A/N: Alright guys, I made this in 2014 when I was on that AoT high, so if it's a bit... well, when you read it you'll see what I mean. LOL, but I hope you guys like it. Posting it here and not in the crossover tag as there are character mentions, but I don't think you'd actually see them. These are also a series of One-shots, so while they're related, they're not like direct chapters (not always, at least).
Thanks to Monica, Nic, Redler, and Soushi for the support and helping me with the title and summary!
[Prologue I... It's the End of the World as We Know It... ]
100 years ago, humanity faced an incident with the titans that almost led to its extinction. 20 years ago, a solution to battle against the titans was developed by Dr. Hirasawa with the help of the miracle doctor, Grisha. Jaeger, from the Shiganshina district outside of Wall Maria
This work led to his increasing popularity within the district of Sakuragaoka, a large town within the confines of Wall Maria. Up until now, there had been no more incidents with titans. That is until the appearance of the colossal titan which broke the 50-meter wall in the Shiganshina district and the armored titan who destroyed the gate that connected wall Maria to Shiganshina. In a time where it took some time for news to travel, the denizens of Wall Maria were left without knowing that this had happened, that was until the titans finally came knocking at their door.
- Attack on K-ON! -
The sun crept up slowly behind the dissipating clouds, but was hidden once more by one of the larger towers that rested on the giant 40-foot wall that surrounded the whole frontier.
Of course, Azusa wasn't directly staring at that bright sphere in the sky. At age 8, even she was wise enough to know that staring at it for too long would lead to eye damage.
Though she knew this fact, she wasn't sure if both of her companions knew that.
Azusa turned her head to the side and glanced at the two brunettes next to her. The Hirasawa sisters, who basically looked like identical twins, were known around the Sakuragaoka district because of their parents. Their father was a doctor who quite renowned which lead them to have a higher reputation in the town. Though their family could have lived in the comfortable confines of Wall Sina, where the king and other wealthy residents lived, the family decided to remain in the zone of Wall Maria because that was where their roots were.
One would think that the siblings would be raised with a sense of nobility since they had a live-in nanny to help them grow up to be proper ladies; however, the opposite was true…well, at least for the older sibling.
"Onee-chan, don't stare straight into the sun!"
Azusa worked to suppress a smirk as she glanced over at the older girl next to her. She watched as the girl's brown eyes quickly snapped shut before Yui whined and placed her hands over her eyes. The younger Hirasawa frowned before examining her older sister.
"Onee-chan, I've warned you lots of times! You could hurt your eyes!" Ui pouted.
"But Ui, Ricchan told me that if you stare into it long enough you can get laser vision," Yui whined.
Azusa slowly sat up before staring down at the airheaded brunette. It sometimes amazed her how the older girl could act so foolishly and without really thinking of the consequences.
"If the titans were ever to break through the walls someday, you'd be the first to go, Yui-senpai," Azusa muttered.
A soft gasp escaped Ui's lips before she quickly glanced down at the ground and bit her lip. Azusa felt a bit guilty for making the younger sister worry, it's not like it was her fault that she had to deal with such an airheaded girl like Yui.
Sometimes you'd honestly think that Ui was the older sister that was caring for her bratty younger sibling. In order to make up for her error, Azusa tried to reassure the now fidgeting girl.
"Well, don't worry, Ui. The walls have been fine for 100 years. If the titans were to get through, they would have gotten through by now," Azusa smiled.
That's right. There'd be a lot of scary things happening if the titans managed to break into our walls. From what my mama told me, we live in one of the safest walls because it's so big! Wall Maria has the most amounts of reinforcements because there's lots of people.
The younger Hirasawa continued frowning until the older girl sat up.
"You can't sure, Azunyan. That's why when I grow up; I want to help humanity!" Yui grinned before pumping her fist into the air. Her brown eyes shimmered in the sunlight before she added, "Ricchan and I already promised that we would do our best when we get older!"
Azusa felt an angry nerve twitch at the nickname. From the day that she had met her, Yui had tagged her with that silly nickname and every now and then also showered her with some random display of affection as if she was her pet. It happened so often, that sometimes the younger girl would hide for hours in order to avoid her.
"Well, the only way you'd be useful would be if you did something with The Garrison," Azusa smirked.
The Garrison was known for goofing off and merely tending to the walls while everyone else worked hard. They were the laughingstock of the town and judging by Yui's personality now, she'd be a perfect fit among them.
"No, it's going to be even better!" Yui quickly stood up and stretched her arms.
"O-Onee-chan is trying out for the Military Police Brigade?" Ui smiled before standing up and beaming at her sister.
Azusa narrowed her eyes at the confident older girl while her younger sister watched in awe.
I'm not going to be mean, but the Military Police only takes the top…with how she acts, there's no way that she'd be close to making it.
"Mm mm," Yui smiled as she shook her head.
Azusa and Ui both met each other's eyes the moment that Yui denied wanting to be in the Military Police. If she didn't want to be in those two…which one would she want to be in?
The toll of bells ringing in the distance leading all of the girls to turn their heads toward the main gate.
"They finally came back," Yui muttered to herself.
Azusa glanced at the older girl's soft smile before glancing back at the gate.
Wait…but the Survey Corps is coming today…
The raven-haired girl's garnet eyes widened as another thought crossed her mind.
…Unless she wants to join the Survey Corps?!
Immediately, Azusa shook her head to dismiss the thought. Yui was goofy, sure, but she wasn't THAT dumb was she?
As the three of them ran over to the main gate, Azusa couldn't help but keep her eyes trained on the older girl.
Even when as they approached the main gate, Yui's determined smile remained on her face. The pigtailed girl bit her lip before glancing up at the sky.
A white dove was flying high and gliding in the air naturally. Her garnet eyes remained trained on it until it landed on a tree branch and next to a nest.
Today was going to be another boring day. She could already feel it in her bones.
Attack on K-ON!
"Ricchan, Mugi-chan, Mio-chan!"
Azusa glanced up as Yui called out each of her friend's names. Then her garnet eyes landed on the three girls running toward them.
Ritsu immediately ran up to Yui and hooked her arm around the girl's shoulders. The girl's amber eyes glimmered in the sunlight.
"Heh, today we see our future lives!" Ritsu shouted as she pumped her fist into the air.
"Hooray!" Yui also shouted before imitating the other girl.
I swear those two could be siblings…
Azusa merely frowned before glancing at the other two girls. Though Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi were the same age as Yui, it seemed to Azusa that the only ones who truly deserved the title of "senpai" were Mio and Mugi because of their maturity.
"Hello, Azusa. Hello, Ui," Mio softly stated before smiling at the two of them.
"Hello Mio-senpai, Mugi-senpai," Azusa nodded before Ui repeated the same thing.
"Those two are quite energetic today, huh?" Mugi said before going to watch the babbling brunettes.
"Onee-chan is really happy today for some reason," Ui added.
Azusa sighed before nodding at her friend's comment. Though Yui was normally happy, she had to admit that the older girl was acting even happier than normal.
"I have to head home soon, my mama wants me to come home early for dinner," Azusa stated.
"…Ah, me too! Papa needs my help with something. We can go home together," Mugi added.
Azusa smiled at the blonde before nodding in agreement. At least it would be calmer than her usual walk home with both of the Hirasawas.
"Ui, Ricchan and me are going to go down by the main gate!" Yui shouted as she and Ritsu began to run away.
"A-ah, onee-chan, wait for me!" Ui shouted before turning back and facing them. She quickly bowed before apologizing, "I can't let her stay out too late. See you all later!"
"Ugh, I promised that baka's mom that I'd watch over her…Ja ne, Azusa and Mugi. We'll be back soon," Mio smiled before quickly sprinting after the others.
"Well, we've been left behind. I guess we should leave too now, huh, Azusa-chan?" Mugi said.
The two of them began the trek home in silence. The sunlight seemed to have gotten a bit fainter as the sun slowly started to set. It was extremely quiet. It was almost TOO quiet. Azusa tried to focus on the sound of her footsteps, but it was quiet enough that she could hear the villager's chatter from the town that was at least 40 feet away.
"Something about today seems off…" Mugi mumbled.
The pigtailed girl glanced over at her companion before slightly tilting her head.
"What do you mean, Mugi-senpai?" She softly asked.
Mugi's worried blue eyes met hers before the blonde glanced up at the sky.
"It seems almost…too calm," the blonde whispered.
"I guess you're right, but it's always really quiet around here," Azusa stated.
Both girls remained silent as they made their way up the hill that lead to their homes. As she neared her house, Azusa spotted a short woman with long black hair working in the garden. A sudden burst of excitement filled her as she noticed that her mother was tending to the newly grown vegetables they had planted in the spring.
"See you later, Mugi-senpai!" Azusa said as she ran toward her house.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the blonde nod before continuing to make her way home. Seeing that her mother had not noticed her, Azusa took the opportunity to sneak up behind the working woman and suddenly shout.
"Ah! Oh…Azusa, it's only you," her mother wearily smiled.
Azusa beamed down at her mother before quickly apologizing. She then knelt down next to her and examined the vegetables that were in the ground.
"They're finally done?" Azusa asked.
Her mother nodded before reaching out and grabbing a rather plump tomato from its vine. Azusa couldn't help but admire her mother as she worked. As far as the 8 year old girl knew, her mother was rather popular with the town because she was considered a "goddess" in their views. Since her father had died when she was young, the townsfolk were amazed that Aiko Nakano had managed to raise a young girl on her own and also manage to grow large amounts of vegetables.
It always made Azusa proud when people told her that she looked like her mother since they shared the same long black hair, fair olive skin, and garnet eyes. Azusa often tied her hair in twintails because apparently it was something that her mother used to do back when she was younger.
"Soon enough, rain will come in and we can ship the whole lot off to be sold," Aiko wearily said before standing up and patting her hands together to get the dust off.
Azusa smiled before following her mother into their home. She immediately ran up to her room and pulled out the only gift she had ever received from her father. According to the note that he had written, it was an instrument called a guitar which was very rare to own because of the scarcity of supplies.
The young raven-haired girl sat down at the edge of her bed and began picking at the four remaining strings of the once 6-stringed instrument. She plucked out a little harmony before placing it in its original spot and waited for dinner to be ready.
In the distance, she heard the trot of horses as they made their way through the center of town.
The Survey Corps had finally returned after their long expedition and with it probably arrived more news of misfortune. Azusa glared at a picture frame on her desk before lying down on her bed.
She had been too young to know her father, but she would never forgive the titans for taking away the chance of ever growing up with a male figure in her life.
Attack on K-ON!
"Azusa, Azusa, you have to wake up."
Groggy garnet eyes opened up slowly only to meet her mother's own panicked ones. Azusa slowly sat up, rubbed her eyes, and glanced out the window. The sun was slowly starting to rise in the horizon which meant that it had to be sometime around dawn.
"W-what's wrong, ma-maaawww," Azusa began to ask, but yawned instead.
Her garnet eyes watched as her mother quickly moved around the room and began to pack things inside a small bag.
"Mama?" Azusa asked.
The older woman seemed to ignore the question as she muttered to herself. It took Azusa a few moments to hear what her mother was saying.
"How did this happen…I thought it wasn't possible."
"Mama!" Azusa shouted causing her mother to freeze up and glance at her.
The younger girl felt her insides clench at the sight of immense fear on her mother's face. Aiko walked over to her daughter before placing her hands on her shoulders and squeezing them.
"A-Azusa, we have to pack up quickly…I have no time to explain it to right now, they're all too busy fighting them right now, but w-we can make it to the boats, I know we can," Aiko shakily said before letting go and resuming the packing.
Not having any idea what her mother meant, Azusa slowly stood up and picked up the picture of her family. She narrowed her eyes at it before chucking it in with the rest of the things her mother had packed.
As soon as she finished, Aiko quickly took her daughter's hand and began to drag her out of the house. The closer they got to the door, the more panicked Azusa became.
I-I've never seen her act like this…what's happening?
"Move quickly once we are out there, Azusa. We have to keep moving forward…and if anyone asks for help…keep moving forward," Aiko stated.
Azusa bit her lip before nodding and following her mother out of the door. She glanced back at her house and the vegetable garden before glancing down at the ground. She could feel the tears building up in her eyes at the thought of leaving everything that she had once known.
A loud scream in the distance led the small girl to quickly glance up before she realized that there was a lot of screaming going on, but she had somehow managed to block it out. Her garnet eyes roamed the area below the hill and noted that some of the buildings were wrecked and that some were on fire.
"There's no time, Azusa, keep going!"
Azusa followed her mother down the hill as they headed toward the dock at the other side of town. The closer they got to the dock, the more the panic seemed to increase.
"A-Azusa-chan!"
A soft shout caught Azusa's attention before she let her wrist slip out of her mother's grasp. When she realized that her mother had gone, it was too late and the woman had disappeared from her sight and into the crowd of people.
A few seconds later, Mugi ran up to her before glancing around. Her blue eyes were wide in panic as she scanned the area.
"Mugi-senpai, w-what's happening?" Azusa asked.
"It's the titans….t-they broke through one of the walls in the outer districts and then they broke the gate of Wall Maria a few days ago, b-but they finally got here," Mugi panted as she tried to catch her breath.
The moment that she mentioned the word titan, Azusa froze up as she recalled the conversation that she had with the Hirasawas the day before. Then she glanced back at the docks before a sob tore through her body.
"Azusa-chan, don't cry, we will be okay," Mugi reassured her before giving her a hug.
The smaller girl buried herself into the hug before quickly pulling free from it and rubbing at her eyes furiously. Her mother had always told her to be strong around others and cry when she was alone.
Moments later, the ground slowly seemed to tremble until it became a constant shaking. The two girls looked up when a giant shadow covered them and gasped at what they saw.
Azusa had never seen a more hideous thing in her short life than the titan that towered over them. Its back was facing them, but the smell that emanated from it was worse than stepping in cow manure, which happened to Azusa a lot whenever she and her mother worked on their garden. The tall naked human-like being had long blonde hair and was reaching down to pick something up.
The crowd of people seemed to amplify their screaming as a second titan approached from the distance. Azusa stared up at the giant monster in shock until she felt a hand on her shoulder. A bloodcurdling shriek escaped her lips until she saw that it was her mother who had come for her.
"Azusa! I thought I told you to follow m-" Aiko began scolding her, but then froze up when she glanced upward.
At the sight of her normally stoic mother slowly breaking down, Azusa felt a bit of her die inside.
If mama is this scared…then it must be REALLY bad.
"We have to run, girls! Run as fast you can!" Aiko shouted before taking both Mugi and Azusa's hands and leading them toward the docks.
Azusa felt her twintails whip against her back as her mother sprinted forward with them. As she ran, she thought of her other friends. If Mugi was with her…then where were Ritsu, Mio, Ui, and Yui…?
The younger girl bit her lip blinking back tears. Her friends were fine…they HAD to be. There was no way that they wouldn't be okay.
"Don't worry, Azusa-chan…they'll be fine," Mugi softly said as she ran faster to keep up with Aiko.
Azusa quickly glanced at her friend before smiling. Her smile quickly faded once she heard the crash. Her garnet eyes darted upward and watched as a titan collapsed onto a building. She felt her mother let go of her hand once again before debris from the nearby homes landed in front of her. In the sudden explosion of dust, Azusa felt herself blow backwards from the strength of the wind and land on the ground.
Once she gathered her bearings, the twintailed girl froze up when she saw that she was alone on the other side. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the titan move to get up again, so she quickly began to move around in another way.
She was alone now.
Azusa quickly began to sprint through the outskirts of the city before she glanced over at the main part of the town. People were still trying to avoid the titans, but now instead of 2, there were now at least 5 of them. She could see small figures darting through the air and felt a bit of relief to see that the Garrison was still fighting against them.
Her garnet eyes roamed the battlefield that used to be the calm town of Sakuragaoka before her eyes landed on a titan that was facing her. She felt her blood run cold at the sight of its cold eyes before it brought a struggling person up to its mouth. She would have watched what happened next if a pair of hands didn't suddenly cover her eyes.
The small girl immediately began to struggle against the stranger's grip before she stuck out her elbow and her a small groan of pain. Azusa immediately turned and brought her hands up to fight, but instead found herself looking at a bloodsoaked Yui…or was it Ui?
"Ngh, Azunyan, that hurt," Yui whined before placing her arms over her stomach.
Yup, it was Yui.
Wait…why is she covered in blood?
"Yui-senpai is there a reason that you're covered in-" Azusa began but was cut off as Yui took her hand and quickly pulled her off to the side and behind a building.
"What was that fo-" Azusa tried to shout before the older girl placed a hand over her mouth.
It took Azusa all her might to hold in the contents of her stomach as the metallic smell of blood entered her nose. Immediately after her almost outburst, Azusa watched as a giant bare foot descended down onto the spot where they had just been.
Azusa remained still as the titan moved past them and onto a crowd of screaming people. She then removed Yui's bloody hand from her mouth and gasped a fresh breath of air.
The raven-haired girl glanced at her blood-soaked savior, but then caught sight of the emptiness in the girl's eyes so she decided against saying something.
"We have to get to the docks quickly. The t-titans, after Gran woke us up…they…they…she sacrificed herself for us and then I...lost Ui in the panic," Yui said as her voice cracked.
Azusa watched Yui sniffle before quickly rubbing her eyes with her blood-soaked sleeve. It left a red line around her eyes which would have been a rather funny sight if they weren't caught in a life-or-death situation.
It was then that Azusa realized the implications of Yui's word and realized why the elder girl was covered in blood. She fought the urge to throw up again before taking Yui's hand in hers and glancing in the direction of the docks.
It was at least a 10-minute walk from where they were which meant that if they ran, it shouldn't take that long.
"If we go to the docks, they can take us to Wall Rose, Yui-senpai. I'm sure the others are waiting for us," Azusa softly stated.
Hopefully Ui got away…I wouldn't be able to imagine how Yui-senpai would take it if her was sister was gone.
Yui quickly nodded before taking off in the general direction of the docks. The two of them remained as quiet as possible as they ran toward their destination. The closer they got, the more they noticed that the Garrison had done a successful job in keeping the titans away from the area, but the path that led to the docks was wrecked.
Azusa bit her lip and hoped that both Mugi and her mother were okay. The panicked shouts of the citizens seemed to grow as they neared the docks.
"Quickly, get in! We are almost at maximum capacity!"
As the crowd began to push even harder against each other in order to enter the small boat, Azusa felt her hand slip from Yui's grasp. She immediately tried to grab onto it again, but missed and instead grabbed onto the tailcoat of a stranger, who pushed her back. She would nearly have fallen into the water if she hadn't felt a pair of small hands push her back onto the boat.
Azusa quickly turned and saw Ritsu pushing her with one hand onto the boat while dragging a tear stricken Mio along with the other.
"Hurry up, Nakano! They're almost here!" Ritsu growled as the three of them landed on the deck of the boat.
"The boat is filled! No one else try to board! We will come back quickly!"
Azusa quickly scrambled along with the others to sit comfortably as the boat began to pull out of the dock. Her garnet eyes scanned the crowd for any signs of Yui, Mugi, or her mother, but all she could see was the mass riot that was the crowd that remained on the dock.
A loud shriek pierced the screaming of the crowd and as all of the people quieted a bit to see why the scream happened. An even louder groan overcame the shouts as giant footsteps grew nearer.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it."
Azusa turned to see Ritsu muttering as she wrapped an arm around Mio who had her face buried in her hands while she sobbed in fear.
Around her, people were muttering prayers to themselves and doom sayings.
"Azusa-chan…is that you?"
The raven-haired girl looked up and saw blue eyes peeking at her from at least two people away. Mugi quickly squeezed her way next to her before plopping down next to her. It was then that Azusa realized that the blonde was alone.
"Mugi-senpai…w-where's my mom…?" Azusa softly asked.
The blonde mournfully glanced into her face before Azusa noticed the red rings around her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Azusa-chan," Mugi softly said before glancing away and beginning to sob.
The younger girl bit her lip as she glanced down at the wooden deck beneath her. She felt the tears that she had been holding in slip through her façade as the realization that her life would never be the same sank in.
A/N: Hope you guys liked it! The next chapter will come out soon. :D #AoT Hype haha
~Mei out