Eren came home, bringing home goods from the convenience store. When he came home, he found the living room empty, so he called out for Mikasa.
"Hai?" came a voice from the balcony.
Eren heaved a sigh. He went to the balcony and found her tending to her cacti. When Mikasa thought her foster brother was behind her, she turn around. Eren told her he brought home ice cream.
"Ah, yokatta," Mikasa replied to him before tending back to her prickly plants.
Eren went back in the living room and took out the ice cream. He took the remaining goods consisting of Mikasa's girly provisions, stepped inside her room, and put it in the box where she usually stores her other girly provisions like shampoo and stuff. She was really organized, he thought. If not for her, his own life would be very messy. Somehow, he felt he should be thankful that she stood by him. And somehow, he should start showing some signs of gratitude too.
~~.
One earbud's with Eren, the other half with Mikasa. In between them were two big bowls of chocolate mint ice cream. And despite the silence between the two, a trace of "Call Your Name" could be heard from the background.
"Where is my lover?" so said the lyrics of the song.
Mikasa was staring at the skies, which was painted with dark blue whole over. The moon was about the wane, and the stars were so clear. When Mikasa turned to Eren, she just looked at him wistfully. He was slowly bobbing his head as he closed his eyes. He was enjoying the moment and the music. He looked so peaceful and so handsome that Mikasa felt her heart skipping beats. To cool off the heat she was feeling, she grabbed one of the bowls and scooped a big chunk of ice cream before putting it all into her mouth.
"Hey, that's my bowl," she heard beside her.
She turned around to see Eren a bit pissed off. And she looked down and realized that one bowl was beside her, and it was her bowl. What she had was Eren's bowl, and worse, she had eaten from the spoon that he had used.
"Ah, gomen!" Mikasa replied coolly, though she mentally slapped herself. "I will get you another bowl of ice cream."
Eren put on a smirk on his face, "Perhaps it was you who was bothered by the kiss, Mikasa."
"Eh?" Mikasa asked blankly.
"You ate from my spoon," Eren remarked. "You must have enjoyed kissing me, huh."
"I said I'm sorry," Mikasa said defensively.
"It's so not you to commit a mistake like this," Eren teased her. "Where's the old Mikasa who is calculated?"
He took the bowl beside Mikasa and helped himself to it. Then, he teased her again as he looked at her, "Don't worry, I kiss you back."
Mikasa felt herself drowning. It looked like Eren had fun teasing her and all.
"Ah, kinishinaide (never mind)," Mikasa said as she scooped more ice cream and helped herself to it.
Eren did the same, relishing the spoon that Mikasa had used. He closed his eyes as he held the spoon to his lips, enjoying the moment, the music, and the ice cream. Mikasa, meanwhile, felt her own chest. It was a good thing that Eren could not see her blush, but all these silent glances were not helping her be focused and rational. If she keeps on staring at him, all the things she had studied might go right off the balcony.
But still, Eren looked so handsome, she thought. And she felt herself melting all over again. Why was she feeling like this even more? She had a crush on Eren since before, but he was too blind to see. It was just after the kiss this lunch time that her feelings for him doubled, tripled, or even went out of proportion, and it was only after the kiss that maybe, Eren had finally taken hint of her feelings for him. And now that he was joking about kissing her back, was he finally able to get it that she liked him?
But because she was so tired, she did not realize that she had dozed off.
~~.
"Oh damn! Mikasa had fallen asleep!" Eren complained as he saw her dozing off, her head leaning towards the wall on her other side. Good thing her cacti were small, or else, Mikasa could get pricked in no time.
He turned off his playlist, put his phone and his earbuds inside his pocket, gathered the bowls with the spoons, and stood up. He was going to wash these, but before washing them thoroughly, he had to carry Mikasa to her room.
He got back from the kitchen after putting the bowls on the sink and saw Mikasa still sound asleep. She looked so peaceful and vulnerable, he thought. So different from the stoic Mikasa who would seldom let out a smile or a laugh. Eren squatted and pulled Mikasa closed to him, and scooped her from the floor. But that was no easy feat. Mikasa, though almost the same height as he was, was heavier than he was. Mikasa was mostly made up of muscles due to years of working out, while he probably had just a few percentage of what she was made up of. He even saw her doing crunches almost every day, and he could see those six-pack abs that most guys would boast of.
"Ugh... Mika. So heav...y!" he complained as he carried her in bridal style.
Carrying her to her bedroom was much of a task, and his room was closer to the living room than hers. He thought he could just carry her to his room and let her sleep there. Anyway, Mikasa had sometimes slept in his room when she wants to, just as he would also sometimes sleep in her room when she wanted to. After putting her comfortably on his bed, he arranged his pillow and put a blanket on her so she wouldn't feel the chill. After making sure she was all right, he left the room and wash the bowls.
~~.
"Hmm..." Mikasa moaned as she tried to open her eyes.
The bed was familiar, but it didn't feel like hers. When she opened her eyes wide and surveyed the area, she realized she was in Eren's room.
"Huh? Where's Eren?" she thought groggily. "Why am I in his room?"
A few seconds later, the door opened, and then shut. She squinted and saw it was Eren who was approaching his bed. He gently scooted beside her in bed, hoping she wouldn't wake up.
"Eren?" she gently whispered.
"Oh, you're awake?" Eren whispered back nonchalantly.
"Yeah... Why am I here in your room?" she asked.
"My room is nearer the living room, and you're so heavy," he whispered his complaint.
Mikasa grabbed the collar of Eren's shirt and pulled him closer. Eren blushed as the force of Mikasa's pull took hold of him. When she was finally near him, Eren could feel her breath against his neck.
"It's so cold, Eren," she whispered before burying her face on his chest.
Eren was tongue-tied. He and Mikasa had never been this close before even though they stayed in one bed at times. Most of the time, it was Mikasa on the far edge of the bed to the point of falling off, but being this close to her was a first.
But because Mikasa was no longer talking nor moving, he surmised that she had fallen asleep already. He pushed her back so that she would lie comfortably on his bed. After re-arranging the pillows, he lay on his side, elbows propping his head. Her fair face was more than enough to stir emotions inside him that he found foreign, scary, yet interesting. Why was Mikasa making him feel this way?
He did not want to, but his hand trembled as it acted on its own, moving as he brushed some strands of hair off her face. Her lashes were so long, and he wondered if lashes will still grow this long if you trim them. Her lips were a bit parted, and Eren suddenly found the urge to kiss her for real. He suddenly swallowed hard while looking into her lips. He wanted to drink and get drunk with her lips. But then, why was he thinking of her that way?
No, she's his foster sister. There's no way she could be his lover.
But his heart eventually won. He leaned forward, and gently, softly, planted a kiss on her upper lip. This time, it was not an accident, and he wasn't sorry. His soul begged for more, so he scooted closely, put his palm on her cheek, and continued kissing her, her lower and upper lips, never mind if she doesn't respond.
It was bliss to kiss her, he thought.
After his soft kisses, he lay on her shoulder, wrapped his arms around her, and slept.
"Good night, Mikasa," he whispered. "Is this love? Did you teach me this? 'Coz if it is so, I think I am in love with you already."
~~.
Eyes fluttering, close, then slowly opening. The sight was a blur, and everything was a bit dark. But still, the light from the neighbor in the next unit shown through Eren's window.
Mikasa slowly opened her eyes and remembered sleeping in Eren's room, and even remembered why she was there. Poor Eren could not match up to her mass. Her muscles were forces to reckon with.
But what made her suddenly blush was what Eren did and said last night. Still with her eyes closed, Eren kissed her, tugging both her upper and lower lips. He looked like he wasn't begging for a response, just enjoying the touch of her lips to his, but she was hopping she still had the strength to reciprocate his kiss. Drowsiness and Eren's kisses stole the last of her strength away, and she was melting like glue. When Eren confessed to her, her heart was no longer able to take it. Instead of responding, she just felt her body heating up like she was a kettle.
"Eren is in love with...me," she thought in bliss.
Finally. She was hoping she could confess to him first, but him confessing first was... nice. She had no idea that Eren also felt the same way for her. She thought he just looked at her as an annoying foster sister who was overprotective.
"Maybe Sempai was right about me letting Eren go," she thought. "Because he came back to me."
When she realized she was in bed, she realized that something heavy was not allowing her to move. She slightly turned her head to see a bush of dark hair covering her face. And her shoulder felt heavy. And an arm went around her body too. And that breath, that hot breath against her neck!
"Eren..." she thought.
If she could ask Armin to take a photo of them both, she could see her love sleeping, leaning against her shoulder and hugging her like a koala to a tree.
"I never taught you how to love, Eren," she whispered. "Because I am not good in teaching. But somehow, I wonder if you knew... But I guess you don't because you were angry at me most of the time. But for the longest time, I had always been in love with you, Eren Jaeger. I am in love with you, and I love you."
She planted a small and tender kiss on his head, and let her lips stay for a few seconds. After that kiss, she gingerly got up and got out of bed to prevent him from waking up. She took a look at the clock and realized it was a few minutes before her alarm clock would go off. She had programmed her clock to set off at five in the morning. She had to get up take a bath, and cook breakfast and lunch for the two of them. She's gonna wake him later.