14AmyChan: I own nothing~! *^_^*

Train: does that mean time, too?

14AmyChan: I don't have a lot of that either, so please be patient with me! T.T

Eve: Please begin you intake of information on this webpage…

Annette took a drag on her cigarette. The plan was already set. Saya and Train would come back at about seven for some food and Saya would try to talk Train into letting her stay here. Meanwhile, Train would convince Saya that the best thing to do right now would be to split up and that she should stay here. Then, Annette would offer Saya a place to stay and everything would be set like that.

Annette blew out smoke and reached for a newspaper, eager to avoid the clanging silence of her shop. It was a long ways from seven, so she may as well tend to her bone-dry shop…

…/…/…/

"Saya, aren't you hungry?" Train asked, forcing himself to put the plan into action. The day had flown past him. They had been at the arcade, seen a movie, and Saya even dragged him into a hat store so she could try on all the different hats. They ended up getting something from that store that wasn't for Saya…

"Yeah" Saya said, taking care not to let her giggles end too abruptly. It's just that Train looked so cute, that she couldn't help but giggle at it. If she wasn't going to see him again, it may as well be that he looks cute and even a little happy. "Why don't we stop at Annette's?" she asked, each word pulling at her heart. This was hard, but it was the right thing to do…

"All right" Train said, a little relieved and sad that this was going better than planned. "It's just a little walk from here." Train started walking and Saya walked beside him. Not behind or in front, just next to him. He wished they could keep walking like that forever, but all too soon, they were walking into a shop that would soon hold sad memories for the both of them…

Train took off his new hat.

…/…/…/

Annette knew she was supposed to act normal, but it was really hard not to react to all the gloom that came in with the strangely silent couple. Well, she didn't know if the Black Cat was a chatterbox or not, but Saya she knew. And Saya was being just like him. As quiet as they come…

"Whaddya want?" Annette managed to pull off a warm voice for Saya. "Some food? Drink?"

"Rice balls!" Saya said, putting on that fake smile that was beginning to irk Annette. Usually, Saya's smiles were real, but these ones today weren't… Annette looked at the Black Cat and he only said "Same, please." Annette only nodded and went to the back room to make four rice balls.

Annette was making the rice balls when something the Black Cat said got to her. "Please." Please! The Black Cat did have manners at least a little bit. But Annette hadn't expected it at all. Suddenly she wondered if this were a good idea after all…

…/…/…/

Annette popped out from behind the curtains with four rice balls in hand, two for Saya, and two for Train. All three of them felt the tension, but pretended it wasn't there. Suddenly, Train faced Saya and put all of his courage behind these words: "Saya, you have to stay here."

You could have heard a pin drop. Train didn't know what to do after that. Would Saya be mad? Would she say 'okay'? What was running through her mind?

Saya couldn't believe it. Did Annette tell him? No, she trusted Annette. Why does her chest hurt so badly? It felt like it was being ripped apart… "I actually needed to stay here, anyways, Train-kun" Saya couldn't drop the –kun. It was a part of how she talked now. "Annette needs help around here, just maintenance and keeping up with criminals and such" Saya couldn't tell you how hard she wanted to start crying underneath that fragile mask of a smile. "So I have to stay here, but you need to go on." Saya didn't know how badly her heart was being smashed as she said those words and couldn't let a single drop escape in front of Train…

Train felt like someone was taking a hammer to his heart. Of course he wanted her to cooperate; he thought that by her not cooperating, there would be more pain. But there seemed to be no pain worse than the pain of the person most important to you walk away from you of their own free will. "Yeah, I still have my sweeper job and I still need to take care of that bike. I'll come back and visit every once in a while, but it might not be for a long time…" Train had to man up to this. It was simply too dangerous for Saya to come with him, and Creed had to be stopped before he could lay a finger on her. Train had to set his priorities straight. He needed to realize that saving Saya's life was more important than him wanting to be with her. No matter if the line between them blurred…

"There's enough room for Saya to live here" Annette said, getting the feeling that if she didn't step in, there would be waterworks. A lot of them. "We would share living expenses and stuff, she would be like my assistant here" Annette looked into to pairs of eyes. She knew both of their reasons, and both of them had logic in them, but it didn't take away the hurt both of them felt…

"All right" Train said, feeling hollow. This is what they had agreed on. But he wanted to leave Saya with at least one happy memory, so he faced her. "You'll do fine here, I know it, okay?" Train said, and he tried to smile. It was very little, and probably didn't look all that great, but it was the one thing Saya had always wanted from him. He owed it to her now.

"Okay" Saya said, feeling two things at once. Train had smiled, and most likely for her, so she was extremely happy. But at the same time, she was saying goodbye to this amazing man, so it mad her sad beyond all belief. She didn't know what to do, so she did the first thing that popped in her head. She gave him her biggest bear hug and said "You'll be a great sweeper, I know it."

Train hugged back awkwardly, not remembering the last time he had warmth like this. Then he let go, knowing the longer this went on, the harder it would be. Train stood up and gave one last awkward smile before leaving something on the counter and walking out of the shop, getting on the bike, and driving away.

Saya saw what was on the table. Train's new hat with a small note. It read:

You would look cute in this, so you should have it
-Train

Saya cried, holding the cat ears in her hand. Train cried, gripping the bike handle. Annette cried, yet not a tear was on her face.

14AmyChan: Sorry it's taken so long to update, for one, I have finals-

Train: - That she hasn't even taken yet-

14AmyChan: -And I had no idea what to do with this. I'm just glad I could pound out a half-decent chapter for this~! *^_^*

Train: Well-

Eve: Please evaluate the information on this page and leave your evaluation on the page that opens when you click the link below.

Train: English?

14AmyChan: PLEASE R&R~! *^_^*

Sven: Maybe you need to go to high school, Train…

Train: HEY, WHADDYA MEAN? D:

14AmyChan: *^_^*