Here is the twenty-third chapter in this story released when I wanted it to be released based of my release process for this series. The Capital attack has ended, most of the attackers have fled, and now it is time to rebuild and investigate in the wake of it. First though there is the immediate aftermath and heading back to the hideout as we end this little incident in the history of the Clover Kingdom. 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-third chapter in Akame ga Clover.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.

Chapter 23: Aftermath

In the wake of the attack on the Capital it was determined that it had been the work of terrorists who held an as of yet unclear grievance against the Clover Kingdom that made them want to bring the kingdom down, well all but Rades's one but that was clearly personal due to his expulsion from the Magic Knights. Of course the Wizard King made it clear that he and the Magic Knights would ensure that this didn't happen and continue to fight this threat until all those involved were brought to justice.

The Wizard King made this pledge in a public speech right after the incident with 8 of the 9 Magic Knight Captains present, the only one missing being Fuegoleon who was now in a coma following his injury and his acting replacement, his older sister Mereoleona, had yet to be reached to be told of the situation and her new duties as Captain of the Crimson Lion Kings. Julius also pledged to help rebuild after the attack and the citizens cheered at that as they were reassured by his words.

What Julius did not tell them was that the attack had only been made possible because at least one of the guardian mages in charge of the magic barrier around the Capital had disappeared right before the attack though it wasn't clear if it had been due to an attack on the mage or treason on the mage or mages' part. That was just one of the many burning questions that needed to be answered in the aftermath of the unprecedented attack.

The revelation of the situation with guardian mages, while suspected during the attack, had been confirmed shortly after the Wizard King had gotten back from his own mission which had uncovered a strange stone tablet with several small stones in it in set locations withing a design etched into it. That had been where those who'd managed to flee the Capital using Valtos's Spatial Magic had ended up only to be briefly captured by the Wizard King with his Time Magic.

However, before Julius could get any answers from them or bring them back to the Capital for questioning, the leader of the terrorist group showed up to stop Julius from doing that. In the process of freeing his subordinates, the man revealed himself to be a Light Mage with a large amount of mana which was not a good combination. Regardless, he'd not escaped unscathed as even with his speed as Light Mage the Wizard King wounded him before he got away showing that his Time Magic was a match for the Leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun's Light Magic.

All of this, the encounter with the Light Mage, the tablet, and the situation with the guardian mages, was told to Tatsumi and Akame when they showed up at headquarters a few hours after the attack and subsequent announcement, to get a report. They'd already dropped the man they'd captured, who refused to give his name, off with Marx right before the Wizard King returned from his own mission by arriving at the infirmary to get an update on Fuegoleon's condition which was critical but stable.

In the process of handing off their prisoner to Marx the couple learned that they didn't have the only captured terrorist as another, a witch in her 50s at least from the Forest of Witches with Ash Magic, had been part of the second wave of attackers but had ended up being defeated by the combined work of a Golden Dawn rookie called Yuno and, of all people, Charmy. That part had surprised Akame and Tatsumi when they learned that she was here but with the banquet they shouldn't have been surprised that she'd sneak in to enjoy the fancy food that was there and subsequently found the chef to eat more food.

During the attack Yuno had somehow evaded the Spatial Magic that was used to send away almost all the top Magic Knights fighting Rades's zombies and ended up in a confrontation with the witch who was part of the second wave of attacks that targeted the residents of the Capital. In that fight Yuno, who was apparently cursed by the witch's magic, ended up blasting her into the building where Charmy was gorging herself on a special dish the chef wiped up just for Charmy as he saw the value in the little woman's gluttony.

Naturally the arrival of an elderly witch being blasted through a stone wall several stories up startled Charmy and the chef. She wasn't out either as she proceeded to try and attacked Charmy who defended herself, or as Akame correctly guessed her food, with a powerful Cotton Magic spell and blasted the witch out of the building and knocked her out.

Charmy then helped the Golden Dawn boy out as he'd followed the witch after blasting her but succumbed to the curses and passed out, falling on top of Charmy who caught him with her cotton. After the fighting subsided and reinforcements arrived, the boy was taken to the infirmary to recover from some curses he'd been hit with during his own battle with the witch while Charmy finished her food and joined the enforcement Magic Knights to secure the witch and take her into custody. Akame was sure there was more food related issues but didn't ask about those because it would just make her hungry.

After everything had calmed down and all those who'd been injured were healed, or in Fuegoleon's case stabilized, Asta, Noelle, Yuno, Mimosa, and the other Magic Knights who'd fought, so all present but Solid and Nebra who were unconscious for the whole attack, were honored in a special Distinguished Service Ceremony and promoted in rank for their service. Akame and Tatsumi were also promoted for their work though with the latter two that was classified due to their status and thus didn't happen at the same ceremony but the Wizard King could swing it due to the attack on the Capital.

Of course Akame and Tatsumi didn't really care about not being recognized for their service with the others. They knew that what they did couldn't be recognized so they'd just done their duty and dealt with the surprise attack as they should as Magic Knights. Plus, afterwards they got their special dinner date dinner during said ceremony which was much better in their minds.

There was of course still a lot more to do and investigate in the wake of the attack but that would come as the day ended and those who were in the Capital were given rooms to sleep in, Asta's being in the infirmary to make sure that he was fully healed, before they could go back to their bases the next day. Akame and Tatsumi had also been allowed to keep the robes though they put them in a bag when they left to find Asta, Noelle, and Charmy and head back to the hideout.

It didn't take them long the following morning to find their friends and squadmates mainly because most people hadn't come out of their houses yet as they were naturally a little warry following the attack and there was a cleanup still going on. As such Akame and Tatsumi were able to find them by searching for their ki and heading towards it once they found them with another person who they didn't know.

That was the little girl Asta had saved who'd baked them cupcakes as a thank you, which Charmy then took and revealed that she was present as well to Asta and Noelle's surprise, before heading out. They'd not realized Charmy was present mainly because she missed the special ceremony due to partaking in the securing of the witch and then getting distracted by more food.

Akame and Tatsumi didn't see any of this as they were still making their way to the others though they did note that they all paused as three more sources of ki that were familiar enough to the couple to be from people who'd attended the banquet, likely the Golden Dawn trio that were friendly with them, had paused near enough to their squadmates to have a conversation for a moment. That was what gave them the time to catch up to Asta, Noelle, and Charmy just as a gust of powerful wind that had to be made from magic attacked them.

"…get back here you jerk!" Asta's voice was heard as they rounded the corner of a building to find Asta with his large sword out and the bird they all called Nero on his head for some reason yelling up at a promenade thing overlooking a river were the black haired boy called Yuno was walking away while the other two Golden Dawn members remained, the girl's ki clearly showing that she really liked Asta, while Noelle just looked on and Charmy for some reason lay on her back with a love struck look on her face as the wind died down. "You think you can blast me with magic and get away with it huh? Well you can because I can nullify or redirect it so it's not a problem."

"That was a bit much Yuno." The older teen male in the Golden Dawn trio, who Tatsumi thought was called Klaus if he recalled correctly, said as Yuno walked off. "Don't you think?"

"Hey, stop ignoring me…" Asta called out as Klaus spoke but by that point Yuno was already out of earshot. "Oh you're already gone well we can wait for our showdown then; we'll both be more powerful when that happens because I'm not going to lose to you Yuno."

"So that's your rival, seems like one of those too cool for his own good guys, kinda reminds me of Su, Najenda's second Imperial Arms and the one I saw her use." Tatsumi called out as Asta rested his sword on his shoulder and Noelle giggled at his actions, an act that was surprisingly cute from the usually uptight royal and really showed how much she'd already changed because of Asta, that or it was because of her growing feelings for him which even Tatsumi had started to notice but chose to ignore as he kept calling out to the others. "But he's definitely got a lot of power and good to him as well. I heard that he helped capture one of the attackers, what was it, the Eye of the Midnight Sun? Strange name for a group if you ask me, little too wordy."

"Huh, oh hey guys." Asta said turning to see Akame and Tatsumi approaching them and waving his free hand at them, Noelle doing the same as Charmy still lay on the ground. "I was wondering if you'd show up before we went back to the hideout. Thanks for all your help yesterday, I think I may have been caught by that crazy girl if it hadn't been for you."

"Well that and probably skewered by that Wind Magic as that Tree Magic was going to drain my Water Magic." Noelle said as she gave her superiors a small smile of thanks. "So thank you for your timely intervention Akame, you really saved us though, um, I'm still getting used to seeing one of my squadmates kill so easily and without any hesitation."

"We had enough restraint to take in one of them alive." Akame said with a shrug. "But even if that had been the zombie dude who we really needed to take in alive after what he did I'd have killed him to save you and Asta. It was the right call and the Wizard King agreed so there's no harm to my pending pardon though I'm still on thin ice after that attack on the hideout the other day."

"Shame we did let the zombie guy get away." Tatsumi said as Asta and Noelle looked at Akame with a little confusion as they knew of her suspended sentence but not that she'd somehow come close to failing her review for a second time. "But I'm sure in time the people we caught will divulge their secrets, Mushroom Head is really good at extracting information from those who don't want to part with it and doing so in a humane and non-torture based way."

"Plus Charmy here got another of them though I am surprised she showed up." Akame said gesturing to the still downed Charmy who was mumbling something about the winds of true love for some reason. "Though, er, why's she like that?"

"Not sure, Yuno just blasted us with wind and then she fell over though I'd dispelled it before it hit her so all we got was a strong gust." Asta said as Charmy moaned about her Prince of Provisions which confused them as none of them knew that referred to Yuno, the title Charmy had given him for saving her food after she'd defended it from that witch who in her mind was trying to steal it, or that she'd already fallen hard for Asta's brother and unlike Noelle, Charmy already accepted that she was crushing on someone. "As for why she's here, she came for the food and somehow that led to her fighting and capturing one of the attackers. Still not sure how all that adds up but it worked out in the end."

"She snuck in via a cotton ball that she can hide in which shrinks and can be controlled by her magic so she hid in Asta's hood." Noelle said looking at Charmy who was still out of it in her own little lovesick daze. "Her magic is pretty incredible actually. We're both still new to the Squad so I'd never really seen her magic before but it's a lot stronger than I realized."

"Yeah Charmy is surprisingly powerful and she got promoted to Junior Magic Knight, First Class for her work yesterday, as did I actually." Akame said as she walked over and bent down to pick up her friend as it seemed like Charmy would be a little out of it for a while though Akame would ask Charmy about this later, which she'd get the full truth on as she did have a boyfriend so Charmy would try to get advice from Akame on the love front even if Akame had no advice to give there. "Her Cotton Magic is unique as far as I know, I've never encountered it before I met her, and she's got a lot of power. I'd say that despite being a commoner as far as we know her magic power level is akin to a mid-tier noble at least."

"And yet she's in the Black Bulls?" Noelle asked surprised at what Akame had said. "How's that possible?"

"Mainly because despite her power, the tradeoff to it is her motivation." Tatsumi explained. "Charmy needs to be protecting her friends or food to really let lose but when she does, well there aren't many who can stop her unless they have an attribute that works well on cotton. As for how she ended up in the Black Bulls, that we actually don't know. She's never said how Yami recruited her and neither has he. She's 19 so she's been a member for at most 4 years, 3 longer than me and 2 longer than Akame if she joined at 15 but we don't how or when she joined other than that it was before Akame did."

"Huh, I never realized that Charmy was that strong." Asta said. "So far we've only worked with you two, Luck and Magna."

"Most of the Squad is a lot stronger than their ranks would indicate." Tatsumi said. "We can stand up to a lot of people who on paper, and in their minds, are stronger. Plus, we have some pretty unique magic in the Black Bulls that most don't expect and as such are hard to counter."

"Yeah I noticed, before joining I'd never seen attributes like Thread, Cotton, or Blade, and had only even heard of Armor." Noelle said though she was sure that there were more attributes in the Squad she'd not yet learned that were just as unique and rare which was true. "And earlier, at the banquet, you matched my brother when he showed off. That was rather scary actually, it was like a monster had been unleashed from your magic Tatsumi."

"That was the spirit of Tyrant which seems to still exist within me in some manner." Tatsumi said looking around to make sure they were alone before adding. "That was the Danger Beast that was used to make my Imperial Arms in my last life. It was what gave Incursio its ability to adapt and seems to be present in my magic as well. I can't use it or change Incursio into what I call Tyrant form yet, the form it took when I died, but I know that when I let my magic go that's the form it takes for some reason. As you saw, I'm able to stand up to a royal with it though in a full scale duel I'd lose to Nozel, he's too strong for me at the moment, especially with how versatile that Mercury Magic of his is."

"You still stood up to him and helped us, that was so cool." Asta said with stars in his eyes. "I can't believe that you two were present the entire time and then acted when things began to get out of hand. We didn't realize at all."

"Though I'm not sure I'd say that you deescalated that situation." Noelle pointed out. "You kinda escalated it in a sense."

"Meh, I stopped the fighting and make an example of two assholes." Tatsumi said with a shrug. "So it was worth it to me. Plus, Akame did stop the fighting."

"Wasn't hard, my magic is well suited for that kind of small crowd control." Akame said. "Though that Golden Dawn ass is lucky all he got was a scratch for his actions. If he wasn't a Magic Knight and I wasn't under orders not to kill I'd have cut him down before I landed on the ground."

"He did deserve worse but at least the two instigators of things were punished." Tatsumi said as Noelle let out a huff at that. "If you're expecting me to apologize for making an example of your siblings and trying to beat some sense into them, which likely failed, I won't. They deserved what I did to them."

"I know they deserved it and I'm grateful to Asta and you for standing up for me." Noelle said frustration in her voice. "I'm more frustrated at myself for being weak. Fuegoleon had some wise words for me about weakness during the attack so I'm going to work harder to get my magic under control. That way I can stand up for myself the next time I have to deal with Solid and Nebra. I, I should be able to now."

"And you will Noelle." Asta said with a smile. "Your magic is amazing and once you get it under control you're going to be really strong, I know it. You will get that chance in time and when it does make sure they know that you're strong."

"I, I will." Noelle said blushing at that before looking away from Asta as her chest warmed up at his words. "But not right now, we should get back."

"Correct so let's call our ride and get a portal back to the hideout." Akame said as she pulled out a communications device that she had on her and activated it to call Finral, which he picked up a moment later a small projection of him appearing from it. "Hey, pick us up we're in the Capital, just use this device to know create a portal near its magical signature."

"I am your superior." Finral protested his image showing that. "So a please would be nice."

"Do you want that with or without a blade?" Akame asked simply. "Because I'm fine either way."

"There's no need for that Akame, please don't remind me that you're a highly capable killer." Finral said raising his hands in defeat over the projection and a moment later a portal appeared. "Now hurry, that barrier will be back soon and this is a pretty great distance for me to hold a portal open."

Akame just nodded and walked into the portal still carrying Charmy who'd stopped mumbling and now seemed to be having a really good dream followed by Tatsumi, Asta with Nero on his head, and Noelle before it closed behind her. With that they were done with the Capital and back in the hideout to give their report, when Magna and Luck got back from their mission of course so that they could show them just what they'd been up to while they were no doubt destroying some part of the countryside.

"Welcome back, how was the mission?" Asta asked pretty much as soon as Magna and Luck got back a few hours later while most of the Black Bulls relaxed in the common room though Finral was no where to be found while the others did their usual thing be it sitting on the sofa in silence, get drunk, read, make a creepy statue of their little sister while sporting a nosebleed, or eat more than an army could though that was just Charmy and Akame doing so by themselves. "Was it a success?"

"Yeah it wasn't bad but I worked really hard, wiped me out." Magna said with a smile. "So I'd say success was an understatement."

"It was exhausting." Luck said. "So much fun fighting and we kept the destruction to a minimum for once."

"Yeah it was totally worth it, our successes in Saussy Village and that dungeon really honed our skills to make this an efficient mission were we worked together to complete it." Magna said as his smile grew. "We did so well that we earned ourselves a shiny new star in the process."

"Yup, been a while since we got a real one and not a few negative ones for a mission we went on without Tatsumi, or now Asta, present." Luck said with a nod. "It was a surprise but if it means I can get more missions to go on and fight strong opponents then I'd do it again."

"Man that's awesome, we're really pulling out of the negative now!" Asta said excited. "Only a few dozen more or so and we'd be up there with Yuno."

"Hey Magna, tell them the rest as well." Luck said getting into Magna's personal space causing him to back away a bit. "Like how we came up with a new combo move that really worked. The Crackling Magna Typhoon was so amazing, we've got to do it again and show the rest of the Squad how it works."

"No you battle mad freak, we are never using that impromptu move again, it was too much for me." Magna said as the rest of the squad but Finral, Vanessa because she was drunk, and Yami who was reading the paper, looked over at the conversation as Gordon mumbled something that no one could hear. "But anyway, the way things are going for me I'll be the one in charge of this Squad in no time flat. We're coming up on the Age of Magna so stick with me Asta because I'm going places."

"Yes sir." Asta said as Tatsumi just rolled his eyes at this and Akame went back to her food while more Sheep Cooks came out to provide her and Charmy with the next course. "Oh, also, after the attack on the Capital there was a special Distinguished Service Ceremony for those who aided in it and I was one of them because they made me a Junior Magic Knight, Third Class! Same with Noelle."

"It was to be expected, I am royalty after all." Noelle said with a flick of her pigtails. "And my siblings weren't at it so it was actually a good time."

"What!" Luck and Magna said at the same time before looking at each other and Magna added. "Wait a sec, what on earth is a Junior Magic Knight, Third Class? I've never heard of that."

"Well…er, I don't know actually." Luck said.

"Idiots, you've been Magic Knights for how long and you don't know the ranking system?" Yami asked fed up of the conversation and butting is as he put down his paper, rose, and took a puff of his cigarette. "There's a ranking system in the Magic Knights to show were everyone is in it. You two, hell most of the Squad in fact, haven't advanced since you joined so you're still at the very bottom, Junior Magic Knights, Fifth Class. Best show Asta and Noelle some respect for it."

"What!" Both Luck and Magna said at the same time again before looking at a grinning Asta and a superior looking Noelle.

"Wasn't just them either, they also made Charmy a Junior Magic Knight, First Class for her assistance in catching one of those terrorists or something like that." Yami said as they looked over to Charmy who'd heard this and leapt off her stool to go and gloat about it. "Though I think she was just defending her food and was trying to beat the person she caught up for it or something like that."

"Yes inferiors, bow before me and my might." Charmy said with a grin as Luck laughed and Magna yelled before she turned to show them her back. "So get into your rightful place peons. You're now behind the great and powerful Charmy Pappitson."

"How…" Magna began as he tried to make sense of it.

"That's what capturing one of the attackers will do for you, as well as allowing them to overlook how she snuck into the whole thing in the first place by making it seem like Charmy was always meant to be there I think." Yami said as Charmy began to do a happy, superior dance of her own creation. "Also I'm not sure that Charmy was going for a capture, more punishment but whatever it worked out for the kingdom in the end so they rewarded her for her service."

"Now be good boys and worship me." Charmy said as the boys fell to their hands and knees though that was to be more on Charmy's level than anything else. "This makes me the second highest ranked in the Squad, other than the Captain of course. Well, unless we have a Vice-Captain but I don't think we do so I'm considering myself the second highest ranked in the Squad."

"What is up with this freaky little dance?" Magna asked as he grumbled at his position and too annoyed at the situation to also question why the Squad didn't seem to have a Vice-Captain as they probably should have one but he'd never heard the title used for any of the Black Bulls that he knew. "And who's ranked higher than Charmy other than the Captain?"

"I'm sensing resentment." Luck said. "I personally don't care though unless it means that I can't fight stronger opponents until I rank up because if so then I want to rank up."

"Actually Charmy's tied at Junior First Class with Akame." Yami said. "They made her a Junior Magic Knight, First Class as well for what she did during the attack though they couldn't honor her or Tatsumi at the ceremony because of their, you know, classified status. That and apparently Tatsumi knocked out a few royals while Akame held a few others along with several nobles at blade point so best to keep them away from those with wounded egos. Still, her actions during the attack gave Julius the chance to finally promote Akame to the highest rank she can achieve at the moment."

"Those royals and nobles deserved it though so I've got no regrets in what I did." Tatsumi said as Magna and Luck looked over to him where he sat at the table next to Akame who was still eating whole Charmy continued to do her victory dance and seemed to be ignoring what was going on though she did give a nod of agreement at Tatsumi's point as she ate. "So best to honor us under the table so to speak."

"Wait, why can't Akame advance past that rank?" Asta asked confused, thanks to the ceremony he knew the levels were Senior, Intermediary, and Junior with 5 classes in each but he'd not heard that there could be a limitation on someone. "She's clearly above a junior ranked mage, right?"

"After what we've seen I agree with Asta." Noelle said. "She's easily intermediate rank at least."

"Still a convicted felon, remember." Akame said as she continued to eat. "And I did fail my first review so I'm still on a suspended sentence until I can get pardoned for my crime. Part of that means that I can't advance past Junior rank until my record is officially clean."

"Oh I get it." Asta said though he was still a little shaky on the whole thing. "So we're all Junior Magic Knights other than Captain Yami."

"Are we really that lowly?" Magna asked though it didn't surprise him as much as it should.

"Nope, Tatsumi's an Intermediary Magic Knight, Third Class now." Yami said as he took a puff of his cigarette. "He's not on a suspended sentence like Akame is so he can be promoted when he does well but with the true nature of the missions he does he can't really be promoted as much as he should be."

"Yeah I don't mind, I do what needs to be done for the kingdom regardless of recognition, same with Akame." Tatsumi said as Akame nodded at that. "I was Intermediate Fifth Class before the attack but catching that guy and taking out another one of the terrorists got me to Third Class. If we could get recognized though, Akame would be higher ranked than me. She's easily a Senior Class Magic Knight."

"Both of you are." Yami said. "If it wasn't for all the various factors, you'd be Senior Fifth Class and Akame Senior Fourth, maybe Third or even Second, Class by this point for all the service you've done for the sake of the kingdom."

"It all really doesn't matter to me and it shouldn't to you." Akame said as she ripped off another hunk of meat with her teeth and ate it as fast as ever. "We know our value; the ranking system doesn't take that into account, as well as several other things that it ignores due to other issues like classism, so it's not worth our time."

"Well regardless of that, it was good work out there, all of you." Yami said. "Especially you Asta, I heard all that you did, you did well kid."

"Thanks but I'm still worried." Asta said as Yami's words brought him back to what happened. "What if Captain Fuegoleon doesn't wake up? He was hurt bad and it's not certain if he'll recover from his wounds or not."

"Fuegoleon? You're kidding, right?" Yami asked surprised. "There's no need to be worried about that flame throwing uptight royal, he's far too stubborn to die from something as minor as losing an arm. Knowing him he'll annoy us by waking up stronger than before, probably have something like Salamander the Fire Spirit contracted with him knowing his annoying luck."

"Yeah, you're right." Asta said taking Yami's words to heart though most wouldn't call losing an arm minor but Asta managed to use it as even more motivation to get stronger. "In that case I'd better get back to my training so I can get stronger as well. Fuegoleon had some good advice for me and declared me his rival so I can't let him down either."

"No, you need to rest after all you've been through." Yami said which caused Asta to crash right back down to reality and look back at his Captain. "After the dungeon and the attack on the Capital you're too banged up to be training, you've got to give your body time to recover a bit. Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"You did make me go to this in the first place." Asta pointed out. "I wasn't expecting the attack."

"The Captain's right, just take some time off Asta, you don't want to make things worse." Noelle said concern in her voice though she seemed to control her blush this time. "Just listen to his orders and rest."

"You too Noelle." Asta complained.

"Don't be an idiot, if you want to get stronger you've got to rest when you're hurt that's all." Noelle said looking away from Asta so that he didn't misconstrue her words. "And don't read too much into that."

"Ok but time off?" Asta asked missing the rest of Noelle's statement. "What do I do with that?"

"Well if you've got some free time Asta then let's go to a mixer." Finral said as he suddenly appeared out of a portal as if waiting for this to make his entrance. "It's going to be a lot of fun and I need two other guys for it so what do you say?"

"A mixer?" Noelle yelped in a shocked tone at the thought of Asta attending one, especially one with that girl crazy Spatial Mage in their Squad. "Asta at a mixer?"

"A what now?" Asta asked. "What's a mixer?"

"You've got work to do Finral." Yami pointed out.

"Leave all the arrangements to me, I've already got the girls lined up." Finral said as Yami again reminded him of his work but Finral ignored that mainly because said work was almost certainly being Yami's personal portal service. "So much to do, so little time to do it in."

"I'll kill you." Yami said with a threatening growl in his voice.

"Did you want to come as well?" Finral said as he looked at his Captain before reconsidering his suggestion. "Wait, no, you'd scare the girls."

"I'm still confused." Asta said.

"Mixer?" Noelle asked again as she devolved at the idea of Asta at a mixer where the goal was to meet a girl to date with the hopes that it would lead to marriage which she really didn't want Asta to do, that she actually cared about Asta's love life.

"Don't worry, I'll sort it all out." Finral said with a smile. "I'd ask Tatsumi as well, he's a solid guy who wouldn't turn off the ladies but…Akame, blades away! Please there's no need for them, I promise it was just a statement not a suggestion."

"Keep digging." Akame said her voice lethally calm as Finral recoiled at the swarm of blades that were now pointed right at him while Akame's grimoire opened and flipped to a page. "Actually, I need something more specific for that suggestion. Blade Creation Magic: Specialty Blade – Gelding Knife."

"Put that away!" Finral complained though he was getting no support as the gelding knife appeared in Akame's hand while she used her other to eat some more meat. "I won't bring Tatsumi ok, if I only had two girls and not three I'd ask you two to come as a couple to make up the numbers but I've got three so I need someone else he's just the most normal but, er…"

"You're only making the hole you're in deeper." Akame said as the blades moved closer to Finral.

"Right, well, I'll think on who else works." Finral said as he backed up into his portal. "Just leave everything to me Asta."

With that Finral left and the portal vanished as the room went quiet as Noelle continued to bemoan the whole mixer thing and swore she'd follow it to keep an eye on it while Yami gave up as it would be a good break for Asta. He needed it and if it meant that Yami's ride was out of commission for an evening then so be it.

Meanwhile Akame dismissed her blades and went back to her food but she figured it would be a good thing to watch so she and Tatsumi could have a date night that coincidentally was at the same time and place as the mixer that Finral was planning, he could even send them there ahead of time to get in position. It would be an interesting show for sure as Finral set up a mixer that would lead to an incident no one could have expected and which would have greater ramifications than anyone knew.

I think that's a good place to leave off the chapter what with the aftermath of the attack on the Capital now sorted and the mixer being proposed. Next up is of course the mixer, from Akame and Tatsumi's perspective, and all the fun that that little event entails and the bonds that it creates that will lead to an even more notable event soon enough. That is all that I have for y'all though, not much to say after this chapter, so I will leave this 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