The Red Hand

Chapter 208 – The Hero and the Demon Lord.

The night before the official ceremony to mark the creation of Dumetor, Hishya was wandering around the Estate, unable to sleep. Tomorrow would mark the one-year anniversary of their escape from FWO, and so much had happened in that brief time. Hishya had been granted new life, watched the person she feared the most turn into an even more powerful monster, battled people who were once teammates, found love, and even moved to a new home. It had been a busy year, and her mind was racing as everything zipped through her head.

"It's crazy... it really is." Hishya sighed as she walked into the garden, water bottle in hand. "I've... so much has happened... it's honestly overwhelming..." As she entered, she noticed Akagi sitting on a blanket, drinking Sake, and eating some snacks.

"I'm surprised to see you up." Hishya called out to her. "I figured you be snuggled up to Yumi in cat mode." She chuckled as she walked over.

"I was, but I've got some things to do, and even more to think about." Akagi picked up her Kiseru and lit it as she answered. "Not to mention, the night... it's nice." As she said this a small breeze went past her, causing her hair to flutter in the wind. "The darkness is calming, if that makes any sense. There's no noise, no light, nothing..."

"I imagine a shadow Demon would enjoy the darkness." Hishya said as she sat across from her. "Plus, your whole motif revolves around the night and such, so it's no surprise you've come to enjoy it."

Akagi laughed. "Even before FWO, I was always a night owl." She offered Hishya a cup of Sake, which the Dragon accepted. "The night is peaceful, and it's nice knowing that with everyone else sleeping, I can act freely without being interrupted."

"You were just happy not to have to tiptoe around your parents..." Hishya gave a wry smile which caused Akagi to glare at her. It seemed she hit the nail on the head.

"Considering they were a pain in my ass for 99% of my waking life, yeah that's probably right." Akagi said as she sipped her drink. She was always afraid of what Shima or Taichi would do, and whenever they were either asleep or on some kind of trip she felt much calmer.

{Aint it fucked up that I was happyist when my parents weren't around?} (Akagi)

"I can't imagine going through life with parents like that." Hishya took a sip. "Mine were always so caring, even after I got sick." She paused for a moment. "I'm not trying to brag, mind you..."

"I know." Akagi gave a bitter smile. "Though I won't deny that I'm jealous. I do wish I could've had halfway decent parents."

{Though there's no point pining for it now, as that time has long since passed.} (Akagi)

"Damn, the Demon Lord is jealous of me." Hishya gave a small laugh. "Though I suppose I've come to understand what Naomi was talking about back then..."

"???" Akagi tilted her head, as she didn't know what the Dragon was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"That..." Hishya sighed. "First of all, this is something that I should have done sooner." She bowed deeply. "I'm sorry for being an asshole."

"Generally or...?" Akagi was confused, a rarity for the Demon.

"Kana and I were... let's just say we were saying and thinking not-so-nice things about you and your actions behind your back." Hishya gave a wry smile as she lifted her head. "We... we might have been overly critical of your whimsical attitude and... and we said some things in private that I regret looking back." Hishya and Kana hadn't really talked about this issue to Akagi, and made sure not to speak about this topic in earshot of the Demon. But both the dragon and Kana had said things that might have upset Akagi if she knew.

{I hope Kana has talked to her about this too, its only right that she also apologizes, even if Akagi has no idea what we said about her.} (Hishya)

"I mean, people talk bad about me all the time." Akagi shrugged. "I'm not shocked that you two had some issues with me and discussed it in private. I don't mind." She would've been more surprised if they didn't have anything negative to say about her.

{I'm anything but a perfect sister, so Kana having her own issues with me is understandable. Especially after this past year's events.} (Akagi)

"I know that, but still. Looking back, she and I couldn't really appreciate what you've been through and what you struggle with." Hishya bit her lip. "Your habit of acting as goofy as you do... I think it rubbed us both the wrong way, which that led us to act inappropriately, and it took Naomi lecturing us to get us to snap us out of our stupidity."

"So that's why the two of you opened up to my antics a bit more." Akagi laughed as she took a hit from her pipe. "I did find it strange that both you and Kana did a 180 on the whole cat thing." Though she was happy that both of them played with her more now.

"We realized that we were being overly judgmental, and that we had no right to act as bratty as we did." Hishya shook her head as she took a sip of Sake. "Naomi was right, even if we might not entirely agree with your... let's just say less than mature actions. We really don't have any right to act like we did. Not to mention, you honestly don't do anything particularly annoying to either of us when you get like that." Thinking about it, Akagi didn't really bother her or the girls with her games, and at most she just wanted attention. Something that Hishya now appreciated as an aspect of her effective abandonment by her parents.

{She's just doing that stuff because of an internal need for attention. She never got it from her parents, and now that she found something other people are interested in, she's clung to it. I... I really feel like an asshole now...} (Hishya)

"Well yeah, I'm not stupid enough to suppose you two are thrilled with my antics. So I try to keep it reasonable." Akagi laughed. "Why do you think that I don't do things like play on Kana's clown issues or wrap around her? Because I know she genuinely dislikes it, and I don't want to make people uncomfortable just for laughs." She wouldn't like it done to her and so tried not to do it to others.

"That's why I'm apologizing, and I'll remind Kana to do the same if she hasn't already." Hishya sighed. "She of all people shouldn't be acting like that toward you. After all, Demon Lord or not, you've been nothing but kind to that girl for her entire life, and I know you love her to pieces."

"What gave it away?" Akagi chuckled. "She's the only 'family' I have, at least in the 'blood' distinction. Not to mention that girl was a beacon of light during my darkest moments at the house. Hell at this point, I'm pretty sure that she is the reason I never went off the deep end for all those years."

{Whether or not my use of the term love is real or not, Kana means so much to me.} (Akagi)

"Considering she saw an alternate reality without her in which you went full Demon Lord crazy, that's an understatement." Hishya gave a nervous laugh.

{I remember when she told me about it. She saw Mika die, the world burn, and her own mother dead in the street. And from what she told me about Akagi in that alternate world... I think I'll take the fluffy cat that wants pets...} (Hishya)

"I just feel bad that I've put her through so much grief over this last year..." Akagi took another hit of her pipe. "Her family life was torn apart, school has become painful, she's had bodily changes, and... and she even had to find out the truth about me..." She looked slightly sad.

"I know Kana doesn't see it that way, and I know you know that." Hishya replied. Kana had told Hishya over and over again that she felt that things were for the best, and that she wasn't angry with Akagi for how things turned out.

"Yeah... still doesn't make me feel better about it." Akagi sighed.

"Listen, as many objections she has to your actions as an assassin and Demon Lord, that girl is just happy to finally see you break out of your shell." Hishya looked up at the moon as she drank. "She's told me a bit about things, and one of her biggest worries was that you would just... vanish." She continued. "Kana knew you weren't in the best position in that house, and she was well aware that you were... let's just say checked out. She told me once that her biggest fear... was getting notified one day that you'd ended your own life out of misery."

{Considering you did that in a dream already, I'd say that was a quite a reasonable fear.} (Hishya)

"Which explains why she was so angry with me when I told her that's what I did in that nightmare." Akagi gave a wry smile.

"Ohhhh trust me, she was angry." Hishya gave a wry smile. "She called me after school that evening and hooooo boy..." She recalled that conversation. "Akagi, just... please understand how much you mean to her... like really mean to her."

"I do." Akagi nodded.

"No, I don't think you do." Hishya shook her head. "That girl... she's probably as fanatical as any of the former NPCs. Hell, I'd say that if it wasn't for certain things, she'd have joined that cult that worships you..."

"..." Akagi didn't know what to say to that statement, something that had been happening to much in this conversation.

"You are the most important person in her world, even more than me, her girlfriend!" Hishya declared. "Trust me, it's vexing knowing that my girlfriend would side with YOU over ME in a dispute, but I've come to accept that's just who she is." She figured it best not to let that bother her if she wanted to be happy.

"I mean, she did say I could eat her soul if I really wanted to." Akagi scratched her cheat in embarrassment.

"I'm not even gonna ask why that became a conversation topic." Hishya put out her cup for a refill, which Akagi obliged. "But it's not really surprising. That girl would probably go against the world for you..."

{I know family should be close, but Kana is on a whole other level of devotion. It's no wonder Mika and Naomi call her a sis-con...} (Hishya)

"I still don't know why she's like that." Akagi shrugged. "I never did anything that important for her."

"I'm not going to pretend to understand the labyrinth that is Kana Tomogawa, but I think it has to do with a level of guilt coupled with well... this is gonna sound cliche but I'm pretty sure that she views you as this awesome reliable older sister... Even back when you were kids, I get the sense that she had this idealized version of who you are in her mind, and that might have shaped how she views you. Not to mention what kind of person you came out of FWO as." Hishya explained.

"I still don't understand the guilt thing." Akagi groaned. "But then again, I know damn well that emotions don't have to be logical..."

"Honestly, if you want my opinion, Kana will likely always see herself as having stolen your happy family out from under you." Hishya shifted to a more comfortable position. "Even if it really makes no sense, in her mind she caused all that pain you were put through as a kid, and even if she knows that logically that's not true. I think her own trauma from being adjacent to your abuse has left her scarred in her own way."

"I never really thought about it like that." Akagi thought for a moment. "Secondhand trauma from seeing me get put through all that hell... I guess that would make sense."

"Apparently she's been talking all this out with the therapist she's seeing regarding the whole Hito incident." Hishya shrugged. "But I don't know the details."

"I'm just glad that whole thing didn't cause her more mental damage." Akagi said. "Taking the life of that thrall was not easy, even if it was just a husk."

"Considering you and I have no qualms about killing, I think it's better that she did feel bad about it." Hishya laughed.

"In that instance, I'd say I agree with you." Akagi nodded. “Kana needs to remain as human as possible.” She smiled. If Kana started becoming more like her, Akagi didn't know what she'd do.

"God how long has it been since we did this." Hishya lay down on her back, looking up at the stars. "You and I used to stay in VR chat rooms till the crack of dawn back in the day, talking like this..."

"Yeah, that was always fun." Akagi smiled. "I still remember the stupid conversations we got into."

"Yeah, like discussing what we'd do if we got Isekai'd!" Hishya laughed. "I wonder what past us would say if we told 'em what was in store for us for real?"

"We'd think it was fucking awesome!" Akagi snickered.

"Yup!" Hishya laughed in agreement.

The two were quiet for a few minutes until Hishya spoke again.

"Hey..."

"Yeah?" Akagi said while smoking.

"W-When... when... Do you remember that day in FWO, not long after we got trapped?" Hishya was still looking at the stars. "We were supposed to meet up and play together, but in all the chaos we never got a chance..." She'd wanted to talk abut this for a long time, but never built up the courage, until now.

"Yeah, that was fucking hell with everyone freaking out." Akagi nodded as she recalled the insanity of those early days.

"We didn't see each other for a few months due to all the chaos." Hishya continued. "And then... when we finally did, the first thing we did was-"

"We went monster hunting!" Akagi finished for her. "I'll never forget that day, it was great. Just me and you wandering in the wilderness killing all kinds of beasties!"

Hishya giggled. "Yeah... that... that was so much fun. For that little while, it was almost like we weren't in some death game."

"Yeah, it was just you and me on a Saturday morning having fun." Akagi smiled. She always enjoyed those simple times with Hishya.

"Yup... and not long after that..." Hishya looked over at her. "I abandoned you..."

"You had important things to do." Akagi shook her head. "The Assault Team needed you, and rather than run around with me, you were needed where it counted."

"I... know that... but I... looking back... I just kind of... ditched you that day..." Hishya said. "You were my only friend in the game... and when you told me that you didn't want to help... not only did I yell at you, but I said some pretty nasty things." She'd regretted her vitriol for years now, and was certain that she might've pushed Akagi down the dark path she went.

"I think my favorite insult was future murderer." Akagi chuckled. "See, you were spot on!"

"Based on the way you talked at the time... I was worried that you'd become nothing more than some crazy Pker..." Hishya sighed. "And I was right, in a way..." She rolled onto her side, facing Akagi. "Part of me... part of me still thinks that if I'd stuck around you a bit more, that maybe, just maybe you wouldn't have gone down that path..."

"Who knows." Akagi shrugged. "Perhaps your presence would have kept me from becoming a hired killer. Though I'd still be the Demon Lord either way."

{Though funny enough, I've been acting less and less like an assassin since I got out of FWO. Though I suppose that's understandable, as I have other things to do now.} (Akagi)

"But I wouldn't dwell on what might have been." Akagi smiled. "We've both got a future ahead of us, one that we can shape together into something great."

"I just hope said future doesn't involve more world-ending calamities." Hishya sighed. "I think your attitude of leave me alone is rubbing off on me, because I really don't want more drama or excitement. Lord knows FWO provided enough of that for a lifetime."

{Not to mention that like her, I'm not exactly going anywhere. And after finding out what awaits us after death, I'm not keen to have me or Kana move to the next life...} (Hishya)

"Well, it's not quite drama, but how about a bit of fun?" Akagi smiled. "If you're up for it?"

"What are you plotting?" Hishya asked.

"Nothing, but your mention of that fun few days we had hunting monsters has given me an idea." Akagi continued. "We've got a whole world with monsters and unexplored land in it, what do you say that you and I spend a couple of days on our own messing about and doing a bit of good old fashion exploration? We could check out Omara outside the barrier, and see what kind of cool creatures and places exist out there. It will be like old times."

"You know what." Hishya smiled. "That sounds like fun. I could use a nice little breather like that, especially after everything that's happened. Some nice non-stressful exploration like we used to do in the other open-world games we placed sounds great!" She'd been itching for something like that, and this was perfect.

"Then we'll do that once everything is dealt with regarding the Kingdom's formation tomorrow." Akagi nodded. "Once that's out of the way, we can go mess around for a few days. I think that will be fun."