The Red Hand

Chapter 246 – A Small Audience of a Billion People.

"Here comes the fishy!" Miji giggled as she slowly fed Akagi some red gummy fish treats. "Say mew, kitty! Mew!" The two were sitting on the couch in the living room and having a bit of fun.

"MEW!" Akagi meowed as she happily chomped down on the sweet treat.

“Kittty loves the fishes!” Miji smiled as Akagi ate another one from her hand.

"I'm dying from sugar overload." Kana rolled her eyes. Once the bracket had been seeded, and everyone had eased into their temporary residences, Akagi returned to the estate just in time to greet the freshly woken-up Kana, followed closely behind by the energetic Miji. The Tournament would begin tomorrow morning, and with Akagi's clan and other employees handling all the ground-level stuff, there was little the Demon needed to do, so she decided to relax a bit.

"Do you really have time to be playing with Miji? Don't you have to do things for tomorrow?" Kana figured her sister was just goofing off and pushing work onto other people.

"I already did everything I needed to for the day." Akagi smiled as Miji hugged her. "All that remains now is to wait, so why shouldn't I enjoy a nice relaxing day?" She giggled. "I'm sure Miji is happy that I'm here. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah!" Miji laughed. "The kitty is fun to play with, and it's nice having her all to myself! Sister is always taking her away for playtime and pets!"

"I hope Yumi isn't getting jealous of her own sister..." Kana commented.

"Maybe a little!" Akagi laughed. "Miji here enjoys snuggling with me, and Yumi can't bring herself to tear her away most of the time." She recalled an instance where Yumi wanted to cuddle with Akagi, but the Demon kitty was already snuggled up to a sleeping Miji, so Yumi was forced to choose between her needs and taking away her sister's joy. Naturally, Yumi couldn't bring herself to make Miji sad, and so she left things alone, though Akagi made sure to give her extra attention later to compensate.

"At least you get along with Miji now." Kana gave a wry smile.

{Considering your first encounter was her running away crying while calling you a monster, it's crazy to see her do a total one-eighty! The girl practically adores you, though I'm pretty sure that's 95% because of cat mode...} (Kana)

"Miji is like the little sister I never had." Akagi smirked. "She loves me unconditionally and actually listens to me. Unlike a certain somebody." She snickered.

"As if I was a pain in your ass." Kana rolled her eyes again. "I think I was pretty good to you, all things considered." She figured that compared to some of the sibling pairs that she knew from school, she and Akagi got along quite well.

"Yeah, but you still back sass me." Akagi blew a raspberry. "Where did the cute Kana that used to follow me around all day go?"

"She was left under a laundry basket and died." Kana laughed.

"Hey, that was on you for trying to force me into that dress!" Akagi exclaimed. "I warned you that your actions would have consequences!" She never liked the kind of frilly dress that Kana wanted to put her in and always resisted.

"I do find it quite funny that you never really liked girl clothes growing up, but now that you're older, I see you wearing them more often." Kana commented. "Kinda strange when you keep saying you're not even female anymore."

"Eh, Kimonos are whatever." Akagi shrugged as Miji fed her another gummy. "I still hate dresses and skirts."

"Even though you'd look good in them." Kana still wanted to see Akagi dress a bit differently. "Though you seem to have no reservation to such things when you put on my face and battled Mika as the Demon Princess."

"That was roleplaying and dressing up, so it's all good." Akagi smiled as Miji fed her another fish. "You gotta get into the role! Besides, when was the last time you saw Hishya in some frilly thing? I'm pretty sure the lizard isn't interested in that stuff."

"Really? We just went on a date last weekend, and she wore a blouse." Kana tilted her head. "I don't think I've seen her wear a full-on dress, but Hishya has tons of different outfits in her closet."

{Heck, she might have as many clothes as she does pillows!} (Kana)

"Huh?" Akagi was confused. "Wait. I thought Hishya didn't wear that kind of stuff. I never see her in anything but t-shirts, shorts, or sweatshirts." She'd only seen the Dragon in armor or casual clothing.

"She wears that stuff at home, yeah, but she is more than willing to dress up a bit if we go out." Kana chuckled. "Unlike you, Hishya is still a girl on the inside, and she likes looking good."

{Though she hates makeup and most accessories, which I can't say I blame her for.} (Kana)

"If that's the case then I imagine that she gets all kinds of attention when you two walk around." Akagi said as she ate another fish. "Hishya is quite attractive now that she got her new body, so she probably turns heads."

"Thinking about stealing my girlfriend?" Kana joked.

"Nah. Hishya ain't my type anyway." Akagi shook her head. "She yells too much for me, and her petting skill is C-tier at best." She snickered.

"What's mine?" Miji asked as she gave more happy hugs.

"A+! Only behind Mika and your sister." Akagi answered.

"Yeah! I'm third-best petter!" Miji giggled as she pet Akagi's ears. "I must advance my ability and defeat Mika!"

{That's gonna be tough. That girl is amazing at what she does, though Yumi's technique can't be beat.} (Akagi)

"Ah, yes, because that is an important part of what makes a good partner." Kana rolled her eyes for a third time. "But getting back to your prior point, Hishya does get looks, but since most people know who she is we've never had a problem."

{Most guys are far to afraid of becoming lunch to even try, which I'm happy for. I suppose out of everything that came from Onee-chan's stunts over this last year not having to worry about creeps is a silver lining.} (Kana)

"What, no group of guys telling you to come with them for a good time?" Akagi laughed as she recalled that trope in anime.

"A guy would have to be living under a fucking rock to even try that." Kana shook her head. "Not only is Hishya well known, but so am I." She continued. "I'm pretty sure people know that fucking with either of us like that is going to bring wrath upon them the kinds of which has never been seen before."

{And I'm pretty sure Onee-chan wouldn't even necessarily be the one to bring said wrath. Hishya is just as overprotective of me and would definitely kill somebody if they ever tried to hurt me.} (Kana)

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

As the two sisters continued to discuss things, a knock came on the doorway between the living room and the main hall.

"Am I bothering you?" Halifax asked as she stood in the doorway.

"Nah, we're just relaxing." Akagi said as Miji poked her ears. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to come here to avoid being swamped by all those reporters." Halifax gave a dry laugh. "They were really interested in talking to me once they found out I'm from Enoris."

"Yeah, I can imagine that they were all clamoring to speak with the Spirits as well." Kana gave a wry smile.

{I mean, when do you get to speak to people from a literal parallel world? I'd be more surprised if people ignored them to be honest.} (Kana)

"That explorer team was more than happy to talk with them, and it seems that Ferrix guy was eating up all the attention he was getting." Halifax said as she sat on one of the chairs. "Though Shinlua was far less interested in talking and excused herself."

"The media is like rabid dogs, and they won't stop until you either cave or go insane." Akagi laughed, knowing how bad it could get.

"Good thing you're already nuts! This way they can't drive you there!" Kana laughed at her own stupid joke.

"Now that the other players have gathered, how do you feel about your odds?" Akagi asked Halifax if she was still confident about winning.

"Hmmm." Halifax thought for a moment before answering. "Not to sound arrogant, but against most of them, I think I can win." She continued. "Now, mind you, this is based on magical power and other surface-level observations so its entirely possible that I'm wrong."

"Does that mean you think that you could even win against Hishya?" Kana wasn't really surprised by her claim since Akagi had briefly told her that Halifax's power was probably in Hishya's ball park or higher.

"She is a bit of an issue." Halifax replied, scratching her cheek. "I can tell that she's powerful, but exactly how powerful is not easily discernable as she is quite good at hiding her exact power level. Not to mention that, as a Dragon, she's definitely going to be a problem."

{They're always powerful, even at a young age, so if Hishya really is a full adult and some kind of special Dragon Empress, then it wouldn't be shocking if she can give me a hard time.} (Halifax)

"So besides her, is there anyone else you think will be problematic?" Akagi asked out of curiosity. She still didn't know the true depths of Halifax's power, but estimated that she and Hishya were relatively close in power.

"Out of all of the participants, I think the one called Avahn might be a problem, but Superbia may also be tricky." Halifax went over the competitors in her head. "Also, your little Warlock might be an issue, at least depending on just how much of your power that she has and can use." She had no real idea of just how potent Zephiria's magic was, but understood that adding a Demon Lord's power into the mix instantly spiked her threat level.

"I warned her not to go too deep into it since her body still can't handle it." Akagi explained that Zephiria wasn't able to use her power to its fullest quite yet. "So I don't think she'll be that big of an issue. Though you'd still need to be careful of her other magic." Zephiria was basically a wild card, and even Akagi couldn't tell how far she would go.

"If you end up against Mika somehow, then please make sure to give her a good few lumps!" Kana snickered, wanting to see the blue-haired girl beaten up a bit.

“She's strong, but is it really a good idea for her to be participating?” Halifax asked. She'd been told that Mika was a total amateur and that she'd only had her powers for a few weeks.

"I mean, you're not entirely wrong to be worried about her." Akagi laughed. "And if Mika gets past round one, then I think something's seriously fucked."

{The only way that happens is if somebody does something very stupid and basically throws.} (Akagi)

"Who knows? Maybe Chloe will choke, and then Mika will go on to win the whole thing!" Kana laughed at her own absent comment.

"If Chloe loses to our resident Magical Girl, then the cat is going to be getting a serious retraining by yours truly." Akagi smirked.

{I set things up to give her and Superbia their match. If she fucks that up and somehow lets Mika win, then I'm going to make her wish that she was put on maid duty again.} (Akagi)

"Regardless of that, I must admit that I'm excited for tomorrow." Halifax gave a fierce smile. "It's been a long time since I've been challenged by an opponent, so it will be nice to get to put my abilities to the test." She'd taken part in many great battles in the past and she always loved putting her skill to the test against worthy opponents.”

"Just make sure to give our audience a good show." Akagi smiled back.

"How many people are going to watch anyway?" Kana asked about the audience size.

"If I'm not mistaken the VR audience has around one million 'seats', all of which have been filled." Akagi answered.

"A MILLION?!?" Kana was shocked by the large number. "How the hell did you even set up the tech for that?!?"

{THAT'S AN INSANELY LARGE AUDIENCE!} (Kana)

"Those South Korean guys were very good at their job. What can I say?" Akagi laughed. "And on top of that, we're estimating that at least one billion people will be watching things via one of the streams or the various news broadcasts."

"A fucking billion..." Kana was stunned into near silence. "Holy hell..."

{I have stage fright just THINKING about that number and I'm not even going to be in this thing...} (Kana)

"It's a fucking tournament of superpowered magic people fighting each other for entertainment. Why would you expect otherwise?" Akagi rolled her eyes.

{Hishya... You're going to get your wish... The entire world's eyes will be on you...} (Kana)