The Red Hand

Chapter 15 – A Meeting Between Man and Monster.

Akagi emerged from the dark fog, stepping into a ray of light that managed to pierce into the garage. She gave off an air of elegance and maturity that seemed uncanny for someone her age. Her very form appeared cold and sinister, much like the darkness she emerged from. It was as if she were part of the shadows themselves. Many would use words like beautiful or comely to describe the woman in front of him. But to Chief Nakagumo, the only word he could use to describe her was: terrifying. No other words were appropriate, not because they were untrue, but because what was standing before him was not a woman; but a monster in the guise of one.

A moment passed, one that felt like an eternity to Chief Nakagumo, before Akagi said.

"I haven't seen that look in oh so long.” She flicked her hair. “It's quite interesting that you can see through the illusion." She said with a light chuckle. "Your face reminds me of when I met Hishya at Hussan the night before the battle. That girl was truly terrified, though she would never admit it." Her voice was warm, almost cheerful as she recalled that night. "I guess it's true; you've got to the enjoy the little things in life."

She continued.

"I'm glad to see you understand your situation Chief Nakagumo; perhaps that means you would be more open to answering my questions?" She asked with an innocent smile.

Chief Nakagumo found it difficult to speak. "I-I am a m-man of the law. I d-do not deal with c-criminals." He said while stuttering. "I have nothing to say to you." His difficulty speaking surprised him, he'd stared down hardened criminals before, but Akagi truly made him afraid.

{What kind of a monster was unleashed upon our world. Is this some kind of sick joke played by the gods.} The shadows she emerged from seemed to stare into his very soul, ready to consume him at a moments notice.

"Nothing to say.... I see." Akagi began to slowly circle around him. "I just wanted to confirm some of my information is all. You see, I know you've taken Kana and the girls and I know where they are at this very moment." She continued. " I know you want to use them as hostages against me, to provoke me into attacking, all so your politician friends can score points with the public."

She stopped, and turned to look at him. "I bet they're real proud of themselves right now." Akagi took a few steps closer. "They think they've won, don't they? Right now, I bet they're giddy imagining just how high those poll numbers are going to go and what they can do with the power of their "returnees." (Akagi)

Chief Nakagumo remained silent and kept his pistol trained on Akagi as she spoke.

"But you see Chief. They made two mistakes. Two mistakes that mean their entire plan was all for nothing." Akagi' frowned. "Your first mistake, Chief, was assuming that your forces and the returnees you've roped into helping you would be enough to beat me." She said as her eyes began to glow. "A common mistake really, the Empire for all its wisdom and power made the same one, and they paid the price. Even after the death of the crown prince, they didn't understand the difference between us. Truly a tragedy, wouldn't you agree?" She asked while getting closer.

As she approached, Chief Nakagumo felt a weight crash down upon him as the garage filled with pure darkness. He found it difficult to stand while the very air itself felt toxic to breath.

"Your second mistake." Akagi continued with an icy cold voice. "Was involving people I care about in our little game. I don't really care if you come after me; after all, it's what I signed up for when I became an assassin.” She stopped moving. “But when you involve others in an attempt to harm me." She gave a chilling laugh that seemed to echo throughout the darkness. "That

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is when I get just a little bit angry." Akagi's form became surrounded by darkness, almost melding with her, while her still glowing eyes locked themselves on Chief Nakagumo. Her calm voice belied her anger.

"So Chief what will it be? Will you answer my questions, or will I have to take something from you?" She asked with an evil grin on her face. “And I think I know exactly what to take.”

Chief Nakagumo couldn't answer. Not only was he too terrified, but he had his honor. No matter how dire the circumstances, he would never sell out his fellow officers or members of the government. Doing so would go against everything he ever stood for as a man of the law, he wouldn't cross that line. If she was going to kill him, then so be it.

{I'm sorry Saiyori, it looks like this is the end, please forgive me for being such a worthless husband.} (Chief Nakagumo)

Seeing this his reluctance to speak even in the face of mortal danger, Akagi relaxed the pressure on him. Chief Nakagumo felt the massive weight of Akagi's energy lift from his body and he found himself able to breath once again.

A moment later Akagi commented.

"A man of honor huh? Even if your life is in jeopardy you still won't abandon your principles. From what I've heard about you that's not surprising and I must admit it's quite refreshing to see someone like you around in today's day and age." Akagi gave a wicked smile. "However, can you still stay that way if someone you care about is put at risk? Just how far are you willing to go to hold onto it? Will you hold fast to that honor, if say..... your Granddaughter was here right now?" Akagi asked with an evil grin.

Akagi snapped her fingers causing the darkness behind her to swirl in a vortex. A moment later, a young girl with long black hair, and wearing a rain coat appeared. She was around Kana's age, her glasses were wet with rainwater and her hair was slightly damp. The girl staggered on her feet for a few moments before looking around.

"W-what? Where am I? I was just in front of my house wasn't I? Mom, Dad? Where did you go?" The girl looked around startled at being pulled from her home.

"Kimiko!" Chief Nakagumo screamed.

"Grandpa?" the girl looked straight at him. "What's going on? Where am I and why are you here?" She was completely confused. "Who is this girl?" she said while looking at Akagi.

{No.No.No.No. This can't be real. Kimoko is in Osaka with her parents, she can't be here, there's no way.} Chief Nakagumo attempted to rationalize the situation in his head.

Akagi could tell what he was thinking and smiled.

"If you're not sure whether she's real or not, allow me to prove it." Akagi walked towards the girl while drawing her Katana.

Chief Nakagumo watched Akagi get closer and closer to his granddaughter.

{There's just no way that's really Kimiko, Akagi can't have gone to Osaka and returned so quickly.} He still couldn't believe that he was seeing anything but an illusion.

"H-hey, Grandpa w-what's going on," Kimiko said while looking at Akagi. "D-don't come near me, s-stay away." She said backing away.

"Now now my dear, there's no need to be afraid," Akagi said while looking at the shaking girl. "I just need to show your grandpa that you're real, and for that well... I'm sorry but I think I'll need to do a little damage to you. Maybe just one arm will be enough to show you're here in the flesh." She looked back to Chief Nakagumo. "Will that be enough to prove to you that this is the real Kimko? Or should I chop off more?" Akagi said with a twisted smile.

{If... If she managed to get from Enryakuji to here in such a short time.... then is it really impossible she went to Osaka? ... how is such a thing even.....} Chief Nakagumo's thoughts were interrupted by Kimiko's scream.

"Grandpa help please!" She looked him straight in the eye falling backward as she attempted to get away from Akagi. She began to cry in sheer terror.

{If that is the real Kimiko and I refuse then..... I can't take that chance.} He thought making up his mind.

"Well kid, it seems grandpa doesn't believe that you're really here. Now tell me, do you write with the right or the left hand because I'll be nice and take the opposite." Akagi lifted her sword above her head ready to strike when suddenly.

"WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chief Nakagumo screamed at the top of his lungs. "Please don't hurt her, I believe you so please..." He practically begged.

Akagi held her hands in place and looked over her shoulder at him. "If you tell me what I want to know, then I might be convinced to let you both walk away from this,"

"What do you want? I'll tell you anything, just please don't hurt Kimiko." Chief Nakagumo said with a defeated voice.

"Lines like that make me seem like the villain, but I guess that's fine.” She turned to look at him. “I want to know everything. Who planned this whole operation, how high up it went, and just what the Japanese government is up to. If you tell me that, you just might get to enjoy your retirement Chief." She turned around and sheathed her sword. "Just FYI, I know some of these answers already so if you lie to me..." She looked back at the terrified girl. "Need I say more."

Chief Nakagumo proceeded to explain everything. He explained that the Prime Minister demanded that she be put down to quell public discontent. The government's plan was to provoke Akagi into action and then defeat her using military force. They were expecting the public to approve of such action, especially in light of who Akagi is, to calm public outcry and boost polling numbers. He told Akagi the names of all the key players involved and shared every last classified piece of information he knew, including the names of the returnees they had acquired.

Akagi already knew some of this information, due to her intel network, but having it confirmed like this was helpful. Some of it, especially regarding the returnees was new information. Apparently, they were even experimenting on some of those who had refused their invitation in an attempt to reverse engineering their abilities. That two members of the Mitsuhide family were involved was merely an amusing footnote.

What surprised her the most was that this entire operation was effectively off the books. Most of the Diet wasn't being consulted and this operation was being conducted without proper authorization. In fact, it seemed that the military was effectively running the show. This meant that the Prime Minister knew just how bad something like this would look and it showed how desperate he was. Chief Nakagumo even went so far as to give her the entire layout of Camp Katsura and explained exactly what the government was planning for the girls.

Of course, hearing that they were likely to be killed after the government was done with them boiled Akagi's blood, but that would soon be a non-issue. Hearing that Chief Nakagumo stayed in the operation to attempt to help the girls did improve her opinion of him somewhat, but Akagi was still disgusted.

{I knew they were idiots, but to go this far just to save their jobs; either they're stupid or naive. I suppose they just hoped to sweep the shady part under the rug in the aftermath.}(Akagi)

"That's it, that's everything I know. Please let Kimiko go." He pleaded. “She has nothing to do with this.”

Akagi thought about it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

"I've got everything I need, so why not. Mindless killing isn't exactly my thing anyway." She looked back at Kimiko. "Your grandfather cared enough about you to go against his principles as a member of law enforcement. Never forget that you were more important to him than his job." She started to walk away.

"Wait, you're not going to Camp Katsura are you? You understand they are waiting for you right? If you go there your sister and her friends will be in danger." He said walking over to Kimiko.

"Danger? Those girls have never been in danger." Akagi said shaking her head. "You couldn't harm those girls if you tried. Did you really think that I just let them wander around without any protection?" She laughed. "I knew something like this could happen, so I prepared accordingly."

"You-You knew this was going to happen? Then, that means we were just dancing in the palm of your hand doesn't it?" He gave an exasperated look before a sudden realization hit him. "Then, that means-" He stopped before finishing his sentence.

Rather than answer, Akagi simply laughed as she disappeared into the fog.

A few moments later, the fog disappeared and the sun began to shine into the parking garage. Kimiko had calmed down somewhat and asked.

"Grandpa? Who was that and what's going on?" Kimiko asked in a quiet voice.

"That... That was a monster, Kimiko. A monster that takes the form of a young woman, a monster that in our ignorance we underestimated; and now we must pay the price." He said while holding her tight. "Now let's go, I can imagine your parents are in a panic with your disappearance." He pulled out his phone and dialed his daughter's number as the two of them walked towards the elevator.

"Miya, it's me. Calm down for a moment. Kimiko is here in Kyoto with me, and she's safe." The woman on the other end of the phone was hysterical. "It's been one hell of a day and I'll explain everything later. Just for now, stay away from Kyoto things are about to get messy."

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