I realized with Bulat living, Tatsumi can't have Incursio, so I'll think of a new Teigu for Tatsumi to have. As a result, it might be a little weird, but I'll figure that out when it comes. Enjoy Ch. 2! :)

Chapter 2

Tatsumi sighed as he sat by the graves of his friends. After the whole ordeal, Leone had returned to the house and brought their bodies back, where they now rested in the forest.

A tear slid silently down Tatsumi's cheek as he remembered the adventures they had together, from when they left the village to when they had been separated.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by something warm and soft pressing against his back. Instantly alert, Tatsumi jumped away, face red. "Woooah! What are you trying to do?"

Leone laughed at his reaction. "Stop sulking already, it's been two days. Have you made your decision yet?"

"I-" Tatsumi started, but was cut off by Leone throwing an arm around his shoulder.

"I think you have talent for this stuff!" She poked him in the cheek, grinning. "Onee-san guarantees it!"

Tatsumi glanced to the side. "It's not about the talent or anything…"

There was a moment of silence, then Leone said enthusiastically, "Well, at any rate, I'll show you around the base today!"

She began walking, with Tatsumi in tow, ignoring his cries of protest. A large, metal building came into view, built into the side of a cliff. "By the way," Leone added as they approached. "We're in the forest about 6 miles north of the capital."

Tatsumi gawked as they got closer. "Why is it so big?! Can't people see it from far away?"

Leone laughed. "Nah, it's fine."

The first room they walked into when they entered the building was a large room with a long table in the center, and a fireplace at one end. The purple-haired girl who wielded the scissors was sitting at the table, reading a book. "This is the meeting room." Leone gestured.

The girl looked up as they entered. "Hey Leone."

"Hi Sheele." Leone greeted. Ruffling Tatsumi's hair, she said, "This guy hasn't made his decision to join yet. Shower him with some warm words for me, will ya?"

Sheele turned to Tatsumi. He gulped, not quite sure what she was going to say. "Now that you know where our base is, you'll be killed if you don't join us."

Tatsumi's jaw dropped to the floor. Are all of them like this?

As Sheele returned to reading her book, Leone steered Tatsumi away towards the next room with a nervous chuckle.

"That was so warm, I feel like I'm sitting in a fire." Tatsumi grumbled, doubting the length of his lifespan.

Leone laughed. "Don't worry. She's just kidding… I think. That's Sheele, by the way."

"You THINK?!" Tatsumi yelled. "I value my life, thank you very much!"

But Leone wasn't listening. They had emerged into an open training area of sorts, where a very muscly man was spinning a spear around his body.

"Woah." Tatsumi's eyes widened, admiring his technique. "He's good."

"Yep." Leone grinned. "That's Bulat."

The man stopped when he noticed the two of them and walked over, wiping away sweat with a towel. "Hey, it's Leone. And you're that guy from the other day, aren't you? How do you like the base?"

Wait, I've never met him. How does he know me? Tatsumi's confused look was obviously picked up, because Bulat laughed and explained, "I was the suit of armor, remember now?"

"Ohh." Tatsumi vaguely remembered the armored man from that day.

"Careful." Leone whispered, bending down next to Tatsumi's ear. "This guy's a homo."

"Hey." Bulat said, smiling at Tatsumi. "Don't tell him that. He'll misunderstand."

What.

What.

Tatsumi's jaw dropped in shock once again. Is this place a gathering of weirdos?

"Don't creep out the new guy, Bulat." Leone said with a laugh before turning to walk away. "Come on Tatsumi, let's go find the others."

Tatsumi followed Leone, glancing back to see that Bulat had returned to his training. Finding some relief in the fact that he wasn't staring after them, Tatsumi turned forward to find himself face-to-face with a short pink-haired girl. Two very long ponytails fell from either side of her head, and she wore a pink dress, the same color as her hair.

"Heeeey!" She pointed at Tatsumi, addressing Leone angrily. "Wait, Leone! Why is he inside the base?"

"Because he's one of us." Leone stated matter-of-factly.

"Not yet, is he?" The girl shouted. "He doesn't have the boss's approval yet, either!" She whipped around to face Tatsumi, sizing him up.

Tatsumi stared uncomfortably back at her, wishing she wasn't glaring at him so angrily. His prayers were answered when she huffed, turning and crossing her arms. "Not qualified at all. He won't be able to handle working with professionals like us. I can tell just by looking at his face."

For the third time that day, Tatsumi found his mouth falling open in shock and annoyance. WHAT? IS THAT EVEN A THING?

Leone laughed, ruffling Tatsumi's hair again. "It's okay. Mine's like that to everyone she meets."

"Hmph." Mine walked past them, heading for the meeting room.

After that encounter, Tatsumi was less than eager to meet to the rest of Night Raid, but Leone pushed him on. They exited the building, heading into the woods. "The other two should be around here somewhere." Leone said, searching the area as they walked.

Just then, they heard a voice up ahead. Tatsumi caught bits and pieces about bathing and Leone's breasts, but couldn't make out the whole thing. Leone, on the other hand, facepalmed, sighing. "That Lubbock."

As they rounded a bush, Tatsumi saw the green-haired guy from the other day sitting behind a bush, staring out at a pool in a clearing.

Leone grabbed him from behind, putting him into an armlock. "How about I break both your arms instead?"

"FUCK!" The guy screamed in surprise and pain, "I can still go on! I won't… submit!"

Tatsumi swore his jaw would break from the amount of times it was hitting the ground. What is with these people?

Leone turned to Tatsumi with a smile as the guy screamed profanities and colorful words. "And so… this idiot is Lubbock. You're not a girl, so you should be safe."

Tatsumi deadpanned. Safe from what?

Leone rose, leaving Lubbock lying on the ground, and led Tatsumi away. Tatsumi turned, trying to catch a glimpse of the poor guy. "Wait, are we just going to leave him lying there?" Tatsumi asked incredulously.

"He'll be fine." Leone waved a hand, laughing. "Last one's a pretty girl, so you can look forward to it."

"I think I've had enough already…" Tatsumi groaned, feeling a little dead inside.

They emerged onto a riverbank. The first thing Tatsumi noticed was the giant bird, the size of two or three humans, roasting over a fire. The second thing he noticed was the dark-haired girl silently sitting next to the fire, munching on a drumstick. Her katana lay on the ground next to her, reflecting the sunlight.

"Wha-!" Tatsumi recoiled in shock. "Is that an evilbird? Did she kill that by herself?!"

Leone chuckled, looking a little proud. "She may look like that, but Akame's probably the most assassin-y out of all of us."

Akame turned as they approached, tossing Leone a drumstick as well. "Hi Leone, you should eat too."

Then she turned to Tatsumi, silently judging him for a few seconds before asking, "Have you decided to join us yet?"

"No…" Tatsumi feared she was going to kill him or something. After all, she almost had twice, if Leone hadn't stopped her.

"Then you can't have any of this meat." Akame protectively shielded the meat she had in her hands, as if it was her baby.

I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY! Tatsumi resisted the urge to shout, for fear of a katana through his heart.

"Anyway," Leone piped up, eating through her drumstick. "Why so extravagant today, Akame?"

"The boss is back." Akame said, tilting her head.

"Yo." A woman with short white hair and an eyepatch over her right eye leaned out from behind the giant bird.

Leone waved, smiling. "Yo, boss! Did you bring any souvenirs?"

Completely ignoring Leone's question, she stood up, and Tatsumi saw that she had a mechanical right arm. "Anyway, Leone… I heard that in the job a few days ago… you spent a little too much time taking your target down."

Leone froze, and her smile wavered. Without another word, she turned and ran. The boss stood up and held her mechanical arm up. Her hand shot out, attached to a thick metal coil, and grabbed Leone's shoulder, dragging her back to the camp. The girl's flailing and yelling did nothing to help her, as she was pitifully dragged back.

Tatsumi's eyes followed Leone as she slid across the floor, shock overtaking his senses for probably the hundredth time that day. I've joined a bunch of weirdos…

"It's not good to enjoy fighting your enemy too much. We are assassins, not warriors. We eliminate and we get out." The boss reprimanded.

"Okay, okay!" Leone shouted, trying to pry the boss's metal hand off of her. "I get it!"

She let go, and Leone stood up, dusting herself off. Then she turned to Tatsumi, seemingly having not noticed him before. "By the way, Leone, who's this guy?"

"This is Tatsumi. He has potential." Leone said, pushing Tatsumi forward. "I recommend him."

"Hm." The boss scrutinized Tatsumi for a moment before picking up her coat from the chair. "Let's meet back in the meeting room. I'd like a full mission report, and details about this guy." Turning back for a second, she added, "Oh, I'm Najenda, by the way."

*timeskip*

"So, knowing that you WON'T, in fact, be killed," Najenda cast a pointed glance towards Sheele as she said these words. "What's your final decision, Tatsumi? Would you like to join Night Raid?"

Tatsumi glanced at the ground, clenching his hands into fists. "My goal was to get into the army and become successful, so that I could save my village from poverty…"

"That's because the capital's rotten to the core." Bulat cut in from where he was leaning on the wall across the room. "To fix that, we need to uproot the problem at its core."

"Bulat was once an imperial soldier." Najenda explained. "He joined us once he learned of the capital's true colors."

Bulat smirked. "After all, our work is to weed out the corruption in the capital. Much better than working under that filth."

"Will killing people like this really help my village?" Tatsumi asked, doubtful of the intentions of Night Raid. "It might change things in the capital, but it won't affect the villages far out in the outreaches, will it?"

"It will." Najenda said, a dark smirk crossing her features. "In the south, there is an organization gathering, the Revolutionary Army. They were small, but as they grew, they created Night Raid, to be in charge of intel and assassinations of influential figures. We don't know when they're planning to strike, but when they do, we will take advantage and take down the prime minister ourselves. Then, this entire country will be sure to change."

Tatsumi's eyes widened. "Your plans… are that grand?"

"Yes." Najenda extended a hand to Tatsumi. "Now that you know that, what do you say? Will you join us and avenge your friends?"

Tatsumi looked down, conflicted. On one hand, he might not be able to return to his village at all once he entered Night Raid. On the other hand, he would be helping to achieve his goal, accomplishing what he set out to do. If it's for the happiness of my friends and family back at the village… Mine doesn't matter.

"I'll join." Tatsumi looked up, finality in his voice and in his heart. "I'll help you rid this country of filth."

Najenda smiled, satisfied with Tatsumi's resolve. "Then it's decided. Welcome to the path of the assassin, Tatsumi."

As a side note, PM me or leave a review for which pairings you would like to see, excluding Tatsumi and Mine. I'll take the most popular ones :)