The Red Hand

Chapter 171 – Naomi Corrects Her Friends.

The streets of Omara were buzzing with talk of the unexpected declaration that Mizumi and Shinlua were traitors. The other members of the Council spoke out against them, described their 'crimes', and even suggested an invasion of Earth to recover them and to defeat the human 'puppet masters' who turned they were working with. It seemed that the mood of the citizens were split, with many refusing to believe that a High Spirit like Mizumi would act against her people, while others fell in line with the Council's message.

Inside the Council hall within its deepest layers at the center of two magical circles, hovered two balls of light covered in magical chains. The room was awash with magical energy as Sizix worked tirelessly to finish an incantation. Her body was covered in sweat, and she seemed to be nearing complete and total exhaustion.

"T-This is fucking awful! W-What kind of power does this stupid dragon have!" Sizix complained.

{And they expect me to control this thing? I have no idea if or how long my magic will hold, but those idiots won't listen!} (Sizix)

"Are you nearly done, Sizix?" Daruma asked as he walked up behind her. "It's been how many weeks, and you still haven't gotten everything done with those two yet?"

{Such a useless woman. How hasn't she brought one dragon under her control?} (Daruma)

"I'd like to see you channel this much magic and accurately reconstruct it!" Sizix yelled at him, her eyes showing just how unwelcome his comments were. "You're lucky I can go this fast. So shut up!"

{Fucking asshole! How about helping me instead of standing around like a useless idiot!} (Sizix)

"Now, now, Daruma. Stop bothering her. She's going as fast as she can, and I don't want any mistakes." Onmiyame reprimanded him. "Do you have any idea how much more time will be needed? I can tell you're nearly done but..."

"I have no clue, but probably no more than a week. The database is barely holding together, and it's taking a hell of a lot of effort to keep it stable. If I do it right, we might get one more use out of it before it collapses, but no promises." Sizix struggled to speak. " So, just leave me be! It'll be done when it's done!"

"Fine, let's go Daruma. Leave her to her work. We've got planning to do anyway." Onmiyame tapped the red-haired man on the shoulder with his staff and the two left. As they climbed the stairs, Onmiyame looked at Daruma over his shoulder.

"It won't be long now, so just hold yourself back a bit longer. Once all preparations are complete, you'll finally get your vengeance upon humanity. Just don't go jumping the gun, and stop harassing Sizix." Onmiyame growled at him.

"I know, I know..." Daruma went silent. He'd lost his entire family during the war and came to hate humans.

{Just you wait you disgusting bastards! I'm going to take everything from you, just like you took everything from me!} (Daruma)

_____________________________________________________________________________

The weekend finally arrived, and with it came an outing into downtown Kyoto. The girls stood around the kitchen table and would soon teleport into Kyoto via one of Akagi's family members. Yumi was in Tokyo doing further negotiations with the Japanese Government over the coming transfer of land, and would be there for a few days. She'd been going there more frequently of late, due in part to the depth of the negotiations, and Akagi was sad that she didn't get to spend much time with her, which was causing the Demon some anxiety.

"Alrighty. Are we ready to go?" Kana asked.

"Yup!" Mika nodded.

"I've got everything I need." Naomi said.

"Good to go here." Hishya nodded, and as she did, her collar jingled. "Nobody. Say. Anything." Hishya growled through clenched teeth.

{I shall have my vengeance! Mark my words Akagi, you shall PAY! And that goes double for you KANA!}

"Pffff." The girls barely held in laughter as Hishya grumbled and complained.

"I can't believe you're going to wear that in public." Naomi wasn't holding herself laughter off very well. When she first saw the collar, she nearly fell over from laughing hysterically.

"We should stop at the pet store and get her a chew toy!" Mika grinned. "How about a squeaky bone? Or would you prefer something to snack on?"

"And while we're at it, we can go to the dog park! I think I've got a frisbee around here somewhere. Would you like to play fetch my little doggie?"Kana pat Hishya on the head as she giggled.

{This 'little doggie' is going to fucking BITE you Kana, and not in the ways you usually like!} (Hishya)

"Let me go say bye to Onee-chan, then we can go. I think she's in her room doing... something. I'll be right back." Kana went upstairs and knocked on her sister's door.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"Onee-chan! You in here?" Kana heard rustling from the other side of the door and a muffled noise.

{What is that idiot doing? She better not be doing that dumb cat thing again. No matter how cute and fluffy it is, she really should act more mature. I like having a cool and collected badass older sister, not some pet that likes ear scratches and treats!} (Kana)

Getting no response, Kana decided to open the door anyway, as it was unlocked.

"Alright, where are you?" Kana looked around but saw nothing save for an unmade bed with several lumps moving around under the blankets.

"Are you playing around in the bed?" Kana sighed. "What are you, four? Come on, get out of there..." She walked over to the lumpy sheets which began to wiggle and move until a Catkagi head popped out, then another and another until three separate Catkagi appeared.

"Mew!" (All three Catkagi)

{Great she's like this again... So much for my badass Demon sister...} Kana groaned.

"What are you doing?" Kana asked.

"Mew?" The three Catkagi tilted their heads.

"Really..." Kana sighed. "Whatever. We're leaving here in a bit and will be back later, ok?"

The three Catkagi smiled and nodded as they rubbed against one another. Akagi seemed to be enjoying herself as her three bodies were smiling and their tails flicked around and thumped on the bed.

"You just go enjoy doing whatever it is you're doing." Kana rolled her eyes as she turned and left the room. In the background, she heard the three Akagi start to tackle each other and flop around as she closed the door.

{Just don't think about it, Kana. Just ignore it. Onee-chan is just being her normal weird self. At least she keeps it in the house. I swear, if she makes me take her to a cat park and play with her...} (Kana)

Deciding to put the whole Catkagi thing out of her mind, Kana went downstairs and back to the kitchen.

"Everything alright?" Hishya asked her. "You look irritated."

{Now what did Akagi do?} (Hishya)

"It's fine, just Onee-chan being stupid is all." Kana sighed. "I just wish she'd act her age sometimes."

"Wait, what did she do?" Mika asked.

"She's upstairs in her room split into three of her cat selves flopping around and playing in bed." Kana groaned. "I swear she really is like a child sometimes." She had a small bit of contempt in her voice that the other girls caught.

"Kana! Didn't I scold you already for acting like this?" Naomi's exclamation startled everyone. "She's doing that because it's a coping mechanism for stress! Yumi hasn't been around as much lately, and this is how she deals with anxiety."

"I know, but-" Kana tried to talk, but was shut down.

"No buts!" Naomi shook her head. This would be the second time she caught Kana berating or being disrespectful regarding the whole Catkagi thing. The first time it happened, Naomi was reasonable and just tried to move past it, hoping that Kana would drop the attitude, but this time the way Kana spoke pissed her off. "I thought I sat down and explained this to you before, but I guess it wasn't good enough!” Naomi's voice got slightly louder and Mika's eyes widened as she listened to how angry her friend was. She'd never seen Naomi go off on anyone, especially her friends, so this was a shock.

{Go get em, Naomi. These two dolts deserve every bit of your verbal lashing!} Mika loved Catkagi and was happy to see more of Akagi's goofy side, so she was firmly in the 'floof is justice' camp.

“Listen, I understand that you find her antics to be silly and childish sometimes, but that's just how she is. She never had a childhood, Kana! So its not exactly strange for her to seek that out, even just a bit. So stop being so rude and take a minute to look at thing through her eyes! If you grew up like she did, I don't doubt for a second you'd act like that! Especially when she can basically do anything she wants to now!” Naomi wasn't about to tolerate such disrespectful attitudes toward Akagi, especially after she'd come to understand the Demon's mind a bit more.

“As for this specific instance, I'll explain it again since it seems you didn't get it the first time.” Naomi's frustration kept building. “Her tendency to retreat into her own little world like that is a result of her trauma and the other internal issues she's had to deal with. I won't get super technical, but suffice to say that she doesn't have a lot of methods to deal with her mental problems, and this kind of stuff is one of those ways. DO NOT go judging her because of how she copes! Otherwise, I will get mad at you." Naomi's vigorous defense of Akagi surprised Hishya and Kana. Her sessions with the Demon over these weeks had made her very sympathetic to Akagi, and she'd already chastised both Kana and Hishya for some of their comments in private.

"I... um..." Kana had no idea how to react. "Sorry..."

{I guess I have been thinking badly about the whole cat thing even though I asked her to snuggle with me like that... I just don't like my supposedly older and mature sister acting like a child. Am I really in the wrong here?} (Kana)

"It's fine, Kana. As long as you understand why you shouldn't act like that, then we're good." Naomi smiled. "I don't mean to yell, so sorry for that, but I just... I don't like seeing anyone treat someone who went through what she did like that. It's not right. Especially when she tries so hard to keep it within reason." Akagi mostly kept her silliness within the house, and Naomi figured letting her run wild in her own home was perfectly fine. Especially since if you actually needed a mature reasonable Akagi, she'd instantly return to normal.

{I wouldn't say this to Kana's face, but I also think its in quite poor taste to talk behind Akagi's back when she's literally doing everything for you and asking for nothing in return. I have a feeling saying that would probably cause either an argument, or make Kana fall into depression, so lets keep that thought safely within my mind.} (Naomi)

"Err..." Hishya didn't really know what to say. "I mean, Akagi can be a bit strange. Seeing her act so childlike the other day threw me off, so I can understand why Kana would be put off, Naomi."

{Fundamentally, we've got a twenty one year old woman acting like a kid and doing the sorts of things I'd expect from someone like Alice. I know Akagi is strange, but letting people pet and feed you is a bit much, don't you think?} (Hishya)

"I get it, but Hishya you don't really understand the story behind her." Naomi sighed. She figured now was the time to break through the lizard's thick scaly skull "Listen, strip away your issues with her, along with your fear and such relating to her being the Demon Lord, ok?"

"Alright?" Hishya didn't really see what she was getting at but went along with it.

"What that leaves you with is a young woman who was abused for her entire life, Hishya.” The use of that word caused something to click within Hishya and she gulped. “She had nothing, and was effectively left alone to deal with both the abuse and her mental issues for all these years. Even within FWO she never got the help she needed, and it's only recently that she's started to make progress." Naomi explained.

{I just hope these idiots understand that Demon Lord or not, for seventeen years Akagi was nothing more than a girl who suffered from parental abuse! Suddenly gaining power and becoming the incarnation of darkness doesn't retroactively make that all go away!} (Naomi)

"I mean, we know she's had it rough, but I still think she should grow up a bit. I know we can all act immature at times, and I've accepted that I'm a bit underdeveloped myself, but Akagi really goes beyond the pale with her antics." Hishya was trying to present an alternative viewpoint. She thought that Akagi shouldn't use her past as an excuse to act like this, and that she should push past it. "It's not even just the cat stuff, she can really act infantile at times. I don't really think she should be acting like that at her age."

{She's hyperactive and her general attitude is so immature. I don't know how much of that is Demon Lord stuff, but it can't entirely be out of her control.} (Hishya)

"I'm going to disagree with your assertion that her attitude is inappropriate, but I will not address such statements further because that will open up a massive argument related to social norms." Naomi shook her head, she found no fault in Akagi wanting to act as silly as she pleased since it was just part of her personality. Since the Demon didn't allow that part of her to impede her life or negatively effect others, Naomi believed there was no harm done and that people shouldn't judge her. It probably didn't help that she also found Catkagi cute and enjoyed playing with her, but surely Naomi would never allow that to impact her judgement. "I'll just say this. I've spoken to her at length about her issues and what she's gone through, and what she's told me..." She thought for a moment. "Let's just say it's been bad, Hishya. You suffered from MD, so wouldn't you be angry if someone told you to just get over your issues and dismissed what you've been through?"

"I mean yeah, but isn't this different?" Hishya still didn't understand the comparison, as this was about attitude not ability to move.

{We're talking about a physical disability. Mental stuff can be overcome since its all in your mind.} Hishya's thoughts were a common fallacy, and one that many people succumb to.

"No, it's not!" Naomi was getting increasingly annoyed. Not to mention she could tell what the dragon was thinking. "For how smart you two are, do you really not understand just how damaging her upbringing was?!? Then you combine that with a very severe mental illness, one that has no cure or treatment in her case, I might add."

{I really hate when people are this ignorant, but I guess I need to beat them over the head with this information until it gets though their thick skulls!} (Naomi)

"It's not that we don't understand she has issues, Naomi. I've lived with her my entire life, so I know she's had it bad. I guess I just don't fully understand why she can't find a different way to deal with them other than acting so strange." Kana said. “I mean, I sincerely doubt it could be that hard for her to handle things in a more mature manner.”

{Like, get a stress ball or something. Or well, in Onee-chan's case, she might just torture people, so perhaps the cat is the lesser evil...} Kana was only now hit with the realization that she might not like what happened if Akagi's outlet turned to something less innocent.

"And that's because you fundamentally do not understand mental illness, Kana." Naomi sighed.

{I guess being a certified GENIUS doesn't mean that Kana can't be stupid sometimes...} (Naomi)

"Kana, listen closely. Your. Sister. Is Sick! What she's dealing with is a sickness of the mind, and one that CANNOT be cured. She suffers from ASPD, anxiety, and other issues. All of which were made worse by suffering through her home life." She was trying to hold herself back from flipping out since she knew these two weren't malicious, just ignorant. Though she was tempted to hit the both of them on the head with Momo for being so dumb. "If you haven't noticed, her recent meeting with Shima caused her to go into a minor crisis, which is partly why she's been diving into her coping mechanisms even more than usual. I hate to sound rude, but the two of you are acting very ignorant of how mental illness affects people! When you say she needs to 'grow up' you're saying something incredibly ignorant and rude!"

"We're not trying to-" Hishya tried to talk, but Naomi cut her off.

"Please let me finish." Naomi glared at her, and her voice was cold enough to make Hishya flinch. "When you say such things, you are effectively telling a sick person to do something they are unable to do. Your comment about it 'not being that hard' for her to find a different coping mechanism is tantamount to telling an MD patient to walk." She glanced over at Hishya. "Just like Alice, Akagi cannot 'grow up' as you say. She suffers from a type of arrested development on top of her other issues, which means you are asking the impossible of her. This AD was created because of how your parents treated her, Kana. She never developed mentally past a certain point in some areas and likely never will." She continued, as she could tell the two girls were starting to understand what she was saying."Akagi's mind never properly developed methods to handle stress like yours or mine did, so her mind has very few ways to alleviate it. Turning into a cat and acting like one, or just acting goofy are how her mind lets her relieve stress, not to mention her personality is just naturally silly anyway.” Naomi recalled back to her first meeting with the Demon. Her first encounter showed that she was quite mature and collected when she needed to be, but that as she grew closer to her and Mika she gradully opened up and showed her true personality. Akagi was a generally silly person, and tried not to take anything seriously if she didn't need to. Naomi couldn't say where that part of her personality came from, but she thought it was actually for the best that Akagi be as laid back as she is.

“On top of all that, Akagi suffers from separation anxiety as a result of her bond with Yumi. So understand that when you see her upstairs flopping around on her bed or doing other silly thing, there is a good chance its because she's suffering and that was the only way she could calm her mind down! So please, check your attitude and realize that both of you have been extremely rude to her!" Naomi let out a breath, that had been quite a long rant but she felt it necessary to do this before either girl said something they couldn't take back.

{God help us if Kana were to ever genuinely break Akagi's heart. I could imagine a scenario where Kana gets frustrated and calls her a monster or something similar in the heat of the moment. If that happened... I honestly don't think this world would survive.} (Naomi)

"We... we really were acting bad, weren't we?" Kana felt immensely guilty for her internal thoughts.

{How could I think that way about her?!? I... I'm really no better than my mother, aren't I?} (Kana)

"Ye-yeah. I feel awful now." Hishya couldn't even look Naomi in the eye. "I guess I really don't understand how mental illness works..."

{It seems they finally understand.} (Mika)

"Just don't make the mistake of going too far in the other direction with your treatment." Naomi warned them. "She might be sick, but she's not stupid. If you start treating her like some kind of invalid, I'll get really angry." Her tone caused both girl's hair to stand on end. “Too many people make the mistake of treating a mentally ill person in a very patronizing way, which is no better than being ignorant of their condition.” She was worried the two would start treating Akagi like some kind of sad child, and so wanted to head that off. “What she needs is support and understanding. So just treat her like normal, and when she acts upon her stress, just roll with it. I don't think that's asking for too much.”

Naomi tapped her foot on the tile floor before continuing. “And also, Akagi is a grown adult who performs her required duties and manages her household, if she wants to turn into a catgirl and have people pet her, THEN LET HER!” She didn't want to get into this part of the issue, but since she was already discussing this topic, she figured it was the best time. “She's not harming anyone with her antics so just leave her be. Sometimes she just wants to have fun, and it seems that even when she's not stressed she enjoys such things. So take a page out of Mika's and my playbook and embrace her attitude, trust me it makes things so much better.” With that she finished up her rant, something none of the girls had expected from the usually quiet and reserved Naomi.

{Jesus Naomi, that was probably the single longest tangent I've ever seen you go on. Though it was kinda needed, since these two are pretty pig-headed. I just hope that got through their thick heads. We're talking about a dragon and Kana, and honestly I don't know which one is the denser out of the two of them.} (Mika)