AmyNChan: I'm baaaack~! *^_^*

Train: What took you so long?

AmyNChan: School, work, sleep, eat, school, work, sleep, eat, maybe a bit of writing…

Train: Ah.

AmyNChan: Yeah… XD In any event, here's the next chapter! *^_^*

Train: Amy-chan doesn't own Black Cat!

They were not in the woods for more than five minutes when they felt it. The indisputable sense of being followed. Train had honed his ability from many years of killing. Saya from years of pain and sweeping. Neither questioned the feeling, but took great heed of it.

Train checked above normal eye level with Hades firmly in hand. It was the first lesson of any learning assassin. When afraid, many people often checked around them at the ground or eye level. Staring outward or downward as if they somehow held the higher ground. The most obvious way to take advantage of such an instinct would be to situate yourself far above eye level. From the tops of buildings, ceilings, upper floors, or even trees.

And there were several of them in which to hide now.

Saya, on the other hand, kept to her instinct. She glanced about every shadow she could find—above, eye-level, and anywhere below. Her pistol, a Beretta '94, was held securely in her hands. It was loaded with bullets that she had specially crafted to suit her purposes.

"Running away?" a voice called. To Saya, it was unfamiliar. To Train, it was an irksome thing that was extremely unwelcome. "Is that all a witch is good for?"

Saya did not say a word in response, but looked at the surrounding trees. The trees could amplify sound slightly, which gave their pursuer a few more places to hide and a few more trees to take cover behind. She glanced up towards the canopy. There were many sturdy branches there that one could easily stand upon. If only—

A firework granted her unspoken wish. Perhaps the person launching it was not as careful as he should have been. Perhaps this firework was more potent than the rest. Perhaps it was even the finale. Regardless, it gave her just enough light to see the treetops.

There, behind them and to their right, stood the man. Though far, she could tell he was of average height, possibly five foot nine or six foot. His hair was a bright contrast to his surroundings as was his coat. The white stood out against his shirt, which appeared to have leopard print. Black slacks and shoes seemed to finish his clothing choices, but his choice of accessory appeared to be impractical for a gunfight. A long sword that was clenched tightly in his fist.

That deadly focus… she thought. Even from several meters away she could sense his bloodlust. Those eyes were ravenous and stared at her as though she were the last morsel in the entire country.

It was not a feeling she enjoyed, to put it mildly.

"What are you doing, Creed?" Train asked. Saya managed to not shudder at the sound. Although quiet, her dear friend sounded absolutely livid.

Perhaps that was worse than shouting.

"Train!" the man, Creed, shouted. In the brief moment that his eyes flickered to Train, Saya saw what could only be described as pure ecstasy. Like a kid who had gotten the most amazing present for Christmas. But the moment passed and his eyes had returned to her, perhaps more murderous than before. "This witch has corrupted you! She must die!"

"Are you insane?" Train yelled.

The man was gone. Saya had blinked and he was no longer there. She rose her swiftly gun to shield the side opposite Train and was surprised when she heard the clang of metal. When she turned to face him, he was all too close.

"Absolutely not!" he yelled. The woman sweeper shoved her gun forward while retreating to a safe distance. It was a gamble, but her train of thought had been well-rewarded. The assassin known as 'Creed' only followed her with those eyes. Those eyes that could very well resemble a wild animal.

"Train! Move!" she cried, firing her gun. Fortunately, her friend knew exactly what was happening and did as she had said. Unfortunately, the ante seemed to have been raised in Creed's eyes.

"There! My point! This witch—"

His accusation was cut off by a surprised yelp of pain. He looked down to see that a bullet had penetrated his left leg. The silver haired man looked up, eyes ablaze and fangs bared.

"Why you—!"

She wasted no time with her next two shots. While the woods were less than ideal for these sort of shots, these woods were special. They were her practicing grounds.

"It's tough to dodge a ricocheting bullet, huh?" she asked as she pulled her gun in closer. "Train knows you mean business, so that would mean you're a man of great skill. You would have parried my shot away if I simply shot straight at you, probably even from this range."

She would have felt a bit more smug in her slight victory had the man not started walking towards her. Her eyes widened. It was extremely difficult to fire a ricochet in the woods, even with her sample sheets of metal still lying about out here. Trees would normally absorb shots through their bark, but these had small steel platings around them for when she needed to come out and practice the shot.

Still, he was out of position now. She would have to move quickly in order to align herself up with another ricochet shot.

But he was blocking her way and kept moving. The angles kept changing, constantly changing where she needed to fire from. The shot would be useless—

"You're a witch!" the man seethed. Saya stood her ground and kept looking for another way.

How do I get into a position where I can ricochet bullets on him?

"You've corrupted him and made him weak!"

She looked around for another plating. She had many of them here, but none of them would work to land a shot on him and too many would place her too close to that sword. She then saw a flash of metal behind Creed at the perfect angle.

Black metal with a large XIII on it, held up by a man who was giving her the go-ahead. The steel in his eyes was all the confirmation she needed on his resolve.

"To save him, I must kill you!"

Bang!

Saya shot directly at the man and was not surprised when he parried the shot away as she had predicted earlier. The bullet lost a touch of momentum, but followed the trajectory she had planned.

Clang!

Off of Hades, which would survive with no scratch, and directly into the back of the assassin's sword arm.

Or it would have.

Creed dodged the bullet last minute, giving Saya little to no time to move out of the way herself. The bullet ran through a few muscles in her right arm, just missing the bone. It was nothing time, a good helping of gauze, and disinfectant would not cure, but the injury would impede her aim and speed. Both of which she would need for her life.

"Did you think I wouldn't dodge this time, witch?" Creed drawled. He gave a frightening burst of speed which landed his sword on her foot, no matter how quickly she jumped back.

Better my foot than where he was aiming, she managed to think through the blinding pain. She would do well without a slash in the stomach, thank you. Still, with her foot pretty much sliced in two and gunning arm down on precision, she would be heavily disadvantaged in this fight. She could not move nor be as quick on the draw as she needed to.

She could no longer do this on her own and hope to win. Not as she was, anyway.

The assassin was coming around for another slice when a bullet intercepted him. While Creed stood, shocked at the turn of events, Train reentered the fray. Saya knew he had been waiting on the fringes so as not to have been hit by one of her ricocheting bullets, but now that she could not shoot or run it was his turn to take center stage, safe from any sort of friendly fire.

Train…


"Train! At last!" Creed cried out. If that sick freak could be joyous, that would be the first descriptor of his face. Eyes lit up like a demented Christmas tree and a smile that would look very fitting on a hyena. "I do believe the fog in your mind should be clearing now! Now you should see that—"

A bullet grazed by Creed's cheek as Train continued his stance against the man. He had enough of this 'witch' nonsense.

And now he was free to fight as he wanted.

"I see…" Creed said. The delight he had possessed moments ago seemed dimmed. Train could not tell if this were an improvement or not.

His foot dug into the ground before he moved. It gave Train an indicator as to where he would strike next. He parried the blow that came swiftly from the right in this fashion, quickly finding himself face-to-face with an absolutely livid Creed. The strange thing was that the attack was too far back to be a proper threat to himself.

Of course. He was still after Saya.

"If I'm to free you from your shackles, I have to kill the witch!" he growled. "If I'm to kill her, I must fight you! What a despairing thought!"

Train shoved the man away and fired off three shots. His triple quick draw landed two shots on his target's person—one on the leg and another on his left arm—and the third barely grazed the man's ear. Train aimed again, but Creed was neither a rookie nor a frightened target.

He had vanished with ease.

Train looked around, knowing that he could not leave Saya's side. The instant he did, she would be dead. Certainly, she could pull a trigger, but if she did so too late she would suffer. The injuries she had already sustained would make sure she fired far too late.

For now, he was playing defense. A game he had not played in a very long while.

Creed lashed forward with Kotetsu only a moment after disappearing, an angry scream ripping from his throat. It was a move that Train parried by using quite a bit of force. While lacking in tact, the man had no lack of power. That was for certain.

As soon as Creed was off of him, Train took Hades and aimed for the man's feet. Two shots. One landed into his heel, slowing him down quite a bit. The other missed by a fraction of a second.

Only one bullet left…I can't believe I didn't grab my extra bullets… I'm used to having them in my coat at all times, but since confinement...

The gunman shook that train of thought knowing that being too distracted could spell out death for himself and Saya. He had to be entirely focused on his opponent.

Creed lunged at him again, putting more effort into this swing than the last, if that were at all possible. Train kept even pressure with him, knowing the consequences that would come to pass should he fail.

A tactic presented itself swiftly in the face of this possibility. Train put forth all of his strength into not only repelling the attack, but reversing it. While the silver haired assassin was surprised—pleasantly so, if the cheeky grin could be trusted—he did not buckle under the new force.

"That's it!" Creed cackled. "More! More! Those eyes are burning to kill! Give me more!"

Train pushed all the harder, tilting Hades just so. Not backwards, but downwards. Somehow, the lunatic did not even notice. He just kept laughing as the pressure kept building and building.

"Revert back to the glory you were before that witch corrupted you! Then you can kill her for making you weak!"

That did it.

Train pushed back with a final shove, finally sending the man off-balance with darkened eyes. The split-second before he could recover, Train slammed the butt of his gun across Creed's face, sending him to the ground. Instantly, Train was on top of him, shoving Hades' barrel into the man's forehead.

Creed was pinned down. He only had one bullet left.

But one was all he needed.

It would be so easy to pull the trigger.

Creed would just keep coming after them if he did not.

It would not stop until he was dead.

They would not be safe until he was dead.

He began to squeeze—

"Train!" Upon hearing his name, the man turned behind himself to see where Saya continued to lay, physically unable to do anything save shout or maybe wave her hands. But that was enough.

He was running from Chronos. Sephiria had offered to take him back into the numbers if he wanted. If he killed Creed, what was the point in running?

"Stay out of this, you wit—"

Train clocked him again, this time using his fist rather than Hades' butt. A small mercy. It took once more before the man was out cold. Train immediately released him and picked up his injured friend gingerly.

"He won't stay down for long. We need to keep moving."

Saya nodded and did not say anything else when Train picked her up and placed her on his back, minding her injuries. She did not make a sound when he began to run, deserting the place of the fight. He could not tell if he were grateful or worried for her continued silence as they began their escape.

Creed twitched on the ground.


"One eraser goes missing and they send two numbers after him?"

"Ash…"

"We even had to do his assignment for him. That's not normal. And the Elders giving this to us directly without Sephiria? That's downright—"

"Ash!"

"What?"

"He was the original candidate for number XIII."

"So? Wasn't he beat out by the current XIII?"

"No, he was too unstable for the position."

"Oh. That means he could have a skill set to rival one of the numbers. It's why they sent two."

"Exactly. Now keep an eye out. He was last seen headed this way."

"Got it, Nizer."


It had been several hours since Train had almost killed that assassin. While Saya fully agreed that the man was a creep in every sense of the word and that he was dangerous, extremely so when in an emotional state as he was, she could not stand by and watch as her dearest friend killed him.

Though would he have? Had she not intervened, would he have done as the silver-haired man had said? Reverted back into killing?

Why had he changed? She had been so happy with the said changes that she never gave much thought as to why he was doing it. Perhaps she had assumed that he realized killing was the wrong thing to do. Perhaps she had thought he was growing that good side that she always seemed to see, even if he did not see it himself. Perhaps she thought he had always disliked killing deep down.

But what if it was because of her? Because he knew killing made her upset? Even though the thought was somewhat ego-centric, it made a certain kind of sense.

Saya frowned. That would not do. He needed his own reason to spare a life. If his reason was her, what would happen when she got hurt? If she—heaven forbid—got killed? Would he use that as a reason for vengeance? Would he still spare the life of a criminal even when angry?

He needed to reflect on his own and think about why he had spared all those lives with Chronos. Why he had gone through so much trouble challenging the very livelihood that he had existed within his entire life.

He had to find his own reason to let people live.

Train instantly jerked to the side, causing Saya to hold on even tighter. They were going so fast and hopping over so many trees that a single misstep could be the end for both of them.

"Train?" she called over the wind.

"I'm fine," he answered.

"If you need to stop—"

"I don't."

"Train!"

"He won't stay down for long. It's been—"

"We haven't been followed for hours," Saya said. The light from the rising sun had bothered her at first, but it had also helped her to distinguish the time. It had been at least a couple of hours since the sun had begun to peer over the horizon. "I know you have incredible stamina, but—woah!"

The woman sweeper struggled to keep her hold onto Train as he lurched violently once more, this time to the left. This time, regaining his balance was not as easy as before. He staggered for about three steps before building a confident stride once more. But this was where the woman put her foot down.

"Train! Stop right now!" she yelled.

"We have to—"

"We have to get wherever we're without getting killed and we can't do that if you're tripping over your every step," Saya scolded. Her eyes drank in the ever-changing surroundings until she found something. "There, huge tree. Looks hollow so we can rest inside there for a while."

"We're going to sleep inside a tree?"

"Would you look inside a tree?"

"Point taken," he admitted. Saya breathed a little easier when he veered course slightly and arrived in front of the wooden behemoth. The giant had to be at least a couple hundred of years old, branching off awkwardly halfway up. Almost like a life that had been taken far before its time had come. Saya felt a little sorry for it as they approached, but the hole it left behind was perfect for their uses now.

It took about five steps for the former Chronos Number to stop completely from the pace he had been going at all night. Five seconds more for him to drop from sheer exhaustion of it.

"Train!" Saya did not feel the sting of leaves in her arm's wound. Did not bother with the injury that had nearly sliced her foot apart that burned when she had fallen from Train's back and into the piles of dirt. Did not care that her gun dug sharply into her side or worry if the safety had clicked off.

Her friend was hurt and she had not spoken up to prevent it sooner.

But she could do something about it now.

She reached her left hand out and grabbed Train's inky black coat. He was face first into the ground, which would not be good for the process of breathing. She forced out the pain from her own injuries and began to push on him, carefully flipping him over. When he was sprawled on his back, she began to look for the best way to transport him those final five feet into the tree's hollow base.

It took a moment for Saya to realize how lucky she was. Train still had his black coat on—a trench coat that went from his neck all the way down to the middle of his calves. Add to her luck that there were leaves scattered all over the ground, giving it less friction to work against. His coat would work as an impromptu sled against the leaves, easing the work that was necessary from her.

Still, even with the help of slight physics, a few leaves, and a long coat, Train was a healthy twenty one year old male who did his fair share of working out. That combination was not easy for a nineteen year old injured female at half of her working capacity to move. She had to fist his coat into her left—and non-dominant—hand while causing movement with her uninjured leg by pushing backwards.

It was the hardest five feet she had had to move for a very long while.

When she finally was able to move her friend to safety, she stopped and took a bit of a breather. While she did that, she also took a moment to think about their current situation.

They were on the run from his old boss, his old friends, and he was trying to make a new life for himself. She knew that he wanted to turn a new leaf in his life so badly. To no longer be the Black Cat of Chronos, but be Train Heartnet.

But who would that man be? Whoever he wanted to be, surely, but that was what Saya wanted to triple check. She wanted to make sure Train was becoming the man he wanted to be, not the man he thought she wanted him to be. But how to make that happen?

Train's chest rose and fell in a steady pattern, indicating that he was still regaining his strength. Saya sighed as she ripped a bit of her yukata's sleeve in order to wrap the wound on her arm. Then did the same for her foot, even though it was a practically useless gesture. The most it could do was keep it from any further infection. However, she realized that she should concentrate on the positives, something she always excelled at.

She would not be able to live with herself otherwise.

They were free from Chronos. They had the entire world to explore. And they would probably be doing that together for the next few days.

That put a smile on her face. She had always enjoyed a little adventure.

AmyNChan: Okay, so I think I mentioned that it'll take me a while to get chapters out, but I won't fail in bringing them in. XD

Saya: That was such a serious chapter!

AmyNChan: I know, but I added a fight scene! That wasn't there last time! *^_^*

Saya: Hey, are you gonna explain about the tree?

AmyNChan: Ah, okay. It's such an obscure thing, but the tree from the first version was my way of Saya kind of seeing what would have happened to life around her had she died. The tree was useful when it was needed and the hole it left suited their purposes. It was a grand thing, a beautiful thing, that was cut down far too early. It was just a bit of high-schooler-attempting-to-be-deep. XD

Saya: That's why she was sad when it was cut out in the rewrite. Apparently no one got it.

AmyNChan: Yeah, it was too subtle. XD

Saya: In any event, please leave a review! :D

AmyNChan: Yup, please~! *^_^*