IMPORTANT NOTE:

Thestral1 and I have discovered that several people like this fanfic premise (created entirely by Thestral1) so much, that they have approached both of us with ideas for their own fics. As such, we've created both Livejournal and Greatest Journal communities for such fics. So… if you'd like to try your hand at writing your very own "closet fic", please, simply give Thestral1 credit, and if you can, join one or both of our communties. The links for each can be found in Scarlet Rurouni's author profile.

Thank you.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except this stuffed animal I've had since I was 3… at least I'm pretty sure I own it…

The Student, the Typhoon, and the Closet

**Chapter 9**

I awoke the next morning to the sound of my alarm buzzing, drowning out the last remnants of the happy little dream I had been having. With an enormous yawn, I slammed a hand down on top of the snooze button, fully intending to catch a few more winks of sleep, when I remembered why I was getting up so early on a Monday before school.

With a wicked grin I glanced over at the chair Vash had spent the last two nights sleeping in. Yup, empty… as usual… As quietly as I could, I hopped out of bed and donned my favorite fuzzie fleece robe, fully intent on figuring out what that blasted needle noggin' was doing out of bed so early every morning.

Tiptoeing out my door and down the hall, I peeked into the dining room, realizing that I truly had no idea where I'd find the notorious gunman. Huh… wonder if this is what Meryl and Millie felt like… nah… I don't have an entire planet to search! Unfortunately, he wasn't in the dining room. And since the kitchen was clearly visible from my vantage point in the hallway, I knew he could not be there. Hmmm… he can't be in my parents room, no one in their right mind would want to go there… AH HA! As stealthily as I could I snuck down the hall to the entrance to the living room, that being the only place in the house where he could possibly be. Deciding that I wanted to pay him back for those two early morning "surprises" he had graciously bestowed on me, I opted for the "jump out from out of nowhere and scare the pants off him" approach.

"MORNING!" I bellowed just as I pounced out of my hiding place, hoping that I'd make the poor boy fall flat on his face out of shock. "Oro?... Where is he??" I whined, my plans thwarted. Wait…. no…. he couldn't be…

Quickly, I turned and quietly raced to the only room left unchecked in the house, my brother's old room. Stripped of everything within it and comepletely vacant now that my brother had moved out, I had vitually forgotten it's existence. Slowly I opened the door, and had to stifle a laugh.

There, sitting in the middle of the concrete floor, was Vash the Stampede, trying to meditate. And he was failing, miserably. He would close his eyes for about a second, and then suddenly open them again at the sound of a fly buzzing throughout the room. After a minute or two, he stood up, and promptly tried to "shoo!" the fly out of the room through the back door. I couldn't help it, I had to laugh.

Vash froze mid-step, "Uh oh…"

"Having trouble, Donut-boy?" I said, barely able to hide my mirth.

"Eh heh.. well you see.. I uh…"

"Save it." I grinned. "' My name is Vash the Stampede. I have been a hunter of peace, chasing the elusive mayfly known as love for many many moons now. There is no rest for me in my search of peace. I meditate diligently every morning, the subjects are life and love. I quit after three seconds.' I should have suspected this was where you ran off too every morning."

Vash pouted, "I could get a lot farther than three minutes without this damn fly in here…"

"Oh really?" I questioned playfully, "Then why don't you go sit in my room where there are no flies and see just how far you get?"

He eyed me warily, "I don't like the way you said that…"

I flashed him a wicked grin, "What… it's not like I'm dangerous or anything…"

He raised one eyebrow skeptically, "You know, if it were anyone else, I might believe you."

"What?" I asked as innocently as I could, "Alright fine… so I was going to time you to see if you really could get past three seconds. It's not like I was going to try and steal your gun or anything."

"You already have." he retorted with an expression halfway between a grin and a smirk.

"Oh yeah… er… well… How about some breakfast??" I said loudly, trying to change the subject.

Vash simply laughed at me. "Alright… but we're getting donuts."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, sure… but we've got to make it quick. I've got school…" And you've got a full day of babysitting Lockhart ahead of you, I added mentally.

Hopefully, the donuts would make up for the fact that I wasn't going to tell him he'd be spending the day at Stephie's with Lockhart. Well… not until we got to Stephie's house anyway…

~~~*~~~

A/N: Sorry it's so short, but really it's only a prequel for the next chapter. I promise they'll be lots more next chapter! R/R please!

Thestral: ::rurouni grin:: Whaddaya think?

Lady Venom2: I'm glad you think so! I had fun writing that last chapter, so I hope you like this one too!

Luna-Kitsune-Blu: Thanks! And I already told you how much I loved your review, right? ^_^x In case I didn't, it was great! It made my day, so thanks again!

Tak- Noooo! No head imploding! That's bad! Quick! Go read more fics until I can update again! ::hands you Vash plushie to ease the pain:: ^_^x

Pudding333- Thank you! I love it when people like what I write! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

"Saku"- Oro?? No orange chicken! Holy cripe! Find a panda express now! ::faints out of shock:: Eh heh… okay well… yeah… Thanks for reviewing!

Wolfwoodsgrl28- Yes! I don't know if I told you this before, but by all means go ahead! OH! And Refer to the link at the top of this fic if you would please!