9
Kill the justice
In the conference room…
"We have new assignments. Leone and Tatsumi, you'll go after a trio that profits heavily from prostitution. Our intel has it that the women they are using are being captured and then held in one major place. Mine and Sheele, you'll go after a guy named Tybil. He and his goons are the ones providing this trio with women. Going from the last few weeks, they're expecting a new delivery tonight most likely. You'll find the trio in the red light district of the city and their accomplices not far away. Good luck taking out the trash! The meeting is closed."
"Uhm…I actually don't have a clue where this is…"
"Don't worry, sunshine I'll lead us there. I need to get something done today, so we'll go in a bit."
"Whatever you say."
"We're gonna have so much fun, sunshine!" Leone exclaimed with a smile brighter than the sun and instantly shoved him into her breasts
Why am I used to her doing this to me…
"I'll take a short nap and then we can go."
"Alrighty." Leone hummed.
"Sheele, I need you to look at some of my new dresses." Mine said.
"I'll be with you in a moment, hehehe."
Tatsumi retreated into his room so he could rest a bit after an exhaustive training session with Akame and Bulat. Later…
Leone and Tatsumi were strolling through the vivid streets of the slums. They were almost instantly recognized by several of the civilians at the sides.
"So…what was it you needed to get done?"
"Nothing really. I just wanted to take a walk with ya."
"Pay your debts, Leone!"
"What the…Onee-san, what's that supposed to be about?"
"Run!" She shouted at him and ran off with the speed of a cheetah. The dumfounded teenager followed her example and ran off without any clue as to where. Occasionally he peeked over his shoulder to see if Leone's pursuers were still after him and after what felt like an eternity of running through the corridors of the slums, he found himself somewhere in the middle of the city.
Looks like I lost myself…Everything here looks the same…
"Citizen! You need help! You seem lost." An energetic voice shouted towards him amidst the crowd of people who were passing by. A young female soldier of his age jogged towards him with a pet on her leash.
"Uhm yes, hehe…I got lost. I need to get back to the slums and catch up with a friend, if that's possible."
"Don't worry, I'll bring you there!"
Her brown eyes were wide and radiant. Tatsumi wasn't used to this kind of powerful enthusiasm in this city. It was a stark contrast to the destitute, pale and joyless faces that wandering through the streets of the capital.
"I'll lead the way, citizen. Just follow me. I know every nook and cranny of this beautiful city."
"I'm right behind you, hehe…"
"By the way…since when are soldiers allowed to have pets during duty?"
"You mean Koro? He is no normal dog. He's my imperial arm, ehehe."
Suddenly Tatsumi's eyes grew wide, his right hand twitched and his posture grew visibly tense.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, sorry, I thought I just saw her. Please keep going."
"Anyway, he didn't bond with the high ranking officers, so they tested if he bonded with some low-level grunts like me. Fortunately, he responded to my innocent nature and was my loyal companion ever since. And I am Seryu Ubitiquos." She explained with an innocent smile, while she patted her little companion.
She seems to be nice…Maybe she's someone like bro, who cares about the people and not the government. What would Akame do?
He envisioned an adorable chibi version of Akame walking next to Seryu.
'Homeru!'
She sliced Seryu to pieces in an instant and walked back to base as if nothing happened.
I don't think she will help me there…
"Uhm…I see. Sounds really interesting."
"He always barks when he sees evil. That's another nice trait of him."
"Cool."
"Are you new to the capital?"
"Yeah, hehe…everything looks the same here."
"You will get used to it, citizen! Soon you will know this place like the back of your hand."
"Hopefully…"
Seryu lead him through the tight alleys of the capital and the way too crowded streets, while her long orange ponytail flailed behind her. She hummed mostly throughout the way and jumped like a little girl, who was about to go to a candy shop. After another hour Tatsumi recognized the area ahead as the slums.
"Alright, we're now a few feet away from the slums. Do you think you know the way from here?"
"I think I do. Thanks again for helping."
"Don't mention it! It's a duty of a soldier to care and watch out for the citizens in need. It was my pleasure."
"I have to return to duty now. Make sure to stay safe from evil. See ya!" Seryu returned with a bright, child-like smile, as she ran off to somewhere, dragging her little white dog behind her.
Now I have to find Onee-san…At least I got to know someone nice. Maybe it wasn't that bad that I got lost.
The sun was slowly setting and painted the slums as well as the rest of the capital in a stunning shade of orange. Tatsumi was looking for a tall, busty blonde that just by her eye-catching clothing should be easy to spot. And indeed, he did find Leone only a few minutes later.
"Oh, it's you, sunshine. I was looking for ya. Where have you been the whole time?"
"Listen up! If you would have paid your debt, this wouldn't have happened! This is all on you!"
"It's not like they could do anything to me. I'd just waste my money."
"But that's not right…you're stealing people their money."
"So? You've done worse things already." She replied and simply shrugged.
"Anyway…we got a job to do."
"Relax, sunshine. We'll walk in there, beat the crap outta these fools and leave unscratched. So do yourself a favor and don't get too tense."
"Alright. If you say so…"
"We should get going and start looking for our target. It's a bit of a walk to the red light district."
Tatsumi nodded in approval and followed closely next to her. Evening…
The sky has turned dark and the countless stars as well as the lanterns which were spread across the sides of streets that separated the houses illuminated the night in the capital. The assassins were jumping over the rooftops in search of their targets. Suddenly Leone came to a halt.
"Found it!"
"Urgh! What's that smell? It's disgusting!"
"Drugs. To make so they last longer."
The assassins were overlooking the huge building and through the glass ceiling they could spot countless women dolled up and clothed in skimpy, lascivious kimonos that left most of their legs exposed and put emphasis on their cleavage. They were wailing in masses, lying and writhing on the tatami mats, cramped together as if they were pigs in a stall. In the next moment two men in black suits entered the hall.
"Ahhh…I can't go anymore…"
The bald man slapped the prostitute, who reached out her hand, causing her to fall back on the ground with a loud thud.
"These good-for-nothings will probably make us some more money, but we need the next delivery soon."
"That son of a bitch! I knew her. Now it's getting personal."
"Taking out the trash suits both of us. Changing into this always gets me pumped." Leone said, as she balled her fist and flashed him a heated smile, before she jumped down through the glass ceiling and immediately knocked one security member out. The other assassin closed his eyes for a moment and jumped down as well to join her in battle.
"We gotta go!"
"The only place you'll go to is hell!" Tatsumi shouted as he cleaved right through one of the CEOs with his swords. Leone rammed her elbow straight into the temple of the guard and sent the other one behind her flying high with a jaw-crushing uppercut. Another henchman came slashing at her suddenly, but she dodged to the right and smashed down on his skull with both her fists.
Tatsumi was blocked by several guards, as he was pursuing the remaining 2 CEOs. They all charged at him at once, so he backed off. He reversed the grip on his left sword and lunched towards the opponent on the left. The assassin crushed his defense and in the next moment impaled him with the other sword.
His other adversary thrust his spear towards him. Tatsumi turned and caught it with his swords crossed. He pressed the spear down and kicked through the wooden part, before he sliced off the hands and then the head of this guard. The others surrounding him took a step back and kept their guard up. Some of them were shaking, their legs squishy like pudding and their arms barely able to carry their own weapons.
"Damn, he's killing them almost as fast as Akame. I need to pick it up, if I still want my share." She thought as she witnessed him cut through three members of the security staff in a matter of seconds
"Leone!"
Suddenly her colleague tossed a guard through the room towards her. Leone hit him with a rising uppercut, grabbed him mid-air and broke his back with her left leg as they landed.
"I'll leave the rest to you. I'll go in for the target."
"Got ya, sunshine hehehe!"
Tatsumi sprinted deeper into the building, while Leone clobbered the remaining enemies, who still tried to stop the assassins. On his way he quickly cut down the guards who protected the two remaining targets. He closed in on both of them and sliced through one of them with a diagonal downwards slash, leaving only one.
The assassin drove the bald man into a corner of the room and closed in on him and in the same moment his colleague joined up with him. She grabbed his neck and lifted their target up in the air with her blood-splattered right hand.
"I-Is it money you want? I-I can give you anything."
"Nope, we just want your life."
"Then who the hell are you?!"
"Just some good-for-nothings."
Leone punched through the target's chest with a smirk, killing him instantly and let him drop on the floor with a loud thud.
"Ahhh…that was fun! See? Told ya that we were gonna beat the crap outta these fools and leave without a scratch, hehe."
Outside…
Crickets could be heard chirping in the calm and pleasantly warm summer night and light-blue fireflies offered light where the lanterns scattered across the park didn't. The assassins walked through the green park on the marble tiles pavement.
"So, uhm…what's going to happen to all these drug-addled women?"
"That's not really up to us, is it?"
"It's just sad…" Tatsumi said, as his head lowered and his shoulders slumped down, followed by a sigh.
"I know a retired doctor, who could help them. He also likes young women, so I think they should be fine."
"I never knew you had a soft side, ehehe."
Out of the blue, Leone leaned over to him and stuck the tip of her tongue into his left ear.
"What the hell?!"
"I marked you as my future man. After the war is over, you'll be mine."
"You know…I think your imperial arms has way too influence on you."
For Leone at least this mission was an utter success. They headed back to base. Later…
"That Tybil guy was troublesome, considering he only abducted women." Mine mentioned, while they were running through the dimly-lit park with her partner in crime.
"He's dead now, so we did our job."
"It paid off waiting here. Now you'll pay for what you did to Captain Ogre and my parents, Night Raid!" A vile, hysteric, female voice yelled, as if nails slowly scratched down a blackboard through the tree crowns. The figure hopped down from a branch, facing the two assassins with an edgy, sadistic and psychopathic grin across both cheeks.
"And what kind of freak are you?"
"I'm Seryu Ubitiquos and in the name of justice, I'll crush you!"
"You know…we're two and you're all alone. We're just going to kill you off and pretend like nothing ever happened."
As the two were taunting back and forth, Sheele readied 'Extase' and herself for the battle that would commence any moment.
"Oh no, hahaha…I'm not alone! Koro, show yourself!"
The little, white dog rapidly grew in size as if he was some sort of unnatural abomination that should resemble a full grown person and all of a sudden two big muscular arms with veins running through his biceps popped out of his corpulent belly, coated in some sort of sticky, slimy fluid. The scent that came off it was as piercing and obnoxious as if someone rammed a dagger straight through your nose. His wide-open gob became as big as a killer whale with huge, razor sharp teeth, leaking fat drops of saliva. And his tiny eyes turned into huge black googly eyes.
"Gross…"
"That's probably her imperial arm."
"Well observed, Sheele from Night Raid!"
Mine took a shot from the hip and blew off parts of the tall dog's brain, but seconds later it regenerated all of the damage dealt.
"As I thought…an organic-type imperial arm."
"Organic types always have a core you can attack, so the weapon will break once the core is destroyed. Or…you simply kill the user." Sheele elaborated, as she adjusted her glasses and focused her attention on Seryu.
The soldier pulled out two close-range submachine guns and sent Koro to attack Mine. Sheele evaded the rapid fire and lunched towards her. Sheele instantly swung her ginormous scissor at Seryu and missed her by the breadth of a hair. At the same time, Mine tried to create distance between her and the walking abomination.
Sheele quickly jumped in between Mine and Koro and blocked the bone-crushing punches the dog threw at them with her scissor. She cleaved through the beast with one clean swing of her sword.
"Thanks! That was enough danger to charge up Pumpkin."
Mine tore up his white, furry skin and left several gaping holes inside him, as she gave off a flurry of energy projectiles towards him.
"Nothing! Damn it!"
I have to find the core quickly or else this will get uglier than it is already.
"Do you think you can handle him on your own?"
"I think so."
"Good, I'll kill Seryu then."
"I'll try locate and destroy the core as soon as possible."
"I and Koro will crush you! Try whatever you want!"
Seryu's sadistic grin grew even brighter than before, even more distorted, even more surreal, resembling the monstrous shredder of her dog. Sheele dashed forward and swung at Seryu to slice her head clean off. Missed!
"Extase!"
A stunning, bright flash of light emanated from Sheele's blade.
"Kiyaaaaaa!"
Sheele cut through Seryu's arms as if they were made out of paper. Suddenly 2 guns pointed out of what was left of Seryu's arms. She parried the bullets away, turned her scissor behind her back and severed the guns within one precise slash. On the other end, Mine did a good job locking Koro down under a hail of energy bullets.
I shot almost every spot. There can't be many other places...It's gotta be there.
Sheele swung her blade down towards Seryu's neck.
"Koro! Berserker!"
In the next instant he gave off a maddening sound wave, forcing the assassins to shield their ears and drop their weapons. Koro's skin and eyes became bordeaux-red in color. His size and muscle size nearly doubled to the point that his veins almost tore.
"Koro! Devour them!"
Koro grabbed Mine with his right hand and lifted her off the ground, clutching her like a doll.
"Will you save your little friend or kill me, ahahahaha?"
Sheele dashed back and sliced off Koro's right arm.
"Are you alright?"
"Ouch…I'm alright. That was close."
Mine held her right arm, which loosely hung from her body.
"Boom!"
Sheele was penetrated by a bullet through her upper chest. Seryu triumphantly showed off the revolver implanted into her mouth. Her face violently contorted into a vile, predatory grin with edged teeth and eyes, while drops of saliva leaked out of her maw as if she was her dog getting his scheduled food.
My body won't move…
Koro leaped forward in the next instant and tore into Sheele with his monstrous fangs.
"Sheele!"
The dog severed her torso from her lower body and splattered the ground with puddles of blood as if it was the rain that came from the sinister sky shrouded in darkness. In the background, Seryu couldn't stop cackling in utter ecstasy, as her dog munched on Sheele's chest and tore into her flesh and organs.
"Arghh!" Mine grunted in pain as she picked up her weapon with both of her arms. Her eyes were wide and watery. For the first time her trigger finger was not responding. Additional armed troops surrounded her by now, blocking off any considerable escape route.
"Ex…ta…se…"
Suddenly, a bright, purple light illuminated the utterly gloomy and hopeless night.
"Mine…Run…Survive..."
'Pumpkin' was not firing, shaking. Mine forced her legs to turn to the other side and run her away. Just away. Far away. The stunning light dwindled, was slowly fading like a candle burning out.
Thank you Mine…that I could be useful to you.
Night Raid…my family, it was so much fun…
Forgive me, Tatsumi. I won't be able to hold you any longer…
A bitter smile crept on Sheele's face as she slowly had to face her end. Koro grabbed her again and devoured her whole upper body. Her metallic scissor crashed on the ground with a loud bang.
"S-Seryu? Errr…are you okay?" One of her colleagues asked.
"Did you watch me Captain Ogre? I shone the light of justice and defeated evil!"
"Is she being delusional again?" Another soldier whispered into the ear of the one who asked. She was gazing into the pitch black sky with a satisfied, innocent smile and reached out to it with the stubs of her arms, as if she celebrated with Koro, who was sitting next to her.
"Probably. Let's get moving. I don't know how much of this I can take without puking."
At the Night Raid base…
"Sheele and Mine haven't returned yet, have they?" Tatsumi asked.
Akame immediately noticed the bags underneath his eyes, his messy hair and his barely open, heavy eyelids.
"No, not yet."
"Hm, weird."
"You look horrible today."
"Thanks, I'll take that one as a compliment, hahaha."
"Got something on my wire! It's slowly approaching us." Lubbock said who came rushing into the living room. The assassins moved outside and spotted Mine limping towards them. Her clothes were torn and soaked in rain.
"Mine…where's Sheele?" Bulat asked. His speech tone was untypically flat.
"She's dead!"
Mine broke down as she had to deliver the painful news. Leone buried her face in her hands and broke out in tears. Lubbock hid the waterfalls that came out of his light-green eyes with his left underarm. Bulat's usually tall, straight stature was slumped down, while his right hand held his soaked, messed up pompadour-style haircut. Najenda remained there in silence, calm and collected, yet the one eye she still had was damp and betrayed her discomfort and anguish.
Akame stood in the rain numb and motionless, frozen on the spot with wide eyes. As if the wrenching of her gut paralyzed her. As if she had a knife dug into her chest and twirled around inside her. Suddenly Tatsumi stomped into the ground as he walked towards Mine accompanied by the cracking sound of the knuckles of his balled, right fist. A silent grunt escaped through his gritted teeth.
"Who did this?"
"What are you planning, Tatsumi?" Najenda questioned.
"Isn't it obvious?!"
All of a sudden Bulat smacked Tatsumi in the face and made him reel back
"Ahhh!"
"You knew from the very start that all of us could be executed at any moment! Even you. You even said it yourself!"
"Am I supposed to sit there and twiddle with my thumbs, while my friends are getting murdered out there?!"
"Don't Tatsumi. You'll only raise the body count." Najenda interjected.
Tatsumi remained silent. He was shaking his head up and down and crunched with his teeth. The red trace of Bulat's fist burned on his left cheek.
"Seryu…" Mine whispered.
"Again." Tatsumi asked.
"Seryu Ubitiquos."
His eyes widened instantly and his jaw fell down. As if he received another heavy punch from Bulat directly into his gut.
"Sheele's death was not in vain. The empire now knows that they can only fight us with imperial arms."
Seryu Ubitiquos, I'll send you to hell for what you did to Sheele!
As Mine passed Tatsumi it was almost as if their thoughts connected. That same aggressive and destructive aura that he failed to hide exuded from her. The assassins headed back inside with steps heavier than iron.
"Come inside. You will catch a cold." Akame muttered. Her gaze was pretty much the same as always. Neutral, mostly devoid of emotion. Yet her eyes seemed to be a bit heavier than usual.
Tatsumi followed closely behind her with a hanging head, not uttering a single word. He saw Leone immediately reach for the next best alcoholic beverage that she could get her hands on. She ran into her room and shut the door of her room. Lubbock was nowhere near in sight either and he could see the boss reach for her pack of cigarettes with a shaking left hand, while she quickly retreated into her office.
Tatsumi headed upstairs, but before he went, a familiar hand rested upon his right shoulder.
"Get some rest. You'll need it." Bulat advised. His tone of voice was flat and lacked this powerful echo that he was used when training with him. His hand tensed up, twitching into a claw, but he took a deep breath in and a deep breath out. His shoulders fell and his gaze softened. Tatsumi turned around and gave him a brief hug with his right arm, before he headed upstairs.
"Ouch!"
"Can you walk?" Akame asked as she finished wrapping Mine's broken right arm into a bandage.
"Yeah."
"I will cook something for you."
"I'll be downstairs then."
Tatsumi passed Sheele's room. It was a mess. The assassin set his foot right on the doorstep, but something kept pushing him out.
I'll clean this up for you…
He made her bed, put the chair back to the desk, collected all the little papers from the ground and stacked them.
"Need to water the plant tomorrow." It read in a clear, almost calligraphic handwriting.
He proceeded to collect her many glasses and put them back into her nightstand. Tatsumi stumbled over a rather thick book.
"100 ways to clear airheadness."
A chuckle escaped the newest Night Raid member when he saw the title in his hands.
"It was my first day…"
He went over the cover and put it back on her desk. Tatsumi spotted the book he gifted Sheele on her birthday.
Did she finish it?
He strafed the cover and went through the pages. There were many purple hearts on the edge of the pages and some text passages were underlined. Tatsumi skipped to the last page and found a little note.
"Best book I've ever read. Must thank Tatsumi tomorrow."
A bitter smile formed on his face when he closed the piece of literature. He was about to leave her room, but then the red shawl, which fell from the doorknob, came into his sight. Tatsumi slowly approached it and slowly picked it up with both of his shivering hands. It still gave off this gentle lavender scent like in this night that lingered in his mind.
(flashback)
"Just go in there and cry as much as you can. I'll hold you."
"Is this one of your tests again? If so, I won't fall for it again. (sniffle) I-I won't cry. I'm not as weak as you think I am."
"But…"
"I don't mind. No one will know."
Sheele made him on her lap and slung her arms around him.
"Thank you…"
She held him close in her embrace and then the dam broke. Tatsumi broke out in tears.
No thank you, Tatsumi. Thanks to you I could be useful.
(flashback end)
That night she wasn't just useful to him. That night she gave him something he was dead certain he was never going to receive as a killer. Comfort. That night she made a part of this rage towards himself dissipate into the star-filled sky of the night. It was something that only she could give him.
"More than just a killer…"
Tatsumi's hands were shivering, as if he had Parkinson. He couldn't help but bury his face in it for several moments and cried into it.
"I don't know, what this is supposed to be about, but…" Mine said with sharp eyes.
"I'm sorry, Mine. I really am."
"It's not like you could've done anything. What you're doing here isn't gonna help either."
"You're right…Can I help you with anything?"
"No, I can walk on my own."
And with this Mine went downstairs towards the dining table. Not knowing what to do with himself he followed her and sat down on the couch facing the dining room. Akame put a hot soup on the table. Mine attempted to grab the spoon multiple times, but failed every time. Akame took a spoonful of soup and held it towards her mouth.
"Akame…I don't need you to spoon-feed me."
"It's getting cold."
Mine let out a huff and opened her mouth.
Akame looks like nothing happened…like completely normal…
Tatsumi went towards his room and sat down on his bed. He went through his thick and rain-drenched hair with both of his hands.
I thought I was used to it…
He lied in his bed and closed his eyes.
In the throne room of the emperor…
General Esdeath was kneeling to her superiors, the emperor, who was half her age and the prime minister, who stood close to the boy's left shoulder. The young ruler took the word.
"General Esdeath, we want to generously reward you for your successful mission in the North. Is there something particular that you desire?"
"Actually, I want to try being in love."
"I have a grandson. He might be a good choice for you."
"I have assembled a list with criteria my future man has to fulfill."
Esdeath handed over the list with her symbol on it. The reigning duo skimmed through the 4 major points. Some more difficult than others to meet.
"We will try our best!" The emperor promised with wide eyes.
"Now since you're taking on Night Raid…"
"Exactly, prime minister. I will need a group of at least 6 imperial arms users."
"Don't you think that this is a bit too much?"
"No, we only stand a chance against Night Raid with imperial arms. They are all extremely skilled assassins. We can't afford to underestimate them, because if we do, we will be bested."
Honest frowned at her evaluation. Words of praise from Esdeath were seldom. Especially towards her opponents. Her assessment put it a bit into perspective how terrifying and individually skilled they are, so much so that she, -his strongest warrior-, deems them a considerable threat to his reign, which remained unchallenged for years and decades.
"We will try to assemble a group for your purposes!" The emperor announced.
"Thank you, milord. I'm off to the torture chamber."
The general left off with a short and polite bow. She rolled her eyes, before a sadistic smirk spread across her face.
This is going to be fun…
Back at the Night Raid base. Midnight…
"Ngh…"
The moonlight shone into Tatsumi's face, awaking him from his deep, forced slumber. He fell back down on the bed. His stomach groaned.
"Aw…shut the fuck up…"
And again.
"Alright, I get it…asshole."
He forced himself off the mattress and stretched himself.
Tatsumi reached for his white coat and headed towards the kitchen in the middle of the night.
"Fuck…it's cold in here. Maybe Leone's stuff will knock me out for the rest of the night…"
When he was shortly in front of it, he registered that he was not alone.
"Oh, Akame…going for a midnight snack I see."
She was wearing a black cloak over her outfit and was holding a plate with hanami dango in her right hand.
"No. These were Sheele's favorite."
It's an offering then…
"She might have been absent-minded, but she was one of the kindest people in the world."
"It's impressive how you deal with this, unlike me…It's almost like you're used to it."
"What? I'm used to it?"
"One of our precious comrades just died! There's no way you can ever get used to it!" Akame yelled with tears in her crimson-red eyes, while she grabbed his coat with her shaking hands.
"It's true that I've lost more people than I care to count and that it looks like I don't care about them, but…on the inside I'm falling apart. We're assassins! We have to!"
She cried into his chest and he was left speechless with wide eyes. He didn't even dare to lay an arm around her to comfort her.
I've never seen her break down like this…I thought she was stone-cold…I'm an idiot…it's time for me to take responsibility and be a man!
Tatsumi gave himself a heavy punch to the face, where Bulat hit him this morning.
"Tatsumi!"
"I deserved that one. I promise you, I won't put you through the pain of burying me. We can see this nation change together and live in peace. How does that sound?
He balled his left fist and his eyes were no longer heavy and tired, but vivid and determined.
"I'd love that…"
She dried off her eyes and a small smile crept on her face.
"They're so cute." Leone chuckled who was listening to the conversation the whole time in the back.
"It's a promise?"
"It's a promise." Tatsumi repeated with a fragile grin of his own. They finished the offering together.
"We should rest. We might have a mission tomorrow."
"Yeah…probably…"
"Good night, Akame. Sleep well."
"Good night, Tatsumi."
The assassins went into their rooms and went back to rest.
I have to protect them…I need to get stronger…much stronger…