He heard something crack. He fucking heard it when her back hit against the colossal wall.
She made no move. Shit. "Mikasa!" He called from the nearest building; too far for the gear to reach.
She didn't answer.
He jumped off the building. Go get Mikasa, he though as biting his hand, transforming instantly into the Rouge Titan.
Took him nothing to be bellow to the girl, and reached out a hand to grab her. She had passed out and her head was bleeding.
Carefully placed her on his tongue and closed his mouth tight. He turned around and ran into the forest, back to the Scouting Legion's hiding place.
"Help!" he screamed at the moment his head and torso rose from the titan's neck "she needs medical attention quickly!"
The Asian girl lay unconscious by the castle, staining the grass with her blood.
Hanji appeared at the door within a second, Levi following behind. They ran towards the trainees: she went for the titan shiftier, as he checked on Mikasa.
"Eren, what happened?" she demanded as helping him split from the giant body.
He gasped for air before mumbling: "she slammed against the wall".
As soon as his limbs were released, with the woman's help, he tried reaching his injured friend. But she was being carried into the castle by the corporal. "We'll talk about it later" he said over his shoulder "Go lay down".
Her head was bandaged and her shoulder was…not okay, but those were the last of her problems.
The doctor said she had hit her head pretty hard, shaking the insides of her skull, so there was risk of brain damage but no way of telling how bad it was until she woke up.
As they waited, Eren told his superior everything: How was she supervising him while training in his titan form. How they raised to wall Rose. When he de-transformed. When she scaled the wall as he took a break. And how she slipped from its top, shot the gear towards the wall and slammed against it.
The corporal just sighted and mumbled a cold 'kids' as he left the room. Leaving him alone with her.
It was something hard to remember, but its consequences were harder to watch. From all the people in the squad, she was the last to be considered a pray of disaster; though she hadn't been hurt by a Titan. Ironic.
"Mister" a voice echoed in his head. "Mister" the sound was sweet, but it seemed scared "Wake up, mister" was it calling him?
Opened his eyes to find a hand shaking before his face, his head was laying over the edge of the bed. Stud up and saw her black-blue eyes opened, gazing at him with a confused look.
"Mister?" she called once again.
The fuck? "What's with that crappy name?"
She looked down and... blushed? "That's a bad word"
Like hell? She had heard him before. Shit, she had said worst.
"Are you feeling alright?" He asked suspicious. She shook her head.
That wasn't normal.
That wasn't normal at all.
She kept calling him 'Mister' and talking... different. She answered some of the heichou's questions, and in some others she stared as if what he asked made no sense.
"Ackerman" he called again as lifting his gaze from a bunch of papers in his lap "one last question". She focused her eyes on his green ones. Eren couldn't resist the look. He took over and asked: "where are your parents?"
"I..." she mumbled, rubbing the right side of her head, trying hard to remember. "Shouldn't they be here with me? Where's my mom?"
Levi felt the weight of an arm on his shoulder: the wide eyed kid tried to catch his breath.
Silence took over the room. Levi fixed his dark eyes on Eren's face, expecting him to say a word; but the boy didn't notice since his eyes were looking back to Mikasa, cursing and wishing this wasn't happening, as her gaze ran between both men confused.
"Your mom" Eren finally mumbled, forcing the words out of his mouth. "...She should be back at w-wall Marie. You're on Rose now". She stared at him even more confused "I'll explain the situation to you-"
"Now" the corporal commanded. "You'll talk to her into reality and make up your fucking mistake" the girl blushed lightly and looked away "we need Ackerman back, this one is of no use" he left the room, again; leaving them alone, again.
What now?
"Excuse me, mister?"
Tight up his fists "Would you quit calling me that? My name is Eren!" He sighted and forced his voice low was he spoke again "I'm a… friend of yours."
"A friend?"
He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you're always calling me family since" took a deep breath "you are... were living in my house"
"Why?"
She even walked different. Not rigid the way Mikasa usually did, but she went doing some sort of jumping dance 'round the hallway.
Well... Maybe not. But that's how he saw it.
"I still don't understand it but some how it makes sense" she smiled "do you get it?"
"Not really"
The dark haired had finally stud up by herself after sleeping for another five hours after they talked (or tried at least) and tried to immobilize her shoulder.
"But... if we are living here now" the girl said as looking around the castle. "What happened to your house?"
"Our" he mumbled under his breath before answering "It is back at wall Marie".
She looked down and kept walking in silence 'till they arrived to her room, where the black-blue eyed was tackled by a brunette.
"Mikasa! Are you alright?" the new girl asked with authentic concern. "Hanji said you hit your head pretty hard". She kept her chocolate eyes between her roommate's bandaged forehead and arm.
"I did" the Asian smiled sadly "and I can't remember you now". The brunette gasped after giving it a thought. "Sorry".
"Mikasa, this is Sasha Braus" the green eyed intervened, "she's another of our friends".
The Asian girl looked at the dark haired boy, back at the girl and bowed: "Please take care of me"
The brunette stared from the black-blue eyed and back at the boy behind her, with an almost panicking expression.
"Sasha" the green eyed said in a calming tone, "why don't you take Mikasa with the other girls? So you can present each other properly. I'll come back in a while, after I've talked with Armin" he said, enfacing on the last sentence.
She smiled wide and pulled the other girl with her. "Good luck Eren. We will be in our room"
"And what did you tell her?" the blond one asked after a brief explanation of what had happened.
Eren buffed. "The truth... Sort of". What he did was to tell her the incomplete story. He said her parents were taken to another place, so Dr. Jaeger looked out for her, and they had entered the military after coming to live to wall Rose.
"You'll have to tell her the whole thing eventually" the blond one said before knocking on the girl's door. "Historia, it's Eren and Armin. Can we come in? We have to ask you some questions"
They waited for the answer. They knew the girls were there, they heard them giggling and saying things like "you'll look so~!" and "oh~ he'll love it!" before knocking the door.
Finally Sasha said: "Give us one more minute" and they giggled again. What the fuck?
A minute passed by when the door slightly opened. "Hey, can we come in now?" No answer; though they heard shushing from the other side of the door. Eren looked back at Armin, who looked just as confused, before pulling from the handle to open the door just a bit more. "Mikasa?"
He was just about to take a peek when something hit against the door, opening it, before it tackled Eren to the ground.
A nervous voice apologized to him before slowly leaning back. Their eyes met, and he recognized Mikasa's black-blue eyes, now decorated with darker eyelashes, and a light shade of blue on her eyelids.
Her whole face was made up (or whatever), her hair was done into complex braids and a small side ponytail, decorated with a red rose.
Her pink lips opened. "Are you alright-?" She was cut by his attempt to get up, pressing his leg against her thighs. Their faces became redder. "Agh... Mhmm..."
"A-Armin" Eren called, aware of her position over his body: her hands on his shoulders, graving his clothes as his hands laid hopelessly by his sides; her chest pressed tight against his, and her lips were a slight movement from his. "S-Stop staring and help out!"
"What the fuck?!" they heard Jean cry. He stud at the end of the hall, watching perplexed at the spot in the floor where Eren and a redder faced Mikasa laid.
"S-Shut The Fuck Up!" The dark haired boy shouted. "Armin!"
Sasha laughed behind the chibi blonde, who kept crying: "sorry, sorry, we're really sorry", as Armin helped the Asian girl to her feet and Eren sat down.
He fixed his green eyes on her and noticed the white one piece she wore, like the ones she used to wear back at home. She looked stunning.
Jean noticed too. His face only got redder and redder as he passed his eyes through her body.
Even Armin was shocked at the sight. It kind of brought back memories. But… The blond turned his head towards the brunette and asked: "what's with the make up?"
Sasha stepped up, answering between giggles "our regular Mikasa would have never left us do it. Besides," her chocolate eyes locked at certain someone's face, "Eren likes it" she said loud enough to penetrate into his thoughts.
He was up in a second.
What he did next he did it without thinking, in automatic. He looked back at the glutton girl and shouted "Like Hell! What The Fuck?! I Would Never-"
"Eren!" Armin shushed him.
Fuck.
After Eren opened his fucking big mouth, he and Jean started to argue, while Armin talked with Mikasa. One thing led to another and he ended up telling her the truth.
The whole truth.
She ran away. Eren and Armin went behind her but lost her track, so they split up: Eren would go to the east and Armin to the west.
The dark haired one searched for her for about an hour before he walked north, were he heard his two best friends talking.
She was staring at her reflexion on the river as Armin sat behind her, helping her with the loosen bandages of her shoulder.
Mikasa took water between her hands and took a sip before spreading it over her face, washing away the make up.
"What a waste, you did look beautiful" the blond said as taking seat by the girl's side. "Mikasa?"
"I bet he liked me better that way" she said "scared and fragile"
"No one likes to see their loved ones sacred. And you've never been a fragile girl" Armin smiled, but it vanished after a glare from her grey eyes. "Oh" he exclaimed, rubbing his neck and sighting "I don't believe so. I mean, it's the first time he sees the…" he took a second to find the words "non-badass side of yours"
Mikasa turned back to him, "badass" repeated in a monotone "he thinks that?"
"We think you are amazing!" He smiled "you are amazing, Mikasa"
She blinked, a sign of surprise. Her eyes focused back on the flowing water. "I don't feel so amazing right now".
"How are you feeling then?"
She reached for the river once more, cupping some water in her palm. "Fucked up" she answered after swallowing the could liquid.
"We are all fucked up. It's part of the job" he tried to sound as calmed as possible "we learn to live with it and eventually we get to feel less screwed" but he was reaching his limit.
"Eventually?It's been six years, Armin, and nothing has proven me otherwise"
"There is nothing to prove, you just need to believe it"
She looked back at him coldly. "You don't believe"
It was no question. The blond one paralyzed at her statement. She was right, he didn't. But…. He took a deep breath "in this world it is difficult to believe" he said warmly. "To hope. To reach out for tomorrow. But we keep trying". He managed an inviting smile "I keep trying"
Mikasa stared back at him, trying hard to swallow his words.
"Wasn't Eren your reason to hope?"
The green eyed had to look away. He didn't stick around to listen, he knew her answer.
And he knew he shouldn't be the answer.