Mikasa got back home before night fell. She rushed over and surveyed her room. Reiner said to be prepared to leave tomorrow, but was there anything to really prepare for? Nothing here was of any importance to her.
Clothing was always replaceable.
Food. Obviously, they're going to need rations for their mission, right?
Maybe not. She keeps forgetting how advanced this civilization is. In Paradis, there wouldn't be a vendor or food stalls within five minutes of each other. They were few and far between.
Here though? There were bars just about everywhere.
She shook her head and walked into her living room; searching for anything that may be of use to her and Reiner's journey.
Books? No. Eldian propaganda? Probably not. Hange may be fascinated with all the fabricated information, but it would be useless to bring it since they didn't understand the language.
Fine then. All that was left was her ODM gear she stored beneath the floorboards.
She sat on her coach and pondered how they'd be able to smuggle that out of the internment zone?
Reiner was welcomed into a cozy home. "Good evening everyone." He offered a gentle smile to each person present.
Gabi shot up from her seat. Beaming with excitement, she ran over to Reiner and gave him a quick hug. "Reiner! I'm so glad you decided to come!"
He patted her head affectionately as she eagerly pulled him toward the dining area, guiding him as if he had forgotten the layout. They all settled around the table, with Reiner at one end and his mother at the other.
"Reiner, how are you? You've been quite distant since coming back home." she quipped.
Reiner barely caught his breath since arriving and already this ridiculous statement again. He sighed and nodded. How many people were going to point that out?
He sighed, cleared his throat and looked down at the food in front of him.
His family began conversing as Reiner slouched in his seat. He reflected on his lack of an appetite and his overall lack of satisfaction in life. Since coming back from the island, he hadn't had any desire to fill his stomach with anything that couldn't be satiated with a quick snack, so he probably forgot what a nice home cooked meal smelled and tasted like.
"I'm sorry." he blurted out.
They all stopped talking and glanced over at him. His attention was directed towards the meal in front of him; and they all noted how gaunt and dissatisfied he looked. The atmosphere changed; it felt like his family didn't want to confront the fact that he wasn't the kid they remember him being—and it resulted in awkward silence.
But Gabi was as mesmerized as ever, stealing glances at her cousin.
"Gabi, eat your food." Her father quietly snapped at her. Breaking out of her trance, she turned her attention back to her plate.
After scraping her fork across the fine china, accompanied by many more seconds of complete silence, the warrior candidate seemed to be bursting at the seams.
"Reiner, what was it like? How did it feel to crush those island devils?" She asked excitedly, clenching her fists.
Gabi's father hissed at her. "Reiner can't talk about the mission, Gabi. It's classified. Even if he could talk about it, why would he want to?" Her dad shook his head, continuing his scolding, "War isn't-"
"It's fine, I don't mind sparing a few details."
He raised his knuckles to his jaw as he rested his elbow on the table. "I infiltrated the island's army, and as expected, they were true devils. For example, during our enlistment ceremony, one devil started eating a stolen potato."
Sasha. She had such an insatiable yearning for food, she quite literally would fight with anyone who looked at her meal the wrong way.
"I stole it because it looked tasty." He quoted with a hint of amusement coming from his voice; he covered his mouth to save face.
"There was an idiot who was so stupid he forgot why he went to the bathroom."
Conny. Even though it seemed like the lights were on but no one was home, Reiner never met anyone more dedicated to his comrades. He was loyal.
"An irresponsible jerk who only thought of himself."
Jean. That haircut really did make him look like a horse face. Be that as it may, Jean was one of the few hot tampered idiots that would openly confront him. Looking back, it was a good way to become humbled by one of his peers.
"A responsible jerk who would think of all others except himself."
Marco. If he only minded his own business, he might still be alive to this day.
He shivered at the disturbing thought.
"Someone who only ever thought of revenge."
Eren. A passionate, loud-mouthed foul. One of the few people Reiner became painfully familiar with, and one that grew on him quickly. The scouts became a home because of him—Eren made him feel like he belonged.
"And the two who would follow him through anything."
Armin and... Mikasa. Both were confident and trustworthy comrades. Armin, the clever one, and Mikasa, undeniably the second strongest soldier in Paradis—a loyal comrade that Eren never truly appreciated.
The fool.
Coming back to the present, he looked up to see each one of his family's faces and the sheer shock written on each one.
Did I say something wrong? He thought.
Karina got up and closed the window shut, with a morbid look on her face. "Reiner, they were all devils, right? That was your entire point, isn't it son?"
Reiner nodded, mouth agape. He didn't understand, they were crude, right? His words misled his intent, his argument was unconvincing. The worst thing he said involved the potato incident.
How could he convince them when he couldn't convince himself?
"Anyway," Gabi started with a nervous chuckle, "Did you hear that the Tyburs are going to be in town?"
"The royal Eldians?" Reiner questioned as he paused to finally take a morsel of food from his plate into his mouth. "They're coming to Liberio? Why would they care about stopping in the ghetto?"
Gabi shrugged, "Who knows what they're here for! But we're all going to see them live!"
Gabi's father chimed in, "Is your warrior candidate teammates going as well?"
The young girl nodded enthusiastically. "Zofia, Udo, Falco, and I are going to get great seats, next to War Chief Zeke and Pieck and Porco!"
Reiner gave her an approving nod. But behind his facade was terror. She was so happy to become a warrior... it was a feeling he was familiar with. But it wouldn't be what she wanted it to be.
Thirteen years is all you get.
He didn't want that for her.
As night fell, Reiner contemplated how he was going to say goodbye. He'd never see them again. He really only wanted to see Gabi before he ran away from his duties as a warrior. Sacrificing himself to the Eldians and betraying Marley will be hard on her.
He felt lost in his mind before his mother broke his train of thought.
"Reiner, are you going to head back soon? It's getting late."
He snapped out of it and nodded. "Yeah. Gabi, can I talk to you before I leave?"
The young warrior candidate grinned from ear to ear and followed her cousin to the door. "Are you going to tell the superiors that I'm the best candidate?!"
Reiner let out a sigh and got down to her level. "Gabi listen, there's no doubt in my mind that you'd make an excellent armored titan."
Her eyes almost bulged out of her head in excitement, she started to literally shake at the flattering acknowledgment.
"However, I want you to live as much as you can before the day comes that you become my successor." he saw the disappointment shine through her eyes; lying through his teeth never hurt more.
"Oh." Looking away from her cousin, her shoulders slumped. Reiner hated seeing her face morph into a thin-lipped frown, but he hated the idea of her becoming a victim of the curse even more.
"Hey, I still have two years left in me!" Teasing her, he graced her with a rare smile, "Tone it down, okay? I'm not chopped liver, am I?"
God, I suck at this.
Gabi giggled lightly and nodded. "Sorry Reiner, I didn't mean to make you feel like you weren't capable or that I wanted you to die..." her face flushed.
Reiner shook his head, "Don't worry about it, kid. Just live a life you could be proud of. Once you become a warrior, the happier days will be more scarce, don't forget that."
He got up and patted her head.
"Just promise me you'll live the next few years as a happy and hopeful kid." he paused, looking down at her. "Even if for some reason you don't get one of The Nine, live a happy and fulfilling life."
Gabi looked at him as he turned his back on her for the last time.
"I promise."
Mikasa jolted at the loud knock at her front door and glanced out of her window. It was past curfew; so if anyone was seen outside at this time there would be consequences.
Wide eyed, she saw Reiner standing out there with his arms crossed over his chest.
What are you doing?
Warrior or not, he probably wasn't immune to getting punished. Walking over to the door, she quickly invited him in.
The blond walked in, mumbling a greeting towards her.
"I thought you were coming by tomorrow morning?" She closed the door, following closely behind him.
"I was pretty close by, so I decided to come check in on you." Looking around her house, he continued "Not that you need anyone to look out for you."
Mikasa looked away, disregarding the irrelevant compliment. "So, what's the plan? I'm assuming you've had time to think about it." she asked, tilting her head back in his direction.
Reiner nodded. "We're going to go gather intel together. There's a city in Marley that many officials congregate in." he paused, sitting down on a wooden stool. "If we poke around, we can likely gather information on the new ships sent out and some information about Paradis."
"Understood." Mikasa breathed out an anxious sigh.
Reiner knew that feeling she was going through. The fear of the unknown; was her teammates okay? Did they get caught or did they form a conscience and abandon the mission?
"In this situation, no news is good news. That's what we're hoping for and it'll mean that your comrades are probably safe in hiding—if that's the case then we'll go to every city in Marley until we find them."
"You don't have to reassure me." She snapped.
"Right. Sorry." Reiner sat up straight, immediately looking away from her.
She nearly regretted snapping as she saw him backdown immediately. She wasn't used to being around this Reiner; it wasn't like him to cower so quickly. It made her wonder what's been going through his head.
"Forget it..." she wistfully whispered in his direction.
A few moments of silence graced the atmosphere. Mikasa glanced outside, turning her back away from him.
"How will you get back home? It's past curfew."
He cleared his through, not answering right away. "I don't necessarily have to follow Eldian rules, I'm sure I can leave without any trouble." He clenched his teeth in uncertainty.
"You're sure?" In a mocking tone, she turned back towards him. "You've never done it before?"
He stayed silent but got up from his seat and headed towards the door. "I'll be fine, make sure you pack a light bag-"
"You can sleep on the couch." Mikasa said, cutting him off. She walked into what seemed like a poorly lit part of the house.
Reiner blinked in confusion. "I don't need to sleep on your couch."
Mikasa walked back out with a pillow in hand. "I don't need any suspicious flags raised for your or my behavior," she handed it to him, "do you really think they didn't see you come into my house after curfew?"
"..." Reiner quietly hissed under his breath.
Mikasa watched him silently. As amusing as it was to see him succumb to her command, it was equally entertaining watching his defeated self plop the pillow down on the couch.
She felt a bout of nostalgia.
She couldn't hold back that fleeting feeling of contentment that graced her senses. Something about seeing Reiner this evening made her experience something that felt... right. Feeling that for even a second made her feel nice.
"Thanks." he said.
The silky mutter of his gratitude brought Mikasa back to the conversation. Her eyes darted away from his direction.
She cleared her throat and changed the topic. "The only thing I'll be packing is my ODM gear, though I'm not sure how I'll even-"
Reiner snapped his attention over to her, "You brought your ODM gear? How did you sneak that in here?"
Mikasa was slightly taken aback by his curiosity. She wondered how much she should tell him. "Well, the mission wouldn't have been successful without a few people," she paused, thinking she shouldn't get too specific. "long story short, the gear was smuggled in by someone who was not me."
Reiner narrowed his eyes. "Who?"
Amusement lacing her voice, she crossed her arms. "Maybe I'll tell you when you pull through your end of the deal and get me safely to my comrades."
Reiner sat down on the couch, "Fine, but how are you going to sneak the ODM gear out?"
Mikasa eyed his red Eldian arm cuff. "Will they search your stuff?"
Reiner grimaced. Of course that was her plan. "We bring the ODM gear and nothing else, understood?"
He said that quite sternly, almost uncharacteristically so. It felt like the Reiner that Mikasa was familiar with. She gave him a curt nod, turned around, and walked to her room.
"We leave at dawn." he spoke out from the darkness.
