Third P.O.V.

(Y/N) grimaced at the scenery, as Leone, Tatsumi, and her stood on the rooftop of a brothel in the red-light district, keeping an eye on the bystanders and targets. She had never liked places like this; where the pipe smoke is so dense it billows in fog, the air thick with the smell of liquor and a lack of hygiene.

"So this is the Imperial Capital's red-light district? I'm kind of nervous." Tatsumi mused, slightly hunched over to look ahead.

Leone sighed and smiled a bit fondly, teasing him "That blunt honesty of yours is cute."

(Y/N) groaned childishly, wishing she was back home hunting. She kept an eye on the target but avoided everything else, too disgusted by the setting. "Let's just get this done quickly please."

The three tensed, spotting the woman signaling them with a clink of her pipe.

"Well then, time to get working and get money to pay off my debt!" Leone smirked dangerously, as her Imperial Arms reacted to her command, her ears and tail bursting out and her short hair growing like vines down to her waist. She clenched her furry paws, smirking excitedly. "Great, I'm all fired up now! I'm itching for action when I'm like this."

Tatsumi gaped in awe and clapped. "Oh!~"

(Y/N) giggled at him, amused by his reactions. He acts like a child.
'You've got no room to talk'
What is that supposed to mean?!

"Come on. Let's sneak in and kill the targets." Leone urged, as she picked up a confused Tatsumi bridal style. "(Y/N), follow."

She grinned and nodded, doing a small salute. "Oki!"

"W-what?"

(Y/N) got ready to follow the transformed Leone, and Blue pulsed with blue light. Leone crouched down and launched into the air, landing on a rooftop. She reacted instantly and accelerated her own time, running quickly beside them in a flurry of movement, high pitched gleeful laughter coming out of my mouth as Tatsumi freaked out.

"Hey! W-wait!"

"AaAaAaaaAaaaA!"

"If you don't close your mouth you'll catch a bug Tatsumi."

With a few more jumps as they ran on the rooftops, they arrived to their destination, moving in a flurry out of the guards' sight. They silently entered through a window and dropped in the space between the rooftop and ceiling, similar to an attic. It was dark, but they could distinguish each other from the shadows.

"Phew, we arrived!" Leone said grinning widely, wiping the inexistent sweat off her brow as she dropped Tatsumi.

The poor boy sank to his knees, winded and dizzy. "Does that even count as sneaking in?"

(Y/N) giggled, patting his back. "Just try not to throw up."

Leone chuckled and then signaled them closer, as she raised what looked like a trapdoor, a tile of the ceiling of a room below us. "Check it out."

Tatsumi and (Y/N) leaned over, shoulders touching slightly. Below them, dozens of women lay on the floor, some laughing, others squirming. All of them dressed in revealing attires, most with half of it down. Purple smoke billowed around them, coming from some sort of diffuser in the center of the room. (Y/N) grimaced, as Tatsumi and her quickly covered their noses and mouths.

They are drugged.
'It seems so'

"Hey look at them go."

(Y/N)'s eyes flitted to two men that entered the room, wearing suits, one wearing an eyepatch on his right eye.

"I'll give you more if you keep my fingers greased." Eyepatch promised to the girls, as they all answered in unison with a happy yes.

One in particular shook at their feet, laughing quietly with dull eyes.

"Oi Boss, look at this one."
"Yeah, I'm done with her. She smells like fish and her brain's fried."

(Y/N) pursed her lips, a hand flying to Draek's pommel. They are keeping them drugged, high, out of their mind, defenseless. Why again did I have to come do this?
'Calm down (Y/N). Just wait.'

"Dispose of her, find a new replacement."

The girl raised her hand, pulling herself up and grabbing at his suit. "More, give me more..!"

"Here!" The short man pulled back his fist and punched her, knocking her out. "Let's try the women in the slums again."

Leone's eyes slitted and a silent growl grew in her throat. While (Y/N)'s hands itched to grab his neck and cut it through, but kept her mouth shut and her hand clutching Draek, which she unconsciously morphed into a gun, ready to shoot.

"Yeah! Those losers will do anything for money."

Leone closed the hatch, and (Y/N) released the air she was holding with a sigh.

"They're just as horrible as the client claimed. They're unforgivable." Tatsumi fumed, brows furrowed.

"The girl he just punched, is an acquaintance of mine from the slums." Leone said, eyes dark. She straightened up, bumping her fists. "They piss me off! Let's wipe out our targets right now!"

They nodded and got ready, positioning themselves on top of the room the two men had scampered off to, ready to drop down. A slightly crazy grin took place in (Y/N)'s face, as her heart beat with excitement, ready to give out punishment.

"Boss isn't it time we widened the drug trafficking route?"
"I suppose so. I'll go see what Mr. Chiburu has to say."

At Leone's signal, they broke the ceiling and jumped down, into the room.

"The only place you are going is hell!"

The short man freaked out, gasping and pointing at them. "I-intruders! Kill them!"

Guards in suits ran towards the trio, ready to knock them out. Of course, it was futile. Tatsumi's sword danced across their bodies, and (Y/N) shot at them repeatedly in the head, aim pure and sure. Leone smirked, as the rest's apprehension grew.

"Our sights are set on this entire trafficking ring. You're guilty too. I'm gonna take you all down!"

"Kill her!"

Leone punched and kicked at the men, flinging them into the walls effortlessly.

"D-don't mess with me! I'll not be killed so easily!" The short man yelled, taking out a gun with shaky hands. But Tatsumi appeared before him quickly, crouching under his aim.
"Ask Emma to go easy on you in hell!" He exclaimed. His sword cut smoothly through the man, cutting him in two.

(Y/N) grinned and cheered. "Woohoo! Go rookie!" She surveyed the room and sheathed Draek, morphing it back into a sword.
Leone's paw grabbed the neck of the remaining guy with the eyepatch, lifting him up.

"What do you want? Money? Drugs? I'll give you anything! Please let me go!"

"I don't need that crap. All I want is your life." Leone replied, keeping her gaze down as she clenched.

"W-who the hell are you?" The man rasped clawing at her paw.

Leone smirked, pulling her fist back. "Losers! That's why we are perfect for cleaning the world's gutters." She declared, punching the man's ribs and sending him flying into the biombo.

(Y/N) grinned, skipping over and poking him. When the man gave no reaction she laughed. Definitely dead. Leone's punch crushed his organs and ribs. "Dead! Let's go home already! It stinks!"

~~~~~><><><~~~~~

"Hey... What will happen to the girls they messed up?"

"That doesn't fall under our jurisdiction."

Tatsumi frowned, biting his lip. "But..."

(Y/N) shrugged with a small smile, as she skipped her way along the path. "It's the way it is, but you're right."

Leone sighed, looking at them, and then away with a faint blush on her cheeks. "There is a retired doc in the slums, he still knows his stuff. I'll fill him on what happened." She said, raising her arms and leaning her head back on them. "He loves young women, so I bet he'd be eager to help."

Tatsumi smiled and snickered. "Sis! You act all tough but you are a softy at heart."

(Y/N) giggled as she teasingly tugged Leone's cape. "Well duh! She is literally a cat; tough on the outside, scratches you, but actually a softy!"

Tatsumi laughed outloud as Leone rolled her eyes with a blush and scratched the back of her neck in embarassment. "I'm only helping because I knew one of the girls!"

"I don't care why you're helping. As long as it gives them a  tiny ray of hope, that's all that matters." Tatsumi said with a bright smile, as he walked.

(Y/N) looked at him and blushed slightly. He's nice. That's... new. Most men I know aren't nice, with the obvious exception of Bulat.
She coughed a little bit and ignored Leone's eyes that were staring right at her face, coughing more and covering it with a laugh, skipping ahead.

The street lamps lit up the park they were walking through in a cool toned light, moon light raining down on them and bathing all of them in silver. (Y/N) thought decidedly that she liked this scenery, much better than the Red Light District.

Leone laughed a little, "You know Tatsumi, I've thought so for a while but your face is so cute." She whispered in his ear teasingly, making poor Tatsumi stammer and scramble away as Leone teased him relentlessly.
"W-w-w-what!"

"I've marked you now! You're mine when you grow up to be a stud!" Leone exclaimed teasingly, snickering.

(Y/N) giggled along, blush fading a bit as she watched her friend tease Tatsumi. Leone winked at her and sighed, looking away with a smile. "I wonder how the other group is doing."

(Y/N) looked up at the bright moon and smiled.
"I'm sure they're doing fine, after all it's Mine and Sheele!"

~~~><><><><~~~

The pitter patter of the rain was loud, but to (Y/N) nothing was louder than the ringing in her ears and thumping of her heart.

The seven members had quietened and stilled, frozen at the sight of Mine returning to headquarters.

Alone.

Mine shrunk at the looks and clenched her bleeding arm, as the blood dripped down her fingers and onto the mud.

(Y/N) covered her mouth, and stumbled back, a broken cry in her throat. Her friend was dead. One of her sisters was dead, a member of her family.

Akame's eyes widened and then she looked down sadly, while Leone just seemed to freeze and blank out in rage. Bulat and Lubbock gritted their teeth tightly and closed their eyes as the raindrops fell on their faces. Tatsumi gaped, jaw dropped in shock and horror. His breath hitched and then he walked towards her and shook her shoulders.

"W-who killed her Mine!"

"Tell me Mine! Oi!"

(Y/N) couldn't look at them and sank into a crouch, hiding her face in her arms. It's happening again. I'm gonna start losing everybody..
'Hey hey hey it's okay, it'll be okay (Y/N)'.
Blue Void pulsed with warmth in an attempt to comfort her, but there's not much a necklace can do.

Najenda who had only lowered her head, looked at him with furrowed brows and spoke, "Wait Tatsumi. What will you do when you know?"

Tatsumi looked back at their captain with a snarl, a furious scowl on his face. "Isn't it obvious?! I'm going to avenge her!" He yelled furious.

"Stop. If you rush in blindly, you'll only add to the body count." Najenda scolded sternly.

Tatsumi turned around to face them all in a fury, waving his arms around. "They just killed one of us dammit! I refuse to quietly sit on my ass-!"

Bulat suddenly walked up to him, fed up and in pain and punched Tatsumi, effectively shutting him up and sending him flying. He yelled loudly, "That's no way to act Tatsumi! Pull yourself together!"

Tatsumi could only stare at Bulat in shock, sitting up on the ground.

"We warned you we could die at any time. Didn't you accept that when you joined?!" Bulat yelled at him, fists clenched.

Tatsumi flinched and closed his eyes in frustration, holding back the tears.
Mine stayed where she was, crying furiously and shaking as she clenched her wounded arm tightly.
(Y/N) stayed crouched, feeling like a piece of heart had just been turned to dust, she could only stay quiet and grit her teeth together. This... can't be happening. How could someone defeat Sheele with her scissors? That's... that's bullshit. It...

Najenda noticed (Y/N)'s state and caressed her hair softly, firmly, in an attempt to reassure her somehow. She furrowed her brows deeply, frowning. "Sheele's death was by no means in vain. This has made the Empire realize they must fight Imperial Arms with Imperial Arms! We will face more Imperial Arms users in the future. But this will also provide us more chances to collect them!"

(Y/N) tried to breath deeply, as Blue Void tried to comfort her with warmth and words. She breathed deeply, trying to still her heart and raised her head slightly, meeting everyone's gazes. Being part of Night Raid... This. I chose this. I knew there could be.. losses. But I  was arrogant. I believe that as long as I was there, nobody would ever die. No one. That we were all stronger than everyone else.
I was childish.

Najenda patted (Y/N)'s head softly, mouth set into a determined frown. "An onslaught of battles to the death is about to begin, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi, with furrowed brows and clenched teeth, slightly touched his wound, brushing away the dirt. I signed up for this.

There's no going back.

~~~><><><><~~~

With soft voices and encouraging hands Akame and Leone managed to get (Y/N) to stand up and get her to bed.

(Y/N) was still in shock, emotions all over the place and she could barely do anything but throw up after they left, running to the bathroom and throwing up in a bucket. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, gagging in disgust.

Dammit. Sheele's gone. She's gone.
She used to hug me to sleep when I was younger and she was the new member. She'd just lay there with me.
Sometimes she told me stories.

Her chest hurt so much and (Y/N) couldn't help but wail brokenly, even as she had the urge to throw up again, she could only cry and cry, no comfort to be had. She hated this.

I thought... I don't know. I was.. childish in my way of thinking. It's part of the job description.
And now that the fights will actually start to get serious with other users...

I'm sure. And terrified.

Sheele is not the last person who will die.

(Y/N) gulped, hand flying to hold Blue Void, seeking the comfort of the contrast of the cool metal and the warmth that pulsed from the gem.

'It's okay (Y/N). As long as we are strong, no one will die. Nothing can defeat time.'

(Y/N) closed her eyes, as her tears started to dry and her throat ached. Sadness being washed away by a cold calm that settled over her, cold, calculating fury setting in her bones.
No. There will probably be more deaths Blue, always.
But time is not a limit for us. There's always more time.

I can hang onto that at least.