Kapitel 4.

"Ve~ Luddy! Welcome home!" Feliciana joyfully sprinted to Ludwig like a puppy that had been dying for her master to return as he entered his apartment. He was almost seeing her non-existing tail wagging lively and her puppy-ears happily standing straight. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked his cheek. Every single day, whenever Ludwig came home from work Feliciana always greeted him the way she just did.

Ludwig rolled his eyes but he patted Feliciana's back as the reply for her welcome. "Ja, ja."

"Here! I'll take your coat!" Feliciana chirped and stretched both of her arms adorably as Ludwig chuckled and took his coat off.

Three weeks had passed since Feliciana crashed into Ludwig's balcony. Although Ludwig would never admit, he was actually getting accustomed to— honestly, he was enjoying to have Feliciana as his… his housemate; his maid in most cases he liked to refer. While Ludwig was working Feliciana stayed in his house and did all the house works: making his bed, doing the dishes, cleaning the house etc. Out of all of Feliciana's services, her cooking was undoubtedly the best. Every morning she packed lunch for him and cooked him dinner at evening.

However, as much as there were goods in Feliciana's residence there were catastrophic outcomes.

Feliciana continued to sneak into his bed every night. He had absolutely no idea how she could perform such trick. Rarely, Feliciana had Ludwig's dress shirt on, but mostly she didn't wear anything. Ludwig even bought nightgowns for Feliciana to wear but she whined and refused to wear them. Instead, she gave a sheepish and blushious reply: "Ve… but the shirts smell like Luddy! I like it!" and she grabbed the collar and shyly nuzzled like she was trying to emphasize what she was trying to say. Not to mention that her action made his face very red. The other day, Feliciana flushed Ludwig's pack of cigarettes and zippo lighter into a toilet. And of course, the only toilet in the apartment was clogged. "Luddy shouldn't smoke! Ve~ it's really really bad for your health!" said Feliciana while desperately trying to escape from Ludwig's wrath.

"Oh, and dinner's almost ready! It'll be done around when you come back from shower!" Feliciana chirped. She was wearing her apron on Ludwig's dress shirt— as she did every other day.

"Thanks, Feli."

Feliciana's apron and his dress shirt gently floated together as she hurried back to kitchen. He didn't even imagine that Feliciana would be staying this long. His plan to make her leave was quite genuine. But now, he thought that he wanted everyday to be like today, yesterday, day before yesterday, and… Verdammt (Dammit), why am I thinking about this! Ludwig shook his head.

Feliciana had something in her. Ludwig couldn't explain what it was but he was perceived that he was attracted to her. It must be one of her angel's charm or something like that. But deep inside his mind, Ludwig could feel it was something much more than that.

Ludwig glanced at his bed. The bed was well made but he spotted some small wrinkles on the sheet and the pillow that indicated someone was sleeping on his bed. There was no way Ludwig couldn't know who it was. He got annoyed but he didn't care much. Feliciana didn't make a mess. She just slept in his bed. His instinct had already told him that she slept in his bed everyday when he was at work. Well… actually he could smell her faint scent whenever he lied on his bed after he arrived home. Mostly she had made the bed very neatly enough for Ludwig to only recognize that she slept there by scent, but this time she simply didn't make the bed neat enough.

Well, at least she didn't sneak into my bed naked while I was sleeping. Ludwig sighed and shook his head.

"What the…" When Ludwig mindlessly glanced at his bed again, he saw something that he didn't see at the first time. He leaned closely onto his pillow and grabbed it. Before Ludwig examined it, he thought he saw the different color because of the light, but when he looked closely without any prejudices.

"It's Feli's hair." Ludwig muttered. He eyed her stand of hair closely.

Does angel's hair fall like human's does?

Ludwig couldn't remember before since he was too distracted then, but he remembered that Feliciana had to use a restroom. When they were at the park three weeks ago. Moreover, when she first crashed into Ludwig's balcony, she got bruises on both of her knees. Indeed, he wasn't an expert about angels, but he knew what angel was; he had heard of angels before. How beautiful they are, how pure they are, how enchanting they are. Even without the basic knowledge of the celestial beings, everyone would think that they wouldn't get hurt by anything. Ludwig thought about the possibility of Feliciana had been human for the first time since they met. However, he had to immediately disregard the possibility because she had a rock-solid evidence: her angel wings. He couldn't think of any scientific explanation of Feliciana's existence nor her wings.

Maybe it's nothing. Maybe her hair got pulled by static. And angels have bodies like we do! Ja… I'm sure it's nothing.

Ludwig grabbed clothes to change and went to his bathroom. He took his clothes off and threw them into the laundry basket. He grinned as he smelled the glimpse of Feliciana's dinner. Let's finish this quickly. Ludwig entered to the shower booth and pulled the glass shower door close. He grinned as he thought about the delicious dinner waiting for him. All of those positive thought vanished as he twisted the shower faucet.

"Scheiße! Was zum teufel (What the fuck)!" Ludwig jolted and hit his head on the wall behind him as the icy cold water splashed all over his body. He wrenched the faucet shut and brought his hand to rub the back of his head. What the hell just happened? Ludwig groaned. Even in winter he turned the faucet to the coldest. All these years, it hadn't affected him at all. Getting surprised by the cold water wasn't like him. He had been taken cold shower every day. He slowly turned the water on and reached his hand to the water. It was cold but bearable. But when the water hit his left chest, he felt beyond freezing. It felt like he was getting buried alive into the snow.

Ludwig decided to take a shower with warmer water this time, thinking he could work on the water's temperature later. However, he still couldn't point out why today's water was trying freeze him. It's because of the weather. It must've affected the water temperature. He muttered, but even he was unsure about that answer.

After Ludwig took a shower, he wore his shirts and shorts and he left the bathroom with fresh and comfortable aftermath of a shower. He saw Feliciana sitting quelously on her chair. She was hungrily ogling at the pasta on the dinner table. She looked uncharacteristically impatient.

"Ve~ Luddy! I was waiting for you like since forever! I'm so hungry but I didn't want to eat without you!" Feliciana whined as Ludwig sat on his chair.

Ludwig frowned. He could feel that something wasn't right. "Did you just say that you're hungry?"

"Uh—huh." Feliciana nodded. "Why, Luddy?" She cocked her head, confused by the sudden question.

"How do you know how it feels?" Ludwig questioned. He began to suspect what he had surmised had to be resurfaced. Something was wrong.

Feliciana seemed confused as well. "Ve… I just felt… hungry?" Every part of the sentence she spoke she sounded confused. She acted like she felt the hunger in the first time in her life but she knew the concept of hunger.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ludwig asked— no, he interrogated her. Even though Feliciana was an excellent cook —except her so called "happy dinner time with Ludwig"— she never ate anything. Ludwig had assumed that the concept of hunger didn't apply to angels; he thought angels didn't need to eat. And yet, Feliciana expressed hunger.

Was there any trick that she could fake her wings? He felt exasperatedly betrayed.

"Luddy? What's wrong?" Feliciana asked nervously. Her voice trembled.

Ludwig stood up from his chair. He needed to see it for himself. He needed to see that she wasn't lying to him. "Get up. I need to see something."

"Ve?"

"I said get up." Ludwig yanked Feliciana's arm and threw her onto the floor.

"Ow! Luddy! W—what are you doing?" Feliciana cried. She tried to escape from his grasp but she was too weak and fragile compared to Ludwig.

Ludwig didn't answer. He only forced trembling Feliciana down onto the floor and viciously pulled down the shirt she wore. Her wings were pitiably revealed, but Ludwig didn't stop. He started his examination. He stroked the feathers, dug his hands all over, and even tried to pull the root of her wings to find any proof that she was lying. However, the more he tried, the more he found more proofs that her wings were real.

"Luddy! Please stop!" Feliciana cried in pain, tears trickled down from her eyes and dropped onto the floor. Her body trembled from terror.

Ludwig finally realized how his action could be reflected and what he was doing to her. Feliciana had been sleeping every night with him naked. Though her naked body distracted him from looking at her wings, but they were always there. This whole action was completely pointless. He jerked away and apologized. "I—I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Feliciana didn't answer. She didn't even get up. Hugging her knees to the chest, She started weeping. Her wings covered her body like a blanket.

"I'm not hungry today, I'll just go to bed." Ludwig turned his back and rolled his fists until his knuckles hurt. He couldn't look back until he closed the door behind him.

Seventeen years ago…

I was lying down on the grass and staring at the sky mindlessly. Tears were interrupting my sight but I didn't rub them off. I didn't care about them at all. I didn't want to do anything but staring at the sky. Only two sentences were circling in my head repeatedly: I lost everything. I lost everyone.

My chain of thought was interrupted when something— someone fell very hard on top of me. "Argh!"

Strong pain fell right through my stomach. I immediately pushed the person. I was surprised that the person got rolled away so easily. It was a girl with auburn hair and amber eyes who looked around five years old to be even more precise. She was wearing a green dress and a white apron with a matching maid hat on her head… I think. I couldn't see her clearly because of the moistures that I ignored. I snapped at her. "Watch where you're going, Dummkopf (idiot)!"

"Ve! I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I was just walking around the hill but I didn't know anyone was lying here." That girl suddenly stood up and apologized like a machine gun. I was turned my head away and was going to tell that girl to beat it. Until she whimpered.

"Please don't hit me."

She caught me off guard. "Hit you? Really?" I clamored. Who does she think I am?

"Ve…" The girl took few steps back as if she felt threatened by me.

"You know what? Just go and leave me alone." I shooed, but the girl didn't go like I wanted her to. Instead, she fidgeted her fingers and asked nervously. "Why are you here all alone and ve… why are you crying?"

I stood up and glared at her. "That's none of your business. Now beat it."

"I got lost!"

I scoffed. "So?"

"I'm scared! Ve, I lost my grandpa! Can I stay here until finds me, please? We can stay together and I can stop your tears and make you happy and make you smile! Grandpa told me we need to make people happy!"

"I'm not crying!" I rubbed my tears off and turned my back from her to avoid the girl, but she clung into me with a loud whine. I tried to push her away but she wrapped around my arm very tight. I felt my blood was clogging in my veins.

"FINE! You can stay here but no talking! Don't ask me any questions! Now let my arm go!"

The girl nodded vigorously. Her fear seemed to be worn out. She let go of my arm and sat right next to me. When she beamed her smile, I thought she looked pretty. "Ve… I won't ask you why you're crying but can you at least tell me your name?"

"No questions, remember?" However, before I could realize what happened, the girl leaned onto me and pecked my cheek. I could feel the heat gathering on my face. "Ve~ but I'll tell you mine! Nice to meet you! My name is—"

Ludwig's eyes snapped open. He winced and leaned up from his bed. What was that dream? Why does that girl seem so familiar? He knew the hill. It was the hill near his house where he used to go before the incident. However, what he dreamed wasn't his memory; he couldn't even remember the dream clearly. Ludwig went to the kitchen and drank a glass of water. When he turned his back, he spotted Feliciana sleeping on the couch. He felt the agonizing twinge of guilt. She never slept on the couch no matter how much he yelled at her. He knelt down and fondled her hair. Feliciana was sleeping naked with a bedsheet wrapped around her. Ludwig's dress shirt she wore was carelessly dropped on the floor. He didn't know why but Ludwig gently lifted her with the bedsheet and walked into his bedroom. He fought the powerful urge to peek at her naked body. Once he laid her onto his bed as gently as when he lifted her from the couch and laid himself next to her. He stared at her for minutes.

"Who are you?" He asked; no answer.

"Why did you crash to my apartment?" He asked again; no answer again.

"How did you make me like this?" He asked again; no answer again. But this time, Ludwig's reaction was different. He leaned onto Feliciana's face and gently kissed her.

"But I don't think none of them matters anymore."

Ludwig carefully reached out his arm around Feliciana. He hesitated but he squirmed closer to her and gently pulled her, like he was treating the most fragile and precious treasure into his chest. Feliciana was always the one who clung into Ludwig. This was the first time Ludwig held Feliciana into his chest. He remembered Feliciana saying his heart was starting to get warmer. He didn't know how it felt nor understand what it meant, but now he could feel and understand. This wasn't the warmth that chased the coldness of body, this was the warmth that healed the coldness of heart.

The guilt from earlier this evening was aggravating. Ludwig considered Feliciana as a burden but now he knew that he wanted to protect her more than anything. I think I know what I need to do from now on. He pulled the bedsheet and pecked on her forehead.

There were warmth in his eyes that he thought he lost long time ago.

"Gilbert, I still don't like this." The woman with brown hair muttered. Her green eyes scanned the hallway and the doors with uncertainty and her fingers nervously wringing her iPhone as if the host of the apartment was standing behind the door, waiting to kick the door open anytime soon.

"But, Lizzie! We gotta finish what we started! The man with Silver hair whined. Elizabeta didn't miss the excitement and thrill in her fiancé's eyes. She alway knew Gilbert was drawn challenges and thrills. She could tell that He had been dreaming about this for only-God-knows-how-long.

"Look, Gil. We can still walk out of this without anyone noticing—"

"Shhh." Gilbert hissed.

"Oh, don't you 'Shhh' me!" Elizabeta hissed back.

Gilbert ignored Elizabeta's protest. He simply pressed the doorbell and counted ten. When no one spoke or opened the door from the inside, he placed his ear against the door with his eyes closed. He grinned as the result turned out to be satisfying. "See? I told you he'll be at work."

"I wasn't worry about whether he'd be in his house or not! I'm worried because what we're doing is illegal! We can't just unlock the door and let ourselves in! Ludwig can actually sue us for breaking into his house or have us arrested by calling a police!" Elizabeta shrieked. Then she added. "And I know things are not well among you Beilschmidt boys. You, your father, and Ludwig!"

"So that's why I'm doing this! To mend my little brother's coldass heart and embrace the awesome us!" Gilbert smirked. He wanted Elizabeta to notice what he implied. Outside of Gilbert genuinely enjoying this thrill, he wanted all of them to be family. He was desperate to bond everyone he loved for years. "Including… our dad, you know? Though I don't know how long would it take." He wasn't smirking anymore.

Elizabeta sighed. Me of all people should understand that. "Alright, fine." She raised both of her arms as the sign of surrender. "But remember: if we get caught, and end up in police department or a possible lawsuit, I swear, I'm gonna string you up to the ceiling and beat you with my frying pan until its original shape is unrecognizable. Got it?"

"Oh, is that a new type of foreplay?" Gilbert winked. He was always impervious to his fiancée's threats. He fished his hidden lock picking kit out of his chest pocket and would've picked the door—

"Ve~ good morning!"

If a girl with two braided auburn hair and amber eyes hadn't opened the door and greeted them brightly.

Gilbert and Elizabeta completely froze. Both of their jaw and Gilbert's lock picking kit dropped onto the floor. They glanced at each other. No words were shared between them but their eyes were screaming the same thought: We're fucked!

The girl cocked her head. She didn't understand the gravity of the couple's situation. "Are you okay?" She asked, breaking the heavy silence shared between the couple.

"Oh, I… We are so sorry, sweetie. We thought this was Ludwig's house." Elizabeta apologized and kicked Gilbert's lock picking set away before the girl could notice it. Even Gilbert didn't protest. "I think we got the wrong address. We… we'll be on our way." She awkwardly waved a goodbye and dragged Gilbert by his collar. She wanted to bolt before the girl got suspicious and call police and he seemed to be complying.

"Ve? Ludwig?" The girl blinked. "You're talking about Luddy, right? This is Luddy's house! Please! Come in!" She was very excited to have guests. She rarely got chances to talk to others besides Ludwig. Although, she loved his company.

Gilbert and Elizabeta paused. On a second look, the girl was wearing nothing but a white dress shirt that was too big for her small and delicate figure— probably belonged to a man who was about Ludwig's size. Gilbert also recognized the brand of the dress shirt. It was the cheap brand which his brother prefered over expensive outfits which he liked to call "waste of money".

"What the fuck?" Gilbert stunned, ignoring Elizabeta's frown and the girl's gasp. He started to babble nonsense, switching back and forth between English and his mother tongue. "Du… du bist ein mädchen (You… you're a girl)! West is keeping a girl in his house? How could this happ—" He paused and asked the first possibility that came into his mind.

"Are you a hooker?"

Elizabeta slapped the back of Gilbert's head, which was strong enough to make a hump for a week or two.

"Ve? What's a hooker?" Feliciana asked. Gilbert nor Elizabeta answered the question. Gilbert avoided an eye contact from guilt and Elizabeta contemplated about whether to hit him again or not.

While Gilbert was rubbing the back of his head with a groan. Elizabeta completely ignored his pain and suggested to the girl. "Maybe it's best to ask Ludwig." She smiled and continued. "My name is Elizabeta, by the way. But you can call me Lizzie, Sweetie." She winked. "And… this is my fiancé Gilbert. He's Ludwig's older brother."

"Ve? Luddy has a big brother?" Feliciana beamed, slightly surprising Elizabeta and Gilbert. Ludwig never talked about his family nor his childhood. He even scared her when she mentioned about them. Maybe today was good chance to know about them!

"Nice to meet you! I'm Feliciana! Ve~ but everyone calls me Feli!" Feliciana wrapped her arms around Elizabeta and Gilbert.

"You must be West's girlfriend or something if he lets you stay here." Gilberted patted Feliciana's back —which felt very different from other backs he had patted but he ignored— and smirked. He immediately liked her and he was happy that Ludwig wasn't completely alone after all. Feliciana's cuteness and prettiness added bonuses. "Nice to meet you to Feli. Just call me awesome big brother Gil."

Feliciana giggled. "Sure, awesome big brother Gil!" She unwrapped her arms and chirped. "Here! Come in and have a seat! I'll get you something some drinks and snacks!"

Gilbert and Elizabeta sat on the couch with both confusion and glad. They were both worried about Ludwig but he wasn't completely alone after all. Elizabeta glanced at Gilbert. "Is this the part where I ask you whether all the stories you told me about your brother being a stuck-up were lies or do you think he actually changed?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Don't ask me. It's been almost an year since the last time I saw him. Who knows? That little angel had changed him."

For some reason both Gilbert and Elizabeta unioned that an "angel" was a perfect word to describe Feliciana.

"Ve~ help yourselves!" Feliciana came back with a tea tray. There were delicious looking panna cottas and teapot and three tea cups decorated with flower drawings. Though Elizabeta didn't know much about Ludwig, she could tell that he wasn't the type of person to buy frilly tea sets and eat fruit cakes and teas as desserts. Obviously they were for Feliciana or at least he allowed her to buy those. Judging by Gilbert's face, he must've thought the same. However, Gilbert almost sighed when he didn't see any rings from any of her fingers.

Anyway! The fun part starts now. Gilbert smirked mischievously. "So, Feli." Despite Elizabeta's don't-you-fucking-dare glare, he was going to enjoy the every last ounce of this. Let's start with the fun part.

"How many times did you sleep with Ludwig?"

"Thank you again for the lunch, Kiku."

"You're very welcome, Mr. Beilschmidt. I enjoyed my dinner with you. Although I must confess that I sincerely hope you enjoyed your ramen."

"It was something I usually don't eat, but it was delicious."

I do think I've been eating too many noodle-based foods though. Ludwig knew that Feliciana didn't pack his lunch. He completely understood because what happened was entirely onto him. So today, he planned to eat at the diner nearby or eat a heavy dinner that night, but thankfully, his friend —it felt good to say that word— was there to offer him a lunch in one of his favorite Japanese restaurants. Ludwig enjoyed the company and the food, but he wished that the amount of his lunch was larger. Before he received his ramen, he forgot about the Japanese food's reputation for its microscopic amount. No wonder Kiku was so short. Ludwig thought while he was eating it.

I wonder if Feli likes ramen. After all, it's technically an Asian pasta. Ludwig scoffed at his thought. The taste of the ramen was better than he expected. He thought about bringing Feliciana to the place during the weekends or so. However, he needed to learn how to properly use chopsticks. He was embarrassed that he was struggling to use chopstick while having someone who's perfectly natural with chopsticks right across the table.

"Oh…" Kiku's gentle smile turned apologetical. "It appears that I have left my phone in the restaurant. Would you mind going back to work without me?"

"I can go with you. It's not a big deal."

The japanese restaurant was only two blocks down and a block to the right. It wasn't even a walking distance.

"You sure? You don't have to Mr. Beilschmidt."

"It's the least I can do for a… friend." Ludwig lifted his hand and scratched the back of his head. The word gave him slight embarrassment but he also felt flatter.

Kiku smiled. "Here, how's this? You can just wait right here, then I'll be right back. The restaurant is very close so it wouldn't even take ten minutes." He suggested.

"Alright. That could work." Ludwig thought Kiku might had felt guilty that he could make Ludwig to take an unnecessary detour.

"Hai (yes). Then I'll be right back." The Japanese man didn't waste a second. He turned his heels and sprinted back to the restaurant. Ludwig was surprised to see that Kiku could run that fast.

Ludwig thought it was humorous. He had always thought Kiku as a careful and disciplined man who never made any mistakes. Well, I guess even Kiku forgets to pack his belongings for once.

Grasp—

Someone grabbed Ludwig's arm. He immediately turned his face only to see the person who had hurt him the most in his life.

"Ludwig."

Unlike the other times she approached to him, the brunette wasn't smiling anymore. He was sure that she didn't come to share small talks. He knew that looks of hers. She came here to warn. The brunette ditched the pleasantry. She already knew Ludwig wasn't glad to see her after all.

"Have I not made myself clear the other day? I said I don't want to see you." Ludwig exclaimed.

The brunette paused. She looked hurt but she continued. "Listen to me. Some people are not who they think you are."

"Who're you talking about?"

"You know who." Ludwig realized the brunette was talking about Feliciana. "I suppose spending time with her made you to lower your guard."

Seriously? Are you questioning Feli? Ludwig spluttered. "Oh, I believe I know that person more than you do." Even though it was her, he couldn't suppress his bewilderment. Ludwig was sure that he knew about Feliciana more than anyone besides her family in Heaven. Yet, the brunette was warning him about her.

"Do you?" It wasn't a question. It was an assurance.

Ludwig paused. "You know about her, don't you?" And possibly even more. He stunned. He was nervous about how she found out about Feliciana nor how far she already knew.

"Let's talk about last night: you flipped when you thought she was lying to you."

"How did you—."

"You know who I am. I see everything about you. Can you really not see that someone is infecting your mind?" The brunette interrupted. Ludwig couldn't answer.

"Stop ignoring me, Ludwig. Before everything goes down to hell." The brunette avoided the answer but Ludwig knew there were more to it than Feliciana's existence and reason of the brunette's appearance. She glared at him for the first time since they had met again. Despite the ferocity in her eyes, there were hints of genuine concerns for him in her voice.

"So that's your plan? Threatening me?" Ludwig reciprocated, trying to calm his voice and tremble as much as possible.

"People who love each other don't make threats." Her voice and eyes were more determined than they ever did when she enunciated the last part of her sentence.

"We make promises."

(A/N)

So sorry it took me too long to update the chapter. College is really tough ;( and I wanted to extend the length of my chapters from now on! Many authors in Hetalian fics motivated me too! I decided that from now on, I'll try to write each chapter to be 4500 - 5000 words.

Luddy kissed Feli! Yay! Though he has a lot to make up after what he did. :/

Gil and Lizzie met Feli! They both think Feli's awesome! Well, who wouldn't be when you thought your lonely brother was alone and single but he turned out to be taken by this pretty girl who can give him what he doesn't have! Right? ;)

Well, yeah… the tension between Ludwig and the brunette is getting tighter! Although her name and identity weren't even revealed :P Someday it will!