A/N Hey… that last chapter was a rip-off…
Of course, with my luck, it's a no-brainer that I would be caught up with the infamous Night Raid. The person I attacked had to be acquainted with Night Raid…
I turned to see 5 scary-looking figures staring right at me. They were cloaked by the darkness of the night; only their burning eyes were visible. Unlike the woman I had just attacked, murderous intent was written on their faces. "Eliminate!" the red-eyed one said robotically, like it was instinct.
"Wait, Akame…" one of them growled. "I want to blast this brat into bits!"
"Stop… you guys!" the woman on the ground said weakly. "He's just confused. He didn't know any better."
"Sheele! You have to be more realistic. He attacked you on purpose! How delusional can you get?! I'm going to bring this jerk down and you better be thankful."
"Mine, let's hear Sheele and the boy out, first, before you jump the gun," a familiar voice called out. It took me about 2 seconds to figure out who she was…
"You….. you… YOU'RE THE BOOBS FROM EARLIER," I yelled accusingly. My voice surprisingly worked without cracking, considering the situation I was in.
"Oh, hiya! I guess I owe you, so consider this my repayment!" she replied cheerfully. "Anyways, can you explain why you were mercilessly assaulting our comrade?"
Before I can say anything, Sheele replied with a vague, "He was attacked by him." Apparently, everyone else knew what she was talking about, because the atmosphere darkened severely.
"Why is he attacking stupid commoners like this kid?" Mine asked, "He usually only goes after people that are moderately strong!" "Hey," I said, offended. Everyone ignored me.
"Besides," she continued, "That doesn't explain why this kid started attacking you!"
Boob-girl laughed. "Considering we are wanted criminals, I can see why he did! But, even so, Sheele obviously saved your ass, and yet you…" she trailed off. It looked like some thought occurred to her. "We didn't actually consider this, but what if, the attacked warriors' mental state was caused by his teigu?"
"That'll make sense… this young man saw his face, so I was really confused when he desperately attacked me," Sheele said ponderously. "Hey," she placed her hand on my shoulder gently. "What do you remember about him?"
"… I can't seem to recall his face, even though I had seen it. Right after he slashed me, suddenly, I couldn't seem to remember what he looked like. I didn't even know if he was a guy so I attacked you, because you were the closest to me."
"Ok," boob-girl said, standing up. "Let's go back to base and tell Boss. Bulat, take this kid with us.
A rather massive armored figure walked up to me and started carrying me bridal-style. Mine couldn't stop laughing and everyone else suppressed their snickers. I didn't understand what was so funny, until he whispered to me, "I'll take care of you…" SEDUCTIVELY
I suddenly noticed how his hand was stroking my thigh and his face was way closer to mine than necessary. "I don't swing that way…" I said, carefully.
"Nonsense," he replied. I swear my heart stopped before he continued. "Of course I don't think of you in that way…"
"Liar," I muttered under my breath as I felt his hand casually grope my butt.
It took us a few minutes to arrive. Bulat had tied a blindfold over me so I wouldn't know where their base was but I had a feeling it was more for his own pleasure than for practicality. When the blindfold was removed, I was in their hideout.
Their leader, at least who I assumed was their leader, had an eyepatch covering her right eye. She looked at me unenthusiastically. A cigarette laid in her mouth, unlit. "Who's this?" she asked.
"Ahhh, he's a boy we found in an alleyway," boob-girl said, bashfully.
"Their leader must be pretty strong for a usually outgoing girl like her to be acting this way," I thought, seeing her look at the others for help.
"And?"
"… And he was attacked by him. If we are able to get information of him out of him, then technically our mission was accomplished!"
The boss looked at me thoughtfully. "You said this kid left those marks on Sheele?"
"Well, I didn't say that but…." Leone trailed off after realizing her leader wasn't paying attention.
"Ok, kid," the boss said, looking at me in the eyes, "You have two…., no three choices. You can refuse to tell us anything and die, or you can tell us everything and live here under our watch…"
"What? I can't leave!" I interrupted, "I came to the Capital to save my village!"
The boss smiled, "I'm not done telling you the choices. You can also," she paused for suspense, I suppose, "Join us, Night Raid!" She threw her hands out in a flourish. The others looked at the leader in complete disbelief but none of them dared to let a single word escape. But, compared me, their surprise was nothing.
"Join Night Raid?" I asked, as if the notion of it was ridiculous. "You guys cause trouble in the Capital all the time!"
"And you think the Capital shouldn't be opposed, that the Capital is infallible and the sole voice of justice?" the boss asked me, smugly, like she knew what my answer was.
"No…," I muttered softly, "But I need to save my village."
She smiled. "Then, commit yourself to Night Raid, and we will change the corrupt Capital that is heavily taxing your village!"
"If that's how it is, then I guess this is my only choice. I'll do it," I announced.
Somehow, the boss' smile grew even more. "Very well, that's all for today. You are all dismissed!" As I turned to leave, she spoke again. "Tatsumi, stay. You too, Sheele."
After everyone left, the boss asked us to tell her what happened so I told her my story.
Then, Sheele told the boss about how she managed to repel the attacker without injury. Something was wrong about that though. I didn't know if Sheele was purposely lying but I know for sure that her legs were scratched up before I touched her.
"Maybe I shouldn't mention it, since Sheele is probably trying to show off," I thought.
I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize that both of them were staring at me. "Is something the matter, boy?" the boss asked, looking at me intently.
"Ah…" I knew I couldn't lie because of my poor lying skills and the boss' unnatural calculating mind so I decided to tell the truth. "Sheele was actually injured by the attacker. Her legs were freshly cut up before I attacked her."
I half-expected the boss to be angry at Sheele but instead, the complete opposite thing happened; she started laughing… When she finally stopped she said, "Sheele probably hurt herself, tripping on her scissors. Am I right?"
Sheele nodded sadly. I looked at her in shock, thinking, "I thought she was the normal one out of this bunch."
"Anyways from this, I guess we know the true effects of his teigu. It causes you to forget the owner's face after being attacked. That explains why all his victims couldn't describe him after they were attacked," the boss said, lighting her cigarette.
"Teigu? What's a Teigu? And who's the guy we keep referring to in pronouns?"
The boss puffed out a cloud of smoke before answering. "A Teigu is basically a weapon of great power. There's a huge origin story, and everything, but it's long so I won't tell you. And he…. Well, the fact is even we don't know his name. Speaking of which, we better make up a codename for him or something because the readers are going to get confused."
I ignored the boss' brief breaking of the fourth wall and carelessly let out a yawn.
"Well, I guess it's time for you to rest. You don't want to be tired the next day when Akame-chan is going to train you. Plus, that gives us a good place to end a chapter."
A/N Sorry I couldn't resist putting those"jokes" in. :)
Don't expect chapters to be uploaded within a day of each other. I only updated so quickly because the last chapter was really short and I didn't want to lose out on readers, since I didn't think such a weak and short 1st chapter would hook readers in.
From now on, I suppose I could update on a weekly basis, preferably on a certain day. But if I happen to miss a deadline, I'm sorry. I am in high school so it's hard. At least, for me... Don't make me feel bad!