"Mattie! Hey Mattie! Dude, come on, wake up!" a loud boisterous voice boomed.

"Mattie," better known as Matthew Williams, woke up with a start and glared at the source of his interrupted rest, also known as his annoying older twin, Alfred.

"Alfred, it's really early, why did you have to wake me up, eh?" he groaned, stifling a yawn.

"Sorry bro, but we're out of food. Can you please go down to the village and buy something to eat? I'm starving!" Alfred whined.

"You're always hungry. Can't you go yourself?"

"No can do, I'm busy with my research. Come on, please, please, PLEEEEASE?" Matthew tried to ignore Alfred's big puppy dog eyes and sighed.

"Fine."

"Really? Thanks dude!" Alfred practically zoomed out of Matthew's bedroom. Where on earth did he get all of that energy anyway?

Matthew stood up and polished his glasses, putting them on and looking at himself in the mirror.

Although Matthew and Alfred were twins they did not look exactly alike. It's true they were both the same height and build and that they both needed glasses. But while they both had blond hair, Matthew's was wavier, and slightly longer. Both had an odd strand of hair that stuck out, but while Alfred's was short and stuck straight up out of his hair, Matthew's was long and curled in front of his face. The biggest difference however was that Alfred had blue eyes while Matthew's eyes were a violet.

The brothers also differed in their personalities. While Alfred was noisy, outgoing, and energetic, Matthew was calm, shy, and so quiet that it was rare to hear him speak above a whisper.

Matthew and Alfred did not share the same last name, due to being raised by different parents so while Matthew had the last name Williams, Alfred's surname was Jones.

Matthew finished getting dressed, grabbed a basket that contained a book he needed to return the bookkeeper, and headed outside.

Once he finally set foot outdoors, Matthew didn't regret waking up at all. The weather was surprising warm for late fall. The sun shone brightly and birds chirped merrily from the trees that grew at the side of the path leading to the village.

The village itself was very small town, with small minded people to go with it. Was it really that hard to see him, let alone distinguish him from his brother or remember his name?

Not wanting to deal with these thoughts so early in the day, Matthew shook them off as he made his way down the streets where the people were beginning to set up shop and say their hellos to each other.

Catching sight of the baker, Matthew hurried up to him. "Excuse me, I would like to buy some bread."

The baker didn't appear to hear him so Matthew repeated his request but slightly louder without any success. It was only a tap on the shoulder that would make the baker look at him.

"Oh, sorry I didn't see you there."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Matthew murmured, trying to shrug it off. "I need to purchase some loaves of bread," he said once more.

After buying some bread along with a few baguettes, Matthew continued on his way to the bookshop. Not looking where he was going, he accidentally bumped into someone going in the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry." Matthew apologized, helping the person up picking up their things. The man only looked at him confused.

Realizing what the man was thinking, Matthews tried not to look annoyed as he answered calmly.

"I'm Matthew Williams, Alfred's brother? We've met before…" the man only shrugged and kept going.

The bookshop was a welcome sight. Matthew let himself in and saw the bookkeeper, Kiku Honda, look up from a large volume written in a language that Matthew couldn't read. He stood up and bowed as he greeted Matthew.

"Good Morning, Mr. Williams," he said, a strong Japanese accent audible in his voice.

"Good Morning, Mr. Honda. I wanted to return the book I borrowed."

"Already done?"

"'Yeah, I couldn't put it down. Do you have any new books?"

"Not since that one you just finished I'm afraid."

"That's okay." Matthew's eyes skimmed the bookshelves until he found what he was looking for. "I'll borrow this one," he announced (well as much as you can announce if you have a soft voice), holding out a book with a well-worn cover that had clearly been read many times.

"That one?" Kiku raised an eyebrow. "You have borrowed it twice already."

"It's my favorite book!" Matthew explained. "Far away countries, daring swordfights, magic, and adventure! What more could you ask for?"

"Well, if that's the case, you can keep it."

"Really?" Matthew's eyes widened. "You don't have to. Are you sure?"

"I insist."

"Wow! Thank you so much!"

Matthew started reading his new book the moment he left the shop not even looking up once until he reached the fountain at the center of the town where he could sit down and read in peace. He would have stayed too except a sheep that had stopped by to drink from the fountain chewed off the corner of a page. And he had just gotten to his favorite part too…

Abandoning the fountain with the thought of going home and reading there, Matthew began walking down the street again.

"Hello Matthew," said a voice from in front of him and the book disappeared from his hands. Matthew looked up to meet the gaze of a man with gravity defying hair and a childish grin.

"Hey Matthias." Matthew replied quietly. "Will you please give me back my book?"

Matthias ignored him, flipping through the pages. "How on earth can you read this? There are too many words in here and no pictures at all."

"Well, um, actually I just use my imagination. That's what most people with a brain do." Matthias missed the veiled insult.

"Matthew you have got to do something better with your life than boring stuff like reading." Matthias pointed at himself. "For instance you can hang out with me,the king."

From behind them, Matthew thought he heard a group of girls sighing as though entranced. Matthias Kohler WAS handsome, no one could dispute that. Several women (as well as a few men) had their eye on him. But if Matthew was to be honest, he found Matthias really annoying even though he was one of the few people who actually remembered him on a regular basis. Just the way that he automatically assumed that Matthew would want to be with him and his rude attitude toward others made him unlikable.

"Come on Matthew. There are WAY more manly things you could be doing than reading." He grabbed Matthew shoulder and started to drag him, perhaps not realizing how uncomfortable this was to the other man. "Like drinking for example. Why don't we go to the bar and you can look at my hunting trophies?"

"Matthias you are so…" Matthew paused trying to think of a word. "…primitive."

"Why thank you." Matthew facepalmed and tried to squirm away.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I have to get back home. Alfred and I haven't had breakfast yet and then I need to help him with his research."

"Alfred? That guy who calls himself 'the hero?' That weirdo certainly needs help!" Matthew hadn't realized that Peter, Matthias' self-proclaimed sidekick was here too. God knows why that boy was hanging around a guy like Matthias.

Matthias was laughing with Peter and Matthew was getting annoyed. "Please don't talk about Alfred like that." Matthias (somehow) caught onto Matthew's annoyance.

"Yeah Peter, be nice when talking about Alfred."

The kid was confused "But I-" He was silenced by Matthias smacking his arm.

"Alfred's not weird. In fact he IS a hero." Matthew said proudly.

Right before a loud CRASH was heard coming from Matthew's house and he could see a large cloud of dust rising.

Matthew tried in vain to ignore Matthias and Peter's obnoxious laughter as he ran home as fast as he could.