On The Bench (AOT/DxD)

[ReadingDangerously]

Can you do it again? Can you confront pain, tragedy, heartbreak, betrayal, guilt, and loss? The consequences of your actions? If you've lost it all, can you continue to advance, stepping forward one last time? Can you face a world of cruelty if it means finding the beauty in it? If you can, I'll be waiting on the bench.

********

It was a desolate wasteland.

Towering dunes of sand as far as the eye could see, with only the bright blue of the stars to serve as a light in this cold, lonely world.

No great tree of light towered in the distance, its innumerable branches reaching out in billions of Paths, linking past, present and future together.

There was but one Path in this world of blue radiance. One line of light at the center of the world.

No young girl wandered these dunes, building the bodies of Titans, tens of metres tall, one pail of sand at a time. No Eldian goddess dwelled in this eternal prison, eternally trapped to her bloodline and the power that dwelled inside it.

In this desolate wasteland, all existence was naught but sand and stars.

And a bench.

It wasn't a large bench. Long enough to support three adults if they were close enough to touch.

The bench's design was simplistic, with no extra flourishes or stylized embellishments, but it was well cared for despite clear signs of wear and tear. No splinters or frayed edges, despite signs of weather wear.

Its materials also were nothing special. Made of wood with iron fastenings, it wouldn't look out of place in a public park or on a sidewalk in an upper-class neighbourhood.

The bench, so at odds with the baren world around it, drew the eyes of the sole inhabitant of this wasteland like a moth to a flame. It lay thousands of kilometres away and yet so close. The only thing that existed in the empty world.

Eren Yaeger's tiny feet brought him to that bench.

It didn't matter if his strides were short. He just had to put one foot in front of the other. Step after step.

Eren would reach it so long as he kept moving forward.

It took him years, decades, to travel to that bench in less than a second.

Eren stared at the bench with blank eyes. Its top was eye level with his six-year-old body.

Then he hoisted himself up and sat down.

The view before his eyes shifted.

The sky lightened from dark blue to a clear azure as the endless dunes of the Path were replaced with trees and a well-paved trail. In the distance, he could hear vehicles passing and spy hints of the tops of buildings peeking above the green foliage.

This was no forest, despite the denseness of the trees. This was a park, a slice of wilderness in a world of steel and cement.

It was a cozy little spot, drawing a yawn from Eren's young body.

"This bench is the meeting place," an older, tired voice told the young boy.

"Who am I meeting," Eren asked.

The man remained silent.

"Where is this? When is this?"

"Thirteen years in the future," the man answered the last question but ignored the first.

Eren looked at him then, understanding the importance of that number.

The man slumped, exhausted, against the bench's backrest. He collapsed in on himself as if he could not support the weight of his torso or head. His head rested against the wood, the seat frame supporting him so he could stare at the sky, where white clouds drifted lazily by.

His clothes were in tatters, torn and shredded and covered in blood. Small chunks of flesh were missing from his body, weeping red ichor openly. Slight wafts of steam rose from his injuries, but it was too weak to be really healing the numerous wounds.

The man's body was emaciated, skin sunken over what might have been a muscular form once, now nothing more than a husk.

A walking cane leaned against his legs, a pair of stylized wings the only ornament on an otherwise plain stick.

Grey eyes stared upward at the sky, ringed by deep Shifter Marks. More dotted his face along sunken cheeks like teeth. Still more covered every inch of exposed skin.

He looked weak. Battered. Injured. Sick.

He was minutes from death.

"Why are you smiling," the six-year-old Eren asked his nineteen-year-old self.

The older Eren didn't answer, gazing up at the blue sky with a contented, fulfilled smile on his sallow face.

It didn't matter that he would die in thirteen years. He had already died once.

What mattered was that smile.

The young boy was envious of that smile.

That pure expression of joy was the most hateful and beautiful thing Eren had seen in a long time.

When was the last time he had smiled?

"Can you do it again?"

The question was asked quietly. Softly.

There was a finality, a sense of encroaching doom and resolution in the voice.

Yet the older boy still smiled.

"Why would I?" Eren asked his older self. "I do not know why or how I was reborn in this world. My friends are not here. Historia is not here. Armin is not here. Mikasa is not here. There are no Titans, no Marley. No walls."

"Can you do it again?"

Eren looked up at the azure sky, thinking about the question.

Could he go through it all again?

All the pain, tragedy, heartbreak, betrayal, guilt, and loss?

All the crimes he had committed for which there was no redemption?

Could he repeat it, become the enemy of the world despite knowing what lay at the end?

For one last time, could Eren Yeager, the Devil, dedicate his heart to something?

"I can."

"Then you'll know why I'm smiling."

"I suppose I will," Eren murmured as a nonexistent breeze brushed past the pair sitting on the bench.

"Remember, you only have thirteen years," the older Eren said softly, his voice fading.

As if whatever tiny glowing ember that had kept him going for so long was finally sputtering out.

"Then I should get started," Eren said, standing from his seat.

The trees disappeared with the azure sky as his feet met the sand.

All that remained were the dunes of The Path, the countless stars above and the bench.

And a six-year-old Eren saw it all.

The Path.

The Enemy.

The Walls.

And the cost of it all.

"I see," Eren said, eyes gazing at the future he would build.

"Not yet," his older self corrected with a long, weary sigh of relief. "But you will."

The man on the bench, Eren from thirteen years in the future, died with a smile.

The bench faded from the Path.

Though Eren could see his future memories passed back to him by himself, there were gaps. Holes in a tapestry. Voids of darkness in an otherwise clearly illuminated Path.

He could not see the bench, who he would meet there or when it would be.

He could not see a reason to smile.

But he could see the end.

So Eren walked forward, gathering sand to build.

Even if he did not have a reason to advance now, Eren knew he would one day.

That was enough.

Eren Yeager would continue to push ever forward.

And, on a bench thirteen years away, Eren Yeager died alone with a small, content smile.

********

"Sir, please wake up," Sona Sitri shook the man's shoulder gently but firmly.

"Mm...?" He murmured groggily as he awoke.

"Are you alright, sir?" She asked, stepping away slightly as he grasped his cane tightly and used it as leverage to sit up on the bench.

"Hm?"

"You were crying," she pointed out.

The man raised a hand to his cheeks, feeling the two liquid streams. His hand followed the trail of tears up to the wet bandages that wrapped from the tip of his nose to his forehead.

"Huh," he murmured softly, as if surprised.

"Is everything alright, sir?" Sona asked. "Do you need medical attention? Shall I call an ambulance?"

"No, I am fine," he shook his head as he wiped his cheeks. "A long dream. That is all."

"If you are certain," Sona asked dubiously, eyeing his skinny frame. "What are you doing here this late? Are you a student of Kuoh University?"

This park separated the high school from the university campus, and while not private property per se, it was hardly used by anyone besides Rias' Peerage.

The only reason Sona had even found the blind young man on the bench was because she was patrolling the school grounds.

Well, it was less of a patrol and more of a victory lap.

Her election as student council president might have been an almost forgone conclusion, but it was still another step toward her dream coming true.

It might be prideful to want to inspect her 'spoils of victory,' but she was a devil. She was all about pride.

That inspection had found the young man sleeping on the bench in the park, well inside the wards they had over this park area. Which is why she had approached in the first place.

"No, I am not smart enough for university," he denied with a sigh as he leaned more heavily on his cane. His voice was... off, Sona realized. Dead. Empty. Like all emotion had been drained from him.

"Intelligence is not a requirement for school," Sona insisted, the comment pushing her buttons. "Only a willingness to learn. To claim stupidity as an excuse is nothing but cowardice and laziness. There is no one too stupid to learn. There are only those who refuse to."

There was a beat of silence.

"You're right. Ignorance is no crime," the young man gave a tired nod. "It is only a crime if you refuse to change after learning. Only a genuinely thick blockhead would do that."

For some reason, Sona was sure the young man was talking about himself.

Sona realized she might have said too much.

The man on the bench, blind and weak, definitely had his own circumstances. He probably had a good reason for not going to school. Perhaps he had difficulty with brail, or his goal was something his physical condition prevented.

Either way, if Sona wanted to accomplish her dream of building a school for everyone, she would need to stop passing judgment so quickly.

Especially with how young she realized the man truly was. He was only a few years older than her at most.

Sitting on the opposite side of the bench, Sona looked out through the thick throng of trees. Some hundreds of meters away, hidden from view, was the old clubhouse where Rias lived and met with her Peerage.

"So long as you know that, it is never too late to learn."

"Sometimes it is too late," he rejected firmly. "Too late to travel the world, even if you want to. To visit the poles, a volcano, or a desert. To see the ocean. Sometimes, you don't have the time or the ability anymore."

He sounded so tired.

So worn down by the beatings of the world that all he wanted to do was sleep.

Sona wondered what he had gone through to sound so exhausted despite only being a teenager. It was a voice she had only heard a few times. When her family talked about times before her birth or on the few occasions her aunt spoke of home.

"You never answered my question," Sona pointed out. "If you aren't a part of the university, what are you doing here? You are not part of the high school either, or I would recognize you."

"No, I am not a student at all. I was just passing by when I found this bench. It seemed like the best place for a nap. No memories to bother me." Though he did not smile, the way he spoke made her think that the ability to forget was the greatest gift in the world. "Just the wind, the sky, and the trees. I'm moving into the area. There are no rules against me being here, right?"

"There aren't," Sona answered the question.

Technically speaking, this wasn't school grounds but a public park. There was no rule or law preventing anyone from wandering in. That was why there were benches in the first place.

But there was also a ward around the area that prevented people from coming in or noticing anything from inside. A ward designed to keep the practice of the young Peerages unnoticed by the city's populace.

A ward that might have been bypassed by pure accident by a blind man because it was intent and sight-based. He had no magic, no supernatural power that she could feel, so it may have been purely accidental.

Sona considered having her family servants change the ward to be more complete when a thought entered her head.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen," he answered with a tilt of his head in her direction. "Why?"

"Why aren't you in school? Are you transferring in?"

"No, I am not going to school. I haven't for years since... this," he vaguely waived an arm over his body.

"When was the last time you had the chance?" Sona felt a pit in her stomach as he answered.

"In this country? I believe it would be the equivalent of... Elementary?" The way he half asked his answer filled the young heiress with horror.

"Do you know Japanese?" She asked the question desperately, though it didn't come across in her voice. Sona always maintained a professional demeanour when she could.

They had been speaking in English this entire time, which she had no trouble with, thanks to being a devil. Devils had an inherent ability to speak all languages fluently, but that was different for everyone else.

Kuoh was more metropolitan than most parts of Japan and thus had a higher percentage of people who were fluent in the lingua franca of the world. But a blind man should definitely speak the local language.

"I don't."

"What about your family? Are they familiar with the area or Japanese?"

"No family," he shook his head. "No friends. Just me. I'm all alone."

He didn't sound sad. Just a matter of fact.

The sky was blue, fire was hot, and he was alone.

Sona could only stare at the absurd existence before her for a second.

"If you don't speak the language, go to school or have family bringing you here, why are you moving to Kuoh?"

"I am here to meet someone," he shrugged softly.

"Who?"

"Don't know."

"Where then? And when?" Sona asked sternly.

Her wariness against the boy was starting to be replaced with genuine worry. There had to be someone out there who cared for him. He wouldn't have been able to survive otherwise.

"Here, on this bench," he said, patting the wooden seat between them. Then he paused as if searching for the right words. "As for when? I don't know exactly. Within two years. I know that much."

Sona mulled over the situation. Something had to be going on here that she wasn't getting.

"Do you have a place to stay?"

"A hotel nearby until I get a permanent address," he nodded, and the young devil sighed.

That was something, at least.

For a moment, Sona considered offering the young man a place at Kuoh Academy to keep an eye on him. Considering that Sitri and Gremory owned the school, it was well within her power, to say nothing of hypnosis. The gender restriction was to be removed this year to allow the heiress' Peerage to attend with them and widen the pool of potential recruits.

Eventually, Sona shook the thought away.

No, even if the boy wasn't years behind his peers, which he was, Kuoh was simply unequipped to handle a blind student on top of not knowing the local language.

A failing she would address in the future, but one that was relevant now.

Still, letting him go while he was so helpless in a foreign environment did not sit right with her. Rias might be a closet Otaku, but Sona knew that the Japanese were not kind to foreigners as a general rule. It was one of the reasons she was using the pseudonym of Souna Shitori rather than her actual name. Unlike Rias, with her red hair and outrageous... proportions, Sona could pass for Japanese, which made things easier for her.

This boy, on top of being foreign and not speaking the language, was clearly disabled. Sona could hardly think of an appearance more likely to ostracize someone in Japan. Sona might be a devil, but she still had a conscience.

"Are you still there?" The boy asked, his head facing the forest. "You are being quiet."

"I am still here," Sona answered seriously. "I am just trying to think about what to do with you."

"Do with me?" He repeated. Something in his voice made the young heiress hurry to explain.

"It wouldn't be right to let you leave when I can do something to help."

"You do not need to do anything," he insisted with a frown. It was the first show of emotion Sona had seen since waking him up. "I do not need help or a minder. I do not need to be babied."

"I am sure you don't," Sona agreed, though not in a patronizing way. She was well used to dealing with the pride of young men. If nothing else, he had moved to a foreign country alone in his condition. If that didn't speak about his ability, nothing did. "I was just wondering if you would like me to teach you Japanese?"

His frown lessened as he gave it some thought.

"It would be more convenient to be able to talk to people," he admitted grudgingly before suspicion entered his voice. "But why are you offering? You do not know me, and I don't know you. I can't pay you. I can give you nothing but my thanks."

"I want to be a teacher," Sona said resolutely. "One who will accept anyone. If you are willing to learn, then I will teach. As simple as that. Will you let me teach you?"

It would cut into her time as co-owner of the land, King of her Peerage and the new student council president.

But this was a chance.

She didn't know his circumstances, his goals, his history, or even his name. He was blind, claimed to be stupid, and was missing a decade of education. He also had a stubborn streak, a clear measure of pride, or he wouldn't be out here all alone.

Teaching him would be incredibly challenging.

But that was precisely why she wanted to teach him.

Sona Sitri did not dream of being a normal teacher.

Sona Sitri dreamt of a school for everyone. Her school would not discriminate on age, ability, race, status, or creed. Her dream school only had one requirement.

All who were willing to learn would be taught.

No exceptions.

It was a dream that flew in the face of thousands of years of tradition, a complete rebellion against her society and how the world worked.

It was a dream that only a handful supported and billions derided.

But it was Sona's dream.

One she would accomplish no matter what.

This blind, sick boy would be her first student.

First, she would teach him Japanese, then catch him up to his age group. Her job would only be done when he aced the entrance exam to the university.

If he was willing to learn.

"A teacher that accepts everyone, huh," he said softly. "That's an admirable goal. A good dream."

"I am dedicating everything to achieving it," Sona declared passionately, even if her voice remained as serious as ever.

For a long moment, neither said anything.

"I will be a terrible student. I am no one special. I have no talent or genius. Things others grasp after one try will take me ten."

"It doesn't matter if it takes a hundred. A good teacher never gives up on their students. So long as you put forth the effort to learn, I will never abandon you."

"That's all I've ever been good for," he said. Another hint of emotion. Derision. "Blindly putting forth an effort, no matter the consequences. I suppose I will have to one more time."

"Then here is your first lesson," Sona said with a smile as she stood from the bench. "In Japan, when giving greetings, you are supposed to bow and address your teachers with the suffix 'sensei.' My name is Shitori Souna. Last name, then first name. You can call me Shitori-sensei when I am teaching."

While she taught him, she would look into him. There was no way he was all alone. Someone had to care for him, care that he was here. Maybe not family, but at least friends? Maybe whoever he was supposed to meet here.

He couldn't be all alone.

Nobody was born alone in the world.

"You'll have to forgive the lack of a bow," the young man said as he slowly rose to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane and holding out his hand to shake. "I am afraid I will not be able to get back up again. It is nice to meet you, Souna. My name is Eren. Yaeger Eren, if we go by this country's customs. I will be the worst student you will ever have."

Sona stepped in front of the young man who had faced the wrong direction and shook his hand.

"I will be the judge of that."

And so, a devil shook hands with The Devil.

It was the first meeting on the bench.

********

So... what the hell is this?

For those of you coming to this story from my other work, Rapturous Rhapsody, you will guess this is the surprise I was hinting at. I fully intend to keep my promise to finish that story, and I will only work on one story at a time. But, between volumes 2 and 3 of RR, when I intended to edit that work, I had this idea and decided to write it out to get it out of my head. But then I kept writing. And kept writing. And kept writing.

In the three weeks between the epilogue of Volume 2 and the start of Volume 3, I wrote 60k words of this fic. Though it is all unedited and will thus be released weekly on Tuesdays as I edit, I wrote enough that from today, I have enough chapters to last till the end of RR and, therefore, can solely focus on it till it's done, and I will shift to this one. Chapters will be short, between 2.5k and 4k on average.

So what is 'On the Bench?'

It's a short story (probably not going to pass the 150k mark (so short by my standards)) that acts as a continuation of Attack on Titan. Yes, this means it is entirely cannon-compliant. Even the parts you don't like. I will repeat it again. I will be sticking as close to canon as I physically can. I started this story partly to give myself a form of closure.

I liked and didn't like the ending of AOT. It was the ending the story needed and was building up to, but I did wish for more of a happy ending. So this is my effort to give myself that in the only way I can.

On the Bench is also an experiment. I think I have improved with character writing over the years, and I want to push my boundaries a bit. More specifically, in tone and themes. Can I convey two diametrically opposed tones, like AOT and DxD, while remaining true to the characters AND telling a decent story? We'll see.

This is not going to be an action-focused fic. I am not reinventing the wheel or attempting anything as ambitious as RR.

This is me examining and playing with some of my favourite characters. I hope you will enjoy it, and I will see you on Tuesday for chapter two of On The Bench.

 

[Omniversal-Presence]

This is gonna great i can just tell already

 

[kz3838]

This is already shaping up to be a wonderful story, I look forward to how you use what you've learned to write this. Keep up the good work!

 

[Annwyl.Seren]

I would like Eren and Mikasa to have their happy ending without the bombs.

 

[KASM01]

Seeing a dxd story in sfw just feels wrong on a spiritual level, but love your other story so I will give this a try.

 

[Speedshot]

This was interesting to read. Excited to see ur take on AOT.

 

[Amatsumi]

I have to admit that I'm intrigued how you will write a DxD fic primarily centered on Slice of Life or...Drama.

 

[fireball77]

This looks great

 

[ReadingDangerously]

"Suspicious," Rias Gremory muttered to herself as she peeked from behind a tree.

"I think it's cute," Akeno disagreed, also peeking.

"Suspicious," Rias corrected her queen with a pout, pulling away from the trunk of her hiding place. "My rival is so close to some random boy. It is suspicious."

"Of course, my liege," Akeno sighed exaggeratedly, but there was a fond look in her eyes as she teased her friend. "As you say, he is most suspicious."

"Don't patronize me," Rias huffed, crossing her arms. "What did you find out?"

"That Sona did her due diligence," Akeno answered, pulling a folder from nowhere. "I did not even need to contact the Gremory servants. I just asked Tsubaki for a copy of what the Sitri had found."

"Akeno!" Rias whispered/shouted. "This is a secret mission! You weren't supposed to tell anyone. We're finally in Japan, and you're Japanese. You don't leave loose ends when your lord gives you a task. It is the basics of being a ninja."

"Good thing I'm not a ninja then," Akeno snarked. Rias pouted, crossing her arms. Sometimes, her queen enjoyed ruining her fun way too much. "So you don't want to know what I found out?"

"Fine," Rias sighed. "Who is this Eren Yaeger?"

"A child soldier."

The playful banter left the pair as Rias blinked wide-eyed at her friend as if wondering if she was joking.

Akeno wasn't, mouth set into a thin line as she opened the folder and read through it again.

"The earliest records the Sitri agents found were from an orphanage in Mandoto, Madagascar. Apparently, he was left on the steps of the local church in a basket, his name written on the basket. It is not a local name, European obviously, so there was some confusion early on. The nearest guess is that some foreigners left him in as far away place as they could find."

"That's terrible," Rias frowned at the thought. The devil race's birthrate was so abysmal that the idea of abandoning children was almost anathema to them. Even if devils didn't make the best parents. "You said he was left at a church? Any connection we should be worried about?"

"None," Akeno reported, flipping through files to double-check. "It looks like it was just the most reliable place to leave him. Old human tradition and law. As far as the Sitri could tell, he's never set foot on church soil since, except in infrequent and specific circumstances."

"So he grew up in Madagascar in an orphanage," Rias asked, peeking around the tree trunk to watch the young man they were talking about try and repeat a word Sona sounded out to him.

His attempts were so bad that Language didn't even count it as an actual word. Only her knowledge of Japanese outside their racial ability allowed Rias to try and guess what he was trying to say.

It was either 'a lot' or 'Mister Octopus.'

Rias was betting on the former.

"Till he was six," Akeno confirmed. "He attended a few years of elementary there, but then a local warlord came recruiting for fighting on mainland Africa, taking advantage of the political instability of the time. Orphanages were prime targets for child soldiers. Expendable troops. Those that couldn't, or wouldn't, fight were put to work."

Rias grimaced, not liking where this was going. It was unbecoming of a devil, but she always had a soft spot for lost and hurt children. She might not have been able to completely heal her dear Peerage after their... troubled youth, but Rias liked to think she had given them the best she could.

A home.

A family.

But those she had managed to help, thanks to her family and brother, were pitiful in number compared to those children hurt in this cruel world.

"The record is spotty from there," Akeno continued, voice laced with sympathy. "The warlord who took him was dead within the year. As far as we can tell, records are spotty, so there was a lot of hearsay. He spent the next few years fighting for various factions off and on all over Africa. Not for a cause or one specific leader but as a gun for hire. A good one, too. He became something of a local legend. There are still rumours about a 'child of evil' even today."

"That doesn't sound encouraging," Rias muttered, wondering what sort of trouble Sona had gotten herself into with this student of hers.

"It was more about fear than actual evil, near as the Sitri could tell. They weren't able to find any notorious deeds committed off the battlefield. No looting, theft, or violence against civilians outside combat. On the battlefield, it was a different story. Anytime he was part of an army for any length of time, the opposing faction was quickly routed. He had a reputation for being merciless. It left an impression on any survivors or locals."

"Magic? Sacred Gear?" Rias couldn't help but ask, hope surging through her.

"No," Akeno shook her head, staring at the folder's pages in fascination. "Just skill, cunning and bravery that borders on suicidal tendencies. If even a tenth of the stories about him are true, not counting impossible rumours, then he was good. Scary good. Some of these tactics... Anyway, he built a reputation. One that attracted the attention of some high-level people. Warlords and criminals, certainly, but also a few military dictators or generals of countries. It's actually where the records become more reliable. Recruiters were sent, and most were turned away."

"Most, but not all."

"Eventually, he accepted an offer from a mercenary agency based out of western Asia, close to the Middle East. Smaller than other mercenary outfits, but with a decent reputation internationally."

"Anybody I would have heard about?"

"No," Akeno answered, looking over a list of names. "Barely a few dozen members, all human, and none magical. They accepted all sorts of ethnicities, from Chinese to European or American, but they were new and small. The Sitri agents think he joined to climb the ranks quickly rather than stay low-level in larger and more established organizations."

"Did he?" Rias asked eagerly, caught up in the story.

It was like something out of a manga or anime.

Eren Yaeger's Bizarre Adventure? No, wrong genre.

Yaeger Chronicles? That had a nice ring to it.

"He was recruited at the age of twelve," Akeno smiled at her king, well-knowing the redhead's habits. "By thirteen, he was leading them. By the time he retired six months ago, he had led over two hundred missions and never failed once. His nickname, Child of Evil, is still well known in certain circles. It was how the Sitri found out about his origin, by backtracking it."

Rias clenched her fist in excitement.

Devils were trained in combat from an early age. The actual battle aspect of child soldiers was nothing new to her. It had been the mental aspect she had been most concerned about. While she had initially been worried when learning he was a child soldier, hearing about how he had overcome adversity and risen to the top was thrilling.

This was just like an anime.

The tragic backstory, the mysterious circumstances, arriving at a school and running into a devil heiress. Rias swore she would rub Sona's face in it if he had a childhood friend he had loved but left behind.

Anime was totally real.

Man, coming to Japan was the best thing to ever happen to her.

"Why'd he retire?" Rias asked, praying to the Satans that it was to 'live a normal life.' Or better yet, to 'fulfill a promise to get married.' Or as an 'undercover mission.'

"He's dying," Akeno grimaced, taking the wind out of Rias' sails.

"Oh."

"According to medical reports, his body has slowly been shutting down for years. Some genetic disease the doctors who tested him, some of the best money can buy, haven't been able to identify. It was first caught and noted three years ago, leading to a slight weakening of the muscles, but he could still operate without issues until last year. Once it got bad enough to limit his movement, he was forced to retire from fieldwork. He stuck around for a bit but eventually left his group. At some point between then and arriving in Kuoh, he lost his eyesight as well. The doctors estimated he only has a few years left."

"Oh," Rias said again, feeling down. "Why is he in Kuoh then? Why not go back to Africa? Or retire to some beach house to be tended to by servants? He must have made some good money."

"He did return to Madagascar and a few other places. He had purchased plane tickets for New York, London, and quite several other large cities. Maybe touring the world before... Anyway, he landed in Kuoh, checked into his hotel, and wandered around briefly. Being blind and without magic, he accidentally bypassed our wards, found a bench in the sun and then met Sona."

"He's been here for weeks, though? When is he planning on leaving?"

"He originally only bought three nights in his hotel and then had a flight booked for Rio De Janeiro. Instead of making that flight, he extended his stay at the hotel for a week and, in that time, bought a house only a few blocks away. A lot of bribery was involved. Then, he donated most of his money to charities. Orphanages, international relief efforts, that kind of thing. His banking records show he left himself enough money to live out another two years comfortably, three if he's thrifty."

"He doesn't expect to live past that time," Rias sighed, melancholy heavy in her voice.

She, who would measure her lifespan in thousands of years unless killed, could not relate to someone with only a few years left. But she could sympathize and regret the loss of life gone too soon.

"He claims to Sona that he is expecting to meet someone here but does not identify who or when they will meet, only that it will be within two years," Akeno said as she closed the folder.

Both young women, only sixteen, had come to the same conclusion the Sitri agents had.

The 'meeting' was with death.

Eren Yaeger was no spy from an enemy faction who came to Kuoh for a malicious plot against the two devil heiresses.

Eren Yaeger had been looking for a place to die.

He had found one in Kuoh.

If nothing happened.

"Sona's scouting him for her peerage," Rias told her friend, peeking once more at her rival and the dying young man.

"Most likely," Akeno agreed, also looking at the pair again. "I think she did an initial cursory background check, found out the basics and contacted her family for more in-depth information once she had the idea. He's the type of recruit she likes. More skill than power. Plenty of experience. Someone she can get to know before making the offer."

"But," Rias almost said before holding her tongue.

Akeno would know the problem as well as she did, probably even better than Rias.

Being resurrected as a devil provided some healing, but it was not a cure-all. Wounds would heal, especially if they were recent, but a person's physical condition would remain the same. No sudden muscle gain or genetic alterations besides the transformation into a devil. It was how Adjuka Beelzebub managed to retain the genetic advantages of the other races when they were transformed into devils.

If Eren Yaeger became a devil, he would be weak.

With considerable effort, his muscles could be trained up to par again. Still, his eyes would forever be weaker than others, and the underlying genetic disease that had caused his current condition would permanently hobble his growth potential, already limited due to a lack of magic or Sacred Gear.

Devils always struggled with healing methods, their magic wholly unsuited to the task. Their race's only method, besides medicine similar to humans, was sharing demonic energy through skin-to-skin contact to accelerate their regeneration. Even Phenex Tears only healed wounds, not diseases. Otherwise, sleeping sickness would not still plague their race.

"I hope she decides to make the offer," Akeno admitted to her king as they watched Eren try and fail to conjugate a verb for the third time. "And he accepts. Like I said. It's cute."

How much was pity, and how much was her best friend seeing some of herself in the young man? The heiress didn't know.

Rias' heart went out to the man, it truly did, but each high-class devil only had so many Evil Pieces, and trading was rare outside of families.

Sona would be permanently giving up a valuable piece for a member without magic, sacred gear, or a unique heritage. It would put her at a permanent disadvantage compared to all her peers.

And Sona, with her radical dream, needed all the advantages she could get.

A stinging pain let Rias know she was clenching her fists too tightly as she watched Sona compliment Eren on getting an answer right.

The worst part, Rias realized as turbulent emotions coiled in her gut, was that if this had been only five years ago, Rias would have reincarnated Eren Yaeger without a second thought.

Just as she had Yuuto or Gasper.

She hadn't known anything about their abilities or sacred gears at the time. All she knew was that children had died in front of her, and she could help. It was only the luck the Gremory were famous for that meant she hadn't wasted some of her Evil Pieces on weak humans.

But now...

Now, Rias Gremory's kindness was being sacrificed for her freedom.

********

Eren Yaeger was waiting to die, and Rias couldn't help him.

So why was she here?

"Souna?" He asked, looking in her direction but slightly off to the side. "I thought we were done for the day. Didn't you have a meeting?"

"I am not Souna," Rias said, taking a deep breath and using Sona's alias. It was too late to back out now. "My name is Rias Gremory, a friend of Souna's."

Eren's hand tightened around his cane, and he pushed himself up straighter on the bench, his face turning slightly towards her direction but still slightly off.

"What do you want, friend of Souna?" His tone wasn't rude, but definitely wary.

Given his history, Rias imagined he did not have good memories of being surprised.

"I just wanted to meet you," Rias said in a soothing tone, well used to dealing with hurt children. That he was older didn't matter. "Souna's spoken about you a lot."

She hadn't, but he didn't need to know that.

If it weren't for the fact that the bench he always sat on was close to Rias' club room, the Gremory Heiress might have never known about the young man her rival met every second day for tutoring.

As she talked, Rias took a step forward, then stopped. Then another step, then she stopped again. Each step was made deliberately loud enough for him to hear but slow enough not to spook him.

"No, she hasn't," Eren called out her lie directly. "Souna doesn't gossip."

For someone who had only known the Sitri heiress for a few weeks, he certainly had a good grasp on her character.

No wonder Sona liked him so much. He was sharp.

"Sorry," Rias apologized as she paused her steady advance. "I've seen you two talking and wanted to meet you. Souna's my childhood friend. I got curious."

It was like dealing with Akeno all over again. Wary, defensive, and ready to lash out at the first sign of danger.

But unlike Akeno, she couldn't help him.

Why was she here, alone and long after everyone had left the school?

Eren Yeager did not say anything, still facing her general direction, but his grip on his cane did slacken somewhat.

Rias took the chance to take the last step towards the bench, sitting as far from him as possible to give him room.

It was incredibly uncomfortable, and she didn't understand how he could spend days on end on the thing in his condition. After observing him for a few days through her familiar, she knew he arrived here well before sunrise and left long after sunset. Occasionally, he would wander back to his newly purchased house for food and other needs, but he spent as much time as possible on this uncomfortable wooden bench.

Maybe she was here just because of curiosity? That had to be it.

"How is learning Japanese?" Rias asked, trying to defuse the tension a little bit. "It's hard, isn't it? It took me years, but I didn't have Souna helping."

Just copious amount of Anime, Manga, Akeno and the best tutors her parents could buy.

For a second, the devil thought the young man would continue to remain silent, 'staring' at her until she left.

"It's hard," he finally agreed, body sagging against the bench as the tension and strength left him. "It's really hard. So many rules, similar-sounding words, and ways of speaking. I don't think I will ever get it right. I am wasting my time."

Rias was about to commiserate but paused. Her problems had stemmed mainly from the writing system, all three of them, and trying to parse them out without Language. A problem a blind human would not be able to sympathize with.

"Your English is really good, though," she pointed out instead. "Is it your first language? I don't recognize your accent."

"Fifth," Eren shrugged. "I just picked it up along the way."

There were hundreds of languages in Africa, Rias knew from her studies, not counting dialects. English, French, and Portuguese were more widely used due to its colonial past, but they were not completely ubiquitous.

"If you can learn five languages, then a sixth shouldn't be a problem," Rias tried to encourage him. She knew from experience that positive reinforcement was needed more than anything else.

"Twelfth," the young man corrected her. He couldn't see it, but Rias looked at him in shock. He was seventeen and already spoke eleven languages? His appointment as leader of his mercenary group made much more sense now. "But I had... advantages then that I don't here. It's a lot harder than I thought."

Right.

His blindness was recent, wasn't it?

The pit in Rias' stomach, the one that had been there since she had heard about his past from Akeno, reared its head again.

"If..." Rias started saying, her voice halting and hesitating. What was she doing? Why was she here? "Hypothetically, if there was a way to get your sight back, would you take it?"

This was stupid.

So monumentally stupid.

Yet the words left her mouth anyway.

"Why are you asking?" Eren's voice was wary once more. Rias realized her words were quite rude, if not a little mean.

"I don't mean anything by it," she waved her hands in front of her before remembering he couldn't see them and folding them in her lap. "Just a little question, is all. I'm the president of the Occult Research Club at the school and always ask questions like that. What ifs, stories, magic, stuff like that. It's fascinating, isn't it?"

It was also an excellent cover for her Peerage.

"I guess," he sounded anything but fascinated, and Rias continued to ramble.

Despite being an heiress, she was still just a sixteen-year-old girl. While she was used to dealing with hurt children, Rias actually had no experience with trying to recruit someone to her Peerage. They tended to fall into her lap by accident or her brother's machinations, thanks to the Gremory luck. Trying to make an offer she shouldn't be making while remaining discreet was something new to her.

"Sorry, is that a strange thing to ask? My family has this whole thing for making deals with the devil," Rias babbled nervously. She usually could maintain much better composure, but the subject, the guilt, and the intensity of Eren's focus were throwing her off. "Comes from our name. Gremory? Like the demon? Anyway, I just think it's an interesting idea. So would you take a deal to get your sight back? If you had the option, I mean."

Eren seemed to think on it for a long, uncomfortable moment as Rias did her best not to squirm.

"It would depend on the deal, I guess," he finally said, and the redhead breathed a sigh of relief as he turned his head away.

He hadn't been actually looking at her, he couldn't, but the weight of his focus had been enough to throw her off.

Imagining if he still had his eyes and was in his physical prime, and Rias could see how he had made such a reputation despite being so young.

"What if all it would cost is service to the one that healed you?" Rias asked. "Like an employee or a servant. Something like that."

"No."

The answer was immediate and instinctual, with no hesitation at all.

"I will never sell my freedom," Eren Yeager bit out. "Not for any reason."

"Not even if the devil completely healed you?" Rias asked again. "Not just your eyes?"

"Not for anything."

"What about if the devil was a good one?" Rias continued to press. "One that treated their servants like family, not slaves. There can be good devils too, right? Or do you not like devils at all." As she said the words, Rias realized she had become too into the question and revealed too much. "Hypothetically, of course."

"Race has nothing to do with it," Eren sighed. "Anyone who tries to take my freedom is my enemy. Whether they are the same race as me or not."

"Even if they are a good devil trying to help you?"

Rias didn't know why she pressed so hard.

Why was she almost desperate for him to give her an answer she could use to justify offering him a place among her Peerage?

She still had all eight pawns. One fewer in exchange for a man with his experience wasn't a bad tradeoff, right?

Even as she tried to convince herself, Rias knew the answer.

It wasn't a bad tradeoff at all.

For anyone but her.

For anyone whose enemy wasn't a Phoenix.

Tactics could not win against immortality.

Perhaps Eren heard the almost pleading tone in her voice because his tone softened.

"My friend once explained to me... Well, he was talking to someone else, but I was there," the young man relaxed against the bench again, turning from her and tilting his head to the sky as his voice took on a tone of longing. "When someone is a good person, it just seems to mean someone who's good for you. Nobody's good to everyone. So if someone doesn't help me, they're a bad person. So, if a good devil exists and they try and take my freedom, they are automatically a bad devil. No matter what they give me or how they treat me afterwards."

"I see," Rias sighed, sagging against the bench in turn. "Your friend sounds smart."

"He was that smartest man I know." The sadness in his voice, as well as the past tense when Eren spoke about this friend, told Rias all she needed to know. "If he was the one here, he wouldn't be in this mess. He'd have some genius idea none of us could think of and save the day. A real hero, that's what he was. Not a fake hero or a devil like me."

Rias appreciated the irony of him calling himself a devil next to an actual devil but didn't say anything. He probably thought his actions as a mercenary were enough to condemn him, but Rias knew and loved people with more blood on their hands than he could ever have.

"Souna reminds me of him a lot," Eren continued. "It's almost scary. He was always trying to beat things into my head, too. I think they would have gotten along."

"I don't think I could handle two Sounas, though I know someone who would love that idea," Rias smiled at the thought of Serafall Leviathan passing out at the sight of two Sonas.

"You don't have to worry about her," Eren sighed. "I really have no plans or schemes towards anyone here. I am just here to meet someone. After that, I'll be gone for good."

Rias knew Eren Yeager was waiting to die.

Knew she shouldn't, couldn't do anything to save him.

Ultimately, Rias didn't know if she would have made the offer if Eren had said he wanted it.

She liked to think she would have.

But Rias Gremory was also not the type of girl who would leave someone to their pain alone.

Even if it only meant giving a lonely, dying boy someone to talk to while he waited for death.

"I'll always worry about Souna," Rias smiled, relaxing against the uncomfortable bench. "That's what childhood friends are for. Do you have any?" His head's tilt and his shoulders' relaxation told her the answer. "Is one of them a girl!? Did you promise to marry her!?"

Eren Yeager might be waiting for death, but Rias would be damned if she didn't make his remaining time enjoyable.

And if his stories lined up with anime, well... That was just proof that anime was real.

Suck it, Akeno!

********

This fic will move along at a good clip, so don't expect long, drawn-out affairs like in RR. It is a slice of life, in a way, but it is one that tries to only focus on the key moments. A lot will go unsaid, and I will continue to play with unreliable narrators, so much of it will be up to reader interpretation. I hope this method will prove interesting, but we will see.

I will see you all next week for the regular chapter release of On The Bench every Tuesday.

PS: For those following Rhapturous Rhapsody, no fear. I will still release my regular chapters every Friday.

 

[MasterOfDragonsGod]

Looks pretty interesting.

 

[Basilisk]

Nice, got my fingers crossed for a happy ending with Mikasa but I don't have my hopes up

 

[KASM01]

Kek, I always appreciate when an author writes Rias well, her being a cute dork is always enjoyable. And while I know we won't get a lot of action scenes I do hope we get at least one proper badass eren fight, even if just his skills or tactics if not an appearance of the attack titan.

 

[GAMB42]

Very interesting indeed. I am actually curious why he went mercenary in Africa of all places. It is just an odd thing to do really. And this being slice of life is well earned I suppose, though I do wonder if Eren will intervene someway in DxD, though since this is an epilogue of sorts I really can't see him fighting.

I am actually curious on how he reincarnated in the first place. Did he somehow force himself into DxD ?

And will each chapter be told form a different POV ? Because while Sona and Rias seem interesting some of the other possible POVs available would be too damn weird. What would Eren ever talk with someone like Issei about ?

 

[Speedshot]

Is Eren's backstory fabricated for his new world? Or is it just everything that was said just now was true? Idk giving him the backstory is cool, but do people actually know him? seems a little strange, but I can roll with either way. Great chapter. Can't wait to see when the real devils get to make comparisons to the devil in spirit.

 

[kz3838]

Thank you for the great chapter, I really like the way you wrote Rias here. She's a dork and genuinely not a bad person, but she's still driven by her goals to some degree. I am very curious to see how this story progresses, keep up the good work!

 

[ReadingDangerously]

"That will finish our lesson for the day," Sona said as she put away her notepads. She used it to keep track of where Eren was, as well as to mark what needed to be reviewed at what time.

Education was about practice. Not just memorization but application.

Even if Eren memorized every word, they wouldn't do him any good if he never used them.

"I must confess, I am impressed. You are in no way the abysmal student you said you would be. You must be putting in considerable effort when I am not here."

"When I can," Eren nodded slowly. He still spoke in that odd, almost dead way, but Sona was glad to see him emoting more. "Rias helps. She reads to me occasionally. Hearing the language consistently helps, and her translations are very good."

"Oh," Sona did her best to keep the annoyance out of her voice. She wasn't pleased with her rival interfering with her student, even if most of her ire had faded over the past weeks. "That's nice. What are you reading? I can make a few recommendations. Traditional literature is very important in Japanese education."

"I do not know all the names," Eren said. "I think they are children's stories. Short novels for young readers. Some are interesting."

"I see." Sona had to give Rias props. Choosing works targeting younger readers that were still interesting enough to engage a man of Eren's age and experience took some serious forethought. Maybe her rival had a talent for teaching as well? "Any that stood out?"

If nothing else, her future school's library should be well stocked.

"My favourite was... 'Suzumiya Haruhi no Bozo?'"

"Suzumiya Haruhi no Bousou," Sona corrected his pronunciation with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose under her glasses. She had read those books years ago at Rias' urging.

Of course, Rias would be reading light novels to Eren.

Sona didn't know why she expected anything different.

"You know it?" Eren asked.

"I've read the series before, yes," Sona sighed.

She had read those books and dozens of other light novels over the years at Rias' urging. The perils of having a Japanophile as a best friend. Eventually, the Gremory turned to manga and anime more than the written versions, and Sona became more focused on building her dream. Occasionally, Rias would make recommendations that Sona did read when she had the time, but there was no need to tell Eren all that. More important was fostering that engagement with the subject of study.

"Why did that one stand out?"

"I could sympathize," Eren frowned. Sona frowned in turn. Eren wasn't very expressive most of the time. She hadn't seen him smile even once. For him to respond strongly enough for it to show on his face was peculiar. "Trapped in time... Repeating the same days over and over again... It's a hell I would not wish on anyone."

"I suppose it wouldn't be enjoyable to be trapped," Sona hedged, trying to dredge up her memories of the story. It was rare for Eren to get interested in something so light novel or not. She should try and keep him talking. That was a crucial part of teaching. "But doesn't that story end with them free? If you could control it, it would be an incredible boon. The ability to do it all again, correct your mistakes, do everything perfectly in one go, and keep trying until everything is just right. I would like that. I am something of a perfectionist."

"You're wrong." His voice was steel, unbending and inflexible. "Everyone thinks it's great, but it's not. It's terrible. Even if you could control it. Because there is no perfect answer. There never is. People fight. People disagree. They hate, and they discriminate. We are all just big bundles of hypocrisy. Even if you have a million tries, there will never be a world where everything turns out perfectly. So you try, and you try, over and over again, but something is always lost. A price is always paid. But you won't want to pay it, so you try again. A never-ending hell of your own making."

Sona didn't know what to say to that. Clearly, the story resonated much more strongly with Eren than it had with her if he had given it so much thought.

For the last few months, she had been meeting with him three or four times a week on this bench, and the most emotion she had gotten out of him had been occasional bouts of frustration regarding some facet of the vocabulary or conjugation he was struggling with.

Besides the occasional derogatory remark at his own expense, Eren never talked about himself or expressed interest in hobbies.

In fact, it seemed like he was learning Japanese more out of a desire to have something to do rather than any genuine interest.

This was the first time she had ever seen him get passionate about anything.

Part of her resented that it had been Rias' dumb light novel that had him so engaged.

"And then," Eren continued, his voice impassioned. His words were practically spat out, bitter and vitriolic. This was also the most Sona had ever heard him speak without prompting. "You give up. You can't go on forever. No one can. When you realize there is no perfect plan, no way for everyone to be happy and safe, you make a choice. The choice of what matters most to you. The few things you are willing to sacrifice everything for. And when the time comes to pay that price, all you can do is laugh. Laugh because even if it wasn't you who pulled the trigger, you know your choices caused this. You know you could have chosen a different path. You knew what the cost would be. You saw it coming a thousand thousand times. But you paid it anyway. The bullet wasn't yours, but the kill was. So you laugh and cry because it is all your fault."

It didn't take a genius to understand what Eren was getting at.

They weren't talking about a time loop in a book anymore.

It was just a metaphor for making hard decisions.

Sona had read his file and knew of his past. His time leading his mercenary company had been consistently successful and without any known casualties on his side. But it hadn't always been like that.

He had been a child once.

A child on dozens of battlefields. Even if he was a genius, he would have made mistakes. Mistakes that would have cost people their lives.

Was it civilians that haunted him?

His comrades?

Or was it children like him, those thrust into a war not their own and gunned down because they were not as lucky as him?

Maybe he had to make that call.

To sacrifice the few for the many.

Maybe he sent someone to their death, knowing what would happen and knowing it was needed.

No matter the reason, it was clear that Eren Yeager was not so unaffected by his past as he liked to portray. That it was a dumb light novel that was the catalyst was irrelevant. What was important was that he was talking.

Sona gave him time to calm down, huffing and puffing as he was from his tirade. It also gave her time to organize her thoughts.

"Sorry," Eren said softly once he controlled his breathing after a minute of silence.

"It is alright," Sona answered just as softly, then hesitated. "Do you... wish to talk about it?"

Sona was not good with these kinds of things. She excelled at providing structure. Rules and a procedure. Handling emotional and traumatized people was more up Rias's alley than hers.

But, after a few months of tutoring the young man, she did regard Eren as a student and a friendly acquaintance. They certainly kept secrets from each other, but that was to be expected, given their positions.

But that didn't change the fact that she regarded the young man as almost a friend. If nothing else, Sona could listen. This wasn't therapy, but if she could help, she wanted to.

"I don't know." He sounded lost, the passion gone. It was like even he was confused about why he said all that. "I don't... Most people wouldn't get it and talking... Talking can't change the past. Can't change what I've done."

"I might not get it," Sona admitted, being honest. Yes, life as an heiress to a prominent devil house had its fair share of combat, but it also hadn't put her in such a nebulous position as she knew he had been. She had never had to make a call like that. "But I am here. I can listen."

Sona decided to make a bold move and laid her hand on his.

She had done some reading on blind people after meeting Eren, and many of her books spoke about the importance of the other senses to those deprived of sight.

It wasn't anything like superpowers portrayed in media. It was a simple application of practice. They worked those senses much harder than most people and thus got more out of it. It was a simple state of sensitivity.

They were more aware of everything their other senses conveyed.

Sona had taken that to heart in her interactions with Eren. She refrained from loud bursts of noise, used a spell to tone down the effect of her light perfume, and always respected his personal space by sitting at the other end of the bench.

This was the first time she had touched him since their first meeting.

There was no sudden flash of sparks, pounding of hearts, or great revelation. It was just Sona reassuring Eren that she was there. That he wasn't alone.

Though his hand was very warm.

And then she let go, hand returning to her lap.

For over five minutes, they sat on that bench in silence, the spring wind blowing through the leaves of the trees.

"I was a soldier," Eren finally said, his voice distant. "Always wanted to be one. Partly out of anger, partly to fight for something instead of just living life waiting to die like cattle. Joined up the first chance I had. I wasn't the only one. They each had their own reasons, but others joined at the same time. Only a handful of those who made it through training survived the first year of duty. We went through so much. So many died. For me. Because of me. Because they entrusted their hearts to a cause greater than themselves."

Eren rubbed his hair in frustration as if the memories angered him. As he did, the thick bandages over his eyes shifted slightly for a second to give Sona a glimpse of his eyeline.

Small indents were regularly marked along his skin, too regular to be scars. Remnants from surgery? To try and fix his eyes?

She only had a second to look, but Sona now understood why Eren wore those thick bandages instead of just a blindfold. She could only imagine how much harder life would be for him here in Japan if people could see those scars.

Either way, if Sona wanted Eren to continue to open up, she needed to keep him going.

"Were you close?"

There was another beat of silence as Eren let his hand fall to the bench, the other tightening around his cane. His face stared upward to a sky he couldn't see, and for a second, Sona feared she had overstepped.

Then he spoke, voice heavy with a melange of emotions she couldn't hope to unravel but knew none were good.

"We were. We all were. We were all we had. All that remained. I cared more about them than anyone else. More than the whole world."

Sona just listened. This was the first time Eren had ever shared anything about his past, even after months spent together. In some strange way, it warmed Sona's heart. She wasn't the only one who considered the other a friend.

"So many died because of me. Most I didn't know well. Some I did. But one of them... Sasha was... special. Always hungry. Always eating, even when we didn't have a lot. She got in so much trouble. But there was no one like her. We could always count on her to have our backs and cheer us up. Right before our first battle, she managed to snag some meat from the higher-ups. We weren't starved, but meat was a luxury we hadn't had in years. She could have gotten in serious trouble. But instead of hiding it, she wanted to share it with us. One of the rare times she did. More often, she would try and eat everything before anyone else had a chance."

Sounded like Koneko, Sona thought with a slight smile at the fondness in Eren's voice.

"I think." His voice hitched. "I think she wanted to encourage us in her own way. We were going to split up the next day and possibly die, and she didn't want our last memories together before we left to be sad ones."

"She sounds like a wonderful woman. I would have loved to meet her."

"You would have hated her," Eren snorted in derision, the closest thing to laughter she had ever heard from him. "Sasha was way too chaotic for you. In our first training session, she started eating a potato during the roll call. And when the instructor took her to task, she tried to bribe him with half. The smaller half. I honestly didn't think he would ever let her stop running."

He lapsed into silence again, caught up in a memory.

"What happened?" Sona asked gently, her hand brushing against his just the slightest amount to remind him of her presence.

"I killed her."

Sona had expected it from his earlier words, but she also knew it was bound to be more complicated than that.

"I made the plan, knowing she would die. I hoped, prayed, and tried desperately to think of another way to do it, but I couldn't find one. I went through the motions for so long, hoping another option would show itself. But nothing did. And Sasha died. She wasn't the only one. So many more died because of me. But she was the one that hurt the most."

There was another long silence, and Sona noticed he had a white-knuckled grip on his cane, and his teeth were clenched.

"Her last word was 'Meat.' It was such an absurd thing to say, so... Sasha, that I couldn't help but laugh. From start to end, she was still the same girl who offered her comrades a piece of meat when they could die the next day. And I killed her."

"Did you love her?" Sona asked. There was no accusation in her voice.

"I did," Eren admitted as if saying it was confessing a sin. "I told you. I loved them all. I chose them over the entire world. Sasha. Connie. Historia... Even horse face." Sona didn't comment on the unique way he had said the third name and the pause that came after. Nor did she say anything about the... creative nickname for the last. "They were comrades. Friends. Family. I think I even loved Captain Levy and Hange in some small way. We were all that remained. You don't spend so long with people and not care for them. There were others. Daz. Floch. Even Samuel, who was on the wall that day with Sasha. I cared for them all. But..."

"But?"

"But I loved others more," Eren sighed, and it was like all the fight left him with that release of air. "And they would all have died if I didn't make a plan. And who knows how many of the others I cared about would have died without that plan. By killing Sasha, I got the last pieces I needed. Both of them, all for the price of one bullet. So I went through with it, knowing she and others would die, all because of me. All the while desperately hoping that I was wrong. That there was a perfect plan. A way to not lose anyone. But there is no perfect plan. So I killed Sasha and laughed and cried."

Sona could have said a lot of things then.

She could have tried to reassure him that he didn't have a choice, that his actions had been the right ones. She could have pointed out that the cold calculation he had done, the logical path he had followed, had been the right one. That lives had been saved because of his actions.

Sona didn't know if any of that was true. All she had to go on was a few pages in a file and what Eren told her.

Sona Sitri was not Rias Gremory. She was not the warm, almost dotting woman who would welcome a lost child into her family just because she could.

Sona Sitri was a young woman of logic. A dreamer with a plan.

And, as she thought this to herself, Sona realized something else.

She... probably would have done the same as Eren in that situation.

Of course, she loved her peerage. They were her friends, the closest thing to family she had besides her own. They looked up to her, trusted her judgement and leadership, and believed in her dream. In return, Sona wanted to do everything in her power to support them as well.

If something like what Eren described happened, she would have searched high and low and used every possible resource available to her, even those of a less savoury nature, to see them safely. She would have even given up her own life for them.

But...

If there truly was no other way...

Sona realized she would have made the same call as Eren. She would have sacrificed one of her friends to save the others.

At the end of the day, Sona Sitri would have sacrificed those she couldn't save to ensure the survival of those she could. It was a cold logic but one she could follow.

So Sona could not give Eren the encouraging yet empty platitudes that others could because she would have made the same call.

All Sona Sitri could give Eren was her hand over his, reminding him she was there as they sat silently on the bench.

********

ReadingDangerously, WTF is this? I thought On The Bench was released on Tuesdays?

Well, my imaginary reader, the reception I received was so overwhelming that I was super motivated to edit the next chapter and get it out early. From now on, OTB will release Sundays and Tuesdays until we run out of chapters. That means I will run out before RR is done, which will remain my priority till it finishes, but I figured I might have time to write a few more chapters between now and then.

I will see you all Tuesday.

 

[DistopianFjord]

Ngl, the talk about the tine loop gave me Lobotomy Corporation flashbacks.

 

[Annwyl.Seren]

Two chapters in one week? What we are celebrating?

 

[aledawizard]

I like this, thanks for the chapters.

 

[kz3838]

Thank you for the great chapter, the way Eren talked about Sasha and the others was just perfect. You managed to convey the feeling he had regarding them while at the same time not letting slip that he's not originally from this world. Keep up the good work!

 

[KASM01]

This chapter is really great, and I love Eren talking about the choices he made and how he talks about Sasha's death and his reaction to it, as when we get to that point in the story in AOT that in particular is when we, the readers/watcher, really understand how, in someways Eren never changed, as his motivation and willpower never change, but his reaction to the tragedies he keeps running into does, the "cruel yet beautiful world" of AOT breaks him down and all he can do is laugh at the death of one of his closest friends which is just so haunting to me, and one of the greatest parts of the modern classic that AOT is. the fracturing of an unbreakable will.

 

[SirGrim]

This is damn interesting character writing. I have no idea what plans you have later on, but I want to see more.

 

[Kalstorm22]

Great chapter, I really enjoyed both the look into Eren's perspective, and that Sona had enough insight in to herself to realize that she too would sacrifice the few to save the many.

 

[ReadingDangerously]

"What is wrong?" Akeno asked as she set the cup of tea before her King.

"We're going to the underworld for the summer," Rias said as if that explained everything.

Which it didn't.

"I am aware," Akeno nodded and set another cup down for Kiba, who thanked her and took her seat on the club room couch. Koneko was nibbling on some cookies beside her, her middle school uniform getting covered in crumbs that the Queen got rid of with a wave of her hand. "I know things are tense with your parents, but seeing them again should still be nice. It has been a year."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I guess it will," Rias answered distractedly as she bit her lower lip, deep in thought.

"Are you worried about our contracts?" Akeno asked, trying to puzzle out what had the young woman so distracted. "I have already alerted my regulars to the disruption in service."

"I did as well," Kiba nodded with a smile at Akeno as he put his tea down to chime in.

"...Me too."

"No, no," Rias hurried to waive her hands in dismissal. "I trust you all to be responsible. I have also talked with Gasper, and he's prepared for the trip. It's not you all I am worried about."

So she was worried about someone but not one of her Peerage? The only other people in the school she knew well were Sona and her Peerage, and Akeno doubted there was anything to be worried about there.

Which left...

"Are you afraid to leave your boyfriend alone for so long," Akeno teased her best friend.

"Akeno! It's not like that," Rias protested.

"So you say. But you and Sona do spend so much time with him. Rivals of love, ah... what a scandalous master I have," Akeno kept up, delighting in the way Rias' face started to match her hair.

Akeno's... preferences and proclivities were no secret among the Peerage, and she could drop the Yamato Nadeshiko act in the safety of the club room.

Her words weren't solely to tease Rias either.

The idea of two devil heiresses fighting over an injured, weak human tickled her romantic sense. And the concept of Rias coming in and trying to steal a man from her rival, like a seductive mistress, was in line with Akeno's fetishes.

"Eren is a friend," Rias insisted with a pout as she crossed her arms. "A good one. He doesn't know anything about me, or the supernatural, or the Gremory. There is nothing romantic about it. He doesn't even know what I look like."

"Just because he can't see you doesn't mean you can't show him what you look like," Akeno chirped happily, and Rias tilted her head in confusion at her Queen's words. Taking a cue from the videos she had been watching, Akeno lowered her voice into a sensual purr as she ran a hand down her body. "You just have to get... hands-on. Physical."

"Akeno!"

"Fufufufu," the seductive act fell away as the young woman giggled, a hand covering her mouth, as her King gaped at her, face flushed with embarrassment.

"But you are worried about him, right?" Kiba asked his floundering King, aware that the two young women would continue for hours if he let them to it.

He and Koneko had never officially met the older boy but had been told about him. They had also read his file and occasionally saw him on his bench when they moved through the park behind their club building.

"Both me and Sona will be gone for weeks," Rias took the opportunity to shift the topic away from an embarrassing subject. "He'll be completely alone."

"He will be fine," Akeno tried to reassure her King, giving up her teasing for the moment. "Despite his condition, he is very competent. And the wards will protect him while he's on the grounds."

"I know that," Rias said with a huff. "I'm leaving my familiar behind just in case, but he should be safe."

"Then what are you worried about?"

"He'll be bored!" Rias answered as if it was obvious. "Without Sona or me, he's going to be lonely. I've been trying to figure out what to leave behind to help him."

"Sona will leave behind study material for him," Akeno pointed out.

If there was one thing they could trust the Sitri to do, it was to give her 'special student' summer homework.

"But that's boring," Rias whined. "Sona needs to let him have fun, too. I just can't decide what to leave him. Definitely a few drama CDs, but which ones? And should I leave an anime behind? Just because he can't see it doesn't mean he can't enjoy it. We haven't started one yet. I've been hesitating, but do you think he'd like to listen to one, or is it too soon?"

"And this is what has you chewing on your pen?" Kiba asked, his ordinarily suave smile slightly pained.

"Of course," Rias said with pride. "There are a lot of things to consider when making recommendations. It can't be anything war-related, obviously. But Eren doesn't like just slice of life either. It needs to be able to catch his interest. It also cannot be something wholly new that we haven't gone through together, or he won't understand it. Context matters a lot in enjoying anime. He's still learning Japanese, which leaves only a few options that will interest him but are at a low enough level to not hurt his head."

Akeno smiled as her King went through the listing of Drama CDs she had already chosen. Why and how it was not nearly enough to cover all the time they would be gone for, and how she wanted him to have options if some of her listings didn't click with him.

She suspected Eren didn't care for manga or light novels as much as Rias did and just put up with them for Rias' sake.

If nothing else, she was happy that Eren Yeager was here for Rias. The heiress needed someone like him in her life. Someone who didn't see her as a King, heiress, source of influence, or potential rival for power and prestige.

Someone who saw her as Rias Gremory, not Rias of the Gremory.

Which made his inevitable death all the sadder.

********

"Who are you?" Eren asked as she took a seat on the bench.

How he could spend all day on the uncomfortable thing, Akeno had no idea.

"Himejima Akeno," she answered politely. "A pleasure to meet you."

"What do you want, Himejima Akeno?"

"I am here to talk to you as Rias Gremory's best friend," Akeno kept her voice unfailingly polite despite Eren's rough words. She didn't hold it against him. The situation hadn't been the same, but she had been where he was before. Distrustful and suspicious of everyone who approached. "You might not believe me-"

"Rias has mentioned you," Eren cut her off. "I was asking why you were here now. You should be in class."

Akeno bit her tongue before the caustic remark could escape at his rudeness.

She had to remind herself that despite knowing about him for months and seeing him a dozen or so times, this was the first time they had officially met. All he would know of her was from whatever Rias told him, but he had never met her.

"I needed to speak with you," Akeno said instead, her voice still gentle, kind, and polite. "Thank you for worrying, but my grades will not suffer from one missed class."

Eren's lips quirked down for an instant, his hand briefly tightening on his cane, but he remained silent, letting her explain herself.

"As I said," Akeno said gently. "I am here because of Rias. We will be leaving for the summer, returning home to see her family."

"I know," Eren repeated, his empty hand gesturing toward a bag leaning against his feet. "She and Souna told me. Gave me all this stuff this morning before class since they're leaving this afternoon. We've already said goodbye, so if that is all..."

"I'm afraid it isn't. I won't take too much of your time, I promise." Once again, Eren's hand twitched on his cane. Once more, he kept silent, and Akeno continued to the main subject. "I wish to enquire about your plans for Rias."

"What do you mean?" Eren asked, fully frowning in her general direction now.

"I simply wish to ask what your intentions are for her. And Souna, but I am mostly here for Rias."

"Is this you telling me to stay away from her? That she's too good for me?" Eren sarcastically asked, completely unimpressed.

"No, no, I don't intend anything like that," Akeno hurried to say while staying polite. "I am happy that you are friends with them. Truly, I am. I would not wish to deprive them of you, nor you of them."

"Then what?" Eren's voice was even harsher now, as if fed up with talking to her. Akeno paused, trying to think of a way to say it delicately. Eren caught her hesitation and didn't let it slide. "Spit it out."

"Your dying," Akeno whispered gently, politely, and regretfully.

Eren didn't react negatively to her words as she feared. He just tilted his head slightly to the side in a minute gesture as if asking her, 'So what?'

"It obvious to those who saw you a few months ago and see you now," Akeno kept her voice soft and kind. She was genuinely sympathetic for the boy despite his abrasive tone toward her. "Despite spending so much time in the sun, you've gotten paler. You must have lost at least ten pounds. You walk slower. And it has only been half a year since you first arrived. You can't have long left."

"I'll die at nineteen."

It was said so casually and matter-of-factly that a shiver ran down Akeno's spine.

There was no bitterness in his voice.

No resignation.

Eren was just stating a fact.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Eren frowned at her again. "It's not your fault. And there is nothing you can do. There is no cure money can buy. We all die. I've already lived a lot longer than I should have."

"Still, it's not fair fo-"

"Life's not fair," Eren cut her off again. "It's never fair. It is as cruel as it is beautiful. Only children and naive idiots don't recognize that."

"But you're so young," Akeno tried to say, but Eren continued speaking over her.

"It is not about the length of our lives. It is about the amount of living we do in them. And I've lived enough for two lifetimes."

The devil-fallen hybrid was getting sick of being interrupted, but she contained her annoyance.

She was the one who had come to see him and brought up such a personal topic, after all.

"While that is an admirable and mature way to view things," Akeno kept her polite and gentle tone despite her frustration. "As I mentioned, I am here for Rias. And she will not see things that way. She is a very caring girl and has never lost anyone. I just worry that..."

This time, the reincarnated devil trailed off instead of being interrupted, letting Eren fill in the blanks.

"That I am going to break her heart when I die," Eren said plainly.

"Yes," Akeno said regretfully.

She did feel bad for the boy. He had never asked for any of this. His past may be filled with violence, but it didn't seem like he had done anything to deserve to die so young.

On top of that, she knew she was being a bit unreasonable, asking him to put Rias' happiness above his own when they had only known each other for half a year.

In some small way, she was also grateful for him.

Not only was he a friend Rias' needed, but he also turned down the opportunity unknowingly to be reincarnated as a devil.

Rias could not afford to have a weak peerage, not with so much on the line. Her reincarnating a sick and dying boy, with no magic or sacred gear, out of pity might make her parents decide to push the marriage ahead, despite the promise to wait until she was in university. And even if it didn't, with her dreams regarding the Rating Games, Eren would forever be a chain around her neck.

As it was, Akeno still wasn't sure Rias would let him pass on peacefully.

That was what she was truly worried about.

That the redhead, unable to handle the loss of her friend, would try and bring him back. It would not only cost her a piece she couldn't afford to lose, but there was every probability that Eren would resent Rias for it.

It would be acceptable, if slightly regrettable, if Rias wasted a valuable Evil Piece to save a friend whose only contribution to the team was combat experience.

It would be a tragedy if that friend came to hate her for it.

Already, the Gremory and Sitri agents were combing the globe for any magical or mundane solution to Eren's disease, and they had only known him for a few months.

Akeno no did not want their friendship, so sweet and enviable, to be tainted by regret and hatred.

"I am not asking you to stop seeing them, or stop being friends with them, or even to stop coming here," Akeno explained gently. "I just ask that you do not tell them when it is time. You can leave a message, a will, or anything, and I'd be happy to pass it along after... afterwards. I just don't want them to have to watch you die. It is a terrible thing to see someone you are close to die in front of you."

Perhaps Eren heard the way her voice hitched, her mask of prim and proper composure lifting slightly as memories of her mother's murder flashed before her mind.

His face eased from his frown for the first time since she sat down.

"You don't have to worry about that." His voice softened as he leaned back against the bench and turned his head skyward. "I doubt we will still be friends then."

"You do not know Rias as well as I do. She is a very greedy girl. I have never seen her let anyone go once she latches on."

"It doesn't matter."

"It does-"

"I will die alone."

Another shiver ran down Akeno's spine at the absolute certainty in his voice.

If the earlier statement had been a prediction, then this was a prophecy.

Akeno felt a deep sadness well up in her as she realized what it meant. How he knew exactly when he would die.

What he would do.

Eren Yeager would die alone, and nothing anyone said would change his mind.

In his own terrible way, he'd control how he died.

Akeno did not have the right to criticize how someone chose their end.

"I understand," Akeno said gently as she rose from her seat. "I will not bother you anymore. Goodbye."

Eren grunted in dismissal.

That was the final straw.

Akeno had bothered him, yes, but she had also been polite, kind, and gentle. She hadn't asked him anything onerous or insulting. She had done everything in her power to be as unobtrusive as possible.

And in return?

She had been rudely questioned, been cut off repeatedly, and now, instead of simply saying goodbye, he was trying to dismiss her with a grunt?

She could have accepted his refusal. She could accept his scorn. She could even accept his resentment for her unreasonable demand. Akeno had prepared herself for that when she approached.

But she could not accept blatant disregard.

Himejima Akeno might pretend to be a prime and proper Yamato Nadeshiko, the ideal Japanese demure beauty, but deep down, she was rotten to her core.

He wanted her gone?

Too bad for him.

"Oh, one final thing, if you don't mind," Akeno said sweetly as she retook her seat on the uncomfortable bench.

"What?" Eren asked bluntly, obviously put out by her return.

"I just wish to ask if you have some issues with me? You have been quite rude since I arrived." Though Eren couldn't see the smile directed his way, any observer would have noticed it was not a kind one.

"I don't like you."

"May I ask why?" A bit surprised at his bluntness, Akeno was genuinely curious about the source of his dislike.

Had Rias pranked her by telling bad stories about her to the man?

"Your damn voice is pissing me off."

"My... voice?" Akeno asked in confusion, not put off by his swearing. "I am afraid I cannot help the voice I was born with. And I admit, I have been told I have a lovely singing voice before, so I do not know what aggravates you."

"It's so fake!" Eren snarled. The outburst of anger reared its head from almost nowhere as his hands tightened on his cane in frustration. "So damn fake! It's pissing me off! Too damn polite, too damn nice. Just say what you really feel, damn it! Swear if you want to swear. Insult me if you want to. Scream if you want to scream. Just stop trying to be someone you are not!"

Stunned by his short rant, Akeno said nothing for a few seconds.

"What did Rias tell you about me?" She was soooo getting back at her King for this.

"She didn't have to," Eren bit out. "I knew someone like you. For years, she pretended to be someone she wasn't, trying to be liked by everyone. I couldn't stand her then, but at least I could avoid her. You came to me. And I am too old to put up with it again. I don't care how you act around others, but if you want to talk to me, you better leave that fake shit behind. Or I am going to punch you."

The idea of Eren Yeager, blind and sickly human, trying to punch her, a devil-fallen hybrid that could kill him with a twitch of the finger, was so absurd that Akeno couldn't help herself.

"Fufufufu," Akeno giggled. "If you can hit me, I will reward you." The way her voice dipped low hinted at the nature of the reward. "I am usually an S, but I always wanted to try being an M."

As she teased him, she went over their short conversation in their head.

He had been wary at first but hadn't been hostile until she deliberately tried to be gentle and polite, knowing what she was asking would be rude. It wasn't politeness or kindness that bothered him. Sona spoke formally as well, and Rias was almost entirely too kind.

In only three sentences, without ever seeing her, Eren Yeager had understood Akeno Himejima better than most of her peers ever did.

No wonder Sona was so intrigued.

Rather than blush, fidget, or continue to be angry, Eren simply sagged against the bench in relief.

"Much better," he sighed.

Akeno blinked owlishly at the boy.

Sure, he couldn't see her, but her voice was sensual enough that he should have gotten the hint. Either he didn't care for women, had more experience than she expected, or...

Once more, the sadness and sympathy welled up within Akeno.

She supposed it was too much to expect a boy, even one at that age, going through what he was to not have hormonal issues.

"I wasn't lying about being concerned for Rias," Akeno diverted the topic back from less... sensitive grounds as quickly as possible. "It would be best if we could find a cure for what you are going through. Then my worries will be pointless."

Whoops.

She hadn't meant to let the fact that they were even looking for a cure slip out.

As far as Akeno knew, Eren had yet to learn of the resources Sona and Rias could call to hand. To him, they were just helpful young women, his friends who sat and talked with him.

She also didn't want to give him false hope. Devils were famously bad at healing magic.

"There is no cure." Eren thankfully didn't seem to catch on to the hint as he spoke with indifference about his impending doom. "I was born with a time limit. I will not live to see twenty. I do not regret living my life. It was necessary. Now I am just waiting for the meeting I was promised."

"That is... a mature way to look at it," Akeno hedged, her voice less polite and more dissatisfied. It was fine to look at one's mortality philosophically, but he was casual about it that it angered her. Eren shot her a look, lost under the bandages, but the frown was back, so she spoke her thoughts directly. "But death is not just about the dead. It is about those left behind. Souna will miss you. Rias will miss you. You should not belittle their care."

"You lost someone."

It was not a question.

The light note of sympathy in his voice and her knowledge of his own experiences gave Akeno the push she needed to share a bit more than she would usually.

"My mother. She was killed when I was a girl. Rias' family took me in after they found me."

"Losing a parent is..." Eren was clearly searching for the right words but came up blank.

"Yeah..." Akeno sighed, not blaming his silence.

It was unfair to expect Eren, who never knew his parents, to be able to understand what she had felt when her mother had been murdered before her eyes.

Because of her.

Because Akeno Himejima's birth had been a mistake.

The conversation lulled, both teens on the bench caught up in their memories.

In the end, since she was already missing class, Akeno decided to use the time to get to know Eren better before leaving with the rest of the Peerage this afternoon.

"Tell me about the girl?"

"Hm?"

"The one I remind you of. The one you don't like."

"I didn't like her," Eren corrected softly, the rage gone and leaving the void it had once filled. "By the end... she was probably the third closest person to me."

"Oho," Akeno tittered. "How close? Did you ever..."

"...No," Eren said simply. So much was packed into that short word that Akeno decided to not push.

So far, this conversation had not gone her way at all. She got the feeling most of her usual tactics to get under people's skin would not work on Eren Yeager.

Akeno did always enjoy a challenge.

"Do you want to help me play a little joke on Rias?" She asked, trying to talk about a less dour topic. If asking questions wouldn't get her answers, she would have to evaluate how he handled himself in other situations.

Just because it didn't look like Eren had a funny bone in his body didn't mean he couldn't help.

Maybe this would even get him to smile.

One way or another, Akeno would break the older boy's calm.

"On Rias," he asked. Akeno nodded, realized what she was doing, and answered in the affirmative instead. "I don't mind. The last time I played a prank was... Training?"

He trailed off as if asking himself a question. Akeno filed that away and kept going.

"You know Rias thinks you're an anime protagonist, right? When we return, you just need to say a few words to her."

Eren tilted his head in confusion, looking in her direction. That he was facing slightly to her left didn't bother Akeno as she slowly wove her prank on her best friend.

It would be over a month before it paid off, but it would be worth it.

By the time she explained her idea and gave him his lines, it was almost time for her to meet with the rest of the Gremory Peerage to head to the underworld.

"You are a worse person than I thought," Eren sighed as she stood up.

"It won't hurt her," Akeno assured. "She'll love it... after a while."

"You know her more than I do," Eren gave an ambivalent shrug. "I do have a question."

"Of course."

"What is 'anime?'"

Akeno blinked owlishly at the boy, unable to understand how one could spend months being friends with Rias Gremory without knowing what anime was.

Then again, hadn't Rias just said she was hesitating about introducing Eren to one? Had she never even mentioned it to not burden Eren with knowledge of what he was missing?

Had Akeno just, unknowingly, blundered through her King's well-intentioned consideration?

And more importantly...

How do you explain anime to the blind?

With difficulty, Akeno realized in the following hour as she tried to explain a visual medium to the blind boy on the bench.

********

As I mentioned in the first chapter, part of this story is me trying to experiment with tone.

AOT is pretty much the poster child for PTSD, angst, and trauma, but DxD is the complete opposite. A head-empty, no thoughts, only OPPAI kind of world, even in its darker moments.

One is a serious take on humanity, and the other is as close to a crack fic you can get while still getting published.

I try to lighten the AOT moments and give weight to the DxD moments to give On The Bench a blend that is both, yet neither. I think I am doing all right, but feedback is always appreciated.

Either way, I will be waiting on Sunday for you all On The Bench.

 

[In search for story's]

I appreciate this on such a visceral level.

 

[CultMaster]

Great chapter, looking forward to morrr!

 

[LuckyRobert]

How do you explain anime to the blind?

Click to shrink...

Lmao.
Their priorities are in the right place.

 

[kz3838]

Thank you for the great chapter, love how you wrote Eren's interaction with Akeno. I am very curious to see where you take this next, keep up the good work!

 

[Kalstorm22]

Great chapter, it's always fun to see Akeno's flirty nature not work on someone, though I'm curious on why it doesn't work, is Akeno right and it's a hormonal thing or Eren is just not interested in women or something else completely.

 

[ReadingDangerously]

"Eren! We're back!" Rias cheerfully greeted her friend as she sat on the uncomfortable bench.

"Rias," Eren nodded at her but tilted his head in question in his usual expressionless manner. Sometimes, he reminded her so much of Koneko that Rias decided that waiting for her Rook to enter high school was entirely too long before introducing the two. "Who else is with you?"

"I am here as well," Sona said as she approached at a much more sedate pace. She slightly adjusted her glasses, making them glint ominously as she glared at her rival. Rias stuck her tongue out at the student council president. Sona chose to be the bigger woman... metaphorically.

Either she'd hit her growth spurt and gain her sister's... assets, or she wouldn't and would grow up to be a beauty like her aunt.

Either way, Sona didn't need to compete on such a base level.

Or so she told herself.

"I trust your summer was enjoyable. What progress have you made with the lesson discs I left for you?"

Rather than let Eren answer the boring question, Rias started speaking again.

"I also brought Akeno." "Hello." "She asked me to introduce you."

"Good afternoon," Eren nodded in the direction Akeno had spoken from and tried to greet her in Japanese. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

The pronunciation was correct, but the accent was off. Still, it was enough to get Sona to congratulate him.

"I see you have been practicing," she nodded with evident approval. "Now that you have the syllabary order down and some basic vocabulary, we will work on sentence structure and conjugation while increasing your word pool. By the end of the year, I want to be able to practice with some simple test conversations."

"But you don't have to worry about it right now," Rias hurried to add, sending a light glare of her own at Sona. "Akeno is fluent in English like us."

"Thank you," Eren nodded at them both.

Or at least tried to.

Instead of nodding at Rias and Sona, he faced Akeno and a nearby tree.

"Have you been out here all day," Rias asked, a note of worry in her voice as she looked around the wooded park, just now realizing how hot the August afternoon really was. For a devil, it wasn't a significant concern. But for Eren? "Should we head into the shade? I brought a picnic."

Kuoh didn't get as hot as some parts of Japan, but leaving someone to sit in the sun for hours on end was in no way safe. The tree leaves blocked a lot of the direct glare, but Eren was already sickly. Rias was worried about heat stroke.

"I am fine," Eren shook his head in denial. "Heat doesn't bother me."

"You're burning up," Rias insisted as she hurried to grab his hand not holding his cane. "Come on, my club is near here. You can cool off inside."

"Don't worry," he said as he lightly shook off her hand. "I run a few degrees hotter than most."

"It's true," Sona agreed. "He felt warm even months ago, and it was spring." Rias gave her rival another glare as Akeno looked at the Sitri in delight. "Ah, I just mean when I touched him, it was warm. Just his hands." Sona lightly flushed and fidgeted under the Gremory's glower and Akeno's widening smile. "But I do think the park furniture could do with an update. I will discuss it at the school's next budget meeting." It was a transparent ploy to change the subject, and everyone knew it. "We should be able to replace all the benches with more mod-"

"No."

Eren's one word stopped Sona's voice in her tracks.

"Excuse me?" Sona said with a frown. She wasn't one to tolerate people being rude.

Just because this was the first time Eren had done so didn't mean she would allow it to slide. The boy wasn't what she would consider polite, nor was he outright rude.

He was just... rough around the edges, unaware of the social niceties due to his upbringing.

Sona willfully ignored the fact that even if Eren knew how to be polite, he would still choose not to be unless it was someone he respected.

"Not this bench," Eren insisted, not cowed in any way by Sona's harsh tone. "If you want to change the others, go right ahead. Not this one."

"Why?" Rias asked instead of Sona. "It's really uncomfortable, the spot isn't good, and you're exposed to the elements. I've seen you sit out here in the rain. You can't keep doing that in your condition, even with an umbrella. Winter is coming, too. We even get snow here in Kuoh. We can replace the bench with a full sitting booth. There'd be more room, and you'd be safer."

"Not this bench," Eren repeated, stressing every word. He would not be budged on the subject. "It's comfortable to me, and the elements don't bother me as much as other people. I've dealt with worse."

"Why is this bench special?" Sona asked, trying to get why he was being so obstinate about a bench, of all things.

"It is important to me," Eren said, and none of the young women there were happy with that answer. But then he continued. "I met you here on it, didn't I?"

"Oh," Rias said softly, her face flushing softly as she twiddled with a strand of her hair.

"I suppose," Sona coughed and cleared her throat as she looked everywhere but at Eren, pretending as if her own cheeks were not pinking. "If we simply installed a retractable covering and maybe a heater for winter, it would accomplish the same goals. It is not as if Kuoh is hurting for funds."

This sentimentality from Eren was utterly new, but it was... nice.

Akeno watched it all in undisguised glee.

So cute.

But the best was yet to come if Eren remembered the plan she had proposed before the break.

Thankfully, he did.

"Since you are both here, I was hoping I could ask you a favour," Eren said in silence after Sona's words.

His voice was as without inflection as it usually was, but this was the first time he had asked for anything, so both young women paid close attention.

"If it is within our power," Sona hedged gently, knowing not to make any promises before hearing all the details.

"We'll do it." Rias, of course, didn't have such worries with her friends. "And Akeno will help."

"If I can," the queen said gently, hiding her smile behind her hand as her eyes lit up with mischief.

"I am looking for two girls. They should live in the area and are a few years younger than me."

"What are their names?" Sona frowned.

If they lived here, there was a good chance they were Kuoh students, in which case she would know them. But it wasn't guaranteed. Their school had stringent admission requirements, so they might have gone to a different school in the area.

"I don't know their names," Eren admitted with a shrug, his voice still plain and without inflection. As if talking about the weather. "I met them when they were younger. I was only ten, and they never gave me their names. I only recently found out they lived in Kuoh."

"So, they moved here?" Rias asked, and Eren nodded. That would narrow it down considerably. "Can you give us any hint or description we can work with? And why are you looking for them?"

"You shouldn't have trouble finding them," Eren shrugged. His voice was bland, almost deadpan. "They were cute when I met them. I imagine they are only more beautiful now." Both Rias and Sona frowned but let him talk. "One of them had bright blue eyes and crimson hair, so she should stand out in a crowd." Rias froze. "The other had black hair, so it will be slightly harder. But her eyes were the most beautiful amethyst you will ever see, and she wore glasses." Sona froze. "I promised to marry them when we got older, but I doubt they remember me. Still, I have to try."

Silence.

Absolute silence filled the little park path after Eren's declaration.

Then Akeno broke.

"Ahahahahaha," she laughed uproariously, doubling over to hold her stomach in an entirely unladylike fashion. If any students had been around to see her mad burst of laughter, her reputation as a Yamato Nadeshiko would have disappeared overnight. "Your faces! Ahahahaha! Oh, Satans! Your faces!"

"A.KE.NO!" Rias bit out through clenched teeth. Her face was so red it almost eclipsed her hair. Part of it was anger, but a larger part was absolute mortification.

"Rias." Sona, by contrast, was cold in her anger. "Deal with her. Ten thousand spankings. Don't hold back."

"Ufufufufu," Akeno lewdly giggled. "Don't threaten me with a good time."

Rias lunged at her queen, who danced out of the way with more giggles.

As the pair ran through the park, laughing and growling in turn, Sona took Rias' vacant seat on the bench. Her face was still flushed, which Eren thankfully could not see, and her heart was racing.

"That was quite cruel," Sona said harshly as she calmed herself down.

"It was Akeno's idea," Eren explained plainly, utterly unperturbed by either her tone or the joke. "She visited before you left for the summer and asked for my help with a prank. I am guessing the two women she talked about were you two?"

"We can be described as such, yes," Sona coughed gently into her fist, cheeks flushing again at the memory. "In case you were curious, Rias is the one with red hair. I am the one... the other."

Dammit Akeno!

Sona cursed inwardly. Talking to Eren had never been awkward before, but even now, she couldn't help the slight stutter in her voice.

"Do not be too hard on her," Eren sighed softly as if reading her thoughts.

"I shall be," Sona denied simply. "This is far from the first time she has pulled something like this. Rias lets her get away with too much. And do not think I have forgotten your part in this little joke. If you have such free time to go along with frivolities that toy with a young maiden's heart, then you have time for twice the homework. I shall revise our lesson plans."

"If you wish," her first student nodded, unbothered by her threat.

Something about the way he was handling this unnerved the young heiress.

"Why did you go along with her?" Sona asked, genuinely curious why the usually serious boy decided to go along with something so whimsical.

"I thought it was a good idea." Eren couldn't see it, but Sona frowned at him. She did not understand how playing with her feelings was a good idea.

"I fail to see how it is so. The joke was in poor taste."

Eren paused for a moment, then he seemed to slump slightly, and his following words came out not in his usual monotone but in a nostalgic, almost regretful tone.

"A word of caution," he said gently. "A dream is a beautiful thing. Pursuing yours is admirable. But do not forget to live. Do not forget to laugh with your friends. Or cry. Or rage. Someday, you might not be able to anymore. All you will have remaining are the memories of those times together. It will be all that pushes you forward."

Sona fought back the shiver she felt at the sheer blankness of his voice, even knowing he wouldn't see it.

She knew she was incredibly lucky.

Wealth, power, family, friends, a Peerage supporting her and a dream she pursued.

Hell, Sona had recently gotten out of her arranged marriage while Rias still had hers hanging over her head.

Looking at the man beside her, who had only a few years left to live, no family, and had given up all his wealth, Sona knew she had no right to complain about a prank between friends.

It also drew something to her attention she hadn't noticed before.

Eren looked worse than she remembered.

His clothes hung from a frame that looked skinnier than before. Despite sitting in the sun for hours, his skin was a shade lighter than she remembered.

And he had spent the last month alone.

Every day, sitting on an uncomfortable bench, with no one for company but their hidden familiars.

An unfamiliar and unwelcome emotion rose in Sona's chest as she looked at her student and friend.

Rather than give voice to it or continue criticizing the boy for the prank, she turned to another subject.

"Your hair is getting too long," she chided gently, grabbing a long strand of dark hair that fell to below his chest and pushing it out of his face. "You should get it cut as soon as possible. A tidy appearance helps maintain a tidy mindset."

Eren didn't say anything, just giving her a weary nod.

A sound had Sona pulling her hand away as if she had been scalded by the brown locks.

"Ufufufu," Akeno giggled at the sight, her uniform and hair dishevelled from the chase but unharmed otherwise. "How cute."

"You're in my seat," Rias said with a pout and a glare at her rival as she crossed her arms in displeasure. She was also dishevelled and had a twig in her red hair but seemed more concerned with Sona's placement than anything else.

"Hem," Sona coughed softly in her hand, acting as if nothing had happened. She did not get up. "Since Eren asked, I will not be harsh with your punishment, Akeno." The reincarnated devil looked at the young man in surprise as Sona continued. "You will join the student council every night for two weeks to aid us. There is a lot of work to be done after the summer. This will be on top of your usual duties. I trust this is agreeable, Rias?"

"You took my seat," Rias repeated, still pouting, but nodded. "Fine. She can lose some free time."

"Ah," Akeno gasped dramatically, raising a hand to her forehead to feign a faint. "What a cruel mistress I have! Sold off to slave away for another. You will save me, won't you, Eren?"

Perfectly timed and without any tonal inflection, Eren answered.

"No."

"Ha!"
"Pfft."

Even as Rias crowed in triumph, pointing a finger at her queen, Sona desperately covered her mouth to try and cover up the sound of her snort escaping from between clenched lips.

Everyone turned to the Sitri, though Eren's facing was slightly off.

There was a beat of silence as everyone digested what had just happened.

"Ufufufufufu," Akeno's giggles gained further fervour as she watched the normally stoic young woman turn red for the second time today. "How cute."

"Rias!" Sona snapped at her rival, who was staring at her like she was seeing a ghost. "Didn't you say you brought a picnic? Let's eat."

It took another five minutes for Rias to bring out the picnic basket she had brought, and Sona had to give up her seat to do it, but the four teens eventually settled into a light meal. Eren and Rias sat on the bench while Sona and Akeno contented themselves to rest on the blanket in the grass.

In the afternoon sun of a small park, the three childhood friends ate and talked about their summer and plans for the coming semester. They laughed, teased, and enjoyed a moment of freedom.

Freedom from their responsibilities, their pasts, and the worries of their futures.

The young boy sat on the bench through it all, eating lightly and listening to them. He rarely joined in their talk, though they tried to include him when they could.

He was content to simply be there on that bench.

Eren's mind wandered to memories. To memories far away and long ago.

Eren Yeager never smiled.

Even surrounded by laughter, that didn't change.

Even if all three girls there would swear, his expression eased more than they had ever seen.

But if, while listening and remembering, Eren dozed into one of his habitual naps, none of the young women with him tried to wake him.

And if, while sleeping, he saw three children running to a tree on a hill...

Eren Yeager never smiled.

But the boy in the dream?

Well, the young boy in the dream was smiling enough for both of them.

All three girls quieted, content to let him rest as they spoke and laughed in hushed tones as Eren napped on the bench.

********

Thanks to Old Man of the Mountain/Darklord331 for betaing this.

One of my favourite parts of AOT is how much goes unsaid. If you only look at the words spoken, you get one view of the characters and the story. But if you also consider the actions they take and even their body language, you get a much more rounded picture.

That is harder to convey through purely writing format, lacking as it is the visual storytelling of manga or anime. Still, I am trying to match that storytelling method as best I can.

It may not be apparent now, but like rereading the manga or rewatching the anime, I want my readers to start On The Bench after knowing the end and be able to point to a specific moment and go: 'That's it. That's when this happened' without me spelling it out for them. That is half the fun of AOT.

This chapter might be one of those moments. It might not. You'll have to read to the end to find out.

I will meet you all next time On The Bench.