Disclaimer: I don't own Akame ga Kiru

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Makoto was on his way back to his chambers, his duties for the day done with, his two personal guards by his side. On his way, he started going over his schedule, once again glad for the Prime Minister's thoughtfulness in making sure that he could still have some time for himself despite the tasks his title demanded of him. Each morning, Makoto would go through any papers that required his signing, which would later be collected by his secretary and delivered to the appropriate official. Afterwards, he would usually have a little bit of free time to further his studies (can't have the Emperor being illiterate after all). Then, finally, the young emperor would head to the throne room, where he would be presented with a number of verbal reports, a lot of which required his input. On top of all this, should there be a need for swift decision-making on his part, Makoto would have to drop whatever he was doing at that moment to deal with the issue. Issues like this could be any number of important things, from an assassination to an audience with an important individual, no matter the case, the Emperor had to be there. Overall, it was a trying lifestyle for Makoto, what with the Empire's current state of affairs.

Once, Makoto admired his father for his wisdom and great leadership, as well as his great kindness. During his rein, the Empire enjoyed a period of peace (both internal and external) and prosperity that reached even the farthest reaches of the great nation. However, ever since becoming an emperor, Makoto gained new respect for his predecessor, more specifically, for his saintly patience. Seriously, Makoto was well-aware that what he was experiencing was only a fraction of what his father did, yet, still, listening for hours on end to mind numbingly boring reports about the various internal and external affairs of the Empire never failed to give him a headache, even though the Prime Minister was shouldering a large part of the official paperwork . How his father managed to do all that and more and be so full of energy afterwards was beyond Makoto's understanding.

Speaking from experience, most days, all the Emperor had to address were a bunch of reports, most of which were simply about things like the amount of crops harvested, tax income or complaints from various Ministries of the Empire about "lack of funding". Occasionally, there would be reports about some kind of crime worthy enough of being addressed directly by the Emperor, or about the rebel army that seemed insistent on destroying the peace Makoto's father brought. Events of outright rebellion among the ranks of the Empire, like the one with Officer Shoui were actually incredibly rare.

At that thought, Makoto's thoughts turned towards the silver ring resting on his finger. Maskerade. It has only been three days, but he believes he has more or less figured out what he can currently do with it.

First, Maskerade didn't have any kind of activation command or action. All Makoto needed to do to activate it was to mentally command it to do so, something he had practiced throughout the day, everyday, in order to be sure that he could do it even under stress. This tied neatly to the his second discovery about the Teigu, that is, the transformation didn't need to change his whole body, or even be noticeable for that matter. This Makoto discovered very early on when he was wondering if he could somehow hide Maskerade's existence without needing to take it off. Imagine his surprise when, just a second afterwards, the ring suddenly vanished, as if it had never been there. However, Makoto could still feel the ring's presence in his mind, leading him to believe that the Teigu's vanishing act was some kind of disguise caused by its power, rather than a permanent destruction. This theory would be confirmed moments later, when Maskerade reappeared on its user's finger the moment Makoto willed it to do so.

Finally, Makoto quickly found out that using his Teigu was challenging for him. Well, to be more specific, initiating a transformation was the difficult part, since it made him feel tired for a few moments. Maintaining the form afterwards, though, was practically effortless. Additionally, the fatigue brought by the transformation varied, although Makoto had no idea what determined the things, like turning into a cat or a dog, didn't really drain him, but trying to change into a full-grown lion, like he saw the silhouette do, ended up with him feeling like he just ran around the entire Capital.

All these discoveries, though, seemed odd to Makoto, as, when compared to what he saw the silhouette do in the visions caused by Maskerade, they didn't seem to match what he should be able to do. Having said that,if his observation was correct and he couldn't use the Teigu to its fullest, why was that? The only theory Makoto had was that his father expected him to be older when he found his letter, as tradition dictated that the Emperor's chambers be sealed until a new Emperor was crowned, meaning that Makoto wouldn't be able to access the chamber, much less redecorate it and thus find the hidden box, until he came of age. As such, Makoto came to the conclusion that his body wasn't yet able to handle the strain that would be placed upon it by the full power of the Teigu. Unfortunately though, he couldn't get a definitive answer without attracting the Prime Minister's attention.

Speaking of the Prime Minister, Makoto had, after much consideration, decided it was better to keep Maskerade a secret from his friend, lest he unnecessarily worry him. This was the reason why, even now, as he was heading towards his chambers, he kept his Teigu hidden by changing his hand so that it was exactly the same as it was four days ago, no silver or emerald to be seen on his fingers. While it pained Makoto to do this to his friend and he mentally apologized to him for this deception, he wanted, above all else, to make his father proud of him. As such, he could not afford not to master his final gift to him. To that end, he constantly practiced all day by subtly transforming his body in a way that would go unnoticed by others. So far, he simply stuck to hiding Maskerade and changing the color of his hair, or, at least, the part hidden by his headdress. On his free time, he practiced transforming into various people and animals, in order to become more accustomed to his Teigu's power.

Makoto's train of thought came to a stop as he finally arrived at his chambers. Taking note of the general untidiness of his surroundings, the young emperor lamented the need to prohibit all servants from accessing the room. With the death of his parents and his youth, it was decided by the imperial council that, if Makoto were to rule at this young age, some safety measures were necessary, so that the line of the First Emperor's direct descendants wouldn't die out, should anyone try to have Makoto assassinated. One of those safety measures included, to Makoto's great displeasure, limiting the servants' access to his room. To put it simply, in order for any servant to gain access to his room they would have to be approved by both Makoto and the Prime Minister, facing punishments ranging from unemployment to execution should they be rejected by either one of them, with similar measures taken for his guards. Suffice to say, no one had tried their luck yet.

With a tired sigh, Makoto entered his room, leaving his guards behind. As he was changing out of his royal regalia, his mind was working, trying to erase his doubts about what he was planning to do tomorrow. Now in his sleepwear, the young emperor sat in front of his desk, going over his plan once again. Since reading his father's letter, he could not get his words out of his head. "A wise ruler is a ruler that knows the wishes of his subjects and understands their problems".That single sentence was enough to make Makoto feel ashamed of himself. While he had, since replacing his father, become familiar with his duties as an emperor and his use of his authority impressed even the Prime Minister, Makoto could admit to himself that he had completely neglected to interact with his people. It was for this reason that he had hatched this plan and it was because of the deep shame he felt as a result of his inaction that he decided to ignore his impulse to tell the Prime Minister about Maskerade. Because, at the end of the day, while Makoto tried his best to account for everything, he was certain that there would be things that he missed or simply wasn't even aware of and he didn't want his friend to worry for him, for Makoto would not stop. No matter what, he would make sure to fix his mistake.

The next day

As he was sitting on his throne, Makoto tried his best to ignore the weariness plaguing his body, his mind barely paying attention to the Minister of Finances currently trying (and failing) to make the same report he had given for months now seem interesting. 'Just a little bit more' he thought, 'You have to make this convincing, otherwise someone might suspect you'. Knowing this, though, didn't make what he was doing any easier.

Finally, the Minister seemed to realize the futility of his actions and chose to simply sum up his report and stare at the floor as he bowed before his Emperor. Seizing this opportunity, Makoto initiated his plan. "Minister of Finances Ching " he said as he rose from his throne " We understand your worries, but to..." Makoto trailed off as the world started spinning and his legs struggled to keep their balance, causing him to collapse back on his throne. It was at that moment that the guards that stood behind the Captain rushed to the Emperor's side, finally free to help their stubborn ruler. They were not alone though, for they were accompanied by the royal doctor, who had been already notified.

It was entirely unsurprising to everyone present when the doctor diagnosed the exhausted Emperor with a strong fever. After all, this wasn't unprecedented, for the Emperor was always unwilling to delegate his duties to anyone, unless he was presented with no other choice. Already, this was the tenth time he had pushed himself like this, so, for many, this was almost a routine procedure. The Emperor would exhaust himself until he could no longer continue, the doctor and the guards would rush to his aid, the Prime Minister would make a speech about some positive quality this behavior exhibited in order to get him to continue to do so and the guards would carry the Emperor back to his chambers.

Indeed, the events that played out in the throne room followed that general outline to the letter, with the now pale from sickness Emperor escorted to his room. However, it was at that point that what would come to be regarded as a new part of the routine happened. "Doctor" the Emperor called, his voice weak from exhaustion, "Yes, your Majesty?" the royal doctor asked his patient, who now rested on his bed, "Could you leave any medicine I will need to take on my drawer" he nodded towards the drawer next to his bed, "I have had to take them so many times already that I know what to do without your instructions".

The doctor was, understandably, hesitant about this. On one hand, the Emperor was his patient and this was, after all, the reason he was employed by the Crown. On the other hand, the Emperor was right, he had had similar health issues before and should thus have a basic understanding of what he had to do and how to take the medicine. Plus, although he was a child, he was very mature for his age, so the doctor doubted he would simply choose not to take his medicine, like other kids would. To be honest though, the decisive factor wasn't any of the aforementioned reasons, but, rather, it was the thought of the "bonus" he would receive from the Minister should the Emperor take a little longer to recover, leaving him with extra time to do whatever he wanted while the Emperor was indisposed. Decision made, the doctor took a bottle of medicine and a thermometer out of his medicine kit and wrote a few instructions on a page of the notebook he carried with him, before putting the bottle on top of the drawer and then turning to address his patient.

From Makoto's perspective, his doctor seemed to have fallen in deep thought, before he seemingly agreed to his request, before turning to talk to him. " Your Majesty, I have written some instructions on this page" he said as he showed Makoto a page torn out of the his notebook, "If you follow them, you should be rid of your fever in a few days, but I insist that you take at least another day to rest properly and make sure that you are indeed healthy" he said in a worried tone. " Thank you" Makoto said "and I apologize for making you worry about me". At hearing this, the doctor seemed to calm down a little, although Makoto could still see a bit of worry and... something else that he couldn't identify in the man's eyes. "Remember your Majesty, should any new symptoms appear, send for me immediately" and with these final words, he exited the room.

Makoto waited until he could no longer hear the doctor's footsteps before sighing in relief, cancelling his transformation as he did so. Where before lay a weak, pale boy who looked like he would pass out at any moment, now lay a perfectly healthy Makoto. Contrary to popular belief, Makoto was well aware that pushing himself to exhaustion was a very bad habit, he just was too righteous to avoid his duties because of some sickness or tiredness. Still though, he figured it was necessary to do so this time if it meant righting his greatest mistake.

Getting up from his bed, Makoto swiftly changed out of his regalia and into his least eye-catching clothes and moved towards the balcony. Opening the doors and allowing fresh air to drift into the room, Makoto took a moment to steel his nerves. Looking at it, Makoto realized for the first time the enormity of the wall surrounding his palace. Never before had he felt so trapped before, as he gazed at the massive white barrier that separated the palace from the rest of the Capital. Carefully closing the doors behind him despite there being no need to, for there was nobody around his room even in situations like these, he took a steadying breath to prepare himself, before letting the power of his Teigu change him. Suddenly in possession of a much lighter, feathered body, Makoto took flight, flying away from his palace to explore the unknown city that was the center of his Empire.

How ironic that the Emperor would have to disguise himself as a common pigeon in order to see his own capital.