You kept your eyes closed and stretched- moaning as your arms were practically pulled out of their sockets. You slowly opened your eyes, wincing as the bright light met your pupils. As your eyes got used to the new light you looked around and temporarily forgot where you were. You moved your arm and felt it rub up against something warm and you practically leaped out of your skin until you realized that it was just your best friend and hunting partner, Vash Zwingli. He was asleep in his grey t-shirt and camo cargo pants, leaning up against one of the many trees in the forest the two of you were in, and you assumed that your head had been resting in the crook of his arm before you had woken. You rubbed your eyes and yawned. You had on a dark green long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of dark brown leggings that were half-hidden  under your tall brown lace-up boots. Other than your one pair of nice flats that you only used on special occasions, these were the only pair of shoes that you owned- you didn't mind because you liked them and they were as silent as a beat of a butterfly's wings while you were hunting. You thought about what happened and realized you probably fell asleep while you were waiting for game to pass by- because the day before had been unsuccessful on the food side of things and you and Vash didn't want to return home to your families empty-handed. You sat quietly when you realized that there was a deer right across the way- couldn't have been any farther than 50 yards- staring right at you. "This is what we've been waiting for... this'll feed our families for a little while, especially after our recent shortage," you thought silently.



You reached down into your boots and pulled out your favorite dagger- it had a black handle and a six-inch blade and you had used it for as long as you could remember, but still kept it nice and sharp. You carefully brought it up to your face and lined it up against your cheek, taking aim. Slowly you pulled it back and in one swift motion you had it thrown it in a straight line nailing the doe right through the eye. You grinned as the animal fell to the ground. You quickly got up and ran to it, wrenching your now blood-soaked knife out of it's eye and slit it's throat so it wouldn't suffer. You grinned and wiped your dagger clean in the long grass that surrounded you in the thick of the forest. You heard the sound of a footstep that was attempting to be light and silent come up behind you, and before he had the chance to say anything you grinned and said,



"Pretty nice kill, huh Vash?"



"Damn..." you heard him swear under his breath. "You're too good for me, "_______". You got me figured out."



You laughed. "Or your footsteps sound like the stampede of Italians running from the British." He laughed at your joke and kelt down to help you carry the doe.



You looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.

"Seriously? Dude, I think I can carry this small thing for a little while," you said while lifting up the dear and starting to walk towards your town. "But can you grab my knives?" you called back over your shoulder.



By 'other knives' you meant the small collection you had gotten from saving the little bit of money you got off of extra game, the ones that you had lifted, or the shabby ones you have attempted to make. He nodded and grabbed them for you, following you out of the woods and into the field that meant you weren't too much farther from your home-town/village... you weren't really sure what to classify it as since it was pretty small... you liked to call it a town even though it was probably closer to a village. Anyway.



Apparently while you were thinking about random stuff like trying to figure out if your home... place... was a town or a village, you had walked the mile through the empty field and had gotten into the... village. Let's go with that. Or was it a town?! You still weren't sure. ANYWAAAAAAAAY...



You and Vash walked to your house and went to the backyard and started to clean up the doe you had gotten. It was a pretty nice dear, if you did say so yourself, and it cleaned up nicely- the hide came off in large pieces which would make it easy to make a blanket, jacket, or rug out of. After diving up the meat between you and Vash, you took the small amount of extra that would go bad if you kept it down to the butcher, Lovino, whom you were personal friends with. When you walked in he gave you his normal scowl and grunted something like "Hello". And yes, this is what made you know that he liked you- because to anyone else but you and Vash he would've called you some foul name and thrown some part of whatever he was currently cleaning at your face as a greeting.



"Hey, Lovi!" you said. In response you got a frown as he held up a threatening handful of intestines. "Lovino, sorry," you corrected. "What'll you give us for this?" you asked him holding up your sack of dear meat. His golden eyes narrowed as he was thinking of a fair price and said,



"Five dollars," he said flatly going back to his work. Your jaw dropped.



"FIVE DOLLARS?! Are you kidding me! Lovino, come one. Gimme the fair family price- not the French-guy-get-away-from-me price." He sighed.



"Fine. Fifteen, no more." You grinned.



"Thanks, Lovi!! -er... Lovino." He grumbled something and left for a minute to get you your pay. You turned to Vash who was as quiet as he normally was and appeared to be staring off into space. You didn't always mind, but sometimes it got on your nerves because he always seemed to just be... observing... you made faces at him- crossing your eyes, sticking out your tongue, puffing out your cheeks, and different combinations of the above waiting to see how long it would take to get his attention. It seemed you got everyone's attention BUT Vash's because everyone was staring at you wondering if your face was having a seizure while Vash continued to stare unblinkingly.  You eventually gave up and sighed.



-------------------------------------------------~Vash's POV~------------------------------------------------



"...Lovino, sorry," {-name-} had corrected herself again. she often found herself calling him that.



"I wonder if she likes him..." Vash thought to himself. "She is always calling him by that cute little pet name and always looking deeply into his eyes and- wait, what does it matter? What do I care, anyway?! {-name-} can like whoever she wants!" he told himself forcefully. He shook his head slightly but continued to stare off into space thinking about lots of things... mainly you. He had to fight a smirk as you talked Lovino up ten whole dollars from his normal starting price- which was a little low, but nothing to really scoff at, especially in this town... "or is it a village?" Vash thought to himself. Lovino walked back to get your money and she turned around. Vash was still staring off into space off to the left of your head, but he could clearly see her trying to break him out of his trance and make him laugh. It was hard, but he fought off the smile that creeped into the edge of his mouth. He heard he sigh and she turned around. Only then did he allow himself to smile.



---------------------------------------------------~Your POV~-------------------------------------------------



You could practically hear him smile when you turned back around and you smiled to yourself knowing he had been playing you the whole time. Lovino came back out with your money and slapped it down on the counter as you handed him your bag of dear meat.



"Pleasure doing business with you, Lovi," you said winking at him- only causing him to scowl and get a slight blush. You walked out and dragged Vash out behind you. You skipped back to his house and when you got in you plopped down on his couch. The two of you lived across the street from each other and were practically brother and sister because of the amount of time you spend with each other. Your three little brothers and your one little sister were running around in the yard and inside the house with Vash's little sister Lily. As you were sitting there you pulled out your knife and admired your reflection in it and cleaned it up a little(even though it was already shiny) when you saw Vash in the reflection of your knife staring out the window and running his hand through his shaggy hair. He had apparently changed into a navy blue muscle shirt and a new pair of jeans. He looked pretty good even as a distorted refection in a dagger. You shook your head and thought



"What are you thinking?! This guy is practically a brother to you!!" you thought. You shook your head and went back to observing your beautiful dagger. Little did you know that you looked away a second to early.



-----------------------------------------------------~Vash's POV~--------------------------------------------



He didn't know it either, but the minute he looked over his shoulder to look at you you had already turned back to your knife. He smiled. You were so cute looking at your knife like sociopath. (Me: HOW IS THAT CUTE?!) Truth be told he had liked you since you had moved into the town(OR IS IT A F***ING VILLAGE?!). He thought back, remembering when you had just moved in...



You had boy-short {-h/c-} hair that was tangled and a mess- your jeans had huge rips in them and your shirt was gigantic on you. He remembered that Lily hadn't been born yet. He had approached you and said



"Hi..." very quietly.


You looked at him with a quizzical look and said very loudly,



"I can't hear you!! Talk loud so I can actually hear you!" You had said it so loud that it had practically blown his ear drums out. He remembered being scared and running away, leaving you there speechless. However you shrugged your shoulders and went back to your new home.



Vash suddenly snapped out of his trance only to realize you were still infatuated with cleaning your weapon of choice. He smiled and turned back to the window just as you looked back into the reflection of your knife.



---------------------------------------------------~Your POV~-----------------------------------------------



You felt stupid for looking back again just to see his tall form staring out the window. "What did you think would happen?" you asked yourself. "That you would lock eyes and something magical would happen? Wow." You practically L.O.L.ed at your own foolishness. Just then Lily ran into the room. Her blonde hair(which she had cut to look like her big brothers) had her traditional purple bow in. Her flying-mint bunny colored eyes shone brightly as she asked you,



"{-name-}! Do you vant to stay over tonight with me und my big brudder?" You heard Vash make some sort of a choking noise.



"Vat? Um... why would she want to do zat, Lily? Ha-ha... that's just absurd!" He said. "Does he sound a little nervous?" you thought- but instantly shrugging away the thought.  You inwardly grinned. "This, however, could be fun," you thought.



"Sure! I'd love to, Lily," you said- sneaking a glance behind you and seeing Vash turn a bright red. This only made you grin more. "Just let me run back home and grab an extra pair of clothes." Lily smiled.



"Oh, yea! Won't it be fun to have {-name-} over, big brudder?"



"Uh... yea. Although we don't have a bed for her to sleep in, so I guess she can't stay over."



"No worries, {-name-}!" LIly said. "You can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep on the floor."



"What? No! Lily you can't sleep on the floor!"



"Fine then- {-name-} can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep in yours and YOU can sleep on the floor." Vash made another choking sound.



"What? You are not kicking me out of my own bed!" Lily giggled.



"Than maybe you and {-name-} could share a bed~!" Lily burst out laughing as you and Vash's faces were an identical shade of red.



"N-no!" the two of you said simultaneously.



"I was only joking!" Lily said when she was done giggling.



"Vell... fine. {-name-} can stay over and I'll sleep on the floor out here." Lily got up and gave Vash a hug.



"Oh, dank you big brudder!!"



You nodded in agreement and walked back over to your house to get a change of clothes and your hairbrush. Your long {-h/c-} was always getting tangled up. You caught a glance of yourself in the dirty mirror that was in the bathroom- and truth-be-told you'd probably look the same even if the mirror was clean as a whistle, because your face was speckled with mud and blood and your tangled hair was pulling out of it's french braid(Me: Nooooo0000OOOOOOO0000ooooo not a FRENCH braid!!! DX). You sighed. "Great. Now I know what my mom means when she calls me a disgrace and tells me I'm going to grow old alone," you thought. Truth was you were actually very beautiful- and although that was enough for some people, your personality took a 'special taste' as your mother so kindly puts it. Meaning- there's only like 1/1000000000000000000000000000000th percentage of guys who your personality appeals to. You shrugged it off and went back over to the Zwingli's house.



-------------------------------------------------~Time Skip~-----------------------------------------------



You were lying in your nightgown hugging a pillow and laughing as Lily told you a hilarious story about Vash- whom had already gotten up and left the room out of embarrassment. You had been playing "Truth or Dare" and you had dared Vash to tell you a story about when he was little. Since he didn't participate Lily told one for him.



You were having a great time at the Zwingli's- it was a fun time away from your family and with Vash and Lily... mostly Vash though... but of course you didn't think of Vash like that because he was practically your brother, you were in front of his ligit little sister, and there was no way that he felt the same way you felt about him.



---------------------------------------------------~Vash's POV~----------------------------------------------



"I can't believe that {-name-} is at my house..." Vash thought as she lay down on the wood floor- looking strangely beautiful in her slip of a nightgown and your {-h/c-} hair let loose, hanging down by your elbows which propped you up on top of a pillow. Your {-e/c-} eyes were shining with laughter as Lily told you about the time Vash had pulled a gun on a couple of girl-scouts because they wouldn't leave. He remembered that day- he was annoyed because these little girls were being very persistent on selling him a box of Thin Mints which he refused- and only knew one way to get them gone for good. He regrets it now... kind of... but it really is funny when they are going door-to-door and they just walk around... far FAR around the Zwingli house.



However, the story he really wanted to tell you was the one of the first day of school- the way you looked beautiful in your boyish clothes and how everyone thought you were a boy- and how he admired you when you beat up anyone who didn't respect you. Of course he rarely approached you for fear of getting the same fate as the other unfortunate. And when you came up to him for the first time and requested a friendship he was speechless and merely nodded in acceptance. The two of you had been friends ever since- although he wanted it to go further.



------------------------------------------------~Your POV~--------------------------------------------------



After Vash left the room Lily stopped laughing and got all serious-faced. You stopped laughing as well and gave her a questioning look.



"You need to make the first move because Vash never will," she said. You were taken aback.



"W-what?"



"Oh please. It's obvious you have feelings for him and it's even more obvious that he has feelings for you- but he's too scared to make the first move so you need to grow a pair and do it!"



You could not believe the way you were being talked to- and by Lily Zwingli, of all people! She told you to 'grow a pair'?! Who does she think she is?!?! You were about to freak out but Lily must've sensed this.



"Don't hit me! I just want you two to become a couple already so the whole village can stop waiting for it to happen- because believe it or not people do die eventually!"



You couldn't believe this. Vash had feelings for you? Lily was telling you to make the first move? YOU LIVE IN A VILLAGE?! (Me: haha I knew it all along XD).



"S-so... umm... what d-do I ummm... ya know, do?"



"I'll accidentally leave you two alone tonight after I drag you outside to go stargazing. You lay there together and then you kind of scootch closer and cuddle into him. He'll be all like, "WHAT THE HELL?!" at first, but he will secretly like it and won't push you away. Everything should snowball from there!" Lily said happily.



'Wow...' you thought. 'She sounds like she has things figured out... maybe she's smarter than I thought...'



"A-alright... so tonight?" you gulped. You had never been in a situation like this before, and truth be told you were a little nervous. But you imagined it just as Lily described it and thought, 'This won't be so hard... I mean, it sounds so easy! Just cuddle... and things will snowball from there...'. You nodded to yourself and Lily saw you understood.



Just then Vash reappeared into the room.



"Vat are you two talking about?" he asked. Suddenly Lily burst out laughing like we had been telling a joke the whole time.



"We're still laughing at how you almost shot two little girls for selling COOKIES to you!!" she added some more laughter and said, "We re-enacted it and {-name-} was YOU." she couldn't seem to stop laughing. "I was all, 'Oh sir! Would you like to buy some cookies?' and {-name-} was like, 'No! Get off my lawn, little whippersnappers!'"



Then she gave you a look that said, "Play along or we're toast- and so is our evening plans". You slightly nodded back and then busted out laughing too. Vash seemed to buy it now that both of you were giggling. He rolled his eyes and was about to leave when their mom yelled,



"Dinner time!"



You smiled as your stomach growled in agreement and you raced Vash to the kitchen- winning of course.



-------------------------------------------------~Time Skip~-----------------------------------------------



After dinner Lily persuaded everyone to go outside to play hide and seek. She counted first and you and Vash split up. You knew exactly where you would hide- the tree.



This tree was old and hollowed out by you and Vash- it's where you normally kept your knives when you needed a fast-stash and where Vash stored some of his nicer guns that he used a lot so he could easily grab them for hunting. No knives or guns were in there now however, and this you knew- because you and your hunting buddy had emptied it out the previous day to go out on your routine hunting spree and hadn't had time to return the weapons to their rightful place. Anyway.



You arrived at the 'Weapon's Tree' and was half-way concealed within it's dark shadows when your hand was pressed up against something warm and soft- and you could feel the beat of a heart. You almost leapt out of your skin and barely contained a scream- which almost wasn't contained until you heard a familiar masculine Swiss-accented voice of Vash. You two had chosen the same hiding place. When he saw you were going to scream he placed a hand over you mouth and whispered,



"It's okay, it's only me."



This put you at ease very quickly and you didn't resist when he grabbed your hand and pulled you into the crevice in the tree along with him.



---------------------------------------------------~Vash's POV~----------------------------------------------



He immediately ran to the 'Weapon's Tree' which he knew so well because he remembered it would be empty since he and {-name-} had removed and still had yet to replace their guns and knives since their hunting 'extravaganza'. He found the tree no problem and climbed in. Not two seconds later a figure stepped in front of the opening to the tree he was hiding in and was momentarily depressed thinking that Lily had found him so quickly. But it wasn't Lily. It was {-name-}. She had chosen the same hiding place- and unaware that he too had hidden here, started to get in and braced herself against his chest. He knew she could feel his heart beating because she turned and looked at him dead in the face. Time stood still for Vash. Your delicate hand was on his chest and he loved the subtle chill he got from it. Then, as things started to move again, he saw her mouth start to open as if to scream- so without thinking he grabbed her mouth and pulled her into the small hiding place with him.



"It's okay, it's only me," he said- making sure he didn't frighten her more.



He felt her nod in understanding and he moved his hand. He wished he had the guts to do something right then- kiss her or... or... he wasn't sure. But he wanted to. Why couldn't he? Why wouldn't he? With a sudden surge of adrenaline he leaned down and smashed his lips against hers.



------------------------------------------------~Your POV~--------------------------------------------------



And suddenly you were kissing. Vash. You were kissing Vash Zwingli. And you loved it. You immediately(after getting over the shock) kissed back and you could feel that he was happy you did- because he wanted you to like him back. You did. You so, so liked him back. A lot. You liked him a lot back. And again, as if in no time at all, your hands were linked behind his neck and his hands were on the small of your back- both of you gaining confidence with every passing moment.



Little did either of you know that while the two of you were having your long-predicted make-out session, Lily was inside watching television. Her plan was never to have you 'star gaze'- but she did plan on leaving the two of you alone to work it out. She made sure that you didn't put your weapons away after you got back by distracting you and preoccupying you because she knew that that is where the both of you would hide. And things would snowball from there. Lily Zwingli was a lot smarter than anyone knew.