'How can I help you?'

'Do you have some time to chat?'

'Sure!  I'll be over in a minute.'

Soon he's pawing at her window.

She lets him in and sits down on her bed.

He gambols down through the window and up onto her lap.

She giggles.  'Hi!'  Scritch scritch.

Purr purr.

'Aww, you really like getting petted, don't you?'

'I dooooo.'

Pet pet.

'So, I've been thinking.'

He uncurls, and climbs out of her lap to face her.  'About what?'

'Well, I think you're better at getting around than us.  Kyubeys are better at it than magical girls, I mean.  Normal people can't see you, and you're agile like a normal cat.  It seems like you'd be better than us at patrolling for witches.  If you moved around cities and kept an eye out, and alerted your magical girls when you noticed one, it might make it easier to keep the witch population down.'

'It's not a bad idea,' Kyubey says.  'But we're also supposed to keep an eye on magical girls - make sure they're not causing trouble with their magic, keep an eye on whether they're feeling okay or being ground down emotionally by their duties, that kind of thing.  Going on our own patrols would disrupt that.'

'That makes sense, but... well, I've only been doing this for a couple weeks, but Mallory's group seems to be working really well so far.  That seems like the sort of thing that a group like hers could pick up the slack on, if you guys switched to patrolling.  Plus, if you let us know about new magical girls, we could let them know about us right away.'

Kyubey looks almost sad, now.  'Kaylee... magical girl alliances really rarely work out well for the magical girls.  They can start off well, but - they tend to wind up at odds, or not trusting each other.  That's what creatures like me are for.  I think you'd make a better magical girl if you stopped relying so much on Mallory's group, and even on Lianne.'

'Lianne's - my best friend.  She's the best friend I've ever had.'

'Lots of girls feel that way at first.  Being a magical girl is hard, and having to share grief seeds is hard, and it can... create tension.  Friendships that seem strong in normal life don't always hold up.  I've seen it happen.  You're not the first magical girl I've worked with.'

'We've - we've been magical girls together for longer than we've been normal friends.  It's made us closer, if anything.'

'It's still early in your career.'

'I know it's hard to hear,' Kyubey says apologetically.  'For what it's worth, I can promise I'll always be here to do my job.'

'I... thanks,' she says quietly.  'But - I still think we should try it.  Mallory isn't some naive kid, she knows what she's doing.  I think she can help me the same way you would.'

'Maybe so,' Kyubey says noncommitally.  'I'll certainly let you know if I see any witches.  But another problem is that you're a lot more able to defend yourself against witches than I am.  If I was tracking a witch and got caught in its barrier, I could get hurt.'

'Oh, I'm - I didn't mean to say you should put yourself in danger.  I'm sorry.'

'It's okay,' Kyubey says warmly.  'I know you're just trying to fight witches, as best you can.  Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?'