The Red Hand

Chapter 6 – A Yokai in Modern Kyoto

Naomi was a member of an old and historically important family. The Tokugawa clan had ruled Japan for two and a half centuries before it was forced to step down. While culturally and historically significant the modern-day clan had little in the way of political power, and influence. There had been an attempt to revive some of their power by her grandfather and father but those attempts ended when the rest of her family was killed six years ago.

Growing up, Naomi's grandfather used to tell her fascinating tales and stories about their clan's history. He told her tales of battle, conquest, love, passion, and glory. The nights when her grandfather told her these stories while she lay in bed are some of her favorite and most important memories. Among these stories, one always stood out to her, it was one her grandfather had told her many times.

Since ancient times, stories of Yokai and other monsters existing in Japan had been a staple of the storytelling and culture of the islands. Some stories told of horrifying monsters which killed people and tormented them. Others told of Yokai who protected people and provided prosperity to their lands. Today, these stories are seen as nothing but fairytales and fictional accounts used to explain natural phenomena or unusual events. After all, with modern technology, if Yokai did exist why had no one seen them in over two hundred and fifty years? Why had stories of Yokai existing alongside humans vanished after the Meji restoration?

Naturally, young Naomi had asked her grandfather this very question and he replied with a story passed down from their ancestors from the Edo period.

"For all of history, Yokai and humans existed side by side. Sometimes they fought, and sometimes they worked together. The Yokai thrived in the darkness, while humanity thrived in the light. Over the centuries, the amount of darkness that Yokai could live in slowly diminished until virtually none remained. The Yokai became afraid, fearful that they would be driven to extinction by humanity. At this point, they knew they could never win a war against us so they chose another path. In 1836 the commander of the Night Parade of one-hundred demons met with Tokugawa Ienari and Emperor Ninkō outside of Kyoto. After days of intense negotiations, the Shogun and the Emperor agreed to give the Yokai a place where they could live in peace to end the millennia-spanning conflict." (Naomi's Grandfather)

When asked where that place was, her grandfather could only answer that no one knew. He told his granddaughter that they didn't even know if this exchange happened as they only had an oral legend that was passed down. However, he told her this, that if she ever came across a Yokai; she should treat them with the utmost respect.

The moment she saw Akagi's form sitting on the windowsill, she recalled her grandfather's stories.

"You're.....You're a Yokai," Naomi said with not a shred of doubt. "My grandfather used to tell me stories about them, and I never really believed them, but standing here right now." She gulped. "I just know. I don't know how but I just do."

"EHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Onee-chan is a Yokai!!!!!!!" Kana yelled.

"That's so fucking cool! Why didn't you ever tell us, Kana? (Mika)

"Wait, Wait, Wait. Onee-chan can't be a Yokai! That doesn't make any sense she's my sister and I'm not a Yokai. And I'm pretty sure neither of our parents are Yokai?!? (Kana)

It was clear that Naomi's sudden declaration had caused quite a bit of confusion.

"Hahahahahahaha." Akagi burst out laughing. "No Kana you're not a Yokai, and neither are our parents. Shut the door behind you and take a seat; I guess I have some questions to answer."

The girls entered the hospital room and closed the door behind them before finding places to sit.

"First things first. Yes, I am a Yokai." Akagi answered with a wry smile.

"I knew it!" (Naomi)

"Squee." (Mika)

"Onee-chan, I'm gonna need you to explain how you suddenly became a mythical creature. AND EXPLAIN IT IN A WAY I CAN UNDERSTAND PLEASE!" Kana said with a scary look in her eye.

"Eeep, it's the scary Kana. Where is the salt when you need it?" Mika remarked.

"I don't think salt will be enough, we probably need an onmyoji to keep scary Kana under control." Naomi quipped.

Kana responded by giving the two of them the look which caused them to straighten in compliance.

{Kana, you make me so proud.} (Akagi)

"So, I know Kana is aware, but have the two of you heard that some of those who survived FWO had their appearance changed to match their avatars? Akagi asked.

"I heard rumors about it but, I never imagined they were true." (Mika)

"I was aware of this. My family's network allowed me to access some of the records of those who had awoken from the game." (Naomi)

"Ehh, you can do that?" (Mika)

"I don't really like to talk about it, but yes," Naomi replied with a conflicted expression.

"Should you be telling us that?" (Kana)

"If your sister is going to be honest with us, it's only proper that I return that favor." (Naomi)

"Interesting, when Kana told me you were from the Tokugawa family, I figured you might have access to more information than the average person." Akagi mused. "I can confirm that those rumors and the information you gathered were accurate. My appearance now is that of my avatar in FWO."

The two girls looked at Kana who nodded saying.

"Onee-chan looks very different than before. Here look." Kana shows the two an image of Akagi on her phone from before she was trapped in FWO.

"Wow, she does look different. Like a lot different." Mika remarked.

"That's a dramatic change. How is that even possible." (Naomi)

"As for how, I've got my running theories but ill hold off on those for now," Akagi replied. "However, what's important is that it wasn't just my appearance that changed, but rather my race changed with it." (Akagi)

Akagi continued.

"In FWO everyone started as a human it was the default race for every new player. The game system for skills and abilities was intended to be dynamic and would allow players to be as creative/unique as possible. If you look at the marketing, this was something they were pushing big time." Akagi stated while twirling her Kiseru. "This customization went beyond skills and also included one's race. By performing certain actions or taking certain skills you could unlock a race that was specialized for your needs."

"For example, someone who wanted to do crafting could nudge the system towards allowing them to be a dwarf or gnome. This race would give bonuses to these skills and would likely give a better game-play experience if that was what you wanted to do." Akagi continued. "Of course, you were free to ignore these race options if you wanted to, they were only a guideline."

"This customization went beyond a surface-level amount of selectable standard races like Elves, Dwarves, and the like. Because the system was an extremely adaptable and flexible AI you could effectively create any race you wanted within reason if you knew how it worked." Akagi smiled.

"This led a few of the more dedicated players like myself to exploit the system until it gave us the perfect race for our build." Akagi continued. "In my case, I was an assassin, something which fell under the category of a rogue. I wanted more options for stealth, subterfuge, and the like. The standard races didn't fit what I had in mind, so I spent a great deal of time and effort creating a custom race." (Akagi)

"It took many attempts and I'm pretty sure I pushed the system to the absolute limit of what it would allow. But, in the end, I got what I was looking for." Akagi said with a grin.

"So the race you created was a Yokai?" Kana asked.

"While I am technically a Yokai; I am specifically a Nurarihyon, a type of Yokai which thrives on illusion, trickery, and darkness." (Akagi)

"Ehhh, isn't that the ugly old man with the big head? (Mika)

"That is one depiction of them, but the system was kind enough to work with me on this and allowed me a form more commonly seen in certain fiction I had read." (Akagi)

"And there you have it. I can't tell you why this happened, but at the very least, you know that I am indeed a Yokai now." Akagi stated while smiling at the girls.

"I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner Kana. I had planned on explaining all of this when we got home." Akagi apologized.

"It's ok I promised myself that I wouldn't push you to reveal anything until you were ready." Kana smiled.

Akagi looked over at Naomi who seemed to be struggling with a question in her head.

"If you have something on your mind, go ahead and ask I don't mind." (Akagi)

Naomi took a deep breath. "This has been a lot to take in. That a game could change someone so dramatically should be impossible."

Akagi gave a small chuckle at that.

"Let me ask you this." she continued nervously. "Were your race and appearance the only things that got carried over from the game?" (Naomi)

"Huh? What are you talking about Naomi?" Mika asked confused.

"Think about it." She replied, "If her appearance and race carried over couldn't things like her skills or items have been brought here too? For example, those clothes. They look far too expensive and well made for, pardon me for saying this, a family of your standing to afford." (Naomi)

"Excellent deduction; I can see why my sister thinks so highly of you," Akagi said while grinning. "These clothes are my set from the game, made by the finest Imperial tailors in the capital. They cost me quite a bit of money in FWO, but they were worth every coin."

"I knew it! Those clothes look like some of the antiques my family keeps in our collection. I knew there was no way you bought them from some modern shop, the quality is far too good for that. Naomi exclaimed.

"That's amazing. You got to bring game items into the real world!” Mika practically glowed with excitement.

"Onee-chan does that also mean you got to keep all your skills and abilities too?" Kana asked pensively.

Akagi simply chuckled and proceeded to slowly disappear before their eyes. Her form burned away in black shadow before she finally vanished completely.

(A/N See how Rikuo Nura disappears in Rise of the Yokai Clan)

"Ehhhh, Onee-chan?!? Where did you go." Kana yelled confused.

"She just disappeared right in front of us!" (Naomi)

"That was like something right out of an anime!" Mika was very happy.

A few moments later, the girls heard a chilling laugh echo throughout the room before Akagi's form reappeared in the same manner in which it had vanished.

"How about that? Neat trick huh? It's my personal favorite and one that I've gotten a lot of mileage out of over the years." Akagi said while taking another puff from her Kiseru.

"That's amazing you can turn completely invisible" Mika commented.

"Nope, I'm not actually turning invisible." Akagi corrected. "That's the first assumption people usually make when they see this ability, but it's wrong."

"But...." it was clear that the girl didn't understand.

"At this point, the other players already know so I don't mind sharing. What I'm doing is essentially overloading your brain's sensors with so much information that it blanks out the area where I am." Akagi continued. "A person's mind can only handle so much sensory information before it goes haywire. I exploit this by overwhelming it so hard that it has two choices, crash or just pretend it doesn't see the info, and well, it prefers not to crash."

"So basically, you DDOS our brains?" Kana asked

"Not a bad comparison except rather than your brain going offline for a bit, it just disregards the info packets." (Akagi)

"Um, then if you have your abilities and items does that mean other players do too?" Naomi asked looking concerned.

"Absolutely," Akagi confirmed with a serious expression.