The Red Hand

Hishya was currently unconscious and her injuries were quite severe. Funnily enough, her self-destruction caused more damage to her than Akagi's attacks. Yumi provided immediate aid, and Hishya's worst injuries were swiftly healed, but Akagi still opted to have her seen by her dedicated physician, Mimi. The Yuki-Onna was quite skilled in healing magic and non-magical medical practice. So if there was anyone qualified to treat Hishya's injuries, it would be her. On top of that, Akagi wanted to speak with Kira. perhaps she would understand Hishya's draconic blood being a half-dragon herself?

Before anything else, Akagi had Yumi use her magic to restore the damaged field to its prebattle condition. Hishya's magic took quite a toll on the landscape and Akagi felt bad leaving it to the school to fix it. With a twirl of her staff, the ground began to restore as holes filled in grass regrew. After a few minutes, it was as if the two had never even battled.

While Yumi repaired the field, Akagi went over to Kana and the others. The crowd was in quite an energetic mood, but Akagi ignored them and pulled the girls aside.

"I'll be returning to the house with Hishya, I want to get Mimi to look at her injuries, and she and I need to have a talk about her power." She looked at Kana. "I don't think you could tell from here, but Hishya nearly went out of control." she shook her head. "Damn fool didn't know her limits and nearly flew into an instinct-fueled rage."

Kana was shocked. "Is she ok?!?" Her eyes showed deep concern for the dragon girl.

"She's fine," Akagi reassured her. "She's asleep, and Yumi healed her worst injuries, but I'm going to have Kira talk to her. She's the only person I know, other than Hishya, who has the blood of a dragon running through her veins. She might know more about what just happened." Kira was quite familiar with dragons and spent most of her life dealing with them.

"Ok, should I come back with you?" Kana asked. She seemed very concerned about Hishya's condition.

"Only if you want to," Akagi replied. "If you need to stay here, that's fine. I can just send someone to collect you later."

"I see, then I'll stay for now. I need to help with cleanup, and I'll never hear the end of it if I disappear now." Kana gave a wry smile.

After giving Kana a hug and saying goodbye to Mika and Naomi, Akagi gathered up her followers and Hishya and teleported back to her estate.

The group arrived in front of the main house, and Akagi told Chloe to quickly gather Kira and to meet in the medical center on the first floor of the servant's quarter. The cat-girl took off at blistering speed, and Akagi carried her unconscious rival, finding it amusing that this would be the second time Mimi needed to treat her after a fight.

The medical center was quite mundane. Mimi had no interest in modern technology, so the room was stocked with herbs and other items from FWO. Akagi was trying to get her to at least use this world's more advanced medical knowledge, but getting her to do so was like pulling teeth. This was unsurprising as a nearly thousand-year-old Yuki-Onna, she was quite resistant to change. Upon arriving in the front room, Hishya was quickly taken by Mimi's older daughter Suzu and placed in one of the beds. Mimi had two daughters who assisted her in providing medical care. Suzu, who was the eldest, and Yuzu, the youngest. Both looked similar to their mother, but their human blood left them without the signature teal hair that Yuki-Onna were known for.

"Oh dear," Mimi appeared from her office. "It would seem you've brought me quite the interesting patient." she chuckled.

"Yeah, we had an exhibition match, and she ended up blowing herself up rather than surrendering." Akagi shook her head. "She's a real piece of work. Yumi took care of most of her injuries with her magic, but I wanted to have you look at her, just to make sure."

"No problem." Mimi took out a small pane of glass from her robe and poured some of her magic into it. Once it began to glow, she walked over and used it to examine Hishya, and her eyes began to glow with magic. After about five minutes she put the glass away and looked at Akagi.

"Yumi's magic seems to have handled most issue. Right now, what she needs is rest. I'll prepare a herbal remedy that will help her body recover its stamina. Other than that, she won't need anything else from me." This was good news. Akagi knew that magic wasn't the be-all-end-all for fixing injuries and was concerned that Hishya may have done more damage than Yumi could repair.

"Thanks, Mimi." Akagi was relieved.

The Yuki-Onna turned and looked at her daughters. "Please go and prepare some tea which will help Ms. Hishya recover. Make sure it's not too hot so she can drink it when she awakens." Her two daughters nodded and went into the preparation area.

"Do you have any injuries I should examine, my Lord?" Mimi asked.

Akagi laughed. "I'm pretty sure even you couldn't do anything about an actual injury I receive, but thanks." Akagi's real body was essentially pure energy. If that took damage she could only rely on her own natural recovery to fix it.

"I figured, but I had to ask." Mimi gave a warm smile. "But still, this girl really drained herself, didn't she? Her body is in quite an exhausted state even after Yumi healed her. You said she exploded herself? Why would she do that? Wasn't it a fight for fun?" Mimi tilted her head in confusion.

"Yeah, it was. But our competitive spirit made us go a little more all out than we probably should have." Akagi gave a wry smile. Her multiform technique was a little overkill for such a match.

While the two spoke, Chloe returned and brought along Kira who, upon seeing Akagi, dropped to one knee.

"My Lord," Kira's voice turned serious. "I've been told you need my assistance. Please tell me how I can be of service." Kira was quite loyal and took the status of subordinate far more seriously than most.

"I'm sure you've noticed, but our little Hero here is actually a Dragon." She pointed to Hishya.

"Of course," Kira nodded. "I could tell from the moment I laid eyes upon her. Though, I am aware that her status is due to some extenuating circumstances."

"Yeah, and those circumstances are why I've asked for your assistance. And you may rise." Akagi asked Kira to stand. "During our fight, she dipped into her draconic power and used enough of it to the point that she nearly went feral," Akagi explained what happened. "I'm pretty sure this is because she isn't used to her power, and the fact that she's now a dragon means she has much more powerful instincts than before, but I wanted to speak with you since you know much more about dragons than I do." Kira was basically an expert on this topic.

Kira thought for a moment. "Your assumption is likely correct, My Lord. As she was once human, her mind was likely overtaken by the sudden influx of power, and her draconic instinct was kicked into overdrive by her desire to fight you." Kira continued. "I've been told that similar behavior can be found in younger, less mature dragons which is why they tend to cause more trouble than their elders."

"Can she control it? Because I would like for her to be able to let out her full power if she needs to. Plus, I'm now wondering what will happen if she transformed into her dragon form as she is now." Akagi was worried that a full transformation would overwhelm Hishya's mind.

"I can't speak to the full transformation, as there are no records of a Human becoming a dragon. But it stands to reason that she would be able to control her power with training. If you want, I can assist her with that. I have experience with younger more rash dragons, and I suspect she'll be much easier to work with." Her offer to assist was most welcome, and Akagi told her to do so if that was what Hishya wished.

As they spoke they heard a groan from the bed, it would seem that Hishya had woken up.

"Ugh, my head...." she looked around. "Where am I?" she was confused since the last time she was awake she was in a field at the school.

"You're at my estate in our medical room. Yumi healed your injuries and I brought you to Mimi to make sure you were all good." Akagi explained what Mimi had told her and she was given her tea.

"Thanks, and I'm sorry for all the fuss. I don't know what came over me, all of a sudden, my entire body felt itchy and got incredibly warm and my thoughts clouded over." Hishya's face turned dark.

"It's fine. There's nothing wrong with you." Akagi reassured her and explained what Kira talked about.

"I see. That makes sense." Hishya finished her drink. "I never really tapped into my power in this world, so it makes sense that I never had this issue." She got out of bed. "Still though, I guess it never really occurred to me that I'd changed that much. I knew I wasn't human but...." This was just another reminder that she'd left her humanity behind.

"Now, now." Akagi put her arm around the girl. "Being human's overrated anyway. Think about it; you're a fucking dragon. You can fly, breathe fire, and do all sorts of crazy stuff." Akagi smiled. "So what if you need a little bit of training to keep that hot head of yours under control, it's not that big of a deal, and we've got the perfect teacher for you right here." She pointed at Kira.

"So knock it off with all the sadness. Do you know how long it took me to get control of myself after I merged with that demon?" Akagi's merger wasn't exactly painless. "Trust me; there are far worse things than being a dragon; I can assure you of that." Hishya was shocked by Akagi's comments; she never knew that Akagi had to deal with something like that, and she questioned if Akagi truly had that part of herself under control. Sensing her thoughts, Akagi gave a big smile; which only served to cause Hishya more confusion.

{Is she smiling because she's in control or because she's not?} Hishya would later find the answer to her question, and the answer would shock her.

"Yeah, your right." Hishya shook away her thoughts. "If you're willing to help me, I would be grateful." She bowed to Kira.

"If My Lord wills it, it shall be done." She gave a small smile. "And it's always an honor to work with an honored one such as yourself." Kira's caused Hishya to blush in embarrassment.

"Please don't speak to me like that, I'm not special! I'm just a girl who turned into a dragon that's it!" It would seem that even Hishya couldn't take such praise with a straight face.

"Nonsense, even if your circumstances are a bit strange, you are still Dragon. What you were before is irrelevant to what you are now." Kira gave a firm response, which caused Akagi to laugh.

"Well, you heard her. Kira, help this idiot out, and please respect her wishes as to how she should be treated. I know you have deep respect for Dragons but Hishya is a little different; if she asks you to treat her normally please do." Akagi was kind enough to at least throw Hishya a lifeline on this issue.

"As you wish." Kira gave a bow and left the room.

"Let me know when you want to do training with her, and I'll set up the time and stuff," Akagi said.

"I will. I guess that means I'll be seeing you a lot more in the near future." Hishya gave a smile.

"You mean Kana." Akagi teased causing Hishya to hit her in the chest out of embarrassment.

As this was going on, Akagi got a phone call from Kana, and when she picked up, she was assaulted by a frantic Kana.

"Onee-chan did you see the news? They've abducted the Governor of Tokyo and attacked city hall!" Kana's words caused the entire room to go silent. Akagi looked at Hishya, and the two women knew this would be nothing but trouble.

 

End of book 1