Chapter 41 – A Return to Normalcy.

Chapter 41 – A Return to Normalcy. Announcement

Just a heads up, there will be 2 chapters today to celebrate 20k views! Thank you so much!

The rest of the night came and went with little fanfare. Akagi, Yumi, Hishya and Kana ate dinner together and discussed more mundane topics; today's events had tired them out. As the night dragged on, Kana became nervous about returning to school the next morning, worried just how others would react. Akagi and Hishya told her to try and act as normal as possible. Hopefully, with a little prodding, the other students would return to at least some level of normalcy.

The next morning, Akagi was awake bright and early to see her sister off. Hishya was not exactly a morning person and decided to sleep in, causing both sisters to joke that she had embraced her draconic blood. The two discussed, briefly, the conversation with Mika about her brother, and agreed to revisit the issue of Akagi's involvement in her brother's death at a later date. Akagi figured that now was not the best time, and she even told Kana that they would likely be able to get away without ever telling her. Kana knew this, but the thought of lying to her friend made her uncomfortable.

"Alright, Onee-chan. I'm off!" Kana hugged her.

"Have a nice day, and don't worry. Everything will be fine, ok." Akagi hugged her back. "If you need me, don't hesitate to contact me. I'll never be more than a moment away." She smiled as Yumi teleported Kana to the courtyard of her school.

_____________________________________________________________________________

<Kana POV>

When Kana arrived in front of her school, her stomach tightened. The other students were awestruck as she, from their perspective, appeared out of nowhere. The stares of the other students who were waiting for the front doors to open made Kana feel like a weight was suddenly dropped on her shoulders. She was about to tell Yumi to take her back when the priestess cast a healing spell on her.

"Breathe," she said while rubbing her back. "It's alright. Take it slowly. Everything is going to be just fine." While her magic couldn't remove Kana's anxiety, it helped alleviate the physical symptoms of her stress. After a few moments, Kana collected herself and took a deep breath.

"Thanks, Yumi. Sorry for being such a pain." Kana scratched her cheek.

"Your welcome, and it's no problem at all. It's normal for you to feel like this, so don't think of yourself as a bother. My Lord wouldn't like that." Yumi gave a warm smile.

Feeling better, Kana gave Yumi a quick hug and walked over to Naomi and Mika who were sitting together on one of the benches. Once Yumi saw that she had united with her two friends, she teleported back to Akagi's estate.

"Wa-was that magic?" (Student A)

"That was the girl from TV!" (Student B)

"Why was Kana with her?" (Student C)

"I just hope her sister doesn't show up." (Student D)

The three girls tried their best to ignore the stares and the whispers about them. They figured this would happen, but knowing didn't make it easier. Once the front doors opened and the school began for the day, the three headed inside and prepared for class. The first day was rough, to say the least. As expected, the other students avoided them, and even Naomi and Mika's other friends were unwilling to approach them. From the whispers they could hear, the other students were afraid or at the very least, unsure of how they should act toward them. Many feared retaliation from Akagi if they were to upset them and so chose to keep their distance.

{I see Kana has learned a thing or two from that sister of hers} Naomi didn't know whether to be impressed or worried that Kana had picked up some of her sister's methods.

{When it comes to Kana, I don't think our classmates have a chance of beating her.} Mika chuckled.

"Hito." Kana looked at the boy.

"Y-yes!" he stammered.

"I'm sorry for your loss. Losing your brother must have been painful, but look me in the eye and tell me that allowing Mika, Naomi and I to die would be perfectly acceptable if that meant that your brother was still alive." Kana decided to go for the throat.

"Wha- that's.. that's not." he struggled to answer, as saying yes wouldn't exactly be the best option.

"Because that's exactly what would have happened." Kana slammed on the podium. "I spoke to General Iseyama and the soldiers on base, and guess what; they had every intention of killing us even if Onee-chan came along quietly and let herself be killed by the military!" Kana continued. "So tell me, not just Hito but any of you, tell me that letting the three of us die would have been better, that we shouldn't have lived and that Onee-chan should have let herself be killed when she had done nothing!" Kana's eyes showed determination. To Mika and Naomi, it was as if Akagi and Kana briefly overlapped.

None of the other students had an answer for her; they couldn't. Not a single one, not even Hito, could bring themselves to say that the three of them should have died. To do so would go against every piece of modern morality ingrained in them since childhood. Japan might still have issues with branding a criminal's family as pariahs, but that didn't mean a bunch of teenagers were willing to wish death on people simply because of who they were related to. When Kana presented the situation like that, her classmates were placed at a loss.

"I thought not," Kana smirked. "So tell me, do you still want to oust me as class rep? Because if you do, that means that all the work I've been doing will fall on someone else, and I can assure you it's not easy." After some murmuring, Hito sat down and withdrew his request.

"Good!" Kana smiled. "Now then, let's brainstorm some ideas for our festival project. Onee-chan will be coming, and I'm going to do everything to make sure it's perfect." Kana's eyes terrified the students. This would be the first time Akagi could come to her sister's cultural festival, and she was not about to let the other students prevent her from sharing such a moment with her.

{Scary Kana has gotten scarier.} (Mika and Naomi)

Spoiler

Scary Kana!

Miyako!

Hito!

[collapse]