And She Vows Upon the Missing Name
Mikasa wasn't particularly familiar with Petra Ral, but with Levi nowhere to be found and Armin - she tried not to think about Armin - well… the friendly ginger was her next best option.
Petra answered her call almost immediately.
"Mikasa? Is something wrong?" Her voice was anxious, and it seemed to be contagious. Mikasa could feel herself tense up just by listening to this woman speak. Odd, because she had always appeared to be such a calm young woman.
"Nothing's the matter," she answered. "Can we talk? At your place?"
"Sure," Petra said, obviously surprised by this unusual request. "I live on Karanese Avenue, number 6."
"Alright, thanks," Mikasa replied and promptly hung up.
She wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck, breathing in its familiar rusty scent. It was one of the few things that could calm her down in a time like this - it brought back memories of long ago, when she and Eren were actually happy. But now, an unwanted whisper crept into the back of her mind -
"If you really care about him, you should do anything in your power to get him back."
She was doing everything she could, wasn't she? If anything, it was the fault of that fickle man Levi for just upping and leaving. The one time she desperately needed her grouchy superior's help, she had no idea where he was.
She set off at a brisk pace, turning the familiar corners of Trost Road and breaking into a light jog as she spotted Karanese Avenue. It was a nice neighborhood, surely full of Petra-like people. The houses were large, with spacious, trimmed lawns, and the road was lined with maple trees that scattered leaves around like it was some scene from a movie. Zhiganshina had such beautiful places such as this, yet it also held dark alleys where murders were committed and names were stained in blood.
Number 6 Karanese Avenue was a dainty little place, a bit smaller than the other houses but no less admirable. The garden was freshly weeded, and Mikasa thought she could smell new paint around the door.
"Welcome!" Petra said when she rang the doorbell. "Come in."
Mikasa stepped inside, slipping off her shoes, and followed Petra to her kitchen.
She had been busy in the short while it took Mikasa to get from Trost Lane to Karanese; there were two cups of tea and a plate of scones laid out on the table. The kitchen was spotless to match Levi's inspection, and Mikasa couldn't help but wonder if Petra was really this clean or simply desperate to impress her.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Petra asked, gesturing for the other woman to sit.
She wasted no time beating around the bush.
"First of all, have you seen Levi? I've been calling him, but he hasn't picked up."
Petra's lips turned downward in a slight frown. "I assumed he was working with you on the defendant's case? He isn't part of the group tracking down Eren, so I thought he'd be busy setting you up with a lawyer."
"Hm," Mikasa said. Something was definitely wrong about Petra - the way everything was laid out, her ready answers to her questions, the fact that she seemed so calm despite the fact that someone had just been murdered…
"Petra, weren't you part of the unit assigned to this crime?"
"Me?" Petra laughed. "No, it was just Auruo, Gunther, Eld, and some others."
"I could have sworn…" she muttered. "Never mind. If you're not busy, I need some help in defending Eren's case."
"I don't know about that, Mikasa," Petra said slowly. "I know next to nothing about Eren, and, well… the case defending him isn't very strong."
"He is innocent."
Petra sighed; she had expected nothing else from the stoical woman sitting across from her. There hadn't been any harm in trying, though.
"Well, then you should get a lawyer as soon as possible. There's not really much I can do for you."
Mikasa nodded, her eyes darkening with worry. Petra was reminded that Mikasa was still in college, barely old enough to handle her own matters. But to help Mikasa, after what she had seen - she'd never be able to do that. One evening with Eren was enough to convince her that he was guilty.
"What about your parents?"
Mikasa sighed. "They're busy. Interrogations, background information on Eren, and besides…" her voice dropped until it was barely audible. "They think he did it as well."
Petra didn't know what it was like to be a mother, but she'd imagined having kids countless times. She could imagine Eren's parents' pain, knowing their son had committed a crime. But as parents, shouldn't their duty be to protect the child at all costs?
Maybe not for a murderer.
"Oh, I had wanted to ask you something," Petra said after a little while, trying to break the silence. "Do you know Annie Leonhart?"
"Of course," she muttered, her lips curving downward in distaste. "Vengeful little bitch."
Petra had actually just brought up Annie to keep Mikasa talking, but perhaps it hadn't been the best move.
"O-okay, we don't have to talk about her... "
"No, it's fine," Mikasa growled. "Absolutely fine."
Petra chuckled. "Is that sarcasm, or am I just bad at reading people?"
"I'm not a very sarcastic person," she said in what Petra thought sounded like a deadpan.
God, college students.
"She was kind of nice to Eren," Mikasa said suddenly. "But she liked Armin a lot. Eren, Armin and these two other guys - they were the only people she was nice to."
"You didn't get along with her, then?" Petra asked.
"What do you think? I hate her guts," she said matter-of-factly. "We always have."
"Well, Annie just lost her boyfriend, and they were very close. If's she's acting sour, it might-"
"She's always sour! And it's not like Armin was a stranger to me either!" Mikasa exploded, and for a split second Petra thought she could see her blink back tears.
Petra opened her mouth to speak, but no comforting words came to mind. This meeting had been an absolute failure, and Mikasa was upset to boot. Anything she said would probably make it worse, as usual.
The silence had become long and quite awkward, and after a few minutes of this painful standstill, Mikasa rose to leave.
"Well, sorry for bothering you," she said.
Petra tried her best to smile naturally. "Not at all. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here."
"Alright," Mikasa took her offer graciously, although she'd probably never call.
Petra walked her to the door and waited patiently as she tied her bootlaces. She seemed to be taking an awfully long time, almost as if she were stalling her departure. But that couldn't be - she'd been the one to excuse herself.
Mikasa finally stood up, shifting slightly from foot to foot. Petra shook her head; there was no possible way that Mikasa Ackerman was not perfectly composed.
"Bye," she said finally, tightening her scarf around her until it could have very well choked her. She stepped slowly down the front steps, stopping at the end of the driveway to cast a final glance back at where Petra stood, nervously wondering whether to invite the young woman back in. But before she could make up her mind, Mikasa was gone, back into a world where she was going to fight futilely for someone else.
"Dammit," Petra cursed herself as she shut the door. "Why are you so useless?"
On the best of days, Annie's father was strict, and that fact that her boyfriend was dead only dampened his spirit a bit.
"ANNIE!" he bellowed from downstairs. "Hurry up, we've gotta leave for judo class."
"Can't I just stay home?" she asked, but with no response from her father, she shuffled down the stairs and repeated her question.
"You aren't even dressed!" her father scolded. "Hurry up now."
"Dad."
"You need to keep busy, Annie," he sighed. "Wallowing in grief won't do you any good."
"I don't want to go," she said resolutely.
"That doesn't change anything," he replied matter-of-factly. "Get dressed, we're leaving in five."
"Years, I hope," she muttered, and headed back up the stairs to change. There was just no arguing with her father.
Exactly five minutes later, she was strapped into the passenger seat, staring idly out the window as her father gunned the engine.
"You may hate me for this now, but it'll get you out of this phase faster," he said as they pulled out of the parking lot.
Annie didn't take her eyes off the window. "Dad, this isn't a breakup, it's a death."
He glanced over at her, surprised. "I didn't mean it like that, Annie…"
"I know you didn't," Annie muttered. "Don't take your eyes off the road."
He frowned and took his gaze off Annie, leaving the young woman to her own thoughts. Her judo class was on the city outskirts, and so she had a clear view of the wilderness outside Zhiganshina. Hill Maria stood tall as ever, illuminated against the afternoon sky. A couple of hikers were traipsing down the slope - although she couldn't see any backpacks. Hill Maria wasn't exactly near them, though, and she might have just seen wrong.
Eren Jaeger was somewhere out there, probably on one of the hills she was staring at right now. The police had said they were sending someone out to bring him back. Annie would be there at his court case, looking at him, mere feet from the man who killed her boyfriend. She stiffened at the mere thought.
Annie flipped out her phone and stared at her contacts, where one name was missing under "a". She'd deleted it right after he died, but all their texts, all their pictures were still there, indestructible evidence that Armin Arlert had once existed, but no longer. Scrolling down to "j", she gazed for a long time at the name "Jaeger" before the car pulled to a halt.
"Come on, Annie," her father coaxed. "Let's go."
Annie nodded and stepped out of the car, pocketing her phone and trying to forget. But just as always, not a single thing managed to escape her mind.
"I will-" she surprised herself by speaking aloud.
Her father glanced over at her. "Yeah?"
"Ah, nothing." Annie hurried to the door and slipped inside before her father could pester her.
Even as she slipped into class, even as her sensei greeted her, even as she took down person after person, she could only see green eyes that slowly clouded over with red. A crooked smile, innocent until the knife pierced his best friend's skin. Forever chained to her memory of Armin was the monster she had once dared to love.
I will kill you, Eren Jaeger.
"Eren!"
Levi's voice was ragged, every breath hitched as he stumbled through a dense patch of bushes and out into a small clearing, only to find nothing but a chipmunk that scampered away promptly. He sighed and sank onto a rock that didn't seem too filthy and evaluated his options.
Levi had nothing to do but return to Zhiganshina. He was out of food and water was scarce. Dealing with Petra, dealing with Mikasa… he would have to endure it sooner or later. There was nothing else he could do. He had searched practically the whole surface area of this godforsaken hill, but Eren Jaeger seemed to have escaped.
The murderer escaped.
Eren escaped.
The murderer.
Eren.
Levi stood abruptly and began walking downhill.
The murderer.
I just realized that Annie can drive on her own so… blame her protective father I guess. Also she would probably be way too advanced for classes by this time.
Sorry for the short chapter and the lack of Levi. Does Thursday sound like a good new update day? Weekends are too busy for me, so I keep forgetting to post even though it's finished.