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ARACHNOPHOBIA	By : Lances Category: +S to Z > Trigun Views: 4859 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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ARACHNOPHOBIA

pathological fear or loathing of spiders

Chapter 2: Unrequited
Tonim Town. A lively
village of some 35.000 people, minus those who had ended up doing suicides
after the visit of one Legato Bluesummers a few days ago. And, of course, the
living rest of the inhabitants were still feeling a bit queasy after the
residual effects of being mentally meddled with. Furthermore, several buildings
were in ruins, and although the true reason behind this tragedy was lost on
many, Vash the Stampede couldn't forget Midvalley the Hornfreak and his
saxophone, Sylvia.
Not that Midvalley
mattered, anymore. He was dead, just like the majority of the other Gung-Ho
Guns. And, truthfully, the ruins did not matter, either. After all, they could
not even be seen anymore. The town was now at the mercy of the vicious
sandstorm that had been looming in the horizon a few hours earlier. Only beige,
flying sand could be seen through the windows. Vash the Stampede sighed, and
swiftly wiped out a drop of blood from his brother's lips.
'Knives... Wouldn't you
wake up?'
Vash had been watching
over his brother for three and a half hours already, ever since they had
reached the town's hospital, and his eyes were drooping with exhaustment. He
had not once left his brother's side. Not that there was anywhere else he
could've gone, really, seeing as no-one could possibly advance two meters
outside, not even a plant. The sandy cyclon made effectively sure of that. And
Vash really wasn't in the mood of socializing with the others that had escaped
the storm inside the hospital's strong walls.
'Can you hear me,
Knives?' Vash
leaned his forehead against his brother's limp upper arm, feeling slightly
worried. 'I know I hate you. But I still wouldn't wish you dead. After all,
you are my flesh and blood. Although I don't know if that particular statement
works with plants. Flesh and blood... Maybe it should be fibre and blood. Hmh.'
There was no response to
this idle, mindless thinking. Millions Knives had been out cold ever since he'd
saved Vash and himself from the merciless desert. The effort of manipulating
someone else's mind while being nearly lethally injured himself had obviously
cost Knives his last energy resources, of which Vash did not know whether to be
thankful or frightened. He was relieved that Knives wasn't now able to make the
villagers kill each other with his telepathic skills. However, he was also
worried Knives might never wake up again. And there were suddenly so many
things Vash would yet like to say to his brother.
"Mr. Vash?" A
feeble female voice interrupted Vash's silent moment with his twin. Meryl
Stryfe entered the hospital room, carrying a tray with a steaming mug of hot
chocolate on it. Plus a couple of donuts. "I thought you might be hungry.
You... You've been sitting here for nearly four hours, already. Alone."
Vash smiled at the
short-haired woman and accepted the donuts and the drink. "Thank you. How
did you know this was just what I needed?"
Meryl's smile widened.
"What did you expect? I've been spending the past few months doing nothing
but following you around."
Vash grinned, and began to
hungrily munch on the donut.
"How's your
brother?" Meryl asked, glancing furtively at Knives' silent figure lying
on the bed. Nothing but bandages and a thin white cloth were covering his lithe
body.
"He's... Not decided
yet." Vash shrugged, looking melancholy. "Whether to wake up, or
not."
Meryl frowned. "You
don't think he'll want to?"
"No." Vash wiped
his hands clean on his trousers, swallowing the last piece of donut. "I
think he'll want to. Just not yet. I think he's still licking his wounds. But
he'll come around. I'm sure of that."
"He'll be lucky if he
can live a reasonably comfortable life after what you... I mean, after what
happened to him." Meryl shifted closer to Knives, examining his face that
was almost angelically innocent in his unconsciousness. "He looks much
like you."
"Yeah." Vash got
tears of emotion in his eyes, but he smiled at the thought, anyway. �Yeah. He
does.�
His hair's a little
lighter in colour, though," Meryl said, coming to stand next to Vash.
"And he's a little paler."
"And his eyes are the
beautiful blue of a cloudless sky instead of green." Vash gently touched
his brother's forehead. "Although you wouldn't know that, now would you?
He hasn't yet opened them."
�It doesn�t sound like you
hate him, anymore," Meryl observed. She watched with envy as Vash closed
his fingers over Knives' hand. �Vash?�
"To be honest with
you...� Vash shook his head. �I don't exactly know what I feel towards him.
We've been apart for so long. But I know I once loved him. Once, when we were
just kids... Over a hundred and thirty years ago, Meryl. I really loved him,
back then. He was the only one besides Rem who was willing to accept me as I
was. The only one who could understand me."
"Oh." Meryl felt
awkward. She looked back at Knives' serene face that was so much like Vash's
and, for the first time, she truly realised that they were twins. Twins that
shared the past 130 years of combined history. The realization of it all made
chills run down her back. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Vash
looked at her with bright eyes that always managed to make Meryl weak in the
knees.
"For losing your
brother. For everything that ever went wrong between you two." Meryl said
quietly, looking sad. "It must've been hard."
"Yes. It was
hard." Vash swallowed. "It... it is hard.�
Meryl crossed her arms and
looked down at the intertwined hands of Vash and Knives. �Does... Does he feel
warm?�
Vash was surprised at the
question. �Yes. Why?�
�Nothing.� Meryl shifted
from one feet to another, looking out of the window at the boring beige
landscape that was in constant movement. �I just never imagined that anyone as
cold-hearted as your brother could feel... warm... from the outside.�
�Yes. Isn�t it weird?� Vash
blinked his eyes, and ran his thumb over Knives� knuckles. �I had almost
forgotten that he felt like anything at all. It�s been so long since I last
touched him.�
Meryl fought the angry
feeling that was rising inside of her. �It�s only natural, wanting to be so
close to him now. But when he wakes up...�
�I know,� Vash
interrupted. �I know, Meryl.�
They fell into a
comfortable silence, listening to the howling storm outside and Knives� calm
breathing. Vash was rapidly falling into his memories from the distant past,
whereas Meryl couldn�t take her eyes off Vash�s hand that was fondling Knives�
fingers by its own will. Vash didn�t realise it, but he was involuntarily
making her feel an outsider. An intruder. Vash might have been born with
the I.Q. several times higher than that of a normal human being, but there were
still things he just didn�t realise. One of these was Meryl�s strong attachment
to him.
However, maybe Vash�s
ignorance on this matter was for the better. Meryl�s love for him was already
doomed beforehand. It was unrequited and unhealthy. There could be no future
for the relationship between a butterfly and a spider. Just as angels could not
spend the eternity with mortals, simply because mortals were, well, mortal, Vash
the Stampede could not spend the eternity with Meryl Stryfe.
�I�m going to see Milly,�
Meryl whispered. She was not sure if Vash heard her. �She�s still been having
these moments when she... misses Wolfwood. I'll try and make her think about
something else.�
�Alright.� Vash�s eyes
were glaced over, and his voice was distant. �I�ll see you later.�
Meryl heaved a soft sigh,
and exited the room.
�Is she gone already?
�Yes.�
Knives hesitantly raised
his hand and touched Vash�s face with his fingers. �I thought she would
never leave.�
�She brought me donuts.
She�s a nice girl.� Vash couldn�t come up with anything intellectual to say. He
was too flustered to feel Knives� touch hovering over his cheeks.
�She�s in love with
you. I could feel her hatred. I could feel her jealousy.�
Vash looked at Knives as
if his brother had suddenly sprouted out two horns from his forehead. �Don�t be
ridiculous. She�s one of my best friends. It�s not like that between us.�
Knives laughed, a soft
laugh that just reached Vash�s ears. �Damn, you really are daft, aren�t
you?�
�Knives...�
�Oh, how I wanted to
shatter her dreams just now! I could�ve made her cry so easily. Endless pain...
Such a funny, fragile thing, love is. I could�ve destroyed her will to live! I
will certainly do it later, come the most opportune time.�
�You�re not doing anything
of the sort, Knives.� Vash glared at his brother, and pulled away from his
touch. �You�d only make me marry her, for compensation.�
�That would hurt her
more than anything I could ever do!� Knives� malignant sniggering echoed in Vash� mind.
�But it would also make
her happy!� Vash protested.
�She�d never be truly
happy with you, Vash. But she�ll make you a proper wife, I�m sure. In fifty
years, she�ll be an old barren hag, while you still look a stunning guy in his
early thirties.� Knives
sounded very delighted at the prospect. �She�ll fade away before your eyes,
Vash. And you can�t do anything but let it happen.�
Vash stood up, the chair
falling over and clattering on the floor behind him. Groaning, he allowed his
left arm turn to a weapon, and pressed the gun�s barrel against Knives�
forehead. �You want me to shoot your brains out, don�t you?�
�What�s going on in here?�
A woman�s voice shrieked from the door.
Vash quickly hid his
weapon and turned to look at the nurse with a silly grin on his face. �Nothing,
nothing. Just trying to wake up my brother by frightening him. Isn�t working,
though. He he he!�
The nurse of the Tonim
Town Hospital gave him a disbelieving glance, but didn�t inquire further.
�Alright. But the patient really needs his rest, now. Wouldn�t you join us
others in a game of poker? Your friends Meryl and Milly would be happy if you
did.�
�I can�t leave my
brother.�
�Trust me, you can.� The
nurse waved her hand dismissively. �He won�t be going anywhere. Not in his
condition, and not in this storm. Come on!�
�She�s right, you
know.� Knives
smiled, and inhaled deeply. �I�m not going anywhere. I can�t even fucking
stand up on my own. You made quite sure of that. Nice shooting, Vash.�
�Why thank you, Knives.
How kind of you to say so.� Vash sneered.
�You could stay up the
whole night with me, you know. But I�d rather have some sleep, and I can�t have
that with you looming all over me. It�s fairly disquieting.�
The nurse looked at the
two of them in confusion. �He�s not going to wake up just because you�re
staring at him, Mr. Stampede. Come, let me show you to the lounge. Milly�s
winning all the time, you must come and save us.�
Vash glared at his
brother. �I�m going, Knives. If you try anything, anything at all, I swear
I�ll make you suffer.�
�Be at ease, brother.
I�m too tired even to talk right now.� Knives actually yawned. �We�ll see what the situation
is tomorrow. But now... I just wish to sleep.�
With a final, threatening
glare at his broher, Vash rushed after the nursemaid.
--

�To Be Continued...
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- 2
- 3
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ARACHNOPHOBIA