Intro -

A modern AU of Akame ga Kill.

Tatsumi has recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. Before being diagnosed, he had the perfect life with only a few exceptions. Watch, or rather read, as he comes to terms with his imminent death and realize that he's hopelessly in love with a fellow patient at the hospital that has become his new home.

Featuring - Tatsumi, Esdeath, Akame, Kurome, Wave, Seryu, Run, Leone (minor), and various other patients.

Pairings - Tatsumi x Esdeath; Wave x Kurome; Run x Leone

Ratings - T (depression, self-harm, honestly he's dying of cancer)

I am not weak!..

"I'm not weak you psycho," I screamed in outrage, How dare she! She's just insane, it's not like she's dying.

"You can't even get out of that chair," Esdeath shot back, a superior curl to her lip, "The voices said so."

"Look lady," I began as I struggled to my feet, "I don't know you and quite frankly, I don't care to, but my nurse told me to do this and damn it! I will."

"Loyalty." She scoffed, "How pathetic, relying on another. Your nurse is just as weak as you are."

I tried to launch myself across the table at the blue-haired woman who grinned in response, "Can't even make it across the table!"

She laughed and turned around.

"Esdeath." Run said calmly, "Sit. Down."

Esdeath flinched and stared at him, "You're here to stop me, aren't you?" She almost seemed to whimper as she clasped her hands over her ears, "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!"

Another nurse who stood near Esdeath frowned and strode forward a blue pill held out in front him. The blue-haired woman launched herself at the pill and swallowed it dry before collapsing to the floor hugging her knees to her chest.

"Weak. Worthless. Waste of space. Pathetic. Failure." She whispered to herself over and over like a mantra, "I'm weak, I'm worthless, I'm a waste of space, I'm pathetic, I'm a failure."

The nurse, who had navy hair similar to Wave's and a bulky jacket covering his nurse outfit reached over and gently rubbed her back and whispered words of assurance, "You're not weak, you're not worthless, you are not a waste of space, you are not pathetic, you are not a failure." He met Run's eyes and nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Come on, Tatsumi," Run murmured as he eased me into my wheel chair, beads of sweat ran down my face from the effort it took to stand, "Let's go back to your Pokemon, I want you to introduce me to all your new creatures. Tell me about your progress."

He rolled me out of the white room and down white halls with white tile. Past the community area where Sayo and Ieyasu were still playing Monopoly (Sayo was winning), past Kurome who was talking to some white-blond haired boy with startling blue eyes, and past Akame who raised her eyes to meet mine and winced before subtly shaking her head and mouthing the word later. Nodding acceptingly, I didn't ask Run to stop and continued to allow myself to be pushed past the area and into the quiet, white loneliness of my room.

"Run," I hesitated, "What just happened?"

"Esdeath," he began before sighing, "Her mother in childbirth and her father was an immigrant from Mongolia. In Mongolia, there's this belief that the strong survive and the weak die off. Esdeath moved here when she was young and for a time, she and her father were happy together. However, when Esdeath turned twelve, her father was hit by a car and died in a hospital near where they lived. His last words to her were 'I am weak, you are strong.'"

"That doesn't sound so bad," I said slowly.

"True, but schizophrenia doesn't really present itself till 16, so Esdeath was fine for awhile. She was tossed into the foster program and moved around a few times, but when she turned 14 the delusions started to kick in. Her foster mom at the time thought it was normal behavior. After all, many signs of schizophrenia can be hard to deduce seeing as most teens go through it."

"So schizophrenia is.. hard to diagnose in teens, but why?"

"Mostly because the signs are as follows: irritability, drop in grades, social withdrawal, and difficulty concentrating are some of the few symptoms. As a teen yourself, you can understand a few of them." Run said pointedly.

I rubbed the back of my head, "Yeah... my last report wasn't, well, the best. There's room for improvement."

"Room for improvement." Run repeated, "You had two D's and an F. Your best grade was a low B. Yes, improvement. Either way, Esdeath was diagnosed two years later but by then the mantra of her being weak had, ah, set in. Anti-psychosis drugs do help a bit, but she also needs to learn how to re-engage with society. As far as she's concerned, the only things in the world worth listening to are the voices in her head."

"And what can I do to help?" I asked, I only had three months to live, might as well do something to try to repay Run for everything.

"Well for starters you can try to more understanding and patient with her. Realize that not everything she says is actually her talking. I've heard from Susanoo tha-" Run was cut off by a knock at the door.

"May we come in?" A flat voice asked through the fake oak door.

"Certainly," Run replied as he opened the door with his usual smile and happy wave.

In walked Akame and Kurome, along with a few kids trailing behind them.

"So this is the dead guy?" One boy asked, roughly Akame's age as he pushed his glasses up, the emerald on his necklace glinted in the light.

"Enough Green," another boy said. This one had golden eyes, a white trench coat (does everyone wear trench coats around here?) with strange golden epaulets, and an almost feral smile set on his face.

"Sorry, Chief!" Green responded.

"Enough, both of you." Akame snapped, "We came here to explain not for you to insult our friend."

"It's not like you owe him anything," the blond boy behind Kurome said, crossing his arms over his white trench coat, a blue and green checkered scarf around his neck.

"Exactly!" Green said immediately, "Thanks Natara. He isn't one of us, he doesn't deserve to know."

Run who was silent through this entire exchange raised an eyebrow, "Now now, all of you. Behave or I'll fetch Gozuki and have him escort you out. Gin and Poney, make sure they mind their manners if they're to talk with my patient."

Two girls, one with long silver hair that hung back in a long ponytail and a sleeveless top and the other with green eyes and auburn hair that was also hung up in a ponytail with assorted hair clips tossed in, gave a quick, crisp salute, "Yes sir!"

The angel-like man sighed, "You guys aren't- Never mind. Tatsumi, I'll be back in a few hours for your chemo. Remember to save your game as you go."

I frowned at Akame and Kruome, "So what's up? Mein said to be open minded and to answer your questions honestly."

"How do I start this?" Akame wondered aloud before Kurome shot in.

"I'm going through a detox from highly addictive, body damaging, mind destroying steroids. Oh by the way, I've tried to kill Akame twice now. How's your day been Tatsumi?"

"What." I asked in utter confusion.

"Let me start from the beginning," Akame sighed. "When we were children..."

Oh boy, let me just start off with an apology. I should be starting to write a bit more as my time eases up, but no promises. This chapter didn't have any heart wrenching stuff in it but you got a look into Eseath's.. problem. Next chapter should contain a bunch of info on Tatsumi and Kurome/Akame. I promise, there is a point to them and their story (the Elite Seven-ish).

In other news.. leave reviews, favorite and follow and all that jazz. until next time.