18 Premonition

"Come on you guys, Run faster!"

I shouted at the far away silhouettes with a bit of annoyance. It had already been quite a while since I arrived at the Tree, waiting for those slowpokes to catch up.

Soon enough, two young kids arrived with reddened faces and sweating dripping from head to toe, as they collapsed right at my feet. Gasping like dogs in heat, they looked at me with resentful eyes.

"That should be enough for today." I said, blatantly ignoring their murderous glares.

"You don't say?!" Eren screamed as he rolled on the floor while Armin had already fainted. Such occurrences had become common in the last few months.

'Well, they've just been doing a tenth of my current regime…' I thought with a wry chuckle. Maybe I wasn't even human anymore… But that's a monologue for another time!

For today, it was our Ninth Birthday! It is also the year Mikasa's parents died in the Canon… And, that's exactly one of the reasons why I was reborn!

Fuck the Ackerman Bloodline benefits! I've already resolved myself to save her from that tragic fate the moment I reincarnated, and that's exactly what I'm going to do!! But, before that…

"Get up, you lazy slugs! At this rate, we're going to be late!!" I kicked the two children, pulling them away from their blissful rest. With much difficulty, I carried them forward as they used me for support.

"How come... you're not tired... at all?!" Eren barely mumbled out with an extremely tired countenance.

I just sent him a smug grin, as I left him hanging. He'd randomly ask this a few times every week, unaware of how cliché it was! Also, a mysterious concept would suit my handsome face, right?

Diligently carrying my baggage, I dropped off Armin close to his house as we made our way home. Just as we entered the doorstep, however, we were confronted by our greatest fear...

"You're late!" Carla chided us, as she cut the vegetables at an astonishingly fast pace with frightening precision. Not wanting to end up like that, I did the next best thing.

"Sorry mom, I'll be back in a min!" I passed the baton as I dashed for the baths, leaving Eren to bear the brunt of her wrath. He did owe me quite a bit, so It's only fair, right?

After admiring my perfectly evolving muscles for a bit, I enjoyed the refreshing sensation of the cold water brushing past my figure. Sensing the piled up fatigue fade away, I watched the water flow with a distant gaze.

'It's finally come to this…' I thought as a small sigh escaped my lips. These two years had been peaceful as usual, but I couldn't achieve anything drastic that would affect the future.

I've primarily focused on accumulating Gene Points and trying to convince Valir to move somewhere close to us in Shiganshina. Unfortunately, my second goal didn't work out, solely because I had no idea how to proceed.

I tried talking with him, with subtle implications or straight up requests, but he didn't even budge. At that point, I tried convincing Mikasa about living closer to us, and she liked that idea very much.

Unfortunately, Valir outright rejected it, even though it was his own daughter that had asked for it. I gave up right after, letting the whole incident be brushed off as a simple childish tantrum.

Of course, if I somehow found the kidnappers, I'd eliminate them without a second thought, but that was the problem. I had absolutely no clues as to even begin looking for them.

In the end, I realized that I had no means to predict nor prevent the imminent deaths of the Ackermans. Therefore, I did plan a few contingencies, but I'm not sure if they'd be that effective. In the end, I could only hope that I'd somehow win my bet…

Just then, a loud knocking sound woke me from my musings. Of course, it was Eren, who was even more fatigued after bearing all of Carla's scolding.

He didn't even bother looking at me once I left the bath, shutting the door with a bang. Well, somebody's pissed alright!

Putting on a fresh pair of clothes, I left the towel to dry as I made my way downstairs. Carla was still busy with the preparations, so I helped her out with it. And, It wasn't long until our first guests had arrived.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Arlert." I greeted, opening the door for our guests, without even having to look. And, just as I had guessed it, it was the Arlert couple with a tired Armin in tow.

Now, since I wasn't any sort of a clairvoyant, it might be confusing as to how I guessed the identity of our guests. Well, there's a simple reason for it.

After pestering Grisha long enough and considering my reputation, I suggested that the Birthday feast be a private gathering, as in, only our closest friends were invited.

Meaning only the Arlerts and the Ackermans would be arriving today! And, since the Arlerts lived close by, I assumed that they would be the first to come and they did!

"Hello Karl. Happy birthday to you!" They wished me, looking around for Eren. After making some small talk, as Armin's mother joined to help us.

After working around for a bit, I took the slouched Armin to my room upstairs, only to be greeted by a fully clothed Eren. He was just inches away from the door, which would have slammed into his face instead.

Ignoring his full blown scowl that seemed awfully similar to a certain someone, I sat Armin down on a spare chair. Almost immediately, he slumped over letting out a tired breath.

"Just… how do you have… so much energy…?!" Armin whimpered, speaking with much difficulty as his eyelids threatened to close.

"Well, I've been doing it for a few years, so stop whining." I quipped, earning a tired sigh from him. If only he knew that it was ten times more torturous for me back then…

"Is Mikasa here yet?" Eren asked, turning to Armin as he involuntarily shuddered with surprise. The look on his face saying, 'Is she coming?!'

"Why? Are you still embarrassed about 'That'?" I smirked as Armin began blushing. If he really did feel so shy, then who asked him to go and behave like that?!

It was about four months ago that Mikasa had actually come to visit us in Shiganshina for the first time. That day, Eren and I brought her along and introduced her to Armin.

But, back then, we didn't realize that the only woman Armin talked with was the one he came out of… And, like any introvert would, he made a complete fool of himself, making all of us burst out laughing.

"Hello. Armin. My. Name. Is. What. No. Wait. Puka!" I laughed, recounting the epic tale in a monotone voice. Eren chuckled, before hurriedly putting on his poker face. Armin just gave up and resigned to his fate.

For he already knew... No matter what he did, I would never stop mentioning it!

With that, I continued poking fun at both of them, beating any counter arguments they thought up. Ah! Just why was bullying children always so fun?!

"Just what would it take to get some peace?" Eren mumbled unable to handle my verbal jabs, which I could hear all too clearly.

"Genocide." I said with a cheeky grin.

"Eh? What was that?" Eren suddenly asked with a confused look as his eyelashes fluttered. It was slightly unsettling, but nothing that I had to take note of.

"Nothing." I shrugged as we moved on to the next topic. Before I knew it, almost an hour had passed as Carla called out to us.

"Children! It's time to start!" Eren's ears perked up at those words, which I didn't miss. Of course, no matter how angry one is, great food will always soothe them!

Dashing downstairs with an unwilling Armin, we arrived just in time as did Grisha with a few more guests. Of course, it was Mr. Valir and Mikasa!

"Hi Karl and Eren! Happy birthday to you two!!" She greeted us with a bright smile. After all greetings were exchanged, Grisha announced the start of the celebrations.

"Cheers to this joyous day!" He exclaimed as everyone chimed in. Finally it is time to Devour!

The kids and adults grouped up separately as we began the feast. Mostly laughing, bickering and shoving food down our hungry stomachs, everyone enjoyed the day to the absolute fullest!

Armin still seemed a bit shy around Mikasa, but loosened up soon enough. Afterwards, with a full stomach, we moved on to the most anticipated event for today!

Finally, it was time for the gifts! The Arlerts brought us a bag of our favorite flavored Candy rocks for both Eren and I, as Valir gave us an ambiguous answer.

"I'll show it to you the next time you visit." Valir said with a mysterious smile, leaving my childish imagination to run wild.

And finally, Grisha gifted us the usual books and quills, along with a little extra book for me.

"Karl, this is what you asked for. Use it wisely." He added, ruffling my hair. Of course, Eren snuck a peek at it out of curiosity. But, after realizing what it was, he dropped it like a live grenade.

'What a brat!' I thought as I sighed. Youngsters really had no respect for books these days…

Soon enough, the celebrations came to an end as everyone said their goodbyes. Armin waved with a bright smile as Mikasa waited for a while.

"Will you be back next week?" She asked, as her eyes sparkled with anticipation. Somehow, I couldn't help but feel that she looked like a cute rabbit!

Giving a soft pat on her head, I promised Mikasa that the both of us would visit soon. With a sparkling smile, she ran back to her father as we watched them leave.

'Can I really save her...?' A thought flickered in my mind which I immediately shoved away. I'd already made a promise. No matter what, I'd do my very best to make sure she never lost that smile...

With that, our birthday celebrations had finally come to an end. Soon enough, we retired to our own quarters, looking forward to a bright tomorrow!

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A/N: No chap tomorrow.... Instead, a 3K chap will be released the day after!