Mismatched Pieces
Chapter 1 - When Things Fall Apart
"Family isn't something that's supposed to be static, or set. People marry in, divorce out. They're born, they die. It's always evolving, turning into something else." - Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key
Growing up, Mike Zacharias didn't exactly know what he wanted to do with his life when he got older.
He was tall for his age with sandy blonde hair and the beginnings of a moustache sprouting on his face. The people around him considered him a good kid with a good heart, though a tad bit weird since he had the strange habit of sniffing people he had just met. And his nose. The boy had a powerful nose. It was said he could smell anyone and anything twenty meters away.
But, there was one thing that Mike was sure of when he finally started college; it was that he wanted to spend his life helping people. Children, especially, held a soft spot in his heart. So, with that in mind, he had chosen to become a social worker.
Being a social worker wasn't exactly a glamorous job. The pay wasn't grand, but it was just enough to live a decent life. Mike was alright with that; he was a relatively simple man. He got to help children and, so he was happy.
Now, on his second year on the job, Mike wore the only black suit he owned and gave his navy blue tie a good sniff before putting it on. He checked his clothes in front of the mirror and deemed them neat and somber enough. Taking his rather beaten and worn-down car, Mike drove to the funeral of a certain Mr. and Mrs. Grisha and Carla Yeager.
It was a normal Saturday afternoon when six-year-old Eren Yeager's world fell apart.
He was staying over at the Ackerman's house for a few days because of a conference Dr. Yeager, accompanied by his wife, was invited to attend and speak in abroad. The Ackerman couple, a blond European man and his Asian wife, was good friends of his parents. They had a daughter around his age, that Eren was friends with from school.
With Mikasa to play with and nice people like the Ackerman couple to take care of him, Eren didn't mind one bit when his parents left for abroad three days prior. This wasn't the first time his parents had left him with his friend's family. They had always came back just like they had promised and, sometimes, they even brought him a new toy from their travels!
But, that Saturday afternoon, there was no new toy for Eren to play with. The news came so quickly and suddenly, like a thief at night. No one was expecting the couple's plane to be caught in the heart of a typhoon. No one was expecting their plane to crash in the middle of the Pacific.
It was all so sudden and all so unbelievable. Mrs. Ackerman had expected nothing so shocking when she picked up the ringing telephone.
Mikasa, ever the perceptive child, observed her mother visibly pale and stiffen as she clutched the phone. The little girl stared wide-eyed at her mother as she pulled on the older woman's skirt. Eren was too busy playing with his DS in the living room to notice.
"Mama..?"
It was only for a fraction of a second, but Mikasa saw an utterly horrified expression on her mother's face. The look made the six-year-old girl cringe; she had never seen her Mama look so sad and shocked at the same time before.
Quickly, the look on Mrs. Ackerman's face was wiped away and was replaced by a smile. It was a forced smile that didn't reach her eyes. Instantly, Mikasa knew something was wrong. Her Mama's eyes always shined when she was happy; now they looked so dull and lifeless.
Lowering the phone, Mrs. Ackerman said, "Mikasa, why don't you go play with Eren? Mama's talking on the phone right now."
The little girl nodded her head and ran toward Eren who was playing with his game console on the couch. Sighing, Mikasa's mother grimly put the receiver back to her ear.
She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. Tears were already forming at the corners of her eyes as she tried to contain her grief. Grisha and Carla were such lovely, friendly people. They didn't deserve to… to meet their end in such a way. And Eren… Mrs. Ackerman could feel her heart wrench when she thought of the poor boy. He was so young! To lose both parents at that age… The older woman shook her head; she didn't want to think about how little Eren would take the news.
Yet, it had to be done. Someone had to inform Eren about his… his great loss. Mikasa's mother took a deep and collected her thoughts. The woman braced herself as she tried thinking of the gentlest way possible to break the news to the little boy.
"What do you mean Mommy and Daddy aren't coming back?!" Eren clenched his fists as he stared at the older woman. Tears were beginning to well in the boy's eyes.
It was finally night time when Mikasa's mother decided to break the news. After dinner and a bath, the older woman brought Eren to Mikasa's room, which was where he slept when he stayed over.
"Eren… Your Mommy and Daddy, they… they passed away when their plane crashed." Mrs. Ackerman winced as the words left her mouth. She had tried to say it as gently as possible, but there was nothing she could do to soften the news.
"But they promised they'd come back today!" Eren could only stare ahead dumbly, confusion and sadness clearly evident in his eyes.
Six was much too young to fully understand grief and loss. To a six year old, one felt sad because his favorite toy was broken or because he didn't get the game he wanted. Therefore, it was no surprise that the idea of losing someone and never seeing them ever again was totally foreign and imaginable to the little boy. After all, what did someone so young know about death?
"I'm sorry, Eren…" A wave of pity hit him as he looked up into the older woman's eyes.
Eren bit his lip and tried not to cry. His Daddy had told him big boys didn't cry, but, no matter how hard he tried to stop them, tears came streaming down the six year old's face and, not before long, the little boy began wailing loudly as well.
"Eren!" Mikasa, who had been peeking at the whole exchange from the doorway, practically flew to her friend and wrapped her tiny arms around him. This was the first time she'd ever seen him cry; not when he had fell from the jungle gym in the playground, not when their teacher had scolded him for getting into fights with Jean. Not even when the scary men had tried to take her away! Seeing him sad made her sad too!
"Mi-mikasa…" said Eren in between sniffles. He buried his head in his friend's shoulder and cried his heart out. The two just sat there on the edge of Mikasa's bed with Eren bawling and the girl just holding him while beginning to cry herself. Mrs. Ackerman, thinking it was for the best, just let the two be for now and quietly made her way out of the room.
When Mikasa's mother stepped into her daughter's room two hours later, it seemed as if both children had cried themselves to sleep. The kids were both lying on the bed. Eren was sleeping spread-eagle on the bed, while Mikasa slept like a soldier, on her back arms and legs straight. Mrs. Ackerman noted with a small smile that the kids' hands were still interlocked.
Taking a blanket, the older woman covered the two small sleeping figures and turned off the lights.
The Yeager couple's funeral was held a week after Eren heard the terrible news.
It had been a terrible seven days for the six year old. Eren, who had remained with the Ackerman household for the past week, refused to speak with anyone, uncharacteristically quiet for a child who's normally so boisterous and lively. The cheeky grin that the boy normally wore was replaced with a grim expression. His teachers worried about the drastic change in behavior, while his friends and classmates, Mikasa especially, just wanted him to laugh and play again. Just like before.
A crowd of people clad in black was present. Many friends and co-workers of the boy's late parents attended the simple service to offer their condolences, but Eren was much too lost in his own world to notice. He was tired in more ways than one. There were bags under his eyes, probably the product of having to cry himself to sleep most nights.
"Eren..?" The boy felt a tug at his sleeve. He turned to find Mikasa, wearing a black dress, staring at him, eyes wide with concern. "Are you okay?"
The little boy nodded his head weakly. He tried to smile for the girl, but it ended up looking more as if he had tummy ache.
Mikasa, still quite a bit unconvinced, reached out for her friend's hand. Normally, the boy would have shied away from the contact and made a fuss, but, that day, he found it oddly comforting. Eren squeezed her hand just a little tighter.
The funeral rites passed by in a blur for the boy and, eventually, it was time to go home. Guests started leaving left and right, what had previously been a forest of black for the kids now dwindled into a few individuals. Eren and the Ackerman family were about to leave as well, but they were stopped by a titan of a man.
"Excuse me…" called the giant. It was a man with blond hair and a stubble on his face. He was extremely tall; he not only towered over the kids but also over other adults as well.
"Yes?" replied Mr. Ackerman. Mikasa's father and the kids eyed the stranger warily.
The tall man paused and breathed in through his nose before continuing. It looked as if he was sniffing the air or something. "Are you, perhaps, the Ackermans? The one taking care of Eren Yeager for now?"
The older man nodded his head, albeit somewhat tersely. They were all tired, Eren especially. All of them just wanted to go home and rest.
"I see…" responded the man slowly. Pointing to himself, the stranger introduced himself as Mike Zacharias, a social worker employed by the government. He had come there that day to make sure six-year-old Eren Yeager found a good new home.
TBC
AN: OwO... I was supposed to be working chapter 1 of Once Upon a Time, b-but this fic! It was just begging to be written and I just couldn't concentrate on writing my other story, so yeah... Now, I have two ongoing stories to think about, just yay... TTwTT
This type of fic has probably been done a thousand times throughout a million fandoms, but please forgive me for my unoriginal plot. I just wanted to combine my love for LeviHan and Levi taking care of a chibi! Eren, that's all.
To be honest, I don't think I'm really suited to write a fic like this... I mean, since two of the main characters (Hange and Levi) are working, successful adults with jobs (whom I promise will appear in the next chapter by the way) and therefore, more mature and grown up-ish. I, on the other hand (despite being 17), have the mentality of 12 year-old kid... I really have no idea what I'm doing, but when you write, you have to write. If there are any mature grown up-ish people out there reading this please tell if I'm doing something wrong... ^^;
Also, I hope you guys don't mind me making Mike a social worker. I researched a little on adoption, legal guardianship, and stuff and apparently, they send someone to check on the orphan and make sure the child has a good home and Mike, like, NEED MOAR LOVE! SERIOUSLY! He's awesome and badass, if I had time, skill, and inspiration, I would definitely make a fic about him, but alas, no stories come to mind. D: Also, sorry if he's kinda OOC... I wasn't really sure how to write his personality aside from sniffing around constantly... OTL
Surprisingly, there was a lot more EreMika interactions/fluff(?) than I expected. It's not really romance since they're just six, but I guess a part of me just subconsciously wants to write an EreMika story (but again, has no time to DX) so it just manifested itself here (?) I really dunno... Oh! And sorry if everyone is kinda OOC (is still pretty unfamiliar with writing characters in character), but I do think I'm allowed to make Eren a little more vulnerable than normal. Remember, he's just six and has every right to cry after losing his parents.
Speaking of Eren's parents... I felt so sad and guilty about killing them off... I really have no idea how Isayama-sensei does this all the time! D:
Err... Anyway, this was a spur of the moment written fic and, as I've mentioned above... I really have no idea what I'm doing, sorry... OAO Orphaned kids go live with their nearest relatives or they get sent to the orphanage, right? Someone please tell me I'm right?
Okay... I will shut up now before this author's note gets any longer. I just want to say thanks for giving this fic a try and please do leave a review. Seriously. You can tell me anything you want. It sucked, it was okay, it could be better, I use to much adjectives, anything at all! Heck, you can even just drop by and say "PANDAS ARE AWESOME", if you want to :DDD. (Although, I would prefer it if the review was related to this story ^w^)
Thanks for reading! - solitarycloud :3