Germany x Reader: Siblings

12. Insanity

Insane. That was the way Germany tended to describe his older brother. And you agreed with him a bit. Gilbert was very eccentric, perverted, and loud to say the least. But he was a sweetheart with an impeccable sense of honor and tidiness that you knew Ludwig admired. Even if he didn’t often openly show it.

Right then, Ludwig was in the library trying to think of what the next story for the newspaper should be on. The principal suggested something that appealed more to emotion because Ludwig had a tendency to be straight forward, and the principal said it might help them pick up more readers. Ludwig was fine with their current number of readers. It had remained steady and constant for the time he was in it, and he could admit they had a decent amount of readers. He sighed, placing his head in his hands and running over the ideas in his head of what he, Feliciano, and Kiku had managed to brainstorm. They hadn’t come up with much. Events had seemed to die down and that never made for a good week for the newspaper club. Very briefly he remembered the first day you showed up at the school and how Feliciano wanted to do an exclusive on you just because he thought you were pretty. He groaned. What a ridiculous reason to do a story! Your face flashed in his mind and lingered there. Even though, even to him, you were very pretty. And as if on cue –

“Is something wrong, Ludwig?” you asked. You were leaned forward in concern, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. He gave you a small smile. He wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t seem to not smile around you. Maybe you just had that effect on people. It worked on Feliciano. Though maybe that wasn’t the best example. Feliciano tended to smile at most things.

“It’s nothing of importance.” You pouted. You could always tell when he wasn’t being completely honest about something.

“Well you don’t get this worked up over things when they’re aren’t important. You seem stressed.”

“I’m fine. I just don’t know what kind of story to put in the newspaper to satisfy the principal.”

“Well, what does he want it to be about?”

“Try the new mystery meat in the cafeteria. That’s bound to start a riot.” He chuckled lightly. You made him laugh too. You were one of the few people who really got to see such a side of him. He was more standoffish with others besides his close friends and brother.

“Why not do a piece on friends and family?”

“That’s too general. Conducting three interviews alone will take too long.”

“Just family?”

“Smaller.”

“Siblings?”

“Hmm… That could work.”

“There are plenty of students with siblings. You could interview them about what it’s like living with them? How do they interact with each other? Are they opposites? Do the younger ones wish to follow in the footsteps of the older ones? Then talk about the things where they really come through for each other. Like no matter how much they fight, at the end of the day we still love our siblings.”

“That could work. It’s emotional enough I think. Would you like to help me conduct interviews?” Your face lit up.

“That would be awesome!”

“Tomorrow at lunch. Meet me here, and we can go get the interviews. Then if you want, you can come by my house to help with the editing. I’m going to tell Feliciano and Kiku.”

“What did they want to do the article on?”

“Kiku wanted to do a story on personal space, and Feliciano wanted to do some sort of exposé on cats.” You giggled.

“That sounds like something they’d want to write about.”

“Remember. Tomorrow at lunch.” You gave him a salute.

“Yes, sir!” then you pranced off, Ludwig watching after you with his heart beating subtly faster.

~

You were right on time. In fact, you were so giddy, you had ended up speed walking to where you were supposed to meet Ludwig and ended up there before him. Which was impressive in his book – seeing as how he admired punctuality.

“Are you ready?” he asked as he handed you his personal recorder to get the conversation on tape.

“Yes, sir!”

“Good. Our first interview is with Arthur and Alfred. The two would only agree to the interview if the other wasn’t there, so we have to do this separately. I’ll meet you in the east wing study hall to interview Yong Soo and Leon about their brother Yao. Then we’ll interview Lily and Vash. That should be enough.”

“Okay. Am I interviewing Arthur or Alfred?”

“You had better take Alfred. Our personalities clash a bit, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to get a lot of information out of him. He should be in the lunch room.”

“Okay. I’m on it! You can count on me!” Your enthusiasm was cute. Not that Ludwig would ever verbally admit that. You both had to walk in the same direction for a bit, so you struck up a quick conversation.

“Ludwig, what’s the relationship with you and Gil like?” He looked thoughtful for a moment. You pressed record on the little tape recorder.

“It’s fine, I suppose. He’s a good older brother. He’s dependable and loyal when it matters, and he taught me to be that way when we were younger. Believe it or not, he can be serious at times too.” You giggled. Serious Gilbert was something you’d like to see some day.

“I bet you two love each other a lot.”

“Ja. He’s a good brother.”

~

You found Alfred in the lunch room as Ludwig had said. He was sitting with Matthias gobbling down food at an inhuman speed as usual. It was a wonder how he managed to stay in shape. You weren’t sure you had ever seen him eat a vegetable or fruit – aside from toppings on burgers and pizza.

“Hi, Alfred,” you greeted him with a cheerful smile, “I’m here to interview you for the paper.”

“Hm? I didn’t know you were in the newspaper club. Or that I’d be interviewed by such a hottie,” he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. You blushed.

“I’m not. I’m just helping Ludwig out. Um, the topic is siblings, so tell me about your relationship with Arthur.”

“He’s a total stick in the mud. Any time we try to hang out, we just end up fighting. He gets on my nerves.” You frowned.

“That can’t be all there is to it.”

“Believe it, babe.”

“You don’t have one good thing about him you could say?” He took a few sips of his soda.

“Well… when I was little he got me a set of toy soldiers. Does that count?”

“Yes, that’s great! Can you think of a time when you and he had a fight and you still came through for each other?”

“Well, when I think about it, there are a lot of times I guess. When my dad divorced his mom we had a big fight over whose fault it was, and we kind of disliked each other ever since. But he still looks out for me when I need it.”

“Do you ever thank him?” Alfred looked guilty.

“I guess I should, huh?” You smiled sheepishly and nodded. Then he gave you another of his bright smiles.

“I’ll go do that right now!” He stood up abruptly and jogged out of the cafeteria.

“So are you some kind of counselor now?” Matthias joked. You giggled.

“Maybe,” you joked back as you stood to go to the east wing.

~

You arrived there before Ludwig, Yong Soo, or Leon. So you sat at one of the desks and waited patiently.

“Hey, liebe. Haven’t seen you in a while. I’ve missed you,” a rough, German-accented voice purred in your ear. You recognized it immediately. You turned in your seat to meet the red-eyed gaze of Gilbert.

“Hey, Gil. How have you been?”

“Better now that I get to see you,” he said with a wink. Honestly, he, Alfred, and Francis were all natural flirts. You rolled your eyes but smiled nonetheless.

“Can I ask you a question or two?” you asked as you grabbed the recorder and started recording.

“Sure. I’ve got time,” he said taking a seat next to you.

“What’s your relationship with Ludwig like? Like do the two of you fight a lot or what?”

“Well, when our parents were going through a rough patch, we weren’t that old. We rarely saw our mom and our dad was really distant. I think that’s when we bonded most. He needed a strong male figure in his life, and even though I was only eleven at the time, I tried my best to be that figure. And he turned out okay. He’s loyal, dependable, and respectable. The only thing I can’t seem to get him to do is loosen up a bit. But I think that’s because I used to be a trouble maker, and he didn’t want to get in trouble a lot like I did.”

“Used to be?” you asked sarcastically with a raised eyebrow.

“Kesesesese. Okay, liebe, so I still get into trouble from time to time.” You giggled.

“What do you think Ludwig thinks about you?”

“I honestly thinks he sees me more as a pest than a big brother.”

“I don’t think he sees you that way.”

“How would you know?” You played back what you had recorded earlier when you were with Ludwig. Gilbert chuckled.

“I’m gonna hug him,” Gilbert declared as he stood up. You giggled as he marched away just as Yong Soo and Leon were walking in.

~

You handed the recorder back to Ludwig at the end of lunch.

“Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without your help. I’m not sure how to thank you.” Just then he wrapped you up in a quick hug that lasted only half a second. “Sorry. That’s just how Feli thanks people, and it seemed like a good start.” You jumped up and hugged him tightly around the neck.

“It’s fine,” you giggled. His face was turning several different shades of red. You let go and smiled at him. He smiled back fondly.

“Luddy! There you are!” you heard Gilbert yell as he entered the room where you two currently were. He practically tackled Ludwig to the ground in a hug. “You love me as your big brother!”

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Ludwig yelled as he tried to pry Gilbert off of him. You giggled and slipped out of the room to let the brothers have their moment.