The next morning was…interesting, to say the least. The first thing that Haru noticed was something warm pressed up against him. The second was the subtle smell of spices, and while it was pleasing to him it was also a little confusing. His mind was still half asleep as he opened his eyes to the sight of raven-colored hair. Realizing that it could only be one person, his memories of the previous evening came crashing back, adrenaline making damned sure he was awake now. He had confessed to Akame before sleeping with her, and for a split second he couldn't even believe it.
At some point in the night, she had turned around in her sleep so her back was to him. Haru had responded by wrapping his arms around her stomach and pulling her closer. She had then moved her hands down to intertwine with his, and it was this position that Haru had awoken to. Lifting his head slightly so he could see better, Haru was still trying to come to terms with what they had done. Moving one of his hands up, he gently touched her shoulder as he tried to convince himself that this was real and not just some vivid dream. The warmth of her body was very convincing, and he slowly realized that this was in fact real.
We actually did it he thought, trying to cement it in his mind. Now that the shock had worn off, Haru felt incredible warmth when he thought about it. Leaning down and kissing her neck, Haru tried to record every little detail of this moment. He was lying with the woman he loved, and that was more fulfilling than he could have ever imagined. In spite of all of the bad that had happened, this one victory made all of the pain he had suffered through worth it.
He was about to lay back down when Akame stirred in her sleep. Blinking a few times, she slowly rejoined the land of the conscious as she shifted her body. The first thing she noticed was an ache down between her legs, followed by the feeling of arms around her. Her instincts kicked in for a moment and her body stiffened, assuming it was some enemy. But then she remembered making love, and she relaxed as she turned her head to see Haru looking at her. "Good morning," he said, smiling at her. "Yes, it is," she agreed, reaching up and touching his chin.
Unable to resist the temptation, she brought Haru down and kissed him. It was still somewhat surprising to her that she had been so bold the other night, and she was sure that she would feel the embarrassment later. But she knew that if she hadn't done something it was more than likely that nothing would have happened, and that wasn't something she even wanted to think about. As they broke away from their kiss, Akame could feel herself heating up again. Her body wanted him again, and for a brief moment she considered listening to it. Instead, she smiled at him again before sitting up and moving to retrieve her clothing.
For a second, Haru found himself admiring her beauty before he shook his head and went to pick his own pants up. It wouldn't do either of them any good if he gave into his base desires now. They still had a job that needed to be done, and he didn't relish the thought of trying to explain any noises to the rest of Night Raid. After they had cleaned themselves up and were dressed again, they made their way out into the main hall. They were greeted by the sight of everyone sitting around and enjoying a large breakfast, and Haru did a quick headcount to make sure that everyone was actually there.
And to his relief, they were all still here. Pulling one of the open chairs out and offering it to Akame, Haru then sat next to her while ignoring the grins Mine and Leone had. He was determined to enjoy this day for all it was worth, and while he wasn't about to come out and admit what had happened, he wouldn't dodge the question if asked. As they enjoyed the breakfast, more of a feast, that Susanoo had prepared, they told Akame and Haru what had happened last night.
Their plan to use Mine and Tatsumi to draw the guards off had worked relatively well, although it had resulted in them fighting powerful opponents. Mine had ended up squaring off with Seryu and Koro, but she had managed to trigger Pumpkin's trump card and defeat them. After that, Seryu had triggered some kind of self-destruct in an attempt to take Mine with her, but Tatsumi had shown up just in time to pull her small butt out of the fire. While Haru felt bad at how things had turned out with the girl, he couldn't fault Mine for putting her life first.
At the party, Leone, Susanoo and Sheele had delayed Wave and Kurome, putting on a show and forcing Borick to flee the relative safety of the palace. Unfortunately for him, he had been fleeing right into Night Raid's trap, and Chelsea (disguised as a guard) and Lubbock had been waiting for him. At that point, his death had been swift, leaving Night Raid to return to the capital to make their final preparations.
"What about my brother and sister?" Haru asked after a while, looking at Najenda, "You don't really expect me to just leave them here, do you?" Najenda remained quiet for a while after that as she tried to decide the best course of action. Haru found that he was surprisingly patient about it; before his fight with the Demon's Core, he would have been restless at her silence. "We aren't going to just turn them out into the cold," she said finally, looking at him, "But we can't take them with us. There's too much to do in too little time to train them properly. I will leave word with one of our supporters here. They will look after them until you get back, or they are well enough to be on their own."
Nodding in thanks, Haru found himself secretly grateful that the boss was taking all possible outcomes into account. Despite how good he felt now, he had to remember that death was a very real outcome for him, for all of them. After that, it was business as usual. They cleaned up after themselves, Haru talked with his siblings briefly, and then they began to make their way back to the capital. Najenda had already sent out word that morning that the job had been completed, and the various groups were already beginning to martial their forces. Haru could just imagine the looks on the faces of the capital's 'leaders' when all hell broke loose.
Thankfully, their trip back was relatively uneventful. With revolts beginning to spring up everywhere, the Empire's forces were too occupied dealing with them to stop and question a group of travelers. But after the first day, Haru noticed there was something different. As they were walking, he was trying to figure out just what it was. He could feel the shift in attitude, but he couldn't quite pin it down. Noticing his look of mild frustration, Lubbock picked up his pace to match Haru's. "So, what's on your mind?" he asked, getting Haru's attention.
"Does something seem…off to you?" Haru replied, looking at everyone again. "Well, now that you mention it," Lubbock said, smiling evilly, "I did notice that you and Akame acted a lot friendlier than you used to." For a moment, Haru didn't know how to respond, and his hesitation was all of the answer that Lubbock needed. "That's not what I meant, smartass," Haru said, ignoring his look of triumph. "Alright, alright, give me a moment," Lubbock said, scratching his head, "Come to think of it, Mine and Tatsumi haven't yelled at each other for a while now."
That's it Haru thought, mentally slapping himself for not noticing. Hardly a day went by without them arguing over something, and yet now they were being…polite to each other. What in the hell happened during that mission he wondered. Patting Lubbock's shoulder in thanks, he moved to catch up with Tatsumi. "Hey, newbie, let's check out the path up ahead," he suggested, ignoring the look he got. Tatsumi still hated when Haru called him that, although now it wasn't as much as when he first started using the nickname. The two took off into the trees, moving swiftly ahead of the group while keeping their eyes peeled for any soldiers.
After Haru felt like they had gotten a good distance, he slowed down while saying, "Alright, kid, spill it; what happened during that fight two nights ago?" Tatsumi was so caught off-guard that he literally stumbled, almost face-planting into the ground before Haru grabbed his shirt to keep him upright. That reaction, plus Tatsumi's blush, told Haru that it hadn't just been a casual moment of bonding. "Um, well…that's kind of… I'm not sure how I should put this," Tatsumi stammered, trying to regain his composure. "She charmed you, didn't she?" Haru asked, taking a shot in the dark.
Tatsumi's face turning a shade darker was a definite yes, and Haru just sighed and acted like he was frustrated. "I don't know what I should do, Haru," Tatsumi said as he started walking again, "I mean, we fought all of the time before, but now… I can't get her out of my head. Seeing her on the cliff, with the sun coming up behind her… She looked so…" "Beautiful?" Haru offered, knowing what he meant. When Tatsumi nodded with the most hilarious look of guilt, Haru couldn't hold back any longer. He laughed, he laughed hard.
At first, Tatsumi was surprised at his reaction. He had been expecting Haru to scold him for being unprofessional, since he had been keeping his relative distance from Akame for that very reason. But after he got over that confusion, he just glared at Haru. Wiping his eyes, Haru looked up at him again as he tried to contain a few chuckles. "Relax, man. I won't say anything," he managed after a while, "This is a conversation strictly between men, so don't worry about sounding stupid." "I think it's a little late for that," Tatsumi commented, causing them both to laugh.
"So," Haru began after they had recovered, "You and the twerp, huh? Got to say, I did not see that one coming." "It's a shock to me, too," Tatsumi replied, "But… well, like I said. I can't get that image out of my head now." "Don't try to fight it, man," Haru told him, patting his back, "In the end, it's not worth it." "You sound like you're speaking from experience," Tatsumi said, trying to sound casual and failing. "Yeah, about that," Haru said, scratching the back of his head, "Akame and I… Well, let's just say that things developed quicker than I thought they would." "Wait, you actually made a move?" Tatsumi asked, surprised, "Wow, I thought it was going to take you at least another month to work up the nerve."
"It wasn't like that," Haru replied sternly, "It was just… At the time, I was carrying around a lot of guilt, and I knew how it felt to lose a loved one. I didn't want to risk hurting her if I got killed, and she seemed to be thinking the same thing in regards to me." "So, what changed?" Tatsumi asked, genuinely curious. If this could help him work out whatever was between him and Mine with half of the headaches Haru had endured, he would welcome the advice.
"To be perfectly honest, I think it was because I did something incredibly stupid," Haru replied with a small smile, "When we were scouting the graveyard, we ended up in a fight and I got to meet the user of the third Demon weapon. His weapon was more adept at stealth and mind control, manipulating darkness to the user's advantage. When he…infected me with those shadows, they used the darkness of my own soul against me." "Damn…" Tatsumi said, unable to even fathom what that kind of fight would have been like.
"In a bid to get free, I ended up using my trump card…on myself," Haru continued, his memories coming back clearly, "I used it to burn the shadows out of me, and I think I also destroyed a lot of my own darkness in the process." "Wait, you mean to say that you destroyed pieces of your own soul?" Tatsumi asked, stopping and looking at him. "Honestly, I don't really know," Haru said, heaving a sigh, "Maybe I finally made peace with my past, or maybe I burned up parts of my soul to get free. In the end, I'm not really sure I care. I feel better now than I have since my home was destroyed, and now Akame and I have each other. That alone is worth any damage I may have suffered."
They continued walking in silence after that, and for a while Tatsumi didn't know what to make of their talk. Had it been him, he would have been really concerned about the idea of burning up his own life to win a fight. But then he saw the look on Haru's face, and he wondered if he would have felt the same. He looked a lot more peaceful now than he used to, and the way he talked about Akame was different, too. Before, he had used the same tone as when he talked about the others, but now there was an emotional undertone that hadn't been there before; compassion, and genuine love. He clearly meant it when he said that she had been worth the pain, and Tatsumi wondered if he would ever reach a similar point with Mine.
It took them another two days after that to make it back to the capital. Even without entering the city, they could tell that the advisors and commanders were nervous about the revolts; the guards at the various points of entry had tripled since they had left, and the number of patrols in the outer districts had also increased sharply. Haru was definitely not looking forward to having to infiltrate the city now, even though he knew they would have to. Najenda wanted them to relocate to their hideout inside Lubbock's book store and had gone ahead to get them a way into the city. Meanwhile, she had ordered everyone else to return to the old hideout and grab what they would need.
After a few hours of walking, Haru found himself back in his room and packing what he needed. His bag consisted of some spare clothes, his blindfold, sword sharpener and what knives he still had. Taking another look around, he felt reluctant to leave this place so soon. It had become more of a home to him than he thought possible, and knowing that the next few days could be his last made him hesitate. Walking over to the bedside table, he picked up the charm that Leone had given him what felt like ages ago. She had been a lot more aware of how things were going than he had initially assumed, and he pocketed the charm as he went to grab his bag.
At this point, he saw Akame standing in his doorway with a small smile. "Having second thoughts?" she asked, since she had seen his hesitation. Sighing, Haru replied, "Yes, I am. This place feels like home, in spite of everything. I'm not sure I'm ready to give that up just yet." She understood what he meant; they had all lived and laughed here, and it was hard to leave all of those good memories behind. Walking over to him, she put her hands around his shoulders and said, "We will live through this, Haru, and make ourselves a proper home. I promise you." "I'll hold you to that," he said, leaning in and kissing her briefly.
Grabbing his bag, he went back outside to wait as the others finished packing. As it turns out, Chelsea and Lubbock were the only others that had finished by that point, and they were sitting under the trees and enjoying the weather. Walking over to Chelsea, Haru dropped his bag and sat down with her. He had something he needed to ask her, anyway. "So, how are you doing?" he asked after a bit. "I'm fine," Chelsea replied, smiling, "I'm not as attached to this place as you guys, and I didn't really bring a lot with me." "I noticed," Haru said, pointing at her single bag, "Although, I still can't believe that's all you need for a few days." "Not all girls are high-maintenance, matchstick," she said, punching his shoulder.
"Okay, okay, I get it," Haru said, laughing softly, "Listen, there's something I've wanted to ask you. What's happening with you and Tatsumi?" "Well, nothing now that he's taken, whether he knows it or not," Chelsea said, smiling sadly. Haru was a little shocked at that reply. He had assumed she would have wanted to fight for him, but maybe he had overestimated her affection. "And you're okay with that?" he asked, just to be sure. "I know when to cut my losses, Haru," she replied, looking at him, "I may like him, but I don't think it's anything more than a passing crush. Besides, you've seen how he and Mine act; they're perfect for each other."
He had to agree with her on that, although he still felt like Chelsea was getting the short end of the stick. Still, he was in no real position to give out romantic advice, so he just kept his mouth shut as they waited. It took the rest of them less than half an hour to pack and meet up outside, and they made their way back to the capital in relative silence. Although, this time Akame made it a point to stay near Haru. She was starting to feel very protective of him, and she found that this feeling was growing stronger the closer they came to the end. As if sensing her growing unease, he reached out and took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. While she felt her cheeks growing warmer at the contact, she didn't break away. Instead, she just gripped his hand as they continued on.
By the time they had gotten through the patrols and made it to Lubbock's store, night was already falling. Since their hideout here was smaller and less equipped, they got to settle with a small meal. It was at this point that Najenda decided to drop a pair of bombs on them. "We're going to be scouting out possible entrances to the palace grounds tomorrow," she said after everyone had eaten, "We have a less than a week before the Revolutionary Army will arrive, and we need to be prepared." "So, who gets to go where?" Haru asked, already dreading what he was about to hear.
Lighting a cigarette, Najenda continued, "Leone, Mine and Chelsea will follow up on some information we got from some engineers that work in the upper districts. Akame, Sheele and I will be heading out to take care of a problem with our communications with the Revolution. Finally, Lubbock, Tatsumi and Haru will make contact with an informant up on the royal grounds." "Wait a moment," Haru said immediately, "Is that really a good idea? They know my face up there." "They know your general description," Najenda replied, pulling a new blindfold out of a pocket. While his old one was brown, this one was a dark green.
"Wear this and keep your head down, and you should be fine," she told him, "You're not entering the actual palace. Our contact lives in one of the houses on the grounds for their important staff. Besides, I need my master of destruction there in case something goes wrong." "Well, I can't argue with that," Haru mumbled, taking the new blindfold. It was made of the same fabric as his old one, so it wouldn't be all that different. "One other thing," she said before everyone got up to leave, "This place wasn't built with large numbers in mind, so we only have five rooms."
Everyone did that math rather quickly, and they all came to the same conclusion; they were definitely going to have to double-up. "Okay, so who goes where?" Tatsumi asked, trying not to glance at Mine. Haru could tell that the kid was torn between asking her to pair up for a private conversation, and possible death from the embarrassment such a request would bring. "Well, I know the boss is going to get a room to herself," Leone said, "I'm sure Chelsea and I can share a room just fine."
Planting one hand on Haru's shoulder and the other on Akame's, she continued, "And I'm sure these two wouldn't mind sharing a room, either." Akame's face went beat red at that, while Haru just stammered as Leone smiled sweetly. The others, meanwhile, were laughing with various levels of enthusiasm at this. They had all figured out by now that somehow they had gotten over whatever had been stopping them from being truthful. In the end, Lubbock and Tatsumi got stuck together, while Mine and Sheele took their own room. And Akame and Haru got stuck in the last room, something that Haru had conflicting feelings over.
On the one hand, he was still incredibly embarrassed at what had just happened out there. But on the other hand, he felt a bit better at getting the same room. To be honest, he was also starting to feel anxious about what was coming. He was about to walk into the lion's den with nothing but Lubbock's wires, Tatsumi's armor and his flames to keep them safe. And while he was confident in their fighting abilities, he knew that it would only go so far against superior numbers. Shaking his head to clear it, Haru walked over and started to unpack his bag, completely unaware of Akame's own reaction to their situation.
She had gotten over the initial embarrassment quicker than he had, but it had been replaced by a new kind all too quickly. They were intentionally sharing a room now. It wasn't like that night back in Kyoroch, when it had just been a spur of the moment thing. They had chosen this, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little excited about it. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice when Haru walked up next to her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave her a gentle shake to bring her back to reality. "If this is where you want to sleep, that's fine," he said when she looked at him, "But I think the bed is more comfortable."
This just caused them both to blush, with Akame looking away and suddenly feeling awkward. This was all too much for Haru, and he stepped closer and hugged her, laughing softly as he did so. That was all Akame needed, and she hugged him back briefly before heading to unpack her own things. They then got to spend the next hour and a half sharpening their swords so they would be prepared, and Haru went through his dwindling collection of knives. He had 10 of them left, and he wouldn't be getting a chance to replenish them any time soon so he would have to make them count. He also only had 6 of his shots left, and those were arguably more precious.
After that, they then got to try to sleep, which was still a little awkward. At first, they just lay on separate sides of the bed, trying not to glance at each other too much. But after laying there for almost half an hour, Haru decided screw it. Looking over, he saw that Akame had turned away and was facing the wall, so he figured this was as good a time as any. Rolling over and moving a bit closer, he put his arms around her waist, spun her over and pulled her in closer. Akame gasped at this sudden movement, and she tried not to look him in the eye as she fought down the blush. Instead, Haru just kept his grip and rested his forehead against hers.
"H-Haru…" she said, trying to keep her emotions in check. "Relax, I'm not going to try anything," he said, laughing softly and kissing her forehead, "Besides, you need to relax if you're going to actually sleep." She wasn't so sure that lying with him like this was going to actually calm her down, but Akame decided she didn't have anything to lose at the moment. Putting her arms around him, she pulled herself in closer, smiling. It still felt incredibly good to hold him like this, and to be held by him in return. To her surprise, this did actually serve to steady her nerves somewhat. They were both able to sleep rather well, and they awoke to the smell of bacon cooking. Well, to be more specific; they woke up to the sound of Akame's stomach growling at the smell of food.
Their morning was rather somber as compared to the night before. Mine, Leone and Chelsea had already gone out to complete their task, while Sheele had been waiting patiently for Akame and Najenda to wake up. Lubbock was also awake, and he looked an odd combination of excited and nervous. Haru could understand what his friend was feeling; while his Imperial Arms was undoubtedly dangerous, it was more specialized for stealth attacks and traps. And if things went bad for them, they would be stuck in a stand-up fight against God knows how many guards.
Finally, after pounding on Tatsumi's door and waiting as the kid gathered his things and ate something, they started to head out. Walking up the stairs to the bookstore, Haru felt someone grab his arm. He wasn't surprised to see that it was Akame that had stopped him. Without saying anything, she put a hand on his cheek and kissed him. "Be careful," she said when she broke away. Taking her hand and giving it a squeeze, he replied, "I will." And then he was up the stairs and gone, heading to the one place that none of them truly wanted to go just yet. But they would need to know what they were up against, and they would also need several ways to get into the palace once the fighting started. But of course, none of them knew just how much that information would cost them.