The Little Things
A New Determination
"Come on, Armin! Hurry up already, you're slowing down back there!"
A young boy's voice loudly echoes amongst the various streets and alleyways of Shiganshina, the streets were strangely empty and completely devoid of any other people. It was usually at this time of the afternoon where almost everyone else in the city was too busy spending the rest of their day away in the bustling markets or at the crowded main square, going about their everyday lives and jobs. It was at this time of the hour that bears the perfect chance for a small group of children to freely play around in the winding streets of the city without any kind of interruptions or obstacles whatsoever, an obvious far cry from the usual rooms of a simple house.
"Slow down, Eren, please slow down!" A boy with bright blonde hair desperately yelled in the alleyways of the city as he struggles to just keep up with his overly-energetic friend.
"No way, Armin! Not this time! Mikasa's right behind you!" Eren briefly shone a cocky grin towards Armin before immediately rushing forward, leaving the poor sap behind like it was nothing.
Normally, Eren would rush without even thinking and leap at the chance to help his best friend whenever he finds himself in some kind of trouble but today, he felt absolutely no remorse at all as he left his poor friend behind. There's too much on the line to just carelessly throw away a possible victory... He couldn't even remember the last time he had actually won so he wasn't going to let this rare chance to slip away from his grasp anytime soon. Armin will surely understand, his brave sacrifice will be forever remembered by Eren as he quickly made his way towards his lofty goal.
Speaking of which, he was almost there too - he could already see it. At the end of the winding alleyway, at the bottom of the cobbled steps, there lies a massive oak tree, rusted away by the slow decay of time as it stands firmly alone.
"I got this! I totally got this!" He reassured himself with a bout of self-confidence. He was almost at the safe zone!
He quickened his pace even more and madly dashed down those cobbled steps in a very alarming rate, it was only through sheer luck and the boy's light build that he didn't somehow just slip and fall down. That would certainly be painful...
"I'm going to win~!" The boy extended his hand outwards, eager to feel the coarse bark of the oak tree against the skin of his hand.
He desperately needs it, Eren could almost taste the victory within his hand...
And it was then, Mikasa suddenly emerged from the back of the tree and simply walked a few steps forward, easily blocking Eren's path.
"Wha- What the...?!" The boy gawked, he was nothing but at the loss of words as he desperately commanded his feet to stop at once.
In his hasty confusion, Eren accidentally tripped against his own feet and fell right down onto his bottom, mere inches in front of the callous Mikasa. He quickly looked up, his eyes were frozen with pure fear and debilitating shock. He tried to move his petrified body but for some strange reason, he simply could not do anything, intimidated by the striking maroon colours of the scarf around her neck.
"Ho- How in the- What-"
"I got you, Eren..." She mumbled with a meek smile, gently brushing his soft hair with her hand.
"I- I- But, I..."
During the ensuing silence, you could almost hear the distant and muffled sound of the boy's heart and dignity shattering into nothing but mere pieces ouch...
"Eren, Eren! Wait for me, Eren!" The awkward silence was quickly pierced when Mikasa saw Armin rushing down the cobbled stairs, his eyes were tightly closed as he made his final mad dash towards the tree.
He mustered a smile, full of pure relief as he could already feel that he was getting closer and closer. Just to be sure though, Armin then peered through his half-opened eyes, wanting to catch a satisfying glimpse of the safe zone known as the mighty oak tree. So, he was definitely very surprised indeed, when he saw Mikasa in front of him instead and a completely frozen Eren on the ground next to her.
"Mi- Mi- Mikasa!" Armin stammered in a desperate panic as he stopped dead right on his tracks. "It's- But, I thought-"
"I got you too, Armin..." Mikasa repeated the dreaded word as she gently poked Armin's forehead a few times.
"I- I... But, how did... How?"
Armin was confused, Eren was baffled, Mikasa was the winner and the electrifying game of freeze tag was finally over for the day...
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute!" Eren quickly snapped himself free of his baffling trance before he immediately leapt back onto his feet, clearly flustered by the recent turn of events. "Just hold on for one damn second!"
"How did you get here so freaking fast, Mikasa? I thought- Well, I thought I lost you at the market stalls!" Eren demanded to know, loudly.
"It's fine, Eren. Mikasa won again, so let's just play another game already, okay?" Armin, as always, tries to defuse the often temperamental Eren.
"No, it's not fine, Armin! I need to know about this! How is she so fast?" And as always, Eren was quick to ignore the sensible pleas of his best friend.
"So, tell me your secret, Mikasa! How can you always beat us at tag? How do you keep doing this? Tell me!" Eren begged and pleaded for an answer, just to make some kind of sense of the situation.
"I ran here." Mikasa replied.
"Huh?" Eren looked at the little girl before him, stunned. "You... You just... ran here?"
"Yes, I just put one foot in front of the other one and then, before you know it, I'm already here." She calmly explained as she cracked a smile and played around with the fringes of her long raven-black hair, secretly proud of her own achievement.
"Ah... I... I see." Eren sighed, feeling defeated and doesn't really know what else to say to that.
"So, that's how." He forced a loud cough and averted his embarrassed eyes from the girl.
His previously confused anger was gone as quick as it had came. He knew he couldn't stay angry all the time, especially not at her. He just couldn't do such a thing even if he had tried his best. But still, that almost sounded like it's the closest thing to an actual joke... He had originally thought that humour was a foreign concept to her nowadays. Was she actually getting back to 'normal', finally?
"Alright then!" Eren yelled as he thunderously clapped his hands, a veiled attempt to quickly change the rather embarrassing topic at hand. "So, Armin, Mikasa what should we play next?"
"Hey, Armin, you got any suggestions?"
"Well, well, well, um..." Armin scratched his head as he tries his best to think of a game that he has a decent chance in actually winning. "I... I got nothing... Sorry about that."
"Okay then, Mikasa!" The boy slightly inclined his head towards the girl and smiled, "Got any idea for a game to play? Anything you prefer?"
"I'm fine with whatever you decide, Eren." She answered, tucking her face under that scarf she always wears.
"Hmm..."
"Well, how about a simple race? We haven't played that for a while now. How about, first one to the markets and back to this oak tree wins?"
"Sure, why not?" Mikasa shrugs as she agreed.
"But, uh... Eren..." Armin suddenly chimed in, grabbing the attention of the other two.
He gulped and sighed, almost too embarrassed to admit it himself, "I'm, uh... I really don't think I can keep up with you guys if it's just a race. I don't think my legs can handle anymore running right now."
"Yeah, Armin's right. Can't we think of something else? Something less... draining?" Mikasa smiled at the worn out boy, whom was still carefully pacing himself and trying to catch his breath after the last game.
"Alright, then!" Eren immediately declared with such confidence as he crossed his arms and held his head high, seemingly having an idea already. "My suggestion is... Let us play the ever honourable game of the classic hide and go se-"
*BONG*
"Huh?"
*BONG*
"What's going o-"
*BONG*
"Wait, is it-""
*BONG*
"Yeah, I think it really is!
The childrens' little game was interrupted when the metallic bells of the Clocktower suddenly rang throughout the entire city of Shiganshina, its deafening echoes were a familiar and known sign for anyone, especially to the young Eren, whom seemingly reveled at the repeated resonance of those bells.
"The heroes has returned, yet again!" Eren suddenly proclaimed, his arms reaching for the sky as he was flushed with overwhelming joy and excitement. "The heroes has finally returned from their journey!"
"Oh..." Mikasa kept quiet.
"The Scouting Legion! It's the Scouting Legion, Mikasa! The heroes that I keep telling you all about, remember?"
"Come on! I''ll show them to you again!" Eren shouted with such excited fervour as he grabbed onto the sleeves of Mikasa's pink blouse and Armin's blue jacket. "Maybe this time we'll get a better look at the soldiers!"
Eren lowered his knees as he braced himself, excitedly getting ready to just unleash a sudden burst of stamina from some strange reserve hidden somewhere inside his body and leap off, making his way closer towards the main streets where the Scouting Legion will eventually pass through while dragging his friends all the way with him - or at least, that's what he had planned to do.
But, much to the surprise of the spirited boy, the sudden feeling of Mikasa's painfully firm hand clutching against his, immediately halted his every movements.
"Mi- Mikasa?" The boy glanced at the girl, wide-eyed.
"I think it's time for us to go back home, Eren." Mikasa exclaimed, tightening her hold on Eren's hand.
"Wait, what? We can't just turn back and go back home... We haven't even-"
"Eren, remember you promised us that you'll play just a few games before you finish your work." Mikasa affirmed herself as she gave the confused boy that same strict look she would always give whenever she's very serious about something important. "Well, it's already been a few games already. So, you better go back and finish it before your Mom finds out."
"But- But... Wha-" The flustered boy was at a loss of words. Not once in his eager excitement did he ever expected Mikasa would suddenly stop him, out of the blue.
But thinking as quickly as his young mind could, Eren stole a glance at his quiet friend, Armin, and smiled a hopeful smile as a sudden but desperate idea immediately popped inside his head. He had no high hopes of it succeeding but still... It was a chance he was willing to take.
"Well then..." Armin chimed in softly, an exasperated but relieved look in his eyes. "I guess we really should just call it a-"
"But wait, Mikasa! What about Armin?" Eren squealed.
"Eh?"
"What about Armin?"
"Yeah, what about me?!" Armin exclaimed in a shocked and furious manner, clearly taken aback by the sudden call of his name.
Through sheer skill and extreme luck, Eren somehow managed to slip out from the Iron Grip of the little girl and lunged himself at his poor friend, placing both of his hands on Armin's stiff shoulders and immediately pulled the frightened boy closer and closer, until his face was but a few inches before Eren's.
"Quick, Armin! Talk some sense into her already!" Eren whispered.
"What?! Why?! Why me?" Armin struggled as he tries to pull his shoulders free, he certainly did not like this level of physical contact.
"Don't tell me you're okay with this."
"Actually, I kinda am." Armin mustered a meek smile.
"Don't you want to see the Scouting Legion? It's not everyday we get to see our heroes!"
"But, Eren... I-"
"Come on, Armin! You're the smart one over here! So say something smart already! Use a bunch of fancy words or something!"
"Well, what about..." Armin stifled a nervous chuckle as he noticed Mikasa directing her searing gaze towards his ever nervous blue eyes.
"Don't worry, Armin." Said Eren, seemingly understanding to what he was referring to. "I have faith in you."
"Huh? Wha-"
"Good luck, my friend..." Eren then pushed his nerve-wrecked friend directly towards the young girl's direction.
Armin stumbled forward a few steps like a drunkard before he finally stopped right before the serious expression of the little girl.
"Um..." The boy mumbled. "Uh... Hey, Mikasa, I-"
"Armin, I'm sorry but we're going ho-"
"But, Mikasa! Um..." The boy tries his best to carefully pick out the right words from his surprisingly vast vocabulary and maybe, just maybe, if he is lucky enough, coerce the frightening girl somehow.
"Mikasa, it's not everyday we get a chance to catch a glimpse of the Scouting Legion and all of its soldiers. As you may already know, Eren and I had always admired their bravery and desire to explore the Outside World so, this is probably a very rare opportunity and a great experience for people like us and it will be a dreadful waste to just throw it away by going home right now. Basically, I am humbly requesting that you should just give us a bit more time and let us-"
"Armin, we are going home. That is final." She glared.
"Okay, Mikasa! Whatever you say!" Armin gladly agreed in a heartbeat.
"Wha- What? Armin, I- I... Really?" Eren was stunned, to say the least.
"Hey, what can I say? Mikasa's pretty great at convincing people." Armin simply smiled nonchalantly.
"That didn't sound very smart, Armin..." Eren sulked, his head was drooping ever so slightly.
"That's enough, Eren. That's enough..." Mikasa grabbed one of the boy's shoulders. "Let's just go home. You still got work to do..."
"Why do you have to do this, damn it?"
"Come on, Eren, you promised."
"Agh, fine! Fine..." The boy loudly moaned in the most grievous and annoyed manner possible, wondering what had suddenly got into the little girl's mind. "Why did you have to bring up homework all of a sudden, Mikasa? That's like... That's like the ultimate mood-breaker..."
With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart, Eren hesitantly and very slowly turned around and climbed the cobbled staircase, grumbling a variety of curses to himself as he took each regretted step. "Stupid homework... Why do I even have to study all those numbers? What's the point in all of it?"
Armin couldn't help but to slightly chuckle at the sight of the overbearing Eren, hiding the overwhelming disappointment inside him with a plain expression.
"Well, I guess I should start going home too. Grandpa might need some help around the house or something."
"Okay, Armin." Mikasa nodded, a solemn gaze in her otherwise empty eyes. "Sorry about this..."
"Don't worry about it, I understand. I really do..." He said, as he started taking his first few steps up the cobbled staircase.
"Oh! And by the way, Mikasa..." He stopped.
"Hm?" The girl raised her head.
"Please take good care of Eren, okay? And tell him I'm sorry that I didn't helped much today..."
"Okay, Armin. I will..." She smiled.
And with that, Armin gave Mikasa another one of his plain and simple smiles before promptly making his way to the very top, leaving the little girl alone with the sturdy oak tree.
The girl silently stood there beside the tree, taking a brief moment to gaze towards the only road directly leading to the main streets of Shiganshina. She was certain that the Survey Corps was already making their slow and painful march through it by now. Who knows what had happened to them beyond the Walls or what they had gone through outside? She wasn't exactly that gleefully ecstatic to find out though...
But to be honest, Mikasa was always confused with the whole Scouting Legion thing at first. The prospect of leaving behind your families, friends and everything you had ever known as you give your lives to fight what lies outside the Walls was very mind-boggling, to say the least. She thinks she could remember her parents mentioning about these people at some point, maybe even why they were willing to do such a thing. But... Everything about her family was just nothing but a confusing blur ever since, well... Ever since that terrible night.
She cursed herself for breaking her own promise to never think about that night anymore, she desperately wants to forget all the horror, she just wants to-
"Hey, Mikasa! What's the hold up down there?" A familiar voice called out for the dawdling young girl.
Quickly snapping out of her contemplating trance, Mikasa turned her head away from the lonely road and towards the cobbled staircase behind her, seeing the familiar and calming sight of her two only friends, Eren and Armin, already at the very top as they patiently waits for her.
"Are we going home or not? Come on! Let's go already!" Eren shouted out loud, still a bit disheartened at the current events.
She sighed and stifled a meek smile at the two boys as she finally started her climb, ascending the stone steps.
She still never understands why the Scouting Legion would commit their lives to such a distant goal. But one thing's for certain, it was painfully obvious that Eren wants to be among their ranks and venture beyond the safety of the Walls. As much as she hates it, she knew there's nothing she could ever do to change his mind once it's set on something, a simple fact that scares her truly...
But Mikasa is also very determined, herself. Even if she just can't simply make him change his mind or make him forget everything about the Scouting Legion and their life-threatening goals, she still has to try her best, no matter what happens next. Mikasa can't bear to lose anyone else, she will do whatever it takes to protect those who are dear and important to her heart. She knew what she has to do - She will protect her new parents, she will protect her newfound friend, she will protect Eren...
"Well, it's about time, Mikasa." Eren muttered.
"Patience is a virtue, Eren..." Armin stifled a chuckle.
"I'm sorry..." She smiled as she grabbed onto Eren's hand.
"Let's go home..."
Hello again!
Thank you for taking the time to read another chapter of my story. I really hope you enjoyed it! First things first, I would like to apologize for taking such a long time to write this chapter in particular. Apart from my dreadfully slow writing, I had to rewrite this chapter almost 4-5 times as I was just not satisfied with how it turned out. I only hope that the final version is good enough after all the time it took. Secondly, after multiple questions, I just wanted to point out that the description is actually based on a series of events in the manga. Meaning, it's not some original story that I cooked up out of nowhere. I'm glad to finally clear that up for you. And lastly, as always, all reviews are wholeheartedly appreciated.
Once more, thanks again for reading.
Till the next chapter,
-ParagonFlynn
P.S. On a completely unrelated note, if by chance you happen to be a fan of Digimon, then why don't you check out the works of Erik T. Jameson? He is a very dear friend of mine and he likes to write fanfictions about Digimon. He is a wonderful writer and he has already written 10 stories, all entirely about Digimon. I do not wish to 'advertise' or to offend anyone but I would really appreciate it if you could look into your heart and just give my best friend a chance. Thank you very much.