Spring, 844
Another year had passed since Arthur began living with Mikasa's family.
The family had spent that year together in warmth and happiness.
After Dr. Grisha brought Eren over for the first time, their visits gradually became more frequent.
Arthur and Mikasa also became close friends with the doctor's son.
Eren also introduced them to his only previous friend, a boy named Armin.
When Arthur first met Armin, he almost mistook him for a little blond girl. He couldn't help it-Armin's features were far too delicate for a boy.
He was also shy, much like a girl.
With spring's arrival, the rain had become increasingly frequent.
In particular, the valley where Mikasa's family lived had seen several straight days of persistent drizzle.
Today was no exception. Dark clouds had begun gathering overhead early that morning.
Looking at the heavy clouds, Arthur figured it would rain again today, perhaps even harder than it had over the past few days, so he decided not to go hunting.
They still had plenty of food at home, anyway. There was no need to risk getting soaked to the skin just to hunt.
Besides, Kane had mentioned that Dr. Grisha would be visiting today.
So neither Arthur nor Kane went out.
Kane stood at the table, peeling the vegetables they would need for cooking later and cutting them into chunks.
Mikasa was learning embroidery from Yumiko.
Arthur, meanwhile, was studying medical books he had gotten from Dr. Grisha.
As for why Arthur had suddenly started reading medical books, it wasn't because he had nothing better to do.
Rather, being observant, he had worked out what was happening from Uncle Kane's expressions and the way Aunt Yumiko occasionally clutched her chest in pain.
Having lived two lives, he understood why Uncle Kane and Aunt Yumiko were keeping it a secret.
He knew the couple wanted to spare Mikasa's young heart the pain.
They had saved his life and raised him, and Arthur wanted to do everything he could to help Yumiko recover.
"Arthur, look! Mom taught me to embroider this!"
While Arthur was reading, Mikasa, who sat across from him, happily held up her finished handkerchief to show him.
Arthur looked at the handkerchief Mikasa had embroidered and saw four figures on it.
A closer look revealed two adults and two children: Uncle Kane, Aunt Yumiko, Arthur, and Mikasa.
Seeing himself holding Mikasa's hand on the handkerchief, Arthur felt a faint sweetness stir in his heart for some reason.
"Your embroidery looks lovely, Mikasa." Arthur gave her a thumbs-up in praise.
"Hehe!" Delighted by Arthur's praise, Mikasa looked at his embroidered figure on her handkerchief and slowly stroked it with her little finger.
Sitting beside her, Yumiko watched the scene with a smile in her heart. She knew Mikasa had special feelings for Arthur.
Perhaps, when she passed away someday, Arthur could fill the place she left behind and give Mikasa warmth.
Suddenly, Yumiko seemed to remember something. She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a mark of three crossed blades on her wrist.
Yumiko suddenly spoke to Mikasa in a very serious tone.
"Mikasa, I'm going to teach you something very important now."
She then took out her tools, dipped them into the ink beside her, and began tattooing Mikasa.
"Mom, it hurts..." Mikasa looked at Yumiko plaintively. After all, tattooing meant piercing ink into the skin, so it was bound to hurt a little.
"Bear with it for a little longer. It'll be over soon," Yumiko reassured her.
Watching beside them, Arthur set down his book with some curiosity. He, too, wondered what the mark on Aunt Yumiko's wrist was and why she cared so much about it.
A little while later, an identical pattern appeared on Mikasa's wrist.
"Mom, what is this?" Mikasa examined the mark from every angle before asking Yumiko in confusion.
"This is our family crest! You can only take the covering off after you get married, and don't forget to teach your own children someday, too." Yumiko took out a roll of bandages, covered the mark on Mikasa's wrist, and gave her those instructions.
"Oh." Mikasa nodded, only half understanding.
But a moment later, Mikasa looked at Arthur and suddenly caught him off guard with a question.
"Hey! Arthur, do you know where babies come from?"
"Huh?!" Mikasa's question gave Arthur quite a shock. He had never expected her to ask something like that.
Kane and Yumiko were also startled. They had never imagined their daughter would suddenly ask where babies came from.
Knowing the answer themselves, the two exchanged a blushing glance before turning their eyes toward Arthur.
"Well... um..." With all three staring at him, Arthur felt at a loss. Of course he knew Mikasa was still too young to learn about such things.
But looking at her eyes, brimming with curiosity, Arthur knew she would keep pestering him until she got to the bottom of it unless he made something up.
After thinking for a moment, Arthur suddenly remembered a legend from his previous life.
So he borrowed it outright.
"They say there's a bird in this world called a stork. Whenever a family wants a baby, all they have to do is pray sincerely to heaven. Then the storks wrap a baby in cloth and carry the bundle in their beaks down to the human world, delivering the baby to the family that prayed."
Kane and Yumiko both sighed in relief at Arthur's explanation.
"Is that really how it works?" Mikasa looked at Arthur skeptically.
"Of course. It's as true as gold is real." Arthur nodded solemnly, lying without so much as a blush.
"Mom, is what Arthur said true?" Mikasa turned to question her parents.
"Of course!" Kane and Yumiko nodded repeatedly, backing Arthur up.
"So that's how it works..." Seemingly convinced, Mikasa nodded gently.
"Whew..." Seeing that Mikasa believed him and had stopped asking questions, Arthur finally breathed a sigh of relief, then cast a helpless glance at Kane and Yumiko.
"Pfft!" The couple looked at Arthur, struggling to hold back their laughter.
Just then, a fine drizzle began falling outside the window, and it seemed very likely to grow heavier.
Arthur frowned as he watched raindrops patter against the windowpane. He didn't know why, but ever since waking up that morning, he had felt uneasy.
It was as though something terrible was going to happen today.