(photosensitivity warning for video below)

https://youtu.be/RijB8wnJCN0

"Insane in the Brain" by Cypress Hill

APRIL 21, 2003 (Monday)

Keeping his promise to Marco that he would lay off Eren was easy, since Eldia Inc. was suddenly swarmed with work. Jean now had no time to pester his favorite punching bag. Phones were ringing, keyboards tapping, and Jean struggled to focus on emailing five different clients.

Amidst the chaos, Levi marched into the room and bellowed, "Eren Jaeger!"

Everyone froze at the shout. Levi might be short in stature, but he glared like he could have murdered everyone in that room without breaking a sweat.

Levi walked up to Eren's desk and slammed a file down hard. "What is this?"

Eren picked up the file and flipped through. "The Azumabito account, sir."

"In what country does Azumabito originate?"

"Japan, sir."

"And which form do we use for foreign accounts, Jaeger?"

Eren's mouth opened, about to answer, but then he looked down at the form. Already, there was anguish in his face. "Form ... B-7, sir."

"And which form is this?"

"D-7."

"Who uses D-7 forms?"

Eren's eyes closed in defeat and humiliation. "Gas and fuel companies, sir."

"Is the Azumabito a gas and fuel company, Eren Jaeger?"

"No ... sir." Eren gnashed his teeth. "I'll redo it. I'm sorry."

"You don't have time to redo it. You're needed in my office for a conference call. Who's next in line?"

Eren glanced across the room, and he realized absolutely everyone was watching, including a certain sharp pair of eyes. "Jean Kirschtein is."

"Hange," Levi said to the Chief Administrative Officer standing a step behind him. "Hand that pile of crap over to Kirschtein, and make sure he uses the right form. Jaeger, with me, now!"

Eren looked extra tired, gulped down the last of his coffee, and followed the CEO with his head lowered like a man going to the gallows. Meanwhile, Hange came up to Jean's desk and handed over the forms.

"All the information is already there. You just have to use form B-7. You can print it off the company's database. Make sure you click the right one."

Jean sneered as he flipped through the pages. "How long is this going to take me?"

"That depends on how fast you are. I think it took Eren three days, but that was mostly research. All the info is there, so it should only take you a couple hours. We need it before the end of the day."

Jean wanted to cuss, but he held back. There was no way he could talk like that to the CAO of the company. "It'll be done, and I'll make sure to use the right form."

Hange patted his shoulder as a sign of sympathy and left to catch up with Levi.

"Fuckin' Jaeger," Jean whispered under his breath as soon as he was alone.

It took three hours, partly because Jean kept stopping to shove down his outrage. He had a lot of work already, and this was going to ruin the rest of his week.

It was near the end of the day when he saw Eren in a hallway, looking dazed, not even aware of his surroundings as he plodded forward. As they passed, Jean forcefully bumped into him, slamming Eren sideways into a wall.

"What the ... you bastard!" Eren sneered as soon as he realized Jean was there.

"You're the one not paying attention."

Eren gestured to the empty corridor. "You have the whole hallway. You did that on purpose."

"Serves you right. Do you know how long it took me to clean up your mess? I swear, you're living such a shitty lifestyle, you've gone insane in the membrane!" Jean sneered in disgust at Eren and shook his head. "You're not even worth my time."

"Then stay the hell away from me."

"That's what I've been doing for two weeks, asshole. Then you've gotta fuck up and tell Levi I'm the one who has to fix your shit."

"He asked who's under me, and that's you."

"I don't plan to be under you for long. If you keep fucking up like this, I'll take your job before next quarter." His hand shot out to the wall just above Eren's shoulder, caging Eren up against the wall. Jean slammed a finger into Eren's chest and leaned in close as he smugly taunted, "How would you like to be the one under me?"

Eren's mouth dropped as he stared up into those predatory eyes. Then he blushed as his face turned away, grumbling, "You sound like a pervert when you say that."

It took Jean a few seconds to get what he meant. As soon as he did, he shoved off the wall and stumbled back in humiliation and disgust. "You're the pervert, you faggot!"

Eren shook his head with a blank, tired stare. "I don't have time to play your idiotic games." He continued to walk down the hall at the same slow, weary pace.

"Yeah, run away, you pussy!" Jean was still fuming deep inside, but when Eren did not respond to his taunts, it simply was not fun anymore. "Whatever," he growled, and he stormed down the hallway. "Under me. You're a pervert, fuckin' Fag-Eren."

Near the end of the hall, Eren suddenly stumbled to the side. His hands reached blindly out to the wall, holding himself up as he swayed on his feet. He stopped, leaned against the wall for support, and rubbed his head as his eyes swam in waves of dizziness. His breathing went hard, deep, trying to stay conscious. He had been heading to his desk, but instead he turned toward the company infirmary, holding onto the walls as he went.

* * *

APRIL 22, 2003 (Tuesday)

The next day, Jean passed by Hange in the hallway while returning from the restrooms.

"Ah, Jean," the Chief Administrative Officer called out, and a massive file was slapped against his chest. "Deliver that to Eren, okay? He requested these reports earlier this morning."

He began to open his mouth in protest, but Hange was already striding down the hall toward Levi's office. He groaned. Reiner and Bertholdt were not around, so he could not pass the assignment over to them. He simply had to drop these off and not look at Eren.

He walked into the cubicle farm and to the far wall, where Eren had moved his desk. He unceremoniously dropped the files beside Eren's computer.

"Hange said to give you these. Get it done as soon as possible, and this time don't fuck it up. I don't want to clean up your mess again."

Jean expected a retort, a flash of anger, or at least an exhausted, half-hearted "up yours." Something! Instead, Eren stared at the papers like he could barely figure out what they were.

"Hey, are you okay?" snapped Jean. "Did your brain finally fry out from all the coffee?"

"Coffee," Eren muttered, and he stood up. "More ... coffee..."

"Oh great, I'm dealing with The Night of the Living Dead here," Jean grumbled, and he began to leave.

Eren stumbled backward into his desk and knocked over the file. Jean spun back around in time to see the huge stack scatter. Rather than realize what he had done, Eren began to walk forward with an exhausted, blank face.

"Oi, Jaeger!" Jean hurried back and grabbed Eren before he walked into someone else's cubicle. "Okay, what the hell? Seriously, are you—"

Just then, Eren's eyes rolled back. He made some grunt of protest just as he crumbled to the ground, and the coffee mug went rolling out of his hands.

Jean leaped back, and people around the cubicle farm popped their heads up.

"Eren!" Jean's body moved without thought as he knelt beside the unconscious body and turned Eren around to face upward. "Oi! Wake up."

He felt his neck, but there was a pulse. Jean tried to shake him, and he even gave light slaps to his face. It was no use. Eren was out cold.

He realized there were whispers around them, people starting to gather around, some gasping in shock, others whispering in concern.

"What happened?"

"Is he okay?"

"What's going on here?"

"Did they fight again?"

Jean sneered that they were all staring at Eren during such a vulnerable time. "Hey! Call up the infirmary. Tell them we've got incoming." He grabbed Eren into his arms and hefted him straight up, straining to lift him. "Damn, you're heavier than you look. Okay, folks, move it! Out of the way! I've got a Jaeger coming through."

People yanked things out of his pathway, and someone raced forward to get the elevator open and pressed to the right floor. Jean's shoulder burned after holding Eren for just a minute, but he dared not set him down, not even on the ride up the elevator. Finally it dinged, the doors slid open, and he rushed forward to the infirmary.

Petra had obviously gotten a call warning her, and she was at the door, holding it open for him.

"Next time, wait for a stretcher," she scolded.

"I didn't know you had one," Jean said, straining to get Eren over to a bed. He dropped Eren a little too hard down.

"Careful!" Petra shouted.

Jean worked out his arms. "Sorry. He looks like a twig, but damn, he's hiding muscles somewhere in there."

Petra began her examination, listening to his heart.

"It's racing. Did anything happen just before this?"

"He looked like crap, said he needed coffee, stood up, and collapsed like a rag doll."

"How many cups of coffee has he had today?"

"Hell if I know," Jean grumbled. "It's eleven o'clock, so I'm guessing three."

"No, he has two before he even comes to work. Or I should say, his travel thermos holds a liter, which is already at the recommended limit for daily coffee consumption."

"Wait, he drinks a liter before he even gets to work? He's always drinking coffee in the break room before nine, and he basically has a cup an hour."

"And I've warned him," Petra muttered.

"Idiot!" Jean hissed, glaring down at Eren. "So what happened to him? Stroke? Heart attack?"

She opened his eyelid and shined a light. "Not a stroke, his heart rate is fast but not abnormal for someone who just drank that much coffee. I see no immediate signs of neurological distress, but passing out like this shows that there's something going on. I'll monitor him for a caffeine overdose, but as far as I can tell, he just passed out."

Jean's eyes flicked over the prone figure. "Just passed out? Why?"

"Excessive caffeine can cause insomnia, dizziness, headache, confusion, irritableness, and Eren was having trouble with all of those."

"Definitely irritable," Jean grumbled. "Yesterday, he confused two important forms, and I had to fix his mistake." He grumbled under his breath, "Took me hours."

"Did he show any signs of exhaustion lately?"

"He always looks exhausted."

"Is his work still piling up?"

Jean nodded as he bitterly thought of the amount of work he had to do lately because, despite working overtime and barely stopping for lunches, Eren's desk kept piling up. He was definitely working hard, yet besides his own clients, he kept taking on new ones, as well as all these meetings with Levi.

Why would Eren go overboard to the point of fainting? Was it all to impress the boss?

Jean muttered to himself, "You idiot."

Petra looked over at Jean's scowl. "Are you his friend?"

"Hardly. I can't stand the guy."

"Really? Yet you brought him here on your own."

Jean huffed in annoyance. "Yeah, and I'm gonna be stuck with his mess again."

Petra pouted softly as she looked over Eren, "He needs to rest for today. He's in no condition to work."

Jean sighed and said in a sarcastic tone, "Obviously, the little Princess needs his beauty sleep. Wake up, asshole!" He attempted to shake Eren.

"Stop that!" She moved Jean's hands away. Just then, Eren stirred in his sleep, and his face contorted with discomfort. Petra watched with worry and sighed when Eren fell back to sleep. "Sleep deprivation again," she muttered to herself. "I told him not to exhaust himself with work and to take better care of himself."

"What, do you hang out with him a lot?" asked Jean. This nurse was hot, and he was a bit jealous thinking that Eren might have a shot with her.

"I guess you could say that. More like, he used to come in here a few times a day for medication."

"A nurse like you, I don't blame him for wanting some of your medicine," he said with a smarmy smile, hoping to charm her.

Petra shot him a frigid glare. "He was getting severe headaches, and twice in one month he had migraines. I allowed him to bring some medication from home, but he occasionally still has dizzy spells. Just yesterday, he came in with such extreme vertigo, I had to drive him to an ENT to see if his inner ear was the culprit. The poor dear couldn't even walk without grabbing hold of the walls to keep himself upright."

Jean scowled, remembering how he had bumped into Eren, and he fell into the wall so limply.

Petra stroked back Eren's light, silk, brown hair. "He must be stressed a lot more than usual."

Jean could not help but get curious. "Is this about money? He's working his ass off like a suicidal workaholic."

Petra had momentarily forgotten Jean was still around. She stopped stroking Eren's hair. "You shouldn't talk like that, and it isn't my business to say. He isn't comfortable letting others know about his private life."

"But you know?" So, Eren could open up to this hot nurse, but not his coworkers, huh? What a sneaky guy!

"We've talked. I'm trained in therapeutic hypnosis and did a free session with him, since his health insurance was unwilling to cover it. If you're worried about him, you can ask him yourself."

"Ask him what?"

Eren's eyes cracked open, and he made out the fuzzy shapes of two people talking next to him. He whispered hoarsely, "Where am I?"

They both turned around and stared down at him.

Petra was the first to talk. "You passed out. Are you feeling okay?"

Eren's mind was still spinning as he tried to recall the last thing that happened. "The files!" He attempted to sit up, but Petra easily pushed him back down and held him flat.

"You can't get up. You need to rest."

Eren panicked and shook his head. "I can't afford to rest. I have a lot of work to do."

"You're exhausted. You can't keep pushing yourself like this."

"I'm fine. I can't waste more time. Those files, I need to—"

"Do you want to have a heart attack?" Petra shouted, losing her patience. "Look, I'm going to prepare a shot of Diazepam. You're not on antihistamines, right?"

"I don't need that," he snapped.

"As your physician, I say you do. I'm seriously worried about—"

"I need to get back. Those files have to be done by—"

Jean cut in, "Do what she says, asshole!"

His struggles against Petra came to a stop as he jolted from the familiar voice. "Jean?" he whispered, only now seeing clearly enough to make out his face.

"I'll handle those files. I don't want your sorry ass anywhere around me today anyway. You apparently can't handle work, and I don't want you messing up on my watch again."

"Your watch?" Eren sneered.

"Levi was pissed last time, and if you lose your job, that's more work for me."

"Shut up! You don't tell me what to do," he blurted out as he pushed his body up into a sitting position.

Petra had moved aside to prepare an injection, but seeing her patient trying to make an escape, she shouted out, "Stop him! Eren, seriously, you have symptoms of—"

"I'm fine," he yelled.

As Eren tried to get off the medical bed, Jean grabbed him by the neck. "Maybe I should knock you out instead."

Eren squirmed and grabbed Jean's wrist, trying to pry his fingers off so he could breathe. "Bastard, let go!"

Petra gasped at the choking and rushed over. "That's enough, you two. You don't have to go that far."

Jean released his hand. As Eren gasped for air, he lifted his exhausted eyes up to Jean's scowling ones. Eren looked so pathetically weak at that moment, it ticked Jean off. He threw Eren back against the bed and sneered. "Stay here. If I see your ass around the office, you'll be sorry."

Eren's face contorted in pain as he landed down on the stiff medical bed's mattress, coughing for air while a killer headache pulsed in his head. He reached out and grabbed Jean's arm, using it to pull himself up, so Jean pressed down on his chest, shoving Eren back again.

"Stay ... here!"

"Screw you!"

Jean lifted his fist, ready to punch Eren like he had done so many times in the past.

Without warning, Petra stabbed her needle into Eren's arm and pressed in the injection. "Sorry," she whispered in anguish.

Eren's vision blurred. He cursed under his breath as he slipped away into unconsciousness. His body went limp, falling back to sleep.

Jean's fist relaxed. "What the hell was that?"

"Just some Diazepam. He's cleared by his doctor to take it for anxiety, but when he's like this, even just a little knocks him straight out."

Jean stared down at Eren, his brows still furrowed as he wondered about the obsessive drive he had at work, why he overloaded his schedule with more and more clients, and the reason for his stubborn attitude, not realizing when he had too much, and never asking anyone to help out when things piled up.

What was going on with this guy?

Jean decided to find out. He could not stand the thought of Eren being this weak. It was not like him!

His thoughts got interrupted when Petra whispered, "I'm really worried. He isn't getting enough sleep, and he's clearly not eating properly. At this rate, he's going to push himself so far, his body honestly won't be able to handle it anymore. He's close to that limit now. It's like he's purposely punishing himself out of guilt."

"Guilt from what?" muttered Jean.

Petra glanced up, but her lips closed tightly. She glanced back down at Eren, then turned her huge eyes up to Jean again. "Please look out for him."

Jean turned away in annoyance. Him, looking out after Eren? How could he admit that he had often teased that Eren would die on the job and he would get his position? Now, this seemed like a very real possibility, and it pissed him off.

"Fine. I'll keep an eye on him," he muttered, not comfortable with this idea. "Tell him I'll take on his load. If he tries to leave, call my desk. "

Petra smiled up at Jean. "You act tough, you said you can't stand him, yet you carried him all the way here. I think you actually care for him."

"I don't give a shit for him," Jean said, but it was a soft, lackluster mumble that made Petra smile even more.

Jean sharply marched out. He first went to Eren's desk, gathered the fallen files, and sat in his chair. He had stolen this chair once to hide it, but now sitting in it, he realized it seriously was a comfortable chair. No wonder Eren got mad about losing it, enough to report the practical joke to HR.

He saw that Eren had been in the middle of an email. With an annoyed sigh, Jean took over, concluding the email as nicely as possible, and sent it out. Eren also had multiple documents, spreadsheets, and PDF forms up. He saved all of these and backed up everything Eren had been working on.

"Just how many tabs does he have open?" he muttered, making sure everything was saved.

He then opened up the new folder and looked through the paperwork. This was a new high-profile client. No wonder Eren panicked. Part of Jean realized, if he screwed this up, it would look really bad on Eren, and he could lose his job ... and if he made this perfect, it would be Eren to get the praise, not him.

"You owe me, bastard," he muttered as he downloaded the correct forms and got to work setting up an account for the new client.

* * *

https://youtu.be/WziA88-n02k

"Unwell" by Matchbox Twenty

A few hours later, Eren woke up and opened his eyes slowly to realize he was on a bed in a curtained-off area of the infirmary. Petra was doing a quick checkup, and she smiled amiably when she noticed he was looking at her.

"Welcome back," she whispered.

"What happened?" he mumbled drowsily.

"You fainted due to sleep deprivation, overexerting yourself, and I think you almost reached toxic levels of caffeine intake. What did I tell you about drinking that much coffee?" she scolded like a mother.

Just like a petulant child, Eren jutted out his lower lip and looked away. "I'm just a little unwell. Gimme some Tylonal and I'll be going." Then he saw a clock on the wall with the hour hand nearly at five. "Oh shit! Is it almost five already? Dammit!" He made a move to get up.

Petra easily pushed him back down. "Not so fast, buddy."

"No," he protested, his voice groggy, yet all he could do was shake his head as his body felt too weak to move. "File. Need to..."

"The gentleman who brought you in said he would handle it."

"Gentleman?"

"A tall man, long face, brown mullet. Jean, I think was his name."

"That horse-face?" Eren cried out. He slumped back, realizing he was in no shape to get out of bed. "He's gonna mess it all up!"

He had passed out in the middle of the office, and right in front of Jean, of all people. Now, he had missed a whole day of work. That email needed to go out in time for his overseas clients, that file he had just received would have secured him with lots of work with a lucrative client. Now, it was all wasted. Levi would be furious; he could actually lose his job this time. He was so disappointed with himself, he stayed quiet, looking at the ceiling in dark contemplation.

If he lost this job, what the hell was he going to do? His life would be over!

Just after five, Jean walked to the doorway of the infirmary, knocked softly, and peeked in. Eren's bed was curtained off, but he heard soft growls and curses, so Jean knew he was awake. Petra approached the tall man with a warm smile on her face.

"How's the idiot doing?" Jean asked, trying to sound gruff, but worry laced his voice. Or maybe it was guilt.

When Eren heard Jean's voice, he angrily gripped the bed covers in his hands, debating how much trouble he would get into if he ripped them in half.

"He's doing fine," Petra whispered. "He's awake now, if you want to see him."

When Petra said that, Eren's eyes widened, because he did not want to see Jean.

Jean hesitated a moment before dragging his feet toward the curtain surrounding the bed. He pulled it back and saw Eren lying there. The second their eyes met, Eren's brow furrowed as anger flowed out those teal-green eyes. Jean only stared, wanting to see for himself if he was okay. Eren simply rolled on his side, showing his back to Jean, feeling embarrassed and frustrated at the same time.

Jean simply shrugged as he said to Petra, "He seems fine. Don't let him out of bed until he can stand up without fainting like a fragile maiden."

The rage inside Eren boiled up as he turned around and yelled, "Shut up, you bastard!"

Jean did not feel even a little intimidated from those seething eyes. "Ha! You've still got some fight in you. Good. I guess a little beauty sleep was all you needed."

"Get the hell out of here," yelled Eren.

Petra gently pulled Jean back, not wanting to upset her patient. It was obvious these two had a vicious rivalry going on.

Jean took the hint and began to leave, but he looked over at Petra. "When he's ready, give him this." He handed over a wrapped-up sandwich. "Make sure he eats. That idiot has terrible eating habits. That's probably part of the reason why he got into such a pathetic state."

Eren saw the sandwich, and his mouth dropped. It was from the deli across the street. Jean must have bought it for him.

Before he could figure out how to thank someone like Jean, Eren's stomach growled. His eyes widened, feeling even more embarrassed as they both looked over at him. Jean burst into laughs as Eren's face turned many shades of red.

"Get out, horse-face!"

"Yeah, you're welcome, asshole. Oh, by the way, I sent that email you were working on and finished the file. I had Eld double-check everything. I sent all the documents using your email, so you'll still get full credit. You owe me now. Big time! Don't think I won't blackmail you with this one day." Jean began to turn but paused. "Oh, and I farted on your chair."

"You ... jerk," Eren yelled, obviously holding back stronger language while at work.

Jean left with a casual wave goodbye. "See ya, loser."

After Jean left, Eren felt utterly ashamed and ... tired. So very tired. He lay back in bed as Petra walked toward him with the sandwich.

"He seems like a really good guy."

Eren grumbled, "He's a bully and a jerk."

"He appears to be worried about you."

Eren huffed, feeling irritated. "That bastard doesn't worry about anyone but himself."

Petra's smile remained as she said, "There is more than one layer for every person. Maybe you've seen one side of him, but I'm sure he holds more than that."

Eren was too tired to care about it. He did have one question in his mind, though.

"How did I get here?" Then he remembered seeing both Jean and Petra watching him moments before the shot that knocked him out. Eren cried out, "Wait, did Jean bring me here?"

Petra chuckled as she nodded. "He carried you himself."

Eren's eyes widened. Carried by Jean Kirschtein! How humiliating!

"He was so worried, he was nearly in a panic. He also stopped by on his lunch break to check on you."

Eren looked at the sandwich still in Petra's hand and realized that meant Jean checked on Eren, saw he was still unconscious, hurried across the street, and bought him a sandwich.

Eren's face drew up. "Why?"

Jean hated him. Why would he bother to check on him? Why buy him a nice deli sandwich, rather than throwing a Snickers at him like before? Why had he even done that? Why check up on him after work? Why do all of his duties for him, when Jean was surely swamped with his own end-of-quarter work?

Petra helped Eren to sit up and gave him the sandwich. "Eat this. I can stay here another hour. Eat and rest a bit more, until you're sure you can make it home."

Eren pulled back the wrapper. It was a turkey sandwich with swiss cheese, honey mustard, and sweet pickles, his favorite.

How did Jean know?

* * *

FALL 1988 (4th grade, Age 9)

Jean pulled out his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Eren pulled out his turkey and swiss. They looked at each other, eyes narrowed and serious.

"Three, two, one, go!"

They both began to scarf down the food.

Armin shook his head with a wry laugh. "You're going to give yourselves hiccups."

Mikasa looked worried. "Please don't choke, Eren."

They ignored the warnings and ate like they were starving. They sipped juice boxes with a big slurp, and then continued on.

With his mouth stuffed full, Eren said, "Have my cookies, Armin."

The tiny boy sighed. "You know I can't. They have gluten."

Jean grabbed one of Eren's cookies. He had less food in his bagged lunch than Eren, so he figured he could stuff in a little more and still be fair in their competition.

Jean finished just seconds before Eren, and since he had only a paper bag he could toss, not a lunch box he had to pack up, he was able to run out into the field long before Eren made it out. He grabbed up a soccer ball and headed to a field, ignoring the fact that he had hiccups now.

To them, lunch recess was all about sports, and they rushed to eat in order to be the first ones on the field. Soon others joined, and they split into teams, Eren leading one, Jean the other. Mikasa eventually came and joined Eren's team, while Armin, who could not run due to asthma, acted as a referee.

Eren was always passionate about winning, especially when Jean was his opponent. He had to beat him! He pushed himself in the game, and when he fell, he got right back up and ignored it. When the ball hit him in the face, he continued to make a goal. He kept going until at one point, he kicked the ball really hard, making a goal, but then immediately collapsed. He wondered why his knee would not work until he looked down and saw blood pouring out.

"Eren!" Armin ran onto the field. "I was shouting at you to stop for a full minute. Seriously, it's like you blanked out."

He looked at the bloody knee, and only then did he feel other scraps and bruises on his body, including a stinging pain on his nose from where the ball hit him in the face. He reached up, touched his nose, and saw blood on his fingers.

Mikasa ran over as well. "We should tell the teachers to call an ambulance."

Jean sauntered up. "It's not that bad. He just needs a band-aid. Get up, idiot."

"Jean, he's bleeding," Armin argued.

"Which means he needs to get up off his butt and go to the nurse's office. Come on!"

Jean grabbed Eren's hand, and Mikasa helped him to get up on his pained knee. Jean got on his other side, and between the two of them, they helped Eren to limp off the field. As he hobbled through the school halls, Eren heard Jean hiccup over and over. He giggled and smiled at him.

"Look who ate so fast he got hiccups."

"Shut up! You ate so fast, it made you stupid and you got hurt. You kicked that ball way too hard. I'm surprised you didn't break a toe."

They made it to the nurse's office at the front of the school, and Armin rushed forward to open the door. The nurse was busy in the far back of the office with a student who had a raging fever.

"Oh! Please don't bring him back here. Franz might be contagious."

"I can fix him up," said Jean. "Mikasa, you help."

"Yes!" she said, not about to accept anything less.

"Armin, you don't wanna get sick again, so go on to class. We'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" he asked, wringing his hands fretfully.

Jean flashed him a smile. "Leave it to me and Mikasa. Tell Mr. Shadis that Eren might be late."

"Oh! Yes, I will." He rushed off.

Eren watched as Jean gathered items right out of the cupboards. They both knew their way around the nurse's office. Between fights, sports accidents, dumb pranks, and other situations where they got injured, he and Jean had needed to be patched up so many times, they learned how to do it themselves. Jean set out a sterile wash, peroxide, a tiny portable basin, antibacterial cream, gauze, cotton balls, and bandages. He washed his hands first, and as he went, he told Mikasa to hand him things one by one, just like a nurse helping a surgeon.

Eren squirmed as the disinfectant wash burned, and the peroxide was even worse. Blood and dirt had to be cleaned out, and the knee dripped red foaming liquid into the basin that Mikasa held just under his knee to catch the liquid, which she carefully poured down the office sink.

"You even got blood on your socks, idiot," Jean muttered, wiping up as much as he could. "Your mom is gonna be mad."

"Ow!" Eren shouted as Jean dabbed the scraped knee.

"Calm down, you big baby."

Eren stubbornly looked away. Jean looked all too smug as he tended to Eren's injuries. Then Jean stood up and looked very closely into Eren's eyes as he cleaned the scrapes on his face. In reply, Eren stuck his tongue out, and Jean stuck his out as well, only for both of them to break into laughs.

"Hold on, I'm gonna get your nose."

Jean tilted Eren's chin to just the right angle. Eren held still as Jean carefully cleaned the scrape and placed the bandage over Eren's nose.

"There. Now, stop pushing yourself too far. You could really get hurt one day."

"Whatever, Nurse Jean."

Jean smacked him across the head. "Listen to me, you idiot."

They began to argue, and Jean smacked Eren again as he tried to get up off the bed.

"Rest, you idiot."

"Stop calling me an idiot, jerk!"

Mikasa hummed as she watched them. The nurse left with the feverish student to deliver him to a parent who came to the school to fetch their sick child, and Mikasa slipped away. As the nurse headed back, the little girl held a hand up.

"Eren calms down when it's only him and Jean. Let's leave them alone."

Eren overheard her, but he realized she was right. The moment it was just him and Jean, his desire to fight stopped. Jean hugged him rather than hit him, and Eren felt calmer relaxing in his arms.

"Sorry, Jean," he mumbled. "You're missing the game."

"It's no fun to play alone. Playing sports without you is just kicking a ball around. I need my best friend to be my rival."

Eren looked up at Jean, and a warm smile spread across his face. "Will you kiss it to make it better?"

Jean's face went bright red. "Are you stupid? That doesn't work."

"It always does with me. Mommy kisses it, and the pain goes away."

He pouted but mumbled, "Where does it hurt?"

"My nose stings really bad, worse than my knee."

Jean puckered up his lips and leaned over to kiss Eren on the bandaged nose. "Better?"

He sank in happiness. "Yes. Can you kiss all of them?"

"Of course not, stupid." Then Jean mumbled, "After school, I'll come over to your place."

"Will you kiss the owwies?"

"Sure. Anything to help you get better so we can play soccer again." Jean hugged Eren and comfortingly stroked the top of his head. "Like I said, I need you out there with me."

Eren sighed and rested his cheek against Jean's chest with a sleepy smile on his face. "Yeah. I need you too."

Just then, Jean hiccuped again, and Eren bounced off his chest. Jean looked stunned that the hiccups were back so soon, and Eren burst into laughs.

# # #

PRESENT DAY: 2003

Eren blinked as the memory left him dizzy.

What was that about? He never recalled anything like that before.

He reached up and felt his nose. Vaguely, he recalled having scarred his nose in a sports accident, although the scar faded within a year. He had forgotten precisely what happened to cause such a cut to his face.

Jean ... healed him.

Holy shit, Jean kissed my nose!

Petra noticed the dazed look and mild horror on Eren's face and rushed over. "Are you okay?"

He jolted and looked around, reminding himself that he was at work, and in his hand was still the turkey sandwich. "Fine, just ... maybe still a bit between dream and reality."

"The Diazepam can cause that. It should be out of your system soon. Please eat. It'll help."

He blankly took a bite. It really was a delicious sandwich, still cold from sitting in the fridge since lunch.

"Were you hallucinating?" Petra asked in worry.

"I have no idea," Eren admitted blankly. Jean kissing his nose seemed like it could only have been a hallucination.

"I'm asking because I'm seriously worried about caffeine overdose. Doctor's orders: no more than three cups of coffee tomorrow. You shouldn't go off caffeine cold turkey—you can have neurological problems if you do that—but wean yourself down. Three cups, understood? And I mean normal coffee mugs, not that massive thermos you have. It counts as two, so you can only have one more normal cup of coffee after that one."

"That's impossible," he muttered.

"Don't make me have your coworkers watch you. I'll order Jean to oversee your coffee intake."

Eren sneered at the very mention of his name.

"What's the story between you two, anyway?"

He ate a little bit more. "We were next door neighbors in our childhood."

"Oh, what a small world!" she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "This explains the familiarity between you two."

"He was an asshole," Eren declared. "A school bully. He used to make fun of my best friend because he's gay. I hated him for that. We fought every day, up to the day his family moved to another city. Still..." Eren looked at the sandwich and muttered, "I guess we were friends once. I was too young to remember that long ago. Things must have changed between us."

She optimistically said, "Maybe they're changing back. Maybe this is the first step to you two reclaiming something you lost."

"I lost a neighbor who was a racist, sexist, homophobic bully. Hardly something to reclaim." Still, the memory burned brightly in a mind that had forgotten so much of the past. Eren rubbed his head as it played again, so real he feared maybe he really was hallucinating.

"What's wrong?" Petra asked in concern.

"Nothing, just ... a memory. One I honestly don't remember happening."

Her eyes narrowed in concern. "Are you still having memory issues?"

He scowled and looked away.

"Eren, my offer still stands. I am a certified hypnotherapist. Maybe some of these memories are a key to you and Jean becoming friends again."

"No! Believe me, I remember how he was. He used to pick on my best friend and made my life a living hell. You don't forget something like that ... and you don't forgive easily."

"But you've forgotten how things were, the times before that," she pointed out. "For instance, what happened to you two that broke you apart? You said you were friends long ago. What severed your friendship?"

Eren thought back. "I don't even know. We always fought, but it was more of an honest rivalry, wanting to prove we were better than the other. Then one day, out of the blue, he became a jerk, attacking me, attacking my friends, calling us ... horrible names ... out of nowhere."

"Maybe it wasn't out of nowhere. Maybe something happened, something to you or him or both of you, something traumatic, and you've blocked it."

Eren shook his head, but he had to admit, his memory of Jean always being a jerk differed from everyone else who swore the two had been best friends.

"You might be right," he muttered. "I have plenty of memories all through childhood of Jean and me getting into fights, but I honestly don't remember anything good about him. If we were friends, there must have been something good between us. Maybe ... I dunno, maybe I don't want to remember. Maybe there's a reason. I mean, if I find out that he was once this nice, caring, sweet kid—" He broke off as the Jean in his memory who kissed his nose came to mind. "—and then I look at what happened, the sort of ... monster he became..." Eren felt saddened just imagining how shattered he would feel if it had been Armin who suddenly turned against him. "Maybe I blocked it out because my brain couldn't handle it. Like, maybe I couldn't handle what I lost."

A best friend. Someone who tended his wounds and kissed his nose.

Then suddenly, memories swarmed in of Jean screaming at him, getting slammed into lockers, and fists hitting him in the gut as Jean called him a faggot. The idea that he lost such a good friend, that Jean mutated into that sadistic bully, hurt his heart even now, and that was with only one nice memory to go off of.

What if he were to remember years worth of happy memories like that, and they all battled against the Jean he knew as a teen?

Petra patted his arm. "If Jean wants to bring back that old friendship, you wouldn't know where to start."

"I don't think he wants to be friends, and to be honest, I don't want that either," he said, nearly crushing the sandwich as his fingers tried to tighten into fists. "Not after everything he did. Not after what he did to Armin. Jean made Armin's life utterly miserable. It got so bad in middle school, when we were thirteen ... Armin told me, he considered suicide many times."

Petra paused, and her eyes drooped with sympathy. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Did Jean know it got that bad?"

"Of course he did. He gloated about it and urged Armin to end it all so he could, and I quote, 'rid the world of AIDS-infested faggots.'"

Petra cringed at how horrific that was. "Still, that ... that's in the past. You were kids."

He looked down at the sandwich. "It'd be nice if he could have matured, even just a little. Instead, he still keeps calling me Fag-Eren when he knows no one else can hear him. I'd be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt if he showed the slightest sign of remorse." He chomped aggressively into the sandwich and chewed.

"He did give you that sandwich," Petra pointed out.

Eren stopped chewing and paused. "That's pity, not remorse. For all the years of harassment, he owes me a lot more than some food. He owes Armin a lot more."

"He also carried you here ... in his arms!"

Eren nearly choked on the bread in his mouth. In his arms?

Petra giggled at his reaction and handed him a cup of water. "I think you owe him that benefit of the doubt."

Eren swallowed hard and cleared his mouth with the water. "Tell you what. Back in school, I never once started things with Jean; it was always him who came up to me and began name-calling. So I promise, I won't start anything with Jean. I'll play nice, and we'll see how long this truce lasts. If he goes back to being a jerk, he doesn't even get a sandwich in return from me." He finished off the water. "Thanks for staying overtime and letting me rest."

"That's my job. No caffeine for the rest of the day. I'm serious. Not even chocolate or tea."

Eren groaned.

"Do I need to purchase a blood testing kit to make sure you follow orders?"

"No, ma'am," he grumbled.

He left and went to his desk, morbidly curious to see how badly Jean had butchered his work. He was glad the email had been sent. Shorter than he liked, missing some information he had planned to include, but nothing bad. He also checked on the file that came in that day. Jean had set up the account perfectly.

Eren blinked in surprise. Jean had also caught him up on a few minor things that had fallen behind, small issues that had been pressed to the bottom of the queue as more important problems came up. On one message that had been waiting two days for a reply, Jean asked for more details, which bought Eren time and would help him make a quicker decision. Some filing work had been finished, and when Eren looked over it, expecting errors or a nasty prank, he found nothing amiss.

"He ... did the work right."

He looked over to Jean's desk. Slowly, he walked over to it. Files had been set aside for the next morning. Eren knew Jean normally never let anything slide until the following day, which meant he had purposely focused on Eren's work rather than his own.

He groaned as he realized what that would mean.

"He really is going to blackmail me with this!"

Still, at least for now, he could accept that. Jean had really helped him out. It did not undo years of bullying, but it showed that Jean had grown up to be someone who could be serious when it was required. Eren grabbed a sticky note and wrote:

"I appreciate your hard work. I owe you a sandwich."

He stuck that to Jean's computer screen and left the office, feeling better than he had in many weeks.

# # #

# #

#

According to Isayama, Eren has a sweet tooth. So I thought, when it comes to sandwiches that are still healthy, honey mustard and sweet pickles would probably be his favorites.

I also have a sweet tooth, and my mother would pack a lunch that made me the envy of the playground: peanut butter and chocolate frosting sandwich! This would be paired with healthy things, like radishes and snow peas from our garden (the two plants I personally attended), apple slices, carrot sticks with ranch dipping sauce, celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins (known as "ants on a log" in America) and a kiwi, because I was obsessed with kiwis. So while for most American children, the sandwich is the most important part of the lunch, for me it was the dessert.

Insane in the Brain is a 1993 song by Cypress Hill. Jean quotes the chorus when he says "you've gone insane in the membrane."

Unwell was a 2003 hit single by Matchbox Twenty, and its video was #1 on VH1's Top 40 Videos of 2003. I feel like this song has elements of both Eren and Jean. The first stanza is absolutely Eren at this point in his life, a man on the edge, who is "feelin' like I'm headed for a breakdown," and talking about "hearing voices tellin' me that I should get some sleep." The chorus is a bit more like Jean, with the singer pleading "stay a while and maybe then you'll see a different side of me" and promising that memories will expose the true man deep inside: "soon enough you're gonna think of me and how I used to be." We're certainly seeing glimpses of how Jean used to be in his childhood, memories Eren has forgotten or suppressed.