8:30 am

The sudden sound of my alarm jolted me awake that morning. Reflexively, I leaped off of my bed, sped walked over to my desk, and slammed my hand on top of the black alarm, silencing the nagging beeps. I roughly exhaled and went back over to my bed, falling onto it face first and giving myself some time to completely wake up. But turning my head reminded me who was there next to me. I was surprised at first, but relaxed as I remembered everything that happened yesterday. It always interested me how forgetful I was after a night's sleep.

Arthur was also abruptly awoken from the sound as he was sitting up in full alert. I lightly chuckled at the way his hair could only be described as a 'hot mess'. And I thought I moved around in my sleep. Laughing a bit, I stretched my arms up, placing my palms on the wall it was pushing against.

Through my stretch I said, "don't worry. That was just my alarm. It helps me wake up at a certain time."

"O-oh," he replied, calming down as well.

I let my body relax after the long stretch, keeping my head turned towards the angel.

After a few minutes, I finally said, "Good morning."

"Good morning, Alfred," he simply replied.

"You can go back to sleep if you want. I'm gonna be gone for a little while," I said as I finally flipped over to sit up. That was when I heard "Gooood morning Vietnaaaam!"* coming from the hallway.

Right. I forgot to turn off my phone alarm.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked, sitting up quite easily. I could never wake myself up so fast (hence why I wake up more than an hour before class).

"School," I replied as I slowly got up from the bed to get ready to change.

As I walked in front of my drawer, I started to take my shirt off but stopped as I noticed Arthur staring at me.

"H-hey, turn around or somethin'. Don't watch me change."

Arthur lightly sighed and spun around, looking at the wall while he sat with his legs crossed.

"School? You learn things there, right?"

"Yeah," I replied, feeling a little joyful that he remembered something we talked about yesterday.

"What are you going to learn there?"

"Well, today I have three classes so I'm gonna learn some programming for computers, english, graphic design, and I just remembered I also have psychology, so four classes. It's all kinda confusing isn't it?"

"Yes."

"It's fine. You don't really need to understand what they are. Anyway, I'll be back around 5 or so. Do you remember how to read time?"

"Of course. I'm not that daft," Arthur replied, seeming a little upset that I was treating him like a kid. But I sort of had to as there were so many simple things that he didn't know about. Luckily, he learned things quickly.

"What do I do while you're gone?" Arthur asked as I finished getting dressed. (Although I had a project due today and had to present it, I still wore a simple t-shirt and jeans along with an orange hoodie on top.)

"What you'll do? I'm not sure," I said once I told him he could turn back around.

As I packed my things into my handbag, I added, "you could just watch tv. Learn from that or something. I'm also gonna call Mattie to see if he can come earlier to keep you company."

Arthur nodded and slipped off of the bed, following me into the hallway. After throwing my bag and jacket onto the couch, I walked back into the hallway and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

I had a weird way of getting ready in the morning. Everyone always described it as going backwards because apparently most people start with going to the bathroom while I started with packing my things to go. This was just the way I worked.

Quickly splashing some freezing, cold water on my face, I went to grab my toothbrush when I saw Arthur behind me.

"You don't have to follow me around you know. Go do what you want. Just, uh, stay inside. It's cold out."

"I told you, the weather doesn't-"

"Yeah, yeah I know just stay inside."

Arthur took a moment but nodded and walked out of the bathroom. It gave me time to sit there and brush my teeth, which I was very anal about. I had a habit of brushing my teeth until they felt clean. Which usually took some time.

After thoroughly cleaning my teeth, I flossed them then rinsed my mouth with mouthwash. I took a moment to fix up my hair in front of the mirror and noticed that my facial hair was starting to grow in. I prefer a completely clean-shaven face, so I'd probably take care of that later.

Afterwards, I went to the kitchen to get ready for breakfast. Checking the time, I noticed I used up 20 minutes. That was fine. I should be out of the house by 9:40 max and it was only 8:50. By car, it only took around 20 minutes to get to the campus anyway.

Deciding on some simple buttered toast with orange juice, I looked around for Arthur to see if he was hungry. Did he eat as he flew around the world? He must've stopped to eat something. And everything gets tired at some point so he probably rested in some areas too. But was he different? Ugh, I ask too many questions in my head and not out loud.

I was about to call out for him but saw him in the living room looking through my bag.

"What're you looking for?" I asked, walking over to him.

"Nothing in particular. Just looking," he replied as he took out my english book.

"Why do you need to learn english? You already seem extremely fluent with the language."

I laughed a bit at the angel's ignorance then replied, "they don't teach that. It's more like...how to write english in large amounts and stuff. It can be kind of hard when you need to write professionally so I guess they just teach that."

Arthur made a sound of acknowledgment to my explanation and put my book back, looking at another one.

"So, uh, do you want something for breakfast? I usually eat McDonalds but today is kind of important so I'm gonna eat something a little healthier."

"Important? What's happening today?"

"Got a project due," I said walking back to the kitchen to start making my food.

"You should know that there are lots of people on this world, right?"

"Right."

"Well, we've got machines and stuff that can help us talk to those people around the world without actually being next to them."

"Like the phones you showed me the other time."

"Yup! So, this one person I'm talking to from Japan has the same class as me and our teachers decided to make our classes work with each other on a certain project. We've had 3 weeks to work on this project. Today is the day it's due."

Waiting for the bread to toast, I looked back at Arthur to see if he got everything I said. He didn't seem too confused so I assumed it all made sense.

"So are you hungry?"

"...You humans eat so much. But I suppose I'll eat something with you. What are you going to eat?"

"Just some buttered toast with orange juice. Do you want the same?"

"Alright but I've never had it.."

For the rest of the morning, Arthur and I sat around the kitchen counter and ate our breakfast, Arthur asking more questions about me and me trying to push some answers out of him.

I managed to find out that he did stop to eat and rest at certain places. When he described the areas a couple reminded me of Italy and the UK. Did he hang around Europe a lot?

Knowing I still had a lot of time, I grabbed my laptop and went to Google, looking up famous monuments like Big Ben and The Tower of Pisa. He was shocked that I found these and instantly remembered them. Seeing how astonished he was, I began looking up other monuments from around the world to see if he knew them. Many he knew but there were a few that he had yet to see.

"I would love to go see them. They're so beautiful. Maybe once my wings dry I can go find them."

Hearing this made my smile instantly drop. As he played a bit with my laptop, I looked away, remembering that he eventually had to leave. Looking back at his wings I could tell that they did seem much drier than yesterday. This made me more upset rather than happy.

I didn't notice when Arthur pointed to another spot on the screen for me to click, but he must've noticed what he said because afterwards he added, "it would...probably take me too long to find these places on my own. Do you think you, maybe, could help me find them? I mean, if you want to."

My attention was back onto him, noticing that he was looking directly into my eyes. After a moment or so his cheeks turned pink and he quickly turned back to the screen.

"Like these. I think I saw some before," he stated, pointing to a picture of a United Buddy Bear**.

"Oh, uhm, they're from Germany. You've been around Europe a lot so I'd assume you'd see them..."

I looked them up and let Arthur look at the many kinds as I thought about what he said. I never really thought about moving abroad. I really didn't have money like that but...studying abroad actually didn't sound like a horrible idea.

"If you, uhm, want to see them I could take you. But not any time soon. I don't have too much money for that."

Once I said that, Arthur replied with an, "oh," sounding a bit upset with it.

Feeling bad, I tried to think of what I could do then added, "I could take a loan from the school though. Then I guess I could have enough to go there even sooner."

With that, he looked back at me and smiled a toothy smile. It was definitely a different look on him but I kind of (really) liked it.

After lightly smiling back, Arthur sat back on his stool and looked down in thought, a soft smile forming on his lips.

"I could show you the places I went to. And you could show me more,"

I felt my face heat up as I realized that us planning a trip sounded way too intimate. Such happy things brought me back into reality, reminding me that this probably wouldn't be able to happen.

"Aren't you busy though? I mean, you flew around the world doing something. And you just being here now is already taking up your time. A trip would just waste even more you know."

I hated saying this, but it was the truth. It was better to just be straightforward then beat around the bush anyway. Especially if what's happening has the power to hurt you.

As I said this, Arthur's smile seemed to fade as his mind became enwrapped with, what I assumed to be, upsetting thoughts. Did he not want to leave?

Now that I really thought about it, Arthur was acting a lot different since last night. He was acting more outgoing and happy to be here when only two days ago he wanted to leave as fast as possible.

"You've been acting weird lately, Artie."

"Have I?" he asked, looking over to me. Did he not notice?

"Uhm, yeah. Don't you...you know, want to leave?"

Arthur gave me a blank stare then turned towards the living room. I looked over as well and noticed he was watching the clock on the wall. I panicked, realizing it was 9:30 already.

"Oh, jeez I have to go! Gotta call Mattie real fast too," I said as I got up and quickly put on my jacket over my hoodie.

Pulling out my phone, I quickly dialed Matthew's number, already having it memorized. It rang a couple of times but Matt eventually picked up.

"Hey Matt,"

"Heeeeeyyyy,"

"Is...everything still good for today?" I asked, remembering the little fight he had with Francis last night.

"Yeah, everything is fine...I'm still coming over."

"Ok then. I wanted to ask if you could come earlier though. Since I'm pretty much gonna be gone all day, Arthur's gonna feel kinda lonely and bored."

"Well...I don't have work or school today and I'm pretty sure I don't have too much to do but now that I think about it I've got some chores to get done so I guess I do have stuff to do but it won't take that long sooo...I can go maybe around, I dunno, 3?"

"Uh, anytime would be fine. As long as it's earlier I guess."

"Ok then. Leaving the spare key in the usual spot?"

"Under the rock, yup."

"Ok, I'll be there. I'll still ring the doorbell though, just out of habit."

"K', I'll tell Artie. Bye,"

"Byyyyyye."

I hung up the phone with a sigh, standing at the door and slipping my shoes on. Looking back at Arthur, I saw him standing behind me, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. I didn't forget what I asked him but I knew it was better to bring it up later so I pretended that it slipped my mind.

"Matthew's gonna be here around 3. He's gonna ring the doorbell but open the door himself. Do you remember the weird way he rings it?"

"Weird?"

"He just rings it a bunch of times in a pattern. Trust me, you'll notice it. Anyway, I'll be back soon. You can just watch tv or uh, look at more pictures on my laptop. Just be careful with it. You can't get any liquid on it or it'll die."

Arthur gave me a look that seemed to understand this but take it way too literal.

"I understand. I won't let it die. I promise," he said all too seriously.

I laughed a bit at this but thanked him and opened the door, giving him another long stare before leaving. Even though I was coming back, I was still nervous about leaving him in general. It was kind of scary really. I only hoped that he stayed until I got back.

This made me look at his wings and halo again; how they were on him so naturally, as if this wasn't a crazy phenomenon. Sure, it's already been two days but the fact never ceased to amaze me. I wasn't sure if that was weird or not.

"I'll see you later then. Bye,"

"Good bye, Alfred."

I heard the lock click shut and walked over to the window, pulling up the curtain and watching as Alfred went into his vehicle and left.

Once he was completely gone from my eyesight, I shut the curtain and turned around, wondering what to do. Without Alfred around to explain things, all of the things in this house were quite new to me.

Not saying that I am completely ignorant to the objects. I've seen many of them before and probably could figure it out after fiddling with it for a bit. However, it all still was somewhat overwhelming.

Deciding to go for the object that caught most of my attention, I went back to Alfred's 'laptop' which sat on the counter in his kitchen. But the kitchen held many liquids which could harm the machine so I knew it was my responsibility to protect it and move it somewhere else. Frankly, I was confused as to why Alfred put it there to begin with.

This made me come to wonder, is this machine alive? It never replied back to Alfred; it only took commands when told to do so. However, when it was running a little slow, I did here Alfred mutter some things like, "c'mon, you can do it" and "atta girl". So was this machine female? And is it possible that she could hear us but she had no way to reply?

The thought of that made me a little depressed. Either way, I gently held the machine and took it to the couch in the living room, placing it on one cushion while I sat on the other.

The pictures of those funny bears were still on the screen but I wanted to see other things. However, I knew how to change the pictures. You had to write the word into the box at the top.

I remembered Alfred moving his finger around the small box underneath all of the letters to make the arrow move, so I practiced it myself; getting it easily. Tactically moving the the arrow over top of the white box, I tapped the box and saw the small blue, blinking line that told me I could write there. I smiled at the progress I was doing. Alfred would definitely be proud of this.

Now I had to write something I wanted to see. After thinking for a minute or so, I wrote in 'angels' (which took a little while as the letters were not in alphabetical order). I was curious about what would appear on here, but when I clicked the button that said 'search', nothing appeared. I looked back at the box with the words and I noticed that the other word was still in there and mixed with mine. This must have confused the laptop, I assumed.

Looking around all of the buttons, I finally found one that said 'delete'. It only made sense that this would remove or obliterate the matter. I clicked it and watched as one of the letters disappeared. Perfect!

Clicking it multiple times, I removed all of the letters then wrote 'angels' again. I clicked 'search' and patiently waited to see what would appear.

However, I was quite disappointed. There were many depictions of angels, but none seemed efficient enough to be labeled as an actual 'angel'. They all had wings and halos but the bodies were wrong. They gave them too many human characteristics and angels were much more...perfect than that. Excluding me of course. Because I'm different...

I looked down for a moment, brooding about my life and its details. But trying to stay optimistic, I shook the thoughts away. Things were looking up for me. After all, I found Alfred! Or rather the git found me... I pushed away the insane memory of being torn out of my normal life into freezing water by a daft American with a fishing rod. A bloody fishing rod...

Continuing to search through the laptop, I deleted the letters again and wrote my own name; Britannia Angel.

I was once again disappointed as other things came up instead of what I expected. It would make sense though as no one really knew who I was.

Sighing, I decided to leave the machine alone. It wasn't making me very happy. I looked up at the clock and remembered that Matthew would be coming at 3 o'clock. But I frowned as only a few minutes passed.

I leaned forward on my seat and flapped my wings out of boredom, alternating them at first then moving them simultaneously, forcing myself up off of my seat. This was when I realized that my wings were quite dry. I flew over to the kitchen and landed on the floor, walking over to the device that allowed water to pour out. I saw Alfred and Matthew use this once and was able to easily turn it on. But looking again, I realized that it was not big enough to take my whole wing. That was when I remembered there was another one of these things in that room where Alfred was cleaning his teeth.

After turning it off again, I flew over the counter and tried to fly through the corridor, but my wings were much too large and I had to land and walk there.

Turning on the light, I inspected the room, looking at the device Alfred used and once again noting that it was too small to take my wings. The only conclusion I came up with was to use my hands to put the water on my wings. But I didn't want to wet his floor since that was something that apparently upset him.

So like before, I walked into the tub and turned on the water from the small device, reaching my hands over to bring it to my wings. But that didn't seem like a good idea because as I brought it over, it dripped onto the floor. It would be a huge mess if I continued. And trying to manipulate it with my magic was out of the question as water flows and is not one 'thing'. It would be too difficult to grab and probably make an even bigger mess.

So I shut the water off again and looked around for any other solutions. I quickly noticed another device in the tub that looked much like the ones that poured water out. Could this be one as well?

Turning the large knob that allowed the water to flow through, I heard something begin to function and was startled to feel water above my head. I panicked, jumping back and flying up a bit but landed when I realized that this was simply the same thing except larger. This was exactly what I needed!

Quickly disrobing, I turned around and brought my wings against the water, allowing them to become drenched. This was much easier than sneaking out during the night to soak them in a body of water outside.

After a while, I turned off the water and stood in the tub, taking out enough water so that it wouldn't drip but making sure that enough stayed inside.

I wasn't sure how much longer I could fool Alfred with this... But I had to lie. Out of the many years of roaming this world someone actually noticed me. And I wasn't going to lose this chance. Maybe I could finally finish this mission I was set to do and after that... I had no idea.

Once my wings stopped dripping, I found a towel to dry myself off and made them disappear, as that would keep them wet for the time being. I also hid my halo as an added measure. I redressed myself and walked out of the room but took a moment to remember that Matthew was going to come to see me. Is it better to look like myself or the way he saw me before?

Using my deductive reasoning for humans (as far as my research has gone), I only assumed that seeing an angel would be quite a shocking thing for him. So maybe standing there, looking completely 'angelic' when he walks in was not the best option.

In the end, I decided to use the clothes I was given yesterday. The pants were definitely uncomfortable but I liked Matthew enough to endure the torture. Not only was he strange and kind, but he was the second person to see me, which I have yet to understand. It was as if meeting Alfred somehow made it possible for everyone else to see me.

And because of this, it just made it more reassuring that Alfred was the one I needed. I didn't understand why but it was the only clue I had. I had to use him.

Seeing as I had many hours to wait before Matthew would arrive, I decided to stay in my usual clothing and change when the time came. And although the machine brought me into a foul mood, I still decided to get back onto it and look up other things that did not relate to me.

For starters, I thought of many words Alfred used that I did not comprehend all too well. I started with the word 'dude'.

2:50 pm

After hours of searching for many things on the laptop, I realized I must have fallen asleep. I only realized this when a bright light woke me from said slumber.

I rubbed my eyes, forcing my eyelids to open for me to find where this light source was coming from. I found it odd to begin with that I had fallen asleep actually. I tended to fall sleep every 300 earth rotations or so (which Alfred helped me estimate to about a year in his terms), so it was odd that I lost consciousness so quickly. Even when I slept around the same time as Alfred I was never actually sleeping. Just taking small naps.

Pushing that thought aside, I finally looked over to the light source and gasped at what it was. The light came from the window; so powerful that the curtains could not even block it. There was only one light I knew that could shine this brightly.

I leaped off from the couch, stumbling because of my frantic movements, and pushed the curtains open, looking directly into the light without blinking. This light was nothing like the sun. It wasn't painful to look at because this light was holy. But that wasn't to say that it did not have the power to bring pain.

"You...y-you finally answered!" I said aloud.

Almost instantly, every negative feeling was pushed out of me, replaced with utter joy. If they came to speak to me, that only meant that I was in the right track of the mission! It felt almost empowering because in the end, I didn't have to ask for their help. I found it out on my own!

Yet, being the heartless beings that they are, my mood took a sudden turn. Their response made no sound, vibration, or evidence that it connected with me as it did not need to. Yet, I somehow knew exactly what they were saying. It was...not what I wanted to hear.

"...What do you mean? I-I'm only following your orders!"

I became a little shocked at their reply, then frustrated.

"Well it isn't my fault that your instructions made no sense! You cannot blame me for being ignorant!"

I felt my chest aching at what was being told to me. After all these bloody centuries of no one answering my calls for help and forgiveness, and this is what they send to me. My eyes began to water as I was reminded of the time my people first left me here. But when I really thought about it, was I even considered one of their people?

"Then explain it to me! Please! I'm tired of being alone and lost! Someone finally has the ability to see me! Isn't that a lead to my objective?!"

Again, painful, piercing replies. Ones that did not care about my emotions or suffering. It only desired results.

"It isn't fair! Why are you doing this to me?! What have I done except be different from you?!" I cried out as my voice began to crack.

Their next response forced me to freeze, my eyes widening in fear.

"No. No no no, please don't go. Please don't leave me again! You can't just tell me that what I'm doing is wrong then leave me here, you just can't!"

The light began to fade, seeming to somehow take all my hope away with it. I never knew that holy light could be so painful to an angel. I begged and pleaded, falling onto my knees and watching as the light only turned into a faint glimmer...then completely faded away.

I couldn't help it. I couldn't control these feelings anymore. How could they do this to me? I've waited hundreds and hundreds of years for a sign; any sign of hope! I find one; one that is kind and enraptured by me; and I am told that he is not what I am searching for? None of this is fair!

With a yell, I threw my arms up into the air and slammed my fists down onto the ground, easily breaking the floor underneath the carpet. My anger still high, I pulled up my right fist and slammed it into the same spot multiple times, ignoring the fact that my knuckles began to bleed.

After the fourth punch, I finally stopped, panting heavily. My vision became blurry with tears and I decided to let them fall. I began to cry, hiccuping and trying my hardest not to make a sound. But I couldn't help whimpering and beginning to sob.

I could accept humans not seeing me. I could accept every single form of life not wanting my existence. But they are different. They are the ones I stayed with for millenniums, who taught me right from wrong, up from down, left from right. And after trying so hard to gain their acceptance, they tell me that I am wrong...

After letting out centuries worth of held in emotions, I was surprised by the sound of rapid ringing and turned to where it was coming from. It was from the door and the ringing was in an odd pattern. I quickly looked over to the clock on the wall and was able to read that it was a little past 3; the time that Matthew was supposed to be here.

Panicking, I looked down at the floor, noticing the insane damage I made and quickly used my magic to fix it, bringing all the pieces together and restitching the carpet.

Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm myself, roughly wiping my eyes in hopes that I could stop the tears from falling. The ringing eventually stopped and after another minute or so, I heard the door's lock click open. As the door opened, I coughed to clear my throat and rubbed my face, managing to finally relax myself to a certain degree.

"Arthur? What're you doing down there are you ok?" Matthew asked as I heard the door shut.

He walked around me and bent down to his knees, putting his bear down to the floor and looking at me. Slowly, I looked up at him, seeing that although he was a bit expressionless, I found concern in his eyes.

"Have you been crying? Hey did something happen, do I have to hurt someone?"

I bit my lip, failing to keep my eyes dry. I never realized humans could read each others emotions so easily.

"H-hello Matthew. I-I'm sorry I look this way,"

"Don't be stupid it's fine, c'mere."

Matthew then went down onto his knees like me and put his arms around me, pulling my body closer and onto his. My head now on his shoulder, I looked around in confusion. What was he doing?

"What...what is this?"

Matthew took a few moments to respond but then said, "it's called a hug. We do this to help others feel better."

"I...I'm fine," I lied. Although I wasn't sure why I did.

"Oh please, out of everyone in this town I, more than anyone else, know what a breakdown looks like."

I didn't exactly know what a "breakdown" meant but I only assumed that I could take it literally to a certain degree.

"How does this help?" I asked after a quivering inhale.

"Well to make it work you gotta hug me too. Trust me this is like, this human power thing we have, trust me."

"Alright," I replied.

I never knew humans had magical powers. But as I wrapped my arms around him, I suddenly felt such a strange, comforting feeling. It was something I never experienced before but saw humans do many times. I never understood its purpose, but as Matthew held me, rubbed my back, and told me that it was going to be alright, I somehow quickly learned its meaning and function.

A temporary light. A temporary sense of hope. It reminded me of the light that left me not too long ago. But this didn't make sense. How could this action remind me of such a powerful entity that could engulf you; heart and soul?

Pushing my thoughts aside, I decided to attempt to strengthen this human power and hold Matthew tighter. Amazingly, this brought the effect of Matthew copying my action, making me feel almost protected. It now reminded me of my wings...

"No, Kuma, not now," Matthew muttered as we both felt the bear trying to come in between us.

His animal innocence brought a smile on my face as I said, "no no it's alright."

Hesitantly, I let go of Matthew and he copied my movements once again, letting me go. The power of the hug faded away with it, but I could tell what this bear was thinking (not to mention he was already trying to climb onto my lap).

Mr. Kumajiro stretched his furry arms up at me and I chuckled and shared a hug with him as well. He didn't exactly wrap his arms around me, but it was a kind gesture either way.

"So...who do I have to hurt for you? Was this Alfred's fault because if he did something I swear to god,"

I looked up at Matthew in confusion, sniffling a bit.

"Hurt?"

"Someone hurts my friend they get hurt back. And don't worry I may look weak but I really am strong like Alfred I mean I can carry this fat fellow around everywhere like he's a ball of yarn, trust me I can hurt someone pretty good."

"Oh uh, no no there's no need for that."

"Then why are you crying? No lying."

Mr. Kumajiro suddenly climbed off of me, becoming distracted by something. I looked down wondering if this problem was too much to understand for a human. I already learned that they had certain powers of their own so maybe learning about these celestial beings wouldn't be too much?

But looking back at the people in the past, revealing such a thing would cause much chaos and argument.

"...Listen Matthew-"

"No."

I looked up at him, confused by such a random response. I didn't ask a question for him to answer.

"You took way too long to answer and I get you got a bunch of stuff in your head. Right now, you need some happy food."

Although I still felt quite depressed, I knew that this had to be a metaphor. Right?

"Happy food? There's no such thing."

"Yes there is."

"Food does not have the capability to express emotion. Well unless it's still alive but I don't think that's what you mean."

"No, no, don't worry all the foods gonna be dead and besides it's technically not even gonna be from something that was alive to begin with," he replied, standing up and holding his hands towards me.

I grabbed onto his hands and he pulled me up, giving me an example of how powerful his upper body strength truly was.

"Alfred should be home in two hours so I'll make dinner too. But ok right now, we gotta find some chocolate. You should know about that, right?" he said as he walked over to the kitchen. He opened Alfred's cabinets and looked around, closing them afterward.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen it before but I've never tasted it," I answered honestly.

He moved to Alfred's refrigerator and opened it, looking at the limited food in there and smiled at something. He pulled out a rectangular object that was covered in something that said chocolate on it. He ripped it open and snapped a piece off of it, handing it over to me.

I sniffed, feeling my nose still running, and grabbed the piece, inspecting it before clarifying that it was to be eaten. Matthew nodded and I popped the small piece into my mouth, chewing it for a moment before realizing that this was quite delicious.

"It's great."

"Then you're gonna love it melteeeeeed," Matthew said as he found more.

"While this is cooking, I know a game we could play that will take your mind off of ALL your problems!"

"What sort of game?" I asked.

"It's the most evil game ever. It'll keep you on your toes at all times and make you wanna toss something out of a window. It's called...Mario Kart***."

4:45 pm

"Got all the information Kiku?"

"Yes. Everything went through smoothly. Great job on your part, Alfred."

"You too! Your parts were awesome!" I replied, smiling a toothy smile at my pen pal.

Kiku, my project partner from Japan, quietly waited for a moment as I saved all of his info on my Flash drive. I was talking to him through Skype° as we were both out of class now. We were the last ones to show our project today and I had to admit, our teamed work was definitely the best so far. It was a programming mixed with graphic design type of project that had extreme amounts of detail and information so we had to work hard for it. We didn't have to do this much, but Kiku and I were the type of people to go the extra mile just to satisfy our own goals.

Once I got my info, I went back to talking to Kiku.

"So what're you gonna do now? Go to work or something?"

Kiku lightly laughed and smiled at me, almost seeming sympathetic.

"Alfred, remember it's 7 am over here. I still have a few hours until my next classes."

I blinked, reminding myself that the time does in fact change with location and apologized with a sheepish grin. Kiku thought nothing of it, already knowing that I had my stupid moments.

"I'm just going to go home and rest for a bit before coming back to the college."

"Or you can just nap in a lounge room for a while," I suggested.

"Oh, no I do not like being unguarded in public."

"I love the way you worded that."

"By the way, is something bothering you?"

I felt my face lightly heat up as Kiku somehow managed to notice that my mind has been somewhere else. We have known each other for a few weeks now so I guess it would make sense that he'd start to notice the little things.

"What-what do you mean?" I quickly asked.

"When we were presenting our project, I noticed you blanked out on occasions and lost track of things. I know this project was a big deal for both you and I so whatever the problem is must be important. You can discuss it with me if you want," he kindly said.

"Ah, no it's nothing really. It's just that these last couple of days have been...interesting for me I guess."

"Something happened?"

"Uhhhm..."

God, I'm a dreadful liar. But honestly, I didn't want to lie to Kiku. He only knew a bit of my obsession with the Britannia Angel and I didn't want to lose another friend by telling him about this.

But Kiku has always seemed like such an accepting friend. There were normal things I did that he found odd, but he still seemed fine with them. So maybe it was fine?

"It uhm, has to do with that research I told you I was into a while back," I said, too nervous to be blunt.

"The one with that angel."

"Y-yeah. I've gotten more info on it and it's been a pretty big deal for me so...I can't really get my mind off of it."

I looked over at Kiku, wondering how he felt about it. Those dim eyes of his weren't very good at showing expression though so I couldn't really make a guess as to what he was thinking.

"I understand. This must be very important for you, yes? You should tell me about it sometime."

My eyes grew wide, quickly asking, "wait you don't think it's weird?"

"Why would I? There's nothing wrong with obsessing over something that makes you happy."

"Oh. Thanks I guess," I said, a little bit surprised. Still, he didn't know how obsessed I was so I had no room to really judge how he felt about me yet. But nonetheless, it was nice to hear.

"Well I hope things work out for you."

"Thanks. And hey let's keep in touch! I really like learning about your culture and stuff. And we can work on other projects again too! I'd really love to," I said.

"I had fun working with you too! But we have to find hours that work for us both when we talk from now on. We both lost good amounts of sleep on this project."

"Yeah,"

"Well good bye then, Alfred."

"K. I'll write to you tomorrow or something if I can. Bye,"

With one final smile, Kiku hung up and I sighed, closing the program from the school computer. After putting my Flash drive away along with the rest of my books and such, I walked out of the computer room, getting ready to go home.

Instead of walking though, I couldn't hide the fact that I was practically running to my car. It really was hard staying away from him for so long and all of my acquaintances (mainly my professors) noticed that I seemed out of it. I'm really not sure how I'll keep this up. If only he could just come with me instead of leaving him behind...

Pushing that thought away, I put on my seatbelt, fixed the chair to my comfort, and started the car, giving it some time to warm up. I really wanted to see Arthur again.

"I'm hoooome!" I called out as I opened the door to my house.

"Hello Alfred," Arthur said but was interrupted by Mattie nudging his slim shoulder with his own.

"Don't look away!" Matt quickly called out.

"Oh, right right," Arthur said, looking back over to the tv.

I guess didn't have to look far for the guys as they were right in the living room, playing a game. Seeing Arthur made all my anxiety disperse but at the same time it was suddenly filled with surprise. Arthur was in his old attire, the white, dress thing and Matthew either didn't seem to notice or didn't care.

Also, Arthur's playing a video game?

"H-Hey Matthew,"

"Heeeeeey," he replied, as he kept his eyes glued to the screen.

"So uh," I paused, dropping my things by the door, shutting it, then walking over to the couch, seeing the two racing in Mario Kart.

"You're playing Mario Kart? Mattie, why would you show him such a horrible game?!" I asked over dramatically.

"Desperate times come to desperate measures, my friend," he replied in his own, dramatic tone.

"Well...ok let me jump in next round!" I said as I grabbed a wii remote and watched them play.

I laughed at Artie, who was playing as Luigi and trying to stay on the track. I knew we already planned something serious today but I didn't mind just having fun at first. Plus, Arthur was learning how these work, which I suppose is helpful nowadays.

For another hour or so, we raced each other, arguing and instructing Artie on how to work the controls. At the end of our final race (and cheers from all of us as we decided to do a group race and stuck together), we turned off the game and sat around, wondering what to do. I thought the best thing to do was to go straight into the reason Mattie came here to begin with but maybe that wasn't a good idea. Was it too abrupt to just say "Artie's a magical angel with powers and everything!"?

"So are you gonna show me or what?" Matthew said, surprising me. Arthur, on the other hand, looked down in thought.

"First things first though, are you good now? But wait no, I just remembered," Matthew then turned to me, with a small glare and a finger pointed towards me.

"What did you do to Artie this morning I swear, I will beat the hell out of you if you yelled at him or something because let's face it he doesn't really understand things that well but that's not saying he's stupid, he's just a little ignorant and also-"

"Woah, woah, woah!" I yelled out, putting my hands up in defense.

"I didn't do anything to him! What happened?!"

"He was on the floor and crying when I found him."

I quickly turned to Arthur, first in shock then worry. Arthur, at the same time, looked up at me in shock and stood up, saying, "look let's not talk about that."

"Dude, what happened? Did you like, kill my laptop or something?" I asked, getting up as well.

"No! No, she's perfectly fine! I promise! Look," he quickly replied before running over to the kitchen, grabbing my laptop, and bringing it back over to me.

"I put her back where you had her but I really don't think it's a good place because there's water near there and well she could, you know, get hurt," he said, seeming nervous about it.

I faintly laughed at the cute way he called it a she while holding the laptop in one hand but pushed the feeling away as there were more important matters to attend to.

"Then what's up, dude? If I did anything wrong then just tell me."

"No, Alfred you didn't do anything."

"Then what is it?"

"Alfred, he doesn't wanna talk about it now," Matthew interjected.

"But I'm worried as hell! Did you hurt yourself or or were you too lonely? If so, I'm really sorry!"

"No, Alfred! Please stop asking!" he yelled out, seeming more distressed then angered at my persistence. But I couldn't help it. Out of everyone, I really didn't want to hurt the Britannia Angel. He's...special to me. Like my own treasure that I found and caught. If I was the one that caused him pain I wouldn't know how to live with myself.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Because...because I don't want to."

I opened my mouth to say how stupid that was but held my voice as all my thoughts processed. He wasn't planning on staying anyway, wasn't he? I frowned, feeling my anger welling up inside but choosing to hold it in. I was about to walk away, planning to go to my room, but stopped as I heard a strange sound that resembled wind and Arthur now looking like his true form. I then turned to the sound of a gasp, realizing it was Matt, who jumped in his seat and landed on the end of the couch. His eyes were wide, staring at Arthur who was staring at me with wide, green eyes.

There was an awkward silence, no one seeming to want to move as it could somehow break the strange balance we had just created. I slowly looked back over to Matt, trying to find the right words to say to him, but for some reason I didn't say anything. Nothing at all.

* Lucifer from the show Supernatural. My roommate literally has that alarm tone and it is the most annoying thing ever. Lol

** United Buddy Bears really are in Germany and I believe in other areas of the world as well lol they're weird looking but kinda cute. Look them up! They're supposed to symbolize international peace and understanding. So like...friendship symbols :D I can imagine Germany making those and showing the other nations lol daw~

*** I'm sure many of you know but, just in case, Mario Kart is a fun racing game that can get intense. Seriously lol I have insane matches with people in this game and the CPU's can be so excruciatingly evil.

° SO MANY STARS lol another just in case. Skype is a way to talk to people on your comp for FREEEEE lol you can video chat and stuff but I think actually calling someone's phone costs money. Not too sure.

A.N. lol you guys have been waiting forever for this update XD sorry for the wait, honestly. I've been busy with life and such. I actually think the story is like on it's half mark right now. Maybe. It wasn't intended to be this long to begin with lol

But uhm, yeah Mattie finally sees Artie's real form! What do you think his reaction will be? I mean, yeah we already know he was surprised but what now? Think he'll believe it right away? Or be like aw hell no this is crazy? Tell me what you think ^_^

And I finally brought up Kiku :3 I lubs him lol I might bring up even more. Who knows. I'll figure it out as I go.

R&R for any questions, comments, to tell me to hurry up lol, whatever! :)