The night was dark.
The enchanting visage of the red moon shone brightly in the vast sea of darkness, its light illuminating the earth below. The sound of silence permeated the air.
In the middle of said silence, stood three figures, one of them harboring a hostile intent.
The blade of the cursed sword, Murasame, shone brightly under the moonlight, its hilt held tightly inside the steel grip of the black haired assassin.
Akame's stare never wavered from her prime target, the anomaly in front of her whose identity, purpose, and capabilities remain a mystery.
She hated mysteries. When the true nature of something remains unknown, it could turn on you without yourself realizing it, and become your downfall. Such is why Night Raid plays an important role in the Revolutionary Army. The strongest weapon in war, is information.
So when something presents itself while being an unknown, without the proper information, it could mean a disadvantage towards the army, and a threat to their cause.
Such is the case of the silent swordsman in front of her, whose stare remained passive, calm, empty.
She had always been regarded as the least expressive among her teammates, always prioritizing the mission above anything else, even her own emotions. But this feeling of emptiness, it was strange, unnerving even to her. Like staring into the eyes of a puppet without strings.
She felt a warmth on her shoulder, causing her to look back to be greeted by Tatsumi's concerned face, stained with the dried blood that flowed from between his lips. However, his next sentence, was unexpected by her.
"Akame, don't...don't hurt him, he's a friend.."
A friend to him, perhaps, but still an unknown to her. One who was somehow capable of holding her back in a duel. A mere nobody couldn't have possessed such a skill. Such conclusion was what worried her, an implication that this stranger could be an assassin, a mercenary, or worse, an high-ranking soldier of the Empire.
She understood his concern, but the swordsman had escaped her grasp once, and she wasn't intending on letting that happen again. If brute force is necessary, then so be it.
"I know what you're thinking, and I won't allow it, not this time." Akame said, loud enough for the silent swordsman to hear. She was careless before, but she will not let this enigma of a man walk away easily this time.
_
Kai was deep in thought.
The girl known as Akame, and Takumi-no wait, Tatsumi, may be seeing him as if seeing a statue, but what they did not know was deep inside, he was anything but quiet.
He could explain his current situation and hopefully, have Night Raid accept him and Naoki as well, since he couldn't leave her alone, and he knew he couldn't protect her all the time.
Or, he could try running again if he felt the time is not yet right to expose himself to this war, and risk destroying whatever trust the assassin might have on him, because the next time they might meet again, they would be on opposite sides of the battlefield, holding their blades against each other's necks. And he couldn't have that happening. He hadn't gauged Night Raid's full capabilities yet, so it would be quite reckless for him to make an enemy out of them right now.
Naoki suddenly came to mind. Kai knew that she needed someone to rely on, somewhere to call her home, and she wouldn't be able to make it alone, not in her current state. Additionally, he couldn't be around all the time to watch out for her, not while he was in one of his night routines, which unfortunately left him with only one possible option, for her sake.
Kai slowly turned his hands up, palms open, a sign of surrender.
_
Akame saw the swordsman putting his hands in the air, his eyes devoid of any harmful intents, a possible sign that he didn't want to fight. Though it could be a mere trick.
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. It didn't make sense for him to suddenly surrender, when she knew that he was capable enough to simply run away like last time, not that she intend to let that happen again, but still. However, the swordsman, so far, had not shown any murderous intent, or even any form of hostility towards her and Tatsumi.
Deciding to simply trust her gut, Akame finally sheathed Murasame, eliciting a sigh of relief from Tatsumi. He was probably expecting another unwanted violent clash to happen.
She felt a gentle warmth on her shoulder, courtesy of Tatsumi's hand. "Let me...let me talk to him. There could be a reason why he came here, so...maybe I could convince him to join us?" He said softly. Akame looked at him with a weird gaze.
"We don't know anything about him. He could be a spy."
"If he was, he wouldn't have helped us, would he?"
Tatsumi's answer did make some sense, but Akame knew she couldn't drop her suspicions that easily. She sighed, before eventually relenting with his request.
"If he tries anything funny, I won't hesitate."
Akame's response was anything but soft, but that's just how she is. Tatsumi slowly nodded, and turned towards the main attention of the night: the swordsman. He didn't know Kai that well, no, that would be an understatement. He only knew his name, and nothing else. Even then, despite them barely knowing each other, Kai had saved his life once from Akame's cursed blade, and even came back to him tonight when he was at his most vulnerable to aid him against Znk the Executioner.
So maybe, there's a chance, Tatsumi thought, he could convince the swordsman to come with him, and not walk away again like before.
"Kai."
Tatsumi spoke, loud enough for Kai to hear.
"Listen...I'm part of Night Raid now, and I'm sure you've heard of them before."
Kai raised an eyebrow upon hearing Tatsumi's declaration. So he's an assassin now? Well, perhaps that might be better than being a loyal military dog serving the Empire, at least in his view. He should've seen this coming, honestly. The boy had genuine combat potential, and it was only a matter of time before he ended up holding a sword on one side of the battlefield.
"And whatever bad things you might've probably heard about Night Raid, they were untrue. We only kill those who deserved it, such as heartless psychopaths and scum of the Empire who had no empathy for the innocents, whose lives they destroy!"
Tatsumi's tone now had more emotion than before. Images of Sayo and Ieyasu flashed into his mind, but he fought hard to keep in the tears.
"The Empire is a terrible place, filled to the brim with corruption and evil, but you should've realized that by now, haven't you? All the horrible public executions, criminals who got away scot-free with their crimes, and the brutality practiced by the Imperial police, surely you've seen all that!!"
It hurts him to admit it, but Kai had indeed seen all that. It was the reason he always go out every night for a "stroll" at the capital. Of course, part of the reason was to get more supplies for himself and Naoki, since they couldn't stay at the capital, or at least, she couldn't. But his primary intent was to seek out criminal scum who prey upon the innocent and the weak during the night, and put an end to their reign of terror, permanently.
As he was lost in thought, Tatsumi's voice broke him out of it.
"I..no, we seek to end all of that, to create a country free of oppression. And that's how the Revolutionary Army came to be. We intend to overthrow the current government, and create our own, one that is fair to its people. But even an army could only do so much against an entire empire, that's why Night Raid is here! We do what others couldn't, working in the shadows to serve the light, and our primary target is Prime Minister Honest, because the only way to get rid of the corruption, is by cutting off its head!!"
Kai was quite surprised at Tatsumi's speech, though he didn't show it. He could feel the rage contained within each word he spoke, never had he seen Tatsumi so emotional before, since the "incident" about a week ago. But he could understand such emotion. Such raw hatred for evil. He could honestly feel the same.
"That's why I joined Night Raid. To prevent more people from getting hurt, from dying. To stop all the madness from ever repeating again. I know that..being an assassin, means I will have to bear the consequences of my actions, but I know that what I'm doing is the right thing! And I don't care if anyone says otherwise, because this is my choice, and I won't regret it!! Because I'm doing this for the people, and for my village, and...for Sayo...sob...Ieyasu..." His words faded to sobs, Tatsumi finally couldn't hold back his tears anymore.
"...that's why...I'm asking you...as a friend...join us, please, join Night Raid!" He shouted the last sentence with his remaining breath, followed by a hasty bow.
Akame simply watched in silence, as she wasn't sure the proper thing to say in this situation. Tatsumi's speech was quite shocking to her as well, every word he conveyed as genuine as possible, with as much emotion as possible. But she wasn't sure how the swordsman, Kai, would react. Her eyes darted towards the aforementioned person, whose expression remained blank.
Despite his blank face, deep within Kai was, surprisingly, baffled by the display. He could hear the sincerity in Tatsumi's voice and his gesture, asking him, pleading to him, to listen. And did he just called him a friend? Even though they've only known each other briefly?
Such naivety. He may fight for a greater good, but no way was he going to be "friends" with anyone. Naoki was a special case. She was his responsibility. And until she has learned to fight and survive by herself, he'll have to stick with her for now. But he wouldn't have her following him until the end of time. He'll have to leave her someday, so she could live her own life. Everywhere he goes, death followed one step behind. He wouldn't wish such a cursed way of living to anybody.
Kai was quite hesitant to consider allying with anyone, since he had always been a lone wolf. But Tatsumi said that this Night Raid shared a great cause, one that he had no qualms with. And he knew the boy wouldn't lie, he could see it in his eyes. Eyes that possessed a strong willpower, a hail of determination stronger than the largest storms, a dream for a brighter tomorrow that cannot be faltered. He could see it all. And it fascinated him. A pure soul.
Maybe there is still purity in this broken world after all.
And now he knew the right decision to make.
"I will."
'Huh?'
Tatsumi's eyes widened. He recognized that voice. And he could tell whose voice it was.
Slowly raising his head, he stared at the enigmatic swordsman. Kai stood there unmoving, for a while, before he suddenly raised a finger to his eye level.
"On one condition."
-
'One condition? Does he have something to ask from us?' Tatsumi was perplexed at the swordsman's last sentence. He didn't get the chance to ask him, however, when Akame's hand suddenly gripped his shoulder.
"We need to go now. The police are coming." Her voice was stern, and he knew she was right.
Tatsumi tried to make a run for it, but the wounds he sustained had drained much of his energy, forcing him to fall to his knees. As he silently cursed himself for being this weak, he felt his body being lifted by one other than the black haired assassin.
"Wha-hold on!! What are you-whoa!!" Tatsumi became flustered by Akame's actions. He was being carried bridal-style by her as she jumped onto the rooftops, just in time to avoid the oncoming imperial police's eyes. It was surprising to him how agile and strong the assassin was, as she was able to carry him and run away as fast as she could from where they were standing.
Safely landing far away from the murder scene, Akame stood atop a tower, staring back at where Zank the Executioner's cropse was. The scene they fled from was now occupied with the imperial police scouts, who were surprised to see the corpse of the infamous serial killer, and his killer nowhere to be found.
"Umm...you can let me down now." Akame looked back at her friend who was in her arms, his face now red like a tomato, for reasons unknown to her. Though she did hear him the first time. She eventually released him, letting him drop to the cold surface without a resounding smack.
"Ow!! Man, being carried by a woman on her arms...how low could I get?" Tatsumi painfully spoke to himself, thinking how embarassing the visual must've been for him. His eyes darted to Akame, whose expression remained passive. Apparently she didn't realize just what was it that made him flushed. A strange woman indeed.
Speaking of strange..."Hey, where's Kai?"
Tatsumi's question hit Akame like a brick. Her eyes began frantically scanning her surroundings, before she eventually spotted a lone figure standing on a rooftop of a building, far away from where they were.
The lone swordsman's face was devoid of emotion, as it always was, but his eyes kept locking with hers. Almost like he was trying to tell something. Before she could answer the question herself, Kai suddenly turned around and began running the opposite direction. But he wasn't as fast as he displayed before.
Her mind came to a conclusion.
"I found him...I think, he wants us to follow him."
Akame's statement only made Tatsumi even more bewildered than before.
"Follow him? To where?"
Akame took a glance at Tatsumi, more importantly, his physical condition.
"Can you still move?"
Tatsumi didn't answer.
"Need me to carry you again?"
Now his face was flushed red. She still didn't understand why.
-
-
The crackling of burning wood filled the silent atmosphere of the lush forest.
A lone figure sat alone on a log of wood, her eyes affixed to the mystical dance of flames, the only thing interesting to watch at this time of night, in her thoughts.
It wasn't exactly the fire itself she was focused on. Her mind was in a different place entirely.
Naoki held a feeling of contempt, mostly directed towards herself. Her hand gripped tightly on the hilt of her dagger. She knew it was going to take a while before she could really fight. With her skills right now, it would be a miracle for her to even be accepted into the military as a new cadet.
She took out a small mirror from her pocket, one of the few things from home she still had in her possession after fleeing from the capital. Looking into the mirror, she saw her own reflection, and for a brief moment, an image of her past self overlapped with her own.
She had changed so much in a single week. Gone were the sparkling eyes, gone were the happy smile, gone were the girl she used to be. All of that was shunned forever, after the day her parents were falsely accused of treason, all because of that sly imperial officer and his hatred towards people of the north. Towards "outsiders" like her. And because of that, her family...they were all...
Naoki shook away her thoughts as soon as possible, wiping the formed tears dry. She had to be stronger now. She had vowed to take revenge, not just against the Imperial Police but against the capital, and against the Empire itself, and no one else will talk her out of it.
It may have been a hasty and reckless choice, dedicating one's life to vengeance, but anyone else would've chosen the same in her shoes.
Looking at the bright moon, she thought that mayber there was still time to hone her skills. But there was nothing here that she could use as target practice, unless she start hurting the trees instead. And Kai had told her before not to leave the campsite unless it was deemed necessary. She would hate to let him down.
As if lady luck decided to play with her, her dilemma was answered, in the form of a loud sound of broken twigs coming from behind her. Followed by a monstrous growl.
Instinctively, she turned around, daggers unsheathed, sweat forming on her forehead.
Three eyes, yellowish fur, two large horns protruding over its head, and very sharp teeth. There's no mistake about it. It was a Jackaleo. One even bigger than the last one she faced. She didn't even know they could get much bigger than they already were.
But that shouldn't be possible. She was sure that Kai had already wiped out all Danger Beasts in the area. So how could there still be one left-
'Wait a minute.'
Naoki's mind came to a horrifying realization. Here she was, all alone, against a Danger Beast that was way out of her league, and Kai wasn't here.
She was all alone.
Her heart stopped for a brief moment. And a moment was all it took.
The beast leapt.
Utilizing every bit of her experience, she rolled out of the way, the beast's claws barely missing her hair by a needle's breadth.
Regaining her stance, she held the daggers high, waiting for another attack. The Jackaleo growled with clear hostility, but refrained from leaping once more. The beast simply circled around her, while she did the same. Neither decided to attack first. Both locked eyes to one another, trapped in a circular motion, each step made with precision.
'This thing...it's smart.' Naoki thought to herself, eyeing the beast. She saw several slash wounds on its body, some of them even looked relatively recent. The beast have had experience. It was waiting for her to attack first, to expose her own opening so that it could strike with its razor claws.
She was wondering what to do. It was clear this Danger Beast was intent on killing her, and was simply waiting for the right opportunity to strike. She could try and dodge all of its attacks, but it'll wear her out eventually. And if she began slowing down, it won't be pretty.
On another side note, she could try and stall time until Kai came back so that he could deal with the beast instead.
Remembering Kai, she recalled what he once said, to her.
'Will I ever be strong enough?'
'You will.'
Her gaze hardened. She promised to herself that she would get stronger. She's had enough of being weak all the time. Being helpless. Being unable to fight back. Being weak.
If she can't kill a damn animal, she's better off dead than vengeful.
Naoki twisted the dagger in her left grip, eliciting an alarmed response from the Danger Beast. And with a swift motion, the blade was no longer in her palm.
The dagger raced across the air, nearly hitting the beast's left foreleg, though it managed to avoid it. But that wasn't her intention.
The Jackaleo had broken its sights on her in a single moment, and a moment was enough.
She dashed forwards, and without hesitation, slashed at the beast's right eye. The beast roared in pain, and leaped backwards to recover, but she wouldn't let it. She sprinted once more, and with a bit of luck, managed to evade the beast's deadly claws. She rolled forwards, and quickly stabbed at the beast's right rib, the blade piercing right into its lung.
The beast roared once more, and desperately tried to claw at its enemy, to no avail. Naoki swiftly rolled away from its reaches, but she was now without a weapon, her last dagger still stuck to where she last wounded the Danger Beast.
A glint of light greeted the corners of her eyes, and her attention immediately focused on the source of the light. The dagger she threw earlier was still on the ground, and still usable. IPutting stamina into her legs, she leaped towards it, her palm reaching out.
Immediately feeling the cold metal in her fingers, she saw a large shadow looming over her, and realized what it was. Frantically turning around, she saw the Jackaleo, its jaws now wide open revealing its set of razor sharp teeth, speeding towards where her head would be. Her instincts kicked in.
Holding the dagger up and directed frontward, the beast's momentum forced its head into the reaches of the dagger, where its sharp edge made its way through its middle eye, and directly into the skull and into its brain.
The Jackaleo roared once more, its remaining eye widening in shock as it realized it was about to die. It painfully tried to take a bite at the human who managed to outdo itself, pushing its legs forward and dragging the human across the dirt. But the human's grip on the blade didn't falter one bit, and using what remained of her own strength, pushed the dagger in deeper.
The Danger Beast finally let out one last roar, before it was reduced to mere whimpers. Dropping to the ground, its vision eventually faded, the image of a girl in red and black becoming the last thing it will ever see.
Naoki looked at the corpse of the Danger Beadt in front of her. Her breaths were ragged, and she felt like passing out, not from tiredness, but from excitement.
She did it. She had won against the beast. All by herself. Staring into her hands, trembling from all the adrenaline, she let out a coarse chuckle.
Her first kill. And it felt really good.
If only Kai was here to see this, he would definitely be proud of her.
Her ears picked up the sound of a gush of wind, coming from behind her. She turned around, and to her surprise, there he was.
Speak of the devil.
Her eyes became watery upon seeing the calm face of the swordsman. Naoki didn't know why, but whenever she saw his face, she felt relieved, and at peace. Like nothing was wrong in the world. If only that were true. Feeling the rush of energy leaving her body, she began feeling like being weighed upon a ton of rocks on her head.
Yet, despite her exhaustion, she mustered up every ounce of her remaining strength to smile at the swordsman. To let him know that she finally managed to become stronger.
The swordsman's face never changed, but Naoki knew how he would feel inside.
He suddenly began walking slowly towards her, to her surprise. He stood right in front of her, and without a warning, placed his open palm gently on her head. She was a bit shocked, but upon seeing his eyes, she realized something seemed different. His eyes remained the same bright shade of yellow, but the way they stare into her, it wasn't a look of mere acknowledgement, a look of hostility, but one of relief, and pride. A look that would say, 'You did well.'
She was right.
And she returned said look, with a smile. The most genuine one she had.
No words were spoken between the two, but none were needed.
Unbeknownst to her, two other figures were present that night, as they were silently watching the emotional moment from afar.
Tatsumi was shocked beyond words. He had no idea who the girl in front of Kai is, but it looked like they were close. Could she be his girlfriend? His sister? But in his mind, both options seemed absurd. Kai didn't seem like the kind of person to actually have a sister, or even any family member at all, and the thought of him having a girlfriend was just pushing fate itself. How could any woman be interested in him? The guy spoke like, a sentence a day.
Akame, however, had a different train of thought. Whoever the girl was, she was obviously important to Kai. This was probably the "one condition" he mentioned earlier. Which would mean, Night Raid would possibly have not one, but two new members tonight.
For the first time in a long time, she let out a mental sigh. Such a long night.
-
-
Author's Note
Man, this took quite a while to write, despite how short it was. I definitely need to stop getting distracted and get better. Maybe read some novels.
So, not much going on in this chapter, accept Naoki had a bit of action and Kai deciding to join Night Raid, with the former possibly joining as well. If you expected a lot more from this chapter, I'm sorry to disappoint. But I'll try to make next chapter more interesting. And it ought to be, since the wandering swordsman will finally meet the rest of the main cast in person.
When the next chapter would be...I don't know. This isn't the only story I'm writing right now. I'm also writing a Doom/Monster Musume crossover in case you guys didn't know, and it hasn't have that many chapters yet, but feel free to check it out.
As always, thanks for reading.