Ch3

NinjaFang1331: Thanks for both the first and second review. It slipped my mind to acknowledge you in the last chapter.

Gabriel790: Again, forgot to thank you last chapter, but thank you.

Ideas and criticism will be nice, and no, I don't want people commenting on getting Tatsumi in DxD. I don't want that and won't do that. Maybe in another fanfic, but not this one.

Once again, criticism is appreciated, hit me with your worst!

Next day:

"Are we a positive on that?" asked Kichirou as he sat upside down on the cushioned chair, moving his feet. Currently, they were talking about a job that had to be done, or currently in the process of being given the green light to execute. The fiance of a recently deceased male wanted retribution for Ogre, who staged the framing and execution her lover. Recently, whenever Gamal committed a crime, he would bribe Ogre and in turn, the latter will frame someone else.

"Yes," Leone replied, "I watched them in an attic of a store and I can confirm. She's willing to pay off with this."

There was a clatter as money was tossed onto the table. Kichirou stared, "S-she doesn't have to pay that much, she needs it herself. With that disease..."

Leone shook her head as everyone looked back and forth as if it was a ball game, "She is willing."

Najenda nodded, "Okay, Night Raid will accept this request. We will deliver the punishment necessary for these monsters."

Drawing a rapier from nowhere, Kichirou pointed, "Okay then~ We got this! Leone, Akame! You two can handle Gamal! That little criminal is probably hopeless in defending himself! I'll get Ogre-chan~"

"Wait," Najenda spoke, "Won't it be better for just Leone to handle Gamal? The two of you can work on Ogre. Akame can fight first, and you evaluate her skill. But be there to back her up in case. You yourself are aware of his strength."

"I know~" he sang, "But the client's fiance is a friend of mine. Or...was." Kichirou's face twisted, making the child look inhuman, "I'll kill Ogre-chan myself to avenge Yamato!"

Nobody wanted to protest as this is not a form that you want to argue with, especially when Kichirou has made a definite decision. "Okay~ Nobody has objections. Let's go~"

"Stop." Kichirou turned. "Kichirou, you must remember about what our goal is. Why we kill."

"..."

"You want to kill him for vengeance, but he may be a tough opponent. Having Akame fight him will either give her good experience or just to hone her skills. Remember, we don't want anyone dying here. If you handle every job yourself and for everyone just because of the small things they did you don't like or for personal grudges, what will happen if you aren't there and Night Raid faces an opponent as tough or tougher than you?"

"..."

"Second thing, you are on the 'Wanted' list. You would never be able to get close. Akame on the other hand, is new, and they haven't seen her in action at all yet. Save for those who saw her rescue you, but they could have gotten nothing more than a glance."

Kichirou stared intently at Najenda, "I understand. I'll go help Leone first, just in case there are guards watching Gamal. Then I'll check on Akame."

"I'm glad you see," came the reply and Kichirou bowed.

"Okay. So going over the details, we move tomorrow morning, when Ogre is returning from his drinking sessions."

"Check," Najenda said simply.

"Then Akame will handle Ogre as Leone and I will handle fatty."

"Double check."

"Finally, we just return and report."

"Bingo."

Kichirou nodded along with Akame. Akame let out a breath, "It shouldn't be too hard at all. I'm sure that the Demon wouldn't stand a chance. Especially against me. He's an Imperial Police, I am an assassin from an eli-" She couldn't finish as Kichirou rushed up to her, grabbing her collar and glared.

"You do not underestimate him. Do. You. Under-fucking-stand?" Everyone backed up a step at his sudden outburst and Akame's eyes held nothing but fear. She nodded as her heart skipped a beat at his violence, "Good. I wanted to handle him myself, but I cannot. I don't want you dying to him. The Imperial Police don't do anything but rattle sabers, but I, myself, have never, ever seen them fight. If I did and had analyzed their skills, I could give my definitive opinion on whether you could toy with him or fight for your life." There was silence as Kichirou continued watching Akame, grinding his teeth as nobody dared move.

"I'm sorry. I'll be careful around him," Akame managed out. Kichirou gave a nod and let go.

"I'll get sleep," he walked out the room without taking a look back.

Leone looked at the gates to the Capital, "You have a plan on how to lead him away?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure if it'll work. It'll be troublesome if I have to fight in public."

"Hmm. You can probably simply ask to talk in private, then shift to recruitment matters, and as a last resort, seduction." Leone gave a pause then called Akame, "Hey, I just want to share something."

"Huh?" Akame looked up, surprised.

"You saw Kichirou's change in personality, right?" Akame looked around and Leone laughed, "Ah, he's not going to come in a while. Wanna listen?"

At Akame's hesitant nod, Leone continued, "Let's start with how we got him. You've heard about the end of his career, surely. Anyway, Boss said he spent a week or two burying everyone at the Talti incident. All his men, and those in the village. He left the Empire's men to the Danger Beasts to feed on. When she found him, he was in the process of finishing, so Boss gave him a hand.

"She tried to convince him to join, but his spirit had shattered. He was unwilling to go on and fight for everyone there."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"Hey, hold up. I'm not finished yet." Akame nodded, and waited for Leone to continue.

"Anyway, it would have been impossible for him to join. Once the last child was buried, he refused to move. Apparently, Boss said that a ghost of one of his second-in-commands, Kenji, appeared to them and spoke. She didn't go into details, but Kichirou was convinced after some talking.

"Honestly, I refuse to believe it, but looking at him...I feel like they weren't lying."

Akame nodded, "But...how can you tell?"

"His personality, of course," Leone saw Akame's blank look and laughed, "Well, I'll explain more. You of course have seen his childlike personality, and that eight-year appearance and the eight-year old..well for the lack of words, demon. His personality wasn't originally like that. According to Boss, as they have met before they both defected, he had never been like that, it was more calm and generally like Boss's attitude.

"In case you haven't noticed, the more angry, stressed, or sad he gets, he uses the child's personality more, his demons more. Tone at the least. You can rarely ever talk to him while seeing his former side. That only surfaces when he talks to Boss.

"Really, that boy. All of Night Raid has never been able to get him to speak in his former personality besides Boss. Even when speaking to himself, he uses that tone. I think he's hiding himself from himself. If you do manage it, he really cares or trusts you."

Akame swallowed, Does that mean...?

"Oh, there's a difference. If he speaks at his normal tone outside his child appearance, it's not the same as if he speaks normally as a child."

Akame blinked, he had spoken normally when she woke him up just before he blew up the chests. Speaking of which, he did use the child voice when he unhesitantly triggered the explosives. Then when she saved him...

"Hey, Akame. Why didn't you want me to be left behind?"

'That's a stupid question, why would I want you to die?' She had replied to him

"Well, first of all, I'm not important. Second, I thought that Team Seven was thought to be uncaring and ruthless. Leave comrades behind because only the strongest survive, and the weak cannot live."

He had spoken, in his normal tone then, full of pain.

"...Leave comrades behind because only the strongest survive, and the weak cannot live."

He saw himself as weak. She didn't know him much, yet Akame thinks she knows the reason for his doubts. Leone waved her hand in front of Akame, "You there? What are you thinking about?"

"Just...why he spoke to me the way he did."

"No stupid child act?" At the shake of her head, "Wow, the gods must be blessing you or something! We've been with him longer and only heard that seriousness around Boss, but to a girl he saved just days ago?" Leone laughed. Akame put a hand on her shoulder.

Kichirou appeared in the crowd and walked up to them, smiling, "What's funny? Oh! No need to answer. Time to get moving anyway~" He walked past them, a little skip in his gait, not giving a look back and Leone shrugged.

"See? That's why you must be special." Leone pointed out.

Gamal walked down the garden walkway and hummed to himself, "Ah, I can't believe that they actually think somebody would kill me! Why do I need so many guards if everyone in the Capital is too scared to lift a finger against me? Can't I just walk and relieve myself freely?"

A childish voice spoke behind him, "Arara, that's where you're wrong~" The stout, pudgy man turned to see a child. He didn't say anything. He couldn't as there was a snap and numbing sensation filling his body. As darkness filled his vision, "You need guards because there are assassins outside the Capital who'd love to see you d-e-a-d~"

Gamal had only just enough time to feel his head rolling as it wasn't connected to his neck and hear a few final words, "Ta-ta~"

"Be glad. You died to the hands of a beautiful woman, not to mention quite a cute child.."

Kichirou cocked his head at the unseeing, staring eyes and smiled, "Well! Job is done. Time to back up my student cutie~"

He leaped onto the roof the walkway and then the building, "By the way, keep calling me cute, would you?"

Leone was surprised, then saw the look in his eyes and shuddered.

Meanwhile, as Leone jumped up to follow him, Akame had managed to lure Ogre away from the main street of his drinking area and dragged him into an alley. She wore a cloak that covered her eyes and hid her hair. She kept her gaze slightly downwards as Ogre put his hands on his hips. "So? This place good enough?"

Akame got to her knees and started begging, "Can you take me into the defense forces?"

"Ah," he scoffed, "I knew this was the topic. Just get through the normal screening."

"Please, Ogre-san! If you recommend me, I'm sure I'll make it in!"

There was a bellow, "We only want strong men in the army. Even if you miss the mark by a minuscule margin, you aren't good enough. If you've failed, you've failed! The weak cannot understand! Especially women!"

Ogre turned and started off when Akame rushed forward and made a cut at his back, slicing off half his cape and creating a gash in his leather coat, "Of course the weak understand the strong and the strong will always underestimate the weak."

When the giant stood for a second, Akame realized something was wrong and quickly leaped back in the nick of time. A huge sword cut right at the spot she stood at and smashed a crater. There was another bellow, "WAHAHA! You pipsqueak think you can handle me? ONLY I CAN JUDGE THE STRONG AND WEAK! NOBODY CAN JUDGE ME! I AM THE KING OF THIS CITY! THE HIGHEST AUTHORITY! I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT, AS MUCH AS I WANT! NOTHING CAN OR WILL STOP ME!"

His sword slammed against Murasame, nearly sending her flying, but Akame held her ground and even pushed Ogre back. This was without devil strength, but Akame struggled and her teeth were gritted fiercely. Ogre gave a raised eyebrow, "Ah, you're the new member Night Raid recruited! I recognize that sword. Akame! Lemme guess who hired you!...MUST BE THAT BITCH FIANCE OF THE MAN I FRAMED EARLIER! WHAHAHAH! I'll get her next, but after I kill her parents and everyone who matters to her!"

"Bastard!" Akame growled and broke free, clashed her sword against Ogre's and knocking his weapon aside more than half the time, leaping up, aiming for his neck. She thought, He's like everyone. Too drunk with the power he has. "Obliterate!" However, Ogre reacted quickly and dodged, bringing his fist around and slamming Akame into the wall. The force was so strong that she flew back as she scraped against it, removing bricks, making a gash on the buildings. When she finally touched the floor, her entire right side was bloody, arm covered in blood and her face; right side of her vision blurry and red.

She stumbled as she stood and leaned on Murasame as she stabbed it into the cracks on the cobblestones. Kichirou was right as she needed help. This Ogre was clearly on a different level than her. This was the police captain, someone who is corrupt but still had the power to handle even the worst of the worst criminal fighters.

Ogre took a casual step, but not before raising his sword to block an attack. Akame didn't and wouldn't give up. It didn't matter her sight was blurry, it didn't matter she was half blind, she could tell where he was and she needed to finish the job.

She had her right eye closed due to the blood flowing down that side of her face, limiting her depth perception. She leaped back and quickly swiped the blood off her face when the sword slammed down to counter her previous assault.

She blocked his charging strike, but coughed up blood as he kicked up at her stomach.

As she fell, she saw his fist racing at her face and she closed her eyes tightly. I'm sorry, Kichirou. I didn't let my guard down, but he's clearly better than me.

She never felt the fist hit her face, but instead heard a sickening crunch and crash as she landed on the floor, taking out her breath.

"Who are you?" Akame heard Ogre ask heard rubble falling as someone broke free of the wall. There was the sound of spitting and now looking up, Akame noticed Kichirou had jumped in. Orge saw how prepared the cloaked child was, despite flying into a building, and cackled, "A child? A puny child thinks he can handle the likes of me?"

"Yaaas!" said the child in a cutesy voice and Akame widened her eyes at the pure malevolence of the aura he gave off. Ogre didn't notice as he raised his sword.

He was once again, astonished by the assault by his opponent, but he was no pushover. He couldn't possibly be overwhelmed by this.

Although this child was a different case. He was being overwhelmed. All his strikes were well placed, forcing him to defend a different spot each time. The child was wielding two swords that seemed to imitate Yin-Yang, which didn't help defending.

But Ogre had one advantage the child cannot ever possibly dream of. Pure muscle. The child may have unmatched skill, but he cannot match Ogre's innate strength. So instead of blocking, he swung to parry the strike instead, disarming him left sword, the black one. It shattered and the shards flew down the alley and he Ogre swung again, laughing at his luck.

Akame screamed as the sword swung, but Ogre had unintentionally chosen to swing with the flat of his blade, instead batting Kichirou into the wall, again. He fell down a meter onto his knees and collapsed forward, facedown. Akame stood unsteadily and tried to move to her devil master, but Ogre gave no such chance. He grabbed Kichirou by the front of his shirt and held him up. "Say, Akame. I will give you a choice. Come with me and be publicly executed, in exchange for letting the boy go...or you leave and I kill the boy here and now."

Akame gave no hesitation, "I'll come with you!"

"NO!" Came Kichirou's anguished yell, but was silenced by a punch to the gut.

"I don't need you input, kid! She made her choice! Now she will die as you will watch when you visit the center of the Capital. It'll be fun to read out her crimes before pinning her on a cross, stripping her of dignity be-RAAA!" Ogre's scream was due to a familiar black blade flying from nowhere and digging into his shoulder to the hilt. Miraculously, he didn't die outright.

When the Kichirou dropped, he muttered, "Kanshou and Bakuya. Two married swords and can never be split, no matter the cost. Whether one is obliterated into atoms or erased from existence, it will return if the other is intact. That sets it apart from other weapons."

Kichirou removed his hood as Ogre looked at him in disbelief. He got one glance at Kichirou's face when he heard fingers snap.

The sound made everything go dark. He panicked as he wasn't dead, but blinded. It was then the child's voice was vaugely familiar to his ears, and the one look he got nagged at his brain.

"Haah? Ogre toy-chan not dead?" Akame shivered as Kichirou knew fully well he wasn't dead. The only stabbed areas were his eyes.

"RAAHH!" Yes...the voice was familiar. The face ran through Ogre's mind.

"Toy-chan too noisy! Must silence!" Ogre only had time to find out he was facing the former Great General Kichirou when He himself waved his hand and weapons flew at Ogre, stabbing and stabbing, until the roars turned to screams and silence. When corpse fell onto its knees, Kichirou stomped the floor.

"Toy-chan not quiet! Why stomp floor?" He twisted his hand and a brutal squishing and splattering could be heard, before blood gushed up the walls of the alley. "Joy! Joy! Yup! I painted the walls bright red! As red as my student's eyes!"

Kichirou was silent, simply watching the slab of meat. He took a few steps forward and stepped on Ogre's remaining eyeball that had fallen in the murder. "Now, you will never see in the afterlife. You lost your left eye years ago, and I destroyed your right one."

He slowly turned to Akame, "..."

Kichirou fell to his knees and she saw tears in his eyes. He shuddered and sobbed, "Don't die on me Akame. Don't die on my watch, don't die in my arms."

She was astonished as he spoke full of despair, "Please." Akame nodded and he hugged her, crying over her shoulder.

"I don't want to lose one more person." Akame didn't know what to do but pat his back as he cried.

"You worried for me?"

"No shit, I-I acted that way because if I had spoke normally, it would be so shaky. That's if I wasn't choking on tears. I thought you were dead when you flew that far. When you got up, I couldn't let you get harmed any further."

She pulled him up and he stopped crying.

"We have to go," but she fell unconscious and only then Kichirou noticed the ocean of blood from where she had sat on.

"Shit!" He carried her over his back and muttered over and over, "Don't die...don't die, don't die." They were at the top of the building and fleeing just as the first screams of 'Murder!' were heard.

Akame felt cold, her body was too cold. Her face slightly pale and lips losing color. Kichirou stopped running, "She'd be dead at this rate."

He summoned a magic circle and started to teleport to his location. Obviously the base of Night Raid.

"Akame nearly died against Ogre?" Najenda said in a controlled voice.

"Yes, Ogre-chan had worn armor, but I think it wasn't for Akame or any assassination, simply a precaution. So at her first cut, it didn't even kill him. Next, he himself is insanely stronger than a simple soldier, stronger than...anyone I've seen. Like he was doped or something related. However...he wasn't doped is the problem. He was able to send Akame flying a few meters. If I had left with Leone and didn't jump in...Ogre is clearly different than what I expected for a 'simple' police captain."

Najenda nodded gravely, "Troublesome. If even the weakest gave you trouble, I can imagine the obstacles ahead."

"Definitely," Kichirou frowned, "I don't want to fight these guys from now on. If this happens again, we will lost someone soon...Will Akame be fine?"

Najenda nodded, "Just blood loss. but nothing serious."

Kichirou crossed his arms and faced away from Najenda, "Yeah, an ocean of blood is nothing to worry about."

The door opened behind them and Najenda gestured, smiling, "See? The girl's fine. Jus-"

Akame had strolled in with a purpose and yanked off Kichirou's shirt, "Najenda, Leone, please hold him."

Both were confused but eagerly held him, all the while he was shouting and twisting, "LEMMEGOLEMMEGOLEMMEGOPERVERTS!"

Akame yanked down his pants and looked at him, until finally, she hugged him. His response was natural, "Eh?"

"You're fine...No real injuries."

He pulled away and promptly tripped on his pants around his ankles, landing on his butt, shouting, "Wait! Why are you worried about me when you nearly died of blood loss?!"

She answered even though they weren't the only ones in the room, "You are everything to me, Kichirou."

He stared, heart skipping a beat, then said to his student, pointing seriously, "Akame, then promise me you will always return alive, mission after mission."

"You have to promise too."

He smiled, "I will."

Leone jumped in between them, lips puckered, "Aww, is Akame feeling all fuzzy wuzzy to Kichiwou?"

Akame backed away and Kichirou put on his clothes. Najenda turned to Kichirou, still smirking at the recent events, "Well, Kichirou. I was going to have Akame go with Mine tomorrow, but she had requested for you on this specific job."

"Eh?" Kichirou was confused.

"I'll give more details later."

"Eh."

The falcon fluttered down onto his arm and Issei removed the little scroll. Everyone could tell from his expression that he wasn't happy. Actually, they were surprised that he was surprised.

One soldier gathered his courage and spoke, "Issei-sama, what happened?"

He glanced up momentarily and tossed the scroll to him. The soldier read it and dropped it at the news the general had received. "Not possible! Ogre-san cannot be dead!"

"Yes he can," Issei replied bluntly, even if the statement wasn't directed at him. "Nobody is invincible, nobody is immortal. You understand? Everyone is bound to die. Death is always waiting for us with open arms, even if we hide, if we cower, if we shrink from him. We cannot escape Death. Sometimes, he comes and gathers your soul, your life, earlier than you expect. This is such the case with Ogre-chan.

"If I were to guess, it is the doing of Night Raid. Nobody was arrested and no suspects made. Only they can pull that off. I commend them, they are truly impressive, even for enemies."

The soldier nodded, understanding his meaning, "I was simply astonished Ogre-san was killed."

"Well, excuse my bluntness and general rudeness, but that knucklehead is only good for smashing heads. I wouldn't be surprised if he was outsmarted or was outplayed, all he does is swim in his 'power.' But if they had beaten him through strength. I'd love to fight his assassin."

Some people laughed and he hesitated, should he really kill them? He was now having second thoughts. They are human too. He is a human. He shook his head. No, he had to kill them lest they would give their lives to keep quiet about what he wanted to do.

He called them the worst, but he's seen immense improvement from the start of their training, if he was to reorganize his groups. It has been a long time, two years by now. Plenty will be in Group B now, no less. Picking out four perfect for Group EX. He sighed, he should have put more thought into who to bring. Not the former Group D, but the ones who should belong in Group D at this moment.

He looked at them and then at the path ahead of him, they were only a day out, and could turn back...but it may be suspicious. Issei wanted to be flat out honest with them, he was never one to manipulate but work with complete honesty from both sides. Sometimes, lies were needed for good reasons, such as to the Emperor recently, but he didn't lie for the sake of manipulation.

But what reason did he need to kill these people here? A female voice broke him out of his internal conflict, "Issei-san, is something bothering you?"

He waved them all over weakly and everyone was hesitant at his signs of weakness, uncommon throughout the known Great Generals. Issei just thought of a better idea than what he originally planned to do. Simply tell the truth, and wait for their response, "If I told you that the Teigu we are going for is evil, would you believe me?"

Everyone looked at each other then at him, "Sir...?"

"If I told you that whoever wields this Teigu and the Divine Divide must fight and cause mass destruction, general panicking and chaos, will you help me destroy that Teigu and keep quiet about it 'not being there at all but a trap by the Revolutionary Army?'"

The entire army shared a round-the-table look again and one man asked, "Could you elaborate and tell us what we can do? I honestly will want to help, even if I must die, if it means stopping this mass destruction."

Issei smiled slightly and nodded, "This Boosted Gear and the Divine Divide go way back, their origins way before the First Emperor created the Teigu. The origins were two Heavenly Dragons. The powerful western Ddraig and the east phantom Albion. They liked to constantly fight each other, and so earnestly that they cause destruction every time.

"One time, First Emperor was ruling, they fought again, but they managed to damage each other to the point where they lost part of themselves.

"Albion lost some of his wings while Ddraig lost some of his scales, along with a part of his arm.

"The Emperor had used those parts to create the Teigus we have now."

One soldier pointed at his gauntlet that covered his left arm, "Is that the Teigu?"

Issei gave a wide grin, "Yes. This is it. Originally, this was a simple Shingu, for people to normally use. However, the Great Civil War killed both these dragons and now their spirits are sealed in their respective Teigus...So not only is this a Teigu, but a Teigu with the actual soul and thoughts of the original Danger Beast too."

Issei closed his eyes and looked aside, "What I want is this, guys..."

End of chapter 3. I think this was supposed to be up yesterday, but I didn't put this together then, so Mere Mortals was up. Let's keep this going. Not sure how this will end up in terms of popularity, but I'll see. Thanks for the support. No matter how small, it is big here.