The Red Hand

A few days after the attack on City Hall, Hishya found herself waiting in a park in downtown Tokyo. She'd received a message from Minazawa, who wanted to talk with her and so they chose this as a neutral meeting point. The two women had gotten along well enough in FWO, so Hishya was happy to meet with her, though she knew this wasn't just a social call. Just after noon, she caught sight of the purple-haired Minazawa entering the park, and she headed over to meet her.

The two stood several yards apart, Hishya might have gotten along with Minazawa, but her instincts told her to be wary.

{I think Akagi's paranoia is rubbing off on me.} She sighed internally.

"It's been a minute, hasn't it, Mina?" Hishya kicked a rock.

"Yeah, it's good to see you again. Should I call you Hishya or Nina?" Minazawa didn't like being called Purple Rose, so she figured she would check what she should call her.

"Hishya is fine. I'm not really Nina anymore now, am I?" Hishya gave a wry smile. The cultural festival hammered home the loss of her humanity.

"Then, Hishya, I think we should talk elsewhere, it's a little bit chilly out here, and I know a great café that has some amazing sweets." Minazawa smiled.

"Lead the way." Hishya gestured to her.

The two walked a few blocks up the main road before coming to a place called Café Barkul. Minazawa explained that it was run by another survivor named Asahi Yoikowa.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that Berry was a guy this whole time?!?" Hishya was shocked when she was told that the dryad woman she'd known in FWO was actually an adult man!

"Yeah, I was shocked when I found out too. But it's not uncommon for people to play characters of the opposite sex in VR, is it?" Minazawa knew a few people that did that for various reasons. "It's not like he was expecting to get trapped in the game and stuck as a woman for nearly four years, but he took it in stride." she shrugged.

"Now that you mention it, she did purposefully avoid being around us when we were in girls-only spaces." Hishya always assumed that she was into other women and was just shy.

"Yeah, he was too afraid to tell anyone the truth after so long, and he didn't want to use the confusion to his advantage." Minazawa laughed. "Gotta give him credit; he could have gotten away with a lot if he wanted to." Let's just say the players got stressed from time to time, and the game provided plenty of ways to relieve that stress.

The two chatted a bit more as they entered the café. Behind the counter was a man in his mid to late thirties.

"Hey Asahi," Minazawa greeted him. Ever since she'd joined the government's returnee team, she'd been coming here quite frequently since it was so close to the base.

"Good Afternoon." He smiled back. "I see you brought a guest." He gave a wry smile.

"Hey there Berry," Hishya emphasized the name Berry when she spoke causing the man to flinch.

"I hope you're not mad about that." His shoulders slumped. "I really wasn't trying to do anything bad when I made that character."

Seeing his dejected state, Hishya let out a howl of laughter. "Na it's fine. I don't really mind. I feel bad for you, being stuck in a different body for all that time. And having no one to confide in must have been pretty bad." Her own bodily transformation had affected her, so she could sympathize with him.

"Yeah, honestly, never thought I would be glad not to have gotten superpowers. Berry was nice, but I don't think I would want to be stuck like that forever." He laughed.

The three stood around the counter. "Speaking of changes." He looked at Hishya. "I've heard tale that you're a full-on dragon now. I even saw that fight with Akagi from the other day. That shit was crazy. Since when could you two do stuff like that?"

Hishya blushed slightly. "Ahh.... not everything for Akagi and I transferred into the real world on a 1:1 basis." She didn't really want to go into detail.

"We can see that." Minazawa pulled up a screenshot of the destroyed field before Yumi fixed it. "I knew you could do some crazy powerful moves in-game, but I see you've somehow gotten in more powerful." she sighed.

{And what does that say about Akagi if she beat Hishya without breaking a sweat?} Minazawa held back from speaking that question aloud.

"I know you're here for more than just to talk to an old man like me, so tell me what you want, and I'll bring it over; I doubt anyone will come today after what happened." He looked around at the empty café. "I finally get back home to my shop, and it looks like this." He shook his head. The recent attack by Libra had spooked the general population and most businesses were either closed or empty.

The two ordered some tea/coffee and a few cookies before taking a seat at one of the booths.

"I'm pretty sure I know why you wanted to talk with me, but I want to hear it from you first." Hishya dipped a cookie in the tea before munching on it.

Minazawa looked down at her tea for a moment before giving Hishya a determined look. "We need your help."

"I assume you want me to fight this group called Libra?" Hishya's face was expressionless as put on the persona she'd used in-game.

"Yes. Right now there are only five of us, four if you take Imp out since she can't fight." Minazawa took a sip of her coffee. "The way things are, I doubt we can beat ten players with four. Even without their gear, the three of them would likely have beaten me if not for Mixu's surprise."

Hishya recalled the explosion that took down Herlex. "So that's who that was. Who else do you have?"

"Me, Imp, Mixu, Superbia, and Excelsior. Our team leader Aoi was also in FWO, but she didn't keep her abilities." Minazawa put down the empty cup.

"Aoi?" Hishya didn't recognize that name.

"Sugera was her name in FWO. She ran things at the command center and helped with supply and logistics. She was apparently part of Tokyo P.D. before the game." Minazawa explained.

"Ahhh, I remember her. She was always super helpful." Hishya smiled as she called the face of the girl.

"So, as you can see, we're pretty limited in terms of manpower. We've been trying to contact other players to see if they'll help, but most have been standoffish." Minazawa couldn't blame them after they saw what the government tried to do to Akagi.

"And you think that by adding me to the mix, you can win?" Hishya was quite powerful, but she didn't think that she alone could defeat so many people.

"At the very least, it would help. Perhaps with you on the team, others would join too." The Hero's call for aid might be quite useful.

"It's not that I don't want to help, it's just that...." Hishya thought for a moment. "If I do agree to join, that would place a target on my parent's back, and I don't want to risk them getting dragged into this fight. You and I both know Armalthy wouldn't hesitate to go after them." Hishya's parents meant the world to her and she didn't want to put them in danger. "And it's not like you can guarantee their safety, and I most certainly don't want to lock them away until the danger has passed."

"You're right and we're all worried about what might happen to our families." Minazawa's own family was at risk of her actions. "But that's the price we were willing to pay to use our powers for good." She continued. "Look, I'm not going to pretend I know what happened between you and Akagi, but I know that you're a good person and you care about others. But, the Hishya that I know would never sit back and let innocent people suffer. I understand your life was changed by virtue of your disease being cured so I won't sit here and make demands. I just ask that you consider my offer, please." Minazawa pleaded for her help.

"I... I'll think about it, ok." Hishya couldn't refuse outright, Minazawa was right, she did want to help, but her fear of losing her family was holding her back from jumping straight into the action.

"Good." Minazawa let out a deep breath. "There is one more thing I need to talk to you about."

"Oh? What's that?" Hishya didn't expect more questions.

"We need to get in touch with Akagi, do you think you could help facilitate that? I know you've been keeping in close contact with her, so she might listen to you. Aoi would be the one meeting her. I just want you to bring the idea of that meeting to Akagi's attention. I suspect that Akagi will deal with everything else on her own." Minazawa knew Akagi's subordinates were quite good at relaying information or getting into places they shouldn't be able to, so if Akagi wanted to meet with Aoi, they would know.

Hishya was a little reluctant to work as the middleman between the government and Akagi. "I don't know, Akagi and I agreed to stay out of each other's way. The last thing I need is for her to think I'm working with the government. She told me she didn't care if I did but..." Hishya still didn't want to do anything that could upset her.

"All you need to do is say that while you met with me, I asked about a meeting between you and Aoi, that's all." Minazawa tried to convince her.

"Ehhhhh..... fine." Hishya relented. "I'll tell her that Aoi wants to meet, but I don't guarantee anything, Akagi might tell you all to take a hike after what happened." She couldn't tell how much resentment Akagi had for the kidnapping of her sister, but she couldn't imagine her just forgiving and forgetting.

"That's fine." Minazawa nodded. "By the way." She continued. "You don't have to answer this if you don't want to but... what's up with you and Akagi? Why are you so afraid of her? You were never like this before." It was a question Minazawa wanted to ask ever since she saw that interview. "I know she's strong, but what you said during the interview didn't really make sense to me and I know a lot of people had questions. I've met Akagi many times over the years, she can be unsettling at times but the way you spoke about her really didn't jive with what I've seen." Minazawa didn't really understand Hishya's whole monster in the guise of human explanation.

Hishya let out a dry laugh.

"Minazawa, let me tell you this. That night before Hassan, I was given a glimpse of the monster that lies within her."

"You mean that shadow?" Minazawa saw it on the news but didn't think it was anything special. They'd seen that ability in game, and while creepy it was nothing more than an ability.

"NO." Hishya shook her head rapidly. "Listen, I have no clue what Akagi is, but she's not human, Mina."

"???" Minazawa still didn't understand. There were plenty of non-human returnees, herself included. "I still don't understand."

"She was never human Minazawa. Even before FWO!" Hishya's body twitched as she said this. "I don't know what the hell she is, but when I gazed into the blackness that was her soul that night, It stared back, and it looked at me as if I was nothing more than food." Hishya's face paled slightly upon remembering that night. “I don't know if Akagi is aware of this fact, but I have a feeling she might be. She is anything but another player and you would be foolish to lump her in with us.”

Minazawa had no idea what to say or how to take Hishya's words. The thought that Akagi was something other than a human before FWO flew in the face of all logic. This world didn't have demons, monsters, or other race. A fact that Mizumi had confirmed earlier, so if she wasn't human, just what was Akagi? And how did something like this happen? These questions and more raced through her mind as the two women sat silently at the table.

{How.... how is something like that even possible?} Minazawa thought to herself.