Disclaimer: Black Cat I own not. Sven Vollfied I own not. Owned by Kentaro Yabuki, they are. Clobber Yoda for making me talk like this, I shall!

Big Sleuth on Campus

It took all the will in his body to pick up the phone in his apartment and dial her number. As the ringing tone sounded, Charden could feel his entire body tense up, and again he rehearsed in his mind exactly what he would say to her. Hey, what's up? Listen, if you have a minute, I just wanted to have a chat with you about… Ugh, there was no way he could make what was on his mind sound casual. Maybe she won't have her cell phone on her. Boy, would that save me a lot of trouble. It's not too late for her to be in a class or important talk, is it? Now that would be embarrassing. Perhaps I'll just get her voice mail and I can…

"Hello?" answered a woman on the other end of the line.

Dammit! Part of Charden had hoped she wouldn't answer, if only to save him from unease. Nonetheless, he tried to talk, stopping himself a few times before finally managing, "Sephiria Arks? I-it's me…Charden. I-uh, j-just wanted to call and say…hi?" How stupid he felt.

A kind chuckle resounded on the other end. "Oh, Charden, you're so sweet when you're shy!" Sephiria couldn't see him blush. "Come on now; is there something you wanted to talk about?"

This was the hard part. Charden could either lie and come off as an even bigger idiot, or he could risk telling the truth and feeling like a nutcase for having such trivial worries about Kyoko. Or, he could always go with number three…It almost always worked when he was in a tight spot, especially in phone calls…

"You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine.

You make me happy

When skies are gay I mean grey!

You'll never know, dear,

How much I uh…admire you,

Um, oh crap…And I forget the rest of the words!"

This didn't get the intended what-the-hell pause Charden was aiming for, (that was his cue for hanging up on the other person and acting like nothing odd happened.) Quite the contrary; he clearly heard Sephiria cracking up gleefully on the other end of the line. More than anything now Charden just wanted to stick his head in the oven and save Sven the trouble of cooking dinner. But any mutilating thoughts were put on hold when Sephiria gained her composure and declared, between light chuckles, "Okay, I'm coming over; I'll bring some things over to make us dinner."

"Wait, wha-?" She hung up.


"Don't you think we should have some sort of plan before we jump into this?" expressed Lloyd, who was panting profusely after having chased Sven for a good half of a mile. The latter had only stopped because little Rinslet had tripped over a rock and sprained her ankle, resulting in inevitable yelps of pain. Sighing, he now tended to the young self-appointed agent (a title Rins gave herself) and examined her ankle while she lay on the grass. By now, the trio had made it to one of the college's pocket parks, and they still had a ways to go before reaching their destination; another mile would take them to the southern campus gate, then half-mile of road would lead to the abandoned Torneo mansion.

The sun was already starting to set, and Lloyd glanced at his watch. "It's now seven-fifteen, guys; we'll get there in another hour or two, so I suggest we take a short break and let our little princess rest her ankle."

Princess, thought Sven to himself, suiting…she looks spoiled and prissy like one. Makes you wonder what her parents do for a living…Giving Rinslet's foot one last look-over, he removed his suit jacket, sprawled himself out on the grass and closed his eyes. What his mind needed now was a rest from the stress that weighed heavily on his conscience. So Sven let his thoughts wander, to the coolness of the grass he lay on, to the light breeze on his face, and to the prospect of seeing Tearju the next day.

He must have dozed off, because Sven felt a tiny foot nudging him in the side. Opening his eyes, he found Rinslet's face inches away from his, close enough for him to smell her bubblegum breath. "You're invading my personal space," Sven stated plainly, rolling over to his side and standing up. "Anyhow, are you going to be able to walk?"

The young girl glanced at her ankle, but then turned back and smiled. "Lloyd said that if I started to hurt that you'd give me a piggy-back ride!" Her glee was more than evident, and Sven could almost swear that she blushed beneath the light of the setting sun. Ignoring that, he turned to Lloyd and gave him a milder version of the stare of death. The latter simply shrugged.

"I couldn't do it; chronic back pain, you know," testified Lloyd innocently.

Sven grumbled as he put his suit jacket back on, "I'll 'chronic back pain' you if I end up carrying her the whole way." Then he raised his voice and agonized, "I don't think babysitting was part of my contract!"


"Charden! Pasta's ready!" Sephiria called from the kitchen. Charden had been busy setting the table and preparing the salad for their impromptu dinner date at the apartment. Nonetheless, he had miraculously tidied the dining room, picked up the living room in the fifteen minutes, and changed into a nicer shirt before Sephiria had arrived. Now, Charden watched as she served the noodles in two mismatched bowls and brought them to the table, smirked when he saw she was wearing the "Cutie in the Kitchen" apron, (though he couldn't bring himself to tell her it was Sven's). He gave the salad a final toss before helping Sephiria into her chair like the gentleman he was. Once Charden took his own seat at the opposite side of the table, a silence followed that was almost suffocating.

The host could feel himself perspire with anxiety as they both twirled pasta around their forks soundlessly. Charden, welcome to Embarrassment City, population: one,thought he to himself, pushing his sunglasses up uneasily, glancing over to the seemingly unaffected Sephiria. Geez, first I make a fool of myself over the telephone, acting like a twelve year old trying to weasel out of his chores, and now I have to entertain a girl I've barely met, but to whom I was able to spill out my life story. Take me now, oven!

A small chuckle diverted Charden's attention from his thoughts to his self-invited guest. "Why are you laughing?" inquired Charden as calmly as he could.

Sephiria ceased her giggles and took another bite of her pasta. Charden kept a close eye on her behind his sunglasses and…wait, was that just the light, or was she blushing? Passively he shook it off and the two finished their meal in silence.

Right after Charden had gotten up to put the plates in the sink, Sephiria bounded towards the sofa, plopped herself down, and motioned for him to take a seat. Confused, he obeyed and gazed into her eyes, waiting. "Tell me everything that's been going on," insisted Sephiria.


"…but what the teacher didn't know was that I had caught it all on tape! It was a simple matter of getting my hands on a ring camcorder, but once I showed it to the school board, BAM! His district fund nabbing days were over!" Perched on Sven's shoulders, Rinslet had decided to dictate some of her proud sleuthing achievements, to which Lloyd listened intently and with a profound amazement. Now the trio had half a mile to go until they reached the mansion, and thirty minutes to cover it. Shifting the weight on his shoulders, Sven sighed. Hell, this girl had picked her first lock before she could walk, shoplifted at the age of four, and while Sven was learning about most basic basics of clocks at the age of seven, Rinslet had already dismantled a bomb and put it back together in such a way that instead of exploding, it made an obscene farting noise. And this girl was only twelve?! How could her parents handle such a mischievous little hell raiser, much less allow such a child to even step out her front door? Unless…

"So, what do your parents do for a living?" asked Lloyd curiously. "Do they travel a lot and leave you to fend for yourself? Or do they work crazy hours and give you a chance to work your magic?"

For the first time in about an hour, Rinslet fell completely silent. Her grip tightened around Sven's head while her own hung low, shadows playing across her once cheery face. Noise seemed to cease all around them as the first stars began to glitter in the dark sky despite the street lamps. Almost as a whisper, the words came to her.

"My father died from cancer the day before I was born, and mom took care of me all by herself until I was nine. That's when…" Rins sniffed and choked back her sobs, "That's when mom was…was…!"

Sven could feel Rinslet's tears wet his green hair and hear her chest heaving with despair. He came to a stop along a darkened part of the road and gently detached Rins from his back. Lloyd immediately came to the young girl's side and gave her a fatherly embrace. Just seeing this seemed to strike a broken chord deep in Sven's heart. God, he thought, how could anyone live without their parents? Instantly, his mind replayed the argument from yesterday, and all the spiteful, selfish comments he and his father had flung at each other like softballs. Yet as furious as those quarrels always left him, and as much as he had shouted "I hate you!" and "Drop dead!" to his own father, Sven could not imagine a single day without General Hans Reuben Vollfied; his dad. And here was a girl with no parents, perhaps even no guardian, for her to love or hate, to please or piss off. Part of him wanted to reach out and clutch little Rinslet, but she already had started to wipe away her tears.

Rins insisted between tiny hiccups, "It's okay, really, it is…I usually don't cry in front of other people, and I've gotten used to living with my aunt Annette for the past few years." She looked up and managed a tiny smile. "You need to meet her, Mr. Lloyd and Sven. She makes loads of money as a sweeper!"

"Sweeper…" muttered Sven pensively. A freelance bounty hunter, living from catch to catch. So this is how Rinslet got her thieving spunk; go figure. Wouldn't want to be a sweeper, no sir! Just give me a check every two weeks and I'll be dandy!

Up ahead, the looming silhouette of the abandoned Torneo mansion towered over the path, a mere two hundred yards away. Specks of light penetrated the darkness and odd music jumble began to reach the ears of the detectives. Stealthily, the trio weaved their way through the nearby shrubbery until they were just a stone's throw away from the bustling front entrance. Men garbed in the Beta Tau Chi sumo-like outfit escorted at least one woman, who dangled at their arms like jewelry, primped and ready to show off.

Reaching in his pocket and patting his concealed pistol, Sven leered through the leaves and set his gaze on a particularly rotund doorman. Sure enough, there stood Maro, proud in his outfit, admitting his fellow frat friends into the energetic hub inside the abandoned mansion. But just seeing the double-crossing jshmuck there was not what had caught his attention, for directly attached to his arm by a leg band nestled a firearm that Sven recognized immediately.

"My god," whispered Sven, clutching Lloyd and pointing at the fat greeter, "that's a prototype for the IBI's TR-41N! Eight shots per second, capable of piercing through a six feet of wood, can wipe out a band of thugs with one round!" It was then that he remembered that he brought it along to study and analyze as one of his first assignments for the weapons depot. And that he had left it in the plundered car. "Dammit! Naizer had trusted me with that baby!"

"So it was definitely Shamu who robbed you guys?" mused Rinslet.

"Nah, for everything to be gone in a matter of minutes, there had to be at least five or six more guys," reasoned Sven as he slowly rose to his feet. "But Fatkins is gonna pay for nabbing classified government firearms!" Fingers wrapped around his hidden gun, Sven was about to step out into the open and enter the mansion when Lloyd tugged him back down with tremendous weight.

Lloyd put a finger to his lips. "You're not going to get in there like that, Vollfied. Watch." Rubbing his sore butt, Sven peered back at the entryway to see a man in relatively normal clothing approach Maro and speak to him. Though the words were inaudible from so far away, an argument had definitely ensued. Maro crossed his arms and shook his head as the white haired man jumped up and down and pointed to his leopard print shirt and skinny black pants with embroidered roses. The hefty doorman would not budge. A dash was attempted to sneak into the party, but the man was caught by Maro and squealed as he was hurled a good fifteen feet away from the entrance. Dusting off his hands, Maro resumed his patrol.

"…Oh my," murmured Sven after the spectacle. "No admittance for the average Joes, or in Diskenth's case average Janes." As he continued to watch, couples and single girls stepped through the entry, and he began to notice a pattern.

"Those unescorted girls are getting by, no questions asked," shared Sven with Lloyd and Rinslet. "God knows what's going on in there…"

Suddenly, Rins beamed as though she possessed a brilliant idea. Hurriedly, she began to dig through her purse and tried to explain all the while. "Sven, you're a genius! It has to be ladies' night or something, otherwise those girls would have to identify themselves in some manner. And since we can't get our hands on one of those Beta Tau Chi outfits, we need to carry out Plan X! Mr. Lloyd and I will stay here and keep guard while you, Sven, will be our mole and find your way to the head of this heist…Ah, here it is, your disguise!"

Out of the depths of her bag Rinslet pulled out that almost made Sven cry. He would much rather get run over by a bus, or discover that he had a fatal disease, or stick his head in the oven and save Charden the trouble of cooking dinner. For there in the young girl's hands lay a skimpy, red dress.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, peoples! Again, the writer's block struck again, and school was very occupying. I'm so glad to get this chapter off my chest; now remains the matter of starting the next one! So in the meantime, a Q and an A shall gladly commence!

Ok, you kinda lost me on the timeframe here…just how much time has passed? Yeah, one of the hard parts I find when writing is being sure to keep track of time within the story. It does get confusing if a period of two weeks went by, then it started going by days. And some of the gaps in time are completely my fault, because I often make the plots as I go along. So…an abridged version of time passed thus far!

Mid-August, Saturday: Big Sleuth Ch. 1 events

Sunday: passes in beginning of Ch. 2

Monday: First half of Ch. 2 events

Tuesday – Saturday: Time jump

Sunday – Friday: Time jump

Saturday: Second half of Ch. 2 events and hospital scene of Ch. 3

Sunday: Time jump

Monday: Rest of Ch. 3 events

Tuesday: All Ch. 4 events

Wednesday: Ch. 5, 6, 7, and 8 events all take place

Yeah, this further confirms the fact that Wednesdays are the longest days of the week!

Will Kyoko regain her memory? Excellent question, but I do not intend on revealing the answer yet. Whether or not Kyoko recovers will have a huge impact on the direction of the story. In other words, what happens to her will either keep the storyline true to the series or send it flying into AU land, and either would be find with me, but I still do not know which path to take! If there are any suggestions, I ask you, the reader, to give me your opinion!

Woah, Charden's song was so random! Ya like, ya like? Think of it this way; have you ever done something so incredibly stupid that in order to save your dignity, you tried to pass as a person who was utterly nuts to begin with? It's kinda like that, and no, I have never attempted Charden's song in a real life situation!