Special thanks to Magnet-Rose for giving me some tips on how to format the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, Kenshin, or any other anime. Please don't
sue, that's all I have to say!

Harsh Reality
By: SSJJVash
Chapter 1.

The sun shone hot on the gunman's tall, dark, and black figure. He was growing hot, temperature wise, from carrying his heavy brother in the heat. Tired, sore, and not knowing his exact destination worried him to no end. The further he walked, the harder he tried to think of a place to go. He knew of no city that'd...accept him, much less his brother. Vash the Stampede, as he was most commonly referred to as, had just gotten into the worst fight with his brother Knives.

Vash thought back to the fight for the fiftieth time that day. He had been walking an extremely long distance and had plenty of time on his hands. I...shot my own brother. There was no other way; I had no other choice. They were both gunmen: one good, the other trying to destroy him and the entire human race! Vash let out a long sigh and looked down at Knives. He looked dead, but he was in a state of recovery. I had better pick up the pace.

Knives had been after Vash and it had come to the point where Vash had to shoot him. Sure, he was wounded terribly, but he was already given medical attention, and he could heal fast anyway. Vash thought he felt him stirring for a brief second. He decided to rest on a nearby rock. At least no one else was injured during the battle. Completely out of habit, Vash reached down to search for a donut out of his pocket. When he couldn't locate it, he recalled throwing down his red coat after the battle was over.

To absolutely no one he said, "I got rid of my favorite red coat to show the people that my days of being a wanted outlaw are over! I haven't done anything wrong, yet the greedy people come to get me. Heh, they never would have, but that is not the point. I do not wish to ever return to that city except to see Meryl and Millie...and to visit the grave of Wolfwood."

Meryl and Millie were the insurance girls from the Bernardelli Insurance Company. They had the dreadful assignment to follow Vash where ever he went. Meryl was a short, short-tempered, work-a-holic while tall Millie acted so non-chalant, mostly out of her being naive.

He released another long sigh and, out of the corner of his eye, saw Knives cough, but nothing else. He draped him across his shoulder and resumed his walk. After the length of around an hour, Vash thought he saw a mirage of Meryl. "Could it honestly be her? Have I...walked in a circle?"

"Hey, Mister, are you okay?" A female voice called from where she stood.

Trekking further, he saw what lay beyond the girl: a city! Which city was it though? Well, he knew which ones it wasn't. She began talking again. "I'm really not supposed to be here, but earlier this morning off in the distance I could have sworn I saw a humongous explosion! Well, it must have been that big, because the nearest town is pretty far from here. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

The man nodded his blond head. It felt like his hair was drooping because of all the sweat. "Are you injured, sir?" She took notice of the man on his back.

"No, no, we're just fine, thank you." He smiled, trying to put on the silly Vash routine. "Say, what's the name of this place, anyway?" He changed the subject.

"Oh, welcome to January. Ever been here before?" She smiled the cutest smile. She was pretty short, but that may have been because he was so tall; over six feet. She looked half a head taller than Meryl with long light brown hair similar to Millie's.

"Well, I've probably traveled through here before, but not recently." He answered honestly.

"My name is Whitney; what's yours and...his names?" She stared curiously at the dangerous brother over his shoulder.
Hiding his identity was another big habit. "I'm Mr. Ericks," he could just imagine Millie saying, "No; it's not, Mr. Vash the Stampede." Vash's green eyes wandered over to Knives. "This is my brother, Mr. Derrick. Say, I can't stay here long because I have to get him out of here before he wakes up--it's very important, so do you think you could help me?" His lower lip protruded out in his famous puppy-dog face.

The young lady smiled. "Why before he wakes up? What's wrong with him?"

Vash kept up his plastered fake smile. She sure was nosy! "He's just tired from our long excursion."

She shrugged and said, "Do you need a place for the night, or a permanent residence? I know many people around here and I could pull a few strings if necessary."

He closed his eyes in concentration. "Do you have a jail cell open to visitors? Or, maybe a cave that you know of really far from civilization?"

Whitney burst out laughing and Vash tried to shush her, reminding her that his brother needed to sleep. "Are you serious: a jail cell open to visitors? A cave?" More giggling ensued. "No, but the church is open for anyone all hours of the day."

His ears perked up. Wolfwood, if only you were here with me now you could see me taking my brother to church! His buddy, Nicholas D. Wolfwood was a former "priest" and member of the Gung-ho guns. Unfortunately, Wolfwood was no longer alive.

"That will do just fine," he agreed and followed her there.

"Maybe I should have told you before, but we are having service tonight, it being Wednesday after all. You are more than welcome to stay for that! My uncle is the pastor and my aunt helps him out." Whitney said.

Vash tried his best to pay attention while he set up some chairs for Knives. "That's okay, thanks." He sat down right next to him and stayed. Vash's stomach rumbled the same time Knives started waking up and coughing.

Vash turned to Whitney who was sitting across the aisle. "You really shouldn't be here when he wakes up."

"I'm sorry, but I can't just leave you here alone. It's my job to watch out for this place." She sounded like Millie with every passing second. Vash closed his eyes and shook it off.

"In that case, can I ask you a favor?" He pulled some of Knives' money from his pocket. "I'm starving; will you go buy me two dozen donuts?" He smiled widely, giving her three double dollars.

Whitney raised her eyebrows in surprise like she was expecting something else. "Mr. Ericks, don't you think that you should eat something healthy on an empty stomach?"

It was Vash's turn to look surprised. "Why would I do that when I can have donuts? I don't understand." The girl shook her head and finally left the building on the errand. Vash breathed a sigh of relief.

"Vash..." Knives tried desperately to sit up. He was ready to finish the fight once and for all.

"Stay still, Knives, you're injured and shouldn't move so much."

Knives couldn't see much around him because it was all so very blurry. He did make out a few things like a fan and chairs and that no good brother of his! "Where the heck am I?!" His voice sounded hoarse. His throat was probably parched.

"It's only for a couple of days, Knives. We're in a church."

Knives let that sink in for only a moment before he tried to laugh out loud. It pained him to do so, but he didn't care. "When will you learn, brother?"

Vash raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"I set a trap for you here as a backup plan. There is no escape now."

"Knives, we're in January now." Vash grinned as his brother let out a groan which brought on another cough.

A few minutes later Whitney came back. "Thank goodness, what took you so long? It's only a few donuts, it's not like I asked you to bring the whole store with you this time!" Vash began to drool.

Whitney decided to ignore that comment. "I decided you don't need all that sugar, so I got you a full course dinner instead for you and your brother when he wakes up. The donuts are for dessert and I got you some medicine too just in case."

Whack! Knives could see well enough to hit his brother across the right side of his face. "Vash, you brought me in here with a human!?" He groaned disgustingly.

The girl jumped, not expecting him to be awake already. Vash tried to cover it up. "He doesn't mean that. It's one of his many different hallucinations..."

Whack! "Shut up, Vash!"

"Ow, stop hitting me, Kniv--er, Mr. Derrick!"

"Okay, it is clearly obvious you are trying to hide something from me. I won't even try to bother with it unless I find out it has something to do with me personally. I just thought I'd let you know where I'm coming from here."

"Can it, human being! Nobody wishes to listen to your incessant ramblings. I want to finish our fight here and now, Vash!" Knives' voice was still hoarse-sounding.

Whitney looked astonished and didn't know how to react with that. Wasn't he a human being as well? She shook her head furiously and remembered that she said she wouldn't get involved.

"No, Knives," Vash quit it with the fake name. "I beat you fairly and now it's over. Besides, you are in no condition to do anything except eat some food. The girl bought it especially for you, so be thankful!" He commanded.

Vash stood to get the food. He recalled a time when they were younger and Knives fed him at times. Now Vash would return the favor. Knives, however, refused it. "Food, is that all you are ever worried about?"

Vash tried as best he could to convince him of eating it. "You really should try it at the very least. Here, I know you'll love this stuff! It's better than anything you ever put in your mouth--including water on a hot day." It was a dumb thing to say because every day was a hot day. The surroundings all consisted of sand and there were two suns.

Vash stuck a donut up to his brother's down turned mouth. The smell of bread and sugar wafted up his nose. Out of sheer hunger, nothing else, he took a bite. He refused to become soft like his brother. Knives chewed and swallowed. His throat reminded him how thirsty he really was and he coughed a few times more. Vash brought a bottle of water up to his lips and he gladly gulped it down. The sooner he was able to stand and see the quicker he would be rid of his brother! Blast it all! How in the world did he lose anyway?

"Are you going to eat anymore, or what?" Vash had scarfed down his own dinner and donuts and was staring at Knives' other donut.

"I'm going to get a garbage can from the back, okay?" Whitney walked toward one door on the left side of the room.

Knives didn't know what Vash was talking about and that person's talking was driving him wild. He grabbed the nearest thing and hurled it toward the voice. She jumped aside as food hit against the wall just inches from her. She didn't do anything else until her heart beat normally again.

"Hey, she's only trying to be nice, so give her a break! Remember, Knives, love and--"

Knives slapped him across the face again. "What's 'love' good for? The day I start listening to you is the day it rains! Listen to me closely because I do not wish to repeat it: this world is full of hate and cruelty! You should know that most of all! Think, Vash, about all the stuff you've done. Is there anyone who really loves you? I don't think so. As long as you are alive, Vash the Stampede, people are going to hunt you and come after you.

"Take me, for instance; I abhor you and still want you dead. Quit the 'love and peace' crap and get on with your pathetic life!" He spoke with a vengeance and it reminded Vash again of when they were younger. It spooked him and brought tears to his eyes.

"I know deep in your heart that you don't mean that." As he said this he had to dodge another swipe. "Just take a nap, because you aren't going anywhere for a while."

Whitney came back with a can and began to clean up the mess. "It took me a few minutes to grab this thing. There's a cute and tiny black cat that meanders out there with nowhere to go and I'm going to leave a few scraps out for it tonight." She smiled brightly, forgetting about the food- throwing incident.

After everything was cleaned up, Vash asked, "Say, girl,--"

"You can call me Whitney, you know." She raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Right, well, if you have to stay here, can you maybe go into the other room? My brother can't go to sleep if you're in here."

"I'm not going to sleep at all, you hear me?" Knives scowled.

Whitney pursed her lips before deciding it would be better if she did leave
them alone. She could always watch what they were doing from the office. She shook her head, hoping she had done the right thing by allowing them to stay.