(A/N: "Akame in that Yukata hits different... 😯)

In the winter paradise of the Empire capital, the pair of Wave and Kurome were off duty at a coffee shop, with the onyx-eyed assassin sipping on some coffee. Since the destruction of Yatsufusa, Kurome has been hurting internally as she was very attached to her Teigu and it's abilities. However, Wave has been working hard to make her feel better, and so far it hasn't worked that well. But, the assurance from Akaruime that at least Natala and Doya were consumed by Himitsume was enough to calm her a little. Speaking of Akaruime, surprisingly she wasn't around Kurome or Wave like she normally is.

Wave: *sips coffee* "The Empire still feels peaceful."

Kurome: "Yeah..." He noticed her demeanor and sighed a little.

Wave: "Come on, how long are gonna stay depressed Kurome?"

Kurome: "But... I wasn't useful when it really mattered... Dairoku easily out performed me in our fight and... Y-Yatsufusa was..."

Wave: "It's true that we failed in our mission.. That's why it's all the more important that we stay vigilant in protecting the Capital while the General is out fighting the invasion. And as for Yatsufusa, Akaruime already reassured you that she managed to save the majority of your puppets. And despite her not doing well in the mission, she's not depressed about it. " He then took up his plate that had a sliced cake and handed it to her with a smile. "Here, I'll give you my cake too!"

This immediately caused the ravenette's eyes to widen before she smiled with a small blush on her face.

Kurome: "You're right. If you, who got blown away by the enemy twice, and Akaruime are already over it, then I need to get over it too!" Wave felt a sword being stabbed right through his chest just from her words.

Wave: "Y-Yeah."

(A/N: "F in the chat for best man, Wave")

Kurome: "If that's going to be the case, I need my nutrients..!"

After cutting a slice from the cake, and picked it up with her fork before munching on it, squealing and blushing happily like an adorable child.

Wave watched, smiling happily with a bit of a blush before he noticed what looked like Run and Lauren, watching a street performance with a man dressed as A clown. He got up and walked over to the two.

Wave: "What is it Run, Lauren? You're interested in street performers?"

Lauren looked back at him, then at Run. Wave looked as well only to be more than surprised to find nothing but dull and cold eyes from the man who usually always wore a friendly smile. Now, the dark, vengeful and angry look in his eyes was more prominent than ever.

Wave's thoughts: "That's... not it..." *out loud* "Hey, Run!"

Run: "...Wave."

Wave: "Why were you making such a scary face? Did something happen?" Sensing his concern, the blonde man immediately puts on his usual friendly smile.

Run: "...No. It was nothing."

This earned a confused yet suspicious look from the man of sea, who slowly shrugged and walked back towards Kurome. Run sighed as his demeanor dropped quickly. Soon he felt a warmth on his back followed by two arms wrapping around him in a warm manner; It was Lauren and she was embracing him from behind.

Run: "Lauren..."

Lauren: "Shh.. I know.. I want to kill him too. And we'll get the opportunity, together." He glanced at her before closing his eyes and holding her hands.

Run: "Together."

Wave: "Hey guys?" Everyone looked towards him, as he had a worried expression on his face. "Where's Akaruime??"

Kurome: "She was just here a moment ago..."

As they all looked around, concerned expressions on their faces, none of them noticed what looked like a Black Hawk flying above them and off into the distance, however in its talons was a rolled up piece of paper and you could barely see what part of it said...

"To Kuraime aka Big Sis."

CHAPTER 36: KILL THE RELAXATION

Meanwhile, in order to avoid being attacked while retreating, Night Raid chose a much longer detour and came back to the Capital from the south. They are now on a road 250km south of the capital. With three tents pitched, one of them was for Najenda, Leone, Saber, Mine and Levi, the other was for Lubbock and Tatsumi and the final was for Akame and Dairoku. Speaking of, Akame and Dairoku were in the tent that contained Leone, Najenda, Saber and Levi. Akame didn't have her shirt on, but a white bra mainly because her abdomen was bandaged up while Dairoku was also topless, with bandages all over his body. Despite being protected by Barbatos, the fight he had with Wave did damage him quite a bit. Dairoku suffered from a few broken ribs and a dislocated left shoulder that was noticed after they had retreated. Despite that he was able to fight very efficiently.

As Levi was touching the campfire with a wooden stick, she glanced at everyone else present. Akame was stroking the white hair of her boyfriend, Dairoku who lied down in her lap, his eyes closed as A thin red aura surrounded him. Najenda was laying in a sleeping bag, with the most injuries out of everyone, mainly due to her life being cut significantly shorter thanks to using Susanoo's Trump Card twice in a row. Leone for the most part had managed to fully heal thanks to Lionelle's abilities. Saber was in a dormant state however. She was in a kneeling, meditating position with a golden aura surrounding her and Excalibur stabbed into the ground next to her. Due to using her Trump Card for quite a long time during that fight, she was gone a be inactive for more than just a few weeks. As for Levi herself, she had managed to partially heal, but was still a bit injured internally.

Najenda: "How are you and Dairoku's wounds, Akame?"

Akame: "They're much better, but I'll need a few more weeks to fully heal. *strokes Dairoku's hair* As for Dai, he seems relatively fine. After putting his shoulder back into place and drinking some of my blood to restore the life force he lost during that fight, he's been regenerating quickly."

Najenda: "That's good, because I have a feeling we'll need him at his best soon. How about you, Levi?" She looked towards the Ninja who grinned.

Levi: "Heh! These wounds aren't enough to keep a super badass ninja like me, down!" However she winced as she suddenly moved her arm. "O-Ow... Hehe... Alright.. I maaaayyyy need some more weeks." Akame shook her head but smiled

Leone: "I'm more or less completely healed!"

Akame: *deadpans in astonishment* "Unbelievable." Soon, the ravenette found her face being stuffed in between the lioness' breasts, causing her to squirm around a bit.

Leone: "I'm completely healed, Akame!"

Akame: "Do that to Tatsumi, not me!"

Leone: "Aww, but you do this to Dairoku all the time!"

Akame: "He's an exception!"

Leone: "Then maybe I'll do it to him too! He's extremely vulnerable right now!" Akame immediately snapped and pulled away from her before hugging Dairoku possessively, though he still didn't wake up.

Akame: *glares at Leone* "Mine!"

Levi: "Hahaha! You're so possessive of him, Aka-Chan! If Mira was here, she'd immediately scold you and say how 'IMPURE!' you were being!"

Unknown to them, a certain green haired pervert was slowly peeking into the tent, with a sly grin on his face.

Lubbock: "I'll probably be fine in a month-GAH!" Suddenly a fireball crashed into his face, kicking him out of the tent.

Najenda: "Just stay in bed, and get out!"

Lubbock: "Then why isn't Dairoku getting kicked out!?"

Akame: "Because he has priorities. Besides, only he is allowed to see me like this."

Lubbock: "Oh that's some major bullshit!!" Ignoring Lubbock and sonfused about the fireball, everyone looked at Dairoku who had a slight flame aura around him before it vanished.

Levi: "Damn, even when he's unconscious, Dairoku still protects Akame from being seen by pervs like Lub, hah!" She laughed as Akame blushed a bit but smiled and planted a sweet kiss on his forehead.

Leone: "Speaking of, what is he doing exactly?"

Akame: "After we left, Dairoku left a few Hell Hawks to fly to the capital and act like surveillance. He's concentrating so he can see out of their eyes" Leone seemed impressed by this. Even despite his less than ideal state, Dairoku was still working hard. Najenda hummed before looking at metal arm.

Najenda's thoughts: "Susanoo was killed in action and Mira and Chelsea were heavily injured. Akame, Lubbock and Levi broke many bones and will taken four to six months to heal. And Saber used too much of her power during King's Fury and will be unable to battle for around the same amount of time. Only Dairoku and Kuraime are able to fight at their best due to either suffering the least amount of injuries/only minor injuries or healed them already. But worst of all... we lost the one Teigu that could swiftly kill Esdeath, Murasame... Well just have to rely on Kuraime and Ketsuekime now... A steep price to pay. As for myself, I have probably will not live for much longer. Even if it was incomplete, I used the Magatama Manifestation Three times. I have to live at least until... the revolution is complete."

Akame: "It'll be alright. She looked over at the scarlet-eyes assassin, who gave her a warm smile. "Najenda, you've always been tough. You'll definitely live." Hearing that caused the ex-general to smile back.

Najenda: "Hearing that from you, means a lot..."

Akame: "But in order to do that, you need to take in a lot of energy."

Saber: "Aka meat I presume?" She opened one eye and looked at her.

Akame: *derp face and nods* "Yes."

Saber: "Ever the glutton."

Akame: "You're one to talk."

Saber: *eyes widen* "E-Eh!?" This caused for Levi to laugh loudly, though hold her abdomen in pain. Unknown to everyone besides Najenda, Dairoku just smiled in his unconscious state.

Najenda: *chuckles a bit* "Yeah..."

Leone: *looks outside* "So now we wait for the food hunting party. They're taking their time."

>>Meanwhile<<

Deeper into the mountains, quite a bit a day from the camp site, the trio of Tatsumi, Mine and Kuraime were hitting for the team's food for the night. Slashing the neck of A Humanoid Bear Danger Beast with Incursio's Key was Tatsumi, with Kuraime and Mine standing a bit away with Ketsuekime and Pumpkin by their sides. Internally, Kuraime didn't want to come along and neither did Mine want her to, but Tatsumi being the oblivious naïve guy he was didn't understand the situation and insisted on Kuraime coming along. With the Danger Beast falling on it's back, dead, Tatsumi stood triumphant on it's body and shot a smirk to the two girls.

Tatsumi: "This one looks delicious."

Mine: *looks at Kuraime* "Whatcha think? You and Akame will be satisfied with this?" She asked the violet-eyed ravenette, but she didn't respond and seemed to be somewhat lost in thought. "Kuraime?"

Kuraime: "Oh... Yeah, that'll do." She looks at them and gave them her signature deadpan thumbs up. The two looked at her before looking at each other and shrugging.

Tatsumi: "Alright! Let's go back."

Kuraime: "I'll scout ahead and deal with any Danger Beasts along the way." She said, turning around before walking away from the two in the direction they came.

Tatsumi: "Roger that!"

Mine: "Oh! W-Wait a second, Tatsumi!" She called out to him, causing him to look back at her curious. With a tiny blush and pout, she tapped her finger tips together. *thoughts* "It's finally just the two of us... This is the perfect chance..." *out loud* "N-Nothing..."

Tatsumi: "What is it? You've been doing this a lot recently."

Mine: "S-Shut up!!"

Tatsumi: "I always thought you were the more confident type who would just say what you wanted to say." That statement caused a much heavier blush to appear on Mine's face before she grabbed onto his sleeve. "Mine..?"

Mine: "F-Fine, then!! Then I'll tell you what I was going to say... So listen up."

>>Meanwhile<<

Akame: "They're so slow..."

Saber: "That's an understatement..." Soon for the others, waiting for minutes, soon turned into an hour...

>>Meanwhile<<

Progress was extremely slow for Mine as she kept hesitating and struggling to tell Tatsumi what she wanted to say. The farm hand originally had a look of confusion, but soon that turned to slight irritation.

Tatsumi: "...What is it?"

Mine's thoughts: *blushing heavily* "He's just a simpleton, so what am I getting so flustered for..?" *out loud* "I... I! I've grown to like you!"

There was a brief silence as the Brown Haired assassin stared at her for a moment, before releasing a small sigh and a slight smirk.

Tatsumi: "I see. So even someone as narrow minded as you has accepted me.

Mine: *deadpans* "HUH?"

Tatsumi: "Don't worry, heh. I like you to. As a precious ally!"

Mine: *sweat drops and nearly tumbles over* "I-I didn't mean it like that." *thoughts* "This thick-headed moron..!! I spill my guts and this is how he reacts!? Unreal...! But I can't let him get away now!! There's no telling when I'll have the chance again...!"

Seeing that he was in the process of walking away, the pink haired sniper immediately got in front of him, her arms out.

Mine: "Hold it!!"

Tatsumi: "Huh!?"

Mine: "You don't get it, you idiot! I don't like you in that way!"

Tatsumi: "Huh? What other way could there be?" That one sentence was like a sword being stabbed through Mine's chest.

Mine's thoughts: "Stay strong..." Seeing no other options, Mine took a deep breath and clenched her fists. *out loud* "Here goes..."

Tatsumi: "Hey, what's the matter? Here goes, what...?"

With nothing left to say, Mine grabbed hold of Tatsumi's collar before pulling him down, and planting a firm yet gentle kiss on his lips, forcing a stronger blush on the two's faces. Breaking the kiss, their cold breaths mixed in the air.

Tatsumi: "Wha..."

Mine: *blushes heavily* "Now do you see? This is what I meant when I said I like you!"

Tatsumi: "Huh? Was that my punishment for something?"

Mine: *frustrated* "Just shut up and believe me! I just gave you my first kiss!" She shoved her face into his chest, basically embracing her.

Tatsumi: "...But Mine, ever since we met, you treated me like an idiot. I can't believe this."

Mine: "I know... At first it was like, 'Come on, you newbie bumpkin, at least try!!'"

Tatsumi: *chuckles* "You're so mean..."

Mine: "But... then you saved my life..." Hearing that caused the green-eyed assassin to blush a bit.

Tatsumi: "O-Of course! I pulled you out of that scrape! Any teammate would do that!"

Mine: "You're right... But I think... my feelings for you having been growing for a while. Maybe ever since you inherited Bulat's Teigu and vowed to carry on his wishes. It made me realize that you're also a man beneath it all."

Tatsumi: "Mine..." She suddenly pulled away and smiled brightly.

Mine: "And that's why, I'm going to go out with you! So be thankful!" However that line didn't sit well with Tatsumi

Tatsumi: "Huh!? What about MY feelings on this!?"

Mine: *frowns and looks down sheepishly* "Do you... not want me..?"

Tatsumi: "Uh! It's not that I don't want you... But this is all happening so fast, I'm a little freaked..!!"

Mine: *deadpans* "Sheesh, you're hopeless. It's times like these you have to make up your mind!" She crossed her arms and smiled confidently. "And so! Just agree to go out with me! You'll be my love slave soon enough!"

A bewildered Tatsumi just stared at het before suddenly bursting out into laughter, hunching forwards as he held his abdomen.

Mine: "What's so funny!?"

Tatsumi: *laughing* "I was just thinking that even when you're asking me out, you're still the same Mine I know. The same person who said, 'and what's so good about this one?' when you first saw me."

Mine: "G-Give it a rest already!" However, he gently took hold of her hand and squeezed it a bit, catching her by surprise

Tatsumi: "Fine. If you'll have me"

Mine: "Tatsumi..."

>>Meanwhile<<

Too long was the time that went by, at least for Akame as she unconsciously began chewing on her boyfriend's arm as her stomach growled viciously. Dairoku opened his eyes and looked up at her with a deadpan.

Dairoku: "You done yet, babe...?"

Akame: *in a trance* "Mmm.. Hungry... Delicious Meat..."

Dairoku: *sighs* "Guess not..."

Leone: *pats Dairoku's head* "There, there.. Akame got so hungry, she's down for the count."

Saber: "What are those three doing out there?"

Levi: "Mmm..." She looked at Akame and Dairoku before grinning malicious. "Heh, to me it seems like Akame's really craving Dairoku's meat~"

She wiggled her eyebrow mischievously. Immediately, the two of them stopped with what they were doing and looked at her, with a large blush on their faces.

Dairoku and Akame: "Eh!?" Chaos slowly began to ensue, Najenda suddenly said something.

Najenda: "It must be... that Tatsumi, Mine and Kuraime are in danger. I have a gut feeling." Alarmed, everyone sat up straight, however, just as she said that, Tatsumi and Mine returned, hand in hand, with the former having a nervous smile while the latter had one a satisfied smile.

Tatsumi: "We're back."

Mine *happily* "Actually, Tatsumi and I are a couple now." Everyone just stared at then while Najenda turned around, embarrassed her theory was proven wrong so quickly.

Levi and Saber: "Eh..?"

Dairoku: "Huh.. Well that's unexpected. But then again, as the saying goes 'the two enemies are most likely to fall in love'."

Leone: "That's odd... The boss was certain your lives were in danger..."

Najenda: "Well I was right that something had gone down.." However this little moment was short lived as a bright purple light shined from outside of the tent. When everyone turned their attention, they were surprised and alarmed to see Lieselotte walking to into the tent, with a happy expression.

Lieselotte: "Yo-ho! Intruding-Kyah!" she yelped as suddenly a piece of rope wrapped around her leg and lifted her up into the air upside down. "W-What the!?"

Levi: "Haha! You fell for my super awesome Ninja trap!"

(A/N: "Trinity Seven fans will remember this trap xp")

Saber: "You had time to set up a trap..?"

Mine: "Anyway, what are you doing here you witch!?" She demanded as everyone who could move, got into a battle ready stance, however Lieselotte surprisingly held her hands up... or in this case, down.

Lieselotte: "Relax, pinky. I came here on request."

Tatsumi: "By who?"

Dairoku: "By me." Everyone turned to look at the vampire who was walking over to Lieselotte. "I sent her here."

Akame: "Dai??"

Mine: "Are you an idiot!?"

Dairoku: "Maybe, yeah. Do I care? Don't think so. Anyways, before we all jump to conclusions, allow me to clarify something." He point to Lieselotte, who cuts herself free with her magic. "Liese isn't who you think she is. She's a Rakshasa Demon, yeah but unlike them, she isn't loyal to Honest. Show em."

Everyone looked towards the witch, who pulled out a signed contract from the Revolutionary Army, stating that she was in fact, a spy for them. Just then, the Hell Bat she had appeared and landed on her head. Everyone stared in bewilderment.

Mine: "You're a spy for the Revolutionary Army!?"

Lieselotte: *grins* "Yep, pinky!" A tick of annoyance popped up on Mine's head from the nickname she oh so hates so much.

Najenda: "Huh... So you're the secret spy the Revolutionary Army sent to assist us? Who would have thunk it would be a Rakshasa Demon of all people..."

Saber: "And you knew about this, Dairoku?"

Dairoku: "Since we first ran into her along with Ibara, yeah."

Akame: "Why didn't you inform us?" He looked at her, seeing an expression that seemed a bit hurt that he kept this from her. The vampire sighed and pats her head.

Dairoku: "I'm sorry, Strawberry. I would have told you... all of you, but we needed any battle we had with Liese to be as convincing as possible. You lot not knowing, was the best option..." He then looked towards Najenda, Leone, Tatsumi and Saber. "And with you guys along with Suu battling head on against both Esdeath, she would have immediately picked up on something going on between us and Liese. *looks back at Akame* I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I really am.. . But we had to avoid our personal feelings getting in the way in the long run."

Akame: "No, I understand, because I love you and trust you fully." She said, looking up at him with a smile that caused him to smile back.

Levi: "So what brings you here, Liese? You said, Dai-Kun requested you here?"

Lieselotte: "Yep, and I've got some new all of you would want to hear..." She snapped her fingers, causing for Lubbock to suddenly appear in the tent as well, catching the majority of them by surprise.

Lubbock: "The fuck!?" He looked around before spotting Lieselotte, his eyes widening with stars as he began drooling and got a bit of a nose bleed. "H-Holy fuck..." Dairoku just deadpanned before bonking him on his head, causing him to snap out of his perverted day dreaming.

Dairoku: "Anyways... continue, Liese."

Lieselotte: *giggles* "Sure." Soon, her expression turned serious, giving everyone the impression that things weren't looking good.

"Well... I've got both good news and bad news. First, Borick's death is causing The Path of Peace to act and rebel against the Empire, triggering more rebellious actions, especially from the powerful Western Army. Esdeath's dealing with them right now. Now for the bad news... Honest's son, Syura is in the capital and has formed a group of Teigu Users of his own like the Jaegers... The Members are, Izou, a swordsman. Cosmina, a witch who uses powerful sound waves generated by her singing. Dorothea, an alchemist with multiple modifications to her body. Enshin, a pirate from the Southern Islands. And last but not least, Champ, a fat clown who's a serial killer entertainer; they call themselves... Wild Hunt."

This information almost seemed a bit overwhelming for Night Raid as they were taking their time to process the information. Now, not only do they have to deal with the Jaegers, but now Wild Hunt is a new problem they had in their side.

Tatsumi: "All Teigu users...?"

Lubbock: "Any information about those Teigu?"

Lieselotte: "Not much. All I know is about their appearances; Cosmina, a microphone, Dorothea has a pair of Vampire Fangs. And Enshin has a cutlass. Izou on the other hand... He has a Katana he calls Kousetsu, but it doesn't give off the feeling of a Teigu, Zodiac.. Or even a Shingu for that manner. He says it drinks blood to become stronger, but there's no proof of that. As for Champ and Syura himself, I'm not sure. As for their abilities, I'm not sure. But their fighting strength seemed more dangerous and for a lack of a better word, wild than the Jaegers."

Saber: "This... isn't good. "

Leone: "Huh... Whatcha think, boss?" She looked at the silver haired general who hummed.

Najenda: "Well with the information of Wild Hunt's existence, security in the Capital will be even tighter than before, but they will need to be eliminated. Once we have enough information and are fully recovered, we'll make our move."

Lieselotte: "Smart decision, Senpai. I'll head back to the Capital and continue to observe." She was about to vanish, before noticing that someone seemed to be missing. "Where's Kuraime?" Everyone looked around and noticed that she wasn't present.

Dairoku: "Huh... Tatsumi, wasn't Kuraime with you and Mine earlier?"

Tatsumi: "Yeah, she was. But she said she'd move ahead and scout. Did she not come back here?"

Akame: "No she didn't.."

As they were wondering where the violet-eyed assassin was, a bit further into the mountains, there she was, trekking through the blizzard as in her hand, was a paper... and on the back of that paper, said these words...

"To Kuraime aka Big Sis."

Kuraime: "Akaruime..." She closes her eyes before looking out into the horizon and continuing forwards. "Alright. I'm on my way. Let us have our final duel."

END
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It's soon time for tears.. Tears of happiness or sadness is he real question?