Chapter 1
Meryl, Milly, Vash, and Knives are waiting at the bus stop in January City. Milly is playing with Kuroneko-sama, Meryl is working on a report for work, and Knives and Vash are playing cards. They've been waiting for the bus to February City for over an hour.
"Where is that damn bus?" Meryl cries, shoving her typewriter back into its case.
Milly looks at the schedule in her hands and replies, "Well, it says here 6:30." She glances at her watch. "Now it's 7:45."
"Let me see that!" Meryl grabs the paper out of her friend's grasp and uses her fingers to find the right line. "Milly, this says the bus to February City arrives at 8 o'clock! You were looking at the wrong one!"
"Oops, sorry, Meryl. Guess I made a mistake."
Meryl sweatdrops and turns to the unperturbed brothers.
"Go fish." Vash reaches over to the stack of cards between them to take another card. When he sees it, his face lights up. He pairs it with the last card in his hand and sets it aside.
"I win again! So what's the score now?" He counts on his fingers as Knives watches, turning red with anger. "Let's see, I won 93, and you won...Well, we tied twice...Play again?"
"Argh, I give up!" Knives throws down his cards and goes to sit on the bench next to Milly. Vash looks at him innocently and begins to pick up the cards.
Five minutes later, a few more people have gathered at the bus stop, anticipating the arrival of the bus.
Speaking of which, the bus comes early.
"All this time we thought it was late, and the damn bus is actually early!" Meryl complains.
"At least we beat the crowds. Let's get on and find a seat before rush hour traffic shows up," Milly suggests.
So they board the bus and find seats together in the back.
Suddenly, said 'rush hour traffic' appears. A group of twenty or so men & women in suits with briefcases shove their ways through the turnstyles and toward the bus. One man in particular catches Vash's eye.
"Huh? Hey! Look over there! It's Wolfwood!" He shakes Knives shoulder and points at the man.
"Wolfwood? Who's Wolfwood? Oh, you mean that Gung-Ho Gun? I don't really remember him..."
Vash gives up on his brother and turns to Milly, across the aisle.
"Milly, come here! It's Wolfwood! Nicholas is out there!"
"Hmm? What are you talking about? Mr. Vash, you of all people know that Mr. Wolfwood is dead."
"I know, but he's outside right now!"
Meryl has worked her way into the conversation. She glares at Vash and says, "That's not funny! You're trying to make a joke, right? Well it's not working. And have some respect for the dead."
"No, but he's really out there! Come look!"
Meryl sighs, but, in order to shut him up, she climbs over the brothers' knees to peer out the window. By this time, the crowd is gone.
"There's no one out there at all, let alone our deceased friend! You must be hallucinating."
"You know, when people lose someone special to them, they sometimes think they see that person, even though it's just their imagination. Maybe you're just really bereft, Mr. Vash, and you're seeing things," Milly puts in.
"Argh! Never mind!" Vash sighs and turns to look out the window again, half-hoping to see this Wolfwood look-alike again.
The bus departs from the station, and the 45 minute ride to February City is pretty much uneventful. Vash and Knives play Go Fish again, and Vash still wins-50 times in a row. Knives gets pissed, pulls out his gun, and pistol-whips his brother. Before he goes any further, Meryl makes them change seats so that Milly is sitting by a window next to Vash, who is across the aisle from Meryl, who is seated to Knives' right. For the rest of the trip, they sit in silence.
Upon arrival at February City, there is a mass exodus of businessmen from the bus. Our four "heroes" are left alone on the bus, slowly standing up and gathering there things. Milly turns to look out the window and gasps.
"Mr. Vash! You're right! There's Mr. Priest right there! I'm sorry I doubted you, but you know how weird it sounded. Now I see the err of my ways. Meryl, get over-" she starts to cal her friend to the window, but she looks back into the crowd and doesn't see the man.
"He's gone," Vash says.
"Oh drat! We've got to find him again! Come on, Mr. Vash!" She tries to pull Vash by his sleeve, but Meryl and Knives were faster and they're blocking the aisle.
"Excuse me, Meryl, Mr. Knives. We have to go! He might be gone!"
"What? Who might be gone? Milly, what are you talking about? Maybe I shouldn't have left you with Vash."
"It's Wolfwood! We saw him again!" Vash explains.
"Come on, not you, too, Milly! This is some kind of sick joke, isn't it? Next Knives will tell me that Elvis has been stalking us!"
"Never mind!" Milly cries and pushes her way past them, dragging Vash behind her. She emerges from the bus and looks around. Not seeing the man, she pulls Vash into the large crowd that has gathered to either board the bus or get off it.
After a few minutes of frantic searching and turning people just to find that they're old Japanese women or Vikings, the crowd gradually disperses. The bus drives off, leaving Milly & Vash looking disappointed and Meryl and Knives standing off to the side, looking smug and annoyed.
"Done searching for ghosts? Really, I think you two have been inhaling too many gas fumes from the bus! Let's go find an inn," Meryl says, picking up her bag. She starts toward the town, and Knives follows suit.
"Nice one, little bro. Too bad she didn't fall for it," Knives comments to Vash.
"But I'm telling you, it's not a joke! Wolfwood-or some guy who looks like him-is out there!"
"Yeah, and we have to find him! I don't know why, we just do," Milly adds.
"Whatever you say...Just as long as we don't have to go out of our way," Knives cautions.
"Well it's not like we really have a way, is it? I mean, why are we here in February City anyway?" Milly asks.
"No reason..." Vash says.
"Mr. Vash, you're the one who was so enthusiastic to come here. Why did you suggest it?" Milly inquires.
"Uh, heh heh heh...Nothing! Nothing at all!" Vash puts his arm behind his head and smiles nervously.
"I don't believe you. You've got some ulterior motive," Knives accuses.
"You're acting awfully guilty, Mr. Vash. Now why would an innocent person act guilty? Hmm? If there's anything I've learned from my years at Bernardelli, it's that people don't act like they're hiding something unless they're hiding something. So? What gives?" Milly stares him down.
But Vash holds out, replying, "Nothing! I told you, I just heard so many nice things about February City, so I wanted to come and see for myself. That's all!" And with that, he hurries off to join Meryl, who is just entering the saloon.
"Now I know something's up! And we need to find out what it is. Do you think it has something to do with Wolfwood?" Milly asks Knives.
He shrugs and says, "Dunno. Could be."
"Well, how are we going to get it out of him? Mr. Vash is good at keeping secrets."
"I think I can make him tell us..." Knives grins evilly.
Milly looks surprised, then joins him in grinning evilly. She rubs her hands together like a mad scientist.
"Ve haf vays of making you talk..." Knives mutters with a German accent. The both erupt in evil laughter, but stop abruptly when they enter the saloon.
Meryl, Milly, Vash, and Knives are waiting at the bus stop in January City. Milly is playing with Kuroneko-sama, Meryl is working on a report for work, and Knives and Vash are playing cards. They've been waiting for the bus to February City for over an hour.
"Where is that damn bus?" Meryl cries, shoving her typewriter back into its case.
Milly looks at the schedule in her hands and replies, "Well, it says here 6:30." She glances at her watch. "Now it's 7:45."
"Let me see that!" Meryl grabs the paper out of her friend's grasp and uses her fingers to find the right line. "Milly, this says the bus to February City arrives at 8 o'clock! You were looking at the wrong one!"
"Oops, sorry, Meryl. Guess I made a mistake."
Meryl sweatdrops and turns to the unperturbed brothers.
"Go fish." Vash reaches over to the stack of cards between them to take another card. When he sees it, his face lights up. He pairs it with the last card in his hand and sets it aside.
"I win again! So what's the score now?" He counts on his fingers as Knives watches, turning red with anger. "Let's see, I won 93, and you won...Well, we tied twice...Play again?"
"Argh, I give up!" Knives throws down his cards and goes to sit on the bench next to Milly. Vash looks at him innocently and begins to pick up the cards.
Five minutes later, a few more people have gathered at the bus stop, anticipating the arrival of the bus.
Speaking of which, the bus comes early.
"All this time we thought it was late, and the damn bus is actually early!" Meryl complains.
"At least we beat the crowds. Let's get on and find a seat before rush hour traffic shows up," Milly suggests.
So they board the bus and find seats together in the back.
Suddenly, said 'rush hour traffic' appears. A group of twenty or so men & women in suits with briefcases shove their ways through the turnstyles and toward the bus. One man in particular catches Vash's eye.
"Huh? Hey! Look over there! It's Wolfwood!" He shakes Knives shoulder and points at the man.
"Wolfwood? Who's Wolfwood? Oh, you mean that Gung-Ho Gun? I don't really remember him..."
Vash gives up on his brother and turns to Milly, across the aisle.
"Milly, come here! It's Wolfwood! Nicholas is out there!"
"Hmm? What are you talking about? Mr. Vash, you of all people know that Mr. Wolfwood is dead."
"I know, but he's outside right now!"
Meryl has worked her way into the conversation. She glares at Vash and says, "That's not funny! You're trying to make a joke, right? Well it's not working. And have some respect for the dead."
"No, but he's really out there! Come look!"
Meryl sighs, but, in order to shut him up, she climbs over the brothers' knees to peer out the window. By this time, the crowd is gone.
"There's no one out there at all, let alone our deceased friend! You must be hallucinating."
"You know, when people lose someone special to them, they sometimes think they see that person, even though it's just their imagination. Maybe you're just really bereft, Mr. Vash, and you're seeing things," Milly puts in.
"Argh! Never mind!" Vash sighs and turns to look out the window again, half-hoping to see this Wolfwood look-alike again.
The bus departs from the station, and the 45 minute ride to February City is pretty much uneventful. Vash and Knives play Go Fish again, and Vash still wins-50 times in a row. Knives gets pissed, pulls out his gun, and pistol-whips his brother. Before he goes any further, Meryl makes them change seats so that Milly is sitting by a window next to Vash, who is across the aisle from Meryl, who is seated to Knives' right. For the rest of the trip, they sit in silence.
Upon arrival at February City, there is a mass exodus of businessmen from the bus. Our four "heroes" are left alone on the bus, slowly standing up and gathering there things. Milly turns to look out the window and gasps.
"Mr. Vash! You're right! There's Mr. Priest right there! I'm sorry I doubted you, but you know how weird it sounded. Now I see the err of my ways. Meryl, get over-" she starts to cal her friend to the window, but she looks back into the crowd and doesn't see the man.
"He's gone," Vash says.
"Oh drat! We've got to find him again! Come on, Mr. Vash!" She tries to pull Vash by his sleeve, but Meryl and Knives were faster and they're blocking the aisle.
"Excuse me, Meryl, Mr. Knives. We have to go! He might be gone!"
"What? Who might be gone? Milly, what are you talking about? Maybe I shouldn't have left you with Vash."
"It's Wolfwood! We saw him again!" Vash explains.
"Come on, not you, too, Milly! This is some kind of sick joke, isn't it? Next Knives will tell me that Elvis has been stalking us!"
"Never mind!" Milly cries and pushes her way past them, dragging Vash behind her. She emerges from the bus and looks around. Not seeing the man, she pulls Vash into the large crowd that has gathered to either board the bus or get off it.
After a few minutes of frantic searching and turning people just to find that they're old Japanese women or Vikings, the crowd gradually disperses. The bus drives off, leaving Milly & Vash looking disappointed and Meryl and Knives standing off to the side, looking smug and annoyed.
"Done searching for ghosts? Really, I think you two have been inhaling too many gas fumes from the bus! Let's go find an inn," Meryl says, picking up her bag. She starts toward the town, and Knives follows suit.
"Nice one, little bro. Too bad she didn't fall for it," Knives comments to Vash.
"But I'm telling you, it's not a joke! Wolfwood-or some guy who looks like him-is out there!"
"Yeah, and we have to find him! I don't know why, we just do," Milly adds.
"Whatever you say...Just as long as we don't have to go out of our way," Knives cautions.
"Well it's not like we really have a way, is it? I mean, why are we here in February City anyway?" Milly asks.
"No reason..." Vash says.
"Mr. Vash, you're the one who was so enthusiastic to come here. Why did you suggest it?" Milly inquires.
"Uh, heh heh heh...Nothing! Nothing at all!" Vash puts his arm behind his head and smiles nervously.
"I don't believe you. You've got some ulterior motive," Knives accuses.
"You're acting awfully guilty, Mr. Vash. Now why would an innocent person act guilty? Hmm? If there's anything I've learned from my years at Bernardelli, it's that people don't act like they're hiding something unless they're hiding something. So? What gives?" Milly stares him down.
But Vash holds out, replying, "Nothing! I told you, I just heard so many nice things about February City, so I wanted to come and see for myself. That's all!" And with that, he hurries off to join Meryl, who is just entering the saloon.
"Now I know something's up! And we need to find out what it is. Do you think it has something to do with Wolfwood?" Milly asks Knives.
He shrugs and says, "Dunno. Could be."
"Well, how are we going to get it out of him? Mr. Vash is good at keeping secrets."
"I think I can make him tell us..." Knives grins evilly.
Milly looks surprised, then joins him in grinning evilly. She rubs her hands together like a mad scientist.
"Ve haf vays of making you talk..." Knives mutters with a German accent. The both erupt in evil laughter, but stop abruptly when they enter the saloon.