Je Vous Anch'io Ti Amo (Hetalia AU) Ch 03
It was rather odd when the time flied past them, it just sored away. Three months had passed since taking the child in, and already he was having with the child. Not saying that the child was a horrid little thing, far from the fact, but something's he had to question. Like how the child was unbelievably quiet, he was the ninja of the house as his son puts it. It was a wonder what the child did in his spare time before he claimed him.
Arthur sighed; clearly he needed to clear a few things up with Matthew.
It was winter; the snow sugar coated the pathways as pedestrians walked merrily along it, making footprints as they did so. Trees were dusted the tops of the leaves, making it glisten in the light. Children running, playing snowball fights, making snowmen or just chatting amongst themselves, it was a delightful scene.
Arthur, however, was having a thinking problem at the moment. The problem was, Alfred was over at his best friends, Kiku, house and wasn't coming back until the next day, which meant that he was stuck with Matthew. He sighed, what was he going to do for the day?
However, as the blond man moved his way through the house, he couldn't find the curious eyes anywhere. Strange, usually he found him in his room, or in his study reading. Nerveless, he could find him at all. That was the case, until he heard a pounding sound from the kitchen.
He rushed to the kitchen, only to find the boy covered with flour, making him look as if he was ready to be baked in the oven. Arthur laughed, wiping off the flour off his face, "How did you get the flour all over your face?"
Matthew looked out a window, "I wanted the maple syrup, but that fell on me…" He locked eyes with the carer, "Sorry…"
"Nah, love. It's just flour, not that much of a deal…" An idea popped into his head, a cunning one. He'll take the lad out for a day, "Would you like to come with me to town? I need to pick up a few things anyway, what do ya say, Mattie?"
He watched as the lad took in the words, before nodding, "Oui, I would like that, Iggy." He looked down at himself, inspecting the flour, "I'll need to get a new shirt though…"
He nodded, trying to not hug him out of his cuteness, "I think that's a good idea, lad. I'll be at the door waiting, eh?" Getting a nod as the little man rushing up stairs getting a new shirt, he smiled, looking out the window and into the sky, "How did you do it, Francis? He's nothing like you…"
Once getting his new shirt on, Matthew jumped on his toes, waiting impatiently for the door to open, revealing the snow infested area. The boy absolutely adored the white stuff that fell onto the surface; it would be the light of his day. When Arthur opened the door, he instantly ran out, forgetting his winter coat.
The boy had vanished from his sight, and straight to the snow. Arthur ran after him, feet pounding in the snow. Once reaching the blond boy, he scooped him up, "You, young man, need to wear a coat. It's bloody freezing out here!" He placed him on the ground.
Once getting the jacket on, and getting Arthur to do up his buttons at the front, he looked up at the sky, "I like snow very much, it's so pretty!"
He chuckled, "Yes, I know you do." Taking his tiny hand into his own, they started on their stroll to the town's centre where the shops were.
Normal children, as Arthur assumed, would go running off and playing in the snow and being kids, but not Matthew. Oddly, Matthew was a very well behaved lad, and by the looks of things, he would be the type of rare child that would never go running off. He had to wonder why though, not with his case of autism, then the fact that he adored snow. However, seeing as he was just walking besides him, he had to wonder why he wasn't walking off.
Arthur sighed, smiling down at him, "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Matthew nodded, looking at the corridor of maple trees that made a pathway, "Yeah…"
He chuckled, "You know that a king walked down this isle of maple trees once, lad."
The little boy looked up at him, eyes wide, "Really?"
"Oh yes, if I do recall, he was an English king, strolling along these vast lands of our good town, and he was very royal as well…"
"What was his name?"
He smirked, "Arthur Kirkland…" Getting complaints from the tiny person besides him, he laughed, placing him on his shoulders, "Now you're the little prince! All hail the little prince of the maple trees!"
He was surprised, just staring at the blond hair at the top of Arthur's head. He patted it, "Your hair is messy, Iggy."
He chuckled, "But Matthew, Your Grace, as your butler, I have to have messed up hair in order to address you, you're the king after all!"
He laughed, "Do I get a puppy?!"
"Of course, every good king deserves a pet, love!"
"Yay! That way, I can have Sherlock back! I miss Sherlock!"
He glanced up the best he could towards the boy, "You had a puppy?"
He nodded, "Yeah, Sherlock! But one day, he ran away and never came back…"
Oh, poor lad. Even the man's best friend died on him, what next? "Well, chin up lad! I'll bet you'll get something even better than a puppy, you'll see!" He heard the lad humming, and he sighed. He was a strange lad indeed.
The town sign stood there with pride as Arthur walked in town with Matthew on his shoulders, glancing at the people. Hardly anyone knew him, and he was somewhat glad at that fact, he didn't want to be noticed. The stores looked as if they came from the 1800's, yet it had a modern twist within them. He felt like he was back in London every time he came here, he felt at home.
Once done the grocery shopping, he felt like getting Matthew something special. However, as he came out of the grocery store, he couldn't find him anywhere, or at least, he wasn't with him when he walked out into the town's centre. Oh great, now he'll have to find the little lad before he ends up crying.
He glanced around, spotting a blond haired boy at the glass of the pet store. Walking up to him, Arthur realised it was Matthew, eyeing the kittens in the window. He smiled, of course he was here; he adored animals more than the last person. Just seeing him giggle over the kittens faces staring at him, Arthur would just let him be. Unfortunately though, he couldn't do that as he was his guardian, and it was his duty to keep him safe and welcome to him at all times.
Arthur scooped him up, chuckling, "You know, it's bad to run off from the person who is meant to be looking out for you…"
Matthew looked at the kittens, hand reaching out to the window, "Kitty…"
He sighed, walking up to the window, eyeing the cats. They were a pleasant sight, "They are cute, aren't they? Which one do you like?"
His huge eyes went towards the white cat that had a brown patch over one of his eyes, "That one." He pointed towards the animal.
He smiled, "That's a nice kitten indeed, lad. Very cute." He looked over the boys shoulder, seeing his brother's toy store. That gave him an idea, "How would you like to come to a toy store with me? In fact, would you like something from it?"
Matthew just stared blankly at Arthur, before shaking his head, "No, I really don't' want anything…"
He hugged him, walking over towards his brother's store, "Nonsense, lad. Everyone deserves something every once in a while."
"Thank you, Iggy…" He whispered. Arthur just hugged him more, saying that he was the king, and kings should never be upset.
Not even if it was his fault.
The toy store was a rather pleasant sight, Arthur would have to admit. Not with its huge sign across the window, saying 'FREY'S MAGICAL LAND OF TOYS'. Indeed, his older brother was named Frey; the one from Welsh was named after a fairy! It would make Arthur chuckle, considering that he was named after a king, his brother, Alistair, was named after a famous Scottish legend, and his sister after a famous author. Although, Frey did have his knack with children, he could always make them open up.
Opening the door, he was greeted his a chime, followed by a rather chappie, "Hello, and welcome to Frey's Magical Land Of Toys'! How many I…" He looked at the customers, his grin growing wider, "Artie! It's wonderful to see ya!"
Arthur set Matthew down, the little boy going behind his leg. He smiled, "Nice to see you too, Frey."
He laughed, looking at the little boy behind his leg. He bobbed down, chuckling as Matthew backed away even more, "I won't hurt you, love." He got two huge dark blue eyes at him, and he smiled, "My name is Frey Kirkland, Arthur's older and less violent brother. What's your name?"
Matthew looked at his feet, "M-Matthew…"
"Matthew? That's a wonderful name; I haven't heard one like that in quite some time, actually." He looked at his brother, smiling, "He's adorable, Artie. I didn't know Mattie here was Francis's son."
The British man sighed, and ruffled the lad's hair, "Go on, look around and pick anything out that you want, on me!"
"Okay!" Matthew ran out of sight.
Frey laughed, "He's a keeper, ya know…"
Arthur smiled as he watched the boy look around, "He sure is…A rather strange one at that…"
"Oh? How so?"
"Well, if you haven't heard from Ace, he has one hell of a case with…eh, autism." He brushed some hair out of his eyes, "I haven't got a clue how though, he seems alright to me…"
"All I have to say, is that if you treat him differently from anyone else, I'll make ya pay." He smiled, "Yeah, he looks it you know…"
He spared a glance at the lad, before turning back to him, "Yes, I know." He changed the topic, "May I ask, why is that fire truck black and not red?"
Frey walked up to his brother, looking at the toy, "Well, according to the guy on the phone, the company wanted it black, to make it look more appealing to people."
"What's appealing about this? It's black!"
"What's black, Iggy?" Matthew looked at the toy, "Why is the fire truck black?"
Frey laughed, "People have many opinions, lad."
Something caught Arthur's eye, and it was at the window. It was a white bear, very delightful to look at, and indeed it was very lovely all in one. His white fur lit up in the sunlight, making its fur glisten in the light. Its red bow around its neck was tied into a bow, making it look very smart. It sat there, looking at the child inside, who was now talking away with Frey.
Arthur tapped Matthew on the shoulder, making him look into his eyes, "Have you found anything yet, love?" Matthew shook his head, and he pointed at the bear, "What about that bear?"
Matthew eyes widened with joy, as he ran up to the bear, hugging it tightly. He nodded, "Oui, I would like him very much, Iggy."
He laughed, looking at his brother, "How much?"
Frey chuckled, "Since you're my first customer today, Artie, I'll give him to you for ten dollars."
"Done!" He shoved the money into his brother's hands.
He laughed, getting the bear off the window seel, and depositing it into the waiting boy's arms, "There you go, just for you!"
He jumped with joy, hugging the bear tightly, "Thank you!"
"Ah, you should be thanking Arthur, lad!" He ruffled his hair as Arthur grabbed his hand to start walking again, "See you again, Arthur! Bye Mattie!" He waved.
Matthew was happy for the rest of the way home, as he hugged his new stuffed bear to his chest, wondering what to name him. It was hard, he didn't want a normal, common name, no, Matthew wanted something unique. Something that no one had ever heard of before. As they walked passed a group of teenagers, he could've sworn he'd heard someone mention tuna. That made him hungry, but something clicked in his mind.
"Kumajiro." Matthew stated out loud.
Arthur looked down at him, "What?"
He looked up at the blond man, "My bear should be named Kumajiro!"
He thought about the name. It was incredibly unique, not to mention uncommon. Plus, it rolled off your tongue, "That's a rather cool name, Mattie!"
He clapped his hands, "Yay! Kumajiro it is!" He smiled up at Arthur, "Can you carry me?"
He laughed, hugging him up into his arms, "Lad, it's 'may I', alright?" Unknown to him, Matthew had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He sighed, "Let's go home, lad…" The rest of the walk was rather pleasant.
The snow was patting their heads as he walked, adoring his head with the white specks of joy. It covered the path now, as he observed his tracks he was making in the snow. Trees had now no leaves on them officially; instead it was covered in a thick layer of snow on the trunks. As the wind brushed against his face, he could feel the sharp intake of frost on his skin. Oddly, he didn't make much attention to that as he did on the snow; it was just so charming in his eyes.
He made his way home, and placed the still slumbering Matthew down on the couch, and made his way into the kitchen, staring on dinner. If Alfred complained about his cooking, so would Matthew. So he decided to buy something out of a packet, nothing special.
Arthur sighed, and looked into the living room, and at the sleeping angel on the couch. Maybe he should ask him what he wanted. He sighed, and began to read. It was pleasant afternoon, and he didn't want anything to interrupt it.
Nothing could reduce the relaxed feeling of his own home; nothing could make him feel stressed over the child.