A Warriors Fight

Chapter 4: Bonds of friendship

A/n: this is a longer chapter

"Zeke, how come you don't bring any friends home?" Grandma asks one day. Carla thinks that might have been a little insensitive a thing to ask him. But she's also curious, so she doesn't play interference.

"We live in a clinic. It's kind of awkward to bring friends here," Zeke points out.

"It's not because you have no friends, right?" Grandma asks, watching Zeke's expression carefully.

Zeke looks amused at least. "I have friends. We just find it awkward to hang out here."

That's fair enough. Zeke is at that age where he doesn't want his family to be looking over his shoulder. That's probably why he's been returning from Headquarter at different times than Eren, even though they leave together in the morning (Well, Eren did say that it's because of business, but Carla doubts it's always because of business). He's probably tired of taking care of his little brother, too. And now that Carla thinks about it, they have been relying on Zeke a lot when it comes to Eren, haven't they? No wonder Zeke is trying to find ways and places where Eren won't be to hang out. But because Zeke is a good kid like that, he won't dare say that where Eren might overhear.

Don't worry, Zeke. Carla's got his back!

That night, when Eren comes to find Zeke with a book in his hand for his bedtime story, Carla steps in.

"Eren, you're a Warrior Candidate now. You don't need a bedtime story. Come on, you can read it yourself if you really want one. Don't bother Zeke over this."

The soft exclamation of hurt is not from Eren.

Carla turns to look at Zeke, who is staring at her in pure shock and betrayal. Did... he want to read Eren a bedtime story? H-huh? Did Carla misunderstand something?

Eren must have missed the look on Zeke's face because he's pouting at his book. "F-fine. I can read it."

"W-why... why don't you read it to Zeke instead? I'm sure he'd love to see how much you've improved!" Carla says quickly.

Please don't look so brightly at her. She feels guilty enough as it is.

"Zeke! Zeke! I'm going to read to you!" Eren says with a happy grin.

The grin on Zeke's face looks just as excited. "I can't wait!"

You know what? It's not like it hurts anyone. The two of them clearly look happy with this arrangement. There's no harm in letting them be.

Few days later, the scowling boy returns with another boy around his age. The two look similar enough and they both have Warrior Candidate armbands, so Carla guesses that these two must be the Galliard brothers.

The other boy nudges the scowling boy with an encouraging smile. Then after a second, the scowling boy turns towards the clinic with an embarrassed blush on his face.

"H-hey! We're going beetle hunting! W-want to... c-come with?"

There's a second of pause as the two boys wait for some kind of a response. When none comes, the scowling boy must have hit a new level of embarrassment. His face turns even redder.

"Hey!" he yells even louder. "Yeager! Come out here right now!"

Carla opens the window. "Eren went to the market to pick up some greens. Do you want to come in and wait for him?"

The scowling boy looks like he might burst into tears. The other boy by his side laughs and pats the scowling boy's shoulder.

"Would it be alright if we do?" the other boy asks with a polite smile.