To Me from 2000 Years Ago
Chapter 22
It was finally the trial session for those who had signed up for the archery club. All the seniors, including Sasha, had gathered in the indoor sports hall to set up the targets and the necessary archery equipment for the trial before the newcomers arrived. One by one, new faces started streaming in and waited at the side of the hall while staring at the equipment in fascination as if they had not seen them up close before. What would be cooler than getting a chance to hold that equipment on a trial session? Sasha remembered being exactly like those students a year before - her hands itching to touch the bow and the anticipation to watch her arrows fly, whether or not they touched the target board.
Seeing that a handful of the newcomers had brought their personal bows and arrows, the team captain hummed in delight as he hoped that those people were good experienced players whom he could recruit into his competitive team. Meanwhile, the Ace took this chance to advise Sasha to buy her own set of bow and arrows like most of the seniors and those newcomers. Getting a better set would, of course, boost her performance. Although Sasha would love to have her personal set of archery equipment, she could not bear withdrawing hundreds of dollars from her bank account at one go. If she had to sacrifice her meals for those items, then it would definitely the saddest torture she could ever do to herself. Nevertheless, she just assured her senior that she would get herself a set soon when she had saved up enough money.
Speaking about money, Sasha had managed to solve her money issue with her new saviour - Hange. She had attended the interview and her interview went smoothly, delighting Hange with her positive attitude towards the titan research and her inquisitiveness. It was almost an immediate hire but Sasha's overall school grades were slightly lower than what Hange would expect for her research assistant. However, the researcher decided to give Sasha a chance after evaluating her overall interview performance, especially the part when Hange shoved Sasha a picture of a rusted vertical manoeuvring equipment and Sasha said something about the picture that totally amazed her. Little did she know that Sasha was also equally amazed by her own words.
"Oh! That's interesting, Miss Braus. Why didn't I think about it? A gear that could make a person fly in the air? This idea of yours sounds mechanically impossible, but hey, it might be possible if we inspect the different mechanics further. You seem quite knowledgeable about those gears! Oops, sorry, knowledgeable is not the right word to use here. Rather, what you have said made sense! I have always been wondering how those soldiers took down the titans. With the gear strapped on one's body, what could it do? It looks pretty bulky to me. Would the titans really die from those blades which looked like gigantic penknives?"
"It's just an idea. I am not so sure if this gear worked exactly like that. Maybe it has other purposes which we haven't discovered yet. But when I looked at it, the straps reminded me of a safety harness, like the one from the flying fox. So, I guess it has got to do with flying or gliding through the air."
"We won't know unless we find out together. What do you think, Miss Braus? Our research involves going beyond books and the internet. Our ideas can be accepted one day but be refuted the next day. It's all about patience and the never-ending curiosity to discover new knowledge. Do you think you have these qualities?"
"Yes." She hoped.
"I thought so too because no sane person would ever think of applying for this job. Do you know my current assistants? They came here because I thought they were cut out for it."
"Oh."
"So, I kind of forced them into this with me. Hahaha! Oh boy, now that I think about this, I feel bad for them."
Truthfully, Sasha did not know what had made her think that the gear was used to make the soldiers fly. In her nightmares, she dreamt of herself flying past trees and run-down houses, and high up in the air before being swatted away like an annoying pest. There was no indication about the gear. However, she wondered if the gear in the museum could enable soldiers to fly like she could in her dreams? Although it lacked basic structure for actual flight, maybe it could shoot out some sort of anchors and gas to help them stay in the air continuously. It would be interesting to see what Hange would do with the rusted, non-functioning vertical manoeuvring equipment.
"Lucus. Brett. Maia. Sasha."
Upon hearing her name being called, Sasha snapped out of her thoughts about the titan research and brought her attention to her team captain who had just called out to her and the other seniors. He was standing in front of the crowd of newcomers at the other side of the hall, waving to them.
"We are starting soon," he informed them.
Sasha nodded as she quickly grabbed her bow and jogged towards the newcomers with a wide, cheerful smile on her face. Just then, someone in the large group of students caught her eye. Her eyes widened at the familiar face, surprised and puzzled by his attendance. She had never thought that he would actually sign up for the trial session, much less joining the Archery Club. On the other hand, that person was looking terribly anxious with his eyes continuously darting left and right as if he was looking for someone else in the group of students.
"Hey, Armin!" she called out excitedly as she made her way towards him. "You have come!"
Her friend's blue eyes flickered to her direction and a small awkward smile plastered on his face which was beginning to drain of colour.
"H-Hi… Sasha," he said in a taut voice.
She stopped in front of him and clasped her hands together, beaming happily. She chirped, "What a surprise! I didn't know that you were coming. Why didn't you tell me that you have signed up for the trial session?"
"Uh… It was meant to be a surprise," Armin said with a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Did you come here alone?" For some reason, Sasha felt a little terrible for asking this question. Armin was not a sporty person. Seeing him attending the archery trial session was a total surprise for her if this was his own choice to participate. Furthermore, he was always with his two childhood friends, doing things together most of the time.
"Actually, no… I mean, yes, I'm alone… for now." Armin furrowed his brows for a moment before giving Sasha a knowing smile. "Are you expecting someone else?"
Her eyebrows raised quizzically. "Huh? Who?"
"Never mind. Your friend had called you, right? You better go to him now."
"Yup. Talk to you later, Armin," Sasha replied as she turned to look at her team captain who was gesturing to her to come forward to stand in front of the newcomers.
Quickly, she ran to the front and stood behind her seniors who would be leading the whole session. Standing next to her was annoying Brett smiling confidently to the newcomers over the team captain's shoulder, and his attention immediately shifted to her when Sasha stood next to him on his left. A mischievous smirk flashed on his face as he leant slightly towards his left, his eye level matching hers.
"Yo, Sash. So, your boyfriend decides to join this club too?" he teased.
Sasha shot him a glare before returning her gaze to the front again, ignoring him. Just then, the chairperson of the club began her welcome speech and the noise level in the hall was immediately reduced to only the voice of the chairperson. Despite that, that boy continued to speak to her, of course, in a whispering voice.
"That short blonde doesn't look that bad, huh. He looks like he has never touched a ball in his life before."
"At least he's better than you," she hissed softly, gritting her teeth as she spoke. "In many ways."
"Ouch."
"And he is not my boyfriend."
He snorted. "Well, a boy and a friend. I can mean it that way, you know."
Sasha's eyes rolled skyward as she sighed in annoyance. "If that's what you mean, everyone here is my boy-friend."
His eyes sparkled in delight while he plastered a wide grin on his face like a Cheshire cat and remarked, "Oh, I'm honoured."
Sasha glared at him again before shaking her head hopelessly, feeling disappointed and fed up with his jokes. Then, she spoke to him in a tired and pleading voice, "For once, can you please stop stepping on my tail? Why are you always like this to me?"
Brett shrugged. "I don't know. Because you're funny?"
"Seriously?" she scoffed.
Amused by their own secret conversation, the boy next to her snorted loudly, earning a few hard stares from the seniors in front of them. Sasha returned her gaze back to the front, pretending that she was not talking to the annoying boy. When the seniors were no longer paying attention to them, she heard him speak in a soft voice again.
"Oh! That weird, creepy guy!"
Sasha fought the urge to roll her eyes upon hearing that. He and his usual antics. Holding a straight face, she continued to look ahead and ignored him.
"He is the one who watched our practice during one of our holiday training sessions!" he rambled on as he stared at someone in the crowd of students. "With a dirty mop literally on his face, sniffing its glory and goodness. I think he was from some cleaning club."
"No one came to watch our practice, Brett," Sasha stated, her eyes narrowing at him irritably. "Definitely not someone weird and creepy. Now, be quiet."
"Do you think he decided to join the Archery Club because of my marvellous shooting skills?"
"Oh, isn't that good for you? You have earned a fanboy during the holidays then." She looked at Brett at the corner of her eyes and asked, "Where is he standing at?"
As much as she acknowledged Brett's superior archery skills, she was indeed curious to know who this weird, creepy fanboy was. Brett cautiously pointed towards the right side of the team captain's shoulder, indicating to her that the person he was referring to was at the far right of the crowd.
"He is with that boy-friend whom you spoke to just now."
"Huh? With Armin?" Sasha furrowed her brows together in puzzlement. She tiptoed and looked over her team captain's shoulder as well, scanning the faces of the students standing at the right side of the crowd. Almost immediately, she spotted Armin, but with two more people standing next to him. Her jaw dropped in response as soon as she recognised them. "Mikasa? Eren? What are they doing here?"
"Hm? More friends?" Brett asked curiously, looking equally surprised because of her reaction. "Why can't they be here?"
Sasha's heels touched the floor and she immediately lowered her head to hide her face behind her team captain's broad shoulder. Bewildered and confused, she had no idea why her friends had signed up for the trial session. Was it for fun as they might have never touched a bow before? Was it because they were interested in her sport and wanted to try it out? Weren't they already members of another club? Joining a sports club would be so tiring for them if they had to juggle between the two clubs and their studies at the same time. Based on her experience, she already had a hard time coping with her part-time job, her archery practice, and schoolwork. So, she guessed that the trio must have signed up for the archery club just to attend a session or two for some fun like most students. It kind of made some sense if that was the case or else, they had no other reason to join the same club as her as they had never shown any interest in playing any sport, much less her sport.
True, Mikasa was athletic. So, it would be understandable if she said that she was the one who wanted to join the archery club. But here's the thing, Mikasa would not join a club without Eren. Armin was the same as Mikasa, except that he was not athletic and had never shown any keen interest in sports. Moreover, as far as she knew, Eren was also totally not into sports despite being one of the most agile people she had known in her life. Somehow or other, one of them must have signed up to join this club while the other two just followed - like how Eren had signed up for the Environmental Cleaning Club due to his fascination with the interesting safety harness set for wall cleaning while Mikasa and Armin had gone along with his choice without a question.
"Why…" Sasha muttered to herself.
"Yeah, why?" Brett repeated after her.
"This is one hell of a surprise, Armin."
"Yeah, man, this is not the right way to surprise your friend."
Sasha nudged his arm and snapped, "Oh, be quiet, Brett."
"Sasha, Brett, the two of you," the team captain suddenly interrupted their little conversation in a low harsh voice as he turned his head towards them. An annoyed glare was evident on his face. "I kept hearing whispering noises behind me. Are you two even listening to the chairperson?"
Sasha covered her mouth guiltily and muttered behind her palms, "Sorry."
"So, did you get ASMR?" Brett asked with a toothy grin.
"Shut up, Brett. I know you are making fun of Sasha again."
"Oh, c'mon. Why would I do that?"
Before the team captain could chide him for being incessantly annoying all the time, he felt a light tap on his shoulder and a whispering call of his name. Together with Sasha and Brett, the team captain turned to look at the source - the chairperson - with a stiff smile. The chairperson glanced at Sasha and Brett for a moment before returning her gaze back to the team captain.
The chairperson informed them, "Due to the limited targets and bows, we are going to split the students into groups of fifteen and each group will have two facilitators. Lucus, our Ace, will be our demonstrator for today."
The team captain nodded and said, "Great. Leave it to our Ace to show off his skills."
"What will the rest of the groups do if it isn't their turn?" Sasha queried.
"Leave it to Brett," the chairperson blurted. A smirk plastered on his face as he fixed his gaze on Brett. "I trust that you have extremely great entertaining skills to help the students to pass some time, young man."
"What? Wait... No!" the said boy spluttered, flabbergasted by the useless role he was given. "I can't entertain!"
"Thank you, Brett. I appreciate your jokes all the damn time. It's time to let your second talent shine! Please have your showcase underneath the audience sitting area if you like," the chairperson said as he placed his hand on Brett's shoulder, giving him a light squeeze of assurance and trust to which the latter had no choice but to reluctantly give in.
Sasha and the team captain were tasked to take on the observer roles while the other members were assigned to either the facilitator roles or the miscellaneous roles which entailed timekeeping, logistics, and being buddies to the newcomers. True enough, while the first group of students was learning to shoot some arrows from Lucus' demonstration in the arena, Brett tried his best to entertain the other groups of students with his cold jokes to which most of them did not laugh or find amusing. At one point, he glanced at Sasha who was attending to the first group of students with the team captain and he called out to her in a loud, whiny voice.
"I can't do this shit without Sash!"
Sasha turned to look at him, shot him a serious look, and gave him a thumbs-up. She shouted back, "I have faith in you, Brett!"
With that, she looked away and carried on with her duty, pretending to ignore his protests. Laughter and giggles were heard, and an amused look instantly flashed across the team captain's face.
He tapped on Sasha's shoulder and said jokingly to her, "You know what? I'm beginning to think that you and Brett will make good comedy partners. Brett's jokes alone are practically useless."
"You're kidding," Sasha muttered as she approached a bespectacled girl who was struggling to hold the bow in an upright position. While helping the girl adjust the position of the bow, Sasha continued to speak, "Besides, I already have a comedy partner, so I don't need another one."
"Wow. Seriously?"
Turning to him, Sasha nodded with a laugh and replied, "Yeah. He and I are practically like twins and partners in all sorts of ridiculous and silly things since we were little kids. Our ex-classmates used to call us the comedy duo."
The team captain cast a sceptical look at her and remarked, "Hmm… You don't look like the type who would do silly things though."
Sasha laughed again. Unfortunately, she was that type of girl who would do silly things sometimes. "Who knows? Kids sometimes do silly things together."
"Right. I guess our Brett is still a kid whom we must handle."
-:-:-:-
An hour had passed painfully for Brett and he quickly left his entertainment spot for a break while another member took over to conduct some icebreaker games with the remaining two groups who had not had their trial yet. Despite the long wait, Eren's enthusiasm did not falter - he felt bubbly inside, his hands were itching to touch the bow for the first time, and his eyes were gleaming with excitement like that time when he had first tried out the wall cleaning safety gear. On the contrary, Armin was looking down at his crossed legs with his palms pressing against the sides of his head, trying hard not to fall asleep; at the meantime, Mikasa appeared to be tired of listening to the nonsensical jokes and waiting for their turn to step into the arena. Neither did Armin and Mikasa understand why they had signed up for this club. If not for Eren, they would not be wasting their time doing something that they had never thought they would do.
"A-Are you serious about joining the Archery Club?" Armin asked in astonishment when he saw Eren grab a pen on the table and lower his body in order to write his name on the sign-up form. "You don't even play archery."
"Huh? I thought beginners can join as well," Eren said as he looked up, glancing at a female member behind the booth to seek for her affirmation to which she nodded in agreement. "There's no harm trying out the sport too, Armin. I think that picking up a new sport is good for my health… and can reduce some stress from schoolwork."
"Do you have the time for a second club, honestly? You joined that cleaning club because it is a slack-ish club, cleaning the school once a week, other than just wanting to use the cleaning gear. However, the commitment level for a sports club is very intense!" Armin reasoned with his friend worriedly. Seeing Eren continue writing his details on the paper, Armin added on, "Look at Connie and Sasha. They are literally training three to four times a week."
Putting down the pen, Eren turned to his blonde friend with a look of reassurance and said, "Don't worry. I can cope with the training. Besides, recreational archery isn't as intense as the competitive group. With my skill level, I won't be in the competitive group either."
"Exactly. You don't even know how to hold a bow. Even so, you have to think about managing your ti-"
Just then, something caught Armin's eye. Standing a few booths away from the archery club booth was Mikasa, who was being surrounded by a group of Asian girls from the Hizuru Cultural Club - the club which was well-known for its traditional flower arrangement event every year. One of them was holding up a piece of paper with a pen in front of Mikasa while the other girls looked like they were trying to persuade her to join the club. Her reluctance to join the cultural club was as clear as day even if she was not directly rejecting the girls. Her eyes were continuously darting left and right as if she was trying to find a way to slip away from them.
"Those girls won't give up easily, huh. Mikasa already rejected them yesterday," Eren muttered as he started walking towards Mikasa's direction while Armin followed him behind. "Yo, Mikasa!"
Mikasa flinched at the call of her name and immediately turned around, noticing Eren and Armin coming her way. The girls around her stopped talking and looked at their direction as well. Taking this opportunity to leave the group, Mikasa squeezed her way through the small gap between the girls and hurriedly went to Eren's side. Eren looked down at her and grinned.
"I joined the Archery Club, the one which you wanted me to join," Eren said in the most cheerful tone she had ever heard.
But the problem was that she had no idea what he was talking about. Her eyebrows rose a notch as she stared at him in puzzlement.
"Armin has been telling me that joining too many clubs isn't good because of time management. So, you shouldn't join too many clubs, Mikasa."
Still confused, Mikasa glanced over to Armin who then shrugged with a weak smile.
"Eren, what are you-"
"I joined the Archery Club," he stated again. "The one which you wanted me to join. You said you had already signed up for that, didn't you?"
"Uh…" Mikasa went speechless for a moment when she finally realised what he was trying to do. Her eyes flickered to the girls from the cultural club and then back to Eren and Armin. "Yes, I did. I'm glad that you have chosen to join the club with me. Armin, have you signed up? I remembered that you said you wanted to join us too."
"Huh?" It was Armin's turn to stand under the spotlight. He could feel a drop of sweat roll down his forehead as he thought of a way to play along with this conversation. "I… I haven't signed up yet, but I am going to do so right now."
"Oh! Great! The booth is right there, Armin. Let's do it now!" Eren exclaimed while pointing at the Archery Club booth.
As Eren was leading Armin back to the Archery Club booth again, Mikasa bowed politely to the girls before leaving the scene with the two boys. She caught up with them and lightly bumped her shoulder against Eren's arm, capturing his attention.
"Thanks for saving me back there," she said with a warm smile. "They were so persistent that I didn't know what else to say other than saying no."
"They probably won't look for you anymore since this is the last day of the recruitment drive," Eren replied, still tugging his blonde friend towards the Archery Club booth. "For now, we just have to act like Armin is going to sign up for the club until they go away."
Thinking that the plan was fantastic, Mikasa nodded in agreement. When the trio arrived at the booth, they were greeted by the same club member who had attended to Eren and Armin earlier on. The girl at the booth glanced at Mikasa and smiled at her.
"Hi. Are you interested in the Archery Club?"
Mikasa shook her head in response and pointed at Armin. "I'm just here because my friend is interested to have a look here."
Armin tensed up upon hearing Mikasa's excuse. A forced smile plastered on his face as he nodded hesitantly.
He mumbled, "I guess so… Seeing Eren apply this… I think I am quite curious too…"
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Mikasa," Eren spoke up again, suddenly remembering that he had not told his sister about him signing up for the club. He pointed at the sign-up form and informed her, "I am going to join the Archery Club."
Initially, Mikasa thought the boys were still playing along with the excuse so she did not say anything about Eren's idea about joining the Archery Club. It was only until she accidentally lowered her gaze and spotted Eren's name on the paper which he had pointed to her earlier. Her eyes widened, flabbergasted by the fact that he had indeed signed up for the club. When did he do it? Why didn't he tell her beforehand? She stepped forward and reached down for the paper. She held the paper up in front of Eren's face, staring hard into his dark green eyes.
"What is the meaning of this, Eren? You didn't tell me that you are planning to join the Archery Club," she blurted.
Eren frowned at her and retorted, "I told you just now, didn't I?"
"I thought you were joking," she argued.
"Why is it every time I do something it will be a joke to you?" Eren muttered softly. "I chose to join this, so you aren't going to stop me."
Mikasa's brows furrowed as her hand dropped to her side. Her heart clenched at his words. That was not true. She had never treated each of his decisions as a joke. He always made reckless decisions without thinking about the consequences, but she had never once looked down on him. Moreover, she had always chosen to play a supporting role in everything he did even if she did not like it.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I was just so surprised that you have decided to join a second club," Mikasa mumbled as she lowered her head apologetically. "You can do whatever you want. But why archery…"
"Well, I just find it interesting."
Mikasa knew it was more than just interesting to him. He had made a similar decision before and that was when everything had started to fall apart, killing them both. Even if she could stop him from joining the Archery Club, he would be picking up the bow behind her back, just like the last time. Nothing would stop him once he became interested in something.
"Hmm… That's bad, Eren," Armin spoke up with a small smirk playing on his lips, trying to ease the tension between the siblings with a little teasing. "You aren't planning to keep your little interest subtle anymore, are you?"
"What?" Eren shifted his confused gaze to Armin. Seeing his cheeky smirk made him self-conscious and feel embarrassed by his own decision to join the same club as a certain someone. "There's nothing wrong suddenly being interested in sports, right? Stop looking at me like that, Armin. I have already explained my reasons to you."
"Good for your health and to reduce stress. Yes, sure thing," Armin said with a nod. "Just remember to manage your time well."
Eren laughed. "Geez. I will. Don't worry too much."
"I will join too," Mikasa interjected as she turned to face the girl at the booth. "May I borrow a pen, please?"
Shocked by her unexpected 'interest' to join the Archery Club, both Armin and Eren gaped at her while she began writing down her name and her details on the sign-up form.
"Are you sure, Mikasa? You don't have to force yourself to join because of m-"
"I chose to join this too, so you aren't going to stop me," Mikasa cut in before he had the chance to stop her from tagging along with him.
After she was done writing, she put down the pen and faced the boys again. Because she had repeated the same thing as he had said earlier, Eren found himself unable to argue any further. On the other hand, Armin pressed the middle of his forehead with his index finger as a line slowly formed between his brows, appearing to ponder about something.
"I think…" He looked conflicted as he shifted his gaze to the sign-up form. "I will sign up as well?"
Upon hearing that, both Eren and Mikasa widened their eyes in surprise as if they did not expect their friend to tag along with their decisions as well. Wasn't he the one who had discouraged Eren to take on a second club? Whatever it was, they knew that Armin had forced himself to join the club because of them. Since they were little, Armin would follow them around no matter where they went although he would be the one who would weigh all the pros and cons of all the decisions they had made. The only time their roles reversed was during their university application. As Eren did not want to study medicine which his father had wanted him to enrol into, he chose to apply for the same university course as Armin who had already earned a place in it weeks before the application date with his excellent preliminary examination results. Unlike Armin who aspired to be involved with public policies, Eren had no other reason for applying for that course besides wanting to study something interesting. Since Armin had mentioned that studying humanities and social sciences were interesting, so why not study that course? This way he did not have to follow his father's and his older brother's footsteps.
Without a second thought, Eren and Mikasa coincidentally spoke up at the same time, "You don't have to force yourself to join be-"
"Nah," Armin interrupted them with a chuckle, amused by their genuine consideration for one another. "I think it will be fun to learn new things together. Don't you guys think so?"
Eren knitted his brows together. "But…"
Not wanting him to say anything further, Armin shook his head and picked up the pen. With a kind smile, he asked Eren, "So, are we going to tell Sasha about this?"
"Shh! Don't tell her. We're going to surprise her," Eren answered, grinning playfully at the thought of seeing Sasha's wide round eyes staring at them when she found out that they had joined her club.
Mikasa shrugged with a soft sigh. So, that was how the trio had decided to join the club together… without telling Sasha.
"Next group, please!"
Eren jumped on his feet almost immediately after he heard the team captain calling out to their group. It was finally their group's turn to try out the bow and arrows. They went into the arena and gathered in front of the demonstrator while the team captain began giving his instructions to the group. Meanwhile, Sasha was nowhere to be found as she had left the stadium to grab some bottles of chilled drinks for her club members.
After the demonstration, everyone wore the armguard and got to practice holding the bow first while the team captain corrected their posture. It was only then Sasha returned with the drinks and a packet of spicy tapioca chips which she could not resist not buying from the canteen. These chips were newly added on the shelf and this called for food tasting. She just had to buy the chips. Knowing that she still had to help her seniors out, she put away her chips and started distributing the drinks to some of the club members before joining the others in the arena where she saw the trio holding up the bow. Much to her surprise, Mikasa could get the posture right for someone who had never tried archery before, or so she thought. As for Eren and Armin, like many others, they needed some help in adjusting their hand and arm positions each time they were told to lift the bow. It would take some practice before they could hold it right.
Sasha tapped on her team captain's shoulder and pointed at her friends who were still holding the bow wrong after their second correction, informing him that she would be helping them out for a moment while he attended to others. Then, she quietly walked up to the boys from behind and gave them a little surprise by squeezing herself between them, lightly knocking against their shoulders. Startled by the contact, the two boys jumped a little as they turned their heads towards her while still staying in their shooting position.
"Look who's here today." She grinned toothily at them. "Aren't you guys lucky that I am going to be your teacher for today?"
"Hey, Miss LovesBruce," Eren greeted her, giving her a small smirk. "Aren't you surprised to see us here?"
Pretending to be mad at their unexpected presence, Sasha narrowed her eyes at him and said sharply, "No. But why didn't you guys tell me anything, huh?"
"We want to surprise you, that's all."
"Eren's idea," Armin admitted.
Sasha glanced at the blonde with a weak laugh, not believing what he had said. Although she knew that Eren was full of surprises in both good and bad ways without him realising it, the fact that he had actually taken an effort to try surprising her astonished her more than him turning up for the trial session.
"So, whose idea was it to join this club?"
"Our dear Eren," Armin quickly answered before he could allow his best friend to cover everything up. Knowing him, Eren would attempt covering up his actions to make his intentions less obvious, whether intentionally or not. And there was no way Armin was planning to let him get away with it after taking a considerable amount of effort in trying to keep his little interest less subtle than before. He lowered his bow to his mid-chest level and added, "Mikasa and I just went along with his decision since we thought it was fun to try something new."
"Oh, really?"
Sasha turned to face Eren who immediately avoided her questioning gaze with an irritated look on his face. Then, her gaze fell on Mikasa who was confidently standing next to Eren with her bow held up in the shooting position and her eyes fixated at the front, not speaking a word despite noticing Sasha and the boys casually chatting next to her. Sasha crooked an eyebrow quizzically as she stepped forward, allowing herself to stand before her friends. Before her senior could catch her slacking off with her friends, she quickly reached out to Armin's bow and started adjusting his posture.
As she was doing so, she made a very soft random remark to Armin, "I didn't know that Eren is interested in archery. I thought it was Mikasa's idea or something."
"Mikasa?" Armin looked mildly surprised. "Why her?"
"Look." Sasha lightly jerked her head towards her left, signalling Armin to look at Mikasa. "She seems passionate. Her stance doesn't look like someone who just learnt to hold a bow a few minutes ago."
While the two of them were silently staring at the black-haired girl, studying her almost perfect posture and stance, the latter finally removed her gaze from the target and looked at them with a small frown. Interested to know what they were mumbling about, Mikasa narrowed her eyes and mouthed 'what' to them. Sasha shook her head with a weak laugh and quickly focused her attention back to correcting Armin's shooting posture. After helping Armin out, Sasha proceeded to help Eren with his bow while a feeling of anxiety began building inside her. She had touched so many boys, in a good (appropriate) way, since the start of the trial session and she felt nothing. But the thought of her going to touch Eren's hands and arms, and possibly his back, made her head dizzy and her body stiff.
Come on, Sasha. This is not the first time you are touching Eren… Sasha's breath hitched as a sudden gush of heat rose up from her neck to her cheeks. Oh my gosh! This sounds so wrong! What the hell are you thinking about, Sasha?! She mentally screamed in agony and took a few deep breaths to reduce the rising heat around her neck. She needed to calm down.
"You… You are supposed to hold it like this," Sasha tried her best to sound as calm as possible while her hand touched his fingers on the nocking point and began adjusting their positions. "Now, pull the bowstring."
Eren did as he was told. He brought the bow to his front and pulled the bowstring to the side of his cheek. "Like this?"
Sasha nodded and went ahead to fix his body posture. She placed her tensed fingers on his right shoulder and his upper back, and gently pressed against them. Taking the hint, Eren straightened his back and locked his elbow in response.
"When you hold the arrow, you will have to place the nock between your two fingers and hook it here. Remember three fingers on the bowstring," Sasha reminded him as she patted his fingers on the nocking point. Check. "Next, your feet."
"Shoulder width apart," Eren said and slid his right feet slightly to the back and straightened his legs.
Check. "Good. Equal weight on each foot. Now, relax your arm and back," she continued as she carefully rested her palm against his lower back. Seeing his arm suddenly tense up and move upwards when she had told him to relax, she frowned. "Your arm is too high. The bowstring is going to slap you after you release it if you hold the bow like that."
His grip tightened around the nocking point, causing his arm muscles to flex harder. Sasha stared at him in disbelief. He was holding the bow fine earlier. What happened to him? She looked over to his other hand at the front and noticed that he was also gripping the bow grip tightly. She did not get it. Why was he slipping back to his mistakes again? Even Armin got it right after she had corrected him. Without thinking twice, she tugged the bow and forced it out of Eren's grasp, startling him.
"H-Hey!" He turned to look at her with a pair of wide eyes and a thin line forming between his brows. "Why did you do that?"
"Why did you tense up?" Sasha asked him.
"I did not."
Sasha shook her head, not buying his answer. She said firmly, "That's not good, Eren. The way you're holding the bow isn't going to make your arrow fly straight and it's pretty dangerous too. You have to redo the steps again. You won't be using the arrow until you learn how to relax while holding the bow."
She held out her palm in front of Eren and gestured to him to follow her movements. Taking his left hand, she placed it on the bow grip and then instructed him to hold the bowstring like how she had taught them. After making sure that his feet were in their right positions, Sasha stepped a little closer to him and wrapped her hands around his, planning to help him draw the bowstring so that he could learn to relax his muscles. Unfortunately, as soon as her hands touched his fingers, she could see them tremble slightly and his grip tightened again. Looking up at him, she could vaguely see a faint tint of pink on the tip of his right ear and immediately realised why he was awkwardly tensing up when he was holding the bow.
Panicked, Sasha withdrew her hands and said nervously, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
Eren flinched at her words, looking as if he was not expecting her to actually catch him red-handed for being uncomfortable. He took two steps away from her and accidentally stepped onto Armin's shoe, earning a soft gasp from his blonde friend. It was his turn to panic as he quickly moved away and apologised to Armin who was strangely giving him an unamused look.
"Are you okay, Eren?" Sasha asked worriedly as she began walking towards him. But she stopped when Eren suddenly turned his back on her. She could see him lowering his head while his free hand running the back of his neck.
"I'm fine," she could hear him mumble. He was still not looking at her.
"I… er… Y-Your arms are tired, r-right?" Sasha spluttered anxiously, trying to think of an explanation for his poor stance. "I should've noticed it earlier. To be honest, I got really shaky and tensed the first time I held the bow because I wasn't used to holding something this big and heavy. It's absolutely normal!"
"Uh…" Eren turned to look at her with a thin smile. "Maybe you're right. I'm not used to holding the bow."
"It's okay!" Sasha forced a smile and encouraged him further, "Don't worry about it. You will get used to it in no time!"
There was one thing she was beginning to notice about Eren – his ears would blush scarlet. She had never seen anyone whose blush would literally go all the way to his ears, betraying his silent emotions. She remembered seeing his ears turning red as well after she had said something embarrassing about the Jaeger joke. As for the fact that he had trouble getting into the right shooting stance, he was no doubt feeling a little embarrassed for not performing up to his own expectations when Armin and Mikasa could.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, you know," she blurted out her thoughts. "I can slowly guide you. Just let me know if you feel that I'm going through the steps too fast. I can slow down."
Eren furrowed his eyebrows and nodded hesitantly. "Uhh… okay."
Before Sasha could continue guiding her friend, she heard her team captain's voice calling out to her. She froze, suddenly aware of how she and Eren had just made a small scene in front of many other students and her seniors would think that she was not doing her job well. The brunette slowly turned her head and dreadfully looked towards her team captain's direction. Seeing that he was walking towards her with a serious look on his face, Sasha quickly pulled herself together and stood next to Eren with an apologetic look.
"What's going on here, Sasha?" her team captain queried as he glanced at Eren who looked like his anxiety level had been doubled by the mere presence of that senior. "This guy nearly tripped over."
"I was-"
"I lost my balance. I'm sorry, I wasn't careful," Eren interrupted Sasha before she could explain herself. "Sasha was trying to correct my posture but I… lost my footings."
Sasha turned to look at him with her mouth agape.
"And the afternoon heat is making my head a little giddy," Eren added.
Is that why he looks a little red and tense? Sasha thought to herself as she studied his ear again. She felt bad if that was truly the case. She apologised, "Eren, why didn't you tell me that you aren't feeling well? I'm sorry if I was being too harsh on you earlier."
Eren shook his head, assuring her that it was not her fault. Although she felt that she was not actually being harsh on him, she guessed that she probably was since all she could think about was trying to calm her racing heartbeat and cool the rising heat in her cheeks while attending to him – so much so that she had failed to see how uncomfortable Eren was at the beginning. She felt terrible. Really terrible. If she had not let her emotions take control of her body, she could have noticed Eren's discomfort earlier. She looked away from him guiltily, avoiding his gaze. Just then, she heard a soft thud on the floor and rapid footsteps heading towards her. A hand reached past her and grabbed onto Eren's wrist.
"Eren, are you really sick?"
Sasha looked up again and saw Mikasa in front of them looking worriedly at Eren. Before he could say anything, Mikasa's hands went up to his cheeks and forcefully turned his head to the side while her eyes scanned his face. In response, Eren jerked his head away and made some inaudible grunting noises in protest against his face being cupped and turned without warning.
"Oh," a soft sigh escaped her lips as she removed her hands from his face. Her face turned sullen. "That's not good, Eren. What were you thinking about?"
Not understanding what she meant, Eren frowned and said, "The afternoon heat is really getting into me, Mikasa. It's definitely not good."
"Do you want to take a rest? You can join the last group later," the team captain suggested to Eren.
"No, I'm good. I can continue."
"Eren, you are not making any sense," Mikasa pointed out in a dull voice. "So, are you good or not good?"
Eren narrowed his eyes, wrinkling his nose as he appeared to think hard about her question. Mikasa crossed her arms, impatiently waiting for his answer. Before five seconds were even up, Mikasa had already decided what was best to cure his afternoon heat of an excuse. Again, without warning, she held Eren's sleeve and started tugging him.
"You're coming with me now," she ordered.
As always, being a stubborn person, Eren stood firmly on the ground. There was no way he would let himself get pulled away for no reason, much less not knowing where she wanted to take him to. He asked brusquely, "Where to?"
"To make you feel better."
"You are not answering my question!"
Ignoring him, Mikasa turned to Sasha and asked, "Is it okay if we join the last group later? I promise we won't take long."
"Sure, go ahead," the brunette replied with a thin smile and a small wave. "Have a good rest, Eren. See you guys later."
Mikasa nodded and said, "Thank you. See you later, Sasha."
"Wait, I-" Before he could say anymore, he was led away by Mikasa.
Meanwhile, Armin still had that unamused look on his face as he watched the Jaegers leave the indoor stadium. Seeing Sasha look guilty as she made her way to another student who was holding the bow wrong, Armin felt equally bad for her… and perhaps for Eren too. He was not sure if he was feeling bad because the brunette was oblivious to his childhood friend's transparency or the fact that Eren had seriously screwed up his ingenious surprise plan and unwittingly made her feel guilty for something that was not her fault. Shaking his head, he raised his bow and resumed his practice.
-:-:-:-
In the end, Eren and Mikasa joined the last group and they managed to clear the trial with the others. It was finally break time and most of the students had left the stadium to grab some snacks and drinks. Feeling relieved that she could finally take a rest after standing for almost two hours, Sasha hurriedly ran to the side of the stadium where her school bag was and hungrily took out her beloved packet of chips from her bag. Her eyes brightened at the sight of the packet and shook it hard next to her ear with glee.
Hearing the sound of the chips hitting against one another made her mouth water. She held the packet in front of her and squealed loudly to herself, "Were you waiting for me, Chips? I can't wait to taste you!"
With that, she tore open the packet of tapioca chips and started snacking on it. Unknowingly, her voice captured the attention of Brett who was leaning against the railing at the seating area above her. The boy stood up and looked down, smirking at the small figure below him.
"Yo, Sash. Mind sharing your chips with me?"
"Hm?" Sasha tilted her head upwards upon hearing his voice and her eyes immediately darkened at the sight of his teasing smirk. "No. You know that I don't share my chips with others. Well, except for my housemates and very close friends."
He laughed. "Oh c'mon. Don't be selfish. You just said that I'm your boy-friend too."
"Go buy the chips yourself," she responded curtly.
"Meanie."
"You're the one who is always mean to me, Brett," Sasha said as she rolled her eyes. "Seriously… just come down if you really want the chips. I can give you some."
"Wow, really? I know you are so kind!" Brett laughed again, eliciting a soft groan from Sasha. He waved his hand at her and said, "Sorry, I gotta pass on this kind offer. Can't afford to gain any more weight. Need to keep in shape, you know." He winked at her.
Flustered, Sasha pressed her lips tightly together and jumped on her feet. Pointing her finger at him, she yelled, "I really hate you, Brett! Why did you even ask me to share the chips with you in the first place?!"
Amused by her outburst, Brett rested his arms on the railing and gave her a cheeky grin before turning his back on her and sitting on the ground again. He leant against the railing and raised his hand with a peace sign, annoying her further. With an angry grunt, Sasha stomped her way out of the stadium through the back door, not wanting to meet that person's eyes again. When she stepped out of the stadium, she saw someone with a familiar red scarf wrapped around the neck sitting on the stairs in front of the exit, her chin resting on her knees and her vacant eyes staring into space. She did not seem to notice Sasha's presence behind her even as she approached her.
"Hi, Mikasa," Sasha greeted her in a soft voice as she sat on the stairs next to her. "Where are the boys?"
Startled by her voice, Mikasa flinched and turned to face her friend with a pair of wide eyes. But her surprise look quickly faltered as soon as she saw her.
"Hi, Sasha," Mikasa greeted, sounding weaker than usual. "Uh… Eren and Armin… they went to the cafeteria to buy soft drinks."
"I see."
"Yeah…" Mikasa let out a soft sigh and shifted her attention back to the front again, pulling her red scarf up to cover the lower half of her face – a habit that Sasha had come to notice as well whenever Mikasa was bothered by something.
Sasha did not know what to say to her despite the obvious fact that something was bothering her friend. Ever since she had gone over to her house, Mikasa's forlorn look had always been in her mind. It would be a lie if Sasha were to say that she was not interested to know what was weighing her friend down although she was afraid to ask her what had happened.
"How is Eren?" Sasha queried.
She remembered him looking fine when he had returned with Mikasa earlier, but she wanted to double-check with Mikasa again since she was with him most of the time.
"He's fine," Mikasa replied. She looked up, appearing to ponder about something before glancing at Sasha. "His afternoon heat seemed to dissipate quickly right after I made him drink cold water… and he said some mean things to me after that."
Sasha fought the urge to smack her own forehead upon hearing that. Eren and his stupid mouth! He was never honest with his true feelings. Sasha could imagine Eren trying to save his own pride while Mikasa trying to save him from drowning in the afternoon heat.
"What did he say?"
Mikasa closed her eyes and sighed again. "Stop trying to act like Mum… I'm not your little kid."
"Oh." Sasha clutched onto her packet of chips tightly. "So… th-this is what has been b-bothering you."
Mikasa shook her head. "No, I'm used to it."
"Then…" Sasha looked away, wondering if she should ask Mikasa about the things that were making her feel so down. She should not pretend that she did not see anything, should she? Mikasa was also her friend. It was time for her to step up and stop running away like always. "Is something else troubling you?"
"Troubling me?" Mikasa sounded surprised by her question. "Do I… look that troubled?"
"I'm sorry… but honestly… yes," Sasha said hesitantly.
"Is that so?"
Sasha turned to look at her again and forced a small smile. "You know, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it now. But if you ever need someone to talk to, I… I will be there for you."
She could see Mikasa's eyes soften. Mikasa pulled down her scarf, revealing a kind smile and her rosy cheeks. As this was Sasha's first time reaching out to someone, a blush inevitably made its way to her cheeks and she looked away again.
"Thank you, Sasha."
Sasha smiled bashfully and said, "No, please, don't say that. We are friends, aren't we?"
Mikasa nodded with a wider smile this time and said another round of thanks. However, that wide smile, as Sasha had caught on, was sad and bitter. Knowing that she should not press on, Sasha decided to keep her silence and just enjoy the light breeze under the shade with her friend. It was better this way, like how Krista and Connie knew about how her nightmares had been bothering her for months yet they had given her some space and patiently waited for her to share her burden with them. In the end, she never did. Everything about her dream was stupid and ridiculous, not something she would daringly share with others.
Putting the packet of tapioca chips between her and Mikasa, she said casually to her friend, "Do you want some?"
"Tapioca chips?" Peering curiously into the packet, Mikasa noticed a layer of red powder coating the chips and then she politely rejected the offer while shaking her head, "No, thank you. I don't eat spicy food. I can eat spicy things but… I just don't like them."
"Oh… okay."
The girls fell silent once more. While Mikasa appeared to stare vacantly into space again, Sasha picked up the packet and quickly stuffed her mouth with chips. She got to finish the chips fast before the break was over. The tapioca chips tasted surprisingly good although the red chilli powder was burning her tongue and throat. She was also never a big fan of spicy food but if the food was delicious, the spiciness did not matter at all. She would buy the tapioca chips again later to stock up her pantry.
After a good minute of silence had passed, Mikasa cautiously stole a glance at Sasha, who was enjoying her snack, before looking away with a sad frown. She cleared her throat, earning a curious gaze from the brunette.
"I used to have a friend. A very close friend," Mikasa began. Her voice quivered as she spoke.
It was obvious that what she was going to say would be a sensitive topic. Sasha immediately swallowed her food and stopped whatever she was doing. She just stared wide-eyed at her friend as if she had never expected her to bring up something about herself. At least not so quickly. Even though they had been friends for a year, Mikasa did not share anything much about herself. In fact, none of her friends in university actually shared anything personal about themselves, their past, and their present. What she knew about them were the visible aspects of their school lives. They were always keeping everything to themselves, carrying large smiles on their faces to school every day, and they were afraid to ask one another about their troubles. Sasha was like them, and they were like her. The only person who was so open with her since she was a kid was her best friend Connie, yet she could not bring herself to tell him anything about her nightmares and recent dissociations.
"And as for Eren…"
Sasha's ears perked up upon hearing his name.
"He fell in love with her."
Hi all! How are you doing? Whether or not your country is currently under a lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic (Covid-19), I wish that all of you are doing well and taking good care of yourselves and your loved ones at this tough time. We will get through this together!
By the way, thanks for reading this chapter and I would like to thank those who followed this story and also the reviewers (Shiranai Atsune, and Guren lux).
Preview of Chapter 23:
Clinging onto her dear life, her teary eyes reflected all sorts of emotions which she had lost since she had returned from Marley the second time. For the very last time, her roommate begged her for help. It was not for her own sake. It was for him.
See you in the next chapter! Stay safe! :)