Tuesday Afternoon

Chapter 7

The Blood On Your Hands

"Why are we here of all places?" You asked when the bus the two of you hitched a ride on stopped at the next city.

Vash shrugged with his eyes closed, paying more attention to the music than what you were saying or where you two were.

"It's just the next stop, why? Where are we?"

"Open your eyes, Starboy," you demanded. You stood in front of him with your hands on your hips and your backpack by your feet. He looked at you, then up at the sign for the town.

"Oh."

"Oh is right. What are we supposed to do? We can't just waltz on in there and hope no one recognizes us!" You groaned, "And the bus is gone so we can't even get out of here... and we need supplies."

"Maybe they won't recognize us?" Vash gave you a sheepish smile while rubbing the back of his head. He then grabbed your hand and pulled you along, "C'mon, we'll be quick. It'll be fine!"

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

You glanced back and forth as you descended into the town, watching people give the two of you second looks as you passed by. Yeah, you didn't like this one bit. Coming back here was a bad idea.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

The two of you situated yourselves in a secluded corner of a cafe. The barista didn't seem to recognize either of you, so you assumed it would be a safe place to get some breakfast.

And you know what they say about assumptions?

"Mama, can you buy me a gun?"

"Well, what's that there in your hands?" The boy's mother replied.

"No, I meant a real one!" He whined.

"You're not old enough, Tonis. I said no," she stated.

You should never make them.

Vash placed his hand over yours, trying to reassure you that Rosa and Tonis wouldn't see you. Besides, the two of you dawned disguises - if you can even call the awful beige coat he wore and you stuffing your army jacket into your bag disguises - so he was positive no one would recognize you. It did very little to quell your fears, but it did help some.

Tonis, who looked like he might be 10 or 11 years old now, continued to whine. You'd been so preoccupied with getting caught by him and his mother that you failed to remember the episode that had just started - precisely exampled by how you'd startled when four men started shooting into the cafe.

They had broken down the cafe's door, you jumped in your seat at the noise, Vash continued to eat his breakfast, and they opened fire. Just the usual shenanigans you had to put up with.

Tonis began to cry at the sight of Vash's body lying in the middle of the floor. In the heat of the moment, he'd thrown his cloak over you and therefore exposed himself to everyone in the cafe. But they were cowering in fear, so maybe they didn't notice?

One of the shooters chuckled, "Vash the Stampede, The humanoid Typhoon - taken down in Jenora Rock. That'll be a nice headline."

Well, they definitely knew it was him now. Thanks a lot, assholes.

The group began to laugh heartily, hyping each other up about the money they would get for killing him. The youngest-looking bandit seemed skeptical, walking up to Vash's body instead of celebrating with his buddies to make sure he really was dead.