"Who the hell're you?" Tsuki instantly raised her guard against the strange man.

"I'm a private eye, miss." He smiled.

"And what do you want with me?" Tsukiko narrowed her eyes.

Lily stared back at him, as if scanning his face for something.

"I was hoping I could talk to you and Miss Guillemot here about the Nakano case." His expression was gentle.

The Private Eye looked rather young and inexperienced. His dark green eyes and glossy black hair betrayed him. His face seemed too soft and smooth to be hard-boiled, but he definitely wanted to look the part.

By his hip was a holster, with a big shiny revolver. He wore a sharp, dark brown suede jacket, with a white undershirt. Under that, he wore a pair of formal charcoal pants, and black leather shoes, polished to a mirror sheen.

His voice was light and gentle, almost disarming. There was a touch of nervousness in the man's voice, but it still had a subtle strength just under the surface. He held out his hand to help Tsuki and Lily get out from underneath the bridge.

"The Nakano case? Is that what they're calling it?" Tsuki turned over to Lily. "I guess you know this guy huh?"

Lily nodded.

"It won't take long, I promise. It'll help the both of us." He stuttered.

Tsuki smiled. "How's it gonna help me? I thought you weren't supposed to get civilians involved in this sort of thing."

"I need to do everything within my power to get to the bottom of what happened." The young man spoke with pride. "Getting involved is your choice. I'm just here to ask questions."

"So, why'd they give me a PI and not a real detective?" Tsuki snickered.

He raised his voice. "What, just cuz I don't associate with…"

"…with?" Lily asked.

The private eye stopped and sighed. "You want my help or not?"

Tsuki didn't really know if she could trust the detective. She didn't know who he was working for, and he seemed a bit too young to be of much use. Still, at least he wasn't a police officer.

"Who even hired you anyways?" Tsuki returned to her usual serious demeanor.

He kneeled down beside them. "Why don't you ask Lilith here?"

Lily took a deep breath. "I felt bad about Fumi, so I asked the bank to put some of my parents' fortune into hiring this guy…"

"Fortune? Did your parents own that hospital or what?" Tsukiko was shocked more by the money than anything else.

"And that's how I knew where to find her. I got lucky finding you here too." His face carried a toothy grin.

"But you knew exactly who I was." Tsuki countered.

"I'm a detective. I detect. Of course I know who you are, you're a witness in my case." He sighed.

"You’d better not be following me around." Lily sighed.

"I didn't follow you I swear!" The man held up his hands.

Tsukiko leaned back. "Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing that happened this week."

"What do you mean?" The man turned his ear toward Tsuki.

"I've been getting followed around by these masked dudes. Apparently, they're called Shakudos."

The private eye pulled out a notepad. "Oh, yeah, your reputation is spreading. People are already calling you the Third Knight Himura."

Tsukiko rolled her eyes. "That’s what they used to call my sister back in the day, and she’s nothing special."

Lily interrupted. "She's the second, I'm pretty sure."

The private eye scratched his head. "I just got here a few days ago, so I haven't had much time to learn the local legends. I don't know that much about the Knights, sorry."

Tsukiko turned to Lily. "Do you know what a-- eh, never mind."

"Oh, damn, I forgot this." The man fumbled around in his pocket and produced a small business card. "Can't leave home without 'em."

The card was on black stock. The top of it had the name of the firm printed in off-white text. A photograph of the private eye sat on the far side of the card. He looked younger in the picture than he did in person.

Tsuki looked down at the address. It didn't seem right.

"Sapporo? What's a kid like you doing this far south?" Tsukiko turned back up to him after inspecting the card.

"Read the rest of the card." He smiled.

Tsuki actually read the rest of the card this time, actually stopping to read the bolded title at the top of the card.

"Shimizu Kazuo? Shimizu Detective Agency?" Tsukiko flipped the card back and forth, scanning it.

"What? You really don't know the Shimizu Agency?" He gasped.

"Must not be well known on the mainland, I guess." Tsuki shrugged. "I don't know much about Hokkaido."

"My grandfather was one of Japan's greatest detectives in his prime." Kazuo spoke with pride.

"Okay, can we talk about Fumiko now?" Tsuki raised her voice.

"Oh, uhh, yeah. You obviously know about the two groups, right?"

Tsuki nodded.

"White masks and whatever the other group is doing."

Lily interrupted. "Damascenes and Shakudos!"

"Yeah, those. I’ve been following those two for a few days now. I think I’ve got a few good leads that could help us take them both down!" Kazuo stood over the two girls with an eager look.

"I'm just going after the… Shakudos, I think. I don’t wanna go against the other guys." The taller girl shook her head.

"Just the Shakudos?" The detective leaned forward.

Lily stood up. "I paid you to find who stabbed her friend and just that, okay?"

Kaz only scratched his head. "Yeah, sorry. I hear street gangs and something clicks in my head."

Before either of the girls could scold him, two masked men appeared behind him.

"Heyyyyyyyy kid!" The shorter figure laughed. "Gumshoe led us right to a treasure."

Tsukiko got out from under the bridge to greet the two strange masked people.

"Oh, it's her. Talk about a free promotion, am I right?" The tall Shakudo cracked its knuckles.

Oddly, they wore black masks with gold accents. These were put together quite well, not like the poorly painted masks the Chief had shown her before. The gold was shiny enough to blind someone if they reflected the sun at the right angle.

"C'mon, get a little closer. We can't kick your ass if you're all the way back there!" The taller mask's laugh was cruel.

Tsukiko passed the detective and began walking toward them.

The short mask beckoned. "See, isn't that so much easier? Maybe we'll be nice if you--"

Tsukiko punched the short Shakudo in the head. The mask shattered into pieces. The jagged shards of plastic cut up their face underneath.

The short Shakudo was too preoccupied with their wounds to see Tsuki's next move coming. Her leg swung up, hitting them in the side of the head. They went down like a ragdoll.

Her next opponent wasn't as easy. The taller one stepped forward to defend their ally's honor. They moved slowly toward her, trying their hardest to make her move first.

When Tsukiko moved closer, the tall Shakudo moved to the side. They moved together in a shrinking circle, his eyes taunting her through the mask.

A fist shot forward. The tall Shakudo caught her off guard. The jab wasn't enough to hurt her, but it definitely got her moving.

A few more weak punches hit her. She had trouble detecting when they would happen, only being able to react at the last second.

When the tall Shakudo felt confident, they lunged forward. Whatever the attack was supposed to be, it was far too obvious to actually land. Tsuki was able to catch them, tossing them aside at the last moment.

The figure backed away. They turned to their side and reached down, grabbing something. The tall Shakudo laughed.

They had armed themselves with a single plank of wood. It wasn't much, but it was still dangerous. They waved it around like it was some sort of ceremonial sword.

The plank of wood came down. Tsuki wasn't able to move out of the way. She raised her forearm and braced herself.

It shattered on contact. It was reduced to nothing but two small halves and dozens of splinters. The tall Shakudo didn't know how to react.

They both stopped moving in confusion. Tsuki hit the tall Shakudo in the jaw. They went limp, with little fanfare. She turned back to the detective.

"Yo, where the hell were you?" Mister Detective?" Tsukiko turned around to complain.

When she looked at him, she found him holding the shorter Shakudo against a wall. They were already midway through an interrogation.

"Don’t mind me!" The detective shouted to her.

Tsuki kneeled down next to her now defeated opponent. She put her hand on their mask, pulling it off of their face. The elastic that held it to their face broke away.

"They tell you anything interesting?" Tsuki continued.

The detective let the shorter one go. It scurried off, grabbing its unconscious partner and dragging them away.

"Nope, those two were worthless." Kazuo groaned before noticing the mask in Tsuki's hand. "What’s that?"

"One of their masks. Looks like metal, but it's just spray painted porcelain." Tsuki tapped the mask with her knuckle.

It made a low glassy sound.

"Yo, Lily." Kazuo grabbed the mask. "Does Sylvie know about this?"

As Kazuo turned away, something grabbed Tsuki from behind. It dragged her across the dirt, pinning her against a wall.

The figure wrapped a gloved hand around her throat. She couldn't even call for help, only able to struggle in this person's grasp.

"Settle down if you know what's good for ya, alright?" A deep, female voice growled.

Lily screamed as Kazuo kneeled down to talk to her. He turned around, jumping to his feet as he saw Tsukiko held down by the masked person. He began to approach slowly.

Tsukiko only gasped and coughed. She noticed that the figure’s mask was more ornate than the others. The gold designs looked like actual gold.

"We don't want to hurt you." The voice continued in a somewhat flat voice.

"Let her go!" The Shimizu detective shouted.

"Just leave us alone and things'll solve themselves!" The Shakudo put its head close to Tsukiko’s and spoke in almost a whisper.

"No." Tsuki gagged.

"Why not?"

Kazuo shouted, cocking the hammer on his revolver. "Let her go, damnit!"

Tsukiko shook her head, and the Shakudo squeezed her neck a bit tighter.

"Let her go, now!" Kazuo put his finger on the trigger, and shouted again.

"Just listen for your own sake, Tsukiko!" The voice panicked.

Tsukiko kicked them in the stomach and the figure flinched, dropping her. A loud bang startled both of them, and the Shakudo staggered. Tsukiko turned and found Kazuo with a revolver drawn.

The Shakudo screamed.

The masked figure suddenly started running its hands all over its body, looking for a wound.

"Get outta here!" Kazuo shouted.

The figure turned to Kazuo, then back to its own body. It ran off, looking back before disappearing.

Tsukiko kneeled down as she tried to catch her breath. "You could've killed him!"

"He was holding you by the neck!" The detective shouted back.

"What if you actually hit ‘em?" Tsuki coughed.

"I’m a trained professional, Miss Himura!" Kazuo put the gun away.

Tsuki paused to come up with a good argument. "You really wanna get the cops involved?"

"The cops are already involved and… No, not really…" Kazuo’s voice trailed off.

Tsuki sighed. "Just be careful where you aim that thing, OK?"

Distant sirens scared the young detective. "Oh, uhh, I gotta go! You two stay here, OK?"

"Where the hell are you going?" Tsuki ran up and grabbed the detective’s arm before he could run off.

"Doesn't matter, just stay with Lily!" Kazuo shoved her hand away and ran off.

Tsukiko turned to Lily, who had sat silently the entire fight. "Sorry about all this, kid."

Lily smiled gently. "I’ll be fine with you. You’re really strong, Tsuki!"

Tsuki was caught off guard. "So, you're not scared?"

"It was kinda scary, but I wanna be brave…" Lily frowned.

Tsukiko sat down next to Lily and held her hand. "You’ll be strong someday, Lily. I know it."