Lying on a futon in the middle of the living room, Koharu stares up at the ceiling, her surroundings illuminated only by the faint light of the screen of the laptop resting on top of her chest. She never was one for sensible ergonomy when working. If you can even call this working. The worksheet on her screen is as blank as the ceiling, and though she is still awake, she might as well be asleep. The only problem is that she isn’t.

On the futon next to her, Hikari lies motionless, either fast asleep or trying desperately not to notice Koharu’s insomnia. On the other side, Kayo and Chiaki are out light lights, one curled up in a little ball, the other spread eagle, halfway into conquering his sister’s futon for himself as well. How many people would be killed tonight because she can’t get any closer to finding the culprit? How high are the odds that someone is breathing their last at this very moment, lonely and forgotten by the rest of society, like disposable trash? Maybe her father has found another one. Maybe he is the next one. 

Koharu knows even her mother has been looking into the case, and even her mother hasn’t found a thing. In a way, that’s almost a relief.

A sudden knock. No one else seems to notice, so her mother must truly be asleep, she concludes. Or truly trying to pretend to be asleep. Or maybe only Koharu heard the knock, and there wasn’t actually a knock. It won’t be the first time she hears or sees or smells something that no one else knows is there.

Another knock, slightly louder this time. Her father wouldn’t knock. Neither would Midori, if she even managed to find her way home before dawn. Besides, this is not a knock on the door. She knows what a knock on the door sounds like from all the times teachers have pretended to respect her boundaries by knocking on the Newspaper Club room and then coming in without being allowed in. This is a knock on glass. She stands up and opens the curtains. It’s him. But he doesn’t look the way she expected him to look, having climbed up to her window. She can see him breathing the way he normally only breathes when he’s hurried up a flight of stairs. She can see him look at him the way he only looked at her when he talked about the things that haunt him.

Koharu: (she opens the window, as quietly as possible) What are you doing here? It’s… the middle of the night.

Yosuke: (he looks at her like a deer in headlights) S-Senpai, I…

Koharu: Koharu.

Yosuke: K-Koharu, I-I…

She doesn’t know. What does he need her to do? This is usually the part when the girl takes his hand, or hugs him, or kisses him, but she’s not exactly sure how that even works. Besides, if she kissed him now, he might get the wrong idea—

Yosuke: I found a body.

Koharu: … What?

Yosuke: I found a body. In an alleyway. A woman. Dead. A single bullet wound. Pinprick, like they say on the news.

Koharu: Are you—

Yosuke: I have pictures! I… took pictures, it’s… (he swallows) S-Sorry, I thought… This could be our lead, but—

Koharu: How did you—What were you doing out late at night? At a place where people get murdered?

Yosuke: D-Does that matter? Look, I’ll explain later, but we need to… We need to call the police.

Koharu: And let them take evidence before we can?

Yosuke: Wait, you wanna—? No! No, no, no, senp—Koharu, we’re… not gonna—Besides, I’m, eh, pretty sure taking evidence from a crime scene is, like, a serious offense.

Koharu: We know more about all this stuff than the cops do. We’ve got a better shot at finding who did this, so we need to get there first.

Yosuke: (he raises his voice, but still being careful not to wake anyone) And what if the killer’s still lurking around?

Koharu: Then they would’ve killed you when you discovered the body.

Yosuke: No, no, no, you don’t— The only reason why I— I took pictures, okay? We could literally do the thing where I— (he holds up his camera) This thing still works, remember? With some luck, I can produce a picture of our killer, and we can go from there, right? But we’re not heading into the shady part of town late at night to go look at a corpse, Koharu. We’re not.

Koharu: We’re not. But I am.

Yosuke: Now you’re just being unreasonab— (he immediately stops himself as he notices Koharu’s glare) No, I… understand this is important to you, but… I mean, I get you’re curious and you want to see this case solved — I want to see this case solved, too, but… I don’t want you to stick your head where it doesn’t belong and lose it.

Koharu: … I… I get that this is dangerous. And I know you don’t wanna see that corpse again. I know, I… understand, but—

Yosuke: — It’s not about that—

Koharu: — Hanako and Shinju go out there, they put themselves out there, they risk their lives every night for the sake of all of us, and I can’t. I keep telling you I never made a contract because I wanted to solve problems with my own head and my own two hands, but that’s a lie. I’m a coward. The only reason why I never made a contract is because I was afraid of dying. So I need… while they are fighting, I need to do the absolute best I can as well. Even if it’s unwise, or… unreasonable.

Yosuke: … (he sighs) I… get you, but—

Koharu: I don’t want you to have to see that body again. It’s not a pleasant memory. I’ll go there alone, but you have to tell me where it is.

Yosuke: No, no, I’ll come with you… You’re right, I guess if this is really a Puella Magi thing, the police aren’t going to be any good.

Koharu: Haven’t been getting any closer to the truth with the dozens of bodies they have been able to investigate so far. (she grabs her school backpack, which is still lying in a corner, and walks up to the window, determined to jump out)

Yosuke: Eh, senpai…  are you sure you can’t just leave through the front door?

Koharu: (she stops in her path, frowning) … I guess. (she turns around, headed towards the front door)

Yosuke: C-Can I come in and take the stairs back down again? I don’t wanna climb all the way back.

Koharu: Just watch your step, okay?