Okay, this is a very late update again. I'm now a college freshman at one of the most prestigious universities in my country and we speak and listen to English nearly everyday so it kinda makes me feel sure I can continue this fic. I tried to make this chapter as neat as possible, but I still think I need to be even better.

A note for my readers, My Genius Sister is reaching its end. This chapter is a bridge chapter for the last arc. This story will no longer be genred slice of life. LoL.

Deep appreciation for: Seseorang, AYEX, Guest, Broken Reveries, Trinity Stories, Ice, killerqueen04, HadoukenJaeger, Some Donkus, Gleam Tamers Hikari27, ArcelSkye, Guest, Guest, ItWasntMe, Jetzul, i like it, Guest, Spades23, Graydon, Titankiller, xplatinumx15, AnonymouslyYours, Animechick63, animeloverforeverjapan, rolulove4ever, LuckyAmigo, Guest, VampireNinjaz, Minami Shimada, and shoe2 for the wonderful and encouraging reviews. I have decided to continue this fic and submit another story for the NaNoWriMo :')

Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin


He stomped into his room and slammed the door behind him.

His hand reached for his swollen cheek. Clicking his tongue, he cursed his old man for hitting him again after he asked a certain question. He wasn't wrong for wanting to know the woman who gave birth to him. Still, why was his old man so desperate in hiding it?

The door creaked and a brunette peaked inside with a grin.

"The usual again?" she asked as she closed the door and walked toward him nonchalantly, her ponytail wagging behind her.

"Leave me alone, Hanji, I'm not in the mood to talk about it," he groaned, rolling his eyes at her insensitive question.

Muffling a laugh, Hanji ignored his threat and took a sit beside him. "I'm sure your dad has his own reason. Don't take it to heart. We all know he loves you."

Rivaille snorted, "Where did you even get that ridiculous idea? He doesn't give a damn about me," he hugged his legs and scowled. "I feel lost, Hanji. Not knowing where I come from and why. That old man isn't even willing to tell me which woman gave birth to me. Is it wrong to know?" he murmured bitterly.

Smiling apologetically, Hanji then brought the boy into her arms, soothing him. "No need to feel lost, Rivaille. You'll always and always be Rivaille. That's all you need."

"I hope so."

Pumping a fist, Hanji grinned. "If anyone ever says anything bad about the way you are, I'll punch them good!"

His lips still hidden behind his arms, Rivaille cracked a small smile. Hanji was abnormally strong since he knew her. Getting punched by her would result in unbearably painful broken bones. Just imagining it was painful enough and he wouldn't want to be those guys.

"Once you're strong enough, you should punch them yourself! Promise?" Hanji held out her pinky only to have Rivaille stared at it for a while before he snorted.

"You're ridiculous," he hooked his pinky around hers.

Chap 20. Feelings

"Please, kaichou, I'm not even sure if you're just too stiff or too stubborn."

His vein throbbed at her statement.

"I am saying that I am not leaving Eren without any care for one day."

His fist throbbed. If she was a man he would have punched her a long time ago. When he was on the verge of losing his almost non-existent patience, Hanji put a hand on his fist and shook her head lightly.

"Let me talk to her," she grinned.

Seeing Hanji taking a step forward, Mikasa softened her tone just to be polite. "I respect your invitation, Hanji-san, but you can't expect me to leave Eren unmanaged. I can't bear to—"

"Why not bring him along?" the brunette suggested nonchalantly.

"Huh?"

"Hanji, you—"

"It's okay, isn't it? It's not like your dad won't accept additional guest. Besides, it might be better with Eren around. That way, Mikasa won't be too nervous," she explained, twirling her finger around to form an imaginary circle in the air.

"I'm not particularly nervo—"

"Nonsense!" Hanji cut. "Everybody gets nervous when they enter foreign environment! This is nature law!" she started spouting scientific and supposedly convincing theories.

"It's no use talking to the science freak when she gets like this, Ackerman."

"I'll note that…" Mikasa mumbled.


It took a lot of courage and will for Mikasa to convey half of what her seniors told her this morning.

"Huh? Kaichou's house?" Eren casted away the magazine he was reading and quickly appeared very interested. "I heard from Hanji-san that kaichou's house is a mansion that holds a long history! Of course I'm going! In fact, let me go!" his eye sparkled. He was obviously expecting much of this house they're visiting.

Looking at that expression, Mikasa was robbed of anything she wanted to say and quickly sent a message of approval to the Student Council President.


When they arrived to the house it was almost impossible not to gawk, though Mikasa managed to stay cool and Eren didn't. The German boy couldn't sit still and kept looking back and forth, left and right. Rivaille commented that he looked like worm in heat—such a wrong and revolting way to describe it—and Eren finally sat like a good boy.

It was almost like a fairy tale. If Christa's house was a mansion then this one was a castle. It resembled a German fortress, with grey walls. The car entered through the gate and from there the speed was increased, perhaps due to the yet long way until the main building. There was even a gatekeeper there, greeting Rivaille and Hanji while addressing the former as 'Young Master' or something of the sort.

Hanji snorted.

"What's your problem?" the dark-haired man glared.

"Well, it's always funny to hear someone call you that," the brunette muffled her laughs.

"Ugh," he rolled his eyes.

Mikasa had been a bit too quiet ever since they got into the car and for some reason she was sitting tensely, sometimes fidgety, like she was in some marriage meeting. Her face was a bit green if one paid enough attention.

"Oi, Ackerman, need plastic bag?" the raven-haired man asked.

Mikasa shook her head but didn't say anything.

"What, Mikasa, carsick?" Eren asked in puzzlement. Mikasa didn't answer but her uncharacteristically green face answered everything. Even after living with her for so long he didn't know his foster sister had motion sickness.

"Fine with me. Put it together, we're almost there," Rivaille said and Mikasa nodded.

Rivaille didn't look thrilled when Mikasa quickly asked for the direction to the restroom the moment she got off the car and Hanji had to take her to the exact location that was not very near. Rivaille had started mumbling something like "Tsk, what a pain." Eren, being left behind, still looked puzzled at the side of his sister he never knew of. It took him a while before he realized that he was alone with the almighty Student Council President who was, on the contrary to him, unfazed.

"E-err… Kaichou—"

"I'm not a very good speaker, Jaeger, my conducts do the talking. So, shall we take a stroll?" the short man suggested almost nonchalantly. He sounded a bit humorous, in fact.

At first, the German boy was not sure how to respond, but then he gladly took the offer.

It was a fabulous adventure for Eren Jaeger as his eyes could catch the glimpse of many things he had only seen on TV before, or even some that he didn't know of. Through their tour, Eren had seen several decorative armors of many styles, each of them holding different weapons from the war age, and those armors must be the only ones most closely resembled humans for now. Eren began wondering how it felt to live in this kind of house. He started to feel like this place couldn't be called home at all. It was too lonely. Ever since the start of the tour, Eren couldn't see the sign of any family members in the house.

As if sensing Eren's change of mood, Rivaille said, "My mother's been dead for as long as I remember and my old man's always out there working on whatever shit he had at hand." His eyes traveled along the hall they had arrived to. "This place used to be much livelier when I was young," he mumbled, remembering Hanji and Zoë who used to take strolls around the house, and even their Dad who never acted like an actual servant. They were one noisy family but now they were gone. It must have been even quieter after Zoë and him left the house.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that…" Eren muttered guiltily.

"Heh, do I look like I still concern myself with this shit-sized trivial matter? I used to wonder who the hell gave birth to me but it's been years and I believe it doesn't matter whatsoever now."

Eren stayed silent but it didn't persist. Reluctantly yet surely, he said, "I think family is important. Forgive me if I'm being rude, but I think you should still concern yourself with this matter even if, as you said, your father is a jerk who leaves you for the sake of his work. I mean, my mom passed away when I was young as well, and my dad just suddenly left me and Mikasa without any sense of responsibility. I don't know where the hell he is and what he is doing but…" biting his lip, he tried to continue, "but I'm sure he had his reasons!"

Rivaille actually listened to his junior's long advising speech until he realized something. Eren was never alone. He always had Mikasa by his side. Smirking, he countered, "Don't you have that meddling sister of yours? I don't have—" his stopped abruptly.

.

.

"I'm sure your dad has his own reasons. Don't take it to heart. We all know he loves you."

.

.

Pressing his palm on his forehead and massaging the sides of his head with his fingers, Rivaille started groaning. I'm such an unbelievable idiot… I had always had somebody by my side but I just pushed them away. To top it all, this little brat's the one who made me realize. I'm a helpless retard…

Whether because he felt relief or something else of the sort, he unconsciously let out a chuckle that was then followed by a considerably loud laugh.

"K-kaichou?" Eren asked, blinking in puzzlement. It was his first time seeing the stoic President laugh.

"You're such an interesting guy, you know what?" His laughter subsided. "But as I said, I'm not one to be bothered by whether my dad's giving me attention or not. I've grown out of it."

Eren was robbed of things to say.

"Let's meet up with the girls, shall we?" Rivaille suggested.

When they met up with the girl again, Eren burst out laughing at Mikasa's supposedly ridiculous appearance. Her white polo shirt and dark blue jeans, even her whole body, were drenched in unidentified transparent substance. It was rather slimy and gross and Hanji just laughed non-stop at the half-Asian girl's condition. Rivaille pinched his nose to salvage his nostrils from the somewhat acidic smell.

"Eren, it's not funny."

"But… what the hell… weren't you from the restroom?" Eren asked in-between laughs.

"Yeah, and I'm on my way there again. Hanji-san brought me to see her pets earlier because we can't find you guys for some curious reasons and this is what happened." Mikasa held her hands before her and her eye twitched at how gross she looked.

"Come, come, Mikasa~" Hanji pulled Mikasa along, not minding the slimy thing coating her.

As Mikasa walked passed Eren, she mumbled, "Watch out. Apparently, lions and tigers' got this secret attack called Saliva Shoot whenever they roar." And she marched for another trip to the restroom.

When his foster sister was out of sight, Eren let out another session of laughter he'd been holding in. Not wanting the younger guy to keep laughing forever, Rivaille immediately changed the topic into the oldest topic in the book.

"The weather's a bit cold today." Well, winter was coming soon.

Eren wasn't sure how to respond, because there was a fancy fireplace in this room and nobody bothered to light the fire.

"Then, why don't we make use of the fireplace and—"

"You can't, shithole!"

"Eh?!"

"Why you brat! Who said you can touch that holy artifact?!"

"Ho-holy artifact?!" Eren squeaked. He wasn't sure if this was the same kaichou he knew. Why would he make such a huge deal over lighting fire? Now that he observed thoroughly, Eren noticed that the fireplace appeared to be in a very good condition, as though nobody had ever lighted fire in it before.

Then, with a disturbingly serious expression and intimidating voice, Rivaille shouted, "You mess with the fireplace and Santa wouldn't be able to come down here, you fucker!"

Eren swore his jaw hit the floor when he heard that hilariously dumb line from one of the most realistic people in his life.

"S-Santa…?"

"You've never heard of 'im? Well, some kids don't get presents but I always do, every single year." He showed this really proud smile when he said that and Eren had to fight his inner urge just to keep himself from expressionless. "At first I thought it's odd, but Irvin told me the secret to it. Apparently it's because my birthday is on Christmas."

The green-eyed boy just stood there, speechless and trembling and trying to keep his expression as stoic as possible. It was a torture in itself.

When Rivaille started the whole Santa topic, Eren was sure the senior was only doing his usual hard-to-tell jokes but now he was convinced otherwise. To hell with it. He sounded like some naïve rich kid whose parents always played Santa every year. This was a huge discovery. Holy cow, eureka! The almighty superhuman President, Rivaille-kaichou, believed in SANTA. Wait, if it was true, then it meant his dad's unexpectedly a doting parent, didn't it?

Eren made a face. Aah… I bet Hanji-san and Irvin-san were also too overprotective to tell him the truth or even let anyone mention it…

Sensing the weird atmosphere around his junior, Rivaille changed the topic.

"Take a seat, Jaeger, my old man should be here soon."

"Eh? What?" Eren tilted his head dumbly.

"Are you fucking deaf? I said my old man's going to be here soon."

Eren blinked and blinked and blinked until realization hit him. "We're here to meet your father?!" he shouted on top of his lung.

"Wait, Ackerman didn't tell you a damn thing?"

"What? She only said we're going to your house and that's it!"

"Fuck, this is messed up. Is that girl not capable of something as simple as conveying message?" Rivaille whined, massaging his temple. Deep inside, he already knew that something of this pattern happened: Mikasa felt difficulty in asking Eren to come; Eren's surprisingly eager to; Mikasa forgot everything she's supposed to say next.

Very simple pattern, indeed. And very Mikasa-ish.

"Oh damn, you can play around somewhere while my old man's here. Or you can spend your time with Sonny and Bean for all I care. My old man's just here to meet Mikasa anyway." Rivaille said randomly.

Eren had almost lost track of the situation until he was suddenly reminded of a certain event yesterday. Apparently, Mikasa received a bouquet of roses from Rivaille's father. He had been wondering what that bouquet actually meant. Now, hearing that Mikasa was here to meet Rivaille's father, Eren felt the need to interfere. Something inside him said that he must not let them meet.


"I'm done, Hanji-san…"

When Mikasa stepped out of the bathroom in Hanji's old room, clad in nothing but towel, the brunette quickly skipped to find a hair dryer in the drawer of a small table at the side of her bed. Turning on the device and making sure the air was hot enough, Hanji then called Mikasa over.

"Excuse me, what am I going to wear? My clothes are out of option…" Mikasa said in a low voice.

"Worry not, my dear! I have lots of dress to lend you! Aren't you glad we're similar in size? Except I don't have breasts. Hahaha!"

Mikasa didn't know how to respond to that and preferred to stay silent. Her eyes automatically traveled around the room and wondered how Hanji got a room of her own in Rivaille's house. Were they blood relatives? No, they didn't look similar in the slightest. Was it just like her case? Like, Hanji being a foster child of this family or something.

She wasn't one to say. Eren and her were also two unrelated people living under the same roof. She had never thought of it until now, but how would third party view them? A boy and a girl their age living under the same roof without guardians would seem suspicious to anyone with eyes.

As though reading the half-Asian girl's mind, Hanji grinned and said, "Oho? You look curious, young lady."

Not feeling the necessity to lie, Mikasa nodded. "Well, a bit…"

"I see, I see." Hanji nodded knowingly. "I won't tell you not to pry, of course. I appreciate curiosity. I'm one curious cat! Curiosity helps you improve!" she proclaimed proudly. "Oh well, let's stop beating around the bush and get to the point. Where should I start from? Let's see… you see, I have complicated circumstances of my own so I can't tell you much. But to sum it up, I'm just the daughter of one of the servants here. My dad just happened to be in a brotherly term with Rivaille's dad despite being a servant so we kinda get better facilities than the other servants. There you have it!" she finished with a grin. She made it sound so simple but there was something in her expression that said there was more to it. Mikasa wouldn't pry, though. She was not one to force herself on anybody. Well, except on Eren, maybe.

"I see…" was all Mikasa could say.

"You see, Mikasa, I personally think people get closer after sharing stories of their lives. Why? Because, yeah, when someone shared their story with us, doesn't it mean they trust us enough to do so? And what, we feel closer to them after knowing their past. As for another case of knowing someone… Hmm… Like, if you grow up beside someone, like, for example, you and Eren, you will know most of the important stories of his life, right? Don't you sometimes feel like you're the only one who understood him the most?" Hanji said, combing Mikasa's hair with her fingers gently.

Mikasa mentally agreed on that. She sometimes felt like she understood Eren the most because she had been there by his side for the longest. She knew what others didn't. If Eren were to encounter troubles, she should be the one to help him through it.

"But, precisely because we've been there with him for most of his life, our visions were clouded by our own justified thoughts. We sometimes force what we think is best for him while that's not exactly what he wants and what he should do. Sometimes we unconsciously stop him from developing, even."

Mikasa knew exactly what it was. She had to put up with Eren's attitude for years, believing that he did nothing wrong and that she should do anything and everything instead of him. When they entered high school, finally, Eren changed for the better and she was not the one who changed him—it was his encounter with their comrades. As much as Mikasa hated to admit it, Annie, her biggest rival, might be one of the first people to change him. The Eren now had turned into a much better man and she had to face the fact that she played no role in changing him.

"You look gloomy all of a sudden, but… your hair's dry! Shall we move to the attire now?" Hanji excitedly leaped to the wardrobe and opened the doors, only to shock Mikasa with the row of beautiful dresses inside.

"We're obliged to buy new dress for evey single important party so I've got tons of it. Don't be shy. I'll even give them to you if you want!"

Mikasa had been speechless a lot ever since she arrived to this house.

"Oh, oh, oh! How about this one? Rivaille complimented me in this dress! It should be super good since he's usually so nitpicky about it!" Hanji excitedly shoved Mikasa a sleeveless red dress that reached her knee—from the waist part until the end of the skirt, there was another layer of transparent yet glittery fabric. Mikasa had to admit that she liked the style. And it was red. She loved red.

"Even if I said it's a compliment, he was only like "Just because you look good in that dress, don't ever think you're going to hook any guy whatsoever" or something rude like that. Not like I care but he should've been more specific about—"

"Are you sure you want to hand me a dress that midgetcomplimented you in?" Mikasa asked, doubting.

"Why not?" Hanji tilted her head, smiling.

"I don't know, I thought you like him or something… since you live together and all…" her voice trailed off. She wasn't sure why she said that.

"Of course I do, silly. But I know he doesn't think of me that way. My feeling for him is similar to what you might be feeling towards Eren. I just want to stay by his side, us joking and arguing like always. Like how you want to always stay by Eren's side and protect him. It's not love. I don't love." The last part sounded a bit bitter in Mikasa's ears and she wondered if she was just imagining things.

But, about her feelings, Mikasa wasn't sure. Of course, as Hanji had stated, Mikasa wanted to always be able to protect Eren. But sometimes she had her fantasies. She wanted to be more than just Eren's sister. Maybe her and Hanji's feelings weren't the same, after all.

Mikasa was once again wondering about what on Earth her feeling toward Eren even was, when the latter suddenly pulled her hand and dragged her away the moment she arrived to the living room, ignoring the gawking Hanji and fuming Rivaille. He had this wide eye when he saw her in a dress and without explaining a single thing, stormed off the room, taking her hand in his. At that moment, her heart skipped a beat. It was merely a single beat but then her heart started pounding crazily like she just held her breath for five minutes.

She asked why he suddenly left the place, but he just kept silent after mouthing an "I don't like it there", and she didn't pry. She only hoped the two of them could reach the front gate before it got dark.

X X X

"So… Mikasa was here until a few minutes ago but her baby brother suddenly decided to shit himself." Rivaille finished with a click of tongue. Explaining things to his old man was never fun, and he was still agitated after Eren suddenly screwed up the meeting plan.

"She has a brother." His old man looked interested, caressing his black-bearded chin while nodding.

"A big baby brother," Rivaille corrected.

"So, is her brother also an Asian?"

"No, he's a fuckin' ordinary German who goes by the name Eren Jaeger. For your information, he's a complete stranger to her. They're not blood-related."

"Jaeger…" the middle-aged man mumbled.

"What are you up to, old man?" Rivaille narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Nothing, really." He held his arms upward and shook his head. The next minute, he smirked. The wrinkles in her face became even more visible. "Too bad I can't see her today. There's something I needed to tell her too."

Rivaille didn't pry, but he knew something was up.

He decided it would be best to stay put for now.


She jumped from pole to pole, astonishing her attackers with her superhuman agility. They gawked, they swooned, they tried to imitate. Her smug grin widened as she landed her sole on their face before jumping to another pole to dodge a hit. She did it easily, as though she only weighted five stones.

After a few minutes, she decided to stop playing and get serious.

This time she landed a powerful kick on the back of one attacker's neck, producing a loud cracking sound and rendering him useless in an instant. She then proceeded to the next one. She grabbed the nearest pole and spun her body, landing another kick, slamming the attacker on the wall and there were two men down. The last attacker was the person who stole the wallet. She jumped, landing on his shoulders and choking him with her legs, laughing as she enjoyed the man's futile resistance. It didn't last long before the man collapsed due to suffocation.

Retrieving the wallet from the man's pocket, she made sure the content was still there. After she made sure it was, she handed it to the short blonde.

"Here, Christa, your wallet."

"Thanks, Ymir!" the blonde thanked her with a radiating smile. "That was amazing. You're always so good at this."

Feeling happy after the shower of praises, Ymir slung her arm across Christa's shoulder and pulled her closer so that the sides of their head touched. She grinned. "I'm not your bodyguard for nothing, aren't I?" she chirped.

The blonde smiled and nodded.

Ymir wondered, if Christa was to discover her true identity, would she still be this kind to her?

If Christa ever knew she was a Titan

TO BE CONTINUED


What is a Titan in this story actually? Do you still remember? It's not a 15-meter tall, man-eating humanoid. It's the name of an organization Rivaille had been looking for since years ago. It's a secretive organization with unknown vision and mission.

The next chapter is in progress, but I won't promise a quick update. Since I'll start working on Monday I don't think I'll have much time to write. But I get inspiration quite easily lately so I might be updating quicker. No one can tell.

See you next time~!