"Hey, do you know how to multiply by nine?"

Faye held her maths notebook in front of Mikasa's face. She was making a puppy face, but her babysitter knew exactly what that look meant.

"Faye, I can help you, but I won't do your homework." the black haired girl replied with a warm smile. The younger girl grunted.

"It's ... This is very difficult. Why should we be tortured like this at school?

"Well, I don't know, but someday it'll be worth it. When does your math teacher come?

"It's supposed to be today. But he called to say he was sick, and I have to deliver this assignment tomorrow, holy shit!"

"Faye!" Mikasa scolded her, frowning. "Do you think your mother would let you say those things?"

"Well, no, but she's not here, and Eren says it all the time." the girl said, shrugging.

"Er, Eren is Eren and you are you. Besides, your brother is a rude man, and you're a baby girl. I don't want to hear those rude things again, okay?"

Faye snorted, then nodded.

"Will you help me to do this homework?"

"You promise not to curse anymore?"

And she snorted again before answering. Mikasa wanted to laugh, but she didn't; that wouldn't be appropriate.

"Ok. But help me with this."

Mikasa gestured for her to give her the notebook to read. Faye did as she was told, sitting next to her nanny on the back garden rocket chair.

"Surely you do curse." Faye said, trying to stifle a giggle. Her babysitter tilted her head.

"No. I don't like that." she lied. Some years ago that might have been true, but by now, Sasha had made her curse more than once.

"Does your mom get angry, too? Mine goes crazy if she hears that from me."

Mikasa sighed. She didn't like to talk about it, least of all with a seven-year-old girl.

"Actually, my mom ..."

"Ah, there you are, little stinker. Zeke called. He said he can't come to pick you up to go to the amusement park, because he must work."

The sudden appearance of Eren caused Mikasa to raise her head and roll her eyes to see who it was. The boy had that mocking smile on his face, and he had let himself grow a short beard. A remote corner of Mikasa's brain thought that if she hadn't hated him so much, she would have noticed how handsome he was.

Faye's face was immediately saddened by the news.

"But ... He said ..."

"Call him if you want, and ask him. I have nothing to do with that." Eren replied, raising his hands. Faye felt tears stinging her eyes.

"Can you go with me, Eren?" the little girl asked pleadingly to her older brother. Mikasa was staring at her with some sadness.

"No way. Armin will come to play video games and I'll be busy. Why don't you ask that to your babysitter? That's her job." said the boy, before he left with a swaggerly air. Mikasa clenched her fists and teeth, hating to contain herself in order to avoid the blatant desire of punching his face. He was annoying. He was the most obnoxious and infuriating human being she had ever known.

Faye's sobs brought her out of her murderous thoughts.

"He promised ... But he's like Dad: he never does what he promises. They only work and work, and that's why Mama gets angry with Daddy ... And now Zeke also breaks his promises ... And Eren just makes fun of me ..."

Seeing the silent cry of the girl, Mikasa felt her heart sinking. She could understand a little more now how broken this family was; although from the outside everything seemed perfect, if you didn't watch closely.

Mikasa tilted her head, rubbing Faye's back with her hand, calmly.

"Hey, don't worry, we'll go together if you want."

"For real?" Faye exclaimed excitedly with bright eyes, though her face was still wet with tears. Mikasa nodded quickly, wiping her face.

"Of course. Well, if you do your homework first."

Faye nodded swiftly, ready to obey to get her prize. At the same time, Mikasa wondered how this lovely girl and that nasty guy could be related ...

And she was also kinda regretting her promise to take her to the park without having much money. Because, to be honest, her pockets were about to be emptied, but she couldn't leave that child with a heart so broken; she wasn't able to do that.

"Are you happy now, Faye?" Mikasa asked, taking the little girl by the hand while she was eating a cotton candy. Faye nodded, hopping as she walked. The two sat down on a bench to rest at the end of the park, after enjoying a couple of amusement rides. Well, at least Mikasa had spent less money than expected, and that was more than satisfactory.

"Of course! Thank you, Mikasa! I wish I had an older sister like you." Faye looked happier than usual, and her huge turquoise eyes shone, full of joy. "My brothers are not so cool ... I think they don't love me, and neither does Daddy ..."

This brightness in the girl's eyes disappeared almost instantaneously, and Mikasa noticed it immediately.

"Hey, hey, don't say that. You are a wonderful child, and your family does loves you ... It's just ... They have different ways for showing it."

Faye tilted her head at her babysitter's word, while eating her cotton candy.

"It's a lie. That's what Mama says, but I know it's a lie, because they never have enough time for me."

"Faye, sometimes adults ..." Mikasa cleared her throat. "Sometimes adults do things we don't like, but that doesn't mean they don't love us."

"That's not true. If Daddy loved Mom, he wouldn't work as much as he does. If Eren loved me, he wouldn't tell me those nasty things he says, that I stink or that he doesn't want me around, and Zeke would come and visit me more often. Though Mama doesn't like him very much, because he is the son of another woman and not Mama's, and she says that he has a bad influence on Eren.

There it went: another hint of information Mikasa didn't asked for, catching it inadvertently. But as much as Faye spoke, many things began to fit in.

Yes, children could be little gossipers sometimes.

"You'll see. Eren will change his behavior, and Zeke will come to visit you." Great, Mikasa. Telling lies to a seven-year-old girl was a very charming thing. Bravo of you. "For now, don't worry about things you can't solve, right? You're too young for that. The adult world is just ... complicated."

Mikasa sighed. It was hard to explain something like that to a child.

Faye finished with her candy cotton and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt before her babysitter could do it.

"I'll never grow up. I'll stay as a seven-year-old for life."

Faye's comment made Mikasa to keep a laugh.

"Ah, that's the wisest thing anyone could ever want." she said, messing up Faye's brown hair.

"No, I want to go and live with Armin ... Hmph!" she breathed, covering his mouth with her hands. Mikasa opened her eyes, surprised. Now she understood why Faye blushed every time Eren's best friend was around.

"Hey, hey, is there anything you want to tell me?" she asked, but Faye shook her head, not removing her hands from her mouth. "It's okay. Surely it's a secret you will never want to tell anyone and you will have to keep with yourself for life without anyone being able to help you ..."

If Mikasa had learned anything from Hanji, Levi's girlfriend, was that using reverse psychology on children was a good strategy to achieve something with them. Hanji was an elementary school teacher in Shiganshina, and had plenty of experience dealing with tiresome brats.

Surely that was why she had endured Levi for more than three years.

"I want to marry Armin!" Faye cried, her face burning with embarassment. Luckily, the amusement park was so noisy that no one could heard her.

Mikasa refrained herself from laughing. Though she thought that was the cutest statement she could ever hear.

"Yeah, Armin is a nice guy." she said, standing up to her feet to start the way home. Faye took her hand, still flushed, as they walked away from the hustle and bustle.

"Do you like Armin too?" the girl asked naively, her eyes wide.

"Oh no." Mikasa was about to let her know that she didn't understand how Armin was best friends with someone like Eren Jaeger, but she restrained herself again and said nothing about it. "He's a good boy, yes, or so it seems. But that's all. I don't even know him well."

"He's nice to me, and he always gives me candies. Mama likes him and she scolds Eren all the time because she says he should imitate Armin's behavior, and join less with that Reiner. I hate him; I don't like that Reiner when he visits us.

Well, Faye could be such a little gossiper.

Mikasa decided to change the topic of conversation. She was not interested in talking about Eren's nasty friends at all.

"Don't you think Armin is a little older for you, Faye?" she asked, but Faye shook her head.

"It's okay. Love has no age."

The girl's words made Mikasa gasp with amused astonishment.

"Well. Those are strong words."

"I wish Armin ... Ah!"

Neither of them expected that. Faye was held by someone who came out of nowhere, while Mikasa was grabbed tightly by another one. They both had ski masks so they wouldn't be identified, and the guy who grabbed Faye started to walk away with her now, while she tried to shake off from her kidnapper.

"Mikasa!" she screamed desperately. Her babysitter tried to get rid of the other, taking her strength as advantage, because three shakes later, she could turn around, painfully twisting her attacker's arms to immobilize him and punch him in the jaw, knocking him down immediately. He looked taller than she was, but this fact wasn't going to stop her from rescuing Faye. The stranger fell to the ground and Mikasa hit him again with one hand, while the other handcuffed his arms, pressing them.

"Let her go or your friend's a dead man!" she shouted, giving a death glare to the man who intended to take Faye away. The kid was still struggling against him, and he stopped immediately, turning around to the girl who kept his friend still on the ground.

And Mikasa could see that tall man's eyes, and she knew that it wouldn't také too long before he gave in to the fear of seeing his friend in danger. He was sweating copiously through his ski mask. She tightened her grip, making the guy on the floor to scream in pain. She wasn't playing: if that guy didn't release Faye, she would break her hostage's arms, running right after that to catch the other and break his legs with a blow.

"Let her go now!" she demanded in a strong, threatening voice. And it didn't take more than three seconds before he saw Faye on the floor, running toward her. But that wasn't enough; they had to pay for daring to do something like that. Mikasa stood up and kicked the guy on the ground, leaving him breathless, running then to the other to knock him down as well. Although it didn't take her too much: this latter was weaker than the first one, despite being taller. A titanic height if asked.

And without any delay, Mikasa took Faye by the hand and ran with her, on their way back home.