The Bond we hold [Eremika]

New student

It was a very hot day. Only a week had passed since Eren and Mikasa started dating, and the weather was extremely warm. It felt more like Summer than Spring.

he cicadas were loud, and the pavement was so hot that neighbors but protective booties on their dog's paws when walking them.
People already had their AC on in both their homes and cars. Carla was making pitchers of Iced Tea and Lemonade for when Eren and Mikasa got home from school. She made extra in case Armin came back with them as well.
Grisha had to take the car to the garage to get the AC working, since it broke suddenly.
"Damn...you can tell summer's on the way", Eren held his arm over his forehead to shield his eyes from the bright sun, as he and Mikasa walked to school with Armin.
"It really is hot today", Armin agreed. "It's the hottest day we've had this year so far", Mikasa stated.
But despite the heat, she still had her red scarf on. Eren frowned at her. The two had a mild fight over it before leaving for school, ending in Mikasa winning.
"Mika, look...would you please take that damn scarf off? It's much too hot!", Eren asked, worriedly.
"I'm fine Eren, besides it'll be cooler in the school", Mikasa assured him, brushing off the topic. It was true she was feeling a bit warm, but she refused to take her scarf off.
Despite being in high school...Mikasa couldn't remove it. It was a part of her. Plus, this was going to be the hottest summer they've ever had since Mikasa moved here.
All the other summers before were just bearable for her to keep her scarf on.
"Don't worry Eren, I'm okay", Mikasa reassured him, seeing the worried look in his eyes. She took his hand.
Eren simply nodded...he sighed. She was so stubborn. The two held hands as they walked with Armin to school.
When they arrived at the lockers, Mikasa exhaled a bit, already feeling the AC in the building. She loosened her scarf a bit, but didn't take it off.
Eren watched her worriedly.
"Oh look who it is!", a voice sneered. Eren glared, cringing, knowing already. Mikasa, Armin and he looked over to see Annie with her friends.
"It's the incest couple! So, have you two fucked yet? Must be an interesting experience to screw your own brother, why don't you tell us how?", Annie asked.
Mikasa glared, as she, Eren and Armin began to walk passed, trying to ignore it.
"What's wrong? Is he that bad?", Annie asked, grinning. Mikasa glared at her, and as they walked passed, she shoved against Annie's shoulder hard.
Eren was gritting his teeth, clenching his fists, trying to ignore it with all his being. "Mikasa...you should just let me put them in their place", he growled, as they continued down the hall.
Annie's comments and her friends laughing eventually was gone, as the trio walked up the stairs.
"You can't hit a girl Eren, the school will have you expelled", Mikasa explained. "I'd fight her myself...", she added.
"No, I don't want you getting hurt!", Eren said protectively. Mikasa blushed a bit at his protectiveness towards her.
"Yeah, and besides. Annie's father is some bigwig. He has tons of money, and because of that Annie gets treated like a princess. If she doesn't pass a test, her dad comes in causing a ruckus. He'd threaten to sue in a second if one of you ever got into a fight with her...", Armin added, looking down.
"Sounds like a spoiled little brat in the end to me", Mikasa commented.
"She honestly is. If Annie doesn't get what she wants, she'll find some way to make you suffer for it. She was in love with Eren, so...that's why she's so relentless", Armin said.
"Which...to be honest that creepy. We've only known each other for 5 days at that point...", Eren added, still looking scarred about it.
"For the time we shouldn't worry too much about it...", Mikasa said. "Unless her rumors get more crazy. Right now she's telling people you two are having sex", Armin pointed out.
Both Eren and Mikasa turned red. While they have been dating for a week, they hadn't tried anything like that yet. They have kissed, and even made out...but they haven't went too far yet.
"So? Those rumors aren't bad, every high school has something like that", Eren said.
"True, but her rumors could get worse. I mean, when push comes to shove, Annie will do anything to get what she wants", Armin said worriedly.
"We'll worry about it when the time comes. If she even thinks about it, she'll deal with me", Mikasa glared.
Eren nodded, agreeing.
The three entered the classroom, seeing Jean, Marco, Sasha, Connie, Ymir, Krista and the rest enter. Connie, being airheaded often, went to sit next to Eren again, but then saw Mikasa's death glare, and quickly held his hands up like he was being arrested, and backed up.
Eren, Mikasa and Armin sat at their desks, while Sasha was eating a Yogurt with MnMs inside. She also had a fun sized bag of Lays potato chips.
The door opened, as Rico came in. "All right class! Today we..."-
Crunch...
There was a sudden loud crunching sound, like someone chewing chips.
"Okay, who's eating chips?", Rico demanded, irritated. The class went silent. Sasha was hiding her face, and bag behind a book.
Rico waited, no one spoke. She glared, and went to turn back to the board. "So today, we have-
Crunch...
"I HEARD THAT, SASHA!", Rico suddenly yelled, glaring, impatient. "Sorry ma'am, almost done!", Sasha answered, eating faster.
"Sasha Braus, how many detentions will it take to get your ass in gear?!", Rico snarled, glaring.
"I'm not sure, ma'am! I'm just really hungry!", Sasha answered.
"OUTSIDE!", Rico ordered.
Sasha stood outside the class, groaning as she was forced to hold two full pails of water as her usual punishment.
She whined, depressed, her arms hurting already.
"Are you all right?", as voice asked her then. Sasha blinked seeing a girl had approached her. She gently took a cloth, and wiped Sasha's forehead, in a caring gesture, knowing the pails were heavy.
"I'm fine...thank you though. You're really sweet", Sasha smiled. "It's no problem", the girl said, she had an English accent.
"This has gotta be the 100th time", Eren said, leaning back in his seat. "It doesn't surprise me", Mikasa said.
"You'd think even Sasha would learn not to tick off Rico. She's a really strict teacher, and acts like it's the army sometimes", Armin muttered.
"Pay attention! So today we have a transfer student", Rico announced. "A transfer this time of year?", Armin asked, surprised.
"Wonder who it'll be", Eren said.
The door slid open, and a girl walked in. She had long dark red hair, it was up in a ponytail, plus she had bangs.
She had brown eyes, and she wore dark jeans instead of the school's standard uniform skirt for girls,t he one Mikasa wore.
The girl uniforms were the dark blue sailor ones with the matching dark blue skit, and red tie, and white lines on the wrist and shoulder areas.
While the boy uniforms were black, with the yellow buttons.
"Miss. Zacri transferred here from Wales, England. Please introduce yourself", Rico requested. "Hello everyone, my name is Rubi Zacri. Pleased to meet you all", the girl said.
Armin starred at her, and he even felt some color reach his cheeks. She was really beautiful. "Welcome to our class Rubi. You can sit by the window, by Mikasa", Rico gestured.
Eren was in the middle of the second row, Mikasa was by him, and then there was an empty desk by her. Armin was on the other side of Eren, and next to him was Connie. Sasha was sat behind Connie, and by her were Krista and Ymir.
Annie was in the very back with Reiner and Bertolt, while Jean and Marco were in the front row.
Annie always showed up a few minutes late, and even when Rico told her off, it seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Rubi nodded, as she walked over to her desk. She sat down in it, and got her textbook out. Armin kept watching her, blushing.
Eren glanced at Mikasa. She was loosening her scarf again, and looked a little red in the face. He waited until Rico's back was turned. He frowned, and got his phone out. His wallpaper was a photo of Mikasa.
"You look hot"
He sent the text. Mikasa blinked, and checked her phone. She instantly blushed.
"Eren...not in class..."
She sent back, very red now. Thinking he meant it in a flirting manner.
She waited a few seconds, and then got a text back.
"No, I mean you look hot. Take your scarf off"
Mikasa frowned instantly. "Eren!", she hissed at him.
"I'm serious Mikasa, you're gonna get sick", Eren pointed out quietly, so Rico didn't hear.
Mikasa looked away stubbornly. "I'm fine", she insisted.
Eren sighed, giving up for now, and he noticed Armin's starring at Rubi. He grinned and texted Armin.
"You got the hots for the redhead, Armin? You're starring at her like how Sasha stares at potatoes"
He sent the text, snickering. Armin pulled his phone out, reading it.
He instantly turned red.
"N-No! I just thought she looks pretty!"
He quickly texted this back.
Eren chuckled.
"Armin, come on man! We're in high school now, no need to be shy. Ask her out"
He added a wink emoji at the end to tease his friend.
Armin only turned redder, he then glared.
"Oh yeah? You wanna talk about shy? What about you and Mikasa?"
Eren blinked at this reply.
"What about us?"
Armin continued.
"Well you've been seeing each other for a week, and she's been giving you that look! How dense are you?"
Eren starred, totally confused now by his friend. What look? Eren looked at Mikasa, who was starring off in space a bit.
She noticed his look, blushed, and smiled a bit. Eren smiled back, but then quickly went back to his phone.
"What look, Armin?"
Armin facepalmed.
"Eren, hasn't Mikasa been acting different recently?"
Eren thought for a few minutes.
"Well...she's been going in her room more often, locking her door..."
Armin shook his head...Eren was so dense sometimes.
"Are you two texting?", Mikasa asked, just noticing. "No!", Eren quickly hid his phone, nervously.
"Eren Jaeger, and Armin Arlet! Both of you bring those cursed devices up here, and stand outside with Sasha!", Rico ordered.
"What?! Oh come on!", Eren complained. "NOW!", Rico yelled.
"This is bullshit...", Eren mumbled, as he and Armin brought their phones up to the desk. They went outside to join Sasha.
Rubi blinked, amused. "Welcome to our class Rubi Zacri, expect comedy at every turn", Jean chuckled at her. "I can see that", Rubi chuckled as well.
Rubi blinked then, looking at Mikasa. She was still wearing her red scarf. Rubi's eyes softened. Something about Mikasa's eyes...they had this grim, dark look.
Like her mind was constantly somewhere else. Somewhere dark. Rubi wasn't positive...but she sensed Mikasa had been through something awful. Plus...that scarf.
"Um...excuse me..", Rubi started. "Yes?", asked Mikasa, turning to look at her.
"Are you...sickly?", asked Rubi, a look of concern in her eyes. Mikasa blinked, confused at first.
"No, why?", she asked. "Well it's a really hot day, and you're wearing a scarf", Rubi pointed out.
"Oh...", Mikasa blushed a bit, as she held a piece of her scarf.
"It's just...really important to me. That's all", she replied, blushing a bit. Rubi watched her...how important could it be to risk her health?
After a while, class was almost over. As Rico finished up her lecture, Mikasa felt a paper ball hit her back. She glared, seeing it came from Annie's direction.
The paper ball hit the floor by her. Rico's back was turned, so Mikasa picked it up, and unfolded it. It simply said "What's wrong? Your brother/boyfriend in trouble?" It was in Annie's hand writing.
Mikasa frowned, she crumbled it back up, and threw it in the nearby trashcan, which was close to the desks.
Rubi saw this, she frowned at Annie wondering what it was all about.
By the time class ended, Eren and Armin were still stuck with Sasha. As the class room cleared out, Mikasa came over.
"How old does Rico have you three like this?", she asked, blinking. "A while longer...you can go ahead to P.E without us. We'll catch up", Eren replied.
Mikasa nodded. She turned to leave. "Oh hey, Mika!", Eren said then. "Yeah?", asked Mikasa looking at him.
"So...I was wondering...why have you been locking yourself in your bedroom some nights?", asked Eren blankly.
Mikasa instantly turned red, and even starred at Eren. She slightly hid her face under her scarf, looking away shyly.
"What?", Eren tilted his head. Sasha gawked at him, mortified. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU EREN?! You should know better than to ask a girl that kind of question! Didn't your mother teach you any manners?!", she yelled.
"I don't get it, what's the big secret?", Eren asked. Sasha starred at him. 'He's even denser than I thought!'
"I'll...I'll see you at P.E Eren!", Mikasa exhaled, as she sprinted down the hall. She held her hand over her chest. Her heart was pounding rapidly, as she only remained bright red.
It...was very true. After all, Eren and Mikasa were a couple, and teenagers. Mikasa was also very mature for her age. Even though she was 15, her mind worked more like an 18 year old. A big part of this was due to losing her parents so young.
Mikasa only blushed more...her 'nights' were becoming more frequent. She'd often find herself laying in bed, thinking about Eren...and imagining their first time together.
She never really thought about it before, since whenever she did masturbate, it was almost in a trance like state.
But thinking about it more, she could only turn redder.
When Mikasa arrived in P.E class, she went to the locker room with the girls. "Rico's got us running track today", Krista said.
"Is she nuts?! We'll drop dead from the heat!", Sasha complained. "Quit whining", Ymir growled.
The girls were changing into their P.E outfits. Mikasa removed her top after undoing her red tie. Rubi, who was standing near her, was sitting on the bench taking her socks off.
Rubi blinked, then starring at Mikasa. Mikasa's body was very muscular for a girl. In just her black bra and underwear, it was obvious.
She had some firm muscles, and even abs. She looked like she was in training for the army.
"Whoa..Mikasa", Rubi couldn't help but say it. "What?", Mikasa asked, looking at her.
"Sorry..just...you train really hard", Rubi stated. Mikasa looked down slightly, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I'm...kind of self conscious about it", she confessed.
"If you don't like it, then why train?", Rubi tilted her head, confused. Mikasa chose not to answer her. She sighed softly, as she got dressed.
It was her darkest secret. A secret she hadn't even revealed to Eren. Ever since her parents were killed, Mikasa had deep self blaming for their deaths.
She always went back to it in her head. How she just stood in the living room like, scared, unable to help her parents at all.
She knew her father's death was unpreventable...but...she could have saved her mother. That's at least what Mikasa thought.
That moment when her mother was holding them off...why didn't she just run into the kitchen, grab a knife and stab one of the men?
It would have been easy...since he would have been distracted with her mom. Mikasa...really believed despite she was a little girl at the time, if she would have just been stronger...
So..she trained. In case one day, something happened to Eren, Armin or Eren's parents. She'd be able to protect them this time.
After she finished getting dressed, Mikasa wrapped her scarf around her neck. She knew it was a heatwave, but because she was thinking back to her parents again...she needed it. Especially since Eren wasn't nearby.
Rubi saw this, and her eyes even grew wide.
"Mikasa, it's 90 degrees out! You're wearing that?", Rubi cried, worriedly. Once again, Mikasa was silent. Her eyes seemed somewhere else.
When P.E class began, Mikasa pushed herself harder than the rest of them. Long after the other girls finished, Mikasa was still running laps under the hot sun.
Rubi watched her, worried. She sat on the bench, continuing to watch Mikasa. After running 10 whole laps, Mikasa finally stopped. She came up to the benches, looking exhausted.
She was dripped with sweat, beat red, but most worrying was her breathing. She was extremely breathless, as she sat down, and got a wet towel to cool her face and neck.
Rubi frowned...she still didn't take that scarf off.
"Mikasa", she said then. "Yeah...?", asked Mikasa breathlessly.
"Mikasa you're going to give yourself heatstroke! Why won't you just take that scarf off?", Rubi demanded.
Mikasa sighed. She wasn't used to people caring about her other than Eren and Armin.
"It's just really important to me, I already told you", she answered.
"How important can it possibly be if it risks your health?", Rubi pressed. Mikasa got up. She was barely hearing Rubi, feeling extremely dizzy all of a sudden.
"I just know what I see...I'm pretty good at medical science...", Rubi admitted. Mikasa didn't answer. She was about to walk away, when she suddenly felt herself grow even more dizzy.
Her mind went blank, and suddenly...everything went black for her.
When Mikasa awoke, she felt weak, and her head throbbed painfully, like a hammer was slamming against her forehead.
She suddenly groaned painfully, as she sat up, a cold cloth falling off her forehead.
She had a bad migraine, from the heat. She blinked weakly, seeing Rubi was sitting at her bedside. They were in the infirmary.
"What happened...?", asked Mikasa weakly. "You collapsed...heatstroke. Here, drink this", Rubi handed over a paper cup of cold water.
Mikasa drank it fast then, feeling extremely dehydrated. "Easy, slow down...", Rubi soothed her, a worried look in her eyes.
Mikasa exhaled after she finished drinking. She still felt sick. "You...brought me here, Rubi?", she asked.
"Yeah, you were out cold", Rubi stated. Mikasa starred at her. The red haired girl was quite small. "How...? You don't look...", Mikasa began to ask.
"Oh...well, Ymir and Sasha had to help me carry you", Rubi explained. Mikasa looked down softly. She then blinked, and quickly moved her hands up to feel around her neck.
"Where's my scarf?!", she cried, suddenly panicked, looking around for it urgently.
"Calm down, it's right here", Rubi handed it to her. Mikasa grabbed it, and held it close to her heart, exhaling softly in relief.
"Look...I know it's none of my business but...you can't be wearing that thing on hot days like this. It's bad for your health...", Rubi said worriedly.
Mikasa's eyes softened. "You're right, Rubi. I know you are...I just...", she began.
Rubi watched her, seeing that same grim look return in her eyes.
Mikasa sighed...and suddenly began to talk.
"My parents...were killed. When I was 9 years old. I...saw the whole thing. Eren saved my life, and after he did...he wrapped this scarf around me. His parents took me in, but never officially adopted me since Eren and I are..well, going out", Mikasa explained.
Rubi blinked. "Wait then...you two aren't brother and sister?", she asked. She had heard rumors, even thought it was her only first day.
But...she didn't think that looked alike at all.
"No. We're not blood related. I'm Japanese. We're not even adopted, we just live together. But...Annie and her friends have become relentless with spreading rumors about it...", Mikasa replied.
"That's awful...why would they make stuff up like that?", asked Rubi, looking down.
"The world is a cruel place...", Mikasa answered grimly.
"When they say that stuff, how Eren and I are siblings, it's insulting to my parents memory. Like they never even existed...", she added.
"Of course it's insulting...", Rubi nodded, agreeing and understanding.
Mikasa looked at her then. Aside from Eren and Armin, Mikasa never opened up to anyone else before about her past.
"Rubi...thank you. For...bringing me here and listening to me...", she gave a small smile. Rubi smiled back softly.
"It's fine. I have to admit, I'm nervous being in a new school, a new country. But...if it's all right with you, maybe we could be friends?", Rubi asked.
Mikasa smiled softly. "Yeah...I'd like that", she admitted.
Just then, the door slid open. "Mikasa!", Eren had hurried in, looking frantic with worry.
"Eren..", Mikasa smiled a bit. "Are you okay?! Sasha told me you collapsed!", Eren said, urgently, as he came over to her bedside, taking her hand.
"I'm fine now, Eren...the heat got to me is all", Mikasa replied. Eren gently squeezed her hand. "Mikasa, promise me you'll take that scarf off in the heat from now on", he said worriedly, and firmly.
"I promise...", Mikasa nodded, squeezing his hand back softly.
"Thank you...", he gently kissed her forehead, stroking her hair. "And thank you Rubi...for bringing her here", he added.
"It's no problem at all, I couldn't just leave her laying there", Rubi assured him.