A.N: Happy Valentine's Day! Oh and spoilers are up to chapter 112.

Have Some Chocolate

Having some spare time in her hands, Mikasa is reading a book about Hizuru's culture that she got from Kiyomi. It's not like she was overly interested in it or anything, in fact Armin would probably like the book more than her, but she didn't see any harm in it either. And she was a little bored and had nothing better to do.

"What's this?" Mikasa wondered, reading about a tradition of women giving something to men they have feelings for on a certain day of the year, a day that would be soon. Mikasa didn't know what this "chocolate" was, but from what she could understand it had to be something eatable, something delicious. Briefly, she wondered if she could give something like that to Eren.

"But I don't know what it's made of or how to make it" she realized. She turned to the next page, but there were no instructions on how to make this "chocolate." That's too bad "But maybe there's someone who knows."

And Mikasa had someone in mind.

XXXXX

Suddenly seeing Mikasa standing in his kitchen, Nikolo almost got a heart attack. Suddenly seeing someone who wasn't supposed to be there was already a scare in itself, but this was Mikasa. The hell was she doing there, alone no less? She had been dragged along by Sasha a few times and sometimes the whole squad came over, but Mikasa never appeared alone. Ever.

"Has something happened?" Nikolo asks, trying to calm his nerves. His first thought is that something had happened to Sasha and Mikasa came to tell him, but he quickly dismissed the idea. If something had happened to her, they wouldn't bother to inform him and even if they did, it'd be done by Jean or Connie. Or even Armin, but certainly not Mikasa. Had they found out about the wine!? That'd make much more sense; if they had then they might've sent Mikasa here to kill them off quick and easy, perhaps staging as a robbery or hate crime against Marleyans.

"No, stay cool, she might just be looking for Sasha. I mean Connie comes to look for her from here sometimes, so why not Mikasa?" Nikolo thought, hoping his panic didn't show on his face.

"Not really; I just thought you might be able to help me with something" Mikasa said, showing the page of the book she'd been reading to Nikolo. The man stared for a while before letting out a sigh of relief; Mikasa knew nothing.

"So, you need chocolate?" he asked, deciding to keep the question of "why" away. Mostly because Mikasa scared him a little, but also because he thought he might already know why. He knew a few things about Hizuru's culture after all, mostly things that included some type of food.

"Yes" Mikasa confirmed "Do you know how to make some?"

"Sure" it wasn't that hard and, fortunately, he should have the needed ingredients "I'll make you some if that's what you want."

"No" Mikasa said, much to his surprise "I want you to help me make some."

"…Okay" Nikolo said, unnerved. He'd rather not spend much time with Mikasa, she was too scary, but at least Grior was also in the kitchen, so he wouldn't have to be alone with her.

As if reading his mind, Grior glanced at Nikolo over his shoulder before saying: "I'm no good with sweets, so I'll get out of your way."

And then he walked off, much to Nikolo's horror. Great, just great.

XXXXX

Alright, so maybe this wasn't so bad, maybe Mikasa wasn't so bad. She wasn't one for useless chatter, at least not with Nikolo, and the man knew what he was doing, so he managed to proceed without messing anything up. And Mikasa was a good student, for she actually listened what he said and did as she was told without trying to make any experiments of her own, unlike certain other Eldian woman.

"Nikolo!" speak of the devil and she shall appear "Are you in here?"

Sasha was calling for him from behind the door, but he knew from experience that she'd waltz in no matter if he answered or not, so he didn't. Sure enough, the girl was there soon.

Seeing Mikasa in the room, Sasha blinked a few times, not sure if she was seeing things right. She certainly hadn't expected this.

"Whatcha guys making?" she asked, getting Mikasa's one-word reply: "Chocolate."

Sasha cheered; she loved chocolate! Nikolo had made it a few times and given her some, she absolutely loved it! Too bad the ingredients were hard to get in Paradis…

"Can I have some?" she asked, coming closer but soon backed away as Nikolo smacked her with a spoon "It's not ready yet, so get out of the way or you're not getting any!"

Sasha pouted, but stepped aside anyway, knowing that this was the kind of threat Nikolo could and would actually keep if she didn't do as told. Watching the pair work, Sasha couldn't help but wonder why it was Mikasa of all people who was in here with him.

"Why're you making chocolate, Mikasa?" she decided to ask. The girl turned to look at her for a second before answering: "It's part of this tradition in Hizuru, apparently, so I wanted to try it out. Learned about it from Kiyomi's book."

"She left it on the table" Nikolo said, pointing behind him and hoping it would distract Sasha enough that she wouldn't bother them. Sure enough, Sasha went over to check on the book, reading through the pages that Mikasa had left open. Reading about the tradition of "Valentine's Day", an evil grin made its way to her face.

"Oh, I see, so this is why you wanted to make chocolate!" Mikasa turned briefly to look at Sasha, who was wiggling her eyebrows. She scowled "It's for your precious Eren, isn't it?"

Mikasa didn't answer to that, just turning her attention back to the cooking, giving a glare to Nikolo as she noticed him trying to stifle a laugh. Noticing this, Nikolo yelped before clearing his throat and returning to advising Mikasa like nothing had happened. Well, he tried at least, but Sasha kept bothering them both, teasing Mikasa and asking him if he knew about the tradition and so on. After a while, he finally snapped: "That's it! Get out of our hair and shut up, otherwise I swear to god that you aren't getting even a crumb of chocolate!"

Mikasa watched on with interest as the two stared at each other, a battle of wills clearly taking place. Finally, it was Sasha who gave in.

"…I'll just go see what Grior's doing" she muttered, quickly slipping out of the door. Nikolo sighed in relief after finally getting rid of the girl. Now where was he again?

"…I think something's burning" Mikasa said, snapping him out of his thoughts. Hastily checking the pot, he noticed that the chocolate had simply caught the bottom a little. No big deal, they could still do this.

XXXXX

Peeking in from the slightly open doorway, Sasha asks: "Can I come in now?"

"Go ahead" Mikasa says, she and Nikolo already cleaning up. Sasha comes in, walking straight to the counter to get her share and, if it's up to her, even more than that.

…But apparently, it's not up to her since Nikolo stops what he's doing, watching her like a hawk, swirling the big wooden spoon threateningly in his hand. Damn, can't he focus his attention on to something else for once?

"Eh… just one bite?" Sasha asks sheepishly. Nikolo rolls his eyes, saying: "Sure. One" and doesn't take his eyes off of Sasha. Sweat dropping at the intense stare, Sasha pops a piece of chocolate in her mouth, savoring the taste with delight. However, just as she remembered it would, the chocolate melts fast in her mouth and is soon gone. Sasha eyes all the chocolate again, but turns her attention back to Nikolo as he clears his throat, giving her a glare.

"…I'll help Mikasa with the cleaning" she says before joining Mikasa to do the dishes. Nikolo keeps staring at her for a moment before returning to his task of cleaning the counters-

-and that turns out to be a mistake as he, from the corner of his eye, sees Sasha swoop up a good handful of chocolate with her before rushing off.

"Damn it, Sasha!" Nikolo yells, rushing after the girl. Mikasa blinks as she looks after them. They had fully expected Sasha to do something like that, so they had moved some chocolate aside beforehand. There was enough left, so Nikolo shouldn't make such a big deal out of it.

Personally, Mikasa was satisfied as long as there were some left for Eren.

XXXXX

"Eren"

"Yeah?" Mikasa had wondered a little about how to give her little gift to Eren, but since she couldn't come up with anything, she had decided to go with the simplest and easiest approach. Holding out a box filled with the chocolate she'd made with Nikolo's help, she just said: "I made something for you."

Eren took the box, a little skeptical.

"Thanks…" he said before opening it, blinking at the contents. Judging from the smell, it was something eatable, but he couldn't tell what. He hadn't eaten it before… but it smelled good, so maybe he should try? Cautiously, he took the smallest piece he could see before putting it in his mouth. After a moment his eyes widened as he said: "This is great!"

Mikasa was glad.

"What's great?" Jean asks as he happened to be passing by with Armin. Hiding the box behind his back, Eren had no intentions of sharing, not with Jean at least, he says: "Nothing!"

"Uhhuh" Jean says, not convinced "Then you can surely show us what's behind your back!"

"…No" Eren says. If it was just Armin, he'd share, but the horse face wasn't getting any "It's nothing that would interest you."

Armin's eyes went back and worth, watching the duo. If someone didn't do something soon this would turn in to a fist fight… again.

"Whatcha guys doing?" Sasha asks as she comes over with Connie "Are you fighting again?"

"Eren's hiding something from us" Jean said, not taking his eyes off of the guy "And apparently, it's something great."

Sasha frowns before looking from Eren to Mikasa, then back to Eren and the fact that he was hiding something behind his back. And then it clicked.

"He's got chocolate, Eren's got some chocolate!" she cheered "Hey Eren, share with us!"

Eren hadn't heard the word before, but he was now sure that the treat he had was indeed called chocolate and he didn't feel like sharing, not with Sasha who might just steal it all if he wasn't careful.

"What's chocolate?" Armin asks.

"It's candy, a really delicious kind" Connie said, having gotten some from Nikolo before thanks to Sasha. As had Jean who said: "You bet."

Four pairs of eyes were now looking at him, and Eren could guess what was coming.

"C'mon Eren, we're friends, aren't we?" Connie said with a grin "And friends share things, don't they?"

"It seems Armin's never eaten chocolate, you know?" Jean added "Surely you'll share with your oldest friend?"

"Fine, I'll share with Armin" Eren said despite knowing that the others were planning something "But only Armin."

Of course, right after he took the box from behind his back, Sasha lunged at him. Not wanting to lose it all, he did the first thing that came to mind.

"Mikasa!" 'cause calling his childhood friend for help was such a manly thing to do… well, at least it worked. It always worked, and this time was no exception as the Asian woman scooped Sasha up from under her arms, holding her in place. However, she wasn't the only one Eren should have been worrying about.

"Get him!" Connie yelled with a grin, both him and Jean charging at Eren, Armin soon following after them with a shrug and a grin on his face.

Mikasa watched the boys, ignoring the protests of the girl she was still holding in place. This wasn't quite what she had had in mind… but oh well, whatever. Eren was special to her, but so were the rest of them in their own ways. They were all important to her…

"Hey Mikasa, let go already! They'll eat everything!" Sasha protested again, getting Mikasa to finally look at her "All of them."

"We better join them then" the black-haired woman said with a small smile "Finders keepers?"

Sasha blinked, looking at her in surprise before nodding with a grin. Mikasa let go and the two charged at the boys, much to Eren's dismay.

This was how it was supposed to be, and Mikasa hoped it could go on forever.

A.N: But it won't 'cause Isayama is mean. -.-