Akame Ga Kill - Split The Earth In Two, Quake

Chapter Twenty Two: Kill the Ascension

A month has passed since Minazuki and Quake started their natural melding. The process is slow, but it's nearly complete, but not without its side effects. Minazuki wakes up early in the morning to the sun shining through his window. As he looks down at himself, he sees Quake. The scales from the gauntlets seem to have attached to his body, slowly making the gauntlets a part of his body. "This isn't good. This is taking longer than we anticipated. If Leone were to notice, our secret would be out for sure.", he thinks to himself as he throws on a shirt with long sleeves to cover the scales. He looks over to the mirror over his dresser and sees that his left eye has turned into Quake's eye. "Our power is leaking out. We need to suppress it a little more, then our eye should revert back to normal.", Quake explains as Minazuki closes his eyes. He focuses on the energy he can sense in his eye and suppresses it to the best of his ability and when he opens his eyes, he sees it worked and his eye is back to normal. "That's getting tougher to do now. I hope we get this melding done soon. Then we'll tell everyone and they won't have to worry.", Minazuki thinks as he unlocks his door to go get breakfast. "We should be finished in one more day I believe. Our bodies have almost finished melding, and when that's finished, the final connection will be complete and we'll have full access to our powers.", Quake says as they walk down the hallway. Before he can make it to the kitchen, he's ambushed by Leone, who tries to tackle him to the ground in her beast form. He manages to catch her mid jump, holding her up from under her armpits. "Is it just me, or did you get stronger?", she asks with a nervous look on her face. Minazuki just sighs and asks, "Do you always have to try to attack me in the morning? It gets too predictable when you do it every day, you know?" She gets a smug look on her face and says, "Yeah, but you know you like it~ We always end up in positions like this." She quickly swings her lower body at him before wrapping her legs around his waist. She then follows up by using her legs to pull him closer into a hug before saying, "See? How could you not like waking up to this?" Tatsumi walks out from his room and sees the situation Minazuki's in before Minazuki says, "Tatsumi, good morning." Leone looks over to Tatsumi and growls at him like a lion, causing Tatsumi to tremble before saying, "I-I think I'm gonna go get breakfast! I don't want any part in this!" As Tatsumi runs off into the kitchen, Leone turns her attention back to Minazuki. "There's no escape, partner~ Just say it~", she says as she squeezes him even tighter with both her legs and arms. He doesn't seem too phased by it and instead of fighting it, he just walks into the kitchen with her wrapped around him. As he carries her into the kitchen, Najenda, Tatsumi and Sheele all give them confused looks. "What's...going on here?", Najenda asks, afraid of what the answer might be. "I'm trying to finally beat Minazuki, but he isn't submitting!! I'll make you pass out!! I'll do it!!!", Leone shouts as she tightens her hold on him. "Are you sure? Because it doesn't seem to be working on him.", Tatsumi says as Minazuki pours himself a cup of coffee. "It doesn't matter how strong he is, he still has to breath!", Leone replies before tightening again. Minazuki just picks up his coffee and sits down next to Tatsumi like nothing is even happening. "So, what's on the agenda today, Boss?", Sheele asks, trying to ignore the nonsense going on in front of her. "Well, I'm sending a couple teams out on Reconnaissance missions, but nothing too major. Leone and Susanoo are going to work on the tunnel, they might even finish it today if Susanoo's description is accurate. Other than that, nothing.", Najenda replies, unable to take her eye off Leone's struggle to beat Minazuki. "Minazuki, are you going to fight back?", Tatsumi asks in confusion. "Do I need to?", he asks in response to Tatsumi's question. "What do you mean? She's trying to suffocate you, isn't she?", Tatsumi asks nervously. Minazuik then sits his coffee down and cracks his knuckles, causing everyone to worry a little for Leone's safety. He starts to reach down to her crotch and she starts to panic, saying, "H-hey, what are you doing partner?" He suddenly undoes a latch on Lionelle and pulls it off from her waist, causing her to turn back into her normal form. She's left in complete shock and he just looks up to her and asks, "Can you still beat me without Lionelle?", while holding up in the air like a trophy. "Huh, I never thought about just disarming the enemy. Who would've thought that would've worked?", Tatsumi says in amazement. He puts Lionelle back around her waist before saying, "That was a good attempt though, partner. Keep trying, you might end up getting me one of these days." Leone just sighs before letting go of him and saying, "Looks like you win again, 3-0." She sits next to him as he takes the first sip of his coffee. "So, what are you planning on doing today, Minazuki?", Sheele asks. "Well, I'm still working on my Trump Card. Shoryu never left any information on Quake's Trump Card, so I need to figure out what it is as soon as possible. If we're going to end up fighting Esdeath soon, we might just need it.", he replies as he sets his cup down. "Your Trump Card? So, you still don't know what it is then?", Tatsumi asks. "I think I know what it is, now it's just getting the idea down and understanding its limits.", Minazuki explains. Najenda nods and says, "You focus on that for now, you seem to still be recovering a little from your last mission, so just take it easy for now." "I should be recovered completely by the time the Bolic assassination comes around. I'm certain of that.", he replies as he looks over to Najenda. She looks into his eyes and sees something that she never noticed before as she thinks, "Those eyes, they're different somehow. They're not just running calculations and anticipating the enemy's movements anymore. They're filled with a burning passion. That's good. With him, we should be able to take on Esdeath and survive." Akame and Susanoo walk into the kitchen, with Susanoo holding two wrapped lunch boxes in his hands. "We finished fixing their lunches for today.", Susanoo says as he places them on the table. Akame has a slightly disappointed look on her face and Susanoo sighs before saying, "Unfortunately, Akame ate half of each box." Najenda sighs, causing Akame to say, "I'm really sorry... I was just going to take a bite, but...it was so good...." "It'll be fine. They'll just have to eat the leftovers.", Najenda says as she lights herself a cigarette. She turns her gaze over to Tatsumi and says, "You and Lubbock are going to check out the town to see if the time is getting closer to being right for Bolic's assassination." He just nods before heading off to tell Lubbock. Akame turns her attention to Minazuki and her eyes widen as she senses an ominous aura coming from his right arm. "Are you...alright, Minazuki?", she asks almost out of nowhere. He glances up from his coffee to her before saying, "Yeah, Leone tried to suffocate me with her boobs a minute ago, but other than that, I'm perfectly fine." As he takes a sip of his coffee she seems to squint at him, trying to figure something out. "Is everything alright, Akame?", Sheele asks as she touches her arm gently. Akame looks over to Sheele with a confused look before saying, "Yes, everything's fine."