Chapter 18...

Flashback...

Tatsumi began making his way inside his instructor's house. It was getting late, and he was called to have a private chat with his teacher. He attempted to open the door, and much to his surprise, it didn't fall off. "...huh." Tatsumi had to give credit for his master's lack of idiotic nature. He probably fixed that door 10 times. "Hey, old man, you around?" He called.

"Back here." He heard the familiar gruff tone of his teacher. Tatsumi gently closed the door behind him, and made his way through the darkened room. He looked around and was curious why his master was acting so discreet. He saw a faint light into his master's armory, and made his way toward it. "You alone?" The old man wanted confirmation.

"Yeah...why did you want to talk?" Tatsumi asked as he opened the door and saw his master leaning over a table with a wrapped up object. Tatsumi stood across from him, and noticed a rather serious air about him.

"Tatsumi...there's something I need to confess. " He suddenly bowed his head.

"Hm?" Tatsumi raised his eyebrow.

"I need you to just listen." He urged.

"This ain't like you. Why are you talking to me like this?" Tatsumi crossed his arms, and knew something was up.

"Not too long ago, I spotted a regiment heading this way, belonging to the empire." He immediately told Tatsumi.

"What?" Tatsumi's eyes widened at this.

"I didn't think they'd be coming this way, but something sent them towards this village. I think someone here betrayed the village." He quickly mentioned.

"...how do you know?" Tatsumi narrowed his eyes.

"Because, they were going in the opposite direction, and now they're on their way here now."

"How long ago did you notice?" Tatsumi questioned.

"A week ago. I kept an eye on em'. Thought they'd just return to the capital, but something made them start marching in this direction." He said clenching his fist. "And I can tell you right now, that once they get here, everyone is going to die." He stressed with a troubled tone.

" Wh-well then we need to sound the al-" Tatsumi wanted to hurry up and go let everyone know what was encroaching upon them.

"It's too late. If we all ran now, they'd be nippin' at our heels until we stumble and they could finish us off. Everyone here is more or less dead already." He darkly put with clenched teeth.

"...then we fight back." Tatsumi concluded. "If it's like a hundred soldiers, we can take e-"

"These are very well trained soldiers. They're the King's Guard. Their reputation is not to be taken lightly. It looks like the young king himself is traveling, but these soldiers were being led by the prime minister, if I wasn't mistaken. " He recalled his scouting earlier.

"Did they hear about the treasure we got hidden all over the mountain?" Tatsumi guessed.

"No...the only reason they'd come back with that many soldiers, is because of this." He unwrapped the object. It revealed to be a one-handed long sword with a green core embedded in it. It was odd-looking to Tatsumi, but he was bewildered by it.

"A...sword?" He could only say.

"This isn't just a sword." His master explained. "It's an Imperial Arms." He presented.

"A what?" Tatsumi was confused.

"It's a weapon that can take on an army if utilized right. It has special abilities, that are imbued upon it by the most lethal, and legendary danger beasts, and the ore material known as Orichalcum. This is a weapon of unimaginable power." He presented.

"...don't look like much to me." Tatsumi said as he reached toward it. However, the second he touched the handle, he immediately recoiled. He shook his head and was confused. It felt like a small zap at his fingers.

"So I was right. You are compatible." His master nodded with a serious face.

"Huh?"

"Listen Tatsumi. Out of the three of you I trained, you reacted when you touched it. Sayo, and Ieyasu didn't even flinch when they first touched this blade. I called all three of you here, one by one. Now yer' the only one out of the three that reacted." He explained.

"What are you sayin-?" Tatsumi just put it down and couldn't understand what the old man was trying to get across.

"I'm saying, you are capable of using this. It's the reason I trained the three of you. I needed to find someone who could use this Teigu in order to keep it safe from the empire." He finally concluded.

"...THIS, is the reason you were training me?...everything I did, everything you told me, everything you taught me, was to be able to use a freaking sword?!" Tatsumi shook his head in disbelief. "I don't need some magical weapon! I can kill these bastards with my bare hands!" He protested.

"Tatsumi, I know you think polishing skills is all that's required to win, but the world is a lot more different than you could possibly imagine. There are monsters of opponents out there, that could kill you in the blink of an eye. If skills and experience are half the battle, Teigu's are the second. And trust me, it makes a helluva lot more difference than good ol' steel." He tried to explain to Tatsumi.

"I refuse to accept that! So what if there are!? Everyone is still human on the inside, so they still have a weakness!" Tatsumi continued to argue. What madness was his teacher talking about?!

"You could not begin to comprehend the depth of power the empire possesses. They utilize weapons just like this one, and they could wipe out resistances of any number. It's not an exaggeration to say these weapons could destroy the entire country." He stressed.

"And?! What does that have to do with anything?! We still got soldiers heading this way!" Tatsumi thought this was a waste of time.

"Listen to me Tatsumi. This village is done for, you need to get this sword outta here."

"Why the hell didn't you say anything?! We could have done somethin-"

"Even if I said something, there would be no way for us to just leave in time. Like I said, someone had to have sold us out. There's just no way they would just randomly decide to turn around and-"

((BOOOOM))

(Screaming)

(Bell Ringing)

"...the hell-?" Tatsumi whipped his head around at the sound of cannon fire. He rushed towards the door and kicked it open and saw torches and explosions all over the place. His eyes widened in horror. "They're bombarding the town! What the hell!?" Tatsumi was shocked to see them here all of a sudden.

"They're faster than I thought." His master rushed over. "Tatsumi.." He handed the clothed sword to him swiftly. "I'll go see if I can find the other two! Get the hell outta here while you have the chance, and DO NOT lose that sword! That's all that matters! Don't let anyone have it! Make up a story if you need to, but keep that Imperial Arms, out of the empire's reach!" He roughly made his way down the hill.

Tatsumi just looked at the sword and was looking back the village, as if he were contemplating on what to do.

"All this...for a fucking sword!?"

Flashback end...

Tatsumi just sat at the foot of his bed with a remorseless stare, cursing the day he ever took that Imperial Arms. He was still unsure why he did it to begin with. Honoring someone's last wishes was not really his style, but then again he had nothing better to do. But as far as his view on the Teigu was, it was just paperweight value in his eyes. So it could do a few flashy moves. But it was practically nothing really that impressed him. What angered him further, was the fact, he had to rely on it to just get a solid hit on Esdeath. He was arrogant, but he wasn't stupid. Even he realized that using the Teigu was changing the way he fought other people.

And that was dangerous, to him.

Esdeath was the only exception to him, however. The way she just toyed with him to her heart's content, it wasn't because she was messing around. Because she could have killed him at anytime. But it continued to annoy him even more, when she just acted like she was every bit, his superior. Her strength, her skill, her experience, and her Teigu formed a nearly impenetrable wall, he could never scale in a year or two. Even if she said she was in love with him, he took it as a sign of her playing on his weaknesses.

Yes, even Tatsumi had weakness he never spoke of.

"..." He just bowed his head in frustration. He shook his head and decided to try to make sense of his current situation. "Okay, so...I've obviously earned the attention of Esdeath, and Sayo. Lubbock and Leone probably got out of there. They haven't once asked me about Night Raid, so they might still be on the fence about whether I am part of them or not...or just a hire-no, lets assume that for a moment they do know, and they are just acting like they know even less than what they already know. Sayo is unpredictable, Esdeath is a bit too strong for me to deal with right now. However, Honest is here though. But Death Princess Snowflake is in the way. And Sayo's at that brat's side. She didn't really do anything when I went for Honest, she might just be charged with protecting the kid...or she knew Esdeath would have stopped it." He speculated. "For now, I'll just play along. An escape will present itself." Tatsumi nodded. He had decided that going after Honest, with that monster of a general at his side would be suicidal.

He had no Teigu. His weapons were gone, for now, he had to be smart about this. The minute he let emotions cloud his judgment, was when he lost. So he'd have to suck up his pride and eagerness to kill Honest. Because when he kills Honest, he'd be sure to end it.

Thoroughly.

"Open it up." Sayo's voice sounded. The large door opened and she slipped inside. She was wearing a black attire that consisted of a simple black robe, a light pink sleeveless kimono under it, and long white socks that went up to her knees and sandals. She nodded off to the guard and he left the two of them alone. Tatsumi turned and was overly cautious. He stood up quickly and looked at her in a resenting manner.

"What do YOU want?" He demanded.

"...hmm, well, truth is, I'm bored. I don't have any targets today, and Esdeath decided to hunt you and her a danger beast that is said to have quality meat. Apparently she wanted to have dinner with you." She said as she walked closer and stopped in front of him. "But anyway, I figured you could use some answers." She shrugged.

"Answers?" Tatsumi scoffed. "What could you possibly say that would be even believable? As far as I'm concerned, nobody here can be trusted." He turned away from her.

"You can trust me..maybe~?" She winked.

"I WOULD NEVER!" Tatsumi fired back with a massive tick mark.

"Being a sore loser doesn't mean you can just lash out like a baby, Tatsumi. Try to make sense of your current predicament. The moment you stop thinking, you lose."

"NOTHING ABOUT THIS MAKES SENSE! WHAT THE FUCK AM I EVEN DOING HERE?!" He felt like pulling his hair out. "If I knew that I was gonna wind up here, I would have bolted back to Night Raid! Actually, screw it! I would have went somewhere more remote where none of you assholes could find me!" He held his finger in her face in a threatening manner.

"Can't you just listen to me? I want to help you." Sayo simply said.

"You have a cruel way of showing it!" Tatsumi growled.

"Can we just sit? I'll explain to you what happened." She offered her hand to the bed.

"What happened, is you sold out the village! And you staged your own death! Actually, how the fuck are you still alive?! I'm fairly certain Honest left you on a pike, last I saw!" Tatsumi seemed a bit more harsher and curious, the more he thought about it.

"Is that what you think happened? Is that why the old man called you up?" Sayo seemed taken aback.

"Don't mess with me, Sayo! It makes perfect sense! Why your training seemed more polished than mine! The fact you always were always the one who volunteered to go out and hunt! And you're the only one who came out of it alive!"

"I did die." Sayo nodded.

"What?" Tatsumi made a confused look.

"I did die. But only for a little bit." She she said as she turned around with her back facing him. she took off her coat, and then dropped her remaining sleeveless kimono. her upper half was bare and exposed. But something caught Tatsumi's eye. Right in her back, was some type of...something. "This, is what made me comeback, Tatsumi." She said as she kept an eye on him slightly. It looked like like some strange green orb was embedded into the middle of her back. Around it was some strange tattoo that had two lines, parallel to each other, forming a cross that went up to the base of her neck.

"...what...?" Tatsumi took a step back, even further confused.

"I can hide it, if I have to." She said as it suddenly sank into her body and it disappeared completely. Her hands, barely covering her breasts, she faced him with a serious expression.

"A..Teigu...?" Tatsumi could only guess

"It's...yeah." She said simply. "This is what brought me to life, the day Honest's men killed me. " She answered as she bent forth to pick up her clothes. "But to answer your immediate question, I wasn't with the empire. At least, not at the time." She said cryptically. "My family was part of a martial arts branch that associated with the empire, but they were independent. I was sent to the village in order to learn skills other than fighting. It was my family's custom to gain independence at a young age." She explained as she finished getting dressed and went to go sit on his bed.

"Then..why?" Tatsumi found himself intrigued. "That sack of fatass is the last person you shou-"

"They didn't know who I was at the time." Sayo quickly clarified. "To them, I was just a pretty little girl that was defenseless." She whipped her hair back and looked at Tatsumi with a smile.

"If they only knew the real you." Tatsumi looked away in annoyance.

"As long as it's you, I don't care about anyone else." Sayo winked.

"...get to the point." Tatsumi crossed his arms.

"..well, soon after the whole disaster of the village, I woke up where you buried me. I didn't know what happened." She thought back.

Flashback...

"(cough)...(Cough)!" Sayo struggled to make her way down the mountain, while removing the wrappings on her body to ease her discomfort. Her eyes were baggy, her skin was practically pale, and a red spot was on the wrapping on her side. No doubt from a fatal wound she got from being made an example of. She felt the surface of the wound, but it was practically non-existent. In fact, most of her strength was more or less returning.

"Looks like 'it' did it's job. I feel like I just dreamed up last night...why did the empire attack though?" Sayo wondered as she continued walking. "...!" She got down to the village, but it was more, or less riddled with corpses of the recent inhabitants. Everyone she had grown up there with, was gone. She wasn't really feeling that much for them, but she was curious why the Empire took such an interest.

"...I wonder, is Tatsumi...is he still out there?" She wondered.

End of flashback...

"A couple weeks went by, and I didn't have enough answers. So I made my way to an inn next to the empire's capital. I had a information broker that my family used that kept an ear to the ground. And he told me quuuite a story." She sighed.

Flashback...

"...they're gone?" Sayo was wide eyed at this old man. He wore simple clothing, that made him seem like a bartender of sorts.

"Mm. From what I understand, your family was killed in a rebel raid not too long ago. And as per our arrangement, I had to cut ties with your family. Less the rebels figured out they had a source in the city." He sipped a large mug of beer while explaining the situation. "Then not too long after that, I heard the empire had received an anonymous tip from somebody, that sent them towards the village that you were staying at. I tried to contact you, but the army was preventing any travel route, until the young king had returned."

"An anonymous tip? Like a spy?" She asked while bent forth in an interested manner.

"Mm, but, from what my colleague has expressed to me, it sounded like a rebel informant." He lit up a cigar and inhaled the smoke.

"Rebel? For the empire? A double cross?" Sayo sat back as she tried to make sense of this whole mess.

"If you ask me, personally..." He said as he exhaled a cloud. "I think the rebels did it deliberately." He narrowed his expression.

"..what?! That's out of character, even for them..isn't it?" Sayo couldn't understand why these peace-loving underdogs, would suddenly give the empire an innocent target.

"It's war, young missy'. Sometimes you got a let em' take a target in order to distract them from yer' real intentions." He let out a sigh.

"From what though?" Sayo wondered. Suddenly a door that led into the small office space opened up, where the two were chatting, and a fellow employee of the broker handed him a scroll without so much as a word. The broker took it, and carefully unraveled it. Suddenly his eyes widened. His tan, bald head, now turning a bit pale.

"What is it?" Sayo asked with interest.

"T-the king was attacked. And half the guards were..this can't be right." He turned to his co-worker, demanding an explanation.

"I wouldn't exaggerate. You know that." He responded seriously.

"...it says here, that half of the king's men were wiped out in a assassination attempt against the king...by some kid?" He shook his head with disbelief.

"What?! Let me see that!" Sayo immediately scanned the document closely. Suddenly a smile worked it's way to her lips.

"Found you."

End of Flashback...

"So I went to go see you. But regrettably, the empire snagged you first, and Honest had you put on for capital punishment. So I decided to go offer my services to the king, and was gonna try to get you to flip sides. But then Akame and those other Night Raid members got in the way. So I had to track you down." She said as Tatsumi leaned against the wall.

"And you cut off my arm, don't forget that part." Tatsumi forced her to remember.

"I wasn't gonna kill you. But you weren't exactly in a talkative mood. So I figured if I could make you pass out from blood loss, it'd be an easy win."
She shrugged.

"My FUCKING arm...?!" Tatsumi stressed.

"Well it's back where it was, isn't it?" She pointed out.

"...why go to all this trouble? What is the point?" Tatsumi still didn't get it.

"I'm just trying to help you, Tatsumi. Granted I might have gone overboard, but you had to have realized right now, your ego is poisonous. It slowly chips away your judgment, and makes you vulnerable."

"My ego is not as inflated as you think, Sayo. I know can't beat a Teigu user like Esdeath without another. Just because I don't see a fucking ninja, like you, coming out of nowhere to sucker punch me, doesn't mean I'll never see it coming." Tatsumi said to her face as the two sized each other up.

"Well if we're keeping score, than it's 0-2." She pointed out.

"3 out of 5. I promise you I WILL, knock that smug look off your face. " He promised with a firm resolve.

"You know Tatsumi, we don't have to be enemies." Sayao suddenly offered while holding her hands behind her back.

"I've never considered you anything other than a pestilence, Sayo." He deadpanned. "Even now you are still competing for the top of my shit list with Honest."

"Oh, get over it. On our own, we could wipe out outposts. Imagine the damage we could do, if we teamed up." She offered once more with a playful face.

"I'd sooner kiss Akame's ass than yours. And as far as ice bitch goes, she doesn't try to play mind games with me, and doesn't beat around the bush." Tatsumi declared. "To make it clear, you were dead to me, the moment you bled out in my arms." Tatsumi said with disappointment.

"But I'm not." She reminded. "And I've always considered you a meat bag since I met you. But then you...got better. And better." She smiled sadly. "If you want me to say, do I consider you an equal, then, well, yeah. I do." She shrugged. "At this point, you could use some people to trust." She crossed her arms.

"I only trust one thing, Sayo. Myself. And there's not a damn thing you, or anyone could do about it." Tatsumi coldy stated. "If you're expecting to play on the whole, 'I needed you most at the time' shtick, you can forget it. And don't give me the whole, 'I do this to make you better' speech. I'm sick of it!" Tatsumi lashed. "Every one of you looks at me like I am pathetic!"

"Every one of you?" Sayo raised an eyebrow.

"...drrgh, never mind!" Tatsumi grunted once more. "To put simply, I just want to kill that piece of shit, and be done with it! That's all I want, Sayo, THAT'S ALL I FUCKING WANT!" He shouted at her angrily and was breathing harder and harder. He slowly turned around and leaned his head against the wall.

"...what if could get you an opportunity?" Sayo suddenly suggested.

"Shut up." Tatsumi clenched his fist.

"I'm in charge of looking after the king until he ascends the throne to emperor. I couldn't care less about what happens to Honest." SHe laid it out for him in a tempting manner.

"Don't you even..." Tatsumi was getting sick and tired of these poisonous words that entered his ears.

"What if I told I planned on killing Honest this entire time?" She shockingly enough offered.

"I wouldn't even care, because I will kill him myself. MY WAY." Tatsumi glared daggers at her.

"Let me see if I can give you a proper view on my position." Sayo tilted her head and made a thinking pose. "I couldn't care less about the Empire, or the Revolutionary Army. Let them fight among'st themselves. As far as I am concerned, the rebels killed my family, and the empire killed me. They can burn for all I care. " She suddenly narrowed her eyes. "But you, and Ieyasu, were the only ones that I got to be friends with. I owe it to both of you, and myself to make the Empire, and the resistance pay for what they did. But if you think I'm lying, then go back and ask. The moment you start learning to start thinking for yourself, is when they view you as a potential threat." Sayo pointed to him.

"Let 'em. I'll kill them all if I have to." Tatsumi sternly put.

"Then what if I gave you a proposal?" She added. "Work with me."

"You mother-"

"Tatsumi, if you want to take things on a personal level, that's your problem. Emotional responses are not like you. And take a good look at where you are. I'm offering you a chance at revenge. I'm not asking you to trust me, because you'd have to be an idiot...or just a nice guy." Sayo shrugged. "Just come with me for a bit, and you can make your mind up, as to what you want to do. If you wanna take on the world, with me watching your back, or becoming Esdeath's bitch."

"Either way, I become someone's bitch, so what does it matter?" Tatsumi saw advantage to neither if not only disadvantage.

"Well, I won't treat you like a pet. At least, not as much as her." She giggled.

"..you bitch." Tatsumi sighed. "...fine. BUT I HAVEN'T AGREED TO ANYTHING!" He made a pissed off expression.

"Hmph, I knew you'd come around." Sayo smiled and turned to the door. She gave it a knock and the guard opened it. "We're going out for a bit. Have the king know that I currently have him in my custody." She ordered.

"Mm." The gaurd nodded and wandered off to the throne room. Sayo turned to Tatsumi and gestured him to follow. Tatsumi looked around for a moment, but just saw guards stationed throughout the corridor. As the two ventured through the castle, Sayo began talking.

"So, my duties involve the handling of information, keeping tabs on recent developments in the city, and exposing any potential spies within the ranks." She explained while making her way through the great circling hallway. "I answer to two ranking authorities. The young king, and the highest ranking general in the empire, Budo." Sayo explained.

"I've heard stories about that guy." Tatsumi said while examining his surroundings. He was out for a while, and was trying to get a good picture of where they took him exactly. "Heard he practically trains every soldier that is stationed in the palace. And he was quite a warrior in his prime." Tatsumi mentioned while keeping an eye on Sayo. "If you could compare strength, Esdeath is just a cut or two above him. "

"Clearly." Sayo scoffed. "I get my targets from Budo. Since the whole uprising of rebels in the outlying lands, he's busy coordinating and crushing them. But then he gave me a secret mission." She ominously said.

"And that is?" Tatsumi asked halfheartedly.

"Elimination of corrupted figures within the capital." She stated clearly.

"Really?" Tatsumi had a hard time believing anyone here was doing anything to help the poor sods in this black-hearted city.

"Why do you think I killed your target before?" She spun around and smiled.

"I didn't really care at the time. All I was thinking was that you were still worm food until recently." He remarked with a scoff.

"He was an evil piece of shit. Simple." Sayo easily put it. They suddenly arrived at a terrace that overlooked a training yard. There, it was daytime, and formations of soldiers were practicing their spear fighting. She stopped a moment to gaze down upon them. "So in a way, You could say I'm...an assassin, like Night Raid." Tatsumi also examined the soldiers as they were practicing.

"So what? You want me to go doing the same thing I was already doing?" Tatsumi crossed his arms.

"Well if you put it that way, sure." Sayo just leaned forward on the railing. "The only difference is, is that it will just be you and me. It would be just like old times." She turned around and faced him.

"I didn't like you a lot before, and like you even less now. That's a towering difference compared from before." Tatsumi still held fast to refusing.

"Well I guess that leaves me with one last question for you." She got up and suddenly trapped him against the railing, while staring into his eyes. "What have you got to lose~?" She said with a gentle, and pinkened expression.

"Only my sanity." Tatsumi said while not faltering in his glare.

"Join me, Tatsumi. We work better together, than apart." She whispered in his ear. She then gave him a kiss on the cheek and backed away with a smirk. She whipped around and proceeded on. Tatsumi looked back to the soldiers one last time before following after her. His mind was at work as he followed.

"...Maybe I can play this right. I'll learn as much as I can, then I'll strike when they least expect it." He firmly resolved. Maybe he could get his chance to kill Honest.

Once and for all.

Even if he had to play along with Sayo, she was not going to get in his way anymore. Because now...

He had his target in sight.

Damn, it's been awhile! Not since November if memory serves...that's long, lol! Well, here you are. Enjoy the update, I hope it was worth the wait, but if not, I apologize. Recently I instilled a plot point I need to cover...which inadvertently made me prolong this story. So I needed to think on this, but I think I know where to go now with this! So keep your notifications on, and I'll see you in the next update~!

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Laters!