Chapter 2
Kill the Joker
Haruto awoke to find himself lying on a nice soft bed. It had been a while since he had slept in beds and the soft comfy texture was a welcome surprise.
"Where am I?" He wondered out loud as he tried to shield his eyes from the stinging light.
He tried to sit up but a sharp pain in his chest forced him to lie down.
"Argh... was I hit by a bus?" Haruto moaned. Then, he remembered. The fight with the guards. That insolent little girl.
"She must have saved me." Haruto thought to himself.
Haruto looked down at his body; his body was covered in bandages and it hurts to even breathe. He was naked waist-up.
The room he was in was a simple one. A table and chair in the corner, directly opposite the bed he was in. On the table was his haversack, clothes and of course, the lost driver. Thank goodness they did not steal it. The haversack? Did they look In it?
The door was around 10 feet away. In his condition, Haruto doubted he could even make it out of bed.
"Oh, you are awake?"
The door was opened and in the doorway stood the most beautiful girl that Haruto had ever seen. She had knee length hair and eyes that shone like red hot coals. Wearing a sleeveless dark dress with a white collar and red tie, Haruto could not help but stare endlessly into her beauty.
"Is there something on my face?" She asked innocently.
"Ah.. no.. not at all." Haruto stammered.
"Stay cool." He thought to himself. He felt blood rush to his ears and his face grow hot.
"I will leave the food here." She left the food on the table and turned towards the door. "Rest well. Mine said you were in quite a fight."
"Ah." Haruto scratched the back of his forehead. "It was nothing."
Mine. She must be the name of that girl with the rifle.
"I'll be leaving. I will leave with Mine to hunt for tonight's dinner," she turned to close the door.
Haruto found himself reaching out towards her.
"Wait!"
The girl opened the door again and looked at Haruto. Haruto turned his head away and looked at the floor.
Look at her face! Damn it! He thought to himself.
"What's the matter?" She asked again.
"Nam... name. What's your name?" Haruto spat out.
The girl gave Haruto a smile.
"Akame. Akame of the Night Raid."
With that, the girl closed the door.
Akame... Akame. What a nice name, Haruto thought to himself.
Where did she say she was from? Who cares? Night what? Night club? No. She doesn't look like a dancer.
The door opened again. Akame's head peeked out. "Oh. And don't leave this room. If you do, other members of night raid might be forced to kill you. We will formally introduce you to the rest when they come back from the mission."
The door closed shut.
Huh? Kill me? Night Raid? Isn't that the famous rebellion group that is trying to overthrow the government right now?
Haruto inched towards the lost driver and the Joker memory.
As beautiful as Akame was, he wasn't so sure about night raid. On paper, they were a group of assassins trying to overthrow the government and avenge the innocent lives lost.
Yet, until he knew the full story,he couldn't trust them.
Upon reaching the table, Haruto grabbed his clothes and put them on. He looked in the haversack and heaved a sigh of relief. It was still there. Haruto looked at the bowl of porridge left behind by Akame.
He picked up the spoon and sampled a taste. Hot! Haruto scalded his tongue and gulped down the cup of water next to the porridge.
Chicken porridge. Not too bad. Just the right amount of salt and pepper. He would have enjoyed it if it wasn't so hot and if he wasn't sitting in the secret base of Night Raid.
Haruto felt a sudden pain in his chest. That punch from that idiotic soldier must have caused it.
Regardless, he still needed to get out of here. He picked up his clothes that were folded and put them on.
He wore the prized fedora hat and adjusted his necktie. He had to look good in front of Akame, regardless of whether she was going to kill him or not.
Tearing off a piece of paper from his diary,he left Akame and mine a note. Hopefully, he could still make a good impression despite disobeying her.
Dear Akame and Mine,
Sorry for the sudden decision to leave but I have to get back to the city. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble.
He opened the door slightly and peeked outside. Coast is clear.
He tiptoed outside and closed the door gently.
First obstacle crossed!
"Who are you?" A voice boomed.
Haruto turned to face a tall muscular man with jet black hair combed up in a heart shaped pompadour style.
"Erm... Haru..."
Haruto didn't have time to finish that sentence as a blade came slicing across his face. He barely had time to react as he leaped backwards to put distance between them.
"Impressive. You managed to sneak into this hideout and dodge my first strike. You must be an exceptional warrior. With such a cute face, it is regrettable that I have to kill you."
The man activated his armor and a silver armoured warrior welding a spear stood in the place of the tall man with a weird haircut.
Haruto placed the Lost Driver on his waist. He whipped out and tapped the Joker memory.
"Joker!" The memory announced.
"You are welcome to try. It's not like anybody ever tried to kill me before. Henshin!"
In a swift movement, Haruto inserted the Joker memory into the driver and activated it.
Just like last time, Haruto became clad in a set of black armor.
He flicked his wrist before striking a pose.
"Now, let's count up your sins!"
"My name is Bulat. I was sure we could be friends in another time and place. However,"
Bulat slashed his spear in a wide arc. Haruto leaped back again to dodge the blow. The problem was that he lacked a weapon to combat Bulat.
"I wonder about that," Haruto said as he dodged yet another of Bulat's strikes. "I make it a point to never team up with someone with such a weird hairstyle or you know, slashes at me before I get to introduce mys...oooofuhh"
Haruto was jabbed in the ribs, sending him flying back. He crashed through the wall and lay on the floor.
Haruto tried to pick himself up. Every nerve in his body was screaming in pain.
"Ow."
The same sharp chest ache sent waves of pain through Haruto's body.
"Honestly, it is quite surprising you managed to dodge so many of my strikes."
"It's not over yet!" Haruto threw a punch at Bulat who deflected it without breaking a sweat.
Haruto took out the Joker memory from the lost driver and slotted it into the maximum drive slot.
"Maximum Drive."
"Rider kick,"
Haruto jumped and executed a flying kick. Bulat lifted his spear and blocked the kick.
Haruto exerted full force and tried to break the impenetrable defense put up by Bulat.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh" screamed Haruto.
"Impressive. But I wasn't just anybody in the army. And I am not going to lose to someone I just met!" Bulat shouted. With that, Bulat managed to deflect the kick, sending Haruto flying back.
Having used up all his strength, the armor around Haruto Disappeared and he lay motionless on the ground.
Bulat slowly moved towards Haruto but his protesting muscles refused to budge.
"Is this the end," Haruto thought to himself. I haven't done so many things. "Like eat the famous turkey burger here or confess to Akame."
"That's enough," a voice said.
"Boss," Bulat turned his attention towards a silver haired woman dressed in black. She wore an eyepatch that covered her right eye.
"As much as I hate intruders, this young chap has shown great potential."
The woman kneeled down and sat Haruto up. "How would you like to join the Night Raid?"
Haruto tried to speak but coughed out blood instead.
"We are back!" Mine announced as she burst through the front door.
Seeing the entire place in ruins and an injured Haruto, Mine stopped in her tracks.
"Mine, do you have anything you would like to tell me?"
Haruto lay alone in his bed as the moonlight shone in. He drifted in and out of consciousness as someone attended to his injuries.
Fainting 2 times in a row. Looks like his fighting record wasn't great.
It wasn't till a week later when he started to feel better. In between, only Akame and Mine served him his food and water. Bulat came in once to apologize about his rashness. Strangely, Haruto didn't feel like blaming him. He would have done the same thing if he was in Bulat's shoes.
Yet, he ignored Bulat. He hated the fact that he lost to Bulat. If only he was at full strength and not recovering from an injury.
Upon feeling better, Haruto took the pen and diary from his haversack and began writing.
It's been less than a month but I have already been in 2 fights for the sake of the citizens in this city. These injuries are the proof of my valiant efforts to wipe away this city's tears.
Also, I just made the most beautiful maiden. Her name is Akame. There is just something about her. The sadness that hides between her eyes. I will have to wipe away the tears in her heart just as how I am destined to make this city smile again.
"I see you are feeling better." The silver haired woman entered the room. "I hope you don't hold any grudges and listen to what I have to say"
She came closer and stood next to his bed.
Haruto remained silent and nodded. This was the woman who stopped the fight and thus saved his life. The least he could do was to listen to what she had to say.
"My name is Najenda. I heard from Mine that you aided her in a battle against some guards. She has high regard for you, and witnessing your fight against Bulat, I believe her."
She moved towards the window, her silver colored hair glistening in the soft moonlight.
"The city is currently in shambles with much corruption and injustice. We, the night raid, hope to eradicate this injustice and bring about a revolution to help bring peace and harmony to the capital. I heard from Mine that you yourself are quite the firm believer in justice."
Najenda extended her hand towards Haruto. It was then that Haruto realized she had a robotic arm. Probably one of those fights caused her to sustain those heavy injuries. Then, she muttered the same question that she said before he passed out cold from his fight with Bulat.
"Won't you join us?"
Author's note: Thanks for supporting this little story of mine. Seriously, I wasn't sure if anyone would read it. Thanks for the support anyway. Next time: Kill the Double.