Chapter Text
◇◇◇Jean Kirschtein◇◇◇
He clenched his fingers tightly, slightly bending the stiff paper of the card he was holding at that moment. He hated its content with all his soul, but he felt a little guilty for ruining it like that, especially since the drawing on the other side was beautiful. If he covered the card's writing with correction tape, he could have hung it in his room for inspiration for the many drawings he loved to create.
Eren Jaeger—how he hated him. He was an overly good-looking kid who had always used his appearance to compensate for what Jean considered to be his limited intellectual abilities. But it was true. In his seventeen years, Jean Kirschtein had never met someone simpler or more ordinary than him. It was as if all the forces of the universe had conspired to create the dullest and most tedious being in Jaeger. Of course, that was just his perspective, and as much as it pained him to admit it, it was hard for him to be objective.
Ever since they first met at the age of twelve in middle school, they had hated each other—maybe due to ideological differences, personality clashes, or differing views on life. Or perhaps for the most mundane and yet fascinating reason possible: a girl, Mikasa Ackerman.
The Ackermans had once been the ruling clan of that small town in western Germany, back when everything was lush green pastures and farmlands, before industry arrived and the population exploded, threatening the clan's survival.
Ackerman comes from the German "Acker" (field) and "Man" (man), meaning "man of the field." And that perfectly described them—people of the land who struggled to adapt to the modern world. At their peak, the Ackerman clan had seven branches, one main and six secondary. Of those seven, only two survived to this day: the main branch and the third most important. And only one man remained to carry on the Ackerman name: the young and surly Levi. From the third branch, Mikasa, an orphan, was the sole heir, living with the Jaegers since she was nine years old.
This gave Jean yet another reason to hate Eren. Not only had he been dating the prettiest girl in town for a year, but she was also his adopted sister. Few people knew they were dating, believing Eren to be a golden bachelor and Mikasa too odd to be with such a heartthrob. But the truth, at least from Jean’s perspective, was disgusting.
That much was clear. Now came the truly strange part: if they hated each other so much, why had Jaeger invited him to his party? The reason might seem as simple as Eren wanting to show off in front of Jean, being the rich and popular kid that he was. But Eren had never invited him to any of his parties before. So, why now?
And to top it off, Mikasa would be there—someone Eren wanted to keep as far away from Jean as possible. That seemed like another reason not to invite him. Yes, this whole situation was a mystery.
And who better to solve it than his good friend Marco, known for his great friendliness, whom Jean sometimes used to get information he couldn’t acquire on his own.
He was so lost in his thoughts that by the time he realized it, the school gates were nearly empty that Wednesday afternoon. Marco had probably already left. He lived in a small village about fifteen kilometers from the school and always took the same bus home, one that passed by only once an hour, so he had to be careful not to miss it. By now, he was likely on the bus, killing time with some silly mobile game. So, Jean decided to open the messaging app and send him a message.
JEAN: Jaeger invited you to his party, right? I saw him handing out invites at the school exit today.
Marco's response came quickly since he was looking at his phone at the time.
MARCO: Yeah, he always invites me. I usually serve as background decor...
JEAN: He invited me.
That message could have perfectly defined his personality—simple and direct, just like him. Although Jean couldn’t see it, Marco, on the other end, had jumped a little and covered his mouth with his hand, stifling a small squeal of surprise. Wow. He hadn’t expected that.
In an extraordinary situation like this, Marco did what had to be done: he moved to the back of the bus and recorded a voice message, in the style of a friend helping another friend in distress.
-Why would he invite you? Doesn’t he have something going on with the girl you like or something like that? I mean—he cleared his throat, trying to modulate his voice so he wouldn’t sound like a total gossip—it’s a mystery, isn’t it?
Message sent. Now all that was left was to wait for Jean’s reply.
At that moment, Jean was walking home, and when he heard the notification, he opened it, thankful it was a voice message he could listen to while walking. After listening, he recorded his response.
“That’s exactly what I’m getting at!” he exclaimed. “If Jaeger invited me to one of his parties, it’s probably to humiliate me in front of everyone. But I don’t want to miss it either, you know? They say his parties are legendary...” His voice trailed off. “Anyway, while you’re there, tell me what’s going on. I know I never ask you to, but I bet something wild will go down.” A devious smile spread across his face as he released the mic and sent the message.
A moment later, he pressed the button again and added one last comment, this time in a more concerned tone.
“And Marco, I’m not entirely sure that Mikasa has slept with that suicidal bastard Jaeger... even if he’s made comments that suggest it. Don’t go spreading that around.”
Once again, he released the mic and sent the message.
By the time he had sent the last message, he had arrived home, his sweet home. Jean was the only child of a widow who had decided to leave the city after her husband’s death from a long illness. At that time, she was pregnant with her only child, and in an effort to escape poverty, they had moved to a small, emerging town that allowed them to survive. What had been the downfall of the Ackermans had been an opportunity for a widow and her little son to start over.
Now that little boy, a seventeen-year-old, entered his house and greeted his mother, who was in the kitchen preparing delicious omelets. They often argued, it was true, but he loved her deeply, and she was a cornerstone in his life.
◇◇◇Eren Jaeger◇◇◇
“You get it, right? With this plan, Kirschtein won’t even dare talk to Mikasa anymore.”
“But Eren...”
His friend Armin was trying to slow him down. He understood that Eren was annoyed with Jean flirting with Mikasa, but the idea he had come up with was too twisted, even for someone as reckless as Eren, who had already devised a dark plan to sideline the best player on the basketball team from Marley High, their historical rivals.
“I don’t think Jean deserves this, Eren. He hasn’t really done anything to you... well, besides flirting with Mikasa, but that’s normal. You know he’s been in love with her since we started high school.”
But Eren didn’t seem to be listening. His green eyes were glued to his phone screen, and he had a slight frown, a hint of displeasure on his face.
“What’s up?” Armin asked, a little worried.
“Horse-face Kirschtein told his buddy Marco that I invited him to the party, and now Marco’s asking me why. I’m just gonna say ‘because I felt like it’...” he finished as he began typing the message.
“No!” Armin shouted, just before his friend hit the send button. “If you say that, he’ll suspect what you’ve got planned! Tell him it was my idea because I’m friends with him!”
Eren smiled and listened to his friend. His idea was undoubtedly better than his own. After sending his reply to Marco, he turned to Armin with a mischievous grin.
“You going to make a move on Annie this Saturday?”
Suddenly, Armin’s cheeks turned bright red.
“I-I guess so.”
Eren’s grin grew even wider at his friend’s timid response. He leaned forward, forcing Armin to meet his gaze, as if those green eyes could analyze him perfectly, though Armin wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination. Eren, as if he had found the answer in his friend’s eyes, nailed it, as if he were throwing darts and hit a bullseye.
“You always say that,” he said, pulling away from Armin and dramatically flopping onto the bed. “You say you’re going to make a move on her, but you always back out at the last moment. I was scared with Mika too, but I went for it, and boom, first try! It’s all about attitude.”
The blonde felt his pride wounded and clenched his teeth, thinking that maybe, for once in his life, Eren had said something that made sense. Exceptions exist, right? However, his insecurities soon returned.
“But she’s a year older than me. I’m not even seventeen yet. Why would she like me?”
“Because the ways of life are mysterious,” Eren responded dreamily. “And maybe...”
His words lingered in the air, like fragments of a dream too grand to be put into words.
◇◇◇Mikasa Ackerman◇◇◇
“Come on. Open the door. You know you’ll have
to talk to Mr. Jaeger about the property transfer sooner or later.”
A voice echoed from the depths of that impeccably clean farmhouse.
“Mikasa, I’ve told you no many times.”
The young woman bit her lip in frustration at the situation. She had enough problems already without this garden gnome (and that wasn’t even an exaggeration) standing up to her like this.
“You damn *Gartenzwerg*! Open the door, or I’ll kick it down!”
“What did you call me?!”
There was the sound of someone hurriedly coming down the stairs, and then the door opened. Levi appeared, looking quite different from his usual self, enough to make Mikasa take a couple of steps back.
“Fix yourself up a bit.”
Levi initially looked surprised, but he quickly understood what she meant. His pants and shirt were wrinkled, his hair was messy, and he was barefoot.
“It’s my house, and I’ll dress however I want,” he replied gruffly.
Mikasa knew that was a lie—he always dressed well, even if he wasn’t leaving the house—but she didn’t say anything. Maybe he was sick, or maybe she had woken him up from a nap by practically destroying the doorbell to get a sign of life out of him.
“Come on, Levi, you know this is as much of a pain for me as it is for you, but don’t be like this,” Mikasa pleaded. “How long has it been, a year?”
“A year, yes!” he replied, already quite exasperated. “Jaeger’s been interested for a year, after seven years of saying nothing. If he wanted that land so badly, why didn’t he start asking for it when your parents died?”
“Don’t bring my parents into this...”
“Fine.”
Out of nowhere, the door slammed shut, leaving Mikasa standing there, too drained to try again. The mention of her parents had shattered her. That damn garden gnome Levi knew exactly how to hurt her.
She started walking home. She had come from her dance class, and since she was passing by Levi’s house, she had stopped to deliver the message Mr. Jaeger had asked her to convey.
Despite being in financial ruin, the remaining Ackermans still owned a small fortune and a plot of land, about 100 square meters, both of which belonged to Levi. However, Mikasa’s father’s last will had stated that his daughter should inherit the land, as expressed in a letter he left behind.
After her parents were killed by mysterious assailants who later tried to sell her on the black market, years of calm had followed, until shortly after Mikasa turned sixteen. Then, a family decided to buy the house where Mikasa had been living before her parents died. Between the Jaegers and Mikasa, they had to dismantle it, and that’s when they discovered the infamous letter. And now, that garden gnome Levi refused to hand over the land, even though it was sitting idle. Yes, the whole situation was a mystery.
She decided to stop thinking about it and picked up her pace, eventually reaching the elegant Jaeger home. It wasn’t a mansion, but it was big enough for Eren to throw one of his legendary parties. Mr. Jaeger was almost always away, and Carla trusted her son enough to go stay at her sister’s house, in a relatively distant town, whenever he wanted the house to himself to “hang out with his friends.”
Mikasa entered through the door, climbed the main staircase, and headed to Eren’s room. As usual, she found Armin there.
“How’d it go with Levi today?” Armin asked.
“The same as always,” Mikasa replied simply.
Eren smiled the same way he had smiled at Armin earlier and threw out his suggestion.
“Mika, remember when you said there might be something in the field? What if we go investigate? On Saturday, before the party starts, we could go in the afternoon. Or sneak out afterward!”
Mikasa smiled a little and shook her head.
“After the party, we’re going to be cleaning like crazy so your mom doesn’t find out.”
Eren nodded, looking disappointed, and turned away. Mikasa, in turn, stood up and headed to her room.
Eren was such an idiot. The whole “cleaning so his mom wouldn’t find out” was just an excuse. In a town of nearly five thousand people, it would have been strange if his mother didn’t know that when she left, her son threw parties at the house. She had simply decided to ignore it.
◇◇◇Jean Kirschtein◇◇◇
Marco sent you a message.
Jean stopped what he was doing to grab his phone and see what his friend had sent him. Like the previous one, it was a voice message.
MARCO: “Jean, I know you’re going to be mad at me for this, but I asked Eren why he invited you to the party, and he told me it’s because you’re friends with Armin. Honestly, it makes sense, doesn’t it?”
JEAN: Yeah.
He turned off his phone’s screen and sighed. The fact that Armin had intervened to get Eren to invite him to the party did make sense, but he wasn’t entirely sure how truthful that answer was. The argument was valid, but it hadn’t been used until now.
He decided to open the messaging app again and send a message to Armin to find out if Eren had lied to Marco.
JEAN: Is it true that you stepped in so Eren would invite me to his party?
He hit the send button. On the other end, Armin started sweating as soon as he saw the message pop up in his notification bar.