Communication Error (Eremin)

Chapter Thirteen • Strife

Armin and Mikasa's walk was silent until they walked up to the front yard of another school.
    "Do you go inside to get him?" Armin asked.
    "Yes, unless he's already outside, which he shouldn't be," Mikasa replied forwardly.
    "Ah." Armin studied the building for a second before watching Mikasa and making sure he was following her. She lead him up some stairs and through large doors that he assumed were very heavy. She seemed to have no trouble opening the doors, though.
The inside of the school was much more similar to Armin's school, which surprised him more than he thought it would. It was a nice school, however.
"We're sitting here until he's let out," Mikasa informed as she sat down on a bench near the front doors.
"Oh." Armin sat down beside his friend and held his hands together in his lap. Mikasa said nothing after they sat down, so Armin spoke up, "I didn't think this place would look like such a . . . School inside."
Mikasa looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"It just looks so much like a regular school."
"What did you think it'd look like?"
Armin shrugged and leaned up. "Kinda . . . Old. I mean, I thought it would be clean and well taken care of, but at the same time old in architecture."
"Mm. I see what you mean." She looked away, facing down the hall.
He eyed her a moment longer. "Yeah." He, too, looked away, staring down at his hands.
There was silence between the two teenagers. It wasn't awkward, but it definitely wasn't comforting silence. Armin would take a look at Mikasa every so often and catch her still facing the hall. She seemed set on the hall, as if getting distracted from it meant she would never see Eren again. It put Armin off, and made him a bit uncomfortable. She was close to Eren often, yes, but this was weird. Maybe this behavior was normal for her? Who knows.
He blinked and sat back, getting focused on his hands again. I wonder if I look like that when I watch Eren. I doubt it. He narrowed his eyes slightly. No I don't. He's interesting to watch. I watch him a lot. Too much. I'm going to rub off as some obsessive stalker. His hand rested against his lips. That'd be bad.
"Armin." Mikasa interrupted his thoughts. "Let's go. We're leaving."
His eyes, widening with surprise, looked up at Mikasa, who was now standing up. Eren was beside her. He was also looking down at Armin, though the expression on his face wasn't negative.
"Sorry." Armin stood up and followed Mikasa out the door.
"Nice to see you," Eren greeted as he fell beside Armin. He was smiling.
"It's nice to see you too."
"What were you doing here with Mikasa?"
"Picking you up," he answered with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"No, I mean why were you picking me up too?"
"I wanted to see your school. I was curious."
Eren asked nothing else. He suddenly seemed to zone out and lose himself in his own mind. It made Armin feel bad at first, as if something he did pushed Eren away. Though, he couldn't think of what he could've done. Maybe it was the way I was at his school, and how I didn't respond to Mikasa at all when she had obviously been calling me. Maybe . . .
Armin's thoughts faded as he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"When's your birthday?" Eren asked him after he was sure he caught his attention.
"November third. When is your birthday?"
Eren blinked in thought. "Okay." He didn't go any further.
Armin was confused. He didn't say when his birthday was. He waved his hand at Eren, getting his attention, then he asked his question again. "When is your birthday?"
Eren paused. "March."
    Armin smiled awkwardly. "Okay. When in March?"
    "The thirtieth."
    "Okay, thank you."
    Eren nodded, then turned his attention away again.
    Armin was a bit thrown off at this weird conversation. He didn't understand why he and Mikasa were acting funny so suddenly. It was obviously very odd for them, especially Eren, to be distant. He wondered if something had happened to them, a friend, or even a family member. Whatever it was, it made him uncomfortable.
    "Mikasa," Armin mumbled, "are you guys okay?"
    Mikasa looked at him. "Hm?"
    "You and Eren. You're both acting kinda weird." He hesitated. "Um . . . You've been really strict, kinda, and Eren's been distant-ish. More than I've seen him."
    Mikasa pondered Armin's concerns for a moment and frowned, suddenly looking concerned. "Yes . . . I guess so."
    Armin encouraged an explanation with a worried look.
    "We had an argument earlier. It didn't last long, but we both got extremely angry. I'm not really in the mood to deal with him though. Not yet."
    "Oh. What was it about?"
    "Nothing," she mumbled.
    He looked right at her, suddenly feeling a spark of frustration. "Okay, don't tell me. That's fine. But at least apologize. This walk is really awkward."
    She just flashed him a look of rebellion.
    He gripped her wrist and stopped walking. "Please! I wanted to take this walk with you guys. Starting tonight, I might not be able to spend much time with you. I wanted to enjoy this."
    She seemed unfazed.
    Eren, however, stopped himself right beside the two looking at each other. He seemed confused, though his expression wasn't too strong.
    Armin looked at Eren with the same authoritative air. "Apologize to her, please," he signed. "Please."
    Eren immediately grew defensive. He signed nothing, making it obvious that he didn't want to apologize to Mikasa at all.
    Armin frowned. "Please, Eren," he begged.
    Eren's defensiveness faded a bit, but he still didn't reply.
    "Mikasa." Armin faced the ravenette.
    Neither of them did a thing for the next few minutes, which upset Armin immensely.
    Finally, he sighed. "Fine—"
    At that second, Mikasa signed a slow apology to Eren. She appeared to be genuinely sorry and willing to make amends, despite Eren's prideful resistance to do such a thing.
    Armin turned to Eren, who definitely caught the apology. He refused to accept it for a moment, but a disappointed look from Armin made him change his mind. He accepted Mikasa's apology, then said one of his own.
    Mikasa gladly accepted.
    "Thank you," Armin said to Mikasa. He signed his thanks to Eren, who glowed a bit.
    "We can get going now," Mikasa commented.
    "Okay."

    Armin had parted ways with Eren and Mikasa not long after they began moving again. The rest of his walk home wasn't long, though it was silent. It felt much longer than it was, he realized. He blamed that on the awkwardness of if along with the stop they made. When he was finally home, as he was opening the front door and walking inside, he remembered the confrontation he needed to make with his grandfather. Maybe it can wait, he thought. But the thought was dismissed. I agreed to it. Mikasa is holding me to it.
     He headed to his room and put his backpack away, then he changed into comfortable clothes. He pulled his phone from his backpack and set it on his desk. Looking at the desk made him feel agitated. He knew after the talk that he'd be sitting at the desk instead of doing the things he enjoyed. This wasn't something enjoyable to think about. At all.
    Not much later Armin was called down for dinner. He sat at the dinner table, across from his grandfather, and anxiously thought out how to bring up his lack of completed work to his grandfather. He ate slowly as he thought, and often had to blink away the stares caused by him spacing out.
    "Well?" Mr. Arlert suddenly spoke up.
    Armin avoided looking at him. "Hm?" He had a fork in his mouth.
    "What're you thinking about?"
     Armin took the fork out of his mouth. "What do you mean?"
     "You know what I mean. Something's on your mind. Come on, what is it?"
    "Well . . . Okay." He took a breath and held it for a moment as his suddenly scrambled mind sorted itself enough for him to say what the really needed to. "Lately, I've been avoiding . . . Avoiding my homework." He paused and looked at Mr. Arlert.
     He was listening, and said nothing. He had a neutral expression.
    Armin continued, "I got so focused on sign language. I didn't mean to avoid it at first, it just kind of happened. I'm sorry."
    His grandfather nodded, then straightened his position. "I see." He thought for a minute. "I'm going to have to discipline you for this, Armin. You know that. Now . . . I don't know what to do about it. But I'll let you know when I think of something. Until then . . ." He took another pause. "Until then, you won't be using your electronics."
    "Not even for schoolwork?" Armin asked quietly.
    "Not even for schoolwork."
     "Yes sir." Armin sunk a little in his seat. Though, he expected a harsher punishment right off the bat. This isn't too bad, I guess. I can still go out to Eren and Mikasa's on Wednesday. For the time being, at least.