Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Trigun: Doushikai ❯ Okaia's Mistake, Suspicions Arise ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter IV

Okaia's Mistake, Suspicions Arise

Okaia eagerly spun her head around in different directions. She was in the middle of a busy dusty road with bustling businesses all around her. In the crowd of people she disappointedly could not figure out which way to go. "Okaia! Slow down, will ya?" Ayashi called out. She looked ahead at the wild, bouncy redhead with more of a motherly affection for her youthful companion. Okaia was full of innocence yet had powerful energy and was a force to be reckoned with. She doesn't realize sometimes just what consequences her actions have. Good thing I followed her.

"Okaia! C'mon! You aren't going to catch up with him! You don't even know which way he went! Besides, we have some exploring to do!" Ayashi merely stated what was already obvious to Okaia, who let out an exasperated sigh. Okaia had hoped to catch up with the really hot guy they had just been invited to dinner with. She had no desire to explore the town for information. Even though the bounty was important to everyone, she knew that she'd never be able to concentrate on the task at hand before dinner that night. No matter where she looked, Okaia kept seeing his gorgeous sea foam green eyes.

"But Ayashi! Everywhere I look there he is! I wish it was 7 o'clock right now!" Okaia looked at Ayashi with desperate pleading eyes, the kind that she knew would get her just the sympathy she desired.

Ayashi was not prepared for the sudden large moist pair of orchid eyes right in front of hers. Oh no, not that look again! That baka! She's really laying it on thick this time. "Look, maybe we should try to get the hotel back. Lawrence did say that he would let us stay another night. Even if we don't go back there after dinner, maybe you would like a place to relax for a bit. Let's go get the keys back and I will do a little investigating while you get a little beauty sleep. Besides, you probably want a place to beautify yourself before the long-awaited dinner tonight." Ayashi started to lead Okaia towards the hotel.

Just then Okaia said, "Aaaahhhh! This is so frustrating! How can he just appear like that and then disappear? He was right here and then he was gone! What is he, a freakin' magician? Oh, but those eyes could sure do some magic on me! And I bet he's got a great six-pack on him……… Ayashi, I can't believe this town has no place to buy guns! What kind of a place is this?" Ayashi toppled over at the abrupt and random change in subject. Okaia was notorious for a short attention span whenever she got distracted by her one true passion. Ayashi didn't know any other person who loved to study the mechanics of weapons as much as Okaia, and she swore that inside that imaginative and disorganized head was an encyclopedia of weaponry. That is one of the reasons that they all relied so much on Okaia, and all together they made quite a remarkable group. All of them secretly hoped that with this bounty they would not have met their match.

They arrived at the hotel soon after and retrieved the keys from Lawrence. Ayashi made sure to flash Lawrence a grateful, friendly smile before heading up the stairs. Okaia was on the bed lying on her back when Ayashi was prepared to head back out to hunt for more information on the bounty. "Behave yourself!" she warned Okaia before closing the door behind her. Okaia sat on the bed and stared out the window daydreaming. Those eyes! That smile! I can picture it now… Okaia drifted off into blissful images of Vash looking with passion into her eyes, caressing her and whispering sweetly into her ear. And of course, there was "the kiss" that she could never get quite right in her fantasies of any guy. Oh, if only Ayashi wouldn't get that look when she's around him! Of course, I always told her that she influenced my taste in guys, so she should consider it a complement anyway. Okaia always had looked up to the other three like older sisters or motherly figures in her life, and of course Ayashi was more like the fearless leader, the diplomat of the group, so Ayashi tended to be a little soft with her. Okaia acted more immature around the others mostly because she could get away with it, and she didn't mind being a little babied by the others when she knew how much they went through to protect her. They knew how capable she was when she needed to be from the previous bounties they'd gotten together. And it was fun being the center of attention, but also she was grateful for time once in a while to sit alone for a bit. For now she would do what she did best, keeping the group's weaponry in tip-top shape. Besides, they needed good weapons to catch such a large and dangerous bounty. Okaia didn't realize that her one-track mind would eventually get the best of her.

After an hour of cleaning guns and knives and lying on the bed tossing and turning, Okaia said aloud, "Aaaahhhhh! I can't take it anymore! I am so bored!" Just then a glint of something shiny caught Okaia's attention. Okaia looked as the sun shined on a pile of guns still lying in the corner of the room.

The glint kept bothering Okaia. She closed her eyes and turned over on the bed trying to sleep, but she could still see the pile of guns in her mind. It was as if they were beckoning her to do something with them. She was very curious as to whether or not the town had a store to sell guns, or any weapons for that matter. Knowing that there was a pile of guns on the floor that could use tweaking made Okaia go crazy. It was like fingernails scratching down a chalkboard. Okaia decided that she would just leave for a bit and come back. No one would ever know that she'd been gone, and what trouble could she really cause merely looking for someone selling weapons? Any weapons in their possession would do nothing but good. The more weapons they had to fight bounties with, the better! Besides, Okaia was worried about their bounty since they had little factual information to fall back on in their search.

So with that, Okaia crept out of the room and locked the door as carefully as she could, even though she was the only one there. She ran down the hall, walked down the stairs and out the lobby so she wouldn't make Lawrence suspicious, and immediately started out at a fast pace. Okaia didn't even care that her wild red hair made it look like she'd just gotten up in the morning. Nothing would keep her from her frantic search now!

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Ayashi wiped her hand across her forehead in an involuntary reaction to the intense heat from the sun beating down on her face. It seemed that she was getting nowhere in her search. Everyone in the repair shop said they knew nothing of a person like the $$60 billion bounty. She had spent a lot of time in there trying to coax people into giving out little bits of information, but for some reason, even her greatest and most luring charms couldn't work. Had she really lost her powerful persuasion techniques? Actually many of the people seemed to ignore her not because they didn't know but because they did know. Well I'll be damned! They are actually so scared of him that they don't want to help anyone who might try to get rid of him! Is he really that terrible? Ayashi knew that he must be, for such a large bounty could only be built up on the head of a very dangerous and ruthless man. "I won't let anything get in my way!" Ayashi said out loud as a few onlookers in the streets gave her a weird look. She didn't seem to notice. "The answer I'm looking for has to be somewhere around here! I mean, how big is this town, anyway?"

Ayashi proceeded until she reached a restaurant called Henry's Hot Treats. She decided she would go inside and order something small so she wouldn't seem suspicious to the people here that were so afraid of the mere legend of the man. She peeked inside first through a small, smudged window and saw that not too many people were in there.

The door creaked as Ayashi pushed it open and stepped inside. The restaurant had somewhat dimmed lights and mellow music softly playing on speakers around the whole room. The atmosphere inside was much nicer than the misleading outer appearance. Good, she thought, this is a cozy environment. People shouldn't be too much on the edge. Time to turn up the charm! Ayashi saw a sign that said to wait to be seated. She sat on a long bench and waited for someone to notice her. It seemed that there was only one waitress working. Ayashi figured that this poor woman was really busy even though the restaurant wasn't. She saw a middle-aged man and woman enter and sit down at the other end of the bench. Ayashi saw her chance to strike up a casual, prying chat. "So!" Ayashi began, "Does this place serve good pie?"

The woman looked up. "Yes, great cherry pie, but not better than I can make!" she said with a laugh. "You might try the lemon meringue, but I actually prefer a different desert that isn't usually in restaurants. This place has the greatest donuts in the town! In fact, they are so popular that many people come in and just order a bag of donuts to take home."

At this Ayashi's eyes practically popped out of their sockets, and they began to appear more glazed than the donuts themselves. "Miss, are you okay?" the man asked.

Ayashi was silent for a moment, and then she shouted, "Alright, then! I guess I need to hurry and try those donuts. I… I can picture them already! I… I can smell them!" The couple gaped at Ayashi as her eyes grew large enough to actually look like donuts.

"Miss! Please! Calm down!" the man said. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Ayashi returned to a normal stance and tried to look serious and focus on her task. She said quietly with a faux sadness in her voice, "It's just that with someone like the Humanoid Typhoon around, I figure I don't have much time left to enjoy such perfect delights!"

The woman stared in shock. "Well what an awful thought! My dear, no one is even sure if he is here! Right, Merve? He has blonde hair, but that's all they have as a guaranteed description," the woman stated.

Merve chimed in, "You know, he used to have that long red coat, but I guess he lost it. Maybe he finally got rid of it so he couldn't be identified. My friend is with the police and I have heard many rumors, and the biggest one is that he really hasn't killed anyone lately, but that doesn't make him any less ruthless. Maybe he just has to concentrate too much of his energy into evasion now that his bounty is so high, and everyone's heard of him and looking for him."

Ayashi looked at her watch and realized that even though the customers gave her some good info, she couldn't wait around to hear more. She couldn't believe that it was already after four. She desperately needed to get home and change. But she couldn't just leave such delicious sugarcoated treats for everyone else to eat. She decided to buy a large bag of fresh donuts on her way out.

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Okaia's wild hair waved in all directions behind her as she bounced up and down streets excitedly with only one pleasure on her mind. But she knew enough to be sneaky, watching out for any of the others, especially Ayashi. No one had mentioned seeing a weaponry or blacksmith-type shop anywhere, but she was determined to find one if it existed. She anxiously searched for a sign that there was hope for this town after all when she noticed a simple wooden sign hanging out for everyone to see. "Yes! Guns!" Okaia squealed in excitement as she lunged to the door and tumbled into the store. She bounced all around, gawking like a child in a candy store. Guns of every shape, size, make, and model were displayed on every wall from floor to ceiling while small hand guns in glass cases were in the center of the store. There was also a separate side room with swords of every kind imaginable, but Okaia was more interested in the "good stuff" that consisted of the largest and most accurate guns she could find.

Hmmm. None of these can match the range of my baby! Okaia thought. But that one looks smoother. It's a quieter shot. And… does that one actually have a faster spring than mine? Wow! It does! And that one back there would be perfect to fight against our bounty with! And maybe the smaller one would be good for Arana or Ayashi to have.

Okaia went up to the counter. "Hi! I'd like to purchase a few of your guns!" she said in a friendly voice to a large, bald man with a red moustache and a scruffy beard. He looked down at Okaia and didn't smile. Okaia said, "Please, could you get down that long one there? And that smaller one off to the left?" She pointed at four guns she wished to purchase, but apparently this person wasn't used to friendly people in his store.

The man didn't move but glared at Okaia and said in a deep voice, "Whaddya thinks this is, some kind o' joke?"

Okaia looked hurt. "Sir, I am not joking. I really want to buy those guns!"

The man laughed at Okaia and said, "Listen, I ain't gonna' learn you to shoot. I don' just give out `em lessons, and besides, I cain't sell more'n two guns at a time. Why don' you just git home, miss?"

Okaia gave him a glare. He could probably sell as many weapons as he wanted to whomever he thought deserved them. She changed her tone and replied, "Look, sir, I won't put up with you insulting me and saying I don't know how to fire a gun. I have a very good and noble reason for purchasing these guns and I would appreciate it if you would honor my request and trust that I can pay you all the money right here, right now."

Okaia stared at the man with pleading eyes but with a serious undertone, and he looked surprised, but then he changed to a softened tone and looked sympathetic toward Okaia. "Look, miss," he began, "I know that everyone is on th' edge `bout that there Humanoid Typhoon. I'm sure you could kep any money you got with ya an' use it some other way, an' I'm touched by your noble cause, really I am. But I cain't let no one else innocent like you go out there unlearned an' become another victim to `im. No one's bin able to catch `im an' I don' thinks no one will soon. You'd just waste your time, your money, and prob'ly your life, all because that heartless bastard decided to go on a rampage." His entire face had hardened and tensed up.

Okaia was silent for a moment, feeling dejected that he didn't think she could handle a gun. Also, she didn't know much about the Humanoid Typhoon, but he was probably the bounty she and the other girls were after. But she couldn't blow their cover and tell him that now, especially when trying to buy several dangerous weapons. Okaia wondered if someone close to the man had tried something and gotten hurt somehow.

"Sir," Okaia said, "I must say that this isn't a lost cause. I honestly do know how to fire. I want the long one because it has such a sturdy and fast spring. The big gun up there has a smooth barrel and better accuracy. The smaller one is strong and loads easily. It has a little backfire to it and is off by