Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Athough Sora Kawasaki solely belongs to me!

Summary: Sequel to "The Feeling Called Love". Train and Eve face new challenges in their new life together, now that Eve has started college and Train finds it difficult to abandon his stray cat life and settle down.

Chapter 2: Painful melody

Eve's face seemed as if she remembered something.

"Oh, you're that skyboarder—I mean wind controller guy… From the now dismantled apostles of the stars." She said nonchalantly.

Leon smirked and said, "Quite a bland opinion you have of me, I see. But you've—" he analyzed her from head to toe and continued, "improved, for the lack of a better word." He looked as if he suppressed some other things which he meant to say, but decided against it.

Eve raised an eyebrow at him, to which he grinned and said, "But then again you were always—"

She cut in, in her usual calm and monotonous tone, "I've got to go. And next time keep your eyes open when you're rushing down the stairs."

She walked away. Leon muttered something under his breath, as he continued to stare at her retreating self.

Sven picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey, Sven, I'm comfortably settled in my room here. The cell-phone's not working inside our rooms so I'm calling from the warden's office." Eve's voice came in short breaths.

"Why do you sound out of breath? Did something happen? Eve?" Sven sounded anxious.

"I'm completely fine Sven; stop acting paranoid all the time. It's just that I—I met Leon Elliot; you remember him right?" Eve replied.

"That guy from the apostles of the stars? Yeah, I remember him. What about him? Is he a student there? What did he do?" Sven asked.

Eve answered, "Nothing Sven. He didn't do anything." She chose to remain quiet about her and Leon's little 'conversation', she didn't think of him as any threat. "Yes, he's a freshman. The boys' dormitory is upstairs on the second floor." She then continued in a reassuring voice, "The girls' dormitory is on the first floor. But you don't need to worry because anyone wanting to get to the dorms will have to pass through the warden's office and then there's an identity check performed every time one has to get into the dorm quarters. I'm completely safe here."

Sven, "Still a father is always concerned about his daughter—"

Eve cut in, wanting to end the topic soon, "Where's Train by the way?" Eve asked.

Sven replied, "He's out on sweeper business. Says he wants to do this alone. He's planning something and this has got something to do with you—and him." He added the last part a bit hesitantly. Eve could sense some embarrassment and disappointment in his voice. She was disappointed at not being able to talk to Train, especially about the small apprehensions that had started to take root in her head. But she also felt happy and content that Train was thinking about their future together.

"Okay, Sven. I got to go now, the warden wants all of us in our rooms. I'll call you in the morning tomorrow. As it is I'm quite tired, need to get some sleep. Goodbye and take care of yourself and Train." She then cut the call.

Leon was in his standing at the window, his harmonica in his hand. His roommate was Sora Kawasaki, a boy of eighteen with jet black hair and bright green eyes.

"Why don't you play it?" He asked.

Leon didn't reply. He continued to stare outside into the bright moonlight lighting up the dark night sky.

"Haven't found your muse, is it?" Sora asked, he then continued with a smirk, "I've seen you looking at that blonde girl. Eve, isn't it?"

Leon turned at the mention of Eve's name. His expression was calm but his eyes were cold.

Sora continued, "We have English and Economics with the Law department, thrice a week."

Leon replied in a cold and distant voice, "And what is the significance of this information that you just provided?"

Sora simply shrugged and said, "I don't know. I thought maybe you were interested."

Leon sighed and said, "Well I'm not. Have you taken your medicines?"

"You do know that I cannot survive without them, don't you? As for the answer to your question, yes, I'm done taking that damned pill which has kept me alive all this while… But not for long." Sora then stared into the air.

Leon sat down beside him, put a hand over his shoulder and said in a soft tone, "Sora, look, I'm sorry. I know you were only trying to help. Even after all these years that we've been friends I couldn't—"

Sora looked at him once, smiled and said, "Let's just forget all that shall we? Let's do something to celebrate our entry into college!"

Leon shook his head in disbelief at the sudden and swift change of mind of his friend and smiled.

He then started playing his harmonica.

As Eve lay down on her bed, a train of thoughts flashed through her mind; her past, her life after the Eden Project, her family with Sven as a great father. He gave her liberty but he could also get her disciplined. Sometimes he was confident that she could do it, all by herself and sometimes he was very overprotective of her as if she were a child. Then Train came back in their lives. He was always special to her; her first best friend. He was someone she could relate to. He is so similar yet so different. Now they were more than that. It was as if no matter how far she went away from him, she could still feel him as if he were right by her side.

She could hear a faint distant music which turned sweeter with each note. Her eyes began to droop, as the music lulled her into a dream-like state.

For the first time in the last three years she saw Torneo's mansion in her dreams. She saw herself in the midst of weapons and cubicles. For a moment she could feel the same restlessness taking over her when that microchip was placed on her. It was as if Adam's soul was taking control over her again. The faint melody that she could hear in the background gradually started to gain tempo. She could feel that slowly she was losing all control over her body, her heart overcome with intense anger and distress. She could hear cries pleading for mercy, her surroundings tainted with blood. She looked at them in horror. She raised her hands to cover her eyes, but her hands were stained with the same color as the ambiance around her. Then she saw Train, a feeling of relief passed over her. She called out to him, but there was no answer. She started walking towards him, soon her strides turned into sprints and a while later she was running towards him. But it seemed as if the closer she tried to get to him, the more he drifted away. It was as if he couldn't see her, hear her or feel her presence. The music rose and continued to rise till the world before her eyes suddenly plunged into darkness and she woke up with a start, breathing hard; the dream was gone but the music remained. The tempo had slowed down again; someone was playing a very painful melody. She tried to shake off her thoughts about the nightmare and think about the present.

This is her new life, in college; a new journey where she'd meet several others who were on the same path like her, waiting to start a fresh phase in their lives. But the reappearance of Leon Elliot just didn't make it seem so. Was he a friend? An enemy? Something in her heart said this was going to be one eventful year.

…to be continued.