The Red Hand

Chapter 137 – The RRT’s New Member and Training.

"Hiya!" Shimari swung her blade at Hishya, who lazily deflected it.

"Come on, Shimari! I know you can do better than that!" Hishya continued to deflect and parry a rapid series of blows from the dog-girl.

After her defeat by Minazawa, Shimari remained in a coma for several weeks due to the severe trauma of her wounds. Upon regaining consciousness, she was interrogated by the RRT. They wanted information on Libra's members, locations, and why she joined them. Unfortunately, the dog-girl was not important enough to have any real knowledge and couldn't tell them much outside of what was already known.

As to the reason she joined Libra, Shimari told them that she felt like she had no other option but to join the group. Her parents abandoned her after she woke up from FWO, claiming that she wasn't their child, along with a host of other reasons. This mentality was sadly becoming more and more common as the vast majority of returnees found themselves disowned or abandoned by their families. With nowhere left to go, she was left alone and went to live with Ketosu, as he was a friend of hers who had also retained his powers.

The two lived together for a while, stealing food to get by, until they saw a news articles about Libra. Ketosu told Shimari that they should join and strike back at the world and make it pay for treating them like trash. She was initially reluctant to harm people, but Ketosu eventually talked her into it. After joining, her first mission was to link up with Tatsumaki and attack Matsumoto with Ketosu. However, they never got the chance, as Mixu and Minazawa defeated them before they could move forward with their plans.

As she had technically not done anything, besides joining Libra, Shimari was given a choice. Join the RRT or face jail time for aiding a terrorist group. Naturally, she didn't want to go to prison, so she joined the RRT. By the time everything had settled down and she became an official member, Akagi had already defeated Libra and killed Hoshino. So she was now the sixth member of the group. Hishya had backed out of the RRT after Libra's destruction, but offered to train Shimari and the other members if they wished. The dragon had known the girl during FWO and wanted to help her, even if it was just a bit.

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

The two clashed blades for a while as they battled in the training area created for the RRT's members. Minazawa watched from the sidelines as she was also helping to coach the dog-girl. She and Hishya had similar battle strategies, as they were both tanks, but Minazawa was much better at taking hits, while Hishya was more powerful on offense.

*BANG*

*TINK*

Hishya swung her blade, disarming Shimari, and causing the dog-girl's blade to fly off into the corner which hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Not bad." Hishya smiled as she lowered her weapon. "You've gotten better since last time Shimari, but you still need work. Your form is still inefficient and you've got lots of openings to exploit."

"Is this even necessary?" Shimari fell onto the floor, exhausted. "I mean, Libra's been defeated, so I doubt-" Hishya cut her off.

"That kind of mindset is exactly what causes people to die." Her voice got firmer. "Just because things are peaceful now doesn't mean they'll always be so. I might not want to fight, but I train nearly every day."

{Who knows what might happen next. Even if we have Akagi, it isn't a good idea to just allow ourselves to become complacent.} (Hishya)

Earth might not have been some fantasy planet with constant wars and magical threats, but that didn't mean bad things couldn't happen. The RRT was intended to protect the country, be it from terrorists, foreign militaries, or natural disasters, and they needed to be ready to respond at a moment's notice. Shimari was right, they could probably handle whatever came their way, but that was a risk the higher-ups were unwilling to take.

As things returned to normal in Japan, old fears and global geopolitics began to resurface. China continued to saber rattle over Taiwan, and Russia started making additional threats to nations once part of it during the last century. Politics never sleeps, and Libra's actions were little more than a distraction to the world's major powers.

Naturally, Akagi herself was also considered a threat. But by this point, it was more or less understood that she was beyond the capabilities of the RRT or Earth's militaries to handle. Ironically, this meant that the Demon Lord was actually lower on most analysts' threat lists, since she had professed a desire for peaceful coexistence. With the impending creation of her nation, Akagi was seen less as a threat to the world and more as a curiosity, something Hishya was very happy to see.

"With all the magical craziness over the last year, we have no idea what might happen in the future." Hishya's eyes pierced into the dog-girl. "And I don't think I need to explain why relying on Akagi to handle some world-ending threat is a bad idea." Shimari had been brought up to speed on Akagi and was floored by the revelation.

{My biggest worry is that other world, the one Mizumi came from.} Hishya thought to herself. {Mizumi said traversing worlds is nearly impossible. But her people managed to do it, twice. Meaning that the people from the other world doing the same and pursuing them is also possible, albeit improbable.}

Akagi had mentioned this as a possible threat, and she and Hishya had agreed to cooperate on handling whatever might show up if it posed a threat to the world. Akagi had no real desire to play world savior, but if they came to destroy this world, she'd eject them.

This world isn't theirs to destroy. That was the line Akagi used when Hishya asked the Demon about her response to an extra-dimensional invasion by the other world.

So far, nothing had indicated such an invasion, and Mizumi stuck to her guns on it being impossible. But neither Akagi nor Hishya were willing to take that risk.

{If something does attack, or if we need to fight. Then I'll be ready, I know Eris has been training as well, and while we don't get along. I know if things got rough, I could count on her to help.} (Hishya)

"Go get your weapon! Minazawa is up next for training, and we're going to show you proper blocking and damage reduction forms!" Hishya exclaimed as training continued well into the afternoon.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"Aw man, that was awful!" Shimari said as she collapsed on the break-room couch.

"Here." Minazawa handed her some water.

"Thank you!" She perked up and wagged her tail as she downed the drink. "Ah! That feels so much better." The dog-girl smiled.

"You're not half bad with that shield, but you're still too slow, and your movements are sub-optimal." Minazawa critiqued her as she sat down. "Our job as a tank is to soak up as much damage as possible and delay our opponents. We should be slowing our enemies down to allow our other members to dish out the damage, and right now, you're more like a heavy and slow swordsman than a tank." She continued giving her pointers until Mixu arrived from the elevator.

"I got pizza!" The vampire smiled while holding a box.

"With extra sauce?" Minazawa laughed at her own stupid joke.

"Yeah, my supply of blood isn't sufficient, so we've swapped to tomatoes." Mixu flipped her off as she placed the box on the table.

"Where is everyone else?" Shimari asked as she grabbed a slice. She hadn't seen the other members in a bit.

"Excel is doing stuff with the military, and I think Imp is with him." Mixu answered as she started eating. "Superbia is on leave with her folks. I think the anniversary of her sister's death is coming up soon, and she wanted to go to her grave to pay her respects."

"Oh..." Shimari's ears drooped a bit. She'd met Gim and Grim once during her time in Libra and felt bad about everything that happened with them.

"Well, at least she can tell her sister that the two goblin bastards are dead." Mixu smiled. "Hishya saw to that."

"I only wish I did it earlier." Hishya came out of the other room, her hair wet from taking a shower. "Part of me wishes I never talked Superbia out of getting Akagi to kill them all those years ago."

"Let's not go hiring her for anything, please." Minazawa sighed. "I'd rather not walk in and find one of us dead again. That wasn't fun the first time, and it won't be any better the second or third."

"Yeah, I know, but at least Hoshino deserved it." Hishya sat down and too a slice of pizza. She'd told the RRT exactly what caused Akagi to go after Hoshino, and let's just say they were disgusted. They weren't exactly happy about Akagi killing another player, but in this case, they figured letting it slide was for the best. "Besides, god only knows what she'd ask for. I'd joke around and say she'd want your soul, but since she can now eat those..." Hishya sighed.

{I really don't want to find out what that sensation feels like.} (Hishya)

"Yeah, no thanks." Mixu shivered. "Just watching that on stream gave me the willies." She looked at Shimari. "You lucked out little puppy. Good thing you weren't at the base. Otherwise, you'd be either dead or Demon food, and I can't say what's worse."

"Demon food," Hishya answered. "She told me the only thing more painful than being eaten by her is having your soul obliterated. So when she says death is a mercy, she's not lying."

"Fun..." Minazawa sighed.

"I've never met Akagi before, but from what I've seen she seems like quite the awful person." Shimari spoke. "Her attack on Libra's base was... graphic..."

{She literally ATE Zappy!} (Shimari)

"Try having been there in person!" Hishya laughed. "It was ten times worse for me. I thought she'd eat me when it was all said and done."

{Also, being forced to watch that gruesome display up close and personal, was the worst experience of my life.} (Hishya)

"You're dating her sister, so I'd say you're pretty safe." Mixu smirked.

"Yeah sure, safe. I'm so safe in fact that I'm pretty sure that if I ever make Kana upset I might get a visit from Onee-chan." Hishya gave a nervous laugh. "Trust me, dating Kana is its own stressor."

{Knowing Akagi, she'd probably enjoy tormenting me for a bit as punishment for making Kana cry even a small amount.} (Hishya)

"Aww, is the princess too much for the hero?" Minazawa grinned.

"Honestly, Kana might actually be more of a handful than her sister, and that was before she got powers!" Hishya sighed. "She's just as bad as Akagi when it comes to picking on me! She even got her sword spirit to act as a fake daughter, then made fun of me all night during our date!"

{And after I was so kind as to let her sleep on my hoard! I even broke out the best pillows in my collection!} (Hishya)

"A tragedy it is to be loved, oh wo is Hishya." Mixu said sarcastically.

"Don't act as if you don't have like a million people who'd go out with you in a heartbeat!" Hishya fired back. "You know damn well that you're popular."

"Yeah, I wonder how many young boys Mixu has drained." Minazawa laughed.

"Funny..." Mixu rolled her eyes. "As if you're much better. Oh Purple Thorn."

"I never claimed to be." Minazawa shrugged. " And I see no reason not to have a bit of fun, not like I'm seeing anyone."

Shimari's face turned red as she caught on to what the two were talking about. "Y-you...."

{How can these two just so calmly discuss such debauchery?!?} (Shimari)

Mixu looked over at the embarrassed puppy. "Shimari's literally a puppy girl, so it won't be much longer till she catches someone's eyes." She laughed.

"I umm...." Shimari got even redder.

"Akagi's got a couple of cute cat and dog boys. I could introduce you to one of them." Hishya winked, and Shimari put her head on the table in shame. Her ears dropped down, and her tail went limp.

"You guys are just awful..." Shimari groaned, and the three women laughed at her innocence.