"One big, three small…"
"Three men and one woman…"
"Three blondes, one brunette…"
As Carla whispered her count, the air in the room tightened until it felt like glass about to shatter.
"Has she figured it out already?" Zeke's heart thudded.
"You…" Carla's eyes narrowed. "You were the ones who helped the Survey Corps annihilate the Titans today, weren't you? The ones who achieved humanity's first victory?"
"No!"
Almost before the words left her lips, all four Marleyans shook their heads furiously, faces arranged into the most innocent looks they could muster. Their wide eyes practically screamed:
"We have no idea what you're talking about, and even if we did, it has nothing to do with us!"
"It has to be you!" Carla pressed. "The Corps said their heroes used guns—"
Crash!
The three younger warriors reacted instantly, breaking down their rifles into parts faster than they had ever assembled them.
"Nope," they chorused flatly, holding up the disassembled pieces as if that alone proved their innocence.
Zeke, calmer than the rest, kept his sniper rifle at his side and raised a brow. "It's just a hunting rifle. Nothing special. We're from a small hunting family up in the mountains."
But Carla's voice trembled with conviction. "The Survey Corps said the one who led them to victory was a hunter. A hunter from the mountains. He carried a gun that didn't look like a gun… like yours."
The four exchanged desperate glances.
She… wasn't wrong.
Zeke forced a polite smile. "We'd like to see Uncle Grisha first. Whatever the Corps wants, we won't go anywhere until then."
Carla blinked, taken aback. "Why? Why refuse the Corps if you truly have nothing to hide?"
"Because," Zeke said evenly, "if we go with them, they may never let us go again. And the only reason we came to Shiganshina was to see Uncle Grisha."
Her brow furrowed. "Why are you looking for him? Is it something important?"
"Nothing… just that we haven't seen each other in a long time." Zeke's words, usually smooth as silk, felt clumsy in his mouth.
Carla sighed. "Then come with the Corps first. Grisha won't be back for a while anyway."
"No," Zeke replied, firm as steel. "We must see him first."
"Yeah!" the three younger warriors echoed, nodding.
Their mission was clear: meet Grisha, seize the Founding Titan, and return to Marley.
Saving humanity had nothing to do with it.
Carla stared at them in bewilderment. "Why Grisha first? Isn't saving humanity more important than—than family reunions?"
Zeke's jaw tightened. "When did the scale of this conversation jump to saving the entire human race?"
For a moment, he almost laughed at the absurdity of it. A ridiculous thought flashed across his mind—
"should I transform into Ultraman and save the world?"
—but he shoved it aside.
Then an idea struck him. A simple, believable excuse.
"Because… Grandpa asked me to deliver something to Uncle Grisha." Zeke swung his pack around, rummaged through it, and produced a small canister.
Carla leaned forward. Her eyes widened. "…Sugar?"
"Yes." Zeke nodded solemnly.
"To Grisha?"
"Mm."
Carla's mouth twitched, halfway between disbelief and a smile. "Your grandfather asked you to deliver… candy… to Grisha?"
"Yes," Zeke insisted, tone unwavering.
"Grandpa's memory isn't what it used to be. In his mind, Uncle is still a ten-year-old boy."
Ten years old—the age Grisha had first stepped beyond the Walls. The same age when Aunt Faye's brief childhood had ended. Grandpa's memory often froze on that day.
Carla's stern expression softened into surprise, then pity.
"I don't care about the Survey Corps," Zeke went on. "To me, fulfilling Grandpa's request comes first." He unscrewed the lid and poured a handful of colorful candies into his palm, then handed them out. "Until I give this gift to Uncle Grisha, I'm not going anywhere."
Eren's eyes flickered. "This is… candy from Grandpa for Dad?"
"Grandpa also said to bring some for Grisha's son." Zeke smiled warmly. "Eat, Eren. It's from Grandpa."
"But Dad hasn't come back yet—"
"Eat."
Zeke's expression hardened in an instant.
You could dote on your little brother, but some missions were not negotiable.
"Yes!" Eren yelped, startled by the sudden shift. He hurriedly unwrapped the sweet and shoved it into his mouth.
Then his eyes lit up. "So sweet~!"
Zeke's smile returned as if it had never left. He passed the jar toward Mikasa. "This is for you."
"M-Me?" Mikasa blinked.
"Of course. Grandpa said this is for the Grisha family, and you're part of it now."
Her cheeks colored faintly. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, but she accepted the candy and whispered, "So sweet…"
Nearby, the three Marleyan children stood frozen. Their eyes followed the jar, hungry yet restrained. Watching, but not daring to want.
Zeke knew that look too well.
Back in Marley's orphanage, children never asked for more than they were given. Even he, born to a doctor's family, hadn't tasted sweets often. Only after he became an honorary soldier, with an allowance to send home, did his family's finances improve. Only then could his grandfather afford candy again.
But by then, the regret had already rooted deep in the old man's heart. Not regret for Zeke, but for Aunt Faye.
He had never managed to fulfill her tiny request:
"Dad, when you come back from work, can you bring me a candy?"
That wish had died with her.
From then on, whenever his grandfather had a coin to spare, he would buy candy. Candy for the grandson before him.
Candy for the daughter forever frozen in memory.
Zeke tightened his grip on the tin, then loosened it, and turned back to the others.
"Everyone who sees it gets a share." He pressed candies into the Marleyans' palms.
Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie all stiffened, unsure how to react. They looked at the sweets as if they were traps rather than gifts.
Annie whispered, "But… this is for the Grisha family."
"I already said, everyone gets a share!" Zeke snapped lightly, tossing the pieces toward them. Their reflexes caught them before they even realized it.
He leaned back against the chair, voice softer now. "Don't overthink it. Just be kids for a little while. When Grisha comes back, we'll move forward. Until then…"
His gaze flickered toward Eren, smiling through a mouthful of sugar. "…just be ordinary."