We meet again! I'm gonna tell you that I was having a very hard time writing this chapter so I hope it's good enough by now. I can't count how many times I erase and re-write it.
Thank you hiyomi, Seraphicpapilion, Twin Judge of Gemini, guest, alex, Kim20, WhiteMoonofDeath, Guest, Stargazer-Aika, AisuRuhi, Shinra-ex-SOLDIER, Guest25, Enigma Infinite, Silentux131, Dinendir, It's me Unyak, eyesonbluefire, Nancy Haibara, Ayexia, and 3HaH3 for reviewing my fic. I love you all *heart*
Let me announce the people who gave the right answer for the previous chapter's question "What is Annie and Reiner's hidden issue?"
Congratulations, alex and Shinra-ex-SOLDIER! Your answers are the closest to the truth! Lemme give you guys each a cyber Annie plushie~
Okay now, let's proceed to the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin
One hit followed by another. In the cold and dim room, all he could feel was his stinging cheeks. Despite being hit until he fell on his knees, he pushed himself to stand up once again. Eyeing the much older man before him in a challenging manner, he silently said that he was afraid of nothing.
"What can a brat like you do? I feed you, I clothe you, I raised you… what can you do by yourself?" his face grew even more dreadful than it already was.
His son still glared at him daringly.
"I will show you. I don't need your money. I will live with my own effort, Father."
"Foolish little Rivaille." His brows knitted. "I'll give you three years, boy. If you can raise a star and bring her to my studio, I shall recognize you. "
"I will."
Chapter 5. Shining Star
"…that's about it, kaichou. I'm really sorry but Mikasa can't work tonight."
"Aah… Tell Ackerman to eat good food and recover properly and hurry come back to work." Rivaille meant it to sound harsh but it seemed it didn't sound that way.
"I will. Now would you excuse me?" And Eren hung up the phone.
Rivaille returned the phone to its place and let out a rough sigh. Guess he wouldn't be able to introduce Mikasa to a new workplace tonight. He quickly made a call to cancel their appointment and went to the living room, refreshing himself by watching TV.
"Geh! Rivaille, you're home!? I thought you're gonna take Mikasa to a new place tonight?"
Rivaille turned his head and found Hanji standing in the doorway, clad in towel. Undoubtedly, she was just out from bath recently. Her medium brown hair was wet and her black-framed glasses were absent. Moreover, water was dripping from all over her. The water dripping for her was all over the floor.
"Hanji… I told you to not wet the floor. Be sure to wipe the damn floor, dammit. So this is what you do when I'm not home?" he growled.
"Aww, you don't have to sound so mean. I forgot to bring my underwear to the bathroom, you see. I promise I'll wipe the floor once I'm properly dressed!" she winked.
"What did we promise when we decided to share this apartment?" Rivaille demanded.
"Err… Stay Clean. Keep Quiet. Study Happily!"
"Diligently," Rivaille corrected.
"Ah, sorry…"
Hanji made her way to her room and Rivaille sighed. It was unfortunate that Irvin wasn't home yet. No one could help him scold Hanji.
Just as Rivaille was about to prepare dinner, his phone received another call.
Every student of class 1-04 was busy cleaning the class here and there. The reason was because by the morrow, Rivaille-kaichou, who was famous of being a clean-freak (read: OCD), would be inspecting each class. The losing class would be given a divine punishment, namely toilet-cleaning for a month.
"Eh? You're going home, Eren?" Reiner asked when he saw Eren began keeping his books.
The green-eyed boy nodded, "I'm sorry but I can't join the group cleaning today. I have to quickly visit Mikasa, you see."
"Oh, man… Give her my regards, okay?" Reiner said. "I can't believe Mikasa overworked herself to that state…"
"Me too… I can't believe she's that stupid." Eren picked his bag up and bid goodbye to Reiner.
Before going to the hospital, Eren went to the grass field where he usually trained with Annie. There, he saw her small figure sitting on one of the boulders. Her expression was stoic and hard to make out, but he knew she wasn't in a foul mood.
"—Annie!" Eren called as he ran toward her.
She brought her face up and glanced at him.
"Annie, we're not training today, okay? I have to take care of Mikasa at the hospital. Wanna tag along?" Eren offered.
He isn't very tactful, Annie said in mind. "Why do I have to go?"
"Why?" Eren echoed. "I mean, Mikasa's your classmate, right? What's wrong with paying her a hospital visit?" he looked quizzical.
Annie still looked hesitant.
Eren grinned and took her hand before pulling her with him, "Come on."
At first, Annie was wide-eyed. But eventually she loosened up.
I can't say no to that smile…
It was spring, and new students came flooding in like waves. Spring marked the beginning of the school year, and it meant even more to freshmen. Entrance ceremony was one place where they began everything.
That day, the Student Council President gave his speech.
After the speech was over, Hanji quickly approached the shorter guy, "How is it, Rivaille~? Saw someone interesting in the midst of freshmen?" she asked while grinning like some pervert.
"No one interesting. Hanji, I don't classify people. They're all the same." Rivaille glared.
"Eh~? But you need the perfect person for your work, right? If you can't find anyone by the end of the month they won't give you the work, you know? I was being so nice and yet you dismiss me like a bug!" Hanji pouted.
Rivaille sighed, "Well, I didn't find anyone interesting, but I found someone odd."
"What? Who, who?"
"A black-haired girl, I feel something amiss about her face but I can't tell what it is."
"I knew it! You must be talking about Mikasa Ackerman! She is half-Asian so her face is quite Oriental, you see! Hwahaha! You have good eyes, Rivaille! She is definitely a rare diamond! Her height is 170cm so she's perfect! If we can get her to work with us I'm 100% sure we can get that work!"
Overjoyed, Hanji slapped Rivaille's back a couple of times.
What he could hear in the room was the noise of the IV drop attached to her. She was sleeping on the white bed, looking peaceful like a doll. He suddenly had the urge to touch her delicate, porcelain-like face. Her long eyelashes were surreal. She was perfect. And that was the reason he chose her.
Slowly, her eyes fluttered open.
"…Uh… Huh? Kaichou?" was the first thing she said.
"How do you feel, Ackerman?"
"I'm fine…"
"I have news for you. Good one and bad one. Which one do you want to hear first?"
Mikasa blinked. She just woke up and was suddenly faced with this kind of question. "…Bad one…" she breathed.
"Alright. I've cancelled your night shift. From now on you will work after school, like before. Even if we continue the night shift you will only trouble me."
The girl's eyes widened to their extent. She suddenly rose from her position, "But—The pay—"
"Shush. I haven't told you the good news, have I?"
"Whatever the good news is, it's not going to help me—"
"They chose you."
Mikasa went silent, "…Eh?"
Whether unconsciously or not, Rivaille's lips pursed upward slightly and Mikasa was taken aback. "I'm proud of you, Ackerman."
"I… Really…? I did it…?"
The older guy nodded, "I'm glad I chose you that time. Your hardwork is paid off."
For some reason, hot tears began to flow down her cheeks. She lowered her head to hide her shameful state and put a palm on her mouth to stop herself from whimpering. Her small shoulders shivered ever so slightly.
Rivaille took her into his arms and soothe her.
That moment, there was a creaking sound coming from the door. And the next was the noise of shopping bag being dropped on the floor. Both Rivaille and Mikasa quickly turned to the source of the noise only to find Eren, gaping like a goldfish, while beside him, Annie was looking a bit surprised.
"Eren—"
"Put your hands off my sister, you wolf in sheep's clothing!" Eren shouted and quickly launched himself at Rivaille. As if on cue, Rivaille quickly released Mikasa and was able to dodge Eren's punch on time.
"Eren! This is a misunderstanding! You see, Rivaille-kaichou was just—"
"Be quiet, Mikasa! You've been deluded by this man! I've had my suspicion but this exceeds it!"
"Calm down, Jaeger. I did nothing."
"Lies!"
"Eren!"
A scary-looking nurse suddenly barged into the room, "CLAM UP, ALL OF YOU! THIS IS A HOSPITAL!"
"We're sorry…"
After all the commotion, Rivaille decided to leave.
"See you around, Ackerman. Inform me once you're discharged."
Mikasa bowed politely at him as he left. She looked at Eren who was sitting beside her, peeling apples. Then she looked at Annie who was sitting on the couch like quietly.
"Eren, why is Annie here?"
"I asked her to come. What's with it?"
"Why her of all people? Don't tell me what everyone said was true? You really like her—hmpf!"
Before she knew it, Eren had shoved an apple into her mouth.
"I cut it into rabbit apples. You like rabbits, right? Hurry up and get better, I'll go with you to the pet shop next time you want to go."
Mikasa blinked in surprise.
But then again, Eren was always much kinder whenever she was sick. She remembered being selfish numerous times in the past; wanting to stay sick forever so that he would be this kind to her forever.
Slowly, Mikasa smiled.
"It's a promise, okay?"
"Yeah."
"Eren?"
"What?"
"Feed me."
"Huh!? Can't you do that by yourself? I mean, you're not even that sick!"
"They forbad me to do any strenuous activity."
"You call this strenuous!?"
Mikasa lowered her head and wore a sad expression. Eren went soft and groaned.
"Alright! Just this once, okay?"
The girl nodded happily.
On the other hand, Annie, who did nothing but watching all this time, began to feel something weird. It was like she had experienced something like that before. She remembered it being hard when she was sick while she's living alone. But then Reiner and Betholdt would pay a visit and take care of her until she got better.
Eren stood up from his seat after feeding Mikasa.
"I'm going to get some drink."
"Okay."
"I'm going too, Eren." Annie said. Mikasa glared at her, completely suspicious, but Annie ignored her and proceeded to follow the guy.
Eren and Annie went to the drink machine and bought some.
"Hey, Eren. Some time ago, you mentioned that you hate Mikasa, don't you?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Are you sure it's not the other way around?"
Eren's brows knitted, "Huh? What are you even talking about?"
"I was watching you. You look… how do I say it? Happy? You were happy when she relied on you. Are you sure you're not just lonely because she's too competent?"
"Eh…? That's weird. Now that you mention it, I feel like you're right."
"Did you never think about it until now?"
"No," Eren opened his canned coffee and gulped it down. Then he stared at the empty can while reminiscing about the past. "Do you want to hear me out, Annie?"
"I don't have anything to do. Feel free to talk."
"You see, Annie… When Mikasa first came to our house, she was like… so shy and scared of everything. That time round, I figured that I have to act as an older brother for her and in the end she relied on me a lot. But then again, I hate to admit this but my personality is kinda difficult, right? I often act before thinking it first. And before I knew it, Mikasa had changed. It's like she doesn't need me around anymore…" Eren muttered.
"So, for short, you want to be an older brother again?"
"N-no! Don't make it sound like I have some strange fetish! I just want her to stop being a genius at everything. I want to be useful to her. I have this goddamned pride, you know!"
Nodding, Annie smiled slightly. Eren was a weird guy, she noted.
"I'm going home first, Eren. My shift starts soon." Annie said as she picked up her bag.
"Okay. Thanks for coming, Annie."
Annie nodded before looking at the sleeping Mikasa. Then she smirked, "Do your best, onii-chan." She said half-monotonously as she made her way to the door.
Flustered, Eren shouted, "Annie!"
The blonde chuckled softly before exiting the room.
Once she stepped out of the room, she saw someone she didn't want to see. A man was standing before her, smiling at her as though he was happy for her. She groaned and ignored him as she made her way to the elevator.
"You look happy, Annie. Something happened?" Reiner asked, trailing Annie from behind.
"…" Annie kept on walking quietly.
"Come on, Annie, say something."
Silence.
"Annie…"
Silence.
"Annie!"
The blonde did her best to ignore him, but as she did so, it only increased his aggressiveness. He stopped her by pulling her shoulder and spun her so that she was facing him.
"What are you doing? Release me now. You know someone as weak as me can't do anything under your grip, Reiner." She said coldly as she glared at him.
Reiner's brows knitted sadly, "Annie… I know I've said this lotsa times already, but… I'm sorry. I really mean it. Please forgive me. It was my fault your dad died…" his dark eyes stared at her blue ones deeply.
On the other hand, Annie's expression turned even darker. "You're apologizing again…" her voice was cold and chilling. She brushed his hands off and looked at him with her cold eyes, "Stop it… Just… stop it… I hate it…"
"But, Annie—I—" Reiner stopped whe he felt his stinging sensation on his left cheek.
"Just stop this nonsense already, Reiner."
"Annie…"
Annie spun and made her way to the elevator once again; this time, not followed by Reiner.
White stretched down wherever he laid his eyes upon. He watched as the crews began sorting out the equipment. Numerous C-stands were grouped on the right, softboxes on the left. The place was well-managed, as he expected from a photoshoot studio owned by his Father. There, under the light of the studio, he saw the face he hadn't seen for years.
The middle-aged man approached him with a rare smile on his face.
"I heard your girl was chosen in the last test, Rivaille?" the man asked in a hoarse voice.
Rivaille nodded dutifully.
"My men informed me that she was half-Asian? Where did you find yourself such a rare woman, Rivaille? You have grown into a fine man after three years. I am proud of you."
"Yes, Father. However, most of the credits should be given to her, to Mikasa Ackerman."
The middle-aged man reacted to the name. "Oh? Why is that?"
"I must say that she is indeed a genius. You might have given me three years time to bring you a star, but I only met her half a year ago."
Wide-eyed, the man gasped. "That's remarkable. She is an exceptional talent."
"Yes, she is."
"Bring her to me as soon as possible! I shall make sure she is raised by the professionals from now on!" the man declared in delight.
Again, Rivaille nodded.
"After some investigations, I discovered that Mikasa Ackerman grew up with her two childhood friends, Eren Jaeger and Armin Arlet. Apparently, this Eren Jaeger boy is Mikasa's foster brother and they had been living together for six years and are now currently living without guardians. And I also discovered that they lost their mother five years ago and their father has also disappeared ever since. And, this may sound evil, but if she refuses to accept our offer we might as well mention Eren's name in the conversation and I'm sure she'll agree! This is just my idea, though~" Hanji said all of that in what seemed like a single breath.
"Why is it we have to mention Eren Jaeger's name?" Irvin questioned.
"You see, from what I see, Eren is the only family Mikasa have left and she's a little, no, very, overprotective of him. There, we can make use of her overprotectiveness for our benefits!"
"Sometimes you do speak smart things, Hanji. I'm impressed," Rivaille half-heartedly clapped his hands.
"Fufu! I didn't become the Student Council's secretary for nothing!" she puffed her chest proudly.
Rivaille ignored her and took a glimpse at the papers in his hand. It was papers of Mikasa Ackerman's data which she herself filled when entering this high school. Looking at the picture of Mikasa attached on the upper side of the paper, he began to think that her face was, in fact, weird. He had never seen an Oriental before. He thought they had gone extinct decades ago.
But then again, Mikasa's face was different from anyone he had ever seen. Her face gave off this foreign yet familiar feeling. Not only because she was half Asian. There was something more to it than that.
She looked like him.
The face of someone who had gotten used to being called a genius.
And then he remembered. Mikasa was called to give a speech as the student who obtained the highest score in the entrance exam.
She was another genius in the school.
Done with the conversation with his Father, Rivaille wandered around the night streets. Pondering as he walked, he didn't realize that he had stopped in front of a restaurant, namely McDonald's.
Standing in front of the shop, his lips suddenly formed a faint but visible smile.
He recalled that time half a year ago; his attempts to scout Mikasa.
That time, Mikasa was already working part-time here in McDonald's. Wanting to gain her attention, he went here on her shift almost every day. But she didn't seem to pay too much attention to the customers after all; not service-wise, but personally. And then, that day, something different happened.
"Mister, you always come here at this hour, and alone. Do you not have friends to hang out with?" she asked with her usual stoic expression.
Damn this girl. Did she pay attention at all in the opening ceremony? Didn't she know that I'm the Student Council President in her school? Rivaille complained in his mind, but his action betrayed his thought. "Why don't you hang out with me, then?"
"Roger."
"Wait, what?"
She suddenly called for another person to replace her and went to the back to change her clothes back to her school uniform. Rivaille, being too confused to speak, stood awkwardly at the queue. When Mikasa finally came out from the changing room, she told Rivaille to sit where he liked.
He did as she told him and took a seat near the window, Mikasa sat across him at the same table.
"Hey, are you for real? Won't you get fired for this?" Rivaille asked carefully.
"Giving the customers what they want is the top priority in our shop, mister. Now, please talk like we are friends."
"Is your head okay? How the hell am I supposed to talk to you like I know you?"
"Don't hold back, mister, you can talk about anything you like." Mikasa said confidently, as though she was sure she could follow whatever topic he was going to talk about.
Then it suddenly hit him. At first, he thought she was only a normal clerk who couldn't even memorize the customers' face but he was utterly wrong. She was more attentive and considerate than anyone in the shop. She made this different face than when she was standing as a cashier, a much softer expression. She looked as though she would listen to anything.
"Alright, let's begin with your name…" Rivaille played ignorance.
"My name is Mikasa Ackerman, mister."
"Don't call me mister. My name is Rivaille."
Mikasa tilted her head, "Only Rivaille?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Roger that. Let's be friendly and call each other with names."
"Do you have no shame at all?"
"Customer's need is the top priority," she repeated her motto.
"Alright. Say, Mikasa. Are you interested in modeling?"
"Modeling? I can't say I never thought of doing it. You can say I'm a little curious about how it works…"
Rivaille took it as a chance for him to scout her. However, not wanting to move on too quick, he decided to save it for the last. "What school are you from?"
"I'm a freshman in Shingeki High."
Once again, Rivaille took this as a chance. "I am also from that school."
She looked a little surprised, "Oh, really?"
Goddammit… This girl really didn't pay attention at the opening ceremony. Rivaille mentally cursed, but he managed to answer calmly, "Yes. I'm a third year."
"A senpai?"
From there on, their conversation progressed deeper and deeper. Mikasa still avoided talking about anything too private, but Rivaille could feel that she was trying to be open to him. And what she mainly talked about would be: her cute little adoptive brother, Eren Jaeger.
However, despite everything, he dare said that this girl was certainly a genius even at her simple part-time job.
He put his hopes up for her…
…she will someday become a shining star.
TO BE CONTINUED
Please don't kill me… I was really depressed when writing this so it's not as good as you'd expect… *sob*
I don't know what do ask this week… hmmm… I don't think there's anything to be asked so I'll just say something about the next chapter. I plan to reveal Annie's past in the next chapter so stay tuned :3
See you next week~
