Hello guys, I'm back with another chapter :P
Damn though... It's only been a little more than a week, and I already got 3 reviews, 7 favorites and 10 followers D: You guys are awesome :D Anyway, enjoy this new chapter :)
Soul in the Dream
CHAPTER 5
(Tatsumi's POV)
"We three swear that when we die, we die together!" "We're gonna get successful in the Capital and earn money!" "We're gonna save our poor hometown!", Sayo, Ieyasu and I had said before we departed from our village to the Capital.
"... And we even said stuff like that...", I mumbled, looking at my friends' graves. Leone did as she told me and went retrieve their bodies in the warehouse we found them in so that I could bury them properly. A lone tear escaped my eye as I remembered the state they were in when we discovered them. "It's... just me now..."
"HEEEYYY!~", I heard a familiar voice call out, making me jump in shock. I quickly turned around and saw Leone smiling at me.
"Whooooa!? What're you doing all of a sudden!", I yelled, my heart pounding rapidly.
"Don't keep sulking forever! It's been three days since then.", she replied. "Have you made your decision to become a part of Night Raid? Hitomi accepted on the spot, you know.", she added.
"This guy takes decisions way too fast...", I mumbled, sweatdropping.
* Flashback *
The morning after the warehouse incident...
"So,", said Leone as she eyed me and Hitomi. "Have you decided about joining Night Raid, you two?", she asked. I was still hesitant about this... It wasn't my intention to be an assassin in the first place.
"I-I'm not sure...", I replied, unsure. "Give me some time to think about it, okay?"
"I'm in!", Hitomi immediately said after. I stared at him, shocked at his quick answer. He seemed to notice. "We were gonna get into the army and kill random people in the borders, so why not get into an assassin group and kill random people in the Capital?", he shrugged. I swear, this guy...
"I wouldn't call them random people... but I guess your logic's fine.", said Leone, scratching the back of her head. "In any case, Hitomi, welcome to Night Raid!"
* End Flashback *
"Still~", said Leone as she grabbed my head and poked me on the nose. "I think you have talent for murder though~ Onee-san guarantees it~"
"... I'm not wavering because of talent and such... something like murder..." The blonde girl just smiled and took my head between her arm, dragging me along with her.
"Well, at any rate,", she said, still smiling. "I'll show you around the hideout today! By the way, this is in the mountains 10 km north of the Capital.", she explained.
"Is it okay leaving it so open!?", I asked, still struggling. "Aren't you assassins for hire!?"
(Normal POV)
"Huh? You haven't made your decision to join yet?", asked the scissor-wielding girl. Leone dragged Tatsumi in the meeting room, where two people were seated, reading. The purple-haired assassin lifted her eyes off her book when she asked her question. On the other side of the table, was Hitomi, reading a book of his own.
"Yeah, Sheele.", replied Leone. "Shower him with some warm words for me.", she asked the glass-wearing girl, Sheele.
"Mmm~", she pondered for a moment. She then raised her finger in realisation. "In the first place, now that you know the location of our hideout, you'll be killed if you don't become one of us you know?"
"That's so warm it's making me tear up.", Tatsumi deadpanned, a little scared of Sheele's 'warm words'. He heard Hitomi gently chuckle from the other side of the table.
"You should think it over carefully.", Sheele finished, returning to her book. Tatsumi, curious, bent over to see what kind of book the girl was reading.
'100 Ways to Fix Airheadedness', the title said. '... So this really is a gathering of weirdos after all.', Tatsumi thought. He then went to where Hitomi was seated. '100 Ways to Fix Psychopathic Behavior' was written on Hitomi's book's frontpage. 'God dammit, really!?', Tatsumi shook his head as a voice rang in the meeting room.
"Heeey! Wait a second, Leone!" It was the small pink-haired teen, who just entered the room. She was pointing a finger at Tatsumi. "Why're you letting that guy into the hideout!?", she asked rather aggressively. "The other guy, I'm fine with, but this one isn't even with us!"
"Don't worry, he'll come around.", Leone shrugged.
"He hasn't gotten the Boss' permission, either!", the pink-haired girl continued her rant. Hitomi raised his eyes from his book.
"I haven't gotten the Boss' permission either, you know..."
"No one asked you, newbie!"
"Sorry, sorry."
The small pink-haired assassin then stared down Tatsumi, as if analysing him. "Not qualified.", she finally said, turning her head away from him. "It doesn't seem like he'll be able to work with professionals like us at all... from looking at his face!"
"WHA!?", Tatsumi yelled as Hitomi guffawed loudly. "What was that, punk!?"
"Don't worry about it.", Leone reassured him. "Mine's like that to everyone."
"If it can make you feel better,", Hitomi added. "I didn't pass either."
"Well of course you wouldn't pass!", retorked the pink-haired teen, Mine. "Nobody ever seen you fight yet!"
"I suppose it's true...", the blonde boy shrugged, closing his book.
"This is the stress release area called the training grounds.", Leone explained as she continued her tour. Hitomi, bored of his book, decided to tag along.
"DORYAAAAA!", someone yelled. "HIYA! HIYA! HIYA! HIYA!"
"And over there,", Leone continued, pointing to a muscular man swinging a wooden spear around. "The one who clearly looks like he reeks of sweat, is Bulat."
"NWOOOOH!", Bulat yelled again as he spun the spear around, creating gusts of wind from the swings alone.
'... Amazing.', Tatsumi thought, impressed. 'What spearhandling!'
"Phewwww...", Bulat panted. "Ah, hey, it's Leone and... Hitomi, right?" Now that he stopped moving around, Tatsumi could see his face properly. He was tall, muscular, had blue eyes and black hair wore in a combed up, heart-shaped pompadour. "And, that boy is... the dude from before!"
"How do you know me?" Tatsumi asked, confused.
"He's the guy who was covered in armor the other day.", Hitomi answered. "You remember, right?"
"Oh, AHH!" Tatsumi realised.
"It's Bulat, nice to meet you!", the black-haired man greeted, holding his hand for Tatsumi to shake.
"H... Hi." the brown-hair stuttered as he shook the muscular man's hand. Leone then leaned towards the two teens.
"Be careful, you two.", she warned. "This guy's a homo."
"Hey, hey," Bulat said while smiling. "They'd misunderstand, right?", he added, blushing profusely while looking at Tatsumi.
'Deny it for me, please!', hoped the brown-haired teen, his skin turning white.
"Looks like you got a fan, buddy.", Hitomi teased. Tatsumi didn't reply, uncomfortable from his interaction with Bulat.
Somewhere outside, near a small lake, a figure was lying on its stomach, eyeing the body of water while panting. The figure in question was the green-haired teen, who was using his green coat to camouflage himself. "It's almost Leone's bathing time.", he said to himself, smirking in anticipation while waiting for his prey. "I won't think twice about the danger if it's to see those breasts!"
"Then how about I break two fingers.", said blonde proposed from behind him, making him scream in shock.
"BAAAAAAAA!"
"You never learn, Lubbo.", Leone stated, tightly holding the boy's fingers between her hand.
"Fuck! I can still go on! Forever!", announced the green-haired teen, wincing in pain.
"Then it's one arm next." Leone used her other arm to grab his arm and slowly twisted it. "... And so, this idiot is Lubbock!", she introduced as the green-haired teen struggled to free himself.
"No, in fact this is also good in and of itself!", Hitomi heard Lubbock say through his breath.
"Better luck next time, Lubbo.", he said to the young pervert. Over the last three days, he and Lubbock have become good friends, sharing... similar interests.
Releasing Lubbock, Leone looked around, searching for something. "Next is... maybe at the riverbed?", she pondered.
"I've kind of had enough already..." Tatsumi sighed as the group of three started walking away.
"Ahaha! It's a pretty girl next so you can look forward to it~", Leone reassured with a wink. "See, the one over there's Akame.", she pointed forward, where a fire was lit. "Isn't she cute?"
Tatsumi and Hitomi's eyes went wide as they saw the black-haired girl, Akame. She was sitting near the fire, where gently roasted a gigantic bird. Sometimes, the girl would stretch her arm to grab a piece of the bird to eat.
"I-Is that..?", Hitomi started.
"... an Evilbird!?", Tatsumi finished, shocked. The humongous black bird, known as an Evilbird, was known for being an extremely aggressive and powerful Danger Beast, one of its kind being able to destroy entire villages by themselves... And Akame was eating one.
"Wait...", Hitomi did a double take. "She killed an Evilbird by herself and is now eating it..!? Holy hell, this is hardcore..."
"Akame may look like that, but she grew up in the wild.", Leone added, crossing her arms in satisfaction. The black-haired girl turned her head, noticing the newcomers.
"You should eat too, Leone, Hitomi.", Akame said, tossing both blondes a piece of meat from the Evilbird.
"Oh, thanks!", Leone said, happily accepting the food. Hitomi eyed carefully the piece of meat, before taking a small bite. Moments later, the entire thing was in his mouth, being chewed with energy.
"Ohh gosh! Jhish ish goood~", Hitomi said, his mouth full of Evilbird meat.
Akame was about to give a piece to Tatsumi, but she refrained. "Did you... become one of us?", she asked him. He shook his head.
"No..."
"Then I still can't be giving this meat to you."
"God, you're missing something, Tatsumi.", Hitomi said, having swallowed his food. "It doesn't have any seasoning, yet it's better than most meat I ate in my entire life!"
"But still, aren't you being extravagant today, Akame?", Leone asked, curious.
"The Boss is back.", the black-haired teen answered, pointing at the other side of the fire, where another person was seated. It was a woman with short silver hair and a light purple left eye. She wore an eye patch over her right eye and sported a black suit. Her right arm was also mechanical, dark green in color.
"Yo.", the woman greeted. Leone happily went greet her.
"Welcome back, Boss! Do you have any souvenirs~?", she asked, smiling brightly.
"Putting that aside, Leone,", the Boss shrugged off her question. "In the job three days ago..." Her mechanical arm started to lightly shake. "It seems you went over the operation time, eh?"
'... Not good!', Leone thought. She was in trouble, and she knew it. She tried to run away, but the Boss' mechanical arm detached itself from the wrist and grabbed Leone's shoulder. With a screeching sound, the metal hand began to reel back towards the rest of the arm via a cable connecting the two parts.
"It's not good to enjoy fighting with a strong enemy too much...", the Boss advised. "Do something to fix that habit of yours."
"I got it, so stop that screeching sound!", the blonde girl pleaded.
"By the way, who are these young boys?", the Boss asked as she released Leone from her grip.
"Oh! That's right, Boss!" She took Tatsumi by the shoulders and presented him like a trophy. "I recommend these talented guys!"
"Hey! Stop doing that!", Tatsumi said, irritated that everyone decided for him that he was part of Night Raid.
"Do they show promise?", asked the silver-haired woman.
"They do.", replied Leone, remembering what happened three days prior, at the warehouse. "Well anyway, just give it a try!"
"Is this a part time job!?", Tatsumi asked, shocked.
"The wage is high, too.", Akame added, giving another piece of Evilbird to Hitomi, who happily accepted it.
"Is this a part time job!?", Tatsumi repeated. The Boss took a little time to think about what happened and her decision.
"Akame.", she finally said, obtaining the black-haired teen's attention. "Gather everyone in the meeting room. I want to hear the results of the previous operation." She then rose from her seat and grabbed her coat. "In detail, including about these two.", she finished, walking towards the hideout's direction.
So the boys (mainly Tatsumi though...) finally met the Night Raid members D:
You know what? I got a question for you guys if you want. You can answer in the Review section (duh!)
What type of relation do you think Hitomi will have with Night Raid's members?
Until then, see you next time :)
