Tsukiko and Haruka stepped out of the office first, Fumiko trailing behind.

The afternoon sun hung high, leaving the streets well lit and warm. Luckily, the streets were relatively empty, save for a few parked cars and bikes and the occasional passerby.

"C'mon." Haruka muttered as she took the first steps forward. "It's not that far to Aurelia's place."

"...wish we didn't have to do this." Tsuki stopped.

"It's only for a little while. We can't have her sticking around her office right now." Haruka assured her.

"It just... feels like I'm letting him win." Tsuki's hand was balled into a fist.

"Fumi's safe, isn't she?" Haruka tried to comfort her.

"It's fine, Tsuki." Fumi spoke softly. "I'm not mad at you or anything."

"It's not that..." Tsuki opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then stopped.

"I'm not scared." Fumi smiled. "I'll be back to work by tomorrow morning. If anything happens, I know you'll be there."

"Right." Tsuki nodded.

Fumi stood between the two Knights like they were her personal bodyguards. She had a slight smile on her face, as if nothing in the world had gone wrong, but her eyes kept looking up to Tsuki.

Tsuki's mind was a balled up mess of black and gray thread, and dull needles that could never get unwound, unable to sew together her thoughts into anything cohesive. She so desperately wanted to think, but she couldn't.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone leaning against a wall to her right, in an empty alleyway. It was a woman in a cap and jacket, holding something. Their eyes met.

"Guys?" Tsuki spoke.

"What's up?" Haruka replied. "You ready to go or what?"

"...think you can take Fumi there?" Tsuki asked. "...keep her safe?"

"'course I can." Haruka crossed her arms. "Why?"

"...I've got something to settle." Tsuki said. "It's important."

"You sure you wanna do it alone?" Haruka followed Tsuki's gaze. "Who's that?"

Fumi turned to see the woman. "Eh? Yeah, who is that?"

"A friend." Tsuki blurted out.

"Already cheating on me, huh?" Fumiko nudged her.

Tsuki scoffed. "The hell're you talking about?"

Haruka stood straight and ready. "You're not getting into another fight, are you?"

"No, no." Tsuki shook her head. "You guys go on ahead, alright? I'll be there soon."

"Tsuki..." Haruka was hesitant. "...anything happens, we'll come running. I can call Shizuka if you want."

Tsuki could only smile a little. "Thanks, Haru. I'll be fine."

Without another word, the group broke up, Haru and Fumi walking to Aurelia's shop and Tsuki walking down the alley. Hotaru turned to her, still leaning against the wall, a cherry lollipop between her teeth. Tsuki felt the urge to get one of her own, but she'd left them behind in her jacket.

"What're you doing here?" Tsukiko questioned.

"I've got a delivery for you. A gift." Hotaru held a box in one hand. "Don't worry, I'm not stalkin' you or anything. It's a favor from a friend."

"What is it?" Tsuki stared at it.

"No idea." Hotaru held up the box. "A foreign lady on the street pulled me into her shop, we talked for a bit. She said she knew you, so she told me to come here and give it to you."

Tsuki took the box and opened it. Inside was her Knight's jacket, clean and folded up nice and neatly, and her white hat.

"Where'd you get this?" Tsuki interrogated.

"Like I said, some blonde lady told me to give it to you." Hotaru explained. "I didn't even know what the hell it was. Honest. She just told me to come to this alley and wait for you."

"... must've been Aurelia." Tsukiko muttered to herself.

"Yeah. Aurelia." Hotaru nodded. "Sorry if I scared you."

"...it's fine." Tsukiko said firmly. "She wouldn't have given it to you if she didn't trust you."

When she pulled it out, something black fell back into the box. A pair of black gloves, made of some sort of shiny, leatherine material. Attached to them was a note.

"I have entrusted your jacket and hat with Miss Mori, who you met the other day at the bar. I hope she will have delivered it quickly and safely. Alongside your jacket will be a pair of gloves. They will keep your hands from becoming calloused and coarse." The note read.

Tsuki took another look at the pair of gloves. They felt smooth and slick between her fingers. Despite their sudden arrival, they felt like they filled a void she didn't know was there.

"What's wrong? Something missing?" Hotaru asked. "I didn't open it or anything, but if Aurelia forgot anything, we can run back and--"

"Don't worry." Tsuki put the box down, then started putting her jacket back on. "Everything's here."

Without much hesitation, Tsuki pulled the black gloves over her fingers, both of them fitting perfectly over her hand. She squeezed her hand open and shut over and over, but they didn't seem to restrict her movement in the slightest, as if she wasn't wearing the pair at all.

"Pretty fancy." Hotaru watched Tsuki's hands. "Wish I had some that nice."

"Huh?"

"Gloves." Hotaru said. "You'll hurt yourself without 'em."

"Oh, right." Tsuki felt a little dumb.

"Y'know... Don't take this the wrong way, but... I never got the whole jacket thing" Hotaru admitted. "How do you walk around in that thing all summer long?"

"Never felt that warm to me." Tsuki shrugged as she put on her hat. "I feel just fine."

Hotaru took off her hat to fan herself with it. "It's summer in Tokyo, you should be drownin' in sweat with the rest of us. You guys seriously go on patrols of the city wearing all that? I wouldn't last half an hour."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Well, I haven't gone on any patrols lately, so maybe that's why." Tsukiko started buttoning her jacket.

"Heels too." Hotaru scoffed. "You'd have to be insane to be walking around, picking fights in high heels."

"I've... never really thought about it." Tsuki admitted. "No one else's ever brought it up."

"Sorry, it's just... been on my mind for ages now." Hotaru bowed her head a little.

Hotaru stuck close to the wall, doing her absolute best to stay in what little shade she had. Her hat's bill was low, almost covering her eyes, its brim darkened with sweat. The fingers of her right hand tugged at the zipper of her coat.

"Any updates on Sylvie?" Tsuki asked.

"I'm doin' my best." Hotaru sighed. "It's not easy, though. I've gotta ask the right people in just the right way. Technically, she's still in the Metropolitan Police's custody, so we'd have to have a good reason to pull her out of custody first."

"Isn't her connection to Themis enough?" Tsuki cocked her head. "I mean, she was attacked by them."

"That'd be good if we wanted the Metro Police to know we're looking into Themis." Hotaru looked a bit apologetic. "The other way forward is immigration, but..."

"But?" Tsuki asked.

"You really want her to think she's getting deported?" Hotaru asked her sincerely. "It's...cruel, and even if we tried, there's no guarantee it'd work. Might as well wait for her to be released at that point."

"Damn." Tsuki lowered her head and nodded. "Thanks for tryin', at least."

"I didn't say I'd given up yet." Hotaru reassured her. "I said I'd do anything to earn your trust, well this is anything. I don't care if I've gotta pull a miracle."

"You're still on that?" Tsuki gave her a weird look.

"I made a promise." Hotaru defended herself. "You're putting your neck on the line, I'm gonna put my neck on the line too. That's just how it is."

"You don't have to humiliate yourself in front of me just to earn my trust." Tsuki assured her. "I believe you."

Hotaru was visibly taken aback. "Oh... Thanks."

"What's wrong?" Tsuki spoke quietly.

"I dunno. I just... I always imagined earning your trust would be impossible, especially with my past." Hotaru lowered her head a bit.

"Well, considering Aurelia trusts you, you can't be all that bad." Tsuki shrugged. "Besides, what else am I gonna do? Punch you?"

"...what's up with her?" Hotaru suddenly narrowed her eyes. "It's like... she knew where you'd be. Who is she, anyway?"

"Well--" Tsukiko hesitated, not exactly sure what to say.

"She made your jacket, right? Is she the Knights' tailor? She had your jacket, and she had a bunch of other clothes on display." Hotaru continued. "But then she said she was a fortune teller."

"...did she tell you your fortune?" Tsuki deflected.

Hotaru confirmed with a nod. "...you're not supposed to tell other people that sort of thing, or else it won't come true, right?"

"Must've been something good then, huh?" Tsuki joked.

"Sorry, I started rambling, didn't I?" Hotaru scratched her head. "Still, to think I held onto a Knight's jacket and I didn't even know it. No one'd ever believe me."

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

"I never thought so." A third voice answered suddenly.

Tsukiko and Hotaru's hearts leapt out of their chests when they finally noticed Shizuka's imposing presence. Her eyes glared at them, the rings in her irises giving her the stare of a predator over cornered prey, terrifying them.

"Jesus fuck." Tsuki held a hand over her chest, feeling her own heartbeat. "Shizuka."

"Don't act all surprised, I've been here the whole time." Shizuka's expression lightened up as she turned to Hotaru. "Haruka told me you might be gettin' into a fight, but it looks like you're just gettin' all buddy buddy with... Hmm. Who're you?"

"She's a friend." Tsukiko blurted out.

"...y'know, Fumi's gonna get mad if she catches you with a nightwalker." Shizuka joked.

"The hell're you talkin' about?" Hotaru raised her voice.

Shizuka laughed a little. "Hehehehe. I'm just messin' with my niece here, ma'am, no harm to you."

"Niece." Hotaru repeated. "That means, you're--"

"Himura Shizuka." She introduced herself. "and you?"

"...Mori Hotaru." She bowed her head, stuttering a little. "It's an honor."

"Oh, you're one of the boring prostitutes, huh..." Shizuka rolled her eyes. "They call 'em escorts, right?"

"Shizuka." Tsukiko said sternly.

"You're from the Ministry, aren't you?" Shizuka said.

"What?" Hotaru recoiled. "How'd you know?"

"I just know." Shizuka replied as if it was obvious. "Why wouldn't I know?"

Shizuka turned to Tsukiko, who simply shrugged back at her.

"Uhh..." Hotaru was clearly intimidated. "Sorry..."

"Shizuka does a lot of snooping for the Knights." Tsukiko tried to defuse the situation. "Which means she knows a lot more than you'd think."

"It's the boots." Shizuka spoke bluntly. "They're standard issue, but they're all worn down. Folks who work their way up to the Ministry tend to keep their boots to prove they worked their way to the top, but those don't quite fit you, do they?"

Hotaru hid her face. "You're really scary, y'know that?"

"Don't worry." Shizuka leaned forward a bit. "I trust you. At least, I trust you more than I trust a real cop."

"Huh?" Hotaru raised her head to look at her.

"I've worked with the Ministry before." Shizuka smiled. "Anything international, or spread across multiple prefectures generally falls on the PSIA."

"The PSIA?" Tsukiko cocked her head.

"The Public Security Intelligence Agency." Hotaru explained. "We investigate anything that's considered a threat to national security."

"But..." Shizuka started. "The PSIA can't do anything on its own, which is why Hotaru here's asked you for help, right?"

"Right." Hotaru sighed. "That's why we approached Tsukiko. I explained all of this to her earlier."

"Help with what?" Shizuka interrogated.

"Themis." Hotaru said bluntly. "We haven't got a single, goddamn lead on them."

"Don't look at me. I ain't got shit either." Shizuka paused. "Weird, isn't it? It's like they don't even exist..."

"Neither of you?" Tsukiko raised an eyebrow. "Can't you just find one of those bastards and beat an answer out of 'em?"

"Tried that." Hotaru said.

"Tried that." Shizuka said.

"...didn't work?" Tsukiko was taken aback. "That... usually works."

"They're all either teenagers who don't know a goddamn thing, or guys with balls of steel who won't sell Masahiro out no matter what you do." Hotaru scratched her head. "I just end up letting them go. I'm not gonna torture anybody."

Shizuka went quiet for a moment, swaying from side to side just a bit, deep in thought. Hotaru and Tsuki watched her, both eager to know what she'd say next.

"Well, as long as you don't hurt Tsuki, I guess you're alright. The Ministry's usually got its head on the right way." Shizuka admitted.

"Thank you." Hotaru lowered her head.

"Cut the formalities, it's weird." Shizuka complained. "We're colleagues. Equals."

"Oh, right."

"Just makin' sure we're all on the same page. This ain't my first rodeo. It's definitely easier than working with Interpol." Shizuka spoke with a straight face. "We'll discuss the details later. For now, it was nice meeting you, Hotaru."

"You're leaving?" Hotaru asked.

"I was just here to make sure Tsuki here was safe, but since you're not tryin' to hit her or anything, I guess my job's done." Shizuka smiled. "Now we've gotta head back."

Hotaru nodded. "Yeah, that... makes sense. Sorry."

Shizuka reached into her pocket, and held out a card. "Well, if you're ever lookin' for clients, take my card. We'll talk pricin' over the phone and then you can come to my place to--"

"Shizuka." Tsukiko hissed. "Didn't even know you had business cards..."

Hotaru took the card. "Thank you."

Shizuka started walking down the alley. "C'mon, Tsuki. Haru's worried sick about you."

"Right." Tsukiko caught up, leaving Hotaru behind.

Hotaru didn't move as they left, she still leaned on the wall, taking her hat off to fan herself with it. Shizuka walked with an unusual speed, eventually slowing down as she reached the end of the alley.

"Hey." Shizuka spoke quietly to Tsukiko. "You were really gonna keep a woman like that a secret from me?"

"What's with you today?" Tsuki gave her a judgmental look.

"You know what I really mean." Shizuka elaborated.

"Sorry." Tsuki sighed. "I was scared."

"You're a grown woman, Tsuki. You can make decisions for yourself. We're not some big committee, sometimes we're gonna have to do things on our own." Shizuka put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks..." Tsuki smiled a little.

"Now c'mon, let's get outta here." Shizuka urged her.

"Fumi's probably worried sick." Tsuki bowed her head a little.

"It's not that." Shizuka reassured her. "I lied. There's something we gotta talk about and I don't want your friend hearin' about it."