#ask me things about these siblings I care them so much already/lh

[ryctone]

The last one of the MyCookie Beast Vessels™, Amaranth Cookie! (Design subject to change, but for now I'm happy with this!).

The most reserved of all her siblings, Amaranth has taken a liking for cooking; doesn't like to stick out much but will always join on her siblings shenanigans at any given moment. Surprisedly, always knows what to say to cheer anyone up if they feel sad and often helps Adobo with her panic attacks. The cheese mouse on her hat is called Manouri and is a staple in the kitchen :)

Little fun fact; at some point Muscovado and Amaranth switched personalities:

Ngl this is mostly my fault bc it's difficult for me not to associate sugar with being sweet and energetic hhhh. At least now you know who's vessel she was supposed to be for.

[1moreff-creator]

What are some dynamics (in terms of like, foils/parallels) that you enjoy in DRDT?

you’re staring at a forest and asking me for every tree i like. do you want me to write another 28k word post /lh

I jest, of course, but not about the number of interesting foils in this series. It does a fantastic job tying everyone into several key themes in ways that make their dynamics endlessly enriching for my silly little character parallel-loving brain. So, uh, get ready for a long-ish post?

CW: One mention of self-harm, self-loathing

Teruko-David: I mean, you gotta start at the center, yeah? David’s the closest thing to a “main antag” we have, and it’s no wonder; the guy’s built like a standard DR protag, obviously he’s gonna have a cool dynamic with the actual protagonist. 

These two could breathe a bit weird and somehow parallel each other doing it, that’s how much this foil permeates both their characters. From their fatalistic outlooks on the world (“my luck will always be terrible, I’ll always be betrayed” vs “people can’t change, the world sucks”), the ways they hide their feelings (Teruko was more distrustful than she first presented herself as, but cares about people more than she shows during most of CH2; while David has an entire different persona up to 2-11 and then pretends to be worse than he actually is), the self-loathing (Teruko refuses to think she could be a good person, David has the whole “inhuman” thing going on), down to the oddball sibling figure (Terubro “I know nothing about you” Tawaki vs Diana “I’m not even sure you exist” Chiem).

There’s their feelings about Xander and Min, too, which are all over the place. Obviously we all saw in 2-12 how much the British twink fucked both of them up severely, with Teruko rejecting any positive or yearning feelings she may have had about Xander (you can’t hide the cactus scene from us girl) while David vehemently defended him from any criticism. On the other side, Min is less of a narrative poltergeist (for now; XF-Ture exists), but she still comes up with them, with David calling her pathetic eleven episodes after Min hugs Teruko and Teruko’s internal monologue gives away how much she cares about the Student. 

And these parallels play into their weird-ass dynamic very well, because their beefing is founded on their similarities and their differences, out of projecting their self-loathing to someone similar at the same time they hate each other because of their disagreements on things like Xander. Crazy stuff.

Xander-Min: Mentioning these two second because they’re also Eternal Parallels. There’s almost not a single thing about these two that isn’t somehow reflected on the other. If you projected them onto each other’s direction, you would get no perpendicular component. Get it, ‘cuz they’re completely parallel- That is, by far, the nerdiest joke I’ve ever made, I apologize.

But come on. Their attitudes towards fate (the Rebel fighting it and Min resigning herself to the XF-Ture thing), the whole “holding on to the past vs wanting to move on from the past” thing, the similarities between how they actually feel about the education system (they have issues with it) contrasted with the things they actually do in respects to that (Min is still the Ultimate Student, but Xander dislikes that), their already mentioned contrasting connections to Teruko and David… Just, absolutely everything about them is a meaningful contrast. And it comes into play a lot, with their eternal beef being born largely out of these parallels. They’re awesome.

Teruko-Ace: Pretty topical for post-CH2. Ace’s entire arc is sort of a reflection of Teruko’s, yet taken to the extreme because of one particular point of contrast; Ace feared death, Teruko doesn’t think she can die. But he still basically serves as a demonstration of all the flaws in Teruko’s all mindset; the feeling of unchangeable fate, the complete lack of trust, all the good stuff. It basically allows an exploration of Teruko’s mindset from an outside perspective, which makes it easier to see the flaws in it.

Ace-Nico: Also topical, these recap foils go kinda insane. Their motives for murder, their contrasting talents (love for animals on Nico's side and fear of horses on Ace's), the way they relate to the rest of the cast, Ace's persecution complex vs Nico actively disliking how much Hu defends them, etc., it’s all very fun to see play out. 

Ace-Levi: The one who doesn’t care but protects others and tries his best to be a good person so he can be accepted in society without having issues, vs the guy that acts like an asshole because he’s scared of caring too much and he thinks the only way he can get out alive is by being the only one to survive. This leads to a fundamental misunderstanding between them that causes some of the most doomed yaoi of all time, which is the whole “Levi getting frustrated at not understanding Ace.” 

Arei-David: You’ve presumably watched 2-13, so I don’t think I need to explain all the awesome stuff that’s come from their shared themes of “good people” and self-betterment and all that. Not to mention, David’s little breakdown over Arei trusting the letter of the only friend she had being presumably born from the way he saw Xander as the only friend he had. Shit goes crazy.

Arei-Eden: Recap foils… Good people… The choice to be kind… Etc… Woah :O

Teruko-Charles: Ah, Teru’s recap foil. This one’s basically opposite of Ace’s, where Charles used to be sort of like Teruko acted in CH2, but later became a bit friendlier, if still somewhat prickly. Basically, if Ace highlights Teruko’s character traits from CH2, Charles post CH1 serves as more or less the “end goal” in a way. It goes beyond that, too, with the whole memory issues (prosopagnosia vs childhood amnesia) and, again, mysterious siblings (Terubro and Elliot what are your deals), so it’s always neat to rotate these two in the brain.

Veronika-Levi: We really don’t know too much about Vero, which always makes it a bit harder when analyzing these dynamics, but they already got some interesting points of contrast. Neither of them are particularly concerned about the deaths of the others, at least post-CH2 (Levi doesn’t grieve and Vero actively laughs at Ace’s death), but it comes from almost opposite ends of perspective. Levi doesn’t understand others because he doesn’t feel much empathy (if any at all), while Vero seems to treat the others not as people, but almost as characters to be analyzed (that’s the impression I get, at least), which makes her come off as very good at reading people but also occasionally causes her to see them as sources of entertainment first and foremost. Not to mention there’s also the fact they’re both very different people than they were in the past (Levi was some form of delinquent and now is a good person, Vero used to be outdoorsy and then no longer was). Wow that’s… more than I thought there was- How am I finding more interesting foils just by writing more???

Hu-Levi: I kinda talked about this in my CH2 PT2 analysis so read that ig.

J-Rose: A pair of recap foils who haven’t had too much yet, but a lot of their themes, in particular about fate and privilege and stuff, are pretty noticeable with them, so this is always a fun dynamic to consider.

Levi-Arturo: More recap foils, this one’s fun because of the dead family member :) Also things like their talents being related to aesthetics and both doing the things they do for a better life.

Veronika-Hu: This one’s kinda more hypothetical, since Vero in particular hasn’t had as much direct focus as other characters yet, but that’s part of what makes them fun. Past history of self-harm (even if brought on by very different feelings) is just the first of many parallels they could have, and it’s fun to see the contrast between Hu defending Nico to the ends of the Earth and Vero talking about how much she likes Arturo because of how awful he is. They’re really silly.

David-Whit: All the recap foils are fun, but I've always struggled to see this one in particular. Partly because I feel like I know less about Whit than I know about Mai :v Still, certain things like Whit ignoring anything that upsets him which connects to David constantly lying about his real feelings for his fans, which is probably what leads to David's outburst at Whit in the second trial.

Teruko-MonoTV: Because fate. Really this is here plainly because it’s just a funny as hell dynamic to even consider lol.

Teruko-Mai: Have they interacted? Has Mai had enough screen time to truly determine that this parallel truly exists? Do we even know a single theme that Mai’s character touches on for certain? No and it doesn’t matter! Because these two are clearly connected somehow and the whole “someone dearly loved - someone dearly unloved” thing makes me ill. Mai is getting mentioned in this post and you're not stopping it.

Mai-Whit: Fuck it! “We tend to idolize the dead” dynamic!!! It's very speculative, but this one’s just fun to ponder even if we have even less idea of what could be going on between the two than with Mai-Teruko.

Anyways ready for a few themes that run through a lot of characters?

David-Levi-Nico-Rose: The “feeling disconnected from the rest of humanity’s experiences” gang!!!

Min-Rose-Hu-Veronika-Arturo: The “wants to move on from the past” gang!!!

Min-Arei-Teruko-Ace: The “trying to fix mistakes” gang!!!

Teruko-David-Eden-Arei-Levi-Xander: The “what makes a good person?” gang!!!

Teruko-David-Xander-Min-J-Whit-Ace-Rose-MonoTV-Probably everyone else: Fate!!!!

And there’s more than I’m probably forgetting because I can’t possibly check every conceivable connection between these guys. At least I hope I covered most of the major ones. Thanks for the ask, these dynamics are always fun to think about!

[asmogorna]

Sorry to send another ask so soon (and idk if someones asked this already) but if you have any headcanons for Jon I'd love to hear them!

OK SO im really sorry it took me THIS long to get to this i quite literally.. forgot i had smth in my inbox woopsies. the reason i remembered is cause mootie posted some Spine hcs and i was like "woah"

alsooo im not good at putting my thoughts onto "paper" especially in english so you will have to excuse me

anywho my jon headcanons some sad some random /ref

First of all i think that his relationship with Peter Walter I would be far from close. he would be seen as the type of child who's both "too much mess to take care of" and "strong enough to take care of himself" if that makes sense. Peter did love him as his creation but would openly admit that he's not his proudest one, meanwhile Jon wouldn't feel much connection at all. he sympathized with his creator but only in a way he would with any other human being, there was more gratitude than love

Jon struggles with constant malfunctions and his mechanisms are a mess (partially because he gets himself in trouble all the time), so at one point Peter would get tired of fixing him so frequently, and tell him that he can just "walk some things off". That thought stuck to the bot and he would think of all of his malfunctions as slight inconveniences, i mean, he can still perform so why pay attention to the constant neck pain or powering up struggles ? it just became a habit and he kind of forgot that things like that shouldn't be ignored

After a long while when Peter Walter VI grew up enough to start learning more about how automatons work, Jon would be used as a "lab rat" (not really but its just what he himself called it) for young VI to practice fixing mechanisms. thats pretty much when he heard "Wait this cant be right" about his messed up physical state for the first time in a long while. little Peter didnt get to fix all of the things that were wrong with Jon's body, but he did manage to take care of some of them, which almost surprised Jon with how nice it felt to not hear pieces of broken gears rattle in his head every time he moved (who wouldve thunk)

ok now to more lighthearted stuff !!

Jon actually has a very strong bond with Sam ! He loves watching the mustached man work and sometimes follows him around, just enjoying his company. At first Sam thought that the tone-gold automaton was creepy and uncanny, but grew attached to him and his stupidity (/lh). i also think that Sam would be one of the few Walter workers who dont baby the Jon and actually treat him like they would treat any other robot :3

Also Jon just loves his robot family endlessly. shocker !! im not sure how explain it but i think hes the only one to look at other Walter automatons and go "bro i love them so much" at all times. in his head at least. obviously he teases them and argues with them but he wont think twice before accepting a hug from his siblings (except for Upgrade theyre rivals /j)

Speaking of Upgrade !! They feel the most sibling-ish to me (aside from Rabbit & The Spine) because they constantly poke fun at each other yet they still are willing to give each other help and comfort when needed. She once had to carry him all the way back to the Walter manor because they forgot to take some extra cans of crystal pepsi

Also Upgrade got in an accident once which caused her to have a fractured face for a couple of days, and Jon was there the entire time to comfort her and constantly tell her that shes still very pretty

Unlike with other robots, the food that Jon eats doesnt just fall through his uncovered jaw/run into his boiler or anything like this, instead it just. disappears. once he closes his mouth the food just vanishes into the unknown, yet Jon claims that he enjoys the process of "eating" (nobody knows how it works)

LITTLE GIRLS THAT GO TO SPG SHOWS LOVE HIM !! once the band finishes performing, he constantly gets pulled away by a small giggling pink-ish blob to join their tea party or hula hooping contest. thats why he has quite a knowledge on "girly" themes and educates other automatons on the matter

THATS IT FOR NOW TY FOR READING :3

[ask-the-scout-siblings]

🪡Hello, Host World!🪡

--------------------------------------

The names fucking, Scout! And Im one of the many slaved puppets of Asshole Mortimer's Handeeshits!

(always wanted to say that, ever since I learned swears)

*Ehem*

So basically, I found this cell phone while grave robbing a former Host(dont ask why) and made this blog for me and my sibs!

(I also managed to hide the device from Riley...you guys better not tattle on me, I know she has a blog here aswell!)

Took me awhile to get the hang of using my Host's hand so that I can type all of this shit out, because apparently my stupid felt hands are too fucking soft for it-

Stuff about me and my siblings:

• Scout Prime(Just call me Scout):

- Gender is as fluid as a cat: Genderfluid(Any pronouns)

- Ace as fuck, leaning towards bi

- The amazing leader of the group(theres a prime for a reason!)

• Space Buns(Bonnie)

- Nonbinary(She/They/Xe)

- Useless Lesbian(she has a crush on Riley's lead assistent and is way too much of a coward to confess)

- Space nerd(Its their #1 fixation)

- The one Riley tolerates the most(mostly because xer sort of a teacher's pet)

• British Invasion(Bri)

- Genderqueer(They/Them)

- Gay but said "Eh.." to romance(Aro Achillean)(honestly same, the "Eh" to romance part I mean)

- Conspiracy Theorist/Has an Alien obsession(they're also a Host History enthusiast and knows alot about wars and military stuff)

- Somehow became british after drinking some of Mortimer's Tea and is now addicted to it(lets hope they dont try alcohol next)

• Red Hair(Radley)

- Stole two genders: Bigender(Xe/He/She)

- Unlabeled sexuality(doesnt really care)

- Is determined to complete any dare(xe literally almost died once because of them)

- Partner in crime(we're basically the most chaotic, probably the reason why Riley hates us the most)

• Royal Purple(Violet)

- Half girl half Bitch: Demigirl(She/They)

- Demisexual Bi Sapphic

- Big Diva(aswell as a big bossy pants)

- Fashion fanatic(still wondering how tf she managed to make 7 outifts in one day)

Oh! Almost forgot, Id like to set down a few things before you all start asking stuff:

Firstly, me and my siblings are MINORS!!! So dont you fucking think about doing anything innapropriate here, nor anything problematic/srs(I already made my first mistake by going through the search history)

Second, we swear alot(if it wasnt that obvious/nm). So if your uncomfortable with that, you are free to leave/nm/lh

Third, pls be respectful, by that I mean no hate speech or Harrassment. Although, I do like the idea of my sibs getting trolled(as long as it doesnt go too far of course)

Other than all of that, feel free to ask us some questions about our fucked up life!

--------------------------------------

[Ask are Open]

(P.S. from the mods; this is Pre-game Scout, meaning the event of the first game hasnt happened...yet)

[elf-osamu]

hii! can i request haruka hashida (bp) when reader meets his sisters for the first time? like how they'd react and stuff i think its a cute topic to think of hehe (gn reader please!)

hi ! since, to my knowledge, not many information about haruka and his family were disclosed (almost none, except the fact that he has three sisters), this scenario is purely based on my imagination so there isn't really anything canon about his relationship with his family 🚶🏻‍♂️ btw this request was so cute to write, hope you like it <3

also, i've tried to add some elements of traditional japanese houses to describe haruka's house (even tho i say only one thing about it 💔), however if i've written smth that it's wrong please let me know and i'll edit it.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

MEETING HARUKA HASHIDA'S SISTERS FOR THE FIRST TIME

[ masterlist ]

fluff, romantic relationship, haruka hashida x gn!reader, headcanons + scenario

warning(s) : none that i can think of, perhaps there could me grammatical errors but that's it ig.

words count : 1,201 words (I'M SORRY IF U WANTED SMTH SHORTER 😭)

[ ☆ ] ah, haruka hashida, a person who has a caring yet inscrutable personality indeed.

[ ☆ ] from what we've seen, he isn't the kind of person who shows his emotions, instead he seems to hide them.

[ ☆ ] this leads to the following question: how is like haruka around his family, especially his sisters?

[ ☆ ] imo, although he wouldn't disclose much information about his life — at least not on his own initiative (y'know, the sibling dynamic where one teases the other to get information/lh), i like to think that he has a good affinity with them — a genuine and strong fraternal bond built on the support of each others' activities and passions, also helping each other when times are tough. of course, little fights happen once in a while, but they are generally an united family, even though the youngest sister (and sometimes also haruka) prefers to be on her own most of the time.

[ ☆ ] well, let's begin, shall we?

“haruka... are you sure they'll react well? wouldn't it have been better to warn them of my presence? i... you know, i don't wanna make them uncomfortable,” you said, a bit nervous about meeting your partner's sisters.

it all started with a mere thought of yours, which however haruka wanted to transform into reality.

“from what you're saying, they already seem to adore me,” you jokingly commented after listening to your boyfriend telling you how his sisters were growing more curious about you.

“oh, rest assured, they do adore you,” he smiled, gently holding your hand while you two were walking through the streets of tokyo.

“i guess it'd be nice to meet them, one day or another. they truly seem lovely people,” you stated, unaware of what that sentence would then trigger.

and now here you were, on the way to their house. honestly, you should have expected this from your partner, he did that kind of things.

to be honest, you weren't really against it, however you didn't want to be a nuisance nor you wished to disappoint their expectations.

of course, he wasn't forcing you to go there; haruka asked you multiple times if you were fine with the whole situation, and you were — you just didn't know what to expect.

your boyfriend gently squeezed your hand, applying light pressure to reassure your almost tormented soul. “you don't have to worry, my dear. you don't have to demonstrate anything to anyone — be your true self, even if it can be difficult sometimes. they won't stop liking you,” he said with his quiet and thoughtful voice. “but, we still have time to go to your house, if that's what you want.”

“no, it's just that...” you sighed, a sheepishly grin appearing on your face. “dunno how they'll react”.

“you'll do just fine,” haruka left a soft kiss on your temple, while rubbing little circles on the back of your hand with his thumb.

[ ▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎ ]

after crossing the hashida house's threshold, you felt a welcoming air warming your chest, along with a scent similar to haruka's — except for the lack of oil paints' pungent smell, which was probably contained mainly in your partner's room.

you had never been to his house, because your dates usually consisted in outdoor activities, art exhibitions or museum explorations, in need of something which could stimulate your intellects; perhaps a couple of times you two had been to your house, discussing artists' paintings or books' plots, yet both of you managed to be yourselves doing something almost vitalizing such as admiring and surrounding yourselves with beauty. an artist's painting could captivated your spirits, allowing you to openly talk about the emotions it evoked in your souls — while simultaneously being critical about it. sometimes, it didn't inspire anything at all, and that was fine too; it was a new discovery for you anyway.

haruka and you took of your shoes and arranged them so that they didn't get in the way, proceeding to wear slippers — which you would have then to take off before you entered in a room with tatami floor.

“it's rather strange that my sisters haven't noticed our presences yet,” haruka commented just as the two of you finished washing your hands. “if so, i suppose they are in the living room, perhaps playing something. shall we join them, mh?”

you nodded, almost cheerfully, between excitement for meeting them and nervousness.

and, once you two entered in that room, a quite peculiar picture showed up in front of you: the older sisters were light-heartedly discussing about something involving the board game they were playing, while the younger one was patiently waiting for a twist in that too familiar situation. in fact, she was the one who noticed your presences first.

“haruka! you're home,” she said smiling, though refraining herself to get up and run towards her brother because she didn't know who was the person next to him — you.

while the other sisters stopped 'fighting', he returned the grin.

“[name], i present you my sisters,” haruka said, proceeding to let you know their respective names. “and, sisters, they are [name], my partner”.

[ ☆ ] from this moment, there could be quite a few scenarios to think of, but i'll stick only with one of them.

[ ☆ ] at first, they would be taken by surprise: they didn't see that situation coming.

[ ☆ ] but after a minute or two, they would break off their trance state and become really interested in you.

[ ☆ ] i mean, they have waited so long to make your acquaintance.

[ ☆ ] the youngest sister would ask you all kind of questions, wanting to know everything about you — she can be very friendly, if she wishes so.

[ ☆ ] she'd also propose to do a board game (or a videogame, which one you prefer) with you.

[ ☆ ] and if you're really good at them, a slight (light-hearted, of course) competition could arise :), she must win at all costs.

[ ☆ ] meanwhile, the older ones would ask you more about formal topics, even though a few questions about your hobbies would slip from their lips.

[ ☆ ] and if y'all have interests in common, oh, they would talk about them for hours.

[ ☆ ] imo they and haruka love listening to people's interests and stuff, so they would let you talk freely about your passions !! they love the spark in your eyes when you do so.

[ ☆ ] needless to say, they also love you!/p.

[ ☆ ] ngl, they would be so engrossed in knowing you that they'd almost forget about their own brother, always present in the room.

[ ☆ ] haruka, my man, i'm sorry for being a guest of such great importance/j.

[ ☆ ] jokes aside, he would be quite amused by the whole situation.

[ ☆ ] and also happy, 'cause seeing the people he cares about the most, peacefully talking with each other, in the same room, is an endering sight.

[ ☆ ] after all, haruka was right: his sisters adore you.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

[ do not copy, translate, repost, etc. | by @ elf-osamu ]

[seamsterspell]

Do You Have a Membership?

Summary:

Levi went to a convenience store, and he was welcomed by a dazzling cashier. [LH Modern AU]

Words: 2081

A/N: A Oneshot that was Inspired by a real life event that my friend had experienced. It was so funny and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Hence, I want to immortalized their story by turning it into a Levihan fanfiction.

LINK: AO3 / FFNET

DISCLAIMER: Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan belongs to Hajime Isayama.

Levi had visited this gas station a few times before, but he had never bought something from the convenience store. However, one day, when he was driving Isabel to her university, he found himself in needed for gas. At the same time, he had also promised Isabel to buy her snacks for her faculty camping trip. Hence, to save some time, they decided to go to the convenience store after filling his car with gas.

Well, at least, that was the plan. But he should have known that Isabel is far too rebellious for his plan, no matter how simple it is. Because, in a quick motion, Isabel unfastened her seatbelt and went straight to the store, leaving Levi to queue for the gas alone.

Few minutes later, after he got what he needed, he parked the car in front of the small store. From the look of it, the store seemed to be vacant. Levi opened the glass door and heard a bell ring.

"Welcome to Rose Mini Mart!"

Additional voice was heard alongside the ringing of the bell. Levi was quite taken aback by a cheerful greeting that he got, which was a bit jarring from the usual greeting that he got from tired and underpaid retail workers.

Levi threw a quick glance at the cashier and glanced away. However, soon enough he found himself glancing back at the cashier. It was proven to be a bad decision because he locked eyes with the person. In an instant, he glanced away and walked further inside the store, focusing on his task to find a teenager with bright red hair. Fortunately, the store was small, so it was not hard for him to find her. She was standing in an alley that was filled with snacks and candies.

"Jesus, Isabel. Do you want to rob the entire shop?" Levi commented as soon as he saw Isabel—who was trying to fit various selection of potato chips into her hands.

"What do you mean? I just want to be prepared. What if I got lost in a forest?" Isabel replied nonchalantly as she grabbed another bag of potato chips.

"Don't be over dramatic. It's a fake forest, a playground for adults. You have to be stupid enough to get lost in there." Levi took two pairs of potato chip bags from her before putting it back on the rack. "It's only three days, Isa. Just buy what you need."

Isabel pouted and reluctantly put back most of her snacks, muttering under her breath as she did that. Levi insisted that he would not pay if she bought a lot, but Isabel kept persuading him to let her to buy another package. After throwing arguments back and forth, in the end, Isabel's haul consisted of a bag of chips, a bar of chocolate, two cartons of strawberry juice, and a package of dry toasted almond.

"Wow, you got a lot in there." The cashier remarked with a chuckle when Isabel put her snacks on the counter. "You're going somewhere?" She asked Isabel.

Isabel then proceeded to tell the cashier about her faculty camping trip. The cashier nodded to Isabel's story as she took each item and scanned it.

Now that Levi stood near the cashier, he was able to scan her appearance. She was wearing a long black sleeves shirt and a green apron. Her hair was knotted into a messy updo from which a few baby hairs could be seen coming out. She also wore rectangular glasses that sat on top of her roman nose.

There was nothing special with the way she dressed or styled herself. Nevertheless, Levi was somehow captivated by her, and he did not know why or how it happened. Was it because she looked so genuine when she smiled? Was it because the way her auburn hair shines from the sun that peeked through the store window? Was it because her genial attitude toward Isabel? Or was it because she looked—

"Alright, that will be $20.50, sir."

Levi was brought back from his stupor to meet a pair of sweet chocolate eyes. He blinked once as he muttered, "Ah."

"Will that be cash or charge?" She asked.

Levi took his wallet from his pocket and grabbed two pair of 10 dollars bill and a coin. "Cash." He said as he gave her the money.

"Do you have Rose membership?" She inquired when she took the money and count it.

"No."

"Do you have coupons?"

"No."

She nodded, "alright, you paid exactly $20.50 so there will be no change." The cashier clicked a few keys on the keyboard, put the money on the register, and gave him the receipt. "Thank you!" She said with the same smile that never falter since the beginning.

After making sure the receipt was right, Levi took Isabel—who had already put the snacks inside her canvas bag—by the elbow and led her outside.

"See you again." She told them before they left.

•──────✦──────•

Levi started his car and drove his car away from the gas station. However, he found himself lost in a haze of his own mind. He could not even focus to hear Isabel's rambling because his thought was filled with a certain someone. It was strange, because he did not even know her name, but she had caught him by surprised.

Levi thought that maybe it was because he did not expect someone like her to work as a cashier in a gas station convenience store. Granted, nothing is wrong with the job, but Levi had never met a cashier that… that is… that is so…

"LEVI!"

Levi jolted in his seat from the sudden loud voice that came from the girl that seated next to her. He looked on the road, expecting the worst, but luckily nothing happened. For a second, he was scared that they would die or something. After regaining his composure, Levi furrowed his brows at her and exclaimed, "What the fuck, Isabel?"

"I had to scream because you didn't respond!" She said in her usual high voice. However, Levi noticed a hint of urgency on her voice.

Levi sighed and clicked his tongue. "Sorry."

"Yeah, yeah, apology accepted. Now that we have made our peace, I want us to go back to the store."

"Huh?" Levi could not believe her request. He was barely driving for ten minutes, and she already want to go back? Well, it is not like he did not like that idea…

"We need to go back." She repeated as she sat awkwardly on the seat. Her countenance was nothing out of ordinary, but there was a sign on her forehead that said, 'something is definitely not right'.

He narrowed his eyes, scanning her suspiciously. "What do you mean we need—"

"WE NEED TO GO BACK!"

"I HEARD YOU!" He replied in an equally loud manner before lowering it again as he asked, "Why? You forget something?"

"Not really..." Isabel muttered before finally looking at Levi with much seriousness in her face. It was rare for her to make that face, so whatever this thing is, it must be so important. "Okay, listen Levi. I need to buy a tampon."

Levi raised one of his brows. "What? How could you forget something as important as that?"

"Well, I didn't know I got it until now." The words easily flew from her mouth, almost like she just told him about the weather today.

Levi paused before his face finally turned horror as he glanced at Isabel with bewildered eyes. He opened his mouth and asked in a low voice, "… Are you freaking serious?"

"No, it’s a prank."

Silence.

"OF COURSE, IT’S NOT. I'M SERIOUS, LEVI." Isabel grabbed his shoulder to shake him. "That's why we have to go back! Do you want me to—"

"Fuck no!" Levi shook his head in disbelief before looking at her again. "Are you even sure about it?"

"YEAH, I'M SURE! I KNOW MY BODY, OKAY?!"

Levi grunted before finally taking a turn to go back to the gas station. They parted away as soon as they arrived at the gas station. Isabel went to the toilet, walking in slow and painstaking steps. Meanwhile, Levi sprinted and barged into the store, making the bell rang loudly as he did.

"Welcome—Oh, it's you again."

Levi gave her a nod before walking to the personal care aisle and grabbed Isabel's usual choice of brand. He went to the cashier in hurry and immediately pocket his wallet from his pocket.

"You came back." The cashier remarked in a voice that was buoyant and tender.

"Yeah."

She grabbed the package and scanned it. "Oh, seems like your sister forgot this, huh?"

"Yeah—" He answered before furrowing his brows at her. "Wait, how did you know?"

"Deduction, I guess." She chuckled as she took a glance at the monitor. "From the way you two argued over potato chips and dry toasted almond, I knew immediately that you two are siblings."

On one hand, Levi was taken aback, and a little bit impressed by her observation. He and Isabel do not look exactly alike, so there had been some awkward instances where people would mistake them as any other but siblings. Although, on the other hand, Levi was kind of embarrassed by the fact that he and Isabel quarrelled loudly in public.

"Alright, that will be $6.68." She looked back at him with gleam in her eyes. "Will that be cash or charge?"

"Cash" Levi opened his wallet, grabbed two bills, and put it on the casher table before opening the small compartment where he put his coins. Levi then grabbed a few coins and started to count it.

"Do you have Rose membership?"

"No."

"Do you have coupons?"

"No."

"Do you have a partner?"

"No— What?!"

Chink.

Series of metal sound hitting ceramic was heard loudly on the quiet store. Levi stared blankly at his coins that scattered all over the floor. Then, he heard a feminine laughter coming from the cashier. Levi's started to feel his cheek burning from the event. He immediately crouched down and started to collect his coins.

"I'm sorry." She said before leaving the register and went to kneel in front of him. She helped him to grab some of the coins, she even willing to grab the coin that got stuck under the table. He was grateful for her help, but she just could not stop laughing while doing so, and it made him even more self-conscious.

Oddly enough, he was able to let it slide. He just could not find himself angry at her, not when she laughed like that. Her laughter was so sweet, so enchanting, and so addicting. So much so that he let the corners of his mouth lifted for a second.

After making sure that she did not miss any coins, she stood up and returned to her post. A few coins on her hand and she counted it. Then she grabbed the money that he had left on the counter and said, "six dollars…" before showing him the coins that she had on her hand, "…and sixty-eight cents."

“Ah, yeah—" He muttered in a croaky voice, a clear sign that he was being betrayed by his body. He cleared his throat and repeat his sentence in a clearer voice. "Yeah, thank you."

"You're welcome." She giggled and gave him the receipt.

Levi nodded as he took the receipt and the item. He glanced at her and at the door, contemplating on what he should do. In the end, his pathetic self decided to nod at her again before turning his body to the door.

"I'm Hange, by the way." She suddenly told him in a soft voice, almost like she was hesitating to speak it.

Levi halted on his step and returned to look back at her. A subtle flush could be seen on her cheek and Levi had to mentally stopped himself from staring at her like an idiot. He rubbed his nape and said, "Levi."

She was beaming with joy at his response. "Then, see you again…?"

Unlike the one that she said to him and Isabel, this time she voiced it more like a question than a statement. Levi smirked before he walked to the exit and answered, "only if my sister forgot something again."

Well, if there is one thing he knew about Isabel, she tends to forget things.

-fin-