Scratch Back

Based on the manga

This story is set after Kyoko and Train path ways and might get a little AU. Contains slightly graphic descriptions.

The sun shone brightly through the bedroom window of a small Japanese apartment. The room was simply decorated with only a small wooden desk in one corner, a small dresser next to a closet in the opposite corner and a futon in the middle. In the bed slept a young girl, with her short black hair draped over forehead. At her feet slept a small black kitten, with semi-large eyes.

"Ah, good morning!" the girl announced rising up from her bed. The smile on her face was bright and full of exuberance. "Good morning Train; I'll have your breakfast in a minute."

The kitten yawned as it opened its eyes and stared at its master. The girl was definitely in her usual cherry mood.

Kyoko slipped her feet from under the blanket and rose to her feet stretching energetically. It was a beautiful day outside, and she couldn't wait to go to school. She had only recently gotten back from her journeys with The Apostles of the Stars, barely a week had passed and not much had changed. Her parents still hadn't return from their trip yet, so she pretty much had the house to herself and Train of course. She still had to take care of herself, but it didn't bother her; she had already gotten use to it. Sure it was a little lonely, but she had Train to keep her company now. If only she had Kuro-sama to keep her company as well.

"Aw… he hasn't returned any of my messages," moaned Kyoko, slightly less excited looking at her cell-phone. She had two messages, but neither of them was from him. She had only sent him about one hundred messages yesterday. He must be too busy right now, she thought opening the first message. It was from her friend Syomi, who had recently received tickets to a local pool and wanted her to go.

"Sounds like fun!" Kyoko shrieked aloud, punching in her response.

Next she opened the other message which read…

Hey monster girl, just checking up on you, I trust you made it home safely. If you're wondering about Train, I haven't contacted him or Sven since we split up. So I can't help you there. Anyway I'll probably contact you later.

Rinslet

Kyoko was a little upset as she read the message, still no news on Kuro-sama. But that was how it always was. He never returned her messages and the only time she could get updates on him was when she saw in person. However there was no cause for concern, she was confident nothing would happen to him. He could take care of himself, plus he did make a promise to her.

After taking a quick shower, she dawn her school uniform and made her way into the kitchen. There she removed a can of can of cat food from the cupboard and began to prepare Train's breakfast, occasionally beaming down at the famished kitten. Today was going to be her first day back at school, and she couldn't wait to see her old friends.

"Eat up," Kyoko smiled placing the small bowl in front of the kitten, followed by grabbing a slice of bread for herself from the pantry. After buttering it she placed the slice into her mouth for safe keeping and grabbed her bag from the table.

"I'll see you after school, k Train-chan," she called behind her as she stepped out of the door.

Puff, puff… the sound of heavy breathing and wet footsteps echoed throughout the sewers of San Angeles. The smell of rotting flesh and feces diffused throughout the dark and dank area. But the smell had little to no affect on Takeda Unimada; wanted for murder. He had been minding his own business minutes ago on the city streets, when some idiot sweeper had climbed onto a garbage bin and yelled Hey you I'm a sweeper and I want to catch you. The guy had to have been an idiot; it would've been a lot easier for him to have caught him without announcing it so loudly.

Now because of the fool here he was, hair drenched with putrid water and running for his life. The only consolation that he could think of was the fact that his pursuer had to be an idiot, so getting away shouldn't be a problem.

Takeda looked back to see if he was still being chased. It was too dark to see far, but he was fairly sure the sweeper couldn't see his movements anymore. It was be easy for him to make a few turns and lose him. And just his luck, there was a fork in the tunnel. Quickly he decided to head down the left tunnel, but not before tossing a piece of shirt in the doorway of the right tunnel, to throw the pursuer off.

Pit pat, he could hear the sound of the sweeper footsteps stopping for a minute. Takeda figured he probably was trying to figure out which he had gone and surely enough his trick had worked. He could hear the sweeper's footsteps getting further and further away then vanished. A deep sigh escaped his mouth, he had evaded captured once again.

He had just about opened his mouth to let off a triumphant giggle when a bullet reflected two inches from his feet. What the hell? he thought frantically. How'd the sweeper find him, and why couldn't he hear the footsteps anymore? There was too little time to think, only time to run. The guy was definitely smarter than he looked, plus he was dangerous. Takeda knew he was in serious trouble now, his options were now limited, and to make matters worst there was a dead-end up ahead. He still had some time though; the sweeper had slowed to walk as he approached. There was only one left for Takeda to do, take the bastard down.

As quickly as he could he whipped out two hand grenades, with strings connected to their pins from his long tan vest. Gently he rolled them in front of his body just strong enough for the strings to be taut without the pins coming loose. Takeda's trap was set, and his pursuer had no choice but to walk into it. A bounty is only good to a sweeper if their target is alive, and since it was dark the chance of the guy taking a shot at him was slim. All he had to do was wait.

Takeda watched as the shadowy figure came into view. He could feel a mixture of fear, and excitement, probably from the river of adrenaline that was almost certainly running through his blood vessels. He readied his arms as the pursuer walked into range, and prepared to pull. As he retracted his arms, there was no sound of an explosion, but instead the sound of gunshots echoed through the small cramped corridor. It noise was enough to bring him to his knees, but his pursuer didn't seem the least bit affected by it.

As the echo came to a halt, Takeda looked at where his grenades where. They were still there, pins intact. But that was impossible, he had pulled on the strings, so the pins should've dislodged. Then it hit him, the gunshots he had heard had shot the strings in two. But the figure only appeared to be holding one pistol. How could he have the speed and accuracy to hit two wires, less than a millimeter thick in a fraction of a second with only one gun? Who was this guy?

Whoever he was Takeda had to take him down. In a flash he drew his two semi-automatic pistols and unleashed a barrage of bullets on his enemy. He sighed looking at the cloud of smoke and dust that had been generated. He was one hundred percent sure he had got him; no man could've survived that. The clang of metal knocking against the concrete rose in the dimly lit corridor. Now what? Takeda thought looking at the ground in front of him. There were a total of thirty compressed bullets lying there, the same amount his two guns had held in total.

His face lit up with fear as the smoke began to clear, and the figure still stood before him. The one pistol he had held was turned to the side in front of his body. No way, he blocked them all! Now Takeda could clearly see the shape of the gun. It was a black decorated gun with the number XIII etched into it. The rumors were true, and just his luck he found out first hand. Chronos' Black Cat had really become a sweeper.