Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Incompatible ❯ Chapter 0041 ( Chapter 41 )

Trigun Fanfic

Trigun © Yasuhiro Nightow * Shonen Gaho-sha * Tokuma Shoten * JVC * Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc.

The following fanfiction was written by me (Chiruken) and is intended for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.

--Incompatible-

Trigun Fanfic Featuring Knives and Meryl. Knives hates all humans. Meryl just hates Knives. It's a match ideal for the promise of Eden.

By Chiruken

Chapter 41

**~**

It had been three days and surprisingly no one had asked why Knives had decided to emerge from his self-imposed solitary confinement. Nor did they ask why he'd closeted himself away in the first place. Normally he'd be overjoyed by the fact that he wasn't being interrogated, unfortunately in this case it had him worried. He was beginning to suspect that his brother might have blabbed his impromptu confession about his true feelings towards Meryl and that was why no one bothered to ask. It was either that or they just didn't care one way or another and somehow that didn't seem all too likely. After all, all three of his 'roommates' had taken turns pounding on his door and asking why he wasn't coming out. So that left the first assumption. He shrugged. As long as no one pestered him about it, he wouldn't have to bring untold pain upon his brother's being. As far as he was concerned, what he'd accidentally blurted out to his twin should be kept between the two of them and not involve anyone else. It wasn't information he wanted getting out to everyone living in the house…especially not Meryl. It wouldn't do him any good even if she **did** know how he truly felt towards her and he highly doubted that would be something she'd want to hear. No, the less people that knew, the better in the long run.

Knives was fairly certain that he could maintain an impartial façade around Meryl. After all, how hard could it be to hide his true feelings? He managed it when he was a child, so as an adult it should be relatively simple. Of course, this was a little different than hiding plans to kill everyone on board the Seeds ship. He pushed the thought aside and focused instead on returning to the present. He wouldn't dwell on it. The time he'd spent isolated in his room had given him new insight into his predicament. He decided that if he just ignored it, it would go away. Thus resolved, he waited for it to happen. After three days, he was beginning to wonder if he'd been wrong in his assumption.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and focused instead on his brother who was currently wearing a frilly pink and white apron while he danced…with a remarkable lack of rhythm…to the music he was listening to through the earphones attached to the portable music player clipped to his belt while preparing lunch. He shook his head and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and tried to decide if the food appeared to be edible. He knew Vash could cook, but there were times he seriously wondered how that could be possible when nearly every meal he prepared turned out to be visually displeasing. In other words, whenever Vash cooked he'd made it into a game of 'guess what it is **this** time'. It may taste decent, but it certainly looked like something that should be thrown on the trash heap. This time it appeared to be no different.

"Vash." He spoke loudly and waited for his twin to acknowledge him. He tapped his foot impatiently as he continued to bounce around without turning or speaking. "Vash." He spoke louder and waited again. Finally sighing, he stood and approached his brother, reaching out and yanking the earphones away. "Hey!" He shouted in his ear.

Vash jumped with a startled yell and spun, the dough he'd been working with flying out of his hands towards Knives. Surprisingly, he caught it. "Don't **do** that!" He held his hands out expectantly.

"What are you making this time, brother?" Knives asked as he handed the doughy disk back.

"Pitsa." He grinned and finished flattening the dough out on the counter. "You'll like it, trust me."

"Pitsa?" He echoed dubiously before shrugging as he watched Vash reach for a can of red goopy paste. "What is that?" He asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Tomato sauce. It goes on first, over the dough base." He dumped the contents of the can out and proceeded to spread it around until it covered the entire disk. "Next comes the meat…" He pulled a package of thinly sliced sausage rolls out of the refrigerator and began tossing them haphazardly over top of the red sauce. "Then the peppers, onions, followed by cheese…" As he spoke he tossed the ingredients onto the growing pile. "And, my personal favorite…anchovies and olives!"

Knives thought he was going to gag. It had to be one of the most disgusting things he'd ever seen…and didn't smell much better. "I am **not** eating that, Vash." He stated flatly as he backed away.

"But Knives…" He began in a cajoling tone as he placed the loaded disk onto a pan and shoved it into the oven. "I've worked **so** hard on it…" He turned and fixed his brother with a dazzling smile. "And I just used up the last of the groceries. So…you really don't have a choice, do you? It's either eat it or starve until we can go grocery shopping. Come on…you'll like it, I promise. Pitsa is **so** good!" He licked his lips and rubbed his belly. "Oh yeah…pitsa and beer…food of the gods!"

"More like food of the imbeciles." He muttered under his breath and shook his head. Maybe he could scrape off the anchovies and olives…maybe that would make it more appealing. "And I refuse to drink that swill you seem to be so fond of. It's shameful, Vash. The saloon owner will be able to retire just on what you spend there every night. Can't you think of better things to do with your time and money?"

"Like what?" He grinned and set the timer. "It isn't like there's anything else for me to do."

"How about helping pay the rent? Maybe buy the groceries on occasion? Or perhaps get a job and take some of the stress off of your Insurance girls?" He scowled at his brother and folded his arms across his chest. "Honestly, Vash. How can you feel good about sponging off of them?"

"Hey! I resent that! I help out, Knives…" He let the sentence trail off when the other man merely raised an eyebrow. "Well, I do. It's a lot of work keeping the house clean and the meals ready when everyone gets home at the end of the day."

"Is that so?" Knives shook his head. "There's still a bounty on you, right?" Vash frowned at the sudden change of topic and nodded reluctantly. "Maybe we should turn you in for the reward. That way the girls wouldn't have to work so hard."

"That isn't funny, Knives. Not funny at all."

"I don't know…sounds like a good idea to me, brother. Sixty billion double dollars would go a long way towards allowing Millie and Meryl to retire comfortably." He smirked and waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not serious, Vash. No need to look like you're about to explode."

"I don't find it very funny at all. Don't even joke about something like that. Besides, I wouldn't even have the bounty on me if not for you. So, maybe if you're really concerned and all, you'll go and confess that you're the one behind it and turn yourself in so that **we** can retire comfortably."

"It was **your** Angel Arm that did it."

"You were the one who set it off.**

"Like the authorities will believe **that**."

"Besides, you're the one who killed Rem's last blood relative and he's the real reason behind the bounty. I had nothing to do with that."

"Fine." He turned away. "I'm going to check on the solar panels."

"Lunch will be ready in twenty minutes."

Knives raised a hand and waved casually over his shoulder. "I'll be here."

"Oh…and Knives?" Vash waited until his brother had turned back to him with a questioning look. "You really ought to talk to Meryl about what you told me. She's been pretty patient so far, but don't expect that to last for much longer."

"You told her." It wasn't a question.

"Well, yeah! She had a right to know!" Knives gave him a black look. "Hey! Don't look at me like that! I was only trying to help, you know."

"Don't help me!" He turned on his heel and strode out the door. He was becoming thoroughly sick of his brother's meddling in his affairs. It didn't seem to matter in which aspect of his life he chose to look at it, Vash was always butting in and messing around with things that didn't concern him. It really was infuriating. But even worse, Knives knew he only interfered because he truly did care about him. It made it rather difficult to stay angry with Vash when all he was trying to do was help him. Of course, whenever Vash helped, things had a way of blowing up and property got destroyed. He certainly hoped that didn't happen in this case. **Vash means well…he really does…but his propensity towards disaster makes his efforts…dangerous.** He shook his head and sighed. **Vash?**

**Yeah?** He sounded a little put out. Knives had no doubt that he'd probably hurt his brother's feelings with his final parting shot. **What do you want?**

**Thank you.**

**For what?** He sounded confused now.

**For trying to help. I'll talk to her…I promise.**

**Tonight?**

**No.** He left it at that and broke the telepathic connection as he neared the edge of the small town they'd decided to briefly settle in. Knives rather liked it there. The people were friendly, the setting quiet, and there was plenty of water to be had, it just had to be tapped into since it rested underground. With a little work, the small town of Ender could become an oasis on the desert planet. He smiled as he checked the panels over and made the necessary adjustments before turning to head back towards the small house he shared with his brother and the two women. He was rather looking forward to seeing how far they could develop the area. He wanted to see it turn green and become fertile ground where living things could thrive. He knew it could be done…there was enough water to sustain such an endeavor…but it would take a lot of hard work. Perhaps he **could** create an Eden after all…just on a smaller scale than he'd originally conceived and, of course, with humans.