Tatsumi didn't know how much time it was since he heard Incursio's... no, Tyrant's command, it's call to survive. All he knew is that he could no longer see Akame. He heard her though. Her and Esdeath. Fighting.

She would die. He was sure of this. Or at least, Tyrant was.

But there was nothing for him to do. Even if Tyrant could force his dead body to stay aware, it couldn't force it to live again, even if the beast itself still lived within the armor. That didn't matter though. Tyrant had only one goal for it's existence, and it was survival. It would not allow itself to be destroyed like this. It would find a way to save at least a part of itself as it did when its flesh became Incursio. And if reigniting that boy's flame of life with its own is what it took, Tyrant would gladly oblige; if his body was too broken, it would use what was left of its own to recreate it.

The broken remnants of the Demon Armor started to shine with a dim light. Too weak for either of the two women fighting each other to notice in the middle of their heated duel.

Then, Tatsumi felt it. For the first time since his death he actually felt something on his own. And it was pain. The armor started to fill his wounds as it disappeared off his body. Slowly his entire body was screaming in pain, even if he was still too weak and broken to show it.

Survive.

The command rang through his head again as he took a breath again. His body was still engulfed in pain he could have never possibly imagine before now, but he had to know. He had to see the fight that played out beside him. Akame... He repeated the name in his head as his legs started to grow anew, though in truth, it felt as if they were being dipped in melted iron. I will... His head fell to the side, where the battle was taking place.

Battle that has pushed both fighters to their limits. Akame was Night Raid's strongest fighter by far but Esdeath was still just a bit faster, just a bit stronger then her. Empire's strongest was winning and there was nothing Akame could do to change that. Or at least, so Tatsumi thought.

Fear started to pour into his motionless body as he watched her place her sword against the palm of her hand, only to cut herself with it. It never left him, even after he saw she was still alive, and furthermore, faster then she was before. There was something on the back of his head, screaming that he should have stopped her, that this will leave her more scarred then she's ever been and worse.

But there was nothing he could do. His body was still twisting and turning inside and out, molding itself back together with Incursio being absorbed into him. His legs grew back, but he still couldn't use them.

But then, it suddenly clicked in his head. As Tyrant molded itself into the boy's body, it also molded their minds, their memories. All to make sure it stays alive, one way or another.

Tatsumi remembered. He remembered every great hunt Tyrant went on. He remembered every prey it killed, every land it visited. He also remembered how it died.

He remembered thousands upon thousands of soldiers charging at it in the middle of the desert. There were Teigu users among them. Some Teigus Tatsumi knew, others not. And he would never see those again, more then 10 freshly made Imperial Arms were destroyed in that battle along with their users.

In the end, there was only one man standing out of the thousands that came to kill the great beast. The one wielding Murasame.

Now, Tatsumi understood why he felt this strange fear. Murasame's first owner did the same thing Akame did to defeat Tyrant. And even as it was forged into a Teigu, Tyrant could still hear that man's dying screams. The sort of screams Tatsumi didn't know a human could even make. The man was begging to die for days as doctors were desperately trying to save him. In the end he granted his own wish when someone forgot to strap him to the table.

Akame wouldn't die in this fight. She will die afterwards. No... Akame... He didn't want this. He didn't want to hear her scream like that. He didn't want to live in a world with one comrade less. Especially this one. The girl who right now was probably the closest and most dear to him.

They were going to survive this together. That's what they promised. If I can make it through... So will you! His arms twitched. He was trying to reach out to her but they wouldn't budge an inch. Instead his ripped muscles just screamed in pain, still not ready to be used again. He tried the same with his legs, only to get the same result. All left for him to do was watch.

Almost immediately after Akame has cut herself with her sword, she dropped on her knee, her body twisting in pain as she screamed. Even Esdeath was taken aback by what Akame just did, but not because she thought her opponent just threw a fight. She knew the fight was just getting started. Black tendrils started to spread on Akame's pale skin and her screams became... distorted. As if something else was screaming beside her.

The black marks that by now have reached her face suddenly started to turn into violet smoke that has formed a cloud around her. The screams have stopped as Akame's body became nearly motionless. In place of the black tendrils appeared red markings as she slowly stood back up, showing her blackened eyes to her opponent.

Everything played out just as it did when Tyrant faced Murasame's user.

"I've killed countless people..." Akame started. She wasn't talking to Esdeath though, mostly to herself. The general was barely even listening to her, too absorbed in the excitement at the fight she knew was coming. "Their sorrow, sadness, anger, hatred... Murasame remembers it all..." She pointed the tip of her blade at the foe in front of her. "It remembers every life I've taken..." Both combatants got into their fighting stances, ready to jump at one another at a moment's notice. "And I accept responsibility for all of them!"

No... Please don't...You don't... Understand... Tatsumi tried to call out. All his attempts ended in more pain though. She didn't know. She couldn't know, what was in store for her. Murasame had a remarkably small number of masters for a Teigu, most of whom died the same way the first one of them did. You can only use Murasame's Trump Card once. And it will kill you. No one who's used it ever survived more then a week afterwords, dying an agonizingly slow death filled with suffering beyond their imagining.

The strength of its Trump Card differs between users though, as does the length of agony it inflicts on them. Both are tied to the same variable. How many they've killed. And Akame killed a lot of people. More then any of Murasame's users that Tyrant remembered. The moment she accepted the 'responsibility' for that, she sealed her fate.

Tatsumi couldn't help but let out a tear at that.

He was no longer worried about the result of the fight. Akame was now moving with speeds that have baffled even Esdeath, and he knew she can still move even faster. Tyrant saw others that did. What worried him was what he will do once he can move. After Akame defeats Esdeath everything will start. The first wave of pain will wash over her, marking the beginning of her end. And what could Tatsumi possibly do to stop it? Kill her himself before the pain even starts for good?

As the boy lied there, struggling to find answer he felt another surge of Tyrant's memories flooding his mind. Memories of how the beast improved itself, how it evolved. Each great hunt would teach it something new, something that would allow it to hunt for even stronger pray in more hostile lands. Memories of Tyrant's beginning. Even the great beast like that was once a small pitiful weakling that needed to grow and to learn. Just like Tstsumi.

There were also memories of... failure. Failure to defeat one enemy destiny has laid before the evolving Danger Beast. Enemy that Tyrant aimed to overcome before it was slain. Enemy that held the solution to Tatsumi's problem.

The memories stopped clouding the boy's mind, drawing a sharp, yet quiet breath from him. He felt his fingers close around a rock. For the first time his body was starting to move, but that's not what was occupying his mind at the moment. I can... Save her... A smile appeared on his blood covered face. Focusing back at the fight, he saw sparks filling the air as the two women's swords clashed with one another. Esdeath has lost her arm by now, and was slowly beginning to crumble under Akame's relentless assault.

Walls and pillars of ice were thrown at the assassin, but they merely slowed her down. Akame had her opponent up against the metaphorical wall, but that was not enough to defeat the empire's strongest and they both knew it.

Tatsumi started to notice something though. Akame's movements, which up until now were barely more then a blur to him, started to become clearer. Not because she was getting slower though, if anything she was now even faster then she already was. Tatsumi quickly realized that Tyrant's sharp senses were being moved to him. A quick look at a nearby piece of ice revealed to him that much. His green eyes were gone, replaced with red ones that rivaled Akame's in intensity. Their another, even more prominent feature were cross-shaped slits on them. He could see more then he ever had. Details that would escape him before were now as easy to spot as the excitement on Esdeath's face.

He had no time to ponder on that though. Akame was about to finish the fight. He could feel that.

Yet again, he tried to move his hand, and this time, it did as he commanded. The pain was almost unbearable to him, but it meant nothing. Akame was going to go through much worse if he did nothing. Slowly, he moved his hand in front of him, hoping to pull himself closer to the battle. He halted after seeing his arm though.

It was changed. His skin, which now became thick and almost reptilian with silver color not unlike that of Incursio, was covered in scales that run from his elbow to the tips of his fingers, where he also could see three inch long claws. Up from his elbow everything seemed as it was before, but he could feel something was wrong with the rest of his body as well. His teeth felt sharper then they were before and he felt some strange muscle around his backside he's never felt before. The inside of his body has also changed. His heart, lungs, stomach... All of those and more they were all different. Better. Stronger.

There was no time for him to dwell on that though. Akame was getting ready for the final attack.

Just as Tatsumi dug his clawed fingers into the ground and pulled himself forward, Akame charged straight at Esdeath, now using the power granted to her by Murasame to it's fullest. Understanding this and her own state, Esdeath could tell she had no hope of stopping her if they were to clash swords, so she decided to throw her rapier at the incoming assassin to force her to dodge and as a result, stop her charge. Akame did as Esdeath wanted her to, but it meant nothing. In a blink of an eye she charged at Esdeath again, this time met with a shield of ice. It shattered under Akame's strength, but opened her up for a counter from Esdeath, who attempted to kick her with all her strength.

All she kicked was the air though.

Akame was already behind her, prepared to close in and strike. Another hastily prepared ice shield stopped her, but by the time Esdeath could turn to face her, Akame was already gone and prepared to strike from another angle. Just barely dodging, Esdeath tried freezing Akame, or at least slow her down a bit. She failed in both regards. Akame was already at her side, approaching with intent to kill.

The last ice shield started to form between them in Esdeath's desperate attempt at stopping her, but before she could reinforce it, Akame smashed it to pieces and charged on. Her blade was mere centimeters from the general's throat when she saw a smirk on her lips. "Makahadoma!" A shout signaling the halt in time came out of her mouth.

Tatsumi had no way of knowing what happened from Esdeath's perspective, but he knew that Akame was not where Esdeath saw her. Just a moment before time was frozen, Akame jumped into the air with the final burst of speed so great that even with his newfound eyesight Tatsumi could barely notice it happen. And on top of that, Esdeath's blood lust was blinding her. Tatsumi sensed it, and so did Akame. She wanted to see Akame there, hopelessly frozen in air, and that will be her downfall.

And just as Tatsumi thought, right after shouting the name of her secret move, he saw the smirk disappeared off Esdeath's face, replaced with panic. In the last moment she realized that the threat was coming at her from above, but it was far too late for her to do anything about it. Akame slashed her chest, ending the fight. "How?" The defeated general asked after a short moment of silence, just as Murasame's poison started to spread throughout her body. "How did you counter Makahadoma?"

"That move took Susanoo's life. I was waiting for you to use it." Akame lowered her blade. Even though Esdeath could hold out far longer then anyone, the poison has already reached her heart, and now, with all her strength depleted by the fight, she had only her willpower keeping her alive.

"So it was all a part of your plan..." Tatsumi continued to slowly close in on them. The pain was beginning to leave him, but he still couldn't get up.

"The afterimage you saw was formed by your lust for blood." Akame said, coldly staring at Esdeath. Her eyes still blackened by poison. "I cut through your inflated ideal of hunting." While the black marks on Esdeath's body started to spread further, no doubt causing excruciating pain, the ones on Akame slowly faded away, leaving her only with faded red marks on her skin. "Mission accomplished." Just as she said that she fall on her knees, coughing out blood. Pain started to radiate from the marks on her body, but Tatsumi knew this wasn't it yet. This was but a taste. A mere glimpse of what's to come.

Akame's pained panting was interrupted by Esdeath, who somehow was still standing "You're an interesting one..." Seeing her opponent still standing brought Akame to ignore the pain she was experiencing. She stood up, ready to continue fighting if need be. But Tatsumi knew there would not be any more fighting between them. In the end, Murasame will uphold it's reputation as a One-Cut Killer blade. "Tell me... where does such strength derive from?"

She was quiet for a moment, still gathering herself back up. "All the lives for which I am responsible... They are what gave me strength..." Tatsumi noticed her shaking. The pain is getting to her.

There was a strange sense of calm coming from Esdeath. You could almost swear the poison had no effect on her. "You plan to continue being dragged down by others' souls?"

"That's right." Those two words made Tatsumi pause in his slow approach. The realization of what Akame thought of herself this whole time almost made him tear up. A tool. Somewhere deep down that's what she though she was. A mere tool meant to take all the responsibility so that nobody she holds dear has to. A tool meant to be cast away when it's no longer of any use.

Akame... please... "You're... More then that..." His words were weak, too quiet to be heard, but she felt them. He was sure of that. And he hoped that one day, he can make her believe those words herself.

"Huh... I don't get it at all." Esdeath continued. "But loss is still loss..." She suddenly started to wriggle in pain. She was reaching the limit of how much she can resist. Tatsumi saw her look in his direction, but it didn't seem she was aware that he was still alive. Taking a closer look he noticed her eyes have become foggy. She could barely see as she started to approach him with slow, shaky steps.

Akame looked at the fallen general in confusion. But then her eyes fell down on Tatsumi. Their eyes met and in an instant she completely forgot about the pain she was in. Her eyes started to water as she saw him smile weakly at her. "Tatsumi!" She immediately rushed towards him, only to see a wall of ice form itself in front of her. Tatsumi heard her call his name again as she started started to hit the wall. First with her fists, then with her sword. He had no time to focus on that though. Esdeath was approaching him and he knew what she was hoping to do.

He wouldn't let her.

"Tatsumi..." Esdeath called out to him, only a couple of steps away from him. She was about to lower herself to him and hold in her arms, but she stopped when she finally realized. The man she loved was not dead.

Akame has stopped her attempts at breaking the ice wall, and seeing no way to get over it, she was forced to see the events unfold before her. She saw as Tatsumi pushes himself up in front of stunned Esdeath. He was barely standing, and every second was clearly bringing him pain. She was too focused on the fact that he is alive to notice the changes made to his body.

"Tatsumi... You're alive..." Happiness started to fill Esdeath's face as she felt a powerful urge to keep living. To the boy's shock, he saw the poison lose against her will.

He frowned grimly as she reached her hand to his cheek. That women... Even after all of this... she still blindly loves me... He would normally be flattered by such a beautiful women falling in love with him but with her? The sadist who tortured and murdered... How many? Thousands? Millions? And all of that only because she enjoyed it? No, with her he could only be repulsed. Downright discussed by the thought of ever allowing that monster to touch him again.

He wouldn't let her.

Just a moment before her hand touched his cheek, Tatsumi suddenly shoved his clawed hand forward, right into her chest.

Her eyes snapped wide open as air left her lungs along with blood. Looking down at Tatsumi, she felt tears roll down her cheeks. He was looking straight into into her eyes, letting his hate and disgust for her to pour out. This was not how she wanted to die. She didn't want to die with that look on his face as the last thing she saw. She tried to reach her other hand to his face, begging for him to show her that smile she loved so much for the last time.

He wouldn't let her.

She no longer had the right to see it. She never had. His other hand shot forward, this time aiming for her head. The claws pierced her skull just as easily as they've pierced her chest. Tatsumi gritted his teeth seeing her eyes continue to twitch. She was still fighting it...

With one last move he tore her head off and threw it on the ground. Her headless body fell on the ground as he stomped on the general's head, smashing it into pieces. But those pieces were too big for his liking. Especially one that still had her eye attached to it. And he could almost swear she was somehow still looking at him.

He wouldn't let her.

With a primal roar, he stomped on the piece of her head, turning it into a mush of blood and brain matter.

He was panting hard after all that. His body was not entirely ready to move yet after all. But that was not time for him to lie down yet. There was still one thing he needed to smash into pieces. Turning towards the wall between him and Akame he started to move forward, panting painfully with each step. He could hear his muscles rip under him, but he didn't care. He needed to do this. He needed to give her as much comfort as he could before she feels the real pain of Murasame's curse.

She was looking at him with her mouth slightly open and tears rolling down her cheeks. Her hands were pressing against the ice wall as he weakly placed his own against it. He smiled at her for a second before pulling his arms back and smashing them against the ice.

The movement was so fast and strong it washed Esdeath's blood off his hands as they touched the wall. It immediately shattered into pieces, leaving no barrier between him and Akame, as well as no strength in his body to keep him standing. He started to fall to the ground, powerless to stop the ground from approaching. "Tatsumi!" Akame screamed his name again. She rushed towards him the moment he brought the wall down, and ignoring pain in her own body caught his own before it went all the way down.

He felt her gently place him on her knees as she grabbed his face between her hands. She has noticed the changes to his body, but she found it hard to care right now. All she needed is one look into his changed eyes to know that there was still Tatsumi behind them, however changed his body might be. "Tatsumi... You're alive..." Tears started to stream down his face again. "You're... really alive..." She started to choke on her own sobs.

Slowly, Tatsumi reached his hand to her cheek, wiping it clean of tears and leaving it there. "Don't cry Akame... I'm... here..." He quickly felt more tears running over his fingers. Tatsumi smiled, trying to bring out as much happiness he was feeling out with it. "I... We promised to survive this war together... And I'm not going anywhere... So... You stay with me too... Alright?" She calmed down a little bit, now smiling brightly and caressing Tatsumi's cheeks. She didn't answer his question, instead pulling him into a gentle hug.

She buried her face into his neck, not caring that it was covered in his dried up blood. Her hand was running through his hair when she felt him place his own hand on her back. He simply left it there, unable to force his body to do more. To Tatsumi, Akame was... Downright intoxicating. He still remembered his thoughts from when all the way back when he saw her. 'At least I'll be killed by a pretty lady'. At the time he's told himself that it was just him looking for something good in a bad situation, but by now he knew well enough there was more to that. No matter how attractive Leone was, how cute Sheele acted, how pretty Cheelesa looked or how... Mine, Mine was, Akame is yet to fail in drawing his full attention to her. All of his senses would go into overdrive to feel more of her every time she was close to him. They begged him to look at her, to smell, and feel her, to listen to her voice and take in her presence. And now with all those senses sharpened beyond what is humanly possible, his whole body was begging for more with each second of their contact.

It wasn't long before Akame lifted her head off his shoulder to Tatsumi's disappointment. She moved her face over to his face, hanging it right above his head, close enough for him to feel her breath leave her slightly trembling lips. She was looking straight into his eyes, making him look into hers.

He immediately saw it. He would even without his improved eyesight.

She loved him. And she was showing it through her eyes, bombarding him with her feelings.

He has been suspecting that this is what she feels for some time now but actually seeing her feeling laid bare in front of him? This was overwhelming. He has only seen it once, when he held dying Mine in his arms.

"Tatsumi... I know that you don't feel the same... I know that no one would feel like that about somebody like me, but... Please... Let me have this, just for a moment..." She didn't remain immobile for long, slowly lowering her head onto his, eventually pressing their lips together. Her eyes closed as she started to kiss him, softly brushing her lips against his.

Tatsumi felt her arms wrap around him slightly tighter then before and it would be a lie to say he didn't enjoy this kiss. It was downright heavenly for him. He quickly realized how much he wanted this, and for how long. Probably not as long as she did, after all he could trace her affection for him growing all the way back to the aftermath of Sheele's death, when they have promised one another to survive the war together.

The kiss made something grow in Tatsumi's heart, or rather, it released what's been already growing in there for a long time.

Few seconds into the kiss, Tatsumi started to close his eyes as well. His hand, still placed on Akame's back, moved up to the back of her head and lightly pressed it down as he returned the kiss. A quiet gasp sounded from her mouth as her eyes opened slightly in surprise along with her mouth. An opportunity to deepen the kiss that Tatsumi gladly took. For a moment she could see his eyes as he was closing them. And she saw what he saw in hers. Love.

She was nearly certain that it was just her wishful thinking - her desires playing her for a fool like Esdeath's did during their fight moments before - but she didn't care about that. In this one moment she would let herself believe it was true. That he really loved her. Even though she knew it was impossible. There was no place for her in his heart. In anyone's heart.

Or at least so she believed. Because despite what she thought, what she saw was true. Tatsumi loved her. Or at the very least was starting to realize what he felt towards her. She had worked her way into his heart, whether she was able to accept that as a fact or not.

Tatsumi managed to lift himself into a sitting position as their kiss deepened even more. His other arm was now holding her waist in a gentle embrace. She lightly moaned into the kiss as she felt that. For the first time in her life she has allowed herself to be loved and it felt downright glorious. Far better then what she could ever dream off. Even if she herself thought of the moment as nothing more then a dream. A realistic one, but still a dream brought by her deepest desires. The same ones she has convinced herself she wasn't allowed to fulfill.

And just like any other dream, this one had to end as well.

Her eyes suddenly snapped open. She just felt her whole body flare up in unimaginable pain. It was as if someone had injected molten rock into her veins until they were close to bursting open from overfilling. As if someone had covered her in honey and threw into a giant ant hill to be eaten alive. As if all her bones were turned into dust in an instant. As if she was being skinned alive and swimming in boiling oil. As if thousands upon thousands of small cuts were make all over her body. As if all of her teeth were ripped out one by one.

As if all of that was happening to her at once. Over and over again.

She immediately lost control over her body, trashing violently and screaming louder then she though is humanly possible as Tatsumi tightened his grip on her. Without any warning her stomach twisted inside of her and a burst of black mud-like liquid left her mouth. The same substance started to pour out of her eyes, nose, ears and every other hole in her body. It was even in her veins, making them take a dark purple shade, clearly visible on her pale skin.

Tatsumi cried as he saw her like that. There was nothing he could do to ease the pain she was in. He could kill her, and seeing how she looked and hearing her bone-chilling screams, he doubted she would mind. But he wouldn't. All he did was hold her, hoping it would give her at least some comfort. "I promise... I'll make it better Akame... I'll make it all better..."

He kept holding her close until she passed out from the pain. Only then, he allowed the exhaustion to hit him and fell to the ground, with no consciousness left in him to keep his body up.


Song of the day: Eskimo Callboy - Shallows