Hanako had endured very little over the last few days, relatively speaking. Yet, at the same time, she felt quite heavy. No one else seemed to care or realize just how close they came to losing Yui. She wandered down the road from her school toward the apartment. She didn’t notice the sun setting faster than usual. Or if she did, she would likely blame a dissociation, rather than the fact that she had once again descended into the Dreamscape.

No, she wanted this. To find Cecilia, to get answers. Yui almost died, yet Cecilia was there… and no one else seemed to care. Why? Hanako needed to know, to be at peace enough to continue her training. To continue to be of use to her friends, to help fight off the threat from the Balancers—

Bam.

…Was there always a punching bag in the middle of the sidewalk?

Yui: Jesus… do you just walk around in your own head like that twenty-four seven? You’re gonna get hit by a car, Hanako. And yes, if it’s going fast enough, it can break your Soul Gem. Don’t ask how I know that.

The Aria shook her head. Since when was she sitting on the floor? Floor? Wasn’t she walking down the street—

Yui: Uh. Earth to Hanako? Hellooooo?

The Aria stands up. Slowly.

She was standing in New Eden. She hadn’t even processed that she had walked to the gym at all. It wasn’t anywhere near the school or her apartment. …No, that wasn’t right either. This wasn’t New Eden. This was Paradise Hall. Which means—

Hanako: …I’m dreaming?

Yui: Christ, you’re slow when you get stuck like that. Yeah. I pulled you here ‘cause you were wandering domains aimlessly. 

It came to her, then. After the Forte regained herself, the Aria grilled the Libretto for answers she did not have. Cecilia Ambrosi seemed to not actually consciously know why she was there, that far out of town right when Yui needed her.

But Cecilia did have a guess. And in that guess, Hanako was able to form a theory as to how she got here, now. This was another Conductors test.

Hanako: …I don’t remember falling asleep, Yui.

Yui did not react.

Yui: Yeah. If I had to guess, you’re probably at the gym still up there. I wouldn’t put money on it, though.

Hanako: And you are… where, exactly?

Yui: At home? Contrary to popular belief, I am a university student with a dorm room. And also contrary to popular belief, I do like to spend time with my girlfriend.

Hanako: …

Yui: I didn’t summon you here directly, either. I’m just like, naturally asleep. I did guide you here, though, once I felt you wandering around out there.

Hanako: …

Yui: It uh… was kinda easy…

Hanako: …

Yui: Hah… fine then, I’ll play. Cece didn’t have answers, did she?

That was fast. Hanako remembered quickly that Yui had been raised by these mind games.

Hanako: …No. Only a guess.

Yui: Soul link, right?

The Aria remembered equally quickly that the Forte played with her hand face up.

Hanako: …Something like that.

Yui: Dude. Don’t sweat Cecilia being there. I’d probably be dead if she hadn’t. 

The Aria knew this was the moment to speak her mind in full. To stand with and equal to a Conductor.

Hanako: It… concerns me. Her involvement in my life always has. I know that previously, you shared my misgivings regarding the Oracle.

Yui: Yeah, uh… but she’s not that right now—

Hanako: I-I know. But… does the title really mean much of anything? She’s the same woman—

Rather than an attack that Hanako was braced for, however, Yui simply held her hands up.

Yui: Easy, easy. I’m not even close to goin’ Witch right now. You can talk normally. …But, yeah, since you’re here, let’s do this the Conductor way. Shit, it’s been a while since you went through some Conductor training, huh. …To your credit, trusting Cecilia Ambrosi is, ninety-nine percent of the time, a mistake. Trusting her vision or trusting her information isn’t. ‘Cause if she’s lying to you about something in her omniscience, and I mean intentionally lying to you, it’s because she’s sticking to a script.

Hanako: …But that’s… that’s so manipulative and… a-and wrong!

Yui: Welcome to the Conductors, Aria. She used her powers for what she considered “good” but like, yeah. It was shady as hell, and she sat at the top about it, not letting anyone else in. When I shot out her eye, it wasn’t as a jilted sister figure, it was as a Conductor. I, as the Forte, punished the Oracle. …And fuck if I don’t regret it now, since her vision would seriously come in handy, if I didn’t think it’d kill her to use it.

Hanako: …And if it does?

The Forte didn’t react.

Yui: There we go. There’s the Aria. Now you’re thinkin’ like a Conductor. Alrighty then.

She rolled her neck and cracked her knuckles, taking a few steps forward. It was only then, however, that the Aria noticed that the Forte was not transformed. No weapon rested in Yui’s hands, not that she needed one. But her stance was not physically combative. 

Yui: Let’s say I did call on Cecilia to strain herself, use her sight, try and find Aoi, and then die. Then what? What if she doesn’t find her? What if Aoi’s out on a spaceship halfway to Planet Asshole with the rest of Incubator kind? What if she can’t tell me what she found before her soul gives out? Then what? From a purely selfish, logistical standpoint, the remnants of the Oracle’s power isn’t much of an option. I haven’t even spoken personally about how I feel about it yet.

The Aria fell silent. She did not consider any of that. But this isn’t what she was trying to convey, either. What she was trying to say was…

Hanako: …And how you feel is, your companions are not tools to be used, correct?

The Forte’s eyes widened, just a little.

Yui: Huh. That was fast. But you got it in one. I’m not the Maestro, and thank fuck you never really got to know him. If I’m runnin’ this new age of Conductors, I’m not runnin’ it his way. Velare would not hesitate to use anyone or anything to get what he wanted or thought he needed at any given time, regardless of who it was, or what they meant to him. People aren’t tools to me, though. Cecilia is a person, no matter how complicated our relationship is. That’s not who I am.

Hanako: …No. Who you are is someone who is willing to fall and die in vain, and not achieve much of anything.

Again, the Forte did not react.

Hanako: …What would happen to this town without you, Forte? New Eden would dissolve… Aoi would likely die in space… the Puellae in Mitakihara would have no safety net, and the city would become a nest of Witches. Shinju and I, along with Seia, Yuzuki, Kiwa-chan and the Birds, we could do a lot. But… almost two dozen new Witches overnight? That is a lot to handle, even for us.

Yui: Heh. You’re not really even wrong.

The Aria blinked in surprise. She was not expecting such an agreeable response.

Yui: But if I didn’t push Melati, I wasn’t gonna learn anything. If I can’t get Aoi back, maybe I can run the clinic on my own by hunting all over Japan for a stock of Grief Seeds. Maybe I can get lucky, find yet another gang or something run by Puellae, take ‘em out and steal a stash. …Then what? For one, that’d just make me a Balancer workin’ solo, right? Call me ‘Stormcaller’ or some shit. Y’know, ‘cause I need another fuckin’ title… But like, then what? I thin out the Witch population, any Puellae huntin’ ‘em would turn up at my door anyway. An’ not like I got a teleporter or private jet to go to other countries an’ hunt, anyway. Even if I could, that’d just be kickin’ the can. The point I’m trying to make is, without Aoi, it doesn’t matter if I’m still around or not. That scenario you presented happens whether I survive to see it or not, if we can’t get Aoi back. …But that’s not the only reason.

The softness in the Forte’s voice told the Aria all she needed to know. But since this, by all technicality, was a mind game, the Aria needed to play along.

Hanako: …Aoi deserves to come home.

Yui: …This whole ‘community service’ shtick was just to keep her out of Anisa’s custody, and from gettin’ herself into trouble again. Truth is, I know Aoi isn’t an awful person, she just needed a spot to do some good, just for the sake of doin’ good. That stuff with Melati… that wasn’t about dying for the cause or whatever. I’d have done the same for anyone else I’ve known for more than like a week. Puella, human, whatever. S’just who I am.

Hanako: I… missed this side of you, Yui.

The Forte could not help but manage a little smile of her own.

Yui: Somethin’ to be said about bein’ at a hundred percent. I hope you find it someday, Hanako. …Look, I’d love to stay an’ chat, but your stalker down here got a beat on you, and uh… yeah. I’m not exactly up for you two destroying my domain just yet.

Hanako: Huh?! Stalker?! B… But wait, I have so many more questions—

Yui: Questions that for the most part will be answered the second you wake up, trust me. We’ll talk more later. Just uh… you should skedaddle. 

To the Aria’s protests, the Forte approached, a hand placed on the former’s shoulder. The sound of doors opening behind the Aria caught her ear, but she could not bring herself to look away and verify who it was that entered. Not that she needed to.

Yui: Oh, uh… and sorry in advance. Both for this, ‘cause it might hurt, and for uh… your next test. …Sorry, kid.

Hanako felt the sparks on her left shoulder as she jolted awake. She was in her bedroom, in her bed. Tucked in, even, a fact Hanako noted with some embarrassment. Her TV was on, a video game title screen’s gentle and familiar tune playing, but Ueno was not there with her. Likely in her own room, asleep, Hanako thought.

The sky was dark outside, light from the surrounding buildings muting the stars above. Hanako’s shoulder twinged, but the pain was barely noticeable. Hanako grabbed her phone from the bedside table. 2:38 AM. Sure enough, the fact that Hanako was in her own bed when she awoke answered a lot of her questions. But not all of them, and Yui’s parting words had only added more.

Who or what was Hanako’s next test?