17 Time

Later that night, the whole family was seated around the dining table, enjoying Carla's heavenly cooking. Grisha made some small talk as Eren and I ate quietly. Just another night in the Yeager household.

"Dad, how are babies made?"

Until it wasn't. It was I, Karl, who dropped the live grenade! Quite frankly, it was a lowkey revenge against Grisha, considering the fact that he kept quiet about Mrs. Ackerman being pregnant.

It might seem petty, but I was still a seven year old. Meaning, I had all the liberty to be as petty as I wanted to be!

Grisha choked at the sudden jab, while Carla's lips twitched with mirth. However, she seemed quite relieved that she wouldn't be the one to break it to us. Meanwhile, Eren was also listening in, genuinely interested in the question.

"Um- eh, t-that, hum, you s-see…" Grisha began mumbling about some great philosophy, i.e., two people who love each other very much and have children born out of love. Classic Amine bullshit, I say.

But, seeing him give a G-Rated explanation was hilarious, proved by the fact that Carla almost burst out laughing. Also, it reminded me of that kiss scene between Emilia and Subaru.

One of the contenders for the Throne of Lugnica, the Genius Half Elf Emilia, claims to be pregnant because she kissed a guy… Has her 'Royal Education' not taught her a WHIT about the human anatomy?!

That kind of bullshit was not cute, but just straight up dumb as f*ck. Well, enough with my rant and back to the topic.

Anyway, after tiring Grisha out to my satisfaction, we finished our meals. Entering my room, I was about to enjoy the peace of my bed, just as the brat interrupted me, pulling me back. I sent him a glare as he spoke up.

"Armin was here today." He said, undeterred as I tried to shoo him off. Armin, huh… I guess he recovered from yesterday's shock.

"Took him long enough. What'd he say?" I asked still trying to shake off his grip with care. I could do it with brute strength, but I didn't want to hurt my lil bro. Also, there's Carla's punishments…

"That he needed to see you. So, I told him that you were out." He continued with a slight pause, looking straight into my eyes.

"I think you should talk to him." He added in a worried tone, earning a look of surprise from me.

'Oh my, look at this! The bratty Eren is actually being mature!! Obviously, it's all due to my great influence alright!!' I thought with a chuckle, as he frowned a bit.

With a lazy nod, I continued shooing him away. Finally, he clicked his tongue as he left the room with a loud thud. Ah! Such angst!

'Now, my destiny awaits! Sweet dreams, here I come!' I thought, jumping onto my bed with a smile. For tomorrow, my training arc shall resume!

Until next time, Adios!

***

With determination and will-power reminiscent of a Shounen Protagonist, I strictly followed my Daily Quest. Everyday, my body cried out in pain, only to be repaired by my skills.

In such torturous ways, I focused on increasing the Skill Proficiency of Reinforced Anatomy and Mental Defense, barely making it through each day's work. All according to my damned keikaku...

Grisha did inform me about the bullies' condition. It seems that they had severe insomnia, with recurring nightmares of a demon who would torture them relentlessly.

Also, he tacitly implied that they had problems using their 'Manhood'. Especially Talley, who also developed a bipolar disorder.

'Well, what can I say except 'Your Welcome'~?' I hummed, quite proud of my results.

Once the rumors spread, that I was the one who beat them up, it only served to further isolate our group. Well, not that Eren and I cared and Armin was already ostracized from the start, so there was no noticeable change in our lives.

But, this incident did cause the local kids to fear me quite a bit. Also, in rare occasions, I could even see respect in some of their eyes. I guess I'm quite popular now, eh?

Speaking of which, I met up with Armin just a few days after the incident, giving him plenty of time to think. Eren and I decided to meet him at the docks, where it was cooler and more comfortable. Arriving at our regular meeting spot, we found Armin, who was pacing around in a hurry.

Once our eyes met, he stood still, seeming quite anxious. But, at least he didn't look at me with 'those' eyes...

"K-Karl..." He said softly as he noticed us, almost in a whisper. His hands shivered as he looked down with shame, refusing to meet my eyes. His lips kept bobbing, yet not a single sound came from them.

I stood firmly, looking right at his shuddering figure, with a stoic face. Eren sighed as he saw this, walked up to Armin and smacked him in the back.

"Say something already!" He said, as Armin looked up to him in surprise, rubbing his back. At those words, Armin stood stiffly, before slightly nodding.

With a straightened back and a deep breath, he finally met my eyes. With a determined, yet nervous countenance, he finally spoke-no, screamed to be specific.

"I… I'm sorry! I t-treated you horribly even though y-you did all that for me!" He said, bowing in a full 90°, in the loudest voice that I had ever heard from him.

"I d-don't deserve to be your friend…! I'm really sorry…!!" Tears must've welled up in his eyes, evident from his loud sniffing. I stood still for a few seconds, as Armin continued to bow in shame.

With a sigh, I slowly walked up to him and pulled him up by his shoulders. With one hand wiping his tear stained cheeks as the other held him straight up, I smiled weakly as I spoke.

"Armin… I really envy you." At those words, a priceless look of disbelief was etched on his face as his hazel eyes shuddered uncontrollably.

"No matter what anyone said, you held onto your beliefs firmly and fearlessly talked about your passions. Even when you were being bullied, you never gave up."

"For that, I envy and respect you very much Armin." With that, I looked straight into his eyes, as I spoke softly with a bright smile.

"So, I'll ask you once again… Armin, will you be my friend?" I said, tightening my grip on his shoulders.

"C-can I r-really…?" He choked on his words, still unable to accept it completely. Just as I nodded, he hugged me and started wailing, attracting the attention of every bystander roaming through the docks...

"Is it over already? I'm getting the jitters with all this hugging." Eren's indignant voice chimed in as Armin finally calmed down. This little tsundere!

"Oh, my! No need to be shy, Eren! I'll hug you too!!" I said approaching him, as Eren loudly protested. Armin and I burst out laughing as his face flushed in embarrassment.

'Heh, still gets him every time!' I smirked, as all of us enjoyed the moment.

"Also, let's make a promise! That all of us will continue to be the best of friends!" I suggested, stretching out both my 'pinkies' to them. Such actions were really popular when I was a kid, so it couldn't hurt to try right.

"Fine, I'll do it." Eren said quite nonchalantly. Yet, his lips were visibly twitching as we linked our fingers. I also made a mental note to correct his tsundere attitude at the earliest.

"Yes, thank you!" Armin chimed in, wiping away the rest of his tears, with a smile on his face. After he and Eren linked fingers as well, we stood in an awkward rectangle for a while and chuckled at our own antics.

With that out of the way, we got back to our usual schedules of strenuous exercise, also called 'Playtime'. It was a heart-warming day, as I enjoyed every bit of it!

***

Almost as if I had jinxed it, it was just the very next day that Armin brought THE book to us. The highly illegal book about the outside world, that started it all.

Now, with Eren and Armin fully enamored by the outside world, the canon had truly begun. And, they just wouldn't shut up about the damn deserts or glaciers ever since!

Anyway, my progress with the Ackermans' wasn't faring well either. Although I was well acquainted with the entire family and was considered to be a good child, I don't think they'd just believe me, even if I told them the truth.

If I'm not careful, I could permanently damage the relationship between our families, and that's the last thing I wanted. So, I decided to take it slow and think my strategy over.

Grisha checked up on the Ackerman household every other weekend. Of course, I tagged along every single time. Can't leave my friend hanging now, can I?

Mikasa and I had become great friends as we shared our experiences, played a lot and talked about everything her childish mind could possibly comprehend.

'I still don't understand how she can talk so much…' Let it be dresses or the weather and even about the river, she always had something to talk about. Well, I only met her once in two weeks, so it is quite obvious that she is lonely...

Still, it was very enjoyable spending time with her. And, she did have a priceless reaction when both Eren and I visited together.

Standing before us, she alternated her gaze between Eren and I trying to figure out which one was which. After a minute or two, she correctly identified us, attributing it to our height difference.

Well, I was a few cm taller than Eren (which he always whined about), so I guess it's fine, right? Anyway, Eren wasn't able to visit every time, because he'd easily get tired. Still, both of them turned out to be good friends.

I've also talked to Valir about why they were living so far into the woods, to which I got a huge number of excuses in return. Seems like he was thoroughly prepared, in case the Military Police came snooping around. So yeah, that wasn't very helpful…

And so, a few months passed by and the Ackerman family had safely welcomed a son. It was quite a hectic time of the year, with Grisha checking up every other day and even offering to stay.

But with a safe birth, the entire family was in a festive mood. Of course, a celebration was held at the Ackerman household with the Yeagers in attendance. All in all, I had a lot of fun.

Mikasa was practically on cloud nine, brimming with excitement about having a younger brother. Well, I'll just hope that she won't burst a vein or two, in dealing with his antics...

Just like that, the days passed and before I knew it, two years had flown by...

***

A/N: We hit 1K collections on April 1st!! POG!!!!