Happy Valentine's Day!
Thanks to Iamyandere4ever for being my beta. And also to everyone who's favorited, followed and reviewed!
Akame found Melody in Kurome's room, engaged in a lively conversation about Tsu's strange habit of wearing his tattered robe.
"I'm telling you, that thing can't be the same robe he wore when he left 3 years ago." Tatsumi challenged.
"I'm not so sure," Kurome claimed, "I remember him wearing a similar robe with a hole right around the same spot."
They looked at his assistant, hoping she could give them some insight. "I haven't seen him wear anything else. Assuming he changes his clothes, all of them must be in that same terrible state."
"Everyone," Akame's voice made them turn to face her. "Tsu has apparently irritated Najenda. Do any of you have an idea why?"
The three took the time to think about it before Kurome and Melody shared a look.
"Well…" Kurome started while Melody reached for her hood.
Tsu found himself suffering from a headache in a room that he had never seen. On top of his crotch pain, a visceral reminder of why he should have disciplined Tatsumi more. After finding that his limbs were tied, he knew what he was in for. Looking around, he saw Najenda smoking while Lubbock played with some thread from Cross Tail.
"You know I never found this room during my tour. Probably good you don't let everyone know where your interrogation room." He told them, his voice even considering his situation. "Just be disappointed that I don't scream for torture."
Najenda dropped her cigarette and stubbed it out with her shoe. "So what brought the most loyal agent that the Empire has ever known to Night Raid? Did you plan on subtly taking us out? Or perhaps you were going to turn us against each other? I wouldn't expect any less of a violent psychopath."
Tsu scoffed at the remark. "I doubt your Imperial sources are accurate. Between misinformation spread by me and the slander of my enemies, I doubt anything you know is true."
"You're the only survivor of the Kamitsu Order, an ancient monastic group that revered the Ultra-Class Danger Beast Luna as its god before the First Emperor wiped out both them and their god." Lubbock read off, holding up a piece of folded parchment.
Tsu averted his eyes. "I doubt most of the things you know are true."
Najenda didn't waste his impudence as an opportunity to kick him. While her foot sunk into his flesh and knocked the wind out of his lungs, he didn't show any pain on his face.
"You are the greatest enemy of the people. Whatever you try and deny, we have enough to execute you for your crimes. But we need some information first."
Taking a chance to spit on her shoes, Tsu replied. "And here I thought it was my charm that was keeping me alive."
Najenda chose to step on him, crushing his shoulder underneath her boot. While he stifled any reaction she began her questions. "What are the Empire's plans? How did they find us? And what was your mission?"
"I don't know. They didn't. And you hired me to cure Kurome and-" Tsu's smart answer was cut off by Lubbock's boot joining Najenda's.
"Don't fuck with us!" Lubbock yelled. "You're the damned reason we need this revolution!"
Tsu coughed, before managing to reply, "Just because you don't want to accept your blame as humans for your faults, doesn't mean you have a right to push them on me."
Najenda mulled over her statement before stating, "Claiming you aren't human? Maybe monster is better when it comes to describing you. Much like her."
"Maybe so." Tsu vanished from under their boots, leaving the ropes that had bound him on the ground.
"Son of a bitch!"
After Kurome and the now-revealed Aria managed to calm down both Tatsumi and Akame, the four fell into an uncomfortable silence.
Deciding to break the tension, Tatsumi cleared his throat.
"So… sorry about what happened. If I would have known…" His words petered out under the intense glares of the sister assassins.
Aria ignored the girls' annoyance with his tactless question and gave a gentle smile before saying, "Don't. If you hadn't, I wouldn't be here and neither would you. And if I hadn't been near-death, Emparthos couldn't have cleansed me of the pain and trauma inflicted by my parents. Though I must still atone for my sins."
The three looked at her, at a total loss for words. A long silence passed between the four teens.
"How does Emparthos work? I remember Tsu saying it was one of the Shingu." Kurome decided it was a safe topic to talk about.
"It harnesses one's sins and uses them to manifest the corresponding judgement for its target. For example, your major sins are…" Aria explained before pointing at each one of them. "Pride." Tatsumi. "Wrath." Akame. "Gluttony." Kurome seemed a little annoyed at hers, and nearly said something before Aria continued. "But those are just the ones that I can immediately sense. Everyone has more than that, and it changes over the course of your life. And using Emparthos I can create an attack befitting the judgement of the sin."
"Well then what's the old man's?" Tatsumi questioned, eager to get a leg up on Tsu.
"Well, his major sin is pride, as I'm sure you could guess. But what worries me is the other one I sense from him…" The three leaned in to hear her next words. "Lying."
Tsu found himself curled up on his blanket pile, the ache in his upper head replaced by a much more urgent pain in his other head.
"Damnit!" He swore, realizing that he had made a mistake. I must have been unconscious for longer than I anticipated.
His Teigu's most basic ability, which he called Retrace, allowed him to move to his body physically backwards along his personal timeline. It looked to most people like he was teleporting, but it was really nothing more than him having already existed there and moving back to that point for himself. The constraint on that wonderful ability of his was that he could only use it to move backwards along his timeline, which meant the rest of the world didn't rewind. And more immediately, his body would be in the same condition it was at that time. Injuries included.
Holding his no longer recovering groin, Tsu pulled his cloak over himself and grabbed several pieces of paper. If he was going to leave, he was going to hurt as few people as he could.
Lubbock slammed the door to Kurome's room open, failing to see anyone other than the three assassins alongside a girl that he guessed was the assistant with her hood down. He had guessed that she was pretty but Lubbock had to take a moment to rein himself in so he could get back to what he was doing without being distracted by her.
"Any of you seen Tsu?" He asked, immediately looking for any sign of a lie. They shook their heads, not having seen him since they had left the room that he had claimed as his office.
"What did he do?" Akame questioned back, remembering the green-themed information gatherer's previous order.
Lubbock groaned before covering his face. "Don't worry about it. But as of now, Tsu is KOS." The sisters tensed up at the order while the newest members were confused.
"KOS?" Tatsumi wondered, looking at the blonde who Lubbock vaguely remembered being named Melody. She shrugged her shoulders to show her own lack of understanding, which made her chest bounce in a way that made Lubbock forget what he was trying to do momentarily.
"Pervert." Kurome seemed to notice his distracted state and figured out just what it was. God he hated her secret ability to read his mind and libido.
Akame ignored her sister's barbed word to explain the situation. "Tsu is to be killed on sight as a traitor to the Revolutionary Army."
Tsu wandered through the Capitol's streets, letting the moonlight touch his dull gray hair and fill him with its power. He sighed, hoping that no one noticed how his hair was gradually becoming whiter while he walked. Thankfully, no one seemed to be on these streets to witness the phenomenon.
It was where his Teigu gathered its power to let him move through his unending years, making him rather akin to plants in his need of a heavenly body to survive. Something he had neglected during his brief stay at Night Raid. You never hear of trees forgetting to perform photosynthesis, dumbass.
"Halt!" A voice shouted at him, making him realize where he stood: The entrance gate to the Imperial Palace. He looked at the two guards, clad in standard issue armor with spears pointed at him.
"Move." Tsu voice deepened with unquestionable authority, inflicting all the strength of his normally restrained emotions on them. He watched with some interest as they tried to ignore the effect of his words, their knees shaking as they fought to keep their feet from moving of their own accord.
He looked into their eyes and saw irritation and anger directed at him. Tsu looked up at the moon, considering his options. Waning half-moon means that I'm not drawing in too much power, but it does mean I can really make a show out of this.
Tsu swept back his red cloak, letting the tattered robe and his bared arms be illuminated by the moonlight. Choosing to let his Retrace slowly move himself back to the point he needed to, Tsu knew he wasn't going to have to dip into his already stored power. He concentrated on the last time he had physically stood outside this gate: nearly 30 years ago. Before my failure became certain.
The guards watched in shock as the robe repaired itself before their eyes, the garment sealing itself up as the holes closed up. Soon it began to change colors, becoming more and more close to the pure white of Tsu's mother-of-pearl irises. When silver embroidery began to appear and the cloak faded out of existence, the guards felt a chill run down their spines. Soon enough the robe was complete.
Standing before them was Tsu, his luminescent white eyes and pure white hair fixed in an expression that could only be called regal. His robe had changed entirely, reflecting his new aura. White silk robes that nearly touched the ground now clad him, their lengthy sleeves reaching far enough to cover his hands. But what had the two guards transfixed was the gold belt that bound the robe at his waist and a silver Imperial Crest that was on display since it took up the entire chest of the robe.
Leveling his gaze at them again, Tsu looked ready to command them. "I am the Will of the Empire, he who stood with the First Emperor and was chosen to preside over his domain for time unending. Move or be gone from its glory." The two guards dropped to the ground in apologetic bows, cowed by the display of power from the mythical immortal Teigu wielder.
"Open the gates!" One of them managed to shout as Tsu stepped by them. He watched the gate climb with mild amusement before schooling his expression back into regal neutrality. If he was going to walk into Hell, he would do it with his head held high.
After confirming that he was no longer around, Najenda and Lubbock explained what had happened and who Tsu really was. All four of them took the news very hard, but it left Tatsumi utterly gutted. Once Najenda finished answering their questions, she sent Aria and Kurome off to meet up with a potential contract and let Akame and Tatsumi have time off to digest the news. Akame didn't see where Tatsumi stumbled off as she made her way to her room to think.
When she opened her door, she knew her room had been tampered with. Her bed, normally unmade with her pillow folded on top was all tucked in and spread out. With a letter sitting on top.
She saw her name on it, and immediately knew it was from Tsu. She should have torn it apart, but found herself reading it before she could process the thought.
Akame,
You and everyone else there have a right to hate me. But do one thing for me. Keep Tatsumi alive. He's the one good thing I've ever done with my disappointing millennium and I don't want him to die because of me.
Consider it the payment to your god for your rebirth into a better world.
Akame froze, her eyes crossing over the line again. And again. She couldn't believe it. She thought that this wasn't the person who had given her a chance, and yet she was proven wrong. A sudden spot of fury bloomed inside her, which she quickly vented by tearing the letter to shreds.
"I'm not going to do it because you told me to, you pompous demon." She said to no one, "I'm going to do it because I love him."
Her conviction now burning in her veins, Akame set off to find him. Sprinting through the entire hideout, she found him outside sitting in the moonlight in front of his friend's graves. She slowed her pace, letting the noise of her movements dissipate. As she drew closer, she could see his shoulders heaving under barely restrained sobs.
"Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! Damnit…" He kept repeating to himself, one fist unenthusiastically punching the ground between the graves. He didn't seem to acknowledge Akame's approach, not even noticing when she knelt next to him.
She pulled him into a hug before he seemed to notice her presence. He thrashed for a moment before relaxing into the comforting embrace. She waited as his sobs slowed and eventually stopped.
"Akame…" He started to say before she silently pulled his face close to hers. She stared into his tear-reddened eyes.
"We'll hunt him down and he will explain himself. We are owed that much." She told him, a determined look in her eyes.
"Why? Why would you do that for me? You only knew him for a little while-" His words were cut off by her lips pressing against his, silencing him as his instincts made him kiss back and close his eyes. After a few seconds, he realized what he was doing and pulled back. He opened his eyes as Akame opened her own eyes and gave him a questioning look, one that immediately made him feel guilty.
"I'm sorry!" He apologized before sprinting towards the hideout with more questions and emotions swirling within him than he had before. Damnit!
Akame realized it the moment that she had given in to her urge to kiss him and make his pain go away. That she had just pushed it too far. That she had scared him off.
And then he had kissed back, making every doubt in her mind fade. When he pulled away, she had almost grabbed him and forced him to continue, but she managed to restrain herself and just give him a questioning look.
His apology and prompt escape crushed her with the realization that everything she had done up to this point was now worthless. She had just lost.
For Tsu, the first few days after returning to the Imperial Court were very entertaining. After watching everyone cower at the mere sight of him, he was reminded of what he had been missing these past three decades: absolute authority. The years of gross hyperinflation of his reputation and the false information that made up most of his file in the Imperial Archives ensured that everyone who had some education was respectfully terrified to death of him. Which made explaining who he was and the significance of his return to the child that called himself Emperor a chore. But it had resulted in a celebratory dinner thrown in his honor, so it wasn't a total loss.
Of course for him, the daily affairs of the court were tedious since he had to take up his position as advisor opposite to Prime Minister Honest. Every time he heard the man lie, Tsu couldn't help but suppress a frown and the desire to punch him in his meat-swilling mouth.
After settling into what was going to be his life for some amount of time, Tsu made an interesting discovery by listening to the gossip of the servants. Apparently a certain captain of the Imperial Police was on the payroll of an oil merchant. A corrupt authority figure meant that someone was being oppressed. Which meant Night Raid was going to be called in, since they had to masquerade as an actual assassination organization to cover up their connections to the Revolutionary Army.
Tsu barely repressed a snort at the thought. Who seriously disguised their special operations forces as professional assassins? There was way too much that could go wrong with it, but at least it kept everyone in the Capitol on their toes. Which reminded him that there were some good drinking establishments not far from the Imperial Police garrison or the palace.
Time to start stalking the prey, he thought as he donned something more appropriate for drinking than his formal robes.
Tatsumi spent the days after Akame kissed him avoiding her to the absolute best of his abilities. Which meant that other than when they had to cook together, he pretty much disappeared. As much as it pained him to think it, he had to be glad that Tsu's rearing had always emphasized his skill to blend in, hide, and utterly vanish the moment someone failed to keep an eye on him. If only to avoid getting in trouble. Like he was now.
When Aria and Kurome returned, Najenda called everyone still in the base together to discuss their report. Tatsumi made the conscious choice to sit as far away from Akame as possible. Something that didn't escape her notice. Or her sister's. While Tatsumi only managed to look like he was still confused about the recent revelation, Akame's neutral expression hid any hint of what had happened.
Before Kurome could question either of them about the sudden distance, Najenda started her meeting. "All right, we've got an assignment. Aria, if you would." Najenda had taken the news that she was a former target surprisingly well, considering.
"A woman has requested we eliminate Captain Ogre of the Imperial Police and an oil merchant by the name of Gamal. The merchant bribes Ogre to cover up any crime he commits by using scapegoats, most recently including the woman's fiancé. He managed to tell her about it in a letter after being caught up in their trap."
Najenda lit a cigarette took a drag before replying, "Have you confirmed it?"
"Yes," Kurome cut in, "We both listened in from an attic while they struck a deal."
"Very well, Night Raid will accept the assignment and bring divine punishment. The new nation doesn't need treacherous people like them." Najenda stated while Aria set a large bag of money on the table.
Tatsumi couldn't believe that that much money could ever be collected. "She must have sold everything she had to pay this much."
Aria shook her head, disappointed. "I could sense the fact that she prostituted herself. She probably caught a venereal disease if she earned this much." Tatsumi froze, unable to deal with the idea.
Tatsumi let his hair shade his eyes, before speaking in a low voice, "Then we need to put a stop to it immediately."
Najenda smirked at Tatsumi's idealistic declaration. "So you're going to go take on Ogre? He's rather formidable. His nickname of Ogre the Demon was earned with his sword. On top of that, he's never far from the police garrison and spends almost all his time with his lackeys. When he's not on duty, he drinks on the Main Street near the palace."
"Then we strike on his day off." Tatsumi countered, trying to visualize an escape route for whoever was assigned.
"With security as tight as it is around the palace, we can't put Akame on this job. Aria, Lubbock, and Kurome can't do it either since they're too well-known in that area."
"Can this wait until Mien or the others return?" Akame volunteered, remembering the need to keep Tatsumi safe. Especially now that he was less skilled as a swordsman despite his much greater potential.
"In that case, I'll carry the mission out myself!" Tatsumi declared, fist striking the table.
Najenda couldn't keep a wry smile off of her face. "You'll do it alone? Better be ready to own up to those words."
Tatsumi's determined gaze met hers, full of fire. "I said I would do it, so I will. If we wait, more people will be falsely accused and then made to suffer." His eyes shifted to Kurome and Akame before returning to Najenda's. "I don't want people to lose the ones they care about. No one deserves that."
"Strong will and good looks. I like that." Najenda said while Lubbock frowned at the compliment. "You're tasked with killing Ogre. Akame and Aria are going to take Gamal since I want to see how she handles herself." The two girls nodded before Akame led Aria out of the room, intent on completing the mission.
Kurome was about to speak when she coughed. The cough turned into an intense string of painful chest-heaving coughs that knocked her to the floor.
"Lubbock! Medical room, now!" Najenda ordered the only other person in the room. The green-haired boy didn't hesitate, scooping up the clearly ill girl before he streaked out of the room like he'd been set on fire.
Once that was taken care of, Najenda squared away her concerns and focused on Tatsumi, "Now a quick run-down of mission protocol…."
Lubbock shouldered the door open while Kurome started to shiver in his arms, muscles beginning to spasm against her conscious control.
"Damnit!" He cursed as he carefully laid Kurome down on one of the open tables. He should have known better than to think that Tsu had actually cured her. He began to tear the room apart, looking for something that could give him a clue as to what the traitor had done.
After his thorough and hasty inspection, all he found was a large bottle of blue-gray liquid sealed with wax and what looked like notes.
He scanned the documents for any relevant information, before finding what he was looking for.
Patient: Kurome
Complaint: Experimental Drug addiction. (Analyzed)
Treatment: Administer 20ccs of cure each day until supply has run out. At which point the cycle of addiction will be broken. Warning: Failure to administer the full course will cause fatal relapse in patient.
Notes: Melody, keep the bottle safe or we're all screwed.
"Damned asshole couldn't make a simple cure!" Lubbock cursed, declaring his hatred of Tsu while Kurome curled up and moaned in pain, the agonies of withdrawal tearing her apart. Knowing that he had no choice, he frantically grabbed a syringe and filled it with the blue-gray liquid. Hoping that he wasn't signing her death certificate, Lubbock grabbed her arm, restraining her for a moment before plunging the needle into her. A hissed whimper escaped her lips when he pressed the plunger, but it quickly faded as her symptoms came to an abrupt halt.
Kurome sat up, slightly dazed. She saw Lubbock looking at her with concern, and could feel something digging into her arm. She looked and was shocked to see a syringe still sticking out of her there.
"You inject me with something again, I'm breaking every bone you have." Her deadly threat was met by Lubbock's annoyed but relieved expression.
After he removed the needle and bandaged the injection site, Lubbock found himself alone in the office. After closing the door, he reached into his coat and pulled out a half-crumpled letter with his name on it.
He sighed, wondering just what Tsu was doing writing him a letter. After making sure it wasn't booby-trapped in any manner, Lubbock opened it, reading the words of a certain bastard.
Gamal made his way out of the restroom of the pleasure palace, a smile on his toad-like face lit by the evening's lanterns.
"After that, maybe I should get one of the girls to get me off one last time." He said to himself, only to feel an immense weight trap his body. He could only manage to shift his eyes with extreme effort, only to see a blond girl in a red cloak and the legendary assassin Akame.
"Greed weighs its targets down, but apparently your secondary corrupt nature evolved it into full paralysis. Interesting." The blond stated, her flat gaze fixed on Gamal. Akame didn't say a word as she stabbed Gamal in the chest, killing him instantly. The body stayed upright for a moment before it slumped to the ground.
Akame looked at Aria, appreciating the girl's strange but multi-faceted abilities. It had been because of her nobility connections that they had found out Gamal would be there tonight and been given free access, making killing him that much easier. "I'm quite interested to keep seeing the effects of your Shingu."
"If you want, I can show you my journal with all of the combinations I've already figured out." She offered the veteran assassin. Which worried Akame.
"I thought you only knew Tsu for a day before arriving at Night Raid?" She questioned, an unsettling feeling building in her stomach.
Aria tilted her head in confusion, a look that might have been cute had it not implied such serious matters. "He saved me nearly a year ago. What are you talking about?"
Captain Ogre stepped out of the tavern where he just finished drinking an odd boy under the bar, quite happy to have had a successful day between that and an interrogation of a prisoner. He waded through the night crowd of Main Street, enjoying the buzz of the alcohol in his system.
"Excuse me, Master Ogre!" A voice called out to him, making him turn. He saw a boy in a white coat with his hood up, trying to not look at Ogre's scar.
"What do you want boy?"
"It's something rather sensitive, can we talk in a back alley?" the boy requested, dropping his eyes to his boots.
The captain sighed, before using his head to indicate where they could talk.
Once there, Ogre fixed the boy with his steely gaze.
"Now what is it that you want?"
The boy dropped to his knees, bowing his head. "Please let me into the garrison! I need this chance!"
Ogre shook his head and turned away from the pathetic sight. One that was becoming more and more frequent. "Go through the normal process. If you have any skill, that is."
Ogre heard the scrape of a blade in its sheath and turned, pulling out his own sword. But before he could block the incoming attack, the breeze of his attacker passing caressed his face. He felt the blade tear into his chest, a near impossible thing. He turned as he fell, amazed to see the pathetic boy holding a bloodied shortsword.
That boy has an unwavering strength to think he can challenge me. How can I fall to someone so weak?
Tatsumi heard Ogre drop to the ground, satisfied that he had made his first kill as a Night Raid member.
"And he was supposed to be formidable? I'm kind of disappointed." Tatsumi declared to the night air. Until he remembered Najenda's explanation, "Oh, wait. I need to make my report before its mission complete."
He took a step towards the entrance of the alley when he saw him. Tsu was standing there in a closed black waistcoat with gray pants and black boots. The older man noticed Tatsumi in the alley, his arm blurring into motion.
Tatsumi froze, suddenly aware of a mass of killing intent behind him. He turned and raised his sword, ready to block. Only to be distracted by the thud of a glass bottle striking flesh.
Ogre was momentarily stunned by the bottle of alcohol striking his forehead, but he recovered as Tsu, the strange boy he had been drinking with charged at him, right past the boy trying to kill him.
He didn't hesitate to stab Tsu in the chest, casually throwing the body aside with its momentum before returning his focus to Tatsumi. The captain swung at him, blood trailing his blade. The green-eyed boy jumped into the air to avoid the attack, feeling something he had only felt once before. Hatred. And it was directed at Ogre.
He called on every ounce of speed he could muster, built up over his years with Tsu's relentless training and harsher punishments. Ogre barely felt the next strike that severed his arms, seemingly amazed that they had cut off. Tatsumi landed while the detached limbs pinwheeled through the air, artfully painting the alley in blood.
People who flaunt their authority. And take what's precious to us. He thought as he moved. His sword flashed out to strike his defenseless opponent, cutting him down with a vicious collection of slashes. I will cut you all to pieces!
Ogre's body dropped into a puddle of his own blood, which left Tatsumi all alone in the alley.
"Old man!" He remembered, starting to franticly look for him.
"This is why I didn't want you to be a fighter." A slurred voice from the mouth of the alley scolded Tatsumi. "You're confident in skills you don't actually have yet. Just like me."
Tatsumi turned to see Tsu standing there, not even a hint of the wound on him or his clothes. The newly-minted assassin glowered, letting his hair shade his eyes. "Old man…"
"Let me have a sappy parental moment brat, you're not going to get one otherwise." Tsu declared, taking a drunkard's stumble towards him. Tatsumi rolled his eyes as he remembered his caregiver's fondness for overdrinking and low tolerance. "I'm sorry."
Tatsumi couldn't respond to the apology, as he was too worried that he had been killed by Ogre because there was no way in his lifetime that Tsu would apologize.
"I'm sorry I hid my past from you. My life is one full of regrets and mistakes but I want you to know that you aren't one of them. Believe me when I say that. So stop that wavering in your heart and commit without doubt." Having delivered his message, Tsu turned to leave.
"Wait!" Tatsumi called out, making his former caretaker pause. "Why? Just give me a goddamn reason why you did all of this after everything. Who are you really?"
"Two things: Enemies are best kept closer; and when you find yourself stuck in a cage, makes sure you have someone on the outside to unlock it." With his final wisdom delivered, Tsu disappeared into the night crowd. Leaving Tatsumi with no other choice than to return to the hideout and report his kill.
Back at the base, Tatsumi returned to find Akame and Aria waiting alongside Najenda. After giving his report, Tatsumi turned to leave, hoping that he could make sense of what Tsu had told him. He found his escape route cut off by Akame, who was looking at him with an inscrutable expression.
He flushed at the close proximity, reminded of the last time they had been that close. "I'm fine Akame. Not even a scratch from Ogre." He made to step past her, closing his eyes. Until a powerful force pulled his shirt and arms above his head. "Akame!"
"Aria, Boss… Please hold him still." She requested of the others in the room. Aria considered it for a moment before heading over to help, while Najenda happily joined in with a smirk. Working together, they soon had Tatsumi down to nothing but his boxers. Akame circled him, inspecting his body for any sign of injury. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tatsumi knew it was only fair that she get to look at him like he had when she was wearing her bikini last week. But that didn't stop a rampant blush from overtaking his face.
After she finished her inspection she turned away from him. "I'm glad. One of my friends died because he didn't report a poisoned wound. And with how high the mortality rate for first missions are, I wasn't sure if you really would make it back. "
Tatsumi realized that she hadn't kissed him because she liked him, it was her way of comforting him so he could focus through his mission. And it made his chest ache in a way he had never felt before.
"Please keep returning safely." She advised before walking out of the room, leaving Tatsumi to figure out what they did with his clothes.
In the Capitol….
Several days after the assassination of Captain Ogre, the Main Street was finally opened and two people stood waiting for the guards of the Imperial Palace to finally let them in.
"If I didn't have to bring you, I wouldn't. Letting a pervert loose in a place of nobility is too dangerous. Especially with the amount of guards." Kurome told Lubbock, who stoically took her insult. Kurome studied him out of the corner of her eye, wondering what could have made him so much more pathetic than usual.
"Well, the invitation said 'Kurome and her personal tracker' so it isn't like I have much choice." Lubbock replied, shifting the rifle on his back to a more comfortable position. Ever since he had read Tsu's letter, he wasn't quite sure what to think. Why would he warn us about spies in our ranks, and even give us the evidence we need to independently determine its veracity? Who is the Will of the Empire, really?
"You can go in." A guard stated, making the green-haired assassin snap out of his musings. Signaling with his head to follow, Lubbock led Kurome into the palace, following the instructions that had been delivered to them via a courier waiting at the Capitol's gate for them. When they found the room they were supposed to be in, they took a second to collect themselves. Once they were prepared, Kurome opened the door into a room lit with brilliant sunlight. Standing in the room was Tsu, dressed in a full length robe with the Imperial crest on it.
"Welcome Assassin Kurome, and… I don't believe I saw your name in any of my reports." The white-haired man said, a conversational smile on his face.
"Just call me Tracker, since that's my name." Lubbock played along while Kurome kept a hand on the handle of Yatsufusa. Tsu nodded before pushing back one of his sleeves to reveal a thick file.
"I am the Will of the Empire and after our saddening loss of Captain Ogre, I have been chosen to take command of the Imperial Police and aid in your investigation since it is suspected to be an attack by Night Raid." He extended the file to Lubbock. Kurome relaxed and waited for Lubbock's assessment.
Lubbock opened the file and began to leaf through it, a sense of impossible wrongness settling inside of him. Inside the file was the patrol routes and rosters of the Imperial police for the next month, alongside dossiers of nobles who were suspected of abusing their positions. Lubbock fixed Tsu with a wide-eyed stare, not comprehending whether this was an act of faith or masterful baiting.
"Though these are only our initial findings, I do hope that we can continue to work together." Tsu gave an earnest smile to both assassins.
Who the hell are you really?
Lubbock's question, Tsu's apparent defection, and confused teen feelings. Man this was an intense chapter.
Please take the time to review as it helps me refine the edges of this story.
