Yuzuki breathes a sigh of relief as another Witch’s barrier dissolves around her. This was an easy hunt, the kind that made her feel like she could be okay continuing to do this for a little while longer. She knew not to trust that feeling– a nasty encounter was always right around the corner.

It was a simple Witch, a repulsive thing of heaped, slimy leather crouched deep in a tunnel of scattered wooden beams. As it died, though, her experience told her something. She did not feel any Witch’s Kisses disconnecting from their targets. A Witch that had grown up from a Familiar had to have those, and a lot of them. Matured Familiars were the majority of Witches in Mitakihara now. This one, it seemed, was a fresh Witch that had converted from a Puella. 

The barrier comes apart, and Yuzuki stands in a complex of worn-out parking lots, set at different levels and starting to erode into each other. She pulls out her phone and places a call to Yui, who answers immediately. 

Yui: Yo, Yuzu. What’s up? (Her tone seemed to indicate that she was aware Yuzuki meant business)

Yuzuki: Hey, I’m here off of Kanjo-dori road with a Witch I just hunted… um… no Witch’s Kisses from this one. (She leaves it at that, confident Yui would know what that meant) 

Yui: (The call is quiet for a pointed beat) …So this one wasn’t a Familiar?

Yuzuki: No, I don’t think so. I assume we’d know if anyone from Aoi’s group went missing? 

Yui: Definitely. I haven’t felt anything out of place that’d suggest that anyone we know of went rogue or disappeared. …That leaves one possibility.

Yuzuki: Yeah. That Kyubey’s at it again, probably in some part of town we don’t get to often. 

Yui: (More hesitant quiet, this time interrupted by a loud bang. This time, the poor punching bag didn’t seem to hit the floor, at least. When Yui returned to her phone, she let out a heavy sigh.) …It’s a pain, but I expected this. I’d like to go find the rat bastard cat and wring its neck, but all I can realistically do is keep an eye on the girls that come by my side of the tracks. Time I’m done with New Eden, there won’t be a need for any genie cats in Mitakihara.

Yuzuki: No need? There’s already no need, what– what do you mean? 

Yui: No need for the Incubators. We have the healing down, training down, which’ll spread outside of Mitakihara, so that these girls can handle business elsewhere… I’m making Kyubey obsolete. Putting a stop to it, once and for all. One girl at a time.

Yuzuki: It’d be good if he didn’t make a contract again… but I suppose those of us that are Puellae now would run out of Witches eventually. I doubt Aoi can heal the whole universe… 

Yui: Probably not. But for Mitakihara, she’s more than good enough. I hunt pretty rigorously out of town when I can, so I can keep her up for a while. It’ll all be way easier when I get my Magia back.

Yuzuki: It hardly seems like you have trouble with Witch hunts even without it, Yui… 

Yui: I don’t need it for hunting Witches. Something just poetic about wielding the power that Kyubey fears to make it obsolete for good. Besides, I’m not sure, but I think… I wouldn’t need to heal if I had it again.

Yuzuki: N-not heal!? Is that– does Hayama-san not need to heal now? She still has it, right?

Yui: It’s just a theory. But if I can get there again, and really not need to heal… I’d have to ask Shinju to know for sure, but since every action I take gets a lot of heat lately, I dunno how I’d go about doing it without coming off as a Saturday morning villain for the umpteenth time.

Yuzuki: Uh, yes, right… I can ask her about it for you, maybe… 

Yui: …That’s a tempting offer. But uh, you sure? I wouldn’t wanna incriminate you if Shinju catches on. She’s sharp, that one.

Yuzuki: (With a sigh) Incriminate you of what? Wanting to know some important details about this new power our enemies and now you two have?

Yui: I don’t have it right now. I’m trying to get it back, and the best way I can think of right now is the only other person I know of that lost it.

Yuzuki: Uh… what now? Some Conductor person?

Yui: …Uh, not exactly… 

Yuzuki: (With some irritation) I thought the only people we knew who had this were those awful balancer people. Are you telling me you already knew someone else with it? 

Yui: (Another silent pause, followed by a heavy sigh) …One of ‘em’s still around in the Dreamscape. Liu Fei. Punisher. I’ve been doing some training with her, few times a week.

Yuzuki: You WHAT? (The phone audio clips) That crazy one who killed all those people?? 

Yui: If we’re being technical, the only person she directly killed was Mizutani—

Yuzuki: Captain Hayama told me she also killed a ton of soldiers in the park! And she’s in the Dreamscape now!? 

Yui: Well, yeah. Moonlover never slept in Mitakihara, Worldeater got double-tapped, Shiori, um…

Yuzuki: Who knows what she could do in there! We need to get her outta there now! 

Yui: Relax. Only person she attacks is me. Besides, like… Niko’s kind of like God down there or something. She’s uh… Liu Fei isn’t a problem anymore.

Yuzuki: You don’t know that! It’s barely been a few weeks, she’s not going to be a different person! 

Yui: I’m not saying she’s redeemed herself! I said she’s not a threat, there’s a difference—

Yuzuki: Like Anisa wasn’t!? (She pauses for a second, looking around the parking lot to ensure she’s still alone) Did you notice how these people never even tried to go after her, even though she’s an Angel who hijacked the whole government? Did you??

Yui: (Her voice comes out louder than she intended) Yeah! Because she’s no longer a fucking threat! That fucking manipulative bitch Cecilia putting me on the same playing field saw to that! 

Yuzuki: What do you mean she’s a manipulative bitch?? I haven’t even seen her in ages! 

Yui: Her little plan turned me into a fucking Angel, Yuzuki! And because of her schemes, I’m able to do all sorts of shit now! But now that I am, now that I’m trying to make everything better on a grand fucking scale, you all think I’m the bad guy now?! Acting like I threw Tomomi down the stairs out of some form of punishment, when I was just trying to keep her bright ass transformation from being seen by the passing public?! 

Yuzuki: ‘Cause– how are we supposed to know, Yui?? All I heard about is she got hurt, I don’t know everything like you do! 

Yui: ‘Cause I’m pretty goddamn consistent in saying why I threw her down the fucking stairs! But then, someone else comes around askin’ me why I broke her arm for her attitude, or some shit! Like, I’m a pretty fuckin’ open book here, but people keep trying to read between lines and look for shit that ain’t there!

Yuzuki: An open book? Is that why it took me who-knows-how-many months to find out Toi was back? 

Yui: How long are you gonna hold it against me for not dropping world-ending crises, plural, to tell you about that? Why do you think I’m trying to get Magia back, anyway? It’s so I can actually hold the fucking sky up next time Kyubey wants to make it fall! So that I can keep up with everything else!

Yuzuki: It takes two seconds to– (She cuts off suddenly, taking a deep breath to stop herself) Forget it. Just forget it. 

Yui: (A third pointed, sizable pause) …Sorry. I’m not doing good at keeping it together. Or, well… anything.

Yuzuki: No, me neither. … Maybe it’s time I took a little time away. 

Yui: Yeah, um… yeah. …Safe travels. Um. …I’ll give you a proper apology when I’m less, uh… y’know, heated. Want it to be real, y’know. Mean something. 

Yuzuki: It’s not just you. I haven’t really had a vacation or a break since we were in high school. It’s probably about time.  

Yui: Y… Yeah. Yeah, I hope it helps.