Etsuko and Morgan declared victory immediately when Tsukiko returned, before she even had the chance to catch herself and reassess what she was doing. Within the hour, they had assembled the remaining active Damascenes into the same warehouse they used to meet in, all of them standing before the old stage where Sylvie'd rallied them together before.

Tsukiko wasn't ready to address them, though. She was far from the front, instead standing by the old crates full of scattered knick knacks Sylvie called treasures.

Her mind was buzzing with worry and fear, everything had moved so fast. Without her realizing it, Tsuki's life had changed. Sylvie's assorted junk and the stage beyond it was a reminder of her old high school days, when she first donned the jacket. The scattered souls beyond it and the battlescarred building around them were the ringing bell of the present.

Everything she'd taken for granted with a scowl was gone. Now, Tsukiko felt trapped. For so long, Themis and Ishikawa weighed like granite on her shoulders alone. She could see that now. The realization hit her like a truck.

In the past, Tsukiko had been reckless, always throwing herself at a problem. Now, her legs couldn't move. It wasn't fear that stopped her, but a sense of responsibility. It felt like a debt she owed to no one in particular.

The world had punished her for trying to play by the rules and do the right thing. That was what she deluded herself into believing, at least. She longed to be stupid and reckless again. That's what she'd learned from Merlin.

Tsukiko's fingers tapped and slid across her phone's screen faster and faster. Writing out her plans was the only way she could make them concrete and give herself a reason to stick with them. Her mind kept repeating all of her doubts over and over, but her heart rejected them.

She sent the same message to the other Knights, and to Fumiko. "Meet me at the old Damascenes' warehouse. We need to talk. Everyone else will be there."

Her first response, from Haruka, arrived almost instantly. "I told you not to do anything stupid."

"I know." Tsuki wrote out her own reply.

It took a while for Haruka to finish typing her next message. "I can't stop you. I'm not going to watch you march into hell."

"Do you hate me?" Tsuki sent her message without thinking.

"Don't be dramatic." Haruka replied. "I just wish you didn't do the same dumb shit I used to do at your age."

"What was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know." Haruka's last message read.

"I'm sorry." Tsuki replied.

Tsukiko's phone screen lit up with a chirp as another message arrived from Shizuka.

"I'm already here." The message read.

"What?" Tsuki typed out quickly.

Shizuka's reply came before she'd finished writing. "Already here."

Tsuki didn't get to finish her next message. An intense fear dug into her flesh and bones, making her shudder. It felt like something was boring a hole into the back of her skull.

Behind her was a massive black figure with two glowing red ringed eyes. Tsuki turned slowly, a glare of intense danger looming before her. At that moment, Tsukiko was so scared that what was supposed to be a scream escaped her as a cold soundless exhale.

It was a force beyond comprehension, a terror so deep and so basic that even light couldn't escape it. Before her stood Death, cold and composed, prim and proper, yet Tsukiko knew instinctively that the thing that standing there could hurt her in ways unimaginable and incomprehensible.

"Yo." Shizuka said.

"Jesus Christ." Tsukiko put her hand over her chest. "You..."

"What?"

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Shizuka raised an eyebrow.

Tsuki wiped a tear from her eye. "Sneaking up on people."

Shizuka let out an odd laugh. "Hehehehehehe. Didn't mean to, honest."

"What're you doing here anyway?"

"You called, didn't you?" Shizuka pushed a box into Tsuki's breasts. "...I wanted to give you this."

Tsukiko stared at it. "What is it?"

"A gift." Shizuka shook the box. "From me and Aurelia."

Tsukiko hesitated, but did end up grabbing it. The box was heavy in her hands.

"Open it." Shizuka urged her.

Tsuki did as she said, lifting the cover and revealing something that looked like folded black leatherine material with a zipper.

"What the hell is this?" Tsuki held the box up to Shizuka.

"Remember when I told you we could be criminal masterminds?" Shizuka asked her. "Thieves on the run from the law?"

"And I was your... bisexual seductress in a tight black catsuit." Tsuki stared at the box. "I remember."

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"I thought I'd ask Aurelia to make you one after I saw those gloves of yours." Shizuka chuckled. "Heh. The material was perfect."

"I love it." Tsuki looked back up at Shizuka.

"Y-Yeah?" Shizuka was taken aback.

"...maybe a bit more than I should." Tsuki smirked. "I know Fumi'd get a kick out of it at least."

"I'm glad." Shizuka looked her in the eye. "I wasn't kidding about running away with you. I'll be your Lupin. I'll take us away from all this."

"I appreciate it." Tsuki laughed a little and held the box out to Shizuka. "...but I'll have to pass."

"Think about it. You're bi and busty, just like Fujiko." Shizuka joked.

"Not much of a thief, though." Tsuki shook her head. "And I'm not much of a seductress either."

"Don't underestimate yourself. You've got your charms." Shizuka comforted her. "So, what're you doing here?"

"Taking over the Damascenes." Tsukiko spoke without hesitation.

"For real?" Shizuka laughed. "And you said you weren't much of a thief."

"I'm not Fujiko. I'm not fucking strangers for jewels." Tsuki hissed and finally shoved the box back into Shizuka's hands.

"I know, I know. Morgan told you, huh?" Shizuka put the box under her shoulder.

Tsuki was taken aback. "Y-yeah, he did."

"Yeah, it was more my idea, but--"

"Wait, you met with Morgan and didn't tell me?" Tsuki gave her a deadly glare.

"I'm telling you now, aren't I?" Shizuka defended herself. "C'mon, lighten up. You're practically shaking."

"You came!" Etsuko's voice startled her.

"Speak of the devil." Shizuka noticed Morgan standing next to Etsuko.

Etsuko wrapped an arm around Tsukiko. "You ready?"

"...how am I supposed to get ready for something like this?" Tsuki countered.

"Come up with a speech or something. Maybe drink some liquor for the nerves." Morgan suggested. "You're Himura Tsukiko, just... stand up there and start shouting."

"It still feels like I'm doing something wrong." Tsuki let out a defeated, shaky sigh.

"You are doing something wrong." Shizuka replied. "But doing the right thing would be... less than ideal."

"Sub-optimal." Morgan nodded in agreement.

"You don't have to do it if you don't wanna." Etsuko put a hand on Tsuki's shoulder. "I know we kinda sprung all this on ya--"

"No." Tsuki shook her head. "It's not that I don't want to. I felt like I shouldn't. I felt like I'd be doing the wrong thing, like I was betraying Haru and Fumi and everybody else."

"I understand." Etsuko tried to comfort her.

"But I want to lead the Damascenes." Tsukiko admitted. "I want to take on Ishikawa. I want to settle this."

Morgan smiled a bit. "I knew you had it in you."

Tsukiko clarified her intentions. "I'm doing this cuz I want to, not cuz you convinced me."

"But it was me and Etsuko who gave you the opportunity. Shizuka too." Morgan reminded her.

"Quit tryin' to get under her skin." Etsuko scolded him before handing something to Tsuki. "Here."

In Tsukiko's hands was a black enamel coated mask with an etched golden design depicting hibiscus flowers.

"...this is supposed to be my mask?" Tsuki asked.

"Yeah." Etsuko nodded. "Flowers thought it'd look better on you."

"Where is she?" Tsuki kept looking at the mask.

"With Sylvie." Etsuko didn't elaborate.

Tsukiko took a long deep breath. "Should I just get jt over with?"

"Do it your way." Shizuka told her. "If you're gonna do anything, make sure it's what you really want. Don't let anyone, not even us, push you around."

Tsukiko didn't say anything.

"It's not to late to pull back." Shizuka offered her an escape.

Tsukiko stepped forward without another word. Looking down from the makeshift stage, Tsuki couldn't see many of the Damascenes. Still, the few that stood before her were the most loyal, and the most willing to see out Morgan and Etsuko's ludicrous plan.

The gang watched Tsukiko with blank faces, their true feelings covered by their masks. The black and gold mask in Tsukiko's hands felt strange. It felt delicate and thin, like any mistreatment would shatter it, and yet it weighed upon her fingers as if it were made of brass.

"Alright." Tsuki muttered to herself.

With a shudder, Tsukiko raised the mask to her face.

Memories of the past flooded her head. She remembered Fumiko's smile and laughter in the hospital. She remembered Night Bird and Morgan and the man in the copper mask who'd nearly killed Lily. She remembered fighting Haruka in that same warehouse and meeting Shizuka for the first time soon after.

"Everyone." Tsukiko spoke in a booming voice. "From now until the day Sylvie returns, I am going to be the one leading you all."

"Hell yeah..." Morgan whispered.

"Together, we're going to put down what's left of Themis." Tsukiko declared. "...and I'm going to need every single one of you to do that."

"There's not many of you left. Some of you went into hiding. A lot of you were too injured to keep going." Tsukiko looked across the crowd. "But the rest of you, those still standing and ready to fight, are the ones who will secure a future for the gang."

"Not as the Damascenes." Tsukiko declared. "I won't trample Sylvie's legacy. No. Those who put their trust in me will be known as the Shakudos."

"What? Huh?" Etsuko was taken aback.

"It's a name sure to make some of you angry. It'll dredge up a lot of bad memories." Tsuki steeled herself. "But the Shakudos were a terrifying adversary. For me, for you, and for the police. If we want to take down Themis, we're going to have to scare 'em."

The crowd below fidgeted.

"I'm not a Knight anymore." Tsukiko blinked. "From now on, I'm one of you. I'm a Shakudo. Call me Izanami."

"Izanami?" Etsuko repeated.

"That's the name I was given by the police." Tsukiko let out a sigh. "If that's who they want, then that's who I'll be. I'll bring this city to its knees if it means protecting this gang and clearing my name."

The masked men and women stared, silently, at the woman now known as Izanami.

"We're goin' to hell with you, boss!" One of the masked people shouted.

Others joined him in cheering. "To hell and back!"

Tsukiko put on her best voice. "That's right."

With her rallying cry being a resounding success, Tsukiko let her revel in the cheers and praise of the new Shakudos. A sense of pride welled within her, and she felt strong. Her mask hid the big smile on her lips.

Her excitement was cut short as the doors at the far end of the warehouse rumbled suddenly. The sound of metal scraping against concrete echoed throughout the place as the door slowly swung open. Tsukiko leapt off the stage and ran before her Shakudos, eager to prove herself as their leader.

As quickly as it began, the door fell silent again. It was left half open, enough to allow someone to enter. A single person stepped out from behind it.

"...Hotaru." Tsukiko stared.

"...Tsuki? Is that you?"