After they had eaten, they met in the mostly-finished main hall. "We will remain here while the Revolution's scouts set up a new headquarters for us near the capital," Najenda told them, "Since the creatures in this area are all powerful, use this as an opportunity to train yourselves and get stronger. Now that the Empire is gathering Imperial Arms users, we're going to need as much strength as we can get." "Beat the crap out of Danger Beasts at high altitude for the next few weeks?" Haru asked, smiling, "Boss, have you been using that third eye on me?"
She just smiled as she stood up and dismissed them all. Susanoo returned to setting up the rest of the building, which was starting to turn into a lodge, while Chelsea pestered Mine and Lubbock. While she didn't seem to have any ill-will towards them, Mine was clearly still ticked off at the girl for it. Apparently, she didn't like it when people pointed out how small she was, in more ways than one. Rather than find someplace to rest or start his training, Haru decided that what he needed right now was advice.
"Hey boss, can I talk to you for a moment?" Haru asked, walking over as Najenda left. Motioning that he should follow, she led them to her new private room. While it was smaller than her old one at the hideout, it was still fairly big. Sitting down at her desk, she pulled over an ash tray before lighting a cigarette. "So, what's up, Haru?" she asked, sounding amused about something. "I need to talk with you about something," Haru admitted as he pulled up another chair, "And, well… I need a woman's advice." "I think you're a good match," she said simply, smiling. "Wait, what?" Haru asked, completely lost.
"This is about you and Akame isn't it?" she asked. "Uh, well… sort of," he admitted, blushing, "It's a little more complicated than that." Taking a deep breath, he laid out the decision before him, holding nothing back. If there was anyone he trusted to give him an honest and informed opinion, it would be Najenda. She might have her quirks, like the rest of them, but she was also much more experienced and less likely to use this to mess with him. After he had explained his problem, they sat in silence while Najenda pondered his problem.
It was both impressive and sad to learn that one of her best fighters had endured such abuse in such a short period of time. She had known about the loss of his home, but to now know the full details about his brush with death before joining Night Raid changed her view of him. He wasn't just an impressive fighter and a good friend; he was someone that had suffered serious scars, and he had allowed it to color his opinion of himself.
"So, you're trying to figure out where you want to be," Najenda summarized, "And you don't think you're welcome here?" "It's not that," Haru replied, "It's just… Even if we win, even if the revolution is successful and we create a new nation, all of Night Raid will still be viewed as criminals. We'll still have to outrun or outfight a nearly endless number of bounty hunters and people trying to make a name for themselves. So…" "When you look at it like that, the offer of sanctuary is quiet appealing," Najenda finished for him, "You do realize what it will mean if you choose their side, don't you?"
He hesitated at that one before sighing. "I would have to fight all of you. Most likely, to the death," he said, letting his head drop, "But, at the same time I've gotten to know a few of the Jaegers. They're not all bad people; they're just committed to the other side. I'm not sure I can…" He trailed off there, knowing that Najenda would be able to fill in the rest. She took a long drag on her cigarette before blowing the smoke out and setting it in the ash tray. "I won't pretend to fully understand what you're going through, Haru," she said finally, "And I don't envy the position you've found yourself in. If you decide to join them, I won't think any less of you for it."
Looking up in surprise, he saw her smiling sadly at him. "I can understand your desire to help them," she told him, "And I also understand why you came to me for help. But this is your decision, and you must make it. Just know that you're still welcome here, Haru, and that we don't see you as a monster." With that, Najenda got up and walked into the bedroom end of her chambers. Taking the hint, Haru got up and left the room before heading outside. He needed to clear his head and think clearly, something he couldn't do with the others around.
After he had walked for a way, he heard the sound of water. Following it, he found a natural pond with a waterfall flowing into it. It then became a medium-sized stream that went out towards the valley below. Strangely, the whole area was calming to him, and Haru found a spot on a large rock before lying down and crossing his arms behind his neck. Letting the roar of the falls drown out the outside noise, he focused on his inner turmoil as he closed his eyes. His struggle quickly turned into a two-sided debate.
Why shouldn't we accept Esdeath's offer the first side said, isn't it about time we stopped wondering if we're going to get our throat slit at night? Haven't we earned the right to some peace by now?
And what about your commitment to Night Raid and the Revolution the other side argued, you swore to change this country so no one would suffer like you have again. Would you really abandon all of that just to save your own hide? Do your convictions mean so little to you?
Haru could feel himself getting more and more frustrated by the moment, and it was all he could do to not start lashing out with his fire blindly. You know what? Fuck it he thought suddenly, sitting up and taking his cloak off. Unclipping his sword belt and knife pouch, he dropped them on top of his cloak before walking out onto the rock covered shoreline. Bringing his hand up, Haru focused on it and summoned a small fireball before throwing it at one of the larger boulders. He repeated this process, each fireball coming faster and faster while growing steadily bigger.
Haru quickly found himself lost in a pointless blind rage, feeling his pent-up frustrations feeding into his attacks and making them grow much stronger. For whatever reason, the boulder had become a focus of this anger; something he could lash out at without holding back. Finally, he summoned a pair of fireballs before throwing one with all of his might. Using that momentum, he spun around and launched the other before bringing both hands up and creating a much larger fireball. With a cry, he launched it at the rock, willing it to break into a thousand pieces.
As the blast collided with the boulder it burst into a large explosion that rebounded off the cliffs and trees as well as hurting Haru's ears. He barely registered this pain as he bent over with his hands on his knees, panting and dripping with sweat from his attacks. When he looked up, he noticed that the rock face had melted by quite a bit, but the boulder was still mostly intact. For some reason this just pissed Haru off more, and he felt his strength return in one massive flow. Standing up and bringing his right arm back, he formed another fireball as he felt the flames inside him flare up like they never had before.
It was like when he had first bonded with this weapon; worse, actually, as an indescribable pain welled up and threatened to incinerate him. In a mad moment of inspiration, he focused this power to his hand and felt the fire there grow stronger and hotter. "Verbrennen!" he commanded as he hurled the new fire at the rock, briefly noting that the flames were a golden color as opposed to the usual red and yellow.
When it collided with the rock, it exploded and expanded around the rock's surface, moving faster than Haru could track. As he stood there, panting, he watched as the golden fire ate through the rock, turning it into ash as it burned through it like it was made of paper. He soon realized that it was starting to spread and consume the other rocks on the shore and he quickly snuffed the flames out before walking back to where he had left his weapons.
What the hell was that he wondered as he tried to recover from the strain. It was all he could do not to pass out, since he used more fire in that one session than he normally dared to. Not to mention that he had just discovered a new flame he could use. Flopping onto his back, he looked up and noticed that the sun was starting to set, and that the clouds were taking on a pleasant hue of reds and oranges. He didn't notice the raven-haired girl standing under the trees, watching him with growing concern.
Akame had been pulled aside by Leone and Mine not long after Haru had gone to talk with Najenda. After they had dragged her away from the others, Mine turned on her while looking furious. "What is wrong with you?!" she demanded while Leone just stood back. She had tried to calm Mine's temper earlier when they had swapped stories about Akame and Haru, but it hadn't worked. "What do you mean?" Akame asked, sounding confused, "Nothing is wrong with me." "You know full well what I mean, Akame," she said, pointing at her, "Haru practically confessed to you, and you shot him down because you… You…"
At this point, Mine's rage had grown to the point where she couldn't even speak clearly. Grabbing the back of her jacket, Leone pulled her sputtering friend back before stepping between them with her best smile. "She means well," Leone said, trying to be diplomatic, "But I don't think you need someone screaming at you." Placing her hands on Akame's shoulders, Leone decided that now was the time to take on her 'big sis' role. "Akame, listen to me. I get that you don't want to risk making a bond only to lose it," she said, smiling warmly, "But you're not going to get anywhere if you allow that fear to control you. You allowed yourself to make friends with all of us, didn't you?"
"But that's not the same," Akame protested, looking down, "With Haru, it's… I don't know what it is." "You feel better with him around," Leone said, having a good idea what she was feeling, "You feel complete when he's around, and you feel like your heart is getting ripped out when he's in danger. Is that about right?" Blushing, Akame still refused to meet Leone's eyes, but nodded just the same. It was more embarrassing than she wanted to admit that she was so easily read. That everyone seemed to know more about this than she did just served to make her feel worse.
"What can I do?" she asked when she finally looked at them, "He doesn't even consider himself human. Not only that, but I can tell that he's still drawn to Esdeath. Why does that hurt so much?" "I think you know, Akame," Leone said as she pulled her into a comforting hug, "And I think it's about time you started to face up to this. Talk to him. Make him understand that he's not a monster; that you care." "If you don't, I will kick your butt. You hear me?" Mine added, trying to look serious but still grinning.
Looking between her friends, she nodded in thanks before heading out to find Haru. They were right, of course; it was high time that she faced this before it consumed her. After searching the mostly completed lodge, she went out into the woods before she heard a serious of explosions. Following them, she thought it might be Danger Beasts fighting nearby. Keeping one hand on her sword hilt, she moved more cautiously before she came upon Haru's impromptu training. Taking her hand off her sword, she watched in awe as he hurled more fire at that rock than she had ever seen him use before. His last attack was the most impressive; summoning fire that actually ate away at the stone before he put it out.
Watching him plod back to his things and collapse, she could tell that he was exhausted from his attacks. It's now or never she told herself. Taking a deep breath, she walked over and sat down just next to him. It took Haru a few moments to even realize that someone had joined him, and when he looked up he saw Akame smiling down at him. "That was an impressive show," she said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah," Haru agreed, closing his eyes, "Makes me wonder what would happen if I was really pissed off." "Listen, Haru," Akame began, trying to find the right words, "About what I said the other night… it's not that I don't like you. I do. It's just that… I'm not sure what I should do… what we should do." As she spoke, Akame could feel her cheeks growing warmer. But now that she'd started, she found that she couldn't stop. Not only that; she discovered that she didn't want to stop. "I know that it won't be easy, for either of us," she continued, "But, I'm not going to give up on trying. And I'm not going to let you give up on being human."
When she finished, she looked down at him, trying to convey her feelings through her eyes. And he was asleep. He was out cold and breathing softly, and for a moment Akame felt like she was channeling Mine. She had said all of that, spoken from the heart, and he had slept through it. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed one of his arms and draped it around her shoulders before she started back to the lodge. On the way, she thought about what she had said and realized that she meant every word. She wasn't about to let this go, to let him go, without a fight.
The next day Haru found himself in a proper bed, in a proper room. Granted, he wasn't alone. Lubbock and Tatsumi were sleeping soundly in their own beds, and Haru found himself briefly wishing that this was only temporary. While trying to make as little noise as possible, Haru got up and walked out into the main hall. The smell of cooking food drew him towards the kitchen, where Susanoo was putting together a meal that held an absurdly large amount of meat. "Let me guess; Akame asked you to use more meat, didn't she?" he asked.
When the big man nodded, Haru just sighed before saying, "Please, just ignore her next time." "Why?" Susanoo asked, looking confused. "Well, she might be a red-blooded carnivore, but some of us enjoy more variety," Haru replied as he hung his cloak on a hook nearby. Gathering together some potatoes, he proceeded to dice them before frying them in a pan. He also grabbed some of their remaining fruit and put it together in a basket on the table before returning to the food. "You don't need to trouble yourself," Susanoo said after a while. "Yeah, and you don't need to do this alone," Haru replied without looking up, "Besides, it's unfair if we saddle you with all of the work. Which reminds me; if you have any construction left, get Tatsumi to help you."
"But it's my job," Susanoo objected. "You're part of Night Raid now, right?" Haru asked, looking up at him. "I am an Imperial Arms, made to serve and protect my master," Susanoo replied, "I don't think-" "Okay, different question; are you alive?" Haru asked. When Susanoo nodded, he continued, "You can think and feel, right?" Again, a nod. "Then you're a person, not a weapon. That makes you an equal member," Haru said before turning back to his own cooking. He caught the ghost of a smile on the big man's face, however, and he felt better because of it.
It was only after they had finished cooking and people started showing up to eat that Haru thought back on what he had said. Wouldn't that reasoning apply to me as well he wondered, pausing over a roasted chunk of some kind of animal. He was experiencing one of those out-of-body moments, where you see things as another person would rather than yourself. As he went over that conversation again, he felt like he could start to let go of that pain.
But can you really? Is it so easy to forget what you have sacrificed, what you've turned yourself into? That incessant, negative voice in his head was really starting to get on Haru's nerves. Before he could actually think of some kind of answer, someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. "We're going to train together today," Akame told him before leaving. Ignoring the looks Mine and Leone gave him, Haru finished his food before heading out to the makeshift practice grounds. She was standing on the far end with a wooden training sword in each hand. Tossing him one, she took up her stance while looking at him expectantly.
"Really, you want to practice your sword technique?" he asked, holding his practice sword up and arching an eyebrow. "Not mine. Yours," she replied, "You wield your sword like a street fighter, without any real refinement or skill." "I don't have any skill? Tell that to the people I've taken down," Haru replied as he flipped the sword around so he had a reversed grip. When she looked at him questioningly, he said, "You want to develop sword techniques? Then I'm developing mine."
Smiling, she accepted his challenge before dashing forward. What followed were several hours of them trading blows, and Haru learning just how fast and precise Akame truly was. By the time they decided to take a break, Haru had numerous bruises along his legs, forearms and torso. Sitting down carefully, he still winced as his body reaped its vengeance over such abuse. Sitting next to him, Akame offered him a damp towel while she draped her own around her neck. Say what you want to about Haru's lack of a proper technique; he could be very good in his own right. In fact, his lack of a proper technique was an advantage in itself; she had found that it was very difficult to judge what he would do at any given moment.
"This isn't punishment for anything, is it?" he asked as he rubbed some of the sweat off his face. "Why would it be a punishment?" she asked, looking confused. He just held up his left arm as a silent response, showing off one of his more spectacular bruises. It had only just started to turn purple, but he could tell from the pain that it would be a decent-sized one. Seeing this, she looked away and down, suddenly feeling bad. "Hey, don't sweat it," Haru said when he saw her reaction, "I've been shot before, remember? This is nothing." "Still, I think that's enough for today," she replied as she got up to leave.
Reaching out, he grabbed her hand to stop her. "Well, we can just sit here for a while, can't we?" he asked, smiling a bit. Returning the smile, she sat back down and looked out at the mountains in the distance. It was only after a few minutes that Haru realized that he hadn't released her hand, and that she was in fact gripping his hand in return. Turning back and looking out at the view, he tried to enjoy this. He also realized that that pestering, negative voice that always seemed to be there had decided to shut up for once and he was glad for it.
After a few more minutes they separated to continue with their day. Haru, as it turns out, got to go with Leone and Tatsumi on a Danger Beast hunt. Akame, meanwhile, stayed behind and helped Lubbock set up his tripwire net around the area. This became a daily routine for the members of Night Raid; they hunted and trained, cooked and built, and all the while they strengthened their bonds with each other. Over the course of the next month, Haru learned many things.
He learned that what he had done their first day had in fact been his own trump card, and he had been focusing on calling on that kind of fire since then. He also learned that Chelsea was both a kind and fun person, and that she used a utility Imperial Arms as opposed to their combat ones. That she could shape-shift was impressive, but it also made Haru a bit suspicious for the next few days. He always expected her to use it to play some kind of trick on him, like what she did to Mine from time to time.
They all also got the chance to train properly with each other. Before, it had only been quick sparing matches when they had down time and weren't wounded. Now, it was proper, full-length sessions with each side giving it their all to win. Haru learned the true extent of Leone's power when in her beast form, that Sheele was definitely not someone he ever wanted to piss off, as well as just how creative Lubbock could be with his wire. He got to help Mine improve her accuracy as she tried to pick off small balls of fire at a distance. Training with Tatsumi and Susanoo also served to improve his physical strength and stamina, as well as show him just how quickly Tatsumi was improving.
Haru had told him when they first met that if it came down to it, he could beat Bulat in a fight because of the nature of their respective weapons. Now that he saw the natural talent Tatsumi had for Incursio, he wondered if he would be able to take him if it came to it. All the while, Chelsea kept them on their toes with her surprises. That she was so skilled at pretending to be a wide variety of things was both impressive and scary. For a few days, she even took the extra step and impersonated a few of them. It forced Haru to learn their mannerisms to avoid being fooled again. One of the most surprising changes came from Mine.
She had gone out to hunt on her own a few hours before a bad storm hit. While everyone searched the surrounding area, assuming she had been on her way back and gotten caught, Chelsea had used her Imperial Arms to take the form of one of the native Beasts and headed further out. She had found Mine trapped in a cave almost a mile away from the lodge with a bad injury from her supposed prey. They had returned the next day, with Mine apologizing for her screw up. All the while, Chelsea had remained rather humble about it, and Haru suspected that the two girls had had a nice, long talk while they were stuck out there.
Haru's sword technique also saw improvement from his matches with Akame, and now it wasn't uncommon for them both to have a collection of bruises by the end. While he tried to appear as if everything was fine, on the inside he took special notice of her efforts. Every time he felt himself drifting into gloom, she always seemed to be there with some task or comment to pull him back. While he found it odd at first, he had to admit that it was comforting to have someone there to stabilize him. After the lodge had been completed, it wasn't uncommon for the two to take an hour out of their evenings and enjoy the view from the balcony on the second level.
While Haru enjoyed being able to spend time with her more, it also served to make his decision more difficult. In the back of his mind, there was still something that kept pulling him back to thoughts of the Jaegers, of Esdeath. After a few days of pondering this, Haru realized something; this wasn't love, at least not in the romantic sense. The more he thought about it, the more he remembered the look in her eyes during that first night. It was almost as if there was a part of her crying out for help, for comfort. He wanted to help her, to fix whatever it was that was wrong, because the more he thought about it the more he realized that she was what he could become.
And it wasn't just her; he had grown to like most of the Jaegers during his short time with them. They had all been kind to him and welcoming, and not because they had to. Haru found that he truly didn't want to fight them to the death, even though he knew that if he remained with Night Raid that it would come to that. So how are you going to resolve this conflict, Haru he asked himself during their last night at the lodge. The next day they would be heading to their new headquarters, and then he would have to face them again. It's time I picked a side he thought as he got up and walked over to his desk. Lighting a candle, he grabbed a pen and a piece of paper. He spent the next half hour writing out a note before addressing it. When he set the pen down and took a good, long look at it, he felt strangely relieved. Now it would just be a matter of finding the right place and time to deliver it.
His decision had been made, for better or worse.