Another Story: After Autumn (Attack on Titan AU)

A Limitation to Selfishness

When Erwin returned to his apartment, he was greeted with a round of loud whoops and yells from the living room—mainly from Hange.

"Prince charming is home!"

She sang with much enthusiasm for someone who crashed into someone else's apartment with no permission.

Sitting on the grey couch near her was the one and only Levi, who had a casual arm draped over the furniture and his other hand holding a cup by its rim. He sent the enthused brunette a look of displeasure. "Pipe down, Hange. You'll annoy the other units."

"I thought the walls are soundproof?"

"Then, you're annoying me."

"Harsh!"

Erwin placed his shoes on the shoe rack by the entrance and shrugged his coat off, hanging it on the coat rack stand. He strode over towards the coffee table in front of the couch to place his briefcase, before he slumped on the one-seater recliner across Levi.

His apartment was far too wide for one man to live in. A large glass window panned beyond the living room, giving them a panoramic view of the city and the river far beyond. It had a color scheme of neutral, something Hange had commented as 'boring', hence it 'suited him', and a doorway to the right led to a small kitchen. There were two bedrooms, one of them Erwin had used as a study room, and two bathrooms, one located beside the kitchens area, one located inside Erwin's bedroom.

His sour demeanor caused Levi and Hange to swap looks, the former raising a silent brow and the latter shrugging her shoulders.

"This is why I told you we shouldn't have crashed into his apartment for no reason," Levi pointed out before he brought his cup to his lips, taking a sip of the drink, which happened to be his favorite brew of tea.

"How did you enter?" Erwin finally asked, too exhausted to open his eyes. "You don't have the key to my—"

"It was me," came a voice that sounded like it was from the kitchen.

They all turned to see a blond man with gentle features step out, carrying a silver tray where a pile of bread, a glass pitcher and two empty glasses stood. He gave Erwin a semi-apologetic look. "Sorry, Hange said she wanted to throw a celebration."

Erwin sat straighter as he watched the blond—Mike Zacharias, place the tray on the table and pour water on the glasses.

"Celebration?"

"For your reunion with Isa!" Hange piped up. She had seated herself beside Levi and was facing Erwin.

The mention of her name brought an uncomfortable churn in Erwin's stomach, and Mike was the only one who noticed the slight grimace on his face.

Hange continued to ramble on as she held an empty glass. "Lucky you, Erwin. I wanted to meet her too. But Mike said we should let you have your alone time first, and then we can all get together! I was thinking we could hang out at Levi's bar—"

"Tea shop," Levi interrupted with a scowl. "For the last time, four eyes, it's a tea shop."

Hange shrugged. "Oh. I still can't get over you opening up a tea shop, of all things."

"Shut up. It's my life."

"Your second one," she corrected, shooting him a finger gun and a wink, before she paused and gasped. "Wait, we don't know that. What if this isn't actually our second life, but we just don't remember? What if—"

Mike calmly shoved a sliced bread into her mouth, muffling her next words. "You can share your theories on reincarnations next time. For now, let's ask Erwin how Isanna's doing."