The Red Hand

Chapter 174 – Movie Night.

The next day Akagi was, once again, in cat mode as she flopped around on her bed. Yumi had been back overnight, which the Demon was happy about, but she quickly left the next morning needing to finish up work in Tokyo. Negotiations were almost concluded, and Yumi estimated things would be finished within the coming week. Though, this meant that Yumi would be away for more time, something that had been driving Akagi mad as she didn't like how limited her time with the Priestess was becoming.

"MEW!" Akagi meowed as she scratched and tumbled through her covers. This had become her norm these last few days, and she even created other bodies to play with in order to keep her mind from spiraling into loneliness. After a bit of messing about, and some shenanigans with the pillows, she abruptly stopped.

"Yumi..." Akagi cried out for the Priestess, and it was clear from her tone that her heart was on the verge of breaking. "Come back soon..." She curled into a ball under the sheets and started to shake a bit.

{Why do I have to be like this? She won't even be gone long, and I just saw her a bit earlier today... AND I can go see her right now if I wanted, but it still bothers me...} Akagi was on the verge of tears from loneliness when someone knocked at the door.

"We're coming in!" Mika burst into the room, followed closely by Kana. "Where are you at?"

"She's under the covers again..." Kana sighed as she walked over and pulled them off the bed. "Look at you. You're like a sad child." She looked down at the kitty.

"Mew..." Akagi gave a sad meow as the glanced up at her sister.

"Now, now." Mika flopped onto the bed next to Akagi. "Stop being all pouty. Kitties shouldn't be sad, it goes against the natural order."

"But..." Akagi didn't want to say anything.

{I'm sad. I don't like this feeling in my chest. I feel... alone...} (Akagi)

"Come here." Mika grabbed Akagi and picked her up, before pulling her into a hug. The Demon had shrunk down to around one-quarter her normal size, so it was easy to move her. "Kana and Naomi told me how sad you've been over these last few days with Yumi only being here for a few hours each day. So I'm here to fix it!" She squeezed the small Akagi and scratched her ears.

"I'm fine. You can leave me alone..." Akagi said while being pet.

{You shouldn't worry about me...} (Akagi)

"You are very clearly not fine." Kana bopped her sister on the head. "You haven't been yourself since everything with Mom, and Yumi being gone for most of the day has only made you start spiraling into depression."

{It reminds me of how you were in the past.} (Kana)

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. Yumi has important work to do, and I don't wanna bother her with my selfishness..." Akagi said quietly.

"You and I both know that she would be back here in a heartbeat if you asked. On top of that, she'd probably be angry that you lied to her about being ok." Kana knew that her sister had been deceiving Yumi by telling the Priestess that everything was fine when it wasn't.

"But it's pathetic!" Akagi yelled. "I can't even go this long without her around! It's stupid..."

"You've been fine away from her before, but what's different this time?" Mika asked.

"I don't know. I guess when I've been away from her before, I always had something else going on that kept me focused or distracted. When we went to Omara, that was just a few days long, and I was never bothered by things. But Yumi's been mostly away for over a week..." Akagi's tail went limp. “And I miss her...”

"I should call her right now and rat you out." Kana smirked.

"DON'T!" Akagi glared at her. "I'll stick you in my shadow and tickle you if you pull that! I don't want Yumi to get worried about me, and if I can't even handle something like this..." She paused. "If I can't deal with this, then one day Yumi might leave me because I'm pathetic."

{She might tire of my clinginess..} (Akagi)

"That's not true." Mika said as she poked the kitty's cheek." Yumi would never leave you, and Kana's right. If she called her right now, Yumi'd be back in an instant, and be angry at you for holding this in to boot."

"Exactly." Kana nodded. "Yumi would be more than happy to drop everything and be with you. Trust me, she doesn't view you as pathetic."

{I wanted to talk to Onee-chan about the cult thing, but let's put that on hold till she gets a bit better.} (Kana)

"Mew..." Akagi gave another sad meow.

"If you're that against it, then why don't you come to my house for a few days until she gets back?" Mika decided to invite her over for some TLC. "I wanted to have you sleep over, and this is the perfect chance."

Akagi's tail started wagging, and her ears perked up. "R-Really?!? Won't I be a bother?" The Demon was excited at the prospect of a sleepover with her friend, as she'd never done that before.

"Not at all." Mika smiled. "You can stay in kitty mode, and I'll spoil you rotten all weekend!" She hugged Akagi again.

{I shall have the kitty all to myself! Muahahahhaha!} (Mika)

"Won't your parents be weirded-" Akagi stopped herself, realizing that this was Mika's parents she was talking about. "Never mind."

"Yeah, Catkagi isn't something they'd care about." Kana chuckled. "But yeah, this might be good for you. It's better than you staying here in your room alone with your thoughts. We've seen what happens if you do that."

"T-Then. I'll go!" Akagi smiled.

"Yippie!" Mika squeezed Akagi harder. "KITTY!"

"Mika, she's gonna explode if you keep that up." Just as Kana said that.

*BANG*

Akagi exploded into tiny shadow pieces that showered across the room.

"KITTY, NO!" Mika cried out in horror.

"Pfff!" Kana started laughing as hard as she could. "You actually exploded?"

Akagi formed back up next to Mika and started cackling. "I've been saving that joke for a while."

"Bad kitty!" Mika bonked her on the nose. "No more exploding!"

"Mew!" Akagi's meow said that she'd do it again.

{That was so perfectly timed. Onee-chan can be so stupidly funny at times.} (Kana)

After a bit of discussion, and a message to Yumi that Akagi would be at Mika's until she returned, the two girls headed off to engage in the slumber party/Akagi stress relief resort. Mika was looking forward to these few days, and the Demon was anticipating lots of attention.

After teleporting in front of Mika's home, the two entered, though Akagi was being carried in Mika's arms while wrapped in a small blanket. Mika was going to have as much fun as possible with Akagi, and she was planning on spoiling the kitty rotten.

"I'm back!" Mika said as she entered her home.

"There you are." Mika's Mom came around the corner. "And I see you've brought Akagi, oh just look at you!" She pet Akagi's little ears. "You're so cute! Mika said you'd come like this, but you're even more precious than I imagined.”

"Heh." Akagi's face got slightly red. "Thanks for letting me stay."

"What are you saying?" She shook her head. "Mika's friends are always welcome to stay over, and Mika said this was to help you feel better. So don't worry about it."

"Yeah, what she said." Mika hugged her a bit more. "Just please don't explode again.... That would probably freak them out." An exploding friend would probably be enough to freak Mika's Mom out.

"Hmmmm." Akagi thought for a moment. "That would be fun to see." She laughed, but was struck on the head by Mika's fist.

"No exploding!" Mika glared at her. "Bad kitty!"

{I'll explode when I damn well please! Maybe I should do it right now, huh!} (Akagi)

"Dinner will be in a few hours, and I've got it on slow cook right now. So go have some fun." Mika's Mom smiled, and the two girls went into Mika's room to relax. It was a surprisingly normal room, with a small bed and desk. The walls were, shockingly, not covered in magical girl posters and instead had a few family photos and pictures of Mika from Middle and Highschool.

"Wow." Akagi hopped out of Mika's arms and onto the bed with her blanket. "Your room is much more organized than your head. I expected this place to be about as chaotic as my own mind." She giggled.

"Ha. Ha." Mika gave a dry laugh. "I try to keep at least this space organized. See, my desk is nice and clean."

"I don't know." Akagi inspected the desk closely. "That layer of dust is pretty thick, Mika. When's the last time you used it?" She grinned at the blue-haired girl.

"Oh, joy... is this going to be the next few days of my life?" Mika sighed. "How does Kana handle you?"

{Do I need to break out the spray bottle?} (Mika)

"Hey, you brought me, so I am now your problem." Akagi giggled.

"Oh well, I guess that means that I'll just have to play with you enough to make it worth it!" Mika pounced on her and started to pet Akagi. "The fluff is mine!"

"Mew!" Akagi cried out in joy from being rubbed.

"So what do you want to do? Watch a movie?" Mika asked while scratching her ears.

"Hmmm." Akagi thought. "How are you with horror movies?"

"I love them!" Mika's eyes glinted. "Slashers are amazing!"

Akagi's head turned and she gazed into Mika's eyes. "Favorite slasher film?"

"The very first one, of course. Halloween from 1979!" Mika grinned. She'd always loved that one, and blood and gore were here guilty pleasure, especially the cheesy horror movies that went way overboard.

"You are truly a woman of culture!" Akagi was getting excited. She had no idea that Mika was a fellow horror fan, and she was getting excited thinking about all the movies they needed to watch together. "I love that movie so much! We have to watch it!"

"I've got every edition, even the special ones." Mika winked.

"EEEEEEE." Akagi squeed in joy.

"Let me get some snacks, and then we can watch it!" Mika went into the kitchen and grabbed some drinks, as well as sliced apples.

"Apples?" Akagi reached for a piece, and it was nearly as large as her hand at this size. Akagi liked to shrink down while in cat mode for extra cuteness points, and because it was less strange to sit on or next to a person while small. People tended to be less adverse to her sitting in their lap if she was the size of a plate.

"I brought these because I've wanted to do this ever since I first saw your cat form." She grabbed the slice from Akagi and put it up to her mouth. "Say Awwww." She'd been dying to feed the Catkagi apples for some unknown reason, likely because it was very cute.

Akagi lowered her eyelids in disapproval before shrugging and biting into the apple.

"IT'S EVEN CUTER THAN I IMAGINED!" Mika squealed as she wrapped Akagi in the blanket and put on the movie. With the lights dimmed and the blinds shut, the two began to watch what is regarded as the best slasher film in history. The comical sight of the tiny Catkagi being fed apple slices while the T.V. flashed with gore and fear was quite the juxtaposition, and Mika was happy to spoil her kitty friend with all the pets and treats she could muster.

A bit later, the credits rolled and it was nearly time for dinner.

"That's always such a good movie." Akagi smiled as Mika scratched her ears.

"I know right? I've watched it like a hundred times and it's still amazing." Mika said.

"I had no idea you liked horror movies." Akagi said. "I guess it would explain some things."

{Still, she's really good with gore and horror. Hell, she was only really freaked about about Hito because of the suddenness of it and because Kana had to put him down. Otherwise she showed no negative reaction to the his visage or the blood.} (Akagi)

"I mean, I may or may not enjoy gorefests and such." Mika gave a wry smile.

{I've got you killing Libra on an HD recording in the cloud, but that's for me to know and you not to find out.} (Mika)

"Dinner is almost ready!" Mika's mom called out.

"Oops let's get going." Mika went to pick Akagi up, but she resisted.

"It's fine, I don't need to eat, and I shouldn't intrude on your time with your parents." Akagi gave a wry smile.

"What's this? The kitty is giving backtalk?" Mika forcefully picked her up. "You're a guest, not a burden or nuisance. So don't try pulling that crap."

"But-" Akagi was cut off.

"No buts!" Mika shook her head. "You're coming to dinner! Though you might want to go back to normal size for it."

{Though I really want to see her eat with a tiny set of utensils...} (Mika)

"Oh? Are you sure you don't want me to eat on the table?" Akagi was around the size of a large dinner plate, so it would be possible.

"It would be funny, but let's not." Mika laughed as Akagi started to grow in her arms. "Wait!" In a panic Mika threw her to the floor, causing the cat to smack into it face first.

"Nice..." Akagi groaned from the floor.

"Don't just start getting bigger without warning!" Mika kicked Akagi in the rear lightly. "I'm not strong enough to hold an entire person up with just my arms!"

"Yes, you are!" Akagi slowly stood up. "Did you forget your body is much stronger now?!?" She rolled her eyes.

"Oh..." Mika grabbed onto full-size Akagi and lifted her up with ease. "Oops... sorry." She put her down slowly and looked away, embarrassed.

"Its not like it matters, anyway." Akagi snapped her fingers and swapped into her casual clothes with no cat parts.

"Kitty..." Mika gave sad eyes as Catkagi went away.

"Don't worry kitty will be back after dinner." She winked and the two went into the kitchen, sharing a nice happy meal with Mika's parents. Though the entire time, the Demon couldn't help feel like she shouldn't be here. After all, she was the reason there was an empty seat at the table.