A/N: Totally forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but many thanks to Ryvius for providing me with information about MMA! Much appreciated!
Track 4 - Three Rounds and a Sound
The doors of the cramped elevator slid open with a large amount of effort, the metallic screech that was produced from the less than smooth process sending a chill down Hannes' spine. Getting out of the contraption as quickly as he could, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief once he felt the security of solid, unyielding floor beneath his feet. Looking back, he felt sorry for the poor sod that it was going to transport next. He could have sworn that one day its cables were just going to snap without warning and drop whoever was unlucky enough to be inside it to an unceremonious death.
"The things I put up with in this shithole," he muttered as he pulled a cigarette box out of his shirt pocket. It felt disappointingly light in his hand, and as he lifted it to his face and took a peek inside, he was disappointed to discover that it was empty. "Crap." He carelessly tossed the empty box onto the floor and started walking towards his apartment. Passing by one of the open sections of the hallway, the glare of sunlight stung his eyes, making him flinch. He was returning from work early today, having been sent home by the site foreman for showing up in an inebriated state. Guess I really overdid it this time, he thought, fishing his house keys out of his pocket. Should count myself lucky that he didn't just straight up fire my ass.
Putting his keys into the lock, he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard muffled laughter coming from the apartment opposite his own. Startled by what it implied, Hannes slinked over and gently pressed his ear against the door, trying to listen to what was happening inside. He strained to make out the words that were being said, but everything was unclear and muted. A passing stranger stared at him. "What are you looking at?" Hannes said with a scowl, making the passerby hurry away from the scene. Satisfied that he was alone once again, he returned to his attempt at eavesdropping.
When he still couldn't decipher whatever dialogue was going on inside the room, Hannes finally let his curiosity - and concern - get the better of him. "Eren? Is something wrong?" he asked, knocking three times on the door. He could hear the talking from inside the room stop. "What are you doing up in the afternoon? Eren?" he said again, rapping his knuckles against the door more firmly this time.
A click could be heard, and then the sound of the chain lock being slid out of its track as the door was unlocked. "Hey, Mr. Hannes," Eren said, pushing the door half open and peeking out.
"What are you doing up so early, boy?" Hannes tried to look inside the apartment, but the boy made it a point to try and block as much of the view as he could with his body. Suspicious behaviour indeed. "You've got eyes like a bloody panda! Haven't you been sleeping?"
"Just had a rough night. Couldn't get to sleep in the morning. Thanks for the concern," Eren replied hastily.
"Are you sure?" Hannes pressed, still shifting around to try and look inside.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine!"
"Is there anyone in there?" the older man yelled into the room, ignoring the boy. "Were you talking with someone?" he then asked directly.
"No, there's-" Eren started to say, but he was interrupted by a feminine voice that came from behind him.
"Eren, come back to bed!" the voice said.
The hairs on the back of Eren's neck stood up so fast that they threatened to rip right out of his skin, and his eyes widened in complete and utter horror. His face instantly turned a deeper shade of red than Hannes could ever hope to achieve on even his most drunken nights.
"What wa-"
"OKAYTHANKYOUGOODBYE" Eren yelled incoherently, slamming the door shut in the exact same moment, almost ripping it off its hinges. Hannes stood in the hallway, stunned. It took a few more moments for him to finally snap out of his stupor.
"Wow," was all he could say as he turned on his heel to enter his own home.
Leaning against the inside of the door, Eren felt like he had just run a marathon, so drenched he was in his own sweat. He was panting heavily, and the expression on his face was one of terror. As he stood there silently, still struggling to come to terms with what had just happened, hysterical laughter filled the room.
"Why the Hell did you do that?" he stammered, walking over to the laptop that was placed on the counter. "Oh my god, Mikasa!"
On the laptop screen, a video feed of Mikasa's room could be seen. She was not in the frame though, because she was too busy rolling on the floor laughing. "I'm sorry Eren, I couldn't resist!" she said between heavy bouts of laughter, her voice cracking and her fists pounding on the floor.
"That's it, I'm putting on my earphones. No more open mic for you." He fished his earphones out of his pockets and plugged them into the machine. "Why did you have to say that, of all things?"
Mikasa finally appeared on the screen as she pulled herself up from the floor. She was in tears, and when she tried to say something she just started cracking up again, even snorting a few times.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!" Eren said, his tone a little harsher than he intended.
Mikasa fought hard to contain herself and finally managed to wrestle back a bit of composure. "I'm sorry, Eren! Hope you aren't mad!" she said, flashing an apologetic smile at him.
"No, it's nothing," he replied as he scratched the back of his head bashfully. "But why did it have to be...that?"
Mikasa scratched her chin and shot her gaze upwards in an exaggerated show of being deep in thought. "Well, maybe it's a secret desire of mine?" she cooed mischievously, winking at him through the camera.
"What? Stop messing with me," Eren stammered, his cheeks blushing violently yet again. "Can we just get on where we left off?"
Still chuckling, Mikasa reached her hand outside of the screen and retrieved a large water tumbler. On its side, her name was written in cute looking block letters, and the background was filled with an array of colors and little drawings.
"Wow, did you make that yourself?"
"Oh, no. A friend gave it to me for my birthday," she replied, uncapping the tumbler and taking a sip out of it. "I don't use it outside though. Just at home."
"Really? That's thoughtful," Eren said, cupping his chin in his hand. "A boy or a girl?"
"Why?" Mikasa smirked.
"Nothing. Just curious."
"His name is Jean," she declared, carefully observing Eren to see what his reaction would be.
The boy squirmed in his seat ever so slightly, averting his gaze from the screen. "Sounds like a French name," he mumbled.
"It is. He's from a town called Calais in France," she said, never taking her eyes off him. "He goes to the same gym as me, and he's pretty good at it."
"Good at what?" Eren blurted out.
Mikasa raised an eyebrow at him. "MMA, of course. What did you think I was talking about?"
"No-nothing. He sounds like a nice guy."
"Well, he is pretty nice. But so are you!"
That genuinely made Eren smile. He took out his journal from his bag and scribbled something inside it.
"What's that? Let me see!" Mikasa raised herself higher in her chair, as if she could somehow peek over his shoulder and see what he was writing.
"Nothing. Just made a note."
"What note?"
"A note," he said.
"A note about me?"
Eren didn't say anything. He quickly put the book aside, taking great care not to let her see any of it.
"I wonder what else you write about me," she mused aloud. "Poems? Or are you making a list of things you like and don't like about me? That's so childish." Mikasa gasped. "Are you writing fanfiction about me? What is it? Show me! Oh my god, are you writing smut? Eren, you naughty boy!"
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" Eren held his head in his hands, completely overwhelmed by Mikasa's teasing.
"You're so fun to mess with!" Mikasa snickered. "You'd better show that book to me the next time we meet, or I'll give you a taste of my signature move!"
"Have mercy, please," Eren said.
"Speaking of meeting, when are we gonna hang out again, huh? It's been almost a month!"
"Huh? I don't know."
"Every time I ask you out you're always 'busy' or 'not feeling well'. Are you avoiding me, Eren Jaeger?"
"No, of course not!"
"Really? Then how bout we go out right now? You don't seem to be busy! I'm up for it if you are!"
Eren stared dejectedly at the screen. "I can't."
"Why not? Don't you like me?" Mikasa snapped.
"Of course I like you!" he retorted. "I just can't go out right now!"
There was a muffled thunk that sounded like it came from outside Mikasa's room that Eren heard through his earphones. "What was that?"
Mikasa looked over her shoulder and said "Sounds like someone broke a plate or something. Maybe my uncle."
"Right. Hey, I'm gonna make a cup of coffee. Be right back." He quickly pulled his earphones out and walked over to get his kettle. Filling it up with water from the tap, he quietly hoped that Mikasa would forget about what they were talking about before he left the computer. You're playing with fire, Eren. She's gonna find out sooner or later, he thought as he turned the electric kettle on. Glancing over at the laptop screen, he saw that Mikasa was no longer at her computer. Thinking little of it, he hummed a tune under his breath as he waited for the water to come to a boil.
Piping hot cup of coffee in hand, Eren seated himself in front of his computer once again. He started to worry that Mikasa might be angry with him when he realized that she was still nowhere to be seen. The door to her room was ajar, and when he put his earphones back on, he could hear the sound of distant yelling. "Mikasa? Are you there?" he said, concerned by her sudden disappearance. It was a good twenty minutes before she finally returned, much to his relief. His joy was short lived, however.
"Why are you crying?" he asked when he saw her teary eyes and trembling lips. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked again when no reply was forthcoming from her.
"Eren, can you come out now? Please?" she whispered at length, her eyes always looking down at the ground instead of meeting his.
"I... I can't. WIll you please tell me what's wrong?"
Mikasa looked up. Her hair was dishevelled and obscured part of her face. Seeing the disappointment in her eyes, he felt like his neck was being throttled by invisible hands, so hard it was for him to breathe.
"It's okay," she said weakly. "Listen, I've got to go. Bye."
Without saying another word, she ended the video call.
Hannes stepped out of the elevator once it reached the lobby, a throng of people following close behind him. He nodded politely at the receptionist and looked out of the glass doors of the entrance. It was almost completely dark now, the last vestiges of light slowly draining away as the sea of black slowly flooded the night sky. He noticed a familiar looking person standing in the shadows of one of the cheap looking potted plants that lined the walls, constantly looking outside, as if he was waiting for something.
"Didn't you get any sleep? What are you doing here? It's not even fully dark out yet," he said when he was beside Eren.
"I need to be somewhere as soon as it turns dark," came the reply.
"So urgent, huh? I'm going to get some dinner. Got time to join me?" Hannes offered.
"I can't. You go ahead."
"Well, okay." Hannes walked ahead and pushed the door open. Before exiting the building, a thought occurred to him that made him turn back and ask "Did you use any protection, boy?"
Eren either didn't hear his words or pretended not to have heard them, because he zipped past him and out into the cold darkness of the night without so much as a glance his neighbour's way.
"Mikasa!" Eren screamed as he ran through the streets of her neighbourhood. She'd told him where she lived before, but he had no idea which house was hers. He kept screaming her name, the sounds of his cries and his frantic footsteps echoing between the houses as he desperately continued his search.
"Shut the fuck up, moron!" somebody yelled at him as he turned a corner. Some of the residents even threw random items at him from their windows as he passed by, constantly calling out Mikasa's name. But Eren didn't care at all. He needed to find her.
"Mikasa!" he cried again. Hearing the sound of a window being pulled up, Eren braced himself to dodge whatever projectile that would be launched at him next. To his relief, instead of something being hurled at his head, it was the sound of Mikasa's voice that reached him. "Eren! Over here!"
Eren came to a stop in front of her house. When he looked up, she was no longer at her window. A few moments later, the front door of the house opened and Mikasa walked up to him, her shoes making a crunching sound as she made her way over the light blanket of snow that covered the lawn. She simply stood and stared at him without saying anything, her calm breaths made visible by the cold, even through the maroon scarf that covered her mouth.
Eren's breaths on the other hand, were heavy and labored, having spent so long running through the neighbourhood in search of her. He pulled his journal out of the bag that was slung across his shoulder and offered it to her. "Don't pull your signature move on me, eh?" he said, smiling warmly at her. He couldn't tell if she was happy or not as she accepted the small book, but the gleam in her eyes hinted to him that it was probably the former. She shifted her weight onto her other leg, allowing the yellow light of one of the street lamps to reveal to Eren the tear stains on her cheeks. He opened his mouth to ask her again what had happened, but she immediately shushed him.
She clutched the book tightly to her chest, making no move to actually read it. Instead, she grabbed Eren's hand and tugged on it, imploring him to follow her lead. As she pulled him along by the hand, Eren kept hoping that she wouldn't feel the immense heat that he must have been emanating, so hot and red he felt at her touch. He didn't even seen where they were going, so fixated he was on the sight of her fingers interweaving with his own. Her grip on him was firm, yet tender, so full of warmth that he completely forgot about the snow and the cold.
When they finally reached their destination, Mikasa let go of Eren's hand, much to his thinly concealed disappointment. It took awhile for him to finally register their surroundings properly. The two of them stood side by side in the town cemetery, surrounded by gravestones of all shapes and sizes. They were somewhere near the east side of the cemetery, near the black, metal fence that surrounded the burial ground. In front of them were two gravestones of a simple design, sticking out of the ground side by side. It was too dark for Eren to make out the words on the tombstones, but he didn't have to.
"Here lies Oliver Ackermann," Mikasa said solemnly, "and here lies Miyuki Ackermann."
Eren stood in silence and watched her.
"I lost my family once," she said after a short pause. "It's not nice."
Eren nodded gently beside her, even though she was not looking at him.
"My uncle... my aunt and my uncle. They've been fighting a lot lately. He has a gambling problem and now he's in so much debt. He wants me to help him. If I win the tourney, I could help him." Mikasa lifted her hands up in front of herself and looked into her palms. "I could help him. But my aunt hates him for this. She thinks that he's using me. And lately, when they fight, they don't just argue anymore. They break things, and they scream, and they yell, and they cry."
Mikasa took a step sideways so that she was closer to Eren, their shoulders rubbing against each other as she entered his personal space. "I don't want to lose my family again."
This time, it was Eren who took Mikasa's hand in his. He lead her out of the cemetery to a bench that was just outside the gates. There was a street lamp there to provide illumination for the two of them as he sat her down and pulled the book out of her hands. He placed it on her lap and flipped it open to a certain page.
A halfway spoken
heart, caught in the winter night.
Mikasa, her name.
"I wrote this on the night we first met," Eren said with a chuckle. "Go on, read the others."
Mikasa rubbed the wetness from her eyes and flipped to another page.
Think too much; do too little.
A fool, a mind so fickle.
Always longing, always fearing,
for you my eyes start tearing.
Think too little; do too much.
By your side, I am as such.
Foolish courage, good intentions.
I hope in your thoughts, my name you mention.
"So many rhymes. Like a kid's poem," she said, lightly jabbing Eren in the ribs as a thin smile found its way back to her face. The next page contained a few haikus, roughly scribbled on in Eren's terrible handwriting.
You're not here today.
The white noise reflects longing.
My heart on a string.
"Eren, you're so cheesy."
I wait for your text,
in my room of sounds and thoughts.
Rain breaks the silence.
"Oh, come on." She was about to read the next haiku, but Eren quickly snatched the book away from her.
"Not that one, it's kind of embarrassing," he said, bashfully, but Mikasa was having none of it. She tussled with him for the book and finally managed to wrest it from his grasp.
"What's the point of writing this if you're not going to let me see?" She asked before returning her attention to the journal.
Ma Chérie, my sweet girl
How I wish to speak these words
to you, oh je t'aime.
"Oh god, you're so cheesy," Mikasa said, closing the book and returning it to Eren. All traces of the sadness she had earlier was gone, completely replaced by an overwhelming happiness that made her seem to glow like a star under the moonlight. "Thanks, Eren," she whispered, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for cheering me up."
"Just keep fighting," he replied, the smile on his face as wide as hers, if not wider. "You'll never win if you stop fighting. I'll fight too, right beside you."
"I think I'll probably be the one fighting, and you'll be there doing a jig."
"Hey! I'm not a bard!"
"Fine, a battle song. You'll be there singing of my heroic feats of valor, and you'll carry my armor, and you'll sing for me when I'm bored, and-"
"I don't think you understand what a bard does," Eren cut in.
"I don't care. I want my bard to do that," Mikasa said, to which Eren had no reply.
They stopped talking for a few moments, instead just enjoying each other's company and the intimacy of their cuddle. After a short while longer, it was Mikasa who finally broke the silence.
"Say, Eren."
"Yeah?"
"Let's go on a date."
Thanks for reading! Please drop me a review. :)
'Three Rounds and a Sound' is an excellent song by indie folk band 'Blind Pilot'!
Originally planned to name this chapter 'Your Hand in Mine' after post rock band 'Explosions in the Sky's song of the same name, but it seemed like too obvious of a choice. Hehe. Go listen to this song too. It is amazing. Fully instrumental. Think of it as the alternate title for this chapter! Haha!
Till next time. Stay classy, readers!
