Two days later
… This couldn't be happening.
Of all the times this could have happened, this was not one of them. Not that Train regretted taking that bullet for Sven – he would never regret anything that saved his partner's life.
He did, however, regret that he hadn't punched Creed a second time for his stupidity in: first, trying to go after Train's partner; and second, doing something as stupid as messing with experimental genetics and naomachine formulae. To be honest, a part of Train wished he'd just shot Creed the moment he'd met him – the man was turning out to be far more trouble than he was worth.
Of course, the practical side of him (yes, it existed) knew things were and never could be that simple, especially where Creed was involved. And it was this side that was also acutely aware of how lucky he had been to not have lost his mind with Lucifer in his system, and to have not become the monster that Rinslet had described witnessing at Creed's castle.
However, becoming a child… and at this timing too… Train sighed.
And yesterday had started out so… well, maybe not normally. He'd gone to see Lia at Rinslet's hotel in the morning before being coerced into going out for lunch with Rinslet, Eve, and Sven. That was when he'd accidentally saved the ex-Apostle of the Stars, Kyoko, an eighteen-year-old girl with the ability to create fire and the terrifying ability to spout nonsense for hours.
After barely shaking her – and her companion Charden, who had also left the Apostles of the Stars and whom Kyoko was apparently following – Train had been heading back to see Lia again, when Creed had abducted Sven and Eve.
It had ended painfully for Sven and mostly uneventfully for Train after he – Train – had taken the Lucifer bullet Creed had meant for Sven. It had saved Sven from a potentially torturous end, though Train had arrived after Creed had already battered and bloodied Sven up quite a bit. At least Eve was all right.
And then Train had been shrunken into a child's body that very same night thanks to the effects of the Lucifer nanomachines.
What Creed was doing experimenting with molecule-sized robots that could alter a human's DNA, Train didn't think he wanted to know. At least the same machines were controlled in Eve - and so far, it seemed Creed had been unsuccessful in producing the right formula. His face when Train had been shot and the way he had simply retreated indicated that Creed was expecting the worst for Train. But Train highly doubted that Creed had been worried he would shrink into a child, which indicated that Creed's formula must not be very consistent.
And although Creed would probably be relieved and Train should probably be thankful he hadn't turned into a mindless, raging monster or something, Train was concerned. Even though he pretended in front of the others (though he knew Sven wasn't fooled at all) that he was not bothered by the fact that he was now in the body of an eight-year-old, Train was extremely worried about what this could mean for him.
First and foremost, his body couldn't handle anywhere near the pressure he was used to placing on himself. Train had been able to fire six, accurate, successive shots with barely any effort; now, he could barely fire four and his aim was nowhere near what it had been. His small hands were just too weak against the kickback from Hades to hold his aim or withstand the pressure on his muscles.
Second and most importantly to him… how was he going to deal with whatever he knew had to happen with Lia, when he had essentially de-aged about fifteen years? He needed to know what had happened two years ago that had left them so bitter with each other when he'd thought she had been the one to betray him, and why she'd been forced to become so altered from the Jules he had known. Most importantly, he needed to know what had happened that she was left so traumatized she couldn't sleep at nights, let alone go to a hospital.
Train sighed as he flexed his hands again, staring at how tiny they were now while he drank his bottle of milk. Things… could be worse, but he would be hard pressed to think how.
And then, of course it became worse.
First, Train checked his cellphone, after a somewhat entertaining call from Eve alerted him to the fact that he had thirty new messages. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about it… and it was confirmed, when all thirty were revealed to have been from Kyoko. All absolute nonsense, and some scary in the stalker-type way.
Train wondered if he should tell the girl he was already taken, but that was technically a lie. And Train wasn't sure it would make a big difference to the idiot fire-breathing girl.
Feeling a headache coming, Train muttered as he turned to go back to the motel he was staying with Sven and Eve at, "I'd better get back inside before I see her-"
Train paused as something came flying over him, before a figure with short black hair in a short, high school skirt landed right in front of him.
Train gulped as Kyoko glanced up to see him.
"Ah! Mr. Black!" Kyoko greeted happily, brightening up instantly, and Train yelled, "Where the hell did you come from!"
"Ah, you're so mean," Kyoko went on over him, "you didn't reply to any of my messages. But," she lit up again as her eyes shone with hearts and stars, "I love that coolness of yours!"
"…"
Train wasn't even sure how to respond to this girl. She was so… happy-go-lucky. But not like… his mind shied away from his happiest memory of Lia, as he simply added mentally as he stared at Kyoko: 'She's not just cheery, she's an idiot.'
It was then that Kyoko noticed something.
"Mr. Black…" She began thoughtfully as she stared at Train. "Did you get smaller?"
"Your reaction is really slow!" Train snapped at her, before he also glanced around.
"… Are you alone?" He asked, wondering where Charden was and why Kyoko had arrived by jumping down in front of him. "Where's that tall hat guy?"
"Ah!" Kyoko remembered. "That's right. I got separated from Charden."
"What?" Train asked, sweat-dropping, when suddenly a voice shouted from behind, "Found her!"
Train turned to see about six men in black suits and shades running towards them, all of them armed with handguns.
"What is it now?" Train sighed, and Kyoko answered brightly, "Ah! They are here to kill me!"
"! Is it Chronos?" Train wondered, and Kyoko answered cheerily again, "Yep!"
Train suddenly felt something grab the back of his hoodie, and he gasped as he was forcefully dragged back as Kyoko said blithely, "Let's run for it, Mr. Black!"
"Hey!" Train yelled as he barely regained his balance before he was basically carried as Kyoko ran.
"Don't pull me!" Train yelled. "This has nothing to do with me!"
"Don't worry," Kyoko answered brightly, "I will protect you, Mr. Black!"
"Did you even hear what I said?!" Train shouted as she ran off with him.
Some time later
"… I see." Train muttered after Kyoko finished explaining. "You were tracked down to this city by Chronos, and they sent people after you…"
He shifted slightly inside the trashcan they'd hidden inside as he added under his breath, "This place is a squeeze…"
Kyoko didn't hear him as she replied to his initial comment, "Yes! Both of us escaped, cause we stayed in different rooms."
Train really didn't care, and he wondered how he'd ended up with such bad luck.
He was basically sitting in Kyoko's lap as they sat curled inside the trashcan while the Chronos agents searched around for them – or rather, Kyoko. He was also uncomfortably aware of how close her chest was, her cleavage exposed over the top of her shirt as Kyoko never seemed to button up her top buttons.
Train shifted carefully, keeping himself as far away from Kyoko as possible. Not only was the girl herself heedless of caution to the point that he wondered if she had low awareness, Train rather suspected that she wouldn't care if it was him who accidentally touched her inappropriately. Unfortunately for Kyoko…
'Jules…' Train thought to himself, his eyes losing focus as his thoughts trailed naturally back to the blue-haired girl.
"But, I loitered around the streets yesterday," Kyoko was still blabbing, "so I'm not surprised they found us out…"
Train ignored her as he climbed out of the trashcan, closing the lid over Kyoko as he said carelessly, "Then I wish you good luck, and hope you can escape."
"Where are you going?" Kyoko asked from inside the trashcan, and Train replied as he started to walk off, "Of course; I'm going back to the hotel, this situation's got nothing to do with me."
"Kyoko's coming along too!" Kyoko called happily as she leapt out of the trashcan, and Train yelled at her incredulously, "No! You hide yourself!"
"Um… but I'll be so bored all alone by myself here." Kyoko whined, and Train sweat-dropped again as he said, "Can you please understand your current situation? If you continue wandering around this place, you'll be caught for sure, right?"
"That's all right!" Kyoko answered with a slightly darker look in her eyes. "I'll teach anyone who dares attack me a lesson. That should do it!"
"What?" Train asked, when a bullet suddenly shot at them, imbedding itself in the wall between Train and Kyoko.
"Found her!" An agent yelled as the Chronos soldiers came running up once more, and Train tsked irritably.
The two that had found them opened fire instantly, and Train yelled as he dodged the bullets, "What did I tell you?"
"Leave this to me!" Kyoko replied with an easy smile.
Train looked over in alarm as Kyoko sucked in a deep breath, before she fired a large flame ball out of her mouth. The Chronos soldiers barely dodged out of the way, before they were thrown by the explosion as the ball of flames hit the ground just beside them.
"Ah… I missed." Kyoko sighed as though this was just a game to her. And Train realized that was exactly Kyoko's mentality – she didn't take her actions seriously at all. "My aiming is my weakest point."
Kyoko inhaled again as she muttered, "Well, I'll just try one more time…?"
She paused as Train stepped in front of her, stopping her as he looked at her with serious eyes.
"What's wrong?" Kyoko asked, and Train ordered, "Stop it. Do you intend to burn them into crispy embers with that skill of yours?"
"…? What does it matter?" Kyoko asked, not understanding. "They're the enemies."
"It's against my principles to kill someone just because I'm angry!" Train answered sharply, his tone stern.
Kyoko blinked at him, genuinely surprised, while behind them the other Chronos soldiers finally arrived. Train glanced back as the one panted as he aimed his gun, "I've finally found you, little lady! Prepare to die-!"
Before any of them could fire, Train whipped out Hades and opened fire on the men, hitting the guns right out of their hands.
As the men stood, shocked and gripping their injured hands, Train said coldly, "You guys too. Your shooting skills are subpar, yet you run around with guns on the street."
Train made his tone as deadly as possible as he said as he turned on the other men, "I… will give you five seconds."
He glared at the men, using his old Black Cat face to send across the silent end to his threat: 'get the hell out of here.'
The men shivered, instantly feeling the fear that sent a chill down their spines.
"Damn…" One muttered, before all of them turned and fled.
Train watched them go, thinking with pursed lips, 'I may be like this, but at least my glare still works. But…'
He holstered Hades once more as he continued to think, 'Though I didn't mean to, I'm now involved in this whole Chronos affair… things will get troublesome from now on. At least I might be able to get Lia home?'
He sighed, hoping that whoever had ordered the Chronos soldiers here was reasonable (maybe Belze. He doubted it was Sephiria given the sloppiness and pointlessness of the job… Then again, it was unlike Belze either) before he turned back to Kyoko.
"Hey! I think you'd better get in touch with that pointy-hat first…" Train trailed off as he saw Kyoko standing with her head bowed seriously. "What's wrong?"
"I understand, Mr. Black." Kyoko answered, and Train cocked his head as he asked, "Huh?"
What was she blabbing on about now? He found his answer in the next second.
Kyoko lifted her head as she said excitedly, "From now on, my life principle will be 'not to kill anyone no matter how angry I get'! Even if I get really, really angry, I must endure! I will be a good girl!"
"…"
Train was left speechless yet again as he watched Kyoko hopping about happily; he could almost see the hearts floating around the girl. This… was turning out to be a long day.
And his throbbing hand from when he'd used Hades didn't help at all.
Later that morning
Sven perked up as their motel room door opened, and he turned from his computer as he began, "Oh, Train! You've finally decided to haul your ass bac-?!"
He broke off with a splutter as he saw Kyoko standing behind Train while the now-boy answered, "Hi."
"Hi everyone!" Kyoko greeted brightly.
"Hey… what's she doing here?!" Sven yelped, and Train answered with a shrug, "Hm… it's a long story… Anyway, I brought her here."
"A-Anyway…?" Sven asked, sweat-dropping as he stared at them.
This was not happening; not right now.
Sven was up to his eyes in trying find a way for Train to get his old form back, while also incredibly worried about what was going on with Lia. Not to mention, he was still recovering from his own run-in with Creed and the insane maniac's impossible sword. And now this?
It was a good thing Sven knew Train, otherwise he might have thought the brunette had absolutely no self-awareness and completely lacked responsibility.
"Charden asked you to?" Sven asked Train in surprise as the pair stood outside their motel room, while Kyoko chatted to Eve in the room.
"Yeah. To make a long story short…" Train began.
" 'I intend to leave this place, and continue my fight against Chronos. But, Ms. Kyoko is no longer an Apostle of the Stars. And she has no grudge against Chronos at all. As long as the opponent doesn't attack her, she won't attack them by herself. But, the Chronos Numbers want to eliminate Ms. Kyoko. So, Mr. Black Cat… I hope that you can negotiate with them and persuade them not to bother Ms. Kyoko anymore. I know I am asking too much from you, but I can only depend on you for this matter now…' is what he said."
"So, you agreed?" Sven asked, and Train answered as he glanced inside at Kyoko, "Yeah. Although she does whatever she wants to do without thinking, I think she can still be reformed."
He turned back to Sven as he continued, "I suppose there'll be a few Numbers coming soon, so I'll try to talk them over."
"Chronos Numbers?!" Sven repeated, eyes widening and Train nodded.
"They can't keep sending small fries against one of the Apostles of the Stars, can they?" He pointed out with a small smile. "Not to mention, I'm guessing someone will come for Lia soon."
Sven blinked as he remembered the woman was a Number, while Train continued, "That irritating No. X saw us rescue her, so someone should be coming to get Lia. Hopefully, whoever it is and whoever comes after Kyoko are receptive when I try to talk with them."
"You make it sound like it won't be the same people." Sven noted, and Train paused.
"I think…" He began slowly. "I have a good idea who will come for Lia. Assuming the other three Numbers who were there at Creed's castle survived, I know who would probably come. But…"
He trailed off as he thought about how sloppy the attack on Kyoko and Charden had been. It hadn't felt like something Lia's idiot brother – or really what any of the mostly refined Numbers – would orchestrate.
No… there was only those two who would be this crude…