Armin woke up a little earlier than Eren and Mikasa today. He hoped to have a jog at the park to calm his mind.

What happened yesterday still unsettled his nerves. He changed quietly, not wanting to wake his friends. Eren could be a little grumpy if he doesn't get enough sleep.

Armin wanted to tell his friends what he felt yesterday, but he is unsure how they would react to this. Eren might freak out and Mikasa will probably be worried. But if he doesn't say anything, something terrible might happen. He just felt that somehow. It felt like they've been living a too peaceful life. Not like it's bad or anything, but he felt like it was the calm before the storm.

I'll tell them about that later, Armin thought.

xXoXx

When Armin got back, Eren and Mikasa were having breakfast.

'Hey Armin,'

'You're back. Where have you gone to?' Mikasa asked.

'Oh, I just went for a morning run,'

'Do you want bread?'

'Yeah.'

When he chewed on his bread, Armin thought about what he should say next. But Mikasa said something first.

'Eren, Armin, did you two feel something strange yesterday, like someone following us?'

'Mikasa, you noticed it too?' Armin was relieved. Mikasa noticed it, so it will be easier to convince Eren, if he didn't know what was going on.

'Huh? You two saw something too? I thought I was the only one who did!'

'What did you see, Eren?' Armin questioned.

'When we were cleaning the bookshop, I saw some strange dude who was staring at us through the window panes. He was tall and skinny. Like, the slenderman, you know,' Eren explained.

'Eren, you've been playing too much video games,' Mikasa said.

'Hey, I think we should be focusing on the slenderman guy, not me!'

'Yeah. After that, no video games for a month. For you.'

'What?! Mikasa, how could you do that to me?'

'That's because-'

'Hey guys? What about the creepy guy now?'

Mikasa sighed. 'I guess we could tell Levi or something.'

'Seriously? You don't have a better idea?'

'Oh, then let's hear about your supposedly genius idea that will help us get out of trouble, Eren.'

'The person you should be asking is Armin, not me. He's the brain here.'

'We should tell Levi. Or Mr Erwin.'

'Really, Armin?'

'Yeah. And you better get changed in five minutes so because we can really do without cleaning duty for the damn month.'

'What? It's nine already?' Eren hastily shoved the bread into his mouth and rushed to their bedroom to get changed.

'I'll go and start the car,' Mikasa said.

xXoXx

When the trio arrived at the bookshop, they were greeted by a not-so-happy Levi.

'You goddamned brats are late. Again,' Levi scolded.

'We're sorry, Levi! We didn't mean to-'

'Save your excuses. You three have been late three times in a row this month now. You will be cleaning the second floor for the next thirty days. Starting from today.'

'What? But-'

'Shut up and get to work!'

'… Yes Levi.'

They went to get the cleaning supplies and started wiping the books one by one.

'You know Eren? This is technically your fault.'

'Shut up, Armin.'

They continued cleaning in silence.

'What about the dude?'

'We'll tell Mr Erwin after we get the job done today. That is, if we even able to finish today,' Armin told Eren.

'Why can't we go see Mr Erwin now?'

'He's probably busy at this time. And I doubt Levi would be very happy to know that we have not finished cleaning when the shop closes.'

'Oi, are you brats cleaning or chatting up there?' Levi yelled from the counter, obviously angry.

They quickly resumed cleaning as fast as possible and trying to make them spotless at the same time.

xXoXx

They somehow managed to finish cleaning the entire floor and reached Levi's expectations just before the shop was closing. They immediately went to Erwin's office.

'Ready?' Armin prepared himself.

'Ready.'

He knocked on the door.

'Come in.'

They pushed open the door and walked inside the spacious room. There were bookshelves with files arranged neatly on it. In the middle back of the room was Mr Erwin and his table, which was piled with papers.

'So, what brings you three here?' Erwin asked.

'Um, Mr Erwin, we're like, facing a problem here,' Eren answered.

'We noticed a tall and slim person following us around yesterday, Mr. We were worried that the person have bad intentions towards us so we decided to tell you about this issue,' Armin continued.

'Oh, is that so? Why don't you just go to the police?'

'We were afraid that the police would not trust us, Mr. We did not have any evidence that a person may be doing so,' Armin answered.

'Hmm, you're right about that, Armin. Maybe you three could live at your friend's house for a few days and see what happens. If you see that person again, try to take a picture of him. The police might be able to help you this way,' Erwin voiced his opinion.

'Thank you for your advice, Mr.'

'Anything for my fellow workers.'

xXoXx

After leaving the bookshop, Eren, Mikasa and Armin went to dinner with their friends: Jean, Sasha, Connie, Christa, Ymir, Annie, Reiner and Bertolt, as usual. They told them about the stalker. Reiner and Bertolt offered to let them stay at their house for a few days. Their other friends wanted to help too, so they decided to all stay at Reiner and Bertolt's together.

What they didn't notice is a person wearing a coat watching them from a nearby table.