It's been a little over a year since the fall of the Imperial Capital. Tatsumi and Mine have been dating since just before the final battle, but it was only after the final battle, that they could actually enjoy being together without someone constantly trying to kill them. Leone, Najenda, Lubbock, Chelsea, Bulat, and Sheele have all been dead for a year now.
Tatsumi and Mine often visit the graves of their fallen friends. Akame never really stays in the Capital. She mostly travels the countryside, killing evil people who threaten others or herself. After she used her Trump Card with her Imperial Arms, Murasame, Akame realized that doing so, quite literally made her immortal. The poison from the blade that should've killed her, now flows through her blood, making her impervious to death.
Tatsumi was outside in the training yard, training very hard, just the way Bulat always made him do. He vowed that even though the war against the Empire was over, he'd never stop training. Tatsumi wanted to stay at the top of his game whenever any threat came near. Since Mine lost her Imperial Arms, Pumpkin, she decided to dedicate her life to cooking. Akame taught her everything she knew about cooking and Mine was very grateful for it.
She was cooking one of Tatsumi's favorite dishes while watching him train through the window. She was glad that she and Tatsumi got together. She hated the fact that she had to tell him how she felt about him the way she did. It happened just two days before the final battle against the Emperor. She had used Pumpkin to fight the most powerful General, General Budo, while trying to save Tatsumi from being executed.
When she realized that her love for Tatsumi was the only way she was going to save him, she used all of her emotion and soul to not only fight back against Budo, but her love for Tatsumi allowed Pumpkin to shoot out a blast so large and powerful, that it ended up destroying the weapon at the same time it disintegrated Budo.
After the battle, Tatsumi was holding Mine in his arms as he ran as fast as his Imperial Arms Incursio could go, to try to get her medical attention. Mine knew that she was going to die, so she begged him to put her down next to the river they had been running beside. After doing so, Tatsumi deactivated Incursio so that Mine could see his face for one final time. Tatsumi was very worried about her, Mine could see it in his eyes. She knew he felt the same way about her, so she had no trouble saying it to him. "I'm glad that I fell in love with you, Tatsumi."
She had placed her hand on his face and she used all her strength to lean up and kiss him on the lips before passing out. Tatsumi screamed in anger, sadness, and pain, before he realized that she was still breathing. He picked her up as gently as he could and used Incursio once more to run to the Base as fast as he could.
Mine was told a week after the final battle, how Tatsumi worried about her constantly while she laid in bed completely unconscious. She was glad that she told him how she felt, but she wished that it had been under much better circumstances. After all, she thought she was about to die. But it didn't matter in the end. After it was all said and done, Tatsumi asked Mine to be his girlfriend just hours before the fall of the Empire and she couldn't be happier.
Mine was just about finished with dinner so she leaned out the window as far as she could without falling to yell, "Tatsumi! Come inside, dinner's almost ready!" Tatsumi yelled back "OK, Be there in a sec!" Mine got back in the kitchen and began to set the table. She no longer wore her hair in the usual double ponytails anymore. After the war, she decided to leave her hair down in it's natural style. She knew Tatsumi loved her hair that way, so that's how she kept it.
After about ten mintues in the bathroom washing off, Tatsumi walked into the dining room and sat down at the table next to Mine. He leaned over and gave her a passionate kiss on the cheek before saying "Wow Mine, this looks awesome! Akame really taught you well" Mine blushed from both the kiss and the compliment on her cooking. "Thanks babe. It's all your favorites, so dig in!" Not having to be told twice, Tatsumi immediately began eating his food while Mine did the same with hers.
"So Mine, I was thinking, since it's been a year since the war, maybe you and me could take a trip around the countryside. Ya know, see the sights." Tatsumi said as he ate. Mine was slightly taken aback by this sudden proposal. "But, Tatsumi, don't you still have to help with the construction and re-writting of laws for the new Capital?" she asked.
Tatsumi chuckled slightly and replied, "Actually, Run does the law writting and most of the construction is handled by Wave. I just help with the small jobs here and there. Plus the reward money I got for my village was enough to last for generations to come. I even got to keep a rather large chunk of it for myself to use at anytime. So I was planning to use some of the money to take you on a trip around the country."
Mine was amazed at the reply from him. She thought about it, and answered, "You know what? Why not? We deserve a break from the Capital and I'd love to possibly bump into Akame to see how she's doing. I haven't seen her in over a year since she left."
"Then it's settled! Next month, I will ask Run and Wave to give me a two month vacation, and then we will be on our way!" Tatsumi said excitedly, the same way Mine always loved to see him act. The way Tatsumi smiled, always made her blush and her heart race a million miles an hour.
She had once told Tatsumi during their relationship how he affects her like that, and he didn't really believe her until she put his hand on her chest where he could feel her heart beat. Tatsumi was very nervous having his hand on a girl's chest for the first time. Mine didn't really mind it. That was 6 months ago. Mine hadn't let Tatsumi touch her like that since.
She wants to wait until they possibly marry, before she lets him touch her on any of her private areas. The next morning, Mine got up early to fix breakfast when she noticed a note on the table from Tatsumi. She picked it up and it read, "Mine, I'm going to the Capital early to help with building a new Blacksmith shop. I'll try to be back before sunset, but if I'm not back by then please don't worry about me. I have Incursio on me so if anything happens I'll be ready. I love you and I'll see you tonight. Love, Tatsumi."
Mine smiled at the note and set it back down on the table and went about her normal morning routine. She knew Tatsumi was right to say not to worry. She rarely found herself worrying over him unless it was something really dangerous like Danger Beasts or an opponent who just happened to have an Imperial Arms.
But most of the time though, she never let it worry her whenever he went out. Mine spent most of the day cleaning the old Base and keeping everything in its proper place. She went into Sheele's old room, and went about cleaning it, and trying her best not to look at Sheele's former Imperial Arms Extase. She failed. Before getting halfway through cleaning , her eyes fell upon the giant pair of scissors that once belonged to her long time friend.
She walked over to them and picked them up and held them in her arms as she began to cry a little bit. Mine missed Sheele deeply. She considered her a sister rather than a friend. When she was killed, it devastated Mine to no end. She also knew how big of an emotional impact it had on Tatsumi, but she never asked him why it hit him so hard. She figured it was a very personal reason so she never asked about it.
Mine was about to put Extase back, when she suddenly felt a very powerful feeling eminating from the giant pair of scissors. She recognised this at Extase's trump card, "The Light of Extase". She gasped, she remembered the same thing happening to Sheele when Extase chose her to be their owner. Mine realized that Extase wanted her to be their new owner.
She picked them up, held them outward pointing them toward the wall as if she were staring down an opponent, and yelled out "EXTASE!" After doing so, the giant scissors gave off the brightest light she had seen since Sheele's death. She even saw an image of Sheele in the bright light, smiling at her as if she was the reason Extase chose her.
Mine began crying immensely after this. She was still very upset that Sheele was killed the way she was, but she was also happy that Extase had chosen her to carry on Sheele's memory, rather than keep it locked up in her old room. She put the giant scissors back in thier sheath, and laid them on Sheele's bed to finally finish cleaning the room. After she was done, Mine grabbed Extase and took them with her out of the room and closed the door.
After putting Extase in her's and Tatsumi's room, she changed into her white nightgown, and put her favorite headband with the red rose on the side in her hair. She then walked back into the main living room, and waited for Tatsumi to return to tell him the news of acquiring Extase. It wasn't until three hours later, that Mine began to worry. She knew that Tatsumi was powerful and could handle himself, but she was starting to worry that something had happened to him.
Suddenly she heard a loud crash just outside the front door, so she rushed outside to see what it was. She saw Tatsumi wearing Incursio, laying on the ground covered in blood, dirt, and what looked like lipstick, but she wasn't too sure. She ran over to him just as Incursio dissappeared, and she kneeled down next to him. "Tatsumi! What happened? Are you alright? Speak to me darling!" Mine began to have a panic attack asking Tatsumi all those questions so quickly.
Tatsumi sat up as best as he could while trying not to show how much pain he was in, and answered, "I'm ok Mine, I was suddenly attacked by a vicious group of female assassins who all had Imperial Arms. One of them tried to make out with me which is why I'm covered in this nasty lipstick." Mine was relieved that Tatsumi was ok, and that he explained what she was suspicous about without even having to ask him.
"What happened Tatsumi?" she asked, as she helped him to stand up. "Well, I was walking home from the Capital, when suddenly, about 8 female assassins came from nowhere and tried to attack me. Three of them actually got a hold of me and one kissed me all over the place while the leader used her Imperial Arms to try to sodomize me. I managed to break away from the girls and called out Incursio and ran as fast as I could to get away from them."
"When outta nowhere all the girls came at me with their Imperial Arms and they all tried to kill me. Two of them managed to land really strong hits on me before I finally killed them all." Mine was glad that Tatsumi was okay. "I'm glad you're okay Tatsumi, you had me worried sick!", she told him. "I know baby, I'm sorry.", he replied. "I'm just glad you're alright, that's all that matters."
Mine walked Tatsumi inside and laid him on the couch before going to the bathroom to retrieve the medical kit. She returned with the kit, and began to work on Tatsumi's wounds. After tending to his wounds, Tatsumi went to their bedroom to change out of his dirty clothes. That's when he noticed Extase sitting on the bed. Mine had follwed him into the room and saw him looking at Extase.
"They chose me, Tatsumi. I was cleaning in Sheele's room when Extase gave off this bright glow, the same glow they gave off when they chose Sheele. I used their trump card to see if I was really a match for them, and it worked. The light they gave off was incredible. I even saw Sheele in the light. She was smiling at me, almost like, she made Extase choose me."
Tatsumi was shocked that Mine had gotten Extase. But he was happy nonetheless for her. He knew that in a big way, getting Extase was a bit of closure for her. He pulled her into a hug and just held her like that for a while. "This is what Sheele did for me before she died. That night, I went to Sayo and Ieyasu's graves, she held onto me and let me cry into her shoulder for a long time.", he explained as he held her closer.
Mine was taken aback by Tatsumi suddenly talking about this. "Is that why you were so upset when Sheele was killed?" she asked in a soft voice. Tatsumi nodded his head slighty and repleid, "Mhmm. But I got over it pretty quickly when I saw how much it affected everyone else. Especially you Mine. Akame told me how you and Sheele were practically sisters."
Mine got teary eyed and tried not to cry. "Yeah, she was like a big sister to me." She then started to let her tears flow, letting them land on Tatsumi's chest. Tatsumi held her even closer and said "It's alright for you to cry, I'll hold you for as long as you want me to Mine."
Mine cried for a few minutes before pulling herself out of Tatsumi's hold to let him change out of his clothes. After he finished changing, Mine came back into the room and laid down on the bed next to him. She cuddled as close as she could get into him and laid her head down on his chest while he wrapped his arms around her, holding her small frame to his body.
Tatsumi gently caressed Mine's back through her nightgown. She always loved getting light back rubs from him before bed. She soon started to fall asleep, but not before she said, "I love you very much Tatsumi. Don't ever think that I don't, cuz I do. I'll always love you, now, and forever." She fell aleep right after saying those words, and Tatsumi was never happier than he was in that moment.
He wished his friends could all see this, but he had a feeling that they knew. He soon fell asleep as well, and dreamed of marrying Mine, and having kids with her.
TO BE CONTINUED...