When a child is young, they only know a small portion of the world.

As they grow older and as they travel farther beyond their small homes, the nursery becomes the property, which becomes the street and the town and, for some of the luckier children, the country. School becomes a prison and the holidays are freedom. They grow and they change - Whether or not their worlds envelope everything or hardly anything at all.

Alfred was an unusual boy in that his world was rather large from a very young age. He'd been on the streets since he could remember - Just a small thing, forced to wander alone. His mother, who had been nothing but a call girl hardly qualified as such. He wandered out of her care and she never seemed to miss him. Not even in spirit.

He'd somehow run into an upperclass man of sorts, purely by accident, and had left America behind, crossing the ocean to live with him in the United Kingdom at four. Already, he'd been so very far. The massive home where he officially lived was set out in Scotland, where his adoptive father's brother watched over it when they were away. More often than not, however, they stayed in a flat off Baker Street in the midst of London. It was cheaper and more fit for the two of them than a house on the edge of London would have been - Not to mention much closer to where his guardian worked.

Matthew, too, had been a young traveller born in America. His mother had been, much like Alfred's, a woman of the street and he was born strictly by accident. The Frenchman had insisted custody of the child, relieving him of any burdens that street life might have caused, but not doing so much as to give him the perfect normal family life by any means. As if to make up for it, he was lavished in gifts once he'd been taken over to return to France. His Papa was plenty for him, however, and no more was needed to be said.

Francis and Arthur - the guardians of Matthew and Alfred, respectively - had been old friends back in their school days, forming a rivalry of sorts before parting their separate ways. It was through a mysterious happenstance that both should meet up again, years later, and somehow fall into being lovers. Neither particularly like to identify their relationship, but no one asked and so they never need bother doing so.

It was the year Alfred was to turn seven - Matthew only a few months behind him - that the two decided to return to America, bringing their children with them. It was, on Arthur's part, a business opportunity and he was certain to make the most of it. Francis, as far as the Englishman cared, seemed to be unoccupied by a real job and so had managed to finagle his way into the trip, much to Arthur's annoyance. Alfred was glad to have a friend to accompany him on the trip and Arthur supposed it was Matthew's soft, pleading eyes that had finally made him agree.

So, there they were. Two young boys in America, their guardians beside them and an adventure before them. Nothing could possibly have gone wrong.

That is, until it did.

It was mid-day in New York City and while Arthur and Francis had both instructed the boys to remain by them, Alfred had other ideas.

"Mattie," Alfred tugged on his pseudo-brother's arm, pulling him towards something. Although they had no real certainty if the two boys were related, they looked awfully similar and had practically grown up together, so they just assumed the role of brothers to everyone and themselves, "Come on! I saw a really cool shop that way and I think we should go look!"

"But, Alfie," Matthew argued, holding his bear to him, tightly, "Daddy and Papa said-"

"Shh. We'll only be a second," Alfred rationalised, "They wont even notice we're gone." Matthew didn't get another chance to protest as Alfred dragged him away, leaving the two adults behind, arguing over something.

The streets of the city were crowded and one could easily get lost, but Alfred memorised the path back to the store and focused on it, finding the little shop with ease. Most bustled past, but Alfred and Matthew slipped inside, hit with the immediate sight of candy lining every shelf and counter. Neatly decorated rows of gummies and chocolates and sweets set the boys mouthes watering and they stared at it all in awe.

"What can I get you boys?" a man asked, coming up to them from behind the counter as they gawked.

"We would like some candy!" Alfred cheered and the man smiled.

"Sure thing, kiddo. What'd you have in mind?"

"Uh," Alfred rummaged through his pockets, producing a button. After shooting Matthew a desperate look, he did the same and revealed eleven cents.

"Can we get anything with this?" Alfred hoped, holding out the button and the eleven cents.

"I'm afraid not, boys," the man shook his head, "I'm awfully sorry."

"Dang," Alfred pouted, giving all of it to Mattie, who returned it to his own pocket.

"I'll buy it for them," a man offered, coming up to the three. Matthew and Alfred lit up in excitement, but the cashier looked at the shady man with disapproval. He wore a trench coat over his outfit and a hat that covered his eyes. He pulled out a few bills and offered it to the cashier, "That should take care of whatever they want."

"Yeah!" Alfred cheered, running around the store and grabbing a whole bunch of candy. Matthew did the same, but at a much slower pace. They took it to the man, who put it on the counter while the cashier ran it up. Change was exchanged and the man returned the candy to the boys, kneeling down to be eye level with them.

"You two don't seem like you're from around here," he mentioned, "Where are your parents?"

"They are back out there, somewhere," Alfred answered, already shoving chocolate in his mouth as fast as he can, "I forget where."

"Why don't we go look for them," the man offered, "I can help."

"I don't think you boys should go with him," the cashier stated, sternly, "It's not safe."

"Please," the man laughed, placing a hand on Alfred and Matthew's heads, fondly, "Who could ever hurt these adorable little things?"

"Maybe we shouldn't, Alfred," Matthew mumbled, "Papa is always telling me not to talk to strangers."

"Yeah, but this guy gave us candy!" Alfred argued, "How bad can he be?" They decided to accept his offer, leaving the store with the cashier giving them looks, but he said nothing. Unbeknownst to anyone, Matthew had set his bear down for a moment to hold all his candy and Kumajirou still sat there, awaiting the return of a little boy who would not be back.

"Arthur," Francis held a hand up, looking around "Where are the boys?"

"They were here a minute ago," Arthur replied, "Alfred! Matthew! Come here, boys!"

"Where did they go?" Francis demanded, searching more frantically.

"Calm down, Frog. They can't have gone far," Arthur said, though his own mind was racing with worst case scenarios.

"My poor baby!" Francis rushed away, Arthur having to run to keep up with him, "He could be anywhere! This is your fault, Arthur!"

"My fault? How is it my fault?" Arthur demanded.

"Your rebellious monster probably dragged him off on some ill-begotten adventure and now they're lost!" France explained, angrily.

"Yeah? Well maybe if you raised Matthew to have a backbone, instead of babying him all the time, he wouldn't get pushed around so much!" Arthur hissed. The two lashed out on one another whist searching for their children. It would get them nowhere. Partially because the fighting distracted them, but also because Alfred and Matthew were not going to be found any time soon.

They were already in the back of a large van, crowded together in the dark, heading out of the city.