Cruel World (Attack on Titan X Male Reader)

Attack on Titan | To You, After 2000 Years

"Eren?"

Eren ended up waking up with a gasp, birds scattering from the sudden noise. Eren felt his chest grow heavy, for he had just waken up from a nightmare. Mikasa had her hands on her knees as she eyed Eren, the sunlight casting a shadow on Eren and the tree he was resting on.

Not too far from there, you grunted as you hoisted more firewood and lifted it with your back. Eren's had already been filled thanks to Mikasa and she put her set of firewood on her back as well. You walked towards them, a smile on your face.

"Hey, you crying?" You asked him.

"Huh—no, of course not!" Eren said, wiping away the tear that had steamed down his cheek as he got his set of firewood and the three of you set off back to Wall Maria.

You are an orphan. For your whole life, you never knew your family. Of course, you knew the Yeagers since you saw them every day. All you did remember, strangely, was that you had made friends with these two and that you lived by stealing.

Unlike Eren and Mikasa, you struggled food-wise and money-wise. You often sneaked around, stealing stuff under the noses of others without them even noticing. Shinganshina knew there was a bandit, but they just didn't know who it was.

The only person who knew was Mikasa. One day, while stealing bread, you had bumped into Mikasa on the way out. Mikasa picked you up from the ground and made you return the bread, secretly of course, and Eren ended up being the one who fed you that day.

That was the first time you met them. A few days later, you got to know Armin. He often got bullied by other kids in the district, so Mikasa ended up protecting him. Eren thinks he's the tougher one, but it was very clear who was the man of the group. You loved Shinganshina, despite being poor.

You ended up making an 'honest living', collecting firewood for the Yeagers. Carla did give you money, but you didn't spend any of it. It was a win-win regardless, because you could spend time with these two and make some money.

The three of you got to the outer gate of Shinganshina, seeing a group of Garrison soldiers laughing and drinking away. One of them in particular ended up getting up to greet you guys, his cheeks red from all the alcohol.

"Shit—you reek of alcohol!" Eren exclaimed.

"Don't be like that, Eren!" Hannes said, and he rustled Eren's hair much to Eren's dislike. "I've known your dad for a long time already! Can't you greet me normally for once?"

"Why are all of you guys slacking off?!" Eren yelled, now looking towards the group of soldiers. "You do know that Titans are out there, right?! What if they breach and attack us one day?!"

"You sound a lot like your father..." Hannes said, still drunk. "...but don't worry about stuff like that, Eren. No Titan has ever been recorded to be over 50 meters tall anyway."

Eren still wasn't convinced. He walked off, telling Mikasa to follow him. You did greet Hannes with a wave and walked off as well, jogging a bit to run after Eren. Eren looked bothered about the whole thing, and you decided to speak up.

"Say, are you still planning—?"

"Yes, I'm going to join the Scout Regiment." Eren said, and Mikasa was ready to protest. "Don't give me that look, Mikasa! I already made up my mind on what I'm gonna do, so I'm gonna do it—!"

Eren was interrupted by the sound of a bell. His face finally lit up for the first time, and he grabbed Mikasa's hand as they rushed towards the entrance. The bell ringing finally meant the Scouts were back from their mission, and Eren couldn't wait.

"They are finally back!" Eren said.

One of the soldiers managed to get a look at Eren's beaming face. Erwin ended up looking the other way in pure sadness. Confused, Eren ended up looking ahead to see the trauma of the soldiers. You felt bad for them, giving them a look of concern.