After school had ended, Mikasa and Eren made their way to an auditorium room to attend the Survey Club induction ceremony.
"What the heck is this?! Why do we have to go all the way here for the ceremony?" complained Eren, holding a map of the school building. Located away from the other buildings, this particular building appeared quite poor and run-down, to the point where the hallway Eren walked in was almost completely dark, devoid of any light sources. Water dripped somewhere, echoing throughout the hall. Mikasa held a flashlight. trying to locate the room number they looked for.
"Good thing we're almost there. Room 341, right? There's Room 339... 340... 341!" exclaimed Eren. A paper taped on the doorway read "Survey/Recon/Scouting/Whatever Club Ceremony". Light shone out from the gaps between the door. Eren excitedly pushed it open and entered. Several rows of folding chairs and a stage plus podium greeted him. Dim fluorescent lights illuminated the room.
Only three chairs in the frontmost row of seats were filled. Two tall boys sat next to each other in the middle of the row, while a short girl sat a few chairs away from them. Eren approached them and saw who they were.
"No way. Reiner! And... Ernie!" greeted Eren.
"Um, my name is Bertolt," spoke up the tall, twiggy one.
Reiner, the muscular blonde boy, grinned and stood up from his chair to fist bump Eren.
"Eren, my man. You joined the Scouting Club, too? Sick."
"I know, right? I didn't think you and Bert would be here as well! It's awesome seeing you guys."
"Totes," replied Reiner. He looked past Eren and saw Mikasa behind him. "This is Mee-kah-ser? Dude, you already got yourself made in the first week! Annie over there won't give me any."
"Annie?"
"The Shorty McHottie sitting there," replied Reiner, pointing to the girl sitting alone, "She just doesn't appreciate my alpha lifestyle. You got me, Eren?"
"No, not really. I guess I'll go introduce myself."
Eren walked over and sat in the chair next to the girl. She had blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and cold blue eyes. She did not acknowledge Eren's presence, saying not a word. Déjà vu.
"Hey, I'm Eren. Nice to meet you. Did you sign up for the Survey Club? So did I. Pretty cool to see someone else with the same interests as me."
"We do not have the same interests," coldly replied Annie, "I joined for my own reasons..." She paused then turned to face Eren. "My name is Annie. Nice to meet you, too," said she, somewhat sarcastically.
"You're quiet. Funny, you remind me of Mikasa here. In fact, why's Mikasa standing and staring at us like that? She looks angry and-"
Mikasa grabbed Eren and hoisted him onto an empty chair, then sat on Eren's original chair so that she was between Eren and Annie. Just then, the door to the room creaked open. Levi Ackerman entered and went up on the stage in front of the podium, his eyes droopy.
Levi, seeing the five students in the front row, groaned. He muttered to himself, "Great. I have to deal with these brats."
He sighed and began: "All right. I don't want to waste my time here, and neither do you. I'm only here because Hange is out due to injuries."
"What?" called out Eren, "Ms. Zoë is hurt?! But we just met her today, and she was fine!"
"Kid, don't assume Hange's a smart lady. Moving on. You're all here to join the Survey Club, obviously. Why else would you go to this dirthole? I'm skipping all of this nonsense written here. You're going to receive this information in the mail or online anyways. The only official thing I need you brats to do is to do the salute, which makes you a Scouting Club member. Stand up, put your right hand on your heart, put your left behind your back, and let me say something motivational. Hurry up!"
Everyone got up and saluted.
"You're all soldiers and stuff. You'll be successful. I believe in you, the Recon Club believes in you. That is all." Levi stepped off the stage. "You can all go home now. I know I am."
Mikasa grabbed Eren's shoulder. "Eren. You said Friday. Let's go."
The two entered Mikasa's apartment room in the evening.
"Whoa. This is where you live?" asked Eren.
Mikasa nodded. Her apartment was nothing to boast about. Only consisting of one room and a bathroom, plus a closet, it was modest at best. A cot stood in the corner, next to the glass doors leading to a balcony, while on the other end of the room lay a desk and chair.
"No offense, but you're living in some bad conditions."
"It's all right, Eren. Whatever you say about something, I'll listen."
Eren walked over to the desk and discovered a particular drawing laid out upon it. He picked it up, his eyes widening as he examined it further.
"Eren, I invited you over to say-"
"This is cool, Mikasa! I didn't know you were an artist!" interrupted Eren, showing her an exaggerated drawing of himself holding a rose in his mouth and being surrounded by hearts, "I look like some kind of secret spy agent in this one."
Mikasa reddened.
"T-thank you. But I wanted to tell you that-"
"Oh! I get it."
Mikasa blinked. "You do?"
"You showed me how poor you are. Then you showed me your talent at drawing. I'll get you a job as an artist, no problem. I could even be your first customer."
"But Eren... I do have a job..."
"What? Where?"
Saturday morning. The students of Sina Academy threw off their roles as students for the weekend, and went out to spend time with their friends. But on this occasion, Eren set out on the streets alone. Armin told him that he'd be out somewhere on Saturday. Eren did know who to turn to.
Wandering downtown, Eren found his destination: a prominent coffee shop on the corner of the street. He entered and saw that the store was crowded. He also saw Mikasa behind the counter, wearing a green apron and tied-back hair. She waved at him and walked over to another cash register so there'd be no line between them.
"So. This is the place?" asked Eren, approaching her.
"Yes. This is where I work. So... what would you like to order, Eren?" she said, smiling and blushing.
Eren looked up at the menu, and his jaw dropped. "Look at these prices! And what's with these names? I know only one flavor of coffee: coffee."
"It's a business strategy, Eren."
"Just give me a coffee."
"Would that be klein, mittel, or hoch?"
"What? What're those?"
"It's German. I mean small, medium, or large."
"Uh, small. How much is that?"
"It's okay, Eren," whispered Mikasa, "I'll give it to you for free. When I'm on my lunch break, could we sit down together and...?"
Someone behind Eren audibly cleared their throat. Eren turned around and found that a line had already formed, with about a dozen people waiting behind him. They looked mad.
"What's the hold-up, kid?! Stop flirting and get your order across, idiot!" threatened someone from the queue.
"What did you just say about Eren?" hissed Mikasa. She rolled up her sleeve and stepped onto the counter, her hands balled into fists.
"And that's how I got fired from my job," wrote down Mikasa in her diary later that night, "But hey, it was for Eren."
After the incident, Eren took to the streets once more, this time with Mikasa by his side. Mikasa only wore her regular clothing this time. They walked along the sidewalks of the city, bored.
"You invite me to come see you at work, and the first thing you do is to get in a fight. You're just like me."
"I apologize. Something came over me."
"No, I apologize. I was the one who angered that guy."
"It's okay. I obtained that job easily and it did not pay much. But now, we have time to spend together."
"... right. I suppose we should find you another job. Maybe you could deliver pizzas for that store over there."
"Did someone say pizzas?!" a voice rang out down the street. The two turned their heads and saw a classic red convertible pull up towards them. The driver slipped off his sunglasses and squinted at Eren and Mikasa.
"Eren! Mee-kah-ser! My two favorite amantes! Sick." It was Reiner Braun.
"Reiner? I didn't know you can drive! Or speak Spanish!" responded a surprised Eren.
"No duh, bruh. I would've skated here, but Armeen here doesn't know how to skate."
Bertolt sat in the back of the convertible and shyly waved. Armin popped up from the passenger seat, and noticing that he faced his two best friends, his mouth drew open.
"Eren! It's you!" Armin exclaimed. He jumped out of the car and ran up to the two.
"You're hanging out with Reiner and Bert? So that's where you've been!" wondered Eren.
"Mhm! Reiner took me to the city to show me around. It's so fun! We were about to get some pizza for lunch until we found you guys."
Reiner honked the horn. "Tell you what, you two periquitos can chill with us. If dates are a bike, then I'm like the training wheels. Hop in. We're gonna make this ride even funner!"
Bert scooted over, allowing Eren and Mikasa to sit in the back. Reiner accelerated ahead. Armin turned around and smiled widely at Eren, obviously enjoying the ride.
"So what have you been doing with Mikasa before we found you guys, Eren?" asked Armin, his hair blowing around. Mikasa glanced at Eren and her cheeks crimsoned.
"Oi, Armin. I was just visiting Mikasa at her job today. She is actually a barista! Well, was a barista. I kinda got her fired."
"Really, Eren?" interjected Reiner, turning around to face them, "That's like, a good setup you got there. But that's poor execution, man."
"What do you mean, Reiner? And good Lord, keep your eyes on the road!"
"Pshh. Don't worry, dude. To me, this car is like a woman. First, I go in smooth. Right now, I'm going smooth. Then it all goes harder. Trust me, Eren. I'm a pro."
Evening approached. The five were stranded on the side of the highway, their car broken down and battered. Bertolt now sat in the driver's seat, with the hood of the car opened, trying to start the engine. It only sputtered weakly. Vehicles rushed past them, but none came to help.
"C'mon, Berty. You just have to hit the pedal hard again," said Reiner, examining the car. It suffered from various dents, including smashed headlights, a smoking engine, a broken windshield, and tree branches stuck to the tires. The kind of abuse that Reiner put the car through was unspeakable.
"Dang it, Reiner," complained Eren, "I told you we didn't have to hit that sixth mailbox!" Eren clutched his head, having accidentally landed himself on Mikasa during the bumpy journey. Not that Mikasa complained. Armin vomited on the wall in the background, distraught.
"Pshh. No worries, amigo. If chicks dig cars, then I gotta know cars." Reiner crawled on his back to the underside of the car to fix the situation himself.
"You know, Reiner. You said this car's like a woman to you. But it looks like you mangled up her looks."
"Chill, Jaeger. Sometimes, a dude's first time with girls just doesn't go good. Like with you and Mee-kah-ser. But with me, I've got Annie, and Krista, and Mina, and Sasha, and Armeen. Gotta juggle these like knives, bro. Careful practice and concentration makes you an alpha."
"You do know Armin's a guy, right?"
"... oh. Uh, I'll just fix this baby up now." He turned back to the underside of the car.
"Can't we just call some people and get this thing towed? Or even call our parents?"
"Yeah, and be wusses? A dude can't run away from everything, Eren. Now, I think I got this!"
Reiner split open a piece of metal underneath the car, causing gasoline to spill over him. He got up, wiped himself over, and told everyone, "Never mind."
"That was our gas! This day is just really unlucky for us, huh, Mikasa?"
That was about to change. Bright headlights shone behind them, the roar of a loud engine coming closer. It revealed itself to be a large four-door pick-up truck colored green, similar to the Survey Club's official color. It sped off to the side and parked close behind their convertible. Despite the humongous vehicle, a small driver stepped out. They all gasped.
"What're you kiddos doing here?" asked a confused yet bored Levi.
"Mr. Ackerman?!" cried Eren.
"Call me Club Captain Levi, twerp. Looks like your ride's all messed up and now you're stranded, correct?"
"Affirmative, sir!"
"Humph. Unfortunately for me, in accordance with Survey Club policy, I have to help you children out. Fortunately for you, you're all getting a free ride to your homes."
"Whoa. Mr. Levi's more chill than I thought. And he's got a sick ride!" remarked Reiner.
"Gee, thanks, Captain!" praised Armin, hugging the short captain.
"Don't touch me. Now I have to wash my clothes again. Just get in."
After dropping off the other kids, Mikasa and Eren found themselves to be the last ones in the truck along with Levi. The kids sat in the back, Levi in the front. By the time it was that way, the sun had already set and the darkness of night awaited.
"Thank you for picking us up back there, Captain," thanked Eren, watching the night sky from the window.
"Don't thank me. Thank the Recon Club. They made up these rules to help citizens in need. I helped you kids because of business... mostly."
"Captain Levi, why do you have to drive this thing? We've had to stop at the gas station like five times now, and we wasted so much time," questioned Eren.
"Take a look, Eren, at this big-ass truck. Heh, I just said a bad word and justified this story's T rating. This thing's a beast. Do you think I'd rather get some tiny hybrid, Eren? Do you think I'm a hippie?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Then shut up. Where's your house?"
"I-it's just a few blocks away from here, on 845 Cicada Avenue."
"What about you, girly?"
"... I'll just get off where Eren's getting off. I don't want you to waste more gas and time."
"Spoken like a true Ackerman. Here, we've arrived. Get out and don't leave any trash in my truck."
They arrived in front of Eren's home in Shiganshina. Mikasa and Eren complied, stepping out of the huge truck. Eren waved and called to Levi, "Thanks again, Captain! You're the best!" Mikasa, following Eren's lead, also said, "Thank you, Captain Levi." Through the window, Eren saw him giving a brief and faint smile before driving off.
