Hi guys! I'm back! XD And seriously, my math is, as I had expected, fucked up beyond repair. But don't worry, I've registered for the math remedial test. Oh, and Physics too. Good thing my English abd Biology scored so good it can cover up my other low scores. And it lifted up my spirits!

Okay, I'm gonna shut up now.

Thank you: Kuroi Onee-san, meshi-chan, chai, Seraphicpapilion, eEXOdicted, Zyzz, alex, Ayexia, Anaid, Wintersia, HungeGamesEnthusiast, darksy, Lady Dalila, VarilSK1, Shiina Yuki, Leavian, Death Appraiser, Shirayuki0917, Brkrth99, Cyanical, animeloverforeverjapan, Adventurer515, Guest, Kuro-KuriKuri, silentux131 and Night Stalker! You guys rock!

Oh, right. I want to promote my new SnK one-shot, Home, which I published yesterday. For you, fans of Annie, Reiner and Bertholdt, please drop by and read! :3

Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin!


From her pocket, she pulled out a band-aid and gave it to the timid girl who was shivering in fear. "Here, use this somewhere. They're gonna get suspicious if you're the only one without wound." Annie whispered.

Her blue eyes were cold and chilling. Historia was reluctant, but she took the band-aid anyway. Annie then pushed her, making her fall backward only to make the other girls thought she was hitting Historia as well.

Annie left to continue burying the rabbit.

"Th-thank you, Leonhardt-san…" Historia whispered.

Annie nodded before going home.

Historia quickly wore the band-aid on her right cheek.

Not long after Annie had left, Phoebe and her girls rose from their spot while wincing in pain, each one of them started cursing Annie for doing this to them. Historia wanted to defend Annie but if she did, all Annie's effort will be in vain.

She balled her fists in frustration for not being able to do anything.

"…Historia?"

Historia snapped her head up to Phoebe when she called her name, "Y-yes, Phoebe?"

"Your cheek," Phoebe pointed at the band-aid, "did Leonhardt hurt you?" she asked.

Reluctantly, Historia nodded.

For some reasons, Phoebe's lips formed a smirk similar to that of a Cheshire cat's and Historia could feel chill down her spines when she saw that expression and cold sweats started trailing down her cheek. It was an expression that said she had something going on in her mind. And that something was not anything good.

"Hey, Historia…"

"…Y-yes?"

"Your dad's a mafia boss, right? And if I remember… you said you have bodyguards or something? Tell them about what Leonhardt had done to you. I'm sure she's going to get what she deserves." Phoebe's smirk expanded into a demonic smile.

Historia tried to fight back, "B-but Phoebe, it's just a small cut—"

"Let her taste our fury, Historia. Look at what she had done to humiliate us. I will not let her live happily anymore. That bitch…" Phoebe muttered. Her eyes darkened, it was clear that she was not very happy about what Annie had just done to her.

"That's right! Do it, Historia!" one of the girls added.

"She stole Reiner Braun from Phoebe and acts like she knows nothing!" the other girl added.

"She hurt you too, didn't she? Don't tell us you're okay with that?"

Historia couldn't speak. She was torn between defending Annie who had been so nice to her, or continue protecting herself whom Annie had tried to protect. She felt like crying and yelling at how helpless she was.

"It's okay, Historia. If you can't do it, I will tell your bodyguards myself." Phoebe smiled.

Historia's heart stopped.


Chapter 13. Historia Reiss


The next day, Historia went to school hoping to find a chance to tell Annie about Phoebe's plan. However, she was surrounded by Phoebe and the girls the entire day and didn't get the chance to. The next day, she planned to go to school early to spot Annie when she came to school, but Annie never came.

"Tomorrow the winter break starts… How am I supposed to look for Leonhardt-san?" she muttered to herself. She was sitting on the toilet, sighing at her own incompetence.

When she was about to exit, however, she heard familiar voices from beyond the door.

It was Phoebe and her girls.

She pressed her ear to the door and listened to their conversation.

"Hey, did you hear? April said that Leonhardt ran away from home last night."

"Eh? For real? What a coward~"

"Anyway, how did April know about that? She's creepy with her knowledge of everything."

"But she is useful. So is Historia sometimes."

"Yeah. I mean, her dad being a mafia boss? That's so useful at times like this!"

They all giggled and left.

A while later, Historia came out from the room she had been hiding in. She sighed, with her head hanging low. It's not like she didn't know that they were taking advantage of her, but hearing it directly was more painful than she had expected.

She looked into the mirror, 'Maybe I should have taken Leonhardt-san's side after all.' Then she shook her head, 'No! If I do that, it means I'm just taking advantage of Leonhardt-san's strength!'

Historia sighed, for the umpteenth time of the day, as she made her way back to her class.


The next day, Phoebe and her girls paid a visit to the Reiss household since it was Christmas Eve. In the house, they purposefully badmouthed Annie in front of Historia's bodyguards. It was the worst Christmas Eve in Historia's life as she had to agree with them out of her own will. Guilt began to build up inside her she even lost her appetite.

Phoebe and her girls resumed that activity of badmouthing Annie for the next few days and Historia's bodyguards finally approved of harming Annie or her family. And Phoebe, knowing from April that Annie was residing in the Braun's household, didn't wish to harm Reiner and decided to let Historia's bodyguards harm Annie's father instead.

And all of that, planned behind Historia's back.

When news arrived, what Historia heard was Annie's father's death.

"Wh-what?" Historia begged for confirmation.

"We have disposed of that girl's father, Milady."

She knew that her bodyguards weren't very fond of joking. That was definitely not a joke. But she refused to believe in it. Her body trembled. Her hand looked for anything she could hold and then threw it at them.

"Milady! Milady, what are you doing?" they asked in confusion while shielding themselves from the thrown things.

Historia threw everything she could find with her trembling hands. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her body felt numb.

"I never asked you to do that!" she threw her pillow. "Don't get ahead of yourself and do something I never wanted!" she threw her teddy bear. "You're always like that! Do you think that it's going to please me?" she threw her clock. "I… How am I… I can no longer face her now!" she buried her face in her palms and fell to her knees.

.

I'm sorry, Leonhardt-san…

.

She wailed. Hot tears never stopped flowing as her heart squeezing with guilt.

.

I'm so sorry…

.

It was all her fault. If only she had told everyone the truth.

.

Please forgive me…

.

The next time she tried to find Annie, she was told that she had moved to another town, following the family that would be taking care of her. Every year, Historia moved from school to school, hoping to find Annie even though she didn't know to which town she had moved to.

Without any clue, it took her six years to find the person she had been looking for.

.

.

Six years later…

.

.

It all began on the first day of her high school year.

While looking for her name in the notice board, she found the names she was familiar with; Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Fubar, and lastly, Annie Leonhardt. She almost forgot how to breathe. Her whole body froze in shock. She had finally found her.

"Oh? Christa, your class is 1-04 too? Lucky~" Ymir said as she hugged her happily.

Christa smiled, "Ehehe…" Not wanting Ymir to notice her tension, Christa created a topic, "You know, Ymir? They said that class 1-04 is some sort of a special class in this school. It only consists of twelve students every year."

"Hmm? Well, I don't really care as long as I'm in the same class with you."

Christa giggled.

Christa Renz was the name she had used to mask her identity for six years now. The fact that she was a daughter of a mafia boss, that alone, she never wanted to let anyone learn about it anymore. She wanted to let the name Historia Reiss within her die along with Annie's father's death. That way, she felt like she could repent on her sin. At least, that was what eased her heart until now.

She met Ymir three years ago and the taller girl seemed to have taken a liking to her. Ymir seemed to be living by herself and she had no problem changing schools alongside Christa every year. Even after knowing Christa's background, Ymir didn't hate her or take advantage of her. All she ever did was follow her without saying anything.

Christa was glad that someone could accept her as herself.


The homeroom teacher, Keith Shadis, introduced himself and demanded the students to do the same. In order, they introduced themselves, starting from the top of the class; Mikasa Ackerman.

"Mikasa Ackerman, 15 years old. I live with Eren—"

"Do you really have to mention that!?"

Christa looked at the green-eyed boy who just gave the retort. He must be the one named Eren, then. Eh? They live together?

Next was the second place.

"My name's Reiner Braun. Guys, let's get along for the next three years! Well, I heard this class will stay the same for three years, so… we'll stick together for three years, right? By the way, my hobby is doing sports and—"

"Okay, enough. Next!"

The tallest guy in the class rose from his seat, which was only beside Reiner. "My name is Bertholdt Fubar. Nice to meet you all."

"That was short. Next!"

The petite girl, who sat at the front, slowly rose from her seat and spoke in a low voice, "Annie Leonhardt," was the only thing she said before sitting back.

Christa ignored the rest of the introductions and focused her attention on Annie, who was already yawning and ready to sleep. The older girl had changed in one way, and in the other way, she hadn't. Christa didn't realize that she had started fidgeting out of nervousness. After six years she had spent to look for Annie, she didn't know what to say now that she had found her. Luckily, none of the three seemed to recognize her.

Her mind was too occupied that she didn't realize Ymir had been nudging her.

"Christa! It's your turn to introduce yourself," she whispered.

Her eyes wide in realization, Christa rose from her seat almost immediately, "M-my name is Christa Renz. Nice to meet you all!" she bowed. Then she brought her head up again to show everyone a nervous smile, "L-let's all be friends…" she said.

Almost everyone in the class was gawking as though they were looking at a Goddess.


A week later, Christa still couldn't find an opportunity to talk to Annie, as all Annie ever did was sleep in the class or read books. In addition, no one seemed to pay that much attention to Annie so Christa found it very difficult to approach her without anyone having weird thoughts. Most people would spend their time betting on who's going to win in the fight between Eren Jaeger and Jean Kirschtein, which happened in daily basis.

'Aah! What am I doing prioritizing public opinion instead of Annie?'

Christa slapped her cheeks multiple times before the mirror. Following everyone in the class, she had started calling Annie by her first name.

She started pumping her fists slightly to encourage herself.

"…Christa?"

Turning around, Christa could find Mikasa staring at her with her unreadable eyes. Christa sweated, wary of what Mikasa was thinking because she couldn't read her at all.

"Y-yes?"

"Why were you slapping your cheeks?" Mikasa asked indifferently as she made her way to the sink to wash her hands which had bloodstain on it. Christa gulped. Mikasa must have stopped Eren and Jean's fight using violence.

"…E-eh? There's nothing, really."

"…Hmm?" Mikasa looked into her eyes, making her feel more nervous. "Every time Armin did that, it means he has problems. What about you? What do you do that for?" she asked, most likely out of pure curiosity.

After fidgeting for a while, Christa decided to speak, "Mikasa… if you did something wrong and wanted to apologize but never get a chance to, what will you do? Oh! And also, if you're too shy to approach said person…" she asked.

Mikasa tilted her head, seemingly confused. Then she looked upwards, browsing her mind. Her mouth opened to speak, "Maybe I'll write a letter?"

"…A letter?"

Mikasa nodded, "When someone's too shy to speak directly with a person, they write letters. At least that's what Armin told me."

"A letter…" Christa muttered, patting her chin in a deep thought. Then she clapped her hands, "A letter!" she chimed.

"Did that solve your problem?" Mikasa asked in monotone. Christa had started to wonder if Mikasa even did this to help her or she was just getting bored because she had nothing to do.

Either way, Christa was feeling thankful. No, this did not solve her problem. But at least this could cease her nervousness and eventually she would be able to tell Annie in person.

"Yes! Yes it did! Thank you, Mikasa!" Christa waved good-bye and left with a smile.

Mikasa waved back.


Every week, Christa would put the letter inside Annie's shoe locker and waited until she could see her reaction. At first, Annie looked quite startled and would look around as to who the sender was. But eventually, she stopped wondering.

Half a year went by and Annie stopped completely.

Furthermore, she became closer to Reiner and Bertholdt like they were in their childhood. It was almost like she had completely forgotten about the tragedy of her childhood. She acted like that day never happened. And it seemed that she had already forgiven Reiner as well.

However, that didn't apply to Christa.

The feeling of guilt still haunted her as much as it did in the past.

That time, Christa decided to add the contents of the letter.

.

.

.

The four of them gulped.

"…Christa?"

The said girl lowered her head and bit her lower lip in anxiety. Beside her, Ymir reassured her, saying that she was doing the right thing.

"It was you?" Reiner asked, completely taken aback.

On the other hand, Mikasa was looking all indifferent at the scene, while Annie chose to be quiet when Christa told them about her past.

"Mikasa, how did you find out that it was Christa? I mean, you don't even know Annie's past so how…" Reiner uncharacteristically tensed.

Mikasa opened her mouth to speak, "Coincidence. On our first days of school, she had once asked for advice from me about how to apologize to someone and I suggested on writing letters. I just thought that maybe she really did as I suggested and she might just be the sender we're looking for. Last night, I called her to confirm it. End of discussion."

"I can't say whether you're smart or just lucky, Mikasa…" Eren gritted his teeth. He regretted not listening to Mikasa's conversation on phone last night.

"But, for her to remember such trivial event is already remarkable…" Bertholdt commented and Annie nodded in agreement.

"Is it really that remarkable?" Mikasa asked.

"You bet!" Reiner exclaimed.

"—Anoo!"

Five of them turned to look at Christa, who seemed to wear a determined expression on her face. She inhaled deeply before facing Annie, much to the older girl's surprise. Then, she bowed sincerely, saying "Please forgive me, Annie!"

Annie looked visibly bothered by the fact that someone was bowing right before her. She sighed and spoke, "Raise your head."

"But—"

"It's okay. I've gotten over it. It's not exactly your fault and it's been six years, after all…" she muttered. Her voice was longing, as if she suddenly wanted to meet her deceased Father once again. Good grief, she thought, everybody kept reminding her of her past lately.

"It's not okay!" Christa shook her head.

Annie tilted her head in puzzlement at Christa's persistence.

"I… I…" burying her face in her palms, Christa sobbed. "…I killed your father… I put you into despair for six years… I… I don't deserve your forgiveness…" she fell on her knees.

Realizing Christa's overwhelming guilt, Annie kneeled and stroked her back reassuringly.

"You know," Annie spoke up.

Christa, despite her tears had yet to stop, looked up at Annie.

"These past six years weren't that bad," she said while still stroking Christa's back. "The family that took care of me was nice. I got to live on my own after getting a job and it went well. This year, I even get to make up with my friends."

Reiner looked embarrassed while Bertholdt just smiled.

"But you," Annie continued, "You've suffered for six years, unable to taste real happiness because of guilt. You're being too hard on yourself. It's you who never forgive yourself…"

"But, Annie…" Christa sobbed again.

"You said that Christmas Eve was the worst Christmas Eve you ever had, right?" Annie asked, but more to herself than Christa. "That Christmas Eve was my best Christmas Eve, you know?" Annie gave her a faint smile. "So you can stop feeling guilty. Because you've suffered enough for my share…"

Nodding, Christa cried loudly while burying her face in Annie's chest.

.

.

People can forgive you for the sin you commit.
However, it was yourself who could never accept forgiveness…


"Listen, listen, Rivaille! Eren's pouting because he lost to Mikasa again! Aww, he's just so cute~" Hanji said in singsong voice while setting aside some documents she was reading. Sitting across her was Eren Jaeger, who refused to talk and kept on an unpleasant expression on his face.

"Quit that face and work properly, brat."

"…Yes."

"If one lose is what it takes to drag you down, you don't have the right to call yourself a member of the Student Council."

"Forgive my rudeness, kaichou. But still, this is not the first time I lose to her. This is the—I can't even keep the count…" and Eren sighed and slumped into depression.

"Eren," Rivaille began and Eren looked up at him. "Stop being a baby and let it go. What good will it does you to dwell over something that had happened. Look in front of you, there are still many things Ackerman isn't expert in. If you still can't get over with it, you can make your way out of this place on your first day of being an active member."

Eren lowered his head, his expression darkened. Rivaille-kaichou was right. He was being childish again.

"I chose you as one of my men instead of Ackerman precisely because I have faith that you are someone who knows nothing such as giving up."

Hearing that, Eren brought his head up again, looking at the president, however the president was already continuing his paperwork. Hanji chuckled and winked at Eren, muttering things that sounded like: "It's Rivaille's way to cheer someone up. Get used to it, Eren."

Eren nodded. Despite everything, the president was actually a nice person.


After school, the trio decided to study at the library. It was not like they studied together because they needed tutoring from one another. Instead, they were just seeking peace.

Unlike Reiner, Annie didn't repeatedly read a page to memorize the contents. As she seemed to be merely flipping the pages nonchalantly, looking like she was only half-awake with her eyelids nearly closing. On the other hand, Bertholdt was doing several difficult problems.

Joining the trio, Connie seated himself beside Reiner, who seemed to be doing the problems with so much effort.

"Hey, Reiner, how do we solve this problem?" he asked.

Reiner seemed to be reluctant to leave his half-solved problem, as he only took a quick glance at the problem Connie showed, which was a multiple choices problem, and circled the answer. "That's the answer. Figure out the method yourself." And he went back to do his problem.

"What the—" Connie jerked away in slight shock. Then he turned to Annie, who only sat across him. "Hey, Annie, have you solved this one?" he asked, pointing at the problem.

Annie only gave a quick glance and returned to her book, nodding slightly.

"Can you explain to me the method—"

"I looked at this answer key while doing it. Here," Annie said, handing the boy a paper full of the answers and methods to solve the problems.

Connie wordlessly received the paper, too bewildered to talk. Then he turned to look at Bertholdt, who was all too silent while being occupied by his own problems. Well, a little too occupied to pay attention to the newcomer.

Soon, Connie decided to join Jean's group instead. Armin was there anyway. The blond could definitely teach him better than those three.


Hitting the table multiple times, Sasha wailed loudly, "Gyaah! I've had enough of this! Let me out of this torture chamber!"

Across her, Christa smiled apologetically. The three of them had decided to study in group because Sasha insisted on it, saying that she wouldn't make it if she studied by herself. Christa had started to wonder how the glutton brunette managed to rank nine in the entrance exam like this. Was it all coincidence?

She shook her head. She shouldn't have made wild assumption.

"Oh please, would you just shut up for a sec, Sasha? Just read your goddamned book," Ymir rolled her eyes before she continued reading.

Sasha slammed her face on the table.

"Um… Sasha? Which one do you not get? I'll explain it to you…" Christa offered kindly.

"Explain everything to me! I don't understand any of this!"

"E—eh? W, well, this one is about—"

Sasha immediately slammed the table and rose from her seat, "Alright! Let's grab some supper, guys!" she said excitedly before skipping toward the door.

Ymir rolled her eyes and sighed, had been expecting this, while Christa just blinked in confusion.


"Oh man, I can't believe I was so stupid!"

Eren frantically scribbled on the white paper. He had been cursing himself for the past hour for being so stupid as to not study last night and preferred to solve the mystery behind the letter instead. Now he would definitely lose to Mikasa again. He was getting sick of this. Even after Rivaille-kaichou had gone all the way to cheer him up, now he felt like shit.

As he scratched his hair in frustration of not being able to solve the problem, he didn't realize that Mikasa had stood beside him, studying the problem he was solving. It didn't take her five seconds to lean forward, tuck her hair behind her ear, and took Eren's pencil. Eren wanted to voice a protest, but the sweet smell of her hair completely caught him off guard. They were really close to the point he could take notice of her long eyelashes he usually didn't.

Eren didn't realize that he had been holding his breath looking at her.

And she had already done with the problem by then.

"Here, I tried to finish it with the shortest way possible. Can you grasp it?"

Silence.

"…Eren?"

Eren snapped out of it when Mikasa waved her hand in front of his face, her expression painted with worry. Shifting his gaze to the solved problem, Eren nodded.

"Eren, are you not feeling well?" she sounded worried.

"I'm fine! And I didn't ask for your help, okay? Don't get ahead of yourself!" Eren glowered before continuing his study.

Mikasa sighed and walked away.

TO BE CONTINUED


For you who gave the right answer for the previous quiz, here are your cyber little!Annie plushies~ *throws the plushies*

And this week there isn't any quiz. Instead, please tell me your MOST FAVORITE character in SnK? :3

My goal for this chapter is 375 reviews...maybe? :3