The Knights Himura

The next morning, Tsukiko woke up alone. At first, she panicked, hoping she hadn't accidentally pushed Lily off the mattress. She wasn't there, but instead, there was a sticky note attached to one of her shoes, a message from Lily. Tsuki was surprised that Lily knew how to write at all.

"I've already gone back to the hospital. You should visit Fumi too!"

She let out a sigh of relief, then started dressing herself, taking Lily's advice and making herself look presentable for another visit to Fumi's hospital room. Tsuki knew it was a bit late, since it was already past noon, but she hoped she wouldn't cause her too much trouble.

–

Tsuki opened the door to Fumiko's room, and to her surprise, found an empty bed. She approached the bed, moving around the blankets and sheets, but saw no sign of any life. She wondered if she'd stepped into the wrong room, but when she checked, she was in the right place.

Immediately, she assumed the worst, panic settling in. Tsuki looked around, her head swinging around like it was on a swivel before she noticed Fumi standing in the corner, her eyes watching the black clouds on the horizon. Somehow, Tsuki hadn't noticed her at all.

"What're you doing up?" Tsuki stepped closer.

"They told me I was recovering faster than they expected. I asked if I could check out early." Fumi's bored voice replied.

Tsuki was shocked, she didn't know how to respond. "That's good, right?"

"Yeah, but I only get a few days off. Something about having to check for infection every once in a while." Fumi seemed tired. "The cops have been on my ass for days now. I'm getting sick of it."

Tsuki cocked her head. "Didn't they catch the guy?"

Fumi turned to Tsukiko and smiled. "They caught a guy, but he didn't have a mask, so the investigation's still on."

"Probably my fault huh…" Tsuki looked out the glass.

"Y'know… If you hadn't taken it, they probably would've just arrested the guy. They'd buy a round of beer for everyone." Fumi laughed a little. "Maybe you did them a favor."

"...you sure?" Tsuki turned back to her.

Fumi lowered her head. "Hey, if anything, it puts a fire under their asses. They'd better catch him soon, though. They've been bugging me every few hours."

They both stood by the window, taking a moment to watch over the city. The clouds at the edge of the sky slowly grew darker and darker, bigger and bigger. The first drops of rain slid down the window before them.

"So." Fumi started. "Where we headed?"

"Not far. Not with this rain." Tsuki frowned.

Fumi smiled. "Your place then?"

Tsuki laughed a defeated laugh. "C'mon, you know it's a mess."

"Not from what Lily told me." Fumi retorted.

"Didn't know the French were so gossipy." Tsuki paused. "And so kind."

"She's nine, what did you expect?"

Tsuki fidgeted. "C'mon, let's get going. We'll miss the train."

–

Just looking at how well Fumi was recovering gave Tsuki some much needed relief, and peace of mind. She was recovering from her injury far more quickly than anyone could've expected, and she looked excited to get a much needed escape from her cold, pale prison. From the way she was moving, it felt as though she'd never even been injured in the first place. Still, she did her best to hide her bandages from Tsukiko's prying eyes, moving her clothes to hide them.

Even with all that, they still felt tired. All the stress and anxiety they'd carried over the past few days weighed on them, dragging them down as they walked the same old streets and rode the same train back to the same station, arriving on time, like it always did. Seeing the cold, unfocused look on Tsuki's face made her dread the walk back to Tsuki's home.

The rain had carried on falling the whole time, and it was still going by the time they'd stepped out of the station. It wasn't harsh enough to need an umbrella for, but with enough time, even the weakest rain could soak their clothes, and with the wind blowing, it quickly brought upon them a chill that went down to their bones. Other passengers ran out holding loose jackets, paper binders and anything else they could get their hands on to protect themselves from the still light falling water.

Fumi and Tsuki could only smile at the sight of it. They'd completed that trip maybe hundreds of times in their lives, their families being relatively close friends with one another. They practically grew up together.

The path before them was illuminated by a sun that so still wanted to shine, punching desperately through even the thickest cloud cover, bathing the world in a diffuse, but omnipresent grey light, leaving no harsh shadows and dulling the colors of everything. Petrichor's earthy smell wafted in the air, as did the sound of wet pavement, and Tsuki could hear the sounds of the rain falling onto the water that'd gathered into puddles and streams on the ground.

"Bad luck, huh?" Fumi smiled.

"You'd better go buy a lottery ticket." Tsuki spoke sarcastically.

"Must be all the good luck kisses."

Fumi tried to walk at a normal pace, doing everything she could to hide the pain of her wounds, but Tsuki forced her to stop when she noticed her hand hovering over her abdomen. It was clear she was pretending to be tougher than she actually was, all so she wouldn't feel like a burden. Fumi didn't say anything, just putting on an annoyed look that wasn't too convincing.

They stood there, together, under a small overhead canopy that did a terrible job keeping them dry. The longer they spent there, the wetter their clothes got, but neither of them wanted to be the first one to move.

Suddenly, Fumiko jumped, doing her best to hide behind Tsukiko. Tsuki turned and saw another man in robes and a mask, standing before them with his arms stretched out wide.

"This is a robbery. It's nothing personal. Wallets, phones, now." The hooded man approached.

"Oh, goddamnit." Tsuki groaned. "Can't you just leave us alone?"

"Quit yer bitching and hand it all over already." The figure held out his arm.

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"J-just give it to him." Fumi panicked.

"Y'know what? Go fuck yourself." Tsuki laughed.

The hooded figure pulled out a knife. "Just do what I say and nobody gets hurt, alright?"

"Tsuki, don't!" Fumi cried.

Too angry to think straight, Tsuki reached out and grabbed his arm, twisting it. With her free hand, she pulled back and struck the man's mask, shattering it and revealing his face.

"Back off!" The robed man struggled.

The man in the mask broke free, still holding his knife. He took a few steps back, watching Tsukiko intently, doing his best to regain his composure, waving the knife around to try and intimidate her.

Fumiko was frozen in fear. "Tsuki… Tsuki, please…"

The man moved forward, swinging the knife haphazardly, managing to get a few light slices and cuts into Tsukiko's skin and clothes, but she wasn't deterred. On a slow down swing, Tsuki moved forward, striking his hand and knocking the knife out of his grasp, the blade dropping to the asphalt, before reaching forward and grabbing him by the throat. Part of her wanted to squeeze down hard, just to see what would happen, just to see the poor bastard turn red.

He slapped her face and once again, broke free from Tsuki's grasp, driving down for the knife again, but she caught him with a harsh kick to the stomach, then she stomped on his hand. The man let out a horrid, agonizing scream, swatting at her leg to get her to lift her weight off his now broken hand.

"Apologize to my friend here." Tsukiko demanded.

The robed man didn't answer, still trying to push her off his hand. In response, Tsukiko began to twist her leg, grinding the back of the man's hand against the rough concrete.

He let out a loud yelp. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry!"

Tsuki kneeled down and picked up the knife that he was so frantically trying to take back and put it in her pocket. With that, she finally raised her leg.

"Now get the hell outta here." Tsukiko kicked him again.

He gasped as he saw his now twisted, mangled and bloodied hand. He stumped onto his feet, his eyes meeting Tsukiko's for a moment, before he broke into a sprint, away from the young woman who'd bested him.

"That's right! Keep running!" Tsukiko laughed.

"Tsuki, what the hell…" Fumiko mumbled.

Tsukiko approached her still frozen friend and held her. "It's fine, it's fine… I'm here for you. I'll call the cops and we can head to my place. You can stay the night, can't you?"

–

Tsukiko called the police and left the area as fast as she could, hoping to avoid another unpleasant encounter with the police. Fumiko's first day out of the hospital should have been a good one, but all of Tsuki's plans almost immediately fell into jeopardy.

For the rest of the way, Fumi clung to Tsukiko's arm tightly, both of them doing their best to choke back tears and stay strong in front of the other. The whole way back, Tsuki racked her brain trying to figure out if she'd truly done the right thing.

They walked the last few terrifying blocks to Tsukiko's house, thankfully arriving in one piece. Tsukiko led Fumi back to her bedroom, to the one place that felt the safest in that house, and helped a shaking, tearful Fumiko sit down on the bottom bunk. Tsukiko sat next to her, tossing aside her cut up, bloodied blouse. The knife had left a few shallow, but especially painful cuts.

"God, that stings." Tsuki whined.

Fumi only shuddered. "Tsuki…"

"C'mon, we're safe here. You can smile again, right?" Tsuki comforted her again with a forced smile.

Fumi started speaking quickly. "Sorry, I really freaked out, didn't I? I was just so scared. I don't know what would've happened if you--"

"We're fine, Fumi." Tsuki sighed. "I'm okay."

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment.

"Can you do something about these cuts?" Tsuki put her hand on her stomach.

"S-sure, fine." Fumi spoke quietly.

Fumiko got up, taking a long look at Tsukiko's body, before turning and stepping down the stairs. Tsuki could hear her hurried footsteps walk around down stairs. After a few minutes, she stomped back up into Tsukiko's room, a bottle of alcohol in one hand, and a roll of bandages and cotton balls in the other.

"I'm not that cut up, am I?" Tsuki took a deep breath.

Fumi sat down on the bottom bunk, next to Tsukiko. She placed her hand on Tsuki's shoulder, pushing her down onto her back. Without another word, Fumiko doused a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and started patting one of Tsuki's cuts, making her hiss and bare her teeth in pain. It was so cold, and it hurt more than the knife had.

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" Fumi was finally calm enough to ask.

"Don't act like you don't know." Tsuki grit her teeth as she spoke, trying to get through the pain.

"I've seen you fight before, but not like that. This time was different." Fumi loosened up as she worked on Tsuki's wounds. "You were so much more… aggressive."

Tsuki forced her hand into a fist as she tried to bear the pain. "I… I got angry. I had to do something, y'know? I had to let it all out."

"Always trying to protect me, huh?" Fumiko had a warm smile on her face.

Tsuki blushed. "You mean a lot to me."

Fumi stopped her work for a second. "I don't wanna lose you, Tsuki."

"You won't."

"No, just shut up and listen. I was afraid I'd never see you again, goddamnit." Fumi continued. "When I blacked out back then, I was so scared I'd never wake up again, that I'd never see you again. You don't have to jump into danger every time, idiot."

"You don't think I was scared too?" Tsuki defended herself. "I don't wanna be scared. I hate being scared. I wanna be strong, for both of us."

"What would she think of all this?" Fumi looked up at the top bunk, before slowly returning back to her work.

"Who?"

"You know who." Fumi spoke sternly.

"I… honestly don't know. She'd probably scold me for being a coward." Tsuki sighed.

"You're not a coward. You're strong, but stubborn. Please, try not to get yourself hurt." Fumiko pulled Tsuki up and began wrapping the bandages around her.

"I'm not giving any of this up. I know you don't want me to, but you're not gonna stop me. Don't act like she'd care enough to try to talk me out of this."

"She does care about you, Tsuki, she just--"

"If she really did care, she wouldn't have left." Tsuki said with a pained voice.

Fumi stopped for a second, looking Tsuki in the eye. "She was my friend too."

More dead air filled the room. Fumi's delicate fingers wiped the blood off of Tsuki's bare skin. In any other circumstance, she would've made jokes, but now wasn't the time.

"What if it's a gang?" Tsuki resurrected the conversation.

"You said I couldn't stop you. You'd better not be backing out already." Fumi shook her head.

"Where would I even start?" Tsuki looked down at the dirty floor.

"Does it even matter?" Fumi chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

Fumi spoke in Tsuki's ear. "No matter what I say, you're gonna go in head first."

"Maybe you're right." Tsukiko's toes curled from the pain. "But that doesn't mean I shouldn't give this some thought first."

"Let's focus on getting the blood off of you first, alright?" Fumi grabbed a pair of scissors.

"Whatever you say, doc." Tsuki laughed at her own joke.

"Seriously?" Fumi chuckled too.

They stopped talking again.

"You won't be mad if I do go after that gang, will you?" Tsuki asked.

"Tsuki, you know me. I'm on your side no matter what." Fumi tidied up her workspace and gathered up her materials. "But seriously, I'll be pretty mad if you get hurt doing something stupid."

The bandages weren't quite the work of a professional, but they'd have to do. Going to a hospital would cause too much trouble, and neither of them knew who else to turn to.

"God, that stings." Tsuki complained.

"It's the alcohol." Fumi sat closer.

"Just moving hurts." Tsuki winced as she tried to lean back.

"Maybe you shouldn't be jumping face first into every knife you see." Fumi looked at her.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Tsuki countered.

"You really are my hero, aren't you?" Fumiko climbed over Tsukiko.

Tsuki groaned in pain. "Oww, that hurts! What the hell're you doing?"

"Giving my hero what they deserve." Fumi looked down at Tsukiko with a somewhat menacing look in her eye.

Fumi positioned herself over Tsukiko's injured body. It was dark in that room, hiding everything underneath complete shade, only enough for them to make out one another's faces.

"Slow down." Tsuki groaned.

"I thought you liked it when I surprised you." Fumi chuckled.

Tsuki looked away in shame. "Just… be careful, okay?"

"Anything for my hero." Fumi leaned forward and kissed her.