Chapter 8...
Another glorious day in the capital of the corrupt empire. People just went about their days just getting their business done as quickly as possible. Particularly in the slums and lower common areas. No one wanted to risk angering certain city guards, who would abuse their authority to take advantage of them. But that disease had a cure that was sitting idly by at a table sipping tea, whipped up by some slave girl waitress. It was Tatsumi and Akame who appeared they were minding their own business, but in reality they were waiting for something.
"..(Sips).." Tatsumi was enjoying the tea. It had a great taste compared to half the swill that they served.
"..Tatsumi?" Akame asked. She was hooded so no one saw her face. "It's been five minutes. Is he still there?" She asked.
"He's still in the same spot since you asked five minutes before that, and the time before that." He said with a hint of irritation.
"The hand-off is late..." Akame noted.
"I'm sure he'll come. Probably just doubled back to make sure he wasn't followed." He said resting his hands on the table. "Still, I can't believe the targets are petty enough to hangout in the slums." He chuckled and shook his head a little. "Granted the brothel is near here, but your chance of contracting diseases from the prostitutes is more likely to kill you. I don't even know why we bother." He snickered.
"You know quite a bit." Akame noted.
"I asked around. Apparently some of the ladies around here got half the city guards to spill some of their dark little secrets."
"Hard to believe they would be that forthcoming."
"The alluring pleasures of sex and free wine are quite the fair trade. Make no mistake, Akame. Soldiers take pride in what they've achieved on the battlefield. That pride of theirs fuels their ego's need to spread information like that."
"Information we use." Akame nodded. "Your teacher must have been very smart."
"Oh, he was dumbass drunk half the time. I learned some of the other things from...someone I knew in my village." He took another sip.
"Were they military?"
"..No. But she was very smart. " He put his cup down. "Too smart', as my teacher would say. She beat him in chess, sword practice, hell, she even challenged him to weight lifting and she won-what?" He realized she was smiling at him.
"Nothing. It's just nice to see you talk about your village. You never really said anything about it. It's nice to see you have memories that were pleasant. Especially in this line of work. " She said while looking around them.
"I wouldn't say they were 'fond' memories, but...I didn't dislike them either." He frowned a little. "...Hey Akame?"
"What is it?" She asked curiously.
"When this is all finally over, when we finally kill Honest, what are you going to do?"
"I will travel." She said. "And I will continue to fight any corruption that remains."
"...Suppose that's nice. Kinda boring, but not meaningless." Tatsumi shrugged.
"What about you?" She asked.
"Me? When this is over its the end of the road." He said. "I got nothing left to go back to, nowhere to belong, or anyone left who'd want me. When it's over...it's the end of the road." He nodded.
"What do you mean?" Akame was confused. Tatsumi glanced up at her and just smiled. Not a happy smile, but something that was riddled with ill intent.
"...Don't worry about it." He said and shifted his eyes to their target. They were standing near the brothel's entrance. The man they were watching was fondling a prostitute while discussing something with his cohort. They conversed a little and the man gave the guard a jingling cloth bag of coins. He smiled and attached it to his satchel. The hooded man then walked swiftly away and the guard picked up the woman and proceeded inside.
"He just made the hand off." He said quickly. "Guard went inside and the other guy went down the alley on the left. Which one you want?"
"I'll take the one in the alley."
"Then I got the guard." He said as they casually stood up. "Meeting point?" He asked ruffling his jacket.
"City block in the open market. There's a church near there. Good luck."
"Happy hunting." Tatsumi nodded they split off and pursued they're own targets. Tatsumi approached the brothel and stepped up to the door. He entered and he was immediatly overwhelmed with the sight around him. Lap dances, curvaceous silhouettes from the private areas, and pole dancing in almost every part of the room. Scantly clad women of various fetishes were entertaining a bunch of soldiers as they threw money at them. Tatsumi shook his head in disgust. "Fuckin' meatbags." The guards were a lot more lax than the ones in the upper areas. He scanned the crowd around him and he saw his target. He was halfway up some stairs. He cut through the crowd and was about to reach the stairs but he felt an ominous presence. He whipped his head back. He saw nothing other then a dark haired girl who had a silk face cover hiding her visage. He narrowed his eyes and she smiled playfully.
"I better not stay too long." Tatsumi figured. He turned back to head up the stairs. He walked up them and at the top were two men who were acting as bouncers at the top. They were very muscular and were wearing tight black clothes. They held their hands up to make him stop.
"Hey, kid. This ain't a hotel. Only pairs are allowed up here." He said in a deep voice.
"Couldn't you make an exception? I think my partner went up here." He tried to reason.
"No exceptions. You don't have girl, you might as well leave. Besides, a little greenhorn like you looks like he hasn't even left his mothers bosom yet." He snickered.
"Easy bro, you might hurt his feelings~." He they both laughed.
"Greenhorn?! I'll take a hacksaw to your balls, dickweed!" Tatsumi had tick marks on his head and was reaching for his throwing knifes thinking he wasn't going to get past them that easily. And quite frankly it was becoming much more logical to him to kill these two baldies after that unnecessary comment.
Yep. Their fates have been sealed. Done.
"Oh where did you go, lover~?" A girl his age came behind him and grabbed his arm. She was wearing black silk and underwear that was very revealing. It was the one from before.
"You're.." Tatsumi began to say.
"Sorry guys. He's with me. Could you step aside please?" She said.
"Oh, the new girl. We didn't know he was with someone. Go ahead." They immediately stepped aside and let them through. Tatsumi and the girl had walked into a room and closed the door. Tatsumi then pulled away from her and kept his hand behind him. He then realized that the knife he was holding was not in his hand. He narrowed his eyes.
"Sorry, but it's quite turn off when a girl swipes my things, sticky fingers." He deduced she grabbed it out of his hand right before he took it out. And as he thought more about it, it's almost like she knew he was going to kill them.
"Oh, i'm sorry. Would you like it back?" She asked revealing it in her hand.
"Not anymore." He said still watching her.
"Calm down, i'm not here to threaten you." She tossed it too him and he looked at it and slowly glanced up.
"Who said I considered you a threat?" He decided to play along. "Why would I think that?." He demanded.
"(Chuckles). You're not very bright are you?" She said walking up to him in a seductive manner. She and him were close to each other and her smile turned to that of an amused one. It made him feel irritated for some reason. "Maybe I just don't want you to get in trouble?" She said slowly reaching behind him and easing his hand off his weapon. He still was unsure, but he didn't drop his guard for a second. This whore was lot more interactive with him specifically. He could tell she had interest in him, and it wasn't sleeping with him, but something else entirely...Or was it? He didn't know. She clearly had ulterior motive written all over her face. What the hell did she want!?
"...Have we met somewhere?" He asked her.
"What do you think?" She asked while leaning closer to him.
"...I think this conversation's over." He said brushing her aside and heading towards the door.
"If you leave i'll scream." She said which stopped him dead in his tracks. "Wouldn't you rather hang around me? I assure you i'll be gentle." She promised.
"Or I could just kill you." He said whipping around and throwing a knife at her. She was however already upon him which shocked him.
"She's quick!" He widened his eyes. She was still sporting a playful smile and suddenly slammed her elbow into his gut and jabbed four fingers pointed outward at him and twisted them. The attack made him hit the wall across the room, hard. "Gah!" The blow was a good one. Probably too good. He felt like the wind was knocked out of him.
"Now that's not nice. Still that was good." She said crossing her arms. The two bouncers outside just looked at each other and had looks of disbelief.
"Damn, their lively."
"No kidding." They shook their heads.
Tatsumi recovered and stood up defiantly. He leaned up against the wall and glared up at the woman. "Who the hell are you, an assassin?!"
"Last I checked that was your job." She said still smiling.
"How the hell do you know martial arts?...That was a Four Quill , wasn't it?." He deduced.
"Perceptive. You know that move?" She mused.
"Who the hell are you?" He demanded. "I know you're the one that cut my arm off, so don't think I don't remember you." She smiled even more.
"Oh Tatsumi, Tatsumi. You know me very well. C'mon, use that thing between your ears." She mocked.
"..." Tatsumi's mind was racing through hundreds of faces he's seen. But nothing came to mind, but then again he couldn't see her face that well. He was infuriated. "Who the hell are you!?" He demanded.
"Come on, it's so obvious. It's staring you right in the face...literally." She said whipping her hair back with her arm.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...?"
"..."
"..?"
"..."
"..!?" Slowly Tatsumi's eyes were widened when a wave of recognition washed over him. He just felt like he was looking at a ghost. But it was impossible! No, that just wasn't right! This was about as sick as jokes got! It couldn't be!
"No...No..no,no,no,no." He slowly said to himself. He didn't even believe what he was saying. "No fucking way...it's impossible..." He felt like he was about to tremble. "NO!" He slammed his fist against the wall.
"C'mon Tatsumi. You're so close. Who is it?" She asked. Each moment made the tension thicker and thicker.
"You're not real...no, you're not her..." He kept shaking his head. He refused to accept it.
"Maybe this will jog your memory." She said and charged him and he attempted to kick her, but she stepped aside and his foot only caught her veil. She then grabbed his arm and twisted it and took him down. She had him pinned and he felt like she just dislocated his shoulder.
"Fuuck! AAAGH!" He slammed his prosthetic hand on the floor in pain. She then slowly loward her head down to his and whispered in his ear.
"Who's the better fighter?" She asked him sweetly.
"Get off me-AGH!" He could feel her pressing against his shoulder making his bone pop in and out of place.
"Who's the better fighter?~" She asked once again, she sounded like she was enjoying it.
"Fuck you-EErrrgh!" She kept pressing against his arm harder and harder. It was like getting cut by glass multiple times.
"C'mon, who's the better fighter?" She asked once more.
"..You're not her..." He gritted teeth.
"Say it. Or do I have to prove that again?" She said as she gave his arm a jerk.
"AAAGH!" Tatsumi was trying his damnedest to ignore her, but he felt like she was ripping his arm out of his socket.
"I'll ask again. Who. am. I~?" She asked as she bit his ear.
"Get your head in the game Tatsumi! She's pinned you! You gotta do something quick before you lose your other arm!" His eye widened and he came to his senses. He turned his other arm and attempted to stab her. The hidden blade popped out and it just barely poked her. She got off him, and he sprung back up , but she spin kicked him back down. He looked up again and she kicked him again and this time he had a gash above his eyebrow. He Winced a little but got back up again.
"You're very tenacious." She admitted. She then walked up to him and grabbed his collar and pushed him back against the wall. He got a good look at her this time, making him wished he didn't.
"Been a while since I've seen that expression. Its very nice." She smiled gently.
"...S.." He slowly muttered.
"Say it. Say my name." She egged him on.
"..!"
"C'mon, Tatsumi. Cat got your tongue?" She said and used her other hand to brush his hair out of his eyes. They locked stares and his green eyes were filled with so much confusion. Whereas the girl's black eyes were filled with a gentle but amused stare.
"Sayo..." He uttered.
"Bingo." She said picking him up and throwing him against another wall. He looked back up and was panting.
"..She's just confusing you..You're not yourself! Don't let her get the upper hand!" He stood back up again and narrowed his eyes at her. She simply smiled. He Looked back at her and just couldn't accept it. "How are you alive?...I buried you with my two fucking hands...MY FUCKING HANDS!" He shouted.
"Yes you did. And I appreciate that." She said calmly.
"Then how-Oof!" She then dashed and kicked him in the gut and he dropped down on his knees.
"Simple really. I wasn't dead." She said and picked him up by his hair. "I really missed you Tatsumi."
"I don't feel missed...Ugh.." He groaned in pain.
"This is for your own good." She said. "You need to get stronger, otherwise you'll die. You're too arrogant and prideful for your own good." She explained. "You need to be more alert. You don't need weapons to be dangerous. I taught you that the hard way. But then again, that only applies to me." She chuckled. "You're resolve has gotten kinda pathetic." She suddenly said.
"And why's that?" Tatsumi growled.
"You think you can kill the prime minister with just your skills alone? Don't kid yourself." She said as he listened. "You are just a guy with a sword, nothing worth even noting. I look in your eyes, and all I see.." She then whispered in his ear.
"..Is a meatbag." Her words echoed in his ear.
"!?" Tatsumi's eyes changed to a look of shock. But he faced down and clenched his teeth
"I.." He then thrust his fist at her stomach and knocked her back. Sayo and him kept brushing aside each other's blows. Tatsumi had an opening and he spun and elbowed her face. He then struck down on her collar bone with his other elbow then roundhouse kicked her against the wall.
"Agh!" She yelped.
"..am not...beneath you!" He said pointed angrily.
"(Laughs). Getting better now are we?" She said and stood back up slowly. She spit blood out of her mouth and she looked at him with a playful smile. "You could barely touch me before. Nice going." She praised.
"I was the one with the sword. you were the one with the bow and arrow." He also spit blood.
"And I still can kick your ass." She taunted.
"That was in the past. You've gotten a lot more cocky than before." He wiped his mouth.
"Does this mean you acknowledge my existence? Or do you think you're fighting ghosts?" She asked.
"I don't know. I'm not thinking straight right now. But your moves tell me otherwise." He had to admit. "You always kept hitting me where I least expected it. And you had fondness for Diablo Balas techniques"
"You know me so well. You were really the only one who took training seriously. All those days fighting, sparring with each other. Now I can read your moves like they were my own." She came at him again and Tatsumi tried to block a low strike, but she nailed the side of his knee with two fingers out stretched slightly from her knuckle and swept him right off his feet.
"Ergh!" Tatsumi's leg felt numb. "Those attacks are annoying. I lose feeling every time she hits me." He mentally noted. She then held a knife to his neck and kept his gaze on her.
"I think you and I are going to have lots of fun together. I'll never leave you, Tatsumi. You and I our the only ones left. Maybe it's fate? Kinda romantic when you think about it. Don't you agree?" She said with a dark smile.
(CRASH)
The window suddenly crashed and Akame had appeared. She spotted them and held her sword at the ready. Sayo immediately picked him up and held him close to her with the knife to his neck. She slowly made her way to the door with him.
"Well look what we have here?" Sayo had a excited smile. "Akame and the fabled one hit kill sword Murasama."
"Let him go." She said coldly.
"Who's she, huh? Girlfriend?" She asked. "Aw, Tatsumi. If you really were wanting a girl that badly, I would have stopped by." She said as if she was hurt. "Can't be helped." She said turning his head and kissing him passionately. Akame's eyes widened. Sayo then kicked him back at her and Akame caught him.
"We'll meet again, Tatsumi." She said and ran out the door.
"Tatsumi?! Are you okay?" Akame asked.
"The guard, I didn't get him yet-!" He tried to get up, but felt hampered by his recent beating.
"Tatsumi, listen-" Akame was trying to calm him down.
"I can't let him get away-"
"He's gone!" She said which made him surprised.
"W-what?!" He exclaimed with a shocked expression.
"I came back and he was running. Next thing I know, I felt killing intent in here so I got here as fast as I could." She explained "Are you alright?" She asked once again. Tatsumi was just dumbstruck. It took a minute for it to sink in, but he eventually slowly looked down.
"I...lost him.." He slowly said.
"That girl, who was she?" She wanted to know.
"...I messed up?" He said with a look of disbelief. He had so many questions. How was Sayo alive? Why was she there? Why did she choose to appear now instead of-
"Tatsumi." Akame said calmly. He looked back up to her."Lets fall back. We'll try again tomorrow."
"..." He nodded slowly.
Church...
Tatsumi and Akame decided to scrub the mission and tackle it tomorrow. In the mean time, Akame was tending to his wounds while he laid down on his back. There was a silence that went undisturbed for quite a while. She just rested his head on her lap while they sat on a padded bench. Tatsumi's eyes were just getting more distant as he thought about what happened. He totally dropped the ball on the mission. His target escaped, he lost a fight, and if Akame didn't show up, he'd probably be taken prisoner.
But what really disturbed him was that his childhood friend, probably allied with the empire, just appears out of nowhere. He wasn't sure why, but her words cut deeper than any blade he had experienced. It wasn't good for his heart, which he hadn't felt for a long time. He just felt down in the dumps. One phrase in particular kept playing in his head over and over.
"I look in your eyes, and all I see..is a meatbag." Her voice got louder and louder. He felt like she was closing in on him from all sides.
"Tatsumi?" Akame asked.
"Huh?" He snapped out of it and was looking at a stoic Akame.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just a rough day." He said looking away. "I totally screwed the mission." He said.
"It wasn't your fault." Akame said.
"It isn't? I got too caught up with seeing Sayo again that I couldn't think straight. I played right into her hands. So i'd say it's my fault."
"Lots of things unexpected happen on missions Tatsumi. You're lucky to have survived." She tried to comfort him.
"It's not dying i'm worried about, its living with it. Now there's THREE people out there that can kick my ass." He sighed frustratingly "AND TO TOP IT OFF THERE ALL GIRLS!" He yelled as a mental image of Esdeath, Sayo and Akame appeared, towering over him like giants. "So forgive me if I feel a little disturbed by this."
"That must be rough." She said looking at his mental image and tilting her head. "By the way, who is this Sayo girl?" She asked.
"She was my childhood friend from my village. She was always the one who hung out with me the most. Everyone was afraid of me. They knew I practiced under a former imperial officer. But her and another friend stuck with me during the majority of the time I was in the village."
"Are you not from the village?" She asked curiously.
"I don't think so. I was raised by a random family in that village, but I wasn't blood related."
"You ever think about it?"
"Sometimes...but I remember less every time I try. But beside the point..." He realized he got off track. "Sayo was a hunter. She and I would often go hunt food for the village since we were good at it. She was also a practitioner of martial arts passed down from her family or something like that. We were inseparable... well, she was interested in me in weird ways."
"Like what?" She asked curiously.
"Well..small things like, what type of weapons I used, what I thought of the village, what I would do if we came under attac-" He suddenly stopped.
"And what?"
"...If we came under attack." He finished. "Damn, I should have realized it. She was profiling me." He rolled his eyes. "I'm so stupid, it was so obvious." He slowly face palmed
"Don't place all blame on yourself Tatsumi. Spies have a habit of using the information of unsuspecting targets. You had no reason to suspect her back then." She explained.
"...I guess that's true." He sighed in defeat. "But anyway, she was the best fighter I had ever met. She was faster, quick witted, and smarter than me. She probably would make a general in the empire if she wanted. But I guess she's a spy." He went on. "She's probably the only one on this planet that could find me, no matter where I go. I probably led her straight to the hideout that day." He recalled.
"You do not get to take the blame for that." Akame said covering his eyes with her hand. "It's not your fault your village was destroyed, it wasn't your fault when the camp was compromised, and it certainly isn't your fault that we lost the target." She said to him more sternly. "It was all her. She's tried to get in your head. She wants you to think this way." She said taking her hand off his eyes.
"..She said I was..a meatbag. She looked in my eyes and said I was..a meatbag." He said with his eyes lightly watering. "I'm not..a meatbag...right?" He asked.
"..No Tatsumi. You are strong, and smart with an iron resolve. You may not work well with a team, but you always have our backs." She smiled. "And that's enough for me."
"..." He just looked away. "Alright. We'll try again tomorrow." He said as she stroked his hair. She was kind of surprised. He was normally very cold toward her half the time, but he seemed different. It was this Sayo girl he seemed to fear. She remembered that look on her face right before she kissed Tatsumi. While she did it, she was shifting her gaze at Akame and a look of accomplishment seemed to be relaying to her. She felt irritated a little. This girl was clearly no friend, the way she manipulated him. She was definitely an enemy that Tatsumi was clearly outclassed by. The way he talked about her, it almost sounded like he admired her, only to have that image break and shatter all at once. She was a liar and clearly only toying with him. She looked down at Tatsumi who seemed to be in deep thought, as he stared away from her. That look on Sayo's face just felt more irritating every time she thought of it.
She didn't know why, but something inside her was telling her that she must not let her near Tatsumi. Tatsumi was HER friend. HER comrade. HER-?! She shook her head, realizing what she was thinking. She felt like she was thinking like Sayo. Tatsumi was not someone's property. He was a human being, free to make his own decisions. And yet...
"Tatsumi...you decided to put your faith in me..." She clenched her fist while narrowing her eyes. "..I will do my best to make sure that faith is not misplaced."
Next day...
Tatsumi and Akame set out again and they both stared at the ground. They got a tip that their target had planned on leaving the lower commons so he was preparing to leave. They rushed to the place in question, only to find that someone had beat them to the punch. When they arrived, they found two of his escorts dead. Shot right through the heart. They went inside the hotel and found five more guards shot right through the heart. They then made they're way upstairs and they found their target...dead. He to was shot through the heart with an arrow. Tatsumi approached the target and saw a bloodied piece of paper rolled on the end of the arrow. He yanked it out of the guy's chest and examined the tip. It was a jagged broad arrow with a razer-like point.
"What is it?" Akame noticed that he seemed to recognize something.
"..Sayo's arrows..she always went for a vital and..looks like she's switched ammunition." He explained while unraveling the note. Akame came over and they both read it.
"I felt bad about yesterday, so I decided to give you a little treat. I look forward to future encounters.
Your one and only friend:
Sayo.
Tatsumi just crumpled it and threw it on the ground. He then looked out the window and straight ahead was Sayo in a hooded cloak and black clothing. She had two quivers on her back and her bow in her hand and the other on her hip. She simply winked at him and jumped off the roof of the building she was on. Tatsumi just leaned forward on the window and stared out across the town.
"I think things just got a lot more harder." He said with a narrowed look.
"You think she'll find us again?" Akame asked him.
"No. No, she just wants to use this as an opportunity to fuck with me." He said, standing up and facing the window.
"What can we expect from her?" Akame walked to his side.
"Well.." Tatsumi just sighed. "From what she's done so far..." He looked at Akame and then headed back downstairs.
"I'd say she's just getting started." He had a dark look as he thought that things were going to be a lot more complicated in the future.
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