Tsukiko's phone started belting out an alarm, probably the second or third of the morning. She'd been half awake for a while, but she was doing her damnedest to drift back to sleep. The air was cool and her blanket was warm and heavy on her body, embracing her body.

The sound of the alarm finally got her to reach over, her arm falling short and landing in the sheets next to her. Not feeling Fumiko next to her was sobering enough to finally wake her up. Her mind finally began to wind back up as she sat up to turn off her alarm.

The events of the night before started playing back in her head like back lit polaroids in a carousel, a series of images in a sequence. Each picture lit up in her mind one by one, more confusing and uncomfortable than the last. Regret wriggled around like a thousand ants on her brain.

Tsukiko wore nothing but underwear under the covers. Her clothes were strewn about, skirt and undershirt on a chair in the corner, heels under it and gloves on the nightstand, pinned under her phone. A white Knight's jacket was hanging on a hook by the door. Slowly but surely, she mustered the energy to get out of bed, grateful she'd showered the night before. Her Knight's regalia fit perfectly, like always.

An impotent resolve formed within her as she readied herself for a day of nothing. Just as she walked down the steps to the first floor, she heard a loud knock at the front door. They knocked over and over, a short pause and a louder thump each time.

"Yo, you in there?" A voice called out from the other side. "...I hope I didn't get the address wrong."

"...yeah." Tsukiko muttered before realizing they couldn't hear her.

Tsukiko opened the door and a woman with olive skin and dyed gray hair in a zip-up jacket and jeans stood there with a stupid looking smile on her face.

"Flowers." Tsuki stood in the doorway. "What's going on?"

"Can I come in?" Flowers was uncharacteristically polite.

Tsukiko mulled it over for a second. "...sure."

Without another word, Flowers stepped forward, pushing past her. Tsukiko closed the door and locked it behind them.

"So, what's up?' Tsuki watched as Flowers wandered around her house.

"Damn, this place is fancy." Flowers stared at the turntable in the corner.

"Yeah, Fumi and I spent months fixing the place up." Tsuki sighed. "That's my Dad's record collection, with a few I've picked up over the years."

"S'nice. Didn't know you collected that sorta thing. You always seemed kinda... too busy for hobbies."

"We've all got our vices." Tsukiko crossed her arms. "It's been a while. You just gonna wander around or are you gonna tell me what's up?"

Flowers kneeled down by the turntable to get a better look at the shelves underneath. For a moment, she looked back to Tsukiko, as if asking for permission. Tsuki let out a short sigh and Flowers started going through her collection.

"The gang's had to make some changes." Flowers started. "With Themis around, we can't keep doing the same thing we've always done."

"Are they still targeting the Damascenes?"

"I don't know." Flowers admitted. "But we can't risk it, not while Sylvie's still in jail."

Flowers didn't look at Tsuki as she talked, she seemed quite a lot more interested in snooping through her music. Tsukiko felt a slight discomfort, worried that Flowers would mishandle some valuable piece, but she seemed more caring than her demeanor would suggest.

"ELO, huh?" Flowers pulled a record out to look at it. "I guess that makes sense, since you can actually understand the lyrics."

"Yeah..." Tsukiko muttered.

"Half these records are older than I am." Flowers put the record back. "I always thought you'd be a punk rock kinda girl, but a lot of these are that sappy 80s stuff."

"What makes you say that?" Tsuki asked.

"This one doesn't have a name on it, weird... How'd they get that picture of her underwater like that?" Flowers suddenly remembered to answer her. "Oh, uhh... You just seem a lot tougher than that, y'know? I thought you'd be all... Y'know, punk."

"I don't look punk at all." Tsuki scoffed. "Why would I be punk?"

"C'mon, you scare the hell outta the cops, you do whatever you want..." Flowers's voice trailed off. "Oh, I saw these guys in concert once. Haruka went nuts for 'em. She owns all their CDs."

Tsuki didn't quite understand her logic. "Just cuz that happens doesn't mean I have a certain personality. It's not like I get off on it or anything."

"No one said anything about that." Flowers gave her a side eye.

"You know what I fucking mean." Tsukiko hissed.

Flowers laughed. "Maybe you're... a new genre. Pencil skirt punk."

The Third Knight suddenly felt a little stupid.

"...sorry for not being around as much." Tsuki bowed her head. "I would've reached out, but--"

"Don't worry, I know." Flowers smiled a little. "You've gotta do what you've gotta do. The Knights do their share, and we do ours."

"...right." Tsuki reluctantly agreed.

"Besides, not like you could've found us anyway. We had to abandon our hideout." Flowers sighed. "We've gone back to our roots, hidin' in the shadows, traveling by rooftop, that sorta thing."

"Seriously?" Tsukiko raised an eyebrow.

"What, you thought I was just gonna sit around not doing a damn thing? I'm gonna get revenge. I'm gonna make Sylvie proud." Flowers looked determined.

"She always said the Damascenes were thieves. I thought she was bluffing. That girl probably couldn't lift a wallet." Tsukiko shrugged.

"You underestimate us." Flowers defended herself. "Everything we learned came from her and her grandfather. It's just not polite to steal."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Polite." Tsukiko repeated, incredulously.

"It's that... gentlemanly, French behavior." Flowers said.

"You're not French. You're Japanese."

"Okinawan." Flowers corrected her. "Do I look Japanese to you?"

"Still not French."

"Whatever." Flowers looked quite annoyed. "All you gotta know is we're not a buncha dumbasses like you think we are."

"Sorry." Tsuki paused to take a breath. "So, what've you really been up to?"

"Well, when you've got over a hundred members sneaking around all over the city... You collect information, you spy on folks, you figure things out and connect the dots." Flowers explained.

"So you're--"

"We're a bonafide spynet." Flowers gave her a big toothy grin. "We've got our finger on the pulse of the city. We're watching, we're listening, scanning all the threads on Tokyo Knights General, everything."

Tsukiko didn't know whether or not to believe her. "...prove it."

"You sure?" Flowers gave her a chance. "You don't wanna know what we know."

"Try me."

Flowers turned around, still squatted by the turntable. "I know all about that club you go to when Fumi's not around."

"I'm an adult, everyone's walked into a hostess club at least once in their life." Tsuki deflected.

"A hostess club, huh? I never said what kinda club it was." Flowers continued. "Do they all need a special card to get in, too?"

"...no." Tsuki looked away. "...a gang showed up once, started causing trouble. I cleaned them out and the owner gave me a lifetime pass. I was just being courteous."

"Courteous." Flowers nodded.

"This isn't the gotcha you think it is." Tsukiko folded her arms.

Flowers shook her head. "A Knight Himura, getting service at a club from pretty girls? Tossing her paycheck away at cheap drinks with girls rubbin' up against her shoulders?"

"There's guys too--"

"Guys too!" Flowers smiled. "Jesus, you're a maneater."

"...you tell anyone, I punch you." Tsukiko let out a sigh. "So, who else have you been peeping on?"

"That depends. What do you wanna know?" Flowers offered.

"The leader of Themis." Tsuki answered quickly. "He--"

"He threatened you and Fumi. I know." Flowers finished her sentence. "Haru's kept me up to speed too."

"Right."

"Did you call the police afterward?" Flowers asked.

"No."

"Good."

"Why?"

"Themis? They're all cops." Flowers said bluntly.

"Cops?"

Tsuki went quiet as the thought rolled around in her head. She tried her best to remember the events of the night before to try and piece it all together. All she could remember was what Haruka told her.

"A bunch of cops, mostly younger ones, found a little gang called Themis and took over." Flowers was sure of herself. "That's probably why it blew up overnight."

"So it's all..."

"Could you imagine the kind of scandal that'd come out if people knew about this? Cops fighting cops, it'd be all over the news." Flowers smirked. "This info, in the wrong hands? You could destroy this city."

Ishikawa's cold demeanor suddenly felt justified.

"But why's Masahiro still around?" Tsukiko asked. "He's not a cop."

"Who knows." Flowers shrugged. "Maybe he's got some pull still. They can't have replaced the whole gang."

"What's your proof?"

"Proof?"

"Yeah, proof. If you're gonna say something like that, you'd better have something to back it up." Tsuki spoke quietly. "I'm not about to pick a fight with the police over something someone told you they saw."

"You seriously think I'd come in empty handed?" Flowers reached into her coat. "Here."

Flowers showed Tsukiko a picture on her phone. It was grainy, and taken in the dark, but it definitely showed Masahiro. He was standing by a police car and there was a man in blue at his side handing him something.

"...that's him." Tsuki nodded. "But this doesn't prove much. You got anything else?"

"It proves there's something there."

"It only proves that he was in contact with the police. He was recently arrested, then freed. That could explain everything."

"So you don't believe me?" Flowers glared. "I know what I saw."

"You took that yourself?"

"Yeah."

"...if I ran into this head first, I could get in serious shit, especially with Ishikawa around." Tsukiko sighed. "I'll look into it myself, alright?

Flowers paused, then shifted the conversation to a new topic. "So, who's that girl you 've been hanging around?"

"How do you know about that?" Tsukiko blinked.

"...what, do you think you're invisible or something?" Flower scoffed. "Besides, Fumi's place gets busted into and the first thing you do is meet up with her? It's weird."

"...don't worry about it." Tsuki said.

"...she a cop?" Flowers pressed.

"No." Tsukiko shook her head.

"She's definitely not one of those club girls you keep hanging around." Flowers scratched her head.

"Just how much time do you guys spend following me around?" Tsukiko glared.

Flowers finally stood up, stepping toward Tsukiko. "Hey, who's protecting the Knights when they're out protecting us?"

"Huh?"

"Think about it..." Flowers spoke with no tact. "Anyway, I really should head out. Got places to be. Nice collection, by the way."

"Oh, uhh.. thanks." Tsuki said it robotically.

Flowers walked past her, and opened the door herself, then just walked out. Tsukiko watched her, unsure whether to follow her out or stay inside. Flowers stopped, then turned around, reaching into her hoodie's pocket.

"Hold on." Flowers tried to hand her something. "I wanted you to have this. I'm not gonna need it for a bit, so I thought you could hold onto it for me till things blow over."

Tsuki looked down and realized it was a white mask with a floral pattern in ornate gold across it.

"You can't--"

"If I got caught with that in my pocket, I'd be in deep shit, especially if the cops're involved. If a Knight gets found with a Damascenes mask, it's just a souvenir." Flowers said. "Besides, I always thought it'd look good on you."

"...don't drop something like that on me." The mask felt red hot in Tsuki's hand.

"It's not like I'm dying!" Flowers assured her. "If anything, you holding onto that means I'm alive. You hold onto that for me, and I'll stay out there, fightin' for Sylvie's sake. If I didn't wanna be a Damascene anymore, I woulda just tossed it in the garbage."

Without another word, Flowers walked out again, leaving Tsukiko alone. Quietly, she took a few steps over to the turntable, leaving the mask on the platter. When she was satisfied with it, she moved back and fell down onto the leather couch. Her body went limp as she stared at the ceiling, her mind a mess of angry noise.

Tsuki reached into her jacket pocket, grabbing her phone. It felt heavier than usual and its surface felt odd in her new gloves. She stared at it for a while, and at her own hands, an odd lump in her stomach forming as she realized she was delaying the inevitable.

She forced herself to go to her contacts, her finger hovering over the call button for a bit. Then, she raised the phone to her ear, hearing it ring and ring until it finally connected.

"Hey." Tsukiko spoke.

"...hello." Hotaru's voice was a little stiff. "Something up?"

"You busy right now?" Tsuki found her words easier than she'd thought.

"No."

"You wanna go out for lunch?"