Burdens(Erehisu)

Chapter 16

Leaning his side against the steel door, he aligned his elbow above the small door handle and used his upper body weight to press the handle down. As the door steel door swung open due to his body weight, the brunet called out, "Father issues, huh?" Hearing Eren's sudden call, Historia turned her body slightly to see the brunet walking towards the round table with two plastic cups gripped in his hands. Watching it more closely, the cups contained drinks inside that were enclosed by lids with straws emerging out.

Prince Katsu leaned to the side to see the brunet, who then said, "I can relate to that." As Eren stood beside Historia, he looked into Katsu's eyes for a moment. Then gently put down both of the drinks on the table and slid his right hand one across the table to Katsu. "Please take it." The prince stared into the light brown drink and said, "Thank you. I like ice coffee, actually." Eren gazed at the black hair prince for a moment before nodding.

Then, looking at Historia, Eren motioned her to take the other drink, which was already half empty. Historia lifted the drink to her face and examined the inside. Seeing the mix of different colors, Historia asked, "what is it?" Eren, now sitting next to Historia, said, "I don't know. They just said this was one of the rare drinks that they serve on the ship." Historia nodded without averting her eyes.

"Why is it half empty?"

"That's because it was mine. I drank it."

Resting his chin on his right hand and his right elbow on the table, Eren looked away. The blonde stared at the plastic straw for a moment. Then, slowly, she moved the straw close to her mouth. As her lower soft lips then touched the end of the straw, she squeezed the opening of the straw with the bottom and upper lips of hers and sucked in her breath. Sensing the content touching her lips and eventually flowing into her mouth, she waited for the flavor.

"It's sweet."

Eren turned to look at Historia, who was smiling at him as her lips were pressed tightly on the end of the straw. Eren, feeling at ease seeing how happy she was as she leaned back in her chair, swaying her legs from side to side, gave a soft smile back. Historia then said, "The drink is mine now." The brunet gently nodded without hesitation.

Seeing the two flirt, the Prince leaned back on his chair and watched with amusement as he drank his cold coffee in silence. Watching both Eren and Historia's obvious affection for each other, the conclusion he came to was that both were more than just buddies or friends. Something he had seen it coming since observing them from the captain's bridge two days prior.

Prince Katsu then closed his eyes and allowed a small smile to creep onto his face. When he reopened his eyes, Eren and Historia were giving him a questionable gaze. Knowing the disturbance he has caused, the prince leaned in with his elbow and hand on the table, looking at both Eren and Historia, and softly teased. "You two are lovebirds, huh?"

Historia sunk back into her chair and tried to hide her fluster by lowering her head and kept sucking on the straw to drink the rest of the content in the plastic cup. Eren, however, unfazed, stared back at the prince and asked, "So, what's with the deal with your father?"

===

"Eren, if what Historia reported about Hizuru's intentions are true, then we've no choice but to go with Zeke's 50 years plan."

Levi looked at the brunet, who was staring at the seawater through the square window. Levi continued, "In my eyes, our survival comes first....since Historia said she's ready to take the responsibility if there are no other choices, I don't see the problem here."

"That's the thing, Levi Heichou. You don't see the problem." Eren said, trying to contain his anger. Levi, however, unconvinced, shook his head. Then, without warning, Eren violently grabbed Levi by the collar with one hand and slammed his short body into the steel wall, causing a loud bang. Eren then closed in his glare into Levi's eyes and stated with deep hatred, "if you lay one finger on Historia, I'll kill you. Since none of you see the big picture, I'll do what I must to stop your foolishness. Even if it means murdering every single one of you bastards."

Startled by brunet's sheer strength and sudden violence, it took Levi longer than expected to come to his senses. But even then, the Ackerman couldn't fight back. Struggling to shake himself free of the brunet's firm grip, Levi glared back at Eren and said, "Kill me? You have gotten pretty cocky, you brat." Eren, ignoring Levi and couldn't care less since he had the upper hand, said, "You can't control me." Finally, letting go of Levi's collar, Eren quickly left the chamber without another word.

Standing up, adjusting his collar, looking out of the window, Levi irritatedly muttered, "Of course we can't. Curse you."

===

Sitting alone on the cold steel floor, Historia hugged her knees and stared down into the crystal blue sea through the horizontal window walls. Her mind wandered in thoughts. Just like when she was a kid who was abandoned on the farm, she would sometimes sit alone and keep herself out of the thought of loneliness by overthinking whatever came to mind. As Historia stared into the water, she watched the waves that formed now and then in the middle of the sea; she observed every creature that she could see with her bare eyes and counted them. The blonde desperately tried to keep her mind off of lonely thoughts. But, in the end, it always came back to her. Knowing she couldn't do this forever, Historia cursed herself.

Hearing the sudden knock on the steel door behind her, Historia waited.

"I know you are in there."

Eren.

After a moment of silence, Eren called out again softly, "C'mon, open the door for me." Historia reluctantly forced herself to stand up, walked over to the steel door, gently slid the steel bar inwards, and creaked the door slightly open to show a part of her face. The brunet gazed into her somber lean face, sighed. Eren then stepped into the cold room, dropped the heavy blanket on the floor, grabbing her arm, and pulled her body into his. He then wrapped his arms tightly around her body and whispered:

"You are having those thoughts again, aren't you?"