Disclaimer: I do not own Akame Ga Kill or any of its characters.
A/N: Hey guys, sorry if I'm a bit slow with getting these chapters out. I'm still trying to get used to writing at a specific pace so I can get these chapters out for you guys to read in a short amount of time. Thank you James03037997 for your review, it is much appreciated. I should add that in this chapter, I write my very first fight scene. Hope it's not too bad. Anyways, let's get on to this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!
"Woah, that's some powerful bloodlust" Tatsumi said in a bit of surprise. "Guess these people were doomed to die anyways without my interference."
Tatsumi quickly left the dead corpse of the mother and ran down the hall, stopping as he saw five silhouettes standing on wires threads outside the mansion. "So, that's Night Raid huh. Figures they would go after this family since they normally target nobles or ones with a lot of influence."
Tatsumi then spotted three guards running outside to face the assassins. "Well, if these assassins are as good as the Capital make them out to be, they should have no problem facing a few guards."
It occurred suddenly to him that the assassins could go after his targets. He then sped outside to the location of the shed since chances were that the remaining members of the family would be hiding there.
Outside, where the guards were seen running towards the assassins at a rapid pace, a green haired man grinned. "Akame, they're all yours."
"I will eliminate them all" said a girl with long black hair in a monotone voice and proceeded to jump off the line she was standing on. She crashed a few feet away from the guards, her hand immediately reaching for the hilt of her sword.
"That's Akame of Night Raid! No matter what happens, don't let her blade touch you." One of the guards screamed as they charged forwards in an attempt to overwhelm the girl with their numbers.
"Eliminate." Akame shot forward and delivered a hard blow to one of the guards. Before the other one could respond, Akame reversed the hilt of her sword and stabbed him right through the chest.
"This is what I get… for having a rotten soul," the guard said weakly as he felt the poison race inside his veins, making him weaker until he could no longer feel anything.
"What in the…" The last guard said, terrified at the short amount of time it took one girl to take out two guards. "They're are all monsters!" He cried out as he ran away in fear. Unfortunately, he did not get far before he was killed instantly by a shot thorough his temple.
"What cowards. Deserting comrades when they are in a pinch." The sniper with bright and pink hair which was tied in twin-tails, said coldly, her eyes trained on the person she had just killed.
"I think that's just called plain running away." The green haired man said nervously, sweat drops forming at the back of his head.
(At other parts of the mansion)
Elsewhere in the mansion, a feline blond woman was gripping the throat of the rich father rather tightly. His eyes were wide, and the veins on his neck were pulsing from how hard she was gripping him.
"Please, what do you want from me? Money? I will give you anything!" the man cried desperately.
"Sorry, all I want is your life" the woman said menacingly. "Don't worry, I'll make sure your see your daughter real soon."
The man's face instantly paled. 'My daughter too, do you have no mercy?'
She grinned. "Mercy? No idea what that is. Maybe you can explain it to me when I see you in hell someday." She said before crushing his throat with her strong hands.
At the same time, a purple haired woman stood over a bloody corpse with a pair of giant scissors in her hands; the moonlight shone bright rays through the window which illuminated the still figure. "Hmm, I wonder who got here before me?"
(Outside at the shed)
"Miss, this way!" one guard shouted as he hurried Aria along to the shed.
"Why what's happening?" Aria asked in confusion.
"No time to explain. Don't worry, once we get you inside the storage shed, you'll be safe there."
"Are you sure about that?" A cold voice sounded, which was devoid of any warmth or compassion.
The guard and Aria turned to face the sound and saw Tatsumi hurrying towards them with a calm expression on his face.
"Great!" the guard said in relief. "Now that you're here, you can hold them off while I…" He never managed to finish his sentence because Tatsumi suddenly covered the remaining ground between them in rapid speed and slashed through his ribcage with his sword in a single strike before he had finished talking.
The guard remained standing, not quite realising what had just occurred until his body caught up to what had happened, and he fell to the ground.
"Tatsumi! What did you do that for?" the girl screamed hysterically, not believing her eyes. The country boy she had taken in, who she thought was going to be an easy target to manipulate, had just killed one of her guards in cold blood. And judging from Tatsumi's eyes, it was obvious who he was aiming for next.
Tatsumi didn't answer but instead grabbed Aria by the throat in a strong vice grip and brought her to the front of the shed. Aria tried in vain to struggle free but to no avail. Tatsumi then cut the lock and it immediately broke in half. Tatsumi then kicked the large doors down and took in the sight before him. Even though he had expected it to be somewhat like this from the mother's diary entries, the real thing could only be described as a scene from hell.
The shed was littered with dead bodies, some trapped in cages and some hung up by ropes. There were some bodies that were laid out on tables, their blood dried up from the months of being there, their skin was covered with the many scars that they were mutilated by, no doubt from the weapons and tools that were lying around in the shed.
There was also an incredibly four odour about in the shed, one that reeked of blood and decomposing bodies. Tatsumi couldn't help but get queasy in his stomach. He turned back to the disbelieving Aria and dropped her down to the ground.
"So, what do you have to say for yourself Aria? Bet you're surprised I found this place before you could trap me in here and torture me."
"No, I have no idea what this place is Tatsumi. Please believe me…" her protests died as she looked into Tatsumi's eyes. They were alive and full of anger, even though he hid it behind a cold mask of indifference. However, before Tatsumi could deal with her, a voice broke the silence.
"Who are you?"
Tatsumi turned to see a raven-haired girl with red eyes walking up towards them. Tatsumi sighed, then focused his attention on the girl in front of him, analysing her details. She was wearing a dark, sleeveless tank top with a white collar and a red tie. This was accompanied by a red belt which held her black skirt in place. Tatsumi also noted that she was carrying a black sword in her hand.
Tatsumi recalled the time he had been in the Capital and how he had seen the bounty posters of Night Raid members. He remembered that Akame's poster had notably the highest bounty, so she had to be quite strong. "So, she must be the infamous Akame of Night Raid from the posters. Let's see if her skills match the bounty on her head."
"No one special, just a lone swordsman looking to end the corruption in the Capital is all" Tatsumi replied. "As you can see, I've currently taken an interest in this family." He said turning his eyes back on Aria, who cowered back against his glare.
Akame didn't know what to make of this, but this stranger was armed and an unknown variable. And when something was unknown, Akame had learnt that it was best to get rid of it to avoid any future problems.
"I see, however I can't exactly let you walk away from here." Akame said, drawing her sword. Akame didn't know why, but this boy had something that she was drawn to. Normally, she wouldn't get into a fight this quickly but for some reason, she wanted to see what he was made of.
"Sorry, but I don't feel like dying today." Tatsumi smiled a bit. He didn't know why, but there was a certain exhilaration that filled him now that he was about to face Akame in combat.
Akame leapt forward instantly, intending to end this battle with one swing. However, she stopped unexpectedly when her sword clashed with Tatsumi's blade. She narrowed her eyes and pushed her blade forward, which pushed Tatsumi's sword aside and broke the blade lock. She immediately followed up with thrust to his throat but was once again stopped by Tatsumi's blade, his one diagonally faced. Tatsumi then decided to go on the offensive and unleashed a series of slashes and thrusts aimed at all parts of her body.
Coming from the forest was the blond chick who can tried to steal Tatsumi's money. "That was too easy, I wish I had more time to play with him" She sighed in disappointment. Her thoughts then went to the brown-haired country boy she had seen earlier in the day. "He was definitely something special, I wonder if I will be able to see him again."
Suddenly, the sound of blades colliding up ahead caught her attention. "Hmm, what's this? Someone is holding his own against Akame? This should be interesting." She then saw Akame and the boy she was just thinking about fighting each other at an extremely fast pace. Actually, scratch that, it looked more like the boy was attacking, and Akame was defending. "This kid is as strong as Akame? He will definitely be a valuable asset to our team if we could get him on our side."
Leone then noticed a blond girl sneaking away from the fight. "Huh, if I'm not mistaken, that's the daughter of this family. Since Akame's occupied, I should finish the job for her."
Aria was trying to get away from the fighting when she noticed someone land behind her. She turned and paled as she saw the feral expression on this person's face.
"Please, please just let me go" She whimpered. "I didn't do anything wrong."
The blonde cocked back her fist. "I know you've done plenty of wrong things. Don't worry, I'm sure you can repent for your sins in hell." She said before delivering a strong punch to Aria's abdomen which shattered her ribcage and punctured her lungs. The girl lay there, writhing in pain before she finally stopped.
Three other figures appeared next to the blond woman. They saw the state of the girl and realised that the job was done, but they were confused as to why Akame wasn't with her. The pink-haired girl with the sniper was about to ask why was Akame taking so long when she saw the battle Akame was in.
Akame had to focus all her attention on defence, focusing on blocking the numerous attacks Tatsumi was barraging her with and trying to figure out a good counterattack. "His speed is exceptional. I must make this quick." Akame thought to , Tatsumi stopped his barrage and summersaulted backwards, he then gripped his sword with two hands and dark energy surrounded it. Akame's eyes widened. "He's wielding a teigu. I must end him now, otherwise he could be a major problem down the road."
Akame dashed forward, intending to cut down the man in front of her before she realised that Tatsumi was grinning. "Getsuga Tensho!" He cried before unleashing a dark wave of energy at Akame. She narrowly avoided the blast, rolled on the ground but before she regained control of her surroundings, the tip of a blade touched her neck.
Tatsumi stood over her, his blade pressed against her neck. He could end this in an instant, but he wasn't going to. That wasn't his objective anyways. "I'm not going to kill you Akame." Tatsumi told her. Akame's eyes widened in surprise.
"What are you saying? You defeated me. Wasn't your goal to kill me?"
Tatsumi shook his head but before he could say anything in return, a bullet shot out of the bushes and Tatsumi jumped back to avoid it. "Akame!" He heard a voice and turned to see that a pink girl sniper running up to Akame, Tatsumi also saw that she was accompanied by her companions, who were a man covered with armour from head to toe, a green haired boy with a weird contraption by his side and a blonde chick.
It took a few seconds to register but then Tatsumi realised who the blonde was.
"Hey, you're the girl who tried to scam me."
"Yep, that's me" She said cheerfully, with no sign of guilt or embarrassment.
Tatsumi sighed, things were getting more troublesome by the minute. He carefully backed away as the members of Night Raid zeroed in on him.
"Akame, are you all right?" the guy in the armour asked.
"I'm fine, he didn't do any major damage." Akame replied.
"So, let's start with the basics" the armoured guy said. "What's your name?"
Tatsumi briefly ran over his options and decided that he was better off just telling the truth. He'd have to wait for the opportunity to escape later. But until then, he would play their game.
"My name's Tatsumi."
The armoured guy nodded. "My name's Bulat, the black-haired girl is Akame, the boy with the strings is Lubbock…"
"Wait, why are you giving away our names?" the pink haired asked in annoyance.
Bulat shrugged. "Well, it doesn't really matter since he's seen our faces right? Well, except mine of course." He replied.
"I guess that's a good point. I still don't like it though. For all we know, he could be a spy for the Empire."
"We'll find that out later." Bulat turned back to Tatsumi. "Anyways, that pink haired girl is Mine and the blonde you've met is Leone," Leone gave Tatsumi a wink when Bulat called her name. "We actually have another member but she's not here right now. Her name's Sheele." Tatsumi said nothing in response, he was more focused on analysing his surroundings and thinking of ways he could escape.
"Now that we've covered introductions, I think it's time to get on the main topic. Tatsumi, who are you and what are you doing here?" Bulat asked.
Tatsumi decided to go with the lie he'd always said since it had become basically second nature to him at this point. "I come from a village in the country and I have come to the Capital because I need money to pay for the taxes in my village.' 'They are also starving.' Tatsumi added after a brief pause, in an attempt to appear more convincing.
"It's true," Leone put in. "He said the same thing when we were talking at the bar."
"However, that doesn't explain how you're so strong." Akame stated sternly, staring at Tatsumi. "You were able to beat me in a fight, and on top of that, you have a teigu. Explain that."
Tatsumi wished he didn't resort to using his imperial arm in the fight but Akame was strong, so he had no choice. Added to that, he didn't know what her teigu was capable of, so he had decided to not take any chances. "If I tell her those things, it'll give away the real reason I'm here. Best I run away now."
Mine was getting impatient. "Hey, are you going to answer…"
Tatsumi's blade started glowing as dark energy gathered around it like last time. Akame readied her sword is response. "Be careful! That's his teigu."
The other Night Raid users immediately tensed up and Bulat cried, "subdue him now!"
Night Raid's assassins all closed in on Tatsumi but before they could reach him, Tatsumi released a huge amount of energy from his teigu, which caused a massive explosion and dust to cover the whole area. When the dust had cleared, Tatsumi was nowhere to be seen.
"We need to go after him!" Lubbock said desperately.
"No, we can't" Leone said after a bit of pondering. "I can sense him with my teigu's ability but he's extremely fast. He could even be on par with Akame when it comes to speed. We won't be able to catch him in time. Plus, we need to report to Boss."
"Leone's right, it's too risky to chase after him. Let's head back." Bulat stated. "Also, we need to find Sheele."
As the rest of the Night Raid members were talking, Akame stared at the spot Tatsumi was last seen. She thought about the mysteriousness of the boy, his fighting style and most of all, his eyes. His eyes were just like hers, cold and hardened with his own experiences, it underlined that he had a tough past like her, albeit it may not be the same. Unconsciously crossing her fist over her heart, Akame thought about her encounter with the brown-haired boy and wished she could learn more about him.
A/N: Whew! Done with this chapter. I know this chapter is focused heavily on Night Raid and their interaction with Tatsumi, but I really wanted to put a lot of detail into Akame's interaction with Tatsumi. Also don't worry, Tatsumi will join Night Raid eventually, just not at this time.
I know that I used the phrase 'Getsuga Tensho' from Ichigo's signature attack in Bleach, but the properties of the attack Tatsumi used in this chapter are pretty similar so I decided to go with that name. I hope you guys don't mind; I was struggling to think of a cool name for Tatsumi's attack, so I just decided to go with that.
As usual, please leave a review on your thoughts about this chapter if you can. See you guys in the next chapter!