The Red Hand

*SMACK* Herlex punched the freshly healed Elna across the room. "You fucking idiot!" He was beyond pissed with Elna's little stunt in Yokosuka. "Didn't we explicitly say not to fuck with the Americans? Because now we have to deal with them on top of the Japanese Government!"

Elna stood up, her cheek red. "Why are you so angry? If you idiots had actually helped instead of acting like cowards we could have wiped out that entire base!" She was annoyed. They had all this power. So why were they hesitant to use it?

"Because we now have to deal with the most powerful military on the planet! We have these powers, but we're not invincible, you idiot!" He was annoyed with Elna's stupidity.

{Even Armalthy, the battle junkie that he is, understood that fucking with the Americans right now was a bad idea.} He sighed internally.

"There are only fifteen of us right now, we can handle the four that the Japanese government is sending at us, but I don't really want to fight them AND the American military!" Herlex exclaimed. "We've already seen that certain weapons can harm us." He was referring to the recent attack on a JSDF barracks in Hokkaido where their newest member, Ichimon, was nearly killed by an artillery round. "The JSDF doesn't have the most up-to-date modern gear and we're already having some issues with them. So if the Americans start deploying their forces against us, we might be in some serious trouble!" American military prowess was something well-known by most people. Comparing the US Military to the JSDF was like comparing a ceiling fan to a hurricane.

"Your too goddamn timid, Herlex!" Elna exclaimed. "Why won't you let Alice unleash her puppets?!? We could flatten Tokyo today if you did!" Alice was another one of their members and specialized in summoning.

"Because we still don't know what our opponents can actually do! And with Minazawa and the others still around, those types of summons will be swiftly destroyed, and Alice can't recover them that fast." Herlex was annoyed at Elna's lack of strategic understanding.

{What idiot unleashes all their cards before they know what their opponent has?} Herlex was no tactical genius, but he knew enough about strategy to know that playing the long and slow game was the better option here.

"Things were going according to plan, we were slowly widdling away at government power, and we were inflicting damage to Minazawa's team." They had just scored a big blow by temporarily putting Superbia out of action when she fought Armalthy outside Osaka University. "But you just pissed that all away by riling up the Americans." He pulled up a stream and projected it in front of them. "You see this!" He pointed to the news media which were discussing if the U.S. should send troops into Japan to deal with Libra. "This is called a complete and utter disaster. Get it through your thick skull Elna, we're strong and can do a hell of a lot of damage, but we're not indestructible. I will not allow us to fall for the delusion of invincibility and be defeated like some cartoon villains!" He took out all his frustration and anger on Elna and was truly at his wit's end with the woman. "I would kill you right now if you weren't useful." he spit in her direction.

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A few days later.

"Well, it's nice to see that the Americans are taking my words seriously." Akagi and Kana were sitting in the living room watching an address by President Rosewood. She vowed to bring Libra to justice and asked for permission from Japan to increase the American troop count beyond treaty stipulations.

"Still kinda crazy that your people can just walk into the White House and meet her." Kana was informed about Hikari's little conversation with the President.

"Eh, not really." Akagi shrugged. "Without magical tools and the ability to counter the shadow magic of Chloe's clan, there really isn't anything they can do. Even the Empire had a hard time with it, and they had dedicated mages and wards to prevent such infiltration." Akagi gave a smug look as she recalled sending Chloe into the Emperor's private bed-chamber to give him a scare.

"So what's going to happen now?" Kana was worried that things might escalate into some kind of war.

"Who knows? I'm meeting with the Americans and Aoi tomorrow. I imagine they're gonna ask me for help." Akagi figured that the recent attack would increase their desperation.

"But will you?" After the kidnapping, Kana figured Akagi would let the government burn.

"Sure I will. If they'll pay my price, that is." Akagi chuckled. "Though, due to past run-ins, my rate has gone up quite a bit."

"What are you going to ask for? You already have money and a home, and there isn't anything they can do to you." Kana couldn't imagine what Akagi wanted.

"I'm thinking souls?" Akagi nodded her head. "Haven't eaten any in a while, and I'm getting pretty hungry.”

Kana was taken aback for a moment before she realized her sister was joking. "Not funny, Onee-chan." She bopped Akagi on the head for that comment.

"Owchi!" Akagi feigned pain. "But in all seriousness, what I'm going to ask for is a secret. If they give it to me, you'll find out then."

"It's nothing bad, is it?" Kana was worried about what her sister wanted.

"Not really." Akagi poked Kana on the nose. "It's more just something neat I wanted, and having the Americans involved means I might be able to pressure the Japanese into giving it to me."

{What could Onee-chan possibly want?} Kana racked her brain, trying to guess what her sister could desire but came up with nothing.

"How have your lessons from Chloe been going by the way?" Akagi asked. "She told me you were getting down the basics surprisingly fast."

Kana laughed. "Yeah, it's strange. But for some reason, my body just moves on its own. Not sure why. But I think it's because Chloe's just that good of a teacher."

"I heard you even flipped Sakura over your head once, causing the entire dojo to go silent." Akagi laughed. "It's only been a few days, and you're getting used to the techniques quickly."

"Must be you rubbing off on me." Kana gave a cheeky grin.

"If I'm rubbing off on you, I expect to see you in shadow form by the end of the week." Akagi smiled.

"I would rather not turn into a blob, thank you very much." Kana held a stern expression before bursting out laughing.

"But being a blob is fun! You can do all sorts of things. Besides." Akagi grinned. "You say that, but you really enjoyed snuggling the other night, didn't you?"

Her comment caused Kana to let out a cough in embarrassment. "Maybe I did just a little bit, but that proves nothing!"

"Oh? Maybe next time I should turn into Hishya and-" Akagi was interrupted by a pillow being pushed over her face.

"Don't you finish that sentence!" Kana exclaimed, her face slightly red.

"You realize I don't need my mouth to speak right?" Akagi was unaffected by the attempt to muffle her voice.

"Don't care, let me have this win!" Kana continued to push the pillow over top of Akagi's head.

"Fine, fine." Akagi chuckled as the two wrestled on the couch.

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The two played around a bit before Kana tired out.

 

"You really are terrible; you know that?" A still-red Kana chastised her sister.

"Eh, I think that was a 3/10 on the terrible scale. I could do much better." Akagi shrugged.

"You always have to have the last word, don't you?" Kana sighed.

"Yup!" Akagi smiled.

"God, I forgot just how much of a pain you can be when you want to." Kana slumped her shoulders.

"Yup, and I have to make up for the four years of torment you missed out on." Akagi patted her on the back.

"Ugh." Kana gave a pained look.

"Hmmm. If I want to maximize your torment, perhaps I split off a body and send it to your school as a transfer student." Akagi mused the idea,

"Please no....." Kana could see it now, the strange new transfer student, and the unrelenting torment her sister would unleash on her. Mika and Naomi would find it funny while Kana would be dying on the inside.

"Don't worry, I won't do that." Akagi laughed seeing Kana's face. "Going back to school would suck, even if I sent a body as a joke." Akagi stuck out her tongue. "Though perhaps I already did it? Maybe one of the students is already me?" She decided to mess with her sister.

"I know you're just messing with me, but now I'm going to be paranoid that anyone I don't instantly know is you in disguise." Kana covered her face with her hands.

"Some poor kids gonna get cornered by you, and your gonna be like: Onee-chan! What are you doing pretending to be a student?!?" She mimicked Kana's voice for that last part.

Kana couldn't retort since Akagi was right. "Ooo Ooo. How about I turn into you and go to school for you one day."

"NO!" Kana looked up. "You would make everyone think I'm weird!"

"Too late for that." Akagi looked at her.

"I'm not weird!" Kana retorted.

"You are a 180 IQ 16-year-old girl, whose friends with the last remaining member of the Tokugawa family and whose older sister is a fucking shadow Demon." Akagi gave her a deadpan expression and raised an eyebrow. "You are the definition of weird."

"That's just the people around me! I myself am a perfectly normal girl with nothing weird about me!" Kana gave a confident expression.

Seeing this, Akagi just shook her head. "Sure you are kid. Sure you are." The look on her face annoyed Kana.

"Why are you looking at me like I'm some kind of sad person that you pity!" She puffed up her cheeks and punched Akagi in the chest. "Argh! You're just the worst!"