Little Pilot Academia

Chapter 60

“You look terrible,” was the first thing Diana told Akko as soon as the girl entered the room. She had the hint of bags under her brightless eyes. Her smile seemed to lack energy, and her whole demeanor seemed to scream tiredness.

Akko nodded. “I had a bad night… or whatever time it’s supposed to be,” she said, her voice also lacking in her usual energy. “I decided to come visit you since we just had a couple hours of training at the gym and Jasminka had to go to this food competition or whatever,” she yawned.

Diana nodded. Hannah and Barbara had been there before Hannah had to leave for training.She had learned Hannah was going to be at the Nightfall event too, which was surprising. Akko was extremely still, not fidgeting or moving at all, save for blinking. “Do you know what our next destination will be?” Diana ended up asking to make some conversation.

Akko nodded. “Poseidon. A planet that’s almost entirely water, save for its core and some rocky layers,” she said. Diana nodded. She knew of it. It was a rather strange planet. It was a planet almost lacking in gravity. It didn’t have a lot of mass, even with the water. In fact, many thought the ocean should have floated off into space long ago. It was kind of a mystery. It was also home planet to the Medusas.

“That’ll be a tricky planet… At least for the Shooting Star,” Diana said. Akko smiled, aware of what Diana meant. “Races in Poseidon usually are all about not going off track, for us,” she started thinking of previous races. “Since our brooms can’t go over the water, cutting corners or taking crazy risks becomes nearly impossible.” Akko looked at her intently. Diana wondered if it was just because of her tiredness. Maybe she really was that interested in what she was saying. “out of the five races that have been run there, we’ve ended up in last in two of them due to having been kicked out of the track. You won’t have that problem, luckily, but I don’t think any human has managed to end up higher than fourth, in either category, since going over the water for even a few seconds makes us lose massive amounts of speed.”

Akko nodded at her. She looked absent. Diana stopped talking, waiting to see if Akko reacted somehow. She kept staring at Diana for a long time. Even if she lacked her usual energy, Diana couldn’t help but grow a little nervous under the stare. Still, she also didn’t take her eyes off Akko.

Diana took the chance and examined the brunette. Her hair was kind of a mess, but not more than usual, and she was wearing sportswear – shorts, t-shirt, sneakers and such. Maybe that’s why she looked so tired, though she seemed like an athletic girl. Diana could see her slender arms and neck, and her shirt almost completely hid her boobs, that weren’t particularly big. Her skin was slightly darker than Diana’s, though that was normal, since Diana didn’t go much outside. Not because she didn’t enjoy it, she just didn’t have the time. Luckily, the standard lighting on the Dragon was created to mimic the sun somewhat, and it helped the body generate some vitamin D.

“Diana?” Akko suddenly broke the silence, which took Diana by surprise. She quickly looked away from her. Diana nodded, to give the indication that she had heard. “How do you take baths?”

Diana blinked. “Excuse me?” Was all she could ask in her shock.

“Baths. You do you bathe? I mean, being in bed and all, do you even do it? You do, probably, since you smell nice, but how?” Akko asked in a completely serious voice.

Diana flushed. She couldn’t help it. All of those years of learning to hide her emotions served for naught when confronted with such a direct and strange question. Maybe Akko was far gone and in her mind it was ok to ask such a thing, or maybe it was her current state, but in any case, Diana kept searching for a sign that the question might have been a joke.