Their high school was never very loud. Unless you were calling for someone, people didn't raise their voices all that much. Fights were not a common thing, so hearing "fight, fight, fight" at near midday in a Wednesday was something that drew attention easily.

"Eren!" pushing people aside, Mikasa reached the front of the ring of people around the fight "Eren, enough!"

"Mikasa, stay out of this!" Eren looked briefly at her, focusing back to Jean quickly to avoid being punched.

"No! Stop, both of you!" running with Armin to separate them, Mikasa faced Eren while Armin calmed Jean down, her face showing her discontent "Are you hurt?" she reached for his bloody nose, face softening.

"Don't treat me like a child, I'm fine" he moved his face off her reach, cleaning the blood from under his nose with his cuff. Mikasa let her hands fall to her sides, fists and teeth clenched.

"Then don't act like one! I'm just worried about you! " she looked at him dead in the eyes, her hands rising with her voice "That fight had no reason to start and what did you accomplish? You only got hurt!"

"What? Mikasa-" he tried to speak, but she had already turned around and was walking away.

After getting a long chat with the Principal Smith, a candy from his secretary Petra and having to shake Jean's hand, he was allowed to return to his class.

Which was horrible, considering he couldn't concentrate on a word Professor Zoe said because Mikasa had chosen to sit seven seats away (three to the right, four to the back) and the guilt had started to eat him.

"What can I do, Armin? She's mad at me, I can feel it" grabbing his friend by the shoulders, Eren shook him, his face bordering desperation.

"Just…try to make it up to her. Be nice. Show her you care? I don't know! Just…don't be an asshole" taking Eren by his elbows, Armin turned both of them to head to the cafeteria "You can think about it while we have lunch, Mikasa is not going to sit with us today"

"How do you know?"

"She's upset with you, not with me"

From then to dinner, he tried everything. He sent notes saying he was sorry (she didn't even read them), he sent her flowers (they ended up in Sasha's hands), he left a gift on her locker (that he didn't know where it went), he even texted her when she locked herself in her room (she left him on seen).

But she didn't answer.

So he did the obvious thing.

He shouted from outside her door.

"I'm sorry! I know I'm an idiot! And I know you do it because you care about me, but I care about you too!"

"You don't show it" came her voice through the door, quivering.

"I know! But it's because I want to protect you, not the other way around!" her door opened slowly, her eyes peeking from the gap.

"That's sexist"

"No!" he panicked "Not in that way. Not as man protecting woman because she's weak, but as Eren protecting Mikasa because he cares about her and would hate to see her hurt" he pushed the door open, cupping Mikasa's face in his hand as he let his forehead fall into hers slowly.

"Then you can understand why I want to protect you and why I hate when you get in pointless fights" she breathed, her eyes closed tightly.

"Yes. Yes, of course" he rubbed his nose on hers, smiling softly. Not letting go, he stepped inside her room and kicked the door to close it.

"EREN JAEGER! I REALLY HOPE THAT WAS NOT MIKASA'S DOOR SHUTTING!" came his mother's voice from downstairs "WE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT CLOSED DOORS WHILE YOU TWO ARE IN THE SAME ROOM"

"Mom!" he blushed, stepping away from Mikasa.

"Eren, don't make me go in there with the wooden spoon!"

He ran to open the door.