Disclaimer: I don't own Akame ga kill, Highschool DxD or any of its characters...
Nobody even tried to speak for the next few moments, with all eyes inside the place being locked towards Tatsumi. He remained silent as well, letting this revelation sink into his friends' minds. He knew that they wouldn't be able to take all of this in one sitting, so he decided to stay quiet until one of them could actually accept it.
Even Esdeath, who was feared by many in the empire for her power and intimidating appearance, was in shock because of what had just been revealed to her. But unlike the others who were all sitting around the table, her reaction could be described that she took it better than they did.
Much to Tatsumi's surprise however, it was Mine who spoke up before anybody else.
"Y-Y-You're… a d-d-d-devil…" Mine stuttered, shakily pointing a finger towards Tatsumi, fear suddenly starting to take over her whole self. All this time, the young man that they thought of as a friend… was actually a monster all along?
Based on her voice alone, he immediately knew what she had in mind. "Mine… I'm not gonna hurt anyone, trust me. I may be a devil, but I'm not evil. You're still my friends, and I will never forget that. Look, devils aren't really that bad…" he tried to explain, with some sorrow hidden in his tone because he was expecting this from them the moment he brought them back. "Sure, there are a few devils who really are evil like what you think, but that doesn't apply to all of us. Devils just have a really bad image to most people, that's all."
"You're not… evil?" Akame looked surprised, since she had been glaring at Tatsumi viciously ever since she got over her initial shock.
He looked at Akame and furrowed his eyebrows. "No, why would I be? If I was, I would've never brought any of you back to life. You're all important to me, and I couldn't just let you die. You've all become important to me that I can't let any of you go." he spoke in a sincere tone, looking a bit sad because everyone had doubts on his intentions.
"Tatsumi." Bulat's voice drew Tatsumi's attention away from Akame as the larger man looked serious yet at the same time, worried. "I-If you're… a devil… then… how exactly are we alive then? I may not be religious and all, but I do know that it's impossible for that kind to be involved in something regarding bringing someone back to life. I see that as something only someone like God can –" Bulat immediately got cut off from his words as a headache took over him, causing him to hold his head as a result.
The same headache appeared to have affected the others too as they had their hands on their heads. Even Tatsumi looked like he was suffering from the same sensation, but remained calm in his position.
"Urgh, stupid headache… why won't it just go away…" Mine groaned, wondering why this was happening.
Tatsumi sighed and shook his head, before turning back towards all of them with a serious expression on his face. "One of the rules in being a devil… never mention anything that has something to do with… God…" He stopped for a moment as that particular headache attacked them again, before continuing. "...because if you do… you'll experience a mild headache, or maybe even body pain afterwards…"
"Wait…" Leone muttered, struggling to resist the headache she was feeling. "S-So that means…" Her eyes were as wide as saucers, immediately understanding what Tatsumi was trying to say.
"Yes. I brought all of you back to life… by turning you into devils."
Tatsumi didn't bother to even look at them after he said those words, expecting silence from his friends. And he wasn't wrong, because nobody even looked like they could speak. He expected nothing less from them, and he knew that this would happen.
Esdeath wasn't looking calm anymore, and she had the same reaction with the others around the table, which was completely unlike her to act as such. She wanted to say that Tatsumi was lying and there was some other explanation for this, but she couldn't find it in herself to do so. Chelsea wanted the same as her, but she was too overwhelmed with everything that had just been revealed, that she couldn't even speak out what was in her mind. Mine took it the worst, looking as if she was going to go crazy if nobody bothered to calm her down.
A few moments after, Tatsumi glanced at the nearby clock on the wall and sighed deeply. "Well… I guess this ends our conversation for now." he said, standing up from the table before heading to the couch where his knapsack was waiting for him as he walked towards the front door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Although she was still shocked with what she just found out, Esdeath still managed to stay composed enough to notice that Tatsumi was perhaps trying to avoid them.
Tatsumi stopped just by the door and looked at them. "Look, as much as I would want to explain more of this… you need time to cope with what you just found out. Plus, I'm a student here, so I need to go to school right now and I won't be able to tell you everything that you want to know. Don't worry, I'll come back after school and we can even talk the whole night if you wish. Even I want to tell you everything, just to let you know."
Everyone at the table looked at each other multiple times, not knowing how they should react to this.
"For now, just stay here and make yourselves at home until I get back." He flashed a serious look afterwards and laughed awkwardly. "I know some of you still have bad blood with each other because of what happened in the past, but try not to destroy the house while I'm gone, okay? Yes, I'm referring to you, Akame and Esdeath. It's gonna be really hard to explain things to neighbors when they see this whole place destroyed to the ground."
Esdeath scoffed, while Akame looked down in embarrassment.
"Well, I'll see you later… you can go have a look around if you want, but make sure not to go crazy or anything. See you!" With those words, Tatsumi left the house, closing the door behind him afterwards.
Seeing him leave, Esdeath turned her attention back to the table, taking a sip of the coffee before her. She had a lot in mind, and most of them involved the young man that had her attention since earlier.
"S-So… w-w-we're d-devils… I don't like this at all…" Mine looked pale, staring back at the food in front of her. In fact, she quickly covered her mouth with her hands to prevent herself from throwing up. Learning that she got brought back to life AND the fact that she was a devil nearly caused her to faint earlier, only kept alive when Sheele kept patting her back in comfort.
"Oh come on, you believe him that easily?" Esdeath remarked, rolling her eyes at the pinkette's nervousness. "I expected better from an assassin of Night Raid."
"You're saying you don't?" Chelsea looked at Esdeath incredulously, surprised that the former general was still unconvinced even with the proof that Tatsumi showed them earlier. "Are those wings that Tatsumi showed earlier not enough proof for you? What is it gonna take exactly?"
"I'm not saying I don't believe him fully, because I can sense the truth in his words." Esdeath shrugged, leaning back into her chair. "However, I still have some doubts about this supernatural stuff that he was referring to earlier. Don't you see? He said that he brought us back as devils, but I don't see any wings coming out of our backs like what happened to him."
"I think… that has something to do with us, not him." Leone raised her eyebrow in confusion, her attention focused towards Esdeath instead of the young man who just left. "Who knows, our 'wings' might just appear sooner or later, and we just have to wait it out…"
"Well, I won't sit around and do nothing while he's not here. If we are to know more about our situation here, even without Tatsumi, we still can." Esdeath crossed her arms and smirked at Akame, who went back to glaring at her as soon as she recomposed herself. "Believe it or not, I can tolerate those who I consider my enemies, if in any case, the situation at hand is bigger than both of us, unlike a certain red-eyed assassin in your group. I can work with those who I considered my enemies back then, as long as none of you strike at me first, that is."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Mine grumbled. She didn't like any of it, but Esdeath was right. Right now wasn't the time to determine who was the enemy and how to kill who-knows-who just like old times, because they had bigger problems at the moment.
Now, Esdeath had gotten the attention of everyone else around the table. "One of us will have to follow Tatsumi wherever he goes, and see what he is doing. Not only will we be able to find out what he is up to and where he is, but the one who'll be tailing him can know more about this new world where we are in and come back to us with more information afterwards. That doesn't so bad of a plan, does it?" her smirk widened as she took another sip of her coffee.
"So who should go follow Tatsumi around, then?" Bulat asked, looking unaffected with Esdeath's presence.
"Well, for one, I think this little mission suits her far more than any of us." Esdeath said, before pointing towards Leone. From that, all eyes were turned towards the blonde-haired Lionelle user, who rolled her eyes and groaned, before crossing her arms in disapproval.
Leone did her best not to sound annoyed, but failed because of the obvious look on her face. "Why me and what makes you think I'll even agree to what you want? And shouldn't you be the one to do this because it's your plan?"
"Oh, but you'll have to reconsider, little kitten…" A tick mark appeared on Leone's head with that little remark. "If I do end up executing my little plan myself, I would end up revealing my presence because I'm not someone who would use stealth to achieve my goals. I prefer doing it head-on, and that would easily give away my presence, and we don't know what would happen afterwards if Tatsumi notices me. I am actually well-aware of your abilities, if you must know… and I must say, you are the most fitting for this." Esdeath argued, although her mind had a different opinion. "Actually, I could just kidnap Tatsumi and interrogate him until he gives in, but that would create too much attention, and I'd rather not attract eyes in a world I have no knowledge upon, considering what he said about today's events taking place 500 years after the time of the Empire."
"This is ridiculous… oi, guys! Tell me you don't agree with this bitch here!" Leone complained, turning towards her friends for support, who stayed quiet for a few seconds before Mine chose to speak up.
"Actually, she's right Leone…" Mine rubbed the back of her head and blushed. "I mean, I could try and follow Tatsumi around too but… I'll have to maintain my distance and observe him from afar. But you can follow him at close range and get a better look at what he's doing."
"Yeah, I believe you can do it, Leone. I mean, I can do it too! I think…? What do we have to do again?" Sheele said, putting her index finger right underneath her chin.
"Seriously? You all agree with this?" Leone deadpanned, unable to believe her friends would choose Esdeath's words over hers.
"I agree with them… you're always the expert in tailing others even from close-range, so you fit this role perfectly, no hard feelings." Lubbock said, immediately raising his arms to show that he wasn't on anyone's side. "Plus, this would benefit us if we want to know more about this new place and Tatsumi himself. If you notice it, he seems very different compared to the one we knew, and it's not because he's a devil."
"Yeah, I noticed that he's a lot calmer compared to the Tatsumi we used to know, the one who we recruited as a member of Night Raid." BUlat said, looking off to the side as he tried to compare this new Tatsumi to the one they came to know back then. "That alone says something… we definitely need to know more about him, and we can't wait around till he gets back because who knows when exactly he'll be back?"
"Yeah, or maybe he's even planning to escape from us because he knows he's screwed…" Chelsea crossed her arms and giggled, before shaking her head in amusement.
"Hang on, how come you don't get to do this little mission?" Leone complained once again, pointing towards the auburn-haired girl accusingly. "You can turn yourself into anything you want, right? You're more suited for this than me."
"Oh, my apologies." Chelsea smiled sweetly before showing off a proud grin. "My teigu actually got destroyed when I fought Kurome, so I can't change my form right now. Even if I did have my Gaea Foundation now, I don't exactly know what to turn into because I have no knowledge about this new world we're in, because Tatsumi said that this current day is at least 500 years after the Empire, so things are bound to have changed throughout the years."
Leone's face fell, before slowly turning towards Akame. When she was about to ask for support, the raven-haired assassin already shook her head to show her answer. She tried to turn towards Kurome afterwards, but the younger girl only shook her head and continued to munch on her candies as if nothing happened.
"Well, it appears everyone has spoken…" Esdeath smirked, drinking the last of her coffee. "If you hurry, you might catch up to him… he couldn't have gotten that far yet."
"Tch…" Leone sighed and stood up, walking towards the door with her head down. However, she stopped just beside Esdeath and turned her head towards her with a vicious glare on her face. "Just so you know, I'm not doing this for you… I'm doing this for everyone else and we just happened to have the same situation as yours." she then smiled sweetly, hiding a lot of killing intent in it. "And the next time you call me a 'little kitten', you won't get to see your beautiful face anymore."
Esdeath simply smirked as Leone continued on her way, heading out the front door. As the blonde-haired woman left, Esdeath also stood up from the table and began to walk away.
"General, where are you going?" Kurome asked, wondering where her former superior was planning to go to, when she didn't even know her way around this place.
"I'm going to have a look around and see if there's anything that can entertain me." Esdeath replied, with her hands behind her back. "You can't expect me to sit and wait for Tatsumi or the little kitten to come back now, did you? Perhaps walking around would help me understand more about this new world in which we are in…" she finished with a little laugh of amusement
"I don't trust that bitch one bit." Akame said without a tone of emotion in her voice, as she watched Esdeath walk up the stairs away from them.
"I don't either… but it can't be helped, Akame." Mine crossed her arms and sighed deeply. "If we all end up fighting each other instead of figuring out more of our situation, it won't be good for us and we'd end up knowing nothing. Let's trust Tatsumi that he'll come back and be able to explain more of this…"
"Yeah, you don't have to trust Esdeath in this, Akame…" Lubbock said, looking more concerned at the moment. "I think neither of us trust her, but the last thing we need now is a duel to the death between you two, when we should be focusing on knowing our situation." He then stared downwards, looking more troubled. "I'm getting more worried for Najenda… if 500 years have passed from the time of the Empire… then… could it be…?" he shook his head afterwards, not wanting to stray his thoughts away from their situation at the moment. "That can come later! We need to know more about our current situation!" he reminded himself, his instincts as an assassin kicking in.
"I agree with them as well, Akame. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll have a look around as well." Chelsea said, standing up from her seat before heading to the front door.
"Why are you heading outside?" Bulat asked as he raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Well, since Esdeath is already going to try exploring this whole house, I think I'm going to move outside and get a better grasp of things 500 years after the Empire." Chelsea said, taking out the lollipop stick that was left from her mouth before pulling out a new one. "Like her, I don't want to wait around for Leone or Tatsumi to explain things, so I'm having my own way to figure out things around here." she popped the fresh lollipop into her mouth before continuing on her way.
"Um…" Sheele stood up shyly, and Chelsea turned around when she heard somebody standing up from the table. "C-Can I come with you? I… I would like to know more about… the world… I think?" she said, fidgeting her fingers together.
"Sure, why not? Ride's free." Chelsea shrugged her shoulders and continued on her way, with Sheele quickly following her.
Mine sighed and stood up as well, following Chelsea and Sheele as they left the house through the front door. "I don't want to stick around doing nothing, so I guess going with them would do me some good because I really want to be filled in on our current situation right now." she said, turning her head so that Akame and the three remaining people on the table could hear her. "I'll make sure Sheele doesn't get in trouble too, don't worry! Because you know her…"
"Yeah, with you around, I think she'll be alright!" Lubbock grinned, giving Mine a thumbs-up before . "But I won't be surprised if Chelsea ends up being the one to get you into –!" he got cut off when Mine suddenly threw a pillow at his face, with the pinkette looking pissed as she left.
In the end, Bulat decided to go back to the bedroom where they were sleeping earlier to sleep it out until Tatsumi or Leone come home, while Lubbock remained by the couch to think about certain things and then stumbling upon the television, quickly finding himself attracted to the TV shows he was watching. Akame, having her old habit from her Night Raid days, washed all the dishes that they used during breakfast, while also gobbling up all the leftover food on the table. Kurome wandered around the house as well, hoping to find Esdeath and just stick with her until Tatsumi comes back, and she did find the blue-haired woman eventually, while she was taking a relaxing shower at the large bathroom on the second floor.
Meanwhile, Leone was silently hopping from rooftop to rooftop, quickly managing to catch up to Tatsumi as he was walking along the sidewalk. To her great surprise, she had her teigu's abilities even though she didn't have Lionelle on her anymore! In fact, she was just wearing normal sleepwear right now as she kept her eye on the young man down by the road.
"I don't know how this happened, but I'm guessing that Tatsumi knows something about this!" she thought to herself, looking down at her skin. "I should be covered in fur and my tail should be all visible along with my longer hair and fangs because I fused with Lionelle but… it seems something happened for me to keep my teigu's abilities even though my appearance is back to normal." She narrowed her eyes at Tatsumi before biting her lip slightly. "Tatsumi… did you really have something to do with this?"
Even though his attention was directly focused on school for today, the moment that he felt that familiar presence not too far from him, it caused him to flash a small smirk in satisfaction.
"So let me get this straight…" The glasses-wearing girl spoke, moving her rook to an open space where she could take out her enemy's last bishop. "You have a bunch of deadly assassins as members of your peerage with a psycho-ice user as your Queen?"
"Yeah…" he answered in an embarrassed tone, taking out her rook with his last knight as a last effort. "Check."
"That ice user and another girl from your peerage are your former enemies, and yet you leave them alone in your house?" she responded by taking out his knight with one of her pawns, which also left his king in a vulnerable position.
"I trust them Sona, and they're probably too confused to even do anything right now." Tatsumi moved his king away just to stay alive in the game, although he knew he was already screwed.
"Hm, your peerage consists of an airhead, a prankster who is good in disguises, a little sister who is monotone most of the time, her elder sister who is a big carnivore, a strong yet gay warrior, a lioness who loves to get drunk, a pervert/tactician, a pink sniper and a woman who's obsessed with you. I wonder why you never told me any of this. We are friends, are we not?" the woman whose name was Sona, said in a cold tone, moving her queen near Tatsumi's king so that he wouldn't be able to make any more moves. "That's checkmate."
Tatsumi sighed and leaned back, unaffected by his loss. "I couldn't just blurt it all out, Sona… I chose not to tell you because I was afraid that you'll try and do something that involves them, like waking them up sooner than later…"
Sona quirked an eyebrow in interest. "Would you mind elaborating your point, Tatsumi?"
FinzDragzer: Devils' strength aren't determined by wings, lol. Just wait, I think you'll be surprised. :)
Schwarzritter: I did say the war was thousands of years ago; an added fact here in my fic is that devils age one full year after 100 hundred human years. If you think it's crazy, well sorry, but this is my fanfic.
The Storm Master 567: Yeah, that sounds like a good idea… I'll definitely use that when he explains Najenda's situation.
Pyromania101: Well, that's you but… the difference between Tatsumi and Issei in looks are not far though, lol.
3e: Incursio is sticking with Bulat, so no Grand Chariot.
Tatsumi's Peerage:
King: Tatsumi
Queen: Esdeath
Bishop: Mine
Bishop: Lubbock
Rook: Leone
Rook: Bulat
Knight: Akame
Knight: Kurome
Pawn (4x): Chelsea
Pawn (4x): Sheele
Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*
-Lance