Family Ties(Erwin x Levi)

Growing Pains

Something was very, very wrong.

Mikasa didn't know quite what it was. Her stomach had been feeling strange since Saturday after her martial arts championship. As she'd sat in her dad's shop, eating a celebratory chocolate croissant and drinking a tea, her stomach had felt very strange. It was like nausea but there was another feeling she hadn't experienced before. It was akin to the feeling of eating too much after a holiday, but she had last eaten hours ago for breakfast. She decided not to bring it up to either of her parents. The feeling came and went through the day but it wasn't unbearable.

On Sunday, as she'd hung out with Eren and Armin, there was something else that felt strange. Her stomach still had that weird bloating feeling. There was a twisting in her lower stomach much like the muscle cramps she often experienced if she didn't stretch or drink enough water during martial arts or even at gym.

For a thirteen year old, Mikasa was extremely active. She was tall for her age—about five foot seven inches—and was quite involved. She loved gym and had even tried out for sports. Soccer had ended in the fall and martial arts had been going since the middle of October. She was very good at it. She excelled, even.

It helped that her parents encouraged her. Anything she'd wanted to try, they'd been able to afford the classes. Erwin and Levi were always at soccer games and championships. One of them, usually Levi, managed to be there for practices on weeknights. If Erwin wasn't teaching night classes, he would rush over and catch the last half of her practice. If it was a closed practice, one or both of her fathers would pick her up afterward and take her home for a good dinner and homework.

The older she got, the more Mikasa appreciated how her parents were there for her. Some of the other kids had growing pains when it came to their own parents; their parents not understanding their emotions or how difficult it was simply being a teenager. Eren was certainly going through that. He'd always been hotheaded but his emotions were getting the better of him, lately. It didn't help that Carla's health had been precarious for the past year or so and that there were still minor issues with Zeke, who had moved abroad for grad school and barely spoke to his parents.

Mikasa had some difficulties trying to be a stable force in their friendship. It didn't help that she was going through her own changes that were changing the perspectives some of their friends had.

Jean, specifically, had been acting differently toward her. Of course, Mikasa was aware he had a crush on her. But she wasn't currently interested in him. It made it a little awkward when their group of friends—Mikasa, Armin, Eren, Jean, Marco, Sasha, and Connie—got together and Connie teased Jean endlessly about being so obvious with his crush. Frankly, it was a bit embarrassing. But Mikasa was nice enough and firm enough to tell Jean she just liked being his friend. Thankfully, Jean accepted that. But the awareness he liked her was a bit much. Marco had assured her that Jean respected her decisions, even if he did still like her. It was new territory and it was a bit more than she could take at the moment. Eren was one of her main priorities. He always seemed to get into some sort of trouble and middle school made that all the more stressful.

That video in health class had made it worse, too. After watching the mandatory sex-ed video, their class seemed to be buzzing about crushes and about what growing up was like. Of course, teenagers talked and Mikasa had gotten "The Talk" from her parents when she'd needed her first training bra. It had been an open—and thankfully not embarrassing—conversation. She'd even talked to Aunt Isabel and Aunt Marie about it. Hanji had tried to give her a whole biology lesson that sent the then-eleven year old's brain on a tailspin. But she knew enough for her age and rolled her eyes when the guys said uneducated things.

Then again, education was not reality. And reality was hitting her hard.

It was a Tuesday and Mikasa's cramping had gotten worse. She hadn't slept very well as she dressed in a light grey sweater, black skirt, black tights, and black boots that went up to her knees. Her hands pressed against her lower stomach as the skirt felt a bit tighter. She frowned and looked in the mirror. She definitely felt bloated. Something internally felt weird, as well. It was like a wave of nausea whenever she had that cramping feeling. After a few breaths, Mikasa drank some water from her bottle perched at her bedside and put on her pendant after giving it a little kiss. She also wrapped a red scarf Eren had given her for her birthday around her neck.