Arc 1: Restart

"Hurry up and help me retrieve Sheele's body, Tatsumi!" Mine shouted out of desperation towards her comrade, who quickly rushed towards her position. "I refuse to let the Empire have their hands on our friend, even if she's already dead!"

"Got it!" Tatsumi responded, getting a good look at Sheele's dead body. She had several claw and bite marks all over her already bloody self, as a result of her fight against Seryu and her biological teigu.

"Hurry it up, I just saw that more guards are coming your way!" Leone exclaimed, after scouting the area if there were more enemies approaching. "I'm going on ahead, either leave Sheele here or get your asses going!" she said with tears in her eyes.

Mine stomped on the ground repeatedly in frustration before running after Leone, because they would be unable to bring their friend's dead body back. "Tatsumi! Get out of there!" she called out to their newest member, who continued to stare down at Sheele.

The moment the guards arrived on the scene however, they froze in place as if Esdeath used her teigu on them.

But that wasn't the case.

"I never thought I'd get to use my powers here for the first time." Tatsumi said to himself in amusement as he lowered down his arm and knelt down beside Sheele, pulling out something from his pocket.

"I can't let you die here, Sheele. You deserve more than this… don't worry… you'll soon live your life like one of us…"

He pulled out his hand and revealed four chess pieces, more specifically, pawns.

"You'll live for me."

That night, nobody in Night Raid asked why Tatsumi didn't return with Sheele's body, nor did they even ask if he was able to prevent the Empire from getting their hands on her.

Tatsumi had his hair shadowing over his eyes, with Bulat's dead body lying before him. The Incursio user died of his wounds after a hard-fought battle against his former superior, leaving Tatsumi to finish off the remaining one of Esdeath's Three Beasts by inheriting his own teigu.

"A-Aniki…" he muttered, tears threatening to flow out of his eyes as Incursio fell to the floor with a clang.

After only a few weeks of being with Night Raid, he had come to recognize Bulat as a strong comrade, partner, maybe even brother. He was one of the main reasons why he had developed so much in such little time, also proving that he was compatible to be the next user of Incursio.

He clenched his fists and turned his attention to the teigu beside him, before reverting back to Bulat. Tatsumi did this several times as multiple thoughts ran through his mind, before coming to a single conclusion.

"No. I won't let you die here!" he thought to himself, quickly pulling something out from his pocket. "Even if I have to use up another, I can't let someone dear to me slip away when I can save him! He's strong, anyway! He's one of the strongest humans I've known in my time here so far…"

He pulled out another chess piece, a rook this time, as it hovered above Bulat's chest…

Tatsumi was running away from Kurome and her puppets through the deep forest. He opted not to fly away, as he could be easily seen in the sky and may get shot down by their enemies if he did. Chelsea was in his arms, already dead after Kurome killed her.

"That was a close call… I didn't have much time with that distraction." Tatsumi took a few deep breaths to himself, before looking at Chelsea's bloody face.

"It's too late, then." Tatsumi growled underneath the armor, cursing himself for not arriving on time to protect his friends. "I'm such an idiot! I'm supposed to be more powerful than everyone here, so I can protect those who I care about! Is this… is this what it's like to be fighting in a war?"

Looking around him, he tried to see if there were any enemies incoming but once he felt that nobody was on his tail, he stopped running and laid Chelsea down carefully, before laying out his right palm before him.

"Chelsea… I don't know how… but in the short time that we've been together…" Four chess pieces suddenly materialized on top of his hand, before hovering towards Chelsea's chest.

A lone tear fell from his eye. "I feel like I can't let go of you just yet."

Chelsea's body started to glow, just as the four pawns began to glow as well.

He didn't know how, but Tatsumi miraculously managed to recover Lubbock's body back from the palace. It was a horrifying sight to see another one of his friends die, but Tatsumi kept a composed look this time as he flew away from the Imperial palace.

Him and Lubbock were sent on an infiltration mission today, and although he didn't expect it, he wasn't all that surprised when he saw Lubbock's body impaled on multiple spears. Having experienced three previous deaths, he had to keep his emotions in check this time. Luckily, he was able to escape with Lubbock in time before the guards who were chasing him could call for reinforcements.

Tatsumi looked at the gaping hole on Lubbock's midsection without emotion, before landing at the forest that led to Night Raid's HQ. As he laid his fallen comrade down on the ground, Tatsumi finally showed some emotion when he smiled as he summoned another chess piece, a bishop, into his hand.

"I don't care if I use up all my Evil Pieces anymore…" he told himself, remembering Sheele, Bulat and Chelsea when they died. "You're all my friends anyway… and you're all strong in my eyes. Trust me, you'll only become even stronger in the future. In time, Lubbock, maybe we can go talk about perverted stuff like you used to, ya idiot."

Incursio's armor dematerialized, leaving only a smiling Tatsumi as he pushed the bishop into Lubbock's chest slowly. "Wouldn't that be nice, Lubbock?" he grinned as he began to utter some words underneath his breath…

Tatsumi was speechless as tears flowed out of his eyes. Mine had just confessed to him before dying in his arms, sharing a kiss with her final breath. Her life force was drained significantly after their encounter with General Budo, and it was enough to seal her fate.

"M-Mine…" he continued to stare into the empty area before him, feeling a piece of his heart break with Mine's death. "Y-You…"

Regaining his composure, he quickly laid her down and checked his pocket for something. Feeling nothing, Tatsumi's expression turned into one that showed panic as he held out his hand to summon another piece.

"Hang on, Mine! I'll bring you back even if it's the last thing I do!" A bishop piece appeared on his palm, before he pushed it towards Mine's chest as her body glowed. "I don't care if I waste my pieces! I know to myself that I made the right choice with bringing all of you back! And it's not just because you are very dear to me!" Tatsumi punched the ground as tears continued to stream down his cheeks, before looking up at Mine again.

"It's because you all deserve a second chance at life after all this."

Mine's body slowly floated into the air as two batlike wings sprouted from her back.

Just when Wave was about to carry Kurome's body away, Tatsumi's eyes began to glow into the color orange as he began to emit a terrifying aura. Wave suddenly stopped in his tracks as his eyes widened, before dropping Kurome to the ground as he collapsed himself.

Tatsumi's eyes went back to normal as he looked at the unconscious Akame in his arms; she just went through a duel against her little sister, which ended with her victory and Kurome's death. She had begun to cry after that, before falling unconscious, and that was when Wave arrived in an attempt to rescue Kurome.

But he was too late.

"She didn't mean to kill her sister," Tatsumi spoke, letting Akame rest on the ground before walking towards Kurome with a concerned expression on his face. "One of them had to kill the other, because they knew there was no going back… I think this is how it's going down… when we finally charge at the capital…" He stopped where Wave dropped Kurome, as he moved the user of Grand Chariot to the side.

He held out his hand and a new chess piece appeared on his palm.

A knight piece.

"Hey, Kurome…" he said with a soft smile, letting the knight piece push into her chest. "I know we don't know each other very much, but… I hope we can get along." Kurome's body began to glow just like his other friends who all died, before slowly floating into the air. "Let's get along… for the sake of your sister. She's been through so much…" he sent a sad glance towards the unconscious Akame not very far.

A pair of batlike wings sprouted from Kurome's back, just as he reached out towards her body with his right arm. "You'll still be able to spar with your sister if you want… and be able to eat all the candies you want. I'll be seeing you soon, Kurome."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them again as he began to speak in a loud voice.

"I, Tatsumi Raum…"

Tatsumi had to act fast. Akame and Esdeath finally ended their battle, with the wielder of Murasame coming out victorious. However, her use of the teigu's trump card also meant a death flag for her, and now both women were nearing death.

He managed to stay alive during this whole onslaught, even surviving his encounter against the Emperor and his gigantic teigu, the Shikoutazer, in order to save innocent civilians. Despite the injuries he sustained, Tatsumi was able to miraculously recover and thus, he quickly made his way to where he sensed another big battle taking place.

By the time he got there, Akame was already coughing up blood, only using Murasame to stay upright while Esdeath was barely clinging to life, the cursed marks quickly spreading throughout her body. He quickly summoned two new chess pieces into his hand and headed for Esdeath first.

Esdeath slowly turned her head to the set of footsteps that she was hearing, but her vision was already becoming too blurry for her to make out who it was. All she could see was the large patch of brown hair before collapsing, with her ice starting to cover her entire body.

"Tatsumi…" she muttered, drawing her last breath.

"Shit! That ice will prevent me from resurrecting her! I need to act quick!" Tatsumi thought, holding out one of the pieces that he had with him, pushing it into her chest to begin the process and hopefully stop whatever her own ice was doing to her.

Tatsumi sighed out of relief when the ice stopped covering Esdeath's body, before she began to glow and float up into the air.

"I know you were once an enemy to us, but I believe you can change. I'll be looking forward to the next time we meet… Esdeath." he watched with a small smile as the familiar pair of batlike wings sprouted from her back, while remembering all the moments him and Esdeath had spent together during their short and tragic lives.

Seeing that Esdeath was already taken care of, Tatsumi immediately turned towards Akame and saw that she already lost strength to even support herself with her sword, causing her to fall to the ground, having her final moments of life.

He rushed towards her and knelt beside her now-frail body, wrapping his arms around her as he let his hand stroke her beautiful raven hair. Instead of mourning, he would cherish Akame's last moments, knowing that this wasn't really the end.

"Akame? I'm here."

Like Esdeath, her vision was blurry, and she couldn't even notice the person who wrapped their arms around her slim body. However, she did notice those bright emerald orbs that she was staring directly into, and she could only smile as she slowly lost the life in her.

"Tat-sumi…" she slowly mumbled, putting in every last bit of her strength in her arm to raise it towards his cheek and stroked it gently. Tatsumi had to hold back a tear as he heard her last words.

"I… l-love…"

And just like that, the strength in her arm faded away as she stared into the sky, signifying the death of Night Raid's most notorious assassin.

Tatsumi took a deep breath and used two of her fingers to close her eyes, before setting her down on the ground carefully. "Don't worry, Akame… you can tell me whatever it is you wanted to tell me sometime soon." He smiled sadly as he held out his other piece, a knight, and pushed into her chest. Despite going through this over and over, nothing hurt Tatsumi more than losing another important person in her life.

Steeling himself, he stood up and held out his arm towards Akame's body, as the girl began to glow and float into the air, with the familiar pair of batlike wings appearing on her back with his words.

"I, Tatsumi Raum, hereby reincarnate you as a devil and as my servant! Become my knight of Raum!"

Now there was one left.

The last he heard of Leone, she was dealing with Honest himself, despite the danger of going alone.

Tatsumi spent nearly the whole afternoon trying to search for Leone, and it was only when he saw her in a dark alley, leaning against the wall while holding a bottle of alcohol in her hand.

He approached her slowly and called out to her softly. "Leone?"

Leone turned her head slowly to face him, her eyes looking like they lost all signs of life, yet she was still able to form a smile on her face as she saw her friend, comrade and, somehow, the man whom she had developing feelings for. Her appearance had altered greatly, as a result of her fusing with her own teigu, giving her a more lion-like appearance. She weakly raised her other arm and waved it for a few times.

"Hey, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi smiled at seeing her continuing to push on despite her dying state.

"What are you doing in this alley alone, you idiot? I was looking all over for you."

She laughed weakly and looked at the empty space in front of her, before looking back at him.

"Care to drink with me?" she asked, raising the bottle of alcohol up for him.

He smiled and nodded, sitting across her as she handed the bottle to him.

"If you've been looking for me… then you must know what happened to Akame." she told him as she watched Tatsumi drink a bit from the bottle, before handing it back to him.

"She's in a better place now, free from all this bloodshed." he answered in an honest tone, internally smiling because he knew that his words were true.

"I see…" she said sadly, taking her own sip from the bottle. If she could, Leone wanted to cry at the loss of one of her closest friends in Night Raid, but she couldn't find herself able to do so.

"Is that all you want to ask?" he said, looking to the side.

"So… we won, right?"

"Do you really need to ask that?" he raised an eyebrow, wondering why she had to ask such a question when she already knew the answer.

"I know to myself that we won… but at what cost?"

Tatsumi smiled sadly, although he knew that he had changed their fates, it was still sorrowful to remember that they died. If he never had his Evil Pieces, or if he was just a low-class, he would've never been able to bring his friends back.

He could consider himself extremely lucky to be able to bestow a second chance upon them.

"Cost? Well…" he began, looking down on the ground. "All of us assassins knew the risks of going on this dark path, right? We kept on moving forward, even though any of us could die at any time and in the end, we did succeed but… we lost those who were dear to us."

"Yeah… I guess you're right…" Leone looked at the wound she sustained after getting shot by Honest, breathing heavily afterwards. "Do… do you think it could've been avoided, Tatsumi? Our friends… their deaths… do you think… we could've saved them?"

"Leone… I personally think we could." He sighed heavily and remembered how his friends in Night Raid each lost their lives. "I think we could have saved them, if we were on time, and if we had learned when to run away. Don't you think so, Leone?"

He looked up, only to see that the blonde Lionelle user leaned against the wall and finally stopped breathing, the bottle of alcohol rolling off of her hand.

"I see…" He stood up and held his forehead, trying his damn best to prevent himself from shedding tears. However, it was hard because he already had to say goodbye to two others earlier, and now Leone. His fists clenched tightly, resisting the urge to cry. "You're dead now…"

"No! I refuse to cry! Not anymore!" he thought to himself, shaking his head. "I can still bring her back, just like everyone else, remember? They're all okay, Leone will be okay too! They're all strong, they're all my friends, and they all deserve a second chance at life! Away from this dark path!"

He held out his arm, summoning a rook piece into his palm. "Leone… you'd make a good youkai in my peerage…" He used his other arm to rub the back of his head in embarrassment. "I don't know what kind of youkai you are though… maybe a nekomata? Since you're… a cat…" He then laughed at his own remark, completely forgetting his urge to cry earlier. "I'll have to talk with my teachers about this… I don't know what kind of youkai you are, I'm sorry."

Thus, he began to chant:

"I, Tatsumi Raum, hereby reincarnate you as a devil and as my servant! Become my rook of Raum!"

The rook piece went inside Leone's chest as she began to hover in the air, before glowing brightly. The two batlike wings sprouted out of her back, just as she stopped to glow. However, with a simple hand gesture from Tatsumi, a black magic circle appeared beside him before he turned his attention back towards Leone.

"I'll see you in several hundred years, Leone." he said with a smile, just as Leone's body went through the magic circle.

A few notes:

Tatsumi will be replacing Rias in this fanfic, but don't worry, it's not like she doesn't exist. She is simply in another town, while Tatsumi and Sona are both in control of Kuoh. You'll still see her sometimes, and perhaps, I'll have her peerage fight against Tatsumi's in a rating game.

Before you ask, yes, Issei does exist here. He is sticking with Rias, developing off story. Yes, he is still the Red Dragon Emperor.

Tatsumi's clan is the Raum; in demonology, Raum is depicted as a crow that turns into a human. This is intentional as a way to pay homage to the world of Akame ga Kill. Plus, Raum's characteristics fit Tatsumi perfectly if you do a little research.

To those who will be asking, yes, this is a harem fanfic. Obviously, his harem will be consisted of the AGK girls but there might be some DxD girls included.

Tatsumi is a pervert, but not as extreme as Issei. You can't have Highschool DxD without perverseness!

Sacred Gears are basically more evolved versions of teigus, but the team's teigus could still be as powerful as them SG with the help of some training. For the destroyed ones like Pumpkin and Crosstail, don't worry. I have something planned for them. In Leone's case, you'll find out next chapter along with what is Tatsumi's sacred gear and a few other things.

Can you guess Tatsumi's whole peerage just from this chapter? The one who gets it correct gets a cookie!

Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*

-Lance