robes laid out for them, the management telling them it was for guests to wear.

“It’s a ryoukan. Yes, an Inn. Did you guys really not know that?” Akko replied, not looking as she helped Lotte tie her sash, after assisting Amanda.

“Akko… Inns don’t look this extravagant from where we come from.” Diana pointed out, Akko not knowing how one looked like, but the rest only nodded. “And I’m fairly certain the customer service here would be overboard for other countries. This kind of service doesn’t happen other places like having people serve you tea for a few hours.”

“I do admit, it’s quite lovely, being treated like this.” Ursula commented, completely relaxed.

“Well, if you all are done changing, would you like to check out the hot springs at the back? Or do you prefer checking out the lounge. We have table tennis tables set up.” Akko gestured towards the halls, posture straight, but humble, as if a servant.

“Akko…” Sucy uttered. “Are you actually an attendant here?”

“You only noticed now?” She asked, confused, but not offended.

“But then, there’s also this ‘Young Miss’ stuff.” Amanda commented, a blush erupting on Akko’s features.

“That- that is…”

“Are your guests finished with their changing, Atsuko?” A knock came from the door as Akko replied with an affirmative. “Oh, I’ll be coming in, dear.”

‘Dear?’ All of them thought at once, a blonde prodigy more skeptical than the rest, though her features remained frozen in indifference, not betraying the storm of emotions inside her.

“Sure, go ahead.”

The manager from before entered, now dressed in what Akko explained was the male version of traditional clothes, also telling them about her own wardrobe, a traditional Japanese kimono, Lotte and Ursula admiring the fine silk.

“I believe I forgot to introduce myself.” The man knelt, before bowing down formally and got back up. “My name is Kagari Kentarou. You may call me Ken, or Kento. Whichever you prefer.” He smiled innocently before letting a bomb drop. “I am Kagari Atsuko-sama’s husband as she is my young wife.”

“…”

“Wha-!“

“Dad! Don’t screw around with my friends!” Akko immediately denied the claim, giving her father a hard slap to the side. “I’m so sorry.” She prostrated herself in a formal form of apology.

“That’s my girl, really keeping at those manners.” The man laughed heartily. “Yes, I’m her father.”

“And here we thought he was just some manager.”

Ursula immediately knelt near Akko. “It- It’s fine dear. WE were just a bit… taken back.” She said, suddenly feeling queasy as the information swirled in her head.

“That is the understatement of the century.” Sucy  chuckled, recovering before the rest.

Lotte and Amanda sighed in relief, but Diana was still stuck in a daze, thoughts running in her head.

“Diana?” Akko looked up to see her classmate. “Oh come on, dad!”

After reassuring Diana that everything was just a playful jest on Mr. Kagari’s part, she seemed to have regained her composure, and now resumed her usual countenance, formally bowing as well, introducing herself.

“Diana Cavendish of the Cavendish lineage. We are a medically focused group of witches.” She explained. “I have been given the pleasure of being in the same class as your daughter.” She gave a polite smile, now knowing that this man was related to Akko and wanting to make an impression, for who knows what reason.

“Lotte Yanson. My family runs a magic shop.” The bespectacled girl went on about talking about her hometown and such things, also showing her skill in summoning and communicating with spirits.

“Oooohhh.” Akko’s father clapped, impressed.

“Sucy Manbavaran.” The girl bowed and left it at that.

“Sucy!” Lotte scolded once more, but the man assured it was fine and that they’d get to know one another these coming days.

“Amanda O’Neill.” She scratched her cheek, not exactly used to such things, and since everyone had just started to introduce themselves, she decided to go with the flow.

“O’Neill, huh.” Kentarou scratched his chin, deep in thought, as if recalling something. “By chance are you related to Adam O’Neill of Adamson enterprises?”

“…Yes.” The redhead was surprised that someone knew her father. “My dad.”

“Oh… that’s why. You look just like him.” The man gave her a clap on the shoulder, and the girl scowled.

“I did not just hear that.”

“You don’t get along?” Ken was surprised at the chill in the girl’s voice. Was this what his friend meant by his daughter going to some boarding school?

“Well that, and I doubt any teenage girl wants to be told they look like some old fart.” Amanda shrugged, any form of hostility dissipated immediately. “Surprised you know him.”

“Oh, business partners.”

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

The Luna Nova group had decided on touring the whole inn first before indulging in all its facilities, Akko happily volunteering to be their guide.

Idle chatter went about the afternoon as they walked hall after hall, every once in a while Akko would point out things and rooms, explaining its history or use.

One question continued to tickle at Diana’s brain, teasing her to no end and now she was just to curious.

“Akko, if I may…” She began, nervous all of sudden. “Where’s your mother?”

The chatterbox of a girl immediately turned somber.

“Speaking of which, we have yet to meet her.” Ursula also turned her inquiry to the girl, looking for an answer from the hesitant frame.

“Oh… my mom.” She chuckled, uneasily. “She was… she was sick and in the hospital for a while, actually… and-and now she’s… resting, right now.” She tried to tell them.

Diana felt horrible. Utterly horrible for bringing up the subject, as well as the fact that she could relate to how it felt as well.

“I… I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, wish you could’ve met her earlier.” Akko smiled, the smile not quite reaching her eyes. “Maybe if we called for her-“

“Akko that’s taboo remember!” Lotte exclaimed, remembering the last time they had done a resurrection.

“Well, we’ll see her soon again, in a few moments time… it’ll be over in a flash.” Akko’s father patted the girl on the back, speaking to the guests.

“What-“

“You’ll meet her soon enough. When she’s reincarnated.”

The statement made Akko shoot up, eyes wide, as if in shock like the rest of them.

“Wait, what? Dad? Oh my gosh, no- guys! I didn’t mean it like that.” She slapped her forehead, wondering when she had started this misleading impression of her beloved mother. “I’m so sorry. DAD! WHY?” She hit him again as he began his boisterous laughing.

“It was just too- and I thought you were- ahahaha!”

“Dad! I was just worried about her since she was weak this morning.” She apologized again to her friends, explaining to the stupefied group. ”My mom is literally resting in the other room since she just got well.”

“Oh. Oh! OH… for a second there.”

“Yeah.” Akko sighed, shaking her head at her own father’s antics. “Would you like to go meet her?” The question seemed to be more directed to Diana then any of the others.

“I would love to.” She replied for everyone.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

 At the very far back of the inn, there was an extension, a small gate actually being there followed by sturdy wooden doors.

Akko unlatched the gate and led everyone inside, her dad having to return to his duties.

They currently stood in front of an intricately painted sliding door, again, the fragrance of flowers came floating out of the room.

“Mother? It’s me. Akko.” The brunette called out, waiting patiently for a response.

After a few seconds, a soft voice beckoned them in, and they noticed their host literally glowing, eyes filled with love and the door had yet to open.

“Hi mom.” She greeted as the door slid open, going to her mother’s side straight away and sitting by as the woman stroked her face.

“Hi sweetie.”

Diana was certain she could deduce where Akko had inherited such looks from, now gazing upon her crush’s (?!) mother. It was like looking at twins, only one looked much more mature. Still, both had this inexplicable beauty, inside and out.

That was saying something since Diana had yet to know Akko’s mother, but somehow she could just feel the kindness of her heart by how she looked at them all.

“You must be Diana.” She giggled, a pleasant sound. Diana perked up a bit, surprised the woman could tell. “Akko talks so much about you in letters, mentioning this and that… sometimes rude things,” She gave a stern, yet loving glance at her daughter who looked sheepish. “But it all ends in this… emotion.” She winked teasingly, her daughter turning the color of beets once more.

“Mom! You didn’t need to say that.” She whined, not being able to meet Diana’s gaze, each time she’d sneak a peak, both of them would turn their heads away.

“And you are Lotte, Sucy and Amanda.” She smiled at the dear friends of her child. “Thank you so much for befriending this girl. She can be a handful.”

“I can vouch for that.”

“Sucy!”

“Akko’s great, it’s all good.”

A certain teacher felt butterflies in her stomach. Somehow she felt both a gentleness and intimidating feeling from seeing the real deal mother of her precious student.

“Professor Ursula.”

“Yes?!”

“Akko has told me so many things about you.” Many things? Hopefully not about her being Char- “And you’ve always given her that gleam in her eyes, ever since she was young.”

The statement confused three of the rooms occupants, and surprised the rest. Akko shook her head at Ursula, telling her she hadn’t spoken a word of it.

“Your eyes speak everything.” The woman said vaguely. “Thank you.” And Chariot knew it meant many things, making her nearly tear up.

“Oh my! Where are my manners. I am Kagari Akiko, Kagari Atsuko’s mother.” She held her hand out for all to shake. “Don’t hesitate to just call me Akiko, Aki if you’d dare.”

The guests shook their heads.

“Well then, have you seen the entire place?” She inquired in a friendly manner.

“Yes, the place is both exquisite and impressive. The history is quite the tale.” Diana replied.

“Well, I’m glad you think so.” She looked at her daughter, the younger version giving her a questioning gaze.

“What is it? Do you need anything mom?”

“What do you think about how my child looks? To me, she is beautiful. I’m so happy she wore the kimono I chose specifically for her. She rarely does, this child, except for occasions or work.” Akiko turned her attention back to the quartet who were thrown off pace.

“Mom, what’s this all of a sudden?”

“Dear, you should really control how often you blush. You might lose blood.” The woman said in faux-concern. “So, what do you think, Diana?”

“Mom?!”

“What?”

Diana may have been just as equally shocked as her counterpart, ears red as her gems for eyes. If no reasonable or coherent thought would formulate for her if she thought on it, she’d just have to speak honestly.

“She is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in this whole place filled with extravagant objects.”

Lotte’s mouth was a perfect ‘O’, Sucy and Amanda snickering, knowing to some extent at the rivals’ blossoming feelings, no matter how secretive they tried to be towards each other. To the outside watchers, it was too painfully obvious.

Even Hannah and Barbara were trying to subtly hint to Diana helpful methods to getting with Akko as they were tired of seeing her look like a puppy, waiting so patiently without the power to do anything.

Ursula just smiled, excited for whatever was to happen on this trip.

“Good answer.” The woman clapped.

More conversation later and Akko felt her phone buzz in her pocket. The time was getting late, and she had a request.

“Oh no. Mom, I’m so sorry. I have to go help with dinner.” Akko clapped her hands in front of her before hugging her mother tight. “I really wanted to stay with you longer in case you needed anything, but-“

“It’s alright with me.” She reassured. “But what about your guests?”

“Oh, right. Guys, do you want to stay here and chat some more, or should I lead you back to your room if you want to do other things.” She asked them, fidgeting as she was in a rush.

“Well, I guess I wanna check out those baths.” Amanda shrugged, Lotte and Sucy wanting to tag along. Ursula said she had some paperwork she brought with her and would do that in the room. Diana was-

“Oh, I have an idea. Akko-chan?”

“Y-yes mom?” Akko flinched at the way she was addressed and the tone of voice. Her mother was scheming something again.

“In compensation since you are going to leave your poor, sick mother alone,” Akko felt a stab each time. “I will be taking Diana-chan to stay with me and keep me company!”

“Diana-chan?”

“How’s that sound?” The woman asked a bewildered heiress, who nodded dumbly at Akko’s somewhat sorry, yet pleading look. She could not deny it.

With a sigh, she replied, “It would be my pleasure.”

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

 “Akko has gone to help the cooks again. Really, that girl. Even though we taught her to help out, she’s overdoing it.” The mother complained to Diana, though the blonde could tell it was all in good taste, hints of love always in her tone.

She remembered the home economics classes that Akko always seemed to pass with flying colors. It was a good change of pace from her usual grades.

“What do you think of my daughter?”

“Huh?”

Again, this woman had these sudden changes in pace, so difficult to follow.

“My daughter… how do you see her?” The woman seemed serious. “She can be a ditz, clumsy at times, but she’s so persistent, almost to the point of stupidity. And even after- well… I’d rather not say, she’s still cheerful, bubbly and all that. Always moving forward.”

Diana could envision the worries and thoughts of the mother. The sorrow in her voice as she was recalling things that Diana may or may not know.

“She’s amazing, is what I think.” Akiko admitted. “And I respect her… and she’s my daughter, can you believe that? Looking up to her as an example.” She chuckled, running a hand through those similar brunette strands.

“I… I agree!” Diana said. “She is idiotic at times, but she has great potential. She is actually smart. She learned the fish language in a day…. Though by unconventional means.” Diana whispered the last part out loud. “But she is driven and passionate and… sometimes…” Her voice grew soft. Almost hurt as she remembered things she’d rather not. She couldn’t bring herself to tell them.

“Diana?” The girl felt her hands being taken. “Please tell me more.” Ruby eyes pleaded. “I want to know what happened with my daughter. The hurt she refuses to share. I want to know what happened when I wasn’t there.” She asked, squeezing tighter. “She seems changed… like she’s grown up without me.”

Diana wanted to respond to the neediness, to the uncertainty of this kind woman.

“Akko is… sometimes… Akko is the most positive and optimistic girl, always trying hard no matter how many times she fails, no matter how many threats of expulsion she receives,” Both women giggled at that part. “Even if she gets teased or bullied, she doesn’t mind those and chooses to move forward.”

“Ah, yes. I can imagine.” Akiko smiled, but also felt sadness. “But that’s from the outsider’s perspective.”

“Diana nodded in agreement. “In truth… Akko can get hurt. She can get depressed, feel betrayed… cry.” Something Diana never wanted to see ever again. Seeing it once was like having a knife driven through your heart. Someone so happy, now so broken. “So Maybe she has changed… or maybe she hasn’t and has always been that way, no one can understand her true personality.”

“I know.” The older version of Akko spoke, a few tears slipping. “And yet she refuses to worry me. Just because I’m a little sick.” She laughed humorless. “I just need her to depend on me a bit. I want to be a form of support.” Akiko said. “Thank you for telling me Diana.”

The blonde stared. She felt as if she understood Akko’s reasons, but also could get why the girl’s mother wanted Akko’s dependence. She could understand both because she knew what both feelings were. And all of them were centered on concern. And this was what she knew of as a product of love.

“Diana… let me ask again.” Her attention was taken back to the beautiful lady in bed. “What do you think of Akko?”

“I…” Should she really be saying this to Akko’s mother of all people? Nevertheless, she felt pressed to speak her true intentions and feelings. “I like her. I like Akko, your daughter ma’am.” She looked straight into those familiar pools. “I want to protect her because I care for her.”

There took a while for response, but Diana’s mind still ran.

“I say all this because… we didn’t really get along at the start, but gradually she left an impression on me… I could never stop worrying about her. Then her passion took me in… her pains were similar to mine… I just… Ma’am, I can’t believe I’m telling you this but,” She braced herself, heart pounding loudly in her ears. “Not as a friend ma’am, but as in… romantically… I might be-“

She found herself speaking more formally, it was silly, but to her it was some matter of life and death.

“I love Kagari Atsuko.”

“…”

If a heart could physically smash into a thousand pieces, shatter like glass, the young Cavendish was sure hers already had. No response. A serious face, piece it together… she may have gotten herself in deep trouble.

“Was that a proposal already?”

“Eh… HUH? No… NO! Not that I haven’t considered such thoughts, wait that’s going too fast, isn’t it… what? What am I even say-thinking?!” Diana had been thrown into a frenzy and was only calmed by the tinkling laughter she had heard from before.

“I’m… I apologize dear. It was so fun watching you and Akko, but the tension between you two is just incredible! How can two people be so dense?” She laughed more, unconsciously revealing her own daughter’s feelings to Diana who was now thinking.

‘Does Akko think the same?!’

“Anyway, My last question then I’m releasing you from this old lady’s prison.” She smiled more gently, caring, and lovingly. “I’ve heard you lost your mother?”

“Ah… yes.” Diana nodded, a bit melancholic.

“I see. Sorry to bring up sad memories.”

“It’s alright. She was a wonderful person and I love her so much, she gave me too much.” Diana reminisced.

“I can imagine, with how you’ve grown into such a lovely darling.” She took Diana’s hand. “What do you think about becoming my daughter?”

“…what..?”

“Oh, no… I don’t mean it that way. I have no intention of taking you away from the family and home you love. Daughter-in-law?” She teased again, and the implications instantly brought warmth to Diana’s heart, and cheeks.

“I guess… I wouldn’t be opposed? M-mother…” The woman squealed so loud, Diana thought the entire neighborhood heard them.

She admitted it was nice, however, being hugged tenderly, in the arms of an older woman, one that she just might really call her ‘mother’.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

  “Father, mom told me you have all the yukatas she chose for the guests?”

The girls were approached during supper time as they reveled in the marvelous culinary skills Akko held, and were told by the manager that the following eve, there would be a summer festival, and if they cared to attend, Akiko had offered to lend them beautiful robes for the occasion.

Excited to experience such traditions that they might not be able to again, everyone was on board with the idea.

Now Akko needed the materials from her father who had custody of them.

“Why Father? You usually call me dad.” The man pouted. “And yes, I gathered them from her as you were finishing dinner.” He responded, pulling into the lounge area of the room a rack, an assortment of robes and belts displayed.

“If I wasn’t so annoyed, maybe I’d call you dad again.” Akko told him, not looking at him at all.

“Annoyed? Why are you annoyed?” Kento cried.

“You pulled a lot of insensitive jokes, you know. I’m not forgiving you until you repent for your sins.”

“Not even if I give you extra allowance for the festival?” He tempted his daughter who gulped at the offer. It was too tempting.

“Deal… dad.”

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

“Tell me if you need anything more. Well, then. Good night everyone.” Akko told her guests as she bowed, ready to shut the door to their suite of sorts. She was ready to hit the hay already, tired from working around the inn as well as being a good host/escort to her friends.

The rest had nodded in response, but Diana seemed hesitant, something Akko noticed.

“Do you still want something, Diana? I could get it for you now, if you’d like?”

“I… I was just wondering about where you’d be sleeping?”

Akko cocked her head to the side. Diana was acting a bit odd. More meek and hesitant, not confident and boastful, though the last part was no more, Akko thought, as now that they knew each other better and were closer, the blonde seemed to have grown softer.

“I’ll be sleeping in my own room.” Akko replied after a while.

“Oh.”

Was Diana disappointed?

“Would you like to go for a walk?”

At the suggestion, the heiress perked up, nodding gracefully as she went to her section of the room and took a jacket.

“I’ll be back.” She told her companions who smiled, shooing the pair off.

As they were finally out of earshot, the teacher and her students let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding from watching the (hopefully) couple’s interactions.

“They should seriously stop dancing around each other.” Amanda clicked her tongue.

“Just be blunt about it.” Sucy added, preparing her evening poison rituals.

“We can’t rush them. I think they only figured out there feelings recently.”

“Diana, yes… Akko’s might still be getting there.” Sucy pointed out.

“You never know, though, right sensei?”

Ursula hummed, considering all this. “I think we’re about to find out.”

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

 It was getting chilly, but the breeze was still refreshing as Akko led Diana by the gardens and around the pond to some large rocks that they used as seats.

“So? What’s troubling you? Not comfortable in our inn?” Akko inquired, slightly worried about the accommodations.

“Huh? Oh, no… there is certainly nothing wrong with your services. They are simply superb.” Diana replied immediately, shaking her head along with her words.

“Then why are you so out of it?” The brunette tilted her head to the side, hair strands previously tucked behind her ear, falling out, framing her face beautifully, and with the help of the moon’s lighting, and the kimono Akko had not changed out of yet, Diana was left again to worship the beauty before her.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I am distracted, I think.”

“You think?” Akko giggled. “Hey now, where’s the usual Diana Cavendish?”

“She probably disappeared the moment she was stricken by someone’s beauty.” Diana could have slapped herself with that line, Akko blushing madly.

“O-oh? Whose?”

“You know whose.” She decided to push through with it, deciding to not chicken out last second, the acceptance of Akko’s mother giving her a boost.

“I… I’m not quite sure I know, Diana.” The girl looked away, not being able to bear it.

“Then…” Diana stood up, now in front of Akko, holding out a hand. “Would you like me to tell you who it is?”

The usual mischievous witch could only obey the beckon, placing her smaller hand in the smooth palm of the person she had so long admired.

“Maybe if you dance with me, I’ll tell you.” Diana gave a wink, pulling Akko up.

“This is so not your character.” Akko covered her face with her free hand, being tugged to her feet and brought near the sparkling waters. “What’s going on?”

“I honestly do not have an answer to that question, as I cannot comprehend my own actions.” Diana grinned, leading their dance, her hand on Akko’s waist, the other holding her partner’s hand.

“Di-Diana… I don’t know how to dance like th-this.”

“I’ll teach you then.” Diana started off, silently counting in whispers. “After all, you taught me a dance as well.” She was referring to that little happening in the hallway, which would only serve to confuse a clueless Akko.

“What are you…”

“Don’t worry about it and just… follow my lead.” Diana whispered in her ear, now humming along with her counting, and Akko could now hear a song playing in the background.

Little by little she relaxed, and not once did they make a misstep, or have to stop, fully enjoying this mood, this atmosphere, their time alone together.

“Why didn’t you send me an invitation?” Diana asked in the middle of twirling Akko. The unexpected topic was indeed, unexpected to Akko.

“What?! I did! You’re the one who didn’t respond… or did you not receive it?” Akko gasped. “It was sent via mail. Maybe it didn’t reach you.” She frowned, now knowing why Diana hadn’t responded to confirm if she would be coming along.

On the other hand, the heiress was pleasantly surprised, and relieved she had gotten it all wrong.

“I see. I guess it just didn’t reach then.” She felt light, happy, pulling Akko just a smidget closer to her, sharing their warmth.

“Um… Diana… this is a bit c-close?”

“Is it?” She knew she was now grinning stupidly, widely, she could feel it in her cheeks, but she did not care. “I don’t mind. Do you?” Another twirl, then pulling Akko back in closer than before.

“I… guess if you’re fine with it, I’ll be… okay.”

“Good.”

Neither knew how much time passed, but it must have been quite a while, the moon now high in the sky when they decided to stop dancing and Akko screeching in panic as she felt Diana’s cold cheek against her palm.

She was set on dragging Diana back to her room and did not release their joined hands, even entwining their fingers now as they hurriedly returned to the room.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

They stood facing one another in front of the room door.

“Ah.” Akko realized something. “I danced with you… so will you tell me… who you thought was beautiful?” Again pink dusted the brunette’s cheeks as she looked away.

“Of course.” Diana giggled, reaching her free hand to cup Akko’s face. “The person I think is the most exquisite in this whole vicinity is none other than the one I’m looking at. And probably will be the only one I ever look at.” They gazed into one another’s eyes, words stuck in their throats.

“I-I… are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Akko wanted it to be so, but… could she place a bet on that hope? “Cause you better not be tricking me or anything. I’m gonna cry Diana. I will cry.” She swallowed, heart picking up the pace.

A kiss was planted on her cheek.

“Akko… tomorrow… walk with me during the festival… beside me, even if we go as a group. Hold my hand and… and smile at me and enjoy it with me… s-so I can bring myself to tell you, okay? I promise… I swear on my good name I will tell you properly. Just… let me gather enough courage. I will not betray your expectations. Wait a bit… just a bit… please.”

The pressure on her hands was strong, Diana’s knuckles a pale white.

“Diana…”

“Yes?”

“Your cheeks were cold earlier.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll warm them up.”

“What do you-“

Diana was stunned into silence, the feeling appearing and disappearing so fast, but there was a slight wetness on both her cheeks, and she knew they would indeed lose their cold.

“You better not disappoint me tomorrow. It’s a date!”

A date.

With a lot of people, but nevertheless… a date.

“O-okay… have a good night Akko.” Diana bowed, still in a shocked stupor, head above the clouds. “M-make sure to wash up and drink some water before bed. Don’t catch a cold. Take care of yourself. C-come over to this room if-“

“Good night, Diana.” The way it was stressed, said with so thick a coating of affection quieted her down. It spoke so many things. Thank you. I’ll be alright. Take care as well.

-I love you.

Diana made sure her next words held the same thoughts and amount of emotion to communicate what she could not bring herself to say out loud… yet.

“Good night, Akko.”

I Love you too.

  ~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Omake:

“Diana… Please stop beaming like that. Your light is scaring away all my inner demons.” Sucy commented as she quirked a brow at the dopey expression that did not belong on the repertoire of Cavendish expressions.

Diana couldn’t care less how she looked right now. She was too happy.

Thus, all she could say was-

“Shut it, Manbavaran.”

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

A/N: I’ll admit… I was blushing near the end while writing, no idea why… Please do repost, reblog etc, like, comment, share with your friends! My Fluffy dianakko healing is needed to conquer the angst of the final eps. For me at least.

Ciao peeps!

~Shintori Khazumi

[chthonicillness]

i sure hope u guys like the alphabet because @faerieheir (thanks!!) tagged me in this Cute Tag Thing so here we go

1- name/nicknames? lorri (plus my hebrew name is leah)

2- height? 5′7″, or possibly 8″, i truly am not sure

3- hogwarts house? ravenclaw

4- last thing googled? st patrick’s day (i clicked the little google doodle)

5- fictional character you’d like as a sibling? honestly just jam me into the lalonde/strider crew they’re all so hopelessly anxious and emotionally confused and coming down from a serious Pretentious Phase i’d fit right in

6- how many blankets do you sleep with? one or two

7- favourite artist/band? that’s literally impossible to answer but the last thing i listened to was regina spektor

8- how many blogs do you follow?  357 and honestly it’s not enough

9- what do you usually post about? let’s be real i have 0 consistency

10- do you get asks regularly? no

11- what’s your aesthetic? ok like. imagine a grumpy old witch who lives alone in a shipwreck on a cold foggy beach but inside it’s really comfy and full of rugs and plants and cats and candles. that’s it. or maybe a tiny graveyard overgrown with flowers and people have picnics there and the ghosts are never lonely. or maybe that feeling you get when you’re walking in the woods and the sun starts to set earlier than you expected and you notice that everything looks different in the dusk. or maybe those high contrast images of fruit floating in the night i don’t know 

a - age: 21

b - biggest fear: running out of time but honestly i am not sure what that means it’s just a feeling

c - current time: 10:45 pm

d - drink you last had: water

e - every day starts with: too much light frankly i need better curtains

f - favorite song: i Cannot choose favorites

g - ghosts, are they real?: idk are they??

h - hometown: um do u want my ssn too or

i - in love with: harps, the ocean, things that contradict themselves

j - jealous of: springtime

k - killed someone: once i killed a firefly by accident and i cried for like an hour

l - last time you cried: last night, listening to the adventure zone, about the thing with the cherry tree

n - number of siblings: 2

o - one wish: it would be cool to not be in pain all the time tbh

p - person you last called/texted: my mom

q - questions you’re most asked: “are you ok?” “why do you even know that?”

r - reasons to smile: animals being friends with other kinds of animals

s - song last sung: livin on a prayer (my sister said the words “halfway there” and i really just can’t help myself)

t - time you woke up: idk but probably late enough to be genuinely embarrassing

u - underwear color: none??? i’m in pajamas

v - vacation destinations: i mean like. as in places i’ve been or places i want to go????? can i say space. i’m saying space

w - worst habit: straight up ignoring things like eating and sleeping for as long as possible

x - x-rays you’ve had: just dental ones

y - your favourite food: pomegranates

z - zodiac sign: pisces

i don’t think i’ve ever tagged anyone in one of these things and i’m not gonna start now like if ur reading this i’m sure ur cool and i’d like to know more about u but Anxiety

[samexsoul]

Please do all of the asks for both posts