Sunday, July 27, Roof

"That's the last thing I remember," admits Sasha. "Everything else is kind of a blur."

"Blur?" asks Mikasa. "Think harder. Anything else you could remember would be helpful."

The two girls sit on the roof in silence, trying to remember. Mikasa is absent-mindedly wiping the drool off her face and Sasha is staring intensely at a spot on the floor. She tries to remember whatever she can about the party last night, but all she gets is a flash of random scenes:

* Mikasa is slapping her across the face. Hard. In the present day, Sasha slowly brings her arm up to her face and yep, sure enough, her cheek stings.

* Krista is towering over her, yelling, while she, Sasha, cries.

* Bertolt is puking all over Annie.

* Marco and Armin are singing, rather loudly. They both sound terrible and the song is vaguely familiar, yet she can't seem to remember what it was.

* Eren is wrestling with a horse. An actual, live horse. Or at least she thinks it's a horse. She can't really be sure.

* Levi Ackerman is naked. She didn't get a good enough look at his front, but he does have a nice butt. This she remembers very well.

* She's kissing Connie. Or rather, she's trying to. But Connie is pushing her away. He doesn't want to kiss her.

Of course, the last one causes her to cringe the most.

"Oh Maria," she whispers. "Oh Rose. Oh Sina. What did I do last night?"

"What happened?" asks Mikasa sharply. "Did you remember something?"

"A lot of things, actually," she replies. She tells Mikasa about all the random events she remembers, in the order she remembered them in.

"I don't remember any of these things happening," says Mikasa.

"Yeah, I know," Sasha strokes her chin. "Now if we – "

"Except for the first one."

A silence falls over the roof.

"What?" questions Sasha. "You remember slapping me?"

Mikasa nods grimly. Her gaze doesn't quite meet Sasha's.

Sasha groans. What did she do that was so bad that Mikasa needed to slap her for it?

"Why?" she says finally.

Mikasa still isn't looking at her. "You're not going to like it."

"Tell me," insists Sasha.


Saturday, July 26, Student Lounge (Girls)

Mikasa Ackerman is fuming.

For one, she has been waiting outside Eren's room for like an hour while he got his princely self ready for the party. (Of course, she would rather be in there with him, helping him get ready, but he doesn't need to know that.)They are already late and she knows it, but no amount of nagging will get Eren to listen to her. She is also forced to stand outside his door like his bodyguard, instead of making herself comfortable in the student's lounge, because Eren won't stop ranting about his roommate. He expects Mikasa to listen and occasionally respond with "Yeah, I know," and "What a douche." Not only that, but Eren's roommate had left the building half an hour ago and he had complimented Mikasa on his way out, telling her she looked beautiful. Yes, that's right. Jean Kirstein had made it a point to let Mikasa know how beautiful she was, whereas all Eren said was, "That skirt's too short. Go put on some tights or something." Naturally, she is pissed.

So when she finally shows up at the girls' dorm with Eren in tow, she expects Sasha to be sympathetic and understanding. Boy, is she wrong.

"Mee Casa!" Sasha throws her arms around her roommate and gives her a big bear hug. A strong smell of alcohol hits her, and Mikasa coils back in disgust. Sasha then tries to do the same to Eren, but Mikasa stops her in time.

They have arrived late, so everyone they know is already here. The girls' student lounge is crowded with people, most of them first-years, a few third-years who Hange knows and a couple of second-years. The music is loud and several students are dancing in the center of the room. Mikasa smiles. This party doesn't seem half bad.

"Happy birthday, Potato Girl," she says, pushing the envelope she had been carrying in between Sasha's cleavage. "Have you been drinking?"

"Mmm?" Sasha tilts her head to the side. "'Tis good stuff. Have some."

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," Mikasa says, eyeing the drinks table, where Hange is in full swing. "And no, I don't want any. Come on, Eren." She stalks toward the food table, looking for the cupcakes.

But Eren doesn't move. Instead, his eyes are fixated on someone standing to their left.

"Eren, no," Mikasa pleads, trying not to crush the poor cupcake she's holding.

Eren doesn't listen. He immediately begins seething with rage. "KIR – STEIN!" He screams.

From across the room, Jean hears Eren. He glares at him. "Yeager." he snarls.

Mikasa's head begins to hurt. How do these two even live together? she wonders.

Her childhood friend is furious and is now looking for something to throw at Jean. "AAARGH!" he screeches. "WHY CAN'T I FIND A VENDING MACHINE WHEN I NEED ONE?"

Right there and then, Mikasa so badly wants to knock Eren and Jean out cold and leave them both tied up in their room. But she can't. It's Sasha big day, and the last thing she wants to do is ruin it.

"I am so, so sorry, Sasha," she sighs, dragging Sasha away to the drinks table. "Eren and Jean have been arguing since Monday. And the worst part is they can't even remember what they've been arguing about! Eren has been pissing me off all night. He won't stop talking about Jean, and it's driving me crazy!"

Sasha doesn't say anything. Mikasa takes her lack of a reply as permission to keep talking.

"I am so sick of him," she complains. She has to bite her tongue after every word, because what she's saying is blasphemous. "I know that I shouldn't be saying this, but, sometimes I feel like he's taking advantage of me. That he keeps getting into trouble because he knows I'll always be there to bail him out. Well, what if I don't want to help him anymore? What would happen to him then?"

Sasha nods like she understands everything. But something is wrong. Sasha usually isn't the type to stay quiet.

"Say something," pleads Mikasa. "Don't you think he's treating me badly?"

It's only then that she notices that the birthday girl's eyes aren't focused on her. She's staring at Connie Springer, who has entered the room and is making his way over to them.

"Connie's here," Sasha whispers. "Shit, shit, shit, what do I do?"

"So I take it that you haven't heard anything I said?" says Mikasa quietly.

"You know my plan, right?" replies Sasha. Her voice gets higher and louder. "I'm supposed to kiss Connie tonight. On the lips. Like a big girl. So that he finally realizes that I've been crushing on him all this while instead of being the dense potato that he is. And since it's my birthday, he can't reject me. Not tonight, at least."

Several heads turn in their direction, eyes wide open in surprise. Mikasa checks to see if Connie's is one of them. Satisfied, she clicks her tongue at Sasha.

"Be a little louder, why don't you? I'm sure those people in the back didn't hear you."

"Sure," says Sasha. "I'M GOING TO KISS – "

Mikasa quickly pushes her cupcake into Sasha's mouth, silencing her. Although she has been living with Sasha for only three months now, she already knows that the best way to silence her is to shove food in her mouth. It's messy, but very effective. The only downside is that she has to sacrifice her share for that, but the reward is worth it.

Trust Sasha not to listen to a single word she said and instead ramble on about something completely unrelated.

"Heesh comine here," Sasha's words are muffled due to the food in her mouth. "Wha I do?"

"Once more, without food." Her roommate commands.

Sasha swallows hard. "He's coming here. Oh no. I can't take this. I can't kiss him. He's gonna make fun of me. He's gonna think I'm a freak. Mikasa, do something!"

Mikasa's headache gets worse. Not only has she been babysitting Eren all week, but now her roommate has also proven to be incapable of not embarrassing herself. She wants to cry. Why me?

Why did they have to act so childish all the time? What would they do if she wasn't around to take care of them? And what did she get in return? Their complete apathy towards her feelings.

Sometimes she wishes she had a friend like her to listen and take care of her, the way she did them.

"Hey there," says Hange slyly, sliding in next to her. "You look upset. Would you like something to drink?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Mikasa observes Eren and Jean screaming at each other. Beside her, Sasha wonders aloud what Connie's shaved head tastes like. And Connie Springer is approaching them from afar in slow motion.

"Why not?" mutters Mikasa, and accepts the glass that Hange hands her. It's filled with a clear liquid, and it smells like Eren after soccer practice, sour and nasty. She downs it in one gulp.

"More," she orders, before she can regret it.

"More, coming right up!" Hange pours her another glass, which she downs in another gulp.

"More!" she commands again. Hange raises her eyebrows, but says nothing. She hands her another glass of clear liquid, which Mikasa guzzles down.

"MORE!" she screams, slamming the glass on the table for the fourth time. By now Hange is alarmed, but is more than happy to grant Mikasa her request.

And then it finally hits her. Her brain goes numb, and her ability to think is replaced by a warm, fuzzy feeling. Her esophagus is burning, and her body wants to reject the strange liquid it has just ingested. With all the willpower that she has, she forces it down.

She is suddenly overcome by the feeling that she take over the world.

So Mikasa does the first thing she can think of.

"Do you think his head tastes like boiled egg or boar meat?" asks Sasha seriously. "Because I have to know what his head tastes like if I'm going to kiss him. That makes sense, right? Because I can't tell. Nothing makes sense anymore. Except Connie. Well, no, he doesn't. I'm still gonna kiss him though. Oh, who am I kidding? I can't kiss him! I can't do this! Why did I even think this was a good idea? MEE CASA! WHY AREN'T YOU HELPING ME?"

"Mee Casa" doesn't reply. Instead, she slaps Sasha on the cheek. Hard.

The force of Mikasa's slap causes Sasha to stumble backward. Her drink sloshes all over her gold slippers. She gapes at her assailant in shock.

Everyone stops whatever they are doing to stare at the two people in focus, the birthday girl and the person who just slapped the birthday girl.

"Boiled egg," says Mikasa quietly. "And you're welcome. Now go kiss him." With that, she makes her way over to her new best friend, Nasty Sour Drink.

The rest of the night goes blank.