Author's Note: So the first few chapters are going to be a little slow as it is going to go through the introductions and set up of Tatsumi's beginning and his new experiences with Night Raid. I did add a nice little teaser at the end of the chapter and will continue to do so to allude to what may be happening in later chapters. Please bear with me as we go through the slow start. As always please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Akame ga Kill or its characters. I just write about them.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I was screaming. Why? I was being kidnapped by the same woman who robbed me. Oh, and I just killed someone. To be fair, she murdered my friends. So, you can't really blame me.
You must be wondering how I ended up in this situation. It all started the minute I entered the capital.
"Wow!" I exclaimed.
The city was so large it made my village look like a small ant hill and the castle alone was a whole mountain. The city was bustling with people moving at lightning fast paces and it was hard to keep track of all of them. I was fascinated by everything around me that I had never seen. It was almost overwhelming all the sounds, smells, and people.
'Man,' I thought. 'I could really make it big here with all the people that are around. Everyone here will know my face and I'll be able to save my village!' I was so excited, stars were in my eyes.
With these positive thoughts, I began to head to the enlistment building.
"Damn it!" I yell.
I'm jobless, homeless, and broke now. Why did that damn attractive woman have to rob me?! Why did I let her rob me?! I can't believe I fell for her tricks!
I just went to the enlistment building to become a general of the Imperial Army but instead I get kicked out, met a busty and very attractive woman who ended up robbing me of all my money. This is honestly the worst day of my life. I hope Sayo and Iesayu are doing better than me right now.
I look around with the intent to find a place to rest. I spy a nice-looking corner lit by a nearby street lamp and I decide to sit under it to get some sleep. As soon as I feel myself drifting a carriage pulls to a stop in front of me.
"Excuse me," a young, nicely dressed girl addresses me. "I was wondering what you were doing out here all alone."
"Huh? Oh! I was, um, well, you see… I was kind of robbed of all my money." I say sheepishly.
"Oh dear! That is so sad. I can't believe there are people out there who would do such a thing. How about you come with me for tonight and I'm sure you can stay in my home before figuring out what you are going to do." She stretched out her hand as if to help me up.
I think over her proposition and figure it's the best that I'm going to get so I take her hand and stand.
"Alright! Now let's get going so you can meet my mom and dad and you can see if they'll let you stay with us."
In little less then an hour I am at the girl's, Aria as we are formerly introduced, house and I am quickly led to a living room where I meet her parents. I explain to them my situation and they were eager to let me stay, going as far to offer to let me stay as long as I needed to. It really brought up my spirits especially since I was robbed today. I could not see why everyone thought the capital was so bad. There are some good people left. The family let me have one of the abundant guest bedrooms and I was eager to finally rest after the long journey.
I head to my new room almost immediately after finishing the conversation with Aria's family and head to bed passing out before my body hit the bed.
The next few days were very eventful. I was really being treated as one of the family. Of course, I was forced to go shopping with Aria and helping carry her bags in the name of 'training'. I got to know the family very well and they seemed to be very good people. They even claimed that they would have a surprise for me tomorrow and I was hoping it would have something to do with joining the military as a high-ranking officer but honestly anything would be helpful.
I go to bed excited for what awaited me.
I am suddenly shaken out of my sleep when I sense malicious intent. Being close to the family I grab my sword and head out to help. As I begin to traverse the house I come to a long hallway that would be the quickest way out and see from the corner of my eye an object. I turned and came to a complete stop at what I saw. It seemed to be a few people standing on some kind of string or thread. They meant business and I was not going to let them hurt this family without going through me.
As if reading my thoughts, two of the people jumped off of the unknown thread and landed on the ground and are faced off with some of the guards of the house. Watching with baited breath, I see the two figures cut down every guard in a single moment. If I had blinked, I would have missed it all.
Just as quickly, I turn to head to the nearest exit hoping to find a member of the family.
After a few moments I come across Aria and a single guard leading her to some shed. The smaller figure from before, a girl, comes closer to us. The guard moves to defend Aria but is quickly killed and I take his place. The girl is skilled, and if I'm not careful she will kill me.
After a series of blocks, parries, and close calls, she gets in a hit. It was to the small statue my village elder gave me. She backs off for a few seconds and instead asks me why I am fighting her. I tell her that these are good people and don't deserve to die. She looks confused for a second as if she didn't understand that these people were good, or maybe that was directed towards me. As if I was the one who didn't know that these people were something but good.
It confuses me but the girl gives me no time to ponder as she moves to continue our fight.
"Wait!" A blonde woman lands next to the smaller blacked haired girl and continues to say, "Don't kill him yet Akame. He doesn't know just who this girl and her family really are."
She then jumps over us and gracefully lands shifting into a right punch aimed at the shed doors. She motions for me to look inside and I am greeted by a sight that will haunt my memories. There were bodies that littered the floor and walls of the shed in various conditions. Some were intact with welts and others were nearly dismembered with cuts littering the body. Blood painted the walls, roof and floors.
I look slightly upward and see my friend Sayo. My dear friend who always stood by my side; she was hanging from a pair of chains and her body was stripped of all her clothes and cuts decorated her previous milky skin, dying it red.
"Tatsumi," a weak voiced called to me. I turned spying Iesayu and rush to where he stood behind bars.
"Iesayu, what happened?"
"That girl," he points in Aria's general direction and continues. "She tortured Sayo and another woman kept injecting me with syringes. I don't… Sayo, she, she fought them every step of the way and wouldn't give up. She never gave up." Iesayu breaks down.
I felt pure rage filling me up. This girl and her family who I had come to know, told them my troubles and expected them to help me. They hurt and killed my friends. I see red and next thing I know my blade had sliced through Aria and then I'm holding Iesayu as he dies in my arms.
As I am silent as the blonde woman guides me out of the shed promising to take my friends bodies to be buried.
"Come on now, it's time to go." She says and then immediately picks me up bridal style.
"Wait, wait, wait!" I yell. "What do mean? And put me down! I am not going with you people!"
"Too bad, you're already one of us and we can't just leave you here now. You're a murderer too."
And that's how I ended up being carried to these crazy people's hide out. It wasn't all unpleasant but I could tell they were wary of me. I really appreciated the armored fellow though as he was carrying my two friends.
We arrived at their hide out early morning and I could the job of digging my friends graves not accepting any of their help wanting, needing, to do this by myself.
It was several hours after that that I was approached by the blonde woman. Leone, she said was her name.
"Come on new guy, it's time to go meet the others now."
"Even though I haven't agreed to join." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Yeah, maybe they can change your mind." She grabs the back of my shirt lifting me up and setting me on my feet. "Let's go." She grins cheekily.
Within a short time span I find myself face to face with the leader of these people I had met including: a purple haired clumsy Sheele, a pink haired rude brat Mine, a green haired pervert Lubbock, a pompadour haired gay Bulat, a black haired weirdo Akame, the blonde feisty Leone and of course their light haired boss Najenda.
This group was the weirdest set of people I have ever met and how they hoped to get anything done was beyond me.
"Welcome Tatsumi, was it? Ah, no matter, I've asked you to meet me so I can ask you, are you interested in joining Night Raid. We as an organization were created to pave the way towards peace by doing the work in the shadows that no one else is capable of doing. We aim to make it easier for the Revolutionary Army to enter the capital and take down the emperor." Najenda states. Her eyes show immense determination and I can see that her words affected the other members as well. They seemed to stand taller and their eyes mirrored hers.
"If I say no what happens?"
"You would come to work for our factories fading in obscurity and never being able to help directly."
"If I join, then I can make sure that the people like Aria, like her family, will never be able to hurt someone ever again."
"You can do that and more. You can help be the leading cause in taking down corruption forever."
"Then I'm in. I will join Night Raid!"
A figure in a white cloak travels a worn-out area. The houses all around them seem to be on the verge of falling apart. They walk into a nearby bar and head straight to the counter. They slide a small card to the bartender who leads them behind the bar and through a back door. The figure heads to one of the shelves and moves a bottle of whiskey to the side activating the door which opens into another passage.
The figure follows the passage and enter an underground fighting ring. In the immediate center lies a ring filled with sand and surrounded by small wooden fences more for decoration than protection. Around the ring lies several dozen tables each with four to six chairs. To the right lies a bar counter and the left lies the bidding pool where several men and women stand each obviously belonging to the wealthy class.
"Excuse me, would you like any assistance. I can allow you a close up to the fighters or perhaps some of our other forms of entertainment." A waiter said, motioning to the fighters and very erotically dressed women.
"Don't worry." The figure responds coolly. "I am here for other things."
"Of course." The waiter says giving a small polite bow as he turns to tend to another customer.
The figure scopes out the area. They seem to be in search of something very specific paying no mind to the fighters or the women trying desperately to get their attention. The figure looks close to giving up before a young boy no older than twenty turns around to face the ring as he was originally facing the bar.
The figure scans the boy's form. Young, fit, seems to have more lean muscle then anything else, and pretty tall with deep blue hair and light-colored eyes, nearly grey. He was dressed in the same uniform as the other waiters. He was just what the figure was looking for in a new associate. The figure in white stays in his seat and turns to watch the fights always keeping one eye on the boy. When the boy seemed ready to leave the figure stands purposefully bumping shoulders with the young man and hastily left.
"Wait! You drop-," the young man tried to call out before he sees the card left behind.
Want to Change your Fate?
Want to Leave this Life?
Come Meet Me Two Towns East of the Capital.
Two Full Moons from Now.
COME ALONE.
"What?"