A Cruel, Yet Beautiful World (Eren x Mikasa) AoT AU

Chapter 12

The early morning sun began break into the starry night sky, gleaming its warm rays upon a sleeping brunette boy, causing his emerald green eyes to open. Eren yawned as he finally awoke, feeling refreshed and well rested. For the first time in what felt like forever, he slept through the whole night without any nightmares about, "that titan." He also felt this comfortable, warm sensation around his neck and shoulders; similar to how his mother used to hold him when he was really young.

The emerald eyed boy began looking to his surroundings and was shocked to see that he was not in a bed but on the floor outside. Eren then started to notice the sound of a rhythmic heartbeat and soon realized that he was laying against someone's chest. He then glanced upward to see who it was and saw Mikasa holding him while being asleep against a tree.

Eren then remembered what happened last night and was completely taken aback. Despite learning how awful of a person he was and how he treated her, Mikasa stayed with him. She must somehow truly care about the boy to go through all of this with him. The last words the raven haired girl spoke to him were, "I will be by your side now and always." Those warm words calmed him down after everything recollected the previous night. For some reason he felt soothed by her presence and snuggled against the girl like a pillow.

However, as the sun rose in the sky and dawn began, Eren knew that he and Mikasa had to get up and go back to their cabins before the others woke up. If Shadis knew the two of them were outside all night, the commandant would have hell to pay. The emerald eyed boy tried to release Mikasa's arms around his neck, however it was much more difficult than he expected. The girl was strong and held him close to her body like a teddy bear. However, Eren was tenacious and soon was able to slip himself from out of her grasp.

The boy then got up from the floor and dusted the dirt off of his clothes. He then looked down to see Mikasa still asleep, moving around her arms trying to feel for him. Eren found this to be quite amusing and started laughing.

He then looked down to the red scarf that was around his neck and thoughtfully touched it. Mikasa had taken excellent care of it, keeping the scarf in pristine condition for three years. She kept it clean of any dirt and even repaired some of the loose threads from when he had it. The girl took much better care of this scarf than Eren ever did and he felt as if he was not even worthy of it anymore. He just wore the scarf, while the raven haired girl actually cherished it. Even if it was the last artifact he had of his mother, it did not feel like it was his anymore. The emerald eyed boy took a deep breath, knowing what he had to do. With a heavy heart, Eren knelt before Mikasa and lifted the girls head a little to wrap the scarf around her neck.

This awoke Mikasa up and the raven haired girl looked up to Eren with a small smile on her face. She then noticed the scarf around her neck and cried out, "Eren, your sc-"

"Keep it." The emerald eyed boy smiled as he interrupted her, "it kept you warm in the past and now I want it to keep you warm for the rest of your life."

These words shocked Mikasa and caused a faint pink blush to dust on her pale cheeks. She was over joyed to hear Eren say this but, could only reply a quiet, "T-thank you."

Eren then held out his hand to help the girl up from the floor. Mikasa took the brunette's hand to get to her feet and was about say something to him. 

However, the emerald eyed boy spoke first and said, "Alright, we have to find a way to sneak back to our cabins as fast as possible with out getting caught by the camp's officers. I think we should probably not travel on the main dirt road because that is where they'll be and instead use the trees as cover. If any of them catch you, just say that you were getting a drink of water from a river, they'll be hard pressed to prove your wrong. We'll meet at the mess hall for breakfast afterward, got it?"