Chisame Hasegawa sighed as she slumped down in her seat. It was early morning, and about half of the students in class 3-A were already in the classroom, and were passing the time until Negi-sensei arrived. Their myriad conversations and chatter blended into a dull background noise as Chisame looked out the window.
"Why do I have to be stuck with these weirdos," she thought to herself. "I'd give anything for a normal life." She eyed the conspicuous World Tree outside, amazed that no one noticed how ridiculously large it was. Then she turned her gaze to her fellow students. The vampire wasn't here yet, but the girl with the wings was in her seat, chatting with the headmaster's granddaughter. Chisame couldn't see her wings, of course, but she knew they were there, under her clothes. She laid her head down on her desk, closed her eyes, and just hoped the the day would be over soon. However, she was soon interrupted by a soft voice.
"Excuse me, Chisame-san?" the voice asked. Chisame groaned inwardly. She knew that voice. It belonged to the biggest weirdo in the entire class.
"What do you want?" she asked, making sure to clearly express the grouchiness in her voice. That did not dissuade the green - haired girl, however, as she spoke again.
"I was just wondering if you would like to come to Tea Ceremony club after school with me," asked the gynoid.
"Not interested," Chisame quickly replied, as she turned her head away and prepared to rest it on her desk again. But Chachamaru refused to let up.
"Are you sure? Master says she can't make it today, and I would be lonely by myself."
Chisame wasn't quite sure what happened next. Due to a combination of depression, irritation, and general malaise, something within the cosplay afficionado simply snapped. She stood up, rage filling her eyes, as she confronted the invader of her personal space.
"Listen up, you metal freak!" she began, loud enough to be heard over the din of conversation in the room. "Get it through those ridiculous ears of yours, I don't like you, I don't want to spend time with you, and I don't want you anywhere near me! I may not have many friends, but I'm not so desperate that I would want to hang out with some soulless machine!"
Chachamaru simply stared at her for a few seconds, with a shocked look on her face. Then tears started streaming from her eyes. She quickly covered her face with her hands and ran out of the room crying. Chisame, glad that was over with, sat back down and laid her head on her desk again. However, she soon became aware of an uncomfortable sensation. She quickly realized what it was - the previously ubiquitous background noise of conversation had completely stopped.
Picking her head up, she looked around and noticed that every single student in the class was staring at her, with expressions on their faces ranging from shock to confusion to anger. Konoka was the first one to speak up.
"Chisame-san, that was so cold! How could you say those things to Chachamaru-san?"
Asuna chimed in next. "Konoka's right. You'd better go apologize to her."
Chisame was about to object, but then she was overcome with a sudden wave of guilt. What she had said was way out of line, and she didn't really mean it, she was so upset and it just came out. She was starting to feel pretty awful about herself.
"I guess you're right," Chisame said, as she got up from her seat and left the room. Once she entered the hallway, Chachamaru was nowhere to be seen. Taking a guess, Chisame turned right. As she approached the entrance hall, she noticed a girl picking up a stack of books off of the floor. Chisame walked over and helped her pick up the last textbook.
"Thanks," the girl said, lugging her books along with her to her next class.
"Wait," Chisame interrupted. "Did you see a green - haired girl with unusual ear decorations pass by here?"
"Yeah, she just ran by here a minute ago. She seemed really upset about something. She's the one who startled me and made me drop my books."
"Where did she go?" asked Chisame urgently.
"Outside," replied the other student.
"Thanks," replied the net idol, as she opened the doors and stepped out into the Mahora courtyard.
Scanning the area with her eyes, Chisame finally noticed a head of green hair poking up from behind a bench. She ran down the stairs and approached her. When Chachamaru saw her coming, she quickly turned her head away.
"What are you doing?" she asked with a mix of sadness and bitterness. "Are you here to berate me some more?"
"No," replied Chisame, "Actually, I'm here to apologize." At this, Chachamaru turned her head to look at her fellow student again.
"Really?"
"Yes, those things I said - I didn't mean any of them. I was just so stressed, and I don't know what came over me. I don't hate you, Chachamaru-san. In fact, I actually like you. You're a nice person." Chachamaru smiled faintly, her sorrow melting away. She scooted over on the bench, inviting Chisame to sit down next to her. After a moment's hesitation, the glasses-wearing student did.
"I was wrong to say those things, I'm sorry-" Chachamaru interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.
"It's okay, Chisame-san. I forgive you." The mechanical girl smiled brightly, which made Chisame slightly nervous.
"We'd better get back to class before Negi-sensei shows up," said Chisame, as she stood up.
"Good idea," replied the robot girl. As they walked back up the stairs together, Chachamaru spoke again.
"Does this mean you'll be coming to Tea Ceremony club this afternoon?"
"Hey, I never said that," replied Chisame wryly.
"Oh," Chachamaru replied, as the smile faded from her face and she turned her eyes downward to the ground. Chisame was upset by this reaction, and even though she had a web show after school today, she guessed she could put it off this one time.
"Hey, if it really means that much to you, I guess I'll go. What are friends for?" The smile quickly returned to Chachamaru's face, as she thanked Chisame. The two girls then entered the school doors together, headed back to class.