Disclaimer: I own nothing

Rated: M

Troubled.

It was the word that Mikasa had finally decided to settle on to describe her current state of being. However, she did not let it reflect on her pale flawless face and only those who really knew her could tell she was upset.

In other words, only Eren and Armin.

Her grey eyes narrowed as she took in the scene from her peripheral vision and she could only tighten her lips in response.

That strange girl was sitting right behind Eren holding on tightly to the saddle cantle. It had been a bit surprising to hear the girl to admit that she had never been in control of a horse before and thus, had to ride double with one of them.

The first obvious choice for all the soldiers to assume was that the girl should be riding with Corporal Levi as he was possibly the only one who could match her skills should she betray them for any reason and decide to attack.

So it had been a complete shock for everyone when the girl immediately strode up to Eren and asked if she could ride with him.

Mikasa was not sure how to feel when Eren had agreed in an eager manner and had ignored Armin's concerned look he shot over to her.

The half Asian soldier continued to observe discreetly as the brunet male talked to the girl in low tones with a curious expression and the girl spoke back with a light smile.

'Eren said this girl is Asian,' Mikasa thought and had to agree just by looking at the girl's features – with the exception of those blue eyes she possessed, 'And said she even spoke THAT language.'

Japanese.

Honestly, it had been a long time since Mikasa had even thought about her mother's first language, never mind speaking it out loud.

When she had first been adopted by the Jaegers, she had tried to honour her mother's memory by practising her Japanese everyday – but eventually, she fell out of the habit because it was rather difficult when nobody around her spoke or understood it.

And now, the language was just a far faded memory and Mikasa wasn't sure if she could understand it anymore.

"Mikasa?"

Armin's soft voice broke her out of her thoughts and Mikasa looked over to see the blond had positioned his horse so he was riding beside her, "Mikasa, are you all right?" He asked with obvious concern and she nodded her head.

"Don't worry," She reassured her childhood friend, "I'm fine," She glanced back ahead of her and ignored the look Armin sent her once again, "I'm just wondering how anyone can live beyond the walls for any amount of time."

"You're not the only one," Armin murmured, hearing the whispers his fellow soldiers were speaking to each other all around them, "Is it possible to live out here and not know about Titans like that girl claims?"

Mikasa didn't answer and Armin continued, "This is all just so... odd," The blond said quietly, "Is this the right thing to do? Bringing her in without being restrained?"

"Even if she was tied up, I think she would find a way to escape no matter what," Both Mikasa and Armin looked over when Jean interrupted only a few feet away from them as he sped up his horse to catch up with them, "You saw her. Even Corporal Clean-Freak over there had a hard time dealing with her."

"The scary thing is that I don't think she was even being serious earlier," Armin shuddered, "She could be more skilled than Corporal Levi for all we know."

Jean looked grim for a moment before his usual smirk flashed across his face, "But if she really does want to help us, then wouldn't she be more useful to us than Titan Boy over there?"

Mikasa glared at the use of the demeaning nickname and was satisfied when Jean flinched and hurriedly looked away, "I don't trust her," She said bluntly with her usual stoic appearance, "Not yet."

"I agree we need to be careful," Armin conceded, "But I'm sure the Commander has thought of all potential situations and is prepared for whatever happens."

"Your man crush is showing," Jean snickered at the idolization that was clearly heard in Armin's voice for their superior, "Might want to try making it less obvious," His snickers continued when the blond flushed quite visibly, "Anyways, seems Jaeger is having a fun time up there."

The trio could see Eren was looking quite excited ahead of them while conversing with Kagome and Mikasa could only bottle away her conflicting emotions for the time being and hoped nothing would turn out for the negative.

For Eren's sake.