Akame Ga Kill: Uprising

Chapter 9: Kill the Lust for Combat

3rd Person POV

Training Yard

"Okay!" Mine shouted, bursting through the door to the training yard, hand raised. Several weeks after Bulat's death, her arm had fully recovered, and she was now ready to put herself back where she should be. "Which one of you is gonna train with me?!"

"Sorry to disappoint," James grunted, sweat dripping down his bare chest as he, Tatsumi, and Lubbock did pushups, their shirts (and in James's case, a jacket) discarded. On James's back sat Akame, legs crossed while Leone did the same on Tatsumi's. Lubbock, fortunately—

(A/N) Or in his case, unfortunately.

—had no one on his back.

"I'm glad your arm's feeling better," Akame said, smiling slightly as James grunted, the muscles in his arms straining as sweat dripped down from his forehead.

"What are you guys doing?" Mine demanded, staring at them incredulously.

"These idiots weren't getting anywhere with their training, so we decided to help out," Leone said, winking down at Tatsumi below her.

"Sure, that was the reason," James muttered, and a wave of embarrassment seeped through the Drift as Akame's face reddened and she glanced away, trying to kill her emotions as fast as possible. She failed.

"Just keep exercising," Akame muttered, her face blanking as James chuckled before returning to his exercise, holding his own considerably well compared to Tatsumi and Lubbock.

"I never realized..." Tatsumi grunted, straining under Leone's weight, "until I actually put on Incursio, how fast that thing can take a toll on my stamina. If I wanna wear it for long battles like Bro did, I'm gonna have to bulk up. With the way I am right now, I can only go invisible for about a second."

James snorted. "We're getting off lucky. During pilot training, the Marshal had us run three laps around the Shatterdome."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Lubbock commented.

James stared at him. "It's three miles around the base. That's like running the inner wall of the capital three times before breakfast, if you want a comparison of what my warmup was like."

Everyone's jaw dropped, a hint of surprise bursting past Akame's façade as well. "WHAT?!"

"And that's when the Marshal was being merciful," James chuckled and glanced at Mine, whose face was reddening as she stared at Tatsumi's half-naked body. Looks like someone likes what she sees, James commented, and Akame bit back a laugh.

Blushing furiously, Mine quickly turned her attention to Lubbock. "It's a bit unusual to see you getting all sweaty, Lubb," she commented. "Especially since no one's sitting on you."

"Well, since the team is down to only three guys now, figured it's about time I started getting a little bit more serious," Lubbock replied.

"It's cute when you talk all big," Leone taunted playfully. "Especially since you haven't done half as many pushups as Tatsumi here. Though I gotta say, I'm pretty sure Akame's enjoying her new seat," Leone said, winking at James. "And you don't seem to be complaining about it~"

James flashed her a glare, quietly relieved that he managed to block the Drift before his emotions came through. Unbeknownst to him, however, Akame felt similar emotions and confusion coursing through her. These... feelings... they're like what I felt with Kurome, but... different?