A Heartwarming Moment

Eren was now half kneeling, completely exhausted, his face and cloak were covered with traces of titan blood all over.

He felt like just lying down, to take a break, his entire body was screaming at him to do that.

With both his hands clasped towards a blade stuck to the ground, that was what was still keeping the upper half of his body straight.

He was still after all in titan territory, he could not afford to relax and let his attention down even for a moment. He had to maintain maximum vigilance.

"So this is what a real fight with titans feels like? Experiencing it first hand, it's a truly terrifying experience. Deviant titans are truly a pain to kill" Eren thought to himself, his gasping for air gradually getting less frequent as he slowly steadied himself.

Even with the skills from the system. Eren felt that he was not omnipotent. He only managed to kill the aberrants due to his speed. If he was any slower, he would have lost.

He needed to improve his physical strength and stamina for greater chances of survival and success in the future.

No wonder the losses in the titan territory were always so huge.

The flat and open terrain was already an enormous disadvantage. Engaging normal titans in such an area had an extremely low chance of success, even for experienced members.

Imagine now facing a deviant instead of a normal titan.

He was probably one of the few people in the entire world who would be able to use the 3D ODM so masterfully thanks to his skill, and even then, the fight was such a close one. Eren felt like he had escaped from the jaws of death.

"Eren!"

Eren turned his head and saw Squad Leader Janie galloping towards him on her horse and breathed a sigh of relief. He could finally rest.

=====

"Ahh, what's this? Ouchh!!" Exclaimed Eren as he tried to stand up, but felt a sharp pain coming from his right arm.

"Eren! You're finally awake…" Eren felt a warm sensation on his hands as Mikasa tugged his arms.

"Yea ... You must have been worried… urm... So..rry" Eren replied. He looked around, the room was empty except for both of them. It looked like he was in an infirmary.

He wanted to say more but the words were stuck in his mouth.

Mikasa's grip tightened on Eren's hands. She was fighting so hard to hold back the tears in her eyes. That silly idiot. He almost died and all he could say was sorry? She thought she had lost him forever… that she would never see his face again, that Eren was taken from her.

She was just glad he was alive. Eren meant the world to her. She didn't know how to find the strength to continue living if he had died. She would never let Eren go… ever again.

"Hey, Mikasa." Croaked Eren.

She was ignoring him, her mind was just overwhelmed by the fact that he had woken up, Eren had been in a concussion for over 3 days.

According to the doctors, anymore later and he would have been at risk of dying from dehydration.

"Mikasa!"

"Ek?" Mikasa squealed like a frightened kitten as Eren's arms suddenly wrapped around her body and pulled her close to him. He could feel the heat radiating from Eren's body against hers as their bodies were pressed together.

His hands were now moving up and down and stroking her silky and smooth black hair. Mikasa's head was cuddled into the embrace of Eren's body like how a chick would with its mother hen.

Now that Eren looked closely, Mikasa was actually really beautiful. She had been by his side all this while. It was just that he had always treated her like an overprotective older sister. Seeing that comfortable expression on her face as she tucked her face further into his embrace, made him for the first time in his entire life, see her as something more than a family member.

"I was worried about you … " Mikasa softly breathed, her head now resting and using Eren's chest as a pillow.

"Why me?" Asked Eren, he felt like he might know the answer, but he couldn't resist teasing her a little.

"That's how it has always been… you always run off on your own, leaving me and Armin behind ." She closed her eyes, deep in thought, snuggling her face further into Eren's chest and trying to hide her blushing cheeks. She knew the answer to Eren's question but couldn't find the courage to tell him right now… that she liked him.

Eren didn't say anything else, he slowly lifted Mikasa's face and brought his face close to her's. Their noses nearly brushing against each other.

"Really?"

Mikasa's eyes were enthralled by Eren's as their gazes met . She couldn't speak a word.

She knew what she said just now was a lie. Her heart had long ago been captured by Eren's, ever since he wrapped that scarf around her on that fateful day and saved her. She would do anything Eren asked .

Anything.

"PSCHH, I`m just teasing you, look at your expression now, your face is even redder than a tomato".Eren burst out laughing, before patting her head gently. The shy expression of Mikasa was quite cute to behold.

"Hey….! Ere...nn!" Mikasa remarked, trying to sound angry but her body language was telling a totally different story. She really liked Eren showing his affection to her through physical touches.

"Mikasa is really loving this." Eren thought to himself.

He was glad that Mikasa was smiling and happy. Looks like his dad wasn't lying about the 'tricks" after all. She really enjoyed being patted on her head for some reason. Mikasa right now was reacting like a satisfied kitten, enjoying the owner's love.

He had other 'tricks' he learned from his dad, but he wasn't ready to try them yet … not until he was ready to take the relationship further.

He felt like he didn't deserve a girl like Mikasa, but was completely at a loss how to handle the attachment she had towards him. He didn't feel it was the right time to respond to her feelings yet.

"You know, you really should smile more, you look beautiful when you do." Chuckled Eren as he gently pulled down the scarf hiding Mikasa's cheeks, putting his hand over it.

Mikasa didn't want to open her eyes. It was such a heartwarming moment for her. She hadn't felt like this in a long time.

"Can we just stay like this … a little longer?" How she wished time could stop at this moment.

"mHm , as long as you like." Eren answered, his hands holding onto her.

As long as Mikasa was happy, it was good enough for him.