Rating: T for some swearing

Pairings: Ludwig/Feliciano, Alfred/Arthur/Francis

Summary: Ludwig's life was always the same and he liked it like that. However, the arrival of a happy-go-lucky Italian guardian angel named Veneziano changed all that. Much to the blonde's ire, the 'angel' won't leave until he's 'happy.' Despairing over the issue but forced to live with an additional occupant in his life, it seemed as though Ludwig is in for drastic changes. But it seems as though there's more to it than that. As new strangers walk in, so do some old friends, forcing Ludwig to face something he unconsciously struggled to forget about. And it seems to revolve around Veneziano.

A/N: Hey everyone! I know most of you are going "Argh, it's another one of those stupid guardian angel stories!" so thanks for giving this a chance anyhow. I promise you that it's not one of those "Wow he's so great, I'm in love! Do you love me too?!" fics because I don't roll that way. I've been thinking about this idea for a while, toying with the plot in my head and I finally decided to give it a shot. This story is also something like an experiment: I'm trying to improve characterization, plot, and dialouge so critique is most definitely welcome. I'm also going to try my hand at mystery. Um, this is my first multi-chapter fic and it'll have a (hopefully) good mystery plot later on. Other than that, please treat me well! And thanks for reading this obscenely long author's note.

Chapter 1: Here to Make You Happy

Ludwig's life was a routine.

Everyday, he'd wake up at six-thirty, brush his teeth, take a shower, dress, comb his hair, and wake (kick) Gilbert up.

Afterwards, he'll make breakfast while Gilbert stumbles around the house in a half-asleep stupor and occasionally help him out of situations like getting his finger stuck up a tube of toothpaste.

When breakfast is ready, he'll sit down to his coffee and read anything in the newspaper he couldn't manage to finish last night while half-listening to his brother complain about getting to work fifteen minutes early.

When breakfast is cleared, they'll get in the car (Ludwig always drives because a sleep-deprived Gilbert behind the wheel is a scary thought) and they'll make the thirty-minute trip to work with his brother napping in the passenger seat and arrive around eight-fifteen.

Work would commence and at about four, the brothers would leave work but this time, Gilbert drives. As he drives, he'll try to turn the radio to a rock band, trying to blast it as loud as possible, talk and complain about his day or, on really bad days, rant about it, often subjecting himself to road rage.

Dinner isn't often much. It was usually simple dishes or take-out. Ludwig would then catch up on work or read the newspaper while Gilbert did whatever he felt like doing on that particular day.

Ludwig's life was a routine and that's how he liked it. It was predictable and he was in control.

When the doorbell rang that particular morning during breakfast, Ludwig opened the door to behold an enthusiastic-looking Italian brown-haired, brown-eyed young man who smiled so brightly, Ludwig wondered if he was high on caffeine.

He didn't even get to ask what the other wanted before he said in a loud, overly happy voice, "Hi! I'm Veneziano and I'm your guardian angel!"

Ludwig slammed the door in the kook's face.

He hadn't even taken two steps away when he heard a whine and incessant knocking on his door.

The blonde rolled his eyes and went to get the door again to make it perfectly clear to even the stupidest person on earth who didn't know what a slammed door in the face means, to go away.

He yanked the door back open.

Veneziano was frozen halfway through the motion of knocking, looking surprised to find the door suddenly replaced with a tall German man.

He seemed to have calmed down a bit and he smiled again but less intensely than last time.

Ludwig gave the young man a mildly annoyed look and said, "I don't know why you're doing this but please leave before I call the police."

"Waa! No! Please don't call the police! Um… Are you Ludwig?" Veneziano asked hastily.

"Yes," Ludwig replied, hoping Veneziano would state his business more properly this time.

"Well… um… uh… I… ah…" Veneziano stumbled through his words, looking panicked and trying to find the right words to say.

Ludwig sighed. It was too early for this and he hadn't had his coffee yet so he was tired. He was also pretty sure Veneziano had woken up his neighbors from his overly loud introduction. But more importantly, Gilbert might be trying, and failing, to somehow get the food from the pan to his plate.

"Look, why don't you come inside for now. You can tell me what you want then, okay?" Ludwig suggested. He wasn't usually one to invite strangers into the house but right now, he wanted to get this over with. He was not about to stand around in the front door listening to stuttered explanations and Veneziano seemed to be an insistent guy so he won't just leave without getting whatever he wanted.

Ludwig led the Italian man to the kitchen and gestured for him to sit at the table.

Gilbert was, thankfully, passed-out, facedown on the table, snoring and drooling as opposed to passed-out, facedown on the floor with a big bump on his head.

The younger brother returned to his earlier chore of putting the breakfast on plates and pouring coffee into mugs.

"Do you want some?" Ludwig asked out of courtesy for the guest.

Veneziano shook his head and continued to fidget, anxiously waiting for Ludwig to finish.

The blonde placed the a plate and mug in front of Gilbert then placed one in front of the chair across from Veneziano where Ludwig was to sit in. He sat himself comfortably then shook his brother awake, who groaned and immediately grabbed the coffee, downing it like he was drinking beer.

"So what is it you wanted from me?" Ludwig asked, taking a sip of his own coffee.

Gilbert, who seemed unaware of the stranger in favor of devouring his breakfast, stopped all movement when he caught sight of Veneziano. He gave a confused and disheveled look as though trying to figure out if the person sitting to his right was real or not.

"Well," Veneziano began, fumbling around in his jean pocket, taking out a small white book and flipping through it. "Ve… Ludwig… Oh! Here! Ludwig Weillschmidt. It says that you're unhappy? I'm supposed to make you happy again!" Veneziano exclaimed enthusiastically.

Ludwig gave an exasperated and impatient look. Unhappy? First Veneziano proclaimed himself his guardian angel and now he was saying he was unhappy? He was perfectly fine with his life and this stranger had the audacity to go into his house and say he's unhappy?

Annoyance began to set in and he was about to speak but Gilbert didn't give him a chance. He had reached over the table and snatched the little book out of the surprised Veneziano's hand and, ignoring his protests, looked at the book.

Ludwig sighed and said, "Gilbert, give him back his book."

"Whoa, whoa, no way Ludwig. Look at this! He has practically every little information on you!" Gilbert cackled with amusement, going through a few pages and pausing to read a couple. He then jammed the little white book into his hands and tapped at a page while keeping Veneziano from reaching over and snatching it back again.

Ludwig's eyes were drawn onto the page where Gilbert indicated and was almost immediately filled with shock.

In that simple book was every detail of his life. From his name to his occupation to his schedule and even his favorite foods.

"What the hell is this?" Ludwig said more to himself than to the other occupants of the room. He glanced up at Veneziano, who had frozen from his struggles against Gilbert and was now looking very nervous.

"You. Have you been stalking me?" he asked in a clipped tone.

"N-no! I was given this book by one of the other angels! You're my assignment!" Veneziano protested.

"Assignment? What're you? One of those religious missionaries?" Gilbert inquired with amusement, cocking a brow, "'Cause I'll have you know, I'll be damned to Hell either way." And he gave a laugh.

Ludwig skimmed through a few pages, finally flipping the final page and looked at the last item about him.

There were two paragraphs separated by a space, each boxed and written in golden, flowing, and cursive script, unlike the last few pages written in black, ordinary letters.

The first box read:

Ludwig Weillschmidt, he hath forgotten what the sweet taste of true love is like and his soul resounds with such profound sadness that even Heaven may not ignore his cries. Despite this, his heart and mind hath locked that happiness away, unwilling to yield to it and experience his pain again. He, who is uncertain and blind, shall live his life in farce happiness while heedless of the misery he sings.

The second box read:

Veneziano Vargas is granted by Heaven to help this soul who is in such anguish. Guide him gently to turn against his fears and unlock his heart to woe but also true happiness. Show him golden joy but also let him know the tears of loss that comes natural and let it strengthen him even more so and with it, determination and courage shall shine through.

Ludwig snapped the book closed and tossed it back to the Italian, who caught it clumsily.

"This is a load of bullshit," Ludwig growled, standing up, his chair scrapping backwards across his tile floor. Gilbert looked at his brother curiously then went back to his breakfast while still keeping an eye on the scene in front of him.

Veneziano looked crestfallen, clutching the little book to his chest. "B-but… this is the truth! And if I don't help you I–"

"I've had enough games today. I'll be escorting you out," Ludwig said in a voice that left no room for arguments.

Veneziano was about to protest but Ludwig gave another stern look and he stopped, looking distressed. After a few more seconds of slumping in defeat on the kitchen chair, he got up and followed the blonde out.

"Have a good day," Ludwig said shortly once Veneziano was out of his home and closed the door.

Veneziano stared at the door for a few more seconds, already feeling disappointed at the failure to convince his new assignment that he was his guardian angel.

Well, he expected this sort of thing to happen. In all his years of doing this job, people always initially rejected him, rebutting that angels didn't exist. It never got any easier to convince them but this one seemed to be the toughest one to convince yet, judging by the book.

The meeting just a few moments ago only reinforced the fact. There was just something about him that told Veneziano that no matter how much he use his old persuasions or new ones he might come up with or how much he begged for a chance, Ludwig would never relent.

Veneziano didn't think he'd ever met such a strict, no nonsense person. Ludwig just radiated with that sort of aura.

But Veneziano wasn't just about to give up, not after coming so far. This was going to be the last person assigned to him. After he succeeded in his mission, he could become a full-fledged angel. Not only that but Ludwig's unawareness of his own misery makes him want to help him even more.

Ludwig may be strict but if there's one thing people say about Veneziano it's that he's a very unrelenting guy and he's not about to give up just because the German didn't believe in him. He's going to help him one way or another. Maybe it was best not to mention he's Ludwig's guardian though. He wouldn't believe him anyway. That way, maybe Ludwig would accept him more readily.

It's strange though. Normally, people shouldn't be able to read what's inside his Angel Guide. They would just see blank pages. But not only was Ludwig able to read it, Gilbert too. This never happened before.

Veneziano wasn't going to dwell on this too much though, despite the oddity. It was abnormal but maybe the reason they could see it was because this was his last assignment meaning it would be like an exam and thus would be harder. Right now, it's more important to focus on his current predicament.

~*~

Ludwig was weary from the day's antics.

First off, someone somehow overlooked a serious error in their work and now everyone in Ludwig's workplace, including himself, were driven up the wall trying to fix the problem.

Second of all, during that chaotic episode, all the computers in the whole office somehow stopped working. It only took a few moments until everyone realized a virus had invaded every single computer. Now, things were even more hectic as people tried to get rid of the pesky viruses, suspicions running rampant in the air that someone in the office was responsible for it.

Thirdly, the useless manager who kept spouting his 'hero' talk was absent and couldn't be found anywhere in the building. Not that he would be much help anyway, but he could at least calm everyone down or something. So guess who took over his spot? Ludwig. He was always the one who took over anyway because the manager wasn't competent enough and the job always landed in Ludwig's hands to ensure order during meetings and other events.

Gilbert's day hadn't been any better either. He spent hours screaming at people to 'shut the fuck up and chill so I can figure the problem out.' And when Gilbert screams and takes something seriously, you know he's extremely pissed off. Of course he never did figure out how to get rid of the virus so he was reduced to a mumbling mess of curse words, how everything on Earth sucked, how his life sucked, how everyone else sucked, etc.

The fourth thing, to put the icing on the cake on this particularly oh so lovely day, was the Italian man from earlier this morning.

He was sitting on the front steps, gazing at nothing with a spaced-out look in his face, and humming some kind of tune.

Ludwig had no patience left to play his games and if he continued to think he's his guardian angel, he will not overlook the option of calling an asylum. He was exhausted and all he wanted to do was rest, not deal with a street nut.

Sighing, he approached Veneziano who stopped humming and leveled his gaze up at him from his position, still looking a little out-of-there.

"Welcome home!" he chirruped as casually as a mother would greet her son when he came home from school.

"Veneziano, please leave," Ludwig said exasperatedly.

"Will you take me in?" the other asked abruptly.

"What?"

Ludwig knew what he meant but he wanted to be sure.

Veneziano giggled and said, "I meant will you let me live with you?"

"I barely know you and you expect me to let you live in my house? Are you insane?" Ludwig said, growing frustrated by the demands of this random stranger.

"Then I'm not going to leave," Veneziano said in a stubborn voice, much to the blonde's dread. "I'll stay right here until you accept me."

Just then, Gilbert trudged up the steps and, without even a glance at the Italian, unlocked the door and went inside.

Ludwig wanted to get inside too and just relax from the stressful day and he wasn't about to waste his time with this crazy idiot. He'll follow Gilbert's example and let Veneziano do whatever he wanted to do as long as he didn't destroy anything or harassed them too much.

"Do what you want. I don't care as long as you don't bother us. You can stay there as long as you want but it's not going to change my mind," Ludwig finally said.

And with that, Ludwig followed his brother into the house, closing the door behind him, shutting Veneziano away from his life.

If only things were that simple.

A/N: Well, this is more like an introduction so there's really not much here. Stuff will come a little later on. Hopefully, you'll stick by until then and thanks again for reading!