Chapter 23: Akane's New Path

Eren listened as Akane poured her heart out to her mother and the police officer. She was screaming and crying from the admission at trying to end her own life and it was easy to hear from right outside the office.

Ai rushed over when she heard, as well as Kana, Ruby, Aqua, and of course Reiner and Armin were there as well. Everyone was quiet as they heard the poor girl cry from her near suicide, each displaying a range of emotions.

Eren was vaguely aware that Kana and Akane had a rivalry with each other, but he could tell it wasn't based on hatred. Sure, neither girl liked each other, but Eren could tell that Kana would never wish for Akane to get pushed so far.

Ai looked sad and Eren could tell she felt a sort of similarity to Akane's situation. After all, when her career was ruined, Ai retreated into herself and refused to even care about her own health.

"What the hell is the point of doing these dumb entertainment things if this is the result?" Eren asked angrily.

"It's just difficult sometimes-" Ai tried to say.

"Difficult?" Eren asked. "So some people said bad things about her on the internet. That's no damned excuse to kill yourself." Eren said angrily.

"It's different for her Eren." Ai said. "She's not like you."

"Clearly." Eren crossed his arms. "To waste her life over something so stupid."

"This is a different world Eren." Armin said. "They never had to experience what we did. Especially since they're kids by this world's standards."

"Still no justification." Eren said.

Akane walked out of the room with her okaasan, wrapped in a blanket for warmth that also helped to dry her. Akane's okaasan walked up to Armin and bowed respectfully to him.

"Thank you so much for saving my daughter." She said.

"Oh, uh... of course." Armin nodded sheepishly, not used to getting gratitude like this. "She's my friend, so I had to."

"Can you please watch her a moment, I need to go sign her out." She asked.

"Don't worry, we will." Ai said.

As Akane's okaasan walked away to go sign her daughter out, Akane sat on the bench in the hall near Ai. Akane knew a little bit about Ai, though she was very young during Ai's controversy so didn't know much.

"Believe me, I know better than most how you feel." Ai said as she wrapped her arm around her.

"I know." Akane nodded.

"It's hard, when all your fans turn on you, or the number of people who hate you increase. Believe me, I experienced that all." She said.

"I didn't even realize what was going on." Akane said sadly. "I just... I tried so hard to be a good actress... but no one liked me. I just don't understand..."

"You think maybe you're not pretty enough, right?" Ai asked.

"Yes." Akane nodded.

"I felt the same way." Ai said.

"You did?" Akane looked at Ai in surprise.

"Is that so surprising?" Ai giggled.

"Yes!" Akane said loudly. "I mean... back then and even now, you look amazing."

"Well, I appreciate that." Ai blushed. "But trust me, it's hard to appreciate how beautiful you are when you look in a mirror. The only one who thinks you're not pretty is you Akane."

Akane looked down sadly and brought the blanket closer around herself. It was hard to think that she was pretty after everything that happened with social media.

"To be honest, I'm a little jealous." Ai giggled. "Your hair is so pretty, much prettier than mine."

"I don't think so." Akane said.

"Beauty can be subjective, and there is no harder critic than yourself. Trust me, you're completely amazing." Ai smiled.

"And maybe don't try to kill yourself next time." Eren said.

"Darin-" Ai chastised.

"So a bunch of people you never met were mean to you, who the hell cares?" Eren asked.

"I just feel like I've let so many people down." Akane said sadly.

"What, some rabid fans who don't give a damn about you?" Eren asked. "Seriously, who cares?"

"Eren, you're not a teenage girl." Ai tried to defend.

"I've seen a lot of teenage girls die." Eren countered back. "You know I'm from another world Akane. You know that we had to fight giant man-eating monsters. When wall Maria fell and my hometown was destroyed, we pushed on. Even when the fields became barren and we couldn't sustain enough food, we pushed on."

"But-" Akane tried to say.

"Food was so scarce, many died on starvation, suicide, and murder. Not counting the roughly two hundred thousand men who went out to fight the Titans on a suicide mission."

"I-"

"And when the Titans breached Wall Rose in the Trost District, the cadets who fought were all fifteen. Many of them took their lives on their own terms, choosing to face the barrel of a musket over the jaws of a Titan."

Akane looked down again.

"And yet you claim to have it so bad that a few mean words would make you get rid of the gift that is your life?" Eren said.

Akane began to cry again.

"Your people are weak." Eren said. "Kids dying for some dumb reason like suicide, over what? Your lovers leave you, you get tired of schoolwork, you lose your job. Who cares?"

"Eren, these people are different." Armin said.

Eren kneeled down in front of Akane as she quietly sobbed. Everything Eren was saying rang true to her. She felt stupid for trying to kill herself. It seemed so easy back then, but looking at it now, seeing how her okaasan felt about her nearly killing herself, how would she feel if Akane succeeded?

"But I'm not special to them. They hate me, no matter how hard I try." She sobbed.

"You are special Akane." Eren said, putting his hand on her head.

"But you don't know anything about me." She said.

"All life is special Akane." Eren said in a low and calm tone. "You were born and given life. Nothing is more precious in this world than the life we're given. Which is why I hate to see someone try and get rid of that gift over something as stupid as a bunch of people they never met."

Akane started to cry again, Eren's words really affected her. She felt so stupid for trying to take her own life after listening to Eren's opinion and experience.

"It's ok." Ai said.

"Akane!" A familiar blonde blur ran right by Eren and hugged Akan, practically knocking her out of Ai's arms.

"M-mem-Cho." Akane said in surprise.

"Akane!" Yuki ran over as well, followed by Nobuyuki and Kengo.

"We're so glad you're ok!" Mem-Cho yelled as she cried into Akane's shoulder.

"You worried us." Yuki said.

"Yea, we couldn't bare to think of anything happening to you." Kengo said.

"But... I'm not all that popular." Akane said sadly.

"Who cares!" Yuki said loudly. "You're our friend and we would never want anything bad to happen to you!"

"Imagine how they'd feel if you did die." Eren said to Akane.

"Darin!" Ai chastised. "Not appropriate to say right now."

Eren scoffed and walked away, leaving the friends to embrace each other as Akane continued to cry. He really didn't mean to come off as rude or insensitive, but this world was just so weak compared to his. Maybe it had to do with this world not having to deal with the horrors of war or Titans, but still.

Eren went down the hall, wanting to go outside and get some fresh air. The hallway wasn't very busy or anything, so they were left relatively alone for their emotional outbursts. It gave Akane some much needed privacy.

As he walked, a woman in a police uniform walked up to him. She was young, maybe twenty or so, but she had a single iPhone ear piece in her ear. She was looking directly at Eren and Eren immediately understood who she was.

"That you Sergei?" Eren asked.

"Da, I'm surprised you noticed." The woman attempted a fake Russian accent.

"You have to stop with these weird ways of talking." Eren said.

"If you quit the government, maybe." "Sergei" said.

"A police woman?" Eren asked.

"She's actually a prostitute from a red light district." The woman imitated Sergei's laugh. "Dressed in a convincing disguise."

"So what do you have?" Eren asked, getting on topic.

"Well, I looked into some of the things you told me about. As well as found out some interesting details." Sergei said. "This Annie Leonhart individual, I met her once before."

"You did?" Eren asked.

"I smuggled her a few times between the mainland and Japan, along with a few members of the local Yakuza in Hokkaido." Sergei explained through his surrogate.

"You did?" Eren asked.

"Trust me, if I knew she was planning against you, I would have told you. But I don't typically ask questions when I smuggle people around. Though I did have concerns with her." Sergei said.

"What concerns?" Eren asked.

"As you know, I don't deal in trafficking, only smuggling. So naturally, I had questions why the Yakuza would try to smuggle a little western girl to and from the mainland. At first, I thought maybe she was being trafficked." Sergei explained.

"I take it she wasn't." Eren said.

"Weirdly enough, the Yakuza seemed to obey her, like she was the one in charge. So, I assumed maybe she was some western mafia bosses daughter and didn't ask about it. Considering I now know she can turn into a monster..."

"No doubt Annie used her powers to force the Yakuza into compliance." Eren said.

"Would explain why they obeyed her." Sergei said. "Child or not, if you can turn into a monster, anyone would listen."

"No kidding." Eren said. "Do you know what she was doing?"

"She was going with the Yakuza every summer, mostly with those weird grappling hook things that they stole from the Shinomiya Conglomerate." Sergei said.

"So, she trained them during that time. It makes sense, and I'm assuming she used the summer to lie to her mother about a vacation or school function or something." Eren said, mostly to himself.

"It makes sense." Sergei said. "I know your options as a government agent would be limited, but I could put a hit on her. I'd feel less bad since she's technically not a kid."

"Bad idea." Eren said. "You'd never be able to kill her before she can transform. For now, we'll need to keep our distance."

"Fair enough." Sergei's surrogate shrugged. "Though they are planning something big soon."

"Any idea what?" Eren asked.

"No idea, they're keeping it very hush hush." Sergei said. "If I had to guess, I'm assuming they're going to try another bog attack, one putting you in a bad position."

"Makes sense. If I still have the founder, they'll be very cautious." Eren said to himself.

"The what?" Sergei asked.

"Nothing." Eren waived off. "For now, I'll need to go more on the offensive. Do you still have contacts with the other Yakuza bosses?" Eren asked.

"Da." The woman imitated. "Why?"

"I want you to call a meeting with all of the Yakuza bosses in the Kanto Region. Every single one, I don't care if the group only has a dozen members. I want every boss there." Eren said.

"You do know they're still terrified of you." Sergei said. "A deal fell through a few weeks ago with the Russian mob because your youngest kids had a field trip in within a few miles of the location and they called it off."

"That fear is exactly why I want to see them." Eren said. "I'm going to leverage them to deal with this Hokkaido group."

"Another Yakuza war?" Sergei asked.

"Look on the bright side, you'll have good weapon sales again." Eren said.

"I told you, I kind of retired, so I don't really do weapons sales anymore." Sergei said. "But I'll help you out regardless. I've been kind of bored in my retirement, so I'll help."

"Thanks Sergei." Eren said.

The woman bowed and left once her role was done.

Eren knew he was playing a dangerous game, but he needed some way to strike at the Titans. The Titans themselves were off limits due to their power, but their proxies were just people. Based on the attack at the school, Eren knew that their members who were ODM trained were rare.

At the very least, he could weaken the proxies that the Marleyans are using in order to weaken them. Especially since Eren could leverage his own powers, the Kanto Yakuza would undoubtedly follow him. It wasn't the first time he used proxies in his career as a Naicho agent, so he was used to it.

He just needed to be careful so he doesn't piss off the Government again.

Next Day

"You know, Social Media would talk if we all kept going out together." Armin laughed as he was surrounded by the girls from LoveNow.

After Akane had some time to rest, the girls decided to go to a Cafe early in the morning so that they could have a chance to get some good deserts. They invited everyone, but only Armin showed up.

"Well, the other guys were busy with a video they were doing so you're the only one that came." Yuki giggled. "Besides, it could only help your reputation."

There was a slight pause in their conversation as they realized that talking about work or reputation might be a little bit insensitive with Akane right now, especially after he recent episode.

"It's ok." Akane said with a small wave. "You can talk about it, I talked with my okaasan and I'm thinking about quitting LoveNow."

"Eh?!" Mem-Cho yelled out. "But-"

"I just think it'll be good to get away from the show. No one knows about what happened so it's best if I just step away and go for other productions so I can maybe rebuild my reputation."

There was a conversation about possibly going to the media about Akane's situation, but it was decided to not bring that up since it could potentially have the opposite affect. Especially since it could put the production team on LoveNow in a bad position and ruin any chance of Akane recovering from the controversies.

"Maybe we could make a narrative in the show, making you out to be better or-" Yuki tried to say.

"I just think I need to step away from it." Akane said. "I need to pursue something different in order to get my career back on track."

Armin looked down for a moment, thinking about Akane's situation. She was a good person and didn't deserve what happened to her. She was a bit shy at times and didn't always react appropriately in social situations, but she was a good person.

Although, what if-

"What is it?" Akane asked Armin.

"Huh?" Armin asked.

"You always look down and narrow your eyes when you come up with something." Akane said.

"He does?" Mem-Cho asked.

"Y-yes." Aken nodded shyly.

"I guess I never realized." Armin chuckled.

Mem-Cho looked back at Akane for a moment and noticed her slight blush when she saw Armins smile. She had trouble looking at Armin and seemed really worried about something.

"Eh?" Mem-Cho said out loud.

"What?" Armin asked, noticing Mem-Cho's expression.

Akane Loves Armin!? Mem-Cho screamed in her head.

Sure, Mem-Cho dated Armin but it was very professional. She liked Armin, but he was much too young for her... well, technically she was younger due to the whole rebirth thing, but still. She can't actually have a relationship with a sixteen-year-old kid.

But Akane!? It was perfect. She was very barely older than him and they had so much in common. While Armin was more outgoing, she could tell he was a shy boy when he was younger. It's, like, perfect. They would make such a perfect match! Especially since Akane already noticed Armin's subtle habits!

"Are you ok?" Armin asked.

"Y-yes, I'm fine." Mem-Cho waived off. "But what were you thinking about?" Mem-Cho asked.

"Well, I think I know how Akane could salvage her reputation." Armin said.

"Really?" Yuki asked. "How?"

"What if she joined B-Komachi?" Armin said out loud.

There was a pause as the group started going over the pros and cons. It was such a drastic change in career field so they didn't know what to think and couldn't think of any reasons to either support or disregard the idea.

"How would that help?" Mem-Cho asked.

"Hoshino Ai is marketing it as a way for washed up entertainers to get a second chance, especially with Kana and Ruby." Armin said. "So, it can be a good way to market yourself."

Akane looked down in thought. She didn't think she was that good of a singer or dancer, even though she did have some training in it. But if she leaves LoveNow without any career options lined up, what little fanbase she has will fall off. Even if the company is allowing her to leave amicably due to her near suicide.

If she phrased it as a career move instead, it would avoid putting her or the LoveNow higher ups in an awkward position.

"B-Komachi has gained a bit of initial popularity after Ruby's interview." Yuki said. "So, I think it'll be smart to try it."

"But... I'm not all that good." Akane said sadly. "If I can't even act... how can I..."

"Don't say that Akane." Armin chastised. "You are talented, so don't think about what happened before or how social media reacted."

"But-"

"You really are amazing Akane." Akane blushed at Armins words. "So don't worry about it."

"Problem is, you'd have three idols who have controversies joining, myself, Ruby, and Kana." Akane tried to argue. "Without some kind of popular talent, we'd quickly lose popularity."

"What about you Mem-Cho?" Armin asked.

"Me!?" She asked.

"You're popular on YouTube, not to mention on LoveNow. I know you said you wanted to be an idol before, so this'll be a good opportunity to help Akane and do what you dreamed." He explained.

"It's a good idea." Yuki said. "With Mem-Cho, B-Komachi will at least be able to leverage with productions and theaters to at least reserve them a slot and it'll help bring Mem-Cho's established fanbase to B-Komachi."

"It'll also make Mem-Cho look good since she'll be helping a small group." Armin continued.

"B-but..." If her age got out, it would only cause issues!

"That's genius Armin." Yuki nodded. "What do you girls say?"

"B-but we'll be near Eren Yeager!" Mem-Cho tried to argue so hopefully she wouldn't be in a position to ruin Akane's chance.

"That is fair." Yuki said. "He is terrifying..."

"Eren's my best friend, trust me he won't hurt anyone." Armin said. "Trust me girls, it'll be fine." Armin said.

When Akane got home, she went to her room and shut the door. She couldn't stop thinking about Armin's idea for her to join B-Komachi. While it was common for entertainers to bounce between singing and acting, it was still a realm that Akane was inexperienced in.

How would she stand out? She generally knew that idols really delved into the whole innocent persona thing, more so that actors or actresses, but Akane was concerned that she didn't have the ability to do it.

She felt herself about to panic again. What if her fans hated her? What if it spiralled out of control again and she fell into that same dark abyss she found herself in recently. Where the whole world hated her and she was too afraid to even leave her own home again. She just dealt with that and still didn't feel confident in herself.

But then she thought about Eren Yeager, the ex-Yakuza and literal real life Issekai protagonist. The way he yelled at her for her decision to take her own life, and how he told her his views on life and how precious it was. How no matter what happened in his life he kept on fighting and kept on moving forward. It was inspiring, even if he was terrifying.

Looking back, compared to the life he lived, maybe it was silly for her to react the way she did. After all, it's stupid to get so worked up over the opinions of strangers online.

At the same time, she couldn't help it. Akane was very smart, she knew that, which also came at the cost of her being socially awkward. She read so many times how girls, especially teenage girls, need approval and attention. If they don't get it, it causes depression.

Akane always thought very logically like that, which is why she always takes notes on how people act so she can better create her identity. It was what she did best. She relied on her intelligence to hopefully make up for what she lacked in charisma.

So, this was just the same thing. She had to take this second chance as an opportunity to remake her image and career. She never had the chance at LoveNow, but maybe she could here. But how to go about it.

She immediately thought about Eren's Wife, Hoshino Ai. She was beautiful, amazing, and despite her maturity still came off as young at heart. She really was just perfect and was one of the best in her day until her fateful controversy.

Akane did what she did best. She got her notebook, got on the computer, and started researching everything she could about Hoshino Ai.

Next Day

"Well, we have four members now, so we can reserve a concert." Ai said happily, taking the signed contracts.

Armin brought the girls over the Ai's studio and presented the plan. Both girls nodded in agreement and soon enough, they had contracts signed and were part of B-Komachi. Armin's reasoning was sound, and Ai agreed it was a good idea.

There was a risk, but so far everything to do with B-Komachi was a risk. Ai only ever intended to use the narrative of giving idols a second chance to help her daughter, but now it was developing into an actual theme.

Aqua took the paperwork and started to transfer them digitally to the laptop so they could have an actual roster for the girls, especially when it came to payment.

"Yatta!" Ruby yelled in excitement. "Thank you so much for joining, we were struggling to find someone!"

"Of course, it is my pleasure!" Akane gave a big smile and gave double peace signs.

Kana, Ai, Armin, and Aqua were somewhat taken aback by that.

Akane was completely different to how she was before. Before, she was quiet, reserved, and a bit awkward. Even Kana recognized it despite not really seeing Akane outside of their usual rivalry. It was like she was a different person.

Ai felt odd with how Akane acted. It was such a fake through well done performance that Ai could admit she respected. It seemed familiar to her, but Ai couldn't really figure out why her act seemed so familiar. Although Ai could see through the fake act, she knew it was good enough to pass their fans expectations.

Aqua though, he felt like he was watching history repeat itself. Despite Ruby taking after Ai a lot, she was still her own unique person in how she acted. Closer to the actual image of an idol and less of a master liar.

Akane though, she managed to really imitate Ai nearly perfectly. So much so that he kept having flashbacks to watching Ai in her glory day. It was odd and Aqua felt a small bit of admiration at the performance, but he really didn't care much since Akane only imitated Ai.

"It's still a risky idea." Kana said with her arms crossed. "Are we sure Akane can keep up?"

"Eh?" Akane asked, giving Kana a sinister smile. "Are you concerned I'll upstage you like you did me when we were kids?"

"Of course not." Kana smirked in a just as sinister manner. "I just don't want you to have to lose to me a second time, but I'll be rooting for you." She said in a sinister yet sarcastic tone.

Oh boy, Ai thought to herself. Rivals. Ai remembered her early days in B-Komachi where her and Meimei would compete all the time. They at first didn't really like each other but that all changed when Meimei got married and slowly started to actually be friendly with Ai until they were basically best friends.

"Moving on." Ai began to get back on topic. "I do actually have one concern I'd like t adress Mem-Cho."

"Eh?" Mem-Cho asked in concern. "W-what is that?"

"Well, when Armin-San told me his plan, I naturally requested your background check from LoveNow to save time." Ai began.

"I-I see..." Mem-Cho said in concern.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me?" Ai asked as she crossed her legs while seated in her chair.

Aqua noticed that for once, Ai actually adopted a more mature and dominant persona, more like a disappointed okaasan than anything else.

"W-well..." Mem-Cho began.

"You don't have to worry about her age." Armin said.

"EH!?" Mem-Cho yelled out and turned towards Armin. "H-how did you know!?" She yelled.

"It's obvious." Armin shrugged.

"It is?" Akane asked. "How old are you?"

"Don't worry Mem-Cho!" Ruby yelled out. "It's ok to be a little older, even as an idol. It might help us a bit since we'd have someone a bit older."

"That's not the-" Mem-Cho tried to say.

"She's twenty five." Ai said, crossing her arms.

"EH!?" Everyone yelled out.

"I'm so sorry!" Mem-Cho bowed all the way to the ground in front of Ai. "Please don't send your husband's Yakuza to kill me!" She yelled.

"Eh?" Ai asked. "Why would I..."

"I promise I'll do my best!" Mem-Cho yelled.

Seriously, were they still so scared of Eren?

"When did I become an Anesan?" Ai asked.

"A what?" Armin asked Akane.

"Older sister, but in this context it means a Yakuza bosses wife who helps mediate for her husband." Akane said.

"My husband doesn't work for the Yakuza anymore, and I'd never endanger anyone." Ai tried to argue.

"Really?" Mem-Cho asked.

"Yes, now please stop." Ai said. "You girls don't have to worry, Eren would never hurt innocent girls."

"He did save that school." Kana said. "So, I guess he is a good person."

"Either way, as much of a concern your age could be, we don't have a choice but to accept. So, we'll keep it a secret. Now that we have four idols, we'll be able to actually reserve a spot for a concert. So, until then, we'll need to get you girls up to standard." Ai stood up with a smile.

"I can't wait!" Ruby said in excitement.

"Let's go to the dance room and start getting ready, that way we'll get you girls trained and practiced for a concert."

As Ai led the girls into the dance room, Armin stayed back as Aqua continued to work on the computer. There was a silence as Aqua continued to type, making sure everything was ready so Ai could focus on helping the girls.

"C-cold..." Ruby said as she got up off of the cold marble floor. "Nani?" She asked, looking around.

Ruby realized she was in an unfamiliar place again. It was a kind of Greek looking room that was dimply lit with some candles around, barely illuminating the area. She was on the ground, dressed only in her pajamas.

"Oh, I'm dreaming again." Ruby said in realization.

That makes sense. Her last memory was going home after practice and laying down in her bed. So, it's probably a dream. Oh well, might as well look around.

The room she was in looked really well made, like it was recent. Not the older and degraded look that you'd expect from ancient Greek ruins. The walls were freshly painted and the feint hint of wet paint was in the air. It must have recently been built.

"You disobeyed me today." A powerful yet familiar voice said.

Ruby turned to look down the hall and saw the same man from before, Fritz. In front of him, standing with her hands folded and looking submissive was that girl, Ymir. She seemed sad and scared, but she was in a better state than before. Her clothes had more of a Greek regal look, though she was still young.

"Why did you not use your powers to crush the eastern tribe?" Fritz asked. "Because of that, I lost many men."

The girl remained quiet.

"Do you have doubts about slaughtering my enemies, do you perhaps harbor feelings for the tribes we conquer?" Ymir remained silent.

Ruby quietly moved closer to listen to the exchange. She could piece together that Fritz wanted Ymir to use her powers to fight in a battle, but for whatever reason, Ymir didn't.

"Tell me my slave, why do you choose to disobey me?" He asks in a soft and almost loving way.

He gently grabs Ymir's chin and lifts her head to look at him, almost in a loving and caring way, before he backhanded her hard, causing Ymir to fall to the ground with a small yelp.

Ruby felt horrified as she saw the abuse the poor girl suffered. She wondered why Ymir would simply take this abuse. She was stronger than him, she could turn into a monster. She could crush him in an instant, especially if she apparently was able to control it. So why did she take this abuse?

For a moment, Ruby and Fritz saw Ymir look up in defiance against Fritz, even as she sat on the ground. But the defiance was quickly gone after Fritz glared back at her.

"Do you perhaps, have hatred towards me?" Fritz asked as he kneeled down to her. "Do you feel anger for what I've done to your village? Or what I have done to others?"

"She should." Ruby said, even though she knew they wouldn't respond to her. "You're a monster."

Fritz lovingly grabbed her chin again before moving to lightly caress her cheek, showing a sick and twisted form of care towards the young girl.

"If not for me, you would be seen as a destructive monster. The people feared you for what you are, fear what you're capable of. You would live your life alone and isolated from an ignorant people who would hate you." He said softly. "But because of what I did, people now look at you as a divine gift from the gods. A miracle who has been sent down to protect them."

Ruby felt sick as she heard him speak, but she could tell that Ymir was clearly affected by it. She looked up at Fritz in shame. Ruby could tell that the shame Ymir was feeling was shame towards herself, for believing that she knew better than this man who clearly was trying to help her.

But Ruby could see it was a lie.

"If you kill me, their love will turn to fear and hatred. And you will find yourself alone in a cruel world." Fritz continued to manipulate. "And I could never have that happen my slave. You are too precious to me. I would never want those events to pass."

Ymir began to cry as Fitz embraced her, showing how much he cared for her. But Ruby could tell it was a lie. She had no doubt that Ymir was precious to Fritz, but only as a tool and a weapon for him to use. Ruby knew Fritz didn't care about her at all.

"Monster." Ruby narrowed her eyes.

She didn't know why she was having these weird dreams. She assumed it was just stress from learning about her papa's past and her mind was making a weird story based on that. But she still didn't know why she was having these weird dams about this abusive and sick man manipulating this poor girl.

Ruby felt the familiar feeling as slowly, the world began to disapear and she felt herself beginning to wake up.

Bet you guys didn't see Akane joining lol. Once again, the butterfly effect in motion. Since Aqua and Armin basically switched places, I doubt Armin would have gone to a reporter. In fact, I have no doubt he'd want to keep it out of the public eye. Plus, with Ai trying to create a second chance for idols narrative, it only makes sense that he would recommend to Akane to join B-Komachi.

Plus, the whole movie arc just really won't be in this story. Without Hikaru, it's irrelevant to the story. I like Akane as a character and I think this is the best way to use her and have her surviving.

Also, you get to see some of Ymir's memories. A lot of people criticized the whole Stockholm syndrome aspect, but I think it worked well. Fritz is a manipulator and all he has to do is find out what Ymir fears. Ymir fears being alone and hated, so he exploits that. He guilts Ymir into thinking that her fighting him would lead to her being hated and alone, and he shows just enough care to trick her into thinking he loves her. It's a classic manipulation technique.

At least, that's my interpretation lol.

Hope you guys enjoyed.