CHAPTER FOUR

The next three days went by without anything out of the ordinary. The boy and his sister continued to take their lessons, to pursue their hobbies, and if one them or the little blond boy had to go into the city to buy some random stuff, Levi escorted them. They could easily have ordered someone to get the stuff they needed, but Levi assumed that these were the only times they were actually allowed to get away from the estate. Who would have guessed, that being a child of a weapons lord was this boring?

On the other hand, it made his job less painful. But even he had to admit that his urge to get out of here was growing. He was used to long-term jobs, but he'd never needed to stay put in one place for more than three days. Mr. Yeager had gone to Munich, and left Levi in charge of everything. He said it would only be two days until he came back since that girl's birthday was about to take place. So, Levi spent his days working out at the basement's gym, reading some of the books the library had to offer, and checking the terrain for possible openings or security gaps. He was surprised not to have found a single one yet.

The night before Mr. Yeager should have come back, Levi was in his room, inspecting his weapons once more, and to fill the more and more unnerving silence, he switched on some random TV channel. And guess what, nothing but shit or some rerun of shit was shown, so he switched from channel to channel until he passed channel zero, until a little red light flashed on the TV's side. Levi stood up from his bed to inspect it, and saw it coming off from a single tiny button.

Levi pushed on it. Look, what we've got here.

The display split in sixteen screens, all recording rooms and areas of the house. Levi took a quick glance to determine whether he saw himself on any of the screens. Nope, but that doesn't mean shit. He started to inspect every inch of his room as well as the bath, but nowhere did he find any camera. So he looked back on the display and noticed that every room was recorded from out of the same corner.

Left above the entrance, huh?

But still, nothing to be found in his room. He didn't have a problem with being watched, but he wanted to know if that was the case. With the remote he chose the separate screens and switched between them. The first screens showed different angles of the surrounding areas followed by the entrance hall and the house's floors. Next were the recordings of the basement. He saw Mikasa at the gym doing body weight exercises. They often met down there, but never shared a single word. Mostly, she continued whatever she was doing while Levi followed his own lead. They came so a silent agreement, that the less they had to interact together, the better for both of them. She wasn't very fond of him, but it didn't concern him. Yet he respected her to some extent for being strict about herself. Since he had arrived, he hadn't once seen her being lazy or somehow emotional. She always worked at improving, may it be her mind by taking home lessons and homework seriously, or her body by harsh weight and agility training. And she was always wary. Levi just hadn't figured out the motivation behind her actions yet.

He kept on switching, seeing the pool area, the dining room, and the library, where the shorter blond boy was sitting on a chaise longue with a book in his hands. Next, he saw an empty bedroom followed by another one that wasn't empty, though. He saw the boy with those impressive green eyes sitting on his bed, having a silvery guitar in his lap. But he wasn't playing, he seemed to be thinking about something.

Pretty nasty to film a bunch of hormonal teenagers , Levi thought. Do they know they are being recorded?

He switched through the rest of the screens and noticed that neither Mr. Yeager's office nor his bedroom was being recorded.

Could've guessed.

He switched the TV off and walked back to bed, sitting down. His eyes wandered to the book he had taken from the library. Tropic of cancer by Henry Miller. He remembered Erwin reading it when he was in his apartment in Munich for the first time. Even back then he had told Levi, that it wouldn't fit his taste. But since he was left with nothing better to do, he took it when he found it on one of the library's higher shelves. He lifted his legs upon the bed and leaned back on its headboard.

Let's see if Erwin was right.

He started reading, when he felt a clinging inside his chest. The urge was growing bigger. If he had known beforehand that he would be locked up for this long, he would have taken care of it before he accepted the job. But things were the way they were. Mr. Yeager would be back by tomorrow, and then he could simply request to go out for a little while. It would cause trouble, he knew that already, but he would come up with some excuse about it.

Maybe I can involve Erwin, that would make things less annoying.

"I'm sorry, Eren, but I won't make it in time. One of my developers found a bug that I've to take care of myself. When I'm lucky and fast, I'll be back by tomorrow." It was nine o'clock in the morning and Eren couldn't believe his ears.

"But it's her birthday, goddamnit! How can some stupid bug be more important than her?" Eren heard his father sigh.

"Of course it isn't, but there's nothing I can do about it-"

"That's a fucking lie, you're their boss, for god's sake!" Eren yelled down the line. „Bad enough we have to stay here in this fricking house all the time, all by ourselves while you're out there, jetting through the world. Which only got worse since you received that stupid threatening letter. How the hell do you even know that we should take it serious? Perhaps it was just some contra-weapons-guy. But anyways, that's a different issue. The point is, that you should at least be here with us for the important stuff, like Mikasa's birthday!"

An uneasy silence took place between them before Grisha finally spoke.

"I know, Eren. I really do. But there's nothing I can do about it. As you said, I'm their boss. I can't just run away and leave everything be. Please try to understand. I'll make up for it, I promise. It'll only be one more day. I'll be back tomorrow and take you to that nice little coffee shop by the park that Maria told us about when she came back from grocery shopping the other day. How does it sound?"

Eren was still angry at his father, but that truly sounded like a nice idea. And he knew Mikasa would also accept it. „Okay. I guess I tell her then."

"Please, Eren. She'll be less depressed, if you will tell her. You never fail to cheer her up when she's sad."

It was true. All Eren would have to do was to fool around a little, maybe play her a song on his guitar and Mikasa's mood would brighten up. At least a little bit.

"Oh, and please don't forget to tell Mr. Levi as well," Grisha reminded.

Oh yeah, Mr. Levi. That spooky ghost that wanders through our hallways.

He still couldn't get any information out of this guy. He rarely talked, he always ate by himself. Sometimes when their ways crossed and Eren tried to start a little small talk, Levi would just answer him shortly if at all. Something like: "Oh, hi. How are you today?" - "Good." And he would be gone. Eren didn't know what was so damn special about this guy, that his father chose him to be Mikasa's guard instead of someone who would have been a little more sociable.

But then again, he still didn't get this whole matter altogether. Levi, on the other hand, was always on alert. Every little detail in the way he looked, the way he walked, it all screamed caution. But in such a subtle way, that Eren couldn't help but think it was somehow cool.

"I'll let him know, dad." They both said their goodbyes and Eren put down his phone.

So, what am I going to do first? Tell Mikasa that our father wouldn't make it to her nineteenth birthday or Levi that he'll be fully responsible for us for another day?

Eren decided to put the latter front. The conversation with his sister would surely take a longer time, so if he carries things out the other way around, there was a possibility that he would forget about Levi in the end. He pushed open the door leading to the hallway, and made his way up to Levi's rooms.

It was almost time for breakfast; Eren could smell the fresh fried eggs and the fruit slices Maria was preparing. He took the stairs and turned around the right corner, heading towards Levi's door. He hesitated a moment before he finally knocked. Actually it was the first time Eren contacted him himself since he moved in. Every other time, Maria or his father notified Levi when there was something for him to do. The door swung open, but only enough for Levi's figure to fill. He obviously was trying to block Eren's view into the room. Which would have been a little foolish since Eren was half a head taller than him, if there hadn't been Levi's demanding frown that kept Eren's eyes tightly locked on the man in front of him.

He wore a light grey button up shirt partly untucked from a pair of black jeans, and though the suit he was wearing the first time they met looked very nice on him, this look seemed to be more natural for him. Levi's frown deepened when Eren kept on staring at him but stayed still.

"Spit it, brat." He pulled Eren out of his thoughts.

"Ahm, yes. I-I wanted to tell you that my father… Wait, did you just call me a brat?"

Had he really heard right?

"Duh," Levi said bluntly, "is there a problem?"

That got Eren dumbfounded, and he started stuttering. "Err- yes, I mean… Why would you… What did..."

Levi rolled his eyes. „What was it about your father?" Levi interrupted, but it brought Eren back on track.

"Ehm. He told me, he won't be coming home today. And I don't think that calling me names will-"

Out of the blue Eren's nose was hit when the door slammed shut. It happened so fast, he didn't register Levi move.

What the hell is this guy's problem?, Eren thought angrily. Was that the way he treated his clients?

The less I have to deal with him, the better . Eren was about to leave, when he heard Levi talking to someone.

"Yes, it's me. I heard about your continuing absence, so there's something, we have to discuss."

Had Levi called my dad?

"There's an urgent matter I've to deal with personally and it does not allow any postponement. I've to leave the mansion this night. It'll only be for five or six hours and I'll provide a substitute." Levi paused as if he listened to whatever was said on the other side of the line.

Then: „A-all right, Mr. Yeager." He said, sounding surprised.

And did he just stutter?

Eren had no idea what was going on, and all of a sudden Levi was in front of him again. „Listen, brat."

How the fuck did he know I was still here?

"Tonight I'll be gone for up to five hours. In the meantime there'll be someone who supplants me but he won't take you anywhere. You and your little friends will stay here at this mansion. Nod, if you understand." Eren nodded, still clueless. "Good." And he was gone again.

What the hell just happened? Is it me or is he even pissier than usual? And who will his replacement be?

Absently, Eren turned on his heels and headed down to the basement, knowing that Mikasa would be there without a doubt, following her morning routine. He tried to put his thoughts in order, but was still unsuccessful when he entered the pool area, where he found his sister swimming her laps. She noticed Eren immediately, and swum to the ladder where she had left her towel, got out and wrapped herself up. Eren approached her, still looking confused and fixing his eyes to the ground.

"Hey Mikasa," he greeted, "listen, I've to tell you something."

She kept standing next to the ladder, and Eren assumed she already knew what was going on. There would be another birthday where they had to stay at home while their father was miles away. All alone except for a still complete stranger.

And that was the moment Eren realized how wrong he was. The second he came up with a plan that would change Eren's life. Although he didn't know yet.

Levi wasn't going to be there tonight. He would switch place with another unknown guy and he surely wasn't going to hold an introduction. Which means that his replacement wasn't going to know how the three of them looked. So, if he was about to get in touch with them at all, he wouldn't notice if Eren replaced himself as well as Armin and Mikasa with some of the staff members. They could get out of the house without his father or Levi noticing as long as the employees helped them. And Eren had never asked them for any favour before. Additionally, it was Mikasa's birthday and he was friends with most of them, especially with the ones who mattered. So the chance that they'd understand their situation, mayhap feel with them a bit and help along, was relatively high. Eren's eyes brightened up when he finally looked at his sister.

"Eren, what's on your mind?" she asked sceptically.

"Tonight we're going to party!"