[Ritsuka takes note of that split-second vulnerability, but doesn't say anything. Trauma's like a wild animal, in her experience; you've got to take it slow and get the person to trust you first before you can get close.]

...you know what the funniest thing is? To me, at least.

I signed up for all of this nonsense as a summer internship. Didn't even know I had any Magic Circuits or that magic was a thing until they took my blood and it came back positive for some idiot way up on the family tree messing around with throwing sparks from their hands or something. I figured that, hey, some extra cash for university in a few years would be nice, even if there was a good chance that I'd just gotten suckered into getting my organs stolen.

[She sighs, spreading out her findings on the floor in front of her. Keys, ID, some coins for the vending machine, bloody tissue, lint...]

Yeah. Their memories, too. Nobody who got me as far as I've gone would want me to give up. And I can't not pay them back for what they did for me.