Akame Ga Kill: Kill the Second Chance.
Quick Note – Before we get into the chapter, I want to mention a few things about the story and a couple of them are important.
1) I didn't know where Tatsumi's village was when I was searching on the fandom of Akame Ga Kill, so I'm just going to say that it's in the Northern region of the Empire. It makes sense that the village is located there because not only it's snowing, but Tatsumi was wearing winter clothes when he grew up. I could be wrong about the village location, but I assumed the village is in the Northern region.
2) This is an important fact everyone should know. For every new chapter I'm writing, it will be either a part chapter or a full chapter because I can't focus writing all the time. For this chapter, it will be a full chapter.
3) If you guys are wondering if Night Raid and the Jaegers are going to be using the necklaces I've mentioned, they are, and four spirits will be revealed in every chapter I make. (Not going to write the spirits now because we're still in the beginning)
4) If you guys are wondering if Tatsumi is still going to adopt Lilac, Luna, Air and Fal and become a father, he will, but it will be much later until we see them again.
5) If you guys are wondering if Ieyasu's joining Tatsumi's and Sayo's journey to the Capital, he will not because of obvious reasons. One, he is not strong enough, and even if he did Night Raid's training, it still won't be enough. Two, he won't be able to kill someone since he will have hesitation of killing a human being. And three, he is a pervert like Lubbock. He won't be able to focus on a mission if he's fighting a woman, and he'll be cocky if he faces opponents that are weak and inexperience. So, Ieyasu's not joining Tatsumi's and Sayo's journey to the Capital.
6) Sayo and Sheele will both get the same Teigu they have gotten from Tatsumi in the original Kill the Second Chance, which are Darken Sky for Sayo and A Thousand Punches: Night's Reach for Sheele.
7) This is the important fact I have to mention, and it involves with the time travel part. Some events will be the same from the original timeline, such as Sayo experiencing the same pain and tortured in Aria's mansion and Tatsumi meeting Leone in the Capital again. But some events will be different in the new timeline, such as Tatsumi saving Spear and the Former Minister and Tatsumi telling Night Raid about his Teigu a bit early than intended. I'm planning to write different events in the story while writing the same events and I'm planning to change Wave's appearance and Teigu name in the new timeline because I didn't write anything about his new appearance in the new timeline, except his sword and Teigu.
Alright, that is everything I wanted to say. I hope you guys enjoy reading this new version of the Kill the Second Chance.
Enjoy the chapter.
Chapter Two: Eight Years Later.
(Imperial Year 1024; In the Northern Region; Morning Time)
In the Northern region of the Empire where it always snows, a nice, yet very poor, village can be seen in-between the forest and the mountains. It had a friendly atmosphere, and the inhabitants who lived in the village were going on their day in a happy manner, not even bothered by the cold.
However, the village's atmosphere was quite sad instead of being happy, which wasn't hard to figure out at all since three of their members were leaving the village to head towards the Capital to earn money for its poor state.
"I can't believe that Tatsumi, Ieyasu and Sayo are leaving the village." Villager one, a man, said in a sad tone.
"Do you think they'll be safe?" Villager two, a woman, asked in a worried tone.
"As long as Sayo and Ieyasu are with Tatsumi, they will be fine. Tatsumi is a master of swordsmanship and martial arts. There's no way any bandits or Danger-Beasts would stand against him." Villager three, another man, said with a laugh.
"Speaking of Tatsumi, where is he?" Villager one asked.
"From what I heard, he went to go talk to the chief in private," Villager two replied. "Something about not taking Ieyasu to the Capital."
"Why?" Villager one and three asked bewilderedly at the same time.
"I don't know, but Tatsumi had this look on his face that he was very determined on not taking Ieyasu with him and Sayo to the Capital. If I didn't know any better, I say Tatsumi knows something about the Capital, and we don't."
In the house of where the village chief lives, which is a two-story building with a living room, dining room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom and an attic, two figures were sitting at a table across from each other in the dining room, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. The first figure, dressed in black and white winter clothes, was an old man that was completely bald, except having a goatee beard and a small mustache, and looked to be in his mid-sixties. He had a few wrinkles on his face but looked healthy and fine.
The second figure, across from the old man, was a tall, very handsome, lean-built and muscular, young man who looked to be about seventeen. He had brown hair that was neck-length, messy and spiky with some of the hair swept to the left side in the front, a bit of fair-skin, sharp canine teeth and very bright, piercing emerald-green eyes that was filled with matureness, sharpness, intelligence and a spark of a warrior that looked ready to battle an army.
The young man's attire was quite different than the village's winter clothes. Said attire consisted of a red, long-sleeved, black-trimmed, hooded coat that went to his feet and was often left opened, revealing a tight black shirt that showed off the young man's muscular body, including his broad chest and eight pack abs. He wore black baggy pants with red straps, a white belt that held up two pouches, which were on the young man's left side and red leather boots with a darker shade of red around the edges.
"Tatsumi, is there any way I can convinced you to take Ieyasu with you?" The village chief asked after setting down his cup of hot chocolate and giving the second figure who was known as Tatsumi a pleading look. "You do know he'll be greatly disappointed when he learns that he won't be going to the Capital with you and Sayo. It has always been his dream to leave the village and see the world."
"I'm sorry, chief, but my decision is final." Tatsumi replied in a slight deep voice that was a bit different than his old voice in the previous timeline. "Ieyasu won't be coming with me or Sayo to the Capital, no matter how many times you pleaded."
"But Tatsumi…"
"Chief, I'm not going to argue about this," Tatsumi said with firmness in his voice. "Ieyasu's not coming with me and Sayo to the Capital, and that's final."
The village chief let out a sigh that was mixed with tiredness and disappointment. "Alright, Tatsumi, you win. I will ask the villagers to summon Sayo and Ieyasu and relay the news to them, but I must warn you that Ieyasu will be very angry when he hears this."
"If he argues with me and gets on my nerves, then we'll settle it with our fists." Tatsumi said with a small grin, earning another sigh from the village chief. "Oh, don't do that sigh, chief, it's bad manners to do that when a guest is in your house."
"Cheeky brat." The village chief muttered under his breath. "Well, off you go then, you need to prepare yourself for yours and Sayo's journey to the Capital, Tatsumi, while also preparing yourself to deal with Ieyasu's temper."
"I'll be prepared for that, chief, you just worry about the announcement." Tatsumi said very quietly, as he stood up and left the house, not before giving his village chief a bow of good day. As he walked to his house to collect his stuff, Tatsumi suddenly began thinking about a topic he hasn't thought about for eight years, a topic that causes him to have nightmares and wake up in cold sweat.
'I can't believe that it has been eight years since I died in the final battle and got sent back in time.' Tatsumi thought with grimace and complete dread, not wanting to remember the nightmares he had tried to vanish. The nightmares of all his friends dying. 'Things have changed a lot in my village when I woke up. Not only I am the best swordsman and huntsman in the village, but I am much stronger than before, thanks to my Danger-Beast powers.'
Tatsumi can still remember his reaction when Zenovia successfully sent him back in the year of 1016.
(Flashback; Eight Years Ago; Imperial Year 1016; Night Time)
Tatsumi opened his eyes to find himself in a dark room that was unfamiliar to him and slowly sat up, only to groan when he felt great pain in his body. It was like he had been run over by a stampede of lion-like Danger-Beasts and they, the lion-like Danger-Beasts, were scratching him with their sharp claws.
Taking a few deep breaths to get rid of the pain, Tatsumi began looking around the room he was in and to his very great surprise, he was in a room he hadn't been in for nearly a year. He was in his old room, and if he was in his old room and not at Night Raid's base, that meant he was in his home village. He was back at home.
"Why am I back in my village?" Tatsumi began saying before freezing and clamping his mouth with his hands. His voice sounded different, much different than his normal voice. It was young, too young, and sounded like a child. Tatsumi took his hands away from his mouth and spoke a few words, hoping that what he just heard was a dream, but to Tatsumi's horror, it wasn't. He heard the same young and child voice, and he can confirm that it came from him.
'WHY DOES MY VOICE SOUND LIKE A KID?!' Tatsumi screamed in his head, as he tried to calm his breath, which was starting to become shaky, but the attempts were fruitless because the brown-hair assassin couldn't believe that his voice was young. 'Wait, if my voice sounded like a kid…then does that mean…' Not wanting to finish that thought, Tatsumi slowly looked downwards to see his body, and his breathing became shakier when he saw what he'd feared; a child's body, at the age of nine. Tatsumi was now a kid again. 'What happened to me?'
As if a tidal wave washed over him but with memories instead of water, Tatsumi remembered everything. Everything that happened to him and his friends. He can remember the day he and Night Raid, along with the Revolutionary Army, launched their final attack at the Empire, ready to end its corruption once and for all and bring peace to the Empire. He can remember Honest, the Prime Minister, activating the First Teigu that no one had seen for thousands of years. He can remember battling the said Teigu with all his might, courage and power, only to get beaten up badly and lose half amount of blood. He can remember evolving Incursio into a new version; a new and powerful version that finally managed to defeat the First Teigu and ended the war.
But even though Tatsumi was happy that the war was over, more memories were appearing in his mind, memories that are not good at all. They were very dark memories.
The more memories he's remembering, the more Tatsumi's breath became shakier and shakier, and he can feel cold sweat appearing on his forehead. His emerald-green eyes were as wide as dinner plates and filled with fear and horror when he remembers the Danger-Beast that came to the ruined Capital and found him in a very weak state. He can remember himself struggling to stand up, but his injuries prevented him from doing that, and while he was struggling to stand up, the Danger-Beast was charging up its power and the beast sent its attack at the down Tatsumi once it had enough power, killing and disintegrated him into ashes.
'I…I died in the final battle…the battle to end all the corruption and the bloodshed to bring peace to the Empire…' Tatsumi numbly thought, his mind still thinking about the final battle. 'I brought peace to the Empire, but in the end…I died. I died because I was weak…like what Esdeath said.' The thought of the beautiful blue-hair woman, the woman that he loved, despite her status as a general of the Imperial Army, brought a small smile on Tatsumi's face before he realized what he was thinking and shook his head. 'No, bad Tatsumi! Don't think about Esdeath right now!'
A deep, yet still very shaky, sigh left Tatsumi's mouth as he fell backwards on his old bed and stared at the dark ceiling. As he stared at the ceiling, more memories rushed into his mind, only these memoires were about an ancient goddess name Zenovia. He can remember the said goddess telling him about the differences between ancient goddesses and normal goddesses and remember Zenovia offering him a wish. He can remember the wish he wanted, requesting to have his Danger-Beast powers and having the previous timeline events, along with his friends past lives and deaths, in his mind. He can remember asking Zenovia if she can give Wave memories and the events of the previous timeline. And the last thing Tatsumi remembered was being engulfed in a bright flash of light.
For a long while, Tatsumi kept staring at the dark ceiling in silence, thinking about everything that had happened to him, his friends and the Revolutionary Army. He was still baffled and frightened on how the final battle went in the Empire's favor instead of the Revolutionary Army. Not only they lost half their forces because of Esdeath, they lost the other half because of the First Teigu. The thought of the enormous Teigu caused Tatsumi to clench his fist very tightly. Oh, how he hated that Teigu when he was battling it. Not only it was a huge pain in the ass to deal with, but it was completely kicking his ass and it didn't even move from its spot! That was fucking bullshit!
'No, bad Tatsumi! Bad! Bad! Bad! Don't even think about the First Teigu right now!' Tatsumi thought, shaking his head mentally. He didn't realize he was releasing a bit of killing intent, but he quickly suppressed it before anyone would sense it. 'You need to think about important things, like planning what to do in the new timeline you are in and what Danger-Beast powers you'd obtained. Speaking of powers, I need to test something.'
Tatsumi got up from his bed, slightly groaning a bit from the pain that hadn't vanished yet and went over to his closet to put on some clothes. As he walked to his closet, he noticed that it was night time and that would be perfect for him to sneak out of the village and into the forest where he could test his powers. After he put on his clothes, along with winter clothing, he quietly made his way out of his house and stepped outside into the night.
The cold breeze brushed against Tatsumi's skin, making him shiver a bit. It has been a long time since he last felt the cold breeze, considering that he spent all his time in the forest region where it is warm. But Tatsumi brushed off the cold breeze and began making his way towards the forest. He knew that he had to go deep in the forest to make sure no one would spot him and knew that it would take a while to get there.
'Finally, here's a spot away from my village,' Tatsumi thought with a sigh, finally reaching a spot that was very far away from his village. The spot was medium-sized and filled with numerous large rocks. It wasn't the best spot in the world, but it would work for now until he can improve it. It took him thirty minutes to get here because of the obstacles in his way, and it wasn't Danger-Beasts. It was forest branches. 'I know the people in my village will get worried if I go too deep into the forest in the morning, so I'll have to train very late at night where everyone's asleep.' As much as Tatsumi wanted to think about his village, he had more pressing matters to attend to; like what powers he'd gotten from infusing with Incursio.
Speaking of Incursio, Tatsumi should probably see if it was the same gold armor he used during the final battle, but he wasn't at full strength yet, despite being able to walk, and he could get injured from using the said Teigu. And since he was far away from the village, no one would be able to hear Tatsumi's cries for help. So, in the end, he decided to wait until he was a bit older until he can use the Teigu and see what powers it holds. But in the meantime, Tatsumi needed to find out what other changes happened to him.
Luckily, when he was walking through the forest, Tatsumi was already taking mental notes about the changes of his body, both mentally and physically, and there were a few changes that interested and surprised him. Physically, he had great vision, senses, smelling, hearing improvement, enhanced strength, immense endurance, sharp canine teeth and a very strong durability body, meaning that it would be almost impossible for any sharp objects to pierce through his body. Mentally, he had a very sharp and intelligent mind, a resistance to any types of poison, including the cursed poison from the One Cut Killer: Murasame, and an intelligence that can put most scientists to shame.
A sudden thought entered Tatsumi's mind, causing him to become thoughtful. If he was back in time, did he still processed the strength he'd gotten from fighting the First Teigu, along with the training he did with Night Raid? Wanting to find out, Tatsumi spotted a large rock that was a bit distance away and began walking over to it. Once he got there, he stretched out his hand, curled it into a fist, pulled it back before launching the fist towards the large rock.
BOOM!
The large rock exploded into debris and dust, causing Tatsumi to recoil in shock from what he just did. He wasn't expecting the rock to be destroyed into debris and dust, and he wasn't expecting to pack so much strength into the punch he just did. He only punched it lightly! Tatsumi looked at his hand for a few moments, still shocked from the punched he just did, before balling it into a fist and looked up at the sky.
'I died in the previous timeline because I was weak, naive, ignorant, foolish and arrogant. I thought the world was a perfect place, but I was wrong.' Tatsumi thought, still staring at the sky with a somber look on his face. 'And because of what I was, my childhood friends died and everyone in Night Raid I've cared about also died.' The somber look on Tatsumi's face to one of pure determination. 'But I was given a second chance to change the future, change my friends' deaths and end the corruption from the scum like Honest and Syura. I will make sure I will end the corruption and bring peace to the Empire. I will become much stronger than before, and I will make sure no one, not even the Revolutionary Army or the Jaegers, will die! I WILL NOT FAIL MY MISSION!'
Not even caring if anyone can hear him, even though he was very far away, Tatsumi released a mighty roar into the heavens, causing the all the birds in the forest to take off immediately. "I KNOW YOU CAN'T HEAR ME, HONEST, BUT I SWEAR TO YOU THAT I WILL KILL YOU AND BRING PEACE TO THE EMPIRE! YOU, ALONG WITH WILD HUNT AND EVERYONE WHO IS KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE, WILL DIE SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY! THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY WILL WIN AND THE EMPIRE WILL BE RESTORED TO ITS FORMER GLORY!"
After that, Tatsumi's mission has just begun.
(Flashback Ends; Back with Tatsumi)
Ever since he made that vow that night, the night where he was sent back in time, Tatsumi began training unlike he'd ever done before in his life, not even the training he did when he was at Night Raid. The training was very serious, tiring, demanding and cruel, something that no kid should ever do in his/her life. But Tatsumi didn't stopped his training and pushed his body to the point he'd unlocked several powers that proved to be very useful.
For instance, the first powers Tatsumi had unlocked were the ability to control fire and time. He unlocked the fire ability when he was roasting a fire to keep himself warm from the cold and unknowingly waved a hand in the air that caused the fire to follow his hand movements. It was a stroke of pure luck that Tatsumi managed to figure out how to put out the fire by closing his fist, otherwise he would've had to deal with a burning forest. As for how he unlocked the time ability, the brown-hair assassin must've inherited its time power when Esdeath activated Mahapdama, the Demon's Extract trump card.
The time ability was the most useful ability Tatsumi unlocked because of two reasons. One, he can easily take out weaker Danger-Beasts and bandits. And two, he can just walk through the enemy's forces and attack them from behind. The time ability can work on strong opponents, but it doesn't last long, so he would have to take the opponent out quickly and swiftly.
For his other powers, Tatsumi had unlocked a healing and cleansing ability to not only heal himself from battles, but his teammates as well. The cleansing ability will be helpful to extract poison and drugs out of a person's systems, which he would use it on a certain dark-hair girl who is leaving with him to the Capital, and a certain dark-hair girl who still serves the Empire.
Tatsumi had also unlocked a mind reading and a memory wiped ability. Those abilities, like the time ability, were very useful because if any person who serves the Imperial Army discovered who he was and his Teigu, the brown-hair assassin would erase that person's memory and his secret, along with his identity, would be kept safe. For the mind reading ability, he was sure that he gotten it when he first put on Spectator. But there is one ability Tatsumi liked the most, which is the teleporting ability. Not only he can teleport to almost anywhere in the world, but he can also teleport to any Imperial hideouts and destroy them while taking the weapons and giving them to his village and to the Revolutionary Army.
The village and the Revolutionary Army never knew how they were getting weapons that belonged to the Imperial Army, but the former were glad they have weapons to protect themselves from Danger-Beasts and bandits, while the latter was happy to have more weapons at their disposal.
After all the training he did, Tatsumi was very proud of the accomplishments he managed to achieve after training for eight years.
However, the most accomplishment thing Tatsumi had unlocked during his eight yearlong training was his new Teigu, which is called Dragon King Armor: Starblaze. This Teigu was probably one of the most powerful Teigu's in the world, apart from the First Teigu, and it took a lot of work, blood, sweat and tears to finally come up with the name and to control its great power. And since Tatsumi didn't want Night Raid, especially a certain One-Hundred-Killer, to find out that he used Incursio, he decided to try and changed the armor he had into a new version and to his very great relief, the armor changed into a new version, and it was now a combination of Incursio and Grand Chariot, with having the strength from the former armor and the defense from the latter armor.
However, because of having both powers combined into one, it causes absolute pain to the user, and Tatsumi learned that fact by himself when he first activated it after he became a few years older. It took nearly all night for Tatsumi to even get home and rest on his bed. The training he did to control the power was hell, but he was determined to control it, and when he did, he was surprised to learn that the armor came with variety of weapons, which were a staff, a shotgun, a sniper, a shield and a spear.
But there was a problem with the weapons, the Teigu and some of the abilities Tatsumi had unlocked. He can only use the weapons and one of the abilities, which was the teleporting ability, if he wears Starblaze. Without the armor on, he won't be able to use the weapons and the teleport ability. But luckily, he can still use the other abilities he had unlocked without the armor on.
The idea having both armors, along with their main abilities, offense and defense, combined into one is mind blowing and insane for obvious reasons. One, it has too much power that a person would die instantly if they put it on. Two, it's very dangerous. And three, it was impossible to have such an armor, because no Teigu armor can evolve, except for Tyrant. If an armor Teigu was created from a Low-Class Danger-Beast that had a resistance to swords and guns, the armor would not evolve.
Tatsumi hadn't thought about the topic of Incursio evolving into a more powerful version in the previous timeline and wondered why he was the only one who could it. Was it because he has a stronger connection to the Teigu than Bulat, or was it because he was in a dire need of power to protect the innocent people? It was still a question Tatsumi was still wondering.
Tatsumi was so deep into his thoughts that he didn't realize he was in front of his house, something that caused him to curse a little. He really should stop thinking deeply to himself, otherwise he would've slammed right into something. With a sigh, Tatsumi walked into his house and paused. It has been a while since he last stepped in here, considering that he spent all his time in his training spot. The house was a two-story building with one bathroom, a kitchen, a small living room with a fireplace and a bedroom. It was a nice, cozy home.
"I really should've stay in my house more often instead of training," Tatsumi uttered to himself, looking around with a solemn look. "But I couldn't do that because of my mission, and I needed to make sure that I can control my Teigu's and Danger-Beast's power. If I didn't train my powers, then my village and the forest would've burned down, and I can't let the Empire know that." With another sigh, Tatsumi walked up the stairs to the second floor, walked down a small hallway and entered a door that was near at the end of the hall.
The room Tatsumi entered was his room, which was medium-sized and had a few furniture that were a bed, a small bookshelf, a desk and a chair, a wooden wardrobe and a trunk. The room wasn't that much to look at.
On Tatsumi's bed were a bag of supplies he was going to need for his and Sayo's journey to the Capital, which contained clothes, food, bottles of water, a couple of wood for a fire, a Teigu for Sayo, a black box that was filled with unknown contents and a revolver pistol that Tatsumi was going to carry. Next to the supplies was the key to activate Starblaze.
The key to Starblaze was a sword that was very different than normal swords people used in the Capital. The sword was pure black from top of the blade to the end of the pommel with red lining and the blade itself was very sharp, which curved slightly to the left. The sword had red Japanese markings in the middle of the blade with a red-fiery globe in the rain guard, while the cross-guard was shaped like dragon wings. In the center of the cross-guard was a ruby-red gem that was slitted like a dragon. The hilt, while black, was wrapped in white wrappings and at the end of the pommel was a sharp dragon fang.
If Tatsumi was going to be honest with himself, he really missed using Incursio's key, even though he has a new key. Not only it guided him to battle and to victory, but the sword became his partner and he honored and took great care of polishing the sword, just like Akame does to her own sword. A look of sadness and guiltiness appeared in Tatsumi's eyes when he thought of the red-eye assassin. If there was anyone he missed dearly, it was Akame. It was she who taught him everything, about the perks of an assassin and show no hesitation to end enemies, how to bond with the other members of Night Raid, the ways of the sword, and how to increase stealth and endurance. It was Akame who Tatsumi loved the most.
Tatsumi felt like a failure and an asshole when he remembered something that caused him to clench his fists tightly. A memory of him saying to a teary-eye Akame a promise, a promise that he couldn't kept.
"Akame, I'll make you a promise, a promise that I will keep my word on. I will not die! I will not make you sad or cry! And I will not let anymore people who are close to you die! I will make sure, with all my life, that you will never cry, be sad again or lose anyone close to you and I promise I will not die!"
'Why did I say that? That promise I couldn't keep my word on?' Tatsumi thought with tears pooling at the corner of his eyes, but he wiped them away. No way in hell he was going to cry again. 'I'm sorry I didn't keep my word on that promise I made to you, Akame, and I'm sorry that I wasn't there to help you and your little sister when you both training to be assassins. But I will promise you this, and I will keep my word on it, even if I have to do unthinkable things to make you happy. I promise you, Akame, that I will get Kurome on our side and cleanse the drugs out of her system. I will also give you my word that me, along with Night Raid, will not die.'
With a resolve determination to see his friends again and make sure to keep his word his time, Tatsumi grabbed everything he needed for his and Sayo's journey, swung the supply bag over his shoulder, tied the key to Starblaze the inside of his coat, which is located on Tatsumi's right side and left the house to head back to the village chief's house, not before glancing at the house that was his home for nearly seventeen years with a soft, yet sad, look. It will be a long time before he sees the house and the village again.
(Ten Minutes Later; At the Village Chief's House)
Tatsumi had just walked through the village chief's house after saying goodbye to all the villagers when he heard a roar of fury that came from the living room, causing the brown-hair assassin to pause.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T GO TO THE CAPITAL WITH TATSUMI AND SAYO, CHIEF?!"
'Looks like the chief told Ieyasu about not going to the Capital with me and Sayo.' Tatsumi mused, fighting the urge to laugh at his friend's temper tantrum. He did let out a chuckle, however, when he heard the chief's retort roar.
"DO NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE IN MY HOUSE, YOUNG MAN! OTHERWISE, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS AND THROW YOU OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
"I LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY, OLD MAN!"
Tatsumi couldn't help but wince a bit from hearing that last part, knowing that the village chief didn't like to be called old, and the wince grew louder when an angry roar filled the house before the sounds of fighting commenced in the living room, followed by the sounds of screaming. Preparing himself in case he needed to get the hell out of there – the village chief can be quite scary sometimes – Tatsumi set his bag of supplies down by the door, walked over to where the living room is and came across a sight that made him once again pause.
The sight Tatsumi was looking at was a comical version of the village chief and a young man wrestling on the ground, with the village chief winning and the young man losing. Because of their wrestling, the living room was a mess. The furniture was flipped onto their backs, the coffee table was split in two, and the pictures from the walls had fallen to the ground.
Tatsumi was sweat dropping from the fight he was currently watching, and he couldn't help but let out an awkward chuckle. Maybe he shouldn't say anything to the chief and deal with Ieyasu himself.
"That's what Ieyasu gets for insulting the village chief. He knew he shouldn't say about the taboo words, but his temper got better than him."
Tatsumi turned his head away from the comical wrestling between the two men towards the person who spoke in a cool, yet amusing, tone. The person, who was sitting on a chair, was a average-height, petite-built, young girl who seemed to be a year younger than Tatsumi and the young man, probably about sixteen. She had long, black hair with a white butterfly accessory on the right side of her head and two long bangs framing her face, pale skin and kind black eyes. The young girl's attire consisted of a sleeveless, upper knee, blueish-white kimono with two upper-arm sleeves that were the same color as the kimono, a semi-wide blue sash as a belt and knee-high white boots.
This young girl was Sayo, a childhood friend of Ieyasu and a wish to have a relationship with Tatsumi.
"Hey, Sayo," Tatsumi greeted, ignoring the fighting between the two men. "How are you?"
"I'm good, Tatsumi, thanks for asking," Sayo replied with a bright grin and a faint dust of pink on her face. 'How can a blush appear on my face from just looking at Tatsumi's handsome face?'
"I'm sure the chief told you the news about Ieyasu not coming with us, Sayo?" Tatsumi asked, resisting the urge to smirk when he read Sayo's mind, about how a blush appeared on her face from just looking at his face. 'Even in the previous timeline, I'm still popular with the ladies. Take that, Lubbock.'
"Yeah, he did." Sayo replied, losing the smile on her face and her thoughts. "But he didn't give any reasons why. Is there something that bothers you, Tatsumi?"
Tatsumi was going to reply to Sayo's question when a sudden shout of victory came from the village chief. Both Sayo and Tatsumi looked over to see what's happening and a sweat drop appeared behind their heads when they saw the village chief sitting on the young man's back with an expression of triumph on his face.
"Want to say that again, boy?" The village chief growled, leering down on the young man.
"Alright, alright! You win! Let me go!" The young man shouted, trying and failing to get the old man off his back. He let out a sigh of relief when the village chief stood up but let out a cry of pain when he felt a fist connecting to his head. "Ouch! What was that for?!"
"That was for calling me an old man!" The village chief exclaimed. "You know damn well that I don't like being called an old man! The next time you say that again, I'll show you the true meaning of hell! Do you understand me?!"
"I won't say it again!"
"Then you better watch your mouth, or I'll go through to my threat, Ieyasu."
Ieyasu was a fair-skin, young man of average height and a loud personality. His dark brown hair was short and unruly and his brown eyes had. His body was lean and muscular, though not as much as Tatsumi's own muscular body, and his attire was a long-sleeve, tan-colored, puffy jacket, black pants and black shoes. The most noticeable feature was his marital arts headband that was located on his head.
"Yeah, watch your mouth or you'll get your ass kicked by the village chief, Ieyasu," Sayo said with a smirk. "Something that we all like to see."
"Shut up, Sayo!" Ieyasu retorted, turning around to glare at the dark-hair girl. "I don't want to hear you or your stupid teasing!"
"Calm down, Ieyasu, no need to get angry at Sayo," The village chief stated, a bit stiff from being called an old man.
"No need to get angry at Sayo? THERE IS A NEED TO GET ANGRY, CHIEF! I'M NOT ALLOWED TO GO TO THE CAPITAL WITH HER AND TATSUMI, WHICH IS BULLSHIT! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO EARN THIS?!"
"WOULD YOU JUST CALM DOWN ALREADY AND SHUT UP?!" Tatsumi shouted, getting tired of hearing Ieyasu shouting. It was amusing at first, but it was starting to get annoying. Not to mention, Tatsumi's sensitive ears were starting to hurt.
The occupants in the room stopped talking and turned to stare at Tatsumi in shock. They have never heard him shout before because he was usually the most calm and collected person in the village.
Tatsumi took a few deep breaths to calm himself and looked at each person in the living room with a stern look. "That's enough, Ieyasu, you are nearly an adult and know better than to act like an immature kid. This behavior shouldn't be allowed in the chief's house and it's one of the reasons why I don't want you to come to the Capital with me and Sayo." Ieyasu's shocked eyes widened from hearing that last part. "Before we can talk about the journey to the Capital, let's clean the room up and sit down like civilized people."
"Am I helping them clean the room up?" Sayo asked in a shocked tone.
"Yes, you are, Sayo," Tatsumi replied with a nod of his head and continued talking when Sayo was about to protest. "Instead of trying to end the fighting, you sat there and just watched them. And when they are done fighting, you decided tease Ieyasu to riled him up. That's irresponsible of you." Sayo winced a bit and hang her head down in shame from hearing Tatsumi's disappointed voice.
"Come on, Sayo and Ieyasu," The village chief said quietly. "We better do what Tatsumi says and clean the room up."
There was a bit of commotion as everyone, except Tatsumi, began cleaning the living room in silence. The coffee table was replaced by a new one, the furniture was placed back in their original positions, and the fallen pictures that were on the ground are now hanging on the walls.
After cleaning the room up, Sayo, Ieyasu and the village chief were sitting down on the furniture, with Sayo and Ieyasu on the couch and the village chief on the chair. They were all looking a bit embarrassed from being ordered around from Tatsumi, while the man himself was leaning against the living room's entrance frame, looking unfazed from what he just said to the occupants in the room and had his eyes close as if he was sleeping. However, his mind was somewhere else.
'I still find it hard to believe that Sayo and Ieyasu are alive and well again before they went to that mansion...' Tatsumi thought, clenching a fist tightly when he remembered the mansion that got his childhood friends killed. He wanted nothing more but to teleport there and kill all the guards, along with the noble family. 'It has been so many months in the previous timeline since I last saw them, and even to this day, I still miss them.'
When Tatsumi first saw Sayo and Ieyasu the next day after he was sent back in time, he had to use every ounce of his body and control to not cry from the sight of his now alive, previously deceased, childhood friends. The memory of them dying in that horrid shed still haunted Tatsumi, and he swore to himself that it will not happened again, but there was a problem with that. If Tatsumi wanted to join Night Raid again, he needed Sayo to become injured, and if she was going to get injured, she needed to go to that mansion and get poisoned again.
It was a heavy heart to make Sayo experience the pain again, but Tatsumi needed to join Night Raid and hoped that the dark-hair girl can forgive him. While he could alter the timeline and come up with a different way to make Sayo not experience the pain again, he was afraid that one mistake could lead to disastrous and he will earn the Empire's attention, which was something Tatsumi couldn't afford at all. So, he decided to make history repeat itself again but will change Sayo's death.
The living room was still reigned in silence, and it was starting to make everyone, except Tatsumi, uncomfortable and a bit awkward. They were hoping for someone, namely Tatsumi, to break the silence, but since he was lost in his thoughts, even though he was back to the present, the village chief broke the uncomfortable and awkward silence.
"I supposed that we should talk about the journey to the Capital, right?" The village chief asked, earning confirmation nods from Sayo and Ieyasu for obvious reasons. The former wanted to go to the Capital with her crush and hoped to start a relationship with Tatsumi, while the latter wanted to know why he wasn't allowed to go with his childhood friends. "Very well. But before we talk about it, let me go get some beverages and some snacks."
"No, let's get this conversation over with, chief," Tatsumi spoke up, just as the village chief was about to stand up. "My patience is getting a bit thin, and I really don't want to wait any longer. I'd spent nearly twenty minutes of talking to you about the reasons of Ieyasu not coming with me and Sayo and we're a bit behind schedule. As I already said, let's get this conversation over with."
"You're so pushy and impatient, Tatsumi, always wanting to go straight to the point instead of talking like normal people. That attitude of yours won't help you get a girlfriend." The village chief muttered under his breath, something that Tatsumi picked up on with his Danger-Beast hearing and causing a tick mark to appear on his head.
"Personally, I like this side of Tatsumi, chief." Say defended her crush, also hearing what the village chief said. "His bad boy attitude, his handsome body and charming looks can make any women, being young or married, blush and fall head over heels for him. And that's what makes me love him ever since we were kids, with the exception of different women falling for him." She was earned with three different reactions from each male in the house.
The village chief was looking at Sayo with wide, shock eyes before standing up from his seat and walking over to the corner of the living room to weep silently. 'Damn you, Tatsumi. You and your bloody looks.'
Ieyasu was also looking at Sayo with large eyes that were filled with shock and disbelief and a dropped jaw. He couldn't believe Sayo would say she liked Tatsumi's bad boy attitude and handsome and charming looks. Sure, Tatsumi was popular with the women in the village, but Ieyasu didn't know that Tatsumi was this popular. This brought waves of jealously inside the dark brown-hair man, and he didn't like it. He didn't like the jealously he was feeling at the moment.
"Wow, I never thought I see the day of you defending me, Sayo," Tatsumi stated, a bit stunned and shocked from what Sayo just said before a small smirk appeared on his face, one that was filled with teasing and mirth. "But I never thought I would hear you saying that you loved me. I knew you had a crush on me when we were kids and because of that crush you have, I had a crush on you too, Sayo. But here is the real question: Do you love me because of my looks or because of my feelings?"
"I-I-I…" Sayo sputtered, realizing with a surge of horror of what she just said about Tatsumi's attitude, his looks, his body and her confession. To make it worse, she completely forgotten that the man himself was in the room! How could she be so foolish?! Her pale face was very red that put a tomato to shame, and steam was coming out of her ears.
"Well, Sayo?" Tatsumi asked, still having that small smirk on his face. He wouldn't be hurt if Sayo runs away, it would just make him more amused. "You have anything you want to say to me?"
If Sayo's face could get any redder, it was now and she was starting to shake a bit, probably from being embarrassed. She did, however, gave everyone her answer. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO SAY THAT OUTLOUD!" When she shouted that, she stood up and full sprinted out of the house, leaving a weeping village chief, a still gaping Ieyasu and an amused Tatsumi.
"Hahaha!" Tatsumi laughed once he was sure Sayo was far enough away from the village chief's house. "After all this time, I can still make the ladies embarrassed!"
"You better be careful when you see Sayo again, Tatsumi," The village chief warned, as he stopped weeping and became worried about what Sayo's going to do to Tatsumi after she meets him again. "She looks ready to kick your ass."
"Don't worry, Sayo would never take a grudge that seriously." Tatsumi assured the chief who didn't look too convinced. "And even if she does, she can't stay that mad at me."
'I wouldn't count on that, Tatsumi,' Both Ieyasu and the village chief thought at the same time.
"Alright, while Sayo is getting her stuff ready, let's talk about the journey to the Capital." Tatsumi said, as he walked over to the couch and sat down next to Ieyasu. "We have wasted a lot of time not talking about it, and we really shouldn't wait any longer. The villagers are expecting us to leave in the afternoon, and we have," Tatsumi paused to look at the clock that was by the couch where the village chief was sitting at a few moments ago. "Two hours left, so let's get started."
"What about Sayo, Tatsumi?" The village chief asked. "Should we wait for her?"
"I'll tell Sayo about the conversation after she calms down a bit, chief. Don't want to deal with her when she's too mad."
The village chief nodded his head, knowing that it's not safe when facing an angry woman, before he went over to his spot again, sat down, and began starting the conversation of Ieyasu not going to the Capital.
'This is going to be a long conversation.' Tatsumi thought, knowing that he was going to be bored for the next few minutes.
(Time-Skip; At the Village's Entrance; With Tatsumi and Sayo)
"I still can't believe what you just said to me when we were in the chief's house, Tatsumi," Sayo said with barely contained anger in her voice, as she glared at Tatsumi, who was casually leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and his bag of supplies near him. Sayo also had her own bag of supplies near her, but she had a wooden bow and quiver with arrows on her back. She was wearing a long black coat with white fur-trim on the hood that was protecting her from the cold.
Sayo and Tatsumi were currently in front of the village's gates, waiting for the village chief to gather all the villagers. The reason why was because the village chief wanted Sayo and Tatsumi to say goodbye to them since it was going to be a long time before they see the villagers and the village again, and Sayo and Tatsumi decided to grant the village chief's request when they heard it.
While Sayo and Tatsumi were waiting for the village chief, Tatsumi had explained everything that happened in the village chief's house to Sayo, who was still giving the brown-hair assassin the stink eye, making him sigh inwardly.
"Are you still mad at me, Sayo?" Tatsumi asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, I'm still mad at you!" Sayo hissed angrily, stomping one foot on the ground. "Not only you teased me about that confession,' She spat the word 'confession' like it was poisonous. "But you had the nerve to laugh at me when I was out of the chief's house!"
"Oh, come on, Sayo, Lighten up. It wasn't a real confession, more like a reason of what you loved about me." Tatsumi said, attempting to make Sayo to see reason about her 'confession.' "You can still confess your feelings to me."
"No, I'm not going to anymore. I hate you and I'm not going to say a word to you." Sayo said with a huff of anger, turning around and lifting her nose up in the air while closing her eyes. "And any feelings I had for you are now gone and never going to resurfaced again. You are now in the friend zone, Tatsumi, and don't expect any relationship with me to be formed."
'You say that, but your heart is telling you a different story, Sayo.' Tatsumi thought with a soft smile. He knew that Sayo still wanted to form a relationship with him, and she was just saying that because she's still embarrassed from earlier. 'Deny all you want, Sayo; you still want to form a relationship with me, and I will make sure that happens.'
Knowing the only way to cheer Sayo up since he done it multiple times, Tatsumi stopped leaning against the tree and walked over to Sayo, who didn't notice or hear footsteps coming towards her as she still had her eyes closed. When he was closed enough and was behind Sayo's back, Tatsumi wrapped his arms around her shoulders, causing the dark-hair girl's closed eyes to snap wide open.
"Kyaaa!" Sayo adorably squealed, clearly not expecting strong and muscular arms to circle around her shoulders. She knew the arms that were currently wrapped around her shoulders were Tatsumi's, and the dark-hair girl became pissed when he quietly snuck up on her. How dare he scare her?! Sayo was about to turn around and berate Tatsumi for scaring her, only to let out a gasp when she felt back of her body pulled into something very hard and warm, causing a blush to appear on her face. "Tatsumi, what are you doing?"
"I'm hugging you close to my chest." Tatsumi replied, causing Sayo to release a small, unamused snort. "But the reason why I'm hugging you, Sayo, is because I know you too well." This caused Sayo to become greatly confused, what was Tatsumi talking about? "You say you don't want to start a relationship with me, but your heart is lying to you." Sayo's confusion changed into understanding and shock, as she realized what Tatsumi was talking about; he was talking about the events after she, Sayo, left the village chief's house.
When Sayo was packing for the Capital, she told herself, with her own words, that she doesn't want to start a relationship with Tatsumi, but deep within her heart, she can tell that her words were lying.
"I can tell that you want to start a relationship with me, and I want to start one with you too, Sayo," Tatsumi continued. "But I want to focus on getting to the Capital and see if we can get jobs there. So, let's focus on getting to the Capital before we can talk about starting a relationship, alright?"
Sayo not wanting to start a relationship early but brighten up when she heard Tatsumi wanted to talk about a relationship after they reached the Capital, and she nodded her head, causing Tatsumi's soft smile to grow more before leaning his head downwards to plant a kiss on Sayo's head, something that caused the blush on her face to become a shade darker.
It was very fortunate for Sayo that Tatsumi didn't see the blush on her face because of their heights, which Tatsumi's height was 5'9 and Sayo's was 5'5, otherwise she would've been merciless teased by her crush.
As Tatsumi continued to hug Sayo from behind, the dark-hair girl was having thoughts about the position she was in. 'Tatsumi's body is so warm and hard.' Sayo thought with a smile, closing her eyes again and leaning her body backwards to enjoy more of the warmness that was radiating off from Tatsumi. 'I want to feel this warm feeling forever.' However, as if a switch was being flipped off, the warmness Sayo felt disappeared and replaced by the cold winter, causing her eyes to snap open. 'What the hell happen to the warm feeling?!'
'Sorry, Sayo, but I'm not your personal warm heater.' Tatsumi thought with a tick mark on his head, as he unwrapped his arms around Sayo's shoulders. He doesn't understand why every woman would think of him as a warm heater when he gives them a hug, and it makes him a bit angry. He was a human, not a heater! 'And there's no way you're hugging me the whole way towards the Capital. Not after what I just read in your mind.'
Tatsumi turned around and went back to the tree he was leaning at a few moments ago, leaving a pouting Sayo behind. She was enjoying that warm feeling and hug, damn it!
It wasn't long until all the villagers, plus a very gloomy Ieyasu, who was upset that he was not going to the Capital with Tatsumi and Sayo, were gathered in front of the village's gates, talking in low voices. The village chief, who was in front of the villagers, took a couple steps forward, turned around and cleared his throat for silence.
At once, all the villagers stopped talking and turned their attention towards the village chief.
"Alright, now that I have everyone's attention, I can begin my announcement." The village chief said, his voice can be heard through the mob of villagers. "As you are all aware, three of our members are leaving the village to head towards the Capital to earn money." The villagers became sad from hearing that, but they stayed quiet. "However, due to some personal reasons," The village chief sent a pointed look at Tatsumi, who directly stared back. "I'm afraid to say that Ieyasu is not going to the Capital with Tatsumi and Sayo."
The villagers became surprised by this and started to murmur to each other, while the said person became gloomier than before, which earned him sympathetic glances from Tatsumi and Sayo.
"I know it's quite a shock for everyone to hear that, but the reasons why Ieyasu's not going to the Capital is, as I said before, personal and I forbid you all from asking him questions about it." The village chief continued, getting everyone to stop talking. "But on a happier note, I suggest we give a round of applause to the members who are leaving the village to pursue their dreams and goals and make a name for themselves."
A small wave of applause rang in the air as the villagers clapped for Tatsumi and Sayo, with the former smiling at the villagers and the latter becoming embarrassed and turning her head away.
"While it is sad Tatsumi and Sayo are leaving the village and might not come back for a long time, it doesn't mean they will be gone forever; they will always be with us in our hearts and memories." The village chief stated, placing a hand over his chest, right where his heart was. The villagers copied the village chief's actions. "The bonds we have created with Tatsumi and Sayo over the years since they were born will not only guide them to the Capital, but to protect them from any types of danger, such as Danger-Beasts, bandits and criminals. As long as we believe in them, they will have a safe journey to the Capital, and once they reach there, they will find true happiness for themselves!" That last statement was earned with loud cheers from the villagers, including Ieyasu.
'Me and Sayo won't find true happiness at the Capital, chief, because of its corruption.' Tatsumi thought with a very small frown before he replaced it with the same smile he had on, so no one could be suspicious of him. 'And even if we did, the happiness would turn into horror and sadness the moment we see dead bodies hanging from poles or what's inside that shed.'
"Tatsumi and Sayo, are you two ready to head towards the Capital?" The village chief asked, turning around to look at the two members he and the rest of village will never see again for a long time. Tatsumi and Sayo both nodded, and the village chief gave them a smile. "Then I wish you best of luck. Your journey to the Capital starts now."
Both Tatsumi and Sayo gave the villagers and Ieyasu a wave of goodbye before they grabbed their respective bags, put them on their backs, turned around and exit through the wooden gates. The moment they exit through the wooden gates, they were now walking on a dirt road that leads to the Capital.
As Tatsumi and Sayo continued walking on the dirt road, they can hear shouts of goodbyes from the villagers.
"Bye, Tatsumi and Sayo!"
"Stay safe!"
"Watch out for Danger-Beast, bandits or criminals!"
Ieyasu watched as his childhood friends walked further and further away from the village they grew up in. He was very sad and angry that he was not going to the Capital with Tatsumi and Sayo, but he couldn't deny that having three members leaving the village is a bad idea because they, the villagers, need a hunter to hunt for food. While Ieyasu wasn't happy of being a hunter, he couldn't complain about it, so he decided to stay in the village, but will go to the Capital next year.
However, before Ieyasu could go hunting, he needed to send a few parting words to Tatsumi, a few words that will make people's hearts beat with happiness and comfort.
"YOU BETTER KEEP SAYO SAFE FROM DANGER, TATSUMI!" Ieyasu shouted, his voice could be heard from miles away. "YOU BETTER MAKE SURE SHE'S ALRIGHT OR I WILL KICK YOUR ASS!" He was earned with a faint sound of laughter from Tatsumi and a shout of anger from Sayo.
'Ieyasu, I promise that I will keep Sayo safe.' Tatsumi thought with a small chuckle, as he listened to Sayo mutter under her breath. However, while he may be chuckling on the outside, he was filled with fiery determination on the inside. He was not going to let Sayo get killed again by that noble heiress. Unlike last time, he couldn't get a doctor to look at Sayo since he didn't know about the truth about the Capital, but this time, he was ready. Ready to once again to head towards the most corrupted place in the world and meet his friends again. 'And this time, I'm going to make sure I heal Sayo before I kill that bitch slowly and painfully. You have my word, Ieyasu.'
Alright, that is the end of the second chapter of Kill the Second Chance! (WOW, look at how many words there are in the chapter!)
Whew! This chapter took me nearly two to three months to finish. I'm not lying, this chapter really took me two to three months to finish, and I just started on it after I posted a new version of chapter one in the original story. All in all, it was worth writing the chapter, even though I've been getting headaches lately.
I'm not going to spoil the story and say what's happening in the next chapter since I don't want to do that in every single chapter I finish writing, so you all are going have to be prepared for what you're about to read.
Anyway, I just read through the reviews and there was a couple of you readers approving the idea of me writing the Male Assassin. If I can get a few more support reviews from you readers, then I will officially start writing the Male Assassin.
Write a review if you like this story and enjoy the chapter.
Next Chapter: Back at the Capital Again.