Chapter 1: Prologue.
Author's Note.
JFW: HELLOOO EVERYONE TO THE BRAND NEW STORY AND MY FIRST STORY EVER!
Tatsumi: OW! Why are you yelling?
JFW: Sorry man, I'm just...just...JUST SO FREAKING EXCITED!
Tatsumi: Stop, or else everyone, cast members and readers alike including myself, will leave.
Collective voices: YEAH!
Tatsumi: See?
JFW: Fine. Anyway like I said before, this is my first story and I've decided to make said story about Akame Ga Kill or Kiru or whatever you want to call it. I remember staying up late on Toonami just to watch this show. When I saw the first episode, I knew I was in for a ride and boy what a ride it was. I thoroughly enjoyed it's story, fight scenes, and awesome cast members.
Tatsumi: Aww, tha-
JFW: TOO BAD THE ENDING LEFT THE MOST BITTER TASTE I HAVE EVER HAD!
Tatsumi: Gee, thanks.
JFW: Hey man, it's the truth. Deal with it. Anyway, since I liked it so much, I decided to make my own version of it. I made a few changes, some big, some minor, and I hope you enjoy this. Keep in mind that I am fairly new at this. Hell, I've had to rewrite this twice because I was too stupid to know how to save.
Tatsumi: Newb.
JFW: Shut up! Anyway, constructive criticism is appreciated, just as long as it's respectful and reasonable. Don't just say "THIS STORY SUCKS!" and leave it at that. Now with that out of the way, it's time begin. Tatsumi, would yoube so kind?
Tatsumi: On it. JFW doesn't own Akame Ga kill. All rights belong to Square Enix, Gangan joker, etc.
Location: Unknown.
Time: 11:37pm.
The day was looking relatively peaceful. The sun was shining brightly and was accompanied by white puffy clouds. A nice breeze blew through the midday, and the sound of the multiple trees' rustling leaves caused by said breeze along with the sound of the singing birds provided a soothing white noise to this peaceful environment. Along the gray, rugged road was a passing carriage. Two adult men, merchants to be exact, were seen on the carriage. One seemed to be affected by the peaceful atmosphere, evident by the slouched posture, the seeming struggle to maintain his eyes open, and the occasional yawning. His companion wasn't as drowsy, but was still reasonably relaxed as he held the reigns of the brown horse.
The peace was soon to end, however. A low rumbling caught their ears as the ground began shacking. The birds stop their signing and they flew away. The trees began shacking. Even their horse began getting restless, looking like it was going to run off at any second.
"The hell?" drowsy merchant was suddenly wide awake. All signs of his previous state vanished and was replaced with concern.
The tremors began increasing in magnitude. The ground on the road in front of them began cracking before a large, hulking beast burst from the ground. It was huge compared to them, easily making them look like toys in comparison. It's appearance only added to the fear and terror the merchants experienced. It's body had a powerful looking dark brown hide that looked like it was made of stone, antennas hung from the side of its head, jaws that could probably turn their bones to dust, and crimson eyes that stared down at them with hunger.
"EARTH DRAGON!" they screamed in terror. The earth dragon let out a roar as it raised a large claw and brought it down on them with the attempt to kill its prey before they could try to escape and feast on their crushed corpses.
What the earth dragon didn't expect, however, was for some type of energy blast to hit its face. The danger beast stumbled backwards as the remains of the blast left a scorch mark.
"Earth dragon. A-class danger beast." Someone spoke out. Soon after came something the merchants never expected.
A someone clad head to toe in armor landed right between them and the earth dragon. The snow white and elegant blue playing covered most of the body with the black fabric showing around the joints. The fabric itself also had what looked to be blue vein-like designs running across it. Black, ornate spikes wrapped around the arms and legs to create an imposing image while a few horns of a similar color were woven to create a crown of sorts atop the helm. The helm's black colored mouth guard and jagged edges gave it the impression of a snarling predator ready for combat. To finish it off, a cape blew behind them in the wind elegantly. The yellowish green eyes scanned the earth dragon with mild interest.
"This should be interesting," He spoke aloud with interest.
The earth dragon let out an enraged roar as it clasped it's claws together and raised them high above it's head. The newcomer could hear the merchants yelling at him to move, that he was gonna die, but he simply stood there. Had his helmet not covered his face, they would have seen the smirk underneath it.
The earth dragon then smashed the spot he was standing in. The ground shook from the impact and a crater formed from the force. However, when it lifted its claws away from where it hit, everyone saw that the armored man stood unscathed from the attack and the reason was shocking. A blue barrier had appeared above him and had shielded him from the blow. The diamond had also turned a shade of azure blue as it gave of a majestic glow.
Even the earth dragon looked suprised, but only for a moment as, from out of nowhere, an arrow was shot and hit it straight in the eye. The earth dragon roared in agony as it's soft and vulnerable flesh was pierced by the fast moving piece of metal.
"Finish it, Tatsumi!" A female voice ordered. Soon after, the barrier disappeared as the armored individual held out his hand and a pure white, ethereal blade appeared his grip. He dashed forward at incredible speed right past the danger beast and then sound of flesh and bone being torn was heard, but the earth dragon didn't seem phased.
For a good ten seconds, time seemed to have stood still. Not single sound was heard, nor was there any movement. Even the danger beast stood still as a statue, even as blood still poured from it's ruined eye. Then, blood started spraying from around the center of it's body. It's torso then separated and hit the ground with a resounding thud. It's lower half stood upright, spraying blood like fountain and staining the scenery with the crimson liquid, before it too met the ground.
The blade the armored individual had disappeared, along with the armor itself. In it's place was a young man with medium length brown spiky hair, yellowish green eyes, and pale skin. He wore a white jacket over a tan sweater vest, black pants, and brown combat boots. He turned around to face the carriage, specifically what was on top of it. "You didn't have to help, you know. I could have handled this all by myself," He said with a playful smirk.
On top of the carriage was a young woman with black hair, butterfly hair pin, and black eyes. She wore a lavender blouse, black skirt, white stockings, and white shoes. She was also armed with two knives in the straps of her leather belt, a bow, and strapped to her back was a quiver of arrows.
She jumped off the carriage and faced the young man with a pout. "That's a funny way to say 'thanks for the help Sayo', don't you think?
He simply laughed as he approached the carriage. "Fine, thanks. There, happy?
"Much. And your welcome, Tatsumi."
Tatsumi now turned his attention to the merchants. "You guys o-"
"TATSUMI! SAYO!" An angry voice yelled as someone rushed out of the trees.
He was about the same age as the two. He had messy dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a black muscle shirt, blue jeans, black boots, and a white headband, and some brown gauntlets. In his hands was a double sided battle axe. As the young man was hunched over and panting profusely, Tatsumi turned to Sayo and asked. "You took off without saying anything to him? you know how he gets."
"Hey! you're the one that suddenly took off! All I did was fo-" Before Sayo could say anything else, the newcomer straightened himself and began yelling again, eyes filled with anger. "I CANT BELIEVE YOU TWO LEFT ME ALONE LIKE THAT! WHAT HAPPENED TO 'WE WOULD ALWAYS' STICK TOGETHER' AND ALL THAT OTHE-"
He stopped himself as he noticed the danger beast corpse, It's blood pooling around the remains.
"What the hell happened here?
Tatsumi then said with a glare "What happened, Ieyasu, was that a danger beast," He pointed to his kill. "Specifically that earth dragon, attacked these merchants, so I decided to help."
"Oh," He said, before anger once again took over. "And you didn't bring me with you? Don't you think that I, oh I don't know, COULD HAVE HELPED?!"
Tatsumi sighed as he turned back to the merchants. He could deal with Ieyasu's anger later. "You guys okay okay?"
"You...th-the earth dragon...a-and the armor and b-blue thing." The two were stammering, still flabbergasted all they witnessed, and who wouldn't be?
"Um, what's wrong with them?" Ieyasu asked Sayo.
"They saw Tatsumi in action."
"Sheesh. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't help after all. My awesome skills would have left them completely brain dead."
"Pffft, yeah right."
"Hey, what's that su-"
"That's enough!" Tasumi snapped. Ieyasu quickly shut up simply settled on sending a glare to Sayo, to which she just ignored.
One of the merchants finally managed to say something understandable. "How did you do that?"
"Just a little trick I know," Tatsumi shrugged.
"Some trick that is."
Tatsumi just smiled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Meanwhile, the other merchant had pulled something out from the carriage.
"Whatever the case, it doesn't change the fact that you saved our lives. Please take this as compensation. It's the least we could do as compensation," He said as he handed Tatsumi a bag. He opened it to see it was filled with gold coins. Tatsumi shook his head before handing it back to the man. The merchants were suprised, though nowhere near the same extent as before. "No need. I did it because it's the right thing to do. Nothing more, nothing less."
Ieyasu asked "Really? We can't keep even a little bit?"
Tatsumi answered by sending a glare to Ieyasu, who sighed sadly, asking himself, 'Why did Tatsumi have to be so chivalrous?' In his head.
"There has to at least something we can do for you." Tatsumi pondered the question before finally deciding on something.
"Well, there is one thing you could do."
"Name it."
"Could you tell us which was way is the Imperial Capital?"
The merchants froze at this.
"...I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Sure, which way to the capital?"
The merchants exchanged looks two each other before turning back to Tatsumi.
"Kid, you don't want to go to the capital," The other merchant said. His voice deathly serious as he spoke.
"Why not?" Tatsumi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Look, I don't know what you've been told, but the capital isn't a good place to go to. It's-"
"A cesspool of corruption and evil?" Tatsumi asked.
"Filled with monsters in human skin?" Asked Sayo.
"And that we should stay as far as hell away from it as possiblei?" Asked Ieyasu.
"We know," They said in unison.
"And you still want to go?" Asked the merchant. Shock clearly evident on him and his companion. "Why?"
Tatsumi's expression hardened as he simply responded with, "It's personal."
The merchant, deciding not to push further, pointed down the road from where they came. "Keep going this way and you should make it in a few hours."
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it, but are you sure you want to go there? The capital isn't a place you can screw around in."
Ieyasu put on a confident smile and put his fist on his chest as he said "Don't worry. When the three of us are together, we can handle anything that comes our way."
And with that, the trio said their farewells as they headed off towards the imperial capital.
"Wait a second," Sayo said, catching the attention of her friends. "Are you guys getting the feeling we're forgetting something?"
"Huh? What do you mean? Asked Ieyasu.
"Hmm, now that you mention it..." Tatsumi then put on his thinking face and his friends followed suit.
They stood there going through their memories, trying find out the cause of the nagging feeling, and realization soon dawned on their faces."OUR STUFF!" They cried as they remembered they lacked their essentials, such as money and clothing. The merchants sweat dropped at this.
"Sayo, where's our stuff?" Tatsumi asked.
"I left it with Ieyasu," She said and turned her focus to said male. "Ieyasu, where's our stuff?"
"Don't worry, everything all's back at camp." The other two sighed in relief. As they turned around and began walking back to the forest, Ieyasu asked, "Which way was that again?" And his companions face palmed.
And so they set off towards the imperial capital... After they have found their stuff, that is.
To be continued.