The Red Hand

The next morning, as she was sitting on top of a shrine, Akagi received a phone call from Kana.

"Onee-chan, where are you?!?" Kana was slightly worried since Akagi never came home last night. "I'm getting ready to go to school and your still not back! Is everything alright? Yumi said she'd not heard anything from you since you left." Yumi was used to this and told her not to worry, but Kana still did.

{Yeah, I probably should have texted her, huh?} Akagi had been wandering aimlessly throughout the night and had lost track of time. {Oops.}

"Yeah, everything's good." Akagi chuckled. "I guess I got a little more distracted than I thought. Sorry about that."

"I mean, it's fine. I just wish you would have said something." Kana calmed down. "I thought you ran off on me...." She was worried that Akagi was mad at her or just walked away from her without saying anything, she'd gone into a slight panic.

"No, I haven't run off. I'd never ever do that to you or any of my family." Akagi shook her head. "My outing just ended up being a bit longer than expected and I lost track of time. I'll be home before you get back from class today, so don't worry."

"Where are you anyway? In Kyoto?" Kana at least wanted to know where she was.

"I'm in Nagoya, actually, at a shrine above the city in the mountains. I'm just kinda wandering around right now, no real plan." Akagi stood up and stretched.

"Ok, well, please be careful. Alright?" Kana was still worried, but less so now that she knew where her sister was.

"As always," Akagi spoke with her a bit longer before Kana hung up to go to school. The shrine she was at was on top of a mountain that overlooked Nagoya, and from where she was standing, she could see the entire city. It stretched out around the shoreline and was massive. Apparently, Hishya had an Aunt and Uncle that lived here that'd she'd visit occasionally.

"I need some fucking stress relief." Akagi shook her head. "I can't worry others with my own issues." Normally, Akagi would take out her stress by gaming, but without the ability to full dive her options were limited. "What the hell can I do to blow off some steam at seven in the morning?" There were a few options, but nothing she could think of would satisfy the itch in her mind. She didn't want to just goof around she wanted to have fun. "Hmmmm. I could go harass someone, haven't done that in a bit. That would definitely be fun, but who?" Akagi thought for a moment before her face changed to an evil grin. "Ohhhhh, that would be absolutely amazing." She changed her shape to look like Superbia, letting out a laugh as she jumped in the air and began running in the direction of Tokyo.

{Let's see how much entertainment they'll give me.} Akagi laughed in her head.

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Mixu was standing on top of one my the many skyscrapers in Tokyo. She was currently on patrol, and with Superbia down, she was one of two members of the RRT in Tokyo. She was mostly confined to metropolitan areas since if caught out her ability to fight in close combat was limited at best.

"God, I hate all this waiting around." She said as she smoked a cigarette. "How long is it going to take the Americans to actually send us some better help? Killing Ichimon was start, but I want to go on the attack. Not just sit here and play protector." Libra had been getting bolder with their attacks, and with only seven of them, they were struggling to stop each attack by Libra. Luckily they'd been keeping their terrorism to larger cities, so it was a little easier to deal with them.

"Looking for some excitement, are we?" A voice came from behind Mixu causing her to spin around and see the unexpected sight of her Oni friend standing before her.

"Superbia?" Mixu was surprised to see her. "I thought you were supposed to be out for a few more days?" She was told Superbia would be out of commission for a bit longer, so seeing her here was unexpected.

 

"What can I say. I got bored and I needed this." (Akagi)

"Still, I would have liked a heads up." Mixu shook her head. "But if you're here then help me with overlapping the patrol area." She turned around and went to activate her comm. But as she did, she was suddenly pushed forward, nearly falling off the building. Annoyed, she spun around in anger.

"What the hell was that?!? I could have fallen, you idiot!" Mixu exclaimed.

"I couldn't have you contacting home, now could I?" Akagi said twirling the communications device around her finger. "That would ruin the fun."

"Wha- Superbia! What are you doing?" Mixu drew her pistol and pointed it at her. "Answer me!"

"I told you... I'm bored, and I wanted some entertainment." Akagi chuckled at her questions. "So your going to play with me!"

"You! Who are you!" Mixu exclaimed. "You're not Superbia. I can tell by that look in your eyes! Are you one of Libra?" Mixu saw through Akagi's disguise, which wasn't that surprising since Mixu was good friends with Superbia.

"Maybe, Maybe not." Akagi shrugged. "But, I'm not here to fight. Like I said I'm bored, and I want you to play with me for a bit. At least until I have to head back home." She smiled.

"I don't have time for your antics. Give me back my communicator and get the hell out of here! And stop imitating my friend!" Mixu pointed her pistol at Akagi.

"Then would you prefer if I copied you?" Akagi transformed into Mixu. "Is this better?" She pushed her hair back dramatically.

{Who the hell is this? I don't detect a skill being used to disguise them.} Mixu knew this had to be a player, but which one was eluding her.

"Listen, I don't have time for your antics. If Libra shows up I need to be ready to go at a moment's notice. If you're bored, go bug someone else!" Mixu wasn't interested.

"If you don't play with me, then I'll go walk around Tokyo with your face and embarrass the hell out of you." Akagi knew Mixu wouldn't like that. "Maybe suck some people's blood? That would be fun." Akagi laughed

"You wouldn't dare!" Mixu hissed. "I'll fucking end you if you even try it!"

"Well then." Akagi turned around and walked toward the edge of the building. "You better catch me if you want to keep your dignity intact." Akagi let out a laugh as she jumped off the side of the building and ran full speed down its length.

"Shit!" Mixu cursed the mysterious copycat and ran after her. "Get back here, you son of a bitch." Thus began a full-speed chase across Tokyo, Mixu wasn't exactly speedy, so Akagi held back enough so that things would be interesting. The two hopped across rooftops, ran along the sides of buildings, and zoomed down streets. Mixu couldn't afford to just let Akagi go, since she would absolutely go through with her threat, and the communicator she stole was quite important.

"Get your ass back here!" Mixu screamed as the two bounced between rooftops. "Stop running away and face me!"

"Come on, old lady! I thought vampires didn't age, so why are you so slow? Or is the sun too bright?" Akagi added shades to her copied version of Mixu.

"I'll old lady you, you BRAT!" Mixu fired several pistol shots at Akagi in an attempt to slow her down.

"Hey!" Akagi exclaimed as she dodged the bullets. "I said I don't want to fight, so why are you shooting at me!" Akagi started running backward at this point. "You're cheating!"

"Give me back my earpiece and take your lumps, and I might be inclined to let you go!" Mixu was quite annoyed.

"Jeeze, why are you old people always so testy?" Akagi let out a laugh as she increased her speed. Mixu wasn't actually that much older than her, but Akagi always called her old to get under her skin. "Do I need to start sending you brochures for your retirement home? Well wait your so old so it would be better to just skip that and start talking to funeral homes!" Akagi laughed. "How's cremation sound?"

"Oh, that's it! When I get a hold of you, I'm going to skin you alive!" Mixu screamed as she also accelerated. The two bounced across the Tokyo skyline, Akagi always one step ahead, much to Mixu's anger.

Akagi was enjoying herself, and seeing Mixu get upset just made things all the more fun for her. Deciding to take up the irritation another notch, she decided to switch to Imp's appearance.

"Yes-yes." she cackled. "Capture-subdue me!"

"I swear to god if you actually are Imp...." Mixu wasn't sure who this was, but at this point, she wouldn't put it past Imp to screw with her. Getting even more heated at the sight of "Imp's" teasing, she fired off more rounds at Akagi.

{What the hell is Hoshino doing? Why hasn't she come to check on me or figured out what's going on?} The two were supposed to have check-ins, so Mixu's loss of comms should have triggered an alarm at the base. {That idiot is probably goofing off!}

Around thirty minutes passed as Mixu tried and failed to capture Akagi before Hoshino showed up. Akagi swiftly transformed into Mixu and decided to extend her play session. Hoshino landed on the rooftop and was greeted by two Mixu each looking identical.

"Ah, hell." Hoshino sighed when she saw this. "Now I have to deal with this guessing game..."

"Hoshino!" Akagi yelled. "Where the hell have you been? I've been chasing this idiot across Tokyo for almost an hour!" She decided to lean into the joke even harder. "She went and turned into me to confuse you, quick take her down!"

"Oh no, you don't." Mixu yelled. "I'm the real one. This idiot is the fake!"

{I never thought I'd see this stupid routine for real...} Mixu complained in her mind.

"Don't listen to her. I'm the real one!" Akagi yelled. In her mind, she was losing it over the absurdity of this situation.

"Uhhh." Hoshino had no idea which was which. "Yeah, so...."

"It's so obvious. Just ask me about stuff we've gone over at our meetings, this idiot can't know that stuff!" Mixu pointed out an easy way to discern which of the two was real, but Akagi was prepared for this.

"Hold up!" Akagi interrupted. "She could be a member of Libra! If you start talking about important stuff, it could get back to their leaders. That's probably why she's doing this stupid thing!" That is something Akagi would do.

Mixu grumbled since Akagi was right. "Then how about you just bring us both back to base? I have no issue with that." She looked at Akagi. "What about you, faker? Don't want to go into enemy territory?"

"And just let you into the heart of our operations? Not gonna say that I fully agree with that, but if it's needed to prove that I'm real, let's do it." Akagi decided to go along with it since it wasn't like they could hold her. "I can interrogate you when everyone gets back."

{They actually agreed?!?} Mixu didn't expect this and was now sketched out. {What the hell is the plan!}

"Maybe we should call for some help?" Hoshino was still confused. "I have no idea what to do."

This started an argument between Mixu and Hoshino over what to do next. Akagi just stood and watched, since the two were providing more entertainment than she could ever hope to create herself. She was half tempted to pull up a chair and eat popcorn while the two screamed at each other.

It took an astonishingly long fifteen minutes for the two to stop arguing and realize that the other Mixu was just casually watching them.

"Oh no. *SIP* Don't mind me. Please continue.*SIP*" Akagi got out a drink while she was waiting.

"Listen, please stop this..." Mixu. "I'm tired, and this is a complete waste of our time."

"Well." Akagi put her hand on her chin. "I guess we can wrap this up. The elderly don't have much energy, and picking on them isn't right." Akagi chuckled.

"I'm not-" Mixu froze as the wheels in her brain turned. "Wait! AKAGI IS THAT YOU!" There was only one person who called her old, and it took her all this time to connect the dots.

"Wait, what!" Hoshino exclaimed as she heard what Mixu yelled. "Akagi?"

"Took you long enough." Akagi reverted to her normal form. "You old people really are slow on the uptake." Akagi laughed as she threw the comms device back to Mixu.

Mixu caught it and then collapsed onto the rooftop. "Why are you like this? And why am I so stupid for not seeing it sooner!" Now that she thought about it, it was so obvious. Akagi was the only person who could freely transform into other people without setting off her detection. 

"Don't feel bad about it. At your age forgetting this and being a bit slow is natural." Akagi said sarcastically. "Just go back home and snuggle in with a warm blankey."

"ARGH!" Mixu cried. "I'm a Vampire I don't even age!"

"Akagi." Hoshino looked at her. "What was the point of all this? Please don't tell me you joined Libra or something?" She was hoping that wasn't the case.

"Me? Join Libra?" Akagi let out a laugh. "Hell no, and as for why I did this, it's because I was stressed and needed to let off some steam. Plus a bit of boredom."

"Please don't use us as stress relief." Mixu's face was in her hands. "You really just.... ugh..... I fucking hate you."

"Wasn't that fun though? I know I feel better." Akagi stretched. "And come on vampy aint we best buddies!"

"Define fun," Mixu commented back. "Because I think we've got different definitions of that word."

"Well, I feel better, and I think that's good enough." Akagi gave a big smile. "I've got to head back to Kyoto. Thanks for playing with me Mixu, and Hoshino." Akagi looked at the girl. "At the rate things are going, you're going to die. See ya!" Akagi saluted with her fingers and disappeared in a black puff.

"What did that mean?" Hoshino got a chill.

"The fuck man. Why is she always like this?!?" Mixu sighed as she slumped over. "I need a drink... or five. Hoshino, this is partially your fault so your buying."

"What!" Hoshino cried.