Downstream from the port lay a shallow lake
so shallow that even a child standing upright would only be submerged to the neck.
Almost as if it had been built specifically as a public bath.
At this moment, Evan Cross stood waist-deep in the cool nighttime water.
Wearing only a pair of shorts, he let the gentle current wash over his tense body.
Above him, the moon slowly ascended, scattering silver light across the rippling lake.
For the first time in days, he felt his thoughts… loosen.
After ten minutes of soaking, Evan finally stood, dried himself off, pulled on his clothes, and tied his belt.
But the moment he turned around
A small silhouette appeared in the dim moonlight.
Mikasa Ackerman.
Her tiny hands cupped her delicate face as she stared blankly at the starry sky, lost in thought.
Evan's brow twitched.
He strode over with mild irritation.
"When did you get here?
…Don't tell me you saw everything."
Mikasa calmly lowered her gaze and straightened her scarf.
"I saw you," she said flatly.
"You're all bone."
"..."
Great, Evan thought.
Not only did she see she decided to insult me too?
He grumbled inwardly and even patted his own abdomen to make sure his muscles hadn't magically vanished.
But Mikasa's next words hit deeper:
"Evan…
you still haven't told me how you escaped that day."
"…Which day?"
"..."
She didn't answer, she simply stared at him.
A long, quiet, piercing stare.
Evan's heart thumped.
He knew.
This was the moment he had been hoping would never come.
For three days, Carla, Eren, and Mikasa had all asked how he survived the collapse of the church.
He had dodged the question every time.
He assumed their curiosity had faded.
But he had underestimated Mikasa
or rather, he had overestimated his own ability to hide things.
He should've realized it earlier.
The pillar of light had erupted from beneath the church.
The Light Giant Ultraman Tiga appeared the moment he was buried.
Later, Mikasa had seen the spark lens Evan's transformation device
and its golden shape matched the chest armor of the giant she had witnessed.
She had directly seen Tiga.
She had seen the spark lens.
She had seen Evan emerge alive from the impossible.
Anyone with half a brain could connect the dots.
He finally understood:
It wasn't that Mikasa was too young to figure things out.
It was that he had been naïve enough to think so.
"…Tch."
Evan sat down at the lake's edge, shoulders sinking.
For a long moment, he stared at the dark water in silence.
As a transmigrator, he'd been taught one truth:
Never reveal what you truly are.
A secret too alien to the world
meant fear.
Fear meant danger.
Danger meant dissection tables and cages.
Humans feared the unknown
and Evan himself was the "unknown."
That was why he hid everything
from Eren, from Carla…
from everyone.
But now…?
Now Mikasa was looking at him with eyes that said:
I know.
After a long internal struggle, Evan finally lifted his head and looked straight into her clear, moonlit eyes.
"…Fine.
I admit it.
That Light Giant… was actually "
"It saved you."
Mikasa interrupted gently.
"…Huh?"
"It was the one who pulled you out of the rubble, right?"
"Uh… what?"
Evan blinked rapidly, his brain freezing over.
"You… think the giant saved me?"
Mikasa tilted her head, confused by his strange reaction.
"Of course.
How else could you have escaped?
The whole exit was blocked by that stone beam."
She turned her face back to the sky, her voice softening.
"Do you think…
it might be like the stories?
A god descending to save humanity?"
"A… god?"
Evan's expression twisted.
"Maybe it was just a strange Titan, like Armin's grandfather said."
"..."
Silence.
Evan glanced up
and froze as he met Mikasa's cold, disappointed gaze.
"So you think that too?"
she whispered.
"But it saved you."
She exhaled slowly, as though grieving his answer.
"That giant wasn't a Titan.
I could feel it.
Inside its body… lived someone kind."
"…Why do you think that?"
Mikasa turned, her eyes unwavering.
"Because it nodded at me.
Only a human would do that."
"..."
Evan's thoughts blanked completely.
Then Mikasa stood, turned to leave
But paused.
"…And Evan."
Her voice softened for the first time in days.
"Thank you.
For saving me."
She walked away beneath the moonlight
a small shadow with a scarf fluttering behind her.
Leaving Evan standing by the lake, unable to speak.