Behind Closed Doors (ch4)

EARLY RELEASE FOR HIGH-PLEDGING PATRONS! THANKS!!

I wrote this after seeing the amazing episode 12, and it takes place right after the events of it (perhaps just a few days after, during festival preparation). I'd originally planned to write the same concept a different way, but I just rolled with what came onto the page here.

Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.

------------

														Chapter 4.

There is so much Diana still needs to get done for the Samhain festival.

Or rather, there are still so many tasks she still has to help other people complete.

Every team has to meet with her in order to have their progress monitored to ensure they are performing their assigned tasks correctly and efficiently. On top of classes and her usual extra sentry and hall monitor duties, she has to arrange meetings with her classmates, discuss their progress, write up reports, meet with the professors and headmistress, and all in all ensure the success of the festival almost entirely by herself.

For those few days, Diana hardly sits down, hardly eats, hardly sleeps. She's always got something to do, even more so than she usually does.

Hannah and Barbara hear of their teammate more often than they see her for themselves. She always comes back to their room after they've already fallen asleep, and leaves before they have a chance to wake.

But she never leaves them hanging. She writes notes for them about their team's summoning spells, advising them on how to pronounce words or how to position certain necessary summoning stones for each procedure. They don't even need to ask her any questions before she's already answering them.

During this hectic time, Hannah and Barbara take pride in Diana more often than they typically do. It isn't uncommon for them to brag and boast about their prestigious teammate every chance they get, but now especially they are promoting Diana's intelligence and work ethic.

People come up to them to ask where Diana is, and they'll sing her praises before giving a direct answer. Without truly intending to or even realizing it, they end up making more work for her in that sense.

Every time Diana thinks she's finished writing a report or meeting with classmates, someone else shows up to give her something else to read over, or something else to observe, or some other spell to cast.

But she never complains or backs out until she's thoroughly finished everything, even if it takes her all night, which in some cases, it does.

She works tirelessly, without stopping, for hours and days on end. Her unflagging commitment to ensuring the success of the festival is recognized and appreciated by every person in the academy, which only increases the rumors that she's all but guaranteed to be chosen as the Moonlit Witch.

Diana responds to those comments the same way she always has. She tells them nothing is set in stone, that there's still no surefire way to tell who might be selected, that it very well might not be her.

But almost everyone else seems entirely convinced.

Though she tries to make them understand her success isn't predetermined, their faith in Diana only serves to make her work even harder in order to avoid disappointing those around her, particularly her professors.

For several days, almost all of Luna Nova revolves around Diana and her assumed success.

. . .

Hannah and Barbara are just reading over Diana's summoning notes in their room that afternoon when a knock comes on their door. Both girls lift their heads and respond.

"Yes!"

"Come in."

"Excuse me." Avery pushes her way inside, wearing a smile. "Do you guys know where Diana is? We need her to look over something."

Both girls ponder out loud.

"I think she's overviewing the set-ups in the courtyard."

"No, no, she already did that. She's writing reports for the Headmistress."

"Or is she preparing the information pamphlets for the visitors?"

"Could she be monitoring the halls? No wait, maybe she's helping with the decorations?"

"I think the fireworks group needed her too..."

As they go back and forth trying to recount all the things Diana has done so far to figure out where she might be now, Avery takes a step back.

"Geez, does she ever take a break? Never mind. Sounds like she's really busy. I'll find her some other time. Thanks!"

And with that she takes her leave.

Both Hannah and Barbara fall silent for a moment. They'd only listed a few of Diana's responsibilities over the past several days.

Timidly, they look down at the pristine, thorough notes Diana had left for them today, almost five pages' worth of them. It must've taken her a few hours at least.

Hannah gulps.

"When... did she have time to write these?"

"When did she have time to, like... sleep last night?"

"Did she sleep last night? Did she even come back?"

"When was the last time she ate...?"

They share a horrified look.

Both of them shoot up from the desk they'd been sitting at. Abandoning the books and papers, they rush to the door and tear off down the hallways in search of their teammate.

They ask everyone they come across if they've seen her.

And of course, everyone has seen Diana, but they can't remember where she was last, who she was helping, what she was doing, because she was always helping so many people or do so many things.

They check outside, inside, wherever they can, asking anyone and everyone.

It's sunset by the time they find her. She's outside, surrounded by a group of their classmates at the foot of Jennifer's statue. While Diana had already changed the statue's pose once, the girls now want to move it and have it change direction. Diana has already cast the spell and is doing it herself.

Hannah and Barbara skid to a halt not too far away.

"What is this?" Hannah mutters.

"They can totally do this much themselves!" Barbara adds. "They don't need Diana to do it for them!"

"They're just using her! Cuz if Diana's the one to do it, no one can complain."

"Unbelievable."

"Well this is it," Hannah grunts. "She's not doing any more work today."

"Right."

They watch Diana from where they stand, waiting for her to finish her task. As everyone else 'oos' and 'aahs' her spellcasting and performance, Hannah and Barbara have their eyes set on Diana herself.

And it's clear to them – to the girls who share a room with her and know her better than perhaps anyone else – just how exhausted Diana is.

Most other people wouldn't be able to tell. Maybe no one else would.

Diana does an excellent job of covering it up, after all. The only clues are minuscule – a wince in her brow, a faint breathlessness in her voice, a slight frazzle to her hair.

It takes her much more effort than it should to complete this spell, and while everyone else interprets it as having been a breeze for Diana, her teammates can tell she's already at her limit, or perhaps past it.

But as soon as Diana has completed the spell, their classmates begin swarming her again, some to praise her, but most to make new requests of her.

Hannah and Barbara won't have it. They stomp their way over and paw their way through the crowds.

"All right, that's enough!"

"Diana has something much more important to do right now!"

"Orders from the Headmistress."

"The rest of you will have to wait."

Surprised, all the other girls step back and stop talking. Diana herself is rather shocked to hear her teammates' news.

"From the Headmistress?" she inquires. "What does she need of me?"

"We'll bring you to her," Hannah says, and Barbara nods in agreement. They scurry into their usual positions, one on either side of Diana, flanking her to fend off the jackals.

But no one protests or tries to stop them, thinking Diana has to report to the Headmistress.

In that sense, Hannah's and Barbara's fib is successful.

But as they start walking Diana back inside the building, they hear her muttering to herself.

"What could the Headmistress want of me? I was certain I had done all she'd asked..."

It is now they realize they've only worried Diana. Therefore, as soon as they are alone in the hallway, Hannah and Barbara take Diana gently by each arm and begin guiding her back to their dorm room. Baffled, Diana tries to stop.

"Girls? What about-"

"Headmistress Holbrooke doesn't need to see you," Hannah confesses. "We made it up."

"...Eh?" Diana looks from one of them to the other. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because!" Barbara says. "You're burning yourself out, Diana!"

"I... I beg your pardon?"

Her teammates stop and let go of her arms, only to start fiddling their fingers.

"L-Listen..." Hannah mumbles. "We know you've been super busy these past few days... And Barbara and I kept asking you to do so much trivial stuff for us."

"And on top of that, we kept sending more people to you," Barbara adds. "Even though you were already swamped."

"So it's kind of our fault, too..."

Diana looks between them both, her shock still present, but gradually fading.

"Your fault? Whatever do you mean? It is only natural I would need to be assisting everyone during this time. It is what's expected of me."

She straightens herself up a bit, not fully realizing she's putting a hand to her head because it aches, rather than because she's trying to think.

"Now then, if the Headmistress does not need to see me, I should get back to-"

But as she turns, all she manages is one step before she sways dangerously. In a split second, her teammates are grabbing her sides to steady her.

"H-Hey!"

"Diana!"

"Ngh... It... It is nothing. I have to-"

"You have to stop!" Hannah snaps, and she's surprised at her own vehemence. Diana flinches and takes a step back, looking up at her with wide eyes. Hannah quickly slaps a hand to her mouth and lowers her voice. "S-Sorry. It's just..."

"We're worried about you, Diana," Barbara finishes softly. "Like... when was the last time you ate? Did you even sleep last night? Did you even come back to the room?"

"You can barely even stand," Hannah continues. "You could barely finish that spell just now without losing your breath."

"You're way overworking yourself. You need to slow down, Diana."

Both of them keep a hand on her back and sides to support her. They can feel her trembling, only slightly, but enough.

Diana takes a moment to collect herself. She can discern that she wouldn't be on her feet right now without them quite literally holding her up.

But even despite this, she still feels she has things that need to be done. Because if she doesn't get to them now, she'll only have more things to handle tomorrow.

"Girls..." she sighs. "Your concern is appreciated. Honestly. However-"

"No!"

"No way!"

They each cling tightly to one of her hands, preventing her from leaving. Their eyes are narrowed and fierce, in a way Diana's never quite seen of them before.

"Girls..."

"Listen," Barbara begins. "Like... n-no matter how much we always say it, and no matter how much we brag about you to people..."

"No matter how proud we are of you, Diana..." Hannah continues. "No matter how much we or everyone else might think so sometimes..."

It's a difficult thought to finish out loud, but they do it together:

"You're not perfect."

Silence falls around the three of them for a moment.

It's something Hannah and Barbara hate to admit, but they simply had to say it.

They just hope they haven't hurt or offended her by saying as much. But they aren't going to allow her to work herself to death.

They each hold firmly to her hands and to her back and sides, their eyes still burning with that same fierceness. Theirs are the eyes of worried friends, the eyes of people who won't be swayed.

Diana feels as though the world has slipped from beneath her feet.

Never, in all her life, has she heard those words. Just the opposite.

She's been told she is perfect, or that she should be. She's been striving her whole life in order to earn perfection in the eyes of those she longs to impress.

She doesn't want to let anyone down. She can't let them down...

But this is the first time.

The first time she's been told something else.

"You're not perfect."

The words echo through her mind, like the remnants of a dream. She can still hardly believe she's just heard them said.

There's a part of her that's always dreaded hearing those words, because hearing them would mean she'd shown weakness, or failed, or fallen short in some way.

But there's another part. A part of her that's always wanted to hear those words.

Because those words are an acknowledgement of her flaws, her imperfections...

Her humanity.

Hearing them now, after so long believing she never would, so unexpectedly...

It makes her chest tighten and her heart beat harder. Diana closes her eyes, and a sharp gasp makes her jolt.

Both Hannah and Barbara feel the drastic change in her. They step closer, holding her tighter, voices anxious.

"D-Diana?"

"W-We're sorry! We didn't mean-"

But both girls are silenced when Diana reacts as neither anticipated.

She doesn't yell, take offense, or storm off.

Rather, Diana opens her arms to each of them, and falls forward between them. With small shrieks, Hannah and Barbara react quickly to catch her in their arms.

"D-Diana?!"

"Are you okay?"

Her response is soft, but simple.

"Thank you..."

And it doesn't take anything more than the hiccups in her chest and the shaking in her shoulders to tell them she's crying.

They've only seen this once before, in the privacy of their own room. Diana almost never cries. In fact, this may only be the second time she's done so in her entire life, at least in front of others, and the two of them were present for the first time as well.

"Diana...?" Barbara pats her teammate's back and hugs her around the waist. Hannah pats both of their shoulders, knowing that if Diana cries, Barbara is bound to break down shortly afterward.

"C-Come on," she murmurs. "Let's head back." She shares a glance with Barbara, who sniffles, but fights against the urge to cry.

Right now, they have something more important to do. They have to protect Diana, because they both know she'd never live it down if anyone else saw her like this.

So the put their arms around her back and shield her from either side, blocking her from view in case anyone should happen to pass by.

Diana is so plagued by fatigue she has to hold onto each of them to keep herself from stumbling. In turn, they keep her steady and rub her back for her as they lead her back to their room.

Luckily, no one sees them, and before long they are in the privacy of their dorm.

Barbara offers to make a call for room service and scurries off to do so. Hannah guides Diana to her bed, convinced there's a layer of dust on it. She helps her sit down and looks her over.

"Seriously," she mumbles. "When was the last time you slept in your bed, not at some desk?"

Diana doesn't reply, nor does she make eye contact. Hannah grunts.

"That's no good, Diana. You can't take on all these responsibilities without recharging yourself. You'll burn out for sure. And that wouldn't be good for anyone. Everyone's counting on you. If you got sick or something, everything could fall apart."

Here, she softens her gaze. "But we wouldn't give a crap about the festival. The worst part would be that you were unwell. I know Barbara and I wouldn't be able to stand it if you got sick or something because of all this. And it's sort of our fault, too. I know we're always counting on you, but we care about you, too."

Diana heaves a sigh and flashes her a glance.

"That has been made clear to me now. It was foolish of me to get ahead of myself. If I were to become inefficient, everyone would be at a disadvantage."

"You're not listening!" Hannah exclaims. "Even if the festival falls apart, we wouldn't care about that. We'd care about you, Diana."

Diana looks down into her lap and hugs herself. Her voice becomes thin.

"Thank you, Hannah."

"You don't have to thank me," she says, rubbing Diana's shoulder. "Just take it easy now. You're not allowed to leave this room till tomorrow. Barbara and I won't let you."

With that, she leaves Diana momentarily to find Barbara, who's just finished making the call for room service. Hannah pats her head and nods toward Diana's bed, implying it's her turn to talk alone with her. Barbara nods and tiptoes around the corner of the bookshelf.

"D-Diana...?"

Barbara's always been a bit more timid than Hannah, a bit more sensitive. Diana appreciates her sensitivity as much as she appreciates Hannah's directness. She lifts her head and nods, indicating Barbara may come over.

Barbara takes a seat beside Diana and fiddles with her fingers in her lap.

"I-I know Hannah's already said this but, like... we were really worried about you. If you overwork yourself and get sick right before the festival, wh-what are we gonna do? And like, I know the whole school is counting on you, and that's not fair. We shouldn't put so much pressure on you all the time. We don't even realize it, but Hannah and I add to that pressure sometimes. And we're sorry about that."

She begins to cry. Unable to stop herself, she wraps her arms around Diana. "A-And we're sorry... we didn't notice sooner... th-that you were so tired... that you had so much work... that you were past your limit... Sorry we didn't even try to help..."

Diana smiles and returns the embrace.

"But you did," she murmurs. "The two of you intervened before it could get any worse. I failed to realize my own exhaustion until you two came in to defend me. Thank you, Barbara."

"Y-Yeah..." She cries more than Diana does at this point. Hannah soon comes back to sit on Diana's other side and offer comfort for them both as much as she can.

A knock comes on their door a few minutes later, and Hannah hurries to answer it. A few minutes later, she's laid out their plates of food on the table beside the couch, and together, she and Barbara coax Diana over to sit down.

They eat together, though Hannah and Barbara are mainly concerned with making sure Diana eats as much as she can.

After that, they insist she enjoy a warm shower and relax. While she's in the bathroom, they mark and close all of the open books on the tables, so Diana won't be tempted to look them over when she emerges.

Once she's changed into her sleep robes and dried her hair, Hannah and Barbara guide her to bed.

"How are you feeling?" Hannah asks. "How's your stomach? Did you eat too much? Not enough?"

"If you want, we can call for the nurse," Barbara adds.

But Diana shakes her head.

"I feel fine," she assures them. "Significantly better than I have been these past few days, I must admit. And I know it is thanks to the two of you. I cannot express to you both how grateful I am... for everything you have done for me today."

"You don't have to thank us!" Hannah repeats.

"Yeah! Not at all! J-Just feel better."

"If you need to take tomorrow off, just do it! Don't let them force you to do more work."

"You need to take care of yourself before anything else!"

Diana pulls each of them in close to her sides.

"I will. And I do truly appreciate your girls' support. I fear I do not say it enough."

"Cuz we don't show it enough," Hannah sighs.

"And we totally should..."

Both of them hug Diana in return, and let the contact last for a while.

"Truthfully," Diana sighs over their shoulders. "Thank you Hannah, Barbara."

They nod in unison.

At last, they let her go, urging her to lie down.

"You must be so tired."

"I don't know how you haven't fallen asleep already!"

"It has been a bit of a challenge, I must admit." Diana begins to pull the blankets down from her mattress, while the other two stand by and watch, as though to ensure she's really going to sleep.

"You've gotta get a full night's rest," Hannah demands.

"A-And like, if you don't feel well or if you need something, just let us know!" Barbara says.

"I certainly will," Diana agrees. "Thank you both again, girls. I plan to be back on my feet in the morning once I've rested. Good night."

"Good night!"

"Night, Diana!"

Hannah turns off the nearby lamp, and with that, they leave Diana's corner of the room.

The two of them take turns in the bathroom, changing and getting ready for bed. It only takes them each a few minutes, but by the time they are finished and peer back around the corner, they find Diana in a deep sleep.

"She must've been so beat," Hannah murmurs.

"Yeah. But it's so nice to see her finally resting."

"It really is."

"She deserves it."

"She sure does."

Now that they are both certain Diana will be all right, they retreat to their own beds. They'd slept separately last night, but tonight they both silently agree they'd rather be together.

They crawl into one bed together and cuddle up, feeling relieved and accomplished for having helped Diana today.

"We've gotta keep an eye on her," Hannah mumbles. "Make sure she's okay."

"Yeah... But I think now she knows how worried we are about her. Hopefully, if she needs help with something from now on, she'll know she can rely on us."

"Or at least talk to us about it."

"Yeah... It's nice to be able to support her when she needs it."

"Yeah..." Hannah ruffles her best friend's hair. "We did good today, Barbara."

"We sure did, Hannah." Barbara squeezes her around the waist and lets out s sigh. "Night, Hannah."

"Night, Barbara."

Now that they know Diana is sleeping soundly, both of them are able to do the same.

And they vow that starting tomorrow, they'll help her with the festival preparations, as much as they can.

Because not only are they Diana's teammates and her biggest supporters, almost to a fault.

They are also her best friends.

----------

A/N: A few things! Originally, I'd wanted to write this with Hannah and Barbara putting too much pressure on Diana, and Diana would be the one to break down and shout "I'm not perfect!" at them, and then they'd realize how stressed she is and try to help her. But somehow, it happened to turn out this way, and I think this is fine, too.

I'm really writing my own versions of Hannah and Barbara here. We don't know much about them individually in canon, so I'm trying to flesh them out. I make Hannah a bit more direct and even stern with Diana (which definitely isn't how she acts in canon), while Barbara is timid and a bit more sensitive. I think this separates them a bit and makes them a little more interesting.

Finally, in these drabbles at least, it means a lot to them when Diana calls them by name. I save that for more meaningful conversations, like this one.