Mikasa III
Mikasa's head was a jumbled mess, but it seemed to be like this since that stupid party. So many questions, so much left unanswered. How could her feelings change so drastically over a 72 hour period? At the party she was near loathing but today she only wanted to comfort her. Maybe she always felt this way but their rivalry kept either from feeling anything outside of that. One thing was for sure though; something was definitely wrong with Annie and it didn't have to do with Mikasa. Never would Annie have broken their rules in the past and she refused to even consider that Annie did it without good reason.
Maybe that's why she couldn't help but care for her? Their rules were being pushed to the limit because of this, but Mikasa knew that inside there was more to it than she was willing to admit.
She sighed shakily soon after. She thought that she abandoned these thoughts at the school but she was far from wrong. She bit her lip and stared up at the ceiling of the guest room.
All she knew for sure is that she'd continue to do it. No need to question further. No one could get hurt this way and that's all that mattered. At least Mikasa hoped that no one would get hurt.
Leaving it on that note, her thoughts slowly wandered back towards Eren. Today she left his band stupefied without a doubt. It was obvious that they wanted her singing for them and Mikasa being Mikasa she couldn't deny them, especially Eren.
She almost hated herself for agreeing. She was fickle enough as it was and she had even been invited to their all-night jam session that would be held at Eren's once more after her first day of work. To get herself through it she told herself that it was for Eren- Everything was for Eren.
She rolled herself over in the bed and buried her face in the pillow. What a fucked up first month in America, but her parents were the last people she wanted to have known about her endeavors. The let out a small sigh as she remembered, brought herself to sit up and grabbed her blue phone from off the dresser.
She flipped it open, being met with the same picture as always, yet for some reason it didn't give off the same vibe. She glanced over the faces as she did a thousand times; Jean had Eren in a near headlock, Marco was trying his best to stop them before the picture would be taken, Connie had permanent marker on his face from when Sasha had caught him sleeping in class while she only looked to be laughing uncontrollably in the photo as Christa tried to stop them and Ymir stood casually with a smug grin and a hand on top of Christa's head. All of these particular parts of the photo made her grin, but when it came to her a pang of bittersweet hit her. In the picture she was more or less forced to stand next to Annie due to heights and, as crazy as it may have sounded, they were both smiling.
Mikasa stared at the photo for a moment more. That was possibly the best day of her life despite the "hate confession" from Annie that proceeded it.
The thoughts faded from her mind as quickly as they came and within a few moments she was on the phone with her mother.
Their phone call was short lived and normal from as far as Mikasa could tell. She told her mom about her day (minus the parts that included Annie), told her that they were feeding her well and continued on her way for the night.
After that day things didn't seem to change at all for an entire week. Mikasa would go to school with Armin while Eren stayed at home, would enjoy her day greatly, but then gym would come along.
Mikasa and Annie kept their distance from each other in the class but would obviously be competing. Whether it be kick drills or running, the two always strived to outdo each other just as they did in their elementary school days; it was an endless game of cat and mouse. Mikasa didn't have any real problem with the way things were happening, but then it came time to leave.
Normally her mind would be far from the locker room activities, as she only strived to beat Leonhardt in that particular task. Due to this merciless obsession, every day she would find herself staying after class, working until she was bone tired and sweat dripped from her every aching pore., as did Annie. One day she even recalled Annie looking "attractive" with exhaustion; the bun in her hair was messy, the look in her eyes were animalistic and the sweat gave her skin a gleam, but Mikasa's mind instantly rejected the thoughts from branching out further.
Following this the two would always go into the locker room with one always going in a few minutes before the other. But when they both finally got to the showers their intimacy would almost instantly ensue as if it was natural, and admittedly Mikasa couldn't tell that it was ever unnatural.
Every day the two would exchange confusing hate-filled, hurt-filled kisses with even the touch of lust that not only met their lips, but littered their skin as well; the skin of their necks, shoulders, ears, collarbones. and every day their boundaries would grow a bit further. On the third day Mikasa even got to touch her breasts with Annie's hands on her behind, and the next day she could gently feel them, as Annie did for her. They're as soft as her lips, Mikasa noted as her thumb rubbed constant circles over her skin which was immediately followed by desperate, strained gasps.
They would always be so gentle with each other. Their hands would even wander over the previous wounds inflicted by each other over time. Mikasa had even found that Annie still had a scar on her hip from where the two had a baseball mishap, but she wasn't the only one with battle scars. On the nape of her neck was a pretty decent scar that was most always kept hidden by her hair. Never be around Annie while she's cooking, Mikasa noted when she was younger, but she was far over it and constantly forgot about it. In spite of this, the moment Annie even neared the area it'd constantly send chills down Mikasa's spine as if it were the most sensual thing she thing. The wounds were inflicted upon each other in the first place, but nonetheless they always handled the areas more tenderly than others; it was as if it were a healing in some way.
On the more carnal side of their of their ventures they would often exchange soft gasps and moans that they so desperately tried to keep hidden. The only thing that Mikasa would find weird about it (oddly) was the fact that Annie seemed extremely sensitive about her back. Whenever Mikasa's hands or lips would wander in that direction Annie near jerked away from her and seemingly refused to let her even look at it. This was a shame and Mikasa knew it, but she'd respect it and they would continue with their endeavors.
Never did they question each other's for being there, though at least Mikasa had burning questions that she managed to keep bitten back, for it was for the best. This was the only way, she'd remind herself. The only way that she could ever care for Annie Leonhardt.
Every day sadly came to a close however but Mikasa slowly found herself anticipating it as gym would slowly come to a close; she even feared that it'd become her favorite part of the day. It was the only time of the day where someone held her, where she felt close to someone and where she could help for someone who, despite her constant need to beat her, cared for.
Care for even more than Eren?
The thought came up after the fourth day after reminiscing a bit too fondly over previous events. This troubled Mikasa greatly though she often ignored it, but there were times when she couldn't. Maybe it was herself that she cared for more? But she couldn't shake the feeling of Annie no matter what. When she stared out the window of a class she knew was going to pass the thought lingered, though she never expanded on it. When the dark of night came rolling into her room the thought made it's appearance once more. When in the shower in the guest room's bathroom, again… And the constant pitter patter of the shower that played as the soundtrack to her intimate endeavors didn't help either. Despite all this she refused to believe or ever consider it further.
Not to mention Mikasa got home her mind would often replay the previous events, but otherwise she managed to continue normally without fretting much further. The two had no contact outside of gym and it's locker rooms but Mikasa wasn't complaining. This all was for the best, Mikasa constantly told herself, all for the best.
When the fifth day came around Mikasa a dark bruise became very apparent on her forehead. This was from Monday when Mikasa had jumped into Annie's kick, but no one had to know about her and Annie's "rivalry". Eren and Armin questioned her the moment she left her room but she only responded with vague. "Ah, gym class," she'd affirm but she got the feeling that Armin didn't believe her fully. Thankfully he left it alone, but otherwise it was a generally small portion of her day
When gym came around she wasn't exactly sure if she had time for their normal locker room adventures, but she found herself already out-ruling not going. This was her life now; school, friends, Annie and repeat, but she preferred it this way.
"Mikasa." She instantly turned, a hand being sent on her shoulder as she was abruptly thrown out of her thoughts. To her surprise it was Ymir, and even more to her surprise she looked to be serious.
"You should talk to me when you're not busy." Once she knew she had Mikasa's attention she spoke before she could even react, but apparently it wasn't even necessary. Just like that Ymir walked away as the bell went off and leaving Mikasa thoroughly confused.
Swoosh.
Mikasa turned as she just began to contemplate and found Annie's form darting ahead of her. She wondered if she did it intentionally to snap her out of her thoughts, but it more or less acted as though Annie was ensuing a challenge, and Mikasa accepted.
Mikasa near chased after her from then on, pushing herself more than she thought possible and constantly found herself neck and neck with her rival. Due to this they were both far more sweaty than usual, especially Annie. Mikasa glanced towards her as they both simultaneously came to a stop and found that her sweatshirt was stained with sweat and her head hung like a corpse's. Of course Mikasa wasn't much different. Her dark hair stuck to her forehead and her ears roared but she wouldn't have it any other way.
After a few minutes of recovery Mikasa began trudging back towards the school as she heard Annie quietly pant behind her, but she knew that Annie wouldn't follow her right away.
Once inside the locker room Mikasa hastily pulled her clothes off and near forced herself to walk the short distance to the showers, but it wasn't anything that Mikasa really minded. She pressed her hand against the tiled wall near instantly, it supporting her weight as she whipped the shower on and allowed the warm water to soothe her.
As if on cue, a few moments later the door to the locker room creaked open and Mikasa knew it was almost time. She ran a hand through her wet dark hair and turned herself to put her back to the wall and almost anticipating it.
As usual Annie came, drenched in sweat and looking exhausted, but this didn't stop her from grabbing Mikasa in the intense kiss that they've been sharing for the past few days. Her hands placed themselves on Mikasa's hips with Mikasa's on her shoulders as their bodies collided together near instantly; this was their rhythm now. Annie couldn't seem to get enough, but then again neither could Mikasa.
They remained locked in the kiss for at least a few minutes before Mikasa would venture for something new- something she felt was acceptable at this point. Her tongue slowly slid into Annie's mouth, causing her to quietly gasp. This was followed by Annie toying with it gently, as if they were truly on the same wavelength.
Though she didn't know exactly what she was doing, Mikasa reacted similarly as her lips gently pressed a tad bit harder against Annie's. The pressing was returned as well and soon enough their tongues were more or less grappling, but not for dominance surprisingly; Mikasa found that it was more erotic than anything, which she near regretted thinking but it ensued soft moans that weren't hidden all that well. She was drunk on the comfort though- drunk on the tender kisses, gentle touches, the hurt and the lust that she didn't even know existed.
Their bodies pressed together further as their actions prolonged and their hands wandered further. Annie's hands brushed across the dark bruise on Mikasa's forehead gingerly and drifted into Mikasa's dark hair, toying with the wet locks as their tongues continued to intertwine. Mikasa gently felt Annie's soft breasts with her hands once more, causing Annie to gasp exasperatedly against Mikasa's mouth.
This continued for longer than usual, though further carnal intimacy was avoided. Mikasa thought she'd never get sick of it as they continued in near silence. The saltiness that always lingered on Annie's delicate lips was even more intense today and the way that she near desperately clung to Mikasa reminded her of a startled deer.
Their kisses continued, they're touching and the comfort that cam along with it as well until… Until things finally and slowly came to a stop, just as they always did. Far more steam clouded the locker room than normal once they both finally pulled away, making it slightly difficult to see but neither had any particular difficulties with it.
Mikasa dressed as she always did on the far end of the locker room while Annie continued to stand in the warm shower for who knows how long.
Mikasa quickly ran the towel through her hair after she pulled the bare essentials on. She then sat on the conveniently placed bench in-between the rows of lockers and reached into her backpack, pulling out her blue phone. When she opened it she found that she'd missed multiple calls from Eren and Armin which in itself was alarming, but the time did even more so. It was about six fifteen and her shift at the movie theater would be starting at seven. Her facial expression read calm but inside she was constantly scolding herself for being so careless. She'd have to run the fifteen minutes to get home, get changed, have Armin drive her through traffic to all the way across town which would normally take another hour. She'd have to get Armin to "push the law" a little bit.
From then Mikasa hastily did just about everything; whether it be pulling on her clothes, combing her hair or running out of the locker room with one shoe, it was with the haste of a about leopard.
She ran home despite her legs already feeling like lead, but she didn't really have any other choice. She pulled out her phone the minute she left the school and dialed Armin's number, pressing it against her ear almost desperately.
"Hello?" a voice came after a few moments. "Mikasa, we were worried! You'll be late for work at this rate."
"Yes, I'm sorry," Mikasa apologized calmly as she hustled to get home. "I got caught up in my work-out and schoolwork."
"You've been doing this every day this week. Are you training for a marathon or something?" Armin inquired with a hint of urgency in his voice. Though he sounded distressed Mikasa could tell that he was genuinely curious.
"I don't want to get out of shape," Mikasa claimed with the same air of coolness in her voice. "I'll see you in a few minutes. I'm almost home."
"Alright, well the car will be running," Armin quickly added before hanging up. Mikasa stuck the phone into her back pack a little awkwardly as she ran down the sidewalk but it was quick and she continued on.
Once she reached the house she found Armin sitting on the front porch with a book opened and in his lap. As Mikasa approached he looked up and looked relieved to see her. The two didn't exchange words or even actions and instead headed in opposite directions. Mikasa darted into the house and Armin lightly jogged to his slightly beat-up car and got in.
Once in the guest room Mikasa worked hard to pry her clothes off as if they were strangling her. She pulled her work uniform on that was laid neatly out on her bed from this morning. Granted it was slick and consisted of a white dress shirt, black dress pants, a black vest and a black bow tie but all of which were strenuously difficult to get on for some reason.
Once dressed Mikasa promptly made it downstairs and to the car where they left almost immediately. She didn't have to reevaluate her locker room dwellings today. Not to mention on the way to the movie theater Armin had commented on the fact that they had that all-night practice. However, much to Mikasa's satisfaction, they rescheduled it for Saturday because something had apparently come up at the last minute for Reiner (as well as Bertholdt) and he called to cancel a few minutes before Mikasa got home. Apparently it had something to do with football practice, which Eren was thoroughly bummed about when he heard, though he claimed that "baseball was his thing anyways".
Mikasa made it about five minutes late which wouldn't really look good if her supervisor didn't like her so much. Her supervisor introduced themselves as Hanji Zoe who apparently was an assistant high school teacher at the time as well. She adorned goggle-like glasses and had a mess ponytail- an all-around movie-junkie look. She was borderline overly nice; she didn't yell once at Mikasa for being late and instead assured her that the first day was always the hardest and she hated giving newbies a hard time.
Hanji then proceeded to lead her through the ropes of working in the "movie" industry. They covered things from properly breaking tickets, telling customers where the bathrooms were and knowing just how much butter to put into the popcorn. Mikasa would mainly smile warmly and nod to convey that she was paying attention, but she was having more fun than expected.
"- And don't let young middle school boys in to anything past PG-13," Hanji added to her rant on movie attendies as they stood next to a film-projector, it playing some Pixar movie that Mikasa had admittedly been dying to see. "They always end up peeing themselves or doing something as equally disgusting depending on the genre of movie. You think you're grasping it?" Mikasa nodded solemnly but her small grin lightened her facial expression.
"Good!" Hanji exclaimed while adjusting her glasses. "Oh, and you also get discounts on movies! So you know.. If your boyfriend is the ah.. "Materialistic" type." Mikasa could see her eyebrow wiggle suggestively but she shook her head despite how amusing it was.
Instantly Hanji's expression turned quizzical so of course Mikasa was too. ".. Girlfriend?" Hanji questioned once more as her eyebrow wriggling turned into a sharp raise. Mikasa shook her head once more but this time more promptly. Her chest pounded like a jackhammer for whatever reason as the mere thought of a "girlfriend" came across her mind, but she hid it well.
"Wow! I didn't think that anyone as pretty as you would be single." Hanji sounded genuinely surprised as she examined Mikasa a bit too close for comfort, but she only stared. In fact it was so close that their noses bumped but Hanji was quick to retract. "Well, I'll let you finish the movie and then it'll be the end of your shift. Tomorrow night will be part dos of your training." She then flashed Mikasa a slightly concerning smirk as she pushed her glasses up before continuing out of the room. Mikasa wondered if she had something maniacal planned for a moment but she decided that it was a little illogical.
For the remainder of her time there Mikasa was genuinely happy and was thankful that she chose this job over the rest. She sat in the projection booth and watched the animated movie as though she were seven again and her, Eren and Armin were with her. The three would sit around for hours every day, just watching Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks movies, but when Eren grew up he grew away from the movies. Armin had gotten into books more too and Mikasa had moved away. It was depressing, but the nostalgia made Mikasa near tear up with joy, which she didn't, but almost.
After the movie she left as the next movie attendant came in to take care of the projector and she continued to leave the theater in general. Armin was waiting for her once more in the parking lot with a book in-hand from what Mikasa could see as she made her way over. She was right of course, and she even startled Armin a bit as she knocked on the window. He jumped, squeaked a little, but quickly came to realize that it was Mikasa and not someone who was there to mug him.
He let her in quickly and the proceeded to drive home. It was silent with only small-talk about their days or how her first day of work went.
She'd have to get her license, Mikasa noted as the silence grew. She didn't want Armin to be responsible for taking her everywhere when he had a job of his own too. She vowed that she'd buy her own car once she raised enough money for one, only second to getting an apartment.
When they got home it was about 10:30 and Mikasa was the most hungry she's been since she came to America. Armin directed her to the downstairs where she could hear vulgar profanity and name-calling. Must be Battlefield or COD. Mikasa sighed inwardly as she nodded towards Armin.
The two proceeded down the stairs, opened the door and was met with Ymir, Connie, Jean, Christa and Eren who were all huddled around the t.v. with either a Wii controller or a Gamecube controller in most of their hands.
"Don't you fucking touch my star Jaeger!" Jean barked while threatening him with a white Wii remote.
"And what if I do?!" Eren retorted as he pointed Dorito dust-covered finger in Jean's face. "You can't do anything about it!"
"I can fucking bite your finger off if that's what you REALLY want me to do!" Jean remarked sarcastically, but was still yelling.
"Mario Party," Armin muttered to Mikasa as if it were Satan's spawn-tool and she instantly grasped the measure of the situation. His eyes flickered towards the screen for a moment, witnessing "Waluigi's" star being stolen and cringed as the group errupted in either laughter or cussing. Armin only cringed; he obviously had some bad experiences with the Nintendo game.
"YOU SHITFACE!" Mikasa heard Jean scream as she followed Armin to the vacant couches. Armin looked as though he was trying his best to avoid watching but Mikasa had no problems as she sat down. She reached into one of the already opened pizza boxes and began eating just as her stomach grumbled while Armin pulled his book out once more and arduously tried to focus.
"This is why we're on the same team," Ymir told Christa while grinning pleasantly. She gripped a Gamecube controller as she pressed a few buttons and set her chin atop her blonde head as Christa sat cozily in her lap. "Plus you're pretty damn lucky. Oh, and you're cute too. Almost forgot to mention that."
Right. Didn't Ymir need to talk to me? Previously that day Annie had distracted her from even wondering about what it might be but… There's was no real use now; they probably wouldn't be alone together until after the weekend.
Mikasa watched as Christa giggled sweetly and murmured something inaudible, but it caused Ymir to snicker a bit under her breath just as Connie screamed something beyond profaine.
"YMIR, WHYYYY?!" he yelled melodramatically as it was Jean's turn to laugh at somebody's agony. Mikasa grinned slightly and pulled at her.. Her..
Where is it?
The scarf, God dammit where was the freaking scarf. How didn't she even notice that it was gone? Was it upstairs? At the movie theater? Her mind grew frantic even though her demeanor on the outside was calm. Oh God, she had to find it. Eren gave it to her… Eren.
She bit her bottom lip and set the rest of her pizza down on a paper plate. She suddenly wasn't very hungry. Instead she slowly stood, brushed the crumbs off of her work clothes and calmly walked out of the room without going noticed.
Once she was out of earshot she darted for the guestroom and near tore it apart in a frenzy. She threw clothes out of the closet, tore sheets off the bed and moved all the furniture she could out of the way until she finally decided that it was time to move on.
She ran down to the main floor and looked in any place where she might've been. She had it this morning, right? And during lunch.. She remembered because Sasha was tugging at it when pestering her for food.
Oh God, did she leave it at school? Her eyebrows furrowed and she stopped pulling the couch out for a moment. That must've been it.. If not there then it was the movie theater. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration for a moment before putting the room back into order.
She'd just have to wait and see, but it was extremely unnerving.
The rest of Friday was enjoyable for Mikasa despite constantly being constantly paranoid about her scarf. She got to jump in and play Mario Party, as did Armin finally and they all finally found why he refused to play the game. For one he got extremely competitive (more than Mikasa and Annie) and he either had insanely good luck or he was just really good at it.
He left jaws dropping in his wake and after the game he apologized at least twenty times to each individual person for "crushing them so greatly".
On Saturday Mikasa mainly just did homework to take her mind off of things while Eren constantly was out of the house. Mikasa didn't know exactly where he was going, what he was doing or who was with at all times. Every time she'd ask she'd get an extremely vague answer concerning something about people she didn't know while Armin would constantly shoot her worried looks as if to say "watch him", though he didn't mention anything else.
She couldn't very well stalk him so she waited for him to come home with Armin after she finished her homework. They passed their time by playing chess and watching some Disney movies that they had long since forgotten.
When five came around the two lost some hope. It was time for work, and Mikasa left as usual but she decided that she'd bike and would let Armin have some time to read. As she was about to leave he offered to give her some driving lessons and she kindly accepted, though she didn't know when she'd have time for it.
She was early this time around so Hanji was a bit surprised to see her, but was happy nonetheless. They got a little bit of a head start on part two of her training, but Mikasa had no complaints.
Hanji explained the bathroom duties, how to mix slurpees and how to properly kick out movie attendies as well as when to. She gave an example when a stumbling group of college frat boys could be heard from across the complex at their Adam Sandler movie.
It was almost scary to watch as Hanji glared them down with a flashlight. Her face grew menacing and had "I've stabbed a man and I'm not afraid to do it again" written all over it as she'd hiss at them like to get out. Wisely they left and Mikasa was left feeling slightly intimidated, but not overly.
Hanji explained that it was unnecessary to go that far but it was certainly her most favorite method of getting movie goers to get out. Mikasa believed that she could handle it; she knew that she could be scary when she wanted to, and even sometimes unintentionally.
The rest of the night Hanji talked about how their particular movie cinema company worked and all of the positions above her. Mikasa didn't find it particularly interesting but then again she didn't think that Hanji was having a blast talking about it.
Eventually they got a bit off-track and found themselves sitting at a table and just talking. Mikasa learned that Hanji's real passion lied within movies; whether it be watching, making or even listening to them, she was the true definition of a "movie junkie". The only sad part about this was the fact that she would have to quit once she became a full-time science (this was apparently her number two passion) teacher and Mikasa could tell that it really weighed on her. She needed a practical job, she'd tell Mikasa. One that could pay the bills and maybe even support a family someday.
Mikasa wanted to say something uplifting, something that would make her not lose hope but she couldn't bring herself to. She simply nodded in understanding with a small frown on her face, but Hanji seemed to be completely okay with this.
"Thanks for understanding, Ackerman. Sorry to trouble you with these things. You can leave now, just be ready to work for real on Tuesday." Hanji would then grin as she returned back to normal.
Mikasa grinned as well and stood from her seat slowly. At least all of this got her mind off of Eren and… Agh, and Annie. "Of course Hanji."
From there Mikasa biked home as the lights of Orlando lit her path up before her, but this is where he mind sort of wandered.
When would Eren be home? Would he even be home? Should she have followed him? And not to mention for some reason she couldn't stop being reminded of Annie whenever she thought of Eren.
Annie and the soft touches.. Warm kisses. If..! If she had anything to do with this Mikasa wouldn't hesitate to bring her down. At least she hoped that she wouldn't hesitate. Actually, she would very well hesitate. Would she even be able to do that? After all they've shared with each other it was a very difficult thing to question.
Annie or Eren? She knew it would come down to this, but she tried to move her mind away from it. There was no use in fretting over something that could very well be imaginary, but Mikasa couldn't seem to help it ever since Leonhardt came back into the picture.
When she got home she was more than relieved to find Eren at home and looking completely fine, but was surprised at the extreme lack of band mates. Mikasa continued to go and change into her regular clothes anyways, half-expecting they'd be there when she got back down, but they weren't.
"Alright, now we can go," Eren near cheered as Mikasa reached the bottom of the staircase. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him but finally understood when she saw the metal guitar case in his hand.
"Oh, ah yeah Mikasa. Reiner offered to have us all because he's the reason we had to cancel in the first place. Plus he said you really wanted to hang out with him, Bert and Annie," Eren explained as he caught Mikasa's confused expression. "I personally thought you and Annie hated each other's guts but I'm not one to complain." Mikasa merely blinked as her confused expression faded. She wasn't sure of what to make of this. Was Reiner trying to torture her? She wasn't sure if she could be in the same room with her without being naked and kissing. It was worth a try though Mikasa assumed- for Eren.