A/N: Superhero AU that was originally for Eremika week but I ended up not making the deadline. This was fun though!
I've been thinking about a kind of Avengers-type AU where all the characters of SnK are superheros in an organization called the Legion. It's not a big AU idea of mine just because I don't really have anything aside some fun one-shots. Eren is that Hulk-type character, of course. Because he's always angry. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy!
Eren knows that he's not exactly the greatest when it came to laundry. Sometimes he accidentally throws in his colors with his whites and comes out with, well, no more white shirts. He doesn't know what to do with shirts with white stripes so they sit untouched in a pile in the back of his closet. He's had the washing machine overflow with suds at least twice in the last month, much to his landlord's distress, and he's also pretty sure everyone on his floor hates him for destroying the washer that one time. However, he never thought he'd have to wash blood out of his clothing. Hell, it isn't even his blood! Well, most of it wasn't anyway.
TV shows always made out this stuff to be so much cleaner, Eren thought. Even superhero movies were less bloody. Maybe they just want to ensure that PG-13 rating for more viewers. Whatever the reason, it led Eren to be vastly miscalculate what actual superhero work was like.
For example, fighting is way more than just flailing your limbs about and hoping you punch your opponent in the face. It takes skill, precision, and a lot of strength. If he had known that being able to transform into a 10-foot monster wasn't enough to defeat the metas that were terrorizing the city, he never would have agreed to being injected with that titan serum by the Legion. Well, his own father had just gone and injected him with the serum without consent from his superiors, but that was an entirely different story. Is he still pissed at his dad? Hell yeah, he is. The bastard could have at least told him how to use his powers before he left. Or taught him how to do laundry.
He would ask his mom for help but he thinks she'd freak out about how much blood there was on his clothing. Anyone would. Which is why he was up at 2 AM to discreetly wash his favorite shirt, which is now horrifically bloodstained after that particularly nasty fight with a meta who was clad entirely in armor earlier that night. Maybe he should have called up someone from the Legion who had experience with fights. Commander Smith was a little to intimidating and calling a superior that high up would be a little weird. Petra Ral seemed to be approachable and was friendly enough although he didn't know if she also included laundry tips when she had told him to go to her if she had any questions. He could always turn to newest members who were recruited around the same time he was but he didn't know them too well. Heck, he was sure that Kirstein asshole hated him.
As Eren continued to ponder more options, someone else walks in just then and begins to load their clothes into the machine next to his. She has a large black hoodie on, the hood pulled over her head. The wires of her earbuds poke out from her hood and loop into her pocket where her phone hides. Eren, desperate to conceal his bloodstained shirt, hurriedly drops it back into the machine and slams the door to the washer shut with a large clang. So much for not drawing attention to himself.
The girl lifts her head at the noise and, pulling out an earbud, turns over to look at Eren. He immediately recognizes her as the new tenant that had moved into the room at the end of his hall just last week. Her name, however, eludes him and he wonders if she even introduced herself to anyone when she moved in.
"Hey," Eren says nervously when she doesn't say anything. "Late night laundry?"
Her steely gaze makes him fidget. He's about to just press a random button and let the whir of the washing machine just drown out the silence when she decides to speak. "Cold water for blood," she says. "Vinegar works too."
He hopes to god that he didn't hear her right. "I beg your pardon?" he stutters.
"Cold water for blood," she repeats, tucking a lock of her dark hair behind her ears. The unfathomable expression on her face makes her incredibly difficult to read and this makes Eren even more nervous. "And you need to make sure you wash it out as quickly as possible. It's hard to wash bloodstains out when they've been in there for a while."
"I don't…" Eren gulped. Jesus, the Legion is probably going to kill him if they find out that a civilian somehow figured out his nighttime vigilante job just because he doesn't know how to do laundry. "What?"
She sighs. "Don't be so nervous. You're a rookie so it makes sense that you'd make these mistakes." She finishes loading her clothes into the washer and begins to add water. "You should probably just wear all black next time. It makes stains far less noticeable. Lots of us do it."
"Us?" he parrots. He slowly begins to process her words and notices that she's wearing black from head to toe. "Are you…like me?"
The girl thinks about it for a second before answering. "We're in the same division," she answers. "The Legion requested that I transfer here so that I could assist the newest member. Eren Jaeger, right?" She nods at him. "The Legion believes you could benefit with an experienced fighter who was closer to your age range. I'm Mikasa Ackerman."
At the mention of the Legion, Eren straightens up and his face begins to redden. They really should have mentioned a new person coming in to help him but he was getting used to being kept in the dark. "I look forward to working with you!" he says.
"I suppose I'll have to teach you how to do your laundry first though," she smirks.
