This is a submission for a Madao writing challenge in Yorozuya Soul.

"Peasant!"

"Filthy clothes!"

"Ragged brat!"

A group of four kids kicked Hasegawa Taizo on the ground non-stop. Hasegawa covered his face with his arms, though he already knew that that wouldn't help in the slightest. He didn't know why these brats – from out of nowhere – were kicking him; maybe it was because Hasegawa was born into family of lowly samurais. Well, if that was the reason, they still didn't need to kick him. They could've just given him the silent treatment; that would've made much more sense.

Hasegawa begged them to stop, but to no avail.

But all of a sudden, he heard a girls' voice crying out, "Stop that! Stop that, right now!"

The four boys halted, and turned their heads around, only to see a girl – around their age – with her hair covering her eyes.

It was Hatsu.

One of the boys arched an eyebrow up, and asked, "Why should we? He's from a poor family." He emphasized the word "poor". "We, on the other hand, are from rich families!"

"You better get away from them!" She rebuked.

"Or else what?" The second boy challenged her.

"Or else I'll tell your parents! I'm sure they won't be happy with what you're doing to him!"

The boys looked at each other with frowns plastered on their faces. The third boy kicked Hasegawa one last time before exclaiming, "Let's get out of here!" With that being said, they all ran away from him.

Hatsu ran towards Hasegawa, and asked, "Taizo-san, are you alright?"

"I-I think so," Hasegawa muttered.

Hatsu sighed, "I can't believe those boys kicked you." She helped Hasegawa stand up.

The boy wiped his hands on his kimono, and crackly smiled, "It can't be helped, I guess."

"Don't say that, Taizo-san," The corners of her lips tugged down. "They had no right to kick you."

Hasegawa stared into her eyes- erm, hair. Seriously, what was up with Hatsu's hair covering up her eyes? Hasegawa wished he could see her eyes; he'd always wanted to see them.

"Hatsu-san," Hasegawa began, "why do we call each other by our first names? Don't get me wrong, I don't mind addressing you by your first name; it's just that…I'm curious."

Tilting her head slightly, Hatsu responded, "Because I want us to be friends."

Hasegawa blinked as he repeated the word "friends" in his mind. Truthfully, he wanted to be friends with her as well, but he breathed, "Hatsu-san…you know your parents wouldn't allow us to be friends, especially when I'm from a much poorer family."

"I'll try to convince them to let us be friends…somehow." Hatsu then perked up, "Oh, Taizo-san, I almost forgot to give you something."

"Eh?"

Stuffing her hand into her pocket, Hatsu pulled out an item. At first, Hasegawa couldn't make out what it was, but when the girl opened up her hand, he came to a realization that it was a pair of sunglasses.

Widening his eyes, a gasp slipped from Hasegawa's lips. Before he could ask, Hatsu smiled slightly, "Yes, these really are sunglasses. You once told me that you'd always wanted sunglasses, so I got these for you."

"Wh-Where'd you get them, though?"

"Some boy didn't want these anymore, so I asked him if I could have them."

Hasegawa stared at the sunglasses in hesitation. True, he'd always wanted a pair of those – mostly because kids made fun of how small his eyes were – but…

"What if my parents ask me where I got them?" Hasegawa asked.

"Put them in your pocket," She said softly. "And besides…it's your birthday today."

Raising his eyebrows up in surprise, Hasegawa was beginning to wonder how he forgot his own birthday. He thought, however, I guess I forgot about my birthday because I never get any gifts.

Holding a sheepish smile, Hasegawa accepted the present. It may have not been much of a gift, but it was better than receiving no gifts at all.

Hasegawa felt his eyes water. He weakly whispered, "Thank you, Hatsu-san."

"You're welcome," She replied. "Anyway, I need to get going. My parents want me to be back very soon. Happy birthday, Taizo-san!" With that, she headed for home.

Hasegawa felt a tear dripped down his face. He thought as he squinted his eyes, Thank you, Hatsu.

I would've posted this a few hours ago, but I was extremely hesitant to do so, because...I'm not really happy with this. In fact, I'm a bit disappointed in myself. But, I told myself (And two other people) that I'd write a fic for Hasegawa's birthday, so...yeah. ^^;