With the first mission of the Elite successfully completed, all 8 members returned to their base where Gozuki awaited, patiently, but excitedly. Just as he hoped for, all 8 children completed their missions, all pretty flawless while Akame was the only one to be wounded. Despite that, he was still very proud of her, considering her having such an emotional attachment to Martha. Standing at the head of the dining table that was covered to the brim with all kinds of consumables, the blonde man rose his glass of wine into the air, a big smile plastered over his face.

Gozuki: "Statistically speaking, the rate of death for the first mission is high... Every one of you succeeded in your missions! Great job! I'm impressed! Tonight, we feast! Eat all you want!"

Kuraime: *excitedly* "Yes, father!" 

She yelled with stars present in her eyes before she began to completely devour the meat that was placed before her, with Dairoku and Najasho sighing and shaking their heads while Cornelia, Poney, Green and Gozuki all shared laughs while watching the violet-eyed assassin. It was quite a party for the group, though of course, Najasho was the only one not outwardly enjoying himself, though he would take a glance at Kuraime every now and then, seemingly making sure she didn't coke on her own food just from how viciously she was eating.

Najasho: "Might want to slow down there, Shrimp. You'll be useless if you die from choking on food."

Kuraime: *swallows food* "Oh please. You and I both know you and everyone else would make a big deal out of me eating "normally" Chief."  She answered with a smile, patting the blonde's head who in return, shook his head.

Dairoku however, as he casually ate his share, glanced towards the scarlet-eyed ravenette next to him, who to his surprise, haven't touched her food once. Akame was known to be a massive glutton, just like how Kuraime is, so seeing her not even attempt to eat, was definitely off putting.

Dairoku: "Mm..."

Soon, the red eyed ravenette had excused herself from the table and exited the house. Looking up at the stars, she was immediately reminded of Martha, considering the two would do this, since the ravenette was just a little girl.

Dairoku: "You alright, Strawberry?"  She glanced back, seeing both Dairoku and Najasho approaching her.

Akame: "Dairoku... Chief..."

Najasho: "You've already had the poison removed from your system, right? Then why are you so blue?"  She glanced away.

Akame: "It's weird... When I think that Martha's not in this world anymore, I keep thinking that I'll see her at the restaurant again when I go back to the village tomorrow..."

Najasho: "The dead will never come back to life. We've already been taught that many times."

(A/N: "*looks at Dairoku in AGV*"  Dairoku: "...Hey... Stop it...")

Akame: "That's right..."

Najasho: "Father just said so, didn't he? You did something you should be proud of. You underlings don't need to think about difficult questions, just keep doing what you're doing. Stuff like that is for me, Dairoku or Cornelia to deal with."  He said as he turned around and began walking back towards the house.

Akame: "Chief..."

Najasho: "Once you're over it, come back inside. If you don't eat, there'll be a global catastrophe. And I won't be able to keep Kuraime from devouring your share too." 

Dairoku: *sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose* "He's not wrong though..."  he looked at her before walking up to her side.  "Well, you know how Najasho is. That's his way of cheering you up.

Akame: *smiles* "Yeah..."  He glanced at her before smiling a bit and looking up at the moon with her.

Dairoku: "Hey, don't be afraid to speak up when something's up. We'll all be there for you."

Akame: "Then can do me this favor?"  He gave her a side glance.  "Stay here with me for a while."  He smiled, chuckling lightly before nodding and looking up.

Dairoku: "Don't worry. I ain't going anywhere, Strawberry."

Akame: "Thank you, Dairoku."

In the Capital...

Bill: "Oho... All Eight of the Elite Squad successfully completed their missions, did they? We can't lose there. Now let's finish this up... Continue with Kurome, Akaruime, Natala and Natsu's modifications."

In the laboratory in the Empire, the girls in question, Kurome and Akaruime both sat in medical chairs, their eyes dull and lifeless, though it was clear that they were both determined. They would climb up the ranks for assassins, so that they could meet with their elders again.

>Chapter 5: The Little Sisters' First Mission<

Imperial Executing Grounds...

Kurome and Akaruime's group were strengthened by a method which was the polar opposite of the one used on Akame and Kuraime's group. Their real battles are about to begin...

In the Execution grounds that were located within the dense Capital, seven prisoners with their hands tied with thick rope behind their backs stood, with their backs pressed to a wall; four males and three females. Standing before them was the bald man himself, Bill, his hands behind his back as he stared down at them.

Bill: "You are despicable beasts that sow seeds of sorrow and threaten the peace of the Empire. You will be executed."  He lifted his left hand and made a gesture towards the seven silhouettes behind him.  "Do it."

Seven different children, who were around the age of Akame or younger, walked forwards and approached the prisoners with their respective bladed weapons in hand. Two children were easily recognized as being the younger sisters of Akame and Kuraime, with them being Kurome and Akaruime respectively. In an instant, one of the female prisoners' eyes widened from seeing Kurome draw her weapon.

Female Prisoner: "W-What!? A little girl like this..." 

However, her words were cut short, literally as the onyx-eyed girl decapitated her instantly with a single strike from her katana. The next Female Prisoner, who was positioned next to her had her eyes completely wide open as the blood from the young woman stained her face. Akaruime was the one who stood before her, her katana drawn as she was ready to execute her, before...

Younger Female Prisoner: "B-Big sis!!"  The emerald eyes of Akaruime widened in surprise upon hearing those words leave her mouth.  "N-No... Big Sis!!"

Akaruime's thoughts: "Big... S-Sis...?"

Instantly, the other prisoners fell one by one, with the second being the largest man who was taken out by one of two boys in the group, Natala. He had used his spear to slice his neck open while the other boy, Natsu fired a bullet right through another prisoner's heart. As the prisoners fell one by one, the youngest girl screamed out in horror.

Younger Female Prisoner: "No... No... How..."  She gritted her teeth and looked right at Bill.  "You monster!! How could you let children do such a thing!? Using children like dolls to protect this corrupted Empire... You're despicable!! They don't deserve to be in such a situation!!!"

Bill only looked rather tired of her rambling and looked at Akaruime, who had frozen. Her hands shook as they grasped the handle of her katana. She was hesitating, something she never thought she'd do. But it all happened the moment her target said the words... "Big Sister". It got her wondering. What if it was the other way around? What if herself and Kuraime were the ones being executed and she watched her elder sister die in such a gruesome manner?

Bill: "No.10."  The emerald-eyed girl flinched and slowly looked back at him.

Akaruime: "Y-Yes?"

Bill: "Finish her off. Or, you'll never get to see your sister again."  The moment those words left his mouth, the girl's eyes widened and multiple flashbacks of her with Kuraime filled her minds.

Akaruime: "N-No..."

Young Female Prisoner: "Manipulating her in such a manner!? You Empire Scum have no heart! I swear on my life... The Revolutionary Army will destroy this corrupted Empire, no matter the cost—"

A loud yell cuts her off as Akaruime made a swift downwards slash with her katana. Blood flew from the young prisoner's neck as her eyes widened. As her vision began to blur, she took notice of something with Akaruime...

Tears.

Young Female Prisoner: "You... didn't deserve... to be used... like this..."  She struggled to say before, going completely limp as her life faded away.

Immediately afterwards, Akaruime dropped to the ground, with her katana making a loud clang against the floor. Her face became hidden in her hands as she began to let out quiet weeps. Kurome, seeing her best friend like this, instantly dropped to her knees and hugged her in a comforting manner. Though before she could say anything, the red-headed male named Natsu kneeled down and began to pat her head, causing Akaruime to slowly look up towards him.

Natsu: "Everything will be alright. Your sister would be proud of you."

(No.11 Natsu)

Kurome: "Y-Yeah! So you don't have to cry, kay?"  Akaruime looked between the two, then took a glance at her recently killed victim before she nodded slowly.

Akaruime: "R-Right."

Remus: "Oh no!"  They turned their attention to the young girl with the long hair. It seemed as if she was having a completely different problem as she had missed her target's vital spots.

(No.32 Remus)

Gin: "You idiot! You messed up again! You have to finish it in one strike!"  the girl with her hair tied into a long pony tail lectured. Remus panicked a little but managed to finish off her target with her next strike.

(No.13 Gin)

Remus: "Good!"  She said, slightly proud of herself as she wiped some sweat from her forehead, but Bill thought otherwise.

Bill: "That wasn't 'good', you fool. I'm giving you all a collective punishment. Clean up the execution grounds."

Remus: "Eek!"

Natala/Womyn: "Yes, sir! Our sincere apologies."

With Bill leaving them along, the children began with their punishment as they began to clean up the execution grounds. First they removed the bodies, but Akaruime had found something that shook her to the core. When she was tending to the body of the young prisoner she just killed, she saw something poking out of one of her pockets. It was a photo... of her and the older woman that Kurome kill, who she referred to as 'big sister'. Even after all that happened, Akaruime couldn't help but hold onto the picture, more as a reminder of what her goal is... But even with that goal driving her forwards, what just happened will continued to haunt her.

Remus: "I'm sorry, everyone! It's all my fault! I'm so sorry!"

Gin: "Seriously, you're such a useless dimwit! Just how many times are you going to mess up!?"

Natsu: "Don't put so much pressure on her, Gin. She did pretty good in my opinion."  He said, calmly which seemed to irritate Gin a little.

Gin: "You're only saying that cause she's a 'cute girl', tch."

Natsu: "You're cute too, so what's the issue?"  He retorted nonchalantly, which caught Gin off guard as her eyes widened a bit.

Gin: "Geh!"

Womyn: "You shouldn't have any problems if you aim for the Vital spots..."

(No.14 Womyn)

Natala: "Maybe a part of you is hesitating."  He theorized, to which Akaruime glanced down a bit, clenching her fists.

(No.12 Natala)

Kurome: "If that's true, then you need to get used to this as soon as possible."  She said, biting into a bar-like snack she had. Then she noticed Akaruime, who was the only one who haven't spoke. She moved over to her with a smile and offered one of her snacks to her.  "Hey, cheer up!" 

Akaruime was a bit surprised by this but ended up smiling a bit and taking it with a nod.

Akaruime: "Right."

Natala: "But, Kurome, you and Akaruime were able to do it on your first tries, right? That's amazing."

Womyn: "I had to stab four times on my first try."

Akaruime: "I wouldn't say it was really amazing..."  She glanced off.  "It felt more like luck than anything."

Kurome: "Yeah... I was barely conscious of what I was doing."  She remembered the time Bill had forced her to kill this man. The young Kurome held a Katana that was almost taller than her, tears in her eyes as she looked at the man she was supposed to kill before her. A simple push from Bill caused her to slightly stumble forwards, but with a squeak she had successfully cut the man down in one single slice. While Bill was impressed and clapping, Kurome was mortified.  "I vomited all night after that...

Akaruime: "Yeah... same here. I even couldn't sleep for a couple of nights."

Natala: "Me too. I got used to it after a few days, though. What about you, Natsj?"  He and the three girls looked towards him, only to see that Gin was in the middle of chewing into him. However, he seemed completely calm about it and only had a hand out, pressed against her face, which prevented her wild swinging from hitting him.

Natsu: "Huh? Well it was kinda natural to me. I grew up in a Tribe that had to kill to defend themselves. So, I was already used to taking live, you know?"  He said, as if he was completely unfazed by it. Natala, Womyn and Remus however all collectively sweat drop.  "Though man, I tell you some of the girls I was forced to kill were real cute too... Such a waste..."

Natala: "How you manage to say that in a complete nonchalant manner still escapes me..."

Womyn: "Anyways, I really want to try a real mission. I'm sick of just killing prisoners."

Remus: "I heard we're going to be on a real mission soon... I'm so nervous!"

Gin: "You should see it as an opportunity! We need to produce results as soon as possible and raise our kill ranks so we can catch up to the Elite... Wait... Why don't they just call them 'The Elite Eight'?"

Natsu: "In all fairness, 'The Elite Eight' sounds lame compared to 'The Elite Seven'"  Gin tried to argue but in reality, she couldn't because he wasn't wrong.

Womyn: "The Elite... the group that's receiving special training separately?"

Remus: "They're so amazing! They even get special treatment!"

Kurome: "A real mission..."  She muttered to herself as she proceeded to fill up a bucket with water, though a slight reflection of Akame's image appeared in it and even Kuraime's face appeared too. Kurome took a glance at Akaruime before looking into the sky.  "We might be able to see them again..."

Inside the Laboratory...

???: "Here's the stylish poison you wanted. Just pour it into the wells and you're good to go."

Bill: "Well done. How long will the effect last?"  He questioned the man before him, who was a scientist with a crazed expression and particularly special purple cloves on.  This man was named Stylish...

Yes that's his name...

Stylish: "They'll be covered with sores all over their bodies and be in pain for at least three days. After that, they'll be completely cured, but while under the effect, it'll look exactly like Rubeola."  The bald man grinned.

Bill: "That's perfect, Doctor. We'll be able to weed out the spies with this. They always leave a village at the first sight of an epidemic."  The doctor leaned over the small desk, resting his chin in his right palm.

Stylish: "Like always, for the price for this is Ten Male prisoners. Don't give me any women, even if Hell freezes over."

Bill: "Of course. I'll make the arrangements right away. Now, it's our turn... for our first mission...!"

>Time Skip<

Night has fallen upon the Empire and the Group of Terror were assigned to their first official mission. As they stood in a plains near the Empire Capital, Natala began to go over the mission objective for a final time.

Natala: "Listen up. We're going to go over the mission one last time."

Womyn: "Yes sir! Luck favors the prepared, right?"

Akaruime: "I believe so... W-Wait, why are you the boss??"  She instantly looked at Natala, who scratched the back of his head and coughed before continuing, which annoyed the emerald-eyed girl.

Natala: "O-Our targets are the foreign spies who are hiding in the villages near the capital. The other teams should have weeded them out and sent them our way. Our duty is to kill whoever passes by us."

Remus: "Ye... Yeah, got it! We can do it!"

Gin: "It's so simple that we don't really need a second review! Easy peasy!"

Natala: *smiles* "Gin, your hands are shaking."  It was indeed true. The confident Gin's arms were trembling quite a bit, but she immediately grabbed onto her right arm to calm herself down.

Gin: "Hmph! I'm just trembling with excitement, dimwit! Huh?"  She noticed that the only other male of the team, Natsu was staring at her, his eyes trailing up and down her before landing on a specific area that happened to make a *boing* sound from her sudden movements. His gaze alone was to entice a faint blush on her face as she scratched the back of her head.  "W-What is it..?"

Natsu: "Mm... That was a nice bounce..."

Gin: "H-Huh...?"

Natsu: "Mhm! Thanks for the treat!"  He gave a thumbs up with a grin as the female was just flabbergasted.

(A/N: "Trinity Seven reference!")

Gin: *flustered* "E-Eh!? What treat are you talking about, you perv!?"  She squeaked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest while Natala only sweat dropped and laughed nervously.

Natala: "It's alright. We just have to do as we've always done."

Kurome: "We've been doing all kinds of training for this precise moment."

Womyn: "That's right! It's exactly as Kurome said."

Remus: "I heard the death rate for the first mission is high, but... everyone, don't die!"

Akaruime: "I couldn't have said it any better. Let's do our best, everyone. Let's all survive and go back together."  A collective nod came from everyone before the mission officially started. They didn't have to wait for long however as footsteps in the distance could be heard approaching the group. Confirmed by Kurome, their targets had arrived.

Kurome: "They're here...!"

Womyn: "Everyone, take your drugs!"  Each member collectively took a single special pill from their supply, which would strengthen them. Afterwards, they made themselves known by dashing out from around the cover they were behind.

Natala: "Let's do this. No one is going to get past us alive!"

The Revolutionary Spies immediately spotted them, and immediately some panicked from seeing the weapons in their hands drawn.

Revolutionist 1: "Kids again!? What the hell is going on?"

Revolutionist 2: You already know that we can't take them lightly! We have to kill them!" 

However, he was instantly silenced as Natala made the first strike, thrusting his spear right through his heart. Kurome and Akaruime took glances towards each other and nodded as they both dashed together, pointing their blades forwards as they slashed through a series of the spies, causing their numbers to dwindle quickly. It wasn't over however as Natsu, while dual wielding his pistols, began to fire a volley of bullets, thinning the herd by quite a bit. Though, he noticed one of them rushing Kurome from her blind spot with full intent to kill. Before he could land his strike on her however, his brains were blown out by a shot from Natsu, the red-head grinning as he blew the smoke from his pistol's barrel.

Natsu: "I got your back."  He winked.

However immediately after, he heard footsteps rushing him from behind. Before he could react, Kurome already did and made a much quicker dash to him and thrusts her katana into the spy's chest. With the spy falling over dead and Natsu letting out a whistle, Kurome looked at him.

Kurome: "Pay more attention, Natsu."

Natsu: "Hai, Hai~"  He said, waving his arms as he casually aimed to Kurome's left and shot an incoming Revolutionists.  "But I could say the same to you."  He fired back. Kurome this time, couldn't help but smile a bit from his response.

Meanwhile, as Gin, Womyn and Remus took down some more of the Revolutionists, the ones that were still alive became mortified that such young children could display such incredible feats of strength.

Revolutionist 3: "Wha...What's up with these kids...? They... They're too strong..."

His words were cut short however by Remus who had rushed up to him and cut him down instantly. She sighed in relief, resulting in her guard being let down.

Remus: "We can do this, we can do this! We're all going to survive this togeth—"  However, a sharp pain in her back cut her off as a man had rushed her from behind and jammed his sword right through her back, causing her eyes to widen. But soon after, another came from the side and rammed his sword right into her side.  "Wha...?"

Akaruime: "Rem!!"  She yelled, making a mad dash towards the two men and instantly decapitating them before they could even react. She then took a glance at the young girl who had fallen over and become limp, with only a cough escaping her.

Meanwhile, Womyn faced the remaining survivor with the intent to end this once and for all... but she had heavily underestimated this foe.

Revolutionist 4: "You fucking brats! I can already see through your moves! Your attacks are too rigid and repetitive!" 

He yelled, with him easily countering each of Womyn's attacks which have gotten extremely predictable since she failed to remain unpredictable and underestimated her opponent. Unfortunately for her, she was met with a swift and gruesome end by being completely sliced down the center with his axe.

Natala: "Womyn!!"  He yelled for his teammate, but was unaware of an unknown spy sneaking up behind him. He was put down however by Gin, who slashed the man's hand to make his attack miss. Immediately after, a bullet went right through his skull from Natsu, ending his life for good.

Gin: "Don't lose focus, dimwit! Do you want that to happen to you, too!?"  She berated, however they watched as Kurome charged the man that had just killed her friend, with pure hatred burning in her eyes.

Kurome: "How dare you do that to Womyn!?"

Revolutionist 4: "You're gonna be split in half, too!" 

He attempted to slice her in half like he did to Womyn, but Kurome instantly had dodged the attack, leaving the man completely open. With zero hesitation, she quickly ended his life right then and there by separating his head from his body.

The remaining five members stood in the center of the blooded battlefield, a dreadful silence over them as they looked at the casualties. Womyn, the poor girl was sliced in half with all of her inner organs spilling while Remus lied in a pool of her own blood. The mission was a success... but at what cost?

Kurome: "Womyn... Remus..."  However, faint groaning caught their attention. Remus was still breathing.

Akaruime: "Remus!!"

Natala: "Hey! She's still breathing!"

Remus: "I... I was the one that said... don't... die..." 

She coughed, but her heart beat, despite being slightly weak from the loss of blood, was still going strong. It looked like hope for her. Remus was gonna survive her first mission. Even though they lost one, the fact she survived, was a victory in of itself...

However, Bill didn't think the same thing. When they had returned, Bill was furious and disappointed with them. After getting the medics to take the injured Remus away, he banished the five uninjured children to a locked room, without their medication.

Bill: "I'm going to say this again. Even if the target was strong, only you, Group A, had any casualties. Repay your dead comrade by wallowing in your humiliation. You won't receive your medication today, either. Continue reflecting on your failures."  And with that, he left them in the darkness, all alone. The only sounds were the heavy breathing of them suffering from them not taking their medications.

Natala: "Gin... Kurome... Akaruime... Natsu, are you alright?"

Kurome: "...Yeah..."

Natsu: "Just dandy..."  He gave up a weak 'okay' sign, with a slight laugh but he ended up coughing in the end.

Gin: "Dimwit..."  She muttered weakly from Natsu's response before replying to Natala.  "And stop worrying about others, creeper..."

Akaruime: "I-I'm... Fine... It was expected... This wasn't a victory to be... proud of..."

Natala: "...You're all so strong..."

Natsu: "Well... There's no point on getting worked up over it..."  Natala and Gin glanced at him, to see him raising his head up to look at the ceiling.  "If we let this bring down our mood... we'll never succeed at anything..."

Natala: "R-Right..."

Gin: "H-Hmph... Dimwit..."

Natsu: "You keep calling me that... Are you into me? If so, I'll promise I'll take good care of—"

Gin: "N-No, I'm not you Dimwit!"

Natala: "Haha... You guys..."

Little did any of them know however, Kurome and Akaruime were both crying to themselves, with them constantly being filled with the thoughts of being reunited with their respective sisters.

Meanwhile, Bill was approaching the infirmary that Remus was being kept in, where he met a nurse who was standing outside of the door.

Bill: "How is No.32?"

Nurse: "Her damage is very severe. Even if she were to live, her days as an assassin are over."

Bill: "I see. Bringing back the wounded is always a wasted effort. I'll have to educate them on that point next time."  He said before he entered the room. Hearing the door open, Remus immediately shot up with fear.

Remus: "Oh... I-I apologize for my failures during the mission... Once I've recovered..."  Bill cuts her off however.

Bill: "No, you're no longer needed."  Instantly, he took out a syringe and without hesitation, injected it into the girl's neck.  "Rest well."

Remus: "Huh...?"  In an instant, the young girl's body began to spazz out crazily as her face slowly warped into an emotionless smile. Her one laughter, which had become completely soulless began to fill the room as she was being filled with memories of her own family.

Bill: "However, you did put your life on the line for the Empire. I'll at least send you off in peace."  He said as her body became completely limp and her laughter stopped. Remus was gone now... and she was reunited with her family.  "Get rid of her. We'll begin the preparations for the next mission. They have to keep fighting and earning more experience. This Empire has too many smoldering sparks!"

With a final evil grin, he left the room, leaving the doctors to tend to the deceased Remus... The Darkness of the Empire runs incredibly deep...
________________________________________

Next Chapter: Challenge! Kill the Viceroy