What came after was a quiet moment shared between Shizuka and Aurelia, a reunion between friends that none of the others could hope to understand. They spoke softly and shared old jokes and stories that meant the world to them, and nothing to anyone else.
"Hold onto it for me, okay?" Shizuka pleaded.
Aurelia shook her head. "It is your jacket."
"No way, if she saw me wearing that damn thing, she'd never forgive me for makin' you fix it." Shizuka raised her arm. "This is my jacket. An Aurelia original."
Aurelia bowed her head a little. "Thank you."
"...if I have to take it back, you'd better be there with me." Shizuka joked. "I'm not dealing with that much grief alone."
Aurelia looked to the group. "May I speak with Tsukiko, alone?"
"Yeah, of course." Shizuka had a gentle smile on her face.
"Hey! What for?' Haruka questioned.
Aurelia paused to find her words. "It is... a personal manner."
"I'm being serious." Haruka kept firm. "I don't want you making plans in private. No more keeping each other in the dark."
"You're the one who said you didn't wanna get involved." Shizuka turned to her.
Haruka bared razor teeth at her aunt.
Fumiko defended her. "Haru's got a point. We're all worried about you."
All eyes in the room turned to Aurelia and Tsukiko.
"It is a personal matter." Aurelia repeated herself. "Tsukiko choosing to return her jacket is a significant event for myself as well."
"But Shizuka's old jacket is a-okay to talk about with all of us?" Haruka pressed.
Shizuka scoffed. "Haru, what's your point?"
Aurelia's voice rose over Haruka's. "I did not want Shizuka's joy to be celebrated alone. Tsukiko's doubts, on the other hand..."
There was a long silence after Aurelia's voice trailed off. The seamstress exchanged a single glance with Haruka. There was nothing more to say.
"Alright, fine. Be that way." Haruka sighed. "We'll wait for you in the bar."
"That will not be necessary." Aurelia bowed her head.
"Why not?" Haruka narrowed her eyes.
"It is late, and you need to rest. As does Tsukiko." Aurelia explained.
"Mmm." Haruka crossed her arms.
"I will provide her with a place to stay for the night." Aurelia did her best to calm Haruka's growing frustrations.
Haruka took a step back. "...yeah, Kaz and Lily're probably worried sick back home. I'll let 'em know you're okay, then."
"Thanks." Tsuki said.
Haruka shook her head. "Don't thank me, I didn't do shit."
"Would it kill you to be nice for once?" Shizuka glared.
Haru spoke back through saw teeth. "If I knew what else to say, I'd say it. Right now, I'm just angry."
Haruka got to the door and swung it open. She stepped through and held it open for the others. None of them were brave enough to argue with Aurelia or ignore Haruka's piercing glare, but they didn't feel right leaving Tsukiko behind either.
"You gonna be okay, Tsuki?" Hotaru called out.
Tsukiko turned to her and opened her mouth, but didn't speak.
"Tsuki?" Fumi tried to coax out an answer.
"...yeah. I'll be fine." Tsuki finally spoke. "Sorry."
"I can look after Fumi for a bit, if you need the help." Hotaru extended her hand.
"I'll come too!" Asuka mustered the courage to speak. "This isn't just for my job anymore. You wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for me."
Tsuki looked at them for a long time before she made her decision. "Keep her safe. Please."
Hotaru pulled her hand back.
"...don't make me wait long." Fumi looked at her. "I know what I said earlier, but..."
"I get it." Tsuki smiled a little. "I love you."
Fumi took a step back, her eyes still on Tsuki's. "I love you too."
Then, she turned and stepped through the doorway, following the others who'd already left. When they were all out, Haruka looked at her sister one last time before closing it.
"What'd you wanna talk about?" Tsuki asked.
"Nothing." Aurelia said with her lips curled into a smile.
"Huh?"
"I lied." Aurelia's face didn't change.
"You're not mad?"
"About?"
Tsukiko couldn't muster the words, so she pointed to her jacket on the mannequin.
"You took good care of it." Aurelia assured her. "You fill it better than a mannequin ever could. The bust is a bit too large for it and--"
"No, I mean leaving it behind." Tsukiko looked up at her. "It's important."
"You still wear the pantyhose, the skirt, the button-up..." Aurelia paused. "And the boots. A Knight's regalia was always more than just a jacket."
Her answer left Tsuki unsatisfied.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"But for now, you must find somewhere to sleep."
--
For all the wonderful places Aurelia could go and the miracles she could perform, at that very moment, the best place she could offer Tsukiko to sleep was a mattress in a bar closet. It was miles better than what she'd expected to get, she was worried she'd have to sleep in some cold shack somewhere or on the floor of the place.
Tsukiko's mind buzzed and her heart pumped in her chest as she lay on her side. She finally realized how sore she was, her legs aching and her knuckles stinging. Eventually, the warmth of the comforter overpowered her anxiety and she started to drift off to sleep.
It was still dark when Tsukiko woke up, the only light in the room was her phone's screen when she grabbed it to check the time. The springs buckled as she got back up to her feet. She turned on her phone's flash and put her clothes back on in the dark before opening the door.
The bar's lights were still dim as ever, but a few streaks of sunlight came through narrow gaps in a covered window. A yellowed piece of paper sat on the bar counter, planted just underneath one of the overhead lamps so it'd catch her eye. Tsuki walked up to it and grabbed it, blinking as she tried to read it. It wasn't written in the usual red ink and pretty curves she usually got from Claudia, so it clearly wasn't from her.
The note was short and sweet. "We need to talk."
Below the simple message was the name of a place Tsuki hadn't heard of and a set of directions leading somewhere downtown.
"...what now?"
Tsuki hesitated. She held the paper tight in her hands like it was a train ticket. Her eyes scanned the text over and over, trying to make sure it was real and not her imagination.
Normally, she'd jump at the opportunity and chase down this new mystery, but something took hold of her. She'd never admit to being afraid, but the swelling feeling of emptiness in her chest certainly felt like it.
She forced herself to act and headed straight for the door, angry that she was doing the exact thing Ishikawa'd told her to do. Tsuki was digging her own grave, deeper and deeper with each step, or at least that was what the nagging voice in her head said, over and over.
Mercifully, the streets weren't empty and full of roaming policemen like the night before. City life had returned to Tokyo's streets, or at least the people had. It was easy to get around on workday mornings, everyone with anywhere to be had to be there in a hurry.
Still, the paranoid part of Tsukiko's head grew louder and louder, telling her all sorts of improbable and scary things. She marched forward and onward, her eyes darting from side to side and her ears listening out for a shout she feared would come for her.
With each step she came closer to realizing that, somehow, her reckless plan had gone off without a hitch. She couldn't believe it. Just like Asuka'd said, Tsukiko's transformation into an office lady had worked and no one seemed any wise to it.
With each step closer to the city center, Tsuki could feel something bothering her. Her gaze had somehow glossed over something. She looked directly at it, then looked away. Then she started walking. She noticed it again, then once more.
It was subtle. Someone in a hurry might not notice if they passed by too quickly. There were knocked over bicycles with scraped paint, splintered pieces of wood, black soot covering the walls and half charred piles of garbage. Something had happened while she was gone and she hadn't even noticed it.
Then she saw it. There was a small truck wedged into the entrance of a shop, its front half covered in concrete dust and scattered bits of plaster. The truck's bed was sticking out into the street and adorned with haphazardly placed caution tape, no officers in sight.
A group of teenagers in hoodies ran past Tsukiko as she stopped to look. Their footsteps echoed as they charged down the block, turning to another road and continuing their march.
Tsuki found herself magnetized toward them, her Knight's instincts overwriting her need to survive. She walked down the block, then turned the corner.
The street opened up to a large eight way intersection where dozens upon dozens of people had begun to gather. From where Tsukiko was standing, she couldn't make out anything from their shouting or read anything on their banners.
Without thinking, she stepped closer, getting a better look at the protesters. The majority of them were teenagers or college age, wearing plain clothes like hoodies and jeans, and their faces were partially obscured with sunglasses and face masks.
Suddenly, the shouts stopped, then the chatter gave way to silence. Everyone went quiet as one of the protesters, a disheveled man, stepped forward and stood in front of them all. He started shouting about people's rights and people's freedoms. He shouted the names of prominent politicians, members of the Diet and of the Prime Minister and cursed them for trampling the rights of man. It was the same sort of political noise Tsukiko'd gotten used to years before, but Ishikawa's name cut through the noise.
Tsukiko raised her head and took a good look at the shouting man. She stood straight and crossed her arms, doing her best to piece together his points from the few words she could hear from so far back. He'd taken off his face mask, but she didn't recognize him at all. Whatever he was saying, it got the crowd riled up, angry and proud.
Her legs inched her closer and closer to the people in the street, but Tsuki kept to the fringe, not wanting to get caught up in it all. Her destination wasn't anywhere near the protest, so it was just a minor detour, or so she told herself.
"Hey."
Tsuki ignored the voice at first, thinking it was just another cry mixed into it all.
"You're not fooling anybody!"
With that second cry, Tsukiko felt someone put a hand on her shoulder and shove her. Her body turned to meet whoever it was.
"Did you think nobody'd notice?" A brash woman with a hoarse voice and short hair stood there, looking up at her.
Tsuki didn't say anything.
A small group stood behind the woman, all wearing the same plain clothes and face covers, shouting and hyping her up. As they inched closer, Tsukiko tensed up, her hand balling into a fist.
"You're Himura Tsukiko!" The woman shouted in her face. "Everybody knows who you are, don't even try hiding it."
Someone else in the group shouted. "They closed down all the bars cuz of you!"
The commotion grew louder and louder as bystanders and protesters came running to watch. A shoving match started between the woman's friends and the rapidly forming crowd.
One thing was clear. Though Tsuki's office lady disguise had tricked the beat cops and protesters, it seemed to fail miserably when faced against people who hated her. She took a few steps back, but a wave of people had formed around her.
In the middle of all the noise, one voice cut through it all. "Fuck you for what you did to the boss!"
The brash woman reached up and slapped Tsukiko on the cheek. For a moment, their eyes connected, but the woman's expression didn't change. Tsukiko's fist flew through the air and connected with her nose. Everything went slow as the woman's face scrunched up and her eyes closed, Tsuki's hand forcing itself against her skull.
As the woman recoiled, she held up her hands, trying to somehow protect herself from what had already happened. She stumbled backwards, falling to the pavement and then rolling to her side. Her friends, who once so valiantly stood behind her, now pushed past her and surrounded Tsukiko.
The other protesters moved between Tsukiko and the gathering group of the woman's allies. The crowd folded in and tore itself apart, splitting into two sides. A wall of people formed between Tsuki and her aggressors.
Another one of the woman's friends ran forward, pushing through the crowd of protesters and reaching for Tsukiko. With no plan beyond grabbing her, he could only throw a weak, awkward punch. She defused the situation the best she could, by kicking his leg out from under him and sending him to the asphalt.
Everything went all noisy again. There were dozens of voices shouting and screaming and people shoving each other around. The protesters down the road had started their approach, some of them cheering Tsuki's name and others shouting about the police. It all meshed together like a big wall of sound.
After a while, the groups surrounding her suddenly broke away and started moving back down the street. Confused, Tsuki looked down the opposite end of the street and spotted a formation of police officers in riot gear, holding shields and batons approaching the protest.
An electronic voice called out from a loudspeaker. "This is an illegal public demonstration. Disperse and return to your homes!"
The crowd around Tsukiko seemed to vanish as the riot police moved closer. She took a few steps back before one of them turned their head toward her. Someone shouted her name and the riot police's slow pace became a forward march.
"Himura Tsukiko." The megaphone cried out. "Do not resist arrest."
"Damnit." Tsuki stepped backward.
The protesters started moving in and out, some of them running away but just as many stepping forward between Tsukiko and the police.
"Get outta here!" One of the protesters shouted. "Fuck cops!"
"She isn't a criminal!" Another voice shouted.
Someone grabbed Tsukiko's arm. "Hey, you gotta get outta here."
Tsukiko simply nodded, then started pushing her way through the crowd. Behind her, the riot police started pushing against the protest, desperate to reach her. Members of the crowd started shouting things at her and cheering. Some of them jeered.
When she broke through the crowd and got to the other side, she didn't know what to do. Tsuki was well on her way to her original destination, but now the police were actively hunting her again. The only thing she could really do was start running.
Sirens cut through the city sounds. She ran through the streets looking for any sort of refuge from her pursuers. Tsuki managed to get to her destination, a hole in the wall restaurant, and practically dove inside.