Amaranth

Chapter 4: Palm Leaves

The next morning, Mikasa waddled down the stairs after preparing for the day. She saw that Carla had already prepared something for her, likely from the plan Grisha and the nurse devised.

After a while, she had eaten everything and got her things together for school. She had to get her soccer things because even though they usually wouldn't practice on Fridays, they had a game tomorrow and needed the extra practice.

She and Eren walked together in relative silence, even when Armin joined them. It seemed that none of them knew what to talk about now. Mikasa didn't mind though; it just meant she had more time to think.

Mikasa walked to her locker and collected her stuff silently before walking to class.

Of course, nothing's ever as easy as it sounds, and as she was approaching the class, Hitch stopped her. "Morning, killer," she greeted with a smirk, "I need the answers to the homework."

Mikasa groaned as she rummaged through her bag and pulled out the spanish homework, handing it to Hitch who smirked before flipping her hair and walking off. Mikasa found herself imagining the sound that would be created if Mikasa thrusted her hand into Hitch's face. Surely it would be one of the most satisfying sounds in the world.

In class, Annie gave her a slightly curious look before returning her gaze to the front of the board. Mikasa tilted her head in curiosity, but Annie didn't seem to notice, or care about, her confusion.

With that, class started. Their teacher was rambling about grammar which was oddly

something that Mikasa excelled at. It was the one thing her mother taught her from home. Everything else she had to study extra to understand. Still, she managed to get in the AP and honors classes.

Halfway through the class, she felt a tap on her hand as Annie slid her a folded piece of paper. Mikasa looked at her curiously before opening the note. It simply read, "Sick?"

Mikasa glanced at Annie, shrugged, and handed the note back with no new words. Annie shrugged, but she didn't bother Mikasa any further. It seemed that Annie was surprisingly understanding of Mikasa's want to be alone, or at least not get Annie involved in her shit.

After the bell rang, Mikasa stood up and darted out of the class. She wasn't excited for Spanish class and seeing Hitch, but she went with it. Not like she had much choice, right?

When she sat down, Hitch slyly slid Mikasa her paperback, and Mikasa nodded as she began working on her work, allowing a small opening for Hitch to copy off her. Thankfully, Hitch seemed to learn how to shut up, and Mikasa didn't have to listen to her annoying voice at all during class.

Eventually, all her morning classes ended, and it was lunchtime. She decided to go to the soccer field, as usual today, since she wasn't hungry, still stuffed from this morning and previous meals.

On the field, Mikasa did her usual drills before she decided to just run the track. She hadn't done much cardio work this month because of her parent's death anniversary. It seemed to, every year without fail, always throw her off her usually well-constructed schedule.

When she finally went back inside and finished up all her classes, she managed to not really interact with many people. In gym, they had a rematch of the previous day where they played boys against girls. Again, the girls won, and again, all the guys complained while the girls gloated. Rather than gloating, Mikasa collected her things and calmly changed into her soccer clothes before walking to the field.

Once everyone was on the field, she led everyone in their stretches as well as the run before Coach Smith took over and had them do drills to prepare for the game tomorrow.