Kill the Darkness

When Tatsumi embarked on a journey to the Capital with his two friends in search of wealth and fame, this was not at all what he was looking for.

After splitting up with his friends and arriving alone, his request to join the Imperial army fell on deaf ears, all his money was taken from him by a scoundrel, and he had to spend his first night sleeping in the streets... That is until a kind-hearted girl named Arya offered him to sleep at her mansion. Just one day after this stroke of luck hit him, however, a group of attackers appeared out of nowhere, standing on thin strings high in the air, seemingly looking for nothing more than the deaths of everyone in the building.

As Tatsumi was watching from a window, three guards were down at the garden, arguing whether they should protect the family or go after the assailants. One of the figures standing on the strings has already spotted them. "There are three guards down there..." He whispered. "They're targets... Kurome."

"Eliminate." Said one of the others.

The three guards look up just in time to see two of the figures descending and landing next to the - one, a tall man in heavy armour; The other, a black-haired little girl looking no older than twelve, holding a katana.

"We can't let our guard down... Not even for a -" One of the guards started. Before he could finish the sentence, the girl was already behind the guards, and one of their throats were slit open. The armoured man then impaled a second guard with a large spear that he summoned seemingly out of nowhere.

"Who the hell are those people? Are they even human!?" The remaining guard screamed as he began to run away, only for a bullet to pierce a hole into his skull.

"Running away in the face of an enemy? Pathetic." Said the one who shot him, still standing on a string.

"Who wouldn't run away from us?" Said one of the others.

"They annihilated those trained guards in a second!?" Tatsumi said to himself. "I have to protect Arya!"

Running out of the building, Tatsumi quickly found Arya along with another guard running towards a smaller building in the garden. "Arya! I'm here!" He exclaimed.

"Tatsumi!?" Said, Arya.

"You came here at just the right moment!" Said the guard. "We're going to hide in that warehouse until more guards come here! You'll have to stay outside and deal with the attackers!"

"What!?" Tatsumi started. "That's crazy!"

Right after he said that the same katana-wielding girl appeared right behind him.

"Damn it!" Said Tatsumi, drawing his sword. "It's now or never!!"

"You're not a target." The girl said, hopped over his shoulder and landed behind the guard.

"Fuck! She's coming for me!" Said the guard, drawing his submachine gun and opened fire at the assassin... Who simply dodged all his bullets.

"Target acquired. Eliminate!!" The girl said, easily slicing the guard in half, before looking at Arya, who was on the floor with tears in her eyes. "Eliminate!" She said once again.

"I'm not letting you!" Said Tatsumi, attacking her from behind with his sword.

"Move out of the way or I'll kill you." She said, completely calmly.

"I won't stand aside and let you kill Arya!" Tatsumi yelled.

"Then die!" Said the girl.

This swordfighter is on a whole other level... Tatsumi thought. There's no way I can beat her... But I'm not letting that stop me! If I can't save one girl, how can I expect to save my village!?

The black-haired girl dashed at Tatsumi, who blocked the hit and attempted to counter, only for her to jump over his sword and kick his shoulder, before immediately stabbing him in the chest. He gasped and fell down. "Tatsumi!!!" Arya gasped. His attacker slowly began to walk towards him with her sword still pointed at him.

"You're not even going to fall for me playing dead, huh?" Tatsumi grunted as he began to stand up.

"I know I didn't pierce your flesh." She said, still completely calm.

In response, Tatsumi took a broken stone statue out of his shirt. "That was because my village protected me!"

The girl was unfazed. "Eliminate!" She said again, running at him.

"Wait!" Said Tatsumi. "Why do you even want to kill this girl!?"

The girl didn't listen and was just about to cut Tatsumi in half... Right before she was grabbed from behind by another, a grown woman with a very skimpy outfit, blonde hair and cat-like ears and tail.

The black-haired girl was still unfazed. "What're you doing?" She asked in a tired voice.

"We're not in a hurry." Said the blonde. "I owe this lad over there a favour."

It was only then that Tatsumi realized the tall blonde woman looked exactly like the woman who tricked him into giving her his money yesterday, just with longer hair and cat features. "You're that girl with the huge boobs!" He screamed at her.

"That's right, I'm that beautiful big sister!" She said in an awfully cheerful tone, before immediately turning serious. "You think we're trying to kill an innocent little girl?" She said as she walked into the locked warehouse and shattered its door with one kick. "Would you still want to protect her, after you see this?"

The inside of the warehouse was filled with corpses. Corpses of brutally mutilated people, some still strapped into torture devices. "What the hell... Is this...?" Tatsumi muttered.

"They lure miserable people from outside the Capital into their home..." The blonde said. "Then, they torture them to death. This is the true nature of the family owning this household."

Tatsumi barely listened to her. All he could notice was one corpse hanging from the floor, which had no visible injuries, but was completely naked and covered in blood. "Sayo..." Tatsumi whispered. "Hey, Sayo... Are you awake...?"

"So one of them is someone you knew..." Said the blonde. While she did, Arya got up and attempted to run away, only for the blonde to grab her back. "Don't you think you have a chance at running away!"

"The people of this house did this...?" Tatsumi asked.

"Exactly." Said the blonde. "The guards all knew it, but they didn't say a word."

"You're lying!" Arya cried. "I didn't even know this place existed! Don't tell me you're going to take the word of these murderers over the one who saved your life!"

Just then, Tatsumi heard someone weakly scream from inside the cell, and he was screaming his name. "Tatsumi..." He said. "Tatsumi is that really you...?"

"Ieyasu!?" Tatsumi gasped, seeing his other friend barely alive inside the warehouse.

"This girl invited Sayo and me to sleep at her house..." Ieyasu whispered. "But when we woke up, we were here... This girl tortured Sayo to death!" He cried.

"What the hell is your problem!?" Arya screamed in rage. "You two are just worthless hicks from the countryside. You're no better than cattle! It's my right as a noblewoman to treat you however I want! I couldn't let a girl with such beautiful hair live whereas even I struggle to keep my own hair straight, that's why I made sure she died an agonizing death! She should be grateful that I paid so much attention to her at all!"

"You're all a bunch of sadists that pretend to show kindness to your victims..." The blonde cat-woman growled. "I'm sorry I got in your way, Kurome."

"Eliminate." That was all Kurome said, drawing her sword again.

"Wait." Said Tatsumi quietly.

"After all of this, you still want to protect her?" Asked the blonde.

"No." Said Tatsumi. "I'LL KILL HER MYSELF!" He said, drawing his own sword and cutting Arya in half.

"Thank you, Tatsumi..." Ieyasu whispered. "That was great." He tried to get up, only to cough up blood and drop back down.

Tatsumi ran up to him. "Ieyasu, what's wrong!?"

"He's dying from poison." Said Kurome. "That girl's mother loved to use it to torture people and wrote all about it in her diary. It's too late for him."

"Tatsumi..." Ieyasu whispered. "Sayo... Never gave in to the torture she went through. She was resisting to the very end. It was so cool... And I, the great Ieyasu, want my own death to be just as cool." He said, closing his fist.

"Gotta give it to him, his willpower was impressive," Kurome said.

"What the hell is wrong with these people..." Tatsumi cried.

"Let's get out of here." Said Kurome.

"Say..." Said her blonde friend. "How bout we take this lad with us?"

"Hm?" Asked Kurome.

"Our hideout's always open for new members." Said the blonde. "He looks like he's got luck and guts... And skill as well." She said, grabbing Tatsumi by his shirt.

"Wait a minute! At least let me bury them!" Tatsumi cried out.

"Don't worry, I'm going to bring them to our base." Said the blonde.

Minutes later, Tatsumi and the two assassins met up with the rest of the group. "Finally, you're back." Said the man in armour.

"We should retreat now." Said one of the others, a man with green hair and a coat.

"What were you're doing!? You're late!" Yelled the sniper, a girl with pink hair that looked only two or three years older than Kurome. "And who's this!?" She said, looking at Tatsumi.

"Just a new recruit." Said the blonde.

"WHAT!?" Tatsumi gasped.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Said the blonde. "Starting today, you are one of us. Welcome to Night Raid, Tatsumi!"

"I didn't agree to this!" Tatsumi yelled.

"Give it up." Said Kurome. "Leone isn't going to stop once she's started."

"You know me well, buddy..." Said Leone, petting Kurome's head. "Brad!" She said to the armoured man. "You take care of him!"

Without a word, the armoured man grabbed Tatsumi under his wrist.

"Let me go!" Tatsumi screamed. "I'm not going to become an assassin!"

"You'll get used to it." Said Brad.

"Mission complete. Let's head out!" Said Kurome. The entire group then immediately jumped away, continuing to leap between buildings into the night.