The Red Hand

Chapter 217 – A Magical Girl Is Born!

"MEW~" Akagi happily purred as Chloe scratched her ears. The two were sitting on the couch in the living room, and the red-haired cat was giving her Demon kitty master some, absolutely necessary, attention.

"Myaster has taken to being a catkin very well, nya!" Chloe smiled. "You've come to understand the joys of ear scratches and the wonderful feeling of being pet, nya!" She laughed as she scratched Akagi's ears. The cat was one of the most vocal proponents of Catkagi, and enjoyed her new floofy master.

"MEW!" Akagi nodded in agreement. Chloe's hands worked their magic and Akagi's ears were subject to all the floofing.

As they were busy having fun in the living room, the girls came home from their little outing. "I see Akagi has added another girl to her harem." Mika giggled as she, Kana, and Naomi entered the living room, hands filled with shopping bags. “Though this member isn't really a shocker.”

"I am a proud member of myaster's petting harem!" Chloe smiled. "I will provide her with floofing on demand, and as many snuggles and treats as she could ever desire!" She currently had a small pack of cookies that she was feeding Akagi, and there were crumbs on the Demon's mouth indicating that she'd already eaten quite the high number of cookies.

{Lucky you that eating all those sweets has no negative consequences...} (Kana)

"I'd bet that even after she got married, Chloe would still prioritize petting her master." Naomi chuckled. “I can only imagine how that would go.”

"Yeah, her poor husband would probably be forced to sleep on the couch if Akagi ever wanted to snuggle." Kana chuckled.

"Marriage?" Chloe tilted her head. "I won't get married. I already have myaster, nya!" She smiled as she squeezed Akagi tight, causing Akagi to meow.

"Oh no, the harem has become real." Mika was still laughing. “I guess we should've expected Akagi to take on more wives as time went on.”

"I knew there was more to your relationship than just ear scratches!" Kana pointed at her sister accusingly.

{YOU FIEND!} (Kana)

"Mew..." Akagi glared at her sister and gave an grumbly meow.

"Myaster is my myaster, so I belong to her." Chloe gave a tooth smile. "I need no one else, as I already have her!"

"I thought Chloe wasn't actually a... um... intern." Kana coughed not wanting to say the word slave.

"She is not a slave, Kana." Akagi sighed, saying the word Kana was unwilling to. "It's just that she is quite attached to me, as you can see." She next turned to Mika. "And no, while I am well aware Chloe would be down to be my wife or the equivalent it's not happening. I've got Yumi, and I don't need anyone else. What do you think I am, some kind of anime harem protagonist who has like a dozen wives?" She stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry.

{I don't need nor want that. Besides, I enjoy putting all my affection into ONE person, and Yumi is and will always be that singular ONE. Chloe is just a nice friend that pets me and gives me snuggles, and there's nothing wrong with that. I have plenty of friends that fluff me platonically!} (Akagi)

"If anything, Mika is actually closer in that department." Naomi continued laughing. "You do have two girlfriends, while Akagi only has Yumi. So I guess we should direct our shaming at you instead, Ms. Harem protagonist."

Mika didn't respond and instead flipped her off.

{Eat it!} (Mika)

"How vulgar." Kana rolled her eyes. “Though, Naomi is correct. I've seen you all squished between those two girls, and you looked like you were enjoying yourself quite a bit.” She smirked.

“As if you'd be any different!” Mika cried out in protest. “How about we talk about you and Hishya! I imagine two of her would be quite tempting to you!” She knew how much Kana liked her Dragon girlfriend, so two could play at that game.

“At least it would only be one person.” Kana blew a raspberry of her own.

{Am I glad that I'm happily single.} (Naomi)

As Kana and Mika discussed whether two Hishya would be considered a harem, Chloe picked up the pack of cookies and began to feed them to Akagi, something the Demon kitty happily went along with.

“Mew!” Akagi happily bit into the chocolate cookie and scarfed it down.

"So cute." Chloe smiled as she continued to pet Akagi. “Good Demon kitty, nya. Cute is justice, nya!”

"If I didn't know any better, I'd still think the two of you are a bit more than master and servant." Kana sighed as she proceeded to also feed Akagi a cookie, which Mika took a picture of.

"Chloe has always been like this." Akagi said while wiping away cookie crumbs. "Ever since she became my student, she's been attached to me like a magnet."

"Myaster saved me and everyone else from doom, and she even taught me so much, nya! It's only natural to treat her like this, nya" Chloe smiled as she started playing with Akagi's ears.

"Do all beastkin treat their teachers like this?" Naomi asked, as she was genuinely curious as to their customs.

"Not all of us, but it isn't exactly abnormal, nya." Chloe answered as she moved Akagi into her lap. "My father was quite close with his myaster, and it's customary to provide service like this to one's teacher, nya. Not to mention that Myaster is just so cute like this! So how could I not want to spoil her!" She and Akagi nodded in certainty that she was adorable and that failure to spoil the Catkagi was a crime against cuteness.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Mika thought out loud. "Is that like how martial artists will do all sorts of errands and other things at their master's dojo?" She figured it was like those old movies.

"A bit, but the bond between myaster and student is a bit different for beastkin, especially in the Ondai clan, nya." Chloe began flipping Akagi's ears in a different direction. "We tend to see our myasters as parent-like figures, and the bond we develop with them is one of our clan's most important traditions."

{Though calling Myaster Mom is no good for several reasons. Especially since she'd probably send me flying to the moon!} (Chloe)

"So Onee-chan has another daughter." Kana smirked as she locked eyes with her sister. "You're having children at an alarming rate, Onee-chan. I guess you don't need to be physically capable of making them since you seem so good at acquiring them." She started giggling

Rather than replying, Akagi just squinted at her.

"Kana is just jealous, nya." Chloe laughed. “She just wishes that she had people to give her pets and snuggles all day, nya.”

"MEW!" Akagi meowed in agreement.

"Hishya might need to up the number of pets she gives out at this rate." Mika said. "Otherwise, the Princess might die of loneliness."

{Kana was definitely lonely when Hishya was gone with Akagi for those couple days.} (Mika)

"I'll have you know that I get quite a bit of those already, thank you very much." Kana huffed. “Hishya lets me touch her tail and give it all kinds of TLC.”

"Hishya really is the family pet, isn't she?" Naomi shook her head as she chuckled. "I think Akagi's pet talk, combined with the kitty stuff has slowly morphed her into one."

"Maybe, but she still won't let me put a leash on her and take her walkies." Kana laughed. “I tried throwing the frisbee to her at the park the other day, and she threw it back at me so hard that it impaled into a tree.”

{I was surprised honestly. I thought a piece of plastic flying that fast would just shatter into a million pieces, not get stuck IN the tree.} (Kana)

"She has simply come to understand the joy of being loved." Akagi smiled as Chloe started messing with her tail. "Mika, you should try it sometime. I'm sure Yuzu and Suzu would pet you if you asked." She figured those two would do far more than just pet Mika if they got the chance.”

{Mika is never gonna end up in a dry spell, that's for sure.} (Akagi)

"I'm good." Mika gave a wry smile. "Maybe if I had kitty ears, but it would be kinda awkward for a human to get pet, and the idea of them feeding me sounds cute, but..."

"So what you're telling me is that I just need to make a potion to give you cat ears and a tail?" Akagi smirked. "I think Imp can handle that."

"No, giving us animal parts, please!" Kana sighed. "I don't need to be the Demon Kitty Princess..."

{Hishya would probably like it...} Kana was imagining how crazy Hishya would go, and figured lots of petting and snuggling would be in her future. The Dragon might have tried to hide it, but she enjoyed petting Akagi, and having Kana be her very own cat girlfriend would be too much for her to handle.

"It would be worth it. Being a catkin is amazing. nya! You get to take naps where ever you want, and everyone thinks you're cute." Chloe laughed. She'd seen the internet, and knew just how much people on Earth liked catgirls.

"Yes, you must join us in floof!" Akagi exclaimed. “One of us! One of us!”

"You just want to see us as catgirls! Don't try and play this as anything other than your weird tastes, Onee-chan." Kana glared at her, knowing full well that Akagi just wanted to get some eye candy out of Mika and Naomi.

{I know you too well!} (Kana)

"Listen, if you're cute and adorable, then what does it matter if I enjoy myself to the glorious sight?" Akagi smiled.

{Mika and Naomi with ears and a tail... Damn that would be good...} (Akagi)

"Oh god, if we turned into catgirls for real, Akagi would definitely put us in her harem." Mika commented.

"Too late for that. You're in whether you're cat or not." Akagi laughed. "You give me pets on demand, so your fate is sealed already!"

"Pffff. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha." Simultaneously all of the girls broke out in laughter which lasted several minutes until calming down. They always had fun poking at each other, and the absurdity of the situation only helped things along.

"Ok, we've gotten sidetracked enough." Naomi said once everyone calmed down. "Let's get to the real reason we're here before we forget completely." She was speaking from experience, since that had happened before.

"YES!" Mika exclaimed loudly. "Today is the day I become a Magical Girl and strike back against the tyranny of the Demon Princess!" She turned over and pointed at Kana, before cackling quite evilly for someone who was to be a Magical Girl.

"Don't drag me into your delusions..." Kana sighed. "I'm not role-playing as a Magical Girl villain, no matter how many times you ask."

{That would be a level of embarrassing I'd never recover from, so no...} (Kana)

"But come on!" Mika begged. "It will be fun, and you can wear all kinds of costumes!”

"You have a literal villain sitting on the couch you can ask! Don't try making me do something so embarrassing!" Kana pointed to the extremely innocent cat who was happily being pet and didn't look evil at all.

"I'd be down to help you out, and I've even got an idea. But Kana needs to approve first." Akagi said.

"Sure, do whatever you want. As long as I don't have to take part, I don't care what you do with her." Kana shook her head, not realizing what kind of idea she just agreed to.

{You're going to regret not hearing what I wanted to do before you consented.} Akagi laughed internally.

"So where is this Magical Girl Transformation Device?" You could see Kana cringe internally as she said those words.

{Why... Just... Why...} (Kana)

"Yeah! I want it now!" Mika's eyes sparkled in anticipation. “I wanna be cuter than normal!”

"It's right here." Akagi reached into her inventory and took out something that looked like a blue and white makeup compact.

"Well, at least it looks normal." Kana was expecting some crazy contraption or insanely convoluted device.

"So let me explain how this works because Imp isn't here to do it herself." Akagi hopped out of Chloe's lap and walked over to Mika. "Take this." She handed it to the girl, who was trembling in anticipation.

"Imp programmed it to only respond to your magic, so nobody else can use it. All you need to do is channel enough magical power into the compact and the transformation will begin automatically." Akagi explained. Mika had been practicing a bit at home, and while nowhere on the level of Kana, her magical control was rudimentary enough to do this.

{So it doesn't run on the power of friendship?} Kana retorted in her mind, and regretted not saying it aloud.

"How much magic?" Mika asked as she examined the compact.

"You'll figure it out quickly. Imp said she made it resist magical energy below a certain threshold so you don't accidentally trigger it." Akagi continued. "Channel energy into it until you overcome its resistance, and once that happens prepare to transform!" She smiled.

"And before we do that, please tell us how she turns back?" Kana asked. "Let's not have her transform and then not be able to figure it out. I know how this works." She'd seen too many anime with that stupid joke thrown in, so she was going to save Mika that trouble and potentially undercut her sister's joke.

"Once activated, it will slowly drain magical power from your body to fuel it. Once you reach less than ten percent within your body, it will automatically shut off for safety. If you wish to deactivate it before that, you need to simply pull all your magical power out of the device." Akagi explained. "It's not that hard to do either. Imp is a lot of things, but competent is at the top of that list." She laughed.

"Let's try it out right now!" Mika was excited and wanted to transform immediately.

"Outside!" Kana exclaimed, stopping Mika from doing it in the house. "I don't need you blowing up the house or something!"

{Mika would 100% do something like that.} (Naomi)

"I can just repair anything that breaks through." Akagi commented that it didn't matter how much stuff broke, since she could easily fix it.

"Still!" Kana huffed, not wanting to see her friend break things.

And so after Akagi went and grabbed Yuzu and Suzu, the girls went into the garden to watch Mika transform.

"I'm so glad that I've been brainstorming ideas for weeks!" Mika giggled manically as she stared at the compact. "Can I do it now?!?" She looked at Akagi, who gave a thumbs up.

"Alright, here goes!" Mika took a deep breath before shouting. "Star Power Activate!"

{She made a battle cry...} (Naomi x Kana)

Mika channeled her power into the magical compact as she let out her cry, and immediately her body was covered in a blue light as her transformation began. She floated a few inches into the air as her clothing swapped to a blue-white dress with a big blue bow on it. Her hair lengthened a bit before tying up in twin tails that were held up by white bows, white leggings replaced her jeans, and two black dress shoes took the place of her tennis shoes, which had open tops with a large golden buckle on them. White gloves adorned both her hands, and in her right was a small golden magical wand that had an azure crystal hovering above it.

Once the light show was over, Mika floated back down to the ground, and she slowly opened her eyes before turning to a stupefied Kana and Naomi with a massive smile on her face.

"Magical Girl Star Guardian has arrived!" She took a cute pose and announced her new magical name to the world, and while Akagi had a big smile on her face, none of the other girls could muster a response at that moment.

On that day, a hero was born.