She nodded in response to the other girl urging her to continue, so Mikasa began with the earliest of what she remembered. "I was happy, once," admitted Mikasa softly. "I had two parents. My mother, however, was a rarity in my world. Most people living behind the walls of our city were of the same ancestry. My mother was what they call an Asian, the last of her kind. Some people here seem to be Asian, at least. Because of her race, she was...some people wanted her for her beauty or for other things. Less than pleasant things. I didn't understand it as a child."
Mikasa lowered her gaze, one hand fiddling with the red scarf. "Three men attacked us in our own home one night. They burst in, killing my father in cold blood in front of us. My mother struggled to defend herself and me, trying to give me chance to escape. I was just seven then. I didn't know what to do. They killed her too, when they'd meant to kidnap her, because she fought to keep me safe. They tied me up and kept me prisoner for a few days, until he came to get me to fight back. Our family doctor's son, Eren. He...he killed two of them, trying to get me to fight back. When the third came in, cornered Eren, I froze and didn't know what to do. He tossed me his knife, and I...I saved him. Their family adopted me after that," Mikasa explained quietly, her voice soft as she spoke.
It wasn't just because they were in a library. She was relieving those moments, why she was glad she hadn't become younger. If she'd become younger than seven, perhaps she would have been okay. But any time after that? The mountain would have been at the hands of a child who held no hope for their future. "And that was just the beginning of the merciless world that I was beginning to know." She fell silent a moment, looking over at the girl in front of her. Did she think her a monster, like Eren's tribunal had?
They had accused Eren of being less than human, because of his abilities and what he'd done to save her as a child. They'd claimed no human child could have killed two men to save someone they cared about. That that was what had made him a monster. Was it really true?