Hello everyone. Sorry this chapter took some time. I was on vacation for pretty much all of Spring Break without any internet. This chapter is not as long as the previous one, but I can promise the next one will be longer.
Anyways, I'm going to put up a poll on my profile I'd like everyone to participate in. Should Midoriya and Bakugou get their own Imperial Arms? If you readers decide yes, I've already got an idea laid out for Izuku. But I'll leave Bakugou's up to reader suggestion.
The poll will close on April 8.
Anyways, on with the show.
I do not own Akame Ga Kill or My Hero Academia.
OST Skyreach
Chapter 2, Kill the Assassins
Izuku and Tatsumi stood more than a dozen meters away from the girl threatening both them, and Aria. Despite her stoic expression, she somehow sent murderous daggers into both boys.
"...I've only heard the rumors. But that blade will kill you with even the tiniest scratch." Tatsumi said. Izuku felt his anxiety shoot through the roof.
"H-huh? What!? No way!" Izuku blurted out. He paused for a moment to think.
'I caught a glimpse of the guard shortly after the girl cut him. It's like some extremely fast acting toxin.' Izuku thought. 'Unlike Tatsumi, I won't have any chance to block a hit from her…...Dammit.'
"You stay behind me, you don't even have a blade to parry with." Tatsumi demanded. Izuku couldn't argue with that. His costume didn't even offer him any sort of armor, only minor support for his limbs.
"Tatsumi… I hope you know what you're doing." Izuku said.
"I do, don't worry about me. Protect lady Aria!" Izuku paused for a moment, then nodding as he backed away to protect the young girl. Izuku watched as the two sword wielders dashed forward. Tatsumi clashed with the girl, the latter not even trying. Izuku had a hard time following her movements as she leapt into the air, delivering a kick to Tatsumi's chest. The boy stumbled over, surprised.
"Eliminate" The girl said, preparing to jab him with the blade. Izuku had to do something. Tatsumi was about to die before his eyes. The situation reminded him of his encounter with the Hero Killer Stain. Only this scenario was much more deadly. While Stain would merely paralyze with the tiniest nick, this girl would kill with the tiniest nick.
"No!" Izuku shouted. He was too late to do anything to help Tatsumi. The blade stabbed into his chest, causing Tatsumi to stumble over.
"Tatsumi!" Aria shouted, worried. Izuku was sure of it. He'd see the same black symbols he saw on the guard's body creep across Tatsumi's face as he died. However, Tatsumi stood up. Izuku gasped.
"You won't even lower your guard and come near me." Tatsumi commented. The girl kept Tatsumi at a distance, pointing her sword at him.
"I didn't feel any flesh." She replied.
"B-but how did he-" Izuku stuttered. Tatsumi pulled out a small stone figure from his shirt.
"Everyone from my village protected me." Tatsumi said, showing her the object. Izuku couldn't feel relieved just yet. After all, Tatsumi had gotten lucky, ridiculously lucky. That kind of luck never comes around twice.
'This is bad, she's going to go after him again, and she's guaranteed to get a scratch in at the very least.' Izuku clenched his fists, grinding his teeth at the same time. 'But If I try to get in there, she'll cut me as well. And even if I could land a hit, she's not someone I can only defeat with 5% of One For All. Not by myself anyways. And who knows if she has any other crazy abilities.'
"Damn it….. What do I do" Izuku mumbled through gritted teeth. The girl raised her katana in an offensive stance.
"Eliminate." She said, placing Tatsumi in a state of fear.
'No…. I can't allow this to happen.' Izuku thought. He stepped forward. The girl got ready to charge straight at Tatsumi, who gripped his own blade tightly.
'It looks like I don't have a choice, if I want to save those two…..'
"Tatsumi, Aria, get out of the way, now!" Izuku screamed. Tatsumi glanced at Izuku for a second.
"W-why?"
"Just do it!" Izuku said as he raised his right arm, pinning his pinky finger against his thumb in a flicking fashion. As All Might once put it, One For All's power could be represented as a flame. The brighter and hotter it burned, the greater the power that can be discharged. Izuku's flame was barely a whisp at the moment. But even that whisp could easily generate enough power to kill a person with a direct hit. A scenario Izuku would like to avoid.
'My pinky is my weakest finger. I want to cause as little damage as possible…. I doubt it will knock her down for good, but it will give us a little breathing room. Hopefully by the time she gets up, Kacchan will join us, and can keep her at a distance with his explosions.'
Izuku allowed One For All to its fullest extent flow through his pinky finger. The limb bulged with power, glowing brightly. The sheer amount of power building up managed to draw the girl's attention. She turned, facing Izuku. The massive buildup of power drew her attention away from Tatsumi.
"I'm sorry, whoever you are!" Izuku shouted. For a split second, she seemed confused.
"100% DELAWARE SMASH!" Izuku allowed his pinky to flick forwards. A massive torrent of air rushed across the clearing in under a second. The Assassin was unable to react as the torrent of air slammed into her body.
"AHHHHHH!" She screamed in a combination of pain and surprise. The windstorm rustled the nearby forest, knocking a few trees over. The girl slammed into the top of a tree as it toppled over.
"Arghhhh." Izuku squeezed his throbbing hand, his pinky finger bruised red from the broken bones. The last time he'd been forced to use 100% of One For All was in the Sports Festival against Shouto Todoroki. He was somewhat used to the pain, but it still hurt like hell.
"Damn it…." Izuku muttered as the windstorm cleared. Tatsumi and Aria peaked out from around the Storehouse, staring at Izuku with a mix of awe, and fear.
'What? That kind of power from a finger flick? Who is this guy.' Tatsumi thought, glad he was on his side.
"Shit…. That must've hurt." Tatsumi muttered, looking over to the trees where the girl flew. He looked back at Izuku, who was shaking from pain.
"Tatsumi, what happened?" Aria asked.
"I think the girl trying to kill us is knocked out, we're safe for now." Tatsumi said, leading the girl out from cover and towards Izuku. Izuku smiled a little upon seeing them.
"You two a-all right?"
"I think we should be asking that question. Did you… hurt yourself?" Tatsumi asked, taking notice to Izuku cradling his hand.
"My pinky is broken" Izuku replied with pain in his voice.
"Do you think she's knocked out?" Tatsumi asked. Izuku shook his head.
"Doubt it. I didn't want to kill her by accident…. The force I used will probably keep her down for a moment." Izuku replied.
"We can't risk making a break for it just yet. There could be more Assasains hiding out in the sorrounding area." Tatsumi said.
"I see, speaking of….where is the rest of Night Raid, they must be close." Izuku said.. They then heard several loud booms, and spotted rising smoke in the distance.
'Kacchan….' Izuku thought. 'He could be in trouble!' Izuku thought. Before Izuku could make any more moves, a woman he'd seen before stepped into the clearing.
"That's a hell of a power you have there kid. What kinda Imperial Arms do you use?" Izuku's eyes widened when he confirmed it was Leone, the woman that had given him and Bakugou advice the previous day. Tatsumi had a different reaction. His face twisted into that of anger.
"Hey! You're those boobs from earlier!" Tatsumi exclaimed angrily. Leone waved at him, smiling playfully.
"That's right, the beautiful lady."
"Hold on, you two know each other?"
"Yeah, what a coincidence right?" Izuku instantly snapped out of his surprise, frowning.
"But hold on, you're with these Night Raid monsters aren't you? Why? Why are you killing innocent people?" Before Leone could answer, Izuku caught a glimpse of the girl from earlier climbing out of the tree she'd crashed into. Her arms were covered with cuts and bruises, but she was alive. At the same time, more and more explosions occurred, getting closer to the clearing. Eventually, a few trees shattered into splinters as Bakugou blasted his way out of the forest.
"Deku!" Bakugou screamed, propelling himself over to him with his explosions.
"K-Kacchan, where were you?"
"I ran into some punk wearing armor, but the asshole just wouldn't go down!" Bakugou answered. Bakugou looked at Leone. His face twisted into a scowl.
"You!? How the hell can you be here? Let me guess, you're withy those Night Raid freaks aren't ya?"
"Oh nice to see you again as well Bakugou." Leone replied in a friendly tone. Bakugou raised his right hand, priming an explosion.
"You better start explaining yourself, or die!"
As Bakugou said that, the girl from earlier charged towards them, aiming her katana for Bakugou.
'Oh crap.' Izuku thought as she charged towards him with more speed than before. However, Leone stepped in, grabbing the girl her jacket. She looked at Leone with a blank, jet slightly irritated expression.
"What are you doing?"
"Take it easy Akame, we still have time right? I owe these kids a favor. Figured I'd repay it."
"Favor?" Izuku muttered.
"You both said something about killing the innocent right? Will you be able to say the same after seeing this?" Leone walked over to the door of the Storehouse, kicking it open, scattering the pieces of the door across the inside of the building. Izuku, Bakugou and Tatsumi stepped forward to get a closer look. The three stopped in their tracks at what they saw. Dozens of people hanging on hooks, chains, and strapped to tables, and a myriad of other torture devices Izuku had only seen in history books. The building stunk of death, and blood.
"W-what What the hell is this!?" Tatsumi shouted, disgusted.
"Oh my god!" Izuku stumbled backwards at the revolting scene.
"What the actual fuck!?" Bakugou shouted.
"This is but a sliver of the Capital's darkness. This family lures people from the countryside with sweet words, torturing them, and playing with them until they're dead." Leone explained.
"I-I fucking knew it. I knew this family was hiding something." Bakugou grumbled. Izuku focused on not losing his dinner. The horrible sight froze him, his eyes and mouth were agape. Tatsumi stepped forward, his eyes drawn to a girl hanging from the ceiling. She has black hair, with a flower in it. However, her body had cuts on just about every part of it.
"S-Sayo…. Hey, Sayo. Is that you Sayo?"
"Y-you know her?" Izuku stuttered. As Tatsumi examined his dead friend, Aria's face flashed a nervous look as she turned away. Bakugou walked up to her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Hold it right there scum. You're with this family, so don't you dare play the innocence card." Bakugou warned.
"B-But I never even knew this place existed." Bakugou shot Aria a hostile glare.
"B-but how could such n-nice people do something so horrible?" Izuku asked, sweating profusely.
"Did you not hear me? That's just what they do to get their victims to lower their guard. It nearly worked on you boys as well." Leone said. Izuku had to admit, she had a point. He then turned to Akame, the girl who'd been on the receiving end of his Delaware Smash.
"B-but why are you killing the guards? They were just doing their jobs."
"As servants of this family, they were well aware of what was happening. The fact that they kept quiet is enough." Leone retorted. Izuku couldn't respond. Bakugou let out a low growl.
'I don't like it one bit, but I can't argue with that.' Bakugou thought. Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but shook his head, closing it.
"That's a lie, I swear I had no idea about this place!" Aria pleaded. Izuku couldn't sense any malicious intent from the girl, and believed he saw innocents in her eyes.
"Kacchan, take it easy. You heard what she said." Izuku said.
"Shut up Deku, how old is she? 15? I doubt she'd go this long without knowing of this place. The fact that she tried to run away is suspicious enough."
"What he said." Akame commented.
"I-Izuku, Tatsumi. Will you believe me, the one who saved you. Or these monsters?"
Izuku and Tatsumi were unsure at this point. Bakugou brought forth a solid argument. A truly innocent person wouldn't try to flee a crime scene right away. Izuku was conflicted. Half of him wanted to believe Aria, and half of him wanted to believe Bakugou and the members of Night Raid.
"Tatsumi!" Someone called from within the building. Tatsumi turned to his left, seeing his friend Ieyasu. Izuku stepped into the building with Tatsumi. He winced upon seeing the boy's body covered in sickly red spots, and blood trickling out of his mouth. Izuku could tell that the boy was keeping himself alive on will alone.
"It's you, right Tatsumi?"
"I-Ieyasu?"
'Two of his friends are in this hellhole?' Izuku thought.
"That girl invited me and Sayo into her home. After we ate, we lost consciousness-" Bakugou gripped Aria's shoulder, tossing her to the ground.
"I've heard enough, lets ship this bitch off to a prison or something and be done with it." He grumbled, Aria cried out in pain as she fell to the ground.
"T-that girl tortured Sayo to death!" Ieyasu said. Izuku slowly turned to face Aria. He clenched his fists, and teeth. The girl had him fooled. Bakugou was right all along. At last, Aria lost it. She stood up, pushing Bakugou away.
"The hell is so wrong with that?"
"YOU'RE ALL WORTHLESS HICKS FROM THE COUNTRY, LIVESTOCK RIPE FOR THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE. I'M FREE TO DO WHATEVER i WANT TO THEM NOW AREN'T I? THAT BITCH HAD SOME OF THE SMOOTHEST HAIR I'VE EVER SEEN, WHILE I STRUGGLE WITH MY UNRULY HAIR! WHO THE HELL DOES SHE THINK SHE IS? CATTLE HAVE NO RIGHT TO SUCH A TRAIT. SO THAT'S WHY I MADE SURE SHE SUFFERED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!
Izuku's heart pounded in his chest. The bloodlust coming from the seemingly innocent girl was nearly as intense as the bloodlust emitted by the Hero Killer Stain in his last stand. He felt a mix of shock, and anger. Izuku was angry at himself for nearly falling to her tricks, and defending her supposed innocence.
"A family of sadists disguised as good samaritans. Sorry for getting in your way." Leone said to Akame. Akame raised her blade, prepared to end the girl's life.
"Eliminate." Akame said.
"Wait!" Tatsumi said. Leone shot him a look of disbelief.
"Don't tell me, you still want to defend her?" Bakugou delivered a swift backhand with his gauntleted hand, knocking Aria to the ground, causing a little blood to trickle from her nose.
"Go on, scum like her can never be redeemed." Bakugou said.
"Kacchan!?" Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing. Bakugou was going to let Night Raid kill Aria? Such a move would've ruined any hero's publicity back home.
"I'm not defending her." Tatsumi said, taking out his sword. " I'll kill her!" He yelled. In a moment of rage, Tatsumi sliced Aria in half.
Izuku still couldn't form a response. He was against killing, as all heroes in his world were. However, he couldn't bring himself to oppose Tatsumi's action. Bakugou was right. Aria had no place in society anywhere, and needed to be put down regardless.
'So much death in one afternoon….. What kind of world did we end up in?' Izuku thought.
"T-thanks Tatsumi… I needed that." Ieyasu choked, then throwing up blood. Tatsumi was snapped out of his rage.
"Ieyasu!" Tatsumi ran over to his dying friend. Izuku stayed still.
'He lost two friends right on the spot… Poor guy.' Izuku thought. 'If that were Ida or Ochako on those chains or behind those bars, would I have acted any different?' Izuku squelched the scenario immediately. As the bearer of One For All, he couldn't even begin to think about taking a life.
"I want to go home." Izuku whimpered, suppressing the urge to cry.
"What the hell is this place?" Tatsumi cried. Izuku turned to Bakugou.
"Kacchan, what do we do?"
"Don't look at me Deku, why the hell would I know?" Bakugou growled. Izuku sighed, waiting for what would happen next.
"Well then, time to go." Akame said, walking out of the Storehouse.
"Wait, why don't we take them with us?" Leone said. Bakugou and Izuku tensed up upon hearing that. "We're always short on personnel, and those two must wield Imperial Arms. Leone grabbed Tatsumi by the collar, dragging him out.
"Ahh put me down, I have to bury my friends!" Tatsumi cried.
"I'll bring their bodies back to the hideout later."
"We don't have an Imperial whatevers stripper lady!" Bakugou growled.
"Then how else did your friend blow me away with a flick of his pinky?" Akame asked.
"Deku's flashy little power? Pff, don't ask me"
"And how do you create explosions? I watched your little scuffle with one of our comrades." Leone said.
'I don't want to seem suspicious, I might as well play along with it.' Izuku thought.
"Y-yeah we have Imperial Arms… Kacchan here likes to hide it for some reason." Izuku blurted out. Bakugou shot him a venomous look for a few seconds, before letting out a defeated growl.
"Pff, yeah whatever."
"Sweet. We could use heavy hitters like you two, so why don't you come with us?" Leone asked again.
"I'm guessing you're not going to take no for an answer are you?" Izuku asked.
"Well, as you can see I am with Night Raid, me along with Mine, and Lubbock over here aren't wanted. So if you don't come with us, we'll have to kill you." Izuku gulped. Lubbock, the green haired boy smiled, humorously.
"Ooops, now you really gotta come with us." He said in a friendly, yet somehow threatening tone.
"Kill us?"
"Hmph, I'd love to see you try. I'm not joining your stupid little gang." Bakugou snorted.
"Yeah, I'm a H-... I would never join a band of murderers like you!" Izuku shouted. He had to restrain himself from admitting his true profession. The previous day he managed do get Bakugou to agree to a false background that they were immigrants from a far away country.
'Crap, it just had to be like this….' Izuku looked at the group of people standing on wires high above. There were three of them. One was a girl with pink hair tied in pigtails, holding a large gun. Another with green hair, coat, and a pair of red goggles. And a third large armored figure who bore a slight resemblance to Ida's Hero Costume.
Bakugou looked at the members of Night Raid. 'I can take any of these nerds no problem one on one. But even with Deku's stupid little ass, and that Tats guy or whatever his name is, it would be stupid to try and fight them all.' Bakugou thought. 'But if I can hit them all at once with my Howitzer Impact…. Fuck. It's a risky move, but I refuse to give in to these assholes.'
'That Akame girl and that guy with the armor are the biggest threats here. The former I can't even get near without dying, the latter could probably take tons of 5% smashes no problem. I don't know the abilities of the others, nor do I have time to analyse them. Using 100% is a no go. Recovery Girl is not here to heal my wounds, and my pinky is driving me nuts. Joining these people is the last thing I want to do. But unless I want to die….Besides… if it weren't for them me and Kacchan could've been killed by Aria' Izuku hated it, but he and Bakugou did technically owe their lives to Night Raid.
Leone's expression turned serious. "Young man, If you don't join, we will have to kill you. What will it be? I'd hate for your potential to go to waste." She said, her tone turning friendly again.
Izuku exhaled deeply, allowing his shoulders to relax.
'I can try to escape them later. For now I need to save my strength, and live to fight another day.'
"I don't want to die… so fine. I'll come with you."
"Hold on, don't tell me we're actually taking these three with us!?" Mine, the girl with pink hair wined.
"The explosions from that blonde one are nothing to laugh at. He even managed to knock me down." The armored figure said.
"I watched the other one blast Akame away with just a flick of his pinky. No way we're passing him up." Lubbock, the green haired boy said. Akame sheathed her katana, and slowly walked up to Izuku. The bearer of One For All tensed as she approached him, her icy look never faltering. She grabbed his right hand, holding it up to get a closer look.
'What is she doing?'' Akame's eyes focused on Izuku's twisted pinky finger.
"Strange. It seems you're not accustomed to using your Imperial Arms." She said, dropping his hand. "You shouldn't try to wield a weapon that rejects you, or is too powerful for your body to handle."
"Uh…. ummm it's the… latter." Izuku said, nervous.
'She figured out my weakness so soon?' Izuku thought, puzzled.
"Not to worry, we can whip all three of them into shape in no time." The armored figure said. Akame turned away from Izuku, joining her comrades who were now standing on the roof of the Storehouse.
'Whatever Teigu he wields is powerful, but without proper training some can often damage, or even kill the wielder.' Akame thought.
"Well, we've gotta get moving. Made your mind up Bakugou?" Leone asked.
Bakugou's face trembled, veins bulging on his head. 'Which one of these bastards should I go after first? I don't know their abilities, or how strong the others are individually…. Damn it' Bakugou's pride was on the line. Could he really win such an encounter?
'As stupid as they look, they mean business.I don't like this one bit, but It would be in my best interest to cooperate for now.' Bakugou thought, giving in to his more rational side.
"Fine, I'll come with your stupid little group." Bakugou said in a low growl. Leone smiled in satisfaction.
"Excellent choice you three. Welcome to the team!"
"Hold on, how come we don't have a say in this?" Tatsumi asked.
"Give it up, Leone always gets her way." Akame said.
"See? My best friend here knows." Leone said in a cheery tone, patting Akame's head. Izuku's shoulders slumped, frowning.
"What have I gotten myself into?" Izuku muttered.
"Bulat, you grab Tatsumi and Izuku, Bakugou is mine." Leone said. The armored figure, Bulat grabbed Tatsumi and Izuku under both of his arms.
"Hey! Let me go come on!" Tatsumi fruitlessly pounded his fists on the arm restraining him. Izuku remained still.
"Tatsumi, give up. We don't really have a choice here." Izuku said.
"Let go of me you stupid blonde bitch!" Bakugou screamed, flailing around in Leone's grasp.
"Hah hah hah… your little temperament is so adorable you know that?"
Night Raid leapt off of the wires the stood on, carrying Tatsumi, and the two heroes in training away.
'This is bad.' Izuku thought.
Aannnddd that is a close. I hope I did well with this chapter. Please follow/fav/review if you like. They're all much appreciated.
Next time on Deku ga Kill!
Midoriya and Bakugou learn about Night Raid's objectives, and the true nature of the world they've found themselves in. Will the flee their captors? Or join their battle?