Of course, it would have been too simple for the clones to just stay on the ground and wait for them. They might not have appeared to have any emotions, but they clearly weren't stupid. Several of them began to climb up after them while the rest opened a nearby crate and started arming themselves with throwing spears. "They're not going to…?" Haru began before ducking. Sure enough, the others were attempting to impale them from where they stood, with spears. When Haru thought about everything he'd fought up to now, getting killed by a throwing spear just seemed insulting. Leone managed to grab one of them, and had turned it around to start fending off the men that had gotten closer to them.
"Damnit, we don't have time for this," she said, putting the spear through one of their eyes, "We'll go over our deadline." "Then I guess it's time to go big or go home," Haru said, removing the top of one of the clone's skull, "You have any special need to keep that Imperial Arms intact?" "I'd like to retrieve it," she responded, kicking another one into several of his friends, "But, it's not high on my priority list right now." "Great, then we're on the same page," he said, slashing through the arm of another one, "Whatever you do, don't leave my side." "That's rather bold for a first date, Haru," she replied, giggling. "If this is what you call a date, I want a refund. Now, get back." Holding his sword up, Haru prepared himself mentally for the strain this particular move always brought on. He'd only ever used it twice before, and only during very careful training.
Once he felt the power was relatively stable, he let loose, crying, "Thýella!" Flames erupted from his sword and immediately whipped up into a frenzy. Swinging the sword in a wide arc, he turned them into a massive wave that cascaded around him and Leone. The flames continued to grow as he fed more energy to it until it looked as if most of the ceiling was on fire. Once they had reached a sufficient size, and Haru was satisfied with the look of utter horror on the target's face, he released his control and let the fire fall onto whatever lay below it. Crates and barrels were set ablaze, as where the men that had been trying to kill them. While most of them continued to try and climb the crates, the fact that everything was on fire now worked against them. The crates they were standing on began to crumble as the fire ate away at them and sent several of them back to the floor.
"We need to move!" Haru said, leaping off the tilting boxes. He noticed that their target had started running for a side passage. Making a three-point landing, Haru immediately gave chase, saying, "The Imperial Arms!" Understanding what he meant, Leone, who had landed beside him, ran to the table and grabbed the knife. Sure enough, it was the weapon they thought it was, and she was able to cut off whatever force kept these clones alive. They dropped like sacks of potatoes, still burning as the flames continued. In fact, the air was starting to get harder to breathe as it filled with smoke. Taking a deep breath and holding it in, Haru vaulted over a crate as he continued to chase after the officer.
Once he reached the tunnel, the officer turned around and brought something out of his coat. Haru barely had time to register the gun before he dropped to his knees and slid, just barely dodging the hastily fired bullets. Getting back onto his feet in one quick motion, he was on the man's heels again as he disappeared into the tunnel. Figuring he had nothing to lose, Haru grabbed one of his throwing knives and focused on it, saying, "Zündung," and causing the blade to glow. He had about three seconds before the power ripped through its temporary container, but that's all he needed. Throwing the knife ahead of him, he watched as it acted as a kind of torch, giving the tunnel ahead a dull light. He also saw that the knife missed the officer, just barely whizzing past his head and causing him to flinch. While he probably thought that made him safe, he wasn't the true target of that blade.
Flying ahead of him, the knife finally failed under the strain of the flames inside it and exploded. This caused a small part of the tunnel to collapse. While this was dangerous as hell, since it could have brought the whole thing down, it accomplished what Haru had intended it to; the officer now had to come back through Haru to get out. Turning around, he held the pistol tightly as Haru came to a stop with his own sword raised. "So, what will you do now, mister 'superior being?'" Haru asked, smiling slightly. The man moved quickly, faster than Haru would have guessed. The gun was suddenly up and the trigger pulled by the time he tried to duck to the side. The bullet caught him in the shoulder and spun him so he hit the wall with his back. Clenching his teeth against the pain, he brought his sword up just in time to deflect another bullet. Uttering a primal cry, he charged the man, his sword erupting in flame in response to his anger.
To the officer's credit, he didn't freeze this time but instead continued to fire. Most of the rounds missed, but Haru felt at least two more hit. They hardly slowed him down as he slammed into the man, impaling him with his sword. "And now you burn," Haru whispered into his ear as he set the man aflame before staggering back a few steps, letting the body fall into a heap. Breathing heavily, Haru struggled to stay upright as his Imperial Arms took its toll. It took considerable concentration and energy to manifest that much fire. That, combined with the bullet in his shoulder, the one in his leg and the one that had grazed his right bicep, left him in a very vulnerable state. Leaning against the wall, he coughed as the cave began to fill with smoke. Thankfully, Leone appeared shortly after he leaned on the wall and gave him a look of disapproval.
"Wow, you really don't know how to pace yourself, do you?" she asked, slinging one of his arms over her shoulder. "I was caught up in the moment," he protested, grateful for the help, "Besides, was I supposed to just let him go?" "You could have let me take him," she said, softening her tone, "I am the one with the regeneration ability." Haru just nodded as he grit his teeth, wincing as one of his wounds was jostled. As they came back to the main room, Haru focused on the fires in front of him and snuffed them out as they made their way back through the storeroom and the other tunnel. Climbing the ladder was worse, but he managed to make it to the ground floor again without much help. They used one of the curtains to make a basic dressing for his wounds before Haru brought his cloak around himself, covering the wounds. Thankfully, he was able to stay on his feet as they left the house, although it was a considerable struggle and he had a fairly bad limp. By this point, Leone had reverted back to her normal form and was staying close in case he needed support.
A passing girl in a guard's uniform noticed this and quickly caught up to them. "Excuse me, sir? Are you okay?" she asked, startling the two. Turning to see who had spoken up, Haru saw a rather kind looking girl with orange hair in a rather long pony tail. She also had a small white dog that walked on two legs, and who looked a lot like a rice ball. "Do you need help?" she continued, looking a little concerned. Glancing at Leone, he saw that she was trying to act pleasant, but was still tensed up. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine," he said, managing a smile, "I just overexerted myself." "Well…" she said, looking like she was going to press the issue. Reaching out and patting her shoulder, he said, "Really, I'm fine. Besides, I'm sure there are more important things for a guard to do than help a man with a pulled muscle."
"But helping people is our job," she said, looking fired up, "It's the duty of every soldier to help people. We're allies of justice, after all!" Oh great, an idealist he thought, trying not to sigh. "Really, it's okay. Besides, if I need help then I have my walking stick here," he said, pointing at Leone. "Hey! I'm not a stick," Leone said, looking indignant. "You're right, you're too big for a stick," Haru said, smiling, "Maybe a tree?" Watching this little exchange, the girl seemed to draw some kind of conclusion. "Oh, I see what this is…" she said, smiling sweetly, "Alright, I'll leave you now. Just don't do anything too naughty." With that and a giggle, she jogged off with her strange dog in tow, leaving a slightly confused Haru and a grinning Leone behind. However, once he saw the look on her face he clued in immediately. "Don't get any ideas," he said as they continued on.
They managed to make it back to the safe house without further incident, at which point Haru went through the process of removing the bullet in his shoulder. Thankfully, the only other one that had actually hit him had passed clean through, but this one hadn't and it hurt like hell. They then decided it was best to rest, since Haru's wounds needed some time to heal before they made their way back. By the time they had made it back to the hideout, it was almost noon the next day. Leone was clearly not looking forward to reporting that they had exceeded the time. "Relax," Haru said, patting her shoulder, "We got a new Imperial Arms out of this, didn't we? That's got to count for something." "Yeah…" she said, not sounding convinced.
Once they had returned to the hideout, Haru quickly ducked aside and allowed Leone to make the report while he went to grab some fresh bandages. On his way, he overheard Najenda talking with someone else. It turned out to be Akame and Tatsumi, and she was in the middle of refereeing a debate between them over a particular job. "You don't think I can do this?" he asked, sounding offended, "Just watch, I'll take Ogre on my own!" Before Akame could speak up and contradict him, Najenda spoke up. "Alright, if you say you can, than let's see. Tatsumi, you will take out Ogre while Akame will target the merchant." With a quick look at Tatsumi that could have been her version of a glare, Akame turned and left as the kid beamed at her back in triumph. Laughing softly, Haru continued on his way. However, he only got about two steps down the hall before someone came up behind him and place a hand firmly on his shoulder. Whoever it was then spun him around with enough force to throw his cloak open and reveal his wounds.
"What happened?" Akame asked, looking at the bandages closer. The wound in his shoulder had started to come open again due to use and was starting to soak the bindings through. "I… Well, I screwed up, I guess," he replied, scratching the back of his head, "But, it's not as bad as it looks. Really." Rather than listening to him, Akame grabbed his wrist and continued down the hallway with a mildly annoyed look on her face. While he tried to protest at first, Haru gave up after receiving no response and just let her lead him on. She stopped just inside one of the common rooms and released him while walking over to a cabinet and pointing at a chair. Taking the hint, Haru sat down while he removed his cloak, wincing slightly as he did. She came back over with a medical kit and began removing the old wrappings. Resigned to letting her patch him up, Haru instead found himself focused on the girl in front of him.
He had never gotten that close with Akame, and she always struck him as a rather cold and detached person. However, watching her level of concentration as she wrapped the wound in his shoulder again, he could just faintly see some kind of emotion lurking in those eyes. "How is that?" she asked when she had finished. Flexing his arm to test it, he still winced slightly. "Well, I can't say it's back to 100%," he admitted, "But, it's much better. Thank you, Akame." "Don't do something like that again," she said as she moved to the wound on his leg. "Do what?" "Don't ever conceal a wound," she said, looking up at him seriously, "Ever again. Do you understand?" "Uh…yeah, sure," he replied, "Is that concern I hear?" "Why wouldn't it be?" she replied as she worked, "We're teammates."
"It's just that… I got the feeling you didn't form attachments with people," he admitted. Clearly, he had hit some kind of nerve. She stopped suddenly and clenched the wrappings tightly. When she met his eyes, he gulped and immediately regretted saying anything. "So, because I'm an assassin, I can't have people that are precious to me?" Not knowing how to respond, Haru just looked away, suddenly feeling like scum. After a few seconds of staring at him intently, Akame returned to redoing the binding on his leg. When she finished and had put the rest of the things back into the case, Haru reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her. "I'm sorry," he said, looking at her, "I didn't…" Smiling at him, she put her other hand on top of his. "It's okay," she said simply, "I'm used to it by now."
"Well, you shouldn't be," he said, making his mind up about something, "Anyway; at least I have something to make up for it." Looking at him in confusion, Akame watched as Haru released her hand and reached up to his blindfold. "I usually don't show this off since most people find it disturbing," he said, "I don't like flaunting my Imperial Arms, especially considering what it cost me." When he removed the blindfold, Haru saw the familiar look of shock on her face; even Akame wasn't immune to what she saw. The scar was in the shape of an X stretched across his eyes, leaving the skin there a few shades darker than the rest of his face. However, it was his eyes that were the most striking. Rather than normal, human eyes, his were a vibrant green with slits for pupils. They looked like the eyes of a lizard, and Haru braced himself for the usual reaction he got from people. Every single person that had seen this had always called him 'monster' or 'freak,' or something to that effect.
After a few seconds of just staring at each other, she reached up and touched the edge of one of his scars. "This… is what you did to join us?" she asked, sounding surprised. "Well, it wasn't completely up to me," he admitted, smiling, "I screwed up and got slashed across my left eye, blinding it. When we found out I was possibly compatible with this Imperial Arms, I took the chance rather than remain crippled." "What is it…?" she asked. Haru hesitated at that; still surprised that she hadn't said what he was expecting. But then again, this girl had been raised and trained to be a killer. Her standards of what was and wasn't acceptable were probably different from most. "Its full name is Demon God's Manifestation; Demon's Sight," he told her, "And before you ask; yes, it's a physical part of me. I can't remove it, and no one else can take it from me." "Why would you do something like that?" she asked, looking serious. He had taken his dedication to an entirely different level, making it so that he would never be able to put his weapon down.
"Well, it was the only one I reacted to," he said, scratching the back of his head and smiling, "Besides; being able to wield fire is actually kind of cool." Sighing, she stood up and put the med kit back. Turning back around, she said, "Don't let it happen again. Okay, Haru?" "Of course not," he replied, smiling at her as he put the blindfold back on and stood up. Smiling slightly at him, Akame left to carry out her job while Haru returned to his room and collapsed on his bed. This just caused him to groan as he jostled his wounds, but the relief of finally being able to lay down far outweighed the discomfort. Rolling onto his back, he stared at the ceiling while he thought that conversation over.
He had never shown that to anyone when he could help it. The only people that had ever truly seen his Imperial Arms were the doctor that gave it to him and several people just before he had killed them. The fact that he had turned it into a form of curtesy like that was still surprising to him when he thought about it, but it felt right for some reason to show those people exactly what was about to kill them. Those people were right, of course; despite whatever he might claim, Haru had allowed himself to turn into some kind of monster by taking this weapon into himself. Taking an old photo out of his pocket, Haru looked again at the happy family that had once been, and again wondered what they would think now.
His father had always been a stubborn bastard, but a kind one. He probably would have understood Haru's reasons, even if he wouldn't have agreed with what he had to do. His mother would have been completely against it, instead wanting her son to come home and be safe. He smiled sadly as he imagined what it would have taken to convince her. His little brother would have thought he was the coolest person in the world; taking the fight to the Empire's door and making fire dance at his command. It would have taken a serious effort to make sure he didn't follow him. His older sister would, in public, side with his mother and say that he was an idiot, demanding that he come home. In private, however, she would have supported him, saying to do what he needed to do and come back alive. "I'm sorry," he whispered, trying to keep his emotions in check, "This is something that I have to do." Putting the picture down on one of the bedside tables, Haru closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
It wasn't even a few hours later when he woke to a loud crash as someone kicked in his door. "Alright, what the hell?" he asked, sitting up. "Get your lazy butt up, Haru," Leone said, "We have intruders." That woke him up pretty damn fast. Grabbing his sword and cloak, he was out the door in seconds. They quickly joined the others as they all moved out into the forest. "Lubbock, how many do we have?" Haru asked. He was suddenly very grateful that Akame had redone the bindings on his wounds; his movements weren't as hampered as they were earlier. "At least a dozen, but I can't be sure," he replied, "They tripped the barrier at an extreme range." "So, in other words, you have no idea," Mine said, scoffing, "Typical." "Can it, shorty," Haru replied before Lubbock could. "If that's how it is, then we'll see how you do without sniper support!" she shot back, glaring at him. "As if I need it."
With a gesture, Akame cut off any further banter before motioning for them to spread out. Without breaking stride, they split up and fanned out. Drawing his sword, Haru noticed that Tatsumi and Bulat had split off while Akame continued on her own. Figuring the others could handle themselves, Haru moved to give Akame some back-up just as they made it to a river. Sure enough, three men came out of the trees on the far said and squared off with her. "That's one of the faces from the posters," one of them said, smiling, "So; it seems that Night Raid's base is close." "She's cute. Maybe we could have some fun after we kill her," another said. For whatever reason, that suggestion made Haru's blood boil. Stepping out from the bushes, he walked up beside her with his own sword held ready. "Try it and you answer to me," he threatened.
They didn't even have time to reply. Faster than Haru would have thought possible, Akame brought her sword out, slit their throats and was behind them with it back in its scabbard. They looked confused for all of two seconds before their throats spurt blood and they collapsed. Relaxing, Haru smiled as Akame turned around, which was a mistake. "Haru!" she called out, causing him to whirl around. Sure enough, there was a fourth man, and he already had his sword raised to cut Haru in two. Reacting on instinct, Haru leaped back while he grabbed one of his throwing knives. Lacking the time to charge it, he just threw it at the man's head, forcing him to abandon his swing and dodge. Taking advantage of this, Haru charged him, bringing his own sword up.
The other man blocked his stab, turning the blade aside before punching Haru in the side. He just managed to recover in time to block the man's counter strike, and the two stood there with their blades locked. "Well, at least you're not half as weak as you appear," he said, leaning into his sword. "I wouldn't have lived this long otherwise," Haru replied, "Also, you really shouldn't have focused on just me." Before the man could figure out what he meant, Akame's sword pierced his chest from behind, cleaving his heart in two and killing him instantly. Stepping back to let the body fall, Haru took a deep breath as he looked around. "Never assume the area is clear until it is," Akame said, sheathing her sword again.
Haru's reply was cut off in a muffled explosion as Mine fired at someone. Judging from the sound, there wouldn't even be a body left. Sighing, Haru sheathed his own sword as he jogged after Akame. After only a few minutes, they had swept the area and cleared out the attackers. They joined up with Lubbock as they made their way back to the base, although he looked depressed about something. "Don't tell me," Haru began, "You had to kill a woman, didn't you?" "She was so hot, too!" Lubbock replied, "Man, this job can really suck!" Laughing softly, Haru patted his back as they continued on. He also noticed the look Akame shot him. "What, men can't have desires?" Haru asked. "She was an enemy," Akame replied, "There's no point to feel guilty." "So, you're saying that if you killed a hot guy, you wouldn't feel even a little bad for it?" "No." "Well, I can say that if I had to kill some hot girl, I'd feel bad, too," Haru replied, trying to cheer Lubbock up. Rather than reply, Akame let the matter drop as they continued on.
When they returned to the hideout, Haru learned that, thanks to his wounds, he was temporarily suspended from assignments. Instead, he got to lend a hand around the place and found himself in the kitchen, of all places. "Why am I helping you cook, again?" he asked as he cubed some meat for the stew. "Because I needed help," Akame replied simply, munching on one of the carrots. "You know, I'm surprised you can look as good as you do," Haru said, "Considering how much you eat." Those words were a mistake the moment he said them, and he realized it too late as he froze. Thankfully, Akame wasn't like Mine or Leone, so instead of immediately throwing a knife at him she continued preparing the food while ignoring the comment. Although, for whatever reason, Haru thought he saw some kind of color on her ears from that. Probably my imagination he thought as he returned to his work.
After dinner, Haru learned that he would get to go out on an assignment the next day, although it wasn't the kind he had hoped for. "You want me to babysit the new kid and the squirt?" he asked Najenda, stunned. "Tatsumi is training under Mine right now, and I'd like you to train him next," she replied, "So, it's probably best that you two get used to each other now, rather than later." "And this just so happens to be when Mine is going on one of her little shopping trips?" he said, trying really hard not to let this get to him. When she simply smiled, Haru got up and left, sighing as he closed the door. That woman just enjoys pushing people's buttons he thought as he returned to his room. When he opened the door, he noticed a small box with a note on his bed. Opening the note, he quickly read it.
You don't insult a woman's figure, Haru
Recognizing Leone's handwriting, he then looked at the box in mild horror. Akame had clearly told the other woman about their conversation, and he could only imagine what she had prepared as a kind of warning. Gulping, he opened the box hesitantly, prepared for something to bite him, or explode. Instead, inside was a small charm, one he immediately recognized. He had seen it in passing at one of the shops in the slums, and it was supposed to bring good luck. The intended meaning was clear, and Haru just whispered thanks it wasn't some kind of poisonous bug as he set the charm back in the box and put in on the bedside table. Lying down for the night, he briefly wondered where that comment/insult had come from. It wasn't out of spite, he knew that. Maybe, it was something else he thought as sleep took him.