The Red Hand

Chapter 124 – The Demon Princess!

"K-Kana just calm down." Naomi slowly got closer. "Don't freak out. If it's related to you know who, then we both know freaking out is probably bad." She was worried Kana might suddenly go out of control if her emotions started running amok.

{We don't need two Demons rampaging uncontrollably!} (Naomi)

"What the hell..." Kana groaned. "What the hell is going on?!?"

The other students backed away, and the gym teacher walked over.

"Um... Kana, maybe you should go to the nurse? I'm not sure..." She had no clue what was going on, but assumed that was the best place for her.

"We'll take her. Come on Mika!" Naomi motioned for Mika to come over. "Grab our stuff from the locker room, quick!” Mika took off, and Naomi walked out of the gym with Kana, while the students keeping their distance. Mika caught up a few moments later with their stuff, and Naomi called Akagi as they walked to the nurse.

*RING* *RING* *RING*

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Akagi answered. "You're calling me during school hours..."

"Unfortunately, we might have an issue." Naomi sighed. "Kana, well, her eye now looks your yours."

"Son of a...I'll be there. Just give me like five minutes to get everything together." Akagi hung up.

"We just get back to school and this happens." Kana sighed. “Why me...”

"At this point, it's kind of par for the course." Mika laughed. "Hey, it looks pretty, if nothing else." She tried to joke to help Kana feel better.

"It's not funny Mika..." Kana bit her lip. "This might mean something... bad... The Demon Princess joke, might not be a joke anymore." The three continued down the hall in silence until they reached the nurse's office. Naturally, she had no idea what was going on, and Kana just told her that waiting for Akagi was for the best. They didn't have to wait long, as a few minutes later, Akagi materialized in the nurse's office. She took one look at Kana and groaned.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Akagi smacked her face with her hand. "Yumi, bring Mizumi as we discussed." In a flash, Yumi and the Spirit appeared.

"What's going on now?" Mizumi said.

Akagi pointed to Kana, and Mizumi's eyes went wide.

"Oh. That explains the urgency, and why you dragged me out of my meeting." (Mizumi)

"Do you know what's going on?" Kana asked nervously. "Am I going to become like Onee-chan?!?"

"Do you remember that discussion about soul imprinting?" Mizumi said. "Where I explained that Akagi's power had caused some changes to your soul due to proximity when you were younger?"

"Yeah, but I thought you said the language was the only thing that was transferred!" Kana exclaimed.

"No, I said that the language was transferred and it was possible you also received some other things." Mizumi reminded her. "What you are seeing here is as a result of that imprinting. On top of the visual change, I can also sense magic power in your body as it seems you've generated magic circuits too."

"What!" (Kana, Mika, and Naomi)

They looked at Akagi, who begrudgingly nodded. "Yeah, I can see them too."

"So what's going to happen?" Kana started panicking. "Am I going to go crazy like Onee-chan?!?" An interesting choice of words.

{Real nice Kana...} (Akagi)

"No!" Mizumi yelled. "You're still human, Kana." She pulled up an image of Kana's soul as she had before. “See, that spot is the same size." She pointed to the small black water droplet on her otherwise white soul. "It's just that since Akagi is so insanely strong, even that small amount is enough to have dramatic effects. From what I can see, you can use magic now, and it's running around wildly inside you at the moment. Most likely this sudden change is because of Akagi awakening as the Demon Lord, as her power increased and had some kind of effect on that imprint."

"That would explain why she was suddenly so fast and strong during gym!" Mika commented.

"Magic power can reinforce the body, and without training, it could do that on its own." Mizumi shrugged.

"But what about my eye!" Kana asked. "Why did it change color?"

"Things like that can happen when magical power is channeled." Mizumi explained. "Magic is quite a complex subject, so let's just say that it can do many things, such as make your eye change colors without you meaning to. As to why it's the same as Akagi's? That's probably because she was the one who imprinted on you, and you inherited a bit of her features."

{Makes it sound like I'm Kana's mom when you say it like that...} Akagi sighed.

"Can I change it back?" Kana was worried about it staying orange.

"Yes, you'll just need to practice getting your magic under control, and eventually you can change it at will. However, most likely, using magic will always result in that changing color. Think of it as a kind of like a signal that you're using magic.”

{I don't want to be the one to tell her that its only a matter of time before the other eye turns too. That's on you Akagi!} (Mizumi)

"Well, thank goodness I just got a great magic teacher for Kana." Akagi said. "But she's fine? She won't have the same internal issues as me? No inner darkness making her go mad. No sudden urge to annihilate mankind?"

{I'd rather not have to contain my sister's rebellious phase.} (Akagi)

{I kinda wanna ask her if she has a desire to eat souls now, but that would probably get me sent to a desert island...} (Mika)

"No, nothing indicates anything other than just imprinting, and I've taken a deep look to make sure." Mizumi was quite certain about this. “I don't think we need to worry about her mind being effected.”

"Good." (Akagi x Kana)

Seeing that her sanity was not in danger, Akagi felt better. "How do you feel, Kana?" Akagi asked her. "Anything strange?"

"Now that you mention it, I can feel a of buzzing throughout my body, and I feel warm and sore." Kana said.

{I guess this explains why I've felt sluggish all day.} (Kana)

"That's the magic causing those issues. When you first awaken to it, your body can be thrown out of wack. You'll be fine once you learn to control it, and that will make the buzzing will go away." Mizumi explained about the side effects before turning to Akagi. "She should return home for rest, and start practicing once her body stabilizes. I don't mind teaching her if you're ok with it."

"I'd rather not skip class," Kana said. "If it's just this, I'll hold out until school is over." She was unwilling to miss school unless needed.

{I've gone to school sick plenty of times, and this is nothing compared to that time I had the flu during my math final.} (Kana)

"That's fine, but if anything happens, I get called immediately." Akagi looked at Mika and Naomi, who nodded. "Also, Naomi, I would like for you to come back with Kana at the end of school, I've got something for you."

"Oh? Ok." Naomi agreed.

{But not me?} (Mika)

"Actually, no, fuck it." Akagi shook her head. "I'm not messing around, and rather than just leaving you here and going home, I'll hang out in your shadow today."

"You don't need to-" Kana's words were cut off by Akagi's glare.

"My sister might be sick. I'm taking no chances." (Akagi)

{Overprotective Onee-chan strikes once again. Not that I'm mad about that though.} (Kana)

"Aww, ain't that nice." Mika laughed. “When you go home is Akagi going to feed you soup while she covers you in a million blankets? Should I get a get well card and some flowers on the way home from school today?”

{Knowing Akagi, she's probably one of those people who'd overreact to a fever and rush Kana to a hospital.} (Naomi)

"Hey, for my practice, can I send Mika to some islands?" Kana grinned.

"I know plenty we can use." Akagi grinned too.

"Oh great, now the Demon Lord and the Princess are cackling together." Naomi sighed. "Have fun getting a tan, Mika."

"S-she wouldn't actually do it? Right?" Mika got a bit nervous.

"Normal Kana? No. Scary Kana? Yes!" Naomi put her hand on Mika's shoulder. "Have fun."

"You're not gonna help me?!?" Mika said.

"You made your bed, now lie in it." Naomi smiled. Her look was practically saying "Goodbye, Mika!"

{Traitor!} (Mika)

After a bit more discussion, Yumi and Mizumi headed back home. The nurse had no clue what just happened and told Kana that she could stay if everything was fine. Once they'd gone into the hallway, Akagi hopped in her sister's shadow and they started on their way a back to the gym.

{It's been a long time since I've been in here, and I don't miss it one bit. I swear if she has Mr. Kushitani today, I'm going to wring that old man's neck!} (Akagi)

"Now, don't go scaring people while your here!" Kana looked down at her shadow judgingly. She didn't trust Akagi to behave.

"Kana, it's not good to speak to your imaginary friends, you're too old for that." Akagi replied, and both Mika and Naomi bust out laughing.

“She got you good with that one Kana!” Mika's face was red from laughter. “I mean it does look like that!” From an outsiders perspective, Kana just spoke to no one.

"Oh, this is gonna be good!" Naomi looking forward to the rest of the day.

Kana put her head against the wall. "And now she's even doing this to me in school!" Kana groaned. "My only reprieve was taken away. Also, what happened to being worried about me?!?"

{Was I born just so you can pick on me?!?} (Kana)

"I am still worried, but not enough to stop being me." Akagi laughed. "I'll be here if needed, otherwise just have a normal day."

"It's not going to be normal with you here." Kana sighed.

"Nope!" (Mika x Naomi)

The three girls returned to the gym and sat in the bleachers as the final basketball game finished.

"I guess that means no sports for me?" Kana turned to Naomi. "If I joined the team, that would be cheating."

{At least this gives me a good excuse to turn them down when they come asking. The going home club is much better than being stuck dealing with sports!} (Kana)

"I mean, I was going to stay on even with magic. Who cares about all that notion of fair play, I wanna win!" Naomi laughed.

"You're just awful." Kana rolled her eyes. They watched the final game and afterward went to change back into their school uniform. Next period was lunch, and Kana found herself quite hungry, which Akagi told her was likely because of the magic. The three girls got their food, Kana got extra, and sat down at a table off to the side. People were avoiding Kana for the time being, mostly out of fear and confusion.

"I feel like you experienced something like this when you went to school here." Kana was referring to Akagi and how people tended to avoid her.

"No, no, no." Akagi disagreed. "You see, unlike you I had 0 friends, so it was even worse."

Mika nearly choked on her food when Akagi said that. "Jesus, that's sad." (Mika)

{Oh my god.} Naomi nearly spit out her drink.

"I mean, granted, I wasn't exactly the kind of person you wanted to spend time with during my time in school. It might surprise you, but back then, I was quite an umm, abrasive person." Akagi had anger and personality issues long before going Demon. “So yeah, friends were not on the table, or sitting at it!” She snuck in another joke.

{Onee-chan...} (Kana)

"I'd believe it." Naomi said while eating her sandwich. "Though I figured you'd be more of the kind of person to eat their lunch on the roof or the bathroom." She joked.

Now it was Kana's turn to nearly choke. "She wasn't that bad! Right?" She looked down at her shadow, unsure how accurate Naomi's comment was.

{Please don't tell me that was true. I know Airi and the others caused you issues but...} (Kana)

"I'm not gonna say it happened every day but... man did I see quite the number of cloud types. Got good at telling them apart too." Akagi reluctantly answered. "Just yeah... I'd sooner end it all than go back to that life."

"Why didn't you ever make any friends?" Mika asked. "I mean, we're your friends even though we've seen you be a bit more extreme than what some gloomy girl would be in school."

{There are a few girls like that who I know, so I can't imagine her personality was that rotten.} (Mika)

"Yeah, and that's because pre-FWO I was a very bitter person. You've only seen me in happy mode." Akagi continued. "The person I was before FWO, would have never gotten along with the two of you, and I would have probably made you really dislike me."

{I was a very hate filled person in the past, and kinda still am, but nowhere near as bad as I once was. Also my social skills were negative 5.} (Akagi)

"Really?" Naomi asked Kana. “Was she really that hard to deal with in the past?”

{I know she has ASPD, but was it really that bad?} (Naomi)

"Onee-chan was quite... yeah..." Kana couldn't deny it. "Her old personality was pretty bad. Trust me, there were some days that she could even be too much for me to handle, and that's saying something."