The Red Hand

Chapter 368 – The One Thing Akagi Can’t Do.

With Summer break freshly behind the girls, Mika had to deal with the horror of returning to school for her Senior year, especially since she hadn't gotten her Summer homework done yet. The blue-haired girl had done little to decide what her future would look like, and Mika honestly had no idea what to do with herself. Being Magical Girl Star Guardian was a start, but she knew that couldn't be the only thing that she did, especially since it didn't pay the bills. Doing what she did best, Mika decided to ignore the problem for as long as possible, though she was fully aware that such a strategy wouldn't work out for long.

{What am I even supposed to do with myself anyway? I'm not smart, and I won't be able to handle University... At least Naomi and Kana have the brains to do something like that, but me? What am I even good at? Besides being cute of course.} (Mika)

As she lay on her bead, listening to music via her AR device, Mika caught the sight of a black shadow zipping through her open window, but before she could react she felt something landed on her stomach with a thud.

*SMACK*

"Ugha!" Mika groaned and wheezed as one Catkagi landed on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. "You... Akagi... Oh, that hurt..." She coughed a few times as she slowly sat up, seeing the cute Cat tilt her head and smile from a happy position on her chest.

"MEW!" Akagi meowed happily as she smiled, her tail happily swishing behind her.

"You really are becoming just like a cat..." Mika took a deep breath to recover as she picked Akagi up and set her off to the side. "Seriously, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days with your stunts."

"It's okay, if you die I'll revive you." Akagi laughed as she was pet.

"What, and make me better?" Mika sighed as she couldn't help but give the floofy cat her well deserved pets. "If it were up to me, I'd rather not become a mindless slave to the Cult of the Kitty."

{Kitty is cute, but free will is better.} Mika)

"What, am I not cute enough to earn your adoration and worship?" Akagi said as she made a cute pawing motion. "Should I not be loved by all? Am I not the world's bestest kitty?"

"I never said any of that, now did I?" Mika chuckled as she turned off her music with the swipe of a hand. "But what are you doing here anyway? I figured you'd been confiscated by Miji until you had to go back."

{Last time I saw you, it was as a Cat being dragged away by that girl and I presume squeezed until you became multiple Catkagi splattered all over the walls.} (Mika)

"Can't I come see my backup Squishy whenever I want?" Akagi crawled a bit closer, indicating that she wanted to be pet more, which Mika happily obliged with additional ear scratches.

"MEW!" Akagi meowed happily as her ears were scratched, and she purred softly as Mika rubbed her chin.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I suppose not, I suppose not." Mika laughed as she pulled Akagi into a loose hug and pet her more. "You're my widdle kitty, and I'll give you huggies whenever you want."

{It would be a crime to deny such a floofy creature pets!} (Mika)

"I'm glad to see that you're much more generous than Hishya or Kana." Akagi snickered. "The Dragon refuses to admit that she wants to fluff me, and Kana waffles back and forth between treating me as a hug pillow and trying to avoid giving in. I think she's just too proud to admit that she enjoys snuggling with me." She noted that Kana tended to avoid being too intimate with the kitty, though she did enjoy squeezing Akagi as she slept and complained many times that she overslept as a result of the Catkagi's warmth and snugglability.

{Giving hugs is good, but BEING hugged is where its at.} (Akagi)

"Pshaw! They need to just accept reality and embrace the kitty!" Mika laughed as she continued to pet Akagi. "But why come here? Surely Miji and Yumi are up for some fun? Unless this is your way of telling me that I've become the number one petter?!?"

"Nope! Sorry to break it to you, but its unlikely that you'll ever break past being number three on that list since Yumi is Queen and Miji is a distant second.” Akagi laughed. “But to answer your other question, Miji is busy playing with Alm and Alice." She said as her chin was lightly scratched. "And Yumi is relaxing in the hot spring and taking it easy for a change, so I'd rather not bother her. She's been working a lot lately and I want her to kick back for a bit and let some stress melt off."

{Why do I have the feeling that Yumi would de-stress faster WITH the kitty than without?} (Mika)

"Such a caring and kind little kitty." Mika smiled as she giggled. "So that brought you to me. Oh well, I suppose that I'll take it."

"Well yes, but actually no." Akagi's reply confused the blue-haired girl. "Don't get me wrong, I did come to play but I also had something that I wanted to discuss." She locked eyes with Mika, which caused the petting to stop.

"Discuss? Discuss what?" Mika felt goosebumps appear all over her body as she looked into Akagi's eyes.

{WHY DO I HAVE A FEELING ITS NOT ABOUT FLOOF?!?} (Mika)

"Well, a little birdy told me that you found something interesting in the Tokugawa vault." Akagi said with a toothy smile. "And apparently, it was so interesting that you decided not to share with the class. Naughty, naughty."

{HOW DOES SHE KNOW?!?} (Mika)

"I know because this is me we're talking about, Mika." Akagi could tell what her friend was thinking based on the look on her face. “And I'm pretty good at finding out people's secrets.”

"No reading minds!" Mika exclaimed as she bonked Akagi lightly on the head. "Bad kitty! No intruding on my private thoughts!"

"I hate to break it to you, but one does not need mindreading to tell what a Mika is thinking." Akagi retorted with a snicker. "For she wears her thoughts on her face."

{Mika couldn't out poker face a man under the effects of truth serum.} (Akagi)

"I do?!?" Mika was surprised by this revelation, touching her own face to see if she was making some kind of expression. "But wait, I mean... What are you talking about? I found nothing interesting at Naomi's house, nope." She decided to switch to denial.

{HAH! YOU' MIGHT BE A DEMON LORD BUT I'M SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN LIVING IN DENIAL FOR HER ENTIRE LIFE! YOU'LL NEVER BREAK ME! NEVER!} (Mika)

"Do you really think that's going to work on me, the Assassin turned Demon Lord?" Akagi deadpanned, once again seeing Mika's true thoughts.

{And I have ways of making you talk, MEW!} (Akagi)

"It was worth a shot, right?" Mika sighed as her façade crumbled.

"I mean, if you really don't want to talk about it that's fine." Akagi said as she rubbed her ears against Mika as a peace offering. "I won't make you do something uncomfortable. I'm not that much of a monster."

"I... I only destroyed that letter... Because I wanted to protect everything..." Mika said as she hugged Akagi, the proverbial dam breaking wide open. "I was worried... I was worried that if you and Naomi found out... That it would..." She paused as she began to tremble

"End our friendship?" Akagi asked as she pushed away and flopped onto the bed with a thud. "Mika, it's going to take quite a lot to do something like that."

{Naomi wouldn't end things like that, her feelings of indebtedness toward me wouldn't allow her to and I'm too attached by this point to let her go without a fight.} (Akagi)

"But... It said..." Mika paused, still hesitating to reveal what she found. "Do you really want to know what I found? Are you sure you won't regret it?" She feared that finding out the truth would send the Demon reeling.

{I don't want to be responsible for the kitty destroying the world...} (Mika)

"Listen, I have few regrets in life, and I can assure you that knowing things will never be one of them." Akagi shook her head. "So tell me what you found, and I promise you that I won't get upset and start burning the world as kitty overlord of death." She had a general idea of what Mika had found but figured it best to hear the truth directly.

"I... Inside the Vault... I found..." Mika paused before explaining everything to Akagi, telling her that Naomi's father had ordered the brainwashing that led to her parents treating her so poorly. As she did, the blue-haired girl started to cry, and Akagi provided her with some tissues to help out. "I'm so sorry... I... I shouldn't have kept this from you... I just... I just didn't want you to..."

{I don't want to lose my friends...} (Mika)

"It's fine." Akagi reverted to her usual form and pulled her into a hug. "It's fine, Mika. Thank you for telling me, really." She squeezed her a bit, knowing how hard it must've been to tell her. "I figured that this was the case, but to finally have it confirmed." She laughed. "Now everything makes sense..."

{It looks like we've both kept secrets from each other, and we've both been shoulders to cry on.} (Akagi)

"Aren't you angry?" Mika asked as she tried to wipe away a few tears. "Naomi's Dad... He's the reason that you..."

"Angry?" Akagi sighed as she let go of Mika and looked her in the eye. "I've been angry for a long time, Mika." She continued. "I was treated like dirt for my entire life, and my parents, the two people who should've loved me and protected me... They instead forced me to live a life of pain and misery... And they took things from me that I can never get back, as powerful as I am." She gave a sad smile, Mika understanding exactly what she meant.

"Is... I know Kana wants you to get along now... So maybe... Does at least knowing that they loved you and refused to kill you... Does that help?" Mika asked, hoping that perhaps this could help Akagi heal her relationship with her parents.

"Help?" Akagi practically scoffed at the question. "If you're asking whether knowing this changes anything, then the answer is no." Her words briefly turned sharp as she bit her lip. "I've told Kana this before, but whether or not they were in their right minds does not matter to me. I was still abused by them, Mika. That they were brainwashed does nothing to erase or excuse what they did to me... Besides... it's far too late anyway."

"Too late?" Mika asked as she wiped away tears and blew her nose. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I am incapable of forgiving them, period." Akagi said as she turned to sit at the side of the bed before staring at the floor. "You see, Demon Lords are emotional beings, or at the very least we're prone to acting on instinct and base feelings. Part of our release process involves strong emotional responses to stimuli and usually the triggering event that breaks our seal is some kind of great pain, anger sadness, or loss." She continued. "In my case, my trigger was the fear of losing the one person in this world who came to truly understand me. However, prior to that, I was somebody consumed with anger and hatred. I said it before, didn't I? That the person I was before FWO was a bitter person who hated the world. Over time those emotions bore their way deep inside me, to the point that they've effectively become part of me." She gave a self-depreciating laugh. "My very being is now hardwired to hate Shima and Taichi for what they did to me, and no matter how hard I might try I'm incapable of ever getting past my contempt for them. Sure, I could put on a happy face and sing kumbaya as we held hands and acted as a happy family, but I can never truly forgive them and move on. My very being has become twisted by my hatred for the two of them to the point that nothing can ever be done to change that."

{And you know what, in the end, I can never truly be rid of those two. Even after they die my hatred for them will remain, burning bright like a star in the darkness that is my shadow. It's etched into my very soul and is a foundational part of my identity as Akagi the Demon Lord. Forgiving them and moving past that hatred would be akin to denying my own existence. It would mean effectively giving up who and what I am, and is thus an impossibility.} (Akagi)