note; i recently made a reito playlist called the dragon and his devil on spotify. if you cant find it, the link should be in my linktree on my bio. listen to it as you read this chapter for more pain cause-- like why not༼ಢ_ಢ༽
MARLEYAN MILITARY BASE, LIBERIO
It wasn't as if Saito couldn't speak Marleyan. He had just simply chosen not to speak.
He understood every word spoken to him. Every word spoken about him. But what he couldn't understand was why he had to stay with this stranger that was his father. Or why, oddly. his mother was taking her sweet time to come back for him.
But Saito tried his best to uphold his end of the promise as he hopefully awaited for her due return. The promise he made to her to be a good boy while she was gone. To be a brave boy.
The last promise he'll ever make to her.
And he knew that a part of being a good boy was to understand the situation. To understand the adults. Back in Hizuru, it didn't seem as hard. Everyone seemed to be so expressive. His great aunt Kiyomi was the easiest to understand. Or at least it was easy for him to understand that she hated him, with her looming glares and distasteful words-- but he could never figure out why.
Now why is the true question to everything. Why had his mother brought him here? And why did she leave him here with a foreign man who unfamiliarly enough, was apparently his father? Why did this man- his father- continuously refused to talk about anything regarding his mother? And why he, the boy-- the child, needed to be understanding at the face of all the chaos and confusion of that is of adults?
But for the young eight year old Saito, thinking too hard about why and things he didn't like only made him hungry.
Though there was one thing he liked about his new home though. Don't be mistaken-- he still strangely longed for his home in Hizuru dearly. A palace-like estate in the cool foothills, overlooking the endless rolling slopes of rice paddies with the sweetened air that smelled of blooming wisterias mixed with the the scent of fresh sugarcane from the grove in the forest just beyond. A glorious and vicious --unforgiving-- ancestral mansion- filled with hatred and brimming with greed...
But he had been borne there. And it had been home to him since. The only home he had ever known then. And he missed it... truly. But Marley offered a different life for him.
It was a whole different world from the Azumabito Estate. His father was a simple man. A busy man. And so was his life. Though his home in Marley was no where small, it surprised Saito on how short of a walk his bedroom was to the kitchen. The first time he had seen it, the worldless boy sprinted back and forth from his room to the kitchen before his stern father stopped him for dinner.
And that dinner was the reason why Saito fell in love with Marley.
It wasn't his first meal in Marley. But it was the one meal that would stick with him forever.
Because that dinner would lead the boy to develop a gargantuan taste for the thing they called a taco.
When his rigid father noticed the unspeaking boy inhaling it, the first time he's ever seen his son truly expressed anything, he's treated him tacos for dinner since. And the boy loved every kind of it equally. His eyes would sparkle and shine at the slightest mention of it. Like a puppy that was excited for a walk.
However on that particular day, Saito had come to the base once again. His nanny had an emergency to attend and Saito was, again, left with his father. But as always, his important father was busy with a million matters that needed him to address to. And it was once again Saito's job to be understanding-- and move out of the way.
At first the low grumble in pits of his stomach didn't bother him. But as the sun slowly began to sink in the sea of the horizon, his tummy was screaming to be fed. At one point, Saito had gotten up to see if his appearance would remind father to feed him. He crept quietly down the halls, like a mouse -- as how the Azumabito had preferred him to move around their presence-- and he peeked into his father's office. However one look at the towering adults, looking displeased and frigid as they spoke to one another, Saito quickly scurried back to the Wisteria Courtyard where his father told him to stay earlier.
Saito panted, out of breath, as his little boots came to a stop as they met the fallen blossoms at the courtyard. He shivered at the image of scary, glowering men from the room. How could someone look so angry? And they were so tall. Like trees from the pine forest back home. He wondered if they ever got cold standing so high up like that.
Or lonely.
Saito sighed. Most adults were scary enough as it was. His father was a little more terrifying at first, but that was before Saito had spent some time with him. Now he just seemed.. confused. Like he didn't know what to do with Saito. But all the other adults at the base looked like monsters. Which is why he hated coming there. He felt like an ant every time they looked down at him. And he realized just how small and helpless he truly was...
But by now, he was starving. And it made the little boy angry that no one thought about him. In a little burst of tantrum, he kicked the ball by his feet in frustration, launching it towards the flowering vine covered walls of the courtyard. Through the thick and oversized goggles that he wore, he could see the ball landed hard on the wall before recoiling straight past him to the other side of the courtyard and came to a stop by the pillars of the building. Saito grumbled as he trudged his tiny feet to retrieve it, his eyes down on the ground angrily.
He muttered in annoyance under his breath, shouting in his mind, a frustrated mix of his native tongue and Marleyan. However when he was steps away from the ball, a hand appeared from behind the big pillar, picking up his ball.
Saito froze in place. He was cautious, ready to sprint away at the first sight of another person.
A face revealed itself from behind the pillars. And golden head emerged.
"Yours?" The boy with the tawny eyes asked, as he looked over to Saito, catching the last light of the day in his eyes.
Saito blinked into those golden eyes in a daze.
His eyes are like the color of the sunsets in Hizuru, was Saito's first thought before he realized he was being spoken to. The boy sniffled as if he had just been crying, and he stood up. He was taller than Saito. Looked a bit older as well. He stepped out from behind the pillar, ball in hand as he gently leaned the broom on his other hand on the pillar.
"Don't you know you shouldn't be playing at the base." The boy said dryly as he concealed another quick sniffle as he stepped towards Saito. "You could get punished for that-" He stopped in his tracks as he took another look at the kid before him.
A small boy with a pair of big bulging goggles. He was extremely well dressed from head to toe, complete with a loose bow and stockings and a pair of rather high end boots. But as if that wasn't surprising enough-- the boy was band-less. His left arm had no traces of the cursed mark of Eldia, as he had.
What's a Marleyan kid doing at base- Reiner panicked silently, as his thoughts raced.
As Reiner's anxiety rose, Saito was also taken out of breath. But for a nearly opposite reason. His eyes stared wide at the band on the taller boy's arm. In awe-- almost admiring even. His mother's gentle voice softly whispered in the back of his mind.
"Long ago, noble Giants once protected us. Guarding the world under a single, brightest, shining star..."
Reiner couldn't figure out why the kid froze as he stared at him, transfixed by his arm band. Had he by any chance offended him? Or perhaps- he quickly dropped ball from his hold, realizing it belonged to the boy. How could his tainted Eldian hands grab a Marleyan's possession without thinking.
The ball rolled over to Saito's small shiny boots. Reiner panickily stuttered an apology with a shaky voice. Saito reached down and picked the ball up, before he blinked back at him through the goggles that were clearly too big for his little head.
Meanwhile, Reiner was reeling in terror. The day couldn't get any worse for him. He's just received his last warning that he'd be removed from the Warrior Cadet program due to his lack of skills and now- he knew it was sure death for him. He should've never picked the ball. He should've never had taken his time to sob out. He should've just quickly finished his job and gone home. At least his mother's disappointment would've been better to face than a punishment from Marley.
A sudden growl curled up in the air. Reiner, wide eyed, blinked back at the kid who looked down at his stomach. The strange kid's ears immediately bloomed hot red, matching his maroon wool vest, from embarrassment. Reiner was confused by his reaction. Why hadn't the boy spat at him yet? Cursed him off.. Like how the rest of Marley would've done at the sight of his sad existence.
But this boy before him didn't even show any bit of disgust or hatred towards him... In fact.. Reiner couldn't make up what he was thinking. Especially with the goggles over his eyes. It was hard enough to make out the eyes beneath it. And the boy didn't show any much movement for him to be able to read him otherwise.
Was he free to go or should he make his way to discipline? Reiner didn't know what to do. But then, suddenly, the boy started to move. Quickly. His little legs romped up jauntily towards him at a surprising speed.
Frightened by the small advancing kid, Reiner backed away, nearly tripping on his feet. He collided his back on the pillar behind him as the boy stepped up close in front of him. The small stranger lifted his goggles up, exposing his face up towards Reiner's taller figure. With his hair pushed back, Reiner quickly noticed the bandage, wounded around the boy's head, having been hidden by his messy brown hair and goggles before. It seemed like a serious injury seeing how it was wrapped up. However within a moment, everything became blinded by the shine of the kid's eyes and smile.
So bright...
And for the first time in weeks, the little boy spoke.
"Are you hungry?! I'm hungry!" Saito blurted out brightly in perfect Marleyan, his voice hoarse from not having spoken in so long. He took a moment to realize what he had just said.
"Well wait-" He reevaluated. "No that's not- My name is.. What I mean to say is- I'm hungry isn't my name at all. I'm S-" Saito took a second and noticed the older boy's terrified face as he looked back at him. He blinked in confusion.
If only the clueless boy Saito had been, understood the difference between the two of them.
If only he didn't blindly believe in his mother's bedtime lies.
If only he understood the true meaning of the armband.
If only the cruelty of fate hadn't made it so their opposite paths had crossed.
---
MARLEYAN CAMP, ALLIED FORCE TERRITORY
Since the briefing earlier in the day, Reiner hadn't been able to catch his partner for the mission. It seemed every time the burly Warrior finally found him within sight, the pilot was too busy to notice him or simply vanished the moment the Warrior blinked.
He should've expected that of such a famous pilot, at least. But then again he didn't even know Saito was the revered Dragon of Marley. Hell, he didn't even know that he was a part of the military at all. He had known nothing of his old friend's current life. Not until the point Commander Wagnar introduced the pilot by name during the meeting for their mission.
Saito Magath. Captain Saito Magath, he corrected himself. Reiner broke into a soft smile. Who would've known he'd grown into such a respectable soldier. When he left, he was a small sobbing boy who'd cry at a tumble. And now he was...
Dark. Had he always been that way? Especially his eyes. Reiner couldn't recall Saito's eyes being that dark. He remembered how bright they had been. Blinding...
"Hey, Reiner!"
The blonde Warrior looked up to see Porco's grumbling face in the distance, Zeke and Pieck close behind him. Reiner responded with a wave of a hand as he walked over to them.
"Where've you been." Porco snapped. "Didn't take you as one to wander around. What are you? A child."
Zeke tilted his head at his fellow blonde comrade. He then smirked as the light of the sunset got caught in the reflection of his glasses, concealing his eyes beneath the shining flare. "You were looking for him again weren't you?"
"Him?" Porco lifted a brow at his superior.
"You know. His little friend. The kid that always followed him around base back then?"
"You talking about that goggled brat..." Porco looked at Zeke blankly. "What about him?"
Zeke sighed, exhaustedly. "Did you seriously not recognize the Captain?"
Porco frowned as if Zeke was playing word games with him. "The- What Captain?"
"The pilot assigned for the operation with Reiner, Porco." Pieck reminded him gently.
Porco rose his eyes over yonder, recollecting his memories for a second. And when he had grasped an understanding of the pilot's identity, the Jaw spun in shock to his superiors. "Wait! Is that who the Captain was?! He's that rice-eating brat!"
"That's offensive, Porco and his name is Saito." Reiner muttered as Proco who immediately shot him with a glare that said I knew that.
"Well, that's what he gets for calling me Porcupine all those years." Porco grumbled bitterly.
"You two were inseparable." Zeke chuckled as he recalled his Vice War-Chief's past friendship. "An interesting pair the both of you were. A half-bred Marleyan, and a lowly Eldian... I remember quite the trouble the two of you caused."
"All they did was trouble." Porco scoffed. "And I still don't understand why Marley decided to give the Armored to a loser like you."
"Hey they were just kids." Pieck said softly. "All kids do is trouble, right Porco?"
The Jaw stared at her blankly before a vein popped at the side of his head. "Wait! What do you mean by that! Are you calling me a damn troublemaker, Pieck?!"
"Don't you raise you voice to Pieck like that." Zeke scolded. "And whatever mess Reiner and Saito got into was never near as big as the trouble you stirred up, Porco."
Zeke gives Porco a scolding smack before he could say anything. The ferocious Jaw squabbled back angrily. Reiner watched and Pieck chuckled at the sight of Zeke struggling to peel the angry, slick haired scoundrel off of him.
"They haven't changed at all, hmm?" She hummed.
Reiner found himself smiling. "Yeah."
"But-" Pieck glanced over at the taller Warrior beside her. "You know who's changed? Quite a lot at that..."
Reiner's eyes lowered from the two Warriors. An image of the young boy who befriended him played in the back of his memories... before it disappeared likes ashes and replaced with a hard and cold-eyed soldier.
Reiner breathed out softly. His eyes ran to Pieck, full of questions. "What happened to him while I was gone?"
Pieck sighed, her shoulder lifting and dropping from the breath. "After you left for Paradis, the Commander sent Saito back to the Azumabitos. I've been told that they enrolled him to the top Aerial school there in Hizuru. And rumors has it about the Dragon that he graduated from there in only four years..."
Pieck paused. It seemed so long and grueling to Reiner. "He never came back. Not even once. My guess is he had no reason to..." She glanced over at Reiner before continuing. "And the Commander never really spoke of him. None of us really thought about him at all with the war happening.. and everything else." She sighed. "And well, the next thing I know, he was standing before you at the War Tent."
"But.. Saito? A soldier?" Reiner echoed out, trying to grasp Saito's unexpected choice of career. "He's never once wanted to do anything with the Military. Pieck- He hated it. He hated the thought of war. Much less becoming a soldier. At the fronts of all places too! He-- He didn't even dared hurt anyone back then... And now--" Reiner trailed off in defeat.
"You'll have to ask that of him yourself." Pieck shrugged "But Reiner... He's not the same boy you had known. He's-- changed. He's a soldier now." She nodded as she too remembered the young boy who would look at her with the brightest of eyes. "A Marleyan..." She corrected herself. "And you'll do well to remember that."
Reiner chuckled. "Of course, he's not the same. He grew taller, you saw that. Not by much but-"
"I'm serious, Reiner." Pieck firmly said. Reiner glanced at her. "He's not the same kid you left at the pier six years ago."
Reiner glanced at her, his pained grin fading. He blinked at her questioningly. "At the-- Pier?"
"Didn't you know? He was there the day you left for Paradis..." She tilted her head at him. "Reiner... he watched you leave..."
Reiner frowned at her in disbelief at first. Before his eyes widened as he registered Pieck's words, crashing into him like a wave. No... But the Commander promised me he'd keep him distracted and away from the port that day... He slowly began to understand a frightening realization.
"Go to hell, Gelvar." A familiar voice barked with a hint of laughter.
Reiner perked up at it, recognizing the voice at once. He looked across the dark clearing between the clutter of tents. Two decorated pilots stepped out of the shadows.
"Saito..." He realized he called the name out before he could stop himself.
Zeke and Porco ceased their bicker at the name and peered behind Reiner's broad back. Pieck lightened up at the familiar face.
However there was only horror on the pilot's face. Upon seeing it, Peick was taken back. She had expected that Saito would conduct nothing but a stiff professionalism when meeting him again. A salute. A handshake. Maybe a friendly pat on the back. But nevertheless.. formal-- If Saito truly was a Marleyan soldier now. Stained with Marleyan ideology.
But instead Saito stood awkwardly across them, seething with the desperation to vanish from their sight. And when Pieck glanced back at Reiner, she noticed him reciprocating Saito's panic with a gaze filled with a horrifying guilt.
Boys....
---
Reiner watched as Zeke amused Saito with his glorious stories of war and battles. Saito looked mildly entertained, clearly half assing his reactions.
"Zeke let the poor boy eat." Pieck sighed as she nibbled her food, clearly bored from hearing Zeke's tales for the hundredth time. "He's leaving tomorrow. We wouldn't want to send him out hungry."
"I'm sure they'd probably have tacos in the Allied Territories." Reiner muttered under his breath without thinking.
Saito froze up. Gelvar who was beside him stopped his uncomfortable munch as well at the sudden chill his Captain emanated. The Warriors turned to Reiner who realized that he had said that aloud.
A cricket chirped. Then another one.
And then Porco howled out in laughter. So hard that a strand of his slicked hair fell off on his face. He smacked the table, a humored tear in his eyes. "I apologize! I can't help it! I just got this visual of that time the whole base thought your shrimp ass got kidnapped but you were just out getting tacos with Reiner."
Pieck and Zeke chuckled, the mood lightning with the mutual memory.
"That was the day you met Saito, wasn't it Reiner?" Pieck asked.
Reiner nodded awkwardly, unsure how he should continue the topic. "Yeah-- we met for the first time that day."
That day... seemed like ancient history now.
"How'd you get from hello-- to tacos?" Gelvar, at the edge of the table, asked in honest confusion.
"I was hungry." Saito replied unexpectedly before Reiner could answer. "And I wasn't allowed to go out the base alone and he looked like someone who didn't mind walking me there." Saito lifted his eyes up at Reiner who immediately found himself forgetting to breath.
Saito blinked at him. Reiner couldn't read him at all. And to his surprise, the cold-faced captain smiled, blowing Reiner even more off course. What is going on in his head??
"I still don't get how you kidnapping the Commander's bastard got you the Armored." Porco said venomously. Despite being the current Jaw, he was still annoyed by the fact that Reiner snatched his chances of being the Armored years ago.
"There was no kidnapping involved, and you know that, Porco." Pieck gives him a scolding glare. "Besides, what matters is that everything turned out for the best didn't it?"
There was a chuckle of yes and more chatter, but it echoed and drowned into the silence of Saito's head. He curled his fingers around his fork in a shaken grip. Pieck's words repeated continuously in his head like a curse.
"Everything turned out for the best didn't it?"
But did it?
Saito stood up in silence, his tray empty. His head hung low, darkening his face for a moment before he lifted it up to the light, revealing a rather- unsettlingly kind smile. "Well this has been most enjoyable." He exclaimed sweetly. "It was nice to see you all after such a long time and to catch up as well. But duty calls. I still have much to prepare for the mission tomorrow, so I hope you don't mind me excusing myself first."
"Mmm-- Good luck with that by the way." Porco mumbled. The whole table glanced at him in surprise. Saito seemed equally shocked that he wasn't mocking him in some way as Porco usually does, almost religiously. The Jaw growled for them to stop staring at him as he continued to eat.
Saito chuckled and his kind smile curled into a chilling grin. "Hearing that from you sounds like a curse, Galliard."
"Go fucking die, shrimp." Porco cursed him with a glare.
Zeke and Pieck quickly jumped on him. Gelvar watched them awkwardly. Saito physically held himself back maintaining his strained smile despite the visible vein that slithered on his jaw. He chuckled as pat his lieutenant's shoulder. "Well. See you tomorrow then, Gelvar."
"Yes sir." His second nodded.
Without even as much as glancing at Reiner, Saito quickly turned away. He returned the tray before walking out the bustling tent. He took a deep breath of the cool autumn air, taking the scent of the dying summer. He could still hear the ambience of the soldier's eating and drinking behind him but it was low and played in the back of his mind. And it was just enough to distract him from the ghostly voices within.
"What matters is that everything turned out for the best didn't it?" Pieck's words replayed again in his head.
DID IT?
Is living only thirteen more years the best it could turn out?
"Saito."
Saito's skin pricked at the hearty voice. So foreign- yet so familiar. And it called his name so gently that he could just- Fuck.. No- Please not now.. Leave me the hell alone!
Saito turned around. Reiner came up behind him, a couple steps away. He smiled awkwardly as Saito turned to face him.
"You got taller." He commented as he stood before his old friend.
Saito looked up at him with a sigh. Are you mocking me mother fucker- "Yeah, well-- I'm not eight anymore."
Reiner chuckled. "Time flies, doesn't it."
"It doesn't..." Saito snapped, coldly. Reiner blinked apologetically, clearly wondering if he had said anything to offend Saito. Saito exhaled slowly, keeping himself together. He hated himself for making Reiner uncomfortable. "At least to me." He said in a softer tone. Why did it bother him to see Reiner taken back by him like that? "I mean- As someone who has flown countless of times.. Comparing time to flight is a rather ridiculous metaphor..."
Reiner looked lost for a moment before he laughed. Saito stared at him. It was a genuine laugh. He was genuinely amused by his stupid remarks about time and flights...
How could you laugh.. At a time like this.
Saito wanted to curse him off. Wanted him to curse him off.
Be angry at me. Resent me. Hate me... don't.. I don't deserve-
Saito seethed out as he clenched his fists tightly at his sides. Reiner ceased his laugh into a chuckle before noticing the slight tremble in Saito's stand.
"Saito.."
"I have to go-" The pilot claimed as he quickly turned around. He couldn't do this. If Reiner called his name one more goddamned time-
"Wait!"
Saito felt a rush of air behind him. A breeze. The breeze from a hand reaching.
And his eyes began to play a trick before him.
A cruel claw reached for him as shadowed figures loomed over him.
Shameful child!
You dishonor us all.
Mommy? Mommy's dead!
No ones here to protect you anymore.
You... are all alone--
SLAP!
Saito whirled around in time to smack Reiner's reaching hand with the back of his own. Shit. Saito stared into Reiner's rather shocked tawny eyes which looked back at him in surprise.
"Saito--"
"No- Sorry- I have to go. I have some stuff to finish before the flight so I-"
"It's alright." Reiner said softly as he nodded, taking a step back. A distance he realized he should've kept. "Let's catch up at a better time."
Saito nodded as he too took a step back. Something foul laid heavily on his tongue and no matter how many times he swallowed, it remained there like an aftertaste of a bad meal.
"It was good seeing you by the way." Reiner mentioned at last. His voice seemed so shaky to Saito. What was he so nervous about...
Oh.
Saito remembered who he, himself, was. Bastard or not, he was still a Marleyan. A villain to Eldians like Reiner. They were different from each other. He had such a hard time understanding that as a kid. And there was so much to pay for the price of his ignorance.
And while he paid it with a scold here and there...
Reiner had to pay it with a goddamn curse that shortened his life to only thirteen more years...
It disgusted Saito when he remembered he used to root for Reiner to inherit the Titan. How stupid he was. To support for someone-- to die.
How much time does he even have now... Six? Seven years? Saito scoffed under his breath. Why couldn't it have been me. It should've been me.
Saito lifted his eyes back at Reiner. "I'll see you around then-" He paused. "Reiner." He muttered his name softly before he turned around and walked away.
Strangely there was a sweetness that settled on his tongue once he uttered the name. A sweetness he had long forgotten.
Reiner was left in the clearing. He looked at his hand and replayed the moment Saito turned around and smacked his hand away. For a moment there was a wild look in Saito's eyes. Something vicious and hateful. But at the same time... scared.
What happened to you.. Reiner remembered Saito's bright eyes when they first met. They had been so bright. And now.. Even when he laughed and smiled... There was no luster. As if everything was fake. An act.
Reiner clutched his fingers into a tight fist. Had this all been my fault?
[ authors note. ]
I recently finalize a draft for the entirety of this spin off and I sat there- 3 o clock in the goddamn morning and realize that... there really isn't a single happy scene in this story. brb while i add the HurtNoComfort tag rq ʕ ಡ ﹏ ಡ ʔ
OH YEOOO BUT!!!
OK SO- I was sketchihng a piece for a winter olympics AU cause the games just started the other day and like... I've already come up with a plot from drawing this au that was supposed to be a fucking one time thing;;;; i have nothing better to do so here we are.. hyperfixating. the usual </3 but lowkey tho- would you all be interested in a Figure Sakter!Saito and Hockey Player!Reiner au? I may or may not have already came up with a title too--
REITO ON ICE ( •̀ᴗ•́ )و ̑̑ thoughts???
--plays another life furiously--