Chapter 29
Kill the Hurt
The coming three weeks was void of all stress for Night Raid, who had absorbed the remnants of the Jaegers and taken up their new headquarters in the castle at the center of the Capital shortly after the battle had concluded. Each member was filled with joy and relief the fighting was finally over. Both the Western continent and the Revolutionary war had finished in one final battle that cost every member of Night Raid something. Najenda had met a gruesome end at the hands of Esdeath, but was honored in the highest regards as the one who rebuilt the Capital and Government after the previous Emperor's reign of terror and poverty.
Leone was appointed as the new leader of Night Raid, being the oldest not only age but as a member in the group and most experienced in leading. Her attitude hardly changed, however, she still remained the cheery and playful Leone they had always known.
This was the first day Night Raid was meeting after three weeks of peace and time to rest. Within that time, Wave confessed his feelings to Kurome, and was met with mutual feelings, creating yet another couple in the group. Skyrah and Akame had left for two entire months and returned only the day before the meeting. They had gone on vacation to a popular resort near the ocean, relaxing and gathering their thoughts for the coming days.
Akame struggled to get her always pumped up girlfriend to relax, but managed to keep her settled down a few days out of the week and spent as much time as she could with Skyrah. Within hours of reaching the resort, Skyrah had already picked a fight with Imperial Guards, who viewed her as an ally but made comments about Akame's body a little too loud. A day after that she somehow managed to attract a shark while swimming in the ocean for the first time, but was too stubborn to get out of the water like all the other people, and just fought the shark with her bare hands, eventually throwing it on land and punting it back out into the ocean, far away from her so it didn't disturb her swimming.
Most other days Skyrah was calm, not picking fights with sea life or anything like that, and instead swimming, relaxing, and taking Akame on as many dates as she could manage. The couple had more than one day where the 'Do Not Disturb' sign was placed on their hotel room door, exploring their bodies like a couple normally did.
Plenty of guys made moves on Skyrah and Akame, and we're almost always met with the fist of the one they weren't hitting on. Security rarely had to step in, and just let them run their course, each of them knowing exactly who they were dealing with.
Skyrah and the rest of Night Raid had gained an incredible popularity after saving the Capital not only from the New Shikoutazer, but also from defeating Esdeath, and an entire country invading them.
Tatsumi and Mine were equally as loving on each other as Skyrah and Akame, but they stayed within the Capital, walking around and going on dates and shopping trips each and every day.
Now they had all gathered in the new headquarters for Night Raid and Japan's new government. Skyrah and Akame were the last to arrive the night before the meeting was scheduled, they had met up with everyone and then went straight to bed, told to attend the meeting early the next morning.
Akame awoke just as the sun rose and got herself ready, knowing Skyrah would be difficult to wake up as it was. Ever since she received Rin's Teigu, her body almost forced her to get more sleep, if it didn't get enough she would be grumpy for hours, and a grumpy girlfriend in an important meeting was the last thing she wanted.
After bathing and fixing her hair, Akame walked out in her towel and shook Skyrah lightly by her shoulder, getting a little whimper in response from her waking girlfriend. Akame waited by the side of the bed for a few moments, then pulled down the covers off of Skyrah slowly.
She was wearing a pink pajama shirt and pants with little white bunnies sewn into the soft material. Her left pant leg had hiked up to her upper thigh and her shirt had been pulled up, exposing her belly, her brown hair was spread unevenly across her pillow, almost covering it.
Akame smirked a little, it was unlike Skyrah to wear something like that, but if she found it more comfortable, then more power to her.
"Sky, it's time to get up~" She cooed softly at her.
Skyrah squeezed her eyes, then cracked them open, peering around the room and landing on a towel-wearing Akame. She tilted her head up, giving her girlfriend a goofy and drowsy smile, reaching her hand out and wrapping her fingers around the top of the towel, pulling Akame down to her gently.
Akame went along with Skyrah and eventually was on her hands and knees on the bed, her towel still being held by her significant other.
"Skyrah, are you awake?" Akame asked, not completely knowing.
Skyrah giggled softly and pulled Akame's towel off, pulling her atop her clothed body and kissing her passionately, both partners explored each other's bodies with their hands and continued the kiss. Akame pulled her knee under her and roughly pressed it between Skyrah's legs, making her moan into her mouth.
A rough knock at their door made the both of them freeze in place.
"You girls almost ready? We're heading down now!" Mine called, putting her head on the door and listening for a response. When she received none she began to open the door and both Skyrah and Akame sprung out of bed.
Mine blinked when she laid her eyes on the scene before her. Skyrah stood proudly in pink bunny pajamas with disheveled hair and behind her, with her chest held against Skyrah's back, was a very embarrassed Akame.
Mine took a double-take, then another just for good measure. She burst out laughing, holding her stomach in legitimate pain as she laid her eyes on the scene before her. Tatsumi came up behind her, looking a little confused.
Akame's eyes widened and she picked up a small wooden clock on her nightstand, launching it across the room and hitting Tatsumi right in the forehead with it and dropping him instantly.
"Out!" Akame shouted, trying to further hide her body with Skyrah's body.
Mine tried her best to stop laughing and speak, but couldn't do it to save her life, she was pointing at Skyrah's pajamas in disbelief. She couldn't stop finding the hilarity in how ridiculous it looked on her.
Skyrah grew aggravated from Mine's mocking, she crossed her arms and glared at the younger girl, who didn't fear Skyrah at all and glared right back.
"Come here!" They said in unison, Skyrah tried to jump forward and Mine did the same, but both partners held them back.
Tatsumi and Akame knew it was a playful fight, but playful to Skyrah was not the same as playful to the government officials that resided in the castle with them, even more so now that they had gotten so powerful.
Skyrah snapped her fingers and a tiny flame burned off one of Mine's bangs, making Skyrah giggle mischievously but making the receiver nearly burst into tears until her sadness turned to frustration, and her frustration turned into anger.
Mine reached for something behind the door and picked up Pumpkin, pointing it at Skyrah and charging up the beam.
"Get lost!" Mine shouted before a ball of pure energy left her weapon, with the intention to damage her comrade without killing her.
Skyrah swung her left fist, which had suddenly become covered in scales, and batted the blast into the wall, creating a hole about the size of her body. The two both froze in shock at what they'd just done, even Tatsumi and Akame had frozen the same way, loosening their grips on both of their partners.
In a split second Mine broke away, swinging her right fist in a wild punch, and Skyrah perfectly mimicked her move, each connecting to each other's cheeks and holding there for a moment, their arms locked together, pushing in an attempt to make one or the other back down.
Akame pulled back against her girlfriend's ridiculous strength, and Tatsumi finally got a good hold on Mine.
"That's your fault!" Both Mine and Skyrah said in unison, pointing at the hole in the wall. "What?!" The two said again upon hearing the blame on them.
"Cut it out, you two!" Akame shouted in frustration. "We need to get ready!"
Tatsumi slammed the door shut, much to the dislike of his partner who instead of shouting at Skyrah was now shouting at a closed door.
Skyrah gave a little chuckle, even upon being spun around and seeing Akame's angered face.
"Go get in the shower." Akame couldn't help but smirk as she pushed her now giggling girlfriend away.
Skyrah grabbed Akame's hand just as she began heading towards the bathroom, pulling her along. "Come on, let's shower."
Akame tried to resist a little. "I just got out." She deadpanned, reaching away.
Skyrah turned around with her eyes narrowed. "Sooo~?" She cooed intimately, feeling Akame stop resisting almost immediately and continuing into the bathroom with her.
"You're going to have to be quick then." Akame acted reluctant, even though it had been a few days since the two had been intimate.
The brown haired girl harrumphed with a smirk. "Never with you." She turned around and began kissing Akame, closing the door at the same time.
All members of Night Raid sat around a large business table, all dressed quite appropriately for the occasion. This was supposed to be the first important talks of what Night Raid stood for now that the Capital had been overthrown, and the corrupt officials had been dispatched. Leaders from around the world would gather just to talk to them, a group of misfits who led the revolution.
"Nice to see everyone dressed well." Leone said as she entered the room, taking her seat beside Akame. "It's good to see you all again."
Leone had been traveling in the few weeks since Ava's defeat, all the spotlight had been on her team after she had basically returned from death. From what Skyrah had gathered, she had already passed out when Leone found the group completely battered and wounded, her Teigu had helped her body heal after being burned by Rin and she was the least wounded out of them all by the end of the day.
Just as Leone sat, around ten well built men in black suits entered the room, finding their way to the corners of the big room and making eye contact with no one, looking straight ahead. Behind them came a mixture of seven men and women, all wearing some kind of suit or military garb and looking like they had been days without sleep from the bags under their eyes.
One older, black haired man with huge shoulders and about a thousand medals on his green coat shook Leone's hand, sitting down across from her. Skyrah looked closely at him, but he seemed to refuse to make eye contact with only her, she had a strange feeling they had met somewhere before, she just couldn't figure out where or when.
Across from Skyrah sat an incredibly short elderly woman with a huge head in comparison to her tiny body. The young assassin couldn't help but look at her as one of the aforementioned men in a suit came and placed a stool on her seat so she could be at the height of the others. As she finally got situated, she took out a pair of thick glasses that Skyrah couldn't possibly understand how she actually could see through. Even though the woman didn't seem to even open her eyes behind the glasses, it seemed like she was staring right at Skyrah.
"Hiya!" Skyrah greeted, leaning across the entire table and outstretching her arm. "My name's Skyrah, nice to meet you all!"
Leone was shocked beyond belief at Skyrah's behavior, but felt a little relieved when it seemed that the elderly woman across from her was rather excited to shake her hand.
"So nice to meet you, dear." She shook Skyrah's hand slowly.
The young girl felt like she was going to break the older woman's arm off just by touching it.
"Uh… You're Skyrah?" A younger man asked, fixing his hair as she looked over at him.
"Yes, that's me." Skyrah said, sliding back into her seat and smiling at him.
"My people described you much differently…" The young man said, raising an eyebrow. "i apologize, I suppose I thought you'd be a bit… taller?" He sounded unsure of himself.
"She's stronger than she looks, believe me." Kurome said, adjusting how she was sitting. "She's deflected Shikoutazer's main cannon before."
Another one of the three women nearly spit out her drink when she heard that, she quickly set it on the large table in front of her and laughed in uncertainty. "You must be joking." She said, looking around at the nonchalant expressions on the young adults that had apparently saved the country. "That thing could blow apart city blocks like they were nothing, hell it almost killed Tatsumi. I was there during that fight." She crossed her arms.
Tatsumi leaned forward. "I was there when she took the shot."
The woman's eyes grew wide in surprise, she quickly quieted down.
Leone cleared her throat. "You all know why we're here, so why don't you give us a little information?" She said, facing the leaders.
The man that had shaken Leone's hand stood up. "We're here to discuss what exactly Night Raid is, and how we can all benefit from it." He explained, using his hands as he spoke. "We all come from the Revolutionary Army that Najenda had led, but now in these powerful positions we want to make the right decisions for the people we intend to govern."
There was an eerie silence in the room, just as it became uncomfortable, the man began to circle the table.
"Night Raid, while not specifically named, has reached the public eye. People think of you as heroes, they've thrown parades for you, even made dolls and posters of your logo." He leaned against the back of Akame's chair, making Skyrah more than a little uncomfortable. "While they don't have your faces, it won't take long for someone to realize a couple of kids are living in the castle." He looked down at Akame, just as she looked up at him, winking down at her and continuing to walk.
Akame looked over at Skyrah, who was nearly steaming from the anger she felt after witnessing what he had done. The red eyed assassin quickly slipped her hand into Skyrah's under the table, holding it tightly. "Calm down." She whispered.
"I'll break his face." Skyrah murmured, following him with a murderous look in her eyes.
Tatsumi cleared his throat. "I for one don't really see that as a bad thing." He said, getting a smirk from the man.
"I suppose you wouldn't, kid." The black haired man basically insulted. "All you people have done is fight for us, we don't need that anymore." He growled.
"Excuse me." Leone looked upset. "This is my team, Najenda's team too, you will not speak to them like that, regardless of their age." She warned.
"Najenda is dead. You may lead her team but I lead what used to be the revolution." He replied powerfully, slamming his fist into the table. "I make the decisions around here, along with my team."
All of Night Raid shared the same disgusted reaction to the man, looking around at each other in confusion.
"You've been talking a lot, Sir." Skyrah mocked his title. "But I haven't heard much decision making." She crossed her arms, glaring at him, but he still didn't look right at her.
"My decision is that as of right now, Night Raid is over." He deadpanned, looking at all the members, and finally meeting eyes with Skyrah. "You will be moved back to your old headquarters. Effective immediately."
He stopped where he had first taken a seat and began to gather his things.
"Hold on!" Leone shouted. "You can't just make a decision like that! You wouldn't even be in this position if it weren't for this team!"
"I have no trust in the team that destroyed half the Capital and took years to kill Esdeath." He mocked, looking up at Leone. "Couldn't even finish all of them, even after all that destruction."
Skyrah grit her teeth. It had been kept away from her for a few days after the fact, but somehow Ava had survived the onslaught of attacks the assassin had thrown at her. She was now being held at a maximum security prison at least a hundred miles off the coast of any major landmass. She would likely be kept there as a prisoner of war for the remainder of her life, that was, if she didn't burn the whole place down first.
They all took their leave from the room, leaving behind a rather dumbfounded and starstruck Night Raid.
"This is bullshit." Skyrah grumbled, pulling her and Akame's things into their room.
While new to Skyrah, it was quite familiar to Akame, who had lived there for most of her time in Night Raid. This was their first headquarters which was attacked by Team Stylish years before, with Esdeath gone and the Jaegers now integrated into Night Raid, there was no need to leave it abandoned. Besides, it was much larger than the one Susanoo had helped build, and Akame's room was a perfect size for her and Skyrah.
While Akame cleaned up their room, her girlfriend placed all their belongings around the room, setting up dressers, mirrors, their bed, even finding good looking spots for their decorative things.
When they both completed, they both collapsed onto the bed in satisfaction. Somehow they had spent most of their morning moving in, when just a few hours ago they woke up in a completely different place. Akame rolled over and laid on top of Skyrah, holding her lovingly.
"I know it's not perfect, but I think you'll like it here." She spoke softly, almost like a whisper.
Skyrah hugged her tight. "Don't worry, it's kind of cool here, being so far away and everything." She smiled a real, genuine smile. When Akame told her things like that she always ended up feeling better, and now was no exception.
"Good." She said, pulling her head up a little so she was just inches from Skyrah's face. "I love you."
The assassin could feel her heart skip a beat in that magical moment. Her lover, the girl she cared about more than anyone else, was so close to her. She leaned up and kissed her, pulling her down and whispering in her ear.
"I love you too."
