Summertime

Disclaimer: I don't own Black Cat

Chapter 1: A Copycat

A warm sun beamed down on the golden beach and a light summer breeze blew across it, playing with Eve's blonde hair where she sat on her fluffy towel reading the newspaper. She tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear and turned the page, a slight frown settling on her face as she narrowed her eyes to read the newspaper's tiny print.

They probably have to print it so small to fit all the bad news in, she thought with a yawn. Eve quickly read over the articles not really taking anything in, when something caught her eye. She read the article, her eyes lit up as they flew over the lines and she sat up straighter giving it her full attention.

Eve glanced sideways at Train who was lying on his back when she had finished reading the article, his eyes shut and a small smile on his face, fast asleep, the number thirteen tattoo on his chest stood out like a sore thumb making the rest of him seem not a little sinister. With an exasperated sigh she poked him in the side, he squirmed and slapped her hand away. Lazily he opened one honey coloured eye and gazed at her with an annoyed look.

"What?" he asked.

"According to the paper there's been sightings of Black Cat and a few murders everybody says were done in his style," Eve said gesturing to the newspaper.

Train groaned and pushed himself upright, "And Princess? You woke me up to tell me of another copycat? I feel flattered but really, it isn't something to wake me up over much less to write about in a newspaper, and if he got seen it means he's crap," he said dismissing the ridiculous idea with a wave of his hand.

"Who's crap?" asked a voice from above them, Sven kneeled down on his own towel and tossed a bottle of milk to Train, he grabbed it, pulled off the cap and drank greedily. Sven shook his head and turned to Eve. He handed her an ice cream and sat down to eat his own one.

"Some idiot impersonator who got seen," Train said pausing for breath before gulping down the rest of his milk and tossing the bottle back to Sven.

Sven scowled at him but stood up to throw the bottle into the rubbish bin. Train glanced sideways at Eve, eating her ice cream and reading the newspaper. He gazed at the rumbling ocean, the waves rolling in and shook his head. It was the last day of their vacation, they would be heading back to the city just the following day and Eve was sitting with her nose in the newspaper.

He tilted his head to the side, she looked quite funny holding the newspaper, it seemed to him that the paper was almost bigger than she was and she could just peek out above it. Train wondered what she would do if he just took her ice cream out of her hand, she probably won't even notice it, he thought as she leaned in closer to read something particularly small holding the cone above her head as she struggled to turn the page.

Train's eyes glinted mischievously and a grin appeared on his face he really had to do something to save her from the paper, he drummed his fingers into the sand but watched Eve out the corner of his eye. He waited patiently. When Eve was busy turning the page, the wind just strong enough to make it difficult, Train jumped up and grabbed her strawberry ice cream from her.

"Train!" Eve cried and let the paper drop, it covered her almost like a blanket, an ugly dull blanket.

He held the ice cream far out of her reach, "Come on Princess!" he said, "It's the last day at the beach and you're reading the paper?" he asked incredulously.

"Give me back my ice cream Train!" she said.

"I will if you come for a swim," he said and took a lick of the ice cream.

Eve pulled a face of disgust, "Now I don't want it anymore," she said holding the paper up in front of her face. Train grinned and with one swift move he yanked the newspaper out of her hands.

"Let's go swimming! I'll race you to the water!" Train grinned and took off over the sand, flitting over it at an alarming speed.

Eve scowled and glanced sideways at Sven who was laughing, she shot out her hand towards him to grab his foot and trip him but Train hopped over it easily not even stopping, he gazed over his shoulder back at her.

"That's not nice Princess!" he shouted.

With a sigh Eve stood up and darted after him her small feet digging into the soft sand and carrying her closer and closer to the clear blue water. Train had already gotten rid of the newspaper by throwing it over some lady who was sunbathing like a blanket; he splashed into the waves and waited for her.

"Guess I win Princess! And for my prize, the loser has to do my laundry for a month!" he said triumphantly.

"I am not going to wash your smelly clothes!" Eve protested.

"Well Princess, you sure as hell didn't beat me, so you have to," Train grinned, "besides if you weren't prepared for the consequences of losing you shouldn't have agreed to this race," he added with a nod of his head.

"I didn't agree! You took my newspaper and my ice cream!" Eve exclaimed splashing him with the salty water.

"So? It was your own choice whether or not to run after me, really Princess it's time you learnt the outcomes your own decisions can have and take responsibility for it," Train said in mock seriousness.

Eve opened her mouth and was just about to shout something at him when suddenly a huge wave came and pounded down on her. Train had seen it coming and dived underneath. He resurfaced and looked around for Eve but she was nowhere to be seen. He frowned and waited a moment to see if she wouldn't appear but she didn't and Train began making his way back out of the water.

Then he saw her. Eve sat in the shallow water on top of a little girl's sand castle with a dazed look, her muddy hair hung over her face and she clawed at her eyes. Train laughed as he went up to her. Eve scowled at him through her dirty blonde tangles.

"This isn't fun," she said pursing her lips.

"Yeah, I'd think so too if I were in your shoes, come on, it gets better!" Train replied, reaching out a hand and pulling her up onto her feet again. The little girl looked at the remains of her sand castle and tears began streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm gonna tell my daddy!" she wailed and stormed off towards a big burly man sitting not too far away. Train grabbed Eve's hand and dragged her after him back into the water.

Eve's feet were swept out from under her by another wave and she fell into the water, but Train hauled her back up and pulled her deeper and deeper into the water until they could lazily float over the waves, Eve's feet were just touching the soft sandy floor and her head was bobbing just above the water.

All of the sudden Eve wished that they didn't have to go back to the city the following day, that their vacation could just last a little longer, that they could just stay. She giggled as a big wave lifted her up and set her down again.

After a while of floating on the cool water Train gazed over at Eve with a frown, his stomach rumbled loudly, "Princess, I'm hungry!" he exclaimed and turned to make his way out of the water, "Come on! Let's go eat something!"

"What're we going to eat? Pizza again? Burgers?" she asked with a bored sigh, for the past week or so all they had eaten were pizzas on special and even Train would rather chew on a rusk or open a tin of sardines than choke down another slice of pizza. Eve swam up to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh hell no, anything but that! We can figure it out later, come on, it's getting cold anyway," he shrugged and they made their way out, "maybe we can go get some calamari and chips!"

ooo

The city's streets were cold and silent apart from the rhythm of dogs barking at something they thought they had seen, music blaring from a popular nightclub and the sound of footsteps. They belonged to a young woman, carrying her towards the end of the street. She was hidden by the sinister shadows hanging over the little street but a bright metallic glint near her side warned off anybody stupid enough to approach her.

She came to a halt at the end of the street, she looked around her before bending down to pick up an object lying on the ground, she typed something onto it and suddenly the door in front of her slid open. Looking over her shoulder one last time she stepped inside and the door slid shut.

It took a moment before the bright white lights flickered on and the woman proceeded down the staircase leading into the dark, trailing her hand along the mossy wall. She kept an eye out for any rats until she came to the end of the staircase. Her surroundings changed as she went down the narrow hall, the walls no longer had moss growing on them in the dark, the floors had polished tiles and the air was cool instead of hot and musty.

The woman paused at the end of the hall in front of a sturdy door, unseen eyes looked her over and the door slid open. She made her way inside, where another woman was sitting with her back to the door, her long blonde hair falling down her back and a shining sword lying beside her.

"It is done,"

The blonde woman slowly stood upright and started towards her, she held the sword by her side and on her forehead was the Number One tattoo. Sephiria Arks stopped a few feet away from her and looked the woman up and down, she nodded.

"Job well done Number Thirteen, Chronos thanks you for your efforts," she said, "here is your next assignment, get the job done and get it done quickly," Sephiria held out an envelope and the woman took it carefully.

Sephiria regarded the woman with an intent stare, she had thought hard about whether or not to give that particular assignment to her, but the young woman certainly had proven herself capable of completing exceedingly difficult missions and although Sephiria didn't dare take any chances she didn't think it would be a very difficult assignment to complete and revenge always made things easier.

"Yes, of course," she said and turned to leave, she passed though the door and the hallway again, the bright white lights flickered on once more and the woman paused to open the envelope. She reached inside and pulled out a sheet of paper. She read over it quickly, Creed Diskenth and Echidna Parass, their names seemed to blink at her,her eyes came to rest on the end of the sheet where two pictures of the pair were.

The woman froze, her eyes grew wide and her heart started beating violently in her chest. Her hands shook as she stared at the pictures. It's him, she thought. She tore her eyes away from the pictures and stuffed the sheet of paper and the envelope into one of her coat's pockets.

Taking a deep breath she tried to push it to the back of her mind and went back up the stairs and out the door. The cool night air greeted her and she retraced her footsteps down the little street, a small smile pulled at her lips as she made her way around a few corners and down some streets and alleyways.

She pulled out her keys and unlocked her apartment's door. She went inside, it was a grungy little place, not pretty in the least, it wasn't her home, and it really was only a place she laid her head down for the night. The walls were a dirty white, not a single picture hung on them, the windows were empty except for the coarse black curtains she had hung on them to keep out nosy neighbours as well as any light that could threaten to wake her up in the mornings.

The woman shrugged off her coat and tossed it onto a chair, she opened her fridge and pulled out a bottle of milk. She opened it and took a sip, shivering in pleasure at the refreshing taste of it. She fell down in her small couch and rummaged around in her coat's pockets for the assignment.

She read over it again crossing her legs and sinking deeper into her couch. She paused at the pictures again, studying them carefully; it was definitely he. The woman crumpled up the piece of paper and tossed it skilfully into the rubbish bin across the room. It flew through the air in perfect curve and landed in the bin, she smiled happily and took another sip of her milk.

Outside something caught her eye and she turned her head to look at it. A bright moon shone down on the city and without her consent her arms pushed her up and her feet carried her to the window. She pulled the morbid curtains aside and put a hand on the glass window's cold surface. It was a reminder of a different time, a time not too long ago but one that was forgotten.

She stared at the glowing moon and frowned when it seemed to wink back at her, I swear I have to buy me some glasses, she thought rubbing her eyes and taking another sip of her milk. She let herself be taken back to the other time and smiled at the memories.

Softly she began to sing the words to a song, she hesitated at some of it's parts unable to remember the whole song, but eventually they came back to her bubbling up inside her so that she had to let them out. She drank the rest of the milk, shot a last glance at the bright moon and pulled the curtain shut.

She fetched a blanket from her bedroom and sat back down on the couch. She pulled it up to under her chin and lied down. She frowned at the thought of the assignment looming closer and closer. Sephiria had told her to get it done and get it done quickly which meant that she would probably have to do it within the next 48 hours, she shut her eyes and willed herself asleep. An icy cold pit of dread formed in her stomach. Unknowingly she fingered the number thirteen that was tattooed into her chest.

So that's chapter one, please let me know if you liked it, tell me if something bothered you or didn't seem right or if anyone was OOC, tips for improving are welcome and much appreciated. I'll try updating regularly but things are going a bit rough, I've missed four weeks of school and I'm starting again Monday so bear with me. I really hope you enjoyed it!

Happy reading and happy writing!!

The Goose