Chapter Eight

"You need to stop moping over Eren." Mikasa proclaimed, sitting on Armin's stomach. He had been lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the Jaegers' basement. He'd had a fight with Eren, and the other boy had stormed off.

"Ow! Get off! You're crushing me!"

"Not until you stop moping over Eren. He's not worth it."

"I'm not! Now, get off." He tried to push her, but barely made her sway.

"I think you are."

"And I think you're slowly asphyxiating me by squishing all of my organs, putting undue pressure on my diaphragm and lungs."

She stared down at him with one eyebrow raised. "Really?" she scoffed. "THAT'S the best you could come up with?"

"Shut up. My brain is being slowly starved of oxygen."

Mikasa rolled her eyes, but relented, and slid onto the floor next to him. "Sit up." She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him into a sitting position. They were close enough their noses were almost touching.

"Hi." Armin said.

"Hi." She replied.

They both turned as they heard footsteps on the stairs and Mrs. Jaeger appeared. "Eren's not down here?"

"Uh…no." Armin said.

"He went out somewhere." Mikasa explained.

"He LEFT?! After I told him he was grounded? Oh, he is in for a whole world of trouble now. Where did he go?"

"I don't know." Armin said. Mikasa just shrugged.

"Seriously? Neither one of you knows where he is?" Mrs. Jaeger crossed her arms.

"Does it look like we know where he is? We've been down here." Mikasa snapped. Armin's eyes widened. He'd never heard Mikasa talk to Mrs. Jaeger this way.

"Don't start with the attitude, young lady." Mrs. J snapped back. "Armin, do you know where my son is?"

"No. I've been lying on the floor." Armin felt very uncomfortable. He didn't like being in the middle of a family argument.

"Ugh!" Mrs. J flung her hands up in the air. "What is the point of you two then?"

Armin and Mikasa exchanged looks, processing what had just been insinuated. "Did you just say the only reason point in having Armin and I around is to watch your temperamental son?" Mikasa asked, climbing to her feet. She was still holding Armin's hand and pulled him to his feet as well.

"What? No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did! Is that really all you think of us? As free babysitters for Eren?"

"No! Mikasa, you're putting words in my mouth!"

"Come on, Armin." Mikasa pulled Armin along behind her, past Mrs. J and up the stairs. Armin just put his head down as he went.

"Mikasa. Mikasa! Armin!"

Mikasa led Armin up to her bedroom and slammed the door. "Unbelievable! Can you believe her?"

"Um, I am very uncomfortable." Armin answered, looking up at Mikasa's face.

"I can tell." She said, letting go of his hand.

"I've never seen you fight with her before." He said, walking over and plopping down in Mikasa's bean bag chair.

"It's been happening recently. She's been getting ridiculous." She plunked down in her desk chair.

"Ridiculous how?"

"Like, Eren's been pretty bad this summer, and just like downstairs, she just expects me to always keep track of him and keep him in line. I'm not his mother. I'm not really his sister. It's not my job to keep him from every ounce of trouble he gets himself into."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not you doing it."

"I know, but still." He shrugged.

Mikasa let out a sigh. "I'm just…I'm starting to feel like my whole life revolves around Eren. Like, I do whatever it is Eren wants to do, and I hang out with whoever Eren wants to hang out with. I never get to make the decisions."

Armin sat up straight and stared up at her. Mikasa had just put into words something he had been feeling for awhile now. "And he acts like you're the bad guy when you don't want to do something."

"Yes! Sometimes, it just feels like it's not even my life, just an accessory to Eren's."

"Makes the other feelings much worse." Armin said, dropping his head.

"Much worse." Armin's head shot up. Was Mikasa admitting what she thought he was? "Like, I just wonder if I genuinely feel that way about him, or if it's some side effect of his savior complex."

Armin stared at her. "Or if it's because I never get out and meet other people, so I've settled for what I know."

"Or if it's because I know he'll never feel the same way, so I never have to act on my feelings."

"Or if it's somehow horribly all of the above." Armin sighed.

"It probably is." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Mikasa stood up suddenly. "This is ridiculous!"

Armin jumped, not expecting her sudden movement or loud voice. He put a hand over his heart to try and regain a normal breathing pattern. "What? What are you doing?"

Mikasa crossed the room to her bedside table and pulled out a pocket knife. "We're making a pact."

"Look, I realize I'm probably borderline depressed, but I'm not ready for a suicide pact."

"Shut up." She said, striding across the room and plunking down on the carpet next to him. "Give me your hand."

"What? No." He pulled both hands into his chest. "Not until you explain just what in the hell you're doing."

"We are making a pact to live our lives for ourselves, not Eren."

"Right. Probably could have asked."

"AND to get over that stupid boy romantically. He's not worth it."

"Okay, still not understanding the knife-" just then, Mikasa opened the knife and pricked her thumb with it, watching a spot of blood bead up. "Oh my god, you're making a blood pact."

"Give me your hand."

"This is how people get AIDS, Mikasa."

"Armin."

"This is what Grandfather meant when he gave me that talk on peer pressure. I always thought it would relate to booze though."

"Are you going to give me your hand or not?"

Armin let out a groan. "I can't believe I'm doing this." Slowly, he started reaching out his hand towards her. She grabbed it and yanked it over to her, then quickly pricked his thumb and pressed her's to it.

"Do you promise to keep to the pact to the best of your abilities?"

"Um, yes."

"Then, repeat what the pact is."

"That the universe doesn't revolve around Eren and, I'm paraphrasing here, fuck him."

"Really?" She asked as she closed the knife.

"Obviously metaphorically, since the whole point of the pact is for us to stop fantasizing about physically fu-"

"Armin!" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm still holding a knife."

"Right. Sorry. To live our lives for ourselves and get over Eren."

"Good." She set the knife on the floor.

Armin stared down at his thumb. It was smeared with blood, not all of it his. "This is seriously how HIV gets transmitted, you know. You don't have any blood borne communicable diseases, do you? No ebola or anything?"

"Armin."

"Look, it's just that I have things I want to do with my life-" Mikasa rose up onto her knees and pressed her lips to his. "Oh." He said, pulling back slightly. "What are you doing?"

"Living my life for me."

"Right. Um-"

"Armin?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

She cupped his face in her hands and leaned in. She lost her balance and began to fall. Armin's arms immediately closed around her waist, and pulled her close. Mikasa ended up half lying on him. Armin couldn't say he minded. He'd never thought of her in this way before, but now that he was, it seemed rather obvious to him.

Their faces were inches apart. Slowly, Mikasa leaned forward and kissed him again. A real kiss this time. Slowly, one of Armin's hands slid up her back and into her hair. His other hand could feel the tiniest bit of skin where her shirt had ridden up. He was just considering whether or not he should push it up and feel more skin when they were interrupted by screaming downstairs.

"And just where the hell were you?"

Mikasa jumped, and probably would have rolled right off of him onto the floor had he not tightened his grip around her waist. They didn't say a word, just exchanged a look before both scrambling to their feet and racing to the door. They weren't going to miss an opportunity to watch Eren get yelled at. As luck would have it, Eren had decided to go to his room, and Mrs. Jaeger was in hot pursuit, so all they had to do was peek their heads out the door.

"I am speaking to you, young man!"

"I went out, jeesh! Is that a crime now?"

"It is when you're grounded!"

"Well, I had to get out of here!" He stopped outside of Mikasa's room and made a face at Eren. "What are YOU still doing here?"

"You're not his only friend that lives here, you ass." Mikasa cut in. "Just because you had a fight with him doesn't mean he's banned from the house."

"Shut up, Mikasa!"

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

"KIDS!" Mrs. Jaeger butted in. "That is enough! Eren, I am not done speaking with you."

"I'm done speaking with you." Eren said, marching into his room and slamming the door.

"Unbelievable. Mikasa-" she turned to look at her daughter, but Mikasa pulled Armin back into the room and slammed the door too.