As Armin escorted Mikasa up the stairs, they finally discovered the amount of the time that they spent underground. The sun just begun to retreat from the sky and the other scouts were on their way to dinner. They decided to fallow suite and to meet up with their other friends, who kept on pondering and badgering the two about their recent disappearance. Armin combated this issue by always changing the subject or skillfully avoided that conversation whenever possible. He had a knack for this or he thought he did.

As the two finished their meals, Mikasa ended the silence between them when she asked Armin if she could talk to him outside afterwards. To which he agreed to after a slight protest. Only then did he realize that they haven't made eye contact the whole evening. One of them would always be looking away or down at their feet. They seemed to be embarrassed at the sight one another.

That however, didn't stop them from meeting. Armin had an idea on what they were going to discuss, but had no idea how it would play out. So he decided to go over the facts.

'I knew Mikasa liked Eren, but her reaction to his speech would say it's something more. That would also explain the scarf too. It must have meant something more to Mikasa than just a gift, which would also explain why she wore it at all times.'

The two stood up to put their bowls, utensils, and trash away.

'It's safe to assume that Levi probably stopped her from marching off earlier, but why would the corporal do such a thing? Or why would Mikasa listen to him anyway?'

As he finished these thoughts he just realized that he was heading out the door. Armin reached to open the door, but was interrupted by a sharp pain in his hand. He opened the door anyways, trying to avoid Mikasa worrying about him in her time of need.

The night was unusually chilly for some reason or maybe it was their nerves. Armin didn't give it any though but Mikasa reached for her scarf to shelter herself. She realized that it wasn't there anymore, so she clenched her own collar instead and decided to button up, trying to forget the meaning of the rag.

Armin kept an old habit himself, he would always create a space between them, as if he was making room for the unifying link in their preverbal friendship. "So…" squeaked Armin, "what made you wait for me?"

Mikasa responded in her calm voice, "When I was walking to the stairs I had to pass Levi, who made a few comments that I didn't hear from him, until he started to talk about Eren. I stopped when he guessed who Eren liked correctly, but this just encouraged him to keep talking until I snapped and went to punch him, like I always wanted. He managed to doge and knocked me down instead. He then gave me a…." Mikasa had just remembered Levi's threat.

"He gave you what?" asked Armin impatiently.

"He gave me a piece of advice. He told me to find someone I trust and to talk to them about my feelings. He said that I would be able to love again and let someone love me back. And that's why I'm talking to you now. You're one of my best and longest friends and you were there with me."

Armin couldn't help blush a little bit and saying, "Thank you for telling me this. I know it isn't easy telling me about your personal feelings, so I think that this is a good stepping off point and when do you want to talk again?"

Mikasa didn't put that much thought into this being a regular scenario, but they had decided that they would meet up a few times a week, with the next you a couple days from now.