Black Cat: The Stray Cat and the Shining Star

By: Kara Aconoe

Warnings: Graphic scenes, anime/manga spoilers, original characters and possible out of character occurances.

Synopsis: Train Heartnet, the former XIII Number eraser of the Chronos Numbers, was the infamous Black Cat. It's been a little over half a year now since Train has left Chronos to start the life of a sweeper among Sven Vollfied and Eve. After having his life changed by the events and meeting with Saya Minatsuki he has opened his eyes to the world around him and the ideal that he does not always have to shoot when it's not necessary.

Creed Diskenth, the former partner to the Black Cat and member of Chronos, had an unhealthy obsession and ambition. Having left Chronos as a traitor and rising up by use of Tao from the Forbidden Continent. He is now the leader of the Apostles of the Stars, a group that wishes to overthrow Chronos. His admiration for Train still drives him as the leader of the Apostles and after going to great lengths even still, that admiration still grows greater

!Update! - Edited, the story now revolves rather loosely around the manga version of Black Cat.

Shot I: Once Upon a Midnight

It's been two long years since it happened,

I can still remember it like a passing dream.

Or rather,

the nightmare that it really was.

That boy,

the boy who I never thought I'd see again...

Black Cat

The name that will forever stain that grave...

"Kanta! Kantaaa!"

"Coming, coming!"

Two children happily played around the large estate, the garden was littered with the fresh dew of a new day. Guards were stationed at every gate normally, but this day it seemed there were a few extra wandering about the entire estate.It was a large mansion, not too different from the many others around the city. The only difference was that the security seemed to be far greater than that of the norm. Kanta took careful notice of this as he continued to play along with his younger sister.

Kanta was a strong and calculating young boy at the age of fifteen years. He was orphaned due to his parents unfortunate deaths in a fire three years prior to being adopted. His sleek blonde hair and sapphire eyes made it quite easy for them to strap on a noble appearance for the youth. After being with the family for sometime now he's learned to deal with it, but also has a few loop holes whenever he can get out of the house. Having his own secret wardrobe and normally messing the finely combed hair they seemed to pride so much. Kanta would have surely run away from such riches and normally scandalous lives if it were not for his younger sister.

Arie was never well looked upon for adoption. Her oddly colored yellow eyes and plain black hair were things that turned most people off from ever adopting her. Little is known to her and Kanta about what really happened, but back when the fire occurred Kanta just happened to come upon the young girl in the same apartment buildings unconscious. After saving her life and losing those of his parents he pledged to keep Arie safe and find a better home for the both of them. Thus, he adopted Arie as his own younger sister in the sense and ever since the two have been inseparable.

Arie was the symbol of carefree innocence that kept Kanta at ease through everything that went on secretly within the family. In truth, they were living with very corrupt people. Politicians whose pasts were slandered with unsolvable murders and bribery. It was not much better than the life the two had left behind at the orphanage, but it just so happened that two weeks after they were adopted the place went bankrupt. Kanta could only speculate since he never had any proof, but it was clear this new family had something to do with it.

"Kanta? Kanta what's wrong?" questioned Arie, a bit concerned as the boy suddenly stopped. They were in the middle of a game of tag and Kanta was it but he had stopped chasing her for no apparent reason, or so she could see.

"Oh! Sorry about that." he said with a small laugh as he scratched the back of his head in dismay. "It's nothing, nothing at all." he lied to her. It was something, he had a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had spotted something on the roof nearby...

"Kanta!" Arie whinned. "Quit spacing out, Kanta! It's getting late and they'll make us go inside and dress flashy soon."

Arie always worded things like that a bit immaturely, but it was out of the fact she had little knowledge of just what their new family was all about. Dressing flashy was just dressing formally for every meal. Since the two never really ate with the others in the mansion unless they had outside guests they still had to practice dressing just in case.

Kanta smiled at her and placed his hand on her head as he gently pressed down. "Alright then. You're it!" He ran off back into the house this time laughing.

"Kanta! Kantaaa! You come back here!" she whined. "Kanta you cheat!"

"Thems the breaks 'sis." he remarked as he turned back to her for a moment with a sly smirk as he waved. "Bye, bye!"

"Oooh! Kanta you meanie..." she huffed stomping around in place.

The sun was beginning to set now, it was getting darker and lights all about the mansion lit up the area. She had been sitting there on the grass in frustration now for about a half hour. Another of her many silent tantrums, but she solved her anger in more peaceful and sound ways than a crying child.

Arie sighed and took a deep breath as she finally stood back up. Shifting her glance around to make sure no one was looking, she crept over to a hidden flower patch just behind the giant bushes nearby. It was quite dark there since there were no lights around the outer foliage of the estate. Pulling out a small pocket flashlight, Arie took another glance around just in case. If anyone ever found out about her secret hiding spot they might ruin it, or so she liked to think since she had spent so much time and effort into growing the few flowers there.

She smiled as she shined the small light on the patch of dirt just before her. Little buds sprouted from the ground and a few weeds were creeping up onto the flower bed. Arie frowned as she quickly plucked them out.

"Can't have those there." she whispered to herself. She took a few steps back and shone the light again as she looked triumphantly at her little patch of heaven. "Perfec-!"

"Arie! Arie come back inside now, it's getting late!" called Kanta from the courtyard. He never bothered to go searching for her since he knew about her hiding place. She liked to boast about it to him, calling it her 'secret base' or her 'little patch of heaven.'

Shutting off the flashlight and slipping it back into her pocket, she quietly snuck her way out of the bushes and ran off to where the voice was echoing.

"Coming Kanta!"

Midnight: All is quiet.

'Wait... quiet..?' thought Arie as she opened her eyes and glanced up at the roof. 'Why is it so quiet..?' Pushing herself up from the bed and folding the covers away neatly she slunk off of the mattress and on to the velvety carpet. She looked around the room again and took a deep breath as she listened carefully for anything strange.

Footsteps... just outside of the window.

Quietly tiptoeing to the curtains, she peeked just outside. It was pitch black, only the slight reflection of the lights on nearby could be seen. 'That's strange... I could have sworn... Oh well.' she thought as she closed the curtain and made her way back over to the welcoming bed. Just as she was about to go back under the covers there was a swift instance where she felt a cold rush of wind.

"What in the-!" Arie quickly sprung from her bed as she shifted from the now partially opened door to the window that was wide open as the curtains danced violently with the breeze.

"Aaaaaaaah!" she screeched. Her loud scream was halted as she felt someone come up from behind and cover her mouth. Her heart raced as she tried to look back.

"Sssh... It's okay Arie, it's okay. I'm here." soothed a familiar voice. It was Kanta, he had come just as he heard the cry from his younger sibling. Slowly slipping his hand away from her covered mouth Arie quickly turned over to Kanta and clung to him tightly.

"Kanta nii-san!" she cried softly. He stroked her hair affectionately.

"It's alright now Arie, I'm here..." he assured her, but his figure soon straightened as he heard a ringing in his ears. 'Silent alarm...' he thought to himself. There definitely was something going on, Kanta was right. It seemed their family also knew this and they had added security recently just for it. Just outside of the room rushed footsteps and the sound of grunts could be heard. Soon gunshots began to echo the halls.

"Arie, Arie I need you to listen carefully to me." Kanta said sternly, slightly shaking her so that she'd look up at him. "No matter what you see from here on out I want you to keep running, okay?"

"Keep running..?" she repeated. "B-But why! I want to stay with you, nii-san!" she protested. He shook his head and held on to her shoulders tightly.

"Listen to me Arie, and promise me you will. Promise me Arie!" he spoke rather desperately now, looking at her directly in the eyes. Her head dropped slightly at the urgency in his voice but she looked back up to him with a small nod. He gave her a reassuring smile and knelt down closer to her level. "Hey now, I promise I'll be there with you soon too. Here, I'll let you hold on to this as insurance, 'kay?" Pulling something from his pocket he handed it to her gently.

"I'm off, remember what I said." Kanta stated as he let go of her and was about to leave.

"Wait! When do I...?" she blurted, trying to get him to stay back just a little bit longer. He glanced around as if looking for an answer.

"Just count, like we used to do. You remember right? Whenever the bad things come all you have to do is close your eyes and count to your favorite number." he said with a wink as he patted her on the head one last time. "Just count to thirteen and all the bad things will go away. Then just keep running." Walking to the door he looked back at her one last time as he reached the doorway.

"I love you, nii-san..." she whispered, a few tears slipping down her face.

"Don't cry, Arie... you should never have to cry unless we're saying goodbye. And I promise this isn't goodbye..."

Author's Notes: Well now, I bet most of you are wondering how the synopsis has anything to do with what's going on aside from the beginning conversation but I'll just state now that it will matter soon enough. If you notice the repetition of certain things, I mean THINGS not grammer, then be sure to keep track of them for future references.

Another thing is some of you may recognize the characters names from my other fanfictions, one of the first times I've reused characters. There will be a vast difference in their portrayal from past usage so please don't bother comparing, you'll only be making things complicated for yourself.

!Update! - Edited, the story now revolves rather loosely around the manga version of Black Cat.

Next Shot: Count to XIII