It seemed like fate for these two to meet on the battlefield. Hinata, or Hinowa as she's called now, having adopted her mother's name, and Yomihime. 

Unknown to the two girls, they were connected by some sort of string. Though, it was inevitable that they'd meet on the battlefield, anyway. Hinowa had always planned to enlist in the military in order to make her mother's name be renowned. As for Yomihime, she figured that fighting would eventually give her the answers as to where her missing family was. However, they don't realize that they are bound by other strings.-

A red aura had flared around Yomihime's Meihou. Rushing toward Hinowa, with a thrusting motion of her blade, she prepped for the kill.

"So you and your mother can have something to discuss in the Underworld, I will tell you my name. I am Yomihime."

She seemed to have rippled through the air at unnatural speeds. But Hinowa was able to match with it, or rather, reacting quickly as she parried the attack with her own sword. A loud clang echoed throughout the air as sparks were flung off the two blades grinding against each other. Torrents of wind having picked up due to the powerful strikes, what seemed like a blue aura resembling justice emanating off of Hinowa with that blood red aura coming off of Yomihime for a dark and sinister contrast of evil.

"I'm Hinowa!" The girl seethed, glaring at the dark-haired woman. "Yomihime! I will defeat you!"

Yomihime couldn't but furrow her brow. 'Your aura... It's just like...'

--: 7 | Bound By Fate :--

Near Maruge's war camp, Hisame was pretty much holding the defensive line by himself. Three Tenrou soldiers had run up to him, thinking that they had the upper hand because they had more members. However, with a quick draw of his blade, Hisame had eliminated them with ease.

Maruge had crept up behind one of his lieutenants. "D-Did that boy drive them away all on his own!?"

"Yes!" The soldier responded. 'I can smell that Lord Maruge wet his pants...'

A Tenrou soldier gritted his teeth, getting nervous and skeptical about engaging the young boy, seeing as his comrades had been eliminated without a problem whatsoever. Nonetheless, he and a few others charged at Hisame to end him. But just like before with the others, they were all cut down effortlessly, Hisame quickly drawing his katana out from his saya and dashing forward with such speed, almost like it was in the blink of an eye.

Seconds later, blood was all over the dirt ground with bodies bisected in half, intestines and other body parts littering the floor. Maruge and the other Soukai soldiers had looked at the spectacle with shock.

'Such terrifying speed to his attacks...' Kahei thought, the commander of the Foot Soldiers that worked under Maruge. 'He's so young and yet so strong... He's going to go places! Better get on his good side!'

"W-Well done...!" Maruge yelled ecstatically, scampering down the slope down to Hisame. "You did a fine job, boy! What's your name!?"

Hisame nodded with a stoic expression. "Hisame. Hisame from the village of Yaenami."

Maruge was enthusiastic, "Hisame! Keep that up to protect me from all manner of fear and attack with all your body and soul! It will be a momentous undertaking!"

"Yes, sir," Hisame said. "But first... I believe you ought to get on a fresh pair of underpants."

The cowardly commander gasped sharply, almost as if arrows had struck and pierced his heart. Kahei sighed and facepalmed.

'Such a shame. He has no sense of timing.'

---

Back on the front of where Hinowa and the others were, Yomihime kept up her onslaught of powerful strikes. Much to her surprise, however, Hinowa was able to keep up, parrying strike after strike, slash after slash, thrust after thrust. In fact, Yomihime was internally impressed.

But, parrying could only get Hinowa so far. She knew she'd have to strike back some how, and that was to catch her off guard. So, after parrying her strike, Hinowa swung horizontally, attempting to slash the dark-haired woman in half. But this was a move that was easy to be predicted, Yomihime scoffing as she ducked and dodging the attack, retaliating as she swiped her Meihou up. Hinowa gasped and grunted, being pushed back as she fell onto her knees, leaning onto her sword for support. The yellow-eyed woman had slashed her upper arm, landing the first hit in during their duel. Hinowa panted heavily, staring up at the woman with hate whilst Yomihime looked down on her with an expression that seemed indifferent.

However, she simply raised her sword above her head. "You're still only a bud. The next strike will be the end," Yomihime voiced emotionlessly.

"Yomihime!"

'I will cut her down.'

Preparing to bring down her blade to end Hinowa's life, Yomihime let out a small gasp. Whipping herself around, she slashes at the air, cutting down a zooming arrow flying toward her. However, Hinowa saw this as her chance for an opening, shooting onto her feet, and with a war cry, she lunges forward and attacks. Yomihime grits her teeth, turning back around and meeting the girl's attack and blocking her strike. The arrow had come from Kumehachi, making the declaration of "We won't let you hurt our Hinowa."

The two girls continued to fight, Hinowa continuing to swing and strike with all her might. But Yomihime parried all of them effortlessly, showing no sign of fatigue unlike Hinowa herself, knowing how much stamina and energy she was draining. Just from meeting and parrying each strike from the dark-haired girl, Hinowa could tell how much of a strong opponent she was. Stronger than any other Freak, pirate, or bandit she's ever faced. Parrying another strike, Hinowa's blade was deflected, clicking her tongue as she was now vulnerable. Once again, Yomihime prepares to thrust her blade to end the red-haired girl's life, only for her to turn around and deflect and knock away a katana heading toward her. The blade clatters onto the ground, both women having turned temporarily to see a weakened Tobari, panting as she had used as much strength as she could to fling her sword over.

"This is... 25th form--Super Tobari Throw."

Internally, Hinowa steeled herself, gripping her blade tightly, 'Kumehachi. Tobari. Thank you.'

Rushing forward again, she swung her sword. Yomihime had raised her katana up, Hinowa's blade striking hear the Meihou's handguard. The dark-haired girl hummed lowly, noticing a slight surge in strength in the red-haired girl's attack. Not only that...

'Hinowa... Has no fear. And... She's getting stronger with every stroke of her sword!'

As the two continued to clash, the clanging of rhythmic blades echoing throughout the battlefield, Suzumaru began to rush over.

"Hinowa! I'll back you up!" He said, thrusting his spear forward.

'He's a sharp one too,' Yomihime gasped slightly, narrowly dodging his thrust.

Having dodged just in time, Suzumaru only darts past the girl. He skids to a halt, clicking his tongue at the fact that he wasn't able to get his strike in. However, both himself and Hinowa charged in simultaneously, hoping to overwhelm her.

Yomihime could admit. These kids were certainly strong. Should they be under the right tutelage, it is fairly certain that they will go great lengths and distances. But... She was the obstacle that stood in their way, declaring herself as the harbinger for the Underworld to send unfortunate souls there. If only they were on the same side, perhaps she'd see them grow. It's such a pity that such young ones had to perish, is what she thought, taking in a deep breath. Expending out all that air, she yelled to the top of her lungs and slashed horizontally, this powerful sweeping move knocking the two young warriors off their feet and onto the ground. They had raised their weapons up to block it, but underestimated the strength of the slash, Suzumaru's spear having been sliced in two and Hinowa's blade being shattered into numerous shards, only being left with a bit of a broken blade and the handle.

Hinowa coughed, dust having picked up due to her force of impact onto the dirt as some had entered through her mouth and down her windpipe. She opened up one eye, her eye narrowing as she sees the dark-haired woman standing over her. As usual, her face emotionless, holding onto her Meihou tightly as she simply, and slowly walked up to the downed young warrior.

"Know this," Yomihime began, "there are some walls that cannot be scaled by sheer will alone."

She slowly brought her blade above her head to launch a finishing blow. However, something seemed to be rushing through the trees at high speed. Hinowa gritted her teeth, closing her eyes as she braced for the cold blackened steel to penetrate her flesh and cut through her to kill her. 

Instead, she felt nothing. A loud clang echoed through the air as she opened her eyes and gasped. Flowing raven black hair had entered her vision, a dark black sailor uniform with a red tie, along with red leather arm guards and a red side skirt that was over the woman's black pleated skirt. Armed with what seemed to be a normal katana, what gave away to complete the visage of this woman was the familiar faded red markings all over her skin.

"Akame...!" Hinowa says in shock, looking up at her with wide eyes.

Yomihime's eyes widened. '...Akame...?'

---

Elsewhere, deep in the forest, the sound of the whooshing wind rustled the green leaves, some of them being taken off the delicate branches they were resting on. Subtle sparks being etched off of blades clashing one another.

Akira gripped onto the handle of his nodachi, letting out a roar as he rushed forward. Twisting himself in the air, he goes for multiple slashes aimed toward the cloaked figure in front of him. However, the cloaked figure had stood their ground, defending themselves against the attacks of the former assassin before shoving him off with a push. Flipping backward and landing on the dirt ground with a slight thud of his boots, Akira stomps his foot on the ground as a wave of ice erupts in front of him. The ringing noise of the ice walls scraping against each other, like jagged teeth being ruptured up from the earth as the stab and pierce.

Though, this spectacle only lasted for a second as the cloaked figure had swung horizontally, slashing the air and sending out a sort of ephemeral wave, which was projected from their blade. Akira grunted, ducking and tumbling toward the ground as this spectral wave of sorts had cut through the ice spikes like they were nothing. Spinning his blade as it was engulfed in flames, the cloaked figure reverted his sword back to the bow he was previously using, drawing the ethereal bowstring back as an ominous green arrow had appeared. The figure let go, the arrow looking like it was a streak of light as it traveled in a straight line. Akira shifted his body and flipped out of the way, the arrow just missing his hair as it cut a few strands off, puncturing and tearing the cape of the cloak right off, now left with a tattered shawl and his hood having fallen to the dirt floor.

Akira sighed, steeling himself once more. "I'll ask again. Who the hell are you?"

The figure was quiet for a bit, "...I am nothing more than Death's Servant. He has come to collect his repayment."

"Death, huh?" Akira scoffed. "Pretty sure I've already paid my price."

"Hmph." The figure crouched down, "No... Your soul is mine!"

"Come and take it," Akira said whilst pointing his nodachi at him, the blackened steel gleaming in the light.

The mere comment was enough for the cloaked figure to be enraged. Dashing off the dirt quickly, he sped toward the former Ice Cold Reaper. Akira took a deep breath, bringing his nodachi blade behind him as he held onto the handle tightly. He wasn't sure what type of powers his mother's Meihou holds, aside from the fact that his cousin had told him that it was made from the remnants of an ice monster. Well, there was only one way to test it out.

The cloaked figure was expecting for the former reaper to slash the air, considering that was the position the icy blue-eyed man was in. So he let his bow dispel back into flames, having it morph back into his sword as he charged forward. However, Akira simply smirked, unleashing his nodachi blade from behind him and raising it above over his head. Slamming the tip into the ground, the area around it turned into ice. Before long, an explosion of ice occurred and it was as if a sea of ice shards and spikes had erupted from the ground, running toward the cloaked figure at an extremely fast pace. Because of this, he was forced to be airborne, suspending himself from the air as he jumped to avoid the spiked attacks. Akira then sought to meet the cloaked figure above, stomping his foot to aid in his mobility as a pillar of ice appears below him, thrusting him up into the air. Appearing right in front of him, unexpectedly, Akira slashes at him, but was easily blocked by the cloaked figure who responded back with a punch to his face. He lets out an "oof," struck by the attack before using his other hand to return the favor. The figure's head reeled back, taken aback by the force Akira had used, the black-haired man following up with a double kick to his torso and then a single kick to his stomach area. 

He coughed, the unknown assailant being knocked down to the ground. Crashing into the dirt ground with a loud impact, creating a crater underneath them, the cloaked man struggled to get up. However, once he had recovered, he was met with a foot to his face, Akira having rocketed himself down quickly and followed up with a kick, conjuring an ice dagger in his hand and stabbing it into the figure's side. The cloaked figure was sent tumbling to the ground, Akira rolling onto his shoulder before he quickly recovered and drew his nodachi from his saya again. The mysterious attacker had then stopped himself by planting his hand into the dirt, creating some sort of trail as he slowly comes to a halt. With a low growl, he shot up, taking the dagger out of his side before rushing forward. The black-haired man, however, kept calm, knowing that this mysterious person was attacking only out of pure rage.

Akira was quite aware of his actions of what he had done during the era of the war in the Empire. Especially, during the time when he was still under the influence of his amnesia. So, he wasn't surprised if there were anybody out there that would want his head. And if someone were to come after him, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back, even if he did dislike fighting now. After all, his sole reason for fighting is to protect his family. To him, that's all that mattered. 

In his eyes right now, this figure, this unknown assailant standing in front of him was a threat. A threat to himself, and a potential threat to his family.

Meeting the unknown assailant head on, he clashes blades with them. Parry strike after strike, shifting his body to the left and right to dodge, jumping and flipping over him to avoid strikes, the battle seemed endless. It was only after what seemed like an hour or so that the skirmish was finally getting close to it's end. When the unknown man charged in one last time, Akira dodged the attack by swerving behind him, twisting his nodachi blade and holding it in a reverse grip before thrusting it behind him. The cloaked figure grunted in pain, Akira removing his blade and quickly turning around, flicking it quickly as the blood on the blade was flung onto the ground. He raised his blade above his head as he went to strike it down so he can kill him... Until he stopped.

Conflicting thoughts had temporarily flashed through his mind. He told himself that he wouldn't return back to the man he was once before, despite having just killed those Soukai soldiers earlier. It seemed that his old habits hadn't left him, or rather, they just die hard. However, he pushed away the resolve to kill the man and walked up to him, roughly grabbing him and putting the edge of his blade up to his neck.

"Who sent you? Who put you up to this?"

The figure said nothing.

"Answer me! Or, I'll soak this dirt with your blood!" He pushed his blade up against the man's neck to emphasize it.

However, he was expecting blood to run out from the wound, only to instead be met with this black mist coming out. Looking up, Akira only saw a black void under the hood.

"...It seems my master has said that your payment shall be put at a later date. Your death has been postponed, sinner."

Akira looked confused. "What...?"

"Pray that I don't find your family before you do. After all... We're all bound by fate."

Disappearing into black mist, he vanished out of thin air. The former Ice Cold Reaper backed up slightly, eyes wide as he felt his hands shaking. With heavy thoughts on his mind, he sheathed his blade and turned around, heading back to the rendezvous where the camp was.