The Knights Himura

"Okay, what's up, Sylvie?" Haruka prodded.

Haruka, Tsukiko, Sylvie and Kazuo were sitting together in a booth at a fast food restaurant. Haruka'd chosen to squeeze herself in next to Kazuo, so Sylvie and Tsukiko took the other side. The table itself was all scuffed up, worn with age, and the seats were uncomfortable.

The noon sun lit the world in a clear white light, the air outside still cool and refreshing, but the air inside was stuffy, and thick with the smell of food wafting through it. Beeping machines and the chatter of all the other customers made a soft wall of noise around them, making it a bit difficult for Tsuki to focus, everything on her mind reduced to a blurry mess.

"I think I've found a new lead." Sylvie announced with pride.

"That right?" Haruka smiled a toothy grin.

Sylvie's pride deflated. "Do you even care?"

"Huh?"

Sylvie frowned. "I know that grin, you really don't care, do you?"

"Not exactly." Haruka sighed.

"They've dragged another person into this. The least you could do now is listen." Tsukiko scolded.

Haruka shut her eyes and groaned. "Sylvie, your leads suck."

"There's only been like two." Sylvie countered.

"Neither of them took us anywhere." Haruka quickly spoke again.

"If you're just gonna sit around until something falls in your lap, you can do the waiting somewhere else. Go back to your Mom's place and sob like a little bitch like you used to." Sylvie's words cut like razors.

Haruka stared at Sylvie blankly. "…the hell's your deal?"

"Can we not fight right now?" Kaz tried to defuse the situation.

Tsukiko crossed her arms. "Yeah,knock it off. It's just petty."

"…fine. What's the lead?" Haru tapped the table.

"I found out who took Lily." Sylvie spoke quietly.

Tsuki turned to her. "Wait, you sure?"

"Someone in the gang pointed them out. Apparently they're a big shot in the Shakudos. Dude's got these weird gashes on his mask." Sylvie continued.

The group stayed silent for a moment before Tsuki finally spoke. "I think Sylvie's right."

"How would you know?" Haruka raised an eyebrow.

Tsuki fumbled around under her jacket before producing a photo of the mask. "Here, look at this."

"Holy shit, that's it!" Sylvie pulled it out of Tsukiko's hand, showing it to everyone at the table. "Where'd you get this?"

"You weren't kidding. Looks like someone went at him with an axe or something." Haruka tried to lean in for a better look.

"Even then, how do we know that's true?" Kazuo scratched his head.

As Kazuo moved his hand back down to the table, his revolver fell out of his coat and down to the table. The group jumped in their seats at the sight of the weapon.

Tsuki panicked. "What the hell?"

Kazuo grabbed it and put the revolver back in its holster. "Sorry, it just does that sometimes."

"What, it falls out of your jacket?" Haruka jabbed him with her elbow.

"No, it just sorta shows up. I left this back at Aurelia's shop, but now it's here." Kazuo shrugged.

"So, what, he's got a magic gun now?" Sylvie groaned.

"I mean, it's not like we can be too surprised about something like that." Haruka laughed. "Especially with Claudia running around."

"Maybe she's playing a trick on you. She can be anywhere, anytime." Tsuki pondered aloud. "I dunno if she's the type."

"Nope." Kaz frowned. "My grandfather warned me about it. Got him into some bad situations back in his day."

"Weird…" Sylvie stared at the holster.

Tsuki raised her voice. "Let's focus, alright?"

"So…" Kazuo leaned in. "How'd you get the photo?"

Tsukiko grabbed the photo. "Aurelia gave it to me."

"How'd she know?" Kazuo spoke like an interrogator.

"It's Aurelia. You're probably better off not even asking." Haruka suggested.

"Yeah, you're probably right…" Kazuo didn't bother questioning her further.

"Still, it's a good step forward. Maybe we can get revenge for what they did to Lily." Sylvie's voice grew dark as she spoke.

"Keep it in your pants, killer." Haruka teased.

"Do we at least know where to find him?" Kazuo asked.

"I might, but I'm not entirely sure." Sylvie admitted with a slight embarrassment.

"What do you know?" Tsuki looked her in the eye.

"He miiiiiight show up at this other Shakudo event thing and--." Sylvie got cut off.

Tsukiko shut her down. "Nope, not dumb enough for that."

"Huh?"

"You're walking into another trap." Haruka groaned.

"No, no, this one's legit!" Sylvie tried to defend herself.

"How do you know?" Tsukiko asked.

Sylvie spoke quietly again. "Apparently, it's a few Shakudo leaders coming together for a meeting. It's in an old office building by the warehouses."

"Leaders? Ugh." Haruka complained. "This is so silly."

"…we could just wait and take one of 'em down as he leaves. Y'know, trick them like they tricked us." Sylvie smiled a little.

"I don't think you should stoop down to their level." Tsuki leaned back. "We could take 'em all down, then and there."

"Yeah, I honestly doubt that." Haruka shook her head.

"I'm not gonna ambush someone." Tsukiko growled.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that." Haruka nodded. "But I dunno about fighting 'em all at once…"

"I'll do it myself, then." Tsuki sat up straight.

"You crazy?" Sylvie laughed.

Tsuki looked her in the eye. "You got a better plan?"

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Haruka looked around before whispering to her sister."What if it is a trap?"

Tsuki frowned. "...well, then it's just one of us rather than all of us."

"Don't be an idiot, Tsuki." Haruka scolded her sister. "This isn't some action movie, dumbass."

A voice shouted out their order on the other side of the restaurant.

"Lemme go get it!" Haruka sat up.

Haruka had been sitting next to the window, Kazuo sitting on the outer part of the booth. She pushed herself up, hopping up onto his lap for a moment, then stood up, smiling back at Kaz and winking at him before she left to go grab their order.

Kazuo lowered his head. "She's insatiable…"

"Huh?" Sylvie prodded.

"She's been next to me this whole time, always messing with me when she gets the chance." Kaz looked embarrassed.

"How's that a bad thing?" Sylvie chuckled.

"…It's not, I guess. It's just…" Kaz struggled to get his thoughts out.

"Yeah, Haruka can be annoying." Sylvie smiled.

"It's not that…" Kazuo looked away.

Sylvie leaned over and whispered to Tsukiko. "Yo, what's he mean?"

Tsuki whispered back. "…you notice his limp?"

Sylvie's face turned a bright tomato red.

Haruka returned, slapping two trays down, covered in small boxes.

"What're you guys talking about?" Haruka asked.

"Don't worry about it." Tsuki pulled one of the trays over.

"What the hell did you order?" Sylvie opened up one of the boxes to reveal what appeared to be small fried chicken nuggets.

"Chicken. I thought it'd be nice to snack on something while we talk." Haruka took one and shoved it in her mouth.

"The plan was to buy something so we wouldn't get kicked out. A drink or something would've been fine!" Sylvie complained.

"It's on me, okay? It wasn't even that expensive." Haruka once again squeezed past Kazuo to sit next to the window again.

"Yeah, back to the topic at hand." Tsuki nudged Sylvie. "After we find my guy, what're we doing with the Shakudos?"

"We're gonna crush 'em." Sylvie spoke with confidence.

"Yeah, but how?" Tsuki looked at her.

"Well, obviously it's… We take down the head guy, right?" Sylvie's confidence waned. "That's… usually how it works."

"And if another guy takes his place?" Haruka turned to Sylvie.

"We take him down too, duh." Sylvie grabbed a piece of chicken.

"You've got this all planned out, huh?" Haruka stared.

"Hey, this stuff's hard, y'know? Gimme a break." Sylvie looked a bit hurt.

"Hey, that's your plan, not mine. Come up with something better." Haruka's words were harsh.

Sylvie muttered under her breath. "Big talk comin' from you, you drunk.."

"What was that?" Haruka stood up. "You wanna say that louder?"

Kazuo tugged on her sleeve. "Sit down, Haru."

Sylvie stood up too. "I said you're a fuckin' drunk!"

"I might be a drunk, but at least I'm not a fucking idiot!" Haruka shouted at her.

"At least I don't have to babysit a fucking shut in!" Sylvie shouted back.

"Calm down!" Tsukiko stood up and grabbed Sylvie, her other arm reaching out for Haruka.

"I'm outta here." Haruka shoved Kaz out of the way and walked out of the restaurant.

Sylvie jumped up onto the table and broke away, running out of the shop.

–

Haruka stood alone, leaning against the wall outside of the restaurant, her face in obvious pain.

"What do you think you're doing, huh?" Sylvie approached her.

Haru reached into her jacket and pulled out a red lollipop.

Sylvie slapped her across the face. "You know what I had to deal with while you were gone?"

Haruka didn't respond.

"And now I find out it's cuz you're too busy having to take care of a grown ass woman? You're just carrying around dead weight!" Sylvie shouted.

Sylvie pulled her arm back to punch Haruka, but she caught it in mid air. Once she had a hold of Sylvie's arm, Haruka twisted it and slammed her against the wall.

"You don't fucking talk about Shizuka like that!" Haruka punched Sylvie in the stomach over and over, her other arm squeezing the blonde's neck.

Haruka then pulled her arm back high, about to punch her in the face. Sylvie managed to escape her grasp at the last second, Haru narrowly avoiding breaking her fingers on the brick wall by stopping herself. Sylvie backed away, grasping her stomach, coughing and gagging.

"C'mon!" Sylvie held her fists up.

Sylvie ran forward, but Haruka hit her with a kick so powerful it knocked her to the ground. As she got back up onto her feet, Haruka took a swing at her, which Sylvie managed to avoid, then countered with a punch of her own. They backed away from one another after a few more blows, pacing around each other like two wild animals.

"This is for wasting my goddamn time!" Sylvie shouted.

"Don't blame me for your own fuck ups!" Haruka shouted back.

They broke into a sprint toward each other. Just as they were about to meet, a vending machine came crashing down on the concrete between them. Sylvie and Haruka stopped dead in their tracks.

"Stop fighting!" Tsukiko shouted.

They both turned to look at her.

"Tsuki!" Kazuo shouted.

Haruka and Sylvie both looked away from one another, guilty looks on their faces.

Tsuki broke through the crowd, approaching them both. "Stop this petty shit. We're not gonna get anywhere like this!"

"We're not gonna get anywhere when Haruka's too busy being someone's maid." Sylvie groaned.

Haruka tried to hit her in retaliation, but Tsukiko caught her arm. "Stop."

"I'm not babysitting her. You miss her just as much as I do." Haruka pulled her arm away.

"Yeah, and? I've been out here suffering while you're spoon feeding her!" Sylvie hissed.

"Sylvie." Tsuki turned to the blonde.

"It's already hard enough, I don't need anymore of your bullshit, Haruka!" Sylvie shouted.

Tsukiko looked her in the eye. "Shouting isn't gonna fix anything. She cares a lot about Shizuka, okay?"

"Shizuka's the only person Haruka cares about." Sylvie clenched her fist.

"How am I supposed to leave her behind?" Haruka frowned.

"You can't let her hold you back." Sylvie stared at Haruka.

"I can't just leave her alone. You have no idea what she's going through, what she's gone through." Haruka snapped.

"Neither do you! You have no idea what to do, do you?" Sylvie's stance did not change.

Haruka's voice wavered. "I'm trying my best, okay?"

"I miss her too, okay?" Sylvie stepped forward. "But something has to change. The Damascenes went to shit when you were gone."

"Why do I have to fix that? That's not my problem!"

"I know it's not, but I can't do this alone!" Sylvie grit her teeth.

Haruka let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, but I can't just leave her behind."

"I'm not asking you to leave her behind, I'm asking you to stop being her damn maid." Sylvie demanded.

"I'm not her maid."

"It doesn't matter." Sylvie kept her guard up. "You don't need to anchor yourself down for the rest of your life. Move on already."

Haruka began walking toward her. "Shizuka's not an anchor."

"Then why are you here? What're you really after in this? Who're you trying to protect?" Sylvie's voice grew hoarse.

"I'm here to take down the Shakudos, just like everyone else." Haruka said.

"No. That's not what I meant." Sylvie shook her head. "Everyone's here for something. Tsuki wants revenge, I wanna save the Damascenes, Kaz's getting paid. Why are you here?"

"I… I wanna protect Tsuki." Haruka hid her face.

"Sure doesn't feel like it." Sylvie shook her head again. "Not after what you did to her."

"Didn't this all start cuz you wanted that one guy to leave the Shakudos?" Tsuki approached the two of them.

Haruka lowered her guard. "Well, that was part of it too, but…"

"But?" Sylvie prodded, digging for an honest answer.

"…Haruka?" Tsuki turned to her sister.

Haru had a look of shame on her face. "I already told you, didn't I?"

"What?" Sylvie leaned in closer.

Haruka hid her face "I wanted to be with Tsuki again. I wanted to fight with Shizuka again. I wanted things to be like they were before. I wanted my family back!"

"Your… family?" Sylvie looked down at her friend.

"I don't wanna leave either of them behind, damnit!"

Tsuki wrapped an arm around her sister. "You don't have to, don't worry."

"You think I like having to take care of her? I hate it. I hate every fucking second of it." Haru grit her teeth. "But it's worth it if she'll get back on her feet some day. I don't care how long it takes. If it worked for me and Tsuki, then it'll work for her."

Sylvie lowered her head and sighed. "I feel like I hit something I wasn't supposed to."

"Huh?" Tsuki turned to her.

Sylvie shook her head. "It's nothing."

Kazuo approached with bags full of leftovers. "You guys okay?"

"Where were you?" Tsuki glared.

"Cleaning up the mess you all left me." Kazuo complained.

He placed the bag next to Tsukiko, then approached Haruka. She looked him in the eye, then she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him. Her tears stained his coat.