Sorry for taking more than two weeks to update, but I really am out of idea lately. And this abundant amount of shitty homework is holding me back… Ugh… Ninety-six mathematics problems. Deadline: tomorrow. Great, just great…
I'm just so sad that SnK anime is over. There's nothing to keep me curious for the whole week now :'(
Anyway, as usual, thank you: Seraphicpapilion, silentux131, Shiina Yuki, Zyzz, sereneskydragonslayer, SeraphineHeartfilia, sparkling apples, anime-hq-12345, creativeactive, HayaaShigure-kun, TheFayrinaTale, Commander Kotori, .98, AnimeLoverxxxSinceBirth, dot, Nancy Haibara, .568, ProdigyMeetsStrongestShorty, Chuunibyou Yume, Guest, Guest, meshi-chan, felicity2hawt4u, Brkrth99, solitarycloud, Pointingdeder, Wintersia, Death Appraiser, Gleam Tamers Hikari27, and Saroninas! Please review again! ;)
There aren't many people giving the answer to the previous chapter's quiz, and even lesser of them gave the right guess. The best answer is given by Nancy Haibara as usual, though, but still just the rough idea of it. But well, the answer isn't gonna be revealed in this chapter anyway so I'll ask the same question once again. With the same prize :3
Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin
The feeling was familiar. He had felt this countless times before; the cold floor, the cloth between his jaws, the rope immobilizing his limbs… blindfold. It was all too familiar to ignore.
He was kidnapped.
And he wasn't alone, he knew.
Even though his eyes were covered, he could sense the body warmth emitted from the person beside him. They were kidnapped together, it seemed.
He sighed. Ten years of life and this was the fifteenth time he got kidnapped.
A husky voice echoed inside the room, "Lucky… this kid's an Oriental. We're gonna get plenty."
An Oriental? Who were they talking about? He thought to himself, wondering if there were still plenty of kids here aside from him and her. As far as he knew, none of them were Orientals.
Not long after he could feel his vision slowly coming back when he kidnappers removed his blindfold the cloth between his jaws. There were three of them, built men. As he had expected, beside him was her.
She smiled apologetically at him, "Sorry… we should've gotten home right away instead of taking a detour…" she whispered weakly.
He rolled his eyes, "Shut up. Just hurry up so we can go home right away."
"Okey dokey," she grinned before twisting her hands and snapped the rope binding them in a blink of an eye, startling the three kidnappers in unison. She did the same with her feet and completely broke free in a matter of seconds.
"Sit right there like a good boy and wait, would you, Rivaille?" she smiled and he gave her a low 'hm'. She nodded and launched herself at one of the three men.
Kicking the cold, cement floor, she launched her fist at the nearest man and sent him flying to the other side of the room, cracking the walls in the process. She let out a loud laugh of satisfactory before moving to the second man. Humming, she started cracking her stiff knuckles. Her brown eyes glistened in amusement, almost devilish.
"Y-you're a monster!"
"What's with that ridiculous strength? This is—" before he could finish the sentence, his chin received a powerful uppercut from below. The little girl moved too fast for his eyes to catch. He could feel his chin bleeding and screamed in agony when he realized he had bit his tongue as well.
The last man had fallen on his butt after his knees went numb. The brown-eyed girl expanded her smirk; her wavy brown hair framing her demonic face. Slowly, she took a step after the other toward the cowering man.
To her surprise, the man suddenly got up and ran toward Rivaille who was sitting on the corner of the room waiting for her. She quickly snapped her head up to his direction and kicked the floor in attempt to reach Rivaille before the man did. Rivaille still had his limbs tied and his movements were limited.
The man was holding something resembling an injection with overly-suspicious red liquid inside. Alarmed by the seemingly dangerous substance, she quickened her pace and finally able to reach Rivaille before the man. She stood protectively before the boy and received the injection in his stead, right in her abdomen.
She winced in pain and fell to the ground, holding her abdomen to cease the pain.
The man smirked devilishly, however he was shot in the leg before anything could happen. The police had arrived in the nick of time.
After Rivaille was untied, he quickly ran to her side, almost had the urge to scold her for being too reckless and confident but he'd save it for later. The girl was sitting on the ground, still holding her aching abdomen while grimacing, "Owwiee…" she moaned while rubbing her abdomen.
"You fine? That was brave of you, Hanji…" he said, offering a hand.
Hanji looked up and forced a smile despite her slightly pale and sweaty face. Using her right hand, she pointed up her index and middle finger, "Peace…" she showed a toothy grin.
Chapter 15. A Neglected Tale
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived under the floors of a house.
Unbeknownst by the people living in the house, she stole little by little their house supply to complement hers.
Little by little so that no one would notice—
—Carefully and thoroughly so that no one would find her.
The little girl lived her never-changing life under the floors for twelve years, at times happy and at times blue.
But one day, she was found by the little boy in the house. Oh no, what should she do? She was found. Now she couldn't steal from this house anymore. Furthermore, what would this little boy think of her? She wanted to defend herself but could never find the suitable thing to say. In the end, she surrendered to the little boy's personal opinion.
"Don't you want to live in the house?" asked the boy.
The little girl never expected the offer. Hesitantly but surely, she asked, "Can I?"
Having been expecting the question, the little boy smiled and—
.
.
"Would you stop reading the picture book and get your ass over here? We're going now," Rivaille said from the doorway.
"Aww… You're so mean… You used to like that picture book, too."
"When I was a brat, that is. Now get here or I'm going to let you rot inside the house alone for the day. Let's go, Irvin," Rivaille gestured Irvin, who only smiled at the two's daily bickering, to follow him as he marched out of the house. Afraid of being left behind, Hanji quickly rose from her seat and followed suit.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Cold sweat trailed down his face as he held his breath at the tension emitted from his both sides. Armin carefully glanced to his left, only to find the ever quiet Mikasa. There was nothing unusual, except she was hiding half of her face behind her maroon scarf for some unknown reason, as well as refusing to talk since the early morning.
The same thing applied to Eren. The green-eyed German boy appeared as though he was trying his best not to frown—something he did when he was visibly bothered by something—only to fail miserably due to his face resembling a person holding back a fart.
There were two conclusions Armin came up with: One, Eren and Mikasa fought over trivial matters—again—or two, they saw each other in an embarrassing state and now they're too bothered to look at each other's face—it had happened a couple of times before. But then again, he could be entirely wrong, since Mikasa was usually more collected when facing this kind of occasion. And it was usually Eren who made a big deal out of every fight they had.
But today, Armin noticed Mikasa averting her gaze from Eren as if refusing any eye contact.
What could've happened to them?
Poor little Armin had to walk all the way to school under the pressure of his two best friends' deathly silence; a very tragic story.
Without warning, the door to the Student Council room was slammed open.
"Guten morgen!"
"Ah. Good morning, Hanji-san." Petra smiled.
"Eh? You're alone, Petra? Where are the others?" Hanji held her palm over her forehead and scanned the room. Rivaille and Irvin entered the room soon after with Rivaille completely ignoring her overactiveness while Irvin smiled at it.
"They're helping out our class. But they will be here in a short while."
"Ooh!" Hanji clapped her hands before skipping toward Petra's seat and kneeled beside her due to the absence of chairs. "I heard your class is doing fortune-telling or something? I'd like to give it a shot!" she beamed.
"Really? Please do!" Petra smiled again.
As the girls continued their talk, Rivaille took out the manuscript from his bag and read it over again. He wasn't really fond of performing on-stage, really. He only did it because a certain someone looked very enthusiastic about the whole drama plans. Tragically, that certain someone had to be replaced due to injury after having been waiting excitedly for the past month—tragically so.
Except that person didn't seem that disappointed at all.
Groaning mentally, Rivaille continued reading and Irvin did the same. Suddenly, the Student Council President was reminded of Mikasa. Had she memorized all the lines? Well, it's Mikasa. Of course she would have memorized it all by now. He guessed she would have memorized it all overnight at the most.
Mikasa sneezed.
"…Mikasa? Are you alright? Did you catch a cold?" Armin asked in worried tone and he could see Eren stealing a glance at Mikasa when he did.
Giving a single nod, Mikasa answered, "I'm fine."
"Thank goodness. I can't imagine how it would be if you really caught a cold. I mean, you haven't been sick for years."
"Yeah," she rubbed her nose. "I just remembered that I haven't touched the script I'm supposed to memorize. I wonder if I can finish memorizing it by tonight." Sighing, Mikasa went to the back to change her clothes.
Armin looked back and forth at Mikasa and Eren, still wondering what was wrong between the two.
As Mikasa made her way to the changing room, she—unluckily—ran into Annie, who was also changing her clothes. The blonde had almost finished changing by the time Mikasa went in—she was putting on a pair of white gloves.
Annie wore her hair in her usual ponytail and the dark butler outfit hugged her petite body perfectly. She didn't even bother to wear make-up at the least. However, Mikasa had to admit that the blonde was indeed a charming lass—her beauty was natural and not artificial. Despite the scary face she wore every day, it didn't actually hide her beauty. Her pale skin and equally pale hair and eyes made her appear like a fragile little girl.
Turning slowly, Annie set her gaze on the dark-haired girl. "Oh, it's just you." And she returned to her previous activity.
Mikasa ignored the blonde and went to the opposite side before undoing her school uniform. Carefully, she put on her costumes afterward. Annie didn't leave, but instead, looked at Mikasa with her signature apathetic gaze. Her blue eyes seemed to glint in amusement as she leaned against the wall with her arms crosses.
"…Why are you still here?" Mikasa asked with a glare. Her hands were doing her hair, tying the dark locks into a short ponytail. She didn't push her bangs away and let it fell between her eyes like usual.
"No particular reason," Annie shrugged.
Mikasa had always hated that attitude of Annie's. The petite blonde had the tendency to give her ambiguous answers to her questions and it always managed to hit her nerve, hard. Another reason she hated Annie was because the blonde was too close to Eren.
"You know what? You look similar to that model I saw in a magazine the other day," Annie said and Mikasa jumped involuntarily.
Annie's lips formed a hidden smirk before she made her leave.
"I guess it's just my imagination," she said one last time before disappearing behind the curtain.
Mikasa visibly shuddered. Her job was one thing she didn't anyone to know—for many reasons. Troublesome gossips would emerge, and worse, she would be treated differently from the other students more than now. She sighed. She didn't really like being favored by everyone in the school, actually. It made her feel isolated.
But then again, as long as Eren was by her side, she didn't really care.
But if everybody found out about her job, Rivaille-kaichou would also be pulled into the mess. She didn't want to trouble anyone besides herself.
Walking toward the curtain separating the changing room and the kitchen, Mikasa bumped into Annie again. She was about to question Annie as to why she was standing in the way but she gape when she saw what Annie was seeing.
"Come on, Eren, I told you it's cute! You didn't wear this yesterday so today you have to look appealing today!"
"At least remove the wig! I don't need—"
"It looks good on you, I promise!"
"Yeah, so good it makes me smile—pfft!" Ymir covered her mouth and Christa elbowed her stomach. Eren also glared at the taller girl.
"Come on, Eren, you don't know how deserted this place was yesterday. At this rate we're going to go bankrupt!" Reiner begged.
"We have to add as many attractive—pfft—maids as possible!" Connie added, snickering.
Mikasa ignored Ymir and Connie's mocking comments and concentrated her gaze on Eren who stood in the center of them all. He stood out like a flower in a mountain of straws. He wore his hair down and a little part of it was tied behind while his bangs still formed a curtain as usual. Of course, it was only a wig. But he looked irresistibly cute with it.
Realizing that she had been staring for too long, Mikasa put her attention elsewhere. Yeah, like Annie for example. But when Mikasa turned around, the blonde had already stood beside Reiner and the two of them seemed to be talking about something private.
She turned to look at Sasha instead. It was always refreshing looking at the glutton. She was peacefully eating French fries without any care on whatever might happen to the world.
A woman stood before the merry school ground and smirked as she removed her sunglasses, allowing her blue eyes to gaze directly at the place. The cooling scarf around her neck moved in synch with her every step when she walked.
Everyone around had started whispering.
"Hey, isn't that that model?"
"Yeah! She looks so young!"
"I heard she already has a son in high school, you know?"
"You're kidding me!"
"Seriously, she's almost 40 already!"
"She looks like she's still in her 20s."
Her smirk expanding satisfyingly, she retrieved a piece of paper from her purse and scanned it carefully and thoroughly. It was quite confusing to just hear the direction from her son so she had him made her a map, though it was too odd to grasp. "Let's see…" she raised a brow but smiled soon after, "the special class, class 1-04. I think it's around there, huh?" she said to herself while pointing at a three-story building.
She put the paper back inside her bag, "Wait for Mommy, Reiner~"
Before she could make her way to class 1-04, she spotted someone familiar.
"I'm sorry for asking you to lend a hand. You must be busy with your class' event, too." Petra smiled apologetically as she arranged the set of Tarot cards on the dark tablecloth.
"It's fine, Petra-san. In fact, I'm glad I can get out of that class. It's suffocating me to stay there," Eren shivered at the thought of wearing maid outfit once again. True, Christa and Armin were more popular maids than him and were more of the center of attention, but still, he was stood out too much for anyone not to notice. It was all because they forced him to wear those ridiculously pink accessories.
"Petra! Rivaille-kaichou needs your help at the SC!" Auruo called out.
"Oh no, I'll be leaving everything to you here, would that be fine, Eren?" Petra asked.
Eren nodded, "Leave it to me."
Petra nodded as well and smiled before leaving with Auruo.
Eren adjusted the occult goods on the table and found a dark, oracle cloak and curiosity built inside him. He decided to try it on. He laughed when he saw himself on the mirror, looking all mysterious and dark as the hood had covered half of his face. It was amazing how clothes could completely change someone's aura.
Walking around in the cloak, Eren hadn't felt satisfied. He sat inside the fortune-telling booth and started browsing the Tarot cards.
"…the Fool, the Magician, the High Priestess... What's this all about? Can these cards really predict someone's future?" he mumbled to himself.
When Eren returned the cards to their former spot, someone entered the booth, most likely a customer since she came from the front entrance. Eren just wanted to tell the customer that the real fortune-teller wasn't present yet but cancelled his attempt when he saw his foster sister sitting on the seat across him.
"Excuse me, can you tell my future?" Mikasa asked calmly.
Eren gulped, his adrenaline working harder than needed. Not able to come up with any way to escape the situation, he decided to change his voice instead. He cleared his throat and mimicked the deep, raspy voice of an old man he saw in Harry Potter the other day.
"Well, sure. What method would you want?" he looked at the goods on the table "Tarot cards, crystal ball, palmistry…"
Mikasa stayed silent for a while and Eren almost thought she found out. But she then spoke up, "I don't know. My friends urged me to visit this place to have my mind cleared. They're good friends. I just don't wish to worry them further."
Eren blinked. Was Mikasa really bothered by last night's accident? Well, he didn't have the right to talk about her since he also received a hard blow from that accident. But if this fortune-telling could ease her stress, then so be it.
Mikasa knitted her brows and began thinking about what she wanted the oracle to tell her, "…I want you to tell me about my life…"
"Very well."
Eren's hand reached for the deck of cards on his left side and put it before Mikasa after scattering them. The girl looked at the cards questioningly.
"Draw five cards and arrange them in line."
Mikasa nodded and did as she was told. After Mikasa placed the five cards, Eren retrieved the remaining cards and put them back to their original place.
"This one," he touched the first card "represents your past." He flipped the card, which was 'The Strength'. Eren had no idea how to read the card, but it was Mikasa's past, and he knew everything about her. "It means you have gone through something very tragic, however you managed to gain the very strength from it."
"Yes," Mikasa nodded.
"This one," he touched the second card "represents the most important event that had happened recently." He flipped the card, which was 'The Wheel of Fortune'. He could think of a thing he had done last week. "It means you lost something important but had also gained another of equal value."
Mikasa remembered the time when she almost lost her most treasured scarf. She looked at the red bracelet circling her right wrist and almost smiled, "Yes."
"This one," he touched the third card "represents an important event that is currently happening." He flipped the card, which was 'The Lovers' and he almost jumped the moment he saw it. What the hell? What should he say? If he recalled correctly, Petra once told him something about this card being a choice.
"It means the choice you make now will decide your bond with your dearest one." He blurted it out without actually thinking.
Mikasa was visibly bothered by this one, "…Yes."
"This one," he continued "represents an important event that would occur in the near future." He flipped the card, which was 'The High Priestess'. From seeing the card, he could feel warmth. "It means, whatever might happen, you must follow what your heart tells you."
"Yes."
"And the last one," he touched the last card "represents your future." He flipped the card, which was—wait, why? Why did this have to be the last card? It gave him uneasy feeling.
The last card was 'The Death'.
Eren gulped and decided to peek on Mikasa's reaction. The girl was unsurprisingly calm as always. Perhaps she didn't actually believe in fortune-telling at all.
"It means something really bad will happen."
Eren almost immediately grabbed the deck of cards and presented it before Mikasa once again, earning a quizzical look from the girl. He told her to draw one more card and she agreed. The card she drew was one of the minor arcanas, 'The Knight of Sword'.
"It means a knight in shining armor will save you from it," Eren smiled behind the hood, actually glad she drew that card instead of another unlucky one.
On the other hand, Mikasa also looked glad.
Does it mean she really believes in fortune-telling? Eren thought to himself.
Rising from her seat, Mikasa thanked him and paid before leaving.
Eren sighed in relief that his cover wasn't blown.
Reiner hid his face behind his palm while fighting the urge to cry out loud at the humiliation he's experiencing at the moment. Beside him, Annie patted his shoulder in pity, though he already knew that she was actually having fun. The blonde had always had this sadistic side in her.
Just like her.
"I'd like to order this Lovely Strawberry Parfait along with a blow kiss from the maid—wait, Reiner, are you listening?"
Reiner felt like killing himself on the spot.
"Earth to Reiner! Hey, are you still there?" Mrs. Braun waved her hand over Reiner's face.
With a powerful jab from Annie, Reiner returned to reality. His mother's expression had turned a little sour. She never liked it when someone ignored her. And when Reiner averted his gaze to the person sitting in the same table as his mom, his eyes widened.
It was a middle-aged man who looked proper. His style screamed out rich the moment you landed a gaze at him.
"Mom, who's this man?" Reiner asked. It wasn't a funny joke if his mom finally made a move on some rich guy just because his dad was rarely home.
"Why are you being so tense? Isn't it fine? Your dad's almost never home anyway," Mrs. Braun waved her hand while laughing "Right, Annie-chan?"
"A-ah…" Annie could never oppose the woman.
"It's not funny!"
"Okay, just kidding," she stuck out her tongue playfully.
The man chuckled at the mother and son's interaction. He then removed his hat and politely bowed to introduce himself, "I am the producer of where your mother works, Reiner. You can call me Mr. Pétit," he smiled.
…Pétit? That's a ridiculous name, Reiner thought but would never say it out loud.
"Anyway, Reiner, I am here to look for your classmate. Her name is… Mikasa Ackerman, I think…"
"Mikasa?" both Annie and Reiner exchanged look.
"Sorry to trouble you, Petra. But Rivaille just won't let me do it by myself," Hanji smiled apologetically at the younger girl.
Petra could only giggle as she redo Hanji's bandage, "Kaichou really cares about you, Hanji-san."
"Is that so?" Hanji looked at the sleeping President while raising a brow. He must have slept in after overworking himself again. And he said he isn't so weak as to get bothered by the memory of her. Just look at him now… He gets physically weak as well.
After she was done with her work, Petra excused herself and left.
Hanji stared at Rivaille again. It was only the two of them in the room now.
"…Mikasa!"
The raven-haired girl turned around just to see Sasha waving her hand at her.
"A bearded man is looking for you!" Sasha informed.
Mikasa raised a brow. A bearded man?
"He's sitting right there!" Sasha pointed at the table in the center of the room. Mikasa could see Annie and Reiner standing next to it. Sitting at the table was a quite familiar young woman with blonde hair and sitting opposite her was the bearded man Sasha was talking about.
Mikasa approached the said table and the bearded man quickly noticed her, much to her surprise.
"Is that you, Mikasa Ackerman?" he asked with expectation.
"…Yes. May I help you?"
"Yes. Yes, you may. Please, have a seat." He stood up and politely pulled the chair to offer Mikasa a seat.
Calmly, Mikasa took the offer.
Mrs. Braun smiled knowingly and stood up, "Well, I'll be leaving now, then. Have fun, Mr. Pétit," she said before pulling Reiner and Annie with her.
"Hey, where are you taking us, mom!? Mom, let me go!"
"Aren't you going to show me around?"
"At least let me change my clothes first!"
"There's no time for that. You look good, anyway. Not as good as Annie-chan, though. Right, Annie-chan?" she giggled and Annie agreed.
"Where did the high and mighty Annie go!? Are you just going to listen to everything she—"
"Shut up and get to walk!" Mrs. Braun pumped her fist childishly before marching out of the room, ignoring every single complaint from Reiner.
"NOOOOOOO!"
His voice echoed throughout the corridor.
Mr. Pétit chuckled at the commotion before turning back to face Mikasa. "Well, do you know me, Mikasa…chan?"
Mikasa shook her head.
The man offered his hand, "You can call me Mr. Pétit. I am Rivaille's Father. I'm pretty sure you know my son, don't you?" he showed a toothy grin.
Mikasa's eyes visibly widened. "Kaichou's… father?" her mouth agape when taking his hand.
He nodded, "And, I am here because Rivaille keeps breaking his promise to let me meet you. I grew impatient and decided to use this opportunity to look for you. He is unaware that I am here so please keep it a secret," he put a finger on his smiling lips and Mikasa nodded.
"Come to think of it, Mikasa-chan, you have such a pretty face. Who is your Mother, if I may ask?"
"She's already gone when I was nine… Her name is Miyuki. I don't remember her maiden name…"
The man's expression dropped even though he tried to hide it.
"Very well, then." He collected his composure, "Have you perhaps heard anything from Rivaille regarding our family?" he asked.
"Not really. Just some information from Hanji Zoë-senpai…"
Mr. Pétit raised a brow at that, "…You heard it from Hanji…?"
Mikasa tilted her head. Did she say something wrong? But she was certain there was nothing wrong with what she said. There wasn't any false information as well.
"…Hanji, you say?" the man asked again.
"Yes?"
Hanji smiled at the sleeping figure before her. She wanted to poke his cheek but she didn't want him to yell at her break another one of her bone. She used to do it often when they were small and they would get into an argument afterward.
She giggled silently.
"…ji…"
She blinked. Did he just sleep-talk?
She leaned closer to listen better to him.
"…Hanji…" he murmured.
Hanji's eyes widened but then she smiled bitterly. Straightening her back, she stood up and left.
"Hanji… That girl," Mr. Pétit narrowed his eyes dangerously, "regretfully, she passed away three years ago…"
Mikasa felt her heartbeat stopped.
"…on the last day of the festival just like this one."
TO BE CONTINUED
I just hope you guys don't hate this chapter. It took me a long time to finish this one so it's kinda crappy. And for the fortune-telling scene, no, I'm not a fortune-teller nor have I been foretold about my future before so forgive me if it's a little weird DX
In case you forgot, the quiz for this chapter is once again: "What are Rivaille and Hanji's untold issues?"
There are a lot more hints in this chapter compared to the previous one so I expect a better answer from all of you ;)
By the way, I'm really hooked on this song, Gift of a Friend by Demi Lovato. I'm usually not fond of songs besides Japanese ones but this one really gives me the chill! I listen to that song while arranging plots in my head and it turns out great. I'm feeling grateful to it.
See you next time~
