Greetings! This fic takes place during chapter 50 of the SNK manga, and it is basically my interpretation/headcannon of the chapter, with a little smutty touch to satisfy the desperate need for Eremika lemons on the internet.
As you will learn through these next chapters, my lemons are fairly unique (or at least this one is going to be). This is not my first, though it is the first one I've ever uploaded to anything online.
Once again, this follows the basic plot of the manga through chapters 49-51, with a slight plot twist, but it is my personal interpretation of the actions and words of each character. Feel free to agree or disagree with my opinions; to each their own.
Enjoy!
Eren was a multitude of emotions when we awoke from his unconsciousness and took in the vast amount of things happening at once around him; his hands were bound behind him, and he found himself tied to Berthold's back and sitting on Reiner' titan shoulder, Ymir also in her titan form, growling and swiping at his comrades-his comrades, who had come this far to rescue him.
He was angry, still, that the traitors, whom he used to call friends, had kidnapped him and were behind the devastating blow that threatened humanity's extinction. He was ashamed of himself for letting himself get captured and putting everyone who was coming to save him in danger. He was frustrated that he couldn't shift right now, as he couldn't bite any part of himself, not even his tongue, with the gag in place over his mouth. He was relieved that the Scouting Legion (and by the looks of it the military Police had tagged along, too, from what he could see of the horseback soldiers charging across the battlefield towards them) had come to rescue him. And he was determined, to get revenge on his fallen comrades, and for vengeance on the traitors currently holding him captive.
From his bound position on Berthold's back, Eren could hear the desperate cries of the Scouting Legion and military Police as they advanced towards his position, horses galloping at top speed, their riders urging them to go just a little bit faster as they neared their destination. The Armored Titan stood before all of them, Ymir in her titan form, Berthold and a captive Eren standing on his shoulder, all of them in awe that the Scouting Legion had managed to catch up to them in such a short amount of time.
Almost immediately a grapple hook shot into the neck of the Armored Titan, right next to Eren, and he followed the line that led to a dedicated soldier, soaring towards him. The poor soldier was stopped short, however, when Ymir grabbed the cord and yanked it out of Reiner's neck, throwing the Scout off course and onto the ground with a crack of his bones from the impact.
Without a second passing in between the events, Eren's eyes widened when he saw Mikasa spinning through the air, her swords outstretched and slicing into Ymir's eyes before she could react. Mikasa sent her line to catch on Reiner's shoulder, soaring in with a face of unforgiving fury, Berthold turning around at the sound of Ymir's obvious distress and crying out in fear when he saw Mikasa preparing her attack.
"Protect us!" he screamed to Reiner, who reacted immediately by shoving his hands against his neck, trapping Berthold and Eren inside of his protection. Mikasa tried to swipe in time but to no avail, and instead landed on Reiner's hand, staring between the fingers at a frightened Berthold and a frustrated Eren, his eyes closed as he wondered just how his friends were going to free him.
A moment later and Eren could hear Christa's voice calling out to Mikasa, begging her to not kill Ymir. In his head, Eren willed Mikasa on, knowing it was the best chance she had to rescue him, while internally struggling to ignore the annoyance he had that it was yet again Mikasa who was saving him. He could hear Mikasa's retaliation in response to Historia's pleads, and knew that Historia was only wasting her breath.
He could hear the girl explaining Ymir's justification for betraying them, that she would have been killed, which he knew was only partially true. He could also hear Mikasa, who sounded about ready to kill both Historia and Ymir, and then Ymir's growls, and shortly after he could hear the sounds of people swooping in with their 3D gear. Hope filled him right then, as Ymir and Historia wouldn't stand a chance against all four soldiers, let alone Mikasa being among them, and it wouldn't be long before they found a way through the armored hand hiding him away. So he struggled to get free, hoping to distract Berthold and possibly finding away to break free from him, though the traitor urged him to quit it.
"Eren, stop it!" Berthold shouted, though his efforts were fruitless. "Don't struggle!"
"That's pointless, Berthold!" Jean shouted from just outside Reiner's hands. "Carrying him like that is impossible, isn't it? He's noisy and there's just no helping him. I know that quite well. I hate him, too, after all!" Eren could hear him say something else, but much more quietly this time, so he couldn't make out the words. Then he heard Mikasa's cries for Berthold to give Eren back, and he couldn't deny the slight pang in his heart at the desperation in her voice. She seemed like she was on the edge of going insane.
Then Connie chimed in, and shouted with a tone close to Mikasa's, calling the two out on their lies as they pretended to be soldiers, pretended to be comrades, friends, partners, and pretended to be humans. Jean joined in, not only voicing the frustrations that Eren had and still felt when he learned they had betrayed everyone, but they were also trying to psychologically wear the two out, trying to force a weakness onto them.
Berthold's breaking point was when Mikasa, so coldly, pointed out that their words weren't going to work, that Reiner and Berthold were just a plague upon mankind. He started crying out some bullshit about not being able to be forgiven, that they really did think of their friends as comrades though they were trying to deceive them, that they had to do what they did, though he didn't let on. He was crying, now, Eren could tell.
"Berthold, give Eren back," Mikasa demanded, her voice as cold as ever.
"I can't," he cried, his voice low and defeated. "Somebody has to do it. Somebody has to stain their hands with blood."
Before anyone else could reply, a shout came from somewhere that was far away from Eren, and he couldn't make out anything that was said beyond the protection of the Reiner's hands. He figured that it was something that had threatened the safety of his comrades, since he could hear the sounds of 3D gear and could feel the presence of his friends leaving him. Though he knew their safety had been compromised, he couldn't help but suddenly felt an inexplicable feeling of fear; he knew they hadn't abandoned him, but they had been so close to him, even if they weren't going to free him like that. He was scared, he couldn't deny that, and knowing they were merely a few feet away from him made him feel comforted. And now that they had left him, even if just for as long as they had to…
Needless to say, he was very angry.
From somewhere below him, Eren could hear the fuzzy shouts of the Commander, and the quiet sounds that must have been several horses galloping about. Suddenly the giant titan he sat on was being rocked around, and he felt Berthold grab onto Reiner's skin in fear. He wondered what was going on in the world behind the titan's hands. He couldn't make out much. There were too many loud, yet muffled sounds that he couldn't make out. He could hear Berthold's cries of worry and fear, and knew that he, too, didn't quite know what was happening and was worried for Reiner and Ymir's safety.
Suddenly the hands covering them disappeared, and Eren and Berthold were opened up to the chaos that was a mass of titans trying to eat the Armored Titan, and Reiner had released his hands to try and shake them off, lest he be eaten alive. He could then see the military forces nearby, yet keeping their distance from all the titans, and he could hear Commander Irvin's shouts as he ordered all the troops to advance.
And even when the commander was plucked right off his horse by a nearby titan, his orders hadn't changed.
Immediately guilt consumed him; he was the one they were desperately trying to save, after all. He had let himself be captured by the traitors, and it was his fault that many of his friends and comrades were going to die in a matter of minutes, probably even less.
He could see three soldiers nearing him, at the front lines, two of them being Mikasa and Jean. The guilt in his stomach froze; he didn't want to watch what happened next, but couldn't force himself to close his eyes, not when this was the pivotal moment of his capture. This was the only moment they had to grab him, before Reiner fought off the titans and managed to get away with Eren clasped down beneath his armored hands again.
It was Mikasa who rose off of her horse first, plunging into the air with her swords drawn, ready to strike, and Eren knew it was only seconds before she would slice through the binds that held him to Berthold. Time seemed to slow down, yet also seemed to speed up, especially when his eyes widened at titan's hand, sweeping at her from behind. Mikasa could see the utter fear in his eyes, could hear the muffled shout at her from his gagged mouth, but she couldn't see the hand that snatched her right out of the air and squeezed the breath out of her.
A pained cry escaped her mouth as the titan squeezed her harder, preparing to bring her to its deadly mouth, but Jean came to her rescue in the nick of time, as much as Eren wished it could have been him to finally return the favor to Mikasa. He couldn't help but feel even more guilty, knowing that he was the direct reason she had almost been eaten.
"We finally made it all this way!" Berthold screamed suddenly, piercing Eren's ears, seeing Mikasa and Jean distracted from rescuing their friend, unable to get past the titans. "We're taking Eren back with us! Back to our hometown!"
Shit, Eren thought. The same feeling returned to him, the same one of guilt, knowing that everyone was going to die, because of him. If even Mikasa couldn't make it past all these titans, who could?
Suddenly, Armin, of all people, landed on the side of Reiner's chiseled face, behind Berthold, shouting his name to grab the traitor's attention. For a fleeting second Eren met his best friend's eyes, both of them relieved, determined, and frightened as they were reunited in that moment. Eren could see in Armin's eyes that he had a plan, or was at least thinking through one right at that second. He never doubted Armin's plans, or keen abilities to think of the perfect one in little to no time.
As if right on cue, Armin's eyes settled, furrowed together, as he opened his mouth to speak. It was cruel for him to bring up Annie, and Eren couldn't help but admire his friend for finding the right distraction as both Berthold and the Armored Titan went rigid, eyes surely wide. Berthold even snapped, screaming to the skies about the sons of bitches that were torturing Annie at that very moment underground. It was the perfect opportunity for Erwin's sword to strike, to sweep through the binds that held Eren to Berthold's back, though Eren was oblivious to it until he started to fall. His eyes widened as he saw the mass of titans he was about to fall victim to, until someone's warm arms wrapped around him. He looked down at his savior to discover that it was a furious yet relieved Mikasa, and then he was soaring forward with her as she flew them to safety.
Almost immediately, the retreat order was sounded, and Mikasa landed them near her abandoned horse, throwing Eren over the back and climbing on swiftly, charging the horse forward instantaneously. One hand reached behind her to hold Eren on, as his arms were still bound behind him.
Victory seemed to be in sight as they nearly closed in a mile's distance away from the Armored Titan, who was still struggling with the other titans, that is until he started throwing the ravaging beasts at the retreating units. And Eren, with his luck, was flung to the ground along with Mikasa as their horse was struck with a flying titan.
Mikasa sat up first, her eyes dilating in pain when she felt the force of the impact ring through her damaged ribcage, crushed by the titan who snatched her midair. But then she saw Eren, who lay a few feet in front of her, and she called out his name to see if he was alright, when she noticed another titan approaching them.
A gasp left Mikasa as she stared at the hideously wide smile, the horrendous teeth of the titan who had murdered Eren's mother, the same one who was now glaring down at the two helpless humans, ready to munch on them, too.
When Eren's eyes fell on this titan, he couldn't help but think of his mother. He didn't understand why he chose to remember a certain event with her, one in which she scolded him for getting into a fight and having to be saved by Mikasa, once again, one in which she insisted he act like a man, swallow his pride, and protect Mikasa, instead of the other way around.
And then another memory flooded his vision, this one more tormenting than the last. He could only see the crushed body of his mother in the titan's hand, as he tried to escape the grasp Hannes had on him from over his shoulder. He saw her lifeless legs as they protruded from the titan's wicked teeth, and his anger was building inside of him, again, as Mikasa suddenly leapt onto Eren's back, protecting him from the titan.
His eyes widened; Mikasa would only get eaten with the injuries he was sure she had; he saw the pain etched on her face when she was grabbed, and he heard her cry of pain just moments before when she fell off the horse. And once she got eaten, then he would, too, but the same fucking titan that murdered his mother.
And his hands were tied behind him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
But a new string of hope filled him when someone leapt over the two of them, landing in front of them, protecting them both. He couldn't quite make out who it was until Mikasa exclaimed his name, her voice hoarse as she called out to Hannes.
"Prepare yourself for my sword!" he shouted, taunting the titan as he prepared to fly towards it with his 3D gear, laughing with anger as he did so. "I never thought such a day would come," he shouted, this time to Eren and Mikasa. "Right?! Don't you think so?! Watch me! Watch me use my own hands to chop up your mother's murderer into pieces!
"I have waited for you to come, you bastard!" he yelled at the titan, his face reddening and his voice seething with rage and devotion. The titan swiped at him, and Eren called out for his safety, but he swooped out of the way, just in time.
Eren could feel Mikasa rising to help him, especially with her wobbly knees. He could hear the groans of pain she was trying to suppress, and he could see her body shaking with the pain that consumed her entire front side with the strain she was putting into standing. Of course, she would try to ignore her own shortcomings. She wasn't used to being useless.
"Don't force yourself, Mikasa!" Eren shouted at her, wishing he could stand up to stop her in case his words didn't. Luckily, she seemed to hear him, and looked down at him, mentally torn between wanting to fight and wanting to listen to Eren. "Your injuries aren't mild!" he reminded her. "Untie my hands first!" She seemed confused at first, but hurried to snap the rope binding his limbs with her blade.
"HURRY!" he yelled again, more so at the titan and to himself than to Mikasa. "I have to kill it with my own hands! I HAVE TO TAKE THIS REVENGE BY MYSELF!"
But by the time the rope fell loose from his wrists, and by the time he quickly sat up, as he was about to stand, he watched helplessly as the titan devoured Hannes' bottom portion, his spine exposed in the air as his pelvis was torn from him. The look on his pained, terrorized eyes sent Eren over the edge.
He threw himself forward into defeat, fists pounding the grass as he shouted at nothing, all the while the titan munching on the remains of Hannes' lifeless body.
"IN THE END, IT'S THE SAME AS THAT DAY! YOU STILL WEREN'T STRONG ENOUGH! YOU STILL COULDN'T DO ANYTHING!" His voice raged in despair, but then quickly lost its ire as he felt the tears pool in his eyes. "Mother, I still couldn't change anything…"
Mikasa sat, frozen by Eren's words, until he let out another pained cry, one she had never come from him before. She looked down at his crying figure, and something inside of her broke as she took in his state. He had lost all hope in himself, and he felt so low, so worthless. How could he be so blind to himself?
"Eren," she said quietly, but loud enough to capture his attention. "That's not true," she said, trying to choose her words carefully before she spoke them. Halfway through calculating her plan, however, she discarded it, and just decided to say what was on her mind.
Her first statement was enough to make Eren sit up, his eyes wide in shock at their situation. He sat a little taller than her, kneeling and resting his weight on the balls of his feet. She was leaning towards him, ready to speak, and he was ready to listen, that is until he saw his best friend cowering with an unconscious Jean in his arms, tears streaming from his eyes, absolute terror on his face as he held up his blade, his only defense against the titan that was about to him.
Then Armin met his eyes, and it was then that they both knew it was the end, for them, for everyone, for humanity. Both of them were frozen, their faces wet with hot tears, until Mikasa captured Eren's attention once more.
"Eren, listen," she said, and his dead, green eyes flashed to her dying, gray orbs as she leaned forward another degree. "I want to tell you something." The titan before them was nearly finished with Hannes' corpse, but Eren couldn't see anything else anymore. All he could see was Armin's last minute before inevitable death, and Mikasa still trying to ignore the obvious pain she was feeling as she tried to speak.
"Thank you," she began, her voice no longer containing just fear but also hope, which confused Eren; "for being willing to stay with me, and until the very end." Her face seemed to inch forward again, the tears on his face feeling cold and warm at the same time from her breath, so close to his face. "Thank you, for teaching me how to live, even when it seems like all hope is lost." And before she spoke again, her head bowed, and her face took a light pink fade over her cheeks.
"Thank you," she said again, her voice no longer scared, yet even closer to tears than she was before. Her hand reached up to lightly pull at the red scarf she always donned as she spoke. "For wrapping this scarf around me," she said, her voice cracking as it sounded from her beautiful smile, tears finally spilling from her eyes as they slowly closed.
It was then that everything clicked in Eren's head. His mother's words for him to be a man and protect, rather than needing to be protected, Mikasa's admiration of his ability to be loyal and to keep on fighting until he can't fight anymore. He knew that they knew he was strong, that everybody was fighting for his sake, and that he couldn't let himself die. Jean's words rang in his head, from so long ago, that he couldn't let everyone down who was putting their life on the line for him and for the sake of humanity.
He absolutely refused to die.
As he stood, he remembered Mikasa's final thanks, about the scarf he wrapped around her the day that he saved her life and gave her another family to love. It was a stupid thing to thank him for, in his opinion. Of course he would do that.
"It's just a scarf," he spat, turning towards the titan with rage, taking his stance to protect the one who always protected him, at last returning the favor. "I'll wrap it around you however many times you want it." The wretched titan, who was finished with its meal, turned towards Eren with that bastardly amused grin on its face. Eren glared at it with a loathing passion, pulling his fist back as he spoke another promise to Mikasa. "We'll always be together, so I'll wrap it around you as many times as I need to."
It was then that he felt something hidden and powerful unlock within him, a raging monster unleashed as his fist rammed forward and connected with the titan at such a force that knocked the titan's outstretched hand back, sending Eren forward slightly with the momentum.
With a great shock to every witness, titans everywhere suddenly abandoned what they were doing to charge at the bastard murderer, ignoring all the humans, even Mikasa and Eren who were right in the pathway. Eren quickly turned and bent down to allow Mikasa to scramble onto his back, knowing she couldn't walk, hitching his hands under her thighs as he turned away from the mass titan murder going on behind him. For the brief moment that she could see his face, Mikasa noticed the intricate pattern surrounding his eyes that always followed his shifting back from titan to human.
When Eren got them a good distance away, Mikasa looked over her shoulder at the herd of titans, snacking away at the bastard titan, something that titans never did. She couldn't wrap her head around why they were eating one of their own.
"Why would that one be eaten by other titans?" she asked aloud, not expecting an answer. Eren didn't think of a reply; his mind was numbed by his previous actions, disturbed only by the determination to escape to the rest of their comrades. Suddenly, and without warning, both of them noticed the Armored Titan charging at them from the left, fear striking Mikasa as she knew they were helpless against Reiner in this state.
Eren, on the other hand, knew better than to give in to fear, and dipped back into that rage and coordinating power he discovered only moments before, and gritted his teeth at the bastard. His voice erupted in a roar that at first took Mikasa by surprise, her abrupt gasp unheard over Eren's livid scream, but in a way it was expected of him to react such a way as his fingers curled into her legs with his sudden outburst of rage.
"DON'T COME HERE, YOU BASTARDS! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" And just like with the other smiling bastard that killed his mother, the titans that were devouring the wretched thing suddenly stood and began to charge at Reiner, catching up to him before he could catch up to Eren. He froze as he prepared to fight all of them off, desperately trying to find an opening in the beasts to get to Eren.
While he was distracted, Armin, with an unconscious Jean leaning on his back, quickly galloped over with a spare horse, Eren backing into it to let Mikasa climb on, first. Once her weight was off of him, he quickly mounted and sped forward, Mikasa's hands shooting around his waist to stay up, both of them meeting Armin's relieved eyes as they rode on forward, leaving the traitors behind to deal with the mass of titans.
Mikasa's face buried into Eren's back, the fierce trotting of the horse shaking the crushed ribs in her chest. Her fingers linked together in a strained hold, her teeth gritted as she could feel less and less of her numbing fingers, and her vision blurred when she finally opened her eyes after squeezing them shut in an attempt to ease the immense pain. She felt her grip loosening, and could feel Eren's body shift slightly as he turned to see what was wrong, and that was all it took for her hands to completely forget how to grip, and for her to fall backwards off of the horse. She barely even registered the shattering pain in her chest as she fell, and didn't hear Eren's voice shouting her name, or Armin's shouting his as he quickly turned the horse around to retrieve their fallen comrade.
This chapter turned out to basically be a written form of chapters 49 and 50, but I don't think anyone should mind that, honestly. Also, this isn't edited, so I apologize for any typos or incorrect facts. I did this mostly from memory (I've read the past ten manga chapters like 60 times each), with few references to the actual manga. And even then, there are quite a few translated versions, so things might not add up completely.
Next chapter gets smutty, if you could call it that. I don't know how long this will be, and it won't really go anywhere as far as plot, but I don't really think that should matter as long as the situation makes sense. I like to think that my headcannons tend to make some sense.
Thank you for reading!
.elric-logic
