The red scarf never returned the next day.
Nor the day after.
Each morning, Mikasa quietly wore it around her neck as if it had always belonged there.
Carla noticed.
She said nothing.
Instead, she smiled every time she saw it.
"Eren."
Carla called from the kitchen.
"I’m taking fresh bread to Mrs. Braun."
"I’ll help."
As he grabbed the basket, he paused.
Braun.
Reiner’s family.
In the original timeline, they lived in Shiganshina before the fall of Wall Maria.
This was also one of the few opportunities he had to quietly observe Reiner without raising suspicion.
"Thank you," Carla said, handing him the basket.
"And don’t take too long."
"I won’t."
The Braun home wasn’t far from the market.
A middle-aged woman answered the door with a warm smile.
"Oh, Carla sent you?"
"Yes, ma’am."
"Please thank her for me."
Just then—
"Eren?"
Reiner stepped into the doorway.
He looked slightly surprised.
"I didn’t expect to see you."
Eren smiled.
"I was just delivering bread."
For a few minutes, the two boys talked casually.
Nothing important.
The weather.
Training.
Life inside the district.
Yet something about Reiner felt... lonely.
As if he wanted to say more but couldn’t.
Eren knew why.
Even as a child, Reiner carried a burden no one else could see.
Before leaving, Eren simply said,
"Maybe we can train together sometime."
Reiner blinked.
"...I’d like that."
As Eren walked away, the system chimed softly.
Ding.
Minor Relationship Improved.
Reiner Braun
Trust: 12% → 15%
Eren smiled faintly.
He wasn’t trying to become friends with Reiner.
He was trying to understand him.
If he wanted to change the future...
He needed to understand everyone involved in it.
Later that afternoon, Eren found Mikasa sitting beneath their favorite tree.
She was reading one of Armin’s books.
Or...
At least pretending to.
"You’ve been on the same page for five minutes."
Mikasa looked up.
"...I have?"
"You’ve been staring into space."
She quietly closed the book.
"I was thinking."
"About what?"
"...You."
Eren froze.
"...Me?"
She nodded without embarrassment.
"You’ve been smiling more lately."
"I have?"
"A little."
She reached up and adjusted the red scarf.
"I like this smile better."
Eren laughed softly.
"I’ll try to keep it."
"Good."
She gave a tiny nod.
"I like it when you’re happy."
For a moment...
Neither of them spoke.
The afternoon breeze gently moved the leaves above them.
It was peaceful.
Comfortable.
Eren realized something.
In his previous life...
He had rarely appreciated moments like these.
He had always been rushing toward the next battle.
The next enemy.
The next goal.
Now...
He wanted to protect these quiet afternoons more than anything else.
That evening, Armin came running toward them.
"I found it!"
"What?"
"The hill outside the southern fields!"
"What about it?"
"The stars!"
Armin’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
"My grandfather says you can see every constellation from there!"
Eren smiled.
"Then let’s go."
The three of them climbed the grassy hill just before sunset.
When darkness finally covered the sky...
Thousands of stars appeared overhead.
Armin excitedly pointed at every constellation he recognized.
"That’s the Hunter!"
"And over there is the Northern Crown!"
Mikasa quietly listened.
Eren simply looked upward.
Beyond those stars...
Lay a world the people inside the walls had forgotten.
A world filled with oceans.
Cities.
Countries.
Freedom.
One day...
He wanted to show them all of it.
As Armin continued talking, Mikasa slowly shifted closer.
Not enough to touch him.
Just enough that their shoulders almost met.
"Eren."
"Hm?"
"...Do you think the world is really that big?"
He looked at the endless sky.
"...Bigger than we can imagine."
She followed his gaze.
"Then..."
"...when all of this is over..."
She hesitated.
"I want to see it with you."
Eren turned toward her.
The moonlight reflected in her gray eyes.
For the first time since his rebirth...
He answered without thinking.
"You will."
"I’ll take you there."
"I promise."
Mikasa smiled.
This time...
It wasn’t small.
It wasn’t hesitant.
It was bright enough that Eren found himself staring.
Armin noticed the silence between them.
He looked from Eren...
To Mikasa...
Then quietly smiled to himself.
Maybe...
Just maybe...
The future wouldn’t be as lonely as he once feared.
On the way home, the three walked side by side beneath the moonlight.
Mikasa instinctively reached for Eren’s sleeve again.
This time...
Instead of pretending not to notice...
Eren gently held her hand.
It wasn’t dramatic.
It wasn’t passionate.
It simply felt... right.
Mikasa looked at their joined hands.
Her cheeks turned pink.
But she didn’t let go.
Neither did Eren.
Behind them, Armin coughed loudly.
"...Should I walk ahead?"
Eren immediately released her hand.
"W-We were just..."
"I know," Armin said with an exaggerated sigh.
"You were just walking."
Mikasa lowered her head, trying to hide her embarrassment.
Armin laughed.
Eren laughed too.
Even Mikasa couldn’t stop a quiet giggle.
Their laughter echoed across the empty road.
For one beautiful night...
The world belonged only to the three of them.
None of them realized...
That in just a few months...
Everything would change.