Cravings
It has been a little less than a week since you appeared in this world. Ma and her daughter had been nothing but kind to you, they even allowed you to stay in the extra room in their home above the bakery instead of staying at the inn. You were more glad that you didn't end up having to break into the stables and possibly get in trouble with the owner. Or shot at.
Because of the size of the town, it wasn't very busy. But you did get used to seeing the same faces almost every day since you started.
Ma and you had just finished setting up the fresh pastries in the display, while her daughter was busy in the back kitchen cleaning up. It was almost time to open, you noticed.
Being a night owl, you were glad that the bakery didn't open until 11, and Ma insisted that you really didn't have to be here until 10 so you could help her set up the pastries.
That gave you more time to cry at night.
There was no doubt that you were riddled with anxiety and depression because of your situation, but you were trying to make the best of it.
Honestly, you had thought about throwing all thoughts of searching for the main characters out the window and just settling in here. The town was lovely, the people here were incredibly kind, and it seems that you had run off the only bandits in the area when you rolled into town.
Supposedly, they had been terrorizing the town for months before you showed up.
But, you also figured the universe put you here for one reason or another. You stayed with your decision to find a main character and figure out what the fuck was happening.
Your first customer rolled in around 11:15. The day moved on at a snail's pace, but it was a welcome change from what you were used to at your job back home.
Home.
You really missed it. You missed your parents, your things, your room, god, especially your soft bed. The bed in the guest room left you with a slight ache in the morning due to how old and worn it was, but it was better than the dusty floor. Oh my god what about your cats. You really hoped someone was taking care of them for you and not dumping them at a shelter. Those two were your literal children, having raised them both from tiny kittens for nearly the past 10 years of your life.
It didn't matter what you thought, what you missed, what you yearned to get back to. You were stuck here. At least, you hoped only for the time being.
A distressed look came across your face the more you thought about it.
Could you get back? Was it even possible at this point? You were pretty sure that crash would have killed you, it would be a miracle if you had survived it. Not to mention, doesn't the character usually die in these kinds of stories? What were they called again? Issekai fics?
So deep in thought, you didn't register the bell on the door ring.
"Hellooooo, miss, are you alright?"
Garbled nonsense escaped from your lips in surprise. Right, you're working, no time to reminisce about the things you lost right now. You turned your attention to the man, adjusting your sunglasses that had slipped down in the moment, and were about to apologize for being so spaced out before stopping yourself.
Your eyes widened. You tried not to let the surprise show and instead called out to the kitchen for more donuts.
"Let me guess, 30 double dollars worth?"
"...How did you guess that from one look?"
"You seem like a donut guy," you replied coolly. "And don't worry, these were made fresh this morning."
Was that too much? Probably. Oh god he was probably hella suspicious of you now. Fuckfuckfuck.
Vash simply laughed, "I don't know how you figured that out from one look at me, but it was pretty much spot on!" Quickly you punched in the numbers on the dinky old register, taking his money and putting it away.
You took a moment to really look at the Vash standing in front of you. This was definitely the 2023 series Vash. How you felt about it, now that the moment had arrived, you really didn't know.
One thing you did remember was that it was a lot more violent than the original series was. Knives was actively searching for his brother in that series, which only made this universe more dangerous than you had previously thought it would be.
You excused yourself for a moment to tell Sarah you needed an assortment of donuts as you didn't have enough up front to complete the order.
"It's gonna be a few minutes," you told him when you came back to the front.
He waved a hand, saying no problem. You thought he would head outside and wait for them, but he actually started making idle chatter with you, to your surprise.
This was your chance. You likely wouldn't have another one if you missed this. Or, you could simply go on and make a life in this town, as you had considered doing. Now, kinda knowing that you were in the 2023 reboot of the series, you knew what kind of shitshow awaited you if you involved yourself.
"You're... Vash, aren't you?" You eyed him cautiously, taking note of the slight twitch his smile made, and the brief widening of his eyes.
"If.. if I am?"
"Then I was going to ask to come with you to wherever you're heading next."
This surprised him. You could tell by the slightest change from nervous to confused. God you're so suspicious.
"Why? Don't you have a life here?"
You breathed heavily through your nose as a laugh. "I woke up in the middle of the desert not far from this town a few days ago. I was only going to work here for a short time before moving on to look for you."
Vash really didn't know what to say to that. You wanted to look for him? But to him, it sounded like you had some amnesia of sorts, so why would you think to look for him? And he witnessed your actions in the square, so he figured you probably just wanted his bounty.
At least, at first he did. Now? He wasn't so sure.
You knew what you told him wasn't the full story, and you wanted to tell him everything. Just.. not here. Not with Ma and Sarah right around the corner.
"If you hang around today, I'd like to, uh, chat I guess? There's a lot I have to tell you." you whispered the last part, mostly to yourself. The look on his face told you he likely caught it anyway.
"When do you get off?"
Now it was your turn to be surprised. You were an extremely suspicious individual right now, and you didn't exactly give him any reason to trust you to not turn him in for the bounty. But, Vash was always an easily trusting guy, for better or worse. You knew that. Well, you thought you did.
"4, we close earlier than other shops around here," you replied before chuckling. "Or so I've been told."
Plastering a smile to his face, he agreed, saying "It's a date!"
Sarah came out of the kitchen with his donuts a few moments later, thus releasing him from continuing to speak with you.
You watched him wave and walk out the door, offering your own wave and smile back to him.
You hoped this was the right decision. Going ahead and inserting yourself into the story. You hoped you being here wasn't going to change much, especially with what you were going to tell him when he came back to get you.
•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•
You had just finished cleaning up the store front. You were still pretty spacey throughout the day after talking to Vash, but instead of it being you thinking about what was, you were busy thinking about what was to come.
First, you needed to establish where in the story you were, especially if this is the 2023 universe and not the original story. Or if it even was the 2023 version.
You had more than enough money to start your journey now. So no matter what Vash said about you joining up with him, you would follow anyway.
You made up your mind about that, and now there was no turning back.
You lingered inside the store, continuously wiping the same spot of the counter waiting for any sign of Vash. Nervously humming a song that had been stuck in your head all day.
I scared him off with all that cryptic talk, didn't I?
No sooner than the thought escaping mind did you see the blond walking into view outside.
Quickly tossing the rag under the counter and sending a quick shout into the kitchen that you were heading out for a little while, you were out the door. Vash seemed surprised at your eagerness to see him, but brushed it off.
"Hungry? I'll buy."
"Need you say more? I know just the place," the red clad blond dragged you (more like you just followed him through town) a little ways down the street to a diner.
You chose a secluded table in the corner so you would somewhat have privacy while telling your tale of woes. It was awkward at first. You really didn't know where to start. Where should you start?
You could only stare down into your lap at your hands, fiddling nervously with your fingers.
"I-"
"So-"
You both stopped yourselves.
"Sorry-"
"You go first-"
You swallowed the saliva that had built up and stared at the usually carefree (although, severely stressed and depressed) alien. You kept your lips tight together, waiting for Vash to speak before you did.
"Well, what did you want to talk about? It sounded pretty important."
"I... I don't really know where to start..." you hesitantly replied.
The glare of the evening sun on his sunglasses through the window made it hard for you to see what he was looking at. Was he looking for any sign of deception? Was he judging you? Probably both. Or better yet, maybe he was looking for any sign of hostility. You really had to choose your next words very carefully if you wanted him to trust you.
Vash pursed his lips before changing it to a small smile aimed at you. "How about the beginning? Only seems natural to start there," he said.
"Right. Of course, the beginning..." Now you felt stupid. Of course you should start from the beginning.
You told him your name to start things off.
"I'm not exactly from here, and before you say you know, I mean I'm not from here. This planet. This... universe."
You eyed his face to see any change in his expression.
"I'm from Earth. The year is 2023. And... where I'm from, you're nothing more than a story."
Immediately you could sense a shift in his demeanor. In what way, you weren't sure, but you knew you had his attention now.
"I know that you're, well, not human," you whispered. "But, I wasn't lying to you when I said I woke up in the middle of the desert several miles out of town - wait no they're iles in this universe..."
You took in a deep breath to give Vash a moment to process what you'd just told him. You were honestly still processing yourself.
"That means you know how much danger you'd be in if you came with me then."
You nodded slowly, "But there's another thing. In my universe, there are three versions of your story. From the way you look, I can only assume we're in the third version, but even then we're pretty much screwed."
You watched Vash cross his arms, seemingly in thought.
"I, um, figured we could compare notes. So I can figure out where the hell I am right now."
"If I say no?"
You sucked in a breath and furrowed your brows. You... hadn't thought about that. You know from both series that Vash wanted to preserve human life above all else; because you admitted to being human just from another world, he would probably put you in the same regard as the others.
It almost warmed your heart at the thought that he would want to protect you, but you shoved it down just as fast as it came.
"Listen, Vash, I... I died to get sent here. To No Man's Land or Gunsmoke or whatever the hell this godforsaken planet is called." you sent him a nasty look, but you didn't blame him for what he told you.
"I can look out for myself for the most part, the main thing here is me trying to figure out how to go about this. If I'm right, and I'm pretty sure I am, things can go to hell real fuckin fast. I need to know how much time we have before that happens."
It took a short silence of you staring into his sunglasses (you still couldn't see his eyes) before he let out a defeated sigh.
"You aren't going to let me convince you otherwise, are you?"
"Never."
"Alright," he leaned forward on the table and you could finally see his eyes. "Let's compare notes."
•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•
You spent the next couple of hours explaining everything to Vash. From what you knew of the world itself, how you got here in the first place, to what you knew about him specifically from the series.
You felt bad. Really bad.
You also knew that this was probably necessary to get him to trust you. You didn't want to take advantage of his kindness, either, but you did have to appeal to him in that sense. If he could help you figure out how to go home - again, if you even could - you had to make that intention known.
At least you knew for a fact that this was Trigun Stampede. Who would have guessed (sarcasm).
The suns had long since gone past the horizon, so it was dark out already when the two of you left the diner.
"I'm sorry."
Vash peered over at you. Somehow, he was taller than you by at least a head, maybe more. Then again, you were always on the shorter side.
"For what? You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, I should be saying sorry."
"By that logic you shouldn't be saying sorry either," you chuckled lightly. Your expression was quick to turn downcast again though. "There are still some things I don't know about this version of your story though, the series hasn't finished yet."
"What about the other versions? Did you get to finish those?" He asked. He stopped walking at this point, prompting you to stop as well and turn back to face him.
"I did finish the original show, but I haven't even started the manga series. I only know what's in the show at this point." You grasped your phone in the pocket of your flak jacket, feeling the coolness of the glass and metal in the warmness of your hand. "If my phone had service, I would probably be able to look things up and give you an actual estimate of what to expect, but being in another universe has its downsides."
You turned back to continue walking towards the bakery so you could have another mental breakdown in the confines of the guest room. You didn't spare the blond behind you another glance as you moved forward.
•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•
Vash stared at you in wonder. He couldn't tell what it was about you, but something was different from all the other humans he had met. There was an air of calm uncertainty around you.
You were something special, he decided.
He jogged for a moment to catch back up to you. While no further words were shared, he did finally take this moment to drink in your features. The color of your hair, your unusual clothing style, just all the information about you that he could gather just by looking at you. He had to admit you were attractive.
There was a look in your eyes, though, that he was especially familiar with. He didn't like it one bit. Was this why you were so nervous and figidity at the diner?
He could only wonder what made you that way, but all the scenarios he could come with weren't very pleasant.
While you may have told him a lot tonight, you certainly hadn't told him your life story. His interest was piqued, but even he knew that this would be too early in your friendship - if you could even call it that - to pry about it.
He wanted to head in the direction of Jenora Rock soon, as he'd been wanting to check up on the plant - his sister - after what had happened to it (her?) a few years ago. There was a feeling in the back of his mind that something was coming. With his awful luck, it would be something bad.
Probably just another reason to make people want his bounty even more. He hoped not.
After dropping you off at the bakery and promising to be back in the morning to help you talk to Ma and Sarah about leaving in the next couple of days, he headed back to the inn.
He greeted the innkeeper merrily, the facade slipping off his face as soon as he closed the room door and made sure it was locked.
He was conflicted. He could tell you were telling the truth. He just didn't really want to believe it.
He laid on his side in the creaky bed, staring off at nothing. The more he thought about things, the weirder they seemed. Thinking back on it, he had noticed something off about you the moment he saw what you did in the square.
Your legs had been shaking, even if ever so slightly, but your face and words told everyone that you were calm as could be. When he heard your voice pipe up against the bandits' orders, he was sure he would have to step in. He'd stood at the corner of a building with his hand pressed firmly into the handle of his gun, ready to fire a shot to knock the first bandit's gun from his hands and scare off the rest of them.
But he didn't have to. You managed to do it all by yourself, and you'd started off with nothing more than your own hands in your pockets.
It was a very peculiar situation indeed.
If what you said could be believed, and it was true from what he could tell, he didn't really like what his future held. Not to mention, he really hated the idea of getting you involved in all of it.
Nonetheless, he went to sleep still planning on keeping his promise to take you along with him. He slept horribly either way.
Maybe you would give him donuts in the morning?