The Red Hand

Chapter 44 – An Unexpected Reunion and the Festival’s Finale.

After leaving her sister's classroom behind, Akagi and Yumi went to the school's rooftop. It was the only quiet area and the only place Akagi could smoke without annoying others. Yumi could tell that her master was annoyed and tried to calm her down.

"It's not like I don't understand why that boy is upset." She said while lighting Akagi's Kiseru. "Losing family is always tough. Even if he knows you're right, it won't matter, he'll still resent you."

Akagi let out a puff of smoke. "I know, but..... I don't know Yumi. Ever since I got back from FWO, I find myself caring less and less about those outside of my immediate surroundings. It's like, in my mind, as long as you guys and Kana are ok. Nothing else matters." Akagi had a conflicted look on her face. At this point, she was even questioning how much of her humanity remained.

"And what's wrong with that?" Yumi responded. "It's natural to focus on those you care about, and you still hold fast to your own rules right? So I don't really see the problem." Yumi tried to reassure Akagi that her actions weren't wrong.

"Is... is it ok that I don't really see myself as human anymore, Yumi?" Akagi turned to look at her friend. "I'm honestly not even sure what I am anymore. I don't really feel any kind of kinship with them." Akagi looked at the sky.

"How you view yourself is irrelevant to me or any of us. My Lord is My Lord whether you're human, demon, or something else entirely." Yumi put her hand on Akagi's shoulder. "Do you think these feelings are your own? Or are they being caused by something else?" Yumi was concerned that her merge with the Shadow Demon may have affected her more than she thought.

Akagi shook her head as she took another hit of the Kiseru. "No, I can tell that these are my own thoughts and feelings, Yumi. It's just that... I ... I don't know, I feel strange on the inside, almost like I'm lying to myself. I'm sorry, I really can't explain it; maybe later I'll understand it." Akagi let out a puff. She wasn't sure if the lie was holding on to her humanity or rejecting it, and this uncertainty made her uncomfortable.

"Perhaps Mizumi might understand? She is a spirit after all, so she has to know more about demons than any of us." Yumi brought up the idea of seeking Mizumi's assistance.

"Perhaps," Akagi considered Yumi's suggestion.

The two remained on top of the school for around thirty minutes, before the stairwell door opened and a young woman, around Akagi's age walked through. She was wearing a black jacket with blue jeans. Her long blonde hair and red eyes showed she was genetically modified, and the stern look on her face left Akagi with no doubt in her mind as to who she was.

"Airi," Akagi called out. "It's been a while."

"How did I know you would be up here." the girl sighed as she walked over. Yumi moved in between the two, but Akagi stopped her.

"It's alright, Yumi" Akagi chuckled. "Airi is harmless; you don't need to get all defensive." The woman standing before them, was Airi Tomogawa, Akagi's first cousin and a former classmate of hers.

"Yeah, I don't think there's much I can do against someone who can fight the military head-on." Airi shrugged and took a good look at Akagi. "You really don't look anything like Rishia do you?" Airi inspected Akagi's appearance. As a close family, they saw each other frequently at family events and gatherings and even shared the same class in high school, so she knew her well.

"Nope, and I hope you'll understand if I ask you not to call me that anymore. I cast aside that name permanently." Yumi leaned over to pack in more tobacco into Akagi's pipe. Kana was one thing, but anyone else calling her that name was unpleasant.

"Your name is Akagi now right? I think it suits you quite well." Airi gave a smile. "You look so much better than you did when I last saw you; in school I mean, not in the hospital." she chuckled.

"I found what I was looking for." Akagi let out a puff. "That and I finally figured out just what mattered in my life." Akagi let out a smile as she looked at Yumi.

"Yeah, I heard you took Kana after you were kicked out of the family." She sat down next to Akagi. "I know this probably doesn't mean much coming from me after all this time, but I'm sorry." She bowed her head. "I let myself get lost in family politics and treated you like crap." Airi was instructed to treat Akagi as if she didn't exist in school and would regularly take out her frustrations on her. Her own parents put a lot of pressure on her, so Akagi was a convenient target for venting. She said and did a lot of terrible things to the her during their time in high school, and it seemed she regretted it.

"Really? Are you apologizing so that I'll take you off my naughty list?" Akagi laughed. "Are you really sorry for what you did, or are you just afraid that I'll come back for revenge?" Akagi could tell that the girl felt sorry but didn't know why she had come to apologize after all these years. Especially after Akagi was exiled from the family.

Airi took a moment to think before answering. "I won't deny that ever since I saw you on T.V. I've been terrified of you coming after me for revenge. But that's not the only reason." She continued. "Our-" she stopped herself. "My family is complete garbage; you've seen yourself how they act. Growing up, I always thought their behavior was normal, but now that I'm living on my own, I've come to understand just how twisted and fucked up they were."

Airi let out a sigh. "They forced us to compete with one another and cast aside anyone who wasn't up to par with their standards. It's quite ironic as most of them are quite stupid themselves." Akagi always found it funny that Shima was so focused on academic ability when she was actually quite average. It was only later that she found out that Shima had been forced to marry Taichi as a consequence of her poor ability. She always found her mother's fate quite amusing.

"Well, I guess I'll congratulate you on realizing the obvious." Akagi gave a mocking clap. "You don't need to worry about me. Honestly, I don't have the energy to go and hunt you all down. Plus if I do that, Kana will be sad." If Akagi wanted to, she could wipe out the rest of the family, but doing that would likely break her relationship with Kana.

"I went and saw her just a bit ago, she was in quite a bad mood." Airi look at Akagi. "Something about her classmate being an idiot or something."

"I killed his brother." Akagi declared. "And he doesn't seem to like that."

The frank answer caused Airi's eyes to widen briefly. "Yeah, that would definitely be a reason to hate you. I assume he was a soldier at that base?" She asked.

"Yeah, and I told him that if those idiots didn't take Kana, then his brother would still be alive." Akagi shook her head. "I told the Japanese and American governments the same thing, fuck with my family, and don't be surprised when I stop holding back." Her meeting with that C.I.A. operative still annoyed her. She hoped that the agent she met would go back to D.C. and relay just how poor of a life choice messing with her was.

{A-American government? Just what has she been up to?"} Airi had many questions. {It's good to see she's just as close to Kana as ever, but I'm worried that connection will cause bigger problems in the future.}

"So, did you just come up here to apologize and shoot the breeze?" Akagi put away her pipe. "Or did you have something else you wanted to discuss?"

"I did have one other thing. A warning." She looked Akagi in the eyes. "I'm pretty sure the family isn't going to take your actions lying down, and Shima and Taichi have been summoned by grandfather." The Tomogawa family wasn't exactly powerful, but they always seemed to have the perfect connection whenever the need arose.

"I see," Akagi stood up. "Thanks for the warning, but if you're telling me this, I take it that means you're separating from them?" Akagi asked her.

"As much as I can." Airi shook her head. "I don't want to be associated with those people anymore, not after I've seen just how bad they are."

"If your parents try anything against me or Kana, understand that I will not hesitate to kill them or anyone else involved." Akagi hoped Kana would understand if it came down to it. She wanted to avoid killing members of the Tomogawa family, but she wouldn't allow her relationship with Kana get in the way of stopping them if it came to it.

"If they do something, then their deaths are their own fault. I tried to talk them out of any drastic actions, but they ignored me as always." Airi sighed.

The two spent around thirty minutes talking on the roof. Airi shared that she was planning on go to law school once she finished college. Once she'd left the confines of her parent's house, she'd begun to understand just how toxic of an environment she'd been raised in. Her own attitude had gotten her in trouble, and after some time, she had an epiphany. She understood just how terrible her family was and looked back on her treatment of Akagi, who was hospitalized at the time, with regret. She wanted to visit her at least once, but could never gather the nerve to do so. When she heard Akagi had woken up after nearly four years, she was elated and figured that she would have a chance to correct her past mistakes. But when she saw Akagi at the press conference, she became terrified, fearing that her past actions would lead to Akagi taking her life.

As they talked on the rooftop, an announcement played over the PA system; it informed the guests that the day was winding down and that the special final event would be held shortly in the athletics stadium. Everyone knew that this event was scheduled, but no one seemed to know what it was, except for Akagi.

"Well, we better get going. If I'm late, Hishya's gonna be pissed; she's been looking forward to this." Akagi, Yumi, and Airi headed downstairs and walked out toward the athletics field. Standing between the bleachers and the rubber running track was Hishya wearing her full armor with Sun Strike at her side.

"Akagi!" Hishya yelled across the field. "I hope you've prepared yourself to lose." her mouth contorted into a mischievous smile, and her eyes lit up with excitement.

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