Shinju sits down at a family restaurant, telling the waiter that she’s the first of a party of three. Having arrived a little early to scout around the area, she orders up a plate of fries while she waits. She pulls out her phone and reads over her messages again. An invitation from Yosuke, promising to explain himself at last to her and Hanako. 

When Hanako arrives, Shinju calls her over to the table with a wave. 

Shinju: Hey! Glad you could make it, with your big trip comin’ up and all. 

Hanako: (A soft smile lights her face when she spots Shinju after a couple awkward seconds of looking around for her) Ah! (She sits down beside Shinju, her bag placed neatly under the table) Well, I shouldn’t be gone more than a day, in theory. There isn’t much packing to be done, ehe… 

Shinju: Good to hear you won’t be gone long. I mean, I sure hope nothin’ insane is gonna happen again… 

Hanako: It would be my luck… (she quickly shakes her head) No, no. I’m just going to make sure Kiwa-chan is okay, that’s all. She told me to use my phone, then stopped using hers. It’s… odd.

Shinju: Heh. Like all our boomer parents, always telling us to get off our phones and then getting mad if we take ten seconds to answer a text. 

Hanako: Heh… I-I mean, I can’t relate, but… 

Shinju: Haha. Well, anyway… Yosuke. What d’ya make of him calling for us like this? 

Hanako: (Her little attempt at a reassuring smile fades as the topic turns to the business at hand.) …My guess is likely the same as yours. He wants to somehow get us on his side, or otherwise aid him in getting back in Koharu’s good graces.

Shinju: Yeah… I don’t know what he’s playing around with, like he’s trying to get into Koharu’s pants or something. It’s like he forgot the rest of us were also there when he sicced that psycho on us. 

Hanako: (She shuffles a bit uncomfortably in her seat, but doesn’t say anything about it.) Y… Yeah. I certainly hope he doesn’t think he can win us over so easily. I do not hate the boy, but I cannot forget what he did, using her to drive a wedge between us all while she did not have her medication… I cannot forgive that so easily.

Shinju: You’re darn right. And he’s been spending so much of his time trying to schmooze with Koharu we don’t really even know why he was working with them in the first place.

Hanako: That’s what I don’t understand… Why give up his “mission” for his target? He didn’t just have some change of heart, or call from his conscience… 

Shinju: (She shakes her head and shrugs) Well, it could just be he saw how things were going when it started looking more like we’d win. And jumped ship rather than go down with it. 

Hanako: I… I hadn’t considered that. Just out to save his own skin… from what I hear, Worldeater at least insisted on a fight with Niko, to die on his own terms. …I almost respect that more than joining the winning side just to survive… 

Shinju: And now he’s still slinking around Koharu. He’s doing the awkward boy act like he really likes her or something, but, uh… that’s what he was doing as a Balancer, too. 

Hanako: …He might genuinely like her, too. But the way he’s acting, the things he’s done… I don’t know, Shinju. I’ll stay and hear him out, but…

Shinju: It’s tough to imagine what could’ve happened on that scuffed and stressful trip through the woods, while she didn’t have her medication, that would’ve appealed to him. Whole thing’s weird. 

Hanako: Mm. …Though, I do feel compelled to hear him out. You all didn’t cast me out, after everything I did. It’s only fair. Though… I am probably the last person qualified to listen to romantic matters, ehe… 

Yosuke: E-Eh, you’re already here? (he announces himself, slightly too loud, at the entrance, before scurrying towards the table with the two girls) S-Sorry for… being late, then. (he spots the fries) I would have ordered food for all of us if I’d been the first to arrive, obviously.

Hanako: Ah, um… I’m not really hungry anyway.

Yosuke: Don’t want anything to drink either?

Hanako: …Maybe some water.

Shinju: I got what I need with my little snack here. Take a seat, bro. 

Yosuke: (he takes place across the table from the girls) … Are you always this… austere? Here I thought girls liked cakes and fancy parfaits and stuff.

Shinju: This isn’t a date, where we’d get that kind of stuff. You don’t gotta open this meeting with negging, dude. 

Hanako: Indeed. This isn’t some after school, friendly get-together. You invited us out for a reason, Yosuke.

Yosuke: (his face falls) … Well, s-sorry… I didn’t mean to make anyone uncomfortable.

Hanako: It’s fine, really. (Her tone remains perfectly neutral) But… please, what did you want to talk about?

Yosuke: I know it’s a bother, and… you probably think I’m here to ask for your help with senpai, but… I dunno, there’s something I don’t get, and it’s worrying me.

Shinju: (With a sigh) Well, that makes three of us that have things we don’t understand, so go ahead. 

Yosuke: Is she… Still giving me a chance, you think? To be in the club, to be friends with you guys?

Shinju: Um… well, I think that’s what everyone is trying to do, ever since we decided to let you stay around after the Balancers thing. Not just Koharu. 

Yosuke: I thought you two’re just tolerating me because senpai decided to keep me around…

Hanako: …Yosuke, look. If you want honest advice… if Koharu has rejected you, perhaps it is for the best that you don’t come around the club anymore. Assuming, of course, she really did kick you from the club. I don’t… I don’t hold any personal grudge against you, Yosuke. But I don’t think you’re going to “win her back” by hanging around all the time, you know?

Yosuke: I-I mean, that’s the thing, right? She’s never told me to get bent, or that she doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore, or anything like that. If she wants me out of the club, she’s certainly never told me.

Hanako: She… hasn’t?

Yosuke: No, that’s… why I wanted to know if she’s told you anything… I think it’d be better if she outright rejected me if that’s what she wants.

Hanako: …She hasn’t said anything to me directly, no.

Shinju: If you’re hoping it’s ‘cause she’s secretly got the hots for you, I dunno about that. A lot of girls won’t want to turn a guy down flat ‘cause, who knows when one is gonna get violent or cause trouble for her. And that’s with regular guys, who haven’t already… well, we don’t need to go over it again. 

Yosuke: I… That’s… Yeah, I… I get that, Hayama-senpai. Understandable. H-Has Shirahara-senpai ever gone through something like that?

Shinju: Um, not that I know about. It’s just pretty common. 

Yosuke: R-Right. I mean, I’d never—(he hesitates as Her empty eyes flash before his, and freezes up)

Hanako: …Yosuke?

Yosuke: (he clears his throat) Sorry… I was gonna make another empty promise, I guess… Got a lot to learn… (he solemnly averts his gaze)

Shinju: (She leans slightly over the table) I sure hope you can promise not to get violent. Why wouldn’t you be able to? 

Yosuke: I can. I swear. But… I can’t say I’ve never hurt anyone before… (he rubs his eyes) I never wanted to hurt anyone, but… Have you ever thought… someone was so important? So special? Anything… no matter what, no matter who had to suffer for that person’s sake, it’s… it’s all worth it? Have you ever convinced yourself that it is the right thing to do… to do unforgivable things if it means that person… will be safe and happy? It’s… surprisingly easy.

Hanako: … 

Shinju: You’re… not talking about Koharu, it seems like.

Yosuke: She was like Koha—senpai, you know. In some ways, I mean. I did it for Her. Until I realized how stupid I was. Kyubey was never going to bring Her back. It’s… Ironically, because I realized she was not special. I mean, she was, to me, but… she wasn’t—I thought that nothing else mattered, that… in this world without her, everyone else was just… a drone. An object. An obstacle. That I wouldn’t mind if dozens, hundreds, thousands had to die if it meant She’d come back to me. She was the only person I’d ever seen as human… Until I realized that everyone is. That Her life wasn’t worth a single other one, no matter what she meant to me. But when I realized, it was already too late.

Hanako: I… I never killed anyone for… for the people I held dearest. But I can… (She shakes her head, a gentle breeze filling what was otherwise still air, hands unclenching under the table) …I can understand the feeling. I held Ueno-chan to such a high standard, then Koharu and Shinju, then Aoi… and I’m doing the same thing with Kiwa-chan. …But I’m not sure if I could ever… I-I mean, two hundred three people on that train, I… 

Yosuke: Like I said, it’s… surprisingly easy… Especially when you can tell yourself there was no way you could have known just how far Moonlover would’ve gone. When you can convince yourself that… you’re already a monster anyway, so what does it matter if you add another couple hundred to your conscience. God, I’m so stupid…

Hanako: …That was… I-I told myself I was too far gone to come back from what I was doing with Aoi. That I had fallen too far. And when I finally saw reason, I… I almost… (she shakes her head) …To this day, I still don’t understand why everyone… 

Shinju: Come on, Hanako. It’s not like you did anything that bad while you were hanging out with her. Yeah? 

Hanako: …I suppose… but… 

Shinju: (She gazes at Hanako briefly, giving her a nod as if to say they’ll talk about it later) So, it sounds like… your girlfriend was a Puella and she passed away, and Kyubey promised he’d bring her back if you helped out with the whole balancing thing? 

Yosuke: “Girlfriend” is a big word, but… more or less, yeah. 

Shinju: Did she live around here? Anyone we’d know? There are a lot of Puellae from our school who aren’t around anymore… 

Yosuke: Not likely. I used to live out in the sticks… No place for someone like me. Or Her.

Hanako: …You speak of this person with an… odd reverence. Was she that important to you…?

Yosuke: (he flashes a bitter smile) I spent more time with Her than you could possibly imagine… So many people thought She was excessive and obnoxious, but She was my friend. I could fit in, but She was a nail that stuck out and needed to be hammered down… Or at least, that’s what I guess their justification was… They made Her life a living hell — and there was nothing I could do. The teachers looked away, said we and the rest of the class just weren’t getting along and needed to resolve that on our own. She refused to give them one inch, doubling down on the behavior that rubbed them the wrong way over and over again. Whatever they did to make Her stop coming to school only made Her want to resist them more… But I could tell. I could tell.

Hanako: (As he speaks, her gaze gradually softens, then takes on a sympathetic visage) Yosuke… I never would have guessed. So she, um… made her wish not long after, I imagine?

Yosuke: Her parents and I, we… We tried to find a way to, I dunno, give Her a silver lining. We worked hard to throw Her an amazing party for her fourteenth birthday. We got Her gifts, we went to a theme park, we made Her all her favourite foods, … It was the greatest day of her life, She told me. That must’ve been when Kyubey struck.

Hanako: (She clenches her fist under the table, a light yet pronounced, sudden breeze fluttering around them)

Yosuke: She wished for that day to last forever, and so it did. I’d go to bed and wake up again on the same day. I must have lived through it hundreds of times before I started to be aware of it. But after a while, I realized something was wrong. We were repeating the same day, over and over again. The same gifts. The same foods. I knew she was onto it, that She remembered, but She never once cracked. Anything not to have to go back. I confronted her, over and over again, and over and over again she convinced me to go to bed, not do anything, and wake up at the start of the day again. Until one day… I couldn’t bear it anymore. Being trapped in her illusion until the end of time. I was too selfish to let her have it.

Shinju: … As long as she didn’t go dark in only one day, it sounds like Kyubey would never get what he wanted out of a wish like that. The heck was he thinking…? 

Hanako: Was it… just another of Kyubey’s experiments, perhaps…?

Yosuke: Maybe he counted on someone caught up in her wish to snap? That might be why I ended up… becoming aware of it.

Shinju: Snap…? What’d you do? 

Yosuke: I tried to convince her to let us go. I… didn’t know how any of this stuff worked, but… I mean, I knew there was something strange going on. I… I found out She had this ring… what you’d call a “Soul Gem”. She’d never worn that ring until that day, so… I assumed that ring was what was causing that… nightmare… (he covers his eyes with his hand) … so I destroyed it.

Hanako: (She stays silent, her eyes widening)

Yosuke: I… killed Her. I didn’t… know. When Kyubey came to collect, I… I wanted to make a contract with him, too. I wanted to bring her back, but… he said he didn’t care to indulge me, unless I offered to help him out.

Shinju: And of course he didn’t, in the end… 

Hanako: Of course he didn’t… just another pawn in his schemes… 

Yosuke: Something happened to my camera when she died… I guess he just thought that’d be useful for later, and right he was…

Hanako: Right, the camera… that’s how you were able to give the Balancers information on us, right?

Yosuke: Yeah. Somehow, it… It became able to look back at the past of anything it captured. Weirdly symbolic, I guess.

Shinju: And then that Chinese would take those pictures and use it to copy stuff of ours, huh?

Yosuke: Among others, yeah. Most importantly of all, your girlfriend’s mask. Without it, Worldeater wouldn’t have been a threat at all. 

Shinju: Yeah, it seems he was just a normal guy. … So to speak. I mean, he didn’t have any special powers. 

Yosuke: Kyubey did mention something about the powers of a Puella Magi sometimes lingering in objects… I guess my camera and that mask are cases of that?

Hanako: I think that was the common thread for that group Yui mentioned, The Conductors… Otherwise ordinary men who had objects imbued with lingering magic.

Yosuke: Oh! Worldeater was always yammering about those guys…

Shinju: That’s mostly Yui’s deal, but since that fop came to town I’ve had to brush up on their stupid stuff a lot more than I ever wanted to. 

Yosuke: (he sighs) I guess that’s another thing they never bothered telling me about. God, I’m such an idiot… But… But I thought that was where I belonged… With a bunch of lunatics who’d given up their humanity for… (he scoffs) … for what, actually?

Shinju: (She waves her hand in dismissive disgust) I have no idea. It didn’t seem like any of them cared about Kyubey’s thermodynamics or whatever. Who could? Well, I don’t know about the Chinese one. Maybe her. 

Yosuke: (he looks away to hide his guilt) … I thought I was already a monster. That it would come naturally to manipulate… to kill…

Shinju: Honestly, um… the real monsters of the world, I don’t think they think about stuff like that. 

Yosuke: You’re right… I guess. Doesn’t change what I did.

Hanako: That is true… but that doesn’t mean you’re past the event horizon either. Unlike the Balancers, you feel remorse. That… that counts for something. At least, to me it does.

Yosuke: I thought that other people were just… characters in a video game. I had to. I Shirahara-senpai was an easy target, because she reminded me of Her… She saved me.

Shinju: I treat people well even in my video games… 

Yosuke: T-That’s not really the point, eh… I meant that I started seeing them as—(he sighs) I guess it’s not easy to explain.

Hanako: As… as objects with purpose, unimportant otherwise. As functions, rather than living beings, something like that, perhaps?

Yosuke: Yeah… Well put, unfortunately.

Shinju: Well… (She crushes the empty container of fries in her hand) When you get right down to it, all you did was break some jewelry. It doesn’t sound like you knew what would happen if you did. Am I wrong? 

Yosuke: No… but my conscience doesn’t care about that detail.

Hanako: It wouldn’t, either. You may not have known, but… it doesn’t change the guilt you feel for your part in it.

Yosuke: That’s about it, yeah… (he sighs) I dunno, I guess… All that doesn’t really have anything to do with senpai. I don’t think it means she has to accept me or anything.

Shinju: Is it really more important for Koharu to accept you than any of us or Yui or anybody else, dude? Why her? 

Yosuke: Oh no, no, d-don’t get me wrong — I want to make things up to all of you! B-But I’m in love with her. I can’t help it.

Hanako: …On this, I am afraid I cannot relate. But if you took my picture, you probably figured that out by now, that I cannot help in matters of… romantic love.

Yosuke: Hmm? I mean, I could see your history, I can’t read your mind.

Hanako: Ah, um… d-don’t worry about it, then. Let’s just say that I am unqualified on matters of romance, and leave it at that. Ehe.

Yosuke: Well, I’m not really looking for, like, love advice or anything. It’s just… yeah, I guess maybe I just needed to vent.

Hanako: …Regardless of what happens, I’m grateful you opened up to us, Yosuke.

Shinju: You should probably tell Koharu about… I don’t think you mentioned her name?

Yosuke: Junna. Junna Kito. I’ll never forget her.

Shinju: I think it’ll go a long way towards people understanding you if they know what was up.

Yosuke: I suppose you’re right… She deserves to know the truth. Shirahara-senpai, I mean.