This night, was a bit special. The Revolutionary Army had tasked Night Raid with handling one particular target for this night. As of now Kuraime had taken the assassination by herself. It was of a man in the Capital who was wanted for drugging women in the capital before taking advantage of them at his mansion. If he got them pregnant and they gave birth, he would sell off the children for profit.

(Flashback)

Najenda: "Now for our target of the night, it's this man right here."  She displayed a sketch of the man's face on the table. His features consisted of black hair and blue eyes along with what looked like a fair complexion.

Mine: "Hoh? Seems like from the description he's not a difficult one."  She commented as it was stated that he lived in a mansion that was quite poorly guarded.

Hardly, any of Night Raid's members would need to even try to take him out. In fact, it looked like it would only take two members to take him out. Then, the instant Kuraime's eyes landed on his picture, they widened before she slowly gritted her teeth.

Akame: "That means not all of us need to go. Kuraime and I can handle this one."

Kuraime: "No."  Everyone looked at her confused as she swiped the image from the table, a dangerous shadow lingering over her eyes.  "I'll take him... Alone."

Tatsumi: "W-What? You alone???"

Sheele: "Are you sure, Kuraime?"  She tilted her head out of concern for the ravenette as she seemed to have gotten a bit riled up just from looking at the picture. She was gritting her teeth and clenching her fists tightly but she remained calm and looked at the polite assassin before nodding.

Kuraime: "I am. I want... no. I NEED to take him alone."  Her voice was completely firm and unwavering as she clenched onto the photo. Akame was about to attempt to protest again, before Dairoku spoke up.

Dairoku: "Let her go."  They all looked at him, watching as he walked over to the purple-eyed assassin before he looked into her eyes.  "She can handle it. She's strong enough."  He said in full confidence, but also while giving subtle nods to the rest of the team. While Akame was still skeptical, she noticed his nod and understood before she relented with a nod towards her best friend. Kuraime looked up at the white-haired male before her before quickly leaning up and giving him a small peck on his cheek before she pulled away.

Najenda: "Alright. You can take him alone, but be back before the deadline, Kuraime."  She said, to which she nodded.

Akame: "Be careful, Kuraime."

Kuraime: "I will be."

(End of Flashback)

There she stood in front of a massive mansion with big wooden doors. The purple-eyed ravenette glared right at the house, her demonic scythe Ketsuekime clutched tightly into her left hand. As burst of dark purple energy surrounded her, her eyes began to glow as she lifted her right leg and suddenly kicked both doors off of its hinges. As she walked inside, the armor of Ajax formed around her, its purple eyes glowing brightly as its black tattered cloak flowed from the wind rushing inside of the house. Gripping Ketsuekime, she began to move forwards.

Kuraime (Ajax): "Oyasumi."

>Past Shrouded in Darkness<

One by one, each guard in the house fell. Crimson red blood was spattered across the mansions walls and floors as the scent of sheer bloodlust filled the mansion. Cowering in the corner of his bedroom, the man who was the target of the Revolutionary Army, but as he was backed up against the wall, with a broken sword stabbing the wall behind him, narrowly missing his head. Before him stood the armored cloaked assassin, scythe in hand as her armored glowing purple eyes glared down at the man before her.

Kuraime (Ajax): "I finally found you..."

Ronan: "W-What? Who are you!? An assassin... Are you from Night Raid!?"  She watched as he was trembling like a flower in the middle of a storm. She couldn't help but get irritated just from seeing him so terrified, considering all the things he's done...

Kuraime (Ajax): "Maybe you'll remember me, now."

He watched as the glowing eyes suddenly shut off completely, with steam ejecting from the thin gaps in the helmet of Ajax. One by one, the armor plates of the helmet began to retract, revealing the glaring expression that the ravenette wore. As he analyzed the assassin's face, his eyes would slowly widen.

Kuraime: "Yeah. Recognize me, 'father'?"

Ronan: "K-Kuraime..."  She balanced Ketsuekime up on its blade before crossing her arms as her violet eyes shined dangerously from the moonlight.  "S-So the Wanted Poster really was you... Where's your mother and sister?"  His question infuriated her as she clenched her teeth behind her closed lips.

Kuraime: "You know where mom is... You were the one that killed her after all."

Ronan: "What?? Don't say such ridiculous things young lady—"

Kuraime: "Shut up!"  He flinched as she pulsed a dark violet aura, shaking the room violently.  "Akaruime and I know EVERYTHING. You were unfaithful to mom, pleasuring yourself with countless drugged women in the Capital and you're damned mistress. You even knocked her up and she gave birth to Akaruime, but you wanted NOTHING to do with her. So you dumped her on me and mom. I LOVE my little sister dearly, yet you completely discarded her like she was trash. You didn't like the fact that mom was opposing to your sick mindset and was completely against selling us to them. You didn't like it. She travelled all the way from home just to come and see us. But when you hear that, you had the Empire Guards force her back home. And then, you finally had enough. You told some blasted lie about her leaking information to the Revolutionary Army and got her executed along with our home being completely destroyed."

Ronan: "I-I—!"

Kuraime: "You took mom away from us! You KILLED her! YOU KILLED MOM DAMNIT! And you have the gull to even ask me about where they are... YOU OF ALL PEOPLE!?"  The man flinched as she rose her voice at him. He attempted to speak, but couldn't as Kuraime had cut him off.  "You know, I'm done. I never want to see your face again... and to make sure that is a reality... Sayōnara, 'father'."

Her voice lost all form of emotion it just had, becoming completely stoic as she grabbed onto Ketsuekime and rose it into the air, the blade looming over him as he began to panic.

Ronan: "W-Wait! You can't kill me, your own flesh and blood! I'm your fa—"

*slice*

Swift and painless. That is how she would describe this kill. One single swing of her scythe decapitated the man before her. It felt as if a massive wall of bricks was completely lifted off of her shoulders. It was over.. She had buried the hatchet and now her mother could rest peacefully.

Kuraime: "Mom... I did it. For you... and Akaruime..."

However, her attention was brought to the soft groaning of a female that sounded as if it was in pleasure. It alarmed her as she turned her attention to the bed in the room, but the moment she saw the person, her eyes slightly widened. It was a woman. She had short dark brown, almost black hair and a fair complexion. She slowly rolled over in her bed, revealing her to be completely naked and completely covered in sweat as she seemed to be panting from pleasure, most likely due to that when she had broke into the room, Kuraime was treated to the sight of her father locked into a seemingly intense session of rough sex with the woman. Immediately, the ravenette had thrown her former father off of the woman. As she slightly rose her head, her eyes fluttered open to reveal them to be... green. But that wasn't the only surprising thing. The way she acted and her scent...

Kuraime's thoughts: "Is this... a drugged woman...?"  Her eyes became fixated on her but judging from her condition, it was obvious...  "And... she doesn't seem to have much time left..."

Woman: "P-Pleaaassseee...~ Don't stooopppp~ I want mooorrree~"  She extended her arms towards the armored ravenette who only held up one hand, shaking her hand no.

Kuraime: "No thanks." 

She simply rejected, causing the woman to wine and pout. She sighed and wrapped the bed's blanket around her to cover her body as she took a good look at her face. It was just as was described above. Aside from the hazy eyes filled with lust and the massive blush on her face, she had emerald green eyes and dark brown hair that basically looked as black as her own hair and it was cut short. The woman also seemed to have gotten a vague look at the assassin over her, spotting the black hair and colored eyes before she spoke.

Woman: "Ah... Y-You remind me of my daughter with that dark hair... You're eyes are the wrong color. She has green eyes... b-but... you seem really similar to her..."  Kuraime's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and slight surprise as the woman continued talking.  "I-I only had her for 3 years... B-B-But then.. *sobs*  She went missing... She was taken away from me! *coughs*" 

Kuraime could only watch in complete shock as the woman seemed to have been going into a hysteric crying fit before letting out violent coughs that caused blood to fly from her mouth. The ravenette had listened intensively to every word she slurred out, before she was able to put two and two together... She crouched next to the woman, gently resting one armored hand onto her bare one.

Kuraime: "Ma'am, I am sorry to say that I am not the girl you just described. But... I may know her."  The woman's tearful, hazy eyes slowly widened.  "Could you tell me more about her and yourself just so that we're on the same page?" 

There was a brief silence before she nodded.

Woman: "M-My name is Qin Liangyu... My baby girl... Her name... was Akaruime..."  Kuraime's grip on her hand slightly tightened. 

(Qin Liangyu)

Qin: "She was... the most adorable little thing when I first gave birth to her. The way she would cling onto my finger and snuggle into me... The way she called me 'mama' for the first time... She was my everything! *coughs* And then I heard from her father, that... that..."  She began to sob once again.  "...That she was kidnapped! I lost my baby! I had lost everything!! I'm such an awful mother.. I let her get taken away! *coughs*"  Her coughing only got worse after that.

Kuraime: "Shh."  She immediately engulfed the woman into a light hug, rubbing the back of her head to sooth her.  "Don't say all of that... I can tell, just from everything you told me that you loved her dearly. And in my eyes, just that alone tells me that you're far from a horrible mother. You're a mother that anyone would want to have."  Qin was taken a bit by surprise but couldn't help it but give a bright smile as she embraced the young woman.

Qin: "Thank you, sweetie... Hehe, you even act like her. Do you... possibly know her?"  She questioned as the hug was broken. Kuraime hesitated for a while before she nodded and gave her vague answer.

Kuraime: "We've met before."

Qin: "Please... Tell her for me, that no matter what happens, I'll always love her... *cough* *cough* And that I'm sorry... that I ended up in such a state..."

Kuraime: "I'll let her know. And you don't have to worry... This, is our secret."  A soft smile formed on her lips as she nodded. Qin only laughed slightly, a bright smile that resembled Akaruime's on her lips as the light in her eyes began to fade.

Qin: " What's your name, dear...?"  The ravenette hesitated and bit her lip slightly before smiling.

Kuraime: "Kuraime."

Qin: "'Kuraime'... Ah, such a beautiful name... *cough* Thank you... Kuraime..." 

That was it... Her final words. Kuraime couldn't help but grit her teeth and clench her fists. This was her first meeting with Akaruime's biological mother and just from this encounter, she could tell that both her and her own mother would have gotten along very well. Kuraime wanted to cry for her, for her to end up in such a state. But then she took a glance at her father's dead body and all of that sadness vanished in an instant. She was angry. No...

She was fucking pissed. At her father, the corrupted higher ups, the Prime Minister. She hated them all.

>>Time Skip<<

Kuraime had taken the woman's body to a nearby graveyard and had dug a grave for her before burying her. She never deserved to rot away in that mansion, alone. She deserved a proper burial, and Kuraime delivered. Realizing that she was 5 minutes late into returning back to Base, Kuraime gave her final goodbyes to Qin before returning back to base.

When she had entered the base, she didn't even realized that it was completely dark. The moment she had arrived in the meeting room, she was startled as the lights were turned on and confetti was flung all around.

Kuraime: "What the...!?"

Everyone: "SURPRISE!!!"

There Kuraime stood, wide eyed as before her was all the members of Night Raid, all dressed up in Halloween Costumes. The room itself was decorated with party decorations, most noticeably a hanging banner with the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' written across it, but there were also some Halloween decorations such as cobwebs, fake skulls, Jack o' Lanterns, ect. There were multiple tables consisting of all kinds of foods and deserts, and on another table were a couple of presents.

Kuraime: "Y-You guys..."

Leone: "Hehe!"  She popped up next to her, Lionelle activated as she wore a blue sports bra and blue shorts along with Halloween colored thigh-highs.  "We gotcha didn't we??"

Kuraime: "How did you guys..."

Bulat: "It was Dairoku and Akame's idea. Was in planning since a week ago!"  He flexed his muscles with a big grin as he wore a vampire outfit. Kuraime's eyes immediately snapped towards her best friend and her 'brother'. Akame wore a witch's outfit while Dairoku wore a devil outfit.

Akame: "Ever since you had disappeared after your fight with Merraid, we weren't able to celebrate your birthday for a couple of years. So, Dairoku and I came up with the idea to have the biggest celebration for you today."  She gave a gentle smile as Kuraime was only just frozen.

Tatsumi: "So what did you think?"

There was a good minute of silence as Kuraime's head had lowered to look at the ground. Everyone however, wouldn't expect for the answer they'd receive to be... Tears. In an instant, Dairoku rushed to her side, catching her as she had collapsed onto her knees, while sobbing into her hands.

Sheele: "Kuraime...?"

Lubbock: "What's wrong with her??"

Her crying briefly stopped as she sniffled. In truth, Kuraime was completely overwhelmed. She had just confronted her past and ended her father's life, and immediately after, she met Akaruime's biological mother and buried her peacefully. And after all of that, she had forgotten about her own birthday and forgot completely about the joy of having friends and family. She couldn't help but break down, just from all of these emotions overwhelming her. She however, would finally give them their answer...

Kuraime: "Y-You guys... *sniffles* I-I don't know what to say... After everything... I had completely forgotten about how it felt to have family and friends. You guys... *she sobs* You guys are just the absolute best!!"

Dairoku: "Hey, hey."  He stroked her cheek as he pulled her head into his chest and hugged her.  "You know we're always here for you. You're important to this team... this family, Kuraime. You always have and you always will be. So turn those tears of sadness into tears of joy and let's celebrate your special day, with everyone."

The rest of the Night Raiders all gave agreeing smiles as they watched the display of the duo. Kuraime's sobbing only got louder, though it didn't last as long. As she got quiet, she slowly looked up and gave the brightest smile she could ever give.

Kuraime: "Right!"

End
Happy Halloween!