Disclaimer: I have to say it again? Awww… ;___; I still don't own Trigun, but if I did…glances up in a dreamy phase I would make endless sequels, video games, and other neat things.
Oh, and like I said in my A/N for my other story, I've realized that FF.Net has been acting up and people can't get to other peoples' stories or my own. Well (despite my encounters with it. It really was a shame that about SEVEN of my reviews were deleted for Hunting For The Elusive Mayfly Known As Love…Not, otherwise I'd be up to 33 reviews grumble, grumble) I'll tell you all what. Because I love you all and hate to watch you suffer in misery because you can't get to a story (It's happen to me, believe me. I can't tell you how close I was to chucking my comp out the window) if you see another chapter up for any of my stories and you can't get to them, please e-mail me and I'll send you the chapter personally.
Anyway…On with the story ^_^ Huzzah!
Hunting For The Elusive Mayfly Known As Love…Not
Chapter Nine
Uh-Oh, Looks Like Someone's In Trouble…
"Milly, do not cry for scum like that…" The man stepped forward and everyone gasped.
…It was Nick.
"Hold it right there!" From the opposite doors in the auditorium, Jet and Spike barged in, looking ready to kill.
Just what the heck was going on?
"Nick!?" Meryl and Demonte cried in unison.
From the other side of the auditorium, Knives and his lackeys were busy ruining Christmas. They pulled out loads of smoke bombs and ducked behind the stage.
"All right men, CHARGE!" Knives shouted as he chucked the smoke bombs over the stage.
Simultaneously, his lackeys mimicked Knives' movements and tossed the smoke bombs over the stage. In a state of panic and frenzy, the students and teachers began to scream and run around like madmen. The teachers who had been putting up the tree began to cry and fell off the ladders. The tree swayed back and forth and then teetered over until it began to fall into the middle of the auditorium.
"Yes!" Knives gave Legato a high-five. "We have ruined the 'so-called' humans' HAPPY HOLIDAYS!"
Meryl jerked her head upward to the oncoming tree and was frozen with fear.
"Meryl!" Demonte scooped the petite girl up into his arms and dove out of the way.
Once again playing the hero, this gave Vash a small amount of time to feel more jealousy towards Demonte.
…And then he was almost struck down by the tree.
"Milly!" Nick screeched to a halt and lifted Milly up from the floor. "Milly, we must depart!"
"Huh?" Milly asked, wiping her eyes.
"No time to explain! They're after us!" And with that, Nick pulled Milly out the double-doors and out into the street.
"What about Vash!?" Meryl asked Demonte as they emerged safely outside. "We can't leave him behind!"
"Remind me to thank Knives later," Demonte said, ignoring Meryl's question.
"Why?" Meryl asked as Demonte set her down on the ground and they began a quick-paced walk home.
"Those men from the party that we saw at Milly's house are back.
"Demonte, who are those men?" Meryl demanded to know.
"They're not good, I can tell you that."
"How do you know?"
"Trust me. I just do."
"But we at LEAST have to find Nick! He's back and I saw him drag Milly off the floor…"
"Meryl we'll worry about that later!" Demonte snapped and then grew silent. "Sorry," He muttered, apologetically. "It's just…I don't want to be around if those men show up."
Meryl stayed silent, her head held low.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Demonte asked, smiling.
"I'm just…so happy that Nick's back." She said. "I mean, sure he's a moron, but it's just…he's been my best friend all this time and…"
"I know." Demonte patted her back, consolingly. "Believe me, I know."
Demonte and Meryl arrived in front of the house and were greatly disappointed.
"We're…locked out?" Meryl asked. "I thought that you had the key!"
"I thought that YOU had it!" Demonte sighed. "And your parents still aren't back yet?"
"How hard is it to bail someone out…?" Meryl asked.
At the Police Station…
"Please, Sir!" Mrs. Stryfe begged. "Please let him out!"
"I've told you a billion times already lady! We haven't even set a bail for him yet!" The cop at the front rolled his eyes and went back to doing his paperwork.
"I'll give you a donut…" She offered.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Good. Thank you. But your husband still isn't up for bail."
"NO!" Mrs. Stryfe banged her head against the counter. She turned and charged into the back.
"Hey! Stop!" The cop shouted.
"I am a bajillion degree triple fatty black belt!" Mrs. Stryfe shouted. "Stay away from me!"
But the cops still pursued after her. Suddenly, Mrs. Stryfe composed a form of back flips, handsprings, and karate kicks to the heads of the police officers. Blood stained the walls as she began to tackle the officers to the ground.
Meanwhile, Carl was off getting some candy from the broken vending machine…
Suddenly, the snow turned into a rainstorm. Like in…two seconds. Meryl and Demonte blinked and looked at each other as the rain fell down.
"Gee, you never told me that Gunsmoke had such spontaneous weather." Demonte said, as he became soaked with water.
"It never crossed my mind." Meryl responded. "Now what are we going to do?"
"Find somewhere to stay?"
"Where?"
"Nick's?"
Meryl almost cracked up, laughing. "YEAH RIGHT!"
"Um…Legato's?"
Meryl had a vision with this one.
Legato sat in the middle of the front room, holding The Great One in his hands as candles illuminated the area. He began to hum to random chants and then stopped.
"Oh Master, shall I do horrible things to our guests?" He shook the ball up and down.
…Yes.
"And so it shall be done!" Legato closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Meryl and Demonte were sleeping peacefully…Until their beds caught on fire…And they were attacked by killer crabs…and other…stuff…
"Then what do you suggest?" Demonte asked, impatiently.
Meryl blinked. "I'm going to forever hate myself for suggesting this…"
The doorbell rang. Rem trotted downstairs rubbing her eyes as she opened the door. Lightning crashed outside as thunder roared overhead. Demonte and Meryl were standing outside the door, with huge smiles on their faces.
"Hello, Ms. Saverem," Meryl began. "You see, my father's in jail right now and we locked ourselves out of the house and we have nowhere to stay––"
"––So could we, perchance, stay here for the night?" Demonte finished.
Rem blinked, unsure of what to say (actually, she was half-asleep so she hadn't even heard the first part of what the two had said), nodded.
"Yeah, sure." She yawned. "Make yourselves at home."
The smiles on the children's faces widened.
"Thank you Ms. Saverem!" They both chimed in unison.
"Um," Rem paused, trying to stay awake. "You might want to change out of those clothes though…"
"Um…" Demonte and Meryl both looked at each other.
"Yeah, we kinda don't have any spare clothes with us…" Demonte laughed nervously.
"Oh, don't worry about it," Rem yawned again. "I have some you can borrow." She motioned the two to come inside. Shutting the door she ascended the stairs. "Wait there. I'll go and get some for you."
"Rem? Who's at the door?" A familiar voice asked.
"Who is that?" Meryl asked.
"That's Alex," He whispered back. "Whatever you do, stay out of his way."
"Oh…okay."
"The children," Rem answered. "Little Meryl and Demonte. They've had a horrible evening, so they're staying here with us tonight."
"But Reeeem!" Alex whined. "You know that I can't stand children! The two you have already should be drug out into the street and shot!"
"You're right…" Meryl said. "I don't think that him and I are going to get along."
"Who's here, Rem?" Meryl could hear Knives standing at the top of the stairs.
"Wow, they got home before we got here." She marveled.
"Meryl, we've been walking for nearly two and a half hours. After all, we did get LOST a few times."
"Hey, it's not my fault that it's raining and I can't see! Besides, that injured man needed CPR!" Meryl protested.
"Meryl…that man was sleeping."
"Of COURSE he looked like he was sleeping. ALL dead guys look like they're sleeping."
Demonte sighed.
"I wonder what happened after we left the dance." Meryl mused.
"Probably nothing," Demonte said. "After Knives ruined the party, I doubt that anything happened."
"Meryl and Demonte, Knives." Rem answered.
"What? Really?" Knives ran down the stairs, wearing a blue tank top with matching colored pants. "Ha! You guys have to stay here tonight!"
"Told you I was going to hate myself for coming here…" Meryl said.
"Wasn't that great at the dance tonight?" Knives laughed. "Everyone was screaming and running and it was all ruined…"
"Actually," Demonte extended his hand. "I must commend you for that, Knives."
"Huh?" Knives took Demonte's hand hesitantly. "You mean you're happy that I ruined the dance?"
"Yes. As you can see when Nick showed up with those other men, things were certainly doomed. I am most grateful."
"Um…yeah, sure…You're welcome…" Knives said, confused. Then he snickered. "Boy, Vash is going to love having YOU here tonight, Kalabis."
"Yeah…I know." Demonte tried to hold the contents inside of his stomach where they belonged.
"Here you are," Rem came back down the stairs and handed Meryl a long white nightshirt and gave Demonte a black shirt with matching colored pants. "Now, Demonte, I'm sure that Vash will have no problem with you sleeping in his room…"
"Aww…" Demonte protested as Knives began to laugh hysterically.
"…And Meryl, you can sleep in the guestroom across from Knives' room."
"All right." Knives grinned.
"Sure…" Meryl said.
"I would ask for the guestroom…" Demonte started. "But I know what the answer would be."
"Demonte, I'll get some covers and a pillow for you and Meryl, the guest bed is already made."
"Thank you Ms. Saverem," Meryl smiled. "You are most kind."
Meryl walked up the stairs with Knives trailing behind her.
"Well, this CERTAINLY is going to be interesting…" Knives grinned as they climbed the stairs.
"What do you mean?"
"Vash is going to kill your boyfriend…"
Meryl cringed. "If your mother wasn't being so nice to us, I would strangle you, Saverem."
"Oooh, temper, temper."
"Anyway, I don't know WHY Vash hates Demonte so much. I mean, it's not like Demonte has anything that Vash should be so jealous of."
"Oh, but he does, Stryfe. He DOES…"
Demonte winced as he twisted the doorknob and opened the door to Vash's room. He crept slowly inside, trying not to wake Vash.
"I'm going to get myself killed!" Demonte gulped and set his pillow on the floor in the furthest corner of the room as possible as he sat down and then pulled the covers over himself. "Well…this isn't SO bad…Now, if Vash doesn't wake up, I'll be happy."
Demonte held his breath as he heard Vash turn over in his bed and mutter a few incoherent words.
"Demonte…gonna kill…steal Meryl…disembowel…"
Demonte pulled the covers over his head. Okay, he didn't exactly enjoy hearing those words. But after a few moments, Vash was silent again and Demonte forced himself to relax until he finally fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Vash was awakened to a slight irritation in his throat and thought it best to get some water for it. Climbing out of bed, he groggily walked to the door.
Until he tripped over something.
"Gah! Someone's in my room!" He shouted as he flipped on the lights. He stared down at the still sleeping form (Wow. Demonte sleeps like a rock) until he recognized the dark black hair.
"Kalabis…" Vash's teeth began to grind together. "What…is…he…doing…in…my…room?"
Oh, it just WASN'T enough that he stole Meryl, got her to hate him, stole his SPOTLIGHT in saving Meryl, but NOW he was in HIS room. Oh, GLORIOUS.
"I am going to annihilate you…" Vash reached over for his pillow and slowly began to raise it above his head.
Then, with a sudden swift jerk, he brought the pillow down on Demonte's head and began to beat him with it. Demonte's eyes opened immediately and he turned, only to get a face full of pillow.
Demonte pushed Vash off of him and looked up. "Vash! What do you think that you're doing!?"
"I was about to ask YOU the same thing!" Vash growled as he jumped to his feet, grabbed the pillow again, and dove on top of Demonte, resuming with his deadly pillow beatings. "Prepare to be vanquished!" Demonte rolled forward, sending Vash to the floor and jumped on top of him, stealing the pillow and began beating him in the face with it. Vash pushed Demonte off of him and Demonte crashed into the dresser, knocking all of its contents from on top off of it. Demonte growled and charged forward like a bull, plowing into Vash's stomach and sent him hurling to the ground. He began to pull out Vash's hair as Vash kneed him in the stomach.
"You…no good…woman stealer!" Vash growled.
"Me!?" Demonte roared. "YOU already HAVE a girlfriend!"
"That's not who I meant!" Vash spat back. Vash arched his body forward, sending Demonte backwards.
Vash jumped to his feet and charged at Demonte. Both bodies collided and were sent through the door. The door cracked in half with ease and soon, both boys were out in the hall, pummeling each other.
"Why!? Why did you have to move here!?" Vash screamed as him and Demonte began rolling down the hall. "You foiled my plans, Kalabis! I was supposed to get the girl!"
"What ARE you talking about!?" Demonte yelled back. He jerked an arm back and sent his fist flying along Vash's cheek.
"HEY!" Vash elbowed Demonte in the stomach.
Demonte restrained himself from coughing and pushed Vash off of him.
"Boys!"
"Demonte?"
"Heh, heh."
"You no good rotten brats!"
The two stopped fighting momentarily to see Rem, Meryl, Knives, and Alex all standing around them."
"This is your fault, you know." Vash whispered harshly to Demonte.
"Me!? You attacked ME first!" Demonte retorted.
Vash spotted Meryl. "M-Meryl! I-I can explain…"
"Why should you, Vash?" Rem asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Shouldn't it be ME who you're explaining things to?"
"I have a statement in my defense," Demonte said. "He attacked me first."
"Well, what were you doing in my room!?" Vash turned to Demonte, anger flaring in his eyes.
"Vash, Meryl and Demonte are spending the night over here because of family problems." Rem sighed, irritated. "Really, I thought that you would've acted just a little bit more grown up about this. How old are you now? Almost eighteen?"
Knives could be heard snickering in the background.
"You mean that he's not going to get lectured!?" Vash pointed to Demonte.
"Why should he? You ARE the one who attacked him first, aren't you?" Rem narrowed her eyes.
"Can't anyone see what a devious evil psychopath he is!? He's obviously scheming something VERY evil and…"
"Now listen here, you little monster…" Alex stepped forward. "Rem and I were in the middle of something VERY important and…"
Alex took a moment to stare at Demonte. He stepped backwards and suddenly walked back into the room.
"I wonder what that was all about…?" Demonte asked himself.
"Alex?" Rem looked back at his retreating form. "Did something upset you? Alex!" Rem rushed back into the room.
"What did I say, Stryfe?" Knives laughed. "Sparks are flying tonight!"
"Can it, Saverem." Meryl snarled. She looked back at Vash. "Vash, I don't understand you. I mean why would you attack Demonte in the middle of the night?"
"B-B-Because…" Vash started.
"Now, dear brother…" Knives stepped forward. "Is there something that you would like these people here to know?"
Vash's face darkened. "No." Vash walked back into his room, stepping over the broken door. "But I will NOT stand for Demonte to be in MY room!" He chucked the blankets and pillow outside the door.
"Which is just FINE because Demonte can stay in the guestroom…" Meryl said, stooping low to pick up the blankets and pillow. "…where I'm staying…" Vash immediately halted.
"W-What…?" He breathed. Storming back outside, he grabbed Meryl by the shoulders, causing her to drop all of the blankets. "Meryl, you can't do that…"
"And just WHY not?" Meryl huffed.
"Because…because…" Vash's face began to turn red.
"Because is right." Meryl said, pushing him away. "Because there is no reason for Demonte NOT to stay in the guestroom." She stooped low to pick up the blankets and then grabbed Demonte by the arm. "Come on, Demonte…"
Vash watched, very jealous of course, as Meryl pulled Demonte towards the guestroom. Demonte suddenly turned and pulled down his eyelid with one finger and stuck out his tongue at Vash. Vash growled and clenched one fist.
The guestroom door closed and Knives stepped forward.
"Well, that was quite a show now, wouldn't you agree?"
"It's not fair, Knives…" Vash muttered as he walked back into his room.
"What's not fair, dear brother?" Knives asked, following him back into his room.
"Because…Because I had a plan!" Vash spun around on one foot, tears welding in his eyes. "And then HE had to come along and ruin it! And then after he moved in with her, I would take the car and sit outside her house, watching her room just in case something happened…Which was pretty stupid, because I knew that he'd never try anything to hurt her." Vash paused and lowered his head. "Of course she'd like him. He's smart, and popular, especially among the ladies and…" Vash sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. "She could never like me…"
Knives stood in the doorway, silent.
"If only I had asked her sooner…before he came along…Maybe then…"
"Meryl, thanks for coming along when you did. I thought that he was going to KILL me."
"I just DON'T understand." Meryl said. "This is SO unlike him! He's never done anything THIS obscure before…"
"Obscure?"
"Like…he's always been the passive type, you know? He would never hurt anyone. But after tonight when he punched Joe and then attacked you…I just don't know anymore."
Demonte turned out the lights as he crawled under his covers on the floor. Meryl sat on the edge of the bed, staring out the window.
"Try to get SOME sleep, Meryl." Demonte said. "Tomorrow is the first day of Christmas break. We'll go looking for Nick and Milly tomorrow."
"Okay…" She said as she curled herself into a little ball on the bed.
"Good morning everyone!" Knives pounded on the door to the guestroom and Meryl and Demonte had to cover their ears with their pillows. "RISE AND SHINE!"
"SAVEREM I'M GOING TO KILL YOU WHEN I GET UP!" Meryl glanced at the clock. Seven o' clock.
"Can't even sleep in…" Demonte muttered.
"Well, perhaps it's best that we leave as soon as possible anyway." Meryl said. "Don't want to have another mishaps, right?"
"Sure…but first I'm going to take a shower." Demonte pushed himself to his feet and walked out of the room.
Rem was downstairs reading the newspaper as she drank her coffee. Demonte looked around, but saw no sign of Alex, relaxing him just a bit.
"Where's Alex?" He asked.
"Oh, he's at work." Rem replied, not taking her eyes from the newspaper.
"Listen, about last night," Demonte rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry about all of that…I mean, you let us stay here, after all…"
Rem looked up.
"Really," Demonte continued. "I am really, really sorry."
"Demonte, I just don't understand why Vash hates you so much." She stood up. "It was more my fault for putting you in his room."
"What?"
"You see, I already knew that for some odd reason, Vash disliked you. He even takes off in the car quite frequently and won't come back until very late."
"Oh…"
"So, I was hoping that by putting you in there last night, you two could eventually talk your differences out."
"Actually, I have no idea WHY he even hates me." Demonte said.
"Oh," Rem paused. "I see."
"I'm still sorry about it…"
"Don't worry about it," Rem smiled. "Like I said, it was more my fault anyway."
Demonte glanced into the other room. "Um, would it be okay if I used the shower?"
"Certainly!" Rem said. "It's just in the other room."
"Thanks." Demonte plodded towards the bathroom.
Meryl came down shortly afterwards, in a bad mood.
"Meryl, dear, how did you sleep?" Rem asked.
"Until Knives decided to become the morning rooster, I was fine." Meryl stomped into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl and a box of cereal.
"Oh no," Rem shook her head and ran upstairs. "Knives! Where are you!?"
Meryl sat herself down at the table and began to dig into her cereal.
Then the doorbell rang.
Meryl stopped eating as milk trailed down her chin. Sighing heavily and wiping the milk away, she went to open the door.
"Ah! Ah, I'm alive again!" Nick fell into the doorway and, startled, Meryl caught him. "I'm much obliged."
"Nick!?" Meryl pulled him inside. "You're freezing! Get inside, quick!"
Nick, in his dazed state, obediently followed Meryl into the front room where she seated him on the couch.
"Nick, where's Milly?" She asked.
"At her house…" Nick's teeth chattered.
"Nick, don't tell me that you were out all night out in this horrible weather!"
"Actually, yes I was."
Meryl sighed. "I'll go and make you some coffee, Nick. And change out of those wet clothes!"
Demonte turned on the shower and sighed happily as warm water spurted from above. Shortly afterwards, the door opened, and Demonte cursed himself for forgetting to lock it.
"Knives?" Uh-oh, it was Vash. "Is that you in the shower?"
Demonte faked a cough and ducked low. He heard Vash sigh.
"Good. I don't know what I would've done if it was Kalabis."
Demonte stopped moving.
Vash reached for his toothbrush and the toothpaste.
"Hey Knives, thanks for hearing me out last night. Listen, I've finally decided what I'm going to do."
"Hmmm," Demonte made a rumbled noise in the back of his throat.
"I think that I'm just going to give up on her, Knives. She'll never like me as much as she likes Kalabis."
"Is he…referring to Meryl?" Demonte wondered.
"I know it's going to be hard, since I've liked her for so long, but it's probably for the best." Vash looked towards the shower. "What do you think, Knives?"
"Uh-huh…" Demonte muttered.
"You don't sound too enthusiastic about my decision, Knives. Is there something that you want to say?" Vash lowered his head. "Is it that you want me and her together just as much as I want it?"
Suddenly, a knock came to the door. "Vash! Hurry up in there!" That was Knives' voice.
Demonte's face paled.
"Knives!?" Vash dropped the toothbrush and toothpaste to the ground. "Then…who is in the shower…?" Vash crept over to the shower curtains and rose his hand to grab the edge of the curtains.
Demonte quickly grabbed the end of the curtains and began to pull forward as Vash pulled back. Angrily, Vash began to tug harder and then Demonte poked his head around the curtains.
"KALABIS!?" Vash flushed. He had just admitted his feelings for…and Demonte was listening…and…"YOU'RE DEAD!"
Vash dove into the shower, ripping the curtains down. Demonte got tangled in the curtains as Vash jumped on top of him and began to pound him.
"HATE CRIME! HATE CRIME!" Demonte shouted as he tried to shield his face.
The door was flung open and Meryl and Nick (in just his boxers) were standing there.
"Vash!" Meryl cried.
"Needle-Noggin' what are you doing!?" Nick jumped into the bathroom and pulled Vash out of the shower.
"LET ME AT HIM!" Vash roared. "I'LL RIP HIS ARMS OFF!"
Demonte struggled to stand up, holding the shower curtains around his body. He spotted Meryl standing there and waved.
"I have yet another statement in my defense."
Nick tugged Vash out of the bathroom and Meryl looked after them, sadly. Demonte sighed. "You're right, I think that it's time for us to leave."
Meryl turned back to Demonte.
"I'll be out in a few minutes."
"Nicholas!" Rem was taken aback by the half-naked teenager in her living room. "I thought that you moved!"
"Yeah, I sort of did…but…" Nick turned back to Vash, whom was seated on the couch. "I'll explain later."
"I'll get you some clothes," Rem offered as she ran back upstairs.
"You should've let me kill him, Wolfwood." Vash growled.
"And what would that achieve, Vash?" Nick shifted his weight in his chair. "Do you know WHY I came back?" Vash stayed silent. "For Milly. That night at the party when I found out that she was dating that Joe guy, I was just like you. I went crazy. I wanted to kill him." Nick sighed. "So, what does Demonte have that you want?"
Meryl walked down the hall, ready to come back into the front room. She halted as she heard Nick and Vash talking.
"So, what does Demonte have that you want?"
She heard Vash jump up from the couch.
"He has the heart of a girl that I love very much!" Vash growled before storming upstairs.
Meryl paused, unsure of what to do. She was shaking.
"A…girl? But…There are many girls that like Demonte so…" Meryl felt crushed. But why? "That's right…I should've known better…"
Nick was in the same shocked state as he watched Vash stomp upstairs, water dripping from the ends of his hair.
Meryl slowly walked into the room and Nick shook his head at her.
"What was that supposed to mean?" She choked out.
Nick shrugged. "You need to come with me, Meryl. There's something important that you need to see."
Lol, this is NOT how I planned to write the chapter at all. ^_^ But I was writing it at 2 am in the morning, so what the hey? Controversy, jealousy, ahahaha! The next chapter will be better but I thought that just for this chapter, Demonte and Vash should settle their differences…physically.
R&R please!
BLD