The Red Hand

Chapter 266 – Cat Family.

"But Sister, I want to pet the kitty!" Miji cried out quietly as she sat on a chair next to her sister. "You've had her for too long!" She puffed up her cheeks in protest. “Give me the kitty!”

"You can pet her later." Yumi sighed. This had increasingly become the norm, and Miji was practically attached at the hip to Akagi, who was currently sitting in the Priestess' lap being pet by her. "Besides, you were just petting her earlier! Give me a turn!"

{Don't try and hog her all to yourself! I need my kitty love too!} (Yumi)

"But Sister hogs her all day!" Miji continued pouting, wanting to cuddle the fluffy cat.

{Stingy!} (Miji)

After Superbia and Hishya's destructive battle, things were put on hold yet again to allow for extensive repairs to the arena. Akagi figured it would take a while due to the significant amount of damage so she went into the infirmary to check on Hishya and Superbia who were covered in bandages while laying in hospital beds.

"You really know how to overwork me." Mimi grumbled at Akagi as she sat at a small desk filling out paperwork. "These two really did a number on each other! You're lucky we had all those potions!" She'd been in charge of healing everyone who got beaten up, and she was becoming exasperated by just how bad the injuries were.

"But it's all good. At least you can't say you were bored, right?" Akagi snickered as Yumi played with her ears.

"I'd rather that I didn't have to be treating countless people who had one foot in the grave." Mimi sighed as she put a paper down and spun around in her chair to face the Demon. "Why do these idiots keep beating each other's brains out like this? Where is the self restraint?" She figured that it was stupid to basically treat this like a series of death matches, even if there was good enough medical care to stop actual death.

"Because most of them are stubborn." Munechika's form appeared next to her sleeping sister as she answered. "Akari here is probably the worst of the bunch." She giggled. “Its in her DNA to be stubborn and hot headed, and I've known Hishya long enough to say she's not much better.”

"I was wondering when you'd pop back up." Akagi hopped onto the end of Superbia's bed, much to Yumi and Miji's disappointment. "You took quite a beating, and I was worried for a minute that Hishya actually killed you off." She wasn't sure what would happen to Munechika after her body vanished since Hishya had done significant damage with her blades.

Munechika giggled. "She simply forced me to go to sleep for a bit, but I'm fine now." She brushed away a bit of hair on Superbia's face. "I'm really proud of her, you know. She got so much stronger while I was gone." She gave a bitter smile, knowing the hardship that the Oni had gone through in her absence. "I knew that I meant so much to her, but to think my death..." She paused for a moment. "To think she would nearly go so far as to consider..." She couldn't bring herself to finish.

"I can relate, I suppose." Akagi sighed. "Without Yumi, I'd go crazy and kill everyone, so Superbia being driven into depression without you is understandable. At least to me anyway." Out of everyone here the Demon was the one that understood what it mean to fear loss and how losing your happiness could result in a plunge into despair.

"I don't want that though." Munechika sat down on the bed beside Akagi and pat her on the head, the Demon kitty replying with a mew. "Akari shouldn't have gone through such pain because of me... I... It's my fault she became that way." She blamed herself for everything that happened to Superbia, and thought that her own foolishness had caused her own sister such pain.

"No, it isn't. None of what happened is on you, Munechika." Akagi shook her head as she was scratched. "You tried to do what was right, and you went out of your way to help Gim and Grim. That they decided to kill you isn't your fault, nor should you shoulder the burden of Superbia's feelings."

"But still, she felt such grief because of my actions." Munechika still thought she was at fault, especially because she declined Superbia's request to go with her when she confronted the two Goblins. "I can't help but feel like a terrible sister for causing her such despair, intentional or not."

{How could I do that to her? She's the one person that I should never hurt...} (Munechika)

"Well, you're here now, aren't you?" Akagi commented. "You might be a bit different than you were before, being just a fragment of the larger soul, but I think that's good enough." She turned to the still-sleeping Superbia. "We were all wondering what caused our usual angry sourpuss to get all bright and happy, and it turns out it was because she got you back. So don't get all worried about what happened before. If you truly feel guilty, then make up for it by being at her side from now on." She figured that the best thing she can do is be by her sister's side.

"But can I?" Munechika asked, unsure if that was the right thing to do. "I'm... I'm not entirely sure that I'm really even Munechika..."

"You are a fragment of her soul, so why wouldn't you be?" Akagi asked, understanding the underlying fear.

"Because... Because...Am I not just something that shares her memories though?" Munechika said in a somber tone, fearing that she was a mere copy of the original. "I have no recollection of events after I gave my sword to Akari for maintenance, which I suppose makes sense since I was apart from the 'main' me... So doesn't that just make me a copy of her sister rather than the real person? Is... Is it even right for me to go ahead and act like Munechika?"

{Can I even call myself Munechika? Am I nothing more than something that shares her memories?} (Munechika)

The topic at hand hit quite close to home since the Miji who was bickering with Yumi was technically the same thing.

{I suppose that kind of question is hard to answer, at least for the average person...} (Akagi)

"I suppose I could go into all the technical details and explain why you're wrong and that you are just as much Munechika as the one who died at the hands of Gim and Grim." Akagi sighed, figuring that while she knew that to be the case that most mortal beings couldn't be so sure. "But I'd say the best answer is that it doesn't matter what you think that you are or what you think is ok." Akagi glanced at Superbia. "Superbia is content to have you here with her, and I'd say that's all that matters. Thinking about it any deeper is not only pointless but counterproductive." She was basically just saying to be whatever the pink Oni wanted her to be, even if she herself was unconvinced.

"I know but... I just don't want to hurt her again..." Munechika grabbed onto Superbia's hand, squeezing it softly. "I'm afraid that one day she'll come to see me as a liar and hate me..." The last thing she wanted was for Superbia to wake up one day and call her a fake.

"I... could... never... hate... you..." Superbia said as she slowly opened her eyes, surprising Munechika. "You're Moonie... I don't... care... about the... details." She slowly reached her other hand over and put it on top of her sisters. "I... have... you back... that's all... that... matters." She smiled.

"Are you sure?" Munechika seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Even if I don't even really understand what I am?"

"Didn't you hear what Akagi said?" Superbia laughed painfully. "You are Moonie and her word... Is good enough for me... So don't worry about it..." She figured that if Akagi said everything was good then that's all she needed.

"Aww. She likes me." Akagi snickered as she hopped next to Superbia. "But that doesn't mean I'll give you special petting privileges! You'll have to get snuggle time like everyone else!”

"Stupid... cat..." Superbia grumbled before slowly falling back to sleep, still exhausted from the day's battle.

"I'm surprised she stayed awake for that long." Mimi sighed as she came over to check on the sleeping Oni. "Superbia is one tough girl..." She shook her head. “But even still, she shouldn't've used her power that much.”

"She's my older sister! This is nothing for her!" Munechika giggled as she wiped away the tears in her eyes as everyone started to laugh.

"Hey...Could you idiots keep it down..." Hishya grumbled from her bed, awoken by the lively atmosphere. "Some people are trying to sleep."

"Oops..." Munechika gave a wry smile. "Sorry."

"How are you feeling?" Akagi hopped over to Hishya's bed. "You were cut up nice and good after that one." She figured that even a tough Dragon like Hishya would need some good R&R after that battle.

"I feel like a kid who got hit by the Isekai truck, but then went to the hospital instead of another world." Hishya sighed as she looked down the bed at Akagi. "But I suppose I'll survive..."

"I had Mimi force-feed you both a bunch of potions and use magic to heal you, so you'll be fine." Akagi said as she hopped on top of Hishya's stomach.

"Get off me..." Hishya tried to put more energy into her words but was too tired.

"At least I'm not putting any weight on you." Akagi chuckled. She'd made her form weightless so that she wouldn't crush Hishya.

"I still don't want you on top of me." Hishya sighed. “So scram...”

"But you're so warm!" Akagi smiled as she nuzzled against Hishya, knowing full well that her fluff was unwanted.

"I swear to god, if you try and snuggle with me while I'm weak, I'm going to get out of this bed and end you, cat." Hishya hissed, not wanting the Demon to try and take advantage of the situation.

“Meanie!” Akagi pouted as she stopped her playful antics.

"Come on, Hishya. I think you should embrace the floof! After all they do say that having something cuddly nearby helps with recovery speed." Yumi snickered.

"Why does Hishya get to cuddle the kitty?!?" Miji pouted again. "It's not fair!"

{I want to snuggle with her! She's so warm and fluffy!} (Miji)

"Yumi, I will smack you silly if she actually does it." Hishya glared at the Priestess before looking over at Miji. "And you can have her. If anyone is gonna snuggle with me, then it should be Kana."

{I could go for a nap with her arms wrapped around me right now... That would be nice...} (Hishya)

"I could-" Akagi was cut off as Hishya knew exactly what she was going to say.

"Turn into Kana and try it, and I swear to god I will find a way to end your ass." Hishya glared at her.

"Angry lizard." Akagi hopped off her and into Miji's arms.

"Kitty!" Miji squeezed her happily.

"Where is Kana, anyway?" Hishya asked about her missing girlfriend. "I figured she'd be down here to check on me."

"She came earlier but left figuring that you'd be fine." Akagi answered as Miji squeezed her. "At this point, you've exploded so much that this is kinda normal." Kana wasn't all to worried and was currently hanging out with the girls.

"Well, darn, I was hoping I could get her to feed me dinner!" Hishya laughed, wincing in pain as she did. "I was planning on hamming it up real good for her! Maybe tug on those heartstrings!" She'd even thought about faking being unable to walk so that Kana would have to carry her around.

"Good thing I have Yumi here who will always spoil me as much as I want." Akagi snickered as she looked at the Priestess.

"At this point, Miji might need to take over." Yumi huffed, feigning heartbreak. "You seem to like her more than me at this point."

"You say that, but remind me, who was it last night who wanted kitty parts so we could play around on the big futon?" Akagi smirked. "You enjoyed flopping around together, and my ear scratches had you very happy."

"DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT!" Yumi ripped Akagi out of Miji's arms and began to strangle her. "YOU IDIOT!"

{DO NOT REVEAL THAT WHICH SHOULD BE A SECRET YOU STUPID IDIOT!} (Yumi)

"But you were so cute! I should really show everyone the pictures later." Akagi said as she was shaken back and forth.

"Can you make me into a kitty too?!?" Miji's eyes sparkled as she imagined having her very own cat ears.

"If you're a good girl, sure!" Akagi laughed, and her words only made Miji even more excited.

"Don't go changing Miji into a cat-girl! I will not allow it!" Yumi continued to shake the small Catkagi violently.

{THAT SHOULD BE AN US ONLY THING!} (Yumi)

"We can all become kitties together, Sister!" Miji continued to imagine the fun they would have together. "Please!" Her gaze and pleas caused Yumi to stop strangling and shaking Akagi before finally sighing.

"M-Maybe..." Yumi couldn't say no to both her sister and Akagi on this issue since they were just too cute to deny. "But only for a little bit!"

"Yeah!" Miji cheered as she took Akagi back and started petting her again. "I get to be kitty too!"

"What the hell did I wake up to?" Hishya looked to Munechika and Mimi, who both shrugged.

{Great, now my brain wants to see Kana get changed into a cat-girl too...} (Hishya)

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