Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Trigun: Doushikai ❯ $$60,000,000,000 Man ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter II

Ayashi sighed and brushed the loose strands of hair off of her forehead again. She looked to each of her friends and met their tired eyes sympathetically in the dying light. She noticed Okaia try to stifle a yawn and immediately felt one rise in her throat. "Well, I would suggest that we find someplace to crash for the night."

Kena turned to look behind her, judging the last sun that was slowly dropping behind the horizon. "I'd say we should do it quickly too. We probably only have about 15 minutes of daylight left."

Starting to walk down the street of the quieting town, Ayashi said, "I would think a hotel would be close to the fringes." She paused; scanning the streets as people left them.

"Oh! How about that one?" Okaia pointed to tall structure a few buildings down on a side street. A large sign read "Quality Hotel" above it.

"Perfect." Ayashi smiled and the group moved to follow the petite redhead.

"Wait a minute." Arana stopped a few feet before the front stoop of the motel. "How are we going to pay for this? I mean, do we need that much attention right away?"

They all stopped to look at each other. "No problem, I can handle it." Ayashi grinned.

"Are you sure?" Arana looked worried. "There's a lot of hostility in this town, I can feel it. Something seems, I don't know, weird. People are tense." She met Ayashi's eyes. "I can help if you want me to."

"Thanks, but you've already exherted yourself enough today. I don't want to wear you out." Ayashi looked at the three women standing with her. "Give me a chance?"

Arana smiled. "Sure, but don't be surprised if we only get the laundry room."

"I call dibs on the towels!" Okaia grinned. "Someone else can sleep in the wash basin."

Kena shrugged. "I don't care what we do as long as it gets done fast."

They turned and walked out of the twilight into the warmth of the hotel lobby. A tired looking elderly man sat at the front desk. He forced himself to move as the door swung open. "Can I help you?" he asked before he had even looked up. His eyes squinted with exhaustion at the figures moving towards him. He gasped as his old eyes focused properly. He stood up and took what felt like a defensive position behind the counter.

These women are trouble, he thought. They were beautiful, but strangers. And they looked hardened and capable of great strength. They scared him. He cleared his throat and prepared to turn them away.

"Good evening." Ayashi smiled and took up a friendly but business-like manner. "We would like to know if you have any rooms available."

"No, sorry. All filled up." The man was curt, almost rude. In his mind he sent messages, urging them to leave him alone.

"None at all?" Ayashi held the exterior of a powerful person who knew she was being lied to.

The man faltered. "No, uh, we rented the last one an hour ago … yeah." His eyes broke from hers and wandered the room.

Hmm, no good, thought Ayashi, intimidation isn't going to work. She switched approaches. A beaming smile spread across her pleasant face. She looked down demurely. "I'm sorry. I guess I should be friendlier. I'm just tired. My friends and I have been traveling all day. I'm Ayashi." She held out her hand gracefully.

Now the man was startled. A new woman seemed to stand before him. Physically, they all still looked the same, like they could cause damage, but the one speaking reminded him of his oldest daughter when she was younger, before she moved away. She seemed kind, and gentle; trustworthy. Not knowing what else to do, he took her hand. "And, well," he stuttered, "I should be more polite." He scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "I'm Lawrence."

Ayashi smiled again. "Nice to meet you." Letting go of his hand, she leaned against the counter and sighed. She let the kind smile fade from her face. Her brow wrinkled and her large brown eyes lifted to stare into his. "Are you sure you don't have any place to put us?"

In his chest, Lawrence's heart nearly broke. Now she reminded him of his youngest daughter when they had told her they would be moving from their old house to another town. "Well, let me take another look." He smiled hopefully at her.

She returned his smile. He spun around and took two keys from hooks on a pegboard behind him. "Now, all I have left are two singles. I know there are four of you," he looked at the other girls, but quickly returned his gaze to Ayashi, "but maybe you could work something out?" He moved aside to show them the empty board. "That's really all I have."

Ayashi stood up straight, grinning ear to ear. "That's wonderful, Lawrence! Two rooms will be perfect!"

He dropped the two keys into her hand. "That's 217 and 219. Second floor, last two doors on your left."

Nodding, Ayashi followed her friends upstairs, not forgetting to wish Lawrence a good night and pleasant dreams, which he returned to her.

Upstairs, Arana raised her hands in the air. "I don't know how you do it, but I stand in awe all the same."

"I'm taking the first room we come to." Okaia yawned again and took the key for room 217, shoving it into the lock on the door.

"I'm right behind you." Arana followed her into the bedroom. Before the two girls shut the door, they called down to the other girls. "Good night, bakas!" Then they locked the door and proceeded to draw straws to see who would get the bed.

Kena and Ayashi continued down the hall to their room. Inside, the tossed their heavy packs on the floor and washed the dirt from their hands and faces. Kena stretched her arms outward and rubbed her neck. "So, who's taking the bed?"

Ayashi had just unclasped her thick metal breastplate and was removing it from her chest. "Who says we can't share?" She darted over to Kena, laid her head on her shoulder and threw her arms around her. "We could snuggle together and get all cozy-like!"

Kena groaned. Placing her hand on Ayashi's head, she pushed hard. The brunette stumbled backward grinning wildly. As Ayashi composed herself, Kena undid the belt around her waist and made a face at her. "As if I would ever allow myself to sleep next to someone as ugly as you." The words would have cut deep, coming from any other person, but Ayashi could see the glimmer in Kena's eyes and the smirk around her lips.

"Oh well, I never had a thing for blondes anyway." She grinned at her roommate as they both stripped down to their bodysuits.

Kena shook her head. "I swear to God, you are so weird sometimes."

"I know." Ayashi threw a winning smile over to her. "But anyway, you can take the bed. I can never get to sleep easily. A soft bed would just be wasted on me."

"All right. Thanks." Kena climbed into the small bed. It squeaked even under her slight weight. Ayashi rolled out her sleeping mat on the floor next to the window. In a few minutes, Kena's breathing slowed, and Ayashi could hear the bed creak again as her companion's muscles relaxed.

She lay silent in the darkness, listening to the breathing from the bed beside her, and laying out a course of action for the next day. Eventually, a dull red light began to fill the room. Restless, Ayashi stood up and looked out the window. A huge red moon hung close overhead. She noticed a second one, smaller and blue, behind it. A monstrous crater could be seen at the bottom of the red moon. She pushed her eyebrows together in concentration. If anything had crashed into a moon that orbited so closely to a planet, surely that planet would have suffered terrible consequences. This gaping hole in the moon looked recent, she though. Very recent.

Unable to make sense of the moons, she looked elsewhere. She traced the foreign landscape with her eyes. She took in the few small buildings out the outskirts of the town, the quiet sand that lay everywhere, and the mountains far out in the distance. Closer, there were tall cliffs that circled the small deposit of civilization. Something caught her eye on the one closest to the town. She squinted, trying to make out what it was that stood on the top of the cliff. In the light of the moons, it seemed as though it were a man. Ayashi looked away and then looked back again, trying to clear her vision. Yes, certainly, it was a man. He was walking away from her. She sighed as he disappeared from her sight.

This is an odd place, she thought. Lying back down on her mat, she forced herself to fall asleep.

~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~

Arana was already dressed and moving around by the time the light from the second sun broke through a crack in the drapes at the window and woke Okaia from her peaceful dreams. The redhead rolled away from the intense brightness and reluctantly opened her eyes.

"Time to wake up, you sleepy-head! Rise and shine; get out of bed!" Arana smiled as Okaia sat up; stretching her arms above her head and letting them fall down beside her. She sat on the bed; her legs still covered by the starched sheets.

"What time is it?" Okaia asked with sleep audible in her voice.

"I don't know exactly, probably around eight." Arana walked over to the mirror on the wall to brush her wavy chestnut-colored hair. "How did you sleep?"

"Very well, thanks." She shook off the tired feeling left over from a long night's sleep. "And you?"

Grinning good-naturedly, Arana found Okaia's eyes in the mirror. "It would have been better if I would have drawn the long straw."

Okaia noticed that her partner's sleeping mat was already neatly rolled up and ready to be tucked inside her traveling pack. She wrinkled her brow with concern. "Was it that bad?"

"Nah, just teasing." Arana smiled and tucked her brush away. "You had better get ready. I would imagine that we'll be leaving soon."

"Oh, you're right!" Okaia was fully awake now, and eager to begin their adventure again. She hopped out of bed and began to dress herself. As she pulled herself together, she asked her friend what she thought they would do first.

"Hmm, I would figure that we'd buy supplies first, and then try to find some information about whatever I sensed. Hopefully we'll get some direction on that."

Okaia blushed. "Yeah, sorry again about the food and stuff."

Arana waved her hand. "Nah, no harm done. I could sure use some breakfast though."

Okaia was about to nod in agreement when someone began to pound violently on their door. Arana quickly ran over and unlocked it. Kena burst into the room complaining. "I do not have to deal with her again! I did it last time too! Someone else can handle that woman because I wash my hands of it!" She paused and looked first at Arana, then at Okaia. "One of you can go. I refuse to do it." The blond crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from the other two in the room.

"Ohhhh," groaned Arana, "not again." She took off down the hallway to where the door to 219 was propped open. Lying sprawled across the floor was Ayashi, deep in a slumber. Arana rubbed her head as Okaia ran up behind her and Kena followed last. "I guess I'll try…"

Fifteen minutes later, Arana was irritated, Okaia was upset, Kena was furious and Ayashi was still asleep.

Arana stood up, holding the pitcher in her hands that had been filled with water only seconds before. "I give up." She sighed. "What are we going to do with her?" She looked down at her slumbering friend whose face and hair were now completely soaked.

Kena had had enough. "This is what we do." Swiftly she bent down over Ayashi's head. She placed one hand over her mouth, and with the other pinched her nose.

The three companions waited silently. After a few moments, Okaia burst out, "What if she suffocates?"

At that moment Ayashi twitched slightly. Her eyes flew open. In one swift move she grabbed the arm over her and meant to fling her attacker across the room, but Kena pulled in with a neat little flip and landed softly by Ayashi's feet.

Standing up angrily, Ayashi leveled a heavy stare at Kena. "Damn! What were you trying to do? Kill me!?"

Kena scoffed. "Please, speak for yourself. If I hadn't seen you move before you woke up I'd be three rooms over right now." She motioned at the wall she would have been sent through if Ayashi had completed her attack motion.

Ayashi rubbed her eyes. "Well, you could have been nicer about the wake-up call," she pouted.

Kena's mouth fell open. "Wha - nicer? NICER? We tried fifteen minutes of `nicer'." She closed her eyes and composed herself. Picking up her pack she turned back to Ayashi. "All right sleeping beauty, I certainly hope you can get ready quicker than you can wake up." She turned on her heels and sailed out the door, throwing back over her shoulder that she would wait for them down in the lobby.

Still in the room, Ayashi grew bright red. "Was it really that bad?" She asked Arana and Okaia.

"You were so out cold!" Okaia laughed.

Arana placed the empty pitcher on the dresser. "It was bad, for sure." She looked down the hallway after Kena. "But she never reacts like that. I mean, does she normally loose her cool?"

It was a rhetorical question, but both Ayashi and Okaia shook their heads for a negative.

"Something bothering her." Arana turned back to Ayashi. "We'll find out later what it is I guess."

Okaia frowned. "I hope she's okay."

"Ah, she's tough. I probably just snored and kept her awake all night," Ayashi lied. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

Her two friends walked down the hall to pick up their gear and then proceeded to the lobby of the hotel.

Ayashi dressed quickly, rolled up her sleeping mat, brushed out her hair, washed her face, and organized her supplies in a few minutes. She remembered to grab the room key on her way out the door. Downstairs she met with the rest of the group.

Wanting to mend feelings, she quickly began to apologize to Kena. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to over-sleep. I wanted to get an early start-"

Kena shook her head and rolled her eyes. "It's okay. I didn't mean to loose it. I just didn't sleep well."

Okaia giggled. "You do snore, Ayashi!"

"Nah, I just had a terrible dream. There was a blond man…"

"Doesn't sound so bad!" Okaia grinned wildly.

"No, he was … so, I don't know," Kena struggled for the right word. "He was weird. I don't remember a lot now, I don't even remember what he looked like, but it put me into a bad mood. Plus there was this freaky-looking cat."

Arana smiled warmly. "Oh well, everything's over now."

"Right," Ayashi agreed. "Let's get supplies!" Her stomach growled. "Or breakfast! Even better!"

"We need to turn in our keys." Arana held hers out to Ayashi.

Taking it, Ayashi turned around and walked over to the front desk. Lawrence was already there, dusting the things behind the counter.

"Morning! How did you girls sleep last night?" He smiled as the young woman came toward him.

"Oh, very well, thanks. Here are our keys." Ayashi held them out to him.

He looked down at her hand and then back up at her face. "I'll tell you what, I'll go ahead and take them, but hold your rooms for you in case you need them again tonight." He took the keys from her and hung them on the pegboard behind him.

"That's so kind of you! Thank you so very much!" Ayashi beamed. She turned to follow her friends out the door. Looking back, she called out to him, waving, "Thanks again! See you later!"

He waved back after her. Such a nice group of women, he thought, completely forgetting his first impression of them and the fact that he had never charged them for a room.

~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~

After a quick bite to eat at a local bakery, the group headed out into the town to find a general supplies store.

"Okey-doke! We already have some bread. That's one staple off the list. I think that the next thing we do is filling up our water pouches. Then maybe we can find some cured meat. After that, we can look for other things, like rice, that will travel well. Right?" Ayashi turned to look at the three behind her.

"Sounds good," Arana nodded.

"Mmm, rice!" Okaia winked at Kena.

Kena smiled in return. "One store will probably have all that, you know, Ayashi."

"I realize that, but this will be our list of priorit-"Ayashi stopped in her tracks.

Arana, who had been admiring the selection of stores, and counting the number of bars they passed, nearly ran into the distracted Ayashi ahead of her. "Geez, what's with this? You don't just stop when people are behind you." She followed her gaze, but couldn't find anything worth staring at.

"What's wrong?" Okaia tried to follow her gaze too but only found some food stands.

"Mmmmmmm… donuts…" Ayashi licked her lips.

Her friends nearly fell over.

A vein popped out on Kena's forehead. "We don't have time for this."

"Dooooooooonuts…"

Arana looked ahead. "Ah! A `general store'!" She pointed down the street and Kena took off. She sighed and started off after her, leaving Okaia with Ayashi.

"C'mon, they're leaving. Stop looking at the donut stand." Okaia studied the lean girl in front of her. "You just ate. You can have donuts at lunch or something."

Ayashi was unaffected and licked her lips again. She started to move towards the donut stand. "Donuuuuuts."

Okaia grabbed the fabric in her jacket before she was out of reach. "Oh, no you don't. You wasted too much time already." With that, she walked behind her and pushed her forward.

Ayashi stumbled ahead. "B-but, you don't understand! DONUTS!" She tried to point in the direction of the pastry stall, but Okaia would have none of it and eventually shoved her into the store.

The store was dimly lit, and Ayashi came to her senses, being removed from her former environment. The Doushikai spread out and found the supplies they needed. One by one, they grouped back together in a corner near a barrel of grain sugar.

"What is it?" Arana looked at Ayashi, mentally asking her why that worried look was on her face. She was concerned they would look to out of the ordinary in a group together.

Ayashi met her gaze and spoke softly. "We'll have to pay for all this, but I don't want too much attention brought to us while we're here. How much do you think our coin is worth here?"

As Arana had feared, they garnered the attention of the storeowner, who didn't like the look of these rough women together. As they sorted out how much to pay, he decided it would be best to play it safe and be exceptionally kind to the four of them.

After a few minutes, they approached the counter, laying the supplies out in front of them.

"Did you ladies find everything all right?" The man tried to smile.

"Oh yes, everything looks wonderful." Ayashi flashed a smile at him, which may have made him even more nervous.

He nodded, stuttering only a little, "G-good."

As he rang up the sale, two men entered the store talking loudly to each other.

"I swear to god, Jake! The Humanoid Typhoon is here! In Panos!" A dirty man with a dusty hat pushed down on his head was deep in conversation with his friend.

Jake looked back at him. "You can't mean one of them damn fools they drug around an' beat up however many weeks back."

"Naw not, him. That one guy was a pansy. But my wife heard that some new guy; dark and dangerous, with a scraggily beard, just happened into town. No one knows anything about him, except that he's a killer."

"Damn Todd. You jump on every rumor that come flyin' out of some woman's mouth. Prob'ly half the folks that come in `ere anymore are killers." He eyed his companion. "Jus' stay out of their way. And don't go thinkin' about the reward money, either."

Jake began looking through the stock in the store, but Todd whistled.

"Don't tell me that 60 billion doubledollars doesn't make you want to take some chances now an' then, huh?" Todd slapped his pal on the back and joined him in looking at the merchandise.

The four women at the counter exchanged looks between each other. Ayashi turned back to the storeowner who had almost finished ringing them up. "Excuse me, but what man are they talking about?"

He looked at them as if they were insane.

"We're not from around here," she shrugged.

"The Humanoid Typhoon, the 60 Billion Doubledollar man, the most feared man on the planet, and you haven't heard of him?" He stared at them with wonder.

They shook their heads as one.

Jake and Todd picked up on their conversation and joined them.

"He put the hole in the fifth moon!"

"He destroyed the city of July!"

"He destroyed Augusta!"

"He's a localized act of God!"

"And a terrible womanizer!"

Four sets of eyebrows raised in unison. "He sounds terrible," Okaia agreed.

Kena whispered in Arana's ear. "This may be our man." She nodded.

Ayashi smiled and placed several coins on the counter. "Well, thank you all for the information. I'm sure we'll put it to good use." She winked at her friends and picked up her share of the supplies, heading out the door.

"Well, that was enlightening." Ayashi sighed.

"He sounds like someone who has a lot of power." Okaia looked at Arana.

"He may just be our bounty." Arana grinned.

"Hey, can we stop at a bar and get something to eat?" Okaia motioned towards a rustic tavern.

Kena looked up at the sky. "It probably is about noon."

Ayashi shrugged. "I can always eat." Together, they walked up onto the open porch of the bar.

The foursome claimed a round table on the sunny deck in front of the saloon. Kena immediately positioned herself with her back to the wall. Arana and Okaia had clear views either way down the street, and Ayashi could see inside the bar. Catching the eye of a waiter inside, she waved him over so they could place an order for food.

"Hello, how are you doing today?" the waiter asked, smiling warmly in Ayashi's direction.

"Just fine," she smiled back, hoping to cover their unique appearance with friendliness. "Tell me, do you have a lunch special here?"

"Well, certainly! It's a wonderful cut of roast and …" Ayashi didn't really listen very closely; she would eat whatever there was. In her head, she heard Arana say that the lunch special was fine with her. Shifting her gaze to Kena and Okaia, she received nods of approval from them as well.

Returning her attention to the waiter, who was still carrying on about the side of potatoes, Ayashi politely cut him off. "That's sounds great! We'll have four orders."

"Four…?" The waiter seemed puzzled. Then he looked around the table to the other girls. "Oh," he breathed, understanding. "And to drink?" He quickly turned back to Ayashi, beaming.

Arana tried to stifle the giggle that rose in her throat from watching Ayashi and her love-stuck waiter. Kena silently wondered whether it was her friend's warm smile and friendly face that charmed men, or the attractive length of cleavage that showed at the top of her breastplate.

"Just a cold beer," she said, looking away and blushing bright red.

"Oh! One for me too!" Okaia piped up, never taking her eyes off of the street. Kena wanted a beer too, and Arana asked for a glass of water, and the waiter left to take their order back to the kitchen, but not without first giving a sighing glance back to Ayashi. As soon as he was gone, Okaia grinned, leaning over the table. "Ohhh, guys! I just spotted the best-looking piece of hunk ever! He's over there, across the street, playing ball with those kids."

Arana turned to look. "Oh, I guess he's cute, but I really prefer men with dark hair."

Kena shrugged. "I think he looks like a schmuck."

"Oh, that's why you never get any loving, Kena," Okaia teased. "What do you think, Ayashi? You didn't even look."

"I don't have to," Ayashi winked.

"What?"

"Is he really tall, with broad shoulders?" Ayashi asked.

Okaia nodded.

"Long blond hair that sticks straight up?" Another nod. "White collared shirt and denim pants?" A third nod. "The most gorgeous eyes you've ever seen?" Ayashi sighed.

"Exactly! How do you know?" Okaia asked eagerly.

"He was at the doughnut stand this morning," Ayashi replied matter-o-factly.

"What?" Okaia screamed. "You mean you saw him earlier and didn't tell me? Ohh, but we always go guy-watching together!"

Kena and Arana both cracked up into fits of laughter as Ayashi and Okaia argued over who got to claim rights to his "hot body".

It was Arana who got them to quiet down. "Hey you two, it looks like you can settle this for real. He's walking this way."

Immediately the two spun in their seats to watch the object of their desire move ever closer to them. With a goofy grin on his face, the man walked up the stairs waving to the girls.

"Hello there!" he said. "I saw you two arguing over here, and thought I might be of some assistance to you lovely ladies." The man continued smiling.

Kena inwardly grimaced at such a transparent pick-up line, but she knew Ayashi and Okaia would never notice.

"What were you discussing?" He asked, trying to make headway.

"Uhh… n-nothing," Ayashi stammered, shaking her head. Her pulse was racing and a giddy smile covered her face. She had been smooth and collected talking with the waiter, only minutes earlier, but now her heart was in her throat and she couldn't seem to get enough air. Only one word surged through her head; love.

Okaia was in considerably better shape. "Yeah, nothing! Do you want to join us?"

"That would be great!" he smiled.

Okaia and Ayashi as one grabbed the same chair from a table behind them and placed it between them. As the handsome man walked over to the offered chair, he brushed past Arana. In the deep recesses of her psychic mind, a recognition of power flashed brightly as his skin touched hers. Remembering the burst of psychic energy that originally brought them to this planet, Arana found this new energy to be strangely similar. It was, however, not the same exact resonance pattern, and certainly nowhere near as strong. It could be just a freak coincidence, she thought. She looked at the dopey but endearing smile on the face of the man between her attractive friends. He certainly didn't look like the one they were searching for. She decided not to say anything until they had done more investigating.

Okaia leaned in close to the man next to her. In a sultry voice, she said, "I'm Okaia. What's your name?"

Startled by her strong come-on, he broke eye-contact with her, and re-established it with Ayashi. "Me? Oh, I'm Vash." Instantly, he began mentally kicking himself. He had been giving out a different name here when it was necessary to have a name. Vash the Stampede was not a popular name these days, synonymous with the Humanoid Typhoon and The 60 Billion Doubledollar Man. However, the intoxicating presence of these beautiful girls had made him completely forget his alias. Or was it maybe just the intoxicating look he found in the deep brown eyes he was looking into? This girl with the brown hair next to him was more than just pretty. In fact, she had that feeling of a kindred soul about her; maybe she was someone who could understand him. Before he could get too excited, he reminded himself that he was probably just indulging in wishful thinking.

She broke his mental train of thought. "Vash? That's nice." Ayashi was still having trouble putting words into full sentences. Her heart was still beating faster than was healthy, and her head was swimming with two words now: Vash, and love.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Oh, um. I'm-I'm Ayashi," she stumbled, trying to regain her composure.

"That's a beautiful name," Vash said. He wanted to get to know this girl more. She was intriguing.

However, Okaia was irritated by Vash's attention toward, well, anyone but herself at this moment. She grabbed hold of his arm and his attention. "Ok, well, you should know that that's Arana," she pointed across the table, "and that's Kena," she indicated. "We're from out of town."

"I see," Vash grinned.

Just then the waiter returned with the girls' drinks and meals. He asked the newcomer, Vash if he wanted anything, but he declined. "I really have to run some errands for a friend of mine." In his head, Vash sourly thought of the new bandages he needed to buy for the person he had left at home. As the waiter left for the inside of the bar, Vash realized he wanted to see these women again. And it wasn't only because they were talking to him, either.

"Listen, I'd like to see you all later. If you're not busy, would you come have dinner with me tonight? We can eat at my house." Vash met the eyes of all four women.

"We'd love to!" Okaia replied. "Just tell us when!"

"Say at 7 tonight? Vash pointed east, "take this road and turn right on the first street you come to. Then take that all the way to the end of town. My place is the second to last house on the left before you hit the desert."

"We'll be there for sure!" Okaia winked at he tall man.

Overwhelmed, Vash just smiled. Arana thanked him politely, although Kena rolled her eyes and sipped her beer.

"See you there?" Vash asked Ayashi.

"Of course," she nodded, finally winning control over her body. "I wouldn't miss it."

"All right, well, have a good lunch, ladies," Vash said as he waved good-bye.

"Bye-bye, Vash!" Okaia waved back, perhaps a bit too energetically. "He's mine!" she whispered happily in Ayashi's ear.

Ayashi shook her head, keeping her eyes on Vash until he disappeared down another street. "No way. I saw him first."