Author's Note: I told myself I wouldn't do this. But of course it just nags at me so here is this big creation of mine I've been working on since August. Currently I'm at 566 pages and... it's a biggy. I don't know when I'll stop, I've kind of fallen in love with this so it'll be hard for me to end this story. I don't know how often I will update but I know I've gotten myself in a whirlwind of trouble on another account for practically abandoning one of my other "big" creations -cough- which is why I'm currently under anonymity. (Because if anyone from that fandom were to ever cross paths with me here I would be skewered.) I promise not to leave you hanging like I've left them. (I'll return to them.)

I can't say too much about the plot because it'll just give too much away. Pretty much this story is about the lives of Kenny and Butters and their friends from age 10 to... well I'm not sure how old they'll be when I stop, but... we'll see. Most of this is told in a Bunny-centric point of view (third person) but there are certain cases where others will be the focal character (like Kyle and Stan.) A lot of stuff happens, a lot of times I will post a trigger warning (warning: there will be a lot of those) for various topics. I will not go into detail now but I just want to forewarn you: this is M for a reason. Not only will there be sexual themes but various other mature topics that the faint of heart should not read. Like I said, warnings will be posted when necessary. For now it's all good :).

Right now I will not divulge too much information but there will be slash. There will be femslash. There will be sex and death and blood and a lot of really bad stuff that my mind comes up with at 3 in the morning when I can't sleep. So if you don't like any of that then this is your last chance to click the back button without getting sucked into this idea of mine.

The title is from the Utada Hikaru song "Simple and Clean" used in "Kingdom Hearts" (which plays a part in this, several times.) Except I also chose this title out of irony, because this story will be anything but "simple and clean". And titles of chapters will usually be song lyrics. I'll post the title of the song and the artist so if you feel like listening to what inspired the chapter as you read you may do so.

Oh, and this will probably be the shortest chapter you'll ever read from me.

Last but not least, I hope you enjoy this.

All little Butters Stotch knew was he was having his first sleepover tonight with his best friend. The night before he had spent four hours making sure the house was spotless and to his parents' satisfaction. The furniture was polished, the floor waxed, ceilings dusted, and his basement was set up with two sleeping bags, a giant bean bag, a stack of movies and his Play Station 4 games along with the console in front of the large television. His mom had bought all kinds of different snacks and drinks for the two boys to have.

He, however, was not aware of the tiny shifts his decision created in time and the future. With his simple question and personal accomplishment of finally having a true best friend who actually agreed to a sleepover with him, the young Butters altered his time line completely; every fixed point had been shattered and rearranged. Unbeknownst to this, the ten year old boy hummed happily as butterflies flitted in his stomach while he sifted through his movie collection.

Butters frowned as he looked at his DVD and game collection. His best friend wouldn't want to watch the movies or play the video games he had. While Butters was proud of his "Hello Kitty" and "My Little Pony" DVD set as well as his video games revolving around the same characters, he knew his best friend would be more than disgusted. He was a twisted little fella.

When the doorbell rang the little blonde choked on the breath of air he just inhaled. This was the scariest moment of his life. This was a bad idea. Why did he bother? No one ever wanted to come see him or hang out with him. He knew he was weird. Why would anyone want to be friends with him? But he wanted friends, a friend. So very badly.

"Butters, your friend is here!" Linda Stotch, his overbearing and psychotic mother, called. Butters sighed heavily and mustered what little courage and confidence he had as he trudged up the basement stairs.

Here goes nothing.

The young blonde met a walking orange parka with wide blue eyes at the foot of the stairs. Butters winced as he realized his mother was interrogating him.

"-And bed time is at 8:30, don't keep Butters up late. And no racket music, he-"

"H-hey Kenny!" Butters chirruped; he couldn't help but notice the bored expression in the smaller child's eyes.

"Hey Butters," Kenny responded with his voice heavily muffled by his parka.

After listening to a small lecture from his mom, Butters led Kenny down the stairs to the basement.

"S-sorry bout that, Ken, she can be real grouchy but she m-means well. I don't have m-much but we can p-play "Spyro" or "K-Kingdom Hearts" or watch c-cartoons. I got lotsa snacks so i-if you're hungry-" Kenny's eyes lit up at the mention of food yet he simply shrugged his shoulders. "I'll ask mom to make us p-popcorn then. If that's okay." Kenny nodded and set down his old backpack.

"Thanks for inviting me over, dude." Kenny mumbled, voice distant due to the layers of cloth covering most of his face. Butters stared at him in disbelief and almost felt like crying. Someone wanted to hang out with him? This was why he liked Kenny. Kenny was real; he didn't lie. And he was real nice. And ever since Hawaii he hung out with Butters more. He had a real friend.

"Aw shucks…"

"What's "Kingdom Hearts?"" Kenny asked, switching the subject. Butters gaped in surprise.

Soon they were engulfed in the game. As Butters explained the tale of Sora, Riku, and Kairi and the gameplay, Kenny seemed to be enjoying himself. They were talking and joking and laughing as they each took turns playing; for the first time since Hawaii Butters actually felt happy.

He didn't notice the way Kenny flinched when his dad reached over his head to set down the popcorn bowl. Or the way he instinctively covered his ears when his mother yelled down to them for supper. He did, however, notice how fast the shorter boy ate his food, and couldn't help but stare in awe; he was like a vacuum.

"So Kenny, how's your dad doing?" Stephen Stotch asked. Kenny shrugged his shoulders as he slurped the very last drop of soup from the bowl.

"He's okay." He answered simply, his voice less muffled yet the parka still covered his mouth.

"And your mom's job, how is that going?"

"Double shifts at the Olive Garden so she's gone a lot." He replied in a voice that wavered slightly. "But the money is nice." Butter's parents nodded and smiled sympathetically at the little boy. Butters couldn't help but grin; this was the nicest dinner he had had with his parents in ages.

"So how is school going for you boys?" Linda asked, sounding sincere. Butters kicked his legs excitedly as he simply wanted to burst with the news of his report card. Kenny, on the other hand, seemed to shrink.

"I got an A in all of my c-cl-classes, even an A+ mom! The only one who did better than me was Kyle but he's a g-genius so it's o-okay. I'll do better than him t-though, mom and dad. Next quarter!" he was determined to have the highest grades of all the fourth graders at South Park.

"Butters, that was rude of you to interrupt Kenny. That is a warning." His father scolded and sent him a dark glare. He sank back in his chair and quickly apologized to Kenny who wore a look of confusion in his eyes.

"It's okay," Kenny simply answered, modestly. Butters wasn't quite sure what Kenny's grades were. Everyone shared theirs because of the stiff competition of who has the best, but Kenny was always quiet about his. That was weird to Butters, now that he thought about it. Maybe he didn't have the best grades… he wouldn't push.

The rest of dinner was quiet with idle small talk that went nowhere. Kenny wasn't much of a talker so his parents soon gave up on that. But Butters knew that; that's why he was the talker. Kenny liked to listen, or it seemed like it. He figured he should thank his best friend for putting up with him; he had noticed his stutter had gotten better. So that was a good thing.

After dinner, Butters quickly cleared the table and washed the dishes. Kenny sat on the counter next to him and played with the frayed cuff of his hooded sweatshirt. There were dark stains on the sleeves and front and it looked a little burned on the arm.

"I can get the stains out if you want," Butters offered after rambling on and on about what they could do, which turned into his longing for spring, which had somehow led him to talking about why he didn't like chocolate ice cream and how vanilla was the best ice cream choice ever.

Kenny just blinked and shrugged his shoulders. His hands were hidden in the sleeves now and bits of his hair were sticking out from the hood. "It won't take long, I can get it to you before we go to sleep."

"I don't care, it's not a big deal." Kenny answered. It was Butter's turn to shrug.

So now they were downstairs trying to figure out the difference between delicates and permanent press and why it even mattered. Kenny flipped the dials randomly and tossed in all of his clothes, minus the ones he was currently wearing, and shut the lid. Butters squeaked in fear.

"What?" Kenny asked, now audible due to the lack of hood blocking his mouth.

"Do you even know what you just did? You can't mix c-colors or the orange will bleed on the socks and the whites will turn dark and…" Butters trailed off, "you don't know what setting it's on, what if it-"

"Just chill, dude." Kenny interrupted and smiled a gap-toothed smile. Butters felt his heart fall. What if he just made him angry? He didn't want that.

"I-I'm sorry Kenny, I just…" Butters trailed off; didn't want to get grounded? Didn't want Kenny's clothes to get messed up? Didn't want his parents to see the random dials because they only liked it on normal with an extra rinse?

Kenny was right; he really had to chill.

"You can go if you want, I-I don't wanna be a bother. I-I'm sure Stan and Kyle a-are doing better things." Kenny scoffed and mumbled an inaudible comment to himself. "What was that?"

"I said they're two years away from a boner-fest and I don't want to be near that." Butters looked at him curiously and Kenny shook his head. "Never mind."

"What's a b-boner?" Butters asked, Kenny looked as if he tried not to laugh and he scratched at his arm absent-mindedly.

"It's when your dick gets hard 'cause you're horny."

"Why would Stan and Kyle b-be doin' a bonerfest then?" Kenny just smirked and shook his head.

This confused Butters. He knew what a penis was and he kind of knew what being horny meant. But that was supposed to happen between a boy and a girl. Unless they were gay. But neither Stan or Kyle were girls. Or gay. Were they?

The two boys started watching a stereotypical Adam Sandler movie; Butters figured it would be better than the movies he usually watched. Kenny seemed mildly interested but mostly was fixated on the popcorn he was happily munching on. Butters wouldn't ask for any; he was full, anyway.

"S-so, how's life, Kenny?" Butters asked in the middle of the movie. He wasn't really paying attention. Kenny looked at him quizzically as he chewed on a mouthful of popcorn.

"It's okay," he answered numbly and pulled his hands under the cuffs of his long sleeved shirt. Kenny looked like he wanted to pull the strings of his hoodie to cover his face but it was still being laundered. Maybe Kenny's hoodie was his security blanket… like Butters' security blanket, or gnashing his knuckles together.

"Karen is starting third grade next year, right?" Butters' asked, Kenny nodded and looked a little upset at this. "I bet it's neat having a brother and a sister. Mostly you just have one or the other. Plus you're in the middle so you're not the baby but you don't have to be the one everyone depends on," Kenny snorted at that.

"I guess. Kevin's just a fucking idiot and Karen is… Karen. And I dunno… it's not so easy on mom. But I don't really wanna talk about it." Kenny mumbled nervously.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel awkward or n-nothin'," Butters murmured, mentally slapping himself. Kenny didn't talk. Everyone was used to his muffled comments or silence. He wasn't one for the center of attention. Butters understood that.

"It's okay," Kenny responded contentedly and yawned. Butters looked at the clock; 8:17.

"But if you e-ever need to talk…" Butters trailed off, unsure if he could continue. "You can t-talk to me. Even when it's r-real late. I like to listen too ya know." Kenny smiled softly and nodded.

"I know."

Soon the lights were off and Kenny was fast asleep. Butters was wide awake and hoping his parents wouldn't come downstairs. They knew when he was fake-sleeping and he'd be grounded for two months if they caught him doing that again.

And as he lay awake, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something awful was in the making. He always got stupid feelings that eventually faded away but he couldn't help but feed the nagging worry. It tore at his stomach and made his chest burn and tears almost want to fall. He didn't know what was wrong. But something was. And he didn't like it. So he turned to face Kenny.

His best friend was passed out cold; if Butters didn't know any better he'd say the boy was dead. But he could hear his deep exhales and congested and shallow inhales through his nose due to probably allergies or a cold. He looked peaceful, but he always looked peaceful. And he looked very small. He knew Kenny was the smallest boy in their grade, in height and possibly in weight because he looked like a toothpick, but it wasn't too noticeable because of his hoodie and parka. Unlike the other kids he didn't have the plump cheeks because… well Butters didn't know why. But he didn't look healthy. He knew he was strong, after all he was Mysterion, but he looked really weak. That wasn't good. Butters also knew his family wasn't very well to do and that could have a big factor about his lack of height and weight only he didn't want to question. And "not very well to do" was a laughable understatement. But he did notice that Kenny looked happy which made Butters feel better.

So he closed his eyes.

Chaos and kismet mixed and mingled to create an unavoidable outcome as the two almost innocent boys slept. The bitterness of fate, the oblivion of love, and the wish of destiny held tightly to the two bonds forever sealed. The wind rustled overhead. The clock ticked in the dead silence. Deep breaths filled the empty space. Dreams were had. And all that was meant to be was forgotten as all that is and should be took its place. And there was nothing that the two ten year old boys could do.

And there was nothing fate or hope or love or destiny could do except wait.