The lemon warning still stands by the way.
A storm rising.
When Tatsumi woke up for the third time that day, the sun had settled. The room was dark and he could hear the sound of raindrops hitting the windows rather intensely. It seemed like a storm had rolled in over the capital. He could hear the wind blowing outside. Loud and shrill.
Esdeath was spooning him from behind. He could feel her smooth skin against his naked back. One of her arms lying loosely around his chest. Her breathing silent and slow.
Tatsumi blinked for a while as his sleepiness faded. He noticed that he wasn't wearing his briefs any longer. When he had fallen asleep he had been wearing them under the covers. He started to think about why they had been removed but decided that he was better off not knowing.
He then raised his left hand to his face. It was much easier to move now. He seemed to have regained most of his strength. His hand had not recovered so much though. It still hurt a lot to move his fingers. He looked at it for some moments and then started to slowly move out of the bed. He wanted to try and walk around a little bit. To see just how much of his strength had returned.
But when he started to move away, Esdeath's grip hardened and the arm around his chest pulled him back to her. Keeping him in place even when she was sleeping. He figured that he would probably not be able to get out of her embrace without waking her up. But he didn't really mind.
He slowly turned around in her grip so that he was facing her. He looked at her. She always seemed so peaceful when she slept. She had chosen to wear a mostly unbottuned shirt this night. Sitting thightly over her beautiful form. A part of her hair was lying down over her chin. She looked so pretty.
He looked at her for some moments. Contemplating what kind of creator there was that would put such a stunning appearance upon such a dangerous existence. But then again, it was two sides of the same coin. She was such a extremly well developed creature. Both in sheer power and in pure physical appearance. Lean and strong.
Tatsumi had often wondered if she would have developed her extremly sadistic nature and sexuality if she hadn't been so strong. Would she still hold the idea of the survival of the fittest so highly if she hadn't been on the top of it all. Tatsumi thought that she probably still would. Cause some things were impossible to change, even for Esdeath. Even if she had been able to make time itself bend to her command.
She had been unable to save many of her subordinates and the rest of her tribe. Along with her only family. She mourned them but accepted that it was how the world worked. To Tatsumi, that seemed to indicate that she accepted the full consequnces of her beliefs. She had mourned those losses but still held her beliefs. Even if Tatsumi was unsure if she experienced sorrow in the same way as everyone else.
But now it didn't really matter. She was what she was. And she relished her own sadistic nature. Both proud and happy for it. To the point where she had let it control most of her life. Making her choose a path where she would always be able to indulge in it. Letting herself always enjoy her own nature. Even with her strong sense of loyalty and duty, it could still be argued that everything she did was driven by her sexuality. In one way or another. That and the fact that she felt the most alive during battle.
"Hey" he whispered. It was how he usually handled these situations. Trying to see if she was partly awake by speaking softly. But, for some reason, it always got the same results.
Esdeath's eyes immediately opened. Her ice blue orbs already directed at him when she unlidded them. Tatsumi didn't understand how she could ever get any proper rest since she always seemed to be so aware of her surroundings.
She just looked at him for some moments. Then a small smile formed on her face. "Are you having trouble sleeping?"
"Yup!" Tatsumi said with a smile. "Not sleepy at all anymore."
"Want me to make you fall asleep?" she asked in a kind voice. "We are not allowed to put any drugs in you for the moment but I can do it without them if you want." The hand on his back trailed up and grabbed his neck in a grip that was more firm than gentle.
"No thanks. Don't really feel like sleeping. I feel like I have slept enough for a lifetime."
Her grip lightened slightly. Her fingers started to slowly stroke his neck. "How do you feel now?"
"Better!" he said, a bit louder. "I think that most of my strength have returned."
"Hmmm?" she answered. Her smile growing a bit wider. The hand on his neck moved down and clawed against his back. Esdeath was delighted to feel how his muscles tensed up under her hand. Strongly and quickly. He was telling the truth.
"You're right." she said. "At least the most part of it."
"I kind of feel like moving around a bit. I might go for a run or something."
"No, you won't." Esdeath said in a happy voice."I won't have you running around on your own until I have tested that your full strength have returned. And I am gonna stay here in the bed until morning." Her hand on his back drove it's nails into his skin."I think that you can understand why I won't let you run around on your own until then."
Tatsumi weighed his options. He could guess that she had some kind of punishment in store for him. Since he had disobeyed her orders. But if he handled it right, he might be able to turn it around so that it would seem like this entire situation had happened because she didn't trust him enough.
"So what, are you gonna force me to just lay awake her all night. Doesn't that seem a little bit unreasonable to you?"
Esdeath didn't answer him. Her eyes were traveling down his shoulders and then his arms. Happily studying how much more alert his entire body seemed to be now.
"Come on, Esdeath. You can't just force me to stay here."
Esdeath's eyes immediately turned to his and Tatsumi realized that that had been a poor choice of words.
"Ohhh, and why can't I do that?" she said as her smile grew even wider. She leaned into him strongly. Making him roll over on his back with her on top of him. She put her elbows down on each side of his shoulders and rested her head in her hands. Looking down on him. "It seems like a pretty easy thing for me to do." she said with a complacent smile.
"You have to trust me little bit more than this, Esdeath. The military is never going to like me and these kind of scenarios might occur again. It will be troublesome if you are-"
He stopped himself as one of Esdeath's hands came down and forced it's index and middle finger in between his lips and teeth. Bending his jaw open. She looked down at his suprised eyes for few moments. An amused expression on her face. Then she bent down a little bit and opened her own mouth. She reached out with her tongue and let a trail of her saliva pour down into his mouth.
It occured to Tatsumi, that Esdeath probably hadn't been listening to the point he was trying to get across just now.
After pouring her own saliva into his mouth for about five seconds, she closed her mouth and looked down on him. There was a certain look on her face. Her eyes were a little bit lidded and her smile calm and self-confident. Her expression was calmly domineering.
Her hand left the inside of his mouth and went down to his chin and slowly closed his mouth. Her eyes traveled down to his throat and then down to the wound on the side of his neck, where the bite mark she had left there twelve days ago had almost completly healed. She very lightly trailed a finger over it. Then she straightened up a little bit on top of him. Still not moving to a sitting position. Her eyes and smile turned to Tatsumi's eyes again.
"Swallow." Her voice was commanding but delighted.
He looked at her for some moments and then did as he was bid. He could easily tell that her dominating side was in full swing right now. If he defied her now she would only go to greater lenghts to make him submisissive.
Her smile widened a bit when she heard his gulp. Showing some of her teeth to him. She was enjoying this to the fullest. Unlike last time, his body didn't feel like a lifeless doll. Now she could feel how it was reacting under her. She could feel how his heartbeats started to accelarate a bit. She could feel how his chest strongly rose as his breathing got a little bit heavier. Pushing against her breasts that were pressing him down. His body had strength in it again.
Now his male instincts were responding to her again. And she intended to feed them to her own sexuality.
She raised herself up. Sitting on top of his stomach. One of her hands came down and forced it's thumb into his mouth. Placing it on his tongue and forcing his mouth open again. Checking that he had swallowed everything she had given him. Her hand then moved out from his mouth and started to stroke the side of his face.
"Did you enjoy the taste?"
"It didn't really have a taste. Maybe a small hint of toothpaste."
"Good boy."
Tatsumi looked at her for some moments. It was hard for him to determine if she was getting into the first stage of some dominating punishment or if she was just excited and playful. It was easy for him to see that she was aroused. If not for her behaviour and expression then for the heat he could feel against his stomach from her nether regions.
"Are you gonna hurt me?" he asked. Trying to seem relaxed. At times, it could be hard to tell what kind of expression or voice that would draw out her sadistic behaviour so he choose to stay relatively neutral.
She was still showing her teeth to him in a calm and sinister smile. Even if she had a slightly more labored breathing. The hand that was stroking the side of his head moved down across his naked chest. Lightly clawing at it as it traveled down towards his stomach.
"Are you afraid that I will?"
"Hard to not be."
Her hand stopped on his stomach. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her expression a little bit calmer when she opened them again. "No. I will be gentle with you tonight. I don't want to put too much stress on your body until I am certain that you are fully recovered."
Tatsumi smiled and put his arms around her back. Lifting himself up a bit, he started to lick and suck on her nipples. Slowly but strongly. Esdeath put a arm around his back and lifted his body against her. Making it easier for him to keep giving her breasts his affection.
She looked down on him as he did. Both enjoying the sensation of his mouth and hands but also the fact that he was accepting his submissive role so readily. His disobedience during the last week had almost made her expect that he would try to object to his obvious role in this as her submissive mate. Which would have been annoying since she didn't want to hurt him until the morning.
She looked down at him and slowly stroked his back as he continued to knead and suck on her. "Good boy... good boy..." she silently encouraged him.
After three minutes she decided that she wanted more. She lowered them both down until Tatsumi was lying on the bed with her on top of him again. She moved down on him so that she could look him in the eyes. She could feel how his warm and stiff manhood pressed against her stomach as she lay down on top of him.
"Seems like someone is a little bit impatient." she said and started the slowly grind her body against his. Not being able to resist teasing him a little. Even if she was intending to give in to her own temptations in a moment.
Tatsumi grimaced slightly at the increased pressure and stimulation. "Hey, you're the one who is putting the moves on me."
"I prefer to be on the giving end. As you well know. Besides," she pressed her forehead down against his. Staring him in the eyes. "I can do whatever I want with that which belongs to me."
He smiled a crooked smile at her and reached down and grabbed her firm butt with both his hands. Squeezing it slightly. Esdeath took a slow breath and then started to lick him on the face. Almost with enough force to push his face down. First over his lips, then his cheeks then his jawline after having a slight nibble at his ear. Tatsumi tried to reach over to kiss her but she wouldn't let him. Keeping his face down while slowly grinding her body against his. Pressing his erection between them. She kept their faces at the same place so it was pressed against the middle of her stomach since she was a bit taller than him.
Tatsumi continued to knead her butt with a bit more force. Letting his hands travel up on her back and as far down her legs that he could reach.
When she had licked every inch of his face, she placed her elbow down where his collarbones met and pushed him down into the bed. Placing her chin in the hand of the arm that was elbowing him. Looking down on him with a mischievous smile.
"What does the little boy crave so much? He seems to be so flustered and strained." she said and grinded against him a little bit harder. Almost to the point where it hurt.
"Well, not a spit shine of my face, at least." he said and winced slightly from the sensation of her strong stomach.
She tilted her head a bit up so that her eyes were leering down at him. "Beg me for it, and I will let you have what you want."
"You're evil."
"Some people say that. Doesn't change your situation right now." she said. Keeping her smile. She was gonna take him any second either way but she just found it so fun to tease him. He was so cute when he was embarrassed or strained.
"Says the one who got me worked up! Ugh, fine." he looked up at her smiling and hungy eyes."Please, help me get relief, Esdeath."
She just looked down at him for some seconds. A part of her wanted to keep denying him just for the small sadistic joy of it. But she wouldn't. He was looking at her with a determined scowl while his cheeks were red from embarrassment and strain. The sight made her entire body scream at her to take him. Now.
She giggled in a unfriendly way and then leaned down. Putting her mouth over his. Then she made a long grinding motion with her hips. Moving them up to his stomach. Then she pressed them down into his body and moved them back down. Forcing him into her in the smooth motion, without using her hands.
Tatsumi gasped and Esdeath herself couldn't help but let a silent moan escape her lips. "Yeeaahh" she whipered silently."Is this what my little boy wanted?" she said and squeezed down on him.
Tatsumi only answered with another gasp. His hands holding her thighs in a strong grip. She looked at him with an excited and sinister smile. Infatuated with his beautiful green eyes. His own expression stuck somewhere between pained and reliefed.
She didn't move. She just lay on top of him. Enjoying the sensation of having him inside of her. Squeezing him slightly. Well aware that it was driving him crazy.
He tried to push up into her but she wouldn't let him. Pressing him down with her body as her ankles were pressed down on his knees. Not allowing him to raise them so that he could gains some leverage. Her lower arms were laying down on the upper part of his own. Restricting their movements while she looked at his face from some centimeters above him. Her long hair falling down on the side of Tatsumi's head. Making it impossible to see anything but her. Coupled with the fact that he also couldn't feel or smell anything else than her made him once again feel like he was being swallowed whole by her existence.
He struggled for a little while, to her amusement. But then gave up. He looked up at her with pleading eyes."Please move." he whimpered silently in an admission of his submission. Not being able to make anything more happen on his own.
Esdeath's eyes and smile widened once again. Showing her white and sharp teeth to him in a predatory way. The hungry feelings hidden behind her calm and controlling demeanor momentarily showing through. But then she just bent down and kissed him on the forehead.
"You only had to ask." she said in a gentle voice and finally started to move. Moving back and forth on top of him. Still pinning him down under her as she had her way with him. Looking into his eyes as she grinded herself against him while holding him down. Expressing both affection and dominance.
Tatsumi didn't mind it ,though. This was a pretty good reflection of how Esdeath's concept of love worked. Her affection was always expressed from a position of dominance. Taking care of her loved one to such an extent that she dominated his entire life.
It didn't take long for Esdeath to get caught up in the moment. Her movements growing rougher and harder. Just as her breath. She raised her upper body a bit from Tatsumi. Placing her hands on his shoulders as her movements made his body rock heavily. "Tatsumi. Who do you belong to?"
"You." he wheezed through gritted teeth."I belong to you."
Esdeath's cheeks grew a bit redder as she smiled at him."Good boy." She removed her feet from his knees. Allowing him to move with her.
Tatsumi took this as an invitation to play along with her. Her raised his back up and kissed her while his hands moved up her body to her breasts. Kneading them and lightly pinching her nipples as he moved his tongue into her mouth. Tatsumi also losing himself to the moment.
Esdeath slowed down her grinding a bit as he kissed her. Answering to his advances. Her hands still on his shoulders. She went along with him for a while but then decided that she wanted to pick up the pace again. She pressed him down into the bed with her hands again and resumed her rough copulation with him. Remaining in a sitting position.
"You're mine!" she growled as the apex of her pleasure approached. Her hands grip on his shoulders tightened so much that it started to hurt for him.
Tatsumi himself was also getting close but he was not quite as fired up as Esdeath was, who was riding high on the sensations of the moment. His hands had gone down to her waist. Holding on to her hips. More for the sake of holding on than trying to direct her movements.
"Mine and mine alone!Mine!Mine!MINE!" she almost shouted and bent down towards his neck. Tatsumi realized what she was gonna do. She was gonna bite him. Hard. By mere instinct he brought one of his arms up in defense.
Esdeath's eyes widened slightly in suprise as her teeth closed on Tatsumi's lower arm, which he had put in front of him in a defensive gesture. She looked at him for some moments in suprise. Her body continuing to move around on top him. Seeking more pleasure without her having to put to much focus on it.
Then a perverse smile spread on her face and she sank her teeth into the arm in her mouth. Her talking about not hurting him forgotten in the heat of the moment.
Tatsumi grimaced and clenched his teeth as a pained whimper escaped his mouth. The sound of it was the sweetest thing Esdeath had heard in days. She grabbed his head with both her hands as her moment arrived. Still wearing the intimidating smile she moved her face close to his, his arm still in her mouth. Staring him straight in the eyes as she came. A small drop of his blood trailing down her cheek.
Her body tensed and her muscles flexed as the full extent of the sensations blew up inside of her. Making her shiver in ecstasy as the moment left her. A long,deep and delighted moan escaped Esdeath's bloody teeth. Her eyelids were half closed as her eyes were looking up against the ceiling.
She fell down on top of him. She layed there and reveled in the moment as she sucked on Tatsumi new wound. Keeping her mouth on it until the blood stopped flowing. Her body's grinding movements starting to come to a halt.
She moved her mouth away from him after a minute or so. Her body still. She looked at his face and sighed in bliss."I like drinking your blood so much that I actually might eat your body if you would die on me."she said with a smile as she licked the blood from her teeth.
Tatsumi paled a little bit. His dream about her feeding him Mine's flesh very fresh in his mind.
Esdeath cleaned up the blood from her cheek with a swipe of a finger. She looked at the single drop of blood on her index finger."It was a joke, Tatsumi. I am not a cannibal."
"No, you simply just like killing people." Tatsumi said with a hint of bitterness.
"It is not so much the act of killing someone as everything leading up to it that I enjoy." she said absentmidedly as she looked at the drop of blood. She suddenly noticed that he was not softening inside of her. "You didn't get your relief?" she asked and looked at him as she put the finger with his blood on it into her mouth.
He didn't answer. He just looked at her. He had been close but having his defensive instinct woken so quickly had kind of brought him out of the moment.
"Want me to finish you off?" she asked and looked at him. It was a completly genuine question. For the moment, she felt too fulfilled to tease him. He still didn't answer. Just looked at her. She guessed that he was too embarrassed to answer. She had never understood why he felt such shame over the needs of his beautiful body. It seemed so natural to her.
But she could see that there was a need in his eyes and that was all the indication she needed. Feeling that she, as his mate, should give him all the affection he wanted. She crawled down under the covers and took him into her mouth. She finished him in seconds. All the pent-up frustration of his body hidden just below the surface.
Tatsumi gasped as Esdeath drank down the results of his orgasm. Even claiming his seed for herself. She remained like that until he had stopped spasming. She caressed him inside her mouth for a little while after he had settled down. Then she climbed up again and pulled him into her embrace. Putting him back where he belonged.
It took some moments but then his arms moved up and put themselves around her. Causing Esdeath to smile complacently.
"Satisfied?" she asked in a whisper.
Tatsumi sighed. "Yeah. You?"
"It's enough for now." She said and started to stroke his head.
She sounded like she was fine for now but did no effort to conceal that she wasn't fully satsfied. Tatsumi was once again reminded of just how insaitable she was. Not only in this but in every aspect of her life. Be it torture, battle or his love. She could never have enough of it. She always craved more. Tatsumi reflected for some moments if it was this never-ending hunger for sensations that had driven her to become the strongest warrior in the explored world.
He sighed again. He guessed that she was intending to go back to sleep now, since she was keeping him close and still while she slowly stroked his head. Her nose buried in his hair. But he had some things he needed to figure out.
"Hey" he whispered silently.
"Hmmm?"
"What happened to the servants?" he asked. Keeping all emotions out of his voice.
"I replaced them." she said nonchalantly.
"I noticed. So what happened to the old ones?"
"You don't need to concern yourself with that." she said sweetly. She could sense where this was going. She understood that this would sour Tatsumi's mood so she wanted to stay away from it. This sort of consideration was something she only bothered with when it was him she was dealing with.
"Esdeath."
"Fine." she said. Sounding a little bit more annoyed. She moved her face away from his hair. "This is about your secret little helper, right?"
"Yeah." Tatsumi said. Still keeping all emotions out of his voice.
"She won't be helping you anymore. Needless to say."
"So you figured out who it was?"
"I have told you before, Tatsumi. Everyone talks when put under the right pressure."
Tatsumi knew exactly what she was referring to. "So you tortured them." he said. Sounding exasperated.
"What did you expect?" Esdeath asked rhetorically."Did you honestly believe that I would let such a huge insubordination go unpunished."
He buried his face in her chest but it was not in a cuddling purpose. "How far did you go?"
"Far enough to make them talk." she said as she continued to stroke his head. "There was only one of them that I gave any attention to after they had revealed what they knew. She was actually the eight one that I started on. When she finally spilled the beans, I spared the others from the torture."
"Where are they now?"
"I am not exactly sure. When I was done with them I gave the bodies to the new attendants. I would guess that they have been put on display on the road in towards the capital."
"You killed them all?" Tatsumi asked. Unable to keep some of his shock away from his voice. "It was just one of them that helped me!"
"I know. But sometimes it's important to make an example." she said indiffrently. "I wanted this to make a bit of an impact."
His grip on her tightened remarkebly as he pressed his face in between her big breasts. While she enjoyed the sensation in itself, she got the feeling that Tatsumi was a bit upset.
"Was she dear to you?"
"Not really." he answered in a muffled voice. "But I am responsible for her death."
"Not exclusively. She choose to aid you, knowing that this could happen."
"And the other fifteen people? They were only unlucky!"
"Life has many tribulations. They were not competent enough to avoid or survive them. You should not put so much affection towards such weak people, Tatsumi. They might be gone in the next moment and then you will be left hurting." She leaned in and put her nose in his hair again."I am the only one you should give that kind of fondness to."
This conflict was nothing new to Tatsumi. It was the biggest problem in their entire relationship. How she could be so sweet and loving to him while still being the monster that she was. How she could literally go from pleasuring him with her mouth to then tell him that she had tortured his friend to death in just a matter of minutes. A part of him couldn't help but love her. While another part of him would always hate her. He had trained himself to only show her the parts of him that were convenient but he was feeling that he was losing his cool right now.
"And besides, if you hadn't been disobedient to me in the first place then this wouldn't have happened." she said in a sweet voice."Don't do that again, okay?" she sounded charmingly sweet but that only put more emphasis on the threat behind it. Normally it would have made him cover and grovel but now his patience was ending.
"This would not have happened if you trusted me more." he said into her breasts.
"I am fine with this outcome. With the exception of you getting poisoned and beaten." She said and patted him on the head."I was able to root out some people that were not loyal to me and you have hopefully realized that you shouldn't defy me."
"So what happens the next time." Tatsumi said. He wanted Esdeath to give him some more leeway in the future so that he could act more freely but the irritation over the dead servants were also playing a part in it. "What about the next time some nobody within the military tells you that I am responsible for some recent tragedy? Will you just lock me up as soon as somebody points a finger at me."
"Anyone who points a finger at you risks facing my wrath if they can't back up their accusations. Nobody would dare to do that unless they had a good case against you. Which is why nobody has done it yet." she said as she sniffed his hair. "I only choose to pay mind to an anonymous source this time because I knew that you and Bellany had been at each others throats before."
Tatsumi sighed. "You need to trust me." he said as he put his feelings under control.
"I trust some things about you. Though I do not trust that you will always follow my will without a good leash. Which you have proved to be correct these past days."
Sometimes Tatsumi wished that Esdeath had been a much dumber creature than she was.
"Let me keep Incursio next time. Then we can at least minimize the chances of me being poisoned again."
"I will let the next situation dictate that." She didn't give him any ground at all. Being a bit more uncompromising than usual, since he had opposed her so much this last week. She could feel the underlying rebellious tone in his voice and she would not tolerate it.
"Where is my teigu, by the way?" Tatsumi asked. Trying to move away from the painful subject.
"Don't worry about that. I will let you have it back after I have given you your punishment."
Tatsumi looked up at her. "Are you still going to punish me after all this?"
"Of course. You disobeyed me as a general by escaping your detainment. The fact that you only managed to do so because I was lenient on you and didn't put you in the dungeons is even more infuriating." she said and gave him a reprimanding look. "I will administer your punishment when I am checking that your full strength has returned. Then you can have Incursio back. But that is for tomorrow."
"Yeah, cause killing my friend was not enough of a punsihment."
"That is for me to decide."
It was hard for Tatsumi to not notice how relentless she was at the moment. "For gods sake Esdeath. Don't you think I have been beaten enough for a week."
"Apparently not. Don't worry, though. I will not give you anything that hurts for more than a day. But as I said, we will handle that tomorrow. Now go back to sleep. I don't want you to be unrested tomorrow." Her hand moved up and took a hold of the back of his neck again.
Tatsumi felt how she started to squeeze down on the same spots as she had done so many times before. But he still hadn't been able to ask about Leone.
"Wait a... sec...Esde.." He wasn't even able to form a sentence as his body grew numb and his concious started to fade. He looked at her and she stared back at him. Loooking him in the eyes as she made him unconcious with her grip on his neck.
When his eyes closed, she let go of his neck immediately. She stroked it a couple of times. Massaging it to make sure that no real damage was caused. Then she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. Laying her own head down against his. Going back to sleep.
Akame rushed through the dark forest. Completly drenched from the heavy raining. The wind was strong and howling. Making the trees sway and shake.
In her arms she carried Yoshiko. Her subordinate was too weak to stand up herself. Much less walk or run.
Akame had chased after Makeias for almost half an hour after she left the mine. When she had emerged from the smoke cloud, the imperial general had been gone. Along with her subordinates. She had however been able to follow the general's tracks. His heavy footprints were accompanied by a trail of the thick dark liquid. She had been catching up to him when she had finally found one of her subordinates.
Yoshiko had been lying right on top of Makeias trail. Alive but dying. Akame had tried asking her about what had happened or where Rio was but her subordinate only mumbled incoherently. After a quick examination Akame had deduced that Yoshiko must have been poisoned in some way by the imperial general. She was clearly getting worse by the second and yet she found now wounds on her. She had also been disarmed at some point. Since her sword were nowhere to be seen.
Akame knew exactly what the meaning of leaving Yoshiko here was. But that didn't help her in this scenario.
Makeias had obviously left Yoshiko here in order to give Akame a hard choice. She could either try to help Yoshiko by taking her back to the Path of Peace so that their medics might help her. But then Makeias would get away and only gods knows what would happen to Rio, Akame's other subordinate. The other alternative was to leave Yoshiko here and keep chasing after the imperial general. Putting her hopes in that she would be able to get back from chasing down Makeias fast enough to still save Yoshiko.
There was no good alternatives available and Akame almost had to spend two minutes considering the situation. She had been trained to always put the mission objective first but now she had subordinates that she was responsible for. But no matter what she did, she would pretty much be leaving one of her subordinates to their fate.
In the end, she went with the choice that gave her the biggest chance of saving one subordinate and abandoned her hunt of Makeias the pillager. Putting her hopes in that she could save Yoshiko. She didn't even know if Rio was still alive so trying to save Yoshiko was the wiser choice if she was going to prioritize her subordinates over the mission.
Even if she knew that she now would have to file Rio as lost in action when she wrote her report. The fact that she most likely would never learn about what even happened to her other subordinate made her feel sick to the core. But now was not the time for mourning. She might still be able to save Yoshiko.
When she had finally picked up Yoshiko and started running, the rain had alreay begun to fall and had only increased in intensity since then.
Now the wind was blowing and thunder could be heard.
Akame slipped when she jumped off from an apparently hollow tree trunk. The thin wood breaking under her weight. Normally she would have been able to land comfortably on her feet but she was unwilling to let go of her subordinate. Falling to down on her side while still holding Yoshiko. She was up and running again in less than two seconds. But she didn't notice that the fall had given a certain level of focus back to her subordinate.
"Commander." she said meakly as she looked up at Akame.
"Yoshiko!" Akame said loudly and looked down on her subordinate as she kept running.
"Commander, help me." Yoshiko said in something akin to a whisper."It hurts so much."
"I am taking you somewhere to get treated right now. Tell me what happened to Rio."
"Oh gods." the younger girl said and wrapped her hands around her stomach. "I can feel it.". Tears started to run down her cheeks. Immediately concealed and washed away by the rain.
"Yoshiko! Focus!" Akame yelled at her subordinate in a strict tone. Just as she had done during so many training sessions before. "Tell me what happened?"
Her subordinate's concentration got a bit sharper just by the mere routine ingraved in her through training.
"We saw that the moment you moved into the black smoke cloud back on the field, the imperial general jumped out from the back from it. We realized that the smoke was a diversion so we ran after him. Figuring that we could shadow him until you caught up with us." Yoshiko's retelling was interrupted by a violent set of coughs. She put her hand over her mouth until it calmed down. Her eyes widened when she removed her hand from her face. It's palm was covered in thick black liquid.
"Ohhh" she said in a very shaky voice. Fighting hard to hold back the sobs."I am not gonna make it, am I?"
"Don't you dare to say that." Akame said angrily as she inreased her pace. "The moment you accept that ,you take the first step to making it a reality. Now tell me what happened to Rio."
"We chased after the general but he was waiting for us fifty meters into the wood. He ambushed us from behind before we realized where he had gone. Spewing that black smoka all around us. I can't remember anything after that. My memory is all foggy."
"You don't remember anything about what happened to Rio?" Akame asked in a kinder tone.
"No. I am sorry, commander."
"Ok, just conserve your energy for the moment. I will get you to someone that can help you."
Yoshiko nodded and closed her eyes. Akame kept running for another ten minutes. She could guess where the Path of Peace probably was right now. They had most likely already moved up from their entry to the tunnel network where the secret meeting had been held. They were probably traveling through the forest right now. She was moving to intecept them on the path she thought they were taking.
But after ten minutes, her subordinate tucked weakly at her arm."Commander." she said. Sounding even weaker than before. "Please, kill me."
"What are you saying? There is still a chance for you!" Akame shouted angrily at her subordinates. "Stop spouting foolishness."
"You don't understand."The youger girl said. To weak to even cry. "I can feel it breeding inside of me. It's eating me up."
"What is?" Akame shouted.
"I don't know. But it is tearing at my fleash and gnawing at my bones." the girl paused as her whole body winced from the pain."Please.. end it, Akame." Yoshiko said. Leaving out titles and honorifics as she begged her friend. "I can't even see anymore."
Lightning striked down into the forest some kilometers away as Akame looked down at her friend's face, which was momentarily lit up by the lightning. Yoshiko's tears had turned black. Mixing with the rain to create long streaks of darkness over her cheeks. All colors were gone from her eyes. Replaced by a dull blackness.
"Never!" Akame answered in a determined voice. "You might have given up hope about yourself. Doesn't mean that I have!" she shouted as she accelerated to a speed she had never been able to reach before. Unleashing energy reserves she didn't know she had. Pangs of sharp pain stricking into her legs as she pressed them far beyond their limits.
"Hold on! We should soon be there." she shouted.
"Akame..." the other girl said weakly as her superior put all her focus on running.
Ten minutes later, Akame jumped through some foliage and landed in front of a caravan of horses,people and carts that were moving through the stormy forest. She had finally caught up to the Path of Peace.
"I need help!" she shouted. Her legs burning with pain as she ran towards them.
"Akame of night raid!" The leader of the organization stepped forward through the group of people. Easily distinguished by the big skull he wore over his head. "What are you doing here?"
"Never mind that now. I need a medic immediately. My friend is dying." Akame shouted and moved towards him.
"I am probably the best healer for miles." the lord of the religous organization said and started walking towards her. For once, sounding fully serious. "What is ailing her?"
"I think it's poison but I don't know. I can't find any exterior wounds." Akame said. A bit of her desperation finally leaking through in her voice.
The man looked over to one of his followers. "Fetch my equipment." He then turned to Akame. "Give her here, child." He said, reaching out for Yoshiko. Dropping his staff into the mud.
Akame gave the tall man the girl in her arms and then stumbled off to the nearest tree. Leaning heavily against it as she removed her gas mask and threw up. Her body quickly regurtiating everything in her stomach as soon as it was given a moments rest. As a mere reaction to the devestating exhaustion that now hit her.
She stood there for a minute and recovered. Then she wiped off her mouth with the back of her hand and straigthened up a bit. Turning around to the man holding her subordinate.
As she approached the man, the huge animal skull turned up to her. "I'm sorry child. This girl has been dead for some minutes now."
Akame froze. She couldn't believe it at first. Had she spent so much of her focus on running that she hadn't noticed when her friend faded away?
After some moments she walked up to her subordinate. She only needed to look at her to tell that he was right. Yoshiko was completly still in his arms. Her face pale and eyes half closed.
She stood there and looked at her for a good ten seconds. Then she reached down with her left hand and closed the eyes of her dead friend.
"Do you want me to perform the rite of passage?" the tall man asked silently. Offering to perform the farewell ritual of his religion himself.
Akame turned around and dashed off into the forest without saying a word. She put her gas mask on again. The pain in her legs completly forgotten. Makeias was still out there in the forest somewhere. He probably had more than an hour of head start on her but if there even was the smallest of chances that she could catch up to him then she had to try. If there was even the slightest of chance that she could make him pay for this, then she would try until she fainted.
Akame started to accelerate through the woods once again. The rain washing away the tears on her face.
The rain smattered against the windows of the great general Budo's office. He sat at a huge desk looking through papers and reports.
He had finally gathered enough evidence. It was time to act.
The letter he had been given by Wave of the jaegers had been short and concise but it's information had proved invaluable. He would need to look into whoever it was that had sent it to him.
The letter had simply directed him to diffrent politicians and military leaders. Telling him that the prime minister was trying to frame these people for betrayal since they were opposing him on the political field. And sure enough. One after another they had been accused and killed for their supposed betrayal.
The letter stated exactly what he should look for when this happened.
The first thing that had been suspicious had been how discreet the imperial court had been about their defections and executions. The empire usually paraded the punishment of betrayers whenever it got the chance but these executions had been done so dicreetly that it would have gone unnoticed by even himself if the letter hadn't warned him.
The second thing that was suspicious was that all the accusations came directly from the prime minister. What indications the man himself had that made him accuse them in the first place had never been revealed. Making it seem more likely that the prime minister simply wanted to remove them from office.
The last nail in the coffine had been provided by the letter. It had told him how he should examine the evidence for these supposed betrayals. It had told about how he would be able to tell that the evidence had been planted there. He had done so and quickly been able to tell why the accused people had been innocent in the first place. Framed and executed for a crime they didn't commit. They had been loyal to the empire until the moment they died.
The fact that the empire had fallen so low as to destroy it's own loyal servants did not only anger Budo greatly but it also sadden him to see that the nation that his blood had defended through history had been so deeply corrupted during his watch.
This needed to stop. Now.
He had not been idle through all of this though. He had gathered the evidence of these so called betrayals after their trails. He had also gathered his own evidence to show that these men had been framed. It was time to act. The prime minister's time was up.
"Courier!" he shouted in his usual commanding tone.
In two seconds his personal miltary courier entered the office. "Yes, sir?"
"I have a task for you. Come closer."
The young man took a couple of steps towards the great generals desk."What can I help you with, sir"
"A message, as always. But this one needs to be a bit more secretive than your usual undertakings."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"This message must be kept off all records. And it must be kept away from any political forces as well." the big man looked at his courier. The young man had been under his command for almost three years but he was still hesitant to force the man to disregard his duties to the military postal service. "Can I trust you with this?"
"Of course,sir!" the young man answered with gusto. Loyal to the great general until the end. Just as most of Budo's soldiers.
Budo gave the man one of his rare smiles and nodded."Good"
He rose up from the desk and walked over to a cupboard in the room.
"The message must be delivered with haste. It will go out to all the bigger military leaders within the capital. I am summoning them to a meeting."
"A meeting, sir?"
"Yes. The time has come for them to prove that they are loyal to the empire. Not it's leaders." The great general said. Pulling forth some papers from the cupboard. Ignorant to the fact that the one who had actually framed these people were the same person who had sent him the letter.
Authors note:
AAAH! This goddam manga! It hurts me so much!
Now with the chapter released last week, the EsdeathxTatsumi ship is truly sunk. I mean, it was extremly unlikely to happen from the start but I still garnered some foolish hope. I stated as I began writing this that this story was a consolation for Esdeath's and Tatsumi's failed relationship and that still remains true. So I guess it has always been easy to guess what I wished to happen.
Not that I want to dicredit the writer of the manga. This is a logical progression of the characters and extremly compelling. At least for me.
But damn, if this story ends with them dying in each others arms, I will be bawling like I was five years old again. Then again, if the next chapter of the manga had Esdeath and Tatsumi fall into a loving and funtional relationship, then Bent but not Broken would be dropped the same day. My need to write it gone.
So come one and come all shippers of EsdeathxTatsumi. I will console you as I console myself through writing this story. Cause the more painful the manga becomes to read as an EsdeathxTatsumi shipper, the more my need to write this will increase.
Thanks a lot for reading. If there is one thing that might keep me writing this even if the manga went as I wished, then it would be you readers. Every new follower/favorite and ever new comment/review is envigorating as a writer.
I have a bit more work ahead of me right now so expect the next one in 8-10 days. Take care of each other until then.