Amaranth

Chapter 35: Striped Carnation

Mikasa woke up the next morning with Annie in her arms, and she groaned as she rolled out of bed. "Come back," Annie complained, but Mikasa merely shook her head.

"I gotta run home to shower and change. Meet you at school, k?" Mikasa said while forcing herself to get up.

"If you must," Annie complained.

"Don't be fucking late or I'll kick your ass," Mikasa threatened while pointing an accusatory finger at the blonde.

"Yeah, yeah," Anine grumbled.

"I'm serious!" Mikasa yelled while walking out of Annie's room. On the main floor, she put her shoes on and raced to her house in record time. She threw herself into the shower, knowing that Eren would still be asleep at this hour.

After taking a quick shower, Mikasa walked back to her room where she threw on an outfit for the day before going back to the bathroom to blow dry her hair and tame it. Once she brushed through it she left the bathroom and cooked some quick toast which she subsequently ate before making sure she had all her things for school prepared. When that was done, she went back upstairs to brush her teeth.

She then pounded on Eren's door to make sure he was awake while running back down the stairs to prepare toast for Eren who came down a few moments later. "Let's go!" she yelled at him while he scrambled to get his shoes on.

The two walked out the door together, making their way to the school. Armin joined them halfway there, like always, and Mikasa walked a little ahead of them to give them some privacy.

When they made it to the school, Mikasa walked to her locker and collected her items for first period before going to first period to wait for Annie.... But the blonde never showed up.

At lunch, there was still no sign of the blonde, and Mikasa was starting to get visibly antsy. "Is she on something?" Reiner asked Eren.

"More like is she off something," Ymir corrected.

"I'm right here, you know," Mikasa grumbled.

"What's gotten into you?" Connie asked unsympathetically, "You're acting like you did before Annie.

"Connie!" everyone exclaimed at him.

"Ah, I figured it out," Ymir said with a finger in the air, "the blonde one isn't here." Ymir then pointed to the open space beside Mikasa, and understanding seemed to wash over everyone.

"She said she'd be here, so why isn't she here?" Mikasa raged quietly.

"Why are you so worked up?" Ymir asked nonchalantly, "she probably just fell back asleep."

"Yeah... Yeah... She fell asleep," Mikasa mumbled to herself, but her brain couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. She did the best she could to make sure Annie would show up to school, and if she happened to be sick or something, she would've texted.

The rest of her classes passed smoothly, slowly even, and by the time the end of the day rolled around, Annie still hadn't showed up. When the dismissal bell rang, Mikasa quickly collected her things and raced back to Annie's house. She knocked on the door, but no one answered. She knew Annie loved to sleep in, but after 3pm... really?

She attempted to open the door, and to her surprise, it was unlocked. "Annie?" Mikasa called into the house. No response. Okay. Even if she is asleep, she should answer me, Mikasa thought to herself as the familiar sense of worry washed over her.

"Annie?" Mikasa asked when she made it to the blonde's room. She slowly opened the door, and she felt her heart stop at the empty bed. She's not here.