Yuzuki heads back home to her dorm after her longest weekday of classes. She heaves a sigh. The coursework at this level hardly seemed to be preparing her to sit in the psychiatrist’s chair. And that was if any psychiatric board would accept a practitioner who was crazy herself. 

Ikana hadn’t troubled her in quite a few months— since long before the Balancers— but a split personality didn’t just go away like that. Even worse, without her, she didn’t have any proper weapons on her Puella form. How much longer could she go without them?

When Yuzuki came down the street to her dorm, a dark-skinned woman appeared, coming the other way. Yuzuki tensed, reaching for her katana that wasn’t there. The woman matched the description Yui had told her. There weren’t that many people who looked like that in Japan. If Yuzuki ran, maybe she could make it to the door first.

She didn’t run. When they reached the door, the woman took off her sunglasses and spoke.

Melati: Yuzuki Tokai? I’m from the– 

Yuzuki: (She stops partway through getting her key out, taking a step back) I know who you are. I’ve got nothing for you. 

Melati: … Melati Nyaua, with the Balancers. I wanted to ask you a few things about the recent incident. 

Yuzuki: (Her hand closes around her phone in her pocket, although she knows telepathy would be faster to call for help) There’s nothing to tell. I was barely even involved! 

Melati: Well, yes, you’re not wrong about that. Relax, Tokai-san. I’m not here to fight or to ask you which one of your friends is weak to kryptonite. I’m not stupid.

Yuzuki: Just what, then!?

Melati: To start with something I think you’d be happy to answer… any sort of misconduct by your local Incubator, Kyubey. 

Yuzuki: Misconduct? Misconduct?? Like ordering this massacre to begin with? Like ordering those lunatics to derail a train or kill random people on live TV? What could be misconduct if none of that is?? 

Melati: (She raises an eyebrow) Do you have it on good authority he ordered them to do those things? They didn’t just do those things by themselves because they’re, as you put it, “lunatics?” (When Yuzuki is about to object again) Well, I guess it would be on Kyubey’s shoulders anyway, for not choosing his recruits better. But yes, the Pale Wardens do have an ethical code of conduct and there are consequences for breaking it.

Yuzuki: Pale W– what? 

Melati: Oh. That’s what Kyubey’s… social caste calls themselves. “Incubator” is just a job title for them. (When Yuzuki doesn’t reply right away, she continues) You’re smart. You must have thought it was odd for an Incubator to hire up a team of humans to carry out this work when he’d surely have the power to do it himself. Maintaining human collaborators is one way they try to ensure these things are being done ethically. 

Yuzuki: D-Does it matter if he can just pick the craziest people alive?? 

Melati: The rules might need to change to avoid such a situation. But that’s why I’m here to ask the questions.

Yuzuki: (She shakes her head, hastily getting out her key to go inside her dorm) No way, forget it. I’m not selling out my friends.

Melati: You won’t go unrewarded…

Yuzuki: There’s nothing you could give me that would make me want to—

Melati: Not even undoing your contract so you could go back to being a normal woman?

Yuzuki: (A pause. Yuzuki fumbles the key in her hand, and when she recovers, tries to play her reaction as disbelief) What? 

Melati: We could make that happen. I’m not asking you to sell any of your friends down the river. Just tell me about what wrong things Kyubey might have done. I can’t imagine you have any love for him.

Yuzuki: (Distracted, she shakes her head dismissively) If nothing he did in this “Balancing” was misconduct I have no idea what possibly could be.

Melati: To name a few relevant ones… (She counts them off on her fingers) Killing a person directly, without going through a human collaborator… making unproductive or dangerous contracts… dabbling in the power of the soul themselves, although I don’t think Kyubey’s ever done that one.

Yuzuki: Are you kidding? Kyubey does that stuff all the time! 

Melati: … specifically?

Yuzuki: If you’re being serious, you should already know! He’s been at this since way before this Balancing! He killed Alice’s aunt Mikoto years and years ago. You wanna do something useful? Go bring some justice for that rather than chasing us around for surviving! 

Melati: Mikoto… Rinju?

Yuzuki: I’m leaving now. If you keep hanging around here, I’m calling the police. (She enters her dorm, very quickly closing the door behind her)

Melati lingers for a few moments longer, writing something down in her notepad. Before she leaves, she drops a card into Yuzuki’s mailbox.