#73 Reunion

I used my Wriggler Flies to find where Kurome currently is before going to her.

"Kurome?" I called out to her when I saw her sitting on the couch while she was cleaning her katana made by me with a big smile across her face.

"Oh?! Yes, Nii-sama?" She was slightly startled since she looked like she was thinking about something really hard before I interrupted her.

"Tell me, do you want to meet up with your sister?" I asked her with a small smile.

"?! Um..." Her eyes widened when she heard me however when she opened her mouth to answer, nothing came out of it.

"Don't worry, I won't be sending you somewhere alone, you will be going on a trip with me and there is a chance that we will also meet your sister." I explained with a patient smile.

"Um...I- I want to go with Nii-sama!" She sheathed her katana and abruptly stood up while gripping her weapon with a determined expression.

Is she hiding her true emotions on purpose? I understand that such a question after 8 years must be very confusing but shouldn't she be at least a little bit happier?

----Somewhere on the plains, halfway from the Capital to the Putolu----

'Hmm, so that old geezer was able to get in contact with him, huh? Apparently, we will have to remain here for some time but considering the time it took him to receive his answer and then send another message to me...they should be here in a few days at max. Anyway, it is a good thing that he will be joining us now that Gai is recovering from her injuries. That Katsura Akuma really did a number on him. To think that only one kick from him was able to render someone tough as Gai into such a state while he was wearing his Shingu armor...Even the armor itself was slightly damaged. I made a good call not to fight with him at that time.' Gozuki thought while watching his "kids" practicing with new resolved expressions. For example, Cornelia who knew that she completely lost against Taeko was training especially hard.

'But it looks like we only benefited from it, they are more motivated to grow stronger than ever and no one of our group died. Still...Oarburgh...what a terrifying enemy. They will probably come after us again, even if that girl will no longer be there with them.' Gozuki thought while watching the blue sky with dull eyes.

"Cornelia, this time, I won't lose!" Poney shouted while hitting her chest with a determined expression before she sprinted over to Cornelia.

...

'I need to get stronger!' Akame thought while slashing around with her katana with a frustrated expression and while gritting her teeth.

"Akame...are you alright?" Green approached Akame when he noticed her frustrated expression while adjusting his glasses.

"? Green...I am fine, sorry for making you worry." Akame snapped her head at Green and when she saw his concerned face, she finally calmed down a bit.

'Sis...where are you?' Akame thought with a slightly sad expression while looking at the distant horizon.

...

'That guy...He didn't even use any refined technique in his strike yet he was able to blow me away while I was using my Water Dragon Sword's transformation.' Najasho, on the other hand, stood still in place while holding his sword tightly in one hand with his eyes closed, recalling the fight with Katsura.

.

.

In the evening.

"Alright everyone, come here!" Gozuki shouted and gathered everyone.

"What is going on, daddy?" Cornelia asked with a cautious expression, if it was before, she would usually ask with a smile on her face but after everything that happened...

"I am going to explain the next mission for you..." Gozuki said and proceed to explain the mission concerning Putolu and "recovering" the stolen treasures from the tombs guarded by the Gravekeepers but he made sure to twist his words a bit and not just leaving it at "they stole from the Empire" since it could be with a little difficulty confirmed.

"I will explain the rest tomorrow, for now, just rest, we will most likely move out tomorrow in the afternoon." Gozuki stopped his explanation and everyone nodded their heads.

Although they were slightly confused about why he won't explain everything right now, no one voiced it out.

.

.

.

The next day.

"Uuuuggghh! It's boring." Poney complained while looking at the sky with dull eyes.

"Then go practice your kicks and don't disturb everyone else, shrimp" Najasho threw her a little glance before he calmly replied while sitting on the ground, reading a book.

"But I practiced the entire morning! Why are we even waiting here since we have mission to do?" Poney exclaimed with a tired tone before letting her body fall back first on the ground full of grass.

"...Daddy? Is there any specific reason why we are still waiting here? You also said that you will explain the rest of our mission today." Cornelia who is always treated as big sister asked Gozuki who was completely ignoring Poney's complaints.

"We are waiting for someone, they should be arriving any time soon but they can also arrive later. Since Gai is still recovering, he will substitute him. I want to explain the rest of the mission to everyone, including him so I don't have to repeat myself twice."

"Hm? Is he strong enough to substitute for someone like Gai? After all, his kill rank is No. 2" Green suddenly asked with furrowed brows since he didn't like the idea of working with someone unknown. He had no idea if he is reliable and if he even has a strength to be reliable in the first place.

"Heh, there is no need for such worries." Gozuki actually chuckled with closed eyes and folded arms.

"Oh? He is that strong?! Who is he?" Poney immediately asked aloud with a cheerful and interested tone while looking around at everyone with sparkling eyes.

"Calm down, shrimp. Father, what kill rank would you give him? I think that we would be more assured to know at least this much" Najasho calmed Poney down and asked while looking at Gozuki with curious eyes.

"Kill rank, huh? I would give him kill rank No. 0." Gozuki muttered while thinking back to the time where Akashi left the forest without acquiring any injury, there wasn't even a speck of dirt on his clothes.

'Although he was a bit older than other kids, to clear that test so effortlessly...' Gozuki thought while looking at the distant horizon but he had no idea that his muttering will earn him quite a reaction from his "kids"

"What?!" Everyone was shocked by Gozuki's words.

"Daddy, what do you mean by No. 0? Isn't No. 1 the strongest?" Poney immediately asked while throwing a quick glance at Najasho.

"Forget it, some of you might even remember him. After all, he was together with you in the forest that day. Just wait until he will arrive- hm? Looks like he is finally here, look." Gozuki shook his head and said another shocking fact but before he was able to finish his sentence he noticed someone walking on the road dividing the plains into 2 halves.

Everyone immediately turned in the same direction just to see two figures slowly approaching them.

One was a black-haired girl wearing a gray sleeveless shirt and mini skirt with a red belt, she was also munching the cookies.

The other figure was a red-haired man with a bored look in his face, he was wearing a black military uniform that was fluttering in the wind, both of his hands were in the pockets which indicated his indifference and boredom he felt.

He was wearing a very similar uniform to which Najasho was wearing with the exception of color. One was wearing black and the other was wearing white.

"...He looks like a dark upgraded version of you, Najasho...?!" Poney said with a teasing smile while glancing at Najasho who had a serious expression on his face which alarmed her.

"I remember him." Najasho said with a dead-serious tone that attracted everyone's attention except for Akame's who was staring at the figure of that girl with wide-open shaky eyes.

"What do you mean?" Green asked with a curious expression since he couldn't recall him at all.

"He is the kid that joined us at last second during the test and he was also the last one to exit that forest, however, he walked out of there with a smile on his face without any scratches on his clothes." Najasho explained with narrowed eyes.

"?!" Everyone's eyes widened after hearing Najasho's words.

"Oh! I remember now! If I recall correctly, he just left after the test ended and he even took someone with-" Cornelia suddenly remembered and said aloud but before she could finish her sentence, she saw the girl next to the man suddenly start running towards them which alarmed everyone but none of them actually draw their weapons since they didn't feel any hostility from her plus their "father" was with them.

---Akashi's POV---

Looks like we found them without any complications.

I thought when I saw 7 people standing or sitting on the ground in the plains.

"Kurome, why don't you go ahead? I don't feel like running." I said with a small smile towards Kurome who was looking at Akame with wide-open eyes.

She looked at me with slightly confused eyes before she nodded and started running.

"?! Kuro-" Akame shaky voice got cut off when Kurome jumped on her, making her fall into the grass.

This alarmed other members of Akame's team but they instantly turned dumbfounded.

"Big sis~! I am so happy to see you again!" Kurome exclaimed while rubbing her cheek to Akame's cheek.

"Kurome!" Akame finally regained her posture and called out her name with a big smile on her face while hugging her sister.

"...So that's Akame's sister?" Tsukushi muttered and everyone who was paying attention to Akame and Kurome but a few people were still looking at me.

Especially Gozuki, Najasho, and Poney.

---

'*Ta-thump* Why do I feel like I know him? Could it be because he was with us during that test' Poney heart skipped a beat when she looked at Akashi more closely, especially into his red eyes with vertical pupils.

---

"Greetings, Gozuki" When I finally arrived in front of them, the first one I greeted was Gozuki since I "didn't" know anyone else here.

"Hello, it is good news that you will be joining us. It's been 8 years and I would have never thought at that time that you would become widely known as Red Devil." Gozuki got up from the ground and said with a small smile.

"Red Devil?" Both Poney and Najasho muttered with a thoughtful expression.

"I wouldn't say widely known, it's just within the Capital and its surroundings. Anyway, I should probably introduce myself to everyone." I said with a wry smile before raising my voice a bit to gather everyone's attention.

"A-Akashi?" Just now, Akame finally spotted me since her eyes laid the entire time on her sister.

"Well, I will be going with you all on your mission to Putolu so we will be working together for the time being. My name is Akashi of the Phoenix house but you can just call me Akashi." I introduced myself with a slightly tired tone and half-open eyes.

"I am Poney, nice to meet you, new temporary partner!" Poney immediately puffed out her almost flat chest and extended her fist to me with a wide smile, showing off her white teeth.

Now I feel slightly awkward since she is the one I was fighting against for a few minutes. But it's nothing I can't control, the most awkward situation will be with...Cornelia since I was intending to let Taeko kill her while I had no thoughts of killing Poney. Whatever, I am here just to steal a few treasures for myself and that's all.

"It's nice to meet you, shortie." I said with a small smile and bumped fists with her.

"? S-Shortie?" She muttered with a dumbfounded expression before her head and shoulders dropped down in disappointment with the new nickname.

---

'I just wanted to make a good first impression but instead, I got myself such a nickname...But it doesn't have to necessarily represent a bad thing! Maybe he means it in a way that I am cute! Yes! That must be it.' Poney thought with a disappointed expression before she suddenly raised her head with wide-open eyes and clenched her fist in the realization that such a nickname doesn't only represent one's height.

---

Everyone quickly introduced themselves to me.

"Most of you already know my companion but I will still introduce her. She is Kurome, a biological sister of Akame here." I said while gesturing with my hand to Kurome who already recovered from her state of happiness and now kept standing next to me with a smile.