Just for Yeager

Breakthrough

Hange managed to form this unspoken segregation between us these last couple of days. Perhaps she figured I needed some solitude. Perhaps she felt guilty. Either way, I was fortunate for this blessing and kept to myself, sitting in the kitchen corner breakfast nook. With my newspaper in hand, cigarette between my lips, and early coffee, I continued to indulge.

The morning sun teemed through the horizontal wooden blinds, its warmth basking over my skin, and its radiance shedding light on dull print. I flipped to the front page once more, the headline's bold font screaming at me news I tried to bury in my subconscious mind. My eyes traced over the words, and I dissected every bit of detail;

'Soldier Eren Yeager's body found dead beyond territory limits...'

An eerie waft swept over my head, and I edged my reading glasses over the top of the newspaper. My maid Elga suspiciously cleared her throat as she wiped down the kitchen counter, her focus lingering on me from the corner of her eye. My peeping seemed to have nerved her as she suddenly jerked her head forward, settled a cup of tea aside, and rushed out.

Strange...

As soon as she exited the kitchen, Hange walked in, tossing her garden gloves off then claimed her steaming cup of herbal delight. She looked to me briefly, barely acknowledging my presence before she greeted me softly, "Morning."

"... Morning, Hange."

"How are you doing?"

She wanted to strike up small talk, but she strained, as if a married couple's daily commune was mandatory. I didn't ease her burden, sighing in irritation at her attempt to engage me. Hange mistook the silence as an opportunity to accompany me across the table. She was spotted with soil, reeked of earth and clay, and the light bouncing off her glasses pierced my eyes. But oddly enough, part of me was content she approached me.

Oddly enough...

"They say there was no evidence left behind that night. And a timeline was rendered given the decomposition of his body." She leaned into me, perking my interest. "He must have been murdered approximately three hours before we discovered the body."

"How does that help the investigation?"

"The timeline really doesn't, but what wasn't left behind does. Three hours. Enough time for the killer to spot Eren, kill him, drag his body outside the walls, and snatch this." She rummaged deep in her pants pocket and unfolded a sketch flat on the table. "His key."

My eyes widened as I dropped the newspaper on my lap, jerking my glasses off. How did something like that get lost in the report?

"I bumped into Armin the other day and I prodded him about Eren. Anything that would help his investigation. Then I asked him about his apparel, maybe a trademark he carries around tucked away that we would have easily missed. He mentioned this necklace key, and then it hit me. That night when we found him around 2am, I studied his body thoroughly before loading him up, and I'm damn certain I did not see this key. The killer probably snatched it off of him and kept it as a trophy of his kill."

"Where is Mikasa?"

She scrunched her forehead, arching a brow to my question. "I'm not sure."

I snuffed out my cigarette in the ashtray and shot up in a rush, grabbing my jacket with me before Hange grabbed my wrist. I looked down to her, witnessing her concerned deep eyes. "I know what you're thinking, and she should be the last suspect in your mind."

"The ones who are closer to you are the ones who can hurt you the most."

She lowered her head, her voice softening. "Hm, yes. There's a lot of truth to that."

"Let me go, Hange. I need to find Mikasa."