See You Later, Eren Chapter 6
Title: Royal Blood
Hey everybody! For once, everything more or less went according to plan, so all I have to say is I hope you enjoy! This chapter is on the shorter side, and isn't big plot wise, but this is supposed to be a buildup to the next chapter mostly. Plus, I think we were all due some fluff and cute character moments, so make sure to tell me what you think!
Response to The r3wr1t3r: Thank you so much for the double review! I absolutely loooove that I've enthralled you with the mystery of Mikasa's situation, enough to theorize about the true nature of her situation, which will definitely be revealed in due time. Also, your review about the interpretation of Mikasa's character arc was very insightful! I admit that before 139 gave us the answers, I was sort of in the middle about the interpretation of her dream. I never really believed in "Aaron Yoghurt", that he was super different from the real Eren and all that, but I also kind of thought of it as Mikasa's ideal version of Eren, when in reality it was the regular Eren giving her the ideal life that they wished they could have had if the world was less cruel. With my fic, I ended up injecting a bit of both of those interpretations, as Mikasa separates in some way this Eren from the future Eren in her struggle to understand him, but as the plot unravels the struggle will become more complex.
Response to kaffeenator666: I appreciate seeing your thoughts on chapter 139. I both respect and understand your opinions towards Eren's character, and I agree that a better execution could have gone a long way in making the reveal feel more natural for his character arc. On the thematic side of things, I think 139 was actually one of the best chapters and a perfect way to end, but on the explanation/plot side of things it is definitely 7.5/10 at best, so it just depends on your preference. I also agree that post time skip Eren, with knowledge of pretty much everything, wouldn't reciprocate Mikasa's feelings, and on some level the Mikasa of this story understands that too, so she's trying desperately to prevent that downward spiral. It's possible that the romance between Eren and Mikasa will be easier for me to write now because of the revelations of 139, and while I thought that the reveal of Eren's true feelings towards her made complete sense and was set up early on in the manga, it's no coincidence that many people didn't think that Eren ever had romantic feelings for Mikasa until 139, and so my goal is to still set it up better than the manga did (meaning more explicitness). And thank you for your thoughts on the chapter! Regarding the Annie dilemma, that will definitely be explored more this chapter, and I'm happy that the scar scene caught you off guard, as that was a very fun scene to write haha. Finally, I actually do plan on retconning the Ymir stockholm syndrome bit for my fic, so more info on that to come once it becomes relevant.
The throne room's illustrious haze coats Mikasa's face. The brightness, the grandeur, she can almost feel it in her eyes, like when you don't blink quite right and everything appears glossy. The large windows let every bit of sunlight enter, bouncing off the marble columns and walls, and painting Historia's figure. Yes... that's right, she's in Historia's throne room, Mikasa remembers now.
She's kneeling on the stairs. She can feel her right hand resting over her heart, and the slightly uncomfortable formal Scouts uniform nipping at her skin. Looking around, she sees Armin kneeling in the same position to her right, and Eren on her left, with figures that she cannot quite make out to the left of him.
He looks lost in thought, a somber expression and dark circles under his eyes making themselves rather prominent to Mikasa. But he looks up as Historia walks over to him, her shadow enveloping him. She holds a green medallion, stretching it over his head to rest on his neck. She then extends her hand, Eren grasping it lightly and placing his lips over her knuckles.
Except, when all is said and done, he doesn't let go. Seconds pass, and Mikasa notices that his eyes are wide... horrified. Almost immediately, she feels the compulsion to ask him what's wrong, but instead she glances at Historia.
Her face is soft, muscles relaxed, with neither a frown nor smile. Though her eyes tell a painful story, and tears leak down in an unnatural, constant stream...
A tight, visceral panic overwhelms Mikasa, not dissimilar to how she felt when Annie first captured him. A great fear that makes her body stop and strength flow through her, but she's powerless. She cannot move.
And the walls begin to rumble.
And Mikasa understands... that something happened. The sharp green that once filled his eyes slowly leaves him, and everything else... Armin, Historia, the people around her, cease to exist.
"Finally... we're here at last."
She finds the power within her to speak, the walls starting to come undone and the sky turning black.
"Eren... please... don't go."
"This is that sight. Right... Armin?"
Armin?
"Mikasa..." The voice of a young girl echoes into her head. It sounds vaguely familiar.
"Mikasa..." It echoes again. Eren turns to her, and smiles.
"Oi, how many times do I have to shake you, Ackerman?" A distinctly different voice finally juts her back into full consciousness.
...
Opening her eyes, she sees her freckled, brown-haired roommate staring face to face with her. "...Ymir?," she croaks out, though her voice wobbles quite a bit more than she expected. Immediately recognizing the distinction, she feels the wet tears on her cheeks as Ymir unconcernedly walks back across the room, over to her own bed.
"Dammit," she mutters. Looks like it happened again, a nightmare. They had become increasingly infrequent as the months of training went on. She is almost fourteen years old now, and the horrors of her past life, though she can never forget them, seem like a distant memory. However, there were always moments like these that took her completely out of the delusion that life could ever be the same. Even though she resolved to change her fate a long time ago, she's still traumatized.
As she hurriedly wipes the tears from her eyes and cheeks, she feels the coarse line of raised skin that sits on her right cheek. That sure was something. After she first noticed her scar a year ago, she had panicked a great deal, wondering if she was truly living in some kind of fantasy. It was a dreadful, harrowing thought, but she couldn't discount the possibility. By the same coin, she couldn't rule out that she really had just cut her cheek some time during training, and this was just some big coincidence, either. Just thinking about it makes her head throb, so she doesn't much.
Reality begins to wash over her again. "thank you," she mumbles to Ymir. She grunts in response, resting her back on the headboard of the bed. Ymir and Mikasa had grown quite close, and both had difficulty sleeping at times. In Mikasa's case it was usually due to nightmares, but for Ymir she simply struggled to fall asleep some of the time, or at least that's what she tells her. Either way, Ymir had been the only one aware of Mikasa's night terrors, so, in classic Ymir fashion, they made a deal to where she wouldn't tell anyone and would wake Mikasa up if she noticed her having one. In return, Mikasa would help Ymir with training.
"Don't worry about it, you weren't that loud this time. The only reason I heard you at all was because you kept mumbling."
Mikasa's face heats up. She wants to ask what she might have said, but doesn't want to deal with Ymir's teasing, so she leaves it alone. Unfortunately, Ymir keeps talking.
"Eren, Eren, Eren." She laughs. Mikasa tries to scowl but her cheeks are on fire.
"I'm surprised I didn't catch it, when you said he was family, that it was all a bunch of crap. Your eyes always light up when your with him, it's the most adorable thing." She chuckles out the words, knowing full well how much it embarrasses Mikasa. "You stick to him like a moth to a flame, it's so obvious how big of a crush you have on Jaeger," she mocks, eliciting a sharp glare from Mikasa, not that it's very visible in the dead of night.
"It's not a crush," she responds. Ymir gives her a look, halfway between surprised and impressed. Those annoying eyes of hers... they're reading Mikasa like a book, and there's nothing she can do about it. "Love, then," Ymir intuits.
Mikasa doesn't reply, lowering her head further on the wooden headboard. She's not going to sleep anytime soon, but there's no point in continuing this conversation. "You don't know anything about it," she finds herself biting back anyways. Ymir ignores the jab.
"That makes more sense, I guess. I just wonder what he could have done to deserve such devotion, considering how stupid he is. You can tell just by looking at him what he's all about, he'll keep striving towards his goal until he's dead, and his goal happens to be joining the Scouts. Why would you subject yourself to that?" She asks Mikasa, a half smile on her face as she does so.
"Are you done?" Her voice is cold with annoyance. They stare at each other, Mikasa with an irked, serious expression and Ymir with a nonchalant one, though her eyes still seem to be prying her.
"Sure." The back of her head thumps on the wall and she lets out a bored sigh. Mikasa never realized how frustrating the brunette could be if she wanted to. After a long bit of silence, one which Mikasa is more than happy with, Ymir inquires once again.
"Oh, yeah, there was another word... Historia. You kept saying Historia," she adds. Mikasa's heart stops. The seconds pass by with her unable to come up with a proper response, and she just knows Ymir is eating it up, gleaning as much information as possible from it. "What's that mean? Is that supposed to be a person?"
"It's.. someone.. someone I knew from my past." It's ominous, but not entirely false, which she hopes is enough for Ymir. She seems to get some sort of message out of it, her expression shifting to something Mikasa doesn't have the time or skill to understand.
"Right."
Silence takes over again, and as the minutes pass, she doesn't hear Ymir speak up. Mikasa puts her head back on the pillow and stares up at the underside of the bed above her.
"Ymir's realized something... I can't mess up and give her any more clues, who knows how fast she'd put the pieces together..."
Besides Sasha, Ymir has likely become the closest friend Mikasa has made in the 104th in this timeline. It's not even because she's necessarily pleasant to be around, but with Mikasa's popularity, a lot of relationships start to feel fake. The people she used to be close to in her past life, Jean, Connie, and the likes, are relatively the same, but many of the comrades she never became friends with before seem to want to be around her, and in her cynical eyes it can't be due to anything other than a desire to be with the popular girl. It's as if they put on a friendly façade. With Ymir, it's different. She doesn't bother to be anyone other than herself, which is a breath of fresh air for the raven-haired girl. Though she annoys Mikasa at times, she feels a close connection to her.
Unfortunately, it seems that it's a double edged sword, because it will be a struggle to continue to keep her entire past concealed so long as she makes blunders like the one she made tonight. As she lays in contemplation, she can't help but wonder if Ymir's Jaw Titan will be a friend or foe in the years to come.
Annie brings her fist straight to Armin's face, neglecting any kind of defense he's set up as if it isn't there. He yelps and tumbles to the ground with a thump. She lowers her shoulders and stares at her fist, her signature bored expression masking her face. "You suck," she states plainly. Armin rests his hand over his worn cheek and looks down at the ground.
"I was pulling my punches." She rests her hands on her hips, waiting for him to stand.
"I know. I've seen the way you fight, it's usually a lot quicker than what you've been doing with me."
Annie looks around the large field, plenty of other pairs of trainees are fighting each other as well, and most of them look to be about even, but this is just embarrassing. Armin continues to caress his cheek, so Annie walks up. "And it's still too fast." She extends her hand to him. Armin gives her a surprised look but quickly grabs it and lets her help him up.
"You're not hopeless. We're just on completely different levels, so why are you doing this with me?," she asks as she gets back into a fighting position. Armin gives her a shrug as he looks at the ground.
"I don't know... You're honest with me, for one." He raises his fists meekly. "I know I'm not being a burden to someone like you, because you wouldn't stand for it." He goes for an easily telegraphed jab, which Annie sidesteps, using her free foot to trip him with minimal effort. He hits his head on the ground, but forces himself to get up.
"Most of my friends are always willing to help, which I appreciate, of course, but sometimes it's nice to do things myself. Even if I get beat up in the process." He struggles to raise his fists again, already exhausted from their brief sparring match. Noticing this, Annie doesn't get in position.
"You're more like Jaeger than I took you for," she comments. Armin rubs the back of his neck with a smile. "Maybe, but it's not the only reason I'm doing this. I also... like spending time with you." A slight pink taints his cheeks.
Annie's eyes widen a bit, at a loss for words. However, it isn't longer than a second before she brings her right foot to his side, knocking him down before he has a chance to think.
"You shouldn't." She keeps her eyes away from a shocked Armin. "Wh-what?," he gets out.
"I'm not worth making friends with. Don't waste your time."
Mikasa's had enough. "Armin," she says as she walks up to the pair. She had been watching them for some time, going back and forth on whether she should break them up or not. It's what she's been doing for the past year or so, but it doesn't seem to be working. She swears that he's more interested in Annie in this timeline than the last one, despite both girls' evident efforts. Not only that, but it seems to be inspiring suspicion out of her friend, and if she expects anyone to discover the truth, it's Armin.
Sometimes, in moments like these, she wonders if she has to put any effort in at all. With Annie actively trying to push him away, it's like she's doing the work for her. But she doesn't like to see her best friend get hurt, emotionally or physically, so she finds herself helping him up anyways. If Annie thinks it strange that she suddenly appeared during their spar, she doesn't let it show on her face.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Mikasa, I'm just sparring."
She shoots a glare at Annie, who still doesn't react. "It didn't look like sparring."
She knows exactly why she's doing this, why Annie is trying to push Armin away. With the benefit of knowing the whole truth, a part of her sympathizes with the blonde. She's trying to stop herself from becoming friends with anyone, even someone as sweet as Armin, because she knows her mission will put him in danger. Just because Mikasa understands, however, doesn't mean she has to like Annie for it. The woman she allied herself with to stop Eren and the girl that stands before her are two different people.
"Mikasa! You just focus on saving Armin! You don't need to think about anything else.", Annie once told her.
"It's fine, really." Armin tries to placate her concerns, but Mikasa keeps her hands on his arms.
"If we're done here, then." Annie puts her hands in her pockets and saunters away. Armin opens his mouth to speak, but closes it soon after, not finding anything to say. Mikasa gives her another death stare as she wanders off, before turning back to her friend.
"Armin, if you really want to spar against someone that skilled, I can train with you." She hopes her bluntness tells him that she's not trying to brag. "I won't hurt you," she adds. Armin moves his hand back to his left cheek. It's definitely going to bruise up, Mikasa thinks.
"She didn't hurt me, it's only because I'm such a poor fighter." He looks down at the ground with a dejected look on his face.
"Don't compare yourself to Annie, she's not a true soldier."
Armin furrows his brows. "What do you have against Annie?"
"What do you have for her? She's harsh, and uncooperative. She's just interested in getting into the Military Police," Mikasa explains.
"I don't think it's that simple. I feel like there's something under the surface."
Mikasa holds a sigh. If he can really figure that out from their scant interactions, what does he think of herself? Seconds of silence pass between them, Mikasa holding her concerned frown. "Anyways, it's not important. I'm going to go catch up with Eren, I'll see you later." He walks off, with Mikasa spotting the ghost of a limp in his step, likely from the beating he endured.
She lets her sigh out. Armin is still her best friend, and she loves him for that, but that lack of self assuredness is something she misses dearly. She wishes Armin could just be more confident in himself, but she's not sure she has the energy to help him to that discovery a second time.
She walks back over to the barrel she was sitting on, the disassembled rifle laying in pieces around it. If there was one activity she doesn't excel at, it's this one, as she hasn't had consistent practice with such an old model in a long time.
She reassembles it a few more times, letting time escape her.
Unfortunately, her peace is interrupted by the light steps of someone approaching her. Looking up, she sees the blonde haired girl she was talking to not twenty minutes ago. Though she's surprised, she keeps it to herself and maintains her focus on the rifle.
"What do you want," Mikasa asks coldly. Annie responds likewise.
"I want to fight you."
She looks up at her. "What?"
Annie stays silent, letting the offer stand. Mikasa puts her head back down and fiddles with the gun. "I'm busy, Annie." She internally cringes a bit at the words, realizing full well that they aren't on a first name basis. After a few seconds of painful silence, Annie finally gets to talking.
"Really? I thought you were the best fighter in the 104th."
She frowns. "Why do you want to fight?"
"It's easier to tell what someone's like during a fight. And I want to know what your deal is."
"My deal?"
"Why you hate me so much."
Mikasa gives her an inquisitive look. Sure, she hadn't been that discreet, but she's surprised Annie even wants to know.
She answers Mikasa's silent question. "I don't really care. If it's for no reason, it doesn't matter. I'm just curious." Her eyes... Mikasa's seen the glint before, in Ymir, in Eren, especially in Armin, she's trying to crack the case that is Mikasa.
"You could have just asked."
"You're like me." She places a hand on her hip. "You're actions speak louder than your words." Mikasa doesn't respond to that, instead she finishes reassembling her rifle.
A respectable amount of time passes by, both of them refusing to back down by breaking the silence. Mikasa has no interest in fighting Annie, that much is certain. There's no way Annie could possibly win, Mikasa thinks, not against her decade of fighting experience and Ackerman abilities. She also can't imagine any useful information Annie would glean from a fight. Although, ever since Shadis' offer she has made more of an effort to keep her prowess hidden, and a fight with Annie, should it get intense, could end up with her revealing more about how she fights than she's comfortable with. She thinks about the Female Titan, and how it had easily dodged Eren's moves during their first fight. There's no doubt that she learned a lot just from fighting him during training.
Once she's finished with the rifle, she stands. "I'm sure we'll fight someday, but not now. And I don't hate you."
Annie narrows her eyes, waiting for her to continue.
"You're right, we are similar. Neither of us say much, and we're both strong, with a lot of strength that we don't show to other people."
She looks Annie dead in the eye. "Most importantly, we'll do anything to protect our families... but Eren and Armin are my family, they're all I have and they're all I want. I understand where you're coming from, but if you think I won't stand in the way of you hurting them, you'd be wrong." With that, she slings the gun around her back and walks off, leaving a bemused Annie in her wake.
"You were my ally once. We even could have been friends, but I know nothing will stop you from seeing your father, and I happen to be in your way. You're also in mine," she thinks.
As she walks back to her quarters to prepare for her cooking duties for lunch, she mulls over the events that played out. A part of her mentally scorns herself... she definitely overdid it, she got too emotional again. She's not trying to tell Annie that she knows about her titan, or her purpose here, but stunts like those aren't helping anything.
There isn't much she can do to cope with the trauma of her past life, the closest thing she can get to closure is the opportunity to hold Eren's hand and be with him like she used to, but that isn't always enough. Some nights she has to repeat to herself that everything is real, that everyone is alive, that Eren is like he used to be, and that she won't let him change again. Outbursts like those are the result of it. Sometimes it's tiring to keep it to yourself.
She sighs as she opens the door to her room, but before she can so much as take a step into her lodgings, the familiar voice of Ymir shoots out at her.
"Don't come in here with the boots!," she snaps. Mikasa looks at her with widened eyes, until she realizes what she's doing. The scent of soap is pungent in the air, and Ymir is standing by her bunk bed, water smeared over the wooden sides as she holds a wash cloth. "I just the mopped place."
Mikasa responds by taking off the boots as she stands by the doorway, sauntering over to her bed to shrug off the rest of her uniform. Though Ymir's facing away from her, she can feel her foul mood emanate throughout the room, her scrubs deliberate and forceful. She walks over to get a better look at Ymir's face, a permanent frown etched into her usually deadpan expression.
"What's got you so upset?," she asks.
"Who said I was upset?" Ymir answers a bit too quickly.
"You're face."
"Huh? I'm just doing the classic Mikasa look," she counters, a bit more sharply than she probably meant to. Mikasa returns her with an unhappy glare.
"See, told ya." Ymir squats down to start scrubbing at the side of the lower bed. Not seeing this conversation going anywhere, Mikasa starts to get changed into more casual clothing, slipping off her shirt. Ymir turns around from her position, her stern expression lifting a bit in shock.
"I didn't realize you fought bears to stay in shape. Seriously, what's with the scars?"
Mikasa's breath hitches in her throat as she looks down at her torso. There they all were, tons of scars from her five years in the scouts. They didn't stand out like the scar on her face did, but to someone like Ymir they must have been easy to notice. There, on the backside of her abdomen, where a shard of a detonated thunder spear had pierced into her during the battle of Shiganshina, and there, by her left shoulder blade, from one of Kenny's anti-personnel squad members.
"It's not important." She hastily puts on a white blouse. A knot twists in her stomach at the reminder of the events of her last timeline, but she manages to steel herself. Before Ymir has a chance to process her suspicious haste, she brings the subject back around.
"You're sure you're not upset?" Mikasa says.
"I'm touched that you care so much about me." She puts a hand to her heart, though keeps her bitter attitude and frown.
"I just don't want to deal with a grumpy Ymir."
"A grumpy Ymir is a silent Ymir, I thought you preferred that." She goes back to attacking the wood with her wet cloth. Mikasa doesn't feel the need to say much else. If Ymir had a problem, she could talk to Krista about it. Though after more silence, interrupted only by the patting of Mikasa's clothes to get the wrinkles out and the vicious scrubbing, Ymir speaks up again.
"Actually, now that I think about it, you may want to know this." Hints of a knowing smirk appear on her face as she faces an interested Mikasa. "Krista's been training with Jaeger a lot recently." At first, all Mikasa does is raise an eyebrow.
So what if Eren is hanging out with other girls? Sure, if Mikasa had it her way he would only ever hang out with her, but ultimately she doesn't really care who he decides to make friends with. Krista may even be an ally in the times to come, so who's to say this isn't a good thing? Ymir, that's who. She's about to poke fun at Ymir for being jealous over something so trivial, something Mikasa likes to think she's grown past over the years, though whether that's true depends on who you ask.
However, an acutely distressing thought enters her mind. As she stares at Ymir, the memories of the dream she had last night become clear in her mind, and with every passing second she thinks about it, panic tightens her chest. "When Eren and Historia touched... that's when it happened, that's when it happened! This is bad, this is bad, this is very bad." Terror sculpts her face for a moment, but it's soon replaced with a fierce conviction as she quickly slides her boots back on and leaves, muttering a quick "I need to go". As she starts down the hallway she can hear Ymir laughing hysterically, "I knew I could count on you! Go save your boyfriend so Krista doesn't marry him!" Mikasa can imagine Ymir's shit eating grin as if she were right in front of her, but she doesn't care.
"C'mon Krista, just a little farther!" Eren encourages through hearty breaths. He decides to wait for Krista to catch up to him on the hill, as not only would it be a nice courtesy, but it gives him the opportunity to stand and rest for a few seconds... or perhaps minutes, as Krista, though not terribly far behind, is moving at a snails pace. Though she's not as physically inept as someone like Armin, she still reminds her of him, maybe because of the blonde hair, who knows. But Eren never loses patience with his best friend when they train together, so he surely isn't about to do that with Krista.
They didn't become friends overnight, but it was more similar to that than one might think. For most of his time in training, he didn't pay Krista much mind. She was simply the cute girl that half the trainees had a crush on, even though she only seemed to hang out with Ymir. All that changed when they had their expedition exercise.
It was a troubling ordeal, the whole thing, with the bandits and the very real possibility of death. Apparently it brought many of his comrades trepidation when they had to rescue Krista, as it was the first time they were risking their lives. Him, Armin, a select few others, and Jean, of all people, still wanted to help though. In the end, though, Eren grew to view it as an important training exercise, as now he knew fully what it was like to keep moving forward in a situation where his life was on the line. He just wishes he got the chance sooner, thinking of what could have changed if he had acted to save his mom. "You probably would have died." The voice of reason reminds him.
But now, with training, that isn't the case.
Still, when Krista apparently heard of Eren's resolve to save her that night, she was extremely thankful, and in the proceeding weeks it eventually blossomed into a friendship.
"Thank you... I'm-I'm here." she says, her breath extremely strained and sweat all over her forehead. He gives her a resolute smile. "Let's go!"
The two hoist their backpacks farther onto their shoulders and begin to trudge their weary legs up the hill again. They aren't moving fast, but that's not the point, as this was meant to be an endurance exercise. A few days ago Shadis had instructed them that there would be another expedition, this time in some snowy mountains north of their camp. With the excessive snow and terrain, horses were prohibited, which meant that it was going to take a strong will to get through it all. Although, it seemed that Eren was the only one to come to that conclusion, because when he wanted to start training right away, no one waned to come with him. Armin, no, Connie, no, Bertholdt, no, Sasha, no. Not even Reiner felt the need to, with the actual expedition still being weeks away. He didn't have to have a partner to train with, but for safety reasons he felt it was important. That's his rationalization, but he would be lying if he said he wouldn't also get extremely bored going on a hiking session by himself. There isn't a lot of distance to trek, he can still see the camp from where he is, but it's a lot of running in relative seclusion. His fears were alleviated, however, when Krista was nice enough to say yes.
At this point he's sure that at the start, she only said yes because she's so nice. However, when they were getting ready, she seemed rather enthusiastic about it, perhaps determined to not repeat the events of their last expedition, or just because she has a similar mindset to Eren. Though, it wasn't long before she started to fall behind, and their conversation subsided to make way for tired pants and the crunching of grass as they continued to push themselves to complete their laps up and around the large hill.
This is it, though, one more arduous trek up the hill and they would be done with their exercise. With one final push, Eren uses the last of his strength to speed up and reach the top of the hill. He shrugs off the pack instantly, placing his hands on his knees and struggling not to collapse. Ten or so seconds later, he hears Krista catch up, throwing off her own back pack and falling onto the ground, arms spread out as she stares at the sky. They both let silence prevail as they try to catch their breaths, with Eren sitting on the ground and leaning on his hands.
"Thanks for doing this with me," Eren remarks, earning a smile from Krista.
"I'm happy too! It's good to train for things like this, after all." Eren gives her a light smile in return. "Yeah..." He wipes some sweat off his brow.
"Though, I'll admit that I was surprised when you asked me."
"Oh, yeah... you weren't my last choice or anything, but you'd be surprised how many people decided they didn't need to start training for the expedition yet." He says with a disgruntled frown. "I'm glad you don't feel the same way, though, it's nice spending time with you."
Krista gives him another bright smile, but then a questioning glance, "No one else wanted to? Not even Mikasa?"
Eren resists the urge not to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Obviously Mikasa would say yes, but not only did that have no bearing on whether or not she actually wanted to do it, he didn't particularly want to go on a hike with Mikasa.
He scratches the back of his head. "She might've said yes, but I kind of preferred to train with someone on my level, you know? It's not much of a partnership if she can run every single lap in half my time," he explains, a hint of bitterness rising up to the surface. Krista gives him a knowing smile, however, "I'm sure she'd wait for you, just like you waited for me when I got behind."
Eren supposes that's true, though what he isn't planning on telling Krista is that it would just be an emasculating experience training with Mikasa, which is why he's avoided it as of late.
"I guess, but I'm sure she's busy..." He starts to fiddle with the small blades of grass, anxious to get off of the topic of Mikasa. Unfortunately for him, Krista seems to have other ideas.
"Something tells me that she'd make time for you"
Eren furrows his brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
She tries to hide her grin, but fails. "You know, I just get the feeling that she'd be happy to drop anything for you. All you have to do is ask."
Eren sighs. "Yeah. I know that much, I just don't get why. She always wants to baby me, like she's my mom or something."
He truly wishes he knew the true reason. All he can do is speculate, and his best theory is the one he fears most: that she's doing it because she feels like she should, because he saved her. The thought makes his stomach churn in both guilt and frustration. Even if she hadn't repaid any kind of debt she had in full multiple times over by now, which she certainly has, he wouldn't want her feeling indebted to him either way. They were friends, best friends, just like him and Armin, and if that was the basis for how she acts, how could he live with himself?
"I don't think that's it..."
"Huh?," he asks, interrupted from his train of thought. She looks like she has something to say, but is too shy to say it.
"You should ask her about it, I know she'd have a better answer than that," she finishes as she takes a sip of water from her wooden flask. For some reason, the thought of him asking Mikasa why she does what she does makes his face flush red. He clears his throat and stands up, hoping to keep the focus away from his burning cheeks. "Let's go, lunch is starting soon," he says, extending a hand to Krista.
Before she can take it, however, a familiar voice fills his ears.
"Eren," Mikasa says as she walks up to the two, dressed in a simple blouse and her military pants, her old scarf hanging around her neck.
"Mikasa? What are you doing here?," he asks, letting his hand fall to his waist as Krista gets up on your own. "Hi, Mikasa!," Krista calls enthusiastically. Mikasa doesn't say anything, she simply walks up to Eren, grabbing the hand that he tried to offer Krista to help her up. She pulls at him as she begins to walk away.
"Lunch is almost starting."
Eren pulls his hand out of her grasp. "Yeah, I know that." Mikasa is undeterred, however, grabbing his hand again.
"I have kitchen duties to do."
Eren frowns. "Why do I have to come?"
"You just exercised. You need to eat early."
"that's bullshit," Eren thinks as he yanks his hand away again. "Oi, I'm not your little brother." He can't stop a bit of rage from seeping into his voice.
"I know that."
"Then act like it," he says with a lot more bite than he intended. Her face remains calm, but when she glances at Krista, her eyes shift to something undecipherable. Eren thinks that it looks like worry, but that doesn't make sense for the situation right now, so he brushes it off.
"Don't worry about me, Mikasa. I had a big breakfast. I'll see you two later." She gives her a friendly wink as she grabs her back pack and walks down the hill. Mikasa's face blooms into a red color, looking away from Eren.
"What's with the face?," he tries to ask, but Mikasa ignores it. Instead, her eyebrows arch upwards slightly, giving him the classic look that signaled she was concerned about him over something, which, granted, is most of the time.
"Why were you with Krista?"
"We were training for the mountain expedition. What's the problem?" He begins to walk down the hill, Mikasa following.
"You can train with me." Eren isn't sure if he should take that as an offer or as a statement, but that's typical of Mikasa.
He sighs. He has no idea how to broach the fact to Mikasa that he doesn't like the idea of training with just her. He doesn't want to hurt her feelings, especially over something so stupid. It isn't her fault for being so much more skilled than him, it's just a rut he's in that he'll get over eventually, surely.
"I wanted to train with Krista, what's wrong with that?"
Mikasa stays silent, a light frown etched on her face. He wants to inquire further, but Krista's words echo through his mind. "You should ask her about it..."
He notices that she's holding his hand tighter than she usually does... or is she? Has she always held his hand this tight? Why are they holding hands anyways, isn't that something couples do? He sure doesn't hold hands with Armin like this... Self consciousness begins to creep up his neck. He pulls his hand from hers and clears his throat, and if she notices, she doesn't comment on it.
"Do you not like her?"
Mikasa's gaze remains on the ground. "It's not that."
Eren stops walking and looks at her, searching her strong grey eyes, though, right now, they tremble. He lets his face do the talking, silently inquiring as to why she's acting this way, why she's here at all. What's so significant about Krista?
"Eren... when we go on the mountain expedition, promise me you won't do anything dangerous."
He raises his brow. "Huh? What makes you think I'll do anything dangerous?"
She only shakes her head. "Eren... promise me." Despite the unexpected question, her eyes are pleading, begging for him to answer.
"Yeah, sure, I promise."
"...thank you."
There you all have it! Like I said, not a lot of plot going on, but the next chapter will definitely make up for that, so stay tuned! -Y