The Knights Himura

Paranoia had settled in and begun taking hold of Tsukiko. Her eyes scanned every person in every crowd, every nook and cranny, every strange thing under the sun. She didn't feel safe on the streets. Every thought went back to feeling as though everything was deeply, deeply wrong.

Tsukiko knew that, in any confrontation, staying calm would be a deciding factor in her safety. She'd close her eyes and let out a long sigh, before taking another deep breath. One by one, the thoughts in her head cleared, letting her focus on the present and her direct surroundings. That is, until she felt a hand grasp her thigh. She jumped, nearly kicking whatever, or whoever, it was that touched her.

"No, no, no! I'm a friend!" The thing frantically cried.

Tsukiko looked down. "What the hell're you doing' out here, Lily?"

"I found you!" Lily wrapped herself around Tsuki's leg tightly.

"Sh-shouldn't you be in the hospital?" Tsuki asked nervously.

"I'll be safer with you." Lily chirped.

"What about your mom and dad?" Tsuki struggled to walk as Lily buried her face into her leg.

"No!" Lily pouted.

"Fiiiine. Just don't get me in trouble." Tsuki said, resting her hand on Lily's big sun hat.

Lily jumped off and grabbed onto Tsuki's hand. "Yay!"

"Got any place in mind or…?" Tsuki looked down at Lily.

"Anywhere with you, lady." Lily sang.

Just across the street was a large, open park. It was as good a place as any for Tsukiko to sit down and forget her woes for a while. She grabbed Lily's hand, looked both ways up and down the road, then crossed.

Her fears turned toward Lily. If her actions before had angered some color gang, she very well could be putting that poor girl in danger too. She didn't want to let anything bad happen to her.

Tsuki's mind ran wild with all sorts of bizarre and awful scenarios. What if she was attacked at the park? What if she'd run away from home? What if people thought she was the one with bad intentions? What if she looked like she'd kidnapped the poor girl? It was a strange, foolish idea, but it got stuck in the back of her mind.

With these thoughts still in her mind, she led Lily across the park and they both sat down at a metal bench by a gently bubbling fountain. They sat surrounded by grass and flimsy little trees scattered all around the park, still not quite having achieved their full grown adult sizes.

"So, what do you wanna do?" The older one asked.

The younger girl leaned over and shut her eyes. "I dunno."

"We didn't come here to take a nap…" Tsuki murmured.

"I just wanna talk." Lily looked back up.

"About?"

"I dunno, anything." Lily shrugged.

"Pretty curious for a seven year old." Tsuki joked with a smile.

"I'm nine!" Lily replied defiantly.

Tsuki started to pat and rub Lily's hair. "I dunno, you're still pretty small."

Lily shook her head. "I wanna be strong!"

"Strong? You seem too cute to be strong. You're more the loveable type." Tsuki wrapped an arm around Lily.

"No, No. Strong! I wanna fight off the bad guys!"

"You've been watching too much TV." Tsuki shook her head.

Lily nodded in response. "Honest! I wanna be strong like Mom and Dad were."

Hearing this pained Tsukiko. "…so why do you hang out at the hospital?"

"I have a lot of friends there! Fumi's so nice to me!" Lily didn't do the best job explaining things.

"Friends? You mean the doctors?"

"Yeah, yeah! The sick people too!" Lily beamed.

"Must be a weird family." Tsuki chuckled.

"Family?" Lily asked.

"I've always thought that if you spend enough time with people and you care about them, they're like family." Tsuki tried her best to express her idea to someone young.

"...what's your family like, lady?"

Tsuki struggled to answer. "Uhhm… I only live with my Dad. Sort of. He's hardly ever around."

"Mom?"

"I'd… rather not talk about that." Tsuki forced an awkward laugh.

"No brothers, sisters?" Lily prodded.

"It's… It's a secret!" Tsuki thought she'd skilfully dodged the question.

"You don't have to hide it, I know what you're doing." Lily had a harsh change in tone.

"Sorry. You're a lot smarter than you look." Tsukiko hid her face in embarrassment.

"I just realized, you're probably old enough to have a boyfriend!" Lily blurted out.

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

"I'm not that popular with boys. They don't really make any offers." Tsuki replied with an awkward laugh. "W-well, it's not like I'm not interested it's just–"

"Well, that's why you have to do it! Love won't come to you on its own!" Lily had strangely mature advice.

"To be honest… I'm pretty busy." Tsuki looked away.

Lily got up and kissed Tsuki on the cheek. "May good luck and love come to you!"

Tsuki laughed. "Got that from Fumi?"

"Nah, I learned it from someone else."

"Madame Jeanne?" Tsuki stuttered.

"Oooh, you're good!"

"Just don't go around doing that to everyone you meet." Tsuki chuckled as her lips curled into a smile. "That's only for people you really care about, okay?"

A few minutes talking to Lily, and Tsuki's fears of the masked men practically vanished. She was having too good of a time to even think about them. There was nothing in the world to bother her.

"What's your name, lady?" Lily asked.

"Tell me yours first." Tsuki dodged the question.

"Lilith!" Lily said proudly.

Tsuki shook her head. "I already knew that. What about your last name?"

"Guillemot." Lilith replied with less enthusiasm.

"Lilith Guillemot?" Tsuki had to stop and think. "...is that French?"

"Yeah!" Lily nodded. "How'd you know?"

"A hunch? Makes sense, you look like you came out of one of those old timey French paintings." Tsuki remarked.

"Maybe I did." Lily smiled.

"Wandering like a little white bird." Tsuki leaned on Lily. "I really wouldn't be surprised if you did come running off a canvas."

"Now you tell me yours!" Lily demanded.

"My what?" Tsuki asked.

"What's your last name?"

"Himura." Tsuki responded almost instantly.

Lily sat up. "...and your first name's Tsuki?"

"Tsukiko." she corrected Lily.

"That's a nice name." Lily nodded.

"It's not that nice." Tsuki chuckled.

Lily looked almost frustrated, but in a childlike way. "So, how do I get strong, lady?"

"Mmmm. Maybe you already are." Tsukiko yawned.

"What do you mean?" Lily sat up.

"Well, you're on your own, and you're still all smiles." Tsuki looked down at her feet. "A lotta kids would have some real trouble in your situation."

"...on my own?" Lily asked.

"Well, your parents are… dead, aren't they?" Tsuki spoke carefully.

Lily avoided the question. "I don't feel alone."

"You don't?" Tsuki asked.

"Of course not! I have friends in the hospital. I have friends outside too! You're my friend too, aren't you?" Lily raised her voice.

Tsuki's heart couldn't take it. "Yes, I am."

"Then I'm not alone, am I?" Lily puffed out her chest.

Tsuki's smile faded. "I guess, but losing people that mean a lot to you hurts."

Lily stared back at Tsukiko, her smile unfurling just a bit. From the look in her eyes, she was starting to understand Tsukiko more and more. She was a lot wiser than she looked. The once aquamarine sky was turning orange, the water in the fountain reflecting a mess of oranges, yellows and reds. Tsukiko reached over and patted Lily's head to try to cheer her up.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Now you have a big sister to look up to, right?" Tsukiko smiled at the little girl next to her.

Lily didn't speak again, instead reaching over and wrapping her arms around Tsuki. Another dense silence settled over them like a blanket. It took a while for Lilith to finally let go and let Tsuki speak again.

"It's starting to get dark." Tsuki asked as she stood up. "Where should we go?"

"I can make it back on my own, don't worry." Lily broke free.

"You sure?" Tsuki cocked her head.

"Trust me!" Lily hopped off the bench.

"A-Alright, you find your way home safe, alright?" Tsuki said with a strained voice as she stretched. "Stay away from creeps, don't go down dark alleys and--"

"Fine, I'm coming with you!" Lily groaned.

"Huh? Where do you live, then?" Tsuki asked.

"Your place!" Lily stomped her feet.

"What? Don't you have a guardian or something? I can't just take you home!" Tsuki looked around, noticing how dark it had gotten.

Lily held a sad, but frustrated face.

"I-I get it…" Tsuki relented.

As she began to walk, Lilith jumped up and grabbed her hand, humming a tune as they began to walk together.

–

The night had finally arrived by the time they arrived at Tsuki's house. The sky above was a deep, dark, midnight blue, but the horizon still had a sliver of light peeking over, with a smoggy grey dividing them. Even as the day came to an end, the hustle and bustle of the city kept strong, like a well oiled machine, never stopping to sleep. The once warm air had cooled, blowing right down the streets.

Tsuki's home was in total disarray, like usual. The small brick wall around the front of her home was starting to crack and break. A dark mark showed the location of a family nameplate that'd been removed long ago.

The now dirtied paint on the house's outside walls had begun to chip and flake away, revealing layers and layers of paint underneath. A few dead plants sat in their pots by the front door, but the weeds poking through the broken parts of the concrete seemed to be thriving.

"Oh, oh! Am I gonna meet your Dad?" Lily looked up at Tsuki.

Tsuki sighed. "Nah. He isn't around much, remember?"

Tsuki unlocked the door and swung it open to reveal a dark and moody interior. The place was messy and disorganized, looking more like a rebellious teen's bedroom than a family abode. The left side was sort of a living room, with a coffee table and an old brown couch covered in loose laundry and grocery bags. A cozy, but dusty rug lined the floor, and an arm chair sat in the corner, occupied with stacks of books and DVD cases that were far too high for anyone to reasonably sit in it. The only thing left clean was a polished, stainless steel turntable and matching vinyl record collection.

On the right was a kitchen, or cooking area with a countertop, stove, toaster oven, fridge, and overhead shelves. For now, though, it was far too messy to use, reasonably, stocked but poorly organized, things left in their bags and boxes of food littering the place.

The room's deep brown walls gave the whole place a warm, dark tinge, making Tsuki's home seem small and suffocating. There was a thick, but not unpleasant, savory sweet smell stuck inside, like the scent of cooked food itself had gotten stuck in the walls over the years.

Together, they continued to Tsukiko's bedroom, which was more of the same. From the door, stepping in, the left side had a bunk bed. The bottom bed had been left messy, with the sheets nearly coming off the mattress, but the top was neat and tidy, with a fluffed pillow ready for a guest that would never arrive.

To the right side were all of Tsukiko's personal belongings, crammed in as tightly as she could manage. There were shelves filled with movies, books, and video games lining the walls, everything she'd ever need to keep herself entertained. In the middle of it all was a small monitor and computer. They were layered in dust, but clearly still regularly used.

It wasn't exactly anything to brag about, but it was warm and comfortable to her. It was Tsukiko's home. It always had been. Everything was in its right place, at least in her opinion.

Tsuki motioned to the top bunk with her hand. "You can sleep on top if you promise not to make a mess, okay?"

Lily took one look up there and refused. "No, with you!"

"Fine, let's sleep on the bottom then." Tsuki sighed.

Tsuki tossed aside her skirt and blouse into a growing pile of dirty laundry, then removed the ribbon from her hair and kicked away her shoes. She let out a groan as she leaned back onto the mattress.

Lily, seeing Tsukiko partially undressed, took her shoes off and carefully placed them together at the side of the bed. She placed her sunhat on top of her shoes, then sat at the edge of the bed.

"Clean clothes, messy house." Lily mocked her.

"Ugh, you sound like Fumi." Tsuki fluffed up her pillow.

"This place is comfy." Lily looked around for a bit, but by then, Tsukiko'd already fallen asleep.

Lily just smiled and laid next to Tsuki, letting herself drift asleep next to her new sister.