draco2 chapter 7 . Apr 11 - Bird is served.
draco2 chapter 6 . Apr 11 - You could.
draco2 chapter 5 . Apr 11 - Make a.
draco2 chapter 4 . Apr 11 - Sentence this.
draco2 chapter 3 . Apr 11 - Way.
You chapter 10 . Apr 9 - We're getting there. I hope this meets at least some of your Eremika needs, for the time being at least.
theluckyshot chapter 10 . Apr 8 - Thanks, buddy. I did not see that reveal happening either; it's like some FF stuff got suddenly canonized. And now with the OVA, well, things are starting to get good. There are no fewer than three other Fight Club references in my fics to date, one of which is in the chapter you just read along with the one you mentioned.
Karano chapter 10 . Apr 8 - Ha ha, yes it exploded after 56, and then what happened? The OVA hit like a hundred-megaton blast. If we thought the Levi Ackerman thing was bad for some ships and good for others, this OVA (yes it's canon) has made it much worse. It has all my favorite ships in one form or another. We get Springles, Aruani, and even Eremika. What were those two off doing while everyone else was having the cook off? What did Annie and Armin do while Jean was trying to steal some meat? So many fanfic possibilities. All my ships are sailing (except for JeanMarco, levipetra, and Yumikuri, for obvious reasons) and I couldn't be happier. Need some Levihan though that doesn't involve gruesome torture.
Also, don't feel bad for enjoying it. The downfall of their ship is the uplifting of yours. The two cannot exist in the same universe. Cruel but beautiful at the same time and all that.
No, I had no idea it was jeans birthday, and I'm really glad you like this chapter. I get the impression that Mikasa would respect the fact that Levi is her older sibling and act accordingly, but no more than that. I think she really would go from wanting to beat his head in and planning for it, to just wanting to beat his head in. I was reading back through some of the Manga and I'm starting to pick out some signs that this was coming from a ways back. Get with me off the record and I'll go more into it.
Reader chapter 2 . Apr 8 - Thank you. I do this for you.
Spector-Grand chapter 10 . Apr 8 - Officially, this is how it went down until someone can prove otherwise.
...
Propmt: I don't even remember what. This is a High-School/Modern Military/9-11 AU.
Title: Where The Wild Things Are
Author's Note: THERE IS A SHOUT-OUT IN THIS CHAPTER. Fifty points to the person who gets it, a million points if you also happen to be the person to whom I am shouting.
...
What the hell...?
Mikasa let loose a heavy groan as she opened her eyes, cursing the inventor of alarm clocks and all those who manufactured or sold them. The infernal device with the oh-so-bright red numerals kept sounding off like some kind of demonic digital chicken. On a Sunday morning, such a thing had no business existing, let alone making its presence known.
She reached over Eren, hoping to blindly slap the thing into shutting up before he awoke from his standard coma-like sleep, but the task proved impossible. Half her body suspended over the boy, propping herself up with one hand as she groped for the alarm with the other, she collapsed onto the young man with a thud.
"Gah! Mikasa, what the heck?"
He shoved her up and off his chest just as she reached the clock, knocking her to the side.
"Sorry," she mumbled, "I was trying to-"
"I figured it out," he growled, "What's it doing on, anyway? We don't have to go back to school 'til tomorrow."
"Eh, we forgot to turn it off again," she said, settling the blankets around her. They had shifted while trying to climb over Eren and her feet were starting to get cold. She would have wrapped them in between the boy's legs to keep them warm, but he didn't seem to be in much of a touchy-feely mood at the moment. She had known him, and lived with him, for years and she could still never be sure where they stood with each other. Whenever she felt like things were finally getting somewhere, he seemed to just shut down. Propping herself up on her elbows, she continued, "We might as well get up. Armin will be stopping by this morning with the homework from Friday."
"Oh yeah?" he asked, "Why didn't he bring it over that afternoon? Or yesterday?"
She could tell how hard Eren was trying not to look down her over-sized men's tank-top undershirt- his shirt, actually, that she had commandeered for her own purposes- but the poor boy kept failing miserably, his eyes wandering downward every few seconds. It pleased her quite a bit to know that she could have that kind of effect on him, though she thought she had nothing special to offer in that department, even without a bra and with a low neck-line. Feeling a bit mischievous and with no small amount of curiosity as to his reaction, she pushed herself up on her elbows even further to expose even more of herself.
"He asked about coming over on Friday," she said slowly and ever so nonchalantly, "And we said no. Then I asked if he could come by yesterday and he said he was out with that new girl… I think he's bringing her with him today."
Eren made a gulping noise, unconsciously parting moistened lips as she spoke. It brought a smile to her face. She didn't worry about him noticing her reaction; his eyes were definitely elsewhere.
His voice cracked several times as he tried to make conversation. "So... Uh... He, uh, spent the whole weekend with her?"
He seemed entranced for another tenth of a second before blinking rapidly, her spell broken through absolute willpower. The boy turned away from her and got out of bed before she could react, and just like that, whatever moment they had vanished into thin air, the victim of her over-eagerness. She took it as a small consolation that he absolutely refused to turn his body toward her as he rushed off for the bathroom.
"And Friday too," she grumbled after him, "I think that's where he was after school. I don't like her."
"Why's that?" he asked, leaving the door open as he used the toilet.
They had gotten in the habit of doing that when it was just them in the house, the better to hold conversations. Without either parent around, what little privacy they kept between themselves had dwindled to nothingness. Mikasa hadn't minded or missed it in the slightest. She would have gladly showered with the young man, even bereft of any sexual overtones, if only to have someone scrub her back under the hot, steamy water every now and again.
Mikasa swallowed her thoughts. "She's a bad influence on Armin," she called from the bed, "I looked into her past. The school she went to in California was one of those 'second chance' schools for kids who have discipline problems. I'm not sure what she did, but it couldn't have been good. And Hannah says she smokes in the girl's bathroom."
"Maybe you've got it backwards," Eren said, stepping out of the bathroom and into a pair of sweat-pants, pulling them over his shorts, "Maybe Armin will be a good influence on her. He's a lot stronger than he lets on."
"I know, but still, something doesn't sit right with me about her... She's so cold and brooding."
"You're so cold and brooding," he chuckled, "What's the matter, can't stand the competition?"
Mikasa frowned, folding her arms across her chest, her mood instantly souring. She tried to be nice, to be outgoing, around Eren at least, she really did, but she just couldn't help it sometimes. It seemed like whenever she opened her mouth to say something, or God forbid tried to be funny, it backfired spectacularly and left everyone with the impression that she was some kind of weirdo. Eren didn't think that way about her, after seven years together she was relatively sure, but it still burned for him to bring it up like he had. Ugh, I'm trying like hell to be your trophy cheerleader, damn it, Eren. How much more can I be like Sasha for you?
"Aww, don't pout!" he said with a smile while walking to her bedside.
He moved in close, bending down and planting a kiss on her cheek, just a tiny bit too close to her lips to be friendly. That sent her heart into a pounding crescendo somewhere near her throat. As cool as ice, she managed to keep any reactions to herself, except the fiery blush she felt rising on her cheeks. She promptly covered them with her ever-present scarf.
"Even if you look cute doing it," he finished.
And just like that, all was right with the world. Not for the first time did she wonder if he meant cute cute or just cute. Too bad she didn't want to risk what they already had to find out. Coward. I'm such a freaking coward. And he has to know what he's doing to me. He's…
"You're a dick, Eren Jeager," she huffed, shoving him roughly with a shoulder as she got up to use the bathroom herself. She didn't see him hit the ground after he stumbled, but she heard it.
"And that's why you love me!" he called after her, picking himself up off the floor.
She for damn sure didn't let that boy see the smile on her face as she walked away. Nope, definitely not the reason I love you, but a good guess.
He followed after her, leaning against the open door frame. She had done her best not to expose herself to him, but only because she didn't necessarily know how he'd handle it.
"You should talk to her when she comes over here," he said, "You might find out that she isn't as bad as she seems."
"No," Mikasa said, breaking a few squares of toilet paper off the roll, "She'll be worse."
"Well, I'm going to talk to her."
"Oh?" she asked, cocking her head to the side as her vision narrowed, "About her past or Armin... or something else?
"Something else."
"What?" she asked a little too quickly.
"I didn't want to tell you this..."
"Tell me what?" she asked, pulling up her pants.
"Look, I, uh, don't know how to say it."
Clearly, he was having a little fun with her, nothing more, right?
"Out with it, Eren." She stepped close to the boy, again folding her arms across her chest. Mikasa had, in the past few years, gotten into the habit of using her height to intimidate others, something that was laughably inadequate against Eren Jeager. Not only was he virtually the same height as her, maybe even slightly taller, but he could be quite intimidating in his own right. When he moved even closer to her, emerald eyes boring into her obsidian ones, she felt herself shrinking back half a step.
Just when she thought she was in for a yelling frenzy, he bit his lip and turned away.
"You know Annie's in JROTC. I want to join the Army."
"You what?!" This time, it was he who took a step back.
She grabbed him roughly by the collar of his night-shirt and pulled him so close that their noses touched. His reaction was immediate; he slapped her hands down and stormed back into their- technically his- bedroom.
"I knew you wouldn't understand." he said.
She followed after him. "You're... You can't! You'll get killed!"
"I don't care about that!" he said, "Someone's got to make those terrorist bastards pay! There's gonna be a war and I'm gonna be there."
"You don't care about that?" she asked in disbelief, not sure she'd heard right, "Youdon't care about your life? What about everyone else who cares about you? What about them?"
"Them? Who's them?" he asked, "Dad's gone and-"
Her hand struck struck his face before she even realized it. Before he hit the ground, she was already pointing an accusing finger in his direction.
"Don't you ever insult your father like that," she hissed, "He provided for us, gave us everything we've ever needed, and I won't have you degrading him. Do you think he actually wants to leave us at a time like this?"
"Damn, Mikasa," he said, rubbing his cheek and jaw as he got to his feet, "Whatever. I'm just wondering, this is really about you, isn't it?"
She breathed a sigh of relief. He'd never hit her, a courtesy that she wasn't inclined to extend to him, but he had no qualms about putting her in her place verbally, and the phrase 'backing down' just wasn't in the young man's lexicon. For whatever reason, at the moment he was more interested in talking to her rather than shouting her down. He probably knows he wrong, that's why.
"Fine," Mikasa said. They did say it was cathartic to own up to one's faults, didn't they? "You're right. You mean something to me. You're... You're special to me. You're my... Family."
She finished the last with a sigh. She might have said 'brother', but that would have been a lie. She had never thought of Eren along those lines.
"And you're mine," he said, pulling her into a hug.
Damn him. Damn him to hell. He's got more to say, and he'll get to say it. He knows I can't argue with him when he gets like this.
"And so was mom," he continued, "And that's why I've got to fight. It's not fair that there are good men and women out there, putting their lives on the line to keep us safe, to stop this kind of thing from happening again, when they don't even have a stake in the game. I've got to do this, I've got to fight. I've got to fight my own battles, or at least help everyone else who's fighting for me. You remember what I told you back then, that night, don't you?
"I swear, Eren, I'll never forget it."
"If you don't fight, you can't win," he said, finishing her thoughts.
She sighed to herself. She knew better than to talk him out of it at this point. It wouldn't work. If anything, it would only encourage him further. Besides, as was usually the case, there was a kernel of truth hidden somewhere underneath all his passion. Not only that, but they still had about two more years of school left, time enough for him to change his mind. The Army life might not agree with him, one never knew.
"Fine," she said with a sigh, "But I'm joining with you."
"What?" he asked, "You can't do that! Something might happen. You could get hurt."
"So now you know how I feel." She hoped, really hoped, that he did. "You join, I join."
"Eh..." He took a seat on their bed and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger. "Fine, but you're not doing anything dangerous."
"I'm doing whatever you're doing, going wherever you're going," she said, "So that's up to you."
...
Annie followed a respectable distance from the blonde, a few feet at most, as he approached the door of the unfamiliar house with a heavy book-bag in hand. She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head, the better to keep the cold autumn wind from stinging her ears and whipping her hair from its hasty bun. She would have closed her jacket too, if the zipper hadn't been broken off.
Apparently two of his friends from class lived here; the hyperactive boy named Eric and his sister, Mikasa. The boy, she couldn't have picked out of a line-up if someone held a gun to her head, and wasn't even sure she remembered the name right, but the girl... She remembered her.
At around six feet tall, half Asian, half Caucasian, Mikasa Ackerman had a strange beauty about her despite eschewing all things feminine. If Annie remembered correctly, she wasn't butch, not exactly, but neither was she terribly girly, treading somewhere in that androgynous median that most tomboys found themselves. Despite that, her smooth features, generally hidden but distinctly narrow waist, and a bust that no amount of loose clothing could entirely eliminate placed her gender firmly in the female camp. Add to that full lips, long, dark eyelashes, and a petite nose, all without a trace of make-up, and the girl could pass for drop-dead gorgeous if she only applied herself. Annie might have even been jealous, were she that kind of person.
Armin knocked three times on the door, bringing her thoughts back into the present. She didn't know why she was even here, she realized. Social situations, even ones involving as little as three other people, were not her cup of tea. Somehow, when he had asked her to accompany him, his big blue doting eyes shining down at her, she had acquiesced without a second thought. She had said something to the effect of 'yeah, sure' before driving them in the general direction of the address he had given her.
Her calculated reaction had made her seem ambivalent, like she had nothing better to do, which was hardly the case. She was missing practice, Brazilian Jujitsu today, something her father would not be happy about; instead electing to follow this all too earnest boy into a situation that was one-hundred-eighty degrees away from Annie Leonhardt's comfort zone.
And for what? Because she had finally met someone who didn't seem like an asshole, bitch, or predator? Had her standards of what counted as a friend sunk so low? She had actually found herself so desperate to just be around someone willing to hang out with her that she had put her life on hold and risked harm for the sake of his errands. I'm pathetic.
But wasn't he the one following you into that record store?
He was pretending to be interested just to get in your pants, you stupid girl.
Him?! Armin Arlert?! Who the hell are you kidding?
Don't trust him.
He knew who Coltrane, Parker, and Thelonious freakin' Monk were. And then he played Chopin better than I did! I'm supposed to believe he went through years of practice just to fake an interest in the first sullen music-nerd to come strolling along? I'm sure he'll learn how to work on cars next, just to help me with my Chevelle.
Nobody touches Natalia. And his Nocturnes were sloppy as hell. You know you're better.
Whatever.
He's too smart to trust. You'll see.
She pushed her thoughts away as the door opened, stepping close to Armin's side as if to say 'I'm not a stranger, I'm with him.'
"Hey, Mikasa," the blonde said as the door opened to reveal the raven-haired young woman from class. He didn't wait for an answer before walking inside.
That left Annie standing there awkwardly. She waited for the other girl to say something, anything, but she just stood there, eyeing her up and down as one might a strange bug before stepping on it.
Armin returned after a pair of uncomfortable seconds.
"This is Annie," he said to the tall girl, "You remember her, right?"
"Yeah," came the flat reply.
Armin held out a hand across the threshold which Annie took without thinking, flushing at the contact. His soft but strong hand pulled her into the house, overriding her initial urge to withdraw.
"Annie, right?" said Mikasa's brother, thrusting a hand in her direction.
She glanced it, at least wanting to seem polite before he came to the opposite conclusion, but she found her own hand otherwise occupied. She would have rather kept it where it was, but Armin had noticed her looking at it and bashfully let her go. Disappointed, she extended the still-warm hand to the brown-haired boy.
"Yeah, that's me," she said, "And you're Eric, right?"
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught his sister's frown at about the same time she saw the boy's tight-lipped smile. Damn. Shouldn't have opened my mouth. Why the hell do I care about these assholes anyway? She glanced over to Armin's encouraging smile, never wavering in her presence. Oh yeah, that's why.
"Eren," the boy said, his smile broadening. He took her hand and shook it like an over-excited puppy with a chew-toy. "Come in, come in! We're making pizza-bagels. It's great having a sister that can cook."
"Must be nice," Annie said, noticing two empty packages of Bagel Bites sticking out of an almost overflowing trash can.
The rest of their house was in a similar state, as if someone, or a pair of people, were trying to take care of the daily tasks, the cooking, cleaning, and chores, but just didn't know how to go about it properly.
Annie had known of what had happened to the siblings' parents That Day from Armin and could definitely relate. It had taken her a while to learn the basics of managing a household after her mother died. Even years later, she sometimes went for weeks on end without mustering up enough energy to give a damn, instead letting her father mire in the wreck that was their town-home. Then a day would come when she would wake up feeling bad, steal money from her father's wallet for groceries, and clean the place up. That usually lasted for about a month before the cycle repeated.
For the first time, beyond the normal condolences and shock in the wake of the attack, she really felt sorry for the brother and sister.
Mikasa sniffed the air around her audibly. "You stink like cigarette smoke."
And just like that, any sympathy she might have had evaporated into thin air.
"Hm. Maybe I should wait outside," Annie said, making a show of looking around the cluttered residence. "I wouldn't want to add any new smells to this place."
The other girl's expression darkened as she clenched her teeth. "Maybe you-!"
"Mikasa, seriously?!" Eren interrupted his fuming sister. He then turned to Annie, "We really are glad to meet you. She doesn't mean to be rude, you know, she just doesn't have a filter from her brain to her mouth. Tends to say the first thing that comes to her mind, you know? That's why she doesn't talk much."
Yes, Annie did know what that was like, and it sounded all too familiar. Unfortunately for them both, she definitely wasn't the kind of person to get along with herself, or anyone who acted like herself. There's only enough room in my universe for one of me, thank you very much, Miss Ackerman.
"Can we get you two started on this work?" asked Armin, looking back and forth from brother to sister.
Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the two of them by their shoulders and pushed them towards what Annie assumed was their living room. They moved obediently, the sister only giving her a quick backwards glance before starting off for their couch. As soon as the siblings were seated, Armin took a spot in the middle, dumping several books, three binders, and quite a few papers from his backpack onto the coffee table.
"This is all due tomorrow," he said, "So we'd better get started. Annie?"
Her eyes turned from the mounded pile of school work to the blonde boy. "Yes?" she asked, just now realizing that she hadn't yet moved from the doorway.
"You can sit in this chair here," he said, pointing to the over-stuffed piece of furniture on his right side.
"Yeah, pull that thing over here next to me," added Eren, "I've got something I want to talk to both of you about."
"Oh?" Both of us? Now that got her thinking. What did she and this hyperactive young man have in common?
As she waited for his reply, the three of them began working together on their assignments, Mikasa on her own and Armin helping Eren. The former of the boys had actually completed his work with Annie, on Saturday morning, over mugs of hot chocolate and coffee while cartoons played in the background. She never would have thought it possible to have fun doing school work, and she hadn't shown it at the time, but she wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It was starting to dawn on her that she had spent an awful lot of time this week away from her home and father's dojo, and all that came with that.
"Armin, you've probably already heard this," said Eren, "But you're moving in with us."
Annie let out a small sigh. She had learned as much on Friday and couldn't help feeling a little left-out. Their parents were all gone in one sense or another, and Eren, Mikasa, and Armin would be carving a small family out of what they had left. She wished she could have been a part of it, though now maybe without Mikasa, going so far as to consider the possibility of asking Armin to move in with her. His presence alone could save her a fortune on concealer and allow her to wear something besides jeans and long-sleeve shirts no matter the temperature outside. Of course, her father would never allow a boy into their home, nor would he ever, ever allow her to leave him.
"Grandpa told me the other day," said the blonde boy, "Are you sure you two don't mind? I mean, I'm sure Grandpa and I can come up with other arrangements if-"
"Nonsense," Mikasa interjected, putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder and squeezing.
Annie felt a twinge of jealousy biting at her, noticing the obvious ease in the way the dark-haired girl initiated the physical contact, and Armin's simple acceptance of the action. It would have taken Annie an hour just to decide if it would have been the right thing to do and convince herself that her hand wouldn't get slapped away the instant it started moving. Mikasa, though, could simply do it on a whim. Whether out of confidence, ignorance, or simple familiarity, Annie didn't know, and it didn't matter much in any event. All she knew was that she wanted to be that way with someone at some point, preferably with Armin starting around two days ago.
"Alright then," the blonde boy said, "I'll start moving my stuff in tomorrow after school. I'm glad. It started to get lonely at my place."
For the first time since meeting Armin, someone who went to such great lengths to show his inclusiveness, she was beginning to feel like a third wheel around him and she did not like it. Just like that, huh? It's so easy when you have friends.
"Sounds great," said Eren, "Mikasa and I will help you move. I think her room is free. Now Annie..."
"Huh?" She turned to the boy, doing her best to pretend like she had not being paying attention the entire time. The last part of what he had said didn't seem quite right...
"I was wondering if you could tell Mikasa and I about the Army."
"I'm probably not the best person for that," she said, "But we can pay my recruiter a visit if you want."
...
I do this for the reviews. Tumbeasts, don't think you're exempt.
Fav and Follow if you like it.
SO WHAT IS MY NEXT CHAPTER GOING TO BE? Seriously, I don't know. I could do another prompt, more of this, or more of my normal story. And which characters do I focus on? So many good relationships I could be focusing on. Let me know what you think and maybe it will help me make up my mind.