Disclaimer: I don't own Akame Ga Kill or any of its characters, but I DO own my OC's Akira and Takumi.
A/N: Hello everyone! This will basically be my very first attempt in creating an Akame Ga Kill story so I apologies in advance if I make any mistakes concerning the characters and how they act. I re-watched the anime more than once and I'm currently sitting down reading the manga and so hopefully I won't screw up too much by writing the characters.
Anyway, I will write this story on my own pace to easily inspire motivation and other ideas. Also, this story is going to be based on a mix between the anime/manga on some portions but not all. It's mostly on my opinion on how the series should've gone, not counting my OC's involvement of course, and finally I hope that you guys will accept my OC's, Akira and Takumi, with open arms and... That's pretty much it. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! :D
Chapter 1: Kill Akira
Five years ago... Year 1019
When it comes to dungeons the first thing you'll notice is the stench, followed by the molded straw, the blood, and of course the rank odor of unwashed bodies. Second, it was the sounds. Monotone drips of water against stone, whispers in the dark carried on by frightened voices and the skittering footfalls of rats.
Third, is the feeling of it all.
Akira had slowly awoken from her abrupt slumber. Upon waking up, she couldn't help but to scream out furiously due to the agonizing pains and aches her body is enduring. Sweat drenched her face as she found herself in a crouching position on the cold, jagged, stone floor. Her knees told her that she had been in this position for several hours in pain. She discovered she was wearing some sort of armor as she tried to stand up.
How did this happen? From a perfect day to utter chaos. How did I get here? The redhead wondered.
The clanking of the metal chains caused one of her captors to approach her cell to find their prisoner rousing from slumber.
Akira's frightened azure eyes looked frantically into the darkness, proving to be futile since it was pitch black, and so she looked up the ceiling. She focused only on the chink on the mortar of the brick, the only place through which Akira would see the light of day and the light of the night being the moon.
The door to her cell opened and a tall, sleek, dark haired, broad-shouldered man stepped forward. He had dark brown eyes and a scar across the bridge of his nose, and just by looking at him Akira could tell that he was bad news.
Regardless, the redhead tried her best to not look intimidated by him,"Who the fuck are you? Where am I? And, what the heck is this?" she asked her questions, the last one referring to the 'armor' around her torso.
Akira couldn't explain it, but every time she moved or breathed in too deep, it caused her to flinch. It hurt. Everything hurt.
"My name and our current location is of no concern to you at the moment." he completely dismissed her first two questions, and he sneered, "I trust that you're comfy."
Do I look comfortable to you? Jackass. "That depends. Why don't you come closer? I'll show you just how comfy I really am!" Akira retorted, glaring at him while tugging at her chains, even moving her wrists hurt. She looked down, and she finally noticed it. Sharp needles were lined along the shackles, gingerly stabbing her wrists with each agitated move. Is the armor around my torso made from the same material? "What are these?!"
"A feisty little thing, aren't you? Thanks, but no thanks. I'm fine from where I'm standing." her captor spoke amused, crossing his arms, "Those are needles, my dear. If you attempt to move, these will dig deeply into your flesh. They will undoubtedly touch your nerve system and," he chuckled, "Let's just say it will be excruciatingly painful. That armor you're wearing is also quite special. It contains various acupuncture needles and they shall be impaled in crucial places along your back, keeping your Aura blocked and making you almost fully immobile. So, I highly suggest, that you settle down and listen before you do any permanent harm to yourself."
Akira settled down, if only briefly, "Where's my brother?"
It wasn't a question, it was a demand.
"That my dear depends entirely on your cooperation."
Night Raid Hideout: Conference Room (Present day, Year 1024)
"Listen up everyone," Najenda spoke, authoritatively as she gathered the group's attention, "Night Raid has a new assignment."
"What is it this time, Boss?" Tatsumi asked, eagerly excited for his second mission as a newly assassin, "Do we get to eliminate another jackass for the sake of peace?"
"In a matter of speaking..." the ex-military woman replied nonchalantly, lighting up a cigar, "Tell me, Tatsumi, have you heard of Lupin the Skull Crusher?"
The brunette merely shook his head, "No, I don't think so."
"Neither have I." Sheele responded with a shy raise of her hand.
"Of course you have! You probably just forgot, Sheele." Mine grumbled, "Again..." she added as an afterthought.
Meanwhile, the other Night Raid members in the room tensed at hearing the name...
"Seriously?! That psycho really is back!" Lubbock spoke out in disbelief, looking a bit pale.
Leone growled in displeasure, smashing her fists together, "That coward finally came out of hiding after all this time, huh? I can't wait to crush his skull with my own two hands!"
"Is this guy really all that bad compared to Ogre?" Tatsumi was curious now, "What the heck did he do?"
"It's not what he did, it's what we think he's STILL continuously doing that bothers us the most!" Bulat stated as he crossed his arms, his fists tightly clenching the sleeves of his leather jacket, "Damn it! I still can't believe we let him get away!"
"He got away?" the swordsman spoke, surprised and under his breath he couldn't help but to whisper, "That's a first..."
"I'm so sorry!" Sheele apologized as she got on her hands and knees, frantically bowing while sputtering apologies, "If I had paid more attention, he wouldn't have gotten away! I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...!" she finished off with a pathetic whimper.
"It's alright, Sheele. You don't need to apologize." Mine reassured her, crouching down beside her friend, "That sneaky bastard just managed to one up us, that's all."
Tatsumi's eyes widened, "He managed to get away from Sheele?!"
"Yes. At the time, I've sent the rest of the Night Raid members to infiltrate Lupin's old hideout within the Capital. His base turned out to be underground near one of the Capital's Great Canal tunnels, but as it turns out... while in the process of giving him his due punishment, the son of a bitch managed to get away by collapsing one of the tunnels, causing a cave in, and managed to get away. We haven't heard from him since..." Najenda told him.
"We got to save a lot of lives that night," Sheele began, having a small smile albeit it was a rather sad one, "And in doing so, the surviving victims got another chance to start over."
"Even so, it won't change the fact that many other lives were lost... Let alone, the remaining survivors might have a rough time pulling through this." Lubbock sympathized in regret.
"Who the fuck is this guy?" the brunette asked out in disbelieve. He just couldn't accept it, he just couldn't accept the fact that this man managed to get away from Night Raid, almost as if it was nothing.
"Lupin the Skull Crusher, that's what they called him during his younger days as a kickboxer. He used to be the leader of the Underground Fighting Tournaments here at the Imperial Capital. The rich, the poor, and criminals alike will come to the Capital from miles around just to see these fights." Akame briefed him on their current target.
Realization dawned on Tatsumi's face, "Oh, those fights! I heard from some of the villagers in my home village that those fighting matches are really brutal! Ieyasu practically wouldn't stop talking about it, saying stuff like, he wanted to show off his heroic skills and participate on at least one match."
Mine simply scoffed, "He wouldn't."
"What was that?!" the brunette snapped in retort, already preparing verbal comebacks in case the pinklette decided to act like a spoiled brat.
"I'm just saying he wouldn't." the sniper responded once again, "If Ieyasu knew the TRUE intentions behind these fights, he wouldn't be so excited. Trust me."
Tatsumi looked at his teammate in horror, "What do you mean?"
"These fights are brutal, as in, Battle Royale kind of brutal. This Lupin bastard likes to kidnap children, specifically ones that have siblings, and he purposely pins them against one another to a fight to the death. By the way, the kids have ZERO fighting experience." Lubbock clarified for him, "Lupin forces the oldest to fight for their lives and to ensure that they do what he says, he keeps the youngest as collateral."
"What about their parents? I mean, SOMEBODY needs to be wondering the whereabouts of the children!" the swordsman spoke, exasperated.
"I know how you feel Tatsumi. But in this rotten society, in this corrupted Capital, nobody would care let alone bat an eyelash for these kids..." Bulat lamented.
"He's right," Leone nodded solemnly, "Aside from the victims being children, the other thing that they have in common with one another is that they're orphans. Nobody would miss them..."
"T-That's terrible...!" Tatsumi gritted his teeth, looking down at his boots while tightly clenching his fists in anger. He then looked up at the boss, "We need to find this son of a bitch now!"
"And we will," Najenda promised him, "Lupin the Skull Crusher shall receive special divine punishment from Night Raid, however, there is one problem..."
"Which is?" the brunette trailed off, hoping that the older woman would elaborate further.
"Like Leone mentioned before, Lupin has come out of hiding, but he's being extra cautious as of late to the point not even my own spies nor Leone herself can track him down." the ex-military woman regrettably informed, "I normally don't like doing this considering everything the surviving victims had gone through, but at this point I really don't see any other options..."
Sheele gasped in surprise, "Are we using the victims to get to Lupin?"
"We have to, given the circumstances at this point." Najenda told them, "Listen up, Night Raid's leads on Lupin the Skull Crusher are very dismal and so our only options into finding him is to get in contact with one of the victims. However, this task will be a difficult one because most of the survivors are either hard to find, or they've been killed off by Lupin when they were found. After all, nobody can turn him in if their only lead is dead."
"He's killing them off now?!" Tatsumi practically roared in outrage.
"Believe me, I'm pissed off too." Mine agreed with him, "And usually, we don't agree very much."
"Which is why, I'm assigning Leone and Tatsumi for this recon mission." the ex-military woman decided, looking towards the chosen pair, "I want you both to head into town and visit these five addresses. If nothing turns up, then I want you to go a restaurant called Farmgate Café. Leone, I'm entrusting you to verify that hunch of yours. If what you're saying is true, then you need to talk to this victim as soon as possible."
"Yes ma'am, we will not fail." the lion shifter assured her boss, "After all, my senses haven't proven me wrong as of yet."
Tatsumi grinned, "You can count on us, Boss!"
Imperial Capital: Downtown
It was late in the afternoon and so far, Leone and Tatsumi didn't make a lot of progress by going to the first four addresses. The residences were empty and practically deserted, but the blonde managed to catch two particular scents on residence number three meaning that the survivors they are trying to find are still alive and that's a good sign. Right now, they're currently heading towards the Farmgate Café for a little break and to see if they can run into one of the siblings.
"Ugh! How many more residences do we have to check?! We've been walking for hours!" Tatsumi bemoaned for the umpteenth time today, "I know that the Boss said that some of the survivors took extreme measures, but even so... FIVE ADDRESSES! She wasn't kidding..."
"Oh my dear, sweet Tatsumi! You're absolutely adorable when you're hopeless~!" Leone cooed, giggling all the while, "Don't worry. We just got to check one more address and the restaurant that the Boss told us about." she reassured him.
The swordsman blushed a bit in embarrassment, "A-Anyway! Who are the siblings we're looking for?"
"Siblings, Akira and Takumi, a big sister and little brother pair survivors just like a couple of others. Five years ago, the siblings' ages were fourteen and five respectively, and you can definitely tell they're related when it comes to looks because both of them are redheads and have blue eyes to boot!" the blonde responded.
"Wow... They were that young, huh?" the brunette couldn't help but comment, "Let me guess: Currently, Akira is supposed to be nineteen and Takumi should be about ten years old now, correct?"
"BINGO!" the lion shifter cheered for her underling's math skills, "And apparently, Akira holds a part-time job as a waitress in the Farmgate Café so we might be able to run into her, unless today is her day off."
Tatsumi just smiled at his big sister's antics, until a question popped up, "Hey Sis, I've been meaning to ask you something... What are the chances that they're going to remember about Lupin let alone where he is?"
"I know how you feel Tatsumi, but any crucial detail from five years ago is as good as nothing. The others and I turned Lupin's old hideout upside down to look for any leads, and unfortunately nothing useful turned up... Which is why, we need to do everything in our power to find information and take this bastard out!" Leone proclaimed in determination.
The pair finally made it to the Farmgate Café, only for the lion shifter to stop in her tracks and accidentally cause Tatsumi to run into her...
"What's wrong Si-"
Before the swordsman could finish his question, Leone all of a sudden turned around and hugged the young boy to her chest, slightly suffocating him with her boobs. She then dragged him off a bit to the side near an alleyway so that they wouldn't be spotted. After ensuring that they were out of sight, the blonde released him.
The brunette gasped for breath the moment he was freed and was about to rage, until he saw Leone making a gesture to be quiet.
"What the heck is wrong with you?!" Tatsumi whispered, exasperatedly as he glared at her.
"I guess you could say, I really took your breath away." The lion shifter giggled at her own little pun, before pointing towards the street, "Look over there."
Did she just made a pun?! And here I thought the Boss was bad... Tatsumi thought in blasphemy with a scarlet blush blossoming his cheeks, clearly it wasn't the first nor the last time his big sister figure had hugged him to her chest, but still! Admittedly, it was great but also a bit unnerving... At last, he did as instructed and looked towards the blonde's line of sight.
It was their target and victim, Akira.
The redhead was walking down the street in a hurried manner, her azure eyes looking this way and that as if keeping a lookout in case someone was after her. The girl wore an orange hoodie for the Autumn cold, a blue bandana around her neck, blue denim shorts, sneakers, and she wore bandages covering the entirety of her hands.
"You saw the bandages, right? She's either hurt, hiding some pretty nasty scars, or maybe a little bit of both. Regardless, we managed to find her, and I'm guessing she's heading home." Leone did a quick observation. She then looked to her teammate, "Tatsumi, I want you to go ahead to the last address. If you make a mad dash out of the end of the alley, that should give you a straight shortcut to the residence and I think you'd be there by night fall, if you're fast enough. Sneak quietly into the house and just wait in the living room, okay? It's important that you aren't seen."
Tatsumi nodded in understanding, "What about you, Sis?"
"I'm going to tail Akira and make sure she heads home safely, just in case Lupin decides to show up." the outlaw told him.
"Alright then," the swordsman started to head off towards the end of the alleyway, "Be careful!"
Leone merely smiled and she left to start tailing her target, "You too, Tatsumi."
Imperial Capital: Residences
It was a long day for the redhead and it couldn't be over fast enough. Working as a waitress at a relatively popular Café at the downtown district of the Imperial Capital, where is mostly populated and taking care of the customers needs, was by no means an easy feat. She left late yet again for the third time this week, though she really wanted to get home earlier. Akira could only hope that her little brother wasn't too upset with her.
I need the money to keep us stable and it's ten times better than living on the streets... The redhead mused in her thoughts. Getting home from work, Akira noticed that in her little brother's room the light was off. I guess the little guy fell asleep. She thought with a smile, usually Akira has one room in the house that the light is always on and that's her little brother's room.
Upon closer inspection however, the redhead went visibly stiff and paled a bit in comparison as her smile was wiped clean off her face...
The front door was open.
Oh Gods, please... Not again, not EVER again! Akira thought in desperation as she did a mad search of the house, quietly of course as to not startle the intruder if he or she was still in the vicinity.
When she went to investigate, Akira found that the majority of their furniture was there and nothing seemed out of place. There wasn't even signs of a struggle either, even the small amount of her jewelry in her bedroom and the silverware in the kitchen were still there, untouched.
Okay then, so it's not a robbery. The redhead thought in slight relieve, however she still hadn't dropped her guard yet. Then, that leaves... Takumi!
Akira headed upstairs and toward her little brother's room, she leaned her head against the door frame to listen in. It was faint, but she could hear movement inside the room. If I'm wrong about this, I'll just fix the door later. I'm coming, Takumi!
Without hesitation and within a second, Akira kicked the door open and the sight that behold her made fear grip within her heart. A young man was in her little brother's room, hovering over Takumi, who seemed to be fast asleep. The intruder's attire consisted of a cream colored sweater vest, blue jeans, and brown boots. He seemed to be an averaged-height individual with sleek, brown hair, and viridian eyes, not to mention the iron sword he had on his side.
"Hey!" that caught the young man's attention, looking up Akira's way and the redhead glared at him as she got into a battle stance, "You got somenerve breaking into my house! If you think I'm going to let you kidnap my baby brother again, then you have another thing coming!"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! It's not what you think! I'm friendly, I promise!" the brunette spoke insistently, raising his hands up in emphasis that he didn't mean any harm.
However, Akira isn't going to take any chances, "A likely story. I'm not going back to that Hell hole!"
The redhead charged, aiming a punch toward the intruder's stomach, but he managed to stop it. He blocked it. She thought in surprise.
"I'm just here to talk!" the swordsman told her once again, trying to reassure her, "If you would just liste-"
The young man got cut off as he got decked in the face, effectively giving him a shiner. Dazed and caught off guard, he didn't even see the other blow coming... A solid punch to his windpipe. The intruder gagged and gasped for air as he collapsed to the floor, almost motionless.
Akira towered over him and started to interrogate him, "Who sent you? It was Lupin, wasn't it?!"
The brunette coughed as he held a hand near his throat, trying to speak out but he couldn't from the looks of it as he was still trying to catch his breath.
"Talk, dammit! I managed to get away Scott free for the last five years avoiding the son of a bitch and I'm not about to get captured again!" the redhead practically roared at him.
Suddenly, Akira hears the door to Takumi's bedroom close and the winded intruder smiled from where he was.
The redhead immediately tensed and the moment she turned around, she got knocked out by what seems to be a heavy, furry lion's paw...
A/N2: That's the entirety of chapter 1 folks! So... What do you guys think? Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts! I'd really appreciate the support and encouragement for this story, especially since I'm trying to do something a tad bit unique to the anime/manga for the actual series.
Also, I know that Takumi hasn't made much of an appearance in the first chapter but he will on the next one! Until next time! :D