"Ah! Hey! Hey, Mikasa! Mikasa! Over here! Over here! Please!"
Mikasa just happened to be passing by when she heard Sasha calling out to her, seemingly from nowhere. She looked off to the right. Sasha was dangling, upside down, from between two of the wooden pillars in the training arena. The ropes of her 3-D Maneuver Gear was caught around pillars and unable to disengage, possibly due to a malfunction, possibly due to Sasha's own mishandling by being preoccupied with thoughts of food. Whatever put her in that position was irrelevant however, and Sasha looked quite uncomfortable, her face flushed from so much blood rushing into her head. Mikasa approached her.
"...What are you doing?" Mikasa asked, arching an eyebrow in puzzlement.
"I...I was trying..." Sasha coughed, "I was getting a bit of extra practice in...and I sorta messed up..."
"You? Extra practice?" Mikasa's eyebrow raised even higher.
"Okay, so the instructor left me here because I kept messing up...but you'll help me, right? Right?"
"Hmm..."
"Y-You're my girlfriend, after all!"
"Don't say that so loudly." Mikasa's cheeks reddened; it was true that she and Sasha had started 'dating' as it were, but it wasn't something Mikasa felt comfortable admitting aloud yet. Especially not to some of her closer friends, like Eren and Armin. Even though she was a very cold and collected individual, she had her hidden bashful side, which Sasha thought was very cute.
"Sorry...but you'll get me down? I dunno how much longer I can last here...and I'm starving!"
Mikasa sighed. "Okay, okay...give me a moment."
She started to prepare her gear to fly up there and dislodge the ropes, but she stopped. Her eyes focused on Sasha's face, particularly her lips. They looked dried and chapped, but still kissable enough. Mikasa started to blush again as a very strange idea popped into her head.
"Eh? Mikasa, why are you staring at me like that...?" Sasha asked.
Mikasa peeked over both shoulders, just to make sure that she wasn't being watched. There was brief consideration of covering Sasha's face with the scarf, concealing her identity for that instant, but it would have been overkill. Either way, Mikasa leaned in and kissed Sasha on the lips. She held the kiss for a good four seconds. Some tongue was involved.
"Ah...M-Mikasa..." Sasha's face couldn't have been any brighter than it was after they broke off the kiss, but between whether it was due to embarrassment from the kiss or just more blood rushing to her head upside down, Mikasa figured it was both. Mikasa wiped away the tiny sliver of saliva that was dripping from Sasha's upper lip.
"Sorry." Mikasa looked away, and she pulled her scarf a little higher, "I hadn't seen you all day so I couldn't help myself..."
Sasha frowned. "Mikasa, don't you think this was the wrong time for this kind of thing?"
Mikasa leaped up and simply sliced the rope with her blades. Sasha hit the ground with a dull thud. Mikasa, fuming in her embarrassment, guessed that it was the gluttonous girl's empty skull that made the sound. She should never have even considered kissing the dolt in the first place. There was absolutely no chance she was getting extra for dinner tonight, Mikasa thought to herself as she stormed off, abandoning her lover on the ground.
"Owww...my skull..."
The flames whipped and crackled, casting shadows on the four women's faces as they sat huddled around it for warmth. Mikasa and Sasha kept close, shoulder to shoulder, while Krista was resting her head on Ymir's arm. Ymir observed the other couple through the flickering waves of orange and red. Sasha was nibbling on bread, and Mikasa was staring off into space.
"So...what's the deal with you two? You doing it?" Ymir was not one to understand tact, nor did she even want to know what the word meant.
"Eh?" The half-chewed loaf of bread dropped from Sasha's mouth, she was so shocked. Mikasa's expression instantly darkened. However, she held her tongue, if only to see where Ymir was going with this.
"I asked what's going on between you guys. I thought you hated this chick, Mikasa...why do you hang around her so often?"
"That's none of your business." Mikasa's voice was like a beast's growl; a warning sign that, if pushed much further, it wasn't afraid to lash out.
"Sasha, what do you have to say about this?"
"I...I...um...if Mikasa has nothing to say, then neither do I!" Sasha replied back. She brushed some of the dirt off of the bread and tried to take another bite, hoping she could still salvage it. She spit the bread back out, in failure.
"Hmph..." Ymir sighed, "You're both lying. I can tell just from looking at your faces."
"Ymir, leave them alone!" Krista spoke up.
"Y-Yeah! That's right!" Sasha, upset over losing her bread, was growing a little agitated, and she expressed such displeasure toward Ymir, "What about you, Ymir? What's going on between you and Krista, huh?"
Ymir shrugged. "Yeah, we're dating. She even lets me spank her."
"Y-Ymir!" Krista squealed.
"Eh...you admitted it so easily..."
"Yeah, so why don't you admit something about yourself? C'mon, it's only fair."
"No way! No way!"
"How about some truth or dare?"
"Hmm?"
"I already told you that Krista and I are dating. That was truth. Now I get to choose what you have to do."
Sasha rubbed her chin. "Uh...yeah...I know this game, so I think I get it,"
"Okay. Tell me a truth. What is your relationship with Mikasa? Is there anything about you two that you wouldn't normally want anyone to know? Remember, you have to follow the rules of the game, so don't go dancing around the subject like before."
Sasha cringed; she knew she shouldn't be saying this under any circumstances, but what sort of person was she, to disobey the laws of truth and dare? She mentally apologized to Mikasa for her betrayal. "I...I'm usually the person...who's on top-"
Mikasa jabbed her elbow into Sasha's stomach, but this was no ordinary jab, as it was hard enough to cause a significant cracking sound upon impact. Sasha buckled over, clutching her ribs. Her bottom lip trembled.
"Oh...oh God! My stomach!" she moaned.
"Sorry," Mikasa replied, deadpan, "I was trying to swat a fly."
"I think...I think I'm going to throw up...!" Sasha slapped a hand over her mouth, trying not to heave.
"Here, let me help you and take you over there."
Mikasa grabbed Sasha by the arm, roughly, and dragged her around the nearest rock formation. Ymir and Krista looked at each other. Ymir felt a little bad, since this was all her fault...but only a little.
"Mikasa!"
Mikasa looked up from her book, to see Sasha leaning over the bed railing, staring at her. Her face was so close. Mikasa lifted her scarf a little higher, to shield the burning of her cheeks. She was too proud to let Sasha see it, although judging from the look on the bumpkin's face, she was aware of it already.
"What is it?" Mikasa asked, her voice muffled by the thick, red cloth covering her mouth. Sasha's smile broadened.
"You like me, right?"
"Huh?"
"I asked if you like me? That's all I want to know."
Mikasa shrugged. "Mmm."
"Hmm? Did you say you like me too?" Sasha grinned, "I didn't really hear you."
Mikasa raised the scarf a little higher, over her nose. "Hmph. I'm not saying anything of the sort...not for you..."
"Why do you keep hiding your face? Is it that hard to say? I mean, I thought you liked me when you kissed me two days ago. It was my first kiss, you know."
Mikasa covered her eyes and forehead with the scarf, unable to deal with Sasha's teasing anymore. Her ears, peeking out from her strands of black hair, were steaming red and hot, like cooked buns. Mikasa did not say a word; she had completely retreated into her 'shell', and she refused to come out. Sasha giggled. She reached over, pulled down on the second roll of scarf, revealing Mikasa's nose, and she blessed it with the softest, gentlest kiss she could muster. A violent tremor overcame the Asian girl.
"Well, even if you're not ready to say it yet, don't worry, I understand your feelings anyway. You kind of remind me of bread actually; hard on the outside, but soft on the inside. Good thing I like bread, right?" Sasha laughed.
And with that, Sasha trotted off. Mikasa sighed, and she pulled her head out of her scarf to watch the other girl leave. Mikasa couldn't believe she had let herself get worked over like that by Sasha, and so easily too. Sasha was right in a way; Mikasa was getting soft.
'And she's getting way too cocky. I need to fix that about her.'
Mikasa touched her nose. It was still wet from Sasha's kiss. Her face wouldn't stop burning.
'No...not just yet...'
Sasha was picking her teeth with the bone of a Titan when Mikasa approached her carrying a tray. The tray was loaded with a mountain of bread loaves and roasted potatoes.
Sasha looked at the food incredulously. "What's this?"
"I-It's sustenance for Sasha-sama," Mikasa stuttered. She was shaking down to her boots, yet something about Sasha's majesty, her imposing and admirable personality and body, it was an incredible turn-on. Mikasa's face reddened like hot coals just from the thought of getting a kiss from her beloved again. Even a pat on the shoulder would probably satisfy her, with how easy she was for Sasha-sama.
Sasha picked up one of the bread loaves. She glanced it over, looking apathetic all the while. "Is this all?"
"It is all I could gather for you, Sasha-sama,"
"Hmph!" Sasha snorted. She tossed the bread onto the floor. "I don't want this! I've already eaten my full of this food!"
"W-What?"
I don't need any of this!" Sasha roared. She slapped the tray out of Mikasa's hands, who shrieked in her surprise. Bread and potatoes splattered all across the wooden floor. Sasha stood up, and with a quick swipe of the arm, she had her hand cupped firmly on Mikasa's chin. She tipped the girl's head back just enough so they were eye to eye.
"I'm not hungry for bread or potatoes anymore, Mikasa."
"You're not?" Mikasa whimpered. "Then...what can I do for you, Sasha-sama? What do you want?"
"What I want to eat...is you." Sasha purred deeply, sensually, as she embraced her lover with a titanic kiss.
'Yeah, as if that scenario would ever happen...' Eren thought back in reality, watching as Mikasa stuffed Sasha's face faster than the brown-haired girl could even chew or swallow.
"Mikasa..."
"..."
"Mikasa?"
"What is it? I'm trying to watch the stars."
"You don't need to keep watching them; they won't go anywhere. And I want to tell you something important."
"Did you finish your bread?"
"Yes. A while ago."
"Then what is it?"
"Umm...would you...err, how do I put this?"
"Just spit it out."
"Would you come back with me to my village one day?"
Mikasa blinked. She didn't say anything for a moment. "...What?"
Sasha had her legs drawn up to her chest, and she kept staring straight forward, not allowing Mikasa to enter her field of vision, lest she lose any little bit of courage that allowed her to say these things. "I wanted you to meet my dad. My family. The whole village, basically."
Mikasa's eyes widened as the realization hit her. If Sasha wanted her to meet her family, then that meant... "Sasha."
"I...I know, it's probably not right to be asking this, right out of the blue," Sasha's voice wavered, and she tried to force a smile, but it came out askew, misshapen, "Especially because we're soldiers, and we'll be expected to fight again, even now that we won the Battle of Trost. But if somehow...if we both survive long enough in this world...maybe we could...? I'm sure my dad would love you...even though we're both girls and all..."
"Sasha, you're not making any sense." Mikasa shook her head. "Why are you talking about going home to your village? What are you saying?"
"You...you don't get it?"
"No." Mikasa shook her head.
"I'm trying to say is that I want to have the chance to introduce you to my dad, because I don't want to die! I don't want either of us to die! I don't want to lose the chance to be able to live a life with you! I want to be able to live with you, Mikasa!" Sasha started to shout, but she quickly caught herself with those last words, blushing so profusely that she practically glowed in the night, "That is...that is if you want to, of course...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted like that."
Mikasa sighed, sometime frustrated by her girlfriend's awkwardness. She was well aware how badly shaken Sasha had been from her first battle against the Titans, and it must have been the reason why she brought up this idea. Sasha's arm flopped limp onto her side. Mikasa took that hand into her own.
"If you watch my back as I'll watch yours, we might just be able to survive this war, I think."
Sasha gasped.
"And then...I suppose, you can introduce me to your village. I wouldn't mind it at all."
Sasha started to cry.
"There's no need to cry, Sasha. You know how noisy you get when you cry."
"...I'm just so happy..." Sasha sniffled.
Mikasa squeezed Sasha's hand a little harder. "Well, I guess it can't be helped." Mikasa didn't admit it, but she was happy too.