Did I make you wait, readers? :3

Thank you Dinendir, sparkling apples, Guest, Ayexia, Seraphicpapilion, Brkth99, Nancy Haibara, meshi-chan, Kuer, Scavirr Smilee, princess yaminara, DontOpenTheBox, Alexnoel1422427, Chuunibyou Yume, Death Appraiser, HayaaShigure-kun, hamchan, anime-hq-12345, electricangel12, BlackDesires, Shiina Yuki, Iam Titania-falls, MissingLink01, ca99oline, Urdu, I love you, BloodseekerX, alex, Kenshin El, Ryvius, Mysterious, Iwai-chan, animeloverforeverjapan, Christa1910, Anti-Shadow Aigis, Quantum Warrior, alice, M, silentux131, Oklahom474, creativeactive, Forneverworld, Leavian, Wintersia, Kevin, and EmpressAl for reviewing the previous chapter. I'm seriously beyond happy to see how many reviews I got for chapter 9 despite how bad I think the chapter is.

I especially present this chapter for my beloved onii-chan, Death Appraiser! Read this and cheer up, onii-chan :3

I hope you enjoy this chapter…

Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin

It was his first time seeing it, but he was beyond amazed.

Eren observed as Mikasa moved her body gracefully. The word nervous didn't seem to be crossing her mind at all. Her skirt, made with light material, looked as though it was dancing as she made a soft twirl. In contrast to her calm and graceful movements, the camera was taking every one of her movements in an extremely fast pace, as though it did not want to miss any second of her beautiful figure.

For a while, Eren forgot how to breathe.

He had never looked at her as more than a worrywart who kept pestering him about every single thing he did; a sister who acted more like an annoying mother.

But the Mikasa here was a beautiful girl and everyone's precious idol.

Chapter 10. Her Smile

Rivaille sighed roughly as he left the office.

He was supposed to take Mikasa for a photo shoot this noon, but the requirement for this job was a little hard to grant. And he was torn between the hard requirement and the high pay. However, to be honest, he had always thought that Mikasa's lack in this part was a bit troublesome. But that girl was not someone who could show much expression either.

And he thought that was supposed to be her signature; her coolness.

However, he was wrong. A model needed to be capable of expressing herself.

As he made his way out of the building, an idea struck him. Apparently, it was something Mikasa had told him once before.

But before he could start anything, he received a message from Mikasa.

Due to unexpected turn-of-events, I decided to quit modeling. Thank you very much for taking care of me until now, kaichou.

The bell rang and Mikasa trotted slowly to the front door before opening it. She gasped and made an attempt to close the door immediately after she saw the person behind it. And the person, having experienced this event numerous times before, placed his feet to prevent the door from closing.

A competition started at the doorstep.

"Open the goddamned door, Mikasa. Did you catch Hanji's habit?"

"I am not opening the door. Not before you get taller!"

Mikasa was trying to imply that she would never open the door, but Rivaille seemed to get the wrong idea. And from that insult, he gained power. Using all his strength –and anger– he pushed the door and successfully open it.

Mikasa almost fell over from being pushed but she quickly regained her balance before glaring at the man.

Rivaille kicked the door close before narrowing his eyes at Mikasa, "You didn't fucking give me a reason, brat. Did you by chance expect me to approve of it just like that?" he growled.

Mikasa was silent. Her obsidian orbs reflecting something he had seen once before. It was something he saw when she told him about Eren dating Annie Leonhardt. He was expecting that Mikasa's sudden resignation was caused by Eren as well.

"Is it Eren again?" he asked coldly yet filled with concern.

With her head hung low, Mikasa nodded.

"What happened now?"

Mikasa seemed to be hesitant to tell him but she did so after all. She just needed a place to let it all out and she didn't feel like telling her friends.

"I accidentally told him about my job…" she said in a low voice.

'Must be when he was in his infant form and you, oblivious as you are, told him everything...' Rivaille mentally rolled his eyes.

She looked down until her bangs shadowed her eyes, "He hates me now… He had already run off somewhere when I woke up this morning."

Rivaille sighed at how much Eren's action could affect Mikasa.

Mikasa's lack of controlling her emotions when it came to her only family was also troublesome. Sometimes Rivaille felt he had to teach that immature brat a lesson and stop him from making Mikasa worry over him 24/7. But the problem also lied on Mikasa's fundamental thoughts about Eren being her only family and that she had to protect him at all costs.

Sighing again, Rivaille put his palm behind Mikasa's head and pulled her closer, placing her forehead on his shoulder, before stroking the back of her head to soothe her. He was quite surprised by the fact that she didn't fight back at all.

"The brat will return when he's done with being childish," Rivaille muttered.

She nodded softly.

"You should stop being childish as well and go get ready for work."

There was a short pause before Mikasa pulled back and nodded at him with her expression still a little grim. Mikasa made her way to her room to get changed while Rivaille took a seat in the living room. While waiting for Mikasa, Rivaille observed the relatively small living room. There were considerable amount of pictures of Eren and Mikasa in their childhood. Some of the pictures also consisted of their parents; Grisha and Carla Jaeger.

He noticed that no matter in which picture, Mikasa was always dressed modestly. He assumed that she dressed like that regardless of the season.

'You can't blame the brat for going against you being a model, Mikasa. You expose more skin than you ever did in your whole life…' Rivaille thought.

Continuing to browse the pictures, Rivaille's eyes widened when he saw a certain picture. It was a small picture placed on the small table beside the couch. Despite being an ordinary picture of Eren and Mikasa, what stood out from that picture was the fact that Mikasa was smiling.

Before Rivaille could get a better view of the picture, Mikasa came out from her room, wearing a set of more formal clothes. In reflex, she saw Rivaille's hand that was about to grab the picture frame on the small table.

She lift up her red scarf to hide the tint of blush crossing her cheeks, "You saw that…" she muttered.

Rivaille quickly pulled his hand and rose from his seat. Clearing his throat, he spoke up, "Excuse me for that. But I mean, that picture is displayed so I think there's nothing wrong for me to look at it, is there?"

She shook her head, "No, I was just embarrassed…"

"You can get embarrassed? That's new to me."

She glared at him before whipping around, "Come on, we're going to work, right?" she said as she stomped toward the front door.

Rivaille took a glance at the picture one last time before following up.

'You should smile more often…'

"Pink one-piece and a straw hat?"

"Typically summer, isn't it?"

"Mikasa in pink sounds a bit off."

"I don't mind…"

Mikasa said in the middle of the debate. The dress was supposed to have been chosen before she came, right? Why did they have to start arguing now of all time?

"Besides, I wear pink when I was small."

"Oh, really? We'd love to see that!"

"Young Mikasa in pink!? I think I'm going to have a nosebleed."

Mikasa sighed as the topic changed from clothes argument to her younger self in pink. She knew that they would all shut up when the photo shoot started anyway so she decided to leave them be.

She walked around but couldn't find Rivaille anywhere.

Soon, the photo shoot started without Rivaille being found. But since his presence wasn't crucial, no one bothered to look for him.

"Smile, Mikasa!"

"…Eh?" Mikasa blinked.

"Don't wear that face. Smile, girl!"

Rivaille didn't tell her anything about her having to smile. She froze for a while, ignoring the fact that everyone was staring at her intently. Just as she opened her mouth to speak up, the door opened.

"Sorry for the wait."

It was Rivaille.

He was bringing someone with him.

Mikasa's eyes widened.

That person nervously scratched the back of his head before deciding to look at Mikasa. He inhaled before shouting, "Do your best, Mikasa!"

Slightly taken aback, Mikasa's cheeks reddened in both embarrassment and happiness. She made a single nod before facing the camera again. This time, her lips pursed slightly. Did it mean Eren had forgiven her? Had he finally approved of her work?

She smiled in relief before she continued her poses.

Smiling, Eren continued observing her moves. She looked beautiful this way.

Simply the sight of her rare smiling face spread a weird feeling in his heart. And, being too occupied with watching her, Eren never noticed how Rivaille's expression also changed.

It was his first time seeing Mikasa smiled in person.

Despite his unwavering expression, Rivaille's mind drifted off thinking about how fascinating Mikasa's smile was.

Eren walked around, trying to find Mikasa's changing room. Rivaille told him the way but it was still quite difficult to find considering how many rooms this building had.

He stopped when he saw a room with Mikasa's name hung on the door.

This is the room, he thought as he spun the doorknob.

Opening the door, Eren gaped at what he saw inside. He stopped breathing for a couple of seconds before the black-haired girl turned around. Her slender body and her pale white skin exposed under broad daylight, however, she didn't seem bothered by it at all. Her expressionless eyes looked into his green ones calmly, as though ignoring the fact that she was only clad in her undergarments.

"…Eren?" she called her name.

He didn't reply.

"…Eren… are you still mad, after all?" her voice trailed off as she hung her head.

Snapping out of it, Eren quickly shook his head. "No, I'm not mad! What the hell, Mikasa? Can't you at least try to cover your body? We're not kids anymore!" he shouted while looking away.

Mikasa blinked slowly before she finally got what he meant, "Ah… You're bothered by my body, Eren? I'm sorry if my body is not the best out there, I'll wear my clothes now–"

Mikasa felt someone pulling her wrist. She made a motion to turn around, but Eren's arms were already caging her from behind. From his slightly trembling arms, Mikasa knew that he was bothered with touching her bare skin. She chuckled inside. Eren was still a kid after all.

"I didn't say anything about your body being ugly or anything. I'm just trying to remind you that we're not kids anymore. It's not the same as before, okay? Your body used to be so skinny and… not curvy…" he felts his cheeks heating up as he said the last line.

"I used to be sickly when I was younger, after all. I'm okay now, though… Aren't you glad I'm not skinny anymore?" she asked in a low voice.

Eren nodded.

He was reminded of how Mikasa used to be so weak and had to rely on him all of the time. He was both glad and sad at the same time. He was glad she needed him and relied on him but was also sad that she looked like she was suffering.

"Eren… are you against me being a model? If you do, I will–"

"No!"

"…Eh?"

"You can keep doing what you like, Mikasa. Rivaille-kaichou told me about how you enjoyed modeling. And after seeing what I saw just now I couldn't just tell you to quit. I'm just being too overprotective, it seems. You're a big girl now and I know you can decide for yourself. I used to complain whenever you're being too overprotective of me but it seems that I'm doing the same."

Mikasa blushed at Eren's words. Eren was being overprotective of her? She never expected that.

Without realizing it herself, Mikasa began to giggle.

"What are you laughing about? It's so embarrassing!"

"Nothing…" Mikasa shook her head. "Eren, can you wait outside? I'll wear some clothes and then we can walk home together."

"Okay," Eren nodded before releasing her and walked outside.

When Eren and Mikasa was about to leave the building, Mikasa insisted on meeting Rivaille first before going home and she went to find him without Eren.

Fortunately, she found him before he left.

"Kaichou."

Rivaille turned around.

"What is it, Mikasa? You haven't gone home?" he asked in monotone.

She shook her head before approaching him.

"It's you who brought Eren here, isn't it?" she asked.

There was a long pause before Rivaille opened his mouth to answer Mikasa, "If I bring him here and it ends your problem, you will continue working happily like before. But if my decision worsens the situation, you will quit even without my permission. It was a gamble, Ackerman."

Mikasa quietly listened to him.

"I bring him here hoping he would prevent me from losing you. You know how much this work meant to me."

Mikasa nodded, "It's okay, kaichou, I won't quit. It was irresponsible of me to say that I'll quit out of the blue. Forgive me," she bowed.

Giving Mikasa a single nod, Rivaille made his way to leave. However, Mikasa called for him again.

"Kaichou?"

"What now?"

"Thank you…" Mikasa smiled brightly.

Rivaille's eyes widened but he quickly turned around again. "It's not anything worth mentioning. I did it for my own benefits, after all."

"Yes." Mikasa said before leaving.

As Rivaille got on his car, he pondered. He got to see Mikasa's smile a lot today. On top of that, she even smiled for him.

On second thought, you shouldn't smile too much, Mikasa…

He stared at her retreating back before messaging his temple, groaning.

It's too much…

-TO BE CONTINUED-

You're allowed to kill me if this chapter is not as good as you expected DX

By the way, I want to ask for your permission to add some more sci-fi into this story. Do you mind? If most of you go against it, I will change my plan

See you next time~