Trigger warnings: Mentions of death, murder.
It was a hard video to swallow. All they had gotten from the police two years ago were merely graphic descriptions and puzzle pieces to the crime, but now that the puzzle was put together, the big picture wasn't nearly as satisfying as they imagined. There was no way to tear it apart and forget it, either; the image was now burned into their memories. Levi sat on the couch later that evening and watched his sister pace back and forth of the living room. Holding the flashdrive in one hand and a butterfly knife in the other, she twirled with the blade to ease her anxiety. Most people fidgeted with a stress ball or picked at their nails, but this was Mikasa. She was not at all like most people.
"You better not let go of that and accidentally kill me." the elder drawled, which earned a sigh from the latter as she sat down next to him.
"You need to be more upset about this." She bit out. Her shoulders hunched in thought.
"Excuse me?" he raised a brow, "I just watched my parents die. Of course I'm fucking upset."
"No, no," her tone softened, her eyes following the curve of her knife slowly. Mikasa held the thing close to her heart, treasuring it since it was the only thing she had left of her crazy Uncle Kenny. Damn, they really were the last of the Ackermans. "I mean, are you not thinking of that Jaeger kid? How is he still not in jail for fucking manslaughter? How is he just walking the streets freely without a care in the fucking world?"
"You're saying that as a hitwoman." he pointed out.
"Levi, you know what I mean." The knife hung on her middle finger carelessly, yet she seemed to have complete control over the deadly weapon.
"I do," he answered, and took the knife from her hand cautiously and placed it back in the case she kept it in. "You shouldn't hold that knife while you're pissed, it freaks me out. And you know how unjust the police force is, Mikasa, he probably only served two years in prison for vehicular manslaughter, depending on how good his lawyer was. Then he probably got his license taken away. Maybe that's why the fucker owns a shop. Because now he can't amount to anything better anymore."
"Right. So when do we kill him?" she glanced at him over her shoulder.
"Impatient, much?" Levi replied, "We should head over to Fritz tonight and see if he can fund this hit. It's gonna cost a lot more than we'd expect-"
"Why would we ask him to fund us? We can't just do this on our own?"
"Mikasa." he warned, "What did I tell you to keep in mind when executing a hit?"
"Patience." Mikasa grumbled. Truth be told, sometimes she hated being the little sibling. Right now she wanted nothing more but to stomp her foot and storm into her room, but things were drastically different now. She was an adult, she had to remind herself. She had a responsibilities now, even more than before.
"Exactly. Patience. If you rush into this, it could blow our cover. Not to mention it wouldn't be as satisfying as we want it to be. Enjoy the moment." Levi flicked her forehead as a reminder. "Put your shoes on, we're heading over to Fritz."
"You know, you talk a lot about patience for someone who can't even handle the express line. You should practice what you preach."
"It's an express line! And nobody uses it for its actual purpose!"
"Hey, old man." Levi greeted as he walked through the dingy door of this so-called office. He cringed at the smell of marijuana and old cigarettes.
"Try again." Fritz raised an eyebrow. Their boss sat behind his desk, bricks of money sitting on either side of the wood were being inventoried by one of his employees as he puffed a cloud of smoke from his mouth. Mikasa always wondered if his beard perpetually smelled like smoke considering how frequently he does it.
"Mr. Fritz," Mikasa interrupted before Levi started anything, not even five minutes into the meeting, "we apologize for coming so spontaneously. We had a favor to ask of you." She spoke respectfully. Beside her, Levi eyed her weirdly for being so polite. He made a face of disgust.
"See that?" her boss glanced at the elder sibling, "You should learn respect like your sister. Would it kill you to get some manners? Don't tread on thin ice, Ackerman, I can dispose of you anytime."
"Sure," Levi answered dully, "but that would be bad for business, wouldn't it? You can't get rid of your best products." Mikasa rolled her eyes.
"You forget I have Annie Leonhart as well. You may have a high kill count, Levi, but your skills still belong to me, so don't get cocky. Now," he put the cigarette out on the may glass ashtray beside him, "how can I help my favorite pair of siblings?"
"Mikasa and I want to assassinate someone and we need your help to fund us on the trip." Levi put it bluntly.
"Aniki, wait-"
"Quite the ambition you have there, Levi." Fritz eyed him down, "Who is it?"
"Eren Jaeger. Nineteen years old, lives in Daegu." His response was immediate.
"Why should I help you?" The old man swiveled slightly in his chair, beginning to lose interest since he had nothing to gain, "I don't even know the child, and you expect me to give you thousands of won to go on a vacation in Daegu?"
"Mr. Fritz, it's not a vacation if it's purely for business." Mikasa pitched in.
"Business? I don't see how this pertains to me or my business, Mikasa." Fritz finally stopped spinning in his chair and leaned forward onto his arms. "And you never told me why you wish to assassinate this Jaeger kid."
Why they needed to explain themselves, Levi would never know. He tapped his foot impatiently. As much as Levi wanted to formulate a beautiful string of insults and spit them into Fritz's face, he bit his tongue and tried to explain.
"Fritz," he spoke, "this is the same kid that murdered our parents in a car crash two years ago." Pathos, Levi thought, was one effective way to get your audience to listen. At least, that's what he learned in class when he still gave a damn.
"Oh," his boss suddenly understood, his gaze softening only slightly, "so it's him, huh?"
"Yes." Mikasa affirmed, shooting Levi a glance that said: "you told him?"
Fritz paused. He stroked his beard deep in thought as he glanced at the pair in front of him. They carried themselves differently; with determination. Nothing like the usual stoic looks on their faces every time they accepted a hit. No, this time there was a certain hint of anger in their eyes, a bite in their tone. If only he could get that same look in their eyes when he hired them on purpose. The old man sighed.
"Very well." Fritz coughed out, "I suppose I can fund the both of you starting at the minimum amount for a hit. Come in again tomorrow. We will talk money then."
"Yes sir."
"Oh, and before I forget, I have a job for you, Levi, when you get to Daegu."
"Eren Jaeger." Mikasa thought out loud to herself later that night. She was dressed and ready for bed, but her antsy thoughts left her wide awake as she stared up at the ceiling. What did he look like? Mikasa began putting features together as if it were a character customization bit from a game. From Hanji's findings, he had short, brown hair and bright green eyes. A muscular face matched his broad shoulders, complemented with thick eyebrows and a sharp, pointed nose. However, everything else was up to imagination, and Mikasa was having quite a field day. She imagined him to be tall, but not taller than six foot. Toned, but not as muscular as Levi. Tanned skin, calloused hands, narrow hips-
"Mikasa!"
She was jerked out of her train of thought. The girl glanced at the open door and saw that Levi's light was still on.
"What?" her response hung in the air for a second.
"Come here." And she groaned.
"Why?"
"You do this every time. Just come here, please." The elder called out again.
"Fine." she grunted, swinging her feet over her sheets and shuffling over to her brother's room. Levi sat on the edge of his bed in his night clothes, shoulders hunched as if he were deep in thought. "What is it?"
"I've been thinking."
"Don't hurt yourself."
"Shut up." His eyes rolled, "We need to make a budget for this trip. Fritz's money will go to the train and the hotel expenses. Everything else has to be on us, so spend your money carefully." Levi handed her a sheet of paper with a list of train times and their prices; a shortened itinerary. Her eyes skimmed down the list before shooting him a look of confusion.
"Wait a minute, a hotel? How long do we plan on staying there?" Mikasa was leaning against the doorframe, shifting her long tresses behind her back.
"That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about." Levi began and turned his body towards her, "I don't want Jaeger to have the luxury of a quick death. I want it drawn out. I want this kid to suffer."
"He's the same age as me, he's not a kid," she trailed off, stopping only when she saw him glare, "But I guess. So what does that mean?"
"Mikasa, how good are you at controlling your emotions?"
"When it doesn't involve you I'm fairly good at it. Why?" Mikasa padded over to join him on the edge of the bed, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Good. I want you to make him fall in love with you."
"Excuse me?" she gawked.
"Hear me out first. Make it painful for him. Like some Romeo and Juliet bullshit." He waved his hands in the air comically, "He needs to fall in love with you so hard, so you can break his heart when he watches you hold a knife to his throat."
Mikasa felt uncomfortable. It's not like this kind of deal was new to her. But the thought of something so sadistic coming out of her brother's mouth just wasn't sitting right with her. He never cared much about whether his methods were cruel or barbaric. In fact, Levi's style was more direct and efficient. And now that he was sitting here talking about a slow, painful kill, the younger Ackerman felt a little knot in her stomach.
"Aniki, that's… that's sociopathic."
"Maybe it is, but every single one of us are on a sociopathic spectrum. Even you." he answered, "Are you saying you can't do it?"
"No, I can still do it." Mikasa answered with determination, yet Levi still detected the uncertainty in his sister's voice nonetheless.
"Mikasa, be honest with me. If you can't do this then I will go do it myself, but I'm giving you the opportunity to avenge mom and dad for us."
Mikasa hesitated. Of course she wanted to avenge her parents and make her brother proud, and she wasn't a foreigner to the thought of taking someone's life. Hell, it's been her job for two years straight. Still, her resume only consisted of her putting bullets in people's heads without a second thought to how they felt. Her job was purely physical, but her family name was still far more important to her.
"I can do it. I promise." She reaffirmed, "Besides, Fritz has a job for you here. I'll handle Eren." And Levi nodded, ruffling her hair affectionately before pushing her off his bed.
"Good." Levi disappeared under his sheets and Mikasa fought to muffle a laugh. See, he slept with thick comforters to combat the cold in the winter time, and his small five foot three frame was instantly buried beneath four inches of stuffing and cotton. All of a sudden, Fritz's strongest hitman would turn into a harmless burrito at night. "Now go to bed. We're taking the earliest train tomorrow morning. Less people will see us, that way."
Mikasa headed out wordlessly.
They weren't foreigners to overpopulation. Being hitmen had them travelling all across the country- from India to the Philippines- they've seen overcrowdedness at its worst. Which is why she wasn't surprised at the elbow to elbow contact on the train to downtown Daegu. Nonetheless, Mikasa felt her knuckles twitch at the feeling of the snoozing man next to her breathe down her neck. She scowled and buried her chin further into her scarf. She scooted closer to her brother in the process who mimicked the same irked facial expression as her.
"Aniki," she whispered towards him, "how much longer?"
Levi glanced down at the watch adorning his wrist before looking back up at her, "Should be twenty minutes left." his elbow bumped into an old lady to his left and he sighed loudly, "This is gross. I'm taking a shower first when we get to the hotel."
"You always take a shower first, and I already called dibs."
"That's too bad." he scoffed, "I was born first. Therefore I shower first."
The woman opened her mouth to come up with something witty, but was interrupted by a feminine voice over the announcements.
"Attention all passengers," the man next to Mikasa woke up with a jolt, "we will be arriving in downtown Daegu in ten minutes. Please prepare to exit in an orderly fashion and remember to gather all your belongings."
Levi frowned, "That was quick."
"Bullet trains, huh?" The younger Ackerman commented as she pulled her bag closer to her chest.
Downtown Daegu seemed more simple than the extravagant Gangnam district that they called home. The smell of smoke filled her lungs from the street food and the ominous gas excreting from the motorcycles passing her. The large, bright signs beamed at her from the tall buildings and Mikasa had to blink a couple times to adjust. Next to her, Levi was taking a look around as well, scooting back for people to pass while listening to the traffic driveby. People filled the streets more than she realized when she stepped out of the hotel, and the humidity had her pulling on her collar a little more than she was used to.
"Okay," her brother spoke behind her, "when we find the shop he runs I'll be off watching to the side. Talk to him, and make sure he remembers your face."
Mikasa nodded.
"It's called Circle C." He held her by the elbow as they walked side by side down the street, "According to the map it's only a couple blocks from the hotel so you should be able to walk the distance whenever you pay him a visit."
"You never answered my question by the way." Her heels clicked against the pavement, "How long are we staying here?"
"At least a month, so that's how long you have with him." His sister sighed. The small shop labeled "Circle C" printed at the top in blue. Behind the counter stood a man with shaggy brown hair and turquoise eyes she could see all the way from where she was standing. A smile spread across his face that was directed towards one of his customers and Mikasa felt her stomach twist in anger. He didn't deserve to smile. Not after he took the life of two innocent people that had a family to go back to. Not after he took her life away from her.
"Hey." A voice interrupted her thoughts. Levi held her by the shoulders and looked at her firmly, "You said you could control your emotions, so prove to me you can, alright? I'm counting on you to make this work."
"Yeah," she regained her voice, "Yeah, I can do it. Now split up."
Levi strolled toward another street shop maybe half a block away selling tea. Mikasa rolled her eyes at her brother's choice of shops but was not at all surprised. Rolling her shoulders back and inhaling deeply, she slipped into a facade and approached the shop timidly.
"Hi." The raven haired woman greeted and ducked under the decorations hanging from the frame.
"Hello," Eren smiled brightly, "welcome to Circle C. Feel free to look around and ask questions."
And she did. There was a variety of merchandise being sold. From shirts with tacky fonts to old CDs, pirated movies, women's jewelry, and even branded- albeit fake- shoes were out on display to be sold. She quirked an eyebrow at a red scarf laying on top of an opened box. Mikasa picked up the fabric and felt the soft cotton, marveling at how warm it felt. It's been a while since she wore the black scarf Levi had given her, since it was so tattered and falling at the seams. She faltered and glanced at Eren.
Mikasa found herself slightly reeling back when his eyes bore into hers immediately; he had been observing her this whole time. His stare was unyielding, yet his eyes held no malicious intent. She had to give it to him though, he was very attractive. And his eyes are really pretty. And his mouth looked so soft-
"Um," she began and stopped herself mid thought before her mind derailed once again, "how much for the scarf?" Mikasa held the fabric between her slim fingers and brought the product up to the counter.
"5,000 won."
She raised an eyebrow. Too much for a scarf, she decided. "2,500."
"Oh?" He cocked his head and smiled. Mikasa nearly decked him in the face for being a smug little shit. "A negotiator, huh. 3,000."
"2,750."
"3,000. Take it or leave it."
The woman rested her cheek on her palm, eyes bored before continuing. "Fine, three-thousand. But that's including this." Without breaking eye contact, she reached next to his forearm- which she had to admit, was impressively muscular- and grabbed a lottery ticket. Mikasa placed the piece of paper on top of the scarf and smiled.
Eren glanced down, "A lotto ticket?"
"Yeah, why not?" she shrugged, and Eren agreed. He took the money she offered him and handed her the change. "Pleasure doing business with you…" she paused, hoping he would fill in the blank.
"Eren. Nice to meet you." He placed his hands on the counter and watched her as she put the scarf into her purse. "I must say, no one's bargained in my shop in a long time. You bring back memories, miss…"
"Mikasa." She finished, "Is this not a flea market?"
"Mikasa." the name rolled off his tongue smoothly and she almost scowled at how it sounded. "It is, that's why I'm surprised people don't try to bargain, I don't know, must be my good looks, makes the customers wanna pay in full."
"Weird thing to flex, but alright." She deadpanned and Eren raised an eyebrow, seemingly offended. "I mean, you're not hard on the eyes. But I highly doubt that's not why customers pay in full."
"Thanks. I'd say you're pretty attractive too." He leaned in closer, "And why's that?"
"They pity you, Eren." She pulled away for a second to gesture towards to condition of the building. "Look at this place. It's not hard to come to the decision that you're… running on empty."
"You're very forward, aren't you?"
"Ah, I apologize for being so blunt. I just see things the way they are." Mikasa shrugged. Right, she was supposed to play nice. She almost forgot.
"Don't apologize, I like that." Eren waved her off, "You don't meet a lot of girls nowadays who are this real."
"Mm. And you don't meet a lot of guys who run a shop at nineteen years old."
"How'd you know?"
"Wild guess," Mikasa lied, "I could tell by your lack of facial hair."
"Hey! There are some people younger than me with jacked beards."
She grinned. "I also tend to befriend people my age."
"So we're friends now?" Eren grinned. He was genuinely entertained. He's never had a customer as thrilling as she was. Usually he was either tending to a thirty year old grabbing at cigarettes or chasing away a nine year old trying to steal a CD.
Mikasa didn't answer his question. Instead, she took a stray pen cap and began scratching at her lottery ticket. Eren watched with earnest and stifled a chuckle when the raven haired girl pouted at her loss.
"Better luck next time." He spoke, "There's no point in doing those kinds of things, anyway. People never win."
"Sure, it may be a one in a million chance, but there's still a chance. If you don't try, you won't win, Eren." Mikasa flipped the ticket over and began scribbling a number on the back, signing it with her name at the end. "What were the chances that I walked in to this particular shop today of all days? Besides, I didn't need a lottery ticket, I just needed an excuse to talk to you."
She slid over her number with a smile and watched his face now full of astonishment. Mikasa walked out of the small shop before he could glance at her again.
Oh, this was gonna be fun.
"How'd you do?" Levi asked later when they sat back in their hotel. He rubbed at his wet hair with a towel and leaned on one hip.
"Good. I gave him my number." She responded while rubbing out the sore balls of her feet.
"So he knows you now?"
"Yup." Mikasa reaffirmed and flexed her foot. "Wasn't that hard. Apparently he doesn't meet very many interesting people."
Levi watched her pitiful form massage her feet, "Why do you wear heels if they hurt so bad?" he hung his towel on the plush chair to dry overnight.
"When are you gonna stop criticizing my fashion choices?" She shot a glare towards her brother.
"When you are no longer under my roof," He smirked, "Which I know won't be for a long time considering how dependent you are." Levi teased.
"Ugh, fuck off." Mikasa sent a pillow his way but he dodged it with a laugh.
"Anyway." He spoke after some silence, "What's he like?"
"He's a cheeky little shit." She answered while changing into her sleeping clothes.
"Hm. What else?" Levi paused. "He strikes me as the fuckboy type."
"He is."
"And you're into it."
"What?" she looked at him, surprised. "I am not."
"Bullshit." He called out, "You walked out of that store blushing like a high school girl. I haven't seen that in years, something must have happened." Levi raised a brow at her reluctance to answer.
"You're not gonna like the answer." She said and he shrugged, waiting for her to spill. Mikasa hesitantly gave in, "He's charming, I guess." She admitted and refused to look him in the eyes. He would never let her live this down.
"Oh my god." he groaned dramatically, and Mikasa tossed her head back in annoyance.
"You asked!"
"Mikasa, he's the one supposed to be falling in love with you not the other way around." Levi sent her a warning look.
"And he will. Give it time." She assured her brother, "Have some faith in me. If I have to play nice, I'm gonna make it believable."
Mikasa kept up her almost daily visits to his shop from then on. Walking over to his shop from the hotel constantly made her fairly familiar with the faces behind the stands or the ones that passed her on the way. The two had gotten quite comfortable with the area, and people were starting to know who they were. The other day, in fact, a little girl came prancing up to her as she briskly walked over to Circle C.
"Mikasa-unnie!" she had heard. When she turned around, her eyes landed on a little girl bouncing her way with a ball in her hands, "Will you play with us?" her big eyes shined with hope and the older woman felt her heart sigh at the sight. Still, she had business to attend. Mikasa had sunk to a crouching position, and placed a hand on top of the girl's pigtails.
"Maybe later, Christa. Unnie is busy right now."
"What about Levi-oppa?" Christa lifted herself to the balls of her feet despite already being eye-level with Mikasa.
"He's working at home, too. But," she gestured towards Eren's shop, "you can always visit the man in that shop and spend time with him. He gets very lonely. He almost has no friends." she whispered, adding that last part teasingly. Christa giggled.
"Okay, Unnie. I'll visit him sometime."
She found herself taking the familiar path to the quaint shop two days later, and subconsciously looking for Christa in the process.. Ducking under the ornaments from the doorway, she made eye contact with the brunet behind the counter.
"Hey stranger." He greeted.
"Eren," she nodded, "I got your text." she waved her phone in the air and walked up to the counter.
"You did," he nodded, "and you didn't respond?"
Mikasa quirked an eyebrow. "How was I supposed to respond to 'hey come over in ten?'" The Ackerman swung herself around the counter sat on the stool next to him, getting comfortable and ignoring the way Eren looked at her with fondness. Their friendship had gotten oddly comfortable following the two weeks they'd known each other; he appreciated her presence. She was someone he could trust.
"Well," Eren continued, "why don't you close the shop with me today? I'd like to take you somewhere tonight, if you don't mind." He paused nervously, and Mikasa's mouth hung slightly open at his forwardness.
Already? Mikasa thought. She faltered slightly but a smile tugged at her glossed lips.
"Um," she laughed and glanced down briefly, "I'll have to let my brother know where I'm going first but sure, I'll close with you."
"Oh yeah, of course!" Eren waved his hands dismissively. "Sorry, I had no idea you had a brother. You never mentioned him."
"Ah, his name is Levi." She told him, "I never really mention him to anyone because he's not really the type of person you introduce to people."
"Mm." Eren hummed in response, "Are you guys close?"
"Yeah, we're really close. He's all I have." She answered somberly.
"What do you mean?" He frowned.
"My uh, my parents aren't around anymore. Levi was my legal guardian." Mikasa leaned against the counter and wrapped her arms snugly below her breasts. "An accident took them away from me." She looked at him darkly and Eren felt himself squirm under her gaze.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He said quietly. Before she could respond, a short, blonde woman walked in. "Hey, Mrs. Arlert." He nodded towards her with a grin.
She looked at him and smiled warmly. "Hi, Eren. Oh, who's this? You never introduced me to your girlfriend." Her attention shifted to the Asian woman beside him.
The blonde woman readjusted the bag on her shoulder before sticking a hand out to introduce herself.
"N-no, no Mrs. Arlert- I- she's not- we're not-" Eren stumbled over his words, and waved his hands in front of him bashedly.
"I'm Mikasa." she shook her hand and chuckled, "And Eren and I are not dating. We're just friends."
"Oh! My mistake." Mrs. Arlert shifted so she now faced Eren, "Well I stopped by to check on you since I haven't seen you with Armin recently. But you seem pretty… dandy, so I'll let him know you're in good hands." She teased, chuckling at how Eren's mouth hung open.
"Mrs. Arlert I don't need to be monitored!" His arms crossed his chest, "I'm running my shop very well by myself."
"Is that why you ask me to come by everyday?" The girl next to him threw in.
"Mikasa," he breathed, exasperated.
"I'm teasing, Eren." She squeezed his shoulder and tossed her bag back on before making her way towards the exit. "I'm gonna run home and change really quick, I'll be back to help you close."
Back at the hotel, Mikasa briskly walked back to her room and skipped steps up the stairs to get to her brother.
"Aniki!" she whisper-shouted, barrelling through the door without knocking after fumbling with the room key. Levi whipped around quickly from his laptop and stepped into a defensive stance, only relaxing when he saw it was Mikasa.
"What the fuck." He gasped.
"Sorry." She began rummaging through her bag full of clothes for a new outfit, ignoring the look of disbelief Levi gave her from her side. "What were you doing?"
"Going over a hit Fritz wants me to do while I'm here." Levi answered. He turned around and closed his laptop.
"In Daegu?"
"Yeah. Someone named Erwin Smith." Levi eyed the man's profile.
And Mikasa hummed in response, "It's happening."
"Why do you think it's cool to say super short sentences to build the suspense?" He grumbled while Mikasa paired a blouse with a miniskirt and her scarf she bought from Eren the other day.
"He finally asked me out. Eren asked me to close the shop with him because he wanted to take me out afterwards." she began dressing herself from behind the bathroom door, listening carefully to her brother outside.
"Where exactly are you going?" Levi asked.
"I don't know yet," the woman in question shrugged, "he said it was a surprise. But I'll text you where I am when I get there." Her brother scowled in response.
"Hey, I know you can take care of yourself, but no funny business." He handed her a sheathed knife to be attached to her thigh under her skirt, which she took gratefully. "Call me if you need me. And be home by… one."
Mikasa rolled her eyes at that. "Yeah, yeah. I still have a curfew, really?"
"Yes," he replied smugly, "and don't forget what we're here for." The eldest added before Mikasa nodded wordlessly and headed out the door.
Closing the shop had been a success. It was well around eight in the evening and Mikasa felt a cramp in her legs from sitting behind the counter all day and checking out customers. She finally got the chance to meet some of his regulars other than herself, and met a couple interesting customers that Eren had to deal with more often than not. She had caught herself gazing at him with genuine interest a couple times; despite him being a murderer who makes shit decisions, Eren was pretty interesting, Mikasa decided.
"You ready?" He spoke after locking up the store.
"You still haven't told me where we're going." The raven responded, and hooked her arm around his when he held it out for her.
"It's a surprise." Eren said smugly.
They walked arm in arm until the train station. She groaned at the sight of another crowded car and Eren quickly caught onto her discomfort.
"Do you want to ride a different train?" He offered, but Mikasa shook her head politely and scanned the area for a seat. Alas, there was one open spot, but not another for Eren. "You can sit there, I'm fine standing." After Mikasa passed him a thank you and the brunet held onto the silver pole for stability, standing in front of his date with a hand in his pocket.
His ass was in her direct line of sight. Naturally, her eyes lingered.
Not bad.
"So, Mikasa," he turned around suddenly and faced her, "what's your typical first date like?"
Said woman glanced around at the current situation and raised an eyebrow. There was an elderly woman dozing off across from her. A teenage boy on his phone and bobbing his head to his music, which by the way, was being blasted. I guess everyone was listening to No Limit. Another man dressed in a suit was reading a book to her left, and a young woman tapping away at her messages on her right. And of course, in front of her, stood her Prince Charming.
"We're discussing this now? I thought you already had something planned out." She called him out teasingly.
"I do, I do," he raised his one hand defensively, "I'm just trying to get an idea for your standards." Mikasa chuckled at his answer.
"I don't… really know. As long as it's nice and relaxing, and with someone I trust. I'm not really into loud music or huge crowds, so there's that. Umm..."
"Mikasa Ackerman." Eren crouched down to her level. "Have you never been on a date before?" Her gaze hardened.
"So what if I haven't?" She challenged, "I was busy doing my homework and worrying about my brother while everyone else was fucking in hidden alleys."
"I'm not saying it's a bad thing," Eren said gently, "but it is hard for me to imagine someone as charming and beautiful as you never go on a date before. Surely you've been asked out before, yes?"
"Plenty of times." She affirmed quickly, her mind darting to Jean, and old acquaintance. "My high school was full of pesky little boys, but my acceptance rate was zero."
He laughed at that.
"So what makes me different?" It was a loaded question.
Well, you killed my parents and I'm only doing this so I can kill you and watch you fall. She clenched her jaw.
"Because I like you," she lied. Mikasa watched as he brightened at her answer.
"Good, because I like you too." He stood back up. "And don't worry, I'm gonna make this the best first date."
A/N: A lot of the dialogue between Mikasa and Levi is based around my relationship with my older sister, so I hope to keep the authenticity of it haha. I originally said it'll be three chapters, but it will likely be more than that. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did! Leave me some love in the reviews~