Little Matthew was 10 years old. He was pretty much invisible to the other kids around him, but he didn't mind. He was content to play by himself. His only friend was his stuffed polar bear, Kumajirou.
He would wander around parks, talking to the bear, other people running by with their friends. He didn't have a care in the world.
This happy little boy stumbled upon a sad sight one day. A young boy with blonde hair was being bullied by some older, bigger boys. Matthew ran over to see what was going on. The boys were picking on the blonde kid because he had long hair. They were calling him names like "girly" and "prissy". Matthew frowned and approached them.
"Hey!" he called. The boys looked over at him. Matthew, having not talked to anyone but Kumajirou before, took a deep breath. "Leave him alone! He didn't do anything to you, so butt out!"
The boys looked at each other, shrugged, and walked away. Matthew watched with a sense of victory. He smiled and turned to the boy. "Hi! I'm-"
The blonde boy walked away without a word. "Hey!" Matthew called, following after him. "Come back!"
The blonde kid kept walking until they were in a forest clearing, then turned around. Matthew, out of breath, came up. "Oh good, you stopped.."
The kid frowned. "I didn't need your help. That wasn't any of your business."
Matthew was shocked. "B-but, I just.."
The kid sighed. "Look, I've never seen you before, and I don't have a reason to be mad at you. But I'm telling you now, I can take care of myself."
Matthew was quiet. He felt hurt inside. "W-well, I'm Matthew. I'm ten years old..."
The kid's face softened. "I'm Vash. Also ten years old." He held out his hand.
Matthew looked at it, then reached out and shook it. "You seem quite grown up for your age.." he said.
Vash nodded. "Well, I live a hard life. You learn to grow up and take care of yourself."
Matthew looked at him with an awed sparkle in his eyes. He admired the young boy for doing what he couldn't.
"That's amazing..." he said.
Vash smiled. "Why don't you come stay with me? I don't have anyone at my house.."
Matthew's face lit up. "Of course!" he said excitedly.
Matthew certainly could tell Vash had a hard life the moment he saw his house. It was small, just one bedroom, one bath, not much else. "I only buy what I need. I try to save money whenever I can," Vash said during the short tour of his house.
Matthew sat on the shabby pillow Vash used as a couch in the small living room. 'I really feel bad for him..' he thought to himself. Since he was alone, he turned to Kumajirou. "This guy is really amazing. I can't believe he lives like this."
As usual, Kumajirou just sat there. But what else would he do? He was a stuffed animal after all.
That night, Matthew slept on Vash's pillow. Vash slept on a pile of cloth. In the cramped bedroom they weren't very far apart from each other. Matthew was sound asleep when Vash sat up suddenly, looking around. He quietly got up, trying not to wake Matthew, and examined the outside of his house. Frowning, he tiptoed through all the rooms, checking them.
While Vash was gone, Matthew woke up due to back pain. He rubbed his eyes and saw Kumajirou sitting directly in front of his face. "Oh, hello, Kumajirou." He smiled at the bear and sat up. "I wonder where Vash went?"
As he turned to get up, he fell back down, as if someone had pulled on his leg. "What?" he looked around, confused. Kumajirou was in the same place as before. He picked him up, looking at his plush face, and hugged him.
Vash was searching the house for what caused a certain strange noise which woke him up. He went room to room, but found nothing. Puzzled, he headed back to the bedroom. When he opened the door and saw Matthew sitting on the pillow he smiled. "Hello, Matthew. Don't worry about me, I'm fine." He headed toward his bed, but Matthew grabbed his wrist as he walked by. Vash looked down at him. "You need something?"
Matthew looked up, eyes black instead of their normal light purple color. He smiled. "Stay away from him.." he said, with a higher pitched voice than normal.
"Matthew.."
"He can't hear you. But I can. Stay away from him," Matthew repeated. His head tilted to the side slowly and he stood.
Vash stepped back. "What's going on?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.
"I'm his only friend.. there can't be another.." Matthew walked toward Vash slowly.
Vash looked at the ground. 'Didn't he have a stuffed animal earlier?' he pondered, looking back at Matthew's face.
"Where's your bear?" he asked.
"Oh, him? He's still here..."
"Really. Where?"
Matthew had him against the wall now, giggling and looking into his eyes. "Right.. here." He grinned and pointed to himself.
Vash made no change in expression. "All right. So are you going to kill me?"
"Oh... I wouldn't want to spoil my surprise." Another giggle.
"I see.." Vash stated flatly. He thought for a moment, then on a whim, he reached out and took Matthew's hand.
Matthew looked down as they held hands. Vash smiled and took the opportunity to take Matthew down to the ground, getting on top of him. Matthew glared, but said nothing.
"Get out of him.." Vash commanded, then planted a kiss on Matthew's forehead.
Matthew's eyes widened, then drooped as the color came back to his irises. Vash held him close.
"V-Vash?" His normal voice.
Vash smiled, and whispered. "I'm all right."
Matthew smiled and laughed softly. "Good." Then he hugged Vash tightly, a blush coming to his face as he kissed the blonde boy's cheek.