I know I have been gone for a long time, and I really do apologize for not updating. But I have finished the story and will be updating daily from now until completion, thank you for sticking with me through this wild ride. I have another project I'm brainstorming at the moment but it will not be making a debut for a few months. It's crazy to think that I started this story when I was a Sophomore in High School and now I've graduated. Once again, thank you to everyone for waiting and I hope you enjoy the final chapters of Akame ga Kill: Plus!
Chapter 35
Kill the Bond
Akame lunged at the young and injured girl with her fist cocked backwards. It had only taken her a second to recognize the girl who had almost gotten everyone she cared about killed. The girl that was supposed to be long since dead.
Mia.
Her fist hit Mia so forcefully that the girl's defense was obliterated in one punch, throwing her backwards until she skidded to a halt on her back.
"Akame!" Leone screamed, grabbing the girl's arm and holding her so she couldn't attack again.
Mia slowly sat up, the white bandages around her stomach and arms began to blot with red as some of her wounds reopened. She put on a small grin that almost made Akame explode in anger.
"Heck of a greeting." She said, struggling to her feet and meeting eyes with Akame, who was glaring daggers at the younger girl.
Akame pulled out of Leone's grip and dashed towards Mia, who hardly even saw the impending attack coming until something appeared right in front of her. However, before the attack landed, a different fist smashed into the young assassin's face, knocking her straight down into the ground.
Skyrah stood over Akame with a furious look on her face, Mia was just standing with her mouth agape at how different her Sissy looked.
"Stop!" Leone had activated her Teigu and grabbed both Akame and Skyrah by the back of their heads, squeezing just enough to not hurt them but let them know she was serious. "What the hell is the problem here?!"
"S-Sissy!"
"Shut up, Mia." Skyrah snapped.
"What was that for?" Akame growled at her girlfriend.
Leone released the two, but held them apart as they immediately got right up close and personal with each other.
"Why'd you attack her?" Skyrah shouted back.
Akame grit her teeth. "Stupid, she led Esdeath to us the last time she was around us!"
Skyrah was about to break through Leone's arm just to get to Akame.
Leone could only watch in awe. As close as the two were, and despite their romantic relationship, they were rivals ever since they met.
"She still had that Cosmina bitch in her head, stupid!" Skyrah retorted, pressing her chest into Akame's and standing up to her.
The two both clenched their fists at the same time, and just when it looked like the two were really going to tear into each other, Mia came up and pushed between them both, facing Akame.
"Stop fighting!" She interrupted. "I'll leave, I didn't realize I was going to start a fight between you two…" She looked genuinely saddened.
Skyrah crossed her arms. "You aren't leaving, I'm not letting you."
Akame put her hands on her hips. "She's dangerous, Skyrah!"
"She's not!" Skyrah fought back.
"This is two of the people who took me down." Ava mumbled sarcastically.
"Shut up!" Both Akame and Skyrah shouted at her together.
Ava put her hands up innocently, walking away.
"Girls, calm down…" Mine tried, pulling Skyrah away while Akame was being held back by Kurome.
"Let me go." Skyrah pulled out of Mine's grip and motioned to Mia. "Come on, Mia."
Akame glared at the back of Skyrah's head as she ushered Mia inside, away from the conflict.
"A lover's quarrel." Wave said, getting a brief nod from Tatsumi in response. Akame had clearly heard the remark and hit them both with her furious glare.
When Skyrah and Mia entered the hideout, they were quickly trailed by Leone, who caught up to the girls and stopped them.
"We're going to need some details if we're going to trust you, Mia."
"Not you too, Leone." Skyrah sighed deeply.
"I'm not agreeing with anyone or saying something, but you don't exactly have the best track record with us." Leone used a calm tone like she remembered Najenda doing, trying her best to remain open minded.
"Alright." Mia said with a light sigh. "I'll tell you what happened when you found me."
/
Mia jolted awake to the boom of thunder overhead, she was breathing heavily and sweating profusely in the chilling night air. She knew she had been dreaming about something that had terrified her, but she didn't know what it had been, she couldn't even recall what it had been about. She pulled her mass of blankets higher on her body, wishing she could snuggle up to the person who used to be by her side.
The lone girl was perched under an old clock tower smack in the middle of the slums. A few kind locals had helped her set up an old sheet metal roof above herself to protect her from the constant rain the slums had been getting at night. Some of them weren't too keen on letting her stay there, however, and actually told her to leave and never return. That answer was all too familiar to Mia, and after staying in caves or under trees for the past few weeks, she agreed that she would leave.
She was considered a renegade, outlaw, criminal, sometimes even monster. In the weeks that had passed since her sudden revival. What she had found out was that she wasn't the only one to be revived, but was one of the few whose brain had not been altered. Her Teigu hadn't been completely from her body, but her heart was finally human because of the process she was revived through.
Esdeath and her newly formed team, Black Council, was searching day and night for her. The only place she felt safe was the slums she currently resided in. Mia knew Esdeath and her team wouldn't search the broken down city, it didn't make any sense for her to be there, but she was.
She couldn't go to Night Raid for help, there was no telling how they would react to the dead person that gave Esdeath their location just running up to them.
Mia slowly slid herself away from her bed. She slipped out from under the covers and clothed herself, walking out from under their makeshift shelter and feeling the cool rain tapping her head and shoulders. The young woman hopped down to the ground from their elevated area, mud splashing up around her as she landed.
Her footsteps splashing in the mud was all she focused on as she zig-zagged through the slums, passing by other, more permanent shelters. She could feel her heart tightening in her chest. These were good people, despite where they lived and the situation they were in. They didn't deserve such poor living conditions.
"I'll make this right." She whispered to herself. "It's the least I can do."
Mia was inside the Capital within a few minutes, slipping through dark alleys and clambering up the sides of houses to dodge the military forces that patrolled every night. While the military wasn't her immediate enemy, she knew Esdeath and Black Council had contacts within their ranks, and if she was spotted by the wrong person, it would be curtains for her newest hideout.
She had traveled these rooftops almost every morning before the sun came up, trying to get her any information that would help her. She had never been caught, but being seen was a different story, many soldiers that once fought for Night Raid or the Empire lost their lives to her. And despite her body count, Night Raid hadn't seemed to have found out who she was.
Mia eventually stopped to catch her breath in a dark alley, hugging the wall to eliminate the chances of being seen.
"Damn this city." She mumbled, using one of the walls to boost herself into an open window, finding herself in a store that was hours away from opening. She took a deep breath and dusted herself off, looking around the empty store. Something smelled inside, but that wasn't going to stop her from feeding herself. Whilst stalking the city in the early hours or the morning, Mia had found out the shop she was in always kept a surplus of food in the cellar, and took small amounts when she was in need.
The girl listened to the floor creak as she walked towards the back of the counter, where a suspiciously placed rug stuck out on the wooden floors. She slid back the rug to reveal the cellar door, which she promptly opened, rushing down the stairs into the much cooler air.
Before she reached the bottom of the steps she stopped, feeling a strange difference in the air around her. It seemed thick, and the smell had only worsened the deeper she got into the cellar.
"Is someone here?" She called out, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.
No response. The only noise was the creaks of the house and her own breathing. She closed her eyes, if someone was here, they couldn't hide their energy from being detected at the very least. After a little less than a minute she gave up, she was convinced no one was there.
"Geez… you shouldn't be so paranoid." She mumbled to herself, walking towards the end of the room where the supply cabinet that she usually raided waited for her. "No one knows you're here."
Mia pulled open the cabinet door and an intense rush of panic raced through her body as two grenades fell to her feet from the cabinet shelf, both with their pins pulled.
Without any more hesitation, Mia rushed up the stairs, sliding over the front shelf and suddenly feeling her body lift off the ground, then hearing the explosion rip through the entire building.
Mia's body was thrown through the front window and out onto the wet stone road, rolling against it and jamming some of the glass into her skin. Blood streamed out of the top of her head, sliding down her face and covering it with the hot crimson liquid.
With ringing ears, Mia pressed herself off the ground, looking back at the building she had become familiar with in flames.
"Fuck…" She grit her teeth, feeling pain radiating in the side of her face. She explored the area with her hand, realizing a shard of glass had imbedded itself right under the edge of her mouth, she quickly ripped it out, feeling tears exit her eyes as the stabbing pain shot through her face. "What the hell was that?"
"So it really is true." A voice said from behind. Mia turned around, her eyes meeting the silhouette of a huge man walking towards her, his arms equipped with huge contraptions. "You're alive."
"Who the hell are you?" She questioned, her eyebrows furrowing in anger as she pointed at the burning building. "What did you do?"
"I cut the gas lines, let some of it seep into the building to make a bigger boom." He said, stopping a few meters away, putting a hand in his pocket.
"Gas…" Mia's eyes widened. That had been the strange smell in the air, this man, whoever he was, somehow found out she was the one stealing and blew up the whole building just to get at her. "Isn't that just a little overboard?! You could have killed more than just me, idiot!" She was amazed how far this man was willing to go to stop her.
The man laughed. "Who cares? It's not my problem." He answered, his blue eyes finally showing.
"Isn't this your shop?" Mia shouted, clenching her fists.
He stayed quiet for a few moments, before finally sighing. "You must not recognize my voice, little girl."
Mia raised an eyebrow, feeling the rising sun on her back as it creeped over the buildings behind her, casting it's light on the Capital, and the man standing before her.
"How about now?"
The girl's eyes widened as she finally laid eyes on the new wielder of Budo's Teigu. A previous Night Raid member, and the second in command of Black Council.
"Bulat." She said in shock. "W-why?"
"Y'know, Mia, I never really saw you as the type to turn and run from a chance to kill Night Raid." Bulat said with a genuine laugh. "I guess all of my enemies are cowards."
"How am I your enemy?" Mia muttered, her heart dropping in her chest. From the little she had heard from Skyrah about this man were of his bravery and kindness. But standing there, staring into his cold, dead eyes, all of it was washed away with the rain. "I've done nothing wrong!"
"Which will make this even easier." Bulat said, a small smile appearing on his face.
Bulat put his fingers up to his mouth and whistled, to which rogue soldiers came running up behind him, ready to attack. Lubbock came swinging down from a building as well, taking his place beside Budo.
"So be it." Mia mumbled, putting her fists up, glaring at an adversary she had been evading.
Lubbock charged in, but was met with a roundhouse kick to the side of his jaw, crushing some of his teeth into powder in his mouth from the sheer force of the kick.
Capital soldiers rushed at Mia with various weapons, each of them being parried and deflected systematically by the advanced fighter.
Mia ripped a polearm from the hands of one of the soldiers, hitting one charging her from behind with the back of the weapon before stabbing it into the chest of the soldier she took it from. She slid under the legs of another soldier, stealing the dagger around his waist and pouncing onto a different one, jamming the dagger into his face before returning it to the throat of it's owner.
A fat soldier raised a huge hammer over his head, Mia took advantage of the slow attack and slammed her bloody fist into his throat, crushing his windpipe and making him collapse, holding his neck in agony. His fellow comrade met Mia's knee when it was rammed into his nose, breaking the entire front portion of his skull.
Mia grinned as the adrenaline raced through her body, dulling any pain she was causing to herself by going all-out on the pathetic excuses for soldiers. She hadn't felt anything like this before, she laughed, mocking the soldiers trying their absolute hardest to stop her. Each one that initiated a fight with her was going home in a body bag. She left behind no injured, only corpses in her wake of death.
"Stop her!" A captain ordered ten other soldiers forward, standing in place as they rushed into battle.
Mia turned to face them, grabbing the first one by his helmet and spinning it to the right, hearing his neck snap under his armor and jumping over him, landing on the next one and stomping through his faceplate, caving in his face in one swift motion.
The next soldier slashed his sword wildly, allowing it to be caught and immediately used against him. Mia pulled on the now dead man's arm and used the sword to kill the next man as well, taking his helmet off and using it to bash in the head of the next.
With half of them taken care of, Mia took a breath, sliding under the axe of her next victim, grabbing the base of the axe head and breaking it off to slice through his chest, picking him up and ramming his corpse into another man, sticking them together with the axe.
The next two came charging in together, swiping their swords at the same time, which she dove through the center of, rolling and turning around, smashing her fist into the back of one of their heads, then kicking the other man right under his helmet, crushing his windpipe.
The final soldier rushed in with only his fists, slamming his right into Mia's face, feeling the bones in his hand snap and break right when they made contact.
Mia pulled her arm back then pushed it forward with all her might, burying it into the man's chest and out his back.
With one hard pull, she ripped her arm out of his chest, letting his lifeless body drop to the floor.
Mia turned around, glaring at Bulat and the injured Lubbock, the captain of the ten men that had attacked her had already turned tail and ran.
The revived fighter was panting, trying to catch her breath. Her arms hung limp at her sides, her wounds from the glass and weapons of the soldiers poured blood, mixing with the blood of many that coated her body.
"Your a cute one, even covered in blood." Lubbock said, holding his jaw in pain.
"Shut up." Mia retorted, taking deep breaths.
"It's a shame though." His boots clicked on the wet ground as he backed a few steps away from the girl. "You fell right into my trap." Lubbock jerked his hands upwards.
Wires that had once been invisible to her lifted her off the ground, cutting into her skin all over her body as they tightened at a rapid pace.
"Looks like you've got nowhere to go, bitch." Lubbock said, smiling as the wire around her neck began to draw blood. The girl may be strong, but she was incredibly reckless when it came to fighting.
Mia's pupils shrank as she pulled on the strings, gritting her teeth as they slashed deeper and deeper into her skin. Forcing her mind through the pain, she wrapped the razor wire around her palm, causing them to tighten all over her body and make her spit up blood. Her hardened skin on her body was making less of a difference with each second that passed.
Lubbock howled in laughter. "Trying to end it early, little girl?" He continued laughing as he approached her, sliding three of his fingers into the gaping wound in her abdomen. "You're bleeding a lot, how long do you think you can last?"
"Longer than you'll be breathing." Mia grinned, staring deep into his eyes. "Remember this moment, it's the deepest you'll ever be in a girl." She mocked.
With a huge roar of anger, the wires that suspended Mia in the air snapped from her suddenly blackened arms. She had focused her Teigu into only her arms, allowing her body to be cut into so she could free herself, a dangerous tactic, but one that had ultimately set her free.
As Lubbock took a step back with wide-eyes, Mia gripped her throat, trying to find out how deep she had been cut. She took a sigh of relief, it wasn't nearly enough to kill her, it likely wouldn't even leave a scar, but some of the other gashes in her body was going to cause her to bleed out if she didn't find help.
The young girl turned tail and ran from the two members of Black Council, trying to ignore the pain burning her entire body.
"Dammit, stop being such a baby." She spoke herself, gritting her teeth. "Skyrah wouldn't be whining." She closed her eyes, silently cursing herself for mentioning her name.
Mia felt her her whole body drop as she bashed her head onto something she in her path she hadn't been paying attention to. She found herself moments later, staring up into the morning sky and listening to herself breathe.
The bitter taste of blood in her mouth made her want to roll over and puke, but she couldn't even move her arms. It had been days since she had eaten, and even longer since she had a good night's sleep. Her body was going to take her no further, especially with her injuries.
"Fuck this…" Mia growled, straining every muscle just to lift her head, which she immediately let drop back to the ground. "I'm not gonna die… like this."
She closed her eyes for only a moment, but when she opened them again the sun was right above her, streaming through the rooftops and into the alleyway she had collapsed in.
"Easy, kid, don't move." A woman with a rough voice said. The sound of bandages being torn made Mia hopeful, but she was still trying to find out who was helping her. She felt her leg get lifted off the ground, and she let out a whine in pain as what she assumed to be bandages began being wrapped around it. "What's Lubbock doing fighting you?"
Whoever was there, she knew the situation. Mia lifted her head and made eye contact with the Night Raid member she had never formally met.
"You're lucky Skyrah's cares about you, otherwise I'd leave you here." Leone finished wrapping up her leg and sighed, pausing for a moment. "Where are you staying?"
Mia rolled onto her side, almost crying out as pain shot through her body.
"The… the slums." She mumbled.
Leone smirked. "Hmm, not exactly the best part of town for a little girl." She said, lifting Mia to her feet, and pulling her along. "You want to go back there? Or do you want me to take you to Skyrah?"
Mia wondered why this woman was being so nice to her, it didn't make any sense.
"Please…" Mia felt gravity pulling her down, but Leone kept her up.
Leone nodded. "It wasn't really a question, I'm not just going to let you die." With a swift movement, Leone put Mia on her back, leaning forward so the girl didn't fall off. She began to walk further into the alley.
"Thank you." Mia mumbled, closing her eyes.
She had made it for a few weeks without Skyrah, trying her best to avoid contact with both Night Raid and Black Council, but it seemed like she wouldn't be able to any longer.