Chapter 25: Eren won't let Ai Die

"Get ready girls, you're out in two minutes." President Saitou said.

"This'll be our biggest show yet." Nino said excitedly.

"I can't wait." Meimei agreed. "If we manage to do well here, the Tokyo Dome will be ours."

"We'll need to stay at our best." Watanabe said.

"Tell Ai that." Ari giggled.

"Why tell me?" Ai asked.

"Ai will be fine, she has her favorite fan in the crowd." Meimei teased.

"My favorite fans are backstage..." She glared, trying to hide her own blush.

"Good point." Meimei thought. "Your third favorite fan." She giggled.

"Is Aqua still her favorite?" Ari joked. "Ai might as well get a leash with how much she's been watching him."

"And I will never let him out of my sight again." Ai laughed with her friends.

"I was half expecting to have to prevent you from dragging him on stage." Meimei giggled.

"The thought did occur to me." Ai joked.

"Ten seconds, get your show face on girls." Saitou said as he prepared the girls to rush out to the stage.

Ai took a deep breath, relaxing the muscles on her face and making her expression entirely neutral. She needed to center her focus and prepare to fully delve into her idol persona. She always wore the persona, but in these moments of the performance is when it needed to not only be present, but slightly exaggerated.

Her mind flashed to Eren for a moment, knowing that he was somewhere in the crowd. She wondered if he purchased any glowsticks to swing around with. He might find it enjoyable.

Oh no, she forgot to tell him the meaning of the colors, how each color represented an idol on stage and how you picked the color based on which idol you wanted to support. She'd probably have to hit him if he even thinks about picking the wrong color. Him not knowing the meaning is no excuse for not picking hers, she joked to herself.

She did hope she could catch a glance at him though. She wanted to see the look on his face as he watched, hopefully enjoying this performance more. She wanted Eren to look at her with that same look of awe and wonder he had when he saw the ocean. Nothing would fill her heart with more joy than for him to gaze at her with that same look.

"And, now!" Saitou motioned for the girls to get on stage.

Ai's neutral face changed into her perfectly crafted smile, the one she practiced after imitating her smile from the day her babies did the Otaku dance. It felt easier to adopt this smile today for some reason, it felt a lot less forced and easier to maintain.

With a skipping step, all the girls walked out onto the stage, staying in beat with the initial playing of the song. Our Sign is B was their signature song, and the one they either would play at the beginning or end of their show, depending on what songs were lined up. Today, it was their first one since the President wanted to make sure that their fan favorite song would be performed while the scouts were watching and while they were fully rested.

Ai went immediately into the performance, taking her microphone and singing and dancing on the stage. One of the most difficult things to performing on stage was maintaining your composure while at the same time ensuring your voice and dancing skills were at top form. There was no room for errors or hesitation. They had it so well practiced that it was almost second nature.

Ai glanced around to see if she could see Eren but was unable to. There were more people here than ever before, so she wasn't surprised that she couldn't see him. Especially if he was either in the middle of the crowd or to the rear.

She wondered if she would see him dance like many other fans. It would probably be completely uncoordinated, she remembered Eren saying he never danced before. Somehow, the thought of Eren flailing around with no practice or ability to dance, but trying anyway, was the cutest thing she could imagine.

She should have asked Miyako to stay with him and take a video, just in case he tried to.

She felt like this performance was her best yet, she was so completely focused on making a perfect performance. Meimei of course was amazing, she always was the best dancer and deserved more recognition over Ai for her talents. Ai was always sad that her friend never got the attention she deserved.

While they both had a rivalry when they first performed together, it changed into a deep level of professional respect and personal friendship. Meimei changed after getting married, and even before when Ai had children. At first, she was angry at the hiatus Ai had to take, but she eventually began to be happy she never got as popular. After seeing the hurdles Ai had to go to for secrecy, Meimei was glad that she was more in the background now.

Ai had a suspicion that Meimei would have quit a while ago after her marriage, but only stayed to ensure B-Komachi made it big before she did. Meimei still was the second most popular idol in the group and would be hurtful to their prospects if she quit. To her though, it was a hobby now, since all she wanted to do was settle down with her husband and have children of her own.

After their first song, things settled down a lot more. The music died down and this gave Ai her chance to address the crowd.

"Thank you all for coming!" Ai said loudly and passionately into the microphone. "We're so happy to have all of you here, and we hope you enjoy the concert! I love you all!"

Ai made a heart with her hands, cocked her hip to the side, and winked at the audience. They exploded in cheers and applause, almost deafening her with how many there were. Even as the music for their next song started, it was barely able to drown out the noises of the crowd.

Their next song was an interesting one, a song about being an idol, ironically just called "Idol". It was a newer song and wasn't as popular as many of their other songs, but it would be a good transition for some of their other fan favorites.

Ai started dancing as the music began, moving with grace that only Meimei was able to match or even exceed. Her feet were already starting to get sore from the dancing and she was starting to feel sweat on her brow and under her clothes. Normally, the concert was kept cool in order to prevent the girls from sweating and ruining their makeup, but there was only so much that could be done.

Ai vaguely thought she heard weird banging sounds, as if there was something wrong with the audio equipment. There may be some technical issues, but regardless they had to continue with the show. She didn't bother with the weird sound and just continued to dance and sing for her fans.

A few moments, she almost slipped, but those were normal. Most people never see or notice those slight mistakes, but she was a bit worried that the scouts would. They were keeping a very critical eye on the performance after all.

Finally, the song ended right as the girls posed at the final lyric. Things quieted down significantly, minus the cheering of the fans. Ai took a moment to catch her breath, getting exhausted from the performance.

She looked into the crowd, and right in the front, moving closer, was Eren. He seemed like he was rushing to the front, as if he wanted to get a better spot. She smiled at him when she met his eyes, hoping he was having a good time.

However, she noticed that his eyes looked different. Like he was worried about something. Was everything ok? She heard combat veterans didn't typically like being in crowds from their experience, but hoped that he was ok.

"Excuse me sir, we need to ask you to leave the st-" Meimei said as she turned to Ai's left.

Sometimes, a fan would try to get on stage and typically security would have to remove them. Stages were designed to prevent this, but sometimes a fan would get up on stage.

Ai turned to look where Meimei did, and noticed an older man walking on stage. He was very skinny but dressed in a form fitting black suit. He looked to be around thirty, and Ai could notice a few tattoos peaking out from his sleeves.

He was confused as well but realized why Meimei hesitated. The man had a small gun in his hand. How did he even get a gun to begin with?

The man aimed directly at Ai, who was frozen like a deer in the headlights. She couldn't move or react, the situation completely alien to her and not yet able to comprehend what was happening. She never had a gun pointed at her before and didn't even register it at first.

She was going to die...

A Few Minutes Prior

Eren and Raido ran up to the catwalks above the stage, areas typically used for maintenance of the concert area but now being used as an attack point for the Nakano-Kai. Eren had his own gun drawn and ready to use, the engraved pistol shining as lights from the show below reflected off of it.

Raido was with him, carrying a small revolver that was also ready to be used.

"We'll need to do this quick, don't worry about noise. We'll hope that the concert is loud enough!" He screamed.

"What!?" Eren asked. "I didn't hear you!"

"Just fight!" Raido yelled again.

Eren could do that.

There were speakers on this particular catwalk, directly below them. Eren could barely hear as the music was going, Ai already starting her second song. It wasn't as loud as a gun shot, but up here, no one was likely to notice. Especially with the stage lights affixed to the catwalk which would blind anyone looking up and conceal the fight.

"There's a guy!" Raido yelled.

Eren looked over, and using one hand, pointed his pistol at the man and fired. The Yakuza member, who was carrying a shortened Aykem without a stock, went down from the shot. Eren hit him directly in the head.

Eren ran over and noticed a few more on the catwalk. They saw Eren and Raido and turned to shoot at the men. Eren and Raido dived down onto the ground, staying prone as bullets went over their head. Before the Yakuza could react, Eren and Raido shot at them from the ground.

The men slumped over, one over the rail, as the two men got back up to continue fighting.

Eren looked over to Ai, still dancing and probably still at the start of her second song. He only had a few minutes to get down there.

Eren looked around for anything he could use. He saw a safety rope that was used to anchor workers to the catwalk for safety, so he picked it up and got ready to uncoil it. Right as he threw it over the catwalk rail, bullets started going by him.

Eren ducked down, unable to hide or take any cover from the rounds. He was lucky these guys were such terrible shots.

To the rear of the concert was another catwalk with more Nakano-Kai Yakuza, shooting at them from their position. Eren aimed with his pistol and fired back. The rounds missed mostly, but a few of them were able to hit someone. The distance was too much to accurately shoot, but it did cause the men to try and duck to avoid getting shot.

"I'll go around!" Raido yelled directly into his ear. "Keep them busy!"

Eren nodded as Raido ran back into the building, hoping to gain access to the second catwalk.

Eren took more shots from his kneeling position, hoping to keep them pinned down. He aimed a bit but was more concerned with keeping them pinned. A few rounds impacted near him on the catwalk, causing shrapnel to hit him, but nothing that even broke the skin.

Eren got disarmed when one round hit his gun. The sudden shock caused him to drop his gun and it fell off the catwalk and into the crowd. He cursed his luck but was glad his hand didn't get injured. It was numb from the sudden impact, but the bullet glanced off the gun and away from him.

After this fight, Raido finally flanked on that side and gunned down the remaining men. They didn't even realize he was there due to the extreme noise.

Eren decided now was the moment he had to slide down. Eren hoped over the rail and got on the rope. He started to make his way down in an over under grip in order to avoid rope burn. He locked his legs around the rope which allowed him to quickly get down.

The rope ended a few feet above the ground, so he had to drop the rest of the way. Eren landed on a member of the crowd, but no one was hurt. He briefly looked around for his gun but couldn't find it, so he didn't waste time and started pushing people out of the way in order to get to the stage.

Eren was now within visible range of Ai, he could see her, and he saw her smile directly at him. Her song was over, and he knew she was about to die. He needed to move faster in order to get her off the stage.

He noticed to his right that the Yakuza boss was walking directly to her on the stage. Ai looked as well and was frozen from seeing the man.

Eren continued to struggle as he pushed past more people, needing to get there was fast as he could. He gritted his teeth as he pushed, hoping, praying, doing anything to make sure he would reach her in time.

He couldn't let Ai die. He just couldn't. She was too important. She had children, a good life, a promising future. Even then, Eren felt another reason why she can't die, but he was too fixated on reaching her that he couldn't think of what that reason was right now.

He was too late. Even as he got to the front of the crowd, the stage directly in front of him, the boss was already pointing his pistol at Ai. She was frozen in fear, unable to do anything to preserve her life.

Eren looked around and saw a bottle that one of the patrons was holding. It looked like some kind of beer bottle, do doubt smuggled in since Ai said that no glass containers was allowed in the concert.

Eren stole the half empty bottle and quickly threw it right at the gun of the boss. Right before he pulled the trigger, the bottle his hand, causing the surprise to make him drop the gun.

At that moment, the crowd and music went almost silent. People in the back who couldn't see what was going on were still cheering, but their cheers were dying down slowly as they realized what was happening.

Eren got onto the stage and printed over to the boss. He looked over to Eren as Eren shoulder tackled him into the ground.

"Holy shit." He said as Eren tackled him. "I didn't think you'd get here in time."

Eren started to punch him while straddling the man. He hammer fisted his face, hoping to knock him out. The man blocked each hit with his arms, but it was starting to wear on him.

The boss used his hips and legs to push Eren around, rolling so that he was now on top of Eren. Eren's legs were still around his waist, so he locked his feet, pushed his hips up, and squeezed his thighs in order to limit the bosses breathing. With his hips in the air, the Yakuza boss was unable to reach Eren.

The boss used his elbows to pry Eren's legs apart and twisted his body in order to escape. Both men got to their feet as they stared each other down, Eren made sure he was between Ai and the boss.

The boss made the first move by closing the distance and started to punch Eren. Eren traded some blows, but both men were able to effectively block or parry each other's attacks. Eren didn't back away, trying to prevent him from getting closer to Ai.

Eren ducked under a punch and went for the bosses legs, sweeping him up and pinning him again. The boss reached out and hugged Eren, pinning their bodies together and preventing Eren from punching.

He wrapped his arm around Eren and got him into a headlock, in a position similar to his first fight with Reiner, but now reversed. Eren tucked his chin to his chest, which prevented the bosses arm from getting his neck.

"You're still a bit weak from the warehouse." He laughed. "But still good, honestly I was hoping to kill her right as you walked up. Guess my timing was a bit off."

He kept his voice low, so only Eren could hear him.

Eren used his superior strength to break the headlock and move his body away. Each men now started punching each other, with Eren in a dominant position so it was much more effective.

Eren was rolled again by the boss, who started to rain down his own hammer punches onto Eren. Eren had one hand pinned by his leg so he could only block with one arm. Some punches hit their target and Eren felt his nose break from some of the hits.

Eren bumped his hips up again, rolling so that now he was on top and delivered his own punches.

This continued a few times, each man trading a blow and causing bruises and cuts on each other's faces. The areas of the stage they were on started to have blood stain the wood. Eren and the boss had blood coming out of their nose and cuts on their mouth as they traded blows.

Eren was put on the bottom again but reached out with his hands and grabbed the bosses neck. It was a weak technique, but he needed some kind of advantage. He choked the boss and pulled his body close to him, hoping to at least asphyxiate him if he couldn't get a corraded artery choke.

"What makes you think you can kill her?" Eren asked. "If you do, there is nothing stopping me from hunting you down."

"Gawk!" He choked. "Thaght's ta idea." He wheezed through the choking.

What?

He slammed his arms down in Eren's elbows, breaking the choke. In a form of mockery, he started choking Eren as well in the same manner.

"I don't want anything to hold you back. The opposite actually. I want you to be angry and pissed. I want you to hunt me down and stop at nothing to kill me. What point is a war if you're not at your best?" He laughed. "I want everyone involved. Yakuza, Police, everyone. Especially you with your skill."

Eren could feel his head hurting from the lack of air to his lungs, getting dizzy from the choke.

"So, I'll tell you this. I won't stop in trying to kill her. Whether you try to kill me to either protect or avenge her makes no difference to me. As long as you commit to this war and do whatever you can to fight me at your best."

Eren did the same technique, slamming his hands down on the bosses elbows and making him lose his grip. He pushed back to get into a seated position and got up. Eren was about to get him in another grapple, but the boss aimed a small vial at him before he could.

Eren's eyes exploded in a burning pain. He tried to wipe the substance off but the more he wiped his eyes the more it hurt. What the hell was this stuff!?

"Pepper spray is a bitch." He laughed, his voice getting quieter as he walked away.

Eren knew he was heading to Ai and tried to flail around in order to find him. He was completely blinded and couldn't see.

Ai was towards the edge of the stage, eyes widened in shock and fear at what she just watched. Meimei and the rest of the girls were as well, huddled together from the fear of the criminal who were walking towards them. The crowd still in the concert area, but all struggling to escape through the small narrow doors.

The Yakuza drew a knife and approached Ai in a fast walk, hoping to kill her and then get away as quickly as possible before Eren recovered.

"Fuck!" He screamed as he fell down from the pain in his leg. He tried to get up but started getting his repeatedly by what felt like a metal pipe.

"Aqua!" Ai screamed, forcing herself to move.

Aqua took a pipe from backstage and ran out onto the stage, intending to protect Ai. He might be weak, but a metal pipe will do damage no matter what. He hit the man repeatedly, hoping to hit him in the head and knock him out if nothing else. He wasn't going to let Ai die.

However, the man covered his head from the blows, grabbing the pipe and wrenching it out of his hand. He threw it away and stabbed Aqua with the knife.

"NO!" Ai screamed.

Aqua blocked it at the last second, but the knife imbedded itself into his forearm, amazingly getting directly between the bones in his arm. As a doctor, he knew that this was a dangerous injury since there is a chance it could hit an artery in his arm.

Ai ran up and kicked the man in the face while he was kneeled. It was a weak and uncoordinated kick and did nothing to really slow him down. The man got up and pushed Ai away, who fell to the ground.

There was a scream, no, a roar from behind the boss. The roar sounded almost as loud as the concert or gunshots in the room. It was so loud, even Ai and the girl covered their ears for a moment.

Ai looked over to Eren, who was screaming and charging at the man who threatened her and her child. His face was contorted in anger, a more feral and dangerous face than the cold and calculated one he had when he killed Ryosuke. Like a rabid, bloody animal that was cornered and wanted only to kill.

He slammed into the man from behind and lifted him up, doing a suplex and slamming the man into the ground. Eren wrapped his arm around the man's throat and tied to choke him from behind.

The boss tucked his own chin down, and the blood, spit, and mucus from the two men prevented Eren from getting a good grip. He used the slippery substances to twist out of Eren's grasp and stood back up.

The fight devolved into desperate and wild fighting from there. Both men gripped each other's shirts and punched each other in the face. No ground was lost from either side.

The boss pulled out a small switch blade and stabbed Eren right in the face. Eren moved out of the way, but the blade still hit his right eyebrow, causing it to glance and leave a long cut on his brow.

Eren head butted the boss, causing him to lose his grip and stumble backwards.

PING!

BANG!

The sound of a bullet impacting a piece of metal on the ground, followed by the bang a fraction of a second later, told Eren that someone shot at them. Eren looked at the source of the gunshot, which came from the catwalks. Was it Raido?

"Does the sniper belong to the old man?" The boss asked.

Eren remained silent, not sure what was going on. What was a sniper? He never heard of that before.

"Well, guess it's time for me to go."

"Wait!" Eren said, wanting to continue so he could kill him and keep Ai safe.

CRACK!

BANG!

The bullet impacted right in front of Eren, preventing him from continuing towards the boss.

"Give it up, the sniper won't let us fight." He said. "I don't want to kill you before the fun can start. I'll see you for dinner." He laughed as he jumped off the stage and ran into the crowd, using them as cover so he could escape unnoticed.

Dinner? Did he know about the plan to attack Ginza? Eren knew there was a rat in Yoshida's group, how much did the rat know?

"Aqua -Chan!" Ai yelled, bringing Eren back to the situation at hand.

She was far enough away that she didn't hear the exchange, much to Eren's relief. He didn't want her to know about his involvement. He was terrified of what she'd think of him if she found out who he was.

Ai crawled on her hands and knees to her son, who was clutching at his arm that had the knife imbedded in it. His face was scrunched up in pain, a few tears threatening to leak from his eyes, but he maintained his composure better than any child should.

"It's ok baby, mama's here." Ai said as she adopted a gentle and soothing voice. "We need to do something." She said to herself.

"Leave the knife in." Eren said.

"But he's hurt!" Ai said.

"It'll stop the bleeding until a professional gets here." Eren said.

Eren took off his shirt and ripped a piece of it off in a long strip. He used the white cloth to wrap around the arm and knife, stopping any excess blood flow from escaping.

"It's ok, mama's here." Ai said, her tear-stained face was a look of fear and worry.

"I'm ok Ai." Aqua said through gritted teeth.

"Don't be tough right now, please." She whispered. "Why would you do that? Why would you try to fight him?"

"I had to save you." He grunted as Eren finished tying it, causing pressure that made the pain worse.

"It's my job to save you, not the other way." She said, a hint of anger coming from her voice. "You're so stupid, stupid. I have to punish you again."

Ai didn't know what she was saying. Her tiny, vulnerable, and innocent baby boy was stabbed with a knife meant for her. This was the second time a knife meant for her was pointed at her baby boy. She couldn't think rationally.

"Ai, we need to get him outside." Meimei said. "There'll be paramedics showing up soon, we need to go."

"We'll take him through the back, if we need to, we can drive him to the hospital." Ari said as well.

"Where's Ruby?" Ai asked, barely able to comprehend what's going on.

"The President evacuated her." Miyako said as she came up to Ai. "She's ok, but we need to leave."

"O-ok." Ai said.

"We need to go, I'll carry him." Eren said.

"No, I have him." Ai said as she scooped Aqua into her arms. "I'll carry him to safety."

No one was going to take her son from her. She dared them to try, especially with how injured he was. Ai had no injuries at all, just some blood from the man on her leg when she kicked him, though the blood was caused by Eren.

Eren stayed with her, his own injuries doing nothing to slow him down as he stayed close and protected her. He was just as worried for Aqua and swore to protect he boy.

Eren grunted as the paramedic, as Meimei called it, finished the stitch on his brow. She snipped the line and made sure it was fully seated before pulling away. The paramedic said something, but Eren looked towards Meimei for translation.

"She said to brace yourself, she needs to reset your nose." Meimei said.

Eren shrugged, letting her work. He was sitting on a vehicle outside, a large box shape vehicle that was used by the healers in this world to transport people and medical gear to and from hospitals.

"Ready, one, two-" Meimei counted for the nurse.

CRACK!

Eren grunted as his nose was set back into place. The pain was minor and he barely felt it.

"You can take a hit." Meimei said.

"How's Ai?" Eren asked.

"She's with the other truck, she's getting looked at." Meimei said.

"How's Aqua?" Eren asked.

"He's in another truck, they're rushing him to the hospital. We're going to see him later tonight." She said.

Eren got up, grunting from the pain but it barely slowed him down. The blood and cuts were cleaned, but there was still bruising around his face from the fight. Even his neck had some bruising where he was choked. Most of the swelling was gone, but he still had a headache.

Ai was in the back, getting looked over. She looked ok, with no injuries of anykind, but the paramedic wanted to be sure she was ok. Her boots were off, and Eren could see a bruise forming on her shin, where she kicked the boss.

"Ai." He said as he walked up to her.

"Eren." Ai replied when she saw him. "Oh no!" She gasped.

"What?" He asked.

Ai jumped away from the paramedic, much to her annoyance, and ran over to Eren. She wasn't too worried about being seen with him since the parking lot was completely sealed off and President Saitou prepared Non-Disclosure Agreement documents for the police and medics around.

It might be a bit odd to prepare something like that given the circumstances, however, leaked information about Ai would put her life in danger so it was a precaution he had to take.

"I was so caught up with Aqua-Chan, I didn't make sure you were ok." She said as she inspected Eren's face.

"That's fine." Eren said. "Your son is more important than me."

"Still, I'm so sorry." She said.

"It's ok." Eren said. "Are you ok?" Eren asked.

"I mean, yea, I guess." She said. "I'm not hurt, I mean, it's just a bruise. But I-I d-don't know a-about Aqu-" She started to tear up, thinking about her son.

Her arms were by her side as she started to sob. She was so completely scared and could barely maintain her composure. It was the first time he saw her cry like this. She looked so different, normally she'd always try to be happy and look on the bright side, but now she was scared and terrified for her son.

Eren walked over and placed her head in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her as she did the same on reaction. She sobbed into Eren's chest, which was still bare since his shirt was ripped.

Eren rubbed her back and placed one hand on her head, letting her get the emotions out and comforting her. Eren never was good at comforting people, but even he knew that sometimes a hug can go a long way in helping someone.

"He's a strong kid." Eren said.

"No, he isn't." Ai said. "He's tiny. He shouldn't have to fight a full grown man like that."

"He defended his mother." Something Eren failed to do.

"It's not his job." Ai cried. "I'm supposed to protect him. Why is he so stupid in thinking that he needs to protect me?"

"Because he loves his mother." Eren said. "He doesn't want to think about a life without you. And he'll do anything to protect you, even at great risk to himself."

"Did you do the same for your mama?" Ai asked.

"I tried." Eren said sadly.

"W-what happened?" She asked.

"My mother was pinned under a collapsed house. I tried desperately to pull it off of her... before they came." He struggled to remember. "She begged me to leave, but I refused. I had to save her. I had to pull it off of her. But I failed."

"Someone pulled you away." She concluded.

"Mr. Hannes pulled us away from her. And I watched her die, because I couldn't do anything." Eren recalled.

"I'm so sorry." Ai said as she broke from Eren's embrace. Her tears slowly drying.

"I never told her that I loved her." Eren said.

Ai remembered that he said that before. How he regretted not saying those words to his mother. It was around the time the shopped for new clothes for him.

Ai often wondered if Aqua really did love her. He never said it, and he never showed any affection. Not that she could blame him, she never once said she loved him. Why would he love her?

She saw similarities in Eren and her own son. Both head strong, lacking in affection, and clearly loved their mama's. Was this how Aqua felt? Were these his feelings as well? Did Aqua love her but was too proud and stoic to try and show any affection.

The only time he showed affection was when he was scared. Like when Eren first came into their lives, or when Ryosuke attacked, and even when he met Hikaru. Was that scared and vulnerable side the real him, and the stoic and serious side the lie he crafted? He was her son after all, so it was natural that he'd imitate her by creating a false persona.

Though, where Ai's persona was that of a cute innocent girl, his persona was a mature and serious boy. Was that what was going on?

She saw the childlike innocence in Eren's eyes when he was at the beach. Was it the same? Was Eren's real side a scared and vulnerable boy that he hid behind a wall of pain and anger? Was that the fate that Aqua would be condemned to face if he didn't feel a mothers love?

"I need my children." She said, her eyes starting to teat up again. "I need my babies."

"We'll see them." Eren said as he held her again. "Meyoko has Ruby with her and she's on the way to the hospital. We'll leave soon to see them."

"Ok." Ai said in a low voice. "You're mispronouncing her name on purpose." She giggled weakly.

"What makes you think that?" He laughed quietly as well. He didn't do that to make her feel better, not at all.

She needed to see both of her babies. Even if it was a lie, they needed to hear the words that their mama loved them. As much as it would break her if it was a lie, she cared more about their feeling than her own.

She swore that when she next saw them, she would say she loved them. Even if it was a lie. They deserved to hear those words from their mama.

So, John Wick was awesome lol. I was joking how similarly I accidently made Eren to John Wick, though less gunfu lol.

A couple of things, I did kind of modify the sounds and realism here lol. Most guns are about 140 Decibels, while concerts can get to 120 Decibels. I know that it's not exactly the same, but it would kind of work lol.

As for why I'm still keeping Eren's involvement a secret, it's not ready for him to be exposed... yet lol. There will be consequences for that overt display on stage, but Eren won't be found out just yet. Not the right time in the story for that lol.

It'll seem a little odd, but most of it will be explained next chapter.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed.