Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Humanity: Torn Between Loving It and Hating It ❯ Killer Annoyance ( Chapter 5 )

Knives sat in a chair across the bedroom. He watched sleepily as Kale slept restlessly in the bed he had dragged her into. He had forced himself to go back into the kitchen, pick up the girl who had passed out, take her to Milly's bathroom, clean her off, then bandage the wound he had put in her shoulder.

He had tucked her into the bed so she wouldn't feel too much pain, as she would get if she just lay on the floor. Why had he done that? It was stupid! Sure, he enjoyed it when she let out that scream when the bullet went right through her shoulder, but how was he going to explain this?

How was he going to explain the stained carpet? Why a bullet was lodged into the refrigerator door? Why Kale was in bed with a hole in her shoulder? He hadn't been thinking straight. He had been so ticked off at the human that he totally lost his sense of control.

His head snapped up when he heard slight moaning. Kale groaned irritably as tried to sit up, but Knives was there in an instant. He gently pushed her back down with his index finger against her collarbone. She opened her eyes a little and stared at Knives. He stared back.

He saw hurt and fury in those cloudy depths. He looked away. He walked to the door only to stop and turn slightly. He could still feel her burning gaze on his back. He gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"I wouldn't try moving anymore if I were you, thank God that I'm not, because you will only make the wound worse and the last thing I need is Vash and those other humans walking in here with you dead from blood loss. I have enough things to explain as it is. Just keep your mouth shut got it, human?"

Instead of replying, Kale just sunk down until her chin was under the covers. She let out a small sigh and closed her eyes. Knives watched this in silence before walking out and closing the door softly.

Out in the hall, Knives leaned against the door, his eyes closed as he thought quickly. He had to do something. But before he could anything, he heard the door downstairs open and three pairs of footsteps moving around in the kitchen.

Bags were being set down and he knew it would be a matter of time before someone saw the hole in the refrigerator door or the dark spots in the carpet. He edged his way into his own room. His hand was on the doorknob when he cringed at the shrill scream from Meryl.

"Oh my god! What the hell happened to the fridge?!" He then heard Milly gasp and said in a frightened tone.

"Meryl! Mr. Vash! Look!"

"Ahhh! Blood!!" Meryl screeched, "Wait, where's Kale?!!" He heard stomping coming up the stairs and Vash was around the corner, soon followed by Milly then Meryl. Vash glared at his brother, eyes filled with rage and suspicion.

"Knives! What happened?! Why is there blood all over the place?!" he said darkly. Knives shrugged and shoved his thumb in the direction of Milly's bedroom.

"Let's just say that the human got in the way when my gun went off. She's in there, sleeping. Don't worry. I cleaned and bandaged the wound. I know how you would react if you found her lying there in the kitchen, motionless. You can say I took pity on the both of you."

Knives pushed open his door and was about to go in when Vash shoved him into the wall, hard, and held him there with two fistfuls of his shirt. He glared daggers into his brother's eyes.

"That's not the point!" he shouted, his blood boiling. Knives was a little shocked that Vash had attacked him, but he was quick to recover and grabbed a hand full on his brother's red trench coat.

"Would you have rather me just leave her there to die on the floor then?" Knives growled back.

Milly and Meryl just stood there and watched in silence, not knowing what to do. Should they try to stop them or should they just allow them to solve the problem themselves?

"Why did you shoot her in the first place?!" Vash demanded. His grip tightened only to have Knives tighten his hold on him as well.

"She got what was coming to her when she insisted on pestering me. Do not get angry with me because of it. Maybe you should be angry with yourself for going with those two. You should have known that I would not allow the woman to just have her way with me. You and her are both lucky that I decided to just shoot her in the shoulder and not give her the gift of death instead!"

"That's not a reason to just shoot her! I know Kale enough to know that she wouldn't even try talking to you unless you provoked her into saying something. You probably said something horrible to her! I wouldn't be surprised if you did. So this is obviously your fault!" Knives narrowed his eyes and jerked Vash to his face, their noses touching.

(A/N: Everyone seems to be doing that lately, huh? Must be a new fad or something. ^^)

"Actually, brother," his voice dripped with hatred at the word `brother', "this is all yours and those two women's faults. Maybe you should have just left her to do with her own life and let her find a way to live after the fire." They growled at each other, threats flying silently.

All of a sudden, a scream erupted from Milly's room. It was a blood-curdling scream that even left chills down Knives' spine along with everyone else's. Vash and Knives looked at each other and left go of each other and both bolted down the hall to Milly's door.

They shoved open the door and saw Kale on the floor, holding onto her injured shoulder as a man, dressed in a black rob, stood over her. He had a pistol pointed to Kale's temple. The hooded man whipped his head around when the door busted open.

Instead of shooting Kale, the man lifted his gun and shot three rounds at the plants. Both men dodged easily and they, on reflex, pulled out their own guns. Knives' was of a deep black and Vash's was of a slick silver. They both took aim on the hooded figure.

But the man chuckled and pointed the gun at Kale again as he faced them. He waved a gloved index finger at them, whispering, "Ah, ah, ah. Shoot and she dies first." Kale had her chin against her chest, hot tears streaming down her cheeks silently.

"Guys! What's going on?!" The girls in hall shouted. The men didn't dare move. Anything could cause the hooded figure into shooting, thus would kill Kale.

"What do you want? Who are you? How'd you even get in here?!" Vash hissed. Knives kept his gun pointed at the man's head while his brother slowly lowered his. The man chuckled again.

"You think I'm a fool as to tell you my business?" The man asked in an offended tone.

"Breaking into a house occupied by two dangerous men, yeah I think you are!" Meryl shouted as she pushed past the two plants. Milly stood behind and watched.

"Answer my brother's questions, you filthy vermin," Knives bit out between clenched teeth. The man laughed and stepped closer to Kale, pressing the gun roughly against her forehead. Vash hissed and took a step closer, but stopped midway when he saw the man's finger tighten on the trigger.

"My business is not of your concern, though I wished you hadn't intruded. I would have been done in the next second had the bitch not screamed." Kale whimpered as he shoved the gun harder against her head.

"Please, sir, we'll do whatever you want just as long as you don't kill Kale! She's been through a lot! Please, leave her alone!" Milly begged as she came up next to Meryl.

"Shut your trap, woman. I have a job to do and it has nothing to do with any of you. Just stay out of the way and you won't get caught in the middle of it!" The hooded figure turned his head and suddenly everything went in slow motion.

The man's finger tightened on the trigger and just before pulling it back all the way, another gun went off. The man's gun, along with the finger still attached, flew across the room and crashed into the far wall.

Everyone yelped and Vash turned to see Knives gun, still poised in the air, smoking. He moved it slightly until it was pointed to the man's head. He was screaming in pain as he held onto his hand.

"You asshole! You shot off my finger! Argh!!" Knives chuckled, his left eye squinting some when he gave a devilish smirk.

"Feel honored that you still have your whole arm attached. More yet, feel glad the you still have your life." Vash sighed in relief and stalked over to the hooded figure. The man shook his head and backed up against the wall.

"No! I can't believe this! I-I failed!" He bent and picked up the gun with his still five-fingered hand. He put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

"NO!" Vash wailed as the body fell to the floor in an ungraceful heap. Kale screamed in terror when the body fell in front of her, a hole in the side of his head. She shrunk back against the desk as the blood started to pool around the body.

She felt gentle yet firm fingers grip her good arm and pull her to her feet as the blood seeped close. She knew who it was. The boots told her so. Knives. She didn't want to look at him. She didn't want the man to even touch her!

Meryl came up and wrapped her arms around Kale gently, aware of the fact that her wound had started to bleed again. Meryl motioned to Milly and they all walked into the bathroom. Vash looked at the man with tear filled eyes. He hated to see people die.

"Oh my god! Vash!" Meryl shouted. Vash ran into the bathroom and saw Kale sitting on the toilet while Milly tended to her shoulder. Knives walked in ever so slowly. Vash and Meryl were leaning out of the open window of the bathroom.

"Well, it seems we found out how that man got in here." Meryl mumbled, slamming the window shut. Vash nodded.

"What do we do with the body?" Kale whispered, wincing when Milly applied pressure to the cloth that was pressed to her wound. Knives cringed slightly at the memory of how Vash had shot him probably the exact same place.

"We call the police, ask if they can get some information on him, and have him removed from here," Meryl stated in her tough, matter-of-a-fact tone. They all nodded and Knives left the room.

Day soon turned into night and the police had just removed the body of the would be murderer from Milly and Kale's room. The room was cleaned thoroughly; making sure there were no visible blood stains anywhere. Milly didn't have any trouble sleeping that night in the bedroom, but Kale was jumping at every creak and groan of the house.

She slid from her bed and shivered as she quickly passed the closed bathroom door and headed for the bedroom door. She opened it, slid out into the dark hall, and closed it. She slid to the floor, sighing.

She wanted to lie down, to rest, but she scared to do so. She had just been shot by the brother of the man who she knew to be kind hearted and always cheerful. A stranger had almost put her to death, yet she was saved by the same man who had shot her early that day.

She was so confused. She wanted to be comforted, but she had no one to give it to her. Milly was sure to comfort in anyway possible, even Meryl, but they had their own problems to put up with. Milly was still recovering, from what Vash told her, from Wolfwood's death and Meryl was in a mess with work.

Vash was very compassionate, Kale knew that, but she was in no mood for a man's comfort. She huddled against the door and pressed her forehead against her knees. Her life was falling apart before her very eyes.

First her mother had to leave for some other man, leaving her and her father. Then her father happened to get caught in the middle of a shoot out. The bar being burned down by someone unknown person and then someone who would have had killed her if she hadn't screamed. Knives was the least of her worries at the moment. At least he had shot her in the shoulder and not in the head like that other man had originally intended to do.

She choked back a sob. She was a lost cause. She had nothing to look forward to anymore. She felt slight vibrations coming toward her and she looked up slightly to see bare feet.

"What are you doing, human?" Came that deep rumble. Great.

"Go away," Kale mumbled.

"I thought I told you to stop moving around. That wound will never heal properly if you keep aggravating it." Knives snorted. Kale turned her gaze all the way up to his. She let out a little started gasp when she saw that his eyes were glowing a bright blue.

"Yeah well, maybe I wouldn't have a wound to aggravate if you hadn't shot me!" She hissed. Knives narrowed his eyes, the glowing brightened and he crouched down. She moved away slightly. He let out a small sigh.

"What are you doing out here?" He whispered. She was taken back with that gentle, caring tone in his voice.

"I can't sleep. I mean, would you sleep in the same bedroom where a guy had committed suicide, but before that when that same guy tried to kill you?" Knives stayed silent for a moment.

"It wouldn't have mattered to me. Milly doesn't seem to mind." He said. Kale looked at her knees.

"Yeah, well, that's Milly. I'm Kale and I don't want to sleep in that room anymore than I have to." She whispered. Knives stood up and opened the door to the bedroom slightly.

"Well, do you plan to sleep there? You will just give your shoulder hell if you do." He had been through the same hell, so he knew what Kale would go through if she didn't let her shoulder heal.

"Better than sleeping in there." Kale mumbled. She suddenly felt arms engulf her and she let out a shriek. Knives carried the girl back into the bedroom and laid her back on the bed. Kale couldn't see it, but heard Knives pull up a chair next her and the cocking of his gun. She blinked.

"What are you--?" She started.

"Go to sleep, human, or I will finish off what that man had started," he growled. Kale yelped and slowly slid under the covers. She would not question further. She felt ok with Knives sitting next to her. After all, he was the one who saved her.

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OOCness! AAAACK! lol, sorry guys! ^^U