The Knights Himura

Tsukiko was sitting in the chair next to Lily's bed, passed out and drooling. When she finally stirred awake, she found Claudia, tugging weakly on her jacket's sleeve.

"Huh?" Tsuki woke up in a daze. "What do you want?"

The little redhead just kept tugging.

Tsuki stayed planted in the seat. "I'm not leaving…"

Claudia pulled a little harder.

"Back off…"

Claudia wrapped her arms around Tsukiko, desperately trying to drag her out of the chair.

"What do you want?" Tsuki growled.

Tsukiko moved her leg under Claudia to push her off. "Just let me be."

Claudia stepped back, then shook her head.

"What do you want then?"

A red piece of paper appeared in her face. "Get up."

Tsuki pushed it away.

Claudia waved it in her face again.

"Why?" Tsuki slouched down.

Claudia shoved more red papers in her face, but Tsuki just kept shoving them away.

A scratchy, and weak voice spoke. "Lilith would not want to see you like this."

"Huh?" Tsuki looked up and the same redhead stood before her. "So you can talk?"

Claudia nodded her head.

Tsuki sighed. "Why don't you talk then?"

Claudia shook her head this time.

"Why not?" Tsuki asked again.

She shoved another red paper in Tsukikos' face

"What's this? It's blank." Tsukiko narrowed her eyes.

The redhead looked at the paper then hid it behind her back before looking down and shaking her head again.

"Claudia…" Tsuki spoke softly.

Claudia spoke again, her voice hoarse and strained. "I have my reasons, miss."

"Alright, alright." Tsuki stood up. "I should be tough. She said she wanted to be tough like me. She doesn't want to wake up and see me all scared."

Claudia smiled at her and nodded. Tsukiko turned to Lily, then turned back, and Claudia was gone, a blank slip of red paper lying where she had just been standing.

–

As Tsukiko turned the knob, opened the door, and stepped on through, she ended up in a place she didn't expect. Before her sat Aurelia, at a table for two. They were in a big mansion, its interior lit only by the sun filtering in through the windows. Outside, in the far distance, was a bicycle sitting by a tree, and beyond that, a vast green plain that stretched out all the way to the horizon. Tsuki stood there, staring at the pastel blue sky and huge puffy clouds, her eyes tracing a few flower fields

"Sit down, Miss Himura." Aurelia smiled.

Tsuki sat down in the chair. "Passing through all these doors is making me dizzy."

Looking around, everything around her was an ornate relic of the past, an old phonograph spinning with no sound, a bakelite rotary telephone, and more furniture, all made of dark hardwood oak. Even the chairs and tables they were sitting at were made of the same wood, all covered in intricate carved designs.

"Even a Knight needs to adjust to the doors." Aurelia's voice soothed her.

"Did I do something wrong?" Tsukiko kept her posture straight.

"No, of course not." Aurelia chuckled.

"Then why am I here?"

"I just wanted to talk." Aurelia chuckled softly.

"Huh?"

Aurelia cleared her throat. "I would be lying if I said I had not planned all of this."

"Planned all of what?" Tsuki fidgeted.

"I knew you would enter my shop, just like Haruka did. I knew Sylvie would find those missing entries." Aurelia admitted.

"And?"

"I knew I had to make you stay here for a while." Aurelia spoke to her with a genuine worry in her voice. "You have to slow down, Tsukiko."

Tsuki straightened out again. "Slow down? I can't just sit around while they're all out there, what if someone else gets hurt in the meantime?"

"Your goal will come eventually." Aurelia's worry grew.

"But…" Tsuki tried to argue but she couldn't

"I opened the door to that mall so that you could be closer to Fumiko. I made Haruka bring that box out of the fire so you could learn to trust your friends." Aurelia's words grew stranger.

"How did you--?"

"Wait until Lily wakes up. When she wakes, go and find the man who hurt her." Aurelia held up an instant photo before sliding it across the table.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"It's just a mask." Tsuki stared intently.

"Look closer." Aurelia poked the back of the photo.

Tsukiko took a deep breath and took another look at the photo of a man in a mask. It had a distinct design, with something like a great big gash across its black surface, where the bare metal gleamed from underneath the paint, copper in color.

"I would know it better than anyone. Pride in one's appearance is a double edged sword." Aurelia grabbed the photo out of Tsuki's hand.

"This is…" Tsuki almost ignored Aurelia's words.

"What is it?" Aurelia asked.

"Why did you give me this?" Tsuki narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Aurelia cocked her head.

"You just told me to slow down, why're you giving me this? Wouldn't keeping this from me make this longer?" Tsuki asked.

"You would never trust me if all I ever did was hold you back. I merely want to support you." Aurelia bowed her head. "I want our relationship to be based upon mutual trust."

"...the free clothes helped." Tsuki joked.

Aurelia shook her head. "Those are not just clothes."

Tsuki narrowed her eyes. "Then what are they?"

"That jacket of yours is your armor. It will protect you." Aurelia kept talking.

"It's just a jacket, Aurelia." Tsuki smiled sarcastically.

"That is where you are wrong. These are no ordinary fabrics. You should have noticed it earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"Are they comfortable?" Aurelia asked.

Tsuki narrowed her eyes, wondering what on earth she was asking for. Still, it did make her stop and think for a moment, and yes, she felt comfortable, far more comfortable than she would have expected. Sometimes, she forgot she was wearing a jacket at all, like it'd become an extension of her being. The high heels on her boots hadn't tired her or been a nuisance once, and her mobility hadn't been slowed by the jacket, and she could run at full speed, even in a pencil skirt.

Tsuki looked down at her Knight's uniform. "Yeah, they are."

Aurelia bowed her head. "Now do you understand?"

"What else is so special about these clothes?" Tsuki asked.

Aurelia chuckled. "You will learn that soon enough."

"Aurelia…" Tsuki sighed.

"Have you ever seen a spy film?" Aurelia seemingly switched the subject out of nowhere.

Tsuki was even more confused now. "Uhhm, yeah, why?"

"Think of it like… your own special suit and tie. If that does not work for you, think of it as your own Knight's Regalia." Aurelia sounded like she was talking about movies from the sixties.

Tsukiko looked down at the sleeves. "Y'know, spies usually wear black. What's with the white and red?"

"The red represents love." Aurelia explained.

"And the white?" Tsuki raised her arm to show the colors of her sleeve.

"It looks good on you, no?" Aurelia smiled.

"Stop being so vague for once." Tsuki grew a bit frustrated.

Aurelia looked disappointed that Tsukiko didn't play along. "Colours can mean all sorts of things."

Tsuki shook her head. "Right. Sorry."

"I like to think it's love and goodness." The blonde smiled again.

"Love and goodness…" Tsuki spoke to herself.

"Sweetness and light." Aurelia smiled. "I think deep down, you will do great things in that jacket, Tsukiko."

Tsukiko smiled too. "Think or know?"

"Oh, you are too bright." Aurelia laughed.

There was a brief pause.

"Who is Claudia?" Tsuki spoke with the tone of an interrogation.

Aurelia played dumb. "The red haired girl in the black dress. You have met, haven't you?"

"No, I mean, what is she?" Tsuki asked again.

Aurelia looked out the window. "Hmmm. An old friend."

"She looks like a loyal maid." Tsuki tried to counter Aurelia.

Aurelia stared. "Everything Claudia does is of her own accord. I owe her for her enduring loyalty, but she is certainly not being forced to work."

A pale hand landed on Tsukiko's shoulder.

"Oh, Claudia, we were just discussing you." Aurelia's face brightened up.

Claudia stood next to the table, right between the both of them. She looked at Tsukiko closely.

"Why doesn't she speak?" Tsuki pointed at Claudia.

"She simply does not speak. Though, is that really the question you should be asking?" Aurelia pushed Tsuki along.

"Okay, how does she teleport?" Tsuki asked the first thing that came to mind.

"Teleport? You are asking the wrong person." Aurelia looked at Claudia.

"Okay, do you know anything about Claudia?" Tsuki kept her focus on Aurelia.

Aurelia looked at Claudia and Claudia looked back.

Aurelia looked back at Tsukiko. "Neither of us quite understand each other. We keep together regardless. It does not matter to me who or what she is."

Claudia nodded happily.

"Everything I ask just brings up more questions." Tsuki frowned.

"At my age, you understand that some things are beyond explanation." Aurelia chuckled.

"Hmm." Tsuki began to realize the futility of her questions.

"I have not the slightest idea who or what Claudia is. That does not stop me from respecting her and what she does." Aurelia spoke with a louder voice.

Claudia looked proud.

"Well, what can you explain?" Tsuki asked.

Aurelia chuckled. "It would take me several of your lifetimes to explain it all."

"Then, what are the doors?" Tsukiko scrambled for any questions she deemed important.

"Doors, obviously. They just lead to where you would not expect them to lead." Aurelia's answer was unsatisfactory.

"Who were those people that I had to save?" Tsuki countered almost instantly.

"A doctor, and a girl with tragedy in her past." Aurelia replied in kind.

Tsuki put her hand on the table as she stood up. "Do you know who stabbed Fumi?"

Aurelia paused for a moment. "No, I do not."

"How did Lily survive the fire?" Tsuki blurted out one last question.

Aurelia motioned for Tsukiko to sit back down.

"Miss Guillemot is not an ordinary child, Tsukiko." Aurelia began.

"What does that mean?" Tsuki lowered herself back down to the chair.

"Her family was wealthy for a reason, you know. The Guillemot family is legendary in certain circles." Aurelia said.

Aurelia's answers always brought more questions.

"Just tell me." Tsuki spoke a bit rudely.

"Lily has great potential, a potential that I cannot explain." Aurelia smiled.

"What kind?"

"Let us just call it… magical." Aurelia laughed a little.

"Oh…" Tsuki trailed off.

"Lilith told you that she wanted to be as strong as you are. Seeing her here, I know that she may reach that goal some day." Aurelia spoke with great confidence.

Tsuki leaned forward. "Wait, how did you know she said that?"

"She told me." Aurelia smiled.