Chapter 4
Eren was awoken at the crack of dawn by a barrage of text messages. He was nearly blinded as he turned on his phone screen, and saw that he had missed four texts and two phone calls from Marco Bodt. Groggily, he unlocked the device and began to read them in order, suddenly incredibly excited. He checked his voicemail, his breath held in anticipation.
"New coach, practice is gonna start today! It'll be at eight, so don't miss it because the new coach is supposed to be a hard-ass." Eren yawned and hopped out of his bed, tossing his phone back onto his pillow to free his hands to dig for his practice clothes. He pulled out his shin guards, shorts and matching white and green practice jersey that he was given at his first practice last year. He looked at himself in the mirror and determined that he was acceptably dressed for soccer practice. It had been weeks since their last coach, Coach Shadis, had quit suddenly and without notice after a mental break down at the local Denny's. Eren didn't think they would manage to hire a new coach until after break, but he was pleased they managed to.
It had been too long since he played.
"You're up early!" his mother noted, as Mikasa's father John was making breakfast. She kissed his forehead in greeting and he gently pushed her away in embarrassment. He sat at the table and wolfed down the waffles John set in front of him, checking his phone for the time and any new messages from his teammates. "What's on the agenda today, Eren? Soccer?" He downed the rest of his waffles and cleared his plate from the table to set it in the sink and gave his dad a hug in thanks.
"Yes!" he replied, grabbing a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and skirting around her to grab the keys to Mikasa's car. "Marco texted me earlier. I'll see you guys later!" He tossed his things into the backseat of Mikasa's SUV and hopped behind the wheel, carefully backing out of his spot and heading back to the school for the first time in over a week. His fingers tapped impatiently against the wheel as he waited at a light, ignoring the click of the turn signal as he glared at the clock. He still had about ten minutes to make it up to the field before he was considered late and he'd hate to make a poor first impression on the new coach.
He ran from the parking lot with his sports bag in hand, his cleats digging into his shoulder as he finally made his way up to the field with less than five minutes to spare. "Eren!" Marco Bodt waved him down and grinned at him as the voices around them grew louder, tossing the soccer ball to him. "Good to see you! How are you?" Eren dribbled the ball for a couple of seconds before kicking it back to him.
"Been great, Marco. Miss you from the shop," he replied with a laugh, shaking his friend's hand and glancing around at his teammates. They were all familiar faces from his previous team and he thought he saw a couple of new ones too, but he was too busy looking for their new coach to care very much about the new players just then. "Where's the coach?" he asked Marco, unable to spot whoever it was. He thought they had all amassed here to meet him, and he couldn't even be bothered to show up on time. Eren was slightly disappointed, thought mostly because he had been so excited to play soccer again.
"Jaeger!" Eren frowned, recognizing the voice but unable to put it to a name. He turned and grimaced immediately. Jean Kirstein was heading towards him with a smug grin and a jersey with the team colors slung over his shoulder, with a brand new pair of unworn cleats in his hand. "Funny seeing you here," he mentioned, dribbling the ball with ease on his knees and kicking it towards him. Eren caught it easily and let it drop to the grass in annoyance.
He snapped back, "Don't be stupid. You know full well I've been on the soccer team for years. What are you doing here?" Jean still had that smug expression on his face that made Eren want to punch it, but he caught sight of Connie Springer motioning to the edge of the field. He couldn't see clearly the three figures that were heading past the goal at the far end of the field where the remainder of the team was waiting. Eren squinted against the sun and say the largest individual was a tall, blond man with thick, sculpted eyebrows and piercing blue eyes. He was broad and had a tapered waist and Eren knew that no one would end up on the winning side in a fight against him.
The second figure was smaller, with pitch black hair and pale skin. He had a slim, fit figure and narrow shoulders, with almost permanently brooding eyebrows and gray eyes. It took a moment for Eren to realize that the man was one int eh same as the one who had visited the bakery the other night, and he was stunned at the revelation. The third and final person had fallen behind the other two and had dropped a stack of packets that he was currently chasing across the field. "I'll be back," he told Marco, jogging in the direction of the kid running harried across the grass. The two adult figures watched him as he ran by, but he ignored them as he started to grab up the packets that were being buffeted around in the wind.
He gathered up as many as he could before he turned to the young man that had lost them. "Armin?" he asked with a slack jawed expression and the student turned around in surprise.
"Eren!" Armin threw his arms around Eren's shoulders and Eren grasped him around the torso, lifting him slightly into the air before he realized what he was doing and set him back down with a very self conscious clearing of this throat. Armin's cheeks were flushed pink as he gathered the rest of his papers together and he stammered, "Thanks for helping me out." He diverted his eyes away shyly with a large smile on his face. Eren handed him the remaining packets and then dropped his hands to remain firmly at his sides.
"No problem, man." The two of them made their way back to the group in silence, one that Armin seemed interested in breaking but Eren was too mortified from his previous actions to meet his eyes. He needed to be more careful with the way his feelings manifested themselves around Armin, so as not to hurt their newly budded friendship. He needed to be sure this was something he could pursue before he even attempted to do so, because while only a select few people knew about his preferences, he wasn't about to let the entire world become aware just yet.
"Jaeger?" The smaller man was calling out the roster and Eren quickly joined the group, raising his hand as the man checked his name off the clipboard. Levi, he remember the man's name being, though Sasha had told him the name of his companion in passing, he couldn't quite remember what it was. The group was whispering among themselves as he finished calling off the list and handed the clipboard to the taller blond man. Eren was still convinced that he was perpetually annoyed and wondered how that type of temperament would translate onto the field. He hoped though that the coach would be much better than the previous one.
The larger blond man cleared his throat, and the whispers stopped as everyone gave him their attention. "Gentlemen, my name is Erwin Smith, newly appointed faculty adviser for the men's soccer team," he began, and then motioned to Levi, who was watching them all closely. "This is your new coach, Levi. Please extend to him the same courtesy as you had your previous coach." Connie snickered into his hand and rolled his eyes and Eren was tempted to smack him in the back of his shaved head. He obviously didn't seem to realize how serious their new coach was, how unlike their previous coach he was proving to be. Levi focused his eyes on Connie and Eren sighed as their coach strode over to him. Though he was an inch shorter than their new coach, Connie was still all bravado and confidence even in the face of that intimidating glare. Eren knew his friend was a good player, but they had yet to see what Levi was capable of.
Levi sized up Connie momentarily and unzipped his jacket, revealing that he was wearing their practice uniform as well underneath it. It was the first time Eren noted that he was wearing cleats too, and he knew instantly that Levi was a better coach that Shadis ever was. "Let's play," Levi said coolly, tossing the ball to Connie as Erwin motioned for them to shuffle to the edge of the field. Connie was suddenly unsure, tossing his own windbreaker aside and dropping the ball to his feet. Eren stood at the front of the crowd and felt someone sidle up next to him. Armin was loaded down with all of the paperwork Erwin had brought along for the team to fill out and he smiled at Eren.
"Wait til you see how Levi plays," Armin said excitedly, shifting the stack of papers from one arm to the other as Connie started off with the ball. Levi was still, his eyes still slightly narrowed as Connie made his way down the field towards him. "He used to be the best defender in the state, and got an Olympic gold medal too." Surprised, Eren turned away from Armin back to the field and watched Connie juke left to get around Levi. Faster than he could have imagined, Levi dropped down and knocked the ball from Connie's possession, skirting around him effortlessly and finally stopped about twenty feet downfield from him.
"You're too slow," Levi commented, placing his foot on the ball and regarding the rest of the crowd. "For of you come help your teammate. Get the ball from me and you're all safe from doing twenty five laps." Someone shoved him forward along with Marco, Jean, Thomas Wagner, and some freshman recruit from the beginning of the semester that barely knew defense from offense. Tentatively, Eren unzipped his windbreaker and handed it to Armin apologetically, assessing their miniature team. He knew Marco was a decent player, but Jean was a wild card that would probably as unpredictable as his temper. Not exactly the group of five he would have chosen to play against a gold medalist. He glanced to the sidelines and saw that Armin had finally gotten his papers under control and was wrapped up in Eren's windbreaker against the biting early April air.
The five of them positioned themselves in a random formation that had Eren frustrated, because it had absolutely no tactical significance and forced him to work within the parameters that he had. They moved on their new coach, but before Eren even knew what was happening, Jean was on his ass and Marco had fallen on his back behind him. Connie was tripped up trying to get the ball from the coach, toppling over Thomas and leaving the two in a pile on the grass. All that was last standing was Eren, and Levi tried to swoop around him with the insane speed and agility he had shown off during the first bout with Connie.
Eren stepped forward, using his longer legs as an advantage to try to scoop the ball from in front of Levi's feet. Before he made contact, Levi kicked the ball over Eren's foot and he missed the steal, watching his coach dodge around him and reclaim the ball easily. Defeated, Eren helped Connie and Thomas to their feet, lamenting the thought of fifty laps around the field. The rest of the team joined them on the field as Levi regarded their group. "You guys have no idea how to play as a team. It's pathetic and almost a waste of time to coach you." Eren frowned, but chose not to speak up. "There's talent, but that will get you nowhere if you continue to act like you're the only person on the goddamn field."
He turned to Eren, his gray eyes narrowed slightly. "Starting today, Jaeger is the new team captain. I don't give a shit who was before; this is a new team and he's the only one that's got any sense." Jean openly glared in his direction, but Eren ignored it, too busy focusing on Armin's proud and beaming expression. "He got close to taking the ball, so I'm dropping it to 25 laps. Then we start practice."
Eren had never been so tired or sore after soccer practice in his life. His legs felt like jelly and he had filled and refilled his water at least three times. He nearly didn't make it home after four hours of practice, exhausted and the thought of being the captain of the team wearing on him mentally. Though he wanted to see Armin and talk to him after practice, the young man had already left by the time he exited the locker room. It was disappointing, but he didn't want to wear out his welcome either.
He felt himself flush at the memory of how he let himself get carried away around him and tossed his cleats into Mikasa's car in embarrassment. As he was climbing into the front seat, he was stopped by Marco and Connie. "Eren, we're going to get lunch at the usual place. You wanna go?"
"Sure! Let me go get Mikasa and we can all go together." They agreed and walked back together to go join Jean, whom Eren had grown to increasingly dislike. He wasn't sure what the man had against him, but it was definitely starting to get on his nerves. He started up the car and called Mikasa from his cell phone, putting it on speaker so he wasn't driving with it in his hands. "Mikasa," he started when she picked up. "The team is going to get pizza, wanna go?"
"Yes, I'll be ready in ten. Thank you Eren!" She hung up just as he was turning into their neighborhood, and he slowed almost to a crawl to avoid reckless children or animals. He hit a rabbit one time when he first started driving and it was enough to scar him for life. His parents were both out when he got home, but he heard the blow dryer running in his and Mikasa's shared bathroom as he hurried to his room to change out of his uniform. After a moment of looking into the mess that was his closet, he decided on jeans and a t-shirt with black and blue vertical stripes. Eren wasn't much into caring what he wore, just as long as it was comfortable and fit him properly.
By the time he finished brushing out his hair Mikasa was waiting in the living room for him, dressed nicely and with her short hair curled at the bottom to frame her face. "Ready?" he asked, and she nodded, accepting her keys from him and unlocking her car as they left through the front door. She climbed into the driver's seat and Eren on the passenger side, before the two headed towards the pizza parlor for lunch. The radio was turned down relatively low as Mikasa asked, "Did practice go well?"
He nodded and smiled at her. "The new coach is pretty terrifying but I was made team captain this year!"
"Congratulations Eren!" she said as she turned swiftly into the parking lot and swung into the nearest spot. Mikasa drove well, she was just very deliberate and occasionally didn't feel like using the breaks even when the light was yellow and they were a hundred feet from the intersection. But someone she had never gotten stopped by a cop, which Eren could barely believe. They made it to the pizza parlor alive and the two chatted amiably as they entered through the front door. He saw that most of the team had already arrived and had taken over most of the back half of the shop. The two of them made their way to the ruckus and they all greeted Mikasa as enthusiastically as they greeted Eren, making her smile.
They sat between Marco and Thomas and joined in on the conversation as the pizza was being served and he was glad to see that Mikasa was talking to Sasha, who had been invited along with Connie. Outside of Annie, Mikasa didn't often go to places that weren't school or with Eren to the library and he was glad that all of his friends were taking to her so well. He downed the rest of his root beer and scooted out from the table, waving to them absently as he headed for the bathroom. It had been a very good day, he decided to himself as he finished and started to wash his hands.
He left the bathroom and headed back to where he had been sitting, when he saw a blond head leaning back in his chair next to Mikasa. Jean Kirstein was leaning over to talk to his sister, and Eren narrowed his eyes as he put his hands on the back of the chair. Mikasa had a cool, collected expression as she watched Jean flush and fumble over his words, but Eren didn't have patience to listen to him try to hit on his sister again. "Get up," he said as calmly as he could, tugging on the chair to move it from the table, and Jean glared at him.
"Back off, Jaeger," he warned, standing up from the table and knocking the chair to the side as his reddened cheeks subsided in his annoyance.
"Leave Mikasa alone." He flushed angrily, his hands balling into fists.
"Eren, I can handle myself," she said sternly, grabbing his wrist and trying to remove him from the confrontation. He sighed and gently removed his hand from hers, relocating the chair and trying to ignore the stares from the rest of the parlor patrons as well as the new team members who weren't as aware as the veterans who had known Eren for a long time and were familiar with the tension. Mikasa watched him as he took his seat and picked up his pizza again.
He said genuinely, "I'm sorry Mikasa." Jean didn't move from where he stood behind Eren, staring down at him still and his mouth was pressed into a tight, angry line. She patted his arm and turned to watch Jean, to make sure he would walk away without causing any further trouble. Marco eased out of his chair slowly and stood next to Jean and began to speak in a frantic whisper in an attempt to calm him down. He looked at Marco momentarily and then back to Mikasa and Eren, grimacing as he started to walk away.
"Fine. Let Mikasa babysit you, Eren, since you can't take of yourself. Or maybe you're looking to have Armin Arlert take care of—" Before he realized he was moving, his fist connected with Jean's cheekbone, the sting on his knuckles a welcome feeling. The following uproar was almost too much, as Marco and Connie dragged Jean away from Eren and out the back door and Mikasa and Sasha led Eren to the door on the opposite end of the building. He went quietly, realizing that he had really messed up this time and saw that Jean was standing in a confused stupor at the other end of the parking lot.
"What the hell was that about?" Sasha asked when they reached Mikasa's car, a bag of breadsticks in her hand and one in her mouth as she spoke. Eren didn't answer, his eyes focused hard on the painted lines in the parking lot as Mikasa quietly explained the situation. She nodded in understand, and powered down a couple more breadsticks as Connie ran over to greet them.
Mikasa asked, "Is Jean all right?"
Connie nodded. "Marco is going to drive him home. I think he's just surprised, mostly, though his cheek is pretty swollen." Eren's guilt deepened but he still said nothing to them, leaning against the SUV and counting the seconds before his sister touched his hand. She was still being kind to him, despite what he just did, and he met her eyes hesitantly.
"Let's go home. Mom and Dad will want to know what happened." Mikasa said their goodbyes for the both of them as Eren waited for her in the car, wondering how he was going to possibly bring this up to his parents without seeming like a huge ass. Mikasa would tell them the entire truth of course, because that's just how she was and he would have the bear the brunt of their wrath.
The ride home was a quiet one as Eren sunk farther back in his seat the closer they got to their home. He was so anxious his hands were shaking and he wondered how long it would take to get back into his parents' good graces after a disaster like this. Mikasa parked on the curb outside and Eren could see his mother reading on the couch in the living room. Eren unbuckled his seat belt and Mikasa caught his hand, saying quietly, "Please let me explain what happened to them." He nodded and followed her out to the front door, trailing miserably behind her and trying to avoid looking guilty as his mother glanced up from her book.
"Hey kids," she greeted with a smile, looking them over momentarily before her eyes moved from Mikasa to Eren, and trailing down to Eren's red and bruised knuckles before frowning. "What happened, Eren?" He opened his mouth to admit the stupid, foolhardy way he had been acting, but Mikasa spoke up first.
She said quickly, "Eren stopped a man from harassing me." Eren kept his facial expression neutral as he could, though he wondered why Mikasa was bending the truth on his behalf. He watched her as she sat down next to his mom and motioned for Eren to come join them. He did so awkwardly, and his mother examined his hand fretfully. "He followed me out of the store and to the car where Eren was waiting for me," she continued casually, petting her mother's knee as her mouth grew thin with worry. "He grabbed my arm and Eren hit him until he let me go."
Carla let out a relieved sigh, a hand to her chest as she looked between her children, her expression caught between fear and blessed relief. "I'm glad you took him with you, Mikasa," she said tearfully, hugging them both and trying to hold back her tears. Eren shot a grateful glance at Mikasa who returned a tiny smile before Carla let them both go. "I'm so glad you're both all right."
Eren lay awake in bed that night, infinitely grateful for having a sisterlike Mikasa as he examined his purpling knuckles in the semi-darkness. Things had started so well for him that day and it had just gotten worse and worse. He sighed and rolled over to check his phone like he usually did when he couldn't sleep. He saw on Facebook that Armin was still up as well, and Eren threw all caution to the wind and sent him a message.
You're up late! he wrote, rolling onto his back and holding his phone above his face.
The typing icon began to pulse and Armin replied, Finishing up all the paperwork for the soccer team actually! And then he wrote, How's your hand?
Eren frowned. How'd you know?
Mikasa, of course. I'm sure Jean deserved it though. Eren hoped Mikasa didn't specify exactly what it was that triggered him to hit Jean, otherwise he might die of embarrassment. What are you doing? Armin asked, after Eren didn't reply.
Can't sleep. Actually wanted to ask what you were doing tomorrow. The typing icon stopped and started several times over the course of the next couple of minutes and Eren waited impatiently, almost assuming it was going to be a casual decline after the over-affectionate way Eren greeted Armin this morning. I'm free, he answered, what were you thinking to do? Eren had been planning something for a while and figured tomorrow was as good a day as any to roll out his plan. It was two days before the start of the semester again, and he wanted to go out with a bang. Though whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was yet to be determined.
You'll see. Just dress casual.