Tsukiko walked along the Electronic City streets with Kazuo. She struggled to keep her eyes on the street ahead. She kept turning to look at some new product or thing that interested her.

There was a decent amount of people around, but it was still unusual to see so few people. Tsuki was used to seeing the streets somewhat crowded and the shops filled to the brim.

The lack of people blocking the outsides of the buildings allowed her to window shop as she passed. She only glanced over from time to time, worried that Kazuo might scold her.

The somewhat garish advertisements succeeded at breaking her concentration. She started to forget why she had even come to the electronics district in the first place. It was nothing more than following the private eye's lead.

"What're we looking for?" Tsuki asked.

"Well, anything that seems suspicious." Kazuo's head panned left and right.

"…like?"

"Think about last time. Last time, they bought all the liquor in a three kilometer radius. Stuff like that stands out." Kazuo turned to look at Tsukiko.

"Not sure what they'll be buying here. What're they gonna do, buy fifteen toasters? Start an electrical fire?" Tsuki sighed.

Kaz rolled his eyes. "Fine, then just keep a look out for anyone or anything that looks strange."

"Sounds easy enough, those guys stick out like--"

"Hold up." Kazuo stopped, holding his arm out to block Tsukiko.

Tsukiko nearly fell over. "W-what?"

Kazuo whispered. "Guy to your right, don't turn, just look."

Tsuki moved her eyes just slightly to the right, noticing an oddly dressed man. "Yeah, what about him?"

"He's been staring for a while, huh?" Kaz whispered.

Tsuki stood still for a while, trying to look like she was looking elsewhere. "…yeah, you're right."

"Think he's tailing us?" Kazuo's voice grew a bit panicked.

Tsuki groaned. "…follow his eyes."

"Yeah, they're a bit low, his eyes are right about…"

"He's checking me out, Kaz." Tsuki put her hand on her face.

"Oh. Huh." Kazuo scratched his head.

"Can't tell whether to feel proud or embarrassed." Tsuki played with her hair.

"Proud, I guess? Fumi likes you for a reason, maybe you tick his boxes too." Kaz offered some strange advice.

Tsuki smiled gently. "Yeah."

"You alright?"

"Just remembering some things." Tsuki turned a little red.

"Getting nostalgic all of a sudden?" Kaz teased.

"A little." Tsuki admitted.

They started walking again, leaving the strange peeping man behind. Their path led further and further away from the crowds, toward the edges of the electronic town.

Together they approached an intersection. An alleyway broke off from the side. Kazuo took one look before dragging Tsukiko down the alleyway.

"Over here." Kaz led Tsukiko to the side of the path.

"Hey, hey, what's up?" Tsuki pulled her arm back.

"See that?" Kazuo pointed down an alley.

"See what?" Tsuki peeked around the corner, down the same alley.

"You see that liquor bottle down there?"

Tsuki squinted for a bit, scanning until she found the target. "Uhh, yeah. What about it?"

Kazuo started walking toward it. "When I arrived in Tokyo, I saw a few black and gold bottles sitting around."

"…just like he said."

Kaz finally stood in front of the loosely sealed bottle. He kneeled down and picked it up. It was a dark colored bottle. The amber glass reflected brown in the light.

It had a crude paint job, with a rather simple gold painted marking on it. It must have been done with nothing more than a stencil and some spray paint. Just as Kazuo was inspecting the bottle closely, Tsuki grabbed it out of his hand.

"Hey, hold on!" Kazuo tried to grab the bottle.

"No, we gotta--." The bottle slipped out of Tsukiko's hand.

The amber container slid out of her fingers and went straight to the ground, hitting a curved part of its shape. The bottle survived, only making a hollow ringing sound as it hit the pavement.

Kazuo dove down and grabbed it, protecting it with his body. "Hey, hey! This is important!"

"The dude said to smash it, so I'm smashing it." Tsuki tried to roll Kaz over with her boot.

"Don't just smash it! What if it's a trap?" Kaz shouted.

"Good point." Tsuki pulled her boot away.

"Sheesh." Kaz stumbled back onto his feet, the bottle under his arm like some sort of precious cargo.

Carefully, Kaz wrapped his hand around the cork at the top of the bottle. He squeezed tightly, afraid of whatever was inside. Slowly, and gently, he twisted until the bottle opened up.

The strong smell of cheap alcohol escaped the bottle, making the private eye reel. Tsuki grabbed the bottle from him, turning it over. A strange paper and a few drops of sour smelling alcohol fell onto her hand.

"God, Aurelia should've given me gloves or something." Tsuki shook her hand and the note dry. "Maybe I should ask."

Kazuo stood closer to get a better look at the note. "They're using leftover bottles to communicate!"

"So, smashing them would throw a wrench in whatever they have planned." Tsuki kneeled down next to him.

"Probably--"

Tsukiko grabbed the bottle and smashed it on the pavement. "That felt good."

"Seriously? Show some restraint!" Kazuo smacked Tsuki on the side of the head.

"What's with the paper anyway?" Tsuki rubbed her head.

"It's some sort of coded message. It's just a couple addresses, some numbers and some symbols." Kaz squinted at the slip of paper.

"Pretty sure that's called the Latin alphabet." Tsuki chuckled.

"…they're still symbols." Kaz sighed.

"Alright. What do these… symbols mean?" Tsuki forced a frown in an attempt not to laugh.

"Well, without the cipher, we'll never know."

Kazuo put the paper in his coat, before carefully arranging the shards of glass in a small pile.

"Why're you doing that?"

"Makes it look like an accident." Kazuo stared at the glass.

"That's clever."

Kazuo stood up again. "Y'know, Sylvie might know what these mean."

"I'll send her a text. Hope she's not busy." Tsuki took out her cell phone and started tapping away.

"Tell her it's two symbols, a dash, and then a number. The order's important."

Tsuki tapped as fast as she could. "…alright. Anything else?"

"Well… uhh… No, that should be it, I think."

"Okay." Tsuki stood up and put her cellphone away. "We should look for more of these bottles."

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--

Tsukiko and Kazuo searched around for more bottles, scanning every nook and cranny. There were more of them than they had expected.

Still, with each one Tsuki smashed, they were still useless in their encoded form.

After a while, Tsuki's cell phone vibrated and chirped in her pocket.

"Oh, Sylvie replied." Tsuki pulled the phone out of her jacket. "She says they're old Damascene record keeping codes."

"First the binder, now this? She takes herself way too seriously." Tsuki sighed.

"This might be a bit easier though. We're just matching up letters to words." Kazuo had a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"We've gotta go through all of this again?" Tsuki frowned.

"I was kinda hoping we'd just take it all back to Sylvie and have her do it."

"Apparently, she's busy." Tsuki frowned.

"Let's gather up everything we have for now." Kaz started walking to a nearby bench.

The bench sat in an empty, grassy lot that had been converted into a small urban park. The sun was still high up, but it was still late enough to paint the city orange. The ground was just plain dirt with a few patches of unkempt grass.

Across from them was an old pastel painted swing set and some worn down seesaws. None of the scattered amusements were rusted, but they had definitely been well used.

There was a subtle warmth to the place, as if one could feel the happy days children had spent there over the years. Tsukiko yearned to sit on the swings, but she had more pressing matters to attend to.

Reluctantly, she joined Kazuo on the rather boring painted wood bench. Up above, a large, swaying tree gave them all the shade they needed. A few slivers of amber light danced on the table through the dancing leaves on the branches.

"Alright, you ready?" Kazuo laid the papers out on the table.

"Ready for what?" Tsuki yawned.

"We gotta go through these." Kaz flapped one of the rolled up sheets around.

"Fine." Tsuki pulled up her phone. "Tell me the first one."

"C D 12."

"That's uhh… Courier, Stolen Merchandise." Tsuki squinted at her phone's screen.

"S M 23."

"Meet Up, second Tuesday."

"Damn, it's already Thursday." Kazuo groaned.

"Well, where was it?" Tsukiko grabbed the paper.

"It's just a couple blocks away."

"Should we go check it out?" Tsuki began to stand up.

"Nope."

"Damn it." Tsuki moped as she sat back down.

"There's only a few more." Kazuo urged her.

"Fine, fine."

"I T 12."

"Target of interest, Theft."

Kazuo paused to write the address down in his notebook before continuing. "I T 9."

"Target of interest, Information."

"I C 7."

"…Collect info, Business." Tsuki moved her phone around in a weak attempt to get a clearer image.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm bored." Tsuki stood up.

"We just got here, Tsuki."

"We had to look for these first, and most of ‘em say jack shit."

"No." Kaz grabbed one of the slips. "We know who a few of their targets are, that's a good step forward."

Tsukiko looked at him with an expressionless face. "Any of it concrete?"

"No, not really but--"

Tsuki lowered her head and groaned. "Then we're still operating on hunches. Not like it matters anyway, if no one receives those messages, they'll never go to those places to begin with."

"Isn't it at least satisfying to screw them over? Just a little bit?" Kazuo smiled.

Tsukiko sat down next to him. "Yeah, I guess you've got a point."

"Even if we don't know what they're doing, we're a step closer to figuring it out." Kazuo offered encouragement.

"Can I ask you something?" Tsuki asked out of the blue.

"Uhh, alright." Kazuo looked her in the eye.

"Why Haruka?"

Kazuo paused for a second to think before speaking. "Mmm. Well, why Fumiko?"

"Well, I mean, I've always swung both ways." Tsuki spoke bluntly.

"No." Kaz chuckled. "Why her specifically?"

"I asked first." Tsuki dodged.

Kaz paused again. "Alright, I don't have to tell you then."

"Dick."

"S-sorry." Kaz had a hint of guilt in his voice.

"I'll tell you, then. You keep your end of the bargain." Tsuki lowered her head slightly.

"Okay."

Tsukiko stared straight ahead as she thought up an answer. "She gave me a chance, y'know? I had a weird, disjointed family, and barely any friends cuz I kept to myself. She just kinda forced herself in and I appreciated it. I always felt so special around her, and I still do."

"How long have you two known each other?" Kazuo asked.

Tsuki smiled. "Our families were really friendly with each other, so I've known her forever. We weren't that close though. We just saw each other as another kid to play with. When I got older, I started to talk to her more when times got tough…"

"Sounds like something out of a movie or a book." Kaz teased.

"So, now you answer my question. Why Haruka? I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just… curious. What do you see in her?" Tsuki struggled to ask her question.

"Being with her feels… right? I'll be honest, she kind of pounced on me a couple of weeks ago, but every moment since has felt right. I really like your sister." Kaz turned a bit red.

"But it's only been a couple weeks." Tsuki scratched her head.

"It just feels right, that's all I can say. No one's really ever treated me like she did before. Back home, my folks have always been kind of distant, and my siblings are really competitive. Haruka's actually pretty sweet and supportive now that I know her better. Sorry if that sounds a bit shallow."

"Why would I say it's shallow?" Tsuki prodded.

"I dunno, it just sounded a bit shallow to me. It's not just cuz she's supportive. Haruka's really tough, and really cool, too! I just like seeing the soft spot too."

Tsukiko sat in thought for a second before responding. "I understand you perfectly."

"To be fair, her being a bit of a lewd drunk helped too." Kazuo smiled.

"I never really thought about you having to live up to your name." Tsuki scratched her head.

"You do too, don't you?"

"Not really. I'm me. The Third Knight." Tsuki stretched her arms.

"…Himura." Kazuo finished her sentence.

Tsukiko spoke under her breath. "I used to hate that name."

Kazuo leaned closer. "Why?"

"It reminds me of my parents too much. They're useless. My Dad's a Himura drunk, and my Mom became a snarky Himura bitch. All they do is drink and argue, drink and argue. Thank god they finally split." Tsuki's voice grew harsh.

Kazuo hesitated. "Why do you hate them?"

"Haruka and I were just a burden to them. No matter what we did, we were never good enough for them to care. Dad was a good guy when he was sober, but he always came home from work completely trashed. Mom did most of the actual parenting, but she was always super bitter. She saw taking care of us as a waste of time. In the end, Haruka and I ended up raising ourselves."

Kazuo sighed. "Sorry. I don't know what to say."

"Ehh, there's nothing to say. I used to sit around, feeling sorry for myself, but that just made it worse. Something clicked, and I realized that Haru, Fumi and I had to make things better ourselves. Been doing well ever since. We just had to move on and make our own decisions." Tsuki looked off into the distance.

"Haruka's never mentioned any of this." Kaz looked down at the bench.

"She doesn't like to talk about that kind of thing. When my parents separated, it hit her hard. She stopped talking, stopped eating. She knew they were bad people, but she still felt guilty. She blamed herself, even. Ever since then, she's been bad at trusting people. She even stopped talking to me for a while."

Kazuo narrowed his eyes. "Why me?"

"Yeah." Tsuki looked at him. "Why you?"

"Y'know what? It's better to not question it. I'll just accept it for what it is." Kaz smiled again.

Tsuki played with the sleeve of her jacket. "Yeah, better that way."

"Besides, now you have to tell your side of the story." Kaz laughed.

"My side?"

"Why Fumiko?"

"I already said what I had to say." Tsuki shook her head.

"I'd be a terrible detective if I didn't know when you were hiding something." Kaz laughed.

"Alright, fine." Tsuki groaned. "Fumi helped me out back then. She got me through some tough times. If it weren't for her, I'd probably be like Haruka or Shizuka."

"Hey, you shouldn't insult your sister like that." Kaz frowned.

"I think it was natural that I'd fall for her. She was always with me, through the thick and thin. She likes to call me her knight and all that, but I don't think I'd be where I am today without her."

"Mmm…" Kazuo looked a bit unsatisfied.

"Like I said before, we got closer when times got tough." Tsukiko's eyes sorted through old memories. "She didn't have that great of a home life either, but we made the best of it together. I remember sneaking into her bedroom at night to hang out and talk for hours."

Kaz did his best to listen, staring down at the dirt as he processed each word.

"I guess at some point, I started falling for her. I almost didn't believe it myself! I remember the day she first told me she loved me. She even made sure to wait until there was a full moon. When she said it, I started crying, but she had this big goofy smile on her face. I think she knew it would be memorable. I still haven't forgotten about it." Brightness returned to Tsukiko's face.

"I guess that explains why you're so determined." Kaz spoke quietly.

"What did you expect?"

"I kind of expected something mundane, to be honest. I should've expected something that dramatic, seeing everything that's led up to this. My Dad warned me that I'd end up seeing some weird shit on this job."

"Weird shit?" Tsuki asked.

"Apparently, the detectives in my family always get dragged into the strangest cases. It's a curse and a blessing, I guess. Like, my Dad gave me this gun, and now I can't get rid of it, even if I tried."

"Huh, can't even shower without it?"

"I mean, if I intentionally leave it somewhere, it'll stay there. The instant I need it, it falls out of my hat or something. Sometimes it just does it randomly." Kaz paused, as if waiting for the gun to appear before him.

"How the hell do you even explain something like that? Some family heirloom ya got there." Tsuki laughed.

Kazuo turned serious. "It's a good gun! I remember when my Dad told me about the appearing thing. I thought he was crazy until it fell out of his sleeve at dinner. He laughed, and threw it on the floor, and it ended up slipping out of his sleeve again!"

Tsuki struggled to form a response. "Uhh… what?"

"He told me a bunch of other weird things too. I can't say I doubt him anymore, especially after all this." Kaz had a somewhat defeated, tired smile on his face.

"When I stop and think about all this, yeah, it's pretty crazy." Tsuki turned around, her back to Kazuo.

"You seem kinda calm about all this. You jumped into the first door you saw." Kaz put his hand under his chin. "I freaked out the first time I stepped through one. Aurelia had to calm me down afterward."

"I never really considered it. I just saw it as an obstacle in my path. It doesn't matter how it works or what it does, what matters is that it does." Tsuki looked serious.

"…that's probably a good way of looking at things." Kaz admitted.

Tsuki put her hands on her knees. "I feel like if I dwelled on it too long, I'd probably go crazy."

"Staying grounded?"

"Yeah."

"Should we head back?" Kazuo suggested.

"Nothing to talk about?" Tsuki turned back to Kaz.

"I don't really know what to say now, to be honest." Kaz hid his face.

"Fine." Tsukiko stood up. "Let's just hand these over to Sylvie. She'll know what to do with them."

Kazuo stood up. "If we were just gonna do that, why didn't we just go straight back to Aurelia's shop?"

"And leave behind the view?"