Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat nor FSN, their world belongs to Yabuki Kentarou and Kinoko Nasu respectively.

Chapter 3:Rumor

-Chronos's HQ-

In a vastly decorated room, there sat the Chronos Numbers. They were known as the world's best assassins, human beings of extraordinary strength. Currently, they were just here to relax and wait for their next mission. One was reading a book. Yet another was simply watching his comrades. Off to the side, a small poker game had begun. They were all enjoying the peaceful silence, something that was rare in their assassin life.

That silence was broken with a loud exclamation of "NAAAANIIII?" from outside the door. Abruptly, Jenos Hazard barged in, panting lightly. Various heads rose and turned to look at him in curiosity.

"Number Seven" Belze Rochefort spoke up, "What happened?"

"I just got words from an acquaintance of mine." Jenos replied, after taking a moment to catch his breath. His face was contorted into a mixture of disbelief, amusement and shock. "It seems that she just got her hands on information on Sephiria's current activities."

"Oh?" Now they were interested. Sephiria was a very secretive person. Not even Belze, her closest comrade amongst the Numbers, knew what she did during her free time.

"My acquaintance said, and I quote: "Your boss, Sephiria, got a crush on someone!"

Silence.

Chaos soon erupted in the form of various members either beginning to shout or fat out laughing.

"SILENCE!" Belze, ever the serious one, managed to gain control of the situation and calmed everybody down. "Please explain."

"Well, my contact was out with her friend. They had visited a small food stand. Lo and behold, they saw none other than Sephiria Arks, staring very intently at the stands chef."

"I see." Anubis spoke up for the first time, "Then how did she come to this conclusion? Perhaps Lady Sephiria was just looking at something nearby that caught her attention?"

"No, no. One, Number One didn't deny staring at him, my contact said that there was a certain gleam in her eyes. She said that it looked as if Sephiria wanted to eat the guy, if you catch my drift."

"I see. It seems that we must investigate who this mysterious man is." Belze paused, before continuing with a straight face." And find out if he is worthy of our Lady."

'What an eventful day,' Sephiria though to herself as she immersed her body into the warm water bath. 'First I ran into my opponent last night. Then Train and his group. Finally that thief had to go and make up that rumor.'

She has tried to explain herself, saying that he resembled someone she had knew before, and that she did not have a crush on him, despite what rumors stated otherwise.

Unfortunately, while the detective and the blond girl seemed to accept her explanation, the other three did not. The two women countered her first argument with 'Someone you had a crush on, right?' with knowing smirks. She knew that Train was aware of the truth, but it seemed that he wanted a bit of petty vengeance. Not only did he not defend her, he even made some not-so-innocent suggestions about her quiet demeanor and secretive personal life.

'Ugh, and that woman had to go and tell Jenos.' Out of all the Numbers, Jenos was the most carefree and mischievous of them all. He would occasionally play a prank on other Numbers, in the form of surprise traps or attacks that left the target in a less than ideal situation. When asked, he said that he wanted to "Help" his comrades by preparing them for future potential ambushes. They knew it was a lie, but there was some truth to it, thus no punishment was ever dealt, only a harsh scolding from both Sephiria and Belze.

She had no doubt that by now the news of her supposed crush was known to everyone, maybe even the elders.

'At least I managed gain more information about that chef'. Sephiria begin reviewing the information she had gained. Apparently, he's 26 years old, and had just recently moved into the city, along with that Sweeper Saya. It seemed that he saved her from Creed's attack, but no one knew how. He occasionally hunts down some of the more amoral criminals, though he always refuse the proffered reward and asks that they send it to the family of the victims or some charity organization. That had gained him quite a favorable reputation among the more honorable Sweeper, and a large number of females.

How she got this info, well, it seems that rumors do have a use after all. They think that she has a crush on him has allowed them to give her quite a bit of info, in hope that she will be the one to win his heart. Also, from what the black haired woman had said, he is quite skilled with a bow.

"A swordsman and an archer. A killer and a chef. You're quite an interesting person, aren't you Shirou Emiya?" Sephiria mused aloud, the ghost of a smile on her lips.

Next morning

"Sephiria, would you kindly explain the rumor going on around the base?" Just as she predicted, the news had already reached the Elders. Bracing herself, she told them about the information she had learned along with the unexpected run-in with her assailant.

"Hmmm, I see. So that is what occured." The Elders contemplated the situation, before speaking up, "Very well, Number One, you are to continue observing him. See if you can gain more information about him."

"Yes sir."

Later

"Sephiria, could I talk to you?" Belze spoke up when she entered the lounge.

"...This is about the rumor, isn't it?" She had known that this would come up.

"Yes." Short, simple and straight to the point.

"Do you remember Shinji Makoto?"

"Ah yes. Your target the other night, correct? Did something go wrong?" There was a hint of worry in his voice.

"Not exactly. By the time I got there, every one except the ... hostages were dead. It seems that one Shirou Emiya, the one in the rumor, stormed in and killed them."

"All by himself?"

"Yes, he and I engaged in combat for a short while before he managed to get away."

"...That is quite impressive" The voice remained cool, though she could she that his eyebrows had raised a bit. "Is that the reason why you were staring like you wanted to 'eat him'?"

"...Where did you hear that?" Great, another migraine was already forming in her head.

"Jenos. He said that he heard it from his contact," She should have known.

"You could say that. As for how I met him, it was purely coincidence."

"I see." Belze said, turning away. "However, if you ever decide to pursue him, know that we will support your decision." With that, he walked away.

That headache was getting worse. It was then she remembered that to observe her target, she'd have to go back to that stand and run the risk of meeting the group, again.