Haven't been updating in a long time cause guess what? I have been working on a thing which I, ThalioTP, find very interesting for me to write. So the story goes a little bit like a detective mystery and crime drama in the form which all of the characters in the Attack On Titan universe plays different roles. Like an Alternate Universe.
I do not own Attack on Titan, nor do I want to own it. If I did I doubt that it would be as famous as it is now. All of the AOT characters belong to Hajime Isayama.
Enjoy the fanfiction! Review afterwards, please!
Inspired by MR. ROBOT and Gone Girl. With a twist at every corner.
Psychiatrist Hanji Ackerman nee Zoe, already in her middle thirties but according to her she's still rocking the hips, everyone recognizes her from her unique and one of a kind thick rimmed square glasses, a long dark brown hair tied to a high ponytail on the back of her head while letting her bangs fall in the middle, and lastly her most energetic ways to broadcast her eccentric personality.
Her legs rests against the top of her office desk while she lets herself relaxes her back against her padded wheeled chair, the sound of the cheap air conditioner filled the patient-less room while outside her office was crowding with people trying to get into their own workplaces.
The building was a bore, much to her surprise being seated in a building in the middle of a big city would actually NOT give her the opportunity to help a lot of hopeless people. It has been a few weeks since her last customer had stop visiting, she finally found out that the man had in fact died when driving to his next therapy with her. She used to be very popular among the neighborhood, everyone was very interested to meet her again.
But then Hanji got married, to a man named Levi who works in a police force. Her personal love life got in the way of her professionalism, she can't stop being absent from her office back then and it took a toll on her. If she doesn't get visited by at least one customer her work would be no more when her room for rent be taken away.
Hanji felt a deep sigh that shook her trachea when she refused to open her mouth to yawn, she couldn't be sleepy yet; anyone could come at any moment and what would they say if they saw her sleeping at work. Hanji let her legs fall to the oak wood flooring with a tap on her heels, she rotates herself on her chair a few slow circles out of boredom while her thumbs twiddled on each other. No one is coming; she contemplated, losing hope.
A knock on the door, a hatted silhouette outside her office door with the opaque glass.
At first she was taken aback, but without any further hesitation she straightened her pose on her chair and slid her legs inside her desk while putting both arms on top of her desk.
"Ah, come in! Come in!" She cried out happily with her face beamed, mentally impatient to see the face of her new patient slash friend. She hoped for her couch to be comfortable and dust-free enough (a habit she gained from her husband; the slight obsessive compulsive disorder of seeing things to be super clean) for him to lay down, she hoped for her air conditioner not too cold or kind of hot, she hoped for the best and nothing goes wrong.
A young man in his young twenty's entered her office room with a smile on his rather pretty face, his bowl cut light blonde hair only gives him a more feminine look but fortunately she could tell the difference, the man's posture is healthy and his body looks somewhat average for a man his age. He seems like he is in a good mood. Hanji's instincts began to wonder what reason he had come here.
When she stopped making further questions of the man inside her head, she decided to just lend out a hand to grant him a seat in front of her desk. "Take a seat! Mister…"
"Armin!" The man said, his voice boyish. "Armin Arlert, and are you Hanji Zoe?"
"I indeed am, Mister Arlert! But people tend to call me Hanji, and I very much prefer that. So why don't you?" Hanji said in a friendly tone, mentally patting herself on the back for making a good first impression.
Armin sat on the on the other end of the desk, he puts his grey fedora on her desk and lend out a hand for her to shake. The both of them exchanged warm smiles as their hands shook.
"How can I help you today, Mister Arlert? You seem like a very happy young man." Hanji said with a smile not leaving her face, her fingers intertwined and her body leaned forward; indicating a clear sign of interest.
Armin's smile never faded as well, but it hardened and became a rather sad one. Armin rested his chin on the palm of his hand while his eyes dreamily wander off into the distance, the man sighed for a short moment before turning his attention back to Hanji.
"My wife died four months ago, and I've been trying, for the longest of time, to forget. Er… I've been thinking on visiting you a lot recently, people tend to say that you are very good at what you do. But I wanted to see it for myself…" Armin Arlert said, his soft smile never did left his face when he stated this.
Hanji's smile softened as well when hearing this, she empathized with Armin by looking straight to his soft gaze. Hanji have had cases like this when she became a psychiatrist, marriage or relationship problems come often back in her old days, she learned a lot from her patients and she promised them to be the best help they can get. But something about Armin seemed somewhat, if not off, familiar. When Hanji thought about it, the name Armin Arlert itself gave a click on the memory side of her brain. Who is this young fellow? Is he a well-known person or some sort?
When Hanji lets herself silent Armin indicated that as a sign to carry on and continue with his story. "I've been very heartbroken since her demise, Miss Hanji. I-I wasn't there but four months ago she had a… Ah… Accident by the ocean, she fell off the cliff right to the rocks below… Sorry… it's just that… When the police came it took them a while to find her, I was so scared I kept myself sane by thinking that she could be alive somehow. Ruined, crippled, hurt, or worse, maybe, but alive…" Armin explained, his hands told the story as well as he did. He stopped to look down a few times to sigh before continuing on, "But it was too late, it was just too late… When the police told me, I can't afford myself to believe them. I can't keep myself alive thinking that my beloved wife, Historia, had died in a horrible accident!"
Hanji's eyes widened in realization when she heard Armin's wife's name, her brains quickly rearranged the memories and everything she knew right in the front of her brain. Historia Arlert nee Reiss was a name she had not heard for some time, but she was pretty well-known that's for sure.
The young girl who is Armin's wife was a child of a very wealthy man, rumors say that she had constantly ran away from her home as a little child to visit a small cottage on the edge of a small village just outside the town. Everyone knew who she was, her kindness and her goddess-like face stood out the most along with many others. Times passed and years gone by with Historia Reiss lived a quiet live without anyone else knowing what she did, but when the news broke out at the day the girl died it became a hot topic for everyone. She knew all of this for a long time now, most of it is from her police officer of a husband of course.
"Mister Arlert of course I will help you get through this, I know how you must feel at the moment. Hopeless, pained, thinking that maybe it was a bad idea to come here. But let me tell you something, young man. I can assure you that everything will be fine, please know that your wife is in a safe haven at the moment and doesn't want you to worry, m'kay?" Hanji said with sympathy, holding his hand and squeezes it gently to give him comfort.
Armin smiled and nodded at her, he trusted her and whatever she does she cannot blew it for the sad young man in front of her.
"First, I need to ask you a few questions Mister Armin. It's alright if you don't want to answer some or most, I will most certainly understand. You ready, yeah?" Hanji said, asking for his approval.
"Is that a question, Miss Hanji?" Armin asked with a slight playful tone.
Hanji let out a small laugh at his response, "I am not actually sure myself, Mister Arlert." Hanji smiled to herself after that; Armin had already shown a great start on her psychotherapy, he was not having a severe depression or a high level increase of anxiety which is very nice for the both of them.
"How are your daily body, Armin? You sleep well? Eat lots and exercise much?" Hanji asked him, her questions already being listed up inside her head.
"Oh, I can say that my body's well enough. But sometimes when I get depressed I couldn't sleep at all and it's really tiring me in the morning." Armin explained.
"Okay, that's good. We're off to a good start here, Armin! So, you haven't been able to sleep well for four months, I presume?" Hanji asked him again.
Armin paused to think and make out his answer, "Five, actually doc. I used to have migraines and severe headaches to the point that I can't sleep at all. My wife used to give me my pills every morning but now I don't even know where she put it anymore." He told her.
Hanji nodded while writing down their conversations on her head instead of using a pen and a notepad, but she has a photographic memory which is nice. "You and your wife must be a very loving couple, Mister Arlert. If I could be truthful, which I can, I would say without a doubt I envy you. So how did you two meet up for the first time?"
Hanji tried to change the topic, plotting to find out the response and the reaction her patient would have when talking about his late wife. Maybe she could find a solution by doing this, which is making him comfortable enough to talk to her.
Armin slouched back to his seat, his face currently showing signs of him thinking back to his past. It made him smile goofily to himself while oblivious of the psychiatrist in front of him, trying to hold back her giggles and blushes with her professionalism.
"It was when I was twelve or so, I couldn't remember much but I think it would be enough. It was the summer of July but I do not recall the date, so I went to this market just a few walks from my house with my grandpa." Armin said before Hanji cuts him off with a surprise question.
"Your grandpa?" She asked simply.
"Yeah, my parents died when I was very little, they sunk in their ship when going on a travel trip gone badly. A-anyway at the market with my grandfather I saw a little girl in a pretty white dress and beautiful long light blonde hair walking around the market as if looking for something, at first I thought she was lost so I walked up to her to help. When I asked her if she wanted me to help her find her parents, she shook her head and told me that she wanted to get away from her parents for a little while. It was a sad thing to see, really, she had bruises all over her body and I could've sworn that there was a slap mark on her right cheek. So I and my grandpa decided to take her to our house and call the police to pick her up, Historia refused again saying that her parent will find her. I was very empathetic and kind of pitying when I began observing her even more, my worst thoughts came to life when I realized that she came from an abusive home." Armin paused to breathe, he licked his lips in a clear sign of thirst.
Hanji noticed this and took a plastic bottle of water out of her purse on the floor next to her swiveling chair. "Here, have some drink."
Armin hesitated a bit before finally trusting himself to reach out for the plastic bottle, after a slow sip he continued his story. "I-I'm not going to go to any details what happened next, the thing is we sort of adopted her for a few years. Before that Historia comes and go." He said, finishing with a cough of a sore throat.
"Few years? What happened next, Armin?" Hanji pressed without him knowing, sometimes talking and making the patient feel comfortable is the best kind of medicine.
"Well, her father found her and came to our house. He made this long talk on how he would file a lawsuit against me, accusing me of kidnapping his daughter. At the time he wasn't sure if it was really Historia, her hair has been shortened a day before his presence at our home. I and my grandpa disguised her as Krista Lenz for a day, it worked… For a while…" Armin said, his gaze darkened. But then he stopped, his vision faltered and stared at nothing. He is a broken man.
Hanji paused for a bit to process all of that, her heart dropped and weighted the feeling of sorrow and empathy. Maybe another treatment would work, talking about his past seemed to be somewhat crude for him to remember.
"Listen, Armin, it's alright if you don't want to talk about it. We don't have to go to details if you don't want to, maybe we can try helping you with another tactic? One that doesn't involve talking about her." Hanji offered to him, as a psychiatrist the only thing that you need to do is to make sure the patient thinks it's his idea.
"No, it's alright. Talking helps, I guess." Armin denied her, waving her offer off with his hand.
Hanji nodded in understanding while still looking into his gaze, she saw nothing unusual in that gaze. Just sadness and uncertainty that filled this young man's head, it must be really hard for him to forget someone who he used to talk to everyday for a really long time. She urged him to continue his story.
"Rod Reiss saw through us, he took Historia away and we can't do anything or else he'll hurt her more. A few months had pass with me feeling rather disgusted of myself for not being able to do anything, my grandpa tried everything he could to cheer me up saying that he will make it right with all his power. But… I guess his power is not enough…" Armin gritted his teeth in the end, cursing under his breath, eyebrows furrowed with irritation and hands shaking with guilt.
"What do you mean by that?" Hanji asked him, she made a softer tone when noticing that Armin began to show signs that he was on his own nerves.
"My grandpa got really sick one day, he had a very heavy fever and a painful headache. I tried to everything to help but he only lied… He lied to me that he was okay… I have no one else to turn to, no one else to look for help while my grandpa is dying each second. I mailed Historia a thousand times, I tried finding her all across the country so I went on a crazy search for a week since her dad forced her to move from their original mansion. She would've known what to do, she was always good with medicine and always dreamt of becoming a doctor… I didn't know what hit me, I didn't have any close friends, I was an idiot, and I could've went to a doctor or someone else with experience but no… I JUST had to find her!" Armin's fist curled up in a ball, his knuckles whitened. Hanji could see the stutter in his lips when he talked and the sweat under his bangs, the young man is clearly on a fight with himself trying to keep sadness locked up inside his broken heart.
"Armin…" Hanji began, unsure of what to say to him.
Armin Arlert's head perked up in an instant, it seemed like he just remembered something. "Ah, I'm sorry Miss Hanji. My emotions got out of control for a sec there." He said calmly, head lowered.
"It's alright, Armin. Let's just stop right there, shall we?" Hanji said with a smile.
"So what now? Are you giving me some sort of medication?" Armin asked her with worry.
Hanji tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, "By medication you meant pills?" She asked him.
Armin nodded in response, "I've already got a lot of those, the other specialists kept giving me some sort of an anti-depressant for me to take. But I still feel the same, it's just not working…"
"Don't worry Mister Arlert I won't be giving you any of that, my treatments and medications is very different from a regular therapist. One reason is because I am a psychiatrist and my specialty is to cure them mentally not physically, and the second one is because I'm a bit broke so I don't have any money to give you pills." Hanji said, trying to laugh him out of his depression with her last statement.
Armin surprisingly chuckled and said "Thank you so much, Miss Hanji. It's been very late now and I need to get to my part time job, you have been very helpful and I'm looking forward in seeing you again." He said.
Hanji blinked a few times as a result of an uncertainty. "That's it? Well… I guess I am looking forward in seeing you again, too!" Hanji is clearly taken aback by the result, she wasn't that good, right? Oh, of course, Armin will come again someday that means his therapy is still going for him.
Armin puts his grey fedora back on his head, with a slight tug on the front tip he smiled at her. Armin reached to his back pocket and took out a small leather wallet in the shape of a square, he took out a small amount of money out of it and lend it to her.
Hanji stared at it for a moment, usually she charges her patients twenty five dollars per hour but Armin is lending her more money than needed. As tempted as she is, she couldn't stop thinking of what the young man is possibly going through at the moment. If her instincts are true Armin must be running low on funds at the moment, his only wife died a horrible death and he is needed to pay the funeral, living by himself on the modern world must be a pain since debt collectors everywhere are skyrocketing mortgage prices.
"I-I don't know if I should…" Hanji stuttered, an innocent smirk escaped her lips.
"It's alright, Hanji, I should thank you…" Armin said, he puts the money on her desk just in front of her. The young man gave a sad smile before slowly walking out of her office, he closed the door behind him with a squeak and then a thud.
Hanji froze in her swiveling chair, her eyes still locked onto her office door. Confusion filled her as she began questioning a lot of things, most of them is how could she help the boy in need? Hanji turned around facing the bookcases behind her, she wasn't looking there to look for a reading material instead she made a finger pyramid in front of her while he gaze lowered giving a rather ominous sign of evil contemplation.
She is currently in deep thought completely forgetting about the money on her desk, the air conditioner kept buzzing about showing signs of aging. She thought back when her husband Levi had been called to investigate the case of Historia Reiss, and how when he came back home grumpy and in a clear bad mood. Hanji tried asking him what's wrong, he kept saying that it doesn't add up, that Historia Reiss's death was too unusual to be called an accident.
Hanji did not wanted to hear more of course, she did not actually have anything particular to know about her let alone mourn for her. It's been a while after that and Levi stopped talking about it, but she knew that his captain had closed the case as a fatal accident.
Hanji's instinct kicked again, she wasn't an expert on criminology but if she'd put the puzzles together really nicely she could tell the something WAS off. Maybe it was just a feeling, her ecstatic nature must be kicking in again. Now the only thing she could do was wait for Armin to come again, and then maybe he wouldn't be so depressed.
.
.
.
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Hanji sat on her couch at the living room of her house, feeling the orange colored cloth nicely supported her bum with only a layer of underpants between them. She puts her legs up and rested her head on the sofa's armrest snuggling on her spot to get more comfort, her daily magazine opened and rested on her legs on one hand she held a cup of hot cocoa with a plastic spoon still spinning on the brown chocolate essence.
She had let her hair down to her shoulders and changed her glasses to a regular rectangular reading glasses, she flipped a page on her magazine and took a sip; completely being off contact from the outside world.
Then she heard the sound of a motorcycle engine coming up on her driveway, she could see the bright headlights through the curtain until it was turned off. There was a brief clicking of a key being pulled out and footsteps coming into her doorway.
Levi Ackerman had gotten home from his shift at the police department, Hanji could tell that the man would still have that usual nonchalant expression when he gets home. Levi closed the door behind him as he already entered, his leather jacket gleaming with the lighting of their house and his helmet being put on the table next to the door.
"I don't smell any dinner, Hanji." Levi said in a monotone, putting his keys on the shelf next to the couch.
"It's nice to see you back home, too." Hanji let out a warm smile, she sipped another hot cocoa while flipping a page. She didn't bother to look at him, since Levi would still be scanning the house for any dust.
"How was your day?" Levi said, obviously making small talks. He removed himself from his leather jacket and put it on the coat hanger, Hanji took a peek at him and saw his black undercut hair still glossy as always.
"It was nice." Hanji said simply, letting her attention back to her magazine.
"Oh, really? Let me guess, you got patients lining up on your door today?" Levi scoffs, finishing his sentence with a hint of sarcasm.
"Something like that. Yeah." Hanji replied, feeling no use of either denying or scoffing back. So instead she plays it out.
She didn't notice Levi walking towards her with a green shirt, his dull eyes looked down towards his wife. "Scoot…" He ordered her.
Hanji did just that, she sat up straight letting Levi sit on the other end of the couch. The man was small in size, just a little bit shorter than his wife Hanji, but everyone knew that to mess with the midget is a death wish you do not want. Levi is respected by everyone in his workplace, either that's by fear or by admiration. The point being the man is not what he seemed like, whether it's his height, or his cold attitude. Hanji loved Levi because she knew something about him no one does, and he loved her for she is the only one who respected him for that.
Levi turned on the television with a remote that was trapped between the cushions of the couch, he lets himself relax while watching a classic Japanese comedy series. Hanji is still sitting with her legs up but shortened due to Levi's presence, she is still busy reading on her magazine.
"So… Armin Arlert came to my office today." Hanji said, part of her is trying to see what Levi would do.
Levi took a glance at Hanji from the corner of his eyes, "Kid must be in a pretty fucking bad shape, I presume?" He continued giving his attention towards the television.
"Very…" Hanji stated, not doubting the behavior of the blonde young man in her office that day. "Surprised me at first, he's taking it pretty well than I thought he would."
"What makes you think of that?" Levi asked her.
"Well, maybe it's just me looking into a face of an innocent youth. With a face like that you can fool anyone that you're not a tough cookie, but still, losing a wife is pretty harsh for such a young man to experience." Hanji expressed her thoughts as best as she could, maybe her statement is not enough to broadcast her entire emotions and how she felt of Armin but it's enough for Levi to understand.
"Yeah…" Levi mumbled, surprising Hanji with his response.
"He said that he'll visit again someday."
"That's good, you can start helping with the mortgage then…"
Hanji laughed at that, but her smile dropped for some reason. "You wish. But I honestly doubt it, Armin seemed to be holding it well with his own. I could see it in his eyes and the way he talks, and it's safe to say that he definitely needs professional help."
"Okay, why do you sound like you're about to do something stupid and out of context?" Levi asked her sarcastically.
"Look at him! How would you feel if the person you loved the most, the person you have known your entire life, the person who you gave everything and sacrificed everything to be with, to just die as a sad, sad waste like a porcelain doll who broke into a million pieces?" Hanji said leaving her breathless, she puts down her magazine and mug on the floor next to the couch. "You said it yourself, Levi. You kept grouching on how the death of Historia Arlert did not look like an accident, I trust your judgements and maybe I am believing you too, but I just don't feel like it's justifiable for Armin to not know that."
Levi stared at her for a while, that same blank expression locked on her own eyes but somehow giving her comfort knowing that that exact expression showed more emotions than it looked. "Historia Arlert's death is too coincidental to be an accident, trust me, all those years I spent on criminology had me learning a few things before going out on the field. And maybe you're right Hanji, maybe that kid need help. But I don't understand why you are making it feel like it's your responsibility, enough is enough and enough is that you should do your best on your next appointment."
Hanji stared at him for a while, observing him while he watches the television without any acknowledge to his wife. Sure he made her feel like talking to a giant needlessly thick brick wall, but she could see the reason behind it. Maybe Levi was right, maybe she doesn't need to interfere with Armin's life more than she already is, some patient just need some space to fix themselves and after that they'll be doo-diddly-dah!
But keeping it simple is not enough, she needs to gain some ground on the situation as well!
"…. Hey… What are you- What are you doing?.. What's with that face? I don't trust that-… Hanji- HANJI! NO!" Levi could not push her off until it was too late, Hanji knew how very ticklish her husband is and she took advantage of that along with his constant fear of germs.
"You're gross! GET OFF ME, YOU SMELL!" Levi yelled out in distaste, a loud chuckle escaped his lips mixing along with the loud laughs Hanji gave off. The sofa's spring squeaking and the television talking in the background, the mood somehow and suddenly changes in a flash.
Levi started kissing Hanji passionately.
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"Arlert? Armin Arlert?"
"Yeah, heard he's been coming to town just last week. Funny thing was people only get to see him on one day!"
Hanji's eyes perked up to the source of the following conversation, having to stop mid sip on her morning coffee at her favorite café must have been a really important interruption. Hanji also laid down the week's newspapers on the table, feeling as bored and curious as ever she decided to sit in silence and listen to the conversation while waiting for her tuna sandwich to be cooked.
Two, no, three grown man and a girl sitting in front of a counter of the café with their attentions attracted towards the flat screen television on the corner of the room. One of them has a buzz cut and is the shortest out of all of them, a blonde male has muscles built all over his body, and the other looked just like a man from the Netherlands, the girl however looked exactly like Levi with her bored expressions with the exceptions of a blonde bun and a large nose.
"Ah… AH!.. YES! SCORE!" The muscular one pumped his fist in the air, then he turned his attention at the buzz cut one. "What we're you saying, Connie?"
"Well, we haven't seen him in four months but I thought for sure that he'd got over it quickly. Armin's a pretty hard nut to crack." Connie stated, looking into his beer can. "Don't know why he came back to town, though. I was beginning to think that he was dead all along, killed himself or something."
The tall one gave a scowl at him. "Hey, at least now we know that he's well. Can you imagine losing a wife like that?"
"Yeah, it's harsh. This is Historia Reiss we're talking about here, it's not every day you get a lucky shot like that." The muscular blonde one said again, he then turned to the girl sitting beside him. "You know her from high school, didn't you, Annie?"
Annie took a little sip from her drink. "She stood out, but I don't know her that much."
"But I don't understand, though. How can she just coincidentally appear on top of a cliff one day and just fell? Doesn't that sound all too suspicious?"
"Reiner, big deal. Just because you had a crush on her a long time ago does not mean that you can run around doing stupid detective things just to prove you're right, we've been over this for a million times already, Historia is already dead and there's nothing we can do about it. Suspicious or unjustifiable it doesn't matter anymore." Connie said with a hint of irritation that stuck between his throats, and after that silence ensues as the group stared at their drinks.
"Besides, Reiner, that night had a very bad weather. Enough to blow someone off balance and off a cliff, maybe it really WAS an accident." The tallest man said.
Hanji stopped staring at the exact time their conversations ended, she noticed the waiter carrying her tuna sandwich on a plate walking gracefully towards her seat. After he put the warm meal on the table Hanji bid him a thank you and the waiter went on with his job, but instead of chowing down on her favorite morning sandwich she stared at it blankly. She realized that her ears picked up more sounds from the café that sounds just like Armin Arlerts, the name was spoken for a few times before she realizes that almost the whole café is talking about him.
Hanji frowned at the situation she is in, knowing humans and their psychological tendencies if Armin would've witnessed any of this the young man could go into an anxiety attack. Her sympathy kicked in again, but the side of her that learned to stay out of other people's business held it back.
"Hello, Hanji!" A sweet sounding voice got caught in her hearing areas, when Hanji looked around she caught the sight of a light haired woman. "Fancy meeting you here, eh?"
"Ah, Petra! Well oh my!" Hanji said goofily, sometimes her antisocial side of her have a tendency to come out when she's talking to an old friend. "What brings you here, Petra?" She asked her cheerily.
Petra zig-zag around the tables and avoiding contacts from people while making her way towards Hanji, she sat down on the seat just across from her. She took a strand of hair from her face and put it on the back of her ear, she is dressing the part for the month with a red overcoat and boots when the weather forecaster predicted a cloudy with a chance of rain just this morning.
"I just happen to walk pass the café, I saw you in here and I thought that maybe I said hi!" Petra smiled at her, the same smile that haven't change from high school still as sweet as ever.
Hanji nodded at that, then she remembered something. "Don't you have a job to go to? Or are you still an intern at that one company?" She asked her.
"Oh, I've been an intern for all of my twenty year old life now. But difference is now I've got an internship that pays me. Luckily Oluo gets enough salary to pay for electricity bills and water bills and grocery bills!" Petra said.
Oh yes, Petra finally married that creep of a senior at her high school Oluo Bozado. Surprising? Yes, indeed. But everyone finally knew that the man was a fun and a hardworking person, Petra was more than glad to have him in her life. Hanji once attended their wedding and to see them both happy with each other was something you cannot forget, of course, when you are giving an overconfident speech and bit your tongue so hard it bled it's really kind of hard to forget.
"So I expect that life's good?" Hanji smile at her, fingers steepling as a sign of comfort and confidence.
"Of course it is, how wouldn't it be?" Petra giggled, she watched as Hanji took another bite off her tuna sandwich. There was a brief silence between the two adult women, Hanji could see that Petra has her lips pursed.
"What's wrong?" Hanji asked her, there was a piece of food still being chewed inside her mouth as she said that. Hanji knew automatically when somebody had a thought in their heads, it's almost like she could sense it.
"I heard from Oluo, who heard from Levi, that Armin Arlert came to your psychiatry weeks ago. Not that I'm suspicious or anything but it's just surprising that after all this time…" Petra stared at her with her head full of thinking, it was reflecting on her eyes.
Hanji knew exactly well that even though Petra refused to believe it, or maybe it was just her who tends to be polite sometimes, she felt somewhat suspicious deep in her heart. But that is not what bothered Hanji more, the fact that nearly everyone she met today is talking about it only irritates her more. It was in their eyes, the way the people talked, the way their body gestured. It was as if their too-quick-too-judge part of themselves began to show, no wait, it was already showing a lot.
"It's not exactly something you should be bothering yourself about, I'm actually surprised that Levi's spreading it. Anything between my patients and I are a secret." Hanji said calmly, letting her professionalism flow through her mouth, affecting the way she acted.
Petra nodded at that. "True, I feel bad for him after what happened. Even more so when everyone is talking about him a lot." She said, looking around the café. "His parents died when he was small, been carried around by his grandfather ever since, now his wife died." Petra shook her head in disbelief towards herself.
Hanji brought her cup closer to her lips so she could take a sip of her morning coffee again. "I wonder about that, though. Did his parents really died when he was at THAT early age?"
"It was a really long time ago, I remember it when I was small about five or six years old." Petra told her, then she snapped out of her moping self. "Oh! All this serious talk made me forget, I've got work to do today so if you need something just let me know."
Hanji thought about the offer for a moment while Petra stood up from her seat. "Do you have black tea?" She asked her.
Petra giggled in return. "Can't Levi just buy them himself?"
"Hey, you don't know Levi like I do. He just keeps grumbling every morning whining why there is no more black tea bag in the cabinet, but no matter how hard you try to convince him to get more he'll just find some random excuse about it." Hanji snorted as she remembered that one time, it was funny and a bit head shaking for her to experience it but Levi is Levi.
"I think I have a few at home, you two should come and visit!" Petra chirped up.
"I would be glad, thank you Petra!" Hanji said, smiling as she waved her goodbye. Hanji watched as the young woman got out of sight and she was back to her own silent little world inside her head, she stared at her coffee almost empty with only one sixth still left inside of it.
She grumbled in her throat, letting out a low rumble that sends a wave of vibration up to her tongue. Maybe that grumble was a sign of immense thinking, as she thought about this. But maybe it was the fact that Armin had not left her mind, ever!
Everyone is acting unusual when it's about him, they are either pitying or somehow giving suspicion towards the boy. She did not understand all the attention the boy is getting, it was bad enough that he lost someone he cared about but do they have to rub salt and lemon juice on his wound?
Maybe everything is about Historia Arlert, the girl whose death started it all. When Hanji thought about it she remembered that nearly everyone knew who she was, hell, she even knew that some people tried to catch her for themselves. Maybe it was because of her adorable yet beautiful face with silk light blonde hair that matches well with her eyes, and only if she hadn't been the kindest like everyone said she was she would definitely be a succubus. Everyone wanted her for all Hanji knew, and only Armin was the luckiest of them all. He did not deserve all of the bad words, he should've been praised and congratulated.
Maybe it was envy all along, the obvious jealousy towards young man. The feeling of wanting and longing that caused Historia Arlert her death. Hanji have seen it all, the temptations that made a murderer, the grief that made criminal, and the pride that made bad people do bad things.
She suddenly felt it, the thirst for vengeance. She had been helping people of all age for a long time and she never failed yet, and if she couldn't even help Armin Arlert receive his justice then why help at all. She do care, she needed to care, why would she just sit in her office and do nothing while she know for sure that what killed Historia Arlert was a bad man.
The puzzle is right there in front of her, almost done. But at the same time she wasn't sure if she had put in the right parts, maybe she was being really silly thinking that she could point fingers. She needed more evidence to support her theory, who would ever want to kill Historia Reiss?
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Hanji began her therapy again, this time Armin came to visit for the second time. After a long talk of getting to know each other better Hanji told Armin to lie down on her couch so she could talk to him some more, of course Armin agreed and went there to lie down just as told.
At first it was surprising for her to see him enter her office the second time after more than a week, she almost thought that he had gone through the worst scenario a depressed person could do. And it would be her fault that she could not do anything to stop it.
Hanji had her condolences towards him the entire time they talked, she could not help but to feel pity towards the boy. Even more so when Armin seemed to be very calm and happy with everything that's going on, does he knew that everyone is giving him a bad eye and talking about him all the time?
Does he actually feel fair with what is given to him?
"I am fine with it, Miss Hanji. It's alright if they talk about me or not, I don't really care about it." Armin said sweetly, smiling towards the ceiling.
Hanji sighed. "You're a nice man, Armin. Again, I'm sorry about what happened to your wife. I just want to say that it's not fair, you know? I can hear everyone around me talking about you, bad things all of them, and it's just not fair."
Armin twiddled with his thumb on top of his torso, looking blankly and sadly at the environment around him. "I don't care about them, Hanji. All they are saying are lies, and I dislike lies." He said, his tone a bit icy for a second.
Hanji frowned at him, feeling her heart weigh with guilt. But why? Why did she care anyway? Levi's words echoed in her head, some part of her wanted herself to stop herself from making it a big deal. Maybe it was just and accident, just like what Armin said. But there are also a lot of factors that would make a homicide a possible theory in Historia Arlert's case, sometimes vengeance and karma won't come with them and beat whoever did the boy wrong a good kick between the legs.
"So how was your week, Armin? Did you do anything fun and exciting?" Hanji said, she flipped open another page on her small notebook and readied herself to take notes.
"I've been better to be honest, but it was not crummy either so yeah…" Armin said, staring into the ceiling.
"Anything you'd like me to know? Do you sleep well in the nights or did you have to take pills again?" Hanji asked him.
Armin put a finger up to his chin. "A few times maybe, but I sort of gotten used to it actually. One time my insomnia kicked in and I realized that I can't do anything about it, so instead I filled it with night activities." He said, shrugging to himself.
"Ah, that's good, that's good." Hanji smiled, writing down words on her notebook. "But when you do sleep, do you experience dreams, Armin?" She asked him again.
Armin cringed at that, Hanji wondered if there was something wrong with asking him that. Maybe he had nightmares at night, Hanji could retell her past patient's mental problems and almost several had complains of nightmare induced insomnias. Nightmares are a common thing when it comes to depression and anxiety, the brain became too tired and too stressed creating a mixture of fear chemicals and panic attacks that formed together as a hallucination inside one's mind.
Armin stuttered a bit as he tried to answer, Hanji took note that even though Armin is insisted to be friendly with each other he has a tendency or habit to keep himself from saying the wrong things. It was just a theory, of course, but Hanji has experienced enough from her past patients and herself.
"It's alright, Armin. You can tell me." Hanji said, putting her theory up to the test. Now finding out Armin's level of trust in her.
Armin sat up instead of lying down, he seemed to be feeling uncomfortable. Something is bothering him. "I dream, of course I dream. It's just hard to keep track of my dreams sometimes."
Hanji saw through him, the young man must feel really caged in with his own low self-esteem. What else is holding his trust in her back? Maybe it was uncertainty to put his trust in her, or the feeling of being constantly on guard of showing his own emotions.
"I am just going to assume that something is still bothering you at night, at your dreams perhaps. Whatever it is, it certainly is one of the cause of your constant insomnia. Maybe you don't want to talk about it in front of me, a stranger you only met once, but I just want you to know that we'll fight it together." Hanji said, her voice rising and lowering with stress. She's not going to give up on Armin just yet.
"I-I don't know how to say it, Miss Hanji. I mean I admit, yes I've been having dreams. Bad dreams sometimes, actually. But what I meant was I just can't—seem to stop thinking about her… She's always in my dreams." Armin confessed, rubbing his arm with his other arm as a sign of low confidence. It was easy enough for Hanji to figure him out, to be honest it was certainly like a puzzle with big pieces, but to know and recognize his pain was something else entirely.
And now Hanji is scared and wary, what will become of Armin?
"I see," Hanji contemplated at her patient, her brown chestnut eyes squinting as she began feeling a weird sensation that freezes up in her stomach. "What is your current occupation, Armin? I'm assuming work is getting in the way of things?"
"It… Has never occurred to me before… Now that I thought about it maybe my career is sort of getting in a way of things… I work in a shipping industry, you see. The kind where you need to lift your packages and containers up a licensed ship, I've been given the part where I make sure everything stays in place and the ships don't go off course." Armin explained to her, Hanji is actually surprised by his response. By the sound of it Armin seemed to be interested in talking about his personal life, a good progress so far as Armin seemed to be opening up to her. Then, Armin continued, "It's actually really frustrating, the coworkers are unbearable as well, it crossed my mind a few times but I always shook it off… You really think it has something to do with work?"
Hanji thought for a moment, bringing her ball pen up to her chin. "Could be, Mister Arlert. By the sound of it you don't seem to be enjoying your current place in your work?"
Armin sighed, sitting up from his current position. "Yeah, I might don't. But I can't quit my job now, not when I'm running low on money."
"I'm not asking you to quit your job, Armin." Hanji assured him with a smile on the edge of her lips. "If you can you need some rest have a little break once in a while, or try finding something that takes your mind off work."
Armin did not answer at once, he went into a full silence for a moment. Hanji noticed his expressions, which lacked all emotions as his gaze and eyes darkened.
Hanji looked at her notebook and back to him, she felt an unpleasant atmosphere brimming around them. "What about your parents, Armin. You never seemed to talk about them, do you even remember them at all."
"No," His answer came at once. "They died when I was very small, I've been living with my grandpa ever since. But he taught me a lot, even at an old age."
"Ah, I see. He must be a really nice man, Armin." Hanji praised him, trying to give him a confidence boost.
"He was, I can assure you that he was. Everyone in our neighborhood liked him, even more so when we took Historia in and let her go to school with me." Armin explained, his tone flat.
Hanji pressed him to go ahead with an effort to keep him from noticing. "Historia went to school with you? Must be a really fun time, huh?" She said.
Armin did not answer, taking her aback. "What are you doing, Miss Hanji? Why are we going this far?" Armin turned his head to look at hear with eyes as big as the shattered pieces of Hanji's heart.
"So sorry, Armin. I was trying to get your mind off things, getting to know each other while making you relax and comfortable." Hanji said, making an acceptable and agreeable excuse inside her head. Even though it's still an excuse.
Armin, again, did not answer at once. But he looked down towards his oxford shoes, Hanji wondered what the young man could be thinking about.
"Yeah, that's what Historia would do." Armin responded a bit too late, bit it took her by surprise regardless. "She is just so nice to everyone, nicer than I imagine anyone could be. She never rushes to anything, always patient and polite, even when it comes to getting know with people. She has this… Superpower... To make friends with everyone she wants to have friends with."
Hanji saw him twiddling his fingers, his body is reacting exactly what a normal person would do in times of talking about they are not comfortable to talk about. It's just psychology, and Hanji is nailing at it.
"What else did she like?" Hanji pressed him, gently and not rushing.
Armin lets himself fall backwards towards her couch, his body limp with his eyes staring into the ceiling once again. "She liked a lot of things, the more I take her on walks, give her stuff, show her things, the more her list of favorite things become longer and longer."
"And I assume you like the same things as her?"
"Oh, everything she likes is almost the same as what I like." Armin chuckled to himself, making circles on his shirt. Hanji noticed something she hasn't for a short period of time, she could see Armin had his eyes fighting back tears.
"The only difference is that I don't like myself…" He said.
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Hanji is at home in the middle of the night, waiting for her husband Levi to come home from work again like every night. She had never been bothered by it mainly because her husband is always on time when it comes to coming home and getting the good stuff from his wife sometimes, but tonight he is late and it made Hanji wonder what caused it.
Once she realized there is no point thinking about it (even though there is a lot of factors she hates, but she needs to trust her husband, right? Right) she decided to fill her free time by going up to their room and sit on the chair in front of her computer desk, she took out the notebook from today's meeting with Armin Arlert and she plans to research him a bit. It is important to get to know your patient's character more deeply for the sake of helping them out, all her research is done by hand and by organic brain. That's why her computer is rarely used and dusting here and there.
The notebook is placed in front of her on top of her maple wood desk, one page is flipped open with the large blue ink letters forming the word 'DIAGNOSIS'. Under it there is several words that is used to describe Armin Arlert's illness.
There was 'DEPRESSION'. No mystery in that, but he is showing a rather calm and normal face around her. But then there was his dark gaze and his saddened eyes, might not be a heavy or severe case of depression but maybe at a mild level.
There was 'SOCIAL ANXIETY?'. The question mark matters the most, her theory was supported by his claims on his lack of friends and once that he even called his coworkers unbearable. People like that tend to be very quiet and almost every day they are having trouble dealing with their anxiety, but she still could not prove Armin to be anti-social until more evidence is given. Hence the question mark.
Then there was 'POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER'. She was not exactly sure if Armin Arlert even has that, chances are at least seventy percent. There are a lot of factors that supported this which includes loss of family member, loss of loved ones, and depression and social anxiety could be some of the culprits as well.
After that is 'SOCIOPATHY'. She is actually wary that this might be the case, but the signs of the disorder that developed is still unknown whether it happened when he was young or when he had lost Historia. If anything, he could rather be showing signs of the last syndrome.
'PSYCHOPATHY'. Hanji feared that, she feared that word ever since she was just a little child. It means that this person has lost their abilities to feel compassion or empathy, they can only fake it. No, Armin was not that, she could not let him be one for the sake of the world. Armin was not arrogant, he was not manipulative, he was not brooding every once in a while for all she knew.
Hanji stopped her hand which had just constantly tapping her pen's end on her desk, her mind went racing at the moment as she still could not let her thoughts focus on one thing at the moment. It was chaos and confusion in her head, a thunderstorm of unrecognized emotions filling up. Why did she care so much? Why is she making such a big deal out of it? She is just helping a patient, that's all.
She had never realized that the case of Armin Arlert had given her a hard time for her to think things straight. If she knew better she would have stopped giving even a single damn about it, all of this is making her mad mentally and she had not hypothesis of why.
She heard not a single sound inside the house, only a rustling of leaves from the front yard tree outside. She kept asking herself the same question over and over again, why did she care?
Oh no, she knew exactly why. She knew exactly why her attention is always on Armin Arlert, she knew exactly why she is making a big deal out of it.
"Hanji…"
There it is, the voice asking for help. The very voice that haunted her from when she was just a young child, why did it came back?
"Hanji?"
Why would it not go away? Why is he asking for her? He knew exactly well that she could not help!
"Where are you?"
A distant darkness deep in the void of her own chambers of fear and unwanted memories, a shed of blood red light appeared and disappeared again, flashing in a sinister way. She is remembering, she is making her own heart getting filled with guilt again. It felt good.
"Hanji, I'm home. Sorry I'm late by the way, traffic's been out of control since last week." Levi's voice called from the hallway outside of her bedroom, his footsteps came into focus. "Where are you? I tried calling you from downstairs a couple of times and—"
Hanji felt it, he had caught her like this. Her fingers intertwined on her dark brown hair and nails digging into her skull making her hairdo looked like a mentally challenged person, her eyes unblinking and widened in surprise and shock, she could only imagine the look on her husband's face looking at her like this with her back still unturned.
"Hey, are you okay?" Levi's deep and icy voice showed a little worry in its tone, his footsteps came closer towards her. "What are you doing?"
Then Hanji snapped out of her thoughts when Levi's figure came into the corner of her eye, his hand was swift and it only took him a second to take her notebook from the computer desk. Hanji's reflexes kicked in and her hand reached out to take it back but stopped suddenly when she realized that there was no point once he had got what he wanted.
Hanji stared at Levi's expressions, his eyebrows squinting, furrowing, and rising in the same exact order. Hanji felt her heartbeat race against her ribcage, she needed to calm down it's just Levi that is reading her notebook page by page.
Levi sighed and closed his eyes, he took a few steps back and sat on the corner of their bed. Hanji's notebook still in his hand while his other hand rubbed the bridge of his nose as a sign of irritation.
"Is it still that bad? Why are you making such a big fuss about Armin Arlert?" Levi asked her, his voice flat but stressed as his eyes locked in to hers with expressions she could tell that something is stirring inside his guts.
Hanji did not answer him, she only looked down towards her feet while scratching the back of her neck. She refused to answer his question, knowing that she herself could not answer it either.
"Historia Arlert's death is not on you, Hanji, nor if it is on Armin. What's important is that the girl is dead, I'm sorry but you know it's true. It was an accident and let's put it that way, for the sake of us and Armin's." Levi was intimidating, he is always getting straight to the point.
But Hanji knew better, and that is not the point of all of this. "It's not that, Levi… I—I just don't know how to say it…"
"With your mouth, Hanji. Tell me, why are you getting all stressed about this?" Levi pressed her.
"Her death was unjust—"
"It was an accident!"
"I KNOW IT IS!" Hanji snapped at him, her breathing faltered but she only noticed when silence fell between them. Hanji tried to slouch back to her seat trying to gain confidence and relax herself at the same time, Levi was right, this was not healthy for her. "But her death is just so unfair for Armin Arlert! You don't know but I've seen it everywhere, even in this house. Everyone kept talking about him like he was some sort of a murderer on the loose, like he was someone who would dare to kill the girl he loved so much. It's been two weeks since his appearance in Sina and it made everyone mad, I can even see it in your tone and in your face that you harbored a suspicion towards him. At this rate he'll go to jail for something he never did!"
"Okay, I get it." Levi's response almost cuts her off at the end of her sentence, Hanji waited for him to continue and it felt like ages. Levi only sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in pressure, Hanji could not help but to feel guilty.
Hanji felt an awful silence between them, the tension in the air too thick for her to try and say something. But unless she tried she never knew if it will ever break it. "When I was a kid, about seven or eight years old, my mother had died and it was a really horrible thing to remember. My father was always nice to me regardless of what I did, after my mother's death he was always right by me. And then he remarried, to a step-mother that was something crueler than everyone I knew. I knew she was going after the family money, I never knew why he married her because I'm too afraid she'll know. But not long after a month my father snapped at her, just snapped and yelled, then she stormed out of the house. But when she came back she had accuse him of domestic abuse and rape."
Levi listened closely, Hanji had never told anyone this part of her past. Maybe she could have just told him earlier, but it's only normal for her to keep this a secret. It was too much of a pain to remember it, even talking about it had her eyes holding back tears.
"I was taken into custody of a foster home, my dad lost the court. Even in jail nobody still believed in him, nobody believed in me because I was just a child." Hanji refused to look at Levi straight in the eye, she felt a sickening grumble deep in her stomach. "I… Thought I could help him but, injustice won…"
"… And Armin?" Levi said.
"He was just like me in a way… Scared, misunderstood, hopeless." Hanji stopped herself right there, maybe it was not actually a good idea to be saying all of this.
"I see…" Levi answered simply, from the way he's acting he seemed to be having a hard time figuring out what to say. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"
Hanji is taken aback, but she was glad that at least he did not make such a big deal out of this. "I—used to be Christian?"
Levi blinked at her. "And now you're Christine?"
Hanji felt a light warmth inside her chest, she giggled. "My name's Hanji…"
Levi stood up from the edge of their bed and walked up to her, he rustled her already messy hair and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I know."
Hanji felt a chance for her smile again, to feel less caged and sorrowful. While in her mind she tried to make up what just happened, she expected Levi to be furious at her yet he seemed like he just choose to forget about ten minutes ago.
"I'm going to go get some shower, you need to go get some sleep, I can see bags under your eyes." Levi said without looking at her, he started unbuttoning his shirt as he made his way towards the bathroom.
Hanji watched as he disappeared behind the closed door, she looks back down at her notebook which Levi placed on the edge of the bed. She just said it, Armin Arlert is just like her, broken just like her. But she knew that to fix him she needed to do something impossible, because that is what he would want, because that is what she had want.
To bring their loved ones back.
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"The news channel had been very grim lately…"
Hanji perked up from her newspaper, looking at Petra at the café the next week. "How so?" She asked her.
"Well, besides the fact that another hurricane had hit the west, a man just got killed in a workplace accident." Petra said with her mouth close to a cup of green tea.
Hanji almost asked her to tell her more about it, but she already found the news on the newspaper she was reading. "Ah, I see."
Petra glanced at her phone which gave a distinctive tone if it received a message, she decided to ignore it and turned back towards Hanji. "The man got crushed by a ton of containers on top of him, forensics found a lose rope on the crane that carried it."
"Squashed him like a bug, I suppose." Hanji began reading the entire page as Petra tells her about it, apparently a man named Marco Bodt works in a shipping company just outside of town where he died. The rope was loose, the other workers had no idea about it, and family members did not sue. All just like what Petra told her.
Hanji took a sip from her black coffee mug and began reading some more without even giving a single glance at Petra. "Tell me about the hurricane." She said.
"Well for starters I heard a couple of houses got trashed pretty bad, it's not anything like hurricane Katrina or something but it's coming to town for sure. The weatherman predicted that a heavy rain would come in a week or two."
Hanji nodded lightly at her statement, but her attention is put somewhere else. She flipped another page of her newspaper and she ended up in an advertising page full of stuff she did not need, although that purse looked nice.
"Oluo said that Levi's been giving their branch a box of donuts since two days ago, it's kind of rare for him to do that but hey, its Levi am I right? So anyway—"
Hanji flipped another page of her newspaper with the index finger of her hand which is holding her coffee mug, she ended up in another news page with several articles that told different stories including one that made her attention go haywire.
"—so basically it's not that hard, you should try it someday it'll look good on your nails. Maybe it's the product but—"
Hanji had her eyes narrowed towards that one particular article on the bottom left of the page, she felt a soup of confusion and disbelief stirring inside her stomach.
ERWIN SMITH, FOUR MONTHS OLD CASE REOPENED
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On November 20, 2016. News leaked that a hacker, or a group of hackers, still identified as anonymous, successfully broke into Maria State Police criminal banks through virtual walls. Head of Department and Captain of the Sina branch, Erwin Smith, whose four months ago investigating on a death of a 23 (twenty-three) years old woman, Historia Arlert, who died on scene at the shores of Shiganshina, had been revealed to have deleted the original case file which was then changed with the present closed case file. The original file, said the FBI, has a series of evidence including x-ray pictures and other forensic files that has never been shown to public, in conclusion the death of Historia Arlert may not be an accident at all. While state law indicates that death by natural causes is neither violates or offences any federal law on homicide, but state law does indicates that any falsely recorded case must be reinvestigated until further evidence is found to support the true case.
Until this date further investigations on the case of Historia Arlert is still at work, meanwhile Erwin Smith is charged on false accusation and put on suspension until further notice.
"So I heard Armin Arlert came to you the other day…"
Hanji's head snapped up in an instantaneous way, her face froze making an expression of incredulity stuck at the moment. "W—what?" Hanji stuttered.
Petra furrowed her brows, but there is still a little smile left on her face. "People had been talking again, I heard that Armin Arlert came to your office."
"Why do you want to know?" Hanji asked her, slowly regaining control of herself.
Petra bit her bottom lip. "You're right, it's not my place to know. Just curious, that's all. But seriously though, the kid must've been feeling better right now because I know that you're the best psychiatrist in town. I just wanted to say that I'm surprised, and happy at the same time knowing that you finally got that payment you wanted."
No, she was wrong, partly right to be exact. Armin had not been feeling any better the way she saw it, Hanji could read him like an open book. She knows how it felt like, the feeling of cannot let go. Hanji could only give one conclusion, Armin griefs his wife's death so much that he lost all the other familiar feeling of happiness and joy and he hides it well with a soft smile, he has been depressed for so long he could feel ecstasy from being alone. He felt pleasure from torturing himself.
But enough of that. "Hey Petra, did you know about this?" Hanji showed her the newspaper article.
Petra leaned closer towards her to get a closer look, when she read it her surprised expression is exactly what Hanji predicted.
"Have Oluo told you about this?" Hanji asked her again.
"N-no, but I can tell why…" Petra's mouth formed into a frown, her last statement turned into a mutter. "But if this is really happening I could tell Levi that he'll tell you right away."
Hanji shook her head, disappointed. "No, he didn't tell me anything."
"I can understand why they kept it to themselves, would have been embarrassing." Petra snatched the newspaper out of Hanji's hand and read it to herself. "But I don't see why Erwin would want to make this a secret, I mean come on, hacker attack?! The original case must've been very important to whoever's doing it, getting themselves put at risk of getting caught just for exposing it."
Hanji thought for a moment, Petra had a point, whoever's doing it is not all wishy-washy. Historia Arlert must have been very important to him or she, exposing Erwin like this was not something small like putting an Indian male to justice for exploiting child porn. Erwin Smith is a respected man and his branch is known to have a programmed system to keep out dangerous hackers, now Hanji knew why they put a wall. But the question is still, why?
"If Erwin had cover this up, what else did he delete? I mean, surely you'd go for more evidence, right?" Petra said.
"You're right, the hacker targeted only the deleted case of Historia Arlert. How would Armin Arlert react to this?" Hanji muttered the last one to herself, he had her fingers steepled in front of her nose.
"Surely not rampaging, right?" Petra asked, worried.
"No, but…" Hanji stopped mid-sentence, she has a theory but for some reason she does not like it.
"But, what?" Petra gasped to herself. "You didn't think that… He was the hacker, did you?"
Hanji could not tell, to be honest. "No, I need to research on his background…"
SO THAT'S A WRAP FOR THIS CHAPTER!
Fun fact if y'all still confused, Maria is a state, Sina is a city, Shiganshina is a city.
And that's it, hope you are looking forward on another chapter because I sure am! I'm on FIRE this month because I know 2016's about to end!
It's been a long time since I started this I hope I improved since.
Please leave a review, add me or my work to favorites if you like it, follow this story if you want more crazy plot twist shit, or follow me instead to see what other crazy shit I write, check out all my other works if you want to.
And this chapter is...
TO BE CONTINUED