Sheele sat down on top of the small hill covered in green grass and looked up at the endless dot of stars flashing in the sky in a calm and peaceful manner until her body suddenly jolted in a startle when sensing a presence observing her.  

‘‘Who?’’ Sheele traced her attention away from the stars and onto the presence she had sensed observing her. But the instant her gaze lay on said presence and noticed who it was, her surprise didn’t last long as she only uttered. ‘‘Tatsumi. Why are you out here?’’ 

When noticed that she had caught onto his presence, Tatsumi averted his gaze from the stars and toward her. Smiling lightly, he answered her question. ‘‘I just happened upon you leaving the building and felt curious and following. Sorry if that bothers you.’’ 

He added a little word of apology simply because he didn’t imagine people like being stalked even for simple reasons like being curious; because he certainly wouldn’t like it if it happened to him.   

As always, with how kind and understanding Sheele was in the very short time he knew her, the girl plainly nodded and said. ‘‘It's alright.’’ 

Tatsumi strode over to the small hill and went up to stand next to her, who was sitting down, carefully watching his action in a somewhat stoic expression. ‘‘The stars are quite beautiful, aren’t they?’’ Not minding her stoicism, he calmly asked, breaking the silence.   

‘‘Hmm,’’ Sheele nods.

Decided to sit down beside her soon after, not caring about how few words she was speaking, he continued to ask. ‘‘Do you come up here often by yourself in the middle of the night to look at the stars?’’ 

‘‘Yeah, and to also read quietly.’’ That question seemed to cause the girl to become more interesting, outwardly showing more expression now. ‘‘It’s really nice up here at night, the fresh air blowing at your face feels… good. Ugh! Am I talking too much, sorry?’’ Realizing that she must have spoken too much, Sheele readily apologized for it.

‘‘No, you're not.’’ Tatsumi shook his head and replied, then letting a slight teasing chuckle, he continued. ‘‘Besides, seeing you looking excited while talking about something makes you seem silly and rather… cute.’’ He eyed her directly when saying that. 

‘‘Mhm...um…!’’ Having been made fun of and at the same time being complimented, caused Sheele to feel embarrassed, squeezing the small pink blanket wrapped around her shoulder, she didn’t know what to say.   

The sight of her acting like this only caused the boy next to her to chuckle harder, earning more embarrassment out of her. Eventually, unable to take the teasing... 

‘‘Um… why do you like teasing me?’’ Sheele asked, and with a slight pause continued. ‘‘And you look more relaxed when talking to me… why?’’ 

Sheele had been curious about this matter for quite some time, but couldn’t bring out the matter because she didn’t know how nor did she want to pry without him talking about it first since everyone had their own secret.    

But because of his teasing at this moment, Sheele ended up asking anyway.              

‘‘You're asking about that?’’ Tatsumi smiled. 

‘‘Hm,’’ Sheele stiffly nodded. 

‘‘If you truly want to know; it’s not a big deal so I’ll tell you why…’’ He didn’t know why but seeing her acting stiffly or nervous—made him want to laugh in amusement. ‘‘Heh heh, it’s because you aren’t a mystery that I can't understand nor do you always give me such weird looks all the time like them. So I felt more comfortable talking with you.’’ 

‘‘...?’’ Sheele looked confused, not completely understanding what he was saying. ‘‘I... umm… don’t quite understand yet.’’ 

‘‘Plainly put; you already know that Akame, Leone, Mine, Kurome, and even… Najenda holds strong affection for me, right? However, the problem is the fact I myself don't know even after trying hard to wrap my head around it. Leaving me with a very strong headache most of the time over the matter. 

‘‘Moreover, when I question them about it they avoid the answer. As for the weird look they give me, well… to be more blunt about it, their gaze that seemed to always contain affection and love is a little uncomfortable at times

‘‘The reason I found your company more relaxing is because, unlike them, I see no such thing in your eyes and your actions prove that as well. And with you being the only female here to act like that—your company is just that much better.

‘‘As for teasing and messing with you, sorry, but you just act far too silly at times that it’s hard not too. That’s all.’’        

Tatsumi explains to Sheele the truth as to why being around her makes him far more relaxed than other girls around here, and why he also loves messing with her at times. 

Sheele listens intently the whole time without interrupting; and when hearing about why he loves messing with her. She couldn’t help but hold her face in red embarrassment and shame.              

      

But while holding her face in red embarrassment and shame, Sheele also felt a warmth of happiness flow through her. After hearing his heartfelt confession, she was genuinely happy that he found her company enjoyable.

For someone like her; who in the past, had nobody who liked interacting with her except for that one person or found her company enjoyable. She felt glad when a person found her presence enjoyable to be around, allowing her to feel useful in some forms or ways.      

‘‘I’m sorry if my explanation was a bit too long.’’ Despite knowing her character quite a bit in their short time knowing each other, Tatsumi couldn’t help but say just to see her fluster.     

                                                                  

Just like how he expected, Sheele directly fidgeted from his words and waved her hands around; feeling flustered. 

‘‘No no no, it’s fine! It wasn’t long at all.’’

‘‘Ha ha ha…!’’ Tatsumi directly laughed out loud. 

Sheele, when noticing the laugh and the smile full of pleasant amusement, knowing she was just being toyed with again, stopped fidgeting and only remained silent with her face completely red.          

‘‘Your expressions really are just priceless, Sheele.’’ Tatsumi tried to hold himself back from laughing, but couldn't do so. ‘‘... um, p-please stop. I-I can’t take it.’’ Sheele eventually couldn’t take it and said while stammering.   

At this point, she was left utterly speechless and helpless at the constant teasing. What felt even more embarrassing for her is the fact that the person having fun teasing her is someone who was a few years younger than her.   

Leaving her feeling ashamed that as an older one; she could only take the teasing one-sidedly without being able to form a response to a comeback of her own. 

‘‘Alright, alright, I’ll stop!’’ Seeing that she really was desperately asking him to stop, and not wanting to take things too far if it made her uncomfortable. He utters, forcing himself to stop and wipe away the tiny teardrop forming around the corner of his eyes from laughing too hard. 

‘‘Phew, thank you.’’ Noticing him really stopping as he said, feeling relieved, Sheele took her palm away from her face and looked at him while saying.  

Tatsumi didn’t respond to her ‘thank you’, instead choosing to avert his gaze to the countless sprinkle of stars out there in the pitch black sky. 

‘‘I get why you choose to come up here late at night—the stars here really are beautiful.’’ Tatsumi calmly closed his eyes for a moment, then continued. ‘‘I’m sure Uncle would have liked to see this sight as well.’’ 

‘‘Uncle? Is he an important member of your family?’’ Hearing the term ‘Uncle’ from him, curiosity piqued, Sheele slowly asked.  

‘‘He’s not only the most important member of my family… he’s my only relative.’’ Tatsumi replies in a low voice. 

‘‘... can you tell me more about him?’’ Noticing how quiet the boy had gotten, Sheele gazed at him deeply for a time before parted her lips and asked. 

At her question, Tatsumi's gaze tilted toward her—a wide and surprisingly, seemingly childlike grin took over his expression in that single instance. ‘‘Sure, I’ll tell you all about him! Even his embarrassing moment!’’ 

He then began his retelling of stories of his Uncle to Sheele, from when he was nothing more than a child raised by him to when they departed from the village a few months ago. 

He described everything in detail to her, leaving out only small details that weren’t meant to be told or heard by others. 

Sitting atop the small green hill; as the starlight glimmered and the round and beautiful moon hung high overhead, shining brightly in majestic heavenly appearance. One recounts stories from the past with a smile and laugh loud enough to be heard from afar while another quietly listens intently to it.  

The sight, if looked from afar, would seem rather peaceful, and almost inexplicably beautiful.  

After a while, the story finally came to an end.

‘‘...’’ Sheele remained silent, her eyes leering up at the moon, thinking about the story that had been told to her. 

Long smooth purple hair fluttered about in the wind, purple eyes contained endless kindness, a wide smile showing pearl white teeth in full view with gentle smiles. ‘‘Your Uncle, he sounds like a great and kind person.’’ 

‘‘Yeah…’’ Tatsumi nodded in reply. 

That’s why… that’s why… I’ll kill that Minister no matter what! Tatsumi's hands tightened, and strong anger seeped rapidly through his heart.      

The memories of that night were still very vivid in his mind; never leaving him even now. And every time it surfaces in his mind, knowing the cause of that night, the hatred he harbors only seeps into his heart further.

…

Later that night when Tatsumi got back to his room, a certain short black-hair girl taking over half of his bed inquired where he had been—her tone was laced with suspicion and curiosity.   

 

Tatsumi wasn’t too shocked that he would be questioned; despite how this girl seemed to be asleep during the night most of the time. 

She was quite perceptive about his presence in the room; every time he either took a bathroom break or simply walked out to get a drink of water during the night, he would be back with her staring and nodding at him like a newlywed waiting for her husband to return every day after work.           

Suffice to say, when it started to happen the first time he was a little unnerved by it. However, despite what he felt about it, he didn’t say anything about it since it didn’t seem like something to make a big deal of.

At her inquiry, Tatsumi made up an excuse such as needing a long bathroom break. When her expression still showed doubt over the excuse he had made for some reason, he didn't bother explaining anymore and simply slipped into bed and closed his eyes to sleep.      

Her agitated expression at the end before he fully closed his eyes made him feel that... his metaphor of using the term ‘newlywed’ seemed actually accurate in a lot of ways. But this time it was different… to more accurately put it now. 

It felt more like a newlywed having caught onto a suspicious action of her husband and becoming suspicious of what he was doing during the night for him to walk out and come back late. 

Having these strange thoughts flood his mind while he was trying to sleep caused Tatsumi to shift around to look at Kurome's side and… Flick her forehead suddenly, earning a yelp from her. 

Feeling satisfied after that little action of his, Tatsumi ignored the bewildered glare he received and was able to fall asleep successfully with no interrupted thoughts invading his mind further.

…

Waking up the next day, Tatsumi's schedule was the same as usual.   

The first thing after waking was have his room become occupied with noise from his roommate and the certain other girl who didn’t like the idea at all but couldn’t stop it so she could only antagonize his roommate like this early in the morning, leading to a heated argument between the two that lasted slightly longer than an hour if he was lucky, or more if not.   

While that was going on he was in the shower, cleaning himself for the day ahead. Afterward, Tatsumi had his morning breakfast with the rest of the Night Raid members and then did the chores that were assigned to him for the day.  

He then trained in the training ground with Sayo, Ieyasu, and Bulat, who was mostly helping them; pointing out the things they needed to work on to improve. He was included in the category. 

While Tatsumi was strong, there were still many areas he needed to work on that he himself did not notice. And with someone as experienced as Bulat, after sparring with Tatsumi he was naturally able to find those areas that needed improvement.    

Thereafter, Tatsumi was cornered by Akame, who as he expected; was looking for revenge for the other day. 

Knowing where this was going before Akame could even challenge Tatsumi, he chose the initiative and challenged her first by telling her to follow him to the training ground. Where they held their second spar.    

Unsurprisingly… Tatsumi lost the battle this time around. 

As Tatsumi had expected, the method he had used the last time didn’t work against Akame again. In fact, before he could think to initiate it in the first place, she outskilled him and dealt him one heavy blow after another. 

Eventually, with an unmatched skill and experience surpassing him. Tatsumi, though trying his best and was able to hold his own for a while, was eventually defeated and had his sword sent flying and a pointy tip of a sword pointed close to his throat.   

After losing, despite already guessing the outcome beforehand, Tatsumi was still unconvinced and demanded a rematch which all ended with him losing.           

Afterward, Tatsumi hung out with Sayo, talking about their past when growing up and laughing at many fond memories together. 

Later late into noon, he also hung out with Ieyasu and Lubbock and got dragged into their ploy to sneak a peek at the Night Raid females taking a relaxing hot-spring break. 

Unsurprisingly enough; there were traps and the two idiots fell for it and were beaten as a punishment for trying to sneak a peek at them. As for Tatsumi himself, he had fled long before that happened. 

Though, he wasn’t really sure even if he had not fled, would he get beat the same as them or not? A small part of his mind doubts it. 

The sun then began to set from the west, quickly disappearing soon after, and allowing night to claim the world in its absence.   

That night, Akame revealed her victory against Tatsumi, causing him to step onto the stage of being laughed at this time around.

If Tatsumi was irritated, he didn’t show it, choosing to remain silent throughout the entire dinner and not respond to any teasing remarks from his friends in the Night Raid. 

After dinner, all proceeded to their nightly slumber…

Though not completely the same; several days passed by in this manner.        

…

Somewhere in the Capital Empire. During the late night where the sky is pitch black with the Blood Moon surfacing right above.

Deep into the thickening darkness, at a location near a certain unknown alleyway. A cry of terror suddenly resounded… before going silent completely as quickly as it was heard.   

Within that location near an alleyway and where the cry of terror was heard—a woman with tears threatening to spill from her eyes was held by the throat and lifted 1 or 2 feet above ground with a terror shrieking expression.

Voice brimming with fear, the woman pleading with the one holding her by the throat. ‘‘P-please I’ll, I’ll do anything! L-let me l-l-live!’’ Her plea was stammered through almost every word.   

‘‘Anything?’’ The one holding her by the throat echoed her plea with a large and wide grin, showing all his white and large teeth that only induced more terror into the woman.    

Below his feet was the body of a male with a severed head and eyes wide open; showing terror before his impending demise. The blood from the detached head and body flowed out freely through the stone pavement, blooding his boot in red.   

As the woman's gaze shifted toward the horrific sight—terror deepened further and her complexion became paler than it already was because of the trepidation that had befall her over being caught by this terrifying man, coming straight out of a nightmare in horror stories.

‘‘Y-yes! I-I don’t want to die!’’ The woman pleaded again, this time tears that were previously threatening to fall, unable to hold them back any longer, had already fallen and dripped down on the man's glove. 

‘‘Anything you say?’’ The man grinned further when seeing her terror shrieking face. ‘‘Then tell me… how does it feel to not have a head attached to your body?’’ The man inquired.   

‘‘Huh?’’ The woman reacted with confusion at first; not knowing that her body had already been severed from the head and dropping down to the stone pavement. Only when hearing the dropping noise did her eyes unconsciously look down, and widen in disbelief. ‘‘What!?’’ 

Those two words were the only thing the woman could utter before going silent forever.

The mood was engulfed in an eerie silence for a moment after the woman’s death, it was then broken off by the man's loud laughter, harboring insanity within it.   

‘‘Happy, happy! This truly is the best!!’’ The man said with pure joy framing his face. ‘‘Hahaha…!!’’ 

The Blood Moon that was once covered up by the cloud and prevented most light from reaching near here, parted away, causing the place to brighten up.    

The horrific scene of the man laughing maddeningly and the two decapitated bodies could now be fully seen from afar. Any onlooker would have been shivering in terror at the gruesome sight!