(Malik)
(Imperial Capital)
"It's been too long since we went out like this, Malik." Esdeath chuckled in her chair, wine in hand as we sat out in the balcony. With the way she was acting, it was as if she was trying to tempt any assassins out.
Though, with the way she is, I wouldn't put it past her.
"Before I was transferred to the Assassin Corp, if I can recall. You and your Beasts took me out as a congratulations at helping you route Nejenda's rebels after she defected. Since then, you taught me how to fight until I could stand on my own feet." I reminisced with her, sipping the glass of wine.
"Truth be told, I mainly did it to spite the good Prime Minister, since he was so adamant of getting rid of you. He wanted you executed for being Nejenda's aide when she defected. I put my foot down and you've become the greatest investment I made." Esdeath shrugged.
Our eyes met, and we glanced at the rooftops.
"Leone's not being too subtle." I remarked casually.
"Oh? You know her name?" The general raised an amused brow.
"Unless they get new members, I know the names of all Night Raid's members." I replied.
"And you failed to let us know, why?" Esdeath swirled the wine in her glass as she sat up from her chair.
"My dear general, an unknown enemy is the best hunt of all. Nobles, ministers, military officers, they can all be replaced. Coming face to face with an adversary and discovering the way they fight, what abilities they possess. That, Esdeath, is the thrill of the hunt." I knew how to appeal to her. It's what keeps me alive during these interactions. On the outside, we look chummy and relaxed, but I've known Esdeath for almost four years now.
She doesn't hesitate for anyone.
Not even me, her only friend.
The icy haired general leaned back with a soft sigh.
"With that out of the way, I suppose I should tell you my preferences in men if you're going to help me match make."
"Besides the ones that stay alive, of course." I joked with a slight smirk.
"Malik, if I based my preferences solely on that, you'd be the only candidate." She teased back with a similar grin. "A situation that I'm not all that opposed to. You're certainly in the preferred age range, although, I'd prefer someone a little less...damaged by the world."
"You want a naive farm boy who has no idea how to please a woman." I teased her with a grin.
Esdeath at least had the decency to blush a bit at that.
"Well, Minister, what is you look for in a woman, then? If you wish to scrutinize my taste in men, why shouldn't I do the same for you?" She huffed a bit.
Her question caught me off guard.
I was probably the only person alive who got to see this side of her.
"W-Well, strong willed is preferred. If I want a lover, I want her to be able to join me on the battlefield. Someone I can trust, be honest with. Someone who I can lower my guard around." I leaned back into my chair. "Although, my big sister keeps her standards for me high. If they don't meet Seryuu's expectations, she'll run them out before I even meet them." I added with a soft chuckle.
Esdeath was quiet for a few moments, seeming to debate something in her head.
"It seems to me that you seek companionship through romance, dear Malik. You and I have been companions, partners even, for almost four years now. There need not be romance between us, but that doesn't mean we can't share a bed together." She mainly said to herself, although she fully intended for me to hear it.
I almost choked on my wine.
She said fucking what?
"You heard me, Malik." She replied, a bit amused by my reaction. "You and I are inexperienced with the opposite sex, not to mention that we're both in dire need of stress relief that doesn't require swinging swords at each other. The two of us are above anyone else in the Imperial Palace in a class of our own. We're quite close to each other's age as well and we'll be working together for a long time. Share a bed with me, and I'll keep Prime Minister Honest off your back while you operate behind his back." She said with an absolutely straight face.
Now, I won't lie, Esdeath is one of the hottest women that I've ever worked with, only overshadowed by the fact her hobbies include torture, imagining new torture methods, and genocide.
Then again, I'm no saint either.
I've already sold my loyalty to the devil, might as well fuck her brains out while I'm at it.
And if she keeps Honest off my back, I can have a bit more breathing room to operate within the Palace.
This is an offer that I can't say no to.
Idealy, I'd wish my first time would be with Chelsea or Mine, I'm not exactly in the position to tell them that.
So it'll have to be Esdeath.
"An attractive woman trying to share a bed with me is something to be suspicious about. That is, if I didn't know how serious you usually are. We're both adults after all. I accept your offer. May our partnership last for years to come." I chuckled, toasting a glass with her.
"Tonight, my quarters. I'll gladly show you how to touch a woman." She said with a wide grin and I felt a hand on my thigh underneath the table.
Not exactly how I'd expect to lose my virginity, really.
-xXx-
(Mine)
(Three days later)
Relaxing in the hot springs with a sigh, I gingerly clinched and unclinched my hand, sighing with relief.
My arm was finally healed.
I was back to full strength.
Throwing the towel over myself, I headed back to get dressed to see what the others were up to.
Bulat and the newbie were taking their time coming here. They'd at least send something by now.
As if on queue, there was commotion outside, which prompted me to dress faster and run out to the meeting room where everyone gathered.
Lubbock burst through the door, Tatsumi over his arm, Incursio impaled through his chest and missing a hand.
My heart dropped at the scene.
In hindsight, I shouldn't have been so hard on him. I was mostly projecting my frustration with Sheele's death.
But to see him like this?
Maybe I should start being nicer to him.
"What happened?" The boss asked as Akame immediately was on Tatsumi's other side, helping Lubbock transfer him over to Leone to take to the infirmary.
"I found him ashore on the river nearby. Judging from the way the sword is positioned, whoever did this didn't want him bleeding out. I'm fairly sure that this was a message to us." Lubbock said with a grim expression.
"I'll give ya my report during my trip to the capital when we get settled in, Boss." Leone said as she and Akame disappeared down the hall.
xxx
"From what I saw, Malik's been getting pretty chummy with General Esdeath. He's killed one of our people, I'm pretty sure he's got a hand in Bulat's death too." Leone said, leaning against the wall, arms crossed with a scowl.
My heart sank at the news.
What was Malik doing?!
Wasn't he supposed to help unite the tribes with the Empire? Now I'm hearing that he's killing our people more often than the actual Empire.
"If you ask me, The Black Hand has become more of a threat to us than anyone else. Rumors has it that he and General Esdeath are recruiting people for a special police force they're making to hunt us down." Lubbock explained to everyone.
The boss sighed deeply, lighting a cigarette. "If he's a threat to us, and if he really had a hand in Bulat's death, then we have no other choice." She sat up in her chair, frowning deeply. it seems her next words disturbed her greatly. "We have to retaliate against him. Night Raid, I hearby declare that we assassinate the Minister of Security, Malik Dekras before he and Esdeath take out any more members and before he and the general can form this new police force."
Despair from her words nearly brought me to tears.
We're going to have to kill Malik.
Akame looked at me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Mine should sit this one out. She's too emotionally involved with the Minster." She suggested to the boss.
"I agree. Mine, focus on building your strength back up and keep an eye on Tatsumi. You don't have to be a part of this one. Akame, Leone, I'll leave the Minister to you two. Don't underestimate him, he spars with Esdeath for sport." The boss gave her orders and sighed while getting up. "I have to head to main Revolutionary camp down south. We're going to need more members if we're to survive."
Everyone nodded and went off to continue their duties, I went back to my room to process what happened.
xxx
(Malik)
(Later that night)
(Malik's Quarters)
A creak from my window alerted me as I looked up from my desk. I'll gladly take a distraction from paperwork any day.
I assume Night Raid has finally gotten around to retaliating for my hand in the deaths of Bulat and Sheele.
The question is, who did they send?
Sipping some wine from the glass besides me, I continued on my paperwork. Attempted assassinations aside, I really needed to get this done before I went to bed.
"Your killer intent is very palpable. Come out from there." I said aloud. I doubt it'd work. Night Raid were professionals, after all.
The vent hatch above flew open as Leone hopped out in front of me, cracking her knuckles.
"Shit, that actually worked." I chuckled, amused.
"I still don't see what Mine sees in ya. You're a Westerner, but you look like you've gone native. You could've joined us and we never would have been in this situation." Leone grabbed a seat and sat down in front of me.
Ah, so this is a distraction and she's buying time for her partner to arrive.
Or they're already in the room.
"The way that you're doing things is going to make things worse. Sure just about everyone in the Empire are corrupt pieces of shit, but I'm finally in a position to start making changes. As a minister, I can now start putting pressure on the other ministers to lower taxes on villages and towns. Esdeath and I can finally start cracking down on behavior within the military. Little by little, I can strip the influence that the Prime Minister has on the Emperor. He's young, but he's curious, and I'm sure I can help him think for himself. My ambition is finally starting to pay off." I got up from my desk, my eyes never leaving Leone's.
"You revolutionaries getting in the way of my ambition is what's making me your enemy. I eliminate all of you, I can focus on the corruption within the nation." I continued as I activated Soth as I saw someone in the shadows move, sidestepping around and blocking a sword strike from Akame with my gauntlet. "Kurone says hello by the way." I mocked to the red eyed assassin and throwing her across the room with shadow enhanced strength.
They're about to find out why attacking me at night was a fatal mistake.