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The last time Zeke had met with Grisha and his family was over a decade ago. He'd been too bitter and angry at the time to properly engage with them, and hadn't stayed very long. Grisha had kept acting pathetic, and his new wife, Carla, was far too nice for Zeke's liking. He felt uncomfortable being around her, as she was too accepting of him.
And then there was Eren, Zeke's younger half-sister.
Eren, aged ten, had just sat in the corner the entire time, glaring daggers at Zeke. Not that Zeke blamed her. He'd been upset with the developments as well, and wasn't really in the mood to get to know his sibling.
They hadn't exchanged a word, but Eren's expression had said more than enough:
I hate you.
When Zeke had left that day, he assumed he'd never speak to Grisha, Carla or Eren again. Which was fine with him (and presumably with Eren, too).
But Zeke's mother, Dina, had just died. It hadn't come at a surprise to Zeke, as her health had been declining for some time. She personally hadn't wanted to meet with Grisha again, and Zeke understood. Thankfully, Grisha hadn't bothered her about it, and left her alone.
However, Zeke felt that he should at least tell Grisha that his ex-wife had passed away. Extremely reluctantly, he contacted his former father with the news, and was slightly taken aback by how remorseful Grisha's reply seemed. Zeke had always assumed Grisha hated Dina... not that he'd ever asked for details.
Dina had asked for a small, private funeral. Zeke had discussed it with her beforehand, and he was glad he did. Both of them were on the same page about funerals: they were expensive and often unnecessarily long. Dina had mentioned in passing that she wouldn't say no to Grisha being there, but at the time, it had left a bad taste in Zeke's mouth.
And yet, Zeke found himself giving Grisha an invite to the funeral. Otherwise, it would just be himself, Dina's parents and her brother, and the family doctor.
Grisha asked if it would be alright to bring Carla and Eren. Zeke honestly wasn't sure, since Dina had never met them, but he ended up saying yes.
Zeke was, in some ways, looking forward to meeting Eren again. He knew Eren would probably still hate him (Zeke hated himself, so it was fine), but he wanted to see how Eren had changed over the years. Back when they'd first met, Zeke had noted the resemblance between Eren and his mother, so he figured Eren must look even more like her now.
Grisha arrived at the hall early -- which they'd arranged -- so that he could help Zeke with setting things up. Dina's family lived out of town and would themselves be arriving shortly.
Zeke and Grisha didn't really say much. Zeke knew it wasn't the time or place to bring up old grievances, and Grisha kept his head down as he did odd jobs around the venue.
The chairs were arranged in a circle. Dina's coffin, which had been delivered the night before, was placed in the middle.
The first person (other than Grisha) to show up was Dr. Ksaver, Zeke and Dina's doctor, who had been in charge of Dina's care. Zeke had bonded quite closely with Dr. Ksaver in the last couple of years due to the amount of time they'd spent together.
Following Dr. Ksaver, it was Dina's family's turn to arrive. Zeke spoke briefly with Dina's parents, who were already close to tears, but said nothing to her brother, who always seemed extremely distant and foreboding. Zeke was surprised that he'd agreed to come to the funeral.
However, Dina's brother made a rather observant comment.
"There seem to be two more chairs than necessary," he remarked. "Are other guests expected?"
"Er... yeah," Zeke said awkwardly. He realised he probably should have told Dina's family about Carla and Eren. "Grisha's, uh..." He turned to Grisha, hoping that if the latter explained things, Zeke wouldn't be blamed as much.
Grisha coughed. "M-My... wife asked if she could attend," he said. "She wanted to pay her respects."
Dina's brother's eyes narrowed. "You mean the woman you left her for?"
Zeke froze. Was that the story?
"N-No!" Grisha exclaimed. "I didn't know Carla at the time! That's... That's not why Dina and I..." He trailed off in embarrassment.
"He does have a point, though," Dr. Ksaver commented. "Would Dina have agreed to this?" he asked, addressing Zeke.
"I... don't know," Zeke replied flatly. "She wasn't keen on meeting Carla or Eren, but I didn't get the impression that she resented them."
"Hmmm..." Dr. Ksaver put his hand on his chin. "It's a tricky one. Well, I suppose we can only see how it goes. If we need to, we can ask them to leave."
"Sure, yeah," Zeke nodded.
The others also agreed that that was a fair assessment.
Zeke's attention was then focused on Dina's brother, who was hatefully glaring at Grisha from across the room. Zeke couldn't help but be reminded of Eren... Except Dina's brother was an intimidating, fully-grown man.
Deep down, Zeke hoped that Dina's brother would snap and yell at Grisha for abandoning his sister. He didn't have it in him himself (he knew that arguing with Grisha about anything was pointless), but Dina's brother looked like he did.
His delusions were interrupted by the front door opening.
"Sorry!" Carla apologised breathlessly. She was holding a large bouquet of flowers. "None of the places I looked at had anything good enough." She walked over to Zeke and handed the bouquet to him. "I have no idea what kinds of flowers your mother liked, so I just got an assortment. I hope that's okay."
Zeke hadn't been expecting such a kind gesture. "No, that's fine," he replied. "T-Thanks."
Carla smiled sadly at him. "I should be thanking you," she said. "I know I'm an outsider here, and so is Eren, but I really did want to do something for today."
Carla then turned around and introduced herself to Dina's family. Dina's brother's expression lifted slightly the more Carla talked.
Dr. Ksaver took the flowers from Zeke and went to find a vase to put them in.
It was only then that Zeke realised Carla had mentioned Eren. He looked around to try and find her, wondering if maybe Eren was still waiting outside for a cue to be invited in. However, Zeke finally spotted someone across the hall, gazing out the window.
The first thing Zeke noticed was that Eren was now taller than him. The second thing Zeke noticed was that Eren's hair was long. The third thing was that Eren was wearing what appeared to be a... suit.
Zeke decided to approach.
"Hey, Eren," he called out as he strolled over to the window.
"...Oh. Hey."
Eren slowly turned around. Zeke was startled by how piercing Eren's eyes were even when they weren't shooting mind bullets at someone. The resemblance to Carla was definitely still present, but it wasn't as strong as Zeke had envisioned. There was something else about Eren that was different, too, but Zeke couldn't quite place it.
"It's a nice view," Zeke said. He could tell that Eren had been admiring the landscape: green hills which overlooked a calm, medium-sized lake. "Mum liked this sort of thing."
Eren said nothing. Zeke wondered if it was too weird to bring up somebody's stepmother that they'd never met.
While Zeke mulled over what he could talk about, Carla waltzed over to them.
"Eren!" she huffed. "You should introduce yourself."
"...Nah," Eren mumbled. "I'm good."
"At least say hello," Carla sighed. "They're lovely people. You don't need to say much since this is a funeral, but I'm sure they'll appreciate you speaking to them."
"Can I do it afterwards?" Eren asked, grimacing. "Otherwise we'll just be dragging things out."
"Alright," Carla said. "But we're not leaving until you say hi."
Eren frowned. "Fine."
Carla, satisfied, smiled at both Zeke and Eren. The three of them then went to join the others as they took their seats.
Zeke had purposefully made the funeral short. Dina hadn't wanted a long one, and neither did Zeke. He said a few words about his mother before Dina's parents spoke in turn. They were then followed by Dina's brother (who hardly said anything) and then Dr. Ksaver, who apologised for not being able to take care of Dina properly (Zeke had never once blamed Dr. Ksaver for anything).
Then it was Grisha's turn to speak. Zeke zoned out, not wanting to listen to whatever bullshit he spouted. He didn't care if it was genuine or not, since Grisha had abandoned both Dina and him long ago.
And, clearly, it was bullshit, as Grisha was in the middle of his speech when Dina's brother stood up, promptly stomped over to Grisha, grabbed Grisha by the collar of his shirt and proceeded to punch Grisha square in the face and then kick him in the stomach before throwing him on the floor.
"Don't you ever speak of my sister again," he seethed as Grisha writhed in pain. "You have no right to remember her fondly when you left her to die like the coward you are. How dare you act like you're sympathetic after all you put her thought?!"
Chaos then erupted. Dina's parents were immediately trying to calm their son down, while Carla put herself between Grisha and Dina's brother as she yelled at the latter. Dr. Ksaver attempted in vain to mediate things.
And Zeke and Eren just sat there.
Zeke glanced over at Eren, who looked visibly uncomfortable.
"...D'you wanna bail?" Zeke asked quietly. "I think they'll be at it for a while."
Eren nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."
The two of them snuck out of the hall. Zeke led Eren to a somewhat isolated garden area where they wouldn't be found unless someone properly went looking for them.
"...Sorry," Eren mumbled. "I know my mum and I shouldn't be here. But she insisted on coming no matter I told her."
"Nah, don't worry about it," Zeke said. "It's not your fault."
"Sure, but..." Eren glanced at the ground. "If you'd shown up at my mum's funeral I would've killed you."
Zeke couldn't help but laugh darkly. "You're right," he said. "So you're saying I should kill you?"
Eren looked up at him before breaking eye contact again. "Maybe not right now. It'd be rude."
"Fair enough."
They stood in silence for some time. Zeke watched Eren explore the garden while wishing he'd remembered to bring a cigarette with him (he'd forgotten to put any in his suit pocket, much to his annoyance).
For some reason, Zeke suddenly realised what had been different about Eren compared to the last time they'd met:
Eren's voice was deep. Sure, the last time, Eren had only been ten and hadn't said anything at all, but her voice was deeper than what Zeke had been expecting. Watching Eren for a longer period of time also made him notice that Eren didn't seem to have breasts. Or, if they were there, they weren't... obvious.
Zeke was perplexed. From what he knew, breast size ran in the family, so Eren should have had a decently sized chest like her mother. Then again, she could've inherited Grisha's genetics, and Zeke didn't know the details about those.
"What?" Eren demanded, realising that Zeke was staring at her.
"N-Nothing!" Zeke replied, tearing his eyes away from his half-sister's chest. "Just, uh... You've changed since I last saw you."
Eren frowned.
"Not in a bad way," Zeke added hastily. "But, like, I was surprised by how deep your voice is."
"...Yeah," Eren shrugged. "Testosterone does that."
Zeke paused, confused.
Wait... Don't you take testosterone for... hormone stuff? Or does she mean puberty? But I thought testosterone was the male one...
"Uh... I'm not sure I follow," Zeke admitted sheepishly, scratching his cheek.
"God dammit." Eren sighed deeply. She glared at Zeke again, but maintained eye contact that time. "What do you see me as?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Zeke asked back.
"As in... our relationship, I guess," Eren said. "What am I to you?"
Is that a trick question? Zeke wondered.
"Er," Zeke coughed, "You're... my half-sister. Or am I supposed to reply with something else?"
Eren groaned. "Great. So Dad didn't fucking tell you."
"...Tell me what?" Zeke raised an eyebrow. "I doubt you're my full sister. Unless you mean you're adopted or something."
Eren's glare intensified. "No," she said. "I mean that I'm not your sister at all."
"But what--"
"I'm your brother."
Zeke promptly shut up.
Had he gotten it wrong? No, he'd definitely been told way back that Eren was his half-sister. And he was pretty sure Carla had introduced Eren as their daughter.
Either way, Zeke felt bad. Really bad.
"Uh, sorry," Zeke apologised. "I... was under the impression that you were my half-sister. That's what Grisha and Carla both said when I first met you, so I'd always assumed it was the truth. And, likewise, I assumed you were still my half-sister."
"I was never your sister," Eren snarled. "Not that my parents knew that. But I asked my dad to tell you, and I guess he forgot."
"Clearly," Zeke said. "So--"
Eren sighed again. "Just so you don't get shit wrong again: I'm trans. I was never a girl, even though people treated me like I was. When we last met, my parents hadn't gotten the memo, even though I'd told them thousands of fucking times by then. And, it seems, you never got the memo, either." He paused for a moment. "So even though you've spent the last ten years thinking of me as a girl, I'm not. I'm a guy."
Zeke resented the fact that his initial thought was simply:
Well, that explains the lack of boobs, I guess.
"Ah, I see," Zeke replied. "Got it. So you're Eren, my half-brother, yeah?"
Eren's eyes widened slightly before he turned his head to the side. "Y-Yeah."
"Awesome," Zeke said as he gave Eren a thumbs-up. "And... sorry," he added. "I really had no clue. I wasn't trying to be a dick about it."
"I know," Eren said. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at my dad."
Zeke chuckled. "I think everyone's mad at your dad at the moment."
A faint smile appeared on Eren's face. "You're right about that," he snorted.
They both decided they should probably head back to the hall and see how much things had escalated. Surprisingly, not too much else had happened, except that Grisha wasn't in the room when they returned (Dina's brother informed them that he had 'taken himself out', which most likely sounded more ominous than intended).
Eren reluctantly spoke with Dina's family and apologised for being there in the first place. He introduced himself as Grisha and Dina's son, which caused Zeke to feel even more guilty for fucking things up earlier.
"Also," Eren said, "There's just one thing I'd like to mention. Uh..." He addressed Dina's brother.
"What? That you hate me because I hurt your father?" Dina's brother asked, unamused.
"No," Eren replied. "I'm mad that you only kicked him in the stomach," he explained. "You should've gone straight for the dick. That would've hurt more."
"That... was where I was aiming," Dina's brother admitted, "But I misjudged how much I'd held him up, so unfortunately I only managed to get his stomach."
Eren grinned. "That makes me feel better," he said. "'Cuz he definitely deserves a kick in the nuts."
"Maybe you could give him one on my behalf," Dina's brother suggested.
He was immediately reprimanded by his parents, who scolded him for condoning violence. They were too distraught to pick up on the very obvious (at least in Zeke's opinion) sarcasm.
But that didn't explain why Dr. Ksaver chimed in to give a very detailed description of why exactly you should not kick someone in the testicles ("Unless they actually enjoy the pain, but that's neither here nor there").
Following some more small talk, Zeke and Dr. Ksaver both agreed it was time to end the service. Dina's coffin would be taken care of by them (she'd requested to be cremated), so the others didn't need to stay. There also wasn't much to be packed up, either.
Before the others left, Eren pulled Zeke aside.
"I only suggested kicking Dad in the dick because I thought it would be amusing," he whispered. "I don't have one so I don't know what it's like getting kicked there."
"It really hurts," Zeke shuddered. "But Eren..."
"Yeah?"
Zeke smirked. "You say you don't have a dick, but yours is still definitely bigger than Grisha's."
Eren stared at him for a few moments before he burst out laughing.
"Eren!" Carla called from the doorway. "We need to get going!"
Eren grinned at Zeke. "See ya!"
"Yeah," Zeke nodded. "Take care, Eren."
"You too!"
Zeke smiled as he watched Eren join his parents.
"Hey, Dad," Eren said loudly, "Zeke says I have a bigger dick than you."
Zeke broke into a cold sweat as he felt Carla stare at him in disapproval from across the room.
"That doesn't mean much," Carla remarked, making sure Zeke could hear her. "But you shouldn't be talking about penises with your brother, okay?"
Eren said something along the lines of 'But we're both adults!' as Carla shoved him out of the hall (Zeke breathed a sigh of relief once he realised Carla wasn't going to come after him). Grisha shamefully followed them.
Once everyone but Dr. Ksaver had left, Zeke collapsed into one of the chairs. He now had the long and stressful process ahead of him of what exactly to do with his mother and her belongings. He'd kept putting things off, saying he'd tackle them after Dina's funeral, and... it was now after Dina's funeral.
At least he had Dr. Ksaver to keep him company, if nothing else. And, admittedly, he was relieved to not have to worry about Dina anymore.
But Zeke would never, ever admit that to anyone.