Title: Jaeger Exterminator
Series: Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan
Rating: G
Pairing(s): Eremika
Chapters: One shot (?)
Notes: This fic can be seen as reincarnation AU. Mikasa is older than Eren here (maybe because she died first in the other universe, I haven't decided).
Disclaimer: I own none of Attack on Titan's characters or concepts.
"Jaeger Exterminator, where extermination is our determination." The young man inwardly groaned at the absurd tagline, but since it was a store policy to say it every goddamn time he answered a customer's call, there was nothing Eren Jaeger could do—owner's son or not. "Eren's speaking. How may I help you?"
The voice at the other end of the line was smooth; calm, despite currently describing the horror of pest infestation in what sounded like a three bedroom house. The usual customers would have been frantic, in the verge of yelling, as they retold what disgusting experiences they had with common household vermin. In contrast, this woman's voice was merely tinged with slight irritation but no fear. That was always a plus in Eren's book.
"Uh-huh. Got it." He nodded along and jotted down some notes while listening intently to the voice, half enjoying its melodic lilt. Apparently several rodents had made themselves known by leaving trails of destruction in certain corners of the house. Being in this business since he was thirteen—it paid good pocket money—Eren had bagged precious five years of experience dealing with this kind of problem. It should be piece of cake.
"I'll come by your place to check it out, Miss…" A pair of sea-green eyes glanced back at messy handwriting, "…Mikasa Ackerman." The name sounded oriental despite the Germanic surname. "When would be a good time for you?"
Luckily his college classes for today wouldn't start until sometime in the evening. His digital watch showed exactly 14:30 as he parked the Jaeger Exterminator white van (yes, with a tacky giant flea model on its roof) on the sidewalk, right in front of a red brick house that was located quite far away from city center. He could feel the cool autumn breeze when he stepped out of the car, rustling through the many trees surrounding the premise as well as ruffling a few strands of his unruly dark hair. Eren studied the building more closely, already creating a mind map. Two stories floor, quite spacious. Wide backyard too it seemed. No sign of pet, but who knew.
He grabbed a duffle bag from the back of the van and approached the front door. There was no electronic buzzer or door bell, but instead a rustic silver knocker in the shape of an eagle was tasked to announce visitors. He swung the knocker three times while noting that one of the eagle's wings was painted black. Barely five minutes later, the bright red door opened.
"Mikasa Ackerman?"
The young woman nodded once. Her chin-length black hair bobbed down following the gesture. It was rather hard to tell her age, thanks to everlasting youth of oriental features, but if he had to guess…probably just two or three years older than Eren himself. "The exterminator?" It was exactly the silky voice from the phone. The question was rhetorical of course, because she was already eyeing the company's name that was stitched on the left breast pocket of his uniform. "This way, please." She spun her heel with one hand beckoning him in. But Eren quickly stopped her with a light tap on the shoulder.
"I'd like to see the outside structure of the house first, Miss. I need to familiarize myself with all aspects of the building. Is that alright?" He took out a small note pad and a pen from the bag. When she nodded he continued on, "since this is the first visit, the house examination might take about forty minutes to an hour. Don't worry, I will exterminate them all." He gave her a smile—a charming commercial one he used for all his customers, which usually made them instinctively smiled back (especially effective on the ladies). But betraying his expectation, Mikasa's lips stayed a thin straight line although she nodded once again.
From those forty minutes to one hour duration, about half of it was spent with Eren circling the exterior of the house and Mikasa trailed silently behind him. She would answer his questions regarding the vermin, but she never initiated any small chit-chat. It suited Eren just fine though, he was also never one for polite talks. So he continued working, occasionally taking down notes and gathering further information from Mikasa. Everything went relatively well (he found the rodent's entryway and promptly sealed it), except that for early September, the temperature was unusually and irritatingly low. Luckily, his roommate Armin had watched the weather forecast on TV this morning and forced him to wear a green parka jacket over the Jaeger Exterminator tan-colored uniform. A red woolen scarf also effectively blocked any chill from attacking his supposedly exposed neck.
"—achoo!"
It was a small noise. One might need to strain his ear to be able to hear the sound, but Eren accidentally caught it. He turned his head toward Mikasa with an eyebrow arching up. Was that a sneeze he just heard? The young woman tilted her head slightly to the side, facing away from Eren as if embarrassed. The tip of her nose was tinted a rosy color while one finger was busy rubbing the bottom of said nose. Eren took in the thin black trench coat she was wearing on top of a white dress shirt. The ensemble wasn't enough to fend off the cold, apparently.
"Here." He took a few steps to erase the distance between them. Two hands deftly loosened the scarf from his neck and encircled it around hers instead. "You can have this." He scrunched up two rather thick eyebrows together, trying to decide whether the scarf would do the trick or not. "It's warm, isn't it?"
Mikasa blinked back at him; a bit surprised at the gesture. She then averted her gaze down, one hand touched Eren's scarf as if wanting to test the texture. Her dark eyes softened. "It's warm." A silent pause slipped in between them, just a few trickles of seconds, before Mikasa finally looked up. "Thank you, Eren." This time a smile graced those lips.
"No problem." Eren shrugged. His back was already facing the young woman, ready to resume his duty as exterminator. "Just…just let me know if you need my jacket too." He mumbled. His stomach suddenly felt like he just swallowed a net full of live butterflies. There was something nostalgic about what he had done; some sort of déjà vu. He was certain that he did the same thing once before, a very long time ago—giving a scarf to someone, encircling them with it so that he could share the warmth he was blessed with. If he closed both eyes, he could somewhat make out two small bodies re-enacting the scene from shrouds of vague memory. They were children, a boy and a girl. The boy was…
["—you were just lucky, Eren! I'm criticizing you for not considering your own safety!"].
The girl was…
["-"]
…who?
"Eren?" A gentle tug on his arm brought Eren back to reality. Mikasa must have caught him staring off absent mindedly into the distance. He didn't even realize he had stopped walking, or that the young woman was already by his side.
"Err, uh…" Eren forced a smile and dismissed all thoughts about the far off past. "Shall we go in and check the kitchen then?"
Mikasa agreed with a nod, leading him back into the house. They still didn't talk much for the reminder of the visit. But Eren noticed they kept trading stolen glances as if trying to reaffirm something from memories. He could feel her gaze studying him when she thought he couldn't see her—it even intensified, for some unknown reasons, every time he had to bend down to check on low corners. That might be just his imagination though.
In the end, he managed to secure several rats and place a few traps in case of future infestation.
But he never managed to ask the scarf back from Mikasa.
Barely three days later, came another request for Eren to check on rodent infestation from none other than Mikasa Ackerman.
.
.
.
BONUS: The infestation was actually a hamster Mikasa purposely bought so that she could call on Eren again.
BONUS 2: Eren ended up taking Mikasa to a pet store to buy a cage and other pet products for said hamster.