Let's Never Do That Again

"Rahh!"

"Ahh!" Eren screamed, falling horrendously on his backside out of pure terror. The poor boy of only nine had been so terribly frightened by his friend's scare that shiny tears began to well up and gather at the corners of his lower eyelids. "Armin, what the heck!"

Laughingly tyrannically, Armin rose his arms in a way that suggested malice, before pouncing on top of Eren, completely disregarding the fact that he was already down. "I got you!" he giggled. "I got you, I got you!"

"Got me for what?!" Eren shouted, struggling to push his friend off of him. He had succeeded, but only for a moment. Within seconds, Armin was on top of him once again.

"I scared you!" he clarified. "I really scared you!"

More than annoyed, Eren threw in the towel and accepted defeat. "Well, duh! Of course you scared me! You were hiding beneath the stairs!" The stairs of his house, nonetheless.

Armin, still cackling, pushed his blond hair out of his face and behind his ears, and said, "I was so afraid that you would have seen me. My plan wouldn't have worked, if you did!"

"But why?" Eren insisted, finding the strength to sit up, even with Armin still in his lap. "What were you trying to accomplish by scaring me like that?"

Like the flip of a switch, Armin's cerulean eyes went from devilish to delighted. "Because today's a special day!" he smiled. "It's a holiday!"

"A holiday?" Eren was confused. "No, I'm pretty sure it's a normal day like any other, and you're just being mean."

"But I'm telling you the truth! It really is a holiday!" Armin protested. "Well, it was. In the past, that is."

Even though Eren was still very confused, he allowed Armin to drag him off to some remote place (also know as behind the wood stockpile that they kept at the back of his house) that was a lot more private in order to discuss such things. After all, knowing of the world from before the walls was taboo.

"A long, long time ago, on the thirty-first of October, children would run around in costumes and beg people for candy." Eren's entire demeanor, which have been a tad dull, changed at the mention of candy. It was such a rarity in his section of the wall. Suddenly, he seemed very intrigued by whatever else Armin had to tell him. "This day was called 'All Hallow's Eve', and it happened every single year!"

"Like a birthday?" Eren wondered.

"Kind of," Armin nodded, "but better! Kids like us would go up to houses, knock on doors, and yell, 'Trick or treat!' at anyone who dared to let them in."

"I get the treat part," Eren said, pulling his legs into a criss-crossed position, "but why the trick?"

"That's what makes this holiday so interesting!" Armin beamed. "When asked for a trick, children would have to come up with some sort of prank to play on the adult!"

"Whoah, really?!

"Mhm! And they wouldn't even get in trouble, because it was all a part of the holiday!" Shifting his legs as well, Armin propped his knees up so that his chin rested on top of them. "That's not even the half of it, though. During All Hallow's Eve, you're supposed to scare as many people as you can. It's how everyone used to get into the spirit of the day!"

Finally able to fit all of the pieces together, Eren's head fell back, as he laughed, "Oh, oh! So that's why you scared me! I get it now, Armin!"

"See?" Armin snickered. "Doesn't it sound like lots of fun? I already scared my grandpa."

Eren slapped his hand over his mouth, as if what Armin had just said was the naughtiest thing he had ever heard. "Oh my gosh, you did?"

Armin nodded. "I did. He got me back pretty bad, though. He pretended to chop of his finger with a butcher's knife, but it was actually just an old carrot that he was waving around in front of my face."

Eren was enchanted by everything that Armin was telling him. It made him want to try and scare his parents, too, but they probably wouldn't understand. In fact, he would more than likely end up getting yelled at for being bad. However, that didn't exactly exempt...

"Hey, Armin," Eren whispered, his tone an indicator that he had something planned.

"What?" Obviously, Armin wasn't catching on.

Raising his arms in a spooky manner, he said, "We should totally scare Mikasa. She won't even see it coming."

Armin was a bit (a lot, actually) more reasonable than Eren was, so he could already see all of the ways in which such a thing was a bad idea. Regardless, he warily murmured, "Well, okay... I mean, we can try it, but..."

"Great! Let's go!"

This was a bad idea. This was a very bad idea, and the closer Mikasa came towards the front porch, the closer Armin came to wetting his pants. "Eren," he whispered, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible, "I don't really think this is-"

"Shhh!" Eren shushed. He cupped a hand over Armin's mouth. "She's coming!"

Mikasa, carrying an armful of apples that Eren's mother had sent her off to purchase at the city square, was climbing up the walk. She wasn't very mindful of her steps and ended up stumbling over the hem of her much-too-long skirt, causing her to lose one of the apples. "Oh no," she breathed monotonously, trying to keep the rest of the apples steady.

"Get ready, Armin," Eren hissed, freeing his friend's lips from his grasp. Like lions of the night, they had their sights directly set on their prey. With their backsides raised in a catlike manner, both Eren and Armin waited for the opportune moment - when Mikasa was bending over to retrieve the rogue apple - before they jumped out from underneath the steps, screaming and hollering as they pounced on top of Mikasa.

And that was when Armin's suspicions had been solidified.

Coiling both of her arms around Eren and Armin's necks, Mikasa launched them off of her. She sent them flying towards the stairs from which they had hid, a notion that caused the wood from the lowermost and second lowermost steps to crack.

Dizzy and disoriented, both Armin and Eren were unable to process what had just happened. All they knew was Mikasa was closing in on them once again, looming over them in a way that suggested her disapproval of what they had just done. "What was that for?" she asked, her tone still sounding the least bit interested.

"We were..." Armin winced, trying to sit himself up. "We were...trying to scare you."

"Oh." A pause. "I see." Another pause.

"Did it work?" Eren grumbled. He clutched the side of his head, as he attempted to stand.

"Yeah," Mikasa responded. "I was scared."

All but jumping to his feet, Eren gasped, "You were?! You really were?!"

"Yeah, I was." The second Eren began to laugh at her, Mikasa punched his shoulder, sending him back into the stairs with more of a force than the first time.

Returning back to the fallen apples, Mikasa gathered up all of the ones that still appeared to be in good condition, stepped over Armin and Eren's heads, and entered the house without another word.

There was a long span of time where both Eren and Armin were silent. The creaking of the wood beneath their limp bodies served to be the only form of sound between them. Not surprisingly, it was Armin who broke the quiet first. "Hey, Eren?"

"Yeah?"

"How about let's agree to never do that again."

"Yeah..." Eren sighed. "Agreed."

Hi there! Chappy here! :D

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I was really debating what I wanted to write for Halloween this year, and somehow, I also really wanted to write something where Eren, Armin, and Mikasa were kids, so this was what happened. I hope you've enjoyed!

Thank you for taking the time to read!

- Chappy (: