Prologue

Kiara took the wheel and drove me to the Projects. Once upon a time, this spit of land housed the City's recruitment center for the War. We did Basic Training on these stomping grounds too. Now, it's been cut up into thirds-of-an-acre of land where homes for GI's were built. It's Uncle Yagoo's reward to the hardworking troops, not far from the City's beating heart. At least that's how the newspapers and radios talked about the Projects.

What about television, you ask?

No dice.

Folks who even thought about living in the Projects wouldn't be able to afford televisions. They were veterans with a few dollars and paperweight medals to their names. All the houses here look the same: blocky boxes made with materials that they could have snagged out of the Army Surplus, shoddy picket fences and a sorry excuse for a front and backyard.

They were worth less than a pretty penny too. I found that out the hard way when my repeated stays at Eugenia Medical ate up the cash I got from selling my Project house. And yet, when Kiara pulled into the driveway of one of these homes, that Navy girl was beaming with pride like it was the Seventh of September with fireworks and all that jazz.

This was her home, she told me. In her words, this was her third-of-an-acre slice of the Hololive Dream.

It's good to see optimists who came home from the War in one piece. The Founding Mother, Tokino Sora, would have been proud of this patriotic Phoenix.

…

Kiara nodded in agreement and wore a warm smile for Ame.

She got out of the car, led Ame into her Project house and welcomed her with a reheated meal of chicken noodle soup. It was a homemade bowl of soup too, not the kind that Ame was used to getting straight from the can or from the kitchen of the Eugenia Medical.

Ame wolfed down her chicken noodle soup while Kiara sat across from her, smiling all the while. When Ame had her fill, Kiara brought out a can of Lemon Shark brand fruit cocktail and served it to her new partner.

"Heh." Ame snickered, "We're gonna have to get used to seeing these for a while."

"No kidding! I like fruits - canned ones too!" Kiara started, "But working at Lemon Shark to get close to Gura will take away the novelty, you know?"

"I know… but it'll be a while before I get sick of these." Ame explained happily, "You know, when I was fighting on Sunfish Hill with the Army, we got resupplied with crates of Lemon Shark cans! Everyone in my company loved the canned fruits. Those little comic strips that came with them were pretty cute too!"

"Oh! Bazooka Goomba!" Kiara's eyes lit up, "I've heard of those strips!"

"They look like a little kid drew 'em, but they kept spirits up at camp! It's all coming back to me now." Ame laid her hand over her chest and recreated a scene that she read once upon a time, " Oh nyo, I'm in a real fruity situation uwu - but I won't let these stinkies beat me! Bazooka Goomba! "

Ame then made twin finger-guns like Bazooka Goomba and started shooting imaginary enemies in the air. " Pew, pew, pew, pew! "

Kiara burst into laughter. She never expected to see the serious, no-nonsense Detective Amelia Watson goof off. A home cooked meal can do wonders for a hardened heart, she thought.

Encouraged by Ame's mirth, Kiara leaned back into her chair and racked her brain for her more lighthearted War stories. A good memory came to mind and she snapped her finger enthusiastically.

"We had good things delivered to us in the Navy too!" Kiara wolfed down a spoonful of fruit salad and then pointed her spoon at Ame, "You seet, my unit was resupplied by Swingwell Trade and Freight Union! STFU's involved in international trade and the Navy made sure their freighters were safe in the ocean." She then pointed at herself and held her head high, "Us Navy Frogmen got some small luxuries for Christmas. My favorite ones were the chocolates!"

"No way!" Ame's jaw dropped, "Army guys and gals would kill for Swingwell chocolates!"

"That wasn't the Navy's only Christmas present!" Kiara added, pausing to look straight into Ame's eyes, "In the last year of the war, we had Irys sing for us at the naval base."

"Lucky gal." Ame smirked, "Looks like you've been an Irys fan for much longer than I thought."

"And you've been a fan of Gawr Gura before you even met her!" Kiara countered slyly.

"Point taken." Ame took the hit with a smile.

Kiara chuckled and prepared cups of tea for the two of them.

"Lemon Shark Fruit Cannery and the Swingwell Trade and Freight Union." Kiara mused while she poured Ame's cup. She passed the cup to her partner and continued, "To think that two companies that did their part to end one War may end up fuelling the fires of another war on our own shores. Our own City."

"It's why I wasn't completely opposed to this whole mission." Ame explained. She looked at her own reflection in the cup of tea, "Chief Enma probably thought it was madness - and a convenient way to keep me out of my office. But it made sense to me."

"How so?" Kiara poured herself a cup now.

Ame stirred her teacup and distorted her own reflection.

"There's a lot of veterans who call this City home." She explained, "Many folks came back home in caskets, draped in the Blue Triangle flag. Those who came back alive made it back here physically, but many of them are still stuck in those beaches, those trenches, those jungles - those No Man's Lands."

"Oh." Kiara frowned, "I see what you mean."

"If we believe what Irys told us, then there were a lot of Tommy guns in the Nephilim Club that night." Ame glanced at Kiara now, "Those are military weapons. Veterans stashed their service rifles and whatnot when they came back."

When Ame said this, Kiara instinctively avoided her gaze. The Phoenix clammed up and finally admitted, "I took my Garand rifle home. My CO let me have it."

"I took my .45 pistol, so I don't blame you." Ame reassured her, "Though it's probably collecting dust in Chief Enma's office after my last case bombed."

"I guess that makes us partners in crime, huh?" Kiara eased up a little.

"Indeed." Ame nodded, "But disturbed minds and automatic weapons are a recipe for disaster. Folks were flocking to join the Shrimps at the cannery. Who knows how many are signing up for the Deadbeats at Swingwell?" She sank into her chair and looked out the window to the night sky, "The shooting at the Nephilim Club might not be the last."

A moment of tense silence fell upon the kitchen. Kiara clenched her fists and shored up her determination.

"Those folks, just like us, fought for this country and stopped a war." Kiara put her hand over her heart, "The least we can do now is stop a war from breaking out in this very city."

Ame's lips twisted into a small smile.

"I guess you're right, partner. It's good to see an optimist come home from war in one piece." Ame conceded. Then, she gave off a long, tired yawn.

Kiara chuckled.

"Go get changed and rest, senpai. There's some spare clothes in the bedroom closet. I'll clean up here."

Ame nodded and obliged. She disappeared into the bedroom and left Kiara alone in the kitchen. The Phoenix stopped and looked at Ame's half-empty cup of tea and hummed.

"I wonder if the optimist Amelia Watson made it back to the City too."

Kiara sighed.

Then, she threw out the tea.

…

Queenpins

A Moment's Rest

…

To Be Continued