A/N: Hello, anyone brave enough to read this! I've been writing Lab Rats, and watching Zatch Bell, and they gently collided in my head. Then I told my family about it, and they all had really good ideas. Then the two worlds smashed violently into each other, and I sat down screaming, because I had the most amazing multichapter story mapped out in my head, an no time to write it. So, I decided to go with the original oneshot, but if I get any response from this story, and a little time, I would love to write the multichapter. :)

This story is set before Bionic Island, and probably soon after Kio gets back from England, as far as that timeline goes. Something like that, anyway.

I will probably scream very loudly in delight and excitment if anyone reviews this. Fair warning. :D

Oh, and for any bothered by the fact that everyone's speaking English, I'm really sorry. Truly. It irritated me too. I personally decided that Chase has a language app, and he basically forgot he wasn't speaking English. As for the scene at the end, well, I've just translated it for you. Or something.

Be the reason someone smiles today! :)

Chase threw himself onto the bench, fuming. He was in Japan. Freaking Japan. On such short notice, Davenport had literally said, "Oh, by the way, you guys have a plane to catch in an hour. I'm sending you to Japan for a couple days. You don't have any plans, right?" What stung was that a) Davenport hadn't asked, he'd demanded, and b) while normally that would've been true, Chase did have plans for the next day. He had recently reconnected with Sabrina, whose family who had moved away soon after they'd had the disastrous study date. They'd settled in the next city over, and he'd made plans to meet with her at a cafe about half way between them. Then, because of Davenport's super incredibly important thing that probably really wasn't, Chase had been forced to cancel.

Then, on top of that, Davenport's super important, super secret whatever it was wasn't even ready yet, so they had to wait for it. And Adam and Bree had ditched him. Not that he hadn't wanted some time alone after the long flight, but he still hadn't wanted to be left alone. What kind of older siblings did that, anyway? Oh, as kids, sure, but at 18 and 19 years olds, respectively? No one. Literally no one. Except, of course, Adam and Bree. Of course.

"Hey, mister," a sunshiny voice broke in. "You look sad."

Following the voice, a small boy with golden blond hair and honey eyes climbed up on the bench beside Chase. The boy smiled unreservedly at Chase, despite being a complete stranger, and began to swing his legs on the edge of the bench. He fairly oozed happy-go-luckiness, and Chase's initial irritation at the boy's intrusion was overcome as he saw how happy the little boy was. So, he swallowed the irritated response he'd been going to release, and instead, said a simple, "Hi there."

The boy stopped swinging his legs, and beamed an incredibly infectious smile. "Hi! That's better. You don't look so sad anymore. That's good, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess," Chase responded, smile tugging at his lips in response to the boy's enthusiasm. Then he frowned. It was evening, and the sun was just barely above the horizon. The boy beside him was small enough to be four or five, though he spoke likw he was older than that. "Isn't kind if late for you to be out here?"

The boy's eyes twinkled. "A little. But Kio needed his space, and Mom's still making dinner, so I came out here." The boy's face grew more serious. "But why are you out here all alone? Sad people shouldn't be alone, you know." The little boy scrunched up his face comically as he tried to form the next words. "Kio says it's too easy to supp- suppra- suppress negative emotions when sad people stay alone."

Chase nearly laughed at the triumphant look on the little boy's face. "Kio sounds like a pretty smart guy."

"He is! Kio's brilliant. A real genius." They sat in companionable silence for several moments. Chase couldn't help smiling at the boy's constant motion and cheerful nature. He realized he still had no idea what the boy's name was.

"My name is Chase," Chase offered, breaking the silence. "It's nice to meet you."

The boy grinned. "My name is Zatch. I'm glad to meet you too." He sat down cross-legged, back against the arm rail, face serious again. "But you didn't answer my question. Why were you sad?"

Chase sighed, and nearly dismissed him, but something in Zatch's open, attentive face forced him to be honest. "I feel like my family doesn't care about how I feel. My dad sent me on an errand last minute, just when I'd been about to go visit an old friend. Then, my siblings ditched me."

Chase let his head hit the back of the bench, and he stared up at the sky. "It's not the first time, either. They do stuff like that all the time, and I know, deep down, that they do care about what happens to me, but some days, I feel like I could vanish off the face of the Earth and they'd never notice."

Once Chase got started, he found he just couldn't stop. "I'm the youngest of us three, but I still feel responsible for them. It's a lot of extra stress and pressure, and no one seems to notice or appreciate it. Even though I'm there, watching their backs every day, my siblings still think I'm useless. Normally, I'm able to just shrug it off, but some days, I can't help but wonder if there's something wrong with me, you know? Because I try, and try, and never seem to get anywhere."

Chase swallowed, and surprisingly, the boy beside him didn't interrupt. "I can't hate them for it, because I know I'm smarter than they are. I'm not trying to brag, or anything, it's just a fact. Things that seem difficult to other people are easy for me, but things that are easy for other people don't make sense to me. My mind is so active, it's nearly impossible for me to do what other people would consider relaxation. If I try to force my mind to stop, then I just end up more stressed and snappish than if I'd kept working the entire time. People don't get that. They think I just hate having fun."

Chase sat in the silence, and took a deep breath, marveling at how light he felt. Maybe he'd needed a good rant, even if he probably shouldn't have just spilled all his problems to a complete stranger. He sat up, and looked over at the boy next to him apprehensively. But Zatch wasn't sitting shell shocked confused, or anything Chase had expected. He was smiling.

"Feel better?" Zatch asked, quietly. "Now that you let all the emotions out?"

"Yeah, actually. I guess I don't have much practice with that." A pause. "Sorry, though. I probably shouldn't have just made you sit and listen to everything wrong with my life."

Zatch shook his head. "Nothing to be sorry for. I understood a lot of what you said. I'm adopted, and sometimes, my family and I don't get along. I have-" A cloud came over Zatch's golden eyes, and he hesitated for a second. "...Special talents, and it took me a long time to realize that I'm not a monster, just different. Kio helped me through that. He's my friend, my best friend, really, and when I met him, he was just like you. He was so smart, he just couldn't understand people. He coped by being arrogant and rude, and pushing away everyone who could've been his friend. But I helped him, just like he helped me. That's what friends do, what family does. Even if they forget it sometimes." Zatch smiled

Zatch smiled again, and hopped off the bench, and Chase sat, amazed. "It was really great to meet you, but I should go in to dinner. I hope you can work everything out, with you and your family." And with that, the little boy went running down the street, one hand clutching what looked like a box with arms and legs.

Chase just stared after Zatch incredulously. He was so young, so happy, and yet, by the sound of it, had gone through some really tough times already. He was amazed that the little boy had remained so uncorrupted by it all. Chase shook his head, and rose. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and dialed Bree's number. She answered on the second ring.

"There you are! I was wondering when you'd call. Listen, I know you and Sabrina had wanted to get meet up tomorrow. Adam felt bad for ruining your chances with her the first time around, and helped me convince Davenport to do you a favor."

"No way,"' Chase breathed. "Are you saying what I think you're saying? Sabrina's here?"

"Nope, but she will be by tomorrow!" Bree replied, smugly. "Sorry about running off without you, but some things still needed to happen on this end to make the surprise work out. Tomorrow, Adam and I are going to go pick up Mr. Davenport's beauty cream, or whatever he's got us out here to do-"

Adam's voice broke in excitedly, with Bree trying obviously to fend him off in the background. "-and you two can go on a nerd date of museums, local food, and other nerdy things!"

Bree reclaimed her phone. "What he said, except less insulting, because Adam is trying to compensate for being nice by giving you a hard time." Bree said pointedly aside, before her excitement drew her back to her phone. "Then Sabrina can fly back with us on Davenport's jet, so that she'll be back in time for school Monday morning. What do you think?"

For a minute Chase was speechless. This didn't erase the countless times they'd ignored or ridiculed him, but it was a start. It was a truly thoughtful gesture, and he was touched.

"I think that sounds amazing! Thanks so much, guys. It really means a lot to me."

They spent a couple minutes finalizing details, and then hung up. Chase walked down towards their hotel, huge smile on his face.

Maybe his siblings didn't understand him as much as he'd like, but they definitely understood him better than he thought.

"Find anything interesting, Zatch?" Kio asked, as Zatch bounced inside. He smiled an apology for snapping at the younger boy earlier. Zatch saw, understood, and beamed forgiveness.

"Oh, I don't know," Zatch said, as he sat down, and shoveled food onto his plate. His eyes twinkled knowingly. "You'd probably be surprised."

A/N: For any of my Thinking readers, I will update tomorrow. Pinky promise. Now that the oneshots that were in the way are gone, I'm free!

Reviews are nice. They make me happy. :)