Okay, guys, I am very very sorry for the incredibly late update. My last update was like, about two months ago and some of you probably thought I'm dead. But hey, I'm back! Just, I'm kinda disctracted these past two months. You know, with SnK anime being over nothing seems to serve as a catalyst for my writing spirit and with To Aru Kagaku no Railgun kinda piqued my interest a little too much. But after watching the OVA several days ago I just had to return! As a RivaHan fan I'm kinda in a fangirl mode after watching the OVA and in addition, chapter 52 of SnK had more panels for Hanji than before! Kyaa~
Okay, I'm gonna shut up now ._.
Anyway, the amount of reviews for the previous chapter was a bit disappointing, and that's one of the causes I lost my will to write. But well, I need to finish what I started, right? I have abandoned too many stories but I'm planning to end them one by one starting with this fic. Pray for my success! ;)
As usual, lots of thanks for ProdigyMeetsStrongestShorty, sereneskydragonslayer, felicity2hawt4u, solitarycloud, Dinendir, Seraphicpapilion, Astroboy, zenbon zakura, AnimeLoverxxxSinceBirth, Nyanmaru desu, Brkrth99, aRandomAsian, chai, Guest, Blood tinted rain, Lori Konosuna, and Gritog for your awesome reviews!
Oh! And I've been wanting to insert Rivaille's comrades into this story (the ones before he joined the Scouting Legion) but was hesitating since I didn't know their names and I didn't want to fabricate names for original characters of the series. Thankfully the new chapter of the side story has their names included in it!
I re-wrote this so many times already and still don't find it good enough but it's being a parasite inside my laptop so I decided to update it. I still hope you guys would enjoy it, though.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin!
Sighing, Rivaille put on his shoes. He didn't really like going to school, especially after Hanji was handicapped. It felt as though there was no meaning in going to that community of arrogant kids called 'school'. Unlike Hanji, Rivaille could get along with no one; his grumpy expression and nasty attitude being the main reasons for people to avoid him.
Just when he was about to open the front door Hanji called.
"…Rivaille!"
He turned around only to see her flashing a smile. He knew. She didn't need to tell him. He would go to school and do everything for her part, too.
"Where's my goodbye kiss?" she said teasingly and he quickly shot her a glare.
He smacked her head and she yelped.
"I'll be going now," he said one last time before disappearing behind the door. Hanji waved at him while rubbing her smacked head.
After she was sure Rivaille was gone, she let herself collapse on the backrest of her wheelchair. As she thought, it was tiring to put up a strong front. She clutched the left side of her chest and let out a weary sigh. She was getting weaker by day. She held out her hand only to see it tremble quite violently. She wouldn't be able to carry anything like this. It was surprising that she could still act like she's healthy, as though nothing was wrong with her except for the fact that she had a walking disability.
Before long she could hear footsteps coming from behind. It was a light, pitter patter sounds of someone barefooted. Without having to turn around Hanji knew exactly who it was.
"Is something the matter, Zoë?" she asked without turning around. She just didn't have the energy to.
The girl, Zoë, answered shortly after she was given the question. "I have done a research on what you told me before, Hanji."
This time, Hanji turned her wheelchair around to face the girl identical to herself, "Hmm? What are you talking about?" she asked with a smile. "Anyway, are you sure it's okay for you to appear before me like this? What if anyone sees you?"
Zoë ignored Hanji's last question and retrieved the silver watch from her pocket, "About dying…"
"Hee? So that piqued your interest?"
The girl nodded without showing much expression. Hanji noted that Zoë was quite a withdrawn and socially awkward girl but wouldn't say much about it since she didn't want to offend the girl.
"Death is certainly something that would pique my interest." The girl's brown eyes glinted in what seemed like amusement.
Hanji narrowed her brown eyes, "You sound like a grim reaper, Zoë."
.
.
.
A sudden sound of flesh crashing against wall accompanied by a yelp was the beginning of it all. When you turn your head you could spot a dark alley. Feeling the temperature drop dramatically, the air itself was cold and shivering as the sound continued. This was, without doubt, the famous pathway where gangsters gathered and find or pull their victims into.
The alley was quiet and empty, save for four people. One of them kneeled on the filthy ground, bloodied and bruised, while the other two continued torturing him; kicking him or punching him with brass knuckles until he lost his tooth one by one. Chilling cackles could be heard echoing throughout the alley. The last person there was sitting on a stack of wooden boxes, observing the sight before him with half-lidded eyes. He checked his watch before deciding it was enough.
"You can stop now, Isabel, Farlan."
The two stopped and went to their leader's sides.
Rivaille made his way toward the half-dead man and kneeled to his level, his clean hand pulled the man's bloody collar. "Now, let's hear you out. How about you spill it all before I gouge your eyeballs out slowly? Resistance is futile at this moment," he threatened, his expression far from friendly.
The man sniffle. He knew it was inevitable to meet this kind of fate when he joined the group, however this had exceeded his limit. "I… I have no idea what the higher-ups are thinking, I swear!" he choked out. "Please, just spare me, please… please! I have nothing to do with that experiment! I'm just a small pawn!" he cried, wounding his own pride as a full-fledged man.
Rivaille looked at the pleading man and knew that he wasn't lying. Letting out a groan, he released his grip from the man's collar and wiped his now-bloodied hand. He took one last glance at the man and let his hatred overwhelmed. Without haste, he stepped on the man's hand hard, squeezing it like he was only stepping on a lowly cockroach, ignoring the crunching sound it made and the man's pained scream.
Turning on his heel, he made an attempt to leave the scene after muttering one last phrase to the screaming man, "Convey this to your group: I will never forgive them."
Isabel and Farlan followed steadily from behind, they knew better than to talk to Rivaille when he was in his sadistic mode.
Chapter 17. Grim Reaper
Once she got into her apartment, Hanji turned on the lights and went right to the kitchen after removing her shoes. She slipped into her apron and went to see the contents of the fridge. They almost never ran out of ingredients—due to Rivaille's habit to frequently check on their supply. She wanted to distract her mind and decided to cook something more complicated tonight; probably some Carbonara and Ravioli… and some pie for dessert. Maybe she should invite Mike and Nanaba over for dinner too.
Her hands stopped reaching for the ingredients and she let out a sigh, supporting her weigh on the fridge.
"…I'm tired…" she whispered.
Now that she was alone in the house she could hear it clearly—the ticking noise of the silver pocket watch. She retrieved the watch and looked at the moving clock hands. It frightened her to the bones to think of when those hands would stop moving again. She held the clock to her head, feeling the memories of that day—of her sister's death—becoming more and more vivid as the gradual ticking noise lulled her slowly, almost frighteningly ecstatic.
.
.
"Both you and Rivaille would never understand how fearsome and sad Death is—the way you are right now!"
.
.
Curling herself into a ball, she finally broke into silent tears after reassuring herself that both Rivaille and Irvin wouldn't be back before seven. Her skin crawled—partly because of the fridge being left opened, emitting the cold.
It was always very hard to try and forget about something you thought was not done yet. It was like something lingered in your heart and refused to go away even after you ignored it for so long. It hit her and she finally realized that she needed to do something to chase it away. Ignoring it wouldn't have solved a thing—she was aware of that. But she couldn't come up with any way to do otherwise.
Looking at the ticking clock, she finally murmured, "Say…" she gritted her teeth "…how long do I have to play Grim Reaper like this,"
She choked out, "…Hanji?"
Mr. Pétit handed Mikasa a business card and bid farewell.
"I am looking forward to meeting you again, Ms. Ackerman."
Mikasa finally noticed that the whole time the man called her Mikasa-chan was probably just him teasing her or something along the line and she felt incredibly stupid to not give any sort of retort when she was called with that name. She scanned the business card and frowned. So Pétit was his real name, after all. She snorted, feeling how the name perfectly fitted Rivaille. She should totally rub it in his face the next time she felt like it.
"Mikasa, can you lend a hand here?" Jean called.
Putting the card inside her pocket, Mikasa turned to the crowds, returning to her work as a butler once again.
Eren was listening to Rivaille's story until the short man finally took notice of the time.
"Look at the time. I must have been wasting a considerable amount of time telling you the story," he said in a monotonous voice as he checked his watch.
"I don't mind, but… weren't that just you practicing your drama script, kaichou?" Eren cocked his head to the side, wondering if his assumption might be wrong.
Rivaille almost snorted at how innocent the boy's question was. But if that was what Eren thought, it actually saved him a lot of trouble covering up for anything so he was going to let it stay that way. He looked at the time once again and decided it was time to send the kid home. He wouldn't want him to go home too late—he didn't have any guardian after all, it would be troublesome if he were to run into trouble once night approached.
"You can go home now, Eren."
"Eh? But I'm not done with the—"
"This is an order, brat. Don't make me repeat myself."
"Y-yessir!"
Eren quickly put his things away and excused himself afterward, leaving Rivaille alone in his room. The short man went to see what documents Eren was sorting out. It was tomorrow's schedule. He could see the play he was going to be in—on 1 o'clock tomorrow noon, the prime time. He groaned inwardly—just because he belonged to the special class their play was placed on the prime time. This school needed justice—desperately so. This school favored the talented students too much for his taste.
When he was about to leave the room to take a stroll, his phone went off.
"Hello—"
"Bonjour!"
He sighed, knowing who the caller was, "Hanji… why are you wasting your time calling me while you can just meet me in my office?"
"Eh? Irvin didn't tell you anything? I went home early!"
His eyes slightly widened, "Say what?"
"Nuh-uh, you heard me. By the way, I cooked too much dinner, so can you do the favor to invite Mike or Nanaba or anyone else over? The more the merrier! Oh, invite Eren too!" he heard her laugh over the phone.
"Unfortunately I just sent the brat home."
"AAHH! I hate you! Why would you send him home!? You meanie!"
"Be quiet, I told you to stop yelling on the phone. I'll be inviting Mike and Nanaba over. Happy now?"
"A bit…" she still sounded a bit disappointed to him"oh well, be sure to not return too late! I cooked your favorite Ravioli—"
"—I'll be calling the house to make sure they dispose of Sonny and Bean—"
"—I deeply apologize, Rivaille-sama!" she shrieked almost hysterically.
There was a moment of silence between them. Rivaille was about to speak up when Hanji suddenly beat him into it, "Ah! I forgot to buy some cheese for the Carbonara! Gotta go, Rivaille! See ya later!" and the line was cut before he could say a thing.
Rivaille decided to look for Mike and Nanaba to waste time.
"Oh my God! Look, Reiner, I won the second prize! This must be my lucky day!" the woman squealed.
On the other hand Reiner was too busy hiding his face to make sure nobody recognized him. It was not any funny to have your friend see your bulky body in a maid outfit, with knee-length skirt and frilly headband. It added his humiliation to have his mom taking pictures of him and sent it to her friends for fun. And to add his misery, instead of comforting him, Annie chose to accompany his mom try practically everything the festival had to offer.
They stopped at the lucky spin this time and his mom just luckily won three tickets to visit the local aquarium.
"Mom, are you done yet? Can I go back to the café?" Reiner asked. It was the first time he had ever longed to return to that place, considering it was the initial cause he had to wear these shameful pieces of clothes.
"Eeh? You want to return this soon?" his mom pouted childishly and he could feel Annie's glare on him.
How come Annie always took his mom's side?
"Yeah, I mean, they need us to be there. We're already kinda short of labor, so…"
"I see…" the woman's tone changed almost dramatically and it sent chill down his spines "…I wonder if you will still have a place you call house tonight, Reiner…" she whispered as her formerly shining blue eyes darkened.
Reiner blinked… then gulped.
No, he would never have the guts to oppose his mom.
He wouldn't want to get on her sadistic side.
"Ha-hahaha…" he scratched the back of his head "…hey, mom, I think you should try those candy apples over there. They're pretty good! I'll buy one for you!"
Her expression quickly shifted, replaced with a flawless smile.
"Sure!"
Reiner sighed in relief as he went to buy a candy apple for his mom, momentarily ignoring the fact that he was wearing a maid outfit.
Jean Kirschtein practically died at the end of the day, feeling half of his soul missing from its container. He had definitely crossed his threshold today. It had been a while since the last time he overworked himself to fatigue. This was ridiculous, with Reiner and Annie out when Armin, Ymir, and Sasha had club performance to attend to.
He just wanted to get home, have a shower, and jump into his comfy bed and not wake up until tomorrow morning.
"Here, Jean, you've worked hard…" Mikasa said as she put a glass of cold lemonade on the table.
As if every single muscle in his body had been revived, Jean quickly grabbed the supposedly-homemade lemonade and gulped it down, showering Mikasa with praises afterward only to be disappointed after Mikasa told him she bought it in the festival.
Mikasa went to the back and changed into her uniform after cleaning up the place. After that, she excused herself and went to walk down the corridor when suddenly her phone went off. She received a message from Eren telling her that he went home ahead. She was about to reply his message but the attempt was held back by a sudden headache striking her.
Gritting her teeth, she clutched her head hard and hissed.
Her eyes traveled around the corridor and she was relieved to find no one there. If there was anyone to see her in this state it would be a lifetime humiliation for her.
She groaned, pressing her head when she felt it throbbed violently as though praying it could cease the pain. Nevertheless, it only worsened and she felt her whole body becoming a bit numb. She started to hear the sound of air seeping through her lungs, the sound of her own heart pulsing blood through her arteries—everything seemed to take her attention away and she almost didn't notice the sound of footsteps approaching.
"…Ackerman?"
She snapped her head up to the source of voice and the figure standing before her, albeit not the person she was hoping for, gave her the feeling of relief. Suddenly, she felt her own weigh disappeared as she let herself fall and the world had dimmed apart, falling into eternal silence without warning.
Rivaille, slightly shocked by his junior's odd behavior, quickly caught her in his arms before she hit her head on the floor.
"…Ackerman! Oi, Ackerman!" he tried to wake her up to no avail.
He was about to carry her when his phone suddenly went off. Initially he thought the phone call could wait, but when he saw who the caller was, he immediately picked it up.
"Rivaille, I think something's happening to Mikasa! The clock's slowing down, what should I do?" he could clearly hear how Hanji sounded gravely worried on the other side of the phone.
"Calm down, I'm with her right now. I'll take her to our apartment."
"Sh-she's with you?"
"Yeah, I saw her when she was about to collapse—"
"Rivaille… I don't wish to see another person die in my hands, I…"
Rivaille clicked his tongue at how weak of a person Hanji had become and told her loudly on the phone, "Quit being such a baby! I'm bringing her to you now, you're going to save her and that's final!"
"Ye-yessir!" she squeaked.
The little girl squatted at the dark corner of the room.
A woman looked at the girl, curious at what she was doing and decided to ask, "Mikasa, why are you sitting there? It's filthy, dear…"
The little girl turned around, "The grim reaper took my parents away. He's a bad guy…" Mikasa muttered, her eyes filled with sorrow albeit not on par with the look she had on the day of her parents' death. At a certain point Carla had told her that the grim reaper was the one who fetched her parents and brought them to the afterlife, leaving her behind.
"Well, actually the grim reaper isn't a bad guy, Mikasa," the brown-haired woman smiled lovingly as she stroked the soft hair of her adopted daughter.
"Why would he take my parents away if he isn't a bad guy?" Mikasa asked innocently despite the sorrow still remaining in her eyes.
Carla hummed before smiling at her adopted daughter again, "Do you know why the grim reaper is called grim reaper?" she asked.
The little girl shook her head.
"Because he always looks grim, and that shows that he isn't happy when taking a person dear to someone away. Eventually he learns that it's his duty to lead people's soul to the afterlife. He leads good people like your parents," she pinched the little girl's nose "to heaven and drop bad people to hell. He is a very righteous being."
Mikasa blinked and her eyes slightly sparkled, "Really?"
Smiling, Carla patted the girl's head,
"Yes."
.
.
.
When she regained her consciousness, she had brought her hand up against her head, feeling it contracting slightly. The pain had stopped but it hadn't made a full recovery. As she tried to open her eyelids, she could hear the low murmurs of people talking to each other and a mentioning of her name. Light seeped in as she was momentarily blinded before she took a look at the two other figures in the room.
"Oi, shitty glasses, seems the brat's awake."
"—eh!? Seriously!?"
The next thing she heard was the loud footsteps closing in to her and a certain Hanji Zoë leaning her face toward hers too near for her taste. Hanji's slender fingers made their way to Mikasa's neck and wrist. When she was sure the pulse was normal, Hanji let out a huge sigh of relief.
She pulled back, arms hanging limply at her sides for a couple of seconds before she suddenly yelled in a very loud voice, "HALLELUJAH!" and she threw her arms in the air.
"Quit acting like a retarded, four-eyes. How about giving Ackerman something to fill her stomach with?" Rivaille suggested.
"Oh! Yeah! You're really smart sometimes, Rivaille! I'll be back in a minute!"
After Hanji dashed off, Rivaille let his gaze fell to the half-Oriental girl who's trying to get up from the bed. "I suggest you to not move around too much or Hanji will freak out."
Mikasa had done moving herself into a better position by the time Rivaille was done speaking. The raven-haired girl muttered a small "Thank you for helping me…" to him, only loud enough to barely reach his ears.
Not feeling all that meritorious and couldn't seem to find any word to say, Rivaille only kept quiet.
Just when he was beginning to think of how silent the room had become, Mikasa suddenly spoke up. "Did Eren know about my condition?"
"I called him just now. I told him you're going to stay here for the night in order to practice our script."
"Did he sound angry?"
"Didn't sound like it. In fact, he's telling you to do your best."
"I see…"
Silence fell into the room once again, however this time it didn't last long as Hanji suddenly slammed the door open louder than necessary.
"Mikasa, can you walk? Irvin just came home bringing Mike and Nanaba. I think we should eat together instead! What do you think?" she beamed.
"…eh? Ah… I'm feeling fine, though…"
"Great! Rivaille, you go help Irvin and the others prepare the table while I help Mikasa walk!"
"Yeah, yeah," Rivaille mumbled as he did as told.
The dinner went well, with Hanji mostly helping Mikasa do almost everything even when the younger girl had announced that she was fine. Throughout the dinner session Mikasa couldn't help but feeling a bit uneasy due to the Vice President, Irvin Smith, giving her a knowing gaze. She could never guess what the blond was thinking and it made her feel a bit threatened but she shook it off as soon as the feeling came. On the other hand Mike and Nanaba were mostly silent save for the small conversations they held from time to time. As for Rivaille, he was a complete clean-freak—Mikasa was reminded of the fact all over again after seeing him wiped every single stain on his mouth once every three bites.
"That reminds me," Rivaille spoke up, earning everyone's attention "Ackerman, tomorrow is the day of performace. Have you memorized the script?"
A sudden realization hit the young girl. Due to many circumstances, she hadn't been able to even do as much as touch the manuscript. Tomorrow was the performance and she had no more time to memorize the script. Well, she could memorize it, but she didn't have enough time to practice the poses and expressions.
One word escaped her mouth,
"Goddammit…"
TO BE CONTINUED
I hope this chapter's long enough to make up for my absence for two months. I'll try to get the next chapter up in two weeks or so (note it, I'll TRY)!
Well, I don't have many things to say for this chapter. I just hope the reviews could reach 500 soon. Greedy, aren't I? Yeah, I'm in the middle of my final exam and it totally robbed my sanity. Whatever, please cheer me up with your reviews guys, I'm dying here *weeps*
See you next time~
