Chapter Text
“Come on guys, hurry up!” Eren said exasperatedly to his two companions as they made their way into the bookshop. “I want to get this over and done with so we can get back to what really matters.” Armin shook his head at his friend as he removed his coat. “You better not be talking about video games.”
“Or tomorrows party,” Mikasa, Eren’s adoptive sister, added as she made her way to the nearest bookshelves. Eren scoffed at them both as he gave them a look of utter indignation. “Whatever, you guys don’t know what’s good in life, all you think about is school and grades.”
They spread out through the bookshop in search of the necessary reference and supplementary books for their classes. Armin went straight to the Biography section, Mikasa to the Natural Science, and Eren was left to search for whatever he deemed necessary to pass his next assignments.
After buying CliffsNotes on Great Expectations – because, like hell he was going to read that multi-chapter monstrosity – and an MLA Format handbook, Eren decided that perhaps everyone was right and it was about time he should buy a damned Thesaurus. As he headed down the aisle he noticed a strange little book that didn't seem to fit in with the rest.
Much like the infamous cat, curiosity had sunk its sharp, jagged claws into Eren. He grabbed the book from the shelf and stared at the cover. Realizing that it was in fact the back cover, he flipped it over. “Shingeki No Kyojin? What the hell does that even mean?”
The cover featured a smoking, giant, skinless dude looking over some kind of weaponized rampart and a guy strapped to some weird jet pack and wielding some kind of metallic rulers. “What the hell? What is this doing here? This isn't even the fiction section.”
Opening the book and flipping through the first few pages, Eren noticed something strange. Three small children looked like Armin, Mikasa and him. “Huh? Well isn't that strange? I've never seen a cartoon character that looks like me before.” He flipped another page. “Holy crap, that one looks like Mr. Smith, and that one’s just like Mr. Shadis! So Weird…”
He continued reading until something even stranger happened. The three main characters were all named like him and his two friends. “Wha- Okay, no. That’s just a coincidence. I’m sure the author just had a hard time coming up with character names and searched on the internet for the strangest names he could find, that’s all it is.”
… But the more Eren looked through the book the stranger things got. All of his school friends were characters in the book, even some of his teachers were pictured there. Eren ran a hand through his hair in disbelief. “This is not real, you've gotta be shitting me.”
“What isn't real, Eren?” Eren almost jumped a foot in the air, dropping his books from the surprise of Mikasa’s voice coming from only inches away. “What the hell? Mikasa, how many times have I told you not to do that? What are you some kind of ninja?”
“Guys, you’re making too much of a ruckus,” Armin said as he rounded the corner from the next aisle. He helped Eren pick up his books. “Eren, what do you have there?” he asked as he noticed the strange book.
“Oh, it’s this weird book I just found,” he muttered, frowning down at the backwards book. Armin gave him a curious look, “What’s so strange about it?” Eren looked at him with one of the most serious expressions he’d ever made in his life. “I’m the main character, and you guys are also in it.”
Armin and Mikasa silently stared at Eren for a good three minutes. “Good one, Eren. I almost believed you,” Armin said with a smile while Mikasa shook her head at him. He and Mikasa turned to walk to the front of the store to pay for their materials.
Eren cut their path off before they could get very far. “No, seriously, guys. I’m not kidding, look!” He thrust the book under their noses and turned to a page where all three of them appeared and were mentioned by name.
Armin and Mikasa stared at the open book for a while before Armin took the book and flipped through the rest of the pages. “This can’t be. It must be a coincidence,” he said as he shook his head. The farther through the book he flipped the more confused he became.
Mikasa frowned down at the book over Armin’s shoulder. “How is this possible? All our friends and even some of our teachers…” Armin turned back to the title page and looked for the colophon. “The stories, characters and incidents mentioned in this publication are entirely fictional,” he read out loud.
Eren stared incredulous. “That’s complete bullshit. Those characters are totally based on us!” He ran his hand through his hair again, making his already disheveled hair practically stand on end. “Guys, the story was first published in 2009,” Armin said with a waver in his voice. “We were only ten when this was published.”
They stood silently around the book before Eren took it back and ran to the front counter. “Wait, Eren, what are you doing?” Armin and Mikasa hurried after him. “No running!” one of the store attendants called after them. They completely ignored him and continued on their way. When they caught up to Eren he had already paid for his books.
“What are you going to do with that?” Mikasa asked his adoptive brother. Eren took his things from the clerk and turned to them smiling. “I’m going to show this shit to everyone at school tomorrow.”