The Other Side of the Coin

"What the!...Where the bloody hell am I?!" A young man with a lean muscular body woke up lying on his back in a strange white place. He sat up and began panicking while raising his hands into a fighting stance. Clearly, he thought he was being played a prank on and had a hot temper.

"Sheesh kid, don't just go screaming as soon as you wake up. Tsk, That other boy is much better than you in attitude."

"Huh?" The young man turned towards the origin of the voice. Over at the corner, beyond his field of vision stood a man dressed up like a businessman or an FBI agent. He wore a black suit and a pair of black shades while holding a black briefcase. The thing that truly left an impression on the young man was the pair of horns on the stranger's head.

"Who the f*ck are you?! Where the bloody hell did you bring me?! And the f*ck did you say?! What other chap?! You better start explaining yourself old man or I'll beat yo *ss!" The young man immediately blew up upon looking at the unfamiliar man who did not seem to have any muscles whatsoever.

"Tsk, How rude and uncultured. Why did Torakku-san choose an *ss like you to be the other one." The horned 'agent' said in great displeasure and disappointment.

"You deaf or something?! Didn't you bloody hear me?! Stop talking to yourself and tell me what the hell is going on!" The young man menacingly approached the stranger in the strange place as he was nearing the limits of his patience which was next to negligible.

The strange man glanced at him before snapping his finger in annoyance. With that snap, a chair made of crystal rose up from the ground behind the young man and suddenly lunged at him, forcing him to sit down. Upon sitting down, straps in the form of an X strapped him to the chair.

Before the young man could begin opening his mouth and spit out filthy words, the stranger snapped his finger once more which made it impossible for the young man's voice to come out of his throat. No matter how much the young man tried to speak and scream, nothing came out.

"Silence, at last. Alright let's get to business, I don't want to spend an extra second with you than necessary." He snapped his fingers once more and a crystal table and chair rose up from the ground as well. He sat opposite to the young man after setting down his briefcase on the table and taking out an aged paper.

"A rude person like you does not deserve to know my name so just call me contractor. My friend, the soul deliverer, brought your soul here for some reason and chose you to be the other person to maintain equilibrium. I will give you a wish that I will grant before I send you to the world of AOT. Now, state your wish."

The 'contractor' snapped his fingers once more and the young man regained the ability to speak. Upon listening to the 'contractor', "AOT? You mean Attack on Titan? Brilliant! You did say a wish right? So you can grant a wish like a genie or something? Well, I wish for infinite wishes."

"No, I will only grant you a maximum of 3 wishes"

"Are you going to turn back on your words?"

"I never stated that I would grant whatever wish you want. If I don't like your wish, I won't grant it."

"I said I wish for infinite wishes."

"DO NOT TEST MY PATIENCE MORTAL! I GAVE YOU A WISH, CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY I AM WILLING TO GIVE YOU TWO MORE! ASK THAT WISH AGAIN AND I'LL SEND YOU DOWN WITHOUT ANY AT ALL!"

"Hmph, what a tight-arsed bloke. Alrighty, here are my three wishes so listen up. First I want to be reborn in a minted family. Best if it's a noble family. Second I want to keep all my memories. I better be able to completely remember all my memories. They better not be a dog's dinner, you hear? complete clear memories I can recall any time I want, got it? Finally, I want to be reborn with an immortal body and I can share my immortality with others. That's a bloody cruel world. What's the point of the first two wishes when I can't enjoy it enough before I die. I want to be able to live forever and rule that world as its king! Hahahaha!"

"The first two wishes are acceptable but you have to change the last one. I cannot turn people into immortals. It's either you are born as one or not at all. Immortals like me are embodiments of a concept. I can't just turn you into one. No gods can do that. I can technically let you live forever but that would be at the prerequisite that you would stay in a place separated from the flow of time. I am reincarnating you into a world that is still under its influence therefore that is not possible. As for letting you give others immortality as well, that's even more out of the question. If even I can't do it, how can I make that possible for you."

"Tsk, Fine. My third wish is that I want a powerful titan form, It should have some brilliant titan powers like the power of the elements or something. Make sure I can change back between human and titan. I want to become a titan shifter you hear? Don't c*ck-up my wishes, I don't want you turning me into a plonker of a titan or abnormal."

The contractor's left eye madly twitched while a bulging vein could clearly be seen on the side of his forehead. "Fine, Your wishes are acceptable. Sign your name here and let's be done with this."

The young man did not immediately sign but instead, he took the paper and read it word for word. He carefully checked that there was nothing wrong with the content. He even checked for tiny words hidden within the paragraphs and lifted it above his head to check for hidden words invisible to the naked eye without light. His actions naturally pissed off the contractor even further. After a while, He finally placed down the paper on the table and signed his name.

'Hansel James V. Artemis'

The contractor quickly took the paper from his hands and stuffed them in his briefcase. Holding the briefcase in hand, he snapped with the fingers in his free hand and the crystal furniture vanished in thin air.

"Finally done. Alright, get out of here. I don't want to see that face of yours a second more." The man gestured with his hands and shooed him away. An invisible force pulled on Hans and his body began rapidly fading until it completely disappeared from the room as if he was never there in the first place.

The 'contractor' as you may have guessed was The Lived. He used his pointer finger and thumb and began massaging his nose-bridge. "D*mn it! Had my physical body still had its spine, I'd personally go down there and beat him up. Alas, although I'm not supposed to help a side and let them face off by themselves, I'm the ruler of this world after all. I'll help who I want to help because the other isn't someone I can stand and no one can stop me."

"Hmmph! To actually dare test the patience of I?! Good gods are benevolent and merciful, unfortunately for you. I'm not one of them. I will show you just how terrifying my fury can be."

*Ding!*

A sound like that of a device that just received a message was heard from the left though there was nothing there.

"Oh! Torakku-san finally replied. Alright, I'll take revenge later. First, one rank match then I still have to photoshop those memories and send them to that Jiyu kid." The Lived walked towards that side wherein a hole opened up, revealing the room of a typical otaku. He threw the briefcase on the bed and took off the black suit revealing a white t-shirt with an anime printed on it and checkered shorts. He replaced his black shades with reading glasses and wore his gaming headphones on his head. He sat down on his exquisite gamer's chair and began doing his own thing while placing the revenge plan on the back of his head.

...

An unknown amount of matches later...

"Hahahaha! Foolish mortals! You cannot beat me. You chose your heroes poorly. Your death has been decided since you locked on those heroes. Your fall is inevitable." The Lived said while his open left palm semi-covered his face.

*Ding*

"Hmm? Who sent me a message? It's her? Did I inform the first guy of the situation? What first guy?... That Jiyu kid? Oh right!" He hurriedly messaged Torakku-san.

'Hey Torakku, I gotta do my job now. Let's play again later.'

'Copy that. I'll continue playing. I still have some free time right now since I just finished my latest delivery.'

The Lived exited the game and opened his messaging app. "I think I'll just video chat him." He clicked the video chat option and looked for a suitable host.

...

Meanwhile, back in Ryoshi Island...

Heishi opened his eyes and got up from his bed. The party last night took a really long time but due to the training his been through for the past 5 years, his biological clock still woke him up early in the morning. He turned towards a side of the wall where Guri was sleeping on a hammock. Heishi's house was small but it still had plenty of extra rooms but despite that, Guri still stayed in his room.

Heishi took a scarf from the drawer beside the hammock, wore it, and headed outside to begin his morning stretches.

He opened the front door, stepped out, and began the morning activities his grandfather taught him.

Upon finishing his morning exercises, he noticed a silhouette in the distance. Usually, he would not even be able to see that far for he had a normal vision back then and needed a telescope or binoculars to see something from that long distance but ever since last night, his vision improved by quite a bit and he was now able to see things from way over there.

He could not see the figure very clearly but he could tell he/she was idle and not moving or sneaking around, thereby erasing the suspicion that it was a thief, spy, or assassin. Heishi walked over there and the person gradually became clearer. The silhouette he saw was Andrea who was sitting underneath a tree beside the fence that prevented people from falling into the sea.

He stopped behind her and noticed that she was just staring at the dark sea on the horizon.

"Andrea, You're an early bird as well I see. What are you doing?"

The girl jumped in surprise looked at him before sighing in relief. She punched him in the shoulder as he sat down beside her. "Don't just scare me like that." She said before hugging herself and slightly shivering.

"Hehe...Huh? Are you cold? Here," Heishi took off his scarf and helped her wear it on her neck.

"What about you? Aren't you feeling cold?" Andrea blushed as she asked while still shivering a bit. The Ryoshi Estate was located in a high place just like Animal Meadow that was why the early morning wind was especially cold there. "Not really, especially now. Here, come here. I'll warm you up." He held her hands and pulled her into his embrace before activating his connection again. His body slightly reddened as it emitted more heat than normal using the power of the Combustion.

Activating the power of the Combustion, he became more sensitive to heat and immediately noticed Andrea's body heat increasing with her skin slightly reddening as well.

'...How is she doing this? Am I doing this? Can I share my powers with others?' He kept the thought in mind and decided to test out his theory later.

"So tell me, what are you doing here? Just observing the ocean below?" Heishi asked Andrea who was in front of her.

"I-I'm w-waiting for the s-sunrise," She replied quietly, almost akin to a whisper.

"Oh, okay. I'll accompany you. Let's watch it together then. I got nothing to do for now anyway."

They sat together underneath the tree where a mistletoe was quietly growing. As they awaited the sun's arrival on the horizon, they failed to notice Clara watching them from the covers of the curtains on her window.

"Hmm Don't worry Andrea. Grandma supports you and will help you. I'll make sure you two will be together. I won't let you suffer the pain as I did," She whispered under her breath while reminiscing her past.

She first met Nasuko on her first time arriving here in Ryoshi Island. Just like the two outside, they also quickly hit it off and became close friends. Back then, their branches frequently visited each other as their branches' friendship was still in its early stage. Nasuko and her would always meet due to this, thereby giving their relationship a lot of time to grow. As they became so close of friends that they were nearly inseparable whenever they were together, her feelings for him gradually evolved to more than just friends.

She tried many times to express her true feelings to him but in the end, would always hold back and keep it a secret. It was in one of those moments that she found out he had taken a liking to a young farmer girl the same age as them back then. She was confident that her beauty was leagues above that girl's and she had a big advantage over her due to her experiences with him. She knew that although this was the case, her time was running out for he was already planning to pursue the girl until he eventually enacted on it. The courting was still in process and she still had time to confess to him but she would still hold back every time.

It then came the time that the two were finally officially a couple and soon got engaged. That was when Clara knew that she no longer had the chance, her time had run out. On the day of the marriage between Emilia and Nasuko, she came to their wedding and wished them a good and happy married life.

She felt heartbroken and decided to try and ignore and forget the pain by focusing on her mission inside the walls of Paradis but fate played with her. She met Nasuko once more inside the walls. It turned out that they were sent to the same location to complete their mission. They worked together and helped each other as often as they can and treated each other the same way as always. She had completed her mission first and therefore left to return to her branch earlier than him. That was the last time she was with him for years.

12 years ago, She learned of Emilia's demise in the foot of Gekido. She did not come to comfort him for she knew he needed his alone time. Emilia was gone but she was well aware that it didn't change a thing. The moment the two officially became a couple, she no longer had a place in Nasuko's heart as anything more than friends, not that she was in the first place. Nasuko was a very loyal person, that was one of the reasons she had developed feelings for him, and inside the walls wherein he had plenty of chance to find another girl, he did not. Whenever he was stressed and frustrated, he would relieve it by training instead of women.

Looking at the two outside right now, she saw an image of her and Nasuko when they were kids in them. Their close friendship, Nasuko's naivety, and her shyness. She was well aware that should she let things be as they are right now, history would repeat itself and her granddaughter would similarly feel the pain she experienced. With a new conviction, she was determined to change things. History would not repeat like how lightning would not hit the same place twice...except for when a shifter activates their power and transform.

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Can you guys see the Author's Thoughts? If not then I'll just say it here. Heishi's rival has arrived. Only one more chapter to go and The Fall of Shiganshina Arc will finally begin. I mean, He'll arrive at Paradis but he won't immediately arrive at the walls. There is still an encounter he would experience. One I am most excited to write about.

As always, thanks for reading everyone. I hope you guys enjoyed the story so far. Leave a comment. Peace✌