"So when will we reach Yeld again?" Eren asked in a low, depressed tone
"Judging by what the captain said, it'll take another day to reach."
"I knew we should have gone from Marley" he said in the same tone
"Like I said Eren, we can't just do that! There'll be passport issues!"
"We should have taken a flight then."
"Use your senses Eren! There are more than 50 students in this team. We can't just afford flight tickets for everyone! Besides it's just a six-day trip by ship which we have mostly to ourselves!
"What a pain. We're so poor and weak that it makes me sick. We're so fucking useless" He said in the same tone. His face looked like you could get depressed just by looking at it.
Armin looked at Eren in frustration
"God you're pissing me off Eren! What the hell's gotten into you! We're going outside our country for the first time together and you've been spoiling the mood ever since we set out to sea! Isn't it just the best to be surrounded by the sea for six whole days?"
"That's exactly-"
Just then the two heard a familiar voice in the side
"What's up boys?"
The two turned to see Mikasa in a black bikini with a huge fish near her height in in her hand and a huger smile on her face. Unknown to her, she had the eyes of all the boys in the vicinity who gawked at her curves and how cute she looked when she smiled.
"Hey Mikasa!" Armin greeted her
She lifted the fish proudly and showed it to them
"Look what I found!" she said in childish glee
"That's one huge fish! I'm surprised how you can hold it like that in one hand." Armin exclaimed
"It's just a stupid fish" Eren said boringly
"There you go spoiling the mood again! Anyways how did you get your hands on a fish like that that Mikasa?" Armin asked
"I was bored staying on deck the whole time so I asked the captain if I could go for a swim in the sea. It took a while to convince him, but he ended up letting me go in the end as long as I kept a tracker on me. I spotted this fish next to me while I was swimming, and then I caught it!"
"That's good and all but don't you think going to sea like that is dangerous?"
"I just couldn't resist! I've gone to beaches before but I don't know why but…every time I go to the sea I feel like I'm seeing it for the first time ! That's how much I love the sea!" she said with a smile
Eren gave a disappointed sigh.
Armin then noticed the two of them and then realized how out of character they were. Just then Mikasa asked him
"Anyway, do you have any idea why everyone's staring at us like that?" Mikasa asked
"Well…uh…" he stared at Mikasa from top to bottom and turned his head awkwardly to the side and said
"It's just that…you…kind of look…really attractive in a bikini…"
Mikasa blinked. She then said teasingly with a slight smile on her face
"You're lucky Annie's not here else it would've totally ruined your chances."
Armin blushed "How did you-"
"I can tell. Anyway…"
She looked behind to see all the boys staring holes at her, Jean in front
"Do I really look that good in a bikini?"
Jean then screamed "Yup, drop dead sexy!"
She then slowly turned to Eren with a blush on her face.
"Thanks…"
Eren, on the other hand looked disinterestedly at the whole scene with his chin resting on his elbow
"Uh…Um…Eren, what do you think? H-How do I look?"
Eren took a glace and said with same depressed and bored face
"Your abs look weird."
Mikasa's face fell in an instant and she slightly clenched her fist. Armin put his hand on his face
"I give up."
Jean tried to lunge onto Eren in fury but was held back by the other boys who were also furious but chose not to in fear of Mikasa
"Damn you, Yeager! I'll fucking-"
Just then he was punched by Mikasa on the face to fall to the ground. He looked at her and said
"But Mikasa I-"
"He called my abs weird, not yours, if you even had any. Why do you bother? Next time you come near Eren again, I will personally beat you to a pulp." She said in her usual cold tone
Jean was then dragged by the other boys while he kept mumbling "Yeager…Mikasa…why?"
Mikasa then grabbed a bathrobe and went to Eren "Eren I know you have some issues with the sea, by could you at least be a bit considerate about other people feelings?"
"You've had me surrounded by saltwater for five days."
Armin then intervened "Wait, wait, time out. Firstly, why are the two of you so weird today?"
Mikasa and Eren looked at Armin as they said simultaneously "weird?"
"Yeah, I mean, look at yourselves. Mikasa, who rarely expresses herself , is now teasing people and getting giddy over catching a fish. And Eren, who's too proud for his good is now behaving like a person in chronic depression. Secondly, what do you mean by 'issues with the sea'? "
"I wouldn't bother explaining it" said Eren as he stared into the sea from the railing
Mikasa then sighed while keeping two fingers on her forehead "He's always been like this whenever we were at sea. I remember the first time we went to the beach with his parents during middle school. He was the same hyper kid throughout the trip, but when we went to the beach, it was like he had a personality switch. Like the sea sapped him of all his spirit. I still remember him looking at the horizon with those lifeless eyes, like nothing mattered for him in life anymore. It took him four days and a beating from me to come back to his normal self. All that time, it seemed like he was hypnotized. He knew what was happening around him, but he didn't. Since then, he refused to come to the beach every time, no matter how much we tried."
"What about you Mikasa? Why do you get excited near the beach?"
Eren slightly turned his ear to listen
"Because I have some really good memories of my parents near the beach. We used to come to the beach every chance we got…Long weekends, vacations, you name it. Every time I come here, I feel like I have a connection to this place, like all my problems and concerns just vanished into thin air…like there's no need to feel worried anymore. It feels really peaceful."
"Is that really how you feel about the ocean?" Eren said
"Of course! Everyone feels like that near the sea! Right Armin?" Mikasa said
"Yeah! That's why people come to the beach in the first place!"
Eren raised his eyebrows "Really? That's…odd."
"You're the odd one Eren. I've never met anyone who's like this near the ocean. Did anything bad happen to you near the sea?"
"N…No, I wouldn't say that…it's just that…it's kind of…natural."
Mikasa raised an eyebrow "Natural?"
"Hmm. The way…you guys felt peaceful near the ocean, I feel depressed. The first time I saw the sea, I felt a void in my heart, like I was ripped of all humanity and happiness…like there was nothing in this world worth living for. I felt like I was betrayed by the sea"
Mikasa and Armin stared at Eren as he clenched the part of his shirt near his heart
"My senses went into overdrive and my instincts kept screaming at me that the sea's a very horrible place, no matter how many times I tried to deny it."
Eren's free arm began to shiver at this point as he pointed towards the horizon
"I have a feeling sometimes that at some place beyond all this seawater… somewhere, there's something dangerous, something that shouldn't be tampered with at any costs."
Armin and Mikasa stared at him intensely as his body began to shiver
"E-Eren, are you okay?" Mikasa asked
"You look a little pale." Armin said
"Yeah I'm…totally…fine" he said as he collapsed to the ground
"Eren!" both of them screamed as they rushed to him
