Categories > Anime/Manga > Attack on Titan
An embroidered patch was the key to happiness. That’s all it took.
The young girl stared down at the patch her mother had just given her. It had a sewn image of a soaring bird on the front, half blue and half white. The edging was black and the middle was gray.
“It’s in honor of Hiro,” her mother said softly.
“Will he ever come back, Mommy?” the young girl asked.
“I-I’m afraid not…”
Hiro was the girl’s older brother. He had thick black hair, pale skin, and warm blue eyes. His temper flared up often, but would give anything to protect the girl. He had joined the Survey Corps and died saving the Commander.
His last words to the girl were, “I won’t stop fighting until they’re all dead, Mikasa. I promise. You won’t have to live in fear anymore.”
Then he tousled her hair and left, the shiny buckles and clasps of his uniform straps sparkling in the sun.
“I miss Hiro,” Mikasa muttered as she trudged off to her room.
Her room was decorated with prints of the branches of military; the Trainee Corps, the Garrison, the Military Police, and the Survey Corps. In an expensive silver picture frame stood the Wings of Freedom patch that used to sit over Hiro’s heart. It was still stained with blood. The emblem was resting on her bedside table. She picked it up and hugged it closely, remembering Hiro’s kind face…
A knock was heard on the door.
“Mr. Ackermann? It’s Commander Keith Shardis of the Survey Corps.”
“Daddy, that’s Hiro’s boss!” Mikasa exclaimed. “Do you think he’s a squad leader now? That would be fun!”
“I sure hope so. Hiro deserves it,” her mother added enthusiastically.
“Commander Shardis!” Mr. Ackermann greeted the tall man. “What brings you here?”
“Yeah,” Mikasa came up behind her father. “Did Hiro get a promotion?”
There was immense pain in the Commander’s eyes as he looked down at the small girl.
“N-not exactly…” He muttered.
“Is something the matter?” Mr. Ackermann asked with concern edging his tone.
Keith dug into his pocket and pulled out a bloodied Wings of Freedom emblem.
“Honey,” Mr. Ackermann called to his wife, “take Mikasa to her room.”
“What’s going on?” Mikasa asked. “Was that Hiro’s?”
“Shh,” Her mother hissed. “I’ll explain it later. Just sit tight.”
She sat Mikasa down on her bed and placed a small stuffed bear in her arms.
“Wait here.”
Mikasa got up off her bed dragging the bear by the leg behind her. She opened the door just a crack and hugged the bear tightly. Carefully, she listened to the conversation. Her mother’s, her father’s, and Shardis’ voices could be heard, muffled, beyond the door.
“This… this emblem is your son’s.” Shardis informed gravely.
“Why is it ripped off and… bloody…?” her mother asked.
“Y-yeah… Hiro didn’t…” her father began. “D-did he…?” There was a brief pause before Mikasa could hear her mother begin to sob.
“You can’t be serious!” Her father shouted. “This is some kind of sick joke! It has to be!”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ackermann.” Shardis murmured.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it! Our son is dead!”
Those words hit Mikasa like a bus. Dead? She thought. Hiro is… dead?
“D-do you at least know h-how he d-died?” asked her mother in between sobs.
“He died saving me,” Shardis explained. “I blame myself entirely.”
A loud thump echoed throughout the house.
“What the hell was that for?!” Shardis gasped.
“You let our son die!” her father spat. “He’s dead because you couldn’t save your sorry ass yourself, you damn fool!”
Mikasa shook herself from the memory and put down the picture frame.
“Mikasa,” her mother peeked around the corner. “What do you say I teach you how to make the family secret?”
“You mean the embroidery?” Mikasa squeaked. Her mother nodded, took her hand, and led her into the kitchen where her father was washing dishes.
Her mother ran her through the first few steps, and Mikasa caught on quickly. When she was done, she held up the delicate embroidery and grinned.
“Very nice, Mikasa!” her mother praised.
“Yes, indeed,” her father chuckled.
“Maybe you could teach this technique to your children someday,” her mother mused.
“I don’t get it,” Mikasa said, “how can I have children?”
“Uh… dear you explain this better than me,” her mother giggled.
“Well, I’m not the best with this topic… but you know, that nice Dr. Jaeger is supposed to visit today,” her father dismissed. “Perhaps he could tell you?”
A knock was heard at the door.
“That’s probably him,” Mr. Ackermann muttered as he walked over to the door. “Dr. Jaeger! We were just talk-”
Three silhouetted men stood in the door way.
“I’m sorry sir, you’re going to need to step aside,” the shortest one said as he pulled a bloody knife from her father’s side and shoved him to the ground. “Get ‘em, boys.”
“Mommy?” Mikasa whispered.
Her mother let out a screech and ran forward with a pair of scissors bared.
“Mikasa run!” she ordered.
“Mommy stop it, you’re scaring me!”
“I want you to be scared! Run, dammit!”
“Agh!” the tall man snarled. “I don’t have time to deal with this bullshit!” without blinking an eye, he raised an axe in his hand and brought it down on her mother’s shoulder.
Mikasa’s eyes widened with fear as her mother fell to the ground. Blood painted the wooden flooring red. The tall man with the axe stepped forward with a sneer.
“Now,” he snapped, “if you feel like gettin’ bitchy, this is what ya get!” he slammed a fist hard into Mikasa’s skull and everything went black.
Muffled voices swam into Mikasa’s head. They were deep and rusty. Her hands and feet were tied and she could taste blood in her mouth. Her head throbbed. She tried to move a bit, but it hurt too much to.
She was facing an old wooden wall, and two men were arguing behind her.
“I don’t know, let’s see.” One grunted.
He came over and pushed Mikasa until she was on her back.
“She seems a little young, I wouldn’t go for her myself.” He muttered.
“Well it’s a damn good thing we ain’t sellin’ to you!” the other growled. “It would’ve been nicer to have the mother, but now she’s in pieces!”
“Well it ain’t my fault! She came at me with scissors!” he retorted. “What was I supposed to do?!”
“Gee, I don’t know, knock her out maybe?!”
A knock was heard at the door.
The old wooden door creaked open. Mikasa craned her neck to see who was there. Just a small boy?
“Oy, kid!” the taller man snarled. “What’re you doin’ here?!”
“I-I j-just… I was lost in the f-forest... and it was raining and… I saw this cabin… I th-thought I could get help… in… here…” the boy stammered.
The tall man glanced at the one across the room. He gave a signal and the taller man nodded.
“Well, that must have been scary!” the tall one said. “There are scary wolves out in the forest,” he placed a large hand on the boy’s head, “you don’t want to get eaten up, do-”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the boy rumbled in a menacing voice. “Your pathetic excuse for a life is over…”
The man started to slip in his own pooling blood.
“And I’m the last thing you’ll ever see!” the boy ripped a bloodied knife from the taller man and he fell to the ground.
“Oy, what the-” the shorter man stood up, “you little brat!”
The boy closed the door slowly and the man rushed forward to open it. A shrill howl filled the room as the boy ran in with the knife attached to a broom. The blade had stabbed into the throat of the attacker.
The boy stabbed the shorter man over and over again, shouting “Die! Die! Die!” over and over. Mikasa felt sick to her stomach. The boy had a striking resemblance to Hiro, in more ways than just looks. He was literally murdering people to protect her.
Then, just like that, it was over.
“My name’s Eren,” the boy muttered as he untied Mikasa. “I’m Dr. Jaeger’s son. You’re Mikasa, right?”
“Yeah…” Mikasa said softly. “What happened to the third guy?”
“Huh?”
“There was a third one.”
An even taller man stepped out from the door way glaring at the two children. Eren frantically reached for the knife but he was kicked across the room.
“You little bastard!” he lifted Eren by his throat and squeezed his hands. Eren’s eyes bulged.
“H-help m-me!” he choked out.
“I-I can’t!” Mikasa stammered as she stood up.
“J-just try!”
She picked up the knife and trembled.
“I can’t!” she wailed. “I’m shaking too much!”
“If you want to l-live, y-you have t-to win. The o-only way to w-win is t-to fight!”
Something inside Mikasa clicked. She held the knife firmly in her hands and took a powerful stance. The weak cannot survive. It is the strong that pulls through, she thought to herself.
She let out a battle cry, clenched the knife handle so hard that it snapped, and ran forward with the blade held out in front of her.
Eren and the man fell to the ground. Eren struggled to catch his breath as Mikasa crawled forward and hugged him tightly.
“You saved my life!” she whispered.
“You saved mine too,” Eren muttered, “idiot…”
Mikasa bit back tears as she held Eren close.
“They’re gone…” Mikasa murmured.
“Yeah, we killed them.” Eren retorted.
“N-not them…”
“Who then?”
“My parents…” Mikasa lost it. Tears dripped down from her eyes and off her chin. “They were killed by those monsters…”
“Don’t think about the past now,” Eren tried to reassure her. He pulled her away from his shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.
“You’re okay now. Everything is safe.”
Mikasa gasped.
“You stupid idiot!” the older boy laughed. “You’re nothing but a stupid oriental!”
“Yeah, oriental!” his chum added.
“N-no I’m not…” Mikasa muttered shyly.
“Yeah you are!”
Hiro stormed forward and threw his fists into the boys’ faces. They fell to the ground writhing. He knelt down in front of Mikasa and wiped away her tears.
“We’re moving to the country side; it’s okay now.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. You’re okay now. Everything is safe.”
“You’re just like Hiro…”
“Who’s Hiro?”
“Eren!” a deep, muffled voice sounded from outside.
“That’s dad!” Eren exclaimed.
“Dr. Jaeger?” Mikasa asked.
“Yeah, come on!” Eren grabbed Mikasa by the hand and led her outside.
Mikasa stood staring into the fire as Military Police inspected the cabin. Eren and Dr. Jaeger stood a few feet away.
“You could have been killed!” Dr. Jaeger scolded.
“I had to save her!” Eren argued.
“You’re far too young to be gambling with your life like that! I told you to wait by the foot of the mountain!”
“If I would have they’d be long gone by now! You know that!”
This angry exchange went on for quite a while until Mikasa interrupted.
“Uh, excuse me,” Mikasa cleared her throat. “It’s kinda cold out here… and I’d like to get home. There’s really nowhere else for me to go, so could you take me home?”
Dr. Jaeger sighed. “Mikasa, how would you like it if I adopted you?”
“Huh?” Mikasa breathed.
“You could live with us.”
“You mean that?”
“Yes, I do.”
Eren stepped forward and took his scarf off from around his neck. He wrapped it unceremoniously around her head.
“Here; it’s cold out.” He grabbed her sleeve and trudged away. “Come on, let’s go home.”
Warm tears rolled down Mikasa’s cheeks as she followed Eren and Dr. Jaeger through the woods.
A maroon scarf was the key to happiness. That’s all it took.
The young girl stared down at the patch her mother had just given her. It had a sewn image of a soaring bird on the front, half blue and half white. The edging was black and the middle was gray.
“It’s in honor of Hiro,” her mother said softly.
“Will he ever come back, Mommy?” the young girl asked.
“I-I’m afraid not…”
Hiro was the girl’s older brother. He had thick black hair, pale skin, and warm blue eyes. His temper flared up often, but would give anything to protect the girl. He had joined the Survey Corps and died saving the Commander.
His last words to the girl were, “I won’t stop fighting until they’re all dead, Mikasa. I promise. You won’t have to live in fear anymore.”
Then he tousled her hair and left, the shiny buckles and clasps of his uniform straps sparkling in the sun.
“I miss Hiro,” Mikasa muttered as she trudged off to her room.
Her room was decorated with prints of the branches of military; the Trainee Corps, the Garrison, the Military Police, and the Survey Corps. In an expensive silver picture frame stood the Wings of Freedom patch that used to sit over Hiro’s heart. It was still stained with blood. The emblem was resting on her bedside table. She picked it up and hugged it closely, remembering Hiro’s kind face…
A knock was heard on the door.
“Mr. Ackermann? It’s Commander Keith Shardis of the Survey Corps.”
“Daddy, that’s Hiro’s boss!” Mikasa exclaimed. “Do you think he’s a squad leader now? That would be fun!”
“I sure hope so. Hiro deserves it,” her mother added enthusiastically.
“Commander Shardis!” Mr. Ackermann greeted the tall man. “What brings you here?”
“Yeah,” Mikasa came up behind her father. “Did Hiro get a promotion?”
There was immense pain in the Commander’s eyes as he looked down at the small girl.
“N-not exactly…” He muttered.
“Is something the matter?” Mr. Ackermann asked with concern edging his tone.
Keith dug into his pocket and pulled out a bloodied Wings of Freedom emblem.
“Honey,” Mr. Ackermann called to his wife, “take Mikasa to her room.”
“What’s going on?” Mikasa asked. “Was that Hiro’s?”
“Shh,” Her mother hissed. “I’ll explain it later. Just sit tight.”
She sat Mikasa down on her bed and placed a small stuffed bear in her arms.
“Wait here.”
Mikasa got up off her bed dragging the bear by the leg behind her. She opened the door just a crack and hugged the bear tightly. Carefully, she listened to the conversation. Her mother’s, her father’s, and Shardis’ voices could be heard, muffled, beyond the door.
“This… this emblem is your son’s.” Shardis informed gravely.
“Why is it ripped off and… bloody…?” her mother asked.
“Y-yeah… Hiro didn’t…” her father began. “D-did he…?” There was a brief pause before Mikasa could hear her mother begin to sob.
“You can’t be serious!” Her father shouted. “This is some kind of sick joke! It has to be!”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ackermann.” Shardis murmured.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it! Our son is dead!”
Those words hit Mikasa like a bus. Dead? She thought. Hiro is… dead?
“D-do you at least know h-how he d-died?” asked her mother in between sobs.
“He died saving me,” Shardis explained. “I blame myself entirely.”
A loud thump echoed throughout the house.
“What the hell was that for?!” Shardis gasped.
“You let our son die!” her father spat. “He’s dead because you couldn’t save your sorry ass yourself, you damn fool!”
Mikasa shook herself from the memory and put down the picture frame.
“Mikasa,” her mother peeked around the corner. “What do you say I teach you how to make the family secret?”
“You mean the embroidery?” Mikasa squeaked. Her mother nodded, took her hand, and led her into the kitchen where her father was washing dishes.
Her mother ran her through the first few steps, and Mikasa caught on quickly. When she was done, she held up the delicate embroidery and grinned.
“Very nice, Mikasa!” her mother praised.
“Yes, indeed,” her father chuckled.
“Maybe you could teach this technique to your children someday,” her mother mused.
“I don’t get it,” Mikasa said, “how can I have children?”
“Uh… dear you explain this better than me,” her mother giggled.
“Well, I’m not the best with this topic… but you know, that nice Dr. Jaeger is supposed to visit today,” her father dismissed. “Perhaps he could tell you?”
A knock was heard at the door.
“That’s probably him,” Mr. Ackermann muttered as he walked over to the door. “Dr. Jaeger! We were just talk-”
Three silhouetted men stood in the door way.
“I’m sorry sir, you’re going to need to step aside,” the shortest one said as he pulled a bloody knife from her father’s side and shoved him to the ground. “Get ‘em, boys.”
“Mommy?” Mikasa whispered.
Her mother let out a screech and ran forward with a pair of scissors bared.
“Mikasa run!” she ordered.
“Mommy stop it, you’re scaring me!”
“I want you to be scared! Run, dammit!”
“Agh!” the tall man snarled. “I don’t have time to deal with this bullshit!” without blinking an eye, he raised an axe in his hand and brought it down on her mother’s shoulder.
Mikasa’s eyes widened with fear as her mother fell to the ground. Blood painted the wooden flooring red. The tall man with the axe stepped forward with a sneer.
“Now,” he snapped, “if you feel like gettin’ bitchy, this is what ya get!” he slammed a fist hard into Mikasa’s skull and everything went black.
Muffled voices swam into Mikasa’s head. They were deep and rusty. Her hands and feet were tied and she could taste blood in her mouth. Her head throbbed. She tried to move a bit, but it hurt too much to.
She was facing an old wooden wall, and two men were arguing behind her.
“I don’t know, let’s see.” One grunted.
He came over and pushed Mikasa until she was on her back.
“She seems a little young, I wouldn’t go for her myself.” He muttered.
“Well it’s a damn good thing we ain’t sellin’ to you!” the other growled. “It would’ve been nicer to have the mother, but now she’s in pieces!”
“Well it ain’t my fault! She came at me with scissors!” he retorted. “What was I supposed to do?!”
“Gee, I don’t know, knock her out maybe?!”
A knock was heard at the door.
The old wooden door creaked open. Mikasa craned her neck to see who was there. Just a small boy?
“Oy, kid!” the taller man snarled. “What’re you doin’ here?!”
“I-I j-just… I was lost in the f-forest... and it was raining and… I saw this cabin… I th-thought I could get help… in… here…” the boy stammered.
The tall man glanced at the one across the room. He gave a signal and the taller man nodded.
“Well, that must have been scary!” the tall one said. “There are scary wolves out in the forest,” he placed a large hand on the boy’s head, “you don’t want to get eaten up, do-”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the boy rumbled in a menacing voice. “Your pathetic excuse for a life is over…”
The man started to slip in his own pooling blood.
“And I’m the last thing you’ll ever see!” the boy ripped a bloodied knife from the taller man and he fell to the ground.
“Oy, what the-” the shorter man stood up, “you little brat!”
The boy closed the door slowly and the man rushed forward to open it. A shrill howl filled the room as the boy ran in with the knife attached to a broom. The blade had stabbed into the throat of the attacker.
The boy stabbed the shorter man over and over again, shouting “Die! Die! Die!” over and over. Mikasa felt sick to her stomach. The boy had a striking resemblance to Hiro, in more ways than just looks. He was literally murdering people to protect her.
Then, just like that, it was over.
“My name’s Eren,” the boy muttered as he untied Mikasa. “I’m Dr. Jaeger’s son. You’re Mikasa, right?”
“Yeah…” Mikasa said softly. “What happened to the third guy?”
“Huh?”
“There was a third one.”
An even taller man stepped out from the door way glaring at the two children. Eren frantically reached for the knife but he was kicked across the room.
“You little bastard!” he lifted Eren by his throat and squeezed his hands. Eren’s eyes bulged.
“H-help m-me!” he choked out.
“I-I can’t!” Mikasa stammered as she stood up.
“J-just try!”
She picked up the knife and trembled.
“I can’t!” she wailed. “I’m shaking too much!”
“If you want to l-live, y-you have t-to win. The o-only way to w-win is t-to fight!”
Something inside Mikasa clicked. She held the knife firmly in her hands and took a powerful stance. The weak cannot survive. It is the strong that pulls through, she thought to herself.
She let out a battle cry, clenched the knife handle so hard that it snapped, and ran forward with the blade held out in front of her.
Eren and the man fell to the ground. Eren struggled to catch his breath as Mikasa crawled forward and hugged him tightly.
“You saved my life!” she whispered.
“You saved mine too,” Eren muttered, “idiot…”
Mikasa bit back tears as she held Eren close.
“They’re gone…” Mikasa murmured.
“Yeah, we killed them.” Eren retorted.
“N-not them…”
“Who then?”
“My parents…” Mikasa lost it. Tears dripped down from her eyes and off her chin. “They were killed by those monsters…”
“Don’t think about the past now,” Eren tried to reassure her. He pulled her away from his shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.
“You’re okay now. Everything is safe.”
Mikasa gasped.
“You stupid idiot!” the older boy laughed. “You’re nothing but a stupid oriental!”
“Yeah, oriental!” his chum added.
“N-no I’m not…” Mikasa muttered shyly.
“Yeah you are!”
Hiro stormed forward and threw his fists into the boys’ faces. They fell to the ground writhing. He knelt down in front of Mikasa and wiped away her tears.
“We’re moving to the country side; it’s okay now.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. You’re okay now. Everything is safe.”
“You’re just like Hiro…”
“Who’s Hiro?”
“Eren!” a deep, muffled voice sounded from outside.
“That’s dad!” Eren exclaimed.
“Dr. Jaeger?” Mikasa asked.
“Yeah, come on!” Eren grabbed Mikasa by the hand and led her outside.
Mikasa stood staring into the fire as Military Police inspected the cabin. Eren and Dr. Jaeger stood a few feet away.
“You could have been killed!” Dr. Jaeger scolded.
“I had to save her!” Eren argued.
“You’re far too young to be gambling with your life like that! I told you to wait by the foot of the mountain!”
“If I would have they’d be long gone by now! You know that!”
This angry exchange went on for quite a while until Mikasa interrupted.
“Uh, excuse me,” Mikasa cleared her throat. “It’s kinda cold out here… and I’d like to get home. There’s really nowhere else for me to go, so could you take me home?”
Dr. Jaeger sighed. “Mikasa, how would you like it if I adopted you?”
“Huh?” Mikasa breathed.
“You could live with us.”
“You mean that?”
“Yes, I do.”
Eren stepped forward and took his scarf off from around his neck. He wrapped it unceremoniously around her head.
“Here; it’s cold out.” He grabbed her sleeve and trudged away. “Come on, let’s go home.”
Warm tears rolled down Mikasa’s cheeks as she followed Eren and Dr. Jaeger through the woods.
A maroon scarf was the key to happiness. That’s all it took.
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