Episode 12: Kill the Bonds


Tatsumi had only ridden a horse once before, and that had been when he was still very young. Time and again he'd been reminded of his bravery as a child, and yet, there was one memory that never failed to embarrass him. His old teacher and father-figure had placed Tatsumi upon his own horse and slapped its rear, causing the ornery beast to barrel forward and terrify the poor boy. It hadn't been long before Tatsumi fell to the dirt below and scraped his knee, wailing like a banshee for all the village to hear.

Riding now for Kyoroch, Tatsumi reached beneath the hood and scratched his head with a nervous smile. In truth, a scraped knee could've been the least of his worries. He had been lucky not to sustain any serious injuries, and after patching him up, the old bastard had walked back to his abode and hit the alcohol with newfound determination. Tatsumi didn't know it then, but now he was certain the man had felt regret at his little stunt. He really was a father to him, and even as he now traveled a road of bloodshed and destruction, Tatsumi hoped with all his heart that the man was still in one piece.

His fear of riding horses had not vanished, unfortunately. He was riding on the same horse as Kurome, cloaked and hidden from view. The fear was still present, however, and every heavy vibration sent through the horse's body reached out to him and shocked his heart.

He was currently sharing a horse with Kurome and holding on for dear life, and his lack of attention worked against him as the hands on her midriff rose higher and higher...

"Where do you think you're grabbing?" She inquired with a neutral expression. Tatsumi's face instantly lit up and he lowered his arms back down to her waist, sweating nervously. Wave suddenly looked over to them with a strange expression.

"Sorry, sorry!"

"Take it easy there," Wave called from his own horse beside them, eyes narrowed. If Tatsumi didn't know any better, he'd almost think his friend was jealous. "The date thing was just a joke, remember?"

"Yeah, I kinda figured that," Tatsumi replied, still a bit fearful of the powerful animal carrying him forward. "Still, it's not like I'm trying to...trying to do anything!" he stammered, the horse shaking its riders far more than was necessary. The dusty ground beneath it was rough and bumpy, the canyon walls rising high around them as the sun beat down and the heat threatened to overwhelm them all.

Riders both, Wave and Kurome rode their horses side-by-side with Bols in the lead, acting as their leader; in terms of navigation, at least. Tatsumi remembered with fondness the way that Esdeath had suddenly blurted out his promotion in front of Wave, and the surge of pride that had followed hadn't dissipated in the slightest. Looking from Wave to Kurome and finally to Bols, Tatsumi couldn't help but indulge in his sense of superiority. If he had even the slightest inclination, he could order them to stop and immediately do cartwheels before the enemy. That kind of power was intoxicating, and in a brief moment of clarity amidst the fading summer heat, Tatsumi finally came to understand why power was the great corrupter of men.

Surely, anything that felt this good was bound to be misused. He was only a lieutenant, a low-ranking officer by all accounts. Even so, he now had the power and the authority required to command entire battalions of Imperial soldiers. No matter how low he might have been, Tatsumi had been handed a position on the great political ladder. It was something he had always dreamed of back in his old home, but in those days it had only been a fleeting dream.

This was now reality. He could face that, now, even as dusty hooves carried him further into corruption and battle. The corruption was thick in the air no matter where he was, and the battles were just waiting to fall upon his shoulders. No battle was more terrifying to him than the eventual encounter with Night Raid and, truth be told, he didn't even know if he could hold back anymore.

They would surely seek to kill Wave, Kurome, and Bols if the fifty-fifty chance worked against them, and Tatsumi couldn't just sit by and watch. The icy hunger of the Muramasa coursed through Tatsumi's veins and abated the heat around him, filling him with a desire that he could now recognize. The thrill of battle and the allure of challenging opponents had infected him now like never before, and it was only a matter of time before this hunger caused him to attack even his friends.

He would never hurt a member of the Jaegers, that much was certain. However, his friends within Night Raid would never, ever yield to Esdeath. Her mercy would be wasted, and if he should encounter them today, there could be no running from the inevitable slaughter. The question that remained was this: which side would suffer the bloodshed?

It was all too much, far too much for him to take in. Tatsumi grit his teeth as he fell deeper and deeper into his introspection, brought to bear against the tragic life that he had designed for himself. No matter how much he managed to change, no matter how much power he attained or how much good he managed to do with it, there could be no avoiding the tragedies on the horizon.

People were going to die, some of them even by his own hand. They would not be faceless nobles, corrupt politicians, or rapists lurking in the shadows. There would be good people dying, noble warriors who fought for the right cause. Even those he had come to care for would fall, some of them even by his own hand.

But this was the price to pay, and he was beginning to realize that. As much as he hated the acceptance that was growing within him, Tatsumi could no longer quell his own ambition. He could not ignore his heart, and it had been speaking to him ever since the day of the tournament. Ever since he had first met Esdeath face-to-face. This was an opportunity beyond any other, made perfect only because of her unusual affection towards him. It remained a sense of affection that he could not yet return, and he could not be sure that the day would come where he would return it. Even so, it created an opportunity. It opened a window for him that had not been opened for any other human in the entire world.

The power to change everything about their world was resting in the palm of his hand, and all it took was the perfect mixture of indulgence and restraint. If he could only tap into this power and these resources without losing himself, then Tatsumi would be granted the position to change all the world for the right reasons. All it would take was a firm grip on his own soul.

Wave and Kurome had been exchanging a copious amount of dialogue during his introspection, and only upon leaving his mind could Tatsumi finally take part in it.

"...will definitely win!" Wave cried with enthusiasm. "Bols, your Teigu is awesome when it comes to mid-range combat and crowd control. I'm sure it could create some protective barriers, too!"

Bols acknowledged the claim with a cheerful "hmm!" as he rode forward. "You're right, Wave-kun! I'll do my best to keep you all safe if we should face Night Raid on our journey."

"Just having you nearby is reassuring," Wave continued, smiling towards the masked man with his sparkling sapphire eyes.

"You always act so smooth," Kurome suddenly teased, smiling over to the other boy. "The sad part is that you'll probably just end up holding us back, Wave~!"

Wave let out a strange noise that Tatsumi could only assume was one of offense and disapproval. "What?! Are you saying that you don't trust me, Kurome?"

"Mm," Kurome acknowledged, her smile never leaving for a second. "I bet that when we need you the most, you'll just fail like always!"

"Guys?" Tatsumi chuckled nervously.

"If I equip Grand Chariot-!" Wave began forming his retort.

"Then," Kurome interjected, her smile widening as she gazed into his eyes, "why not show me how strong you really are?" Tatsumi bit his lip, eyes wide with shock at her lascivious tone. That was totally out of character!

"Oh yeah?" Wave taunted, matching her smile as Tatsumi looked on. "Bring it on, then!"

"Stop fighting, you two!" Bols chided, the mask covering his own smile as he led them through the canyon.

"Hey," Wave murmured, "what the hell is that thing?"

Even beneath the hood covering his head, Tatsumi could make out the shape closing in on them from up ahead. It was a very strange-looking scarecrow, firmly planted in the dry earth some distance away. The musculature on it was quite unusual for your everyday scarecrow, and their suspicion only mounted as they noticed its other features.

Hat on the head, a paper with crude drawings for a face, and writing upon its upper chest that read "hot guy." If this wasn't a trap, then it certainly ranked among the "Top Three Strangest Things Ever," list.

"This is the most suspicious thing ever," Bols said, bringing his horse to a grinding halt as they closed in on the bait. "If this is a trap, then we should definitely be careful while approaching it. I'll go first, but stay close to me in case we get ambushed."

"Roger," the other three responded, dismounting their respective horses and following the masked man over to the scarecrow.

Far from their position and zeroing in on them, the assassin Mine peered through her scope and surveyed her targets. Bols and Kurome were easily identified due to their status as priority targets, but the blue-haired boy and his cloaked acquaintance were mysteries to the girl. Potential threats to be sure, but the other two took precedence.

"I don't like that guy," Mine whispered to herself, moving her scope to focus on the cloaked figure. "Unknowns are scary, but even so…"

She returned to focusing on Kurome, her sense of dread diminishing only slightly as she targeted Akame's younger sister. Unknown enemies were threatening, but if Akame herself considered her sister to be a danger, then Mine had to prioritize.

"Better the devil you know…" she mumbled, her finger tightening on the trigger. "You're Akame's little sister, so I'll make this as quick as I can."

Mine gave into impulse and pulled, finding comfort in the merciless roar of her Pumpkin as it unleashed a beam of pure energy upon her target. Even in spite of the beam's speed, Mine followed the trajectory as best she could, praying for an instantaneous kill.

Her heart almost stopped completely as her target casually leapt out of the way, dodging the shot by mere inches as it slammed into the wall of stone behind her.

"She dodged it!" Mine screamed internally, sweating a little as she took a step back. "What's up with that superhuman reaction? That's not possible, I had her! I know I did!"

Realizing that their cover was blown, the Teigu known as Susanoo immediately burst free from his scarecrow disguise and charged towards Kurome with his halberd-esque weapon. Tatsumi was too caught up in his own surprise to react, but Wave…

"Kurome, watch out!" the Jaeger roared, leaping between Susanoo and his intended target with Grand Chariot at the ready, barely managing to parry the blow before being sent flying away from the battlefield from the sheer force.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAA!" Wave yelled, disappearing just as quickly as he had moved before, vanishing in a speck of light. It would've been funny if it wasn't so terrifying, and Tatsumi hoped with everything he had that Wave was still in one piece.

"Wave-kun!" Bols cried out, sweating nervously as the ominous Susanoo approached his three remaining opponents.

"Looks like we failed to snipe you," a voice familiar to Tatsumi called out, ringing through the canyon as Night Raid's leader approached. She was not alone, however, and Tatsumi found himself face-to-face with his old friends as the entirety of Night Raid emerged from the smoke ahead.

"In terms of war, though," Najenda continued with an arrogant smirk, "we now hold the advantage. We blew away one of your comrades with a single strike, and now it's a five-on-three brawl. We've got the advantage!"

Kurome and Bols both looked to their leader, their superior officer, their friend. To Tatsumi. With a sense of regret that was palpable on the air and matched only by his own determination, Tatsumi pulled back his hood and stifled the pain as the assassins recognized him.

"No," he replied sadly, reaching for the Incursio on his back. "You don't."

"Tatsumi!" His friends cried as one, each of them as surprised as the next. Najenda, Leone, Akame...even Susanoo appeared to be caught off-guard by the sudden reveal.

"I should have known," Tatsumi laughed bitterly, pulling his Teigu from its sheath and holding it out to them. "My luck was bound to run out, I guess. I didn't want to find you here."

"That goes both ways," Najenda conceded, staring at her former subordinate with the saddest look he'd ever seen. "I was hoping that we would be able to eliminate some of the enemies around you before bringing you home."

"I've already said it," Tatsumi replied, the heat of Incursio flooding his body as its armor manifested all around him. "This is my new home, and I'm doing what I have to do. Since you're all here, that means it's up to me what happens. I'm going to keep you alive and show Esdeath that there's no sense in destroying Night Raid."

"You're very, very strong," Najenda smiled, instantly catching the boy off-guard. "You've clearly surpassed Bulat, but do you think you can take on all of Night Raid? You already know our strength, Tatsumi. You can come back with us now, this is the perfect chance to walk away!"

"I can't walk away," Tatsumi declared, bending his knees slightly. "It's been quite a while, so I hoped you would get it by now. There's no changing this, and I will protect my friends!"

"Which friends?" Akame said in her typical, emotionless manner. Tatsumi's response was cold in its own way as he summoned Neuntote, the intimidating spear saying more than he ever could alone.

"This is all of Night Raid?" Bols pondered, his knuckles whitening against the Rubicante. "So going east was a complete decoy. This doesn't look good, but…"

Bols looked to Tatsumi and, seeing the resolve beneath the boy's own mask, mustered up his own strength. "What should we do, Lieutenant?"

Beside them, Kurome slowly reached for her Yatsufusa.

"Lieutenant?" Najenda blinked, Leone and Akame looking just as surprised. "You've certainly moved up fast, Tatsumi!"

"Go ahead and thank Esdeath," Tatsumi responded coldly, forcing himself to think more like a warrior than a friend. "This is all for the sake of the Empire, you have to believe me. Just come quietly with us, and I promise you'll be safe. I don't want to fight you."

"And I don't want to fight you, either," Najenda admitted, raising a hand towards Susanoo. "But it's not that simple. The Jaegers are the greatest wall between us and the Prime Minister, and for that reason alone, they must fall."

"I won't let you hurt them," Tatsumi declared, staring viciously at the woman. A twinge of fear spiked in her heart as the image of the Tyrant invaded her mind, filling her and her comrades with dread. Tatsumi looked to his remaining comrades and nodded. "We can do this. Stay safe and try not to kill anyone."

"Being targeted by assassins can't be helped," Bols thought, staring regretfully at the ground. "I always knew, even after all these years, that my retribution was inevitable. Even so…!"

Bols lifted the Rubicante, aiming it directly at the figures ahead. Blonde, silver-haired, or wearing purest ebony...none of it mattered.

"I cannot die here!" The man declared, holding back his Teigu's flames until the order was given. "I have a home to return to, my beloved wife and child are waiting! I won't leave them!"

"Oh?" Najenda smirked, pulling the cigar from her mouth with a snide look. "So even among the Jaegers there are those with some sense of humanity. You have my respect."

"And you have mine," Bols growled, finger on the trigger. "It seems we're all prepared to commit acts of evil in the name of good."

"Heh," Najenda chuckled, giving the man a cheerful wink. "Sure looks that way. Maybe if we weren't standing on opposite sides in this awful wasteland, we'd be knocking back drinks in the Capital instead."

"I don't drink," came Bols's cool reply. Kurome and Tatsumi both sweatdropped, turning slightly to face their masked friend.

"Bols is a liar," Kurome lamented, bringing one hand to her chest. "I don't know how to feel about this..."

"Yeah, that's definitely a lie," Tatsumi groaned as he shook his head. "Did you already forget the party in the palace? You were moments away from blacking out when I showed up!"

"I've reconsidered my stance on alcohol and will never drink again," Bols replied firmly. Both of his friends immediately fell forward and slammed their faces into the dirt, so great was their sense of utter disbelief.

"I'll bet every coin I have that you won't last another week! There's no way!" Tatsumi laughed.

He wasn't alone, and not just because Kurome had started to chuckle. Off to the side, Tatsumi could see his other friends laughing heartily, clutching their sides and their heads. They covered their mouths and they wiped their tears, and the whole scene would be funnier for it if it weren't so tragic.

"Guess you weren't kidding," Leone giggled. "You really do make friends pretty easily, don't you? We all fell pretty hard for your charms, but the Jaegers, too?"

Tatsumi's smile didn't abandon him, not as he looked from one person to the next. "I'll try my best to put my feelings into words before we fight," he began, "so please hear me out."

The giggling died and the tears were wiped away in silence, everyone in the canyon focusing solely on the one boy who would dare challenge the status quo. Tatsumi raised his left hand in front of his helm and swiped, dismissing the piece of armor with a cloud of smoke.

"If I'm going to say this, then I'll at least have to look at you guys when I do. You deserve way more than that, more than I can ever give you, so...sorry, I guess. Anyway…"

He stuck Neuntote in the dirt beside him, gazing firmly at those he had once fought beside. Quite some distance away and growing increasingly confused, Mine switched from one person to the next with her scope.

"I've spent too much time running away from what I am," Tatsumi admitted, looking quickly from one friend to the next and capturing their eyes with his own. "I guess the truth is that I've always been a killer, though it was just Danger Beasts for the better half of my life. When I finally decided to head over to the Capital, I left my village with two very close friends…"

Akame closed her eyes, already very familiar with this story. Even at this distance she could almost feel his pain, and she also understood it completely. It was part of what made them such good friends, it was this understanding that formed the core of their bond.

"We were attacked by bandits," Tatsumi continued, grateful for the restraint his new comrades were showing. "We got separated, then, but that wasn't the worst of it. Not yet, anyway. I had the chance to kill one of the bandits when he chased me, but I couldn't do it. I fought him off like my life depended on it, but as I was standing over him as he was bleeding in the snow, I just couldn't do it. It was like some part of me was threatened, a small but very valuable thing that I didn't want to lose. I guess you could call it innocence."

He lowered his head and stared at the ground, sweating like a dog underneath his armor and freezing from the inside out. The cold cruelty of this particular memory was crawling through his veins as he reminisced, and his knuckles whitened as he resumed his tale.

"I made it to the Capital on my own, and got swindled out of my money by some evil woman in a bar."

Leone brought a hand to her mouth to stifle the laugh, and Tatsumi simply could not fight off his own growing smile. His voice began to tremble as that amusing moment came to the front of his mind, old anger replaced by new amusement. He pressed on.

"I ended up in the care of some nobles, wolves wearing the skin of sheep as they fattened me up and offered me one of their beds. As fate would have it, you guys showed up," Tatsumi pointed to the members of Night Raid, "and because of you, I survived. That family failed to kill me because you killed them, first. They were sick, depraved monsters who deserved what you gave them. I had the wrong idea about them even as I ran outside, desperate to protect the last member of that family, the daughter."

Tatsumi began to feel more and more self-conscious as the others listened, and he looked skyward for a moment.

"I won't go through every detail since we don't have all day," he shrugged, "but this was how I met Night Raid." He looked over to Bols and Kurome, thankful once again for how intently they were listening to him. By now, he was fully aware of Kurome's desire to slay her own sister, but even that was being contained as she stared right through him.

"Basically," he laughed, "I tried to protect the girl who'd brought me there, Aria, and nearly got killed by Akame because of it. My old idol protected me from her sword, and thanks to Leone covering for me, I managed to live another day. Then they took me into the storehouse where Aria was trying to hide in, and…"

Tatsumi grit his teeth, rage boiling to the surface and reawakening his other Teigu. The anger continued to grow as the whispering did, and only by exhaling slowly could he calm his heart.

"There were bodies everywhere," he mumbled, much to the horror of everyone else. Only Akame and Leone remained unaffected, so familiar were they with this story. It didn't lessen their feelings of disgust, however.

"Among those bodies was one of the friends I left home with, a girl named Sayo. She'd been tortured, mutilated, and brutally murdered. She was left hanging from the ceiling like a piece of meat, and I couldn't even feel any anger. For a moment, I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Anything so long as I didn't have to look at her anymore, if I could've just washed that image out of my mind forever. It was like a nightmare I could never wake up from, and that was when I heard the voice of my other friend, Ieyasu."

Tatsumi turned back to stare directly at Leone, and her eyes widened from the sudden attention she was given.

"He told me what that girl, Aria, had done to Sayo. He'd been tortured, too; poisoned by something too horrible, something far too cruel to exist in this world. But he had this awesome willpower!" Tatsumi laughed, wracked with grief as he poured his heart out for all to see. "He managed to stay alive long enough to see me one more time, to tell me what had happened to them. Before Akame or Leone could do what they'd been sent to do, I stepped forward."

Tatsumi reached over to Neuntote and ripped it free, shocking everyone with its angry eruption from the earth. He swung his right arm back down and balanced the weapon carefully in his hand, tightening his grip on the weapon as mounting anxiety tightened around his heart.

"I cut her down," he spat with fury, "and I realized something very important as I stained my shirt with her blood. I realized that I was a killer, and not just of Danger Beasts. Everything came crashing down in my head, and it was only made clear when I watched Ieyasu die in my arms. I realized that it didn't matter who or what I had to face; if they were corrupt, I would kill them; if they were evil, I would rip their heart out; if they perverted the world for their own amusement, then I would annihilate them!"

His left hand swung up in a flash and his head was decorated once more with Incursio's glorious helm, eyes gleaming with gold as the Tyrant's flesh closed in all around him. Everyone tensed up, Night Raid assassins and Jaegers both, watching as the boy put the finishing touches on his speech.

"I am who I am," Tatsumi declared, "and I can't hesitate any more. I won't! Even if it means fighting you guys, even if it means cutting my bonds away and breaking my own heart, I'll do it! I'll do whatever it takes to destroy this world and all the rotten people who are sucking it dry, and if I can't even accept myself, then what good am I? That is my answer, Boss."

Najenda sighed, flicking her cigar away and staring sadly at her former ally. "And it was a good one," she conceded. "Bulat was really good at giving speeches, but maybe you've surpassed him there, too. I'm just glad that he isn't here to see this, or he'd have punched you right out of this canyon by now."

"Probably," Tatsumi smiled. "It doesn't matter now, though. The past is gone and this is my present. I have to fight you, now, and there's no running away from that. Not anymore."

"Tatsumi."

He turned his head to Leone, but even in his current state, somehow she'd been faster. Her hands, not yet transformed into massive paws, had found their home on either side of his helm. She looked right at him, and he looked right back.

Then she leaned down a bit and kissed him there, warm lips stinging from the cold bite of steel. Everyone was now fully surprised without exception, even Najenda, despite having expected this very scene to occur at some point.

"I guess there's no stopping you anymore," Leone sighed, moving to wrap her arms around Tatsumi's neck as his breathing came to a screeching halt. "But if we both make it out of here alive, and we will, then you'll have to make it up to me later. Because you know, I really..."

Her words trailed off, eyes shut and teeth ground together as her own sense of inadequacy weighed her down. Confidence had vanished with the kiss and now she was running on borrowed time, so Leone simply backed away and gave his metal forehead a little flick. She sighed, crossed her arms, and shook her head.

"Jeez...looks like I'm no good, after all! I still can't spit it out, huh…"

"Leone?" Tatsumi blinked, his hold on Neuntote loosening by just a fraction.

Lionelle burst free with bolts of golden light and she drove a giant clenched paw into his chest, tossing him an impressive distance away as his body ragdolled against the dirt.

"Tatsumi!" Kurome and Bols cried as one, immediately readying their Teigu as Leone walked right past them and over to the boy she loved.

"If you won't come back, then I'll drag you back!" She declared, the largest of grins plastered on her face as he stood back on his feet. "And if you don't like it, then go ahead and hit back for once! It's just a bit of sibling rivalry, right?"

"Kurome, Bols!" Tatsumi yelled, pointing to them with Neuntote. "Do what you have to do! We need to bring them back alive, but…"

Tatsumi swallowed the lump in his throat, hating the tears that threatened to fall. "But," he repeated, "don't forget that your lives are important, too! We all have a home to return to, and Bols, your wife and daughter are waiting!"

The masked man nodded firmly, raising his Rubicante and aiming directly for the assassins ahead of him. Kurome responded to Akame's scowl with a disturbed smile, the two of them drawing their blades with agonizing slowness. Tatsumi could only watch as black lightning suddenly assailed the ground beneath her, the ground shaking with terrible force as bodies began to rise from it. The arrival of her last puppet threw everyone off their feet with tremendous force, and Kurome smiled fondly up at the massive skeleton as it lifted her into the air.

"I'm different from who I was before, onee-chan," Kurome said sweetly, relishing her sister's horrified expression as the undead Danger Beast stared at its prey through empty sockets. "Now I can summon anything from the ground, even if it's a Mega-Class like Destaghoul."

Bols took aim, finger on the trigger as hellfire coursed through the Rubicante. Akame stared her sister down and Najenda clenched her metal fist, looking to Susanoo and nodding towards Destaghoul. The biological Teigu nodded in kind and swung his polearm with grace and precision, stepping forward to face his mighty foe. Far from their battleground, Leone closed in on Tatsumi one step at a time. She cracked her knuckles and flashed her fangs, stifling her grief just as he did. Tatsumi for his part was resolute once more, spear at the ready as he steeled himself for the most painful battle yet.

Together as one, Night Raid and the three remaining Jaegers prepared themselves for oblivion. Kurome was almost trembling with anticipation, calling out to those below with a voice like poisoned honey.

"I wonder how many will die?"