DISCLAMER I DO NOT OWN AKAME GA KILL. THE SERIES WAS WRITTEN BY TAKAHIRO AND ILLUSTRATED BY TETSUYA TASHIRO

Akame Ga Kill! © Square Enix

Hey everyone! Here is the new chapter! Hope yall enjoy!

Esdeath was feeling something she hasn't felt in a long time. True joy. That, along with true excitement. She finally had new prey, prey that both excited and intrigued her. She could immediately see the potential that this young man showed. Staring down the beast, daring to fight it even while it charged him down, all while the other soldiers simply stuck to textbook tactics that are basically useless in real combat. She couldn't help but smile with glee, and giggle to herself, which drew both the attention of Tatsumi and the soldiers, gathering a different response from both parties.
The soldiers could only shiver in response to her giggling, and to her practically skipping, fearing for the young man Tatsumi's life, all of them being more than sure that he will be tortured by the ice queen herself. Meanwhile Tatsumi could only tilt his head like a curious puppy at the general's bizarre behavior.

"Uhhh, g-general Esdeath?"

Esdeath could only mentally squeal at hearing him squeak out her name, immediately making her think of dozens of ways to make him squeal her name in …different ways. "Yes Tatsumi? And please, leave the pleasantries to those who ask for it."

Tatsumi raised an eyebrow, and furrowed his brows, thinking carefully before he spoke again.

"I, uh, I think I will try to stick with your official title if that is okay general Esdeath. But I was-"

He was immediately cut off by Esdeath giving him a quick, yet menacing glance to the side, "Oh? Are you defying what I deliberately told you? Hmmmm…"

Esdeath put on the front of being angry, but yet again, she couldn't help but let her mind go dark with thinking of many, many ways to make him more obedient to her.

"No! N-not at all! I just wanted to n-not cause offense!" Tatsumi quickly blurted out with wide eyes and raising his arms in defense, which he quickly regretted, the wounds he received from the earth dragon searing through his arms and chest. He grunted in pain and stopped walking for a second, embracing his chest again with his arms, to which Esdeath's furrowed brows immediately raised in concern, and she quickly rushed to his side and bent down saying,

"Are you okay Tatsumi?" The sound of genuine concern filling her voice, which took both Tatsumi and the patrol of men by surprise. Tatsumi looked up at her and put on his best smile again and responded,

"Oh don't worry! I'll be fine! Im sure it's just a couple of bruises! Nothing more!"

Esdeath raised an eyebrow again, and looked at his chest, and immediately placed a hand on his arms, gently squeezing different areas, and moving her hand to his chest and pressing softly in different spots, trying to get a reaction from Tatsumi to see where the damage was, much to Tatsumi's discomfort and strangely pleasure.

"E-E-Esdeath?!" He blurted out, without realizing that he didn't use her proper title of general, to busy with the fact of her suddenly getting handsy with him. Esdeath let out a soft chuckle upon seeing Tatsumi's response,

"Heh, cute…" She thought to herself, but kept a more professional tone and said, "I am simply seeing where the damage is, nothing more."

Tatsumi blushed and quickly whispered, "O-oh, that makes sense…"

But mentally he was berating himself, "Of course that's what she was doing. What else would a general of the empire be doing here? I told her I was going to enlist to be a soldier so she would obviously care for a future soldier!"

Esdeath couldn't help but notice how firm and taught Tatsumi's muscles were, and blushed softly, which went unnoticed by everyone in the group. "Well, you were right, the damage isn't serious", She said while reluctantly pulling her hand away from him, savoring every second of the feeling of his body and the gentle squeaks of him in pain,

"But there may be a minor fracture in your ribs. As soon as we reach the capital, it would be wise to visit the infirmary."

Tatsumi nodded and responded with,

"I don't think I'm opposed to that, after all, you have much more experience here than I do." He chuckled softly, but Esdeath only widened her eyes, "Does this mean that he is new to real combat situations as a whole? Then that means that his potential truly is nearly unlimited!"

Esdeath could only grin maniacally as she hear this news, more than excited to fully explore Tatsumi's potential. She began walking again, and Tatsumi followed behind her. Their footsteps making soft sounds as they walk along the dirt path, and soon after they rose above a small hill, a large castle with massive walls could be seen on the horizon, with the sun beginning to set behind it and Esdeath smiled softly while Tatsumi could only smile like a child seeing their favorite amusement park. Esdeath was excited. She was excited to see how Tatsumi will grow under her guidance, and excited to see how the prime minister will work with her to make him truly and utterly belong to her and her alone. Tatsumi was ready, he was ready to see where his life would go from following down this path that he is choosing. He is ready to see where it will bring him. And he was most ready to see how it would help him support his village, and to see how he could help them prosper.

One Hour Later

They were finally approaching the gate to the capitol. Esdeath simply walked in strides, happy to finally be home from such a long trip, but Tatsumi couldn't help but stare in awe, his mouth wide open as he was beginning to take in the sheer size of the capital, from the amount of people there, to the size of the buildings, from everything. He instinctively kept close to Esdeath, and he tried to keep up with her pace, but if he stopped to take in the view.

Esdeath kept walking, not wanting to break her demeanor while in front of so many people, both citizens and soldiers of the empire. But the questioning glances still couldn't be avoided when onlookers saw how close Tatsumi was following Esdeath. But Esdeath did not care. For her, this was more of a prize showing. She was showing off the new prey that she had marked, the new prey that she will claim and conquer, in more ways than one. For she had no plans to turn Tatsumi into the pathetic wretch that had become the king of the north, no, she planned on nurturing Tatsumi, helping him thrive, and helping him grow into the true warrior and lover that he was meant to be!

Esdeath couldn't help but smile at the thought, truly ecstatic to what the future holds. Meanwhile, Tatsumi was slowly becoming overwhelmed. The sheer amount of people that were staring, the sheer amount of sounds, sights and smells, it was all incredibly disorienting to him. He reached forwards, and gently tapped Esdeath on the arm, and whispered,

"Uh, Esdeath?"

Esdeath couldn't help but blush at how quickly Tatsumi began to call her by her name and not her title, like a puppy calling to its master. "Yes Tatsumi?" She questioned, not breaking her stride nor looking at him, but looking forward.

"H-How close are we to our destination? I am unsure as to where the enlistment office or the infirmary is... w-would you mind showing me?"

He blushed out of embarrassment and shame, for constantly needing to rely on Esdeath for the short amount of time that he has known her, but Esdeath only smiled softly,

"Don't worry Tatsumi, both the office and the infirmary are relatively close to each other, and we will be finished with everything within the hour." She responded with a cool, cooing voice, softly encouraging him as well, and Tatsumi smiled again, happy that this journey was nearing its end, and that he could finally rest.

"Thank you Esdeath." He said with a smile, and Esdeath blushed again upon hearing those words, and she tilted her cap down to cover the majority of her face,

"Oh Tatsumi... you are such a tease." She thought to herself.

As they kept walking, they were unaware of a set of eyes on them, much, much different than the normal onlookers. The blond woman slowly sipped a pint of beer, and frowned. Seeing both the boy and the ice queen walking down the road as many of the people stared. Her ears twitched and she slammed the pint down before laying a couple of coins on the table and walking away.

"Better tell Najenda that the ice bitch has a new pet..."