*Bang* A few figures came out of the rubble.
"*cough* *cough* This was the worst mission! It was too close." Poney complained aloud.
"hmm" Kurome slowly opened her eyes and noticed that she is being carried by Poney on her back.
"Huh? Where is everyone?" Kurome immediately muttered while looking around to understand the situation and when she noticed that she is outside of the tomb and rubble all around her, she instantly knew what had happened.
She was only able to see the prisoners that she saw inside the room where she was fighting Weneg and also Poney, however, her partner, Akashi, was nowhere to see.
*Bang* Another rubble got blown away.
"! Aka-" Kurome's expression brightened when she saw this and was ready to call out Akashi's name but her mouth closed when she saw the people who came out.
"*Cough* That was close, too close. They went completely nuts." Najasho, Green, and Akame came out of the rubble.
Although Kurome was happy to see her sister be alright, she was now concerned about another person.
"?! Kurome! Are you alright?!" Akame immediately ran up to Poney, checking Kurome's small cuts across her entire body. Most of them already stopped bleeding since they were really small and despite the number, Kurome had quite a tough body thanks to prescriptions from Oarburgh clan and her regeneration was also enhanced by a bit.
"I am fine, I just need to rest. Where is Akashi Nii-sama?" Kurome asked with a worried tone while glancing at Poney who let her sit down on the ground.
"...He said that he will look for others." Poney said with a guilty expression while looking down, not daring to look into Kurome's eyes.
"?! Why didn't you stop him?!" This question didn't come from Kurome but from Akame.
"Akame...We couldn't really do anything...He shouted at us to go and there was no time to argue." Tsukushi said with a slightly sad expression.
"...I guess he won't need this back after all" Gin suddenly mumbled with a conflicted expression while holding gripping the coat she was currently wearing. Natala and immediately
"...He won't die! Don't worry!" Poney suddenly exclaimed with a cheerful smile but it was still visible that she was forcing herself to smile.
Everyone looked at her with a surprised expression and Kurome was the only one who was looking back at the rubble. The hope still hasn't escaped from her eyes.
"What do you mean, Poney?" Akame asked with a confused expression.
"He is super strong! He defeated the boss without even losing his cool image around him, haha. He wouldn't get killed by some rubble. Even when I was almost kicked to death by one of them, he killed him with only one swing of his sword." Poney explained with a smile and glazed eyes.
Everyone looked at Poney with wide-open eyes.
"She is right, big sis. Akashi Nii-sama wouldn't let himself get killed by rubble." Kurome said with a smile while looking at the tomb's remains.
"Kurome..." Akame called out with a slightly sad expression while looking at her sister.
Suddenly, they noticed flames slowly escaping through the small gaps between rubble to the surface.
"What the?!" Green exclaimed with a shocked expression when he saw this bizarre sight while getting ready into his attacking stance with his whip.
"Is that-?!" Natala, Gin and others who were previously with Akashi muttered to themselves.
The flames slowly formed the kneeling figure on the surface and the flames suddenly transformed into a person.
---some distance away from the tomb's remains---
"Oh?! I knew that he would have survived but to think he has such means!" Esdeath suddenly exclaimed with a delighted tone and wide smile when she saw this while Gozuki and Uncle Bill could only stare with dumbfounded expressions.
---Akashi's POV---
"...Looks like I am finally out" I muttered when I finally saw the sky while getting up from my knee and looking around.
"Akashi!" Everyone exclaimed with shocked expressions when they saw me and Kurome went as far as to jump on me, hugging me while hanging from my neck.
"Hehe, I knew you wouldn't die!" Poney chuckled and hopped next to me while extending her fist to me with a wide smile but her eyes were still glazed.
"...Say that to your eyes." I replied and shook my head with a teasing smile while bumping my fist with hers.
Thankfully, everything I had on me during my transformation remained on me. And it looks like no one is actually suspicious of this fact, good for me.
"Anyway...I couldn't find Cornelia anywhere..." I looked around the rubble before I said with a serious expression, dropping a bucket of ice over everyone's head.
"?!..." No one replied to my words and everyone grew silent while looking downward.
"*sigh* I guess we can only go back and report while hoping for the best. Don't you think so?" I sighed and said with a neutral tone before asking Najasho who was their leader.
"...Yes, let's go, everyone." Najasho thought for a while with closed eyes before opening them and saying this while walking away from the collapsed tomb.
"?! W-Wait, chief! Why won't we try to search for Cornelia?!" Tsukushi asked with a shocked expression.
"We are all exhausted and we also need to report to father. We have no idea where to even start looking plus look around yourself...there is only rubble around us, how are we going to find someone under it?" Najasho stopped and replied without even turning around when he was done, he resumed walking.
...Acting all cool and apathetic while having your hands in your pockets despite feeling down also needs a lot of skill in self-control. He is a good leader, he doesn't want to show any weakness to them, he wants to set an example for them. They can grieve but he, as a leader, needs to remain strong.
I thought while looking at Najasho's back.
"You should probably follow after your leader" I voiced out my opinion while everyone was just staring at his distancing back.
Everyone looked at me.
"People die, it happens, there is still a chance that she is alive, however, don't get your hopes too high...Sometimes, failed high expectations are even harder to bear than the real death of your comrade." I muttered and gestured to Kurome to remain with Akame before I also took my leave.
"W-Wait, what about your coat?!" Gin suddenly shouted at me while gripping the coat she was wearing with an embarrassed expression.
"Do you want to return it to me right now? I don't mind if that's your wish, however, if not...you can return it once you are rested enough and also once you get your own clothes...Don't forget to wash it, after all, you are almost fully naked under it." I stopped walking and glanced behind me with an amused smile before I resumed walking.
"?! What do you mean by that?! I don't stink!" She gritted her teeth and shouted at me with an upset expression.
"If you will want to become a fine wife in the future, you will need to practice those things to become efficient in them anyway." I replied without even turning around or stopping this time, I just raised my hand as a goodbye gesture.
----
"Hah?!" Gin exclaimed with a dumbfounded expression before her expression distorted into a twitching smile while vain popped on her forehead while she was clutching her fist.
"Gin, no need to become so heated, he saved our lives after all..." Natala immediately tried to calm her down with a helpless smile.
"Maybe yes, maybe not. Who knows what would have happened if Kurome didn't come to help us at first? Maybe at the time, he would have arrived, I would already wish for death. And you also call yourself a man, grow some balls. Hmph!" Gin said while snorting at Natala's attempt to calm her down, she also tossed her head to the side to show that she is ignoring him and is disappointed in him.
"?..." Natala just looked at her with a completely dumbfounded expression.
'What do you mean by "grow some balls"?' Natala thought with typical dense expression.
"Big sis...are you alright?" Kurome asked with a worried expression when she saw Akame's glazed eyes. Tsukushi and Poney weren't any different from Akame. However, they still knew that they have to move out, standing still won't do anything.
"I- I am alright...let's return back for now before doing anything else." Akame said with a sad expression but despite her words, tears slowly started pouring down her cheeks.
"...Akame" Green muttered with a depressed expression while looking at Akame's tears before he started gritting his teeth with a clenched fist while looking downward.
"Let's go back, there is not much we can do here anyway." Akame replied with a forced smile.
---
When I was returning to the camp, I saw 4 people on my way not too far away from the tomb. And I was slightly surprised when I saw one certain person.
...I guess it was expected since when I was buried under that rubble I could also see some stones covered in ice.
I thought and decided to approach that person sitting on the boulder made of ice.
"To think that I would meet Red Devil himself here! It's nice to see you here." She said aloud with a teasing tone and a friendly smile and then she jumped down from the boulder to match my height.
"Hearing such words from Ice Queen herself is very pleasing to ears. Hello, how long was it since we last saw each other?" I replied with the same teasing tone and a small smirk.
"Heh, more than 1 year perhaps?" She said uncertainly and approached me before pulling me into a hug.
?! This slightly surprised me but then I remembered our last meeting and I instantly calmed down. Even during our last meeting, she also hugged me so I guess there is not much to be surprised about.
Anyway...Her chest is really big.
I thought while hugging her back with a helpless smile on my face due to her hugging tightly, I could feel her big chest intensively pressing against my body.
---
On the side, not too far away, Gozuki was speaking with Najasho, however, when he saw the sight of Ice Queen hugging someone, his jaw almost dropped while Najasho just looked at him with a confused expression before redirecting his gaze at Akashi and Esdeath.
'They apparently know each other...' Najasho thought with a stoic expression before looking away from them.
---
"...You look a bit different." When the hug finally ended, Esdeath held her chin and said while closely observing me with narrowed eyes.
What? Don't tell me her woman's intuition is tingling.
"...Well, we haven't seen each other for while 1 year. You have also changed a lot, you look stronger than before." I said with a slightly helpless smile. I thought of saying that she looks more beautiful but I quickly dismissed that idea after thinking about what kind of woman she is.
"Maybe we will have time for a spar once again, hehe" She smiled when she heard my words but she still looked slightly suspicious and confused while searching for the change on me.
I didn't change physically much after that 1 year...
I thought with a puzzled expression.