The Knights Himura

"Who the hell're you?" Tsuki instantly raised her guard against the strange man.

"I'm a private eye, miss." He smiled.

"And what do you want with me?" Tsukiko narrowed her eyes.

Lily stared back at him, as if scanning his face for something.

"I was hoping I could talk to you and Miss Guillemot here about the Nakano case." His expression was gentle.

The Private eye looked inexperienced, his dark green eyes and still glossy black hair revealing his youth. His face was too soft and smooth to be hardboiled, but he was trying his best to look the part. By his hip was a holster, with a startlingly large, shiny revolver. He wore a sharp, dark brown suede jacket with a white undershirt and a pair of format charcoal pants, with black leather shoes, polished to a mirror sheen. His voice was light and gentle, disarming, but still sounded a bit nervous. Beneath that, though, was strength, and confidence. He held out his hand to help Tsuki and Lily get out from the shelter and out from under the bridge.

"The Nakano case? Is that what they're calling it?" Tsuki turned over to Lily. "I guess you know this guy huh?"

Lily nodded.

"It won't take long, I promise. It'll help both of us." He assured her.

Tsuki smiled incredulously. "How's it gonna help me? I thought you weren't supposed to get civilians involved in this sort of thing."

"I need to do everything within my power to get to the bottom of what happened." The young man spoke with pride. "Getting involved is your choice. I'm just here to ask questions."

"So, why'd they give me a PI and not a real detective?" Tsuki looked at him.

He raised his voice. "What, just cuz I don't associate with…"

"…sir?" Lily got him to refocus.

The private eye stopped and sighed. "Do you want my help or not?"

Even though he'd been kind and cordial, Tsuki wasn't sure if she could trust him or not. She didn't even know who this private eye was working for, and he seemed a bit too green to be of much use. Still, at least he wasn't involved with the police.

"Who hired you?" Tsuki returned to her usual serious demeanor.

He kneeled down beside them. "Why don't you ask Lilith here?"

Lily took a deep breath. "I felt bad about Fumi, so I asked the bank to put some of my parents' fortune into hiring this guy…"

"Fortune? What? Did your parents own that hospital?" Tsukiko was shocked more by the money than anything else.

"And that's how I knew where to find her. I got lucky finding you here too." His face carried a toothy grin.

"But you knew exactly who I was." Tsuki countered.

"I'm a detective. I detect. Of course I know who you are, you're a witness in my case." He sighed.

"You'd better not be following me around." Lily sighed.

"I didn't follow you, I swear." The man held up his hands.

Tsukiko leaned back. "Wouldn't be the weirdest thing that happened this week."

"What do you mean?" The man turned his ear toward Tsuki.

"I've been getting followed around by these masked dudes. Apparently, they're called Shakudos."

The private eye pulled out a notepad. "Oh, yeah, your reputation is spreading. People are already calling you the Third Knight Himura."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Tsukiko rolled her eyes. "Isn't that what they used to call Haruka back in the day? She's nothing special."

Lily interrupted. "She's the second, I'm pretty sure."

The private eye scratched his head. "I just got here a few days ago, so I haven't had much time to learn the local legends. I don't know that much about the Knights, sorry."

Tsukiko turned to Lily. "Do you know what a-- eh, never mind."

"Oh, damn, I forgot this." The man fumbled around in his pocket and produced a small business card. "Can't leave home without 'em."

Tsuki took the card and examined it, with the name of the detective's firm printed in off-white atop the black cardstock. A photograph of the private eye sat on the far side, looking even younger than he did in person. Tsuki's eyes narrowed when she saw the address.

"Sapporo? What's a kid like you doing this far south?" Tsukiko turned back up to him after inspecting the card.

"Read the rest of the card." He smiled.

Tsuki read the bolded title at the top of the card.

"Shimizu Kazuo? Shimizu Detective Agency?" Tsukiko flipped the card back and forth, scanning it.

He gasped. "What? You really don't know about the Shimizu Agency?"

"Must not be well known on the mainland, I guess." Tsuki shrugged. "I don't know much about Hokkaido."

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"My grandfather was one of Japan's greatest detectives in his prime." Kazuo spoke with pride.

"What, in the '60s?" Tsuki joked.

"Hey." Kazuo stopped her.

"Okay, can we talk about Fumiko now?" Tsuki raised her voice.

"Oh, uhh, yeah. Know about the two gangs, right?" Kazuo asked.

Tsuki nodded.

Kazuo explained anyway. "White masks and whatever the other group is doing."

Lily interrupted. "Damascenes and Shakudos!"

"Yeah, those. I've been following those two for a few days now. I think I've got a few good leads that could help us take 'em down." Kazuo stood over the two girls with an eager look.

"I'm just going after the… Shakudos, I think. I don't wanna go against the other guys." The taller girl shook her head.

"Just the Shakudos?" The detective leaned forward.

Lily stood up. "I paid you to find who stabbed her friend and just that, okay?"

Kaz only scratched his head. "Yeah, sorry. I hear street gangs and something clicks in my head."

Before either of the girls could scold him, two masked men appeared behind him.

"Heyyyyyyyy kid!" The shorter figure laughed. "Gumshoe led us right to a treasure."

"Gumshoe?" Kazuo repeated.

Tsukiko got out from under the bridge to greet the two strange masked people.

"Oh, it's her. Talk about a free promotion, am I right?" The tall Shakudo cracked his knuckles.

The brightly colored masks were out, replaced by black masks with golden accents, put together better than those hastily spray painted abominations they'd replaced. These masks looked pristine, pretty, even. If the light hit them just right, they'd probably blind somebody.

"C'mon, get a little closer. We can't kick your ass if you're all the way back there!" The taller masked man let out a cruel laugh.

Tsukiko passed the detective and began walking toward them.

The short masked man beckoned. "See, isn't that so much easier? Maybe we'll be nice if you--"

Tsukiko walked right up and punched the short Shakudo in the head as he kept spitting out insults. Their silly looking mask shattered on their face, cutting them up just like it had with the others. This short man clutched his face, which left him unable to see Tsukiko spin and strike him in the head with a roundhouse kick. He went down like a ragdoll, all lumped up on the ground.

She turned to the next man, the tall one, and he was ready for her. He willingly stepped up, ready to defend his smaller friend's damaged honor, moving slowly as he did so. When Tsuki approached, he moved to the side, trapping her in a slowly shrinking circle. Once they'd bridged enough of the gap, the tall Shakudo launched a punch too fast for her to avoid, striking her hard. It wasn't enough to really hurt her, but it got her attention. A few more quick jabs kept her on her toes.

Suddenly, the man lunged for her, and Tsuki was just able to move out of the way and shove him. He fell to the ground, but quickly got back up to his feet, having grabbed a wooden plank off the ground nearby. He started waving it around like it was a blade, then moved toward Tsukiko, raising it up and swinging it back down. Tsuki raised her forearm and braced herself, but the wooden plank shattered on contact, reduced to two small halves and dozens of splinters. The tall man across was left stunned just long enough for Tsuki to hit him in the jaw, and he went limp and fell to the ground.

"Yo, where the hell were you?" Mister Detective?" Tsukiko turned around to complain.

The detective had the shorter Shakudo pinned against a wall, already half way through an impromptu interrogation.

"Don't mind me!" The detective shouted to her.

Tsuki kneeled down next to her now defeated opponent, putting her hand on their mask, and pulling it off of their face. The elastic that held it to their face broke away.

"What'd they tell you?" Tsuki continued.

Kazuo loosened his grip on the shorter Shakudo, who scurried over, pushed past Tsukiko and grabbed his unconscious partner, dragging him away.

"Nope, those two were worthless." Kazuo groaned before noticing the mask in Tsuki's hand. "What's that?"

"One of their masks. Looks like metal, but it's just spray painted porcelain." Tsuki tapped the mask with her knuckle, and it made a low glassy sound.

"Yo, Lily." Kazuo grabbed the mask. "Does Sylvie know about this?"

As Kazuo kneeled down to talk to Lily, something moved behind Tsukiko and wrapped a gloved hand around her throat, pulling her back. She tried to let out a scream, but nothing came out, as she was dragged across the dirt and pinned against a wall. Another hand moved over her mouth.

"Settle down if you know what's good for ya, alright?" A deep, female voice growled.

Lily screamed and Kazuo turned toward where she was looking. He jumped to his feet, but hesitated to get any closer. Tsuki turned to see who it was that'd grabbed her, but she only saw a black and gold mask, more ornate than the others.

"We don't want to hurt you." The voice continued in a somewhat flat voice. "You just don't know when to quit."

"Let her go!" The Shimizu detective shouted.

"Just leave us alone and things'll solve themselves!" The Shakudo put its head close to Tsukiko's and spoke in almost a whisper.

"No." Tsuki gagged.

"Why not?"

Kazuo shouted, cocking the hammer on his revolver. "Let her go, damnit!"

The Shakudo's fingers squeezed into Tsuki's neck.

"Let her go, now!" Kazuo put his finger on the trigger, and shouted again.

"Just listen for your own sake, Tsukiko!" The voice panicked.

Tsuki jumped, breaking free from their grasp for just a second, and pushed her elbow back into the Shakudo's stomach. Her captor flinched, finally dropping her. A loud bang startled the both of them, and the Shakudo nearly fell to the ground, Kazuo standing there with his revolver drawn.

"Get outta here!" Kazuo shouted.

The Shakudo turned to Kazuo, standing deathly still. She looked down at her body, then back at Kazuo, then turned and started running.

Tsukiko kneeled down as she tried to catch her breath. "You could've killed her!"

"He was holding you by the neck!" The detective shouted back.

"What if you actually hit 'em?" Tsuki coughed.

"I'm a trained professional, Miss Himura!" Kazuo put the gun away.

Tsuki sighed. "You really wanna get the cops involved?"

"The cops are already involved and… No, not really…" Kazuo's voice trailed off.

Tsuki sighed. "Just be careful where you aim that thing, OK?"

Distant sirens scared the young detective. "Oh, uhh, I gotta go! You two stay here, OK?"

"Where the hell're you going?" Tsuki ran up and grabbed the detective's arm before he could run off.

"Doesn't matter, just stay with Lily!" Kazuo shoved her hand away and ran off.

Tsukiko turned to Lily, who had sat silently the entire fight. "Sorry about all this, Lily."

Lily smiled gently. "I'll be fine with you. You're really strong, Tsuki!"

Tsuki was caught off guard. "So, you're not scared?"

"It was kinda scary, but I wanna be brave…" Lily frowned.

Tsukiko sat down next to Lily and held her hand. "You're already strong, Lily."