The next morning found the entire group gathered once more, this time outside Jenos's car.
Sven and Eve stood with the Number himself, along with Rinslet and Lia as the two Numbers and Rinslet prepared to escort Kyoko to meet Number I. The high school girl herself was busy chatting excitedly with Train, who sat a little apart – partly due to his many injuries and partly to avoid Jenos… and Lia.
Train wasn't certain he particularly liked Lia seeing him as a child, and paired with Jenos's presence, he wasn't certain he wanted to speak with Lia in the present circumstances. So, he kept his distance for the moment, while Kyoko chatted at him. At least, until she discovered something important.
"Eh?" She cried. "Mr. Black, you're not coming with me?"
"Hmph!" Train scoffed lightly, maintaining his light-hearted demeanour in front of the girl. "I can't take care of you all the time."
Kyoko pouted, disliking the idea of being separated, and Train chuckled as he offered, "Don't worry. Sephiria won't bully you. But, if anything happens… call me."
"Really?!" Kyoko asked delightedly, brightening up instantly.
However, the next instant, she suddenly quieted down and Kyoko said abruptly, "No… it's okay."
Train looked up at her in surprise, while Kyoko said with a small smile, "I don't want to let Mr. Black get hurt because of me. I'll take care of it myself."
The others had looked over by now as well, wondering what was taking so long, and Lia raised a brow as Kyoko added brightly, "I'll make a promise to you! I will continue upholding the principle of not killing people meaninglessly!"
A small smile appeared on Train's face at Kyoko's words, and he answered sincerely, "I believe you."
Kyoko smiled before bounding over to Jenos and the others as Rinslet called, "Hey! We should really get going now."
"Yes!" Kyoko said blithely as she got ready to get in the back of Jenos's car.
Rinslet turned to say goodbye to Sven and Eve, and Jenos was climbing into the driver's seat when Train came up, calling softly, "… Lia."
Lia glanced down at Train at last, her face unreadable as she met Train's gold eyes impassively. Rinslet, Sven, and Eve all glanced over as well, before pretending they weren't listening as Train looked up at Lia with an uncharacteristically serious look on his newly young face.
"About before…" Train began, powering on even as something akin to a grimace passed over Lia's face. "I would like to talk to you about it properly. When I'm not…"
He gestured down at himself, indicating his child's body, and Lia looked down at him for a moment without a word.
"Lia? Rins?" Jenos called, poking his head out of the car, and Rinslet called, "Coming."
The purple-haired young woman glanced back before going to get in the car beside Jenos, while Sven and Eve glanced at where Train and Lia were facing each other.
"I don't think there is anything for us to 'talk about'." Lia said a little stiffly, but Train answered as he fixed sharp gold eyes on the young woman, "That's what I thought as well… but I'm starting to think both of us know that's not true."
Sven watched as Lia's eyes narrowed just slightly but the young woman's silvery eyes were as difficult to read as ever as she stared at Train for a brief moment.
"If you're feeling guilty, you don't have to." Lia said finally, turning away from Train as she started towards Jenos's car. "What's in the past is done-"
She broke off as a small hand closed around her wrist, halting her in her tracks though Train didn't exert any pressure on his hold.
"Please, Jules."
Lia stiffened.
Sven had been standing at an angle where he just managed to catch the look that crossed the young woman's face at Train's quiet words, and he pressed his lips together while turning away at the look of utter pain in Lia's eyes.
"Ten minutes." Train continued, watching the back of Lia's head intently. "Just give me ten minutes to talk when I come back to find you. And I will come back; and if you want, after those ten minutes I'll never show my face in front of you again."
"…"
A slight breeze blew between them as there was another moment's silence, before Lia turned cold eyes back on Train.
"If you find me," she stated flatly, "I will give you five minutes. No more and no less."
Train nodded, letting her go and Lia swept away without giving any of them another glance.
The car took off, taking Jenos, Rinslet, Lia, and Kyoko away while Train, Sven, and Eve watched. Sven's eyes slid over to Train for a moment before he looked back at the disappearing car.
"What do you plan to do now?" Sven asked, and Train answered grimly, "Isn't it obvious? I need to find a way back to my original form."
"… Do you really think she will speak with you when you do?" Eve asked, and Train smiled without mirth.
"No matter what, Julia is a woman of her word." Train replied. "More than likely, she's expecting me not to look for her anyway; but she will still make it almost impossible for me to find her in case I do try look for her."
"Doesn't that mean you'd never get to talk to her, then?" Sven pointed out, puzzled at Train's easy admittance. "Especially if a Number doesn't want to be found…"
"It wouldn't be easy." Train agreed softly, staring after where Lia had disappeared with another serious look on his young face. "But, I know more than a few tricks that would be helpful – and I'd chase her to the ends of the Earth if I had to."
Both Eve and Sven raised their brows at Train's admission, the closest he had ever gotten to admitting to any special relationship with Lia. As the two exchanged looks over Train's head, Train let himself fall into a memory he hadn't thought about in over two years.
A memory from several years ago – the memory of the first time he'd ever met Julia.
Four and a half years ago
Train checked the cufflinks on his suit again, making sure they were secure while surreptitiously checking that his Hades was well hidden inside his jacket and not visible in any way. He hated missions like his current one, which required delicacy and therefore stealth and infiltration.
Then again, he hated most things – it was just he hated this more. He was a Number, and even before that he hadn't seen the point in going undercover in order to approach the target. They were going to die anyway – did it matter if they did it in the secrecy of night in the target's home compared to in the middle of a lavish ball?
But with Chronos, it was all about sending a message. And infiltrating a party for an assassination sent a dramatic message, just as murders under the cover of night created whispered rumours that could chill anyone's bones.
Train glanced around the outside of the mansion once more, more for something to do than anything else. He had already picked out all possible routes in and out of the place – just in case – as well as memorizing the guards' positions. However, his 'date' wasn't due for another two minutes so Train kept his mind alert by going over their basic plan once more in his mind.
And speaking of his date…
That was another thing Train hated about infiltration tasks. He was very much the lone cat in doing his work, and Black Cat hated working with others above almost anything else.
Train didn't trust anyone – which already made any partnership difficult – and he usually found that things ended in one of two ways; either his one-time partner hated him for his unique rules and style of working, or his partner ended up admiring his cold attitude like some sick puppy. It was disgusting, and either outcome was not one Train was looking forward to by the end of the night.
There was also the warning No. I had given him about his partner tonight, which had been odd at best. Usually, Sephiria let things unfold (or at least, manipulated from behind the scenes) but this time she had been bordering on blunt (for her) in her meeting with Black Cat.
"Julia Hazard is a stealth agent – and a good one." Sephiria had told him as she handed Train a picture of his soon-to-be 'date' and partner for the mission.
"She is a great asset to Chronos – but she is also unpredictable. Black Cat," Sephiria's clear eyes had pierced Train's with the severity of her warning. "This mission must be completed successfully. Do not allow any complications to compromise the mission. Am I understood?"
'Unpredictable'. This, coming from the Captain of the Chronos Numbers.
Train vaguely wondered what exactly made this girl – for she was, indeed, a girl of only just barely seventeen – so valuable but unreliable to Chronos. But he couldn't really bring himself to really care; as far as he'd determined, the girl could hardly stop him from the mission he'd been given. And as long as she wasn't a threat to him and his objective, Train wasn't really bothered by whatever issues Chronos had with her.
A slight movement right next to him caught Train's eye, and Train turned in surprise to find his 'date' standing beside him.
"Daydreaming already, Mr. Heartnet?" The blue-haired girl asked lightly as she glanced up at him with an almost coy smile playing on her lips.
Train arched a brow in response and he quickly looked over the young lady before him.
He had to admit, he was impressed with her handiwork. Julia had managed to use makeup to create the illusion that she was older than she really was, so they needn't worry that they would raise suspicion. Nothing was too bold, everything subtle so as not to draw more attention to her features than her natural beauty already did. But even to Train's trained eye, it was difficult to say the young woman before him could be only seventeen. She looked nothing like the standard teenage, if pretty, girl he'd seen a picture of earlier that day – this woman exuded maturity with a hint of playful mischief befitting a young woman at a party such as the one they were about to attend.
Her hair, piled back into a misleadingly elegant-looking bun on her head, was really pinned securely in place in the event of violence and she'd let her bangs frame around her face to keep an air of mystery around her features, adding to her crafted image. Julia had also clearly chosen her dress carefully to be just form-fitting that it drew most of the attention from her face to her womanly figure, again adding to the illusion of maturity. Yet, she'd kept her whole outfit simple, with only one bold slit down the side; and Train knew for a fact that the long slit down her right side was not for fashionable purposes.
'So, she's right-handed, and she favours a gun.' Train noted absently, finding himself impressed that even he could hardly see any hint of a gun hidden on the girl's inner right thigh.
Only years of training and the way Julia kept her legs slightly parted when she stood had alerted him to the fact that she was hiding a firearm inside her dress, within easy reach through the slit in her skirt. Then again, he hadn't expected any less from a woman Sephiria had made a point to compliment if somewhat backhandedly.
"Miss Hazard." Train greeted tonelessly as he offered his arm to the young lady.
Julia took his arm as she said lightly, "Feel free to call me Lia, please."
"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather stick to Miss Hazard." Train answered a little flatly, and Lia shrugged.
"Suit yourself."
They entered the ballroom in silence, both their eyes sweeping the entire room quickly the second they were inside. Train spotted their target, a politician of prestigious rank, on one side of the room, and made a mental note of potential routes as he scanned all those near the target who could prove to be potential hindrances.
"His wife is here." Lia murmured suddenly, and Train's eyes shifted briefly over to glance at the woman standing on the other end of the punch table from their target.
Blonde hair piled onto her head, the woman was laughing with a few other women while holding one hand against her bloated stomach, on the opposite end of the table from where her husband spoke with a group of gentlemen around the punch bowl.
"I wasn't informed she was pregnant." Lia said slowly, and Train glanced at her.
"Problem?" He asked, his voice as serious as it always was, and Lia shook her head slightly as she moved Train into the middle of the room with the other dancers.
"Hopefully not." Lia replied as she started dancing with Train.
He led the waltz effortlessly, mildly surprised at how good Lia was on her feet. Most higher level Chronos erasers were fair dancers, just in case they needed it for a cover. Train himself was only average at best, never having cared to master the skill passed the basic level, but Lia apparently had a natural talent for the sport.
"You know."
Train glanced down at Lia as she spoke while they danced casually around the room, his gold eyes meeting her bright silvery-grey ones.
"If you continue to scowl like that, we're going to get caught." Lia observed, and Train's scowl deepened.
"So it's just part of your natural charm." Lia murmured a little sarcastically before she leaned in close, giving the appearance of intimacy while she whispered under her breath, "Those two guards standing behind you have started watching you."
Train didn't react outwardly, simply twirling Lia as an excuse to sneak a glance over to see she was right and two of the guards were glancing his way suspiciously. This was exactly why he disliked undercover missions – he was not an actor. He was an assassin, and good at what he did – he was not a spy.
"… Mr. Heartnet."
Train looked down to see Lia observing him, and she asked with a slightly raised brow, "Do you ever wear an expression other than one that screams 'murder'?"
Train didn't say anything, but his confusion was clear, so Lia elaborated as they twirled again, "Your face – it never relaxes from the look of a cold killer."
"So I've been told." Train answered bluntly.
He would have been even blunter and said he was a killer after all, had it not been for the fact that there was a risk someone would read his lips and their cover blown. Perhaps Lia sensed this, and she said dryly, "You're not usually one for 'undercover', are you, Mr. Heartnet?"
"No."
They danced in silence for another moment, before Lia asked, "Do you ever do anything for fun?"
"Fun?" He questioned, more surprised that she'd asked something like that, and she muttered, "The way you said it tells me everything I need to know."
"I don't see the point of it." Train answered testily.
There was something about the way this girl talked that rubbed him the wrong way – who was she to judge him, when she was no better than he was? She reminded him of Baldor – not a favourable comparison in his opinion.
"Having fun, and finding joy in life, makes life worth living." Lia answered as she came in close against Train.
"And makes us better than monsters." She breathed, just before she stepped back in another twirl.
Train frowned slightly as he held her hand, guiding her while she spun and came back into his arms. He was very tempted to ignore her; but there was something in her words that made Train pause just slightly as he glanced down at the girl.
'Finding joy in life?' He thought as he gave Lia a puzzled look before regaining his mask as he looked about the room. 'How can she say that when she kills people for a living? Is it that she is like Baldor and Kranz, and simply enjoys the task?'
Yet, he didn't believe that was the case either.
Yes, Sephiria had warned him about Julia, and certainly Baldor and Kranz could be perceived as unpredictable. But something wasn't quite right about Lia; and Train found he was actually curious what Sephiria had meant, and what was going through Lia's head now.
But Train was pulled from such thoughts as a gunshot rang out through the ballroom.
*A/N Song of the Day: Dear You - Feel, from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. The link is: /6xCmE3h-QYU