One of the few things I liked about Zero was how it expanded a bit more on the sisters and how they became what they were, it's a shame 1 bad arc really soured the prequel a bit, at least we can make our own versions, right?

Midnight

It was a rather quiet night, the sounds of nearby wildlife weren't present, Kurome was in her and Akame's room sitting on the bed, looking out the window with concern "what's taking her so long?" she asked herself, waiting for her sister's arrival.

Akame was out doing something, or at least that's what she said she was doing, her strange behavior was worrying Kurome, she's been gone for a while to get some snacks, but it shouldn't have taken as long as it is now, Kurome would sigh.

She wanted to have a talk with her to make sure she's alright "Sis was crying after hearing the news, I want to help her feel better", she was also prepared to play a board game with her afterwards before they go to bed, but so far things look a bit concerning.

A lot has been happening these days, the fighting, the deaths, she just wants it to end, "After all the rebels are defeated, we can live happily sis" Kurome thought, she too was tired of all their friend's deaths, which is why she wants to stay with the Empire and make sure their deaths aren't in vain.

Just then she hears footsteps near the door, "She's back" she thought before standing up, the door opens to reveal Akame, her face looking frantic and worried "Kurome!", this shocked her, making her think something bad has happened "What's the matter sis?, you look pale".

Akame quickly hugged her, "Sis?" she asks while being embraced, she wasn't expecting a hug in this manner, but then she felt a chop on her back near her neck, Kurome's eyes were wide upon feeling the chop, slowly falling asleep in her sister's arms.

"You're coming with me" Akame muttered, now carrying Kurome with her strength, she quickly looked out the door before quickly rushing out, tonight was the night she was leaving, she has had enough, Akame didn't care about the consequences anymore...and she'll be sure she isn't leaving alone.

The red eyed assassin ran as fast as she could, looking for empty hallways to run through, "Akame, come back!" the voice of Cornelia can be heard, the blonde girl was soon out of breath, she had been chasing her through the base, but Gozuki was behind her.

"Corey I'm sorry, but the least I can do is give her a quick death" he says as he comforts her, her eyes filled with fear as she stared at the floor, the leader lets out a sigh and gripped Murasame tightly, slight anger in his voice "I'll catch up to you soon enough Akame, you will be punished!".

After the leader runs off after the traitor, Cornelia stayed where she was at, she had feared the worst "Why is this happening?" she asked herself "Could Green's death have affected her this much?", she had now lost 2 friends, 1 in death and the other betrayal.

Flashback

A baby Daikon awakes from his slumber, upon opening his eyes...he was met with someone who he has no clue about, a man with spiked up black hair giving him a smile, he was carrying the baby in his arms while they were under a stone like house.

"A quiet guy huh, I'm sure your mother would have been proud about that" the man spoke, the sky was blue...but everything looked like a fantasy, there was a futuristic looking structure in the distance, a sign that this is not earth, this was a different place from home.

There were more people nearby, most of them wearing combat armor and having weird devices on their left eyes, everything looked very unrealistic, there was no one who looked like any of these people, but most of all, Daikon noticed them having tails.

The mysterious man smiled as he stared towards the horizon, holding Daikon in a position where he could see, "This is your home son, soon you'll be fighting to protect it", the wind blew gently against their hair, with the man saying 1 more thing "You might even be a legend, a light against tyrants".

Present day

Daikon wakes from what seemed like a strange dream, he sits up from his bed with a very confused look "What was that?", he looks at both his arms to make sure he is truly awake, "Whatever it was, I didn't understand any of it" he would say before getting up, now unable to properly sleep.

He turns on his light so he could see, the light blinding him for a couple seconds before his eyes were used to it, afterwards he would let out a quiet yawn "What a day" he muttered, but he would need more rest for the coming missions.

He rubs water on his face from the sink, the dream didn't make any sense to him whatsoever, it looked way too fake to be reality, but he didn't want to think about it any longer and just stared into the mirror, he then noticed his black eyes were similar to that man from his strange dream.

He then shook his head, trying to think of something else to occupy his mind, the thought of Akame supposedly defecting still bothered him "Maybe I should talk to Kurome about her sister" he said to himself, he puts on his clothes before heading out to the hallways.

Daikon kept his eyes up, he knows Kurome herself is doing just fine, thanks to her no longer needed those enhanced cookies, however Natala still needs them to keep up, he walks past the very room he killed the man responsible, shakes his head and continues walking.

He didn't notice anything different, just the usual silence, after a couple minutes of walking he reached the hallway where the sister's room would be, but he saw that their door was open, with worry he quickly ran inside, and when he stepped in...they were nowhere in sight.

"Where are they?!" he yelled to himself, but then he heard footsteps from the back, suddenly a handful of imperial soldiers ran through but were stopped by their leader upon spotting Daikon "Hey boy, we're going to need you", the assassin turned behind him to see a man with an open helmet.

The man continued to speak "By Gozuki's orders, we are to find Akame and eliminate her", Daikon's worry began escalating, now he was scared, but before he leaves, he would ask "What about Kurome?", the leader of the squad replied "She's being taken by her, if we are quick enough, we can get her back".

Daikon immediately began sprinting back to his room, grabbing his sword and his sheath before closing the door, "Don't worry Kurome, I'll be there in no time!" he thought, he ran through the base, quickly finding the exit and looking around, though he had no clue where they would be.

He assumed Akame would try escaping through a secret part of the base and into the forest, he was already tired of looking at all those trees, but despite that he didn't care, he needs to find them, quickly running past the many trees in a hurry, there was no telling how much time he has.

"They got to be here, I know they have to!" Daikon says while searching around every corner of the forest for 5 minutes, he kept running and running until he stopped, the sound of gunfire can be heard from a distance "They must be nearby if I hear the soldier's guns", he ran towards the direction he heard the sounds.

It felt like a maze trying to look for the sisters, the forest was vast with many animals and lesser danger beasts, he noticed a large lizard type of beast with dark green scales and red eyes spot him, ready to lunge at him, Daikon quickly pulls out his sword and cuts off the head with ease.

"I don't have time for you" he muttered angrily, whatever danger beast tried to attack him he wouldn't hesitate killing them, he felt like he was getting closer but didn't know for sure, however he stopped dead at his tracks when he heard a scream of desperation "Kuromeee!".

With that his own desperation grew, he ran faster and faster until he saw an open area with a river nearby, "This must be the place" he thought as he got closer, after all that searching he finally found the location, but only saw an unconscious Kurome laying on her stomach.

"Kurome!" he shouts while running to her, holding her in his arms with a relieved smile, he checked her breathing and was happy to see she wasn't hurt, "It's ok, I'm here for you" he said in a quiet tone, Daikon looked ahead to see that Akame wasn't anywhere to be seen.

He stared towards where Akame possibly disappeared, there were moments she had shown her new thoughts about the government they served, but now she was truly gone, she had now become a traitor, "I wish I could have helped her calm down, but now it's too late" he muttered.

There were a few soldiers on a different side of the forest, they were the source of the gunfire "The traitor fell down that ravine, your friend is fine" one of them told him what happened, although another soldier had another thing to point out "However...the same can't be said about your boss...".

Daikon would turn to face them with concern, but it took a few seconds to notice something, Gozuki was laying against a tree, his body now had curse marks and he was weaponless, "What..." Daikon said in surprise, somehow Akame was able to best the leader in combat...and now she has his teigu.

His eyes were still wide from the surprise, but what else caught his attention was that Gozuki had a smile on his face, what could that mean?, "She killed him, but how?" he asked, the captain of the squad shrugged "I'm not sure, but there's no doubt she's a huge threat now".

While Gozuki wasn't exactly a cheerful person or the most wholesome, he had shown Daikon that he was proud of his progress as an assassin much more than Bill, he looked at his smiling corpse, there was no tears...but there was a saddened look, "It was nice serving you sir..." he said quietly.

He would look back at the sleeping Kurome in his arms, it will be very tough telling her about what happened, "We'll be on the lookout for the traitor, you head back to your base and wait for any further orders from the higher ups" a soldier tells him before him and his squad leave.

Daikon turns around and tries running back to the base, holding onto Kurome tightly and making sure they don't run into any beasts, "Akame, someday we will find you, and you'll tell us why you left" he says in his thoughts, upset and confused.

Meanwhile

Instead of staying where she was, Cornelia was running outside, the burden is too much "I'm such a terrible friend, I wasn't able to comfort her!", she doesn't even know where she is going, the skies were still dark, and it didn't look like there was any sign of her stopping.

"She's betraying us, and now father is going to kill her" she says as she ran, her tears blurred her sight, she carried the burden of telling Akame about Green's death, and now that the red eyed girl was set over the edge...she couldn't take it anymore.

But after minutes of running, she tripped over a strong twig and fell down on her stomach, crying to herself "Akame is going to die next because of me, I failed her...", the only sounds she heard were her own sobbing, she would wipe her tears away while sitting up.

She was now miles away from the base, her thoughts made her lose track of time, Cornelia looks back at that direction, no longer crying...but still in mourning, "I'm sorry guys, but I can't stay much longer" she would say, no longer able to look at her friends right now.

The blonde girl stood up, staring ahead before continuing to run, "I'm sorry I failed you Akame, but if you are still out there...I won't let you down again" she'd tell herself, she runs off into the unknown, unable to cope with what happened, but she hopes to see her red eyed friend again soon.

The next day

The only ones left were Daikon, Kurome, and Natala, the 3 members originally apart of the group of terror, when the morning hit, Daikon told them what had happened that night, the both of them were extremely shocked, but Kurome was taking it harder.

"Sis...you abandoned us..." she says while keeping her head down, Daikon was rubbing her back and giving her comfort, Natala was sitting in a slouched position, unable to fully process the news "So she's betraying the Empire and all her comrades?" he asked in a disappointed tone.

Daikon nodded his head, he had already told them what he was doing when all this happened, he was just as disappointed "I don't know what set her off, but I noticed her strange behavior beforehand", he would then look down with a slight frown "She even killed our leader...".

Natala was completely stunned, the gravity of the situation was much worse than they thought "What?, that's insane!", he was standing upon hearing that, he wasn't completely sure on what to think about Gozuki, but he knew he treated them better than their previous leader.

Kurome lifted her head up, her eyes looking a bit tired "She chose the rebels over us...over me", this news completely devastated her, but she kept her emotions mostly in check to not let herself look weak, however none of them knew where Cornelia was.

With Akame leaving, things looked more dire than before, at least with the previous fights there was more hope, the team sticking together and overcoming the odds against them, but with an important friend betraying them...the future of the team looked grim.

Daikon sat up straight with more info to tell them, this time it was about what was happening next "One of the leaders had a talk with me, they said we'll be moving to Dark Squad", Natala raised a brow "So we'll be joining up with Kylie?" he asked calmly.

Daikon nods, he then grabbed his longsword and sheath before standing "Well...I was told the sqaud will be coming soon, so we gotta prepare to leave", Kurome stands up as well and was about to grab her teigu, but then something spoke to her in a whisper "Kill Akame".

She quickly turned back but saw no one, "Kurome, what's wrong?" Daikon asked, she knew she heard something, but she calmed herself down "I'm fine, no need to worry", Natala still looked concerned but shrugged it off, afterwards they leave the room they were in, a room they won't see again.

They walk through the silent base, no one else is there but them, Daikon still faced the floor as he walked, disappointed in himself that he couldn't have Akame stay with them, he slightly turned to Kurome, knowing very well this hurts her way more.

"I'm sorry things turned out this way Kurome, but I'll still be by your side" he would say to himself in thought, as the sun shined through the windows, he still thought about that conversation he had with Akame, all those questions she had for him...then it made sense.

She wanted to see if he was willing to betray the Empire for Kurome's sake, while he would be willing to do such a thing...what matters is keeping her happy, whether she too is willing to betray them to be with her older sister, but now it's too late, the red eyed killer made her decision.

Meanwhile, Night Raid's cabin

"I'm still not sure about her joining us..." Lubbock says sitting on a log near a campfire, Najenda watched the fire as it warmed them both, giving a confident smile "She seems reliable, her defecting is enough proof of her change of heart", that much was true.

The green haired boy slightly slouched forward, he was still a little skeptical about Akame joining, the worry that she might still be working for them and is planning to get closer to kill Najenda, "Whatever you say mam" he would reply, having faith in the leader's words.

The silver haired woman could tell that she won't be betraying them, the sparkle in her eyes when she mentioned they're fighting for a peaceful world stuck out, an indicator she was genuine in switching sides, "Hey guys" Leone walks out the cabin with a smile.

"Ah, Leone, how is her condition?" Najenda asks, the lion lady crossed her arms as she faced both of them "She's still asleep, it might take a couple more days for her to fully wake", Leone found Akame unconscious down the ravine she fell, her clothes were heavily torn and bloody.

Najenda was looking forward to seeing the red eyed girl in action, this time on their side, she takes out a case and opens it, revealing new clothes for Akame, a dark sleeveless dress with a white collar and red tie "Make sure you give these to her when she wakes, these will prove much better for her".

However, there was something watching them on the trees, they were almost completely invisible but their movements can be seen with a highly trained eye, it watched as Leone grabs the clothes for Akame "Sure thing boss, hope she wakes up soon though", afterwards she walks back inside the cabin.

Lubbock rests his hands on the back of his head "So Bulat failed to kill that Daikon person right?" he asks, Najenda responds while lighting a cigar "He mentioned killing him wasn't completely necessary...as the person who wanted us to do so is dead", which was true, the commander was slain.

But she then looked towards the clouds "But eventually we will fulfill our contract, the tailed warrior must be killed if our peaceful world is to be created...", the invisible presence watching them was still there...but then slowly disappears from the trees.

"Tailed warrior, something not from here" It spoke in a quiet yet distinctly robotic voice, it then ran from the cabin at lightning speed, still very much invisible, it seems that this thing is gathering information for a leader, but who is it working for?

A few hours later

What was left of the Elite Seven have now been moved to the Dark Squad, the team have set up camp somewhere near the mountain regions, Daikon stretches his arms, still wearing the same clothes he usually wears for battle, even if the team wanted him to change.

"Don't you think it's time to change clothes?" Kylie asked, but the assassin shook his head "Those look uncomfortable, I'm better off with how I am now", to this day he still wears his sleeveless black shirt, black pants, and black fingerless gloves, no need for change.

However, same can't be said for Natala as he approaches them, he now wore a long white trench coat with a green and blue scarf, along with pants and knee height boots, he held trisula tightly as he looks at Daikon "Hm, still rocking the same outfit I see".

Daikon crossed his arms with a small grin "You look pretty cool Natala, looks a lot better with your shingu", the blonde smiled as well while clenching his fists "Yeah, these are more comfortable than the old clothes", Kylie stays silent and lets them have their talk.

Daikon would then turn around to see Kurome walking towards them, she now wore the same outfit as the other girls in the Dark Squad, a black sailor uniform with a red belt and a red side skirt, as well as black socks and shoes, she now had red gauntlets but does not wear those masks all the others wear.

He smiled happily as he saw her, it was a better looking outfit than her previous one, he couldn't help but keep his gaze at her beauty, but he scratches his head with a nervous grin "Hehe, you look great Kurome", the black eyed girl returns a smile "Thanks".

Afterwards Kylie had his hands behind his waist, welcoming them to the team "Alright friends...welcome to the Dark Squad, I know it's difficult knowing what happened, but we'll avenge their deaths in the name of the Empire", all 3 of them agreed.

He would then turn to Kurome "Hopefully you can master your teigu to the best of your ability, we're going to need that edge in battle", she held her blade with a nod "Yes, I'll master Yastufusa", she'll have to gather even stronger puppets, her current ones won't be enough.

Kylie remembered what they told him, the story of Akame defecting, it angered him "So Akame is a traitor, what a disgrace", the 3 of them looked down after hearing that, but they knew it was true, there will be a day they will have to cross swords with her.

"Sis betrayed us and all our friends, she must be killed if she continues all this..." she said with a determined look, Daikon clenched his fist, he doesn't want to have to kill Akame...but she chose to side with those who wronged them, she has to answer for what she has done.

And so...Akame's defection is complete, she lost everyone's trust...especially Kurome's, now she continues her path on the enemy side, now aligning herself with the rebels, meanwhile the trio must continue their journey without her, remaining with the Empire.

The Elite Seven is now disbanded with Gozuki's death, Akame now wields his teigu...the cursed blade known as Murasame, it's now up to Daikon and Kurome to fight for the sake of their fallen friends, to hopefully take down their greatest foe yet...Night Raid.

To be continued...