Amaranth

Chapter 14: Daises

A few hours later, Mikasa heard the front door slam from her room. She cringed as the sound shook the house, and she decided she might want to hide in her room for a while. "Where is she?" she heard Eren seethe from downstairs.

"Who?" Carla asked, confused.

"Mikasa," he hissed.

Is he... mad at me? Mikasa thought to herself as fear washed over her face. She ran to her door and locked it, just in case he came to her room and really wasn angry at her.

"Your sister is in her room," she heard Carla's muffled voice tell Eren, "As you know, she's had a rough day."

"She's had a rough day?" he exclaimed in disbelief, "I just found out I've been living under the same roof as a murderer, and she's having a hard day?" Mikasa sucked in a sharp breath at his words.

"If you're going to act like that, go to Armin's to cool off," Carla said firmly, "I will not let you bully her."

"Why do you even care?" Eren raged, "She's not even your daughter. She's not my sister!"

"Eren Jaeger!" Carla yelled at him.

"No, where is she?" Eren asked firmly, "How could you hide this from me for so long? I deserved to know!"

"Yes, you deserved to know," Carla agreed calmly, "but please, try to think about her feelings."

"Do you think she thought about the feelings of those guys she killed?" Eren asked his mother in a stern voice, "I saw pictures, mom, it looked... gruesome. You're telling me... you're telling me she did that?" Eren's voice was shaking now, likely from his feelings of betrayal and sadness, "Did she... did the girl I shared a home with... she did that? I mean... I mean I know she was angry and sad, but she's really... she's really capable of... that?"

By now, Mikasa could hear his quiet sobs, and more than anything, she wanted to go down there and hug him. She wanted to tell him she was still the same girl who'd lived with him for the past 7 years. She wanted to tell him she was still the girl who he wrapped his scarf around, the girl he used to smile at and do whatever he could do to make her happy, and she was still the girl who'd kick his ass when necessary. However, she also knew she was the last person he wanted to see at that moment.

After a few more moments of quiet sobs, she heard a knock on her door. Cautiously, she opened the door and saw Eren looking at her. He lifted his hand quickly, and she couldn't help but flinch as she closed her eyes, preparing for his hit to land.

So, you can imagine her surprise when he engulfed her in a hug. She stood there, still as a stone for a moment before she eventually wrapped her arms around him. "I don't understand how you could kill someone. I don't think I ever can," Eren said to her honestly as he continued hugging her, "I don't understand how you did it, knowing they may have had a family at home waiting for them, or friends who were destroyed by it."

"I-I-" Mikasa stuttered, panicking.

"Shh," he shushed her quietly, "but you're my sister, biological or not. I love you just the same." He paused before continuing sympathetically, "It must've been traumatizing... I'm sorry for all those months I called you dramatic and an attention seeker. I think I get it now. I think I get it."

Mikasa smiled as a few stray tears rolled down her eyes. She leaned her head against her adoptive brother's chest, putting her head against it. She was surprised when she felt the scarf around her neck move, and she reflexively grabbed it.

Eren carefully removed her hands from around it as he pulled it off of her. After a few seconds of inspecting it, he wrapped it around her again, tightening it around her neck just enough to be comforting with being suffocating. Mikasa smiled softly as she laughed a little. "That's possibly the most childish thing you've ever done," Mikasa laughed