Sayo’s lips stayed in contact with Tatsumi for a couple of seconds, and only then did she part her lips and distance herself away from him. Looking into his stunned green eyes, Sayo blushed hard and shyly said.  

‘‘I’m- I’m… Nevermind, it’s getting late. I’ll see you tomorrow.’’ 

Directly after saying that, Sayo hurried away, leaving the still-stunned Tatsumi as she made her way to her room. When reaching her room, Sayo quickly shut the door behind her. 

Thump, Thump…! Feeling her heart beating rapidly, Sayo clenched her chest tightly, leaning her back against the door. Sliding down the door with her back, she murmured with embarrassment.

‘‘I can't believe I’ve done that!’’ While feeling deep embarrassment when thinking about her action just now, a smirk hung across the corner of her rose-coloring lips. ‘‘I may not be the first, but I’m now one of the leads.’’

...    

A short time after taking her leave due to embarrassment. Tatsumi eventually got over being stunned by what had occurred, touching and releasing his hand from his lips, a deep sigh escaped from him. 

‘‘It seemed it wasn't just them, even my childhood friend. Hah, popularity…’’ Tatsumi said, bitterly mocking himself. 

‘‘... I really need a long night of sleep for this one.’’ Not knowing what to truly think about the matter for now, Tatsumi decided that only a good night of sleep would allow him to mull carefully about this. 

Leaving the matter at the back of his mind for now, Tatsumi made his way back to his room as well. 

Lying himself down on the bed, trying to sleep, his tone was a little helpless as he gazed over to the left side of the bed and saw a girl asleep next to him.

‘‘You really are persistent, huh? Fine, I’ll allow you to sleep here on the fact that it'd be a pain to kick you out now.’’ 

…    

Drip-Drop

The clouds were pitch black while a heavy rain poured down from the sky. 

In the hideout of the Night Raid, because the majority of its members were on a mission the place was less lively than most days. 

Tatsumi carefully stirred the pot, then taste-tested the soup, he closed the fire knowing that it was ready. He turned to his friends and inquired, ‘‘Is the meat perfectly cooked?’’   

‘‘Uh-hum, it’s all ready.’’ Ieyasu answered, taking out the meat from the oven. 

Thud! 

‘‘You weren’t lying when you said you’re clumsy, that should make 6 plates now that you drop and break.’’ 

Hearing the familiar sound of a glass plate shatter, Tatsumi wore a bitter expression while he directed his gaze toward a certain purple head with glass. 

Seeing her on the floor with a foolish expression while covered with food he became speechless, not knowing what to say to Sheele at this point.       

It was late at night, about 9 pm. They were the only three currently occupying the base of the Night Raid since the rest were out on important missions.                  

Having nothing to do Tatsumi had suggested all three work together to prepare a feast for when the rest come back. It was considered a ‘welcoming’ feast, Tatsumi suddenly thought of the idea because of remembering his Uncle. 

Back then, every time his Uncle and the other male members of the Village go hunting, and comes back late. 

While they might have faced a situation where they didn’t have much, still, using the little food they had, Tastumi tried his best to make a feast for when his Uncle came back from a dangerous hunting session. 

Finding the situation similar to then, Tatsumi thought of cooking a feast for his new… friends. 

However, unfortunately for him, during his stay in the Night Raid, he had never once witnessed Sheele’s terrible clumsiness so he asked her for help despite her insisting that she would only be getting in the way. 

And this is the result… After witnessing her messing up even the most basic task, Tatsumi felt she would be more helpful if she didn't try to do anything at all. 

‘‘I-I’m sorry, I’d trip again! I’ll clean this up quickly and get back to helping out!’’ 

Sheele repeatedly apologizes and tries to clean up the mess she caused. However, with how clumsy she was it ended in her falling and creating more mess instead. 

‘‘She’s… really something.’’ Ieyasu’s sweat dropped at how clumsy she was. ‘‘It’s a talent on her part at this point.’’ Tatsumi replied.       

‘‘Yeah.’’ Ieyasu nodded and agreed with him. 

‘‘Ha… you finish the cooking while I’ll go help her clean up. If she continued to do it alone we should expect the mess to become bigger.’’ Unable to stand watching the mess become more instead of lessening, Tatsumi lets Ieyasu do the rest of the cooking while deciding to help Sheele.    

‘‘T-thank you for helping me clean this mess up. I’m deeply sorry for being such a klutzy person.’’ 

‘‘It’s fine. I was the one who insisted on you helping us so don’t apologize, that would only make me feel awkward about it.’’ 

When they were done cleaning the mess, as Sheele repeatedly bowed her head and uttered words of apology, Tatsumi rubbed the back of his head, feeling beyond awkward since he was the one asking for her help in the first place.          

‘‘I-I’m sorry for making you—’’ 

‘‘Please, enough with all the sorry.’’ Not able to hear another word of apology, before she could even complete her sentence Tatsumi quickly stopped her. ‘‘Like I said, it’s fine. There is no need for you to feel bad.’’ He even smiled at her to make sure she understood. 

‘‘Now then Instead of dwelling over small matters like this, let’s go set the table and plates so when they're back everything would be ready for them to enjoy.’’ He proceeded to say when seeing her still hung up about this.           

 

Hearing his words of comfort, while still feeling bad, Sheele's expression couldn’t help brighten up but a bit. ‘‘Alright! I won’t mess up this time!’’ Cheering up slightly, Sheele said with strong determination. 

‘‘I believed in you,’’ Tatsumi lightly chuckled as he said. Sheele becomes more determined when seeing him chuckle with a smile. However, unbeknownst to her his words and his thoughts didn’t match up.           

 

Not really... He felt bad for thinking this, especially when she seemed to cheer up. But after watching how klutzy she could be, it was impossible for him to believe that she wouldn’t mess up setting up the table and plates.   

 

Proving that his thoughts were far from false. Just setting up the table and other stuff ended up taking them over half an hour and that included after Ieyasu came to help them. 

The only thing Tatsumi and Ieyasu could say was that — Sheele's talent for being clumsy was unmatched.   

…

‘‘Phew, finally we got everything done. That was so exhausting, I can’t believe it took us that long!’’ Leaning his head down on the table, Ieyasu tirelessly says. 

‘‘Ouch!’’ 

However, immediately after saying that he cried out in pain when his head was met with Tatsumi’s hand-chop. ‘‘Watch what you say, idiot.’’ At first, Ieyasu took to directly sending a glare at Tatsumi but when seeing his gaze directed toward Sheele, he felt bad right away.    

‘‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.’’ 

‘‘No, you don’t need to feel sorry. I know I’m a clumsy person and saying what’s on your mind doesn't offend me.’’ Sheele shook her head, slightly smiling as she said. 

‘‘That’s a relief.’’ Ieyasu felt relieved.     

While the two were talking, Tatsumi stared at Sheele, a glint of curiosity in his eyes. ‘‘Mhm, I’m curious. With how gentle you are, how did you end up joining the Night Raid?’’ He asked, curious to know how someone like Sheele could have become an assassin — A killer.    

When Tatsumi asks the question, Ieyasu also looks at Sheele in the same curious manner. He also wanted to know how Sheele ended up becoming an assassin with her personality. 

‘‘How did I become part of the Night Raid… well.’’ Being suddenly asked about her background, Sheele's foolish-like expression sported a light smile. She seemed to recall fond memories.    

As soon as she sported the light smile, Sheele began to retell them about her various situations and how it led her to becoming one of the Night Raid. 

‘‘That's how it is, being in the Night Raid allowed me to feel like I can be somewhat useful to people. And because… the Night Raid is like family to me.’’ When Sheele said her last few words, her smile couldn’t be any more breathtaking. 

Sheele was undoubtedly a beautiful woman, so when smiling like that, the deadly beauty she emitted was blinded. It caused Ieyasu's heart to stir greatly, a deep red blush forming on his face. 

So that’s how she winds up working in this type of Business. It seemed every member of Night Raid had their own reason and circumstance that eventually pulled them into becoming Night Raid.      

Tatsumi thoughtfully processed in his mind. 

Apparently, from Sheele's story, she grew up in a low-district part of the capital. But because she was born a naturally clumsy person, people around her considered her useless and isolated her from nearly all others. 

At some point in her past, Sheele had made a friend who didn’t mind her personality. However, that friend of hers had an ex-boyfriend that was mad at her for dumping him, so one night, the ex-boyfriend came and was about to kill her friend.  

However, Sheele killed the ex-boyfriend, revealing that she has a strange talent for killing. In the end, though, her friendship with that friend of hers had ended because of the event. 

Soon afterward, the man she had killed turned out to be part of a gang and sought revenge against her. They revealed to her that they had already murdered her parents. Despite hearing that, reacting calmly, Sheele proceeded to kill all the gang members.   

Later, after hearing of her strange talent Sheele was scouted by the revolution armies, and happy that her talent could be used to help the country and its people, she didn’t hesitate to join.

‘‘Though, that doesn't explain how you became part of Night Raid.’’ Ieyasu said when Sheele was done telling her story.                 

‘‘Oh that, General Najenda thought I would be more suited for the role of assassinating our enemy in the dark than fighting in the front line, so she had the revolutionary army transfer me to the Night Raid. And like I said, I’m glad, the Night Raid are like family to me.’’     

Right after Sheele answered Ieyasu's question with the same gentle smile. Outside of the dining room, many sounds of familiar footsteps could be heard throughout the hall. 

When identifying the sound of the footsteps, Tatsumi calmly gazed at the door and softly said. ‘‘It seemed they’re back, and all at the same time too. That’s convenient, if we have to wait for them one at a time the food would have long turned cold by then.’’ 

Bang! 

‘‘We’re back!’’ The door was pulled open and Leone's loud voice resounded through the dining room. ‘‘Mm, what's that smell— Wow! You guys actually cook a feast for us!’’ Even before entering the dining room, Leone could already smell the food, but seeing with her own eyes, her eyes instantly sparkled brightly.  

‘‘But where is the drink? You guys should know without it all the feast feels bland’’ Excited about the feast, Leone was left with disappointment when scanning her eyes over the dish and saw no booze within sight. 

Hearing what first came out of her mouth after coming back, Tatsumi rolled his eyes and sighed. ‘‘You’re something else, huh? Here, catch.’’ Immediately after saying that, he picked up a large bottle of Sake hidden close to him and threw it at her.   

Seeing the bottle of Sake flying toward her, Leone's eyes lit up, she directly caught the bottle without fail. ‘‘Aww~ You know me so well already, I think my love for you grew even more now.’’ With a heart-shaped gaze, the blonde said coquettely.        

Tatsumi's face twitched but didn’t become flustered like the other time. 

‘‘I don’t get it, is your mind only filled with booze? And, would you stop trying to flirt with him!’’ Mine was the second person to walk through the door. She said with a narrowing gaze when the first thing she saw was Leone asking for booze and flirting with Tatsumi.     

After her were Lubbock, Bulat, Najenda, Akame, Korome, and last was Sayo.   

The once place that lacks liveliness because of its lack of members in it directly brightened up. The atmosphere was full of smiles, laughter, and the happiness of knowing that another successful mission where everyone came back alive and well.   

‘‘Haa… I’m telling you, Ieyasu, why do I always encounter these situations during a mission? When a girl shows interest in me, it’s the one I had to kill.’’ 

‘‘That is a situation I’d never want to get into! How about you, Big Bro? Did the mission go well!’’ 

‘‘Of course, the mission went great!’’

‘‘Hmph, that’s all because you didn’t have to kill a girl. Well even if you do, you wouldn’t feel anything since you’re gay.’’ 

‘‘Come on now, don’t say such things so straightforwardly. Ieyasu would misunderstand.’’ 

‘‘Umm…’’  

The moment Bulat said that Ieyasu, who was in the middle between them, couldn't help but stiffen up. A shiver ran down his spine. 

Despite already knowing what was going to come out of Bulat's mouth when saying that, Lubbock also couldn’t hold himself back from shivering as well when hearing it.      

With the usual situation that occurs for him, Tatsumi was unsurprisingly being squashed between two people. This time, by Akame and Kurome. They had taken seats next to him before the other two could.  

Because of that, not only was he forced to withstand the two sisters sending each other an intense glare while competing for who could eat the most. And to say the least, their stomach capacity was terrifying.   

He was also being stared at strangely by three others. 

Namely Leone, Mine, and Najenda. 

Most who were in his situation would consider this a dream come true, being loved by so many beautiful girls. But for Tatsumi, the only thing he felt right now was annoyance, especially being sandwiched between the two. However, surprisingly enough he didn’t say or do anything to stop them. 

Part of that was because there was no use, and the other was because… a small side of him actually enjoyed their company very much even if he didn’t like being sandwiched between the two.  

Tatsumi’s gaze passed every member of the Night Raid; a light smile traced across his lips. This… isn’t so bad.

‘‘I’m full. I’ll be heading back to my room to sleep for the night,’’ Sayo said, suddenly standing up from her seat.    

And before anyone could say anything, she left immediately.  

…

‘‘You were on a mission with her. What happened to her, Leone?’’ Najenda lifted an eyebrow, inquiring about the strange way Sayo was acting to the person who should know best. 

Leone replied while she sighed. ‘‘She must still be shaken up about her first kill.’’ 

‘‘I’d see. If that is the case then we can’t do anything about it since she is bound to have to go through this. Better early than late.’’ Najenda uttered, relieved that it wasn’t because of some injury or anything.  

The original members of the Night Raid also look visibly relieved after hearing about Sayo’s situation from Leone. 

As for Sayo being shaken up over killing a person for the first time, they weren’t too worried since all of them had to go through this once.  

‘‘You guys can continue to eat, I’ll go have a talk with her.’’ Tatsumi stood up and said.   

‘‘Umm, should I as well?’’ Ieyasu said. 

‘‘I’ll be fine alone, you just continued to enjoy the feast with the rest.’’ 

‘‘Alright.’’ Ieyasu nodded, watching him leave through the door. 

‘‘Despite how he looks and acts in training, he is caring toward you two.’’ Bulat comments after Tatsumi fully leaves. ‘‘Yeah, he is.’’ Ieyasu smiled. 

Everyone could see that the smile and his words were truly genuine.

‘‘That is why he is like an older Brother to us when growing up.’’ Ieyasu said. 

Older Brother, huh? That girl seemed to have other thoughts, though… Leone said in her mind. With her powerful smell, during that night she had noticed Sayo, it’s just that she had pretended not to.