Weeaboo {Ereri}

IX.

Eren sighed heavily and dropped the manga volume of Blue Ex***ist, flopping back into the cushions of the couch dejectedly. Sometime in between now and when the project was first issued, he'd taken up hanging out in my apartment. It was highly irritating. At first. I looked up from my own paperback, fist digging into my cheek as I leaned into it. "Hm?" I mumbled at the slouch.

"I can't believe this plot. Young teen in a balanced home gets life destroyed by a creature- in which he becomes later! How cruel, fighting a monster you're a part of. I couldn't imagine if that were to happen to me."

Hopefully he translated my following sigh as a somehow comforting one. My eyes slid back to the novel. In all simplicity, Meg was fighting a brain. How could such a simple book become a classic? But I wasn't complaining. It was one of my favorite books.

A knock on the door brought me out of my fond reading and Eren his self-complaining. He watched, still slumped, me turn the book on its pages and stand heavily. We were in the living room. One, two, three steps, and I opened the door.

"Oh, Petra."

The ginger- who had more amber hair than red- dropped a hand from her face and beamed. I raised an eyebrow. "Levi, hey! Can I hang out over here for a bit? Dad's doing it again." I, who was notorious for respecting personal space, clearly understood her request, and stepped aside, gesturing her in with a mumble-y "come in".

Eren fixed his posture at my chiding look behind Petra, and lifted a hand. "Hey, Petra!"

She looked pleasantly shocked. "Eren! What are you doing here?" She sent me a nervous glance, and I closed my eyes, shrugging. Something was off. Petra's eyes were rimmed red. I wasn't sure if she had wanted to talk about was up or just wanted to escape. I wasn't in a position to find out anytime soon.

"I could ask the same of you. I just came here to chill," Eren explained, holding up the manga. Petra sat next to him, politely observing the grinning face of Rin, and I resumed sitting on the floor by the coffee table, reading.

"So, what are you doing here? Couldn't you hide in your room or something? Not like I'm judging you or anything, Levi's apartment is a pretty neat hideout." My eyebrow twitched.

Petra laughed. "Well, my dad really loves me, to the point of smothering. He tries a little too hard sometimes. You can't blame him, though, since, after all, my mom left when I was little. Anyways, whenever I need a break, I stay at Levi's for a bit." I nodded towards Eren's questioning glance.

Eren's eyes bright with interest. "And Mikasa doesn't mind? At all? And neither does your dad?"

The girl raised her hands above her chest, eyebrows lifting. "No, Levi and I have been friends since we were little. We're childhood friends. Mikasa knows my dad well."

He looked thunderstruck by the concept. Eren cupped his chin with a pointer finger and his thumb, staring down with widened eyes. "Childhood friends..." he muttered with a dazed look. "I've never had one."

"You're not missing out on much," I added unhelpfully. Petra pouted at me flatly.

"What do childhood friends do? Sleepovers?" It was as if she'd mentioned a new anime to Eren.

I glanced over at Petra when she didn't respond. Presently, her expression was contorted with shame, red dominating the color of her face, ears, and neck. She clenched her fists into her knees, back straight. I returned to reading. "We used to. And why are you so obsessed, anyways?"

He pondered that. "I wonder if I had a childhood friend."

"I'm sure you do, everyone does."

After a minute, Eren shrugged and turned to Petra for whatever reason fancied him. However, he yelped, jerking back. "Whoa! Your face is all red!" I hope that idiot drops it, I thought, pitying her. "Are you okay, Petra?" Was she that embarrassed by us spending the night together as kids? "What's wrong?"