The Red Hand

Chapter 132 – What a Fun Conversation.

*BANG*

*CRASH*

*TUMBLE*

*SMACK*

Akagi grabbed the horned man by his neck and threw him through the wall of the inn, sending him tumbling into the street, and causing passerbys to scream.

"Ack!" Ferrix cried out in pain as he hit the ground, while Akagi stood in the hole in the wall and laughed.

"I'll repair the damage after, so don't worry little tanuki." She looked at the little girl from earlier and chucked a bag of coins to her. The young girl looked inside before zipping it shut and returning a nervous smile, then running into the kitchen area to stay away from this mess. "Now, back to you." Akagi hopped down into the street and started walking towards the disoriented man.

"This is bad..." Shisa panicked as she turned to Kana. "Can you please do something to stop her?!? I know Ferrix is an ass, but she's going to kill him!"

{Dammit! Why did that dumbass have to run his mouth?!? I told him that one day he was going to piss off the wrong person!} (Shisa)

Kana gave a dry laugh at the Oni's request. "That's funny, you think I can stop her." Kana took a sip of her drink. "Once Onee-chan gets like this, even Yumi can't do much about it." She sighed. "I did ask her not to do anything rash, so maybe she'll just play with him a bit."

{I hope.} Kana wasn't exactly confident about Ferrix's chances.

"If you want my advice, don't try to stop her." Kana looked at the Elf woman. "You two can't do anything to stop her, and if things start to escalate, Onee-chan might switch from play to kill..."

{Hopefully not, I'd rather not have to watch her kill someone else if I don't have to.} (Kana)

Neither woman was thrilled with Kana's response, but didn't have the time to discuss things further.

"Well, whatever we do, we need to do quickly!" Mami said. "Shisa, we can't just stand here while she kills him!" The Elf hopped down into the street and put herself between Akagi and Ferrix.

"Dammit!" Shisa followed suit, and the two stood with their hands out to try and calm Akagi down.

"Hold on! Please stop!" Shisa exclaimed as she flailed her arms. "Listen, I'm sorry for what Ferrix said. We'll handle him and make sure he's punished, so there's no reason to take this any further."

"Yeah, I think you've made your point." Mami was a bit nervous as Akagi was sending out her aura to everyone nearby. “Let's not have any more violence please.”

"No reason?" Akagi scoffed. "That bastard insulted my sister to her face as I sat right next to her! He called her a disgusting creature!" She was agitated with the man. "I'd say that's more than enough reason to torment him a bit" Akagi grinned. "So get out of my way, unless you want to join your friend."

{Yeah, fighting is out of the question. Lady Mizumi was clear that not only can we not defeat her, but she could wipe us all out in an instant if we pissed her off.} Shisa was put in a bind. She couldn't just sit and watch Akagi kill Ferrix, but she also couldn't do anything to stop Akagi.

*Cough* *Cough* Ferrix slowly stood up. "You bitch!" He yelled at Akagi. "I'll fucking kill you!"

"Ferrix, knock it off!" Mami yelled at him. "You're not helping matters by running your mouth!"

{Don't you understand the situation you idiot?!?} (Mami)

"Shut the hell up!" Ferrix wiped the blood from his mouth. "I'm not afraid of some stupid Demon." He reached down for his blade.

"Careful little Spirit." Akagi's voice caused him to freeze. "At the moment, I have no intention of killing you. But if you draw that blade, it will be the last mistake you ever make." She was serious. As of now, she was only doing this to prove a point and play with him. After all, Kana did ask her not to go too far. But if someone pointed a blade at her, all bets were off.

{Go ahead, make my day.} (Akagi)

"Ferrix!" Mami looked back at him. "She's serious! Don't do anything to make this worse!"

{If you draw that blade, shits going to get out of hand REALLY fast.} (Shisa)

Seeing how bad things were, he calmed down a bit and took his hand away from his blade.

"Good choice." Akagi laughed. "I think we're done anyway." She glanced up at the roof of a nearby building. "Looks like the fun police have arrived."

"I'd rather you not refer to me in such a way." Standing on top of the building behind the three Spirits was a blue-haired woman wearing a blue dress with a red bow. On her head was a small top hat, and she wore a red hair band that kept her long hair in check. She looked at the three exploration team members and sighed, hopping down to the street below.

"Lady Mizumi!" (Ferrix, Mami, and Shisa)

"Wait! That's Mizumi?!?" Kana yelled from the inn.

"Now, would you three like to explain why you've antagonized the Demon Lord after I explicitly told everyone not to cause her or her sister any trouble." She was angry, something Akagi had never seen before.

"I'm so sorry, Lady Mizumi." Shisa bowed. "We left on the day your notice was circulated, and we didn't recognize her at first. Ferrix ended up acting rudely towards her and things nearly escalated out of control."

Mizumi looked at Akagi and bowed slightly. "Please forgive this foolish man. I am terribly sorry that your time with Kana was interrupted, and it is unacceptable for a guest of mine to be harassed like this. If you'll allow it, I'll see that these three are punished accordingly." Everyone was shocked to see Mizumi, a high-ranking spirit, bow to Akagi.

{Ah, its so nice to see people respect their place in the pecking order.} Akagi giggled internally at this very formal act from Mizumi.

"Fine." Akagi returned her voice to normal. "I just wanted to play a bit, so do with them as you wish." She snapped her fingers and fixed the damage to the inn. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got things to do.” She went back inside to finish her lunch with Kana.

Mizumi stuck her head in her hands and groaned. "You three are coming with me. Now!" She teleported them back with her to the main building where the Council met for a massive scolding.

Once things settled down, and they finished their lunch, Kana and Akagi continued their sightseeing tour of the city. They headed toward the part of the city that dealt more with entertainment rather than shopping. As the two walked around, they checked out the different shops and other interesting places, including one that sold unique musical instruments While they checked out the inside, Akagi commented that the shop didn't sell violins.

“Why do you even care?” Kana asked while inspecting what appeared to be a hurdy-gurdy.

“What?” Akagi was puzzled by her sisters question before coming to a realization. “Oh that's right you don't know.

“Don't know what?” Now it was Kana's turn to be confused.

“I can play the violin, quite well in fact.” Akagi said with great pride.

“Wait what?!?” Kana exclaimed. “Since when could you play a violin?”

“Since I was around ten?” Akagi thought back. “Yeah, I think I picked up the violin around then, and I've practiced ever since, even in FWO.”

“That's gotta be a lie! I've never once seen you even pick up a violin! Let alone play one!” Kana didn't believe her.

“For the longest time I played in VR until I got a real one. I think I picked up my first physical violin on my sixteenth birthday.” Akagi went through her memories.

“And why was I never made aware of this? I think I'd've noticed a violin in your room.” Kana still didn't believe her.

“I hid it away of course, and I never told you, so you couldn't have known.” Akagi sighed.

“Why would you hide it?” Kana asked. “And where?”

“The why should be obvious, Shima or Taichi would have destroyed the fucking thing like they did to lots of other crap I bought over the years.” Akagi growled. She never did forgive them for smashing that Saturn she'd found at a garage sale.

“I want to say you're wrong, but I cant.” Kana gave a wry smile. “I know they smashed or junked other things of yours, and I wouldn't put it past them to destroy a violin, lord knows they hated our recorders from school.”

{I specifically recall mom telling me that if she heard me play that thing in the house one more time, she would shove somewhere Mr. Kimaguchi wouldn't appreciate.} (Kana) 

“Hence why I never played it at home.” Akagi said. “As for where it was, I hid it within the crawlspace in the wall behind some fake drywall, so they'd never find it. It was still there even after FWO, so I assume they never did.” Akagi laughed.

“I guess, but why haven't I heard you play it at the house since you got back?” Kana had never once heard violin music being played at the estate.

“I usually play it when you are asleep or not around. I wasn't hiding it, you just were never around or awake when I played. When we get back, I'll play a bit for you.” Akagi smiled.

“I'd love that!” Kana smiled back.

{I can't wait to see it! I never imagined that she would actually take up playing an instrument. But I guess it makes sense, she is a massive audiophile.} (Kana)

Once they finished up in the music store, the two sisters continued to walk around the entertainment area until eventually they came across what seemed like a theater with an advertisement for upcoming plays, and Kana made note of one that was being put on tomorrow night and recommended going, something Akagi happily agreed to.

After a bit more walking, Kana brought up something she'd wanted to discuss but forgot. "So that was Mizumi earlier, right?" She knew the Spirit could change her appearance but she'd never seen Mizumi do so.

"Yeah, I'd never mistake her energy." Akagi replied.

{This was the first time I'd seen her look like that as well, so it was a bit strange for me too.} (Akagi)

"Why did she look so different?" Kana thought it was strange how she looked like an adult but had a strange outfit on.

"When she's acting in her official capacity, she changes into an adult form She said it was something about honor, dignity and formality." Akagi shrugged. "Her outfit was most likely just something she likes." Akagi didn't really care what Mizumi wore, and the outfit was actually kind of cute, at least in her opinion.

{And then you have me who shows up to official clan meetings in bunny form just because I feel like it.} Akagi's tendency to do random things had caused many headaches for her people. {Its worth it though, not only does everyone have to handle the crazy situation of speaking to me as a rabbit, but Yumi pets me.}

"I guess." Kana didn't really get it. "But anyway, thank you for not going overboard earlier. I know you probably wanted to eat that guy." Kana might be a bit desensitized to Akagi's overboard since most people would consider throwing a man through a building to be a bit much.

The two wandered around a bit more before Kana tried to turn a corner into a smaller street, only to have Akagi grab her shoulder and jerk her back.

"Hey!" Kana exclaimed. "What's wrong?!?"

"Kana." Akagi sighed. "That is not where you should be going."

"Why?" Kana turned around and tilted her head.

"Because that way... that way leads to the entertainment district." Akagi didn't really want to have this discussion with her soon-to-be seventeen-year-old sister.

"Entertainment?" Kana looked down the street and realized exactly what Akagi meant, her face getting bright red.

"Yeah, you shouldn't be going there." Akagi laughed, and the two went to a nearby park bench to sit down since Kana was struggling a bit.

"You alright?" Akagi pat her on the head. "That's not exactly something you should see at your age. Sorry I didn't realize what it was until it was too late." Akagi was quite familiar with such places and instantly picked up on what that street was, though not before Kana turned the corner.

"Yeah, I'm good." Kana's ears were still red. "How did you know anyway?"

"I went to a lot of places during FWO due to the nature of my work. And well, as you can imagine, the Red Light District has a very seedy underbelly..." Akagi had routinely had contracts for assassination either come out of the Red Light District or she'd been asked to kill people in such a place.

"Please don't tell me you went to a...." Kana couldn't finish her sentence. She was too embarrassed.

"A brothel?" Akagi laughed. "I've been to one before, but that was because the owner was a target. I never went to one for its intended use though. However, many players did, as risk-free fun was very popular and the stress of being in a death game loosened morals quite a bit." Kana knew exactly what she meant and turned redder.

"Hishya?" Kana meekly asked, hoping her girlfriend never went.

"Can't say." Akagi shrugged. "Wouldn't shock me if she did though. Lots of stress in that job of hers, what with being the leader of the Assault Team. Besides, those were virtual bodies anyway, so it didn't really matter." Getting Hishya to admit it if she did would be like pulling teeth, even for Kana or Akagi.

Kana sighed. "I could have gone without such knowledge, Onee-chan."

"I mean, I don't exactly want to have this conversation either, Kana." Akagi gave a wry smile. “Also you asked me. So don't act like I'm just oversharing for no reason.”

"I'm actually kind of surprised you never went into such a place." Kana glanced up at her. "Knowing your tastes, I figured you'd be very interested." Kana knew all too well how much Akagi used to like cat-girls in anime.

{I figured Onee-chan would have gone to a cat-café brothel.} (Kana)

"Well, sorry that I like cat girls." Akagi poked Kana in the forehead. "Though, while I never went to a brothel, I did spend a bunch of time with Geisha in the district. That was always a fun time, and I spent more nights than I'd like to admit in such places." Akagi had enjoyed the social and drinking aspect, and having a bunch of beautiful women around her was something she enjoyed back then. “I tried to get Hishya to come with once, but she refused something fierce!”

"What!" Kana stood up really fast. "You did something so disgusting! And you tried dragging Hishya down with you?!?"

{Why was my sister doing such things?!?} (Kana)

"What's so disgusting?" Akagi asked. "We spent the night drinking and talking, that's all. Have you ever seen one of those old Samurai movies? Where the main character goes to a place with a bunch of women in kimonos where they sit around a table and drink and talk?"

"Well yeah, but that's just a euphemism for what they really did at such places!" Kana said.

{We both know the truth!} (Kana)

"No, it's not?" Akagi looked at Kana like she was dumb. "Kana, you do realize that a courtesan does more than just sleep with clients, right? And Geisha's are not prostitutes, you're confusing them with Oiran." This was a common mix-up.

"Does that really matter?!?" Kana was still stuck on this point.

"Yeah?" Akagi was still dumbfounded by Kana. "There is a major difference between a courtesan who provides nightly services and those who didn't. Trust me, plenty of men just wanted women to talk to while they got drunk, and Geisha tend to be quite adept hostesses. Sleeping with them was generally not allowed." Akagi was a much better student of history than Kana, so she knew more about this bit of human culture.

"Do you do that stuff now?!?" Kana wanted to know if Akagi was still as bad today.

{I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU GO TO TOKYO FOR SUCH THINGS!} (Kana)

"No." Akagi shook her head. "I've got Yumi if I want more intimate company, and I really don't to be honest. Plus, any of the members of the family would gladly drink with me and we actually have regular social sessions at the house. On top of that, you idiot, recall that I no longer have a sex drive or libido. So I have no desire or needs that need to be taken care of in that department." Akagi stopped for a moment. "Why am I talking to my sister about this?" She groaned.

"So, to answer your question. No, I do not visit such places anymore. Nor do I engage in more untoward activities with members of the family. Becoming a Demon has dulled that part of my mind almost completely, and I don't miss it." She shrugged.

{Losing that stupid mortal desire was one of the best aspects of becoming an incorporeal being, only second to no longer being made of disgusting flesh and squishy organs, I hated that stupid inbuilt biological drive. It was aggravating and got on my nerves.} (Akagi)

"Why don't I believe you?" Kana sighed. "Something is telling me that Chloe is getting more than just pets from you!" Chloe was quite close to Akagi, and Kana had seen enough ear scratches to get suspicious.

"Well, go and believe whatever you want, but I would never betray Yumi by seeking such acts from anyone else. I might not adhere to human senses of romance, but the idea of cheating is still a thing, Kana." Akagi rolled her eyes. "Also, I do not sleep with my followers. That's a rule I have, and trust me, I know many who'd go for it in a heartbeat." Akagi knew Chloe would be down for it, and it took all of the Demon's willpower during FWO never to give in to the temptation.

{RIP Hishya. Sorry little dragon, but Kana's probably gonna grill you when we get back. I hope for your sake the hero stayed pure.} Akagi laughed in her mind a she imagined the scene of Hishya being scolded by Kana while sitting on her bed.