{~$~}

Yuzu had a hard time adapting to her new double-life. Kuzuryuu had been declared missing two days after she'd witnessed his death, and it felt so wrong to pretend she didn't know anything.
The other Puella Magi - Mao Suzuki - acted sympathetic and helped her in witch hunts and training. The brunette had told Karin what happened because she felt that her sister deserved to know why she was sneaking out of the house at unearthly hours, so the ravenette would cover up for her whenever she was absent.

"Concentrate a little more, rookie!"

Yuzu was brought back to reality by receiving a scratch on the side of her face, courtesy of her new mentor's blades. Not deep enough to truly hurt her, but it made her well aware that the other girl was going easy on her. She'd have cleaved her head off if it were a real fight.

"Let's take a break. You're really out of it today."

Mao transformed back into civilian clothing and went to sit down on a stone nearby. They'd been sparring in the ruins of a demolished building for a while now, and Yuzu had yet to land a single hit on the other girl. It was slightly frustrating, but she reasoned with herself that the other girl had years of experience while she'd only contracted three days before. The sheer difference in skill was to be expected.

"Why don't you use your mental abilities in battle?"

Yuzu looked at her, confused.

"What could I possibly do with that? It won't harm my opponent in any way..."

The maroon-haired girl sighed, as though she were talking to an idiot. Slightly ticked off, Yuzu scanned her thoughts.

'This one isn't very bright, is she? Instead of using her mental abilities to predict the opponent's next move, she's focusing too much on her offensive power... Which honestly is rather lacking compared to most. I can practically see her death in action for this...
God, this is Seiko-chan all over again... No, I can't afford to dwell on that... Ah, the sky sure looks nice today. I wonder how long this weather will keep up!'

Seiko...? Who could that be? Yuzu didn't get to ponder that for much time at all before she heard:

'Listening, are you? That isn't the best idea unless you're prepared to see even the darkest parts of an individual, rookie.'

"Eh? Err, sorry...", Yuzu apologized, bowing slightly.

"It's fine. That doesn't bother me. Just try not to catch me when I'm thinking negatively ; it can affect your mental state, and we can't have that now can we?"

"How would it affect me in any way? These aren't my thoughts or memories"

"... How, you ask...?"

The other Puella Magi's usual gentle smile suddenly turned into a slight smirk, and she made her way towards Yuzu.

"You said you need consent to read another person's memory, right? Go ahead. Take a look at my memories; I'm sure you'll understand better if you actually have the experience."

Yuzu didn't like the look she was getting, but went ahead. She wanted to know more about the other teen anyway; now was the best opportunity.

#!#

Yuzu found herself at what seemed to be a living room, watching a cartoon she didn't recognize. She looked down at her hands, and found smaller, darker ones. Reaching up and grabbing some hair she had in a twintail, she saw maroon wavy locks instead of the straight light brown she was used to.
There wasn't much in the area, but from what little furniture there was and the rather dirty neighborhood she could see out the window, Yuzu could tell that the family was rather modest.

She suddenly heard the front door slam open, but didn't have time to react before a woman - judging by her maroon wavy hair, she was probably her mother - grabbed her and sprinted to the nearest hiding spot: the guest room. There was a lot of shouting from nearby, and the teen - or rather, younger Mao - looked through the door's keyhole, wanting to know what was happening. A man - judging by the skin tone that matched Mao's and his burgundy colored eyes, he must have been her father - had his hands up, seemingly trying to convince the armed men in front of hm of something. Because the memory wasn't very clear, however, she couldn't hear what they were saying; she just knew he was being threatened.

They didn't pay any mind to what the poor man was saying, shooting him in the head without hesitation.
A tall, dark brown haired woman with piercing hazel eyes entered, discussing something with the two. From what little the memory provided, it was likely she disapproved of the mess and the amount of time they took.
What she said next, however, was crystal clear:

"Kill the woman and get the daughters. He wouldn't pay his debts with money, so he'll pay with his family."

What was she, some kind of mafia leader or something?... Probably.

Yuzu was yanked into another memory; a few days later. This time, she found herself tied to a pole. Someone was beside her, also bound to the same pole, but she couldn't make out who it was through the darkness.

Large doors slammed open, and bright blue electric lights momentarily fried her retinas.
The same woman as before came in, followed by a man in a white coat. A scientist, maybe...?
She looked up towards the person beside her, and saw what was presumably her sister; she had wavy black hair that cascaded down her back, and burgundy colored eyes... She seemed to be about seventeen to nineteen years old, give or take. She looked depressed but resigned.

Nothing was clear after that.

All Yuzu saw and heard were deafening screams of agony, and the color red, before it cleared up momentarily, showing part of her sister's head, from the top lip and up, severed from her body, thrown onto the ground like a piece of trash.

Everything blurred again, and the last thing she saw were the demented looks on the man and woman's faces... And an Incubator, right in her lap.

...

...

...

#!#

Yuzu collapsed, her vision blurred with tears. Not that she was really seeing anyway - the bloody images of half the victim's head hitting the ground, the terrifying screams of agony, the eyes that showed pure evil that were embedded in her mind... It was just too overwhelming.

The weight lifted somewhat when Mao pressed a grief seed against the brunette's now murky soul gem and hugged her, telling her it was alright, it was over, but Yuzu was just about sure she wouldn't be forgetting that anytime soon.

It took a while for Yuzu to regain her composure. She stared at the cheerful maroon-haired girl for a moment.

"Y-you... She... That was...?"

The girl unwrapped a lollipop and casually put it in her mouth.

"Mhmm. Real as can be. I found out later that it turned out to be loan sharks associated with corrupt police and scientists that supposedly wanted to conduct illegal research on humans!...kinda looked like they were just sadists though."

"... Are they... still...?"

"Nope. I killed them. I made a contract the instant those two turned towards me. I wished to be able to live as long as I could. About five years old, I think."

The brunette looked away, guilty.
"I...didn't want to make you relive that...I...um, sorry..."

The maroon-haired Puella Magi looked at her incredulously before snorting. "Why are you apologizing? I've been over that for a while now - you are the one who will be unable to sleep tonight."

Looking back up at her, the brunette croaked: "How... did you survive for so long...?... You seem...used to this..."

"Huh? Uhhh... I dunno! My wish helped me with slowing down the corruption of my soul gem and all... But honestly?". She shrugged, before giving Yuzu a slightly concerned expression. She didn't say anything, but the teen heard her thoughts loud and clear.

'Damn... I hope she'll be able to pull through. This is only the tip of the iceberg...'

She was right. The next few nights, Yuzu was plagued with both Kuzuryuu's death and the girl's tortured wails. She'd wake up in a cold sweat, trembling, and go to her older brother's room, unable to bear sleeping alone but not wanting to wake up Karin, who was already worried about her with all the Puella Magi crap.
She was unable to concentrate on classes and her marks dropped.
She'd freeze up in battle and had to be saved by Mao almost every time.
She'd get anxious whenever her soul gem dimmed even just a little ; she really couldn't afford to become a witch.
But curiosity still plagued her at the best of times, and she poked into the thoughts of those around her. The people she'd seen on TV. Her classmates. Adults she knew. Complete strangers. And she'd had her fair share of unpleasant surprises, from inconsiderate and degrading thoughts from a person she thought was nice, to the memories of old people who were still alive after the second world war, to politicians who only craved power and even to some teachers who had unsightly thoughts about their students.

She knew how much people suffered; she'd heard their thoughts as though they were her own.

She knew of those who wore a mask of kindness, hiding their despicable nature.

She knew she was becoming a burden for the veteran with the number of grief seeds she needed to avoid falling into despair.

She knew about almost all the risks of everyday things and tasks, along with her chances of survival at this rate.

She wanted to think that her world had been shattered, but that'd be a lie. It never existed in the first place.

Almost everyone only did things for their own gain. People often didn't genuinely care about each other despite their words of kindness. She lived in a society filled with hypocrisy.

Were these the citizens she'd been protecting from witches those past few days since she became a Puella Magi?

Yuzu had gotten what she had wanted. Knowledge.

But now... She was wondering if she'd have been better off peacefully oblivious, surrounded by comforting lies.

0.0

Karin wasn't stupid. Something was wrong with Yuzu, and she was sure it had something to do with her status as a Puella Magi.
Her sister had large bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, didn't seem to see everything as optimistically as she used to, would cry out of nowhere, would skip school (which, for her, was unheard of), and would flinch at the slightest of sounds. She didn't trust the girls who were supposed to be her close friends, her teachers, other teens around her age... or almost anyone, really. She had stopped eating entirely despite the family's stubborn protests against that, instead giving all her food to anyone she found on the streets, and Karin ended up taking her place doing household duties, as the twin would either holed up in her room or out for her job as a Puella Magi.

The ravenette was done waiting for her to tell her what was wrong. If she couldn't get it out of Yuzu, she'd find out some other way.

About a week and a half after Yuzu contracted, she sought out the incubator, and demanded an explanation. It didn't hesitate to tell her what happened, before letting Karin know that despite Mao's relentless efforts getting more grief seeds than usual, sometimes trespassing other girls' territories and being forced into a fight after, Yuzu wasn't going to make it.
Like the sly bastard it was, it then asked her if she'd make a contract to prevent her sister's untimely death.
Karin grimaced, knowing she'd be going against Yuzu's wishes by contracting, but didn't feel as though she had much of a choice.

"I...I wish-"

She never completed her sentence, as the incubator was blasted to smitherens. Wide-eyed, the ravenette turned to see her sister, who was visibly shaking, tears spilling freely down her face.
The look in her eyes was wild and unsettling, but wasn't what made Karin almost faint in terror.

Yuzu's soul gem was almost completely black.

"K-karin..."

"Yuzu! Don't you have a grief seed?! You're soul gem-"

"You said you wouldn't do it..."

"I have to-"

Yuzu flash-stepped right in front of her and Karin recoiled, seeing Yuzu's miserable but slightly crazed expression.

"It's okay if you can't keep a promise Karin... I'll just have to keep you away from him..."

Whatever sadness was left completely disappeared, becoming pure insanity as the brunette raised her staff.

"...don't worry...if I just send you to Soul Society, they won't have access to you - !"

Mao appeared in a flash-step and used a blade to deflect a blow the brunette nearly gave her sister, and delivered a rough knee-kick to the face, sending her flying.
Before she even landed, the teen flash-stepped behind her and promptly knocked her out.

Karin wanted to yell at her in outrage, but stopped short when she saw the girl's condition.
Blood ran down her forehead, and the right side of her torso was completely damaged. One of her hands didn't seem to be working properly, and she was panting heavily.

"What the hell happened to you?!"

"Don't... *cough*...worry about me... I'll be fine once I heal."

She limped to Yuzu and, with great difficulty, crouched down to press a grief seed against her soul gem. Karin approached her and took the grief seed, saying she'd do it since it'd take some time, and insisted that the veteran Puella Magi rest.
While the corruption was sucked into the grief seed, the ravenette asked once more how the other girl got herself in such conditions, to which the other teen replied with wry smile that she tried to steal some grief seeds from a Puella Magi, but was caught. Unfortunately, she turned out to have allies, and the maroon-haired girl found herself fighting four of them. She managed to run away with her prize after killing one and severely injuring two; the last one didn't chase her, too preoccupied with her fallen comrades.

"I'm not gonna asked how you managed to beat four girls... Do you need any grief seeds though?"

Mao blinked, slightly confused. "Why do you care? I didn't do anything for you."

Karin rolled her eyes. For someone Yuzu had called smart, she seemed to be kinda slow.
"Dumbass. You took care of my sis. Now do you need any?"

"Nah, I'm good.", she answered, showing her her soul gem. It wasn't at it's brightest, but it wasn't anywhere near dark enough for it to become a concern.

Karin furrowed her brows, thinking it was strange for her to have supposedly used a lot of magic yet be perfectly fine, but shrugged it off. How would she know? She wasn't a Puella Magi. Besides, she could have purified it on her way back.
Something still bugged her, though.

"Hey... Any idea why she was acting like that? The Yuzu I know wouldn't be so ready to kill me..."

"Her soul gem was pretty dark. It's hard to stay sane once the corruption of your soul gem passes a certain point. She was just trying to keep you safe from the Incubators, remember? Well, without her sanity, she was perfectly fine with using morally questionable means to do so."

"...oh."

The maroon-haired girl turned towards her.
"So...are you really going to become a Puella Magi? I'd advise against it, but whether you want to sell your soul or not isn't my choice."

"...Yeah, I will." Karin looked down at her sister, now sleeping peacefully.
"I don't want to have to let her handle this alone... And I don't want to have to continue on without her once she succumbs..."

"Hmm? What about the rest of your family?"

"Ichi-nii and Goat-face have each other. I'm sure they'll get over it eventually."

"... Are you sure? There's no going back, and Yuzu-chan won't be happy about this at all..."

"Of course. I'll fight by her side, whether she likes it or not."

"...You better not regret this. I warned you."

The teen sighed, and turned towards the Incubator that had come around shortly after Yuzu had been knocked out.

'Well then. What wish will make your soul gem shine?'

The ravenette steeled herself. Here was the point of no return.

"... Make me strong enough to fight for those who can't. "

{~$~}