Chapter Five
"Hello, Miss Volfied…" Creed said somewhat awkwardly, trying to smile, though it came out more as a grimace. Upon hearing that voice, Train stood and ran over to the door, and slammed it in their faces.
"Train!" I shouted. "How rude can you be!?"
"I'm being rude!? What about them? Creed Diskenth just walking up to my door and knocking on it like it's nothing!?"
I ignored Train, and re-opened the door, and greeted the three, who were still standing there, though looking distinctly shocked.
"I-I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me again. I never actually got a chance to apologize to you for all the pain I caused. I know I can never atone for my sins, but I'm working to try to improve my life. Echidna and I have become sweepers.
"I was eager to see what the appeal of such a life held for you, and I think I understand. The wandering lifestyle must be extremely free and easy for you." Creed said. At first Train seemed furious that Creed was mentioning their past so freely. However, he seemed to deflate quickly, and finally, he sighed, and stood back.
"Well? You can come in. I'll start cooking something for us." Train said, gesturing for the group to come in. The three smiled at him, and walked past him into the house, waving at Sven, who had just come downstairs, and was staring at them rather dumbstruck, unable quite to figure out why they had shown up at their house, much less come in and started to sit down.
Train walked over to the kitchen and started the stove again, buttering it, and putting bacon and sausage on it, and putting eggs in another pan, and fixing them as well. When finally he finished, he brought the food over, and set it before them.
Creed took some food first and set it on his plate. He had always been a light eater, quite unlike Train, who ate enough for several people, if not more. So he only took a small amount. Rinslet ate probably the most out of the three of them, and took the most food. Echidna, having been an actress in the past was used to not eating much, so she barely took anything, as she had already eaten a little bit earlier.
"So, Train, I've seen you around a few times while you were travelling, but you weren't with Sven or Eve, so I wondered what had happened… Did you guys have a falling out?" Creed asked cheerfully, seeming a little bit too happy to see Train again.
Train looked at Creed suspiciously. He still wasn't completely convinced that Creed had changed, and he still had his Hades ready if he should need it. He really hoped that he didn't. He didn't want to have to pay for repairs to their home.
"I decided after I defeated the Zero Numbers that I wanted some time on my own. So I struck off on my own path. I've seen a lot of new places, and a lot of places I've been before. I sort of had fun, but I missed Sven and the Little Princess.
"I actually just ran into her yesterday, and she convinced me to rejoin them. To be honest, I'm relieved to be back. It's too much work, being on my own." Train said. I smiled at this. It was true. I had sensed that Train wanted, in a way, to come back.
Why he was so hesitant to do so, regardless of his own desires, I didn't know. But I'm grateful that he did decide to rejoin us. I'm also glad, in retrospect that Sven didn't completely fly off the handle when I kissed Train, and try to murder him.
I honestly don't think that, even with all of Sven's skill in guns, he could beat Train in a fight. Why do I think this? Well, Train was Number Thirteen. He was probably the best Chronos had to offer, if not the best the entire world had to offer.
He beat Creed even after Creed supposedly became a god. Regardless, though, Sven seemed relatively accepting of it, though I think it may have been in large part due to the fact that Train didn't seem to return my sentiments, at least at the time. That's actually a pretty funny story… One I'll be glad to tell you later. For now, I need to continue on with the current story…
"So, Train… Did you find what you needed to find after you went out on your own?" Creed asked, leaning in out of genuine interest. Train grinned, and nodded.
"Yes, I did. I leaned that the grass is always greener on the other side." Train said cheerfully.
"That's pretty deep, coming from a man of such deficient intellect…" I said. I'm never sure why I felt it was so necessary to insult Train at every turn. Perhaps it was his reaction that encouraged me. This time, I didn't get what I usually did
"Hahaha! I guess you're probably right, Little Princess… I'll have to work on that…"
"And don't call me Little Princess! I'm not little, anymore!" I flared. Train drew back, and nodded.
"Okey dokey…" Train said, flashing a thumbs up.
"Anyway, Train, you seem to have grown up a little bit in your time away, though, you were so flooringly immature back when we knew you that I suppose your growing up was inevitable… At least to a small degree." Echidna said with a snide smirk. I snapped my neck around and growled angrily at her. Who did that bitch think she was? Only I was allowed to insult Train like that.
"Oh, my… I apologize, Miss Volfied. I didn't mean to strike a bad note…" Echidna said. I guess she could tell that I loved Train, although I didn't think I was acting any differently than usual… Perhaps it was body language that I just wasn't picking up because it was my own body language. I was sure that Rinslet picked up on it, too, though. She was always pretty sharp about things like that.
"Well, anyway… It was good to catch up with you, Train. I do hope we'll be able to run into you again, sometime…" Creed said with a polite smile. Train merely stuck his tongue out at Creed as he walked out with Echidna. As soon as they were out of the house, Rinslet turned to me, and said, "I was nervous that you and Train would attack Creed on sight. I'm impressed."
"What would be the point in attacking him? He didn't bring his sword, so he wouldn't be able to fight back." I replied. Then, Rinslet leaned over to me, and smiled.
"I knew you'd eventually find the courage to admit that you like Train… How did he react?"
"How do you know I said anything?" I asked, hoping to avoid this conversation, though I knew that she knew.
"Oh, he's just acting a little too casually around you. And given how hard you always had it for him, I knew that you must have finally confessed. So, what did he say?" Rinslet asked me. I was sure she was just waiting to punch Train in the face if I gave the wrong answer.
"He didn't say he'd go out with me… But he also refused to say whether or not he loved me… He only gave me a 'not telling', when I asked about his feelings for me… Have you ever felt like this about a man, Rinslet?" I asked, feeling so embarrassed to be asking this in such a candid and blunt manner.
"Oh, sure… Back when I was in my last year of high school, I fell in love with a boy in my class. I actually started high school when I was thirteen. I skipped a few grades. We dated for a year, and I felt sure that he was the man I would marry. Then I found out that he was cheating on me with some hussy cheerleader. After that, I swore off men, and became a thief for hire.
"Some time in there, I met Jenos, and he and I fell in love. Now, I think I'm probably going to end up marrying him… He's almost completely stopped flirting with other women… I know he's loyal to me, but that habit of his of flirting with every woman he sees is rather annoying.
"But really, I'm just waiting for him to pop the question." Rinslet said to me, seeming rather confident that he would… And honestly, when I looked at the way they were with each other, I was fairly sure they would get married as well. But one thing confused me.
"Couldn't you just ask him to marry you?" I asked.
"What!? Of course not! The man always asks the woman! It's just tradition. He gets down on one knee, opens the box with the engagement ring inside, and asks her to marry him. That's just the way it goes…" Rins said.
"But, why? What caused this tradition to become so set in stone that you wouldn't even consider deviating from it?"
"Well… I don't know, really. You're the one who's supposed to know everything." Rinslet replied with a rather annoying giggle. I scowled at her, and turned away.
"Of course I don't know everything! Nobody knows everything! I don't doubt that I know more than most people, but I could never know everything." I replied with a rather irritated feeling, somewhere between annoyance and embarrassment. I had never really tried to give the impression that I knew everything, so for someone to think that I did was slightly embarrassing."
"Sorry, sorry. I was half joking. You're just so knowledgeable that I feel like you'd probably know the answer to any question I could think of."
"I guess I should be flattered? But anyway… Do you think there's a way that I could get the answer out of Train?" I asked. I knew that it was pretty low to attempt to use trickery to get an answer about something like that out of anyone, but I really needed to know.
"Well, it's hard to say… Usually, crying works on any man, but Train isn't like most men I've met. He seems almost immune to most of the ways I could conceivably use to charm him. I admit that tears worked once or twice on him.
"But trying to use them to get such an answer out of him seems like it would almost inevitably fail. Train is the kind of guy who does things at his own pace, and can't be forced into rushing for anything… Or anyone. You'd likely do better just waiting for him to do things in his own time."
This stayed true to what I thought she would say. I didn't really expect that I could force the answer out of Train. Train was a lot of things, but he wasn't easy to trick.
"Well, I'll probably go now, too. It's always interesting with you guys, but I do have things to do."
And with that, she stood, and walked toward the front door. I remember thinking that my day up to that point had been one shock after the other. I had woken up to find that Train not only remembered that I wanted to shoot his gun, but was willing to let me. Then, I fired it and found out that I was not only insufficiently experienced in shooting, but also too weak and small to fire such a large gun.
The session ended with me falling in the mud and Train needing to run to catch his gun before it fell in the mud as well. So I ruined my dress and my underwear, and had to change clothes. Then Creed and Echidna came over… The only thing that would have topped that day off would have been if Kyoko had suddenly decided to stop by 'just to say hi.'
Though I didn't imagine that she would, given that she likely didn't know that Train had rejoined us at the moment. Though, all in all, Kyoko wasn't that bad. She was just a bit irritating at times. Our personalities didn't mesh. Besides… Train was mine and mine alone! Ahaha… Just kidding… Maybe…. Probably…
"Hey, Little Princess… Maybe we should just leave a note and go somewhere…"
"Y-you mean…" I began. But before I could finish, he shook his head.
"No. I'm just bored. I could go out on my own, but I'm tired of being alone all the time.
"You don't have to join me if you don't want to." Train said cheerfully. He was still the same old Train. I could never quite tell what he was thinking, and if I could tell what he was thinking, I could be fairly certain that something was terribly wrong.
"Little Princess? Yoo hoo… You there?" Train asked, and suddenly I found myself nose to nose with him. I was so shocked that I slapped him without even thinking about it. It wasn't for a few moments that I realized what I had done.
"Oh my God! Train! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't…"
"Nah… Don't worry about it, Little Princess. I keep forgetting just how strong you are… I know I shouldn't. I've known you for years… But… I guess that's a 'no' on going out on the town. See ya later, Little Princess…" Train said. He said it with such easy grace that it sort of made me wonder how he could have ever been the dread Black Cat. I gasped, and ran over to him, hurrying to get my shoes on.
"No! Sorry! I-I just spaced out! But… D-do you think we could at least pretend this is a date?" I asked, feeling silly for trying to force something like that on Train. I knew I should be above such immature things. But…
Perhaps love really does do things like that to people. I have read in books that love causes men to act like boys and women to act like schoolgirls. Regardless, I resolved to try to retain some semblance of dignity, even if I was going to be in love.
"Sure… I wouldn't let Sven hear you say that, though… I know he let me come back, even after our little scene last night. But…"
"Too late. Sven already heard it. I suppose if Eve were to go on a date with anyone, she could choose worse men than you. Besides… You're an adult now, more or less. I can't control who you decide to go on dates with. Just promise me, Train that you'll try to be the responsible one here. You've got ten years on Eve. Try to be the adult here…"
"Sure thing, Svenny Baby… Later… C'mon, Little Princess. I need to buy some bullets and cleaning supplies for Hades… We should do that last, though. Where d'you wanna go first?"
"U-um…" I began nervously. I hadn't expected him to agree so easily. But now that I had him for the day, I figured I should try to have as much fun as I could.
"The cinemas?" I said, feeling it was a rather lame suggestion. Train seemed not to agree, though, because he laughed, and nodded.
"Sure, Little Princess…" He agreed. I sighed, blushing slightly.
"Please don't call me Little Princess anymore? I'm not so little, in case you haven't noticed." I said to him, scowling slightly. Train nodded.
"I know you aren't little anymore. It's just a habit for me. If you really don't like it, though, I can stop, Eve-chan…" Train replied, causing my heart to flutter slightly at the way he called me. I could get used to 'Eve-chan'.
"So… Train…" I asked, feeling slightly awkward. It was wonderful to be on a date with Train, even if he wouldn't agree to call it a date. I moved closer to Train, if only so that I could feel the warmth of our proximity. I knew that it was odd at best to be so attracted to a man that was ten years older then I, but I didn't really care. Sven didn't have a problem with it, or if he did, he was keeping his mouth shut.
"Eve-chan? Why are you getting so close to me? Listen, I really am flattered that a girl as beautiful as you has fallen for me…" Train said sheepishly, but… Well…"
"Is it because I'm too young?" I asked, curious and slightly nervous to know the answer.
"No… No… It's not that." Train said.
"Is it another woman?" I continued. Train shook his head, then put a hand on my cheek before kissing my forehead.
I suddenly felt my whole body heating up like it had been lit on fire. It was such an astounding sensation. I had dated Elliot for a while, but we had never actually kissed. We broke up long before I would have considered doing that.
"Train…" I muttered. I loved it and hated it at the same time. I felt tears stinging my eyes again. I can tell you honestly that I'm not usually such an emotional person. In fact, I've been told on occasion that I display all the emotion of a dead fish. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to find that insulting. I don't, whether or not I should. It's just the way I am, and the way I've always been.
"Yeah, Eve-chan?" Train asked with a cheerful smile that made me lose everything I was about to say. I stood there stammering for a moment before I finally found what I wanted to say.
"I-I just… I don't mind if you don't love me like I love you, but…"
"You would rather I didn't kiss you if I don't love you? I can appreciate that. I would've felt the same way with Saya…" Train said to me, making me fume in my head again. Suddenly, though, we were accosted by another girl.
"Oh, Kuro-sama!" the girl yelled, running up to Train to kiss him, but, as usual, she only got the white cat treatment.
"Why do you always do that!? Kyoko loves Kuro-sama! She wants… Eve! It's so good to see you again!" Kyoko cried, hugging me tightly. I pushed her off, though, and scowled at her.
"What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be in school, Kyoko?" I asked. Kyoko cocked her head at me and then shook her head.
"I already graduated high school. I'm twenty, now. I decided not to go to college right away, though… I aced my college entrance exam, so I can go to any college I want, really. But I decided to take some time off, and travel the world. Maybe I'll become a sweeper."
For a moment, I couldn't think of anything to say, but then I laughed a bit, and turned away from her. Kyoko didn't seem like the type that would make a very good sweeper. Besides, she would have trouble if she couldn't use her fire, as she had promised Train that she would never use her powers again.
"What!? Kyoko would make a great sweeper! She's fast and strong. She promised Kuro-sama that she wouldn't use her Fire ever again, so she'll use some weapons that she's trained with at home!"
"What weapons are you talented with, Kyoko?" I asked, feeling extremely skeptical. I knew that Kyoko had been known to be overconfident in the past. But maybe she had actual talent with a weapon. I was just worried that she would end up causing more damage than she could deal with.
"Kyoko is really good at Niten Ichi-Ryu! She can use dual kodachi! She's not as good as Creed, but she's still the best student in her school." Kyoko said excitedly. I sighed. It seemed like it would be impossible to dissuade her from becoming a sweeper. I may not have ever been terribly fond of Kyoko, but I didn't want her to get herself killed.
"So… You use dual swords. Did you ever tell Creed this?" Train asked, finally speaking to Kyoko. Kyoko straightened up and nodded.
"He was the one who trained me in it while I was in the Apostles of the Star. I learned a lot from him in that time, short though it was. So! Are you and Eve on a date?"
"Yes." I said.
"No…" Train replied at exactly the same time. Kyoko looked between us.
"So which is it?"
"I consider it a date, but Train doesn't." I said coolly. Kyoko grinned cheerfully at this.
"Awwwww… Kuro-sama's just shy! That's so cute!" Kyoko shouted, causing several people to look around. Then, Kyoko turned to Train, and grinned again.
"I still haven't given up on you, you know. Kyoko will always love Kuro-sama."
"Wow… I'm pretty lucky to have all these beautiful women around me…" Train laughed. I blushed nervously, refusing to look at Train, or at Kyoko, who was making her move on Train at that very moment. That girl really had no shame.
"Kuro-sama!" Kyoko said, blushing deeply as well. "You're so… Cool!" Kyoko cried, getting louder by the moment.
"Yes, well… If you'll excuse us, Eve-chan was nice enough to invite me out today, so we have to go. Enjoy your vacation, Kyoko…"
"Kuro-sama… Y-you've… Never said anything so kind to me before…" Kyoko said, blushing as Train and I walked away. I saw her as I was watching her, even as we retreated from her.
After we got away from Kyoko, Train took me to the cinema, where he ordered an extra-large popcorn with butter, three movie sized bags of M&Ms, and a large soda for himself, and I got a small popcorn for myself and water.
I didn't like soda, and I wasn't terribly hungry. It was funny, though to see the looks on the staff's faces as Train began eating it even as he walked down the hall to the movie. It felt uncomfortable going down.
Obviously, time had done nothing to curb Train's voracious appetite. Granted, the money he was spending was all his own, the money he had earned from his latest sweep on Vincent Francesco. He had given most of it to Sven to help with the bills that sweepers naturally accrued. Nothing in life was free. However, I had watched Train on Vincent's sweep, and if I wasn't mistaken, he was even faster, stronger, and more talented than he had been three years before.
This meant that I still had a ways to go before I caught up with him. Despite my ardent and rigorous training, I was sure that I still couldn't best him in a fight. That was what I aimed for always. He was seen as one of the strongest and most talented people in the world with fighting and with a gun, and thus, he was the goal that many people aimed for. This was why he had so many enemies… Well, that along with the fact that he was once Number XIII of the Chronos Numbers.
We went into the theater and sat down, and Train immediately dug into his popcorn, alternating between the popcorn and the M&Ms and the soda. I wrinkled my face. I couldn't see how he could eat two such different foods together.
Buttered popcorn and chocolate along with soda. It always seemed like Train had a bottomless pit for a stomach. The movie I had chosen was one that I was sure that both Train and I would enjoy. We were watching the movie version of The Colours out of Space by HP Lovecraft. I loved Lovecraft's works.
He had a fairly large cult following among science fiction and pulp fiction enthusiasts, and among those who liked the older horror stories. Lovecraft didn't really write horror. He wrote 'weird fiction', a sort of unique blend of gothic horror and science-fiction, a field in which he was an undeniable pioneer.
"So, what's this movie about?" Train asked. I sighed. It would probably be pointless to explain, but I did love him, so I could at least try.
"The main story follows the events that follow the crash of a strange meteor-like object into a farmer's well, and the strangely colored entities that come out of the meteor, and how they wreak havoc on the farm and its inhabitants."
"Sounds pretty tense… Is it a horror movie?"
"Well… Sort of. But not really."
"Then it's science fiction?" Train asked, seeming to be under the impression that he had nailed a tough test question.
"Sort of… But not really. It would be about halfway between horror and science fiction…"
"So it's like the Alien series?" Train asked.
"No! Shut the hell up and listen, you quarter-wit!" I yelled irately.
"Sorry."
"That's alright. It's about halfway between gothic horror, like Poe, and science fiction. However, it is both and neither. It's the Schrodinger's Cat of fiction…"
"The what of fiction?"
"Schrodinger's Cat. The cat is both alive and dead… Why the hell am I bothering to explain theoretical physics to a moron?"
"Couldn't tell you. But go on."
"Anyway, halfway between gothic horror and science fiction. It is from a genre called Weird Fiction, and usually featured in Pulp Fiction magazines."
"You mean like Argosy Magazine, Startling Stories, and those?"
"Um…" I started, suspicious, now.
"I loved those magazines! They had amazing stories. I could only get them from second and third hand shops, but I have a huge collection of them… Somewhere… I don't remember which base I kept them on. I definitely left them with you and Sven."
"Shit! You mean those thousands of Pulp Fiction magazines from literally every major pulp magazine imaginable were yours!?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I spent weeks reading them when Sven and I were in the United States. I remember that base. It was our Cincinnati base. Half of them weren't even in English, though… I…"
"Didn't know I spoke any other languages? Of course I do. I've travelled all over the world, not only with Sven, but also as the Black Cat. I remember The Colours out of Space, now. It was a pretty interesting story. I'd love to see how they did turning it into a movie. Don't get your hopes up, Princess. The movie is never as good as the book."
"Train… Don't look now…"
"I know. We've been being followed since we walked out of our base. That's why I went back in and got Hades. Do you have a… Duh… Of course you do. Well, we'll see what happens." Train said as we
walked into the theater and took our seats.
"How many bullets do you have, Train?" I asked, feeling slightly nervous. I could make nanomachine bullets, as I had analyzed Train's gun in the past. However, I wasn't sure how well they would stand up in a gun as powerful as Hades. After all, that one time Train was regressed to a child, he could have destroyed his hands and wrists if he had shot his gun too many times.
"Enough. I even brought one Orichalcum bullet that I've been saving for a while. I've never needed one, not since I fought Creed. But it's good to have one." Train said to me before stopping, and looking at the screen as the movie started.
"Well? Did you like the movie as much as you liked the short story, Princess?" Train asked me. I sighed, and shook my head.
"No. But please don't call me Princess. Just call me Eve."
"Sure thing, Eve." After that, they paid attention to the movie. As they watched, they noticed that it was in black and white, and although it had some special effects, it mainly stayed true to the story, using acting skill and makeup to achieve the visual effects.
It was a well done movie. Short, at only an hour and fifteen minutes, but well done all the same. As the movie concluded, they walked out of the theater, and went through the town a ways. Once he found that he couldn't shake his tail, Train stopped and turned around.
"Hey… You've been following us for a while. I tried to ignore you, but it really is getting irritating. I'm trying to show this beautiful young lady a good time, and you're making it awfully hard." Train said, turning around. I turned around as well, and gasped at who it was. Lugart Won. He definitely looked a few years older, but it was certainly still him.