Chapter 2: First Day on the Job

Eren looked at himself in the mirror as he finished washing his face. He was looking rough, even with the shower and the warm meal last night. His shirt was off as he wet his hair and put it in a bun to keep it out of his eyes.

It was almost noon, and Eren needed to finish getting ready for Sergei to arrive to the Hotel. Eren felt tired still, especially with all the thoughts that plagued his mind, but he knew he needed to focus on the job at hand.

Fight... just fight...

Eren thought to himself, but the words refused to come from his mouth. He felt tired and couldn't bring himself to speak.

"Keep moving forward." Eren said to himself instead. "Just keep moving... forward." He said again, struggling a bit more.

He heard the door open behind him and looked to see a young Hizuru, or rather Japanese woman, walk into the room. When she saw Eren she made a hi pitch squeal at the surprise, bowing over and over, repeating something that Eren assumed was an apology.

Eren didn't mind her since he was told that he needed to leave by noon, so they already had a cleaning crew. He put on one of his shirts and put the other in the bag he had from the store. Then he put on his hoodie, making sure to put the hood up to better hide his face. He brushed past the girl who had a blush on her face.

Eren walked down to the lobby and out the door, where he saw Sergei waiting for him next to a black vehicle. He had a white stick in his mouth which Eren recognized as a Marleyan cigarette.

"There you are kid." Sergei waved at him. "Get in, we've got a long drive ahead of us." Sergei said.

Eren got into the left door of the vehicle and marveled at the technology around him. He saw the inside of a few Marleyan vehicles, but they were crude levers and wheels compared to the precision of the Japanese vehicle.

"Drive will be on western coast of Japan, where we'll get weapons." Sergei said as he got into the driver's seat and started the vehicle.

"Where is it going?" Eren asked.

"New guys don't ask questions." Sergei said, eyeing Eren. "You prove yourself, I'll let you know details. Until then we need to know you're not rat."

Eren shrugged at that, not really caring much about it since he only needed some money until he found a better way to survive. He was desperate, but he's not going to be invested in a lifestyle like this.

"You want fast food?" Sergei asked. Eren shrugged.

Sergei pulled up to a yellow and orange building that had some kind of communicator or radio on the outside. After speaking in Japanese, he pulled up to a window down the small trail. Eren noticed his accent was very poor since even he could tell the difference in quality between a native Japanese speaker and Sergei.

"Dig in." He said, taking out what looked like a really greasy sandwich with beef. "These are best." He said.

"What is it?" Eren asked.

"It's cheeseburger." Sergei replied as he bit into it. "In my country, I got to try it when they opened first one in Moscow. It was best I ever had, much better than our food."

"Moscow?" Eren asked.

"Capital of Soviet Union, though it's called Russia now." Sergei explained. "You really are dumb." He chuckled, which annoyed Eren.

Eren took a bite out of it. He had no doubt that if Sasha was here, she would cry in delight at the flavor and seasoning. It tasted like what Nicolo would serve them. His whole life he always had bland beef, and after the fall of wall Maria, meat became extremely rare. He couldn't tell the spices that were used. Eren's only way to season meat going up was to use salt, which was extremely expensive and even his father's pay as a doctor wasn't enough to consistently buy it.

"Good no?" Sergei asked.

"Yea, it tastes good." Eren said in a low tone.

"Western food is some of best. I never liked Japanese food, but it's much healthier than western food." Sergei laughed.

After eating in the car, Sergei had Eren throw away the trash and started the drive to their destination.

It was a long drive to their destination. It was already dark by the time they reached it. The speed was amazing to Eren. It was hard to say, but he figured it was around the same speed as a full throttle ODM movement. He couldn't really judge it since there's a fine line between being in a vehicle and soaring through the air.

They were deep in the forest by this point, driving down winding roads that were almost impossible to see without the bright lights at the front of the vehicle. Eren guessed it was a new moon since he couldn't make out any natural light at all. Since they were transporting illegal weapon, Eren figured they chose this date for the darkness it would bring.

They pulled up to a small clearing off the side of the road. In the center was a small van that had a few people around it. Aside from how strange it was that a group of people were standing in the middle of a clearing at night, there was no immediate things that made them look suspicious. However, Eren had no doubt that they were likely carrying some weapons.

Sergei got out of the car and walked over to the men. Eren noticed they looked Japanese but had subtle features that made them different. There were six in total around the van. On the ground were a few boxes that Eren guessed were the weapons.

Sergei went up to him and spoke in a language Eren didn't recognize. He heard Hizuru enough to recognize the sounds, but this was different. He could tell he wasn't speaking in Japanese. One man replied back, also in the same new language that Eren couldn't distinguish.

The leader of the group motioned for one man to open up the crates, showing weapons that Eren was unfamiliar with.

Sergei took out a notebook and started writing some information down as he looked over it. Most of them were pistols that he didn't recognize, as well as some longer ones that still looked much shorter than a Marleyan Rifle.

After nodding at what he saw, Sergei motioned for them to load it up into the van.

Sergei mentioned for Eren to get back into the car and started driving off.

They began driving back onto the road with the van following close behind. Eren kept quiet, not asking any questions. He knew Sergei would say nothing even if he did, so he kept his mouth shut. It seemed like things were going too easy.

Sergie slowed the car down as he noticed that there were two cars blocking the small country road.

"What's wrong?" Eren asked. "You know them?"

"No, they're not part of the route." Sergei said. "We'll need to turn arou-" Sergei was cut off.

Suddenly the glass exploded in front of them, followed by loud bangs. Eren, as if by pure instinct, kneeled down as much as he could in the seat so as to hopefully avoid being shot. Sergei did the same, just barely missing the bullets as they hit near them.

"Der'mo!" Sergei cursed in what Eren assumed was his native tongue.

"Who are they?" Eren asked.

"Might be a Yakuza group." Sergei assumed.

"Yakuza?" Eren asked.

"They are the big players in this country and looks like they want an easy score." Sergei said. He took out a pistol from his jacket, one Eren wasn't familiar with. "Keep your head down, we'll get them when they-" Sergei was cut off again as a Yakuza member walked up to their window with a pistol, intent on killing them.

Eren noticed that there was another pistol in Sergeis coat from the angle he was at. Eren quickly reached into his coat and grabbed it. He hoped it was ready to fire since he didn't know how to operate it, so he pointed it at the Yakuza and fired.

The man fell down after taking a few shots to the chest and face. Eren knew he needed to move fast otherwise they would die. He opened his door and slid out, trying to remain as close to the ground as possible.

After hearing a slight pause in the shooting, Eren sprinted into the tree line, hoping to get some cover from the trees as he made his way to the blockade. Eren sprinted along the tree line, ensuring to stay within visual sight of the road so that he could still see thanks to the lights from the cars.

Once he was close, he ran out of the tree line and started shooting one handed at the men.

Although Eren wasn't as good as many other Scout members in ODM, he was still one of the best in the Survey Corp. He spent years after reclaiming the walls learning how to combine ODM and Marleyan pistols, just like the rest of his comrades. He was extremely accurate while on the move and was most comfortable firing one handed.

That's why the moment he sprinted out of the tree line, all the Yakuza members were dead.

Eren stepped back as Sergei drove through the two vehicles blocking their path, creating a hole and stopping in front of Eren.

"Get in kid!" He yelled. Eren got into the passenger side of the vehicle again and went as fast as he could while the van stayed close behind.

"I don't have ammo." Eren said calmly.

Sergei reached into his coat again and pulled out what looked like magazines. They were small and Eren never saw magazines used for pistols. He saw magazines for machine guns and even some small rifles, but never a pistol.

Eren grabbed the magazines and put them in his pocket. He started looking at the pistol to see where they were kept. He noticed a button near his thumb and pressed it, watching as a magazine in the grip was pushed out. He threw it out of the grip and put a new one in. He heard a click and was sure it was fully in there. The top of the gun was open, so he assumed it was the same as a Marleyan pistol and pulled it back slightly, watching as the top of the gun slammed forward and loaded a new bullet.

"There's more guys!" Sergei said, watching as there were Yakuza men coming out of the tree line ahead of them, hoping to try and hit them.

Eren stuck half his body out of the window and started to shoot. He was still using it one handed and could confirm that Sergei was going about as fast as his old ODM gear. He smiled at the thought, since as smooth as the vehicle was, Eren was able to easily line up his shots.

As they drove past, most of the Yakuza men died from Erens precise aim. Most where hit in either the head or the chest, so Eren was able to quickly incapacitate them, even if they could later heal from their injuries.

Once they drove past that group, they didn't see any more men. It looked like they were in the clear. Sergei breathed a sigh of relief as the fighting was over.

Eren looked at the gun again, still confused at what exactly it was. It had an interesting design to it and apparently kept the bullets in the grip instead of in front like a Marleyan pistol.

"I'm impressed kid." Sergei said.

"Thought I couldn't handle myself?" Eren asked.

"Yea actually, otherwise you would have been armed from the start." He said in a matter of fact tone.

Eren shrugged since he didn't much care for the older man's opinion. He wasn't here to get on anyone's good side, just get paid.

'Normally I test guys out on small jobs. See if they are willing to do job without morals getting in way." Sergei said. "I didn't expect fight, but I'm glad you can do what needs to be done."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Eren said.

"Where'd you learn that?" Sergei asked. "No man I met can use gun like that. Not that fast or that accurate."

"It's not that hard." Eren shrugged off, not wanting to talk about his past.

"I can tell you had training. Former Soldier probably." Sergei wondered out loud. "You're illiterate so can't be US Soldier, standards are too high. Maybe French Foreign Legion?"

"No." Eren said again.

"Oh well, won't push personal things." Sergei shrugged. "Though you're good with gun. Dumb, but skilled."

Eren started to get annoyed at being called dumb. He was literate, while he wasn't Armin, he still did well during his days at the Cadet Corp in academics.

"Here." Sergei said, handing him some money.

"Already?" Eren asked.

"You deserve it, you did good." Sergei said. "I was originally planning to pay you 50,000 Yen for first job, but you did good. That's 200,000 Yen, good for one month for most people."

"I appreciate it." Eren said, pocketing the money.

"I recommend you learn numbers, so people don't give you less when they realize you're dumb." He said, pointing at the symbols on the corners of the bills. Eren assumed that they were the numbers.

"Thanks." Eren said, annoyed at being called dumb again.

There was a long silence that followed, mostly because Eren and Sergei were focused on the road in order to make sure there were no more surprises. Eren had to squint his eyes as the wind started hitting his eyes due to the lack of glass on the front of the vehicle.

"We're moving guns to Tokyo." Sergei said.

"Thought you didn't trust me." Eren said.

"I trust you enough to involve." Sergei said. "Safe to say, I'd be dead. You're not undercover law since you wouldn't fight like that. So you can know."

"What are they for?" Eren asked.

"Chinese spies in city, trying to spy on government.' He said. "That's why they're all pistols, though some of the rifles are for some gangs."

"They need guns, the spies I mean?" Eren asked.

"Chinese government work with gangs in Tokyo, need protection." Sergei said. "I ask few questions, so I don't know full details." He said.

"So you sell to everyone?" Eren asked.

"One of best traffickers in country. Difficult to move arms around. Doesn't matter if rivals buy from me. They all need me, though some get a little dumb." He said while mentioning the now dead Yakuza members they left behind.

"Do you only traffic arms?" Eren asked, worried about the prospect of being involved in slavery.

"Sometimes smuggle people, but not slaves." Sergei clarified. "Human merchandise is not good for image. Though moving spies and gangs members are." Sergei said.

"Hard to imagine you have morals." Eren said, making Sergei laugh.

"Morals, I have no morals." He said. "Dealing in people is bad for business. One escaped person and whole operation is ruined. Most people you higher in those games can't think enough to hid face, so after a while the entire thing goes away when police get involved."

Eren could tell those were half-truths. The best lies are the ones with a bit of truth to it. Then again, Eren had no room to talk. Even if Sergei did work in human trafficking, he'd still be a saint to a crime like genocide.

Eren relaxed a bit after another round of silence followed. He stayed focused in case there were more people but was feeling a bit better.

Next Morning

"Mama! I want ice cream!" Ruby yelled in the store, causing Ai to shush her.

"Don't worry Ruby-Chan, we'll get you some, but you need to be quiet while we're out." She smiled lovingly at her daughter.

They were doing some quick grocery shopping, so Ai was dressed in her normal disguise. Her long hair was in a ponytail and hidden under a hat while her eyes were covered by large sunglasses. She opted to wear a medical mask today since the air quality was a little bad due to the news reporting higher levels of Smog. Additionally, yellow dust was starting to be a problem again since the near winter months, sand from Mongolia ends up being blown through China and into Korea and Japan. There was no visual haze yet, but she wanted to ensure the safety of her and her children's lungs.

She was currently pushing a stroller that held both children while her arm had a basket with various foods she got. They were waiting in line for their turn to pay.

"Can you please keep it on Ruby-Chan?" Ai asked her daughter.

"I don't like it Mama." She complained.

She always seemed to have an unusual aversion to medical masks. Ai read about why online and mostly she learned that sometimes kids have the most unusual habits and tolerances. Sometimes kids can get uncomfortable if the wind is hitting them, especially at such a young age.

"It's not so bad Ruby." Aqua said as he got annoyed at his sister.

Aqua was playing with Ai's phone that she let him use while they were in line. She assumed he was just bored when he asked to borrow it, so she let him. She wondered if he was watching YouTube or something.

Aqua was much better at wearing it. She heard young kids complain no matter what when anything is on their face, but he seemed comfortable with it on.

"I-I just don't like it." She said sadly.

The sorrow in her voice almost broke Ai's heart. She didn't know why, but she sounded so genuine. This wasn't her normal pouty face when she wanted something. I was like there was some specific reason she doesn't like having one on.

"How about we get you a better mask." Ai said, looking at the masks near the register. They were still medical masks, but they had cute and fun designs on them.

"Ok." Ruby conceded.

"That's my good girl." Ai smiled, pinching her daughter's cheeks gently, causing her to wine a bit.

After paying for the food, Ai packaged it up in the cloth bags she brought from home. She needed to save money and it helped not having to pay for plastic bags since most stores give discounts if you bring your own bag. One of the many ways Japan was trying to prevent waste.

She walked out with the kids to a car that was waiting for them.

"Thanks for the drive Miyako-San." Ai greeted the wife of her Company's President.

She would help Ai drive around when she needed to get things for the apartment or for the children in order to try and keep Ai outside the public eye as much as possible. This ensured that she kept her identity and whereabouts safe from stalkers.

"No problem." She dismissed. She always was annoyed when she had to do this but started to grow to care about the young woman and her twins.

Ai packed the stroller into the trunk of the car as she got her children into the backseat. She always rode in the back with them when they were out together so that she could spend more time with them.

"Ah, that feels so good." She sighed when she took the mask off. She felt like she was able to breath a bit better again now that she was in the car and there was better air quality.

"At least the masks help protect your identity." Miyako-San commented.

"If the air quality was bad every day, then I wouldn't need you to drive me." She giggled.

"Do you think anyone saw you?" She asked.

"No, at least no one recognized me." She confirmed.

"Mama was super sneaky." Ruby said excitedly.

"Yup, we were like spies." She laughed, continuing her daughter's joke.

"Yea, minus the stupid mask." She said sadly.

Ai noticed it again. She still didn't know why her daughter would get sad from wearing a mask. She could understand a child being annoyed, but this wasn't normal. At least based on what she read. It was like something happened to make wearing a mask something traumatic for her.

"Well don't worry." Ai smiled. "I got you a super fun one." She pulled out another mask. It was a medical mask again, but it had a cute design of an anime character that Ruby would sometimes watch.

"Meh." Ruby said in annoyance. "I'll take it, but I won't like it." She huffed, taking the mask.

Ai laughed a bit at her display. At least that felt normal compared to her down casted look.

Her eyes wandered over to her son on her right, who was still playing with her phone. He looked so focused and intense when he stared at the phone.
His eyes were so intense, like he was much older than his three-year-old self would be. He acted more like an older boy who was getting ready for school than a child. It must be that he takes caring for his sister so seriously since he was older.

She wondered what he would be like as a young man. No doubt if he kept that expression, he'd be extremely popular with girls. He already has that serious look to him than many girls would find attractive in a boy they like. Maybe he'll be a little heart breaker when he's in high school.

Aqua perked up when he felt like someone was looking at him. He turned his head only to find his mother staring at him. She didn't normally do that, so it was kind of weirding him out. Ai squealed on the inside when he made a confused face that made him look so cute.

"What?" He asked her.

The nerve of this boy, as if a mother needed a reason to stare at her cute little boy. Both of her babies were the cutest things on the planet. Especially when they did cute things like pout or try to fake cry.

"Ah! Ai! Stop!" Aqua yelled.

Ai grabbed him and started kissing his face in a ruthless and devastating attack. She started tickling his neck as she laughed at his misery at being attacked by his mother. Aqua was always so serious, so she needed to tease him to get him to laugh.

"Stop trying to escape Aqua-Can!" She yelled in mock hurt.

"Stop horseplaying back there." Miyako-San said from the front. "You scared me Ai, I could get into an accident."

"Sorry." Ai laughed as she stopped her attack on Aqua.

Miyako-San shook her head at the display. Ai may be a mother, but still being so young meant that she still acted like a child herself sometimes. Seriously, not only does she babysit the kids, but she also has to babysit the full-grown Idol teenager too.

"Thank you, Miyako-San." Aqua said as he tried to fix himself. His hair was a complete mess, and his clothes were ruffled.

"Aqua-Chan, don't sound so grown up." Ai pouted, before she broke her composure and giggled a bit.

"Yes Ai." He said, still using her name.

Although she was used to it, it still hurt when he refused to call her mama or even something formal. He always just called her by name which was odd for a child.

"What were you looking at Aqua-Chan?" She asked, taking her phone back which fell next to them when she attacked him.

"Nothing much." Aqua said.

Ai gasped slightly in shock. She expected something like YouTube or something to do with kids shows. Maybe even just random browsing. Instead, he was looking at the news of events that happened last night in the western regions of Japan.

There was a reported gang war between what was assumed to be opposing Yakuza groups. Multiple Yakuza gang members were lying dead in the street in a rural part of the country, clearly murdered with guns. How they even have guns was always a mystery to Ai since guns were illegal in Japan. The story didn't show any graphic details of the murder, but there were blurred images of the dead men for the public to see.

Now why a three-year-old child has any need or interest to read something like this was beyond her.

"What were you looking at Aqua-Chan?" Ai asked.

"What is it?" Miyako-San asked.

"It was that Yakuza gang war that happened last night." Ai said.

"I read about that." Miyako-San said. "It's disturbing how those kinds of things can happen."

"Mama, what's a Yakuza?" Ruby asked.

Ai noticed that Aqua looked at her like she asked a stupid question. Why is it a stupid question? A child shouldn't know what that is. She decided not to bring it up.

"They're very bad people." Ai stated. "They're people that hurt others and don't care about anyone but themselves."

"I thought they were only in shows." Ruby said.

"Miyako-San." Ai complained. "Why are they watching things about Yakuza?"

She noticed both Ruby and Aqua tense, clearly guilty at watching things they shouldn't be watching.

"What do you mean?" Miyako asked. "I never let them watch anything that isn't cartoons."

Ai noticed Aqua motioning for Ruby to be quiet, only to quickly try and stop before she looked at him. Aqua actually started to seem a bit worried when Ai glared at him.

"Aqua-Chan, are you showing your sister bad shows?" She asked.

"No Ai, we didn't watch anything like that." He said, which Ai didn't realize was not only true, but he also couldn't tell her the real reason they knew about the Yakuza.

It wasn't like he could say he enjoyed crime dramas while he was in university when he didn't have tests coming up. Unfortunately, Ai interpreted everything as him watching things he shouldn't.

"We'll need to ensure we buy a child lock service on our T.V." She said. "You shouldn't be watching things like that at your age. Or surfing the news about bad things like this Aqua-Chan." She said.

"I was just curious Ai." He said. "I wanted to know what's going on."

"Well, you don't need to right now." She said, putting the phone in her purse. "You're much too young to be looking up things about this."

Aqua sighed and decided to drop the topic. She was so worried about their mental upbringing and wanted to ensure that they didn't see anything that could lead them down bad paths. Especially that since as children, they couldn't fully process the harsher realities of the world like grownups like her.

Like her... right. Ai wasn't a grown up. She's a dumb teenage girl that got pregnant at 15 and can barely make a living for herself and her children. After her groceries, she has only 20,000 yen left that has to last till the end of the week before her next concert. Even then, ticket and merchandise sales have been down lately, and the President was assuming that her check would be 150,000 Yen this time. After taxes and bills, she might walk away with less than 80,000 Yen.

As if sensing her sad aura, Ruby decided to hug her mama, instantly making her feel better. She loved how affectionate Ruby was and her heart melted. She didn't care how much she'd mess up. Ai was going to do everything to devote herself to being a good mama.

"Why did they fight mama?" She asked, referring back to the news story.

"Because they're bad Ruby-Chan." Ai said. "Anyone who has guns or do illegal things are bad people. And if you ever meet someone like that, you run away." She lectured.

"Right!" Ruby said in excitement. "And if they try to hurt mama, Aqua and I'll protect you." She smiled.

Ai looked at her son who raised an eyebrow at his sister's antics. He shrugged, as if half agreeing.

"Oh?" Ai asked. "Well, I'm glad I have my darling children to protect me. If anyone tries anything I'll let you guys fight them off." She smiled.

Ai threw small mock punches at Ruby, who imitated a martial art move by blocking and throwing little punches of her own at Ai. She laughed with her daughter, who kept proclaiming how amazing at fighting she was. Ai reached down in the seat and gave Ruby a small kiss at the little display.

Miyako, who was watching the whole display from the rear-view mirror, shook her head at the young woman's antics. She should be a bit more serious as a mother, but there was no doubt that the display warmed her heart.

Night Prior

Sergei had to park the car near the city and get a new one that he staged. With all the bullet holes in this one, it was bound to get attention from the authorities. Especially since there would be police in the area where the shootout happened within minutes.

After doing the switch, Sergei and Eren got to the warehouse where the drop was happening. There were more Chinese agents meeting them, so Sergei got the weapons out of the van and handed them over. After a quick inspection, the man in charge handed Sergie the money and walked off. They put the crates in another car and prepared to drive away from the warehouse.

Eren stayed near the car, keeping his eyes on the entrance in case they were attacked again. He kept Sergei's gun in his belt line in order to have easy access to it.

"Not bad for first mission, yes?" Sergei said, walking up to Eren.

"Could have gone better." Eren said.

"Welcome to arms dealing." Sergei laughed. "When you sell things that kill, sometimes people try to kill you."

"Guess so." Eren shrugged.

"You're too serious." Sergei said. "You need woman in life."

Eren ignored that comment, choosing instead to stare out at the entrance as he watched the Chinese leave the warehouse.

"I need gun back." Sergei said.

Eren reached into his belt line and pulled out the pistol and handed it to Sergei. Sergei put it back into his coat and made sure it was secure.

"I have one more crate I'm delivering." He said, motioning to the one that was still on the floor.

Sergei opened it up and looked at some of the guns. They were all pistols from what Eren could gather. There were so many different types that he couldn't really tell what they were.

"Damn." Sergei said.

"What's wrong?" Eren asked.

"They gave me piece of shit." He said, pulling out what looked like a Marleyan pistol.

It had the same exactly look to it, with the bullets being housed in the front of the gun. It looked pretty from what Eren could tell. It was engraved all over and had a lighter coating of metal than the darker Marleyan pistols. It didn't look like it had a silver coating, just a bit shinier than he expected. The handle was the same shape but looked to be made out of a tan colored material.

"It looks pretty to me." Eren shrugged.

"It's stupid Chinese knock off." He said in annoyance.

"How so?" Eren asked.

"It's supposed to be authentic Mauser C97 from 1940s. But look at it, it doesn't shoot German 7.62 Mauser. It shoots Russian 7.62 Tokarev." He said in annoyance.

"That's a shame." Eren shrugged, not really caring.

"I was going to sell it to collector, instead they decide to shit in my cereal." He looked at it in annoyance.

"It still looks good, it could fetch a decent price." Eren commented.

"Quality is good. Engraving is well done, and handle has ivory. But issue is that it's not collector piece." Sergei complained. "People charge a lot for rare and authentic items. This is just modified Mauser, not original production."

"So you can't sell it?" Eren asked.

"Not if I want to keep reputation." Sergei said. "You take it." He tossed the gun to Eren, who caught it.

"Really?" Eren asked.

"Think of it as bonus on top of Yen." Sergei said. "I got no use for it. Cost me money to get it, but it won't return."

Eren inspected the gun. It looked really nice. The ivory handle was expertly crafted, and the engravings were very detailed. There was an eagle stamped and engraved on both sides of the internal magazine and it had a wing carved into both sides of the ivory handle. It was way too flashy for Eren, but he liked it. It felt familiar in his hands.

"Here." Sergei said, throwing some boxes at Eren. "One hundred Tokarev rounds with five stripper clips. Ask me if you need more ammo later. though next time bullets cost money." He said.

Eren shrugged and put the small boxes into his hoodie pocket while putting the Marleyan pistol in his belt line on his lower back. The gun would stay there and still be concealed by his hoodie.

"So now what?" Eren asked.

"We'll need to get you place to stay." Sergei said. "You did good, but you can't stay in hotel forever. Too expensive."

"Any ideas where I can go?" Eren asked.

Sergei thought for a moment but had a good idea.

"I can let you stay in apartment complex a friend of mine runs." He said.

"Is that right?" Eren asked.

"Da, he'll give discount." Sergei said. "He usually lets people rent who don't show ID or have documents. Many people use it who don't want to be traced."

"That's helpful." Eren said.

"It's not perfect, you need fake ID and passport. It won't help you if scanned or digitally entered, but it can pass eye test." Sergei said.

Eren decided not to ask what he meant by digitally entered. He felt that it would be useless given that the technology here is too advanced. Though since Sergei was going through a lot to help him, Eren knew that this implied he was going to be doing much more work for him.

Sergei took out a black little box, tapped it a few times, and brought it up to his ear and started talking. Eren could tell it was a kind of radio or phone, though since it had no wire, it was obviously much more advanced than his world. even Marley couldn't make something so advanced.

Sergei spoke in Japanese so Eren didn't know what he was saying. He seemed to be haggling over price or the terms of the deal, so Eren just let him talk. After a moment he hung up and put the small phone in his pocket.

"Good news, we got room for you." Sergei said.

"I'm assuming you're dropping me off?" Eren asked.

"Of course." Sergei said. "We'll take you now."

Eren got into the car again and waited as Sergei entered as well. He started up the car and started to drive off.

"It's nice little place. Few people live in it." Sergei said.

"Perfect for me to stay hidden." Eren said.

"Da." Sergei said. "Good news too, there is single mom living next to your apartment. Could be good for some fun." Sergei suggested.

"Not interested in a wife." Eren said dismissively.

"Who said anything about wife." Sergei laughed. "Single moms are perfect. In country like this, they're looked down on and have hard time finding man. Always up for good time." He laughed, patting Eren on the back. "She's young too, you're age. It's perfect."

"I think I'm good." Eren said dismissively.

"You don't have to do much. Just talk to her, take her out for some roses. Maybe get nice meal." Sergei said. "There's always prostitute if you prefer paying."

Eren ignored his rant as he looked out the window. He really didn't care about some random woman living next to him in an apartment. Eren never really focused on any kind of relationship since he was always fighting. He's sure the woman is nice, but he doesn't really care to talk with anyone unless it was related to surviving.

Eren glanced at Sergei, knowing that meant the only person he could talk to is him if that's the case. Eren sighed at the thought and instead wanted to focus on getting some sleep tonight.

Another chapter done. You guys probably see what's happening next time lol. I hope all the characters are staying relatively in character and doing what you'd expect them to do.

Hope you guys like it. Please review and let me know if it was bad or good.