Meeting the Higher-ups

Chapter 4 ~ Shopping

We eventually got to the mall and parked in the part of the parking lot that was next to the food court. I pulled in and Jake pulled in beside me. We got out and gathered together.

"Okay, so, you guys are still dressed in your uniforms so there might be some people thinking that you're just cosplaying, dressing up like your characters from your anime. So if you see them staring at you, don't mind it. They may even ask for a picture with you, so be nice and say yes, okay?" They all nodded. "Okay, good. Let's go."

I then lead the way with Jake a little in the back so that if we needed to take control of the situation, we could. Even without talking to each other, I knew we both were feeling a little unsure and nervous about how this would go. Hopefully though we could get them into the stores fast and get them changed.

We walked into the building and up to the map of the mall. I glanced at it, wondering where we should go. I decided that Sears would be the best place.

We started making our way to Sears and the four were glancing all around them. Except for Hanji who was acting just like she did in the car, extremely excited and curious and constantly asking questions but never giving you time to answer because they'd be interrupted by her excited squealing.

"What's this place?" Hanji asked, pointing to Hot Topic. "It looks scary."

"That's a place called Hot Topic. They sell stuff like t-shirts and merchandise from TV shows and movies. They even have stuff from Attack on Titan. Let's go check it out!" I said, leading them into the store.

I pulled them into Hot Topic and brought them to the anime section. "See?" I said while holding up a Levi stuffed doll.

"Tch." Levi said and looked away.

"Awe it's so cute!" Hanji exclaimed. "Look! They even have me! And is that Eren, too?!" Hanji was practically bursting with excitement... again. Jake and I couldn't help but laugh.

"So, Emma, you mentioned that our show is basically just about us and our lives?" Erwin asked me.

"Yep. Just about everything you do is on the show. You know, the fall of Wall Maria... finding out that Eren was a titan-shifter... discovering the titan in the wall... It's very interesting and the show has a ton of fans. It's pretty famous." I informed him.

"Hm." Erwin said while nodding.

"Hey, Emma! Can you buy me this?!" Hanji asked excitingly while holding up a stuffed doll of Eren's titan form.

"Oi, Four-eyes, don't force her to buy you stuff." Levi said to her while giving her a glare. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's okay, Levi. I have a good part-time job and my parents own a really popular company, so money isn't really that big of a problem. The same thing goes for Jake." I said and Jake nodded in agreement.

After that I bought the doll for Hanji and we began to walk out. It was kind of hard though because Hanji was practically hanging onto me while thanking me over and over.

"Hehe, you're welcome, okay? Now let's get going to Sears to buy you guys some clothes." I told them. Just then, we heard a short high-pitched scream. I knew all too well what it was: fangirls.

"OH MY GOODNESS!! IT'S LEVI HEICHOU!!" A teenage girl exclaimed and ran up to Levi, attaching herself to him.

"Oi, get off!" Levi said, trying to pry the girl off of him.

"Hehe." I chuckled to myself.

"Oi, help me out here." Levi said to me.

"Fine, fine." I said while walking up to him and the girl. "Hey, do you want to get a picture with him?" I asked her.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah!! Here!" She practically threw her phone at me. Levi was about to walk away but I gave him a glare and he got back into place, crossing his arms.

"Okay, one, two, three!" I counted and took the picture. "There you go!" I said, handing her back her phone.

"Wow! Thank you so much!" She said while giving Levi one more death-gripped hug before running back off.

"That was quite the fan." Mike commented once the girl was out of view.

"Oh, yeah. You have no idea. Despite Eren being the main character of Attack on Titan, Levi is the most popular among the fanbase." I told them.

"And why is that?" Levi asked, sounding and looking bored.

"Well, I mean. To start with, you're Humanity's strongest soldier. You're highly respectable and even though you don't show it that often, you have such a big heart and believe me, everybody knows it." I told him while giving him a warm smile. Levi didn't say anything, he just looked towards the ground, his expression a little softer than usual. I continued. "Plus, most of us all think that you're extremely good-looking and hot, but we also like to make fun of you by calling you a tiny, short-tempered old clean freak."

"Tch." Levi responded while rolling his eyes.

"Wait. So does that mean that Levi is your favorite character, Emma?" Hanji asked, turning to me.

"H-huh?" I responded, a little taken back, mainly because I never thought I'd be saying this stuff or answering that kind of question actually in front of them.

"Do you think he's extremely good-looking and hot, too?" Hanji asked while bringing her face up close to mine. I just simply stared at her with widened eyes and slightly blushed cheeks.

"U-um... well... yeah... He is my favorite character... and yeah... he is pretty good-looking and all..." I responded while looking down and feeling the heat on my cheeks.

"Awe!! Emma, you're so cute!!" Hanji exclaimed while death-grip hugging me.

"Hanji... Can't.... breathe..." I managed to get out. Levi then came over and drug Hanji off of me by the back of her shirt collar. He was still looking down but with a small tint of pink on his cheeks. "Thanks." I muttered, with a chuckle at the end. He just nodded in response. "Now. Let's get going."

We then made our way to Sears. We got a few odd looks from passing people because I guess according to non-Attack on Titan fans, the four's uniforms could look a bit out of place. Thankfully, however, we didn't encounter anymore crazy fangirls.

When we got to Sears, I took Hanji while Jake took Erwin, Levi and Mike. We bought them each a few outfits because they would be able to wear some of our clothes. We decided that it was best that they each wear an outfit out of the store, and so they did.

We then headed to Walmart to get them the other necessities like deodorant, tooth brushes, toothpaste, etc. When we were done, we casually headed back to our cars.

"Emma, what do you want to do for supper tonight?" Jake asked me.

"Hm, well we could go back to my house and order pizza. Then maybe we could play a couple of games until you have to go home." I responded.

"Okay." Jake replied while nodding.

We then got into our cars and drove back to my house. This trip went better than expected.