Attack on Titan Fanfiction – With Friends Like These: Chapter 2

Let Us Stand Up for You  

“Here’s the list. Make sure you pick up starchy potatoes and not the waxy ones,” Mrs. Kirschtein instructed, handing Jean a piece of paper and a coin pouch. They’d gone to the market to help her with the week’s shopping. The central market at Trost was the heart of the town, bustling with people, shoppers everywhere, merchants peddling their wares in a cacophony of voices while children ran around playing noisily as the adults haggled amongst themselves. 

Jean made his way to a fruit stall while Eren, Sasha and Mikasa were elsewhere nearby getting other foodstuff. He picked some fruit, paid and was about to leave when someone called out to him.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Jean Kirschtein,” said a mocking voice behind the stall. “Been a while, Horse Face.” It was a beanie-wearing young man about his age. 

“Hiya,” Jean said, sounding uncomfortable. 

“Lads, look who’s here! Jean-boi himself,” the guy called out. Two other young men appear from the neighboring stalls. From what they wore they seemed to be sons of merchants or stall owners in the market.

“Heard you joined the Survey Corps,” one of them said in a scornful tone.

“So what happened, Jean-boi? Thought you were going to join the MPs and get you and momma dearest outta this shithole town and into the central district,” the plumpest among them asked cheekily. 

“For all your brains you ended up a loser after all,” opined the beanie-hatted boy, his voice filled with contempt.

Jean was at a loss for words. These three boys used to beat him up when they were kids. He fought back but because he was alone and had no Mikasa-like friend to aid him he usually ended up kicked to the ground and eating dust, crawling home crying to his mother. This time he could take all three of them, he knew. Thanks to Eren he was now proficient at unarmed combat. He could take them, and with Eren as his backup he’d be sure to win the fight this time. But he was also now a soldier, and soldiers don’t beat up civilians. What’s more, his mother was inside a haberdashery nearby. He didn’t want her to come out the door and see her supposedly all-grown-up son in the middle of a brawl. There were a dozen hurtful things he could say to get back at his childhood tormentors but he didn’t want to be that cheap.

“Imagine that, the smartest, most arrogant kid in Volksschule ending up with the Survey Corps!” The three of them stared at him and hollered derisively. 

“My dear lads, let’s not be mean to poor Jean-boi!” the oldest one intoned in a syrupy voice dripping with sarcasm. “As an heroic member of the Survey Corps he’ll be dead before we know it!”

The beanie-wearing boy was quick to pick up on this, reciting in a melodramatic tone, “And on his tombstone will be:

Here lies Jean Kirschtein

Died a virgin

In the arms of a titan.”

His two friends thought this was the funniest, most brilliant poetry ever and the three of them convulse in a bout of unrestrained guffawing. 

“That’s what happens when you join the Survey Corps!” said the oldest one, gasping for breath.

“More like the Shitty Corps!” said the one with the beanie. More jeering laughter.

“Make that the ‘Stinking Corpse’!” the plump one corrected, pinching his nose disdainfully to illustrate exactly what he thought of the SC.

Eren, a couple of feet behind Jean, stood listening to the barrage of insults. Sasha was next to him and felt his anger rising, saw his hands curling into fists. She touched his arm. “Eren, don’t. I got this.” Handing Eren her shopping bag, she gave Mikasa a quick nod and then strode toward her other comrade.

Suddenly Sasha sidled up to Jean’s side, an arm around his waist. “Je—-an,” she said in a singsong voice, speaking an octave higher than she usually did and batting her eyelashes at him. “Are we done yet? I wanna go to the riverside cafe you talked about last night!” 

Mikasa quickly picked up her cue. Handing her shopping bags to Eren, she warned him in a low voice, “Stay out of it. Don’t say a word.” 

Appearing beside Jean, Mikasa wrapped an arm around his waist and said in a ditzy, girly voice a pitch higher than her usual way of speaking, “Baby, I’m done with the veggies list. How’re we doing here?” She smiled at him sweetly as he placed an arm around her shoulders and the other arm around Sasha. Jean had immediately caught on. 

“I’ll be done in a bit, babe,” he smiled fondly at Mikasa. 

She looked at the three boys behind the stall. “Are they your childhood friends, baby?”

“Yeah…”

“Hi, I’m Jean’s girlfriend, Mika,” she introduced herself in a vivacious manner, nodding toward Sasha adding, “and that’s my best friend, Sash.”

“Hi!” Sasha smiled coquettishly at them, her hand doing a cutesy wave.

“That one’s Felix,” Jean introduced the lads, “he’s Eddie and there’s Oscar.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mikasa favored each of them with a dazzling smile, offering a hand held in that old-fashioned limp, ladylike way, not the the power handshake she’d usually whip up to show people she meant business. 

The three young men behind the stall stared at them. Mikasa was so glad she and Sasha spent the night braiding each other’s hair in the guestroom. Now her thick black hair fell down in curls above over her shoulders, with a braided part tied with a ribbon to match her skirt. Sasha, whose voluminous brown hair was usually tied up in a high, messy ponytail to get it out of the way during meals, had hers cascading down her back with a braided part pinned across the top of her head like a headband. When they arrived Mrs Kirschtein went tut-tut over the girls’ shabby looks–both of them had let their appearances go once they became soldiers, being in uniform daily during the day and not caring much about how they looked like out of it. Mikasa’s goal in life was to kill titans and make sure Eren didn’t get killed, and Sasha’s was to not get killed by titans and eat as much as possible in as short a time as manageable. 

“When I was your age I looked the part,” Mrs Kirschtein admonished the girls, telling them that while she’d grown matronly with age she used to be a willowy young thing who presented herself the proper way in public. She had Mikasa and Sasha press their blouses crisply and showed them how to iron in proper pleats onto their skirts. Thus while their outfits were simple they were made quite presentable indeed. Opening up one of the several trunks in her bedroom Mrs Kirschtein took out some pretty hair pins and ribbons she used to wear as a young woman and gave them to the girls. They were classic effects that never went out of fashion. “No, no, I’m way past the age of wearing them and since I haven’t got daughters you might as well have them,” she waved off their shy protests. “You’re only young once,” she advised them wisely. “Enjoy this time because it’s fleeting. Once it’s gone there’s no turning back.”

Her advice worked and both girls knew they looked charming and attractive the way the three young men behind the stall gawked at them admiringly. Whatever they lacked in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry they made up for with shiny hair and fresh, clear, taut skin and that glowing, radiant prettiness only young women are blessed with for a brief amount of time.

“So,” the oldest one named Felix asked curiously, “how’d you all meet?”

“We’re in the Survey Corps together,” Sasha replied.

“What’s a pair of pretty girls like you doing in an org like that?” the plump one, Oscar, asked. The way he spat the word ‘that’ made it clear how little he thought of the SC.

“Well, I’ve a good reason,” Mikasa replied, flipping her hair. Still in that girlish voice she continued, “The titans took my family. I’m out for revenge. I won’t stop until I kill every one of them.”

“Aren’t you afraid of getting yourself killed?” the beanied boy named Eddie queried.

“Oh I am, very much so, but I’ve been trained. Besides, we kill in groups. Jean’s the very best and I’m on his team. It gives me strength, knowing he has my back,” was Mikasa’s answer. She looked up at Jean with worshipful eyes.

“You’re one of the best yourself, babe,” Jean said with a magnanimous air.

She continued to smile at him before turning to look at the three boys across them. “It’s my fault Jean joined the Survey Corps. He graduated top of our class and wanted me to join him and be safe as an MP in the capital, but I couldn’t. I need to avenge my family, you see. So Jean refused the MP’s invite to join their brigade. All because of me…” she explained with a small, dramatic sigh. 

“Hey, a guy’s gotta look after his girl,” Jean remarked manfully. 

Mikasa beamed at him. “Oh baby,” she cooed, splaying a possessive hand over his belly. They gaze oogley eyed at each other, as if they were about to kiss.

“Awwwww, aren’t they adorable?” Sasha squealed. “They’re the cutest couple in my division. We call them ‘Jeanmika’.” Leaning across the stall she divulged conspiratorially, “After a good titan killing spree they have this adrenalin rush and get so pumped up at night, sometimes I join them.”

The young men stare at her, mouths agape. 

“It’s fun,” she said in a loud, ribald whisper. “Mika’s super hot and Jean’s like…,” she paused to silently mouth the word ‘big’, “…as in…,” she paused again, forming her lips in a large O. 

This time it was Mikasa’s turn to squeal, “Oh Sash, not in public!” Blushing prettily she rebuked the salacious brunette.

“But it’s true!” Sasha protested shamelessly. The two young women fall into a fit of naughty giggling. 

“Ladies, please, what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom,” Jean chided the two hot girls in his arms. He looked at his childhood nemeses across the stall with a ‘What’s a guy to do?’ smirk on his face.

“Oh Jeanmika, it’s time for tea. I re—ally want to go to the riverside cafe,” Sasha wheedles, pouting at them.

“Shall we get going then, baby?” Mikasa asks Jean, who nods. Turning to the boys behind the stall she explains with a smile, “Sash loves her tea and scones.” The way she said it made it seem like Sasha was the kind of girly-girl who enjoyed dainty, leisurely afternoon teas instead of being the undisputed glutton of the SC who can finish up an entire meatloaf in one sitting.

“See you around, lads,” Jean bade his leave. He noted how his three former adversaries were looking at him in a totally different way. On their faces were a bit of embarrassment but mostly shock and a huge dose of envy. And a new-found respect. It gave him a great sense of satisfaction.

“See ya, Kirschtein,” was the reply. No Jean-boi, no Horse Face. The three young men behind the stall continued to ogle at the girls.

“Bye!” Mikasa again favored them with a ravishing smile and a cutesy, girly wave.

“Byeee!” Sasha piped up energetically as they left, before glancing back coyly and blowing them a kiss. In a low voice she informed the other two, “They’re still staring at us. Let’s play theatre while we’re at it. I’ll squeeze your butt cheek, Jean, and you squeeze Mikasa’s. Okay?”

Reddening, the two of them glance at her in alarm. “Don’t be a pair of toddlers! C’mon, it’s easy. Jean, pretend you’re used to it, ‘kay?” She then went ahead and squeezed his ass. “Now do the same to her.”

“Mikasa?” Jean asked for permission, blushing like an adolescent. Even before her name left his lips he was certain she would refuse. He steeled himself for her rejection.

She was blushing herself but said, “Go ahead…and you can put your arm around my waist…if you like…”

He’d be mad not to. After giving her ass cheek a tender squeeze he let his arm snake tight around her trim waist.

“Perfect!” Sasha said approvingly. “Top theatre actors will say now’s the time to kiss, but since you two are bumbling infants I’m not holding my breath.”

“Are they still looking at us?” Mikasa inquired.

“Yup, I can feel their eyeballs burning holes through our backs!”

“Will you take Jean’s bag and walk a few paces ahead?” 

The brunette grabbed Jean’s shopping bag and began walking ahead of them. Mikasa stopped on her tracks and turned her face up to her comrade.

“Jean, do you think I’m pretty?” She was blushing but doing her best to look nonchalant. They were still within sight of the boys behind the stall, readily seen but not heard.

He looked into her eyes and spoke the truth. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

“Will you kiss me here?”

Had he died and gone to heaven? With an arm around her waist and the other cupping her face he bent down to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the tips of her fingers brushing his hair. The kiss was soft and sweet and tender with just a hint of tongue. Jean wanted to just stand there and kiss her until she protested but to his dismay a vendor pulling a vegetable cart elbowed him sharply.

“Outta my way, you horny teens!” the man bellowed. 

Jean tightened his hold on Mikasa’s waist and steered her away in Sasha’s direction. They keep up appearances until they were out of sight, at which Jean reluctantly let go of Mikasa. Eren, confused at first about what was going on but trusting the girls to know what to do best, discreetly walked a few feet behind them carrying all the shopping bags. 

Sasha beamed at the pretend couple exclaiming, “You were great! That’ll show them!” then noticing them both unable to look at each other she laughed merrily at their embarrassment. “We’re pretending you’re a couple! Haven’t you ever seen the courtship rituals of orange tree dwellers during mating season? Lots of hugging and nipping and pinching and stuff. They’ve canine features but human affectations. You could learn a lot from them!!” Orange tree dwellers were a small, bear-like species endemic to Paradis.

Eventually they help out Eren with the bags and drop the goods at Jean’s house. Mrs Kirschtein promptly shooed them away after they help her put away the groceries. “Take your friends out to play. Just make sure you all get home for dinner,” she instructed.

At the riverside cafe Jean ended up paying for their tea. He felt it was right that he treated the girls because of what they did for him. But to Eren who demanded to be treated as well he growled, “You didn’t do anything for me. Pay for yourself!” To which Eren argued, “What do you mean, I didn’t do anything? I carried all the bags like a donkey while you swaggered off like a stud!” Jean capitulated and they all had a lovely time sipping tea and praising each other’s acting skills. 

Re-evaluating the girls with a grateful look on his face Jean thanked them wholeheartedly. “From now on they’ll leave you alone. You owe me big,” Sasha declared. She let Jean eat a quarter of his sandwich but took the rest, as well as his scone and cake. Later that night she appropriated half his dinner and all of his desert.

As they washed the dishes together Jean glanced at Mikasa. “I owe you. Your wish is my command.” 

Mikasa simply shook her head. “You saved my life once, remember? That acting bit was the least I could do.”

Next – Chapter 3: Let’s Remember What It’s Like

Back – Chapter 1: Let Me Hold You