Hello. This is my very first fanfiction about Black Cat and its characters. This fic takes place before the series actually begins—five years before to be exact. Also for the first time in my fanfiction career this fic actually might warrant an 17+ rating, hence the "M" rating.

WARNINGS: Potential dark themes, adult situations (but not terribly graphic), Creed being his usual obsessive self. Oh, and yaoi. In case you're new to this sort of thing, yaoi means two men together in a non-platonic relationship. If that isn't your cup of tea, very well.

Amantes sunt Amentes

By

Godell

Disclaimer: I don't own Black Cat. Only this plot.

Chapter One: Mirabile Visu

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Creed walked quietly to the room where the newest recruits for Chronos were waiting.

He wondered which one of the fifty would be the best suited to be his partner. Having no idea how old they were, his estimate was at that most were in their late teens, like him.

Creed sighed and gazed briefly out the tall window next to him. The world was still corrupt, no matter how many people he killed for Chronos. It was disappointing. No, perhaps it was heartbreaking. He couldn't decide.

Oh well. There's more important things to worry about right now…like which one of these new recruits will actually take a shine to me. Creed snickered and twirled the blood-red rose he held in his hand. Not that that's ever been a problem before.

Creed had so far been through four partners, three of whom had suffered from unfortunate accidents, the fourth was slowly growing very boring.

Shaking his head he reached the large ornate doors, where the fifty recruits were waiting. Creed placed his rose in between his teeth, adjusted his white coat, and grinned.

Show time.

With that, Creed pushed the doors open, making sure to look as dashing as possible in the process while having to exert himself a bit—Chronos had a habit of making certain doors ridiculously heavy, unweildly.

"Creed Diskinth has arrived!" a guard announced from inside the room.

The room was fairly plain by Chronos standards, but the figures inside the room were what Creed was interested in. They all looked fairly capable, though none of them had really caught his eye. He paced along the long line of recruits, taking them in. Several of them fidgeted. Most of them looked terrified of him.

Creed took the rose out of his mouth with a sigh.

"No, no, no. This lot won't work. I'll have to come back later."

The guard bowed. "Very well, sir."

The recruits began to troop out the door, looking disheartened. Creed twirled the rose , feeling a little sorry for them. After all, he was one of the pickier Erasers.

But then a pair of gold, catlike eyes, appearing like a flash of precious metal in a junk heap, caught his attention.

Creed walked over to a boy a few years younger than him, stalling for time. The boy had disorderly brown hair, light skin, and an expression that dared Creed to attack him. He signaled the boy. The boy's threatening posture relaxed slightly.

"One moment. I'd like to speak with this one." Creed told the guard.

The guard nodded and closed the door behind him, leaving the two alone.

Creed held the rose gently in his hand. "What's your name, boy? Both your real name and your code name, please."

The boy's gaze didn't falter. "Train Heartnet, Number XIII, Black Cat."

Creed's lips curled slightly. "Interesting name. Train Heartnet. I wonder if you're as good at catching and killing criminals as you are at enslaving hearts."

Train blinked. "I've never caught someone's heart before, sir. If I did, I wouldn't know what to do with it."

Creed laughed softly. "I didn't mean it literally. It was a joke. A pun."

Train nodded, though it was clear to Creed he didn't find it incredibly funny. "From your name, I'll bet you follow the rules."

It was Creed's turn to blink. Then he chuckled and moved closer to Train. "On the contrary. I live to break them."

Train's back was to the wall and Creed could smell the faint scent of blood on his skin…and a honey scent in his hair. He leaned down so that his head was level with Train's. The boy's gaze was faltering ever so slightly as Creed's rose brushed his cheek.

Creed barely heard the click.

"Don't move," Train whispered, his expression cold.

Creed found himself looking straight into the barrel of a heavy-looking weapon. He clearly saw the engraving of "XIII" in the gray orihalcum metal.

"Hmmm, very slick," he commented, tapping the gun. "What's it called?"

"Hades," Train replied stiffly, "and it's gonna fire a bullet straight into your—"

"Now, now," Creed said smoothly, gently easing the boy's finger from the trigger, "you shouldn't make assumptions like that. In fact, in the real world you should have shot me without answering the question. But I would have killed you first."

He pointed with his rose toward a particularly gaudy-looking vase a good ten yards away. "Fire at that, if you want to get some pent-up energy out of your system."

Train pointed Hades toward the vase, his expression grim. "When should I fire?"

"Now."

"Right." Train pulled the trigger.

Not only did the boy hit the original vase, but he also destroyed three shelves of them in rapid succession. Creed could barely hear the individual shots as they were fired. They hit the targets—onetwothreefourfivesix—and he found himself staring at a pile of shards and then at the smug expression of Train Heartnet, the Black Cat.

"Very good, Train," Creed commended, clapping slowly. "I'm impressed. I'll have to see what else you can do…later."

Train shrugged and packed his gun.

"If someone asks for you to be their partner, say no," Creed ordered, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Why?" Train asked. Creed grinned, noting that Train's hands were clenched into fists.

"Because I want you to be my partner." Creed answered simply, turning away from him. Before Train could say anything more, Creed placed his rose in the boy's hands. "As long as you have it, the world knows that I've chosen you."

"What if I don't want to be your partner?" Train asked coolly.

Creed grinned. "Who knows? Maybe something, maybe nothing. It all depends on how you refuse me."

Train's brow furrowed. "We'll see," he said to Creed's retreating figure.

"Thanks for the chat, Train," he called over his shoulder as he walked away. "The official partnership begins in two months, so you'll have plenty of time to get used to me. Perhaps I'll bring some catnip next time we meet…Black Cat."

Train's slightly-irritated voice reached Creed's ears after a brief silence. "See you then."