Chapter 15: Aftermath
<<Grisha POV>>
After the last patient left the clinic, I thought about what I should do next. Of course, I still needed to prepare for my visit to the Ackermans' tomorrow. Since I'll be taking Karl with me, I need to take a few more supplies.
Not to mention, that Eren argued to tag along as well, which I firmly declined. Looking after one of them would already be a hassle, forget about two.
"It's tough being a father…" I mused to myself with a chuckle. With troublemakers like those two, it was always a hassle.
And, almost as if I had jinxed it, Eren ran into the room with another child who felt familiar. But, more importantly, he had quite a few bruises on his face.
"What-" I was interrupted just as I was about to scold him.
"Dad! You have to come with us! Big bro is in trouble!!" He said, taking quick breaths as he leaned against his knees, while the other child just fell ass first on the floor as he panted.
"What have you done now?!" I asked with a frown. "And, what is it about Karl being in trouble?" I continued as I sat the children down on some spare chairs and offered some water.
Chugging two full glasses, Eren jumped back up and pulled me by the sleeves.
"I'll tell you on the way. Let's go, quickly!" He said, as I grabbed my suitcase and prepared to follow him.
"Armin stay here. We'll be back." Ah! So this child was Armin. No wonder he felt familiar…
Without waiting for a response, Eren dashed away, as I made sure Armin was okay. He smiled weakly, as he slowly spoke,
"P-please help th-hem, M-mister Yeager." He said, as he shivered slightly. Gently patting his head, I gave him a reassuring smile. Seems like Armin cared about Karl very much.
"Dad, come on!" I heard Eren's shout and quickly left the clinic. Making our way through the streets, I learned the gist of the situation.
Eren talked about how they met Armin and how he was being bullied. And that earlier today, they found out that he was it had gone too far. So, they faced off against the bullies, which just served to anger me.
"Just how reckless can you possibly be!" I said, berating Eren. Certainly, this was the height of foolishness that I would never expect from Karl.
"Please hear me out, Dad!" Eren continued, with a smug grin.
Surprisingly enough, Karl took down the whole lot of them in a few minutes. Yet, the way Eren described Karl's fights, with that certain fervor, worried me quite a bit.
Although Eren would never accept, he really looked up to Karl.
Not that Karl a bad role model, but in fact, he sure is intelligent and mature much beyond his age. I'm quite certain he gets that from me, but still, I'm worried for his future.
To already show signs of heading to that malevolent destiny of his own free will…
'Sigh… let's focus on what we have now.' Thinking about an uncertain future was meaningless. I can only hope that it will be better, no matter what I have seen…
Once we arrived, a rancid smell assaulted my nose, which I recognized all too clearly. Blood. It was the familiar scent of blood. But, there was just a single problem.
'Didn't Eren say that it was just a fist-fight?' Certainly, even if somebody lost an arm, the smell wouldn't be so heavy. At the thought, certain emotion gripped my heart as my view blurred.
With deep breaths, I controlled my shivering hands and gripped my bag tightly. Sprinting deeper into the alley, I tried to ignore the voices in my heart, with only a single thought in mind.
'Where is he?! Where is my son?!'
"Karl!!" I screamed, for which there was no response. Fears gripping my heart grew stronger by the second as memories resurfaced.
'No! Not like this! Even after I swore to protect them…!!' My thoughts went wild, until I finally neared the source, where I finally found him.
Karl was seated on a stack of wooden crates, right next to a few fainted children. Noticing my arrival, he turned towards me with a smile, at which I ran as fast as I possibly could.
Without realizing that my countenance caused him to visibly flinch, I immediately began my intensive check up.
Inspecting every inch of his face, arms, chest and legs and I sighed in relief, confirming that he wasn't in any sort of danger. Sighing, my knees buckled as I calmed my throbbing heart, allowing myself some peace.
"I'm really fine, Dad." He said with a cheeky smile, to which I gave him a stern look. With an awkward chuckle, he refused to meet my eyes.
Shaking my head at his antics, I observed the three kids lying next to him. With a quick check up, I couldn't help but gasp.
The fat child had a broken chin and a few bruises on his chest, while the Brown haired child only had a bruised face.
On the contrary, it was the tallest child that was quite badly injured. He had a few bad sprains on his ankles and knees, bruising along his calves and chest and a broken nose as well.
Yet what surprised me was that there were no severe injuries. Which was odd considering that the air was, quite literally, oozing that putrid smell.
"Well, let's get them to the clinic." I said, as Eren joined us. With the help of some passersby, we carried the children to be treated. Back at the clinic, the kids were reunited with Armin, as I began my work
Disinfecting, bandaging and ice packing the wounds, I waited until their respective guardians arrived. Also giving Armin some basic treatment for his arms, thighs and feet in the process.
Most of Armin's wounds were internal, so I had to use quite a few balms in the process. It was a pitiful sight, with such a small child having to suffer so much.
"Armin, I've called your parents as well. So, just sit back and relax, okay?" I said, as he had an unreadable expression on his face.
Turning back, I saw Eren and Karl wasting the bandages on themselves, laughing like children would. Note to self, never leave them near any medicines. Ever.
"Karl we need to talk." I said, quickly saving the remaining bandages from falling into their hands. At those words, Karl nodded solemnly.
"But, for now, go home. I'm sure you guys are quite tired." I said, much to his surprise as Eren voiced his own concerns.
"But, Dad! Armin was hurt by these assh-"
"Language, Eren."
"-ats. Ass-hats." He said, trying to shrug it off. Well, I'll let it go this time.
"Anyway, shouldn't we stay? I'm sure they'll try to pin the blame on Armin."
"Nothing of that sort will happen, young man. Now go and good luck." I said, for they needed it very much. Carla was definitely not going to let this incident brush by.
With that, Karl quietly left with a reluctant Eren in tow. And, just a few minutes later the bullies' guardians showed up along with Armin's parents.
A great argument went down, as the guardians were informed of the 'activities' of their children and their subsequent beat down.
Of course, they refused to believe it, demanding some bullshit called justice until I showed them the bruises Armin suffered.
With such undeniable proof, they quieted down like civilized adults, seemingly bowing in shame. Just then, one of the children woke up with a scream.
"MONSTER!!" He screamed, almost jumping off the bed. Quickly holding him in place, I trued to calm him down, but he wouldn't stop. He kept convulsing as he shed tears with a horrified expression.
"N-N-NO!!! NOT M-MY B-BALLS!!!!!" He shouted one last time, as he fainted. The parents' paled at those words and turned to me with surprise and anger.
"Let me through!" A man said, running towards the now fainted child.
His father, a rugged middle aged man, just stripped him pants down as he examined the genitals. A few seconds later, he sighed in relief, brushing it off as a nightmare.
A little while later, the families left with their children in tow, agreeing to brush this off as a children's squabble. In fact, the Arlert family were quite grateful, as they were unaware of their child's distress.
Armin bowed respectfully as he followed behind his parents. I sent him off with a smile, hoping that he would find the peace he so desperately desired…
Anyway, back home, I was greeted by my sons kneeling on the floor with stoic expressions as Carla had quite a fierce scowl. They should've known that this would happen.
"Welcome back, Grisha. How was it?" She spoke in a rather cold tone. After satisfying her curiosity, I ignored the plight of my sons as I left for a bath. I had already done all that I could have.
Dinner would have been great, if only there wasn't a certain suffocating silence almost choking me at every gulp I took. And so, the kids and I finished as fast as possible and ran right to our beds.
Well, it has been a long day and I did have an appointment tomorrow, so I welcomed the little sleep I found, for being a father was truly an ordeal...
***
A/N: Just let me know if you guys think the pacing in this chap is a bit too fast. Thx in advance!!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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King_Admiral_ Grahh! I'm tired! I've been writing this for 4 hours straight and that was not a pleasant experience...
Mikasa in the next chap! The wait has finally paid off!!
Feeling cute! Might post another chap tomorrow! ;)
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