Ten Minutes Close 'Til Midnight...

"And that's everything that I know..." Sayo had informed Night Raid the news of what became of Sheele and Mine. Night Raid was gathered around Sayo, outside of their hideout in the middle of the night and were shocked to learn of the news. Night Raid, including Tatsumi and Ieyasu had all stood still like statues and were nearly silent.

"S-seriously?" Tatsumi asked. Not before flinching when he heard the news of Sheele and Mine's capture. "Both Sheele and Mine were captured?"

"Yes." Sayo nodded. "By two Imperial Grunts. One of them had a magical white dog that can turn into a monster. I barely know anything about the other one, though..."

Tatsumi gasped in horror, as he then thought of when he met Seryu Ubiquitous in the slums. 'No way... could it have been that girl?'

"Two rookies, eh?" Bulat asked with a frown.

Sayo nodded.

"This has to be some kind of joke..." Lubbock muttered. Not wanting to believe Sayo's words.

'We're in big trouble, if only two rookies skilled enough to capture Mine and Sheele, alive.' Najenda inhaled, then exhaled some air.

Leone and Akame frowned in silence as they absorbed the news

Ieyasu, who had a face of shock was saddened by the news. "Tch!" He clinched his fists. "We gotta go rescue them!" Ieyasu yelled to his companions.

"Calm down, Ieyasu." Najenda ordered Ieyasu to calm down.

"I can't calm down! Two of our friends had just been kidnapped!" Ieyasu faced Najenda.

"Not yet. If you act too quickly, then, you won't be only endangering them, but also yourself and the entirety of Night Raid." Najenda said in a calm tone.

"I don't care about that! I'm not going to stand here, an-" Without notice, Ieyasu felt a hard knuckle fist to his right face, which caused him to fly backwards a few yards from where he was standing. He landed on the dirt and groaned.

Both Tatsumi and Sayo gasped as they watched their friend be punched in the face.

Ieyasu groaned and rubbed his right knuckle over his mouth. As his right lip had been busted. He quickly sat his upper body up and noticed Bulat was standing over him in annoyance. "Bro?"

"Enough, Ieyasu! Now get your shit, together!" Bulat yelled as he pointed his nose directly at him.

Ieyasu looked up to Bulat with sad and confused eyes.

"You knew exactly what kind work you'd be doing the moment you and your friends joined us! You should be lucky that Mine and Sheele are even still alive!" Bulat said.

"Tch!" Ieyasu grunted and lowered his head.

"Ieyasu..." Sayo muttered in pity. She had never seen Ieyasu look so defeated in her life. Usually, Ieyasu is optimistic and talking about pretty girls, but now...

Najenda then moved her feet and slowly walked in front of her group. "Listen..."

"Hm?" Tatsumi turned his full attention to Najenda. As did everyone else in Night Raid. Ieyasu had slowly risen up from the dirt and stood back onto his feet.

Najenda had raised her right mechanical green arm. "The Empire will soon know that it will take Teigu to fight Teigu. And now they will bring more Teigu Users to fight for them. But what this means for us-is that we will have the chance to collect more Teigu will increase. Ieyasu. Sayo. Tatsumi. Your chances of collecting Teigu might come, very soon."

"Right." Sayo and Tatsumi quickly responded to Najenda as they had not possessed any Teigu, yet.

Ieyasu quickly nodded with fire in his eyes. 'Right. I'm going to rescue Sheele and Mine. But first... I need to get me a Teigu! I don't care what it is... I will have one!' Ieyasu clinched his fists, once more. Causing to bleed tiny drops.

Meanwhile...

Within the Empire... Flare had lied on his back top of a bed inside of an apartment he was staying in. He placed his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling in his apartment and couldn't help but think of what happened earlier, that night. 'I'm happy that Seryu and I stopped two people Night Raid from killing anymore innocent people. But, I feel like... I've gotten myself into deeper trouble because of it.' Flare had thought as he could not sleep at all. Flare then sighed and lied onto his side. His body was facing away from the apartment window. 'Maybe, I'll get over it, when I talk to Seryu, tomorrow.'

Author's Note: I know this was short, but this story will explain how Sayo, Ieyasu and Tatsumi joined Night Raid.