I rewrote the last chapter after all the complains I got. I just didn't want Tatsumi to be too overpowered too early, but I guess I made him too weak lol. Sorry.

"If I don't wield the sword, I can't protect you. If I keep wielding the sword, I can't embrace you."

Previously

"Yes. So that means you know Esdeath?" Tatsumi asked happily

"Do I know my strongest soldier? Of course I do" Oshiro said with a smile "And as my lieutenant she will be given the job to introduce you to my army. And here we are at the barracks"

They stopped in front of a building with double doors

"Esdeath should be waiting on the other side of the doors. Are you ready?"

Tatsumi took a deep breath and nodded. Noticing this Oshiro walked up to the door with Tatsumi following him.

Currently

1st Person

There she was. Looking as amazing as I could remember. Her ice blue hair, her blue eyes, and the common pale skin of Northerners. He attire consisted of the regular attire of the army with her rank sewn into her shoulder.

She stood at attention with her hands behind her back awaiting her superior.

"General" She greeted Oshiro

"Ah, good to you Esdeath." He greeted back with a warm smile.

Her eyes flickered over to me and narrowed. Seeing this Oshiro turned back towards me

"Oh this is our newest recruit! You'll be taking care of him for the next week. Just give him the basic knowledge of the barracks, soldiers and what we do here. After wards check his skills and train him where he needs improvement. Thank you" He said and walked off, but before he did he gave me a wink.

Once he was out of eyesight Esdeath dropped her act and glared at me.

"Follow me" She said turning around and walking away without a word.

I was surprised at her cold and sudden demeanor.

"So you're Esdeath?" I said trying to start a conversation.

"You will address me as your superior, recruit" She replied killing any friendliness

"Um okay Ma'am. SO have you been enrolled in the army for long?"

"I have, but that should not be your concern."

"Why did a beautiful woman such as yourself join the army?" I asked continuing to poke

"I've done what I needed to do to survive" She continued not revealing much as we walked down the corridor "I belong here"

I shook my head and decided on a different approach.

"You really don't recognize me, don't you?" I asked taking the straight path to the point.

"Should I? I've got more important things to worry about then remembering a new recruit" She said looking at me with prideful eyes.

"The Partas Clan. Do you remember that?"

That made her stop in her tracks

"The… Partas Clan. What do you know about it?"

"You're not the only survivor" I explained

"Everyone was killed. Who are you?" She said reaching for her sword.

"Surprise! Its me Esdeath, Tatsumi. I'm back from the dead isn't that exciting?" I joked cracking a smile.

"…that's not possible…" She said eyes wide

"The raiders who raided the village kidnapped me. Long story short, they took me to an arena to fight for the entertainment of others. After I found a way out I spent all my spare time looking for you once I heard of the blue haired beauty. You're quite famous."

"…this can't be…" Esdeath looked away for a second before looked back at me "WHO took you?" she said grabbing my shoulders. I smirked surprising her

"A corpse did"

She looked into my eyes and then composed herself returning to her strict self before I revealed my identity.

"If youre expecting anything from me then I don't know why you returned. Everything changed Tatsumi."

"You think I don't know that?" I laugh "I knew things changed when I watched my family get slaughtered! I came back to keep my promise" I said taking a step closer to her

"Its not so simple anymore. Promises fall low on my list of priorities at this point. Don't be a fool." She said coldly. Seeing my anger she added "Go slaughter some strangers if you want, but you don't belong here"

"I- I don't belong here?" I said in a calm voice. "Then where do I belong? Six feet under?! In some underground arena fighting for some prick's entertainment?! I came back for you!" I said raising my voice a lot.

"Do you not remember the promise we made?" I continued "To live together for eternity. That was our promise." I said holding out my hand. Esdeath looked away

"Its been so long. We are not the same people anymore"

"I've been through hell. Many lost their minds in it. I kept mine because you were in it. You made me survive. Don't bullshit me. Tell me you don't love me anymore." I said annoyance heavy in the air "You can't"

"You should try surviving for yourself sometime. That's what I've done. You DIED. And I moved on. I devoted myself to the military, and I've risen to a place of dignity again." She said standing straighter

I screamed in anger and loss. I punched the wall wincing from the pain.

Esdeath watched me sadly

"You're making a scene. We should continue the tour" She said continuing to walk

"Who gives a fuck about the tour. I'm talking about you and me here. I'm not giving up on you that easily" I yelled at her.

She stopped and turned around. She walked up to me. I smiled but it quickly fell as she slapped it off my face.

"…you just don't get it do you? WE CANNOT JUST MEET AND START OVER AGAIN! YOU SAID YOUSELF WE'VE LOST EVERYTHING. YOU CANNOT RETURN AND EXPECT ME TO FALL FOR YOU!" She screamed in anger

"Why?" I asked clutching my cheek "What happened to you?"

She laughed a crazy laugh

"YOU did. You died. You didn't come back for YEARS, and here I was. In the army." She explained.

"I WAS FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE!" I screamed

"THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT I NEARLY DIED MYSELF WHEN YOU WERE GONE. I JUST WANTED TO FORGET!" she screamed at me

"YOU THINK I WANTED THIS?"

"YOU THINK I DID?"

"So this is it?" I asked hurt evident in my voice. She took a deep breath

"I don't know what else there is. Tatsumi I need sometime. This… this just cant happen right now. You are still dead in my mind and in my heart."

"I fought for you. Lived for you. And now you wont accept me? I killed innocents!" I yelled in frustration.

"I did exactly the same… It's ironic isn't it? That I cant just come running into your arms after all of this? Well I can't. I just CAN'T. And you'll have to accept it as the truth until I can decide that you fit into my life now."

I just couldn't believe her. It was too much. I sighed and turned around heading back towards the exit.

"If you have your answer ready you'll find me on the streets. Listen to the rumors. I'll see you later Esdeath. I hope" I said over my shoulder

"And Esdeath" I stopped and turned around to look at her "I still love you with all my heart" I turned back and continued heading towards the exit again.

"Wait!" I heard behind me but I continued on. The heart in my chest hurting too much forcing me to get away from this place. I didn't realize we attracted a crowd until I had to push through them on my way to the exit.

"Hey you! Where do you think you're going?" I heard a male voice behind me exclaim grabbing my shoulder and turning me around. He was one of the soldiers watching the interaction.

"You hurt Esdeath's feeling and you'll pay for it" He said pulling back his now curled fist. Throwing the punch I caught it and twisted his arm behind his back

"Never underestimate your opponent and don't let your feelings control you" I muttered into his ears hypocritically. I pushed him forward watching him trip and fall on the ground. After wards everyone made a clear path for me and I continued on outside.

I took a deep breath once outside.

"What do I do?" I asked to the sky. "Do I still have hope?"

I chuckled.

"Theres only one thing do so far. Get stronger" I told myself "But now the more important issue where can I spend the night in peace and quiet?" I started walking down the street. The sun was setting drenching the buildings around me a fiery orange color with long shadows being cast over the streets.

~TIMESKIP a few minutes~

I was sitting on the street preparing myself to sleep after not being able to find a place to stay in. The sun set some time ago making everything dark except for the streetlights that were lit earlier by a city worker.

It was pretty cold here in the south during the nights but I was used to it. I was getting comfortable when a carriage came down the street and stopped in front of me suddenly. In the front of the carriage sat two men dressed like soldiers from the army but these looked less trained for battle. Less formal with bad postures.

From the carriage stepped out a blonde girl in a white dress that looked younger than me by a few years. She walked up to me and stopped once in front of me.

"Hi there. Do you have anywhere to go?" She asked in a sad voice.

"Nah, I just love staying the night on the street instead of a house with a bed. What do you think?" I replied sarcastically.

"I'm sorry for offending you with that question" she said looking down in shame but quickly brightened up with an idea "How I about I apologize and invite you to spend the night at my house?"

I was confused. You just don't invite a homeless person to your home just because you asked them a stupid question.

"I wouldn't want to intrude" I lied

"Nonsense, it'll be my pleasure to be your host for the night." Her two guards that drove her carriage came over to us wondering what was taking so long.

"You should agree to Lady Aria. She has a good heart that cares for everyone." One of the guards said.

I sighed, they were the persistent bunch.

"You wont stop until I agree. Am I correct?" I said looking up

"Yes!" She exclaimed happily.

"Then I should just accept. Alright I'll come with you" I said getting up slowly.

"Wonderful. Please enter the carriage with me"

Not letting my guard down I entered the carriage. Either these people were very bad or they were the only people in the Capitol that were nice to strangers.

0o0o0

These people are really strange in this mansion. When the girls parents saw me they didnt give me questioning glances, not even when Aria said I'll be spending the night in their house. There was no sort of disagreement. They treated this normally as if this already happened but when I was in the streets I didn't meet any other homeless and the mansion didn't look to be filled with people. What's going on here?

I shook my head ignoring my paranoia. I looked around the room.

It was quite luxurious. A queen sized bed laid in the middle of the middle the sheets made from fine silk. The wall opposite the door had big windows that spanned from the ceiling to the floor giving a great view of the moonlit city. To the right of the door was a another door that led to a personal bathroom next to that door was another one that led to walk in closet filled with clothes.

I wasn't used to these kind of luxuries. I was raised in a nomad tribe, then I lived in a prison cell fighting for my life and then for the last few weeks I was with the army sleeping under the night sky.

I walked into the bathroom and took a shower, the first one I was able to take in weeks.

Stepping out of it I felt refreshed, sighing in relief I stepped in front of the bathroom mirror to look at myself. I looked older than my actual age. The bags under my eyes and my eyes themselves said a lot about me and what I've been through, but the biggest feature about me that gave me age were the scars over my body.

I ran my hands over some of them shivering from the memory of how I got them.

Pain

That pain was nothing compared to the pain I was feeling right now. I slammed my fist in frustration on the edge of the sink.

"What do you have to be like this Esdeath?" I growled pissed at her, pissed at the capitol, and pissed at that fucker who took me away from her.

"I should have stayed in the army and not just run away"

'Do you really want to serve someone who runs a city like this? Ever since you got here you've seen bad things happen in the streets and the soldiers allow it' I told myself

"I... I don't know! I just want to be with her"

'Can't you be with her without being in the army?'

"... Maybe but what if something happens when she's away?"

'Then stay by her side always'

"Easier said than done" I muttered annoyed by my subconscious "Never mind this isn't a talk for the middle of the night. I'll decide in the morning."

I quickly dressed myself in my pants and shirt leaving everything else on at the bedside nighttable. I sat down on the bed and immediately didn't like it. It was too soft for me.

I was about to lay down on the floor until I heard commotion coming from the back of the building outside the door.

Screams

Something was happening

I grabbed my equipment and put it on ready for combat. Running out into the hallway I didn't see anything strange.

The hallway was wide, so wide it allowed for eight people to stand shoulder to shoulder and still have space. Opposite the door I came from, the wall was made from large arched windows spanning throughout the hallway. The windows were facing the owner's of this mansion backyard, but that wasn't the only thing that they were facing.

Looking out the window I saw people. Not some commoners or the guards but different people. They all looked like they were standing midair if it weren't for my keen eye which saw the glint of moonlight on thin wires that were holding them up. I heard screaming coming from below the window and I looked down to see three guards running towards the people.

Noticing them two of the six people standing on the wires jumped down. A black haired girl dressed in a black attire with a katana in her hand. The other was a man dressed in what looked to be a suit of armor holding a spear that was as tall as him. Even from here I could see his glowing yellow eyes among the whiteness of his armor.

I heard the leading guard scream something to his comrade before he was cut down by the katana girl. The other two stopped dead in their tracks seeing their comrade get killed with ease. One of them turned around and started running away, leaving other behind seeing as he could walk with the big spear that was impaled through him. He looked down at the blood covered spear that appeared out of no where and fell to the ground lifeless. The third guy was quickly taken care of by one of the people standing on the wires. A girl dressed in a pink dress with the same color hair holding what looked like a big cannon gun. Using it she shot a hole through the guards chest ending his life immediately.

It was an uphill battle for the guards. They had no chance against the attackers.

I quickly ran towards the main staircase that led to the 1st floor.

They were killing innocent people for no reason. I couldn't allow it. Almost tripping over my own feet as I ran down the stairs I burst out the back door expecting a fight but there was no one there. The figure disappeared but the corpses of the guards didn't. They still bled staining the ground red.

Hearing commotion coming from the forest they had in their backyard I ran towards the sound.

'Who are these people?'

As I ran I pulled out my sword preparing for a fight.

I burst into a clearing and saw Aria and another guard running away from the mansion.

"HEY!" I yelled alerting them of my presence. They stopped and looked bad slowing down enough for me to catch up to them.

"What's going on?" I asked

"It's night raid" the guard said pulling the young girl besides him.

"Night Raid?" I asked bewildered.

"A group of assassin's who kill people from the high classes," He explained "and today they targeted Miss Aria's household" He looked back to face me but cursed when he saw something behind me

I looked back and saw the black haired girl that killed the guard earlier.

"Try to buy us time" He said picking up speed leaving me behind.

'What the fuck does he think I can do? Stop with some small talk?' I asked mentally

I turned around and brought my sword up ready to go on the defensive.

Seeing this she brought her katana back and rushed towards me.

Bending my knees, I tightened my muscles ready to dodge if needed to. As she got closer the louder my heart pounded, the harder I griped my sword handle. I locked eyes with her when she got close enough to strike me she simply jumped over me using me as a boost to go higher.

I just stood there eyes wide and confused.

'What the fuck?' I thought turning around to see her making a bee line to the guard. Seeing this he turned and told Aria to run towards the warehouse we were heading towards. Then he took his gun and and aimed at the girl. Without warning he started shooting at her.

I expected her to get shredded by the bullets but what surprised me most was she dodged all of them weaving in and out between the bullets getting closer and closer to the poor guard who panicked and just started spraying the gun wildly.

Getting close enough she pulled back her katana and swung cutting his throat deep enough that it sprayed some blood unto the grass. Grasping his throat he fell to his knees losing more blood by the second and finally fell face first into the grass lifeless.

Flicking the sword to the side she removed some of the blood on it. She then headed towards Aria.

"Hey you! Why are you doing this?" I yelled at her. Running towards her

"I'm talking to you" I said swinging my sword at her neck but it was blocked by the girl's katana.

"Don't interfere if you want to life" She simply said

"I just want to know why the hell you're killing these people. Is it for fun or is it for revenge?" I asked walked around her to face her.

She just stared at me for a minute before replying "For justice"

I stared at her before glancing over at Aria who was terrified.

"At least tell me what they did"

She just nodded her head towards the warehouse

Narrowing my eyes I walked backwards towards the warehouse not trusting her enough to turn my back towards her. Once close to the warehouses door I looked at the lock holding the door closed. Using the butt of the sword as a hammer I slammed it into the the lock a few times before it finally broke.

I looked back at the girl to see her watching me closely with interest.

I grasped the handle and pulled the door wide open. Almost immediately I stepped back covering my nose from the smell.

Taking a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkness within the warehouse I narrowed my eyes in anger.

This wasn't a storage warehouse. This was a torture chamber warehouse. People hanged from the the ceiling naked covered in many cuts and bruises. Some of them had limbs cut off bleeding unto the floor which was covered in cells in which were more prisoners. All of them dead for at least a few weeks judging from the smell and the look of the place.

I walked back out. Glaring at Aria, ignoring the girl in black.

"What the fuck is that in there?" I asked in a low voice with fury in my eyes.

"I didn't know. I swear it's the first time I see it" She said with tears in her eyes.

She was clearly lying, her shock was fake. I grabbed her by the throat and lift her choking her.

"You're a bitch and a terrible lair" I said throwing her at the wall.

"How long did you know about this?" I asked turning towards the black haired girl

"We just learned of this recently. We came here as soon as we could" She replied in a monotone voice.

"Will you be planning on using her for something?" I asked turning back to Aria who was crawling backwards away from me

"Are you thinking about doing something with her?"

"Yes I am" I said walking towards Aria. Desperate to get away she started to get up but I quickly stabbed her leg with my sword causing her to scream in pain.

"You tortured innocent people who didn't deserve it." I pulled back my sword and stabbed her other leg at the knee.

"You had fun of their demise and now i'll do the same thing to you" I said slicing her back open.

She continued to scream and cry in pain. Trying her best to get away she started crawling away thinking she could still get away from me.

"Not so fast" I said stepping on her hand crushing it and cutting it off.

"Hurts doesn't it?" I asked crouching down to her level.

"This is how the others you had fun with felt. Now you get to experience it as well." I cutting off her other hand. Her screams were no longer human. They were screeches of pain coming from an animal.

"Pretty fun right?" I asked "But this is only a part of what you gave them." I grabbed her by her hair and lifted her before running my sword through her heart before twisting it and pulling it out to wipe on her dress. Afterwards I just threw her body down not sparing it a glance anymore.

"Still here? So I'm next?" I asked

"No, it was just interesting to watch. You don't see anyone as young as you to be able to kill a person much less do that to them" She said gesturing towards the corpse.

"I don't hold any feeling towards people who torture innocent people. I know the pain all too well" I said

"We need more people like you," She gave me a small smirk "you should join us"

"Join you? Night Raid?" I asked

"Yeah, you seem to be talented in the art of a sword and have a good sense of decision."

"And what would I be doing?" I asked sheathing my sword

"You'd be killing people just like them" she said pointing at Arias and the guards corpses.

"Hmm sounds interesting. You cant be doing these 'acts' for fun. What's your motive?"

"Getting the capital rid of leeches like them sucking the life out of the world."

I burst out laughing "Seems pretty hypocritical coming from a murder like you. But I guess it works. Fight fire with fire, fine I'll join and check it out."

"There's no checking out. You either join or don't"

"We'll see"

Finally! I got this chapter out.

This is the longest chapter I ever wrote lol. I hope this made up for my broken promise.

Anyways BIG BIG BIG shout out to AnamariaJovel for helping me by writing Esdeath's lines. Without her Esdeath wouldn't be like she is. She would be the cliché person which I didn't like.

I know some of you are questioning the time skip but its either that or a year long writer's block, Im sorry I didn't know what to write about.

As for Tatsumi being weak, as I said I didn't want to make an OP story but I fixed it after coming to a conclusion.

For those wanting revenge against the hunters I hear you. I said it once and I will say it again it wont be the last time we see them.

Now I have to start finalizing my thoughts on his teigu and how he obtains it. Can't wait *squeals like a girl*

And once again I'm surprised this story is doing good seeing how bad I'm doing with it with all the confusion, short chapters and etc... lol

Hope you liked this chapter

EnderWolf89 over and out