Despite what I posted last chapter, I changed my mind. I decided this would be the best course for my story. If you are unhappy, I apologize but you gotta deal with it.

I own nothing.

Enjoy.


Upon returning to headquarters, Tatsumi and Sayo were quickly confronted by Leone who looked very worried.

"Tatsumi! You have to come with me quickly! Your friend is in trouble!"

Tatsumi's happy expression turned south very quickly. He dashed away from Sayo and quickly ran with Leone though Sayo was in pursuit. They ran for about three minutes before Tatsumi dashed into the tent and went into the quaratine room. There were several doctors and nurses surrounding the table, trying to help Ieyasu. Upon arrival, the doctors attempted to push him out but Tatsumi glared at them and they backed down from the intense glare of the boy.

"What is the problem?" Tatsumi asked.

Only one doctor remained as the others left and Tatsumi finally got a good luck at his friend. Ieyasu was pale and his body was trembling. He was grimacing in pain and Tatsumi saw the bowl full of bile and blood on the floor. Tatsumi closed his eyes as he finally began to understand and a lone tear fell down his right side.

"I'm sorry Tatsumi..." The doctor began.


Leone was right next to Tatsumi but Sayo grabbed her and pulled her out of the room and dragged the older woman away.

"What are you doing? I need to be there for him!" Leone growled out. Sayo shook her head in response.

"No… you aren't needed there nor does he want you there..."

"What are you talking about! His friend is dying."

"That's not the point… Tatsumi… Tatsumi… Damnit..." Sayo began, but the tears began to fall down her cheeks. "Tatsumi burdens the pain of many. He does it in stride and only lets himself take the pain and the guilt. He's so strong yet he's in so much pain."

"What are you talking about?" Leone asked.


The doctor exited the room and only Tatsumi remained inside with Ieyasu.

Tatsumi looked down at his friend who finally opened his eyes and gave Tatsumi a pained smile.

"Hey buddy… You look like shit." Ieyasu said. Tatsumi grasped his hand and squeezed it.

"You always looked better than I did." Tatsumi said, smiling at Ieyasu.

"Well yea, I was the hottest man there." Ieyasu said before chuckling. He then groaned in pain as he puked up another round of bile and blood into a bowl. "Pal…?"

"I know… Our agreement." Tatsumi said. Ieyasu smiled and squeezed Tatsumi's hand.

"Thanks… for not letting Sayo see me like this… she would never forget it."

"I know. She knows too… so she has to force herself to stay away."

"Thanks Pal." Ieyasu said, looking away from Tatsumi and closing his eyes, embracing the end.

Tatsumi frowned pulled his knife from his pants and shoved it into Ieyasu side, penetrating his heart on both ends a clean cut. Ieyasu groaned loudly in pain before he was forced unconscious from the massive blood loss. The most painless way to die that Tatsumi could give him. Tatsumi wiped the blade on a piece of cloth before exiting the room before walking past Leone and Sayo.

Leone looked so pale, like she seen a ghost. Sayo was sobbing and Leone was almost in tears.

'Oh Tatsumi… I'm so sorry.'


Tatsumi grabbed a spare cloak and other clothes from the night raids supplies before running into the forest, heading straight to the capital. His knife was in his sleeve ready at a moments notice. If one looked into the eyes of Tatsumi, one would see the amount of pain he was in. Rage and despair washed over his face and contorted his appearance into that of a madman.


Akame and the other members of night raid walked into the tent and they saw Sayo and Leone with sad expressions.

"What is going on?" Najenda asked.

Leone looked at Sayo who nodded in tears.

"Tatsumi… bears something we never knew. He's the most damaged of us all… back in the village…" Leone began.


Tatsumi entered the capital and walked through the night time streets, his face downcast. As he walked through the mostly empty city streets, he heard a voice.

"Ahoy there citizen! You look like you need assistance!" Spoke a lovely voice. Tatsumi turned his head and spotted a guard moving in his direction. Stopping his movement and his eyes glaring at the figure, the figure stopped before him and saluted. "I am Seryu of the imperial guard good citizen! You seem lost! Can I be of assistance?"

"No." Tatsumi said. "I know where I'm going. Your assistance is not required." Tatsumi growled out, resuming his walk.

Seryu at first was a bit angry at the way she was spoken to, but she could tell there was pain in his voice. He wasn't in a good mood. She continued her motives to help a citizen.

"Could you tell me what is wrong citizen! I can help!"

"I said no!" Tatsumi said, dashing off away from Seryu who was stunned for a moment before engaging in a pursuit of Tatsumi.

Dashing through an alley way, Tatsumi quickly made his way to the roof tops, using his agility to his advantage as he scaled the walls that were close together. When Seryu rounded the corner, she kept going forward and went the other way. Tatsumi looked down from above and sighed before heading back onto the streets.


After two minutes of walking, Tatsumi came upon a shop within the capital. It was a small shack selling shoes of all kinds. From boots to sandals. It was a homeless man it seemed as he looked quite dirty and was sleeping on the ground under the table. The man seemed startled by Tatsumi walking up and the man grunted.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing?" The old man asked, appearing from the other side.

"I was just checking the merchandise. Didn't mean to wake you." Tatsumi said. The man noticed Tatsumi was wearing some very old shoes that were worn down and it was a size too small as well.

"Ah kid, you really need a new pair of shoes. Those are going to hurt your feet and do some damage to you."

"It's all I got."

"Well, you came to the right place! I have shoes all around here! What would you like?"

"A pair of boots would be nice. One that fits."

"A pair of sturdy boots! Alright! I have just the pair!" Spoke the man before bringing out a pair of white boots. "For sixty silver coins, you can have it."

Tatsumi was about to reach for the boots when he felt a tingling in his arm and he retracted it. His eyes glanced down towards a box next to the man's feet. The box was wrapped up tight.

"Are those for sale?" Tatsumi asked, pointing at the box.

"These? Kid, they are way too small for you."

"I would still like to have them."

"Alright, it's sixty gold coins for those ones. Those were made from a danger beast! Very sturdy! But it's still small."

"It's fine." Tatsumi said, handing over the coins from his pocket. Tatsumi opened the box slowly and placed the shoes on the ground. The old man was watching with curiosity.

'Here goes… my gut is telling me these shoes are an imperial arms… and it wants me'

Tatsumi placed a foot near the shoe and both men had wide eyes as the shoes enlarged at just attached themselves to Tatsumi's feet, wrapping around him snugly and perfectly fit.

"Well I'll be damned… an imperial arms." The old man said, rubbing his head. "Kid, those are really important…"

"Yes I know." Tatsumi said, giving the man sixty more gold coins. "Thats all I have."

"That's more than enough! Thank you for being so kind young man. Have a nice day." The old man said before snuggling back into his sleeping bag.

Tatsumi walked away before finding the urge to run so he did. Instantly Tatsumi realized he was faster. Not super crazy fast but he could achieve much faster speeds with much faster acceleration. He did a running jump and his eyes were wide as he realized he could jump higher and farther now too. Tatsumi grinned happily as he jumped into the roof tops, jumping from roof to roof as he began to enjoy this imperial arms. It was then he leapt off the roof onto the ground just as a man with two blades struck the roof right where he was. Tatsumi hit the ground but he only hit it as light as a feather and he heard no noise from his movements. Tatsumi's eyes widened as he realized what were the purpose of these imperial arms. Stealth.

The man jumped from the roof and smiled happily, grinning madly at Tatsumi.

"Well well well! What do we have here! You look quite good I say! You dodged well! So, tell me… Do you hear the voices too? Hmm?"


Seryu lost Tatsumi within five minutes and she pouted cutely before she decided to head the prison.

"Come on Koro! We will pick you out some nice death row prisoners for you to snack on!" Seryu said, rushing off to the prison dragging the poor biological imperial arms with her.


Upon arrival at the prison, she was approached by another guard.

"Sergeant Seryu! I was doing some looking around Ogre's office a-"

"You what?!" Seryu hissed, glaring at him. "Who gave you permission!?"

"N-Nobody! I just thought you might like t-"

"To what?!" She demanded. Koro had grown bigger and was ready to eat the man.

"I found his journal! I thought you might like to read it!" The guard asked. "I only read a page! It was talking about how he adored you!"

Seryu grabbed the notebook before the guard rushed away, his thoughts on survival from the evil guard. She opened the book to a random page and she spotted a name that was familiar to her.

"Gamal." She spoke softly. "He was killed about the same time as Ogre… but what did Captain Ogre have to do with that slime ball?"

Seryu was aware of Gamal's appetite for whores. He had made a pass on her in the past but was instantly shut up with a threat of losing an arm by Koro. He had apologized and she never saw him again. With a sigh, Seryu took a seat on a chair while she waved Koro off to kill three death row prisoners. While hearing the screams of pain, Seryu began to read and her eyes were tearing up.

'Captain Ogre… why… why would you do something like this? You… you always told me that the imperial guard were the personifications of justice… but… but you just been framing innocents… why? For money?' "Damnit!" She cursed, throwing the book onto the ground. Upon spotting the journal entry on her, she picked it up and began to read it. Tears began to fall as she realized that Ogre was only taking care of her for a debt to her father. Ogre never cared and only wanted to further his own advancement within the guard.

"Damnit. No! I can't lose faith in the guard!" Seryu stated, putting on a heroic pose. "Justice will always prevail! We are justice!" Seryu stated before a guard came in.

"Sergeant Seryu! I'm sorry to bother, but we spotted the Headhunter!"

"Thank you Private! Koro! Dinner time!" Koro stumbled out of the prisoner cells with a burp before Seryu dragged him off to follow the private.


Upon arrival in the large church courtyard, Seryu spotted Tatsumi dodging strikes from Headhunter Zanku. She was about to charge in to help the citizen when she heard Zanku talk to the boy.

"Come on Night Raid! Is this all you got?! You will surely die if all you do is dodge!" Zanku laughed out. Zanku was striking at Tatsumi and Tatsumi was always so close to being hit. It was like Zanku knew where to strike. "I know every move you are going to make! Hahaha! This is so easy!" Zanku spoke out. "Closer and closer to death we go!" Zanku maniacally laughed out.

Tatsumi suddenly jumped back in which got Zanku to overextend his arm reach and Tatsumi summoned a knife from his sleeve before rushing past the outstreched arm before slicing into Zanku's neck, slicing off part of the jugular vein. Tatsumi turned the blade backward and plunged it deep into Zanku's back, sending the man to the ground as he began to die.

"The voices won't bother you anymore." Tatsumi spoke, his expression not of anger but sadness. Even Zanku had to suffer the pain of his job. While Zanku wasn't a saint, Tatsumi knew what it was like to suffer. "But I still hear them." Tatsumi spoke softly as Zanku died with a smile.

Tatsumi looked up and spotted Seryu and the large imperial arms already in attack mode.

"Koro! Kill Night Raid!" Seryu spoke, pulling out two guns and opening fire. Tatsumi began to dodge the bullets and slid under the legs of Koro before running off into the city, hoping to escape! As he dodged Seryu he plunged the blade into the other guards throat before dragging it along and taking he blade back with him. This cut off a good chunk of the guards throat. Seryu began to chase after Tatsumi with guns blazing. "Koro! Recon mode!" Seryu spoke. "Chase him down!"

Koro transformed into a smaller quad legged dog, chasing after Tatsumi like a bloodhound.

Tatsumi wasn't looking back but he could hear the feet chasing him. Tatsumi took to the streets and began to weave around objects, weave around shacks, stands and other objects including a fountain. He zipped through alley ways and zagged through streets, aiming to head out from the center of the capital. As Seryu chased Koro who was chasing Tatsumi, Seryu's mind began to think about Captain Ogre and his betrayal of Seryu's trust but Seryu shook it off and continued her pursuit. It was only when she heard a scream that she stopped. She looked down an alley way and spotted a guard being paid by a man in a business suit. The girl was knocked unconscious by the guard who was paid by the business man to take the girl away. Seryu blinked and continued her chase of Koro and Tatsumi. She was looking at the scene wrong.


Upon catching up to Koro who had chased Tatsumi to turn around, Seryu came upon another scene. A guard was being sexually gratified by a female who was crying. The guard had a knife to the girls throat. Seryu whistled and Koro quickly came running back.]

"You there! What the fuck are you doing?!" Seryu demanded, storming over to the alley way.

"Hey there Sergeant." Spoke a smug voice.

"Captain, what are you doing with a knife to her throat?"

"It's the only way to get whores like her to cooperate. You want a try with her?"

"Koro… snack time." Seryu seethed. The last thing the guard saw was the mouth of teeth. Rows upon rows of teeth.

The girl spat out the man and looked up at Seryu with tears in her eyes.

"T-Thank you. You… you saved me."

"Justice will always prevail!"

"Yes… thank you!" The girl said, getting up and running off.

"Koro! Find the night raid!" Seryu demanded which got the imperial arms to run off.


Tatsumi had ran five miles straight while being chased by a rabid dog. Tatsumi was sitting on a fountain, taking deep breaths. He finally was on the other side of the capital as he ran away from where the dog retreated. He sighed and stood up after catching his breath and walked into an alley way before he turned around half way and began to run. It was then he was trapped. Seryu was inside the alley way waiting for him while Koro was in his large form, ready to fight.

"Nowhere to run night raid." Seryu said. Tatsumi quickly began to look for an escape route. Tatsumi quickly jumped onto the nearby wall and began to scale it but he was smacked to the ground by Koro. Tatsumi drew his knife and charged at Seryu to escape but Koro grabbed him and threw him backwards, right into the fountain itself. Koro was right on top of him suddenly, preventing an escape.

Seryu approached the fountain and drew a gun, aiming it at Tatsumi who was in her crosshairs. Tatsumi was naive and wasn't a full assassin yet. While he has the skills of a killer, he didn't have good battlefield perception.

It was when Seryu and Tatsumi heard a cry of anguish that they both turned to look at what caused it. In a nearby mansion, the window was open. They both could see inside as a girl was being chased inside by a dog before being tackled to the ground by said mutt. The dog began to mount the female and laughter could be heard and seen by ten different men. Tatsumi and Seryu both rushed at the same time to the house and charged in.

Seryu charged in first and blew two guy's heads off with her gun before using the tonfa guns as tonfas and smacking another one in the head, crushing his skull. In the corner of her eye, she saw the boy with his knife, slicing off throats and stabbing people in the heart. He was quick and efficient. Thirty guys appeared from different rooms and floors and began to fight back against the two.

"Koro! DINNER TIME!" Seryu roared out. The wall was sent into splinters as Koro barreled through and took out five guys with one chomp. After a three minutes fight, only one guy remained as he raised a knife above his head to stab Seryu in the back but Tatsumi was there first using his imperial arms speed to stab into the mans heart, hitting him through the side. Seryu turned and saw that the night raid member saved her. Koro was about to eat Tatsumi but Seryu raised her hand.

"Thank you..." Seryu spoke softly.

"Your thanks aren't needed." Tatsumi said, walking away to leave the house. Koro however blocked with a meaty arm.

"You aren't leaving night raid."

"I guess I should have let him kill you then huh..." Tatsumi said, cursing his caring nature.

Seryu grabbed Tatsumi by the hand before sitting him on the ground before she sat next to him. They were sitting on the porch of the blood bath. Tatsumi was extremely confused and he was even more confused when Seryu buried her face in his chest. He felt the girl begin to sob and tremble.

"I'm so confused!" Seryu cried.

Tatsumi only responded with a gentle pat on her back, rubbing it gently.

"A-About what?"

"Everything… I was raised to believe the empire was amazing… I was taught that my job was to uphold justice… but… today… The empire was the evil ones… Captain Ogre… the guards taking bribes and raping… and then these… these businessmen letting a dog rape a girl! I don't get it!" Seryu cried, looking up into Tatsumi's green eyes.

Tatsumi rubbed the back softly and looked at Koro who was now sitting next to her, munching on a dismembered hand.

"The empire is filled with corruption..." Tatsumi began. "I… I have felt it myself… you know that big time family who was murdered last week?"

He felt her nod.

"The family had a history of taking foreigners off the streets and playing with them. The little girl was known to torture, especially females, while the mother played doctor and infected people with disease..." Tatsumi said before he began crying as well. "That damn girl took my friend away from me! I… I had to kill him! Damnit!"

Seryu gently hugged Tatsumi.

"Why did you have to kill him?" Seryu asked.

"He was dying ok? He was dying… we didn't have the antidote on hand so we had to wait 24 hours to receive it from one of our bases far away. He had to survive the night but he didn't! He was in so much pain… so I ended it for him. He was suffering."

Seryu hugged herself now and she shook her head.

"I don't know what to do anymore… I'm lost. Everything I was upheld to believe has been a lie."

"I thought the Empire would be a place for me to go to save my village… but the empire is the reason my village is suffering."

The two of them cried on the porch, now hugging onto each other as they gave into despair of their lives.


After a good hour of their cries, Tatsumi was looking up at the moon that was beginning to set as Morning would come shortly.

"Back in the village, I was one of the doctors. I learned how to treat wounds but I couldn't treat infectious diseases. No one in our village could… we didn't get sick all that much… it was rare for something other than a cold to come around. So I trained under the head doctor to treat wounds… I was so beloved by everyone in our hospital. Everyone would want ME to take care of them and it was amazing. That was… that was until one day I was given a request by a dying patient. She was an middle aged woman who was hurt while hunting with her husband. The husband ended up dying on the spot but she was sent to the hospital.

She asked me to kill her. End the pain. The medicine they gave her for the pain was wearing off and she was building an immunity to it. She could no longer use it to starve off the pain. She begged and begged for me to kill her and… I don't know why… but I did it… I… I stabbed her in the heart and I ended her life. I killed someone for the first time… a real life human being… From there on, I was known around the town as the Angel of Mercy. Ending the pain and suffering of those who were on deaths door." Tatsumi said. He felt Seryu squeeze his hand in sympathy.

"My father and mother got into a fight with a danger beast… A-Class. I was there and I ended up killing the danger beast… but they were bitten and they were poisoned. They would never arrive back in the village alive and the poison was quite acidic. They were being burned alive basically. I… they looked at me with sad eyes… told me to be strong… and asked me to help them. I killed my parents that day… and now… now I had to kill one of my friends… I can't look at myself in the mirror! All I see is a monster. I had to kill my only family… I'm so alone!" Tatsumi cried, sobbing into his hands. Seryu rubbed his back and gently lifted his chin.

"You aren't alone anymore… I will be by your side… you fight for the same thing I want to… Justice. So… I will be by yourside." Seryu said, gently kissing Tatsumi on the cheek. "Thank you for sharing your past with me… let's head to base."

Seryu and Tatsumi slowly walked out of the capital and walked towards Night Raid's base.


Read. Review. Moo.

Yup I had to put Ieyasu down... and you've been given Tatsumis past.

Now Seryu is joining Night Raid and Tatsumis harem? OH no!