Cecilia: Yui, god damn it… should you even be sitting up right now?

Swirling, iridescent darkness

Cecilia: I know you’re stronger than most. That doesn’t mean—

Fierce wind

Television static

Cecilia: For the love of—

Thunder

Hanako: I-Is she awake?!

A symphony born of chaos and filled with harmonious noise rising to a crescendo—

Cecilia: J-Just sit still, Yui! For a moment, while you—

Metallic clanking, soft blows against leather, doors opening and closing, █████’s voice muffled in the distance, footsteps leading down—

Cecilia: Your fucking Soul Gem almost melted, Yui!

Freeze.

Cecilia: …Yui?

The basement of New Eden comes into focus, all at once. Yui’s eyes focus, unfocus, and refocus a few times. She blinks, the concerned faces of Hanako and Cecilia hovering nearby as Yui realizes she was recently lying on a cot. And then, the memory. The radiant heat, the intensity of it, the impossibility of it… Melati could destroy the entire world with this power if she chose to. But she ran. Why? She didn’t want to use it, but even more than that, she didn’t want to give up Aoi’s location. Yui learned more than she expected, but less than she needed—

Hanako: Yui?

Yui: …Huh? Y-Yeah… um… 

Visible relief on both of their faces. Cecilia’s fingertips brush against Yui’s Soul Gem, which rests in Yui’s left hand, and even more relief sets in.

Yui: …Melted, you said?

Cecilia: …Almost. I can only imagine what that did to your soul…

Yui: …Made it malleable. Lucky for me, my soul already was. Or I’d be dead right now.

Hanako: Y-Yui, don’t talk like that—

Yui: Melati knew this, Hanako. She knew my soul would survive, and that I’d shield Seia from the worst of it. She knew you weren’t close enough to get hit. Calculating fuckin’ bitch…

Cecilia: I… Yui, I should have been there—

Yui: She would’ve absolutely killed you, Cecilia. No… this was a game. I lost.

Hanako: A-Are you saying she does the same thing Diana does? Plays games with—

Yui: No. No, not quite. …Ugh. (She lies back on the cot, in a semi-seated position, her head against the wall) …Not quite. Melati knew my call was a trap. I knew it was an ambush from her, s’why I went out to the middle of goddamn nowhere. If I’d stayed here, she would never have shown up. Too much collateral damage for her liking. I knew the risks, but bringing you two in…

Hanako: I would have gone, regardless, Yui. I… I might not have lost anything to those Balancers last year, but… 

Yui: No, I get it. Same with Seia, I bet. …Speakin’ of—

Cecilia: Upstairs, keeping those girls from Biei busy.

Yui: Son of a… they came back? Why? Didn’t they get enough to stand on their own?

Hanako: They… wanted Aoi’s healing. Apparently, the Witch population in Biei has grown… thin.

Yui: …What’d you tell them?

Cecilia: That you were incapacitated, and that that was taking all of our focus. They seemed content to try again next week, but…

Yui: …Kicked the can, huh? I can respect it, given the circumstances.

Hanako: …Speaking of stalling… Cecilia…

Yui: Huh?

Hanako: …Cecilia, why were you there, at the site where we fought Melati?

Cecilia: …I had a vision. A flash of one. It was… urgent. I needed to be there, even if I could not see or understand why.

Hanako: …That’s convenient, isn’t it?

Yui: Oi…

Hanako jumps, despite how quiet Yui’s voice is at the moment.

Yui: …Let it be, alright? I’d be dead without Cecilia right now. Don’t really care how it turned out that way. I’m alive, Melati ran, and… I learned something through all that waste of time. I think. …I need to clear my head, though. I still feel… awful. Sluggish.

Yui stands slowly, a bit shaky, but after a moment of testing her basic movement and reflexes, she nods, then walks past a protesting Cecilia

Cecilia: H-Hey, should you be—

Yui: Hanako… you wanna grill Cece for answers, go ahead, but don’t stress about it. Far as I care, the Oracle did one good deed today.

Hanako: …Y… Y-Yesterday.

Yui: Huh? 

Hanako: …Today is Sunday, Yui. That’s why those girls were here. …You’ve been out for almost a full day.

Yui: … Point stands.

Yui ascends from the clinic into a nearly empty gym up above, spotting Seia near the office. She thinks to give a wave before realizing how silly that would be, and instead, calls out.

Yui: …I’d say ‘good morning’ or something to be ironic, but I think that might be in bad taste. …Sorry to worry you, Seia.

Seia: It’s alright. (A small pump of her fist) I believed in you. Make sure to run your healing a little so you don’t get cancer from the sun. I thought of that while you were resting. 

Yui: Shit, I didn’t think to check for tumors. (She cracks her knuckles) I think I did a lot of the physical healing in my weird coma thing. …I wasn’t “asleep” exactly, but uh… well, uh, yeah. …You alright up here? Didn’t get hit by that blast at all, right?

Seia: I’ll be alright. I’m tough. I sunburn pretty easily but it should be healed now. 

Yui: Good, good. Hanako seems pretty alright too. Well… physically, anyway, so I guess we’re good. Did those Biei girls give you any trouble?

Seia: Mm… (She walks over to the ring, finding it by touch) They were wanting healing. Seems like Grief Seeds are getting harder to come by. 

Yui: Yeah… we need to get Aoi back, one way or another. I can provide backup healing with some of my Grief Seed stash by next Sunday, but…

Seia: Girls have been coming by more lately. I didn’t know how much work she was doing. … At least Patient-san from another world must be eating good. 

Yui: If my suspicion’s correct, then she might not be off-world. I can’t explain it. Just a feeling I got when I was interrogating Melati. …Doesn’t make a bit of difference, though, since she could be anywhere. 

Seia: I sure hope for everyone that she is still around. Hopefully close. As fun as a flight to Indonesia or wherever Melati is from would be… 

Yui: Yeah… hey, Seia, can I ask you to hold down the fort a little longer? I wanna go for a walk. Clear my head.

Seia: (She raises an eyebrow) Just a walk? 

Yui: Yeah, like, for real this time. If it was somethin’ else, I would tell you, heh… s-sorry. Yeah, just a walk. Gotta make sure these legs still work, y’know?

Seia: Make sure to put on some sunscreen. (She gives a sad, weak chuckle, only after she’s made the joke) 

Yui: (The initial silence is from Yui smiling, which, in hindsight, she realizes is silly. She gives an awkward little chuckle of her own) I’ll remember that. I’ll be back soon.

Leaving New Eden, Yui takes a look around the city as she walks, a bit aimless. It looks the same, of course, but Yui’s experience causes her to take in the sights this evening with renewed appreciation. After a few minutes, or possibly longer, given Yui’s dissociative state, she spots a familiar figure walking in her direction. No, familiar wasn’t entirely accurate here. There was something different about her. Brighter, perhaps? More radiant? More… “in focus” maybe? Regardless, Yui shakes her head before she could be caught staring and gives a little wave once she’s spotted.

Yui: Er, yo, Yuzu!

Yuzuki: (She is occupied looking into the shop windows until Yui calls out. She looks distinctly different, having her hair in a ponytail on one side and trying out contacts) Oh. Hello, Yui. I was just on my way over to the gym. 

Yui: I uh, I left Seia runnin’ things, since it was slow. Y’know… healer bein’ missing and all. (Rubbing the back of her head nervously) That looks good on you, by the way. …No sense hiding it, but uh… your soul, it feels more… I dunno, present? I can’t do words good right now.

Yuzuki: Yes, well… I guess having a leech on me for the entire time since… (She thinks about it for a second) Since before we met will do that. 

Yui: Heh, yeah… that’d do it. How was it, anyway, fightin’ it? Because I did the math afterwards and like… I kinda didn’t account for any real backup. You seem fine now, though. More than fine. But uh… was it a tough fight?

Yuzuki: Well… not exactly, once Anisa and Toi found the conduit so it couldn’t regenerate anymore. I mean, Incubators do everything they can to have as little soul as possible, and she was only a piece of an Incubator soul, so she didn’t have a whole lot of power, I guess. 

Yui: Heh… well, I fought another one myself. That fairy thing, Melati’s Incubator. It fought me while Melati came for Aoi. …I then fought Melati and almost died, but uh, that’s something else entirely.

Yuzuki: (Her brow furrows) I think you just told me a bunch of stuff I really should have been there for. 

Yui: …Honestly, yeah, would’ve been less risky for me if you were there. Maybe Melati wouldn’t have gone all Magia on us if you were there, or if so… …Heeeey, Yuzu, does your shield power apply to solar radiation? Asking for a friend.

Yuzuki: You’ve seen me block out light to become invisible. Or I guess, not seen me, heh. That’s just visible light though, I haven’t tried blocking out gamma rays and cosmic rays and everything the sun puts out… (She seems to seriously consider the science for a moment, looking up at the sky) Uh, why? 

Yui: Oh, y’know… in case it comes to another fight with Melati. …She had the power of the sun itself. Like… not just heat or fire, I can take those. It was enough that Cecilia said, and I quote, “Your fucking Soul Gem almost melted.” She turned the ground where she stood into glass. …Said she wished to become the new sun after a volcano covered her home in ash a long time ago. 

Yuzuki: … (She pauses, and reaches up for her glasses before realizing she’s not wearing them) Well, I don’t know if I can block the sun at point-blank range, but for this I’ll certainly try. She’s lucky a wish like that didn’t destroy the Earth! 

Yui: I’m guessing that her wish is what made her a prime Balancer candidate. …Her Incubator is a fighter, by the way. Vicious little thing, too. Not like Kyubey, who usually runs.

Yuzuki: You fought with an Incubator too? How does one of those weird cat-things fight? 

Yui: Like a fairy with an orbital cannon. 

Yuzuki: I’m sorry, what? 

Yui: I’m not makin’ that up! It looked like a fairy an’ had laser weapons and shit. Y’know those holograms and shit Melati used to show us the conduit? Somethin’ like that. But, y’know, a laser cannon.

Yuzuki: (She presses her hand to her forehead) I’m amazed you survived something like that… I wish we had that weapon. 

Yui: I can dodge an orbital cannon. I can’t dodge the literal fucking sun.

Yuzuki: No, I bet not… wait, orbital? She was shooting at you from a satellite? How did we miss all that? 

Yui: It lured me into a Witch’s barrier. Odds are, it just kinda went all impossible, geographically speaking.

Yuzuki: Well… I was thinking lately I should be more involved with this stuff. I can’t keep sneaking around forever trying to avoid it. 

Yui: … (She hesitates, then sighs, her voice softening) Honest-to-god, I could use the help. I’m in over my head. I keep spinnin’ my wheels here. I need to get Aoi back, somehow, but like… well, you knew what I was like in high school. Thinkin’ isn’t my strong point.

Yuzuki: (She gives Yui a sympathetic look) Don’t say that. It’s not like sitting and thinking really hard would let you be psychic and know where she is… 

Yui: Yeah, I know. (She sighs again) I just… I dunno, I thought I could handle it, once the clinic was up an’ runnin’. Handle everything, like I always did. Y’know? 

Yuzuki: (Wistfully) “Everything” is a lot more these days than when we were kids in high school… 

Yui: Exactly. So… I’m genuinely asking you for help now.

Yuzuki: No need to ask. I’m better than ever and… I’m ready, I think. 

Yui: You sure look ready. Like, damn, I haven’t ever seen you this composed, like, ever. …I’m gonna keep goin’ on my walk to clear my head, but I’ll keep in touch, yeah?

Yuzuki: Yeah, please do. I wanna swing by and get some practice soon with my new straight sword anyway. 

Yui: …Your weapon changed?!

Yuzuki: I didn’t even have a weapon before. Have Ikana to thank for that… that katana I had was real. I had to just bring it with me every time. 

Yui: Goddamn, you learn somethin’ new every day. Huh… y-yeah, I can help with sparring and training. Been meaning to get in some shaping up anyway. Seia’s impossible to hit with her power, and Hanako’s too afraid to actually fight me. 

Yuzuki: T-tell me you haven’t been punching the blind girl… 

Yui: Of course I haven’t! I’ve been getting my ass kicked by the blind girl! There’s a difference!

Yuzuki: Wow. This I have got to see.