The Red Hand

Chapter 4 – A Schism, A Mask and the Future.

It wasn't much later that Akagi and Kana's parents entered the room. Their stay was brief and it seemed that nothing had changed in the four years Akagi had been gone. The two of them were more worried about Kana and complained that Akagi's condition could have caused Kana's grades to drop. They berated Akagi for her gaming habit causing problems for the family and told her that she had better figure out her life quickly as they wouldn't be helping her now that she was nearly twenty-one.

Naturally, Kana was furious; for the first time in her life, Akagi watched as Kana yelled at her parents. Kana had never been one for arguing and would rarely get mad, let alone scream at someone. Their parents were taken aback by this sudden outburst and at first, blamed Akagi's influence but this only set Kana off even more. It seemed that all the stress and resentment towards her parents had finally come to a head and Kana was finally saying what had been on her mind for nearly a decade.

Once Kana was finished, she "requested" their parents to leave and told them that she would have a friend drive her home. Akagi watched this entire thing with ostensible shock but deep down, she had known this was coming for years. She knew that Kana adored her and that she hated how her parents treated her. For years she had always talked Kana down from confronting them by telling her that she would one day leave and that the issue would solve itself. Of course, getting trapped in FWO for nearly four years had thrown a slight wrench into those plans.

It didn't help that during her time in FWO their parents had been less than supportive. Sure they treated Kana as well as they always had, but it was as if they didn't even acknowledge that their other daughter's life was endangered. Apparently, they even told Kana that that her schoolwork was more important than visiting her hospitalized sister. Naturally, Kana ignored these complaints and there was little that their parents could do to stop her.

Despite everything, Akagi wanted Kana to have a normal relationship with their parents. Whether their love of Kana was because they saw her as a meal ticket is up to speculation. But from the outside, they were supportive and loving to her and Akagi wanted it to stay that way. Of course, there were plenty of times when Akagi wanted to put a wedge between Kana and their parents, but she always held off on doing so out of love for her sister.

After their parents left, the two sisters continued their conversation. Kana asked Akagi to tell her about what happened in FWO over those last four years and Akagi obliged. She kept nothing from Kana telling her how she had spent her time there as an assassin taking contracts from players and NPCs alike. Contrary to Akagi's expectations, Kana took it all in stride becoming interested in the details of Akagi's work.

{I'm not sure whether I should be happy or concerned that Kana has taken such an interest in my line of work. Perhaps she is more fascinated by the absurdity than anything else?} (Akagi)

Eventually, Kana asked about a specific player.

"If I'm not mistaken, before you went into FWO you had been talking with that friend of yours Hishya right? You were supposed to play together, was she in the game?" Kana asked

Akagi thought for a second.

"I wouldn't say Hishya and I are friends. If anything, we could best be called kindred spirits." (Akagi)

Kana looked at her, confused. "Kindred spirits?"

"Both of us had no idea what we wanted to do in life. We spent all our spare time playing games because they gave us something we needed." Akagi remarked.

"I played games to get away from reality, to split myself off from the world around me. This led to me taking actions in games that would be considered far from acceptable in the real world. Essentially, I played the bad guy and I loved every second of it. I understand now that this wasn't just some wanton escapism but rather my real personality which I had been suppressing." Akagi chuckled.

"Hishya, like me, used gaming to let her real self out. In-game, Hishya would always ensure she was the center of attention. Not in an annoying way mind you, she was smart. She would always find the niche would be in the center of any action, would naturally work her way into leadership roles, and generally made herself indisposable. She did this by combining her skill and charisma into a terrifyingly effective combination. This ensured that when it came down to it everyone would be glad she was around." Akagi continued

"And why does she do this you might ask? It's simple, she is vain as hell. She loves watching people fawn over her and praise her. At this point, I'm convinced she gets off to it. She ruthlessly takes down anyone else who might outshine her and ensures that she reigns supreme. She did this in FWO to great effect and I'm sure in the coming weeks, you will hear all kinds of stories about Hishya the hero, and her many feats of bravery. Naturally, every one of those was a deliberate act to increase her reputation. I can't be mad at the girl, hell I might even be inclined to praise her myself since it takes commitment to pull this off." Akagi took a deep breath.

"Listen, Kana, FWO was just as much of a gift to her as much as it was for me. Now that she has all this fame and adoration from there, who knows what she will do next. I wouldn't consider her a bad person but......" Akagi warned.

Kana was taken aback by all this information and made a mental note to add Hishya to the top of her People dangerous to Onee-chan list.

A little while later, two police detectives arrived and began collecting information from Akagi. They wanted to know what had occurred in FWO and if she could help them to pinpoint the person responsible for this event. Of course, Akagi was just as in the dark as they were and couldn't tell them much about the mastermind. However, she was able to confirm that the system voice used in the game matched the voice of the one who informed law enforcement that the players were trapped four years prior.

Of course, Akagi had no choice but to disclose to the detectives what she had been doing during her time in FWO. She informed them that she had been an assassin who had killed many players during these four years. However, to both her and Kana's surprise, she was told that she was off the hook for those deaths. They explained using some very complex legal explanation that she couldn't be held responsible. The only thing she managed to even remotely understand was that part of the reasoning stemmed from an inability to understand how the players had actually died. From what she was told, they never detected any interaction between the headgear and the player's bodies and thus the cause of death couldn't be determined.

Kana seemed to have no trouble following the complex explanation, which Akagi found cute. But then again something like this was nothing out of the ordinary for her sister.

The detectives did say that just because she couldn't be held legally responsible for those deaths, that didn't mean the court of public opinion was safe. They told her that, most likely, this information would be made public and that there was little they could do to protect her from societal backlash. Of course, Akagi didn't really care what other people thought of her. Kana seemed to have accepted her for who she was and that was all that mattered.

The detectives stayed for almost two hours, asking a seemingly never-ending barrage of questions. Akagi had been close to asking them to leave when they declared they were finished and would return if they had any further queries. After that, Akagi sent Kana home, something the girl vehemently opposed. After some convincing and reminding her that she could simply come back tomorrow Kana called her friend from school and got a ride home.

It was now well after dark, Akagi was alone in her room and the hospital was eerily quiet.

{Now then, with today's game of two thousand fucking questions done. It's time to see what the hell is going on with my body. First of all, let's confirm that I can actually use body strengthening and that earlier wasn't a fluke.} (Akagi)

Akagi took a moment to remember the sensation from earlier and cross it with how she understood body strengthening in the game. What resulted was an all too familiar sensation spreading throughout her body and into each and every muscle.

{Well, that confirms that I can use body-strengthening magic in the real world. In fact, I can sense my magic pool as I did in the game only this time it's more of a feeling rather than a status bar.} She brought her hand up and snapped her fingers causing a small amount of fire to appear above her them.

{I can use my fire magic too. How is this even possible, it was just a game, a simulation made of electricity and code, things carrying over IRL shouldn't be possible.}

{The only explanation I have is the reward the system spoke about right at the end. So does that mean 99 other people have come back into the real world as their characters? And if we got to keep our skills, I wonder if.....} Akagi's mouth changed to a wry smile as she reached her hand out in front of her.

Suddenly, a small black distortion appeared causing Akagi to become excited as she reached inside. After a few moments, she withdrew her hand bringing with her a sheathed Wakizashi. After a few moments, she slowly unsheathed the blade and pointed it toward the ceiling.

"Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha Ha ha" Akagi began to laugh in pure delight. "Well my friend, I guess this means we're just getting started."

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