Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Humanity: Torn Between Loving It and Hating It ❯ Sadness ( Chapter 15 )

"You're making this harder than it originally is, human!"

"Bite me! I've never really used a gun before, Knives. Give me a break!"

"You'd think I would be wasting my time with a human that has some knowledge in the art of firing a gun!"

"I don't consider guns art, Knives, and just because you enjoy shooting everything that moves doesn't mean I would gladly join in!"

It was unbearably hot that afternoon. There were no winds or even hot breezes, just the murderous heat that beat down from the twin suns hovering above. Knives had insisted that she practice now and with some threats here and persisting there, Kale agreed. Now she was regretting it.

"You got yourself into this and don't think you can call it quits and walk off. I don't take blackmailing lightly, especially if it's trash that's doing it. Now, lift the damn gun and fire. I can't fix what you might be doing wrong if you just stand there and whine!"

"Shut up, you stupid Plant," Kale grumbled then struggled to lift the black revolver. Why was the thing so heavy? She closed one eye and shakily pointed it at the few empty beer bottles that were lined up on a table.

She fired once and was jerked back by the force. Kale squeaked and stumbled back a few times before falling down. She moaned and rubbed her bottom, squeezing her eyes shut. Knives tilted his head back and covered his eyes with his hand.

"You're embarrassing," he stated bluntly. Kale opened an eye and glared at the tall blue-eyed man standing before her. Sweat trickled down her forehead and over her eyelid, making her close her eye again on reflex.

She ran her sleeve over her face to dry it. Sweat was produced to cool the body, so how come it only made her more irritable? Could it be the fact that there was no moving air to actually cool her down or that Knives was standing there with not a drop on him? In fact, it seemed the suns' heat didn't bother him at all! Oh, how she envied him.

"Quit wasting time and get up!" he ordered. Kale staggered to her feet and gripped the gun hard with both hands and struggled to lift it again. Knives sighed and walked over to her.

He said nothing as he moved her left hand from around the butt and placed it under it. Kale found it a lot easier to hold now. She glanced at him as he took a few steps away and crossed his arms. With a sigh, she closed one eye again and took aim.

"No!" Knives barked, startling Kale so much that she jumped slightly. She gave him an exasperated look and relaxed her stance only to have the revolver sink with its ridiculous weight.

"Keep both eyes open. You'll find that shooting even the smallest of objects on target is more efficient than compared to what you were just doing." Kale twitched, but said nothing and took her stance again.

She took aim on one of the bottles, but before she could fire, Knives came back over with his arms still crossed and silently tapped her left foot back with his own until she had it behind her, making her stance steadier and kept her from falling back.

When he backed away, Kale took aim again and fired, the stance keeping her upright, but didn't prevent the sharp jerk that followed. The bullet whizzed right past one of the bottles and landed harmlessly in the sand a few yards away.

Kale looked at Knives and he nodded, telling her to try again. She let out a sigh and reset her form then shot again, the jerk not so bad as the previous one.

The high-pitched ring of a shattering bottle reached her ears and she stood there, gawking as particles of the bottle fell to the sand. She definitely hadn't expected to get one at all today. Knives raised an eyebrow at her as if to say 'you doubted me?' Kale smiled sheepishly cause she had doubted him.

"Finish the rest off and the lesson is done for the day. You look like you're going to die from the heat anyway, not that I would mind." Kale rolled her eyes.

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Kale sighed happily as she hopped out of the shower of her previous bedroom. It was too hot to start planting anything and if the heat didn't do anything to her, it would the seeds. She tied the towel tightly around her and walked into the room and picked up her loose fitting clothes on the bed.

She was about to drop her towel when she noticed a few other pieces of clothing on the bed. Long light-blue jeans and a white button up shirt.

She would have just ignored them because they could have belonged to Wolfwood, but it was the fact that they weren't there before when she had gotten into the shower. Could someone have come in while she was bathing?

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door and she jumped in surprise. The door swung open and Knives stood there in only a towel tied around his waist. His naturally pale-blonde hair was darker from dampness and tiny droplets of water rolled down his pale body.

Kale happened to stop what she was doing and her gaze followed one of those droplets until it soaked into the towel. She had never really paid attention to the times Knives exposed some of his body like he was doing now.

He had a great body, perfect even. A pale, powerful chest, slim yet muscular arms when he flexed them. A flat stomach with skin pulled taunt to reveal the faint etchings of a six-pack, the dips of his sinfully narrow waist, and strong legs and thighs. (A/N: Makes ya wanna drool, huh? >] )

What a hunk . . . Oh my God! Did I just think that?! Whoa, control your hormones, girl! This is Knives that is standing half-naked in front of you wrapped in only a towel, erotically wet with all his gorgeous masculinity oozing from his pores! . . . he doesn't deserve to look so yummy . . . gah!

The towel stopped at mid-thigh, but Kale was still grateful he didn't come barging in completely naked. After all, if Knives looked this good, she totally doubted everything else hidden was less perfect.

She could feel her cheeks heating up, so she brought her gaze up to his piercing blue ones, which were narrowed in an angry way.

Oh, great. What does he have to bitch about this time? You know, he'd be great a wooing girls if he wasn't such an ass.

Knives said nothing, but glided past her, grabbed the clothing she had seen earlier on the bed, and held them in her face. Kale blinked. Those were his?! She nearly freaked. How did they get there?!

"Woman, what the hell gives you the right to take my clothes and bring them in here?!" he roared. Kale, still momentarily shocked, shook her head and glared at him.

"Hang on, Knives! I didn't touch your stupid clothes! When I came in from out session, I grabbed what I needed to change into and came straight here to take a shower. When I got, which was just a few moments ago, I found your stuff here, so back off!" Knives's handsome features contorted to an evil scowl. Kale turned around when his gaze dropped.

They were alone in Kale's previous bedroom dressed in only towels, arguing over something that was stupid while looking each other over.

Suddenly the door closed and Kale looked over her shoulder to find herself alone again. Knives had just left without continuing such a pointless argument.

"Wow. That was unusual," she said, staring at the closed door in disbelief.

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Knives slammed his door shut and let out a shuddering sigh. When he had had stepped out of the bathroom only to find the clothes he had laid out were gone, he immediately looked into Milly and Wolfwood's room because Kale had gone in there.

What he hadn't expected to find was Kale standing there dressed in only a mid-thigh towel. Her usually spike black hair had been soaked and was draped softly and slick down her back, her deep gray eyes wide when he had barged into the room, and her cheeks flushed from her shower.

While she had looked him over, he had taken in the sight before him as well. Small compared to him, but was extremely curvy even through the towel. Her legs smooth looking and slender, slim fingers gripping the knot that held the towel together.

Unfortunately, she hadn't had the towel high enough to cover her chest completely so he got an unintentional peek of the top of her breasts. He had to do everything in his willpower to keep a blush from surfacing. He'd been doing that enough in front of her lately.

Knives closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He couldn't shake the fact, no matter how many times he kept reminding himself that she was just a human, that she had looked so tempting to touch and he had wanted to just stand there and take in her form.

Her wandering gaze had not helped his situation either. The only thing that brought him back to senses was when he spotted his clothes on the bed. Why had they been in there? How did they get there? Had she lied and had taken them? If she had, why?

Not really wanting to dwell on it any longer, Knives dropped the towel and slipped on his pants. He was zipping the fly up when he heard the slam of a car door and a starting of an engine.

He walked over to his window and brushed the curtain away slightly. He watched as the car sped off and he caught a glimpse of a black braid.

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Kale walked downstairs and into the kitchen to find Milly and Meryl fixing dinner. Kale inhaled and smiled. Spaghetti and wild rice. She hadn't realized she was hungry until she had stepped into the kitchen. Now her stomach was demanding that she feed.

Ignoring her rumbling stomach, Kale sat down at a stool and asked, "Hey, have you guys seen Kane?" Milly turned around with a sauce-covered wooden spoon.

"She just left. She said she was going out to meet a friend." Kale stared.

"What? Who? Did she tell you?" Meryl turned around with an annoyed expression.

"Yeah, it was that guy. Todd I believe. Isn't he your boyfriend?" Kale lowered her gaze sadly.

"Was, actually. He cheated on me for Kane and many other girls, not just her. We broke up a while back."

"I'm sorry, Kale. Don't worry, you'll find someone much better!" Milly reassured. Meryl nodded.

"Yeah. It just goes to show you how distrustful some men can be! I'm sure there are much better guys out there."

"Yeah, like Mr. Knives!" Milly said cheerfully. Kale and Meryl sweatdropped and gave the smiling Milly a look.

"What? Knives? Are actually serious?!" Kale screeched, freaking out.

"Well, we all know how mean and rude he is, but I doubt he would hurt you emotionally," Milly said.

"Knives is probably some leader of an anti-human organization, Milly!" Kale shouted, not believing Milly was actually saying Knives was a better man than Todd was. "He's as low as Todd no doubt. He doesn't care about my feelings!"

"Well, actually, Kale, I have seen a slight change in his attitude lately. I don't know how to explain it, really. He's just more . . . carefree now. He hasn't tried anything lately and he hasn't tried killing any of us." Kale was about to reply when Wolfwood, Vash, and Knives walked in.

Knives stood a few feet from her and they watched as Wolfwood and Vash came up to their girlfriends and kissed them. Kale, suddenly saddened by the affection her friends received from such nice men, turned and quickly walked out of the room.

Meryl, noticing Kale's retreating form, pulled away from Vash and called out, "Hey! Aren't you going to eat?"

Kale kept walking, mumbling before she turned the corner, "I suddenly lost my appetite." Knives watched as she turned to corner and he narrowed his eyes. What just happened?

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^^ Something for you guys before school. Laterz!