Hanako: W-Wait, so… I really do have to beat all three of their stories, and keep the save files separate?

Hanako was clearly struggling with this new game, but she had made some headway. It was only due to Ueno’s help that she avoided making a critical mistake with her saving habits. But this game was different from the one she had spent the last few months working on. While it was fundamentally easy enough to pick up, the differences made someone like Hanako feel like she was starting from nothing.

Ueno: If you wanna be– … well, you know, you don’t have to do anything in a video game, ‘cuz it’s a video game, but this way saves time on doing everything. 

Hanako: R-Right! But, you know… I do want to see all of this game’s story. (A game over noise is promptly heard from the television in Hanako’s room) …Even if it takes me months, just like the last game. Ehe…

Ueno: You got it! You already beat the last game so I’m sure your skills of a gamer will come through! 

Hanako: I hope so! I’ve been at this hobby all year, off and on, so I hope I have improved somewhat! (She resumes playing, only for her phone to start ringing) Ah… I should probably take this. …I should. …Right?

Ueno: As long as it isn’t spam! Spam is really on the rise lately…

Hanako: It certainly feels like it, persistent as they are… (With a sigh, she pauses the game, setting the controller near Ueno and leaves the room, then the apartment before answering the phone in a quiet hallway, taking the stairs down.) …You’ve been insistent, Balancer-san.

Melati: (A short pause) Well, I’m glad if Arashi-san has spread my number around enough for you all to know who’s calling. Melati speaking. 

Hanako: I memorized the card you left at New Eden. As a caretaker of sorts… I feel it prudent to gather information of my own. Besides, you’ve been… somewhat relentless in trying to contact me. I cannot avoid this forever.

Melati: There shouldn’t be anything unpleasant enough to avoid. I only want to ask you a few things about what happened with one of the Balancers you dealt with before. 

Hanako: But you, yourself are a Balancer. You can easily surmise the reason for my hesitation. For all of our hesitation.

Melati: Yes, everyone else has said the same. However, I don’t think there should be a problem discussing what already happened between you and the previous Balancing team, yes?

Hanako: That depends. Depends on… what you plan to do, exactly, with this information… and how it might come back to haunt us in the future.

Melati: I expect Arashi-san’s told you what I’m here to do. If Kyubey is left to his own devices here… do you want him to get away with writing that you caused that train derailment? 

Hanako: Kyubey doesn’t write- i-it doesn’t matter, we dispatched Moonlover not long after that incident. She paid for her crimes in full, by my blade and by Shinju’s water in Lake Lacrima. Even in her Magia, she fell to us. It is the fate of all Balancers who mean to erase us. And… we are getting more efficient at it.

Melati: It sounds like you’re saying she derailed the train, after all. And you wouldn’t agree with “Moonlover” saying that it was necessary to stop you? 

Hanako: Of course not! Her goal was our deaths! Our goal was merely survival! To suggest otherwise suggests I am correct in my hesitance in aiding you in any way! (The wind surges around her, the sound coming through the phone)

Melati: … Of course Moonlover never said such a thing. I only ask in case Kyubey attempts that defense at an inquiry. 

Hanako: What business is that inquiry of mine? He faces action among Incubator kind, yes? Unless he means to Balance us again, his fate is none of my concern. My focus is on this city, and the people I care about who reside here. Nothing more.

Melati: In that case, getting rid of Kyubey would be to your advantage. Not all Incubators recruit the same kind of people he does. 

Hanako: …But it is never so simple, is it? We help you with Kyubey now, sure, but what comes after? You are our “ally” this time, but then, how much of the information remains on “file”? To be used against us in the future? I will not be the one that leads Mitakihara into slaughter.

Melati: (With a sigh) There’s nothing so dramatic going on here. Anyway, I thank you for confirming for me that Moonlover was the cause of that derailment and that it wasn’t necessary. I didn’t need Kyubey claiming otherwise. 

Hanako: …So that’s it, then? All you needed from me was something you likely could have confirmed via questioning my friends? That warranted all these calls?

Melati: Well, not quite. After all, you were one of the few people there when “Moonlover” passed away. (She speaks slowly, like she’s going through records) I hear she had a habit of projecting her grief all around herself when she was using Magia… I don’t suppose you picked up anything about her recruitment while you were fighting?

Hanako: … (She’s quiet for a moment, the sound of wind dying down all at once) …It… was overwhelming. I was the only one who could… “decipher” those feelings of hers as they poured out of her. I learned her story… even if I’m not sure how I did so.

Melati: (She follows up quickly, as if it was a planned question) Did she seem to you like she was always the kind of person who would cause that train derailment?

Hanako: If you mean “completely unhinged” and a “complete psychopath with no regard for any life, including her own” then yes.

Melati: Someone Kyubey should perhaps have known better than to recruit, then. If that’s true, then don’t worry, you won’t be held liable for breaking her Soul Gem. 

Hanako: …I wasn’t the one to break Moonlover’s Soul Gem. I wanted to, very much so. I tried, but…

Melati: Miss Hayama, then? Well. Don’t suppose it makes much difference. Probably limited the destruction compared to knocking her out and leaving again. 

Hanako: She followed us to the very edge of Mitakihara… if we did not stop her when we did, she would have likely done catastrophic damage to the city, or worse, completed her Balancing.

Melati: Don’t worry about justifying it to me. I’m not here to make that judgment call anyway. If she was that kind of person and behaved improperly they’ll make sure that reflects on Kyubey. 

Hanako: (She’s completely silent for a full minute, as if trying to process something) …I genuinely do not understand you, Balancer-san. You’re… really only going after Kyubey, and not trying to build a case against us?

Melati: … Sorry, what case would I be making? That another Balancing team should be sent in? The Incubators will make that determination themselves. 

Hanako: And you have no hand in determining whether or not we will face another Balancing… Balancer-san?

Melati: Insofar as I might determine whether your Incubator will continue to be Kyubey… and if it ends up being Aisha, she could ask me to look into something… but right now I’m here over Kyubey’s conduct and also Diana. 

Hanako: …If this Aisha wants us Balanced, you know this makes us enemies, right? You can hopefully understand our reluctance to help you, knowing this.

Melati: It won’t be me coming to do the Balancing, if it happens. Just so we’re clear. 

Hanako: …Are you really a Balancer?

Melati: Just not the kind you’re familiar with. 

Hanako: I have no frame of reference, nor point of comparison… 

Melati: Then, let it be enough to say I’m not in the same line of work as the five or six you’ve met before. Information, like what you’ve told me, is all I need. 

Hanako: (She freezes, even if Melati can’t see this, and goes pale) I-I…

Melati: If you come up with anything else about the Balancers you dealt with, or Diana, you have my number. 

Hanako: (Hanako stands still in the quiet spot in her apartment’s stairway, phone still to her ear, not even registering the beeping of a disconnected call. It’s about a minute or two before Hanako composes herself, slowly making her way back upstairs) I… I messed up…