I do not own the Persona series or Akame ga Kill. Everything belongs to their respected owners.
The forest area he recognized. He had walked through it many times when he felt like it. He had never strayed too far from the actual road though. The greenery provided amazing cover for those wishing to stalk and ambush their target or prey. Trunks of solid trees scattered around the forest, each of them standing strong and tall like natural guardians.
But he was not on the usual road he would walk along.
Minato was actually within the vast brush, walking through shrubs and keeping his steps silent. It was neat how he could perform such skills as he and his sisters were hunters in their own different senses. When they were children, the blue-haired General always liked the thrill o watching prey that was about to be slaughtered by her. Minato mainly tagged along because everyone else was busy and he had a feeling that Esdeath would like the company.
Continuing his walk, he made sure to be wary of who he was trying to follow. Leone continued to stroll through the woods like it was nothing. It honestly made Minato a little suspicious. Was the blonde purposely leading him to the hideout, or was she completely unaware of his presence. If it was the first, he really needed to work on his footing. If it was the latter, he wondered if all assassins of Night Raid were like this.
Such killers never acted like blood-thirsty murders anyways. That's a good thing as it keeps their own head clear and there was no actual danger of them just going around slaughtering whoever they wanted. If he could tell one thing from the few seconds he stared at them back at Aria's house, it would be… normal.
Looking down on the ground and bending his knees, he picked up a small twig and saw that it had been snapped in half thanks to the pressure of someone's foot. Minato raised an eyebrow. This was not the light footstep of an assassin as he actually compared it to a previous branch that he found which Leone stepped on.
Leone's step may have broken the wood, but it was so that it did not completely snap the twig. The wood still connected itself. This new wood on the other hand was broken clean off by the weight. Either this person was completely unaware of their steps, was stupid, or had much confidence.
Not wanting to think about those last parts, Minato continued his tracking of the blonde by following the path that she had taken. It didn't take long though as he found himself staring at a large cliff.
But this was no ordinary cliff. No… it had a giant mouth like a beast. Within the mouth looked like some sort of building made out of stone. The rocky fortress was within sights as was the blonde casually strolling in through some cave.
…Seriously… This was Night Raid's hideout? Sure… it was a while off of the main road and decently far from the capital but… It was just so obvious. Maybe many would mistake it for a bandit camp. Even adding that fact in, that appearance would attract attention once in the line of anybody's sight. The hideout was hidden, he'll at least give it that.
Minato took two steps forward and stopped right away. Bending forward for a closer look, he noticed it. Several wires were tied to various trees and tangled themselves along other various surfaces. He had to admit, that was a pretty interesting trick. But what were those strings used for? Honestly, he'd rather not test that out right now.
So this was where he was now stuck within a rock and a hard place… Well, not exactly. He could actually leave right now and still have the knowledge of where Night Raid's base was. But then there was a small feeling within him that he should stay. Looking back and forth to the hideout and the direction of the capital, his hand reached for the book strapped to his back.
Grabbing the object and opening its blank pages, a single card popped out and spun around. Light blue sprinkled down the flat presenter. Watching the card dance, Minato saw what it was as he was certainly familiar with such. A tower was being struck by lightning, from which two small figures fall down.
With the Tower arcana appearing, Minato sighed to himself and sat down.
Trying to make himself comfortable, he felt like also at least wanting to find a way to know what was at least going on around him to make sure he was not caught off-guard. As the XVI card dropped back into the book, Minato called forth a new arcana.
The woman stood beautifully through a hole in the ground as she stared to the side. Her clothing was of importance as she stood straight and firm. The mysterious colors gave such an even better appearance. Seeing the II on the bottom of the card, he knew it was the right one.
"Juno." He broke the card within the palm of his hand. At once, he felt someone cover him. It crawled over his skin, devouring his clothing. Minato did not fight it however, continuing to let the mysterious feeling continue its course.
Soon, the blue-haired boy wore a full white-mask with no mouth or nose pieces at all. There was nothing for the eyes as well since seven of them were already plastered onto the accessory.. A pair of metal wings sprouted from his back, each with the design that looked like three eyes per wing staring with intensity. His upper clothing had turned red, as a coat also fluttered down to touch the ground. Blue pants covered his bottom half, easily complimenting the final look.
Crossing his legs, a blue bubble grew from his core and just covered his entire being. Though he could still see despite the mask covering his face, he did not open his eyes. With what he was doing, he could see it all. The wildlife scurrying away from the hideout. The assassins of Night Raid drinking and eating. The third surprised him.
It was Stylish with a group of what looked like… males ready for a bondage session…
His sights diverted from that final gang as he was afraid that weird thoughts may appear in his head-
Damn… Too late, it happened.
Back to Night Raid though, Minato saw Leone drinking for a rather large mug and who appeared to be Tatsumi being held under her arm and his face shoved into her chest. The next few he had to remember.
The only other male amongst group was a young man with shoulder-length green hair, green eyes and red goggles on top of his head. He wore a long green jacket with a fur trimmed hood over a white and red ringer shirt and blue jeans with brown shoes. Not much could be said for this person as it looked like they whined a lot.
Finally, there were only females left. The first was a rather young girl that looked short. She had very long pink-hair tied in twin-tails on the right and left sides of her head. Pink eyes… Pink outfit… Pink, pink, and more pink. That's all this girl wore? If Minato remembered correctly, this was Mine judging from the wanted posters. What sort of person wears this much of a color? It could easily be part of their look, but reports mentioned from Esdeath said that she was a sniper no less. How do people not notice her?
Finally, there was one of the more infamous assassins, Akame. Her long black hair and red eyes complimented her dark sleeveless mini dress with a white collar and red tie. The red belt on her waist helped hold up a red side skirt cover. Really… her looked reminded him of Kurome. Given the fact that they were sisters explained a lot.
However, his vision began to blacken. That meant that he was going to fall asleep soon. No one was detected from his scouting, so that meant that his own body fatigue was taking over. Well, practically wandering around without a body perhaps did that.
Oh no… everything was turning black… He could open his eyes if he wanted to, but they felt really heavy. His brain better not shut down… His brain better not do that… His brain…
For once in his life, Minato's brain had failed him and the blue-haired male took a nap.
PXA
Yawning, Minato's visible eye widened as he realized that he had been asleep.
He really wanted to kick himself for this. What sort of person falls asleep in the middle of unknown territory anyways? Explorers, fighters, hunters, bandits… He hated the fact that the list could go on.
His sights however were on the sky as he saw something flying in the air. Seeing how he was on his back, he pushed himself off of the ground and began to close his eyes once more. Again, his vision took him beyond his body.
Judging by the size and look of such an object, it appeared to be an Air Mantis. On top on such a beast was a completely different matter though. Two figures covered in cloaks held their balance as the beast continued to fly through the air and around the base. There was one more person though that caught his eye.
It appeared to be Najenda, former General of the Empire. This woman and his sister never really saw eye to eye. No pun intended due to the white-haired female missing one thanks to Esdeath. Najenda was one of the few army members to realize that they could have made a possible difference by betraying their allies and becoming their enemies. Imagine Minato's surprise when Esdeath would talk about the former-General with a bit of praise.
But then it clicked in his head. What about the other Night Raid members? Scanning around, it appeared that they were surrounded by many of Stylish's enhanced soldiers. What was an incredible odd thing however was that almost all of the assassins began to collapse onto the ground. All but the armored one, which he assumed to be Tatsumi, had fallen.
Not only the killers however. Stylish's test subjects also were on the ground as well, slowly inching back up. Speaking of which, what was that doctor doing around these parts in the first place. Did his sister even know of his presence here in the wild?
…Most likely not. If she was aware, then all of the Jaegers would have been sent and a giant death match would have ensued.
As for the reason Stylish was here in the first place. Perhaps he had several of his test subjects follow Tatsumi. Stylish did brag about how he had enhanced several senses on a few people, examples being their sight, hearing, and smell. It made the blue-haired male want to stay away from the homo-doctor even further than before.
Back to the fight however, he wondered if he should lend a hand. This was Night Raid after all. Their actions constantly targeted those that were perhaps some of the most disgusting people he had even seen or met through his entire life. So… yes, maybe he will give some aid.
Watching the assassins shakily stand up, Minato brought himself back to his body and snapped his eyes open. With his gaze forward, he saw that they were all right in front of him. Perhaps it was some sort of poison that was affecting them. That was a trick that stylish would pull off.
Raising his hands into the air, he felt the energy of this performance slowly take effect.
The members of Night Raid were all surprised when they felt their energy coming back to them. whatever had been bringing them to exhaustion had suddenly been negated to bring them back to their old selves.
But it seemed that Minato's hand was completely unnecessary and some sort of person dropped down from the sky and landed on the ground. Looks like they came from the Air Mantis that Najenda was flying on. The most intriguing thing was that within seconds the man had torn through the mutated army like it was nothing with such strength.
Several explosions soon were set off. They were powerful enough however that Minato found himself rolling backwards. He would have gone on for a couple of seconds it something didn't catch him. Craning his head, his eyes blinked when he saw a few stands of wire stopping his spinning trip.
It appears that he was going to learn what those wires were for.
Not a second later, he heard someone shouting where he was. Looks like such threads detected enemy movement. Why didn't he set them off before then? Maybe because Leone took a much safer route? Those thoughts could be saved for later as he heard two people coming after him. He didn't want to be caught right in the middle. That was certain.
His 'Juno' outfit soon disappeared as he shifted back into his old clothing. He acted quick though as he was a lot faster than he would have liked by drawing his next card. Now this arcana… two people knelt down in front of a grand symbol. Next to such were two keys that floated in the air as if ready to unlock whatever mysteries awaited. The emblem V stood proudly below.
"Castor." Breaking the card, he felt himself change once more.
His blue hair turned blonde and cascaded down his back to his waist with a white skull mask covering his face. Wearing some interesting armor plating over a black outfit, the head of a spear was embedded in his chest yet he was unaffected. Looking down, his feet didn't touch the ground and that he was sitting in a metal saddle. That was because some sort of horse was carrying him.
This horse was particularly odd though. For one, it had no skin or flesh. It was made of metal as the bones were the only source of a main body. Black and grey armor chose to color the interesting creature as a horn threatened to skewer.
As soon as Minato's transformation was complete, two members of Night Raid had shown up. It was the green-haired male and Leone who now looked like she was affected by her Teigu. Her hair was much longer with several new lion features including two ears, a tail, and claws.
The former blue-haired boy floated calmly as he examined the Night Raid members in front of him. He stayed silent. "Who are you?" Leone first asked, lowering herself and getting ready for a fight. "You're a long way from the main road, buddy. And you don't look like a normal guy."
Once more, Minato chose not to speak. His choice apparently had several thin thread tighten around him. Minato simply looked over at the one controlling the wires. Were these the ones that he set off? Impressive.
"Not talking, huh?" The male asked in a bored tone. With a twitch of his fingers, the threads began to tighten. "How about now? I could do this all day."
Minato could really feel the wires now digging against him. Too bad that it wasn't really affecting him. But it looked like he couldn't get out without a fight. Without a word once more, Minato flexed his body before spreading his arms open. The green haired teen watched on with widened eyes as his wire was ripped apart with pure strength. Nothing appeared to even be harmed on Minato in the first place.
"Impossible!" Lubbock yelled as he drew a new set of threads. "How is he unaffected?!" He grumbled to himself.
Grabbing a set of reins on his horse and snapping them, his stead charged forward towards Leone. The lion woman smirked as she rushed at the incoming figure. The two of them collided with one another as the horse thing rammed right into Leone's fists. The impact created a shockwave and caused the ground under Leone to crack. The blonde grunted as she struggled to match the strength of Minato's horse. She could feel the bones in her right arm breaking from the force behind the attack.
Minato soon turned around and lifted his hands to catch all the wires that were suddenly sent to him. Eyeing Lubbock, the green-haired teen smirked as he thought that he had Minato. But it appeared to do nothing though as it didn't cut through the male's fingers. Feeling himself being pulled into the air, Lubbock found himself meeting a fist to his face and knocking the boy out.
Floating backwards, Minato hopped off his horse just as Leone caught up with him and they began to trade blows at speeds where they almost looked like blurs. Every single one of Leone's punches were matched by Minato as they danced to a deadly ballet. It went on until something completely out of the blue happened…
His strike missed and ended up groping Leone's breast.
"…" Leone raised an eyebrow as her opponent immediately stopped moving as soon as their hand touched her chest.
"…Ah." Was Minato's only reaction as he didn't even squeeze his hand together. Neither one of the combatants didn't even bother retaliating against one another. The male found himself just slowly bringing his hand back and staring at the palm. "Oops."
Wind swirled around Leone's fist as she cocked it back. Her left foot stomped on the ground as she got ready to punch the blue-haired male with all her might. Minato snapped out of his stupor and caught her by the wrist with ease and followed by throwing her. He would have continued on, but then he remembered that he at least wanted to avoid conflict.
… Which really makes him wonder why he followed Leone in the first place.
With this smallest pause, Leone managed to catch on that Lubbock was out cold. Getting back up, she scratched her nose. "Wow, you're good, Minato. That was some interesting skills."
Despite the skull mask, Minato blinked. "…" He shouldn't even bother denying it. This was a Night Raid assassin he was talking to. But there was still the risk of his identity being exposed to the other members of such a organization. "How did you find out?" He asked.
"The way you smell." She responded. Leone could easily tell that Minato deadpanned before actually sniffing his clothing a few time to check if his scent was bad. She laughed lightly at the way he acted. "Not like that. Your smell is different right now, but before you became like that it was interesting… I'm not sure how to describe it."
"How were you able to know my smell?" Minato asked, still floating on his legless-horse just in case he needed to make a quick getaway.
"Simple, my Teigu Lionel helps amplify my sense of smell." Leone gestured to herself with her beastly thumb. "Earlier today, I got a whiff just before strolling up to you."
Really? Wow he must have been extremely unaware of his surroundings when he was fishing. "Are you going to try and kill me?" Minato asked.
"Well… That depends." The blonde stretched her arms. "You want to become a member of Night Raid?"
"No." Was Minato immediate response.
The blonde scratched her head with her reply. "Aww, that's too bad. I'm pretty sure you'd fit in quiet well. I've wanted to try and get to know some more new people as well." She added.
Once more, Minato realized that he was having a full conversation with Leone. She was really good at making him talk a lot more than he preferred most of the time. Before he could respond though, the ground shook. What caused that? A couple seconds of him looking around had him set sights on what looked like a giant Danger Beast lying on the ground. "…How did I not notice that?" He asked.
Leone shrugged. "Beats me." She answered looking towards the sight which Minato had his eyes set on. "I think you might want to run if you don't want to get caught." Just as this suggestion came up, the two of them saw the other members of Night Raid running to their location.
He looked towards her eyes. "Are you going to tell the others?"
She shook her hand. "Nah. That'll most likely place a target on you head if I do. Saying that it's too dangerous having a stranger running around with such knowledge. But I think you're a trustworthy guy."
Minato nodded his head and was about to ride away when Leone called his name. Turning around, the blonde winked at him. "Want another feel before leaving?"
Her response was him riding away. Leone chuckled.
PXA
Minato yawned as he found himself walking among the castle grounds of the Empire once more.
It was now midday and yet Minato still felt tired. He felt like sleeping, but then he felt like visiting his sister once again to see how she was doing. Maybe even tell her about Stylish. He of course would have to lie about the fact that he has had interactions with the Night Raid assassins.
He may have family that was a part of the Empire, but Minato still had the right to make his own decisions. That still did not negate that he didn't exactly like lying to Esdeath.
Speaking of her, the blue-haired male saw the blue-haired female walking along the grand halls with her cap covering her eyes. "Sister." Minato greeted with a small bow.
"Ah, Brother, another visit?" Esdeath's face revealed itself with an amused look and smile. "You should really consider moving in here with me and the Jaegers. It would save you many trips. Plus, I think they all enjoy your company." She commented.
"Really?" Minato asked with a tilt of his head of thought. Wave spoke to him like a friend. He and Run had conversations from time to time. Seryu would constantly be talking about justice as the blue-haired male would nearly fall asleep. Both he and Kurome would interestingly enough fight over the food, much to his disbelief. Bols would also hold some conversations with Minato as well. "…I guess you can say that."
Esdeath only sighed and ruffled his hair. An action which he responded with a stare. "You always have been a lonely person since we moved to the Capital. It's nice to see you interacting with the others."
That smile on his sister's face though caught his attention. "Sister, did something happen?"
Esdeath's face fell. "There's no use in hiding it, hmm?" She asked as her happy expression completely reversed. "You always have been able to read me like a book so easily."Sighing, she placed her chin onto her fingers while taking a seat on a nearby bench. "Tatsumi ran away from me yesterday." She began as Minato took a seat as well. "I attempt to search for him, but it proved to be futile. As the other Jaegers gathered for their reports, Stylish was not among them. I had the others search the doctor's laboratory and we all figured out that he was killed."
So that was the fate of Stylish. Minato did actually wonder what happened to the homo in the end.
"He was still a comrade in the end, right?" The blue-haired male asked as Esdeath nodded her head slowly. The both of them continued to sit in silence. The both of them didn't even know how much time passed. He then placed his hand right onto top of hers.
Feeling the contact, Esdeath looked towards the connecting flesh before staring at her brother's eyes. Once more, they were blank. But she learned to read these expressions over the years. A smile broke out on her face. It was not a fake one. It was real. "Thank you." She nodded her head quietly and Minato nodded his own as well. Standing up, she patted his head once more. "See you soon, Brother."
"Until we meet again, Sister." Minato replied back, still sitting on the bench. Craning his head, he felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards seeing the rather content expression on his sister's face.
"Ah, Mister Minato!"
Blinking, the blue-haired male turned his head around and saw the young Emperor standing next to him. How was it as of late everyone has been managing to appear right beside him and he was not aware of it. "Your majesty." Minato nodded his head. He originally would have bowed but then a pout from the child when he did that made him realize that he should not do that anymore.
However, Makoto pouted once more. "It's Makoto."
Minato shrugged. "What are you doing out here?" He asked with curiosity.
"There is no meeting as within my schedule I am free until dinner." Makoto explained easily. "There is almost nothing to do but study since I must continue to present my image as Emperor." He propped himself up on the bench which Minato was still sitting on. "Still… I wonder how the Capital is doing…" The young boy sighed as she stared towards the clear sky. "Prime Minister Honest says I'm doing a good job… but so much chaos says otherwise. I've been trying to make my own decisions just like you say, Mister Minato, but I feel like I need to do more."
Minato continued to listen on. Makoto certainly had a lot to bear on his shoulders. He pitied the boy. There should have been no reason for the young man to have to take up the throne of the Empire. The blue-haired male was then snapped out of his thoughts when a new look dawned on the young Emperor's face. "…What are you thinking?" He asked.
"You can help sneak me out of the castle!" Makoto exclaimed.
…If he did that, wouldn't he be arrested?
Yeah… I really did not like writing this chapter. I wanted there to be more… But that would end up screwing a couple of things over.
No flames please.
Please review so I know what you guys think.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
