Annie stood up and grabbed the leather half jacket from the chair as she makes to the door. The patches on the shoulders and back were green unicorns, one of the same symbols she saw drew in her drawings. It was of her own creation and most scoffed at her for ruining such a cute jacket with a strange symbol but she didnt care. A grey tabby jumped up on the chair and pawed at her hand playfully. Annie smiled and picked him up. "Well little Titan we going to get some new friends soon hopefully not any weirdos. This complex can only handle so much." She stroked his head and listened to the calming purr, silently laughing at what the other tenants said behind her back. If only she could keep holding Titan but she knew this Mikasa girl wasnt going to be wait around forever. Setting down Titan gently she grabbed her backpack and keys locking the door behind her. A short walk down the crowded street later and she was at her favorite bookstore. It wasnt really a bookstore but she didnt care. A few book shelves of manga and fiction was she all she needed. She sat down at the same table in the far corner she always did, like a permanent reservation. Every week it was her, a cup of green tea and the next issue of a manga. The only thing in her life that hadnt become dull.
She reached into her bag for Kami*Kaze. As she looked up the click of familar glasswear greeted her ears. Annie caught red frabric in the corners of her vision, to see the fleeting form of a black haired girl with a red scarf around her neck, black hair tied back in a bun. Annie stared at her for a moment as if she felt something familar about her. Then the girl was gone, vanishing behind the counter. And there Annie sat, reading her manga and sipping her tea until night fell and the city's skyline shown in the distance. She had all but given up on this Mikasa girl showing up when a girl sat down in front of her, undoing the bun in her hair. Annie looked up in surprise. "Im guessing youre Annie Leohardt? Im Mikasa Ackerman. I called about your ad." Annie stared at her for serveral moments not sure if she was dreaming or not. The face staring back at her was right off the page of her sketch pad. The girl with thered scarf had come to life. She pinched her leg under the table to make sure she wasnt dreaming.
"Annie? Is something wrong?" Mikasa asked concerned. Annie shook her head and took a sip of her tea. "Sorry Ackerman I was just reminded of something. So you want to move in with me? Thats surprising, seeing as most people avoid me at all costs." Mikasa just laughed. Her voice rang like bells and Annie's heart skipped a beat. Heat flooded her face and she let her bangs hide her blush. Mikasa kept talking like she didnt notice. "I've never cared about peoples opinions. Bsides im the one who has your manga and tea ready when you come in on Saturdays. Youre the only one who comes in more than once a month so it's the least I can do." Annie rolls her eyes. "Whatever, Ackerman, is there any reason someone with a steady job lke you needs to move in with a freak like me. Im not exactly the most stable roommate." Mikasa's face fell and she looked out the window to the Brooklyn Bridge and the skyline in the distance. "I got evicted by my last roommate. He wasnt exactly happy with my taste in dates... He didnt think a girl like me should date anyone but him." Mikasa looked down at the floor before looking back at Annie."Im talking too much... Sorry..." Annie just laughed and picked up her bag and manga. "Get your stuff, Ackerman, you've got an apartment to move into." Her face lifted and she ducked into a room labeled employees only. She returned carrying a few boxes with a small cat poking out of the top box. "This is all I have. This is my cat, Levi." Annie smiled and stroked the cats head. The two left the coffee shop with cat and boxes in tow.
Annie kicked open the door to the apartment, sending sketches to the floor. "Welcome to my home. Dont touch the sketches and if you see any you like dont ask for a copy. I dont have the money or the time for that bullshit." Mikasa dropped her cat in the doorway, staring opened mouth at the walls."Did you draw all of these?" she asked picking up a colored sketch of the red scarfed girl fighting a huge apelike creature. Mikasa studied it recognizing herself as the girl. Her eyes widened as she saw that serval of the picture looked like some of her friends as well. Annie snatched the picture away. "I told you not to touch them." She shoved it into a portfolio labeled red scarf and tucked it away in the desk. "My art isnt to be browsed. Touch it again and you might lose fingers." Annie grapped Mikasa by her wrist and dragged down a small hall to the back of the apartment, face turning pink. She wished shed gotten rid of those picture or at least hidden them. Her art was private. She was even more embaressed that her drawings looked like real life people, one of which decided to move in. "The door on the left is my room. Dont ever go in there." She opened the second door on the right into an empty room with just a candy wrapper on the floor. "This is your room. Rent is $500 a month, not including groceries. I cant cook but there's ramen in the top shelf of the pantry."
A yowl from Titan made Mikasa jump. She looked down at her feet to find the grey cat rubbing against her leg. "Oh and this is my cat, Titan." Anniw said with a smile. Annie picked him up for inspection. Mikasa stroked his fur gently, surprised a girl like Annie could afford to take care of a cat. She was extremely thin and she looked like she hadnt had a good meal in months. She frowned, concerned for the small blonde. "Annie I know its none of my business but how long has it been since you had real food? You dont look very well...." Annie looked down bangs hiding her face, which had turned red. Money and food were thins she lacked and sometime Titan ate when she stavred even her hoodie had become over sized. That didnt mean she was gonna take anyones pity. "None of your business, Ackerman. have fun unpacking well get a bad for you tommorrow." Dropping Titan she opened the door to her own room and slamed the door in Mikasa's face. Slumping against the wall she listened to the sound of clattering item and what she thought might be dishware. Soft music stated playing and she strained to hear the first chords of Monster by Imagine Dragon.
"Every since I could remember everything inside of me just wanted to fit it...." Annie heard the girl's sweet singing voice drift through the house from the kitchen. Her heart raced and cheeks flushed a shade of crimson. Annie had been such an asshole. She barely knew her after all. Glaning around the small room she lookedmat picture after picture of the red scarfed girl. Had she really imagined the girl or had she seen Mikasa before and just put her in her fantasty... If that was the case what about her other people. Was the boy with bite marks a friend of Mikasa? Annie's head pounded with questions. All focused around her. What she thought. How she felt. It made her scared and her head throbbed. The song in the kitchen changed for the eighth time but this one was different. It was slower and she didnt recognize it. Mikasa's voice raised in volume but was perfectly in tune. "Sometimes I wish for falling. Wish for the release. Wish for falling through the air to give me some releif. Because fallings not the problem when im falling im at peace. Its only when I hit the ground that causes all the grief." Annie listened to her sing and rested her head on the door. Her head dropped onto her chest as a warm feeling of peace settled in her chest. She fell alseep to the singing of her roommate as she made a dinner Annie wouldnt get to eat.
