Tsukiko and Sylvie stood on the sidewalk at the edge of the shrine.

The buildings around it were quite well lit, but the light seemed to end at the edge of the shrine. No unnatural light was allowed to touch the sacred place.

Deep within, there was a small temple, donation boxes and all. In front of it, stood what looked like dozens of robed figures, lit only by the moon.

Sylvie strained to try to hear what was going on. No sound escaped through the plants and trees surrounding the deeper parts of the shrine.

"These things suck." Tsukiko tugged on the sleeves of her robes.

"Not my fault you're still wearing a jacket and skirt under there." Sylvie looked off into the sky.

"You're squeezed into a catsuit under there, so…"

"It's tights and a compression top, you--"

"Catsuit." Tsuki shook her head.

"Goddamnit." Sylvie groaned.

Tsuki started walking to the group, pressing her hand against the mask, as if praying for it to stay secure.

"…you sure about this?" Sylvie hesitated.

"Well, it's not like we've got any other bright ideas." Tsuki's response seemed almost forced.

"I really hope this goes well." Sylvie stepped forward.

They both approached the crowd at the center, slinking around to avoid confrontation. Their goal was to be able to sneak into the disorganized crowd without drawing attention.

They had to break into the mob without being unmasked.

"Yo, when are we starting?" A figure in the group shouted.

"Hurry it up!" The crowd was in a bad mood.

A few minutes passed before anything happened. A few people stood outside of the crowd, trying to keep them calm and corralled. The two people Tsukiko had met at the abandoned office appeared before the crowd.

"Alright, alright, settle down!" The silver mask named Morgan raised his hand.

This got a small reaction in the crowd of scattered shouts and whistles. Flowers paced around awkwardly behind Morgan.

Morgan's voice remained serious. "You all know why we're here, right?"

The crowd chattered.

Morgan shook his head and motioned to someone off to the side. A figure brought out a man in a wheelchair. His hands and legs were bound.

Flowers approached Morgan and whispered something in his ear. He simply shook his head. The man in the wheelchair struggled weakly.

"Do you all remember this man?" Morgan stepped forward.

The crowd murmured to themselves.

Morgan tried to help them out, by placing the bashed up mask on his face. The crowd went silent.

"What're you doing?" Flowers asked.

"Bring it on!" Morgan called out to two Shakudos standing to the side.

The two men kneeled down to a ceramic device with a piece of metal sticking out of it. They turned on the flames on a couple of blow torches at the bottom, making the make-shift furnace glow.

"From now on, you'll all be taking orders from me and Flowers!" Morgan shouted. "This bastard has done nothing but hurt us, and our people!"

The crowd was deathly quiet.

"There is no mercy in this organization for those who try to kill children, or those who try to destroy. There is no mercy for those who try to kill our own!"

Flowers stared. "A-Are you alright?"

"We are thieves! We are not murderers!"

Sylvie whispered to Tsuki. "What the hell's goin' on?"

"Not… sure." Tsuki watched carefully.

Another Shakudo murmured. "I never liked that guy anyway… Maybe that Knight did us a favor."

"What're you, crazy?" Another spoke. "If it wasn't her, it would've been the cops."

"Nah, the cops dropped the charges, remember?"

"Dropped the charges?" Tsuki asked.

"Yeah! Those useless bastards." The figure responded.

"It's only fair!" Morgan raised his voice again. "That we punish him in the same way he hurt that girl!"

The two men by the furnace turned off the blow torches, but the inside still glowed orange. Morgan put on a glove and pulled out the piece of metal, revealing a red hot piece of rebar. He held it up carefully in one hand, showing it to the crowd.

"It's a burn for a burn, eh?"

"Hey, that's too far!" Flowers shouted

The crowd got riled up, neither agreeing or disagreeing with their leader.

The man in the wheelchair shouted. "No, man! You can't do this!"

"You should be rotting in a cell!" Morgan spit at him.

"Hey, hey!" Flowers got between Morgan and the man in the wheelchair. "You can't do this!"

"Why not?"

"It's just petty revenge, let it go!" Flowers shouted.

"He'll just do it again if you don't teach him!"

"I'm pretty sure he gets it!"

"Why'd they let him go?" Morgan shouted her down.

Flowers went quiet.

Morgan pushed her aside. "This bastard…"

"Leave me alone! Don't fucking touch me!" The man in the wheelchair pleaded.

Flowers moved forward and kicked the piece of rebar out of Morgan's hand. It flew off, hitting the ground a few times before landing on the dirt, burning it black with a metallic ring. It sizzled away, going cold in moments.

"I'm not letting you do this." Flowers stood strong against Morgan.

"Why not?"

"I'm not letting you stoop down to that level, Morgan. You talk so much about how you hate violent people, but here you are…"

Morgan sighed. "Take him back."

The two men approached the man in the wheelchair. The man started apologizing profusely, thanking Flowers. His rambling was almost completely incoherent.

Flowers watched carefully as the two men rolled the wheelchair away. Morgan stared at Flowers, then at the ground.

The crowd went silent again. Neither Tsukiko nor Sylvie knew what to think. Morgan didn't seem like the person they had expected to meet. His actions seemed to be guided by something, but they couldn't decide on what it was.

Morgan turned back to the crowd. "Well, you're all still here."

"Yeah." Flowers responded almost mechanically.

"I guess we've got to go through the rest of the agenda, huh?" Morgan stepped forward. "I'm gonna grind some discipline into all of you."

"Discipline?" One of the Shakudos muttered under its breath.

"Yes, discipline! If you don't like that, then you can leave!"

None of them moved.

Flowers approached Morgan and whispered something to him. He shook his head and whispered something back again.

"We're gonna put a fire under the police chief's ass!" Morgan proudly stomped his foot. "Then we'll see who's worthy!"

The crowd cheered.

"That useless bastard. This town's gone to the fucking dogs." someone in the crowds replied.

The meeting took another turn. The two leaders paced back and forth lecturing on all topics, ranging from the mundane to the bizarre.

One moment they would discuss what new businesses had paid for their protection. At other moments they would all stop and pray.

It was strange, but there was a subtle charm to the two leaders that made them somewhat entertaining. Even Tsukiko found herself entranced by their strange ritual.

She didn't notice she'd been following it as closely as everyone else. She told herself it was just to fit in, but it didn't convince her conscience.

Morgan pointed at the girl with the floral mask. "Flowers over here's gonna start training some of you guys. Maybe then you'll stand a chance in a fight, huh?"

"…sounds familiar." Sylvie muttered to herself.

"It wouldn't have happened if you didn't keep petty grudges!" Flowers mocked Morgan.

"These guys are idiots." Tsuki fidgeted. "My feet hurt."

A few more minutes and the crowd began to disperse. Little by little, the crowd began to shrink, with only a few sticking around for whatever reason. Sylvie wouldn't let Tsukiko leave, even though it may have been the better option.

"What? Can't get enough of me?" Flowers spoke with a playful tone.

"You can go home y'know!" Morgan waved his arms above his head.

"This is worse than I thought." Sylvie whispered.

"Why?" Tsuki muttered.

"He's… actually pretty persuasive." Sylvie sighed.

"And?"

"That means I'm a complete dumbass!" Sylvie whispered.

The two leaders began to walk toward them.

"They're coming." Tsuki kept looking forward.

"What do I do? What if they recognize my voice?" Sylvie spoke in harsh whispers.

"You two look new!" Flowers waved.

"Yeah." Tsuki nudged Sylvie.

"Bonjour!" Sylvie spoke in her native tongue.

"Ooh, a foreigner… Where're you from?" Flowers asked.

"…J-je suis française." Sylvie held out her hand.

Flowers turned to Tsukiko. "…the heck is she sayin'?"

Tsuki only shrugged.

"What are you doing here?" Morgan joined the conversation with a surprisingly light voice.

"Lighten up." Flowers shook Sylvie's hand.

"Shouldn't you be more careful with the newbies?" Morgan nudged Flowers.

"No." The girl in the floral mask defied him.

Morgan stood in silence, only staring.

"Why'd you guys join up?" Flowers asked.

"To meet girls." Tsuki choked out. "I-I mean…"

"…that's refreshingly honest. Nothing wrong with that. I'll let you know if I meet any girls your type." Flowers laughed.

"Désolé, ne parle pas japonais!" Sylvie held out a thumbs up.

"Haha, I… have no idea what you just said!" Flowers scratched her head.

"Me neither." Tsukiko sighed.

"Anyways." Flowers got close. "Either of you fought any of the Knights Himura?"

"I've gotten lucky. Haven't run into any of 'em yet." Tsuki struggled to keep a straight face.

"Oui, j'ai vu un Himura!" Sylvie blurted out with a false sense of confidence.

"Yeah, still don't have the slightest clue. You really don't understand her?" Flowers looked confused.

Sylvie's head dropped in disappointment.

"Not a clue." Tsuki shook her head.

"I heard Himura, but everything else is… gibberish, honestly." Flowers shook her head.

"Some Japanese slips out sometimes. At least she's trying." Tsukiko took this opportunity to relentlessly mock Sylvie.

"Weird. I wonder where she's from." Flowers looked Sylvie up and down.

Sylvie remained quiet.

"C'mon, don't be shy." Tsuki put her hand on Sylvie's shoulder.

Sylvie hissed. "Arrête ça! Laisse-moi tranquille!"

"Aww, she's shy! Don't be so mean, Tokyo's pretty tough for foreigners!" Flowers punched Tsuki in the shoulder.

"Oww!" Tsuki jokingly rubbed her shoulder.

"You're pretty tough! Workin' out?" Flowers complimented Tsukiko.

"Yeah, something like that." Tsuki played with her mask.

"Keep it up! Consistency is the most important part of having a healthy body!" Flowers lectured her.

"Thanks."

"I'd talk to your friend here too, but, y'know…"

"Yeah…"

"Y'know, we should go out for drinks together sometime!" Flowers put an arm around Tsukiko. "You're pretty cool, y'know?"

"You too!" Tsuki blurted out.

Sylvie glared at her.

"Is that a yes, or…"

Tsuki gave her a thumbs up. "Just give me a time and place!"

"Yeah, invite your weird rambly friend too! Maybe we could find a translator or something." Flowers chuckled.

Morgan finally approached. "You're bad at remembering voices."

"Huh?" Flowers turned to him.

"Did you enjoy the show, Tsukiko?" Morgan stared.

"…who?" Flowers scratched her head.

"…Himura Tsukiko?" Morgan repeated.

"Not ringing a bell here, man." Flowers admitted.

"…the Third Knight Himura."

"Oh… That's bad…"

Tsukiko stared back at him.

"I knew you couldn't help yourself, Sylvie." Morgan turned to the blonde.

"What's your game, Morgan?" Tsuki asked.

"You know, we could always talk this out." Morgan cracked his knuckles.

"What's there to talk about?" Tsuki watched his movements carefully.

"You did me another favor, bringing Sylvie here. You look good in that mask."

"I'm not here to join your gang." Tsuki shook her head.

"Of course not. You're only here to eavesdrop." Morgan's voice grew lower.

"Boss." Flowers stepped forward.

"Just a second." Morgan stopped her.

"So, now what?" Sylvie finally spoke some Japanese.

"You fell for the French foreigner thing?" Morgan turned to Flowers.

"I like to be optimistic." Flowers held her head up defiantly.

"Take the masks off." Morgan demanded.

"No." Sylvie stood straight.

"Really, they'll just weigh you down."

"Huh?"

Morgan reached forward and tried to grab Sylvie. She slapped his arm away, before trying to defend herself with a punch. She hurt her hand when it hit his mask.

In the split second that she pulled her hand back, Morgan grabbed her other arm and pulled her close. His fingers went under the mask, pulling it off and revealing her face.

"So, that's how it is, huh?" Flowers stared at Sylvie.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Tsukiko sighed, her face still hidden.

"And you're actually the Third Knight?" Flowers asked.

"No." Tsuki tried to escape peacefully.

"You know, Morgan's right, you've got a real distinct voice, Tsukiko." Flowers taunted.

Tsukiko pulled off her mask and dropped her robes, revealing her white and red jacket. "You got me."

"Whaddya say, Morgan?" Flowers turned to him. "I take one, you take the other?"

"Why not?" Morgan raised his fists.

Flowers began to walk forward toward Tsukiko. Tsuki stood still, watching her movements. The masked girl reached down and pulled off her robes, revealing a sport top and bike shorts. Her skin was tanned and her body was toned and fit.

As the robes hit the ground, Flowers moved forward. She ran toward Tsukiko in the confusion of the moment. Tsuki managed to block one punch, but another hit her in the gut.

Her guard was broken, and Flowers managed to get a swipe at her face, scratching her cheek. Several more attacks came in faster than Tsukiko could react. In a last ditch effort, Tsuki shoved Flowers away in an attempt to regain ground.

"What's wrong?" Flowers kept hopping left and right, her voice was a bit hoarse.

Flowers jumped forward, running toward Tsuki. This time, Tsuki caught her in motion, striking her once in the chest and another time in the stomach. Flowers choked and coughed as Tsuki wound up a kick that knocked her back.

"I'm not sure. You tell me." Tsuki smiled.

Flowers staggered back up, watching Tsukiko with the eyes of a snake. She took deep breaths as she kept herself low, watching closely. Tsuki stepped forward, not knowing what move her opponent would make next.

Flowers ran up to Tsukiko, hitting her hard in the stomach once more, coming in with another fist to the jaw. In a split second, Flowers shoved herself under Tsuki's arm and spun her around, slamming her to the ground.

"You're really slow." Flowers taunted.

"You talk too much." Tsuki stared up at her from the ground.

"C'mon, get up." Flowers held an arm out.

"Huh?"

"It's not fair to hit someone while they're down, stand up." Flowers grabbed Tsukiko's arm and pulled her up.

"…what?" Tsuki narrowed her eyes.

"Alright, ready for round two?"

"Yeah." Tsuki nodded, readying herself again.

The other figures in the group stood and watched as both Tsukiko and Sylvie fought their leaders. They formed a circle and cheered like fans at a boxing match.

It was as if the fight itself was all part of some big game. Some of them even cheer for their enemies, taking bets on who would win. When Tsukiko stumbled from one of Flowers' strong kicks, someone in the crowd would urge her to get back up.

"C'mon, Himura!" Flowers held her hand out.

Tsukiko ran forward, taking a big swing, hitting Flowers in the face and knocking her mask off. Flowers looked down quickly, hiding her face in the shadow as she reached down to grab her mask.

"Sorry." Tsuki bowed her head slightly, out of respect to her oddly formal opponent.

Flowers got back up and got back on the offensive, striking Tsukiko several times. She stomped on Tsuki's foot, then kicked her shin in an attempt to knock her to the ground. Tsuki planted herself down, making Flowers' attempts to knock her down futile.

"How're you so damn heavy…" Flowers resorted to shoving and pushing.

Flowers leaned in, hitting Tsuki in the jaw. Tsukiko did the same. Both of them broke apart again, backing away from each other.

"Alright, enough! Show me how you really fight!" Flowers shouted.

"Let's end it here, no more games." Tsuki shouted back.

Flowers ran forward and kicked Tsukiko, who managed to block it last second. The masked girl hopped from side to side, as if to carry constant momentum throughout her body. Each one of her kicks was quicker and more powerful than the last.

When Tsukiko swung at her opponent, her attacks hardly ever connected. Flowers seemed to dance around her every motion. It dawned on Tsukiko that she had seen someone with a similar fighting style before.

Tsuki moved back and began to allow herself to be hit. With each attack, she paid close attention to her opponent's movement. They way Flowers managed to keep bouncing from side to side reminded her of her own sister's style.

"Hey, I thought we were fighting!" Flowers shouted as she kicked Tsukiko in the shoulder.

Tsuki moved forward and began swinging once more. Her opponent was more sluggish now, as they struggled to keep the same speed they once had. Their attacks also lost their speed and grace.

With this, Tsukiko could finally land some blows on her opponent. Flowers was lighter than her, and clearly a bit weaker than her. Each strike made her reel and back away.

The strength of Tsukiko's attacks only made Flowers more aggressive. A smile on her face grew with each swing.

Her breathing grew louder and more hoarse with each strike. She still choked out a laugh when her opponent got the better of her.

Finally, one finally sloppy move proved to be her downfall. She threw out a punch much slower than usual, which Tsuki capitalized on with an upward strike to the jaw. Flowers fell to the ground in a heap.

Her figure heaved with each deep, harsh breath she took. A few robed figures ran to her side, pulling her up like a coach trying to resuscitate a fallen boxer. A simple thumbs up was all Tsuki needed to see that her fight was over.

After that, someone grabbed Tsukiko's hand, dragging her away.

--

Back at Aurelia's shop, Tsukiko and Sylvie arrived at a strange scene.

"God, you're so damn cute…" Haruka spoke in a deep voice as she wrapped her arms around Kazuo.

"…what're you doing?" Sylvie looked on.

"None of your business…" Haruka turned to Tsukiko. "Why're you covered in dirt?"

"Got into a fight." Tsuki carried a serious demeanor.

"You look like shit." Haru squeezed close to Kaz, as if she wasn't going to let the distraction kill her act of seduction.

"I didn't expect you to like cops." Sylvie sat down across from them.

"I'm not a cop." Kazuo put a hand on Haru's shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sorry, private eye." Sylvie spoke with the most condescending tone she could muster.

"Can't a girl just have fun?" Haru smiled.

"Not this kind of fun." Tsuki shook her head.

"Hey, I don't judge you and Fumi!" Haruka leaned forward.

"Yeah, but that's different." Tsuki looked away.

"How is that different?"

"Aww, c'mon, Tsuki. Give her a break, she's had it tough." Sylvie joked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Haruka snapped.

"You haven't dated since high school!" Sylvie blurted out.

"Hey, I've been busy!" Haruka leaned against Kazuo.

"Hey, you'd better take good care of her, Shimizu." Tsuki looked him in the eye.

"What? You don't trust me?" Kazuo chuckled.