Here is the twenty-fifth chapter in this story released when I wanted it to be released based of my release process for this series. The mixer is over and it's time for a day off for the Black Bulls so that means doing their own things. For Asta it's a trip to Nean to see Rebecca and her siblings though he's oblivious to her reason why, for Noelle it's to follow them, and for Akame and Tatsumi it means some more money to be made in the fighting pit followed by a nice date night but where should they go? Well, Nean was nice so how about a night there, what could possibly go wrong there. That is all I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and there are no guest reviews that need a response, though I thank you for your support of my work, or questions to answer so I will end this here. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate. That is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the twenty-fifth chapter in Akame ga Clover.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.
Chapter 25: Nean
"So where should we go to celebrate today's win?" Tatsumi asked as he and Akame walked through the Black Market in Kikka to the exit to go and find Finral wherever he was striking out and get a portal back to the hideout. "Because I'm not feeling Kikka today."
"Yeah same, we've kinda hit up all the good spots in this town already." Akame said thinking on Tatsumi's question. "So someplace new would be nice, we usually go somewhere new so why break that but not Kikka, let's go to a different town and ideally somewhere with good meat to eat."
"Of course, that is a must after a day like this." Tatsumi said with a chuckle. "We could really use the protein after that workout, they really tested us today."
"That and I just want some meat." Akame said and Tatsumi laughed at that as Akame smiled, it was just who she was and one of the many reasons why Tatsumi loved her. "So that's my only requirement for where we go."
It was early afternoon of their sudden day off following getting their wages that morning and Akame and Tatsumi had just finished doing their usual day off pursuit, dominating the fighting pit in Kikka's Black Market. It had been a little while since the last time they were here but their reputation was such that the owners of the bit had gotten permission to expand it so that 30 people, two whole gangs it seemed, could take them on as the only way people felt that they could beat the couple was with sheer numbers. That made sense as most of the meatheads they fought lacked any skill so numbers was all they had.
Increasing the number of opponents was also the only way to get good odds and a large winner's purse these days as well given their win streak and no similarly skilled fighters. As soon as a skilled fighter emerged though, well the couple were eager for a fight like that as that would be a good payday when it happened.
Of course even with 30 people the couple had been fine and easily won even if it took a little longer than usual to beat their opponents unconscious or into submission. Ki was really useful in the pits where magic and physical weapons were banned and when their ability to read ki was added their raw strength and experience, especially when the thugs they were facing lacked said hand to hand experience due to the proliferation of magic in this world, they easily continued to dominate.
The only thing with numbers was that the more they had to face the more fell on Tatsumi to land the winning blow as they almost always fought men and without magic there was a biological limitation on Akame. While she could manage and hold her own there were times when she couldn't deal the necessary damage with her blows that her speed and skills allowed her to deliver to take down some of the more muscular or thick skulled ones that they faced.
Thankfully they'd adapted to this with Akame injuring them before moving onto the next one so that Tatsumi could easily finish when he got around to it or, if he was held up, Akame could return and repeat the process which usually was enough to take the tougher ones down. As such they'd won their best match to date with only minor bruises from blocks.
That meant that they had a nice, fat, purse to share and after a quick rendezvous with Mine and Chelsea helped by Chelsea's Transformation Magic, they had the extra winnings for Yami and Vanessa to bring back to them. They just needed Finral to provide the portal so that they could sort this out and then find a nice place for a celebratory date dinner.
Other than the thrill of participating in the pit, the day had been uneventful for them so far. They'd woken up early, trained a bit in swordplay with Asta joining them as usual and then got the news that wages were in and they had the day off. As expected the Squad devolved from there with Asta doing more training, Magna clearly ready to gamble, Vanessa drinking, Luck wanting to fight someone or something strong, Finral planning dates, Gauche heading out to see his sister as it was her birthday with the usual creepiness, Gordon and Grey being themselves, and Charmy making food.
Naturally that last one had peaked Akame's attention until the sudden shock that the food wasn't the usual meat heavy meal or even sweet pastries that Charmy usually preferred. No, of all things, it was a smorgasbord of a crop called pop-potatoes prepared in a wide selection of ways that didn't end up changing how they tasted in the slightest.
Tatsumi recalled that pop-potatoes was a specialty of Hage where Asta was from, he'd had them once or twice growing up and recalled that you needed a gallon of water or so to wash them down as they caused what could accurately be termed desert mouth rather than dry mouth with how much water they absorbed, but to see Charmy chowing down on them with relish as if completely unaffected, which knowing her legendary eating abilities was more than possible, was a surprise.
Turned out that her crush, who she continued to dub her Prince of Provisions, was indeed Asta's rival Yuno who'd grown up with him in the orphanage in Hage and so Charmy had made the feast to feel closer to Yuno given how they were a delicacy, her words, from Hage Village. They all tried it, Tatsumi to confirm that they were still the same as always Akame because it was food though she noted that it needed to be paired with meat, and the rest did as well with mixed, with none being positive, results while only Asta and Charmy seemed to be able to eat more than a few mouthfuls of pop-potatoes.
That was fine, everyone had their own tastes and so they left them to it as they used Finral to get to Kikka, after he sent Yami to the toilet. They did have to get to the fighting pits to enter for the day after all so they couldn't spend too much time in the hideout.
Now that their time in Kikka was over they needed to find Finral and head back to the hideout to give Yami and Vanessa their winnings while putting theirs away in their respective rooms where they stored their money as they'd decide what to do with their purse winnings later. Of course Tatsumi would send a portion back to his village as always to them help out while Akame just kept building up her wealth that was now at a point she didn't know how much she had because she just didn't really spend any money other than on food.
That though was her true expense and as she wanted to go somewhere new and good after the pit, she always did, they needed a place. It was as they searched for Finral, confirming that he was in fact not in the Black Market, that it hit Tatsumi where they could go.
"Well, what about heading to Nean?" Tatsumi suggested as they walked out of the Black Market and headed to an area where many well to do ladies usually hung out as that was the best place to find Finral on his day off. "We did just have a good meal there the other day so it could be a new place for us to check out after a fight in the pit. Seemed pretty big for a village so there are bound to be a good few places to check out there and as it's in the Common Realm it's more our style."
"Yeah that's a good idea." Akame said with a smile at Tatsumi's suggestion. "The stuff at that tavern was nice for sure so there will be other places in the village that can serve us some tasty meat that is from the local area as I doubt we can go back to that tavern anytime soon."
"Thankfully they didn't see our faces but yeah I agree, I did put some random guy through the bar and then hit him with a broken table and through a wall to land in the square outside so not the best look." Tatsumi said remembering the strange man who'd tried to stop him from preventing that Green Praying Mantis guy from going after Asta and how he'd dealt with him though the fact that the man took all that Tatsumi put him through showed how tough he was. "And Asta did destroy a table while wearing his Squad robe so probably for the best to avoid it for a while. Still, that was more a tavern were the main purpose is drinking and mixers, I'm feeling a restaurant where we can relax."
"Agreed." Akame said as they heard a loud 'no' from the next street over and turned to head towards it as it had to be where Finral was, who else could so emphatically be rejected. "Let's get our stuff dropped off though and then we can fly to Nean instead, leave Finral to his failures here."
"Yes, don't want to inconvenience his striking out now do we, it's his past time on his days off after all." Tatsumi said as they passed an attractive and well-dressed woman in her early 20s if they had to guess walking away from Finral who briefly looked dejected but quickly bounced back, he certainly had that ability when it came to women, and looked around for the next rejection but before he could Tatsumi called out to get his squadmate's attention. "Yo, Finral, we're done in Kikka for the day so save us some magic and time and send us back to the hideout. We got to put our winnings away before we head back out."
"I'm not a transportation service you know." Finral complained as he turned to Tatsumi's voice as he and Akame approached the Spatial Mage. "I'm trying to find a date that will lead to a girlfriend. I came really close on that mixer before Asta ruined it and that fight broke out, which we weren't even a part of but have been blamed for."
"And we have an actual date to go on." Akame said driving that home nice and hard for Finral while Tatsumi pointedly did not address that they had actually been part of the fight or that Asta at least seemed to have impressed a girl at the mixer according to Akame even if Finral and Luck hadn't though Luck, like Asta, had no clue what the real purpose of a mixer was. "So send us back and then we can leave you to your rejections."
"Akame, do you have to be so harsh." Finral said in a wounded tone that was very exaggerated as his grimoire floated up and flipped to the right page. "Alright, here you go, I've got some dates of my own to arrange."
"Good luck, I know it will work out one day and you'll find that special woman Finral." Tatsumi said with a grin as the portal was created and they walked through with Akame going first as Tatsumi finished showing his support for Finral's dating endeavors. "Where rooting for you."
Tatsumi meant it though he didn't hear the 'thanks' as he was already through the portal when that happened and the portal closed behind him. Finral was good to his word and they walked out right in front of the hideout and headed on inside. His accuracy was his best asset with his Spatial Magic though Tatsumi was sure that there was more of a tactical application for it but Finral needed to learn his own fighting style first to figure it out and to do so he needed to be in combat and not flirting so that could take a while.
That was Finral's problem though, right now Tatsumi and Akame walked up to the door to the hideout and opened it as they had to get to Nean. Once inside they noted that things were as expected on a day off. The only ones present were Vanessa, who was passed out drunk on the couch so Akame decided to leave Vanessa's winnings in her room for her, Gordon who was just sitting and mumbled a hello to them and hoped that they had had a good time in Kikka's Black Market fighting pit, and Grey who just blew out smoke from where he sat.
The others weren't present but it wasn't hard to deduce where they were. Yami and Magna were likely in some tavern, either together or separate, and gambling away their wages as they'd not seen either in the Black Market, Luck would be out trying to fight the largest beast he could find which Akame approved of if it meant some new meat, Charmy was no doubt eating some restaurant in Kikka out of its food stores, Gauche was seeing his sister in Nean so they made a note not to run into him, and Asta was probably training which naturally meant that Noelle was either with him or spying on him knowing her.
Well, this was their day off so the couple didn't care what their squadmates were doing as it was their free time to enjoy themselves as they saw fit. They just headed to their rooms to drop off their winnings, Tatsumi leaving Yami's outside his toilet stall as Yami, it turned out, hadn't made it to a tavern yet as he was currently mid dump, and sort out what they'd need for Nean.
Akame had to make sure that she had enough to afford all the meat she'd like while Tatsumi had decided what to send back to his village though after over a year of wages and winnings from the fighting pit he'd benefited the village so much that they didn't need much more from him. They were set for food, materials, crops, and even had a decent monetary reserve thanks to Tatsumi but he still sent a bit anyway to make sure the reserve at least kept growing just in case something bad happened and they needed the money.
Once they were done sorting out their winnings, the could they grabbed the money they needed, Tatsumi made sure that he had his sword just in case because it was always good to be prepared for a fight and met up in front of the hideout with a mumbled message from Gordon to enjoy their date as they passed him though they didn't hear it. It was time for a nice evening together to end a good day off which was just what they needed.
"Shall we head out." Tatsumi said as he created a flat shield and leapt onto to fly.
"We shall my love." Akame said as she leapt up and before she landed on the ground her usual blade that she made for when she needed to fly appeared and she landed on it in a crouch, hovering to be at eye level with Tatsumi. "To Nean."
Tatsumi nodded and they set off as late afternoon began so the sun was dipping but not yet properly setting and they headed towards Nean. The flight would take a little time but they were used to it and chatted idly as they went trying to decide where was best to go, what to do, and if they should get a room in Nean for the night or just take a stroll after dinner in the moonlight and then fly back to the hideout.
They ultimately decided to do the latter as while they'd reached the point in their relationship where they could, and plenty of times, especially while on a mission, share a bed getting a room on what was a simple day off just felt too much to them. They were both still virgins though they'd certainly progressed past kissing, that pervert had ensured that Akame's desire for Tatsumi's to be the first she saw in this life had been ruined, so they'd been able to move to the stage where they'd seen and explored each other naked but they still hadn't gone all the way.
They would in time, both wanted it but the moment needed to be perfect they felt as it would be both of theirs first time in this life or the previous one so it had to be good. They'd gotten this second chance at life and love and didn't want to waste it so things had to be perfect when they finally gave themselves to each other fully and that hadn't happened yet. It wouldn't be tonight as their plans were set just as the village of Nean came into view though they didn't yet know that that was the case.
That would come, though, for now they came down and landed in the same spot they'd landed in the other day when they'd come to Nean to spy on the mixer and as they neared the ground dismissed their items and dropped to land on it with ease. This was seriously a lot better than brooms and one of the reasons why over time Akame had begun to fly on a blade and Tatsumi on a shield as it made things so much easier because now they didn't have to worry about storing brooms, they could just dispel their items and walk into Nean, Tatsumi taking Akame's hand and interlocking their fingers as they did.
Akame smiled, she really enjoyed their date days like this as they just meandered and wandered through Nean as the sun began to set and evening began to fall checking out the common realm village as they walked around it. Back in their old lives something like this would never have been a possibility what with the revolution and constant chance of death, which came for both of them in the end, and the whole not confessing their love because they died thing. Now, though, they had this new chance at a second life, had found each other and were fully embracing it as a loving couple while they walked.
Most who saw them saw just that, a couple from one of the Magic Knight Squads, admittedly the Black Bulls so the worst one with the worst reputation, enjoying the end of the day in Nean. What they didn't see or know was the depth of Akame and Tatsumi's work as Magic Knights and what they did for the kingdom but they both knew that their work was a thankless job that made people safer and happier so they took that burden upon themselves.
They knew the dark side of humanity well and had no qualms with what they had to do or the dirtiness of it to ensure that that darkness didn't affect innocent civilians. It was what they did in their former lives so they could do it again only this time around they weren't doing it to save a nation from tyranny but to make it better.
They would continue to do their job for as long as they could but for now they were just enjoying the end of a day off as a couple and wandered around the village though they made sure to stay clear of the Dreavy Hinker just in case. Instead they window shopped, neither were really into general shopping the way Mine was, both recalled her extensive shopping trips, as they just bought what was practical or necessary though Akame's love of food was a bit of an indulgence at times, so for them it was just a good afternoon into evening.
Eventually though Akame's stomach began go growl, and Tatsumi was a little hungry as well, so they knew that they had to find a place to eat and when they passed a simple restaurant with an alluring smell coming from it they couldn't resist going in. When they did they were greeted by a little surprised by what they found inside and that was just the first of a few surprises they'd encounter in the restaurant that they'd chosen to eat in.
It wasn't the restaurant itself, that was a simple, homely place with a good atmosphere and several large, tables with benches at them and a serving counter in the back with an oven behind it, that surprised them. Rather it was the sight that greeted them the moment they walked in after climbing the steps on the side of the building to it that were in the same style as the entrance to the Dreavy Hinker.
For the most part it had normal customers, likely locals or those in town for a few days, who'd gathered and were enjoying the fine smelling food but that atmosphere was slightly ruined by the loud and enthusiastic sounds of one of the patrons. Said patron was, of all people, Asta who was enjoying a large amount of food at a table with a bunch of redhead kids as someone who was either their eldest sibling or mother busied herself making food.
A quick read of the eldest redhead's ki, however, showed that it was one the couple had encountered before which meant, given the location and Asta, that she was the girl from the mixer. So this was where Asta had come on his day off, interesting.
"That is unexpected." Tatsumi said as he led Akame to a free table that happened to be next to the one Asta was on though he didn't notice them as they they sat down while they waited to be served, Akame already deciding on just ordering all the meat as the smell was top tier to her so whoever the cook was, likely the redhead, was good. "I am right in saying that that is the redhead from the other day because her ki feels just familiar enough to know that I've sensed it before."
"Yup, same ki and everything, I got a good read when I followed Noelle." Akame said as a different waitress came up to get their order and bring it to the redhead who was still busy serving Asta though the waitress seemed to be happy for her colleague so was more than willing to pick up the slack. "Asta made a really good impression on her, not that he realizes or knows what a mixer was for, so I presume she invited him back and he agreed."
"It's Asta, of course he doesn't know what a mixer is for." Tatsumi said chuckling as he recalled what Akame had told him about her little chat with Noelle after the mixer before she brought Noelle to the rendezvous point and they left so that Noelle's secret wouldn't get out. "And I bet he doesn't realize that the redhead likes him but her ki is plain as day now that I get a good read on it. Likely she used her siblings as the excuse to get him here, he's got some himself so he's good with kids, but I get a sense of hesitation or nervous embarrassment from her so she's not sure how to proceed to the next level with Asta. Not unreasonable, he is legendarily dense when it comes to this kinda stuff."
"Very true, just look at how obvious Noelle's feelings are though she's still not accepting them." Akame said as some glasses of water arrived and Asta complemented Rebecca on her cooking abilities, loudly saying so that the whole restaurant could hear that she'd make a great wife with her skills. "Oh that's not good, if Noelle…never mind of course she's here as well. Really, the moment that we saw Asta we should have presumed that she was here too."
"Huh, well that was dense of Asta because she really liked that and is almost certainly thinking of Asta when he…" Tatsumi said before he too felt the spike in an all too familiar ki nearby. "Oh yeah she is here. Us she at least in a better disguise this time around?"
Akame nodded as she had a view of Noelle's back and could that this time around Noelle, who they picked out because of her ki now that they felt it, was in what seemed to be a simple yellow dress with a blue top thing over it and white around her waist. That was good but impressively she'd actually put on a special red bonnet thing tied under her chin that hid her silver hair, at least from the back that Akame could see, and as she had her back to Asta's table, and Asta's back for that matter, it was a good disguise. She was learning to better spy on Asta though she still needed to work on why she was spying.
Apparently also her mana control when her jealousy surged as a moment later one of the redheads asked his sister if she would marry Asta loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear as well and suddenly Noelle screamed 'over my dead body!' and all the water in the glasses on the table shot up in a stream for all to see and remained like that. Asta was actually oblivious to this as he was eating but no one else was and adding to it one of the redhead's younger sisters asked her id she'd make a move on Asta while he was here, a bold question, and suddenly the water fell and Noelle slumped over the table.
"That was entertaining." Akame said as she ignored the water because it hadn't gotten on any food that was about to be served to her so she didn't mind as the waitress approached their table with the saved food. "Bold family and Noelle really needs to work on her insecurities."
"But her control is better." Tatsumi noted as their food was put down in front of them and the waitress went to get them more water. "Before she'd have destroyed this whole place. This time she just erupted all the water and actually kept it in a well-controlled stream. She's come a long way already."
"And now she's overloaded and out of it." Akame said as she began to eat the meat they'd ordered and stopped monitoring her friend. "Certainly an entertaining meal, unintended but welcome."
"I think the main reason is that Noelle's disguise is actually good enough that she'd be totally unnoticed by Asta if he was to look at her." Tatsumi said as he too began to eat. "And that redhead doesn't know who she is so it's not like it was intentional and besides it was her siblings not her."
"All the more reason for it to be amusing." Akame said. "But the fun's gone, Noelle isn't going to recover for a while, so best to just enjoy and leave. Let Asta be, I can grill Noelle about it later."
"Sounds like a plan, not like…" Tatsumi said as he stopped focusing on Noelle's ki now that it wasn't necessary anymore and had gone back to sensing the ki in the room in general which was when he'd noticed another familiar signature. "My, my, this is a regular Squad reunion it seems."
"What do you mean?" Akame asked as she tore off another chunk of meat and swallowed it before she continued and began to sense for familiar ki in the room that wasn't Asta's or Noelle's. "It's just…huh, yeah I didn't notice that either. Where is he?"
Akame had opened her senses up to the general ki in the room as well when Tatsumi had said that and noticed the ki that Tatsumi was referring to. She'd missed it because she'd just been looking around and he wasn't at a table or in disguise, same with Tatsumi, but now they could tell that Gauche was here they could pick up on it.
It was strange though, normally Gauche's ki had a fierce streak of protectiveness in it because of his little sister though there was a level of obsession in it as well that wasn't normal or healthy but now it was a mix of anger, hatred, rage, and depression all rolled into one that had caused him to overload. That would certainly explain why, after a glance to where his ki was coming from, they noticed that Gauche was laid out on the floor in what seemed to be a coma of sorts.
"Why's he on the floor?" Akame asked.
"No clue." Tatsumi admitted as he was completely stumped by Gauche's reaction. "Doesn't his little sister live here?"
"I think so, I tend to tune him out when he goes on about her." Akame admitted. "But if he's here on his day off then it's a safe bet that she does. I think she's at some orphanage, which is likely in that large church we saw, right?"
"Asta's orphanage in Hage was in a church, the one back in my home village has one as well though I didn't move there when my parents died so I'd presume that the one here is as well." Tatsumi said. "Which means that he's likely like this because he either didn't see her or didn't get to spend all the time he wanted with her, which as today is her birthday apparently would add to it. Presumably Asta found him like that and took him here to make sure that he was safe and will then take him back in the morning."
"Don't you mean later?" Akame asked as she finished her food and began trying to get Tatsumi's but he playfully held her off before relenting and just grabbing the bone on the meat hunk he had so that he had a good amount to enjoy and letting Akame eat the rest. "It's not like Asta's spending the night here."
"I, um, think that that's the case." Tatsumi said. "That redhead's ki seemed to indicate that when she was asked if she'd make a move on him it would be later so I think she's asked him to spend the night here if he wants, not that Asta would know what that means."
"It's Asta of course he doesn't know what that means which would partially explain why the redhead's ki is all over the place." Akame said as Asta continued to be oblivious to their presence nearby as he ate though a glance showed that the bird, Nero, had noticed them but wasn't going to bother them and stick with Asta which was fine though Akame for one was surprised by how intelligent the bird seemed to be because it never acted the way you'd expect a bird to act. "But he'll stay here regardless as it is easiest and he doesn't have a way back as far as I can tell, well maybe Gauche but he's out of commission it seems. It would also explain how Noelle got to the point she got and she'll likely stay in Nean as well."
"Well, it's a nice night so I say we leave them to it." Tatsumi said. "No way anyone's getting through to Noelle so best to just let her come to terms with it on her own. Still, let's stick around for a little while just to be safe, the night is lovely this time of year so how about another circuit of the city under the stars before we head back."
"You can kill danger beasts and top tier combatants alike and yet you can be so romantic Tatsumi." Akame said as she reached to her coin pouch to pay for her meal. "You truly know how to treat a girl right. First the fighting pits and now this, it reminds me why I fell in love with you."
"All for the girl I love." Tatsumi replied with a smile as reached for his own money as well causing Akame to blush cutely at his words. "Shall we?"
Akame just nodded as she got up and they paid for their meal, leaving a generous tip as well because it was a good meal and it seemed like the redhead and other waitress needed it, plus Noelle had provided a fun show so they deserved the tip, and left the restaurant. The entire time their three squadmates in the restaurant didn't know that they were there which was actually really bad spatial awareness, they'd have to have extra training in that.
That would be for when they got back to the hideout and their day off was over, however. For now there was still a few more hours left as night had fully fallen and the stars were out so Tatsumi took Akame's hand as they exited the restaurant, headed down the stairs to the street level below, and began to walk around again.
They'd seen the village during the late evening but it was something else at night. They'd not been able to see this the other day due to needing to leave, so it was nice to see it as they walked around for a few more hours while their squadmates did whatever it was that they were doing in Nean that night.
They'd learn later that that was sleeping in the spare room in Asta's case, planning to kill Asta for making Marie like him and say that she was going to marry Asta one day in Gauche's, and spying on the house from an alleyway while trying to keep her hands warm with a match and still in her disguise in Noelle's. Basically a standard end to the day for them, or at least it would be as Akame and Tatsumi made their way to the outskirts of Nean to head back to the hideout when the temperature began to drop.
A slight drop in temperature would be normal and expected, it was night so the temperature fell the deeper into night you got but it wasn't winter and this drop was significant as it began to actually get properly cold. Akame wasn't too affected, she'd spent so much time outside in harsh training in both her lives that this wasn't too bad compared to what she'd endured, but it annoyed Tatsumi as it reminded him of Esdeath though he too was fine with the cold as it got bad in his village in both this life and his old life it was cold most of the time there. Still, this was such a drop that it was noticeable.
"It isn't winter yet, is it?" Tatsumi asked as they neared the outskirts and his breath began to fog in front of him. "I'm not going crazy, am I?"
"If you are then so am I as it's definitely getting colder." Akame said her own breath visible as well as white flakes began to fall on them. "And this isn't a normal cold either, it's…"
"Snowing." Tatsumi finished as they quickly identified the snow and oddly it didn't seem to melt when it touched the ground but was sticking as the snow picked up to a steady fall that was unlike any Tatsumi had seen before which could only mean one thing. "And it's not a blizzard either, nor is it falling in flurries, this isn't natural at all then."
"Snow Magic then, that' the only explanation for snow at this time of the year." Akame said. "Not uncommon, it's basically a direct derivative of Water Magic, but not what you encounter everyday at the same time. One of the assassins who made it out of the Strong Magic Zone could use it and he survived because his Snow Magic had a strange property to it."
"What?" Tatsumi asked.
"It hid his magical signature." Akame said. "It's why he was chosen to take down Dorothy but failed thanks to Chelsea's illusions and is now dead because he chose that rather than questioning in Dorothy's Glamor World according to the Wizard King. Regardless, Snow Magic may be like Smoke Magic, it can do strange things with magic that are beyond what you'd expect from the attribute."
"Given that this is an unnatural snow that is falling out of season and appears to be targeted to Nean and the area around it then I'd say that that's a fair bet." Tatsumi said looking around and sensing the ki around him but it was odd, all he really sensed was sleeping people and maybe the odd person still awake in their homes which meant that whatever was going on either could mimic some natural state or was out of range of his ki sensing, or both. "I've got a bad feeling about this. My gut's telling me something is up, something that shouldn't be."
"Hard not to be given what's going on but I agree, my experience is screaming at me that this isn't good." Akame said seriously as she shifted from enjoying her day off with Tatsumi to her battle demeanor. "I say that we head back into town and see what is going on. We're Magic Knights after all so it's our duty to find out why this unnatural snow is falling but more this just feels wrong and I can't place it. Like there's nothing sinister in the snow but at the same time I think something sinister is up if that makes sense."
"Kinda though it's been a while since I got a feeling like that." Tatsumi said not really sure what Akame was going on about but trusting her instincts with this. "Certainly stay and investigate though then we can find out and determine if our specific skills are needed or if this is something we can handle normally."
"Agreed." Akame said. "We should…"
Before she could finish there was a sound back near the center of Nean that they knew well as it was the sound of a wall being blown out by magic, living in the Black Bull hideout made one well aware of that sound as they heard it daily there. The couple exchanged a look and then turned to run back into Nean to find out what it was and see if they could learn why it was snowing and what was up along the way.
One thing was certain, their time in Nean was going to be prolonged indefinitely as the couple ran to lend their aid to what would become an incident that they'd never forget. The latest scheme of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, one that would reveal even more about the mysterious organization, had begun and the Black Bulls were once again in the center of it as Akame and Tatsumi ran into the heart of Nean and the unplanned mission that had started.
A good, ominous, slight cliffhanger to end this chapter on but y'all know what is coming only this time around Tatsumi and Akame will be part of the incident though you will have to wait and see what their role in it will be. One thing to note just in case it's been forgotten, Tatsumi never had sex in his old life in this story because this story is based off the anime including the filler part and none of the manga material during that is actually canon mainly because the filler part of the anime killed everyone but Akame and Najenda in Night Raid so it was easier to adapt though I haven't ruled out using certain manga only canon characters to explain a few things post the events at the end of chapter 1. Anyway, because this is based off the anime, Mine naturally died before she and Tatsumi could consummate their love like they did in the manga and thus never had sex. That and the fact that one of the two critical changes I made to make this story work, and the only one not seen on page, was that Tatsumi rejected Mine when she confessed in his arms as she died (I may do a flashback to this if y'all are interested) because in my story he'd already fallen for Akame so yeah they never did it. As for Akame, my usual presumption with her is that if it is not explicitly stated that she went through it then she didn't so she was also a virgin when she died in chapter 1. I am sure that their first time will be just right but I don't write lemons so y'all will just have to imagine it when it happens. Anyway, that is all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you like my story then please follow, favorite, review, PM, etc. it is all appreciated and helps me get better and stay motivated to keep producing more content and any questions asked I will do my best to answer both privately and at the start of the next chapter. Until next time.
Stringdog