Sparkling snow was cracking underneath boy's feet. Another icy day of the newborn year was slowly waking up, as Eren yawned and looked at his watch.
7:18 a.m.

Stupid part-time job for stupid rent, and then stupid school… Who made that shit like 'Happy New Year'?! If I don't win at least 10 000$ in Lotto there's no fucking way this year to be happy!

The boy pulled out the garbage bag from a bin, and dragged it long to the trash-can at back of second-rate beanery. "Marry fukin' X-mass!" groaned under his breath, throwing heavy bag into stinky depth. He sighed and warm vapor flew out from his lips.
'kay, let's say I'm done for today. I gotta go.

Eren turned toward staff-enter, but some movement under can's lid made him stop. The brunet approached and slowly picked up the lid.

"Aaaa~!" pulled out of his throat as mewling kitty jumped out. Eren put back his skipping heart and peered at the animal. "You stupid pet! Why are you scaring people to death!?" But fluffy cat didn't seemed to be bothered Eren's yells. He licked his paw and sniffed… piece of red snow behind the trash-bins at death end of the alley. What is it? The alley of cat's hunting? Though the boy as he approached to the cat and then he got scared almost to death.

He saw familiar blond hair-cut. He wish he could say 'familiar face' but the figure's face covered with blood was hard to recognize. The unconscientious boy was sitting on the snow leaned against trash-can with his lips half-bloody and half-blue from freeze.
"Oh my God… Armin?" he crouched at the boy and touched his cheek – it was cold. "Armin! Hey, can you hear me?!" screamed shaking the boy's shoulder.

ARMIN!

"What have you done to this kid, John!?"

"It's not my fault! He wanted money for that poor act of shit he called 'sex' so I got a bit nervous. Next time you check what you order more precisely, Harvey! You got hot chick and I was given this–"

"But you didn't have to kill him!"

"And I didn't!"

"Anyway what will we do with it? I don't want any police."

"And there won't be any… at least here. Let me help get this brat to the car – we'll pick him up a little bit…"

"He's waking up."
"REAL–?!"
"Shh. Calm down, Eren. He needs peace and quiet."

The blue eyes opened heavily and slowly looked around.

Armin was analyzing his situation – he's in warm place, lays on something soft wrapped in blanket. Judging from the weight even two blankets.

As his sight went to side he saw the raven-haired girl and the emerald-eyed boy who he could saw somewhere earlier. But he didn't bothered it. He couldn't. His head was aching too much, he felt pain in his whole body and twinges in his lungs with every breath. It seemed to him his flesh was burning but in his veins was flowing ice.
The boy opened his mouths to speak but releasing any sound was to him far beyond his power. He felt shivers running through his body.

The oriental girl stood up from the chair she was sitting and approached to the sofa where the blond was laying. She brought a glass of water to his mouth. The sensation of cold refreshing water in his mouth was unexpectedly nicer than ever before.
"It's okay, nobody hurt you." she said mildly and put wet towel on the blonde's forehead. Then Armin realized that his dizziness is caused by a fever. "He got very high temperature." Mikasa turned her head to Eren. "We should take him to a hospit–"
"No hospitals, no doctors!" the small boy jerked, almost sat on the sofa. His face was truly terrified as he looked at Mikasa with glassy eyes. "… p-please. Everything but no… don't call anyone." big tears started rolling down the boy's red cheeks.

The girl pushed gently his shoulder to lay him down.
"Armin you should be examined by a specialist." interjected Eren. "Why don't you wanna go–"
"Just don't do that, please… please…" cut Armin too exhausted to explaining everything. He was staring at white ceiling. Flowing down tears tickled his ears. He was feeling horrible.

"Go, I'll take care of him." said Eren to the girl who was staring at the clock. "You need to go to your shift, we'll be okay." he lowered his voice as much as he could. "If it get worse I'll call the ambulance. Don't worry."
"Give him some water at least every hour, he's dehydrated." said leaving. Eren nodded his head with sight I know what I'm doing. I'm a big boy, mummy, I'll deal with it and closed door behind her.

"How did I get here?" asked Armin when Eren sat at him.
"I found you injured at a dump."
"Dump?" Armin tried to focus but he couldn't recollect himself he was going there.
"Somebody hurt you and left there. You were almost freeze and… I was thinking you were already dead"
"But still, you decided to help me and brought me here?"
"Yup." Eren gave the blond gentle smile.
"Why did you do that?" Armin gazed into emerald eyes. "If not you… I'll be dead right now." Said slowly. But his tone was far from gratefulness.
"It's not okay?" asked hesitantly.
"Of course it's not!" the small boy cried out desperately. "I would be free right now! It could be already done once and forever! You told me someday some shit about helping me – if you wanted to help me for real you'd forget about me, as I told you, and left me alone there! Why do you want me suffer longer? Why didn't you let me just die?!" he paused as cold shivers ran through his body.
"Armin!" Eren kneelt at the sofa
"I feel sick…" whispered with trembling voice.
"You got hit in your head by something heavy."
"Yeah, probably… maybe I got a concussion."

Eren though this diagnosis could be accurate. He took out his phone. "Enough, I'm calling ambulance! I don't wanna you die!"
"NO!" the blond screamed, looking at Eren with tears in corners his wide-opened eyes. "Don't you dare…"
"Why?"
"Because I'm not in register."
"Say what?"
"When they sold me they deleted me from the register of civilians and… etc. I'm not supposed to be hospitalized or… anything. We got special med there… just for us. Ugh… Ya' know." Armin wasn't able to explain it more concretely.
"But what would happen if you get hospitalized?" Eren was still holding his phone with dialed emergency number.
"They'll check me out, and find remained data about me, and call the police. And then it would be just worse and worse… questioning where I've been, and details about black-business they'll try to work it out but probably I'll get murdered earlier."
"What are you talking about?"
"Poisoned or something… the superior would send to the hospital someone disguised as a doc or a nurse, and well… to protect information about their business."
"It's sick!"
"Uhm, welcome in my world." Armin said and closed his eyes. He felt too weak.

Eren changed wet towel on boy's forehead. Armin look at him tenderly and coughed. The brunet was afraid beside concussion the boy can got also pneumonia. He coughed heavily, so heavily that Eren didn't heard soft click from the window.

"Shh, it'll be okay. You'll get better soon, don't worry" said warmly, leaning over Armin and caressing his cheek. The boy didn't change his face looking at his hand but when his sight went behind Eren's back the ocean-blue orbits went wide as Atlantic.
"Oh my God, Eren…!" he pitched. "Don't look back."
"Wha–?"

Eren didn't turn back when he felt unbearable pain in his head. Someone had knocked him out. Until he was able look at this person his vision get blurry.

The emerald-eyed felt as he hit on the floor. His vision got dark.