3 Chapter 2

For the past year Eren has been working very hard. After the third month of training , he tried using the energy within himself.

What he discovered was that when he used it around his body he became more durable and stronger. While using it , he was about stronger than Mikasa was right now. Mikasa was no normal human , neither was Levi. Their Ackerman blood basically made them superhumans. If Eren could get this strong right now with just a few months of training , he wondered how strong he would get once the Trost incident happened.

These months weren't just spent on training. He was also getting closer to Mikasa. When she saw him exercising, she had asked him if she could join in as well. She wanted to be strong for him and be there for him. Every since that incident a couple days ago, they were practically inseparable.

[Flashback to a few days ago]

Right now Eren was just finishing his exercises. He was going to go find a secluded place to train his Titan powers before he heard some sobs.

Walking deeper into the forest , and hiding behind a tree, he saw Mikasa sitting down while holding onto her right wrist.

Seeing her like that , Eren felt as if he was stabbed in the chest.

'She must have been hiding all of her pain' Eren thought. He found it completely reasonable. First her mother and father was murdered right in front of her. Then she was given a new home and had warmed up to the Yeagers. She considered Carla and Grisha her parents but that was taken away from her as well. Eren was her only support, he was her only family left.

While Mikasa was crying , she was looking at the tattoo on her wrist that her mother gave to her. She never explained it , only stated that it was tradition in her family and to pass it down to her children. Reminiscing on the past , Mikasa was startled when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Mikasa" she saw it was Eren looking at her with concern.

She didn't want him to find her like this, she wanted to be strong for him. Quickly wiping her tears while standing up , Mikasa began to respond to Eren.

"E-Eren" She said while looking up at him with puffy red eyes. Out of the things Mikasa thought would happen. She certainly didn't expect to feel 2 arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Shhh, it's okay I'm here" Eren said softly into her ears. When Eren saw her red eyes, he couldn't help but comfort her. He didn't like seeing her like that. So he quickly pulled her into his chest and hugged her.

Stroking her hair while still hugging her , he began to talk again.

"I know you want to protect me Mikasa and be there for me but you have to look out for yourself too. I don't want you to live for my happiness, but for yourself as well" Eren said. He really didn't want her to be influenced by her Ackerman blood.

Mikasa hearing his words felt complicated. He was her only family left . She didn't know what to say. "E-Eren...i promised Carla" She said as she began to hug him back with the tears coming back.

"I don't like seeing you cry like this. If you're trying so hard to protect me then who's going to look out for you?" Eren question her. She remained silent as she tried to think of an answer but before she could , she heard him chuckling.

"Hehe Mikasa don't think too hard about it. Aren't I here? If you're gonna protect me then I'll be there for you as well, always." Eren said as he continued to stroke her long black hair.

Mikasa didn't know what to do. She did not expect this from Eren. With a tinge of pink across her cheeks , she hugged him tighter and buried her head in his chest.

"Mmm" She agreed in a small voice. "Now why don't we sit down so you could tell me why you were crying" Eren said. They spent the rest of the night talking. Mikasa ended up opening herself up to Eren as the hours went by with her still in his arms. Eren didn't know Mikasa's laugh was that cute. He was definitely lucky to be here. He made a promise to himself that he wouldn't let her cry like that again. They were so into their talking that Eren didn't notice a sap of energy leave his body and enter Mikasa's head. It would be a while until he'd realize that Mikasa's Ackerman "curse" was broken and a deeper connection was formed between the two.

[Flashback End]

After that happened Eren and Mikasa spent nights together before bed talking to each other while he holds her just like the first time. He wanted to hear her problems. He didn't want her to keep them to herself. He wanted her to open up to him more often and that's exactly what's been happening.

On the 6th month Eren made big improvements. When he went somewhere secluded in the morning he tried out his shifting and learned it was the same as canon after attempting to talk and figuring out he couldn't. Next he tested out his regeneration. It was pretty normal how it was shown in the anime but if he used his energy , it was practically instant but it almost sapped all of his energy. Regenerating was more taxing than using it to strengthen his body. Now he was thinking about breaking his limits while exercising. He'd let his body heal itself after learning how to control his healing through trial and error.

So for the last 6 months that's exactly what he did. Without using his energy , he was able to punch a stone wall now with cracks left behind. While using his energy , he could easily leave his fist outline if he punched his hardest. He began to notice how harder it was to get stronger as the years went by.

During the year , he'd also never forget when he told Mikasa and Armin about his Titan powers.....