The Red Hand Chapter 420 – Talking to and Answering One’s Self

"This... This is kinda creepy..." Rishia said as she and Akagi continued walking on the side of the street. There were no cars or other people anywhere in sight, and it made it seem like the world seed entirely empty save for the two of them. “Where is everyone else?”

"My mory of this ti is limited to what happened in the house, so we shouldn't run into other people out here." Akagi replied with a shrug. "You can't have mories of people and things you never saw. Can you?"

{We don't need a: How did you know the parts you weren't there for mont.} (Akagi)

"I suppose not... Just..." Rishia shook her head, deciding not to think too deeply about it continued walking, eventually finding themselves in front of the high school. "Huh? We're already here? But... That walk takes forever." She groaned, recalling how many tis she'd been forced to walk it. “The rain always sucked...”

"I an, mories don't have to comport with reality." Akagi laughed as she knocked the large iron gate down with a single kick. "Co on, let's head on in."

"Okay... But why ?" Rishia asked as she followed Akagi. "We both hate this place. I'd much rather go sowhere else..."

"No clue, but my mind seems to want us to co here, so let's go along with it." Akagi said as she waived her past self to follow.

The building was as empty like the rest of the mory and while it was open and operational it was still an eerie sight to see empty classrooms with spotless floors and chairs on top of desks. Akagi even comnted that it was as if the two of them were in so kind of horror movie, an observation the usually horror loving Rishia did not take too kindly to, especially when Akagi decided to make strange noises to spook her.

After a bit of wandering around, and a few smacks to the back of Akagi's head for being annoying, the 'two' girls found themselves in their horoom, a place neither had any good mories of.

"Do we really have to co here..." Rishia groaned as Akagi took a chair off a desk and had a seat. "This place just makes wanna run away and cry in a corner."

"Oh, get so backbone already!" Akagi scolded her for being a whimp. "We both know we're tougher than that!" She winked.

"Maybe you who went through so crazy fucking character developnt but recall that I'm still a normal girl!"Rishia retorted. “From my perspective I was at school a bit ago and getting yelled at by Mom! Don't go comparing to you!”

{We'll we're the sa person so...} (Akagi)

"Let's add heavy quotes around the use of the term normal." Akagi snickered as she made air quotes and stuck out her tongue playfully. "Honey, there ain't nothing normal about us. Doesn't matter if the Demon Lord is on the inside or outside."

"God... Is this what I'm really like? No wonder people hate ." Rishia rolled her eyes as she sat on the edge of a desk. “And its a wonder Kana puts up with my bullshit.”

"They're just jealous of how cool we are!" Akagi laughed as she hopped nudged her other self in the arm. "Having every twist of fate conspire against us to turn us into a killing machine had nothing to do with any of it!"

"So... I really was born a monster..." Rishia said as she looked at her hands. “Mom, Dad... They'd said things like that before... But I...”

"Hey, hey, hey. In this mind we refer to ourselves as a cool monster." Akagi corrected her. "One that can do things like turn mories into reality Pretty neat, huh?"

{I can do more fun party tricks too! Wanna see the kitty?!? Oh wait, that might wind up with cheating on Yumi with myself again. But is it really cheating though? Hmmmm... Questions for later.} (Akagi)

"Huzzah, you created a fake version of yourself that will vanish the mont you're done with it... Thanks..." Rishia side-eyed her, clapping her hands slowly in a mocking manner. "I've always wanted to find out my entire life is a lie and that I'm about to evaporate in about five minutes. Really cool. Thanks..."

"Hey, I apologize for that already." Akagi replied with a slightly guilty look. "I just..."

"Yeah, I get it." Rishia put up her hand to make Akagi stop and that she shouldn't start the whole apology train. "I didn't have the guts to punch Mom's lights out... So I appreciate you doing that, even if it was entirely self-serving and utterly aningless."

“Still felt good to watch, didn't it?” Akagi asked, to which Rishia responded with a nasty smirk that told the Demon that the creation in front of her really was her.

"Soooooooo... I may as well ask this since I've got a weird opportunity, but how would you feel knowing that Shima and Taichi actually loved us but were mind-controlled into acting this way?" Akagi asked her past self, curious to see if her less jaded personality would feel different. “Your thoughts on this hypothetical?”

"Do you even have to ask?" Rishia scoffed, wondering why Akagi even bothered asking a question like that. "They can burn in hell. I don't care if they were controlled by puppet strings and forced to dance to a master's whims, they still treated like garbage. I won't forget or forgive what they've done to over the years, nor what they took from ."

{That second part is really the sticking point, huh? I wonder what a shrink would say here? Well, besides freaking out about this whole absurd situation.} (Akagi)

"Ok, good. So it's not just being unreasonably jaded and edgy to hate them with the firey passion of a thousand suns." Akagi said with a small laugh. "Nice to know I always felt that way. Yeah..."

"So, what now?" Rishia asked, deciding to move to the most poignant topic at hand. "You showed up in a mory, gave yourself so catharsis, and had a conversation with your 'past self' are you just going to fuck off and destroy ?"

"Probably?" Akagi replied with a tilted head, not really knowing what other answer she could've given. "At the end of the day, you're nothing more than a construct built off mories from my past. You have no real place outside of the darkest corners of my mind, and really shouldn't exist if I'm being honest."

"Not even going to pretend like you've got so plan in mind?" Rishia laughed derisively, not angry simply finding it funny how brutally honest Akagi was.

"I feel sorry, but I can't be guilted into doing sothing stupid like giving you a body in the real world and letting you run around to cause problems." Akagi said, glaring at her past self. "There is only one."

"Well, you're right about that." Rishia said as she hopped off the desk and walked up to the whiteboard. "And it's not exactly like I'm that mad anyway." She said as she picked up a marker and began drawing. "Thinking about it logically, I found out that I get revenge on everyone and turn the world into my little playground. I'd say that's not a horrible revelation on your way out. Not to ntion that I suppose it also ans I get to rest... I'm... I'm tired..."

"Yeah... I rember that feeling all too well." Akagi sighed as she watched her past self continue to draw with the red marker. "Who knows, I might've actually gone through with the whole jumping in front of a train plan without FWO."

{And knowing my luck I'd get fucking Isekai'd into an even worse life...} (Akagi)

"I would've certainly been better than being under Mom and Dad's thumbs for the rest of our lives." Rishia laughed as she continued to draw, the marker squeaking loudly as she moved it across the board. "Those two are just..."

"The worst?" Akagi finished for her.

"Utterly infuriating is the phrase I'd use, but sure." Rishia said, pausing as she moved to the other side of the board and continued. "Being controlled or not, how can you act as disgustingly as those two had? I an, seriously! It's night or day between Kana and ! That stupid girl always..." She paused her marker as she caught herself from going down a darker train of thought.

"It's good. Vent all you like. We tried fucking killing Kana once, and trust I get the jealously." Akagi motioned for her to continue. “Hell Kana even said it would be strange to not hate her over our disparate treatnt.”

"I an, like seriously! Co on, that damd goody two-shoes just gets whatever she wants! Like fuck , that girl gets all the praise, love and everything!" Rishia yelled as she continued to draw with angry fervor. "She aces a spelling test, she gets adoration. She posts a good ti on track and Mom and Dad act like she fucking won a gold at the Olympics! But ? I get a fucking B on a hard as-hell Math test and fuck it's like I just burned down an orphanage and the fire also blew up the puppy farm!"

{I'm stealing thatline.} (Akagi)

"Argh! I... I fucking hate that girl... In my heart I wish I'd actually gone through with things that night! But..." Rishia paused her drawing before taking deep breat to calm down. "I know.... I know that she doesn't deserve it... Kana... She's the only one in that house... That really loves ..."

"Love..." Akagi repeated that word quietly to herself. "Do you love Kana? Like family?" She asked.

"Of course I do!" Rishia yelled, finding such a question stupid. "That idiot little sister is the only thing I have! She's stupid enough to love a big sister like ... And... I really like having her around... She... She makes things bearable. Kana... She's special..."

{Yup.} (Akagi)

"Could you ever love soone else like that?" Akagi asked. “Could we ever have soone else truly special?” She was curious to see what her past self would say.

"Who fucking knows... And who cares..." Rishia said as she put down the marker, revealing her crude drawing of herself and Akagi which, while cute, was not very good. "Love doesn't matter when I'm going to fucking vanish anyway... And don't you already know the answer to that anyway? You love that Yumi girl, don't you?"

"..." Akagi did not answer, not because she couldn't admit that Yumi wasn't important to her but because the using the term love was simply not sothing she felt she could.

"Oh, co on! It's plain as day you do." Rishia groaned as she walked over to Akagi in a huff. "Argh! Did you create just to bounce romance issues off ? Because I swear to whatever God might exist out there that if I turned into so la dense love stupid idiot I'm better off disappearing before I can live to beco that myself!"

"Yup, that was my evil plan. Kukukuku." Akagi laughed as her past self got in her face. "Next we're having a pillow fight at the sleepover!"

"I really am annoying..." Rishia sighed before pulling back and putting her head in her hands. "Listen, I don't get what your stupid hangup is, but just dropit. I don't care enough to discuss anyone's love life, even my own."

"Fair." Akagi shrugged. “And really this is sothing I need to figure out myself. Well, even more myself than talking to so mories.”

"You... Just... Just at least make sure you actually take care of her and the others who helped us..." Rishia said with a look in her eye that made Akagi realize just how lonely she was in the past. "We had nobody... So... If we really ended up finding happiness... Then I won't forgive you for letting it go! I don't care if I am just so creation of our mories I'll fucking haunt your ass if you fuck this up for us!"

"A spooky, but understandable threat." Akagi laughed as she poked her past self in the stomach. "But don't worry, I won't allow that to happen... And perhaps you're right. Maybe I do..." She said as she leaned on the desk. "Bah! Who the fuck knows at this point... I'll suppose that figure it out eventually." She said with a small smile. "But... I think it's ti..."

"Yeah... I guess it is..." Rishia said as she looked out the window and watched as the world began to vanish as Akagi ended the mory. "But hey... Do you think you could grant one small request?"

"I suppose I owe myself that much at least." Akagi replied with a nod. "So, what do you want?"

______________________________________________________________________________

Not much ti had passed in the real world, and just as quick as Korex's attack had started it was over and the dark mist that enveloped the room dissipated revealing Akagi standing with her eyes close.

“Really now, even back then I was quite the demanding woman.” Akagi laughed as she slowly opened up her eyes. “But then again, I don't dislike that about myself. So sure, I'll fulfill that last request. If nothing else, it should be amusing to see what happens.” The Demon said before turning to the two heavily armored guards and extending her hand.“[Consumption.]” And with one word both were burned away and consud by the Demon. “I'll have Chloe handle the remaining Cultists, but first...” She said before turning back to the bunny-girl. “We need to handle you.”