When the night fell, everyone was gathered at the cafeteria. Although the quarters of boys and girls are different and strictly managed, the training grounds and food don't have that restriction.
After taking the porridge and bread, when Eren sat down on his table, Sasha, with her food plate in her hands, also sat beside him. Soon after, Historia also sat with them, joining the table.
All three started to chat. Eren had to close the distance with Historia, so he wasn't talking to her in his usual cold and aloof tone. Which surprised the bystanders at the side; by now, they had considered him and Mikasa the type of people who don't like to talk.
On the other hand, Armin is also sitting on a table with Reiner, Annie, Mikasa, and Bertholdt. They are also talking about some small things, like how easy or difficult the ODM gear was and the other stuff mostly related to the training.
But Mikasa was only eating her meal quietly without joining in the conversation, her mind still playing the day's events—when she went toward Eren trying to engage in a conversation, Eren didn't even look at her and walked away.
She asked Armin if he had any plan, but he said let the things be as they are. If they choose any side, then one side will definitely be annihilated, and on top of that, they don't even have the status and power like before to do anything about it.
Eren had promised that he won't start the Rumbling until Marley makes the first move, which takes many years from now; till then, they need to become strong and enter the power structure of Paradis so they can have the ability to make decisions when the time comes.
And the biggest reason for his calm is that Eren's eyes don't have the same dullness and calmness like he had before, like he is carrying the sin of the world; before the Rumbling, he had noticed that but wasn't ready to believe that Eren will do that.
"Life is unpredictable and has its own path." After saying this, he went on.
And Mikasa, now looking at the people in front laughing and talking, can't help but feel a little bit annoyed. But the thing that annoyed her the most, even more than the laughter of these people in front was the behavior of Armin; he is stealing glances at Annie from time to time with a light blush.
They are in this situation—Eren isn't talking to them, future is uncertain then ever, anything can happen and Armin is looking at the girls. Controlling her anger, she finished her meal and stood up.
As she stood up, she saw Eren sitting on a different table with two beautiful girls. She knows who those two girls are: Historia and Sasha. After seeing Historia's face, she understood that the blond girl she saw yesterday—the one Eren was looking at—must be Historia.
She does not understand much, but still gets the gist of Eren's plan: he wants to take the Founder's powers with the help of Historia. Her resentment and jealousy somewhat subsided a little; knowing he is only trying to use them, she found an unknown comfort in her heart.
But when she looked at Eren smiling, and Sasha and Historia also laughing, the small comfort that just rose got evaporated in an instant. But to not make her mood worse, and controlling herself to not beat up Sasha and Historia, she quit the room.
On the table, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie didn't miss the small transaction of Mikasa just now.
"It seems your friend Mikasa likes that Eren guy there," Reiner said jokingly.
Armin laughed and tried to dismiss the situation without answering the question. What could he say? That those two liked each other in the previous timeline but made different choices and became enemies, and at the end moment Mikasa changed her mind after remembering her vision memories, but now they have a huge misunderstanding? He just felt tired only by thinking about it.
But then Reiner asked another question that made him lose his composure, which he was trying really hard to maintain.
"So, do you like Annie?" Reiner's voice was joking as before, but Bertholdt's eyes became a little cold seeing this new love rival on the table; before, he also noticed him stealing glances at Annie.
Armin, getting all flustered and stuttering, he said, "I... am... done, see you tomorrow." After that, he left like running.
Everyone on the table had their own agendas, like Reiner and Annie's analysis—can this devil be used in their future plans—while Bertholdt's dissatisfaction lingered.
Eren, on the other table, also had his own plans.
"I was thinking how about we get out tonight? There's an interesting place I know here; the night view there is very beautiful. What you two think?" Eren asked as he looked into their eyes.
Knowing Sasha, he know she is not the one who is interested in the beautiful scenes, so she would refuse. That leaves only Historia, who with her kind heart won't say no to it.
If the person in front is normal and doesn't have any prejudice for you in their heart, from a small good impression to the best of friends, the only thing that is needed is time. The more time you spend with them, the heavier your weight becomes in their hearts.
It's simple between a friend that you know from ten years or a new friend that you made just a month ago: your heart always tilts toward the one who was in your contact the most and spent longer time with you. Well, generally with a kind girl like Historia, this is one of the most effective methods. So firstly, he decided to try this.
"Okay, then when should we meet and where?"
but the voice that came next wasn't a refusal, he didn't guess that Sasha will agree to go too. This will change his plan a little, but what can he do about it? Plans are rigid, but people and situations are dynamic.
"Good." he nodded to Sasha and then looked at Historia. "What about you?"
"But the instructor said it's not allowed to go out after the curfew," she said in her soft but low voice.
"Do you really care about the rules that much?"
"No, it's not like that." She tried to explain something, but she didn't know what she is saying; she mistook Eren's reply as a complaint that she considered rules more than them. In the end, she can't utter the word of refusal, she just nodded. "So, when and how should we meet?" she asked the same question like Sasha before.
This time, Eren told them his plan and the place where they meet. For some reason, Eren felt like Sasha became a little unhappy when he answered Historia's question. Living two lives, if he can't understand why she is making that pufferfish face.
continue—