Is this what betrayal felt like? The feeling of your chest getting tight as sweat dripped down your face, eyes unmoving as you stare at the person you once trusted with a myriad of emotions coming from your eyes. Is this what the scouts felt when Reiner and Bertholdt betrayed them? Because holy shit this hurts.
Armin isn't helping me in any way as he stares at his hand obviously thinking hard about his decision but I can already see where this is going. While his accomplice just smirks in smug satisfaction, the smirk someone has when a plan comes together...wipe that damn smirk off your face Eren! It's pissing me off! But I can't afford to let my furious thoughts show, since they would likely scare Armin, causing him to react without thinking which would then lead to cementing his betrayal. So I resort to the one thing that never fails...begging -yeah right-.
"Armin don't do this to me, man!"
"I'm sorry J! Eren put me in a bad spot!"
"You don't have to do it! Just take it!"
"What! No!"
"Take it and we'll work together! We can jump Eren! He's the mastermind, he's the dangerous one!" Armin sadly did not look convinced in the slightest...fair considering I had the advantage. Eren, the bastard was remaining silent the whole time, content to watch things play out.
"Please!" I begged but to my horror, Armin closed his eyes as he grimaced.
"I'm sorry…" Time slowed down for me, watching as Armin raised his arm into the air, the card he had still not being shown, but I already knew of its contents. A multitude of emotions burst out from my heart, I couldn't believe that this was happening at first. But then I turned my head at Eren, whose smirk just got wider...fucker was looking straight at me! I would get him back later as retribution. But at the moment I knew that I could do nothing to stop this turn of fate.
"Plus four! Change the color to red!"
"You bastard! I had Uno you son of a bitch!" That doesn't mean I couldn't show my displeasure.
"Language!" Despite committing such an atrocity, he still had the gall to try and reprimand me? Wasn't he a little too arrogant? Shouldn't he be looking down at the floor in shame because of his actions? We might need to have a little talk later regarding what to do in certain situations when actions are wanted and unwanted.
"You had Uno, but now you have nine." Eren -the cocky bastard- spoke at last, and he spoke the truth. I had a wild card and now I have nine more than necessary. Fucker! He was the one who sparked this betrayal, placing down a plus four, and leading poor Armin to make such a critical and difficult decision...So this is the mind of the man who wiped out the world...prick.
Reluctantly I picked up eight cards from the deck. Making sure to take my sweet motherfucking time as a way to show my displeasure. Armin looked away, putting his hands in his lap where three cards were being held, while Eren crossed his hands across his chest, proudly showing off the four cards he still had left.
"My turn!" Eren said with such cheer that it made me want to throw up.
"Plus two! Plus two! Plus four, change the color to yellow! Uno!" Without another word, he placed down a yellow one…
"That's not how it goes!" I frothed at the mouth, shooting up from my sitting position. I stomped my way over to Eren who still had that annoying ass smirk on his lips.
"Of course it does!"
"Are you trying to tell me that I'm wrong!? I literally made the game! I am the creator!" ...In my defense Aot doesn't have many games. The only ones that I could find were chess and checkers, and while those two are entertaining in their own way they don't have the chaos of family night impacted into them. So I just got myself some cardboard, cut it into little rectangles, colored them while writing numbers and symbols on them, and boom! Uno! 'My' creation was born!
"And I made it better!"
"You made it an abomination!"
"Now, now you two…" Armin tried to placate us, sadly he would be disappointed. You just don't fuck up the rules of Uno, it is already a dangerous game as it is, but fucking up the rules is begging for you to get your ass beaten.
"No Armin! He doesn't deserve my mercy!" I spat
"Your mercy is the equivalent of a skunk butt!"
I gasped "...How dare you…"
"Yeah! I went there!"
"Don't talk to me anymore Eren…"
"Fine!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...So you've seen that new teacher we have?" Surprisingly it was Armin who said that.
"I want to marry her." I say, why? All I got is three things to say...goddess...with ~ass~.
"Same." Eren agrees.
"Friends?" I ask.
"Yes." Eren accepts.
We men -we're eight- are simple creatures.
/-/
After playing Uno for a couple more rounds where Armin won most of them, -sadly me and Eren were tied one to one- we left each other for the day. Armin went back home, while Eren and I headed to his house to hang out since the two of us still wanted to entertain ourselves... probably by play fighting. But even then the idea wasn't as appealing at the moment. A sentiment that both Eren and I shared. So when we both saw Grisha changed out in his suit preparing his doctor briefcase, we jumped at the chance.
"Where are you heading off to Mr. Jaeger?" I ask.
"I have an appointment with a small family today. It's quite a walk so I'm going over there myself instead of them coming to my clinic." Ohhhhh shiiit...he's going to Mikasa's...isn't he? Well, now I have to go don't I?
"Can we come?" Eren asks. Damn, he beat me to the punch.
"Are you boys sure? It won't be a short walk. Or run for that matter."
"It's fine. Besides, we have nothing better to do, and I was already itching to travel somewhere." I say, and while what I said is true, my main goal is to try and save Mikasa's parents. Sure they may not have contributed much to the story or Mikasa's development, hell I even forgot about them, and I've been thinking about Mikasa for the past seven years. I think earlier I said that Carla would've been the driving force to show if I could change the future...well now it's going to be Mikasa's parents.
"Well even then I won't go for a couple more hours so, you boys still have some free time." Yea alright, sounds legit...Wait no! The Ackerman's would already be dead in a couple of hours! Wait, were they killed in the morning or in the afternoon?! Why have I planned for everything after the Fall of Shiganshina and nothing before it! I'm a dumbass! I need to know if they're alive right this instant!
"Why though? Why can't we go now?" I need to play it cool, panicking over the time is only going to get him suspicious.
"Well, umm?" Right, I barely ever whine so this might be the first time Grisha is witnessing me acting spoiled "My appointment isn't until later in the day."
"But if you go now won't you have more time for later? Besides, there's a chance that me and Eren will be doing something later. Do you really want to miss out on us two accompanying you?" I shot him what I considered to be a charismatic grin, hugging Eren with one arm...I decided to ignore his attempts to push me off.
"...I suppose I don't?" He said, I could see the question mark appearing over his head.
"Cool!" I clapped my hands "So can we go now?"
"Why are you being so pushy?" Eren asked
"You'll understand when you're older." The classic excuse, every adult says when they don't feel like explaining something to their overly curious child. And it always leads to the child ending up more annoyed, luckily all they have to do is ignore the child after the phrase is said.
"What? I'm literally older than you!" HAH.
"Like I said you'll understand when you're older."
"Alright, alright no need to argue. We'll head off now just allow me to gather some things from my clinic. It'll only take twenty minutes, promise." Grisha reassured us, and while I wanted to go this instance that would be far too much to ask.
"Ok…" I said crossing my arms, then a bell rang through the town.
Eren whooped "Oh! The scouts are heading off! I forgot about that!" He bounced up and down in excitement, joy vibrating off him. The anime didn't do him justice, he really does like the Survey Corps.
"Well now, isn't that the perfect thing to occupy you for twenty minutes?" Grisha asked, a smile etched on his face, while he began to put on his fedora -KENNY-.
"Suppose so…" I muttered.
Eren grabbed me by the arm, trying to drag me "C'mon let's go! I don't want to miss them!" And I let him do just that. He ran through the town while I was just a rag doll flying in the wind. Not even five minutes later did we see the hundreds of scouts all lined up already prepared to march off, eldians already crowded around them cheering. It made me sad knowing that most of those scouts would die. Eren climbed onto a pile of crates to get a better view, and I followed him.
Trailing my eyes over the sea of green, I tried to see if I could spot any familiar faces. I managed to spot several, but while important they weren't the ones that had gained my attention. Levi Ackerman was here...looking as antisocial as ever, if not more...Wait, wait, wait...were those Isabel and Furlan? Excuse me?! First off, fix your cut Furlan that shit looks disgusting, second was Levi's first mission based in Shiganshina?! I don't think it was!
What the hell?... This is the path's work ain't it? Are they trying to influence me to do something? Because I'm starting to get really uncomfortable when it comes to these things. But then again this is also a prime opportunity, Isabel and Furlan both die because Levi wasn't with them when that abnormal attacked. So what would happen if I just gave Levi a little...push in the right direction? Would he be able to save them, would they die, or would Levi die? I don't know, but when I see him later -or in a couple of years- I'll know.
"Eren, stay here I'm getting a closer look." Jumping down to the ground -ignoring Eren's surprise- I made my way through the crowd, being small had its advantages since I could just squeeze in through the gaps of people's legs. At the front of the crowd, I sneakily began to make my way to Levi -crawling under the horses- until I was underneath his horse -didn't it die because of Zeke?-. Standing up I rubbed the side of the horse causing it to buckle, Levi stared at me in surprise having not noticed me -I thought he would-, did he have a lot on his mind?
He glared at me "What do you want brat?" Damn, you really started it out like that? Alright, I see you. I won't in a couple of years though, BOOM ROASTED.
"Well now, aren't you just a can of peaches and sunshine." He scowled at me...oh sorry I'm supposed to act terrified right? Ahem...Ohhh nooooo, please! Not the angry face! Anything but that! Please Levi don't absolutely fucking wreck me like you did Eren! I don't want to lose my tooth!
"Now, now no need for you to pout." I tried to placate him -not really- but it appears that Levi still isn't the 'calm' sort of fellow that he is in a couple of years.
"What is it brat?" He snapped at me.
"Just thought that you looked a little...ferocious, so I wanted to tell you to be careful out there. I think that it's going to rain."
"I'm planning on it. Now go away." Ohh? But it's so sunny, why would you want that? -I'm so good at playing innocent, aren't I-.
"You know rain is bad right? Rain isn't what most consider an advantage." It looked like he was about to tell me to fuck off, but he just pinched the bridge of his nose instead.
"What are you trying to say." He asked, glowering at me all the while.
"I'm telling you if you're going to do something don't do it." Hah, caught him off guard again.
"What?" He said, his voice becoming much colder than it was before. Was that frost coming out of his mouth or my imagination?
"I don't like how you look at that blonde guy. I get the feeling you're going to try something." I pointed at Erwin, Levi spared a glance -scowling- before he turned his attention back to me.
"And what if I am brat?" He challenged. I saw his hand inch ever so closer to his blade... Really dude? You're thinking about offing a kid in the middle of the day, surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, and civilians alike? Bro, that's one of the worst ways to try and improve your PR.
"All I'm saying is that you're going to take a risk, and it's not going to work out in the end."
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, you go by yourself out in the rain, abandoning your comrades. You could end up killed, or they could end up dead either way, not a happy ending." He remained silent for a while, I think he was trying to ignore me. Well, now I have to bring out the big guns.
"Besides, I think that you want something from the blonde guy?" Hah, three times I have taken him by surprise. That's got to be a world record right?
"I'm not wrong am I?" I asked...sheesh man you have your hand on the handle of your blade, chill out a little why don't you.
"Who the hell are you brat?"
"Ehhh, just a kid who more or less knows what he's doing. So I'll just give you some advice, if you want something from him chances are that he's not going to have it while on a mission." Four times motherfucker! That's definitely a world record! Also, did Levi and his friends never once consider the chance that Erwin wouldn't have those documents? Sure, in the show it's considered a plot twist, but in real life that's just not thinking hard.
I heard Shadis's voice, shout out from the front. Looks like my time is up. I crouched again, preparing to crawl from under the horses again -praying that they didn't start running- but I decided to give Levi one last piece of advice "Be careful out there! Titans always hide in the fog! I read it in a book!" No I didn't.
I scrambled my way under the horses, already hearing the ones in the front begin to move. It was just by pure skill -luck- that I managed to make it out in time. A little while later when the gates closed, the crowd began to disperse and Eren ran up to me.
"Who were you talking to?" He asked.
"A sourpuss." He looked confused but I didn't particularly feel like explaining myself, so I just shook my head and said.
"Let's just go find your dad." He was still curious, but he shrugged.
Instead of making our way back to Eren's house, we decided to head off to Grisha's clinic. It was a ten-minute walk, in which me and Eren occupied ourselves by talking about the things that happened in school. There's this one girl who's being especially pushy towards him, and when he had enough he told her to 'fuck off', she ended up crying and he was forced to sit in the naughty corner. He complained about it being unfair, as he was just defending himself. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the girl had the biggest crush on him and cried because she thought he rejected her. Poor Maria. On the other hand, fuck yea curse words!
Time flew by fast as we talked about other things -bacon, trees, our existence as humans…- and it surprised us when we arrived at the doorstep of the clinic. When I was about to open the door, it suddenly opened, making me and Eren flinch. The bell rang, and Girsha stepped outside, seeing as I saw him carrying nothing I assumed that all of the stuff that he gathered was inside his suitcase. He looked surprised for a moment, before chuckling he said an apology in which we waved off.
"Ready to go?" Grisha asked, pushing his glasses a little farther up his nose.
I wanted to mess with him. "We've been ready, old man."
"Old man?!" Yea, Grisha is apparently very sensitive about his age. How I found out I rather not say...the horror...
"It's a joke." Eren came to my 'rescue'.
"Did you already tell your mother, J?" I felt myself freeze...no I did not.
"J?" Grisha asked, a frown beginning to form.
"He didn't." Eren realized, he cradled his head and began to shiver. Past trauma was surfacing at that moment, and I couldn't blame him, I was already running towards my house.
"I'll meet you at the outskirts, go on without me!" I yelled. From the corner of my eye, I saw Grisha wave at me.
Sprinting in the streets I cursed at myself. How could I forget the need to tell my mother?! She's already worried about me being in the town by myself, if she ever found out that I went to the outskirts without telling her...No...don't think about it, I don't need the nightmares.
It took me less than five minutes to reach my house, at the front door I was panting slightly wiping off the sweat from the small run, calming down my beating heart I took a deep breath. Confidence, that's all I need. I opened the door.
"I'm home-" I didn't get to finish, as I promptly scooped me up into the air, my ribs being crushed. I cranked my head to look at my assailant, and to no one's surprise, it was my mother, who was vibrating with joy.
"J! You're back, did you have fun in the city! You didn't get hurt, did you?! You didn't hurt anyone did you?!" I would answer if you released me, woman! Sadly, my wish didn't come true, and like all the days before, I thought that I would die via crushed spine -she always stops before it happens- but thankfully today I had a guardian angel come to my rescue.
"Layla, you're crushing the poor boy." Carla spoke from the table behind her, sporting a bemused smile and a teacup in her hand. Were you two having a tea party? But don't stop there aunt Carla, please do more to help me!
Mama whined, "It's so that he can feel my love!" Yep, really feeling the love here...and my bones fucking breaking! Aunt Carla sighed, placing down her teacup she stood up from her chair she walked over, and opened up mother's 'loving embrace'. I fell on my hands and knees gasping for breath, one would think that after experiencing this for three years straight you would get an immunity, well you don't!
Mama poked her fingers together "I'm sorry sweetie, it's just that you got here earlier than I expected, and well...I got excited." If you were known to the weebs and otakus back home they would have been calling you their waifu. Thankfully though, you are unknown to them, the only person that has the right to call you waifu is father.
"It's fine Mama." I wheezed "But I'm not here to stay." Mother quirked an eyebrow, Carla mimicking her. Alright, it's ok for the two of them to be curious but why can I see suspicion in their eyes, I'm not that bad!
The two of them remained quiet, beckoning me to continue "...Well...how should I say this…" I really should've thought of a game plan...screw it "I'm going to the outskirts with Eren and Mr. Jaeger."
"The outskirts?" Carla wondered, before snapping her fingers "Grisha did say that he had an appointment out of town."
Unknowingly Carla had just become my wingwoman "Yea, those two are probably already waiting for me, so…" I trailed off. Mother was worried, that much I could tell, she was an overprotective hen through and through. If I was perhaps born like a normal child then she probably wouldn't have let me go, but I had shown her and father, and basically everyone else in Shiganshina that I'm not a normal child. So with a sigh, she gave me a nod.
"Just be careful. Ok, sweetie?" Dammit, why do you have to sound so sad? Walking up to her, I hugged her stomach, which she eagerly returned, this time gentle. Letting go, she crouched down and kissed me on the top of my head. I smiled at her, which she returned.
Carla gave a small gasp, before going back to her chair and grabbing a red scarf, before coming back and handing it to me "Can you give this to Eren, please. He forgot it this morning." I nodded, grabbing the cloth, wrapping it around my neck.
Turning around I waved behind "Bye Mama! Bye, Aunt Carla!" The two gave their own goodbyes, but I was already out of the house closing the door behind me. Rushing down the streets it wouldn't be until fifteen minutes later did I arrive at the outskirts -sweat dripping off my body- where Eren and Grisha were waiting. Thankfully my training came along nicely, so while I wasn't exhausted I was warmed up...Perfect.
"You told your mom?" Eren asked, eyeing 'my' new accessory.
"Yep. And here." I handed the scarf over to him, which he quickly put on. He grimaced slightly once he realized that he had a bit of sweat on it.
Grisha began to walk "Alright, then. Shall we?" With a nod, me and Eren followed him.
Walking from the dirt trail, I took in deep breaths of the fresh air. It was different from the town, which was always filled with the smells of food, and wood filling the air. But here, all that could be smelled was the scent of the trees, it felt nice as the wind carried it over. Eren liked it too, humming a small song that I recognized as something that Aunt Carla always sang to us whenever I slept over at his house. I began to hum too, instead humming the tune that mother sang to us whenever Eren slept over. Oddly enough, the two songs worked well together almost as if the two were pieces to the same puzzle. My goal was to secure the Ackerman's, but it sure was nice to enjoy the small moment's that life gives.
But eventually, all good things have to end at one point "So their house is just in this direction right?" I asked Grisha. He was content listening to our humming, jumping a little when I suddenly kicked him out of his trance. Sorry, was I disturbing your peace?
Grisha corrected himself "Yes, why?"
I gave a sly smile "No reason...Eren race you there!" In a moment I was already sprinting down the dirt path, kicking up dust.
"What?! No fair!" Eren coughed, waving away at the dirt as if it was smoke. With a growl he started to sprint behind me, sadly he was much much slower than I was. Grisha looked on, his glasses falling slightly, before sighing as he muttered something about troublesome kids.
/-/
I commended myself for my quick thinking skills. Using a race as an excuse would be the perfect opportunity for me to scout ahead. Thankfully if I have my way I'll be at the Ackerman house before Eren and Grisha arrive, so that would be more than enough time to see, if they're...dead or not.
Following the dirt road, taking notice of the scenery of the pine trees. Shit, these things were hella tall, why would the Ackerman's wish to live out here? Is it because Mrs. Ackerman is Asian? Because I find that to be a dumb move, sure the city might be filled with dangers, but you could always count on somebody noticing if something went wrong. The outskirts give you isolation and that might be a good thing, but you're fucked if some psycho takes notice. Besides, how does Mikasa go to school? This isn't Japan, fucked up people would jump at the chance if they see a child walking by herself in the woods, it would be a prime opportunity for disgusting shit. So is she homeschooled? Wouldn't that make her socially inept when the time comes to meet new people?
As I sprinted over a hill I spotted a small cabin surrounded by a garden. The Ackerman's. I also spotted three men.
There they were! Shit! They were already at the front door! Fuck I'm not going to make it!
Without stopping my sprint, I picked up a rock -around five or so pounds- aimed at the guy who was about to knock on the door. The muscles in my arm bulged as I gripped the rock as tightly as I could, when my left leg was raised in the air I stomped it back down, digging it into the ground I balanced myself swerving my arm behind my head, veins began to show and with a grunt I launched the rock.
The rock flew through the wind, cutting at the air, it should only be fair that it cut into the thugs back. The man fell to the floor with an agonized scream, grasping his back in a feeble attempt to soothe the pain, not much he could do though since the rock was embedded into his spine. It was an agonizing pain that I wouldn't wish to feel, but for some reason, I couldn't feel any remorse or even try to acknowledge his pain...maybe death took more than just my life, and I'm barely realizing it now. But do I care? No.
The other two thugs jumped back in surprise, as they weren't expecting their friend to suddenly collapse to the floor. Which was the perfect opportunity for me to close the distance, however it was also enough time for the two thugs to notice my presence. With yells of anger, the two charged at me, and I met them halfway.
I skidded past the first thug, ducking under the swing of his fist as I did so, the armed guy was my priority. He lifted his ax above his head, bringing it down in an instant, I side-stepped the slam and responded by hitting him in the throat with my knuckles. He gasped for air, releasing his grip, jumping up I grasped his hair dragging him down until his nose met my knee. A satisfying crack of cartilage met my ears.
"Little bastard!" Not taking notice of the other guy, and I met the consequences as he threw a rock at my head. I was able to avoid it hitting my skull but the blasted thing managed to cut deep into the sides of my mouth, the pain distracting me enough for the guy who threw it to pick me up and proceed to slam my back into the ground. I grunted from the force of it, yet it didn't hurt as much as it should've, having prepared for it by raising my head and flexing my abs. If he slammed my head it would've been a different story.
The guy then proceeded to get on top of me and use his weight to trap me. He then proceeded to rain down punch after punch on my face, and while some did land -one busting my lip- I was able to avoid or block most of them. When he raised his hand a little too far up though, I took my chance and proceeded to jab him in the side, in between the ribs. As he shouted, I used it as a means of escape, bringing my legs forward, and using his thighs to propel me back into a roll. I underestimated his recovery time though, since the moment I got my head looking up again, he was already grasping at the back of my shirt, slamming me once again.
I landed on my back, but this time I was able to roll out of the way when he tried to trap me again. Making some distance between the two of us I used it as a time to catch my breath. While he didn't look bad he was grasping at his side a little, it was good to know that my jab made some lasting damage, for how long I didn't know. I turned my attention to the other guy, and he was starting to get back up, holding his nose as a way to stop the torrent of blood. He would be fine in a minute or two. Shit...
"Scared now boy?" The guy who slammed me asked menacingly -nah it was pussy talk-, as he and his buddy stalked toward me. I spit blood from my mouth, wincing as I wiped off the excess, before standing up. They were different. These guys weren't civilians, they were probably thugs from the underground. Of course, they would put up more of a fight.
I couldn't help it, a smile bloomed on my face, adrenaline coursing through my veins. So this is what a real life or death felt like? It felt awesome! Training and fighting normal people could only do so much, I had never been in a true fight until this point! There weren't any thugs in Shiganshina, never any true people who deserved my all, but these fuckers, oh these fuckers! They were about to get fucking shit on!
"Fuck you!" Rushing forward I caught the two off guard by how fast I approached. By the time that the two were able to react it was far too late. I jumped at the guy who slammed me, climbing over him until I had him in a chokehold, he tried to throw me off but my grip was far stronger than his.
"Shit! My eye!" The guy screamed, and for good reason too, I had just shoved my finger inside of his socket, digging around until I had a good grip and yanked out the organ in a gory mess. He dropped down to his knees howling, forgetting me entirely as he held his face.
"What's going on?!" An unfamiliar voice yelled. Sparing a glance I felt my body freeze as I saw Mr. Ackerman standing at the front of his door. Horror was plastered on his face as he stared at the brutality in front of him, I got a glimpse behind his form and I saw both Mikasa and her mother holding on to each other behind him.
A hand gripped the back of my neck harshly yanking me off the whimpering thug before my mouth was held shut, and my arms trapped to my side. I struggled but the guy with the broken nose had me in a tight hold. Shit! Why did I take my attention off him?!. After all my trash talk! Second time this bullshit happened! 1v1 me pussy! Fair and square bitch!
"Good day!" Broken nose said, and despite the situation, I couldn't help but question him. 'Good day'? That's how you want to start it off?! You have a broken nose, and I just crippled two of your friends! And you want to start it off with 'Good day'?! Also, your voice is nasal as fuck!
"Who are you?! And what the hell happened?!" Mr. Ackerman shouted, sweat pooling off his brow, unsure of what to do. Who could blame him? He's witnessing me absolutely wreck two adult men, I already took care of the guy by the door, who Mr. Ackerman was staring at, panicked.
"We're lumberers from Addison Wood! We were going to knock on your door to notify you about us going to cause a ruckus near your home! But then this crazy-ass kid fucking attacked us, he crippled two of us and broke my fucking nose!" I had to give props to the man, he could make up a lie on the fly, also Addison Wood? Could you make a more basic name than that? Also, your grip is absurdly tight! Do you fucking jelq, mini-penis?!
Broken Nose continued "Could you help my friend get to his feet?!" Broken Spine? Why would you...the glint of metal met my eyes from underneath his jacket. Shit! He has a knife! How could he still have the motivation for something like that! I broke his fucking spine!
"Ah!...Of course." Mr. Ackerman was hesitant, but in this limited knowledge scenario, I was the bad guy. Fuck! Broken Nose's grip was fucking tight, and he was tough too! I bit his hand more times than I could count and despite my efforts, all I got was the taste of dirt stuck on my tongue! How many times has this dude been in this position?!
I watched restlessly, kicking and squirming as hard as I could, as Mr. Ackerman crouched down to Broken Spine, being careful with his handling. Is it a blessing or a curse that he's taking his sweet ass time?! Fuck! What can I do?! What can I fucking do...Ah of course…
I relaxed in Broken Nose's grip, and he looked down in confusion, his grip never faltering. I looked at his eyes and smirked, not that he could see it. But he sure as hell could feel the ax in his back.
Bellowing, Broken Nose finally let his grip loosen and I took the chance kicking him away from me. I smirked at Eren, who like much before looked dead with a bloody ax in his hands, but I don't need to worry about that.
"He has a knife!" I yelled, and Mr. Ackerman who was too shocked -having watched Broken Nose- let Broken Spine slip from his grasp, drawing both a wail from him and letting his knife skid across the ground. Mr. Ackerman jumped back, the realization of how close to getting stabbed now becoming apparent to him.
I let myself sigh, but no time to let my guard down, there was still One Eye, and while I don't think he would be a problem now, he can still act up...where the fuck is he! I can see the place where his blood pooled up but he's not there...Shit! If the trail of blood is anything to go about, he went into the woods. Did he retreat? In the original timeline he died -I think- and he was the guy who awakened Mikasa's Ackerman instincts but that didn't happen this time. Did I change the future too much? Am I supposed to take Mikasa's place now?! Fuck it! I'll worry about it later! There is still the possibility that Mikasa's parents are still meant to die!
"Mr. Ackerman!" I made my way towards him, and he was quick to get behind his door, ready to close it at a moment's notice...He was scared of me, wasn't he? Fuck this isn't going to help my situation.
"How do you know my name?!" Cliches aside, I didn't move from my spot unless I wanted to scare the Ackerman's more than I already have.
"I'm with Dr. Jaeger!"
"Dr. Jaeger? Then where is he?!"
"Around five minutes away! I think? Doesn't matter! He's close by and we need to all get out of here!"
"Why?!"
"Because I don't know if these are the only guys that came after you! And the other guy is gone and it's not making me feel too safe right now!"
"After us?! What do you mean?!"
Shit, I said too much "I got here before Dr. Jaeger! And Broken Spine over there already had his knife out! So please stop being suspicious and let's get out of here!"
Mr. Ackerman although hesitant, opened his door, stepping over Broken Spine he took the discarded knife "Honey if there's anything you need to do, do it now, Mikasa stay close, we need to go." He said to his family, from beyond the door Mrs. Ackerman scampered off, while Mikasa looked lost...it was kind of weird seeing as in the anime she always had a purpose -Eren-, now she truly did look like a little kid. When Mrs. Ackerman re-emerged from god's knows where she took Mikasa by the hand, the two quivering behind Mr. Ackerman, who slowly led them to where Eren and I were.
"You try anything…" He tried to threaten, but I cut him off before he could finish.
"Mr. Ackerman I don't want to do nothing but sleep, and Eren is the equivalent to an angry puppy. I think you're safe." I say, the adrenaline had all but worn off at this point, I was running on fumes at the moment. At the moment I was ready to collapse, everything hurt, my head was bleeding and I'm sure I got some real nasty bruises already in the making. I ignored Eren's squawk of anger, instead taking the ax from his hands and throwing it to the ground. I ignored the Ackerman's family consecutive flinch.
Leading the group, I watched as the sky above us began to darken, the wind started to pick up blowing leaves away and chilling all of our bones. Soon it started to drizzle, small droplets of rain hitting our clothes and skin, before long we were all freezing, with fingers and toes growing numb and goosebumps forming on our skin. It wasn't long until it started to rain harder, with the droplets falling harder, now succeeding in drenching our clothes and hair.
"We need to hurry Mr. Ackerman." I said, taking the time to wash my face with the rain, rubbing away at the blood and grime that my body had accumulated. Mr. Ackerman nodded, in acknowledgment, taking off his vest and putting it on to a soaked Mikasa. I pointedly ignored Mrs. Ackerman with all my being, her blue blouse and pink skirt while pretty was not helping me at all. And neither was the rain...wasn't it supposed to rain much later?... Shit, don't tell me the paths are at work.
"Shit!" I whispered, once I finally took notice...I didn't know where we were. I barely ever went out into the outskirts of the city, so I wasn't as familiar with the layout, even after walking here with Grisha I couldn't remember the paths we took, the rain didn't help my sense of direction either.
"What's wrong?" Mr. Ackerman asked with a frown marred on his face. I took special notice of how tight his grip on the knife was. Isn't he supposed to be fucking optimistic?! He was unnaturally cheery in the anime!
"I lost my way, do you know where we're at Mr. Ackeman?" I questioned, he should...shouldn't he?
"I know where we generally are, but I don't know the exact location. The city is that way, but in this weather, I'll most likely be going to get us lost." Fuck…
"...This way…" Eren spoke, his drenched hair covering his face.
"Eren?" I questioned before I took notice of his eyes...they were dead again...shit the paths were influencing him.
"This way!" He took off in a random direction. I spared a glance at Mr. Ackerman, who looked unsure as to what to do. I sighed, before following after Eren, as such Mr. Ackerman beckoned his family to follow us.
Following Eren through the forest, I noticed that he was taking exact turns, not even taking a look at the environment or surrounding area, almost like there were directions engraved into the back of his mind. I had a semblance of an idea as to where he was taking us, and if my idea proved to be true then it would mean that the paths were involved now.
Not even two minutes later did we arrive at a wooden cabin.
You have got to be shitting me. So the path's involved themselves, so do they want the Ackerman's to die? Or do they want Mikasa to awaken?... Or do they want me to die? Or perhaps none of that at all, maybe they just want us out of the rain. Optimism am I right?
"Be careful, we don't know if there's anyone inside." I warned, optimism might be nice but it means nothing if it doesn't work out in the end.
Inside the cabin there was nothing that showed that people were living here, no furniture or valuables were anywhere to be found. But then again this was most likely a spot where traffickers probably met up. I scanned the room and nothing looked like it was touched in a while, made obvious by the amount of dust that was on the windows and floor, hell walking even left an imprint of our feet. The only thing that I liked about this place other than the fact that it was creepy as fuck, was the scent of pine that the cabin carried. Oh and the fireplace, the fireplace was nice, the firewood that was already set was just the bonus.
"Mr. Ackerman, can you start a fire please." He looked surprised for a moment, before nodding and getting to work on lighting a fire, luckily he had a starter flint in one of his pant pockets. As he was getting started I explored the house, there were a total of five areas including the living room(?) I was just in.
There were three bedrooms, and a single kitchen all empty of any furnishing or signs of life. All that there was were a couple of chairs and crates -which were empty- that I found in one of the rooms. I took notice that there was a big clean square surrounded by dust, telling me that a crate was taken. I felt a pit start to form in my stomach when I noticed the small almost unnoticeable drops of blood on the floor. This was definitely a house for traffickers, and those crates were probably how they transported their victims. I checked the cabinets and closets that I could find, and to my relief, they were all empty and untouched. Good, One Eye wasn't here.
I made my way back and told them that no one was here, to their relief. I sighed to myself, leaning against a wall before proceeding to slide down it until I was sitting on the floor. I'll think about my dusty back later.
So we're all trapped here until Grisha arrives, however long that would be I don't know since he doesn't know what the situation is. When he arrives -or if he's already there- at the Ackerman household, he's going to see nothing but -probably- two dead men and splotches of blood leading into the forest. He's a smart man, so he's going to call the military police…or was it the garrison? Whatever. Then they're going to search for us, but what happens if the thugs are still alive and beg for help? Only bad things result...when did this get so troublesome? Is changing the future always going to be this taxing?
"You should get near to the fire." Unexpectedly Mrs. Ackerman talked to me. I stared at her in surprise, I thought she and Mikasa were far too scared of me to even try and acknowledge me. She motioned towards the now lit fire where her husband -he was shirtless- and daughter were cuddled up together, Eren next to them outstretching his hands getting as close as he could without burning his hands.
Standing up I made my way, sitting down next to Eren rubbing my hands as I did so.
"Place your clothes near the fire." Mr. Ackerman spoke, not moving his eyes from his daughter's chilled face. Eren and I looked at each other, shrugging before removing our shirts, -Eren taking off his scarf- deciding to keep our pants, we laid our clothes across the fire. If I did take off my pants, I would've felt like a sex offender.
It was silent for a while, the only sound made was the crinkling of the firewood. Taking a look outside, the sun was beginning to go down, I frowned. It was around this time in the anime when Grisha would've arrived with the soldiers, or should've. Damn, it looks like he wouldn't get here for a while, the paths were probably messing around with the time.
"Are you all, ok?" I asked, breaking the silence. It caught them all off guard, Eren included. Luckily he was the one to respond to me.
"Yeah, nothing bad." He said, but he didn't take his eyes off of the fire. I could see the myriad of thoughts and emotions flowing and crashing inside of his head, he'll be ok just needs time I suppose. I beckoned for the Ackermans to answer, the parents looked at each other.
"We're all right." Mr. Ackerman said, his eyes not leaving my own.
"And your daughter?" I mentioned Mikasa, who during all this hasn't spoken out even once. I noticed Mr. Ackerman tightened his hold on her just a little, not much but just a little. He may be suspicious of me and I'm starting to find it annoying, but I can't help but respect him, he is a really good dad, if not just a bit over-protective, but then again that's not a bad thing. If things turn out alright, then Eren's going to have his work cut out for him in the future.
"...I'm ok…" I could barely hear her, but Mikasa whispered out before her parents could answer for her.
"Good." I said before the silence revealed itself once more.
"What about you?" Mrs. Ackerman asked me, now it was my turn to be surprised. With all the shit's that's been happening and me thinking hard about what's to come, I haven't had the time to worry over myself.
"I'm fine...Just a little busted up." To show proof I just sort of touched the side of my lip, and while I didn't show it I fucking regretted it. I touched my cut by mistake. Turns out that Mrs. Ackerman wasn't buying it, she stood up from the dirty floor and proceeded to rip her long skirt, until she had a long wet rag in her hand. She walked towards me -Hoh? You're approaching me?- and began to clean up the cut as best as she could.
"It's not good to lie, you know."...Was she teasing me?
"It wasn't a lie…more like an unknown truth." Mr. Ackerman barked out a laugh that only lasted a second. It wasn't that funny...was it? Apparently, it was since Mikasa giggled too. When Mrs. Ackerman was finished, I nodded my head in thanks as she returned to her family's side. It was silent for several more minutes, with the sound of crackling fire keeping us company.
"I'm going to take a nap." I said, laying on my back and closing my eyes before I could get a response. I heard them all shuffle around slightly before going silent. A small body laid against my side, and I hooked an arm around their shoulder. Eren was still a kid, a crazy(?) kid sure but whacking a man with an ax would still have some drawbacks. He probably wanted to be comforted and I'll give him that.
Once he and I got comfortable, I let myself relax allowing the darkness to seep in and take me into the realm of sleep.
/-/
The creak of floorboards awakened me from my slumber. My eyes snapped open, ears already trying to locate where the sound came from, to no use sadly. It was dark, the fire having long been burned out as all that remained was ash and charred wood, the moon was already shining in the sky. Shrugging Eren from my arm, wiping away the drool that dried on my shoulder, I slowly and carefully got up. The Ackermans were all huddled together with Mikasa being squished in between her parents, they looked comfortable if the tranquil expressions were anything to go by, even if Mikasa had a little pout. I considered waking them all up, but there was no guarantee that they wouldn't panic and as such make noise, so I decided against it.
But they aren't what I was focusing on. Treading the floor like it was covered in glass, I made my steps as slow and quiet as possible, cursing at the thought of never including stealth in my training. I made my way over to the Ackermans, Mr. Ackerman to be specific, as he was the only one with any form of weapon. The nap while doing wonders for my tired body, only sped up my healing process, so now the bruises I had formed into ugly purple spots, and if my thought of there being an intruder proved to be correct I didn't feel as comfortable getting into a fist-fight as before. Luckily for me though, Mr. Ackerman didn't try to hide the knife, just discarded it to the side. Picking up the weapon, I held it in a reverse grip, the perfect way to hold a knife for counter-attacking in my opinion.
Then slowly I walked towards the hallway, watching at the shadows for any movement. Walking down I slowly peeked my head into one of the rooms, there was nothing that looked out of place, as it remained the same as hours before. I was about to leave, but the floor caught my attention, my heart leaped into my throat. The dust on the floor showed a much bigger set of feet than my own… Shit. I don't think Mr. Ackerman has feet that big either. Someone is in the fucking cabin.
Turning around, I walked further down the hall my guard was at an all-time high, so when I heard the sound of wood creaking down the hall, I swiveled my head in the direction. Just in time for an arrow to whistle through the air.
"Fuck!" Howling, I dropped the knife. Immediately feeling burning agony in my thigh, I threw myself into the room I just checked with my good leg, slamming the door shut. Clutching at my thigh, I saw a foot-long arrow protrude from my muscle. Wasn't this shit meant for animals!? From the living room, I heard everyone else waking up, stumbling around in the darkness.
"J?!" Eren yelled, panic lacing his voice.
"Someone's here! Get behind something, they have arrows!" I screamed, before focusing back on my thigh. Gritting my teeth, I grabbed the shaft of the wood and broke it, allowing the arrowhead to stay inside while throwing the rest away. Heavy thumps came from the hallway, I felt my body freeze, expecting the archer to come finish me off. But instead, barreling in came Mr. Ackerman in all his shirtless glory, an arrow just barely flying past him.
"Are you all right?!" No, I am not, but I'm not that much of a prick to say that.
"More or less." I gritted out, he winced at my wound, before picking me up from the ground, carrying me princess style...Oi, what the hell. I'm grateful for you doing this but couldn't you have put me on your back?
"We need to leave!" He told me, getting ready to sprint out into the hallway. It was risky, but right now we were at a disadvantage.
"Wait the knife!" I told him, pointing to the hallway where the knife laid on the floor. Mr. Ackerman nodded before he rushed out, grabbing the knife on the way out. I heard the whistle of an arrow once more and with a meaty thunk, hit Mr. Ackerman. Cursing, Mr. Ackerman got us into the living room before he dropped to the floor. I fell from his grasp, rolling across the floor a bit, having to bite back the curse that threatened to escape my lips. Sitting up, I faced Mr. Ackerman...shit the arrow was stuck in his side. I'm suddenly a lot more grateful I wasn't on his back.
I yelled at Eren "Get our clothes!" I went to Mr. Ackerman's side, with his wife and daughter already being there next to him. Thankfully it looked like Mrs. Ackerman was keeping her cool, having already broken the arrow and keeping pressure on the wound, Mikasa though looked like she was in a daze. Eren handed me the three shirts that we had -I noticed he didn't give me his scarf-, I ripped apart Mr. Ackermans until it was just a long rag.
"Mrs. Ackerman bandage him." I told her, at her nod I handed her Eren's shirt too before ripping apart my shirt, wrapping it around my thigh tight enough that I was probably cutting off my circulation. So when I stood up, the pain was bearable enough for me to move around. I took the knife that had been dropped again and handed it to Eren.
"Eren. You are the only guy who can fight now. Can you handle it?" At his nod I smiled before I made my way over to the fireplace and picked up a charred piece of wood, damn thing was still warm. Making my way to the corner of the hallway I raised the piece of wood, prepared to hit anything.
"Mikasa." At her name, she snapped out of her funk. "I need you to be on the lookout, I need you to tell us if you hear anything. Can you do that?"
"I-I...I…" She stammered.
"Can you do that?" I asked once again, staring at her.
"I...yes."
"Good."
We waited in silence, the only sounds that were made were the harsh breaths of Mr. Ackerman. I was starting to get restless, at this point they should've came into the living room, so what was taking so long-
The sound of the door being kicked open shocked me, and once again I heard the whistle of an arrow, this time followed by Mrs. Ackermans scream. Turning my head I saw One Eye, bow in hand panting like a ravenous animal, a red cloth covering his empty socket. Mrs. Ackerman was clutching at her shoulder where an arrow was sitting.
One Eye threw his bow at me and in instinct I knocked away with the piece of charcoal, grunting as my thigh flared up, One Eye rushed me. Picking me up by my hair he slammed my face against the wall, I saw an explosion of white. Eren charged at One Eye shouting, with the knife raised high, One Eye let go of my head, I fell to the floor groaning, blood flowing out of my mouth as the cut opened up again. Eren tried to stab him, but One Eye just slapped away the weapon, lifting Eren by the throat and began to choke him.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" I tried to get up, but I kept falling, my head swirling.
"F-Fight…" Eren gasped at Mikasa, who was just looking at everything in disbelief.
"E-Eh…"
"Fight..." Eren was clutching at One Eye's arms as he tried to escape, all the while staring at Mikasa.
"If you lose, you die. If you win you live..."
"Shut the fuck up and die!" One Eye roared, blood seeping through his bandage as veins began to pop.
"Mikasa run!" Her mother shouted, before whimpering as she cradled her shoulder. Her husband just let out harsher breaths, as he stared on.
"If you don't fight, you can't win…" Eren rasped, spit dripping down his chin.
Mikasa rushed to pick up the knife, but when it was in her hands she began to tremble. "I can't do it." She whispered out, but it was more like a scream to me. I saw Eren's arms fall to the side, my thoughts began to get panicked, I began to become hysteric.
"Eren!" I screamed, forcing my body to stand up but it failed me and I ended up falling to my face. Fuck! Curse this body of a child! What use is it if it can't handle some pain! Get the fuck up! You useless bastard!
Suddenly lightning flashed outside, and Mikasa's body stilled. Not a second later did she crush the handle of the knife, breaking the floorboard she sprinted at One Eye with a shout. She pierced him in the back, making him screech. One Eye let go of Eren, who fell to the ground gasping for breath, holding his bruised throat. Mikasa took the knife out of One Eye, leaped into the air, and stabbed him in the throat. One Eye gurgled, blood escaping his lips, he desperately grasped at his wound, but to no avail. More and more blood fell to the ground before he followed...limp.
My body figured this would be a good time to blackout.
/-/
Unintelligible sounds met my ears, while bumps stirred me from my sleep.
Groaning I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids refused to open as if there were bricks tied down to my lashes. It was only due to my determination did I manage to crack them open, immediately regretting as light blasted into my retina. Grunting I shut them back shut, content to just lay where I was...where was I?
Curiosity overwhelmed me, managing to open my eyes slightly withering through the pain as my eyes adjusted to the light of a torch. It was still dark out, the telltale sign being the moon and stars from the sky, which I was able to spot from the uncovered wagon...wagon? Turning my head to my left, Eren laying next to me, sleeping with a bandage wrapped around his throat. Turning my head to the right Grisha was sitting down, his hands held together in a vice grip, head held down and muttering threats...shit he had a scary face right now. I wonder if he's furious about what happened...probably, hope he's not mad at me.
Grisha looked up, his furious expression fading from view "You're awake!" Damn, he sounded relieved, he just might get the title of Uncle Grisha if he keeps up the good work.
"Are you alright?" No, I am not.
"Fine." I whispered out...whispered? Huh...I'm not doing too great am I?
"That's good to hear." ...You for real? I got an arrow to the knee -thigh-.
"Where are we?" I asked. Grisha remained silent for a while, looking out into the distance before answering.
"On the way home." Ok, why did you stare off into nowhere though? There's no need to be dramatic who are you, Mikasa?...Mikasa!
I shot up "The Ackerman's!" That was a bad idea, countless bruises were littering my body and every single one of them flared up at the same time. There was also the added pressure on my thigh and face, that didn't like to be moved.
...Huh didn't even notice. Touching my face feeling the padding of a heavy cotton ball stuck on my face. It was stuck on good, was it glue or tape? I couldn't tell. Looking down to my thigh, my shirt wasn't there having been replaced with an actual bandage that was wrapped around, it was a little red, probably from excess blood that seeped out. I'll probably have two scars on my body...Cool. In my previous life, I only had a small scar on my eyebrow that I got from the time I hit my face with the edge of an end table when I was little. Couldn't even see it, my eyebrows covered it.
"Careful!" Grisha warned "...And the Ackermans are right behind us." Oh, there they were in a wagon behind us with...the military police driving the wagon. Oh, so it wasn't the garrison.
"Are they alright?" I winced, ahhh it hurt to talk upright.
"...Yes. Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman will both have scars but they'll be alright. As for their daughter, she's alright for the most part just a little...dazed."
Ok, so she's alright. In the wagon, her parents were sleeping, Mr. Ackerman having a bandage around his torso, while Mrs. Ackerman had a sling. Mikasa was alright, not having any form of bandages on her figure, she just stared at nothing from what I could tell...wait is that Eren's scarf? Oho, I think I see some rosy cheeks. I couldn't help the smirk that came on my face.
"And the thugs?" I questioned, Grisha seemed to tense up slightly.
"...Dead." He said...Oh.
I slowly lowered myself back down until I was lying staring out at the stars, Grisha took it as his cue to be quiet probably thinking that I was starting to feel guilty, he couldn't have been more wrong as I felt nothing for those bastards but in my head, I thanked him for the quiet.
So I succeeded, I could change the future...to an extent. I might've saved Mikasa's parents, but she still awakened her instincts and got Eren's scarf in return, sure it's not a bad thing but it still doesn't put me at ease. I know that lightning strike wasn't just a coincidence, I'm sure that it was the paths at work...Just how much could I change? Are there some things that are just meant to happen? Eren's scarf was a big deal in the series, and so was Mikasa awakening, her parents might've not been categorized as important so that's why they haven't died. But does this mean that Eren's death will happen? It was the most important thing to happen in the series...No, I'm not going to let that happen.
For seven years I have known Eren, I have grown with him, played with him, talked, cared, comforted, trained, fought, screamed, and a shit load of other things, that I now consider him to be my brother! I'll run straight into hell before I even consider letting him die!
I haven't been planning all this time just for me to start to doubt myself now! I'll change that shitty future and make it how I want!
Plan now solidified and fate restored, time to move on to the next plan...how the fuck am I going to survive mother and father? Maybe I should try begging...could I play the victim card?... Shit.
/-/
I am tired.
I am so proud of how this chapter came out like, as of right now this is my favorite. But by god, it took me around 10 hours of writing and editing, which I broke into four days. Sure it might seem like it took far too long, but time flies by fast, and I blame my above-average writing speed. Besides I was beginning to enjoy myself far too much. At first, the only thing I was going to write was the Uno and Ackerman scenes but then I remembered a comment from an anonymous Reader in the reviews, there I decided to include a short Levi scene since I thought that the thunderstorm would be the perfect opportunity to involve all Ackermans. When I finished the chapter and reread it I felt like I wasn't doing my 'mother' or Carla any justice so I made an additional segment dedicated to them. I planned on adding 'father' to that segment but I felt like it didn't make sense, then I got the grand idea to add him at the end, but by that point, I just didn't have it in me.
It took far too long, but I'm for the most part satisfied with how it turned out when I was just about finished with the story I was running on fumes. Then I decided to add Levi, and Layla, and then the resolution, so now I'm dead. I want to start the next chapter as soon as possible but I think that I've exhausted my inspiration and motivation for the next two or three days. I'll probably have a chapter up sometime after Wednesday so be on the lookout for that.
Remember to criticize people, I need feedback!