I'll tutor you, Hana

Hana was exhausted the next day at school. She had gotten home late after spending quite a long time at Mashiro's house, but even after that, she stayed up late that night, casting magic. She cast so much magic that her entire room was covered in flower petals. The petals came in every shape, size, color, and variety that Hana could think of. When her room was painted in all the colors of the rainbow by the fallen petals, Hana passed out from overexertion. When she finally woke up, the petals had all vanished, but she was still tired from how much magic she had cast.

"As a reminder, final exams are coming up soon, so everyone needs to be studying. Class dismissed."
After an entire day of Hana trying not to fall asleep in class, she nearly passed out at her desk the minute that school ended. However, just as she was about to rest her head on her desk, Mina dropped her bag on Hana's desk.
"Where did you go yesterday? I was trying to find you after school. Did you leave without me?"
"I..." Hana looked over at Mashiro, trying to figure out an excuse, but she couldn't find her. Mashiro and her weren't friends at school, so if she suddenly said she went over to Mashiro's house, it would make everyone who found out suspicious. But if she and Mashiro had different explanations, it would also make people suspicious.
"She came to me, begging for me to tutor her, so I took pity on her." Standing behind Hana, Mashiro had her classic, smug look on her face. "If you get on your hands and knees and beg me, I'll tutor you, too."
While Hana was looking at Mashiro standing behind her, she was most focused on the familiar hairclip that she now saw Mashiro wearing. She hadn't been wearing it earlier in the day, but she had put it on at some point.
However, Mina was most focused on the hand Mashiro had put on Hana's shoulder.

Though it had been a lie, it was true that Hana needed to get some tutoring before final exams, so she got Mashiro to come over to her house to tutor her some more. This time, instead of tutoring her on magic, she was focused on math. However, while she'd been expecting to see Mashiro show up, she wasn't expecting Mina to also be there. She knew that Mina had to study for the exams, too, but normally she would wait until the last moment to even try studying, if she even studied at all.
"Now, you three study hard." Hana's mom had brought tea for the three, just as they were about to get started, but while Hana was trying to study, the other two had different ideas.
"So, Hanaji," Mina asked, scooting closer and closer to her best friend, "When did you and Mashiro get so close. She's never tutored anyone before."
"I, um, went to the library after school yesterday to study. She was there and we studied together."
"That's right. She was so pitiful, trying to study all alone that I simply had to take pity on her. Of course, not until after she begged me for help." While Mina was scooting closer and closer to Hana, Mashiro was watching Mina's every move. She didn't show it from behind her plastered-on smug smile, but she was watching her like a hawk.
"That sounds really helpful! I'll be taking you up on that offer." It was like a verbal duel between Mina the knight protecting her princess, Hana, and Mashiro the assassin, trying to take out the knight that was getting in her way.
"That's funny. I don't remember offering to tutor you." Mashiro went for a jab.
"Really? Well, Hanaji and I are ALWAYS together." Mina put herself between Mashiro the assassin and princess Hana, but she couldn't see that her move was exactly what Mashiro wanted.
"I suppose, if you were to beg me, I could lend you a hand. Though, given your grades, I doubt it would be much help." The strike Mina had thought was aimed at Hana turned out to actually be aimed at herself, hitting her directly where it hurt.

"That's enough, you two." Hana put a stop to the verbal duel before it went any further. "Mashiro, if we're going to study, I think we need to focus on studying. And Mina, I thought your mom wanted you to be home early. I don't want you to get in trouble, so I think you should start heading home before that happens."
It completely neutralized both sides. Mashiro's facade that she kept up in front of others at school cracked because she couldn't yell at Hana if she wanted to still practice magic together, but Mina's attack on Mashiro was stopped by the person she thought she was defending. As soon as both of them came to their senses and realized how stupid they were being by fighting, both returned to normal.
"Well, I suppose we should get on with it. Are you going to be joining us or will you be leaving?"
"No, Hanaji's right. My mom wants me to help clean the house over the weekend, so I need to go."

As Mina left the room to go home, Mashiro's face and emotions changed. She was back to the state she had been in when the two were at her house. Though Hana wanted to get to studying, the shift was so sudden, she needed to bring it up.
"Why do you change your personality like that?"
"I don't know. It's just a habit, by now."
"Well, which personality is real? The one you have at school or the one you had at your house?"
Mashiro thought for a moment before saying, "The one I have right now. I guess I feel safe here, so I can be me."
"Do you not feel safe at school?"
"How could I? If they find out I'm a witch, who knows what they'd do to me."
"So you put on a fake personality at school? But everyone hates you for being like that."
"If they hate me and think I'm stuck-up, then they don't hate me and think I'm a witch."

Those words stuck with Hana. If they think she's stuck-up, they don't think she's a witch. It was certainly true. If you give people a reason to hate someone, they don't have to make up a reason.
"But what about at home? Surely you can be yourself there."
Mashiro was silent.
"Well, you need to have somewhere you can be yourself. So, if you ever need to be somewhere, you can always come over here."
"Thank you, Hana. If you ever need somewhere to practice magic, I can show you a place."
Though Hana had been meaning to actually study, the mention of magic completely derailed everything. "Please, please, please can we practice magic together again?"