One snowy morning, Kohaku enters the New Eden gym, brushing snow from her shoulders. She carries with her a tablet with JSDF markings on them. She taps on its screen a few times before calling out. 

Kohaku: Hello? Arashi-san, are you there? It’s Kohaku. 

Yui: (a voice calls out from the ajar office door on the other side of the floor) Yo! I’ll be right with ya! (A moment passes before Yui emerges from the office, spotting Kohaku and striding around the ring to meet her) Oh, hey Cap. What’s up?

Kohaku: Mixture of business and a personal visit. The JSDF is still going around checking on every household. (She raps on her tablet with her knuckles) I wanted to see what was up around here, too. 

Yui: Oh, well… we’re up an’ runnin’ at a hundred percent. Honestly, anything else I’d ask for at this point’d be convenience than necessity. Y’all have done plenty for us as it is. Damage was minimal, and business is slowly picking up. (eyeing the tablet, Yui casts a wary gaze up at Kohaku) { Is this thing like… recording for quality and assurance purposes or something? Or can we talk normally? } 

Kohaku: What? No, I’m just using it to fill out our records. Someone has to make sure nobody died alone at home while everything was going on. 

Yui: (Yui visibly relaxes) Can’t be too careful, ‘specially if the topic of magic comes up, yeah?

Kohaku: Yes… I hear you’ve picked up a fair few girls to train. Though not from around here, by the sound of it. 

Yui: I didn’t exactly hand out fliers. I dunno how girls from Hokkaido of all places heard of me, but…

Kohaku: And you haven’t seen any new girls from Mitakihara? 

Yui: New? No. Not that I can sense, anyway.

Kohaku: Good. Then Kyubey’s suspended his schemes for now. (She lowers the tablet) By the way, I’ve heard there’s been a little trouble with those Hokkaido girls. 

Yui: Kyubey’s skipped town, if it knows what’s good for it. (She sighs, then shakes her head) …One of ‘em is a little unruly, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. One of ‘em though, another one? She’s a quick learner. An’ Seia Yamano started training under me as well. It’s just one bad apple from Biei tryin’ to bring in a bunch.

Kohaku: You gave me her full name like she’s a celebrity, but I don’t know any Yamanos. 

Yui: Right, yeah… um, blind girl, stayed with Anisa away from town during all that shit with the Balancers. 

Kohaku: … I never thought about it before, but I’m surprised we don’t see Kyubey targeting the disabled more often. I suppose they’d probably get killed before becoming a Witch, or else he would. 

Yui: …It probably does. Probably where our rank-and-file Witches come from.

Kohaku: Like I said, they’d most likely get killed on their first hunt, before they could become a Witch. 

Yui: Either or. Little bastard likes to make wishes that bring instant despair, when it gets desperate. Or when it does science.

Kohaku: Speaking as such a science experiment myself, yes. 

Yui: But it doesn’t make me feel great, knowing we don’t have any newbies here. On the one hand, it does mean the cat’s not hanging around. On the other hand, we know it’s planning against us. Just a matter of how long it’ll take ‘fore it strikes out again. Or whatever it decides to do.

Kohaku: Yes, we should make sure to be more ready for if something else happens. I’m sure Kyubey doesn’t want to increase our numbers, either. Speaking of which, it sounds like you’ve kicked out Kobayashi. 

Yui: Man… it ain’t that serious. I didn’t ban her, she just got under my skin so I asked her to leave, like, for the day.

Kohaku: It seems she’s gone back to her hometown afterward… 

Yui: Yep. Seems that way. …Just to reiterate, she ain’t banned from the place. Since that’s the story goin’ around. I ain’t banned anyone, really.

Kohaku: That’s good. I have to think this won’t be the last time those balancers try something, so we should try to keep every Puella we can. 

Yui: I’m doin’ my best with training what girls do come my way.

Kohaku: And… (She looks Yui in the eyes) How are you doing, personally? 

Yui: (Yui hesitates, eventually averting Kohaku’s gaze with a sigh) …Y’know. Been better, I guess. …Hangin’ in there, and all that.

Kohaku: As good as could be expected. Some of the girls we lost were your friends, after all. 

Yui: … (She’s quiet for a moment, finally letting out a sigh, still avoiding her gaze) …Don’t suppose you got time to go a round or two?

Kohaku: Go around? Sorry? 

Yui: Y’know. Spar with me.

Kohaku: Spar? (She shakes her head) And I suppose you want it to be an all-out battle, Puella transformations and all. 

Yui: …Ideally, yeah.

Kohaku: We’ve been over this. All of us only have so much grief to bat around. Even if Aoi can heal forever, it’d be easy for something bad to happen. We don’t shoot live rounds at each other in the military either. 

Yui: (Yui was quiet for a long moment, then just nodded slowly, meeting her gaze again) …Was worth a shot.

Kohaku: Is there not anyone from that old mafia ring you could get a spar from?  

Yui: What, the Conductors? I wouldn’t wanna fight a normal human at full strength, you know. I just… I kinda need someone strong enough that can kick my ass when I’m trying.

Kohaku: Well. I can’t say I kick anyone’s ass. (She smiles very briefly but then looks serious) Shinju might say yes to such a request, but I’ll have to ask you not to. I don’t want her doing things that’ll get her hurt for no reason.  

Yui: Can’t say I blame you. Not even a hundred percent sure she could beat me clean like that. You probably think I’m crazy, but… (She took a deep breath, seriousness masking her entire face) …My soul’s fucked up right now, Captain. Mei was more than just a friend, she was my number one pupil. And that might not mean much, but… well, I saw myself in her. Like, a path forward for me, one that wasn’t paved in bloodshed. Something productive. She was kind of my living legacy, in a way. Born to a mafia family, raised and groomed by another underground society, fighting for food from age twelve, seeing violence as just part of life, killing was normal… but Mei, she was something different. And not to throw Alice and the music side under the bus or anything, but it felt like a mask. Mei was a way out of the violent cycle, a way to look at the mountain of bodies in my past and say “no, I’m better than that.” …You’re a soldier, right? You might know what I’m talkin’ about. …Mei was like my version of Shinju, I guess. …And no therapy, no time, nothing I can think of is gonna set my soul right. So I’m finding… something that can beat some sense into me. Because my Witch, that’s what her trait is. Fighting. And she’s riding shotgun with a hand on the wheel.

Kohaku: … Sorry, but I don’t think you should spend time listening to your Witch. That sounds like the way people go out. Have you been using Grief Seeds properly? Or getting Aoi to heal you, at least? 

Yui: (She pulls out her Soul Gem, which is nearly pristine. Minor clouding, but nothing serious.) It’s… different for an ‘Angel’ like me. I could clean this thing right now, but bein’ a Malefica, she’s… never too far away still. 

Kohaku: And you don’t see that as a problem? That it might come out at any moment?

Yui: Man, Anisa is better at explaining this than I am… ugh. Um… never become a Malefica, if you can avoid it. It’s like, you and the Witch are both “there” at all times. We keep ours under control— or at least I do, I can’t speak for Anisa or Cecilia. And Kae’s dead. It’s just… if she gets the fight she wants, she’ll settle down, I know that much. But she also has to lose said fight. And when she’s got a hand on the wheel, I’m tough as nails. You’re the first person that comes to mind that can fit the bill. But I’m not gonna like, twist your arm over it, either. It’s… I mean, I know I’m asking a lot.

Kohaku: (She shakes her head) I don’t fit any bills. I wasn’t able to finish things with those balancers myself, and Shinju had to get blood on her hands. 

Yui: Okay, but like, I still think you clear me, easy. 

Kohaku: Shinju and her new Sango “clear” me too, probably. That doesn’t make it a good idea for us to fight. 

Yui: That thing was so cool, too. I didn’t get a freaking storm dragon… 

Kohaku: Having a minion like that might be her way of getting closer to what I can do… (She clears her throat) Though I shouldn’t get too conceited like that. 

Yui: Heh. You’re allowed to be proud of her, y’know. She’s a good kid. Better your footsteps to follow than mine, anyway.

Kohaku: Though I spent most of my time trying to get her to not follow my footsteps… 

Yui: Would you rather her follow mine?

Kohaku: There’s more than two sets of footsteps in the world, I should hope. 

Yui: …Yeah, maybe following her own way is best.

Kohaku: (She speaks with a sigh) Well, I still have a lot more welfare checks to do, so… in the meantime, try not to do anything I wouldn’t do, yeah? 

Yui: Hey, I’m still a punk! I got a reputation to uphold here! …But uh, thanks for coming by.