Chapter 9: B-Komachi does Karaoke
"So, are you ready to talk?" Aqua asked, while leaning on the kitchen counter.
"Yes, I think you need to be aware of what's going on." Eren said.
It was very early in the morning and Eren had to go to work soon. However, it was important that him and Aqua spoke about the situation they would soon face. Aqua was the only person Eren could realistically ask for help, at least until he met up with Armin. He intended to do the research on both Armin and Reiner during work.
"We should hurry up." Aqua said. "Ai and Ruby are getting ready for their celebration and will head to the Karaoke bar soon."
"I know." Eren nodded.
"So, what are you worried about?" Aqua asked.
Eren was worried about revealing everything to Aqua, but he knew that Aqua needed to know the basics in order to watch out for any threats. Eren just hoped that Aqua would believe. While it was a stretch to say he wouldn't, it was still hard for someone from Earth to understand the Titan threat.
"Zeke is from my homeworld." Eren said. "And he confirmed that he's not the only one who came here."
"Do you know who came here?" He asked.
"Zeke only confirmed two people, both I know." Eren said. "However, from what I assume, only Titan Shifters came here."
"Titan Shifters?" Aqua asked. "You're going to need to explain that one to me."
"In my world, there is... I guess what you'd call magic?" Eren tried to explain. "Two thousand yeas ago, giant humanoid monsters called Titans appeared."
"Similar to that YouTube video?" Aqua asked.
"Yes." Eren said. "That was a Shifter."
Eren didn't want to specifically say that was him. He didn't want Aqua to question it too much and potentially reveal information about the Rumbling. Eren intended to entirely hide that as much as possible.
"And they're after you?" Aqua asked.
"Possibly." Eren said. "Most of the Shifters were Marleyan, and they have a reason to want revenge against me. It's possible that they will want to kill me or use my family to get to me."
"So... Ai and Ruby are in danger again." Aqua sighed.
"Yes." Eren said.
"You know, I was always worried about you when you first came into our lives." Aqua said honestly. "I was always worried that whatever issues you had would somehow drag us into danger. Once again, my fears were correct."
"I won't disagree." Eren said. "Though, I was sure that part of my history would never come back."
"I can't blame you for thinking that, given the circumstances. So, why would they want revenge?" Aqua asked.
"When Marley declared war on us, I had to fight back." Eren said. "The specific unit of Titan Shifters were the Warrior unit, led by Zeke."
"Who are we dealing with?" Aqua asked. "I mean, we're basically having Tokusatsu villains here... or more like Kaiju I guess."
"I don't know that term." Eren said, only recognizing Kaiju.
"Not important." Aqua waved off. "Who do you think they area?"
"The two Zeke told me about are actually your age. They both turn sixteen today and were reborn, similarly to you and Ruby." Eren said.
"And apparently, born the exact same day and year too." Aqua noted.
"That coincidence wasn't lost on me, but I don't have enough information to call it anything more than a coincidence right now." Eren said.
"Who are they?" Aqua asked.
"Of the nine Titans, each has a unique ability that's passed down from person to person. You have the Colossal Titan, a Titan that can reach sixty meters in height and create explosions from its transformations."
"Sixty meters?" Aqua asked.
"Yes." Eren nodded.
"How do you fight that with renaissance era technology?" Aqua asked.
"Remember the ODM gear I used to rescue you from Yoshida?" Eren asked.
"That was that weapon from your world?" Aqua asked.
"It allows the user to move omni-directionally. The swords are made intentionally brittle so they don't get stuck in Titan flesh." Eren explained.
"That's almost horrifying." Aqua said. "To fight like that... it explains why you were so good at it."
"The other Titan is the Jaws Titan, about five Meters and has jaws that can bit through nearly any material."
"It's not a shark, is it?" Aqua laughed at his own joke.
"If there was one in the shape of a shark, it would be the Beast Titan." Eren said, showing his lack of pop-culture references.
"Never mind, you missed the reference." Aqua chuckled. "Beast Titan, so, basically animalistic?" Aqua asked.
"Yes, that's what Zeke is." Eren said. "He takes the form of a large seventeen meters ape or monkey."
"That's scary to think, I guess that's what he meant about burying us in rubble?" Aqua said. "And none of them are on our side?"
"One was my best friend who would most likely on our side. Armin Arlert. The colossal Titan" Eren said.
"Wait, Armin Arlert?" Aqua asked.
"Yes, he's supposed to be on some TV show recently." Eren said.
"Yea, that's exactly it." Aqua said with a chuckle. "He's on LoveNow, that dating show Mikasa was excited about."
"Really?" Eren asked.
"Mikasa has a huge celebrity crush on him, he runs an exploration YouTube channel. Beyond the Walls Expeditions." Aqua said.
Eren couldn't help but chuckle at that. Trust Armin to spend a second life exploring and doing what they both dreamed of as kids. He even managed to inspire his own daughter in much the same way he inspired Eren.
"Who else do we need to watch out for?" Aqua asked.
"There's the inheritor of the armor Titan, R-"
"What are you two doing up so early?" Ai yawned as she stepped into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
She stretched to get rid of the morning soreness she had, popping her spine as she did so.
"Just woke up early." Aqua shrugged.
"I need to leave for work." Eren said. "We'll continue the conversation later."
"Ok Eren." Aqua nodded.
Eren left the kitchen, but gave Ai a quick kiss, making her push against him from feeling that prickly beard, which felt even more prickly on the morning.
"I hate beard!" Ai yelled out, pushing Eren's face away as he tried to kiss her.
Eren smirked and simply overpowered her, leaning down to kiss her and making her squeal in pain from the kiss. He loved these small moments where he teased her.
"I hate you." Ai pouted, making Eren chuckle.
Eren went out the door, intent on telling Aqua the rest later. For now, he'll need to stay with them and specifically avoid Zeke.
"Well, let's get ready for Karaoke!" Ai said excitedly.
The Karaoke bar was still somewhat empty, with only a few people in the main area. Ai figured it would be better to go earlier than their normal hours since it was better to plan these celebrations away from the general public. It helped to protect Kana and Ruby's privacy.
"Braun-San!" Ai yelled out to Reiner.
"Hoshino-San." He greeted with a smile and a wave. "It's good to see you all."
Ai picked up Kana and brought Aqua, Ruby, Kawachi, and Mikasa since their school allowed them to miss a day to spend time with their siblings since it was their birthday.
"Happy birthday Braun-San." Ai said with a smile. "I got you a small gift."
Ai took out a small bag of candy that she handed to the sixteen-year-old. Reiner smiled at the small gift.
"Thank you." He said.
"Consider it a thank you for helping us." She said. "Now, I have our private booth reserved, so we'll head over there."
Ai led the group over to o of the large private booths, one reserved for large groups such as their group. The inside had a few couches and a large TV with a kind of custom game station and a microphone. The game was already booted up and showed a cute anime girl and the main menu.
Ai set a few things down and Reiner took off his backpack. The kids sat down and Mikasa looked pretty excited to sing. Kawachi was annoyed at coming to sing since he wasn't a fan of it, but he was happy to get to talk to his hero.
"Since it's all three of our birthday's, I figured I'd bring a little gift." Reiner said as he reached into his backpack.
"Oh, what did you get?" Ruby asked, looking over his shoulder as he reached into his bag.
"Kana, you're over sixteen, right?" Reiner asked.
"I'm seventeen, so yes, I am." Kana said.
"Why does age matter?" Ai asked, a bit concerned about what Reiner may have.
"Here." He said, pulling out a box that clanged together like there was glass inside.
"Is that beer?!" Kana yelled.
"Why did you bring beer!?" Ruby yelled as well.
"Braun-San, I can't approve of you having that!" Ai chastised him.
"Why, what's the issue?" Reiner asked, legitimately confused as to why he was getting yelled at.
"What do you mean?" Ai asked as she took the 12 pack of bottled beer away from Reiner. "You all are much too young to drink this!" Ai said.
"Okaasan." Aqua got her attention. "Alcohol can be consumed by sixteen-year-olds in Germany."
"Eh?" Ai asked.
"Wait, you guys can't drink beer when you're sixteen here?" Reiner asked.
"The legal limit in Japan is twenty." Aqua explained.
"That old?" Reiner asked.
"Well, regardless, no one is drinking beer while I'm here." Ai said, not wanting the teenagers to have any drink since they were much too young. "That includes you Braun-San, despite what the law is in Germany, you can't drink as a sixteen-year-old in Japan. Even if you are a foreigner."
"Seriously?" Reiner sighed.
"Did you miss beer in your past life?" Ruby smiled, teasing him with a small whisper that only he could hear. "What a delinquent, drinking beer around someone as pure as me." She joked. "I'm worried you may have been an alcoholic in your past life."
"I just miss a cold glass of beer." Reiner said. "It was so rare back then."
"In your previous life?" Aqua asked in a whisper, confused.
"I mean, I was old enough, but it was rare for people like me." He said without thinking.
Aqua narrowed his eyes in confusion. Reiner said he was American. Which means that since he died at nineteen, he never should have legally drunk since America's age limit is twenty-one. There's no way he could have-
Wait.
Reiner's birthday was today, and Eren said that the Titan people that he knew of are turning sixteen today. That they have the exact same birthday as him and Ruby. Right now, they're calling it a coincidence, but they know something about that is relevant.
Eren said all of them, minus Armin, were his enemies in his world. Is that why Reiner helped them? Is he getting close to them specifically to target Eren? That's assuming though that Reiner was a Titan, like Eren said.
Aqua had to shake his head for a moment. He was surprised at how easily he just accepted that giant rampaging monsters was a thing. He didn't even question it, and honestly, he felt like it was almost normal now, considering he was reborn and Eren was from another world.
"Are you ok Aqua?" Reiner asked, confused why Aqua was staring at him with narrowed eyes.
"Oh, don't worry about him, it's just his sister complex." Ruby laughed.
"Right." Reiner chuckled.
"Well, I'll forgive you bringing beer, so we'll just move past that and start the game." Ai said.
Reiner looked a bit deflated at losing his beer. He seemed shocked that he wasn't allowed to drink, despite turning sixteen.
Ai went through the menu to get to the free play game mode. This specific game not only let you sing along to the songs, but you also had to match the tone and pitch of the song in order to get points. So, if the graphic on the screen went high, you had to sing higher in order to match the pre-programmed tone.
"Who should go first?" Ai asked.
"Braun-San!" Ruby yelled out.
"Why me?" Reiner asked.
"I told you; only expert singers can bask in my presence." Ruby giggled as she adopted a jokingly condescending tone. "So, this is a test."
"Hoshino-San, prepare to kick me out because this'll be terrible." Reiner chuckled.
"I'm sure you'll do fine Braun-San." Ai said. "I even included a western song for you."
"Lucky me..." Reiner chuckled.
As the song was beginning, Aqua took out his phone and opened up Line so he could text Eren. He needed to make sure that Reiner wasn't a threat to the family, and all the coincidences made him a suspect as one of these Titan people.
"Does the name Reiner Braun match the list? He's B-Komachi's physical instructor and matches our birthdays."
Aqua didn't expect a reply back from Eren anytime soon. He normally didn't have his phone while he was working, but he'll see it eventually. If it was confirmed that Reiner was a threat, Aqua would need to find some way to deal with him.
Not that he knew how to deal with Reiner. While Aqua was competent in self-defense, thanks to Eren's instructions, a giant naked monster was way beyond his ability to fight. For now, he needed to just act normally.
Times like this he wished he took that directors invitation to learn how to act when he was a kid. Those skills would be useful right now.
"Are you having a fun time?" Kana asked Aqua.
"Yea, just thinking." Aqua said.
"Ehhh?" Kana raised her eyebrow at Aqua. He seemed a little bit distant today.
However, even Aqua had to try to prevent himself from laughing at Reiner's poor singing performance.
"AHHHHHHAHHHHHHahhhhhhAHHHHHahhhhhAHHHHHHAHHHHHHH!" Reiner had long since given up singing the lyrics.
The game only calculated the tone for points, so you could just scream and as long as the needle on the screen was in the right spot, you got points. It was nothing but Reiner screaming in high and low pitches to desperately keep the needle in the right spot on the screen.
Everyone was laughing. Ai fell out of her chair and was on her hands and knees, desperately trying to stop herself from laughing at the horrible yet funny performance. She actually started to cry from how terrible he was.
Ruby likewise could barely contain herself. She was bent over in her chair and laughing just as hard as her okaasan.
"You got it Braun-San!" Kawachi yelled out, cheering Reiner on.
Despite the poor performance, Reiner was keeping a high score by basically cheating the game.
"I told you I was terrible at singing." Reiner said as the song finished.
"I guess we can cross being an idol off your potential career moves." Kana said through her giggles.
"Guess I can't be around you Ruby." Reiner said in mock sadness.
"You're right." Ruby giggled. "We have to kick him out mama." She said to Ai.
"I agree." Ai joked. "We'll have to go somewhere else for a personal trainer."
"Well, I did get a decent score." Reiner said, gloating over his 92 percent.
"By cheating." Ai said. "How about we see what a real idol can do." Ai said in mock arrogance.
Ai took the microphone and picked one of her classic songs, Our Sign is B. Even after all these years, she was confident that she could easily sing it. She didn't even need to watch the video.
Ai confidently spun around, facing her new audience with her back to the TV, and the moment the song came on, she started her normal dance routine. It felt like getting back on a bike after so long, it was familiar and easy to her.
She even danced while singing, showing these new idol girls what an expert can do after almost a decade of being on top. While her fame was gone, her skills certainly weren't. She moved with the same grace and confidence as if she was nineteen again, singing with passion and keeping a smile the whole time.
Ai knew she was doing an amazing job, she could see her fans giggling and smiling at seeing a private and personal B-Komachi classic.
When it finished, Ai gave a pose as the music died down. She knew her score had to be at least in the high nineties. Her voice hasn't lost it's touch after a decad-
"Eh?" Ai looked in shock.
"Wow kaasan... you're bad at this." Kawachi laughed.
Those weren't smiles... those were laughter. Laughing at her apparently poor perf-
"No!" Ai yelled out. "I practically made that song! How did I get so low!?"
Her thirty percent was completely eclipsed by Reiner's. How does a man with the build and constitution of an ox beat her at being an idol!?
"Singing and dancing isn't how you get points." Aqua said as he put his face in his hand. "Matching the pitch and tone is how you get points; you were off the whole time." He said.
"I made that song" Ai yelled at Aqua. "There's no way-"
"The game wasn't programmed to follow your performance exactly." Aqua said.
"The game is wrong!" Ai yelled back.
"I guess I would make a better idol than yo-" Reiner tried to joke, only to have an empty water bottle thrown at him by the angry former idol.
"Well Ruby, we're doomed if she's our manager." Kana giggled, picking on poor Ai.
"I thought you were amazing mama." Ruby said, though she could barely control her laughter too.
"You're laughing at me too!" Ai yelled, feeling betrayed.
"I guess mama lost her skills." Mikasa giggled.
"NO!" Ai yelled out. "I'm going to call the game developers and tell them that they messed up!"
To be fair, everyone thought it was an amazing performance. Ai really hadn't lost her touch, even after a decade. But the game doesn't care about performance, only the tone.
Kana and Ruby had their chance to go, both having the top score of just shy of one hundred. Not only could they sing while matching the tone, they actually watched the onscreen prompts and matched it, making them have the highest performance.
"Come on Aqua-San, you go." Kana held the microphone to him.
"I'm ok." He said. "I really am not the best singer."
"Come on. I'd love to see you sing." Kana smirked down at him, putting a hand on her hip.
Ai noticed, for a moment, Aqua blushed. She smirked at what that could mean, did Aqua have feelings for Kana as well?
Aqua did decently. He knew how to sing but came nowhere close to the skills that Ai, Ruby, or Kana had.
After a long day of singing and laughing, they all decided it was time to leave. Ai went to the main desk to let them know that their party was leaving, while the rest went outside.
"So, since I beat your mother, does that mean I can stay?" Reiner joked.
"Well-" Ruby mockingly put a finger to her chin, letting Reiner think she was going to say no. "You barely pass, so you can be in my presence for a little while longer." She smiled at him.
"What a relief." Reiner said with a joking attitude.
"But there'll be more tests, so you'll have to beat all of them if you want to continue to work for us." Ruby joked.
"If this was anything, I'd say it'll be easy." He said.
"We'll test you and make sure you make a good soldier for B-Komachi." Ruby joked.
"I'd prefer to be a warrior." Reiner joked, though Aqua noted that it seemed like an inside joke that made sense to him.
A warrior unit lead by Zeke Yeager, that's what Eren said. That only served to help confirm Aqua's fears. Reiner clearly had an intent to harm Eren. Why else would he try to get close to them.
"Oh, I also got you a birthday present." Reiner said.
"Eh?" Ruby asked.
Reiner reached into his bag and pulled out a small gift, it was a cartoon bunny shaped hair piece, for her side ponytail.
"I asked your mother what I should get you, and she recommended this." He said. "Apparently, it was her symbol or something when she was singing."
Ruby took it, and for probably the first time, she blushed. She loved the gift. Her mama was always her inspiration, so to have something that would make her more like her mama was amazing to her.
Aqua felt his phone vibrate, which meant Eren probably texted back.
"Get away now!"
"I think you should leave Reiner." Aqua said.
"Oh, uh, sorry." Reiner said. "I hope I didn't overstep."
Reiner was confused. Aqua had been staring at him all day, like Reiner did something wrong. Did he accidentally do something to offend him? He was warned that some things Germans do can accidently offend Japanese people when he researched Japan.
"Why are you kicking him away?" Ruby asked.
"It's just time to leave." Aqua said.
"Oh, I see what's going on here." Kana smirked.
"What?" Ruby asked.
"Niisan is worried about his oneechan's safety." Kana laughed.
"Seriously, your complex again." Ruby stuck her tongue out in mock disgust.
"It's not a stupid complex." Aqua said, slightly annoyed that Reiner was still there.
"I hope I didn't offend you Aqua." Reiner said, still confused about Aqua's sudden change in personality.
"It's just, we have an early day tomorrow." Aqua said.
He needed to diffuse the situation; he couldn't let Reiner know he suspected something.
"Sure, I'll see you all tomorrow then." Reiner said.
"You don't have to listen to my weirdo of a Niisan." Ruby said.
"It's ok." Reiner said. "Hope you all have a good day." Reiner waved goodbye.
Reiner seemed, sincere. Like he was genuinely hurt by what Aqua said. Aqua vaguely wondered if he was wrong and that Reiner was a decent person. Maybe he wasn't the same Reiner Braun that Eren was worried about.
It was stupid to think, but Reiner seemed genuine. Like he wasn't planning anything against them.
Oh well, if Aqua was wrong he can just apologize to Reiner. If he's right, he couldn't let that risk his family.
"What was with you?" Ruby asked.
"I'll explain later." Aqua said.
"You're not really going to lecture me about a guy, are you?" Ruby asked. "In case you forgot; I'm never dating while I'm an idol."
"It's not that." Aqua explained.
"He's just being protective." Kana said. "I guess I wouldn't know since I don't have a brother, but I think Reiner is safe. He doesn't seem like a bad person."
Hopefully, he wasn't. But there were too many coincidences that basically confirm Reiner is a Titan person. If he wanted to, he could legitimately kill them. And based on what Eren said, it was likely that Reiner would at least use them to get to Eren.
Aqua had to stay on guard.
A Few Hours Ago
"Yea, I can see why the director sent us out here." Miyuki said as he stepped outside of the car.
Eren and Miyuki were tasked with checking out a warehouse in northern Japan, up in the Tohoku Region, which was the second most norther Region in Japan. The warehouse was abandoned but was home to a lot of Yakuza deals that happened in the area.
Eren was unfamiliar with this particular gang since they didn't deal in Tokyo often, so he wondered if they would care who he was.
However, there were reports of an explosion and the sounds of gunfire in the warehouse. This all happened during a thunderstorm, which peaked not only Eren's interest, but Naicho's as well. Now, the agency knew that lightning normally accompanies these "Kaiju's" that they were temporarily naming them. So, they took the threat seriously.
When Eren stepped inside, he knew that it was a Titan attack.
"Definitely the Jaws." Eren said to himself.
"What was that Senpai?" Miyuki asked. "Something happened to your jaw?"
"Just talking to myself." Eren said.
The inside of the warehouse was already severely damaged, with drugs and other contraband littering the floor that were spilled out when the boxes were smashed. The roof in the center had caved in, and there was an area that was charred in the center that clearly showed a Titan transformation.
The most obvious proof of damage was the claw marks on the beams and other structural supports. Likely where the Jaw Titan hopped around and gripped onto in order to use its mobility. Eren was familiar with the marks, instantly recognizing it as the Jaws Titan.
Now his only question was this, did this belong to Falco, or any of the previous inheritors of the Jaws?
All around were police officers either looking for specific evidence or trying to go through the crime scene for something to give them a clue as to what happened. Right now, the police were saying it was either a bomb attack between rival gangs or an explosion from some kind of machine. They didn't have enough evidence to say anything yet.
Right now, Naicho and the Government were keeping the Titan threat strictly classified. So the police had no idea what could have caused this.
"Are you guys with an Agency?" A cop asked, putting away a small notebook in his blue vest.
"Yes, we are." Miyuki asked. "I'm Miyuki, this is-"
"The Akuma no Ko, I'm familiar." He said. "I guess it's a surprise to see you this far north."
"Naicho sent us out, looking for a possible illegal immigrant." Eren said, annoyed that people still brought that up.
"Sure, we have one of your friends over there, but he's a bit incoherent." The cop said.
Eren ignored him and walked over to the one Yakuza man they arrested. Sometimes Eren was treated poorly or insulted by police, still not happy about his criminal past. Japan was very strict on moral decency and rarely gives second chances, especially to a foreigner. Most people still never considered Eren a Japanese citizen since he was a westerner.
"Ignore him." Miyuki said.
Eren already did, he really never cared about how people thought of him.
The Yakuza man was being looked at by a few medical personnel, but he was covered in scratches and bruises from what looked like a fight. He had a blanket over him as he sat down in a chair, a single medical officer looking him over.
"Can we get a moment to speak with him?" Miyuki asked the medical officer.
"Sure, but if he shows any bad symptoms, please come get me." The medical officer said.
"No problem." Miyuki nodded.
Eren walked over to another chair, picked it up, and sat down right in front of the Yakuza guy. He seemed terrified, as if he witnessed something unnatural. Which Eren could guess he did.
"We need to talk about what happened last night." Eren said.
"I already told the cops." The man said. "They can send the Akuma no Ko, but I already told them everything."
"What did you tell them?" Miyuki asked.
"That some guy came in with a bomb and blew us up." He said, as if he practiced it.
Eren could tell the man was shaken, terrified. He knew that if he told the truth, no one would believe him. Eren saw it on his face. How do you try to explain the supernatural to people you know would never believe you? It's something Eren struggled with all the time.
"We know what you saw." Eren said. "I'm assuming a bolt of lightning hit a man, maybe a westerner. And in his place was a large naked man."
The man's eye's widened in surprise. He clearly wasn't expecting Eren to know what he saw.
"Y-yes." He nodded.
"What did it look like exactly?" Eren asked, needing to know just what he was dealing with.
If it was Falco, he could be reasoned with. Falco didn't want to fight and would prefer a life away from it. Plus, he should have survived past the rumbling. Eren may not have seen much past his own death, but he did know that the people who were transformed would revert back to their human state.
The previous Jaws Titan behind him was a threat, no question. That inheritor hated Eren, and Eren had no doubt that he'd do anything to try and kill Eren.
"I-I'm not saying." He said.
"Why not?" Miyuki asked.
"Are you kidding me?" The man asked. "Why would I rat on something like that? Do you think I'm stupid?"
"We can protec-" Miyuki tried to say.
"Protect me?" The man almost laughed. "Against something like that? You're crazy if you think a few pistols will be enough to take that thing down. No, it wasn't real. It was a monster."
The man was becoming almost incoherent. Eren needed that information though, he needed to know what he was dealing with.
"Miyuki, give me a moment alone." Eren said.
"Eren, we can't torture people." Miyuki said.
"I won't, just give me a minute." Eren tried again.
"Ok, I'll be over by the cops I guess." He shrugged. "I should text my wife." He said to himself as he walked away.
Eren turned to the man, who while scared, almost seemed amused.
"Something amusing?" Eren asked.
"Do you think I'm scared of you?" He chuckled.
"You're not?" Eren asked. "I was under the impression every Yakuza knew about me."
"And?" The man asked. "Yes, your abilities are terrifying. You single handedly took down one of the most powerful groups in Japan. Arguably the strongest group. But even you are just a man."
"Is that right?" Eren asked with a bored expression.
"That thing though, it's not human. It might disguise itself as a human, but it's not." He said. "You may be a demon, and a terrifying one. But what that was, that was the devil. And I'd sooner stand before a demon than to challenge the devil."
Normally, he'd be right. Infact a week ago, Eren would be just another man. But Eren needed to show him that he needed to fear the Devil of Paradis more.
"Let me guess, he walked into the center, maybe saying something to you all." Eren said. "Maybe you laughed at him, or didn't think he was a threat because he was one man, while you were all armed. Is that right?" Eren asked.
"W-what's your point?" The man asked.
"I'm assuming, that either he was already bleeding, or he cut himself. Then, after a bolt of lightning struck him, in his place was a large monster. Is that what happened?"
The man looked terrified and confused. He had no idea why Eren knew so much, especially since Eren predicted exactly what happened.
Eren leaned forward a bit, brought his hand up to his mouth, and for a moment, the Yakuza thug felt his heart seize as Eren bit down on the meaty part of his thumb. He bit hard enough to draw blood, very similarly to how that monster did last night.
"There's something you have to understand." Eren said. "The only devil on this whole island, is me."
The cut around his hand sparked. Eren felt the power of the Attack Titan surge through him, making himself approach a transformation. He felt the power course through him, but right before he reached the limit of transforming, he stopped it.
The man screamed, watching a glow envelop Eren, and where his face was, for just the briefest of moments, was a horrifying smile of a skull staring at him. Sharp angular cheeks exposed jagged teeth, long pointed ears, and a glare that promised eternal damnation.
Right above them, a lightning bolt burst in the sky, illuminating the area for only a moment. Since Eren canceled the transformation at the last minute, it didn't hit the ground, leaving him in his normal state, plus a healed hand.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
The man screamed as he jumped out of the chair, falling backward as he did so. Horrified at what he just witnessed. The devil himself was here again, and now the man stood between two devils that would kill him if he complied with either.
"Eren, are you ok?" Miyuki rushed back.
"Yes." Eren said.
Luckily, the flash was quick enough that no one noticed, or would blame it on the lightning bolt if they did see him. So, his secret was safe.
"What did you do to him?" Miyuki asked.
The man was a quivering mess.
"Nothing." Eren said.
Miyuki really didn't want to know what Eren did to make him so terrified.
"Now, talk." Eren said.
"It was big, maybe five meters?" He said, his voice shaking and clearly terrified. "Like some kind of hairless ape with the way it jumped and swung around."
Hairless, Falco wasn't hairless, or more accurately, featherless for him.
"It had a big bony mask, and a large blonde mane, like a lion." He said. "It roared, kami the roar."
"This bone mask, was it more like an animal or a human?" Eren asked.
Miyuki raised his eyebrow at that, what a weird question.
"Human, sort of." He said.
So, it was the Jaws before Falco. Which wasn't good.
Eren crossed his arms to think. Who the hell was it again? It wasn't that black haired woman, that was the Cart Titan. What did that brat who shot Sasha call her, pick or something? He really never interacted at all with those two. He couldn't even remember their names. The coup was such a blur since it happened so fast, and the only time he saw the Jaws was when Falco ate him. Which was at a distance, and he was covered in blood with a destroyed face.
"What did he want with you?" Eren asked.
"He wants us to work for him, said he has something he needs to do." The man said.
"What does he need to do?" Eren asked.
"I don't know, it sounded weird. Something about saving our world, or something like that." He said.
Typical. The Warrior unit always was the heroes of their own stories. Righteous good Eldian's who sought to right the wrongs of their ancestors. Eldian's who were tasked with stopping the evil usurper, Eren Yeager.
"That's all we need." Eren said as he stood up.
"Are you sure?" Miyuki asked. "I mean, shouldn't we ask more about what he's planning?"
"A grunt like him won't know." Eren said.
Eren and Miyuki walked back to the center of the destroyed warehouse, motioning for the medical officer that he can go back in to finish treating the man.
Eren took out his phone and saw that Aqua left him a message about an hour ago. He opened his Line account to see what he said. Did he have anything important?
"Does the name Reiner Braun match the list? He's B-Komachi's physical instructor and matches our birthdays."
Eren's eyes widened.
Reiner... here's here too. And he's close to his family? How the hell did he manage to get close to them? An instructor, did Ai hire him? She wouldn't know the danger he poses, and is likely working with his old unit against him.
Damn it. Eren got careless. He needed to get home to his family now!
"Get away now!"
Eren sent that text as fast as he could before hitting send. He'd need to trust Aqua for the moment.
"I won't lie, ever since seeing that flash of light in China, followed by a Kaiju, I got worried there." He laughed. "I guess thunderstorms are going to be a PTSD trigger for me from now on." He laughed. "Astraphobia!" He snapped his fingers. "That's what I'm going to have... darn it."
"Enough." Eren said. "We need to get back to-"
BANG!
"Officer down!" A cop yelled.
"Get down!" Eren said as he pushed Miyuki to the ground.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Eren took cover behind a few boxes as bullets flew over them.
"What was that!?" Miyuki yelled out.
"An ambush." Eren said. "We're pinned."
Eren looked over and saw Yakuza thugs coming into the warehouse. They had small guns, mostly semi-automatic pistols. Since the Government cracked down on a lot of the illegal weapons smuggling after the gang war ten years ago, semi-automatic pistols.
However, that was more than enough. Japanese police only ever carried revolvers, and only specialized units had better weapons. They would be mostly outgunned.
"Oh man, oh man." Miyuki said.
Another issue was that since Miyuki was new, this'll be his first actual fight since he rescued Kaguya, meaning he would have to probably kill someone now.
"Focus Miyuki." Eren said. "We'll get through this."
"R-right." Miyuki said. "Easy, right?" He laughed, trying but failing to stay positive.
Eren wanted to transform, he really did. It would make quick work of these men. Even now, unless he got shot in the head, he could heal from any wound. But he knew he couldn't transform.
He risked Miyuki seeing him, and if he saw him, it might lead to Ai learning the truth. And if she knew he was a monster...
Eren shook his head, banishing the thought. He didn't want her to know, so he'd avoid using the transformation for now. After all, it was just a few thugs with gun. And he had his healing back, he was basically untouchable.
Both men took out their guns, cocked the pistol, and made sure they were loaded.
Now, I have a feeling a lot of people wanted to shoot me for having that moment were Eren was interrupted from saying Reiner's name. It was a bit of a fake out lol. Eren learns this chapter, so don't worry. Now he knows.
Plus, we now know there's at least one other Shifter, and its Galliard (I'm sure I made that obvious lol).
Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed.