Thanks to all my reviewers and readers! WARNING: There will be some light boyXboy action, but nothing too serious.
Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat...
I walked as slowly as I could through the halls of the Chronos HQ. The sky was clouded and it threatened to rain at any moment. The mere thought of it made me think of how it would add to the gloom of the whole situation.
"Hazel, Willzark is waiting for you," Sephiria said as stoic as possible. I nodded emotionlessly and entered the council chambers. I waited patiently for the monitors to flicker to life.
"I did everything and still I failed," I whispered softly and Sephiria put her hand on my shoulder. For once I took a bit of comfort in the sisterly gesture.
"You can still redeem yourself," She soothed, "Remember, we planned for this. That's why we also gave you the execution order when you accepted the assignment,"
"I know, Belze told me,"
"I asked him to on my behalf," She said while she gently rubbed my back. If she was helping me with the mission that would mean she would be helping me kill Train as well.
A sharp buzzing resounded from the corners of the room and Willzark's screen burst into colour. The other statesmen's images soon followed on their respective screens.
"Hazel," The Elders greeted in unison with a rough harmony that could be equated to years of issuing orders to the Numbers.
"Elder Statesmen," I replied politely. The nodded and clasped their hands together. Really, they were a creepy bunch.
"Hazel, you have failed in your mission to keep Black Cat part of Chronos," Willzark stated as he looked me directly in the eye, "However, this was foreseen as Number Thirteen is a wild one at best. We bequeath unto you the execution rights,"
"Sephiria is also given the duty of overseeing your assignment as she is your sister and because we feel you may have become close to Train Heartnet," The Statesman on the right informed and a threw a look in Sephiria's direction.
She stood still and had donned a calm look on her face. She had goddess-like beauty even when she was younger. She also had all the killing initiative of a divine entity. In fact, I remembered a time when she sliced up one hundred enemies of Chronos by herself.
"Heartnet was here earlier to announce his leave from Chronos," Willzark boomed so as to regain my attention, "He left with his weapon in his possession. We wonder if you can best him even with your gunblades,"
"It shall be done," I said, "That I promise,"
"Yes, but we fear for the problem tha-" The Elder on the left began.
"I said that it would be completed!" I yelled as I cut him off and with a look of shock the Statesman backed off.
"Hazel, you are out of line," Willzark calmly informed me and I scoffed.
"And I am out of here," I countered politely, "Goodbye, Elder Statesmen,"
"Hazel, stop walking away this instant!" Willzark screamed and I continued towards the door. Sephiria put her arm in front of me.
"Hazel, stop," She had that fierce look in her eyes and I glared at her.
"Get out of my way," I breathed and pushed her arm down before bursting through the double doors and storming out of the room that once held me captive for so long...
"What do you want Jenos?" I growled angrily from where I stood on the street. My search for Train was going downhill with every passing moment. I certainly didn't need Jenos coming with his sarcasm to help 'improve' my day because if he did I would 'improve' his face.
"I wanted to speak to you about Train," He cut straight to the point as he stepped up to me. He looked fine to me. I guess Jenos was preoccupied with other things.
"I've been searching for a while, I can't find him," I sighed and Jenos scoffed which caused me to elbow him in the gut.
"He did a little disappearing act after he insulted the Elder Statesmen and letting a crime lord live," Jenos filled me in and I raised an eyebrow.
"Wait?" I began, "He let the crime lord go?"
"Gave him a chance to hightail it out of there before he killed him," Jenos shrugged casually. Although it wasn't something to be proud of, I was surprised that Train had take to the road of 'killing if need be' so quickly.
"Any ideas where Train went?" I asked Jenos as he kicked some dust around with the tip of his shoe, the cloud that formed only momentarily obscuring them from sight.
"To be honest, I have no idea. Try his apartment," He suggested and I gave out another sigh of frustration. This was taxing my patience. I can't save someone if that someone isn't here to be saved!
"Stall Sephiria for me while I look," I ordered and somehow he just obeyed. I could chalk it up to friendship, but I know he still views me as the rightful leader of Chronos, "Oh, Jenos," I called after him.
"Yeah?" He stopped and ran his hand through his hair. I grinned. Same old Jenos.
"Don't get yourself killed,"
Damn, where was he? He had to be here somewhere!
It had been hours and I couldn't find Train anywhere. Nighttime had come along a while ago and I was not excited about searching for people in the dark. I had been wandering aimlessly for what felt like forever and to no gain. Train had officially disappeared.
As I walked past an alleyway gunfire drew my attention to it. I bolted into the alley and had to duck as Train and another guy sailed over my head in a combat lock. There were sounds of a sword clashing against steel. Brutish grunts filled the silence as they battled from one point to another.
I decided it would be best if I stayed out of the battle. If I interfered it might only make things worse. I have to admit though, my curiosity was piqued as to who the newcomer was. I don't remember him from the Numbers I had control over nor the troops that Chronos had stationed.
In a moment it was over and Train was straddling the other guy as he pinned him down, the end of the attacker's sword lodging itself in the ground. Train aimed his gun at the white haired man below him and I noticed that the man was smiling.
"I'll end you Creed," Train hissed. So that was Creed. He seemed very creepy. The kind of guy that offers you candy when you walk home from school.
"Yes, show me that killing prowess you possess," Creed urged with a hint of insanity. He was urging Train to revert back to his killer self.
"Look how easy it was to snap my Kotetsu in half, you are truly magnificent!" He bellowed and I grimaced. Train was just about ready to pull the trigger.
"Train, don't," I interrupted and dashed over to him. A scowl formed on Creed's face and I threw him a dirty look, "Remember who you are now, you're not a killer,"
"Yeah, you're right," He took my hand as I pulled him up and off of Creed. I didn't release Train's hand and he made no attempt to pull away. I continued glaring at Creed.
"Let's get out of here," I led Train with me towards the end of the alley. I paused at the entrance and turned to Creed, "Stay away from him," I warned.
"Or what?" Creed asked with the challenge in his eyes. Train looked at me questioningly and I put my other hand on his shoulder. Then I gave the dirtiest look to Creed I could possibly give to someone.
"Or I'll kill you myself,"
I had left Train alone while I walked around the city hoping to draw Sephiria's attention. I needed her distracted until I could figure out how to get Train out of the killing lines.
Luckily enough she found me and pulled me aside.
"We kill him tonight," Sephiria told me and I felt my stomach drop. She pulled me along the dark streets towards Train's apartment.
"Sephiria, I don't want to do this," I murmured and she stopped in her tracks. She turned around slowly and just stared for a while, "I'm not that person anymore,"
"You accepted the mission already, you have to!" She hissed at me through clenched teeth.
"I like him okay!" I yelled in my defense and she scoffed.
"Just because he's your friend doesn't mean that you can shirk your responsibilities and duty of your job," She scolded and I blushed, "Why is that embarrassing for you?" She cocked an eyebrow.
"Sephiria, you don't understand,"
"What don't I understand?" Sephiria shouted in frustration and curled her hands into fists. Sephiria was never good at stuff like this. Mom always understood me without so much as a second glance. Even Sephiria with her powers of empathy could not compare to my mother. Not that Sephiria's powers ever worked on me anyway.
"I...I like him," I answered softly and a look of surprise fell across her face.
"When did you start to, umm- like, umm-" She struggled to find the words so I cut her off before she could strain herself.
"Sephiria, I'm a dancer and spend an enormous time grinding against the male backups, it's not that difficult,"
"Shit, Hazel!" Sephiria growled and I grinned before realising that she was being serious, "Now I have to be the terrible older sister and kill your potential boyfriend!"
"Hazel, what are you doing with her?" Train's voice sounded from beside us. I spun around to see him standing there in the dark with what I took to be tears streaming down his face...
"You work with Chronos?" Train asked angrily and all I could do was stand there and gape. It was then that Sephiria chose the perfect moment to be my sister and said something to save me.
"Black Cat, my brother does not work and never has worked for Chronos," She stated firmly and proudly, "This meeting is about you and me and how we will settle your breakaway from Chronos,"
"It will be decided by battle then," Train stood his ground, but did not draw his gun. I put my hand on Sephiria's shoulder in protest.
"Please, don't do this," I begged and she shook her head in apology. She pulled her arm free and looked at me.
"I have to," She murmured and drew her blade. I walked over to Train and held out my arm in a protective stance. My fingers brushed Train's chest and I shuddered at how warm he was.
"Then we part here as enemies," I pulled out my gunblades and aimed for her, "I'm not losing him,"
"So be it," Sephiria assumed an offensive stance and I a defensive. The moonlight glinted off the polished metal of our weapons. Our face reflected back at us from the shiny surfaces. What had we come to? Brother and sister fighting against instead of with each other.
"So be it," I said softly and tensed as she charged at me...
Sword clashed against sword. Sparks flew off of the metal from the sheer force of the blows. I was surprised that I was holding my own against Sephiria. I never used to be able to gain any sort of leverage on her in combat, but now I was at least surviving.
"Stop this!" Sephiria hissed through clenched teeth. We broke apart for a few seconds until we were back together. Not one of us landed a blow. We bolted from place to place with our swords locked.
Train stood at a reasonable distance while he watched us. His eyes followed our every movement with precision that only a Number could possess.
Sephiria made a quick lunge for Train. I swear I had never moved that fast in my life. I used my body as a shield and took a direct blow to the head from the butt of the sword. My world faded to an inky black haze.
I must've been out cold for at least ten minutes, but when I woke up Sephiria and Train were fighting on the top of a building a little way away. I looked around for my weapons finding them near to where I was lying.
I grabbed them and bolted up the building that was clearly still under construction. Train and Sephiria were attacking each other just a few feet away. What I did notice was that Train didn't have his weapon out. Where was Hades?
"Enough!" I barreled into Sephiria and pinned her down. She struggled under me and I smacked her lightly on her cheek, "He's not armed, he doesn't have Hades with him!"
"But that would mean he's no longer deemed a threat as per the rules th-" Sephiria started off, but I finished for her.
"Rules that we came up with together," I moved off of her, "He is no longer in possession of his orichalcum weapon, he's no longer a threat,"
"Really?" Train asked and I nodded. We were about to go back to normal when a strange buzzing sounded. I looked around as did Sephiria and Train.
Insects, thousands of them, flew out of nowhere creating a huge cloud of buzzing creatures that effectively hid a giant insect beast. It was a crimson colour and on top of it stood a small person who was garbed in robes and grey bandages.
It grabbed Train before Sephiria and I could react and held him far out of our reach. The beast settled on the roof of a building that was adjacent to us. It was crushing Train with its limb, but not enough to kill him. I could clearly see the pain Train was in and his discomfort made me angry.
"Let. Go. Now," I said in a dark voice and I saw the small person hesitate, but hold his ground. The beast shot out its tail to clutch Sephiria within its death grip. I quickly sliced the tail in half and fired a bullet that bounced off the beast's hard shell.
Together Sephiria and I charged the beast and began to cut and slice where we could get an opening, but eventually it got the upper hand on us and we were forced to move away.
The beast made a move for me and I barely escaped with my life as I leaped for Train and received a cut along my lower back. I landed ungracefully on the ledge and doubled over from the intense pain. This beast was surely part of the Taoist regime. I knew we couldn't have killed them all.
"Hazel!" Train coughed and I was now aware of the beast's other limbs grabbing me around the waist and tightening. I wriggled and squirmed to try and get out, but the monster was intent on crushing the life out of my body.
"Creed mentioned that you were particularly troublesome," The person boomed over the sound of the beast. The monster had already caught Sephiria as well and I felt so hopeless at that point in time. The beast tightened again which caused me to yell out.
"Hazel!" Train and Sephiria screamed as loud as they could, but the beast would not yield to them even if they shouted out my name and pleas of surrender. Sephiria wiggled like a slug trying to reach her cutlass that lay almost within her grasp.
I struggled for breath and blood flowed from my mouth. I was starting to lose consciousness. I was about to turn to Train and tell him everything when a soft and sweet melody flowed through the night air. The beast faltered and dropped all of us. I fell to the ground with a hard 'thud'. I snatched my weapons and sheathed them while Saya sang her song, where ever she was.
Train grabbed me by my waist and helped me to my feet. I followed him to a chimney and we both jumped down it and landed neatly on the bottom floor. Well, Train landed perfectly, I landed hard which caused my injuries to flare up and me to wince and hiss.
I heard the beast and its summoner howl as they realised we were escaping and then the buzzing appeared once more as he tried to locate us.
Train hoisted me up in his arms and I protested, but he would have none of it. He ran with me as fast as he could towards his apartment. His hands were becoming slick with my blood and for a moment I thought it was kind of sexy.
A familiar sound of sandals rapping against the ground made me feel even safer. Saya could keep Train safe for me. I heard her gasp as she saw me and then pick up the pace at which she was following us. At one point a cat darted out in front of us and caused Train to stumble, but he refused to let me get hurt and held on to me as tightly as he could.
After a while I wriggled out of Train's arms much to his and Saya's dislike. I told them I was fine to run again and together we continued towards Train's apartment where I hoped we would at least be safe for a little while...
Train and I sat together on the roof of his apartment. Saya had returned Hades to him and I promised that I wouldn't tell Sephiria that he had reclaimed his weapon. I then had some explaining to do:
"Sephiria Arks is your sister?" Train sighed as if he was dreaming and praying that he would wake up.
"I took my mother's maiden name," I told him softly and he nodded. He looked at me and his eyes seemed to linger. I immediately felt self-conscious seeing as I was shirtless with only a few bandages to cover my wounds, "My father and I were not really close," I decided to wait to tell him everything about me.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, this was clearly bothering him and I felt bad for lying to him. I shivered and he noticed it because he took of his coat and handed it to me. I gratefully put it on and reveled in its warmth. It also smelled like Train, a musky smell that was laced with the fragrance of a simple deodorant.
"I-I didn't want it to come between us," I scooted closer to him, "I wanted us to be friends. How can I do that if you always think I'm going to report to my sister?"
He just looked at me for a while before admitting that he didn't care because he knew I wasn't like that. I grinned and he gave a small smile in return.
"So Train," I said breaking whatever comfortable silence had fell over us, "How long have you been alone?" He blinked twice in rapid succession, "I mean, how long has it been since you had friends who cared about you?"
The question startled him as he clearly wasn't expecting me to ask him about his personal life. His cat-like eyes held the look of confusion which I thought was quite a cute look on him.
"A while," Train looked up to the moon and I scooted closer to him. My heart was pounding, but now was the time to make my move. I leaned in to him and put my face next to his ear.
"I'll just have to change that won't I?" I whispered huskily into his ear and, using my index finger to turn his head, I gently pressed my lips to his. His lips were rough, but they were perfectly shaped as far as I was concerned.
At first he was shocked and was still like a deer in headlights, but he eventually overcame it and began kissing me back. We moved our lips over each other's like a dance. Our lips connected again and again and it was amazing. He twisted his hand into my hair and I snaked my arms around his waist.
His tongue begged for entrance as he ran it along my lower lip and I gladly opened up for him. A battle ensued as our tongues fought to be the victor. I let him win and backed off as he began exploring my mouth as thoroughly as he could. I moaned into him as he pulled on my hair and the kiss deepened. The passion flowed like water and my hands ran along his sides and back gently caressing him.
He pushed me on to my back and I wrapped my legs around him while he continued to kiss me. His hands wandered along my torso and arms as mine gripped his shoulders to push him closer to me. He kissed along my jaw and began trailing down my neck where he left little bite-marks and kisses. I moaned and arched my neck to give him better access. He continued there for a while before moving back up to my lips and biting softly on them as well.
Eventually after about twenty minutes we broke apart and just looked at each other. Train was the first to speak.
"We can't be together," He said painfully and I understood why even before he gave me a reason, "Not when things are so dangerous. I'm not going to watch you die like I watched you almost get killed tonight. We'll wait until after this is all over, okay?"
I nodded as a tear slipped down my cheek. He lightly brushed it away and I smiled. For the first time I actually saw Train give a genuine happy smiled and it was all because of me. I grabbed on to him in a fierce embrace and he held me to him just as closely. He rested his head on mine and I felt as if this moment would last forever. The moonlight cast us in a light that just helped to make the moment even more special that it already was.
Just Train and I together. That's what I wanted. It was all I wanted...
From the window of the apartment Saya watched us. She sat down on the window sill and grinned happily, knowing that Train was making a good choice...
I hope you liked it! Was Train to OOC? Any advice?