DGA: Coat of Arms

New DGA OVA, starring Risa. Canon.
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“Risa, you've barely touched your food.”

The ticking of the clock echoes throughout the silent hall as Risa Aoki picks away at some potato, her eyes focused on the table and not crossing gaze with her father sitting across from her.

“Sorry, father...” Risa mutters. “I suppose I just don't have much of an appetite...”

“Understandable, considering what you've been through the last few days...” her father, the great general Masahiro Aoki, replies as he cuts into his bloody steak. “I'm sorry, my dear... when I sent you to that academy, I had no idea that it would involve such... matters.”

Risa nods, as she begins to dig into her food slightly to appease the wishes of her old man. The food is delicious, prepared by the finest chefs and servants money can buy. Her chair is a million times more comfortable than any chair back at the academy... and the hall is so large, so grand... it was easy for Risa to get lost in her thoughts within it. The lap of luxury... and to her, it all feels so dirty.

After another considerable silence, Risa decides to speak up. “Why did you send me to Dakugeto?” Risa asks. “It's awfully far away in the mainland... surely there was a school closer to here that you could have-”

“Risa, I sought to send you to only the finest academy, as you rightfully deserve,” The General explains, “You're far too good for any of the schools around here.”

Risa pauses. “And... why aren't the schools around here very good?”

“Underfunded.”

“And why are they underfunded?”

Masahiro quickly places down his cutlery, as it makes a loud clattering sound when it hits the table. “You're certainly eager to ask questions,” he smiles as he stares at her from across the table. “You were never quite this inquisitive before. My, when I first found you... you were so silent. Do you remember the story of how I found you?”

“Yes, papa...” Risa mutters, as her father delves into the story regardless. Anything to change the subject in his mind.

“It was 15 years ago now,” he explains. “Me and a team had arrived on the scene of a bombing attack performed by a group of Rubi terrorist. Where once was a simple apartment building... there was nothing but rubble, and fire. A terrifying, sobering sight... but in the midst of the wreckage, we were able to find a single survivor. Held in the arms of the charred corpse of a woman... a child. A mere baby, not even a year old... we were all amazed. Not only had no harm come to this child despite the death and destruction all around her... but the child was completely silent. No crying, no screaming... not even a single tear. In the face of adversity, I had just bore witness to a miracle, the strongest will of any creature I had ever seen. Well, I picked you up and knew I had to take you into my home. We never were able to identify your birth name, or the identities of your birth parents who died protecting you in the blast. I named you after my sister, who died long before you were born... now that you're grown, I must say you remind me of her more and more.”

“Thank you, father...” Risa mutters, still looking down at her food.

Another silence passes. A door swings open as a woman in a suit saunters into the room, before whispering in Masahiro's ear. He closes his eyes and lets out a sigh as he turns his attention back to his daughter.

“I'm afraid I must take my leave,” he explains. “Important business. Enjoy the rest of your meal, and be sure to have an early night.”

As the general leaves the room, Risa doesn't find herself any more alone than she was before. She looks around the hall at all the grand decorations, a grandfather clock, golden ornaments, a great big statue of an elephant... this is supposed to be her home, but none of these items feel like the belong to her. Because they don't. When she looks to the grandfather clock, she can only see all of the blood that it was soaked in.

After a moment, Risa decides to step out of the room for some air. She wasn't hungry anyway, and her father was no longer watching over her, analysing her every move. She certainly needed time to clear her head... her father was always a stern man, but now that dining hall felt like an interrogation room with him inside. Just what was his important business, anyway? Will the Aoki name be smeared in more blood by the end of the night? Risa's stomach churns at the mere thought of it.

Down the corridor, Risa spots a group of men in armour. One of them, a younger looking man with blonde hair, seems to be playing with dice in the corner. Gambling, within her house? Were it not for everything else, Risa may have felt insulted. Instead, she simply walks up to the men and clears her throat.

“What is your rank?” she asks in an assertive, questioning tone.

The blonde ignores the question as he rolls his dice, landing on a four and a three. “Woo-hoo! Say goodbye to your cash, fellas! But don't feel to bad, my friends! Take this as a lesson! Never gamble against Katsuyori, the man who beds Lady Luck each and every night-”

“I asked you a question, soldier,” Risa speaks again in a louder voice. “What is your rank?”

“I ain't a soldier, brat,” Katsuyori replies with a scoff. “Do I look like I got any badges on me?”

Risa scowls. “Then what is it you do for my father?”

“Your father... wait, your old man's the general?” Katsuyori exclaims, his eyes widened. “Why didn't you bastards tell me I was giving lip to Aoki's kid?”

“We didn't get a chance to speak over your gloating,” one of the other men explains.

“Ah, shit...” Katsuyori frowns. “Let me guess, your father will hear about this, you'll see my head on a spike?”

“What? No!” Risa crosses her arms. “I just wanted to ask some questions.”

“Huh...” Katsuyori remarks. “Really? Gotta say, you're not how I imagined the general's daughter to look... I was expecting some rich spoiled princess. You look just like a village girl.”

“Well, I am adopted. I'm glad I seem down to earth to-”

“You know, kinda plain.”

“... Moving on, I just wanted to know-”

“I mean, not ugly. But I was hearing about Aoki's daughter being some amazing beauty and I was expecting a taller blonde with much bigger-”

“What do you do for my father?” Risa snaps, getting to the point.

Katsuyori shrugs. “You really need to ask that?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Isn't the answer pretty obvious? Or does the sword and gun not tip you off?”

“So you kill people,” Risa states coldly. “That's what you do for him.”

Katsuyori pauses and lets out a sigh. “Look lady, I do whatever your old man pays me to.”

Risa nods, her hands firmly by her sides. “Okay. That's all I needed to hear.”

Katsuyori scratches the back of his head as he speaks again. “Hey, you wanna stick around a while, play some dice? That bracelet of yours looks expensive, it would be a great starting wager.”

“First off, your dice are obviously loaded, and your friends are idiots for not noticing,” Risa replies. “And secondly... no, sorry. I have... important business to attend to.”

“Your loss,” Katsuyori replies, before giving a small sarcastic salute. “See you around.”

He won't, Risa tells herself, as she makes her way down the corridor. Risa will be fortunate to never see him or any of her father's goons around again. She makes her way up the steps to her room, and instinctively begins to grab her blankets, tying them together in a rope. Said rope is sent hanging out her bedroom window as Risa takes one last look around her room. She doesn't take anything with her as she climbs out the window... nothing in that room truly belongs to her. Everything she owns was taken by force from people much more deserving of those belongings than her. She can't do it anymore... she can't carry the stain of the Aoki name any longer, to carry the guilt of benefiting of the suffering and murder of others.

As she reaches the ground, she quickly throws the bracelet around her wrist to the ground. It was a gift from her father on her thirteenth birthday, but when she looks down, she can only she blood and bone wrapping around her wrist, pulled fresh from some innocent family... a family like Ninsei and Sora's... or Gado and his band of brothers. She could not be Risa Aoki anymore. And so... she ran. Ran from this life she was pulled into, a life she never earned, a life she was sickened to live.

When her father finds out, he'll likely get mad. Will probably send someone to take her back... but Risa decided that she wasn't going to like down and not fight back. Risa keeps running, catching a train back home, to her true family... but deep in her heart she knows her hands will never be clean. She can scrub and scrub and scrub... but when she looks down the blood will still be there. The only true blood that binds her and her father, the great general Masahiro Aoki.

On the train back to the academy, Risa doesn't get an early night. No... she doesn't sleep at all.

END