Alright, I love Ereri it's my OTP so let's just start this off, shall we? Main rule, this is a modern AU. So, of course, it's all like modern day life. But for Eren Jeager, his life isn't so ordinary...
Btw in this Levi is 18 and Eren 15 cause it's my AU who really gives a damn
"Hey! Eren! There's someone knocking on the door. Could you get that for me please?" Carla's voice rang out and Eren sighed, pausing his anime. He got up and left his dimly lit and damp room in their family's 3-bedroom cottage. It was covered in wrappers and crumbs, except for a small path from his bed. It was the usual teen's room, except with mould on the walls. Instead, Eren had put up posters of his favourite anime to cover them. So, it was pretty ordinary.
Eren ran down the stairs barefoot and jumped the last few. He knew exactly who it was since he'd called them earlier asking them to come round. He opened the front door to his best friend's shining face and short, golden hair. He was wearing shorts and a baggy hoodie. He was grinning his adorable face off, and his big blue eyes had their own little smile.
"Armin! You're a bit early, and I'm halfway through and episode of anime, but you can watch it with me if you want. It's one of those ones where a detective goes and inspects the crime scene of summat' and he figure out whodunnit. I'm betting on the brother at the moment, but I'm sure you'll figure it out within five minutes."
"I'm not that clever, Eren! I just have a photographic memory. Hey, why don't we get Mikasa to watch too?"
"She went out with Ymir to get a present for Krista."
"'Kay. Let's get started then!"
The duo raced upstairs and into Eren's bedroom. From that point onwards,nether were silent as they watched the anime. Up until the point where the detective stood with his assistant alone and Eren started screaming at the TV,
"I SHIP IT! ITS MY NEW OTP!"
"Shh! You're such an otaku, Eren." Armin giggled when his best friend gave him a confused look like, 'don't normal people do this too?'the blonde just sent the brunette one which said 'of course they don't!', rolling his eyes.
The rest of the anime went smoothly until the detective declared it was the butler, as Armin had predicted. Eren kept telling him how he was a genius to have seen it, his teal* eyes twinkling in admiration. Armin just kept blushing and being modest up until the anime ended.
"So, what now?" Armin asked, turning to face Eren.
"If we go downstairs, Mom will make us help cook dinner..." Eren bit his lip unenthusiastically, rubbing the back of his neck. It was a nervous habit, that.
"Yeah, let's not. I wanna talk before dinner. We haven't just talked for a while, have we?" Armin turned to look at Eren, pulling his knees in and resting his head on his kneecaps.
Eren followed it suit, but he sat with his legs curled up beneath him like a platform, his hands clutching the bed at his sides. He didn't know why, but he knew he had to let this out. And his best friend was the perfect person.
"Yeah! That's a great idea. So, what do you want to talk about, Armin? Girls? Anime? Books? Cause I know you love books!" Eren chuckled and Armin blushed.
"I think the first guess was more accurate..." Armin suggested, "But I know I'm the only one who wants to talk about girls here!"
"Shh, Armin! You're the only one who knows so far. The might find out if you keep shouting!" Eren hissed and clasped his hand over Armin's mouth. Armin rolled his eyes. After a few seconds of tense silence while they listened in case anyone was coming, Eren let go.
"When are you gonna tell them? I mean, it's not like they can do much to you!" Armin whispered back frustratedly.
"My dad is homophobic! It doesn't get much worse than that!" Eren stage-whispered at his friend. He clasped his hand over his mouth as Armin's eyes widened, registering what his friend had blurted out.
"Why didn't you tell me?! That's an important detail about your dad you just skimmed over!" Armin hissed, not out of anger, but worry for his friend's situation. "He's gonna find out at some point!"
"I know, Armin! And I want that 'some point' to be far in the future when I'm going to college! Because otherwise... I'm scared, Armin." Eren admitted quietly. Armin enveloped him in a hug.
"Eren, I'm here. Mikasa's here. It doesn't matter that you're gay. We're still your friends." Armin told him in a comforting voice just as the door was slammed open and a furious scarves girl burst into the room.
"Eren! How come you told him before me?!" Mikasa shouted, her short dark hair covering her eyes which were, no doubt, glaring at Armin. Armin leaped away from Eren and onto the other side of the bed in fright for the angry Mikasa, a girl who had a black belt in karate and was the champion of the fencing team at school.
Mikasa rushed at Eren, who was petrified, rooted to the spot, his teal eyes wide as globes. Mikasa's arms opened up wide and she jumped, shoving him down on the bed, in what seemed to be a very aggressive hug.
To escape the awkward moment, Armin stood up and tiptoed to the door. He closed it, since Mikasa had left it wide open in a fit of rage and (sisterly) love. Armin then leaned on the door, watching the spectacle.
Mikasa was gripping her brother like he was about to die, her knuckles white with inner frustration. Eren was struggling to breath. He attempted pushing her off, but Mikasa was the stronger sibling, keeping him within her clutches.
"'Kasa... I... Can't... Breathe-" Mikasa leaped off him instantly. Eren let out a deep sigh of relief as he tried to get his breath back.
"I'm so sorry, Eren! I was just so angry you hadn't told me, and so sad that you were sad... I didn't mean to hurt you!"
"Well, that just shows, I guess, what the training was for...?" Eren looked up and gave her a genuine smile. Mikasa grinned and hugged him once more, but much more gently this time.
"I want to hug, too!" Armin pushed off from the closed door and gave the siblings a bear hug- or, at least, a bear hug attempt since with Armin's scrawny figure it was more like a clam latching onto two rocks.
The tender moment was ruined, however, when Carla called from downstairs, "Kids! Tea's ready! And Armin too!" They all made a bee-line for the door in a hurry to get the best seat at the dinner table.
Mikasa was first, of course, with her elite training in comparison to the others. Next was Eren- he hadn't missed out on the training, he was a red-belt and fourth in the fencing club at school. Last was Armin, who tended to skip gym class to hang out in the library and read. Yeah...
Mikasa got to sit next to Carla, and Armin and Eren sat next to each other. Eren was cursing that, one of these days, he'd beat Mikasa. Armin was just eating. Carla had dished out the portions already.
"Grisha's coming home around midnight tonight, since the operation is a long and tedious one, so he can't eat with us since he's in the operating room at the hospital." Carla clarified. Mikasa's eyes widened.
"Mom, Eren's got something to tell you." Mikasa told her. Carla looked at Eren, her eyebrows raised. Eren was making funny gestures with his hands and his eyes were wide, panicking.
"Oh really? Doesn't look like it." Carla said sarcastically. "Eren, spit it out."
Eren gulped. Well, Mikasa just royally fucked up. He shook his head violently.
"Eren, you have to tell them, sooner or later!" Mikasa sighed.
"I agree, Eren. If you, won't tell her, I will. I mean your dad's not here, and Carla's really accepting, aren't you?" Armin asked. Carla nodded suspiciously.
Eren still shook his head.
"Alright then. I'll tell her. Eren likes-" Eren slapped his hand over Armin's mouth. He sighed, and closed his eyes, mustering up the courage. He snapped them open again, looking Carla in the eyes.
"Mom, I'm gay."
Carla just smiled and patted him on the head saying, "I know you are. I've known since you were little."
Eren, Armin, and heck even Mikasa's jaws all dropped to the floor.
"R-really?!" Eren stuttered.
"Of course. I'm you're mother, Eren. I know everything."
"B-but Dad-"
"Grisha's a bimbo who knows nothing. Don't care what he says, it's all absolute rubbish. I'll tell him, not you." Carla reassured him. Her big blue eyes showed nothing but compassion and honest maternal love.
"Thanks, Mom. I love you."
"Yeah, and you hate me 'cause it's your turn to clean the dishes tonight."
"Damnit, Mom! You ruined the moment!"
And everyone laughed. The Yeager household was a ruckus of happiness and friendship that night.
Armin went home after tea, and Mikasa went to her room to study. Eren went to watch anime until Carla told them to go to bed, while she waited for Dad to return.
Eren dreamed of a dark space. He couldn't see, he couldn't move, he only heard one thing- chanting.
"The key of wisdom... The key to your destiny... The key to your true fate..." They went on and on, as Eren tried to pick out the voices he heard. They were complete strangers, chiming in and out.
At some point the chanting went from many different voices to one which Eren definitely knew. It was the long, droning voice of his father, but it rapidly sped up, and it rose like an airplane, like it was in Eren's ears. The words changed and he could hear instruments, drums, the voice was no longer Grisha Yeager's...
"To the right! To the left-" Eren picked up his phone. It was just a dream, it was midnight and the person calling him was... His father?!
Eren pressed down the green button and held the phone to his ear.
"Hey, Dad, why are you calling at midnight? I was asleep! Aren't you meant to be home by now-" Eren was interrupted by his a deep voice he'd never heard before,
"Kid, give us the key and we'll give you you're dad back. Don't, and we'll kill both you and him. You have one month."
"W-what key? I don't know what you're talking about! You have Dad? What's going on-" Whoever it was just hung up on him. Great. Thoughts raced through Eren's head. This person had his dad, and was going to kill both him and his father if he didn't give them some key. There were four problems with this situation.
1- his dad was captured.
2- he had only one month to give someone a key he didn't even know existed.
3- he didn't even know where this person was, so even if he had this 'key' he couldn't give it to them.
4- if he didn't, him and his father would die.
Alright, this situation calls for someone who knows what they're doing. Eren dialled 911 as quickly as possible and held it to his ear.
"Hello, which service do you need, Ambulance, fire or police?" The female receiver asked.
"Police!" Eren told her, but then added, "...please, miss."
"Right away!" She told him, and he heard the click of the phone being changed to another person.
"What's your situation?" The policeman asked.
"I-I think my father's been kidnapped."
"Think?" The policeman sounded sceptical.
"Well, I was sleeping but then someone called me with my Dad's phone telling me they had him and they wanted me to give them some key within a month or they'd kill him and me-"
"Name?"
"Eren Yeager, sir!" It was just a reflex from school, and he thought he heard the man give a grim chuckle.
"Where are you now?"
"I'm at home." He told the policeman where his home was.
"Sending a detective to you now. I'd be feeling lucky, this one's our best. But be warned, he has an attitude. I'll be speaking to you until he and the chief investigator arrive."
"The chief investigator?!" Eren was astonished.
"Eren, you're father's Grisha Yeager, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Your father is a millimetre away from discovering the cure to cancer, he's a legend because of his miracle cure for Ebola, and you're shocked to find people are concerned when he dissapears?"
"Yeah, I guess he is pretty awesome." Eren refrained from adding 'and a homophobic bastard' on the end.
"They there yet?"
"Oh, hey! I see someone in a black car."
"That's Levi. Guess my work here is done?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"Night, Eren."
"Bye!" With that, he hung up and switched his phone off. Right behind the black car was another, probably the other person coming. Eren shoved his phone in his pocket and raced downstairs. He was met with his mother with her angry face on.
"What are you doing up so late? It's midnight, Eren!"
"Mom," he looked her straight in the eyes, "I just got a call from Dads phone of someone telling me they'd kidnapped him and if I didn't give them a key within a month then they'd kill me and Dad and they have Dad captive. I then called 911 and apparently the people arriving right now are a detective and the chief investigator."
It all came out with a blur and he worked hard not to break down and cry, but with his gaze latched on his mother's he knew he needed to stay strong. For her. Carla just nodded briskly and went past him up the stairs.
"I'm telling Mikasa. You wait here, I'll come back down." She didn't wait for a response, leaving Eren in awe of his mother's composure. He quickly shook himself as he heard a knock on the door and rushed to meet the detective and chief investigator.
Eren hesitated for a moment. If he didn't open the door, could they all just be a happy family again and pretend that Grisha was just at work? Could they have Armen round for tea again? Could they live with it?
No, they couldn't. Eren opened the door. In front of him was an overbearing blonde man who looked like the kind of guy to be chief investigator. He was smiling warmly, and he held out his hand for Eren to take. Eren shook it.
"My name's Erwin, I'm the chief investigator. I expect you are Eren?" The man asked after shaking his hand.
"Yeah, I'm Eren."
"This is our best detective, Levi Ackerman." Erwin stepped aside to reveal a shorter man, even shorter than Eren, who only looked a few years older than him.
He was black-haired with an undercut, but also had slanted grey eyes with a tint of blue in them. His mouth was shaped in a grimace and he was glaring at Eren. He had giant bags under his eyes and a slim figure. He was leaning against the wall of the porch, his arms crossed. He seemed to be observing Eren's reaction, as was Erwin.
"Uh.. Hi?" Eren felt like a dolt. He held out his hand, but Levi gave it one look then ignored it. Erwin chuckled.
"Eren, don't worry. He's just angry because I broke his no-calls-after-ten policy. Levi is like this with everyone. Anyway, I believe you said you got a call from someone on your father's phone?" Erwin let himself in the house and Levi followed in suit. They both looked around, as if putting all information to memory.
"Well, I was asleep and-" suddenly Carla opened the door, and came in.
"Ah, hello, Eren was just telling me what happened! I expect you're Carla Yeager?" Erwin asked. He had his full attention on Carla, as did Eren, at least until he realised Levi was watching him. Eren turned to face him, while Erwin walked off to the kitchen with Carla.
"Do what you do best, Levi! Find stuff out!" Erwin called. "I believe you were talking about coffee..." He followed Eren's mother and shut the door behind them, leaving Levi and Eren alone. Suddenly Eren felt very uncomfortable.
"Sit down, brat." Eren did as Levi said, and the shorter man sat on the sofa opposite.
"So, what's the story?" Levi was blunt. Eren told him everything that had happened since he woke up to his phone ringing. It wasn't a very long story to tell, and he was done in a few minutes.
"Did your father have any enemies, of any sort?"
"Not really..."
"Did your dad have any prejudices? This is really a stab in the dark, but still."
"Yeah, he was quite homophobic..."
"Stop trailing off when you finish speaking."
"Yes sir!" Eren clasped his hand over his mouth. Levi raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry! Me and Mikasa do karate every day so we have to call the master sir when training." Levi raised the other eyebrow. But then he furrowed them again. Eren gave him a quizzical look but then the unspoken question was answered with yet another question,
"Who's Mikasa?"
"Who said my name?" Mikasa suddenly opened the door and popped her head out, "Oh! Are you the detective? Mom wanted to know if you wanted milk in your coffee."
"I like black coffee, but you're Mikasa, aren't you?"
"Yes..." Mikasa entered the room and closed the door behind her.
"What relation do you have with Grisha Yeager?"
"He's my foster father, Carla's my foster mom, and Eren's my foster brother." Levi nodded in understanding.
"Sit down next to Eren."
"Yes sir- oh, reflex." Mikasa sat down next to Eren.
"Yes, Eren was just telling me about it. So you two do karate?"
"I'm a black belt, Eren's a red belt. Grisha was the one who sent us there." Mikasa told him, meeting his gaze. "He also signed us up for Fencing club, in which I'm the top and Eren's fourth. All Grisha. I expect that's what you were going to ask?"
"Of course. Did Grisha ever tell you why?"
"No." Mikasa said, "But I'll bet he told his favourite." She gave Eren a sideways glance.
"You're his favourite! But yeah, he told me. He said that it was for when we grew up, he wanted us to be super spies or something. I was only 5, but that was the time he gave me the key to the basement."
"Do you have it now?" Levi asked. Eren nodded and pulled up a necklace he'd been hiding under his shirt on the end end was a large, clunky key.
"He told me that I could only go into the basement when I really needed to, and that I had the only key to the basement, so I was the only one that was able to go down there."
"Do you mind if we go into the basement now?"
"I don't mind. I just never thought about it much. I can't even remember where the door to the basement is..."
"It's over there, under that stuff." Mikasa pointed.
"How did you know?! We never moved that stuff since we came here!" Eren was shocked. Mikasa just him a 'I know all shut up you know nothing' stare and he closed his mouth.
Just then, Carla entered, Erwin behind her, with a tray. On the tray were four mugs of coffee, one black, one milky, one sugary, one creamy. Erwin was carrying his own in a mug with writing on it which said, 'MESS WITH ME AND I'LL KILL YOU' writes in bold letters. Underneath was a photo of a kitten. It wasn't exactly funny, but Erwin seemed to find it hilarious as he read it.
Levi helped himself to the black coffee, Eren took the sugary one, Mikasa the creamy one, and Carla took the milky one. Carla sat next to her kids,while Erwin sat next to Levi on the opposite sofa. Levi whispered something in Erwin's ear.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I'd like to talk with Levi alone for a moment, so we'll go into the hall." The two got up, left, and closed the door behind them.
"Eren! What are you doing telling them Dad's homophobic! It'll ruin his image! Sure it's true, but just cause he's gonna hate you when he returns when he finds out about your sexuality, doesn't mean you have to tell everyone when he's gone!" Mikasa hissed to Eren.
"A- Mikasa, you eavesdropped! B- That's not why! C- He asked!" Eren retorted.
"There's something more important." Carla said. The two turned to face her.
"What?" They asked in unison.
"Did you tell him about the basement?"
"Yes, he did." Mikasa growled.
"Eren! You know that what's in there is for your eyes only! Now you've told them, They'll want to go prancing about in there and ruin whatever Grisha left you!"
"Mom, It's Mikasa's fault! She showed him where the door is!"
"If you hadn't told them about it-"
"Hush! That doesn't matter now. All we can do is stop them from destroying your father's legacy."
"He isn't dead, Mom!"
"He might as well be- you're not giving that key to anyone, understood?"
"He gave it to me! I am the only one able to make that choice!"
"He only intended for you to open it when you became an adult!"
"No offence, Mom, but I think Eren's capable to make the choice when to open it on his own, as well as the choice of who else can see it." Mikasa said calmly, sitting in between the two and keeping them from ripping each other apart. Carla sighed.
"You two really are growing up, you know that? Alright Eren. Grisha trusted you with it, so I'll trust you too." Eren smiled, and sipped some of his coffee. He sprang his head up.
"The investigator made this, didn't he?"
"How did you tell?!" Carla asked.
"First off, the handle is perfectly normal. On Mikasa's, the handle shows signs of when you were holding it and sweating because you're worried for Dad. Second, the rim still has crumbs on it. When I wash up, I'm not so good, so crumbs stay on the rim. When you make coffee, you brush them off. He didn't notice. Lastly," he took another sip, " It's better than the coffee you make."
Mikasa burst out laughing.
Levi pulled his ear away from the wall and turned to Erwin, who was doing the same.
"Hear that? The boy's a god damn detective!" Levi hissed, "And it's like the girl knows the answer before I ask the question."
"Well, Grisha taught them well, obviously. What did he say a reason for sending them to karate and stuff?"
"He wants them to be spies."
"It's as though Grisha knew we'd be the ones investigating. It's like he knew what would happen!"
"Hmm. But I'll tell you one thing, the obnoxious little brat needs to work on, you know, withholding info. Sounds as though they've talked about the subject before."
"All I want to know is what's in that basement. And you know how we'll find out..."
"I hate you, you know that, Erwin?"
"Of course I do." With that, they opened the door and re-entered the room. They sat down on the couch, staring across at the three-person family before them.
"Alright. I told you my day-job, I'm a detective. But me and Erwin are also members of a group called the Survey Corps, a branch of MI6. MI6 used to have agents around the world, but now we only have them within Wallasia. Outside of Wall Maria, as you've heard, it isn't safe for you. Rather, it hasn't been for a long time."
"Levi and I, as members of the Survey Corps- more commonly known as the Scout Regiment- have the responsibility of stretching out reach beyond the walls. The reason it isn't safe outside is because of our dear friend, Hanji Zoe, or rather her father. He did an experiment which he edited the human body. He did the same thing millions of times, always getting it wrong. Problem is, when the people in contact with these abominations, they too became abominations. That's how the people outside the walls all lost their turned into these beings which we call Titans."
"What Erwin's saying is, we want you two to be spies and work for us." Levi finished.
"Awesome!"
"What if we don't want to?" Mikasa gave Levi a long stare. "I don't trust you. I don't trust him, either, however much he smiles." He eyes flickered to Erwin, who looked slightly hurt as she said this. "I only trust my brother, my mother and my dad. Sure, Eren may trust you, but I never will."
"Mikasa, please..."
"Eren, don't let you're guard down around them. And stop hugging me."
"I'm not letting my guard down! I'm being really cautious!"
"No, you're not-"
Eren's phone started ringing. Everyone was silent. Eren pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the user ID.
"It's Dad!" Before Mikasa could stop him, he'd pressed the speaker button and accepted the call.
"Eren... Go down to the basement..." came Grisha Yeager's rasped, coughing voice.
"Dad! What's happening? How did you get your phone back? Who took you-"
"The people who took me went outside the walls with me... Eren, Titans ambushes... I'm about to die..."
"What? No, Dad! You can escape-"
There was the sound of the phone being dropped and Grisha screaming. There was a crutch, and the screams ceased. Just before the call ended, there were the beginnings of a smash- the phone being destroyed- before his phone helpfully told him that his dad's phone no longer existed.
"IM GONNA KILL EVERY LAST TITAN UNTIL THERE ARE NONE LEFT ON THIS ENTIRE PLANET!"
Well, that's kinda rash, Eren. :P
There you go. I like the mom, not killing her yet. Seeya!
~END OF CHAPTER 1~