(Raymus' POV)
The following morning, I waited by the door of Night Raid's hideout. Tatsumi managed to collect the bodies of his friends and bury them just outside. He had been mourning over their graves all morning. Leone went out to collect him, and a few minutes later, she returned with him struggling in a headlock.
"Is that necessary?" I asked her.
"Hey. I'm just playing around. It's what I do." Leone said releasing Tatsumi. "So what about you, handsome? You wanna join Night Raid?"
"I'm here to work with you," I answered, "But my reasons are complicated. I think I should tell you when we meet everyone."
"You're in luck." Leone said. "I'm just going to introduce Tatsumi to the rest of the gang. Why don't you join us?"
I looked over to Tatsumi. I could tell that he didn't have the conviction to be an assassin, but I could also see the uncertainty, which means he's still thinking about it.
"Why not?" I shrugged.
Leone lead me and Tatsumi over to a nearby hallway with a table where a single girl sat. It was the purple-haired one with the glasses and the large scissors.
"This is Sheele." Leone introduced. "Sheele, you've already been introduced to Tatsumi and Raymus."
"Hello." Sheele said. She held a book in her hand. I read the cover, which said, "Don't Be an Airhead! Fix Yourself in 100 Ways!" That told me so much more than I needed to know. "So have they decided to join Night Raid yet?"
"Well, Tatsumi is unsure and Raymus says it's complicated." Leone answered. "I was wondering if you could provide some words of encouragement."
"I see." Sheele said. "Well, you two, now that you know the location of our hideout, if you don't join us, we will be forced to kill you."
She had serious look in her eyes when she gave that threat. I looked over and saw Tatsumi freaked out even more.
"HOLD IT, LEONE! WHAT ARE THOSE TWO MONKEYS DOING IN OUR HIDEOUT?"
The girl who shouted was the short girl with pink hair and a pink dress. She ran in forcing herself into the conversation.
"It's okay, Mine." Leone said. "I'm just showing Tatsumi and Raymus around, maybe even convince them to join us."
Mine looked over to me and Tatsumi and stared at us for a long minute. She then turned around with a sneer. "Fail."
"What?" I asked.
"Both of you. You fail. You don't have what it takes. I can tell by your faces."
"WHAT?!" Tatsumi yelled followed by a growl. "Why you…"
"Don't let that get to you." Leone said. "Mine's like that with everyone."
"That doesn't make her better." I said.
"Ah, you'll get used to it. Come on. I've got someone else for you to meet."
Leone guided Tatsumi and I to a door. We headed to an outdoor area surrounded by a fence. IN the middle of that area was a big, muscular man with a black pompadour. Without a shirt on, he swung his spear in all directions around him.
"This is the training grounds where we like to blow off some steam." Leone said. "And that guy stinking of sweat over there is Bulat."
Bulat stopped his workout to turn to me and Tatsumi. "Oh. You're the boys from the other night."
"You know us?" Tatsumi asked.
"Oh, right. You haven't seen me like this. I was the guy in the armor. Nice to meet you two." Bulat held out his hand for a shake.
"Thanks." I returned the handshake.
"Oh, and by the way," Leone said, "He's gay."
"Whoa!" Tatsumi exclaimed.
Bulat laughed. "Don't give them the wrong idea… yet."
"It's all fine." I said.
"So, Bulat, where's Lubbock?" Leone asked.
"That pervert? It's almost your bathtime. Where do you think?"
Leone sighed. "I should have known." She then brought us out into the woods.
We stopped right near a big, beautiful lake. Right in front of us was a green-haired teen who had no idea we were behind him. I could tell he had no idea we were there.
"It's almost time." He said excitedly. "Leone's going to take her bath any minute now, which means I get a full view of her rack. She can break my arm as much as she wants as long as I get what I want."
"Then how about I take two fingers, Lubbock?" Leone asked as she suddenly appeared behind Lubbock. She grabbed his fingers, pushed him to the ground, and began twisting. He gritted his teeth trying to hold out his pain. "Try that again, and I take your arm."
"So this is… another assassin?" I asked skeptically.
"Lubbock may be a pervert, but he's got a lot of talent." Leone said. "Our next member should be right by the shore."
After releasing Lubbock, Leone took the two of us down the river. We stayed at its side until something caught my eye.
I was practically stunned at the incredible size of the dead bird roasting above the campfire. A girl was manning the roast. I recognized her as Akame, he girl who crossed blades with Tatsumi the other night.
"HOLY CRAP!" Tatsumi exclaimed. "Is that a danger beast? Did she actually kill that?"
"Akame's a pretty vicious girl." Leone said getting the attention of her comrade.
"Oh. Leone, you're back. Here." Akame tossed a piece of bird meat to her. She then turned her attention to me and Tatsumi. "What about you two? Have you decided to join Night Raid yet?"
"No." Tatsumi answered.
"It's complicated to me." I added.
"Then this meat isn't for you." Akame said.
"Well, isn't this a surprise." A new voice spoke up. Right beside Akame was a grown woman with short, silver hair and a metal arm. It was much larger than mine and looked like it belonged to a knight. She also had a black eyepatch over her right eye.
"Hey, boss!" Leone greeted. "Welcome back! Did you bring me anything?"
"I got a better question for you, Leone." The boss said flexing her mechanical fingers. "Is it true that your mission the other day went longer than it should have?"
Leone's eyes widened with fear before she turned to run. But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't escape her boss who shot out her metal hand like a grappling hook and dragged her back.
"Listen well, Leone, I don't approve of you taking too long to finish off a powerful enemy, no matter how fun it is. You'd best do something about that habit."
"Yes, ma'am! Sorry, ma'am!" Leone pleaded.
It honestly scared me to see how frightened this excitable girl was. So when the boss turned her attention to me and Tatsumi, I admit, I was shook a little.
"So who are these?"
"Natural killers." Leone said getting out of her boss' grip. "I'm nominating these guys to be part of Night Raid."
"Do they have promise?"
"Hell, yeah! At the last job, Raymus here killed the dad before I could even be there, and Tatsumi killed that brat without hesitation."
"And what do they have to say about it?"
Tatsumi frowned. "I… I'm not sure."
"And I'm actually here for a different reason." I said. "It's a bit of a discussion."
The boss glared at me before standing back up. "Akame, Leone, call for a meeting. Sounds like we've got quite an interesting topic."
A short while later, Tatsumi and I stood in the middle of a room surrounded by all the other assassins we've met earlier. The boss, Najenda, sat in a chair right in front of us.
"Now that the mission debrief is over, let's move onto these two boys." Najenda said. "First, let's address the elephant in the room. Do you two wish to join Night Raid?"
"If I refuse, I'll be killed, right?" Tatsumi asked.
"No. We're not that cruel." Najenda said. "Although, we can't just let you go now that you've seen our hideout. So instead, you'll stay here and work as a staff member. Either way, you can live."
Tatsumi looked lower to the ground. "I… I don't know. I mean, I planned on working at the Capital to save my village in the country from poverty. But as it turns out, the Capital's just as bad."
"Your village is poor because the Capital is bad." Bulat said. "The Emperor is a child who has no idea how much his people have been suffering. The truth is, everything is being run by his corrupt Prime Minister, Honest."
"Indeed." Najenda said. "He's the most vile, cruel, despicable man to ever live. And he's allowed other horrible people to be in great positions of power. He'll do anything to ensure his grip over the Empire."
"You don't know the half of it." I said earning the attention of everyone.
"What? You know something we don't?" Mine asked.
"Actually, yes. It's the whole reason I was looking for you in the first place. The truth is, I'm part of a secret order of assassins. For centuries, we've been in a secret war with another hidden society called the Templar Order. And as it so happens, the Prime Minister is a Templar. So your enemy isn't just him, it's against the very order he works for."
The Night Raid exchanged concerned looks before turning back to me.
"And what does this Templar Order want?" Najenda asked.
"Domination. Power. They want to be the ones in absolute control over every living thing in this world, and they don't care who gets hurt on the way."
Najenda leaned her head over her hands and leaned her chin on her metal one. "We've always suspected Honest might have more powerful allies, but they were all dismissed as rumors."
"One thing I don't get." Lubbock said. "The Prime Minister's been in power for years. If these Templars are your enemies, why haven't you helped before?"
"We couldn't." I answered. "We used to have a branch here in this country, but when the Templars took control of the Empire, they were quickly overwhelmed and we lost resources to fight them here. But just recently, we were given a letter that said that Night Raid would help establish a new branch and help stop the Templars. I was sent to where you would be, and here we are."
"You guys got a letter?" Tatsumi asked.
"Yes, from someone called the Pariah." From where I was standing, I saw everyone share surprised expressions. "What?"
"The Pariah? Are you sure?" Bulat asked.
"Positive. Why?"
"Who do you think hired us to kill that family?" Najenda asked. "I found a strange letter in my bed from someone called the Pariah. They told me what the family was up to, and I sent Leone to confirm the claims."
"After I saw what they had in their storehouse, I reported back and the boss sent us to kill everyone there." Leone continued.
"We were going to discuss more about the Pariah, but… Well, here we are." Bulat said.
"So this Pariah guy knew where we were, snuck into boss' chambers, warned us of the country folk being murdered, and arranged for the Assassins to meet us there?" Mine asked. "Who is this guy?"
"I don't know," Najenda said, "But we can figure it out later. So Raymus, you wish to work with us so we can help you rebuild the Assassins here in the Empire. What if we're not interested?"
"I think you don't have a choice." I said. "You can't afford to let me leave and return to my HQ, and I fully intend on rebuilding the Assassins. If I have to do so while working here, then so be it."
Leone cracked a smile in my direction. "You've got guts. I like it."
"I see." Najenda said. "Then I suppose we are in a tight spot. Very well. We'll see what we can do. Perhaps we can reach out to the rebellion leaders to send some members your way."
"Rebellion?" Tatsumi asked. "What's that mean?"
"You don't know?" Najenda asked. "Well, just south of the Capital, there's a headquarters of a revolutionary army. It started off as a small movement, but it quickly grew into a rebellion against the Empire's corruption. Night Raid is a branch of that revolutionary army, meant for assassinations, intel gathering, and other unmentionable jobs. Right now, we're taking bits and pieces off of the Empire, but rest assured, our leaders have a plan that I can't share the specifics of. When the time comes, we'll enact that plan and change this country for the better."
"So… you guys are good?" Tatsumi asked.
"Good is relative, my friend." Lubbock said. "We're still committing murders, and any day now, we cold die."
"Each and every one of us has a reason to fight and are prepared for the worst." Najenda said. "Does that change your mind?"
Tatsumi thought for a moment. "Will my village be compensated?"
"Of course."
"Then I'll do it." Tatsumi said with determination. "With such a huge goal, I'm sure Sayo and Ieyasu would agree to it to. In fact…" He turned to me. "Raymus, I'd like you to make me one of you. Make me into your first recruit."
A part of me was expecting this, but it was still a surprise. "Are you sure about this? Remember, I'm working with limited resources here."
"I know." Tatsumi said. "But if you need help building a force to take on these Templars, then I'm in."
I looked over to Najenda who cracked a smile. "Very well. Then it's decided. Welcome to the path of carnage. And Raymus, we'll lend you our hand in rebuilding your Imperial branch of the Assassins."
"Thank you." I said.
"Uh, hate to break up this pretty cool deal," Lubbock said, "But I just felt a tremor in my threads. We've got intruders."
"How many?" Najenda asked.
"I'd say… about eight. They've infiltrated the hideout grounds."
"How does he know that?" I asked.
"I told you, Lubbock has talent." Leone said.
"Sounds like mercenaries from the tribes." Najenda said. "If they discover our hideout, they'll
sell us out for the reward. Send an emergency dispatch. Leave no one alive." She turned her head to me and Tatsumi. "Time to see what you got."
"Yes, ma'am." I said. "But first, I've got something to give to Tatsumi in my room."
"Huh?" Tatsumi asked.
After taking Tatsumi to my room, I held up one of my brown bags and placed it on my bed. I opened up its flap and pulled out a hooded robe that matched mine. I then pulled out a bracer with a hidden blade. I turned to Tatsumi and passed them to him.
"What are these?" he asked.
"Basic tools of the Assassin." I said. "A sword is great and all, but if you are to be one of us, you must learn to apply stealth. That bracer there is equipped with a hidden blade which you wear under your wrist for discretion. There's a mechanism within the bracer that shoots out the blade whenever you use it. Are you ready?"
Tatsumi didn't lose the determination. He threw the robe over his body and held his hood over his head. He then tightened the bracer to under his wrist and put his sword in his sheath.
"I'm ready."
"Good. Now, let's begin your training as an Assassin while defending this hideout."
Author's Note: And so, the Assassins and Night Raid are allies. Not only that, but Tatsumi is Raymus' first recruit. This should be fun. Who else would you like to join the Assassins?
One more thing, I'm thinking about giving Raymus a harem. Just thought it would be fun. I won't break up canon ships like Tatsumi x Mine and Kurome x Wave. What ladies would you like to love Raymus?
Tatsumi's first lessons as an Assassin come in the next chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
