Housekeeping

Disclaimer: SnK and its characters are not mine.

A/N: Hey all, sorry for the lack of updates. The kids are a real time sink nowadays. I was actually holding off on posting this one until I was a good ways into the next chapter, but I figured I should do some kind of update on this story's anniversary, so here we go! (And sorry for the inevitable long delay between this and the next chapter.)

Chapter 14

Eren took deep breaths to prevent himself from hyperventilating as he stood outside his adoptive sister's door. 'Just stick with the plan, just stick with the plan…' he kept telling himself. 'Wait, what was the plan again?'

He looked around to see his blond comrade scouting the nearby hallways, making sure no one would interrupt them.

'Oh, right. Armin's going to hang back by the door and give me moral support while I make a fool of myself in front of Mikasa. Got it,' he thought bitterly.

"Okay, coast is clear," his best friend declared in a hushed voice as he tip-toed back to him. "Better do it now while it's quiet."

Eren took one last breath and turned to face the barrier that stood between him and utter humiliation. After a reassuring nod from Armin, who ducked into an alcove in the hallway, the titan-shifter gulped and weakly knocked on the door.

"Come in!" The reply seemed instantaneous.

Eren gritted his teeth and turned the knob to let himself in. "He-Hey…Mi-Mikasa…" he stammered as he crossed the threshold. He purposefully left the door open after he entered.

"Eren, good evening," Mikasa greeted with a small smile. As he nervously took his place at his usual spot, she noticed the ajar slab of wood. "Here, let me get the door."

The dark-haired boy instantly stood up. "No-No, leave it open!" he protested. "The, um, rooms in the castle have been kind of stuffy lately."

"I could open the window inste—"

"Too cold!" He swore his voice cracked when he squeaked out Armin's premeditated excuse. "It'll make the room too cold if you do that."

From over Mikasa's shoulder, he could see Armin giving him the thumbs up from the hallway. Eren wrung his hands as he sat back down and his adoptive sister acquiesced to his strange request. This whole plan of his brainy friend's was already making him uncomfortable, and he hadn't even gotten to the confession part yet.

After Eren's last blunder, Armin wanted to make sure he was there to help, so the blond devised this scheme of keeping Mikasa's door open so he could hear what they were saying and give Eren positive or negative feedback based on his responses.

It sounded good on paper, but now that he was in the middle of it, the titan-shifter felt like this was the worst idea his comrade ever had.

A long silence fell between them. Eren could tell it was as awkward for Mikasa as it was for him by how she ever so slightly fidgeted on the bed. He couldn't blame her—normally he'd be the one chatting enough for the both of them such that she'd be doing most of the listening. Now that he had no clue how to even begin, she must have felt out of place.

"Did you need to talk to me about something again, Eren?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

The boy cringed at the reminder of last night. "Erm, well, sorta…"

Mikasa let out a deep sigh. "Maybe you should turn in early for tonight. You must be tired after today, and it might clear your head up…"

"No, we need to talk!" Eren insisted, much more forcefully than he'd intended. "I mean, gah—why is this so hard?" He tugged at his hair and began thinking of ways he could get out of here without looking like a total ass. The teenager raised pleading emerald eyes to his best friend in hopes he would help bail him out. Judging by the frown and shake of Armin's head, that was a no-go.

A slender hand reached over and touched his shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Eren, can you please just tell me what's going on? You've been acting strange since yesterday."

"Heh, I could say the same for you," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Mikasa's eyes widened then looked down off to the side.

Eren quickly waved his hands in front of him as she sat back onto the bed. "Um, I-I didn't mean it in a bad way or anything, it's just…"

It was then that he could hear a female voice faintly calling from down the hall. "Eren~! Oh, Eren~!"

'Shit, Hanji!' was his immediate thought. Then 'Dammit, why is everything against me tonight?'

Before Eren realized it, Mikasa had turned her head toward the open door at the sound. A sense of panic rose in him as he followed her gaze, dreading her reaction when she caught Armin watching them.

To his great relief, his friend was nowhere in sight, and it seemed like the Squad Leader's voice had been joined by a second as their retreating chatter faded into the distance.

"That's funny," Mikasa commented, "I could have sworn I heard Hanji looking for you."

"Really? I didn't hear anything," Eren fibbed. "Maybe you've already gone crazy filling in for the Captain."

"Hush, you!" the raven-haired girl huffed.

"What's next? You going to start wearing a cravat?" Eren goaded.

"Shut up!" Mikasa attempted to hide her smile behind her scarf but utterly failed when the piece of cloth slipped down her dimpled cheeks.

Eren took this opportunity to steal a glance at the doorway in hopes of earning a thumbs up from Armin, but when he was met with an empty hallway, it dawned on him what must have happened not too long ago. Ever his faithful wingman, the blond must have intercepted Hanji and made up some excuse to lead her away from them.

Unfortunately that meant Eren was now on his own.

"Is that what you came to talk about?" Mikasa inquired, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. When he gave her a blank look, she clarified, "You think I'm going crazy?"

"No-No, it's not that," Eren hastily replied. "Though…you have been acting different lately, and it's been bugging me because I can't figure out why." At this, Mikasa bit her lip. "But whatever the reason, I'm sure what I said the other night didn't help." He gulped in hopes of swallowing the frog that suddenly appeared in his throat.

"Eren…" She lifted her hand as if she wanted to say something but then quickly retracted it to her lap.

As he gazed at the strong yet vulnerable girl before him, everything he'd rehearsed with Armin went out the window. Now that he replayed it in his head, it sounded so fake to him. If he ever wanted things to be right between him and his closest remaining family, he had to tell her everything his heart had been telling him. The teenage boy took a deep breath. "The truth is, Mikasa… what I really wanted to say was that I'd been thinking a lot about how I feel about you."

She straightened in her sitting position and looked up at him with wide, shimmering eyes.

"And I'm sorry to say that I honestly don't know what in the world I feel." Eren clenched his hands into fists. "I know I love you, Mikasa, but ever since that last battle… I don't know if it's brotherly love or love love. And quite frankly, I'd like to know how you feel about me."

The teenage girl shifted her gaze downwards and scooted back a bit in her bed.

In a lower voice, he continued, "I know I can be stupid sometimes—hell, I never considered the possibility that you might like me as more than family until recently—but I could see you wanted to kiss me that one day after training together."

Mikasa's cheeks reddened and she quickly pulled up the maroon piece of cloth once more. Eren had always been able to read her scarf movements like a second language, and right now she was extremely uncomfortable, but her silence told him he had hit the mark on the head.

"I'm sorry if I upset you—I should probably go." He slowly stood up from his chair. "I just… wanted to be straight with you, even if it ruins everything between us. We've always been honest with each other before, right?" He gave her a weak smile as he walked toward the open door.

As he passed by her, a slender hand reached out and grabbed his. Eren stopped, but couldn't bring himself to look toward her. At the same time, he couldn't feel her eyes on him either. "I feel the same way," she stated quietly.

The dark-haired boy inhaled sharply.

"I love you too, Eren…ever since the day you rescued me." She released his hand and brought her knees up to her chin on the bed. "But I don't know if I love you as family like I've always told everyone…or if there's more to it."

Eren released the breath he didn't know he had been holding in. "So we're in the same boat then?"

He sensed rather than saw her nod. "After recent circumstances, I wanted to explore it further, but… but I…"

'That's why she tried to kiss me,' Eren thought to himself, but a sniffle to his side soon caught his attention. He looked over to see tears welling up in Mikasa's onyx eyes. Her lips were drawn closed in a tight line, as if anything else she might say would release the flood gates. "Hey…" Eren climbed up onto her bed and wrapped her in his arms.

The raven-haired girl pressed her face into his chest, and he could feel her trembling. Instinctively, Eren reached up to caress the back of her head, just like she used to do for him when he was upset.

He spent a few minutes soothing her, letting her sort out the feelings that were likely as confusing to her as they were for him. During that time, he kept thinking about how he could help both him and herself figure this out. "You know," he murmured into her dark locks, "if you'd like, maybe…we can try to give it a chance…like go out on a date or something."

Mikasa lifted a tear-streaked face up to him.

"You-You don't have to," Eren quickly added. "I just thought it might help…" He blushed a bit as he floundered for something else to add to make this less awkward.

"I wouldn't mind…" Mikasa's cheeks turned a matching shade of pink. "If it's not too much trouble for you."

"No, not at all!" Eren yelped then winced at his surprise enthusiasm. "How about tomorrow night? Er, I'm not sure what we can do around the castle, but we can talk more about it in the morning." He nervously rubbed the back of his head.

Mikasa's rosy lips curled up into a small smile. "Sounds good."

"Great! Uh, see you then!" With that, he jumped up and bolted for the exit. Things were working out so well, he didn't want to jinx it by sticking around.

As soon as he was out of the room, he slammed the door behind him and sprinted down the hallway. Once he was a good few twists and turns away, he leaned against a wall with his back and slid down to the floor, trying to catch his breath.

"Did it go that badly?" came a voice from off to the side. Eren nearly jumped out of his skin as his best blond friend suddenly appeared next to him.

"Armin! What the crap? Don't scare me like that," the emerald-eyed boy hissed.

"Sorry, I just got back from convincing Hanji you were off doing some special training. Well, that and I was distracting her by asking about her research." The brainiac took a seat beside him. "So what happened with Mikasa? Did the plan not work?"

The other boy shook his head. "I didn't even try it."

"What?!" Armin slapped a hand over his face. "Eren, seriously…? No wonder you were running. I knew I should have tried to cut out sooner—"

"I have a date with her tomorrow, Armin," the titan-shifter interrupted.

A pair of sky blue eyes bugged out at him. "Wait, huh? How…?"

"You'll never believe this, but…"

Mikasa couldn't believe it. This couldn't be real; this had to be some kind of dream.

Eren, the boy who was part of her every waking thought—the one who never gave her a second glance—had finally asked her out.

'This must be a dream,' she repeated to herself long into the night. She expected to wake up at any moment to confirm it had all been a delirious fantasy begotten by her weary mind.

But when she was sheepishly greeted by Eren at her door the next morning, (an unusual behavior for him) she realized everything was true.

They were going out.

On a date.

That night.

Mikasa knew she should have been excited. Hell, she should have been downright giddy and cheerful and all that other stuff she heard that girls get when they're asked out on a date.

After all, this was what she'd always wanted, right? For Eren to return the affection she'd unrequitedly shown him for almost half her life?

…Then why was she anything but ecstatic?

The raven-haired girl felt so lost as she made her way down the corridors with her adoptive brother—no, she couldn't keep thinking of him as her brother anymore. He was her date for tonight.

She took a moment in front of the Captain's door to regain her characteristic composure before calmly knocking on it. Mikasa involuntarily flinched when she realized the second of her knocks had faltered a bit. She hoped her superior didn't catch that.

Mikasa mentally slapped herself. This was supposed to be the end of her little crush on Captain Levi. She had already caught the eye of the boy of her dreams; she shouldn't keep thinking about what that asshole thought about her. Moreover, she should forget anything she had almost started between them.

Taking one last deep breath, she let herself and Eren into his room.

"Ackerman, Jaeger, you're two minutes late," he gruffly called from the open bathroom. She could hear the faucet running from his morning shave.

"Apologies, Sir," Mikasa replied in as steady a voice as she could muster. She quickly made her way over to the supply closet to get started on her morning work. In the meantime, Eren deposited himself in the Captain's chair—clearly not wanting to screw things up for her this time.

Mikasa turned to flash him an appreciative smile on her way to the bathroom. Unfortunately, that little movement took her attention away from noticing the man quickly approaching her direction. Even with him hindered by his injury, she still managed to run into him, causing the both of them to land on their rears.

"Ackerman!" he boomed. "What the hell?!"

Cheeks flushing, Mikasa scrambled to her feet and then reached over to help the shorter man up from the floor. "Sorry, Captain, so sorry," she said, unable to hide how flustered she was.

Once he was steady with his crutch supporting him, she ducked her head down and made to scoot around him to work on the bathroom.

"Ackerman, stay where you are," the older man commanded. Mikasa froze in her tracks, not daring to look up at him. Soon enough, she felt the back of his calloused hand on her forehead. Her heart rate suddenly sped up. It was just like that one morning…

"No fever, so you aren't sick. But clearly you're not yourself this morning," he stated bluntly. "Why?"

The teenage girl was taken aback. She wasn't expecting the sudden sense of deja vu, much less for him to be so lenient on her for her newfound clumsiness. "It-It's nothing, Sir. Nothing at all…"

"Cut the crap, Ackerman," was his instantaneous reply. He sounded like he was about to say more when a quiet voice off to the side interrupted him.

"Um, Captain…" The man in question glanced over his shoulder at the dark-haired boy. "I think I should be the one apologizing." Mikasa was released from his scrutinizing gaze as he turned to Eren more fully. "You see…she's probably just distracted because I asked her out on a date the other day and—"

The young titan-shifter was cut off by the crashing of Levi's crutch on the floor. "A…date…?" For the first time ever, Mikasa could clearly read shock all over the Captain's normally stoic face.

"Er…yeah, we're going out tonight…" Eren clarified, oblivious to his superior officer's unusual state.

The older man's stormy eyes soon narrowed. "I see…"

Levi snatched his crutch from the ground and finished getting dressed at lightning speeds, despite his injury. Mikasa could barely bring herself to continue her morning chores. Instead, she stood where she was like a statue bolted to the floor. As he finished tying his cravat, she finally found her voice long enough to start, "Captain…"

"Ackerman, there will be no afternoon meeting. I have to ride into town today," he stated in a deadpan voice, making his way toward the exit.

"Ride? But your leg—"

"I am clearly no longer your concern, Ackerman," the Captain interrupted harshly. "Surely you'd rather utilize the extra time to discuss your date." With that, he let himself out without another word, slamming the door behind him.

He was a fool. A pathetic, starry-eyed fool.

Of course this would happen. It was inevitable. He had wanted it to happen.

Ignoring the shooting pain in his leg, Levi saddled up and kicked his horse into a full gallop. The men at gates barely opened them in time for him to dash out.

He had no business in town today; that was merely the best excuse his reeling mind could come up with. He just needed to get away—away from her, away from that damn castle, away from everything that reminded him that he had a shit life and nothing was ever going to change that.

He was stupid to entertain the notion of anything different.

Levi rode for who knows how long. All he knew was that the sun was high in the sky before his horse showed signs of exhaustion. He shook his head to clear it and slowed his steed down so that he could get his bearings. If he remembered correctly, there was a stream about a kilometer north of where they were, so he pointed them in that direction.

Upon finding the spot he was thinking of within the cool, shady trees of the forest, he dismounted and led his horse to the crystal clear water to drink. As his steed gulped thirstily at the rivulet, he himself leaned against the nearest tree and sunk down to the ground.

He couldn't help thinking about how he'd lost her in the blink of an eye. But then he kept reminding himself that she was never his in the first place. What claim did he think he had on her anyway? Forcing her? Causing her emotional trauma? Some lover he would have made.

He sat silently as his stallion finished up his drink and trotted over to him. The dark horse gave his rider a wet nuzzle from his dripping mouth. Levi's reactive grimace at the slobber quickly softened as he looked up at the beast's inquisitive eyes.

Sighing, he slowly climbed up to his feet and limped over to one of the horse's side saddle bags to retrieve some carrots he kept in there. As he gave his trusty steed his treat, Levi gazed up through the tree tops at the dappled sky.

He'd lost so much in his lifetime and yet here he was, still alive to look upon such a serene sight. All he could do was the same thing he had been doing for the last 30 years: move on. There was still so much left to be done, and he couldn't waste any more time moping over a girl that would never be his.

But as he climbed up on his horse once more, he found he couldn't bring himself to ride back to the castle just yet. Somehow he could feel his heart wasn't ready to face her any time soon. So, he turned his steed in the opposite direction and continued his mind-numbing ride.

Mikasa couldn't stop smiling as the two of them sauntered back to her room. Their friends had seemed genuinely happy for them when Eren spilled the beans that they were cutting out of dinner early for their date. Well, everyone except for Jean, who had given her such a crestfallen look at the news.

The raven-haired girl tried to shrug that last image off. She had honestly felt bad for Jean. Sure, it was sweet that he liked her so much, but she really had no interest in him.

"Man, I wish there was more to do around the castle," Eren sighed, interrupting her thoughts. By now he had opened the door to her room and had stepped aside to let her in.

"It's all right, Eren," she assuaged, beaming at him as she entered her room. "I had fun watching the stars tonight. It was like when we were kids."

The dark-haired boy snorted. "You mean minus Mom yelling for us to get down from the roof and get back to bed." His amused smile soon turned wistful.

Judging by the far-off look in his face, Mikasa could tell what was on his mind. "I miss her too," she murmured.

Eren blinked back to the present at her response.

"I'm sure she would have been glad to see you so happy tonight," she added, taking a seat on her bed.

Eren absentmindedly closed the door behind him and joined her on the stiff mattress. "Same goes for you… Er, I mean… you did enjoy yourself too, right?"

A smile tugged on her lips at his nervous behavior. "Yes, I did. I don't think I could be any happier right now." She rested a hand over his.

The chocolate-haired boy seemed to take that as an invitation to scoot closer. With his other hand, he reached up and caressed her porcelain cheek. "Mi-Mikasa…"

"Yes, Eren?" She gazed longingly into his emerald eyes.

"I… I uh…" His calloused fingers slid down underneath her chin and tilted it up.

His face inched closer to hers. Mikasa's heart rapidly thumped in her chest, her mouth suddenly feeling dry. Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut in anticipation for what was to come. "You…" His warm breath ghosted over hers.

"You really shouldn't be here…"

The teenage girl gasped and instantly shot to her feet. Why was the Captain's voice haunting her now of all times?!

"Mikasa…?" Eren followed suit. "What's wrong?"

What wasn't wrong? She found herself short of breath, her heart pounding against her chest.

"I…I think I need some air," Mikasa blurted, stumbling toward the window. She quickly pushed the panes outward and tried to calm her racing mind down enough to take long, deep breaths. A cool breeze ruffled her dark locks, but she barely noticed. Her fingers dug into the window sill as she focused on the moonlit scenery below her.

The courtyard area of the castle was completely barren, save for some shriveled leaves skittering across the parched ground. She could see the stone wall surrounding their headquarters before her, and beyond that, endless seas of dark forests.

Mikasa could sense Eren keeping his distance behind her—no doubt unsure what to do. She held up a single hand to indicate to him she just needed a moment. The subsequent sliding and squeaking of a chair told her he had taken a seat to respect her request.

Using the courtyard wall as her focal point, her breathing returned to normal soon enough. 'What's gotten into me?' she thought. 'There's no reason for me to be thinking of the Captain. Eren is right here; He's the one I'm with—not that midget bastard.' Taking one last deep breath, she made to turn back to the object of her affection when something caught her eye.

Mikasa could have sworn she'd seen the slightest bit of movement coming from the shadowy wall across from her window. Scrutinizing it further, she could now discern the outline of a person leaning with his back against it. Whoever it was had been standing so still, she hadn't noticed him earlier. The raven-haired girl was positive that person had a man's build, although in relation to the height of the wall, he had to be someone short in stature…

The raven-haired girl flinched. No, it couldn't be him…could it? Captain Levi hadn't reported in from his trip to town last she heard…

"Mikasa?" Eren's voice startled her from her thoughts. She jumped back, stumbling right into the teenage boy's solid torso. The titan-shifter instinctively wrapped his arms around her when she landed against him. "Whoa, hey, are you all right?"

Trying to tone down the blush in her cheeks, Mikasa twisted within his firm grip before meekly looking up to face him. "I-I'm fine, really."

"Sorry," Eren apologized. "I didn't mean to surprise you. With, um, this, and uh, earlier…"

The teenage girl looked up at him quizzically. "Earlier?"

"Yeah, when I tried to kiss you." He sheepishly looked off to the side.

To be quite honest, Mikasa had completely forgotten about that, so lost had she been in her thoughts of the Captain. "Oh, right…"

"I don't know what I was thinking, moving so fast. I should have waited, or asked, or—"

Mikasa silenced his self-berating with a finger over his lips. "It's all right, Eren." She flashed him a small smile. "It's late, and I think we're both getting so tired we can't think straight."

The boy scratched the back of his brunette head. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Releasing her, he slowly backed away toward the door. "I'll, uh, see you same as usual in the morning?"

She nodded, trying hard to keep that smile plastered on her face. "Until then."

When the door finally shut behind him with a click, she whirled back toward the open window. Squinting her eyes, she searched over that same spot of wall she thought she'd seen that mysterious person lurking previously. But of course, as her luck would have it, he was no longer there.

Mikasa sighed and let her heavy lids fall over her onyx irises. She tried to picture the figure in her mind's eye once more.

It had to be him. No one else in the Survey Corps could cut the same figure. But why would he of all people be there? What was he doing at this time of night? If she didn't know better, she could have sworn that he was…

Mikasa's eyes flew open with a sudden thought.

…watching her.

The young soldier shuddered at the creepy possibility. No, she was tired. There was no reason for her to be paranoid like this. It might have been all in her imagination from the start. First hearing his voice, then seeing him… It's not like it would have been the first time this had happened to her in the last few weeks.

Shaking her head one last time, Mikasa went about getting ready for bed. Something told her, though, that she wasn't going to get any rest.