Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Humanity: Torn Between Loving It and Hating It ❯ Bruised Pride ( Chapter 17 )

Kane was sitting out on the front porch, minding her own business, when she was suddenly tackled from behind, shoving her off her perch and into the dusty ground. She rolled around until she was jerked around to face her pissed off looking sister.

"Kale?! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she cried out angrily.

"Debating on whether I should hang from the roof of this house by your ankles and laugh at you or just give you a few big whomps in the head," she hissed back. Kane looked up at her in confusion.

"What? I didn't do anything to you!" she shouted, shoving Kale off and jumping to her feet. Kale followed her example, dusting herself off. She fixed Kane with a cold glare and pointed the dagger she still carried.

"Like hell you did! Sneaking around someone else's things when you were told specifically to keep your hands to yourself and then bringing me into it. Did you not hear Knives when he gave us his rules or were you too busy thinking of Todd?!"

Kane clenched her fists at her sides and stalked up to her sister. Their noses nearly touched as they shouted at one another.

"Why are you being such a bitch, Kale? All we did was read a single entry! It's not like its gunna kill the guy or us! And what if I was thinking of Todd? Shouldn't matter to you. After all, he's mine," she stated smugly. Kale's eyes narrowed dangerously as she fought the urge to beat her sister.

"That was low, Kane. Very low. You knew Todd had been my boyfriend and you had to come along and sway your hips in that slutty manner right under his nose! Also, I know Knives well enough to know what he's capable of and he's capable of shooting a hole right through my forehead. That's how much he likes me!" Kane ignored what she said about Knives, but didn't let her comment about her and Todd slip by.

"Oh, so now you're calling me a slut, huh?!" she yelled, her face tuning a shade of light red.

"What if I am?! It wouldn't be considered a lie!" Kale shouted back.

Unknown to them, the whole household, excluding Knives who was watching from his window, stood out on the porch watching with wide eyes and mouths agape at the quarreling sisters. Vash stepped out onto the ground and sheepishly edged his way closer.

"Hey, um, girls. Calm down. Don't want any fists flying--" he started.

The girls turned to the blonde-haired outlaw and shouted in unison, "Shut up, dweeb!" Vash nodded in agreement and leaped fearfully back onto the porch and hid behind his girlfriend.

Kane smiled snobbish like and crossed her arms, "I only had sex maybe three times and it was once with Todd. That doesn't make me a slut. You're just a chicken shit because you're scared to give your body to--" she was cut short when the back of Kale's hand slid sharply across her cheek.

A collective of gasps sounded from the porch and the man watching from above raised his eyebrows in silent surprise. Kane kept her head turned from shock and anger as her twin lowered her hand and bit out her next reply.

"Just because I had refused to lose my virginity at sixteen like you had doesn't make me afraid. It makes me wise. Just because I still haven't given myself to anyone is because I haven't found the right person. You, sister, take your pleasures in stealing other women's men from them and freely give yourself to them. You were a fool from the very beginning, Kane, and you are still so very unforgiving. You shouldn't have come back after you had left yesterday."

With that, Kale turned and stalked up the porch and into the house. Kane turned her head and watched her sister with a murderous gaze. She gingerly lifted her hand to her stinging cheek and winced.

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Knives snapped his gaze toward his door and watched as it swung open to see a tear-stricken young woman standing there. Kale paused a moment when Knives's icy blue gaze settled on her.

She turned her head as she strolled across the room, swung open the bathroom door and slammed it closed. Knives heard the click of the lock and jumped up. He walked over to the door and pounded on it twice.

"Human, what the hell are you doing?" he called angrily.

"Go away," Kale said softly.

"This is my room. You go away." Silence reached his ears and he gritted his teeth.

"I'll blow this blasted door down if I have to. You have to the count of five to unlock it and come out! One . . ."

Nothing happened.

"Two . . ."

Silence.

"Three . . . " Knives pulled his gun from the hostler and cocked it.

"Four . . ." He pointed it at the doorknob, tightening his finger over the trigger.

"Fiv--" he stopped when he heard the clicking of the lock again and the door was pulled slowly open. Kale stepped out with her head down and her hand still lying on the doorknob. Knives raised an eyebrow and brought his gun back, the barrel pointing to the ceiling.

"Quit your moping, human. It bothers me. If you wish to lock yourself in a bathroom and sulk all day then be my guest, but not here. It's because of this very scene your making that caused my brother to become just as wimpy and weak as you and everyone else. You're pathetic."

Knives glanced at the hand on the doorknob as it tightened tremendously, her knuckles turning white. Knives was quite certain he had found a soft spot in her pride.

"You keep saying how pathetic, rude, disgusting, and beastly we are and yet you think you're any better . . ." she whispered. Knives narrowed his eyes.

"That's because what I say is true, human." Her head suddenly jerked up and her gray eyes, deep and dark with fury, locked with his emotionless ones. She slammed her fist on the doorknob angrily.

"No, it's not!" she shouted. "The only thing I've seen so far that fits that description is you, Knives!" She stalked up to the man and started thumping her fist angrily on his chest as she raged on.

"You think you're some type of invincible god just because you're a little bit better than us! You're not. Know why? Because if I took away your speed, intelligence, and strength you'd be just like any other man on this God forsaken planet!

"I don't know what made you hate me so much because I assure you, I did nothing wrong, but I do suggest you pull your head out of your ass and listen to what I have to say next! You, Millions Knives, are the one that is pathetic, rude, disgusting, and beastly! You're a sorry excuse for a Plant and if you were human, you'd be as low as dirt!"

The back of Knives's hand came across her cheek hard, the force causing her to stumble back and brace herself against the door.

She held her burning cheek in her palm and looked up at Knives in blinding rage. Knives stood there with his hand still in the air from backhanding Kale. He lowered it as he eyes bore evilly into her own.

"How dare you," he hissed venomously. "How dare you say such hideous things to me!"

"How dare you," she hissed back. "For hitting me. You never, ever, hit a woman under any circumstances!"

"You deserved it in every way," he said. Kale narrowed her eyes and stalked up to him. Her hand whipped across his face with just enough force to snap his head back and shock him.

"Then I guess you deserved that in every way, too," she stated evenly. She turned and walked out of the room, making sure to slam the door as hard as she could. Knives turned his head slowly toward the door and would be burning a pair of holes in it if it were possible.

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The moons were exceptionally high that night. Thousands beyond thousands of twinkling stars lit up dark sky. One woman sat alone outside and observed them in her quiet, mellow state.

Kale had been sitting far out from the house in the sand, watching the sky for at least two hours. After her battle with Knives, she refused to talk to anybody. She just sat on the porch then moved out to the sand when the suns had disappeared over the horizon.

Behind her, Wolfwood and Vash stood silently in the shadows on the porch, watching her in confusion and sympathy.

"Poor girl," Wolfwood started, "must have been hard on her because of what her sister had said." He glanced over at his companion and eyed him. Vash was staring intensely at Kale's lone figure, almost as if he tried to burn holes into her back.

"I seriously doubt this is all about their quarrel, Wolfwood," he said quietly. Wolfwood arched an eyebrow when he heard the emphasis on the word "their".

"What are you talking about?" Vash closed his eyes and sighed, relaxing his tensed, almost angry features. Then he opened them again as he turned his gaze to his friend.

"I have a distinct feeling my brother and Kale had a fight upstairs in the bedroom and it was clear to me that Kale had obviously said something to make him to hit her."

"Hit her?!" the dark priest started loudly. Vash pressed his finger to his lips and made a shushing sound, glancing over to Kale to see if she had noticed them.

"I saw the red mark on her face when she had rushed downstairs." Wolfwood clenched his jaw and stalked toward the door.

"That's it, I'm gunna kill that murderous bastard!" he declared through his teeth. Vash's hand rested on his shoulder, holding him back.

"Wait. It's best we stay out of this. Besides," a smile found it's way on the spiky-haired outlaw's mouth, "I no doubt Knives was let off that easily for doing such a thing to her. Let's just leave them alone for right now, 'kay?"

Wolfwood let out an annoyed grunt and nodded before swinging the door open and stepping inside. Vash reluctantly followed, glancing over his shoulder before letting the door close behind him.

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Wow, I updated sooner than ya thought, huh?! XD Yeah! A fight! Two in fact! How cool! I seriously needed some action in this blasted story. If I'm gunna drag this thing out then I might as well make it interesting. You have to agree with me though, this story needed SOME type of conflict! It was just becoming too soft and corny and Knives was becoming WAY OOC.

BTW, do not be disappointed when this fic suddenly comes to an end, which if it goes my way, it will only be about 4-5 chpts more. I'm planning to continue it, but it will be about the relationship between Kale and Knives and nothing more.

That's where the lemon will be. I plan to make the sequel a drama, deep too. I really loathe this fic at the moment because Knives softened up to Kale much to quickly. So I'm gunna ease them into a deeper relationship in the sequel. Consider this story an introduction on Kale's background and how Knives came to know her.

^^ Who agrees with me that this might work? This has been on my mind for a couple of months now and I believe my friend, Lily, agrees with me. ^^ Wanna know what the title is to the sequel so you can be looking for it?

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Its gunna be called "Passion: Combination of Love and Hate". Is that too corny? I jus thought the title fitted well with "Humanity: Torn Between Loving It and Hating It". ^^U Ok, laterz!