Disclaimer: Alright you guys all know the drill. I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin or any of its characters, though I'd certainly like to! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Took me a lot of last night to complete it, but in this biz the first rule is to keep the reading customers happy, especially the 4 angels who made this story their favorite and the 9 who chose to follow (wipes away a tear), so… here goes.

Just so you know, I tried to pick up the pace a teeny weeny little bit, to meet your Mikaeretic tendencies. Hope you enjoy!

Rating: Let's crank it up a little bit, shall we? I'll give this one an M.

Oh, and keep those reviews coming, will y'all? After all what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. True story. Ask anyone. Even Goku and his Saiyan clan.

Chapter 2: Unexpected

"There's no way in seven hells I'm letting that happen!"

Armin winced at the cold finality in Mikasa's voice. It wasn't like he had been expecting her to go along smoothly with the captain's plan, but he certainly hadn't been prepared for such an outright blunt refusal. Or the pair of slitted dark eyes that were now glaring at him like he was some kind of traitor, for that matter. He gulped uncomfortably and decided to try again.

"He won't be in any danger, see? There'll be dozens of soldiers with him and he'll be in his titan-"

"I said no!" Mikasa snarled, taking a step forward. Armin took a matching step back.

"Why? Because you're not allowed to come along?"

It was the first time Eren had spoken since Armin had brought them the news of Ervin's plan. Mikasa whirled round to meet his gaze and took a step back of her own. The liquid green eyes that had been glowing so warmly at her moments ago had hardened into the icy emerald chips she was sadly getting too accustomed to seeing lately. She didn't understand it at all.

"…Eren?"

"Don't you fucking 'Eren' me!" He snapped, refusing to acknowledge the hurt and confusion he saw piling in those fathomless dark eyes of hers. He wouldn't be won over so easily this time. "I keep telling you I'm not your fucking kid or your fucking kid brother, but with you it's like talking to the wall, isn't it?! Think you're so superior to me that you get to dictate my every move, huh? Well guess what? Turns out you aren't my superior and I certainly don't need your permission or your help to take on some Crystallized bitch!"

"That's what this really is about, isn't it? About Annie?"

Her voice was practically a whisper, and yet it was enough to make him hesitate. He had expected her to quietly steamroller her way through his protests like she tended to do whenever they had a difference in opinion, would have preferred it if she had done so. Instead she simply stood there looking at him, her hands hanging limply at her side, her eyes saucer-wide and brimming with a bottomless sorrow. Like she was all alone in the world, with nobody left to love or care for her.

He knew that look. She used carried it around a lot during her first few days at the Jaeger residence six years ago. Even back then he had hated it with a passion and resorted to all sorts of means, from cracking silly jokes and goofing around to hugging her tightly for hours on end till she fell asleep, just to let her know she wasn't alone anymore and would never be. And now he was the one causing it.

"Of course it's about Annie!" He retorted uncomfortably. "That's what this mission is about, right?"

He turned to Armin for confirmation but the blond boy quickly averted his gaze and began to fidget with the hem of his green cloak, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"That's not what I meant. You… want to see Annie again, right?"

Of course he knew exactly what she meant. His thoughts returned to that dark tunnel several days ago, when he had all but bitten his hand off in an attempt to Titanize and protect the people he loved the most. For some reason what he remembered most vividly about the episode was how soft and yet firm Mikasa had felt as she snuggled up against him when he had beckoned for them to come closer, only to step back in disappointment when he failed. Her probing question from back then rang in his ear as clearly as if she had repeated it now.

Could it be because you have 'special feelings' for her?

Come to think of it that dreaded look had resurfaced in that moment, albeit a mere shadow of it, but in the heat and confusion of the moment he had barely given it any further thought. But now he did and it baffled him to no end. Since when had Annie become an obsession of hers? What did Annie have to do with all this anyway?

"What the fuck are you talking about? This is commander Erwin's choice, not mine!"

"It is, and it's sending you away from the battlefront and your precious titans but somehow I don't hear you bitching about it."

"Because it's my duty to humanity, understand?!"

"'Duty', huh?"

Something about the way she pronounced the word 'duty' made it sound obscene.

"Of course! And may I remind you that my life is currently hanging on how useful I prove myself to mankind, or it's open season for the long awaited 'Dissecting Eren' Fest back within Wall Sina! I've got nothing to lose in going-"

"Mmhmm. How convenient. And I suppose the fact that it's Annie you'll be cracking open is an added bonus, isn't it?"

Eren's emerald eyes narrowed while Armin's widened.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing at all. Of course we all know just how badly you want to get into her 'shell', don't we? Wonder if you can get that hard, though, with her being shut as tight as a-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

From as far back as he remembered Mikasa had never really been one for vulgar talk. Even back at boot camp when everyone would banter obscenities around she would remain aloof and only rejoin the discussion when it had been sufficiently 'detoxed'. Prissy, Ymir had once called her, and as much as he loved his friend he'd had to agree.

Not that he had really minded, though. No matter what she did or said, she'd still be his Mikasa, his family.

And yet the Mikasa standing before him was nothing like the prissy little girl he'd come to know like his family. She had lost that heart wrenchingly forlorn look, which was a relief, and in its place was a look of cold disdain and something else… resentment? Envy? Jealousy?! He couldn't even begin to imagine why, but all he knew was that despite the anger coursing through him at her base insinuations, he found the idea of Mikasa riled enough to talk dirty to him suddenly so… so…

Oh, God…! What on Earth am I thinking?!

The general drift of his thoughts must have somehow been broadcast off his face because suddenly her dark eyes widened slightly in surprise and a bright pink crept up her pale cheeks. She quickly looked away. At least she has the decency to blush, he told himself, but then he felt a matching heat creeping up to his face. Her eyes returned and their gazes interlocked; something intense and visceral shot through them both. Mikasa licked her suddenly dry lips and Eren's gaze dropped to her tongue as it flitted across, his breathing strangely uneven.

What on Earth am I thinking?! Eren mind screamed again and he mentally slapped himself.

The way Eren is looking at me, Mikasa thought, her blush deepening. Like he-

"You've got a filthy mouth on you, you know that?!" He turned away from her and shoved his hands into his pocket, hunching his shoulders as if from cold.

Armin had been watching the whole exchange surreptitiously. His cerulean eyes widened at Eren's abrupt movement and a knowing smile slowly began to steal across his lips. Until he spotted Mikasa glaring at him and then his smile faltered.

"Well, Armin? Nothing to say?"

Her voice was calm and controlled but the dark eyes pleaded with him to understand. And he did. He really did. Which is why he was perilously close to hating himself for what he was about to say.

"Mikasa, I'm the one that suggested that Eren shatter Annie's crystal first," he said slowly, then hurried on to explain, "we had no other choice! They left us no other choice! I mean, we had to take advantage of any weaknesses they have, and Annie's… one of their… one of... Bertholdt's…"

The words dribbled into an incoherent mumble and then stopped altogether at the sheer betrayal written on Mikasa's face. He opened his mouth to explain then closed it without any words coming out, like a fish. As much as it pained him to cause her pain, for her and Eren's sake he'd endure her disappointment. At least until all this was over and they were ready for each other. They were, after all, his two best friends. One of whom was now wearing a very unfriendly scowl while the other looked dangerously close to bursting into tears.

"Fuck you," Eren said to no one in particular. "I'm leaving. Try and stop me."

And of course no one did.

"Eren, w-wait up! I'm supposed to bring you back!

Armin shot Mikasa a last apologetic look before taking off after Eren. Mikasa watched the rapid departing figures of her friends. Why did it always have to be like this? Why was Eren always leaving her behind? Why couldn't he see that all she really wanted to do was to be with him and keep him safe? Why must he, the boy who had once promised to never leave her side, always seek to run away from her? The all too familiar feeling of desolation began to wash over her. Only this time it was far worse,. This time he wasn't just running away from her; he was running towards Annie.

Annie. That bitch who had decimated the scout legion, nearly kidnapped Eren and crippled the humanity's strongest soldier in the process.

Annie, whom Eren had preferred to turn to during boot camp for special training despite knowing that she Mikasa, his Mikasa, was stronger.

Annie, for whom he had been unable to transform even when he knew all that she had done and all that she was planning to kill Armin and herself.

Why?!

The image of their retreating figures blurred as tears welled up in her eyes. She wasn't and never would be one of those weak females often prone to crying but this time she couldn't help it; she had endured too much, especially in the past few days. A single sob escaped her slightly parted lips and pressing them together she raised her red scarf to prevent another one from emerging.

And then she froze.

For the moment the scarf touched her lips she suddenly remembered the way Eren's breath had held when she had licked her lips. Just thinking about it now, of the way his eyes had burnt into hers like a green flame, his own face alight with a red blush, made her own breath catch and her insides flutter anew.

She blinked rapidly several times to clear the threatening tears. She had known for a while that the feelings she harbored for him were more than fraternal, yet the sheer intensity of the sensations now coursing through her body took her somewhat by surprise. However what had really shocked her had been Eren's response.

The way Eren was looking at me, it was almost like he-

On Eren's own part the same steamy events were being replayed in his mind but with much less enthusiasm.

What the hell had he been thinking?!

He couldn't for the love of himself figure it out. All he knew was that in one moment he had been furious with Mikasa and her recently acquired gutter-mouth, and in the next he was staring, mesmerized, as a delicate pink tongue tip traced its way across the said gutter-mouth while wrestling with the compulsive urge to halt its journey with his own, his loins tightening with an uncontrollable longing.

"Hey, wait up Eren!" Armin puffed behind him.

Darn these tight military pants, Eren cursed as he glanced down to inspect the visibility of his bulge. The villain was still 'rampant'. He groaned inwardly and increased his pace. How in the world was he supposed to explain it to Armin? Or, worse, Mikasa? The mere thought made him cringe with mortification.

And then he once again saw the heat in her eyes as she had surveyed him, her pupils so dilated her normally obsidian eyes had become twin pools of the finest polished lacquer. And the way her moistened lips had parted so invitingly…

What in seven hells was wrong with him?!

She was family, and a very nosy and annoying one at that! The only thing he would ever want from her was that she leave him alone so that he could live his life and pursue his dreams. So why in the world was he half expecting, half hoping even, to hear her voice or feel her hand on his shoulder?

The bulge which had finally begun to recline presently returned with renewed vigor at the prospect. Eren swore under his breath and picked up his breath just as Armin was beginning to catch up.

What in seventy hells was wrong with him?!

The two boys had turned round the corridor and were now out of sight but Mikasa continued to stare in their direction. A tiny smile was playing along the corner of her mouth. For the genius everybody seemed to think she was it was funny how she could sometimes be so unbelievably obtuse.

Hadn't she grown up with Eren? She knew him like she knew herself, so how could she not have noticed it?

A scene from their childhood returned to her. It was from the day Wall Maria had been breached. She and Eren had just returned from fetching firewood.

"We're back," Eren called as he and Mikasa walked through the front door.

"Welcome home."

It was Mrs. Jaeger. She was adorned in a white apron and stood before the stove, cooking spoon in hand, stirring the steaming contents of a pot. The wonderful smell of onion and lamb stew filled the little kitchen, but none of the children were much in the mood to eat after the day's events. Dr. Jaeger was already sitting at the table in his favorite chair with his back towards them. He turned at their greeting, his kindly face crinkled in a smile of welcome.

Eren shuffled over to the firewood storage trough and began to turn in the day's fetching.

"Wow, Eren! I'm surprised you gathered this much firewood today."

Carla Jaeger's quiet voice sounded mildly impressed. Eren merely shrugged noncommittally.

"Y-yeah,"

But Carla Jaeger wasn't fooled for one second.

"Ouch!" Eren cried as she pulled on his ear. He shot her a resentful scowl. "What was that for?"

"Your ear was red," Mrs. Jaeger admonished lightly. "You were lying. Mikasa helped you, didn't she?"

Busted, Mikasa thought, ducking into her scarf to hide the tiny smile on her lips.

A much older Mikasa couldn't suppress a little giggle. Eren hadn't changed. He couldn't lie to save his life. No matter whatever his mouth was saying, his body never lied. Be it his ears, his shoulders, his posture, his mouth or, and this was her personal favorite, his eyes. The cloud of desolation surrounding her began to lift, leaving in its wake the bright warmth of renewed hope.

The way Eren looked at me back then I know… I know he wants me.

Author's Notes: Alright, alright, you guys got me! It turns out that as of this moment this is my first, my very very first romance tale. And I didn't go poring through steamy novels to spawn this chapter either, so I hope it doesn't fall short of your qualified tastes. And yes, I expect the work is crammed full of typos and all that, but it's pretty difficult to proofread one's own work at 3AM.

Do review this please, coz though we know TheDarkCanTell many tales, we're yet to see if romance is one of them.