Chapter 140 - #139 Aftermath (2/2)

”Leone...Where are we and where is Green?” Akame asked still with a slightly weak voice.

”You should rest a little bit more before getting up. I fished out both of you from the river, the guy who was with you is inside the next room. I already took care of both of you and your injuries but to be honest, that guy got more injured from the fall itself than from fighting.” Leone explained while handing Akame a wooden bowl filled with some kind of soup.

”?! What happened to him?” Akame exclaimed with wide-open eyes in horror.

”Don't worry, don't worry. He most likely just hit his head against the boulder on the bottom of the river, nothing too serious.” Leone waved with her hand, trying to reassure Akame who was on the verge of getting up but Leone managed to stop her in time.

”I see. Thank you for the food and for patching us up...” Akame said with a small smile before it turned into depressed smile while she began staring down at the wooden bowl filled with the soup.

”?...Is there something wrong?” Leone asked while taking hold of Akame's hand.

”...I-I wasn't able to convince my sister and to make it even worse, I actually tried to take her with me by the force which only deteriorated our relationship. But the worst thing of all is that I actually never respected her choice, I can't imagine facing Kurome once again after what happened between us...” Akame said while tears finally welled up in the corners of her eyes.

”It's alright, you two are sisters! And it seems that you realized what you did wrong in Kurome's eyes which should be the most important thing, no? Anyway, I have heard that Kurome is quite strong but to think you would still fail while having the advantage of the surprise on your side is quite a surprise...What exactly happened?” Leone sat down next to Akame and hugged her while saying this and then she released her while asking for details.

”...She woke up after my battle with the father but nothing happened between us because Akashi arrived at that time. I had no time to react since I was too injured resulting in him catching me by my neck. Right now, I am quite grateful to him since he prevented me from ruining my relationship with Kurome even more than before.” Akame explained with a forced smile.

”...Akashi? What was he doing there?! Was he trying to stop you?!” Leone immediately started bombarding Akame with questions while putting her panicked face as close to her as she could.

”No...He just slapped me and took Kurome back since it could be said that he is her guardian. He completely ignored me and Green and maybe even helped us by giving us some information.” Akame quickly replied since she was surprised by Leone's acting.

”Huh?...Hah?!!! Aaaah! He is her guardian and you tried to take her away by the force?!! What will I say to boss?!” Leone at first only looked at Akame in confusion before she fully absorbed what Akame just said and she began panicking and muttering aloud while pulling her own hair.

”Leone?!” Akame exclaimed in worry.

*inhale* *exhale* ”Take a deep breath, Leone...Alright, I will somehow deal with this. Anyway, back to the topic, I guess that handprint is from Akashi, right?” Leone referred to herself in the third person before she asked Akaem while pointing at her cheek.

”Huh? It's still there? I can't feel any pain from it anymore...” Akame muttered while touching her cheek in confusion.

”It looks like it's still fresh...Are you sure about that?” Leone asked in suspicion while glaring at Akame in worry.

”I am not lying, I swear.” Akame replied with a genuinely confused expression.

”...Weird but I trust you, Akame.” Leone said with a smile.

They continued talking for a while and after Akame ate her soup, she began to remember all events from yesterday in great detail.

*clank* The wooden bowl suddenly slipped out of Akame's hands, sliding on the bed until it has fallen on the ground.

”Akame?! Are you alright?!” Leone asked in worry when she noticed Akame's absent-minded expression as she was staring at her shaking hands. with wide-open eyes.

”I-I killed my best friend...I cut her arm off to protect myself and Green...” Akame replied weakly but her expression didn't change a bit and tears slowly began rolling down her cheeks.

”Shh, you didn't do anything wrong. If she stood in your way, she was endangering you and your friend's life. You have done everything you could and look...your friend made it together with you in one piece.” Leone hugged Akame once again, putting Akame's head on her shoulder, comforting her.

”I...You are right, Leone. I chose this myself so I have no right to cry.” Akame replied while wiping away her tears but her absent-minded expression never changed.

”No, no, I didn't mean it that way. On the contrary, you should cry as much as you want while you still can. You might not get another chance and you should use this chance to completely empty yourself.” Leone said while gently rubbing Akame's back.

”...*sniff* Aaagh! *sniff* Waaah!” Akame began uncontrollably crying and even Green who has woken up some time ago heard her.

He started gritting his teeth since he was aware that he can't do anything about this. After all, she killed her best friend with her own hands. Maybe he should have taken that burden in Akame's stead but at that time, his instincts told him to cover her back instead of attacking Tsukushi.