It sounded like a good idea when we started, but lord knows that’s no longer the case. The whole restaurant in awe as a young, severely burned girl is weeping in the fetal position. A pink-haired outspoken woman suddenly has nothing to say; she knew this was her fault. How could such an innocently intended thought, such as getting two people together for tea, turn into such a traumatic experience for everybody involved?
 
        “Wahahahahaha~!” the sound echoed through the restaurant. Misha and Hanako seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were drinking tea light-heartedly, and a few words seemed to have been making their way out of Hanako’s rarely-used mouth. Albeit they struggled to get out, most of them being stuttered, but they were being spoken.
 
        I don’t know why Hanako and Misha seemed get along so well. They’re so different. Misha is this loud-mouthed person who can’t seem to stop speaking, and Hanako always wishes she wouldn’t have to speak. Truly, as they are polar opposites, they shouldn’t like each other that much. Maybe it was something in the tea. Whatever the reason, I thought it was great that Hanako was finally making some friends.
 
        The night before, Lilly, Hanako, and I were roller blading around the campus. You’re probably thinking I’m a homosexual because of it, but I’m not. For a blind girl, Lilly was really graceful. She held my arm the whole time, but she didn’t even so much as slip. Hanako on the other hand, is a different story. She just couldn’t seem to balance properly. At one point she fell and hit her knee, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. Lilly seemed to notice instantly that she was in pain, and decided we should go back. On the way back, Hanako seemed to be quietly sobbing.
 
        Misha brought this little bottle of alcohol. Not the drinking kind, but the kind you wipe your hands with. She said she saw some documentary the night before about how your hands are the dirtiest part of your body, and throughout the whole night she’d occasionally open the bottle up and wipe some alcohol on her hands. Every time she did so, she offered Hanako some, and every time Hanako would decline. Almost repulsed by the alcohol, she seemed to jerk backwards slightly. The whole time I was watching from another table with Lilly, and that never really caught my attention.
 
        Suddenly, terror struck. When you have a scraped knee, it’s pretty painful to begin with. Add to that a precariously placed bottle of alcohol being tipped over by a large woman, and you have a reason to cry. And so Hanako let out a scream that I will never forget. It wasn’t really loud, but I had never heard her scream for any reason before. Misha was apologetically trying to help her, but ended up making it even worse by accidentally hitting it. Writhing in pain, Hanako falls to the ground and curls up, then starts sobbing. I don’t think I’ll ever get these two together again.