Hello~. This is my attempt at mixing Black Cat and Ghost in the Shell. I don't think we really know what happened when Train was younger before Cronos (either that, or I did not do the research correctly), and since Ghost in the Shell is one of the few anime I know that uses solely guns, I thought this would fit.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost in the Shell or Black Cat. They belong to their owners.
Motoko strolled into the Section 9 meeting area. She was slightly mad that she had to give up a day off because there was something Aramaki had to tell them.
"Hey," Batou greeted. He, Bouma and Saito were the only ones there at the moment.
"What does he want now? I was enjoying my day off," Motoko questioned.
"Beats me. He said something about kids around," Saito recalled.
Motoko sat on one of the couches as she thought about a hundred ways to get back at Aramaki. For Pete's sake, having kids around them would hinder them! Especially now that the Prime Minister had nearly been killed by someone who was most likely involved with the Individual Eleven.
Soon, the rest of Section 9 was in the meeting area. Motoko was glaring daggers at Aramaki, who was not registering that the red-eyed woman was glaring at him.
"We have been asked by the Prime Minister to start training apprentices that could be on Section 9 in the future," Aramaki began.
"Apprentices? As in untrained kids whom we have to train?" Batou questioned.
"Exactly. As we have only one kid to be trained right now, I'm assigning the Major to train him," Aramaki responded.
Motoko frowned more than usual.
"Geez, chief, having kids around would complicate things, wouldn't it? We're not a daycare center," Saito reminded.
"I could not deny her request. Besides, with the Individual Eleven starting to affect the Dejima issue, we will need all the help we can get," Aramaki informed.
"Fine. When do I start training this kid?" Motoko asked.
"Tomorrow. Be ready," Aramaki ordered.
The next day at Section 9's HQ, Aramaki was escorting a young boy into the meeting room. He looked slightly Japanese, and had unruly brown hair and gold eyes. He wore rather casual clothing, and looked rather scared at seeing so many people.
"This is Train Heartnet. He was sent from another organization that had trained him, but his mentor had apparently been killed, so for the time being, we will be training him," Aramaki informed.
Motoko strolled up to the kid. "Nice to meet you. I'm Motoko Kusanagi, but you will refer to me as Major, am I clear?"
Train nodded and ducked behind Aramaki. "The old lady is scaring me!" he whimpered.
The moment those words came out, Motoko was furious. Batou darted up and restrained the purple-haired woman from flipping out on the kid.
Aramaki sighed wearily. This was going to be a test for Motoko's nerves if he was right.
A few hours later, Motoko had calmed down and was showing Train around Section 9's HQ.
"This is where we work, and where you'll be staying until I'm done training you," Motoko explained.
"This place is big," Train noticed.
"Of course it is. We do a lot of work here, including stopping criminals that normal police can't handle," Motoko reminded.
"Even killing them?" Train asked in a meek voice.
Motoko rolled her eyes. "It's part of the job. If they don't come peacefully or are a danger to everyone around them, they have to be killed," she responded.
Train whimpered quietly for a brief moment. Motoko groaned.
"It's not like everyone's going to be nice, and we do have orders to try to take them back alive, but if they commit suicide or they're a threat to the world, they've gotta die," the rather stoic woman reminded.
Train let a quiet sigh pass his lips before he looked at Motoko seriously.
"Will you train me to be good?" he asked.
"Depends on what you mean. I have orders to train you, so I guess so," Motoko responded.
Train seemed to smile for a moment before nodding.
"Good."
An hour or two later, Motoko brought Train to the training grounds. Saito was testing out a new bazooka and was hitting the targets accurately.
"Saito, mind if we train here for a while?" Motoko asked.
"Go ahead, but don't get in my way," Saito responded.
Motoko nodded and led Train to a quieter area.
"We'll be testing your accuracy. For the moment, you'll have to borrow a test gun until you get your own," Motoko informed, handing Train a gun suitable for his age.
Train's eyes lit up for a brief moment, then looked at Motoko wonderingly.
"I'll be right back, I need to activate the targets," the Major informed, heading to a control panel and pressing a few buttons.
A pale gray think tank immediately materialized in front of Train. Without even hesitating, the brown-haired boy shot at it several times before it fled.
Motoko's eyes widened. They had not programmed the training program to include think tanks.
"Train that was a real one! We're under attack!" Motoko shouted.
Train froze for a moment, then ran to Motoko for protection.
"Attention all Section 9 members, we are under attack from an unknown force. I repeat, we are under attack from an unknown force," one of the AIs announced.
Motoko grabbed Train and peered through the rocks, looking for Saito. The sharpshooter was holding off some armed soldiers. Whoever they were, they were not agreeing with Section 9.
Train shivered. "They're not with intent to kill. They only want to show us if we mess with their boss, they'll strike back hard," he informed, shaking visibly.
"Then let's show them we're not afraid!" Motoko shouted, shooting at a soldier. Before she even realized it, Train darted from his side and skirted around Saito's location. He was hidden by the shadows.
"Train…I get it. He's using the shadows to his advantage," Motoko realized. There was something about the kid that reminded her of a cat.
Without warning, Train suddenly unleashed a flurry of bullets onto the soldiers attacking Saito. The soldiers had gotten so close to Saito it would have been impossible to kill the soldiers without accidentally hitting Saito, but Train had pulled off a literal miracle. Saito was unharmed.
"Whoa. Major, did you train this kid to do that?" Saito asked.
"No. I didn't even notice he left my side until moments later," Motoko responded.
Saito stared at Motoko for a moment before explosions came from HQ.
"We got it covered, Major!" Batou called from inside HQ.
"Good. Train, were you trained before?" Motoko asked.
"Yeah. I was trained by someone who…well, I don't want to talk about it too much, but he died a few days ago," Train responded.
Motoko couldn't help but wonder who it was.
Soon, the intruders had been cleared out.
"It's apparent they work for Gouda. They might be rebels who were given military gear," Aramaki guessed.
None of Section 9 was pleased.
"As much as I'd hate to admit it, there was a possibility that our young charge would have been killed if he was alone. I've already made preparations for him to go to a different facility," Aramaki admitted.
"You what?" Motoko questioned.
"I know that it must be cruel to have Train leave us just as he came here, but I think the Prime Minister would agree that perhaps training kids isn't a good idea after all," Aramaki informed.
"So…I guess this is good bye, then," Train guessed.
Motoko nodded. "Be careful out there, Train," she reminded.
Train nodded.
Train woke up with a start.
"You're finally awake," Sven noticed.
"Y-Yeah. I was having a dream about one of the people who trained me," Train informed.
Sven smirked. "Interesting. Was it a lady?"
"Yeah, she was. She was pretty strong back then. I wonder how she's doing," Train wondered.