The Red Hand

Chapter 305 – The Power Within.

*SMACK* *BOP* *THUD*

"Come on, you two! I know darn well you can do better than this, so get your butts off the ground and try and beat me!" Hishya laughed as both Kana and a transformed Mika struggled to get off the ground. Both girls had insisted that Hishya do a bit of sparring with them to help them get better control over their magic, and the Dragon wasn't one to decline a fight, even one that basically amounted to playing around. "You were both so confident that you'd hit me, but here we are twenty minutes later, and I've not a scratch on me." She smirked.

{Its nice to bully people for a change!} (Hishya)

"I never thought I'd say this, but Onee-chan may have been a nicer practice partner..." Kana sighed as she struggled to get to her feet.

{Well, your sister has a bit better control over her emotions than Hishya, and also she's more inclined to hold back than the Dragon.} (Himari)

"I just know we'd already have won if Naomi helped us." Mika chuckled as she stood up. “Her incredible power would smite the evil Dragon in mere moments!”

"DON'T INVOLVE ME IN YOUR NONSENSE!" Naomi yelled from her seat. She and Momo had no interest in this sort of training and declined to take part.

{I'll stick to learning magic with books and targets; thank you very much!} (Naomi)

"Perhaps you two should just give up?" Hishya spun around and turned her back to the two of them. She wasn't even in her armor, nor had she brought out any weapons, and both Kana and Mika knew that the Dragon wasn't taking either of them even the slightest bit seriously. "I'd like to get back to building my nice house here soon! The pillow room won't finish itself!" She laughed.

{Her and those darn pillows!} (Kana)

"Mika!" Kana looked over to Mika, who nodded.

"Let's take her down!" (Mika x Kana)

The two zipped forward, Kana and Mika moving as fast as they could with their available power. However, just as they got behind the seemingly vulnerable Hishya, the Dragon spun around, grabbing Mika by the face and tossing her away while also batting Himari away with her wrist before kicking Kana square in the stomach, tossing her across the dirt training grounds.

"Ack!" Kana cried out in pain as she smacked against the ground, her eye reverting back to normal as she powered down.

"Weak!" Hishya laughed as she began hopping in place and throwing out a few joke punches. "I've seen FWO monsters move better than that!" She beckoned Kana to try again. "All you have to do is land one proper hit on me, and you win, or is that too hard for you?" She snickered.

{If I had a couch to make her sleep on tonight...} (Kana)

"MAGICAL STAR BEAM!" Mika yelled out an attack name as she sat on the floor, unable to stand, and from her wand, a massive blast of blue and yellow energy erupted forth and streamed toward Hishya.

"Hmpf." Hishya laughed at the attack, which she kicked straight into the air harmlessly. "An improvement of your last attempt, but still too weak to have any real effect." She zipped forward at high speed, placing herself in front of the downed Mika. "Alrighty then. I'm getting bored let's end things." She held up her palm, charging up an energy blast that was directed straight at Mika. "Now, I'm pretty sure you'll be fine, but I'd advise tapping out just to be safe." She smiled fiendishly.

{DANGER!} (Mika)

"I... A Magical Girl never gives up!" Mika stood up and tried to punch Hishya in the face, but the Dragon caught her fist with her free hand.

"And I just want you to know that I'm proud that remember that." Hishya smiled as she unleashed a quick pulse of energy that knocked Mika out, causing her to fall to the ground and revert to normal.

"Mika!" Kana cried out to her unconscious friend. "Mika!"

{I... I couldn't... I... She got hurt again because of...} Kana's mind began to twist and turn as she watched Hishya laugh as Mika was lowered to the ground, gently. This was just a training exercise, but it wasn't the first time that Kana'd been defeated by an opponent much stronger than her. Ever since she'd first unleashed her magical power, Kana's primary goal was to become strong enough so that others wouldn't have to worry about her, but that had yet to happen.

"I... I... I need to get stronger." Kana bit her lip in frustration, drawing blood unintentionally. "I... I can't let Mika or anyone else get hurt because of me." She slowly got to her feet, Himari noting a sudden well of energy within Kana's body. "I need to get stronger... I need... I NEED TO PROTECT EVERYONE!" Her voice turned into a scream.

{WHAT THE HELL?!? WHERE DID THIS POWER COME FROM?!?} (Himari)

For a brief moment, Kana's entire body was covered in a faint outline of dark fire, similar to when Akagi would unleash her power, until a moment later Kana zipped forward at incredibly high speed. She moved faster than she'd ever done before, and Naomi and Momo were stunned as Kana appeared next to Hishya in an instant.

"HISHYA!" Kana yelled out her girlfriend's name, charging up a huge amount of power in her right fist.

"Now, that takes care of the Magical Gi-" Hishya was about to turn and look at Kana, but before she could even get her bearings the Dragon felt Kana's fist connect with her cheek, and she was sent flying through one of the outdoor pavilions, smashing it to pieces, before crashing into one of the ponds and kicking up a huge splash as she flew in.

“What... What just...” Naomi said, dropping her glass of water, which shattered upon hitting the ground.

"I..." Baffled by what just happened, Kana looked down and her hand in shock and confusion. Her knuckles had turned red as if they'd been rubbed raw, and Kana entire body was shaking. "What did I just..."

{OI! KANA!} Himari's words snapped Kana out of her stupor. {WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!?}

"Hi... Himari..." Kana looked down at the sword in her other hand. "I... Just..." However, before she could say anything else, Kana fainted on the spot. Her last thoughts before blacking out were a mixture of confusion, fear, and excitement.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"Ugh..." Kana slowly blinked her eyes as she woke up, seeing an all too familiar ceiling.

"Kana!" Hishya leaped at her, hugging her tight. "You're okay! I'm so sorry for pushing you like that!" She started tearing up a bit.

{Is this what she feels like when bad things happen to me?!? This fucking sucks! No wonder she gets mad!} (Hishya)

"Crushing... Me... Can't... Breath..." Kana was being squeezed hard that she feared exploding like a certain Catkagi liked to do.

"AH!" Hishya quickly backed off. "Sorry..." She said embarrassed of her over the top reaction and squeezing.

"I told you that she'd be fine..." Mimi sighed as she bopped the Dragon on the back of the head for being stupid.

"I know, but..." Hishya looked away, her cheeks red. "From my perspective she sent me flying out of nowhere, and then when I came back up from under the water Kana was passed out on the ground with Himari and Naomi freaking out!" She had no idea what'd happened and was just as confused as the other girls.

"What happened to me?" Kana asked as she slowly sat up in the bed. "The last thing I remember was hitting Hishya and..." Her eyes snapped open. "ARE YOU OKAY?!?" She was worried that Hishya had been hurt by her attack.

{I mean, you deserved it but...} (Kana)

"Kana, I can take Akagi tossing me around, so I really don't think you can hurt me that bad." Hishya deadpanned.

"Though you did bite your cheek." Kaori snickered from the other side of the room. "She was complaining for a good half hour about how much it hurt."

"Listen, you try chomping down on your cheek with a bit like mine, and then we can talk!" Hishya hissed.

"What even happened back there anyway?" Kana asked again. "I remember Mika being knocked out, and then I just kinda..." She recalled feeling a warm sensation flow throughout her body, but little else until she came back to her senses.

"Simple, you used more of your power." Himari said as she leaped out of Kana's body and reformed next to the bed.

"M-More of my power?" Kana raised her fist and inspected it, flexing it a few time. She felt no different than before, though her mind did seem a bit clearer than usual. "Do you mean... More of the power that Onee-chan gave to me?"

{Where else would you have gotten power from, Kana?} (Hishya)

"We'd need to get Mizumi to confirm things, but based on the energy patterns within your body, I'm pretty sure you've awakened more of the power that Akagi imprinted on you." She wasn't super knowledgeable about this subject, nor was Momo and could only offer conjecture.

Hishya sighed. "Why am I not surprised? That idiot continues to cause a mess even when she's in a literal other world."

{Stupid cat corrupting my girlfriend...} (Hishya)

"Onee-chan said that I had more..." Kana recalled the conversation they had in the living room the other day. "She... She said that I needed to stop holding back..." She looked up at Hishya. "She said that I needed to stop rejecting it like you did with your power."

"Like me..." Hishya hummed. She'd unconsciously held back from using her full power due to fear of losing her humanity, and it was only after Akagi's prodding during the fight with Serval that she truly gave in and accepted what she became. The Dragon didn't doubt that something similar could happen to Kana, but the question was would Kana want to go down such a path.

{Kana isn't like me or her sister. She never craved power or status, so does she even want to accept this power?} (Hishya)

"Hey, Hishya..." Kana's words snapped the Dragon out of her thoughts. "Am... Am I still Human?" Tears started flowing down her eyes, which caught Hishya off guard. "Am... Am I going to become like Onee-chan?"

{Will... Will I...} (Kana)

"I won't let that happen!" Hishya pulled her into a tight hug, again threatening a Catkagi like explosion. "You won't become like Akagi! Neither she nor I want that for you, and we won't allow it!" She squeezed her tighter.

{I don't want to lose you! I won't let it happen!} (Hishya)

"Then... But then... But this power!" Kana hugged her back. "What am I supposed to do with it?!?" She continued to cry. "I don't want to stop being human! I'm not like Onee-chan!" Kana had no desire to change as drastically as her sister and the thought of becoming something similar to Akagi scared her. “I can't... I don't want to be like her... That... That's not me...”

"Then what you need to do is master your power." Himari said. "If you don't want to throw away what you are, then you'll need to tame the power inside of you and make sure that you control it, and not the other way around." She figured that it was a simple matter.

"C-Control it?" Kana said as she looked over Hishya's shoulder.

"It's just like Akagi said." Himari continued. "The first step to controlling that power is to learn to accept it. It was what she did and Hishya here went through that same phase, and I don't doubt that you can do the same thing."

{You're not any less stubborn, if nothing else.} (Himari)

"But if I accept it then won't I stop being me?!?" Kana yelled. In her head, she knew that her words were false, but that didn't stop her from believing them.

"Only if you allow yourself to be swallowed by that power." Himari shook her head. "Remember, Kana. That power is yours, and you can do whatever you want with it." She walked over and put her hand on Kana's head, patting it slightly. "It might have originally come from Akagi, but it's up to you to mold it into something else, something yours."

"Can... Can I really stay me if I do all that?" Kana asked.

"You can because I know you can do it!" Himari smiled warmly. "And why is that? Because you're my best friend, and I've never seen you back down from anything!" She threw out a V sign as she gave a tooth grin.

{Himari, you really are a dork... But thanks...} (Kana)