The Knights Himura

Tsuki and Fumi crawled back through the door, their clothes hanging loosely from their bodies.

"Hey, I think you're wearing my jacket." Tsuki tugged on Fumi's sleeve.

Tsukiko took back her white jacket and traded back Fumi's olive one.

Claudia shoved a note in Tsuki's face. "Sinner."

Tsuki recoiled. "W-what?"

Fumi dropped all of their borrowed goods on a nearby fabric working table.

"Just… Just ignore her…" Fumi sighed.

Haruka waved from across the room. "What's up, Miss Sinner, What's cookin'?"

"Ugh, you're too loud." Tsuki groaned. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Lily's doin' alright, just to let you know." Haruka spoke in a hurtful voice.

"And Sylvie?" Tsuki stretched.

"She's pissed at me but nothing I can't handle." Haru grinned with her teeth showing.

"And what about the box?" Tsuki rubbed her head.

"What box?" Fumi interrupted.

Haruka's face turned into a sharp, serious glare. "Don't worry about it. Nothing we can deal with right now."

Sylvie stumbled into the room with a cardboard box. "Oh yeah, man!"

"Goddamnit." Haru closed her eyes and sighed.

Tsuki tried to straighten out her clothes. "What're you so happy about?"

"These are official Damascene documents!" Sylvie tore the box open with ferocity.

"Why would a crime organization have actual physical documents?" Fumi scratched her head.

"It's not an organization." Haru yawned.

"Street gang." Fumiko corrected herself. "Why would a street gang keep documents?"

"We can find out who started the Shakudos." Sylvie laughed.

"Can it help us find the guy who mugged Fumi and I?" Tsuki prodded.

"Well, if I can find any gaps or weird parts, I might…" Sylvie trailed off. "Generally speaking, if you're gonna keep records, you wanna keep good ones…"

"It's just a bunch of numbers and dates. Can't find anything worthwhile from that. How would it find a specific person?" Haru complained.

"Listen, I know how this works, okay?" Sylvie pulled out a huge binder and flipped through it. "Found it!"

"Already?" Haru spat out her tea.

Claudia appeared and wiped up the mess before disappearing again behind a doorway.

"Wait… No…" Sylvie frowned.

Kaz entered the room with an interested look on his face. "What're you all looking at?"

"This is turning into a sitcom." Haru joked

Sylvie looked up at Kazuo. "It's time sheets for the Damascenes."

"Why would a street gang have time sheets?" Kaz looked at the papers.

"Listen, I was like, twelve when I took over okay? I just wanted to be professional." Sylvie hid her face by looking down at the table. "You never know when you'll need this kinda stuff."

"Well, yeah, it sure looks like it. Identification numbers and everything. It's actually well maintained." Kaz said as he flipped through the pages.

Sylvie smiled at Kaz, before turning to the others in pride.

"But she never organized anything. Or else it would be organized crime, not a street gang." Haru rolled her eyes.

"Pretty sure it doesn't work like that." Fumi countered.

"Ugh, these numbers are giving me a headache." Sylvie put her hand on her forehead.

"Let's take turns going over and looking for any timing inconsistencies." Kaz suggested.

"Why?" Tsuki looked over the binder.

Kazuo took a deep breath. "Well, just look for the people who stop showing up. It's a good way to find any of the early Shakudos. You might even find the first one."

"Ehh, seems too easy, don't ya think?" Haruka leaned over to look at the documents.

"Might as well try." Kaz slid the pulled the binder over and took a closer look. "Oh, wow, this goes back far…"

"Try dates this year, winter or spring." Sylvie flipped the pages.

"It'll still take a while." Kaz put his finger on the first line.

"Well, I'm gonna go get something to eat." Fumi got up. "That alright, Tsuki?"

Tsukiko smiled. "Don't let me stop you."

Fumi left through a doorway, leaving the others alone to scan the timesheets.

"What's with you two?" Sylvie asked.

"What do you mean?" Tsuki looked at her.

"I dunno, something about you two seems off." Sylvie shrugged.

"Take one look at her eyes, and you'll know." Haruka chuckled.

Sylvie stared intently at Tsukiko. "Hmm… Yep, I understand."

Tsuki rolled her eyes. "Not even gonna ask."

There was a short pause, where everybody went quiet.

Haruka leaned back in her seat. "This brings me back, y'know? Back when I was learning the ropes."

"Oh, what was the First Knight like?" Tsuki put her hand on the table.

"She was… hell, she is strong. Really strong. She had a creepy side to her though." Haruka reminisced.

"Creepy?" Tsuki asked.

"She was very particular with her work. Sometimes she'd work herself to the bone. That was back then, though. She ended up retiring a few years ago." Haruka's slight smile faded as her lips curled downward.

"She retired?" Tsuki leaned forward over the table.

"...she just put up a wall one day. We still talk sometimes, but she's so hard to get a hold of... She's not putting on that jacket again." Haru straightened out again.

"Why'd she become a Knight?" Tsuki asked. "If she's the first, then she had some real good reason to start."

"All Himura Knights fight for love, in one way or another." Haruka explained. "Nobody's gonna go out swinging without a good reason, without someone to fight for."

Sylvie shot up like a rocket. "You never told me that! Who did you love?"

Haru made a fist and held it in front of her face in a dramatic pose. "Simple. I loved fighting!"

"Yeah, sure, totally." Tsuki chuckled.

"I guess I loved the First Knight? I just liked hanging out with her, doing stuff." Haruka reminisced.

"You sure?"

Haruka spoke in a sarcastic, mocking voice. "You guys love to gossip, huh?"

"Would it kill ya to be honest for once?" Tsuki mumbled.

"I'll say this. The First Knight's still around, but she's not like she used to be. Something in her changed, and I'm not sure why." Haruka put her hand over her mouth as she tried to remember the past.

"I kinda knew her. She was a family friend, but I never got as close to her as you did. I'll never forget you in your prime though. Though, I'll be honest, you were always more of a dancer than a fighter." Sylvie nudged her.

"You just don't get it. It works though, right? I've never heard you complain about it!" Haruka defended herself.

"The way you guys talk." Tsuki looked at them both. "It's like you've known one another for years."

"We were friends way far back. Met her before she started wearing dumb masks. She used to be so cute!" Haruka made a strange face at Sylvie.

Sylvie countered. "You sound like a creep when you say it like that."

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"I'm not the one you should be worried about." Haruka pointed at Tsuki.

"Oh, just knock it off already." Tsukiko put both her hands on the table.

"Do you really think it's a secret at this point?" Sylvie put her hand on Tsuki's shoulder.

Tsuki shook her head. "It's not like that!"

"You're a bad liar anyways." Haru laughed.

"I dunno why you're laughing, Miss Bachelor." Sylvie mocked Haruka.

"I can get any guy I want." Haru put her hands on her hips.

"I don't wanna hear this." Tsuki complained.

Sylvie sighed. "Fine, Fine."

"Why don't you guys talk about Aurelia or the doors?" Kaz butt in.

Haru shrugged. "What's there to talk about?"

"How'd you even meet her?" Sylvie produced a candy from deep within her sweater.

"First Knight took me." Haruka spoke quickly.

"Then how'd she meet her?" Sylvie asked.

Haruka just shrugged again.

"It's just weird y'know?" Sylvie looked off into the distance. "This isn't your everyday kinda place."

"Especially the owner." Tsuki closed her eyes. "You don't run into foreigners like her often, but lately…"

"What's the problem with foreigners?" Sylvie laughed.

"What's with all the French girls I've been meeting lately?" Tsuki opened her eyes again. "I dunno. Why here?"

"Lily's family left her here, same with me." Sylvie said matter of factly.

"Again, why Japan?" Tsuki prodded.

"I dunno, good business? I'm like, partially Japanese, so I guess that influenced it." Sylvie replied.

"How much?" Haruka leaned over the table with genuine interest.

"Maybe… one-fourth?" Sylvie paused. "Not sure."

"Ohh, that's not as interesting as I'd hoped." Haruka retreated.

"What am I supposed to say?" Sylvie shrugged.

"I expected like… a backstory." Tsuki explained.

"What's there to say? My grandfather came to Japan, liked it here, the rest is history." Sylvie scratched her head.

"There's a whole generation or two you just skipped over." Haru teased.

"Hey, I'm the only one worth talking about, and you know that." Sylvie exclaimed.

"You've got a good point." Haru smiled.

Sylvie turned to Tsukiko. "Now you tell me something interesting."

"What about?" Tsuki sounded nervous.

"How far do you and the brown haired chick go back?" Sylvie leaned in close.

"Fumi?" Tsuki leaned away from Sylvie. "I'd say… over ten years?"

"Probably more, y'know." Haru corrected her.

"Yeah, but we weren't as close then as we are now." Tsuki looked at Haruka to try to remember.

"How'd you become such… close friends?" Sylvie nudged Tsuki with a smug look on her face.

"I guess I was just around a lot so we got closer…" Tsuki hid her face.

"Yeah, yeah, you used to get home covered in bruises cuz you always had something to prove." Haruka reminded her.

"You don't have to talk about that…" Tsuki turned red.

"Why not?" Sylvie laid a hand on Tsukiko's shoulder. "I think it's kinda noble, y'know?"

"Still funny." Haru's words poured salt in the wound.

"It's not funny." Tsuki complained. "Never was funny."

Haruka tapped Kazuo on the shoulder. "Got anything juicy to say?"

"Hmm." Kaz paused to think. "No, I don't think so."

"What a cop-out." Tsuki groaned.

"I've got nothing interesting to say, I'm just a detective." Kazuo kept studying the papers.

The others stared at him in disbelief.

"What's your name, Sylvie?" Kaz finally asked.

"Sylvie."

"Sylvie what?" Kaz asked again.

Sylvie mumbled something under her breath.

"Yeah, even I don't know the answer." Haruka grabbed her hat off the table.

"It's Fontaine. Sylvie Fontaine." Sylvie tried to hide her voice.

"Was that so hard?" Kaz looked up and smiled.

"It's just so… embarrassing." Sylvie complained.

"I don't know anything about French names, so I can't really judge." Kazuo slid the binder to the center of the table.

"Did you find anything?" Tsuki's eyes glowed with interest.

"Not really. I was just getting tired of going through this. Gave me some bad eye strain." Kazuo shut his eyes.

"Guess I gotta help." Haruka slid the documents over to read them.

Kaz had left her a marker from where to start.

"Ooh, do we interview the detective now?" Sylvie rubbed her hands together.

"Ehh, I don't think there's much for me to say." Kazuo rubbed his eyes.

"I've never met someone from Hokkaido, is it as cold as they say?" Tsuki prodded.

"I'm used to it, but the tourists hate it." Kaz laughed.

"Liking it down here?" Sylvie asked as soon as he answered.

"Ehh, it's a bit too hot. Humid too." Kaz grabbed his collar.

Sylvie spoke in a hushed voice. "Where'd you get the gun?"

"It's a family heirloom." Kazuo placed his gun on the table, as if blissfully unaware of Sylvie's tone.

"Whoa, what's up with that thing on the grip." Sylvie stared at it in wonder, too afraid to touch.

Kaz shrugged.

Tsukiko slid it back toward Kaz. "Let's hope we don't have to use it."

Claudia returned, lugging huge rolls of fabric. Her eyes lit up as she caught a glimpse of Kazuo's revolver, dropping what she was carrying to go and pick it up, inspecting it closely. She seemed remarkably familiar with how it worked, looking over every last nook and cranny of the gun's large frame.

"Uhh, Claudia?" Tsuki's voice did not break her concentration.

Claudia turned around and took a long look at Kazuo before she grabbed his hand and shook it, then bowed and walked out of the room, revolver in hand.

"Hey, I need that!" Kazuo turned to find Claudia missing.

"You don't need it, Kaz." Tsuki sighed.

"It's still a family heirloom!" Kazuo stood up.

"She'll give it back eventually." Tsuki assured him.

Kaz stopped himself, then sat back down. "Yeah, you're right. That damn thing always comes back to me eventually."

"What?" Tsuki was caught off guard by his strange comment.

"Oh, nothing." Kaz leaned back a little. "Is that all you guys wanted to know?"

"Don't you feel homesick? What about your family?" Tsukiko asked the first genuine question.

"It's the family business, y'know? They're used to a little separation. Besides, it felt good to leave Sapporo for a while." Kazuo's answer was spoken with just a hint of pride.

"Aww, don't you have a girl waiting for you back home?" Sylvie mocked him.

"No."

There was an awkward silence.

"These questions suck." Haruka spoke as she turned a page in the binder.

"I don't see you asking any, Haru." Sylvie complained.

"Fine." Haruka turned toward Kazuo. "Will you order me a pizza?"

"Uhmm, sure?" Kaz hesitated.

Haruka spoke in a flat sarcastic voice. "Oh gee whiz, I'd sure love that, Mister Shimizu."

"Do I order it or not?" Kaz sighed.

"Yes." Haruka turned back to the binder. "Beat that, Fontaine."

"Experience?" Sylvie blurted out.

"Huh?" Kazuo tried to grab his phone out of his pocket, but Sylvie took his attention.

"Your work experience." Sylvie clasped her hands together.

Kazuo looked off to the side to think before he responded. "I used to work with my Dad. You usually get missing people cases, business related things. I started doing solo work back home. This is my first big project this far from home."

"Why here?" Tsuki yawned.

"I thought I told you. Lily's paying me enough to investigate till the day I die." Kaz's face straightened out.

"What a strange girl." Sylvie muttered to no one in particular.

Tsuki slouched down.

"Don't worry, Tsukiko, she's completely fine." Kaz spoke softly.

Tsuki groaned. "It's still eating away at me. What they did to her was just…"

"Don't worry about it so much." Sylvie put a hand on Tsuki's shoulder. "She's alive, untouched. You don't have to worry. Relax."

"It still happened." Haruka sympathized with her sister for once.

"They lit her on fire with booze. I knew I remembered that taste somewhere, that smell…" Tsukiko's voice cracked a little.

"We should do something nice for her." Kaz remarked.

Tsuki stood up and left to grab something from the bags she took from the Mall. When she returned she put a small fancy box on the table.

"The hell's that?" Sylvie grabbed it and inspected the exterior.

Tsuki tore it out of her hands. "It's for Lily."

Tsuki held out a small metal and glass box for the others to see. It had a sterling silver casing, and it weighed a ton. The top of it had a long slate made of some sort of blue jewel. When Tsuki opened it, a song played, with a small mechanical bird popping out to chirp, moving side to side with the rhythm. When the song ended, it fell back into a hole in the box.

"No way that's real." Kazuo leaned over the table to get a closer look.

Sylvie nearly fell over trying to get a closer look. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"I don't know anything about it. I thought it would be nice." Tsuki sat back down.

"How would we even find out, I doubt we know any of that sort of thi–" Sylvie didn't get to finish.

Claudia appeared behind her suddenly, with a monocle with several lenses over one eye. She grabbed the box out of Tsuki's hand and examined it as she let the song play again. She looked into the mechanism as the bird began to sing again, straining her neck and squinting hard to get a good view. When it was over, she closed the box and scanned the outside, then handed it back over and gave Tsuki a thumbs up.

"God, she makes my skin crawl sometimes." Sylvie complained.

"W-what does the thumbs up mean?" Kazuo was in shock.

"I guess it's genuine." Tsukiko closed her hand around the pendant. "Or something."

Haruka wasn't impressed. "Think it's safe to give to her?"

"It's just a music box." Sylvie shouted.

"Well, I doubt it would be any trouble." Kaz straightened his jacket.

Tsuki inspected the shiny exterior of the box. "What matters is if she'll like it."

"If she's really that rich, I doubt she'll be excited." Haruka spoke while still skimming the pages.

"Hey, you'd better be paying attention to that!" Sylvie raised her voice.

Haru slid the documents forward. " My eyes hurt. I'm getting sick of looking at your shit handwriting, Sylvie."

"Find anything?" Tsuki asked.

"A few inconsistencies. Some people check out but never come back." Haru put a hand on the side of her head.

"That's it!" Sylvie jumped up, nearly knocking over a mannequin in a frilly dress.

"Huh?" Haruka sat still, only looking in the blonde's general direction.

"We gotta go right now!" Sylvie slammed her fist on the table.

Tsukiko grabbed her by the collar and pulled her down. "Not until Lily wakes up."

"But--"

"No." Tsuki stood up. "I'm not moving an inch until I know Lily's okay! We've been glossing over it too damn long. She still hasn't woken up!"

The group went silent.