Hotaru graciously allowed Tsukiko to choose the destination for their mid-day lunch. It was a decision that she quickly realized was a deadly mistake. Without a second thought, Tsukiko chose her favorite spot on the other side of town, a trek she was used to making almost daily.

"Alright, it shouldn't be that much farther." Tsukiko kept her pace. "Just cross this street and--"

"Fuck..." Hotaru followed some distance behind. "My legs are so sore..."

"You alright?"

"'Course I'm fuckin' not." Hotaru's walk resembled more of a stomp. "My feet're killing me and my legs are so cramped I can barely stand."

"C'mon, it wasn't that far..." Tsukiko stopped.

"How the fuck do you walk this much in heels?" Hotaru propped herself up against a nearby wall. "You seriously do this every day?"

"Yeah, as part of my patrols." Tsukiko waited. "A Knight can't just sit around and wait for things to come."

"In fucking heels, she does it." Hotaru talked to herself.

Tsuki simply shrugged. "Sorry, guess I'm used to it now ."

"This better be the best goddamn meal I've ever had." Hotaru muttered under her breath.

"It will be." Tsuki eagerly promised."My treat."

Around them were all sorts of shops and restaurants filled with bright lights and colorful signs, begging customers to come in. Among them all stood a short wall of gray stone bricks, stained over the years. A single rusted sign read only a single word, hovering over a wooden door that had lost its luster over the decades, probably rough enough to splinter. Oak barrels sat next to the door, their wood also showing the telltale signs of long term exposure.

"What the hell is that?" Hotaru stopped to look.

"It's my regular spot." Tsukiko approached the door. "I visit so often, the owner's got a table for me and everything. Just don't go around telling anyone, okay? It's hard enough to get around as it is."

"You're a Knight Himura, you could get a table at any goddamn restaurant you wanted." Hotaru said with a frown.

"You'd be surprised." Tsuki turned to her. "Besides, it's nice having a few favorites. It feels like coming home after a long day of work."

"A long day, huh?" Hotaru stood behind Tsukiko, waiting for her to open the door. "The sooner I get to sit down and eat, the better."

Tsukiko turned the knob and entered the door. "It's just a few more steps, alright?"

The Knight found herself on a paved road in the middle of nowhere. Surrounding her were rice fields stretching out to mountains in the horizon, and a town in the distance.

Tsuki turned around to warn Hotaru, but there wasn't a door there anymore. Hotaru stood, looking absolutely dazed and confused, looking around in silence and awe. She tried to take a step back, but she fell to the ground.

"Where... what?" Hotaru blinked. "Where are we?"

"Hotaru." Tsukiko approached her.

"The fuck?" Hotaru turned around, as if fruitlessly looking for the doorway back. "Tsuki? What just..."

"Hey, listen, it's okay." Tsuki kneeled down next to her. "Just keep close, alright?"

"Where are we? W-We're... still in Japan, right?" Hotaru looked out at the rice fields. "Just... out in the country. Yeah."

"Hey. Are you okay?" Tsukiko watched with great concern. "Try not to faint, okay?"

Hotaru rubbed her eyes. "...fuck this. I'm probably dreaming. Did I pass out? What happened?"

"No, no, you're definitely awake."

"How would you know?" Hotaru narrowed her eyes.

Tsukiko moved forward. "You can't suffocate in a dream. If I pinch your nose shut..."

"Ah no no no no no. No." Hotaru stumbled away. "I can't even walk!"

Tsukiko couldn't help but laugh a little. "You're really that sore?"

"Don't laugh, I twisted my leg on the way in." Hotaru complained. "I freaked out, I didn't know where the hell I was... What the fuck just happened?"

"Hey, try not to worry too much." Tsuki sighed. "It's okay. We'll be okay."

"How am I-- What the-- Why're you so nonchalant about this?" A billion different questions filled Hotaru's head but she could only really ask one at a time.

"I'm..." Tsukiko paused. "I'm used to this kind of thing."

"Used to this?" Hotaru calmed down a bit. "So you know how to get back, right?"

"I can figure it out." Tsukiko didn't want to make any promises. "Worst case scenario, we have to ride a train back to Tokyo."

"Damnit." Hotaru hissed. "...after all that walking, too. I'm starving."

"Me too." Tsuki admitted. "Guess we'll have to walk to town. They'll definitely serve lunch on the train, at least."

Hotaru sat on the ground, one leg stretched out. "Real funny."

Around them was a dense field of green blades about waist high. The road they stood on was paved with asphalt and ran parallel with some phone and power lines leading out to the horizon. A single vending machine stood by one of the powerline poles, a light on it glowing faintly.

"There's our lunch." Tsuki pointed toward it. "See it?"

"What's a vending machine doing all the way out here?" Hotaru rolled over a bit to get a better look at it.

"Who knows." Tsukiko shrugged. "It looks like it's working..."

"You wanna bring me something back?" Hotaru smiled. "I'd love a.... Hmm. Do you think they have cola?"

"I'm not going all the way there and back." Tsuki shook her head. "It's a bad idea."

"What? Why?"

"C'mon, get up. I'll carry you." Tsukiko offered.

"Carry me?" Hotaru looked up at Tsuki.

"You wanna walk?" Tsukiko watched her.

"Are you sure?" Hotaru pushed herself up off the ground.

"We should stick together." Tsuki cautioned. "It's a pain, but it shouldn't be too hard."

"I'm pretty heavy." Hotaru warned her.

Tsuki stepped closer. "It's not that far."

"Is anything far for you?" Hotaru sighed.

Tsuki turned her back to the woman, kneeling down a bit. "Can you pull yourself up a little?"

"You're serious?" Hotaru was stunned.

Without another word, she hopped up and wrapped her arms around Tsukiko. The Knight put her arms under Hotaru's knees, giving her a piggyback ride.

Hotaru was stunned. "You sure about this?"

Tsuki had already begun walking. "I said we'd go out for lunch, didn't I? It's my own fault for getting you dragged out here."

"Yeah, but... Carrying me on your back? In heels?" Hotaru questioned.

"Want me to drop you?" Tsuki groaned.

"No, no." Hotaru quieted down. "It's cool."

"...do my heels bother you?" Tsuki asked quietly.

"No, it's just... It kinda betrays what you do, right?" Hotaru explained. "You're a fighter, you explore the city and hunt down gangs. Doing it in heels feels... wrong. It doesn't fit."

"I get the job done and I look good doing it. What's not to like?" Tsuki smirked.

Her walking pace was slow, not wanting to disturb the girl on her back too much, lest she slip off. Hotaru was nowhere near as heavy as she'd claimed and Tsukiko was able to carry her with ease.

"Guess that's why you're the leader of the Knights Himura, huh?" Hotaru chuckled a bit.

"Leader?" Tsuki repeated. "We don't have a leader."

"Really? I dunno, compared to the other two, you always seemed special."

"I do the same things they do, I'm not any better than them."

"It's not about being better." Hotaru corrected her. "You stand out. When anyone mentions the Knights, you're the first that comes to mind. You're the Knight Himura."

Tsukiko didn't really know how to react, so she just kept walking. Soon enough, the vending machine was in full view.

"Y'think it's one of those fancy bento machines?" Hotaru wondered aloud.

"Hope so." Tsuki trudged on. "I don't think I can keep going on just candy and coffee."

"If it had anything to eat, what would you get?" Hotaru tried to soften the Knight up.

"Chicken." Tsuki answered quickly. "Nice, fried chicken."

"Is that what you were gonna get at your fancy restaurant before we got swept up over here?" Hotaru asked.

"Maybe." Tsuki said bluntly. "But you never know what the special of the day is."

"Hmm." Hotaru paused to think. "I'd wanna get some... pasta."

"Pasta?" Tsuki repeated, shifting her weight a bit to keep balance. "Like, Italian?"

"Yeah." Hotaru nodded slightly.

"You sound like my girlfriend..." Tsuki struggled a little. "She's always going after those foreign foods."

"Girlfriend..." Hotaru repeated under her breath. "It's that Nakano girl, isn't it?"

"...yeah." Tsukiko forced herself.

"Sorry." Hotaru started talking fast. "I'm not stalking you or anything, it was in your file."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"My file?" Tsukiko kept walking.

"Before I was sent out to meet you, my boss gave me this... big file. Had everything about you. I uhh... I know what they did to her." Hotaru spoke openly, without a second thought. "Sorry."

"What else is on there?" Tsuki took the odd admission in stride.

"They made me read the whole thing over and over, but it felt so wrong to dig into your personal life like that." Hotaru sighed. "I only really cared about the stuff that felt important. Y'know, history, connections, the basics. I can't remember much of the rest."

"That's disappointing." Tsuki chuckled a little. "I was wondering what kind of dirt they had on me."

"You've been in a good mood since we got here." Hotaru remarked. "If I told you that a day or two ago, you probably would've punched me or something."

"I just think it's interesting. What's so important about me that the government would wanna keep it in some secret file?" Tsuki explained herself. "Most of that's just magazine gossip, though. You at least took a peek at the juicier stuff, right?"

Approaching the vending machine, the two of them noticed a poster propped up against a telephone pole next to it. It advertised one of Tsuki's favorite albums, by her favorite artist, but the colors seemed faded and off.

"What's that?" Hotaru moved her head to get a better look, almost breaking Tsuki's balance.

"A poster." Tsuki said bluntly. "A pretty old one. That album's almost as old as I am."

"Never heard of it." Hotaru's eyes moved to the vending machine. "Is it any good?"

"Yeah." Tsuki turned around and kneeled down to drop Hotaru back onto the asphalt. "...maybe I'll lend you a copy if we get outta here. I think I've got an extra CD lying around."

"CD?" Hotaru repeated incredulously.

Tsukiko ignored Hotaru's reply, instead focusing her attention toward the vending machine in front of her. Hunger had settled in and was now beginning to take over her mind, but unfortunately, there wasn't much for her. It was a machine that served half drinks and half food, but there was no way they'd replace a meal.

"What're they selling?" Hotaru looked up to Tsukiko for an answer.

"Sandwiches, cup ramen and drinks." Tsuki reached into her wallet. "Did you still want that cola?"

"Milk coffee. If they've got it." Hotaru held out her wallet. "Get something for yourself too."

Tsuki turned to the girl on the ground. "...it's my treat."

Hotaru put her wallet back into her pocket. "If you say so..."

"Just coffee?" Tsukiko asked.

"...yeah, for now." Hotaru stretched out her legs and leaned back against the telephone pole. "The coffee'll help."

Tsuki opened her own wallet, taking a few coins and bills out of it and putting them into the machine. She got Hotaru her desired milk coffee, then bought herself a chicken cutlet sandwich with a cola. The machine rattled a bit, the servos inside making a high pitched whine as parts moved and food eventually fell to the door below.

The Knight sat down next to Hotaru, peeling the plastic wrap off her sandwich and starting to eat without a word. It was a nice piece of chicken, but Tsuki wished, fruitlessly, that it was a nice hot meal instead of some cold, refrigerated sandwich.

"You sure you wanna eat that?" Hotaru raised an eyebrow.

"Shut it." Tsuki said with a full mouth. "Don't you start."

"...right." Hotaru took a sip of her coffee. "s'it good?"

"Yeah." Tsuki nodded a little, reaching down to open her drink.

Hotaru reached up to the zipper on her jacket, pulling it down in one quick, smooth motion. Underneath was a tight black tank top that ended just beneath her breasts. Her abdomen was thus left bare all the way down to the waist of her pants.

"You seriously don't wear anything under there?" Tsukiko accused.

"It gets hot under this thing. If it were up to me, I wouldn't wear it at all, but we've gotta look presentable." Hotaru waved away Tsuki's concerns. "You're not sweating at all. That tailor of yours better make me a jacket too."

"Aurelia." Tsukiko reminded her.

"...I thought she was a bartender, now she's a tailor." Hotaru sighed.

"How'd you run into her, anyway?" Tsuki asked. "She doesn't leave her shop that often."

Hotaru hesitated. "Well... it mentioned a fortune telling shop in your file once. It stood out to me, so I thought I'd... do some investigating."

"...someone was bound to notice." Tsuki sighed.

"She must've remembered me from that time at the bar." Hotaru explained. "She gave me a little tour of her shop, a reading, and then handed me that box and told me to go looking for you."

"You're not spying on her, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Hotaru assured her.

"Good."

Hotaru took a deep breath before starting over. "So, what now?"

"We've gotta wait." Tsukiko took another bite. "You're too weak to walk."

Hotaru frowned. "We're gonna have to do more walking, huh?"

"I'm not carrying you all the way to a train." Tsuki said completely unprompted. "Don't even think about it."

"Sorry." Hotaru replied.

Both of them went quiet for a moment.

"...sorry." Tsukiko felt a bit guilty. "It's not your fault you got dragged here with me."

"I'm not mad or anything." Hotaru turned to Tsukiko. "It's... It is what it is."

"Alright." Tsuki said.

Hotaru stared off into the rice field. "So, once I can walk, how long do you think it'll take to get back to Tokyo?"

"...depends." Tsuki had to let the question roll around in her mind before she had an answer. "Could be ten minutes, could be a few hours."

"Ten minutes?" Hotaru repeated in disbelief.

"I mean, it didn't take much for us to get here, right?" Tsukiko reminded her.

"...you're acting like it's no big deal." Hotaru let out a groan. "It's pretty damn scary, y'know."

"You sure don't sound scared." Tsukiko smiled a little.

"It's... something you don't really..." Hotaru let her mind catch up. "Nothing can prepare you for something like that. Nothing. I'm still reeling, but freaking out isn't gonna help."

"You'll be alright, as long as you stay close." Tsukiko tried her best to sound reliable.

"If you say so." Hotaru's eyes scanned the horizon. "Something tells me that I'm better off not asking too many questions."

"You'll drive yourself crazy."

"Does this really happen to you a lot?"

Tsuki spoke faster than she could stop herself. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah." Hotaru said quietly, a hint of anticipation in her voice.

"Yeah." Tsukiko nodded. "Happens a lot."

"Where do you end up?" Hotaru perked up.

"...well, it depends. Sometimes I end up in familiar places, sometimes it feels like I'm another world." Tsuki felt a bit odd describing these feelings to a stranger. "I'll never get used to it, no matter how many times it happens to me."

"What was the first time like for you?" Hotaru blurted out without thinking.

"...it was hell." Tsuki admitted. "It all happened so fast. I went from Fumi getting stabbed to... shit like this in a week. I had to just shut up and take it in stride."

"You didn't get scared?"

"Nah. When you're really set on something, you sorta numb yourself to the world." Tsuki shook her head. " It can be good, it can be bad. I remember the first time, I was exhausted. I felt so much better after spendin' the night with Fumi, though."

"You must really love her." Hotaru remarked.

Tsuki went a little red. "Well, yeah. I do. She's been with me through the worst of it. She's the reason I'm still a Knight. I put on this jacket just so I could track down the bastard that stabbed her."

"D'you ever find him?" Hotaru spoke aloud, but a second later, her eyes looked away. "...is it alright if I ask?"

"It's fine, but yeah, 'course I did." Tsuki said in a deep, dark tone. "I don't think it was worth it, in the end."

"Ah." Hotaru understood. "Sorry about that."

"There was no rhyme or reason to any of it." Tsuki let out a defeated, tired laugh. "I thought there was this... deep, horrible reason why she'd been hurt. I spent the whole time acting like I was taking revenge on this evil, awful man. Turns out it was just some dumb ass teenager trying to act tougher than he was. When we found him, he did everything he could to get under my skin."

"Mmm." Hotaru let out an odd sound. "They kept that out of your file. I thought I'd ask you directly."

"The old chief kept the whole thing under wraps." Tsuki added. "Well, as much as he could, anyway. It wasn't my greatest moment."

"...why not?" Hotaru spoke softly.

"I lost it. I could've killed him. If Haru and Fumi hadn't been there--" Tsuki didn't get to finish.

"Why didn't you?"

"Why didn't I kill him?" Tsuki repeated.

"Yeah." Hotaru was oddly blunt.

"You don't know who's got a family, who's got someone of their own to love." Tsuki's answer was rehearsed.

"So do you, but you didn't hurt anyone who didn't deserve it." Hotaru countered. "Everything you do is a risk. If they had something that mattered so much, why put themselves in danger?"

"...would you have killed him?" Tsukiko looked her in the eye.

"Depends on how angry I was. I don't know how you were feeling." Hotaru looked out into the field. "I've never been in that situation."

"Then I wasn't angry enough." Tsukiko sighed. "After all, Fumiko was fine. She's made a full recovery since then, not even a scar."

"So if things were different..."

"I don't dwell on it too much."

With that, Tsukiko silently admitted that the conversation had run its course. Hotaru opened her mouth like she was going to speak a few more times, but stopped herself, as if trying to find the right words. Eventually, she settled on a softball question.

"You got a favorite place?" Hotaru asked. "Like, you ever get taken somewhere nice?"

"Somewhere nice?" Tsukiko paused to think. "I... think I like it here."

"Huh?"

"Something about it." Tsukiko took a bite out of her sandwich, chewing as she spoke. "It's... nice. It feels... right to be... here."

"There ain't a damn thing for..." Hotaru paused, then sighed. "What's so interesting about this place?"

"It's relaxing." Tsukiko took a deep breath. "The air's clean, you've got some good scenery, cold drinks, snacks and no one to bother you."

"...it's too lonely for my taste." Hotaru hesitated. "I'd hate to be stuck here by myself."

"We got lucky then." Tsuki replied.

"I dunno if lucky's the word." Hotaru laughed a little, though she didn't seem too pleased. "If I was lucky, I'd be back in Tokyo having a nice bowl of ramen or something."

Hotaru's disappointment, combined with Tsukiko's own realized guilt weighed down on them like a blanket. It wrapped around their throats and made it hard for either of them to talk.

"Sorry for talking about, uhh... Miss Nakano like that." Hotaru forced her words out. "I shouldn't even think about something like that."

"It's alright, I'm not mad or anything. I just like to force those thoughts out of my heart, y'know?" Tsukiko admitted. "I don't wanna drive myself crazy thinking about what my life would be like if she'd died."

"Yeah. I understand." Hotaru lowered her head. "I... think about that kind of thing a lot. I'm always thinking about what I'd leave behind if I just... didn't make it back some day."

"Is your work really that dangerous?"

"Isn't yours?"

"...yeah." Tsuki nodded.

"I do dirty work, the kind that cops only wish they could do. It's not pretty. I hurt people and they hurt me." Hotaru turned to Tsukiko. "...I shouldn't tell you this."

Tsuki shook her head. "If you have something to say, say it. The sooner you get it all off your chest, the sooner we can work together."

Hotaru smiled a bit. "My work's really isolating. I just do my work and go home. Sure, I've got my favorite little ramen shop but... friends? Nah. Actually getting to talk to someone's refreshing."

Tsuki felt guilty. "...why are you investigating Themis anyway?"

"Me, or... the Ministry?"

"The Ministry." Tsuki asked. "It's not that I don't trust you--"

"It's fine." Hotaru nodded. "I said I was gonna earn your trust and I'm gonna try my hardest to do that. I'm not hurt or anything. Honesty, right?"

"Right."

"The Ministry likes to have channels everywhere, but when members of Themis attacked that police conference, I got sent in." Hotaru explained. "Stuff like that doesn't go unnoticed."

"But the Ministry doesn't get involved in that sort of thing, right?" Tsuki continued.

"Nope." Hotaru confirmed. "But we do have a responsibility to investigate when it's believed the local police can't handle it, especially with a new police chief around."

"...so no specific reason."

Hotaru shook her head. "Truth is... we don't want a repeat of what happened with the Shakudos. No more rats."

Tsuki looked out at the field of tall grass before her. It went on for what felt like forever, a bluish haze blurring whatever stood at the horizon. A few thin, whispy clouds hung low in the sky, smudging up the colors of the pale blue sky.

Something white fluttered in the distance, coming up from the tall blades, catching Tsukiko's eye. It seemed to flutter with the wind, moving up and down and every so slightly to the right as it did so. She leaned forward to take a better look, but it was so far away.

"What is that?" Hotaru pointed. "It's... not a scarecrow, is it?"

"It's moving." Tsukiko stared at whatever it was.

Tsuki stood up to get a better look. It was someone in a black dress, carrying something large and white.

"I think I found our way out of here." Tsuki turned back to Hotaru.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"C'mon, you'll see."

Tsuki pulled Hotaru onto her back again and started carrying her through the green, walking toward the white thing fluttering in the distance as it became clearer what it actually was with each step. Each step got her closer to her red haired savior.

"Claudia!" Tsuki shouted. "Hey!"

She could see Claudia, carrying some oversized roll of white silk, its end flapping loose in the wind. The poor redheaded girl looked like she was really struggling with it, barely able to carry it in her two arms.

"Hey!" Hotaru shouted too, looking over Tsuki's shoulder. "Hey, can you help us?"

Claudia suddenly fell into the grass, flattening the blades around her. Tsuki sped up, trying her best to force her way through. When she arrived at where Claudia should've been, she was gone. Something else took her place.

"...what's that doing here?" Hotaru asked.

"I think it's our way home."