The Red Hand

Chapter 123 – Basketball!

After returning back to the estate, Akagi decided to hang back and enjoy herself after the night's events. Himari and Momo would need to wait until later that day to speak with the girls and were taken to find rooms for them in the meantime. This left Akagi and Yumi alone in the living room watching news feeds about the massive fire west of Kyoto, and some analyst speculation on what occurred. She'd gotten a message from Mixu which consisted of a great number of frown emojis. To which Akagi replied by saying she had no idea what the vampire was mad about.

"This has got to be the work of another one of those returnees, Kirika." A male reporter was speaking to local reporter Kirika about last night's fire. "The police haven't come out with a cause so far, but apparently they've found ten bodies within the property. The Libra organization was defeated, but that has only left us with more questions, and problems are still unresolved."

"I'd be wary about jumping to conclusions. Mr. Michi." Kirika responded. "Right now, the entire country is jumpy. Wild speculation about the involvement of returnees will only serve to cause more fear." She tried to get him to walk back from the more inflammatory statements.

"But ignoring the obvious is just as bad." Michi shook his head. "You've sat down with that Hishya girl, so you must understand. Those people are dangerous, Kirika. They've caused countless deaths in these few months they've been back. Whether it was Libra or that Akagi woman is irrelevant. Over one hundred thousand innocent people are dead as a result of returnee actions since last June. And that's not counting the numerous reports of crimes committed by them in the same time period. I'd say it's high time we start considering taking a much harsher policy toward them."

"Don't forget that it was the returnee members of the RRT who helped bring down Libra and save many lives with their heroism. I understand the fear and concern that so many people are sharing, as these are people with extraordinary powers, but it would be wrong to lump innocent and law abiding people in with criminals." Kirika fought back.

"Lest you forget, the government was responsible for the first clash with a returnee by kidnapping her sister. And that same returnee was the one who ultimately defeated Libra." Kirika continued. "Besides, what do you want to do about them? We've already seen what happens when they clash. The damage they can do is immense, and we're all too aware that the military is unable to handle them." She was basically asking what are we suppose to do.

"There were successful military strikes against the members of Libra. I believe with proper effort, things will be taken care of by the JSDF and Americans." Michi replied.

"So you want to sic the JSDF on Japanese citizens?" Kirika asked. "You must know how much of a slippery slope that is."

"These are an exception, Kirika, and calling them Japanese is a bit of a stretch at this point." Michi's answer annoyed her, and the two went back and forth until the program ended.

"What an idiot," Akagi sighed as she closed that stream. "If I hadn't gotten involved, Libra would have eventually won. Even with the U.S. military backing the RRT and the JSDF, Herlex would have been a big problem."

{He could have glassed Tokyo with his Angel's Lance if he so chose.} (Akagi)

"Why do people continuously underestimate just how strong you and the others are?" Yumi asked. "It seems silly to me that they can just watch people do all these crazy things and believe that they'd be defeated so easily with a straight face."

"This world never had people like us before, so that probably plays into it." Akagi thought for a moment. "Also, our world's fiction tends to always make humanity win against all odds no matter what, so that might also cause people to be biased."

{Most movies with humans fighting some bigger evil tend to conclude with humanity pulling a win out of its ass.} (Akagi)

"So they just believe that things will work out in the end?!?" Yumi was a bit surprised. "That's ridiculous!"

{Are the people of this world really so foolish?} (Yumi)

Akagi could only shrug. "Trust me, I know. And it's that stupidity that's caused so much conflict between people throughout this world's history."

{Lord knows humanity in this world has shed far more blood than on Altarus, and for even stupider reasons too.} (Akagi)

"I just hope that means people won't keep trying to attack you." Yumi sighed. “I'd much prefer spending our time together peacefully.” She leaned on Akagi's shoulder.

"I thought taking Herlex's full blast head-on and not being harmed would get the message across, but well..." Akagi rolled her eyes. "Humans are really stubborn and dumb at times."

"Even me?" Yumi asked playfully.

"You and I both know you're not technically human anymore." Akagi poked her in the cheek. "But, yes even you."

"So mean!" Yumi pouted. "No pets for you today!" She turned up her chin.

"Nooooo, anything but that!" Akagi clung to her, and fake cried. "You can't do that to me..."

Yumi hugged Akagi back and giggled. "Fine, the ban on pets has been revoked." She pat Akagi on the head. "I can't stay mad at you."

"No, you can't." Akagi smiled. "You ready for bed? It's been a long night, and unlike me, you still require sleep."

"Sounds good. We can nap for a few hours, at least until Kana is finished school." Yumi yawned, and the two headed into the bedroom to sleep until Kana was done with school. Akagi always enjoyed snuggling with Yumi and this situation was basically bliss for the Demon.

_____________________________________________________________________________

<Kana POV>

Kana had a fun night with Hishya at the dragon girl's home. The two hung out as a couple for the first time and even went on a quasi-date together. Hishya's parents were super nice, accepted Kana instantly and were more than happy to let her stay the night. The two girls played some games and watched a few movies before heading to sleep, using Hishya's secret pillow hoard as a bed. This time they actually did sleep, since they were a bit too embarrassed to do a repeat of the other night. Especially in Hishya's house since that would be a whole nother level of awkward.

In the morning, one of Akagi's followers arrived and picked her up before transporting her and Naomi to school. Kana felt a bit feverish that morning, but her temperature was normal, so she went to school anyway figuring that it was just some mental fatigue. The day went normally, though there was tons of talk about the massive fire at her family's compound , and a few students even expressed sympathy for her loss. Kana messaged her mother about it that morning, but was only told that she and her father were alright. She and Naomi knew it was her sister who caused the massive blaze, but Kana decided to stay silent, not even telling Mika when she asked about it.

Today was gym day, and the girls were going to play basketball on the gym court. Before they got started Kana, Mika, and Naomi threw a few practice shots at one of the baskets for some fun until the rest of the students were ready.

*SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH*

Kana picked up one of the balls and easily made successive shots with seemingly no effort. It caught everyone off guard, especially Naomi.

"Since when can you do that?" Naomi asked as she made a basket of her own. She was a member of the basketball team and, while good, wasn't able make baskets that constantly. Kana never had an interest in sports, and was generally quite lax on exercise, so seeing her do this was a bit of a surprise.

"Maybe it's from my training? I've been learning martial arts and body movement from the ninja, so perhaps that bled over into other things?" Kana shrugged.

"I don't think self-defense training makes you suddenly good at basketball..." Naomi sighed.

"Kana is apparently good at everything." Mika threw a ball that completely missed the rim, nearly hitting another student in the head.

{Oops...} (Mika)

"I'm not good at everything." Kana blew a raspberry. "I've never really played basketball, so maybe I was just always good at it? I know I suck at soccer and baseball."

{Onee-chan is really bad a sports too. Or well, she was. I'd assume with Demon Lord cheats she's probably unbeatable now.} Kana giggled in her head. Akagi was the definition of a couch potato in the past, and the only reason she never got fat was because she only ate the bare minimum.

"If you're good, you should join the team! We can always use another good player, and I think you'd fit in well." Naomi smiled. "We can finally win the league championship with the Demon Princess on our team!" As she said this, Kana chucked a basketball at her head.

"Eeep! That was really fast, Kana! You could have actually hurt me!" Naomi exclaimed as she dodged out of the way.

"I didn't throw it that hard?" Kana tilted her head in confusion. She thought she put only a bit of oomph into that throw, but maybe she overdid it a bit. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Just be careful. I'd rather not get sent to the nurse with a black eye." Naomi picked up the ball and threw it right into the basket.

*WHISTLE*

The gym teacher sounded her whistle and called the girls over.

"Alright, we're going to split into teams and play to best of three, first to ten. Team A, you're over here. Team B, get over there." She read off the names and pointed them in different directions. Mika and Kana would be against Naomi, who was on the other team.

*WHISTLE*

Once everyone was in position, the teacher started the game. Kana was placed at the center and easily jumped and grabbed the ball, surprising everyone. Her training with the ninja meant she saw the movements of the other students as slow and lethargic. With relative ease, she took the ball down the court running right through the other students, and shot it into the basket for one point.

Naomi was floored at this sudden and unexpected display of athleticism from her friend.

{Since when could she move like that?!?} She'd never seen Kana be this athletic in the nearly three years she knew the girl, and watching Kana just glide through the other students was astonishing. {Was she always just good at sports?}

The other students on her team cheered for Kana as they reset. Kana was again placed right at the center and easily got the ball passing it around between her and the other players. From there things quickly got out of hand, with Kana's team hitting nine points in record time.

{Something's not right...} Naomi thought to herself. {What the hell is going on? Kana is not this good, and there's no way she could have improved this fast. Self-defense training with ninja or not, this is far too much of a change!} Her first thought went to Akagi doing something to her sister, but she quickly dismissed that. Akagi had specifically told them that she would never mess with Kana to transform her, so that idea was out. Naomi was also covered in the same protective aura as Kana, so that was also not causing it.

{Let's test things out a bit. We'll see if she's doing anything suspicious by pitting her against me!} Naomi decided to go all out against Kana to see just how much she could handle.

This time, she met Kana at the jump-off instead of another student.

"Let's see just how much you've improved." Naomi smirked at her friend.

"Bring it!" Kana replied.

*WHISTLE*

Kana and Naomi jumped, but to everyone's surprise, Kana still got the ball! Naomi was the center of the basketball team and was the primary player to get jump balls. So seeing someone jump higher than her was unbelievable.

{She jumped higher than me!} Naomi was surprised as well and didn't expect this. She was a bit taller than Kana and had her technique down perfectly, so she shouldn't have missed the ball.

Not noticing all the surprise, Kana grabbed the ball and spun around quickly before running down the court and passing it between several of her teammates before it finally came back to her. Kana saw an opening, and ran directly at the basket leaping high in the air and dunking the ball for the final point.

{WHAT THE HELL, KANA!} Naomi was fuming in her head. She had no clue what was going on, but understood that this was not normal.

{She actually made it?!?} Mika was just as confused.

"Oh man, I didn't think I'd actually make the dunk!" Kana squealed in delight. She turned around to look at Naomi. "Looks like I've got the better jump! Ha!" She put out her arm and made a peace sign, but the look on Naomi's face was neither anger nor joy.

"Huh?" Kana asked. "What's wrong?" She looked around. Everyone, even the teacher, was frozen. "Is there something on my face?" She rubbed her her cheek.

"Uhhh. K-Kana." Naomi walked up to her. "Don't freak out, but uhh." She took a picture of Kana and forwarded it to her.

"What? Did I mess up my-" Kana opened up the picture and looked, her eyes going wide. "Wh-why is my eye?!?" Her right eye had changed. It was orange like Akagi's and had the same slit iris. The sclera was still white, but that was little consolation. "N-Naomi." Kana stared at her friends, both of whom were lost for words.