Chapter Four
My next surprise came the next day when I got up. It was 9:00, the time I usually got up, unless I had reason to get up earlier or later… I was usually the first one up by about an hour. Sven liked to sleep later than I did, probably a habit of mine left over from when I got up every morning at 7 with Rudman to train my fighting skills and nanomachines.
I had managed to make myself sleep until 9:00, but never any later than that. I couldn't figure out why. It wasn't like I had to train anymore. My fighting skills were better than ever, and the control that I exercised over my nanomachines was also much better than when I was rescued from Rudman.
I had managed to extend the amount of time that I could hold full body transformations to about thirty minutes, although that was under calm circumstances outside of battle, and even then, it put strain on my body. I had practiced holding transformations in sparring practice, and had managed to last for about fifteen minutes. How much time I could hold it in a real battle with distractions and other factors… I don't know. I had never been forced to attempt it.
However, I digress. When I got downstairs, Train was already there, and looked as though he had already showered, even, and was making breakfast, just cracking the eggs over the frying pan. I was impressed that he was cracking the eggs with one hand. I was also so surprised that I nearly tripped down the last step, very unlike me. Train looked up, not stopping his cooking, and waved cheerfully at me.
Suddenly, my memories of the previous night came flashing back. I had confessed to him. I had kissed him without his permission. I had walked in on him naked. How much could I possibly humiliate myself… And him… in one evening, I wondered. I watched as Train cracked an extra egg over the pan, put in another two slices of bacon and dropped another piece of bread in the toaster.
"I'll make breakfast for you, too, Princess…" Train said with the confidence and ease with which he usually spoke, giving no indication that he even remembered what happened the previous evening. It left me to wonder if he had completely forgotten what a fool I had made of myself.
Did I really want to ask? I wasn't sure if I wanted to confirm for myself that I really had done something so stupid. But curiosity seemed to win out a lot with me. It wasn't fair that I had such an inquisitive nature.
"Train… A-about last night…" I muttered. I felt even more embarrassed, now that I was forced to fully concentrate on it. Train's ears perked up and he looked over at me. He wasn't smiling anymore, so at least now I know that he hadn't forgotten.
"I remember. Although I can pretend that it didn't happen, if you'd prefer that…" Train said, flipping the bacon, and prodding at the sides of the eggs so that they didn't stick. He then picked them up and took out a second plate, put my egg and bacon on one, and his two eggs and bacon on the second, removed the toast, and brought the meals over to the table.
He looked into my eyes, and I sort of wondered what he was thinking. Was he mentally laughing at me, at how foolish I was? I felt like a little girl again, quailing under Train's intense stare.
"N-no… That isn't what I want. I-I wanted to… apologize. I-I shouldn't have acted so…"
"Princess…" Train said… And in that moment, I realized how much more mature Train had become in his three years alone. He had grown up a lot from the child in a man's body that he was at 23 to more of an adult finally now that he was 26.
"It's not something to apologize for. I'm flattered that you feel that way about me… Ehehehe…" Train laughed nervously. Maybe he was also hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with this so soon.
"It's just… I've been in love with someone, but I'm not really sure how to react to someone feeling like that about me… I…"
"It's alright. You don't have to say anything else." I said. I could see that Train felt relieved when I said that. I had to finish my thoughts, though. "I won't give up on you, though!"
"Ahahaha!" Train was suddenly laughing. It was such a warm, kind, cheerful laugh, though, that I knew that he couldn't possibly be laughing at me. Nonetheless, I suppose I was a little indignant.
"What's so funny!? I wasn't making a joke, Train!" I demanded. After a moment, Train wiped his eyes and nodded.
"I-I know… It's just… You sound like Kyoko… pfft…"
"W-wha? I sound nothing like that airhead!" I shouted, suddenly furious at Train. I could feel the heat rising to my face again, and I was sure that if I could see myself in the mirror, that I would have been bright red.
"You sound exactly like her… I was in Jipang with Sylphie on a sweep, and we came across Kyoko. She saw that I was with Sylphie, and got all angry…"
"Yeah…" I sighed, my ego deflating slightly upon hearing this. "I could see that happening."
"Right. She said 'you're my rival in love, lady! I'll never give up on Kuro-sama! Not in a million bazillion years!'"
"'A million bazillion years'?" I said. It sounded exactly like Kyoko. Sadly enough, I found myself feeling slightly jealous. It seemed like despite Train's eccentric personality, he was extremely attractive to women. Was it the feeling of being threatened by the other women in Train's life that was overcoming me at the moment? It made me want to grab onto Train and never let go.
I knew I had to control that particular impulse, though. Fortunately for me, in spite of my outrageous behavior the previous night, Train was still behaving like he normally would around me. I didn't want to change that at all. I wanted to spend a long time with Train, even if he would never love me the way I loved him.
Of course, he had never outright said that he didn't feel that way about me. But I always sort of thought… Why should he? He's the amazing Black Cat. He could have just about any woman he wanted…
At least, that was what I was thinking at the time. Maybe it was foolish to think like that, but sixteen year old children were full of foolish ideas. It always has been in their nature, and it likely always will be. Again, I looked at Train's plate. It only had two eggs, five slices of bacon, six sausages, and three pieces of toast with butter, and jam. That wasn't even a fourth of what he usually ate. Sylphie had managed to beat something into him, although I'm not entirely sure if it was good.
He wasn't like himself anymore. By now, I've completely gotten used to him having an only slightly above average appetite. However, back then, it was strange in the extreme. And it led me to another question.
"Train, why are you up so early?" I asked curiously, leaning in towards Train over the table slightly. He looked over at me and sighed.
"Force of habit, I'm afraid. This is actually late for me. When I was dating Sylphie we had to wake up every morning at 5 to go for a 20 mile run. We usually went through a park or something like that, but sometimes if we weren't close to one, we just ran through the city. She was a vegetarian, too. But I wouldn't have any part of that. I like my meat too much."
"So you went running this morning?" I asked, surprised that Train stayed in the habit. 20 miles. That was a pretty big distance to run.
"How far did you go?"
"20 miles…" Train said. He didn't seem happy about it at all, although he didn't really seem tired either. I got the feeling that twenty miles wasn't really that much for Train. I was pretty sure that he could run thirty or more if he really wanted to, although there wouldn't really be much reason for him to do so.
"Twenty miles didn't take you four hours, though, did it?" I asked, surprised. His answer was even more amazing, though.
"No. About 30 or 40 minutes." Train said as though it was no more unusual than taking a pleasant walk. "After that I walked around town for a little while…" He said. My eyes widened. Train was fast.
That would mean that he had to be running at around 30-40 miles per hour. People have been known to be able to run that fast, but few can maintain that speed for more than a few minutes. It just wasn't physically possible for most people to exert that much energy for more than two or three minutes at the most. Comic books like Batman make it seem like a man can run like that for hours and never get tired. But that's just not the way it works.
I could run at about 20-25 miles per hour, but I had to stop running like that after six minutes. The longest I had ever run that hard was about eight minutes, and that was pushing it for me. Of course, Train was the man who had jumped over a 20 foot high wall from a standstill and still had the energy to fight off an entire group of goons with guns… God, alliteration is getting the better of me.
"I got some breakfast at a café nearby, ate some ice cream from Stewball's*, and practiced with my gun a bit. Oh, speaking of which…" Train said to me, his golden eyes sparkling as he said this, and finished his second breakfast off… He was still the fastest eater I knew…
"If we don't have any sweeps today, I can let you use my gun." My eyes nearly popped out of my skull. I was sure that Train would forget about that promise. I finished my breakfast quickly after that, and I went out into a field behind the hideout with Train. He handed me the gun.
It was fully loaded, and even heavier because of that. Although he was just using regular bullets, they still weighed the gun down a bit. I was amazed at how heavy it was, holding it out in front of me, even with both hands on the handle. I tried to put my left hand to my side, but Train gently pulled it back up and put it on the handle of the gun.
"I wouldn't recommend firing that one handed, Princess…" Train said, apparently not noticing the blush on my cheeks from when he touched me. "The recoil was a lot even for me to get used to. Before I used Hades, I had a normal 50. Caliber handgun and its power paled in comparison to Hades'… Like night and day.
Hades was designed as a gun that can pierce armor. I could just shoot tungsten bullets. But the gun, while designed to be able to fire .50 Caliber bullets, but it can also fire smaller bullets if necessary. However, it shoots at such high velocity that it can shoot right through most armor.
I heeded Train's warning, and kept both hands on the gun, holding it out in front of me stiffly. Train corrected that, too, though.
"Keep your arms locked, Princess, but relax your shoulders. If you don't, the gun'll fly back in your face and break your nose…" I gasped and tensed my muscles more, although I was still nervous.
I never knew that firing a gun could be so dangerous. I had always used nanomachines, and from what Train showed me of firing his gun, it seemed so easy.
"That's better… Now, roll your tongue back behind your teeth. You don't want to bite it off when the gun fires… Step back with one leg… So that you have better footing… No, not like that, put your left leg out a bit more, to the left further. Good. Aim at that tree over there, keep both eyes on the target, and fire!" Train said. As he said the last word, I pulled the trigger back, and the gun fired. I heard the sound of the explosion before I felt the recoil that Train had been talking about.
I gasped, and my arms flew back in my face, smacking me hard on the nose, and I fell on my butt, soaking the seat of my pants and my underwear. I flushed as I watched Train's gun fly up in the air. Fortunately, Train managed to catch it before it hit the ground.
He was laughing so hard, though, that I was amazed he could do anything. Finally he stopped laughing, and reached out a hand to help me stand up. He pulled me into a standing position and looked at my wrists, which were trembling violently, now.
"Maybe I should have let you use Sven's gun instead, Princess… Sorry. I've used it for so long that I forgot how powerful it was." He said gently, smoothing out my hair for me. I huffed at him, but after a moment, smiled to show that I was okay.
"No. It's alright, Train. Thanks for letting me try it. I think I'll stick with nanomachines, though." I said, pinching my nose to stop the bleeding. Train walked over to me, and put his hand on my forehead, pushing my head back a bit.
"Lean your head back. It will stop the bleeding faster. You already heal quickly with your nanomachines, but stopping the bleeding is important."
"Th-thanks… Train…" I muttered, running inside to change. I was so embarrassed that I had failed so magnificently at shooting a gun, even if it was my first time. I felt stupid, walking into the house, waddling rather than walking due to the uncomfortable feeling of walking in wet panties. Assuming you don't wear boxers, you'll know how that feels.
I don't think I need to go into the details, but needless to say, it's unpleasant. So finally, I got up to the top floor, took a change of clothes, and got into the shower, sighing in relief as the hot water washed over me, rinsing away the grime and mud from that morning. There's nothing better than a shower after a cold, wet morning.
I couldn't agree with that more… As I finally climbed out of the shower, and went through my morning routine, I thought about how unlikely it would seem to most that I would just happen to run into Train in this city while we were both on the same sweep.
And yet, it did so happen, and now, Train was back home again, and for some reason, although I was embarrassed about my rather disgraceful behavior the previous night, and my fairly serious snafu that morning, I was happier than ever… I was feeling positively giddy, like I could do a triathlon without breaking a sweat…
Well, in reality, I probably could do it, though maybe not without breaking a sweat. I feel fairly comfortable in saying that I could probably fairly easily do a triathlon and finish in the top five. I had no inclination to do so, though…
All I wanted to do at the moment was make a phone call… I know, it sounds like I was arrested and had asked for my phone call, but that wasn't the case. I needed to call my 'mother'. I called her that, but of course, she wasn't my real mother. She was really 'me', or rather, I was 'her', I suppose. Dr. Tearju Lunatique… An unrivaled expert in the field of nanotechnology, and a woman of unsurpassed genius.
She was a quiet and reclusive person, though, and lived far out in the country about thirty minutes south of a small city in a small country. She said that she had done enough damage with her knowledge, and wanted to live a quiet life free from being hassled by governments wanting to apply her skills to the creation of weapons that they would then use to kill people.
She said she felt terrible after she created me, and that she would never toy with human life again. I respect her for that… But this was different. I figured that if she's an older and more experienced 'me', then she should be able to predict how I would react in various circumstances.
"Hello? Tearju Lunatique. How may I help you?" Came a quiet, serene voice from the other side of the line. For a moment, my mouth froze. I hadn't thought of what I wanted to say to her. I had made sure that I was alone, that Train was out, and Sven was asleep… But I hadn't figured out exactly what I would say to her.
"Hello? Is someone the…"
"Dr. Lunatique…! It's me, Eve!" I shouted suddenly. At the time, I still called her 'Dr. Lunatique'… At least when I was speaking to her. It only seemed polite, after all. I heard her giggle on the other side, and then she took a deep breath, and spoke.
"You're always so formal, Eve… I told you, you can call me Tearju… How are you? You're up awfully early, aren't you? What time is it where you are?"
"It's already 9:45. It's not that early…" I replied. She began speaking again.
"Well, I'm always glad to hear from you, how is Sven doing? Have you heard from Train at all recently?"
"Yes… Just yesterday, actually, I came across Train. We were sweeping the same target and happened to cross paths. Somehow, we managed to convince him to stay… But that isn't the reason I called…" I said suddenly. I figured that there was no use postponing the inevitable questions that I wanted to ask.
"Oh?" She asked, sounding slightly surprised. "Did something happen between you and Train?"
"Well… I-I mean… Dr. Lunatique… I know this is a little bit personal, but who was your first boyfriend?"
For a moment, Tearju didn't say anything. I guess my extremely blunt question shocked her. Maybe it was too forward of me, I thought. I was afraid that I had offended her by asking. Maybe it had been a bad relationship for her. Finally, though, she spoke again.
"My first boyfriend? I think it would be a little bit different in my case from yours. I was graduating college by the time I was fourteen, so that did put me in a bit of an awkward spot. I was far too young for any of my fellow students, but didn't have any common ground with people my own age.
"I actually didn't have a boyfriend until I was 16, and it only lasted for a little while. I never got married. I don't think I could help you much with a boy your own age…"
"No! H-he isn't! H-he's… A little bit older than I am…" I said nervously. That was a lie. He was a lot older than I was. I suddenly got the feeling that I had made a mistake in calling Tearju. I couldn't stop now, though.
"Well… How much older is he? Is he someone that I might know about?" Now Tearju sounded concerned. That kind of bothered me… I wasn't sure how to continue. My throat was seizing up. It felt as though I was having trouble breathing. It felt horrible.
"I-it's Train…" I muttered. I guess she heard, me, though, because she giggled upon hearing this. It was such a ladylike sound, like the sound of crystal ringing.
"Oh my…" Tearju said. "He's quite a bit older than you, then. He must be about 20 by now… Right?" she asked. I couldn't help smiling. It was a common mistake that people made. People were often so sure that he was only seventeen at the oldest, when in fact he was well into his twenties.
"No. He's actually 26…" I said, blushing heavily. I thought that it would be easy talking to myself about something like this. I was dead wrong. It was as embarrassing as all Hell.
"Oh, my. He looked so young when I met him! I was sure he was only sixteen or seventeen years old." Tearju replied, laughing as she said this.
"It's a common mistake." I said cheerfully, relieved that she was not pressing the issue too severely.
Suddenly, she asked a question of me that completely took me off guard, and left me reeling for anything remotely resembling an answer.
"Are you calling because you ended up in bed with him?" She asked me. I gaped for a moment, my mouth having gone completely dry at the mere mention of sleeping with Train. The thought wasn't uninviting… It was just that it seemed so wrong to do.
"NO!" I screamed into the phone. Over the sound of my own ragged breathing, I could hear Tearju laughing, though whether it was at me, or my reaction, I wasn't sure. I found out quickly.
"I apologize, Eve… I-I promise, I'm not laughing at you! I was simply worried that you were calling because you felt you accidentally went too far with Train or something like that…"
"I-I didn't! I swear!"
"Then why are you calling me, sounding so desperate. You don't have a problem. Just try to get along with Train as you always do, and when you're ready to tell him how you feel, you can do so…"
"You don't understand! I already told him how I feel!"
"That was fast. Did he act strangely toward you at all this morning?" Tearju asked me kindly. I could practically hear her smiling on the other end.
"No. But I'm worried that he might not think well of me anymore. Despite his past, Train has always been a very kind person…" I said, somewhat surprising myself with the way I was defending him.
"He wouldn't openly look down on me, but I just know that he hates me, now. I've never fully understood Train, but I don't want him to think less of me…" I said. I assume that the worry in my voice was obvious, because Dr. Tearju replied with,
"Then ask him what he thinks of you. If he's really as good a friend as you think he is, then he won't think any less of you."
"And if he does think less of me?" I fretted. On the other side, I could practically hear Tearju shrugging.
"I'm not sure. I suppose you'll just have to take it one step at a time. I'm sorry I can't help you more, Eve. I'm just not very experienced with men." Tearju said back. At this I merely shook my head and smiled.
"No. Thank you for the advice. I'm sure it will help."
"That's good. Good luck with Train. Call and tell me how it goes with him."
With that, I responded in the affirmative, said good bye, and hung up. After that, I walked back downstairs, where Train was still sitting there, seemingly having made another full breakfast for himself with eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast along with coffee. I rolled my eyes, remembering that he had said he already ate breakfast once. His appetite apparently hadn't decreased that much…
Only his control over it had… If only slightly. I sat down at the table next to Train, and opened up a newspaper that was on the breakfast table, which looked like it had already been opened once, and folded back up quite neatly. That meant that Train must have been reading the paper. That also had surprised me at the time, although I suppose it shouldn't have.
The paper was a good place to look for criminals and bounties, and without a former IBI agent to do the research for us, Train would have had to work on his own. I looked up from the paper for a moment and watched as Train ate his breakfast at an admittedly irritatingly slow rate… Well irritatingly slow for him, especially considering he used to plow through his food as though it were the first food he had eaten in days.
In a way, I suppose it should have been refreshing to see Train acting like a normal person… But he wasn't the Train I remembered anymore, and that felt like a bit of a loss, even if the money that we spent on food wouldn't be so absurd anymore. I turned to Train and thought for a moment before speaking.
"Train?" I asked. Train looked up at me, and once more, my heart fluttered, feeling like a flock of butterflies, causing my stomach to churn slightly. It was a disconcerting feeling, as it reminded me once more of the thoughts I had the night before, that maybe it would be better never to fall in love. But regardless, for some reason, I paid that thought little heed, as I never wanted to love anyone other than Train.
It seemed so long ago that I had had a crush on Sven. Even though I still called him 'Sven', he was much more like a father, now, and in fact, he had adopted me just a year ago. He had surprised me with that announcement after I got my sweeper's license.
With Train's golden, catlike eyes on me, I almost faltered. But with a deep breath, I continued. I knew that, now that Train had returned, it was time to come clean about something.
"T-Train?" I asked. He looked up at me, seeming surprised at how nervous I looked.
"Yes? What is it, Little Princess?"
"I-I have to tell you something. I haven't even told Sven this, but, I guess since you're the one who rescued me from the Zero Numbers, I should at least tell you.
"Okay. Shoot."
"Back after I was kidnapped by the Zero Numbers, I pretended that I didn't remember anything, and it felt great to pretend as much, because that meant I didn't have to face what I had done, even under the influence of their patch.
"But I actually remembered everything. The patch didn't erase my memory. It just forced me to go berserk and made me unable to control myself. So I-I remember everything. I remember attacking you and Sven.
"I remember being taken by the Zero Numbers, and causing that ship to put everyone under their influence. I've never been able t-to forgive myself for that. I could have destroyed the entire world… And I would have if you hadn't pulled me out of that machine… I…"
"No need to go on. I understand." Train said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I shuddered slightly at the contact. Feeling Train's hand on me sent waves of electricity coursing through me, and I wanted him to keep his hand there forever…
"I know without a doubt that you never intended to hurt anyone. They surprised you. There was nothing you could do."
"I KNOW that! But it still hurts! I can't bear it! I see myself stabbing Sven in my dreams and I think about it during the day!" I protested. Train sighed, and like Sven had the previous night, he hugged me. I normally wouldn't admit that I could ever be this weak. But I trust Train and Sven with my life above anyone else.
"Eve…" He said, looking into my red eyes with his golden ones. I could truly see the cat in him at that moment. "There's nothing for you to worry about. It's alright to be scared. I was frightened the first time I killed someone for Chronos.
"I cried so hard that night. I couldn't believe that an assassin for the most powerful organization in the world could lose his cool like that. Eventually, I stopped fearing killing the target. But it never stopped affecting me, and I never would have let it, because it proved above anything else that I was still human, and that was more important to me than anything else. I never wanted to lose my humanity.
"If I did, I would become just another monster. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's alright to be upset that you hurt someone, but you shouldn't let it consume you. Besides, you'll go gray and get wrinkles way before your time if you worry too much."
At this, I huffed, and pushed Train gently, half joking.
"I'm not going to get wrinkles! That's just a myth…" I argued. But then... "What do you really think of me?"
"You're an amazing sweeper, a little too smart for our own good, and a great friend." This wasn't the answer I was looking for. It wasn't even the right topic.
"You know what I mean!" I protested. Train laughed, and stuck his tongue out.
"Not telling!" He laughed in that annoying, yet somehow endearing manner. I sighed. I wasn't going to get the answer out of him anytime soon. I could see that, though I still wanted to know, even if only so I could try to put it behind me.
However, as I had long since learned, there was no way to force something out of Train Heartnet. It was at that moment that there was a knock on the door. I got up, and walked over to answer it, surprised that anyone had come to call so early. It was only 10:00 in the morning. As I answered, though, I got the shock of a lifetime. There in front of me were three people that I never expected to see.
"C-Creed!? Echidna!? Rinslet?"