A/N – An AU with Yao and Arthur meeting as little kids and growing up together. I don't know – I thought writing them growing up together would be cute, sue me.

Meeting you was by chance

"Hello!" a little boy called in front of a house with a white gate. "Hello!" he called again.

A little while later, a tiny head peeked out of the front door of the house. It belonged to another little person with golden eyes and slightly long dark-brown hair, which was tied back into a small ponytail. The individual didn't say anything, and just stared at the former little boy.

"Hello!" the little boy greeted. "I er… I kicked my football too high and it landed in your garden. Could I please have it back?"

The dark-haired person stared at the little boy for a while. Wordlessly, the person stepped outside and headed away.

The little boy frowned. He was slightly annoyed. Was that person deliberately ignoring him? He had asked nicely, hadn't he? What a jerk!

But no sooner had that thought left his mind, the golden-eyed individual re-appeared, clutching a football. They headed to the front gate towards the little boy.

"It's quite a big ball, isn't it, aru?"

The little boy broke into a grin. "It belongs to my older brother!" he exclaimed. "He lent it to me. You want to play with me?"

The dark-haired person's eyes lit up. "Can I?" he asked excitedly.

"Of course!"

"Okay! Let me go tell my mom where I'm going!" With that, the shorter individual placed the football on the ground and ran back to the front door. They shouted something to their mother. A woman's voice replied, and then the little person ran back towards the little boy, opening the gate and slipping out.

"What's your name?" the little boy asked as they headed off together.

"Yao! I'm five years old!"

"I'm Arthur Kirkland!" the little boy greeted. "I'm five too!"

Yao grinned and shook Arthur's hand. It was the beginning of a friendship.

Arthur and Yao would meet daily to play together. Commuting to and fro their homes was not a difficult task – they even lived within the same row of houses – their houses were a mere five doors apart. They were practically neighbours.

However, one day, Yao didn't come out to meet Arthur to play.

Arthur assumed Yao must have forgotten. So, Arthur rapped on the gate of Yao's house.

A beautiful woman came out to the gate. She was Yao's mother. "Oh, it's the little boy my Yao-Yao always plays with!" she exclaimed. "Arthur, or something like that?"

Arthur nodded and put on his most angelic expression.

"I'm sorry, but Yao can't go out to play," the woman told Arthur apologetically. "He's got the chicken pox. If he goes out, then all the kids are going to catch it as well."

Arthur smile turned into a sulk. He looked like a hungry puppy that had been denied food.

"He'll be fully recovered in two weeks, so he can play with you then! You can wait that long, right?"

Arthur nodded before trudging home.

Arthur stopped in front of his gate, deep in thought. Chicken pox, huh? That sounded familiar. He was sure he had caught it from one of his older brothers when he was very young. He also vaguely recalled his father saying that now no one in the Kirkland household had to worry about getting the pox since they'd all already been taken ill by the sickness. Being the bright child that he was, Arthur put two and two together – he concluded that once a person had the chicken pox, he wouldn't get it again. So, it should be safe for him to see Yao!

So Arthur turned around and headed back to Yao's home. He rapped on the gate again.

When Yao's mother appeared through the door, Arthur didn't let her speak. He launched into the mini speech he had prepared. "Hi Auntie! I know you said that Yao has the chicken pox, but I've already had it, and my daddy said that if you have already had it, then you won't have it again! So can I please please please see Yao?"

Eventually, Yao's mother agreed to let Arthur see Yao. For one, she couldn't resist Arthur's adorable pleading face. For another, Arthur seemed really concerned about her son, and who was she to deny her son having a friend over? After all, Yao had been complaining on how bored he was getting, so having Arthur over would probably cheer him up.

Yao's mother took Arthur upstairs to Yao's room, where her son was in bed, holding his toy aeroplane and looking at it boredly. "Yao dear, someone's here to see you," she sang.

Yao regarded his mother with a disgruntled expression. "What is it, ma? I thought you said I can't see anyone."

"I was just afraid that you'd spread your chicken pox to all the kids in the neighbourhood," the woman told her son. "But this little boy here says he's already had it, and he really wants to see you."

Arthur then appeared from behind Yao's mother. "Hi," he said, waving his hand at Yao shyly.

"Arthur, aru!" Yao exclaimed happily.

"I was worried because you didn't meet me today," Arthur said.

Yao looked towards his mother to thank her for bringing the Caucasian boy, but she had left to give them some privacy.

"I wanted to, but my mom wouldn't let me," lamented Yao.

"So… how are you?" Arthur asked the Asian boy, as he settled himself on the edge of Yao's bed.

A few weeks after Yao had recovered from his chicken pox, Arthur invited him for a sleepover at his house over the weekend.

Arthur's father had brought out a thick, comfy mattress that Arthur and Yao could sleep on. Arthur's bed was big enough for just one child to sleep on, so Yao couldn't fit in there.

After Arthur's mother had laid the mattress out on the floor and laid a bed sheet over it so that it was more comfortable for the children to sleep on, Arthur leapt excitedly onto the mattress. It was the springy type, so Arthur bounced on it for a while. Yao, on the other hand, gently sat himself down onto the mattress. Arthur's mother then gave Arthur and Yao two fluffy pillows and a huge blanket to share, and said good night to them, reminding them not to sleep too late.

"Okay!" Arthur chirped, while Yao gave a simple nod.

Arthur's mother switched on Arthur's nightlight and switched off the room lights. She stepped out and quietly closed the door behind her.

Through the dim light of his room, Arthur stole a peek at Yao. Yao was already making himself comfortable on his side of the mattress.

Arthur grinned, and let his head fall onto his pillow. He turned to face Yao. "I'm glad you agreed to come."

Yao smiled. He reached out to take Arthur's hand in his. "Of course. You're my best friend, aru."

Arthur and Yao spent the rest of the next hour talking until they were tired. Yao drifted off first, but Arthur stayed awake for a while longer.

As soon as Yao was asleep, however, he unconsciously edged closer and closer to Arthur, until he was hugging Arthur desperately, almost as if he were clinging on for dear life. Initially, Arthur wanted to gently extricate himself from the Asian boy's grasp, but he realised that it was just a habit of Yao's to hug something when he slept, and since he was not in the comfort of his own bed and didn't have anything to cling on to, Arthur was the next best thing. Besides, it wasn't like Yao hugging him was uncomfortable.

Soon, Arthur was fast asleep too, with a hand draped somewhat protectively over Yao's body.