Yosuke: Well, as requested. 

In New Eden’s office space, Yosuke leans forward in his chair as he passes the woman sitting on the other side of the desk a folder containing several pictures, each of them marred with the telltale dullness of a cheap at-home print job.

Yosuke: Hope the resolution’s decent enough. My dad’ll kill me if he finds out I blew through half of his ink cartridges..

Yui doesn’t even look up across the desk. The first photo contains Kyubey, but the image is marred with static and blurry imagery. As if the picture itself is censoring itself, jumping between random periods of time and places on Earth before anything can be identified. Anything beyond Earth’s scope is completely blanked out, before returning to a glitchy mess, showing more times and places on Earth. Yui simply nods, sliding the photo to the side.

The second contains a much clearer image of the girl who would later be known as Punisher. Without so much as a glance, Yui slides this photo on top of Kyubey’s, if for no other reason than to halt the flashing and glitchy effects before her head splits open in a migraine.

The third, however, is the one Yui spends the most time looking at. Her eyes widen as she studies the history of Kiwako Kobayashi. Leaving the photo alone, she reaches for anything passing as paper and begins writing, and with her other hand, she slides a small stack of bills towards Yosuke, still without looking up at him.

Yui: …I’m gonna be at this a while, Yosuke. You got somethin’ on your mind, right? Spill it. Better than sittin’ in silence.

Yosuke: Ehm… D-Did you find what you were looking for, or…?

Yui: …I’m getting there, yeah. Fuck, this goes back much longer than I thought it did… uh, it’ll stay like this after you leave, right? Moving, I mean? I dunno how your Conductor power works exactly. Oh, I didn’t count that, by the way. That enough for the replacement ink or whatever?

Yosuke: I-I’d rather have an explanation for why I used his printer behind his back than money, to be honest…

Yui: Told you before, right? I don’t trust Kiwa. Lookin’ at her history, I was right. Kinda. (She’s writing furiously, her eyes never leaving the photo) ‘Sides, you’re still getting the money either way. I pay for services I ask for, ‘specially when I’m a pain in the ass. If there’s leftover money, just pocket it.

Yosuke: (he awkwardly accepts the bills, pocketing them without looking at them) I-It’s just some pictures… It’s the least I can do.

Yui: Don’t sell yourself short, dude. It’s information. We both knew damn good and well what I really wanted here. Anyway, if you wanted to spill your guts to a hypothetical wall, I’m gonna be writing all day, looks like. …Fucking hell, all the way back to ‘87, huh?

Yosuke: W-Wait, what? That little girl?

Yui: Puellae Magi don’t age. Didn’cha know? 

Yosuke: Well, yeah… (he looks away) That much is obvious…

Yui: …No idea why I’m bein’ dodgy ‘bout this. From what I gathered… Kiwa was born in ‘87. Both parents in her life. Poor as hell. Workaholic father, alcoholic mother. Not abused, but some shit went down, she lost both parents. Kyubey got to her, but she didn’t wish them back. And she had some mad potential, enough that her wish is still a cloud over Kamihama. Went Witch, never got hunted, got cleaned up somehow… fuck, that somehow’s gonna drive me mad. …Wish I could get a good look at the Balancer that did her in originally, though. Damn cat never left their side…

Yosuke: W-w-w-w-w-wait, she came back from being a Witch? I didn’t even know that was possible… Does Kyubey know about that?

Yui: Probably. Probably takes notes and treats her as yet another science project.

Yosuke: I mean, this is big, right? If we figure out how she did that, we… I-I mean you can save girls like you from their inevitable fate once and for all!

Yui: In theory, yeah. But in practice, Kiwa’s a special case. It has a lot to do with her wish. …When someone makes a wish on the genie cat, that wish shapes what powers the girl gets, but also buries the reflection of their biggest regrets into the Witch. Me, for example? I hate fighting. I love being fit, I’ll kick anyone’s ass, I’d take or dish out a bullet for the people I love… but I don’t like hurtin’ people if I can avoid it. My Witch? She loves to fight. I wished to bring someone back, more or less, but the way I went about it gave me my soul reading powers, and shaped my pacifism— and lack thereof for my other half.

Yosuke: O-Oh… Is that how it works? I, uh… I wonder what would’ve happened if someone like err, Moonlover had turned into a Witch.

Yui: It would’ve been a bitch to hunt, that’s for sure. From what I gather, she didn’t wanna feel pain anymore. So it’d probably be painful to be in her barrier.

Yosuke: But if your Witch’s your polar opposite, what would happen when a truly evil person — if that even exists — became a Witch?

Yui: That, uh… well, that gets a specific kinda definition of “opposite” I guess. The exact wording of the wish, combined with what the soul actually wants, that sorta thing. It’s… messy.

Yosuke: Huh… Isn’t everything these days?

Yui: Got that right… (Her face darkens as she stares at the photo with increased scrutiny) …All I can tell is that this Balancer wasn’t any of you lot.

Yosuke: … Far as I know, all of us were recent hires, save for Punisher. Worldeater wouldn’t even work against anyone other than you, and Moonlover — I don’t think even Kyubey thought she’d last longer than a single Balancing.

Yui: It was afraid. It didn’t get what it wanted when I went Malefica, or from me saving both Anisa and Aoi. It had all these “they’ll just eat each other” kind of passiveness, and when we came out stronger, it got afraid. Desperate. And ‘cause of that, it fucked up the Balancing. …Not that I’m complaining about surviving, mind.

Yosuke: Err… r-remind me again who, eh, “Anisa” is? This is all really confusing.

Yui: …Shit, right, you wouldn’t know about that. Gotta wonder why Kyubey didn’t think to target her… Anyway, abridged version. A few of us get our Witch combined with or into our Soul Gem and become something known as Puella Malefica. Basically, Witch/Puella hybrid. I’m one of four. Anisa’s another. For short, sometimes we call ‘em “Angels” but most of us hate that name now.

Yosuke: (he blinks a few times) … U-Uh, yeah… sure? The more you know, I guess? (he clears his throat) Anyway, I don’t wanna have you explaining all this, eh, stuff to me when you’ve got work to do.

Yui: (Yui had been writing the entire time, on receipts, napkins, any scrap of paper she could find.) I’m good, don’t worry about me.

Yosuke: Err, okay then… (he falls quiet, awkwardly shifting in his seat as he looks around Yui’s office, looking for anything to catch his interest)

Yui: …If you’re bored or whatever, you can just talk about stuff goin’ on in your personal life. You can trust that I don’t give a shit enough about high school drama to let it bite you later.

Yosuke: … Eh, n-no, I’m good! I-I mean, I’ve been keeping you for long enough already, so, eh, good luck with those other pics and just lemme know if you need anything. (he gets up, neatly sliding his chair back underneath the desk)

Yui: Oi, Yosuke. (Her voice is probably a bit sterner than she intended, but she’s still writing and glancing at the photo.)

Yosuke: W-What? … P-Please don’t punch me!

Yui: Huh? No, no. I promised Koharu I wasn’t gonna punch you, remember? ‘Sides, got no reason to attack you at all.

Yosuke: Sure as hell didn’t sound like it!

Yui: …Shit, did I use my bitchy voice again? S-Sorry.

Yosuke: Maybe I’ve just watched too many of these yakuza movies…

Yui: Yeah, I’m not mafia or whatever.

Yosuke: Maybe a little? I mean, you do pull strings behind the scenes and you talk trash and you read minds… Not that mobsters usually read minds, but, you know, the vibes.

Yui: I read souls, not minds. And I talk trash because I’m a punk. …Otherwise, yeah, that kinda tracks I guess, way I’ve been acting lately..

Yosuke: … Eh, is there a difference? Between minds and souls, I mean.

Yui: Yes. Vastly. I’ll spare you the rant if you want, but souls can’t lie, as an example. Memories on the other hand? They can easily twist up with time.

Yosuke: Can you tell if someone is a good person or not?

Yui: Yes. There’s grey areas, but yes.

Yosuke: … W-What about me?

Yui: What, you want my verdict on your soul? I’m a shitty judge, you know.

Yosuke: I’ll take it.

Yui: (Finally, finally Yui looks up at him, the storm raging in her eyes for a moment.) If I thought you were a bad person, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Yosuke: … I… I guess that makes sense. (he sighs)

Yui: From where I’m sitting? You’re fine. Complex past, been through shit, but you have a heart. Find me someone who hasn’t fucked up, and I mean catastrophically fucked up once in their life, and they can ride that high horse all day long. But you’re trying, and you got it where it counts.

Yosuke: (he can’t help but smile, if only slightly) … That’s a relief. That’s… Thanks. I appreciate it.

Yui: Stay strong, kid. You’ll turn out fine if you don’t give up or fall back into a bad crowd. (She gives the tiniest smile of her own.) And thanks for the photos. Really.