Phew, at last I finished this chapter! This is the longest chapter so far with word count 3,261 words excluding the Author Note! XD
Thank you arkcess, alex, rosecchin, Seraphicpapilion, Chocobo1374, Berry9704, Ashley Silver, Yggdrasill Tales, EzioAuditoreDaFirenze1500, Dinendir, AisuRuhi, lone green leaf, Ana cii Bunny, silentux131, Wearing Clothes, Stargazer-Aika, Sunny Sonic, Toondoon, guest and Guest for reviewing this humble fic of mine. I feel really grateful *weeps*
And for the previous chapter's quiz, it seems most of the guesses are prostitute or hostess, eh? The only person who noticed the rating of this fic was guest! Congratulations for noticing it~ So prostitution is a no-no. I can give you one more time guessing her work since it's not gonna be revealed in this chapter.
And oh! Many people seem to base their guess on the black dress at the end of the chapter. But black isn't the crucial part here, instead, it's the dress ;3
Enjoy the read~
Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin
Mikasa saw a dream.
That dream was a piece of her childhood memory.
She remembered being carried on Eren's back. His back was wide and warm and provided her the feeling of security back then. She remembered him saying something with quite an angry expression and she nodded while sobbing.
She knew he wasn't angry at her but the tears just won't stop.
The tears of happiness and relief, that was.
Chapter 4. Jealousy
That day was one week after Mikasa started her night shift. She had begun to sleep in class a lot and she sometimes got yelled at by some teachers.
Today was no exception.
"Wake up, Mikasa! I know you're the top student but you could at least listen to me!" Hannes-sensei yelled.
Mikasa quickly stood up from her seat and faced the teacher with her usual poker face. Hannes-sensei had known both Eren and Mikasa since their younger days and had become a fatherly figure for them, but still, at school, he couldn't allow favoritism.
Bowing, Mikasa apologized, "Forgive me, sensei."
"I heard you've slept in other classes as well. What might be the cause?" he asked.
Mikasa hesitated for a moment before answering, "No particular reason, sensei. I don't have any excuses."
Eren couldn't stand to see Mikasa getting yelled at while teachers thought she had no reason for it. Damn well she had one. She worked at night and came home in the morning. She didn't sleep a wink!
Slamming the table, Eren stood up.
"Sensei! Mikasa works at night and comes home in the morning so she didn't have time to sleep. Can't you let it slide by being flexible? She'll still get the top score anyway!"
"Eren!" Mikasa shouted in shock.
Hannes-sensei and everyone in the class looked at Mikasa with wide eyes.
"Is that true, Mikasa?" he asked.
"I…" she lowered her head. "I…"
"No, no, it's okay if you can't say it. But, Mikasa, have you gained the permission of the school? I mean, someone your age working at night. That's…"
"I… I know…"
Eren finally got a hold of the situation. He noticed why Mikasa never spoke the truth to anyone. It was not allowed to. But then again, what work did she do actually? If he recalled correctly, it was some kind of part-time job before she changed shift. She would only work for one or two hours back then. Now she had to work entire night.
Don't tell me she actually changed her work? Eren thought warily.
"Make sure you come with me to the Principal's room after this, Mikasa. I'll have to make sure you had the permission."
"Y-yes…" Mikasa slowly sat down again.
After class, Mikasa went with Hannes-sensei.
In the class, everyone started to talk about Mikasa. Most of them believed that Mikasa might be doing prostitution or something of the likes.
"Oh God, don't tell me Mikasa is…"
"N-no! Don't say anything yet, Reiner! We didn't know anything yet!" Christa tried to defend Mikasa.
"That's right, Reiner. You shouldn't judge anything too fast." Bertholdt added.
"Yeah. Mikasa's a good girl, she won't do that." Ymir said.
"I won't forgive anyone who insults Mikasa! She must have her own circumstances!" Jean shouted.
Eren listened to their conversation and was slightly surprised at how they seemed to believe more in Mikasa herself even while the situation suggested otherwise. But what bothered him the most was… he didn't believe in Mikasa as much as they did.
What he knew was more than anyone. He knew that Mikasa was out with Rivaille every night. What they were doing every night, he couldn't even start imagining it.
"Guys…!"
It was Sasha, who seemed to be looking very nervous for some reasons.
"I-I think I know something about Mikasa' work…" she stated.
"O-oi! We agreed not to tell them, right!?" Connie elbowed the girl.
"B-but! Everyone in the class already find out, right?"
"What exactly are you two trying to say?" Reiner pushed.
After a small arguing, the two finally decided to tell.
"Last week, after we finished our club activity, we accidentally saw Mikasa and the President when we walked pass the Student Council room. We overhead their talk and… Connie, you continue!" Sasha suddenly got panicked.
"EH!? You continue! I told you not to tell! Take responsibility, dammit!"
"Uuh…" Sasha pouted. "O-okay, I'll continue… we heard them talk about no one's going to bring Mikasa to the hospital if she collapse or something about no one will choose an ill bitch or something…"
Everyone went silent for a while.
"H-hospital!?" Christa jumped.
"Collapse?" Ymir added, raising a brow.
"Are we talking about literal bitch here!?" Jean began to panic as well.
"We thought so, too… I mean, we heard Mikasa said something about she needs the money or something…" Connie muttered.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Jean slapped his forehead.
Both Mikasa and Rivaille were walking down the corridor.
"I apologize for the trouble I just caused, kaichou." Mikasa lowered her head apologetically.
"Damn well you do. Pull me into another trouble and I'll fire you, Ackerman."
Mikasa jolted in shock, "No! Anything but that—"
Quickly, Rivaille put a finger on her lips, hushing her. "Say no more, Ackerman. Just be grateful that I am the President here or you'll get into a deeper shit. Now remember. One more trouble and you lose your job. Understood?" and then he withdrew his hand then wiped it with his handkerchief.
Mikasa quickly nodded.
On their way to Mikasa's class, Rivaille occasionally glanced at Mikasa.
"Is there something wrong with my face, kaichou?" she decided to ask.
"I was wondering if you always keep that stoic expression in front of anyone. You put it at work, too. Didn't anyone complain or something?"
"Fortunately, no one."
"Oh well, I guess they did choose you because of your expression."
"That might be the case."
"What if they ask you to smile?"
Mikasa went silent for a while, then her lips pursed slightly, shocking Rivaille in process. "I can smile…" she said.
Her smile was faint, but Rivaille could sense the overwhelming happiness in it.
"…if I imagine Eren's smiling face…"
On lunch break, Eren ate with Mikasa and Armin as usual. Arranging their tables beforehand.
"Oh, Mikasa, I'm just glad the problem's over!" Armin exclaimed.
"Me too," Mikasa said. Then she looked at Eren who was putting aside cubic pieces of pumpkins from his lunch. "Eren, don't be picky, eat the pumpkins too." She said as she used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of pumpkin and put it into Eren's mouth.
After gulping it down, Eren yelled, "Mikasa! Stop treating me like a child! This is school, for Pete's sake! I can eat by myself!"
"Sorry…"
Then, they ate while chatting casually. It was before Ymir and Christa suddenly approached them.
"Hey Eren, Mikasa, Armin! Guess what? Through Christa's dad's connection, we can go to this certain karaoke box for free. Wanna go after school? I've invited several of our friends." Ymir snickered while Christa nodded beside her.
"I'll go if Eren and Mikasa go." Armin smiled.
"I'll go if Eren go." Mikasa stated firmly.
"You two are such a pain!" Eren shouted. Then he tapped his chin and browsed his memories. "Hmm… I don't have committee work today…" but he was suddenly reminded of his training with Annie. He took a look at Annie' seat, which was the second table of the first row near the windows, she seemed to be looking outside.
"Hey, did you invite Annie too?" he asked Ymir.
At the mentioning of Annie's name, Mikasa glanced at Eren.
"Eh? Well… You know Annie, right? She turned me down the second I tried to ask her."
"Okay. I'll ask her in your stead. If she's going, I'll go."
Ymir blinked for a while before smirking, "Hee? What's this? Eren, you got something for Annie now? Mikasa's looking all jealous, you know?" she teased.
"Huh?" Eren then turned to face Mikasa only to meet her sulking expression. "!?"
"Eren, why Annie? Why is it you'll only go if she's going?" she qustioned.
"Eh? Well…" Shit, I can't let Mikasa know about this or all my effort until now will be in vain! Gotta think of something smart! "I mean, she's always so distant from us, right? Maybe it's because we never tried hard enough to approach her."
Ymir snorted, "Who are you, another Reiner?"
Eren came to think of it, Reiner had done many things in order to help Annie blend with the class but it never worked. As though she was putting more and more invisible walls around her, she shut herself permanently, out of anyone's reach. What Eren mentioned just now was merely an excuse to escape from the situation so he didn't have any feelings behind it… but what about Reiner? Was he really sincere about what he was doing? Did he really do it for Annie's sake?
Somehow the rumors going around suddenly made sense. Some people said that Reiner had feelings for Annie.
"Listen, Eren, I don't know how Annie agree to teach you. If you really want to, I won't be holding you back, just… you just might be able to help her. She is—"
"You talk too much, Reiner…"
Was there something between them that was kept behind the scenes?
"Well, I'm surprised you care that much about Annie. Now I feel like asking her again, too. Let's ask her together, then." Ymir smiled at Christa and the blonde nodded while smiling too.
"Annie is a good girl. It's a waste if she didn't come."
The three of them went to ask Annie again. Not like they didn't expect this, though. She turned them down in a flash.
"I thought I said no already."
"Come on, Annie. Just one hour is fine. Okay?" Ymir pleaded.
"Yes, Annie. Don't you want to hang out with us outside of school sometimes?" Christa convinced.
"No is no. I've got work. Just get lost."
Eren spoke up, "I'll let you practice your favorite move on me, how's that?"
Annie looked at him almost instantly. Then her lips formed a smirk which Ymir and Christa had never seen before. "You mean you'll willingly become my sandbag?"
"Yeah! No problem! Only if you come to the karaoke at the minimum of one hour," Eren's lips formed a similar smirk.
The blonde stood up from her seat, suddenly looking all demonic. "No problem. No problem at all. In fact, I can even cancel my work for it. You know how I love to kick, right? It relieves my stress."
"Ooh! Of course I know!" Eren grinned but the cold sweat trailing down his forehead betrayed his expression.
Ymir and Christa sweatdropped at the two's smirking competition.
After school, they went to the karaoke by foot. The ones going were Christa, Ymir, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, Jean, Marco, Connie and Sasha. They arrived to a surprisingly-fancy karaoke place. It had billiards pools, mini-bar, and many more.
"H-hey, Christa… Are you sure we can get in for free? I mean, this place looks high-class and I'm sure it's gonna be expensive or something…" Eren commented.
"Eh? I don't know. My dad said got it free for us through connection." Christa smiled.
"Holy crap, was Christa always this rich?" Connie whispered to Sasha.
"It seems so! I'm suddenly getting nervous! Auuh…"
After Christa got the room number they went to the supposedly-reserved room. It was located at the end of the corridor and it looked a little isolated. They began to doubt if that room was any good at all but when they opened the door it said otherwise. The room was huge and could fit around thirty people at most and their number wasn't even half of it.
They went silent for a while before Jean suddenly commented.
"Hey, is it for real? Isn't this, like, a VIP room or something?"
"I don't know, my dad did the reservation…" Christa looked indifferent.
Connie suddenly jumped onto the couch. "Ouch! It's not so soft!" he commented.
"Eh? Where, where? Lemme try!" Sasha jumped, following him. Then she laughed, "Yeah it's not so soft!"
"Stop acting so autistic. This is public place, you retarded couple!" Jean scolded.
"Come on, Jean, they're just playing…" Marco smiled nervously.
"Eren, where do you want to sit?" Mikasa asked.
"It's not your problem, stop sticking into me every time!" Eren ran.
"Whoa, look! There's even a private restroom here!" Armin said as he opened a door.
"Oi, check this out! There are so many songs here! Which one should I sing first?" Reiner said as he looked at the song book, followed by Bertholdt.
Annie called for the waiter, "I want a glass of mango smoothies. Be quick."
"Yes, ma'am."
Christa and Ymir sweatdropped at the scene before them. All of their friends acted like this was the first time they went to a karaoke. Certainly, the place was not your everyday karaoke box, but their reactions were exaggerating.
After five minutes of adapting to the place, they finally choose the songs.
First were Ymir and Christa who sang A Whole New World.
While the two best friends were singing, Reiner moved to the seat beside Eren, which was currently empty since Mikasa moved near Annie to interrogate her and Armin was discussing with Jean and Marco about what song they would sing. Betholdt trailed behind Reiner as usual.
"Hey, Eren, you still train with Annie?" the blond asked.
"Eh? Yeah, I still do. What's with that?" Eren said, putting aside his cola.
Reiner chuckled, then shifted his attention to the blonde across his seat. In his stead, Betholdt talked to Eren. "Is she still harsh as always? I'm sure she said she'll train you and then you ended up as her sandbag instead." The tall guy smiled.
"Yeah…" Eren chuckled nervously. "But, how did you know that? You sound like you've known her for a long time."
Reiner spoke up, "Bert and I studied martial arts from Annie's dad when we were brats, you see. But only for a short while. She was such a cute and honest girl back then, right Bert?" he laughed.
"Eh!? For real!?" Eren gasped.
"Eh…? I think she wasn't any different from now…" Bertholdt smiled nervously then he suddenly shrank, "She was violent and cold, not that different from now…"
"Which one of you am I supposed to believe?" Eren deadpanned.
Reiner's expression changed, "But there's one thing about her that never changed…" he looked at Annie again. "…she still likes to run away."
"Well, yeah, I can't deny that. She said that a couple of times already. Running away is what she's good at."
"Since you spend a lot of time with her now I'm sure you've realized, Eren. That girl… even when you think you've properly held her in your arms, she'll disappear without you noticing it…"
Eren knew what he was implying. He had experienced it for more times than he could count. In their trainings, when he was sure he had held her powerful enough, she could still escape and the next second he would be lying on the ground in somersault pose.
"That's why I always make sure that she's in my field of vision while we're at school. Who knows if she suddenly disappeared and never come back?" Reiner narrowed his eyes, "That's my greatest fear…"
"Eh? Why do you care so much? I mean, I know you've known her since you're young, but still…"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Reiner, don't!" Bertholdt tried to stop his friend.
"That's because—"
"Eren! Let's sing together!" Armin said while pulling Eren to the front and for some reason, Bertholdt looked relieved.
Annie rubbed her hands in attempt to warm herself.
She was sitting at the straiway because she had decided to get out of the room since the air conditioner was too cold inside she was freezing. Not to mention she didn't really move at all, unlike the others, so the coldness really got her.
Reiner had been pestering her a lot at the karaoke room, forcing her to sing with him. Singing with Mikasa and Sasha was already more than enough for her. Singing made her sick.
"Annie? You don't want to get inside?"
She turned around to find Eren.
"The temperature was killing me."
Eren laughed and rubbed his hands together too, it seemed he was also cold. He then took a seat beside her. "Reiner really wants to sing with you, you know?"
"Tell him to drop dead already. I'm not singing another song."
Eren laughed again, "Sasha forced you and Mikasa to sing with her, right? That was so hilarious! You should've known that Sasha can't stand your bickering with Mikasa every single day!"
"Don't remind me again."
They went silent for a while as Eren warmed himself.
"Hey, Annie, I heard from Reiner and Betholdt that you guys go way back?"
Annie merely nodded.
"That means you've been going to the same school ever since?"
Annie nodded again.
"You three are such good friends, huh?"
"Like you're one to talk. It's the same as you with Mikasa and Armin, isn't it? You three always stick together."
"Well, Mikasa is my sister despite everything. And I've known Armin for an even longer time. We're childhood friends, we've been throught thick and thin together."
Annie closed her eyes serenely, "Maybe that's what Reiner and Betholdt think. They want us to be together like the old time. But it's impossible now… I've changed. I've changed too much to stay with them. I just hope they could understand." She opened her eyes again and somehow her blue eyes looked lonesome. "I prefer to be alone…"
"But why, Annie? Can't you just at least hang out with them from time to time? I mean, you don't need to be like me with Mikasa and Armin, but at least you shouldn't act so cold to them, especially Reiner."
"He is the main problem. Bertholdt only follows him everywhere. Reiner's the one who keep tracking me down all this time. He's the one who decided to go to the same school as me."
"Hey, Annie… I overheard some people in the class talking about this, but… you like Reiner or something?" Eren questioned.
Annie went silent before closing her eyes again, "Like is taking it too far. I don't hate him…" then she looked at Eren from the corner of her eyes, "I don't hate you too…"
"E-eh? Thank you?"
Annie nodded before facing Eren and looked him in the eyes. "If you have the chance, please tell him that I'm okay now so he doesn't need to always feel guilty." Her blue eyes looked distant, "He doesn't need to be nice to me out of guilt…"
The blonde then stood up and descended the stairs.
"Eh? What do you mean—Annie, where are you going?"
"Work."
"But I thought you're going to cancel your work?"
"I changed my mind. It's fine, isn't it? I've stayed for an hour anyway."
"W-well, you did keep your promise, but…"
"See you tomorrow." Annie waved goodbye and disappeared from his sight.
Mikasa went home ahead of Eren, saying that she would have to cook dinner first since she would go to work at seven. Eren went home an hour later, but once he opened the door, what he saw was something shocking.
His foster sister was lying unconscious on the floor.
TO BE CONTINUED
How is it? You're allowed to punch me if this chapter is crappy… (Shit, gonna receive lotsa critical punches)
Anyway, the question for this chapter is… hmm… what should I ask?
I know! I'm gonna ask: What is Reiner and Annie's hidden issue? (I doubt anyone can answer this but I'm asking it anyway)
See you again~! *heart*
