"EVERYONE! EVERYONE GET UP!"
Tatsumi rubbed his ear at Akame's shouting. He figured she would be happy to see them, but he did not imagine her to be the type to be this thrilled. He turned his head and sweated when he saw Lubbock hugging every furniture he could. Both of them were acting like lunatics, and he could not ask for any more.
"Oh man I missed this portrait..." He heard Lubbock said as several footsteps entered the open room. Najenda, Leone, and Mine had ran out with their weapons.
"Akame! What's wrong!? Why-!" In the next moment, large breasts suffocated Tatsumi and strong arms tightened around his torso.
"We were so worried!" Leone cried out and Tatsumi found this hard to believe since she seemed very keen to kill him with her chest. "I figured you caught up with them-! I looked for Lubbock-! All Najenda found were his goggles-!"
"Leone!" His muffled voice cut her off and he was finally able to breathe. He glanced to the side and was surprised to see Najenda hugging Lubbock very tight. "W-We're fine. There was just a lot going on."
"We?" He pointed his finger in Lubbock's direction and in the next second, Lubbock was being suffocated by the two women.
Tatsumi smiled widely and chuckled a little. When he looked up, he blinked when he saw Mine staring at him with a blank expression.
"A-ah hi again?" He said with a small wave, wondering if the fiesty girl was planning to beat him up. Instead, she ran up and embraced him tightly.
"Don't ever disappear on us like that, you stupid shithead!" She swore and Tatsumi sweated, nonetheless touched by her concern.
"I don't plan to. We're here for good." He reassured while patting the top of her pink head. He then felt Akame hug him from behind and used his other hand to pat her head as well with a sweat.
"We're home."
In what seemed like forever, Tatsumi and Lubbock were finally released from the remaining members of Night Raid. Tatsumi had figured Lubbock would enjoy the breasts squeezing against him, but instead the older male was more content with being beside him in his bedroom.
"I'm happy." Lubbock muttered while rolling on his back on Tatsumi's bed. "Not like plain happy. But happy-happy. It's kinda hard to explain. I feel like jumping off a cliff." Lubbock said and Tatsumi laugh, only finding this cute.
"I understand what you mean. It's like the same feeling when we kiss." He compared. He paid no mind to Lubbock's embarrassed sound as he went through his drawer. It seemed like his whole room went untouched since he had left. Lubbock had came from his own room ten minutes ago and made himself comfortable on Tatsumi's bed.
"It might be too much to ask. But I want things to stay like this. How it should be." Lubbock said. Indeed it was a hard request because they have the lives of targeted assassins.
"Me too. And for you, I'll definitely see to it that things will stay the same." Tatsumi promised however. The rosy smile he knew and loved appeared on Lubbock's face and it further motivated him to keep the male happy.
Lubbock sat up and stood from the bed. At the same time, Tatsumi stepped in front of him and as though their minds became alike, their hands clasped together. It is quiet, intimate moments like these that made Tatsumi look forward to how their relationship could progress.
"You seriously make me happy." Tatsumi said with half-lidded eyes. "You always did. It's really amazing."
"And it's nice to know that after going through so much, you were there for me all the time. I'm grateful for that, just so you know." Lubbock said. "I know things haven't ended here, but I really like how this turned out."
"Then let's make every moment count." Tatsumi concluded and their eyes shut when their lips pressed together softly. He felt Lubbock lean against him with a content hum and chose to wrap his arms around the teen. His stomach gave off several butterflies when he realized how romantic they were being. Holding each other closely while keeping their lips locked seemed embarrassing, but at the same time he adored their position.
Eventually, they broke the kiss and Lubbock rested his head against Tatsumi's chest.
"Hey, we should ask them about your teigu." Tatsumi blinked.
"Oh yeah! How could I have forgotten already?" He exclaimed, although Lubbock continued to lean on him.
"We were too busy eating each other's faces off." Lubbock said.
"Ah... I doubt that was the case..." Tatsumi muttered as he let go of Lubbock. "I guess it's time to fill them in. And see how it was going with them in the meantime. Stop making that face, you would have said the same."
"I would have said it nicer..." Lubbock complained while crossing his arms. Tatsumi rolled his eyes and opened his door.
"Yeah well- ah!" Tatsumi had stumbled when Leone swooped in and hugged him in a death grip.
"I was wondering when you'd ever come out, cutie!" She said and Tatsumi was only able to move his head back from her chest.
"Were you just standing there the whole time...?"
"Well we need to play catch up~" Leone responded with a wink. Tatsumi suddenly felt a hand grab his jacket from behind. He sweated when he could practically feel a dark aura behind him.
"U-Um me and Lubba are coming out. We were planning on that anyway."
"I meant just the two of us~ Ow!" Tatsumi winced when Leone had yelped and Lubbock was already walking out.
"My bad, I didn't see your foot." Lubbock said. Leone pouted and before she could do anything else, Tatsumi quickly caught up behind Lubbock. Of course, he had saw that Lubbock made sure to stomp hard on her foot while exiting.
"You know, if we keep laying low like this, she won't take the hint." Tatsumi muttered in his ear.
"..."
"Alright, we'll talk about it later."
They found a time to meet up with everyone in the living room. Tatsumi sat next to Lubbock and hoped the girls did not find it weird that their legs were touching. Or that their cheeks were tinged pink from the contact. Akame sat beside him and Mine, Leone, and Najenda sat in another couch before them.
"I think it's best for you boys to go first." Najenda announced. Tatsumi nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Lubba?" Lubbock nodded too.
"Okay. Well, it kind of started in the middle of our mission you assigned us," Lubbock started off, "Turns out, our follower was a decoy for the Wild Hunt group. Tatsumi and I encountered them and things didn't end so well."
"We got separated," Tatsumi said, "I ended up fighting this guy named Budou and he had a teigu. He was... too strong so I was beaten down and arrested. Then..." He clearly could not continue and he was extremely glad when Lubbock filled in.
"Basically, I killed Shura and his teleporting teigu sent me into some spikes. I don't know why, but CrossTail also broke so I wasn't really able to get myself out of that one. In fact, I thought it was basically over for me."
Tatsumi slumped in his seat a little as he remembered the dark experience. He could vividly recall himself screaming Lubbock's name as his body hung wistfully in the spikes.
"Anyway, I was held captive in a cell and Esdeath showed up." Najenda narrowed her eyes when he had mentioned the woman's name. "She wanted me to join her side but obviously I couldn't find it in myself to betray you guys."
"Then what?" Akame asked.
"She still persisted and even made insane suggestions like brainwashing me. So I... kind of said I liked someone else to get her stop." Tatsumi admitted with a wince. Nonetheless it had worked, too well that is.
"So as a result she was going to execute you. Crazy ass woman." Mine commented. "Well we know what went from there. How did you guys get back here in a few weeks after disappearing that night for so long?"
"I was getting to that. Najenda, I'm sure you know Armon. He was the one that helped us get us back on our feet." Tatsumi said. "We made some stops. I had to find a replacement weapon cause I don't have Incursion. Unless you guys found it...?" He hinted at.
"No, we believe the Capitol has a hold of it. Perhaps one of their souldiers took custody of it." Leone said. Tatsumi made sure to plan a visit to the Imperial Army.
"Okay. Since Lubba turned out to be alright we went to his-" Tatsumi paused when he felt Lubbock nudge his side. "W-We went to hide out for a bit. It kind of took us a while after running into all sorts of danger beasts." He excused.
"Makes sense. We were actually planning a big mission on getting to the Capitol. We felt like the war has dragged on too long. We didn't want to make it official until for sure we had lost two great assassin, but here you two are." Najenda said.
"Looks like its safe to say it official." Akame said. Tatsumi nodded and Leone jumped up.
"That's right!" Tatsumi and Lubbock blinked when she ran out before coming back a few seconds later.
"The night I had searched for Lubbock, I ran into his thread. The Prime Minister had them collected but after the commotion we caused, no soldiers were guarding it so I was able to sneak it. I figured if your strings were collected, they had you captured too. So that's why I kept searching the cells." Tatsumi wanted to ask what Lubbock was going to do with a box full of thread but the male had already stood up.
"You're the best, Leone!" Lubbock explained while grabbing the box. "I can easily make a replica holder for it!" While the two hopped up and down together from excitement, Tatsumi sweated and watched them with everyone else.
"We can go to the Capitol at the end of this week. For now, we shall prepare, get every piece of every info possible, and recruit as much people as possible for the Revolutionary Army." Najenda said as she stood. "It's time to make things end once and for all. Tatsumi, you're cooking supper."
Tatsumi gaped in disbelief as everyone agreed simultaneously.
"Hehe... back from the kitchen?"
Tatsumi narrowed his eyes and threw the dish towel in at Lubbock's face.
"Fortunately." Tatsumi then said and sat on his bed while taking off his shirt. Lubbock, who had been sitting on the floor, tossed the towel to the side and grinned widely.
"Back to the normal routine. At least be happy about that." He said, climbing onto his bed. Tatsumi grabbed a white shirt to slip on for bed, but Lubbock had grabbed his wrist.
"What?"
"... Don't... just for tonight." Tatsumi immediately understood and put the shirt back in his dresser.
"They're next door you know." He said and that statement made Lubbock blush heavily.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Lubbock retorted embarrassedly and he slipped into the covers. Tatsumi smiled and followed along.
"I know. It's just fun to tease you." He said as he laced their fingers together. Lubbock scooted against him, clearly still annoyed. However, he was pressing close against Tatsumi's bare chest.
"What will the girls think if they found us sleeping together like this?" He asked while burrowing his head in the nape of Tatsumi's shoulder. Tatsumi had not thought too much about that. He was very neutral about how he and Lubbock should act. Either way, he is still going to express his love and care for the other boy.
"I don't mind. We're getting closer to confrontation." He said, using his other hand to caress Lubbock's necklace.
"... Then I don't mind either." Lubbock said. Tatsumi hummed.
"Really?"
"Yeah. This is new for me. Being close to someone in this way. As an assassin, I should cherish every moment, not try to make it as discreet and non-existent as possible." Lubbock explained.
"Good, cause I feel the same. I want to try out new experiences with you." Tatsumi said as he pecked the male's forehead. "Then after everything is over, I want to take you to my village. My folks would like you." He felt Lubbock smile against his neck.
"I'd really like that." The older teen murmured and soon, Tatsumi felt him drift off. With a last peck, he closed his eyes and held their hands together tightly.
