Here's another chapter, enjoy!

Old Memories

"Oh there you are Eren," said Christa as she approached him. Eren was standing next to Mikasa patiently. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," said Eren, as he turned toward Mikasa, "I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded as he walked towards the faculty room with Christa, who gave a second glance at the raven-haired girl.

As Mikasa began walking towards the school exit, she spoke to herself, "I guess I'll just ask Eren tomorrow." She was still planning to uncover details on Christa, but right now, there was another matter for her to deal with. Levi would be giving some last orders to Eren and Christa, and after that, he would most likely be heading home. So, she waited just outside the front entrance, and began preparing what she would say to him. It's not that there wasn't anything to say, there was plenty they needed to talk about, but the question was what would be first. And there was also the matter of whether she should punch him first.

Meanwhile, Levi gave the two class reps their final orders. "Fill out these papers and show them to the class representatives meeting." Christa grabbed the papers and gave half of them to Eren. "You two might also want to start organizing yourselves to handle future problems. For example, you can split an issue or work on them together. Solve any problem the way you two want to."

"You have that much faith in us, Levi Sensei?" said Eren.

"It's not really faith. I just don't want to deal with trivial things. The majority of issues in our homeroom class can be solved without my help."

"I'm kind of nervous now, that's a little bit more pressure," said Chirsta.

Levi nodded, "It's not the workload that'll kill you; its the responsibility of it all. Well, you two can't quit now. I'll see you tomorrow in class." Levi grabbed his belongings and headed out the faculty room. It was obvious to see that he was anxious to leave.

"I guess we should work on these now and get it over with," said Eren, as he led Christa towards their homeroom class. "It doesn't seem like it a lot."

"Yeah, lets try to finish these as fast as we can. I know you must have other plans," said Christa smiling.

Eren chuckled, "If you call lying in front of TV a plan, then yeah." Arriving at the room, he opened the door and allowed Christa to go in first.

"Hm…" As Christa sat down on a nearby chair, she started thinking about the raven-haired girl. "What about Mikasa?"

Eren slowly moved a chair toward Christa's desk. He sat across from her as he wondered why she would bring up Mikasa. "What do you mean?"

"You two seem close." Christa began writing on the papers in front of her.

Eren also began writing as he rustled his hair. "Well, we have been through some things together, so you can say that." He set aside a completed form; he was glad to see that this wasn't going to take long. "But, why would you think I would have plans with Mikasa?"

"She's your girlfriend, isn't she?"

"WHAT!" Eren dropped his pencil, almost leaping out of his seat.

At the same time, Levi was making his way towards the school exit; pondering how he would give the wallet back to the delinquents. "Rubeus High School, I should probably scout it first," he said. As he walked out the gate, a soft voice got his attention.

"L-Levi…" Mikasa stood in front of him and just as he was about to reply, she lunged at him; her first was rapidly approaching his face. But he evaded it and grabbed her right wrist in the process.

"What do you think you're doing brat," said Levi. Struggling to get free, she shifted her left leg as she prepared to strike him. Levi, noticing this, released her just in time. He yelled, "Hey, that's enough!"

Mikasa gathered herself for the moment. She had decided to just talk to him at first, but seeing his face pissed her off intensely. She motioned her right leg to strike once again, but she was caught off guard when Levi swiftly closed in on her. He cocked his fist; she prepared to counter until she realized it was a feint. A second later, she was falling backwards where her back slammed to the ground; Levi had swiped her legs from under her.

"O-Ow…" Mikasa slowly sat up.

"Have you cooled off?" Levi offered his hand to her, but she refused. "I don't know what your deal is, but you need to respect your elders brat."

"Shut up, just let me hit you," she said as she stood up.

"Why? I'm not just going to let one of my students hit me for no reason."

She glared at him, "Tell me, who am I?"

Levi was unsure what this girl wanted, so he played along for now, "Mikasa Ackerman. You're a student in my homeroom and literature class."

"Is that all?"

"For now, I suppose so. I'm still trying to piece together what kind of students you are."

"Eh, what are you talking about?"

"I can't let that crazy four-eyes mock me for not remembering who my students are. But to think one of them would actually hate me already. Man, she's going to have a field day."

"Levi…you don't really remember me, do you." Mikasa began tightening her fist.

"I'm not sure what else to tell you. So if you'll excuse me—" Levi stopped speaking as he saw Mikasa grinding her teeth; a sudden dark aura encompassed her.

She lunged at him once again, "You bastard!"

Meanwhile, back inside the school building, Eren was having trouble keeping his composure.

"GIRLFRIEND! No no no no no no, that's wrong. She's not my girlfriend…I mean we are close, but we're just friends right now, ha ha ha," said Eren holding an intense blush.

Christa was taken aback by the sudden response, "I-I see…a simple 'no' would have been fine, Eren."

Eren avoided her gaze as he tried to return to his work, "S-Sorry."

"It's okay." Christa smiled brightly at the realization.

Now that she brought it up, Eren had to ask, "D-Do we really look like that towards others."

Christa's smile faded, "Um, kind of."

"I see," said Eren smiling. As Christa gazed at him, old memories were resurfing.

"Eren, I had fun today! Let's play again tomorrow."

"Yep, we'll play tomorrow for sure!"

Christa marveled at his smile, "You have a warm smile, Eren."

"Eh really?"

"Hey, Eren…" She twiddled her fingers, "will you be my friend forever?"

"Of course!"

"Christa…Hey, Christa," said Eren as he snapped the girl out of her flashback. "Are you okay?"

"Eh…uh, yeah, sorry. Let's get back to work." The two resumed their work, almost finished with the forms in front of them.

Mikasa took a quick breather; none of her attacks so far were landing. Once she collected herself, she prepared for another strike.

"You don't give up, huh?" Levi sighed, "Before you attack me again, just tell me why."

"Be quiet!"

"Will you tell me if I let you hit me once?" Mikasa stayed silent, her face, though, spoke loudly. "Alright then, go for it."

She was so ready to hit this guy in the face, but a part of her told her not yet. The first thing he needed to do was remember. "Why…why did you abandon me," she said.

Levi was confused, "'Excuse me?"

"Just by not remembering, you're already pissing me off."

"Like I said, I have no idea what you're talking about. You must have confused me with someone el—"

"It was you! How do you not remember?" Her glare felt like it was going through him, "It's because of you that I became so terrible. I trusted you..." Mikasa was at a point beyond anger, a point where she just wanted everything to disappear. "I needed your help, and when I was looking for you…you were gone." Her words began trembling, "Why couldn't you have left me alone? Why did you have to stick your nose in where it didn't belong."

Levi kept his unmoving gaze; every second that had passed watching her, was giving him his memories back. "Wait a second…are you the girl from Serus?

Mikasa still gave him a nasty look, "You're starting to remember."

"Ah, now I see…Mikasa Ackerman. The girl known as the "Raven Warrior." Cute name, if I remember that correctly."

"Shut up, I didn't get that name until you arrived."

Levi huffed, "Well, this is interesting. I definitely wasn't expecting this. But to see you here, it seems like you're doing alright now."

"I'm not doing alright!" Mikasa was ready to attack him again; she was sensing that he was acting a bit senseless.

"You're not? Are you still dealing with them now?"

"N-No, but back then I had too by myself; and in the end, everyone avoided me...even her. It's your fault that she hated me."

"You can blame me if you want, but as of right now, you're not living there anymore. Are you going to continue to stay in the past? Do you not want to make any new friends?"

"I…" Eren was the first image that came to her mind when he said that. Shiganshina was nothing like her old home; this place was her second chance, and Eren was guiding her to a new life. Still, she knows that one wrong move and it would be like Serus all over again. If he were to ever know what she once was, she would lose her first friend in her new life. "I'm a horrible person," she said holding her arms, as her eyes grew watery.

Meanwhile, the two class reps had finished as Christa was collecting the forms for the both of them. "I'll hold on to these," she said.

"Are you sure?"

Christa nodded, "It's fine. I'm the kind of person who starts worrying about these kinds of things. It's just easier if I deal with it."

"That's a lot of responsibility. You were the right choice for this job."

"Hey, I couldn't have done this without you. Between you and me, you're a much better class rep."

"Eh, really? I'm not sure about that," he said bashfully, "I mean we just started. You can definitely become better than me."

"No, its true." Christa stood up, and drifted towards the window. "You're kind, strong-willed, and you have the potential to be great leader. You're what everyone needs." Christa held the papers tightly. "Everything about you is amazing."

Eren wasn't expecting such praise, it was embarrassing to him, but it still made him feel happy to hear it. "Thank you, Christa."

Christa blushed, "You're welcome."

"I'll let you hold on to them then." Eren grabbed his backpack as he headed towards the exit.

Christa followed him and couldn't help but confirm, "So…you and Mikasa are just friends?"

A slight blush rose from his cheeks; he was hoping that Christa wouldn't bring up that misunderstanding again, "Y-Yeah."

"She must be a nice person if you consider her your friend. She probably trusts you a lot."

"I'm still wondering about that."

She faced him, "What do you mean?"

"Well, we had a rough start when I tried asking her for her phone number. She ended up giving me a fake one," he said shyly.

Christa stumbled her words, "W-Why would you ask her for her number?"

"Oh, cause we're neighbors and our parents asked us too—" Eren stopped talking as he suddenly realized that what he had just said.

"YOU'RE NEIGHBORS? Like next door to each other or across the street?" Christa began hounding him at the sudden information.

Mikasa is going to kill me, he thought to himself. "Next door to each other, but you can't tell anyone Christa," he said.

"Eren," Christa was organizing her thoughts, "are you sure it's a good idea that a classmate is your next door neighbor?"

"Eh, what do you mean?"

"Well, what if Mikasa…what if she's secretly spying on you."

The thought of Mikasa in a camouflage uniform with binoculars gave Eren a quizzical look. "Why would she be spying on me?"

"Haven't you seen those TV shows where those perverts do crazy things just to take peek?"

"Isn't it mostly the guy that does that?"

"Eh, oh, you're right. But still! You need to be careful…I mean I know she's you friend, but can you trust her? You don't want another situation like Clovis, right?"

Clovis. Christa had a point; during the whole the time Eren knew Mikasa, he had never once suspected her of being a bad person. Even so, how could he ever see her as someone with ill intentions? She was incredibly beautiful in his eyes, and she was by his side when he confronted Clovis. She actually followed him to Caeruleum, and she considered him a true friend. "I guess…I can trust her. It seems kind of odd, but I just feel like I can. I don't believe she is a bad person."

"Eren…" Christa had difficulty accepting that, but for now she would. She would just have to confront Mikasa about this tomorrow. She persuaded herself that if she didn't do anything, Eren would get hurt again, and that's something she couldn't let happen.

As Eren and Christa exited the school building and headed toward the front gate, they saw Mikasa and Levi.

"Mikasa? Levi Sensei?" said Eren.

"Eren…" said Mikasa.

"Did you two finish the forms? If not, you could just do them at home," said Levi.

"Um, we decided to work on them as soon as you gave it to us. We finished them already," said Christa.

"I see, well then, goodbye."

As Eren hastily approached Mikasa, he noticed that state of her clothes. There were smudges and dirt stains in random places. It was odd to see it, but what really shocked him was seeing her face. Her eyes were watery, her nose was red, and her cheeks were puffy. He had never seen her like this; his chest was hurting. There was something wrong here as he said, "Hold on a second, what's happened? Mikasa…"

"It's okay Eren. I was just talking with Levi Sensei about our homework for Literature class," said Mikasa as she wiped some dust off her.

Eren ignored her statement momentarily, "Levi Sensei, did something happen?"

"Not really, you don't have to worry about it," said Levi.

"Eren, I said its okay, please don't make this a big deal," said Mikasa

"Big deal?" It was a big deal to him, because seeing Mikasa like that pained him.

"Please, let it go." She pressured him to stop as Eren reluctantly obeyed.

"Well, I'll be off then," said Levi walking away.

"I guess I'll be off too," said Christa feeling out of place. She glanced at Mikasa intently as she said, "I'll see you tomorrow Eren, Mikasa."

As Christa left, Eren looked back at Mikasa; she was picking up her belongings. "Let's go home, Mikasa." She nodded in response.

The two teenagers were silent on the walk home; only the sounds in the background were heard. Eren wanted to talk about what happened. Why was Levi there, and why was Mikasa on the verge of tears. He really wanted to know, especially if there was something he could do, but he knows that Mikasa would get upset if asked anymore. Still, if she wouldn't say anything, he would eventually blurt it out.

"Eren," she said.

A sigh of relief escaped his mouth, "What?"

"You never finished telling me about Christa," said Mikasa.

"Eh, you still want to know?" He remembered that they were discussing this during PE, and also remembered how it seemed like she was jealous when she aske. But Eren shook that presumption off instantly; there was no way she was.

"Yes, unless you don't want to."

"No, it's fine…" Eren pondered for a moment, deciding where to start. "We used to hang out a lot when we were kids."

"Was this with Clovis? I'm only assuming, because you met Clovis as a kid too."

"No, I met Christa first. When Clovis came along, me and Christa were no longer friends."

"What happened?"

"Just some stupid things." A feeling of gloom reigned over him, "I'm sorry, I guess I'm not fine talking about everything."

Mikasa sensed that that was the case. "It's fine Eren, but can I ask one more thing?"

"What is it?"

"Do you like Christa?" Mikasa clutched her backpack strap.

Eren pondered for a moment at the question, and when he figured out to say he said, "I don't hate her, it was just difficult at first to see her again."

"What about now?"

"Now…" Eren paused for a moment again, "she's okay. I mean, the more I talk with her, the more those old feelings return. Those feelings we shared before we stopped becoming friends."

Mikasa twiddled her fingers, "So, are you friends now?"

Eren stopped walking causing Mikasa to look back at him. "You know…I think so. What happened in the past shouldn't matter anymore, right?"

The question caused controversy in Mikasa's mind. The past shouldn't matter anymore, right? "I see…you think so, Eren?"

"Yeah, I believe so. I mean obviously there are things you should keep, and the memories you don't want to, should be let go of." Eren resumed walking with Mikasa next to him.

Sensing that Eren was feeling more comfortable, Mikasa wanted to know more, "How did you two meet?"

"Mikasa, you said only one thing."

"Oh, sorry…just one more."

As Eren started remembering where he met her, a sudden realization caused him to smile. Mikasa noticed and grew curious, "Eren?"

"Do you know the small park close to our houses?"

"Mm…oh, yes. What about it?"

"That's where I met her."

Seeing his smile gave Mikasa an assumption of how fond a memory it must have been for him. "I see…it was really that special huh?"

"Yeah, I mean, its kind of funny too."

Eren's chuckling prompted Mikasa to ask, "What's so funny about it?"

"Because I just realized…that's also where I met you for the first time." Mikasa had forgotten; though they didn't exchange words at first, they made eye contact briefly before she ran off, suspecting him of being a weirdo. Eren stopped in front of her with a wide smile, "What are the odds of that? By the way…" She noticed him looking away, "what did you think of me when you saw me?"

"Oh, um…" Mikasa also looked away out of embarrassment, "I thought you were strange."

Her words pierced Eren's pride as he said, "R-Really? I figured."

"Now that I think about," she suddenly said, "why were you just staring at me back then?"

"I wasn't staring at you," Eren grew red, "My eyes just drifted in your direction, and all of a sudden, we made eye-contact."

"Is that so? You stared at me for quiet a while though."

Eren walked ahead of Mikasa. "You're exaggerating," he said in a huff. It was too bad that he was in front of her, because he missed the gentle smile appearing from her face.

It was no longer silent between them, as they inched closer to home.

"How's everything with Sasha?" said Eren.

"Sasha?"

"She's your friend isn't she?"

"I-I'm not sure." As smart as Mikasa was, she could never figure out other people.

"Come on, its clear that she wants to be your friend. Why don't you exchange your numbers or something."

"But I don't think—"

"She's not a bad person. Well, probably not normal, but definitely not bad."

"Speaking of, there is something that is odd about her. It seems like she's lying about who she is." Mikasa had recollected her conversations with Sasha. Every now and then, she would unnecessarily present herself as a gentle lady figure. The only time she would correct herself was when she behaved differently around the topic of food.

"Hm, yeah it seems like that. Still, if you're not going to be her friend, you should let her know; otherwise, you're just going to hurt her even more."

"I suppose you're right."

"And one more thing, if you do exchange phone numbers, don't giver her a fake one."

Mikasa avoided his eyes; a little embarrassed at their past confrontation. "I'll say something tomorrow."

The next day during lunch, Mikasa was searching for Sasha. Hange had asked Mikasa to carry some supplies to the office, and now she couldn't find her. She should've been at the lunch area, but Eren said she went to the bathroom. When she went to the bathroom, her classmates said she left minutes ago. This girl is troublesome, she thought as she stopped to look around.

Suddenly, Christa approached her from behind, "Mikasa, can I speak to you for a moment?"

Mikasa had to consider herself fortunate, because she had been meaning to speak with Christa too. Seeing that there was still time before the next class started, and that she wasn't going to spot Sasha anytime soon, Mikasa agreed to her proposal. They decided that the rooftop would be private enough for them to have their conversation.

Reaching the rooftop, Mikasa stood patiently as Christa faced away from her. "Please forgive me for asking, but I want you tell me what you're plan is with Eren."

Mikasa was surprised; she had wanted to say those words to her, and now she was curious to know why Christa would say that. "Eh? What are you talking about?"

Christa turned around slowly; a darker expression covered her face, "Please don't lie to me. All I want to know is what your intentions are with Eren."

"Like I said, I don't understand what you're saying." Why was this girl attacking her all of a sudden?

Christa gazed down at her toes, "I see, you're really not going to say anything. Then let me just say that Eren isn't someone you can take advantage of. If he gets hurt…I-I'll never forgive you. Even if you are my classmate."

Mikasa was astonished by the sudden presumptions this girl was making. It infuriated her that Christa was the one accusing her of being someone who can hurt Eren. It should be the other way around, she thought.

Christa walked toward the exit stiffly, but was suddenly stopped by Mikasa when she grabbed her shoulder. "Wait a minute, that's my line."

"Huh? What are you saying?" said Christa.

"I should be the one asking you want you plan to do with Eren."

It was Christa's turn to be confused; "Now I'm the one who doesn't understand."

"Eren is my close friend," said Mikasa, "He gave me a chance to have an amazing school life. He has been very kind to me. Sure we have our arguments and I even pushed him away at first, but we became closer because of that."

To Christa, it felt like Mikasa was trying to boast in front of her, "W-What are you—Are you trying to say that you two are inseparable?"

"E-Eh? N-No!" Mikasa blushed as she said, "But I think I understand what's best for Eren."

Christa's emotions were beginning take over as she was losing her character by what Mikasa was saying, "I…I've known him longer than you have, so if you really believe that you know more about him than me...Then, then…" Christa glared at Mikasa, "you're wrong!"

Mikasa was at disbelief, "I'm wrong?"

"Yes…He came to me first when no one else did. We became best friends and whenever I felt alone, he was there for me." Christa motioned away from Mikasa once again; a feeling of guilt suddenly encompassed her, "Then again…I suppose deep down he doesn't see me as a friend anymore. He must really hate me for what happened back then. But even if he doesn't see me as a friend, I want to be able to protect him."

It was strange. Deep down, Mikasa had wanted the same thing. She wanted to protect Eren, and though he doesn't know it, she wanted to repay him for giving her a second chance. "You're wrong."

"Eh?" Christa returned her gaze at Mikasa.

"Yes," Mikasa remembered what Eren had said, "he doesn't hate you…he thinks of you as a friend now."

Christa was in disbelief, "That's not true…he still doesn't see me that way."

"He does…he told me recently that he doesn't care about the past anymore. He truly thinks of you as a friend."

"Really? He said that?"

Mikasa nodded, "If you don't mind, can you tell me what happened between you two?"

Christa gathered herself, "He probably blames himself, but its just as much my fault as it is his." Mikasa listened closely. "During elementary school, we were always together. So much so, that some of our classmates were starting to get annoyed by us. I don't know the full story, because Eren never told me, but eventually all the boys and girls in our class picked on us. There were always bruises on his face, and I was always being made fun of."

"Didn't you tell an adult?" Mikasa didn't like the image of seeing Eren bruised or seeing Christa being laughed at.

"Eren never wanted too, but I told someone. Still, nothing changed, it just got worse." Mikasa stood quietly, as she continued, "It all ended when Eren stopped talking to me. I wanted to ask why, but he had already shut me out of his life. I can only assume that he did it, because he was tired of it all." Christa took a deep breath, "That's when Clovis arrived…oh, I'm sorry you don't know Clovis."

"N-No, I know him. Me and Eren had a run in with him a while back."

"Really?" Christa was shocked to hear it, "Did anything happen?"

Mikasa decided that telling Christa about the two boy's "reunion" was not a good idea for now. "Just some talking."

"I see…still, now do you understand why I'm having trouble seeing you constantly surrounding him?"

"I'm not around him constantly…"

"Of course you are, the two of you are neighbors so you walk to and from school everyday I'm assuming."

"WHAT? How do you know we're neighbors?"

"Eren told me."

That idiot, thought Mikasa.

"I'm still not sure what kind of person you are, so I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but I just don't want Eren to get hurt.

A breeze of wind flowed through Mikasa's hair; Christa was right not to trust Mikasa, especially since Eren doesn't even now how she was in Serus. "I understand Christa, but you have to know…I too wanted to protect Eren."

Christa didn't say anything as she left, leaving Mikasa to think to herself. After her conversation with Christa and confrontation with Levi, Mikasa was starting to wonder if it was good idea to be around Eren. The two were neighbors so there was no helping if they walked to and from school. But other than that, they could easily avoid each other at school. The thought of separating herself from Eren unsettled her.

"Um...Mikasa?" Sasha had arrived holding her lunch bag.

"Sasha, what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you…is something wrong?"

"N-No, nothing's wrong."

"Okay…hey, I know this might sound sudden, but do you want to hang out this weekend?"

"Hang out?"

"Oh, its okay if you don't want too…I mean we're just acquaintances right?"

Mikasa pondered for a moment and figured that Eren would want her to do this, but even more so, this was something she wanted to do. "I don't mind."

"Eh? Really!"

"Yes," she said smiling.

"Great! I'll text you then…um, can you give me your phone number?"

When she gave her the number, a ping sound resonated from her phone. It was her first text from Sasha.

Sasha: Let's have fun this weekend! :)

Mikasa smiled as she replied.

Mikasa: I'm looking forward to it.

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