"You idiot! You can't just walk around with something valuable like that and take the freaking bus!" Eren blurted.
"I didn't know you would get me a ride since Mikasa yeeted me out of the freaking window!"
"You broke into my parents' house!!!"
"The yeeting was consensual" Mikasa added.
"Guys guys guys" Armin butted in between Hange and Eren. "Can someone please fill me in on what happened?"
"While Eren and I got into Mr. Yeager's office, we found Hange. Turns out they already broke into the office for the same idea" Mikasa began explaining.
"Then Mikasa tore open a drawer and we found these little babies!" Hange held out the small glass bottles again.
While Armin got a closer look, he could see how shiny the blue liquid was and how the small bubbles moved in the liquid. "Fascinating," he once again admired the mysterious liquid.
"What do you guys think it is? It can't just be some shiny blue ink?" He asked.
Hange pushed their glasses by the nose bridge and smiled in response "I saw that he calls it reality fluid but I didn't get to the explanation before I had to escape through a window."
"Reality fluid huh?" Armin was confused and intrigued by the name but didn't exactly know what to do. "Mikasa, can you drive to my place? We could investigate it further there. I also got all of my notes at home" Armin asked.
Mikasa nodded and made a sharp and calculated u-turn.
***
Armin's apartment was a hectic mess. Articles and manga printouts spread out on his tables and some on the floor, and three blackboards that contained similarities between his friends and the AoT characters. It was hard to tell between his work mess and his attack on titan investigation mess "Uff... I'm not an expert on women Armin, but I think you need to tidy up before you invite Annie over here" Eren said.
"Shut up Eren. She actually helped me create all of this mess"
"Oohhh" Eren and Hange cooed.
"Seriously you two!?"
"Hey, what's this?" Mikasa pointed at a diagram.
"Oh, I was just comparing our heights to the heights of the characters. I don't have exact measures on all of us, but the similarities are still very uncanny" Armin explained.
He moved on to his computer and began to type "I don't have anything about reality fluid, only spinal fluid shows up" frustrated he scratched the back of his head and muttered "think..think"
"Spinal fluid? Do we have to inject ourselves with it?" Eren asked.
"No it doesn't look like we can with these bottles and there is nothing indicating that a syringe could be of use," Hange said.
"We should break one open," Mikasa said.
"What?! No way!" Armin exclaimed. "That's too dangerous. We have no idea what that is."
Hange jumped, raised one of the bottles above their head, and admired it"Ohhh but it sounds exciting, doesn't it? Besides, how are we going to know what that it is if we won't open it?" they smiled at the thought of it.
"Not here! Not where I have all of my data and notes!" Armin waved his hands at Hange, trying to stop what seemed inevitable because Hange was already trying to throw a bottle on the ground but the glass was too sturdy so they kept trying.
"Arrrgh! Hange Stop!!" Armin panicked.
They all heard a few knocks on the door.
"Ohh is that Annie?" Eren wondered.
Armin ignored Eren's comment. He sighed like he was done with his friends' shenanigans and went to open the door.
He also expected Annie, but to his surprise, it was Levi who stood at the door with crossed arms and a very annoyed look on his face.
"Levi?" Armin wasn't sure of what to do or expect here.
"Move, I know Hange is in here" Levi pushed Armin aside and found his best friend playing dice with miniature bottles.
"Yah! Four eyes!" Levi demanded attention.
Hange looked up and smiled "Leeevaaiii!" They opened up their arms, ready to share a hug.
"Don't you Leeevaiii me!" He pointed.
Levi continued, "Why the heck am I your only contact person? This stupid high school called me because apparently, their science teacher has been missing for a few days. Without notice."
"Ah okay," Hange tried now to find something like a hammer somewhere they could use to smash one of the bottles with.
"Are you even listening? What could possibly be so important?! And why is it so damn filthy in here?" Levi was the CEO of the country's most popular cleaning supply company. Armin's place was not filthy but Levi did not like the magazine and notebook chaos he found himself in.
Armin also tried to communicate with Hange "Hange please don't smash them here. The bathroom might be a better place if you absolutely have to make a mess!"
Hange sighed "Levi tell the school I'm doing groundbreaking research,"
Levi sighed in annoyance, closed his eyes, and wondered how someone like Hange exists.
Armin's phone rang. He took it immediately without looking. Mostly because he himself wanted to escape whatever was going on in his apartment just for a moment.
"Hello, it's Armin," he said.
"Armin... I know it's kind of late and I'm calling out of nowhere but can you come to the Crimson Lake graveyard?"
"Annie? Are you there right now? No, it's okay. Hold on I'll come. It's just a ten-minute walk from here" He did not want to think too much about it. He was sure his friends could wait for him a bit. He needed some air anyways. Armin walked past his friends and put on his coat.
"Wait Armin where are you going?" Eren asked, observing everything for the past ten minutes.
"I just need some fresh air. Can you try to stop Hange from making a total mess? And maybe Mikasa too. She seemed to agree with Hange's plan."
Eren's eyes followed Armin's steps and movements. Armin looked at the bouquet he left in the foyer. He stared at it for a minute or so before taking a step toward it. He took a deep breath and reached out for it before holding it once again. This bouquet was so so pretty. Carla really did a great job arranging those flowers.
"I'll be right back" and then he took off.
Eren smiled knowingly.
***
It was cold and dark. Armin could see his own breath. He walked at a steady pace. His heart pounded harder the closer he was to his destination.
Then, in the distance, he could see a woman with blonde hair, wearing a long white coat and black boots. It was Annie. She stood under a lamppost. It was as if the light from the lamppost illuminated her beauty, putting her in the spotlight.
She spotted Armin and waved "over here! I'm so glad you came."
She turned so that her body was now facing Armin. Armin was confused for a second when he saw that Annie also held a bouquet in her hands. One with blue roses and flowers.
While Armin was confused, Annie was surprised by the gorgeous bouquet in Armin's hands. "Goodness.. you didn't have to! How did you remember?"
Armin's brain farted. He could not think properly and tried to respond accordingly to her reaction "so uhm.. the bouquet is not too much?"
Annie smiled "No it is lovely. Thank you for bringing flowers for my dad's grave. I just needed the courage to visit him alone. Hitch usually accompanies me but she had a late shift today. I told her it was alright, that I could do it this time but I'm still scared I'll get too emotional when I visit him alone on this day. Thanks again for coming." Her eyes were soft like her smile. It really meant the world to her.
Armin scratched the back of his neck "Oh of course. I didn't feel like I could come empty-handed either." He knew Annie's dad had been dead for the past two years, but he somehow managed to forget that information while speedwalking to a freaking graveyard.
Annie composed herself and looked straight ahead "Shall we?" Armin nodded and followed Annie's lead.
Instead of it being an eerie walk to Benjamin Leonhart's grave, it was somehow pleasant. Yes, there were gravestones and the thought of ghosts, but each burial ground was well decorated and cared for. Small lanterns illuminated each gravestone, so all of the bouquets and presents were even visible in the darkness. Some gravestones had drawings from children in front of them, some had toys, and others even had a cigar or a bottle of beer.
They walked a minute further until Annie stopped in front of a white gravestone that read "Benjamin Leonhart - A lionheart of gold, 1947-2020"
"Here we are," She said.
Armin admired the grave. Annie came here every week and watered the plants. She would polish the gravestone and keep it nice and clean. This time she picked up a few dead leaves and threw them away. She sat on her knees and put her bouquet in front of the gravestone. In her purse, she pulled out a cigar and lit it with a lighter. She placed the cigar on top of the gravestone.
"Hey, dad. Sorry, I'm a bit late. I needed a friend with me. Armin was nice enough to come along"
Armin snapped out of his mind again "oh yeah! Hi, Mr. Leonheart" Armin quickly put his bouquet next to Annie's.
"I brought a good cigar with me today because it's your birthday. You should have seen the look on the kiosk guy's face when I bought it. You sure you want that little lady" she imitated the guy and laughed.
"I hope you're celebrating and enjoying this cigar in heaven. Oh, Armin and I and some of our friends are doing something pretty exciting. We are trying to figure out whether the attack on titan show has some sort of relation to us!"
"It's really spooky Mr Leonhart!" Armin added.
"Haha yeah! I hope to talk more about it as soon as we figure out more stuff."
Armin could sense Annie felt happier. Less anxious, just happy. She was so warm and sweet when she spoke to her father. She didn't want her weekly visit to become a sad affair. She still wanted to be happy to visit her father.
They stayed there for a while. Armin just listened to Annie while she spoke to her father's gravestone. He thought about how precious she was while she did so. He sometimes would laugh too at things she said and add a remark or two. It was mostly just Annie's soft and cheerful voice that resonated through Armin's ears and he enjoyed it.
But the visit was about to end when Armin's phone rang.
He saw that Eren called "Oh God.." he muttered before answering the call.
"Hey, Eren,"
"I'm so sorry Armin, I could not stop them. You need to come back now!"
"Huh? Eren what's going on?"
"Come back now!!! There is smoke and oh God.... Oh God no no no!"
"What? What is happening Eren?"
"Something is coming out of the manga!"
"What? What do you mean?"
"An arm!!"
"Eren?! Are you there?!"
Annie smiled and got up "Gotta go dad. It seems like we have made some discoveries in our investigation."
Notes:
Summary:
The friends are at Armin's apartment, trying to figure out what to do with the blue liquid.
Armin accompanies Annie to the graveyard. Eren calls Armin, telling him to get back! They are in trouble.