Three weeks and a day had passed since the storm in Yui’s soul was quelled.

The doors to New Eden opened unceremoniously. An equally unassuming figure walked through the door. She was a taller woman with unnaturally long, blonde hair. A pale lavender coat hung on her shoulders, and her hands were stuffed in her pockets. Her sunken, baggy eyes were closed until she found the questionnaire on a table near the entrance. She took a pen out of her pocket, clicking it before filling out the paper in record time. 

Alice: (she takes a look at the questionnaire when the woman slides it back over to her) O-Oh, eh. Welcome. That’s an… unusual response.

Diana: I know. It’s unorthodox, but if you could file it all the same. I’ll deal with the consequences. …Or I won’t.

As Alice made her way to the office, passing the document to the owner on the way, Yui met the woman in the main room, standing in the boxing ring.

Yui: (She gives the application a quick glance) …Pretty cheeky, you know. I’m not usually one for pranks, but I’d imagine you’re trying to make a statement, filling out all five boxes like that.

Diana: I guess I just wanted the full tour. Kind of hard to get a feel for a Puella haven like this when four out of five perspectives are closed off.

Yui: (Her eyes widen, then narrow before returning to normal) Well damn, guess I’m caught off guard. Dunno how to proceed with someone like you. Normally, see, I start off by facing off with someone here, and interview according to what they answered.

Diana: So do that, then. Start with number one.

Yui: …Not a shot in hell. Someone like you knows what you’re doing. Far too much for me to condescend to, at least. If I had to guess, you’ve been around the block a couple times.

Diana: … (The woman pauses, as if calculating her response.) …You could say that, yeah.

Yui: That wasn’t a dig at your age or anything. I just hear enough whispers about what it’s like across the Pacific. American chicks especially hate being talked down to.

Diana: (The woman doesn’t react. Visibly.) I don’t feel like starting at a five, though. I prefer to build up to it.

Yui: Aha. You’re the reactive type, then. Makes sense. 

The woman didn’t visibly react again. But Yui was used to this by now, reading between someone’s lines. Yui wasn’t reading into her soul, however. Not yet. This was just honest-to-goodness feeling out someone’s personality. Whoever this woman was, however, she wasn’t going to be provoked into dropping the mask by petty taunts and jabs.

Yui: Well, let’s compromise, then. Get in the ring, and show me what you got.

Diana: …I got a better idea. Since I’m not feeling up to showing off my power or anything right now.

The woman climbed up into the ring, using slow, deliberate movements to do so.

Diana: A spar, but without our magic.

Yui: …I’m not sayin’ no, lady, but you know this is a Puella clinic and training center, right?

Diana: Right. But if you can’t defend yourself without relying on your magic, this place isn’t really worth my time.

Yui: (Yui folds her arms across her chest, a single eyebrow raised) …The hell do you think you are, anyway?

Diana: First, I gotta know. Do you accept my terms, or do you not?

It was an extremely odd way of phrasing that question. Odd, and pointedly specific. Yui’s nature screamed at her to question it, to go against the flow. To find some hidden, third option. There was something odd about this woman, however, and the best way to learn something in a situation like this would be to play ball. No stakes had been set. But somehow, Yui knew that consequences would be dire if she tried to force some where none were made.

Yui: (Yui gives a somewhat dramatic sigh, shrugging her arms and shaking her head) Fine, fine, I accept. We’ll just trade punches or something. Now, who exactly am I punching here?

Diana: (The woman sighs, closing her eyes and answering in perfect American English, exhaustion pouring out of her) <…My name is Diana. Diana Caelum.>

Yui: <…Diana Caelum, huh? Well then, it’s nice to meet you, Diana.>

Diana: (Her eyes widen a bit, as if this were the last place she expects someone to understand her.) <Huh. You speak English?>

Yui: (She smirks, briefly nudging her head back towards the office.) <My partner and I both do. But uh… we’re the only ones in this place that do. So if you want an audience to be able to keep up…> …you’ll have to stick to Japanese.

Diana: (Diana closes her eyes again, nodding slowly.) Fine by me. (Still in her coat, she slowly raises her fists into a basic fighter’s stance.) And just to be clear, this is just a spar. Not a fight to the death, not a fight between magical girls, just a normal spar.

Yui: (Yui bounces a bit on the spot, rolling her shoulders.) …Fine by me.

Yui didn’t hesitate, practically throwing herself forward with a straight right punch. As expected, Diana blocked the attack. Her stance was too basic for anything equally basic to get through. But as Yui laid in with a barrage of simple punches and kicks, it became obvious to anyone that knew her that this wasn’t actually a contest of martial prowess, nor was it ever really a spar. 

This was a game. A game with rules that both participants knew and understood, at least to a point. Diana Caelum never once threw a counter, nor an attack of her own in turn. True to her word, she was testing Yui. Not wanting to be outdone, Yui began to mix up her attacks, using the style learned first by Maestro Velare, her cage fighting survival instincts developed at an early age. Diana shifted in turn, continuing to match and block and dodge every strike.

When this failed to phase Diana, Yui adapted her natural style, her own style that she put together as a Puella Magi. Even without her powers, Yui was a force to be reckoned with, teaching herself that even if her ideals keep her from killing another person, that she doesn’t have to pull her punches. Just aim them differently. This pushed Diana back a step or two, but it wasn’t long before the newcomer adapted yet again.

Finally, Yui shifted into a style given to her by her mother Yuma Amaya, taught to her by Yui’s grandfather Garou Arashi, and passed down to Yui’s father Kaito. The Arashi Family technique. Misdirection that could blind even omniscience. This was finally what broke through Diana’s impregnable defenses, and a single straight jab landed on the American woman’s jaw. This was finally what caused Diana to fight back.

Yui wasn’t prepared, of course. Diana’s attacks were powerful, yet calculated. Each blow using just enough force to cause the exact amount of damage needed in the moment. But more than that, Yui couldn’t follow the flow of Diana’s combat style. Whenever she anticipated one attack, it seemed another came from out of nowhere, with no rhyme or reason behind each strike.

Forced back on her own now, Yui’s eyes flashed. But it was that exact moment where Diana jumped back, holding out her left palm.

Diana: Okay, that’s enough.

Yui: Wha—

Diana: If we keep this up, magic’s gonna get involved. Neither of us want that.

Yui: …But what if—

Diana: No, really, you don’t.

Yui: Tch…

Diana: Still, I got what I came for. <Kinda feel bad for anyone who answers above a “3” on that little sheet, though. God damn.>

Yui: So, what, I pass your little test, or whatever?

Diana: <Sure. Why not?> (She reads the look on Yui’s face, and after a beat, continues) I wanted to see how someone running a Puella clinic actually fought. If you were half-assing it, I would’ve burned it to the ground. But the best way to get to know someone is to fight them. Without powers, since some Puella can hide behind magic pretty damn easily. 

Yui: Can’t fault the logic, I guess… ‘Course, if you were really out to destroy this place, I wouldn’t have honored your request in the first place. I would’ve fought you full on, right from the start.

Diana: (Her eyes widen in a rare show of surprise) …Damn, you’re quick. I’d ask how you picked up on that, but then I’d risk losing the first real interesting thing I’ve seen in ages. (She closes her eyes, nodding after another beat of silence) …I’ll be in touch, Yui.

Yui: Wait, you’re leaving? Already? But I didn’t give the tour or anything—

Diana: We both know that isn’t why I came here, Yui. <Don’t insult me now.> (She rolls out under the bottom rope of the ring, walking out without another word, despite Yui’s growing protests)

Yui: …Diana Caelum, huh? Interesting isn’t even the word for it…