14AmyChan-Life isn't a party without me in it! *^_^* kidding, kidding, but I don't own Black Cat… *^_^*
I could smell it, the scent of death. At first, I could see, but then a wave of pain came, and I couldn't. Then I could, but not as well. It just wasn't my day. My target had been holding a child… I don't hurt kids, I just don't.
I heard footsteps pass by me, then stop. If it was someone to finish the job, they would have done it already, no, this person was small, but very strong, because they were able to lift me as I went unconscious.
I woke up in a strange room. It looked familiar, like my room, then I noticed that some things weren't the same. Like I don't own a yukata, or anyone in a yukata, either.
My eyes instantly snapped open. The girl was facing away from me and cleaning up something. Medical supplies? Well, must have been, because that's when I noticed that my (now bare!) chest had bandages wrapped around it. The bleeding had stopped and I could hear and see fairly well.
"How about that," the girl started talking so I looked over at her. She was actually kind of pretty… And she didn't sound too bad either… "I guess even assassins get hurt sometimes, don't they, Mr. Black Cat?"
I have to be on guard I thought as I answered. "H-how did you know?" Did I just stutter? Why did I do that?
"It's my buisiness to know" the strange girl said, still cleaning up. That's when I noticed that there was just a little bit of blood on her hands…Probably mine… "I'm a sweeper"
That caught me off-guard. "Sweeper?" I asked. I mean, I know what a sweeper is, but shouldn't she have taken me in to get my bounty? Sweepers come after me all the time…
"Yes, I travel the world pursuing dangerous criminals" she explained. Then she added, a little hurriedly "But, lucky for you, I'm on vacation." That made me think. If sweepers get their money off the bounties they catch, shouldn't they be able to set their own vacations? And it's not very often that a bounty appears before you half-dead… So why didn't she…?
I felt really uneasy, so I wanted out of there. I got up and she flew around. "Hey! I'm not done tending your wound...Lie still!" She wasn't faking it, so I did what she said. I can tell when someone's being shifty, and she wasn't…
I just wanted to ask something. "A woman sweeper…? Is there a story?" I've never heard of a woman in the sweeping business. I just gathered it was a job for guys with too much testosterone who loved weapons to hunt people down…
She smiled and got really close for some reason. "Not really, let's just say that the stray cat lifestyle suits me." She then realized just how close she was. I mean, I could smell her perfume (even though it didn't smell that bad, I think it was lavender [don't ask me how I know what lavender smells like]). She then pulled back and went to cleaning up. She put the last thing back in her kit and walked out of the room saying "I'll be back. Don't move around too much, you still need to heal."
Great, now what? I'm stuck in some strange girl's home and-
Wait a minute, I'm in a girl's house? I checked around. Yeah, I was in a girl's house, but it looked a lot like my apartment. She must have been the one to carry me here. She also must have been the one to unshirt me. I should probably button it back up, but what if it messes with healing? I looked at the couch and noticed that there was a white sheet on it, speckled with a little bit of blood here and there.
The strange girl walked into the room, took one look at me, and made a beeline for the kitchen. "You can button up your shirt, now, Black Cat" she yelled from the room she was in. "Just don't mess up the bandages!" For some reason, her calling me by my nickname bugged me. Black Cat means 'killer of the night' for me. And she's okay with taking in an injured assassin to heal him?
I buttoned up my shirt and noticed that she had put my gun, Hades, right in front of me on the table. Why would she put my gun right in front of me? I am an assassin…I kept thinking about that and almost didn't notice when she came in with two cups of tea on a tray. "Just call me Train" I muttered. I just didn't want her to call me Black Cat anymore.
She obviously didn't hear me. "What was that?"
"My name is Train. Train Heartnet. Could you not call me 'Black Cat'?" I just really, really didn't like it when she called me that. It was like she was calling me murderer. I'm okay with that coming from anybody…but her.
"Okay, my name is Saya Minatsuki" she said as she drank her tea. I studied her a little bit as I thought about some other things. For one, she's wearing a yukata and serving Japanese tea. That means she likes Japan? She was also sitting straight and somewhat refined, like she was raised a little strictly. Who is she…? I wanna know a little more… I looked at my gun, Hades. And remembered.
I am an assasin. My job is to kill. And here is this random girl who would save a murderer like me... Why? For what reason?
All of a sudden, she scooted a little bit away. That was a little jarring for some reason, so I had to say something "So what do I owe you?" I hated asking it, because it meant I was at her mercy again, but it was out, so I couldn't do anything about it.
"Nothing, it's on me" she said, calm-as-could-be. She saved an assasin (one who gets paid big time!) and expected no charge for it? Clearly she wasn't normal, but that didn't make her bad... It just made her weird.
"Right..." I obviously wasn't expecting to be rescued. Not for free, and definatly not by a woman sweeper. I glanced at my gun to remind myself of who I am. I am an assasin. I have killed a lot of people. But...she seemed so...free. Like nothing in the world could stop her from doing what she wanted to do...
Should I stop being an assasin? Maybe then she could tell me how to have a 'stray cat lifestyle'...
She got up suddenly and walked across the table. She picked up my gun and handed it to me. Why would she rearm a famous assasin? A murderer? She says she's a sweeper, so she must want to protect people, so why…?
"You just said that you pursue dangerous criminals..." I reminded her.
"I also said that I'm on vacation" she said stubbornly. In truth, it was kind of...what's the word...funny? Cute? I guess it's both...
"Right..." my leg started to shake. That only happened when when I was scared or nervous. I wasn't scared of this strange woman, so it must have been the other option. I wanted out of here, I need to think all of this over...
"No one is making you stay. If you have somewhere you need to be, then you should probably get there" Saya said rapidly. I don't get it, but I am out of here! I bolted to the door before realizing that I was being really rude. Normally, I don't worry about that kind of thing, but it bugged me...
"You're weird" I blurted. Well, that was polite… "Maybe I'll visit you again..." I left the room torn in two. I have a job of assasination... What if I was ordered to assasinate her? Wait a minute... I looked down. I was in my jeans and button-up shirt that I wear underneath...
My coat…! I left it in that Saya's apartment. I had to turn around and get it. Sneak in? No, she's already in there. Might as well ask like a normal person. Hmm, a normal person…
I knocked on the door twice and she answered it. Kind of quickly, it almost took my breath... I only had enough to mutter "I forgot my coat." I wasn't looking at that round little face of hers, for some reason, I just couldn't.
"Right, I'll get it" Saya said as she turned around. She walked into her apartment and I looked around. This almost looks like the Okinawa apartments. Saya came out about two seconds later with my ink-black coat.
"What building is this?" I asked. If this really was the same building, I would probably smile.
"Building B of the Okinawa apartments" she said, and she sounded a little shocked. Was I not supposed to ask that? "Why?"
That was the first time she asked me why. Not when she found me covered in blood, not when I asked her about her lifestyle, but when I asked where we were. I didn't smile like I thought I would have, but I did feel a little bit of...was this happiness...as I walked down the, now familiar aisle of the Okinawa apartments.
Surprisingly, my apartment was only two down from Saya's. I opened the door and turned my head over her way and nodded at her. To this day, I have no idea what on Earth possesed me to say "Thank you for saving me, neighbor." I walked into my apartment and shut the door behind me. It had a habit of clicking like a lock when it closed, that's why I got the room.
A sudden spur of childish curiosity caused me to open my door and listen in to what Saya was saying. I barely heard her whisper "I might see you later Train-kun."
"I heard that" I said childishly as I shut my door again. I didn't mind her calling me that, so I might as well see her again sometime...