Chapter 23
(Raijyou)
"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice slightly shaky. "Go back."
"Yes, not without your head, though," she nonchalantly replied.
She held a tight grip on her sword, unsheathing it as she gave me an angry glare.
"Look, I know you saw me going with Esdeath but, this isn't the time to be killing me now. I don't intend to betray you," I said convincingly.
"Like I would believe you. You saw our territory and now that I know you're one of our enemies, I will kill you without any hesitation," she sternly said as she pointed her sword at me.
"I would never expose your territory. Believe me Akame."
"Sorry but, I can't overlook your sin. Let me obliterate you."
She suddenly dashed towards me and I quickly dodged it by moving to the side. But, my wound was still in pain so, it was at my disadvantage.
"Stop, Akame! I don't wanna fight you." I said as I move about, dodging her attacks.
"I don't wanna fight you too but, you leave me with no choice. Eliminate!" She strikes her sword down to me but, I jumped to the side.
But then, I did not realize that there was a huge rock beside me so, I hit it with my rib, the blood gushing out of my wound. "Ow! What the--"
She gave me a kick right at my head, sending me down on my back flatly, on the ground.
She stood on top of me, pointing her sword at my face with a killer glare. "Any last words?"
She seemed really determined to kill me just as her red eyes never wavered. I found her resolve and she wished to kill me.
Fine then..
I returned the gaze at her and said, "I won't fight back. Kill me if you wish. I just want you to know that.. I wanted to protect you and the others.. It was short but, it was definitely fun."
"It was fun too, not until you betrayed us."
She raised her sword into the sky, wanting to strike it down into my heart. "Goodbye, Raijyou."
All of a sudden, I heard rustlings and heavy footsteps like a group was coming from far away. "Hello! Is someone there?" I heard Wave's voice called.
My eyes widened in surprise and immediately got up to push Akame down, not minding my grave injury in my rib.
"What are you doing--"
I covered her mouth and pulled her towards me while we hide behind the huge green bush near the river.
"Keep your voice down, enemy's coming." I lowly whispered into her ear.
She suddenly bite my hand and was really painful. I almost wailed in pain but, I managed to keep my tone down.
"What the hell did you just do?" I whispered angrily.
"Don't cover my mouth. I know what's going on, idiot."
The footsteps become closer and suddenly, I heard Ran's voice saying, "I could smell a trail of blood from somewhere."
Oh, shit! Was that my wound? If we don't move, Akame and I will be busted. She needs to get away from here as soon as possible.
And.. if she keeps on getting into my business, she will be in danger. If she and I would exchange trusts again, it will be harder for her to kill me and we would both be exposed and put our lives in danger.
I need to keep my distance from her..
"Akame, listen.. This is the last time I can help you. Anymore than this, I would be killed by Esdeath."
"What are you talking about?"
"This is the last time we would meet as allies. I'm quitting Night Raid. So, the moment we meet again, I will fight you." I whispered with determination.
She looked at me for a second but then, her gaze turned stern. "Who says we were allies? We were enemies since the time we were fighting a second ago. Don't worry, I don't intend to change the way I think of you. I will surely kill you the next time we meet."
"Great," I exclaimed with a smirk. "Now go."
I tore my shirt in half, giving her the clean part which was not stained with blood. I placed it over her head and smiled. "Use this to cover your face and escape. I'll cover up for you."
"You're just letting your enemy go. Are you stupid?" She said while furrowing her eyebrows.
"Yeah, I am. I'm stupid enough to save your life. Now go and don't waste my time. I want to go back already."
"Don't get too cocky, idiot."
She used the clean cloth as a hood to cover her face and immediately escaped towards the other side of the river.
"Woah! I just heard something! It came from over there!"
I let out a loud groan, pretending that I was in intense pain. "Ugh!" I yelled. "Ow, ow, ow!"
"Hey! Who's that?!"
They hurriedly ran towards my direction and immediately found me lying behind the bushes. "Woah, Lucifer! What happened to you?!" Wave exclaimed surprisedly and worriedly.
He kneeled down as he supported my back to sit up properly. I acted exaggerated that my wound hurts to much. It did hurt a lot but, I could tolerate it.
"I'm dying, help me..!" I pleaded while I held out my hand for him to reach in act of dying.
"Don't worry, man! I got you! You won't die!" Wave said reassuringly while wrapping my arm around his neck to support me.
Ran, on the other hand gave a bit of an suspicious look at me. But then, he blinked it away and decided to help Wave carry me back to the palace.
By the time I reached my room, I told Wave my thanks for helping me a lot. "Thanks, Wave. You really saved my ass," I said.
"No worries, man. We're a team," he slightly tapped my shoulder with a toothy grin.
I smiled back at him before closing the door through my heavily dark room. "You're here, finally."
I heard Esdeath's voice echoed inside the room, carrying that heavy and dark tone in her voice.
"E-Esdeath-sama?" I stated in a nervous voice, my heart pumping with anxiety.
I turned the lights on and suddenly saw her sitting in my bed with both her arms and legs crossed whilst carrying an angry frown on her face.
"E-Esdeath-sama, what are you doing here?" I was flustered as I almost flailed.
"I was waiting for you for almost an hour. Where have you been at this hour?" she sternly asked, her heels clicking at the tiled floor.
"I.." I scratched the back or my neck as I looked down. "I was taking a fresh air."
"Does that explain why your shirt is torn and your wound is bleeding again?"
"Oh! Uh, I slipped and hit a huge rock beside the river," I reasoned while I tried my best not to fidget.
She stood up and went closer to me, grabbing me by the collar and pulling me closer to her.
"For an impressive soldier, I don't believe that you will just slip like that an hurt yourself," she lowly said, her cold blue eyes starting to flare.
"S-Sure, people could get clumsy at times," I reasoned nervously.
"Were you just lying to me, Lucifer?"
My blood suddenly shot up and my heart started throbbing very fast. A-Am I getting found out? Will I get punished?
"Before I make you fess up, I should change your bandage." She started pulling my blood-stained bandages.
"No, it's fine," I quickly said as placed my hand on hers to stop her. "I will do it."
She suddenly smashed her palm on the wall I was leaning at, just beside my face and gave me a stern look. I was really surprised that I forgot to breath.
"I hope you're not using this opportunity to escape from me, Lucifer."
"I-I'm not," I replied lowly, almost gulping my fear down my throat.
"Then, let ME do it."
She roughly pulled the bandages, with its knots squeezing my body tighter. "Uh! Ow!" I exclaimed in pain.
She still had her angry frown while pulling my bandages. "Stop whining like a girl, Lucifer. Or else, I'll cut your tongue."
I immediately stopped myself from making a noise and decided to endure the pain quietly. She pulled me over to the bed and began working on changing my bandages.
"T-Though.. Esdeath-sama, I give you my thanks for an act of kindness," I said gratefully.
"Don't need it," she cold replied while wrapping the roll around my body. "What I need is.."
She tolled all the way to my right shoulder and suddenly looked at my eyes. "Your loyalty."
It stung my heart hearing those words. I wasn't exactly loyal to her. I already betrayed her twice and yet she's been really kind to me. I honestly don't understand her or me as well. I usually despise her guts but now.. I'm starting to feel guilty.
She plastered and secured my bandages and let out a sigh. "U-Um.. I just want to ask.. Why are you being so considerate of me? I'm just your pet."
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, you're not the type to be.. you know, mindful of your servants.."
"Why don't you just take this chance to be appreciated by me? After all, it is very rare that I take care of my pet," she said as she chuckled lightly.
"I.. uh, I'm not used to it." I looked down, averting my gaze away from her.
"Then, would you rather get tortured?"
"No! That's not what I meant. I like this better. Thank you, Esdeath-sama."
"In exchange for that, drink this."
She took a cup of hot tea from the side table and suddenly gave it to me. The smell though is really peculiar compared to a normal tea.
And it's telling me that it's not a normal tea.. There's something in it.
"What is it?" I asked out of curiosity and to satisfy my anxiety.
"It's a medicine for you to heal better. I'm tired of having to take care of you and your pathetic wound," she said.
I looked at it hesitantly and gave her a worrying look again.
"Don't worry, it's not poisonous. I won't kill you so easily like that." She giggled lightly. "Go on, hurry up."
I look a last whiff on it and its weird smell just touched my nose. It immediately went straight to my head and it made me feel a bit dizzy.
"Stop smelling and drink it."
I shook my head to remove the dizziness and drank the mysterious liquid in one big gulp.
"How was it?"
I felt the liquid leaving a slight taste in my tongue. But, it was light and a bit bland with a bit of bittersweet taste.
"It's not bad. I guess it's okay," I replied, satisfied with the taste.
"I'm glad you like it," Esdeath said while smiling.
"Thank you, Esdeath--"
The moment I looked at her, my heart suddenly started beating really fast. The blood rushed up to my cheeks and suddenly, the stress just went up to my head.
"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.
Her voice just sounded so sweet in my ears and it was enough to make me swoon.
She reached for my hand, her warmness transferring through her fingertips to my cold skin. I quickly moved my hand away from her, feeling flustered.
What's wrong with me?!
Why do I suddenly feel so sensitive towards her?
End of Chapter 23