I was one of them. One of the Jaegers, who wanted to keep the current, corrupted Empire. Except that I was not. I was a spy for Night Raid, in exchange for not killing either me or her. The rest of them were too caught up in their crusade to keep this hell on earth to notice. No one, not even the commander, noticed my nightly escapades. No one but her. I pretended to not notice her affection for me, biding my time. And she supported me. We made a vow, she and I. There would be no mercy for any of them

-The Jaeger Headquarters-

Esdese approached Wave, concerned for him. He had been acting strange ever since the new girl, Kurome, joined. Kurome, an old slave of corrupted nobleman, had proven her worth and was accepted into the Jaegers. It seemed that something troubled him, and she wanted to know what it was. She sat down beside him

"Something seems to be troubling you." she said gently "I'd like to know what."

"I don't see how it's any of your business." Wave retorted "All you're doing is siding with self-centered leeches who are doing harm to the very people I joined your squad for."

Esdese said nothing. Glancing at the clock, Wave stood up and brushed his attire

"I need to clear my head." Wave said "If I stay here with any of you, I'd go mad."

Kurome entered the room, carrying a plate of food laced with sleeping drug. She handed the plate to Esdese, who took a piece of it and put it in her mouth. Soon, she fell down, clearly asleep.

"You don't have to do that, you know." Wave told her "This is the path I have chosen, to free you and all the people I have sworn to protect."

"And I promised to always stay by your side, no matter what path you took." Kurome said gently "Ever since that day."

-Six years ago-

A slave caravan was passing through the small fishing village and stopped to take a rest. A small girl was in a cage. The cage was approached by a young boy slightly older than said girl.

"Hello." the boy said "I'm Wave."

"I am Kurome." the girl said, trying to control her tears "They took my onee-san away from me. I am to be a personal slave to a corrupted nobleman. They mentioned something about using drugs on us to make us more docile...They said onee-san is fit to join an army, unlike me. I am merely trash."

"The Empire is overstepping their boundaries." Wave told her "The select few are living in luxury at the expense of the rest of us. I am going to change that. No...we'll change the fate of people together. Get stronger and join me. We'll change the system for sure, together."

-Present time-

"So I trained my hardest, using the nobleman I served, as well as absorbing any piece of information he and those around him could give me. And I succeeded. I joined the Jaegers when I was ready, just like you told me to. And now we'll mold the future together, just like you predicted." Kurome said "Let's go."

The rendezvous went as expected. Akame, Kurome's onee-san, and Tatsumi, who shared Wave's sentiments, were waiting for them.

"It's a dangerous gamble you two are undertaking." Tatsumi warned

"We don't care." Wave said, huggng Kurome

"If it's to end the people's suffering, we'll do it." Kurome said, returning the hug

"Carry on."

"In a month we would go to Kyoroch and protect your newest target, Bolic." Wave said "Be sure to remove me out of the equasion first."

"Got it."

"No one must know we work with each other rather than against each other." Kurome supplied "So I will not hold back, sis."

Akame simply nodded

"Good luck." Wave said

Tatsumi and Akame watched Wave and Kurome leave. Akame sighed.

"Don't worry. I'll do everything I can to not harm them too badly."

-Valley near Kyoroch-

Their sniper missed her shot. They unleashed their element of suprise. A blue-haired man came charging in. I jumped between him and Kurome, both to protect her and to initiate the next phase of the plan. All the Jaegers but me and Kurome would die today and we would officially join Night Raid. Then nothing would stop us in resurrecting the old Empire from its ashes.

"Kurome, watch out!" I cried out

The next thing I knew was that I landed on a solid ground, near the river. There was a volcano in a distance.

"Perfect." I thought

Esdese was ready to deal the final blow, when she heard a rumble in a distance. A seemingly inactive volcano had erupted. She narrowed her eyes. This wasn't natural. It was man-made. Najenda, her opponent, smirked

"What did you do?"

"Us? Nothing." Najenda shrugged "But some of your allies may not be as loyal as you think they are."

Esdese's eyes narrowed. Whoever did this knew that her ice powers couldn't whitstand lava. And the only one who knew that was Shura. Either Shura blabbered or the perpetrators found out through different means. There was also the possibility that Shura himself triggered the eruption.

She heard the footsteps and turned around. Kurome was advancing towards her with a small smile.