"I can not believe I got roped into all of this," Jean grumbled, irritated as he gripped the rake with his gloved hands as the biting chill of the autumn air swept through him.
Eren barely looked up as he raked at the piles of leaves that he gathered on the grassy lawn. "Hey, remember our deal," he warned. "You help us rake, and we will help shovel your driveway when winter comes."
Jean sighed, pulling his scarf around his neck tighter. "Still," he grouched. "Did it have to be on a cloudy, miserable day like today? The Titans play against the Jets at four!"
"Well," Armin offered helpfully as he and Mikasa filled up the wheelbarrow. "We are almost done here. Maybe three or four more loads to go and then we're done!"
"And after that," Sasha exclaimed happily. "We get to indulge ourselves with Mrs. Yeager's hot chocolate and fresh cookies while watching the game."
"I'm in it for the cookies," Connie said with a pleased grin as he dumped a pile of leaves in the wheelbarrow.
The thought of creamy hot chocolate and warm cookies with melting chocolate chips was the main reason Jean had been convinced to help rake up the Yeagers big lawn. Why they had so many trees and a big lawn was beyond him, but the backyard had been a main play area for the kids when they were younger. Now, it was a living nightmare whenever the autumn season rolled around.
"Remember how we used to jump in the pile of leaves when we were little?" Sasha asked. "I never understood why our parents were always upset with us when we would spread the leaves around."
"Well, now you do," Jean said as he gripped the handles of the wheelbarrow, getting ready to transport the leaves to a nearby ditch that was currently full of thorns and twigs.
Sasha grimaced. "Yeah, we've got a lot of apologizing to do."
"I think this is their way of payback," Connie said.
"Maybe," Eren said as he placed his rake over the pile of leaves in the wheelbarrow to prevent the load from spilling.
"Don't you think those leaves are going to fall out?" Armin asked worriedly, eyeing the pile in the wheelbarrow.
Eren shrugged dismissively. "Eh, that's why I have the rake to keep the leaves in place while Jean pushes the wheelbarrow."
"Yes, but the yard we cut across is Levi Ackerman's," Mikasa pointed out. "You know how he is with his yard."
"Relax," Eren said. "We won't spill any leaves."
Cutting across Levi's yard was a short cut to the ditch, and they were always careful to not spill any leaves on his grassy carpet of a lawn. The man was as obsessed with his lawn just as he was with his cleaning.
"I think I want to ride in the wheelbarrow," Jean said when they dumped the leaves in the ditch.
Eren glared as they spread the leaves around to make room for the next load. "No way! I am feeling too tired to push you around. You should be pushing me around!"
Jean scoffed. "No way. You're too heavy." Eren scowled as he pushed the wheelbarrow back.
"Two more loads!" Armin theorized when they approached the group.
Jean groaned. "Nope. We are doing one more load."
"But the leaves won't fit!" Sasha protested. "If you spill them, it'll be more work for us to clean."
"It's still more work going back and forth," Jean argued. "We'll make them fit," he proclaimed.
True to his word, Jean and Eren did their best to try and make this their last load. Everyone else watched as Eren struggled to walk with the leaves while Jean tried to keep them down and contained with a rake.
"Do you think they will make it?" Connie asked, eyeing the two struggling boys as they cut across Levi's lawn once more.
"We'll make it!" Jean shouted, causing Connie to grimace. "How are you holding up Yeager?" Jean asked.
Eren grunted. "Keep focusing on pushing the wheelbarrow."
Jean smirked. "What? Is pushing the little leaves down too much work-?" Jean was cut off when he lost his footing and tripped. His grip on the wheelbarrow loosened, and he desperately tried to keep the wheelbarrow from spilling the leaves.
It was all in vain as the leaves suddenly fell, spilling it all onto Levi's tidy lawn in a colorful mess.
Fear lodged into their throats as they stared at the large mess before them that now tainted the previously unblemished lawn.
Eren glared at Jean, who glared back. "Don't say anything," he warned.
"We're dead," Eren muttered. He looked up as Armin, Mikasa, Connie and Sasha approached them hurriedly. "Get the rakes!"
"Don't panic," Armin said, huffing as he jogged up to them. "The leaves are all contained, so it'll be easy to-"
In that moment, a gust of wind blew, sending Eren's red hat flying away, along with the leaves. "No!" Jean shouted as they all tried to desperately contain the leaves to no avail. He glared up at the grey sky. "Why not make it rain?"
"Don't jinx us," Connie muttered as they surveyed Levi's lawn. "Please don't."
"He's going to kill us," Eren moaned. "The guy mows his lawn like every two days! Think about what he'll do when he sees this!"
"Well," Jean huffed as he began raking quickly. "It can't get any worse."
"Levi Ackerman just pulled up into his driveway!" Sasha shrieked suddenly, startling everyone.
"I said don't jinx us!" Connie shouted, glaring at Jean who opened his mouth to speak. He was cut off when Mikasa slapped her hand over his mouth, silencing him.
"Don't," she warned, staring at him. She looked at everyone with narrowed eyes. "We need someone to distract him. Sasha, you will take care of Levi until we gather up the leaves in his yard."
Sasha nodded, throwing her rake at Armin who struggled to catch it. "Got it!" she exclaimed, running off to intercept the neat freak. As she ran, her boots clomping against the driveway, her mind scrambled to come up with a subtle way to distract him. She swallowed nervously as Levi parked his car, and she plastered a false smile on her face, stuffing her hands in her pockets.
"Hello Mr. Ackerman!" Sasha exclaimed suddenly when Levi stepped out of his car. He blinked at her, obviously surprised to find her here on his driveway.
"Braus," he said politely, nodding.
"I am really sorry to interrupt you, sir," she said in a rush before he could say anything else. "But I...uh, I wanted to come over here and say...good morning?" She trailed off, wincing at her poor sentence.
"Afternoon, actually," he corrected as he closed his car door. "But thanks." He proceeded to walk past her and to his house, but Sasha quickly stepped in front of him.
"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed again, holding her hands up as if to stop him from going any further. "But I...I was playing with my baseball and accidentally threw it on your roof!"
Levi blinked before slowly looking up at his two-story house with a raised eyebrow. "You threw a ball on my roof?"
"A baseball!" she exclaimed swiftly. "Yeah, I threw it and it accidentally got stuck on your….roof." She bit her lip, hoping he would not catch the lie in her words.
Levi was silent for a moment before sighing. "Alright. Let me put my stuff inside and I will get a ladder."
"I'll take your bags in!" she yelled suddenly, grabbing his briefcase out of his hands and rushing into his garage. She knew for a fact that should Levi go inside, he would see a frantic Jean, Eren, Mikasa, Armin and Connie trying to pick up the leaves in his yard thanks to his spotless windows. She would not risk it.
She let out a startled yelp when Levi suddenly jumped in front of her and his door, eyes narrowed as he regarded her. "Do not step in my house with your muddy shoes," he said, voice dark. She gulped, clutching his briefcase as she hastily nodded her understanding.
"I'll put it on the workbench then," she said meekly, scurrying past him and feeling his penetrating gaze on her back. She looked around, noticing the pristine garage and how everything was neatly organized and void of filth.
"Even his garage is neat," she breathed, surprised.
"Where is this ball of yours?" Levi asked with a sigh, getting the ladder.
She blinked. "Right!" she exclaimed. "I'll show you!" She proceeded to lead him on the other side of the house, which would insure that he would not see the frantic teens in his backyard. She watched Levi position the ladder while she quickly pulled out her phone to send a quick text to Connie.
"Sasha needs me to throw a baseball on Levi's roof," Connie announced with a frown as he looked at the text on his phone.
Jean paused in his frantic raking to look at the shorter boy. "What? Why?"
Connie shrugged. "Distraction?"
"Use my baseball and bat," Eren instructed. "It'll save time."
Connie nodded, dropping his rake and rushing to the Yeagers garage. He looked through the bin that was full of all kinds of balls before pulling out a ball and bat. He frowned when he saw the initials "Zeke Yeager" on it.
"Must have been a gift for Eren," he muttered as he pocketed the ball and dashed outside. He avoided the side of the house he knew Levi and Sasha were on, and proceeded to stand on the opposite side of the house.
Connie frowned as he looked up at the roof before shrugging. "Sure, throw a ball on the roof," he muttered. He had never been good at baseball, but all he needed to do was get it stuck on the roof, right? Easy! It was only a two story house. Kids got things stuck on roofs all the time!
He threw the baseball up in the air before swinging the bat back with determination and hitting the ball up in the air and…
CRASH!
...right through Mr. Ackerman's window.
He let out a horrified gasp as he stared at the broken window as glass pelted down, mouth open in shock. He hastily dropped the bat before running out of the neat lawn, aware that his funeral was near.
"We good?" Jean asked, surveying the lawn, huffing from the work they had just performed.
"We're good!" Armin announced as he dumped the last pile of leaves in the wheelbarrow.
"Great," Eren sighed in relief, gripping the handles. "Now we just need-"
"We gotta get out of here!" Connie yelled, running toward them frantically, eyes wide with panic. "We have to move to Alaska! Canada! Mars! We're dead!"
"What happened?" Mikasa demanded.
"I broke Levi's window!" Connie exclaimed.
"You what?!" Jean exclaimed, grabbing Connie's shirt. "How could you break his window?"
"Leave my clothes alone!" Connie snapped, wiggling out of Jean's hold. "I threw the baseball through the window-"
"You were supposed to throw it on the roof, not into his house!" Eren exclaimed, running his hands through his hair in horror.
"It wasn't like I was intentionally trying to inflict property damage!" Connie snapped.
"Could we be sued for this?" Jean breathed in shock.
"Sued, charged," Armin said nervously. "Worst case scenario is that Levi would kill us instead. He scares me more then the cops."
"We gotta get out of here," Eren said in a panic, pushing the wheelbarrow out of the lawn. "Connie, go get Sasha."
"I'm texting her," Connie responded as they all broke out into a run, nose buried in his phone. "Then I'm packing for Alaska!"
"I don't see anything," Levi said, mildly annoyed that he had managed to get his hands and pants dirty on the roof. "I'm coming back down," he announced, looking below, only to notice that Sasha was missing, as well as the ladder.
He frowned, his annoyance and confusion growing as he saw no sight of the girl or the ladder anywhere.
"Great," he muttered, pulling his phone out. "This is stupid," he muttered as he dialed the Yeagers house phone.
"Sasha bought us some time by stranding Levi on his roof," Eren said in a rush as he randomly threw his clothes in a suitcase.
Mikasa nodded. "Good," she stated, going through the clothes that were a heaping pile in the suitcase.
Eren glared. "Mikasa! Stop folding my clothes!"
"They are in a disarray," she said.
"I don't care if they are in a disarray! We are now on the run and there is no time to be neat! Time to be like Jason Bourne and James Bond." He frowned as he threw a hoodie sweatshirt in the suitcase before trying to close it. "Did you leave a note for mom?"
Mikasa nodded, holding the piece of paper up. "'Mother'" Mikasa read out loud. "'It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you of our absence. Although it pains us so to part from you in such a way, we must do so. Please console yourself with the knowledge that we have had to leave to not only save ourselves from a vengeful neighbor, but to save yours and dad's as well. Please know that we love you both dearly and that you will always remain in our hearts and mind. Maybe someday, we can return to you and became a family once more. Sincerely, your beloved daughter and son'."
He blinked as he stared at her. "I said write a note, not a nove! And why doesn't it say 'beloved daughter and beloved son'?"
"You were the one who was complaining about it being a novel," she pointed out.
"Give me that!" he snapped, snatching the paper and scribbling 'beloved' in front of 'son.' He nodded satisfied. "There."
"You ruined it," she said, staring at the messy word amongst her neat handwriting.
"Doesn't matter," he said, leaving the note on his desk. "We gotta go." He grabbed his duffel bag before running down the stairs. "We'll grab some snacks and meet the others at the bus station," he said. Mikasa followed after him, only to crash into him as he froze at the kitchen, staring in shock.
There, at the kitchen table, was Levi Ackerman, sipping tea with their mother.
"Eren! Mikasa!" Carla greeted with a smile. "Can you believe that someone stranded Levi on his own roof?"
"Heh, some cruel people in this world," Eren swallowed nervously. "Mr. Ackerman! What a surprise."
"Pleasant, I presume," Levi said calmly as he stirred his tea.
Eren blinked. "Oh, did I forget to say pleasant? It's always a pleasure to see you." He yelped when Mikasa poked him. "Dial it down," she hissed.
"And where are you two off to?" Levi asked, nodding to the bags both teens were carrying.
Eren let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, us? Well, just somewhere with no internet access. Makes one harder to find that way."
Levi hummed. "Hm, I see." He sighed, getting up, causing Eren to back into Mikasa nervously. "Then in that case, you'll be wanting this." He tossed a baseball for Eren to catch, the initials 'Zeke Yeager' on it. "That was used to break my bedroom window."
Eren squeaked while Mikasa steadied him as they both stared at the ball like it was a bomb. "Of all the baseballs Connie had to pick," Eren hissed. "It had to be the one Zeke gave me?"
"Apparently," Levi continued. "Your step-brother, my next-door-neighbor, decided to perform a bit of property damage." He grinned. "I put him in his place for that."
"Tore up the lawn in your fight," Carla sighed disapprovingly. "I will never understand why you two don't get along. Not even Dina knows why her son hates you."
"Y-you got in a fight with Zeke?" Eren stuttered. He knew Levi and his step-brother didn't get along. But to actually get in a fight?
"It started in high school," Levi said dismissively. "But regarding my window and the ball, he insisted he didn't do it." He nodded to Eren's mother. "Carla, thank you for the trea and for helping me off the roof."
She smiled. "Anytime Levi."
At that moment, Eren's phone notified him of a text, shattering the peaceful silence. With a sheepish grin, he pulled out his phone to see that it was a text from Jean.
Jean: Armin and I r heading 2 ur plce. Whr do u want 2 meet?
Eren gulped, quickly sending a text while keeping an eye on Levi.
Eren: No need. Abort mission. We r safe
Jean: Seriously?
Eren: Yep. He doesn't suspect
Jean: Good. I'm not sure how to get past Canadian border in 1st place
Eren: Relax. Everyone is lax with borders these days
He put his phone away and gave Mikasa a small grin and a thumbs up. She visibly relaxed, sending him a weak smile.
Both teens watched with growing dread as Levi strode towards the front door, only for it to burst open to reveal a panting Sasha and Connie.
"Eren!" Sasha exclaimed. "We've got the-" She let out a startled gasp when she saw Levi standing in front of her. "Mr. Ackerman!" Behind her, Connie grew increasingly pale as he stared at Levi in horror.
"Bruas," he said stiffly, eyeing her disapprovingly. "Good, I was on my way to your house anyway." She squeaked at that, quivering as Levi did not break his gaze. "Mind telling me why you left me stranded on my roof?"
"I was hungry, sir!" she said quickly. "And I...uh...decided to go get some food."
"Did you decide to take my ladder with you too?" Levi questioned.
"The wind blew it away...sir?" she offered weakly.
"I suppose the wind also blew this away as well," Levi commented, holding up Eren's red hat. Eren's hand went instinctively to his head at the sight of the baseball cap. In all the commotion, he had forgotten about the hat and that it had been blown away! "I found it on my lawn," Levi said simply.
Sasha shrieked. "He's going to kill us!"
"We didn't mean to do it sir!" Connie shouted. "It was all an accident!" He fell to the ground, quivering. "We will worship the very ground you walk on if you will but only spare us."
Levi blinked, staring at the blubbering teens while Carla looked on in confusion. Eren swallowed nervously. "Might not want to cancel that trip," he whispered to Mikasa.
"We should skip Alaska and go straight to Canada," she whispered back.
"Very well," they heard Levi say. "You may do so if you wish. But I will inspect your work when the time comes. Though Eren is the neatest out of you lot."
Eren blinked at the sound of his name. "Say what?" he asked dumbly.
"Springer and Bruas have just volunteered themselves and you two to thatch my yard this weekend," Levi said. "I will also need the plugs removed from my lawn as well. You four would be most useful with that."
Eren whimpered at the thought of all the work that awaited him while Mikasa sagged against the wall. Connie and Sasha sent their friend's apologetic looks, which were ignored. Eren's eyes narrowed as he glared at his traitorous friends. "You condemned us to this," he hissed.
"I can't wait till winter," Connie muttered. "Then all this yard work will be done with."
"Oh," Levi said smugly. "Eren, your mother has also volunteered you and Mikasa to shovel my driveway when the snow hits."
"Mom!" Eren exclaimed, staring at his mother with shock.
"Don't open your mouth Connie," Mikasa warned, tone dark as she glared at the other boy.
"They would be happy to assist you, Mr. Ackerman," Carla said with a smile as Levi walked out. "They've been cooped up in this house for too long."
"Good bye," Eren called out weakly, glad to see him go.
But the door did not shut fast enough as Levi had one more thing to say. "Oh, and don't forget, you are raking my lawn." He grinned as he tossed Eren the hat, which the boy caught with fumbling fingers.
"We're his lawn slaves!" Connie cried in despair.
"This is why Armin fears Levi more then the cops," Eren muttered.