Disclaimer: I do not own Attack On Titan or anything related to it...

Writers Note: I know I said that this fanfic will be updated once in every two weeks but due to life obstacles, it's going to be a monthly update or even twice if I get enough time. Without further ado, here's the new chapter...

Chapter 4

Three days had passed since Mikasa confessed to Eren that she loved him. Three days of crippling anxiety for Mikasa as Eren had been avoiding her. As for Eren, he was conflicted as he didn't know how he would handle the situation. He knew that whether he chose Mikasa or Historia, the other would end up getting hurt, and it would be his fault.

Every conversation they had didn't even last a minute because Eren would always come up with an excuse to leave which left Mikasa feeling rejected. And this created a sort of rift between them which did not go unnoticed by their friends.

"So, anyone find out what's going on with Eren and Mikasa?" Jean asked as he sat down with Connie, Sasha, Armin and Floch for the day's breakfast.

"Nope. Plus it's probably nothing" answered Connie as he poured himself a cup of tea.

"I may not have spent that much time with you guys but even I can see that it's unusual of them to behave this way." Floch said to the nods of his fellow scouts.

"And don't get me started on the tension.Everytime they're together in the same room, I feel like the air is suffocating." Sasha said after swallowing a bite of bread.

"What about you Armin? I'm sure that you atleast got something from them." Jean asked.

"I can't say that I have." Armin answered. "Everytime I try to ask them what's going on, they just brush it off as 'nothing'. he added.

"Maybe they got into an argument." said Floch.

"I doubt it." Armin said. "When we were cadets, even when we were kids they always made up by evening." he added.

"I guess this is different huh." sighed Jean as he took a sip of his tea.

It hurt Armin that he couldn't help out with whatever Eren and Mikasa were going through. "This is more than different. It feels more personal." Armin sighed heavily.

"I'm worried too guys." Sasha said with a sad look on her face. "Mikasa's been so sad I think she's getting depressed. The last time I saw her like this was when we thought Eren was dead in Trost District." she added.

"I swear, if that idiot said anything that hurt Mikasa's feelings, I'll make him swallow his teeth." Jean angrily said.

"I don't think you'll need to resort to violence Jean." Armin told him. "Since we got the day off, I'll talk to Eren privately. Hopefully he opens up, then maybe we can help him out wherever we can." he added.

While they continued eating their breakfast, they heard the dining room door creak open. They turned around to the sound to see Eren walk in.

"Good morning guys." Eren greeted.

"Hi Eren." Armin greeted back.

"Dude where've you been? When I woke up, I found your bed empty." Connie asked Eren as they shared a room together.

"Sorry about that." Eren apologized. "I went out for a run to clear my head." he added as he took an apple from a plate and bit into it.

"You've been doing alot of running lately." Floch said while giving Eren a side glance.

"Yeah. I'm trying to increase my stamina so that I can be able to stay longer and transform more into my titan." Eren answered. "When we fought Reiner and Bertholdt, I was only able to transform twice. I want to push myself to the limit so that I can last longer in my titan." he added.

"Well, if you keep working on your stamina, whomever you get to be with is going to be a very happy lady." Connie said with a snicker which elicited a blush from Eren and a few chuckles from the others.

As this was going on, Mikasa walked in to the sight of her friends laughing. She was wearing a grey dress which ended right below her knees. "Hi guys." she greeted them.

"Hi Mikasa." they greeted back. "Good morning Eren." she greeted him while a small shade of red started forming on her pale cheeks.

"Hi Mikasa." he greeted back as he avoided eye contact with her all the while trying to keep his face from blushing like a bride.

"Uhhmmm, guys I'll be hitting the showers and tidy up a little bit." Eren told them as he stood up and headed to leave the room.

"Hey Eren, if you wouldn't mind...since today's our day off, I was wondering if we could hang out and go for lunch at the tavern that opened up." Armin told him. "I know you weren't able to come with us last time, so it's my treat really." he added with a soft smile to persuade him.

"I wanna come too." Sasha said as she raised her hand earning her an elbow to the liver from Floch. "I thought you said you were heading to Dauper to see your family." he told her all the while giving her a side glare.

"HaHaHa. Oh right, I completely forgot." Sasha gave a forced laugh as she rubbed the sore spot.

"Sure thing Armin. I'll be there." Eren said and left the hall for his room as his friends looked as his retreating back.

"Well I'm off to Trost." said Jean as he stood up with his finished plate of food. "It's been a while since I've been home."

"Oooh, that's sweet of you going to visit your mum." said Sasha. "Be sure to say hi to her for us...JEANBOY." she added with a sly grin on her face as she got up and quickly ran out.

"I'll get her for that later." Jean said to himself while heading for the kitchen to wash his dishes.

"So Mikasa, any plans for today?" Connie asked her.

"I don't have any but I'll find something to keep me busy." she replied while drinking her tea.

"What about you Floch?" he asked him.

"I've got business in Utopia of which I'm late to." he flatly replied as he got up and left the building.

"What about you Connie, any plans?" Armin asked.

"I'm heading to Yarckel. I'm going to win me some money." he answered in a cheeky tone.

"What are you planning Connie?" Armin worriedly asked him.

"There's a gambling den there and I'm going to try my luck." he answered back.

"You do know that those are illegal right." he asked him.

"There's no need to worry. I did my research and I've been there before and it's completely legitimate." he answered.

"Just be careful Connie." Mikasa told him.

"Again you guys worry too much." he told them. "Plus my middle name is 'careful'. You guys have a good day because I know mine is about to get better." he added as he got up and went out leaving Armin and Mikasa alone.

Mikasa went back to eating her breakfast while Armin was finishing up his. "So Mikasa, I've been meaning to ask you, what's been going on between you and Eren?" he questioned her which lead to Mikasa almost choking on her tea.

"What do you mean?" she asked after getting herself together.

"It's just that you've been distant with each other these past couple of days. Did you get into an argument or something?" he asked feeling concerned about his friends wellbeing.

"There's nothing going on Armin." she quickly replied.

"I'm just concerned about you two...we all are." Armin said as he stood up with his plate and cup having just finished his food. "When you're ready to talk about it, I'm right here." he added with a soft smile which replied with a small nod and he headed to the kitchen to wash his plate.

When Armin left, leaving Mikasa alone in the hall, she put her hand over her mouth and let out a soft sob as her tears fell on her food.

That afternoon

Eren had just arrived outside the tarven Armin had recommended. He was wearing a dull red shirt and a pair of brown trousers.His friend wanted to hang out with him and he wouldn't be wrong to say that he was looking forward to it. Due to the mission to retake Shinganshina, the casualties they suffered and killing the rest of the pure titans outside the walls...it had been a while since the two of them just hanged out.

"Hey Eren." Armin greeted as he approached him from the left. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting." he added.

"I actually just got here." Eren told him.

"Well, let's head in and grab something to eat. My treat." Armin told him.

They went in to the tarven to find it filled with people eating and drinking. some were even drunkenly singing at the top of their lungs to the music and dancing in groups with their friends, or for the lucky ones with a fine lady.

The waitresses were bustling around taking and writing down orders, and the bartender serving up drinks for the customers. All in all it was a modest place. They found an empty table and took a seat.

"Wow! This place does seem lively." Eren said as he continued to look around in awe.

"It's not usually like this." Armin chuckled as he poured himself a glass of water that was on the table.

"Hello." a waitress greeted them. "What can I get you two?" she asked with a smile.

"I'll have the rice and chicken please." Armin told her as she wrote it down on a small notebook. she turned to Eren and asked, "And what about you sir."

"I don't know what to order really. What would you prefer?" he asked her.

"Well, we have bread, rice, steamed and roasted potatoes, some mushroom soup, and our special today is roasted rabbit with a side of fried potatoes." she told him.

He took a moment to think and ordered the special. "And what will you be drinking?" she asked them.

"Water's fine with me." Eren answered. "Me too." added Armin.

"Ok then, I'll have your orders ready soon." she told them and left.

"So, how've you been doing?" Armin asked. "You've seemed quite stressed lately."

"It's just me and my thoughts you could say" Eren dryly chuckled.

"And as your friend, I'm here for you. You can tell me anything and I wouldn't judge you." he told him.

"I'm fine really, it's nothing that should trouble you." he implied and took a long sip of his water.

"You need to talk to others about your problems so that they can help you out or else your burdens will weigh you down and sooner or later, they will crush you." Armin told him.

"I honestly don't know where to start." Eren said.

"Then let's start fom the beginning." Armin told him.

"Here are your orders." the waitress interrupted as she set the food on their table.

"That was fast." Eren said as he looked at the food.

"The food's already prepared, so all we need to do when a customer orders is heat it up in a minute and it's ready to eat." she told them. "Some of our customers come in and are sometimes in a hurry or late for work, so this keeps us from keeping them waiting and it makes it easier and quicker to serve another customer. Quick service is kind of our forte" she added.

"Thank's for the food. It looks delicious." Eren told her.

"You're welcome. And don't be afraid to ask for anything, one of us will be here to help you out." she said.

"Duly noted." Armin said.

"Enjoy your meals." she told them and left.

"Well, let's dig in." Armin told Eren with a small smile as he took a spoonful of his food.

"Yeah, in a moment." he said as he stood up and left the table. As Armin looked at the direction his friend was heading, he saw a group a few tables away from them snickering as one of them was groping and forcefully trying to kiss while restraining the waitress that had just served them on their lap.

"Let go of me!" the waitress angrily said as she tried push herself free from the man while the rest of them just drunk and laughed.

"And why would I do that doll? I know you like it." the groper who had a scraggly beard that was dyed red smugly said as he roughly cupped her cheeks with his hand to the cheers of his comrades.

"She told you to let go of her." Eren said as he grabbed the man's shoulder to the baffle looks of the group and the rest of the occupants of the bar as the room fell completely silent that you could hear a pin drop.

"What did you just say to me?" the groper asked in an angry tone.

"Are you really that drunk that you can't even hear right. Let. Her. Go. NOW!" Eren said as he tightly gripped the man's shoulder forcing him to let her go. The lady hurriedly ran off to the kitchen to hide away.

"I suppose you don't really know us," the man said as he looked at Eren's hand on his shoulder. "because if you did, you'd know that we offer this fine establishment protection. And we don't take orders from anyone. Especially not from a green boy that hasn't killed or fucked before." he added as his comrades laughed at Eren while staring at him.

"If I were you kid, I'd leave before the Butcher Gang butchers you and hangs you out to dry." one of the gang members said as he got up and approached Eren.

"But before you leave, we'll be so kind as to liberate your pockets of your valuables." the groper said as his comrade brandished a five inch knife and licked the blade.

"Who's gonna make me?" Eren angrily asked.

"I am, you punk." yelled the goon with a knife as he moved to stab Eren in the abdomen but he fell short as Eren swiftly dodged the attack and grabbed the goon's armed wrist and hit it with his other hand making him drop the knife to the floor all before elbowing him in the face.

Everyone was stunned by Eren's actions, none other than the gang members. The goon lifted himself and put his hands on his bleeding nose. "You broke my nose!" he yelled only for Eren to hit him with a right hook to the temple and knocking him unconscious to the surprised looks of the gang.

The groper looked at his fellow gang member and gave a small laugh and clicked his teeth, signalling his comrades who surrounded Eren. They were four in number excluding the groper. "Why don't you teach this kid some manners boys." he told the others.

"Sure thing boss." one of the goons said.

"Kid, do you have no idea who you're messing with?" one of them asked with a cocky sick grin on his face.

"I'd ask you the same question." Eren answered as he put up his fists.

The man on his left charged at Eren with a yell while holding his knife overhead, which Eren countered by stepping to the side and grabbing the armed hand and stretching it out before kicking him off his feet. The thug fell to the floor and clutched his head in pain.

Upon seeing their fellow comrade was down, two others simultaneously charged at Eren with one swiping his knife vertically and grazing Eren across his chest earning a grunt from him. Which Eren responded kindly by giving a quick hard knee to his ribs followed by an uppercut throwing his assailant off balance and hitting the back of his head hard.

The other tried to deliver a punch to Eren but was met with a roundhouse kick to the sternum throwing him on the table behind him. The man grabbed a knife that was on the table he had landed on and charged at Eren.

" YOU SON OF A BITCH" he yelled only for a glass mug to be smashed on the side of his face and spilling alcohol all over him. The crowd had shocked looks on their faces as they saw Armin standing with what was left of the mug in his hand.

Eren turned towards his friend and gave a small smile. "I almost thought you were going to sit by and watch the show." Eren told him.

"You've always had my back and protected me when we were kids, I thought I might as well have your's this time." he responded as he looked down on the thug he had just knocked out. When Armin looked up at his friend, his eyes widened in terror as he shouted, '"Eren behind you!".

Eren turned around to see the groper with a butcher's knife in his hand and a murderous twisted grin on his face. The man swiped the knife at Eren's face, but since Eren wasn't to react quick enough, he blocked his face with his left hand, with the knife chopping his thumb, index and middle finger clean off.

Eren yelled a guttural cry as he held his bleeding hand in pain. The groper saw the opportunity and grabbed Armin and held the knife at his throat.

Eren angrily took a step at the man who was a few inches taller than him but was quickly stopped as he saw Armin held at knife point. "Take one more step and the ladies here well spend the day mopping the floors off your friend's here blood." he told him. "I have to say, I'm impressed with how you handled yourself there kid. The name's Elvis Butcher, and you are light on your feet. I could use someone like you. So what do you say, care to join my fine group of misfits." he cheekily offered.

"Hard pass." Eren angrily replied as small wisps of steam came from his injuries.

Elvis frowned at Eren's answer. "Well, since you've declined my generous offer to leave this bar as a member of my gang...it's a shame you'll have to leave here in a body bag." he said with a sadistic grin covering his face.

"And here's what happens to people who butt into business that doesn't concern them." he added as he took out a knife from the back of his trousers and stabbed Armin in the side of his stomach before stabbing him again in the back with the knife being lodged in his spine.

" ARMIN" Eren yelled as he saw his friend fall to the floor bleeding. He rushed towards him and pulled the knife out to the screams of the bar crowd as some ran out.

"This is all on you boy. To think, all this could have been avoided if you just minded your own damn business. His blood's on you kid." Elvis told Eren as maniacally laughed.

"I'll kill you!" Eren yelled as he launched himself at Elvis and gave him a right hook to the cheek.

"You've got a mean hook there kid," Elvis said as he wiped off some blood from his busted lower lip. Eren went for another right hook but Elvis stopped the punch with his free hand and gave a low chuckle. "but my knife's bigger." he said as he swiped his cleaver across Eren's torso.

Eren grunted at the pain and gave a headbutt forcing Elvis to release to touch his bruised forehead as Eren put his left hand on his stomach to stop the bleeding though gritted teeth. "You've got balls kid, I'll give you that." Elvis said with a nod of his head. "But too bad you and your friend are gonna die." he added with an angry look on his twisted face as he took a step towards Eren but was stopped by the sound of a gun going off.

Everyone turned their heads to where the gun shot came from to see the bartender corking back a bullet to his rifle having fired at the ceiling. "That's enough Elvis. You've made your point." he said as he pointed the gun at Elvis.

"Put the rifle down Ken before you end up doing something you'll regret." Elvis glared at Ken.

"Just leave my customers alone." Ken said in at tired voice.

"I wonder, where were you when I was carving up these 'customers'?" Elvis asked Ken as he slowly walked toward the bar and the crowd parted to give him way. "I'll tell you what you were doing? You were busy pissing your pants." he added as he tightly gripped his cleaver and gave a small smile upon seeing Ken's hands shaking. "So stop trying to be a hero. Because we both know what happens to heroes."

"You talk too much for an asshole." Elvis turned around to Eren's voice only to be meet with his fist landing on his eye and falling to the floor.

"Why don't you just give up and die kid." Elvis yelled in anger as he got up on his feet with a murderous look on his face filled with malicious intent.

"Well, my friends tell me I don't know when to give up. It's one of my quirks." Eren responded with bloodstained grin.

"I hope your friends mourn you after I've gutted you like a fish." Elvis as he wiped off some blood from his nose.

They both gave a yell ready to charge at each other but were interrupted by four military police barging in. "Police. Everyone put your hands up." they ordered as they pointed their guns at the crowd while looking around.

"We got reports of their being a bar fight here." a female officer said as she walked in. "Funny thing is we were actually heading here, making our work easier. Talk about luck." she added with a laugh.

The woman was a young, fair-skinned and of average height with a slim build. She had an oval face, large light green eyes with rather long eyelashes and thin eyebrows. Her medium champagne coloured hair was kept in chin-length style with a clump of bangs hanging around her forehead. She, like her fellow officers wore the standard Military Police Regiment uniform, consisting of a short, light brown jacket with the unicorn badges on each shoulder, on the front left pocket and on the center of the back. But she wore a light green shirt under her jacket and a dark brown sash around the waist covering the hips, white pants, and dark brown knee-high leather boots. This was Private Hitch Dreyse.

She looked around at the mess that was the bar and as her eyes landed on Eren, she couldn't help the frown that marred her face. "Why is it that everytime I come across a member of The Survey Corps, there has to be violence involved." she said as walked towards Eren. "It's like trouble flocks and hovers around you guys like an ambitious stripper." she sarcastically added.

"Nice to see you too Hitch." Eren greeted her while clutching his slowly healing torso.

"Can someone please explain to us what exactly happened here?" one of the police asked out loud only to be answered with crowd's murmurs.

"I'll tell you what happened here officer." Elvis yelled out. "This kid here attacked me and my friends here when we were just enjoying ourselves and you can see what ensured." he added while pointing to the turned tables and the forms of the unconscious bodies.

"You don't say huh" she sarcastically said.

"Bullshit." Eren yelled only to be cut off by Hitch raising her finger and signalling him to shut up. " Eren, can you please shut up and let me do my job." she silenced him with a hard glare.

"Yes officer. And just like you said, he's a member of that Survey Corps. Aren't they like crazy and mentally challenged from going outside the walls." he added trying to convince her.

"I know right. And the cleaver's for your protection from these weirdos." she told him with a dry chuckle to humor him as she pointed at the bloodied knife..

"We've got a stabbed victim here." one of the officers called out as he inspected Armin. "Wait, is that steam?" he asked in wonder as steamed stemmed from Armin's wounds.

"So, Mr Elvis, would you like to open any charges against Private Yeager here?" Hitch asked him to the baffled looks of everyone including Elvis himself.

"No Ma'am." he replied while looking at Eren with a triumphant look. "It just seems that the kid here couldn't handle his liquor and it would be wrong of me to send a promising young man to the hard cruel life of prison. I'm just not that cold hearted." he added with a grin showing his yellow teeth.

"Wonderful. Now we can really do what brought us here." Hitch said as Eren angrily left to see to Armin. "But first, I have to say Mr. Elvis, you've got some good muscles on those arms." she flirtatiously inquired as she ran her fingers along his biceps.

"It's the beauty and gains of hard work miss." he smirked. "Why don't we go somewhere quiet so we can get to know each other more intimately." he added with a lustrous grin.

Hitch got on her tiptoes as she was a little shorter than Elvis. "I don't know, is a cell quiet enough for you?" she whispered in his ear as she handcuffed him to his shock.

"What the hell!" he yelled trying to break the cuffs.

"Mr. Elvis Butcher, you are under arrest for aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, battery, kidnapping, distribution of narcotics, arson and murder." her demeanor changed as she listed off the charges and held the struggling man as he finally noticed that his friends were being cuffed too by the other officers.

She got tired of the struggle and swiped her foot across his legs and held him down. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will be used against you in court." she said to Elvis's grunts.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" he yelled out.

"Of course we do." one of the officers replied. "You're the reason we came all this way for."

"It doesn't matter. My boys will spring me out before even supper." he laughed out loud. "Then I'll come back and kill you all. Starting with the kid then you bitch, but not before I'm done fucking you dry." he added with a maniacal look on his face.

"Threating an officer, add that to your list of charges." one officer cheekily said as he took Presley off of Hitch's hands stood him up. "You and your sorry gang might just be our ticket for a promotion." he added to the laughs of his fellow privates.

"Get your hands off me you fucking pig." Elvis yelled at the officer leading him out the carriage outside while struggling.

"What a wonderful mouth you ha-" the officer tried to mock him only to receive a headbutt from Elvis who shoved him away. Elvis swiftly reached into his front waistband and pulled out a small revolving pistol and pointed at Hitch who was shocked and frozen as she stared at the barrel.

He locked a bullet into the chamber. "I told you I'd kill you bitch." he said with scowl. He pulled the trigger which was followed by a loud bang and screams from the women and some men in the bar.

4500 words later and we are through with this chapter. Hope you guys liked this chapter and I'd really appreciate feedback so don't forget to follow & favourite as well as review. Til' next time.