Ryo Tezuka slowly walked down the streets of the busy Mahora campus, heading towards the enormous World Tree. He had convinced his boss to give him a day off from work today, so he could meet Chachamaru after school.
He still found it hard to believe that magic and all of these supernatural forces really existed, and found himself a bit apprehensive about what she might show him. She said she wanted to "introduce him to her world" - what could that mean? He had already met a youkai and a vampire (neither of which were particularly pleasant). What else might there be? Ghosts? Dragons? Zombies? He shivered involuntarily at that last thought and hoped there were no zombies. He was just as afraid of them as his friend Noboru was of vampires. He reminded himself to never introduce Noboru to Evangeline-san.
He tried to banish the negative thoughts from his mind. Chachamaru wouldn't put him in any danger, and anyway he would gladly face a thousand zombies for her sake. He shifted his thoughts to her. The fact that she was a robot still kind of weirded him out, but like he had said before, there was really no difference between her and a human girl other than the physical. And even in that department, her ears were the only thing that gave her away as not being human. He remembered what she had said - "my body is very human-like". He briefly wondered if that applied to all of the parts of her body, but quickly banished the perverted thought from his mind in shame. Instead, he thought how it was strange for robots and magic to coexist like this, but he supposed she would explain it to him.
He noticed he had arrived at the designated meeting place, and, just as promised, he saw Chachamaru standing there waving to him.
They greeted each other, and she led him to the Mahora Robotics Lab. Ryo had never been to the place before, and didn't really know anything about it. He was aware it existed, but that's all. So it came as no surprise that he was amazed by the advanced technology on display, such as the life - size robotic T. Rex.
"This place is incredible," he said, as he peered at the various devices on display.
"I guess," Chachamaru replied. "I never really thought about it much, since it's so familiar to me. It is where I was born, after all."
"Are there other robots like you?" Ryo asked
"Well I have a number of sisters," she replied, "but I am unique in that-"
A voice finished for her. "She was the only one to independently develop emotions, and even has a human soul. I wish I could take all the credit, but that's not something that can be programmed."
Ryo and Chachamaru turned to look at the newcomer, a pigtailed girl in a lab coat who had just entered the room.
"Well, aren't you going to introduce us?" She asked Chachamaru.
"Oh, of course," the gynoid said. "Hakase - san, this is Ryo Tezuka. He is - well, my boyfriend, I guess." She blushed a little while saying this, since although she accepted it to be true, it was the first time she had announced it so formally. She turned to Ryo. "Ryo-kun, this is Satomi Hakase, she is the one primarily responsible for creating me. I suppose you could say that she is my mother."
"Which means that when you two get married, I'll be your mother-in-law," Hakase smirked.
"Wh-what!" Ryo gasped in shock. Hakase laughed.
"I'm just kidding around, of course! You never told me he was so gullible, Chachamaru!"
Chachamaru put a hand to her face in embarrassment.
"Hakase-san, Ryo-kun is probably interested in knowing about the fusion of magic and technology used in my construction," she said, attempting to deflect the topic.
Hakase's eyes lit up upon hearing this - she could never turn down a chance to talk about her designs.
"Yes, well, you see, Ryo-san, Chachamaru uses a unique type of power source that runs on magic. I developed it with assistance from many of the resident mages at Mahora, as well as some help from my friend Chao Lingshen." She took out a piece of paper, upon which was a complicated diagram with many labels Ryo couldn't make heads or tails of. "You see, via the use of precisely ion-polarized crystals, magic energy can be accumulated through a charged conduit and stored, then converted to electricity through a simple magnetic flux resonator. Of course you're probably wondering how it can power a system without a direct input of mechanical kinetic or potential energy, but that problem is solved elegantly by..."
Noting that Ryo's eyes were starting to glaze over, Chachamaru interrupted her mother.
"I'm sure he's fascinated, but we really have to be going now."
"But I haven't even gotten to the most interesting part yet!" Hakase complained. Still, Chachamaru insisted.
"Well, it was... interesting. Nice to meet you, Hakase-san," Ryo said, as the two left.
"I'm sorry, she tends to get overly excited sometimes," Chachamaru said, as they walked to their next destination.
"She seems kind of like a mad scientist," Ryo mused, "but I can tell she really cares about you." Chachamaru smiled at this.
"So where are we going next?" He asked.
"I want to introduce you to one of my best friends," Chachamaru said. She had actually been a little mischievous here, as she had invited her friend to meet her at a specified time and place without telling her why, just to see how she would react.
When they arrived, Ryo saw a glasses-wearing girl sitting on a bench in the shadow of a tree near a small river. The girl was holding a laptop and typing something, not seeming to notice the two.
"Chisame-san, we're here!" Chachamaru announced. Chisame looked up, surprised to see what she considered to be a rather attractive - looking guy with Chachamaru.
"Who's he?" She said, closing her laptop and putting in her bag.
"He's the one I wanted you to meet, Chisame-san. He's my boyfriend."
"Hello, my name is Ryo Tezuka," he said, extending his hand. "Pleased to meet y- um... is there something wrong?"
Chisame's mouth was hanging open in shock. "Excuse me, your- what?"
"Um, it's true, we-" Ryo began, but Chisame got up and pushed past him, confronting Chachamaru.
"Does he know that you're-"
"Yes, he knows," Chachamaru said, secretly enjoying Chisame's reaction. Perhaps it could be considered payback for all of the times the cynical girl had called her abnormal or a freak, although she knew she didn't really mean it.
"Then, you two are really-" She looked from one of them to the other, and eventually sighed and smiled.
"Huh, well I guess it's not so weird. I'm getting used to this kind of stuff by now..."
Chachamaru laughed a bit. "Ryo-kun, this is Chisame Hasegawa. She may seem kind of rude sometimes, but once you get to know her, she's really nice."
"Hey, who are you calling rude?" She yelled, but stopped once she realized she was only proving the robot girl's point. Ryo laughed. "Nice to meet you, Chisame-san."
"Likewise," Chisame said, as they finally shook hands.
As they left, Chachamaru thought about how there was still one more person she wanted to introduce Ryo to, but she was a bit nervous about how he and her former crush would get along. Still, she knew Negi-sensei would almost be done grading papers by now, so she led Ryo to his classroom.