After the successful mission all of Night Raid is inside their temporary base in Kyoroch. Despite having succeeded in their mission none of the members of Night Raid are in all that high of spirits. The death of Susanoo has hit the group hard. Najenda has been affected the most by his passing, as is to be expected. However, despite all of this she calls for a meeting the following morning.
Najenda: "Well done on completing the mission yesterday. I was expecting higher casualties in fighting against Esdeath. Yet none of us died in the fight other than Susanoo. We shall be leaving Kyoroch today and making our way back to the Capital."
(F/N): "What path are you planning on taking back to the Capital?"
Najenda: "The most natural choice would be the western road. However, I am sure that it will be well protected as the Jaegers are sure to want to keep us from making it back to the Capital. As such it may take longer, but we will head north and then west through the trees. By doing so we will be able to avoid the Jaegers completely."
(F/N): "I apologize for having to do this now, but I have business I have to take care of on the western road. Even if we took it, I would have to split from the group eventually. However, as that is not the path you plan on taking I am as well just go my own way from the start."
Tatsumi: "So you are abandoning us after this fight."
(F/N): "Not really. I made a promise years ago, even before I met Akame that I must keep. It has come time for me to make good on that promise. To do so I have to travel on the western road. After I have finished my business I will make my way to our base near the Capital as well."
Akame: "I am sure whatever you need to do is important, so I won't try to stop you. Just make sure that you come back."
(F/N): "I wish that is a promise I could make. I honestly don't know if I will survive the battle that I must undertake. However, I will try my best to survive."
Najenda: "It is clear to me that even if I ordered you to not go, you still would. However, I must ask if the danger of fulfilling this promise is worth the damage the revolution would take if you fail."
(F/N): "That is something I don't know. However, the person I made the promise to I owe a great deal to. As such I cannot go back on my promise."
Najenda: "Just try to be safe."
Following that meeting the members of Night Raid all begin making their preparations to leave behind Kyoroch. This does not take very long, as none of them had all that much that they brought to begin with. Once this is done they say farewell to (F/N) as he leaves ahead of everyone to make his way along the western road. As he goes, he is worried about if he really is strong enough to defeat the Reaper in battle. Regardless of if he is or not, (F/N) knows that he needs to go to meet the Reaper for the succession battle.
Once they have all said goodbye to (F/N) the rest of the members of Night Raid wait until dark, and then make their way north out of the city. As they begin traveling all of them are rather quiet thinking about how much this mission really cost them. However, as a result of this mission the revolution is going to be able to get underway in just a short amount of time.
The members of Night Raid leave the city limits under the cover of dark and travel north for a short distance before they finally change course and start heading west, back towards the Capital. The mood slowly starts to improve after they have been traveling for several days. Although it is clear that many of them are worried about if (F/N) will be able to make it back to the Capital safely.
After having traveled for several days, the team decides that they should stop and rest for a day. Tatsumi and Chelsea go out to gather firewood for the group, while Akame and Leone go and hunt for food. Mine and Najenda stay back at the campsite that they have set up for the day.
While they are out traveling, looking for firewood Tatsumi and Chelsea begin to talk.
Chelsea: "So Tatsumi, how are you handling Sue's death? I know that you were pretty close to him."
Tatsumi: "Honestly, it hurt a lot when he died. It was just like when Bro died. If only I had been stronger than I could have done something. Yet when it comes down to it, I was not strong enough to save him."
Chelsea: "You cannot beat yourself up over that. I mean you saw how not even Akame could beat Esdeath. She is the strongest member of the team, so if she couldn't you shouldn't expect to be able to beat Esdeath yourself."
Tatsumi: "I realize that, but when it comes down to it I failed to protect someone that I care about again. Even though I have Incursio now, and have gotten stronger I still cannot keep those that I care about safe. How am I supposed to help fix this messed up Empire if I cannot even do that."
Chelsea: "You can't. The good news is that you don't have to do it alone. All of Night Raid is here to help. I am sure that if we work together then we will be able to tear this Empire down, and replace it with something better."
Tatsumi: "I hope that you are right about that, Chelsea."
Chelsea: "If you try to do more than you can handle, then you are just going to end up dead, and I don't want that to happen."
Tatsumi: "Yeah I can understand that. You lost all of your former teammates, so I am sure you don't want to lose anymore."
Chelsea: "That is true, but I really don't want to lose you Tatsumi. Your kind heart is something that is so rare to find in this world. Being around you has made me go kind of soft, but I am not sure that is a bad thing. I think being able to get to know you has made me a better person, so I want to be able to continue to be with you."
There is a short pause before Chelsea begins speaking again.
Chelsea: "Hey Tatsumi, what are you planning on doing after this war is over?"
Tatsumi: "I am not really sure. I would like to go back to my village I guess and help it recover from the poverty that it has been stricken with."
Chelsea: "I am not sure that I would be able to help much with that, but would you be willing to let me go with you?"
Tatsumi: "You want to come with me to my village?"
Chelsea: "Well I really just want to stay with you. If you are going back to your village then I will go with you."
Tatsumi: "I am not sure I really get what you are trying to say."
Chelsea: "So you are going to make me actually say it then. Tatsumi I have fallen in love with you and want to stay with you for the rest of my life. There now I said it, so don't keep pushing me to say it again."
Tatsumi: "Chelsea I had no idea you felt that way. I would love it if you would come back to my village with me."
Chelsea: "Good then, I guess we are dating then?"
Tatsumi while approaching Chelsea: "Yes. Let's make it official now."
Tatsumi grabs Chelsea and kisses her. The two share one kiss after the next for several minutes before finally separating from one another.
Meanwhile Akame and Leone have finished their hunting and are making their way back to the campsite.
Leone: "Akame how are you feeling about (F/N) taking off like that?"
Akame: "He is a valuable ally, so I don't like that he left. I don't want him getting hurt, but I have to trust that he knows what he is doing."
Leone: "So you only think of him as an ally and friend then. I thought there was something more going on there. I was planning on making a move on Tatsumi, but last night Chelsea told me that she had fallen for him. If you aren't into (F/N) I may just have to try my luck with him."
Akame: "It is not that I don't have feelings for him, it is something else that is stopping me."
Leone: "What do you mean?"
Akame: "I will tell you, but don't tell (F/N) because I don't know how he will react. Years ago when I was still in the Elite Seven after a battle with the Oarburgh clan, Kurome and I were about to go to sleep when she decided to talk to me. She asked me what it meant to be in love with someone. I had never really been in love before so I was not sure how to answer that. I told her that if you are in love with someone you want to be with them all the time, and put what they want above your own desires. I was surprised when Kurome next said to me that she thought she was in love with (F/N). Knowing that my sister felt that way I can't bring myself to pursue a relationship beyond friendship with (F/N)."
Leone: "Oh, that is pretty sweet of you. You are putting your own feelings off just because your sister is into him. That was years ago though, she may not feel that way now. Also she is the enemy and you plan on killing her don't you."
Akame: "I guess you are right about that. Although I would much rather that (F/N) succeed in his goal. He wants to find a way to help Kurome without killing her. Honestly, I have not seen him that determined about very many things. Part of me thinks that he is in love with her, which is the real reason he refuses to fight her. It is hard to say exactly what his feelings are though."
Leone: "You think that if he found out that Kurome was in love with him at one point, (F/N) may join her in the Jaegers and betray us."
Akame: "It is hard to say. As well as I would like to think I know (F/N), there are some things that he just doesn't share out loud. He may leave Night Raid and join the Jaegers to be with Kurome for any number of reasons."
Leone: "Well I think your real concern should be him just surviving whatever he is doing right now. After all he didn't seem sure that he would."
Akame: "I know that he will. (F/N) is more resilient than he looks. To be honest if he really was determined to, I think he may even be able to beat Esdeath. However, for some reason he often holds himself back when he fights. It is like he is not using all of his combat skills for some reason."
Leone: "Well lets just hope that he makes it back to the base safely."